UC-NRLF 


THE 


GRAMMAR 


OF 


ENGLISH    GRAMMARS, 

WITH 

AN     INTRODUCTION 

HISTORICAL  AND   CRITICAL; 

THE    WHOLE 

METHODICALLY  ARRANGED  AND  AMPLY  ILLUSTRATED; 

WITH 
OP   CORRECTING   AND   OF    PAUSING,  IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION,   EXAMPLES   FOR 

I*A:  BSnoiffl    FOB   EXAMINATION.   EXKFICI.SES  FOH  WHITING,  OBSERVATIONS 

THE  ADVANCED    STl'DI-AT.    DECISIONS    AND    I'ROuKS    FOR    THE    SETTLl-MJiJH 
OF    DISPUTED*- POINTS,    OCCASIONAL    STRICTURES    AND    DEFENCES,    AN 
EXHIBITION     OF     TILE    SEVERAL    METHODS    OF    ANALYSIS, 

AND 

A  KEY  TO  THE  ORAL  EXERCISES: 

TO    WHICH    ARE   ADDED 

FOUR  APPENDIXES, 

PERTAINING  SEPARATELY  TO  THE    FOUR  PARTS   OF   GRAMMAR. 


BY    GOOLD    BROWN, 

FORMERLY    PRINCIPAL  OF  AN    ES'.I.:-H    ABB  '-V  YORK;     AUTHOR    OF    TBZ   IKBTITDTE8    OF 

UKAMMAR,   THE   FIRST   LINES   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMAR,   ETC. 


.t  authors  have  their  due,  that  Time,  who  Is  the  author  of  authors,  be  not  deprived  of  hia  due, 
which  i*,  farther  and  farther  to  discover  truth."- I.uiiu  11 


XEW    YORK: 

PUBLISHED    BY   SAMt'KL   S.    &   WILLIAM   WOOD, 
No.    261    PEARL    STREET, 

1851. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of   Congress,  in  the  year  1851, 

BY  GOOLD  BROWN, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


BOSTON: 
PRINTED   BY   DAMRELL  &  MOORE, 

No.  16  DEVONSHIRE  STREET, 
1850  and  1851. 


PREFACE. 


The  present  performance  is,  so  far  as  the  end  could  be  reached,  the  fulfillment  of  a  design, 
formed  about  twenty-seven  years  ago,  of  one  day  presenting  to  the  world,  if  I  might,  some- 
thing like  a  complete  grammar  of  the  English  language  ; — not  a  mere  work  of  criticism, 
nor  yet  a  work  too  tame,  indecisive,  and  uncritical ;  for,  in  books  of  either  of  these  sorts, 
our  libraries  already  abound  ; — not  a  mere  philosophical  investigation  of  what  is  general  or 
universal  in  grammar,  nor  yet  a  minute  detail  of  what  forms  only  a  part  of  our  own  phi- 
lology ;  for  either  of  these  plans  falls  very  far  short  of  such  a  purpose  ; — not  a  mere  gram- 
matical compend,  abstract,  or  compilation,  sorting  with  other  works  already  before  the 
public  ;  for,  in  the  production  of  school  grammars,  the  author  had  early  performed  his  part ; 
and,  of  small  treatises  on  this  subject,  we  have  long  had  a  superabundance  rather  than 
a  lack. 

After  about  fifteen  years  devoted  chiefly  to  grammatical  studies  and  exercises,  during  most 
of  which  time  I  had  been  alternately  instructing  youth  in  four  different  languages,  thinking 
it  practicable  to  effect  some  improvement  upon  the  manuals  which  explain  our  own,  I  pre- 
pared and  published,  for  the  use  of  schools,  a  duodecimo  volume  of  about  three  hundred 
pages ;  which,  upon  the  presumption  that  its  principles  were  conformable  to  the  best 
usage,  and  well  established  thereby,  I  entitled,  "the  Institutes  of  English  Grammar."  Of 
this  work,  which,  it  is  believed,  has  been  gradually  gaining  in  reputation  and  demand  ever 
since  its  first  publication  in  1823,  there  is  no  occasion  to  say  more  here,  than  that  it  was 
the  result  of  diligent  study,  and  that  it  is,  essentially,  the  nucleus,  or  the  groundwork,  of 
the  present  volume. 

AVith  much  additional  labour,  the  principles  contained  in  the  Institutes  of  English  Gram- 
mar, have  here  been  not  only  reaffirmed  and  rewritten,  but  occasionally  improved  in  ex- 
pression, or  amplified  in  their  details.  New  topics,  new  definitions,  new  rules,  have 
also  been  added  ;  and  all  parts  of  the  subject  have  been  illustrated  by  a  multiplicity  of  new 
examples  and  exercises,  which  it  has  required  a  long  time  to  amass  and  arrange.  To  the 
main  doctrines,  also,  are  here  subjoined  many  new  observations  and  criticisms,  which  are 
the  results  of  no  inconsiderable  reading  and  reflection. 

Regarding  it  as  my  business  and  calling,  to  work  out  the  above-mentioned  purpose  as 
circumstances  might  permit,  I  have  laid  no  claim  to  genius,  none  to  infallibility ;  but  I 
have  endeavoured  to  be  accurate,  and  aspired  to  be  useful ;  and  it  is  a  part  of  my  plan,  that 
the  reader  of  this  volume  shall  never,  through  my  fault,  be  left  in  doubt  as  to  the  origin  of 
any  thing  it  contains.  It  is  but  the  duty  of  an  author,  to  give  every  needful  facility  for  a 
fair  estimate  of  his  work  ;  and,  whatever  authority  there  may  be  for  anonymous  copying 
in  -works  on  grammar,  the  precedent  is  always  bad. 

The  success  of  other  labours,  answerable  to  moderate  wishes,  has  enabled  me  to  pursue 
this  task  under  favourable  circumstances,  and  with  an  unselfish,  independent  aim.  Not 
with  vainglorious  pride,  but  with  reverent  gratitude  to  God,  I  acknowledge  this  advantage, 
giving  thanks  for  the  signal  mercy  which  has  upborne  me  to  the  long-continued  effort. 
Had  the  case  been  otherwise, — had  the  labours  of  the  school-room  been  still  demanded  for 
my  support, — the  present  large  volume  would  never  have  appeared.  I  had  desired  some 
leisure  for  the  completing  of  this  design,  and  to  it  I  scrupled  not  to  sacrifice  the  profits  of 
my  main  employment,  as  soon  as  it  could  be  done  without  hazard  of  adding  an  other  chap- 
ter to  "  the  Calamities  of  Authors." 

The  nature  and  design  of  this  treatise  are  perhaps  sufficiently  developed  in  connexion 
with  the  various  topics  which  are  successively  treated  of  in  the  Introduction.  That  method 
of  teaching,  which  I  conceive  to  be  the  best,  is  also  there  described.  And,  in  the  Gram- 

M559419 


IV  PREFACE. 

mar  itself,  there  will  be  found  occasional  directions  concerning  the  manner  of  its  use.  I 
have  hoped  to  facilitate  the  study  of  the  English  language,  not  by  abridging  our  grammat- 
ical code,  or  by  rejecting  the  common  phraseology  of  its  doctrines,  but  by  extending  the 
former,  improving  the  latter,  and  establishing  both ; — but  still  more,  by"  furnishing  new 
illustrations  of  the  subject,  and  arranging  its  vast  number  of  particulars  in  such  order  that 
every  item  may  be  readily  found. 

An  other  important  purpose,  which,  in  the  preparation  of  this  work,  has  been  borne  con- 
stantly in  mind,  and  judged  worthy  of  very  particular  attention,  was  the  attempt  to  settle, 
so  far  as  the  most  patient  investigation  and  the  fullest  exhibition  of  proofs  could  do  it,  the 
multitudinous  and  vexatious  disputes  which  have  hitherto  divided  the  sentiments  of  teachers, 
and  made  the  study  of  English  grammar  so  uninviting,  unsatisfactory,  and  unprofitable,  to 
the  student  whose  taste  demands  a  reasonable  degree  of  certainty. 

"  Whenever  labour  implies  the  exertion  of  thought,  it  does  good,  at  least  to  the  strong  : 
when  the  saving  of  labour  is  a  saving  of  thought,  it  enfeebles.  The  mind,  like  the  body, 
is  strengthened  by  hard  exercise :  but,  to  give  this  exercise  all  its  salutary  effect,  it  should 
be  of  a  reasonable  kind  ;  it  should  lead  us  to  the  perception  of  regularity,  of  order,  of  prin- 
ciple, of  a  law.  When,  after  all  the  trouble  we  have  taken,  we  merely  find  anomalies  and 
confusion,  we  are  disgusted  with  what  is  so  uncongenial :  and,  as  our  higher  faculties  have 
not  been  called  into  action,  they  are  not  unlikely  to  be  outgrown  by  the  lower,  and  over- 
borne as  it  were  by  the  underwood  of  our  minds.  Hence,  no  doubt,  one  of  the  reasons  why 
our  language  has  been  so  much  neglected,  and  why  such  scandalous  ignorance  prevails  con- 
cerning its  nature  and  history,  is  its  unattractive,  disheartening  irregularity  :  none  but  Satan 
is  fond  of  plunging  into  chaos." — Philological  Museum,  (Cambridge,  Eng.,  1832,)  Vol.  i,  p.  666. 

If  there  be  any  remedy  for  the  neglect  and  ignorance  here  spoken  of,  it  must  be  found 
in  the  more  effectual  teaching  of  English  grammar.  But  the  principles  of  grammar  can 
never  have  any  beneficial  influence  over  any  person's  manner  of  speaking  or  writing,  till  by 
some  process  they  are  made  so  perfectly  familiar,  that  he  can  apply  them  with  all  the 
readiness  of  a  native  power  ;  that  is,  till  he  can  apply  them  not  only  to  what  has  been  said 
or  written,  but  to  whatever  he  is  about  to  utter.  They  must  present  themselves  to  the 
mind  as  by  intuition,  and  with  the  quickness  of  thought ;  so  as  to  regulate  his  language 
before  it  proceeds  from  the  lips  or  the  pen.  If  they  come  only  by  tardy  recollection,  or  are 
called  to  mind  but  as  contingent  after-thoughts,  they  are  altogether  too  late  ;  and  serve 
merely  to  mortify  the  speaker  or  writer,  by  reminding  him  of  some  deficiency  or  inaccuracy 
which  there  may  then  be  no  chance  to  amend. 

But  how  shall,  or  can,  this  readiness  be  acquired?  I  answer,  By  a  careful  attention  to 
such  exercises  as  are  fitted  to  bring  the  learner's  knowledge  into  practice.  The  student  will 
therefore  find,  that  I  have  given  him  something  to  do,  as  well  as  something  to  learn.  But, 
by  the  formules  and  directions  in  this  work,  he  is  very  carefully  shown  how  to  proceed  ; 
and,  if  he  be  a  tolerable  reader,  it  will  be  his  own  fault,  if  he  does  not,  by  such  aid,  become 
a  tolerable  grammarian.  The  chief  of  these  exercises  are  the  parsing  of  what  is  right,  and 
the  correcting  of  what  is  wrong  ;  both,  perhaps,  equally  important ;  and  I  have  intended  to 
make  them  equally  easy.  To  any  real  proficient  in  grammar,  nothing  can  be  more  free 
from  embarrassment,  than  the  performance  of  these  exercises,  in  all  ordinary  cases.  For 
grammar,  rightly  learned,  institutes  in  the  mind  a  certain  knowledge,  or  process  of  thought, 
concerning  the  sorts,  properties,  and  relations,  of  all  the  words  which  can  be  presented  in 
any  intelligible  sentence  ;  and,  with  the  initiated,  a  perception  of  the  construction  will 
always  instantly  follow  or  accompany  a  discovery  of  the  sense  :  and  instantly,  too,  should 
there  be  a  perception  of  the  error,  if  any  of  the  words  are  misspelled,  misjoined,  misapplied, 
— or  are,  in  any  way,  unfaithful  to  the  sense  intended. 

Thus  it  is  the  great  end  of  grammar,  to  secure  the  power  of  apt  expression,  by  causing 
the  principles  on  which  language  is  constructed,  if  not  to  be  constantly  present  to  the 
mind,  at  least  to  pass  through  it  more  rapidly  than  either  pen  or  voice  can  utter  words. 
And  where  this  .power  resides,  there  cannot  but  be  a  proportionate  degree  of  critical  skill, 
or  of  ability  to  judge  of  the  language  of  others.  Present  what  you  will,  grammar  directs 
the  mind  immediately  to  a  consideration  of  the  sense ;  and,  if  properly  taught,  always 
creates  a  discriminating  taste  which  is  not  less  offended  by  specious  absurdities,  than  by 
the  common  blunders  of  clownishness.  Every  one  who  has  any  pretensions  to  this  art,  knows 
that,  to  parse  a  sentence,  is  but  to  resolve  it  according  to  one's  understanding  of  its  import ; 
and  it  is  equally  clear,  that  the  power  to  correct  an  erroneous  passage,  usually  demands  or 
implies  a  knowledge  of  the  author's  thought. 

But,  if  parsing  and  correcting  are  of  so  great  practical  importance  as  our  first  mention  of 
them  suggests,  it  may  be  well  to  be  more  explicit  here  concerning  them.  The  pupil  who 
cannot  perform  these  exercises  both  accurately  and  fluently,  is  not  truly  prepared  to  per- 
form them  at  all,  and  has  no  right  to  expect  from  any  body  a  patient  hearing.  A  slow  and 
faltering  rehearsal  of  words  clearly  prescribed,  yet  neither  fairly  remembered  nor  under- 
standingly  applied,  is  as  foreign  from  parsing  or  correcting,  as  it  is  from  elegance  of  diction, 
Divide  and  conquer,  is  the  rule  here,  as  in  many  other  cases.  Begin  with  what  is  simple  ; 


PREFACE.  V 

practise  it  till  it  becomes  familiar  ;  and  then  proceed.  No  child  ever  learned  to  speak  by 
any  other  process.  Hard  things  become  easy  by  use  ;  and  skill  is  gained  by  little  and  little. 

Of  the  whole  method  of  parsing,  it  should  be  understood,  that  it  is  to  be  a  critical  exer- 
cise in  utterance,  as  well  as  an  evidence  of  previous  study, — an  exhibition  of  the  learner's 
attainments  in  the  practice,  as  well  as  in  the  theory,  of  grammar  ;  and  that,  in  any  toler- 
able performance  of  this  exercise,  there  must  be  an  exact  adherence  to  the  truth  of  facts, 
as  they  occur  in  the  example,  and  to  the  forms  of  expression,  -which  are  prescribed  as 
models,  in  the  book.  For  parsing  is,  in  no  degree,  a  work  of  invention ;  but  wholly  an 
exercise,  an  exertion  of  skill.  It  is,  indeed,  an  exercise  for  all  the  powers  of  the  mind,  ex- 
cept the  inventive  faculty.  Perception,  judgement,  reasoning,  memory,  and  method,  are 
indispensable  to  the  performance.  Nothing  is  to  be  guessed  at,  or  devised,  or  uttered  at 
random.  If  the  learner  can  but  rehearse  the  necessary  definitions  and  rules,  and  perform 
the  simplest  exercise  of  judgement  in  their  application,  he  cannot  but  perceive  what  he 
must  say  in  order  to  speak  the  truth  in  parsing.  His  principal  difficulty  is  in  determining 
the  parts  of  speech.  To  lessen  this,  the  trial  should  commence  with  easy  sentences,  also 
with  few  of  the  definitions,  and  with  definitions  that  have  been  perfectly  learned.  This 
difficulty  being  surmounted,  let  him  follow  the  forms  prescribed  for  the  several  praxes  of 
this  work,  and  he  shall  not  err.  The  directions  and  examples  given  at  the  head  of  each 
exercise,  will  show  him  exactly  the  number,  the  order,  and  the  proper  phraseology,  of  the 
particulars  to  be  stated;  so  that  he  may  go  through  the  explanation  with  every  advantage 
which  a  book  can  afford.  Tacre  is  no  hope  of  him  whom  these  aids  will  not  save  from 
"  plunging  into  chaos." 

"  Of  all  the  works  of  man,  language  is  the  most  enduring,  and  partakes  the  most  of  eter- 
nity. And,  as  our  own  language,  so  far  as  thought  can  project  itself  into  the  future,  seems 
likely  to  be  coeval  with  the  world,  and  to  spread  vastly  beyond  even  its  present  immeas- 
urable limits,  there  cannot  easily  be  a  nobler  object  of  ambition  than  to  purify  and  better 
it." — Philological  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p.  665. 

It  was  some  ambition  of  the  kind  here  meant,  awakened  by  a  discovery  of  the  scandal- 
ous errors  and  defects  which  abound  in  all  our  common  English  grammars,  that  prompted 
me  to  undertake  the  present  work.  Now,  by  the  bettering  of  a  language,  I  understand 
little  else  than  the  extensive  teaching  of  its  just  forms,  according  to  analogy  and  the  general 
custom  of  the  most  accurate  writers.  This  teaching,  however,  may  well  embrace  also,  or 
be  combined  with,  an  exposition  of  the  various  forms  of  false  grammar  by  which  inaccurate 
•writers  have  corrupted,  if  not  the  language  itself,  at  least  their  own  style  in  it. 

With  respect  to  our  present  English,  I  know  not  whether  any  other  improvement  of  it 
ought  to  be  attempted,  than  the  avoiding  and  correcting  of  those  improprieties  and  unwar- 
rantable anomalies  by  which  carelessness,  ignorance,  and. affectation,  are  ever  tending  to 
debase  it,  and  the  careful  teaching  of  its  true  grammar,  according  to  its  real  importance  in 
education.  What  further  amendment  is  feasible,  or  is  worthy  to  engage  attention,  I  will 
not  pretend  to  say  ;  nor  do  I  claim  to  have  been  competent  to  so  much  as  was  manifestly 
desirable  within  these  limits.  But  what  I  lacked  in  ability,  I  have  endeavoured  to  supply 
by  diligence  ;  and  what  I  could  conveniently  strengthen  by  better  authority  than  my  own, 
I  have  not  failed  to  support  with  all  that  was  due,  of  names,  guillemots,  and  references. 

Like  every  other  grammarian,  I  stake  my  reputation  as  an  author,  upon  "  a  certain  set 
of  opinions,"  and  a  certain  manner  of  exhibiting  them,  appealing  to  the  good  sense  of  my 
readers  for  the  correctness  of  both.  All  contrary  doctrines  are  unavoidably  censured  by 
him  who  attempt?  to  sustain  his  own  ;  but,  to  grammatical  censures,  no  more  importance 
ought  to  be  attached  than  what  belongs  to  grammar  itself.  He  who  cares  not  to  be  ac- 
curate in  the  use  of  language,  is  inconsistent  with  himself,  if  he  be  offended  at  verbal  criti- 
cism ;  and  he  who  is  displeased  at  finding  his  opinions  rejected,  is  equally  so,  if  he  cannot 
prove  them  to  be  well  founded.  It  is  only  in  cases  susceptible  of  a  rule,  that  any  writer 
can  be  judged  deficient.  I  can  censure  no  man  for  differing  from  me,  till  I  can  show  him 
a  principle  which  he  ought  to  follow.  According  to  Lord  Kames,  the  standard  of  taste, 
both  in  arts  and  in  manners,  is  "  the  common  sense  of  mankind,"  a  principle  founded  in 
the  universal  c  eviction  of  a  common  nature  in  our  species.  (See  Elements  of  Criticism, 
Chap,  xxv,  Vol.  ii,  p.  3  >J.)  If  this  is  so,  the  doctrine  applies  to  grammar  as  fully  as  to 
any  thing  about  whio.h  criticism  may  concern  itself. 

But,  to  the  discerning  student  or  teacher,  I  owe  an  apology  for  the  abundant  condescen- 
sion with  which  I  have  noticed  in  this  volume  the  works  of  unskillful  grammarians.  For 
men  of  sense  have  no  natural  inclination  to  dwell  upon  palpable  offences  against  taste  and 
scholarship ;  nor  can  they  be  easily  persuaded  to  approve  the  course  of  an  author  who 
makes  it  his  business  to  criticise  petty  productions.  And  is  it  not  a  fact,  that  grammatical 
authorship  has  sunk  so  low,  that  no  man  who  is  capable  of  perceiving  its  multitudinous 
errors,  dares  now  stoop  to  notice  the  most  flagrant  of  its  abuses,  or  the  most  successful  of 
its  abusers  ?  And,  of  the  quackery  which  is  now  so  prevalent,  what  can  be  a  more  natural 
effect,  than  a  very  general  contempt  for  the  study  of  grammar  ?  My  apology  to  the  reader 
therefore  is,  that,  a-j  the  honour  of  our  language  demands  correctness  in  all  the  manuals 


VI  PREFACE. 

prepared  for  schools,  a  just  exposition  of  any  that  are  lacking  in  this  point,  is  a  service  due 
to  the  study  of  English  grammar,  if  not  to  the  authors  in  question. 

The  exposition,  however,  that  I  have  made  of  the  errors  and  defects  of  other  writers,  is 
only  an  incident,  or  underpart,  of  the  scheme  of  this  treatise.  Nor  have  I  anywhere  ex- 
hibited blunders  as  one  that  takes  delight  in  their  discovery.  My  main  design  has  been,  to 
prepare  a  work  which,  by  its  own  completeness  and  excellence,  should  deserve  the  title 
here  chosen.  But,  a  comprehensive  code  of  false  grammar  being  confessedly  the  most  ef- 
fectual means  of  teaching  what  is  true,  I  have  thought  fit  to  supply  this  portion  of  my 
book,  not  from  anonymous  or  uncertain  sources,  but  from  the  actual  text  of  other  authors, 
and  chiefly  from  the  works  of  professed  grammarians. 

"  In  what  regards  the  laws  of  grammatical  purity,"  says  Dr.  Campbell,  "  the  violation  is 
much  more  conspicuous  than  the  observance." — See  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric,  p.  190.  It  there- 
fore falls  in  with  my  main  purpose,  to  present  to  the  public,  in  the  following  ample  work, 
a  condensed  mass  of  special  criticisms,  such  as  is  not  elsewhere  to  be  found  in  any  language. 
And,  if  the  littleness  of  the  particulars  to  which  the  learner's  attention  is  called,  be  reck- 
oned an  objection,  the  author  last  quoted  has  furnished  for  me,  as  well  as  for  himself,  a  good 
apology.  "  The  elements  which  enter  into  the  composition  of  the  hugest  bodies,  are  sub- 
tile and  inconsiderable.  The  rudiments  of  every  art  and  science  exhibit  at  first,  to  the 
learner,  the  appearance  of  littleness  and  insignificancy.  And  it  is  by  attending  to  such  re- 
flections, as  to  a  superficial  observer  would  appear  minute  and  hypercritical,  that  language 
must  be  improved,  and  eloquence  perfected." — Ib.  p.  244. 

GOOLD  BROWN. 

LYNN,  MASS.,  1851. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Chapter  I.— Of  the  Science  of  Gram- 
mar : 

Chapter  II. — Of  Grammatical  Authorship  ; 

Chapter  III. — Of  Grammatical  Success 
and  Fame ; 

Chapter  IV. — Of  the  Origin  of  Language  ; 

Chapter  V. — Of  the  Power  of  Language  ; 

Chapter  VI.— Of  the  Origin  and  History 
ofthe  English  Language ;  .  .  .  . 


PAGE. 

1. 
11. 

20. 
37. 
46. 

56. 


PAGE. 
Chapter  VII.— Changes  and  Specimens  of 

the  English  Language; 63. 

Chapter  VIII.  —  Of  the  Grammatical 

Study  of  the  English  Language  ;  .  76. 
Chapter  IX.— Of  the  Best  Method  of 

Teaching  Grammar; 8-5! 

Chapter  X. — Of  Grammatical  Definitions  ;  99. 
Chapter  XI.  —  Brief  Notices  of  the 

Schemes  of  certain  Grammars ;     .     .     114. 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 

Introductory  Definitions,  and  General  Divison  of  the  Subject; 


PART  I.  — ORTHOGRAPHY. 


Chapter  I.— Of  Letters;     .     .     .  . 

I.  Names  of  the  Letters ;     .     .  . 

II.  Classes   of  the  Letters ;     .  . 

III.  Powers  of  the  Letters;     .  . 

IV.  Forms  of  the  Letters;     .  . 
Rules  for  the  use  of  Capitals  ;    .  . 
Errors  concerning  Capitals  ;     .  . 
Promiscuous  Errors  of  Capitals  ; 

Chapter  II.— Of  Syllables;     .     .  . 

Diphthongs  and  Triphthongs  ;  . 

Rules   for  Syllabication;     .     .  . 

Observations  on  Syllabication  ;  . 

Errors  concerning  Syllables ;     .  . 


134. 
136. 
141. 
14o. 
152. 
1,53. 
161. 
167. 
169. 
169. 
170. 
170. 
173. 


Chapter    III.— Of    Words; 

Rules  for  the  Figure  of  Words ; 

Observations   on  Figure  of  Words ;     . 

On  the  Identity  of  Words;     .... 

Errors   concerning   Figure ;    .     .     .     . 

Promiscuous  Errors  in  Figure ;  .  .  . 
Chapter  IV.— Of  Spelling; 

Rules  for  Spelling; 

Observations    on   Spelling ;     .     .     .     . 

Errors  in  Spelling  ; 

Promiscuous  Errors  in  Spelling  ;  .  . 
Chapter  V. — Questions  on  Orthography  ; 
Chapter  VI.— Exercises  for  Writing ;  . 


PART  II.  — ETYMOLOGY. 


Introductory  Definitions; 213. 

Chapter  I  —Of  the  Parts  of  Speech  213. 

Observations  on  Parts  of  Speech  ;  214. 

Examples  for  Parsing,  1'r.ixis  I ;  216. 

Chapter  II.— Of  the  Articles;  .  .  218. 

Observations  on  the  Articles ;     .  219. 

Examples  for  Parsing,  Praxis  II;  225. 

Errors  concerning  Articles;  .  .  227. 

Chapter  III.— Of  Nouns; 230. 

Classes   of    Nouns; 231. 

Modifications  of  Nouns; 231. 

Persons; 231. 

Numbers;  233 

Genders; 214. 

Cases; 217. 

The  Declension   of  Nouns;     ....  253. 

>'\:imples  for   I'iirsinz,    Praxis  III;     .  2o3. 

Errors  concerning  Nouns ;  .  .  .  .  2-55. 

Chapter  IV.— Of  Adjectives;  ....  2)7. 

Classes  of  Adjectives  ; 2->8. 

Modifications  of  Adjectives;     .     .     ,     .  26-5. 


Regular   Comparison ;     .     .     .     . 
Comparison  by  Adverbs  ;     .     .     . 
Irregular  Comparison  ;     .     .     . 
Examples  for  Parsing,  Praxis  IV  ; 
Errors  concerning  Adjectives  ; 
Chapter  V. — Of  Pronouns;     .     .     . 
Classes  of  the  Pronouns ;     .     .     . 
Modifications  of  the  Pronouns;    . 
The  Declension  of  Pronouns; 
Examples  for  Parsing,  Praxis  V  ;     . 
Errors  concerning  Pronouns; 
Chapter  VI.— Of  Verbs  ;     .     .     .     . 

Clis-os  of  Verbs  ;          

Modifications  of  Verbs  ;  .     .     .     . 

Moods;        

Tenses  ; 

Persons  and  Numbers ;     .      .     . 
The  Conjugation  of  Verbs  ;      .     . 
I.  Simple  Form,  Active  or   Neuter 
First  Kxumple,  the  verb  LOVE  ; 
Second   Example,  the   verb  SEE  ; 


131. 


174. 
17o. 

176. 
177. 
179. 
182. 
184. 
184. 
188. 
19-5. 
203. 
204. 
206. 


271. 
271. 
273. 
277. 
280. 
282. 
284. 
294. 
296. 
311. 
314. 
316. 
316. 
322. 
322. 
326. 
328. 
344. 
349. 
349. 
353. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Third  Example,  the  verb  BE;     .     .     .  355. 

'•;    II.  Compound  or  Progressive  Form  ;     .  358. 

Fourth  Example,  to  BE  READING ;  358. 

Observations  on  Compound  Forms  ;       .  360. 

III.  Form  of  Passive  Verbs ;    .     .    .     .  368. 
Fifth  Example,  to  BE  LOVED;     .     .  368. 

IV.  Form  of  Negation  ;       370. 

V.  Form  of  Question  ; 371. 

VI.  Form  of  Question  with  Negation;  371. 
Irregular  Verbs,  with  Obs.  and  List ;     .  373. 
Redundant  Verbs  with  Obs.  and  List ;  377. 
Defective  Verbs,  with  Obs.  and  List ;    .  383. 
Examples  for  Parsing,  Praxis  VI ;.     .  385. 
Errors  concerning  Verbs  ; 388. 

Chapter  VII.— Of  Participles ;    .     .     .     .  390. 

Classes  of  Participles; 3  «2. 

Examples  for  Parsing,   Praxis  VII ;     .  397. 

Errors  concerning  Participles ;    .     .     .  399. 

Chapter  VIII.— Of  Adverbs  ;      .     .     .     .  401. 


PAGE. 

Classes  of  Adverbs; 402. 

Modification  of  Adverbs  ; 405. 

Examples  for  Parsing,  Praxis  VIII  ;     .  407. 

Errors  concerning  Adverbs  ;  .  .  .  .  409. 

Chapter  IX.— Of  Conjunctions ;  .  .  .  409. 

Classes  of  Conjunctions  ; 411. 

List  of  the  Conjunctions  ; 411. 

Examples  for  Parsing,  Praxis  IX;     .     .  413. 

Errors  concerning  Conjunctions  ;  .  .  415. 

Chapter  X.— Of  Prepositions  ;  .  .  .  .  416. 

List  of  the  Prepositions  ;    .     .     .     .     .  421. 

Examples  for  Parsing,  Praxis  X  ;     .     .  424. 

Errors  concerning  Prepositions ;  .  .  .  426. 

Chapter  XL— Of  Interjections  ;  .  .  .  .  427. 

List  of  the  Interjections;     .....  428. 

Examples  for  Parsing,  Praxis  XI  ;.     .  429. 

Errors  concerning  Interjections ;  .  .  431. 
Chapter  XII. — Questions  on  Orthography;  431. 

Chapter  XIII.— Exercises  for  Writing;  .  436. 


PART  III.  — SYNTAX. 


Introductory  Definitions ;        .... 
Chapter  I. — Of  Sentences;       .... 

The  Rules  of  Syntax  ; 

General  or  Critical  Obs.  on  Syntax  ; 
The  Analyzing   of  Sentences^    . 
The  several  Methods  of  Analysis  ; 

Observations  on  Methods  of  Analysis  ; 
*  Examples  for  Parsing,  Praxis  XII 
Chapter  II.— Of  the  Articles ;     .     . 

Rule  I.— Syntax  of  Articles  ;     .     . 

Observations  on  Rule  I ;     .     .     . 
Notes  to  Rule  I ;  17  of  them  ;     . 

False  Syntax  under  Notes  to  Rule  I 
Chapter  III.— Of  Cases,  or  Nouns  ; 

Rule  II. — Of  Nominatives  ;     .     . 

Observations  on  Rule  II ;     ... 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  II ;     . 

Rule   III.— Of  Apposition;     .     . 

Observations  on   Rule   III ;     .     . 

False  Synax  under  Rule   III;     . 

Rule  IV. — Of  Possessives  ;     .     . 

Observations  on  Rule  IV; 

Notes  to  Rule  IV  ;  5  of  them  ;     .     .     . 

False  Syntax  under  Notes  to  Rule  IV  ; 

Rule   v.— Of  Objectives  after  Verbs; 

Observations  on  Rule  V ; 

Notes  to  Rule  V ;  8  of  them ;     .     .     . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  V  ;     .     ,     .     . 

Rule  VI.— Of  Same  Cases;     .     .     .     . 

Observations   on    Rule  VI ;     .... 

Notes  to  Rule  VI ;  2  of  them ;     ,     .     . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  VI  ;     .     .     . 

Rule  VII.— Of    Objectives  after  Prep- 
ositions ; 

Observations  on  Rule  VII ;     .     .     .     . 

Note  to   Rule   VII;  1   only;       .     .     . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  VII;     .     .     . 

Rule  VIII. — Of  Nominatives  Absolute ; 

Observations  on  Rule  VIII ;    .     .     .     . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  VIII;  .     .     . 
Chapter  IV.— Of  Adjectives; 

Rule  IX.— Of  Adjectives  ; 

Observations  on  Rule  IX  ; 

Notes  to  Rule  IX;  16  of  them;  .     .     . 

False  Svntax  under  Rule  IX  ;      .     .     . 
Chapter  V.— Of  Pronouns  ; 

Rule  X.— Pronoun  and  Antecedent ;    . 

Observations  on  Rule  X  ; 

Notes  to  Rule  X;  16  of  them;     .     .     . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  X  ;    .     .     .     . 

Rule XI. — Pronoun  &  Collective  Noun; 

Observations  on  Rule  XI ; 

Notes  to  Rule  XI ;  2  of  them  ;     .     .     . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XI ;      .     .     . 

Rule  XII. — Pronoun  after  AND  ; .    .     . 


439. 
439. 
440. 
441. 
449. 
450. 
452. 
45.1 
462. 
462. 
463. 
466. 
468. 
473. 
473. 
474. 
476. 
477. 
477. 
481. 
482. 
482. 
492. 
493. 
495. 
495. 
500. 
501. 
504. 
504. 
507. 
508. 

510. 
510. 
512. 
513. 
513. 
514. 
516. 
516. 
516. 
517. 
520. 
522. 
527. 
527. 
528. 
533. 
535. 
541. 
541. 
542. 
542. 
543. 


Observations  on  Rule  XII ;      .     .     .  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XII;     .     .  . 

Rule  XIII. — Pronoun  after  OR  or  NOR  ; 

Observations  on  Rule  XIII ;    .     .    .  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XIII ;  .  .  . 

Chapter  VI.— Of  Verbs  ; 

Rule  XIV. — Verb  and  Nominative ;  . 

Observations  on  Rule  XIV ;     .     .     .  . 

Notes  to  Rule  XIV;  10  of  them;     .  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XIV  ;   .     .  . 

Rule  XV.— Verb  and  Collective  Noun; 

Observations  on  Rule  XV  ; 

Note  to  Rule  X V ;   1   only;     .     .     .  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XV  ;     .     .  . 

Rule  XVI.— The  Verb  after  AND  ;    .  . 

Observations-on  Rule  XVI ;     .     .     .  . 

Notes  to  Rule  XVI ;  7  of  them  ;      .  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XVI ;  .     .  . 

Rule  XVII.— The  Verb  with  OR  or 
NOR; 

Observations  on  Rule  XVII ;  .    .     .  . 

Notes  to  Rule  XVII ;  15  of  them  ;  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XVII ;      .  . 

Rule  XV III. —Of  Infinitives  with  To  ; 

Observations  on  Rule  XVIII ;      .     .  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XVIII ;    .  . 

Rule  XIX.— Of  Infinitives  without  To; 

Observations  on  Rule  XIX ;    .     .     .  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XIX;  .  .  . 

Chapter  VII.— Of  Participles;  .  .  .  . 

Rule  XX.— Syntax  of  Participles  ;  .  . 

Observations  on  Rule  XX  ;      .     .     .  . 

Notes  to  Rule  XX  ;  13  of  them  ;     .  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XX  ;  .  .  . 

Chapter  VIII.— Of  Adverbs ;  .  .  .  . 

Rule  XXL— Relation  of  Adverbs;  .  . 

Observations  on  Rule  XXI ;    .     .     .  . 

Notes  to  Rule  XXI ;  10  of  them  ;    .  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XXI;  .  .  . 

Chapter  IX. — Of  Conjunctions  ;  .  .  . 

Rule  XXII. — Use  of  Conjunctions;  . 

Observations  on  Rule  XXII ;  .     .     .  . 

Notes  to  Rule  XXII;  8  of  them;    .  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XXII ;  .  . 

Chapter  X.— Of  Prepositions ;  .  .  .  . 

Rule  XXIIL— Use  of  Prepositions  ;  . 

Observations  on  Rule  XXIII ;      .     .  . 

Notes  to  Rule  XXIII  ;  5  of  them  ;  .  . 

False  Syntax  under  Rule  XXIII ;  .  . 

Chapter  XI. — Of  Interjections  ;.  .  .  . 

Rule  XXIV.— For  Interjections;     .  . 

Observations  on  Rule  XXIV ;      .     .  . 

False  Syntax  Promiscuous ;     .     .     .  . 

Examples  for  Parsing,  Praxis  XIII ;  . 

Chapter  XII.  —  General  Review;  .  . 


543. 
644. 
544. 
544. 
545. 
546. 
546. 
546. 
55L 
553. 
560. 
560. 
563. 
563. 
564. 
565. 
670. 
571. 

575. 
575. 
579. 
581. 
587- 
587. 
596. 
597. 
597- 
603. 
603, 
603. 
604. 
619. 
621. 
628. 
628. 
629. 
636. 
637- 
639. 
640. 
640. 
646. 
648. 
651. 
651. 
651. 
655. 
656. 
658. 
659. 
659. 
664. 
667- 
672. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


IX 


False  Syntax  for  a  General  Review; 
Chapter  X  III.— General  Rule  of  Syntax  ; 
Critical  Notes  to  the  General  Rule ; 
General  Observations  on  the  Syntax  ;  . 
False  .Syntax  under  the  General  Rule ; 


TAGE. 
673. 
687. 
687. 

690. 


False  Syntax  under  the  Critical  Notes  ; 

Promiscuous  Examples  of  False  Syn- 
tax ; 

Chapter  XtV. — Questions  on  Syntax; 
Chapter  XV.— Exercises  for  Writing  ;      . 


PA  OR. 
702. 

718. 
722. 
732. 


PART  IV.— PROSODY. 


Introductory  Definition  and  Obs. ;   .     .     .  742 

Chapter  I.— Punctuation  ; 743. 

Obs.  on  Pauses,  Points,  Names,  &c.  ;  .  743. 

Section  I. — The  Convna  ;  its  17  Rules  ;  74f>. 

Errors  concerning  the  Comma  ;    .     .     .  7 •">  ' 

Section  II. — Tne  Semicolon  ;  its  3  Rules ;  7-53. 

Errors  concerning  the  Semicolon ;     .     .  759. 

Mixed  Examples  of  Error ;     .     .     .     .  761. 

Section  III.— The  Colon  ;  its  3  Rules  ;  760. 

Errors  concerning  the  Colon;  .     .     .     .  761. 

Mixed  Examples  of  Error;      ....  762. 

Section  IV.— The  Period  ;  its  3  Rules  ;  763. 

Observations  on  the  Period;     ....  763. 

Errors  concerning  the  Period ;      .     .     .  76-). 

Mixed  Examples  of  Error; 766. 

Section  V.— The  Dash  ;  its  3  Rules  ;    .  766. 

Observations  on  the  Dash  ;       ....  767. 

Errors  concerning  the  Dash ;  .     .     .     .  767. 

Mixed  Examples  of  Error  ; 768. 

Section  VI.— The  Eroteme ;  its  3  Rules ;  768. 

Observations  on  the  Eroteme ;      .     .     .  769. 

Errors  concerning  the  Eroteme  ;  .     .     .  770. 

Mixed  Examples  of  Error  ; 770. 

Section    VII.— The    Ecphoneme;     its 

3  Rules  ; 771. 

Errors  concerning  the  Ecphoneme;      .  771. 

Mixed  Examples  of  Error; 772 

Section  VIII.— The  Curves  ;  and  their 

2  Rules ; 773. 

Errors  concerning  the  Curves ;     .     .     .  773. 

Mixed  Examples  of  Error  ; 77 1. 

Section  IX.— The  Other  Marks  ;  .     .     .  774. 

Mixed  Examples  of  Error; 776. 

Bad  English  Badly  Pointed;    ....  777. 

Chapter  1 1.— Of  Utterance; 779. 

Section  I.— Of  Articulation;    ....  779. 

Article  I.— Of  the  Definition  :.     .     .  779. 

Article  IT.— Of  Good  Articulation  ;  .  779. 

Section  II.— Of  Pronunciation;    .    .     .  780. 


Article  I. — Powers  of  Letters;  .    .     . 
Article  I  [.—Of  Quantity  ;      .     .     .     . 

Article  III— Of  Accent; 

Section  IK.— Of  Elocution;     .     .     .     . 
Article  I. — Of  Emphasis ;     .     .     .     . 

Article  II.— Of  Pauses; 

Article  III.— Of  Inflections;     .     .     . 

Article  IV.— Of  Tones  ; 

Chapter  III.— Of  Figures; 

Section  I. — Figures  of  Orthography ;  . 
Section  II. — Figures  of  Etymology  ;  . 
Section  III. — Figures  of  Syntax  ;  .  . 
Section  IV. — Figures  of  Rhetoric  ;  .  . 
Section  V. — Exam,  for  Parsing,  Praxis 

XIV; f    .     .     . 

Chapter  IV.— Of  Versification ;  .     .     .     . 

Section!.— Of  Verse; 

Definitions  and  Principles;       .     .     .     . 

Observations  on  Verse  ; 

Section  II  —Of  Accent  and  Quantity , . 
Section  III.— Of  Poetic  Feet;     .     .     . 
Critical  Observations  on  Theories  ;    .     . 
Section  IV.— Of  the  Kinds  of  Verse  .    . 
Order  I. — Iambic  Verse  ;  its  8  Measures ; 
Order"  II.— Trochaic  Verse  ;  its  Nature  ;  . 
Observations  on  Trochaic  Metre  ;     .     . 
Trochaics  shown  in  their  8  Measures  ; . 
Order  III. — Anapestic  Verse ;  its  4  Meas- 
ures ;       

Observations  on  the  Short  Anapestics  ; 
Order  IV.— Dactylic  Verse ;  its  8  Meas- 
ures ; 

Observations  on  Dactylics ; 

Order  V. — Composite  Verse; 

Observations  on  Composites ;  .     .     .     . 
Section  V. — Improprieties  for  Correc- 
tion ; 

Chapter  V. — Questions  on  Prosody  ;    .     . 
Chapter  VI.— Exercises  for  Writing;  .     . 


780. 
780. 
781. 
782. 
782. 
782. 
78-3. 
784. 
785. 
785. 
783. 
786. 
790. 

793. 
798. 
798. 
798. 
799. 
801. 
812. 
814. 
822. 
823. 
833. 
834. 
835. 

847. 
852. 

8,52. 
855. 
857. 
853. 

862. 
86*. 
867. 


KEY    TO    THE    ORAL    EXERCISES. 

THE  KEY. -PART  I. -ORTHOGRAPHY. 


Chapter  I—  Of  Letters;— Capitals  ;     .    .  875. 

Corrections  un  ier  each  of  the  16  Rules  ;  875. 

Promiscuous  corrections  of  Capitals  ;  .  879. 

Chapter  II.— Of  Syllables; 881. 

Corrections  of  False  Syllabication  ;  .  .  881. 

Chapter  III.— Of  the  Fig'ure  of  Words  ;  .  881. 


Corrections  under  each  of  the  6  Rules ;  881. 

Promiscuous  corrections  of  Figure ;     .  883. 

Chapter  IV.— Of  Spelling  ; 881. 

Corrections  under  each  of  the  15  R-iles ;  884. 

Promiscuous  corrections  of  Spelling ;  .  889. 


THE  KEY.  — PART  II.  — ETYMOLOGY. 


Chapter  I.— Of  the  Parts  of  Speech ;    .    .  890. 

Remark  concerning  False  Etymology  ;  890. 

Chapter  II.— Of  Articles;  5  Lessons; .'   .  899. 

Chapter  III. — Of  Nouns;  3  Lessons;  .     .  892. 

Chapter  IV.— Of  Adjectives;  3  Lessons;  894. 

Chapter  V. — Of  Pronouns;  3  Lesson*;  .  895. 


Chapter  VI.— Of  Verbs ;  3  Lessons  ;  .  . 
Chapter  VII. — Of  Participles;  3  Lensons; 
Chapter  VIII.— Of  A  Iverbs;  1  Lesson;  . 
Chapter  IX. — Of  Conjunctions  ;  1  Lesson  ; 
Chapter  X. — Of  Prepositions;  1  Lesson; 
Chapter  XI.— Of  Interjections ;  1  Lesson ; 


Chapter  I.— Of  Sentences  ;  Remark  ;     .    . 
Chapter     II.— Of    Article.— Corrections 

under  the   I"  Notes  to  Rule   I  ;     . 
Chapter  III. — Of  Cases,  or  Nouns  ; 

Cor.  under  Rule  II  ;  of  Nominatives  ; 

Cor.  under  Rule  III ;  of  Apposition  ; 

Cor.  under  Rule  IV;  of  Posse*- 

Cor.  under  Rule  V  ;  of  Objectives  ;  . 


THE  KEY.  — PART  III.  — SYNTAX. 

902.       Cor.  under  Rule  VI;  of  Same  Cases;     . 
Cor.  under  Rule  VII;  of  Objectives ;    . 
Cor.  under  Rule  VIII;  of  Norn.  Abso- 
lute 


902. 
906. 


906. 
909. 


900. 
900. 
901. 


911. 
912. 

913. 


Chapter  IV. — Of  Adjectives. — Corrections 

under  the  16  Notes  to  Rules  IX  ;    .     .    913. 

Chapter  V. — Ot   Pronouns. — Corrections 

under  Rule  X  and  its  Notes ;    .     .    .    917. 


TABLE    OP    CONTENTS. 


PAGB. 

Corrections  under  Rule  XI;    of  Pro- 
nouns ; 922. 

Cor.  under  Rule  XII ;  of  Pronouns  ;     .    922. 
Cor.  under  Rule  XIII;  of  Pronouns;    .     923. 
Chapter  VI. — Of  Verbs.  — Corrections  un- 
der Rule  XIV  and  its  10  Notes  ;    .     .    923. 
Cor.  under  Rule  XV  and  its  Note  ;     .     .    928. 
Cor.  under  Rule  XVI  and  its  7  Notes  ;    929. 
Cor.  under  Rule  XVII  and  its  15  Notes  ;    931. 
Cor.  under  Rule  XVIII ;  of  Infinitives  ;     936. 
Cor.  under  Rule  XIX  ;  of  Infinitives  ;  .     936. 
Chapter    VII.— Of    Participles.— Correc- 
tions under  the  13  Notes  to  Rule  XX ;  937. 
Chapter  VIII.— Of  Adverbs.— Corrections 

under  the  10  Notes  to  Rule  XXI ;     .    942. 


Chapter  IX. — Of  Conjunctions. — Correc- 
tions under  the  8  Notes  to  Rule  XXII ;  944. 

Chapter  X. — Of  Prepositions. — Corrections 
under  the  5  Notes  to  Rule  XXIII ;     .    947. 

Chapter  XI. — Promiscuous  Exercises. — 
Corrections  of  the  3  Lessons ;  .  . 

Chapter  XII. — General  Review. — Correc- 
tions under  all  the  preceding  Rules 
and  Notes  ;  18  Lessons; 

Chapter  XIII.— General  Rule.— Correc- 
tions under  the  General  Rule ;  16 
Lessons ; 963. 

Corrections  under  the  Critical  Notes  ;      .    972. 

Promiscuous  Corrections  of  False  Syntax ; 

5  Lessons,  under  Various  Rules  ;     .    981. 


949. 


951. 


THE  KEY.  — PART  IV.  — PROSODY. 


Chapter  I. — Punctuation; 985. 

Section  I. — The  Comma;  Corrections 

under  its  17  Rules  ; 985. 

•Section  II. — The  Semicolon ;    Correc- 
tions under  its  3  Rules  ; 990. 

Mixed  Examples  Corrected ;     .     .     .     .     991. 

Section   III. — The  Colon ;  Corrections 
under  its  3  Rules  ; 991. 

Mixed  Examples  Corrected ;    .     .     .     .    992. 

Section  IV. — The  Period;   Corrections 
under  its  3  Rules  ; 992. 

Mixed  Examples  Corrected ;     .    .     .    .    993. 

Section  V.— The  Dash ;  Corrections  un- 
der its  3  Rules  ; 994. 

Mixed     Examples    Corrected ;     .     .     .    994. 

Section    VI. — The   Eroteme  ;     Correc- 
tions under  its  3  Rules  ; 994. 

Mixed  Examples  Corrected ;    .     .     .     .     995. 

Section  VII.— The  Ecphoneme;    Cor- 
rections under  its  3  Rules ;  ,  .    995. 


Mixed  Examples  Corrected ;    .     .     .     .    995. 
Section    VIII.— The   Curves ;    Correc- 
tions under  their  2  Rules  ;    .    .    .     .    996. 
Mixed  Examples  Corrected ;     .     .     .     .    996. 
Section  IX. — All  Points  ;  Corrections ;    996. 
Good  English  Rightly  Pointed  ;    .     .     .    997. 
Chapter    II.  —  Utterance ;    no    Correc- 
tions ; 999. 

Chapter    III. — Figures  ;  no  Corrections  ;    999. 
Chapter  IV.  —  Versification.  —    False 
Prosody,   or  Errors  of  Metre,    Cor- 
rected:         999. 

APPENDIX  I.— Of  the  Sounds   of  the 

Letters  ; 1001. 

APPENDIX  II.— Of  the  Derivation  of 

Words ; .     .     .     .    1010. 

APPENDIX  III.— Of  the  Qualities  of 

Style;         1021. 

APPENDIX  IV.— Of  Poetic  Diction;    1025. 


DIGESTED   CATALOGUE 

OF 

ENGLISH  GKAMMARS  AND  GRAMMARIANS, 

WITH  SOME 

COLLATERAL  WORKS  AND  AUTHORITIES, 


ESPECIALLY  SUCH  AS   ABE   CITED 


THE   GRAMMAR   OF  ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. 


ADAM,  ALEXANDER,  LL.D. ;  "  Latin  and  Eng- 
lish Grammar :"  Edinburgh,  1772;  Boston, 
1803. 

ADAMS,  JOHN  Q.,  LL.D. ;  "  Lectures  on  Rhet- 
oric and  Oratory  ;  "  2  vols.,  8vo  :  Cambridge, 
N.  E.,  1810. 

ADAMS,  Rev.  CHA"RLES,  A.  M. ;  English  Gram- 
mar; 12mo,  pp.  172:  1st  Edition,  Boston, 
1838. 

ADAMS,  DANIEL,  M.  B. ;  English  Grammar; 
12mo,  pp.  103:  3d  Edition,  Montpelier,  Vt., 
1814. 

ADAMS,  E.;  English"  Grammar  ;  18mo,pp.  143: 
Leicester,  Mass.,  1st  Ed  ,  1806;  5th  Ed.  1821. 

AICKIN,  JOSEPH  ;  English  Grammar,  8vo : 
London,  1693. 

AINSWOKTH,  ROBERT;  Latin  and  English  Dic- 
tionary, 4to:  1st  Ed.,  1736;  revised  Ed., 
Lend.,  1823. 

AINMVOKTH,  LUTHER;  English  Grammar; 
12mo,  pp.  144 :  1st  Ed.,  Providence,  R.  I., 
1837. 

AU>I:N,   ABNER,  A.    M. ;    "Grammar    Made 
;"  12mo,pp.  180:  1st  Ed.,  Boston,  1811. 

AI.DI.N,  Rev.  TIMOTHY,  Jun. ;  English  Gram- 
mar; 18mo,  pp.  36:  1st  Ed.,  Boston,  1811. 

AT.KX  VNIIKK,  CALEB,  A.  M.  ;  (1.)  "  Grammati- 
i-;il  Elements,"  published  before  1794.  (2.)  "A 
Grammatical  Institute  of  the  Latin  Lan- 
guage;" 12mo,  pp.  132:  Worcester, 

(3.)  "  A  Grammatical  System  of  the 
language;"  12mo,  pp.  96;  written 
at  Hen  Ion,  Mass..  17'.i.-,:  loth  Kd.,Keene,N. 
II.,  1S11.  Also,  (4.)  "An  Introduction  to  Lat- 
in," 1795;  and,  (5.)  "An  Introduction  to  the 
Speaking  and  Writing  of  English." 

STDBK,    S\MI  ). i.;     English     Grammar; 
18mo,  pp.  216:  4th  Edition,  London,  1832. 

vii,  Jun.,  A.  M.  ;  "Abridgment 
of  Murray's  E.  Gram.,"  &c. ;  18mo,  pp. 
I'Jii  ;  D.-ton,  1821  and  1842. 

K--V.  \VII.I.I\M,  M.  A.;  "Grammar  of 
the  English  Language,"  &c. ;  18mo  :  Lon- 
don. Also,  "  The  Elements  of  English  Gram- 
mar," &c.  ;  12nio,  pp.  4J7:  London,  1813; 
2d  Ed.,  1824. 


ALLEN  and  CORNWELL;  English    Grammar; 

18mo,  pp.  162 :  3d  Edition,  London,  1841. 
ALLEN,  D.  CAVERNO  ;  "  Grammatic  Guide,  or 

Common  School  Grammar  ;  "  12ino,  pp.  94  : 

Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  1847. 
ANDREW,  JAMES,  LL.D.;   English  Grammar; 

8vo,  pp.  129  :  London,  1817. 
ANDREWS  &  STODDARD  ;  "  A  Grammar  of  the 

Latin   Language  ;"  12mo,  pp.    323 :  Boston, 

1836;  llth  Ed.,  1845. 
ANGELL,  OLIVER,  A.  M. ;  English  Grammar ; 

12mo,  pp.  90  :  1st  Edition,  Providence,  R.  I., 

1830. 
ANGUS,  WILLIAM,  M.  A. ;  English  Grammar  ; 

12mo,  pp.  255 :  2d  Edition,   Glasgow,   Scot- 
land, 1807. 
AVON.)    "The  British   Grammar;"   8vo,   pp. 

281:    London,      (perhaps,)     1760;     Boston, 

Mass.,  1784. 
ANON.  ;  "  A  Comprehensive  Grammar,"  &c. ; 

18mo,   pp.   174:  3d    Ed.,    Philadelphia,    T. 

Dobson,  1789. 

ANON.;  "The   Comic  Grammar,"  &c. :    Lon- 
don, 1840. 
ANON.;  "The  Decoy,"  an  English   Grammar 

with   Cuts;   12mo,   pp.    33:  New    York,    S. 

Wood  &  Sons,  1820. 
ANON.;  E.   Gram.,  "By  T.  C. ;"  18mo,   pp. 

104:  London,  1843. 
ANON.;    Grammar   and   Rhetoric;    12mo,  pp. 

221 :  London,  1776. 
ANON.;  "  The  English  Tutor;"  8vo :  London, 

1747. 
ANON.;     English   Grammar,   12mo :    London, 

Boosey,  1795. 
ANON.;    English  Grammar;    ISrno,  pp.  161: 

London,  1838. 
A  NUN.;   English    Grammar;    18mo,    pp.    85: 

London,  1838. 

ANON.;  An  English   Grammar,   with  Engrav- 
ings;  18mo,  pp.  16:  London,  1820. 
ANON.;  English  Grammar,   pp.    84:     1st   Ed., 

Huddersfield,  1817- 

ANON.;  "The   Essentials   of  English    Gram- 
mar;" 18mo,  pp.  108:  3d  Edition,   London, 

1821. 


Xll 


CATALOGUE    OF    GRAMMARS   AND    GRAMMARIANS. 


ANON.;  English  Grammar;  18mo,  pp.  131: 
Albany,  N:Y.,  1819. 

ANON.  ;  '(A.  H.  Maltby  &  Co.  pub. ;)  Murray's 
Abridgement,  "  with  Additions  ;"  18mo,  pp. 
120  :  Newhaven,  Ct.,  1822. 

ANON.  ;  (James  Loring,  pub. ;)  Murray's 
Abridgement,  "with  Alterations  and  Im- 
provements ;  by  a  Teacher  of  Youth  ;"  (Law- 
son  Lyon;)  18mo,  pp.  72  :  14th  Ed.,  Boston, 
1821. 

ANON.  ;  "  The  Infant  School  Grammar;"  (said 
to  have  been  written  by  Mrs.  Bethune;) 
18mo,  pp.  132 :  New  York,  1830.  Jonathan 
Seymour,  proprietor. 

ANON.  ;  Pestalozzian  Grammar;  12mo,  pp.  60  : 
Boston,  1830. 

ANON.  ;  Interrogative  Grammar  ;  12mo,  pp.  70  : 
Boston,  1832. 

ANON.  ;  Grammar  with  Cuts  ;  18mo,  pp.  108 : 
Boston,  1830. 

ANON.  ;  "  The  Juvenile  English  Grammar  ;  " 
18mo,  pp.  89:  Boston,  1829.  B.  Perkins 
&  Co.,  publishers  and  proprietors. 

ANON.  ;  "  The  Little  Grammarian  ;  "  18mo, 
pp.  108  :  2d  Edition,  Boston,  1829. 

ANON.  ;  An  Inductive  Grammar ;  12mo,  pp. 
185  :  Windsor,  Vt.,  1829. 

ANON.  ;  "A  Concise  Grammar  of  the  English 
Language,  attempted  in  Verse ;"  18mo,  pp. 
63:  1st  Edition,  New  York,  1825. 

ANON.  ;  "  Edward's  First  Lessons  in  Gram- 
mar ;"  18mo,  pp.  108:  1st  Ed.,  Boston,  T. 
H.  Webb  &  Co.,  1843. 

ANON.  ;  "  The  First  Lessons  in  English  Gram- 
mar ;  "  18mo,  pp.  90 :  1st  Edition,  Boston, 
1842. 

ANON.  ;  "A  New  Grammar  of  the  English 
Language  ;  "  12mo,  pp.  124 :  New  York,  1831 ; 
2d  Ed.,  Boston,  1834. 

ANON.  ;  "  Enclytica,  or  the  Principles  of  Uni- 
versal Grammar:"  8vo,  pp.  133:  London, 
J.  Booth,  1814. 

ANON.  ;  "  The  General  Principles  of  Grammar, 
edited  by  a  few  Well-Wishers  to  Knowl- 
edge ;  "  18mo,  pp.  76  :  Philadelphia,  Lea  & 
Blanchard,  1847- 

ARNOLD,  T.  K.,  M.  A. ;  English  Grammar; 
12mo,  pp.  76:  2d  Edition,  London,  1841. 

ASH,  JOHN,  LL.  D. ;  "  Grammatical  Institutes;" 
18mo,  pp.  142:  London,  first  published  about 
1763;  New  York,  "A  New  Edition,  Revised 
and  Corrected,"  1799. 

BACON,  CALEB,  Teacher;  "Murray's  English 
Grammar  Put  into  Questions  and  Answers  ;  " 
18mo,  pp.  108  :  New  York,  1st  Edition,  1818  ; 
5th  Edition,  1823,  1827,  and  1830. 

BADGLEY,  JONATHAN;  English  Grammar; 
12mo,  pp.  200:  1st  Edition,  Utica,  N.Y.,  1845. 
Suppressed  for  plagiarism  from  G.  Brown. 

BALCH,  WILILAM  S. ;  (1.)  "Lectures  on  Lan- 
guage ;"  12mo,  pp.  2o2 :  Providence,  1838. 
(2.)  "AGrammar  of  the  English  Language;" 
12mo,  pp.  140  :  1st  Edition,  Boston,  1839. 

BALDWIN,  EDWARD;  English  Grammar  ;  18mo, 
pp.  148:  London,  1810;  2d Ed.,  1824. 

BARBER,  Dr.  JONATHAN  ;  "A  Grammar  of  Elo- 
cution ;"  12mo:  Newhaven,  1830. 

BARNARD,  FREDERICK  A.  P.,  A.  M.;  "Analytic 
Grammar ;  with  Symbolic  Illustration ;  " 
12mo,  pp.  264  :  New  York,  1836.  This  is  a 
curious  work,  and  remarkably  well-written. 

BARNES,  DANIEL  H.,  of  N.  Y. ;  "The  Red 
Book,"  or  Bearcroft's  "  Practical  Orthogra- 
phv,"  Revised  and  Enlarged;  12mo,  pp.  347: 
New  York,  1828. 

BARNES,  W. ;  English  Grammar;  18mo,  pp. 
120 :  London,  1842. 


BARRETT,  JOHN  ;  "  A  Grammar  of  the  English 
Language;"  18mo,  pp.  214:  2d  Ed.,  Bos- 
ton, 1819. 

BARRETT,  SOLOMON,  Jun. ;  "The  Principles 
of  Language;"  12mo,  pp.  120:  Albany, 
1837.  "  The  Principles  of  English  Gram- 
mar;"  18mo,  pp.  96;  ,"  Tenth  Edition, 
Revised:"  Utica,  1845. 

BARRIE,  ALEXANDER  ;  English  Grammar ; 
24to,  pp.  54  :  Edinburgh,  9th  Ed.,  1800. 

BARTLETT,  MONTGOMERY  R. ;  "The  Common 
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pages."  First  three  parts,  "  Second  Edition," 
New  York,  1830.  A  miserable  jumble,  in 
the  successive  pages  of  which,  Grammar  is 
mixed  up  with  Spelling-columns,  Reading- 
lessons,  Arithmetic,  Geometry,  and  the  other 
supposed  daily  tasks  of  a  school-boy! 

BAILEY,  N.,  Schoolmaster;  "English  and 
Latin  Exercises  ;  "  12mo,  pp.  183  :  London, 
18th  Ed.,  1798. 

BAYLEY,  ANSELM,  LL.D. ;  English  Grammar, 
8vo  :  London,  1772. 

BEALE,  SOLON;  English  Grammar,  ISmo,  pp. 
27  :  Bangor,  Maine,  1833. 

BEALL,  ALEXANDER  ;  English  Grammar,  12mo : 
1st  Ed.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  1841. 

BEATTIE,  JAMES,  LL.  D. ;  "  Theory  of  Lan- 
guage:" London,  1783;  Philadelphia,  1809. 
"Elements  of  Moral  Science;"  12mo,  pp. 
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Part  IV,  those  which  treat  of  "  Rhetorick, 
Figures,  Sentences,  Style,  and  Poetry." 

BECK,  WILLIAM  ;  "  Outline  of  English  Gram- 
mar ;  "  verv  small,  pp.  34  :  3d  Ed.,  London, 
1829. 

BEECHER,  CATHARINE  E. ;  English  Grammar, 
12mo,  pp.  74 :  1st  Ed.,  Hartfort,  Ct.,  1829. 

BELL,  JOHN;  English  Grammar,  12mo,  pp. 
446  :  (2  vols.  :)  1st  Ed.,  Glasgow,  1769. 

BELLAMY,  ELIZABETH  ;  English  Grammar, 
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BENEDICT, ;  English  Grammar,  12mo, 

pp.  192:  1st  Ed.,  Nicholasville,  Ky.,  1832. 

BETTES  WORTH,  JOHN  ;  English  Grammar, 
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BICKNELL,  ALEXANDER,  Esq. ;  "  The  Gram- 
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BINGHAM,  CALEB,  A.  M. ;  "  The  Young  Lady's 
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BLAIR,  HUGH,  D.  D.,  F.  R.  S. ;  "  Lectures  on 
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BLAIR,  JOHN,  D.  D. ;  English  Grammar; 
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BLAIR,  DAVID,  Rev.  ;  "A  Practical  Grammar 
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BLAISDALE,  SILAS  ;  English  Grammar;  18mo, 
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BLISS,  LEONARD,  Jun.  ;  English  Grammar ; 
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BOBBITT,  A.  ;  English  Grammar ;  12mo,  pp. 
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BOLLES,  WILLIAM;  (1.)  "A  Spelling-Book  ;  " 
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I 


CATALOGUE    OF    GRAMMARS   AND   GRAMMARIANS. 


Xlll 


£uage ;"  royal  octavo,  pp.  941:  Ster.  Ed., 
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BOOTH,  DAVID;  Introd.  to  Analytical  Diet. ; 
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tionary of  the  English  Language  :  London, 
1835.  E.  Grammar,  12mo:  London,  1837. 

i3i;\<r,  JOAB;  "The  Principles  of  English 
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BRADLEY,  JOSHUA,  A.  M.;  "Youth's  Literary 
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BRADLEY,  Rev.  C. ;  English  Grammar;  12mo, 
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BRIDIL,  EDMUND,  LL.D. ;  E.  Gram.,  4to :  Lon- 
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BRUJHTLAND,  JOHN,  Pub. ;  "A  Grammar  of  the 
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BRITTAIN,  Rev.  LEWIS  ;  English  Grammar ; 
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BUOMLEY,  WALTER;  English  Grammar;  18mo, 
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BROWN,  GOOLD;  (1.)  "The  Institutes  of  Eng- 
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Brail,  JONATHAN,  A.  M. ;  "A  Compendium  of 
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BUTLER,  CHARLES  ;  E.  Gram.,  4to :  Oxford, 
Eng.,  1633. 

BUTLER,  NOBLE,  A.  M. ;  "A  Practical  Gram- 
mar of  the  E.  Lang.;"  12mo,  pp.  216  :  1st  Ed., 
Louisville,  Ky.,  1845.  "  Introductory  Lessons 
in  E.  Grammar,"  1845. 

CAMI-KELL,  GEORGE,  D.  D.,  F.  R.  S. ;  "The 
Philosophy  of  Rhetoric ; "  8vo,  pp.  445  :  Lon- 
don, 1776:  Philad.,  1818. 

CARDELL,  WM.  S.;  (1.)  An  "Analytical  Spel- 
ling-Book  ;  (with  Part  of  the  "  Story  of  Jack 
Halyard  ;  ")  12mo,  pp.  192 :  (published  at  first 
under  the  fictitious  name  of  "John  Franklin 
Jones:")  New  York,  1823;  2d  Ed.,  1824.  (2.) 
An  "Essay  on  Language;"  12mo,  pp.  203: 
New  York,  1825.  (3.)  "Elements  of  English 
Grammar;  "  18mo,  pp.  141 :  New  York,  1826; 
3d  EcL,  Hartford,  1827.  <4.)  "Philosophic 
Grammar  of  the  English  Language  :  "  12mo, 
pp.  236:  Philadelphia,  1827. 

CAREY,  JOHN;  English  Grammar;  12mo,  pp. 
220 :  1st  Ed.,  London,  1809. 

CARTER,  JOHN;  E.  Gram.,  8vo:  Leeds,  1773. 

CHANDLER,  JOSEPH  R. ;  "A  Grammar  of  the 


:i  A.±*  UJjlltXV9     VVOAKA      AC.    ,  j.  X       \J  i  Cklil  IllUl       UI       I  11  (J 

English  Language ;"  12mo,  pp.  180:  Philad., 
1821.     Rev.  Ed.,  pp.  208,  stereotyped,  1847. 
CiiAi'iN,  JOEL;  English  Grammar;  12mo,  pp. 


252:  1st  Edition,  Springfield,  Mass,,  1842. 

:  vv.  D.VNIKL,  A.  M. ;  Murray  Abridged; 
18mo,  pp.  24:  3d  Ed.,  Hallowell,  Me.,  1821. 

CHURCHILL,  T.  O. ;  "A  New  Grammar  of  the 
English  Language;"  12mo,  pp.454:  1st  Ed., 
London,  1823. 

CLAPHAM,  Rev.  SAMUEL;  E.  Grammar:  Lon- 
don, 1810. 

CLARK,  HENRY;  E.  Grammar;  4to:  London, 
1656. 

CLARK,  SCHUYLER;  "The  American  Linguist, 
or  Natural  Grammar;  "  12mo,  pp.  240:  Prov- 
idence, 1830. 

CLAKK,  S.  W.,A.  M. ;  "A  Practical  Grammar," 
with  "a  System  of  Diagrams;"  12mo,  pp. 
218 :  2d  Ed.,  New  York,  1848. 

CLARK,  WILLIAM;  E.  Gram. ;  18mo:  London, 
1810. 

COAR,  THOMAS;  "A  Grammar  of  the  English 
Tongue;"  12ino,  pp.  276  :  1st  Ed.,  London, 

Conn,  ENOS;  "Elements  of  the  English  Lan- 
guage;" 12mo,  pp.  108:  1st  Ed.,  Boston, 
1820. 

Conn,  LYM.VN,  A.  M. ;  (1.)  A  Spelling-Book 
according  to  J.  Walker ;  "Revised  Ed.-" 
Ithac-a,  X.  Y.  1825.  (2.)  "Abridgment  of 
Walker's  frit.  Pron.  Diet.:"  Ihutfcml,  Ct., 


XIV 


CATALOGUE   OF    GRAMMARS    AND    GRAMMARIANS. 


1829.  (3.)  "  Juvenile  Reader,  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  and 
Sequel:  "  New  York,  1831.  (4.)  "  The  North 
American  Reader ; "  12mo,  pp.  498 :  New  York, 
1835.  (5.)  "New  Spelling-Book,  in  Six 
Parts ;  "  12mo,  pp.  168 :  N.  Y.,  1843.  (6.)  An 
"  Expositor,"  a  "  Miniature  Lexicon,"  books 
of  "Arithmetic,  &c.,  &c." 

COBBETT,  WILLIAM  ;  "A  Grammar  of  the  E. 
Language;"  12mo,  New  York  and  Lond., 
1818;  18mo,  N.  Y.,  1832. 

COBBIN,  INGRAM;  English  Grammar;  18mo, 
pp.  72 :  20th  Edition,  London. 

COCHRAN,  PETER,  A.  B. ;  English  Grammar  ; 
18mo,  pp.  71 :  1st  Ed.,  Boston,  1802. 

COLET,  Dr.  JOHN,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  ;  the 
"  English  Introduction "  to  Lily's  Gram- 
mar ;  dedicated  to  Lily  in  1510.  See  Gram. 
ofE.  Gram.,  Introd.,  Chap.  XI,  UU  3, 4,  and  5. 

CO'MLY,  JOHN  ;  "  English  Grammar  Made 
Easy ;"  18mo,  pp.  192 :  6th  Ed.,  Philad.,  1815  ; 
15th  Ed.,  1826. 

COMSTOCK,  ANDREW,  M.  D. ;  "A  System  of 
Elocution;"  12mo,  pp.  364:  Philadelphia, 
1844.  "A  Treatise  on  Phonology;"  12mo, 
1846:  &c. 

CONNEL,  ROBERT  ;  English  Grammar ;  18mo, 
pp.  162:  Glasgow,  1831 ;  2d  Ed.,  1834. 

CONNON,  C.  W.,  M.  A.;  English  Grammar; 
12mo,  pp.  168  :  Edinburgh,  1845. 

COOPER,  Rev.  JOAB  GOLDSMITH,  A.  M. ;  (1.) 
"An  Abridgment  of  Murray's  English  Gram- 
mar ;"  (largely  stolen  from  G.  Brown  ;)  12mo, 
pp.  200 :  Philadelphia,  1828.  (2.)  "A  Plain 
and  Practical  English  Grammar;"  12mo,pp. 
210  :  Philad.,  1831. 

COOTE,  C.,  LL.D. ;  on  the  English  Language  ; 
8vo,  pp.  282 :  1st  Edition,  London,  1788. 

CORBET,  JAMES;  English  Grammar;  24to,  pp. 
153  :  1st  Edition,  Glasgow,  1743. 

CORBET,  JOHN  ;  English  Grammar ;  12mo : 
Shrewsbury,  England,  1784. 

CORNELL,  WILLIAM  M. ;  English  Grammar ; 
4to,  pp.  12:  1st  Edition,  Boston,  1840. 

CRANE,  GEORGE  ;  "  The  Principles  of  Lan- 
tuage;"  12mo,  pp.  264:  1st  Ed.,  London, 


CROCKER,  ABRAHAM  ;  E.  Gr.,  12mo :  Lond.. 
1772. 

CROMBIE,  ALEXANDER,  LL.D.,  F.  R.  S.  ;  "A 
Treatise  on  the  Etymology  and  Syntax  of  the 
English  Language;"  8vo,  pp.  425:  London, 
2d  Ed.,  1809 ;  4th  Ed.,  1836. 

CUTLER,  ANDREW,  A.  M. ;  "  English  Gram- 
mar and  Parser;"  12mo,  pp.  168:  1st  Ed., 
Plainfield,  Ct.,  1841. 

DALE,  W.  A.  T.;  a  small  "English  Gram- 
mar;" 18mo,  pp.  72  :  1st  Ed.,  Albany,  N.  Y., 
1820. 

D  ALTON,  JOHN  ;  "  Elements  of  English  Gram- 
mar;" 12mo,  pp.  122:  London,  1st  Ed. ,1801. 

DAVENPORT,  BISHOP  ;  "  English  Grammar 
Simplified;"  18mo,  pp.  139:  1st  Ed.,  Wil- 
mington, Del.,  1830. 

DAVIDSON,  DAVID  ;  a  Syntactical  Treatise,  or 
Grammar  ;  12mo  :  London,  1823. 

DAVIS,  Rev.  JOHN,  A.  M.  ;  English  Grammar  ; 
18mo,  pp.  188 :  1st  Ed.,  Belfast,  Ireland,  1832. 

DAVIS,  PARDON  ;  (1.)  AnEpitome-of  E.  Gram.; 
12mo,  pp.  56:  1st  Ed.,  Philad.,  1818.  (2.) 
"Modern  Practical  E.  Gram.;"  12mo,  pp. 
175:  1st  Ed.,  Philad.,  1845. 

DAY,  PARSONS  E. ;  "  District  School  Gram- 
mar;" 18mo,  pp.  120:  2d  Ed.,  Ithaca,  N.  Y., 
1844. 

DAY,  WILLIAM  ;  "  Punctuation  Reduced  to  a 
System;"  18mo,  pp.  147:  3d  Ed.,  London, 
1847. 


DEARBORN,  BENJAMIN  ;  "  The  Columbian 
Grammar;"  12mo,  pp.  140:  1st  Ed.,  Boston, 
1795. 

DEL  MAR,  E. ;  Treatise  on  English  Grammar  j 
12mo,  pp.  115  :  1st  Ed.,  London,  1842. 

DILWORTH,  THOMAS  ;  "  A  New  Guide  to  the 
English  Tongue;  "  12mo,  pp.  148:  London  : 
l»t  Ed.,  1740;  26th  Ed.,  1764;  40th  Ed., 
(used  by  G.  B.,)  undated. 

DOHERTY,  HUGH  ;  a  Treatise  on  English  Gram- 
mar ;  8vo,  pp.  240:  1st  Ed.,  London,  1841. 

D'ORSEY,  ALEXANDER  J.  D. ;  (1.)  A  Duo- 
decimo  Grammar,  in  Two  Parts  ;  Part  I,  pp. 
153;  Part  II,  pp.  142:  1st  Ed.,  Edinburgh, 
1842.  (2,)  An  Introduction  to  E.  Gram. ; 
18mo,  pp.  104 :  Edin.,  1845. 

DE  SACY,  A.  J.  SYLVESTRE,  Baron ;  "Princi- 
ples of  General  Grammar;  "  translated  from 
the  French,  by  D.  Fosdick,  Jun. ;  12mo,  pp. 
156 :  1st  American,  from  the  5th  French  Edi- 
tion ;  Andover  and  New  York,  1834. 

"DESPAUTER,  JOHN,  a  Flemish  grammarian, 
whose  books  were,  at  one  time,  in  great  re- 
pute ;  he  died  in  1520." — Univ.  Biog.  Diet. 
Despauter's  Latin  Grammar,  in  Three  Parts, 
— Etymology,  Syntax,  and  Versification, — - 
comprises  858  octavo  pages.  Dr.  Adam  says, 
in  the  "  Preface  to  the  Fourth  Edition"  of 
his  Grammar,  "  The  first  complete  edition  of 
Despauter's  Grammar  was  printed  at  Cologne, 
anno  1522 ;  his  Syntax  had  been  published 
anno  1509."  G.  Brown's  copy  is  a  "com- 
plete edition,"  printed  partly  in  1517,  and 
partly  in  1518. 

DEVIS/ELLEN  ;  E.  Gram.;  18mo,  pp.  130: 
London  and  Dublin;  1st  Ed.,  1777;  17th 
Ed.,  1825.  igg^Devis's  Grammar,  spoken  of 
in  D.  Blair's  Preface,  as  being  too  "  compre- 
hensive and  minute,"  is  doubtless  an  olher 
and  much  larger  work. 

DHUMMOND,  JOHN  ;  English  Grammar;  8vo: 
London,  1767. 

DYCHB,  THOMAS;  English  Grammar;  8vo,  pp. 
10:  London,  1st  Ed.,  1710  ;  12th  Ed.,  1765. 

EARL,  MARY  ;  English  Grammar;  ISmo,  pp.  36  : 
1st  Ed.,  Boston,  1816. 

EDWARDS,  Mrs.  M.  C. ;  English  Grammar; 
8vo  :  Brentford,  England,  1796. 

EGELSHEM,  WELLS  ;  English  Grammar  ;  12mo : 
London,  1781. 

ELMORE,  D.  W.,  A.  M. ;  "  English  Grammar ;" 
18mo,  pp.  18:  1st  Ed.,  Troy,  N.  Y.,  1830.  A 
mere  trifle. 

ELPHINSTON,  JAMES;  on  the  English  Lan- 
guage; 12mo,  pp.  298  :  1st  Ed.,  Lond.,  1766. 

EMERSON,  BENJAMIN  D.  ;  "  The  National 
Spelling-Book;"  12mo,  pp.  168:  Boston, 
1828. 

EMKHY,  J.,  A.  B. ;  English  Grammar;  18mo, 
pp.  39:  1st  Ed.,  Wellsborough,  Pa,,  1829. 

EMMONS,  S.  B. ;  "  The  Grammatical  Instruc- 
ter  ;  "  12mo,  pp.  160  :  1st  Ed.,  Boston,  1832. 
Worthless. 

ENSELL,  G. ;  "A  Grammar  of  the  English 
Language;"  in  English  and  Dutch;  8vo, 
pp.  612:  Rotterdam,  1797. 

EVEREST,  Rev.  CORNELIUS  B. ;  "An  English 
Grammar;"  12mo,  pp.  270:  1st  Ed.,  Nor- 
wich, Ct.,  1835.  Suppressed  for  plagiarism 
from  G.  Brown. 

EVERETT,  ERASTUS,  A.M.;  "A  System  of 
English  Versification  ;"  12mo,  pp.  198:  1st 
Ed.,  New  York,  1848. 

FARNUM,  CALKJJ,  Jun.,  A.  M. ;  "Practical 
Grammar  ;  "  12mo,  pp.  124  :  1st  Edition, 
(suppressed  for  petty  larcenies  from  G. 
Brown,)  Providence,  R.  I.,  1842;  2d  Edition, 


CATALOGUE   OF   ORAMMAR3   AND    GRAMMARIANS. 


XV 


{ altered  to  evade  the  charge  of  plagiarism,) 
Boston,  1843. 

FAKKO,  DANIEL;  "The  Iloyal  British  Oram- 
mar  and  Vocabulary;"  Izmo,  pp.  344:  1st 
Ed.,  London,  1754. 

Fr.i.ni,  W. ;  "A  Comprehensive  Grammar;" 
12mo,  pp.  122:  1st  Edition,  Boston,  1837. 
This  author  can  see  others'  faults  better  than 
his  own. 

FKI.TOX,  OLIVER  C. ;  "A  Concise  Manual  of 
Knglish  Grammar;  "  12mo,  pp.  145  :  Salem, 
Mass.,  1843. 

FENNIN<;,  DANIEL  ;  English  Grammar ;  12mo, 
pp.  224  :  1st  Ed.,  London,  1771. 

FINWHK,  JOHN;  a  12mo  Gram.:  London, 
1811. 

FISH  EH,  A. ;  "A  Practical  New  Grammar  ;  " 
12mo,  pp.  176:  London-,  1st  Ed.,  1753;  28th 
Kd.,  17')o  ;  "  aN«w  Ed.,  Enlarged,  Improved, 
and  Corrected,"  (used  by  G.  B.,)  1800. 

I-'ISK,  ALLEN;  (1.)  Epitome  of  E.  Gram.; 
18mo,  pp.  124:  Hallowell,  Me.,  1821;  2d 
Ed.,  1828.  (2.)  "Adam's  Latin  Grammar 
Simplified  ;  "  8vo,  pp.  190:  New  York,  1822; 
2d  Ed.,  1824.  (3.)  "Murray's  English 
Grammar  Simplified; "  8vo,  pp.  178:  IstEd., 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  1822. 

FLEMisa,  CALEB  ;  a  12mo  Gram. :  Lond.,  1765. 
iiEK,   LKVI  ;    English   Grammar;    12mo, 
pp.  83:  1st  Ed.,  Philadelphia,  1834. 

Fi,r/r< -IIKU,  Rev.  W.  ;  English  Gram. ;  18mo,pp. 
175 :  London  ;  1st  Ed.,  1828  ;  2d  Ed.,  1833. 

FLINT,  ABEL,  A.  M.,  and  D.  D.;  "Murray's 
English  Grammar  Abridged;"  12mo,  pp. 
1M1:  Hartford,  Ct. ;  1st  Ed.,  1807;  6th  Ed., 
pp.  214,  1826. 

FLINT,  JOHN;  "First  Lessons  in  English 
Grammar;"  18mo,  pp.  107:  IstEd.,  New 
York,  1834. 

FLOWER,  M.  and  W.  B. ;  English  Grammar; 
18mo,  pp.  170  :  1st  Ed.,  London,  1844. 

FOLKI-K,  JOSEIMI  ;  "An  Introduction  to  E. 
Grain. ;  "  12mo,  pp.  34:  Savannah,  Ga.,  1821. 

IM.HMKY,  M.,  M.  D.,  S.  E.,  &e.,  &c. ;  "Ele- 
mentary Principles  of  the  Belles-Lettres ; " — 
"  Translated  from  the  French,  by  the  late 
Mr.  Sloper  Fonnan ;  "  12mo,  pp.  224:  Glas- 
gow. 17«7. 

FOWLE,  WIM.IVM  BENTLEY;  (1.)  "The  True 
English  Grammar,"  [Parti;]  18mo,  pp.  180  : 
Uost.Mi,  1827.  (2.)  "The  True  English  Gram- 
mar, Part  II  ;  "  18mo,  pp.  97:  Boston,  1829. 
<3.)  "The  Common  School  Grammar,  Part 
I;"  12iuo,  pp  4(»:  Boston,  IS  12.  f4.)  "The 
Ciiiunion  School  Grammar,  Part  II;  "  12mo, 
pp.  108:  Boston,  IS  12. 

FOWLEK,  WILLIAM  C. ;  "English  Grammar;  " 
8vo,  pp.  117.") :  1st  Edition,  New  York,  18-10. 

Fi;  v/.i.r..  K«  v.  15i;Ai>roui>;  "An  Improved 
Grammar:"  12mo,  pp.  192:  Philad.,  ISH: 
Ster.  Kd.,  is  M. 

i.  D'Aiicv  A. ;  Engl'sh  Grammar;  12mc, 
pp.  KiS:    Baltimore,  1st  Kd.,  1S:51. 

FUOST,  .Joii\.  A.  M.;   (1.)    "  Kb-mcnts  of  Kng- 
lish (ii  aiumar:  "  18mo,  pp.  108:  IstEd 
ton,  1S2«.I.      (•_'.)   "A  Practical  Knglish  Gram- 
nur;"   (with    8!)  Cuts;)   12mo,  pp.    2<M.    N: 
Kd.,  Philadelphia,  IS  12. 

Fri.i.ru,     AI.LKN;     "Grammatical     Kv 

bring  a  plain  and  concise  Method  of  teaching 
English  Grammar;"  12mo,  pp.  108:  1st  Kd., 
Plymouth,  M.iss.,  1822.  A  book  of  no  value. 

G.\i;Yi.i.Y.   G.  ;    Knglish    Grammar;   ISmo,    pp. 
1st  Kditinn,    London,    ls:;n. 

G\v,  ANTHKI.MK  ;  "A  French  Prosodical  Cram- 
mar  ;  "  for  Knglish  or  American  Students  ; 
r.'mo,  pp.  215:  New  York,  IT'.i.l. 


GIBBS,  Prof.  J.  W.,  of  Yale  C. ;  on  Dialects, 
Sounds,  and  Derivations.  See  about  120 
pages,  credited  to  this  gentleman,  in  Prof. 
Fowler's  large  Grammar,  of  1850. 

GILBERT,  ELI;  a  "Catechetical  Grammar;" 
18mo,  pp.  124:  1st  Ed.,  1834;  2d  Ed.,  New 
York,  183o. 

GILCHUIST,  JAMES;  English  Grammar;  8vo, 
pp.  269:  1st  Edition,  London,  1815. 

GILES,  JAMES;  English  Grammar;  12mo,  pp. 
152:  London,  1804;  2d  Ed.,  1810. 

GILES,  Rev.  T.  A.,  A.  M. ;  English  Grammar; 
12mo,  London,  2d  Ed.,  1838. 

GILL,  ALEXANDER  ;  English  Grammar,  treated 
in  Latin;  4to :  London,  1621. 

GII.I.KADE,  G. ;  English  Grammar;  12mo,  pp. 
206  :  London  ;  1st  Edition,  1816, 

GIRAULT  Du  VIVIER,  CH.  P. ;  (I.)  "  La  Grarn- 
maire  des  Grammaires  ;  "  two  thick  volumes, 
8vo  :  Paris  ;  2d  Ed.,  1814.  (2.)  "  Traite  des 
Participes  ;  "  8vo,  pp.  84 :  2d  Ed.,  Paris,  1816. 

GOLDSBURY,  JOHN,  A.  M. ;  (1.)  "  The  Common 
School  Grammar  ;"  12mo,  pp.  94:  1st  Ed., 
Boston,  1842,  (2.)  "  Sequel  to  the  Common 
School  Grammar ;"  12mo,  pp.  110:  1st  Ed., 
Boston,  1842. 

GOODENOW,  SMITH  B. ;  "A  Systematic  Text- 
Book  of  English  Grammar  ;  "  12mo,  pp.  144  : 
1st  Edition,  Portland,  1839;  2d  Edition, 
Boston,  1843. 

GOUQH,  JOHN  and  JAMES  ;  English  Grammar ; 
18mo,  pp.  212  :  2d  Ed.,  Dublin,  1760. 

GOULD,  BENJAMIN  A. ;  "Adam's  Lat.  Gram., 
with  Improvements ;  "  12mo,  pp.  300 :  Bos- 
ton, 1829. 

GRAHAM,  G.  F. ;  English  Grammar ;  12mo,  pp. 
134:  IstEd.,  London,  1843. 

GRANT,  JOHN,  A.  M. ;  (1.)  "  Institutes  of  Latin 
Grammar : "  8vo,  pp.  453 :  London,  1808. 
(2.)  A  Comprehensive  English  Grammar; 
12mo,  pp.  410:  1st  Ed.^  London,  1813. 

GRANVILLE,  GEO.;  E.  Gram.,  12mo:  Lond., 
1827. 

GK  VY,.IAMI..S,D.  D. ;  English  Grammar  ;  18mo, 
pp.  144:  1st  Ed.,  Baltimore,  1818. 

GIM.I.X.  MATTHIAS;  English  Grammar;  12mo, 
pp.  148:  1st  Ed.,  London,  1837. 

Gi.r.r.N,  RICHVKIJ  W.  ;  "Inductive  Exercises 
in  English  Grammar;"  ISmo,  pp.  108:  1st 
Ed.,  New  York,  1829  ;  5th  Ed.,  Phila.,  1834. 

GKKI.XE.  ROSCOE  G. ;  (1.)  E.  Gram. ;  12mo,  pp. 
132:  Hallowell,  Me  ;  IstEd.,  1828  ;  Ster.  Ed., 
1835.  (2.)  "A  Practical  Grammar  of  the  Eng- 
lish Language  ;  "  (with  Diagrams  of  Moods  ;) 
12mo:  Portland,  1829.  (3.)  "A  Grammati- 
cal Text-Book,  being  an  Abstract  of  a  Practi- 
cal Gram.,  \c. ;  "  12mo,  pp.  69  :  Boston,  1833. 

GKKV.M:.  S\\u  F.I.  S.  ;  (1.)  "Analysis  of  Sen- 
tences ;  "  12mo,  pp.  258 :  1st  Ed.,  Philadel- 
phia, 1848.  (2.)  "First  Lessons  in  Gram- 
mar;" 18mo,pp.  171:  1st  Kd.,  Philad.,  1848. 

GHKKNLEAF,  JKHKMIAH;  "Grammar  Simpli- 
fied ;  "  4to,  pi>.  48 :  New  York ;  3d  Ed.,  1821  ; 
20th  Kd.,  1837. 

(ii:  i  IN  WOOD,  JAMES;  English  Grammar; 
12mo,  pp.  315:  London,  1711;  2cl  Kd.,  1722. 

(iui  NVII.I.I:,  A.  S. ;  "Introduction  to  English 
Grammar;"  12mo,  pp.  63:  1st  Ed.,  Bos- 
ton, 1822. 

•i,  .Inn  \,  I,L.  D. ;  "  Questions  in  English 
Grammar;"  18mo,  pp.  42:  1st  Ed.,  New 
York,  1S21. 

GrKM.v,   DAVID,   A.M.;    Knglish   Grammar; 

ISmo.  pp.  72:    Boston,  1801;  2d  Ed.,  1808. 
C,\\.  JOSEPH,  Jan.;   "Knglish   School    Gram- 
mar ;"   ISmo,  pp.  143  :  4th  Kd.,  London,  1816. 
HALT,,  Kev.  S.  It.;  "  The  Grammatical   Assis- 


XVI 


CATALOGUE    OF    GRAMMARS   AND    GRAMMARIANS. 


tant ;"  12mo,  pp.  131 :  1st  Ed.,  Springfield, 
Mass  ,  1832. 

HALL,  WILLIAM;  " Encyclopaedia  of  English 
Grammar;"  (by  report ;)  Ohio,  1850. 

HALLOCK,  EDWARD  J.,  A.  M. ;  "A  Grammar 
of  the  English  Language;"  12mo,  pp.  251; 
1st  Ed.,  New  York,  1842.  A  very  inaccurate 
book,  with  sundry  small  plagiarisms  from  G. 
Brown. 

HAMLIN,  LORENZO  F. ;  "  English  Grammar  in 
Lectures;"  12mo,  pp.  108:  New  York,  1831 ; 
Ster.  Ed.,  1832. 

HAMMOND,  SAMUEL;  E.  Gram.;  8vo  :  Lond., 
1744. 

HARRIS,  JAMES,  Esq.;  "  Hermes,  or  a  Philo- 
sophical Inquiry  concerning  Universal  Gram- 
mar;" 8vo,  pp.  468:  London,  1751:  6th  Ed., 
1806. 

HARRISON,  Mr. ;  "  Rudiments  of  English 
Grammar;"  18mo,  pp.  108:  9th  American 
Ed  ,  Philad.,  1812. 

HARRISON,  Rev.  MATTHEW,  A.  M.  ;  "  The 
Rise,  Progress,  and  Present  Structure  of  the 
English  Language;"  12mo,  pp.  393:  Preface 
dated,  Basingstoke,  Eng.,  1848;  1st  Ameri- 
can Ed.,  Philadelphia,  1850. 

HART,  JOHNS.,  A.M.;  "  English  Grammar ;" 
12mo,  pp.  192;  1st  Ed.,  Philadelphia,  1845. 

HARVEY,  J. ;  English  Grammar  :  Lond.,  1841. 

HAZEN,  EDWARD,  A.  M. ;  "A  Practical  Gram- 
mar of  the  E.  Language;"  12mo,  pp.  240: 
New  York,  1842. 

HAZLITT,  WILLIAM  ;  English  Grammar ;  18mo, 
pp.  205 :  London,  1810. 

HENDRICK,  J.  L.,  A.  M. ;  "A  Grammatical 
Manual ;"  18mo,  pp.  105  :  1st  Ed.,  Syracuse, 
N.  Y.,  1844. 

HEWES,  JOHN,  A.  M. ;  E.  Gram. ;  4to  :  Lon- 
don, 1624. 

HEWETT,  D. ;  English  Grammar ;  folio,  pp. 
16  :  1st  Edition,  New  York,  1838. 

HIGGINSON,  Rev.  Tt  E. ;  E.  Gram. ;  12mo : 
Dublin,  1803. 

HILEY,  RICHARD;  "A  Treatise  on  English 
Grammar,"  &c. ;  12mo,  pp.  269:  3d  Ed., 
London,  1840.  Hiley's  Grammar  Abridged  ; 
ISmo,  pp.  196:  London,  1843:  4th  Ed.,  1841. 

HILL,  J.  H.;  "On  the  Subjunctive  Mood;" 
8vo,  pp.  63:  1st  Ed.,  London,  1834. 

HODGSON,  Rev.  ISAAC;  English  Grammar; 
18mo,  pp.  184:  1st  Ed.,  London,  1770. 

HOME,  HENRY,  Lord  Kames ;  "  Elements  of 
Criticism;"  2  volumes  8vo,  pp.  836:  (3d 
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New  York,  1818. 

HORXSEY,  JOHN  ;  English  Grammar ;  12mo, 
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HORT,  W.  JILLARD;  English  Grammar  ;  18mo, 
pp.  219:  1st  Ed.,  London,  1822. 

HOUGHTON,  JOHN  ;  E.  Gram.,  8vo :  London, 
1766. 

HOUSTON,  SAMUEL,  A.  B. ;  English  Gram- 
mar; 12mo,  pp.  48:  1st  Ed.,  Harrisburgh, 
Pa.,  1818. 

HOWE,  S.  L.  ;  English  Grammar;  18mo  :  1st 
Eel.,  Lancaster,  Ohio,  1838. 

UNWELL,  JAMES;  E.  Gram.,  12mo:  London, 
1662. 

HULL,  JOSEPH  HERVEY  ;  "  E.  Gram.,  by  Lec- 
tures ;"  I2mo,  pp.  72  :  4th  Ed.,  Boston,  1828. 

HUMPHREY,  ASA;  (1.)  "The  English  Pros- 
ody ;"  12mo,  pp.  175 :  1st  Ed!,  Boston, 
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HURD,  S.  T.;  E.  Gram. ;  2d  Ed.,  Boston,  1827. 

HUTIIERSAL,  JOHN;  E.  Gram.;  18mo  :  Ens., 
1814. 

INGERSOLL,  CHARLES  M. :  "  Conversations  on 
English  Grammar;"  12mo,  pp.  296:  New 
York,  1821. 

JAMIESON,  ALEXANDER;  "A  Grammar  of 
Rhetoric  and  Polite  Literature;"  12mo,  pp. 
345  :  "  The  first  American,  from  the  last  Lon- 
don Edition  ;  "  Newhaven,  1820. 

JAUDON,  DANIEL;  "The  Union  Grammar;" 
18mo,  pp.  216:  Philadelphia;  1st  Ed.,  1812; 
4th,  1828. 

JENKINS,  AZARIAH;  English  Grammar ;  12mo, 
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JOEL,  THOMAS  ;  English  Grammar ;  12mo,  pp. 
78:  1st  Ed.,  London,  1775. 

JOHNSON,  RICHARD;  "Grammatical  Com- 
mentaries ;"  (chiefly  on  Lily  ;)  8vo,  pp.  436: 
London,  1706. 

JOHNSON,  SAMUEL,  LL.D.;  "A  Dictionary  of  the 
English  language  ;"  in  two  thick  volumes,  4to: 
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fixed Johnson's  "  History  of  the  English 
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JONES,  JOSHUA;  E.  Gram. ;  18mo:  Phila.,  1841. 

JONSON,  BEN  ; — see,  in  his  Works,  "  The 
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vation of  the  English  Language,  now  spoken 
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JUDSON,  ADONIRAM,  Jun.,  A.  B.  ;  English 
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1808. 

KENNION,  CHARLOTTE;  English  Grammar; 
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KILSON,  ROGER  ;  E.  Gram. ;  12mo  :  England, 
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KING,  WALTER  W. ;  English  Grammar;  J8mo, 
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KIRKHAM,  SAMUEL;  "English  Grammar  in 
Familiar  Lectures;  "  12mo,  pp.  144—228:  2d 
Ed.,  Harrisburgh,  Pa.,  1825;  12th  Ed.,  New 
York,  1829. 

KNOWLES,  JOHN;  "  The  Principles  of  English 
Grammar;"  12mo  :  3d  Ed.,  London,  1794. 

KNOWLTON,  JOSEPH;  English  Grammar;  18mo, 
pp.  84:  Salem,  Mass.,  1818;  2d  Ed.,  1832. 

LATHAM,  R.  G.,  A.  M. ;  (1.)  "The  English 
Language  ;  "  8vo,  pp.  418:  1st  Ed.,  London, 
1841.  (2)  "English  Grammar;"  12mo,  pp. 
214:  1st  Ed.,  London,  1843. 

LEAVITT,  DUDLEY  ;  English  Grammar ;  24to, 
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LENNIE  WILLIAM  ;  "  The  Principles  of  Eng- 
lish Grammar;"  18mo,  pp.  142:  5th  Ed., 
Edinburgh,  1819;  13th  Ed.,  1831. 

LEWIS,  ALONZO  ;  "  Lessons  in  English  Gram- 
mar ;  "  18mo,  pp.  50  :  1st  Ed.,  Boston,  1822. 

LEWIS,  JOHN  ;  English  Grammar ;  ISmo,  pp. 
48:  1st  Ed.,  New  York,  1828. 

LEWIS,  WILLIAM  GREATHEAD;  English  Gram- 
mar ;  ISmo,  pp.  204:  1st  Ed.,  London,  1821. 

LILY,  WILLIAM;  "  Brevissima  Institutio,  seu 
Ratio  Grammatices  cognoscendrc  ;  "  large 
18mo,  pp.  140:  London,  1793. 

LINDSAY,  Rev.  JOHN,  A.  M. ;  English  Gram- 
mar; 18mo,  pp.  88:  1st  Ed.,  London,  1842 

LOCKE,  JOHN,  M.  I). ;  small  English  Grammar; 
18mo:  1st  Ed.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  1827. 

LOUGHT:  N,  WILLIAM  ;  English  Grammar  ; 
12mo,  pp.  194:  3d  Ed.,  London,  1739. 

LOYECHILD,  Mrs.;  English  Grammar;  18mo, 
pp.  72:  40th  Ed.,  London,  1842. 


CATALOGUE   OF   GRAMMARS   AND    GRAMMARIANS. 


XV11 


- 


LOWTH,  ROBERT,  D.  D. ;  "A  Short  Introduc- 
tion to  English  Grammar  ;  "  ISmo,  pp.  132  : 
London,  1763;— Philadelphia,  1799;— Cam- 
bridge, Mass.,  1838. 

LYNDE,  JOHN;  English  Grammar;  18mo,  pp. 
108:  1st  Ed.,  Woodstock,  Vt.,  1821. 

MACK,  KVKRED  J. ;  "The  Self-Instructor,  and 
Practical  English  Grammar;"  12mo,  pp.  180: 
1st  Ed.,  Springfield,  Mass.,  1835.  An  egre- 
gious plagiarism  from  G.  Brown. 

VAX,  Rev.  JAMES;  English  Grammar ; 
18mo,  pp.  248:  London,  182-5. 

MACKINTOSH,  DUNCAX;  "An  Essay  on  Eng- 
lish Grammar;"  8vo,  pp.  239:  Boston,  1797. 

MACKILO.UHEM,  WILLIAM;  English  Grammar  ; 
12mo  :  Glasgow,  1799. 

MAITTAIRK.  MICHAEL;  English  Grammar; 
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MARCET,  Mrs.;  English  Grammar ;  18mo,  pp. 
331:  7th  Ed.,  London,  1843. 

MARTIX,  BEXJ.  ;  English  Grammar;  12mo : 
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MATHESON,  JOHX;  English  Grammar;  18mo, 
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MAUNDER,  8AMTTBL ;  Grammar  prefixed  to 
Dictionary  ;  12mo,  pp.  20:  1st  Ed.,  London, 
1830. 

MAYOR,  WILLIAM;  English  Grammar;  18mo, 
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MVREADY,  F. ;  12mo  Grammar  r  Philad.,  1820. 

M'(  YLLOCH,  J.  M.,  D.  D. ;  "A  Manual  of 
English  Grammar;  18mo,  pp.  188:  7th  Ed., 
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M'ELLIGOTT,  JAMES  N.  ;  "Manual,  Analytical 
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Also,  "The  Young  Analyzer;"  12mo,  pp. 

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NOIIE  ;  English  Grammar  ;  12mo, 
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Mr.Ri  HAN  r,  AARON  M. ;  Murray's  small  Gram- 
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MII.EER,  ALEXANDER  ;  English  Grammar; 
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Mn  I.I.R,  Th>  nglish  Grammar ;  18mo, 

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MILI.KR,  FERDINAND  H.;  "  The  Ready  Gram- 
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Vork,  1843. 

ILLER,  TOIUAS  HAM:  Murray's  Abridgement, 
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MILI.II.AN,  Ki-v.  GEORUK;  English  Grammar; 
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THOMAS;  "Orthography  and  Pro- 
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ell,  Me.,  1814. 

MOKI.EY,  Cu  VRLE>.  A.  B.;  "School  Grammar  ;  " 
l-'iuo,  pp.  86:  (with  Cuts:)  1st  Ed.,  Hartford, 
Ct.f  . 

MORI.Y,  AMOS  ('.;  English  Grammar;  18mo, 
pp.  100:  Albany,  N.  Y.,  1829. 

MULKBY,  WILLIAM  ;  "An  Abridgment  of  Walk - 

Kuk-s   on  the   Sounds  of  the  Letters  ;  " 
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i  KR\V,  AI.I.X  \NDI  -.:.   D.  D.:   "The    History 
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MURRAY,  LIXDLEY;  (1.)  "English  Grammar, 
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MYLINS,  WM.  F. ;  Gram.,  12mo :  England,  1809. 

MYLNE,  Rev.  A.,  D.  D.  ;  English  Grammar; 
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NEWHURY,  JOHX;  English  Grammar;  12mo, 
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NIGHTIXGALE,  Rev.  J. ;  English  Grammar ; 
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NIXON,  H.;  (1.)  "  The  English  Parser;  " 
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NUTTING,  RUFUS,  A.  M. ;  "A  Practical  Gram- 
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ODELL,  J.,  A.  M. ;  English  Grammar;  12mo, 
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PALMER,  MARY;  English  Grammar;  12mo, 
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PARKER,  RICHARD  GREEX;  (1.)  "Exercises 
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PEIRCE.  JOHN;  "  The  New  American  Spelling- 
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PEIRCI:."  OLIVER  B. ;  "The  Grammar  of  the 
English  Language;"  12mo,pp.  3S1:  1st  Ed., 
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PERI.EY,  DANIEL,  M.  D. ;  "A  Grammar  of  the 
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PicKuoruN.  ,|\MI>;  "  Iii-v,. nation  on  the 
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mar;" ISmo,  pp.  '2~>2.  New  York,  1823;  2d 
K.I.. 

PINNOCK,  W. ;  (I.)  A  Catechism  of  E.  Gram. ; 


XVlll 


CATALOGUE   OF    GRAMMARS    AND   GRAMMARIANS. 


18mo,  pp.  70:  18th  Ed.,  London,  1825.  (2.) 
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PKIESTLEY,  JOSEPH,  LL.D. ;  "  The  Rudi- 
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PUE,  HUGH  A.;  English  Grammar;  18mo, 
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PUTNAM,  J.  M. ;  "  Eng.  Gram. ;  "  (Murray's, 
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ROBBINS,  MANASSEH  ;  *•  Rudimental  Lessons 
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ROZZELL,  WM.  ;  English  Grammar  in  Verse  ; 
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pp.  120:  1st  Ed.,  London,  1702. 

SANBOUN,  DYERH.;  "An  Analytical  Grammar 
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CATALOGUE   OF    GRAMMARS   AND    GRAMMARIANS. 


XIX 


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WAUD,  WILLIAM,  A.  M. ;  "  A  Practical  Gram- 
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WILBUR  &  LIVINGSTON  ;  "  The  Grammatical 
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WILBUR,  JOSIAH;  English  Grammar;  12mo, 
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1822. 

WILCOX,  A.  F. ;  "A  Catechetical  and  Practi 
cal  Grammar ; "  18mo,  pp.  110 :  1st  Ed  , 
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WILLARD,  SAMUEL  ;  English  Grammar ;  18mo, 
pp.  54  :  1st  Ed.,  Greenfield,  Mass.,  1816. 

WILLIAMS,  Mrs.  HONORIA  ;  English  Gram- 
mar; 12mo,  pp.  226:  London,  1823;  3d  Ed., 
1826. 

WILSON,  CHARLES,  D.  D. ;  "Elements  of  He- 
brew Grammar;"  8vo,  pp.  398:  3d  Ed., 
London,  1802. 

WILSON,  GEORGE ;  English  Grammar;  18mo: 
London,  1777. 

WILSON,  JAMES  P.,  D.  D. ;  "  An  Essay  on 
Grammar ;  "  8vo,  pp.  281 :  Philadelphia,  1817. 

WILSON,  JOHN  ;  "  A  Treatise  on  English  Punc- 
tuation; "  12mo,  pp.  204:  Boston,  1850. 

WILSON,  Rev.  J. ;  English  Grammar  ;  18mo, 
pp.  184 :  3d  Ed.,  Congleton,  England,  1803. 

WISEMAN,  CHARLES;  an  English  Grammar, 
12mo :  London,  1765. 

WOOD,  HELEN  ;  English  Grammar ;  12mo, 
pp.  207:  London,  1st  Ed.,  1827;  6th  Ed., 

WOOD,  Rev.  JAMES,  D.  D. ;  English  Grammar, 
12mo  :  London,  1778. 

WOODWORTH,  A.;  "  Grammar  Demonstrated; " 
12mo,  pp.  72:  1st  Ed.,  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  1823. 

WORCESTER,  JOSEPH  E. ;  "  Universal  and  Crit- 
ical Dictionary  of  the  English  Language  ;  " 
1st  Ed.,  Boston,  1846. 

WORCESTER,  SAMUEL  ;  "  A  First  Book  of  Eng- 
lish Grammar;"  18mo,  pp.  36:  Boston,  1831. 

WRIGHT,  ALBERT  D.;  "Analytical  Orthogra- 
phy ;  "  18mo,  pp.  112:  2d  Ed.,  Cazenovia,  N. 
Y.,  1842. 

WRIGHT,  JOSEPH  W.  ;  "A  Philosophical 
Grammar  of  the  English  Language ;  "  12mo, 
pp.  252 :  New  York  and  London,  1838. 


END   OF   THE   CAT  A  LOG  UK. 


INTRODUCTION 

HISTORICAL   AND    CRITICAL 


CHAPTER  I.  / 

OF  THE  SCIENCE  OF  GRAMMAR, 


.le  Grammatioa  quam  brcvissime  potui :    mm  ut  omnia  dicerem  sectatus,  (quod  inflnitum  erat,)  Bed 
.  v.\.  Lib.  i,  Cap.  x. 


1.  LANGUAGE,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  is  peculiar  to  man  ;  so  that, 
without  a  miraculous  assumption  of  human  powers,  none   but  human  beings  can 

'.onls  the  vehicle  of  thought.     An  imitation  of  some  of  the  articulate  sounds 
employed  in  speech,  may  be  exhibited  by  parrots,  and  sometimes  by  domesticated 
and  we  know  that  almost  all  brute  animals  have  their  peculiar  natural  voices, 
by  which  they  indicate  their  feelings,  whether  pleasing  or  painful.     But  language 
an  attribute'  of  reason,  and  differs  essentially  not  only  from  all  brute  voices,  but 
even  from  all  the  chattering,  jabbering,  and  babbling  of  our  own  species,  in  which 
-  not  an  intelligible  meaning,  with  division  of  thought,  and  distinction  of 

2.  Speech  results  from  the  joint  exercise  of  the  best  and  noblest  faculties  of 
utnan  nature,  from  our  rational  understanding  and  our  social  affection  ;  and  is,  in 

e  proper  use  of  it,  the  peculiar  ornament  and  distinction  of  man,  whether  we 
compare  him   with  other  order*  in  tin-   creation,  or  view  him  as  an  individual 
'rii-iit  among  his  fellows.      Hence  that  science  which  makes  known  the  nature 
h.  and  immediately  concerns  the  correct  and  elegant  use  of 
language,  while   it  ML  1   the  conceptions  of  the   stupid   or  unlearned,  and 

•<  nothing  that   can   seem    desirable   to   the    sensual    and    grovelling,!, 
trinsi--  vliirh   hiirhly  commends  it  to  all  person-  >,  and 

rite  with   the  nn»t  gifted  minds.      That  Bcieooe  is  Grammar. 

And  though  the1.  \vlin  :iH''<-t  tn  df-pi-e  the  trammel-  of  grammar 

lies,  to  whom  it  mu-  •  led  thaf  many  things  which  have  been  unskillfully 

Dr.  Adam  ivmarks,  that, 
iv. 1  .-HI  ol  -it  importance  bythe 

i  in  all  ages." — /'/v/l/fv  tn  I.nt'irt  <ut<l   Kiit/fis/i   (,'rnni:.  p    iii. 
;!.  Gh»mmar  bears  to  1:  •   relations,  and  acquires  from 

each  a  nature  leading  to  aditil-ront  definition.     First,  It  is  to  language,  as  knowl- 


2  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    I. 

edge  is  to  the  thing  known  ;  and  as  doctrine,  to  the  truths  it  inculcates.  In  these 
relations,  grammar  is  a  science.  It  is  the  first  of  what  have  been  called  the  seven 
sciences,  or  liberal  branches  of  knowledge  ;  namely,  grammar,  logic,  rhetoric, 
arithmetic,  geometry,  astronomy,  and  music.  Secondly,  It  is  as  skill,  to  the  thing 
to  be  done ;  and  as  power,  to  the  instruments  it  employs.  In  these  relations, 
grammar  is  an  art ;  and  as  such,  has  long  been  defined,  "  ars  recte  scribendi, 
rectegue  loguendi,"  the  art  of  writing  and  speaking  correctly.  Thirdly,  It  is  as 
navigation,  to  the  ocean,  which  nautic  skill  alone  enables  men  to  traverse.  In  this 
relation,  theory  and  practice  combine,  and  grammar  becomes,  like  navigation,  a 
practical  science.  Fourthly,  It  is  as  a  chart,  to  a  coast  which  we  would  visit.  In 
this  relation,  our  grammar  is  a  text-book,  which  we  take  as  a  guide,  or  use  as  a 
help  to  our  own  observation.  Fifthly,  It  is  as  a  single  voyage,  to  the  open  sea, 
the  highway  of  nations.  Such  is  our  meaning,  when  we  speak  of  the  grammar  of 
a  particular  text  or  passage. 

4.  Again  :  Grammar  is  to  language  a  sort  of  self-examination.     It  turns  the 
faculty  of  speech  or  writing  upon  itself  for  its  own  elucidation ;  and  makes  the 
tongue  or  the  pen  explain  the  uses  and  abuses  to  which  both  are  liable,  as  well  as 
the  nature  and  excellency  of  that  power,  of  which  these  are  the  two  grand  instru- 
ments.    From  this  account,  some  may  begin  to  think  that  in  treating  of  grammar 
we  are  dealing  with  something  too  various  and  changeable  for  the  understanding  to 
grasp  ;  a  dodging  Proteus  of  the  imagination,  who  is  ever  ready  to  assume  some 
new  shape,  and  elude  the  vigilance  of  the  inquirer.     But  let  the  reader  or  student 
do  his  part ;  and,  if  he  please,  follow  us  with  attention.     We  will  endeavour,  with 
welded  links,  to  bind  this  Proteus,  in  such  a  manner  that  he  shall  neither  escape 
from  our  hold,  nor  fail  to  give  to  the  consulter  an  intelligible  and  satisfactory 
response.     Be  not  discouraged,  generous  youth.     Hark  to  that  sweet  far-reaching 
note: 

"  Sed,  quanto  ille  magis  formas  se  vertet  in  omnes, 

Tanto,  nate,  magis  contende  tenacia  vincla." 

VIRGIL.  Geor.  IV,  411. 
"  But  thou,  the  more  he  varies  forms,  beware 

To  strain  his  fetters  with  a  stricter  care."         DRYDEN'S  VIRGIL. 

5.  If  for  a  moment  we  consider  the  good  and  the  evil  that  are  done  in  the 
world  through  the  medium  of  speech,  we  shall  with  one  voice  acknowledge,  that 
not  only  the  faculty  itself,  but  also  the  manner  in  which  it  is  used,  is  of  incalculable 
importance  to  the  welfare  of  man.     But  this  reflection  does  not  directly  enhance 
our  respect  for  grammar,  because  it  is  not  to  language  as  the  vehicle  of  moral  or 
of  immoral  sentiment,  of  good  or  of  evil  to  mankind,  that  the  attention  of  the 
grammarian  is  particularly  directed.      A  consideration  of  the  subject  in  these 
relations,  pertains  rather  to  the  moral  philosopher.     Nor  are  the  arts  of  logic  and 
rhetoric  now  considered  to  be  properly  within  the  grammarian's  province.     Modern 
science  assigns  to  these  their  separate  places,  and  restricts  grammar,  which  at  one 
period  embraced  all  learning,  to  the  knowledge  of  language,  as  respects  its  fitness 
to  be  the  vehicle  of  any  particular  thought  or  sentiment  which  the  speaker  or  writer 
may  wish  to  convey  by  it.     Accordingly  grammar  is  commonly  defined,  by  writers 
upon  the  subject,  in  the  special  sense  of  an  art — "  the  art  of  speaking  or  writing  a 
language  with  propriety  or  correctness." — Webster's  Diet. 

6.  Lily  says,  "  Grammatica  est  recte   scribendi  atque  loquendi  ars ;"  that  is, 
"  Grammar  is  the  art  of  writing  and  speaking  correctly."     Despauter,  too,  in  his 
definition,  which  is  quoted  in  a  preceding  paragraph,  not  improperly  placed  writing 
first,  as  being  that  with  which  grammar  is  primarily  concerned.     For  it  ought  to 
be  remembered,  that  over  any  fugitive  colloquial  dialect,  which  has  never  been 
fixed  by  visible  signs,  grammar  has  no  control ;  and  that  the  speaking  which  the 


CHAP.    I.]  OF   THE   SCIENCE   OF    GRAMMAR.  3 

art  or  science  of  grammar  teaches,  is  exclusively  that  which  has  reference  to  a 
knowledge  of  letters.  It  is  the  certain  tendency  of  writing,  to  improve  speech. 
And  in  proportion  as  books  are  multiplied,  and  the  knowledge  of  written  language 
is  diffused.  Wai  dialects,  which  are  beneath  the  dignity  of  gramriiar,  will  always 
be  found  to  grow  tewer.  ;md  their  differences  less.  There  are,  in  the  various  parts 
of  the  world,  many  language-  to  which  the  art  of  grammar  has  never  yet  been 
applied  ;  and  to  which,  therefore,  the  definition  or  true  idea  of  grammar,  however 
general,  does  not  properly  extend.  And  even  where  it  has  been  applied,  and  is 
now  honoured  as  a  popular  branch  of  study,  there  is  yet  great  room  for  improve- 
ment :  barbarisms  and  solecisms  have  not  been  rebuked  away  as  they  deserve 
to  be. 

7.  Melancthon  says,  "  Grammatica  est  certa  loquendi  ac  scribendi  ratio,  Latinis 
Latino."  Vossius,  "  Ars  bene  loquendi  eoque  et  scribendi,  atque  id  Latinis 
Latine."  Dr.  Prat,  "  Cramimitica  est  recte  loquendi  atque  scribendi  ars." 
Ruddiman  also,  in  his  Institutes  of  Latin  Grammar,  reversed  the  terms  v, 
and  speaking,  and  defined  grammar,  "  ars  recte  loquendi  scribendique  ;"  and, 
either  from  mere  imitation,  or  from  the  general  observation  that  speech  precedes 
writing,  this  arrangement  of  the  words  has  been  followed  by  most  modern  gram- 
marians. Dr.  Lowth  embraces  both  terms  in  a  more  general  one,  and  says, 
"  Grammar  is  the  art  of  r  /////////  expressing  our  thoughts  by  words."  It  is,  how- 
ever. the  province  of  grammar,  to  guide  us  not  merely  in  the  expression  of  our 
own  thoughts,  but  also  in  our  appivhen.-ion  of  the  thoughts,  and  our  interpretation 
words,  of  others.  Hence,  1  Vri/.onhis.  in  commenting  upon  Sanctius's  im- 
perfect definition,  "Grninnniti<"<i  r.sV  ars  recte  loqnendi,"  not  improperly  asks, 
'V/V/r//'//  <-t  exlicandi?"  "and  wh  not  also  of  understandin  and 


'V/V/r//'//  <-t  explicandi?"  "and  why  not  also  of  understanding  and 
explaining'.'"  Hence,  too,  the  art  of  reading  is  virtually  a  part  of  grammar  ;  for  it 
is  but  the  art  of  understanding  and  speaking  correctly  that  which  we  have  before 
us  on  paper.     And  Nugent  has  accordingly  given  us  the  following  definition  : 
mar  is  the  art  of  reading,  speaking,  and  writing  a  language  by  rules." 

-  Litnxlnrtin,,  t»   JJi'rf.   p.   Xli.* 

8.  The  word  recte,  rightly,  truly,  correctly,  which  occurs  in  most  of  the  fore- 
going Latin  definitions,  is   censured   by  the   learned   Kichard  Johnson,  in  his 
Grammatical  Commentaries,  on  account  of  the  vagueness  of  its  meaning.     He  says, 
it  is  not  only  ambiguous  by  reason  of  its  different  uses  in  the  Latin  classics,  but 

ite  of  any  signification  proper  to  grammar.     But  even  if  this  be  true  as  re- 

gards its  earlier  application,  it  may  well  be  questioned,  whether  by  frequency  of 

•'juired  a  signification  which  makes  it  proper  at  the  present  time. 

Tin-  English  word  correctly  eeeaa  to  be  les.>  liable  to  such  an  objection;  and  either 

this  brief   term,  or  some  other  of  like  import,  (as,  "with  correctness"  —  "with 

propriety.")    is  still   usually  employed  to  tell  what  grammar  is.      But  can  a  boy 

learn  ]  viiat  it  is,  tn  aju'ttt:  nml  ?/•/•//»•  grammatically  1    In  one  sense, 

I  in  another,  he  cannot,     lit.'  may  derive,  from  any  of  the.-e  terms,  some 

'iimar  as  distinguished  from  other  arts  ;  but  no  >imple  definition  of  this, 

or  of  any  other  art.  can  cummunicate  to  him  that  learns  it.  the  skill  of  an  artist. 

9.  B  ///*'  rilntion  of  words  to  each  other  in  sen- 

uiting  in  his  v'n-w  the  most  essential  part  of  grammar;  and  as 

•  1  1>  .  parts,  was  as  follows  :  "  Grammar  is  the  art  of  true  and  well* 

(peaking  a  language  :  the  writing  is  but 

.    |       ,  .  ,    .      |    flu-  triii-  nutation  of  words, 
raxe,         (    *  ls    |    tin-  ri.-ht  ..r.U-rinu'  -f  '!. 

A  word  is  a  part  of  speech  or  note,  wberebv  a  thing  Ls  known  or  railed  ;  and  consisteth  of  one  or  more 

irnliviMMe  part  of  a  syllnMc,  whose  prosody,  or  right  sounding,  is  perceived  by  the  power  ;  the 
orth< 

nut  parts  of  grammar,  but  diffused,  like  blood  and  spirits,  through  the 
-Jonsons  Gram.  Book  I. 


4  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    I. 

being  a  point  very  much  overlooked,  or  very  badly  explained,  by  grammarians  in 
general.  His  censure  is  just.  And  it  seems  to  be  as  applicable  to  nearly  all  the 
grammars  now  in  use,  as  to  those  which  he  criticised  a  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago. 
But  perhaps  he  gives  to  the  relation  of  words,  (which  is  merely  their  dependence  on 
other  words  according  to  the  sense,)  an  earlier  introduction  and  a  more  prominent 
place,  than  it  ought  to  have  in  a  general  system  of  grammar.  To  the  right  use  of 
language,  he  makes  four  things  to  be  necessary.  In  citing  these,  I  vary  the  lan- 
guage, but  not  the  substance  or  the  order  of  his  positions.  First,  That  we  should 
speak  and  write  words  according  to  the  significations  which  belong  to  them  :  the 
teaching  of  which  now  pertains  to  lexicography,  and  not  to  grammar,  except  inci- 
dentally. "  Secondly,  That  we  should  observe  the  relations  that  words  have 
one  to  another  in  sentences,  and  represent  those  relations  by  such  variations,  and 
particles,  as  are  usual  with  authors  in  that  language."  Thirdly,  That  we  should 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  proper  sounds  of  the  letters,  and  pay  a  due  regard  to 
accent  in  pronunciation.  Fourthly,  That  we  should  learn  to  write  words  with  their 
proper  letters,  spelling  them  as  literary  men  generally  do. 

10.  From  these  positions,  (though  he  sets  aside  the  first,  as  pertaining  to  lexi- 
cography, and  not  now  to  grammar,  as  it  formerly  did,)  the  learned  critic  deduces 
first  his  four  parts  of  the  subject,  and  then  his  definition  of  grammar.     "  Hence," 
says  he.   "  there  arise  four  parts  of  grammar  ;  Analogy,  which  treats  of  the  several 
parts  of  speech,  their  definitions,  accidents,  and  formations ;  Syntax,  which  treats  of 
the  use  of  those  things  in  construction,  according  to  their  relations ;  Orthography, 
which  treats  of  spelling ;  and  Prosody,  which  treats  of  accenting  in  pronunciation. 
So,  then,  the  true  definition  of  grammar  is  this  :  Grammar  is  the  art  of  expressing 
the  relations  of  things  in  construction,  with  due  accent  in  speaking,  and  orthog- 
raphy in  writing,  according  to  the  custom  of  those  whose  language  we  learn." 
Again  he  adds  :  "  The  word  relation  has  other  senses,  taken  by  itself;  but  yet  the 
relation  of  words  one  to  another  in  a  sentence,  has  no  other  signification  than 
what  I  intend  by  it,  namely,  of  cause,  effect,  means,  end,  manner,  instrument, 
object,  adjunct,  and  the  like  ;  which  are  names  given  by  logicians  to  those  relations 
under  which  the  mind  comprehends  things,  and  therefore  the  most  proper  words 
to  explain  them  to  others.     And  if  such  things  are  too  hard  for  children,  then 
grammar  is  too  hard  ;  for  there  neither  is,  nor  can  be,  any  grammar  without  them. 
And  a  little  experience  will  satisfy  any  man,  that  the  young  will  as  easily  appre- 
hend them,  as  gender,  number,  declension,  and  other  grammar-terms."     See  R. 
Johnson's  Grammatical  Commentaries,  p.  4. 

11.  It  is  true,  that  the  relation  of  words — by  which  I  mean  that  connexion 
between  them,  which  the  train  of  thought  forms  and  suggests — or  that  dependence 
which  one  word  has  on  an  other  according  to  the  sense — lies  at  the  foundation  of 
all  syntax.     No  rule  or  principle  of  construction  can  ever  have  any  applicability  be- 
yond the  limits,  or  contrary  to  the  order,  of  this  relation.     To  see  what  it  is  in 
any  given  case,  is  but  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  or  sentence.     And 
it  is  plain,  that  no  word  ever  necessarily  agrees  with  an  other,  with  which  it  is  not 
thus  connected  in  the  mind  of  him  who  uses  it.     No  word  ever  governs  an  other, 
to  which  the  sense  does  not  direct  it.     No  word  is  ever  required  to  stand  imme- 
diately before  or  after  an  other,  to  which  it  has  not  some  relation  according  to  the 
meaning  of  the  passage.     Here  then  are  the  relation,  agreement,  government,  and 
arrangement,  of  words  in  sentences  ;  and  these  make  up  the  whole  of  syntax — but 
not  the  whole  of  grammar.     To  this  one  part  of  grammar,  therefore,  the  relation  of 
words  is  central  and  fundamental ;  in  the  other  parts  also,  there  are  some  things  to 
which  the  consideration  of  it  is  incidental ;  but  there  are  many  more,  like  spelling, 
pronunciation,  derivation,  and  whatsoever  belongs  merely  to  letters,  syllables,  and 
the  forms  of  words,  with  which  it  ha*,  in  fact,  no  connexion.     The  relation  of  words, 
therefore,  should  be  clearly  and  fully  explained  in  its  proper  place,  under  the  head 


C^AP.    I.]  OF   THE   SCIENCE    OP    GRAMMAR.  5 

of  syntax  ;  but  the  general  idea  of  grammar  will  not  be  brought  nearer  to  truth, 
by  making  it  to  be  "  the  art  of  '-./•///•»•>•  >',/y  //,,•  ,-,  A///O//.V  of  tiling.-,"  &c. 

1'J.  The  trim  yrnnumtr  i>  derived  from  the  Greek  word  ;(/'<," ."»,  a  letter.  The 
art  or  science  t«»  which  this  term  is  applied,  had  its  origin,  not  in  cursory  >pe, -ch, 
but  it)  tt:  «>f  writing;  and  sjteeeh,  which  is  n'i>t  in  the  order  of  nature,  is 

la>t  with  ivWeiu-e  to  "ram  mar.     The  matter  or  common   subject   of  grammar,  is 
lun-  ueral;  which,  being  of  two  kinds,  spoken  and  written,  consists  of 

certain  combinations  either  of  sounds  or  of  visible  signs,  employed  for  the  expres- 
sion of  thought.  Letters  and  sounds,  though  often  needlessly  confoanded  in  the 
definitions  njven  of  vowels,  consonants,  &c.,are,  in  their  own  nature,  very  different 
thing-.  Th'-y  address  themselves  to  different  senses  ;  the  former,  to  the  sight ;  the 
r,  to  the  hearing.  Yet,  by  a  peculiar  relation  arbitrarily  established  between 
them,  and  in  consequence  of  an  almost  endless  variety  in  the  combinations  of  either, 
they  coincide  in  a  most  admirable  manner,  to  effect  the  great  object  for  which  lan- 
guage was  bestowed  or  invented  ;  namely,  to  furnish  a  sure  medium  for  the 
communication  of  thought,  and  the  preservation  of  knowledge. 

Ul  languages,  however  different,  have  many  things  in  common.  There 
are  points  of  a  philosophical  character,  which  result  alike  from  the  analysis  of  ciny 
laniM'a-c.  and  are  founded  on  the  very  nature  of  human  thought,  and  that  of  the 
sounds  or  other  signs  which  are  used  to  express  it.  When  such  principle-  alone 
are  I  5'ject  of  inquiry,  and  are  treated,  as  they  sometimes  have  been, 

wit!  i  to  any  of  the  idioms  of  particular  languages,  they  constitute  what  is 

called  General,  Philosophical,  or  Universal  Grammar.      But  to  teach,  with  Lindley 
Murray  and  some  others,  that   "  Grammar  may  be  considered  as  const  at  imj  of  two 
rniversal  and  Particular,"    and   that   the  latter  merely  "applies  those 
ral  principles  to  a  particular  language,"  is  to  adopt  a  twofold  absurdity  at  the 
it.*      For  every  cultivated  language  has  its  particular  grammar,  in  which  what- 
soever  is   universal,  is   necessarily  included  ;  but   of  which,  universal   or  general 
prii:  n  only  a  part,  and  that  comparatively  small.     We  find  therefore  in 

grammar  no  "  two  species  "  of  the  same  genus;  nor  is  the  science  or  art,  as  com- 
monly defined  and  understood,  susceptible  of  division  into  any  proper  and  distinct 
•' pt  with  reference  to  different  languages — as  when  we  speak  of  Greek, 
Latin,  French,  or  Knglish  grammar. 

14.  There  i<.  however,  as  T  have  suggested,  a  certain  science  or  philosophy  of 
lan^iiau''.  which,  has  been  denominated  Universal  Grammar  ;  being  made  up  of 
th"<e  p.-ints  only,  in  which  many  or  all  of  the  different  languages  pre-eived  in 
books,  are  found  to  coincide.  All  speculative  minds  are  fond  of  generalization  ; 
and,  in  the  va-tness  of  the  views  which  may  thus  be  taken  of  grammar,  such  may 
find  an  entertainment  which  they  never  felt  in  merely  learning  to  speak  and  write 

',/.-<}  upon   a  part  of  thi^  :ib<nr<lit\ -.  t«  prove  thnt  Dr.  I.owth.  from  whom  Murray 
what  he  undertook  in  the  character  of  a  fcniiiiiu;iri:ni  :  "  I»r. 

redly 
s  the 

.(/,/;'.  .N    those 

• 
c   priijcipl"  of  UK 

pting 

' 

1 

!>id  in  sonic 
,  h<>  ha-J  :i  much   ;  ;  r.t\ 's 

1  implicit,,,    - 
it  in  .     De 

to  a;  ml  or 

no  principles  of  Syntax  at  all,  whatever  else  it  u»;i>  hare  which  Particular  Grammar 
c&ii  assume  and  apply. 


6  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    I. 

grammatically.  But  the  pleasure  of  such  contemplations  is  not  the  earliest  or  the 
most  important  fruit  of  the  study.  The  first  thing  is,  to  know  and  understand  the 
grammatical  construction  of  our  own  language.  Many  may  profit  by  this  acquisi- 
tion, who  extend  not  their  inquiries  to  the  analogies  or  the  idioms  of  other  tongues. 
It  is  true,  that  every  item  of  grammatical  doctrine  is  the  more  worthy  to  be  known 
and  regarded,  in  proportion  as  it  approaches  to  universality.  But  the  principles 
of  all  practical  grammar,  whether  universal  or  particular,  common  or  peculiar,  must 
first  be  learned  in  their  application  to  some  one  language,  before  they  can  be 
distinguished  into  such  classes  ;  and  it  is  manifest,  both  from  reason  and  from 
experience,  that  the  youth  of  any  nation  not  destitute  of  a  good  book  for  the 
purpose,  may  best  acquire  a  knowledge  of  those  principles,  from  the  grammatical 
study  of  their  native  tongue. 

15.  Universal  or  Philosophical  Grammar  is  a  large  field  for  speculation  and 
inquiry,  and  embraces  many  things  which,  though  true  enough  in  themselves,  are 
unfit  to  be  incorporated  with  any  system  of  practical  grammar,  however  compre- 
hensive its  plan.  Many  authors  have  erred  here.  With  what  is  merely  theoretical, 
such  a  system  should  have  little  to  do.  Philosophy,  dealing  in  generalities, 
resolves  speech  not  only  as  a  whole  into  its  constituent  parts  and  separable  elements, 
as  anatomy  shows  the  use  and  adaptation  of  the  parts  and  joints  of  the  human  body; 
but  also  as  a  composite  into  its  matter  and  form,  as  one  may  contemplate  that  same 
body  in  its  entireness,  yet  as  consisting  of  materials,  some  solid  and  some  fluid,  and 
these  curiously  modelled  to  a  particular  figure.  Grammar,  properly  so  called, 
requires  only  the  former  of  these  analyses ;  and  in  conducting  the  same,  it  descends 
to  the  thousand  minute  particulars  which  are  necessary  to  be  known  in  practice. 
Nor  are  such  things  to  be  despised  as  trivial  and  low  :  ignorance  of  what  is  common 
and  elementary,  is  but  the  more  disgraceful  for  being  ignorance  of  mere  rudiments. 
"Wherefore,"  says  Quintilian,  "  they  are  little  to  be  respected,  who  represent 
this  art  as  mean  and  barren  ;  in  which,  unless  you  faithfully  lay  the  foundation  for 
the  future  'orator,  whatever  superstructure  you  raise  will  tumble  into  ruins.  It  is 
an  art,  necessary  to  the  young,  pleasant  to  the  old,  the  sweet  companion  of  the 
retired,  and  one  which  in  reference  to  every  kind  of  study  has  in  itself  more  of 
utility  than  of  show.  Let  no  one  therefore  despise  as  inconsiderable  the  elements  of 
grammar.  Not  because  it  is  a  great  thing,  to  distinguish  consonants  from  vowels, 
and  afterwards  divide  them  into  semivowels  and  mutes  ;  but  because,  to  those  who 
enter  the  interior  parts  of  this  temple  of  science,  there  will  appear  in  many  things  a 
great  subtilty,  which  is  fit  not  only  to  sharpen  the  wits  of  youth,  but  also  to  exer- 
cise the  loftiest  erudition  and  science." — De  Instititione  Oratoria,  Lib.  i,  Cap.  i 

1G.  Again,  of  the  arts  which  spring  from  the  composition  of  languagi 
Here  the  art  of  logic,  aiming  solely  at  conviction,  addresses  the  understanding 
with  cool  deductions  of  unvarnished  truth  ;  rhetoric,  designing  to  move,  in  some 
particular  direction,  both  the  judgement  and  the  sympathies  of  men,  applies  itself 
to  the  affections  in  order  to  persuade ;  and  poetry,  various  in  its  character  and 
tendency,  solicits  the  imagination,  with  a  view  to  delight,  and  in  general  also  to 
instruct.  But  grammar,  thougli  intimately  connected  with  all  these,  and  essential 
to  them  in  practice,  is  still  too  distinct  from  each  to  be  identified  with  any  of  them. 
In  regard  to  dignity  and  interest,  these  higher  studies  seem  to  have  greatly  the 
advantage  over  particular  grammar ;  but  who  is  witling  to  be  an  ungrammatical 
poet,  orator,  or  logician  ?  For  him  I  do  not  write.  But  I  would  persuade  my 
readers,  that  an  acquaintance  with  that  grammar  which  respects  the  genius  of  their 
vernacular  tongue,  is  of  primary  importance  to  all  who  would  cultivate  a  literary 
taste,  and  is  a  necessary  introduction  to  the  study  of  other  languages.  And  it 
may  here  be  observed,  for  the  encouragement  of  the  student,  that  as  grammar  is 
essentially  the  same  thing  in  all  languages,  he  who  has  well  mastered  that  of  his 
own,  has  overcome  more  than  half  the  difficulty  of  learning  an  other ;  and  he 


CHAP.    I.]  OP   THE   SCIENCE   OF    GRAMMAR.  7 

whose  knowledge  of  words  is  the  most  extensive,  has  the  fewest  obstacles  to  encoun- 
ter in  proceeding  further. 

17.  It  was  the  "  original  design  "  of  grammar,  says  Dr.  Adam,  to  facilitate 
"  the  acquisition  of  languages;  "  and,  of  all  practical  treatises  on  the  subject,  this 
is  still  the  main  purpose.  In  those  books  which  are  to  prepare  the  learner  to 
translate  from  one  tongue  into  an  other,  seldom  is  any  tiling  else  attempted.  In 
those  also  which  profess  to  explain  the  right  use  of  vernacular  speech,  must  the 
same  purpose  be  ever  paramount,  and  the  "  original  design  "  be  kept  in  view. 
But  the  grammarian  may  teach  many  things  incidentally.  One  cannot  learn  a 
language,  without  learning  at  the  same  time  a  great  many  opinions,  facts,  and 
principles,  of  some  kind  or  other,  which  are  necessarily  embodied  in  it.  For  all 
language  proceeds  from,  and  is  addressed  to,  the  understanding ;  and  he  that  per- 
ceives not  the  meaning  of  what  he  reads,  makes  no  acquisition  even  of  the  lan- 
guage itself.  To  the  science  of  grammar,  the  nature  of  the  ideas  conveyed  by 
casual  examples,  is  not  very  essential :  to  the  learner,  it  is  highly  important.  The 
best  thoughts  in  the  best  diction  should  furnish  the  models  for  youthful  study  and 
imitation  ;  because  such  language  is  not  only  the  most  worthy  to  be  remembered, 
but  the  most  easy  to  be  understood.  A  distinction  is  also  to  be  made  between  use 
and  abuse.  In  nonsense,  absurdity,  or  falsehood,  there  can  never  be  any  gram- 
matical authority ;  because,  however  language  may  be  abused,  the  usage  which 
gives  law  to  speech,  is  still  that  usage  which  is  founded  upon  the  common  sense 
of  mankind. 

1*.  (irammar  appeals  to  reason,  as  well  as  to  authority  ;  but  to  what  extent  it 
should  do  so,  has  been  matter  of  dispute.  "  The  knowledge  of  useful  arts," 
3ancttU8,  "is  not  an  invention  of  human  ingenuity,  but  an  emanation  from 
the  Deity,  descending  from  above  for  the  use  of  man,  as  Minerva  sprung  from 
the  brain  of  Jupiter.  Wherefore,  unless  thou  give  thyself  wholly  to  laborious  re- 
search into  the  nature  of  things,  and  diligently  examine  the  causes  and  reasons 
of  the  art  thou  teachest,  believe  me,  thou  shalt  but  see  with  other  men's  eyes,  and 
hear  with  other  men's  ears.  But  the  minds  of  many  are  preoccupied  with  a  cer- 
tain perverse  opinion,  or  rather  ignorant  conceit,  that  in  grammar,  or  the  art 
of  speaking,  there  are  no  causes,  and  that  reason  is  scarcely  to  be  appealed  to  for 
any  thing  ;  —  than  which  idle  notion,  I  know  of  nothing  more  foolish  ;  —  nothing 
can  be  thought  of  which  is  more  offensive.  Shall  man,  endowed  with  reason,  do, 
say,  or  contrive  any  thing,  without  design,  and  without  understanding?  Hear  the 
philosophers;  who  positively  declare  that  nothing  comes  to  pass  without  a  cause. 
Hear  Plato  himself;  who  aflirms  that  names  and  words  subsist  by  nature,  and 
contends  that  language  is  derived  from  nature,  and  not  from  art." 

i'.».  "  T  know,"  says  he,  "  that  the  Aristotelians  think  otherwise  ;  but  no  one 
will  doubt  that  names  are  the  signs,  and  as  it  were  the  instruments,  of  things. 
But  the  instrument  of  any  art  is  so  adapted  to  that  art,  that  for  any  other  purpose 
it  must  seem  unfit;  thus  with  an  auger  we  bore,  and  with  a  saw  we  cut  wood  ; 
but  we  split  stones  with  wedges,  and  wedges  are  driven  with  heavy  mauls.  We 
cannot  therefore  but  believe  that  those  who  first  gave  names  to  things,  did  it  with 
dc»iLrn  :  and  this,  1  imagine,  Aristotle  himself  understood  when  he  said,  ad pla~ 
cifinn  iioiniitd  sif/mji.-nr.-.  For  those  who  contend  that  names  were  made  by 
chance,  are  no  less  audacious  than  if  they  would  endeavour  to  persuade  us,  that 
the  whole  order  of  the  universe  was  frame. 1  together  fortuitously." 

'J<>.  "  You  will  see,"  continues  he,  "  that  in  the  first  lan<ruai:«',  whatever  it  was, 
the  names  of  things  were  taken  from  Nature  herself;  but,  though  I  cannot  ailirm 
this  to  have  been  the  ca<c  in  other  tongues,  yet  I  can  easily  persuade  myself  that 
in  evry  ton^iu-  a  reason  can  be  rendered  for  the  application  of  every  name  ;  and 
that  this  reason,  though  it  is  in  many  eases  <ibM-uiv.  is  nevertheless  worthy  of  in- 
vestigation. Many  things  which  were  not  known  to  the  earlier  philosophers,  were 


8  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    I. 

brought  to  light  by  Plato  ;  after  the  death  of  Plato,  many  were  discovered  by  Aris- 
totle ;  and  Aristotle  was  ignorant  of  many  which  are  now  everywhere  known.  For 
truth  lies  hid,  but  nothing  is  more  precious  than  truth.  But  you  will  say,  '  How 
can  there  be  any  certain  origin  to  names,  when  one  and  the  same  thing  is  called  by 
different  names,  in  the  several  parts  of  the  world  V '  I  answer,  of  the  same  thing 
there  may  be  different  causes,  of  which  some  people  may  regard  one,  and  others, 
an  other.  *  *  There  is  therefore  no  doubt,  that  of  all  things,  even  of 

words,  a  reason  is  to  be  rendered  :  and  if  we  know  not  what  that  reason  is,  when 
we  are  asked  ;  we  ought  rather  to  confess  that  we  do  not  know,  than  to  affirm  that 
none  can  be  given.  I  know  that  Scaliger  thinks  otherwise  ;  but  this  is  the  true 
account  of  the  matter." 

21.  "  These  several  observations,"  he  remarks  further,   "  I  have  unwillingly 
brought  together  against  those  stubborn  critics  who,  while  they  explode  reason 
from  grammar,  insist  so  much  on  the  testimonies  of  the  learned.     But  have  they 
never  read  Quintilian,  who  says, '(Lib.  i,  Cap.  6,)  that,  '  Language  is  established 
by  reason,  antiquity,  authority,  and  custom  ? '      He  therefore  does  not  exclude 
reason,  but  makes  it  the  principal  thing.      Nay,  in  a  manner,  Laurentius,  and 
other  gramraatists,  even  of  their  fooleries,  are  forward  to  offer  reasons,  such  as 
they  are.     Moreover,  use  does  not  take  place  without  reason  ;  otherwise,  it  ought 
to  be  called  abuse,  and  not  use.     But  from  use  authority  derives  all  its  force  ; 
for  when  it  recedes  from  use,  authority  becomes  nothing:  whence  Cicero  reproves 
Ccelius  and  Marcus  Antonius  for  speaking  according  to  their  own  fancy,  and  not 
according  to  use.    But,  '  Nothing  can  be  lasting,'  says  Curtius,  (Lib.  iv,)  '  which 
is  not  based  upon  reason.'     It  remains,  therefore,  that  of  all  things  the  reason  be 
first  assigned ;  and  then,  if  it  can  be  done,  we  may  bring  forward  testimonies ; 
that  the  thing,  having  every  advantage,  may  be  made  the  more  clear." — Sunclii 
Minerva,  Lib.  i,  Cap.  2. 

22.  Julius  Cassar  Scaliger,  from  whose  opinion  Sanctius  dissents  above,  seems 
to  limit  the  science  of  grammar  to  bounds  considerably  too  narrow,  though  he  found 
within  them  room  for  the  exercise  of  much  ingenuity  and  learning.     He  says, 
"  Grammatics  est  scientia  loquendi  ex  usu ;  neque  enim  constituit  regulas  scien- 
tibus  usus  modum,  sed  ex  eorum  statis  frequentibusque  usurpationibus  colligit 
communem   rationem    loquendi,  quam   discentibus   traderet." — De    Cay  sis   L. 
Latince,  Lib.  iv,  Cap   76.     "  Grammar  is  the  science  of  speaking  according  to 
use;  for  it  does  not  establish  rules  for  those  who  know  the  manner  of  use,  but 
from  the  settled  and  frequent  usages  of   these,  gathers  the  common  fashion   of 
speaking,  which  it  should  deliver  to  learners."     This  limited  view  seems  not  only 
to  exclude  from  the  science  the  use  of  the  pen,  but  to  exempt  the  learned  from 
any  obligation  to  respect  the  rules  prescribed  for  the  initiation  of  the  young.     But 
I  have  said,  and  with  abundant  authority,  that  the  acquisition  of  a  good   style   of 
writing  is  the  main   purpose    of  the   study ;    and,   surely,   the  proficients  and 
adepts  in  the  art  can  desire  for  themselves  no  such  exemption.     Men  of  genius, 
indeed,  sometimes  affect  to  despise  the  pettiness  of  all  grammatical  instructions ; 
but  this  can  be  nothing  else  than  affectation,  since  the   usage  of  the  learned  is 
confessedly  the  basis  of  all  such  instructions,  and  several  of  the  loftiest  of  their 
own  rank  appear  on  the  list  of  grammarians. 

23.  Quintilian,  whose  authority  is  appealed  to  above,  belonged  to  that  age  in 
which  the  exegesis  of  histories,  poems,  and  other  writings,  Avas  considered   an   es- 
sential part  of  grammar.     lie  therefore,  as  well  as  Diomedes,  and  other  ancient 
writers,  divided  the  grammarian's  duties  into  two  parts ;  the  one  including  what,  is 
now  called  grammar,  and  the  other  the  explanation  of  authors,  and   the   stigmatiz- 
ing of  the  unworthy.      Of  the  opinion  referred  to  by  Sanctius,  it  seems  proper  to 
make  here  an  ampler  citation.     It  shall  be  attempted  in  English,  though  the  para- 
graph is  not  an  easy  one  to  translate.      I  understand  the  author  to  say,  "  Speak- 


CHAP.    I.]  OF   THE   SCIENCE   OF    GRAMMAR.  9 

ers,  too,  have  their  rules  to  observe ;  and  writers,  theirs.     Language  is  established 
antiquity,   authority,   and  custom.     Of   reason   the    chief  ground   is 
Detimea  etymology.     Ancient  thing*  have  a  certain  majesty,  and, 
a-  1  might   xiv.  religion,  to  commend  them.     Authority  is  wont  to  !  from 

and  historians ;  the  necessity  of  metre  mostly  excuses  the  poets.  When 
the  judgement  of  the  chief  masters  of  eloquence  passes  for  reason,  even  error 
seems  right  to  those  who  follow  great  leaders.  But,  of  the  art  of  speaking,  custom 
i.-  the  smest  mistre.-s  ;  fur  evidently  to  be  used  as  money,  which  has  upon 

it  a  public  .-tamp.      Yet  all  these  things  require  a  penetrating  judgement,  especially 
v  ;  the  force  of  which  is,  that  one   may  refer  what  is  doubtful,  to  some- 
thing similar  that  is  clearly  established,  and   thus  prove  uncertain  things  by  those 
whi<:h  are  sure." — Quint.  Inst.  Orcit.,  Lib.  i,  Cap.  6. 

-4.   The   science  of  grammar,  whatever  we  may  suppose  to  be  its  just  limits, 
pear  to  have  been   better  cultivated  in  proportion  as  its  scope  was  nar- 
Xor  has  its  application  to  our  tongue,  in   particular,  ever  been   made  in 
such  a  manner,  as  to  do  </reat  honour  to  the  learning  or  the  talents  of  him  that  at- 
tempted it.     What  is  new  to  a  nation,  may  be  old  to  the  world.     The  development 
of    the  intellectual  powers  of  youth  by  instruction   in  the  classics,  as  well  as 
tin-  improvement  of  their  taste  by  the  exhibition  of  what  is  elegant  in  literature, 
i.-  <"'iitinually  engaging  the  attention  of  new  masters,  some  of  whom  may  seem  to 
:   hut  w«-  must  remember  that  the  concern  itself  is  of  no 
i  A  istotle,  who  were  great  masters  both  of  grammar  and 

iy,  taught  these   things   ably  at    Athens,  in   the  fourth  century  before 
Varro,  the   grammarian,  usually  styled  the  most  learned  of  the  Romans, 
;/f<'n<l><>nir>i  with  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles.     Quintilian  lived  in  \\\Q  first 
century  of  our  era,  and  before  he  wrote  his  most  celebrated  book,  taught  a  school 
year.-  in  Home,  and  received  from  the  state  a  salary  which  made  him  rich. 
This  ••  eon.-ummate  guide   of  wayward  youth,"   as  the   poet   Martial  called   him, 
neither  ignorant  of  what  had  been  done  by  others,  nor  disposed  to  think  it  a 
liu'ht  task  to  proscribe  the  right  use  of  his  own  language,  was  at  first  slow  to  un- 
dertake the  work   upon  which   his  fame  now  reposes  ;    and,  after  it   was  begun, 
diligent  to  execute  it  worthily,  that  it  might  turn  both  to  his  own  honour,  and  to 
the  real  advancement  of  learning. 

•it  the  comnicncfiiient  of  his  book  :  "  After  I  had  obtained  a  quiet 

from  those  labours  which  for  twenty  years  had  devolved  upon   me  as  an  in- 

r  of  youth,  certain  pcr.-ons  familiarly  demanded  of  me,  that  I  should    com- 

Miething  concerning  the  proper  manner  of  speaking  ;  but  for  a  long  time  I 

»<1  their  solicitations,  because  [knew  there  were,   already  illustrious  authors 

_•-.  1  v  whom  many  things  which  might  pertain  to  such  a  work,  had 

l-'-'Mi    very   diligently   written,    and  left    to   posterity.       But    the   reason   which   I 

1  would  obtain  for  me  an  ea.-ier  cxru.-c,  did  but  excite  the  more  earnest  en- 

thfl   various  opinions  of    earlier  writers,  some  of   whom 

even   conn-tent  with  then  the  choice  had   become  difficult;  so 

that  my  friends  seemed  to  have  a   right    to  enjoin  upon   me,  if  not   the   labour  of 

Q9W  in.-truetions,  at   least   that   of   judging  concerning   the    old.       But 

Miaded   not    -o   much    by   the    hope   of    supplying  what   was 

06    of  refusing.  ie   matter   opened    it. -elf  before 

.    of    my   own    accord    a    much    greater   task    than    had    been    im- 

;   that  while   I   should   ti.  -ood   friends   bv  a    fnll« 

I,  I    might    not    enter   ;i   common   path   and   tread   only  in    the    foot.-: 

:  -  who   have    treated    of    the    art   of    :-peaking,  have 

led  in  -ndi  a  manner  as  if  upon  adept-  in  every  other  kind  of  doctrine  they 

would    lay   the    last   touch   in   eloquence  ;    either    de.-pi.-ing  as   little    thing.-    the 

studies  which  we  first  learn,  or  thinking  them  not  to  fall  to  their  share  in  the  divi- 


10  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    I. 

sion  which  should  be  made  of  the  professions ;  or,  what  indeed  is  next  to  this, 
hoping  no  praise  or  thanks  for  their  ingenuity  about  things  which,  although  neces- 
sary, lie  far  from  ostentation  :  the  tops  of  buildings  make  a  show,  their  foundations 
are  unseen."—  Quintiliani  de  Inst.  Or  at.,  Procemium. 

26.  But  the  reader  may  ask,  "  What  have  all  these  things  to  do  with  English 
Grammar?  "     I  answer,  they  help  to  show  us  whence  and  what  it  is.     Some  ac- 
quaintance with  the  history  of  grammar  as  a  science,  as  well  as  some  knowledge 
of  the  structure  of  other  languages  than  our  own,  is  necessary  to  him  who  pro- 
fesses to  write  for  the  advancement  of  this  branch  of  learning  —  and  for  him  also 
who  would  be  a  competent  judge  of  what  is  thus  professed.     Grammar  must  not 
forget  her  origin.     Criticism  must  not  resign  the  protection  of  letters.     The  na- 
tional literature  of  a  country  is  in  the  keeping,  not  of  the  people  at  large,  but  of 
authors  and  teachers.     But  a  grammarian  presumes  to  be  a  judge  of  authorship, 
and  a  teacher  of  teachers ;  and  is  it  to  the  honour  of  England  or  America,  that 
in  both  countries  so  many  are  countenanced  in  this  assumption  of  place,  who  can 
read  no  language  but  their  mother  tongue  ?     English  Grammar  is  not  properly  an 
indigenous  production,  either  of  this  country  or  of   Britain ;  because  it  is  but  a 
branch  of  the  general  science  of  philology — a  new  variety,  or  species,  sprung  up 
from  the  old  stock  long  ago  transplanted  from  the  soil  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

27.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  neither  any  ancient  system  of  grammatical  instruction 
nor  any  grammar  of  an  other  language,  however  contrived,  can  be  entirely  applica- 
ble to  the  present  state  of  our  tongue  ;  for  languages  must  needs  differ  greatly 
one  from  an  other,  and  even  that  which  is  called  the  same,  may  come  in  time  to 
differ  greatly  from  what  it  once  was.     But  the  general  analogies  of  speech,  which 
are  the  central  principles  of  grammar,  are  but  imperfectly  seen  by  the  man  of  one 
language.     On  the  other  hand,  it  is  possible  to  know  much  of  these  general  prin- 
ciples, and  yet  be  very  deficient  in  what  is  peculiar  to  our  own  tongue.     Real  im- 
provement in  the  grammar  of  our  language,  must  result  from  a  view  that  is  neither 
partial  nor  superficial.      "  Time,  sorry  artist,"  as  was  said  of  old,  "  makes  all  he 
handles  worse."     And  Lord  Bacon,  seeming  to  have  this  adage  in  view,  suggests  : 
"  If  Time  of  course  alter  all  things  to  the  worse,  and  Wisdom  and  Counsel  shall 
not  alter  them  to  the  better,  what  shall  be  the  end  ?  " — Bacon's  Essays,  p.  64. 

28.  Hence  the  need  that  an  able  and  discreet  grammarian  should  now  and  then 
appear,  who  with  skillful  hand  can  effect  those  corrections  which  a  change  of  fashion 
or  the  ignorance  of  authors  may  have  made  necessary  ;  but  if  he  is  properly  qual- 
ified for  his  task,  he  will  do  all  this  without  a  departure  from  any  of  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  Universal  Grammar.     He  will  surely  be  very  far  from  thinking,  with  a 
certain  modern  author,  whom  I  shall  notice  in  an  other  chapter,  that,  "  He  is  bound 
to  take  words  and  explain  them  as  he  finds  them  in  his  day,  without  any  regard  to 
their  ancient  construction  and  application." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  28.     The 
whole  history  of  every  word,  so  far  as  he  can  ascertain  it,  will  be  the  view  under 
which  he  will  judge  of  what  is  right  or  wrong  in  the  language  which  he  teaches. 
Etymology  is  neither  the  whole  of  this  view,  nor  yet  to  be  excluded  from  it.     I 
concur  not  therefore  with  Dr.  Campbell,  who,  to  make  out  a  strong  case,  extrav- 
agantly says,  "It  is  never  from  an  attention  to  etymology,  which  would  fre- 
quently mislead  us,  but  from  custom,  the  only  infallible  guide  in  this  matter,  that 
the  meanings  of  words  in  present  use  must  be  learnt." — Philosophy  of  Rhetoric,  p. 
188.    Jamieson  too,  with  an  implicitness  little  to  be  commended,  takes  this  passage 
from  Campbell ;  and,  with  no  other  change  than  that  of  "  learnt"  to  **  learned," 
publishes  it  as  a  corollary  of  his  own. — Grammar  of  Rhetoric,  p.  42.     It  is 
folly  to  state  for  truth  what  is  so  obviously  wrong.     Etymology  and  custom  are 
seldom  at  odds ;  and  where  they  are  so,  the  latter  can  hardly  be  deemed  infallible. 


CHAP.    II.]  OF   GRAMMATICAL   AUTHORSHIP.  11 

CHAPTER  II. 

OF  GRAMMATICAL  AUTHORSHIP. 


"  Respondeo,  dupliciter  aliquem  dici  grammaticum,  art*  et  profcssione.     Grammatici  vera  arte  paurissimi 

iunt:(>:  iii  suut,  ut  patuit  :  lies  mm  vitupcrant  Minimi  viri ;    quia   ip?e   Plinius  cjusmodi 

_'r;imni!it.ii-a   UbeUofl  edidit,      Kr    (ici'in-    v.-r.-t-    i:r.umii:i'H-:p  fuit   diligeutissimu3 

doctor:  -  IB.     Alii  sunf  _Tauim:iri<  i  [..•  t«--~ione,  efii  plerunique  sunt  iueptissiiui ;   quia  scribiinua 

hanr  sihi  artem  vindicat : hos  mastigias  multis  probris  docti 

•ammo  jure  insectantur."— DESPAUTER.  Synt.fol.  1. 


1.  It  is  of  primary  importance  in  all  discussions  and  expositions  of  doctrines, 
of  any  sort,  to  ascertain  well  the  principles  upon  which  our  reasonings  are  to  be 
founded,  and  to  see  that  they  be  such  as  are  immovably  established  in  the  nature 
of  tilings ;  for  error  in  first  principles  is  fundamental,  and  he  who  builds  upon 
an  uncertain  foundation,  incurs  at  least  a  hazard  of  seeing  his  edifice  overthrown. 
The  lover  of  truth  will  be,  at  all  times,  diligent  to  seek  it,  firm  to  adhere  to  it, 
willing  to  submit  to  it,  and  ready  to  promote  it ;  but  even  the  truth  may  be  urged 
unseasonably,  and  important  facts  are  easily  liable  to  be  misjoined.  It  is  proper, 
therefore,  for  every  grammarian  gravely  to  consider,  whether  and  how  far  the  prin- 
•f  his  philosophy,  his  politics,  his  morals,  or  his  religion,  ought  to  influence, 
or  actually  do  influence,  his  theory  of  language,  and  his  practical  instructions  re- 

rting  the  n-rht  use  of  words.     In  practice,  grammar  is  so  interwoven  with  all 
that  is  known,  believed,  learned,  or  spoken  of  among  men,  that  to  determine 
its  own  peculiar  principles  with  due  distinctness,  seems  to  be  one  of  the  most  dif- 
ficult points  of  a  grammarian's  duty. 

'2  From  misapprehension,  narrowness  of  conception,  or  improper  bias,  in  rela- 
tion to  this  point,  many  authors  have  started  wrong ;  denounced  others  with  in- 
temperate /eal ;  departed  themselves  from  sound  doctrine  ;  and  produced  books 
which  are  disgraced  not  merely  by  occasional  oversights,  but  by  central  and  radical 
I  lence,  too,  have  sprung  up,  in  the  name  of  grammar,  many  unprofitable 
••us,  ami  whimsical  systems  of  teaching,  calculated  rather  to  embarrass 
than  to  inform  the  student.  Mere  collisions  of  opinion,  conducted  without  any 
acknowledged  standard  to  guide  the  judgement,  never  tend  to  real  improvement. 
Grammar  is  unquestionably  a  branch  of  that  universal  philosophy  by  which  the 
thoroughly  educated  mind  is  enlightened  to  see  all  things  aright;  for  philosophy, 
in  this  sense  of  the  term,  is  found  in  everything.  Yet,  properly  speaking,  the 
true  grammarian  is  not  a  philosopher,  nor  can  any  man  strengthen  his  title  to  the 
former  character  by  claiming  the  latter  ;  and  it  is  certain,  that  a  most  disheartening 

C  portion  of  what  in  our  language  has  been  published  under  the   name  of  Phi- 
iphio  Grammar,  ia  equally  remote  from  philosophy,  from  grammar,  and  from 
common  s« 

3    True  Dammar  is  founded  on   the  authority  of  reputable  custom  ;  and  that 

.  on  the  use  which  men  make  of  their  reason.     The  proofs  of  what  is  right 

are  accumulative,  and  on  many  points  there  can  be  no  dispute,  because  our  proofs 

from  the  l.e-t  089  >th  obvious  and   innumerable.       On  the  other  hand,  the 

evidence  of  what  i-  wmnir  is  rather  oVmonstrative  ;  for  when  we  would  expose  a 

particular  error,  we  exhibit  it  in  contrast  with  the  established  principle  which  it 

lie  who  formed  the  erroneous  sentence,  has  in  this  case  no  alternative, 

but   either  to  acknowledge   th  i,  or  to  deny  the  authority  of  the  rule. 

Then-  are  disputable  principles  in  grammar,  as  there  are  moot  points  in  law;  but 

this  circumstance  affects  no  settled  usqge  in  either ;  and  every  person  of  sense 


12  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    II. 

and  taste  will  choose  to  express  himself  in  the  way  least  liable  to  censure.  All 
are  free  indeed  from  positive  constraint  on  their  phraseology  ;  for  we  do  not  speak 
or  write  by  statutes.  But  the  ground  of  instruction  assumed  in  grammar,  is 
similar  to  that  upon  which  are  established  the  maxims  of  common  law,  in  juris- 
prudence. The  ultimate  principle,  then,  to  which  we  appeal,  as  the  only  true 
standard  of  grammatical  propriety,  is  that  species  of  custom  which  critics  de- 
nominate GOOD  USE  ;  that  is,  present,  reputable,  general  use. 

4.  Yet  a  slight  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  grammar  will  suffice  to  show 
us,  that  it  is  much  easier  to  acknowledge  this  principle,  and  to  commend  it  in 
words,  than  to  ascertain  what  it  is,  and  abide  by  it  in  practice.     Good  use  is  that 
which  is  neither  ancient  nor  recent,  neither  local  nor  foreign,  neither  vulgar  nor 
pedantic  ;  and  it  will  be  found  that  no  few  have  in  some  way  or  other  departed 
from  it,  even  while  they  were  pretending  to  record  its  dictates      But  it  is  not  to 
be  concealed,  that  in  every  living  language,  it  is  a  matter  of  much  inherent  diffi- 
culty, to  reach  the  standard  of  propriety,  where  usage  is  various  ;  and  to  ascertain 
with  clearness  the  decisions  of  custom,  when  we  descend  to  minute  details.     Here 
is  a  field  in  which  whatsoever  is  achieved  by  the  pioneers  of   literature,  can  be 
appreciated  only  by  thorough  scholars ;  for  the  progress  of  improvement  in   any 
art  or  science,  can  be  known  only  to  those  who  can  clearly  compare  its  ruder  with 
its  more  refined  stages ;  and  it  often  happens  that  what  is  effected  with  much 
labour,  may  be  presented  in  a  very  small  compass. 

5.  But  the  knowledge  of  grammar  may  retrograde ;  for  whatever  loses  the 
vital  principle  of  renovation  and  growth,  tends  to  decay.     And  if  mere  copyists, 
compilers,  abridgers,  and  modifiers,  be  encouraged  •  as  they  now  are,  it  surely  will 
not  advance.     Style  is  liable  to  be  antiquated  by  time,  corrupted  by  innovation, 
debased  by  ignorance,  perverted  by  conceit,  impaired  by  negligence,  and  vitiated 
by  caprice.     And  nothing  but  the  living  spirit  of  true  authorship,  and  the  appli- 
cation  of  just  criticism,  can  counteract  the  natural  tendency  of   these  causes. 
English  grammar  is  still  in  its  infancy  ;  and  even  bears,  to  the  imagination  of  some, 
the  appearance  of  a  deformed  and  ugly  dwarf  among  the  liberal  arts.     Treatises 
are  multiplied  almost  innumerably,  but  still  the  old  errors  survive.     Names  are 
rapidly  added  to  our  list  of  authors,  while  little  or  nothing  is  done  for  the  science. 
Nay,  while  new  blunders  have  been  committed  in  every  new  book,  old  ones  have 
been  allowed  to  stand  as  by  prescriptive  right ;  and  positions  that  were  never  true, 
and  sentences  that  were  never  good  English,  have  been  published  and  republished 
under  different  names,  till  in  our  language  grammar  has  become  the   most  un- 
grammatical  of  all  studies  !     "  Imitators  generally  copy  their  originals  in  an  inverse 
ratio  of  their  merits ;  that  is,  by  adding  as  much  to  their  faults,  as  they  lose  of 
their  merits." — KNIGHT,  on  the  Greek  Alphabet,  p.  117. 

"  Who  to  the  life  an  exact  piece  would  make, 

Must  not  from  others'  work  a  copy  take." — Cowley. 

6.  All  science  is  laid  in  the  nature  of  things  ;  and  he  only  who  seeks  it  there, 
can  rightly  guide  others  in  the  paths  of  knowledge.     He  alone  can  know  whether 
his  predecessors  went  right  or  wrong,  who  is  capable  of  a  judgement  independent 
of  theirs.     But  with  what  shameful  servility  have  many  false  or  faulty  definitions 
and  rules  been  copied  and  copied  from  one  grammar  to  another,  as  if    authority 
had  canonized  their   errors,   or    none  had  eyes  to  see  them  !       Whatsoever  is 
dignified  and  fair,  is  also  modest  and  reasonable ;  but  modesty  does  not  consist 
in  having  no  opinion  of  one's  own,  nor  reason  in  following  with  blind   partiality 
the  footsteps  of  others.     Grammar  unsupported  by  authority,  is  indeed  mere  fiction. 
But  what  apology  is  this,  for  that  authorship  which  has  produced  so  many  gram- 
mars without  originality  ?     Shall  he  who  cannot  write  for  himself,  improve  upon  him 


CHAP.    II.]  OF   GRAMMATICAL   AUTHORSHIP.  13 

who  can  ?  Shall  he  who  cannot  paint,  retouch  the  canvass  of  Guido  ?  Shall  mod- 
est in--  •unity  be  allowed  only  to  imitators  ami  t»>  thieves?  How  many  a  prefatory 
argument  i>Mies  virtually  in  this  !  It  is  not  deference  to  merit,  but  impudent  pre- 
tence, prac!i>in^  on  tin-  credulity  of  ignorance  !  Commonness  alone  exempts  it  from 
scrutiny,  and  the  success  it  ha,s,  is  but  the  wages  of  its  own  worth!-  To 

rend  and  he  informed,  is  to  make  a  proper  use  of  books  for  the  advancement  of 
learning  ;  but  to  assume  to  be  an  author  by  editing  mere  commonplaces  and  .stolen 
criticisms,  is  equally  beneath  the  ambition  of  a  scholar  and  the  honesty  of  a 
man. 

<:  'Tis  true,  the  ancients  we  may  rob  with  ease ; 
But  who  with  that  mean  shift  himself  can  please  ?  " 

Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buckingham. 

7.  Grammar  being  a  practical  art,  with  the  principles  of  which  every  intelligent 
person  is  more  or  1"-  ited,  it  might  be  expected  that  a  book  written  pro- 

lly  on  the  subject,  should  exhibit  some  evidence  of  its  author's  skill.     But  it 
would  >cem  that  a  multitude  of  bad  or  indifferent  writers  have  judged  themselves 
qualified  to  teach  the  art  of   speaking  and  writing  well ;  so  that  correctness  of 
Ian- m*'  and  neatness  of  style  are  as  rarely  to  be  found  in  grammars  as  in  othei 
books.     Nay,  I  have  before  suggested  that  in  no  other  science  are  the  principles 
of  good  writing  so  frequently  and  so  shamefully  violated.      The  code  of  false 
embraced    in   the  following  work,  will  go  far  to  sustain  this  opinion. 
or,  several  excellent  scholars,  who  have  thought  it  an  object 
-,!i  worthy  of  their  talents,  to  prescribe  and  elucidate  the  principles  of  English 
imiar.      But  these,  with  scarcely  any  exception,  have  executed  their  inade- 
quate d.-H'/ns,  not  as  men  engaged  in  their  proper  calling,  but  as  mere  literary 
aim  "iiding  for  a  day  from  their  loftier  purposes,  to  perform  a  service, 

I.  and  therefore  approved,  but  very  far  from  supplying  all  the  aid 
that  is  requisite  to  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject.  Even  the  most  meritori- 
ous hi ye  left  ample  room  for  improvement,  though  some  have  evinced  an  ability 
which  does  honour  to  themselves,  while  it  gives  cause  to  regret  their  lack  of  an 
inducement  to  greater  labour.  The  mere  grammarian  can  neither  aspire  to  praise, 
nor  stipulate  for  a  reward ;  and  to  those  who  were  best  qualified  to  write,  the  sub- 
ject could  offer  no  adequate  motive  for  diligence. 

8.  Unlearned  men,  who  neither  make,  nor  can  make,  any  pretensions  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  grammar  as  a  study,  if  they  show  themselves  modest  in  what  they  profess,  are 
by  no  means  to  be  despised  or  undervalued  for  the  want  of  such  knowledge.  They  are 
subject  to  no  criticism,  till  they  turn  authors  and  write  for  the  public.  And  even 
then  they  are  to  K  .:"ntly,  if  they  have  any  thing  to  communicate,  which  is 

worthy  to  be  accepted  in  a  homely  dress.  Grammatical  inaccuracies  are  to  be 
kin  1,  in  all  those  from  whom  nothing  better  can  be  expected  ;  for  people 

are  often  under  a  •>!'  appearing  as  speakers  or  writers,  before  they  can 

hav  !••  write  or  vaniinatieally.     'j'he  body  is  more  to  be  regarded 

th:m  raiment  ;  and  the  "fan  int'-restin-j:  message,  may  make  the  manner 

of  it  a  little  tiling.  Men  of  high  purpose^  naturally  <purn  all  that  is  comparatively 
low;  or  all  tint  m  '\vr  wrought,  ostentatious,  or  finical.  Hence  St. 

1.  in   writing   in  the   <1<>rint; <:  :hat  the    design  of    his   preaching 

•<'d.  had  li  'he  orator,  and  turned   his  attention  to 

•e  "  ex'-'dleii'-y  ."  or  "wisdom  of  words."     But  this  view  of  things 

piv-,..|f-  n.i  more  -round   for  uninar,  and   making  coarse   and  v 

our  model  of  -:ian  tor  ne^l.s^in-  j   making  bai/e  and 

ihorts  Timothy  to  ••  hold  fast 

the  f.irm  of  sound  wordt"  \vhi«-h  he  himself  had  taught  him.  Nor  can  it  be  de- 
nied that  there  is  an  nhlijjnr  upon  all  men,  to  use  speech  fairly  and  un- 
derstandingly.  But  let  it  be  remembered,  that  all  those  upon  whose  opinions  or 


14  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  II. 

practices  I  am  disposed  to  animadvert,  are  either  professed  grammarians  and  philos- 
ophers, or  authors  who,  by  extraordinary  pretensions,  have  laid  themselves  under 
special  obligations  to  be  accurate  in  the  use  of  language.  "The  wise  in  heart 
shall  be  called  prudent;  and  the  sweetness  of  the  lips  increaseth  learning." — 
Prov.  xvi,  21.  "  The  words  of  a  man's  mouth  are  as  deep  waters,  and  the  well- 
spring  of  wisdom  [is]  as  a  flowing  brook." — Ib.  xviii,  4.  •'  A  fool's  mouth  is  his 
destruction,  and  his  lips  are  the  snare  of  his  soul." — Ib.  xviii,  7. 

9.  The  old  maxim  recorded  by  Bacon,  "  Loquendum  ut  vidgus,  sentiendum  ut 
sapientes  " — "  We  should  speak  as  the  vulgar,  but  think  as  the  wise,"  is  not  to  be 
taken  without  some  limitation.     For  whoever  literally  speaks  as  the  vulgar,  shall 
offend  vastly  too  much  with  his  tongue,  to  have  either  the  understanding  of  the 
wise  or  the  purity  of  the  good.     In  all  untrained  and  vulgar  minds,  the  ambition 
of  speaking  well  is  but  a  dormant  or  very  weak  principle.     Hence  the  great  mass 
of  uneducated  people  are  lamentably  careless  of  what  they  utter,  both  as  to  the 
matter  and  the  manner ;  and  no  few  seem  naturally  prone  to  the  constant  imita- 
tion of  low  example,  and»some,  to  the  practice  of  every  abuse  of  which  language 
is  susceptible.     Hence,  as  every  scholar  knows,  the  least  scrupulous  of  our  lexi- 
cographers notice  many  terms  but  to  censure  them  as  "  low"  and  omit  many  more 
as  being  beneath  their  notice.     Vulgarity  of  language,  then,  ever  has  been,  and 
ever  must  be,  repudiated  by  grammarians.     Yet  we  have  had  pretenders  to  gram- 
mar, who  could  court  the  favour  of  the  vulgar,  though  at  the  expense  of  all  the 
daughters  of  Mnemosyne. 

10.  Hence  the  enormous  insult  to  learning  and  the  learned,  conveyed  in  the 
following  scornful  quotations  :  "  Grammarians,  go  to  your  tailors  and  shoemakers, 
and  learn  from  them  the  rational  art  of  constructing  your  grammars  !  " — Neef's 
Method  of  Education,  p.  62.     "  From  a  labyrinth  without  a  clew,  in  which  the 
most  enlightened  scholars  of  Europe  have  mazed  themselves  and  misguided  others, 
the  author  ventures  to  turn  aside." — CardeWs    Gram.   12  mo,  p.   15.     Again: 
"The  nations  of  unlettered  men  so  adapted  their  language  to  philosophic  truth, 
that  all  physical  and  intellectual  research  can  find  no  essential  rule  to  reject  or 
change." — Ibid,  p.  91.     I  have  shown  that  "  the  nations  of  unlettered  men  "  are 
among  that  portion  of  the  earth's  population,  upon  whose  language  the  genius  of 
grammar  has  never  yet  condescended  to  look  down  !     That  people  who  make  no 
pretensions  to  learning,  can  furnish  better  models  or  instructions  than  "  the  most 
enlightened  scholars,"  is  an  opinion  which  ought  not  to  be  disturbed  by  argument. 

11.  I  regret  to  say,  that  even  Dr.  Webster,  with  all  his  obligations  and  pre- 
tensions to  literature,  has  well-nigh  taken  ground  with  Neef  and  Cardell,  as  above 
cited  ;  and  has  not  forborne  to  throw  contempt,  even  on  grammar  as  such,  and  on 
men  of  letters  indiscriminately,  by  supposing  the  true  principles  of  every  lan- 
guage to  be  best  observed  and  kept  by  the  illiterate.     What  marvel  then,  that  all 
his  multifarious  grammars  of  the  English  language  are  despised  V      Having  sug- 
gested that  the  learned  must  follow  the  practice  of  the  populace,  because  they  cannot 
control  it,  he  adds  :  "  Men  of  letters  may  revolt  at  this  suggestion,  but  if  they 
will  attend  to  the  history  of  our  language,  they  will  find  the  fact  to  be  as  here  stated. 
It  is  commonly  supposed  that  the  tendency  of  this  practice  of  unlettered  men  is  to 
corrupt  the  language.     But  the  fact  is  directly  the  reverse.     I  am  prepared  to 
prove,  were  it  consistent  with  the  nature  of  this  work,  that  nineteen-twentieths  of  all 
the  corruptions  of  our  language,  for  five  hundred  years  past,  have  been  introduced 
by  authors  —  men  who  have  made  alterations  in  particular  idioms  which  they  did 
not  understand.     The  same  remark  is  applicable  to  the  orthography  and  pronun- 
ciation.    The  tendency  of  unlettered  men  is  to  uniformity —  to  analogy  ;  and  so 
strong  is  this  disposition,  that  the  common  people  have  actually  converted  some  of 
our  irregular  verbs  into  regular  ones.     It  is  to  unlettered  people  that  we  owe  the 
disuse  of  holpen,  bounden,  sitten,  and  the  use  of  the  regular  participles  swelled, 
helped,  worked^  in  place  of  the  ancient  ones.     This  popular  tendency  is  not  to  be 


CHAP.  II.]  OF    GRAMMATICAL   AUTHORSHIP.  16 

contemned  and  disregarded,  as  some  of  the  learned  affect  to  do  ;  [this  verb 
'do  '  is  wronur,  Because  '  to  be  contemned '  is  passive  ;]  for  it  is  governed  by  the 
natural,  primary  j>rt /«•/'/,/,  s  of  all  laiH/nnr/es,  to  which  we  owe  all  their  regularity 
an;l  all  their  melody  ;  vi/..,  a  love  of  uniformity  in  weirds  of  a  like  character,  and 
a  preference  of  an  easy  natural  pronunciation,  and  a  desire  to  express  the  most 
ideas  with  the  smallest  number  of  words  and  syllables  It  is  a  fortunate  thing  for 
Ian ^uaire,  that  these  nafi'ml  prim-ijiles  generally  prevail  over  arbitrary  and  arti- 
ficial ruli's." — \Vflmf cr's  J'/tf/onop/n'cal  Grain,  p.  119;  Improved  Gram.  p.  78. 
&»  much  for  unlettered  erudition  .' 

\'l.  If  every  thing  that  has  been  taught  under  the  name  of  grammar,  is  to  be 
considered  as  belonging  to  the  science,  it  will  be  impossible  ever  to  determine  in 
what  estimation  the  study  of  it  ought  to  be  held  ;  for  all  that  has  ever  been  urged 
either  for  or  against  it,  may,  upon  such  a  principle,  be  proved  by  reference  to 
different  authorities  and  irreconcilable  opinions.  But  all  who  are  studious  to  know, 
ami  content  to  follow,  the  fashion  established  by  the  concurrent  authority  of  the 
l-'irned*  may  at  least  have  some  standard  to  refer  to ;  and  if  a  grammarian's  rules 
be  based  upon  this  authority,  it  must  be  considered  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the 
unlearned  to  despise  them  —  as  it  is  of  the  unbred,  to  contemn  the  rules  of  civility. 
But  who  shall  determine  whether  the  doctrines  contained  in  any  given  treatise  are, 
or  arc  not,  based  upon  such  authority?  Who  shall  decide  whether  the  contribu- 
tions which  any  individual  may  make  to  our  grammatical  code,  are,  or  are  not, 
consonant  with  the  best  usage  ?  For  this,  there  is  no  tribunal  but  the  mass  of 
of  whom  few  perhaps  are  very  competent  judges.  And  here  an  author's 
itation  for  erudition  and  judgement,  may  be  available  to  him  :  it  is  the  public 
voice  in  his  favour.  Yet  every  man  is  at  liberty  to  form  his  own  opinion,  and  to 
alter  it  whenever  better  knowledge  leads  him  to  think  differently. 

13.  But  the  great  misfortune  is,  that  they  who  need  instruction,  are  not  quali- 
fied to  choose  their  instructor ;  and  many  who  must  make  this  choice  for  their 
I  children,  have  no  adequate  means  of  ascertaining  either  the  qualifications  of  such 
as  offer  themselves,  or  the  com] tarative  merits  of  the  different  methods  by  which 
they  profess  to  teach.  Hence  this  great  branch  of  learning,  in  itself  too  compre- 
hensive for  the  genius  or  the  life  of  any  one  man.  has  ever  been  open  to  as  various 
and  worthless  a  set  of  quacks  and  plagiaries  as  have  ever  figured  in  any  other. 
There  always  have  been  some  who  knew  this,  and  there  may  be  many  who  know 
it  now  ;  but  the  credulity  and  ignorance  which  expose  so  great  a  majority  of  man- 
kind to  deception  and  error,  are  not  likely  to  be  soon  obviated.  With  every  indi- 
vidual who  is  so  fortunate  as  to  receive  any  of  the  benefits  of  intellectual  culture, 
I  the  whole  prooeai  of  education  must  be^in  anew;  and,  by  all  that  sober  minds  can 
credit,  the  vision  of  human  perfectibility  is  far  enough  from  any  national  consum- 
mation. 

1  I.  Whatever  any  may  think  of  their  own  ability,  or  however  some  might  flout 
to  find  their  .  ired  or  their  pretensions  disallowed  ;  whatever  improvement 

may  actually  have  been  made,  or  however  fondly  we  may  listen  to  boasts  and 

I  felicitations  on  that  topic  ;  it  is  pre-irmed,  that  the  general  ignorance  on  the  subject 
of  grammar,  .  is  t«><>  ubvious  to  be  denied.  W hat  then  is  the  remedy  ? 

and  t.i  whom  must  our  appeal  lie  made'.'  Knowledge  cannot  be  imposed  by  power, 
nor  is  there  any  domination  in  the  republic  of  letters.  The  remedy  lies  solely  in 
that  zeal  whieh  ean  provoke  to  a  jrem-rmis  emulation  in  the  cause  of  literature  ;  and 
the  appeal,  whieh  has  recourse  to  the  learning  of  the  learned,  and  to  the  common 

*  "  A  very  good  judsro  ha»  inion  .-md  di-t.-nnination  in  this  matter  ;  that  he  {  would  take  for  hifl 

rule  in    :  •<>  be  the  faulty  caprii-,-  i.f  the  multitude,  but  the  consent  and  agree- 

'•Ijuiltfe"  here  spoken  of.  is  (Juinrilian  :   whose. 

•  '•'•••--.•irimn  >-*t  jinliriuiii.  i-im-fr  iicndiuii'iiir  imprimis  id  i|>.-um  i(iiiil  .-it. 
i  >.vmu~.     In  loqoeodo, non,  si  quid  vitio.-r  muUi-  •  regula  sermoDis,  ac- 

cipiendum  est  Ki%ro  ronsu.'tudinem  sermonia,  Tocabo  consensum  ervditorum ;  sicut  vivendi,  conaensum 
bonorum." — Jnst.  Orat.,  i,  6. 


16  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  II. 

sense  of  all,  must  be  pressed  home  to  conviction,  till  every  false  doctrine  stand 
refuted,  and  every  weak  pretender  exposed  or  neglected.  Then  shall  Science 
honour  them  that  honour  her ;  and  all  her  triumphs  be  told,  all  her  instructions  be 
delivered,  in  "  sound  speech  that  cannot  be  condemned." 

15.  A  generous  man  is  not  unwilling  to  be  corrected,   and  a  just   one  cannot 
but  desire  to  be  set  right  in  all  things.     Even  over  noisy  gainsayers,  a  calm  and 
dignified  exhibition  of  true  doctrine,  has   often  more  influence  than  ever  openly 
appears.     I  have  even  seen  the  author  of  a  faulty  grammar  heap  upon  his  corrector 
more  scorn  and  personal  abuse  than  would  fill  a  large  newspaper,  and  immediately 
afterwards,  in  a  new  edition  of  his  book,  renounce  the  errors  which  had  been  pointed 
out  to  him,  stealing  the  very  language  of  his  amendments  from  the  man  whom  he 
had  so  grossly  vilified  !     It  is  true  that  grammarians  have  ever  disputed,  and  often 
with  more  acrimony  than  discretion.     Those  who,   in  elementary  treatises,   have 
meddled  much  with  philological  controversy,  have  well  illustrated  the  couplet  of 
Denham : 

"  The  tree  of  knowledge,  blasted  by  disputes, 
Produces  sapless  leaves  in  stead  of  fruits." 

16.  Thus,  then,  as  I  have  before  suggested,  we  find  among  writers  on  grammar 
two  numerous  classes  of  authors,  who  have  fallen  into  opposite  errors,  perhaps 
equally  reprehensible ;  the  visionaries,  and  the  copyists.     The  former  have  ventured 
upon  too  much  originality,  the  latter   have  attempted  too  little.     "  The  science  of 
philology,"  says  Dr.  Alexander  Murray,  "  is  not  a  frivolous  study,  fit  to  be  con- 
ducted by  ignorant  pedants  or  visionary  enthusiasts.     It  requires  more  qualifications 
to  succeed  in  it,  than  are  usually  united  in  those  who  pursue  it : — a  sound  penetrating 
judgement ;  habits  of  calm  philosophical  induction  ;  an  erudition  various,  extensive, 
and  accurate;  and  a  mind  likewise,  that  can  direct  the  knowledge  expressed  in 
words,  to  illustrate  the  nature  of  the  signs  which  convey  it. — l'  Murray's  History 
of  European  Languages,  Vol.  ii,  p.  333. 

17.  They  who  set  aside  the  authority  of  custom,  and  judge  every  thing  to  be 
ungrammatical  which  appears  to  them  to  be  unphilosophical,  render  the  whole 
ground  forever  disputable,  and  weary   themselves  in  beating  the  air.     So  various 
have  been  the  notions  of  this  sort  of  critics,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  mention  an 
opinion  not  found  in  some  of  their  books.     Amidst  this  rage  for  speculation  on  a 
subject  purely  practical,  various  attempts  have  been  made,  to  overthrow  that  system 
of  instruction,  which  long  use  has  rendered  venerable,  and  long  experience  proved 
to  be  useful.     But  it  is  manifestly  much  easier  to  raise  even  plausible  objections 
against  this  system,  than  to  invent  an  other  less  objectionable.     Such  attempts  have 
generally  met  the  reception  they  deserved.     Their  history  will  give  no  encourage- 
ment to  future  innovators. 

18.  Again  :  While  some  have  thus  wasted  their  energies  in  excentric   flights, 
vainly  supposing  that  the  learning  of  ages  would  give  place  to  their  whimsical 
theories  ;  others,  with  more  success,  not  better  deserved,  have  multiplied  grammars 
almost  innumerably,  by  abridging  or  modifying  the  books  they  had  used  in  childhood. 
So  that  they  who  are  at  all  acquainted  with  the  origin  and  character  of  the  various 
compends  thus  introduced  into  our  schools,  cannot  but  desire  to  see  them  all  dis- 
placed by  some  abler  and  better  work,  more  honourable  to  its  author  and  more 
useful  to  the  public,  more  intelligible  to  students  and  more   helpful  to  teachers. 
Books  professedly  published  for  the  advancement  of  knowledge,  are  very  frequently 
to  be  reckoned  among  its  greatest  impediments;   for  the  interests  of  learning  are 
no  less  injured  by  whimsical  doctrines,  than  the  rights  of  authorship  by  plagiarism. 
Too  many  of  our  grammars,  profitable  only  to  their  makers  and  venders,  are  like 
weights  attached  to  the  heels  of  Hermes.     It  is  discouraging  to  know  the  history 
of  this  science.     But  the  multiplicity  of  treatises  already  in  use,  is  a  reason,  not  for 
silence,  but  for  offering  more.     For,  as  Lord  Bacon  observes,  the  number  of  ill- 


CHAP.  II.]  OF    GRAMMATICAL   AUTHORSHIP.  17 

written  books  is  not  to  be  diminished  by  ceasing  to  write,  but  by  writing  others 
which,  like  Aaron's  serpent,  shall  swallow  up  the  spurious.* 

19.  I  have  said  that  some  grammars  have  too  much  originality,  and  others  too 
little.  It  may  be  added,  that  not  a  few  are  chargeable  with  both  these  faults  at 
once.  They  are  original,  or  at  least  anonymous,  where  there  should  have  been 
given  other  authority  than  that  of  the  compiler's  name;  and  they  are  copies,  or,  at 
best,  poor  imitations,  where  the  author  should  have  shown  himself  capable  of  writing 
•  "I  sryle  of  his  own.  What  then  is  the  middle  ground  for  the  true  grammarian  V 
What  is  the  kind,  and  what  the  degree,  of  originality,  which  are  to  be  commended 
in  works  of  this  sort  ?  In  the  first  place,  a  grammarian  must  be  a  writer,  an  author, 
a  man  who  observes  and  thinks  for  himself;  and  not  a  mere  compiler,  abridger, 
modifier,  copyist,  or  plagiarist.  Grammar  is  not  the  only  subject  upon  which  we 
allow  no  man  to  innovate  in  doctrine  ;  why,  then,  should  it  be  the  only  one  upon 
which  a  man  may  make  it  a  merit,  to  work  up  silently  into  a  book  of  his  own,  the 
best  materials  found  among  the  instructions  of  his  predecessors  and  rivals  ?  Some 
definitions  and  rules,  which  in  the  lapse  of  time  and  by  frequency  of  use  have  become 
a  sort  of  public  property,  the  grammarian  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  use  at  his 
pleasure ;  yet  even  upon  these  a  man  of  any  genius  will  be  apt  to  set  some  impress 
peculiar  to  himself.  But  the  doctrines  of  his  work  ought,  in  general,  to  be  ex- 
i  in  his  own  language,  and  illustrated  by  that  of  others.  With  respect  to 
quotation ,  he  has  all  the  liberty  of  other  writers,  and  no  more  ;  for,  if  a  grammarian 
makes  "  use  of  his  predecessors'  labours,"  why  should  any  one  think  with  Murray, 
"  it  is  s'-arcely  necessary  to  apologize  for  "  this,  "  or  for  omitting  to  insert  their 
names'.''' — Introd.  to  L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  7. 

•J<>.  The  author  of  this  volume  would  here  take  the  liberty  briefly  to  refer  to  his 
own  procedure.  His  knowledge  of  what  is  technical  in  grammar,  was  of  course 
chiefly  derived  from  the  writings  of  other  grammarians ;  and  to  their  concurrent 
Opinions  and  practices,  he  has  always  had  great  respect;  yet,  in  truth,  not  a  line 
has  he  ever  copied  from  any  of  them  with  a  design  to  save  the  labour  of  composition. 
For,  not  to  compile  an  English  grammar  from  others  already  extant,  but  to  compose 
one  more  directly  from  the  sources  of  the  art,  was  the  task  which  he  at  first  proposed 
to  himself.  Nor  is  there  in  all  the  present  volume  a  single  sentence,  not  regularly 
quoted,  the  authorship  of  which  he  supposes  may  now  be  ascribed  to  an  other  more 
properly  than  to  himself.  Where  either  authority  or  acknowledgement  was  requisite, 
:a\c  lic.-n  inserted.  In  the  doctrinal  parts  of  the  volume,  not  only  quotations 
from  others,  but  mo>t  examples  made  for  the  occasion,  are  marked  with  guillemots, 
to  distinguish  them  from  the  main  text;  while,  to  almost  every  thing  which  is  really 
taken  from  any  other  known  writer,  a  name  or  reference  is  added.  For  those 
citations,  however,  which  there  was  occasion  to  repeat  in  different  parts  of  the  work, 
a  single  referenee  h;^  >onieiimes  been  thought  sufficient.  This  remark  refers  chiefly 
to  the  correction-;  in  the  Key,  the  references  being  given  in  the  Exercises. 

•Jl.  Though  the  theme  is  not  one  on  which  a  man  may  hope  to  write  well  with 
little  reflection,  it  i<  true  that  the  parts  of  this  treatise  which  have  cost  the  author 
the  mo.-t  lalior,  are  those  which  "consist  chiefly  of  materials  selected  from  the 
writings  of  oth  e,  however,  are  not  the  didactical  portions  of  the  book, 

but  the  proofs  and  examples  ;  which,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  ancient 
grammarians,  ouiiht  to  lie  taken  from  other  authors.  But  so  much  have  the  makers 
of  our  moilern  grammars  been  allowed  to  presume  upon  the  respect  and  acquiescence 
of  their  readers,  that  the  an. -lent  exactness  on  this  point  would  often  appear  pedantic. 
Many  phra-e-  and  .-entcnccs,  either  original  with  the  writer,  or  common  to  every 
body,  will  therefore  be  found  among  the  illustrations  of  the  following  work ;  for  it 

*  "  Tho  opinion  of  vcr^t.  tho  r.nusos  of  want :  and  the  pnvat  quantity  of  books  maketh  a  show 

rather  of  superfluity  than  l':i'-k  :   which  furehU|«,  BflYertheta  '^'    making   no   more 

•ic  by  making  iim;,  -ni.'lif  Jevour  the  serpents  of  the 

•Defaulter*."— Bacon.    In  point  of  Miip  is  here  deficient  ;  and  he  haa  also  mixed  and  marred  the 

figure  which  he  uses.    But  the  idea  is  a  good  one. 

2 


18  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    II. 

was  not  supposed  that  any  reader  would  demand  for  every  thing  of  this  kind  the 
authority  of  some  great  name.  Anonymous  examples  are  sufficient  to  elucidate 
principles,  if  not  to  establish  them ;  and  elucidation  is  often  the  sole  purpose  for 
which  an  example  is  needed. 

22.  It  is  obvious  enough,  that  no  writer  on  grammar  has  any  right  to  propose 
himself  as  authority  for  what  he  teaches ;  for  every  language,  being  the  common 
property  of  all  who  use  it,  ought  to  be  carefully  guarded  against  the  caprices  of 
individuals  ;  and  especially  against  that  presumption  which  might  attempt  to  impose 
erroneous  or  arbitrary  definitions  and  rules.     "  Since  the  matter  of  which  we  are 
treating,"  says  the  philologist  of  Salamanca,  "  is  to  be  verified,  first  by  reason,  and 
then  by  testimony  and  usage,  none  ought  to  wonder  if  we  sometimes  deviate  from 
the  track  of  great  men ;  for,  with  whatever  authority  any  grammarian  may  weigh 
with  me,  unless  he  shall  have  confirmed  his  assertions  by  reason,  and  also  by 
examples,  he  shall  win  no  confidence  in  respect  to  grammar.     For,  as  Seneca  says, 
Epistle  95,  '  Grammarians  are  the  guardians,  not  the  authors,  of  language.'  " — 
Sanctii  Minerva,  Lib.  ii,  Cap.  2.     Yet,  as  what  is  intuitively  seen  to  be  true  or 
false,  is  already  sufficiently  proved  or  detected,  many  points  in  grammar  need 
nothing  more  than  to  be  clearly  stated  and  illustrated ;  nay,  it  would  seem  an 
injurious  reflection  on  the  understanding  of  the  reader,  to  accumulate  proofs  of 
what  cannot  but  be  evident  to  all  who  speak  the  language. 

23.  Among  men  of  the  same  profession,  there  is  an  unavoidable  rivalry,  so  far 
as  they  become  competitors  for  the  same  prize ;  but  in  competition  there  is  nothing 
dishonourable,  while  excellence  alone  obtains  distinction,  and  no  advantage  is  sought 
by  unfair  means.     It  is  evident  that  we  ought  to  account  him  the  best  grammarian, 
who  has  the  most  completely  executed  the  worthiest  design.     But  no  worthy  design 
can  need  a  false  apology ;  and  it  is  worse  than  idle  to  prevaricate.     That  is  but  a 
spurious  modesty,  which  prompts  a  man  to  disclaim  in  one  way  what  he  assumes  in 
an  other — or  to  underrate  the  duties  of  his  office,  that  he  may  boast  of  having 
"  done  all  that  could  reasonably  be  expected."    Whoever  professes  to  have  improved 
the  science  of  English  grammar,  must  claim  to  know  more  of  the  matter  than  the 
generality  of  English  grammarians;  and  he  who  begins  with  saying,  that  "  little 
can  be  expected  "  from  the  office  he  assumes,  must  be  wrongfully  contradicted, 
when  he  is  held  to  have  done  much.     Neither  the  ordinary  power  of  speech,  nor 
even  the  ability  to  write  respectably  on  common  topics,  makes  a  man  a  critic  among 
critics,  or  enables  him  to  judge  of  literary  merit.     And  if,  by  virtue  of  these 
qualifications  alone,  a  man  will  become  a  grammarian  or  a  connoisseur,  he  can  hold 
the  rank  only  by  courtesy — a  courtesy  which  is  content  to  degrade  the  character, 
that  his  inferior  pretensions  may  be  accepted  and  honoured  under  the  name. 

24.  By  the  force  of  a  late  popular  example,  still  too  widely  influential,  grammatical 
authorship  has  been  reduced,  in  the  view  of  many,  to  little  or  nothing  more  than  a 
mere  serving-up  of  materials  anonymously  borrowed ;  and,  what  is  most  remarkable, 
even  for  an  indifferent  performance  of  this  low  office,  not  only  unnamed  reviewers, 
but  several  writers  of  note,  have  not  scrupled  to  bestow  the  highest  praise  of 
grammatical  excellence  !     And  thus  the  palm  of  superior  skill  in  grammar,  has 
been  borne  away  by  a  professed  compiler  ;  who  had  so  mean  an  opinion  of  what 
his  theme  required,  as  to  deny  it  even  the  common  courtesies  of  compilation  ! 
What  marvel  is  it,  that,  under  the  wing  of  such  authority,  many  writers  have  since 
sprung  up,  to  improve  upon  this  most  happy  design ;  while  all  who  were  competent 
to  the  task,  have  been  discouraged  from  attempting  any  thing  like  a  complete 
grammar  of  our  language  ?     What  motive  shall  excite  a  man  to  long-continued 
diligence,  where  such  notions  prevail  as  give  mastership  no  hope  of  preference,  and 
where  the  praise  of  his  ingenuity  and  the  reward  of  his  labour  must  needs  be 
inconsiderable,  till  some  honoured  compiler  usurp  them  both,  and  bring  his  "  most 
useful  matter  "  before  the  world  under  better  auspices?     If  the  love  of  learning 
supply  such  a  motive,  who  that  has  generously  yielded  to  the  impulse,  will  not 
now,  like  Johnson,   feel  himself  reduced  to  an   "  humble  drudge  " — or,   like 


CHAP.    II.]  OF    GRAMMATICAL   AUTHORSHIP.  19 

Perizonius,  apologize  for  the  apparent  folly  of  devoting  his  time  to  such  a  subject 
as  grammar  ? 

25.  The  first  edition  of  the  "  Institutes  of  English  Grammar,"  the  doctrinal 
parts  of  which  arc  embraced  in  the  present  more  copious  work,  was  published  in 
the  year  18:23  ;  since  which  time,  (within  the  space  of  twelve  years,)  about  forty 
new  compends,  mostly  professing  to  be  abstracts  of  Murray,  with  improvements, 
have  been  added  to  our  list  of  English  grammars.  The  author  lias  examined  as 
many  as  thirty  of  them,  and  seen  advertisements  of  perhaps  a  dozen  more.  Being 
various  in  character,  they  will  of  course  be  variously  estimated  ;  but,  so  far  as  he 
can  judge,  they  are,  without  exception,  works  of  little  or  no  real  merit,  and  not 
likely  to  be  much  patronized  or  long  preserved  from  oblivion.  For  which  reason, 
he  would  have  been  inclined  entirely  to  disregard  the  petty  depredations  which  the 
writers  of  several  of  them  have  committed  upon  his  earlier  text,  were  it  not  possible, 
that  by  such  a  frittering-away  of  his  work,  he  himself  might  one  day  seem  to  some 
to  have  copied  that  from  others  which  was  first  taken  from  him.  Trusting  to  make 
it  manifest  to  men  of  learning,  that  in  the  production  of  the  books  which  bear  his 
name,  far  more  has  been  done  for  the  grammar  of  our  language  than  any  single 
hand  had  before  achieved  within  the  scope  of  practical  philology,  and  that  with 
perfect  fairness  towards  other  writers ;  he  cannot  but  feel  a  wish  that  the  integrity 
of  his  text  should  be  preserved,  whatever  el.-e  may  befall ;  and  that  the  multitude 
of  scribblers  who  judge  it  so  needful  to  remodel  Murray's  defective  compilation, 
would  forbear  to  publish  under  his  name  or  their  own  what  they  find  only  in  the 
following  pages. 

:M.  Tin  mrre  rivalry  of  their  authorship  is  no  subject  of  concern;  but  it  is 
enough  for  any  ingenuous  man  to  have  toiled  for  years  in  solitude  to  complete  a 
work  of  public  utility,  without  entering  a  warfare  for  life  to  defend  and  preserve  it. 
Accidental  coincidences  in  books  are  unfrequent,  and  not  often  such  as  to  excite 
the  suspicion  of  the  most  sensitive.  But,  though  the  criteria  of  plagiarism  are 
neither  obscure  nor  disputable,  it  is  not  easy,  in  this  beaten  track  of  literature,  for 
persons  of  little  reading  to  know  what  is,  or  is  not,  original.  Dates  must  be 
accurately  observed ;  and  a  multitude  of  minute  things  must  be  minutely  compared. 
And  who  will  undertake  such  a  task  but  he  that  is  personally  interested  ?  Of  the 
thousands  who  are  forced  into  the  paths  of  learning,  few  ever  care  to  know,  by 
what  pioneer,  or  with  what  labour,  their  way  was  cast  up  for  them.  And  even  of 
those  who  are  honestly  engaged  in  teaching,  not  many  are  adequate  judges  of  the 
comparative  merits  of  the  great  number  of  books  on  this  subject.  The  common 
notions  of  mankind  conform  more  easily  to  fashion  than  to  truth ;  and  even  of 
some  things  within  their  reach,  the  majority  seem  content  to  take  their  opinions 
upon  trust.  Hence,  it  is  vain  to  expect  that  that  which  is  intrinsically  best,  will 
be  everywhere  preferred ;  or  that  which  is  meritoriously  elaborate,  adequately 
appreciated.  But  nunmon  sense  might  dictate,  that  learning  is  not  encouraged  or 
•cted  by  those  who,  for  the  making  of  books,  prefer  a  pair  of  scissors  to  the  pen. 

'11 .  The  fortune  of  a  grammar  is  not  always  an  accurate  test  of  its  merits. 
The  goddess  of  the  plenteous  horn  stands  blindfold  yet  upon  the  floating  prow ; 
and,  under  her  capricious  favour,  any  pirate-craft,  ill  stowed  with  plunder,  may 
sometimes  speed  as  well,  as  larges  richly  laden  from  the  golden  mines  of  science. 
Far  more  are  now  afloat,  and  more  are  stranded  on  dry  shelves,  than  can  be 
here  reported.  But  what  this  work  contains,  is  candidly  designed  to  qualify  the 
reader  to  be  himself  a  judge  of  what  it  shoulil  contain  ;  and  I  will  hope,  so  ample  a 
report  as  this,  being  thought  sufficient,  will  also  meet  his  approbation.  The  favour 
of  one  discerning  mind  that  comprehends  my  subject,  is  worth  intrinsically  more 
than  that  of  half  the  nation :  1  mean,  of  course,  the  half  of  whom  my  gentle 
reader  is  not  one. 

"  They  praise  and  they  admire  they  know  not  what, 
And  kiow  not  whom,  but  as  one  leads  the  other." — MiUon. 


20  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  III. 

CHAPTER  III. 

OF  GRAMMATICAL  SUCCESS  AND  FAME. 


"  Non  is  ego  sum,  cui  aut  jucundum,  aut  adeo  opus  sis,  de  aliis  detrahere,  et  hac  via  ad  famam  contendere. 
Melioribus  artibu.s  lauloin  parare  didici.  Itaque  nou  libeuter  dico,  quod  praesens  institutum  dicere  cogit/' — 
Jo.  AUGUSTI  ERNESTI  Pref.  ad  GrtKcum  Lexicon,  p.  vii. 


1.  The  real  history  of  grammar  is  little  known  ;  and  many  erroneous  impres- 
sions are  entertained  concerning  it :  because  the  story  of  the  systems  most  generally 
received  has  never  been  fully  told  ;  and  that  of  a  multitude  now  gone  to  oblivion 
was  never  worth  telling.  In  the  distribution  of  grammatical  fame,  which  has 
chiefly  been  made  by  the  hand  of  interest,  we  have  had  a  strange  illustration  of 
the  saying  :  "  Unto  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abun- 
dance ;  but  from  him  that  hath  not,  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he 
hath."  Some  whom  fortune  has  made  popular,  have  been  greatly  overrated,  if 
learning  and  talent  are  to  be  taken  into  the  account ;  since  it  is  manifest,  that 
with  no  extraordinary  claims  to  either,  they  have  taken  the  very  foremost  rank 
among  grammarians,  and  thrown  the  learning  and  talents  of  others  into  the  shade, 
or  made  them  tributary  to  their  own  success  and  popularity. 

2  It  is  an  ungrateful  task  to  correct  public  opinion  by  showing  the  injustice  of 
praise.  Fame,  though  it  may  have  been  both  unexpected  and  undeserved,  is 
apt  to  be  claimed  and  valued  as  part  and  parcel  of  a  man's  good  name  ;  and  the 
dissenting  critic,  though  ever-so  candid,  is  liable  to  be  thought  an  envious  detrac- 
tor. It  would  seem  in  general  most  prudent  to  leave  mankind  to  find  out  for 
themselves  how  far  any  commendation  bestowed  on  individuals  is  inconsistent  with 
truth.  But,  be  it  remembered,  that  celebrity  is  not  a  virtue  ;  nor,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  experience  the  cheapest  of  teachers.  A  good  man  may  not  have  done  all 
things  ably  -ind  well ;  and  it  is  certainly  no  small  mistake  to  estimate  his  character 
by  the  current  value  of  his  copy-rights  Criticism  may  destroy  the  reputation  of 
a  book,  and  not  be  inconsistent  with  a  cordial  respect  for  the  private  worth  of  its 
author.  The  reader  will  not  be  likely  to  be  displeased  with  what  is  to  be  stated  in 
this  chapter,  if  he  can  believe,  that  no  man's  merit  as  a  writer,  may  well  be  en- 
hanced by  ascribing  to  him  that  which  he  himself,  for  the  protection  of  his  own 
honour,  has  been  constrained  to  disclaim.  He  cannot  suppose  that  too  much  is 
alleged,  if  he  will  admit  that  a  grammarian's  fame  should  bo  thought  safe  enough 
in  his  own  keeping.  Are  authors  apt  to  undervalue  their  own  performances  ?  Or 
because  proprietors  and  publishers  may  profit  by  the  credit  of  a  book,  shall  it  be 
thought  illiberal  to  criticise  it  V  Is  the  author  himself  to  be  disbelieved,  that  the 
extravagant  praises  bestowed  upon  him  may  be  justified  ?  "  Superlative  commen- 
dation," says  Dillwyn,  "  is  near  akin  to  detraction."  (See  his  Reflections,  p. 
22.)  Let  him,  therefore,  who  will  charge  detraction  upon  me,  first  understand 
wherein  it  consists.  I  shall  criticise,  freely,  both  the  works  of  the  living,  and  the 
doctrines  of  those  who,  to  us,  live  only  in  their  works ;  and  if  any  man  dislike  this 
freedom,  let  him  rebuke  it,  showing  wherein  it  is  wrong  or  unfair.  The  amiable 
author  just  quoted,  says  again  :  "  Praise  lias  so  often  proved  an  impostor,  that  it 
woul  I  be  well,  wherever  we  meet  with  it,  to  treat  it  as  a  vagrant." — Ih.  p.  100. 
I  go  not  so  far  as  this  ;  but  that  eulogy  which  one  knows  to  be  false,  he  cannot  but 
reckon  impertinent. 

3.  Few  writers  on  grammar  have  been  more  noted  than  WILLIAM  LILY  and 
LINDLEY  MURRAY.  Others  have  left  better  monuments  of  their  learning  and  tal- 
ents, but  none  perhaps  have  had  greater  success  and  fame.  The  Latin  grammar 


CHAP.    III.]  OF    GRAMMATICAL   SUCCESS    AND    FAME.  21 

which  was  for  a  long  time  most  popular  in  England,  has  commonly  been  ascribed 
to  the  one  ;  and  what  the  Imperial  Review,  in  1805,  pronounced  "the  best  Eng- 
lish grammar,  beyond  all  comparison,  that  has  yet  appeared,"  was  compiled  by  the 
other.  And  doubtless  they  have  both  been  rightly  judged  to  excel  the  generality 
of  those  which  they  were  intended  to  supersede  ;  and  both,  in  their  day,  may  have 
been  highly  serviceable  to  the  cause  of  learning.  For  all  excellence  is  but  com- 
parative ;  and  to  grant  them  this  superiority,  is  neither  to  prefer  them  now,  nor  to 
ju>tity  the  praise  which  has  been  bestowed  upon  their  authorship.  As  the  science 
of  grammar  can  never  be  taught  without  a  book,  or  properly  taught  by  any  book 
which  is  not  itself  grammatical,  it  is  of  some  importance  both  to  teachers  and  to 
students,  to  make  choice  of  the  best.  Knowledge  will  not  advance  where  gram- 
mar- hold  rank  by  prescription.  Yet  it  is  possible  that  many,  in  learning  to  write 
and  sjieak,  may  have  derived  no  inconsiderable  benefit  from  a  book  that  is  neither 
accurate  nor  complete. 

4.  With  respect  to  time,  these  two  grammarians  were  three  centuries  apart  ; 
during  which  period,  the  English  language  received  its  most  classical  refinement, 
and  the  relative  estimation  of  the  two  studies,  Latin  and  English  grammar,  became 
in  a  great  measure  reversed.  Lily  was  an  Englishman,  born  at  Odiham,*  in 
Hampshire,  in  14<'><>.  "When  he  had  arrived  at  manhood,  he  went  on  a  pilgrimage 
to  .Jerusalem;  and  while  abroad  studied  some  time  at  Rome,  and  also  at  Paris. 
On  his  return  he  was  thought  one  of  the  most  accomplished  scholars  in  England. 
In  1  fill  i.  ]>r.  John  Colet,  dean  of  St.  Paul's  church,  in  London,  appointed  him  the 
first  high  master  of  St.  Paul's  School,  then  recently  founded  by  this  gentleman's 
munificence.  In  this  situation,  Lily  appears  to  have  taught  with  great  credit  to 
himself  till  1;VJ'J,  when  he  died  of  the  plague,  at  the  age  of  56.  For  the  use 
of  this  school,  he  wrote  and  published  certain  parts  of  the  grammar  which  has  since 
borne  his  name.  Of  the  authorship  of  this  work  many  curious  particulars  are 
stated  in  the  preface  by  John  Ward,  which  may  be  seen  in  the  edition  of  1793. 
Lily  had  able  rivals,  as  well  as  learned  coadjutors  and  friends.  By  the  aid  of  the 
latter,  he  took  precedence  of  the  former;  and  his  publications,  though  not  volumi- 
nous, soon  gained  a  general  popularity.  So  that  when  an  arbitrary  king  saw  fit  to 
silence  competition  among  the  philologists,  by  becoming  himself,  as  Sir  Thomas 
Elliott  says,  "thechiefe  authour  and  setter-forth  of  an  introduction  into  grammar, 
for  the  childrene  of  his  lovynge  subjects,"  Lily's  Grammar  was  preferred  for  the 
i  the  standard.  Hence,  after  the  publishing  of  it  became  a  privilege  patented 
by  the  crown,  the  book  appears  to  have  been  honoured  with  a  royal  title,  and  to 
have  1  cen  familiarly  called  King  Henry's  Grammar. 

f>.  Prefixed  to  this  book,  there  appears  a  very  ancient  epistle  to  the  reader, 
which  while  it  shows  the  reasons  for  this  royal  interference  with  grammar,  shows 
-.hat  is  worthy  of  remembrance,  that  guarded  and  maintained  as  it  uas,  even 
royal  interference  was  here  ineffectual  to  its  purpose.  It  neither  piodm-ed  uniform- 
ity in  the  methods  of  teaching,  nor,  even  for  induction  in  a  dead  language,  en- 
tirely prevented  the  old  manual  from  becoming  diverse  in  its  different  editions. 
i-o  may  serve  to  illustrate  what  I  have  elsewhere  said  about  the  duties 
of  a  modern  urammarian.  "  As  for  the  diversitie  of  grammars,  it  is  well  and 
profitably  taken  awaie  by  the  Kind's  Majesties  wiadmej  who,  foreseeing  the  in- 
eonvenicTice,  and  favorably  providing  the  remedie.  caused  one  kind  of  grammar 
by  sundry  learned  men  to  be  diligently  drawn,  and  M>  to  be  -et  out.  only  every 
wh.eie  to  hi'  taught,  for  the  use  of  learners,  and  for  the  hurt  in  changing  <»f  schoole- 
mai-  That  is.  to  prevent  the  injury  which  schoolmaster-  \\vre  doing  by  a 

whim.-i.  al  choice,  or  frequent  changing,  of  grammars.  But.  BBy«  the  letter.  "The 
varietie  of  teaching  is  divers  yet.  and  ahvaies  will  be  ;  for  that  every  sehoolemaister 
liketh  that  he  knov\eth,  and  seeth  not  the  use  of  that  he  knoweth  not  ;  and  there- 


;  (>l>lhnm.\    plain  p*bire,"  an  the  I'titom!   Hif.prai  >hical   Dictionary   ha*  it;    for   Oldkam  is  in 
Lancashire,  and  the  n&be  of  Lily's  birthplace  baa  sometimes  been  spelled 


22  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    III. 

fore  judge th  that  the  most  sufficient  waie,  which  he  seeth  to  be  the  readiest  meane, 
and  perfectest  kinde,  to  bring  a  learner  to  have  a  thorough  knowledge  therein." 
The  only  remedy  for  such  an  evil  then  is,  to  teach  those  who  are  to  be  teachers, 
and  to  desert  all  who,  for  any  whim  of  their  own,  desert  sound  doctrine. 

6.  But,  to  return.     A  law  was  made  in  England  by  Henry  the  Eighth,  com- 
manding Lily's  Grammar  only,  (or  that  which  has  commonly  been  quoted  as 
Lily's,)  to  be  everywhere  adopted  and  taught,  as  the  common  standard  of  gram- 
matical instruction.*     Being  long  kept  in  force  by  means  of   a  special  inquiry, 
directed  to  be  made  by  the  bishops  at  their  stated  visitations,  this  law,  for  three 
hundred  years,  imposed  the  book  on  all  the  established  schools  of  the  realm.     Yet 
it  is  certain,  that  about  one  half  of  what  has  thus  gone  under  the  name  of  Lily, 
("  because,"  says  one  of  the  patentees,   "  he  had  so  considerable  a  hand  in  the 
composition,)  was  written  by  Dr.   Colet,  by  Erasmus,  or  by  others  who  improved 
the  work  after  Lily's  death.     And  of  the  other  half,  it  has  been  incidentally  as- 
serted in  history,  that  neither  the  scheme  nor  the  text  was  original.     The  Printer's 
Grammar,  London,  1787,  speaking  of  the  art  of  type-foundery,  says  :    "  The  Ital- 
ians in  a  short  time  brought  it  to  that  perfection,  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1474,  they  cast  a  letter  not  much  inferior  to  the  best  types  of  the  present  age  ;  as 
may  be  seen  in  a  Latin  Grammar,  written  by  Omnibonus  Leonicenus,  and  printed 
at  Padua  on  the  14th  of  January,  1474  ;  from  whom  our  grammarian,  Lily,  has 
taken  the  entire  scheme  of  his    Grammar,  and  transcribed  the  greatest  part 
thereof,  without  paying  any  regard  to  the  memory  of  this  author. ' '     The  histo- 
rian then  proceeds  to  speak  about  types.      See  also  the  same  thing  in  the  History 
of  Printing,  8vo,  London,  1770.     This  is  the  grammar  which  bears  upon  its  title 
page  :  "  Quam  solam  Regia  Majestas  in  omnibus  scholis  docendam  prcecipit." 

7.  Murray  was  an  intelligent  and  very  worthy  man,  to  whose  various  labours 
in  the  compilation  of  books  our  schools  are  under  many  obligations.     But  in  orig- 
inal thought  and  critical  skill  he  fell  far  below  most  of  "  the  authors  to  whom," 
he  confesses,  "  the  grammatical  part  of  his  compilation  is  principally  indebted  for 
its  materials ;    namely,  Harris,  Johnson,  Lowth,   Priestley,  Beattie,   Sheridan, 
Walker,  Coote,  Blair,  and  Campbell." — Introd.  to  Lindley  Murray's  Gram.  p.  7. 
It  is  certain  and  evident  that  he  entered  upon  his  task  with  a  very  insufficien 
preparation.     His  biography,  which  was  commenced  by  himself  and  completed    ^ 
one  of  his  most  partial  friends,  informs  us,  that,  "  Grammar  did  not  particularly 
engage  his  attention,  until  a  short  time  previous  to  the  publication  of  his  first  work 
on  that  subject ;"  that,   "  His  Grammar,  as  it  appeared  in  the  first  edition,  was 
completed  in  rather  less  than  a  year  ;  "  that,  "  It  was  begun  in  the  spring  of  1794, 
and  published  in  the  spring  of  1795  —  though  he  had  an  intervening  illness,  which, 
for  several  weeks,  stopped  the  progress  of  the  work  ;  "  and  that,  "  The  Exercises 
and  Key  were  also  composed  in  about  a  year." — Life  of  L.  Murray,  p.  188. 
From  the  very  first  sentence  of  his  book,  it  appears  that  he  entertained  but  a  low 
and  most  erroneous  idea  of  the  duties  of  that  sort  of  character  in  which  he  was 
about  to  come  before  the  public. t     He  improperly  imagined,  as  many  others  have 
done,  that  "  little  can  be  expected  "  from  a  modern  grammarian,  or   (as  he  chose 
to  express  it)  "  from  a  new  compilation,  besides  a  careful  selection  of  the  most 
useful  matter,  and  some  degree  of  improvement  in  the  mode  of  adapting  it  to  the 

*  There  are  other  Latin  grammars  now  in  use  in  England  ;  but  what  one  is  most  popular,  or  whether  any 
regard  is  still  paid  to  this  ancient  edict  or  not,  I  cannot  say.  Dr.  Adam,  in  his  preface,  dated  1793,  speaking 
of  Lily,  savs  :  u  His  Grammar  was  appointed,  by  an  act  which  is  still  in  force,  to  be  taught  in  the  established 
schools  of  England."  I  have  somehow  gained  the  impression,  that  the  act  is  now  totally  disregarded. —  G. 
Brown. 

t  For  this  there  is  an  obvious  reason,  or  apology,  in  what  his  biographer  states,  as  "  the  humble  origin  of 
his  Grammar;"  and  it  is  such  a  reason  as  will  go  to  confirm  what  I  allege.  This  famous  compilation  was 
product*d  at  the  request  of  two  or  three  yoitu^  tfarhers,  who  had  charge  of  a  swill  frntnlc  school  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  author's  residence  ;  and  nothing  could  have  been  more  unexpected  to  their  friend  and 
instructor,  th;m  that  he,  in  consequence  of  this  service,  should  become  known  the  world  over,  as  Murray  the 
Grammarian.  "  In  preparing  the  work,  ami  consenting  to  its  publication,  he  had  on  expectation  that  it 
•would  be  used,  except  by  the  school  for  which  it  was  designed,  and  two  or  three  othef^  chools  conducted  by 
persons  who  were  also  his  friends/' — Life  of  L'.  Murray,  p.  260. 


CHAP.   III.]  OF   GRAMMATICAL   SUCCESS   AND   FAME.  23 

understanding,  and  the  gradual  progress  of  learners." — Infrod.  to  L.  Murray's 
Grain.  £vo,  p.  5 ;  12mo,  p.  3.  As  if,  to  be  master  of  his  own  art — to  think  and 
write  well  himself,  were  no  part  of  a  grammarian's  business  !  And  again,  as  if 
the  jewels  of  scholarship,  thus  carefully  selected,  could  need  a  burnish  or  a  foil 
from  other  hands  than  those  which  fashioned  them  ! 

8.  Murray's   general   idea   of  the   doctrines  of  grammar   was  judicious.     He 
attempted  no  broad  innovation  on  what  had  been  previously  taught;  for  he  had 
neither  the  vanity  to  suppose  he  could  give  currency  to  novelties,  nor  the  folly  to 
waste  his  time  in  labours  utterly  nugatory.     By  turning  his  own  abilities  to  their 
hot  account,  he  seems  to  have  done  much  to  promote  and  facilitate  the  study  of 
our  language.     But  his  notion  of  grammatical  authorship,   cuts  off  from  it   all 
pretence  to  literary  merit,  for  the  sake  of  doing  good ;  and,  taken  in  any  other 

•  than  as  a  forced  apology  for  his  own  assumptions,  his  language  on  this  point 
is  highly  injurious  towards  the  very  authors  whom  he  copied.  To  justify  himself> 
he  ungenerously  places  them,  in  common  with  others,  under  a  degrading  necessity 
which  no  able  grammarian  ever  felt,  and  which  every  man  of  genius  or  learning 
must  repudiate.  If  none  of  our  older  grammars  disprove  his  assertion,  it  is  time 
to  have  a  new  one  that  will ;  for,  to  expect  the  perfection  of  grammar  from  him 
who  cannot  treat  the  subject  in  a  style  at  once  original  and  pure,  is  absurd.  He 
says,  "  The  greater  part  of  an  English  grammar  must  necessarily  be  a  compilation;  " 
and  adds,  with  reference  to  his  own,  "  originality  belongs  to  but  a  small  portion  of 
it.  This  I  have  acknowledged  ;  and  I  trust  this  acknowledgement  will  protect  me 
from  all  attacks,  grounded  on  any  supposed  unjust  and  irregular  assumptions." 
This  quotation  is  from  a  letter  addressed  by  Murray  to  his  American  publishers, 
in  IS  11,  after  they  had  informed  him  of  certain  complaints  respecting  the  liberties 
which  he  had  taken  in  his  work.  See  "  The  friend,"  vol.  iii,  p.  34. 

9.  The  acknowledgement  on  which  he  thus  relies,  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
made,  till  his  grammar  had  gone  through  several  editions.     It  was,  however,  at 
some  period,  introduced  into  his  short  preface,  or  "  Introduction,"  in  the  following 
well-meant  but  singularly  sophistical  terms  :  "  In  a  icork  which  professes  itself  to 
be  a  r',m/>i/itti't/i,  ami  which,  from  f/»-  nature  and  design  of  it,  must  consist  chiefly 
of  materials  selected  from   the  writings  of  others,  it  is  scarcely  necessary   to 
apologize  for  the  use  which  the  Compiler  has  made  of  his  predecessors'  labours, 
or  for  omitting  to   insert  their  names.     From  the  alterations  which  have  been 
frequently  made  in  the  sentiments  and  the  language,  to  suit  the  connexion,  and  to 
adapt  them  to  the  particular  purposes  f<»r  whirh  they  are  introduced  ;  and,  in  many 

•' tin i nt >/  to  witom  the   passages  originally  belonged,  the 

insert!' -n  of  names  ron/t/  seldom  be  made  with  propriety.  But  if  this  could  have 
been  generally  done,  a  work  of  this  nature  w<»i],l  d<  ,••(•<>  no  advantage  from  if, 
equal  to  the  inconvenience  of  crowding  the  pages  with  a  repetition  of  names  and 
references.  It  is,  however,  proper  to  acknowledge,  in  general  terms,  that  the 
authors  to  whom  the  grammatical  part  of  this  compilation  is  principally  indebted 
for  its  matcri;:'  ris,  -Johnson,  Lowth,  Priestley,  l>eattie,  Sheridan,  Walker, 

ami  Toote." — Introd.  1>  a.  p.  4;    Octavo,  p.  7. 

10.  The  fallacy,  or  absurdity,  of  this   language  sprung  from  necessity.     An 
imp<  it.      For  compilation,  though  ever  so  fair,  is  not 
grammatical  authorship,     But  some  of  the  commenders  of  Murray  have  not  only 
professed  them                         with  this  general  acknowledgement,  but  have  found  in 
it  a  can-lour  ami  a  liberality,  a  modesty  ami  a  diffidence,  which,  as  they  allege,  ought 
to  protect  him  from  all  animadversion.     Are  they  friends  to  learning  '•     Let  them 
calmly  con-ider  what  I  reluctantly  offer  for  its  defence  and  promotion.     In  one  of 
the  recommendations   appended   to   Murray's  grammars,    it  is   said,  "  They   have 
nearly  superseded  every  thing  el>e  of  the  kind,  by   concentrating  the  remarks  of 
the  best  authors  on  the  subject."     But,  in  truth,  with  sevi-ril  of  th-- 
grammars  published  previously  to  his  own,  Murray  appears  to  have  been  totally 


24  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  III. 

unacquainted.  The  chief,  if  not  the  only  school  grammars  which  were  largely 
copied  by  him,  were  Lowth's  and  Priestley's,  though  others  perhaps  may  have 
shared  the  fate  of  these  in  being  "  superseded  "  by  his.  It  may  be  seen  by 
inspection,  that  in  copying  these  two  authors,  the  compiler,  agreeably  to  what  he 
says  above,  omitted  all  riames  and  references — even  such  as  they  had  scrupulously 
inserted  :  and,  at  the  outset,  assumed  to  be  himself  the  sole  authority  for  all  his 
doctrines  and  illustrations  ;  satisfying  his  own  mind  with  making,  some  years 
afterwards,  that  general  apology  which  we  are  now  criticising.  For  if  he  so 
mutilated  and  altered  the  passages  which  he  adopted,  as  to  make  it  improper  to 
add  the  names  of  their  authors,  upon  what  other  authority  than  his  own  do  they 
rest  ?  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  he  generally  copied  without  alteration  ;  his 
examples  are  still  anonymous,  while  his  first  reason  for  leaving  them  so,  is  plainly 
destroyed  :  because  his  position  is  thus  far  contradicted  by  the  fact. 

11.  In  his  later  editions,  however,  there  are  two  opinions  which  the  compiler 
thought  proper  to  support  by  regular  quotations  ;  and,   now  and  then,  in  other 
instances,  the  name  of  an  author  appears.     The  two  positions  thus  distinguished, 
are  these  :  First,  That  the  noun  means  is  necessarily  singular  as  well  a-  plural, 
BO  that  one  cannot  with  propriety  use  the  singular  form,  mean,  to  signify  that  by 
which  an  end  is  attained;  Second,  That  the  subjunctive  mood,  to  which  he  himself 
had  previously  given  all  the  tenses  without  inflection,  is  not  different  in  form  from 
the  indicative,  except  in  the  present  tense.     With  regard  to  the  latter  point,  I  have 
shown,  in  its  proper  place,  that  he  taught  erroneously,  both  before  and  after  he 
changed  his  opinion  ;  and  concerning  the  former,  the  most  that  can  be  proved  by 
quotations,  is,  that  both  mean  and  means  for  the  singular  number,  long  have  been, 
and  still  are,  in  good  use,  or  sanctioned  by  many  elegant  writers ;  so  that  either 
form  may  yet  be  considered  grammatical,  though  the  irregular  can  claim  to  be  so, 
only  when  it  is  used  in  this  particular  sense.     As  to  his  second  reason  for  the 
suppression  of  names,  to  wit,  "the  uncertainty  to  whom  the  passages  originally 
belonged," — to  make  the  most  of  it,  it  is  but  partial  and  relative  ;  and,  surely,  no 
other  grammar  ever  before  so  multiplied  the  difficulty  in  the  eyes  of  teachers,  and 
so  widened  the  field  for  commonplace  authorship,  as  has  the  compilation  in  question. 
The  origin  of  a  sentiment  or  passage  may  be  uncertain  to  one  man,  and  perfectly 
well  known  to  an  other.     The  embarrassment  which   a  compiler  may  happen  to 
find  from  this  source,  is  worthy  of  little  sympathy.     For  he  cannot  but  know  from 
what  work  he  is  taking  any   particular  sentence  or  paragraph,  and  those  parts  of 
a  grammar,  which  are  new  to  the  eye  of  a  great  grammarian,   may  very  well  be 
credited  to  him  who  claims  to  have  written  the  book.     I  have  thus  disposed  of 
his  second  reason  for  the  omission  of  names  and  references,  in  compilations  of 
grammar. 

12.  There  remains  one   more  :    "A  work  of  this   nature   ivould  derive  no 
advantage  from  it,  equal  to  the  inconvenience  of  crowding  the  pages  with  a 
repetition  of  names  and  references."     With  regard  to  a  small  work,  in  which  the 
matter  is  to  be  very  closely  condensed,  this  argument  has  considerable  force.     But 
Murray  has  in  general  allowed  himself  very  ample  room,  especially  in  his  two 
octavoes.     In  these,  and  for  the  most  part  also  in  his  duodeeimoes,  all  needful 
references  might  easily  have  been  added  without  increasing  the  size  of  his  volumes, 
or  injuring  their  appearance.     In  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  the  names  would  only  have 
occupied  what  is  now  blank  space.     It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  these  books  do 
not  differ  much,  except  in  quantity  of  paper.     His  octavo  Grammar  is  but  little 
more  than  a  reprint,  in  a  larger  type,  of  the  duodecimo   Grammar,  together  with 
his  Exercises  and  Key.     The  demand  for  this  expensive  publication  has  been 
comparatively  small ;  and  it  is  chiefly  to  the  others,  that  the  author  owes  his 
popularity  as  a  grammarian.     As  to  the  advantage  which  Murray  or  his  work 
might  have  derived  from  an  adherence  on  his  part  to  the  usual  custom  of  compilers, 
that  may  be  variously  estimated.     The  remarks  of  the  best  grammarians,  or  the 


CHAP.    III.]  OP    GRAMMATICAL   SUCCESS    AND    FAME.  25 

sentiments  of  the  best  authors,  are  hardly  to  be  thought  the  more  worthy  of 
acceptance,  for  being  concentrated  in  such  a  manner  as  to  merge  their  authenticity 
in  the  fame  of  the  copyist.  Let  me  not  be  understood  to  suggest  that  i\}\<  good 
man  sought  popularity  at  the  expense  of  others ;  for  I  do  not  believe  that  either 
fame  or  interest  was  his  motive.  But  the  right  of  authors  to  the  credit  of  their 
writing,  is  a  delicate  point;  and,  surely,  his  example  would  have  been  worthier  of 
imitation,  had  he  left  no  ground  for  the  foregoing  objections,  and  carefully  barred 
the  way  to  any  such  inference. 

13.  But  let  the  first  sentence  of  this  apology  be  now  considered.  It  is  hero 
suggested,  that  because  this  work  is  a  compilation,  even  such  an  acknowledgement 
as  the  author  makes,  is  "  scarcely  necessary."  This  is  too  much  to  say.  Yet  one 
may  readily  admit,  that  a  compilation,  "  from  the  nature  and  design  of  it,  must 
consist  chiefly  " — nay,  wholly — "  of  materials  selected  from  the  writings  of  others." 
But  what  able  grammarian  would  ever  willingly  throw  himself  upon  the  horns  of 
sm-li  a  dilemma?  The  nature  and  design  of  a  book,  whatever  they  may  be,  are 
matters  for  which  the  author  alone  is  answerable ;  but  the  nature  and  design  of 
fjrnintnar,  are  no  less  repugnant  to  the  strain  of  this  apology,  than  to  the  vast 
number  of  errors  and  defects  which  were  overlooked  by  Murray  in  his  work  of 
compilation.  It  is  the  express  purpose  of  this  practical  science,  to  enable  a  man 
to  write  well  himself.  He  that  cannot  do  this,  exhibits  no  excess  of  modesty  when 
he  claims  to  have  "  done  all  that  could  reasonably  be  expected  in  a  work  of  this 
nature." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  Jntrtxl.  p.  {).  He  that  sees  with  other  men's  eyes, 
i-  peculiarly  liable  to  errors  and  inconsistencies  :  uniformity  is  seldom  found  in 
'work,  or  accuracy  in  secondhand  literature.  Correctness  of  language  is  in 
the  mind,  rather  than  in  the  hand  or  the  tongue  ;  and,  in  order  to  secure  it,  some 
originality  of  thought  is  necessary.  A  delineation  from  new  surveys  is  not  the 
original  because  the  same  region  has  been  sketched  before  ;  and  how  can  he 
be  the  ablest  of  surveyors,  who,  through  lack  of  skill  or  industry,  does  little  more 
than  transcribe  the  field-notes  and  copy  the  projections  of  his  predecessors? 

11.  This  author's  oversights  are  numerous.  There  is  no  part  of  the  volume 
more  accurate  than  that  which  he  literally  copied  from  Lowth.  To  the  Short 
Introduction  alone,  he  was  indebted  for  more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty  para- 
graphs; and  even  in  these  there  are  many  things  obviously  erroneous.  Many  of 
the  hot  practical  notes  were  taken  from  Priestley;  yet  it  was  he,  at  whose  doctrines 
wen-  pointed  most  of  those  "  positions  and  discussions."  which  alone  the  author 
claims  as  original.  To  some  of  these  reasonings,  however,  his  own  alterations  may 
have  given  ri>c ;  for,  where  he  "  persuades  himself  he  is  not  destitute  of  originality," 
lit-  i<  often  ariruing  against  the  text  of  his  own  earlier  editions.  Webster's  well- 
known  complaints  of  Murray's  unfairness,  had  a  far  better  cause  than  requital; 
for  there  was  no  generosity  in  ascribing  them  to  peevishness,  though  the  passages 
in  question  were  not  worth  copying.  On  perspicuity  and  accuracy,  about  sixty 
pages  were  extracted  from  Blair  ;  and  it  requires  no  great  critical  acumen  to 
discover,  that  they  are  itii-eraldy  deficient  in  both.  On  the  law  of  language,  there 
are  tifteen  page>  from  (1ampl>ell  ;  which,  with  a  few  exceptions,  are  well  written. 
The  rules  for  spelling  are  the  -anie  as  Walker's  :  the  third  one,  however,  is  a  gross 
blunder  :  and  the  fourth,  a  needless  repetition. 

I.").  \Vere  this  a  place  for  minute  criticism,  blemishes  almost  innumerable  might 
be  pointed  out.  It  might  easily  be  shown  that  almost  every  rule  laid  down  in  the 
book  for  the  olxervance  of  the  learner,  was  repeatedly  violated  by  the  hand  of  the 
master.  Nor  is  there  among  all  those-  who  have  since  abridged  or  modified  the 
work,  an  abler  grammarian  than  he  who  compiled  it  Who  will  pretend  that  Flint, 
Alder,.  Comly.  Jaudon,  Kussell,  Bacon.  Lyon,  Miller.  Alger,  Malthy.  Ingersoll, 
Fi>k,  <lreenleaf.  Merchant.  Kirkham,  Cooper.  K.  Gr.  Greene,  Woodworth,  Smith, 
or  Frost,  has  exhibited  greater  skill?  It  is  curious  to  observe,  how  frequently  a 
grammatical  blunder  committed  by  Murray,  or  some  one  of  his  predecessors,  has 


26  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    III. 

escaped  the  notice  of  all  these,  as  well  as  of  many  others  who  have  found  it  easier 
to  copy  him  than  to  write  for  themselves.  No  man  professing  to  have  copied  and 
improved  Murray,  can  rationally  be  supposed  to  have  greatly  excelled  him  ;  for  to 
pretend  to  have  produced  an  improved  copy  of  a  compilation,  is  to  claim  a  sort 
of  authorship,  even  inferior  to  his,  and  utterly  unworthy  of  any  man  who  is  able 
to  prescribe  and  elucidate  the  principles  of  English  grammar. 

16.  But  Murray's  grammatical  works,  being  extolled  in  the  reviews,  and  made 
common  stock  in  trade,  —  being  published,  both  in  England  and  in  America,  by 
booksellers  of  the  most  extensive  correspondence,  and  highly  commended  even  by 
those  who  were  most  •  interested  in  the  sale  of  them,  — have  been  eminently  suc- 
cessful with  the  public  ;  and  in  the  opinion  of  the  world,  success  is  the  strongest 
proof  of  merit.     Nor  has  the  force  of  this  argument  been  overlooked  by  those  who 
have  written  in  aid  of  his  popularity.     It  is  the  strong  point  in  most  of  the  com- 
mendations which  have  been  bestowed  upon  Murray  as  a  grammarian.     A  recent 
eulogist  computes,  that,  "  at  least  five  millions  of  copies  of  his  various  school-books 
have  been  printed  ;  "  particularly  commends  him  for  his  "  candour  and  liberality 
towards  rival  authors ;  "    avers  that,  "  he  went  on,   examining  and   correcting 
his  Grammar,  through  all  its  forty  editions,  till  he  brought  it  to  a  degree  of  perfec- 
tion which  will  render  it  as  permanent  as  the  English  language  itself;  "   censures 
(and  not  without  reason)  the  "  presumption"  of  those  "  superficial  critics  "  who 
have  attempted  to  amend  the  work,  and  usurp  his  honours;    and,  regarding  the 
compiler's  confession  of  his  indebtedness  to  others,  but  as  a  mark  of  "  his  exem- 
plary diffidence  of  his  own  merits,"  adds,  (in  very  bad  English,)   "Perhaps  there 
never  was  an  author  whose  success  and  fame  were  more  unexpected  by  himself 
than  Lindley  Murray" — The  Friend,  vol.  iii,  p.  33» 

17.  In  a  New-York  edition  of  Murray's  Grammar,  printed  in  1812,  there  was 
inserted  a  "  Caution  to  the  Public,"  by  Collins  &   Co.,  his  American  correspond- 
ents and  publishers,  in  which  are  set  forth  the  unparalleled  success  and  merit  of 
the  work,  "  as  it  came  in  purity  from  the  pen  of   the  author  ;  "  with  an  earnest 
remonstrance  against  the  several  revised  editions  which  had  appeared  at  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  and  other  places,  and  against  the  unwarrantable  liberties  taken  by 
American  teachers,  in  altering  the  work,  under  pretence  of  improving  it.     In  this 
article  it  is  stated,  "  that   the  whole  of  these  mutilated  editions  have  been  seen 
and  examined  by  Lindley  Murray  himself,  and  that  they  have  met  with  his  decided 
disapprobation.     Every  rational  mind,"   continue  these  gentlemen,  "  will  agree 
with  him,  that,  '  the  rights  of  living  authors,  and  the  interests  of  science  and 
literature,  demand  the  abolition  of  this  ungenerous  practice.' '       (See  this  also  in 
Murray's  Key,  N.  Y.,  1811 ,  p.  iii.)     Here,  then,  we  have  the  opinion  and  feeling  of 
Murray  himself,  upon  this  tender  point  of  right.     Here  we  see  the  tables  turned, 
and  other  men  judging  it  "  scarcely  necessary  to  apologize  for  the  use  which  they 
have  made  of  their  predecessors'  labours." 

18.  It  is  really  remarkable  to  find  an  author  and  his  admirers  so  much  at  vari- 
ance, as  are  Murray  and  his  commenders,  in  relation  to  his  grammatical  author- 
ship ;  and  yet,  under  what  circumstances  could  men  have  stronger  desires  to  avoid 
apparent  contradiction  ?     They,  on  the  one  side,  claim  for  him  the  highest  degree 
of  merit  as  a  grammarian ;  and  continue  to  applaud  his  works  as  if  nothing  more 
could  be  desired  in  the  study  of  English  grammar — a  branch  of  learning  which 
some  of  them  are  willing  emphatically  to  call  "  Ms  science."     He,  on  the  contrary, 
to  avert  the  charge  of  plagiarism,  disclaims  almost  every  thing  in  which  any  degree 
of  literary  merit  consists ;  supposes  it  impossible  to  write  an  English  grammar  the 
greater  part  of  which  is  not  a  "  compilation  ;  "  acknowledges  that  originality  belongs 
to  but  a  small  part  of  his  own  ;    trusts  that  such  a  general  acknowledgement  will 
protect  him  from  all  censure  ;  suppresses  the  names  of  other  writers,  and  leaves 
his  examples  to  rest  solely  on  his  own  authority  ;  and,  "  contented  with  the  ^roat 
respectability  of  his  private  character  and  station,  is  satisfied  with  being  useful 


CHAP.    III.]  OP    GRAMMATICAL   SUCCESS    AND    FAME.  27 

as  an  author." — The  Friend,  vol.  iii,  p.  33.  By  the  high  praises  bestowed  upon 
his  works,  his  own  voice  is  overborne  :  the  trumpet  of  fame  has  drowned  it.  His 
liberal  authorship  is  profitable  in  trade,  and  interest  has  power  to  swell  and  prolong 
the  strain. 

19.  The  name  and  character  of  Lindley  Murray  are  too  venerable  to  allow  us 
to  approach  even  the  errors  of  his  grammars,  without  some  recognition  of  the 
respect  due  to  his  personal  virtues  and  benevolent  intentions.  For  the  private  vir- 
tues of  Murray,  I  entertain  as  cordial  a  respect  as  any  other  man.  Nothing  is 
argued  against  these,  even  if  it  be  proved  that  causes  independent  of  true  literary 
merit  have  «riven  him  his  great  and  unexpected  fame  as  a  grammarian.  It  is 
not  intended  by  the  introduction  of  these  notices,  to  impute  to  him  any  thing  more 
or  less  than  what  his  own  words  plainly  imply  ;  except  those  inaccuracies  and  de- 
ficiencies which  still  disgrace  his  work  as  a  literary  performance,  and  which  of 
course  he  did  not  discover.  He  himself  knew  that  he  had  not  brought  the  book  to 
such  perfection  as  has  been  ascribed  to  it ;  for,  by  way  of  apology  for  his  frequent 
alterations,  he  says,  "  Works  of  this  nature  admit  of  repeated  improvements;  and 
are,  perhaps,  never  complete."  Necessity  has  urged  this  reasoning  upon  me. 
I  am  as  far  from  any  invidious  feeling,  or  any  sordid  motive,  as  was  Lindley  Mur- 
ray. But  it  is  due  to  truth,  to  correct  erroneous  impressions  ;  and,  in  order  to 
obtain  from  some  an  impartial  examination  of  the  following  pages,  it  seemed  nee- 
con  vince  them,  tJif.it  it  is  possible  to  compose  a  better  grammar  than 
Murray's,  without  being  part icularlyx indebted  to  him.  If  this  treatise  is  not  such, 
a  gr  ..f  time  has  been  thrown  away  upon  a  useless  project;  and  if  it  is, 

the  achievement  is  no  fit  subject  for  either  pride  or  envy.  It  differs  from  his,  and 
from  all  tin;  protended  amendments  of  his,  as  a  new  map,  drawn  from  actual  and 
minute  surveys,  differs  from  an  old  one,  compiled  chiefly  from  others  still  older 
and  confessedly  still  more  imperfect.  The  region  and  the  scope  are  essentially  the 
stine  ;  the  tracing  and  the  colouring  are  more  original ;  and  (if  the  reader  can 
pardon  tl  "ion)  perhaps  more  accurate  and  vivid. 

20.  He  who  makes  a  new  grammar,  does  nothing  for  the  advancement  of 
learning,  unless  his  performance  excel  all  earlier  ones  designed  for  the  same  pur- 
pose ;  and  nothing  for  his  own  honour,  unless  such  excellence  result  from  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  own  ingenuity  and  taste.  A  good  style  naturally  commends  itself  to 
every  reader — even  to  him  who  cannot  tell  why  it  is  worthy  of  preference.  Hence 
there  is  reason  to  believe,  that  the  true  principles  of  practical  grammar,  deduced 
from  custom  and  sanctioned  by  time,  will  never  be  generally  superseded  by  any 
thing  which  individual  caprice  may  substitute.  In  the  republic  of  letters,  there 
will  always  be  some  who  can  distinguish  merit ;  and  it  is  impossible  that  these 
should  ever  be  converted  to  any  whimsical  theory  of  language,  which'  goes  to  make 

I  void  the  learning  of  past  ages.  There  will  always  be  some  who  can  discern  the 
difference  between  originality  of  style,  and  innovation  in  doctrine, — between 
a  due  re<rird  to  the  opinions  of  others,  and  an  actual  usurpation  of  their  text ; 
and  it  is  iuerediMe  that  these  should  ever  bo  satisfied  with  any  mere  compilation 
of  grammar,  or  with  any  such  authorship  as  either  confesses  or  betrays  the  writer's 
own  incompetent-.-.  Km-  it  is  not  true,  that,  "  an  English  grammar  must  necessa- 
rily be,"  hi  any  ei>n>ideral>le  decree,  if  at  all,  "a  compilation  ;"  nay,  on  such  a 
theme,  and  in  "  the  grammatical  part"  of  the  work,  all  compilation  beyond  a  fair 
use  of  authorities  regularly  quoted,  or  of  materials  either  voluntarily  furnished  or 
free  to  all,  ii"  iably  implies  —  not  conscious  "ability,"  generously  doing 

honour  to  rival  merit  —  nor  "  exemplary  diffidence,"  modestly  veiling  its  own  — 
but  inadequate  skill  and  inferior  talents,  bribing  the  public  by  the  spoils  of  genius, 
and  precedence  by  such  means  as  not  even  the  purest  desire  of  doing 

good  can  ju-tify. 

ill .   Among  the  professed  copiers  of  Murray,  there  is  not  one  to  whom  the  fore- 
remarks  do  not  apply,  as  forcibly  as  to  him.     For  no  one  of  them  all  has 


INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    III. 

attempted  any  thing  more  honourable  to  himself,  or  more  beneficial  to  the  public, 
than  what  their  master  had  before  achieved ;  nor  is  there  any  one,  who,  with  the 
same  disinterestedness,  has  guarded  his  design  from  the  imputation  of  a  pecuniary 
motive.  It  is  comical  to  observe  what  they  say  in  their  prefaces.  Between  praise 
to  sustain  their  choice  of  a  model,  and  blame  to  make  room  for  their  pretended 
amendments,  they  are  often  placed  in  as  awkward  a  dilemma,  as  that  which  was 
contrived  when  grammar  was  identified  with  compilation.  I  should  have  much  to 
say,  were  I  to  show  them  all  in  their  true  light.*  Few  of  them  have  had  such 
success  as  to  be  worthy  of  notice  here  ;  but  the  names  of  many  will  find  frequent 
place  in  my  code  of  false  grammar.  The  one  who  seems  to  be  now  taking  the  lead 
in  fame  and  revenue,  filled  with  glad  wonder  at  his  own  popularity,  is  SAMUEL 
KIRKHAM.  Upon  this  gentleman's  performance,  I  shall  therefore  bestow  a  few 
brief  observations.  If  I  do  not  overrate  this  author's  literary  importance,  a  fair 
exhibition  of  the  character  of  his  grammar,  may  be  made  an  instructive  lesson  to 
some  of  our  modern  literati.  The  book  is  a  striking  sample  of  a  numerous  species. 

22.  Kirkham's  treatise  is  entitled,  "  English  Grammar  in  Familiar  Lectures,  ac- 
companied by  a  Compendium''  that  is,  by  a  folded  sheet.     Of  this  work,  of  which 
I  have  recently  seen  copies  purporting  to  be  of  the  "  sixty- seventh  edition,"  and 
others  again    of  the  "  hundred  and  fifth  edition,"  each  published  at  Baltimore  in 
1835,  I  can  give  no  earlier  account,  than  what  may  be  derived  from  the  "  second 
edition,  enlarged  and  much  improved,"   which  was  published  at  Harrisburg  in 
1825.     The  preface,  which  appears  to  have  been  written  for  his  frst  edition,  is 
dated,  "  Fredericktown,  Md.,  August  22, 1823."    In  it,  there  is  no  recognition  of 
any  obligation  to  Murray,  or  to  any  other  grammarian  in  particular ;  but  with  the 
modest  assumption,  that  the  style  of  the  "  best  philologists,"  needed  to  be  retouched, 
the  book  is  presented  to  the  world  under  the  following  pretensions  : 

"  The  author  of  this  production  has  endeavoured  to  condense  all  the  most  important 
subject-matter  of  the  whole  science,  and  present  it  in  so  small  a  compass  that  the  learner 
can  become  familiarly  acquainted  with  it  in  a  short  time.  He  makes  but  small  preten- 
sions to  originality  in  theoretical  matter.  Most  of  the  principles  laid  down,  have  been 
selected  from  our  best  modern  philologists.  If  his  work  is  entitled  to  any  degree  of 
merit,  it  is  not  on  account  of  a  judicious  selection  of  principles  and  rules,  but  for  the 
easy  mode  adopted  of  communicating  these  to  the  mind  of  the  learner." — Kirkham's 
Grammar,  1825,  p.  10. 

23.  It  will  be  found  on  examination,  that  what  this  author  regarded  as  "  all  the 
most  important  subject-matter  of  the  whole  science  "  of  grammar,  included  nothing 
more  than  the  most  common  elements  of  the  orthography,  etymology,  and  syntax,  of 
the  English  tongue  —  beyond  which  his  scholarship  appears  not  to  have  extended. 
Whatsoever  relates  to  derivation,  to  the  sounds  of  the  letters,  to  prosody,  (as 
punctuation,  utterance,  figures,  versification,  and  poetic  diction,)  found  no   place 
in  his  "  comprehensive  system  of    grammar;  "  nor  do  his  later  editions  treat  any 
of  these  things  amply  or  well.     In  short,  he  treats  nothing  well ;  for  he  is  a  bad 
writer.     Commencing  his  career  of  authorship  under  circumstances  the  most  for- 
bidding, yet  receiving  encouragement  from  commendations  bestowed  in  pity,  he 
proceeded,  like  a  man  of  business,  to  profit  mainly  by  the  chance ;  and,  without 
ever  acquiring  either  the  feelings  or  the  habits  of  a  scholar,  soon  learned  by  expe- 
rience that,  "  It  is  much   better  to  write  than   [to]  starve." — Kirkham's  Gram, 
stereotyped,  p.  89.     It  is  cruel  in  any  man,  to  look  narrowly  into  the  faults  of  an 
author  who  peddles  a  school-book  for  bread.      The  starveling  wretch  whose  de- 
fence and  plea  are  poverty  and  sickness,  demands,  and  must  have,  in  the  name  of 
humanity,  an  immunity  from  criticism,  if  not  the  patronage  of  the  public.     Far  be 
it  from  me,  to  notice  any  such  character,  except  with  kindness  and  charity.     Nor 

*  "  Grammatici  namque  auctoritas  per  se  nulla  est ;  quum  ex  sola  doctissimorum  oratorum,  historicorum. 
poetarum.  et  aliorum  ideonorum  Rcriptorum  observatione,  constet  ortam  esse  vcram  grammaricam.  Alulta 
dicrnda  forent,  si  grammatistarum  ineptias  refellere  vellem  :  sed  nulla  est  gloria  prseterire  asellos." — 
TBRH  Pref.  Art.  Versif.  fol.  iii,  1517. 


CHAP.    III.]  OF    GRAMMATICAL    SUCCESS    AND    FAME.  29 

need  I  be  told,  that  tenderness  is  due  to  the  "young  ;"  or  that  noble  results  some- 
times follow  unhopeful  beginnings.  These  tilings  an;  understood  and  duly  appre- 
ciated. The  gentleman  was  young  once,  oven  as.  b  md  I,  his  equal  in 

years,  was  then,  in  authorship,  as  young  —  though,  it  were  to  be  hoped.  not  quite  so 
immature.  But,  as  circumstances  alter  ca<e<,  so  rime  and  c'ian«-e  alter  circumstances. 
Under  no  circumstances,  however,  can  the  artifices  of  quackery  bo  thought  ex- 
cusable in  him  who  claims  to  be  the  very  greatest  of  modern  grammarians  The 
niche  that  in  the  temple  of  learning  belongs  to  any  individual,  can  l»c  no  other 
than  that  which  his  own  labours  have  purchased  :  here,  his  own  turrit  alone  must 
be  his  pedestal.  If  this  critical  sketch  be  uni  peachably  ///*•/.  its  publication 
requires  no  further  warrant.  The  correction  has  been  forborne,  till  the  subject  of 
it  has  become  rich,  and  popular,  and  proud  ;  proud  enough  at  least  to  have  pub- 
lished his  utter  contempt  for  me  and  all  my  works.  Yet  not  for  this  do  I  judge 
him  worthy  of  notice  here,  but  merely  as  an  apt  example  of  some  men's  grammatical 
success  and  fame.  The  ways  and  means  to  these  grand  results  are  what  I  purpose 
now  to  consider. 

24.  The  common  supposition,  that  the  world  is  steadily  advancing  in  knowl- 
edge and  improvement,  would  seem  to  imply,  that  the  man  who  could  plausibly 
boast  of  being  the  most  successful  and  most  popular  grammarian  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  cannot  but  be  a  scholar  of  such  merit  as  to  deserve  some  place,  if  not  in  the 
general  literary  history  of  his  age,  at  least  in  the  particular  history  of  the  science 
which  he  teaches.  It  will  presently  be  seen  that  the  author  of  '  '  English  Grammar 
in  Familiar  Lectures,"  boasts  of  a  degree  of  success  and  popularity,  which,  in  this 
age  of  the  world,  has  no  parallel.  It  is  not  intended  on  my  part,  to  dispute  any 
of  his  assertions  on  these  points  ;  but  rather  to  take  it  for  granted,  that  in  repu- 
tation and  revenue  he  is  altoirrther  as  preeminent  as  he  pretends  to  be.  The  char- 
acter of  his  alleged  improvement,  however,  I  shall  inspect  with  the  eyes  of  one 
who  means  to  know  the  certainty  for  himself;  and,  in  this  item  of  literary  history, 
the  reader  shall  see,  in  some  sort,  what  profit  there  is  in  grammar.  Is  the  common 
lanujua'j;*}  of  two  of  the  largest  and  most  enlightened  nations  on  earth  so  little  un- 
derstood, and  its  true  irrammar  so  little  known  or  appreciated,  that  one  of  the  most 
nnschoUurly  and  incompetent  of  all  pretenders  to  grammar  can  have  found  means 
to  outrival  all  the  grammarians  who  have  preceded  him  ?  Have  plagiarism  and 
quackery  become  the  only  means  of  success  in  philology  ?  Are  there  now  instances 
to  which  an  intelligent  critic  may  point,  and  say,  "  This  man,  or  that,  though 
he  can  scarcely  write  a  page  of  good  Kn'_'li-h,  has  patched  up  a  grammar,  by  the 
help  of  Murray's  text  only,  and  thereby  ma  1"  himself  rich?"  Is  there  such  a 
charm  in  the  name  of  J/*/m///.  and  the  word  /w/wv/w-Hf,  that  by  these  two  im- 
plements alone,  the  obscurest  of  men.  or  the  a'^urdest  of  teachers,  may  work  his 
>  lame  ;  and  then,  pen-hance,  by  contrast  of  circumstances,  grow  con- 
ceited and  arrogant,  from  the  fortune  of  the  undertaking?  Let  us  see  what 
we  can  find  in  Kirkhanfs  Grammar,  which  will  iro  to  answer  these  questions. 
Take  first  from  one  j.a^e  ..f  his  M  hundred  and  fifth  edition,"  a  few  brief 
quotations,  as  a  sample  of  hi--  thoughts  and  style  : 


a  i 

E 


"They,  however,  who  intrmK  /7,/W,  ,  /,;;«/•/  from  the  analogy  and  philosophy  of 

a  Ian..  •._;  the  number  of  those  who   form  thut  A///y/w',v,  and  have 

power  t»  <-»nirol  it."      "  Piuvrii-u:.  —  A   principle  in  u'rammar  is  a,  >  >n  of 

the  laniiua^c,  sanctioned  by  ur"  —  A  dciinition  in  grammar  is  a 

print  >  ••  Hi  u:.—  A  rule  desrri  >iliar 

construction   or   rircum-tantial  relation  ot   words,  which  custom  has  established  for  our 
observance."  —  Kirk/tarn's  (ii-n,ii»i>ir,  p.  18. 

Now,  as  "  a  rule  describes  a  peculiar  construction,"  and  "  a  principle  is  a  pe- 
culiar construction,"  and  "  a  definition  is  a  principle  ;"  how,  according  to  this  gram- 
marian, do  a  principle,  a  definition,  and  a  rule,  differ  each  from  the  oth«-r>  'i  From 
the  rote  here  imposed,  it  is  certainly  not  easier  for  the  learner  to  conceive  of  all 


30  INTRODUCTION.  •        [OHAP.    III. 

these  things  distinctly,  than  it  is  to  understand  how  a  departure  from  philosophy 
may  make  a  man  deservedly  "  conspicuous."  It  were  easy  to  multiply  examples 
like  these,  showing  the  work  to  be  deficient  in  clearness,  the  first  requisite  of  style. 

26.  The  following  passages  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  the  gentleman's  taste, 
and  grammatical  accuracy ;  in  one  of  which,  he  supposes  the  neuter  verb  is  to 
express  an  action,  and  every  honest  man  to  be  long  since  dead  !     So  it  stands  in 
all  his  editions.     Did  his  praisers  think  so  too  ? 

"  It  is  correct  to  say,  The  man  eats,  he  eats ;  but  we  cannot  say,  The  man  dog  eats,  he 
dog  eats.  Why  not  r  Because  the  man  is  here  represented  as  the  possessor,  and  dog, 
the  property,  or  thing  possessed  ;  and  the  genius  of  our  language  requires,  that  when 
we  add  to  the  2)ossessor,  the  thing  which  he  is  represented  as  possessing,  the  possessor  shall 
take  a  particular  form  to  show  ITS  case,  or  relation  to  the  property." — Ib.  p.  52. 

THE  PRESENT  TENSE. — "  This  tense  is  sometimes  applied  to  represent  the  actions  of  per- 
sons long  since  dead;  as,  'Seneca  reasons  and  moralizes  well;  An  HONEST  MAN  is  the 
noblest  work  of  God. ' '  — Ib.  p.  138. 

PARTICIPLES. — "The  term  Participle  comes  from  the  Latin  word  part  icipio,*  which 
signifies  to  partake." — "Participles  are  formed  by  adding  to  the  verb  the  termination 
ing,  ed,  or  en.  Ing  signifies  the  same  as  the  noun  being.  When  postfixed  to  the  noun- 
state  of  the  verb,  the  compound  icord  thus  formed,  expresses  a  continued  state  of  the 
verbal  denotement.  It  implies  that  what  is  meant  by  the  verb,  is  being  continued." — Ib. 
p.  78.  "All  participles  are  compound  in  their  meaning  and  office." — Ib.  p.  79. 

VERBS. — "Verbs  express,  not  only  the  state  or  manner  of  being,  but,  likewise,  all  the 
different  actions  and  movements  of  all  creatures  and  things,  whether  animate  or  inani- 
mate."— Ib.  p.  62.  "It  can  be  easily  shown,  that  from  the  noun  and  verb,  all  the  other 
parts  of  speech  have  sprung.  Nay,  more.  They  may  even  be  reduced  to  one.  Verbs  do 
not,  in  reality,  express  actions ;  but  they  are  intrinsically  the  mere  NAMES  of  actions." — Ib. 
p.  37. 

PHILOSOPHICAL  GRAMMAR. — "  I  have  thought  proper  to  intersperse  through  the 
pages  of  this  work,  under  the  head  of  «  Philosophical  Notes,1  an  entire  system  of  grammat- 
ical principles  as  deduced  from  ichat  appears  f  to  me  to  be  the  most  rational  and  consistent 
philosophical  investigations." — Ib.  p.  36.  "Johnson,  and  Blair,  and  Lowth,  ivould 
have  been  laughed  at,  had  they  essayed  to  thrust  any  thing  like  our  modernized  philo- 
sophical grammar  down  the  throats  of  their  coternporaries." — Ib.  p.  143. 

Is  it  not  a  pity,  that  '*  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  children  and  youth  " 
should  be  daily  poring  over  language  and  logic  like  this  ? 

27.  For  the  sake  of  those  who  happily  remain  ignorant  of  this  successful  em- 
piricism, it  is  desirable  that  the  record  and  exposition  of  it  be  made  brief.     There  is 
little  danger  that  it  will  long  survive  its  author.     But  the  present  subjects  of  it 
are  sufficiently  numerous  to  deserve  some  pity.     The  following  is  a  sample  of  the 
gentleman's  method  of  achieving  what  he   both  justly  and  exultingly  supposes, 
that  Johnson,  or  Blair,  or  Lowth,  could  not  have  effected.     He  scoffs  at  his  own 
grave  instructions,  as  if  they  had  been  the  production  of  some  other  impostor. 
Can  the  fact  be  credited,  that  in  the  following  instances,  he  speaks  of  what  he  him- 
self teaches?" — of  what  he  seriously  pronounces  "most  rational  and  consis- 
tent  2 — of  what  is  part  and  parcel  of  that  philosophy  of  his,  which  he  declares, 
"  will  in  general  be  found  to  accord  with  the  practical  theory  embraced  in  the 
body  of  his  work?  "     See  Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  36. 

"  Call  this  ' philosophical  parsing,  on  reasoning  principles,  according  to  the  original 
laws  of  nature  and  of  thought,'  and  the  pill  will  be  swallowed,  by  pedants  and  their 
dupes,  with  the  greatest  ease  imaginable." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  144.  "For  the  satis- 
faction of  those  teachers  who  prefer  it,  and  for  their  adoption,  too,  a  modernized  philo- 
sophical theory  of  the  moods  and  tenses  is  here  presented.  If  it  is  not  quite  so  conve- 
nient and  useful  as  the  old  one  ,they  need  not  hesitate  to  adopt  it.  It  has  the  advantage 
of  being  new ;  and,  moreover,  it  sounds  large,  and  will  make  the  commonalty  stare. 
Let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  you  teach  « [Kirkham's]  philosophical  grammar, 
founded  on  reason  and  common  sense,'  and  you  will  pass  for  a  very  learned  man,  and 

*  The  Latin  word  for  participle  is  participium,  which  makes  participio  in  the  dative  or  the  ablative  case ; 
but  the  Latin  word  for  partake  teparticipo,  and  not  "participio."—  G.  BROWN. 

t  This  sentence  is  manifestly  bad  English  :  either  the  singular  verb  "  appears  "  should  be  made  plural,  or 
the  plural  noun  "investigations  "  should  be  made  singular. — G.  BBOWN. 


CHAP.    III.]  OP   GRAMMATICAL    SUCCESS    AND    FAME.  31 

make  all  the  good  housewives  wonder  at  the  rapid  inarch  of  intellect,  and  the  vast  im- 
provements of  the  age." — Ib.  p.  141. 

28.  The  pretty  promises  with  which  these  "  Familiar  Lectures  "  abound,  are  also 
worthy  to  be  noticed  here,  as  being  among  the  peculiar  attractions  of  the  perform- 
ance. The  following  may  serve  as  a  specimen  : 

"  If  you  prw>cd  according  to  my  instructions,  you  will  be  sure  to  acquire  a  practical 
knowledge  of  Grammar  ma  short  time." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  49.  "If  you  have  sufficient 
vou  will,  in  a  short  time,  perfectly  understand  the  nature  and  office  of 
the  different  parts  of  speech,  their  various  properties  and  relations,  and  the  rules  of 
syntax  that  apply  to  them  ;  and,  in  a  fete  icctks,  be  able  to  speak  and  write  accurately." 
— Ib.  p.  62.  "  You  will  please  to  turn  back  and  read  over  again  the  whole  Jif  .  You 

must  exercise  a  little  patience."— Ib.  p.  82.  "By  studying  these  lectures  with  attention, 
)-ou  will  acquire  mor<-  firammatical  knowledge  in  three  months,  than  is  commonly  obtained 
in  tim  yearn." — Ib.  p.  82.  "  I  will  conduct  you  so  smoothly  through  the  moods  and  tenses, 
and  the  conjugation  of  verbs,  that,  instead  of  finding  yourself  involved  in  obscurities 
and  deep  intricacies,  you  will  scarcely  find  an  obstruction  to  impede  your  progress." — Ib.  p. 
133.  "The  supposed  Herculean  task  of  learning  to  conjugate  verbs,  will  be  transformed 
into  afeir  hours  of  pleasant  pastime." — Ib.  p.  142.  "  By  examining  carefully  the  conjuga- 
tion of  the  verb  through  this  mood,  you  will  find  it  very  easy." — Ib.  p.  147.  "  By  pursu- 
:ie  following  direction,  you  can,  in  a  very  short  time,  learn  to  conjugate  any  verb." 
— Ib.  p.  147.  "  Although  this  mode  of  procedure  may,  at  first,  appear  to  be  laborious,  yet,  as 
it  is  .1  trust  you  will  not  hesitate  to  adopt  it.  My  confidence  in  your  persever- 

.  induces  me  to  recommend  any  course  which  I  know  will  tend  to  facilitate  your 
progress." — Ib.  p.  148. 

~'J.  The  grand  boast  of  this  author  is,  that  he  has  succeeded  in  "  pleasing 
himsolf  and  the  public."  He  trusts  to  have  "  gained  the  latter  point,"  to  so  great 
an  extent,  and  with  such  security  of  tenure,  that  henceforth  no  man  can  safely 
•ion  the  merit  of  his  performance.  Happy  mortal  I  to  whom  that  success 
which  is  the  ground  of  his  pride,  is  also  the  glittering  agis  of  his  sure  defence  ! 
To  this  he  points  with  exultation  and  self-applause,  as  if  the  prosperity  of  the 
wicked,  or  the  popularity  of  an  imposture,  had  never  yet  been  heard  of  in  this 
clever  world  I  •  Upon  what  merit  this  success  has  been  founded,  my  readers  may 
judge,  when  I  shall  have  finished  this  slight  review  of  his  work.  Probably  no  other 
grammar  was  ever  so  industriously  spread.  Such  was  the  author's  perseverance  in 
his  measures  to  increase  the  demand  for  his  book,  that  even  the  attainment  of  such 
accuracy  as  he  was  capable  of,  was  less  a  subject  of  concern.  For  in  an  article 
rued  "  toward  off  some  of  the  arrows  of  criticism," — an  advertisement  which, 
from  the  eleventh  to  the  *'  one  hundred  and  fifth  edition,"  has  been  promising  "  to 
the  p'iblick  an nf/n-r  <md  a  better  edition," — he  plainly  offers  this  urgent  engage- 
ment, as  "an  apology  for  its  deftv 

"  The  author  is  apprehensive  that  his  work  is  not  yet  as  accurate  and  as  much  simplified 
as  it  may  be.  If,  however,  the  disadvantages  of  lingering  under  a  broken  constitution, 
and  of  being  able  to  devote  to  this  subject  only  a  small  portion  of  his  time,  snatched  from 
the  (.•  fa  business  life,  (active  as  far  as  imperfect  health  permits  him  to  be,) 

are  any  a;  it!  defects,  he  hopes  that  the  candid  will  set  down  the  a)>ology  to  his 

credit. — Not  that  he  would  beg  a  truce  with  the  gentlemen  criticks  and  reviewers.  Any 
compromise  with  them  would  betray  a  want  of  self-confidence  and  moral  courage,  which, 
he  would  by  no  means,  be  willing  to  avow." — Kirkham's  Gram.  (Adv.  of  1829,)  p.  7. 

30.  Now,  to  this  painful  struggle,  this  active  contention  between  business  and  the 
vapours,  let  all  credit  be  given,  and  all  sympathy  be  added ;  but,  as  an  aid  to  the 

•  "  What !  a  book  hare  no  merit,  and  yet  be  calle-1  for  at  the  rate  of  sixty  thousand  eopiet  a  year!  What  a 
•land.  D  rhe  [.iiMic  tasto  '.  What  an  insult  to  the  understanding  and  dis<-rhiiina'i<>ii  of  the  good 

-<injng,  all  the  Inhabitants  of  our  lan<l  inu.->t  be  fools, 

i,  and  that  man  b  GOOLD  '-;;:.  p.  361. 

Well  n.  '  to  be  called  a  slanderer  of  ••  the  public  taste,"  and  an  insulter  of  the 

ondentandlilf.'1  if  both  the  merit  of  this  vaunted  book  and  the  wisdom  of  its  purchasers  are  to 
.«•  author's  profit*,  or  the  publishers'  account  of  sales!     But,  possibly,  between 

the  Sntrin.-ir  merit  ami  the  market  value  of  some  books  there  may  be  a  ditlcn-ncv.     l/ord  1!\  run  n-< i-ived  from 
Murray  his  bookseller,  nearly  ten  dollars  a  line  for  the  fourth  canto  of  Childe  Harold,  or  about  as  much  for 
.  .is  Milton  obtained  for  the  whole  of  Paradise  Lost.     Id  tub  the  true  ratio  of  the  merit  of  these 
authors,  or  of  the  wisdom  of  the  different  ages  in  which  thej  lived  ? 


32  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    III. 

studies  of  healthy  children,  what  better  is  the  book,  for  any  forbearance  or  favour 
that  may  have  been  won  by  this  apology  ?  It  is  well  known,  that,  till  phrenology 
became  the  common  talk,  the  author's  principal  business  was,  to  commend  his  own 
method  of  teaching  grammar,  and  to  turn  this  publication  to  profit.  This  hon- 
ourable industry,  aided  as  himself  suggests,  by  "  not  much  less  than  one  thousand 
written  recommendations,"  is  said  to  have  wrought  for  him,  in  a  very  few  years,  a 
degree  of  success  and  fame,  at  which  both  the  eulogists  of  Murray  and  the  friends 
of  English  grammar  may  hang  their  heads.  As  to  a  "  compromise"  with  any 
critic  or  reviewer  whom  he  cannot  bribe,  it  is  enough  to  say  of  that,  it  is  morally 
impossible.  Nor  was  it  necessary  for  such  an  author  to  throw  the  gauntlet,  to 
prove  himself  not  lacking  in  "  self-confidence."  He  can  show  his  "  moral  cour- 
age" only  by  daring  do  right. 

31.  In  1829,  after  his  book  had  gone  through  ten  editions,  and  the  demand 
for  it  had  become  so  great  as   "to  call  forth   twenty  thousand  copies  during  the 
year,"  the  prudent  author,  intending  to  veer  his  course  according  to  the  trade-wind, 
thought  it  expedient  to  retract  his  former  acknowledgement  to  "  our  best  modern 
philologists,"  and  to  profess  himself  a  modifier  of  the    Great  Compiler's   code. 
Where  then  holds  the  anchor  of  his  praise?     Let  the  reader  say,  after  weighing 
and  comparing  his  various  pretensions  : 

"  Aware  that  there  is,  in  the  piiblick  mind,  a  strong  predilection  for  the  doctrines  con- 
tained in  Mr.  Murray's  grammar,  he  has  thought  proper,  not  merely  from  motives  of 
policy,  but  from  choice,  to  select  his  principles  chiefly  from  that  work ;  and,  moreover,  to 
adopt,  as  far  as  consistent  with  his  own  views,  the  language  of  that  eminent  philologist.  In 
no  instance  has  he  varied  from  him,  unless  he  conceived  that,  in  so  doing,  some  practical 
advantage  would  be  gained.  He  hopes,  therefore,  to  escape  the  censure  so  frequently 
and  so  justly  awarded  to  those  unfortunate  innovators  who  have  not  scrupled  to  alter, 
mutilate,  and  torture  the  text  of  that  able  writer,  merely  to  gratify  an  itching  propen- 
sity to  tigure  in  the  world  as  authors,  and  gain  an  ephemeral  popularity  by  arrogating  to 
themselves  the  credit  due  to  another."  * — Kirkham's  Gram.,  1829,  p.  10. 

32.  Now  these  statements  are  either  true  or  false  ;  and  I  know  not  on  which 
supposition  they  are  most  creditable  to  the  writer.     Had  any  Roman  grammatist 
thus  profited  by  the  name  of  Varro  or  Quintilian,  he  would  have  been  filled  with 
constant  dread  of  somewhere  meeting  the  injured  author's  frowning  shade  !    Surely, 
among  the  professed  admirers  of  Murray,  no  other  man,  whether  innovator  or 
copyist,  unfortunate  or  successful,  is  at  all  to  be  compared  to  this  gentleman  for 
the  audacity  with  which  he  has  "  not  scrupled  to  alter,  mutilate,  and  torture,  the 
text  of  that  able  writer."     Murray  simply  intended  to  do  good,  and  good  that 
might  descend  to  posterity  ;  and  this  just  and  generous  intention  goes  far  to  excuse 
even  his  errors.     But  Kirkham,  speaking  of  posterity,  scruples  not  to  disavow  and 
renounce  all  care  for  them,  or  for  any  thing  which  a  coming  age  may  think  of  his 
character :  saying, 

"  My  pretensions  reach  not  so  far.  To  the  present  generation  only,  I  present  my  claims. 
Should  it  lend  me  a  listening  ear,  and  grant  me  its  suffrages,  the  height  of  my  ambition 
will  be  attained." — Advertisement,  in  his  Elocution,  p.  346. 

His  whole  design  is,  therefore,  upon  the  very  face  of  it,  a  paltry  scheme  of 
present  income.  And,  seeing  his  entered  classes  of  boys  and  girls  must  soon  have 
done  with  him,  he  has  doubtless  acted  wisely,  and  quite  in  accordance  with  his 
own  interest,  to  have  made  all  possible  haste  in  his  career. 

33.  Being  no  rival  with  him  in  this  race,  and  having  no  personal  quarrel  with 

*  Kirkham's  real  opinion  of  Murray  cannot  be  known  from  this  passage  only.  How  able  is  that  writer  who 
is  chargeable  with  the  greatest  want  of  taste  and  discernment  ?  "  In  regard  to  the  application  of  the  final 
pause  in  reading  blank  verse,  nothing  can  betray  a  greater  want  of  rhetorical  taste,  and  philosophical  acumen, 
than  the  directions  of  Mr.  Murray."-  -Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  145.  Kirkham  is  indeed  uo  judge  either  of  the 
merits,  or  of  the  demerits,  of  Murray's  writings  ;  nor  is  it  probable  that  this  criticism  originated  with  himself: 
But,  since  it  appears  in  his  name,  let  him  have  the  credit  of  it,  and  of  representing  the  compiler  whom  he 
calls  "  that  able  writer  "  and  "  that  eminent  philologist J'  as  an  untasteful  dunce,  and  a  teacher  of  nonsense: 
*'  To  say  that,  unless  we  '  make  every  line  sensible  to  the  ear,'  we  mar  the  melody,  and  suppress  the  numbers 
of  the  poet,  is  all  nonsense."— Ibid.  See  Murray's  Grammar,  on  «  Poetical  Pauses,"  8vo,  p.  260  ;  12mo,  210. 


CHAP.    III.]  OF   GRAMMATICAL    SUCCESS   AND   FAME.  33 

him  on  any  account,  I  would,  for  his  sake,  fain  rejoice  at  his  success,  and 
withhold  my  critiri-ms  :  1  ••«-ause  he  is  said  to  have  been  liberal  with  his  gains,  and 
because  he  has  not,  like  some  others,  copied  me  in  stead  of  Murray.  But  the 
vindication  of  a  greatly  injured  and  perverted  science,  constrains  me  to  say,  on 
this  occasion,  that  pretensions  k>-s  consistent  with  themselves,  or  less  sustained  by 
and  scholarship,  have  seldom,  if  ever,  been  promulgated  in  the  name  of 
grammar.  I  have,  certainly,  no  intention  to  say  more  than  is  due  to  the  uninformed 
and  the  misguided.  For  some  who  are  ungenerous  and  prejudiced  themselves, 
will  not  be  unwilling  to  think  me  so ;  and  even  this  freedom,  backed  and  guarded 
as  it  is,  by  facts  and  proofs  irrefragable,  may  still  be  ingeniously  ascribed  to  an  ill 
motive.  To  two  thirds  of  the  community,  one  grammar  is  just  as  good  as  an  other; 
hey  neither  know,  nor  wish  to  know,  more  than  may  be  learned  from  the 
very  worst.  An  honest  expression  of  sentiment  against  abuses  of  a  literary  nature, 
is  little  the  fashion  of  these  times ;  and  the  good  people  who  purchase  books  upon 
the  recommendations  of  others,  may  be  slow  to  believe  there  is  no  merit  where 
so  much  has  been  attributed.  But  facts  may  well  be  credited,  in  opposition  to 
courteous  flattery,  when  there  are  the  author's  own  words  and  works  to  vouch  for 
them  in  the  face  of  day.  Though  a  thousand  of  our  great  men  may  have  helped 
a  copier's  weak  copyist  to  take  "some  practical  advantage"  of  the  world's 
credulity,  it  is  safe  to  aver,  in  the  face  of  dignity  still  greater,  that  testimonials 
more  fallacious  have  seldom  mocked  the  cause  of  learning.  They  did  not  read 
his  book. 

Not  withstanding  the  author's  change  in  his  professions,  the  work  is  now 

itiully  the  same  as  it  was  at  first ;  except  that  its  errors  and  contradictions  have 
been  greatly  multiplied,  by  the  addition  of  new  matter  inconsistent  with  the  old. 
He  evidently  cares  not  what  doctrines  he  teaches,  or  whose  ;  but,  as  various  theories 
are  noised  abroad,  sci/«>s  upon  different  opinions,  and  mixes  them  together,  that 
his  In  ..lies  may  contain  something  to  suit  all  parties.  "  A  System  of  Philosophical 
Grammar,"  though  but  an  idle  speculation,  even  in  his  own  account,  and  doubly 

rd  in  him,  as  being  flatly  contradictory  to  his  main  text,  has  been  thought 
worthy  of  insertion.  And  what  his  title-page  denominates  "  A  New  System  of 
Pui  "  though  mostly  in  the  very  words  of  Murray,  was  next  invented  to 

supply  a  deficiency  which  he  at  length  discovered.  To  admit  these,  and  some  other 
additions,  the  "comprehensive  system  of  grammar"  was  gradually  extended  from 
144  small  duodecimo  pages,  to  228  of  the  ordinary  size.  And,  in  this  compass, 
it  was  finally  stereotyped  in  1829  ;  so  that  the  ninety-four  editions  published  since, 
have  nothing  new  for  history. 

35.  But  the  publication  of  an  other  work  designed  for  schools,  "  An  Essay  on 
Elocution"  shows  the  progress  of  the  author's  mind.  Nothing  can  be  more 
radically  opposite,  than  are  some  of  the  elementary  doctrines  which  this  gentleman 

.v  teaching;  nothing,  more  strangely  inconsistent,  than  are  some  of  his  declara- 
tions and   pmtVssir.ns.     For  instance:  "A  consonant  is  a  letter  that  cannot  be 
xmndrd  without    the  help  of  a  vowel." — A'irMam's    Gram.    p.   19. 

;n  :  "A  consonant  is  not  only  capable  of  being  perfectly  sounded  without  the 

"f  a  vnwi'l,  but,  moreover,  of  forming,  like  a  vowel,  a  separate  syllable." — 

'      Take  a  second  example.     He  makes  "  AP.TKCTIVE 

PRO^  and  IfdiiiiHj  fif/f.  in  treating  of  the  pronouns 

•  •r  ;  defines  the  term  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  himself;  prefers  and  uses  it  in 
all  his  parsinir  ;  and  yet,  by  the  third  sentence  of  the  story,  the  learner  is  conducted 
to  this  just  conclusion :  '•  Hem-.-,  such  a  thing  as  an  at/ji'/'ftrc-jn'ttnonn  cannot 
exist." — G  raw  mar.  p.  1  •».">.  <  )n.-e  m-.rc.  !"j...n  his  own  rules,  or  such  as  he  had 
borrowed,  he  comments  thus,  and  comments  truly,  because  he  had  either  written 
them  badly  or  made  an  ill  choice  :  "But  some  of  these  rules  are  foolish,  trifling, 
and  unimportant." — Hlnmtlon,  p  97.  Again  :  "  Rules  10  and  11,  rest  on  a  sandy 
foundation.  They  appear  not  to  be  based  on  the  principles  of  the  language." — 
3 


34  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  III. 

Grammar,  p.  59.  These  are  but  specimens  of  his  own  frequent  testimony  against 
himself!  Nor  shall  he  find  refuge  in  the  impudent  falsehood,  that  the  things 
which  I  quote  as  his,  are  not  his  own.*  These  contradictory  texts,  and  scores  of 
others  which  might  be  added  to  them,  are  as  rightfully  his  own,  as  any  doctrine  he 
has  ever  yet  inculcated.  But,  upon  the  credulity  of  ignorance,  his  high-sounding 
certificates  and  unbounded  boasting  can  impose  any  thing.  They  overrule  all  in 
favour  of  one  of  the  worst  grammars  extant; — of  which  he  says,  "It  is  now 
studied  by  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  children  and  youth  ;  and  is  more  ex- 
tensively used  than  all  other  English  grammars  published  in  the  United  States." — 
Elocution,  p.  347.  The  booksellers  say,  he  receives  from  his  publishers  ten  cents 
a  copy,  on  this  work,  and  that  he  reports  the  sale  of  sixty  thousand  copies  per 
annum.  Such  has  of  late  been  his  public  boast.  I  have  once  had  the  story  from 
his  own  lips,  and  of  course  congratulated  him,  though  I  dislike  the  book.  Six 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  on  this  most  miserable  modification  of  Lindley  Murray's 
Grammar !  Be  it  so — or  double,  if  he  and  the  public  please.  Murray  had  so 
little  originality  in  his  work,  or  so  little  selfishness  in  his  design,  that  he  would  not 
take  any  thing ;  and  his  may  ultimately  prove  the  better  bargain. 

36.  A  man  may  boast  and  bless  himself  as  he  pleases,  his  fortune,  surely,  can 
never  be  worthy  of  an  other's  envy,  so  long  as  he  finds  it  inadequate  to  his  own 
great  merits,  and  unworthy  of  his  own  poor  gratitude.  As  a  grammarian,  Kirkham 
claims  to  be  second  only  to  Lindley  Murray ;  and  says,  "  Since  the  days  of  Lowth, 
no  other  work  on  grammar,  Murray's  only  excepted,  has  been  so  favourably  received 
by  i\\Qpublick  as  his  own.  As  a  proof  of  this,  he  would  mention,  that  within  the 
last  six  years  it  has  passed  through  fifty  editions." — Preface  to  Elocution,  p.  12. 
And,  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same  preface,  he  complains,  that,  "  Of  all  the 
labours  done  under  the  sun,  the  labours  of  the  pen  meet  with  the  poorest  reward." 
Ibid.  p.  5.  This  too  clearly  favours  the  report,  that  his  books  were  not  written  by 
himself,  but  by  others  whom  he  hired.  Possibly,  the  anonymous  helper  may  here 
have  penned,  not  his  employer's  feeling,  but  a  line  of  his  own  experience.  But  I 
choose  to  ascribe  the  passage  to  the  professed  author,  and  to  hold  him  answerable 
for  the  inconsistency.  Willing  to  illustrate  by  the  best  and  fairest  examples  these 
fruitful  means  of  grammatical  fame,  I  am  glad  of  his  present  success,  which,  through 
this  record,  shall  become  yet  more  famous.  It  is  the  only  thing  which  makes  him 
worthy  of  the  notice  here  taken  of  him.  But  I  cannot  sympathize  with  his  com- 
plaint, because  he  never  sought  any  but  "  the  poorest  reward  ;  "  and  more  than  all 
tie  sought,  he  found.  In  his  last  "Address  to  Teachers,"  he  says,  "He  may 


silver;  nor  he  that  loveth  abundance,  with  increase."  Let  him  remember  this. f 
He  now  announces  three  or  four  other  works  as  forthcoming  shortly.  What  these 
will  achieve,  the  world  will  see.  But  I  must  confine  myself  to  the  Grammar. 

37.  In  this  volume,  scarcely  any  thing  is  found  where  it  might  be  expected. 
"  The  author,"  as  he  tells  us  in  his  preface,  "  has  not  followed  the  common 
'  artificial  and  unnatural  arrangement  adopted  by  most  of  his  predecessors  ;'  yet  he 
has  endeavoured  to  pursue  a  more  judicious  one,  namely,  '  the  order  of  the  under- 
standing? " — Grammar,  p.  12.  But  if  this  is  the  order  of  his  understanding, 
he  is  greatly  to  be  pitied.  A  book  more  confused  in  its  plan,  more  wanting  in 
method,  more  imperfect  in  distinctness  of  parts,  more  deficient  in  symmetry,  or 

*  "  Now,  in  these  instances,  I  should  be  fair  game,  were  it  not  for  the  triflins;  difference,  that  I  happen  to 
present  the  doctrines  and  notions  of  other  writers,  and  NOT  my  own,  as  stated  by  my  learned  censor."—  Kirkham, 
in  thf,  Knickerbocker,  Oct.  1837,  p.  360.  If  the  instructions  above  cited  are  not  his  own,  there  is  not,  within 
the  lids  of  either  book,  a  penny's  worth  that  is.  His  fruitfulj  copy-rights  are  void  in  law :  the  "  learned 
censor's  "  pledge  shall  guaranty  this  issue.— Q.  B.  183S. 

t  I  am  sorry  to  observe  that  the  gentleman,  Phrenologist,  as  he  professes  to  be,  has  so  little  reverence  in  his 
crown.  He  could  not  read  the  foregoing  suggestion  without  scoffing  at  it.  Biblical  truth  is  not  powerless, 
though  the  scornful  may  refuse  its  correction.— Q  B.  1838. 


CHAP.    TTI.]  OP   GRAMMATICAL    SUCCESS    AND    FAME.  35 

more  difficult  of  reference,  shall  not  easily  be  found  in  stereotype.  Let  the  reader 
try  to  follow  us  here.  Bating  twelve  pages  at  the  heginning,  occupied  by  the 
title,  recommendations,  advertisement,  contents,  preface,  hints  to  teachers,  and 
advice  to  lecturers;  and  fifty-four  at  the  end,  embracing  syntax,  orthography, 
orthoi;]>v.  provincialisms,  prosody,  punctuation,  versification,  rhetoric,  figures  of 
speech,  and  a  Key,  all  in  the  sequence  here  given  ;  the  work  consi.-ts  of  fourteen 
chapters  of  grammar,  absurdly  called  "  Familiar  Lectures.*'  The  first  treats,  of 
sundries,  under  half  a  dozen  titles,  but  chiefly  of  Orthography  ;  and  the  last  is 
three  pages  and  a  half,  of  the  most  common  remarks,  on  Derivation.  In  the 
remaining  twelve,  the  Etymology  and  Syntax  of  the  ten  parts  of  speech  are  com- 
mingled ;  and  an  attempt  is  made,  to  teach  simultaneously  all  that  the  author 
judged  important  in  either.  Hence  he  gives  us,  in  a  strange  congeries,  rules, 
remarks,  illustrations,  false  syntax,  systematic  parsing,  exercises  in  parsing,  two 
different  orders  of  notes,  three  different  orders  of  questions,  and  a  variety  of  other 
titles  merely  occasional.  All  these  things,  being  additional  to  his  main  text,  are 
to  be  connected,  in  the  mind  of  the  learner,  with  the  parts  of  speech  successively, 
in  some  new  and  inexplicable  catenation  found  only  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
lectures.  The  author  himself  could  not  see  through  the  chaos.  He  accordingly 
made  his  table  of  contents  a  mere  meagre  alphabetical  index.  Having  once 
attempted  in  vain  to  explain  the  order  of  his  instructions,  he  actually  gave  the 

•ip  in  despair ! 

38.  In  length,  these  pretended  lectures  vary,  from  three  or  four  pages,  to  eight- 
and-thirty.  Their  subjects  run  thus :  1.  Language,  Grammar,  Orthography;  2. 
Nouns  and  Verbs;  3.  Articles;  4.  Adjectives;  5.  Participles;  6.  Adverbs; 
7.  Prepositions ;  8.  Pronouns;  9.  Conjunctions;  10.  Interjections  and  Nouns; 

11.  31 Is  and  Tenses;    12.    Irregular  Verbs;    13.    Auxiliary,   Passive,  and 

Defective  Verbs;  14.  Derivation.  Which,  now,  is  "  more  judicious,"  such  con- 
fu>ioii  as  this,  or  the  arrangement  which  has  been  common  from  time  immemorial? 
AY  ho  that  has  any  respect  for  the  human  intellect,  or  whose  powers  of  mind 
rve  any  in  return,  will  avouch  this  jumble  to  be  "  the  order  of  the  understand- 
ing ?  "  Are  the  methods  of  science  to  be  accounted  mere  hinderances  to  instruction  ? 
Has  grammar  really  been  made  easy  by  this  confounding  of  its  parts  ?  Or  are 
we  lured  by  the  name,  "Familiar  Lectures" — a  term  manifestly  adopted  as  a 
mere  decoy,  and,  with  respect  to  the  work  itself,  totally  inappropriate  V  If  these 
chapters  have  ever  been  actually  delivered  as  a  series  of  lectures,  the  reader  must 
have  he. MI  employed  on  some  occasions  eight  or  ten  times  as  long  as  on  others ! 
-  Dr.  Johnson,  "  have  now-a-days  got  a  strange  opinion  that  every 
thing  should  be  taught  by  lectures.  Now,  1  cannot  see  that  lectures  can  do  so 
much  '_r<""l  as  a  private  reading  of  the  books  from  which  the  lectures  are  taken. 
I  know  of  nothing  that  can  be  best  taught  by  lectures,  except  where  experiments 
bo  be  shown.  You  may  teach  chymistry  by  lectiuv> — you  might  teach  the 
makii:.  j  by  lectures." — JSosu-ilfs  Life  of  Johnjon. 

\Yitli  singuhir  ignorance  and  untruth,  this  gentleman  claims  to  have  invented 
a  better  method  of  analysis  than  had  ever  been  practised  before.  Of  other 
grammars,  his  preface  rivers,  "  They  have  till  o/v/'/Wv,/  what  the  author  considers 
a  very  important  object;  namely,  <r  tyttemotick  <>i<!<r  of  parsing." — G-nnn- 
mar,  p.  '.'.  And,  in  his  "Hints  to  Tearhei.-."  pi.M'iiting  himself  as  a  model, 
and  his  bunk  as  a  paragon,  lie  says  :  "  By  pursuing  this  -ystem,  he  can,  with  less 
labour,  advance  a  pupil  fart  JUT  in  the  practical  knowledge  of  this  a/istnim-  science, 
in  two  mniithn,  than  he  could  in  one  year,  when  he  taught  in  the  ol</  "'"//•" — Gram- 
mar, p.  ]'2.  \Yliat  his  "old  way"  was,  doe-  not  apjuar.  Doubtless  something 
sufficiently  bad.  And  as  to  his  new  way,  I  shall  hereafter  have  occasion  to  show 
that  ihnt  is  sufficiently  bad  also.  But  to  this  gasconade  the  simple-minded  have 
given  credit — btcau-e  the  author  showed  certificates  that  teMified  to  his  great  suc- 
cess, and  called  him  "amiable  and  modest !  "  But  who  can  look  into  the  book, 


36  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    HI. 

or  into  the  writer's  pretensions  in  regard  to  his  predecessors,  and  conceive  the  merit 
which  has  made  him — "  preeminent  by  so  much  odds  ?  "  Was  Murray  less  praise- 
worthy, less  amiable,  or  less  modest  ?  In  illustration  of  my  topic,  and  for  the  sake 
of  literary  justice,  I  have  selected  that  honoured  "  Compiler  "  to  show  the  abuses 
of  praise  ;  let  the  history  of  this  his  vaunting  modifier  cap  the  climax  of  vanity. 
In  general,  his  amendments  of  "  that  eminent  philologist,"  are  not  more  skillful 
than  the  following  touch  upon  an  eminent  dramatist ;  and  here,  it  is  plain,  he  has 
mistaken  two  nouns  for  adjectives,  and  converted  into  bad  English  a  beautiful 
passage,  the  sentiment  of  which  is  worthy  of  an  author's  recollection : 

"  The  evil  deed  or  deeds  that  men  do,  lives  after  them  ; 
The  good  deed  or  deeds  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones."* 

Kirkham's  Grammar,  p.  75. 

40.  Lord  Bacon  observes,  "  Nothing  is  thought  so  easy  a  request  to  a  great  per- 
son as  his  letter ;  and  yet,  if  it  be  not  in  a  good  cause,  it  is  so  much  out  of  his 
reputation."  It  is  to  this  mischievous  facility  of  recommendation,  this  prostituted 
influence  of  great  names,  that  the  inconvenient  diversity  of  school-books,  and  the 
continued  use  of  bad  ones,  are  in  a  great  measure  to  be  attributed.  It  belongs  to 
those  who  understand  the  subjects  of  which  authors  profess  to  treat,  to  judge  fairly 
and  fully  of  their  works,  and  then  to  let  the  reasons  of  their  judgement  be  known. 
For  no  one  will  question  the  fact,  that  a  vast  number  of  the  school-books  now  in 
use  are  either  egregious  plagiarisms  or  productions  of  no  comparative  merit. 
And,  what  is  still  more  surprising  and  monstrous,  presidents,  governors,  senators, 
and  judges  ;  professors,  doctors,  clergymen,  and  lawyers  ;  a  host  of  titled  connois- 
seurs; with  incredible  facility  lend  their  names,  not  only  to  works  of  inferior 
merit,  but  to  the  vilest  thefts,  and  the  wildest  absurdities,  palmed  off  upon  their 
own  and  the  public  credulity,  under  pretence  of  improvement.  The  man  who  thus 
prefixes  his  letter  of  recommendation  to  an  ill- written  book,  publishes,  out  of  mere 
courtesy,  a  direct  impeachment  of  his  own  -scholarship  or  integrity.  Yet,  how 
often  have  we  seen  the  honours  of  a  high  office,  or  even  of  a  worthy  name,  prosti- 
tuted to  give  a  temporary  or  local  currency  to  a  book  which  it  would  disgrace  any 
man  of  letters  to  quote  !  With  such  encouragement,  nonsense  wrestles  for  the 
seat  of  learning,  exploded  errors  are  republished  as  novelties,  original  writers  are 
plundered  by  dunces,  and  men  that  understand  nothing  well,  profess  to  teach  all 
sciences ! 

*  Every  schoolboy  is  familiar  with  the  following  lines,  and  rightly  understands  the  words  «  evil "  and 
"  good  "  to  be  nouns,  and  not  adjectives : 

"  The  evil  that  men  do,  lives  after  them ; 
The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones." — SHAKSPEARE. 

Julius  Cap.sar,  Act  3  :  Antony's  Funeral  Oration  over  Casals  Body. 

Kirkham  has  vehemently  censured  me  for  omitting  the  brackets  in  which  he  encloses  the  words  that  he 
supposes  to  be  understood  in  this  couplet.  But  he  forgets  two  important  circumstances  :  First,  that  I  was 
quoting,  not  the  bard,  but  the  grammatist ;  Second,  that  a  writer  uses  brackets,  to  distinguish  his  own 
amendments  of  what  hi;  quotes,  and  not  those  of  an  other  man.  Hence  the  marks  which  he  has  used,  woul 
have  been  improper  for  me.  Their  insertion  does  not  make  his  reading  of  the  passage  good  English,  and, 
consequently,  does  not  avert  the  point  of  my  criticism. 

The  foregoing  Review  of  Kirkham's  Grammar /was  published  as  an  extract  from  my  manuscript,  by  the 
editors  of  the  Knickerbocker,  in  their  number  for  June,  1837.  Four  months  afterwards,  with  friendships 
changed,  they  gave  him  the  "justice  v  of  appearing  in  their  pages,  in  a  long  and  virulent  article  against  me 
and  my  works,  representing  me,  '•  with  e  nphatic  force,"  as  "  a  knave,  a  liar,  and  a  pedant.'1''  The  enmity  of 
that  elusion  I  forgave  :  because  I  boro  him  no  personal  ill-will,  and  was  not  selfish  enough  to  quarrel  for  my 
own  sake.  Its  imbecility  clearly  proved,  that  in  this  critique  there  is  nothing  with  n-iiir.1,.  hr  could  justly  find 
fault.  Perceiving  that  no  point  of  this  argument  could  be  broken,  he  chan^<-d  tin  i;nntnd,  and  satisfied 
himself  with  despising,  upbraiding,  and  vilifying  the  writer.  Of  what  use  this  was,  others  may  judge. 

This  extraordinary  grammarian  survived  the  publication  of  my  criticism  about  ten  years  ;  and,  it  is 
charitably  hoped,  died  happily  :  while  I  have  had,  for  a  period  somewhat  longer,  all  the  benefits  which  his 
earnest  "  castigntion  r  was  fit  to  confer.  It  is  not  perceived,  that  what  was  written  before  these  events,  should 
now  be  altered  or  suppressed  by  reason  of  them.  With  his  pretended  "  defence,"  I  shall  now  concern  myself 
no  further  than  simply  to  deny  one  remarkable  assertion  contained  in  it ;  which  is  this— that  I,  Goold  Brown, 
"  at  the  funeral  of  Aaron  Ely,"  in  1830,  ;'  praised,  and  highly  praised,  this  self-same  Grammar,  and  declared  it 
to  be  '  A  GOOD  WORK  ! '  "—  Kirkham,  in  the  Knickerbocker,  Oct.  1837,  p.  362.  I  treated  him  always  courteously, 
and.  on  this  solemn  occasion,  walked  wi".h  him  without  disputing  on  grammar ;  but,  if  this  statement  of  hia 
has  any  reasonable  foundation,  I  know  not  what  it  is.— G.  B.  in  1850. 


CHAP.    IV.]  OF   TI1E   ORIGIN    OF   LANGUAGE.  37 

41.  All  praise  of  excellence  must  needs  be  comparative,  because  the  thing  itself 
is  so.  To  excel  in  grammar,  is  but  to  know  better  than  others  wherein  grammatical 
excellence  consists.  Hence  there  is  no  fixed  point  of  perfection  beyond  which 
such  learning  may  not  be  carried.  The  limit  to  improvement  is  not  so  nine})  in 
the  nature  of  the  subject,  as  in  the  powers  of  the  mind,  and  in  the  inducements  to 
exert  them  upon  a  theme  so  humble  and  so  uninviting.  Dr.  John>on 
his  masterly  preface,  "  that  a  whole  life  cannot  be  spent  upon  syntax  and  etymolo- 
gy, and  that  even  a  whole  life  would  not  be  sufficient."  Who  then  will  suppose, 
in  the  face  of  such  facts  and  confessions  as  have  been  exhibited,  that  either  in  the 
faulty  publications  of  Murray,  or  among  the  various  modifications  of  them  by  other 
hands,  we  have  any  such  work  as  deserves  to  be  made  a  permanent  standard  of 
instruction  in  English  grammar  ?  With  great  sacrifices,  both  of  pleasure  and  of  in- 
terest, I  have  humbly  endeavoured  to  supply  this  desideratum  ;  and  it  remains  for 
other  men  to  determine,  and  other  times  to  know,  what  place  shall  be  given  to 
these  my  labours,  in  the  general  story  of  this  branch  of  learning.  Intending  to 
develop  not  only  the  principles  but  also  the  history  of  grammar,  I  could  not  but 
speak  of  its  authors.  The  writer  who  looks  broadly  at  the  past  and  the  present, 
to  give  sound  instruction  to  the  future,  must  not  judge  of  men  by  their  shadows. 
If  the  truth,  honestly  told,  diminish  the  stature  of  some,  it  does  it  merely  by 
clearing  the  sight  of  the  beholder.  Real  greatness  cannot  suffer  loss  by  the  dissi- 
pating of  a  vapour.  If  reputation  has  been  raised  upon  the  mist  of  ignorance, 
who  but  the  builder  shall  lament  its  overthrow ?  If  the  works  of  grammarians  are 
often  unurammatieal,  whose  fault  is  this  but  their  own?  If  all  grammatical  fame 
is  little  in  itself,  how  can  the  abatement  of  what  is  undeserved  of  it  be  much  ?  If 
the  errors  of  some  have  long  been  tolerated,  what  right  of  the  critic  has  been  lost 
by  nonuser?  If  the  interests  of  Science  have  been  sacrificed  to  Mammon,  what 
rebuke  can  do  injustice  to  the  craft  ?  Nay,  let  the  broad-axe  of  the  critic  hew  up 
to  the  line,  till  every  beam  in  her  temple  be  smooth  and  straight.  For,  "  certainly, 
next  to  commending  good  writers,  the  greatest  service  to  learning  is,  to  expose  the 
bad,  who  can  only  in  that  way  be  made  of  any  use  to  it."*  And  if,  among  the 
makers  of  grammars,  the  scribblings  of  some,  and  the  filchings  of  others,  are  dis- 
creditable alike  to  themselves  ami  to  their  theme,  let  the  reader  consider,  how 
great  must  be  the  intrinsic  worth  of  that  study  which  still  maintains  its  credit  in 
spite  of  all  these  abuses ! 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  LANGUAGE. 


"Tot  fallaciis  obrutnm,  tot  halluchiationit.us  .U-nu-rsum,  tot  adhuc  tenehris  circumfuRim  fturtium  bocce 
mihi  vi-uni  eet,  ut  i.ihil  -atis  tuto  in  hac  mati-riu  jTjr.-fiiri  pops*  arbitratun  eim,  nisi  noTa  quudaiii  arte  critica 
"— S.CIPIO  MAJmus  :   Cassiod.  L'oi/ .  xxx. 


1.  The  origin  of  things  is,  for  many  reasons,  a  peculiarly  interesting  point  in 
their  history.      Amon^  tliose  who  have  thought  lit  to  inquire  into  the  prime 
of  speech,  it  has  been  matter  uf  dispute,  whether  we  ought  to  consider  it   a 
~ift  from  Heaven,  or  an  ac<|ui>itinn  of  industry  —  a  natural  endowment,  or  an  artifi- 
ial  invention.      Nor  is  any  thing  that  lias  ever  yet  been   said   upon   it.  suflieient  to 
the  question  permanently  at  rest.      That  there  is  in  some  words,  and  perhaps  in 


*  See  Notes  to  Pope's  Dunciad,  Book  II,  rer.  140. 


38  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  IV. 

some  of  every  language,  a  natural  connexion  between  the  sounds  uttered  and  the 
things  signified,  cannot  be  denied  ;  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is,  in  the  use  of 
words  in  general,  so  much  to  which  nature  affords  no  clew  or  index,  that  this  whole 
process  of  communicating  thought  by  speech,  seems  to  be  artificial.  Under  an 
other  head,  I  have  already  cited  from  Sanctius  some  opinions  of  the  ancient  gram- 
marians and  philosophers  on  this  point.  With  the  reasoning  of  that  zealous  in- 
structor, the  following  sentence  from  Dr.  Blair  very  obviously  accords  :  "  To  sup- 
pose words  invented,  or  names  given  to  things,  in  a  manner  purely  arbitrary,  with- 
out any  ground  or  reason,  is  to  suppose  an  effect  without  a  cause.  There  must 
have  always  been  some  motive  which  led  to  the  assignation  of  one  name  rather  than 
an  other." — Rhet.,  Lect.  vi,  p.  55. 

2.  But,  in  their  endeavours  to  explain  the  origin  and  early  progress  of  language, 
several  learned  men,  among  whom  is  this  celebrated  lecturer,  have  needlessly  per- 
plexed both  themselves  and  their  readers,  with  sundry  questions,  assumptions,  and 
reasonings,  which  are  manifestly  contrary  to  what  has  been  made  known  to  us  on 
the  best  of  all  authority.     What  signifies  it*  for  a  man  to  tell  us  how  nations  rude 
and  barbarous  invented  interjections  first, f  and  then  nouns,  and  then  verbs,  j  and 
finally  the  other  parts  of  speech ;  when  he  himself  confesses  that  he  does  not  know 
whether  language   "  can  be  considered  a  human  invention  at  all ;  "  and  when  he 
believed,  or  ought  to  have  believed,  that  the  speech  of  the  first  man,  though   prob- 
ably augmented  by  those  who  afterwards  used  it,  was  the  one  language  of  the  earth 
for  more  than  eighteen  centuries?     The  task  of   inventing  a  language  de  novo, 
could  surely  have  fallen  upon  no  man  but  Adam  ;  and  he,  in  the  garden   of  Para- 
dise, had  doubtless  some  aids  and  facilities  not  common  to  every  wild  man  of  the 
woods. 

3.  The  learned  Doctor  was  equally  puzzled  to  conceive,   "either  how  society 
could  form  itself,  previously  to  language,  or  how  words  could  rise  into  a  language, 
previously  to  society  formed." — Blair's  Rhet.,  L.  vi,  p.  54.     This  too  was  but  an 
idle  perplexity,  though  thousands  have  gravely  pored  over  it  since,  as  a  part  of  the 
study  of  rhetoric ;  for,  if  neither  could  be  previous  to  the  other,  they  must  have 
sprung  up  simultaneously.     And  it  is  a  sort  of  slander  upon  our  prime  ancestor, 
to  suggest,  that,  because  he  was  "  the  first"  he  must  have  been   "  the  rudest  " 
of  his  race ;    and  that,   "  consequently,  those  first  rudiments  of   speech,"  which 
alone  the  supposition  allows  to  him  or  to  his  family,  must  have  been  poor  and  nar- 
row."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  54.     It  is  far  more  reasonable  to  think,  with  a  later 
author,  that,  "  Adam  had  an  insight  into  natural  things  far  beyond  the  acutest 
philosopher,  as  may  be  gathered  from  his  giving  of  names  to  all  creatures,  accord- 
ing to  their  different  constitutions." — Robinson's  Scripture  Characters,  p.  4. 

4.  But  Dr.  Blair  is  not  alone  in  the  view  which  he  here  takes.     The  same 
thing  has  been  suggested  by  other  learned  men.     Thus  Dr.  James  P.  Wilson,  of 
Philadelphia,  in  an  octavo  published  in  1817,  says  :  "  It  is  difficult  to  discern  how 
communities  could  have  existed  without  language,  and  equally  so  to  discover  how 
language  could  have  obtained,  in  a  peopled  world,  prior  to  society." — Wilson 's 
Essay  on  Gram.  p.  1.     I  know  not  how  so  many  professed  Christians,  and  some 
of  them  teachers  of  religion  too,  with  the  Bible  in  their  hands,  can  reason  upon 
this  subject  as  they  do.     We  find  them,  in  their  speculations,  conspiring  to  repre- 
sent primeval  man,  to  use  their  own  words,  as  a  "  savage,  whose  '  howl  at  the  ap- 
pearance of  danger,  and  whose  exclamations  of  joy  at  the  sight  of  his  prey,  reit- 

*  A  morlern  namesake  of  the  Doctor's,  the  Tt?r.  Da'-iil  Blair,  has  the  following  conception  of  the  utility  of 
thosu  speculations :  ik  To  enable  children  to  comprehend  the  abstract  idea  that  all  the  words  in  a  language 
consist  bin  <\f  nint  /-'"'/.«.  i*  will  he  f'ni'i  1  useful  r,o  explain  h,>\v  xm-n^p.  ,'r/V.v,  WHO  tian'n^  nn  langUagi  .  would 
first  invent  one.  beginning  with  int."rjecrion<  ;md  nouns,  and  proceeding  from  one  part  of  speech  to  another,  as 
their  introduction  mu'ln  successively  be  called  for  by  necessity  or  luxury." — Blair's  Prart.  Gram.  Pref.  p.  vii. 

t  *'  Interjections,  T  shewed,  or  passionate  exclamations,  were  the  first  elements  of  speech. -  —  Dr.  Hugh 
Blair'*  Lectures^  p  ~>~. 

J  "  Tt  is  certain  that  the  verb  was  invented  before  the  noun,  in  all  the  languages  of  which  a  tolerable  account 
has  been  procured,  either  in  ancient  or  modern  times."— Dr.  Alex.  Murray's  History  of  European  Languages, 
Vol.  I,  p.  326. 


CHAP.    IT.]  OF    THE   ORIGIN   OF   LANGUAGE.  39 

ernted,  or  varied  with  the  change  of  objects,  were  probably  the  origin  of  language.' 
—  ]><><>tli's  An<d>/tic<d  ])ictio)i(iry.  In  the  dawn  of  society,  ages  may  have  p- 
away,  with  little  more  converse  than  what  those  efforts  would  produce." — 6V/>v/Y- 
n<  /•' t  M.  ric  <>f'  Xnd't-r,  p.  31.  Here  (iardim-r  quotes  Booth  with  approbation, 
and  the  latter,  like  Wilson,  may  have  borrowed  his  ideas  from  Blair.  Thus  are 
we  taught  by  a  multitude  of  guessers,  irrave,  learned,  and  on-.cular,  that  the  last 
of  the  "ten  parts  of  speech  was  in  fact  the  first:  "Jittcrjrcffons  are  exceedingly 
interesting  in  one  respect.  They  are,  there  can  be  little  doubt,  the  oldest  words 
in  all  languages;  and  may  be  considered  the  elements  of  speech." — Buckets 
6Y">  'in.  p.  TS.  On  this  point,  however.  Dr.  Blair  seems  not  to  be  quite 

consistent  with  himself:  "Those  exclamations,  therefore,  which  by  grammarians 
an-  called  ////<  uttered  in  a  strong  and  passionate  manner,  were,  beyond 

(/i m /if,  the  first  elements  or  beginnings  of  speech." — Rhet.,  L.  vi,  p.  55.  "The 
natiu's  of  sensible  objects  were,  in  t&kmmMgm,  the  words  most  early  introduced." 
— R/iet.,  L.  xiv,  p.  135.  "  The  //*///</•.«  nfm-nsilile  objects"  says  Murray  too,  "  were 
the  words  most  early  introduced." — Octavo  Gram.  p.  336.  But  what  says  the 
Bible? 

5.  Revelation  informs  us  that  our  first  progenitor  was  not  only  endowed  with 
the  faculty  of  speech,  but,  as  it  would  appear,  actually  incited  by  the  Deity  to 

r  that  faculty  in  giving  names  to  the  objects  by  which  he  was  surrounded. 
'•  <  >ut  of  the  ground  the  Lord  God  formed  every  beast  of  the  field  and  every  fowl 
of  the  air;  and  brought  them  unto  Adam,  to  see  what  he  would  call  them  :  and 
whatsoever  Adam  called  every  living  creature,  that  was  the  name  thereof.  And 
Adam  gave  names  to  all  cattle,  and  to  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  to  every  beast  of 
the  field  ;  but  for  Adam  there  was  not  found  a  help  meet  for  him." — Gen.  ii,  19,  20. 
This  account  of  the  first  naming  of  the  other  creatures  by  man,  is  apparently  a 

:ithesi<  in  the  story  of  the  creation  of  woman,  with  which  the  second  chapter 
of  ( '  Deludes.  But,  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  Deity  is  represented 

not  only  as  calling  all  things  into  existence  by  his  Word  ;  but  as  speaking  to  the 
first  human  pair,  with  reference  to  their  increase  in  the  earth,  and  to  their  dominion 
over  it.  and  over  all  the  living  creatures  formed  to  inhabit  it.  So  that  the  order  of 
the  events  cannot  be  clearly  inferred  from  the  order  of  the  narration.  The  manner 
of  this  communication  to  man,  may  also  be  a  subject  of  doubt.  Whether  it  was, 
or  was  not,  made  by  a  voice  of  words,  may  be  questioned.  But,  surely,  that 
Being  who,  in  creating  the  world  and  its  inhabitants,  manifested  his  own  infinite 
wi-  ;il  power,  and  godhead,  does  not  lack  words,  or  any  other  means  of 

Yication,  if  he  will  use  them.     And,  in  the  inspired  record  of  his  work  in  the 
'uning,  he  is  certainly  represented,  not  only  as  naming  all  things  imperatively, 
when    he   spoke   them  into  being,  but  as  expressly  calling  the  light  Day,  the 
dan  ' '7,  the  firmament  //<•</>•<//.  tin-  dry  land  Jl/rth,  and  the  gatherings  of 

the  mighty  waters  ,sw/x.  Dr.  Thomas  Ilartwell  Home,  in  commending  a  work  by 
Dr.  Klli-.  concerning  the  origin  of  human  wisdom  and  understanding,  says:  "It 
sh"\v<  satisfactorily,  that  religion  and  /</n(/>'ftr/e  entered  the  world  by  divine 

'.•ttitm.  without  the  aid  of  which,  man   bad   not   been   a  rational  or  religious 

tare." — v ,/,/,/  ,,/*//„•  ,v/-///^/r«,  vol.  i,  p.  4.     "  Plato  attributes  the  primitive 

words  of  the  ./'>.</  fnn;/ifi.f,>  n.  a  .livim-  ..riiiin  ;"   and   Dr.  Wilson  remarks,  "The 

transition  from  silence  to  speech,  implies  an  rftfirt  of  the  understanding  too  great  for 

man." — l-Isaay  i>n  <>'r<nn.  p.  1.     Dr.  Ucattii-  >ays,  "  Mankind  must  have  spoken  in 

all  agos.  the  young  constantly  learning  to  speak  by  imitating  those  who  were  older; 

and,  if  so,  our  fii>t  parents  must  have  reeeived  this  art,  as  well  as  some  others,  by 

inspiration." — M<  ,-,  p.  *1~ .    \  Innie  Tooke  says.  "I  imagine  that  it  is,  in 

.-.<// iv.  with  the  vehicle  of  our  thoughts,  as  with  the  vehicle-  for  our  bodies. 

produced    both." — 1>  .,/*    /'///-Ay/,    vol.    ii,    p.   '20.     Again: 

•  is  true,  is  <m  art,  and  a  glorious  one;  whose  influence  extends  over 

all  the  others,  and  in  which  finally  all  science  whatever  must  centre  :  but  an  art 


40  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    IV. 

springing  from  necessity,  and  originally  invented  by  artless  men,  who  did  not  sit 
down  like  philosophers  to  invent  it." — Ib.  vol.  i,  p.  259. 

6.  Milton  imagines  Adam's  first  knowledge  of  speech,  to  have  sprung  from  the 
hearing  of  his  own  voice ;  and  that  voice  to  have  been  raised,  instinctively,  or 
spontaneously,  in  an  animated  inquiry  concerning  his  own  origin — an  inquiry  in 
which  he  addresses  to  unintelligent  objects,  and  inferior  creatures,  such  questions 
as  the  Deity  alone  could  answer  : 

"  Myself  I  then  perused,  and  limb  by  limb 
Surveyed,  and  sometimes  went,  and  sometimes  ran 
With  supple  joints,  as  lively  vigor  led  : 
But  who  I  was,  or  where,  or  from  what  cause, 
Knew  not ;  to  speak  I  tried,  and  forthwith  spake  ; 
My  tongue  obeyed,  and  readily  could  name 
Whateer  I  saw.     '  Thou  Sun,'  said  I,  '  fair  light, 
And  thou  enlightened  Earth,  so  fresh  and  gay, 
Ye  Hills,  and  Dales,  ye  Rivers,  Woods,  and  Plains ; 
And  ye  that  live  and  move,  fair  Creatures  !  tell, 
Tell,  if  ye  saw,  how  came  I  thus,  how  here  ? 
Not  of  myself;  by  some  great  Maker  then, 
In  goodness  and  in  power  preeminent : 
Tell  me  how  I  may  know  him,  how  adore, 
From  whom  I  have  that  thus  I  move  and  live, 
And  feel  that  I  am  happier  than  I  know.'  ' 

Paradise  Lost,  Book  viii,  1.  267. 

Bat,  to  the  imagination  of  a  poet,  a  freedom  is  allowed,  which  belongs  not  to 
philosophy.  We  have  not  always  the  means  of  knowing  how  far  he  literally 
believes  what  he  states. 

7.  My  own  opinion  is,  that  language  is  partly  natural  and   partly  artificial. 
And,  as  the  following  quotation  from  the  Greek  of  Amrnonius  will  serve  in  some 
degree  to  illustrate  it,  I  present  the  passage  in  English  for  the  consideration  of 
those  who  may  prefer  ancient  to  modern  speculations:  "In  the  same  mariner, 
therefore,  as  mere  motion  is  from  nature,  but  dancing  is  something  positive ;  and 
as  wood  exists  in  nature,  but  a  door  is  something  positive  ;  so  is  the  mere  utterance 
of  vocal  sound  founded  in  nature,  but  the  signification  of  ideas  by  nouns  or  verbs 
is  something  positive.     And  hence  it  is,  that,  as  to  the  simple  power  of  producing 
vocal  sound — which  is  as  it  were  the  organ  or  instrument  of  the  soul's  faculties 
of  knowledge  or  volition — as  to  this  vocal  power,  I  say,  man  seems  to  possess  it 
from  nature,  in  like  manner  as  irrational  animals ;    but  as  to  the  power  of  using 
significantly  nouns  or  verbs,  or  sentences  combining  these,  (which  are  not  natural 
but  positive,)  this  he  possesses  by  way  of  peculiar  eminence  ;  because  he  alone  of 
all  mortal  beings  partakes  of  a  soul  which  can  move  itself,  and  operate  to  the 
production  of  arts.     So  that,  even  in  the  utterance  of  sounds,  the  inventive  power 
of  the  mind  is  discerned;  as  the  various  elegant  compositions,  both  in  metre,  and 
without  metre,  abundantly  prove." — Amman,  de  Interpr.  p.  51.* 

8.  Man  was  made  for  society ;  and  from  the  first  period  of  human  existence 
the  race  were  social.     Monkish  seclusion  is  manifestly  unnatural ;    and  the  wild 
independence  of  the  savage,  is  properly  denominated  a  state  of  nature,  only  in 
contradistinction  to  that  state  in  which  the  arts  are  cultivated.     But  to  civilized 
life,  or  even  to  that  which  is  in  any  degree  social,  language  is  absolutely  necessary. 
There  is  therefore  no  danger  that  the  language  of  any  nation  shall  fall  into  disuse, 
till  the  people  by  whom  it  is  spoken,  shall  either  adopt  some  other,  or  become 

*  The  Greek  of  this  passage,  together  with  a  translation  not  very  different  from  the  foregoing,  is  given  as  a 
marginal  note,  in  Harris's  Hermes^  Book  III,  Chap.  3d. 


CHAP.  IV.]  OP    THE   ORIGIN   OP    LANGUAGE.  41 

themselves  extinct.  When  the  latter  event  occurs,  as  is  the  case  with  the  ancient 
Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,  the  language,  if  preserved  at  all  from  oblivion,  becomes 
the  more  permanent;  because  the  causes  which  are  constantly  tending  to  improve 
TV  living  language,  have  ceased  to  operate  upon  those  which  are 
learned  <>nlv  from  ancient  books.  The  inflections  which  now  compose  the  declen- 
sions and  conjugations  of  the  dead  languages,  and  which  indeed  have  ever 
constituted  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  those  forms  of  speech,  must  remain 
forever  as  they  are. 

9.  When  a  nation  changes  its  language,  as  did  our  forefathers  in   Britain, 
producing  by  a  gradual  amalgamation  of  materials  drawn  from  various  tongues  a  new 
one  differing  from  all,  the  first  stages  of  its  grammar  will  of  course  be  chaotic  and 
rude.     Uniformity  springs  from  the  steady  application  of  rules  ;  and  polish  is  the 
work  of  taste  and  refinement.     We  may  easily  err  by  following  the  example  of  our 
early  writers  with  more  reverence  than  judgement ;  nor  is  it  possible  for  us  to  do 

to  the  grammarians,  whether  early  or  late,  without  a  knowledge  both  of  the 
history  and  of  the  present  state  of  the  science  which  they  profess  to  teach.  I 
therefore  think  it  proper  rapidly  to  glance  at  many  things  remote  indeed  in  time, 
yet  nearer  to  my  present  purpose,  and  abundantly  more  worthy  of  the  student's 
consideration,  than  a  thousand  matters  which  are  taught  for  grammar  by  the 
authors  of  treatises  professedly  elementary. 

10.  As  we  have  already  seen,  some  have  supposed  that  the  formation  of  the 
first  language  must  have  been  very  slow  and  gradual.     But  of  this  they  offer  no 
proof,  and  from  the  pen  of  inspiration  we  seem  to  have  testimony  against  it.     Did 
Adam  give  names  to  all  the  creatures  about  him,  and  then  allow  those  names  to 
be   immediately  forgotten?     Did  not  both  he  and  his  family  continually  use  his 
original  nouns  in  their  social  intercourse?  and  how  could  they  use  them,  without 
other  parts  of  speech  to  form  them  into  sentences?     Nay,  do  we  not  know  from 
t!i"    I'ihle,  that  on  several  occasions  our  prime  ancestor  expressed  himself  like  an 
intelligent  man,   and  used   all  the  parts  of   speech  which  are  now  considered 

'/•//  ?  What  did  he  say,  when  his  fit  partner,  the  fairest  and  loveliest  work 
of  <  li id,  was  presented  to  him  ?  "  This  is  now  bone  of  my  bones,  and  flesh  of  my 
flesh  :  she  shall  be  called  Woman,  because  she  was  taken  out  of  Man."  And 
again  :  Had  he  not  other  words  than  nouns,  when  he  made  answer  concerning  his 
11 :  "I  heard  thy  voice  in  the  garden,  and  I  was  afraid,  because  I  was 
naked  ;  and  I  hid  myself?  "  What  is  it,  then,  but  a  groundless  assumption,  to 
make  him  and  his  immediate  descendants  ignorant  savages,  and  to  affirm,  with  Dr. 
Blair,  that  "  their  speech  must  have  been  poor  and  narrow?  "  It  is  not  possible 
now  to  ascertain  what  degree  of  perfection  the  oral  communication  of  the  first  age 
exhibited.  But,  as  languages  are  now  known  to  improve  in  proportion  to  the 
improvement  of  society  in  civilization  and  intelligence,  and  as  we  cannot  reasonably 
suppose  the  first  inhabitants  of  the  earth  to  have  been  savages,  it  seems,  I  think,  a 
plausible  conjecture,  that  the  primeval  tongue  was  at  least  sufficient  for  all  the 
ordinary  intercourse  of  civilized  men,  living  in  the  simple  manner  ascribed  to  our 
early  ancestors  in  Scripture ;  and  that,  in  many  instances,  human  speech  subse- 
quently declined  tar  below  its  original  standard. 

11.  At  any  rate,  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  first  language  spoken  on  earth, 

r  it  was.  originated  in   Eden  before  the  fall;  that  this   "one  language" 

whirh  all  men   u-  until  the  dispersion,  is  to  be  traced,  not  to  the  cries  of 

hunters,  echoed  through  the  wilds  and  glades  where  Nimrod  planted  Babel, 

.11  garden  r»f  (lod's  own  planting,  wherein  grew  "every  tree  that 

to  the  sight  and  good  for  food  ;  "  to  that  paradise  into  which  the  Lord 

God  put  the  new-created  man,  "to  dress  it  and  to  keep  it."     It  was  here  that 

Adam  and  his  partner  learned  to  speak,  while  yet  they  stood  blameless  and  blessed, 

entire  and  wanting  nothing  ;  free  in  the  exercise  of  perfect  faculties  of  body  and 

mind,  capable  of  acquiring  knowledge  through  observation  and  experience,  and  also 


42  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    IV. 

favoured  with  immediate  communications  with  their  Maker.  Yet  Adam,  having 
nothing  which  he  did  not  receive,  could  not  originally  bring  any  real  knowledge  into 
the  world  with  him,  any  more  than  men  do  now  :  this,  in  whatever  degree  attained, 
must  be,  and  must  always  have  been,  either  an  acquisition  of  reason,  or  a  revelation 
from  God.  And,  according  to  the  understanding  of  some,  even  in  the  beginning, 
"  That  was  not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that  which  is  natural;  and  afterward  that 
which  is  spiritual." — I  Cor.  xv,  46.  That  is,  the  spirit  of  Christ,  the  second 
Adam,  was  bestowed  on  the  first  Adam,  after  his  creation,  as  the  life  and  the  light 
of  the  immortal  soul.  For,  "  In  Him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men  ;"  a 
life  which  our  first  parents  forfeited  and  lost  on  the  day  of  their  transgression.  "  It 
was  undoubtedly  in  the  light  of  this  pure  influence  that  Adam  had  such  an  intuitive 
discerning  of  the  creation,  as  enabled  him  to  give  names  to  all  creatures  according 
to  their  several  natures." — Phipps  on  Man,  p.  4.  A  lapse  from  all  this  favour, 
into  conscious  guilt  and  misery ;  a  knowledge  of  good  withdrawn,  and  of  evil  made 
too  sure ;  followed  the  first  transgression.  Abandoned  then  in  great  measure  by 
superhuman  aid,  and  left  to  contend  with  foes  without  and  foes  within,  mankind 
became  what  history  and  observation  prove  them  to  have  been ;  and  henceforth,  by 
painful  experience,  and  careful  research,  and  cautious  faith,  and  humble  docility, 
must  they  gather  the  fruits  of  knowkdge  ;  by  a  vain  desire  and  false  conceit  of 
which,  they  had  forfeited  the  tree  of  life.  So  runs  the  story 

"  Of  man's  first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit 
Of  that  forbidden  tree,  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  wo, 
With  loss  of  Eden,  till  one  greater  Man 
Restore  us,  and  regain  the  blissful  seat." 

12.  The  analogy  of  words  in  the  different  languages  now  known,  has  been 
thought  by  many  to  be  sufficiently  frequent  arid  clear  to  suggest  the  idea  of  their 
common  origin.    Their  differences  are  indeed  great ;  but  perhaps  not  greater,  than 
the  differences  in  the  several  races  of  men,  all  of  whom,  as  revelation  teaches, 
sprung  from  one  common  stock.    From  the  same  source  we  learn,  that  till  the  year 
of  the  world  1844,  "  The  whole  world  was  of  one  language,  and  of  one  speech."-^ 
Gen.  xi,  1.     At  that  period,  the  whole  world  of  mankind  consisted  only  of  the 
descendants  of  the  eight  souls  who  had  been  saved  in  the  ark,  and  so  many  of  the 
eight  as  had  survived  the  flood  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  years.     Then  occur- 
red that  remarkable  intervention  of  the  Deity,  in  which  he  was  pleased  to  confound 
their  language  ;  so  that  they  could  not  understand  one  an  other's  speech,  and  were 
consequently  scattered  abroad  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.     This,  however,  in  the 
opinion  of  many  learned  men,  does  not  prove  the  immediate  formation  of  any  new 
languages. 

13.  But,  whether  new  languages  were  thus  immediately  formed  or  not,  the 
event,  in  all  probability,  laid  the  foundation  for  that  diversity  which  subsequently 
obtained  among  the  languages  of  the  different  nations  which  sprung  from  the 
dispersion ;  and  hence  it  may  be  regarded  as  the  remote  cause  of  the  differences 
which  now  exist.     But  for  the  immediate  origin  of  the  peculiar  characteristical 
differences  which  distinguish  the  various  languages  now  known,  we  are  not  able 
with  much  certainty  to  account.     Nor  is  there  even  much  plausibility  in  the  specu- 
lations of  those  grammarians  who  have  attempted  to  explain  the  order  and  manner 
in  which  the  declensions,  the  moods,  the  tenses,  or  other  leading  features  of  the 
languages,  were  first  introduced.     They  came  into  use  before  they  could  be  gen- 
erally known,  and  the  partial  introduction  of  them  could  seldom  with  propriety  be 
made  a  subject  of  instruction  or  record,  even  if  there  were  letters  and  learning  at 
hand  to  do  them  this  honour.     And  it  is  better  to  be  content  with  ignorance,  than 
to  form  such  conjectures  as  imply  any  thing  that  is  absurd  or  impossible.     For 


CHAP.    IV.]  OP   THE   ORIGIN    OF   LANGUAGE.  43 

in-tance  :  Neilson's  Theory  of  the  Moods,  published  in  the  Classical  Journal  of 
1819,  though  it  exhibits  ingenuity  and  learning,  is  liable  to  this  strong  objection; 
that  it  proceeds  on  the  supposition,  that  the  moods  of  English  verbs,  and  of  several 
other  derivative  tongues,  were  invented  in  a  certain  order  by  persons,  not  speaking 
a  lannuaire  learned  chiefly  from  their  fathers,  but  uttering  a  new  one  as  necessity 
prompted.  But  when  or  where,  since  the  building  of  Babel,  has  this  ever  hap- 
pened '!  That  no  dates  are  given,  or  places  mentioned,  the  reader  regrets,  but  he 
cannot  marvel. 

14.    By  what  successive  changes,  our  words  in  general,  and  especially  the  minor 
part-  'i,  have  become  what  we  now  find  them,  and  what  is  their  original 

and  proper  signification  according  to  their  derivation,  the  etymologist  may  often 
show  to  our  entire  satisfaction.  Every  word  must  have  had  its  particular  origin 
and  history  ;  and  he  who  in  such  things  can  explain  with  certainty  what  is  not 
commonly  known,  may  do  some  service  to  science.  But  even  here  the  utility  of 
his  curious  inquiries  may  be  overrated  ;  and  whenever,  for  the  sake  of  some  favourite 
theory,  he  ventures  into  the  regions  of  conjecture,  or  allows  himself  to  be  seduced 
from  the  path  of  practical  instruction,  his  errors  are  obstinate,  and  his  guidance  is 
peculiarly  deceptive.  Men  fond  of  such  speculations,  and  able  to  support  them 
with  some  show  of  learning,  have  done  more  to  unsettle  the  science  of  grammar, 
and  to  divert  ingenious  teachers  from  the  best  methods  of  instruction,  than  all 
other  visionaries  put  together.  Etymological  inquiries  are  important,  and  I  do  not 
mean  to  censure  or  discourage  them,  merely  as  such  ;  but  the  folly  of  supposing 
that  in  our  language  words  must  needs  be  of  the  same  class,  or  part  of  speech,  as 
that  to  which  they  may  be  traced  in  an  other,  deserves  to  be  rebuked.  The  words 
the  and  an  may  be  articles  in  English,  though  obviously  traceable  to  something  else 
in  Saxon;  and  a  learned  man  may,  in  my  opinion,  be  better  employed,  than  in 
contending  that  if,  though,  and  although,  are  not  conjunctions,  but  verbs  ! 

:uage  is  either  oral  or  written ;  the  question  of  its  origin  has  conse- 
quently two  parts.  Having  suggested  what  seemed  necessary  respecting  the  origin 
tfsprerJi,  I  now  proceed  to  that  of  writing.  Sheridan  says,  "  We  have  in  use 
two  kinds  of  language,  the  spoken  and  the  written  :  the  one,  the  gift  of  God  ;  the 
other,  the  invention  of  man." — Elocution,  p.  xiv.  If  this  ascription  of  the  two 
things  to  their  sources,  were  as  just  as  it  is  clear  and  emphatical,  both  parts  of  our 
question  would  seem  to  be  resolved.  But  this  great  rhetorician  either  forgot  his 
own  doctrine,  or  did  not  mean  what  he  here  says.  For  he  afterwards  makes  the 
firmer  ';ind  of  language  as  much  a  work  of  art,  as  any  one  will  suppose  the  latter 
to  have  been.  In  his  sixth  lecture,  he  comments  on  the  gift  of  speech  thus : 
"  But  still  we  are  to  observe,  that  nature  did  no  more  than  furnish  the  power  and 
means  ;  she  di<l  not  ///>•»  ///,•  Ituigimgi-,  as  in  the  case  of  the  passions,  but  left  it  to 
the  indu-try  of  men,  to  find  out  and  agree  upon  such  articulate  sounds,  as  they  should 
choose  t«.  make  tin-  symbols  of  their  ideas." — Ib.  p.  147.  He  even  goes  farther, 
and  -  rtain  ftnn-s  <>f  tin'  >•<>!,•<•  to  be  things  invented  by  man  :  "Accordingly, 

as  she  did  not  furnish  the  trurt/s.  which  were  to  lie  the  symbols  of  his  ideas  ;  neither 
did  B  »,  which  were  to  manifest,  and  communicate  by  their  own 

virtue,  the  internal  exertions  and  emotions,  of  such  of  his  nobler  faculties,  as  chiefly 
distinguish  him  from  the  brute  species  ;  but  left  them  also,  like  words,  to  the  care 
and  invention  of  man." — Ibidem.  On  this  branch  of  the  subject,  enough  has 
dln-ady  been  ]> 

K'».  !Jy  most  authors,  alphabetic  writing  is  not  only  considered  an  artificial 
invention,  but  supposed  to  have  been  wholly  unknown  in  the  early  Hires  of  the 
world.  Its  antiquity,  however,  is  great.  Of  this  art,  in  which  the  science  of 
grammar  originated,  we  an-  not  able  to  trace  the  commencement.  Different  nations 
have  claimed  the  honour  of  the  invention  ;  and  it.  is  not  decided,  among  the  learned, 
to  whom,  or  to  what  country,  it  lu-longs.  It  probably  originated  in  Egypt.  For, 
11  The  Egyptians,"  it  is  said,  "  paid  divine  honours  to  the  Inventor  of  Letters, 


44  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    IV. 

whom  they  called  TTieuth :  and  Socrates,  when  he  speaks  of  him,  considers  him 
as  a  god,  or  a  god-like  man." — British  Gram.  p.  32.  Charles  Bucke  has  it, 
"  That  the  first  inventor  of  letters  is  supposed  to  have  been  Memnon  ;  who  was, 
in  consequence,  fabled  to  be  the  son  of  Aurora,  goddess  of  the  morning." — Buckets 
Classical  Gram.  p.  5.  The  ancients  in  general  seem  to  have  thought  Phoenicia 
the  birthplace  of  Letters  : 

"  Phoenicians  first,  if  ancient  fame  be  true, 
The  sacred  mystery  of  letters  knew  ; 
They  first,  by  sound,  in  various  lines  design'd, 
Express'd  the  meaning  of  the  thinking  mind ; 
The  power  of  words  by  figures  rude  conveyed, 
And  useful  science  everlasting  made.'* 

Howe's  Lucan,  B.  iii,  1.  334. 

17.  Some,  however,  seem  willing  to  think  writing  coeval  with  speech.     Thus 
Bicknell,  from  Martin's  Physico-Grammatical  Essay:  "We  are  told  by  Moses, 
that  Adam  gave  names  to  every  living  creature ;  *  but  how  those  names  were 
written,  or  what  sort  of  characters  he  made  use  of,  is  not  known  to  us  ;  nor  indeed 
whether  Adam  ever  made  use  of  a  written  language  at  all ;  since  we  find  no  men- 
tion made  of  any  in  the  sacred  history." — Bicknell's  Gram.  Part  ii,  p.  5.     A 
certain  late  writer  on  English  grammar,  with  admirable  flippancy,  cuts  this  matter 
short,  as  follows, — satisfying  himself  with  pronouncing  all  speech  to  be  natural,  and 
all  writing  artificial :  "  Of  how  many  primary  kinds  is  language?     It  is  of  two 
kinds;  natural  or  spoken,  and  artificial  or  written." — Oliver  B.  Peirce's  Gh-am. 
p.  15.     "  Natural  language  is,  to  a  limited  extent,  (the   representation  of  the 
passions,)  common  to  brutes  as  well  as  man  ;  but  artificial  language,  being  tha 
work  of  invention,  is  peculiar  to  man." — Idem,  p.  16. 

18.  The  writings  delivered  to  the  Israelites  by  Moses,  are  more  ancient  tha:i 
any  others  now  known.     In  the  thirty-first  chapter  of  Exodus,  it  is  said,  that  God 
"gave  unto  Moses,  upon  Mount  Sinai,  two  tables  of  testimony,  tables  of  stone, 
written  with  the  fnger  of  God.'''     And  again,  in  the  thirty-second  :  "  The  tables 
were  the  work  of  God,  and  the  writing  was  the  writing  of  God,  graven  upon  the 
tables."     But  these  divine  testimonies,  thus  miraculously  written,  do  not  appear  to 
have  been  the  first  writing ;  for  Moses  had  been  previously  commanded  to  write  an 
account  of  the  victory  over  Amalek,  "for  a  memorial  in  a  book,  and  rehearse  It 
in   the  ears   of  Joshua." — Exod.    xvii,    14.     This  first  battle   of  the  Israelites 
occurred  in  Rephidim,  a  place  on  the  east  side  of  the  western  gulf  of  the  Red  Sea, 
at  or  near  Horeb,  but  before  they  came  to  Sinai,  upon  the  top  of  which,  (on  the 
fiftieth  day  after  their  departure  from  Egypt,)  Moses  received  the  ten  command- 
ments of  the  law. 

19.  Some  authors,  however,  among  whom  is  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  suppose  that  in 
this  instance  the  order  of  the  events  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  the  order  of  the  record, 
or  that  there  is  room  to  doubt  whether  the  use  of  letters  was  here  intended  ;  and 
that  there  consequently  remains  a  strong  probability,  that  the  sacred  Decalogue,  which 
God  himself  delivered  to  Moses  on  Sinai,  A.  M.  2513,  B.  C.  1491,  was  "  the 
first  writing  in  alphabetical  characters  ever  exhibited  to  the  world."     See  Clarke's 
Succession  of  Sacred  Literature,  vol.  i,  p.  24.     Dr.  Scott,  in  his  General  Preface 
to  the  Bible,  seems  likewise  to  favour  the  same  opinion.     "Indeed,"  says  he, 
"  there  is  some  probability  in  the  opinion,  that  the  art  of  writing  was  first  com- 
municated by  revelation,  to  Moses,  in  order  to  perpetuate,  with  certainty,  those 
facts,  truths,  and  laws,  which  he  was  employed  to  deliver  to  Israel.     Learned  men 
find  no  traces  of  literary,  or  alphabetical,  writing,  in  the  history  of  the  nations, 
till  long  after  the  days  of  Moses ;  unless  the  book  of  Job  may  be  regarded  as 
an  exception.     The  art  of  expressing  almost  an  infinite  variety  of  sounds,  by  the 

*  t  B  ho  uld  be,  "  to  all  living  creatures ; "  for  each  creature  had,  probably,  but  one  name. — G.  BROWK, 


CHAP.    IV.]  OP   THE   ORIGIN   OP    LANGUAGE.  45 

interchanges  of  a  few  letters,  or  marks,  seems  more  like  a  discovery  to  man  from 
heaven,  than  a  human  invention  ;  and  its  beneficial  effects,  and  almost  absolute 
•y,  fur  the  preservation  and  communication  of  true  religion,  favour  the 
conjecture." — Scott's  Preface,  p  xiv. 

20  Tin-  time  at  which  Cadmus,  the  Phoenician,  introduced  this  art  into  Greece, 
cannot  I.-.-  precisely  ascertained.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  it  was  antecedent  to 
the  time  of  Moses;  some  chronologists  make  it  between  two  and  three  centuries 
later.  Nor  is  it  very  probable,  that  Cadmus  invented  the  sixteen  letters  of  which 
-aid  to  have  made  use.  His  whole  story  is  so  wild  a  fable,  that  nothing 
certain  can  be  inferred  from  it.  Searching  in  vain  for  his  stolen  sister — his  sister 
Europa,  carried  off  by  Jupiter — he  found  a  wife  in  the  daughter  of  Venus! 
Sowing  the  teeth  of  a  dragon,  which  had  devoured  his  companions,  he  saw  them 
spring  up  to  his  aid  a  squadron  of  armed  soldiers!  In  short,  after  a  series  of 
wonderful  achievements  and  bitter  misfortunes,  loaded  with  grief  and  infirm  with 
age,  he  prayed  the  gods  to  release  him  from  the  burden  of  such  a  life ;  and,  in 
pity  from  above,  both  he  and  his  beloved  Hermione  were  changed  into  serpents ! 
History,  however,  has  made  him  generous  amends,  by  ascribing  to  him  the  inven- 
tion of  letters,  and  accounting  him  the  worthy  benefactor  to  whom  the  world  owes 
all  the  benefits  derived  from  literature.  I  would  not  willingly  rob  him  of  this 
honour.  But  I  must  confess,  there  is  no  feature  of  the  story,  which  I  can  conceive 
any  countenance  to  his  claim  ;  except  that  as  the  great  progenitor  of  the 
race  of  authors,  his  sufferings  correspond  well  with  the  calamities  of  which  that 
unfortunate  generation  have  always  so  largely  partaken. 

•Jl.  T  •  i. "iii-fits  of  this  invention,  if  it  may  be  considered  an  invention,  are 
certainly  very  great.  In  oral  discourse  the  graces  of  elegance  are  more  lively  and 
attractive,  but  well- written  books  are  the  grand  instructors  of  mankind,  the  most 
enduring  monuments  of  human  greatness,  and  the  proudest  achievements  of  human 
intellect.  "  The  chief  glory  of  a  nation,"  says  Dr.  Johnson,  "arises  from  its 
authors."  Literature  is  important,  because  it  is  subservient  to  all  objects,  even 
those  of  the  very  highest  concern.  Religion  and  morality,  liberty  and  govern- 
ment, fame  and  happiness,  are  alike  interested  in  the  cause  of  letters.  It  was  a 
Faying  of  Pope  Pius  the  Second,  that,  "  Common  men  should  esteem  learning  as 
silver,  noblemen  value  it  as  gold,  and  princes  prize  it  as  jewels."  The  uses  of 
learning  arc  seen  in  every  thing  that  is  not  itself  useless.*  It  cannot  be  overrated, 
but  where  it  is  perverted ;  and  whenever  that  occurs,  the  remedy  is  to  be  sought  by 
opposing  learning  to  learning,  till  the  truth  is  manifest,  and  that  which  is  repre- 
hen>ihl".  i-  made  to  appear  so. 

•2'2.  I  have  said,  learning  cannot  be  overrated,  but  where  it  is  perverted.  But 
men  may  differ  in  their  notions  of  what  learning  is ;  and,  consequently,  of  what  is, 
or  is  not,  a  perversion  of  it.  And  so  far  as  this  point  may  have  reference  to 
v.  ami  the  things  of  God,  it  would  seem  that  the  Spirit  of  God  alone  can 
fully  shuvv-  as  it-  hearings.  If  the  illumination  of  the  Spirit  is  necessary  to  an 
;d  ti  reception  of  scriptural  truth,  is  it  not  by  an  inference  more 
erudite  than  n-i^malilr.  that  some  trn-at  men  have  presumed  to  limit  to  a  verbal 
medium  the  communications  of  Him  who  is  everywhere  his  own  witness,  and  who 
still  _iiivt-  to  hi<  own  holy  oracles  all  their  p«-i-uli-ir  significance  and  authority? 
Some  seem  to  think  th«-  Almighty  has  never  given  to  men  any  notion  of  himself, 
except  bywords.  "Man  j  the  celebrated  K'lmnnd  Burke,  "have 

never  been  at  all  presented  to  the  senses  of  any  men  but  by  words,  as  God,f 

nrope  owes  a  principal  share  of  it"  enlightened  and  moml  state  to  the  restoration  of  !• 

the  advantages  which  have  accrue*!   tn   hi-tory.  n-li^ri "n,  tin-  philosophy  of  the  mind,  and   the    pr 

H>fit<  which  haver.  •   <;r.-ek  and   Ionian  tJisto—  in  short..-' 

-V   (111    till'      pi"' 

•;hron,ih  the  medium  of  philology.  "--Dr.  Miimi 

•f  "  The  i  I'M  <>f  (Joil  is  :\  develoi.Tnenf  fr":n  within,  and  a  matter  of  faith,  not  an  induction  from  without, 
vnd  a  matUT  of  proof     \Vhcn  Chr  prim-iplr-s  wir|,j;,   \\,.  rh.-n  \?e  find 

evidences  of  its  truth  everywhere  :  nature  i«  full  of  th«Mii :  hut  we  cannot  ftnd  them  before,  simply  because  we 
o»Ye  no  eye  to  find  them  with."— II.  N.  iluDBon :  Dem.  Rev.  May,  1845. 


46  INTRODUCTION.          ,  [OHAP.    V. 

angels,  devils,  heaven,  and  hell,  all  of  which  have  however  a  great  influence  over 
the  passions." — On  the  Sublime  and  [the]  Beautiful,  p.  97.  That  God  can  never 
reveal  facts  or  truths  except  by  words,  is  a  position  with  which  I  am  by  no  means 
satisfied.  Of  the  great  truths  of  Christianity,  Dr.  Wayland,  in  his  Elements  of 
Moral  Science,  repeatedly  avers,  "  All  these  being  facts,  can  never  be  known, 
except  by  language,  that  is,  by  revelation." — First  Edition,  p.  132.  Again  :  "  All 
of  them  being  of  the  nature  of  facts,  they  could  be  made  known  to  man  in  no 
other  way  than  by  language." — Ib.  p.  136.  But  it  should  be  remembered,  that 
these  same  facts  were  otherwise  made  known  to  the  prophets;  (1.  Pet.  i,  11;) 
and  that  which  has  been  done,  is  not  impossible,  whether  there  is  reason  to  expect 
it  again  or  not.  So  of  the  Bible,  Calvin  says,  "  No  man  can  have  the  least 
knowledge  of  true  and  sound  doctrine,  without  having  been  a  disciple  of  the  Scrip- 
ture."— Institutes,  B.  i,  Ch.  6.  Had  Adam,  Abel,  Enoch,  Noah,  and  Abraham, 
then,  no  such  knowledge?  And  if  they  had,  what  Scripture  taught  them?  We 
ought  to  value  the  Scriptures  too  highly  to  say  of  them  any  thing  that  is  unscrip- 
tural.  I  am,  however,  very  far  from  supposing  there  is  any  other  doctrine  which 
can  be  safely  substituted  for  the  truths  revealed  of  old,  the  truths  contained  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments : 

"  Left  only  in  those  written  records  pure, 
Though  not  but  by  the  Spirit  understood."* — Milton. 


CHAPTER  V. 

OF  THE  POWER  OF  LANGUAGE. 


"  Quis  huic  studio  literarum,  quod  profitentur  ii,  qui  grammatici  vocantur,  penitus  se  dedidit,  quin  omnen. 
illarum  artium  pane  infinitam  vim  et  materiam  scientiae  cogitatione  comprehenderit?"— CICERO.  De  Oratore. 
Lib.  i,  3. 

1.  The  peculiar  power  of  language  is  an  other  point  worthy  of  particular  consid- 
eration. The  power  of  an  instrument  is  virtually  the  power  of  him  who  wields  it :; 
and,  as  language  is  used  in  common,  by  the  wise  and  the  foolish,  the  mighty  and 
the  impotent,  the  candid  and  the  crafty,  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  it  may 
perhaps  seem  to  the  reader  a  difficult  matter,  to  speak  intelligibly  of  its  peculiar 
power.  I  mean,  by  this  phrase,  its  fitness  or  efficiency  to  or  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  used.  As  it  is  the  nature  of  an  agent,  to  be 
the  doer  of  something,  so  it  is  the  nature  of  an  instrument,  to  be  that  with  which 
something  is  effected.  To  make  signs,  is  to  do  something,  and,  like  all  other 
actions,  necessarily  implies  an  agent ;  so  all  signs,  being  things  by  means  of  which 
other  things  are  represented,  are  obviously  the  instruments  of  such  representation. 
Words,  then,  which  represent  thoughts,  are  things  in  themselves;  but,  as  signs, 
they  are  relative  to  other  things,  as  being  the  instruments  of  their  communication 
or  preservation.  They  are  relative  also  to  him  who  utters  them,  as  well  as  to  those 
who  may  happen  to  be  instructed  or  deceived  by  them.  "  Was  it  Mirabeau,  Mr. 

*  So  far  as  mind,  soul,  or  spirit,  is  a  subject  of  natural  science,  (under  -whatever  name,)  it  may  of  course  be 
known  naturally.  To  say  to  what  extent  theology  may  be  considered  a  natural  science,  or  how  much  knowl- 
edge of  any  kind  may  have  been  opened  to  men  otherwise  than  by  words,  is  not  now  in  point.  Dr.  Campbell 
says, k<  Under  the  general  term  [physiology]  I  also  comprehend  natural  theology  and  psychology,  which,  in  my 
opinion,  have  been  most  unnaturally  disjoined  by  philosophers.  Spirit,  which  here  comprises  only  the 
Supreme  Being  and  the  human  soul,  is  surely  as  much  included  under  the  notion  of  natural  object  as  a  body 
is,  and  is  knowable  to  the  philosopher  purely  in  the  same  way,  by  observation  and  experience." — Philosophy 
of  Rhetoric,  p.  60.  1 1  is  quite  unnecessary  for  the  teacher  of  languages  to  lead  his  pupils  into  any  speci 
ou  this  subject.  It  is  equally  foreign  to  the  history  of  grammar  and  to  the  philosophy  of  rhetoric. 


CHAP.  V.]  OP  TUB  POWER  OP  LANGUAGE.  47 

President,  or  what  other  master  of  the  human  passions,  who  has  told  us  that  words 
are  things  V  They  are  indeed  things,  and  things  of  mighty  influence,  not  only  in 
addresses  to  the  passions  and  high-wrought  fouling-  of  mankind,  but  in  the  dis- 
cuv-qnn  of  legal  and  political  questions  also;  because  a  just  conclusion  is  often 
avoided,  or  a  false  one  readied,  l>v  the  adroit  substitution  of  one  phrase  or  one  word 
for  an  other." — Daniel  Webster,  in  Congress,  ls:;.'J. 

•J  To  speak,  is  a  moral  action,  the  quality  of  which  depends  upon  the  motive, 
and  for  which  we  are  strictly  accountable.  "  But  I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle 
word  that  men  shall  speak,  they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgement ; 
for  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  con- 
demn .-d." — .Unit,  xii,  3G,  37.  To  listen,  or  to  refuse  to  listen,  is  a  moral  action 
also  ;  and  there  is  meaning  in  the  injunction,  "  Take  heed  what  ye  hear." — Mark, 
iv.  '2 4.  But  why  is  it,  that  so  much  of  what  is  spoken  or  written,  is  spoken  or 
written  in  vainY  Is  language  impotent?  It  is  sometimes  employed  for  purposes 
witli  respect  to  which  it  is  utterly  so ;  and  often  they  that  use  it,  know  not  how 
insignificant,  absurd,  or  ill-meaning  a  thing  they  make  of  it.  What  is  said,  with 
whatever  inherent  force  or  dignity,  has  neither  power  nor  value  to  him  who  does 
not  understand  it  ;*  and,  as  Professor  Duncan  observes,  "  No  word  can  be  to  any 
man  the  sign  of  an  idea,  till  that  idea  comes  to  have  a  real  existence  in  his  mind." 
— L'>f/fr,  p.  (j'2.  In  instruction,  therefore,  speech  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  the 
foundation  or  the  essence  of  knowledge,  but  as  the  sign  of  it ;  for  knowledge  has 
:  in  in  in  the  power  of  sensation,  or  reflection,  or  consciousness,  and  not  in  that 
of  IT  communicating  thought.  Dr.  Spurzheim  was  not  the  first  to  suggest, 

"  It  is  time  to  abandon  the  immense  error  of  supposing  that  words  and  precepts  are 
sufficient  to  call  internal  feelings  and  intellectual  faculties  into  active  exercise." — 
ifiins   Trt'dfinc  on  E'lncutloii,  p.  94. 

);it  to  this  it  may  be  replied,  When  God  wills,  the  signs  of  knowledge  are 
knowledge;  and  words,  when  he  gives  the  ability  to  understand  them,  may,  in 
some  sense,  become — "  spirit  and  life."  See  John,  vi,  63.  Where  competent 
intellectual  faculties  exist,  the  intelligible  signs  of  thought  do  move  the  mind  to 
think  ;  and  to  think  sometimes  with  deep  feelings  too,  whether  of  assent  or  dissent, 
of  admiration  or  contempt.  So  wonderful  a  thing  is  a  rational  soul,  that  it  is  hard 
to  say  to  what  ends  the  language  in  which  it  speaks,  may,  or  may  not,  be  sufficient. 
Let  •  determine.  We  are  often  unable  to  excite  in  others  the  sentiments 

which  we  would  :  words  succeed  or  fail,  as  they  are  received  or  resisted.  But  let 
a  scornful  expression  be  addressed  to  a  passionate  man,  will  not  the  words  "  call 
int.-mal  feelings"  into  action  V  And  how  do  feelings  differ  from  thoughts  ?f 
Hear  Dr.  James  Rush :  "  The  human  mind  is  the  place  of  representation  of  all  the 
•  of  nature  which  are  brought  within  the  scope  of  the  senses.  The 
repr  called  ideas.  These  ideas  are  the  simple  passive  pictures  of 

things,  or  [else]  they  exist  with  an  activity,  capable  of  so  affecting  the  physical 
organ-  as  to  inducr  :  the  continuance  of  that  which  produces  them,  or  to 

avoid  it.     This  active  or  vivid  class  of  ideas  comprehends  the   passions.     The 

•  '•  ''  'io-,v  <h:ill  it  be  known  what  is  spoken  ?  for 

in  the.  world,  and  none  of  them  is 
'he  meaning  of  r'p-  v»ir«',  I  shall  be  unto  him  that  .  , 
that  speaketh,  shall  be  a  '  1   r      xiv.   «    N,  11. 

:  outstrip  our  knowledge  of  things.     It  may.  and  often 
'  'lit  [they]  cannot  be  understood  as  signs,  whilst 
we  r»vi 

I'M*  alreA'lv  ar«iuirr  1.  ,-ui'l  it  n.,  j.n-vinus  ideas  have  been  formed,  they  are  men 

All  that  p.-vws  in  the  mind  of  man.  may  bo  reduced 
LS.  1  inc.-in  ;ill  thoughts  which  rise,  and  pass  in  succes- 
•n1  mind  in  arranging,  combining,  and  separ.i 

aa  well  as  the  effect*  produc*  i  <elf  by  those  ideas  ;  from  the  more  violent  agitation  of  the 

i  operation  of   the  intellect  and  the  fancy.     In  short,  thought 

is  the  olj.-<-t  of  the  on  >Mier.     That  which  serves  to  express  the  former.  1  call  the 

lanes:  i:ui_'iiage  of  emotions.     Wunl-  .ire  the  signs  of  the  one  ;  tones,  of  the 

other.  U'i'li  .IK  rhf  use  of  these  two  sort*  of  language,  it  i.-»  imi>»-Mble  to  communicate  through  the  ear,  all 
that  passes  in  the  mind  of  mau.:;—  Sfuridan'i  Art  o/Readuig;  JSiair'a  Lectures,  p.  333. 


48  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    V. 

functions  of  the  mind  here  described,  exist  then  in  different  forms  and  degrees, 
from  the  simple  idea,  to  the  highest  energy  of  passion  :  and  the  terms,  thought, 
sentiment,  emotion,  feeling,  and  passion,  are  but  the  verbal  signs  of  these  degrees 
and  forms.  Nor  does  there  appear  to  be  any  line  of  classification,  for  separating 
thought  from  passion  :  since  simple  thoughts,  without  changing  their  nature,  do, 
from  interest  or  incitement,  often  assume  the  colour  of  passion." — Philosophy 
of  the  Human  Voice,  p.  328. 

4.  Lord  Kames,  in  the  Appendix  to  his  Elements  of  Criticism,  divides  the  senses 
into  external  and  internal,  defining  perception  to  be  the  act  by  which  through  the 
former  we  know  outward  objects,  and  consciousness  the  act  by  which  through  the 
latter  we  know  what  is  within  the  mind.     An  idea,  according  to  his  definition, 
(which  he   says  is  precise  and  accurate,)  is,  "  That  perception  of  a  real  object 
which  is  raised  in  the  mind  by  the   power  of  memory."     But  among  the  real 
objects  from  which  memory  may  raise  ideas,  he  includes  the  workings  of  the  mind 
itself,  or  whatever  we  remember  of  our  former  passions,  emotions,  thoughts,  or 
designs.     Such  a  definition,  he  imagines,  might  have  saved  Locke,  Berkley,  and 
their  followers,  from  much  vain  speculation ;  for  with  the  ideal  systems  of  these 
philosophers,  or  with  those  of  Aristotle  and  Des  Cartes,  he  by  no  means  coincides. 
This  author  says,  "As  ideas  are  the  chief  materials  employed  in  reasoning  and 
reflecting,  it  is  of  consequence  that  their  nature  and  differences  be  understood.     It 
appears  now  that  ideas  may  be  distinguished  into  three  kinds :  first,  Ideas  derived 
from  original  perceptions,  properly  termed  ideas  of  memory ;  second,  Ideas  com- 
municated by  language  or  other  signs  ;  and  third,  Ideas  of  imagination.     These 
ideas  differ  from  each  other  in  many  respects ;  but  chiefly  in  respect  to  their 
proceeding  from  different  causes.     The  first  kind  is  derived  from  real  existences 
that  have  been  objects  of  our  senses ;  language  is  the  cause  of  the  second,  or  any 
other  sign  that  has  the  same  power  with  language  ;  and  a  man's  imagination  is  to 
himself  the  cause  of  the  third.     It  is  scarce  [ly]  necessary  to  add,  that  an   idea, 
originally  of  imagination,  being  conveyed  to  others   by  language   or  any  other 
vehicle,  becomes  in  their  mind  an  idea  of  the  second  kind ;  and  again,  that  an  idea 
of  this  kind,  being  afterwards  recalled  to  the  mind,  becomes  in  that  circumstance 
an  idea  of  memory."—^,  of  Or  it.  Vol.  ii,  p.  384. 

5.  Whether,  or  how  far,  language  is  to  the  mind  itself  the  instrument  of  thought, 
is  a  question  of  great  importance  in  the  philosophy  of  both.     Our  literature  contains 
occasional  assertions  bearing  upon  this  point,  but  I  know  of  no  full  or  able  discus- 
sion of  it.*     Cardell's  instructions  proceed  upon  the  supposition,  that  neither  the 
reason  of  men,  nor  even  that  of  superior  intelligences,  can  ever  operate  indepen- 
dently of  words.     "Speech,"  says  he,  "is  to  the  mind  what  action  is  to  animal 
bodies.     Its  improvement  is  the  improvement  of  our  intellectual  nature,  and  a 
duty  to  God  who  gave  it." — Essay  on  Language,  p.  3.     Again :  "  An  attentive 
investigation  will  show,  that  there  is  no  way  in  which  the  individual  mind  can, 
within  itself,  to  any  extent,  combine  its  ideas,  but  by  the  intervention  of  words. 
Every  process  of  the  reasoning  powers,  beyond  the  immediate  perception  of  sensible 
objects,  depends  on  the  structure  of  speech;  and,  in  a  great  degree,  according  to 
the  excellence  of  this  chief  instrument  of  all  mental  operations,  will  be  the  means 
of  personal  improvement,  of  the  social  transmission  of  thought,  and  the  elevation 
of  national  character.     From  this,  it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  broad  principle,  that 
no  individual  can  make  great  advances  in  intellectual  improvement,  beyond  the 
bounds  of  a  ready-formed  language,  as  the  necessary  means  of  his  progress." — Ib. 
p.  9.     These  positions  might,  easily  be  offset  by  contrary  speculations  of  minds  of 
equal  rank  ;  but  I  submit  them  to  the  reader,  with  the  single  suggestion,  that  the 
author  is  not  remarkable  for  that  sobriety  of  judgement  which  gives  weight  to 
opinions. 

*  "  Language  is  the  great  instrument,  by  which  all  the  faculties  of  the  mind  are  brought  forward,  moulded, 
polished,  and  exerted."—  Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  xiy. 


CHAP.  V.]  OP  THE  POWER  OP  LANGUAGE.  49 

6.  We  have  seen,  among  the  citations  in  a  former  chapter,  that  Sanctius  says, 
"  Names  are  the  signs,  and  as  it  were  the  instruments,  of  things"     But  what  he 
meant  by  "  utstnnncnta  rernm"  is  not  very  apparent.     Dr.  Adam  says,  "The 
principles  of  grammar  may  be  traced  from  the  progress  of  the  mind  in  the  acquisi- 
tion of  language.     Children  first  express  their  feelings  by  motions  and  gestures  of 
the  body,  by  cries  and  tears.      This  is*  the  language  of  nature,  and  therefore 
universal.      It  ftly  represents^  the  quickness  of  sentiment  and  thought,  which  are 

as  the  impression  of  light  on  the  eye.  Hence  we  always  express 
our  stronger  feelings  by  these  natural  signs.  But  when  we  want  to  make  known 
to  others  the  particular  conceptions  of  the  mind,  we  must  represent  them  by  parts, 
we  must  divide  and  analyze  them.  We  express  each  part  by  certain  signs, %  and 
join  these  together,  according  to  the  order  of  their  relations.  Thus  words  are  both 

ml  N/'////.V§  of  the  division  of  thought." — Preface  to  Latin  Gram. 

7.  The  utterance  of  words,  or  the  making  of  signs  of  any  sort,  requires  time:|| 
but  it  is  here  suggested  by  Dr.  Adam,  that  sentiment  and  thought,  though  suscep- 
tible of  being  retained  or  recalled,  naturally  flash  upon  the  mind  with  immeasurable 
quickness.^     If  so,  they  must  originate  in  something  more  spiritual  than  language. 
The  Doctor  does  not  affirm  that  words  are  the  instruments  of  thought,  but  of  the 

>n  of  thought.  But  it  is  manifest,  that  if  they  effect  this,  they  are  not  the 
only  instruments  by  means  of  which  the  same  thing  may  be  done.  The  deaf  and 
dumb,  though  uninstructed  and  utterly  ignorant  of  language,  can  think  ;  and  can, 
by  rut)  •'  their  own  inventing,  manifest  a  similar  division,  corresponding  to 

tin-  individuality  of  things.  And  what  else  can  be  meant  by  "  the  division  of 

ht"  than  our  notion  of  objects,  as  existing  severally,  or  as  being  distin- 

i'lo  into  parts?  There  can,  I  think,  be  no  such  division  respecting  that 
which  is  porfectly  pure  and  indivisible  in  its  essence;  and,  I  would  ask,  is  not 
simple  continuity  apt  to  exclude  it  from  our  conception  of  every  thing  which 
with  uniform  coherence?  Dr.  Beattie  says,  "It  appears  to  me,  that,  as 
all  things  are  individuals,  all  thoughts  must  be  so  too." — Moral  Science,  Chap,  i, 
Sec.  1.  If,  then,  our  thoughts  are  thus  divided,  and  consequently,  as  this  author 
infers,  have  not  in  themselves  any  of  that  generality  which  belongs  to  the  signifi- 
cation of  common  nouns,  there  is  little  need  of  any  instrument  to  divide  them 
further  :  the  mind  rather  needs  help,  as  Cardell  suggests,  "  to  combine  its  ideas."** 
•  tar  as  language  is  a  work  of  art,  and  not  a  thing  conferred  or  imposed 

Bfl  by  nature,  there  surely  can  be  in  it  neither  division  nor  union  that  was 

net  first  in  the  intellect  for  the  manifestation  of  which  it  was  formed.     First,  with 

to  generalization.     "  The  human  mind,"  says  Harris,  "  by  an  energy  as 

*  It  should  be.  "  Thfxr  are.»—Q.  B.  t  It  should  be,  «  They  fitly  represent."— Q.  B. 

4  to  his  own  •!  has  but  one  sign.    It  should  be, 

$  It  would  bebett,  :  <}.  BROWX. 

-peakers  do  i  :i>l  of  time ;  and  generally  only  two  and 

it-a  is  also  coi.  from  Dr.  Campbell :  "  Whatever  regards  the 

•U  h'r  ni'r^i's.  must  In  a  great 
philosopher  baa  given  it  as  his 

•'  that  v,  by  signs  as  well  as  speak  by  them."— Ib.  p.  284.  To  reconcile  these  two  position* 

each  >t  suppose  ti  -^.  or  words,  is  a  process  infinitely  more  rapid  than 

speech. 

ITW  to  similar  thinyrs  a  common  name,  is  certainly  no  labori- 
l   !«>«•<  any  mil  •   individual  by  means 

rstanding,  and  I   know  not 
must  be  atten- 
••••d.  that  all  terms  run  from  a  general  to  a  parti 

•  till  he 
- 

••Thi-  is  in  lr  ondei  assertion  that  man  i  he  had 

"f  the  natural 
man  had  b* « 

"::il    world,  1"  • 

natural  varieties  of  th  •"*  *  *  Th<  •  ied  such 

:he  signs  ;  yet  it  were  ab.-urd  to  suppose  that  the  sign  was 
1,  till  the  sense  demanded  it."-/6.  p.  389. 

4 


50  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    V. 

spontaneous  and  familiar  to  its  nature,  as  the  seeing  of  colour  is  familiar  to  the 
eye,  discerns  at  once  what  in  many  is  one,  what  in  things  dissimilar  and  different  is 
similar  and  the  same." — Hermes,  p.  362.  Secondly,  with  respect  to  division. 
Mechanical  separations  are  limited:  "But  the  mind  surmounts  all  power  of 
concretion  ;  and  can  place  in  the  simplest  manner  every  attribute  by  itself ;  convex 
without  concave  ;  colour  without  superficies ;  superficies  without  body  ;  and  body 
without  its  accidents  :  as  distinctly  each  one,  as  though  they  had  never  been  united. 
And  thus  it  is,  that  it  penetrates  into  the  recesses  of  all  things,  not  only  dividing 
them  as  wholes,  into  their  more  conspicuous  parts,  but  persisting  till  it  even  separate 
those  elementary  principles  which,  being  blended  together  after  a  more  mysterious 
manner,  are  united  in  the  minutest  part  as  much  as  in  the  mightiest  whole."-— 
Harris's  Hermes,  p.  307. 

9.  It  is  remarkable  that  this  philosopher,  who  had  so  sublime  conceptions  of  the 
powers  of  the  human  mind,  and  who  has  displayed  such  extraordinary  acuteness 
in  his  investigations,  has  represented  the  formation  of  words,  or  the  utterance  of 
language,  as  equalling  in  speed  the  progress  of  our  very  thoughts ;  while,  as  we 
have  seen,  an  other  author,  of  great  name,  avers,  that  thought  is  "  as  instantaneous 
as  the  impression  of  light  on  the  eye."     Philosophy  here  too  evidently  nods.     In 
showing  the  advantage  of  words,  as  compared  with  pictures,  Harris  says,   "If  we 
consider  the  ease  and  speed  with  which  words » are  formed, — an  ease  which  knows 
no  trouble  or  fatigue,  and  a  speed  which  equals  the  progress  of  our  very  thoughts* 
— we  may  plainly  perceive  an  answer  to  the  question  here  proposed,  Why,  in  the 
common  intercourse  of  men  with  men,  imitations  have  been  rejected,  and  symbols 
preferred." — Hermes,  p.  336.     Let  us  hear  a  third  man,  of  equal  note  :  "  Words 
have  been  called  winged ;  and  they  well  deserve  that  name,  when  their  abbrevia- 
tions  are  compared  with  the  progress  which   speech  could  make  without  these 
inventions ;  but,  compared  with  the  rapidity  of  thought,  they  have  not  the  smallest 
claim  to  that  title.     Philosophers  have  calculated  the  difference  of  velocity  between 
sound  and  light ;  but  who  will  attempt  to  calculate  the  difference  between  speech 
and  thought !  " — Home  Tooke's  Epea  Pteroenta,  Vol.  i,  p.  23. 

10.  It   is   certain,  that,  in  the  admirable   economy   of  the   creation,  natures 
subordinate  are  made,  in  a  wonderful  manner,  subservient  to  the  operations  of  the 
higher ;  and  that,  accordingly,  our  first  ideas  are  such  as  are  conceived  of  things 
external  and  sensible.     Hence  all  men  whose  intellect  appeals  only  to  external 
sense,  are  "prone  to  a  philosophy  which  reverses  the  order  of  things  pertaining  to 
the  mind,  and  tends  to  materialism,  if  not  to  atheism.     "  But  " — to  refer  again  to 
Harris — "  the  intellectual  scheme  which  never  forgets  Deity,  postpones  every  thing 
corporeal  to  the  primary  mental  Cause.     It  is  here  it  looks  for  the  origin  of  intel- 
ligible ideas,  even  of  those  which  exist  in  human  capacities.     For  though  sensible 
objects  may  be  the  destined  medium  to  awaken  the  dormant  energies  of  man's 
understanding,  yet  are  those  energies  themselves  no  more  contained  in  sense,  than 
the  explosion  of  a  cannon,  in  the  spark  which  gave  it  fire.     In  short,  all  minds  that 
are,  are  similar  and  congenial ;  and  so  too  are  their  ideas,  or  intelligible  forms. 
Were  it  otherwise,  there  could  be  no  intercourse  between  man  and  man,  or  (what 
is  more  important)  between  man  and  Grod." — Hermes,  p.  393. 

11.  A  doctrine  somewhat  like  this,  is  found  in  the  Meditations  of  the  emperor 
Marcus  Aurelius   Antoninus,  though   apparently  repugnant   to   the   polytheism 
commonly  admitted  by  the  Stoics,  to  whom  he  belonged:  "  The  world,  take  it 
all  together,  is  but  one ;  there  is  but  one  sort  of  matter  to  make  it  of,  one  Grod  to 
govern  it,  and  one  law  to  guide  it.     For,  run  through  the  whole  system  of  rational 

*  Dr.  Alexander  Murray  too,  in  accounting  for  the  frequent  abbreviations  of  words,  seems  to  suggest  the 
possibility  of  giving  them  the  celerity  of  thought :  "  Contraction  is  a  change  which  results  from  a  propensity 
to  make  the  signs  as  rapid  as  the  thoughts  which  they  express.  Harsh  combinations  soon  suffer  contraction. 
Very  long  words  preserve  only  the  principal,  that  is,  the  accented  part.  If  a  nation  accents  its  words  on  the 
last  syllable,  the  preceding  ones  will  often  be  short,  and  liable  to  contraction.  If  it  follow  a  contrary  practice, 
the  terminations  are  apt  to  decay,"— History  of  European  Languages,  Vol.  I,  p.  172. 


CHAP.    V.]  OP   THE   POWER   OP   LANGUAGE.  51 

beings,  and  you  will  find  reason  and  truth  but  single  and  the  same.  And  thus 
beings  of  the  same  kind,  and  endued  with  the  saint-  icax-n,  are  made  happy  by 
the  same  exercises  «.f  it."  —  Book  vii,  Sec.  9.  Again:  "Let  your  soul  receive 
the  J  >rit  v  as  your  blood  does  the  air  ;  for  the  influences  of  the  one  are  no  le^s  vital, 
than  those  of  the  other.  This  correspondence  is  very  practicable  :  for  there  is  an 
ambient  omnipresent  Spirit,  which  lies  as  open  and  pervious  to  your  mind,  as  the 
air  you  breathe,  dors  to  your  lungs  :  but  then  you  must  remember  to  be  disposed 
to  draw  it."  —  Book  viii,  Sec.  54;  Collier's  Translation. 

1±  Agreeably  to  these  views,  except  that  he  makes  a  distinction  between  a 
natural  and  a  supernatural  idea  of  God,  we  find  Barclay,  the  early  defender  of  the 
Quakers,  in  an  argument  witli  a  certain  Dutch  nobleman,  philosophizing  thus  : 
"  If  the  Scripture  then  be  true,  there  is  in  men  a  supernatural  idea  of  God,  which 
altogether  differs  from  this  natural  idea  —  I  say,  in  all  men  ;  because  all  men  are 
capable  of  salvation,  and  consequently  of  enjoying  this  divine  vision.  Now  this 
capacity  consisteth  herein,  that  they  have  such  a  supernatural  idea  in  themselves.* 
For  if  there  were  no  such  idea  in  them,  it  were  impossible  they  should  so  know 
God  ;  for  whatsoever  is  clearly  and  distinctly  known,  is  known  by  its  proper  idea; 
neither  can  it  otherwise  be  clearly  and  distinctly  known.  For  the  ideas  of  all 

are  divinely  planted  in  our  souls  ;  for,  as  the  better  philosophy  teacheth, 
they  are  not  begotten  in  us  by  outward  objects  or  outward  causes,  but  only  are  by 

ntward  things  excited  or  stirred  up.  And  this  is  true,  not  only  in  super- 
natural ideas  of  God  and  things  divine,  and  in  natural  ideas  of  the  natural  principles 
of  human  understanding,  and  conclusions  thence  deduced  by  the  strength  of  human 

;  but  even  in  the  ideas  of  outward  objects,  which  are  perceived  by  the 
outward  senses  :  as  that  noble  Christian  philosopher  Boethius  hath  well  observed  ; 
tu  which  also  the  Cartesian  philosophy  agreeth."  I  quote  only  to  show  the 
concurrence  of  others,  with  Harris's  position.  Barclay  carries  on  his  argument 
with  much  more  of  a  similar  import.  See  SeweVs  History,  folio,  p.  620. 

13.  But  the  doctrine  of  ideas  existing  primarily  in  God,  and  being  divinely 

1  in  our  souls,  did  not  originate  with  Boethius  :  it  may  be  traced  back  a 
thousand  years  from  his  time,  through  the  philosophy  of  Proclus,  Zeno,  Aristotle.f 
Plato.  S  >crates,  Parmenides,  and  Pythagoras.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose  any 
production  or  effect  to  be  more  excellent  than  its  cause.  That  which  really  produces 
motion,  cannot  itself  be  inert;  and  that  which  actually  causes  the  human  mind  to 
think  anil  IVUNHI.  cannot  iteelf  be  devoid  of  intelligence.  "For  knowledge  can 

produce  knowledge.  "J  A  doctrine  apparently  at  variance  with  this,  has 
recently  been  taught,  with  great  confidence,  among  the  professed  discoveries  of 
Pld-(  noloijtj.  How  much  truth  there  may  be  in  this  new  "  science"  as  it  is  called, 
I  am  not  j  in-pared  to  say  ;  but,  a.s  sometimes  held  forth,  it  seems  to  me  not  only 
to  chi-h  with  some  of  the  most  important  principles  of  mental  philosophy,  but  to 
make  tin;  power  of  thought  the  resultof  that  which  is  in  itself  inert  and  unthinking. 

iuii  that  the  primitive  faculties  of  the  human  understanding  have  not  been 
known  in  earlier  times,  it  professes  to  have  discovered,  in  the  physical  organization 
of  the  brain,  their  proper  source,  or  essential  condition,  and  the  true  index  to  their 
,  number,  and  retribution.  In  short,  the  leading  phrenologists,  by 
acknowledging  no  spiritual  substance,  virtually  deny  that  ancient  doctrine,  "It  is 
not  in  flesh  to  think,  or  bones  to  reason,  "§  and  make  the  mind  either  a  material 
substance,  or  a  mere  mode  without  substantial  being. 


•  "  We  cannot  form  a  distinct  idea  of  any  moral  or  intellfrtimf  <;""''''/•  unless  we  find  some  trace  of  it  in 
ourc«  •;-..  -lap.  IT,  No  424. 

t  "  Aristotle  tells  us  that  tin-  «<•:  «  transcript  of  those  ideas  which  are  in  the  mind  of  the  first 

Beinjr.  ami  that  thos«  ideas  whirl.  mind  of  man,  are  a  transcript  of  the  world.     To  this  we  may 

words  are  the  trai  i,],-a.-  vhi«-h  .-ire  in  the  mind  of  man,  and  that  writing  or  printing 

•'J64. 

i  See  this  passage  it  Human  Lift-."  ;..  106—  a  \vork  feigned  to  be  a  compend  of  Chinese 

•  i  all\   understood  u>  ,  ritten  or  compiled  by  Robert  DocJiUy,  an  eminent  and 

ingenious  bookseller  in  London. 


52  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    V. 

14.  "The  doctrine  of  immaterial  substances"  says  Dr.  Spurzheim,  "is  not 
sufficiently  amenable  to  the  test  of  observation ;  it  is  founded  on  belief,  and  only 
supported  by  hypothesis." — Phrenology,  Vol.  i,  p.  20.     But  it  should  be  remem- 
bered, that  our  notion  of  material  substance,  is  just  as  much  a  matter  of  hypothesis. 
All  accidents,  whether  they  be  qualities  or  actions,  we  necessarily  suppose  to  have 
some  support ;  and  this  we  call  substance,  deriving  the  term  from  the  Latin,  or 
hypostasis,  if  we  choose  to  borrow  from  the  Greek.     But  what  this  substance,  or 
hypostasis,  is,  independently  of  its   qualities  or   actions,  we   know  not.     This  is 
clearly  proved  by  Locke      What  do  we  mean  by  matter  ?  and  what  by  mind  f 
Matter  is  that  which  is   solid,  extended,  divisible,  and  movable.     Mind  is  that 
which  thinks,  and  wills,  and  reasons,  and  worships.     Here  are  qualities  in  the  one 
case ;  operations  in  the  other.     Here  are  two  definitions  as  totally  distinct  as  any 
two  can  be ;  and  he  that  sees  not  in  them  a  difference  of  substance,  sees  it  no-where  : 
to  him  all  natures  are  one ;  and  that  one,  an  absurd  supposition. 

15.  In  favour  of  what  is  urged  by  the  phrenologists,  it  may  perhaps  be  admitted, 
as  a  natural  law,  that,  "  If  a  picture  of  a  visible  object  be  formed  upon  the  retina, 
and  the  impression  be  communicated,  by  the  nerves,  to  the  brain,  the  result  will  be 
an  act  of  perception." —  Wayland's  Moral  Science,  p.  4.     But  it  does  not  follow, 
nor  did  the  writer  of  this  sentence  believe,  that  perception  is  a  mere  act  or  attri- 
bute of  the  organized  matter  of  the  brain.     A  material  object  can  only  occasion  in 
our  sensible  organs  a  corporeal  motion,  which  has  not  in  it  the  nature  of  thought  or 
perception ;  and  upon  what  principle  of  causation,  shall  a  man  believe,  in  respect 
to  vision,  that  the  thing  which  he  sees,  is  more  properly  the  cause  of  the  idea  con- 
ceived of  it,  than  is  the  light  by  which  he  beholds  it,  or  the  mind  in  which  that 
idea  is  formed?     Lord  Kames  avers,  that,  "Colour,  which  appears  to  the  eye  as 
spread  upon  a  substance,  has  no  existence  but  in  the  mind  of  the  spectator." — 
Elements  of  Criticism,  i,  178.     And  Cicero  placed  the  perception,  not  only  of 
colour,  but  of  taste,  of  sound,  of  smell,  and  of  touch,  in  the  mind,  rather  than  in 
the  senses.     "  Illud  est  album,  hoc  dulce,  canorum  illud,  hoc  bene  olens,  hoc 
asperuin  :  animo  jam  hsec  tenemus  comprehensa,  non  sensibus." — Ciceronis  Acad. 
Lib.  ii,  7.    Dr.  Beattie,  however,  says :  "  Colours  inhere  not  in  the  coloured  body, 
but  in  the  light  that  falls  upon  it ;  *  *  *  and  the  word  colour  denotes,  an  external, 
thing,  and  never  a  sensation  of  the  mind." — Moral  Science,  i,  54.     Here  is  some 
difference  of  opinion ;  but  however  the  thing  may  be,  it  does  not  affect  my  argu- 
ment ;  which  is,  that  to  perceive  or  think  is  an  act  or  attribute  of  our  immaterial 
•substance  or  nature,  and  not  to  be  supposed  the  effect  either  of  the  objects  perceived 
or  of  our  own  corporeal  organization. 

16.  Divine  wisdom  has  established  the  senses  as  the  avenues  through  which  our 
minds  shall  receive  notices  of  the  forms  and  qualities  of  external  things ;  but  the 
sublime  conception  of  the  ancients,  that  those  forms  and  qualities  had  an  abstract 
preexistence  in  the  divine  mind,  is  a  common  doctrine  of  many  English  authors, 
as  Milton,  Cowper,  Akenside,  and  others.     For  example  :  "  Now  if  Ensprim&H 
be  the  cause  of  entia  a  primo,  then  he  hath  the  Idea  of  them  in  him  :  for  he  made 
them  by  counsel,  and  not  by  necessity ;  for  then  he  should  have  needed  them,  and 
they  have  a  parhelion  of  that  wisdom  that  is  in  his  Idea." — Richardsoris  Logic, 
p.  16 :  Lond.  1657. 

"  Then  the  Great  Spirit,  whom  his  works  adore, 
Within  his  own  deep  essence  view'd  the  forms, 
The  forms  eternal  of  created  things." — AKEXSIDE. 

Pleasures  of  the  Imagination,  Book  i. 

"  And  in  the  school  of  sacred  wisdom  taught, 
To  read  his  wonders,  in  whose  thought  the  world, 
Fair  as  it  is,  existed  ere  it  was." — COWPEH. 

Task:   Winter  Morning  Walk,  p.  150. 


CHAP.  Y.]  OP  THE  POWER  OP  LANGUAGE.  53 

"  Thence  to  behold  this  new-created  world, 
The  addition  of  his  empire,  how  it  show'd 
In  prospect  from  his  throne,  how  good,  how  fair, 
Answering  his  great  idea." — MILTON. 

Paradise  Lost,  Book  vii,  line  554. 

17.  "  Original  Truth,"*  says  Harris,  "  having  the  most  intimate  connection 
with  the  Supreme  Intelligence,  may  be  said  (as  it  were)  to  shine  with  unchangeable 
splendor,  enlightening  thoughout  the  universe  every  possible  subject,  by  nature 
susceptible  of  its  benign  influence.     Passions  and  other  obstacles  may  prevent 
indeed  its  efficacy,  as  clouds  and  vapours  may  obscure  the  sun  ;  but  itself  neither 
admits  diminution,  nor  change,  because  the  darkness  respects  only  particular 
percipients.     Among  these  therefore  we  must  look  for  ignorance  and  error,  and 
for  that  subordination  ofintellige nee  which  is  their  natural  consequence.     Par- 
tial views,  the  imperfections  of  sense;  inattention,  idleness,  the   turbulence  of 
passions;  education,  local  sentiments,  opinions,  and  belief;    conspire  in  many 
instances  to  furnish  us  with  ideas,  some  too  general,  some  too  partial,  and  (what  is 
worse  than  all  this)  with  many  that  are  erroneous,  and  contrary  to  truth.     These 
it  behoves  us  to  correct  as  far  as  possible,  by  cool  suspense  and  candid  examination. 
Thus  by  a  connection  perhaps  little  expected,  the  cause  of  Letters,  and  that  of 

'in-,  appear  to  coincide  ;  it  being  the  business  of  both,  to  examine  our  ideas, 
and  to  amend  them  by  the  standard  of  nature  and  of  truth."    See  Hermes,  p.  406. 

18.  Although  it  seems  plain  from  our  own  consciousness,  that  the  mind  is  an 
active  self-moving  principle  or  essence,  yet  capable  of  being  moved,  after  its  own 
manner,  by  other  causes  outward  as  well  as  inward  ;  and  although  it  must  be  ob- 
vious to  reflection,  that  all  its  ideas,  perceptions,  and  emotions,  are,  with  respect  to 
itself,  of  a  spiritual  nature — bearing  such  a  relation  to  the  spiritual  substance  in 

,  which  alone  they  appear,  as  bodily  motion  is  seen  to  bear  to  material  substances ; 
yet  we  know,  from  experience  and  observation,  that  they  who  are  acquainted  with 
words,  are  apt  to  think  in  words-*— that  is,  mentally  to  associate  their  internal  con- 
ceptions with  the  verbal  signs  which  they  have  learned  to  use.  And  though  I  do 
not  conceive  the  position  to  be  generally  true,  that  words  are  to  the  mind  itself  the 
necessary  instruments  of  thought,  yet,  in  my  apprehension,  it  cannot  well  be  denied, 
that  in  some  of  its  operations  and  intellectual  reaches,  the  mind  is  greatly  assisted 
by  its  o\\n  contrivances  with  respect  to  language.  I  refer  not  now  to  the  com- 
munication of  knowledge ;  for,  of  this,  language  is  admitted  to  be  properly  the 
instrument.  But  there  seem  to  be  some  processes  of  thought,  or  calculation,  in 
which  the  mind,  by  a  wonderful  artifice  in  the  combination  of  terms,  contrives  to 
prevent  embarrassment,  and  help  itself  forward  in  its  conceptions,  when  the  objects 
before  it  are  in  themselves  p»-rh:ips  infinite  in  number  or  variety. 

l!».  \Ve  have  an  instance  of  thlB  in  numeration.  No  idea  is  more  obvious  or 
simple  than  that  of  unity,  or  one.  By  the  continual  addition  of  this,  first  to  itself 
to  make  two,  and  then  to  each  higher  combination  successively,  we  form  a  .-cries  of 
different  numbers,  which  may  go  on  to  infinity.  In  the  consideration  of  these,  the 
mind  would  not  be  able  to  p»  far  without  the  help  of  words,  and  those  peculiar- 
ly fitted  to  the  purpose.  The  understanding;  would  lose  itself  in  the  multiplicity, 
were  it  not  aided  by  that  curiou>  concatenation  of  name>.  which  has  been  contrived 
for  the  several  parts  of  the  >uccc»ion.  As  far  as  tu-i-h-i-  we  make  use  of  simple 
unrelated  terms.  Thenceforward  we  apply  derivatives  and  compounds,  formed 

*  '•  Thox-  philosopher*  whose  ill-  -<  are  derived  from  body  and  senvition,  have  & 

•hor  '/ii/i'.s  thii)j_'.  '                                                              which 

come.-'  and  jrw.  j  t;  which   ii,                                                                        •  re  tin 

latf  'hi  in  !      According 

loth:  i  hav« 

not  i                     :  .1   multituil'  :  -.  who 

imi  h:i«l  VIT\  dilTiTi'iif  :  i  ruth  not  as  the  last,  but  as  tht 
first  no  r:ill  it  immutable,  eternal,  omniprtst  nt ;  attributes  that  all  indicate  something  more  than 
human."—  Harris's  Hermes,  p.  403. 


54  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    V. 

from  these  in  their  regular  order,  till  we  arrive  at  a  hundred.  This  one  new  word, 
hundred,  introduced  to  prevent  confusion,  has  eight  hundred  and  ninety-nine  dis- 
tinct repetitions  in  connexion  with  the  preceding  terms,  and  thus  brings  us  to  a 
thousand.  Here  the  computation  begins  anew,  runs  through  all  the  former  com- 
binations, and  then  extends  forward,  till  the  word  thousand  has  been  used  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  thousand  times ;  and  then,  for  ten  hundred  thousand,  we 
introduce  the  new  word  million.  With  this  name  we  begin  again  as  before,  and 
proceed  till  we  have  used  it  a  million  of  times,  each  combination  denoting  a  number 
clearly  distinguished  from  every  other ;  and  then,  in  like  manner,  we  begin  and 
proceed,  with  billions,  trillions,  quadrillions,  quintillions,  &c.,  to  any  extent  we 
please. 

20.  Now  can  any  one  suppose  that  words  are  not  here,  in  some  true  sense,  the 
instruments  of  thought,  or  of  the  intellectual  process  thus  carried  on  ?     Were  all 
these  different  numbers  to  be  distinguished  directly  by  the  mind  itself,  and  denomi- 
nated by  terms  destitute  of  this  artificial  connexion,  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether 
the  greatest  genius  in  the  world  would  ever  be  able  to  do  what  any  child  may  now 
effect  by  this  orderly  arrangement  of  words  ;  that  is,  to  distinguish  exactly  the 
several  stages  of  this  long  progression,  and  see  at  a  glance  how  far  it  is  from  the 
beginning  of  the  series.     "  The  great  art  of  knowledge,"  says  Duncan, '"  lies  in 
managing  with  skill  the  capacity  of  the  intellect,  and  contriving  such  helps,  as,  if 

.  they  strengthen  not  its  natural  powers,  may  yet  expose  them  to  no  unnecessary 
fatigue.  When  ideas  become  very  complex,  and  by  the  multiplicity  of  their  parts 
grow  too  unwieldy  to  be  dealt  with  in  the  lump,  we  must  ease  the  view  of  the 
mind  by  taking  them  to  pieces,  and  setting  before  it  the  several  portions  separately, 
one  after  an  other.  By  this  leisurely  survey  we  are  enabled  to  take  in  the  whole  ; 
and  if  we  can  draw  it  into  such  an  orderly  combination  as  will  naturally  lead  the 
attention,  step  by  step,  in  any  succeeding  consideration  of  the  same  idea,  we 
shall  have  it  ever  at  command,  and  with  a  single  glance  of  thought  be  able  to  run 
over  all  its  parts." — Duncan's  Logic,  p.  37.  Hence  we  may  infer  the  great 
importance  of  method  in  grammar ;  the  particulars  of  which,  as  Quintilian  says, 
are  infinite.* 

21 .  Words  are  in  themselves  but  audible  or  visible  signs,  mere  arbitrary  symbols, 
used,  according  to  common  practice  and  consent,  as  significant  of  our  ideas  or 
thoughts. f     But  so  well  are  they  fitted  to  be  made  at  will  the  medium  of  mental 
conference,  that  nothing  else  can  be  conceived  to  equal  them  for  this  purpose. 
Yet  it  does  not  follow  that  they  who  have  the  greatest  knowledge  and  command  of 
words,  have  all  they  could  desire  in  this  respect.     For  language  is  in  its  own  nature 
but  an  imperfect  instrument,  and  even  when  tuned  with  the  greatest  skill,  will  often 

*  Of  the  best  method  of  teaching  grammar,  I  shall  discourse  in  an  other  chapter.  That  methods  radically 
different  must  lead  to  different  results,  is  no  more  than  every  intelligent  person  will  suppose.  The  formation 
of just  methods  of  Instruction,  or  true  systems  of  science,  is  work  for  those  minds  which  are  capable  of  the  most 
accurate  and  comprehensive  views  of  the  things  to  be  taught.  He  that  is  capable  of  "  originating  and  produc- 
ing "  truth,  or  true  "  ileus,"  if  any  but  the  Divine  Being  is  so,  has  surely  no  need  to  be  trained  into  such  truth 
by  any  factitious  scheme  of  education.  In  all  that  he  thus  originates,  he  is  himself  a  No  rum  Organ  on  of  knowl- 
edge, and  cap  ible  of  teaching  others,  especially  those  officious  men  who  would  help  him  with  their  second 
hand  authorship,  and  their  paltry  catechisms  of  common-places.  I  allude  here  to  the  fundamental  principle 
of  w'r  -.'>,)ks  is  called  "  The  Prorhtct-irf  Si/stem  nf  Instruction,''  and  to  those  schemes  of  grammar 

which  are  professedly  founded  on  it.  We  are  told  that,  "  The  leading  principle  of  this  system,  is  that  which  its 
name  indicates — that  the  child  should  be  regarded  not  as  a  mere  recipient  of  the  ideas  of  others,  but  as  an  agent 
capabli  <>f  collecting,  mvl  oriifin'iti.m,',  >m>l.  /irinliir.in^  most  of  the  ideas  which  are  necessary  for  its  education, 
when  prt  sented  n-iih  the  oVjcrl-s  or  the  facts  from  which  they  may  be  derived." — Smith's  New  Gram.  Pn'f.  p.  5  : 
Amer.  Journal  of  Education,  Nfir  S  net.  Vol.  I,  No.  6,  Art.  1.  It  ought  to  be  enough  for  any  teacher,  or  for 
any  writer,  if  he  finds  his  readers  or  his  pupils  ready  recipients  of  the  ideas  which  he  aims  to  convey.  What 
more  they  know,  they  can  never  owe  to  him,  unless  they  learn  it  from  him  against  his  will :  and  what  they 
happen  to  lack,  of  understanding  or  believing  him,  may  very  possibly  be  more  his  fault  than  theirs. 

t  Lindley  Murray,  anonymously  "opying  somebody,  I  know  not  whom,  says  :  <:  Words  derive  their  meaning 
from  the  consent  and  practice  of  tho<(>  who  use  fhein.  There  is  no  necessary  connexion  between  ?"o/v/.s-  ,md 
idens.  The  association  between  tin-  sign  and  the  tiling  signified,  is  purely  arbitrary." — Octavo  G-rrtm.  i,  p. 
139.  The  second  assertion  here  mad<-.  is  very  far  from  being  literally  true.  However  arbitrary  may  be  the 
use  or  application  of  words,  their  connexion  with  ideas  is  so  necessarv,  that  they  cannot  be  words  without  it. 
Signification,  as  I  shall  hereafter  prove,  is  a  part  of  the  very  essence  of  a  word,  the  most  important  element 
of  its  nature.  And  Murray  himself  says,  "  The  understanding  and  language  have  a  strict  connexion."—  Ib. 
i,  p.  356.  In  this,  he  changes  without  amendment  the  words  of  Blair :  "  Logic  and  rhetoric  have  here,  as  in 
.  many  other  cases,  a  strict  connexion."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  120. 


CHAP.  V.]  OF  THE  POWER  OF  LANGUAGE.  55 

be  found  inadequate  to  convey  the  impression  with  which  the  mind  may  labour. 
Cie<-ro.  that  i:reat  master  of  eloquence,  frequently  confessed,  or  declared,  that  words 
failed  him.  Tins,  however,  may  be  thought  to  have  been  uttered  as  a  mere  figure 
•  •h  ;  and  some  may  say,  that  the  imperfection  I  speak  of,  is  but  an  incident 
of  the  common  weakness  or  ignorance  of  human  nature  ;  and  that  if  a  man  always 
knew  what  to  say  to  an  other  in  order  to  persuade  or  confute,  to  encourage  or  terrify 
him,  lie  would  always  succeed,  and  no  insufficiency  of  this  kind  would  ever  be 
felt  or  imagined.  This  also  is  plausible  ;  but  is  the  imperfection  less,  for  being 
sometimes  traceable  to  an  ulterior  source  ?  Or  is  it  certain  that  human  languages 
u>ed  by  perfect  wisdom,  would  all  be  perfectly  competent  to  their  common  purpose? 
And  if  some  would  be  found  less  so  than  others,  may  there  not  be  an  insufficiency 
in  the  very  nature  of  them  all  ? 

li'J.  If  there  is  imperfection  in  any  instrument,  there  is  so  much  the  more  need 

of  care  and  skill  in  the  use  of  it.     Duncan,  in  concluding  his  chapter  about  words 

s  of  our  ideas,  says,  "  It  is  apparent,  that  we  are  sufficiently  provided  with 

the  means  of  communicating  our  thoughts  one  to  another ;  and  that  the  mistakes 

uently  complained  of  on  this  head,  are  wholly  owing  to  ourselves,  in  not 

sufficiently  defining   the   terms  we   use,  or   perhaps   not  connecting  them  with 

clear  and  determinate  ideas." — Logic,  p.  69.     On  tjje  other  hand,  we  find  that  some 

of  the  best  and  wisest  of  men  confess  the  inadequacy  of  language,  while  they  also 

deplore  its  misuse.     But,  whatever  may  be  its  inherent  defects,  or  its  culpable 

it  i-  still  to  be  honoured  as  almost  the  only  medium  for  the  communication 

of  thought  and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge.     Bishop  Butler  remarks,  in  his  Analogy 

.  ( a  most  valuable  work,  though  defective  in  style,)  "  So  likewise  the 

is  attending  the  only  method  by  which  nature  enables  and  directs  us  to 

communicate  our  thoughts  to  each  other,  are  innumerable.     Language  is,  in  its 

•suire.  inadequate,  ambiguous, liable  to  infinite  abuse,  even  from  negligence; 

liable  to  it  from  design,  that  every  man  can  deceive  and  betray  by  it." — 

Part  ii,  Chap.  8.     Lord  Kames,  too,  seconds  this  complaint,  at  least  in  part : 

*'  Lamentable  is  the  imperfection  of  language,  almost  in  every  particular  that  falls 

not  under  external  sense.     I  am  talking  of  a  matter  exceedingly  clear  in  the 

'ion,  and  yet  I  find  no  small  difficulty  to  express  it  clearly  in  words." — 

Elements  of  CV/V/V/.s///,  i,  p.  86.     "All  writers,"  says  Sheridan,  "seem  to  be 

under  the  influence  of  one  common  delusion,  that  by  the  help  of  words  alone,  they 

can  communicate  all  that  passes  in  their  minds." — Lectures  on  Elocution,  p.  xi. 

•J:J.   Addix-n   also,  in  apologizing  for  Milton's  frequent  use  of  old  words  and 
foreign  idi< ;  ''I  may  further  add,  that  Milton's  sentiments  and  ideas  were 

so  wonderfully  sublime,  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  him  to  have  repre- 
sented them  in  their  full  strength  and  beauty,  without  having  recourse  to  these 
<hir    liiinjinHjc    smtk  under  Itim,  and  was   unequal  to  that 
which  furnished  him  with  such  glorious  conceptions." — Spectator, 
l>r.  Johnson  seems  to  regard  as  a  mere  compliment  to 
:  for  of  Milton  he  says,   "  The  truth  is,  that  both  in  prose  and  verse,  he 
•yle  by  a  ]>cr\ei>e  and  pedantick  principle."     But  the  grandeur 
of  his  thou  f  denied  by  the  critic;  nor  is  his  language  censured  without 

qualification.     "  Whatever  be  the  faults  of  his  diction,  he  cannot  want  the  praise 
of  ro]  Md  variety  :  he  was  master  of  his  language  in  its  full  extent ;  and 

iious  words  with  such,  diligence,  that  from  his  book  alone  the 
Art  of  English  1  t  ]>.-  learned." — Jbknton'tlAfeofMUton:  Lirrs.  p.  '.*'2. 

•J  1     A-  \\<  r  la  absta  1  are  empty  and  vain,  being  in  their  nature 

whii-h  derive  all  their  value  from  the  ideas  and  feelings  which 
'•lent  that  he  who  would  either  speak  or  write  well,  m • 

furnished  with  something  more  than  a  knowledge  of  sounds  and  letters.     Words 
fitly  spoken  are  indeed   both  j.i  >.  beautiful — "  like*  apples  of  gold  in  pic- 

tures of  silver."     But  it  is  not  for  him  whose  soul  is  dark,  whose  designs  are 


56  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  VI. 

selfish,  whose  affections  are  dead,  or  whose  thoughts  are  vain,  to  say  with  the  son 
of  Amram,  "  My  doctrine  shall  drop  as  the  rain,  my  speech  shall  distil  as  the 
dew  ;  as  the  small  rain  upon  the  tender  herb,  and  as  the  showers  upon  the  grass." — 
Deut.  xxxii,  2.  It  is  not  for  him  to  exhibit  the  true  excellency  of  speech,  because 
he  cannot  feel  its  power.  It  is  not  for  him,  whatever  be  the  theme,  to  convince 
the  judgement  with  deductions  of  reason,  to  fire  the  imagination  with  glowing 
imagery,  or  win  with  graceful  words  the  willing  ear  of  taste.  His  wisdom  shall 
be  silence,  when  men  are  present ;  for  the  soul  of  manly  language,  is  the  soul  that 
thinks  and  feels  as  best  becomes  a  man. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

OP  THE  OBIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE. 


"  Non  medicares  enim  tenebrae  in  sylva,  ubi  haec  captanda :  neque  eo,  quo  pervenire  volumus  semitae  tritae  : 
neque  non  in  tramitibus  quaedam  objecta,  quae  euntem  retinere  possent." — VARRO.  De  Lingua  Latina.  Lib. 
iv,  p.  4.  __.__ 

1.  In  order  that  we  may  set  a  just  value  upon  the  literary  labours  of  those  who, 
in  former  times,  gave  particular  attention  to  the  culture  of  the  English  language,  and 
that  we  may  the  better  judge  of  the  credibility  of  modern  pretensions  to  further 
improvements,  it  seems  necessary  that  we  should  know  something  of  the  course  of 
events  through  which  its  acknowledged  melioration  in  earlier  days  took  place. 
For,  in  this  case,  the  extent  of  a  man's  knowledge  is  the  strength  of  his  argument. 
As  Bacon  quotes  Aristotle,  "  Qui  respiciunt  ad  pauca,  de  facili  pronunciant."    He 
that  takes  a  narrow  view,  easily  makes  up  his  mind.     But  what  is  any  opinion 
worth,  if  further  knowledge  of  facts  can  confute  it  ? 

2.  Whatsoever  is  successively  varied,  or  has  such  a  manner  of  existence  as  time 
can  affect,  must  have  had  both  an  origin  and  a  progress ;  and  may  have  also  its 
particular  history,  if  the  opportunity  for  writing  it  be  not  neglected.     But  such  is 
the  levity  of  mankind,  that  things  of  great  moment  are  often  left  without  memo- 
rial while  the  hand  of  Literature  is  busy  to  beguile  the  world  with  trifles  or  with 
fictions,  with  fancies  or  with  lies.     The  rude  and  cursory  languages  of  barbarous 
nations,  till  the  genius  of  Grammar  arise  to  their  rescue,  are  among  those  transi- 
tory things  which  unsparing  time  is  ever  hurrying  away,  irrecoverably,  to  oblivion. 
Tradition  knows  not  what  they  were ;  for  of  their  changes  she  takes  no  account. 
Philosophy  tells  us,  they  are  resolved  into  the  variable,  fleeting  breath  of  the  suc- 
cessive generations  of  those  by  whom  they  were  spoken ;  whose  kindred  fate  it 
was,  to  pass  away  unnoticed  and  nameless,  lost  in  the  elements  from  which  they 
sprung. 

3.  Upon  the  history  of  the  English  language,  darkness  thickens  as  we  tread 
back  the  course  of  time.     The  subject  of  our  inquiry  becomes,  at  every  step,  more 
difficult  and  less  worthy.      We  have  now  a  tract  of  English  literature,  both  ex- 
tensive and  luminous ;  and  though  many  modern  writers,  and  no  few  even  of  our 
writers  on  grammar,  are  comparatively  very  deficient  in  style,  it  is  safe  to  affirm 
that  the  English  language  in  general  has  never  been  written  or  spoken  with  more 
propriety  and  elegance,  than  it  is  at  the  present  day.     Modern   English   we  read 
with  facility ;  and  that  which  was  good  two  centuries  ago,  though  considerably  anti- 
quated, is  still  easily  understood.       The  best  way,  therefore,  to  gain  a  practical 
knowledge  of  the  changes  which  our  language  has  undergone,  is,  to  read  some  of 


CHAP.   VI.]         OP   THE   ORIGIN   AND   HISTORY   0?   THE   ENGLISH   LANGUAGE.  57 

our  older  authors  in  retrograde  order,  till  the  style  employed  at  times  more  and 
more  remote,  becomes  in  some  degree  familiar.  Pursued  in  this  manner,  the 
study  will  be  less  difficult,  and  the  labour  of  the  curious  inquirer,  which  may  be 
suspended  or  resumed  at  pleasure,  will  be  better  repaid,  than  if  he  proceed  in 
the  order  of  history,  and  attempt  at  first  the  Saxon  remains. 

4.  The  value  of  a  language  as  an  object  of   study,  depends  chiefly  on   the 
character  of  the  books  which  it  contains ;  and,  secondarily,  on  its  connexion  with 
others  more  worthy  to  be  thoroughly  known.     In  this  instance,  there  are  several 
circumstances  which  are  calculated  soon  to  discourage  research.     As  our  language 
took  its  rise  during  the  barbarism  of  the  dark  ages,  the  books  through  which  its 
early  history  must  be  traced,  are  not  only  few  and  meagre,  but,  in  respect  to 
grammar,  unsettled  and  diverse.     It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  inquiries  of  this 
kind  will  ever  engage  the  attention  of  any  very  considerable  number  of  persons. 
Over  the  minds  of  the  reading  public,  the  attractions  of  novelty  hold  a  much 
greater  influence,  than  any  thing  that  is  to  be  discovered  in  the  dusk  of  antiquity. 
All  old  books  contain  a  greater  or  less  number  of  obsolete  words,  and  antiquated 
modes  of  expression,  which  puzzle  the  reader,  and  call  him  too  frequently  to  his 
glossary.     And  even  the  most  common  terms,  when  they  appear  in  their  ancient, 
unsettled  orthography,  are  often  so  disguised  as  not  to  be  readily  recognized. 

5.  These  circumstances  (the  last  of  which  should  be  a  caution  to  us  against 
innovations  in   spelling)    retard  the  progress  of  the  reader,  impose  a  labour  too 
great  for  the  ardour  of  his  curiosity,  and  soon  dispose  him  to  rest  satisfied  with  an 
ignorance,  which,  being  general,  is  not  likely  to  expose  him  to  censure.     For  these 

ancient  authors  are   little  read  ;  and  the  real  antiquary  is  considered  a 
man  of  odd  habits,  who,  by  a  singular  propensity,  is  led  into  studies  both  unfash- 
Me  and  fruitless — a  man  who  ought  to  have  been  born  in  the  days  of  old,  that 
he  might  have  spoken  the  language  he  is  so  curious  to  know,  and  have  appeared  in 
the  costume  of  an  age  better  suited  to  his  taste. 

!  lut  Learning  is  ever  curious  to  explore  the  records  of  time,  as  well  as  the 
regions   of  space  ;,  and  wherever  her  institutions  flourish,  she  will  amass   her 
•id  spread  them  before  her  votaries.     Difference  of  languages  she  easily 

i  nes  ;    but  the   leaden  reign  of  unlettered  Ignorance  defies  her  scrutiny. 

.  of  one  period  of  the  world's  history,  she  ever  speaks  with  horror — that  "  long 
\,"  during  which,  like  a  lone  Sibyl,  she  hid  her  precious  relics  in 
solitary  cells,   and  fleeing  from  degraded  Christendom,  sought  refuge  with  the 
ea-ti-rn  caliphs.     "  This  awful  decline  of  true  religion  in  the  world  carried  with  it 
aliim.-t  every  vestige  of  civil  liberty,  of  classical  literature,  and  of  scientific  knowl- 

and  it  will  generally  be  found  in  experience  that  they  must  all  stand  or  fall 

ir." — Hints  <>n  Toleration,  p.  263.  In  the  tenth  century,  beyond  which  we 
find  nothing  that  bears  much  resemblance  to  the  English  language  as  now  written,  this 
mental  darkness  appears  to  have  gathered  to  its  deepest  obscuration  ;  and,  at  that 
period,  Kugland  was  sunk  as  low  in  ignorance,  superstition,  and  depravity,  as  any 
other  part  of  Europe. 

•he  English  language  gradually  varies  as  we  trace  it  back,  and  becomes  at 
length  identified  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  ;  that  is,  with  the  dialect  spoken  by  the  Saxons 
after  their  settlement  in  England.  These  Saxons  were  a  fierce,  warlike,  unlettered 
iV'nn  ili-rmany  ;  whom  the  ancient  Britons  had  invited  to  their  assistance 
again>t  ilie  1'icts  and  Scots.  Cruel  and  ignorant,  like  their  Gothic  kindred,  who 
had  but  lately  overrun  the  Roman  empire,  they  came,  not  for  the  good  of  others, 
but  to  accommodate  t.  .  They  accordingly  sei/ed  the  country;  destroyed 

or  en-laved  the  ancient  inhabitants ;  or,  more  probably,  drove  the  remnant  of  them 
into  the  mountain.-  of  Wales.  Of  Welsh  or  ancient  British  words,  Charles 
Burke,  who  says  in  his  grammar  that  he  took  great  pains  to  be  accurate  in  his 

"f  derivation,  enumerates  but  one  hundred  and  eleven,  as  now  found  in  our 
language ;  and  Dr.  Johnson,  who  makes  them  but  ninety-five,  argues  from  their 


58  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    VI. 

paucity,  or  almost  total  absence,  that  the  Saxons  could  not  have  mingled  at  all  with 
these  people,  or  even  have  retained  them  in  vassalage. 

8.  The  ancient  languages  of  France  and  of  the  British  isles  are  said  to  have  pro- 
ceeded from  an  other  language  yet  more  ancient,  called  the  Celtic  ;  so  that,  from 
one  common  source,  are  supposed  to  have  sprung  the  present  Welsh,  the  present 
Irish,  and  the  present  Highland  Scotch.*     The  term  Celtic  Dr.  Webster  defines, 
as  a  noun,  "The  language  of  the  Celts;"  and,  as  an  adjective,  "  Pertaining  to 
the  primitive  inhabitants  of  the  south  and  west  of  Europe,  or  to  the  early  inhabi- 
tants of  Italy,  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Britain."     What  unity,  according  to  this,  there 
was,  or  could  have  been,  in  the  ancient  Celtic  tongue,   does  not  appear  from 
books,  nor  is  it  easy  to  be  conjectured. f     Many  ancient  writers  sustain  this  broad 
application  of  the  term  Celtce  or  Celts  ;  which,  according  to  Strabo's  etymology  of 
it,  means  horsemen, ,and  seems  to  have  been  almost  as  general  as  our  word  Indians. 
But  Caesar  informs  us  that  the  name  was  more  particularly  claimed  by  the  people 
who,  in  his  day,  lived  in  France  between  the  Seine  and  the  Garonne,  and  who  by 
the  Romans  were  called  Gatti,  or  Gauls. 

9.  The  Celtic  tribes  are  said  to  have  been  the  descendants  of  Gomer,  the  son 
of  Japhet.     The  English  historians  agree  that  the  first  inhabitants  of  their  island 
owed  their  origin  and  their  language  to  the  Celtce,  or  Gauls,  who  settled  on  the 
opposite  shore.     Julius  Caesar,  who  invaded  Britain  about  half  a  century  before  the 
Christian  era,  found  the  inhabitants  ignorant  of  letters,  and  destitute  of  any  history 
but  oral  tradition.      To  this,  however,  they  paid  great  attention,  teaching  every 
thing  in  verse.     Some  of  the  Druids,  it  is  said,  spent  twenty  years  in  learning  to 
repeat  songs  and  hymns  that  were  never  committed  to  writing.     These  ancient 
priests,  or  diviners,  are  represented  as  having  great  power,  and  as  exercising  it  in 
some  respects  beneficially  ;  but  their  horrid  rites,  with  human  sacrifices,  provoked 
the  Romans  to  destroy  them.     Smollett  says,  "  Tiberius  suppressed  those  human 
sacrifices  in  Gaul ;  and  Claudius  destroyed  the  Druids  of  that  country  ;  but  they 
subsisted  in  Britain  till  the  reign  of  Nero,  when  Paulus  Suetonius  reduced  the 
island  of  Anglesey,  which  was  the  place  of  their  retreat,  and  overwhelmed  them 
with  such  unexpected  and  sudden  destruction,  that  all  their  knowledge  and  tradi- 
tion, conveyed  to  them  in  the  songs  of  their  predecessors,  perished  at  once." — 
Smollett's  Hist,  of  Eng.  4to,  B.  i,  Ch.  i,  §  7. 

10.  The  Romans  considered  Britain  a  province  of  their  empire,  for  a  period 
of  about  five   hundred  years ;  but   the  northern   part   of  the   island  was   never 
entirely  subdued  by  them,  and  not  till  Anno  Domini  78,  a  hundred  and  thirty-three 
years  after  their  first  invasion  of  the  country,  had  they  completed  their  conquest  of 
England.     Letters  and  arts,  so  far  at  least  as  these  are  necessary  to  the  purposes 
of  war  or  government,  the  victors  carried  with  them ;  and  under  their  auspices 
some  knowledge  of  Christianity  was,  at  a  very  early  period,  introduced  into  Britain. 
But  it  seems  strange,  that  after  all  that  is  related  of  their  conquests,  settlements, 

*  "  The  language  which  is,  at  present,  spoken  throughout  Great  Britain,  is  neither  the  ancient  primitive 
speech  of  the  island,  nor  derived  from  it;  but  is  altogether  of  foreign  origin.  The  language  of  the  first 
inhabitants  of  our  island,  beyond  doubt,  was  the  Celtic,  or  Gaelic,  common  to  them  with  Gaul ;  from  which 
country,  it  appears,  by  many  circumstances,  that  Great  Britain  was  peopled.  This  Celtic  tongue,  which  is 
said  to  be  very  expressive  and  copious,  and  is,  probably,  one  of  the  most  ancient  languages  in  the  world, 
obtained  once  in  most  of  the  western  regions  of  Europe.  It  was  the  language  of  Gaul,  of  Great  Britain,  of 
Ireland,  and  very  probably,  of  Spain  also  ;  till,  in  the  course  of  those  revolutions  which  by  means  of  the 
conquests,  first,  of  the  Romans,  and  afterwards,  of  the  northern  nations,  changed  the  government, 
and,  in  a  manner,  the  whole  face  of  Europe,  this  tongue  was  gradunffy  obliterated ;  and  now  subsists  only  in 
the  mountains  of  Wales,  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  and  among  the  wild  Irish.  For  the  Irish,  the  Welsh, 
and  the  Erse,  are  no  other  than  different  dialects  of  the  same  tongue,  the  ancient  Celtic."—  Blair's  Rhetoric, 
Lect.  IX,  p.  85. 

t  With  some  writers,  the  Celtic  language  is  the.  Welsh  ;  as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  extract :  "  By  this 
he  requires  an  Impossibility,  since  much  the  greater  Part  of  Mankind  can  by  no  means  spare  10  or  11  Years 
of  their  Lives  in  learning  those  dead  Languages,  to  arrive  at  a  perfect  Knowledge  of  their  own.  But  by  this 
Gentleman's  way  of  Arguing,  we  ought  not  only  to  be  Masters  of  Latin  and  Greek,  but  of  Spanish,  Italian, 
High-Dutch.  Low-Dutch,  French,  the  Old  Sa,xon,  Welsh,  Runic,  Got/nc,and  IslamJic;  since  much  the  greater 
number  of  Words  of  common  and  general  Use  are  derived  from  those.  Tongues.  Nay,  by  the  snme  way  of  Itea- 
sonin^r  we  may  prove,  that  the  Romans  and  Greeks  did  not  understand  their  own  Tongues,  because  they  were 
not  acquainted  with  the  Welsh,  or  ancient  Celtic,  there  being  above  020  radical  Greet  Words  derived  from 
the  Celtic,  and  of  the  Latin  a  much  greater  Number."— Preface  to  Brightland's  Grammar,  p.  v. 


CHAP.  VI.]       OF   THK   ORIGIN   AND   HISTORY    OF   THE    ENGLISH   LANGUAGE.  59 

cities,  fortifications,  buildings,  seminaries,  churches,  laws,  &c.,  they  should  at  last 
have  left  the  Britons  in  so  helpless,  degraded,  and  forlorn  a  condition.  They  did 
not  sow  fimotnf  them  the  seeds  of  any  permanent  improvement. 

11.  The  Roman  government,  being  unable  to  sustain  itself  at  home,  withdrew 
its  forces  finally  from  Britain  in  the  year  446,  leaving  the  wretched  inhabitants 
rage  as  it  found  them,  and  in  a  situation  even  less  desirable.  Deprived 
of  their  native  resources,  their  ancient  independence  of  spirit,  as  well  as  of  the 
laws,  customs,  institutions,  and  leaders,  that  had  kept  them  together  under  their 
old  dynasties,  and  now  deserted  by  their  foreign  protectors,  they  were  apparently 
left  at  the  mercy  of  blind  fortune,  the  wretched  vicissitudes  of  which  there  was 
none  to  foresee,  none  to  resist.  The  glory  of  the  Romans  now  passed  away.  The 
mighty  fabric  of  their  own  proud  empire  crumbled  into  ruins.  Civil  liberty  gave 
place  to  barbarism  ;  Christian  truth,  to  papal  superstition  ;  and  the  lights  of  science 
were  put  out  by  both.  The  shades  of  night  gathered  over  all ;  settling  and 
condensing,  "  till  almost  every  point  of  that  wide  horizon,  over  which  the  Sun  of 
id  diffused  his  cheering  rays,  was  enveloped  in  a  darkness  more 
awful  and  more  portentous  than  that  which  of  old  descended  upon  rebellious 
Pharaoh  and  the  callous  sons  of  Ham." — Hints  on  Toleration,  p.  810. 

1  '1    The  Saxons  entered  Britain  in  the  year  449.     But  what  was  the  form  of 

f  that  time,  cannot  now  be  known.     It  was  a  dialect  of  the  Gothic 

ich  is  considered  the  parent  of  all  the  northern  tongues  of  Europe, 

some  few  of  Sclavonian   origin.     The  only  remaining  monument  of  the 

•"pyof  the  (i  os]  ids.  translated  by  Ulphilas ;  which  is  pi' 
I  railed,  from  its  embellishments,  the  Sih-er  Book.    This  old  work  has 
times   printed  in   England.     We  possess  not  yet  in  America  all  the 
advantage's  which  may  be  enjoyed  by  literary  men  in  the  land  of  our  ancestors ; 
t  the  stores  of  literature,  both  ancient  and  modern,  are  somewhat  more  familiar 
•han   is  there  supposed;  and  the  art  of  printing  is  fast  equalizing,  to  all 
that  cultivate  learning,  the  privilege  of  drinking  at  its  ancient  fountains. 

13.  It  is  neither  liberal  nor  just  to  argue  unfavourably  of  the  intellectual  or  the 
moral  condition  of  any  remote  age  or  country,  merely  from  our  own  ignorance  of 

It  is  true,  we  can  derive  from  no  quarter  a  favourable  opinion  of  the  state  of 
.gland  after  the  Saxon  invasion,  and  during  the  tumultuous  and  bloody  govern- 
:  the  heptarchy.     But  I  will  not  darken  the   picture  through  design.     If 
\\vre  done  to  the  few  names — to  (Jildas  the  wise,  the  memorialist  of  his 
country '<  sutP -rings  and  censor  of  the  nation's  depravity,  who  appears  a  solitary 
star  in  the  night  of  tin-  sixth  century — to  the  venerable  Bede,  the  greatest  theologian, 
:olar,  and  only  historian  of  the  seventh — to  Alcuin,  the  abbot  of  Canterbury, 
the  luminary  of  the  eighth — to  Alfred  the  great,  the  glory  of  the  ninth,  great  as  a 

M  in  the  evening  twilight  of  an  age  in  which 

i    not    read  ; — if  justice  were   done    to    all   such,  we   might  find 

sometlv  i  irk  and   rugged  times,  if  not  to  soften  the  grimness  of 

distinctness  of  feature. 

14.  Tn  tracing  the  history  of  our  1  Dr.  Johnson,  who  does  little  more 
than  give  examples,  eites   as  IIH   tir-                   :i   of  ancient    English,  a  portion  of 
kin_'  Alfred's  pa:                 in  imitation  ,,f  Uni'-thins.      Hut  this  lan-jungf  of  Alfred's 
is  not  Knfrli^h  ;  but  rather,  as  the  learned  doctor  himself  considered  it,  an  example 

11  in  its  highest  state  of  purity.     This  dialect  was  first  changed 
by  admixture  with  w<  d  from   the    Danish  and  the  Norman;  and,  still 

being  comparatively  rude  and   meagre,  afterwards  received  large   accessions  from 
in,  the  1-Yeiich.  the  Greek,  the  Dutch — till,  by  gradual  changes,  which  the 
ologigt  may  exhibit,  the  Vn-.'th  produced  a  lai:-_ru:!g.-  bearing  a  sufficient 

mblance  to  the  pi-  to  be  called  Kngli>h  at  this  day. 

1").    The  formation  of  our  lan-jurnr'1  cannot  with   propriety  be  dated  earlier  than 
the  thirteenth  century.     It  was  then  that  a  free  and  voluntaVy  amalgamation  of  its 


etvniol 
i* 


60  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    VI. 

chief  constituent  materials  took  place  ;  and  this  was  somewhat  earlier  than  we  date 
the  revival  of  learning.  The  English  of  the  thirteenth  century  is  scarcely 
intelligible  to  the  modern  reader.  Dr.  Johnson  calls  it  "  a  kind  of  intermediate 
diction,  neither  Saxon  nor  English ;  "  and  says,  that  Sir  John  Gower,  who  wrote  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  was  "  the  first  of  our  authors  who  can  be 
properly  said  to  have  written  English."  Contemporary  with  Gower,  the  father  of 
English  poetry,  was  the  still  greater  poet,  his  disciple  Chaucer ;  who  embraced 
many  of  the  tenets  of  Wickliffe,  and  imbibed  something  of  the  spirit  of  the 
reformation,  which  was  now  begun. 

16.  The  literary  history  of  the  fourteenth   and  fifteenth  centuries  is  full  of 
interest ;  for  it  is  delightful  to  trace  the  progress  of  great  and  obvious  improvement. 
The  reformation  of  religion  and  the  revival  of  learning  were  nearly  simultaneous. 
Yet  individuals  may  have  acted  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  latter,  who  had  little  to 
do  with  the  former ;  for  great  learning  does  not  necessarily  imply  great  piety, 
though,  as  Dr.  Johnson  observes,  "  the  Christian  religion  always  implies  or  produces 
a  certain  degree  of  civility  and  learning." — Hist.  Eng.  Lang,  before  his  4to  Diet. 
"  The  ordinary  instructions  of  the  clergy,  both  philosophical  and  religious,  gradually 
fell  into  contempt,  as  the  Classics  superseded  the  one,  and  the  Holy  Scriptures 
expelled  the  other.     The  first  of  these  changes  was  effected  by  the  early  gramma- 
rians of  Europe  ;  and  it  gave  considerable  aid  to  the  reformation,  though  it  had 
no  immediate  connexion  with   that  event.     The   revival  of  the  English  Bible, 
however,  completed  the  work  :  and  though  its  appearance  was  late,  and  its  progress 
was  retarded  in  every  possible  manner,  yet  its  dispersion  was  at  length  equally 
rapid,  extensive,  and  effectual." — Constable's  Miscellany,  Vol.  xx,  p.  75 

17.  Peculiar  honour  is  due  to  those  who  lead  the  way  in  whatever  advances 
human  happiness.     And,    surely,  our  just  admiration  of  the   character  of  the 
reformers  must  be  not  a  little  enhanced,  when  we  consider  what  they  did  for 
letters  as  well  as  for  the  church.     Learning  does  not  consist  in  useless  jargon,  in 
a  multitude  of  mere  words,  or  in  acute  speculations  remote  from  practice  ;  else  the 
seventeen  folios  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  the  angelical  doctor  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  the  profound  disputations  of  his  great  rival,  Duns  Scotus  the  subtle, 
for  which  they  were  revered  in  their  own  age,  had  not  gained  them  the  contempt 
of  all  posterity.     From  such  learning  the  lucid  reasoning  of  the  reformers  delivered 
the  halls  of  instruction.     The  school  divinity  of  the  middle  ages  passed  away  before 
the  presence  of  that  which  these  men  learned  from  the  Bible,  as  did  in  a  later  age 
the  Aristotelian  philosophy  before  that  which  Bacon  drew  from  nature. 

18.  Towards  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  WicklifFe  furnished  the 
first  entire  translation  of  the  Bible  into  English.     In  like  manner  did  the  Germans, 
a  hundred  and  fifty  years  after,  receive  it  in  their  tongue  from  the  hands  of  Luther ; 
who  says,  that  at  twenty  years  of  age,  he  himself  had  not  seen  it  in  any  language. 
WicklifFe 's  English  style  is  elegant  for  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  yet  very  different 
from  what  is  elegant  now.     This  first  English  translation  of  the  Bible,  being  made 
about  a  hundred  years  before  the  introduction  of  printing  into  England,  could  not 
have  been  very  extensively  circulated.     A  large  specimen  of  it  may  be  seen  in 
Dr.  Johnson's  History  of  the  English  Language.     Wickliffe  died  in  1384.     The 
art  of  printing  was  invented  about  1440,  and  first  introduced  into  England,  in 
1468 ;  but  the  first  printed  edition  of  the  Bible  in  English,  was  executed  in 
Germany.     It  was  completed,  October  5th,  1535. 

19.  "Martin  Luther,  about  the  year  1517,  first  introduced  metrical  psalmody 
into  the  service  of  the  church,  which  not  only  kept  alive  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
reformers,  but  formed  a  rallying  point  for  his  followers.     This  practice  spread  in 
all  directions ;  and  it  was  not  long  ere  six  thousand  persons  were  heard  singing 
together  at  St.  Paul's  Cross  in  London.     Luther  was  a  poet  and  musician ;  but 
the  same  talent  existed  not  in  his  followers.     Thirty  years  afterwards,  Sternhold 
versified  fifty-one  of  the  Psalms ;  and  in  1562,  with  the  help  of  Hopkins,  he 


CHAP.    VI.]        OF   THE   ORIGIN   AND   HISTORY   OF   THE   ENGLISH    LANGUAGE.  61 

completed  the  Psalter.  These  poetical  effusions  were  chiefly  sung  to  German 
melodies,  which  the  good  taste  of  Luther  supplied  :  but  the  Puritans,  in  a  subse- 
quent age.  nearly  destroyed  these  germs  of  melody,  assigning  as  a  reason,  that 
,1  he  so  simplified  as  to  suit  all  persons,  and  that  all  may  join." — 
G<ir>n,n-rx  Musir  of  X"f»rr,  p.  283. 

•Jn.   "  The  schools  and  colleges  of  England  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centu- 

re  not  governed  by  a  system  of  education  which  would  render  their  students 

ninent  either  as  scholars  or  as  gentlemen  :  tind  the  monasteries,  which  were 

•linaries,  even  until  the  reformation,  taught  only  the  corrupt  Latin  used 

ies.     The  time  however  was  approaching,  when  the  united  efforts 

•ihridge,  Linacre,  Sir  John  Cheke,  Dean  Colet,  Erasmus,  William  Lily, 

!     Mam,  &c.,  were  successful  in  reviving  the  Latin  tongue  in  all  its  purity ; 

and  even  in  exciting  a  taste  for  Greek  in  a  nation  the  clergy  of  which  opposed  its 

introduction   with    the   same  vehemence  which  characterized   their   enmity  to  a 

reformation  in  religion.     The  very  learned  Erasmus,  the  first  who  undertook  the 

teaching  of  the  Greek  language  at  Oxford,  met  with  few  friends  to  support  him; 

notwithstanding  Oxford  was  the  seat  of  nearly  all  the  learning  in  England." — 

MttceBtmy,  Vol.  xx,  p.  146. 

•21.  "  The  priests  preached  against  it,  as  a  very  recent  invention  of  the  arch- 
enemy ;  and  confounding  in  their  misguided  zeal,  the  very  foundation  of  their  faith, 
with  the  object  of  their  resentment,  they  represented  the  New  Testament  itself  as 
*  an  ii:  lanirerous  book,'  because  it  was  written  in  that  heretical  language. 

;'ter  the  accession  of  Henry  VIII.,  when  Erasmus,  who  had  quitted  Oxford 
returned   under  his  especial   patronage,  with  the  support  of  several 
'•lolars  and  powerful   persons,  hia  progress  was  still  impeded,  and  the 
1.     The  University  was  divided  into   parties,  called  Greeks  and 
latter  being  the  strongest,  from  being  favoured  by  the  monks ;  and 
"ks  were  driven  from  the  streets,  with  hisses  and  other  expressions  of 
It  was  not  therefore  until  Henry  VIII  and  cardinal  Wolsey  gave  it 
eir  positive  and  powerful  protection,  that  this  persecuted  language  was  allowed 
idly  studied,  even  in  the  institutions  dedicated  to  learning." — Ib.  p.  147. 
curious  extracts  are  adduced  to  show  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and 
then  to  be  surmounted  in  the  cause  of  learning.      This  popular 
k,  did  not  spring  from  a  patriotic  design  to  prefer  and  encourage 
literature ;    for  the  improvement  of  this  was  still  later,  and  the  great 
''  it  were  all  of  them  classical  scholars.     They  wrote  in  English,  not 
rhey  preferred  it,  but  because  none  but  those  who  were  bred  in  colleges, 
ml'l  read  any  thing  else  ;   and,  even  to  this  very  day,  the  grammatical  study  of 
i<  shamefully  neglected  in  what  are  called  the  higher  insti- 
M'^.      In  alleging  this  neglect,  I  speak  comparatively.     Every 
•'ii  cut. Ting  upon  the   practical  business  of   life,  will  find  it  of  far  more 
•H-e  to  him,  to  be  skillful  in  the  language  of  his  own  country  than  to  be 
for  any  knowledge  which  the  learned  only  can  appreciate.     "  Will 
••k  and    Latin,  or  [the]   translating  [of]   these 
ifo    Knirli-h.  avail   for  the   Purpose  of  acquiring  an  elegant  English 
— we  know  just  the  Reverse  from  woeful  Kxperionce  !     And,  as  Mr. 
.  Men  who  have  threshed  hard  at  Greek  and 

•  t-n  or  eleven  yea;  r.  are  very  often  deficient  in  their  own  Luii- 

—P  <>n.  8vo,  1784,  p.  xxi. 

That  the  progress  of  English  literature  in  early  times  was  slow,  will  not 
>in  wonderful  to  those  who  consider  what  is  affirmed  of  the  progress  of  other  arts, 
: mediately  connected   with   the  comforts  of  life.      "  Down  to  the  reiini  of 
•!i,  the  greater  part  of  the  hon^c^  in  considerable  towns,  had  no  chimneys: 
kindl'-l  against,  the  wall,  and  the  smoke  found  its  way  out  as  well  as  it 
could,  by  the  roof,  the  door,  or  the  windows.     The  houses  were  mostly  built  of 


62  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    VI. 

wattling,  plastered  over  with  clay ;  and  the  beds  were  only  straw  pallets,  with  a 
log  of  wood  for  a  pillow.  In  this  respect,  even  the  king  fared  no  better  than  his 
subjects ;  for,  in  Henry  the  Eighth's  time,  we  h'nd  directions,  '  to  examine  every 
night  the  straw  of  the  king's  bed,  that  no  daggers  might  be  concealed  therein.' 
A  writer  in  1577,  speaking  of  the  progress  of  luxury,  mentions  three  things 
especially,  that  were  *  marvellously  altered  for  the  worse  in  England ; '  the  multi- 
tude of  chimneys  lately  erected,  the  increase  of  lodgings,  and  the  exchange  of 
treen  platters  into 'pewter,  and  wooden  spoons  into  silver  and  tin  ;  and  he  complains 
bitterly  that  oak  instead  of  willow  was  employed  in  the  building  of  houses." — 
REV.  ROYAL  BOBBINS  :  Outlines  of  History,  p.  377. 

24.  Shakspeare  appeared  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth ;  outlived  her  thirteen  years ; 
and  died  in  1616,  aged  52.     The  English  language  in  his  hands  did  not  lack 
power  or  compass  of  expression.     His  writings  are  now  more  extensively  read,  than 
any  others  of  that  age  ;  nor  has  any  very  considerable  part  of  his  phraseology  yet 
become  obsolete.     But  it  ought  to  be  known,  that  the  printers  or  editors  of  the 
editions  which   are  now  read,  have  taken  extensive  liberty  in  modernizing  his 
orthography,  as  well  as  that  of  other  old  authors  still  popular.     How  far  such 
liberty  is  justifiable,  it  is  difficult  to  say.     Modern  readers  doubtless  find  a  conve- 
nience in  it.     It  is  very  desirable  that  the  orthography  of  our  language  should  be 
made  uniform,   and  remain   permanent.     Great  alterations  cannot  be  suddenly 
introduced  ;  and  there  is,  in  stability,  an  advantage  which  will  counterbalance  that 
of  a  slow  approximation  to  regularity.     Analogy  may  sometimes  decide  the  form  of 
variable  words,  but  the  concurrent  usage  of  the  learned  must  ever  be  respected,  in 
this,  as  in  every  other  part  of  grammar. 

25.  Among  the  earliest  of  the  English  grammarians,  was  Ben  Jonson,  tho 
poet ;  who  died  in  the  year  1637,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.     His  grammar,  (which 
Home  Tooke  mistakingly  calls  "  the  first  as  well  as  the  best  English  grammar,") 
is  still  extant,  being  published  in  the  several  editions  of  his  works.     It  is  a  small 
treatise,  and  worthy  of  attention  only  as  a  matter  of  curiosity.     It  is  written  in 
prose,  and  designed  chiefly  for  the  aid  of  foreigners.     Grammar  is  an  unpoetical 
subject,  and  therefore  not  wisely  treated,  as  it  once  very  generally  was,  in  verse. 
But  every  poet  should  be  familiar  with  the  art,  because  the  formal  principles  of 
his  own  have  always  been  considered  as  embraced  in  it.     To  its  poets,  too,  every 
language  must  needs  be  particularly  indebted  ;  because  their  compositions,  being 
in  general  more  highly  finished  than  works  in  prose,  are  supposed  to  present  tho 
language  in  its  most  agreeable  form.     In  the  preface  to  the  Poems  of  Edmund 
Waller,   published  in  1690,  the  editor  ventures  to  say,  "He  was,  indeed,  tho 
Parent  of  English  Verse,  and  the  first  that  shewed  us  our  Tongue  had  Beauty  and 
Numbers  in  it.     Our  Language  owes  more  to  Him,  than  the  French  does  to 
Cardinal  Richelieu  and  the  whole  Academy.  *  *  *  *  The  Tongue  came  into  His 
hands  a  rough  diamond :  he  polished  it  first ;  and  to  that  degree,  that  all  artists 
since  him  have  admired  the  workmanship,  without   pretending   to  mend  it." — 
British  Poets,  Vol.  ii,  1800  :    Waller's  Poems,  p.  4. 

26.  Dr.  Johnson  however,  in  his  Lives  of  the  Poets,  abates  this  praise,  that  he 
may  transfer  the  greater  part  of  it  to  Dryden  and  Pope.     He  admits  that,  "  After 
about  half  a  century  of  forced  thoughts  and  rugged  metre,  some  advances  towards 
nature  and  harmony  had  been  already  made  by  Waller  and  Denham ;"  but,  in 
distributing  the  praise  of  this  improvement,  he  adds,  "  It  may  be  doubted  whether 
Waller  and  Denham  could  have  over-born  [overborne'}  the  prejudices  which  had 
long  prevailed,  and  which  even  then  were  sheltered  by  the  protection  of  Cowley. 
The  new  versification,  as  it  was  called,  may  be  considered  as  owing  its  establishment 
to  Dryden  ;  from  whose  time  it  is  apparent  that  English  poetry  has  had  no  tenden- 
cy to  relapse  to  its  former  savageness." — Johnson '$ Life  of  Dryden:  Lives,  p. 
206.     To  Pope,  as  the  translator  of  Homer,  he  gives  this  praise  :  "  His  version 
may  be  said  to  have  tuned  the  English  tongue ;  for  since  its  appearance  no  writer, 


CHAP.   VII.]  CHANGES   AND    SPECIMENS   OF    TIIE    ENGLISH    LANGUAGE.  63 

however  deficient  in  other  powers,  has  wanted  melody." — Life  of  Pope :  Lives, 
p.  507.  Such  was  the  opinion  of  Johnson  ;  but  there  are  other  critics  who  object 
to  the  versification  of  Pope,  that  it  is  "  monotonous  and  cloying."  See,  in  Leigh 
Hunt's  Feast  of  the  Poets,  the  following  couplet,  and  a  note  upon  it : 

"  But  ever  since  Pope  spoiFd  the  ears  of  the  town 
With  his  cuckoo-song  verses  half  up  and  half  down." 

27.  The  unfortunate  Charles  I,  as  well  as  his  father  James  I,  was  a  lover  and 
promoter  of  letters.     lie  was  himself  a  good  scholar,  and  wrote  well  in  English, 
for  his  time  :  he  ascended  the  throne  in  1G25,  and  was  beheaded  in  1G4S.     Nor 
was  Cromwell  himself,  with  all   his  religious  and  military  enthusiasm,   wholly 

i»le  to  literary  merit.     This  century  was  distinguished  by  the  writings  of 

Milton,  Dryden,  Waller,  Cowley,  Denham,  Locke,  and  others;  and  the  reign  of 

Charles  II,  which  is  embraced  in  it,  has  been  considered  by  some  "  the  Augustan 

age  of  English  literature."     But  that  honour,  if  it  may  well  be  bestowed  on  any, 

belongs  rather  to  a  later  period.     The  best  works  produced  in  the  eighteenth 

century,  are  so  generally  known  and  so  highly  esteemed,  that  it  would  be  lavish  of 

the  narrow  space  allowed  to  this  introduction,  to  speak  particularly  of  their  merits. 

jrammatieal  errors  may  be  found  in  almost  all  books ;  but  our  language  was, 

•  •nil,   written  with  great  purity  and  propriety  by  Addison,  Swift,  Pope, 

Johnson,  Luwth,  Hume,  Home,  and  many  other  celebrated  authors  who  flourished 

iry.     Nor  was  it  much  before  this  period,  that  the  British  writers 

took  any  great  pains  to  be  accurate  in  the  use  of  their  own  language  : 

"  Late,  very  late,  correctness  grew  our  care, 
When  the  tir'd  nation  breath'd  from  civil  war." — Pope. 

28.  English  books  began  to  be  printed  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century ; 
and,  as  soon  as  a  taste  for  reading  was  formed,  the  press  threw  open  the  flood-gates 
of  general  knowledge,  the  streams  of  which  are  now  pouring  forth,  in  a  copious, 
increasing,  but  too  often  turbid  tide,  upon  all  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth. 
This  mighty  engine  afforded  a  means  by  which  superior  minds  could  act  more 
.'tliricntly  and  more  extensively  upon  society  in  general.     And  thus,   by  the 

genius  adorned  with  learning,  our  native  tongue  has  been  made  the 
>li>hed  vehicle  of  the   most  interesting  truths,  and  of  the  most  important  discov- 
aini   has   Uvoiiie   a  language  copious,  strong,  refined,  and  capable  of  no 
lerablo  degree  of  harmony.     Nay,  it  is  esteemed  by  some  who  claim  to  be 
competent  judges,  to  l>e  t'n  at,  the  richest,  the  most  elegant,  and  the  most 

:ible  of  sublime  imagery,  of  all  the  languages  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

[AXi'.ES  AND  SPECIMENS  OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE. 

M  Quot  enlm  verba,  et  nonnunquam  in  deterius,  hoc,  quo  yivimus,  wrculo,  partim  aliqua,  partim  nulM 
eeeaaitate  cogcuto,  mutata  suut  ?"— ROB.  AINSWORTH  :  Lat.  Diet.  4*o,  Pref.  p.  zi. 


1.   In  the  use  of  language,  every  one  chooses  his  words  from  that  common  stock 
which  he  has  learned,  and  applies  them  in  practice  according  to  his  own  hah' 
notions.     If  the  style  of  different  writers  of  th<  _'<j  is  various,  much  greater 

is  the  variety  which  appears  in  the  productions  of  different  ages.     Hence  the  date 


64  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  VII. 

of  a  book  may  often  be  very  plausibly  conjectured  from  the  peculiarities  of  its  style. 
As  to  what  is  best  in  itself,  or  best  adapted  to  the  subject  in  hand,  every  writer 
must  endeavour  to  become  his  own  judge.  He  who,  in  any  sort  of  composition, 
would  write  with  a  master's  hand,  must  first  apply  himself  to  books  with  a  scholar's 
diligence.  He  must  think  it  worth  his  while  to  inform  himself,  that  he  may  be 
critical.  Desiring  to  give  the  student  all  the  advantage,  entertainment,  and 
satisfaction,  that  can  be  expected  from  a  work  of  this  kind,  I  shall  subjoin  a  few 
brief  specimens  in  illustration  of  what  has  been  said  in  the  foregoing  chapter.  The 
order  of  time  will  be  followed  inversely ;  and,  as  Saxon  characters  are  not  very 
easily  obtained,  or  very  apt  to  be  read,  the  Koman  letters  will  be  employed  for  the 
few  examples  to  which  the  others  would  be  more  appropriate.  But  there  are  some 
peculiarities  of  ancient  usage  in  English,  which,  for  the  information  of  the  young 
reader,  it  is  proper  in  the  first  place  to  explain. 

2.  With  respect  to  the  letters,  there  are  several  changes  to  be  mentioned.  (1.) 
The  pages  of  old  books  are  often  crowded  with  capitals  :  it  was  at  one  time  the 
custom  to  distinguish  all  nouns,  and  frequently  verbs,  or  any  other  important 
words,  by  heading  them  with  a  great  letter.    (2.)  The  letter  Ess,  of  the  lower  case, 
had  till  lately  two  forms,  the  long  and  the  short,  as  f  and  s ;  the  former  very 
nearly  resembling  the  small  f,  and  the  latter,  its  own  capital.     The  short  s  was 
used  at  the  end  of  words,  and  the  long/,  in  other  places ;  but  the  latter  is  now 
laid  aside,  in  favour  of  the  more  distinctive  form.     (3.)  The  letters  /and  /were 
formerly  considered  as  one  and  the  same.     Hence  we  find  hallelujah  for  halleluiah, 
lolin  for  John,  iudgement  for  judgement,  &c.     And  in  many  dictionaries,  the 
words  beginning  with  /are  still  mixed  with  those  which  begin  with  /.    (4.)  The 
letters  £7 and  Fwere  mixed  in  like  manner,  and  for  the  same  reason;  the  latter 
being  a  consonant  power  given  to  the  former,  and  at  length  distinguished  from  it 
by  a  different  form.     Or  rather,  the  figure  of  the  capital  seems  to  have  been  at 
last  appropriated  to  the  one,  and  that  of  the  small  letter  to  the  other.     But  in  old 
books  the  forms  of  these  two  letters  are  continually  confounded  or  transposed. 
Hence  it  is,  that  our  Double-u  is  composed  of  two  Vees  ;  which,  as  we  see  in  old 
books,  were  sometimes  printed  separately ;  as,  VV  or  vv. 

3.  The  orthography  of  our  language,  rude  and  unsettled  as  it  still  is  in  many 
respects,  was  formerly  much  more  variable  and  diverse.     In  books  a  hundred  years 
old  or  more,  we  often  find  the  most  common  words  spelled  variously  by  the  same 
writer,  and  even  upon  the  very  same  page.     With  respect  to  the  forms  of  words, 
a  few  particulars  may  here  be  noticed  :  (1.)  The  article  an,  from  which  the  n  was 
dropped  before  words  beginning  with  a  consonant  sound,  is  often  found  in  old  books 
where  a  would  be  more  proper ;  as,  an  heart,  an  help,  an  hill,  an  one,  an  use. 
(2.)  Till  the  seventeenth  century,  the  possessive  case  was  written  without  the 
apostrophe ;  being  formed  at  different  times,  in  es,  is,  ys,  or  s,  like  the  plural ;  and 
apparently  without  rule  or  uniformity  in  respect  to  the  doubling  of  the  final  conso- 
nant :  as  Goddes,  Godes,  Godis,  Godys,  or  Gods,  for  God's  ;  so  mannes,  mannis, 
mannys  or  mans,  for  man's.    Dr.  Ash,  whose  English  Grammar  was  in  some  repute 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  argued  against  the  use  of  the  apostrophe, 
alleging  that  it  was  seldom  used  to  distinguish  the  possessive  case  till  about  the 
beginning  of  that  century  ;  and  he  then  prophesied  that  the  time  would  come, 
when  correct  writers  would  lay  it  aside  again,  as  a  strange  corruption,  an  improper 
"departure  from  the  original  formation"  of  that  case  of  English  nouns.     And, 
among  the  speculations  of  these  latter  days,  I  have  somewhere  seen  an  attempt  to 
disparage  this  useful  sign,  and  explode  it,  as  an  unsightly  thing  never  well  estab- 
lished.    It  does  not  indeed,  like  a  syllabic  sign,  inform  the  ear  or  affect  the  sound ; 
but  still  it  is  useful,  because  it  distinguishes  to  the  eye,  not  only  the  case,  but  the 
number,  of  the  nouns  thus  marked.     Pronouns,  being  different  in  their  declension, 
do  not  need  it,  and  should  therefore  always  be  written  without  it. 

4.  The  common  usage  of  those  who  have  spoken  English,  has  always  inclined 
rather  to  brevity  than  to  melody  ;  contraction  and  elision  of  the  ancient  terminations 


CHAP.  VII.]        CHANGES   AXD   SPECIMENS   OF   THE   ENGLISH   LANGUAGE.  65 

of  words,  constitute  no  small  part  of  the  change  which  has  taken  place,  or  of  the 
difference  which  perhaps  always  existed  between  the  solemn  and  the  familiar  style. 
In  ropeet  to  euphony,  however,  these  terminations  have,  certainly  nothing  to  boast; 
nor  does  the  i  ;  the  language  appear  to  be  that  in  which  they  were 

the  i  without  contraction.     That  dc^M-c  of  Huoothm-s  of  which 

the  tongue  was  anciently  -u>ceptiMe,  had  certainly  no  alliance  with  these  additional 
syllables  The  long  s<  c  'ings  which  constitute  the  declensions  and  conju- 

gations of  the  !;-ed  languages,  and  which  seem  to  chime  so  well  with  the 

sublimity  of  'i  th«-  majesty  of  the  Latin,  the  sweetness  of  the  Italian,  the 

dignity  of  the  Spanish,  or  the  pollSO  of  the;  !'n  och,  /"  ccrhml  any  place  in  English. 
n  to  onr  words  never  embraced  any  other  vowel  power  than  that 
of  the  short  e  or  i  ;  and  even  this  we  are  inclined  to  dispense  with,  whenever  we 
can;  so  that  ;r  grammatical   inflections  are,  to  the  ear,  nothing  but 

consonants  blended  with  the  final  syllables  of  the  words  to  which  they  are  added. 
Ing  for  the  fh>t  participle,  cr  for  the  comparative  degree,  and  est  for  the  superlative, 
are  indeed  ;;•!  bole  syllables;  but  the  ;  or  erf  for  preterits  and 

perfect  participles,  s  or  es  for  the  plural  number  of  nouns,  or  for  the  third  person 
singular  of  verbs,  and  st  or  est  for  the  second  person  singular  of  verbs,  nine  times 
in  ten,  fall  into  the  sound  or  syllable  with  which  the  primitive  word  terminates. 

o\\  commonly  used,  run  through  their  entire  conju- 

gation without  acquiring  a  single  syllable  from  inflection,  except  sometimes  when 
the  sound  of  d,  s,  or  st  cannot  be  added  to  them. 

5.  This  simplicity,  so  characteristic  of  our  modern  English,  as  well  as  of  the 
Saxon    tongue,  its    proper   parent,  is   attended  with   advantages   that   go   far   to 
comj  r  all  that  is  oonaeqnently  lost  in  euphony,  or  in  the  liberty  of  trans- 
position.    Our  for  i  the  moods  and  tenses,  by  means  of  a  few  separate 
auxiliaries                                and  mostly  without  inflection,  is  not  only  simple  and 
easy,  but  beautiful,  chaste.  and  strong.     In  my  opinion,  our  grammarians  have 
shown  far  more  affection  ti»r  the  obsolete  or  obsolescent  terminations  en^  eth,  est, 
and  filst.  than  tl:<  v  really  deserve.     Till  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
en  w                  mark  the  plural  number  of  verb-.  a>.  they  sayen  for  they  say  ;  after 
which,  it  appears  t.                .  q  dropped.     Before  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 

•ite  with  t/i  or  i-f/t  the  right  of  forming  the  third  person 

a>  the  Bible  and  other  grave  books  used  only  the  latter, 

v/een  the  solemn    and   the  familiar  style,  which 

well  known   at  this  day.     Thus  we   have.  He  runs,  walla,  ricks, 

.•i  in-lli,  ii'iilkvth.  rnk'tft,  reac/teth,  &c.,  for  the 

Aboii'  earlier,  the   use  of  the  second   person 

tded  in  polite  convert  institution  of  the  plural 

."tin  ;  and,  when  used    ii.  it  was  often  contracted,  so  as  to 

In   old   hook.s,  all  id    participles  that  were 

voimnciati'.n.  weiv  <•<  ntnict*  d  alVo,  in  some  way,  by 

the  v  ffy'st,  ast'ritSsf.  rrifdst  ;  "  "  tost, 

able.*    All  these,  and  Mich  as  are  like 
-  ial!y  write  dilii-n-n:  :  'led, 

tt-d,  finished. 
'ther  noticed  in  the  Grammar. 

I.     1  :    cr  TILK  MNhTKKNTli  CENTURY. 

6.  '.•  <r  to  an  J  A'./-"//,./,  //-/-///r//  in  1837. 


.th  of  his  ;  the  justice 

whi'  •;.  .,nd  to  the  i.  ur  warm 

.     I  j.  in   in    your  prayers   for  the 
I'm  \vhieh  vis  to  be  found  i  our 

holy  religion,  and  in  the  oUuviuiLt  of  itb  duties."  —  YK-IUKIA,  to  fa  Friends  Society. 

5 


66  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  VII. 

7.  From  President  Adams's  Eulogy  on  Lafayette. —  Written  in  1834. 

"  Pronounce  him  one  of  the  first  men  of  his  age,  and  you  have  yet  not  done  him 
justice.  Try  him  by  that  test  to  which  he  sought  in  vain  to  stimulate  the  vulgar  and 
selfish  spirit  of  Napoleon  ;  class  him  among  the  men  who,  to  compare  and  seat  themselves, 
must  take  in  the  compass  of  all  ages ;  turn  back  your  eyes  upon  the  records  of  time  ; 
summon  from  the  creation  of  the  world  to  this  day  the  mighty  dead  of  every  age  and 
every  clime ;  and  where,  among  the  race  of  merely  mortal  men,  shall  one  be  found, 
who,  as  the  benefactor  of  his  kind,  shall  claim  to  take  precedence  of  Lafayette  ? " — 
JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 

8.  From  President  Jackson's  Proclamation  against  Nullification. — 1832. 

"No,  we  have  not  erred  !  The  Constitution  is  still  the  object  of  our  reverence,  the 
bond  of  our  Union,  our  defence  in  danger,  the  source  of  our  prosperity  in  peace.  It 
shall  descend,  as  we  have  received  it,  uncorrupted  by  sophistical  construction,  to.  our 
posterity :  and  the  sacrifices  of  local  interest,  of  State  prejudices,  of  personal  animosities, 
that  were  made  to  bring  it  into  existence,  will  again  be  patriotically  offered  for  its 
support." — ANDREW  JACKSON. 

9.  From  a  Note  on  one  of  Robert  HaWs  Sermons. —  Written  about  1831. 

"After  he  had  written  down  the  striking  apostrophe  which  occurs  at  about  page  76 
of  most  of  the  editions — '  Eternal  God  !  on  what  are  thine  enemies  intent  !  what  are 
those  enterprises  of  guilt  and  horror,  that,  for  the  safety  of  their  performers,  require  to 
be  enveloped  in  a  darkness  which  the  eye  of  Heaven  must  not  penetrate ! ' — he  asked, 
1  Did  I  say  penetrate,  sir,  when  I  preached  it  ? '  '  Yes.'  <  Do  you  think,  sir,  I  may  venture 
to  alter  it  ?  for  no  man  who  considered  the  force  of  the  English  language,  would  use  a 
word  of  three  syllables  there,  but  from  absolute  necessity.'  '  You  are  doubtless  at 
liberty  to  alter  it,  if  you  think  well.'  « Then  be  so  good,  sir,  as  to  take  your  pencil, 
and  for  penetrate  put  pierce;  pierce  is  the  word,  sir,  and  the  only  word  to  be  used  there.'  " 
— OLINTHUS  GREGORY. 

10.  King  William's  Answer  to  an  Address. — Example  written  in  1830. 

"  I  thank  you  sincerely  for  your  condolence  with  me,  on  account  of  the  loss  which  I 
have  sustained,  in  common  with  my  people,  by  the  death  of  my  lamented  brother,  his 
late  Majesty.  The  assurances  which  you  have  conveyed  to  me,  of  loyalty  and  affec- 
tionate attachment  to  my  person,  are  very  gratifying  to  my  feelings.  You  may  rely 
upon  my  favour  and  protection,  and  upon  my  anxious  endeavours  to  promote  morality 
and  true  piety  among  all  classes  of  my  subjects." — WILLIAM  IV,  to  the  Friends. 

11.  Reign  of  George  IV,  1830  lack  to  1820.—  Example  written  in  1827. 

"  That  morning,  thou,  that  slumbered*  not  before, 
Nor  slept,  great  Ocean  !  laid  thy  waves  to  rest, 
And  hushed  thy  mighty  minstrelsy.     No  breath 
Thy  deep  composure  stirred,  no  fin,  no  oar ; 
Like  beauty  newly  dead,  so  calm,  so  still, 
So  lovely,  thou,  beneath  the  light  that  fell 
From  angel- chariots  sentinelled  on  high, 
Reposed,  and  listened,  and  saw  thy  living  change, 
Thy  dead  arise.     Charybdis  listened,  and  Scylla ; 
And  savage  Euxine  on  the  Thracian  beach 
Lay  motionless  :  and  every  battle  ship 
Stood  still ;  and  every  ship  of  merchandise, 
And  all  that  sailed,  of  every  name,  stood  still." 

ROBERT  POLLOK  :  Course  of  Time,  Book  VII,  line  634 — 647. 

*  The  author  of  this  specimen,  through  a  solemn  and  sublime  poem  in  ten  books,  generally^  simplified  the 
:  preterit  verb  of  the  second  person  singular,  by  omitting  the  termination  st  or  est,  whenever  his  measure  did 
not  require  the  additional  syllable.  But  his  tuneless  editors  have,  in  many  instances,  taken  the  rude  liberty 
both  to  spoil  his  versification,  and  to  publish  under  his  name  what  he  did  not  write.  They  have  given  him 
bad  proso  li/,  or  unutterable  karslim-x*  of  phraseology,  tot  the  sake  of  what  they  conceived  to  be  i.. 
So  Kirk/iam,  in  copying  the  foregoing  passage,  alters  in  as  he  will ;  and  alters  it  differently,  when  he  happens 
to  write  some  part  of  it  twice  •  as, 

"  That  morning,  thou,  that  slumberedst  not  before, 
Nor  slept,  great  Ocean  !  la'uht  thy  waves  at  rest, 
And  hushed  thy  mighty  minstrelsy.'" — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  203. 

Again  :  "  Thar,  morning,- thou,  that  slumber  (1st.  not  before, 

Nor  slept  st,  great  Ocean,  laidst  thy  waves  at  rest, 
And  kusk'dst  thy  mighty  minstrelsy."— Kirkkam^  Elocution,  p.  M. 


CHAP.  VII.]       CHANGES   AND    SPECIMENS   OP   THE   ENGLISH   LANGUAGE.  67 

II.    ENGLISH  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

12.  Reign  of  George  III,  1820  lack  to  1760.— Example  written  in  1800. 

"  There  is,  it  will  be  confessed,  a  delicate  sensibility  to  character,  a  sober  desire  of 
reputation,  a  wish  to  possess  the  esteem  of  the  wise  and  good,  felt  by  the  purest  minds, 
which  is  at  the  farthest  remove  from  arrogance  or  vanity.  The  humility  of  a  noble 
mind  scarcely  dares  approve  of  itself,  until  it  has  secured  the  approbation  of  others. 
Very  different  is  that  restless  desire  of  distinction,  that  passion  for  theatrical  display, 
which  inflames  the  heart  and  occupies  the  whole  attention  of  vain  men.  *  *  *  The 
truly  good  man  is  jealous  over  himself,  lest  the  notoriety  of  his  best  actions,  by 
blending  itself  with  their  motive,  should  diminish  their  value  ;  the  vain  man  performs 
the  same  actions  for  the  sake  of  that  notoriety.  The  good  man  quietly  discharges  his 
duty,  and  shuns  ostentation ;  the  vain  man  considers  every  good  deed  lost  that  is  not 
publickly  displayed.  The  one  is  intent  upon  realities,  the  other  upon  semblances  :  the 
one  aims  to  be  virtuous,  the  other  to  appear  so." — ROBERT  HALL  :  Sermon  on  Modern 
Infidelity. 

13.  From  Wathington't  Farewell  Address. — Example  written  in  1796. 

"  Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political  prosperity,  Religion  and 
Morality  are  indispensable  supports.  In  vain  would  that  man  claim  the  tribute  of 
patriotism,  who  should  labour  to  subvert  these  great  pillars  of  human  happiness,  these 
firmest  props  of  the  duties  of  men  and  citizens.  The  mere  politician,  equally  with  the 
pious  man,  ought  to  respect  and  cherish  them.  A  volume  could  not  trace  all  their 
connexions  with  private  and  publick  felicity.  Let  it  simply  be  asked,  where  is  the 
security  for  property,  for  reputation,  for  life,  if  the  sense  of  religious  obligation  desert 
the  oaths  which  are  the  instruments  of  investigation  in  courts  of  justice  ?  And  let  us 
with  caution  indulge  the  supposition,  that  morality  can  be  maintained  without  religion. 
Whatever  may  be  conceded  to  the  influence  of  refined  education  on  minds  of  a  peculiar 
-tructure ;  reason  and  experience  both  forbid  us  to  expect  that  national  morality  can 
prevail  in  exclusion  of  religious  principle." — GEOKGE  WASHINGTON. 

14.  From  Dr.  Johnson's  Life  of  Addison. — Example  written  about  1780. 

"That  he  always  wrote  as  he  would  think  it  necessary  to  write  now,  cannot  be 
affirmed  ;  his  instructions  were  such  as  the  character  of  his  readers  made  proper.  That 
general  knowledge  which  now  circulates  in  common  talk,  was  in  his  time  rarely  to  be 
found.  Men  not  professing  learning,  were  not  ashamed  of  ignorance  ;  and  in  the  female 
world,  any  acquaintance  with  books  was  distinguished  only  to  be  censured.  His 
purpose  was  to  infuse  literary  curiosity,  by  gentle  and  unsuspected  conveyance,  into 
*he  gay,  the  idle,  and  the  wealthy ;  he  therefore  presented  knowledge  in  the  most 
alluring  form,  not  lofty  and  austere,  but  accessible  and  familiar.  When  he  shewed 
them  their  defects,  he  shewed  them  likewise  that  they  might  easily  be  supplied.  His 
attempt  succeeded ;  inquiry  was  awakened,  and  comprehension  expanded.  An  emulation 
of  intellectual  elegau  ited,  and  from  this  time  to  our  own,  life  has  been  gradually 

exalted,  and  conversation  purified  and  enlarged." — SAMUEL  JOHN  s  p.  321. 

15.  Reign  of  George  If,  17GO  back  to  1727. — Example  icritten  i.-i  1751, 

Hritons  incur  time  have  been  remarkable  borrowers,  as  our  /»?//'/;'     >?  Language 
may  sufficiently  shew.     <  >ur  Term-*  uijxjltte  Literature  prove,  that  this  came  from  Gr< 

S'-jrms  in  itutic  and  /'•? //<///</,  th.v  / ,-  our  Phrase  in  Coo?;try  and 

I  Tar,  that  we  1  from  the  French ;  and  our  Phra-  .  that  we  were 

it  by  the  Flemings  and  L  These  many  and  very  different  S  urces  of  our 

deficient  i  .      ' 

havo  thi-^  lie  defect,  that  what  we  want  in  W-cyance,  we  gain 

in  ('»/»  t  lew  L  t;:  .1  be  found  superior  to  our  own." 

— J.VMK-  II  \  .ok  iii,  Ch.  v,  }>. 

16.  Reign  of  Georn    I.  17-J7   >,.„&  to  1714.— K.cnmph  wriifsn  about  1718. 

"  There  is  a  certain  CM  ildness  and  indifference  in  the  phrases  of  our  European  languages, 
when  they  .'re  -•  .-r.nred  withtho  Orient;/  •  ••eech  :  and  it  happens  very  hi-  ;- 

that  the   Hebrew  idioms  run  into  li   tongue,   with  a  particular  grace  and 

beauty.     Our  I  and  imp;  :rom 

infusion  of  to  it  out  of  the  ;  \oly 

writ.     T!'  '.rni  and  ai 

that  are  to  be 
met  with  in  our  tongu"."—  "fc/joe«,  p. 


68  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  VII. 

17.  Reign  of  Queen  Anne,  1714  to  1702. — Example  written  in  1708. 
"  Some  by  old  words  to  Fame  have  made  pretence, 

Ancients  in  phrase,  mere  moderns  in  their  sense  ; 

Such  labour' d  nothings,  in  so  strange  a  style, 

Amaze  th'  unlearn'd,  and  make  the  learned  smile." 
"  In  words,  as  fashions,  the  same  rule  will  hold  ; 

Alike  fantastick,  if  too  new  or  old : 

Be  not  the  first  by  whom  the  new  are  try'd, 

Nor  yet  the  last  to  lay  the  old  aside." 

ALEXANDER  POPE  :  Essay  on  Criticism,  1.  324 — 336. 

HI.    ENGLISH  OF   THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

- 18.  Reign  of  William  III,  1702  to  1689.—  Example  published  in  1700. 

"  And  when  we  fee  a  Man  of  Milton's  Wit  Chime  in  with  fuch  a  Herd,  and  Help  on 
the  Cry  againft  Hirelings !  We  find  How  Eafie  it  is  for  Folly  and  Knavery  to  Meet,  and 
that  they  are  Near  of  Kin,  tho  they  bear  Different  Afpects.  Therefor  since  Milton 
has  put  himfelf  upon  a  Level  with  the  Quakers  in  this,  I  Mill  let  them  go  together. 
And  take  as  little  Notice  of  his  Buffoonry,  as  of  their  Dulnefs  againft  Tythes.  Ther  is 
nothing  worth  Quoting  in  his  Lampoon  againft  the  Hirelings.  But  what  ther  is  of 
Argument  in  it,  is  fully  Coniider'd  in  what  follows." — CHARLES  LESLIE  :  Divine  Right  of 
Tithes,  Pref.  p.  xi. 

19.  Reign  of  James  II,  1689  back  to  1685. — Example  written  in  1685. 

"  His  conversation,  wit,  and  parts, 
His  knowledge  in  the  noblest  useful  arts, 

Were  such,  dead  authors  could  not  give ; 

But  habitudes  of  those  who  live ; 
Who,  lighting  him,  did  greater  lights  receive : 

He  drain' d  from  all,  and  all  they  knew ; 
His  apprehension  quick,  his  judgment  true  : 

That  the  most  learn' d  with  shame  confess 
His  knowledge  more,  his  reading  only  less." 

JOHN  DBYDEN  :  Ode  to  the  Memory  of  Charles  II ;  Poems,  p.  84. 

20.  Reign  of  Charles  II,  1685  to  1660. — Example  from  a  Letter  to  the  Earl 
of  Sunderland,  dated,  "Philadelphia,  28^  bth  mo.  July,  1683." 

"  And  I  will  venture  to  say,  that  by  the  help  of  God,  and  such  noble  Friends,  I  will 
show  a  Province  in  seven  years,  equal  to  her  neighbours  of  forty  years  planting.  I  have 
lay'd  out  the  Province  into  Countys.  Six  are  begun  to  be  seated ;  they  lye  on  the  great 
river,  and  are  planted  about  six  miles  back.  The  town  platt  is  a  mile  long,  and  two 
deep, — has  a  navigable  river  on  each  side,  the  least  as  broad  as  the  Thames  at  Woolwych, 
from  three  to  eight  fathom  water.  There  is  built  about  eighty  houses,  and  I  have  set- 
tled at  least  three  hundred  farmes  contiguous  to  it." — WILLIAM  PENN  :  The  Friend,  vii. 

21.  From  an  Address  or  Dedication  to  Charles  II. —  Written  in  1675. 

"  There  is  no  [other]  king  in  the  world,  who  can  so  experimentally  testify  of  God's 
providence  and  goodness ;  neither  is  there  any  [other],  who  rules  so  many  free  people, 
so  many  true  Christians  :  which  thing  renders  thy  government  more  honourable,  thyself 
more  considerable,  than  the  accession  of  many  nations  filled  with  slavish  and  supersti- 
tious souls." — KOBERT  BARCLAY  :  Apology,  p.  viii. 

22.  The  following  example,  from  the  commencement  of  Paradise  Lost,  first 
published  in  1667,  has  been  cited  by  several  authors,  to  show  how  large  a  proportion 
of  our  language  is  of  Saxon  origin.     The  thirteen  words  in  Italics  are  the  only 
ones  in  this  passage,  which  seem  to  have  been  derived  from  any  other  source. 

"  Of  man's  first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit 
Of  that  forbidden  tree,  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  woe, 
With  loss  of  Eden ;  till  one  greater  Man 
Restore  us,  and  regain  the  blissful  seat, 
Sing,  heav'nly  Muse,  that  on  the  secret  top 
Of  Oreb,  or  of  Sinai,  didst  inspire 
That  shepherd,  who  first  taught  the  chosen  seed, 
In  the  beginning,  how  the  Heav'ns  and  Earth 
Rose  out  of  Chaos." — MILTON  :  Paradise  Lost,  Book  I. 


CHAP.  VII.]       CHANGES    AND   SPECIMENS    OF   THE    ENGLISH    LANGUAGE.  69 

23.   Esamplrs  written  fbmny  CromwetTs  Protectorate,  1660  to  1650. 

"  The  Quccne  was  pleased  to  shew  me  the  letter,  the  scale  bcinge  a  Roman  eagle, 
having-  characters  about  it  almost  like  the  Grecke.  This  day,  in  the  afternoone,  the 
vicc-chauncellor  came  to  me  and  stayed  about  four  hours  with  me ;  in  which  tyme  we 
conversed  upon  the  longe  debates." — WiUTr.i.ooK.i: :  Baches  Class.  Gram.,  p.  140. 

"  I  am  yet  heere,  and  have  the  States  of  Holland  intra^ed  in  a  more  than  ordnary 
manor,  to  procure  me  audience,  of  tli  ver  happen,  the  effects 

must  ncedes  be  good.' '-  \M>:  Biickes  Classical  Gram.,  p.  149. 

"24.  Reign  of  Charles  /,  1648  to  1625. — Example  from  Ben  Jonson's 
Grammar,  written  about  1634;  but  the  orthography  is  more  modcr 

"  The  second  and  third  person  singular  of  the  present  are  made  of  the  first,  by  adding 

est  and  cth ;   which  last  is  sometimes  shortened  into  s.     It  seemeth  to  have  been  poetical 

licence  which  first  introduced  this  abbreviation  of  the  third  person  into  use  ;  but  our 

immarians  have  condemned  it  upon  some  occasions,  though  perhaps  not  to  be 

absolutely  banished  the  common  and  familiar  style." 

"  The  persons  plural  keep  the  termination  of  the  first  person  singular.  In  former 
times,  till  about  the  reign  of  Henry  the  eighth,  they  were  wont  to  be  formed  by  adding 
en  ;  thus,  foven,  sayen,  complainen.  But  now  (whatever  is  the  cause)  it  hath  quite  grown 
out  of  use,  and  that  other  so  generally  prevailed,  that  I  dare  not  presume  to  set  this 
afoot  again  :  albeit  (to  tell  you  my  opinion)  I  am  persuaded  that  the  lack  hereof  well 
considered,  will  be  found  a  great  blemish  to  our  tongue.  For  seeing  lime  and  person  be, 
as  it  were,  the  riu'ht  and  left  hand  of  a  verb,  what  can  the  maiming  bring  else,  but  a 
lameness  to  the  whole  body  ? " — Book  i,  Chap.  xvi. 

;a  of  James  I,  1625  to  1603. — From  an  Advertisement,  dated  1608. 

"Isvppose  it  altogether  needlcsse  (Christian  Reader)  by  commending  M.  William 
.  the  Author  of  this  booke,  to  wooe  your  holy  affection,  which  either  himselfe  in 
his  life  time  by  his  Christian  conversation  hath  woon  in  you,  or  sithence  his  death,  the 
neucr-dying  memorie  of  his  excellent  knowledge,  his  great  humilitie,  his  sound  religion, 
his  painefull  labours,  in  the  Church  of  God,  doe  most  iustly  challenge 
at  your  hands  :  onely  in  one  word,  I  dare  be  bold  to  say  of  him.  as  in.  times  past  JN 'azianzen 
spake  of  At',  3  a  good  definition  of  a  true  minister  and  preacher  of 

the  Gospell." — The  Printer  to  the  Reader. 

Examples  written  about  the  end  of  Elizabeth' s  reign — 1603. 

"  Some  say,  That  euer  'gainst  that  season  comes 
Wherein  our  Saviour's  Birth  is  celebrated, 
The  Bird  of  Dawning  singeth  all  night  long; 
And  then,  say  they,  no  Spirit  dares  walk  abroad : 
The  nights  are  wholsom,  then  no  Planets  strike, 
! 'airy  takes,  nor  Witch  hath  pow'r  to  charm ; 
So  hallow'd  and  so  gracious  is  the  time." 

SHAKSPEARE  :  Hamlet. 

"  The  sea,  with  such  a  storme  as  his  bare  head 
In  hcll-blacke  ni^ht  indur'd,  would  haue  buoy'd  up 
And  quench' d  the  stellecl 

•mart,  he  holpe  the  hcucns  toraine. 
If  w. ilues  had  at  thy  gate  howl'd  that  sterne  time, 
Thou  shouldst  haue  said,  Good  porter,  turne  the  key." 

SHAKSPEARE  :  Lear. 

ENGLISH  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

of  A7/0//W/,.  1003  back  to  1558.— Example  written  in  1592. 

"As  for  the  soule,  it  is  no  accidcntaric  qualitie,  but  a  spirituall  and  inuisible  essence  or 
natti-  h  pluinely  appeares  in  that  the  soules  of  men  haue 

bei-ing  and  continu  ;i  forth  of  the  bodies  of  men  as  in  the  same  ;  and  are  as 

wel  subicet  to  torments  as  the   bodie  is.     And  whereas  we  can  and  doe  put  in  practise 
sunclric  actions  of  li.  .<>tion,  vnderstamlin:;,  we  doe  it  onely  by  the  power  and 

vcrtue  of  the  soule.        II.  lithe  difference  bctwecne   the  s.m'lrs  of   men,   and 

:nen  are  sub>t;mces  :   but  :  .['  other  creatures  >eeme  not  to 

they  haue  no  beeing  out  of  the  bodies  in  which  they  are." 

WILLIAM  PEKKINS  :    Thi-ul.  ll'urks,  folio,  p.  L;-}. 


70  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  VII. 

28.  Examples  written  about  the  beginning  of  Elizabeth's  reign. — 1558. 

"  Who  can  perswade,  -vvh.cn  treason  is  aboue  reason ;  and  mighte  ruleth  righte ;  and 
it  is  had  for  lawfull,  whatsoever  is  lustfull ;  and  commotioners  are  better  than  commis- 
sioners ;  and  common  woe  is  named  common  weale  ?" — SIR  JOHN  CHEKE. 

"If  a  yong  jentleman  will  venture  him  selfe  into  the  companie  of  ruffians,  it  is  over 
great  a  jeopardie,  lest  their  facions,  maners,  thoughts,  taulke,  and  dedes,  will  veriesone 
be  over  like." — ROGER  ASCHAM. 

29.  Reign  of  Mary  the  Bigot,  1558  to  1553. — Example  written  about  1555. 

"  And  after  that  Philosophy  had  spoken  these  wordes  the  said  company e  of  the  musys 
poeticall  beynge  rebukyd  and  sad,  caste  downe  their  countenaunce  to  the  grounde,  and 
by  blussyng  confessed  their  shamefastnes,  and  went  out  of  the  dores.  But  I  (that  had 
my  syght  dull  and  blynd  wyth  wepyng,  so  that  I  knew  not  what  woman  this  was 
hauyng  soo  great  aucthoritie)  was  amasyd  or  astonyed,  and  lokyng  downeward,  towarde 
the  ground,  I  began  pryvyle  to  look  what  thyng  she  would  saye  ferther." — COLVELLE  : 
Version  from  Botthius :  Johnson's  Hist,  of  E.  L.,  p.  29. 

30.  Example  referred  by  Dr.  Johnson  to  the  year  1553. 

«*  Pronunciation  is  an  apte  orderinge  bothe  of  the  voyce,  countenaunce,  and  all  the 
whole  bodye,  accordynge  to  the  worthines  of  such  woordes  and  mater  as  by  speache 
are  declared.  The  vse  hereof  is  suche  for  anye  one  that  liketh  to  haue  prayse  for 
tellynge  his  tale  in  open  assemblie,  that  hauing  a  good  tongue,  and  a  comelye 
countenaunce,  he  shal  be  thought  to  passe  all  other  that  haue  not  the  like  vtteraunce : 
thoughe  they  have  muche  better  learning." — DR.  WILSON  :  Johnson's  Hist.  E.  L.,  p.  45. 

31.  Reign  of  Edward  VI,  1553  to  1547.—  Example  written  about  1550. 

"  Who  that  will  folio  we  the  graces  manyfolde 
Which  are  in  vertue,  shall  finde  auauncement : 
Wherefore  ye  fooles  that  in  your  sinne  are  bolde, 
Ensue  ye  wisdome,  and  leaue  your  lewde  intent, 
Wisdome  is  the  way  of  men  most  excellent : 
Therefore  haue  done,  and  shortly  spede  your  pace, 
To  quaynt  your  self  and  company  with  grace." 

ALEXANDER  BARCLAY  :  Johnson's  Hist.  E.  L.t  p.  44. 

32.  Reign  of  Henry  VIII,  1547  to  1509. — Example  dated  1541. 

"  Let  hym  that  is  angry  euen  at  the  fyrste  consyder  one  of  these  thinges,  that  like  as 
he  is  a  man,  so  is  also  the  other,  with  whom  he  is  angry,  and  therefore  it  is  as  lefull 
for  the  other  to  be  angry,  as  unto  hym :  and  if  he  so  be,  than  shall  that  anger  be  to 
hym  displeasant,  and  stere  hym  more  to  be  angrye." — SIR  THOMAS  ELLIOTT  :  Castel  of 
Helthe. 

33.  Example  of  the  earliest  English  Blank  Verse  ;  written  about  1540.    The 
supposed  author  died  in  1541,  aged  38.     The  piece  from  which  these  lines  are 
taken  describes  the  death  of  Zoroas,  an  Egyptian  astronomer,  slain  in  Alexander's 
first  battle  with  the  Persians. 

"The  Persians  waild  such  sapience  to  foregoe ; 
And  very  sone  the  Macedonians  wisht 
He  would  have  lived ;  king  Alexander  selfe 
Demde  him  a  man  unmete  to  dye  at  all ; 
Who  wonne  like  praise  for  conquest  of  his  yre, 
As  for  stoute  men  in  field  that  day  subdued, 
Who  princes  taught  how  to  discerne  a  man, 
That  in  his  head  so  rare  a  jewel  beares ; 
But  over  all  those  same  Camenes,*  those  same 
Divine  Camenes,  whose  honour  he  procurde, 
As  tender  parent  doth  his  daughters  weale, 
Lamented,  and  for  thankes,  all  that  they  can, 
Do  cherish  hym  deceast,  and  sett  hym  free, 
From  dark  oblivion  of  devouring  death." 

Probably  written  by  SIR  THOMAS  WYAT. 

*  Camenes,  the  Muses,  whom  Horace  called  Camancr.  The  former  is  an  English  plural  from  the  latter,  or 
from  the  Latin  word  camena,  a  muse  or  song.  These  lines  are  copied  from  Dr.  Johnson's  History  of  the 
English  Language  ;  their  orthography  is,  in  some  respects,  toe  modtrn  for  the  age  to  which  they  are  assigned. 


CHAP.  VII.]       CHANGES   AND   SPECIMENS    OF   THE    ENGLISH    LANGUAGE.  71 

34.  A  Letter  written  from  prison,  with  a  coal.     The  writer,  Sir  Thomas  More, 
whose  works,  both  in  prose  and  verse,  were  considered  models  of  pure  and  elegant 
style,  had  been  Chancellor  of  England,  and  the  familiar  confidant  of  Henry  VIII, 
by  whose  order  he  was  beheaded  in  1 535. 

"  Myne  own  good  doughter,  our  Lorde  be  thanked  I  am  in  good  helthe  of  bodye,  and 
in  good  quiet  of  minde :  and  of  worldly  thynges  I  no  more  desyer  then  I  haue. 
beseche  hym  make  you  all  mery  in  the"  hope  of  heaucn.  And  such  thynges  as  I 
somewhat  longed  to  talke  with  you  all,  concerning  the  worlde  to  come,  our  Lorde  put 
theim  into  your  myndes,  as  I  truste  he  doth  and  better  to  by  hys  holy  spirite :  who 
blesse  you  and  preserue  you  all.  Written  wyth  a  cole  by  y  our 'tender  louing  father, 
who  in  hys  pore  prayers  forgetteth  none  of  you  all,  nor  your  babes,  nor  your  nources, 
nor  your  <:ood  husbandes,  nor  your  good  husbandes  shrewde  wyucs,  nor  your  fathers 
shrewde  wyfe  neither,  nor  our  other  frendes.  And  thus  fare  ye  hartely  well  for  lacke  of 
paper.  THOMAS  MORE,  knight." — Johnson's  Hist.  E.  Lang.,  p.  42. 

35.  From  More' s  Description  of  Richard  III. — Probably  written  about  1520. 
"  Richardc  the  third  sonne,  of  whom  we  nowe  entreate,  was  in.  witte  and  courage 

egall  with  either  of  them,  in  bodye  and  prowesse  farre  vnder  them  bothe,  little  of  stature, 
ill  fetured  of  limmes,  croke  backed,  his  left  shoulder  much  higher  than  his  right,  hard 
fauoured  of  visage,  and  such  as  is  in  states  called  warlye,  in  other  menne  otherwise, 
he  "was  malicious,  wrathfull,  enuious,  and  from  afore  his  birth  euer  frowarde.  *  *  *  Hee 
was  close  and  secrete,  a  deep  dissimuler,  lowlye  of  counteynaunce,  arrogant  of  heart — 
dispitious  and  crucll,  not  for  euill  will  alway,  but  after  for  ambicion,  and  either  for 
the  suretie  and  encreasc  of  his  estate.  Frende  and  foo  was  muche  what  indifferent, 
where  his  aduauntage  grew,  he  spared  no  mans  deathe,  whose  life  withstoode  his  purpose. 
He  slew  with  his  owne  handesking  Henry  the  sixt,  being  prisoner  in  the  Tower." — SIB 
THOMA  .''thnsons  History  of  the  English  Language,  p.  39. 

36.  Prom  his  description  of  Fortune ,  written  about  the  year  1500. 

"Fortune  is  stately,  solemne,  prowde,  and  hye  : 
And  rychesse  geueth,  to  haue  seruyce  therefore. 
The  nedy  begger  catcheth  an  half  peny : 
Some  manne  a  thousande  pounde,  some  lesse  some  more. 
But  for  all  that  she  kepeth  euer  in  store, 
From  cuery  manne  some  parcell  of  his  wyll, 
That  he  may  pray  therfore  and  serve  her  sty  11. 

Some  manne  hath  good,  but  chyldren  hath  he  none. 
Some  manne  hath  both,  but  he  can  get  none  health. 
Some  hath  al  thre,  but  vp  to  honours  trone, 
(.'an  he  not  crepe,  by  no  manor  of  stclth. 
To  some  she  sendeth  chyldren,  ryches,  welthe, 
Honour,  woorshyp,  and  reuerence  all  hys  lyfe : 
But  yet  she  pyncheth  hym  with  a  shrewde  wife." 

SIB  THOMAS  MOBB. 

V.     ENGLISH  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 

37 .  Example  for  the  reign  of  Henry  VII,  who  was  crowned  on  Bosworth 
field,  14S").  andwko  died  in  1509. 

"  \Vhercfor  and  forasmoche  as  we  haue  sent  for  our  derrest  wif,  and  for  our  derrest 
moder,  to  come  unto  us,  and  that  we  wold  have  your  advis  and  counsail  also  in  soche 
matters  as  we  haue  to  doo  for  the  subduying  of  the  rebelles,  we  praie  you,  that,  yeving 
your  due  attcndaunee  vppon  our  said  derrc^t  wit'  and  lady  moder,  ye  come  with  thaym 
unto  us;  not  tailing  hcrof  as  ye  purpose  to  doo  us  plaisir.  Yeven  undre  our  signett, 
at  our  Ca>t,< -11  .if  Kenelworth,  the  xiij  claie  of  Maye."— HKXBY  VII :  Letter  to  the  Earl  of 
Ormond:  lluck>'  '»'/•/////.,  p.  147. 

38.  Kmwfh-f'.r  the  short  reign  of  Richard  III,— from  1485  to  1483. 
"Right  n-vei-.-iid  fader  in  God,  rijjht  trusty  and  right  wel-belovcd,  we  grete  yow  wele, 

and  wol  and  eharge  you  that  under  oure  greate  scale,  being  in  your  warde,  ye  do  make 
in  all  haist  our  lett:  imation  severally  to  be  directed  unto  the  shirrefs  of  everie 

countie  within  this  oure  royaumc." — RICHAKU  III :  Letter  to  his  Chancellor. 

39.  Reign  of  Edward  IV.— from  1483  to  1461.— Example  written  tn!364. 

"  Forasmoche  as  we  by  divers  meanes  bene  credebly  cnformed  and  undarstand  for 
certyne,  that  owr  greate  adversary  Henry,  naminge  hyui'selfe  kynge  of  England,  by  the 


72  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  VII. 

maliceous  counseylo  and  exitacion  of  Margaret  his  wife,  namynge  hir  selfe  queane  of 
England,  have  conspired,"  &c. — EDWARD  IV:  Letter  of  Privy  Seal. 

40.  Examples  for  the  reign  of  Henry  VI,— from  1461  back  to  1422. 

"  When  Nembroth  [i.  e.  Nimrod]  by  Might,  for  his  own  Glorye,  made  and  incorporate 
the  first  Realme,  and  subduyd  it  to  hymself  by  Tyrannye,  he  would  not  have  it  governyd 
by  any  other  Rule  or  Lawe,  but  by  his  own  Will ;  by  which  and  for  th'  accomplishment 
thereof  he  made  it.  And  therfor,  though  he  had  thus  made  a  Realme,  holy  Scripture 
denyd  to  cal  hym  a  Kyng,  Quiet  Rex  dicitar  a  Regendo  •  Whych  tliyng  he  did  not,  but 
oppressyd  the  People  by  Myght." — SIR  JOHN  FORTESCUE. 

41.  Example  from  Lydgate,  a  poetical  Monk,  who  died  in  1440. 

"  Our  life  here  short  of  wit  the  great  dulnes 
The  heuy  soule  troubled  with  trauayle, 
And  of  memorye  the  glasyng  brotelnes, 
Drede  and  vncunning  haue  made  a  strong  batail 
With  worines  my  spirite  to  assayle, 
And  with  their  subtil  creping  in  most  queint 
Hath  made  my  spirit  in  makyng  for  to  feint." 

JOHN  LYDGATE  :  Fall  of  Princes,  Book  III,  Prol. 

42    Example  for  the  reign  of  Henry  V,—from  1422  back  to  1413. 

"I  wolle  that  the  Due  of  Orliance  be  kept  stille  withyn  the  Castil  of  Pontefret,  with 
owte  goyng  to  Robertis  place,  or  to  any  other  disport,  it  is  better  he  lak  his  disport  then 
we  were  disceyved.  Of  all  the  remanant  dothe  as  ye  thenketh." — Letter  of  HENRY  V. 

43.  Example  for  the  reign  of  Henry  IV,— from  1413  lack  to  1400. 

"  Right  heigh  and  myghty  Prynce,  my  goode  and  gracious  Lorde, — I  recommaund 
me  to  you  as  lowly  as  I  kan  or  may  with  all  my  pouer  hert,  desiryng  to  hier  goode  and 
gracious  tydynges  of  your  worshipful  astate  and  welfare." — LORD  GREY  :  Letter  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales:  Bucke's  Classical  Gram.,  p.  145. 

VI.  ENGLISH  OF  THE  FOURTEENTH  CENTURY. 

44.  Reign  of  Richard  II,  1400  back  to  1377. — Example  written  in  1391. 

"  Lytel  Lowys  my  sonne,  I  perceve  well  by  certaine  evidences  thyne  abylyte  to  lerne 
scyences,  touching  nombres  and  proporcions,  and  also  well  consydre  I  thy  besye  prayer 
in  especyal  to  lerne  the  tretyse  of  the  astrolabye.  Than  for  as  moche  as  a  philosopher 
saithe,  he  wrapeth  hym  in  his  frende,  that  condiscendeth  to  the  ryghtfull  prayers  of 
his  frende :  therefore  I  have  given  the  a  sufficient  astrolabye  for  oure  orizont,  compown- 
ed  after  the  latitude  of  Oxenforde  :  vpon  the  whiche  by  meditacion  of  this  lytell  tretise, 
I  purpose  to  teche  the  a  certaine  nombre  of  conclusions,  pertainynge  to  this  same  in- 
strument."— GEOFFREY  CHAUCER:  Of  the  Astrolabe. 

45.  Example  written  about  1385 — to  be  compared  with  that  0/1555,  on  p.  70. 

"And  tlvus  this  companie  of  muses  iblamed  casten  wrothly  the  chere  dounward  to 
the  yerth,  and  shewing  by  rednesse  their  shame,  thei  passeden  sorowfully  the  thresholde. 
And  I  of  whom  the  sight  plounged  in  teres  was  darked,  so  that  I  ne  might  not  know 
what  that  woman  was,  of  so  Imperial  aucthoritie,  I  woxe  all  abashed  and  stonicd,  and 
cast  my  sight  doune  to  the  yerth,  and  began  still  for  to  abide  what  she  would  doen 
afterward." — CHAUCER:  Version  from  Boethius:  Johnson' s  Hist,  of  E.  L.,  p.  29. 

46.  Poetical  Example — probably  written  before  1380. 

"  O  Socrates,  thou  stedfast  champion ; 

She  ne  might  nevir  be  thy  turmentour, 
Thou  nevir  dreddist  her  oppression, 

Ne  in  her  chere  foundin  thou  no  favour, 

Thou  knewe  wele  the  disceipt  of  her  colour, 

And  that  her  moste  worship  is  for  to  lie, 
I  knowe  her  eke  a  false  dissimulour, 

For  finally  Fortune  I  doe  defie." — CHAUCER. 

47.  Reign  of  Edward  III,  1377  to  1327.— Example  written  about  1360. 

"And  eke  full  ofte  a  littell  skare 
Vpon  a  bankc,  er  men  be  ware, 
Let  in  the  streme,  whiche  with  gret  peine, 
If  any  man  it  shall  restreine. 
Where  lawe  failleth,  errour  groweth  ; 
He  is  not  wise,  who  that  ne  troweth." — SIR  JOHN  GOWE». 


CHAP.  VII. J       CIIAN'IK-    AND    SPECIMENS    OP    TIIE    ENGLISH    LANGUAGE. 


73 


48.  /  7 '/'/'•?•///>>,  the  English  trar,>Ucr — wriftrn  in  1356. 

44  And  this  sterrc  that  is  toward  the  Northe,  that  wee  clepen  the  lode  stcrre,  ne  ap- 
perethe  not  to  hem.  For  whit-he  cause,  men  may  wel  pereeyve,  that  the  lond  and  the 
see  ben  of  rowivle  sehapp  and  forme.  For  the  partie  of  the  firmament  schewethe  in  o 
contree.  .  not  in  another  contree.  And  men  may  well  proven  be  experi- 

ence a-.  -nt  of  wytt,  that  /if  a  man  ton  1  be  schippes,  that 

wolde  go  to  serehen  the  world,  men  mighte  go  be  schippe  all  aboute  the  world,  and 
abovcn  then.     The  whiehe  thing  I  prove  thus,  aftre  that  I  have  scyn.  *    *    * 

Be  the  whiehe  I  »  rteynly,  that  men  may  envirowne  alle  the  erthe  of  alle  the 

world,  as  wel  mi'l  'ii,  and  turnen  a/en  to  his  contree,  that  hadde  companye 

ml  eonduyr  :  and  alle  weyes  he  scholde  fynde  men,  londes,  and  ylea, 
als  wel  as  in  this  contree." — SIK  JOHN  M.VNDUVIU.K  :  .Inltmon's  Hist,  of  E.  L.t  p.  26. 

49.  JZxample  from  the   Visions  of  Pierce  Ploughman,  1350. 


"In  the  soin 
When  hot  w;is  the  Sun, 
I  shope  me  into  shroubs, 
As  I  a  s hope  were ; 


In  habit  as  an  harmet, 
Vnholy  of  werkes, 
Went  wyde  in  this  world. 
Wonders  to  heare." 


50.    /  ••><>/  <t  SI,  !p— referred  to  the  reign  of  Edward  II:  1327-1307. 


"  Such  ne  saw  they  never  none, 
For  it  was  so  g;. 

:rave, 

.    Of  i  ive, 

Her  .it'  ivory, 

Of  sainyte  her  tly, 


Her  robes  all  of  whyte  sylk, 
As  whyte  as  ever  was  ony  mylke. 
The  noble  ship  was  without 
With  clothes  of  gold  spread  about 
And  her  loft  and  her  wyndlace 
All  of  gold  depaynted  was." 
ANONYMOUS  :  Btickes  Gram,  p 


143. 


51.  /  ll'iward  I,  who  reigned  till  1307 /row  1^ 


'  Thah  mi  ;  -of  stel, 

An:  tras, 

telle, 
That  g  K  I  ward  was: 

mqucrour, 

In  ueh  batlaillo  thou  hadest  ; 
God  bringe  thi  soule  to  the  honour, 
That  ever  we.s  ant  uv 


Now  i-;  Edward  of  Carnavan 

Kyng  of  Engelond  al  aplyght ; 
God  lete  him  never  be  worse  man 

Then  his  fader,  ne  lasse  myht, 
To  holden  his  pore  men  to  ryht, 

Ant  understonde  good  counsail, 
Al  Engelond  for  to  wysse  and  dyht ; 

Of  gode  knyhtes  darh  him  nout  fail." 
ANON  :  Percy's  Reliyuea,  Vol.  ii,  p.  10. 


.    ENGLISH  OF  THE  THIRTEENTH  CENTURY. 


n:>.    /  ',  I  If.  1-272  to  1216.—  Es.nnjilc  from  an  old  ballad  en- 

•  titled  Richard  of  Alin<ii<jne  ;  which  Percy  says  was  "  made  by  one  of  the  adhe- 
rent- of  .^i-  ii'  111  <ie  M'Mitturr.  earl  of  J^cicostcr,  soon  after  the  battle  of  Lewes, 
which  was  fought,  May  14,  1*3)4."—  Prrry's  li^i^irs,  Vol.  ii. 

'"th  alle  stille,  and  herkncth  to  me; 
The  kyug  of  Almaigne,  bi  mi  leaute, 
Thritti  tliousent  })ound  askede  he 
For  tc  make  the  pees  in  the  countre, 

he  dude  more. 

.rd,  thah  thou  be  ever  trie-hard, 
Trii'htcn  shalt  thou  never  more." 

53.  In  the  following  examples,  I  substitute  Roman  letters  for  the  Saxon.  At 
this  period.  \v«-  tin-1  the  ehara<-ters  mixed.  The  style  here  is  that  which  Johnson 
calls  "a  kind  "t  ite  diction,  neither  Saxon  nor  English."  Of  these 

liistorieal  i'r.  >'t>sfer,  the    l)nrtor  «riv«-s  us  more  than  two 

hundred  liu«->;  1'Ut  ho  date-  tln-m  no  further  than  to  wiy.  that  the  author  "is 
placed  by  the  criti<-::-  in  the  thirteenth  century."  —  Hist,  nf  Rug.  Lang.,  p.  U4. 

•nble  man,  as  in  the  tier  of  ^ace  he  nom 
Ired  and  syxty  and  tiielue  the  kyndom. 
Ar-t  In  me  ybe,  and,  vor  y>  .  <m, 

Thi  'ho  he  thuder  com, 

And  tae  kyniies  croune  of  hys  lond,  that  in  this  lond  gut  ys  : 
And  he  led  hym  to  be  kyng,  ar  he  kyng  were  y  wys. 


[CHAP.  YII. 


74  INTRODUCTION. 

An  he  was  kyng  of  Engelond,  of  alle  that  ther  come, 

That  vorst  thus  ylad  was  of  the  pope  of  Rome, 

An  suththe  other  after  hym  of  the  erchebyssopes  echon." 

"  Clerc  he  was  god  ynou,  and  gut,  as  me  telleth  me, 
He  was  more  than  ten  ger  old,  ar  he  couthe  ys  abece. 
Ac  ys  gode  moder  ofte  smale  gyftes  hym  tok, 
Tor  to  byleue  other  pie,  and  loky  on  ys  boke. 
So  that  by  por  clergye  ys  rygt  lawes  he  wonde, 
That  neuere  er  nere  y  mad  to  gouerny  ys  lond." 

ROBERT  OF  GLOUCESTER:  Johnson's  Hist,  of  E.  L.,  p.  25. 

54.  Reign  of  John,  1216  lack  to  1199. — Subject  of  Christ's  Crucifixion. 

"  I  syke  when  y  singe  for  sore  we  that  y  se 
When  y  with  wypinge  bihold  upon  the  tre, 
Ant  se  Jhesu  the  suete  ys  hert  blod  for-lete  - 
For  the  love  of  me; 
Ys  woundes  waxen  wete,  thei  wepen,  still  and  mete, 

Marie  reweth  me." 
i  ANON  :  Buckets  Gram.  p.  142. 


VTEI.    ENGLISH,  OR  ANGLO-SAXON,  OF  THE  TWELFTH  CENTURY. 

55.  Reign  of  Richard  I,  1199  lack  to  1189.—  Old  and  Nightingale. 

"  Ich  was  in  one  sum  ere  dale, 
In  one  snive  digele  pale, 
I  herde  ich  hold  grete  tale, 
An  hule  and  one  nightingale. 
That  plait  was  stif  I  stare  and  strong, 
Sum  wile  softe  I  lud  among. 


An  other  again  other  sval 

I  let  that  wole  mod  ut  al. 

I  either  seide  of  otheres  custe, 

That  alere  worste  that  hi  wuste 

I  hure  and  I  hure  of  others  songe 

Hi  hold  plaidung  futhe  stronge." 

ANON  :  Buckes  Gram.  p.  142. 


56.  Reign  of  Henry  II,  1189  back  to  1154.— Example  dated  1180. 


And  of  alle  than  folke 
The  wuneden  ther  on  folde, 
Wes  thisses  landes  folke 


Leodene  hendest  itald ; 
And  alswa  the  wimmen 
Wunliche  on  heowen." 

GODRIC  :  Bticke's  Gram.  p.  141. 


57.  Example  from  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  written  about  1160. 

"  Micel  hadde  Henri  king  gadered  gold  &  syluer,  and  na  god  ne  dide  me  for  his  saule 
thar  of.  Tha  the  king  Stephne  to  Engla-land  com,  tha  macod  he  his  gadering  a;t 
Oxene-ford,  &  thar  he  nam  the  biscop  Roger  of  Seres-beri,  and  Alexander  biscop  of  Lin- 
coln, &  te  Canceler  Roger  hife  neues,  &  dide  selle  in  prisun,  til  hi  jafen  up  here  castles. 
Tha  the  suikes  under gaeton  that  he  milde  man  was  &  softe  &  god,  &  na  justise  ne  dide ; 
tha  diden  hi  alle  wunder."  See  Johnson's  Hist,  of  the  Eng.  Language,  p.  22. 


58.  Reign  of  Stephen,  1154  to  1135. 

"  Fur  in  see  bi  west  Spaygne. 
Is  a  lond  ihone  Cokaygne. 
Ther  nis  lond  under  heuenriche. 
Of  wel  of  godnis  hit  iliche. 
Thoy  paradis  be  iniri  and  briyt. 
Cokaygne  is  of  fairer  siyt. 


— Example  written  about  this  time. 

What  is  ther  in  paradis. 
Bot  grasse  and  flure  and  greneris. 
Thoy  ther  be  ioi  and  gret  dute. 
Ther  nis  met  bot  senlic  frute. 
Ther  nis  halle  bure  no  bench. 
Bot  watir  manis  thurst  to  quench." 
ANON  :  Johnson's  Hist.  Eny.  Lang.  p.  23. 


59.  Reign  of  Henry  I,  1135  to  1100.— Part  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  Hymn. 


"  Heuene  &  crthe  &  all  that  is, 

Biloken  is  on  his  honde. 

He  deth  al  that  his  wille  is, 

On  sea  and  ec  on  londe. 

He  is  orde  albuten  orde, 
And  ende  albuten  ende. 

He  one  is  cure  on  eche  stede, 
Wende  wer  thu  wende. 


He  is  buuen  us  and  binethen, 
Biuoren  and  ec  bihind. 

Se  man  that  Godes  wille  deth, 
He  mai  hine  aihwar  uinde, 

Eche  rune  he  iherth, 

And  wot  eche  dede. 
He  durh  sigth  echos  ithanc, 

Wai  hwat  sel  us  to  rede. 


CHAP.  VII.]      CHANGES   AND   SPECIMENS   OF   THE   ENGLISH    LANGUAGE. 


75 


So  man  neure  ncle  don  god, 
No  neure  god  lif  leden, 

Er  deth  &  dom  come  to  his  dure, 
lie  inai  him  sore  adreden. 

Hunger  &  thurst  hete  &  chcle, 
Kc-the  and  all  xinhelthe, 

Durh  deth  com  on  this  midelard, 
And  other  uniselthe. 


Ne  mai  non  herte  hit  ithcnche. 

Ne  no  tunge  telle, 
Hu  muchele  pinum  and  hu  uele, 

Bieth  inne  hellc. 

Louie  God  mid  ure  hiertc, 
And  mid  all  ure  mihte, 
And  ure  emcristene  swo  us  self, 

Swo  us  lereth  drihte." 
ANON  :  Johnson's  Hist.  En-y.  Lang.  p.  21. 


IX. 


\XGLO-SAXON  OF  THE  ELEVENTH  CENTURY,  COMPARED  TVTTH 

ENGLISH. 


o 

s 


60.  Saxon.— llth  Cen- 
tury* 

LUC^l,  CAP.  I. 

"  5.  On  Herodes  dagum 
Indea  cynincgcs,  wa\s  sum 
sacerd  on  naman  Zacharias, 
of  Abian  tune  :  and  his  wif 
of  Aarones  dohtrum, 
and  hyre  nama  wses  Eliz- 
abeth. 

-"ithlioc  hig  wa?ron 
butu  rihtwi>c  bcforan  Gode, 
ganiremle  on  callum  his  be- 
bodum  and  rihtwisnessum, 
butan  wrohte. 

7.  And    hi<*   ntefdon  nan 
bearn,  forth  am  the  Elizabeth 
wa?s  unberende  ;  and  hy  on 
hyra  dagum  butu  forth-eo- 
dun. 

8.  Sothlice  wses  geworden 
Zai -lianas    hys    sacerd- 

a-cac  on  his  gewrix- 
endebyrdnesse    beforan 
Gode, 

Kftcr  gewunan  thus 
Baeerdhades  hlotes,  he  code 
that  he  his  offrunge  sette, 
tha  he  on  Godes  tempel 
eode. 

10.  Eall  werod  tha?s  folces 
W8B8    ute     gebiddende     on 
thaere  offrunge  timan. 

11.  Tha      aetywde      him 
Driht;  standi-nde 
on  tli:i-s  wcoibdes  swithran 
hcalfe. 

12.  Tha  weard  Zacharias 

-conde,  and 
onhreas. 

13.  Tha    cwieth   s> 

•  indni'd  thu  the 
.  tortham  tliin  ben 
gehvred,    and     thin    wif 
i/.abfth    the   sunu    centh, 
d  thu  nemst    liys  naman 
Johannes." — Saxon  Gospels. 


English. — 14th  Century. 

LTJK,  CHAP.  I. 

"5.  In  the  dayes  of  Er- 
oude  kyng  of  Judec  ther  was 
a  prest  Zacarye  by  name, 
of  the  sort  of  Abia  :  and  his 
\vyi'  was  of  the  doughtris  of 
Aaron,  and  hir  name  was 
Elizabeth. 

6.  And  bothe  weren  juste 
bifore  God,  goynge  in  alle 
the  maundementis  and  justi- 
fy in  gis  of  the  Lord,  with- 
outen  playnt. 

7.  And   thei    haddcn   no 
child,  for  Elizabeth  was  bar- 
eyn ;    and   bothe  weren   of 
greet  age  in  her  dayes. 

8.  And     it     befel     that 
whanne  Zacarye  schould  do 
the  office  of  presthod  in  the 
ordir  of  his  course  to  fore 
God, 

9.  Aftir  the  custom  of  the 
presthood,   he  wente   forth 
by  lot,  and  entride  into  the 
temple  to  encensen. 

10.  And  al  the  multitude 
of  the   puplc   was   without 
forth  and  preyede  in  the  our 
of  encensying. 

11.  And  an  aungel  of  the 
Lord  apperide  to  him,  and 
stood   on  the  right  half  of 
the  auter  of  encense. 

\'2.  And  Zacarye  seyin^e 
was  afrayed,  and  drede  fel 
upon  him. 

13.  And  the  aungel  sayde 
to  him,  Zacarye,  dredc  thou 
not;  for  thy  preier  is  herd, 
and  Elizabeth  thi  wif  schal 
'"•re  to  thee  a  sone,  and  his 
name  sehal  be  elcpid  Jon." 
''s  Bible,  1380. 


English. — 17th  Century. 

LUKE,  CHAP.  I. 

"  5.  There  was  in  the  days 
of  Herod  the  king  of  Judea, 
a  certain  priest  named  Zach- 
arias, of  the  course  of  Abia : 
and  his  wife  was  of  the 
daughters  of  Aaron,  and  her 
name  was  Elisabeth. 

6.  And   they   were    both 
righteous  before  God,  walk- 
ing in  all  the  commandments 
and  ordinances  of  the  Lord, 
blameless. 

7.  And  they  had  no  child, 
because  that  Elisabeth  was 
barren ;  and  they  both  were 
now  well  stricken  in  years. 

8.  And  it  came  to  pass, 
that  while  he  executed  the 
priest's  office  before  God  in 
the  order  of  his  course, 

9.  According  to  the  cus- 
tom of  the  priest's  office,  his 
lot  was  to  burn  incense  when 
he  went  into  the  temple  of 
the  Lord. 

10.  And  the  whole  multi- 
tude   of    the    people    were 
praying  without  at  the  time 
of  incense. 

11.  And    there  appeared 
unto  him   an   angel  of  the 
Lord,  standing  on  the  right 
side  of  the  altar  of  incense. 

12.  And  when  Zaehariae 
saw  him,  he  was  troubled, 
and  i'rar  fell  \ipon  him. 

13.  But  the  angel  said  un- 
to him,  Fear  Tint,  /arharias; 
for  thy  prayer  is  heard,  and 
thy  wife  Elisabeth  shall  bear 
thee  a  son,  and  thou  shalt 
call  his  name  John." 

Common  Bible,  1610. 


See  Dr.  Johnson's  History  of  the  English  Language,  in  his  Quarto  Dictionary. 

•The  Snxon  characters  being  known  nowadays  to  but  very  few  readers  I  have  thought  proper  to  gubstitute 
in  th«>  latter  ^.fdinuis  of  thfc  chapter,  the  Roman  ;  and,  as  the  old  use  of  colons  and  periods  for 
the  «niaHe*t  pauses,  is  liable  to  mislead  a  common  observer,  the  punctuation  too  hu  here  been  modernized. 


76  INTRODUCTION.  [CIIAP.  VIII. 

X.    ANGLO-SAXON  IN  THE  TIME  OF  KING  ALFRED. 

61.  Alfred  the  Great,  was  the  youngest  son  of  Ethelwolf,  king  of  the  West 
Saxons,  and  succeeded  to  the  crown  on  the  death  of  his  brother  Ethelred,  in  the 
year  871,  being  then  twenty-two  years  old.     He  had  scarcely  time  to  attend  the 
funeral  of  his  brother,  before  he  was  called  to  the  field  to  defend  his  country  against 
the  Danes.     After  a  reign  of  more  than  twenty-eight  years,  rendered  singularly 
glorious  by  great  achievements  under  difficult  circumstances,  he  died  universally 
lamented,  on  the  28th1  of  October,  A.D.  900.     By  this  prince  the  university  of 
Oxford  was  founded,  and  provided  with  able  teachers  from  the  continent.     His 
own  great  proficiency  in  learning,  and  his  earnest  efforts  for  its  promotion,  form  a 
striking  contrast  with  the  ignorance  which  prevailed  before.     "  In  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, throughout  the  whole  kingdom  of  the  West  Saxons,  no  man  could  be  found 
who  was  scholar  enough  to  instruct  the  young  king  Alfred,  then  a  child,  even  in 
the  first  elements  of  reading :  so  that  he  was  in  his  twelfth  year  before  he  could 
name  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.     When  that  renowned  prince  ascended  the  throne, 
he  made  it  his  study  to  draw  his  people  out  of  the  sloth  and  stupidity  in  which 
they  lay  ;  and  became,  as  much  by  his  own  example  as  by  the  encouragement  he 
gave  to  learned  men,  the  great  restorer  of  arts  in  his  dominions." — Life  of  Bacon. 

62.  The  language  of  eulogy  must  often  be  taken  with  some  abatement :   it  does 
not  usually  present  things  in  their  due  proportions.     How  far  the  foregoing  quota- 
tion is  true,  I  will  not  pretend  to  say ;  but  what  is  called  "  the  revival  of  learning," 
must  not  be  supposed  to  have  begun  at  so  early  a  period  as  that  of  Alfred.     The 
following  is  a  brief  specimen  of  the  language  in  which  that  great  man  wrote ;  bur, 
printed  in  Saxon  characters,  it  would  appear  still  less  like  English. 

"  On  threre  tide  the  Gotan  of  Siththiu  msogthe  -with  llomana  rice  gewin  upahofori. 
and  mith  heora  cyningum.  Rsedgota  and  Eallerica  wseron  hatne.  Romano  buri? 
abrajcon.  and  eall  Italia  rice  that  is  betwux  tham  muntxim  and  Sicilia  tham  ealondc  in 
anwald  gerehton.  and  tha  segter  tham.  foresprecenan  cyningum  Theodric  feng  to  thai  i 
ilcan  rice  se  Theodric  waes  Amulinga.  he  wses  Cristen.  theah  he  on  tham  Arrianisca  i 
gedwolan  durhwunode.  He  gehet  Romanum  his  freondscype.  swa  that  hi  mostan  heora 
ealdrichta  wyrthe  beon." — KING  ALFRED:  Johnson's  Hist,  of  E.  L.t  4to  Diet.  p.  17. 


CHAPTEK  VIII. 

OF  THE  GRAMMATICAL  STUDY  OP  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAG 


"  Grammatica  quid  est?  ars  recte  scribendi  recteque  loquendi ;  poetarum  enarrationem  continens;  omnium 
scientiarum  fons  uberrimus.  *  *  *  Nostra  aetas  parum  perita  veterum,  nimis  brcvi  gyro  grammaticum  sepsit : 
at  apud  antiques  olim  tantum  auctoritas  hie  ordo  habuit,  ut  censores  essent  et  judices  scriptorum  omnium  soli 
grammatici :  quos  ob  id  etiam  Criticos  vocabant." — DESPAUTEB.  Prezf.  ad  Synt.  fol.  1. 


1.  Such  is  the  peculiar  power  of  language,  that  there  is  scarcely  any  subject  so 
trifling,  that  it  may  not  thereby  be  plausibly  magnified  into  something  great ;  nor 
are  there  many  things  which  cannot  be  ingeniously  disparaged  till  they  shall  seem 
contemptible.  Cicero  goes  further  :  "  Nihil  est  tarn  incredibile  quod  non  dicendo 
fiat  probabile  ;" — "  There  is  nothing  so  incredible  that  it  may  not  by  the  power  of 
language  be  made  probable."  The  study  of  grammar  has  been  often  overrated, 
and  still  oftener  injuriously  decried.  I  shall  neither  join  with  those  who  would 
lessen  in  the  public  esteem  that  general  system  of  doctrines,  which  from  time  im- 
memorial has  been  taught  as  grammar;  nor  attempt,  either  by  magnifying  its  prac- 


CHAP.  VIII.]          GRAMMATICAL   STUDY   OF   THE   ENGLISH    LANGUAGE.  77 

tical  results,  or  by  decking  it  out  with  my  own  imaginings,  to  invest  it  with  any 
artificial  or  extraneous  importance. 

•J.  I  shall  not  follow  the  footsteps  of  Neef,  who  avers  that,  "Grammar  and 
incongruity  are  identical  things,"  and  who,  under  pretence  of  reaching  the  same 
end  by  letter  means,  scornfully  rejects  as  nonsense  every  tiling  that  others  have 
taught  under  that  name;  he-cause  1  am  convinced,  that,  of  all  met]  ''hing, 

none  gees  farther  than  his,  to  prove  the  reproachful  as>ertion  true.  Nor  shall  I 
imitate  the  declamation  of  Oardell;  who,  at  the  commencement  of  recom- 

:al  study  of  language  on  earth,  from  the  coiiMderation  that,  "The 
faculty  of  >peech  is  the  medium  of  social  bliss  for  superior  intelligences  in  an  eternal 
world;"*  and  who,  when  he  has  exhausted  censure  in  condemning  the  practical 
•ions  of  others,  thus  lavishes  praise,  in  both  his  grammars,  upon  that  form- 
ill,  and  incomprehensible  theory  of  his  own:  "  This  application  of  words," 
says  he,  "  in  their  endless  u>e,  by  one  plain  rule,  to  all  things  which  nouns  can 
name,  in>fead  of  being  the  fit  subject  of  blind  cavil,  is  the  most  sublime  theme  pre- 
>  fn.  h  is  the  practical  i.tti  rmnrse  of  the  soul,  at  once 

U'if/i  ifs  f.i'i'd,  ami  irit/i  all  parts  of  his  works!" — Carddl's  Cram,  llimo,  p.  87; 
Gram.  ISmo,  p.  49. 

3  Here,  indeed,  a  wide  prospect  opens  before  us;  but  he  who  traces  science, 
and  teaches  what  is  practically  useful,  must  check  imagination,  and  be  content 
with  sober  truth. 

r  apt  the  mind  or  fancy  is  to  rove 
Uncheck'd,  and  of  her  roving  is  no  end." — MILTON. 

ithin  its  proper  limits,  and  viewed  in  its  true  light,  the  practical  science 

iimar  has  an  intrinsic  dignity  and  merit  sufficient  to  throw  back  upon  any 

iiiun  who  dares  il  it,  the  lasting  stigma  of  folly  and  self-conceit.     It  is 

of  men  are  fallible,  and  many  opinions  are  liable  to  be  re- 

:  but  what  has  been  long  established  by  the  unanimous 

concurn-ni-c  of  the  learned,  it  can  hardly  be  the  part  of  a  wise  instructor  now  to  dis- 
pute.    The  literary  reform. •;  who,  with  the  last  named  gentleman,  imagines  "that 
iie  civilized  world  have  looked  up  for  instruction  in  language, 
;i  the  main  points,"!  intends  no  middle  course  of  reformation, 
and  i.  D  eiiher  of  great  merit,  or  of  little  modesty. 

I.    i  -iy  now  be  regarded  as  the  common  inheritance  of 

about  fifty  millions  <-f  peoj •!••  :  \\ho  are  at  least  as  highly  distinguished  for  virtue, 
.  and  i-nk-rpri-  other  equal  portion  of  the  earth's  population. 

All  tli-  i  in  the  purity,  permanency,  and  ri«;ht  use  of 

that  la:  i  e,  not  only  the  medium  of  mental  intercourse 

v.-ith  other-  for   them  and  their  children,  but  the  vehicle  of  all  they  value,  in  the 
ir.  i-r  in  the  transmission  of  their  own.     It  is  even  im- 
pertinent, to  •••lability,  that  the  study  of  this  his  native  lan- 
uee  and  inu-re.-t  :    if  be  does  not,  from  these 
1  it  to  be  so,  the  suggestion  will  be  less  likely  to 
convince  him,  than  t                         .  as  conveying  an  implicit  censure. 

5.   K\<   v  person  v* :  y  ambition  to  appear  K'.-pcctal'i"  among  people  of 

education,  whether  ii  .in  correspondence,  in  public   speaking,  or  in 

print,  nm>t   la-    awar  mpctent  knowledge  of  the 

language  in  which   he  attempt.-  H   hi.>  "thoughts.      Mnnv  a  ludicrou- 

-e  words  of  which  they  did  not  know  the 


York,  1S26.  p.  2.     This  writfr  was  a  ^rcat  admirer  of 

' 
und  of  whoM  MnMtionJ)  only  words  are  the  repreeenutires."— Diversions  oj  Purity,  Vol.  ii,  p.  9. 


78  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

proper  application  ;  many  a  ridiculous  blunder  has  been  published  to  the  lasting 
disgrace  of  the  writer ;  and  so  intimately  does  every  man's  reputation  for  sense 
depend  upon  his  skill  in  the  use  of  language,  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  acquire 
the  one  without  the  other.  Who  can  tell  how  much  of  his  own  good  or  ill  success, 
how  much  of  the  favour  or  disregard  with  which  he  himself  has  been  treated,  may 
have  depended  upon  that  skill  or  deficiency  in  grammar,  of  which,  as  often  as  he  has 
either  spoken  or  written,  he  must  have  afforded  a  certain  and  constant  evidence  '?* 

6.  I  have  before  said,  that  to  excel  in  grammar,  is  but  to  know  better  than  others 
wherein  grammatical  excellence  consists ;  and,  as  this  excellence,  whether  in  the 
thing  itself,  or  in  him  that  attains  to  it,  is  merely  comparative,  there  seems  to  be 
no  fixed  point  of  perfection  beyond  which  such  learning  may  not  be  carried.     In 
speaking  or  writing  to  different  persons,  and  on  different  subjects,  it  is  necessary 
to  vary  one's  style  with  great  nicety  of  address ;  and  in  nothing  does  true  genius 
more  conspicuously  appear,  than  in  the  facility  with  which  it  adopts  the  most  ap- 

gropriate  expressions,  leaving  the  critic  no  fault  to  expose,  no  word  to  amend, 
uch  facility  of  course  supposes  an  intimate  knowledge  of  all  words  in  common  use. 
and  also  of  the  principles  on  which  they  are  to  be  combined. 

7.  With  a  language  which  we  are  daily  in  the  practice  of  hearing,  speaking, 
reading,  and  writing,  we  may  certainly  acquire  no  inconsiderable  acquaintance, 
without  the  formal  study  of  its  rules.     All  the  true  principles  of  grammar  were 
presumed  to  be  known  to  the  learned,  before  they  were  written  for  the  aid  of 
learners ;  nor  have  they  acquired  any  independent  authority,  by  being  recorded  in 
a  book,  and  denominated  grammar.     The  teaching  of  them,  however,  has  tended 
in  no  small  degree  to  settle  and  establish  the  construction  of  the  language,  to 
improve  the  style  of  our  English  writers,  and  to  enable  us  to  ascertain  with  more' 
clearness  the  true  standard  of  grammatical  purity.     He  who  learns  only  by  rote, 
may  speak  the  words  or  phrases  which  he  has  thus  acquired  ;  and  he  who  has  the 
genius  to  discern  intuitively  what  is  regular  and  proper,  may  have  further  aid 
from  the  analogies  which  he  thus  discovers;  but  he  who  would  add  to  sucl 
acquisitions  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  what  is  right,  must  make  the  principles  ol' 
language  his  study. 

8.  To  produce  an  able  and  elegant  writer,  may  require  something  more  than  a 
knowledge  of  grammar  rules ;  yet  it  is  argument  enough  in  favour  of  those  rules, 
that  without  a  knowledge  of  them  no  elegant  and  able  writer  is  produced.     Who 
that  considers  the  infinite  number  of  phrases  which  words  in  their  various  combina- 
tions may  form,  and  the  utter  impossibility  that  they  should  ever  be  recognized 
individually  for  the  purposes  of  instruction  and  criticism,  but  must  see  the  absolute 
necessity  of  dividing  words  into  classes,  and  of  showing,  by  general  rules  of 
formation  and  construction,  the  laws  to  which  custom  commonly  subjects  them,  or 
from  which  she  allows  them  in  particular  instances  to  deviate  ?     Grammar,  or  the 
art  of  writing  and  speaking,  must  continue  to  be  learned  by  some  persons ;  because 
it  is  of  indispensable  use  to  society.     And  the  only  question  is,  whether  children 
and  youth  shall  acquire  it  by  a  regular  process  of  study  and  method  of  instruction, 
or  be  left  to  glean  it  solely  from  their  own  occasional  observation  of  the  manner  in 
which  other  people  speak  and  write. 

9.  The  practical  solution  of  this  question  belongs  chiefly  to  parents  and  guard- 
ians.    The  opinions  of  teachers,  to  whose  discretion  the  decision  will  somednies  be 
left,  must  have  a  certain  degree  of  influence  upon  the  public  mind ;  and  the 
popular  notions  of  the  age,  in  respect  to  the  relative  value  of  different  studies,  will 
doubtless  bias  many  to  the  adoption  or  the  rejection  of  this.     A  consideration  of 
the  point  seems  to  be  appropriate  here,  and  I  cannot  forbear  to  commend  the  study 
to  the  favour  of  my  readers ;  leaving  every  one,  of  course,  to  choose  how  much  he 
will  be  influenced  by  my  advice,  example,  or  arguments.     If  past  experience  and 

*  "  Quoties  dicimus.  totits  de  nob  is  judicature — Cicero.    "As  often  &s  we  speak,  so  often  are  we  judged." 


CHAP.  VIII.]          GRAMMATICAL   STUDY   OF   THE   ENGLISH    LANGUAGE.  79 

the  history  of  education  be  taken  for  guides,  the  study  of  English  grammar  will 
not  be  neglected ;  and  the  method  of  its  inculcation  will  become  an  object  of 
particular  inquiry  and  solicitude.  The  English  language  ought  to  be  learned  at 
school  or  in  colleges,  as  other  languages  usually  are  ;  by  the  study  of  its  grammar, 
accompanied  with  regular  exercises  of  parsing,  correcting,  pointing,  and  >»-anning  ; 
and  by  the  perusal  of  some  of  its  most  accurate  writers,  accompanied  with  >tated 
exercises  in  composition  and  elocution.  In  books  of  criticism,  our  language  IB 
already  more  abundant  than  any  other.  Some  of  the  best  of  these  the  student 
should  peruse,  as  soon  as  he  can  understand  and  relish  them.  Such  a  course, 
pursued  with  regularity  and  diligence,  will  be  found  the  most  direct  way  of  acquir- 
ing an  English  style  at  once  pure,  correct,  and  elegant. 

10.  If  any  intelligent  man  will  represent  English  grammar  otherwise  than  as 
one  of  the  most  useful  branches  of  study,  he  may  well  be  suspected  of  having 
formed  his  conceptions  of  the  science,  not  from  what  it  really  is  in  itself,  but  from 
some  of  those  miserable  treatises  which  only  caricature  the  subject,  and  of  which  it 
is  rather  an  advantage  to  be  ignorant.     But  who  is  so  destitute  of  good  sense  as  to 
deny,  that  a  graceful  and  easy  conversation  in  the  private  circle,  a  fluent  and 
agreeable  delivery  in  public  speaking,  a  ready  and  natural  utterance  in  reading  a 
pure  and  elegant  style  in  composition,  are  accomplishments  of  a  very  high  r.rd«.-r? 
And  yet  of  all  these,  the  proper  study  of  English  grammar  is  the  true  foundation. 
This  would  never  be  denied  or  doubted,  if  young  people  did  not  find,  under  -.me 
other  name,  better  models  and  more  efficient  instruction,  than  what  was  practised 
on  them  for  grammar  in  the  school-room.     No  disciple  of  an  able  grammarian  can 

ill  of  grammar,  unless  he  belong  to  that  class  of  knaves  who  vilify  what 
they  despair  to  reach. 

11.  By  taking  proper  advantage  of  the  ductility  of  childhood,  intelligent  parents 
and  judieious  teachers  may  exercise  over  the  studies,  opinions,  and  habits  of  youth 

\%  and  salutary  control ;  and  it  will  seldom  be  found  in  experience,  that  those 
who  have  been  early  taught  to  consider  grammatical  learning  as  worthy  and  manly, 
will  change  their  opinion  in  after  life.  But  the  study  of  grammar  is  not  so  enticing 
that  it  may  be  disparaged  in  the  hearing  of  the  young,  without  injury.  What 
would  be  the  natural  effect  of  the  following  sentence,  which  I  quote  from  a  late 
well- written  religious  homily?  "  The  pedagogue  and  his  dunce  may  exercise  their 
wits  correctly  enough,  in  the  way  of  grammatical  analysis,  on  some  splendid 
argument,  or  burst  of  eloquence,  or  thrilling  descant,  or  poetic  rapture,  to  the 
strain  and  soul  of  which  not  a  fibre  in  their  nature  would  yield  a  vibration." — ^  >c- 

Obsen-cr,  Vol.  ix,  p.  73. 

12.  Would  not  the  bright  boy  who  heard  this  from  the  lips  of  his  reverend 
minister,  be  apt  the  next  day  to  grow  weary  of  the  parsing  lesson  required  by  his 
schoolmaster?     And  yet  what  truth  is  there  in  the  passanv  '.'     One  can  no  more 

"f  the  fitness  of  language,  without  regard  to  the   meaning  conveyed  by  it, 

:'  a  suit  of  clothes,  without  knowing  for  whom   they   were 

•\  to  tin-  proper  application  of  ill  syntactical  rules,  is  the 

y  roiiip<,>ition  '^  faulty  which  does  not  rightly  deliver  the  author's 

ition  of  a  woi-,1  «,r  s.'ntenee  i~  v  erroneous,  in  which 

t!i;tt  Il;  -i'ully  noticed  and  literally  preserved.     To  parse  rightly 

«"d   tY  understand    rightly  >!-iin    fuliv 

is  well  expressed,  it  is  a  shame  either  to   misunderstand  or 
>ret. 

ly  conducted  and  liltenillv 

he  be  a  man  of  refined  literary 

.'.  an  I  write  his   native  lan^u;i-i-    gnmi      ticalljl        \ndwho 
will  deny  tint  ev  -ry 
<  mbelliM  the  \V'M  ni;d  uatu. 

:-o  many  distiuct  and  separable  agents,  which  are  usually  brought  into  . 


80  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

by  one ;  and  even  if  they  were,  there  might  be  found,  in  a  judicious  prosecution 
of  this  study,  a  healthful  employment  for  them  all.  The  imagination,  indeed, 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  elements  of  grammar  ;  but  in  the  exercise  of  composition, 
young  fancy  may  spread  her  wings  as  soon  as  they  are  fledged ;  and  for  this 
exercise  the  previous  course  of  discipline  will  have  furnished  both  language, 
taste,  and  sentiment. 

14.  The  regular  grammatical  study  of  our  language  is  a  thing  of  recent  origin. 
Fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  such  an  exercise  was  scarcely  attempted  in  any  of  the 
schools,  either  in  this  country  or  in  England.*     Of  this  fact  we  have  abundant 
evidence  both  from  books,  and  from  the  testimony  of  our  venerable  fathers  yet 
living.     How  often  have  these  presented  this  as  an  apology  for  their  own  deficien- 
cies, and    endeavoured    to   excite   us  to   greater   diligence,   by  contrasting   our 
opportunities  with   theirs  !     Is  there  not  truth,  is  there  not  power,  in  the  appeal  ? 
And  are  we  not  bound  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  privileges  which  they  have  provided, 
to  build  upon  the  foundations  which  their  wisdom  has  laid,  and  to  carry  forward 
the  work  of  improvement  V     Institutions  can  do  nothing  for  us,  unless  the  love  of 
learning  preside  over  and  prevail  in  them.     The  discipline  of  our  schools  can  never 
approach  perfection,  till  those  who  conduct,  and  those  who  frequent  them,  are 
strongly  actuated  by  that  disposition  of  mind,  which  generously  aspires  to  all 
attainable  excellence. 

15.  To  rouse  this  laudable  spirit  in  the  minds  of  our  youth,  and  to  satisfy  its 
demands  whenever  it  appears,  ought  to  be  the  leading  objects  with  those  to  whom 
is  committed  the  important  business  of  instruction.     A  dull  teacher,  wasting  time 
in  a  school-room  with  a  parcel  of  stupid  or  indolent  boys,  knows  nothing  of  the  satis- 
faction either  of  doing  his  own  duty,  or  of  exciting  others  to  the  performance  of 
theirs.     He  settles  clown  in  a  regular  routine  of  humdrum  exercises,  dreading  as  an 
inconvenience  even  such  change  as  proficiency  in  his  pupils  must  bring  on ;  and 
is  well  content  to  do  little  good  for  little  money,  in  a  profession  which  he  honoms 
with  his  services  merely   to  escape  starvation.     He  has,  however,  onu  merit :  he 
pleases  his  patrons,  and  is  perhaps  the  only  man  that  can  ;  for  they  must  needs  be 
of  that  class  to  whom  moral  restraint  is  tyranny,  disobedience  to  teachers,  as  often 
right  as  wrong ;  and  who,  dreading  the  expense,  even  of  a  school-book,  always 
judge  those  things  to  be  cheapest,  which  cost  the  least  and  last  the  longest.     What 
such  a  man,  or  such  a  neighbourhood,  may  think  of  English  grammar,  I  shall  not 
stop  to  ask. 

16.  To  the  following  opinion  from  a  writer  of  great  merit,  I  am  inclined  to 
afford  room  here,  because  it  deserves  refutation,  and,  I  am  persuaded,  is  not  so 
well  founded  as  the  generality  of  the  doctrines  with  which  it  is  presented  to  the 
public.     '•  Since  human  knowledge  is  so  much  more  extensive  than  the  opportunity 
of  individuals  for  acquiring  it,  it  becomes  of  the  greatest  importance  so  to  economize 
the  opportunity  as  to  make  it  subservient  to  the  acquisition  of  as  large  and  as 
valuable  a  portion  as  we  can.     It  is  not  enough  to  show  that  a  given  branch  of 
education  is  useful :  you  must  show  that  it  is  the  most  useful  that  can  be  selected. 
Remembering  this,  I  think  it  would  be  expedient  to  dispense  with  the  formal  study 
of  English  grammar, — a  proposition  which  I  doubt  not  many  a  teacher  will  hear 
with  wonder  and  disapprobation.     We  learn  the  grammar  in  order  that  we  may 
learn  English  ;  and  we  learn  English  whether  we  study  grammars  or  not.     Espe- 
cially we  shall  acquire  a  competent  knowledge  of  our   own  language,  if  other 
departments  of  our  education  were  improved." 

17.  "  A  boy  learns  more  English  grammar  by  joining  in  an  hour's  conversation 
with  educated  people,  than  in  poring  for  an  hour  over  Murray  or  Home  Tooke. 


CHAP.    VIII.]  GRAMMATICAL   STUDY   OF   THE   ENGLISH    LANGUAGE.  81 

If  he  is  accustomed  to  such  society  and  to  the  perusal  of  well-written  hooks,  he 
will  learn  English  grammar,  though  he  nc\  word  al>out  syntax  ;  and  if  he 

i>  H'.T  :;e.-n>rnmed  to  such  society  and  such  reading,  the  '  grammar  honks  '  at  a 
•r boarding-school  will  not  teach  it.  Men  loam  their  own  language  by  habit,  and 
not  by  rata  :  ami  this  is  just  what  we  might  expect ;  for  the  grammar  of  a  language 
is  itself  formed  from  the  prevalent  habits  of  speech  and  writing.  A  compiler  of 
grammar  thv  thoe  habits,  and  then  makes  his  rules  :  but  if  a  person  is 

hiniM-lf  familiar  with  the  habits,  why  study  the  rules?  I  say  nothing  of  grammar 
as  a  general  science;  because,  although  the  philosophy  of  language  be  a  valuable 
branch  of  human  knowledge,  it  were  idle  to  expect  that  school-boys  should  under- 
stand it.  The  objection  is,  to  the  system  of  attempting  to  teach  children  formally 
that  which  they  will  learn  practically  without  teaching." — JONATHAN  UYMOND  : 
Essay*  nn  Mnntlity.y.  \  !«.">. 

Iv  This  opinion,  proceeding  from  a  man  who  has  written  upon  human  affairs 
with  «o  much  ability  and  practical  good  sense,  is  perhaps  entitled  to  as  much  respect 
as  any  that  has  ever  been  urged  against  the  study  in  question.  And  so  far  as  the 
Objection  bears  upon  those  defective  methods  of  instruction  which  experience  has 
shown  to  be  inefficient,  or  of  little  use,  I  am  in  no  wise  concerned  to  remove  it. 
The  reader  of  this  treatise  will  find  their  faults  not  only  admitted,  but  to  a  great 
extent  purpo-  d  :  while  an  attempt  is  here  made,  as  well  as  in  mv  earlier 

grammars,  to  introduce  a  method  which  it  is  hoped  will  better  reach  the  end  proposed. 
Hut  it  may  easily  !••  :  that  thisauthor's  proportion  to  dispense  with  the  formal 

rhsfa  '.rrammar  is  founded  upon  an  untenable  assumption.      "Whatever 
may  I    Mirer  habr-  -h,  which  the  young  naturally 

ac<i  rsation  with  educated  people,  it  is  not  true,  that,  without  instruc- 

1.  they  will  of  themselves  become  so  well  educated  as  to  speak 

I  and  write  grammatically.    Their  language  may  indeed  be  comparatively  accurate  and 
it  is  learned  of  those  who  have  paid  some  attention  to  th"  study; 
•  •auiH't  always  be  preserved  from  hearing  vulgar  and  improper  phrase- 
ing  it  in  books,  they  cannot  otherwise  be  guarded  from  improprieties 
n,  than  by  a  knowledge  of  the  rules  of  grammar.      One  might  easily  back  this 
by  the  citation  of  >  M  of  faulty  sentences  from  the  pen  of  this  very 

able  writer  him- 
•here  can  be  no  mistake  in  the  opinion,  that  in  exact  proportion 
a?  T  :imiar  are  unknown  or  ne-leeted  in  any  country,  will  corruptions 

and  improprieties  of  Ian.  -in-iv  multiplied.    The  "  general  science"  of  gram- 

mar, or  ••  the  philosophy  of  language,'*  the  author  seeius  to  exempt,  and  in  some  sort 
to  commend  ;   and  at  the  same   time    \\\<    proposition   of    exclusion    i>   applied   not 
M-hool-grammars.  but  a  fnrtinri  to  this  science,  under  the  notion  that 
I 'nit  why  should  any  principle  of  irrammar  be 
account  of  the  extent  of  its   application?      Will   a    boy  pre- 
tend that  lie  r.-muMt  understand  a  rule  of  English  grammar,  because  he  i<  v>id  that 
i*  !•'•  ''  :i"  ':mj  Ancient  etymologies,  and   other  facts    in  literary 

ing  upon  the  cn-ditof  him  who  states  them  :   but 
irrammar  are  to  the  learner  the  easiest  and  th«-  most  im- 
portant principles  of  the  Ami  I  know  of  nothing  !•  the  true  phii,  -<.|,!iyof 
gu.-o.:.'.  which,  by  ]. roper  definitions  and  examples,  may  not   be   mi  -lli- 
M"                                  MM    principle.-   of    most  other   M-iences.      The  dihVulry  of 
••iii'jr  youth  in  any  thing  that    pertain^  to   laniruaire.  lies  not  so  much  in'the 
ct  that   its   philosophy                   their  rompreh,'n>i.,n.  a>  in  our  own  i-imrance  of 
•n.jiiiry  : — in  the  -rear  multiplicity  of  verbal  signs;   the 

frequent  contrariety  of  practice;  the  in;id.-,|uacv  of  memory;  tiie  invi  vracy  of 
ill  habi»>  ;  and  th-  little  interest  that  is  felt  when  WO  speak  m'erely  of  v. 

.natical  >tudy  of  our  Luigr,  ;rly  and  strongly  recommended 


*  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

by  Locke,*  and  other  writers  on  education,  whose  character  gave  additional  weight 
to  an  opinion  which  they  enforced  by  the  clearest  arguments.  But  either  for 
want  of  a  good  grammar,  or  for  lack  of  teachers  skilled  in  the  subject  and  sensible 
of  its  importance,  the  general  neglect  so  long  complained  of  as  a  grievous  imper- 
fection in  our  methods  of  education,  has  been  but  recently  and  partially  obviated. 
"  The  attainment  of  a  correct  and  elegant  style,"  says  Dr.  Blair,  "is  an  object 
which  demands  application  and  labour.  If  any  imagine  they  can  catch  it  merely 
by  the  ear,  or  acquire  it  by  the  slight  perusal  of  some  of  our  good  authors,  they 
will  find  themselves  much  disappointed.  The  many  errors,  even  in  point  of 
grammar,  the  many  offences  against  purity  of  language,  which  are  committed  by 
writers  who  are  far  from  being  contemptible,  demonstrate,  that  a  careful  study  of 
the  language  is  previously  requisite,  in  all  who  aim  at  writing  it  properly." — 
Rhetoric,  Lect  ix,  p.  91. 

21.  "To  think  justly,  to  write  well,  to  speak  agreeably,  are  the  three  great  ends 
of  academic  instruction.     The  Universities  will  excuse  me,  if  I  observe,  that  both 
are,  in  one  respect  or  other,  defective  in  these  three  capital  points  of  education. 
While  in  Cambridge  the  general  application  is  turned  altogether  on  speculative 
knowledge,  with  little  regard  to  polite  letters,  taste,  or  style  ;  in  Oxford  the  whole 
attention  is  directed  towards  classical  correctness,  without  any  sound  foundation  laid 
in  severe  reasoning  and  philosophy.     In  Cambridge  and  in  Oxford,  the  art  of 
speaking  agreeably  is  so  far  from  being  taught,  that  it  is  hardly  talked  or  thought 
of.      These  defects  naturally  produce  dry  unaffecting  compositions  in  the  one  ; 
superficial  taste  and  puerile  elegance  in  the  other ;  ungracious  or  affected  speech 
in  both." — DR.  BROWN,  1757  :  Estimate,  Vol.  ii,  p.  44. 

22.  "A  grammatical  study  of  our  own  language  makes  no  part  of  the  ordinary 
method  of  instruction,  which  we  pass  through  in  our  childhood ;  and  it  is  very 
seldom  we  apply  ourselves  to  it  afterward.     Yet  the  want  of  it  will  not  be  effec- 
tually supplied  by  any  other  advantages  whatsoever.     Much  practice  in  the  polite 
world,  and  a  general  acquaintance  with  the  best  authors,  are  good  helps  ;  but  alone 
[they]  will  hardly  be  sufficient :  We  have  writers,  who  have  enjoyed  these  advan- 
tages in  their  full  extent,  and  yet  cannot  be  recommended  as  models  of  an  accurate 
style.     Much  less  then  will,  what  is  commonly  called  learning,  serve  the  purpose ; 
that  is,  a  critical  knowledge  of  ancient  languages,  and  much  reading  of  ancient 
authors :  The  greatest  critic  and  most  able  grammarian  of  the  last  age,  when  he 
came  to  apply  his  learning  and  criticism  to  an  English  author,  was  frequently  at  a 
loss  in  matters  of  ordinary  use  and  common  construction  in  his  own  vernacular 
idiom." — DR  LOWTH,  1763:  Pref.to  Gram.  p.  vi. 

23.  "  To  the  pupils  of  our  public  schools  the  acquisition  of  their  own  language, 
whenever  it  is  undertaken,  is  an  easy  task.      For  he  who  is  acquainted  with 
several  grammars  already,  finds  no  difficulty  in  adding  one  more  to  the  number. 
And  this,  no  doubt,  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  English  engages  so  small  a  pro- 
portion of  their  time  and  attention.     It  is  not  frequently  read,  and  is  still  less 
frequently  written.     Its  supposed  facility,  however,  or  some  other  cause,  seems  to 
have  drawn  upon  it  such  a  degree  of  neglect  as  certainly  cannot  be  praised.     The 
students  in  those  schools  are  often  distinguished  by  their  compositions  in  the 
learned  languages,  before  they  can  speak   or  write  their  own  with  correctness, 
elegance,  or  fluency.     A  classical  scholar  too  often  has  his  English  style  to  form, 

*  "  To  Write  and  Speak  correctly,  give"  a  Grace,  and  .sains  a  favourable  Attention  to  what  one  has  to  say  ' 
And  since  'tis  English,  that  an  English  Gentleman  will  have  constant  use  of,  that  is  the  Language  he  should 
chiefly  Cultivate,  and  wherein  most  care  should  be  taken  to  polish  and  perfect  his  Stile.  To  speak  or  write 
better  Latin  than  English,  may  make  a  Man  be  talk'd  of,  but  he  would  find  it  more  to  his  purpose  to  Express 
himself  well  in  his  own  Tongue,  that  he  uses  every  moment,  than  to  have  the  vain  Commendation  of  others 
for  a  very  insignificant  quality.  This  I  find  universally  neglected,  and  no  care  taken  any  where  to  improve 
Young  Men  in  their  own  Language,  that  they  may  thoroughly  understand  and  be  Masters  of  it.  If  any  one 
among  us  have  a  faciliiy  or  purity  more  than  ordinary  in  his  Mother  Tongue,  it  is  owing  to  Chance,  or  his 
Genius,  or  any  thing,  rather  than  to  his  Education  or  any  care  of  his  Teacher.  To  Min  I  what  English  his 
Pupil  spi:;iks  or  wiitws  is  below  the  Dignity  of  one  bred  up  amongst  Greek  and  Latin,  though  he  have  but 
little  of  them  himself.  These  are  the  learned  Languages  fit  only  for  learned  Men  to  meddle  with  and  teach  : 
English,  is  the  Language  of  the  illiterate  Vulgar."— Locke,  on  Education,  p.  339;  Fourth  Ed.,  London,  1699. 


CTIAP.  mi.]  «;RAMMATTCAL  STUDY  OP  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  83 

when  ho  should  communicate  his  acquisitions  to  the  world.    In  some  instances  it  is 

never  formed  with  success  ;  and  the  defects  of  his  expression  either  deter  him  from 

ing  before  the  public  at  all,  or  at  least  counteract  in  a  great  d<"_rrce  the 

mfinenee   of  \\\*  work,  and   bring  ridicule  upon  the  author.      Surely  these  evils 

>r  diminished." — 1>R.  BARROW  :  AW/y.s*  on  Education, 

London,  1S04;    Philad..  1^:,,  p.  87. 

'24.  "It  is  also  said  that  those  who  know  Latin  and  Greek  Generally  express 
with  more  clearness  than  those  who  do  not  receive  a  liberal  education. 
It  is  inured  natural  that  those  who  cultivate  their  mental  powers,  write  with  more 
clearnen  than  the  uncultivated  individual.  The  mental  cultivation,  however,  may 
take  place  in  the  mother  tongue  as  well  as  in  Latin  or  Greek.  Yet  the  spirit  of 
the  ancient  languages,  further  is  declared  to  be  superior  to  that  of  the  modern.  I 
allow  this  to  be  the  case  ;  but  I  do  not  find  that  the  English  style  is  improved  by 
learning  Greek.  It  is  known  that  literal  translations  are  miserably  bad,  and  yet 

Smii-jr  scholars  are  taught  to  translate,  word  for  word,  faithful  to  their  dictionaries, 
those  who  do  not  make  a  peculiar  study  of  their  own  language,  will  not 
improve  in  it  by  learning,  in  this  manner,  Greek  and  Latin.     Is  it  not  a  pity  to 
hear,  what  I  have  been  told  by  the  managers  of  one  of  the  first  institutions  of 
Ireland,  that  it  was  easier  to  find  ten  teachers  for  Latin  and  Greek,  than  one  for 
the  KriL'li-h  languaL"1,  though  they  proposed  double  the  salary  to  the  latter  ''.    Who 
i- that  the  Greek  orators  acquired  their  superiority  by  their  acquain- 
••vith  foreign  languages  ;  or,  is  it  not  obvious,  on  the  other  hand,  that  they 
icm  in  their  mother  tongue?  " — DR.  SPURZHEIM  : 
1  v;-j,  p.  107. 

\vere  compiled,  which  comprised  all  the  words,  together  with 

1  definitions,  or  the  sense  each  one  expresses  and  conveys  to  the  mind. 

ra  analyzed  and  cla-s »d  according  to  their  essence,  attributes,  and 

made  a  rudiment  leading  to  the  principles  of  all  thoughts, 

and  teaching  by  simple  examples,  the  general  classification  of  words  and  their 
subdivisions  in  expressing  the  various  conceptions  of  the  mind.  Grammar  is  then 
the  key  to  the  perfect  understanding  of  languages ;  without  which  we  are  left  to 
wander  all  our  lives  in  an  intricate  labyrinth,  without  being  able  to  trace  back 
again  any  part  of  our  way." — (..'hn~  -  nj  on  the  Teaching  of  Languages, 

:ain  :  "  Had  it  not  been  for  his  dictionary  and  his  grammar,  which 
taught  him  T  ••  nf  all  languages,  and  the  natural  subdivision  of  their  com- 

ponent parts,  he  might  have  spent  a  life  as  long  as  Methuselah's,  in  learning  words, 
without  being  able  to  attain  to  a  degree  of  perfection  in  any  of  the  languages." — 
lb-  p-  •  i-'od,  it  is  not  easy  to  say,  to  what  degree,  and  in  how  many  different 

memory  and  judgement  may  be  improved  by  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  grammar  ;  which  i<  therefore,  with  good  reason,  made  the  first  and  funda- 
j.art  of  literary  education.     'I  .  the  most  elegant  scholars, 

and  th  i  men  of  business,  that  have  appeared  in  the  world,  of 

whom  T  need  only  mention  ( \-rsar  and  Cicero,  were  not  only  studious  of  grammar, 
•rued  grammarians."' — DR.  UKATTM:  :    M^nil  >''•/< •//<•/>.  Vol.  i,  p.  107. 
«.f  my  work,  I  havo  chosen  to  be  liberal  of 
of  composition,  but  to  give 
thor  authority  than  my  own.     In  commend- 
.rammar,  I  do  not  mean  to  discountenance  that  d 

ntion    which  in   this  country  is  paid  to  other  1:,  but  merely   to 

•'»  carry  forward  a  work  of  improvement,  which,  in  my 

opinion,  has  been  \vi  n,  but  not  sufneiontly  sustained.     In  consequence 

of   tin-  vent,  the  study  of  grammar,  which  was  once  prosecuted  chiefly 

through    the    medium  of  the  d  rhe    proper 

busings   of  th<>^'  only  who  were  t«  >;-ted  in  Latin  and  (i reek,  is   now 

thought  to  be  an  appropriate  exercise  for  children  in  elementary  schools.     And  the 


84  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  Tin. 

sentiment  is  now  generally  admitted,  that  even  those  who  are  afterwards  to  learn 
other  languages,  may  best  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  common  principles  of 
speech  from  the  grammar  of  their  vernacular  tongue.  This  opinion  appears  to 
be  confirmed  by  that  experience  which  is  at  once  the  most  satisfactory  proof  of 
what  is  feasible,  and  the  only  proper  test  of  what  is  useful. 

27.  It   must,  however,  be  confessed,  that  an  acquaintance  with  ancient  and 
foreign  literature  is  absolutely  necessary  for  him  who  would  become  a  thorough 
philologist  or  an  accomplished  scholar ;  and  that  the  Latin  language,  the  source 
of  several  of  the  modern  tongues  of  Europe,  being  remarkably  regular  in  its  inflec- 
tions and  systematic  in  its  construction,  is  in  itself  the  most  complete  exemplar  of 
the   structure   of    speech,  and   the   best  foundation   for  the    study  of  grammar 
in   general.      But,  as   the   general  principles  of    grammar  are   common  to   all 
languages,  and  as  the  only  successful  method  of  learning  them,  is,  to  commit  to 
memory  the  definitions  and  rules  which  embrace  them,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  the  language  most  intelligible  to  the  learner,  is  the  most  suitable  for  the 
commencement  of  his  grammatical  studies.     A  competent  knowledge  of  English 
grammar  is  also  in  itself  a  valuable  attainment,  which  is  within  the  easy  reach  of 
many  young  persons  whose  situation  in  life  debars  them  from  the  pursuit  of  general 
literature. 

28.  The  attention  which  has  lately  been  give'n  to  the  culture  of  the  English 
language,  by  some  who,  in  the  character  of  critics  or   lexicographers,  have   la- 
boured purposely  to  improve  it,  and  by  many  others  who,  in  various  branches  of 
knowledge,  have  tastefully  adorned  it  with  the  works  of  their  genius,  has  in  a 
great  measure  redeemed  it  from  that  contempt  in  which  it  was  formerly  held  in  the 
halls  of  learning.     But,  as  I  have  before  suggested,  it  does  not  yet  appear  to  be 
sufficiently  attended  to   in   the   course  of  what  is   called   a  liberal   education. 
Compared  with  other  languages,  the  English  exhibits  both  excellences  and  defects  ; 
but  its  flexibility,  or  power  of  accommodation  to  the  tastes  of  different  writers,  is 
great ;  and  when  it  is  used  with  that  mastership  which  belongs  to  learning  and 
genius,  it  must  be  acknowledged  there  are  few,  if  any,  to  which  it  ought  on  the 
whole  to  be  considered  inferior.     But  above  all,  it  is  our  own ;  and,  whatever  we 
may  know  or  think  of  other  tongues,  it  can  never  be  either  patriotic  or  wise,  for 
the  learned  men  of  the  United  States  or  of  England  to  pride  themselves  chiefly 
upon  them. 

29.  Our  language  is  worthy  to  be  assiduously  studied  by  all  who  reside  where 
it  is  spoken,  and  who  have  the  means  and  the  opportunity  to  become  critically 
acquainted  with  it.     To  every  such  student  it  is  vastly  more  important  to  be  able 
to  speak  and  write  well  in  English,  than  to  be  distinguished  for  proficiency  in  the 
learned  languages  and  yet  ignorant  of  his  own.      It  is  certain  that  many  from 
whom  better  things  might  be  expected,  are  found  ntiserably  deficient  in  this  respect. 
And  their  neglect  of  so  desirable  an  accomplishment  is  the  more  remarkable  and 
the  more  censurable  on  account  of  the  facility  with  which  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  ancient  languages  may  attain  to  excellence  in  their  English  style.    "  What- 
ever  the  advantages  or  defects  of  the  English  language  be,  as  it  is  our  own  language, 
it  deserves  a  high  degree  of  our  study  and  attention.  *  *  *  Whatever  knowledge 
may  be  acquired  by  the  study  of  other  languages,  it  can  never  be  communicated 
with  advantage,  unless  by  such  as  can  write  and  speak  their  own  language  well." — 
DR.  BLAIR:  Rhetoric,  Lect.  ix,  p.  91. 

30.  I  am  not  of  opinion  that  it  is  expedient  to  press  this  study  to  much  extent, 
if  at  all.  on  those  whom  poverty  or  incapacity  may  have  destined  to  situations  in 
which  they  will  never  hear  or  think  of  it  afterwards.     The  course  of  nature  can- 
not be  controlled ;  and  fortune  does  not  permit  us  to  prescribe  the  same  course  of 
discipline  for  all.     To  speak  the  language  which  they  have  learned  without  study, 
and   to  read  and  write  for  the  most  common  purposes  of  life,  may  be  education 
enough  for  those  who  can  be  raised  no  higher.     But  it  must  be  the  desire  of 


CHAP.  IX.]  OP    THE    BEST   METHOD    OP    TEACHING    GRAMMAR.  85 

every  benevolent  and  intelligent  man,  to  see  the  advantages  of  literary,  as  \vcll 
moral  culture,  extended  as  far  as  possible  among  the  people.  And  it  is 
manir'e-r.  that  in  proportion  as  the  precepts  of  the  divine  Redeemer  are  obeyed 
by  the  nations  that  profess  his  name,  will  all  distinctions  arising  merely  from  the 
inequality  of  fortune  be  lessened  or  done  away,  and  better  opportunities  be  offered 
for  the  children  of  indigence  to  adorn  themselves  with  thctreasures  of  knowledge. 
31.  We  may  not  be  able  to  effect  all  that  is  desirable  ;  but,  favoured  as  our 
country  is,  with  great  facilities  for  carrying  forward  the  work  of  improvement,  in 
every  thing  which  can  contribute  to  national  glory  and  prosperity,  I  would,  in 
conclusion  of  .  this  topic,  submit — that  a  critical  knowledge  of  our  common 
language  is  a  subject  worthy  of  the  particular  attention  of  all  who  have  the  genius 
and  the  opportunity  to  attain  it — that  on  the  purity  and  propriety  with  which 
American  authors  write  this  language,  the  reputation  of  our  national  literature 
greatly  depends — that  in  the  preservation  of  it  from  all  changes  which  ignorance 
may  admit  or  affectation  invent,  we  ought  to  unite  as  having  one  common  interest 
— that  a  fixed  and  settled  orthography  is  of  great  importance,  as  a  means  of  pre- 
serving the.  etymology,  history,  and  indentity  of  words — that  a  grammar  freed  from 
errors  and  defects,  and  embracing  a  complete  code  of  definitions  and  illustrations, 
rules  and  exercises,  is  of  primary  importance  to  every  student  and  a  great  aid  to 
teachers — that  as  the  vices  of  speech  as  well  as  of  manners  are  contagious,  it 
becomes  those  who  have  the  care  of  youth,  to  be  masters  of  the  language  in  its 
purity  and  elegance,  and  to  avoid  as  much  as  possible  everything  that  is  reprehen- 
sible either  in  thought  or  expression. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

OF  THE  BEST  METHOD  OF  TEACHING  GRAMMAR. 


"  Quomo.ln  .lift-runt  grammaticus  et  grammatista  ?  Grammaticus  eat  qui  diligenter,  aouU-,  sclenterque  posait 
f  'li'.-v  -.ctpoctasenarrarc  :  Mnn  lin-ratus  dici 

cui  abusus  pro  <  «  is  Lutinaui  dat  etymologiam, 

Dtol'AUIEK.   %H/.  fol.  1. 


,          , 

»"f  'li'.-v  -.ctpoctasenarrarc  :  Mnn  lin-ratus  dicitur.    Grammatista  est  qui  barbaris  litoris  ol.  sin-pit, 

,  et  totus  hi  uugis  eat:  Latino  dicitur  literator."  — 


1  .  It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  any  person  can  have  a  very  clear  conviction 
of  the  best  method  of  doini:  a  ihirig.  who  shall  not  first  have  acquired  a  pretty 
correct  and  adequate  notion  of  the  thing  to  be  done.  Arts  must  be  taught  by 
artists  ;  sciences,  by  learned  men  ;  and,  if  Grammar  is  the  science  of  words,  the 
art  of  writing  and  speaking  well,  the  best  speakers  and  writers  will  be  the  best 
tra«-her<  i.f  it,  if  they  ehoose  to  direct  their  attention  to  so  humble  an  employment. 
For,  without  disparagement  of  the  many  worthy  men  whom  choice  or  necessity  has 
made  schoolmasters,  it  may  !*•  admitted  that  the  low  estimation  in  which  school- 
keeping  is  commonly  held,  does  mostly  exclude  from  it  the  first  order  of  talents, 
and  the  highest  acquirements  of  scholarship.  It  is  one  strong  proof  of  this,  that 
we  have  heretofore  been  content  tn  receive  mir  digests  of  English  grammar,  either 
from  men  who  had  had  no  practical  experience  in  the  labours  of  a  school-room,  or 
from  miserable  mndilii-rs  and  al.ridgers,  destitute  alike  of  learning  and  of  industry, 
of  judgement  and  of  skill. 

'2.  But,  to  have  a  correct  and  adequate  notion  of  English  grammar,  and  of  the 
be>t  method  of  learning  «r  teaching  it,  is  no  light  attainment.  The  critical 
knowledge  of  this  subject  lies  in  no  narrow  circle  of  observation  ;  nor  are  there 
any  precise  limits  to  possible  improvement.  The  simple  definition  in  which  the 


86  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  IX. 

general  idea  of  the  art  is  embraced,  "  Grammar  is  the  art  of  writing  and  speaking 
correctly,"  however  useful  in  order  to  fix  the  learner's  conception,  can  scarcely 
give  him  a  better  knowledge  of  the  thing  itself,  than  he  would  have  of  the  art  of 
painting,  when  he  had  learned  from  Dr.  Webster,  that  it  is  "  the  art  of  repre- 
senting to  the  eye,  by  means  of  figures  and  colors,  any  object  of  sight,  and  some- 
times emotions  of  the  mind."  The  first  would  no  more  enable  him  to  write  a 
sonnet,  than  the  second,  to  take  his  master's  likeness.  The  force  of  this  remark 
extends  to  all  the  technical  divisions,  definitions,  rules,  and  arrangements  of 
grammar ;  the  learner  may  commit  them  all  to  memory,  and  know  but  very  little 
about  the  art. 

3.  This  fact,  too  frequently  illustrated  in  practice,  has  been  made  the  basis  of 
the  strongest  argument  ever  raised  against  the  study  of  grammar ;   and  has  been 
particularly  urged  against  the  ordinary  technical  method  of  teaching  it,  as  if  the 
whole  of  that  laborious  process  were  useless.     It  has  led  some  men,  even   of  the 
highest  talents,  to  doubt  the  expediency  of  that  method,  under  any  circumstances, 
and  either  to  discountenance   the  whole   matter,  or  to  invent  other  schemes  by 
which  they  hoped  to  be  more  successful.     The  utter  futility  of  the  old  accidence 
has  been  inferred  from  it,  and  urged,  even  in  some  well-written  books,  with  all  the 
plausibility  of  a  fair  and  legitimate  deduction.    The  hardships  of  children,  compelled 
to  learn  what  they  did  not  understand,  have  been  bewailed  in  prefaces  and  reviews  ; 
incredible  things  boasted  by  literary  jugglers,  have  been  believed  by  men  of  sense  ; 
and  the  sympathies  of  nature,  with  accumulated   prejudices,  have  been  excited 
against  that  method  of  teaching  grammar,  which  after  all  will  be  found  in  expe- 
rience to  be  at  once  the  easiest,  the  shortest,  and  the  best.     I  mean,  essentially,  the 
ancient  positive  method,  which  aims  directly  at  the  inculcation  of  principles. 

4.  It  has  been  already  admitted,  that  definitions  and  rules  committed  to  memory 
and  not  reduced  to  practice,  will  never  enable  any  one  to  speak  and  write  correctly. 
But  it  does  not  follow,  that  to  study  grammar  by  learning  its  principles,  or  to  teach 
it  technically  by  formal  lessons,  is  of  no  real  utility.     Surely  not.     For  the  same 
admission  must  be  made  with  respect  to  the  definitions  and  rules  of  every  practical 
science  in  the  world  ;  and  the  technology  of  grammar  is  even  more  essential  to  a 
true  knowledge  of  the  subject,  than  that  of  almost  any  other  art.     "  To  proceed 
upon  principles  at  first,"  says  Dr.  Barrow,  "  is  the  most  compendious  method  of 
attaining  every  branch  of  knowledge  ;  and  the  truths  impressed  upon  the  mind  in 
the  years  of  childhood,  are  ever  afterwards  the  most  firmly  remembered,  and  the 
most  readily  applied." — Essays,  p.  84.     Reading,   as  I  have  said,  is  a  part  of 
grammar  ;  and  it  is  a  part  which  must  of  course  precede  what  is  commonly  called 
in  the  schools  the  study  of  grammar.     Any  person  who  can  read,  can  learn  from 
a  book  such  simple  facts  as  are  within  his  comprehension  •  and  we  have  it  on  the 
authority  of  Dr.  Adam,  that,  "  The  principles  of  grammar  are  the  first  abstract 
truths  which  a  young  mind  can  comprehend." — Pref.  to  Lot.  Gram,  p  4. 

5.  It  is  manifest,  that,  with  respect  to  this  branch  of  knowledge,  the  duties  of 
the   teacher  will  vary  considerably,  according  to  the  age  and  attainments  of  his 
pupils,  or  according  to  each  student's  ability  or  inclination  to  profit  by  his  printed 
guide.     The  business  lies  partly  between  the  master  and  his  scholar,  and   partly 
between  the  boy  and  his  book.     Among  these  it  may  be  partitioned  variously,  and 
of  course  unwisely  ;  for  no  general  rule  can  precisely  determine  for  all  occasions 
what  may  be  expected  from  each.     The  deficiencies  of  any  one  of  the  three  must 
either  be  supplied  by  the  extraordinary  readiness  of  an  other,  or  the  attainment  of 
the  purpose  be  proportionably  imperfect.    What  one  fails  to  do,  must  either  be  done 
by  an  other,  or  left  undone.     After  much  observation,  it  seems  to  me,  that  the 
most  proper  mode  of  treating  this  science  in  schools,  is,  to  throw  the  labour  of  its 
acquisition  almost  entirely  upon  the  students ;  to  require  from  them  very  accurate 
rehearsals  as  the  only  condition  on  which  they  shall  be  listened  to ;  and  to  refer 
them  to  their  books  for  the  information  which  they  need,  and  in  general  for  the 


CHAP.    IX.]  OP    TIIE    BEST    METHOD    OF    TEACHING    GRAMMAR.  87 

solution  of  all  their  doubts.  But  then  the  teacher  must  see  that  he  does  not  set 
them  to  iiT'-pi-  their  way  through  a  wilderness  of  absurdities,  lit-  must  know  that 
they  have  a  hook,  which  not  only  contains  the  requisite  information,  but  arranin  B  it 
so  that  every  item  of  it  may  be  readily  found.  That  knowledge  may  n  .:-  -.nably 
be  required  at  their  recitations,  which  culpable  negligence  alone  could  have 
prevented  them  from  obtaining. 

6.  Most  grammars,  and  especially  those  which  are  designed  for  the  senior  class 
of  students,  to  whom  a  well-written  book  is  a  sufficient  instructor,  contain  a  large 
proportion  of  matter  which  is  merely  to  be  read  by  the  learner.     This  is  commonly 
distinguished  in  type  from  those  more  important  doctrines  which  constitute  the  frame 
of  the   edifice.     It  is  expected  that  the  latter  will  receive  a  greater  degree  of 
attention.     The  only  successful  method  of  teaching  grammar,  is,  to  cause   the 
principal  definitions  and  rules  to  be  committed  thoroughly  to  memory,  that  they 
may  ever  afterwards  be  readily  applied.     Oral  instruction  may  smoothe  the  way, 
and  facilitate  the  labour  of  the  learner;  but  the  notion  of  communicating  a  competent 
knowledge  of  grammar  without  imposing  this  task,  is  disproved  by  universal  expe- 
rience.    Nor  will  it  avail  any  thing  for  the  student  to  rehearse  definitions  and  rules 
of  which  he  makes  no  practical  application.     In  etymology  and  syntax,  he  should 
be  alternately  exercised  in  learning  small  portions  of  his  book,  and  then  applying 
them   in   parsing,  till   the  whole  is   rendered  familiar.     To  a  good  reader,  the 
achievement  will  be  neither  great  nor  difficult  ;  and  the  exercise  is  well  calculated 
to  improve  the  memory  and  strengthen  all  the  faculties  of  the  mind. 

7.  The  objection  drawn  from  the  alleged  inefficiency  of  this  method,  lies  solely 
against  the  practice  of  those  teachers  who  disjoin  the  principles  and  the  exercises 
of  the  art  ;  and  who,  either  through  ignorance  or  negligence,  impose  only  such 
tasks  as  leave  the  pupil  to  suppose,  that  the  committing  to  memory  of  definitions  and 
rules,  constitutes  the  whole  business  of  grammar.*     Such  a  method  is  no  less*  absurd 
in  itself,  than  contrary  to  the  practice  of  the  best  teachers  from  the  very  origin  of  the 
study.     The  epistle  prefixed  to  King  Henry's  Grammar  almost  three  centuries 
ago,  and  the  very  sensible  preface  to  the  old  British  Grammar,  an  octavo  reprinted 
at  Boston  in  17x4,  give  evidence  enough  that  a  better  method  of  teaching  has  long 
been  known.     Nay,  in  my  opinion,  the  very  best  method  cannot  be  essentially 
different  from  that  which  lias  been  longest  in  use,  and  is  probably  most  known. 
But  there  is  everywhere  ample  room  for  improvement.       Perfection  was  never 
attained  by  the  most  learned  of  our  ancestors,  nor  is  it  found  in  any  of  our  schemes. 
English  grammar  can   be   better  taught  than  it  is  now,  or  ever  has  been.     Better 
scholarship  would  naturally  produce  this  improvement,  and  it  is  easy  to  suppose  a 
race  of  teachers  more  erudite  and  more  zealous,  than  either  we  or  they* 

8.  Where  invention  and  discovery  are  precluded,  there  is  little  room  for  novelty. 
I  have  not  laboured  to  introduce  a  system  of  grammar  essentially  new,  but  to  im- 
prove the  old  and  free  it  from  abuses.      The  mode  of  instruction  here  recommended 
Ls  the  result  of  long  and  Mn-.-e^l'ul  experience.      There  is  nothing  in  it,  which  any 
person  of  common  abilities  will  find  it  difficult  to    understand   or  adopt.      It  is  the 
plain  didactic  method  of  definition  and  example,  rule  and  praxis  ;  which  no  man  who 
means  to  teach  grammar  well,  will  ever  desert,  with  the  hope  of  finding  an  other 

•  A  late  author.  in  upr.KM/imr  fur  his  choiro  in  nublMiinjr  a  trrammar  without  forms  of  praxis,  (that  is.  without 

any    provision   for    a   Kal  ;  .  ijilrs  b\    tin-  lian.rr.)    il.-.-cri)  i-s    the   wlnl' 


n  of  tin-  .U^io-a'  (.f  a  tViv  j.ar'.-  •  ' 

be  only  '•  a  finical 

•  .mar,  .-ij)|ili(  il  iii  any  way 

to  practice,  could  not  fail  .mug 

in  _•  unking  this 

Miprr.-.  .Ie  >  mem 

Of  tli.  >  as.~«  Tie.  I  in  l':irk!iurflt!« 

!i   the  d.ilil  a 

definition  at  tlu>  out-et.  i-=  bei:ini.iiv_'at  the  ttn  ->i;if.  li  with  rc<|  e<-r  to  nil   rlia'  px>  under  the  name 

of  c'\iiiol.i.'v  in  -niiiunai-.  ir    i-  learned  chiefly  by  practice  in    parsing,  and  scarcely  at  all  by  the  aid  of 
definitions.'1—  1'nfnce,  pp.  Sand  6. 


88  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    IX. 

more  rational  or  more  easy.  This  book  itself  will  make  any  one  a  grammarian, 
who  will  take  the  trouble  to  observe  and  practice  what  it  teaches ;  and  even  if 
some  instructors  should  not  adopt  the  readiest  means  of  making  their  pupils  familiar 
with  its  contents,  they  will  not  fail  to  instruct  by  it  as  effectually  as  they  can  by 
any  other.  A  hope  is  also  indulged,  that  this  work  will  be  particularly  useful  to 
many  who  have  passed  the  ordinary  period  allotted  to  education.  Whoever  is 
acquainted  with  the  grammar  of  our  language,  so  as  to  have  some  tolerable  skill 
in  teaching  it,  will  here  find  almost  every  thing  that  is  true  in  his  own  instructions, 
clearly  embraced  under  its  proper  head,  so  as  to  be  easy  of  reference.  And  per- 
haps there  are  few,  however  learned,  who,  on  a  perusal  of  the  volume,  would  not 
•  be  furnished  with  some  important  rules  and  facts  which  had  not  before  occurred  to 
their  own  observation. 

9.  The  greatest  peculiarity  of  the  method  is,  that  it  requires  the  pupil  to  speak 
or  write  a  great  deal,  and  the  teacher  very  little.     But  both  should  constantlj 
remember  that  grammar  is  the  art  of  speaking  and  writing  well ;  an  art  which  can 
no  more  be  acquired  without  practice,  than  that  of  dancing  or  swimming      And 
each  should  ever  be  careful  to  perform  his  part  handsomely — without  drawling, 
omitting,  stopping,  hesitating,  faltering,  miscalling,  reiterating,  stuttering,  hurrying, 
slurring,  mouthing,  misquoting,  mispronouncing,  or  any  of   the  thousand  faults 
which  render  utterance  disagreeable  and  inelegant.     It  is  the  learner's  diction  that 
is  to  be  improved  ;  and  the  system  will  be  found  well  calculated  to   effect  that 
object ;  because  it  demands  of  him,  not  only  to  answer  questions  on  grammar,  but 
also  to  make  a  prompt  and  practical  application  of  what  he  has  just  learned.     If 
the  class  be  tolerable  readers,  and  have  learned  the  art  of  attention,  it  will  not  be 
necessary  for  the  teacher  to  say  much  •  and  in  general  he  ought  not  to  take  up  the 
time   by  so  doing.      He  should,  however,  carefully  superintend  their  rehearsals ; 
give  the  word  to  the  next  when  any  one  errs ;  and  order  the  exercise  in  such  a 
manner  that  either  his  own  voice,  or  the  example  of  his  best  scholars,  may  gradu- 
ally correct  the  ill  habits  of  the  awkward,  till  all  learn  to  recite  with  clearness, 
understanding  well  what  they  say,  and  making  it  intelligible  to  others. 

10.  Without  oral  instruction  and  oral  exercises,  a  correct  habit  of  speaking  our 
language  can  never  be  acquired ;  but  written  rules,  and  exercises  in  writing,  are 
perhaps  quite  as  necessary,  for  the  formation  of  a  good  style.     All  these  should 
therefore  be  combined  in  our  course  of   English  grammar.      And,  in  order  to 
accomplish  two  objects  at  once,  the  written  doctrines,  or  the  definitions  and  rules 
of  grammar,  should  statedly  be  made  the  subject  of  a  critical  exercise  in  utter- 
ance ;  so  that  the  boy  who  is  parsing  a  word,  or  correcting  a  sentence,  in  the 
hearing  of  others,  may  impressively  realize,  that  he  is  then  and  there  exhibiting  his 
own  skill  or  deficiency  in  oral  discourse.     Perfect  forms  of  parsing  and  correcting 
should  be  given  him  as  models,  with  the  understanding  that  the  text  before  him  is 
his  only  guide  to  their  right  application.     It  should  be  shown,  that  in  parsing  any 
particular  word,  or  part  of  speech,  there  are  just  so  many  things  to  be  said   of  it, 
and  no  more,  and  that  these  are  to  be  said  in  the  best  manner  :  so  that  whoever 
tells  fewer,   omits  something  requisite  ;    whoever  says  more,   inserts   something 
irrelevant ;  and  whoever  proceeds  otherwise,  either  blunders  in  point  of   fact,  or 
impairs  the  beauty  of   the  given  expression.      I  rely  not  upon  what   are  called 
"Parsing  Tables"  but  upon  the  precise  forms  of  expression  which  are  given  in 
the  book  for  the  parsing  of  the  several  sorts  of  words.      Because  the  questions,  or 
abstract  directions,  which  constitute  the  common  parsing  tables,  are  less  intelligible 
to  the  learner  than  a  practical  example  ;  and  more  time  must  needs  be  consumed 
on  them,  in  order  to  impress  upon  his  memory  the  number  and  the  sequence  of  the 
facts  to  be  stated. 

11.  If  a  pupil  happen  to  be  naturally  timid,  there  should  certainly  be  no  aus- 
terity of  manner  to  embarrass  his  diffidence  ;  for  no  one  can  speak  well,  who  feels 
afraid.    But  a  far  more  common  impediment  to  the  true  use  of  speech,  is  carelessness. 


CHAP.    IX.]  OF   THE   BEST   METHOD    OP   TEACHING    GRAMMAR.  89 

He  who  speaks  before  a  school,  in  an  exercise  of  this  kind,  should  be  made  to  feel 
that  he  is  bound  by  every  consideration  of  Aspect  for  himself,  or  for  those  who 
hear  him,  to  proceed  with  his  explanation  or  rehearsal,  in  a  ready,  clear,  and  intel- 
ligible manner.  It  should  be  strongly  impressed  upon  him,  that  the  grand  object 
of  the  whole  business,  is  his  own  practical  improvement  ;  that  a  habit  of  speaking 
clearly  and  agreeably,  is  itself  one  half  of  the  great  art  of  grammar  ;  that  to  be 
slow  and  awkward  in  parsing,  is  unpardonable  negligence,  and  a  culpable  waste  of 
time  ;  that  to  commit  blunders  in  rehearsing  grammar,  is  to  .-peak  i  ;:<lly  about  the 
art  of  speaking  well  ;  that  his  recitations  must  ever  be  limited  to  such  things  as 
he  perfectly  knows  ;  that  he  must  apply  himself  to  his  book,  till  he  can  proceed 
without  mistake  ;  finally,  that  he  must  watch  and  imitate  the  utterance  of  those 
who  speak  well,  ever  taking  that  for  the  best  manner,  in  which  there  are  the  fewest 
things  that  could  be  mimicked* 

\'l.  T;  •  exercise  of  parsing  should  be  commenced  immediately  after  the  first 
lesson  of  etymology  —  the  lesson  in  which  are  contained  the  definitions  of  the  ten 
parts  of  speech  ;  and  should  be  carried  on  progressively,  till  it  embraces  all  the 
doctrines  which  are  applicable  to  it.  If  it  be  performed  according  to  the  order  pre- 
scribed in  the  following  work,  it  will  soon  make  the  student  perfectly  familiar  with 
all  the  primary  definitions  and  rules  of  grammar.  It  asks  no  aid  from  a  dictionary, 
if  the  performer  knows  the  meaning  of  the  words  he  is  parsing  ;  and  very  little 
from  tin-  teacher,  if  the  forms  in  the  grammar  have  received  any  tolerable  share 
of  attention.  It  requires  just  enough  of  thought  to  keep  the  rnind  attentive  to 
what  the  lips  are  uttering  ;  while  it  advances  by  such  easy  gradations  and  constant 
repetitions  as  leave  the  pupil  utterly  without  excuse,  if  he  does  not  know  what  to 
saj.  Being  neither  wholly  extemporaneous  nor  wholly  rehearsed  by  rote,  it  has 
more  dignity  than  a  school-boy's  conversation,  and  more  ease  than  a  formal  recita- 

Ition,  or  declamation  ;  and  is  therefore  an  exercise  well  calculated  to  induce  a  habit 
of  uniting  correctness  with  fluency  in  ordinary  speech  —  a  species  of  elocution  as 
valuable  as  any  other,  f 

13.  Thus  would  I  unite  the  practice  with  the  theory  of  grammar  ;  endeavouring 
express  its  principles  with  all  possible  perspicuity,  purity,  and  propriety  of  dic- 
tion ;  retaining,  as  necessary  parts  of  the  subject,  those  technicalities  which  the 
ipil  must  needs  learn  in  order  to  understand  the  disquisitions  of  grammarians  in 
general;  adopting  every  important  feature  of  that  system  of  doctrines  which  ap- 
pears to  have  beni  longest  and  most  generally  taught  ;  rejecting  the  multitudinous 
errors  and  inconsistencies  with  which  unskillful  hands  have  disgraced  the  science 
and  perplexed  the  schools  ;  remodelling  every  ancient  definition  and  rule  which  it 
i.-  p'.—ible  to  amend,  in  respect  to  style,  or  grammatical  correctness;  supplying  the 
numeniu*  and  great  deficiencies  with  which  the  most  comprehensive  treatises 


•  Hesitation  5n  jp^rh  may  ari^e  from  very  different  causes.    If  we  do  not  consider  this,  our  efforts  to 
remove  it  ervr,  it  may  b«  OToreome  b}  proper  treatment.   "Stam- 

.  for  when  the  mind  of  tin 
.How  him  ro  reflect   upon   his  defect.  he  will  talk  without   difficulty. 

-  •nnd.  and  the  >lijjht  manner  in  which  the  c. 

;  .*o  a  drunken  man  can  run.  though  he  cannot  walk  or  stand  still."  —  Gardiner's 
Music  of  \aturr,  p.  30. 

"  To  think  rifrhtly,  is  of  knowledfre  :  to  speak  fluently,  is  of  nature  ; 
To  read  with  profit,  is  of  care  ;  but  to  write  aptlv,  is  of  practice." 

Book  of  Thoughts,  p.  140. 

t  "  There  i*  nothing  more  becoming  [to]  a  Grntlnnnn.  or  more  useful  in  all  the  occurrences  of  life,  than  to 
be  able,  (.n   n:u  oeearioo,  to  speak  well,  and  to  tin-   pnrpOM."—  lodt*,  «n    E'/i/rntinn,  (  171      "  !'•' 
think  I  in  many,  who  live  upon  tli.  h 

the  n.-mi<  .  dhoal  1    '      •  '  :   much 

-Iv  and  perMi-isivHy  in  any  business.     Thi*  I  think  not  to  be  FO  much  their  f  ':.* 
of  their  edii.'.ri  n      Tli.-y  have  be.  •  bat  yet  never  teaght  how  to  expresa  them*elv< 

floiuely  with    their   •cMi-.-ue-    or    p.-n«    in    t  ''  •    ..y  are  al\\:i  -  if  the    namM  Of  the  flgOM 

that  (mi  -'ios««  who  uii  in:,  were   the  very  «rt  and  skill  of 

•peaking 

but  bit  K.\  rnth.fr  P  \TTF.RNS,  ////  hnlit*  nr,   ;.',;/.  nn-': 

J  189.    The  for  orrecting  which  the  following  woi 

"patt'rnt."  fur  the   per;""rn::in<  e   "f  the«e  pnn  '  -ught  to  be  implicitly 

followed,  by  every  one  who  means  to  be  a  ready  and  correct  speaker  on  the&e  subjects. 


- 


90  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP. 

published  by  earlier  writers,  are  chargeable ;  adapting  the  code  of  instruction  to 
the  present  state  of  English  literature,  without  giving  countenance  to  any  innova- 
tion not  sanctioned  by  reputable  use  ;  labouring  at  once  to  extend  and  to  facilitate 
the  study,  without  forgetting  the  proper  limits  of  the  science,  or  debasing  its  style 
by  puerilities. 

14.  These  general  views,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  found  to  have  been  steadily  adhered 
to  throughout  the  following  work.     The  author  has  not  deviated  much  from  the 
principles  adopted  in  the  most  approved  grammars  already  in  use ;  nor  has  he 
acted  the  part  of  a  servile  copyist.     It  was  not  his  design  to  introduce  novelties, 
but  to  form  a  practical  digest  of  established  rules.     He  has  not  laboured  to  sub- 
vert the  general  system  of  grammar,  received  from  time  immemorial;  but  to 
improve  upon  it,  in  its  present  application  to  our  tongue.    That  which  is  excellent, 
may  not  be  perfect ;  and  amendment  may  be  desirable,  where  subversion  would 
be  ruinous.     Believing  that  no  theory  can  better  explain  the  principles  of  our 
language,  and  no  contrivance  afford  greater  facilities  to  the  student,  the  writer  has 
in  general  adopted  those  doctrines  which  are  already  best  known;  and  has  content- 
ed himself  with  attempting  little  more  than  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  to  free  it  from  the  reproach  of  being  itself  ungrammatical.     This  indeed 
was  task  enough ;  for,  to  him,  all  the  performances  of  his  predecessors  seemed 
meagre  and  greatly  deficient,  compared  with  what  he  thought  needful  to  be  done. 
The  scope  of  his  labours  has  been,  to  define,  dispose,  and  exemplify  those  doctrines 
anew ;  and,  with  a  scrupulous  regard  to  the  best  usage,  to  offer,  on  that  authority, 
some  further  contributions  to  the  stock  of  grammatical  knowledge. 

15.  Having  devoted  many  years  to  studies  of  this  nature,  and  being  conversant 
with  most  of  the  grammatical  treatises  already  published,  the  author  conceived 
that  the  objects  above  referred  to,  might  be  better  effected  than  they  had  been  in 
any  work  within  his  knowledge.     And  he   persuades  himself,  that,  however  this 
work  may  yet  fall  short  of  possible  completeness,  the  improvements  here  offered 
are  neither  few  nor  inconsiderable.     He  does  not  mean  to  conceal  in  any  degree 
his  obligations  to  others,  or  to  indulge  in  censure  without  discrimination.     He  has 
no  disposition  to  depreciate  the  labours,  or  to  detract  from  the  merits,  of  those  wl 
have  written  ably  upon  this  topic.     He  has  studiously  endeavoured  to  avail  hii 
self  of  all  the  light  they  have  thrown  upon  the  subject.     With  a  view  to  furth( 
improvements  in  the  science,  he  has  also  resorted  to  the  original  sources  of  grami 
ical  knowledge,  and  has  not  only  critically  considered  what  he  has  seen  or  heard 
our  vernacular  tongue,  but  has  sought  with  some  diligence  the  analogies  of  speec 
in  the  structure  of  several  other  languages.     If,  therefore,  the  work  now  furnishec 
be  thought  worthy  of  preference,  as  exhibiting  the  best  method  of  teaching  grai 
mar ;  he  trusts  it  will  be  because  it  deviates  least  from  sound  doctrine,  while,  b] 
fair  criticism  upon  others,  it  best  supplies  the  means  of  choosing  judiciously. 

16.  Of  all  methods  of  teaching  grammar,  that  which  has  come  nearest  to  wl 
is  recommended  above,  has  doubtless  been  the  most  successful ;  and  whatev( 
objections  may  have  been  raised  against  it,  it  will  probably  be  found  on  examine 
tion  to  be  the  most  analogous  to  nature.     It  is  analytic  in  respect  to  the  doctrines 
of  grammar,  synthetic  in  respect  to  the  practice,  and  logical  in  respect  to  both. 
It  assumes  the  language  as  an  object  which  the  learner  is  capable  of  conceiving  to 
be  one  whole ;  begins  with  the  classification  of  all  its  words,  according  to  certain 
grand  differences  which  make  the  several  parts  of  speech  ;  then  proceeds  to  divide 
further,  according  to  specific  differences  and  'qualities,  till  all  the  classes,  properties, 
and  relations,   of  the  words  in  any  intelligible  sentence,   become  obvious   and 
determinate :  and  he  to  whom  these  things  are  known,  so  that  he  can  see  at  a 
glance  what  is  the  construction  of  each  word,  and  whether  it  is  right  or  not,  is  a 
good  grammarian.     The  disposition  of  the  human  mind  to  generalize  the  objects  of 
thought,  and  to  follow  broad  analogies  in  the  use  of  words,  discovers  itself  early, 
and  seems  to  be  an  inherent  principle  of  our  nature.     Hence,  in  the  language  of 


CHAP.    IX.]  OP    THE    LEST    METHOD    OF    TEACHING    GRAMMAR.  91 

children  and  illi;  ';>le,  many  words  are  regularly  inflected  even  in  opposi- 

tion to  the  most  common  u- 

17.  It  has  unfortunately  become  fashionable  to  inveigh  against  the  necessary 
lab-air  of  learning  by  heart  the  essential  principle*  df  grammar,  MS  a  u-c]<-»  and 
intolerable  drudgery.  And  this  notion,  with  the  vain  hope  of  effecting  the  same 
purpose  in  an  easier  way,  is  giving  countenance  to  modes  of  teaching  well  calcu- 
lated to  make  superficial  scholars.  When  those  principles  are  properly  defined, 
dis|io>ed.  and  exemplified,  the  labour  of  learning  them  is  far  less  than  has  been 
i  ;  and  the  habits  of  application  induced  by  such  a  method  of  studying 
grammar,  are  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  learner.  Experience  shows,  that 

-k  may  be  achieved  during  the  years  of  childhood ;  and  that,  by  an  early 
habit  of  study,  the  memory  is  so  improved,  as  to  render  those  exercises  easy  and 
familiar,  which,  at  a  later  period,  would  be  found  very  difficult  and  irksome. 

•his  plan,  and  perhaps  upon  every  other,  some  words  will  be  learned  before 
the  id»-  nted  by  them  are  fully  comprehended,  or  the  things  spoken  of  are 

fully  understood.     But  this  seems  necessarily  to  arise  from  the  order  of  nature  in 
the   development  of  the  mental  faculties;  and  an  acquisition  cannot  be   lightly 

.-•d,  which  has  signally  augmented  and  improved  that  faculty  on  which  the 
pupil's  future  progress  in  knowledge  depends. 

The   memory,  indeed,  should  never  be  cultivated  at  the  expense  of  the 
understand;  when  the  former  is  tasked  with  ill-devised  lessons 

by  which  the  latter  is  misled  and  bewildered.     But  truth,  whether  fully  conipre- 

i  or  not,  has  no  perplexing  inconsistencies.  And  it  is  manifest  that  that 
which  does  not  in  some  respect  surpass  the  understanding,  can  never  enlighten 
it — can  never  awaken  the  spirit  of  inquiry  or  satisfy  research.  How  often  have 
men  of  ob.-ervation  profited  by  the  remembrance  of  words  which,  at  the  time  they 
heard  them,  they  did  not  " prrfi-rtly  understand!  "  We  never  study  anything  of 
which  we  imagine  our  knowledge  to  be  perfect.  To  learn,  and,  to  understand,  are, 
with  respect  to  any  science  or  art,  one  and  the  same  thing.  With  respect  to 
difficult  or  unintelligible  phraseology  alone,  are  they  different.  He  who  by  study 
has  oncfe  stored  his  memory  with  the  sound  and  appropriate  language  of  any 
important  doctrine,  can  never,  without  some  folly  or  conceit  akin  to  madness, 
repent  of  the  acquisition.  Milton,  in  his  academy,  professed  to  teach  tilings  rather 
than  words;  and  many  others  have  made  plausible  profession  of  the  same  thing 
But  it  does  not  appear,  that  even  in  the  hands  of  Milton,  the  attempt  was 
crowned  with  any  remarkable  success.  See  Dr.  Barrow's  Essays,  p.  85. 

l^.   The  vain  pretensions  of  several  modern  simplifiers,  contrivers  <>f  machines, 
charts,   tallies,  diagrams,    vincula,    pictures,   dialogues,    familiar   lectures,  ocular 
:  ular  compendium*,  inductive  exercises,  productive  systems,   intellect- 
ual methods,  and  various  new  theories,  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  grammar,  may 
the  ignorant,  to  amuse  the  visionary,  and  to  excite  (lie  admiration 
of  the  <-n-dulous  ;  but   none  ,,f  these   things   has   any  favourable    relation  to  that 
improvement    which    may  justly   be   boasted    as    having  taken    phu-e   within   the 
memory  of  the  present  generation.     The  definitions  and  rules  which  constitute  the 
doctrines   of   grammar,    may    he   variously   expressed,    arranged,    illustrated,   and 
applied  ;  and  in  the  expre>Mon,  arrangement,  illustration,  and  application  of  them, 
•lie  amendment  ;  but  no  contrivance  can  ever  relieve  the 
pupil  from   the  ni-.-i-->ity  of  committing   them   thoroughly  to  memory.      The  expe- 

"f  all  antiquity  isadded  to  our  own,  in  confirmation  of  this  ;  and  the  judicious 
teacher,  though  he  will  not  shut  his  eyes  to  a  real  improvement.  iriU  1  6  Cautious 
of  renouncing  the  practical  lessons  of  hoary  experience,  for  the  futile  notions  of  a 
vain  projector. 

-0.  Some  have  been  beguiled  with  the  idea,  that  great  proficiency  in  grammar 
was  to  be  made  by  means  of  a  certain  fanciful  method  of  inunction.  But  if  the 
scheme  does  not  communicate  to  those  who  are  instructed  by  it,  a  better  knowledge 


92  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    IX. 

of  grammar  than  the  contrivers  themselves  seem  to  have  possessed,  it  will  be  found 
of  little  use.*  By  the  happy  method  of  Bacon,  to  lead  philosophy  into  the 
common  walks  of  life,  into  the  ordinary  business  and  language  of  men,  is  to 
improve  the  condition  of  humanity ;  but,  in  teaching  grammar,  to  desert  the  plain 
didactic  method  of  definition  and  example,  rule  and  praxis,  and  pretend  to  lead 
children  by  philosophic  induction  into  a  knowledge  of  words,  is  to  throw  down  the 
ladder  of  learning,  that  boys  may  imagine  themselves  to  ascend  it,  while  they  are 
merely  stilting  over  the  low  level  upon  which  its  fragments  are  cast. 

21.  The  chief  argument  of  these  inductive  grammarians  is  founded  on  the  prin- 
ciple, that  children  cannot  be  instructed  by  means  of  any  words  which  they  do  nofc 
perfectly  understand.  If  this  principle  were  strictly  true,  children  could  never  be 
instructed  by  words  at  all.  For  no  child  ever  fully  understands  a  word  the  first 
time  he  hears  or  sees  it ;  and  it  is  rather  by  frequent  repetition  and  use,  than  by 
any  other  process,  that  the  meaning  of  words  is  commonly  learned.  Hence  most 
people  make  use  of  many  terms  which  they  cannot  very  accurately  explain,  just  as 
they  do  of  many  things,  the  real  nature  of  which  they  do  not  comprehend.  The 
first  perception  we  have  of  any  word,  or  other  thing,  when  presented  to  the  ear  or 
the  eye,  gives  us  some  knowledge  of  it.  So  to  the  signs  of  thought,  as  older  persons 
use  them,  we  soon  attach  some  notion  of  what  is  meant ;  and  the  difference  between 
this  knowledge,  and  that  which  we  call  an  understanding  of  the  word  or  thing,  is, 
for  the  most  part,  only  in  degree.  Definitions  and  explanations  are  doubtless 
highly  useful,  but  induction  is  not  definition,  and  an  understanding  of  words  may 
be  acquired  without  either ;  else  no  man  could  ever  have  made  a  dictionary.  But, 
granting  the  principle  to  be  true,  it  makes  nothing  for  this  puerile  method  of  induc- 
tion ;  because  the  regular  process  by  definitions  and  examples  is  both  shorter  and 
easier,  as  well  as  more  effectual.  In  a  word,  this  whole  scheme  of  inductive  grammar 
is  nothing  else  than  a  series  of  leading  questions  and  manufactured  answers  ;  the 
former  being  generally  as  unfair  as  the  latter  are  silly.  It  is  a  remarkable  tissue 
of  ill-laid  premises  and  of  forced  illogical  sequences. 

22.  Of  a  similar  character  is  a  certain  work,  entitled,  "  English  Grammar  on 
the  Productive  System :  a  method  of  instruction  recently  adopted  in  Germany  anc 
Switzerland."     It  is  a  work  which  certainly  will  be  "productive  "  of  no  good 
any  body  but  the  author  and  his  publishers.     The  book  is  as  destitute  of  taste, 
of  method;   of  authority,  as  of  originality.     It  commences  with  "the  indvctii 
process,"  and  after  forty  pages  of  such  matter  as  is  described  above,  becomes 
"productive  system,"  by  means  of  a  misnamed  "  RECAPITULATION  ;  "  which  jumble 
together  the  etymology  and  the  syntax  of  the  language,  through  seventy-six  pages 
more.     It  is  then  made  still  more  "productive"  by  the  appropriation  of  a  like 
space  to  a  reprint  of  Murray's   Syntax  and  Exercises,  under  the  inapproprir*" 
title,  "GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS."     To  Prosody,  including  punctuation  and  t 
use  of  capitals,  there  are  allotted  six  pages,  at  the  end ;  and  to  Orthography,  foi 
lines,  in  the  middle  of  the  volume  !  (See.  p.  41.)     It  is  but  just,  to  regard  the  titl 
of  this  book,  as  being  at  once  a  libel  and  a  lie  ;  a  libel  upon  the  learning  and  gooi 
sense  of  Woodbridge  ;f  and  a  practical  lie,  as  conveying  a  false  notion  of  the  origii 
of  what  the  volume  contains. 

23.  What  there  is  in  Germany  or  Switzerland,  that  bears  any  resemblance 
this  misnamed  system  of  English  Grammar,  remains  to  be  shown.     It  would  be 
prodigal  of  the  reader's  time,  and  inconsistent  with  the  studied  brevity  of  this  work, 
to  expose  the  fallacy  of  what  is  pretended  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  this  new  method, 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  anonymous  and  questionable  account  of  the  "  Productive 

*  The  principal  claimants  of  "  the  Inductire  Method  "  of  Grammar,  are  Richard  W.  Green,  Roswell  C. 
Smith,  John  L.  Parkhurst,  Dyer  H.  Sanborn,  Bradford  Frazee,  and  Solomon  Barrett,  Jr. ;  a  set  of  writers, 
differing  indeed  iu  their  qualifications,  but  in  general  not  a  little  deficient  in  what  constitutes  an  accurate 

t  William  C.  Woodbridge  edited  the  Journal,  and  probably  wrote  the  article,  from  which  the  author  of 
"  English  Grammar  on  the  Productive  System  "  took  his  "  Preface." 


CHAP.    IX.]  OP    THE   BEST   METHOD    OF    TEACHING    GRAMMAR.  93 

System  of  Instruction,"  which  the  author  has  borrowed  from  a  "  valuable  periodical,'* 

to  save  himself  the  trouble  of  writing  a  preface,  and,  as  he  says,  to   "  assist  [the 

reader]  in  forming  an  opinion  of  the  comparative  merits  of  the  system"  is  not 

onlv  destitute  of  all  authority,  but  is  totally  irrelevant,  except  to  the  whimsical 

nn  me  of  his  book.     If  every  word  of  it  be  true,  it  is  insufficient  to  give  us  even 

:t-on  to  suppose,  that  any  thing  analogous  to  his  production  ever  had 

••nee  in  either  of  those  countries;  and  yet  it  is  set  forth  on  purpose  to  convey 

the  idea  that  such  a  system  "  nmr  jti-i'dnmimiti-s  "  in  the  schools  of  both.       (See 

Pref.  p.  5.)     The  infidel  Neef,  whose  new  method  of  education  has  been  tried  in 

our  country,  and  with  its  promulgator  forgot,  was  an  accredited   disciple  of  this 

productive  school  ;"   a  zealous  coadjutor  with  Pestalozzi  himself,  from 

-••  halls  lie  emanated  to  "teach  the  offspring  of  a  free  people"  —  to  teach  them 

the  nature  of  tilings  sensible,  and  a  contempt  for  all  the  wisdom  of  books.     And 

whnt  similarity  is  there  between  his  method  of  teaching  and  that  of  Roswell  Q. 

'".  except  their  pretence  to  a  common  parentage,  and  that  both  are  worthless? 

'1\.  The  success  of  Smith's  Inductive  and  Productive  Grammars,  and  the  fame 


perhaps  of  a  certain  "  Grammar  in  Familiar  Lectures,"  produced  in  1-SM  a  rival 
work  from  the  hands  of  a  gentleman  in  New  Hampshire,  entitled,  "  An  Analytical 
Grammar  of  the  English  Language,  embracing  the  Inductive  and  Productive 
'.•uls  of  T«i<-Iti)Kj,  with  Fiiniilitir  Er/,l,i,ii(t!oits  in  the  Lecture  Style"  &c. 
This  is  a  fair-looking  duodecimo  volume  of  three  hundred  pages,  the  character  and 
pretensions  of  which,  if  they  could  bo  clearly  stated,  would  throw  further  light 
up'»n  the  two  fallacious  schemes  of  teaching  mentioned  above.  For  the  writer  says, 
"  Thi-  grammar  pi  botn  the  In>lnctir<>  and  Product',  ,-,•  methods 

of  imparting  instruction,  of  which  much  has  been  said  within  a  few  years  past"  — 
>•.  p.  iv.     And  again  :  "  The  inductive  and  productive  methods  of  instruo- 
itain   the  essence  of  modern  improvements."  —  Gram.  p.  139.     In  what 
D  improvements  con>ist.  he  does  not  inform  us;  but,  it  will  be  seen, 
•n  he  himself  claims  the  rojti/rit/bt  of  ft/I  the  improvements  which  he  allows  to 
••/•  since  the   appearance  of  Murray  in   1795.      More  than  two 
hundred   pretenders  to  such  improvements,  appear  however  within  the  time  ;    nor 
is  the  grammarian    of   lIoidtraTe   the   least   positive  of  the  claimants.     This  new 
purveyor  for  the  public  taste.  dislikes  the  catering  of  his  predecessor,  who  poached 
l^lds  of  .Murray  ;  and,  with  a  tacit  censure  upon  his  productions,  has  honestly 
bou«/lit  nie  raivties  which  he   has  served  up.      In  this  he  has  the  advantage.      He 
tier  writer  ton  than  some  who  make  grammars;  though  no  adept  at  compo- 
.ud  a  total  stranirer  to  method.     To  call  his  work  a  "  $i/sf<-//t,"  is  a  palpable 
mi-iioi:  !  what  it  is,  an  impossibility.     It  is  a  grammatical  chaos,  heaiing 

•dilance  to  Smith's  or  Kirkham's  as  one  mass  of  confusion  naturally 
•  i  an  oth<-r,  yet  di  tiering  from  both  in  almost  every  thing  that  looks  like 
in  any  of  the  three. 

•J.").  Tli"  claimant  of  the  combination  says,  "  this  new  system  of  English  gram- 

•>.  the  public,  embruees  tin-  principles  of  a  '  Systematic  Introduction 

mar,'  by  Ji-lm  L.   I'arkhur-t  :   and  \\\v  prwnt  <uit]<n;  is  indebted 

to  Mr.  I'arkhurst  for  a  kno\vled;je  of  the.  nm/utcr  of  applying  the  principles  involved 

in  hit  />"-»?i'<ir  iiii'tjn-  ammatical  science.     He  is  also  under  obliga- 

Mr.  I'arkhurst  for  many  useful   hints   received  several  years   siii;-e  while 

under  his  instruction.  —  The  <-<>)>>i  rinlil  of  1'arkhurst's  Grammar  ha-  !•  •'•>!  purchased 

by  the  writer  of  this,  who  alone  is  responsible  for  the  present   application  of  its 

Parkhi  induction  to  English  tJrammar  has 

through  two  editions,  and  i-  improved  system  of  Knglish  grammar  fcl 

ton-  the  publi--  <!n,'fiinnti  Lindley  Murray's  KnLrli.-h 

"—  S'lH'lioi'n's  <  .  p.  iii.     AVhat,  then,  is  "  Tin:  I'uoi 

\\''."  and  with  whom   did   it  .  .      The  thousands    of  -T--SS  blunders 

couimitted  by  its  professors,  prove  at  least  that  it  is  no  system  of  writing  grammat- 


94  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    IX. 

ically  ;  and,  whether  it  originated  with  Parkhurst  or  with  Pestalozzi,  with  Sanborn 
or  with  Smith,  as  it  is  confessedly  a  method  but  "recently  adopted,"  and,  so  far 
as  appears,  never  fairly  tested,  so  is  it  a  method  that  needs  only  to  be  known,  to  be 
immediately  and  forever  exploded. 

26.  The  best  instruction  is  that  which  ultimately  gives  the  greatest  facility  and 
skill  in  practice ;  and  grammar  is  best  taught  by  that  process  which  brings  its 
doctrines  most  directly  home  to  the  habits  "as  well  as  to  the  thoughts  of  the  pupil — 
which  the  most  effectually  conquers  inattention,  and  leaves  the  deepest  impress  of 
shame   upon  blundering  ignorance.     In  the  language  of  some  men,  there  is  a 
vividness,  an  energy,  a  power  of  expression,  which  penetrates  even  the  soul  of 
^dullness,  and  leaves  an  impression  both  of  words  unknown  and  of  sentiments  unfelt 
before.     Such  men  can  teach ;  but  he  who  kindly  or  indolently  accommodates 
himself  to  ignorance,  shall  never  be  greatly  instrumental  in  removing  it.     "  The 
colloquial  barbarisms  of  boys,"  says  Dr.  Barrow,  "  should  never  be  suffered  to  pass 
without  notice  and  censure.     Provincial  tones  and  accents,  and  all  defects  in  articu- 
lation, should  be  corrected  whenever  they  are  heard  ;  lest  they  grow  into  established 
habits,  unknown,  from  their  familiarity,  to  him  who  is  guilty  of  them,  and  adopted 
by  others,  from  the  imitation  of  his  manner,  or  their  respect  for  his  authority." — 
Barrow's  Essays  on  Education,  p.  88. 

27.  In  the  whole  range  of  school  exercises,  there  is  none  of  greater  importance 
than  that  of  parsing ;  and  yet  perhaps  there  is  none  which  is,  in  general,  more  de- 
fectively conducted.     Scarcely  less  useful,  as  a  means  of  instruction,  is  the  practice 
of  correcting  false  syntax  orally,  by  regular  and  logical  forms  of  argument ;   nor 
does  this  appear  to  have  been  more  ably  directed  towards  the  purposes  of  discipline. 
There  is  so  much  to  be  done,  in  order  to  effect  what  is  desirable  in  the  management 
of  these  things ;  and  so  little  prospect  that  education  will  ever  be  generally  raised 
to  a  just  appreciation  of  that  study  which,  more  than  all  others,  forms  the  mind  to 
habits  of  correct  thinking ;  that,  in  reflecting  upon  the  state  of  the  science  at  the 
present  time,  and  upon  the  means  of  its  improvement,  the  author  cannot  but  sympa- 
thize, in  some  degree,  with  the  sadness  of  the  learned  Sanctius ;  who  tells  us,  that 
he  had  "  always  lamented,  and  often  with  tears,  that  while  other  branches  of  learning 
were  excellently  taught,  grammar,  which  is  the  foundation  of  all  others,  lay  so 
much  neglected,  and  that  for  this  neglect  there  seemed  to  be  no  adequate  remedy." — 
Pref.  to  Minerva.     The  grammatical  use  of  language  is  in  sweet  alliancevsvith  the 
moral ;  and  a  similar  regret  seems  to  have  prompted  the  following  exclamation  of 
the  Christian  poet : 

"  Sacred  Interpreter  of  human  thought, 
How  few  respect  or  use  thee  as  they  ought !" — COWPER. 

28.  No  directions,  either  oral  or  written,  can  ever  enable  the  heedless  and  the 
unthinking  to  speak  or  write  well.     That  must  indeed  be  an  admirable  book, 
which  can  attract  levity  to  sober  reflection,  teach  thoughtlessness  the  true  meaning 
of  words,  raise  vulgarity  from  its  fondness  for  low  examples,  awaken  the  spirit 
which  attains  to  excellency  of  speech,  and  cause  grammatical  exercises  to  be  skill- 
fully managed,  where  teachers  themselves  are  so  often  lamentably  deficient  in  them. 
Yet  something  may  be  effected  by  means  of  better  books,  if  better  can  be  intro- 
duced.    And  what  withstands? — Whatever  there  is  of  ignorance  or  error  in  rela- 
tion to  the  premises.     And  is  it  arrogant  to  say  there  is  much  ?     Alas !  in  regard 
to  this,  as  well  as  to   many  a  weightier  matter,  one  may  too  truly  affirm,  Malta 
non  sunt  sicut  multis  vidcntur — Many  things  are  not  as  they  seem  to  many. 
Common  errors  are  apt  to  conceal  themselves  from   the  common  mind ;  and  the 
appeal  to  reason  and  just  authority  is  often  frustrated,  because  a  wrong  head 
defies  both.     But,  apart  from  this,  there  are  difficulties :  multiplicity  perplexes 
choice  ;  inconvenience  attends  change  ;  improvement  requires  effort ;  conflicting 
theories  demand  examination ;  the  principles  of  the  science  are  unprofitably  dis- 


CHAP.    IX.] 


OP   THE   BEST   METHOD    OF   TEACHING    GRAMMAR. 


95 


puted  ;  the  end  is  often  divorced  from  the  means ;  and  much  that  belies  the  title, 
has  been  published  under  the  name. 

29.  Ir  is  certain,  that  the  printed  formularies  most  commonly  furnished  for  the 
import.-n.-  ta  of  parsing  and  corr- f;n^.  are  either  so  awkwardly  written  or 
so  negligently  followed,  as  to  make  grammar,  in  the  mouths  of  our  juvenile  orators, 
little  els<-  than  a  crude  and  faltering  jargon.      Murray  evidently  intended  that  his 
book  of  •  -hould  be  constantly  used  with   his  grammar;  but   ho  made  the 
example^  in  the  former  so  dull  and  prolix,  that  few  learners,  if  any,  have  ever  gone 
through  the  series  agreeably  to  his  dhvrion.     The  pubUflbrag  of  them  in  a  sepa- 
rate volume,  has  probably  given  rise  to  the  absurd  practice  of  endeavouring  to 
teach  his  grammar  without  them.     The  forms  of  parsing  and  correcting  which  this 
author  furnishes,  are  also  misplaced  ;  and  when  found  by  the  learner,  are  of  little 
use.     They  are  so  verbose,  awkward,  irregular,  and  deficient,  that  the  pupil  must 
be  either  a  dull  boy  or  utterly  ignorant  of  grammar,  if  he  cannot  express  the  facts 
extemporaneously  in  better  English.     They  are  also  very  meagre  as  a  whole,  and 
altogether  inadequate  to  their  purpose  ;  many  things  that  frequently  occur  in  the 
language,  not  being  at  all  exemplified  in  them,  or  even  explained  in  the  grammar 
itself.     When  we  consider  how  exceedingly  important  it  is,  that  the  business  of  a 
school  should  proceed  without  loss  of  time,  and  that,  in  the   oral  exercises  here 
spoken  of,  each  pupil  should  go  through  his  part  promptly,  clearly,  correctly,  and 
fully,  we  cannot  think  it  a  light  objection  that  these  forms,  so  often  to  be  repeated, 
are  badly  written.     Nor  does  the  objection  lie  against  this  writer  only :  Ab  uno 
disce  omncs.     But  the  reader  may  demand  some  illustrations.* 

30.  First. — from  his  etymological  parsing  :  "O  Virtue  !  how  amiable  thou  art !  " 
Here  his   form  for  the  word   ///•'/<    is — "Virtue  is  a  common  substantive,  of 
the  M  'ider,  of  the  third  person,  in-  the  singular  number,  and  the  nomi- 
nativ               —Miir.  Gram.  8vo,  ii,  p.  2.     Tt  should  have  been — "  Virtue  is  a 
common  noun,  personified  proper,  of  the  second  person,  singular  number,  femi- 
nine gender,  and  nominative  case."     And  then  the  definitions  of  all  these  things 
should  have  followed  in  regular  numerical  order.     He  gives  the  class  of  this  noun 
wrong,  for  virtue  addressed  becomes  an  individual ;  he  gives  the  gender  wrong, 
and  in  direct  contradiction  to  what  he  says  of  the  word  in  his  section  on  gender ; 
he  gives  tip-  person  wrong,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  pronoun  thou,  which  represents 
it ;  he  repeats  the  definite  article  three  times  unnecessarily,  and  inserts  two  need- 
less preposirions,  making  them  different  where  the  relation  is  precisely  the  same  : 
and  all  this,  in  a  sentence  of  two  lines,  to  tell  the  properties  of  the  noun  Virtue  ! — 
But  further  :  in  etymological  parsing,  the  definitions  explaining  the  properties  of 


*  Many  other  grammars,  later  than  Murray'?.  hr\n>  boon   published,  some  in  En  pi  ami,  some  in  America, 
and  Bonn •  mtrirs:  and  amon^r  ilu-c  v- !•••:•  re.  I    think,  a  few  in  which  a  little  improvement  has 

In  most,  however,  nothing 
of  thr  kin-l  ''<•!•<  •'.     And.  of  the  formularies  which  han  nt  I  hav«  seen, 


'.  :ind  worth \ 

•  entirely  dc-- 
iiiivion  the  b 


are  ctill 

worths  t 

accunite.  and  full  :  such  as 
one  would  !>.• 

pie.  the  seven   paj;> 

more  than  one    '.•  n  paragi 

a  man 
Form  : 


rosed  in  tin-  ] <  ir;i'_T;ip!i  above:  while 
HUTS]  "-.  and 

.Tinted.     In  lieu  of  forms  of  expi 
r  protirabh  tai  an  experienced 

.  for  the  ignorant  pupil  to 


toul  btins 

Lord    B  ' 
aJ.tr f  B 
you  in  rh.- 
of  t»-i  - 

are  the  models  fun 


vi  could  not  fully  c 

\  I'rii'-tir.-il  Grammar  of  the  I!;  dish  Lan- 
pp.  4'J  to  57.     I  rannot  consent  to  nuota 

;i:4»'.-  contain.  Yet  the  author  is 

•d,  0  m\  soul!  -: 

i 


- 
>.    Of  tin-  1  to,  !  must  r  i  "7.  The  itnper- 

• 

'•nd  has  no  >i. 
•  •  author  should  !>.' 

•  .  found  in  the 

• 
• 

e,  several 
it.    ^t  inuc 

M,  flu  '    ,,',.  :r:  1  other  ;-.te  autu-.rs 


96  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    IX. 

the  parts  of  speech,  ought  to  be  regularly  and  rapidly  rehearsed  by  the  pupil,  till 
all  of  them  become  perfectly  familiar ;  and  till  he  can  discern,  with  the  quickness 
of  thought,  what  alone  will  be  true  for  the  full  description  of  any  word  in  any 
intelligible  sentence.  All  these  the  author  omits  ;  and,  on  account  of  this  omis- 
sion, his  whole  method  of  etymological  parsing  is  miserably  deficient.* 

31.  Secondly — from  his  syntactical  parsing  :  "  Vice  degrades  us."  Here  his 
form  for  the  word  Vice  is  —  "  Vice  is  a  common  substantive,  of  the  third  person,  in 
Hie  singular  number,  and  the  nominative  case." — Mur.  Gram.  8vo,  ii,  p.  9.  Now, 
when  the  learner  is  told  that  this  is  the  syntactical  parsing  of  a  noun,  and  the 
other  the  etymological,  he  will  of  course  conclude,  that  to  advance  from  the  ety- 
mology to  the  syntax  of  this  part  of  speech,  is  merely,  to  omit  the  gender — this 
being  the  only  difference  between  the  two  forms.  But  even  this  difference  had 
no  other  origin  than  the  compiler's  carelessness  in  preparing  his  octavo  book  of 
exercises — the  gender  being  inserted  in  the  duodecimo.  And  what  then  ?  Is  the 
syntactical  parsing  of  a  noun  to  be  precisely  the  same  as  the  etymological?  Never. 
But  Murray,  and  all  who  admire  and  follow  his  work,  are  content  to  parse  many 
words  by  halves — making,  or  pretending  to  make,  a  necessary  distinction,  and  yet 
often  omitting,  in  both  parts  of  the  exercise,  every  thing  which  constitutes  the 
difference.  He  should  here  have  said — **  Vice  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person, 
singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case :  and  is  the  subject  of  degrades; 
according  to  the  rule  which  says,  '  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  which  is  the  subject  of  a 
verb,  must  be  in  the  nominative  case.'  Because  the  meaning  is — vice  degrades" 
This  is  the  whole  description  of  the  word,  with  its  construction  ;  and  to  say  less, 
is  to  leave  the  matter  unfinished. 

82.  Thirdly — from  his  "  Mode  of  verbally  correcting  erroneous  sentences  :  " 
Take  his  first  example:  "The  man  is  prudent  which  speaks  little."  (How  far 
silence  is  prudence,  depends  upon  circumstances  :  I  waive  that  question.)  The 
learner  is  here  taught  to  say,  "  This  sentence  is  incorrect ;  because  which  is  a  pro- 


nSaS- 


*0f  Dr.  Bullions's  forms  of  parsing,  as  exhibited  in  his  English  Grammar,  which  is  a  modification  of 
Die's  Grammar,  it  is  difficult  to  say,  whether  they  are  most  remarkable  for  their  deficiencies,  their  redui 
cies,  or  their  contrariety  to  other  teachings  of  the  same  author  or  authors.  Both  Lennie  and  Bullions  adopt 
the  rule,  that,  "  An  ellipsis  is  not  nUowab'f  when  it  would  obscure  the  sentence,  weaken  its  force,  or  be 
attended  witli  an  impropriety." — L.  p.  91 ;  B.  p.  130.  And  the  latter  strengthens  this  doctrine  with  several 
additional  observations,  the  first  of  which  reads  thus:  "  In  general,  no  word  shonld  br  oinittul  that  is  nei 
sary  to  the  full  and  correct  construction,  or  even  harmony  of  a  sentence."—  Bullions,  E.  Gr.  130.  Now 
parsing  above  alluded  to,  has  been  thought  particularly  commendable  for  its  brevity— a  quality  certai 
desirable,  so  far  as  it  consists  with  the  end  of  parsing,  or  with  the  more  needful  properties  of  a  good  sty 
clearness,  accuracy,  ease,  and  elegance.  But,  if  the  foregoing  rule  and  observation  are  true,  the  models  fu 
Dished  by  these  writers  are  not  commendably  brief,  but  miserably  defective.  Their  brevity  is,  in  fact,  sue 
as  renders  them  all  bad  Eitx/ish  :  and  not  only  so,  it  makes  them  obviously  inadequate  to  their  purpose,  as 
bringing  into  use  but  a  part  of  the  principles  which  the  learner  has  studied.  It  consists  only  in  the  omission 
of  what  ought,  to  have  been  inserted.  For  example,  this  short  line,  "/  lean  H/KHI  tin  Lorrf,"  ia  parsed  by 
both  of  these  gentlemen  thus:  "I,  the  first  personal  pronoun,  masculine,  or  feminine,  singular,  tin  nomina- 
tive— lean,  a  verb,  -m ut/r,  first  person  singular,  present,  indicative—  upon,  a .proposition — ////•,  an  article,  the 
definite—  Lord,  a  noun,  masculine,  singular,  the  objective,  (governed  by  i(pon.)"--J^ nun';-  /';•////•// •/, \  o /'Eng- 
lish Grain,  p.  51  ;  Bullions's,  74.  This  is  a  little  sample  of  their  etymological  parsing,  in  which  exercise 
they  generally  omit  nor,  only  all  the  definitions  or  "  reasons  "  of  the  various  terms  applied,  bur  also  all  the 
following  particulars  :  first,  the  verb  is,  and  certain  definitives  and  connerlin-s,  which  are  ''  necessary  to  the 
full  and  correct  construction  "  of  their  sentences  ;  secondly,  the  distinction  of  nouns  as  proper  or  common; 
thirdly,  the  />erxon  of  n<mns,  first,  second,  or  third;  fourthly,  the  words,  tuniihi  r.  ±/  ,id>  r.  and  case,  which  are 
and  construction  of  certain  words  used  ;  fifthly,  the  distinction  of  adjectives  as  belonging 

to  iHJ/'trtiit.  classes;  sixthly,  the  division  of  verbs  as  being  r^n/nror  imi>;iilar,  rrrfimdaiit  or  r/,f<ctii->  :  seventh- 
ly, sometimes,  (Lennie  excepted.)  the  division  of  verbs  as  n/th-e,  pasxire,  or  neuter;  eighthly,  the  words  mood 


and  tense,  which  Bullions,  on  page  131.  pronounces  "  quite  unnecessary,"  and  inserts  in  his  own  formule  on 
page  132  ;  ninMih  ,  the  distinction  of  adverbs  as  expressing  tim> ,  /i/m-f,  degree,  or  wanner ;  tenthly.  the  ri-tino- 

hstly,  the  distinction  of  interjections  as  indicating 

emotions.  All  these  things  does  their  completest  specimen  of  etymological  parsing  lack,  while  it  i<  urossly  en- 
cumbered \vi;h  parentheses  of  syntax,  which  "///».sV  I,"  <»,iitt/d  till  the  pupil  got  thv  ndf*  of  syn;ax  "  /.untie., 
p.  ;"1.  It  is  also  vitiated  with  several  absurdities,  contradictions,  and  improper  changes  of  expression:  as, 
"7/;.s,  the  tl,lfil  -,1111111  : ••  (B.  ]>.  &{  :) — ••  tin  .  tin  first  p>  rsoiial  pro/ionn  ;  "'  ( Id.  74  :) — "  .•!.  The  in- 

definite article  ;"  ( /'/.  13;) — "c/,  an  article,  the  'indefinite  :  ''(Id.  74:)—"  \Vhen  the  ««*  t*  passive,  parse  thus: 
xtive,  in  the  p,i>~ive  voice,  regular,  irregular J  £c."—  Bid.Ho/is,  p. 131.     In  stead  of  leaching  sufficiently, 
as  elements  of  etymological  paring,  the  definitions  which  belong  to  this  exercise,  and  then  dismissing  them  for 
the  prim-  \.  Dr.  Bullions  enemnhers  hi-  method  of  syntactical  parsing  with  sue;,  ;i  series  of  ety- 

mologic;! urera  a--  e.-umot.  but,  make  it  one  of  the  slowest,  longes;,  amd  most  tiresome  ever 

invented,     lie  thinks  that  the  pupil,  after  parsing  any  word  syntactically,  "  M  d  to   axxi'xn  a 

'i:i>i»i  it/.''-—  Pr/ni  pi  s  nf't''.  (1  raiiiniar.  p   131.     And  the  teacher  fa 
Juch  i-  tin-  p.ir-ing  of  a  text-book  which  has  ln-en  pronounced 

'•  superior  to  any  other,  for  vise  in  our  common  schools  ;' — '•  a  ct>mj>li  t,  grammar  of  the  1  I  ncaiLa- 

ble  for  eviry  purpose,  for  which  Mr.   Brown's  can  possibly  be  used.;! — Ralph  A.   Finch's  LLtport,  p.  12. 


CUM'.  IX.]  OP    THE   BEST    METHOD    OF    TEACHING    GRAMMAR.  97 


noun  »f  f/,r  nnitcr  vender,  an>f  t/or$  not  agree  in  gender  with  its  antecedent  man, 
whirl)  is  masculine.  But  a  pronoun  should  agree  with  its  'antecedent  in  gender, 
&c.  :i  to  the  fifth  rule  of  syntax.  Wln'rh  should  therefore  be  -ic/to,  a 

relative  pronoun,  agreeing  with  its  antecedent  man  ;  and  the  sentence  ,-hould 
stand  t!i  ,  -  ::ian  is  prudent  >/•/<'/  speaks  little.'  "  —  Murray's  (Jrfaro  Gram. 

ii,  p.  lx;  A'./v/Wv.s,  I'Jmo,  p.  xii.  Again:  "'After  1  visited  Kurope,  1  re- 
tunu'd  t-i  America.'  This  sentence,"  says  Murray,  "  is  not  cornH  ;  U  cause  the 
verl  in  the  imperfect  tense,  and  yet  used  here  to  express  an  action,  not 

only  past,  but  prior  to  the  time  referred  to  by  the  verb  returned,  to  which  it  re- 
K\  the  thirteenth  rule  of  syntax,  when  verbs  are  used  that,  in  point  of 
time,  relate  to  each  other,  the  order  of  time  should  be  observed.    The  imperfect  tense 
>iild  therefore  have  been  had  visited,  in  the  pluperfect  tense,  representing 
th«-  action  of  riaiting,  not  only  as  past,  but  also  as  prior  to  the  time  of  returning. 
Tin  orrected  would  stand  tl>us  :\  "After  I  had  visited  Europe,  I  returned 

to  AiiM  :;<  ..'  "  —  Or.  ii,  p.  19  ;  and  A'.r.  r2mo,  p.  xii.  These  are  the  first  two  ex- 
amples of  Murray's  verbal  corrections,  and  the  only  ones  retained  by  Alger,  in  his 
iinjiron  </.  rc<*t  >  jnj-  righted  edition  of  Murray's  Exercises.  Yet,  in  each  of  them,  is 
..••ntation  palpably  raise  !  In  the  former,  truly,  which  should  be  who; 
but  not  because  ir/ii'c/t  is  "  of  the  neuter  gender  ;  "  but  because  the  application  of 
that  rcla"  is  now  nearly  obsolete.  Can  any  grammarian  forget  that, 

in  speaking  of  brute  animals,  male  or  female,  we  commonly  use  which,  and  never 
i;  ir  if  H'/iirh  muvt   needs   he  iH'i't^r,  the  world  is  wrong  in  this.  —  As  for 
the  i  uple,  it  is  right  as  it  stands:  and  the  correction  is,  in  some  sort, 

tautological.     The  conjunctive  adverb  ai't<-r  makes  one  of  the  actions  subsequent 

•>'/('/  all  the  priority  that  is  signified  by  the  plu- 
-ited  Europe,"  is  equivalent  to  "  When  I  had  visited 
The  whole  argument  is  therefore  void.* 

These  few  brief  illustrations,  out  of  thousands  that  might  be  adduced  in 
proof  of  the  faultiness  of  the  common  manuals,  the  author  has  reluctantly  intro- 
duced. to  vhow  that  even  in  the  most  popular  books,  with  all  the  pretended  ira- 
revisers,  the  grammar  of  our  language  has  never  been  treated  with 
that  care  and  ability  which  its  importance  demands.  It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed 
that  men  unu>ed  to  a  teacher's  duties,  can  be  qualified  to  compose  such  books  as 
will  most  facilitate  his  labours.  Practice  is  a  better  pilot  than  theory.  And  while, 
in  re  tmmar,  the  consciousness  of  failure  is  constantly  inducing  changes 

from  one  system  to  an  other,  and  almost  daily  giving  birth  to  new  expedients  as 
nd  in  the  same  disappointment;  perhaps  the  practical  instructions  of 
long  and  assiduously  devoted  to  the  study,  may  approve 

*'!'!:•  1>c«i  Irs  Murriv  ati.l   Al^or,  who  ?of>m  not  to  have  observed  the  Importof 

I  ir.  I5uilii.il--.  on  P.-IL:.'  l:i:trh  of  hi-;  Ki,_  I  the 

1  William  Harvey  Wells, 

i.ove  cited. 

:nis  thus  :  ••  In  "''<•   u,ti  .  '  <,  we 

:  thus,  in- 

stead  of   8<t  •  *<lrd 

I  I'l'i'M  thi  'uent 

.     i  ad 

i  "  — 

edi- 

the 

'• 

••>o  we  BC« 

I 

he 

1C." 

ioiw, 

•vbe 

•  un  iifttr  J_A'ni-/H'/  the  letter."—"  soon  aj't:r  i:  f 


98  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  IX. 

themselves  to  many,  as  seasonably  supplying  the  aid  and  guidance  which  they 
require. 

34.  From  the  doctrines  of  grammar,  novelty  is  rigidly  excluded.     They  consist 
of  details  to  which  taste  can  lend  no  charm,  and  genius  no  embellishment.     A 
writer  may  express  them  with  neatness  and  perspicuity — their  importance  alone 
can  commend  them  to  notice.     Yet,  in  drawing  his  illustrations  from  the  stores  of 
literature,  the  grammarian  may  select  some  gems  of  thought,  which  will  fasten  on 
the   memory  a  worthy  sentiment,  or  relieve  the  dullness  of  minute  instruction. 
Such  examples  have  been  taken  from  various  authors,  and  interspersed  through 
the  following  pages.     The  moral  effect  of  early  lessons  being  a  point  of  the  utmost 
importance,  it  is  especially  incumbent  on  all  those  who  are  endeavouring  to  confer 
the  benefits  of  intellectual  culture,  to  guard  against  the  admission  or  the  inculca- 
tion of  any  principle  which  may  have  an  improper  tendency,  and  be  ultimately 
prejudicial  to  those  whom  they  instruct.     In  preparing  this  treatise  for  publication,* 
the  author  has  been  solicitous  to  avoid  every  thing  that  could  be  offensive  to  the 
most  delicate  and  scrupulous  reader ;  and  of  the  several  thousands  of  quotations 
introduced  for  the  illustration  or  application  of  the  principles  of  the  science,  he 
trusts  that  the  greater  part  will  be  considered  valuable  on  account  of   the  senti- 
ments they  contain. 

35.  The  nature  of  the  subject  almost  entirely  precludes  invention.     The  author 
has,  however,  aimed  at  that  kind  and  degree  of   originality  which  are  to  be  com- 
mended in  works  of   this  sort.     What  these  are,  according  to  his  view,  he  has 
sufficiently  explained  in  a  preceding  chapter.      And,  though  he  has  taken  the 
liberty  of  a  grammarian,  to  think  for  himself  and  write  in  a  style  of  his  own,  he 
trusts  it  will  be  evident  that  few  have  excelled  him  in   diligence  of  research, 
or  have  followed  more  implicitly  the  dictates  of  that  authority  which  gives  law  to 
language.     In  criticising  the  critics  and   grammatists  of  the  schools,  he  has  taken 
them  upon  their  own  ground — showing  their  errors,  for  the  most  part,  in  contrast 
with  the  common  principles  which  they  themselves  have  taught ;  and  has  hoped 
to  escape  censure,   in  his  turn,   not  by  sheltering  himself   under  the  name   of 
a  popular  master,  but  by  a  diligence  which  should  secure  to  his  writings  at  least 
the  humble  merit  of  self-consistency.     His  progress  in  composing  this  work   has 
been  slow,  and  not  unattended  with  labour  and   difficulty.     Amidst  the  contrarie- 
ties of  opinion,  that  appear  in  the  various  treatises  already  before  the  public,  and 
the  perplexities  inseparable  from  so  complicated  a  subject,  he  has,  after  deliberate 
consideration,  adopted  those  views  and  explanations  which   appeared  to  him  the 
least  liable  to  objection,  and  the  most  compatible  with  his  ultimate  object — the 
production  of  a  work  which  should  show,  both  extensively  and  accurately,  what 
is,  and  what  is  not,  good  English. 

36.  The  great  art  of  meritorious  authorship  lies  chiefly  in  the  condensation  of 
much  valuable  thought  into  few  words.     Although  the  author  has  here  allowed 
himself  ampler  room  than  before,  he  has  still  been  no  less  careful  to  store  it  with 
such  information  as  he  trusted  would  prevent  the  ingenious  reader  from  wishing  its 
compass  less.     He  has  compressed  into  this  volume  the  most  essential  parts  of  a 
mass  of  materials  in  comparison  with  which  the  book  is  still  exceedingly  small. 
The  effort  to  do  this,  has  greatly  multiplied  his  own  labour  and   long  delayed  the 
promised  publication  ;  but  in  proportion  as  this  object  has  been  reached,  the  time 
and  patience  of  the  student  must  have  been  saved.     Adequate  compensation  for 
this  long  toil,  has  never  been    expected.     Whether  from   this  performance  any 
profit  shall  accrue  to  the  author  or  not,  is  a  matter  of  little  consequence ;  he  has 
neither  written  for  bread,  nor  on  the  credit  of  its  proceeds  built  castles  in  the  air. 
His  ambition  was,  to  make  an  acceptable  book,  by  which   the  higher  class  of  stu- 
dents might  be  thoroughly  instructed,  and  in  which  the  eyes  of  the  critical  would 
find  little  to  condemn.     He  is  too  well  versed  in  the  history  of  his  theme,  too  well 
aware  of  the  precarious  fortune  of  authors,  to  indulge  in  any  confident  anticipa- 


CHAP.  X.]  OF    GRAMMATICAL   DEFINITIONS.  99 

tions  of  extraordinary  success  :  yet  he  will  not  deny  that  his  hopes  are  large, 
being  conscious  of  having  cherished  them  with  a  liberality  of  feeling  which  cannot 
fear°disappointment.  In  this  temper  he  would  invite  the  reader  to  a  thorough 
perusal  of  these  pages. 

37.  A  grammar  should  speak  for  itself.  In  a  work  of  this  nature,  every  word 
or  tittle  which  does  not  recommend  the  performance  to  the  understanding  and 
taste  of  the  skillful,  is,  so  far  as  it  goes,  a  certificate  against  it.  Yet  if  some  small 
errors  shall  have  escaped  detection,  let  it  be  recollected  that  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  compose  and  print,  with  perfect  accuracy,  a  work  of  this  size,  in  which  so  many 
little  things  should  be  observed,  remembered,  and  made  exactly  to  correspond. 
There  is  no  human  vigilance  which  multiplicity  may  not  sometimes  baffle,  and 
minuteness  sometimes  elude.  To  most  persons  grammar  seems  a  dry  and  difficult 
subject ;  but  there  is  a  disposition  of  mind,  to  which  what  is  arduous,  is  for  that 
very  reason  alluring.  "Quo  difiicilius,  hoc  prseclarius,"  says  Cicero;  "The 
more  difficult,  the  more  honourable."  The  merit  of  casting  up  a  high-way  in  a 
rugged  land,  is  proportionate  not  merely  to  the  utility  of  the  achievement,  but  to 
the  magnitude  of  the  obstacles  to  be  overcome.  The  difficulties  encountered  in 
boyhood  from  the  use  of  a  miserable  epitome  and  the  deep  impression  of  a  few 
mortifying  blunders  made  in  public,  first  gave  the  author  a  fondness  for  grammar; 
circumstances  having  since  favoured  this  turn  of  his  genius,  he  has  voluntarily 
pursued  the  study,  with  an  asssiduity  which  no  man  will  ever  imitate  for  the  sake 
of  pecuniary  recompense. 


CHAPTER  X. 

OF  GRAMMATICAL  DEFINITIONS. 


"  Foientiam  autem  nupquam  ease  censebant,  nisi  in  animi  motionibus  atque  rationibus:  qua  de  causi 
dfftnitiones  rerum  probabant,  et  haa  ad  omnia,  de  quibus  disceptabatur,  adhibebant."— CICERONIS  Aea- 
demica,  Lib.  i,  9.  _^^ 

1.  "  The  first  and  highest  philosophy,"  says  Puffendorf,  "  is  that  which  delivers 
the  most  accurate  and  comprehensive  definitions  of  things."  Had  all  the 
writers  on  English  grammar  IM-CH  adepts  in  this  philosophy,  there  would  have 
been  much  k-s  complaint  of  the  difficulty  and  uncertainty  of  the  study.  "  It 
Murray,  "to  advance  plausible  objections  against  almost  every 
definition,  rule,  and  arrangement  of  grammar." — Gram.  8vo,  p.  59.  But,  if 
this  i-s  true,  as  regards  his,  or  any  other  work,  the  reason,  I  am  persuaded,  is  far 
less  inherent  in  the  nature  of  the  subject  than  many  have  supposed.*  Objection- 
able definitions  and  rules  are  but  evidences  of  the  ignorance  and  incapacity  of  him 

•Samuel  Kirk  ham,  whose  grammar  is  briefly  described  in  the  third  chapter  of  this  introduction,  boldlj 
lays  th<-  blaiiH-  of  sill  his  philological  faults,  upon  our  noble  language  itself ';  and  even  conceives,  that  a  well- 
written  ami  faultless  grammar  cannot  be  a  good  one,  because  it  will  not  accord  with  that  reasonless  jumble 
which  he  takes  every  .-xiMing  language  to  be!  How  diligently  he  laboured  to  perfect  his  work,  and  with 
what  /x-al  for  truth  ami  an-iiracy.  may  be  gue^ed  from  the  following  citation  :  "  The  truth  is,  after  all  which 
can  be  d-ine  to  render  the  definitioi.s  and  rules  of  grammar  comprehensive  and  accurate,  they  will  still  be 
found,  when  cikically  examine  1  l>\  men  of  learning  and  science,  nn>rf  or  bss exceptionable.  Thtse exceptiont 
ami  im  perfections  are  the  unavoidable  cotiM-quence  of  the  imperfection*  of  the  language.  Language  as  well 
as  »-ver>  tiling  else  of  human  tni-fntinn,  will  always  be  imperfect.  Consequently,  a  perfect  system  of  grammat- 
ical principles,  tcoiudmot  suit  it.  A  perfect  grammar  will  not  be  produced,  until  some  perfect  being  writes  it 
for  a  perfect  language  ;  and  a  perfi-ct  language  will  not  be  constructed,  until  tome  sitp<r-hvman  agency  in 
en.ploied  in  if*  pro.luciion.  All  grammatical  principles  and  systems  which  are  not  perfect  are  frr>j>tion- 
aU'.^—Kirkham's  Grammar,  p.  66.  The  un plausible  i sophistry  of  these  strange  remarks,  and  the  palliation 
they  afford  to  the  multitudinous  defects  of  the  book  which  contains  them,  may  be  left,  without  further  comment, 
to  the  judgement  of  the  reader. 


100  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  X. 

who  frames  them.  And  if  the  science  of  grammar  has  been  so  unskillfully  treated 
that  almost  all  its  positions  may  be  plausibly  impugned,  it  is  time  for  some 
attempt  at  a  reformation  of  the  code.  The  language  is  before  us,  and  he  who 
knows  most  about  it,  can  best  prescribe  the  rules  which  we  ought  to  observe  in 
the  use  of  it.  But  how  can  we  expect  children  to  deduce  from  a  few  particulars 
an  a'-curate  notion  of  general  principles  and  their  exceptions,  where  learned  doctors 
have  so  often  faltered  'i  Let  the  abettors  of  grammatical  "  induction  "  answer. 

2.  Nor  let  it  be  supposed  a  light  matter  to  prescribe  with  certainty  the  princi- 
ples of  grammar.     For,  what  is  requisite  to  the  performance  ?     To  know  certainly, 
in  the  first  place,  what  is  the  best  usage.     Nor  is  this  all.     Sense  and   memory 
must  be  keen,  arid  tempered  to  retain  their  edge  and  hold,  in  spite  of  any  difficul- 
ties which,  the  subject  may  present.     To  understand  things  exactly  as  they  are  j   to 
discern  the  differences  by  which  they  may  be  distinguished,  and  the  resemblances  by 
which  they  ought  to  be  classified  ;  to  know,  through  the  proper  evidences  of  truth, 
that  OUL-  ideas,  or  conceptions,  are  rightly  conformable  to  the  nature,  properties, 
and  relations,  of  the  objects  of  which  we  think  ;  to  see  how  that  which  is  complex 
may  be  resolved  into  its  elements,  and  that  which  is  simple  may  enter  into 
combination ;  to  observe  how  that  which  is  consequent  may  be  traced  to  its  cause, 
and  that  which  is  regular  be  taught  by  rule ;  to  learn  from  the  custom  of  speech 
the  proper  connexion  between  words  and  ideas,  so  as  to  give  to  the  former  a  just 
application,  to  the  latter  an  adequate  expression,  and  to  things  a  just  description ; 
to  have  that  penetration  which  discerns  what  terms,  ideas,  or  things,  are  definable, 
and  therefore  capable  of  being  taught,  and  what  must  be  left  to  the  teaching  of 
nature :    these  are    the  essential   qualifications   for   him  who  would   form    good 
definitions ;  these  are  the  elements  of  that  accuracy  and  comprehensiveness  of 
thought,  to  which  allusion  has  been  made,  and  which  are  characteristic  of  "the 
first  and  highest  philosophy." 

3.  Again,  with  reference  to  the  cultivation  of  the  mind,   I  would  add  :  To 
observe  accurately  the  appearances  of  things,  and  the  significations  of  words  ;  to 
learn  first  principles  first,  and   proceed  onward  in  such  a  manner  that  every  new 
truth   may  help  to  enlighten    and  strengthen  the  understanding  ;  and  thus   to 
comprehend    gradually,  according  to  our  capacity,  whatsoever    may  be    brought 
within  the  scope  of  human  intellect : — to  do  these  things,  I  say,  is,  to  ascend  by 
sure  steps,  so  far  as  we  may,  from  the  simplest  elements  of  science — which,  in  fact, 
are  our  own,  original,  undefinable  notices  of  things — towards  the  very  topmost 
height  of  human  wisdom  and  knowledge.     The  ancient  saying,  that  truth  lies  hid, 
or  in  the  bottom  of  a  well,  must  not  be  taken  without  qualification  ;  for  "  the  first 
and  highest  philosophy  "  has  many  principles  which  even  a  child  may  understand. 
These  several  suggestions,  the  first  of  which  the  Baron  de  Puffendorf  thought  not 
unworthy  to  introduce  his  great  work  on  the  Law  of  Nature  and  of  Nations,  the 
reader,  if  he  please,  may  bear  in  mind,  as  he  peruses  the  following  digest  of  the 
laws  and  usages  of  speech. 

4.  "Definitions,"  says  Duncan,  in  his  Elements  of  Logic,  "are  intended  to 
make  known  the  meaning  of  words  standing  for  complex  ideas  ;*  and  were  we 
always  careful  to  form  those  ideas  exactly  in  our  minds,  and  copy  OUF  definitions 
from  that  appearance,  much   of   the  confusion  and  obscurity  complained  of  in 

'.ges  might  be  prevented." — P.  70.  Again  he  says  :  "  The  writings  of  the 
mathematicians  are  a  clear  proof,  how  much  the  advancement  of  human  knowledge 
depends  upon  a  right  use  of  definitions." — P.  72.  Mathematical  science  has 
been  supposed  to  be,  in  its  own  nature,  that  which  is  best  calculated  to  develop 

:'*The  jihrnap  complex  ideas,  or  compound  i>/nts,  has  been  used  for  the  notions  which  we  have  of  things 

consist! :  >  .is  to  i-'iilirac-e  some  sort  of  plur.ilir ,  :   f-'.uis  our 

ideas  of  Complex  or  compound.  in  which 

////  sv.  pleasi 

t,  &c.     But  some  writers  have  contended,  that  ftu:  a),///<aW/;  ;:  I  that  all  the 

coi.ijili'xii.v.  i  general  term  in  lieu  of  many  particular  oues.     Locke  is 

on  one  side  of  this  debate,  Home  Tooke,  on  the  other. 


CHAP.  X.]  OP    GRAMMATICAL   DEFINITIONS.  1  01 


and  strengthen  the  reasoning  faculty  ;   hut.  ;>s  speech  is  emphatically  tin- 
of  reasi'/t.  I    ;iin    persuaded,  that    had    the  grammarians    1  een   equally  char   ;mcl 
logical  in  tlu-ir  instrnetioife,  ilicir  M-ience  would  never  hav.  'inted  inferior 

in  thN  respect,      llrammnr  i-   perhaps  the  most  comprehensive  of  aii  studies  ;   hut 
it  i-  chietlv  ouing  to  the  imskiilfnlness  of  instructors,  and  to  the  eirors  and  d> 
of  the  -  .  that  it  is  commonly  regarded  as  the  most  dry  and  difVcul'. 

5.    "  1'oor  Scalier  (who  well  knew  what  a  definition  should   he)  from    hi 
melancholy    experience    exclaimed  —  l^'ilnl   hifi-li<-hm    yniintii'itii'n   < 
Nothing  is  more  unhappy  than  the  grammatical  definer."  —  7Wr\s  Isin  rsli-ns, 
i,  p.  '238.      Nor  do  our  later  appear  to  have  heen  more  fortun,  tc  in  this 

matter.  A  majority  of  all  the,  definitions  and  rules  contained  in  the  great  multitude 
of  Knirli>h  grammars  which  I  have  examined,  are,  in  .-«me  n-.peet  or  other,  erro- 
neous. The  nature  of  their  multitudinous  faults.  I  must  in  general  leave  to  the 
diseernment  of  the  reader,  except  the  pas.-ages  he  such  as  may  he  suitably  .-elected 
for  examples  of  false  syntax.  Enough,  however,  will  be  exhibited,  in  the  course 
of  this  volume,  to  make  the  foregoing  allegation  credible  ;  and  of  the  rest  a  more 
accurate  judgement  may  perhaps  he  formed,  when  they  shall  have  i  ecu  compared 
•with  what  this  work  will  present  as  substitutes.  The  importance  of  wiving  correct 
definitions  t<>  philological  terms,  and  of  stating  with  perfect  ;  iat-oever 

is  to  he  te  'ioctrin*'.  has  never  heen  duly  appreciated.     The  grand  source 

of  the  disheartening  difficulties  encountered  by  boys  in  the  study  of  grammar, 
lie-  in  their  ignorance  (,f  th»  meaning  of  words.  This  cause  of  end  arrassmiMit  is 
not  to  be  shunned  and  left  untouched  ;  but,  as  far  a?  possible,  it  ought  to  be  re- 
moved. In  teaching  grammar,  or  indeed  any  other  science,  we  cannot  avoid  the 
u-'  of  many  term<  to  which  young  learners  may  have  attached  no  ideas.  Being 
little  inclined  or  accustomed  to  reflection,  they  often  hear,  read,  or  even  rehearse  fiom 
menn»ry.  the  phdnest  language  thatcan  be  uttered,  and  yet  have  no  very  distinct  ap- 
prehension of  what  it  mean-.  What  marvel  then,  that  in  a  study  abounding  with 
terms  taken  in  a  peculiar  or  technical  sense,  many  of  which,  in  the  common  manuals, 
are  either  left  undefined,  or  are  explained  but  loosely  or  erroneously,  they  should 
often  he  .jreatly  pux/led.  and  sometimes  totally  discouraged'.' 

I*.    >'''//,  y  re  derived,  not  from   teaching,  but  from    sensation  or  con- 

SciouMie—  ;   but  com  jilr.r  itirffs.  or  the  notions  which  we  have  of  such  tilings  as  con- 
•  •f  variou-  tand  in  any  known  relations,  are   deh'i.able.      A 

.11  have  no  better  definition  of  heat,  or  of  motion,  than  what  he  will  natu- 
rally get  bv  iiHii'iiuj  towards  a  Jire.  Not  so  of  our  complex  or  general  ideas, 
which  eonstim  The  proper  objects  of  scientific  induction  con-i.-t  in 

ptions  of  pure  mind,  which  form   the  true  meaning  of  generic 
names,  or  common  nouns  ;  and  he  who  is   properly  qualified    to   teach,  can   for  the 
dily  tell  what   should    be   understood    by  such  words.       Hut  are   not 
many  teacher-  :   a  boy  commencing  the  process 

[dilation,  i>  iir-t  told.  that.  "  Arithmetic  is  the  art  of  computing  bv  numbers,'* 
which  .-enteiice  he  partly  urid'-ivand.-  :  bu'  should  'he  ;.-;;  hi-  teacher,  "  What  is 
a  iiniitlx'r.  in  arithmetic  V  what  <  ':  Were  (i.old  Brown  so 

d.  he  would  Dimply  Bay,  --  .  I  ////////«•/•  ///  'ir'thinrtlr,  is  an  r./y//v.*.v/.///  //////  fells 
h">r  jinmii  :  "  for  every  expression  'hat  tells  how  many,  is  a  number  in  arithmetic, 
and  nothing  el-e  i-.  But  a-  r,n  smdi  detinition  is  c«.ntained  in  tin-  bonks*  there 
are  ten  chanc  'hat.  simple  as  the  matter  is,  the  readie-t  n  I  hall 

find,  will  give  an  •  the  tea.  her  r-houltl   Bay,  "  That  is  a 

\\\\\\-\\  1  have  not  tl  •  .   turn   to  your  dictionary."      The   1  "y  n  ads 


*  I>il\v  •!•  he  does  not  express  it  as  a  defi: 

an  I 

things.     T!: 

onf.  Angu- 

lar. \\Lat  does  the    word  singular  mean? 

Smith's  iV'ir  Gram.  p.  7. 


102  INTRODUCTION.  [dlAP.  X. 

from  Dr.  Webster :  "  NUMBER — the  designation  of  a  unit  in  reference  to  other  units, 
or  in  reckoning,  counting,  enumerating." — "Yes,"  replies  the  master,  "  that  is 
it ;  Dr.  Webster  is  unrivalled  in  giving  definitions."  Now,  has  the  boy  been  in- 
structed, or  only  puzzled?  Can  he  conceive  how  the  number  Jive  can  be  a  unit? 
or  how  the  word^ye,  the  figure  5,  or  the  numeral  letter  V,  is  "  the  designation  of 
a  unit  ?"  "He  knows  that  each  of  these  is  a  number,  and  that  the  oral  monosyl- 
lable Jive  is  the  same  number,  in  an  Other  form  ;  but  is  still  as  much  at  a  loss  for 
a  proper  answer  to  his  question,  as  if  he  had  never  seen  either  schoolmaster  or 
dictionary.  So  is  it  with  a  vast  number  of  the  simplest  things  in  grammar, 

7.  Since  what  we  denominate  scientific  terms,  are  seldom,  if  ever,  such  as  stand 
for  ideas  simple  and  undefinable  ;  and  since  many  of  those  which  represent  general 
ideas,  or  classes  of  objects,  may  be  made  to  stand  for  more  or  fewer  things,  accord- 
ing to  the  author's  notion  of  classification  ;  it  is  sufficiently  manifest  that  the  only 
process  by  which  instruction  can  effectually  reach  the  understanding  of  the  pupil 
and  remove  the  difficulties  spoken  of,  is  that  of  delivering  accurate  definitions. 
These  are  requisite  for  the  information  and  direction  of  the  learner ;  and   these 
must  be  thoroughly  impressed  upon  his  mind,  as  the  only  means  by  which  he  can 
know  exactly  how  much  and  what  he  is  to  understand  by  our  words.     The  power 
which  we  possess,  of  making  known  all  our  complex  or  general  ideas  of  things  by 
means  of  definitions,  is  a  faculty  wisely  contrived  in  the  nature  of  language,  for 
the  increase  and  spread  of  science  ;  and,  in  the  hands  of  thg  skillful,  it  is  of  vast 
avail  to  these  ends.     It  is  "  the  first  and  highest  philosophy,"  instructing  mankind, 
to  think  clearly  and  speak  accurately  ;  as  well  as  to  know  definitely,  in  the  unity 
and  permanence  of  a  general  nature,  those  things  which  never  could  be  known  or 
spoken  of  as  the  individuals  of  an  infinite  and  fleeting  multitude. 

8.  And,  without  contradiction,  the  shortest  and  most  successful  way  of  teaching 
the  young  mind  to  distinguish  things  according  to  their  proper  differences,  and  to 
name  or  describe  them  aright,  is,  to  tell  in   direct  terms  what  they  severally  are. 
Cicero  intimates  that  all  instruction  appealing  to  reason  ought  to  proceed  in  this 
manner:  "  Omnis  enim  quae  a  ratione  suscipitur  de  re  aliqua  institutio,  debet  & 
deftnitione  proficisci,  ut  intelligatur  quid  sit  id,  de  quo  disputetur. —  Off.  Lib.  i,  p. 
4.     Literally  thus  :  "  For  all  instruction  which  from   reason  is  undertaken  con- 
cerning any  thing,  ought  to  proceed  from  a  definition,  that  it  may  be  understood 
what  the  thing  is,  about  which  the  speaker  is  arguing."      Little  advantage,  how- 
ever, will  be  derived  from  any  definition,  which  is  not,  as  Quintilian  would  have  it, 
"  Lucida  et  succincta  rei  descriptio" — a  clear  and  brief  description  of  the  thing. 

9.  Let  it  here  be  observed  that  scientific   definitions  are  of  things,  and  not 
merely  of  words ;  or  if  equally  of  words  and  things,  they  are  rather  of  nouns  than 
of  the  other  parts  of  speech.     For  a  definition,  in  the   proper  sense  of  the  term, 
consists  not  in  a  mere  change  or  explanation  of  the  verbal  sign,  but  in  a  direct  and 
true  answer  to  the  question,  What  is  such  or  such  a  thing?     In  respect  to  its 
extent,  it  must  with  equal  exactness  include  every  thing  which  comes  under  the 
name,  and  exclude  every  thing  which  does  not  come  under  the  name  :  then  will  it 
perfectly  serve  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  intended.     To  furnish  such  definitions, 
(as  I  have  before  suggested,)  is  work  for  those  who  are  capable  of  great  accuracy 
both  of  thought  and  expression.     Those  who  would  qualify  themselves  for  teaching 
any  particular  branch  of  knowledge,  should  make  it  their  first  concern  to  acquire 
clear  and  accurate  ideas  of  all  things  that  ought  to  be  embraced  in  their  instructions. 
These  ideas  are  to  be  gained,  either  by  contemplation  upon  the  things  themselves 
as  they  are  presented  naturally,  or  by  the  study  of  those  books  in  which  they  are 
rationally  and  clearly  explained.     Nor  will  such  study  ever  be  irksome  to  him 
whose  generous  desire  after  knowledge,  is  thus  deservedly  gratified. 

10.  But  it  must  be  understood,  that  although  scientific  definitions  are  said  to  be 
of  things,  they  are  not  copied  immediately  from  the  real  essence  of  the  things,  but 
are  formed  from  the  conceptions  of  the  author's  mind  concerning  that  essence. 


CHAP.  X.]  OP    GRAMMATICAL   DEFINITIONS.  103 

Hence,  as  Duncan  justly  remarks,  "A  mistaken  idea  never  fails  to  occasion  a 
mistake  also  in  the  definition."  Hence,  too,  the  common  distinction  of  the 
logicians,  between  definitions  of  the  name  and  definitions  of  the  thing,  seems  to 
have  little  or  no  foundation.  The  former  term  they  applied  to  those  definitions 
•which  describe  the  objects  of  pure  intellection,  such  as  triangles,  and  other  geomet- 
rical figures ;  the  latter,  to  those  which  define  objects  actually  existing  in  external 
nature.  The  mathematical  definitions,  so  noted  for  their  certainty  and  completeness, 
have  been  supposed  to  have  some  peculiar  preeminence,  as  belonging  to  the  former 
class.  But,  in  fact  the  idea  of  a  triangle  exists  as  substantively  in  the  mind,  as 
that  of  a  tree,  if  not  indeed  more  so  ;  and  if  I  define  these  two  objects,  my 
description  will,  in  either  case,  be  equally  a  definition  both  of  the  name  and  of  the 
thing ;  but  in  neither,  is  it  copied  from  any  thing  else  than  that  notion  which  I 
have  conceived,  of  the  common  properties  of  all  triangles  or  of  all  trees. 

11.  Infinitives,  and  some  other  terms  not  called  nouns,  may  be  taken  abstractly 
or  substantively,  so  as  to  admit  of  what  may  be  considered  a  regular  definition ; 
thus  the  question,  "  What  is  it  to  read?"  is  nearly  the  same  as,  "  What  is  reading?" 
"  What  is  it  to  be  wise  ?  "  is  little  different  from,  "  What  is  wisdom  ?  "  and  a  true 
answer  might  be,  in  either  case,  a  true  definition.  Nor  are  those  mere  translations 
or  explanations  of  words,  with  which  our  dictionaries  and  vocabularies  abound,  to 
be  dispensed  with  in  teaching  :  they  prepare  the  student  to  read  various  authors 
with  facility,  and  furnish  him  with  a  better  choice  of  terms,  when  he  attempts  to 
write.  And  in  making  such  choice,  let  him  remember,  that  as  affectation  of  hard 
words  makes  composition  ridiculous,  so  the  affectation  of  easy  and  common  ones 
may  make  it  unmanly.  But  not  to  digress.  With  respect  to  grammar,  we  must 
sometimes  content  ourselves  with  such  explications  of  its  customary  terms,  as 
cannot  claim  to  be  perfect  definitions ;  for  the  most  common  and  familiar  things  are 
not  always  those  which  it  is  the  most  easy  to  define.  When  Dr.  Johnson  was 
asked,  "  What  is  poetry?'1  he  replied,  "Why,  sir,  it  is  easier  to  tell  what  it  is 
not.  We  all  know  what  light  is  :  but  it  is  not  easy  to  tell  what  it  is." — BoswelVs 
Life  of  Johnson,  Vol.  iii,  p.  402.  This  was  thought  by  the  biographer  to  have 
been  well  and  ingeniously  said. 

1*2.  But  whenever  we  encounter  difficulties  of  this  sort,  it  may  be  worth  while 
to  seek  for  their  cause.  If  we  find  it,  the  understanding  is  no  longer  puzzled. 
Dr.  Johnson  seemed  to  his  biographer,  to  show,  by  this  ready  answer,  the  acuteness 
of  his  wit  and  discernment.  But  did  not  the  wit  consist  in  adroitly  excusing 
himself,  by  an  illusory  comparison  V  What  analogy  is  there  between  the  things 
which  he  compares?  Of  the  difficulty  of  defining  poetry,  and  the  difficulty  of 
defining  light,  the  reasons  are  as  different  as  are  the  two  things  themselves,  poetry 
and  liyht.  The  former  is  something  so  various  and  complex  that  it  is  hard  to 
distinguish  its  essence  from  its  accidents;  the  latter  presents  an  idea  so  perfectly 
simple  and  unique  that  all  men  conceive  of  it  exactly  in  the  same  way,  while  none 
can  show  wherein  it  essentially  consists.  But  is  it  true,  that,  "We  all  know 
what  tight  is?"  Is  it  not  rather  true,  that  we  know  nothing  at  all  about  it,  but 
what  it  is  just  as  easy  to  tell  as  to  think  ?  We  know  it  is  that  reflexible  medium 
which  enables  us  to  see ;  and  this  is  definition  enough  for  all  but  the  natively 
blind,  to  whom  no  definition  perhaps  can  ever  convey  an  adequate  notion  of  its 
u><-  in  respect  to  sight. 

13.  If  a  person  cannot  tell  what  a  thing  is,  it  is  commonly  considered  to  be  a 
fair  inference,  that  he  does  not  know.  Will  any  grammarian  say,  "  I  know  well 
enough  what  the  thing  is,  but  I  cannot  tell?"  Yet,  taken  upon  this  common 
principle,  the  authors  of  our  English  grammars,  (if  in  framing  their  definitions 
they  have  not  been  grossly  wanting  to  themselves  in  the  exercise  of  their  own  art,) 
may  be  charged,  I  think,  with  great  ignorance,  or  great  indistinctness  of  apprehen- 
sion ;  and  that,  too,  in  relation  to  many  things  among  the  very  simplest  elements 
of  their  science.  For  example :  Is  it  not  a  disgrace  to  a  man  of  letters,  to  be 


104  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  X. 

unable  to  tell  accurately  what  a  letter  is?  Yet  to  say,  with  Lowth,  Murray, 
Churchill,  and  a  hundred  others  of  inferior  name,  that,  "A  letter  is  the  first 
.principle  or  least  part  of  a  word,"  is  to  utter  what  is  neither  good  English  nor 
true  doctrine.  The  two  articles  a  and  the  are  here  inconsistent  with  each  other. 
"A  letter  "is  one  letter,  any  letter;  but  "  the  first  principle  of  a  word"  is, 
surely,  not  one  or  any  principle  taken  indefinitely.  Equivocal  as  the  phrase  is,  it 
must  mean  either  some  particular  principle,  or  some  particular  first  principle,  of 
a  word  ;  and,  taken  either  way,  the  assertion  is  false.  For  it  is  manifest,  that  in 
no  sense  can  we  affirm  of  each  of  the  letters  of  a  word,  that  it  is  "  the  first 
principle  "  of  that  word.  Take,  for  instance,  the  word  man.  Is  m  the  first 
principle  of  this  word?  You  may  answer,  "  Yes;  for  it  is  the  first  letter  "  Is  a 
the  first  principle?  "No;  it  is  the  second."  But  n  too  is  a  letter;  and  is  n 
the  first  principle  ?  "No;  it  is  the  last!"  This  grammatical  error  might  have 
been  avoided  by  saying,  "Letters  are  the  first  principles,  or  least  parts,  of  words.'* 
But  still  the  definition  would  not  be  true,  nor  would  it  answer  the  question,  What 
is  a  letter?  The  true  answer  to  which  is:  "A  letter  is  an  alphabetic  character, 
which  commonly  represents  some  elementary  sound  of  human  articulation,  or 
speech." 

14.  This  true  definition  sufficiently  distinguishes  letters  from  the  marks  used  in 
punctuation,  because  the  latter  are  not  alphabetic,  and  they  represent  silence, 
rather  than  sound ;  and  also  from  the  Arabic  figures  used  for  numbers,  because 
these  are  no  part  of  any  alphabet,  and  they  represent  certain  entire  words,  none 
of  which  consists  only  of  one  letter,  or  of  a  single  element  of  articulation.     The 
same  may  be  said  of  all  the  characters  u>ed  for  abbreviation  ;  as,  &  for  and,  $ 
for  dollars,  or  the  marks  peculiar  to  mathematicians,  to  astronomers,  to  druggists.  &c. 
None  of  these  are  alphabetic,  and  they  represent  significant  words,  and  not  single 
elementary  sounds  :  it  would  be  great  dullness,  to  assume  that  a  word  and  an 
elementary  sound  are  one  and  the  same  thing.     But  the  reader  will  observe  that 
this  definition  embraces  no  idea  contained  in  the  faulty  one  to  which  I  arn  objecting  ; 
neither  indeed  could  it,  without  a  blunder.     So  wide  from  the  mark  is  that  notion 
of  a  letter,  which  the  popularity  of  Dr.  Lowth  and  his  copyists  has  made  a  hun- 
dred fold  more  common  than  any  other  !*     According  to  an  other  erroneous  defi- 
nition given  by  these  same  gentlemen,    "  Words  are  articulate  sounds,  used  by 
common  consent,  as  signs  of  our  ideas" — Murray's    Gram.   p.  22;  Kirkham's, 
20  ;  IrtgersoWs,  7  ;  Algers,  12  ;  Russell's,  7  ;  Merchant's,  9  ;  Fisk's,  11  ;  Green- 
leafs,  20 ;  and  many  others.     See  Lowth's  Gram.  p.  6  ;   from  which  almost  all 
authors  have  taken  the  notion,  that  words  consist  of  "  sounds  "  only.    But  letters  are 
no  principles  or  parts  of  sounds  at  all ;  unless  you  will  either  have  visible  marks 
to  be  sounds,  or  the  sign  to  be  a  principle  or  part  of  the  thing  signified.     Nor  are 
they  always  principles  or  -parts  of  words  :  we  sometimes  write  what  is  not  a- word; 
as  when,  by  letters,  we  denote  pronunciation  alone,  or  imitate  brute  voices.     If 
words  were  formed  of  articulate  sounds  only,  they  could  not  exist  in  books,  or  be 
in  any  wise  known  to  the  deaf  and  dumb.     These  two  .primary  definitions,  then, 
are  both  false ;  and,  taken  together,  they  involve  the  absurdity  of  dividing  things 
acknowledged  to  be  indivisible.      In  utterance,  we  cannot  divide  consonants  from 
their  vowels ;  on  paper,  we  can.     Hence  letters  are  the  least,  parts  of  written  lan- 
guage only  ;  but  the  least  parts  of  spoken  words  are  syllables,  and  not  letters. 
Every  definition  of  a  consonant  implies  this. 

15.  They  who  cannot  define  a  letter  or  a  word,  may  be  expected  to  err  in  ex- 
plaining other  grammatical  terms.     In  my  opinion,  nothing  is  well  written,  that 


*It  is  truly  astonishing  that  so  great  a  majority  of  our  grammarians  could  have  been  so  blindly  misled,  as 
they  have  been,  in  this  matter  ;  and  the  more  so.  because  a  very  good  definition  of  a  Letter  was  both  published 
and  repuhlished.  about  the  time  at  which  Lowth's  first  appeared:  viz..  "  What  is  a  letter?  A  Letter  is  the 
Sign,  Mark,  or  Character  of  a  simple  or  uncompounded  Sound.  Are  Letters  Sounds?  No.  Letters  are  only 
the  Sij^ns  or  Svmbols  of  Sounds,  not  the  Sounds  themselves."—  The  British  Grammar,  p.  3.  See  the  very  same 
words  on  the  second  page  of  Buchanan's  (i  English  Syntax,"  a  work  which  was  published  as  early  as  1767. 


CHAP.  X.]  OF    GRAMMATICAL   DEFINITIONS.  105 

can  possibly  bo  misunderstood  ;  and  if  any  definition  be  likely  to  suyyrst  a  wrong 
idea,  this  alone  i-  enough  to  condemn  it:  nor  does  it  justify  the  phfttoeology,  to 
say,  that  a  more  reasonable  construction  can  be  put  upon  it.  By  Murray  and 
others,  tin-  young  learner  is  told,  that,  "A  min-l  is  an  articulate  sound,  that  can 
be  perfectly  "//'•/"//  ////  //Wr';"  as  if  a  vowel  were  nothing  but  a  sound,  and  that 
a  sort  of  echo,  which  can  utter  itm-lf ;  and  next,  that,  "A  consonant  \<  an  articu- 
late son  ml,  which  cannot  be  perfectly  uttei'G(\  without  the  help  of  a  vowel."  Now, 
by  their  own  showing,  every  letter  is  either  a  vowel  or  aconsonant;  hence,  accord- 
ing to  the>e  definitions,  all  the  letters  are  articulate  sounds.  And,  if  so,  what  is 
a  "  silent  letter?  "  It  is  a  silent  artic.nhitp.  sound!  Again  :  ask  a  boy,  "  What 
is  a  triphtlnii.  He  answers  in  the  words  of  Murray,  Weld,  Pond,  Smith, 

A<lam>.  Kirkham,  Merchant,  Ingersoll.  Bacon,  Alger,  and  others  :  "  A  triphthong 
is  the  union  of  three  vowels,  pronounced  in  like  manner :  as  eau  in  beau,  iew  in 
view."  He  accurately  cites  an  entire  paragraph  from  his  grammar,  but  does  he 
well  conceive  how  the  three  vowels  in  beau  or  view  are  "  pronounced  in  like  man- 
'  ''  Again  :  "A  $yl\<M*>  is  a  sound,  either  simple  or  compounded,  pronounced 
by  a  single  impulse  of  the  voice." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  *2'2.  This  definition 
resolves  syllables  into  v*//Ws  ;  whereas  their  true  elements  are  letters.  It  also  mis- 
takes  the  participle  ('<»nj»»iit<leil  for  the  adjective  compound;  whereas  the  latter 
only  is  the  tin'  -f  .«/////*//'.  A  compound  sound  is  a  sound  composed  of 

others  which  may  be  separated  ;  a  sound  compounded  is  properly  that  which  is 
made  an  ingredient  with  others,  but  which  may  itself  be  simple. 

I'l     It  is  ol»ervable,  that  in  their  attempts  to  explain  these  prime  elements  of 

grain  mar,  Murray,  and  many  others  who  have  copied   him,  overlook   all   written 

;    whereas  their  very  science   itself   took   its  origin,  name,  and   nature, 

from  the  invention  of  writing;  and  has  consequently  no  bearing  upon  any  dialect 

which  has  not  been  written.     Their  definitions  absurdly  resolve  letters,  vowels, 

coiiMiiKints.  syllables,  and  words,  all  into  sounds  ;  as  if  none  of  these  things  had 

any  existence  on  paper,  or  any  significance  to  those  who  read  in  silence.       Hence, 

tli"ir  explanations  of  all  these  elements,  as  well  as  of  many  other  things  equally 

iiial  to  the  study,  are  palpably  erroneous.     I  attribute  this  to  the  carelessness 

with  which  men  have  compiled  or  made  up  books  of  grammar  ;  and  that  careless- 

•.  arious  circumstances,  already  described,  which  have  left  diligence  in 

a  grammarian  no  hope  of  praise  or  reward.      Without  alluding  here  to  my  own 

3,  no  one  being  obliged   to  accuse  himself,  I  doubt  whether  we  have  any 

school  grammar  that  is  much  less  objectionable  in  this  respect,  than  Murray's;  and 

ly  mistaken,  if  nine  tenths  of  all  the  definitions  in  Murray's  system 

an-  not  faulty.      "  It  was  this  sort  of  definitions,  which  made  Scnb'cjer  say,  '  Nihil 

int'i-lirius  .  '/co.''      See  Johnson's  Gram.   Com.  p.  351 ;  also 

paragraph  ;>///  <il>< 

17.  Nor  can  this  objection  be  neutralized  by  saying,  it  is  a  mere  matter  of  opin- 
ion— a  mere  prejudice  originating  in  rivalry.  For,  though  we  have  ample  choice 
of  tenus,  and  may  frequently  assign  to  particular  words  a  meaning -and  an  explana- 
tion which  are  in  >om»-  decree  arbitrary  ;  yet  whenever  we  attempt  to  define  things 
under  the  name  which  cu.-tom  has  jm.-itivclv  ii\«-d  upon  them,  we  are  no  longer  left 
to  arbitrary  explications  ;  but  are  bound  to  think  and  to  say  that  only  which  shall 
commend  itself  to  the  understanding  of  others,  as  being  altogether  true  to  nature. 
When  a  won!  is  well  under-  note  a  particular  object  or  class  of  objects, 

the  detiniiion  of  it  ought  to  be  in  strict  conformity  to  what  is  known  of  the  real 
being  and  properties  of  the  thing  or  things  contemplated.  A  definition  of  this 
kind  is  a  proposition  susceptible  of  proof  and  illustration;  and  therefore  whatso- 
ever is  erroneou-ly  assumed  to  be  the  proper  meaning  of  such  a  term,  may  be 
refuted.  But  those  prr-otis  who  take  every  thing  upon  trust,  and  choose  both  to 
learn  and  to  teach  mechanically,  often  become  so  slavishly  habituated  to  the  pecu- 
liar phraseology  of  their  text-books,  that,  be  the  absurdity  of  a  particular  expres- 


106  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  X. 

sion  what  it  may,  they  can  neither  discover  nor  suspect  any  inaccuracy  in  it.  It  is 
also  very  natural  even  for  minds  more  independent  and  acute,  to  regard  with  some 
reverence  whatsoever  was  gravely  impressed  upon  them  in  childhood.  Hence  the 
necessity  that  all  school-books  should  proceed  from  skillful  hands.  Instruction 
should  tell  things  as  they  are,  and  never  falter  through  negligence. 

18.  I  have  admitted  that  definitions  are  not  the  only  means  by  which  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  import  of  language  may  be  acquired ;  nor  are  they  the  only 
means  by  which  the  acquisition  of  such  knowledge  may  be  aided.  To  exhibit  or 
point  out  things  and  tell  their  names,  constitutes  a  large  part  of  that  instruction  by 
which  the  meaning  of  words  is  conveyed  to  the  young  mind  ;  and,  in  many  cases, 
a  mere  change  or  apposition  of  terms  may  sufficiently  explain  our  idea.  But  when 
we  would  guard  against  the  possibility  of  misapprehension,  and  show  precisely 
what  is  meant  by  a  word,  we  must  fairly  define  it.  There  are,  however,  in 
every  language,  many  words  which  do  not  admit  of  a  formal  definition.  The 
import  of  all  definitive  and  connecting  particles  must  be  learned  from  usage,  trans- 
lation, or  derivation ;  and  nature  reserves  to  herself  the  power  of  explaining  the 
objects  of  our  simple  original  perceptions.  "All  words  standing  for  complex 
ideas  are  definable  ;  but  those  by  which  we  denote  simple  ideas,  are  not.  For  the 
perceptions  of  this  latter  class,  having  no  other  entrance  into  the  mind,  than  by 
sensation  or  reflection,  can  be  acquired  only  by  experience." — Duncari s  Logic, 
p.  63.  "And  thus  we  see,  that  as  our  simple  ideas  are  the  materials  and  founda- 
tion of  knowledge,  so  the  names  of  simple  ideas  may  be  considered  as  the  element- 
ary parts  of  language,  beyond  which  we  cannot  trace  the  meaning  and  signification  of 
words.  When  we  come  to  them,  we  suppose  the  ideas  for  which  they  stand  to  be 
already  known  ;  or,  if  they  are  not,  experience  alone  must  be  consulted,  and  not 
definitions  or  explications." — Ibid.  p.  69. 

19.  But  this  is  no  apology  for  the  defectiveness  of  any  definition  which  might 
be  made  correct,  or  for  the  defectiveness  of  our  English  grammars,  in  the  frequent 
omission  of  all  explanation,  and  the  more  frequent  adoption  of  some  indirect  form 
of  expression.     It  is  often  much  easier  to  make  some  loose  observation  upon  what 
is  meant  by  a  given  word  or  term  in  science,  than  to  frame  a  faultless  definition  of 
the  thing;  because  it  is  easier  to  refer  to  some  of  the  relations,  qualities,  offices,  or 
attributes  of  things,  than  to  discern  wherein  their  essence  consists,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  tell  directly  and  clearly  what  they  are.     The  improvement  of  our  gramrnatu 
code  in  this  respect,  was  one  of  the  principal  objects  which  I  thought  it  needful 
attempt,  when  I  first  took  up  the  pen  as  a  grammarian.     I  cannot  pretend  to  hai 
seen,  of  course,  every  definition  and  rule  which  has  been  published  on  this  subject 
but,  if  I  do  not  misjudge  a  service  too  humble  for  boasting,  I  have  myself  framed 
greater  number  of  new  or  improved  ones,  than  all  other  English  grammariar 
together.     And  not  a  few  of  them  have,  since  their  first  publication  in  1823,  ' 
complimented   to  a  place  in  other  grammars   than  my  own.     This  is  in 
keeping  with  the  authorship  which  has  been  spoken  of  in  an  other  chapter  ;  but 
am  constrained  to  say,  it  affords  no  proof  that  they  were  well  written.     If  it  did, 
the  definitions  and  rules  in  Murray's  grammar  must  undoubtedly  be  thought  the 
most  correct  that  ever  have  been  given :  they  have  been  more  frequently  copied 
than  any  others. 

20.  But  I  have  ventured  to  suggest,  that  nine  tenths  of  this  author's  definitions 
are  bad,  or  at  least  susceptible  of  some  amendment.  If  this  can  be  shown  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  reader,  will  he  hope  to  find  an  other  English  grammar  in  which 
the  eye  of  criticism  may  not  detect  errors  and  deficiencies  with  the  same  ease  ? 
My  object  is,  to  enforce  attention  to  the  proprieties  of  speech ;  and  this  is  the  very 
purpose  of  all  grammar.  To  exhibit  here  all  Murray's  definitions,  with  criticisms 
upon  them,  would  detain  us  too  long.  We  must  therefore  be  content  to  take  a 
part  of  them  as  a  sample.  And,  not  to  be  accused  of  fixing  only  upon  the  worst, 
we  will  take  a  series.  Let  us  then  consider  in  their  order  his  definitions  of  the 


•^ 

3 


CHAP.  X.]  OP    GRAMMATICAL    DEFINITIONS.  107 

nine  parts  of  speech ; — for,  calling  the  participle  a  verb,  he  reduces  the  sorts  of 
words  to  that  number.  And  though  not  one  of  his  nine  definitions  now  stands 
exactly  as  it  did  in  his  early  editions,  I  think  it  may  be  said,  that  not  one  of  them 
is  now,  if  it  ever  has  been,  expressed  grammatically. 

21*.  FIRST  DEFINITION: — "An  Article  is  a  word  prefixed  to  substantives,  to 
point  themout,  and  to  show  how  far  their*  signification  extends." — Murray,  and 
others,  from  Lowth' s  Gram.  p.  10.  This  is  obscure.  In  what  manner,  or  in  what 
respect,  does  an  article  point  out  substantives  Y  To  point  them  out  as  such,  or  to 
show  which  words  are  substantives,  seems  at  first  view  to  be  the  meaning  intended  ; 
but  it  is  said  soon  after,  "A  or  an  is  used  in  a  vague  sense,  to  point  out  one 
single  thing  of  the  kind,  in  other  respects  indeterminate  ;  as,  '  Give  me  a  book  ' ; 
'  Bring  me  an  apple.'  " — Lowth,  p.  11  ;  Murray,  p.  31.  And  again  :  "  It  is 
of  the  nature  of  both  the  articles  to  determine  or  limit  the  thing  spoken  of." — 
Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  170.  Now,  to  point  out  nouns  among  the  parts  of 
speech,  and  to  point  out  things  as  individuals  of  their  class,  are  very  different 
matters ;  and  which  of  these  is  the  purpose  for  which  articles  are  used,  according 
to  Lowth  and  Murray?  Their  definition  says  the  former,  their  explanations  imply 
the  latter ;  and  I  am  unable  to  determine  which  they  really  meant.  The  term 
placed  before  would  have  been  better  than  ' '  prefixed  ;  "  because  the  latter  common- 
ly implies  junction,  as  well  as  location.  The  word  "  indeterminate  "  is  not  a  very 
easy  one  for  a  boy ;  and,  when  he  has  found  out  what  it  means,  he  may  possibly 
not  know  to  which  of  the  four  preceding  nouns,  it  ought  to  be  referred  : — "  in  a 
vague  sense,  to  point  out  one  single  thing  of  the  kind,  in  other  respects  indetermi- 
nate." What  is  this  "  vague  sense  ?  "  and  what  is  it,  that  is  "  indeterminate?  " 

22.  SECOND  DEFINITION  : — "A  Substantive  or  Noun  is  the  name  of  any  thing 
that  exists,  or  of  which  we  have  any  notion. " — Murray,  and  others.     According  to 
his  own  syntax,  this  sentence  of  Murray's  is  wrong ;  for  he  himself  suggests,  that 
when  two  or  more  relative  clauses  refer  to  the  same  antecedent,  the  same  pronoun 
should  be  used  in  each      Of  clauses  connected  like  these,  this  is  true.     He  should 
therefore  have  said,  "A  Substantive,  or  Noun,  is  the  name  of  any  thing  which  exists, 
or  of  which  we  have  any  notion."    His  rule,  however,  though  good  against  a  text  like 
this,  is  utterly  wrong  in  regard  to  many  others,  and  not  very  accurate  in  taking  two 
for  a  "series,"  thus:  "  Whatever  relative  is  used,  in  one  of  a  series  of  clauses 
relating  to  the  same  antecedent,  the  same  relative  ought,  generally  to  be  used  in 

'em  all.  In  the  following  sentence,  this  rule  is  violated:  '  It  is  remarkable,  that 
Holland,  against  which  the  war  was  undertaken,  and  that,  in  the  very  beginning, 
was  reduced  to  the  brink  of  destruction,  lost  nothing.'  The  clause  ought  to  have 
been,  'and  which  in  the  very  beginning.'  " — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  155. 
But  both  the  rule  and  the  example,  badly  as  they  correspond,  were  borrowed  from 
Priestley's  Grammar,  p.  102,  where  the  text  stands  thus:  "  Whatever  relative  be 
used,  in  one  of  a  series  of  clauses,  relating  to  the  same  antecedent,  the  same  ought 
to  be  used  in  thrm  all.  '  It  is  remarkable,  that  Holland,'  "  &c. 

23.  THIRD  DEFINITION  : — "An  Adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  substantive,  to 
express  its  quality." — Lowth,  Murray,  Bullions,  Pond,  and  others.     Here  we 
have  the  choice  of  two  meanings  ;  but  neither  of  them  is  according  to  truth.     It 
seems  doubtful  whether  "  t  ts  quality"  is  the  adjective's  quality,  or  the  substan- 
tive's ;  but  in  either  sense,  the  phrase  is  false  ;  for  an  adjective  is  added  to  a  noun, 
not  to  express  any  quality  either  of  the  adjective  or  of  the  noun,  but  to  express 
some  quality  of  the  thing  signified  by  the  noun.     But  the  definition  is  too  much 
restricted ;  for  adjectives  may  be  added  to  pronouns  as  well  as  to  nouns,  nor  do 
they  always  express  quality. 

-  \     FOURTH  DEFINITION  : — "A  Pronoun  is  a  word  used  instead  of  a  noun,  to 
aroid  the  too  frequent  repetition  of  the  same  word." — Dr.  Ash's  Gram.  p.  25; 

•  In  Murray's  octaro  Grammar,  thia  word  IB  the  in  the  first  chapter,  and  their  in  the  eecond :  in  the 
duodecimo,  it  is  their  in  both  places. 


108  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  X. 

Murray's,  28  and  50;  Feltorfs,  18;  Alger's,  13;  Bacon's,  10;  and  others. 
The  latter  part  of  this  sentence  is  needless,  and  also  contains  several  errors.  1. 
The  verb  avoid  is  certainly  very  ill-chosen  ;  because  it,  implies  intelligent  agency, 
and  not  that  which  is  merely  instrumental.  2.  The  article  the  is  misemployed  for 
a  ;  for,  "  the  too  frequent  repetition,"  should  mean  some  particular  too  frequent 
repetition — an  idea  not  intended  here,  and  in  itself  not  far  from  absurdity.  3. 
The  phrase,  "  the  same  word,"  may  apply  to  the  pronoun  itself  as  well  as  to  the 
noun:  in  saying,  "/came,  /saw,  /conquered,"  there  is  as  frequent  a  repetition 
of  the  same  word,  as  in  saying,  "Caesar  came,  Ocesar  saw,  Ccesar  conquered." 
If,  therefore,  the  latter  part  of  this  definition  must  be  retained,  the  whole  .should 
be  written  thus  :  "A  Pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun,  to  prevent  too 
frequent  a  repetition  of  it." 

25.  FIFTH  DEFINITION  : — "A  Verb  is  a  word  which  signifies  to  be,  to  do,  or  to 
suffer." — Lowth,  Murray,  and  others.     NOTE: — "A   verb  may  generally  be 
distinguished  by  its  making  sense  with  any  of  the  personal  pronouns,  or  the  word 
to  before  it." — Murray,  and  others.     It  is  confessedly  difficult  to  give  a  perfect 
definition  of  a  verb  ;  and  if,  with  Murray,  we  will  have  the  participles  to  be  verbs, 
there  must  be  no  small  difficulty  in  forming  one  that  shall  be  tolerable.     Against 
the  foregoing  old  explanation,  it  may  be  objected,  that  the  phrase  to  suffer,  being 
now  understood  in  a  more  limited  sense  than  formerly,  does  not  well  express  the 
nature  or  import  of  a  passive  verb.     I  have  said,  "A  Verb  is  a  word  that  signifies 
to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon."     Children  cannot  readily  understand,  how 
every  thing  that  is  in  anyway  acted  upon,  may  be  said  to  suffer.     The  participle, 
I  think,  should  be  taken  as  a  distinct  part  of  speech,  and  have  its  own  dc6nition. 
The  note  added  by  Murray  to  his  definition  of  a  verb,  would  prove  the  participle 
not  to  be  included  in  this  part  of  speech,  and  thus  practically  contradict  his  scheme. 
It  is  also  objectionable  in   respect  to  construction.     The  phrase  "by  its  making 
sense  "  is  at  least  very  questionable  English  ;  for  "  its  making  "  supposes  making 
to  be  a  noun,  and   "  making  sense  "  supposes  it  to  be  an  active  participle.     But 
Lowth  says,  "  Let  it  be  either  the  one  or  the  other,  and  abide  by  its  own  construc- 
tion."    Nay,  the  author  himself,  though  he  therein  contradicts  an  other  note  of  his 
own,  virtually  condemns  the  phrase,  by  his  caution  to  the  learner  against,  treating 
words  in  ing,  "as  if  they  were  of  an  amphibious  species,  partly  nouns  and  partly 
verbs." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  193. 

26.  SIXTH  DEFINITION  : — "An  Adverb  is  a  part  of  speech  joined  to  a  verl 
an  adjective,  and  sometimes  to  another  adverb,  to  express  some  quality  or  circi 
stance  respecting  it." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  28  and  114.     See  Dr.  Ash's  Grc 

?.  47.  This  definition  contains  many  errors;  some  of  which  are  gross  blundei 
.  The  first  word,  "An,"  is  erroneously  put  for  The:  an  adverb  is  one  advei 
not  the  whole  class;  and,  if,  "An  adverb  is  a  part  of  speech,"  any  and  eyei 
adverb  is  a  part  of  speech  ;  then,  how  many  parts  of  speech  are  there?  2. 
•word  "joined"  is  not  well  chosen;  for,  with  the  exception  of  cannot,  the  advc 
is  very  rarely  joined  to  the  word  to  which  it  relates.  3.  The  want  of  a  conn 
before  joined,  perverts  the  construction ;  for  the  phrase,  "  speech  joined  to 
verb,"  is  nonsense  ;  and  to  suppose  joined  to  relate  to  the  noun  part,  is  not.  mu 
better.  4.  The  word  "  and"  should  be  or ;  because  no  adverb  is  ever  added 
three  or  four  different  terms  at  once.  5.  The  word  "  some, times  "  should  be 
omitted  ;  because  it  is  needless,  and  because  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  only 
conjunction  which  will  make  the  definition  true.  6.  The  preposition  "to"  should 
either  be  inserted  before  "  an  adjective,"  or  suppressed  before  the  term  which  follows ; 
for  when  several  words  occur  in  the  same  construction,  uniformity  of  expression  is 
desirable.  7.  For  the  same  reason,  (if  custom  may  be  thus  far  conformed  to 
analogy,)  the  article  "  an  "  ought,  in  cases  like  this,  if  not  always,  to  be  separated 
from  the  word  other ;  thus,  "An  adverb  is  a  word  addded  to  a  verb,  a  participle, 
an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb."  Were  the  eye  not  familiar  with  it,  another 


g 


CHAP.  X.]  OF    GRAMMATICAL    DEFINITIONS.  109 

would  be  thought  as  irp-irular  a-  theother.  8.  The  word  "  quality"  is  wwn;»  ;  for 
no  adverb  ever  ex|  y  f/ntt/iti/,  as  such  ;  qualities  arc  expressed  by  mlji'c- 

//<vy.  and  never,  in  any  direct  manner,  by  adverbs.  9.  The  "  circumstances  " 
which  \v  by  adverbs  never  belong  to  the  words,  as  this  definition  avers 

tli.it  they  do.  but  always  to  the  art  ions  or  qualities  which  the  words  signify. 
!•>.  Ti».-  pr»noun  if-  according  to  Murray's  second  rule  of  syntax,  ought  to  be 
thi-r.'  inds  in  his  own  early  editions;  but  if  and  be  changed  to  or, 

as  1  luvc  said  it  should  be,  the  pronoun  it  will  be  right. 

'11.   SKVKNTII   DKFIXITIOX  : — "  JVp^itions  serve  to  connect   w«,  K  with  one 
<ow  the  relation   bi-tveen  them." — Lowth,  Murray,  and  others. 
This  is  only  an  observation,  not  a  definition,  as  it  ought  to  have  been ;  nor  does  it 
lUh  the  preposition  from  the  conjunction.     It  does  not  reach  the  thing 
in  (j  .it  contains  an  actual  solecism  in  the  expression.      The  word 

'- //  implies    but    two  things;    and    the    phrase  "one  another"    is   not 

applicable  win-re  there  are  but  two.  It  should  be,  "to  connect  words  with  each 
other,  and  to  <h«'\v  th"  n-latinn  brfirfan  them;  " — or  else,  "to  connect  words  with 
one  an  other,  and  to  show  the  relation*  amotif/  them."  But  the  latter  mode  of 
expression  would  not  apply  to  prepositions  considered  severally,  but  only  to  the 
whole  c; 

rjiGHTii  DEFINITION  : — "A  Conjunction  is  a  part  of  speech  that  is  chiefly 
used  so  as,  out  of  two  or  more  sentences,  to  make  but  one  : 

.eets  only  words." — Murray,  and  others.     Here  are  more  than 
thii  -..4y  strung  together;  and  all  that  is  said  in  them, 

mi_  n  half  the  number.     For  example  :   "A  Conjunc- 

tion unects  other  terms,  and  commonly  of  two  sentences  makes 

but  one."      1  -ity  and  want  of  unity  are  not  the  worst  faults  of  this 

definition.     We  have  three  others  to  point  out.     1.   "A  conjunction  is  "  not  "  a 
e  a  conjunction  is  one  conjunction,  and  a  part  of  speech  is 

a  wi  it,  of  words.     A  similar  error  was  noticed  in  Murray's  definition 

of  an  adverb  ;  and  so  common  has  this  blunder  become,  that  by  a  comparison  of  the 
definitions  which  different  authors  have  given  of  the  parts  of  speech,  probably  it 
will  be  found,  tint,  by  some  hand  or  other,  every  one  of  the  ten  has  been 
com  2.  The  words  "  or  more  "  are  erroneous,  and  ought  to  be 

omitted  ;  tor  no  one  conjunction  can  connect  more  than  two  terms,  in  that 
con-  ler  which  the  sense  requires.  Three  or  more  simple  sentences  may 

indee  d  form  a  compound  sentence;  but,  as  they  cannot  be  joined  in  a  cluster,  they 
must  In  r  more  001  3.  The  last  clause  erroneously  sug- 

than    any   or    every   conjunction    "•*  •</$;"   but   the 

con  may  connect  only  words,  are  not  more  than  five,  whereas  those 

which  CM-  -  are  tour  tiin<-  a-  many. 

: — "  Inic:  >  words  thrown  in  bef.n'*',-n  the  parts 

r  emotions  of  >  Virtue  ! 

how  an:;  .'" — .I////-/-.///.  Tlii>  definition,   which 

iimar,  and  committed   to  memory  millions  of 

tim-  is,  and  directly  contradicted  by  the  example.      Interjec- 

of  a  f/ixnnirse,  are  very 

ran-iv  "thrown  iii  <>fe."     They  more  fr  i-ur 

at  the    '  ;  and,  in  v  do 

not  :i:iiti(in.      The  author,  at  the    head  of   his  chapter 

on  mition   t\\  both  «>f   which 

con  my  fri«-ud." — "Alas!  I 

fe::r  •:!   as 

in  0  ive  of  the  emotions  of  ti;  han 

of  tit 

30.  I  have  thus  exhibited,  with  all  intentional  fairness  of  criti  entire 


110  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  X. 

series  of  these  nine  primary  definitions  ;  and  the  reader  may  judge  whether  they 
sustain  the  praises  which  have  been  bestowed  on  the  book,*  or  confirm  the  allega- 
tions which  1  have  made  against  it.  He  will  understand  that  my  design  is,  here, 
as  well  as  in  the  body  of  this  work,  to  teach  grammar  practically,  by  rectifying, 
so  far  as  I  may,  all  sorts  of  mistakes  either  in  it  or  respecting  it ;  to  compose  a 
book  which,  by  a  condensed  exposition  of  such  errors  as  are  commonly  found  in 
other  grammars,  will  at  once  show  the  need  we  have  of  a  better,  and  be  itself  a 
fit  substitute  for  the  principal  treatises  which  it  censures.  Grammatical  errors  are 
universally  considered  to  be  small  game  for  critics.  They  must  therefore  be  very 
closely  grouped  together,  to  be  worth  their  room  in  this  work.  Of  the  tens  of 
thousands  who  have  learned  for  grammar  a  multitude  of  ungrammatical  definitions 
and  rules,  comparatively  few  will  ever  know  what  I  have  to  say  of  their  acquisi- 
tions. But  this  I  cannot  help.  To  the  readers  of  the  present  volume  it  is  due, 
that  its  averments  should  be  clearly  illustrated  by  particular  examples  ;  and  it  is 
reasonable  that  these  should  be  taken  from  the  most  accredited  sources,  whether 
they  do  honour  to  their  framers  or  not.  My  argument  is  only  made  so  much 
the  stronger,  as  the  works  which  furnish  its  proofs,  are  the  more  esteemed,  the 
more  praised,  or  the  more  overrated. 

31.  Murray  tells  us,  "There  is  no  necessary  connexion  between  words  and 
ideas." — Octavo  Gram  i,  139.  Though  this,  as  I  before  observed,  is  not  alto- 
gether true,  he  doubtless  had  very  good  reason  to  distinguish,  in  his  teaching, 
"  between  the  sign  and  the  thing  signified."  Yet,  in  his  own  definitions  and  ex- 
planations, he  frequently  confounds  these  very  things  which  he  declares  to  be  so 
widely  different  as  not  even  to  have  a  "  necessary  connexion  "  Errors  of  this 
kind  are  very  common  in  all  our  English  grammars.  Two  instances  occur  in  the 
following  sentence  ;  which  also  contains  an  error  in  doctrine,  and  is  moreover  ob- 
scure, or  rather,  in  its  literal  sense,  palpably  absurd  :  "  To  substantives  belong 
gender,  number,  and  case  ;  and  they  are  all  of  the  third  person  when  spoken  of, 
and  of  the  second  person  when  spoken  to." — Murray's  Gram.  38  ;  Alger's  Murray, 
16  ;  Merchant's,  23  ;  Bacon's.  12  ;  Maltby's,  12  ;  Lyon's,  1  ;  Guy's,  4  ;  Inger- 
soll's,  26  ;  S  Putnam's,  13  ;  T.  H  Miller's,  17  ;  Rev.  T.  Smith's,  13.  Who,  but 
a  child  taught  by  language  like  this,  would  ever  think  of  speaking  to  a  noun  ?  or, 
that  a  noun  of  the  second  person  could  not  be  spoken  of  ?  or,  that  a  noun  cannot  be 
put  in  the  first  person,  so  as  to  agree  with  lor  we?  Murray  himself  once  taught, 
that,  "  Pronouns  must  always  agree  with  their  antecedents,  and  the  nouns  for 
which  they  stand,  in  gender,  number,  and  person  ;  "  and  he  departed  from  a  tn 
and  important  principle  of  syntax,  when  he  altered  his  rule  to  its  present  form. 
But  I  have  said  that  the  sentence  above  is  obscure,  or  its  meaning  absurd.  Wl 
does  the  pronoun  "they  "  represent?  "Substantives"  according  to  the  author' 
intent ;  but  "  gender,  number,  and  case"  according  to  the  obvious  construction  c 
the  words.  Let  us  try  a  parallel  :  "To  scriveners  belong  pen,  ink,  and  paper 
and  they  are  all  of  primary  importance  when  there  is  occasion  to  use  them,  and 
.none  at  all  when  they  are  not  needed."  Now,  if  this  sentence  is  obscure, 
other  is  not  less  so  ;  hut,  if  this  is  perfectly  clear,  so  that  what  is  said  is  obviousb 
and  only  what  is  intended,  then  it  is  equally  clear,  that  what  is  said  in  the  former, 
is  j^ross  absurdity,  and  that  the  words  cannot  reasonably  be  construed  into  the 
sense  which  the  writer,  and  his  copyists,  designed. 

32  All  Murray's  grammars,  not  excepting  the  two  volumes  octavo,  are  as  in- 
complete as  they  are  inaccurate  ;  being  deficient  in  many  things  which  are  of  so 
great  importance  that  they  should  not  be  excluded  from  the  very  smallest  epitome. 
For  example  :  On  the  subject  of  the  numbers,  he  attempted  but  one  definition,  and 
that  is  a  fourfold  solecism.  He  speaks  of  the  persons,  but  gives  neither  definitions 

*  "  The  'Iffnitions  and  the  rules  throughout  the  Grammar,  are  expressed  with  neatness  and  perspicuity. 
They  are  a"  short  and  comprehensive  ;is  the  nature  of  the  subject  would  admit:  and  they  are  well  adapted 
both  to  the  understanding  and  the  memory  of  young  persons."— Lift  of  L.  Murray,  p  245.  "  It  may  truly 
be  said,  that  the  language  in  every  part  of  the  work,  is  simple,  correct,  and  perspicuous." — Ib.  p.  246. 


CHAP.  X.J  OF    GRAMMATICAL   DEFINITIONS.  Ill 

nor  explanations.  In  treating  of  the  genders,  he  gives  but  one  formal  definition. 
Hi>  MTtiun  on  the  cases  contains  no  regular  definition.  On  the  comparison  of 
adjectives,  and  on  the  moods  and  tenses  of  verbs,  he  is  also  satisfied  with  a  very 
loose  mode  of  teaching.  The  work  as  a  whole  exhibits  more  industry  than  literary 
ta>te.  more  benevolence  of  heart  than  distinctness  of  apprehension;  and,  like  all 
its  kindred  and  progeny,  fails  to  give  to  the  principles  of  grammar  that  degree  of 
clearness  of  which  they  are  easily  susceptible.  The  student  does  not  know  this, 
but  he  fuels  the  effects  of  it,  in  the  obscurity  of  his  own  views  on  the  subject,  and 
in  the  conscious  uncertainty  with  which  he  applies  those  principles.  In  grammar, 
the  term-  jicrsnn,  number,  gender,  case,  mood,  tense,  and  many  others,  are  used 
in  a  technical  and  peculiar  sense  ;  and,  in  all  scientific  works,  the  sense  of  technical 
terms  should  be  clearly  and  precisely  defined.  Nothing  can  be  gained  by  substi- 
tuting other  names  <>f  modern  invention  ;  for  these  also  would  need  definitions  as 
much  as  the  old.  We.  want  to  know  the  things  themselves,  and  what  they  are 
most  appropriately  called.  We  want  a  book  which  will  tell  us,  in  proper  order, 
and  in  tho  plainest  manner,  what  all  the  elements  of  the  science  are. 

.'!•'!     What  does  he  know  of  grammar,  who  cannot  directly  and   properly  answer 
such  qnc>tions  as  the>e ? — "  What,  are  numbers,  in  grammar  ?     What  is  the  singu- 
lar  number?      What   is   the  plural    number?      What    are   persons,  in   grammar? 
What  is  the  first  person  ?     What  is  the  second  person  ?     What  is  the   third   per- 
son ?      What  are  genders,  in  grammar  •      What  is  the   masculine  gender?      What 
is  the  feminine  gender  ?    What  is  the  neuter  gender  ?    What  are  cases,  in  grammar  ? 
What  is  the  nominative  case  ?      What   is   the    possessive  case?     What  is  the   ob- 
jective case  '.' " — And  yet  the  most  complete  acquaintance  with  every  sentence  or 
word   of    Murray's   tedious   compilation,  may   leave  the  student   at  a  loss  for  a 
proper  an.-wer,  not  only  to  each  of  these  questions,  but  also  to  many  others  equally 
simple  and  elementary  !     A   boy  may  learn   by  heart  all   that   Murray  ever  pub- 
lished  on    the  subject  of  grammar,  and   still   be   left  to  confound  the  numbers  in 
grammar  with  numbers  in  arithmetic,  or  the  persons  in  grammar  with   persons  in 
civil   life  !      Nay.   there  are   among  the   professed  improvers  of   this  system  of 
r.-mmiar.  mm  who  have  actually  confounded   these   things,  which   are  so   totally 
itierent  in  their  natures  !    In  "  Smith's  New  Grammar  on  the  Productive  System," 
a  work  in  which  Murray  is    largely  copied  and   strangely  metamorphosed,  there   is 
an  abundance  of  surh  confusion       For  instance:    "What   is  the  meaning  of  the 
word  number?     Number  means  a  sum   that  maybe  counted." — R.   C.  Smith's 
'•nun    j».    7.      I'Yom    this,  by  a   tissue  of  half  a   dozen    similar   absurdities, 
called  iiif/nrtiniia.  the  novi.-.-  i>   brought   to  the  conclusion  that   the   numbers  are 
<> — as  it'  then:  were  in  nature  but  two  sums  that  might  be  counted  !    There  is  no 
.1  to  the  sickening  detail  of  such   blunders.      How  many  grammars  tell  us,  that, 
"  Tin-  fir-t  p-rson  is  the  /n'rxnn  >r/f<>  sjn-nks  ;  "   that,    "  The   second   person  is  the 
<  //  tn  ;  "  ami  that,  "  the  third  pfixui  is  the  person  spoken  of!  "   As  if 
the  three  jter>on>  of  a  verb,  or  other  part  of  speech,  were  so  many  intelligent  beings  ! 
As  if.  by  exhibiting  a  word  in  the  three  persons.  (nsgo,goest,gocs,)  we  put  it  tii>t  info 
then  into  tin-  limrrr,  ami  then  into  somebody  else!     Nothing  can  be 
more  abhorrent  to  grammar,  or  to   MM,  than   such   ronfu>ion.      The  things  which 
are  identified  in    each   of  the>e   three    definitions,  are   as  unlike   as   Socrates  and 
moonshine  1     The  one  i^  a  thinking  being  ;   the  other,  a  mere  form  peculiar  to  cer- 
tain words        Hut  Chandler,  of  Philadelphia,  ("  the  Grammar  King,"  forsooth!) 
without   mistaking  the    grammatical    persons    for   rational    souls,  lias   contrived   to 
crowd  into  hi*  definition  of  person  more  errors  of  conception  and  of  language, — 
more  in-ult   to   nmmion  V,MI>C. — than  one   could    have   believed    it    pos.-ible   to  put 
together   in  such  space       And    this    ridiculous  old    twaddle,  after  six   and   twenty 
he  ha<  deliberately  re-written  and  lately  republished  as  something  "adapted 
to  the  schools  of  Ameriea."      It  stands  thus :    "/W\o//  is  n   distinction  which  is 
in«<l<>  hi  <i  noun  between  its  representation  of  its  object,  either  as  spoken  to,  or 


I 


112  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  X. 

spoken  of"— Chandler's  E.  Grammar,  Edition  of  1821,  p.  16  ;  Ed.  1847,  p.  21. 

34.  Grammarians  have  often  failed  in  their  definitions,  because  it  is  impossible 
to  define  certain  terms  in  the  way  in  which  the  description   has  been  commonly 
attempted.      He  who  undertakes  what  is  impossible  must  necessarily  fail ;  and  fail 
too,  to  the  discredit  of  his  ingenuity.     It  is  manifest  that  whenever  a  generic  name 
in  the  singular  number  is  to  be  defined,  the  definition  must  be  founded  upon  some 
property  or  properties  common  to  all  the  particular  things  included  under  the  term. 
Thus,  if  I  would  define  a  globe,  a  wheel,  or  a  pyramid,  my  description  must  be 
taken,  not  from  what  is  peculiar  to  one  or  an  other  of  these  things,  but  from  those 
properties  only  which  are  common  to  all  globes,  all  wheels,  or  all  pyramids.    But 
what  property  has  unity  in  common  with  plurality,  on  which  a  definition  of  number 
may  be  founded  ?     What  common  property  have  the  three  cases,  by  which  we 
can  clearly  define  case  ?   What  have  the  three  persons  in  common,  which,  in  a  defi- 
nition of  person,  could  be  made  evident  to  a  child  ?     Thus  all  the  great  classes  of 
grammatical  modifications,  namely,  persons,  numbers,  genders,  cases,  moods,  and 
tenses,  though  they  admit  of  easy,  accurate,  and  obvious  definitions  in  the  plural, 
can  scarcely  be  defined  at  all  in  the  singular.     I  do  not  say,  that  the  terms  person, 
number,  gender,  case,  mood,  and  tense,  in  their  technical  application  to  grammar, 
are  all   of  them  equally  and  absolutely  undefinable  in  the  singular  ;  but  I  say, 
that  no  definition,  just  in  sense  and  suitable  for  a  child,  can  ever  be  framed  for  any 
one  of  them.     Among  the  thousand  varied  attempts  of  grammarians  to  explain 
them  so,  there  are  a  hundred  gross  solecisms  for  every  tolerable  definition.     For 
this,  as  T  have  shown,  there  is  a  very  simple  reason  in  the  nature  of  the  things. 

35.  But  this  reason,  as  well  as  many  other  truths  equally  important  and  equally 
clear,  our  common  grammarians,  have,  so  far  as  I  know,  every  man  of  them  over- 
looked.    Consequently,  even  when  they  were  aiming  at  the  right  thing,  they  fre- 
quently fell  into  gross  errors  of  expression  ;  and,  what  is  still  more  surprising,  such 
errors  have  been  entailed  upon  the  very  art  of  grammar,  and  the  art  of  authorship 
itself,  by  the  prevalence  of  an  absurd  notion,  that  modern  writers  on  this   subject 
can  be  meritorious  authors  without  originality.     Hence  many  a  school-boy  is  daily 
rehearsing  from  his  grammar-book  what  he  might  well  be  ashamed  to  have  written. 
For  example,  the  following  definition  from  Murray's  grammar,  is  found  in  perhaj 
a. dozen  other  comperids,  all  professing  to  teach  the  art  of  speaking  and  writing  with 
propriety  :    "Number  is  the  consideration  of  an  object,  as  one  or  more."*     Yet 

*For  this  definition,  see  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  40;  Duodecimo,  41;  Smaller  Grain.  18;  Algeria.  18; 
Bacons.  15  :  Frost's,  8  :  IngersoWs,  17  ;  A  Teacher's,  8  ;  Malthas,  14  ;  T.  H  Miller's,  20  :  Pond's,  18  ;  S  Put- 
nam's, 15;  Russell's,  11  ;  Merchant's  Murray,  25;  and  Worcester's  Univ.  and  Crit.  Dictiniiin>/.  Many  otl 
grammarians  have  attempted  to  define  number ;  with  what  success  a  few  examples  will  show  :  (1.)  ••  Numl 
is  the  distinction  of  one  from  many." — Allen's  Gram.  p.  40 ;  Merchant's  School  Gram.  28 ;  Greenlfaf's 
22;  Nutting's,  17  ;  Picket's,  19  ;  D.  Adams's,  31.  (2.)  '-Number  is  the  distinction  of  one  from  umn-."- 
Fisher's  Gram.  51 ;  Alrtm's,  1  (3.)  "  Number  is  the  distinction  of  one  from  several  or  many." — Coar's  Gram. 
p.  24.  (4.)  "  Number  is  the  distinction  of  one  from  more  than  one/'— Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  24  :  J  Flint's,  27; 
Wrl>s's,i)2.  (5.)  ''  Number  i<  the  distinction  of  one  from  more  than  one,  or  many. —  Grant's  /. 
(6.)  ''What  is  number?  Number  is  the  Distinction  of  one,  from  two,  or  many  " — British  Grain,  p  8' 
Buchanan's,  l»i.  (7.)  "You  inquire,  '  What  is  number?'  Merely  this :  the  tiistinction  of  one  from  t\ 
or  man v.  Greek  substantives  have  three  numbers." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram.p  38.  All  these  authors  sayj 
tint.,  in  Kngli-h,  "  there  are  tn:t>. numbers,  the  singular  and  the  plurril."  According  to  their  explanations, 
then,  we  have  tn-a  "  dis.'^n-tinns  of  one  from  tiro,  st-rrrnL  man-,  or  many  :  "  and  the  Greeks,  by  adding  a  dual 
number,  have  ////•/  /  .'  Which,  then,  of  the  two  or  three  modifications  or  forms,  do  they  mean,  when  they  say, 
'•  Number  is  lit"  distinction."  £c.?  Or,  if  none  of  them,  what  flw  is  meant?  All  these  definitions  had  their 
origin  in  an  old  I.aiin  one,  which,  although  it  is  somewhat  better,  makes  doubtful  logic  in  its  application: 
"  NuMERUS  es;.  unius  et  multorum  distinotio.  Numeri  i<^itur  sunt  duo  ;  Singulariset  Pluralis." — R>'<-' 

p  21     This  means  :  (8  )  ••  Number  is  a  distinction  of  one  and  many.    The  mini) 
the  Singular  and  the   Plural"     But  we  have  yet  other  examples :  as,   (9.)    "Number  is   the   distinction  of 

M    one  <>r  more." — Kirkliam's    Gram.  p.    39.      "The  distinction  ot  obj  "   is  very  much 

like  u  the    ron^'d<  r/iiinn   of  nn   obj  (10.)     "Number  distinguishes" 

more." — f'/>,,/,,r'*  Mmrm/.  ]}.  21  :    Practical  G/-(t>>>.  p   IS.     That  is,  number  makes  the  plural  to  be  ei'h<>r  plu- 
ral or  singulir  f»r  distinction's  sake  !     (11.)    "  Number  is   the   distinct-ion-  b  regard  to  th< 
signified,  us  uti'-  «r  .,.                                   Min;-ni/,  p. 


19.     Here,  too,  number  has  '•  regai  >me  confusion  ; 

while,  by  a  gross  error,  is  ••  distinction  "  is  confined  to  "  nouns  •'  only  !     (12.)    ;'  Number  i~  •  f 

a  unit, i  i  i  ni   one." — Bullions' x  E.    Grtim.p.   12;    Aimt-r.  G 

Here  again  number   i-  united  to  "  n  noun  :  "  and  is  said  to  be  one  sign  of  two.  or  eirher  of  two, 

ii.cmu|,;,:il,|,.  i!  a  !  (13  >  "Number  shows  hoiv  itiantr.irc  meant,  whether  one  or  more."—  >//,/V /<'.->•  New 
Gram.  p.  4"».  Tni-.  is  not  a  d'Jii/it.ion,  but  a  faKe  assertion,  in  which  Smith  again  confounds  arithmetic,  with 
grammar!  \\'/i/at  and  <>n!s  are  of  different  numbers  ;  but  neither  ol'  these  numbers  "  means  a  sum  that 
may  be  counted,"  or  really  "  bhows  Iww  many  are  meant."  So  of  "  Man  in  general,  Horses  in  general,  &c."— 


CHAP.  X.]  OP   GRAMMATICAL   DEFINITIONS.  113 

this  short  sentence,  as  I  have  before  suggested,  is  a  fourfold  solecism.  First,  the 
word  "  nn/iili'i'  "  is  wrong;  because  those  modifications  of  language,  which  dis- 
tinguish unity  and  plurality,  cannot  be  jointly  signified  by  it.  Secondly,  the  word 
" consideration  "  is  wrong  ;  because  HHIH/MT  is  not  consideration,  in  any  sense 
which  can  be  put  upon  the  terms  :  condition,  constitution,  configuration,  or  any 
other  word  beginning  with  con,  would  have  done  just  as  well.  Thirdly,  "  the 
consideration  of  <in  object  as  one,"  is  but  idle  waste  of  thought ;  for,  that  one  thing 
is  one, — that  an  object  is  one  object, — every  child  knows  by  intuition,  and  not 
by  "  consideration.^  Lastly,  to  consider  "  an  object  as  more  "  than  one,  is  im- 

le;  unless  this  admirable  definition  lead  us  into  a  misconception  in  so  plain 

!      So  much  for  the  art  of  "  the  grammatical  definer." 
Many  other  examples,  equally  faulty  and  equally  common,  might  be  quoted 
and  criticised  for  the  further  proof  and  illustration  of  what  I  have  alleged.     But 

•ider  will  perhaps  judge  the  foregoing  to  be  sufficient.  I  have  wished  to  be 
brief,  and  yet  to  give  my  arguments,  and  the  neglected  facts  upon  which  they  rest, 
their  proper  force  upon  the  mind.  Against  such  prejudices  as  may  possibly  arise 
from  the  authorship  of  rival  publications,  or  from  any  interest  in  the  success  of 
one  book  rather  than  of  an  other,  let  both  my  judges  and  me  be  on  our  guard.  I 
have  intended  to  be  fair  ;  for  captiousness  is  not  criticism.  If  the  reader  perceives 
in  the<e  strictures  any  improper  bias,  he  has  a  sort  of  discernment  which  it  is  my 
misfortune  to  lack.  Against  the  compilers  of  grammars,  I  urge  no  conclusions  at 
which  any  man  can  hesitate,  who  accedes  to  my  preliminary  remarks  upon  them  ; 
and  these  may  be  summed  up  in  the  following  couplet  of  the  poet  Churchill : 

"  To  copy  beauties,  forfeits  all  pretence 
To  fame; — to  copy  faults,  is  want  of  sense." 

Gram.  p.  77.     (14.)  "  Number  is  the  difference  in  a  noun  or  pronoun,  to  denote  either  a  single 
more  than  one." — Davenport's  Gram.p.lA.    This  excludes  the  numbers  of  a  verb,  and  makes  the 
lingular  Jiii'l  the  plural  to  :  ing.      (1">.)    ••  Number  is  a  modification  of  nouns  and  verbs, 

&c.  ace"  '  Vmg  -poken  of  i<  represented,  as,  one  or  more,  with  regard  to  number." — Burn's  Gram. 

p.  32.     .  which  I  leave  to  the  discernment  of  the  reader.     (16.)  "  What  is  number? 

Number  fiioirs  the  i/istinrtion  of  one  from  many  " —  \Vileojc'*  Gram.  p.  6.  This  is  no  answer  to  the  question 
asked:  besides,  it  is  obviously  worse  than  the  first  form,  which  has  "  is,  "  for  "sAou?5."  (17.)  "  What  ia 
Number?  It  is  the  representation  of  objects  with  respect  to  Mn^lem^s,  or  plurality.'' — O.  B.  Pfirre's,  Gram. 
'  t"  there  are  two  numbers,  they  are  neither  of  them  properly  described  in  this  definition,  or  in  any  of 
the  preceding  ones.  Then-  i-  a  grott  •beoo0*ptioe,  in  taking  each  or  either  of  them  to  be  an  alternate  repre- 

rt  of  error  is  far  from  being  confined  to  the  present  subject ; 
It  runs  tiir"U_'h  a  vast  number  of  the  various  definitions  contained  in  our  grammars.     (18.)  '•  A'.v.v 

••'    indicate    one  object  or  more   than   nne.     Or.  of  unity  or  of 

more  than  uni  p.  14.     How  hard  this  author  laboured  to  think  what  number  is,  ;md  could 

not!    (l!>.)  "  Number  is  the  >n.  p.40.     U'hv  ,- r. 

tinrtinn  . "  the  numbers,  or  ili\'i>i'-tinns,  bt-in-,'  twn  '      (•-'>.)  ••Number  is  tk-  rti/>,irit,/   of  nouns  to  represent 
g  M  m-T-  rhan  one  object."—/  Gram,  p   40.   (21.)  "Number  is  a  property  of  the 

(22.)  "  Number  is  n  nioriificatinn 

ot«»  whether  meant,  or  more  than  one." — Butler's    Gram.  p.  1'.).     Mam"    c.f  the 

'hough  they    speak   of  both 

ilar  and  the  ;  rhaps  sometime* apply  the  term  mimbfr  to  th>  hich  is  in  each: 

.i.i-y  from  plurality  ;  and  of  the  plural,  to  dis- 

"  uniry.      Am  'tni<  silent,  are  Lily.  Colet,  llrightland.  ll.mH, 

Liiell,    A. lam.  CouM,    lUrii-on.   Comlv.  .lau.lon,  Webster,    Webber,  Churchill, 

•.  Cobb,  A.  Flint,  Feleh,  (Juy.  Hall,  and  S.  \V.  Clark.      Adam   and 

GouM.  ho«.  v.-r.  in  .xpl  lining  the  properties  of  verbs,  say  :  "Number  marks  how  many  we  suppose  to  be,  to 
•ct,  or  to  suffer."— 4.80;  < 


114  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    XI. 

CHAPTER  XL 

BRIEF  NOTICES  OF  THE  SCHEMES  OF  CERTAIN  GRAMMARS. 

"  Sed  ut  perveniri  ad  gumma  nisi  ex  principiis  non  potest :  ita,  procedente  jam  opere,  minima  incipiunt 
esse  quae  prima  sunt." — QUINTILIAN.    Lib.  x,  Cap.  1,  p.  660. 


1.  The  history  of  grammar,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  has  heretofore 
been  made  no  part  of  the  study.     I  have  imagined  that  many  of  its  details  might 
be  profitable,  not  only  to  teachers,  but  to  that  class  of  learners  for  whose  use  this 
work  is  designed.     Accordingly,  in  the  preceding  pages,  there  have  been  stated 
numerous  facts  properly  historical,  relating  either  to  particular  grammars,  or  to 
the  changes  and  progress  of  this  branch  of  instruction.     These  various  details  it  is 
hoped  will  be  more  entertaining,  and  perhaps  for  that  reason  not  less  useful,  than 
those  explanations    which  belong  merely  to  the  construction  and    resolution  of 
sentences.     The  attentive  reader  must  have  gathered  from  the  foregoing  chapters 
some  idea  of  what  the  science  owes  to  many  individuals  whose  names  are  connected 
with  it.     But  it  seems  proper  to  devote  to  this  subject  a  few  pages  more,  in  order 
to  give  some  further  account  of  the  origin  and  character  of  certain  books. 

2.  The  manuals  by  which  grammar  was  first  taught   in   English,  were  not 
properly  English  Grammars.     They  were  translations  of  the  Latin  Accidence ; 
and  were  designed  to  aid  British  youth  in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  Latin 
language,  rather  than  accuracy  in  the  use  of  their  own.     The  two  languages  were 
often  combined  in  one  book,  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  sometimes  both  together, 
and  sometimes  one  through  the  medium  of  the  other.     The  study  of  such  works 
doubtless  had  a  tendency  to  modify,  and  perhaps  at  that  time  to  improve,  the 
English  style  of  those  who  used  them.     For  not  only  must  variety  of  knowlcd«_ 
have  led  to  copiousness  of  expression,  but   the  most  cultivated   minds   woul 
naturally  be  most  apt  to  observe  what  was  orderly  in  the  use  of  speech, 
language,  indeed,  after  its  proper  form  is  well  fixed  by  letters,  must  resist  al 
introduction  of  foreign  idioms,   or   become  corrupted.     Hence  it  is,   that   Dr. 
Johnson  avers,  "  The  great  pest  of  speech  is  frequency  of  translation.     No 

was  ever  turned  from  one  language  into  another,  without  imparting  something 
its  native  idiom  ;  this  is  the  most  mischievous  and  comprehensive  innovation.  "- 
Pref.  to  Joh.  Diet.  4to,  p.  14.  Without  expressly  controverting  this  opinion, 
offering  any  justification  of  mere  metaphrases,  or  literal  translations,  we  may  wel 
assert,  that  the  practice  of  comparing  different  languages,  and  seeking  the  m( 
appropriate  terms  for  a  free  version  of  what  is  ably  written,  is  an  excercij 
admirably  calculated  to  familiarize  and  extend  grammatical  knowledge. 

3.  Of  the  class  of  books  here  referred  to,  that  which  I  have  mentioned  in 
other  chapter,  as  Lily's  or  King  Henry's  Grammar,  has  been  by  far  the  rm 
celebrated  and  the  most  influential.     Concerning  this  treatise,  it  is  stated,  that  it 
parts  were  not  put  together  in  the  present  form,  until  eighteen  or  twenty  yeai 
after  Lily's  death.     "  The  time  when  this  work  was  completed,"  says  the  preface 
of  1793,  "  has  been  differently  related  by  writers.     Thomas  Hayne  places  it  in 
the  year  1543,  and  Anthony  Wood,  in  1545.     But  neither  of  these  accounts  can 
be  right ;  for  I  have  seen  a  beautiful  copy,  printed  upon  vellum,  and  illuminated, 
anno    1542,    in  quarto.     And   it  may  be  doubted  whether   this   was  the  first 
edition." — John    Ward,  Pref.  p.  vii.     In  an  Introductory  Lecture,  read  before 
the  University  of  London  in  1828,  by  Thomas  Dale,  professor  of  English  literature, 
I  find  the  following  statement:    "In  this  reign," — the   reign  of  Henry  VIII, 
— "  the  study  of  grammar  was  reduced  to  a  system,  by  the  promulgation  of  many 


CHAP.  XI.]      BRIEF  NOTICES   OF   THE    SCEEMES   OF    CERTAIN    GRAMMARS.  115 

grammatical  treatises ;  one  of  which  was  esteemed  of  sufficient  importance  to  be 
honoured  with  a  royal  name.  It  was  called,  '  The  Grammar  of  King  Henry  the 
Eighth  ; '  and  to  this,  '  with  other  works,  the  young  Shakspeare  was  probably 
indebted  for  some  learning  and  much  loyalty.'  But  the  honour  of  producing  the 
^lish  grammar  is  claimed  by  William  Bullokar,  who  published,  in  the  year 
!;>'•.  %A  Bref  Grammar  for  English,'  being,  to  use  his  own  words,  '  the  first 
Grammar  for  English  that  ever  waz,  except  my  Grammar  at  large.' ' 

4.  Ward's  preface  to  Lily  commences  thus  :  "  If  we  look  back  to  the  origin  of 
our  common  Latin  Grammar,  we  shall  find  it  was  no  hasty  performance,  nor  the 
work  of  a  single  person  ;  but  composed  at  different  times  by  several  eminent  and 
learned  men,  till  the  whole  was  at  length  finished,  and  by  the  order  of  King  Henry 
VI II  [,]  brought   into  that  form  in  which  it   has  ever  since  continued.     The 

'/  introduction  was  written  by  the  reverend  and  learned  Dr.  John  Colet, 
dean  of  St.  Paul's,  for  the  use  of  the  school  he  had  lately  founded  there ;  and 
was  dedicated  by  him  to  William  Lily,  the  first  high  master  of  that  school,  in  the 
year  1510  ;  for  which  reason  it  has  usually  gone  by  the  name  of  Paul's  Accidence. 
The  substance  of  it  remains  the  same,  as  at  first ;  though  it  has  been  much  altered 
in  the  manner  of  expression,  and  sometimes  the  order,  with  other  improvements. 
The  Enijliah  syntax  was  the  work  of  Lily,  as  appears  by  the  title  in  the  most 
ancient  editions,  which  runs  thus :  Gulielmi  Lilii  Angli  Rudimenta.  But  it 
has  been  greatly  improved  since  his  time,  both  with  regard  to  the  method,  and  an 
enlargement  of  double  the  quantity." 

5.  Paul's  Accidence  is  therefore  probably  the  oldest  grammar  that  can  now  be 
found  in  our  language.     It  is  not,  however,  an  English  grammar;  because,  though 
written  in  antique  English,  and  embracing  many  things  which  are  as  true  of  our 
language  as  of  any  other,  it  was  particularly  designed  for  the  teaching  of  Latin. 
It  begins  thus  :  "In  speech  be  these  eight  parts  following  :  Noun,  Pronoun,  Verb, 
Participle,  declined  ;  Adverb,  Conjunction,  Preposition,  Interjection,  undeclined." 
This  is  the  old  platform  of  the  Latin  grammarians ;  which  differs  from  that  of  the 
Greek  grammars,  only  in  having  no  Article,  and  in  separating  the  Interjection 
from  the  class  of  Adverbs.     Some  Greek  grammarians,  however,  separate    the 
Adjective  from   the   Noun,  and  include  the   Participle  with  the  Verb  :  thus, 
"  There  are  in  Greek  eight  species  of  words,  called  Parts  of  Speech  ;  viz.  Article, 
Noun,   Adjective,   Pronoun,   Verb,   Adverb,   Preposition,   and  Conjunction." — 
Aiitlinn^   I  df/>y,  p.  18.     With  respect  to  our  language,  the  plan  of  the  Latin 
Accidence  is  manifestly  inaccurate ;  nor  can  it  be  applied,  without  some  variation, 
to  the  Greek.     In  both,  as  well  as  in  all  other  languages  that  have  Articles,  the 
best  amendment  of  it,  and  the  nearest  adherence  to  it,  is,  to  make  the  Parts  of 
Speech  /-•//  ;  namely,  the  Article,  the  Noun,   the  Adjective,  the  Pronoun,  the 
Verb,  the    Participle,  the  Adverb,  the  Conjunction,  the  Preposition,  and   the 
Interjection. 

•  ».  Th<!  l.i->t  Latin  grammarians  admit  that  the  Adjective  ought  not  to  be  called 
a  Noun  ;  and  the  best  Greek  grammarians,  that  the  Interjections  ought  not  to  be 
inclu*:  Adverbs.  Witli  respect  to  I  'articiples,  a  vast  majority  of  gram- 

marians in  general,  make  them  a  distinct  species,  or  part  of  speech;  but,  on  this 
point,  the  Kii'ili.-h  <<rammarians  are  about  equally  divided  :  nearly  one  half  include 
them  with  the  verbs,  and  a  few  call  them  adjectives.  In  grammar,  it  is  wrong  to 
deviate  from  the  old  groundwork,  except  for  the  sake  of  truth  and  improvement; 
and.  in  this  case,  to  vary  the  si-ries  of  parts,  by  suppressing  one  and  substituting 
an  other,  is  in  fact  a  greater  innovation,  than  to  make  the  terms  ten,  by  adding  one 
and  dividing  an  other.  But  our  men  of  nine  parts  of  speech  innovated  yet  more  : 
they  added  the  Article,  as  did  the  Greeks;  divided  the  Noun  into  Substantive 
and  Adjective ;  and,  without  good  reason,  suppressed  the  Participle.  And,  of 
latter  time,  not  a  few  have  thrown  the  whole  into  confusion,  to  show  the  world 
"  the  order  of  [their]  understanding."  What  was  grammar  fifty  years  ago,  some 


116  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  XI. 

of  these  have  not  thought  it  worth  their  while  to  inquire  !  And  the  reader  has 
seen,  that,  after  all  this,  they  can  complacently  talk  of  "  the  censure  so  frequently 
and  so  justly  awarded  to  unfortunate  innovators." — KIRKHAM'S  Gram.  p.  10. 

7.  The  old  scheme  of  the  Latin  grammarians  has  seldom,  if  ever,  been  literally 
followed  in  English ;  because  its  distribution  of  the  parts  of  speech,  as  declined 
and  undeclined,  would  not  be  true  \*ith  respect  to  the  English   participle.     With 
the  omission  of  this  unimportant  distinction,  it  was,  however,  scrupulously  retained 
by  Dilworth,   by  the  author  of    the  British   Grammar,  by  William  Ward,   by 
Buchanan,  and  by  some  others  now  little  known,  who  chose  to  include  both  the 
article  and  the  adjective  with  the  noun,  rather  than  to  increase  the  number  of  the 
parts  of  speech  beyond  eight.     Dr.  Priestley  says,   "  I  shall   adopt  the  usual 
distribution  of  words  into  eight  classes  ;  viz.  Nouns,  Adjectives,  Pronouns,  Verbs, 
Adverbs,  Prepositions,  Conjunctions,  and  Interjections.*     I  do  this  in  compliance 
with  the  practice  of  most  Grammarians ;  and  because,  if  any  number,  in  a  thing 
so  arbitrary,  must  be  fixed  upon,  this  seems  to  be  as  comprehensive  and  distinct 
as  any.     All  the  innovation  I  have  made  hath  been  to  throw  out  the  Participle, 
and   substitute   the  Adjective,   as  more  evidently  a  distinct   part  of  speech." — 
Rudiments  of  English  Gram.  p.  3.     All  this  comports  well  enough  with  Dr. 
Priestley's  haste  and  carelessness ;  but  it  is  not  true,  that  he  either  adopted,  "  the 
usual  distribution  of  words,"  or  made  an  other  "  as  comprehensive  and  distinct  as 
any."     His  "  innovation"  too,  which  has  since  been  countenanced  by  many  other 
writers,  I  have  already  shown  to  be  greater,  than  if,  by  a  promotion  of  the  article 
and  the  adjective,  he  had  made  the  parts  of  speech  ten.     Dr.  Beattie,  who  was 
Priestley's   coeval,  and   a   much   better  scholar,   adopted   this   number  without 
hesitation,  and  called  every  one  of  them  by  what   is  still  its  right  name  :  "  In 
English,  there  are  ten  sorts  of  words,  which  are  all  found  in  the  following  short 
sentence;  '  I  now  see  the  good  man  coming  ;  but,  alas  !  he  walks  with  difficulty.' 
/and  he  are  pronouns;  now  is  an  adverb;  see  and  walks  are  verbs;  the  is  an 
article  ;  good,  an  adjective  ;  man  and  difficulty  are  nouns,  the  former  substantive, 
the  latter  abstract ;  coming  is  a  participle  ;  but,  a  conjunction  ;  alas  !  an  interjec- 
tion ;    with,    a   preposition.     That  no  other  sorts  of  words  are  necessary  in  lan- 
guage, will  appear,  when  we  have  seen  in  what  respects  these  are  necessary." — 
Beattie 's   Moral  Science,  Vol.   i,  p.   30.      This   distribution  is  precisely   that 
which  the  best  French  grammarians  have  usually  adopted. 

8.  Dr.  Johnson  professes  to  adopt  the  division,  the  order,  and  the  terms,  "  of 
the  common  grammarians,  without  inquiring  whether  a  fitter  distribution  might  not 
be  found." — G)-am.   before  4to  Diet.   p.    1.     But,  in   the    Etymology  of  his 
Grammar,  he  makes  no  enumeration  of  the  parts  of  speech,  and  treats  only  of 
articles,  nouns,  adjectives,  pronouns,  and  verbs ;  to  which  if  we  add  the  others, 
according  to  the  common  grammarians,  or  according  to  his  own  Dictionary,  the 
number  will  be  ten.     And  this  distribution,  which  was  adopted  by  Dr.  Ash  about 
1765,  by  Murray  the  schoolmaster  about  1790,  by  Caleb  Alexander  in  1795,  and 
approved  by  Dr.  Adam  in  1793,  has  since  been  very  extensively  followed ;  as 
may  be  seen  in  Dr.  Crombie's  treatise,  in  the  Rev.  Matt.  Harrison's,  and  in  the 
grammars  of  Harrison,  Staniford,  Alden,  Coar,  John  Peirce,  E.  Devis,  C.  Adams, 
D.  Adams,  Chandler,  Comly,  Jaudon,  Ingersoll,  Hull,  Fuller,  Greenleaf,  Kirk- 
ham,  Ferd.  H.  Miller,  Merchant,  Mack,  Nutting,  Bucke,  Beck,  Barrett,  Barnard, 
Maunder,  Webber,  Emmons,  Hazen,  Bingham,  Sanders,  and  many  others.     Dr. 
Lowth's  distribution  is  the  same,  except  that  he  placed  the  adjective  after  the 

*  These  are  the  parts  of  speech  in  some  late  grammars  ;  as,  Butler's,  Day's,  Frazee:s,  Fowle's  New,  Spear's, 
Weld's,  Wells's,  and  the  Well-wishers'.  In  Frost's  Practical  Grammar,  the  words  of  the  language  are  said  to 
be  "  divided  into  eight  classes,"  and  the  names  are  given  thus :  "  Noun,  Article,  Pronoun,  Verb,  Adverb, 
Preposition,  Conjunction,  and  Interjection."—!?.  29.  But  the  author  afterwards  treats  of  the  Adjective, 
between  the  Article  and  the  Pronoun,  just  as  if  he  had  forgotten  to  name  it,  and  could  not  count  nine  with 
accuracy  !  In  Perley's  Grammar,  the  parts  of  speech  are  a  different  eight :  "  namely,  Nouns,  Adjectives, 
Verbs.  Adverbs,  Prepositions,  Conjunctions,  Interjections,  and  Particles  !  "—P.  8.  S.  W.  Clark  has  Priestley'* 
classes,  but  calls  Interjections  "  Exclamations." 


CHAP.  XI.]       BRIEF    NOTICES    OF    THE    SCHEMES*  OF    CERTAIN    GRAMMARS.  117 

pronoun,  the  conjunction  after  the  preposition,  and,  like  Priestley,  called  the 
participle  ;i  verb,  thus  making  the  parts  of  speech  nine.  He  also  has  been  followed 
by  many;  among  whom  are  Bicknell,  Burn,  Lennie,  Mennye,  Lindley  Murray, 
Allen,  Guy,  Churchill,  Wilson,  Cobbett,  Davis,  David  Blajr,  Davenport,  Memlen- 
hall,  Wileox,  Picket,  Pond,  Russell,  Bacon,  Bullions,  Brace,  Hart,  Lyon,  Tob.  H. 
Miller,  Alger,  A.  Flint,  Folker,  S.  Putnam,  Cooper,  Frost,  Goldsbury,  Hamlin, 
T.  Smith,  11.  C.  Smith,  and  Woodworth.  But  a  third  part  of  these,  and  as  many 
more  in  the  preceding  list,  are  confessedly  mere  modifiers  of  Murray's  compilation  ; 
and  perhaps,  in  such  a  case,  those  have  done  best  who  have  deviated  least  from 
the  track  of  him  whom  they  professed  to  follow.* 

9«  Some  seem  to  have  supposed,  that  by  reducing  the  number  of  the  parts  of 
speecli,  and  of  the  rules  for  their  construction,  the  study  of  grammar  would  be 
rendered  more  easy  and  more  profitable  to  the  learner.  But  this,  as  would  appear 
from  the  history  of  the  science,  is  a  mere  retrogression  towards  the  rudeness  of  its 
earlier  stages.  It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  dispute,  whether  there  shall  be  nine 
parts  of  speech  or  ten  ;  and  perhaps  enough  has  already  been  stated,  to  establish 
the  expediency  of  assuming  the  latter  number.  Every  word  in  the  language 
must  be  included  in  some  class,  and  nothing  is  gained  by  making  the  classes 
larger  and  less  numerous.  In  all  the  artificial  arrangements  of  science,  distinctions 
are  to  be  made  according  to  the  differences  in  things  ;  and  the  simple  question  here 
is,  what  differences  among  words  shall  be  at  first  regarded.  To  overlook,  in  our 
primary  division,  the  difference  between  a  verb  and  a  participle,  is  merely  to 
reserve  for  a  subdivision,  or  subsequent  explanation,  a  species  of  words  which  most 
grammarians  have  recognized  as  a  distinct  sort  in  their  original  classification. 

10.  It  should  be  observed  that  the  early  period  of  grammatical  science  was  far 
remote  from  the  days  in  which  English  grammar  originated.     Many  things  which 
we  now  teach  and  defend  as  grammar,  were  taught  and  defended  two  thousand 
years  ago,  by  the  philosophers  of  Greece  and  Rome.     Of  the  parts  of  speech, 
Quintilian,  who  lived  in  the  first  century  of  our  era,  gives  the  following  account  : 
"For  the  ancient-.  among  whom  were  Aristotlet  and  Theodectes,  treated  only  of 
verbs,  nouns,  and  conjunctions  :  as  the  verb  is  what  we  say,  and  the  noun,  that  of 
which  we  say  it,  they  judged  the  power  of  discourse  to  be  in  verbs,  and  the  matter 
in  nouns,  but  the  connexion  in  con/inn-tinns.     Little  by  little,  the  philosophers, 
and  especially  the  S<<>i<-s.  increased  the  number:  first,  to  the  conjunctions  were 
added  nrtirlfs  ;  afterwards,  prepositions  ;  to  nouns,  was  added  the  appellation  ; 
then  tin-  in'nnnnn  ;  afterwards,  as  belonging  to  each  verb,  the  participle  ;  and,  to 
verbs   in  common,  adverbs.     Our   language   [i.e.  the  Latin]  does  not  require 
article-^,  wherefore  they  are  scattered  among  the  other  parts  of  speech  ;  but  there 
is  addi'd  to  the  foregoing  the  inter/rr/in/i.     But  some,  on  the  authority  of  good 
authors,  make  the  parts  only  eight  ;  as  Aristarchus,  and,  in  our  day,  Palsemon  ;  who 
have  include  1  :'n  -  vocable,  or  appellation,  with  the  noun,  as  a  species  of  it.     But 
they  who  make  the  noun  one  and  the  vocable  an  other,  reckon   nine.     But  there 
are  al<»  some  who  divide  the  vocable  from  the  appellation  ;  making  the  former  to 
signify  any  thinjr  manifest  to  sight  or  touch,  as  house,  bed  ;  and  the  latter,  any 
thing  to  which  either  or  both  are  wanting,  as  wind,  heaven,  god,  virtue.     They 
have  also  added  the  assert'rntinn  and  the  attrectation,  which  I  do  not  approve. 
Whether  the  vocable  or  appellation  should  be  included  with  the  noun  or  not,  as  it 
is  a  matter  of  little  consequence,  I  leave  to  the  decision  of  others."     See  Quintil. 
delnst    Ornt.   Lib.  i,  Cap.  4,  §  :M. 

11.  Several  writers  on   English   grammar,  indulging   a  strange  unsettlement  of 
plan,  seem  not  to  have  determined  in  thuir  own  minds,  -how  many  part.-  of  vpeech 


.  w  in»'lifipr  of  V  -  :  as  a  merit,  "  (tit  rtjftin»  pnrta 

\.'Wininft>'n:  -s,Prfposi- 

1  p.  9. 

t  Quiiitilhn  i  Me  recognized  four  parts  of 

speech  ;  verbs,  uouus,  conjuiictious,  and  articles.     See  Aristot.  </•   .  xx. 


118  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    XI. 

there  are,  or  ought  to  be.  Among  these  are  Home  Tooke,  Webster,  Dalton, 
Cardell,  Green,  and  Cobb ;  and  perhaps,  from  what  he  says  above,  we  may  add 
the  name  of  Priestley.  The  present  disputation  about  the  sorts  of  words,  has 
been  chiefly  owing  to  the  writings  of  Home  Tooke,  who  explains  the  minor  parts 
of  speech  as  mere  abbreviations,  and  rejects,  with  needless  acrimony,  the  common 
classification.  But  many  have  mistaken  the  nature  of  his  instructions,  no  less  than 
that  of  the  common  grammarians.  This  author,  in  his  third  chapter,  supposes 
his  auditor  to  say,  "  But  you  have  not  all  this  while  informed  me  how  many  parts 
of  speech  you  mean  to  lay  down."  To  whom  he  replies,  "  That  shall  be  as  you 
please.  Either  two,  or  twenty,  or  more."  Such  looseness  comported  well  enough 
with  his  particular  purpose ;  because  he  meant  to  teach  the  derivation  of  words, 
and  not  to  meddle  at  all  with  their  construction.  But  who  does  not  see  that  it  is 
impossible  to  lay  down  rules  for  the  construction  of  words,  without  first  dividing 
them  into  the  classes  to  which  such  rules  apply  ?  For  example  :  if  a  man  means 
to  teach,  that,  "  A  verb  must  agree  with  its  subject,  or  nominative,  in  person  and 
number,"  must  he  not  first  show  the  learner  what  words  are  verbs  ?  and  ought 
he  not  to  see  in  this  rule  a  reason  for  not  calling  the  participle  a  verb  ?  Let  the 
careless  followers  of  Lowth  and  Priestley  answer.  Tooke  did  not  care  to  preserve 
any  parts  of  speech  at  all.  His  work  is  not  a  system  of  grammar  ;  nor  can  it  be 
made  the  basis  of  any  regular  scheme  of  grammatical  instruction.  He  who  will 
not  grant  that  the  same  words  may  possibly  be  used  as  different  parts  of  speech, 
must  make  his  parts  of  speech  either  very  few  or  very  many.  This  author  says, 
11 1  do  not  allow  that  any  words  change  their  nature  in  this  manner,  so  as  to  belong 
sometimes  to  one  part  of  speech,  and  sometimes  to  another,  from  the  different  ways 
of  using  them.  I  never  could  perceive  any  such  fluctuation  in  any  word  what- 
ever."— Diversions  of  Purley,  Vol.  i,  p.  68. 

12.  From  his  own  positive  language,  I  imagine  this  ingenious  author  never 
well  considered  what  constitutes  the  sameness  of  words,  or  wherein  lies  the  differ- 
ence of  the  parts  of  speech  ;  and,  without  understanding  these  things,  a  gramma- 
rian cannot  but  fall  into  errors,  unless  he  will  follow  somebody  that  knows  them. 
But  Tooke  confessedly  contradicts  and  outfaces  "  all  other  Grammarians"  in  the 
passage  just  cited.  Yet  it  is  plain,  that  the  whole  science  of  grammar — or  at  least 
the  whole  of  etymology  and  syntax,  which  are  its  two  principal  parts — is  based 
upon  a  division  of  words  into  the  parts  of  speech  ;  a  division  which  necessarily 
refers,  in  many  instances,  the  same  words  to  different  sections  according  to  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  used.  "  Certains  mots  respondent  ainsi,  au  me  me  temps, 
a  diverses  parties  d'oraison  selon  que  la  grammaire  les  emploie  diversement."— — 
Buffier,  Art.  150.  "  Some  words,  from  the  different  ways  in  which  they  are  used, 
belong  sometimes  to  one  part  of  speech,  sometimes  to  another." — McCulloch's 
Gram.  p.  37.  "And  so  say  all  other  Grammariaus." — Tooke,  as  above. 

18.  The  history  of  Dr.  Webster,  as  a  grammarian,  is  singular.  He  is  remark- 
able for  his  changeableness,  yet  always  positive ;  for  his  inconsistency,  yet  very 
learned;  for  his  zeal  "  to  correct  popular  errors,"  yet  often  himself  erroneous; 
for  his  fertility  in  resources,  yet  sometimes  meagre  ;  for  his  success  as  an  author, 
yet  never  satisfied  ;  for  his  boldness  of  innovation,  yet  fond  of  appealing  to  an- 
tiquity. His  grammars  are  the  least  judicious,  and  at  present  the  least  popular, 
of  his  works.  They  consist  of  four  or  five  different  treatises,  which  for  their  mutual 
credit  should  never  be  compared  :  it  is  impossible  to  place  any  firm  reliance  upon 
the  authority  of  a  man  who  contradicts  himself  so  much.  Those  who  imagine  that 
the  last  opinions  of  so  learned  a  man  must  needs  be  right;  will  do  well  to  wait,  and 
see  what  will  be  his  last :  they  cannot  otherwise  know  to  what  his  instructions  will 
finally  lead.  Experience  has  already  taught  him  the  folly  of  many  of  his  pre- 
tended improvements,  and  it  is  probable  his  last  opinions  of  English  grammar  will 
be  most  conformable  to  that  just  authority  with  which  he  has  ever  been  tampering. 
I  do  not  say  that  he  has  not  exhibited  ingenuity  as  well  as  learning,  or  that  he  is 


CHAP.  XI.]      BRIEF   NOTICES    OF   THE   SCHEMES    OF    CERTAIN    GRAMMARS.  119 

always  wrong  when  he  contradicts  a  majority  of  the  English  grammarians  ;  but  I 
iiturc  to  say,  he  was  wrong  when  he  undertook  to  disturb  the  common 
scheme  of  the  parts  of  speech,  as  well  as  when  he  resolved  to  spell  all  words 
exactly  as  they  are  pronounced. 

14  ft  is  not  commonly  known  with  how  rash  a  hand  this  celebrated  author  has 
sometimes  touched  the  most  settled  usages  of  our  language.  In  1790,  which  was 
seven  yean  after  the  appearance  of  his  first  grammar,  he  published  an  octavo  volume 
of  more  than  four  hundred  pages,  consisting  of  Essays,  moral,  historical,  political, 
and  literary,  which  might  have  done  him  credit,  had  he  not  spoiled  his  book  by  a 
grammatical  whim  about  the  reformation  of  orthography.  Not  perceiving  that  Eng- 
lish literature,  multiplied  as  it  had  been  within  two  or  three  centuries,  had  acquired  a 
stal»iii*v  in  some  degree  corresponding  to  its  growth,  he  foolishly  imagined  it  was 
still  as  susceptible  of  change  and  improvement  as  in  the  days  of  its  infancy.  Let 
the  reader  pardon  the  length  of  this  digression,  if  for  the  sake  of  any  future 
schemer  who  may  chance  to  adopt  a  similar  conceit,  I  cite  from  the  preface  to  this 
volume  a  specimen  of  the  author's  practice  and  reasoning.  The  ingenious  attorney 
had  tin;  good  sense  quickly  to  abandon  this  project,  and  content  himself  with  less 
glaring  innovations  ;  else  he  had  never  stood  as  he  now  does,  in  the  estimation 
of  the  public.  But  there  is  the  more  need  to  record  the  example,  because  in  one 
of  the  southern  states  the  experiment  has  recently  been  tried  again.  A  still  abler 
-ame  profession,  has  renewed  it  but  lately  ;  and  it  is  said  there  are 
~ome  converts  to  this  notion  of  improvement.  I  copy  literally, 
_  all  my  readers  and  his  to  guess  for  themselves  why  he  spelled  "writers  " 
with  a  w  and  "  rlting  "  without. 

1"»    "  During  the  course  of  ten  or  twelv  yeers,  I  hav  been  laboring  to  cor- 
rect popular  errors,  and  to  assist  my  yung  brethren  in  the  road  to  truth  and 
:  my  publications  for  theze  purposes  hav  been  numerous ;  much  time  haz 
nent,  which  I  do  not  regret,  and  much  censure  incurred,  which  my  hart 
tells  me  I  do  not  dezerv."     *     *     *     ' '  The  reeder  wil  obzerv  that  the  orthog- 
rtii>hi/  of  the  voluiii  iz  not  uniform.     The  reezon  iz,  that  many  of  the  essays  hav 
been  published  before,  in  the  common  orthography,  and  it  would  hav  been  a  labo- 
••isk  to  copy  the  whole,  for  the  sake  of  changing  the  spelling.     In  the  essays 
\  ithin  the  last  yeer.  a  considerable  change  of  spelling  iz  introduced  by  way 
of  experiment.     This  liberty  wa/  taken  by  the  writers  before  the   age  of  queen 
Elizabeth,  and  to  this  we  are  indebted  for  the  preference  of  modern  spelling  over 
<  lower  and  Chaucer.     The  man  who  admits  that  the  change  of  housbonde, 
////"/«?,  •mimrtlt  into  /ms/H/m/,  mind,  gone,  month,  izan  improovment,  must 
50  the  riting  of  hrffh.  l>r<'th,  rong,  tung,  munth,  to  be  an  improov- 
re  iz  no  alternativ.    Every  possible  reezon  that  could  over  be  offered  for 
altering  the  spelling  of  wiirds,  stil  exists  in  ful  force  ;    and  if  a  gradual  reform 
should  ii"t  he  maile  in  our  language,  it  wil  proov  that  we  are  less  under  the  influ- 
ence df  ree/.nn  than  our  ancestors." — Noah  Webster's  Essays,  Pref.  p.  xi. 

It'..    IJut  let  us  return,  with  our  author,  to  the  question  of  the  parts  of  speech. 

!  AH  that  if  we  do  not  mean  to  adopt  some  less  convenient  scheme,  we 

••lint  them  f<n,  and   prcM-rve   their  ancient  order  as  well  as  their  ancient 

:  And,  after  all  his  vacillation  in  consequence  of  reading  Home  Tooke,  it 

would  not  !  if  I>r.  WcWer  should  come  at  last  to  the  same  conclusion. 

not  very  far  from  it  in  l^'J*.  a<  may  be  shown  by  his  own  testimony,  which 

to  record.   I  will  give  his  own  words  on  the  point :  "  There 

!  it  difficulty  in  devising  a  correct  ela.-.-ifieation  of  the  several  sorts  of  words  j 
ainl  probably  no  classification  that  shall  be  simple  and  at  the  same  time  philo- 
sophically C  ;  !"•  invented.  There  aiv  BOOM  words  that  do  not  strictly  fall 
under  any  description  of  any  cla—  yt  d« -vi-i.-d.  Many  attempts  have  been  made 
and  are  still  making  to  remedy  this  evil  ;  but  such  schemes  as  I  have  seen,  do  not, 
in  my  apprehension,  correct  the  defects  of  the  old  schemes,  nor  simplify  the  subject. 


120  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP. 

On  the  other  hand,  all  that  I  have  seen,  serve  only  to  obscure  and  embarrass  the 
subject,  by  substituting  new  arrangements  and  new  terms  which  are  as  incorrect  as 
the  old  ones,  and  less  intelligible.  I  have  attentively  viewed  these  subjects,  in  all 
the  lights  which  my  opportunities  have  afforded,  and  am  convinced  that  the  distri- 
bution of  words,  most  generally  received,  is  the  best  that  can  be  formed,  with 
some  slight  alterations  adapted  to  the  particular  construction  of  the  English  lan- 
guage." 

17.  This  passage  is  taken  from  the   advertisement,  or  preface,  to  the  Grammar 
which  accompanies  the  author's  edition  of  his  great  quarto  Dictionary.     Now  the 
several  schemes  which  bear  his  own  name,  were  doubtless  all  of  them  among  those 
which  he  had  "  seen  ; "  so  that  he  here  condemns  them  all  collectively,  as  he  had 
previously  condemned  some  of  them  at  each  reformation.     Nor  is  the  last  exempted. 
For  although  he  here  plainly  gives  his  vote  for  that  common  scheme  which  he  first 
condemned,  he  does  not  adopt  it  without  "  some  slight  alterations;  "  and  in  con- 
triving these  alterations  he  is  inconsistent  with  his  own  professions.     He  makes 
the   parts  of  speech  eight,  thus:  "1.  The  name  or  noun;  2.  The  pronoun  or 
substitute  ;  3.  The  adjective,  attribute,  or  attributive ;  4.  The  verb ;  5.  The  ad- 
verb ;  6.  The  preposition ;  7.  The  connective  or  conjunction ;  8.  The  exclama- 
tion or  interjection."    In  his  Rudiments  of  English  Grammar,  published  in  1811, 
"  to  unfold  the  true  principles  of  the  language,"  his  parts  of  speech  were  seven; 
"viz.   1.  Names  or  nouns;  2.   Substitutes  or  pronouns ;  3.  Attributes  or  adjec- 
tives; 4.  Verbs,  with  their  participles ;  5.  Modifiers  or  adverbs  ;  6.  Prepositions; 
7.  Connectives  or  conjunctions."     In  his  Philosophical  and  Practical  Grammar, 
published  in  1807,  a  book  which  professes  to  teach  "the  only  legitimate  princi- 
ples, and  established  usages,"  of  the  language,  a  twofold  division  of  words  is 
adopted;  first,  into  two  general  classes,  primary  and  secondary  ;  then  into  "seven 
species  or  parts  of  speech,"  the  first  two  belonging  to  the  former  class,  the  other 
five  to  the  latter  ;  thus  :    "1.  Names  or  nouns ;  2.  Verbs ;  3.  Substitutes ;  4. 
Attributes;    5.  Modifiers;    6.    Prepositions;    7.    Connectives."     In    his    "Im- 
proved Grammar  of  the  English  Language,"  published  in  1831,  the  same  scheme  is 
retained,  but  the  usual  names  are  preferred. 

18.  How  many  different  schemes  of  classification  this  author  invented,  I  know 
not ;  but  he  might  well  have  saved  himself  the  trouble  of  inventing  any ;  for,  so  far 
as  appears,  none  of  his  last  three  grammars  ever  came  to  a  second  edition.     In  the 
sixth  edition  of  his  "  Plain  and  Comprehensive  Grammar,  grounded  on  the  true 
principles  and  idioms  of  the  language,"  a  work  which  his  last  grammatical  pre- 
face affirms  to  have  been  originally  fashioned   "  on  the  model  of  Lowth's,"  the 
parts  of  speech  are  reckoned  "six;  nouns,  articles,  pronouns,  adjectives,  verbs, 
and  abbreviations  or  particles."    This  work,  which  he  says  "  was  extensively  used 
in  the  schools  of  this  country,"  and  continued  to  be  in  demand,  he  voluntarily 
suppressed ;  because,  after  a  profitable  experiment  of  four  and  twenty  years,  he 
found  it  so  far  from  being  grounded  on  "  true  principles,"  that  the  whole  scheme  then 
appeared  to  him  incorrigibly  bad.     And,  judging  from  this  sixth  edition,  printed  in 
1800,  the  only  one  which  I  have  seen,  I  cannot  but  concur  with  him  in  the  opinion. 
More  than  one  half  of  the  volume  is  a  loose  Appendix  composed  chiefly  of  notes 
taken  from  Lowth  and  Priestley ;  and  there  is  a  great  want  of  method  in  what 
was  meant  for  the  body  of  the  work.     I  imagine  his  several  editions  must  have 
been  different  grammars  with  the  same  title  ;  for  such  things  are  of  no  uncommon 
occurrence,  and  I  cannot  otherwise  account  for  the  assertion  that  this  book  was 
compiled  "  on  the  model  of  LowtKs,  and   on  the  same  principles  as  [those  on 
which]  Murray  has  constructed  his." — Advertisement  in  Webster's  quarto  Diet. 

19.  In  a  treatise  on  grammar,  a  bad  scheme  is  necessarily  attended  with  incon- 
veniences for  which  no  merit  in  the  execution  can  possibly  compensate.     The  first 
thing,  therefore,  which  a  skillful  teacher  will  notice  in  a  work  of  this  kind,  is  the 
arrangement.     If  he  find  any  difficulty  in  discovering,  at  sight,  what  it  is,  he  will 


CHAP.  XI-]       BRIEF    NOTICES   OF    THE    SCHEMES    OF    CERTAIN    GRAMMARS.  121 

be  sure  it  is  bad ;  for  a  lucid  order  is  what  he  lias  a  right  to  expect  from  him  who 
pretends  to  improve  upon  all  the  English  grammarians.  J>r.  Webster  is  not  the 
only  reader  of  the  EPEA  PTEROENTA,  who  has  been  thereby  prompted  to  meddle 
with  the  common  scheme  of  grammar;  nor  is  he  the  only  one  who  lias  attempted 
to  simplify  the  subject  by  reducing  the  parts  of  speech  to  six.  John  Dalton  of 
Manchester,  in  1801,  in  a  small  grammar  which  he  dedicated  to  Home  Tooke, 
made  them  six,  but  not  the  same  six.  He  would  have  them  to  be,  nouns,  pro- 
nouns, verbs,  adverbs,  conjunctions,  and  prepositions.  This  writer,  like  Bright- 
land,  Tooke,  Fisher,  and  some  others,  insists  on  it  that  the  articles  are  adj< 
Priestley,  too,  throwing-  them  out  of  his  classification,  and  leaving  the  learner  to  go 
through  his  book  in  ignorance  of  their  rank,  at  length  assigns  them  to  the 
same  class,  in  one  of  his  notes.  And  so  has  Dr.  Webster  fixed  them  in  his  late 
valuable,  but  not  faultless,  dictionaries.  But  David  Booth,  an  etymologist  perhaps 
equally  learned,  in  his  "  Introduction  to  an  Analytical  Dictionary  of  the  English 
Language,"  declares  them  to  be  of  the  same  species  as  the  pronouns  ;  from  which 
he  thinks  it  strange  that  they  were  ever  separated  !  P.  21. 

2<).  Now,  what  can  be  more  idle,  than  for  teachers  to  reject  the  common  classi- 
fication of  words,  and  puzzle  the  heads  of  school-boys  with  speculations  like  these? 
It  is  easy  to  admit  all  that  etymology  can  show  to  be  true,  and  still  justify  the 
old  arrangement  of  the  elements  of  grammar.  And  if  we  depart  from  the  com- 
mon scheme,  where  shall  we  stop  ?  Some  have  taught  that  the  parts  of  speech 
are  only  /''•'•  :  as  did  the  latter  stoics,  whose  classes,  according  to  Priscian  and  liar- 
articles,  nouns  appellative,  nouns  proper,  verbs,  and  conjunctions. 
Others  have  made  them  four  ;  as  did  Aristotle  and  the  elder  stoics,  and,  more 
recently,  Milnes,  Brightland,  Harris,  Ware,  Fisher,  and  the  author  of  a  work 
on  Universal  Grammar,  entitled  Enclytica.  Yet,  in  naming  the  four,  each  of  these 
contrives  to  differ  from  nil  flu-  rest !  With  Aristotle,  they  are,  "nouns,  verbs, 
articles,  and  conjunctions  :  "  with  Milnes,  "  nouns,  ad  nouns,  verbs,  and  particles ;  " 
with  Brightland,  "names,  qualities,  affirmations,  and  particles;"  with  Harris, 
'•  sul»t:tntives,  attributives,  definitives,  and  connectives;  "  with  Ware,  "  the  name, 
the  word,  the  assistant,  the  connective  ;  "  with  Fisher,  "  names,  qualities,  verbs,  and 
particles  ;  "  with  the  author  of  Knclytica,  "  names,  verbs,  modes,  and  connectives." 

»But  why  make  the  classes  so  numerous  as  four?  Many  of  the  ancients,  Greeks, 
Hebrews,  and  Arabians,  according  to  Quintilian,  made  them  three ;  and  these 
thrc's  according  to  A'os.-iu.-.  were  nouns,  verbs,  and  particles.  "Veteres  Arabes, 
Ilel  r.-i-i.  ft  (ineci,  tres,  non  amplius,  clas>es  faciebant ;  1.  Nomen,  2.  Verbum, 
8.  Particula  sen  IHctio.'1 — I  'ass.  de  Anal.  Lib.  i,  Cap.  1. 

'1\  N-ir  is  this  number,  thn-i'.  quite  destitute  of  modern  supporters;  though  most 
of  these  come  at  it  in  an  other  way.  D  St.  Qnenlin,  in  his  Kudiments  of  General 
Grammar,  published  in  lSll>,  di\ides  words  into  the  "three  general  classes"  last 
nientioiH-d  ;  vi/.,  "1.  Nouns,  2.  Verbs,  3.  Particles." — P.  5.  Booth,  who  pub- 
lished the  second  edition  of  his  i-tymological  work  in  1814,  examining  severally 
the  ten  part.x  of  speech,  and  finding  what  he  supposed  to  be  the  true  origin  of  aU 
the  words  in  some  of  the  olaeees,  was  led  to  throw  one  into  an  other,  till  he  had 
destroyed  seven  of  them.  Thru,  resolving  that  each  word  ought  to  be  cla.-cd 
according  to  the  meaning  which  its  etymology  ii.xes  upon  it,  he  refers  the  number 
of  ela»es  to  iinhin-,  thus  :  "  If,  then,  each  [word]  has  a  mcatumj,  and  is  capable 
of  raising  an  idea  in  the  mind,  that  idea  must  have  its  prototype  in  nature.  It 
must  either  denote  an  f./v/v//,//,  and  is  therefoie  a  verb;  or  a  tjunllty.  and  is.  in 
that  MSB,  an  adjective  i  or  it  im  ••,/////«/<?  of  qualities,  such  a^  is 

observed  to  belong  to  >..nie  individual  obj.-ct.  and  is,  on  thi.»  suppo.-i'ion,  the  mi  me 
of  such  object,  or  a  //<"///.  *  *  *  We  have  thus  given  an  account  of  the 
different  divisions  of  words,  and  have  found  that  the  whole  n.ay  1  nder 

the  three  ln-ads  of  Names.  Dualities,  and  Actions;  or  Noun.-,  Adjectives,  and 
Verbs."— Litrod.  to  Analyt.  Diet.  p.  '2'2. 


122  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    XI. 

22.  This  notion  of  the  parts  of  speech,  as  the  reader  will  presently  see,  found 
an  advocate  also  in  the  author  of  the  popular  little  story  of  Jack  Halyard.     It 
appears  in  his  Philosophic  Grammar  published  in  Philadelphia  in  1827.     Whether 
the  writer  borrowed  it  from  Booth,  or  was  led  into  it  by  the  light  of  "  nature,"  I 
am  unable  to  say  :  he  does  not  appear  to  have  derived  it  from  the  ancients.     Now, 
if  either  he  or  the  lexicographer  has  discovered  in  "  nature  "  a  prototype  for  this 
scheme  of  grammar,  the  discovery  is  only  to  be  proved,  and  the  schemes  of  all 
other  grammarians,  ancient  or  modern,  must  give  place  to  it.     For  the  reader  will 
observe  that  this  triad  of  parts  is  not  that  which  is  mentioned  by  Vossius  and 
Qnintilian.     But  authority  may  by  found  for  reducing  the  number  of  the  parts  of 
speech  yet  lower.     Plato,  according  to  Harris,  and  the  first  inquirers  into  language, 
according  to  Home  Tooke,  made  them  two  ;  nouns  and  verbs  :  which  Crombie, 
Dalton,  McCulloch,  and  some  others,  say,  are  the  only  parts  essentially  necessary 
for  the  communication  of  our  thoughts.     Those  who  know  nothing  about  grammar, 
regard  all  words  as  of  one  class.     To  them,  a  word  is  simply  a  word  ;  and  under 
what  other  name  it  may  come,  is  no  concern  of  theirs. 

23.  Towards  this  point,  tends  every  attempt  to  simplify  grammar  by  suppressing 
any  of  the  ten  parts  of   speech.     Nothing  is  gained  by  it ;  and  it  is  a  departure 
from  the  best  authority.     We  see  by  what  steps  this  kind  of  reasoning  may 
descend  ;  and  we  have  an  admirable  illustration  of  it  in  the  several  grammatical 
works  of  William  S.  Cardell.     I  shall  mention  them  in  the  order  in  which  they 
appeared  ;  and  the  reader  may  judge  whether  the  author  does  not  ultimately  arrive 
at  the  conclusion  to  which  the  foregoing  series  is  conducted.     This  writer,  in  his 
Essay  on  Language,  reckons  seven  parts  of  speech  ;  in  his  New- York  Grammar, 
six ;  in  his  Hartford  Grammar,  three  principal,  with  three  others  subordinate  ;  in 
his  Philadelphia  Grammar,  three  only — nouns,  adjectives,  and  verbs.     Here  he 
alleges,  "  The  unerring  plan  of  nature  has  established  three  classes  of  perceptions, 
and  consequently  three  parts  of  speech." — P.  171.     He  says  this,  as  if  he  meant 
to  abide  by  it.     But,  on  his  twenty-third  page,  we  are  told,  "  Every  adjective  is 
either  a  noun  or  a  participle."     Now,  by  his  own  showing,  there  are  no  participles  : 
he  makes  them  all  adjectives,  in  each  of  his  schemes.     It  follows,  therefore, 

all  his  adjectives,  including  what  others  call  participles,  are  nouns.     And  this 
reduces  his  three  parts  of  speech  to  two,  in  spite  of  "  the  unerring  plan  of  nature  !  " 
But  even  this  number  is  more  than  he  well  believed  in  ;  for,  on  the  twenty-fir 
page  of  the  book,  he  affirms,  that,  "  All  other  terms  are  but  derivative  forms  anc 
new  applications  of  nouns."     So  simple  a  thing  is  this  method  of  grammar  !     But 
Neef,  in  his  zeal  for  reformation,  carries  the  anticlimax  fairly  off  the   brink ;  an 
declares,  "  In  the  grammar  which  shall  be  the  work  of  my  pupils,  there  shall  be 
found  no  nouns,  no  pronouns,  no  articles,  no  participles,  no  verbs,  no  preposition 
no  conjunctions,  no  adverbs,  no  interjection's,  no    gerunds,  not  even  one  single 
supine.     Unmercifully  shall  they  be  banished  from  it." — Neef's  Method  of  Edi 
cation,  p.  60. 

24.  When  Cardell's  system  appeared,  several  respectable  men,  convinced  by 
"  his  powerful  demonstrations,"  admitted  that  he  had  made  "  many  things  in  the 
established  doctrines  of  the  expounders  of  language  appear  sufficiently  ridicu- 
lous ;  "*  and  willingly  lent  him  the  influence  of  their  names,  trusting  that  his 
admirable  scheme  of  English  grammar,  in  which  their  ignorance  saw  nothing  but 
new  truth,   would  be  speedily  "perfected  and  generally  embraced."!     Being 
invited  by  the  author  to  a  discussion  of  his  principles,  I  opposed  them  in  his  pres- 
ence,  both  privately  and  publicly;  defending  against  him,  not  unsuccessfully, 
those  doctrines  which  time  and  custom  have  sanctioned.     And,  what  is  remarkable, 
that  candid  opposition  which  Cardell  himself  had  treated  with  respect,  and  parried 
in  vain,  was  afterwards,  by  some  of  his  converts,  impeached  of  all  unfairness,  and 
even  accused  of  wanting  common  sense.     "  No  one,"  says  Niebuhr,  "  ever  over- 

*  The  Friend,  1829,  Yol.  ii,  p.  117.  t  The  Friend,  Vol.  ii,  p.  105. 


CHAP.  XI.]       BRIKF    NOTICES    OF   THE   SCHEMES    OF    CERTAIN    GRAMMARS.  123 

threw  a  literary  idol,  without  provokingthe  anger  of  its  worshiper*."- — Philological 
Museum.  Vol.  i,  p.  489.  The  certificates  given  in  commendation  of  this  "  set  of 
Opinions,"  though  they  had  no  extensive  effect  on  the  public,  showed  full  well 
that  the  signers  knew  little  of  the  history  of  grammar  ;  and  it  is  the  continual 
repetition  of  such  things,  that  induces  me  now  to  dwell  upon  its  history,  for  the 
information  of  tho.-e  who  are  so  liable  to  be  deceived  by  exploded  errors  repub- 
lished  M>  novelties.  A  eulogist  says  of  Cardell,  "He  had  adopted  a  set  of  opin- 
ions, which,  to  most  of  his  readers,  appeared  entirely  new."  A  reviewer  proved, 
that  all  his  pretended  novelties  are  to  be  found  in  certain  grammars  now  forgotten, 
or  seldom  read.  The  former  replies,  Then  he  [Cardell,]  is  right — and  the  man 
is  no  less  stupid  than  abusive,  who  finds  fault ;  for  here  is  proof  that  the  former 
"  had  high!-.  Me  authority  for  almost  every  thing  he  has  advanced  !  "  See 

The  Frieii'L  Vol.  ii,  pp.  105  and  116,  from  which  all  the  quotations  in  this  para- 
graph, except  one,  are  taken. 

25.  The  reader  may  now  be  curious  to  know  what  these  doctrines  were.     They 
ummed  up  by  the  reviewer,  thus :  "Our  author  pretends  to  have  drawn 
principally  from  his  own  resources,  in  making  up  his  books  ;  and  many  may  have 
supposed  there  is  more  mn-clfy  in  them  than  there  really  is.     For  instance:  1. 
He  classes  the  articles  with  adjectives;  and  so  did  Brightland,  Tooke,  Fisher, 
Dalton,    and    Wel»ter.     2.  He    calls   the  participles,   adjectives;    and  so   did 
Brightland  and  Tooke.     3.  He  makes  the  pronouns,  either  nouns  or  adjectives  ; 
and  so  did  Adam,  Dalton,  and  others.     4.   He  distributes  the  conjunctions  among 
the  other  part.-  of  speech;  and  so  did  Tooke.      5.  He  rejects  the  interjections; 
did  Valla,  Sanctius,  and  Tooke.     6-  He  makes  the  possessive  case  an 
ami  so  did  Brightland.     7.  He  says  our  language  has  no  cases  ;  and 
did  Harris.     8.  He  calls  case,  position  ;  and  so  did  James  Brown.     9.  He 
Ijectives  to  two  classes,  defining  and  describing  ;  and  so  did  Dalton. 
.  He  declares  all  verbs  to  be  active  ;  and  so  did  Harris,  (in  his  Hermes,  Book 
Chap,  ix,)   though  he  admitted  the  expediency  of  the  common  division,  and 
t  to  our  author  the  absurdity  of  contending  about  it.     Fisher  also  rejected  the 
of  neuter  verbs,  and  called  them  all  active.     11.  He  reduces  the  moods  to 
and  the  h-nscs  to  three  ;  and  so  did  Dalton,  in  the  very  same  words.     Fisher 
also  made  t'  three,  but  said  there  are  no  moods  in  English.     12.  He 

t  he  impi'rntii'e  mood  always  future  ;  and  so  did   Harris,  in   1751.     Nor 
did  the  doctrine  originate  with  him  ;  for  Brightland,  a  hundred  years  ago,  [about 
ascribed   it  to  some  of  his  predecessors.     13.  He  reduces  the  whole  of 
our  syntax  to  about  thirty  li/ics  ;  and  two  thirds  of  these  are  useless ;  for  Dr. 
Johns-m  expressed  it  quite  as  fully  in  ten.     But  their  explanations  are  both  good 
nothing  ;  and  Wallis,  more  wisely,  omitted  it  altogether." — The  Friend,  Vol. 

-•'»•    Dr.  V,  .  ~.  in  a  marginal  note  to  the  preface  of  his  Philosophical 

ininar,  "  Since  the  days  of   Wftl/is.  who  published  a  drammar  of  the  English 
M  Latin,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  [,]  from  which  Johnson  and  Lowth 

borrow,  d  m<>-f  "I  their  rules,  little  improvement  has  been  made  in  Knuli.-h  gram- 
mar. Lowth  supplied  MM  valuable  criticisms,  mo-t  of  which  however  respect 
;  bur  many  of  his  criticisms  are  extremely  erroneous,  and  they 
have  had  an  ill  effect,  in  perverting  the  true  idioms  of  our  lauiMia-r.  IY 
furnished  a  number  of  new  and  useful  observations  on  the  peculiar  phrases  of  the 
En(trli.-li  lan-na^e.  To  which  may  be  added  some  good  remarks  of  Blair  and 
Campbell,  interspersed  with  many  errors.  Murray,  not  having  mounted  to  the 
original  >«>urcr>  "t'  inform;.  Vet  and  nuance  the  rules 

has  furnished  little  or  nothing  new.      Of  the 

numerous  compilations  of  inferior  character,  it  may  be  affirmed,  that  they  have 
added  nothing  to  the  stock  of  grammatical  knowledge."  And  the  concluding 
sentence  of  this  work,  as  well  as  of  his  Improved  Grammar,  published  in  1831, 


124  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  XI. 

extends  the  censure  as  follows  :  "  It  is  not  the  English  language  only  whose  history 
and  principles  are  yet  to  be  illustrated ;  but  the  grammars  and  dictionaries  of  all 
other  languages,  with  which  I  have  any  acquaintance,  must  be  revised  and  corrected, 
before  their  elements  and  true  construction  can  be  fully  understood."  In  an  ad- 
vertisement to  the  grammar  prefixed  to  his  quarto  American  Dictionary,  the  Doctor 
is  yet  more  severe  upon  books  of  this  sort.  "  I  close,"  says  he,  "  with  the  single 
remark,  that  from  all  the  observations  I  have  been  able  to  make,  I  am  convinced 
the  dictionaries  and  grammars  which  have  been  used  in  our  seminaries  of  learning 
for  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years,  are  so  incorrect  and  imperfect  that  they  have  in- 
troduced or  sanctioned  more  errors  than  they  have  amended  ;  in  other  words,  had 
the  people  of  England  and  of  these  States  been  left  to  learn  the  pronunciation  and 
construction  of  their  vernacular  language  solely  by  tradition,  and  the  reading  of 
good  authors,  the  language  would  have  been  spoken  and  written  with  more  purity 
than  it  has  been  and  now  is,  by  those  who  have  learned  to  adjust  their  language 
by  the  rules  which  dictionaries  prescribe." 

27.  Little  and  much  are  but  relative  terms  ;  yet  when  we  look  back  to  the 
period  in  which  English  grammar  was  taught  only  in  Latin,  it  seems  extravagant 
to  say,  that  "  little  improvement  has  been  made  "  in  it  since.     I  have  elsewhere 
expressed  a  more  qualified  sentiment.     "  That  the  grammar  of  our  language  has 
made  considerable  progress  since  the  days  of  Swift,  who  wrote  a  petty  treatise  on 
the  subject,  is  sufficiently  evident ;  but  whoever  considers  what  remains  to  be  done, 
cannot  but  perceive  how  ridiculous  are  many  of  the  boasts  and  felicitations  which 
we  have  heard  on  that  topic."*     Some  further  notice  will  now  be  taken  of  that 
progress,  and  of  the  writers  who  have  been  commonly  considered  the  chief  promo- 
ters of  it,  but  especially  of  such  as  have  not  been  previously  mentioned  in  a  like 
connexion.     Among  these  may  be  noticed  William  Walker,  the  preceptor  of  Sir 
Isaac  Newton,  a  teacher  and  grammarian  of  extraordinary  learning,  who  died  in 
1684.     He  has  left  us  sundry  monuments  of  his  taste  and  critical  skill :  one  is  his 
"  Treatise  of  English  Particles," — a  work  of  great  labour  and  merit,  but  useless 
to  most  people  now-a-days,  because  it  explains  the  English  in  Latin  ;  an  other,  his 
"Art  of  Teaching  Improv'd," — which  is  also  an  able  treatise,  and  apparently 
well  adapted  to  its  object,  "  the   Grounding  of   a  Young  Scholar  in  the  Latin 
Tongue."  In  the  latter,  are  mentioned  other  works  of  his,  on   "  Rhetorick,  and 
Logick"  which  I  have  not  seen. 

28.  In  1706,  Richard  Johnson  published  an  octavo  volume  of  more  than  four 
hundred  pages,  entitled,  "  Grammatical  Commentaries ;  being  an  Apparatus  to  a 
New  National  Grammar  :  by  way  of  animadversion  upon  the  falsities,  obscurities, 
redundancies  and  defects  of  Lily's  System  now  in  use."     This  is  a  work  of  great 
aeuteness,  labour,  and  learning  ;  and  might  be  of  signal  use  to  any  one  who  shoul( 
undertake  to  prepare  a  new  or  improved  Latin  grammar :  of  which,  in  my  opinion, 
have  yet  urgent  need.    The  English  grammarian  may  also  peruse  it  with  advantage, 
if  he  has  a  good  knowledge  of  Latin — and  without  such  knowledge  he  must  be  ill 
prepared  for  his  task.     This  work  is  spoken  of  and   quoted  by  some  of  the  early 
English  grammarians ;  but  the  hopes  of  the  writer  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
realized.     His  book  was  not  calculated  to  supply  the  place  of  the  common  one; 
for  the  author  thought  it  impracticable  to  make  a  new  grammar,  suitable  for  boys, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  embrace  in  it  proofs  sufficient  to  remove  the  prejudices  of 
teachers  in  favour  of  the  old.     King  Henry's  edict  in  support  of  Lily,  was  yet 
in  force,  backed  by  all  the  partiality  which  long  habit  creates ;  and  Johnson's  learn- 
ing, and  labour,  and  zeal,  were  admired,  and  praised,  and  soon  forgot. 

29.  Near  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  some  of  the  generous  wits  of  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne,  seeing  the  need  there  was  of  greater  attention  to  their 
vernacular  language,  and  of  a  grammar  more  properly  English  than  any  then  in 

*  See  tho  Preface  to  my  Compendious  English  Grammar  in  the  American  edition  of  the  Treasury  of  Knowl- 
edge, Vol.  i,  p.  8. 


CHAP.  XI.]        BRIEF   NOTICES   OF   THE   SCHEMES   OF    CERTAIN    GRAMMARS.  125 

use,  produced  a  book  with  which  the  later  writers  on  the  same  subjects,  would  have 
done  well  to  have  made  themselves  better  acquainted.  It  is  entitled  "A  Grammar 
of  the  English  Tongue  ;  with  the  Arts  of  Logick,  Rhetorick,  Poetry,  &c.  Illus- 
trated witli  u-efiii  Notes  ;  giving  the  Grounds  and  Reasons  of  Grammar  in  General. 
The  Whole  making  a  Compleat  System  of  an  English  Education.  Published  by 
JOHN  Hi;i»;iLTLAND,  for  the  Use  of  the  Schools  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland."  It 
is  ingfniously  recommended  in  a  certificate  by  Sir  Richard  Steele,  or  the  Tattler, 
under  the  fictitious  name  of  Isaac  Bickerstaff,  Esq.,  and  in  a  poem  of  forty-three 
lines,  by  Nahum  Tate,  poet  laureate  to  her  Majesty.  It  is  a  duodecimo  volume  of 
three  hundred  pages ;  a  work  of  no  inconsiderable  merit  and  originality  ;  and  written 
in  a  style  which,  though  not  faultless,  has  scarcely  been  surpassed  by  any  English 
grammarian  since.  I  quote  it  as  Brightland's  :*  who  were  the  real  authors, 
does  not  appear.  It  seems  to  be  the  work  of  more  than  one,  and  perhaps  the 
writers  of  the  Tattler  were  the  men.  My  copy  is  of  the  seventh  edition,  London, 
printed  for  Henry  Lintot,  1746.  It  is  evidently  the  work  of  very  skillful  hands  ; 
yet  is  it  not  in  all  respects  well  planned  or  well  executed.  It  unwisely  reduces 
the  parts  of  speech  to  four ;  gives  them  new  names ;  and  rejects  more  of  the  old 
system  than  the  schools  could  be  made  willing  to  give  up.  Hence  it  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  very  extensively  adopted. 

30.  It  is  now  about  a  hundred  aud  thirty  years,  since  Dr.  Swift,  in  a  public 
remonstrance  addressed  to  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  complained  of  the  imperfect  state 
of  our  language,  and  alleged  in  particular,  that  "  in  many  instances  it  offended  against 
every  part  of  grammar  "1  J'ifty  years  afterward,  Dr.  Lowth  seconded  this  com- 
plaint, and  pressed  it  home  upon  the  polite  and  the  learned.  "  Does  he  mean," 
says  the  latter,  "  that  the  English  language,  as  it  is  spoken  by  the  politest  part  of  the 
nation,  and  a<  it  stands  in  the  writings  of  the  most  approved  authors,  often  offends 
against  every  part  of  grammar  '(  Thus  far,  I  am  afraid  the  chary  e  is  true" — 
Lowth' s  Gram.  /V//.  p.  iv.  Yet  the  learned  Doctor,  to  whom  much  praise  has 
been  justly  ascribed  for  the  encouragement  which  he  gave  to  this  neglected  study, 
attempted  nothing  more  than  "A  Short  Introduction  to  English  Grammar;'* 
which,  he  says,  "  was  calculated  for  the  learner  even  of  the  lowest  class:  "  and 
those  who  would  enter  more  deeply  into  the  subject,  he  referred  to  Harris;  whose 
work  is  not  an  English  grammar,  but  "A  Philosophical  Inquiry  concerning  Uni- 
'•  Grammar."  Lowth's  Grammar  was  first  published  in  1758.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  his  preface,  the  reverend  author,  after  acknowledging  the  enlarge- 
ment, polish,  and  refinement,  which  the  language  had  received  during  the  preced- 
ing two  bundled  years,  ventures  to  add,  "but,  whatever  other  improvements  it 
may  have  received,  it  hath  made  no  advances  in  grammatical  accuracy."  I  do 
not  ijiiute  this  a-.-'.-rtimi  to  aiVinn  it  literally  true,  in  all  its  apparent  breadth;  but 
there  i-  -r  of  the  correctness  even  now  attained,  than  to  believe 

that  the  writers  <>n  irrammar  are  not  the  authors  who  have  in  general  come  nearest 

*  Soni''  .-htlaml  himself  was  the  writer  of  this  grammar  ;  but  to  suppose  him  the  sole  author, 

hardly  r..mpor'-  to  the  Queen,  hy  her  "  im.-t  ol.edient  and  Dutiful  Sut>j,cts,  the  Authors;" 

or  with  the  manner  in  which  these  are  spoken  of,  in  the  following  lines,  by  the  laureate  : 

•• .hat  Thank.-,  what  l'rai-e<  mu^t  attend 

.  who  Mill-  could  condescend  ! 
Skill,  that  to  An'-  -uMime-t  Orh  e.m  reach, 
Km  i  ich! 

•    we  know 
To  mine  Their  Country's  Fame  they  stoop'd  so  low."— TATE. 

Ml,  in  hi>  Philosophy  of  l!het..ric.  pnire  l.r,*th,  makes  a  difficulty  respecting  the  meaning  of  thia 
cites  it  as  an  r  'pplioafion  of  the  term  i^nnnrnnr ;  and  supposes  tin-  v.rir.-r's  notion 

>in_'  to   h;i\e  |,eeii.  ••  ot   grammar   in    the   :it..-t i:\i-t.  ,1,1  uni ver.-al   ar«he;\pe   b\    which   the   particular 
r-iofali  l"    And  add.-.  ••  If  this  wa*  hi-  i<  not  Pay 

he  is  in  the  right  or  in  the  wrong,  in  this   ac-  nsation.      I    acki  •  -if  to  !'<•  entirely  ignorant 

this  ideal  grammar."  It  would  be  more  fair  to  suppo-e  that  Dr.  Swift  meant  by  "  t;rnt/itniir,"!  the  rules 
.iiul  principles  according  to  whi--h  the  Kngli-h  language  ought  to  bespoken  and  "written  ;  and.  (as  I  shall 
Hereafter  show.)  it  is  i.  .'let..  atVirm,  tha-  every  part  of  the  code— nay,  well  -nigh  e\ery  one  of 

:hese  rules  and  principle-  i-,  in  many  instances,  violated,  if  not  hv  what  may  be  called  the  language  itself, 
i»t  least  by  those  speakers  and  writers  who  are  under  the  strongest  obligations  to  know  and  observe  its  true  use. 


126  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.    XI. 

to  it  in  practice.     Nor  have  the  ablest  authors  always  produced  the  best  compends 
for  the  literary  instruction  of  youth. 

31.  The  treatises  of  the  learned  doctors  Harris,  Lowth,  Johnson,  Ash,  Priestley, 
Home  Tooke,  Crombie,  Coote,  and  Webster,  owe  their  celebrity  not  so  much  to 
their  intrinsic  fitness  for  school  instruction,  as  to  the  literary  reputation  of  the 
writers.     Of  Harris's  Hermes,  (which,  in  comparison  with  our  common  grammars, 
is  indeed  a  work  of  much  ingenuity  and  learning,  full  of  interesting  speculations, 
and  written  with  great  elegance  both  of  style  and  method,)  Dr.  Lowth  says,  it  is 
"  the  most  beautiful  and  perfect  example  of  analysis,  that  has  been  exhibited  since 
the  days  of  Aristotle." — Pref.  to   Gram.  p.  x.     But  these  two  authors,  if  their 
works  be  taken  together,  as  the  latter  intended  they  should  be,  supply  no  sufficient 
course  of  English  grammar.     The  instructions  of  the  one  are  too  limited,  and  those 
of  the  other  are  not  specially  directed  to  the  subject. 

32.  Dr.  Johnson,  who  was  practically  one  of  the  greatest  grammarians  that  ever 
lived,  and  who  was  very  nearly  coetaneous  with  both  Harris  and  Lowth,  speaks  of 
the  state  of  English  grammar  in  the  following  terms  :  "I  found  our  speech  copious 
without  order,  and  eriergetick  without  rules :  wherever  I  turned  my  view,  there 
was  perplexity  to  be  disentangled,  and  confusion  to  be  regulated." — Pref.  to 
Diet.  p.  1.     Again  :  "  Having  therefore  no  assistance  but  from  general  grammar, 
I  applied  myself  to  the  perusal  of  our  writers ;  and  noting  whatever  might  be  of 
use  to  ascertain  or  illustrate  any  word  or  phrase,  accumulated  in  time  the  materials 
of  a  dictionary." — Ibid.     But  it  is  not  given  to  any  one  man  to  do  every  thing; 
else,  Johnson  had  done  it.     His  object  was,  to  compile  a  dictionary,  rather  than 
to  compose  a  grammar,  of  our  language.     To  lexicography,  grammar  is  necessary, 
as  a  preparation  ;  but,  as  a  purpose,  it  is  merely  incidental.     Dr.  Priestley  speaks 
of  Johnson  thus  :  "  I  must  not  conclude  this  preface,  without  making  my  acknowl- 
edgements to  Mr.  Johnson,  whose  admirable  dictionary  has  been  of  the  greatest 
use  to  me  in  the  study  of  our  language.     It  is  pity  he  had  not  formed  as  just,  and 
.as  extensive  an  idea  of  English  grammar.     Perhaps  this  very  useful  work  may 
still  be  reserved  for  his  distinguished  abilities  in  this  way." — Priestley's  Gram. 
ip.  xxiii.     Dr.  Johnson's  English  Grammar  is  all  comprised  in  fourteen  pages,  and 
<of  course  it  is  very  deficient.     The  syntax  he  seems  inclined  entirely  to  omit,  as 
(he  says)  Wallis  did,  and  Ben  Jonson  had  better  done ;  but,  for  form's  sake,  he 
•condescends  to  bestow  upon  it  ten  short  lines. 

33.  My  point  here  is,  that  tbe  best  grammarians  have  left  much  to  be  done  by  him 
who  may  choose  to  labour  for  the  further  improvement  of  English  grammar  ;  and 
that  a  man  may  well  deserve  comparative  praise,  who  has  not  reached  perfection  in 
a  science  like  this.     Johnson  himself  committed  many  errors,  some  of  which  I  shall 
hereafter  expose ;  yet  I  cannot  conceive  that  the  following  judgement  of  his  works 
was  penned  without  some  bias  of  prejudice  :  "  Johnson's  merit  ought  not  to  be 
denied  to  him  ;  but  his  dictionary  is  the  most  imperfect  and  faulty,  and  the  least 
valuable  of  any*  of  .his  productions;  and  that  share  of  merit  which  it  possesses, 
makes  it  by  so  much  the  more  hurtful.     I  rejoice,  however,  that  though  the  least 
valuable,  he  found  it  the  most  profitable  :  for  I  could  never  read  his  preface  without 
shedding  a  tear.     And  yet  it  must  be  confessed,  that  his  grammar  and  history 
and  dictionary  of  what  he  calls  the  English  language,  are  in  all  respects  (except 
the  bulk  of  the  latter^)  most  truly  contemptible  performances;  and  a  reproach  to 
the  learning  and  industry  of  a  nation  which  could  receive  them,  with  the  slightest 
approbation.     Nearly  one  third  of  this  dictionary  is  as  much  the  language  of  the 
Hottentots  as  of  the  English ;  and  it  would  be  no  difficult  matter  so  to  translate 
any  one  of  the  plainest  and  most  popular  numbers  of  the  Spectator  into  the  language 
of  this  dictionary,  that  no  mere  Englishman,  though  well  read  in  his  own  language, 

*  The  phrase  "  of  any  "  is  here  erroneous.    These  words  ought  to  have  been  omitted ;  or  the  author  should 
have  said — "  the  least  valuable  of  all  his  productions." 
t  Tbis  word  latter  should  have  been  last ;  for  three  works  are  here  spoken  of. 


CHAP.  XI.]      BRIEF   NOTICES    OF   THE   SCHEMES   OF    CERTAIN    GRAMMARS. 


127 


would  be  able  to  comprehend  one  sentence  of  it.  It  appears  to  be  a  work  of 
labour,  and  jet  is  in  truth  one  of  the  most  idle  performances  ever  offered  to  the 
public ;  compiled  by  an  author  who  possessed  not  one  single  requisite  for  the 
undertaking,  and  (being  a  publication  of  a  set  of  booksellers)  owing  its  sucr- 
that  very  circumstance  which  alone  must  make  it  impossible  that  it  should  deserve 
success." — Tookes  Diversions  of  Parley,  Vol.  i,  p.  182. 

34.  Dr.  Ash's  "  Grammatical  Institutes,  or  Easy  Introduction  to  Dr.  Lowth's 
English  Grammar,  is  a  meagre  performance,  the  ease  of  which  consists  in  nothing 
but  its  brevity.      Dr.  Priestley,  who  in  the  preface  to  his  third  edition  acknowledges 
hi.s  obligations  to  Johnson,  and  also  to  Lowth,  thought  it  premature  to  attempt  an 
English  grammar ;  and  contented  himself  with  publishing  a  few  brief  "  Rudiments," 
with  a  loose  appendix  consisting  of  "  Notes  and  Observations,  for  the  use  of  those 
who  have  made  some  proficiency  in  the  language."     He  says,  ''With  respect  to 
our  own  language,  there  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  claim  upon  all  who  make  use  of  it, 
to  do  siMiiL'thing  for  its  improvement ;  and  the  best  thing  we  can  do  for  this  purpose 
at  present,  is,  to  exhibit  its  actual  structure,  and  the  varieties  with  which  it  is  used. 
When  these  are  once  distinctly  pointed  out,  and  generally  attended  to,  the  best 
forms  of  speech,  and  those  which  are  most  agreeable  to  the  analogy  of  the  language, 
will  soon  recommend  themselves,  and  come  into  general  use;  and  when,  by  this 
means,  the  language  shall  be  written  with  sufficient  uniformity,  we  may  hope  to 
see  a  complete  grammar  of  it.     At  present,  it  is  by  no  means  ripe  for  such  a 
work  ;  *  but  we  may  approximate  to  it  very  fast,  if  all  persons  who  are  qualified  to 
make  remarks  upon  it,  will  give  a  little  attention  to  the  subject.     In  such  a  case, 
a  few  years  might  be  sufficient  to  complete  it." — Priestley's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  xv. 
In   point  of  time,  both  Ash  and  Priestley  expressly  claim  priority  to  Lowth,  for 
their  first  editions;  but  the  former  having  allowed  his  work  to  be  afterwards 
entitled  an  Introduction  to  Lowth's,  and  the  latter  having  acknowledged  some 

provements  in  his  from  the  same  source,  they  have  both  been  regarded  as  later 
authors. 

35.  The  great  work  of  the  learned  etymologist  John  Home  Tooke,  consists  of 
two  octavo  volumes,  entitled,  "  EPEA  PTEROENTA,  or  the  Diversions  of  Purley." 
This  work  explains,  with  admirable  sagacity,  the  origin  and  primitive  import  of 
many  of  the  most  common  yet  most  obscure  English  words ;  and  is,  for  that 
reason,   a   valuable    performance.      But   as   it   contains   nothing   respecting   the 
construction  of  the  language,  and  embraces  no    proper   system  of  grain n 
doctrines,  it  is  a  great  error  to  suppose  that  the  common  principles  of  practical 
grammar  ought  to  give  place  to  such  instructions,  or  even  be  modelled  according 
to  what  the  author  proves  to  be  true  in  respect  to  the  origin  of  particular  words. 
The  common   grammarians  were  less  confuted  by  him,  than  many  of  his  readers 
have  imagined ;  and  it  ought  not  to  be  forgotten  that  his  purpose  was  as  different 
from  theirs,  as  are  their  schemes  of  Grammar  from  the  plan  of  his  critical  "  Diver- 
sions."    In  this  connexion  may  be  mentioned  an  other  work  of  similar  size  and 
purpose,  but  more  comprehensive  in  design;    the  "History  of  European  Lan- 

},"  by  that  astonishing  linguist  the  late  Dr.  Alexander  Murray.     This  work 


*  With  this  opinion 
Verb,  a:  iinrv  rhai 

!-  forming  an   K 

the  renown'. I  Ik-n  .l»n.-on,  and  one 

a  noble  J 
I  at  that  perkx 

since  that  tiin  'h  appeal 

'"as  ti'ii'linir  to  illustrate  o« 
Intpi'lurrion  to  Language-. 
Dr.  Warl'-  K--.-i\  s  -.ipon  th«  English 
8ut.j<Tt :  all  which  he  h.-r! 
wirii-r:i:..lin_-  all  these  aids,  aomethlo 
attemj  •• 
rendfr'd  inetl. 
have  no  Moods  ;  and  the  other,  thut 


•tin.'-  \\Tiite,  author  of  a  Grammatical  Essay  on  the  English 
dred  pages.  puMished  in  London  in  1761.     This  aurh 

ot  been  very  many :  from  the  reign  of  Queen 
••'iiirof  the  PrMMit  knows  of ;  mu- in  Kn 
rn'd  Dr   U'allis.     In  the  reign  of  Queen  Ann 
Kinulati"!!  in   this  Literary  way  ;  and  to  this  we  owe 
-•!-.  u  Brightiaad,  Greenwood,  and  Margin-.     lint, 

•Iranmiar  ..;' 
l.'.-mrnt  nf   oil 

— These  are  all  the  Treatises  he  hath  met  with,  relative  to  thia 
•id  made  the  best  use  of  them  in  his  power.  But  not- 
>HJ  done,  at  least  it  so  appears  to  him,  preparatory  to 

Language.  All  our  efforts  of  this  kin. I  -eern  to  have  been 
"oMonH  :  one  of  which  is,  that  our  Verbs 

age  bath  no  Syntax."—  Wiute't  English,  Verb,  p.  viii. 


128  INTRODUCTION.  [CHAP.  XI. 

was  left  unfinished  by  its  lamented  author ;  but  it  will  remain  a  monument  of 
erudition  never  surpassed,  acquired  in  spite  of  wants  and  difficulties  as  great  as 
diligence  ever  surmounted.  Like  Tooke's  volumes,  it  is  however  of  little  use  to 
the  mere  English  scholar.  It  can  be  read  to  advantage  only  by  those  who  are 
acquainted  with  several  other  languages.  The  works  of  Orombie  and  Ooote  are 
more  properly  essays  or  dissertations,  than  elementary  systems  of  grammar. 

36  The  number  of  English  grammars  has  now  become  so  very  great,  that  not 
even  a  general  idea  of  the  comparative  merits  or  defects  of  each  can  here  be  given. 
I  have  examined  with  some  diligence  all  that  I  have  had  opportunity  to  obtain ; 
but  have  heard  of  several  which  I  have  never  yet  seen.  Whoever  is  curious  to 
examine  at  large  what  has  been  published  on  this  subject,  and  thus  to  qualify 
himself  to  judge  the  better  of  any  new  grammar,  may  easily  make  a  collection  of 
one  or  two  hundred  bearing  different  names.  There  are  also  many  works  not  called 
grammars,  from  which  our  copyists  have  taken  large  portions  of  their  compilations. 
Thus  Murray  confessedly  copied  from  ten  authors ;  five  of  whom  are  Beattie,  Sheri- 
dan, Walker,  Blair,  and  Campbell.  Dr.  Beattie,  who  acquired  great  celebrity  as 
a  teacher,  poet,  philosopher,  and  logician,  was  well  skilled  in  grammar ;  but  he 
treated  the  subject  only  in  critical  disquisitions,  and  not  in  any  distinct  elementary 
work  adapted  to  general  use.  Sheridan  and  Walker,  being  lexicographers,  confined 
themselves  chiefly  to  orthography  and  pronunciation.  Murray  derived  sundry  prin- 
ciples from  the  writings  of  both  ;  but  the  English  Grammar  prepared  by  the  latter, 
was  written,  I  think,  several  years  later  than  Murray's.  The  learned  doctors  Blair 
and  Campbell  wrote  on  rhetoric,  and  not  on  the  elementary  parts  of  grammar. 
Of  the  two,  the  latter  is  by  far  the  more  accurate  writer.  Blair  is  fluent  and  easy, 
but  he  furnishes  not  a  little  false  syntax ;  Campbell's  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric  is 
a  very  valuable  treatise.  To  these,  and  five  or  six  other  authors  whom  I  have 
noticed,  was  Lindley  Murray  "  principally  indebted  for  his  materials."  Thus  far 
of  the  famous  contributors  to  English  grammar.  The  Lectures  on  Rhetoric  and 
Oratory,  delivered  at  Harvard  University  by  John  Quincy  Adams,  and  published 
in  two  octavo  volumes  in  1810,  are  such  as  do  credit  even  to  that  great  man  ;  but 
they  descend  less  to  verbal  criticism,  and  enter  less  into  the  peculiar  province 
of  the  grammarian,  than  do  most  other  works  of  a  similar  title. 

37.  Some  of  the  most  respectable  authors  or  compilers  of  more  general  systems 
of  English  grammar  for  the  use  of  schools,  are  the  writer  of  the  British  Grammar, 
Bicknell,  Buchanan,  William  Ward,  Alexander  Murray  the  schoolmaster,  Mennye, 
Fisher,   Lindley  Murray,   Fenning,   Allen,   Grant,  David  Blair,  Lennie,   Guy, 
Churchill.     To  attempt  any  thing  like  a  review  or  comparative  estimate  of  the 
would  protract  this  introduction  beyond  all  reasonable  bounds  ;  and  still  other 
would  be  excluded,  which  are  perhaps  better  entitled  to  notice.     Of  mere  modifit 
and  abridgers,  the  number  is  so  great,  and  the  merit  or  fame  so  little,  that  I  will  n< 
trespass  upon  the  reader's  patience  by  any  further  mention  of  them  or  their  works. 
Whoever  takes  an  accurate  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  history  and  present 
state  of  this  branch  of  learning,  though  he  may  not  conclude,  with  Dr   Priestley, 
that  it  is  premature  to  attempt  a  complete  grammar  of  the  language,  can  scarcely 
forbear  to  coincide  with  Dr.  Barrow,  in   the  opinion  that  among  all  the  treatises 
heretofore  produced  no  such  grammar  is  found.     "  Some  superfluities  have  been 
expunged,  some  mistakes  have  been  rectified,  and  some  obscurities  have  been 
cleared ;  still,  however,  that  all  the  grammars  used  in  our  different  schools,  public  as 
well  as  private,  are  disgraced  by  errors  or  defects,  is  a  complaint  as  just  as  it  is 
frequent  and  loud." — Barrow's  Essays,  p.  83. 

38.  Whether,  in  what  I  have  been  enabled  to  do,  there  will  be  found  a  remedy  for 
this  complaint,  must  be  referred  to  the  decision  of  others.     Upon  the  probability 
of  effecting  this,  I  have  been  willing  to  stake  some  labour ;  how  much,  and  with 
what  merit,  let  the  candid  and  discerning,  when  they  shall  have  examined  for 
themselves,  judge.     It  is  certain  that  we  have  hitherto  had,  of  our  language,  no 


CHAP.  XI.]      BRIEF   NOTICES   OP   THE   SCHEMES   OF    CERTAIN    GRAMMARS. 


129 


complete  grammar.  The  need  of  such  a  work  I  suppose  to  be  at  this  time  in  no 
small  degree  felt,  especially  by  those  who  conduct  our  higher  institutions  of  learn- 
ing ;  and  my  ambition  has  been  to  produce  one  which  might  deservedly  stand  along 
side  of  the  Port-Royal  Latin  and  Greek  Grammars,  or  of  the  Grammaire  des 
Grammaires  of  Girault  du  Vivier.  If  this  work  is  unworthy  to  aspire  to  such 
rank,  let  the  patrons  of  English  literature  remember  that  the  achievement  of  my 
design  is  still  a  desideratum.  We  surely  have  no  other  book  which  might,  in  any 
sense,  have  been  called  "  the  Grammar  of  English  Grammars  ;"  none,  which, 
either  by  excellence,  or  on  account  of  the  particular  direction  of  its  criticism,  might 
take  such  a  name.  I  have  turned  the  eyes  of  Grammar,  in  an  especial  manner,  upon 
the  conduct  of  her  own  household ;  and  if,  from  this  volume,  the  reader  acquire  a 
more  just  idea  of  the  ynnnttmr  which  is  displayed  in  English  grammars,  he  will  dis- 
cover at  least  one  reason  for  the  title  which  has  been  bestowed  upon  the  work.  Such 
as  the  book  is,  I  present  it  to  the  public,  without  pride,  without  self-seeking,  and 
without  anxiety  :  knowing  that  most  of  my  readers  will  be  interested  in  estimating 
itjxsfly  ;  that  no  true  service,  freely  rendered  to  learning,  can  fail  of  its  end  ;  and 
that  no  achievement  merits  aught  with  Him  who  graciously  supplies  all  ability. 
The  opinions  expressed  in  it  have  been  formed  with  candour,  and  are  offered  with 
submission.  If  in  any  thing  they  are  erroneous,  there  are  those  who  can  detect  their 
faults.  In  the  language  of  an  ancient  master,  I  invite  the  correction  of  the 
candid :  "  Nos  quoque,  quantumcunque  diligentes,  cum  a  candidis  tiim  a  lividis 
carpemur  :  a  candidis  interdum  juste  ;  quos  oro,  ut  de  erratis  omnibus  amice  me 
admoneant — erro  nonnunquam  quiahomo  sum." — Despauter. 

GOOLD  BROWN. 
New   York,  1836. 


THE 

GRAMMAR 

OP 

ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


GRAMMAR,  as  an  art,  is  the  power  of  reading,  writing,  and  speaking 
correctly.    As  an  acquisition,  it  is  the  essential  skill  of  scholarship.    As  a 
study,  it  is  the  practical  science  which  teaches  the  right  use  of  language. 
•ir  is  a  book  which  professes  to  explain  the  nature 

and  structure  of  the  English  language  ;  and  to  show,  on  just  authority,  what 
is.  :ui  I  what  i<  not,  good  English. 

K\>;LISII  GRAMMAR,  in  itself,  is  the  art  of  reading,  writing,  and  speaking 
the  English  language  correctly.  It  implies,  in  the  adept,  such  knowledge 
as  enables  him  to  avoid  improprieties  of  speech  ;  to  correct  any  errors  that 
may  occur  in  literary  compositions  ;  and  to  parse,  or  explain  grammatically, 
whatsoever  is  rightly  written. 

To  read  is  to  perceive  what  is  written  or  printed,  so  as  to  understand 
the  words,  and  be  able  to  utter  them  with  their  proper  sounds. 

To  write  is  to  express  words  and  thoughts  by  letters,  or  characters,  made 
with  a  pen  or  other  instrument. 

To  fsj»-'t/c  i<  to  utter  words  orally,  in  order  that  they  may  be  heard  and 
understood. 

f  Grammar,  like  every  other  liberal  art,  can  be  properly  taught  only  by 
a  regular  analysis,  or  systematic  elucidation,  of  its  component  parts  or 
prim-, pies  ;  and  these  parts  or  principles* must  be  made  known  chiefly  by 
means  of  definitions  and  examples,  rules  and  exercises. 

A  j  if  any  thing  or  class  of  things  is  such  a  description 

of  it,  as  distinguishes  that  entire  thing  or  class  from  every  thing  else,  by 
briefly  telling  n'iuit  it  is. 

An  H  a  particular  instance  or  model,  serving  to  prove  or  illus- 

trate sonic  given  proposition  or  truth. 

A  /-//A  "/'  iirmnmnr  is  some  law,  more  or  less  general,  by  which  custom 
regulates  and  prescribes  the  right  use  of  language. 

An  is  some  technical  performance  required  of  the  learner  in 

order  to  bring  his  knowledge  and  skill  into  practice. 

LAN  in  the  primitive  sense  of  the  term,  embraced  only  vocal  ex- 

pression, or  human  speech  uttered  by  the  mouth  ;  but  after  letters  were 
invented  to  represent  articulate  sounds,  language  became  twofold,  spoken 


132  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 

and  written  ;  so  that  the  term,  language,  now  signifies,  any  series  of  sounds 
or  letters  formed  into  words  and  employed  for  the  expression  of  thought. 

Of  the  composition  of  language  we  have  also  two  kinds,  prose  and 
verse ;  the  latter  requiring  a  certain  number  and  variety  of  syllables  in 
each  line,  but  the  former  being  free  from  any  such  restraint. 

The  least  parts  of  written  language  are  letters ;  of  spoken  language, 
syllables ;  of  language  significant  in  each  part,  words ;  of  language  com- 
bining thought,  phrases  ;  of  language  subjoining  sense,  clauses  ;  of  language 
completing  sense,  sentences. 

A  discourse,  or  narration,  of  any  length,  is  but  a  series  of  sentences  ; 
which,  when  written,  must  be  separated  by  the  proper  points,  that  the 
meaning  and  relation  of  all  the  words  may  be  quickly  and  clearly  per- 
ceived by  the  reader,  and  the  whole  be  uttered  as  the  sense  requires. 

In  extended  compositions,  a  sentence  is  usually  less  than  a  paragraph  ; 
a  paragraph,  less  than  a  section ;  a  section,  less  than  a  chapter  ;  a  chapter, 
less  than  a  book  ;  a  book,  less  than  a  volume  ;  and  a  volume,  less  than  the 
entire  work. 

The  common  order  of  literary  division,  then,  is  ;  of  a  large  work,  into 
volumes  ;  of  volumes,  into  books  ;  of  books,  into  chapters  ;  of  chapters,  into 
sections  ;  of  sections,  into  paragraphs ;  of  paragraphs,  into  sentences  ; 
of  sentences,  into  clauses  ;  of  clauses,  into  phrases ;  of  phrases,  into 
words ;  of  words,  into  syllables  ;  of  syllables,  into  letters. 

But  it  rarely  happens  that  any  one  work  requires  the  use  of  all  these 
divisions ;  and  we  often  assume  some  natural  distinction  and  order  of 
parts,  naming  each  as  we  find  it;  and  also  subdivide  into  articles,  verses, 
cantoes,  stanzas,  and  other  portions,  as  the  nature  of  the  subject  suggests. 

Grammar  is  divided  into  four  parts ;  namely,  Orthography,  Etymology, 
Syntax,  and  Prosody. 

Orthography  treats  of  letters,  syllables,  separate  words,  and  spelling. 

Etymology  treats  of  the  differentials  of  speech,  with  their  classes  and 
modifications. 

Syntax  treats  of  the  relation,  agreement,  government,  and  arrangement 
of  words  in  sentences. 

Prosody  treats  of  punctuation,  utterance,  figures,  and  versification. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — In  the  Introduction  to  this  work,  have  been  taken  many  views  of  the 
study,  or  general  science,  of  grammar ;  many  notices  of  its  history,  with  STindry  criti- 
cisms upon  its  writers  or  critics ;  and  thus  language  has  often  been  presented  to  the 
reader's  consideration,  either  as  a  whole,  or  with  broader  scope  than  belongs  to  the 
teaching  of  its  particular  forms.  We  come  now  to  the  work  of  analyzing  our  own 
tongue,  and  of  laying  down  those  special  rules  and  principles  which  should  guide  us  in 
the  use  of  it,  whether  in  speech  or  in  writing.  The  author  intends  to  dissent  from 
other  grammarians  no  more  than  they  are  found  to  dissent  from  truth  and  reason ;  nor 
will  he  expose  their  errors  further  than  is  necessary  for  the  credit  of  the  science  and  the 
information  of  the  learner.  A  candid  critic  can  have  no  satisfaction  merely  in  linding 
fault  with  other  men's  performances.  But  the  facts  are  not  to  be  concealed,  that  many 
pretenders  to  grammar  have  shown  themselves  exceedingly  superficial  in  their  knowl- 
edge, as  well  as  slovenly  in  their  practice  ;  and  that  many  vain  composers  of  books 
have  proved  themselves  d^jtlm-rs  of  this  study,  by  the  abundance  of  their  inaccuracies, 
and  the  obviousness  of  their  solecisms. 

OBS.  2. — Some  grammarians  have  taught  that  the  word  language  is  of  much  broader 
signification,  than  that  which  is  given  to  it  in  the  definition  above.  I  confine  it  to 
speech  and  writing.  For  the  propriety  of  this  limitation,  and  against  those  authors  who 
describe  the  thing  otherwise,  I  appeal  to  the  common  sense  of  mankind.  One  late 
writer  defines  it  thus  :  "  LANGUAGE  is  any  means  by  which  one  person  communicates  his 


TUB    GRAMMAR    OP    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  133 

to  another."—  Sanders'  »  Spelling  -Book,  p.  7.  Dr.  Webster  goes  much  further,  and 
says  ''LANGUAGE,  in  ite  most  extensive  sense,  is  the  instrument  or  means  of  commu- 
nicating ideas  ami  (tjfi-efiotts  of  the  mind  and  body,  from  one  animal  to  another.  In  this 
sense,  brutes  possess  the  power  of  language  ;  for  by  various  inarticulate  sounds,  they  make 
known  their  wants,  desires,  and  sufferings."  —  Philosophical  dram.\).  11  ;  Imj>rorcd  dram. 
p.  •";.  This  latter  definition  the  author  of  that  vain  book,  "////•  Dint  rid  School"  has 
adopted  in  his  chapter  on  Grammar.  Sheridan,  the  celebrated  actor  and  orthoi'pist, 
though  he  --ei  ms  to  confine  language  to  the  human  s])eeies.  gives  it  such  an  extension  as  to 
make-  words  no  necessary  part  of  its  essence.  "  The  first  thought,"  says  he,  "  that  would 
occur  to  every  one,  who  had  not  properly  considered  the  point,  is,  that  language  is 
compo-i-d  of  words.  And  yet,  this  is  so  far  from  being  an  adequate  idea  of  language,  that 
the  point  in  which  most  men  think  its  very  essence  to  consist,  is  not  even  a  necessary 
property  of  language.  For  language,  in  its  full  extent,  means,  any  way  or  method 
•whatsoever,  by  which  all  that  y/^ssr.s  ///  the  mind  of  one  man,  may  be  manifested  to 
another.  "—Sheriilans  Lectures  on  F.lwution,  p.  129.  Again  :  "I  have  already  xhoint,  that 
•words  are,  in  their  own  nature,  no  essential  part  of  language,  and  arc  only  considered 
so  through  custom."  —  Ib.  p.  135. 

OKS.   :;.—  According  to  S.  Kirkham's  notion,  "LANGUAGE,  in  its  most  extensive  sense, 

.  implies  those  signs  by  which  men  and  brutes,  communicate  to  each  other  their  thoughts, 

;ions  and    desires."  —  Kirkhum's   Kiigliah    drain,  p.   16.     Again:     "  The  language  °f 

bruffft  consists  in  the  use  of  those  inarticulate  sounds  by  which  they  express  their  thoughts 

—  Ib.    To  me  it  seems  a  shameful  abuse  of   speech,  and  a  vile  descent 

from  the  dignity  of  grammar,  to  make  the  voiqes  of  "brutes"  any  part  of  language,  as 

taken  in  a  literal  sense.     NYe  might  with  far  more  propriety  raise  our  conceptions  of  it  to 

the  spheres  above,  and  construe  literally  the  metaphors  of  David,  who  ascribes  to  the 

starry  heavens,  both  "speech"  said  "  lungn  •  "  and  "  words"   daily  "  uttered  " 

and  everywhere  "  h'-ard."      See  I'talm  xix. 

;.  —  l!ut,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  Kirkham,  commencing  his  instructions  with  the 

definition  of  language,  proceeds  to  divide  it,  agreeably  to  this  notion,  into  two 

•'/•(if  and  artificial  •  and  affirms  that  the  former  "  is  common  both  to  man  and 

brute,"  and  that  the  language  which  is  peculiar  to  man,  the  language  which,  consists  of 

altogether  an  artificial  invention  :  *  thereby  contradicting  at  once  a  host  of  the 

I  grammarians  and  philosophers,  and  that  without  appearing  to  know  it. 

llur  thisil  rranuv,  since  he  immediately  forgets  his  own  definition  and  division 

iecr,  and  as  plainly  contradicts  himself.     Without  limiting  the  term  at  all, 

without  excluding  his  fanciful  "language  of  brutes"  he  says,  on  the  next  leaf,  "  Lan- 

,   and  not  only  inceiited,  but,  in  its  progressive  advancement,  raried 

..raetieul  cunrcnience.      Hence  it  assumes   any  and  ever;/  form  which  those 

who  make  u^e  of  it,  choose  to  give  it."  —  Kir!;  hum's  dram.  p.  18.     This,  though  scarcely 

more  rational  than  his  "  nafnral  Ian-;  ,md  brufen,"  plainly  annihilates  thatques- 

tioi.  _nimmatical  science,  whether  brutal  or  human,  by  making  all  lan- 

a  ihiiiLr  ••  conventional"  and  "  inn-ntnl."     In  short,  it  leaves  no  ground  at  all  for 

any  grammatical  science  of  a  positive  character,  because  it  resolves  all  forms  of  language 

into  the  irresponsible  will  of  those  who  utter  any  words,  sounds,  or  n 

(  )u>.    '>.  —  Nor  ix  this  gentleman  more  fortunate  in  his  explanation  of  what  may  really 

be  called   I  On  one  pa^r,    \\<-  B8  /   lannuage,  or   tij>eech,  is  made  up  of 

articulate  w,,nmU  uttered  by  the  human  voice."  —  Kirkham's  dram.  p.  1".      On  the  next, 

"The  mo-t  important  use  of  that  facnltij  called  xjieci-h,  is,  to  convey  our  thoughts  to 

other>."  —  /'-.  ]>.  IS.     Thus  the  irrammarian  who,  in  the  same  short  paragraph,  seems  to 

Miiity  of  man  to  give   his  words  any  other  meaning  than  that  which  he 

.  ]>.  1!).  )  eitlu  r  \\  -rites  so  badly  as  to  make  any  ordinary 

trivial,  or  actually  conceives  man  tube  the  inventor  of  one  of  his  own 

•t  make  man  the  contriver  of  that  "natural  language1"  which 

union  with  the  Unites:"  a  lanuruaure  "  '/'//,-  )ne<iniii<j  of  irhirh"  he  SBYS, 

';/  undersfit'  nis  (ira/n.  p.  l(i.    And  if  this  notion 

it  a  hor-c  kno\vs   j.erfectly  well  what   horned  cattle 

u  by  their  bellowing,  or  a  Hock  of  geese  by  their  gabbling?     I  should  not  have 


*  A  similar  .l«.."iim-.  h<.w.-vrr.  is  tMijfh'  Q  author  than  "  rh.-  II.  -v.  A!«-x:ui.liT  ''roniLif,  LL.  D.," 

who  Ba\s,  in  thr  i  Kluction,  "  LA:                             r  Intelligible  elgnB,  and  la  thi 

dim.:.  ,  r  inartirula-T  :  artificial  or  nat- 

urnl  t.     By  inarticulHte  lanpuage,  we 

mean  those  iustiin  -i-il-i-s  of  infi-iim-  rn-:itiir-  -                                            their 

;  :  •!    cf  Fiinjile 

i-ly  ci.iiilpiii.Mi.----  Treatitt  <•/!  ti 
riue  al.-i.  in  //  I'    1-il-     '1'he  Ian- 

Clia^c  wlii,  •>.  m    tliat    in    \\hirli  .1 

;•!>»•!>.  talked  —  ;i   langu.T_'i-  (juirt  On   the  <.tlier  hand,  that  Mkicli 

is  couij  /o.  only,  aud  not  of  letters,  includes  but  a  mere  fractiou  of  the  :-deuce. 


134  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

noticed  these  things,  had  not  the  book  which  teaches  them,  been  made  popular  by  a 
thousand  imposing  attestations  to  its  excellence  and  accuracy.  For  grammar  has  nothing 
at  all  to  do  with  inarticulate  voices,  or  the  imaginary  languages  of  brutes.  It  is  scope 
enough  for  one  science  to  explain  all  the  languages,  dialects,  and  speeches,  that  lay 
claim  to  reason.  We  need  not  enlarge  the  field,  by  descending 

"  To  beasts,  whom  *  God  on  their  creation-day 
Created  mute  to  all  articulate  sound." — Milton.^ 


PART    I. 

OKTHOGRAPHY. 

ORTHOGRAPHY  treats  of  letters,  syllables,  separate  words,  and  spelling. 

CHAPTER  L-OF  LETTERS. 

A  Letter  is  an  alphabetic  character,  which  commonly  represents  some 
elementary  sound  of  the  human  voice. 

An  elementary  sound  of  the  human  voice,  is  one  of  the  simple  sounds 
which  compose  a  spoken  language. 

The  sound  of  a  letter  is  commonly  called  its  power  :  when  any  letter  of 
a  word  is  not  sounded,  it  is  said  to  be  silent  or  mute. 

The  letters  in  the  English  alphabet,  are  twenty-six  ;  the  simple  sounds 
which  they  represent,  are  about  thirty-six. 

A  knowledge  of  the  letters  consists  in  an  acquaintance  with  these  four 
sorts  of  things  ;  their  names,  their  classes,  their  powers,  and  their  forms. 

The  letters  are  written,  or  printed,  or  painted,  or  engraved,  in  an  infinite 
variety  of  shapes  and  sizes  ;  and  yet  are  always  the  same,  because  their 
names  and  powers  do  not  change. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  different  sorts  of  types,  or  letters,  with 
which  every  reader  should  be  early  acquainted  : 

1.  The  Roman  :  A  a,  B  b,  C  c,  D  d,  E  e,  F  f,  G  g,  H  h,  I  i,  J  j,  K  k, 
L  1,  M  m,  N  n,  0  o,  P  p,  Q  q,  R  r,  S  s,  T  t,  U  u,  V  v,  W  w,  X  x,  Y  y, 
Zz. 

2.  The  Italic  :  A  a,  B  b,  O  c,  D  d,  E  e,  F  f,  G-  g,  Eh,  li,  Jj,  Kk, 
LI,  Mm,  Nn,  0  o,  P  p,  Q  q,  Rr,  S  s,  T  t,  U  u,  Vv,   Ww,  X  x, 
Yy,Zz. 

3.  The  Script:   ©^« 


4.  The  Old  English:  31  a,  JJ  I),  (S  C,  0  b,  <£  e,  J  f,  ©  g,  f)  Ij, 
J  t,  3  ],  K  If,  C  1,  iH  m,  N  n,  ®  o,  fl  p,  ®  q,  K  r,  S\  a  t, 
H  n,  i)  »,  IB  nj,  X  *,  8  a,  2  }. 

*  The  pronoun  whom  is  not  properly  applicable  to  beasts,  unless  they  are  personified  :  the  relative  which 
•would  therefore  have  been  preferable  here.  —  G.  B. 

f'The  great  difference  between  men  and  brutes,  in  the  utterance  of  sound  by  the  mouth,  consists  in  the 
power  of  articulation  in  man,  and  the  entire  want  of  it  in  brutes."  —  Websttrs  Improved  Gram.  p.  8. 


CHAP.  I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS.  135 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — A  letter  consists  not  in  the  figure  only,  or  in  the  power  only,  but  in  the  figure 
and  power  united ;  as  an  erabassador  consists  not  in  the  man  only,  or  in  the  commission 
only,  but  in  the  man  commissioned.  The  figure  and  the  power,  therefore,  are  neces- 
sary to  constitute  the  letter  ;  and  a  name  is  as  necessary,  to  tell  what  it  is.  The  class 
of  a  letter  is  determined  by  the  nature  of  its  power,  or  sound ;  as  the  embassador  is 
plenipotentiary  or  otherwise,  according  to  the  extent  of  his  commission.  To  all  but 
the  deaf  and  dumb,  written  language  is  the  representative  of  that  which  is  spoken  ;  so 
that,  in  the  view  of  people  in  general,  the  powers  of  the  letters  are  habitually  identified 
witli  their  sounds,  and  are  conceived  to  be  nothing  else.  Hence  any  given  sound,  or 
modification  of  sound,  which  all  men  can  produce  at  pleasure,  when  abitrarily  asso- 
ciated with  a  written  sign,  or  conventional  character,  constitutes  what  is  called  a 
.  Thus  we  may  produce  the  sounds  of  a,  e,  o,  then,  by  a  particular  compression  of 
the  organs  of  utterance,  modify  them  all,  into  ba,  be,  bo,  orfa,fe,fo;  and  we  shall  see 
that  a,  e,  and  o,  are  letters  of  one  sort,  and  b  and  /,  of  an  other.  By  elementary  or 
arficuhtte  sounds,*  then,  we  mean  not  only  the  simple  tones  of  the  voice  itself,  but  the 
modifying  stops  and  turns  which  are  given  them  in  speech,  and  marked  by  letters  :  the 
real  voices  constituting  vowels ;  and  their  modifications,  consonants. 

2. — A  mere  mark  to  which  no  sound  or  power  is  ever  given,  cannot  be  a  letter; 
though  it  may,  like  the  marks  used  for  punctuation,  deserve  a  name  and  a  place  in 
grammar.  Commas,  semicolons,  and  the  like,  represent  silence,  rather  than  sounds,  and 
are  therefore  not  letters.  Nor  are  the  Arabic  figures,  which  represent  entire  words,  nor 
again  any  symbols  standing  for  things,  (as  the  astronomic  marks  for  the  sun,  the  moon, 
the  planets,)  to  be  confounded  with  letters;  because  the  representative  of  any  word 
or  number,  of  any  name  or  thing,  differs  widely  in  its  power,  from  the  sign  of  a  simple 
elementary  sound :  i.  e.  from  any  constituent  part  of  a  written  word.  The  first  letter 
of  a  word  or  name  does  indeed  sometimes  stand  for  the  whole,  and  is  still  a  letter ;  but 
.  us  being  the  first  element  of  the  word,  and  not  as  being  the  representative  of 
the  whole. 

:$. — In  their  definitions  of  vowels  and  consonants,  many  grammarians  have  re- 
solved letters  into  sounds  only ;  as,  "A  Vowel  is  an  articulate  sound,"  &c. — "A  Conso- 
nant is  an  articulate  sound,"  &c. — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  7.  But  this  confounding  of  the 
M_rus  with  the  things  which  they  signify,  is  very  far  from  being  a  true  account 
of  either.  Besides,  letters  combined  are  capable  of  a  certain  mysterious  power  which 
is  independent  of  all  sound,  though  speech,  doubtless,  is  what  they  properly  represent. 
In  practice,  almost  all  the  letters  may  occasionally  happen  to  be  silent;  yet  are  they 
not,  in  these  cases,  necessarily  useless.  The  deaf  and  dumb  also,  to  whom  none  of  the 

express  or  represent  'sounds,  may  be  taught  to  read  and  write  understandingly. 

They  even  learn  in  some  way  to  distinguish  the  accented  from  the  unaccented  syllables, 

and  to  have  some  notion  of  quantity,  or  of  something  else  equivalent  to  it ;  for  some  of 

them,  it  is  said,  can  compose  verses  according  to  the  rules  of  prosody.     Hence  it  would 

,  that  the  powers  of  the  letters  are  not,  of  necessity,  identified  with  their  sounds; 

the   things   being  in  some  respect  distinguishable,  though  the  terms  are  commonly 

taken  .us.     The  fact  is,  that  a  word,  whether  spoken  or  written,  iS  of  itself 

^///whether  its  corresponding  form  be  known  or  not.     Hence,  in  the  one  form,  it 

perfectly  intelligible  to  the  illiterate,  and  in  the  other,  to  the  educated  deaf  and 
dumb  ;  while,  to  the  learned  who  hear  and  speak,  either  form  immediately  suggests  the 
other,  with  the  meaning  common  to  both. 

l. — ( hir  knowledge  of  letters  rises  no  higher  than  to  the  forms  used  by  the 
ancieir  md  I'hu-nicians.  Moses  is  supposed  to  have  written  in  characters 

which  were  nearly  the  same  as  th«-»M-  called  Samaritan,  but  his  writings  have  come  to 
us  in  an  alphabet  more  beautiful  and  regular,  called  the  Chaldee  or  Chaldaic,  which  is 
said  to  have  been  made  by  K/ra  the  scribe,  when  he  wrote  out  a  new  copy  of  the  law, 
after  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple.  Cadmus  carried  the  Phoenician  alphabet  into 
Greece,  where  it  was  subsequently  altered  and  enlarged.  The  small  letters  were  not 

/   is   not  a  simple  element  of  speech,  but  rather  a  complex  one, 
.    But  our  grammarians  in  general,  have  applied 

u'T'l,  iinli-criniiiiiitely  :  for  which  reason,  it  seems  i 

of  a  syllable  consist* 

-  a  syllable."—  /.<  .'/on,  p.  62.     If 

lit  in   tliis.  i  ra  properly,  none  of  them— can  singly  represent 

The  looseness  induces   me  to  add  or   pn-fer  an   other.      "The    i 

-ho   come*  as  near  as  an  the  trut-  definition   "fa  1.  liThe 

si.mi'U  UM-,I   in   language  are  call-  u-i-1  in   printing  or 

an  arliculat-  ,„,.  p.  •„'.     \t,  1     •   A 

the  in;i:k  of  a  tfiund,  or  -rly   railed  . 

Is  formed  by  the  concourse  of  vowels  and  consonants,  articulate  sounds." — Latin  and 
Engluk  Gram.  p.  1  and  2. 


136  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

invented  till  about  the  seventh,  century  of  our  era.  The  Latins,  or  Romans,  derived 
most  of  their  capitals  from  the  Greeks  ;  but  their  small  letters,  if  they  had  any,  were 
made  afterwards  among  themselves.  This  alphabet  underwent  various  changes,  and 
received  very  great  improvements,  before  it  became  that  beautiful  series  of  characters 
which  we  now  use,  under  the  name  of  Roman  letters.  Indeed  these  particular  forms, 
which  are  now  justly  preferred  by  many  nations,  are  said  to  have  been  adopted  after  the 
invention  of  printing.  "  The  Roman  letters  were  first  used  by  Sweynheim  and  Pannartz, 
printers  who  settled  at  Rome,  in  1467.  The  earliest  work  printed  wholly  in  this  charac- 
ter in  England,  is  said  to  have  been  Lily's  or  Paul's  Accidence,  printed  by  Richard 
Pinson,  1518.  The  Italic  letters  were  invented  by  Aldus  Manutius  at  Rome,  towards 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  were  first  used  in  an  edition  of  Virgil,  in  1501." — 
Constable  s  Miscellany,  Vol.  xx,  p.  147.  The  Saxon  alphabet  was  mostly  Roman.  Not 
more  than  one  quarter  of  the  letters  have  other  forms.  But  the  changes,  though 
few,  give  to  a  printed  page  a  very  different  appearance.  Under  William  the  Conqueror, 
this  alphabet  was  superseded  by  the  modern  Gothic,  Old  English,  or  Black  letter  ;  which, 
in  its  turn,  happily  gave  place  to  the  present  Roman.  The  Germans  still  use  a  type 
similar  to  the  Old  English,  but  not  so  heavy. 

OBS.  o. — I  have  suggested  that  a  true  knowledge  of  the  letters  implies  an  acquaint- 
ance with  their  names,  their  classes,  their  powers,  and  their  forms.  Under  these  four 
heads,  therefore,  I  shall  briefly  present  what  seems  most  worthy  of  the  learner's  atten- 
tion at  first,  and  shall  reserve  for  the  appendix  a  more  particular  account  of  these  im- 
portant elements.  The  most  common  and  the  most  useful  things  are  not  those  about 
which  we  are  in  general  most  inquisitive.  Hence  many,  who  think  themselves  suf- 
ficiently acquainted  with  the  letters,  do  in  fact  know  but  very  little  about  them.  If  a 
person  is  able  to  read  some  easy  book,  he  is  apt  to  suppose  he  has  no  more  to  learn  re- 
specting the  letters  ;  or  he  neglects  the  minute  study  of  these  elements,  because  he  sees 
what  words  they  make,  and  can  amuse  himself  with  stories  of  things  more  interesting. 
But  merely  to  understand  common  English,  is  a  very  small  qualification  for  him  who 
aspires  to  scholarship,  and  especially  for  a  teacher.  For  one  may  do  this,  and  even  be  a 
great  reader,  without  ever  being  able  to  name  the  letters  properly,  or  to  pronounce  such 
syllables  as  ca,  ce,  ci,  co,  cu,  cy,  without  getting  half  of  them  wrong.  No  one  can  ever 
teach  an  art  more  perfectly  than  he  has  learned  it ;  and  if  we  neglect  the  elements  of 
grammar,  our  attainments  must  needs  be  proportionately  unsettled  and  superficial. 

I.    NAMES  OF  THE  LETTERS. 

The  names  of  the  letters,  as  now  commonly  spoken  and  written  in  Eng- 
lish, are  A,  Bee,  Cee,  Dee,  E,  Eff,  G-ee,  Aitch,  I,  Jay,  Kay,  Ell,  Em, 
En,  0,  Pee,  Km,  Ar,  Ess,  Tee,  U,  Vee,  Double-u,  Ex,  Wy,  Zee. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — With  the  learning  and  application  of  these  names,  our  literary  education 
begins ;  with  a  continual  rehearsal  of  them  in  spelling,  it  is  for  a  long  time  carried  on ; 
nor  can  ve  ever  dispense  with  them,  but  by  substituting  others,  or  by  ceasing  to  mention 
the  things  thus  named.  What  is  obviously  indispensable,  needs  no  proof  of  its  import- 
ance. But  I  know  not  whether  it  has  ever  been  noticed,  that  these  names,  like  those  of 
the  days  of  the  week,  are  worthy  of  particular  distinction,  for  their  own  nature.  They 
are  words  of  a  very  peculiar  kind,  being  nouns  that  are  at  once  both  proper  and  common. 
For,  in  respect  to  rank,  character,  and  design,  each  letter  is  a  thing  strictly  individual 
and  identical — that  is,  it  is  ever  one  and  the  same  ;  yet,  in  an  other  respect,  it  is  a  com- 
prehensive sort,  embracing  individuals  both  various  and  numberless.  Thus  every  B  is  a  b, 
make  it  as  you  will ;  and  can  be  nothing  else  than  that  same  letter  b,  though  you  make 
it  in  a  thousand  different  fashions,  and  multiply  it  after  each  pattern  innumerably.  Here, 
then,  we  see  individuality  combined  at  once  with  great  diversity,  and  infinite  multipli- 
city ;  and  it  is  to  this  combination,  that  letters  owe  their  wonderful  power  of  transmitting 
thought.  Their  names,  therefore,  should  always  be  written  with  capitals,  as  proper 
nouns  ;  and  should  form  the  plural  regularly,  as  ordinary  appellatives.  Thus :  (if  we 
adopt  the  names  now  most  generally  used  in  English  schools  :)  A,  Acs ;  Bee,  Bees ;  Cee 
Gees ;  Dee,  Dees  ;  E,  Ees ;  Eff,  Effs ;  Gee,  Gees  ;  Aitch,  Aitches ;  I,  les  ;  Jay,  Jays ;  Kay, 
Kays  ;  Ell,  Ells ;  Em,  Ems ;  En,  Ens ;  O,  Oes ;  Pee,  Pees ;  Kue,  Kites ;  Ar,  Ars  ;  Ess, 
Esses;  Tee,  Tees;  U,  Ues ;  Vee,  Vees ;  Double-u,  Double-ues ;  Ex,  Exes  ;  Wy,  Wies  ;  Zee, 
Zees. 

OBS.  2. — The  names  of  the  letters,  as  expressed  in  the  modern  languages,  are  mostly 
framed  with  reference  to  their  powers,  or  sounds.  Yet  is  there  in  English  no  letter  of 
•which  the  name  is  always  identical  with  its  power :  for  A,  E,  I,  O,  and  U,  are  the  only 
letters  which  can  name  themselves,  and  all  these  have  other  sounds  than  those  which 


CIIAP.  I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY.  -  LETTERS.  —  NAMES.  137 

their  names  express.  The  simple  powers  of  the  other  letters  are  so  manifestly  insuffi- 
cient to  form  any  name,  and  so  palpable  is  the  difference  between  the  nature  and  the 
name  of  each,  that  did  we  not  know  how  education  has  been  tritied  with,  it  would  be 
hard  to  believe  even  Murray,  when  he  says,  "They  are  frequently  confounded  by  writ- 
ers on  grammar.  Observations  and  reasonings  on  the  name,  are  often  applied  to  explain 
the  iHtfitfi'  of  a  consonant  ;  and  by  this  means  the  •student  is  led  into  error  and  perplex- 
ity." —  /..  Murray**  <•'/•"//!.  Svo,  p.  8.  The  confounding  of  names  with  the  things  for 
•which  they  stand,  implies,  unquestionably,  great  carele.-sness  in  the  use  of  speech,  and 
great  indistinctness  of  apprehension  in  respect  to  things  ;  yet  so  common  is  this  error, 
that  Murray  himself  has  many  times  fallen  into  it.*  Let  the  learner  therefore  be  on  his 
guard,  remembering  that  grammar,  both  in  its  study  and  in  its  practice,  requires  the 
coastai:  "f  a  rational  discernment.  Those  letters  which  name  themselves, 

take  for  their  names  those  sounds  which  they  usually  represent  at  the  end  of  an  accent- 
ed syllable;  thus  the  names.  A,  E,  /,  O,  U,  are  uttered  with  the  sounds  ^iven  to  the 
same  letters  in  the  first  syllables  of  the  other  names,  JW,  Enoch,  Isaac,  Obed,  I'rim  ;  or 
in  the  lirst  syllables  of  the  common  words,  paper,  pi-nal,  pilot,  potent,  pupil.  The  other 
letters,  mo-t  of  whi<-h  can  never  be  perfectly  sounded  alone,  have  names  in  which  their 
•  mibmed  with  other  sounds  more  vocal  ;  as,  Bee,  Cee,Dee,  —  Ell,  Em,  En,  — 

."/,  KKI-.  lint  in  this  respect  the  terms  Aitch  and  Double-  u  are  irregular;  because 
they  have  no  obvious  reference  to  the  powers  of  the  letters  thus  named. 

:5.  —  Letters,  like   all  other   things,  must   be   learned   and  spoken  of  by  their 

:  nor  can  they  be  spoken  of  otherwise  ;  yet,  as  the  simple  characters  are  better 
known  and  more  easily  exhibited  than  their  written  names,  the  former  are  often  substi- 
tuted for  the  latter,  and  are  read  as  the  words  for  which  they  are  assumed.  Hence  the 
orthography  of  these  words  has  hitherto  been  left  too  much  to  mere  fancy  or  caprice. 
Our  dictionaries,  by  a  strange  oversight  or  negligence,  do  not  recognize  them  as  words  ; 
and  writers  have  in  general  spelled  them  with  very  little  regard  to  either  authority  or 
analogy.  What  they  are,  or  ought  to  be,  has  therefore  been  treated  as  a  trifling  question  : 
and,  what  is  still  more  surprising,  several  authors  of  spelling-books  make  no  mention 
at  all  of  them  ;  while  others,  here  at  the  very  threshold  of  instruction,  teach  falsely  — 
giving  "//<•"  for  .!/><•//,  "  <r  "  for  Ar,  "  oo  "  or  "  -uu"  for  Dotihlc-u.  "ye"  for  II  '?/,  and 
writing  almost  all  the  rest  improperly.  So  that  many  persons  who  think  themselves  well 
educated,  would  be  greatly  ponied  to  name  on  paper  these  simple  elements  of  all  learn- 

N  ay,  there  can  be  found  a  hundred  men  who  can  readily  write  the  alphabetic  names 
which  were  in  use  two  or  three  thousand  years  ago  in  Greece  or  Palestine,  for  one  ivho 
can  do  the  same  thing  with  propriety,  respecting  those  which  we  now  employ  so  con- 
stantly in  Knglish  :f  and  yet  the  words  themselves  arc  as  familiar  to  every  school-boy's 
ire  the  characters  to  his  eye.  This  fact  may  help  to  convince  us,  that  the  ///•«//;- 
mar  of  our  lanurmme  ha-  never  yet  been  sufficiently  tatight.  Among  all  the  particulars 
which  constitute  this  study,  there  are  none  which  better  deserve  to  be  everywhere 
known,  by  proper  and  determinate  names,  than  these  prime  elements  of  all  written 
bnffu 

!.  —  Should  it  happen  to  be  asked  a  hundred  lustrums  hence,  what  were  the 
••f  the  letters  in  '•  the  Augustan  age  of  English  literature,"  or  in  the  days  of 
"William  the  Fourth  and  Andrew  Jackson,  I  fear  the  learned  of  that  day  will  be  as 
much  at  a  lo>>  tor  an  answer,  as  would  most  of  our  college  tutors  now,  were  they 
asked,  by  what  M-ries  of  names  the  lloimui  youth  were  taught  to  spell.  Might  not 
Quintilian  or  Yarro  have  obliged  many,  by  recording  these:  As  it  is,  \vc  are  indebted 


•  Of  this  sort  of  blunder,  the  foil  'fmi-ioi!  j-  .-m  ii>st;n:<v  :  -A  Vov>tll»»  letter,  the.  name  of 

All  this  is  ju-t  as  true  of  ft 
e  which  the  writer?  in- 

nt.  to  s.iy.  tha-  ir  is  a  1,-tter.  and  th:it  rhe 
iM.uhin  teaches,  that  tin-  i.  nines  of  all  t: 
•i'lirr  which  .  :  n.  Ho-* 

...  ir  oamee  '      t     A.  r..  C,  i>.  K 
1,  .1.  K  -.  'I  .  i  .  \  .  i>     u  )ii.-h  of  Hi-  <•    arc    . 

.  [>.  7.      If  m\   \uirth\  friend  K"..  >,  <,r  (  ..n.-ido-cd  u-ltat  are  tkt 

.itin.ar  ih.-ni  tliis. 

•  liii.il    i>hr;i-f.   "to   u    T    .  it/,  to  a  tittle,  a  jut.  an 

Briti.-h    juH-t    Cauihi.ru.    liii  ter,    known   how   to  write  the  name  of  "  T,"  he  would 

•.-••'1  it  in  the  follow" 

,:i'le  tliat  he 

'    T."—  British    P<»!s.   Vol    VI  I.  p.  65. 

Here  the  name  would  certainly  J.e  nuu-h  titrer  than  the   letter,    beca  ot  in  reality  speak  of 

r.     With  the  names  of  th<  ,  tier  acquainted  ;  the  same  poem  exhibits 

two  of  them,  where  tb  •  n  of: 

••  M  .  e  .•  can  tr:ic«-  divinely  true, 
In  thi<  dark  curve  a  little  Mn  : 
And  ro  lie 

The  ruin>  of  a  D.,rie  \i."—  /' 
The  critical  reader  will  gee  that  "  seems  "  should  be  seem,  to  agree  with  its  nominative  "  ruins." 


138  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

to  Priscian,  a  grammarian  of  the  sixth.  Century,  for  almost  all  we  know  about  them. 
But  even  the  information  which  may  be  had,  on  this  point,  has  been  strangely  over- 
looked by  our  common  Latin  grammarians.*  What,  but  the  greater  care  of  earlier 
writers,  has  made  the  Greek  names  better  known  or  more  important  than  the  Latin  ? 
In  every  nation  that  is  not  totally  illiterate,  custom  must  have  established  for  the 
letters  a  certain  set  of  names,  which  are  the  only  true  ones,  and  which  are  of  course 
to  be  preferred  to  such  as  are  local  or  unauthorized.  In  this,  however,  as  in  other 
things,  use  may  sometimes  vary,  and  possibly  improve ;  but  when  its  decisions  are  clear, 
no  feeble  reason  should  be  allowed  to  disturb  them.  Every  parent,  therefore,  who 
would  have  his  children  instructed  to  read  and  write  the  English  language,  should  see 
that  in  the  first  place  they  learn  to  name  the  letters  as  they  are  commonly  named  in 
English.  A  Scotch  gentleman  of  good  education  informs  me,  that  the  names  of  the 
letters,  as  he  first  learned  them  in  a  school  in  his  own  country,  were  these  :  "  A,  Ib,  EC, 
Id,  E,  Iff,  Ig,  Ich,  I,  Ij,  Ik,  111,  Im,  In,  O,  Ip,  Kue,  Ir,  Iss,  It,  U,  Iv,  Double-u,  Ix,  Wy, 
Iz ;  "  but  that  in  the  same  school  the  English  names  are  now  used.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  that 
all  teachers  will  in  time  abandon  every  such  local  usage,  and  name  the  letters  as  they 
ought  to  be  named ;  and  that  the  day  will  come,  ,in  which  the  regular  English  orthography 
of  these  terms,  shall  be  steadily  preferred,  ignorance  of  it  be  thought  a  disgrace,  and  the 
makers  of  school-books  feel  no  longer  at  liberty  to  alter  names  that  are  a  thousand  times 
better  known  than  their  own. 

OBS.  5. — It  is  not  in  respect  to  their  orthography  alone,  that  these  first  words  in  liter- 
ature demand  inquiry  and  reflection  :  the  pronunciation  of  some  of  them  has  often  been 
taught  erroneously,  and,  with  respect  to  three  or  four  of  them,  some  writers  have 
attempted  to  make  an  entire  change  from  the  customary  forms  which  I  have  recorded. 
Whether  the  name  of  the  first  letter  should  be  pronounced  "Aye,"  as  it  is  in  England, 
"Ah,"  as  it  is  in  Ireland,  or  "Aw"  as  it  is  in  Scotland,  is  a  question  which  Walker  has 
largely  discussed,  and  clearly  decided  in  favour  of  the  first  sound ;  and  this  decision 
accords  with  the  universal  practice  of  the  schools  in  America.  It  is  remarkable  that  this 
able  critic,  though  he  treated  minutely  of  the  letters,  neglected  the  names  of  them  all, 
except  the  first  and  the  last.  Of.  Zee,  (which  has  also  been  called  Zed,  Zad,  Izzard,  Uz- 
zard,)-\-  he  says,  "  Its  common  name  is  izzard,  which  Dr.  Johnson  explains  into  s  hard;  if, 
however,  this  is  the  meaning,  it  is  a  gross  misnomer  :  for  the  z  is  not  the  hard,  but  the 
soft  *  ,•  j  but  as  it  has  a  less  sharp,  and  therefore  not  so  audible  a  sound,  it  is  not  im- 
possible but  it  may  mean  s  surd.  Zed,  borrowed  from  the  French,  is  the  more  fashionable 
name  of  this  letter ;  but,  in  my  opinion,  not  to  be  admitted,  because  the  names  of  the  letters 
ought  to  have  no  diversity  " — Walker's  Principles,  No.  483.  It  is  true,  the  name  of  a  letter 
ought  to  be  one,  and  in  no  respect  diverse ;  but  where  diversity  has  already  obtained, 
and  become  firmly  rooted  in  custom,  is  it  to  be  obviated  by  insisting  upon  what  is 
old-f dshioned,  awkward,  and  inconvenient  ?  Shall  the  better  usage  give  place  to  the 
worse  ?  Uniformity  cannot  be  so  reached.  In  this  country,  both  Zed  and  Izzard,  as 
well  as  the  worse  forms  Zad  and  Uzzard,  are  now  fairly  superseded  by  the  softer  and 
better  term  Zee ;  and  whoever  will  spell  aloud,  with  each  of  these  names,  a  few  such 
words  as  dizzy,  mizzen,  gizzard,  may  easily  perceive  why  none  of  the  former  can  ever 
be  brought  again  into  use.  I  give  up  all  four ;  Zed  to  the  French,  and  the  rest  to 
oblivion. 

OBS.  6. — By  way  of  apology  for  noticing  the  name  of  the  first  letter,  Walker 
observes,  "Ifadiversityofnam.es  to  vowels  did  not  confound  us  in  our  spelling,  or 
declaring  to  each  other  the  component  letters  of  a  word,  it  would  he  entirely  needless 
to  enter  into  so  trifling  a  question  as  the  mere  name  of  a  letter ;  but  when  we  find  our- 
selves unable  to  convey  signs  to  each  other  on  account  of  this  diversity  of  names,  and 
that  words  themselves  are  endangered  by  an  improper  utterance  of  their  component 

*  Lily,  reckoning  without  the  H,  J,  or  V,  speaks  of  the  Latin  letters  as  "  twenty-two ;"  but  says  nothing 
concerning  their  names.  Ruddinian,  Adam,  Grant,  Gould,  and  others,  who  include  the  H.  J,  and  V,  rightly 
state  the  number  to  be  "  twf.nty-five. ;  "  but,  concerning  their  name?,  are  likewise  entirely  silent.  Andrews 
and  Stoddard.  not  admitting  the  K,  teach  thus  :  ';  The  letters  of  the  Latin  language  are  twenty-font.  They 
have  the  same  names  as  the  corresponding  characters  in  English  " — Andrews  and  Stoddard's  LatinCrram.  p.l. 
A  later  author  speaks  thus  :  "  The  Latin  Alphabet  consists  of  twenty-five  letters,  th?  sam?  in  name  and  form 
as  the  English,  but  without  the  to." — Bullions' s  Latin  Gram.  p.  1.  It  would  probably  be  nearer  to  the 
truth,  to  say,  "  The  Latin  Alphabet,  like  the  French,  has  no  \V  ;  it  consists  of  twenty-five  letters,  which  are 
the  same  in  name  and  form  as  the  French.'1''  Will  it  be  pretended  that  the  French  names  and  the  English  do 
not  differ  1 

t  "Z  z,  zed,  more  commonly  called  izzard  or  uzzard,  that  is,  s  hard.'"1 — Dr.  Johnsqn's  Gram.  p.  1. 
u  And  how  she  sooth'd  me  when  with  study  sad 
I  labourd  on  to  reach  the  final  /«/•/." — Crabbers  Borough,  p.  228. 

t  William  Bolles,  in  his  new  Dictionary,  says  of  the  letter  Z:  '•  Tts  sound  is  uniformly  that  of  a  hard  S." 
The IMOTI*,  however. he  pronounces  as  I  do;  though  he  writes  it  not  '/.f.e  but  zc  ;  giving  not  the  (trtimgra- 
phi/  of  rhe  n:inie.  MS  he  should  have  done,  but  a  mere  imlcx  of  its  pronunciation.  U'alker  proves  by  citations 
from  Professor  Ward  and  Dr.  \Vallis,  that  these  authors  considered  the  sharp  or  hissing  sound  of  s  the 
"  hard  "  sound  ;  and  the/to  sound,  like  that  of  z,  its  "  soft  "  sound.  See  his  Diet.  8vo,  p.  53. 


CHAP.  I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS. NAMES.  139 

parts,  it  seems  highly  incumbent  on  us  to  attempt  a  uniformity  in  this  point,  which,  in- 
significant as  it  may"  seem,  is  undoubtedly  the  foundation  of  a  just  and  regular  pronun- 
ciation."—  Dirt,  under  A.  It' diversity  in  this  matter  is  so  perplexing,  what  shall  w 
to  those  who  are  attempting  innovations  without  assigning  reasons,  or  even  pretending 
authority  •  and  if  a  knowledge  of  these  names  is  the  basis  of  a  just  pronunciation,  what 
shall  we  think  of  him  who  will  take  no  pains  to  ascertain  how  he  ought  to  speak  and 
write  them  ?  He  who  pretends  to  teach  the  proper  fashion  of  speaking  and  writing, 
cannot  deal  honestly,  if  ever  he  silently  prefer  a  suggested  improvement,  to  any  estab- 
lished and  undisturbed  usage  of  the  language  ;  for,  in  grammar,  no  individual  authority 
can  be  a  counterpoise  to  general  custom.  The  best  usage  can  never  be  that  which  is 
little  known,  nor  can  it  be  well  ascertained  and  taught  by  him  who  knows  little. 
Inquisitive  minds  are  ever  curious  to  learn  the  nature,  origin,  and  causes  of  things ; 
and  that  instruction  is  the  most  useful,  which  is  best  calculated  to  gratify  this 
rational  curiosity.  This  is  my  apology  for  dwelling  so  long  upon  the  present  topic. 

( )H>.  7. — The  names  originally  given  to  the  letters  were  not  mere  notations  of  sound, 
intended  solely  to  express  or  make  known  the  powers  of  the  several  characters  then  in 
u>e  ;  nor  ought  even  the  modern  names  of  our  present  letters,  though  formed  with 
special  reference  to  their  sounds,  to  be  considered  such.  Expressions  of  mere  sound, 
such  as  the  notations  in  a  pronouncing  dictionary,  having  no  reference  to  what  is  meant 
by  the  sound,  do  not  constitute  words  at  all;  because  they  are  not  those  acknowh 

s  to  which  a  meaning  has  been  attached,  and  are  consequently  without  that  signifi- 
cance which  is  an  essential  property  of  words.  But,  in  every  language,  there  must  be  a 
series  of  sounds  by  which  the  alphabetical  characters  are  commonly  known  in  speech  ;  and 
which,  as  they  are  the  acknowledged  names  of  these  particular  objects,  must  be  en- 
titled to  a  place  among  the  words  of  the  language.  It  is  a  great  error  to  judge  otherwise  ; 
and  a  greater  to  make  it  a  "  trifling  question  "  in  grammar,  whether  a  given  letter  shall 
be  called  by  one  name  or  by  another.  "Who  shall  say  that  Daleth,  Delta,  and  Dee,  are  not 
thr  i  h  equally  important  in  the  language  to  which  it  properly  belongs  ? 

•ive  always  been  in  use  wherever  literature  has  been  cultivated;  and  as 
the  forms  and  powers  of  the  letters  have  been  changed  by  the  nations,  and  have  be- 
come dilferent  in  different  languages,  there  has  necessarily  followed  a  change  of  the  names. 
I:\ir.  whatever  inconvenience  scholars  may  find  in  the  diversity  which  has  thence  arisen, 
to  name  these  elements  in  a  set  of  foreign  terms,1  inconsistent  with  the  genius  of  the 
lan_  learned,  would  surely  be  attended  with  a  tenfold  greater.  \Ve  derived 

our  letters,  and  their  names  too,  from  the  Romans ;  but  this  is  no  good  reason  why  the 
latter  should  be  spelled  and  pronounced  as  we  suppose  they  were  spelled  and  pronounced 
in  1; 

8. — The  names  of    the  twenty-two  letters  in  Hebrew,   are,  without  dispute, 
pro;  ;'.'e  not  only  significant  of  the  letters  thus  named,  but  have  in 

gen.-ral.  if  not  in  every  instance,  some  other  meaning  in  that  language.     Thus  themys- 
iiihers  which  the  Kniilish  reader  meets  with,  and  wonders  over,  as  he  reads  the 
ll'.'th  I'salm,  may  be  resolved,  according  to  some  of  the  Hebrew  grammars,  as  follows  : 

{^  Aleph,  A.  an  ox,  or  a  leader;  ^  Beth,  Bee,  a  house;  Jj  Gimel,  Gee,  a  camel ;  "J 

i  door ;  ,-f  He.  K.  she,  or  behold  ;  ^  Vau,  U,  a  hook,  or  a  nail;  f  Zain, 

.i'>ur:.n   ('ht.-th,  or    Heth,   Aiteh,   a  he<l_re.  ;   ^   Teth.  Tee,  a  serpent,  or  a 

scroll ;  *  Jod.  or  Yod,  I,  or  W\ ,  a  hand  shut ;  ^  Caph,  Cee,  a  hollow  hand,  or  a  cup; 

^   L:une<l.  Kll.  an  ox-^nml  :  2   M"i".  Km,  a  .-tain,  or  spot;  J   Nun,  En,  a  fish,  or  a 

ike;  ^  Sunei-h.  K->.  a  l«a-is.  or  support ;  y  Ain,  or  Oin,  O,  an  eye,  ora  well:  £ 
I1  .  iVe.  a  lip,  or  month  :  y  T/.addi,  or  Tsaclhe,  Tee-zee,  (i.  e.  tz,  or  ts,)  a  hunter's 
pole:  p  K..ph,  Km-,  nr  Kay.  an  ape;  ^  Kesri),  or  llesh,  Ar,  a  head;  &  Schin,  or 
Sin.  K  -aiteh.  «.r  K-s.  a  tooth;  j-\  Tan,  or  Thau,  Tee,  or  Tee-aitch,  across,  or  mark. 

•  if  The   Hebrew  letters   are  written  with    much   less   uniformity 

than  th  there  has  been  more   dispute  respecting  their  powers. 

Thi<  i-  •.\..uld  have  expected;  sinre  the  Hebrew  na: 

iriginally  than   the  letters,  and  the  Greek  are  not. 

,^inal   pmnunci  [s  admitted  to  be  lost,  or  involved  in  so 

much  ohv.'iirity  t  -.vely  affirmed  about  it;   and  yet,  win 

known,   gramma1.'  <!iver-ity;   aiming  At   disputed   sounds 

the  other. 

9.— Thewo  l<  :    •   .-         :-•  -\vo  names  in  the  following  series. 

The  i  .  >'ir;   which  are  formed,  named,  and  sounded,  ti. 

A  (i.  Ali. hi.  a:   15    3,  I'  y,  (lamina.  <r  hard;   A  o\    Delta,  tl  :   K  f  Kp-ilon,  e 

short ;  Z  f,  Zeta,  z  ;  H  r;,  Eta,  e  long;  030,  Theta,  th ;  I  t,  Iota,  i ;  K  K,  Kappa,  k; 


140  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

A  A,  Lambda,  1 ;  M  p.,  Mu,  m ;  N  i>,  Nu,  n ;  H  £,  XI,  x ;  O  o,  Omicron,  o  short ;  n  TT, 
Pi.  p  ;  P  p,  Rho,  r ;  2  a-  s,  Sigma,  s  ;  T  r,  Tau,  t ;  Y  v,  Upsilon,  u ;  $  <£,  Phi,  ph  ; 
X  x,  Chi,  ch ;  ¥  >//•,  Psi,  ps  ;  Q  o>,  Omega,  o  long. 

Of  these  names,  our  English  dictionaries  explain  the  first  and  the  last;  and  Webster 
lias  denned  Iota,  and  Zeta,  but  without  reference  to  the  meaning  of  the  former  in  Greek. 
Beta,  Delta,  Lambda,  and  perhaps  some  others,  are  also  found  in  the  etymologies  or  de- 
finitions of  Johnson  and  Webster,  both  of  whom  spell  the  word  Lambda  and  its  deriva- 
tive lambdoidal  without  the  silent  b,  which  is  commonly,  if  not  always,  inserted  by 
the  authors  of  our  Greek  grammars,  and  which  Worcester,  more  properly,  retains. 

Oiis.  10. — The  reader  will  observe  that  the  foregoing  names,  whether  Greek  or  Hebrew, 
are  in  general  much  less  simple  than  those  which  our  letters  now  bear  ;  and  if  he  has 
ever  attempted  to  spell  aloud  in  either  of  those  languages,  he  cannot  but  be  sensible  of 
the  great  advantage  which  was  gained  when  to  each  letter  there  was  given  a  short  name, 
expressive,  as  ours  mostly  are,  of  its  ordinary  power.  This  improvement  appears  to  have 
been  introduced  by  the  Romans,  whose  names  for  the  letters  were  even  more  simple 
than  our  own.  But  so  negligent  in  respect  to  them  have  been  the  Latin  grammarians, 
both  ancient  and  modern,  that  few  even  of  the  learned  can  tell  what  they  really  were 
in  that  language ;  or  how  they  differed,  either  in  orthography  or  sound,  from  those  of 
the  English  or  the  French,  the  Hebrew  or  the  Greek.  Most  of  them,  however,  may  yet 
be  ascertained  from  Priscian,  and  some  others  of  note  among  the  ancient  philologists ; 
so  that  by  taking  from  later  authors  the  names  of  those  letters  which,  were  not  used  in 
old  times,  we  can  still  furnish  an  entire  list,  concerning  the  accuracy  of  which  there  is 
not  much  room  to  dispute.  It  is  probable  that  in  the  ancient  pronunciation  of  Latin, 
a  was  commonly  sounded  as  in  father ;  e  like  the  English  a ;  i  mostly  like  e  long  ;  y 
like  i  short ;  c  generally  and  g  always  hard,  as  in  come  and  go.  But,  as  the  original, 
native,  or  just  pronunciation  of  a  language  is  not  necessary  to  an  understanding  of 
when  written,  the  existing  nations  have  severally,  in  a  great  measure,  accommodate 
themselves,  in  their  manner  of  reading  this  and  other  ancient  tongues. 

OBS.  11. — As  the  Latin  language  is  now  printed,  its  letters  are  twenty-five.     Like 
French,  it  has  all  that  belong  to  the  English  alphabet,  except  the  Double-u.     But, 
the  first  Punic  war,  the  Romans  wrote  C  for  G,  and  doubtless  gave  it  the  power  as  well 
the  place  of  the  Gamma  or  Gimel.     It  then  seems  to  have  slid  into  K ;  but  they  used  it 
also  for  S,  as  we  do  now.     The  ancient  Saxons,  generally  pronounced  C  as  Iv,  but  some- 
times as  Ch.     Their  G  was  either  guttural,  or  like  our  Y.     In  some  of  the  early  Englis1- 
grammars  the  name  of  the  latter  is  written  Ghee.     The  letter  F,  when  first  invented,  w; 
called,  from  its  shape,  Digamma,  and  afterwards  Ef.     J,  when  it  was  first  distinguish^ 
from  I,  was  called  by  the  Hebrew  name  Jod,  and  afterwards  Je.     V,  when  first 
tinguished  from  U,  was  called  Yau,  then  Ya,  then  Ye.     Y,  when  the  Romans  first  bor- 
rowed it  from  the  Greeks,  was  called  Ypsilon  ;  and  Z,  from  the  same  source,  was  calk  " 
Zeta;  and,  as  these  two  letters  were  used  only  in  words  of  Greek  origin.  I  know  IK 
whethei  they  ever  received  from  the  Romans  any  shorter  names.    In  Schneider's  Latii 
Grammar,  the  letters  are  named  in  the  following  manner ;  except  Je  and  Ye,  which  ai 
omitted  by  this  author  :    "A,  Be,  Ce,  De,  E,  Ef,  Ge,  Ha,  I,  [Je,]  Ka,  El,  Em,  En,  O, 
Pe,  Cu,  Er,  Es,  Te,  U,  [Ve,]  Ix,  Ypsilon,  Zeta."     And  this  I  suppose  to  be  the  m 
proper  way  of  writing  their  names  in  Latin,  unless  we  have  sufficient   authority  fc 
shortening  Ypsilon  into  Y,  sounded  as  short  i,  and  for  changing  Zeta  into  Ez. 

OBS.  12. — In  many,  if  not  in  all  languages,  the  five  vowe.ls,  A,  E,  I,  O,  U,  name  thei 
selves  ;  but  they  name  themselves  differently  to  the  ear,  according  to  the  different  way; 
of  uttering  them  in  different  languages.  And  as  the  name  of  a  consonant  necessarily 
requires  one  or  more  vowels,  that  also  may  be  affected  in  the  same  manner.  But  in  cvt 
language  there  should  be  a  known  way  both  of  writing  and  of  speaking  every  name 
the  series  ;  and  that,  if  there  is  nothing  to  hinder,  should  be  made  conformable  to  th 
genius  of  the  UOKJIKKJC.  I  do  not  say  that  the  names  above  can  be  regularly  declined  ' 
Latin;  but  in  English  it  is  as  easy  to  ^peak  of  two  Dees  as  of  two  trees,  of  two  Kays 
of  two  days,  of  two  Exes  as  of  two  foxes,  of  two  Effs  as  of  two  skiffs ;  and  there  ought 
to  be  no  more  difficulty  about  the  correct  way  of  writing  the  word  in  the  one  case, 
than  in  the  other.  In  Dr.  Sam.  Prat's  Latin  Grammar,  (an  elaborate  octavo,  all  Latin, 
published  in  London,  1722,)  nine  of  the  consonants  are  reckoned  mutes  ;  b,  c,  d,  g,  p, 
q,  t,  j,  and  \  ;  and  eight,  semivowels  ;  f,  1,  m,  n,  r,  s,  x,  z.  "All  the  mutes,"  says  this 
author,  "  are  named  by  placing  c  after  them  ;  as,  be,  cc,  dc,  ge,  except  q,  which  ends  in 
u."  See  p.  8.  "The  semivowels,  beginning  with  e,  end  in  themselves  ;  as,  ef,  ach,  el, 
em,  en,  er,  es,  ex,  (or,  as  Priscian  will  have  it,  ix,}  eds."  See  p.  9.  This  mostly  accords 
with  the  names  given  in  the  preceding  paragraph ;  and  so  far  as  it  does  not,  I  judge 
the  author  to  be  wrong.  The  reader  will  observe  that  the  Doctor's  explanation  is  neither 
very  exact  nor  quite  complete  :  Iv  is  a  mute  which  is  not  enumerated,  and  the  rule  would 
make  the  name  of  it  Ke,  and  not  Ka  • — H  is  not  one  of  his  eight  semivowels,  nor  does 


CHAP.  I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS. CLASSES.  141 

the  name  .  Irh  accord  with  his  rule  or  seem  like  a  Latin  word ; — the  name  of  Z,  according 
to  his  principle,  would  be  Kz  and  not  "  Edx,"  although  the  latter  may  better  indicate 
the  sound  which  was  then  given  to  this  letter. 

13. — If  the  history  of  these  names  exhibits  diversity,  so  does  that  of  almost  all 
n\\*  ;  and  yet  there  is  some  way  of  writing  every  word  with  correctness,  and  cor- 
rectness tends  to  permanence.     But  Time,  that  establishes  authority,  destroys  i 
when  he  fairly  sanctions  newer  customs.     To  all  names  worthy  to  be  known,  it  is  natural 
to  wish  a  perpetual  uniformity  ;  but  it'  any  one  thinks  the  variableness  of  these  to  be 
peculiar,  let  him  open  the  English   Bible  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  read  a  few 
viug  the  nan.i-s.     For  instance  :  "  Forsothe  whanne  I'.i-o/tJr  \vas  to  bring- 
.  th  hym,  in  that  nigt  l\'tir  was  slepynge  bitwixe  tweync  knytis." — Dedis,  (i.  e. 
that  is  to  dcnnnue  the  quyke  and  deed." — 2  Tim.  iv,  1. 
Since  this  was  written  for  English,  our  language  has  changed  much,  and  at  thr 

[uired,  by  means  of  the  press,  some  aids  to  stability.     I  have  recorded  above  the 
if  the  letters,  as  they  are  now  used,  with  something  of  their  history;  and  if 
there  could  be  in  human  works  any  tiling  unchangeable,  I  should  wish,  (with  due  defer- 
all  schemers  and  fault-finders,)  that  these  names  might  remain  the  same  forever. 
11. — If  any  change  is  desirable  in  our  present  names  of  the  letters,  it  is  that  we 
may  have  a  shorter  and  simpler  term  in  stead  of  1>  .      Hut  can  we  change  th: 

known  name?     I  imagine  it  would  be  about  as  easy  to  change  Alpha,  Upsilon,  or  o 
and  perhaps  it  would  be  as  useful.     Let  Dr.  Webster,  or  any  defender  of  his  spelling, 
try  it.     He  never  named  the  English  letters  rightly ;  long  ago  discarded  the  term  D<> 
and  is  not  yet  tired  of  his  experiment  with  "oo ;  "  but  thinks  still  to  make  the  vowel 
sound  of  this  letter  its  name.     Yet  he  writes  his  new  name  wrong ;  has  no  authority 
for  it  but  his  own ;  and  is,  most  certainly,  reprehensible  for  the  innovation.*     If  IT  is  to 
-  a  vowel,  it  ought  to  .  •'.  as  other  vowels  do,  and  not  to  take  two  (h-s 

v  ritten  name.     Who  that  knows  what  it  is,  to  name  a  letter,  can  think  of  naming 
1  hat  it  is  possible  for  an  ingenious  man  to  misconceive  this  simple 
affair  ot'  naming  the  letters,  may  appear  not  only  from  the  foregoing  instance,  but  from 
•  \viim  qu'Ta'ioii :   "Among  the  thousand  mismanagements  of  literary  instruction, 
-e.t  in  the  hornbook,  thepret-n<-- 1<>  rapr  ./In/-//  Noi/nds  by  sylla- 

1  of  two  or  more  elements  ;  as,  Be,  Kti>/.  Zed,  Double-u,  and  Aitch.     These 
onls  arc  used  in  infancy,  and  through  life,  as  simpk-  dcim-nts  in  the  process  of  synthetic 
ilinur.     It'  the  definition  of  a  con.vmiinf  was  made  by  the  master  from  the  practice 
ild,  it  might  suggest  pity  for  the  pedagogue,  but  should  not  make  us  forget  the 
•f  nature." — Dr.  Jla-t/i,  un  tin'  l'//i/'^oji//i/  <>f  tlu-  llanian  Voice,  p.   o'l.     This  is  a 
; lle^ation  to  come  from  such  a  source.     If  I  bid  a  boy  spell  the  word  why,  he 
ys,  ••  Doublc-u,  Aitch,  Wy,  hwi ;"  and  knows  that  he  has  spelled  and  pronounced  the 
correctly.     But  if  he  conceives  that  the  five  syllables  which  form  the  three  words, 
.  and  Aitch,  and  H'v,  are  the  three  simple  sounds  which  he  utters  in  pronounc- 
the  word  irhy,  it  is  not  because  the  hornbook,  or  the  teacher  of  the  hornbook,  ever 
v  sueh  blunder  or  "pretence  ;  "  but  because,  like  some  great  philosophers,  he 
is  capable  of  misconceiving  very  plain,  things.     Suppose  he  should  take  it  into  his  head 
to  follow  Dr.  Webster's  books,  and  to  say,   "  Oo,  he.  ye,  luri ,- "  who,  but  these  doctors, 
would  imagine,  that  such  spelling  was  supported  either  by  "the  realities  of  nature," 
by  the  authority  of  custom  r    1  shall  retain  both  the  old  "definition  of  a  consonant," 
d  the  usual  names  of  the  letters,  notwithstanding  the  contemptuous  pity  it  may  excite 
the  minds  of  such  cri; 

II.  CLASSES  OF  THE  LETTERS. 

The  letters  are  div'nU-d  into  two  general  classes,  vowels  and  consonants. 

\        '  '  is  a  letter  which  forms  a  perfect  sound  when  uttered  alone  ;  as, 
a,  e. 

letter  which  cannot  be  perfectly  uttered  till  joined  to  a 
vowel ;  as,  £>,  c,  rf.f 

The  vowels  are  a,  e,  i,  0,  w,  and  sometimes  w  and  y.     All  the  other 
letters  are  consonants. 

«  Dr.  \\Yl.-it.-r  rlic.l  in  1M:J.     Most  of  this  work  was  written  while  he  was  yet  in  vigour, 
t  This  old  cii-nnirioi  'tier  it  means, 

"  Uiat  the  num-  of  such  :i  1.  • 

. 

;<>nr  wi'h  tin-  utmost  east . 

ly-,-i  m  -.v.  )i.  1T4.     He  must  bf  oii'Mtf  th<>-.-  ino'lcrn  ].'  >,,  d.-ii-rht  to  make  muutfts  of  these  voice- 

IMS  elements,  to  show  how  much  may  be  done  without  sound  from  the  larynx. 


142  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

W  or  y  is  called  a  consonant  when  it  precedes  a  vowel  heard  in  the  same 
syllable  ;  as  in  wine,  twine,  whine  ;  ye,  yet,  youth  :  in  all  other  cases,  these 
letters  are  vowels  ;  as  in  Yssel,  Ystadt,  yttria  ;  newly,  dewy,  eyebrow. 

CLASSES    OF    CONSONANTS. 

The  consonants  are  divided,  with  respect  to  their  powers,  into  semivowels  and 
mutes, 

A  semivowel  is  a  consonant  which  can  be  imperfectly  sounded  without  a  vowel, 
so  that  at  the  end  of  a  syllable  its  sound  may  be  protracted  ;  as,  /,  n,  z,  in  al,  an,  az. 

A  mute  is  a  consonant  which  cannot  be  sounded  at  all  without  a  vowel,  and 
which  at  the  end  of  a  syllable  suddenly  stops  the  breath ;  as,  k,  p,  t,  in  ok,  ap,  at. 

The  semivowels  are/,  h,j,  I,  m,  n,  r,  s,  v,  w,  x,  y,  z,  and  c  and  g  soft :  but  w 
or  y  at  the  end  of  a  syllable,  is  a  vowel ;  and  the  sound  of  c,f,  g,  h,j,  s,  or  x,  can 
be  protracted  only  as  an  aspirate,  or  strong  breath. 

Four  of  the  semivowels,  I,  m,  n,  and  r,  are  termed  liquids,  on  account  of  the 
fluency  of  their  sounds ;  and  four  others,  v,  w,  y,  and  z,  are  likewise  more  vocal 
than  the  aspirates. 

The  mutes  are  eight ;  b,  d,  k,  p,  q,  t,  and  c  and  g  hard  :  three  of  these,  k,  q, 
and  c  hard,  sound  exactly  alike  :  b,  d,  and  g  hard,  stop  the  voice  less  suddenly 
than  the  rest. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  foregoing  division  of  the  letters  is  of  very  great  antiquity,  and,  in  re- 
spect to  its  principal  features,  sanctioned  by  almost  universal  authority ;  yet  if  we  ex- 
amine it  minutely,  either  with  reference  to  the  various  opinions  of  the  learned,  or  with 
regard  to  the  essential  differences  among  the  things  of  which  it  speaks,  it  will  not  per- 
haps be  found  in  all  respects  indisputably  certain.  It  will  however  be  of  use,  as  a  basis 
for  some  subsequent  rules,  and  as  a  means  of  calling  the  attention  of  the  learner  to  the 
manner  in  which  he  utters  the  sounds  of  the  letters.  A  knowledge  of  about  three 
dozen  different  elementary  sounds  is  implied  in  the  faculty  of  speech.  The  power  of 
producing  these  sounds  with  distinctness,  and  of  adapting  them  to  the  purposes  for 
which  language  is  used,  constitutes  perfection  of  utterance.  Had  we  a  perfect  alphabet, 
consisting  of  one  symbol,  and  only  one,  for  each  elementary  sound ;  and  a  perfect 
method  of  spelling,  freed  from  silent  letters,  and  precisely  adjusted  to  the  most  correct 
pronunciation  of  words ;  the  process  of  learning  to  read  would  doubtless  be  greatly 
facilitated.  And  yet  any  attempt  toward  such  a  reformation,  any  change  short  of  the 
introduction  of  some  entirely  new  mode  of  writing,  would  be  both  unwise  and  imprac- 
ticable. It  would  involve  our  laws  and  literature  in  utter  confusion  ;  because  pronun- 
ciation is  the  least  permanent  part  of  language  ;  and  if  the  orthography  of  words  were 
conformed  entirely  to  this  standard,  their  origin  and  meaning  would,  in  many  instances, 
be  soon  lost.  We  must  therefore  content  ourselves  to  learn  languages  as  they  are,  and 
to  make  the  best  use  we  can  of  our  present  imperfect  system  of  alphabetic  characters ; 
and  we  may  be  the  better  satisfied  to  do  this,  because  the  deficiencies  and  redundancies 
of  this  alphabet  are  not  yet  so  well  ascertained,  as  to  make  it  certain  what  a  perfect  one 
would  be. 

OBS.  2. — In  order  to  have  a  right  understanding  of  the  letters,  it  is  necessary  to 
enumerate,  as  accurately  as  we  can,  the  elementary  sounds  of  the  language  ;  and  to 
attend  carefully  to  the  manner  in  which  these  sounds  are  enunciated,  as  well  as  to  the 
characters  by  which  they  are  represented.  The  most  unconcerned  observer  cannot  but 
perceive  that  there  are  certain  differences  in  the  sounds,  as  well  as  in  the  shapes,  of 
the  letters ;  and  yet  under  what  heads  they  ought  severally  to  be  classed,  or  how 
many  of  them  will  fall  under  some  particular  name,  it  may  occasionally  puzzle  a  philos- 
opher to  tell.  The  student  must  consider  what  is  proposed  or  asked,  use  his  own  senses, 
and  judge  for  himself.  With  our  lower-case  alphabet  before  him,  he  can  tell  by  his 
own  eye,  which  are  the  long  letters,  and  which  the  short  ones ;  so  let  him  learn  by  his 
own  ear,  which  are  the  vowels,  and  which,  the  consonants.  The  processes  are  alike 
simple :  and,  if  he  be  neither  blind  nor  deaf,  he  can  do  both  about  equally  well.  Thus 
he  may  know  for  a  certainty,  that  a  is  a  short  letter,  and  b  a  long  one  ;  the  former  a 
vowel,  the  latter  a  consonant :  and  so  of  others.  Yet  as  he  may  doubt  whether  t  is  a 
long  letter  or  a  short  one,  so  he  may  be  puzzled  to  say  whether  w  and  y,  as  heard  in  we 
and  ye,  are  vowels  or  consonants :  but  neither  of  these  difficulties  should  impair  his  con- 
fidence in  any  of  his  other  decisions.  If  he  attain  by  observation  and  practice  a  clear  and 


CHAP.  I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS. CLASSES.  143 

perfect  pronunciation  of  the  letters,  he  will  be  able  to  class  them  for  himself  with  as 
much  accuracy  as  he  will  find  in  books. 

OBS.  3. —  Grammarians  have  generally  agreed  that  every  letter  is  either  a  vowel  or  a 
consonant ;  and  also  that  there  are  among  the  latter  some  semivowels,  some  mutes,  some 
aspirates,  some  liquids,  some  sharps,  some  flats,  some  labials,  some  dentals,  some  nasals, 
some  palatals,  and  perhaps  yet  other  species ;  but  in  enumerating  the  letters  which 
belong  to  th  >1  classes,  they  disagree  so  much  as  to  make  it  no  easy  matter  to 

ascertain  what  particular  classification  is  best  supported  by  their  authority.  I  have 
adopted  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  best  aiithorized,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  intelli- 
gible. He  that  dislikes  the  scheme,  may  do  better,  if  he  can.  But  let  him  with  modesty 
determine  what  sort  of  discoveries  may  render  our  ancient  authorities  questionable. 
Aristotle,  three  hundred  and  thirty  years  before  Christ,  divided  the  Greek  letters  into 
vowels,  ,  ami  /nutm,  and  declared  that  no  syllable  could  be  formed  without  a 

vowel.  In  the  opinion  of  some  neoterics,  it  has  been  reserved  to  our  age,  to  detect 
the  fallacy  of  this.  But  I  would  fain  believe  that  the  Stagirite  knew  as  well  what  he 
was  saying,  as  did  Dr.  James  Rush,  when,  in  1827,  he  declared  the  doctrine  of  vowels 
and  consonants  to  be  "  a  misrepresentation."  The  latter  philosopher  resolves  the  letters 
into  "tonics,  subtonics,  and  atonies  ,•  "  and  avers  that  "consonants  alone  may  form  sylla- 
Indeed,  I  cannot  but  think  the  ancient  doctrine  better.  For,  to  say  that  "con- 
sonants alone  may  form  syllables,"  is  as  much  as  to  say  that  consonants  are  not  conso- 
nants, but  vowels  !  To  be  consistent,  the  attempters  of  this  reformation  should  never 
speak  of  vowels  or  consonants,  semivowels  or  mutes ;  because  they  judge  the  terms 
inappropriate,  and  the  classification  absurd.  They  should  therefore  adhere  strictly  to 
their  "tonics,  subtonics,  and  atonies;"  which  classes,  though  apparently  the  same  as 
vowels,  semivowels,  and  mutes,  are  better  adapted  to  their  new  and  peculiar  division  of 
these  elements.  Thus,  by  reforming  both  language  and  philosophy  at  once,  they  may 
miike  what  they  will  of  either  ! 

()i\^.  4.— Some  teach  that  ic  and  y  are  always  vowels:  conceiving  the  former  to  be 
equivalent  to  oo.  and  the  latter  to  i  or  e.  Dr.  Lowth  says,  "  Y  is  always  a  vowel,"  and 
"  M  IN  either  a  vowel  or  a  diphthong."  Dr.  Webster  supposes  w  to  be  always  "  a  vowel, 
a  simple  sound ;  "  but  admits  that,  "  At  the  beginning  of  words,  y  is  called  an  articula- 
tion or  and  with  some  propriety  perhaps,  as  it  brings  the  root  of  the  tongue  in 
close  contact  with  the  lower  part  of  the  palate,  and  nearly  in  the  position  to  which  the 
close  y  brings  it." — American  Diet.  Octavo.  But  I  follow  Wallis,  Brightland,  Johnson, 
Walker,  Murray,  Worcester,  and  others,  in  considering  both  of  them  sometimes  vowels 
and  sometimes  consonants.  They  are  consonants  at  the  beginning  of  words  in  English, 
•  their  sounds  take  the  article  a,  and  not  an,  before  them  ;  as,  a  wall,  a  yard,  and 
not,  an  wall,  an  yard.  But  oo  or  the  sound  of  e,  requires  an,  and  not  a ;  as,  an  eel,  an 
oozy  boy.*  At  the  end  of  a  syllable  we  know  they  are  vowels  ;  but  at  the  beginning, 
v  so  squcexeil  in  their  pronunciation,  as  to  follow  a  vowel  without  any  hiatus,  or 
difficulty  of  utterance;  as,  "  O  worthy  youth!  so  young,  so  i>- 

(>i!>.  .->. — Murray's  rule,  "  If  and  y  are  consonants  when  they  begin  a  word  or  syllable, 
but  in  every  other  situation  they  are  vowels,"  which  is  found  in  Comly's  book,  Kirkham's, 
Merchant's,  Ingerx  >:!'-.  1'i-k's,  Hart's,  Hiley's,  Alger's,  Bullions's,  Pond's,  S.  Putnam's, 
Weld's,  and  in  sundry  other  gnynmars,  is  favourable  to  my  doctrine,  but  too  badly  con- 
ceived to  be  quoted  here  as  authority.  It  iinti<-sit/ncdly  makes  ««  a  consonant  in  urine, 
and  a  vowel  in  /«•///<• ,  and  y  a  consonant  when  it  forms  a  syllable,  as  in  deicy  :  for  a 
letter  that  form* a  syllable,  "  begins"  it.  But  Kirkham  has  lately  learned  his  letters 
anew;  and,  suppo>ing  he  had  Dr.  Hush  on  his  side,  has  philosophically  taken  their 
names  for  their  sounds.  He  now  calls  y  a  "  diphthong."  But  he  Ls  wrong  here  by  his 
:>\vn  showing  :  he  should  rather  have  called  it  a  triphthong.  He  says,  "  By  pronouncing 
y  de!i!>erate  and  perfectly  natural  manner,  the  letter  y,  (which  is  a  dij>/t(Jttnit/,) 
•udent  will  perceive,  that  the  sound  produced,  is  compound;  being 
formed,  at  its  opening,  of  the  obscure  sound  of  oo  as  heard  in  oo-zc,  which  sound  rap- 
idly slides  into  that  of  /,  and  then  advances  to  that  of  ee  as  heard  in  e-\c,  and  on  which 
it  iiradually  passes  orf  into  silence." — Kirk/mm's  Elocution,  p.  7-3.  Thus  the  "  unpractised 
student"  is  taught  that  b-y  spells  bwy ;  or,  if  pronounced  "very  deliberately,  boo-i-ee!" 

*  This  test  of  what  is,  or  is  Dot.  a  vowel  .--omul  or  a  consonant  sound,  is  often  appealed  to,  and  is  generally 
admitted  to  be  a  just  on-  lirmr-  in  the  application  of  on  or  a  are  not  unfreijui  nr,  hut.  they  il<>  not  affect  the 
argument.  It  canim'  !«•  <\<  •  >i,  ami  nut  proper  to  use  an,  before  tin-  iiii'i.il  .-ound 

of  ir  or  y  with  a  vowel  follow -in.ir.  kr<x>d,  whether  the  sound  be  express*.- .1  l»\  tin  -e  partic- 

ular letters,  or  by  others  :  as  in  the  phrases,  "  a  wonder,  a  or  humour^  n   yielding 

I  int.  I  have  heard  it  oonU  .1  sounds,  notwithstanding  they  require  a;  and 

that  u'  and  y  an-  ;ih\  •  .iuse  even  a  vowel  sound  (it  was  -  a  and  not  an,  whenever  an 

Dther  vowel  Found  Immediately  fol!o\\-  it.     of  thi»  notion,  the  following  examples  are  a  sufficient  refutation: 
an  aeronaut,  an  (uriul  ttnir.  <in  n  --,  an  iambus,  an  <«.-.</'<.  mi  n'-r^^ut.  <u 

oyster,  an  owl,  an  ounce.     The  initial  sound  <>t  .irt-s  a.  ami  not  an  ;  but  those  who  call  the  y  a 

vowel,  say,  it  i-  equivalent  to  tlu-  unaccented  long  e.    This  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  exactly  true ;  because  the 
letter  eound  requires  an,  and  not  a  ,  as,  "  Athens,  as  well  as  Thebes,  had  an  £<tion." 


144  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

Nay,  tliis  grammatist  makes  b,  not  a  labial  mute,  as  Walker,  Webster,  Cobb,  and  others, 
have  called  it,  but  a  nasal  subtonic,  or  semivowel.  He  delights  in  protracting  its  "  gut- 
tural murmur  ;  "  perhaps,  in  assuming  its  name  for  its  sound ;  and,  having  proved,  that 
"  consonants  are  capable  of  forming  syllables,"  finds  no  difficulty  in  mouthing  this  little 
monosyllable  by  into  b-oo-i-ce !  In  this  way,  it  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world,  for  such  a 
man  to  outface  Aristotle,  or  any  other  divider  of  the  letters ;  for  he  makes  the  sounds  by 
which  he  judges.  "  Boy,"  says  the  teacher  of  Kirkham's  Elocution,  "  describe  the  pro- 
tracted sound  of  y" — Kirkhams  Elocution,  p.  110.  The  pupil  may  answer,  "That  letter, 
sir,  has  no  longer  or  more  complex  sound,  than  what  is  heard  in  the  word  eye,  or  in  the 
vowel  i ;  but  the  book  which  I  study,  describes  it  otherwise.  I  know  not  whether  I  can 
make  you  understand  it,  but  I  will  tr-oo-i-ee."  If  the  word  try,  which  the  author  uses 
as  an  example,  does  not  exhibit  his  "  protracted  sound  of  y,"  there  is  no  word  that  does: 
the  sound  is  a  mere  fiction,  originating  in  strange  ignorance. 

OBS.  6. — In  the  large  print  above,  I  have  explained  the  principal  classes  of  the  letters, 
but  not  all  that  are  spoken  of  in  books.  It  is  proper  to  inform  the  learner  that  the 
sharp  consonants  are  t,  and  all  others  after  which  our  contracted  preterits  and  participles 
require  that  d  should  be  sounded  like  t ;  as  in  the  words  faced,  reached,  stuffed,  laughed, 
triumphed,  croaked,  cracked,  houghed,  reaped,  nipped,  piqued,  missed,  wished,  earthed, 
betrothed,  fixed.  The  flat  or  smooth  consonants  are  d,  and  all  others  with  which  the  proper 
sound  of  d  may  be  united ;  as  in  the  words,  daubed,  judged,  hugged,  thronged,  sealed, 
filled,  aimed,  crammed,  pained,  planned,  feared,  marred,  soothed,  loved,  do/ed,  buzzed. 
The  labials  are  those  consonants  which  are  articulated  chiefly  by  the  lips  ;  among  which, 
Dr.  Webster  reckons  b,f,  m,  p,  and  v.  But  Dr.  Rush  says,  b  and  ra  are  nasals,  the 
latter,  "purely  nasal."*  The  dentals  are  those  consonants  which  are  referred  to  the 
teeth ;  the  nasals  are  those  which  are  affected  by  the  nose ;  and  the  palatals  are  those 
which  compress  the  palate,  as  k  and  hard  g.  But  these  last-named  classes  are  not  of 
much  importance  ;  nor  have  I  thought  it  worth  while  to  notice  minutdy  the  opinions 
of  writers  respecting  the  others,  as  whether  h  is  a  semivowel,  or  a  mute,  or  neither. 

OBS.  7. — The  Cherokee  alphabet,  which  was  invented  in  1821,  by  See-quo-yah,  or 
George  Guess,  an  ingenious  but  wholly  illiterate  Indian,  contains  eighty-five  letters,  or 
characters.  But  the  sounds  of  the  language  are  much  fewer  than  ours ;  for  the  char- 
acters represent,  not  simple  tones  and  articulations,  but  syllabic  sounds,  and  this  number 
is  said  to  be  sufficient  to  denote  them  all.  But  the  different  syllabic  sounds  in  our 
language  amount  to  some  thousands.  I  suppose,  from  the  account,  that  Sce-quo-yah 
writes  his  name,  in  his  own  language,  with  three  letters ;  and  that  characters  so  used, 
would  not  require,  and  probably  \vould  not  admit,  such  a  division  as  that  of  vowels 
and  consonants.  One  of  the  Cherokees,  in  a  letter  to  the  American  Lyceum,  states, 
that  a  knowledge  of  this  mode  of  writing  is  so  easily  acquired,  that  one  who  understands 
and  speaks  the  language,  "can  learn  to  read  in  a  day;  and,  indeed,"  continues  the 
writer,  "  I  have  known  some  to  acquire  the  art  in  a  single  evening.  It  is  only  necessary 
to  learn  the  different  sounds  of  the  characters,  to  be  enabled  to  read  at  once.  In  the 
English  language,  we  must  not  only  first  learn  the  letters,  but  to  spell,  before  reading  ; 
but  in  Cherokee,  all  that  is  required,  is,  to  learn  the  letters ;  for  they  have  syllabic 
sounds,  and  by  connecting  different  ones  together,  a  word  is  formed :  in  which  there  is 
no  art.  All  who  understand  the  language  can  do  so,  and  both  read  and  write,  so  soon 
as  they  can  learn  to  trace  with  their  fingers  the  forms  of  the  characters.  I  suppose 
that  more  than  one  half  of  the  Cherokees  can  read  their  own  language,  and  are  thereby 
enabled  to  acquire  much  valuable  information,  with  which  they  otherwise  would  never 
have  been  blessed." — W.  S.  Coodey,  1831. 

OBS.  8.— From  the  foregoing  account,  it  would  appear  that  the  Cherokee  language  is 
a  very  peculiar  one :  its  words  must  either  be  very  few,  or  the  proportion  of  polysyllables 
very  great.  The  characters  used  in  China  and  Japan,  stand  severally  for  words ;  and 
their  number  is  said  to  be  not  less  than  seventy  thousand;  so  that  the  study  of  a 
whole  life  is  scarcely  sufficient  to  make  a  man  thoroughly  master  of  them.  Syllabic 
writing  is  represented  by  Dr.  Blair  as  a  great  improvement  upon  the  Chinese  method, 
and  yet  as  being  far  inferior  to  that  which  is  properly  alphabetic,  like  ours.  "  The  first 
step,  in  this  new  progress,"  says  he,  "  was  the  invention  of  an  alphabet  of  syllables, 
which  probably  preceded  the  invention  of  an  alphabet  of  letters,  among  some  of  the 
ancient  nations ;  and  which  is  said  to  be  retained  to  this  day,  in  Ethiopia,  and  some 
countries  of  India.  By  fixing  upon  a  particular  mark,  or  character,  for  every  syllable 
in  the  language,  the  number  of  characters,  necessary  to  be  used  in  writing,  was  reduced 

*  Dr.  Rush,  in  his  Philosophy  of  the  Human  Voice,  has  exhibited  some  acuteness  of  observation,  and  has 
written  with  commendable  originality.  But  his  accuracy  is  certainly  not  greater  than  his  confidence.  On 
page  57th,  he  says,  "  The  m,  n,  and  ng,  are  purely  nasal:  "  on  page  401st,  u  Some  of  the  tonic  elements,  and 
one  of  the  subtonics,  are  made  by  the  assistance  of  the  lips;  they  are  o-we,  oo-ze,  ow-r,  and  m."  Of  the 
intrinsic  value  of  his  work,  I  am  not  prepared  or  inclined  to  offer  any  opinion ;  I  criticise  him  only  so  far  aa 
he  strikes  at  grammatical  principles  long  established,  and  worthy  still  to  be  maintained. 


CHAP.  I.]  POWERS    OP    THE    LETTERS.  145 

•within  a  much  smaller  compass  than  the  number  of  words  in  the  language.  Still,  how- 
ever, the  number  of  characters  \\ii-;  ^reat;  and  must  have  continued  to  render  both 
reading  and  writing  very  laborious  arts.  Till,  at  last,  some  happy  genius  arose,  and 
tracing  the  sounds  made  by  the  human  voice,  to  their  most  simple  elements,  reduced 
them  to  a  very  tc\v  rmr,-l.\  ,u«l  <•  iiismtunts  ;  and,  by  affixing  to  each  of  these,  th 
which  we  now  call  letters,  taught  men  how,  by  their  combinations,  to  put  in  writing 
all  the  different  words,  or  combinations  of  sound,  which  they  employed  in  speech. 
By  being  reduced  to  this  simplicity,  the  art  of  writing  was  brought  to  its  highest  state 
of  perfection;  and,  in  this  state,  we  now  enjoy  it  in  all  the  countries  of  Europe."  — 
Blair*  I  .ect.  VII,  p.  68. 

OBS.  9.  —  All  certain  knowledge  of  the  sounds  given  to  the  letters  by  Moses  and  the 
prophets  having  been  long  ago  lost,  a  strange  dispute  has  arisen,  and  been  carried  on 
for  centuries,  eoncerning  this  question,  "  "Whether  the  Hebrew  letters  are,  or  are  not, 

utunts  :"  the  vowels  being  supposed  by  some  to  be  suppressed  and  understood  ; 
and  not  written,  except  by  points  of  comparatively  late  invention.  The  discussion  of 
such  a  question  docs  not  properly  belong  to  English  grammar  ;  but,  on  account  of  its 
curiosity,  as  well  as  of  its  analogy  to  some  of  our  present  disputes,  I  mention  it.  Dr. 
Charles  Wilson  says,  "After  we  have  sufficiently  known  the  figures  and  names  of  the 
letters,  the  next  step  is,  to  learn  to  enunciate  or  to  pronounce  them,  so  as  to  produce 
articulate  sounds.  On  this  subject,  which  appears  at  first  sight  very  plain  and  simple, 
numberless  contentions  and  varieties  of  opinion  meet  us  at  the  threshold.  From  the 
earliest  period  of  the  invention  of  written  characters  to  represent  human  language, 

r  more  or  less  remote  that  time  may  be,  it  seems  absolutely  certain,  that  the  dis- 
tinction of  letters  into  >n/tf.<i  must  have  obtained.  All  the  speculations 

of  the  <  lanmiians  assume  this  as  a  rirst  principle."     Again  :  "  I  beg  leave  only 

to  premise  thi>  o!»ervation,  that  I  absolutely  and  unequivocally  deny  the  position,  that 
all  the  letters  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet  are  con>on;ints  ;  and,  alter  the  most  careful  and 
minute  iiiquiry,  g  my  opinion,  that  of  the  twenty-two  letters  of  which  the 

Hebrew  alphabet  eon>i>ts,  five  are  vowels  and  seventeen  are  consonants.  The  five  vow- 
els by  uuiue  arc,  Aleph,  He,  Vau,  Yod,  and  Ain."  —  )\'ikon's  Heb.  Gram.  pp.  6  and  8. 

III.   POWERS   OF  THE  LETTERS. 

The  powers  of  the  letters  are  properly  those  elementary  sounds  which 
their  figures  are  used  to  represent  ;  but  letters  formed  into  words,  are 
capable  of  communicating  thought  independently  of  sound. 

The  simple  elementary  sounds  of  any  language  are  few,  commonly  not 
more  than  thirty-fix;*  but  they  may  be  variously  combined,  so  as  to  form 
words  innumerable. 

Different  vowel  sounds,  or  vocal  elements,  are  produced  by  opening  the 
mouth  differently,  and  placing  the  tongue  in  a  peculiar  manner  for  each  ; 

I  but  the  voice  may  vary  in  loudness,  pitch,  or  time,  and  still  utter  the  same 
vowel  power. 
The  vowel  somnh  which  form  the  basis  of  the  English  language,  and 
which  ought  therefore  to  be  perfectly  familiar  to  every  one  who  speaks  it, 
are  those  which  are  heard  at  the  beginning  of  the  words,  ate,  at,  ah,  all, 
eel.  >oze,  use,  us,  and  that  of  u  in  bull. 

In  the  formation  of  syllables,  some  of  these  fourteen,  primary  sounds  may 
be  joined  tojcth*  /.  oil,  out,  "//7  ;  and  all  of  them  may  be  preceded  or 

followed  by  certain  motions  and  positions  of  the  lips  and  tongue,  which  will 
severally  convert  them  into  other  terms  in  speech.  Thus  the  same  essen- 
tial sounds  mav  he  changed  into  a  new  series  of  words  by  an  f  ;  as,  /ate, 
fat.  tttifoldyj  I,  fuse,  fuss,  full.  Again, 

into  as  many  more  with  n  j>  ;  as.  pate,  pat,  }>ar,  pall,  peel,  pell,  pile,  j>  ill, 
pole. 


*Dr.  Com.«tock,  by  enumerating  :i«  fli-nipntnry  the  sound  r,f  the  diphthong  OM,  as  in  our,  and  the  complex 
power  of  i-h.  11*  in  what,  (which  s-ounds  ought  not  to  l»  ..)  makes  the  whole  number  of  vocal 

elements  in  English  to  be  4l  thirty-eight."    See  ComstocVs  Elocution,  p.  19. 

10 


146  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

Each  of  the  vowel  sounds  may  be  variously  expressed  by  letters.  About 
half  of  them  are  sometimes  words  :  the  rest  are  seldom,  if  ever,  used  alone 
even  to  form  syllables.  But  the  reader  may  easily  learn  to  utter  them  all, 
separately,  according  to  the  foregoing  series.  Let  us  note  them  as  plainly 
as  possible  :  eigh,  a,  ah,  awe,  eh,  e,  eye,  I,  oh,  o,  oo,  yew,  u,  u. 

Thus  the  eight  long  sounds,  eigh,  ah,  awe,  eh,  eye,  oh,  ooh,  yew,  are,  or 
may  be,  words  ;  but  the  six  less  vocal,  called  the  short  vowel  sounds,  as 
in  at,  et,  it,  ot,  ut,  put.  are  commonly  heard  only  in  connexion  with  con- 
sonants ;  except  the  first,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  frequent  sound  of  the 
vowel  A  or  a — a  sound  sometimes  given  to  the  word  a,  perhaps  most 
generally  ;  as  in  the  phrase,  "  twice  a  day." 

The  simple  consonant  sounds  in  English  are  twenty-two :  they  are 
marked  by  b,  d,f,  g  hard,  h,  k,  I,  m,  n,  ng,  p,  r,  s,  sh,  t,  th  sharp,  th  flat, 
v,  'W,  y,  z,  and  zh.  But  zh  is  written  only  to  show  the  sound  of  other 
letters  ;  as  of  s  in  pleasure,  or  z  in  azure. 

All  these  sounds  are  heard  distinctly  in  the  following  words :  buy,  die, 
fie,  guy,  high,  He,  lie,  my,  nigh,  eying,  pie,  rye,  sigh,  shy,  tie,  thigh,  thy, 
vie,  we,  ye,  zebra,  seizure.  Again  :  most  of  them  may  be  repeated  in  the 
same  word,  if  not  in  the  same  syllable  ;  as  in  bibber,  diddle,  fifty,  giggle, 
high-hung,  cackle,  lily,  mimic,  ninny,  singing,  pippin,  mirror,  hissest, 
flesh-brush,  tittle,  thinketh,  thither,  vivid,  witwal,  union*  dizzies,  vision. 

With  us,  the  consonants  J  and  X  represent,  not  simple,  but  complex 
sounds  :  hence  they  are  never  doubled.  J  is  equivalent  to  dzh  ;  and  X, 
either  to  ks  or  to  gz.  The  former  ends  no  English  word,  and  the  latter 
begins  none.  To  the  initial  X  of  foreign  words,  we  always  give  the  simple 
sound  of  Z  ;  as  in  Xerxes,  xebec. 

The  consonants  C  and  Q  have  no  sounds  peculiar  to  themselves.  Q  has 
always  the  power  of  k.  C  is  hard,  like  k,  before  a,  o,  and  u ;  and  soft, 
like  s,  before  e,  i,  and  y :  thus  the  syllables,  ca,  ce,  ci,  co,  cu,  cy,  are  pro- 
nounced, ka,  se,  si,  ko,  ku,  sy.  S  before  c  preserves  the  former  sound, 
but  coalesces  with  the  latter  ;  hence  the  syllables,  sea,  see,  sci,  sco,  sen,  scy, 
are  sounded,  ska,  se,  si,  sko,  sku,  sy.  Ce  and  ci  have  sometimes  the  sound 
of  sh  ;  as  in  ocean,  social.  Ch  commonly  represents  the  compound  sound 
of  tsh  ;  as  in  church. 

G,  as  well  as  C,  has  different  sounds  before  different  vowels.  G  is  al 
ways  hard,  or  guttural,  before  a,  o,  and  u;  and  generally  soft,  like^,  be 
fore  e,  i,  or  y  :  thus  the  syllables,  ga,  ge,  gi,  go,  gu,  gy,  are  pronounced 
ga,je,ji,  go,  gu,jy.^ 

The  possible  combinations  and  mutations  .of  the  twenty-six  letters  of  our 
alphabet,  are  many  millions  of  millions.  But  those  clusters  which  are  un- 
pronounceable, are  useless.  Of  such  as  may  be  easily  uttered,  there  are 
more  than  enough  for  all  the  purposes  of  useful  writing,  or  the  recording 
of  speech. 

Thus  it  is,  that  from  principles  so  simple  as  about  six  and  thirty  plain 
elementary  sounds,  represented  by  characters  still  fewer,  we  derive  such 
a  variety  of  oral  and  written  signs,  as  may  suffice  to  explain  or  record  all 
the  sentiments  and  transactions  of  men  in  all  ages. 

*  This  word  is  commonly  heard  in  two  syllables,  yune'yun ;  but  if  Walker  is  right  in  making  it  three, 
yu'iif-un,  tin-  sound  of  y  consonant  is  heard  in  it  but  once.  Worcester's  notation  is  ki  yun'yun."  The  long 
sound  of  M  is  yu;  hence  AValker  calls  it  a  "  semi-consonant  diphthong." 


CHAP.  I.]  'ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS. POWERS.  .  147 

OBSERVATIONS. 

1. — A  knowledge  of  sounds  can  be  acquired,  in  the  first  instance,  only  by  the 
ear.  No  description  <>i  the  manner  of  their  production,  or  of  the  difference^  which  dis- 
tingui-h  them,  can  be  at  all  intelligible  to  him  who  has  not  already,  by  the  si  ; 
hearing,  acquired  a  knowledge  of  both.  "NYhat  I  here  say  of  the  sounds  ut  the  letters, 
must  i)t  course  be  addressed  to  those  persons  only  who  arc  able  both  to  speak  and  to 
read  English.  "Why  then  attempt  instruction  by  a  method  which  both  ignorance  and 
knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  must  alike  render  useless:  Ihavr  -unc 

reader  to  have  such  an  ac([uaintance  with  the  powers  of  the  letters,  as  is  but  loose  and 
imp'  licit  ;  sullicient  for  the  accurate  pronunciation  of  some  words  or  syllables,  but  leav- 
ing them  liable  to  mistakes  in  others;  extending  perhaps  to  all  the  sounds  of  the  lan- 

ir  not  to  a  ready  analysis  or  enumeration  of  them.     Such  persons  may  ]  roiit  by 
-<  liption.  of  the  powers  of  the  letters,  though  no  such  description  can  equal 
the  clear  impression  of  the  living  voice.     Teachers,  too,  whose  business  it  is  to  aid  the 
articulation  of  the  young,  and,  by  a  patient  inculcation  of  elementary  principles,  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  an  accurate  pronunciation,  may  derive  some  assistance  from  any  nota- 
tion of  these  principles,   which  will  help  their  memory,  or  that  of  the  learner.     The 
connexion  between  letters  and  sounds  is  altogether  arhitrury ;  but  a  few  positions,  being 
::ucd  and  made  known,  in  respect  to  some  characters,  become  easy  standards   for 
further  instruction  in  respect  to  others  of  similar  sound. 

_'. — The  importance  of  being  instructed  at  an  early  age,  to  pronounce  with  dis- 

tinctue-is  and  facility  all  the  elementary  sounds  of  one's  native  language,  has  been   so 

frequently  urged,  and  is  so  obvious  in  itself,  that  none  but  those  who  have  been  them- 

iil  be  likely  to  disregard  the  claims  of  their  children  in  this  respect.* 

lint  surely  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  ordinary  powers  of  the  letters  would  be  vastly 

union,  \\ere  there  not  much  hereditary  negligence  respecting  the  manner  in 
which  these  important  rudiments  are  learned.  The  utterance  of  the  illiterate  may 
exhibit  wit  and  native  talent,  but  it  is  always  more  or  less  barbarous,  because  it  is  not 
aided  by  a  k;  I  orthography.  Eor  pronunciation  and  orthography,  however 

Ith'  ..  in  our  language  especially,  to  be  often  at  variance,  are  certainly  correla- 

tive :  a  true  knowledge  of  either  tends  to  the  preservation  of  both.  Each  of  the  letters 
-••me  one  or  more  of  the  elementary  sounds,  exclusive  of  the  rest;  and 
cai  h  of  the  elementary  sounds,  though  several  of  them  are  occasionally  transferred,  has 
some  one  or  two  letters  to  which  it  most  properly  or  most  frequently  belongs.  But 
borrowed,  as  our  language  has  been,  from  a  great  variety  of  sources,  to  which  it  is 
desirable  ever  to  retain  the  means  of  tracing  it,  there  is  certainly  much  apparent  lack  of 
"udenee  between  its  oral  and  its  written  form.  Still  the  discrepancies  are  few, 
when  compared  with  the  instances  of  exact  conformity;  and,  if  they  are,  as  I  suppose 
they  art',  unavoidable,  it  is  as  useless  to  complain  of  the  trouble  they  occasion,  as  it  is  to 
think  of  forcing  a  reconciliation.  The  wranglers  in  this  controversy,  can  never  agree 
among  ti.  .  whether  orthography  shall  conform  to  pronunciation,  or  pronuncia- 

tion to  orthography.  Nor  does  any  one  of  them  well  know  how  our  language  would 
either  sound  or  look,  were  he  himself  appointed  sole  arbiter  of  all  variances  butween 

I   our  spelling  and  our  speech. 
Uu-h,  "  was  long  ago  analyzed  into  its  alphabetic  ele- 
ments.     Wherever  this  analysis  is  known,  the  art  of  teaching  language  has,  with  the 
•  •en  conducted'  upon  the  rudimental  method."         *          *          *          "The 
art  ot  reading  consists  in  having  all  the  vocal  elements  under  complete  command,  that 


they  may  be  properly  applied,    for  the  vivid  -ind   elegant    delineation  of  the  sense  and 
iiirse." — /'///// 


sentiment  of  discourse." — Philosophy  of  the  I  .    Again,  of  "  the  pronunciation  of 

the  alphabetic  element-.  .  ••  '1  he  hast  deviation  /,•„/,/    ///,  '.,,>, lard  con- 

mto  the  critic  :   and  1  am  surely  speaking  within  bounds  when  1  say, 
that  to:  .-'-ailed  element    in   (i;-  inn   words    are    lost    to    the 

1. 1  an  audience."— /W.  p.  :;.",().     These    quotations  plainly  imply  both  the 
lijility  and  the  imp«'  I    aching  the  pronunciation  of   our  language  ana- 

lytically by  means  ot  its  present  orthography,  ami  agreeably  to  the- standard  .'.-sinned  by 

M    of   them   affirms   that  it   has  been  done,  "with    ti 

-."  according  to  some  ancient  method  of  dividing  the  letters  and  explaining  their 
sounds.     And  yet,  both  before  and  afterwards,  we  lind  this  same  author  c«.mpiai:  ; 

our  alphabet  and  its  .subdivisions,  as  if  sense  or  philosophy  must  utterly  repudiate  both; 


*  "  Children  ought  to  be  ncousfonied  t<  md  to  pronounce  all  possible  sounds  and  articulations, 

urli  foreign  lali^U.  n  ;   f.  r  :ihn.'M  «  V.TV  lali.L'ir 

,\ii;<li    \\.   )  .  i-ly  arcustonic'l  t<>  them.     Accord- 

ingly, imiion.s  »lit>  liaM-   tli.  1-  in   tlu-ir  >p.-«-|i.  i.-;m, 

ace  tlu.v  know  their  articulations  by  having  met  with  Minikir  sounds  in  their  own  lan- 
guage.'       \  mi  on  Education,  p.  159. 


148  'THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

and  of  our  orthography,  as  if  a  ploughman  might  teach  us  to  spell  better :  and,  at  the 
8?me  time,  he  speaks  of  softening  his  censure  through  modesty.  "The  deficiencies,  re- 
dundancies, and  confusion,  of  the  system  of  alphabetic  characters  in  this  language,  pre- 
vent the  adoption  of  its  subdivisions  in  this  essay." — Ib.  p.  52.  Of  the  specific  sounds 
given  to  the  letters,  he  says,  "  The  first  of  these  matters  is  under  the  rule  of  every  body, 
and  therefore  is  very  properly  to  be  excluded  from  the  discussions  of  that  philosophy 
which  desires  to  be  effectual  in  its  instruction.  How  can  we  hope  to  establish  a  system 
of  elemental  pronunciation  in  a  language,  when  great  masters  in  criticism  condemn  at 
once  every  attempt,  in  so  simple  and  useful  a  labour  as  the  correction  of  its  orthogra- 
phy !  " — P.  256.  Again  :  "  I  deprecate  noticing  the  faults  of  speakers,  in  the  pronuncia- 
tion of  the  alphabetic  elements.  It  is  better  for  criticism  to  be  modest  on  this  point,  till 
it  has  the  sense  or  independence  to  make  our  alphabet  and  its  uses,  look  more  like  the 
work  of  what  is  called — wise  and  transcendent  humanity :  till  the  pardonable  variety  of 
pronunciation,  and  the  true  spelling  by  the  vulgar,  have  satirized  into  reformation  that 
pen-craft  which  keeps  up  the  troubles  of  orthography  for  no  other  pxirpose,  as  one  can  di- 
vine, than  to  boast  of  a  very  questionable  merit  as  a  criterion  of  education." — Ib.  p.  383. 

OBS.  4. — How  far  these  views  are  compatible,  the  reader  will  judge.  And  it  is 
hoped  he  will  excuse  the  length  of  the  extracts,  from  a  consideration  of  the  fact,  that 
a  great  master  of  the  "pen-craft"  here  ridiculed,  a  noted  stickler  for  needless  Kays  and 
Ties  now  commonly  rejected,  while  he  boasts  that  his  grammar,  which  he  mostly 
copied  from  Murray's,  is  teaching  the  old  explanation  of  the  alphabetic  elements  to 
"more  than  one  hundred  thousand  children  and  youth,"  is  also  vending  under  his 
own  name  an  abstract  of  the  new  scheme  of  "  tonicks,  subtonicks,  and  atonicks ; "  and,  in 
one  breath,  bestowing  superlative  praise  on  both,  in  order,  as  it  would  seem,  to 
monopolize  all  inconsistency.  "  Among  those  who  have  successfully  laboured  in 
the  philological  field,  Mr.  Lindley  Murray  stands  forth  in  bold  relief,  as  undeniably  at 
the  head  of  the  list." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  12.  "  The  modern  candidate  for  oratori- 
cal fame,  stands  on  very  different,  and  far  more  advantageous,  ground,  than  that 
occupied  by  the  young  and  aspiring  Athenian  ;  especially  since  a  correct  analysis  of  the 
vocal  organs,  and  a  faithful  record  of  their  operations,  have  been  given  to  the  world  by 
Dr.  James  Rush,  of  Philadelphia — a  name  that  will  outlive  the  unquairied  marble  of  our 
mountains." — Ibid.  p.  29.  "But  what  is  to  be  said  when  presumption  pushes  itself 
into  the  front  ranks  of  elocution,  and  thoughtless  friends  undertake  to  support  it  ? 
The  fraud  must  go  on,  till  presumption  quarrels,  as  often  happens,  with  its  own 
friends,  or  with  itself,  and  thus  dissolves  the  spell  of  its  merits." — Rush,  on  the  Voice, 
p.  405. 

OBS.  5. — The  question  respecting  the  number  of  simple  or  elementary  sounds  in  our 
language,  presents  a  remarkable  puzzle :  and  it  is  idle,  if  not  ridicxilous,  for  any  man  to 
declaim  about  the  imperfection  of  our  alphabet  and  orthography,  who  does  not  show 
himself  able  to  solve  it.  All  these  sounds  may  easily  be  written  in  a  plain  sentence 
of  three  or  four  lines  upon  almost  any  subject;  and  every  one  who  can  read,  is  familiar 
with  them  all,  and  with  all  the  letters.  Now  it  is  either  easy  to  count  them,  or  it  is 
difficult.  If  difficult,  wherein  does  the  difficulty  lie  ?  and  how  shall  he  who  knows 
not  what  and  how  many  they  are,  think  himself  capable  of  reforming  our  system  of 
their  alphabetic  signs  ?  If  easy,  why  do  so  few  pretend  to  know  their  number  ?  and 
of  those  who  do  pretend  to  this  knowledge,  why  are  there  so  few  that  agree  ?  A 
certain  verse  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Ezra,  has  been  said  to  contain  all  the  letters. 
It  however  contains  no  j  ;  and,  with  respect  to  the  sounds,  it  lacks  that  of  /,  that  of 
th  sharp,  and  that  of  u  in  bull.  I  will  suggest  a  few  additional  words  for  these  ;  and 
then  both  all  the  letters,  and  all  the  sounds,  of  the  English  language,  will  be  found  in 
the  example  ;  and  most  of  them,  many  times  over :  "  •  And  I,  even  I,  Artaxerxes  the 
king,  do  make  a  decree  to  all  the  treasurers'  who  '  axe  beyond  the  river,  that  whatso- 
ever Ezra  the  priest,  the  scribe  of  the  law  of  the  God  of  heaven,  shall  require  of  you, 
it  be  done  speedily'  and  faithfully,  according  to  that  which  he  shall  enjoin."  Some 
letters,  and  some  sounds,  are  here  used  much  more  frequently  than  others ;  but,  on 
an  average,  we  have,  in  this  short  passage,  each  sound  five  times,  and  each  letter  eight. 
How  often,  then,  does  a  man  speak  all  the  elements  of  his  language,  who  reads  well  but 
one  hour  ! 

OBS.  6. — Of  the  number  of  elementary  sounds  in  our  language,  different  orthoepists 
repor;  differently  ;  because  they  cannot  always  agree  among  themselves,  wherein  the 
ident  ty  or  the  simplicity,  the  sameness  or  the  singleness,  even  of  well-known  sounds, 
consists  ;  or  because,  if  each  is  allowed  to  determine  these  points  for  himself,  no  one  of 
them  adheres  strictly  to  his  own  decision.  They  may  also,  each  for  himself,  have  some 
peculiar  way  of  utterance,  which  will  confound  some  sounds  which  other  men  distin- 
guish, or  distinguish  some  which  other  men  confound.  For,  as  a  man  may  write  a 
very  bad  hand  which  shall  still  be  legible,  so  he  may  utter  many  sounds  improperly  and 


CHAP.  I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS. POWERS.  149 

still  be   understood.     One   may,  in  this  way,  make   out  a  scheme   of  the  alphabetic 
elements,  which   shall   be  true  of  his  own  pronunciation,  and   yet  have  obvious-  i  an  Its 
•when  tried  by  the  best  usage  of  English  speech.     It  is  desirable  not  to  multiply  these 
sounds  beyond  the  number  which  a  correct  and  elegant  pronunciation  of  the  In: 
obviously  requires.     And    what   that  number  is,  it  seems  to  m<  difficult  to 

ascertain  ;    at  least,  I   think   we   may  iix   it   with  sufficient   accuracy   for    all  practical 
purposes.      But  let  it  be  remembered,  that  all  who  have  hitherto  attempted  the   enu- 
im-ration,  have   deviated  more  or  less  from  their  own   decisions  concerning  either  the 
simplicity  or   the   identity  of  sounds;  but,  most  commonly,  it  appear*  to   ha\. 
thought  expedient  to  admit  some  exceptions  concerning  both.     Thus  the  long  or  diph- 
,  sounds  of  /  and  / ',  are  admitted  by  some,  and  excluded  by  others  ;  the  sound  of  j, 
•ckoned  as  simple  by  some,  and  rejected  as  compound  by  others  ;  so  a  part,  if 
not  all,  of  what  are  called  the  long  and  the  short  vowels,  as  heard  in  ale  and  <•//,  arm  and 
am.  d'l  and  on,  isi'f  or  <•<•/  and  ///,  tune  and   tun,  /nth-  or  pool  and  pull,  have  been  d« 
essentially  the  same  by  some,   and   essentially  different  by  others.     "Were  Me  to  recog- 

•  'lementary.  no  sounds  but  such  as  are  unquestionably  simple  in  themselves,  and 
indisputably  different  in  quality  from  all  others,  we  should  not  have  more  sounds  than 
letter.*  :  and  this  is  a  proof  that  we  have  characters  enough,  though  the  sounds  are 
perhaps  badly  distributed  among  them. 

On*.   7. —  I  have  enumerated  f/iirfi/-.six  well  known  sounds,  which,  in  compliance  with 
general  custom,  and  for  convenience  in  teaching,  I  choose  to  regard  as  the  oral  elements 
of  our  language.     There  may  be  found  some  reputable  authority  for  adding  four  or 
•re,  and  other  authority  as  reputable,  for   striking  from  the  list  seven  or  eight  of 
.  I  ready   mentioned.     For  the  sake   of  the   general   principle,  -which  we   always 
regard  in  writing,  a  principle  of  universal  grammar,  tlmt  tin-re  can  be  no  syllable  without  a 
\    am    inclined  t<>  teach,  with  lirightland.  I>r.   Johnson,   L.  Murray,  and  others, 
that,  in   English,  a*  in    French,  there   is  given   to  tin-   vowel  e  &  certain   very  ob*cure 
sound  which  approaches,  but  amounts  not  to  an  absolute  suppression,  though  it  i>  com- 
monly .*o  n-garded  by  the  writers  of  dictionaries.     It  may  be   exemplified  in  the  words 
.  *  or    in  the   unemphatic  article  the  before  a   consonant,  as  in  the 
sentence,  "  Take  the  nearest  :  "  we  do  not  hear  it  as  "tht-e  /teart-xt,"  nor  n-  "  ///••// 
but  more  ob*curely.     There  is  also  a  feeble  sound  of  i  or  y  unaccented,  which  is  equiv- 
alent  to  <••   uttered   feebly,  as  in  the  word  diri-rxift/.       This  is   the  most  common   sound 
i  of  y.     The  vulgar  are  apt  to   let   it   fall  into  the  more  obscure  sound  of  short  u. 
<-f  utterance  depends  much  \ipon  the  preservation  of  this  sound  from  siich 
obtn-em  *-,  perhaps  Walker  and   others   have   done  well  to  mark  it  as  e  in  -//it- .   though 
some  suppose  it  to  be  peculiar,  and  others  identify  it  with  the  short  i  in  Jit.     Thirdly,  a 
distinction  is  made  by  some  writers,  between  the  vowel  sounds  heard   in  /Kite  and  bear, 
which  Sheridan  and  Walker  consider  to  be  the   same.     The  apparent    different  J 

•  m  the  following  consonant  r,  which   is   apt  to  affect   the  sound  of  the 
vowel  which  precedes  it.      Such  word*  as  omr,  care,  d,n; ,  >-<in-fnl,  }><ir>  nt,  are  very  liable 
to  be  corrupted  in  pronunciation,  by  tr>o  broad  a  *ound  of  the  c  ;  and,  a*  the  multiplica- 
;-tinetion*  should  be  avoided,   I  do  not   approve  of  adding   an   other 
sound  to  a  vowel  which  has   already  quite  too  many.     Worcester,  however,  in  hi*  new 
Dictionary,  and  Wells,  in  his  new  (.frammar.  give  to  the  vo\\cl  A  xi.r  sound*  in  lieu  (-,\  four. 
^iieiidan  made   the    elements   of    his  oratory   tn-fntii-ciijlit  ;   Jones    followed 
him  implicitly,  and  adopted  the  same  number  ;f  "Walker  recogni/ed  several  more,  but 

*If  it  be  admitted  that  the  two  -emivowels  /and  n   have  vorality  enough  of  their  own  to  form  a  very 

it    \\ill   ptovV   only   that    then-    aie  these  execpiions  to  ;m  important  general  rule.      If  the 

!{'i'i<ln  rh>  i  on    ro    the   rule  of  writing;  hut  ii  is  no  part  of 

The  "|, -tun-  M'ui.d  of  whidi  I  -peak,  is  sometimes  improperly  confounded  with  thiit 

of  short,  u  ;  thus  a  recent    u  liter.  \\ho  pmle-,-es  -rent  skill  in  re.-pect  t<>  such  m.r  "i:«-  of  the  uioat 

common    sound.-   in   I'lir  lali'.'iuiu'f   is   that  of  tin  ;n    t  lu-  word  i/r;i,  or  O.S   the  diphthong   'fill    the 

Ik.  for  which   \\c  have  n<>  <  hararr.T.      Writers   have  made  various  efT<>it<  to  •  1  in  Kirtk, 

«hirh  all  tl..  ;;iinat.-l\  u-ed  in  turn.-    O~  TA»«  <l>t<ct  lint  ltd 

AC!   iit'tcr  tl,.  D   them,  \\ln-ii  i 

D    the    follow: 

•  111  1    he    a    •_  lid-     perfection     ti)  r 

are   pronounced  I  "_  Jhiil.  p.  499.     How  often    do   the  reformers  of   lan.irua-e  multiply  the 

1  -The  nun.1  in  »mr  long                                                 ds  and  19  Consonants.     U  is    no 

letter,  hut  m<  M. 

••  The  muni  ;-in   our  ri.n^i.e"  i-  twenty -eight,  and  one  pure 

making  in  all  twei'  Ihrt  ,  1ntr<»l.,  p.  9. 

the  Englwh  iMgt:                                       hut   the   nunil.er  of  •'••>«. ;-.'%    is  thirty- 

•  tho>e  element^  \<\  :ippi'  •:  ,1   have   thirf v-ci_'K 

^  in  our  alphabet  of  twelTi                                                         ;>  this  imperfection,   will  he  one  of  th« 

T  the  human   race." — lh.  p  !'.».                                ,  ;  i-  hi.th    n  'ivi-       (', 

9,  and  T.  are  re.-peetivel\  re]                                                                              1  the  remai;  .enters  an 
employed  to  represent /t/r^-o/u  elementary  sii                       v'a  School  (jnim.  1st.  Ed.  p  SO. 


150  THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   I. 

I  know  not  whether  he  has  anywhere  told  us  how  many ;  Lindley  Murray  enumerates 
thirty-six,  and  the  same  thirty-six  that  are  given  in  the  main  text  above.  The  eight 
sounds  not  counted  by  Sheridan  are  these  :  1.  The  Italian  a,  as  in.  far,  father,  which  he 
reckoned  but  a  lengthening  of  the  a  in  hat ;  2.  The  short  o,  as  in  hot,  which  he  sup- 
posed to  be  but  a  shortening  of  the  a  in  hall ;  3.  The  diphthongal  i,  as  in  isle,  which  he 
thought  but  a  quicker  union  of  the  sounds  of  the  diphthong  oi,  but  which,  in  my  opinion, 
is  rather  a  very  quick  union  of  the  sounds  ah  and  eeinto  ay,  /;*  4.  The  long  u,  which  is 
acknowledged  to  be  equal  to  yu  or  yew,  though  perhaps  a  little  different  from  you  or  yoorf 
the  sound  given  it  by  Walker ;  5.  The  u  heard  in.  pull,  which  he  considered  but  a  short- 
ening of  oo ;  6.  The  consonant  w,  which  he  conceived  to  be  always  a  vowel,  and  equiva- 
lent to  oo ;  7.  The  consonant  y,  which  he  made  equal  to  a  short  ee ;  8.  The  consonant 
h,  which  he  declared  to  be  no  letter,  but  a  mere  breathing.  In  all  other  respects,  his 
scheme  of  the  alphabetic  elements  agrees  with  that  which  is  adopted  in  this  work,  and 
which  is  now  most  commonly  taught. 

OHS.  9. — The  effect  of  Quantity  in  the  prolationof  the  vowels,  is  a  matter  with  which 
every  reader  ought  to  be  experimentally  acquainted.  Quantity  is  simply  the  time  of 
utterance,  whether  long  or  short.  It  is  commonly  spoken  of  with  reference  to  syllables, 
because  it  belongs  severally  to  all  the  distinct  or  numerable  impulses  of  the  voice,  and 
to  these  only  ;  but,  as  vowels  or  diphthongs  may  be  uttered  alone,  the  notion  of  quantity 
is  of  course  as  applicable  to  them,  as  to  any  of  the  more  complex  sounds  in  which  con- 
sonants are  joined  with  them.  All  sounds  imply  time  ;  because  they  are  the  transient 
effects  of  certain  percussions  which  temporarily  agitate  the  air,  an  element  that  tends  to 
silence.  When  mighty  winds  have  swept  over  sea  and  land,  and  the  voice  of  the 
Ocean  is  raised,  he  speaks  to  the  towering  cliffs  in  the  deep  tones  of  a  lony  quantity ; 
the  rolling  billows,  as  they  meet  the  shore,  pronounce  the  long-drawn  syllables  of  his 
majestic  elocution.  But  see  him  again  in  gentler  mood ;  stand  upon  the  beach  and 
listen  to  the  rippling  of  his  more  frequent  waves  :  he  will  teach  you  short  quantity,  as 
well  as  long.  In  common  parlance,  to  avoid  tediousness,  to  save  time,  and  to  adapt 
language  to  circumstances,  we  usually  utter  words  with  great  rapidity,  and  in  compara- 
tively short  quantity.  But  in  oratory,  and  sometimes  in  ordinary  reading,  those  sounds 
which  are  best  fitted  to  fill  and  gratify  the  ear,  should  be  sensibly  protracted,  especially 
in  emphatic  words  ;  and  even  the  shortest  syllable,  must  be  so  lengthened  as  to  be 
uttered  with  perfect  clearness  :  otherwise  the  performance  will  be  judged  defective. 

QR8t  10. — Some  of  the  vowels  are  usually  uttered  in  longer  time  than  others  ;  but 
whether  the  former  are  naturally  long,  and  the  latter  naturally  short,  may  be  doubted : 
the  common  opinion  is,  that  they  are.  But  one  author  at  least  denies  it ;  and  says, 
"  We  must  explode  the  pretended  natural  epithets  short  and  long  given  to  our  vowels, 
independent  on  accent :  and  we  must  observe  that  our  silent  e  final  lengthens  not  its 
syllable,  unless  the  preceding  vowel  be  accented." — Mackintosh's  Essay  on  E.  Gram.  p. 
232.  The  distinction  of  long  and  short  vowels  which  has  generally  obtained,  and  the 
correspondences  which  some  writers  have  laboured  to  establish  between  them,  have  al- 
ways been  to  me  sources  of  much  embarrassment.  It  would  appear,  that  in  one  or  two 
instances,  sounds  that  differ  only  in  length,  or  time,  are  commonly  recognized  as  differ- 
ent elements  ;  and  that  grammarians  and  orthoepists,  perceiving  this,  have  attempted  to 
carry  out  the  analogy,  and  to  find  among  what  they  call  the  long  vowels  a  parent  sound 
for  each  of  the  short' ones.  In  doing  this,  they  have  either  neglected  to  consult  the  ear, 
or  have  not  chosen  to  abide  by  its  verdict.  I  suppose  the  vowels  heard  in  pull  and  pool 
jsvould  be  necessarily  identified,  if1  the  former  were  protracted  or  the  latter  shortened  ; 
and  perhaps  there  would  be  a  like  coalescence  of  those  heard  in  of  and  all,  were  they 
tried  in  the  same  way,  though  I  am  not  sure  of  it.  In  protracting  the  e  in  met,  and  the 
i  in.  fthi.p,  ignorance  or  carelessness  might  perhaps,  with  the  help  of  our  orthoepists,  con- 
vert the  former  word  into  mate  and  the  latter  into  sheep  ;  and,  as  this  would  breed  con- 
fusion in  the  language,  the  avoiding  of  the  similarity  may  perhaps  be  a  sufficient  reason 
for  confining  these  two  sounds  of  e  and  i,  to  that  short  quantity  in  which  they  cannot 
be  mistaken.  But  to  suppose,  as  some  do,  that  the  protraction  of  u  in  tun  would  identify 
it  with  the  o  in  tone,  surpasses  any  notion  I  have  of  what  stupidity  may  misconceive. 
With  one  or  two  exceptions,  therefore,  it  appears  to  me  that  each  of  the  pure  vowel 
sounds  is  of  such  a  nature,  that  it  may  be  readily  recognized  by  its  own  peculiar  quality 
or  tone,  though  it  be  made  as  long  or  as  short  as  it  is  possible  for  any  sound  of  the  hu- 
man voice  to  be.  It  is  manifest  that  each  of  the  vowel  sounds  heard  in  ate,  at,  arm,  all, 

*';\Vhen  these  sounds  are  openly  pronounced,  they  produce  the  familiar  assent  ay:  which,  by  the  old 
English  iram^tie  Writers,  was  often  expressed  by  '/."—  Walker.  We  still  hear  it  so  among  the  vulgar;  as, 
"  1,1,  sir,  presently  !  "  for  •'  Ay,  ay,  sir,  presently  !  ;;  Shakspeare  wrote, 

"  To  sleepe,  perchance  to  dreame  ;  I,  there's  the  rub."— Buckets  Classical  Gram.  p.  148. 

t  Walker  pronounces  yi'io  and  you  precisely  alike.  "  I/OD  ; :'  but.  certainly,  fw  is  no:  commonly  equivalent 
to  oo,  though  some  make  it  so  :  thus  Gardiner,  in  his  scheme  of  the  VOWete,  sa>s.  "  >  n-  equals  oo,  as  in  neiu, 
noo." — Music  of  Nature,  p.  489.  Noo  for  neiv  is  a  vulgarism,  to  my  ear. —  G.  Brown. 


CIIAP.  I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LKTTKKS.  —  POWERS.  151 

rel,  old,  on-c,  us,  may  ho  protracted  to  the  entire  extent  of  a  full  breath  slowly  expended, 
and  still  he  precisely  the  same  one  simple  sound  ;*  and,  on  the  contrary,  that  all  hut 
one  limy  be  1  to  the  very  minimum  of  vo:-ality,  and  still  he  severally  known 

without  danger  of  mistake.     The   prolation  of  a  pure  vowel  places  the  organs  of  utter- 
ance in  that  particular  position  which  the  sound  of  the  letter  requires,   and  then  holds 
mi  wed  till  we  have  given  to  it  all  the  length  we  choose. 

'  1. — In  treating  of  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  vowels,  Walker  says,  "  The 
first  distinction  of  sound  that  seems  to  obtrude  itself  upon  us  when  we  utter  the  vow- 
els, i>  a  long  and  a  short  sound,  according  to  the  greater  or  less  duration  of  time  taken 
up  in  pronouncing  them.  This  distinction  is  so  obvious  as  to  have  been  adopted  in  all 
languages,  and  is  that  to  which  we  annex r  •//«//  to  amj  <>th,-r  ;  and  though  the 

uue  vowels  have  not  iu  our  language  been  classed  with  sutticici. 
ra  -v  with  their  parent  long  ones,  yet  this  has  bred  but  little  confusion,   as   vowt 
and  short  are  always  sufficiently  distinguishable." — I'l'/nr//,/,-*,   No.   63.     Again:   "But 
though  the  terms  long  and  short,  as  applied  to  vowels,  are  pretty  generally  uinh 
an  accurate    ear  will  easily  perceive    tlxat  the>e  terms  do  not  always  mean  the  long   and 
short  sounds  of  the  respective  vowels  to  which  they  are  applied;   for,  if  we  choose  to  be 
i  by  the  ear,  in  denominating  vowels  long  or  short,  we  must  certainly  give  these 
appellations  to  those  sounds  only  which  have  c.ractlij  tin-  name  radical  t<>it<-,  and  differ  only 
in  the  long  or  short  emission  of  that  tone." — Ih.  No.  i\\\.      lie  then  proreed>  to  -.rate  his 
opinion  that  the  vowel  sounds   heard   in   the  following   words  are  thus  correspondent  i 

//-,///,  ir,t,if ;   dn>rn,  tjon<- ;   tln'in,-,  hint  ;   f<nti>,  nearly  tun  •  ;/..•• 

As  to  the  IOHL:  Bounds  of  /  or  //,  and  of  ;/,  these  two  being  diphthongal,  he   suppo>e>  the 
!i  to  be  no  other  than  the  short   sound   of  its  latter  element  ee  or  oo. 
Now  to  me  m  i-t  of  tli  -  liugly  unsatisfactory  ;   and  I  have  shown  why. 

\'l.  —  If  in. MI'S  notions  of  the  length  and  shortness  of  vowels  are  the  clearest  ideas 
they  have  in  relation  to  the  elein.  >inos  it  to  pass  that  of  all  the  dis- 

putable points  in  grammar,  this  is  the  most  perplexed  with  contrarieties  of  opinion  r    In 
Coming  before  the   world  as  an  author,  no  man  intends  to  place  himself  clearly  in  the 
.  on  the  simple  powers  of  the  letters,  we  have  volumes  of  irreconcilable  doc- 
trines. ';nois-.i-ur  in  things  of  this  sort,  who  professes  to  have  been  long  "  in  the 
habit  of  listening  to  sounds  of  every  description,  and  that  with  more  than  ordinary  atten- 
tion," declai ••  Mt  and  expensive  work,  that  "  in  every  language  we  rind  the  vowels 
and,  in  order  to  give  to  "  the  simple  elements  of  English  utterance" 

a  better  explanation  than  others  have  furnished,  he  devotes  to  a  new  analysis  of  our 
Alphabet  the  ample  space  of  twenty  octavo  pages,  besides  having  several  chap; 
subjects  connected  with  it.  And  what  do  his  twenty  pages  amount  to  r  I  will  give  the 
substance  of  them  in  ten  lines,  and  the  reader  may  judge.  He  does  not  tell  us  }«>w 
inun<i  elementary  sounds  there  are;  but,  professing  to  arrange  the  vowels,  long  and 
short,  "  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  naturally  found,"  as  well  as  to  show  of  the  con- 
sonants that  the  mutes  and  liquids  form  correspondents  in  regular  pairs,  he  presents  a 
scheme  whii-h  1  abbreviate  as  follows.  YO\\KI,S:  1.  .-1,  as  in  all  and  ir/iiif,  or  o,  as  in 
•  (~ — ///•//  and  hut,  or  /o/v  and  CO/HI'  ;  3.  () — rnt<-  and  rrhn  ;  4.  .1 — ah  and 

10  short  sound  ;  D.  i'. — til  and  //  ,•    7.  A" — iitf /•<•//  and  t/n-f ;  <S.  () — pro 

culo;  9.  <n>— /oo/ 'and/W;  10.  II  —  ro/7-  and  lair  ,•  11.  Y—(  like  the  first  <'  —  )  syntax  and 
duff/.  Dn-nnioM^  :  1 .  /—  as  „!,-,;•  •  •_'.  I'—  ,.  ()(  —as  an-<>».  CON 

'/,  k  or  (/,  j>,  /,  t/t  x/iitr/i,  .v//  ,-  '1.  Liijuids, — /,  which  has  no  corresponding 

,  //,  tit  Jlat  and,/,  which  severally  correspond   to  the  eight   mutes 

in  their  order;    :',.    Suhliijuids,—  y  hard,  b,  and  d.      See    "Music  of  Nature,"  by    II '////«//» 

\'-\. —  Dr.  liu>h  cnnics  to  the  explanation  of  the  powers  of  the  letters  as  the  confi- 
dent "!'-  !  inana-enient  and  wisdom  ;  and  Impe^  to  have  laid  the  foun- 
dation rion  in  reading  and  oratory,  which,  if  adopted  and  pel 
"  wil1  be-et  asin.  ,,,,1  t()  poSSOSa  an  6S 
which  must  grow  into  sure  and   iiTever>ihle  fav  >ur. "_/'////.  »f  tin-   Voieet  p.    I'M.      "  \\  e 

•Nilliv.g,"  li.  •„;>),   „/,„„;  that  'nature  is  wi>e   in  ti 

trivaiu  :  •  now  slum,  iiy  our  \\orks  of  analysis,  how  she  n 

sitnj>/i-  unboinided  combination.^." — Ibid. 

}).   II.      Again:   ••  Kvery   one,  \\ith    peculiar  ilaction,  thinks  he  reads    well,  and 

yet  all  read   ditferently  :   there  is.  however,   hut  ,  A  ell. "—!!>.  ji.    ln:{. 

That  one  mode,  >,.me  say,  his  philosophy  al«n:e  lea, -lies.  Of  that,  Othen  may  judge. 
I  shall  only  notice  here  \\  hat  seems  to  bftltil  fundamental  j)ositi«Mi,  that,  on  ail  tl.. 

*"  As  harmony  \s  an  inlii-rent  i  ui,,|.  »lu-  car  >li.nil.|  I..-  lir-r  .  :illr.l  to  flic  nttei.tion  of  simple 

- 

••Mini  is  a  mix 
thret-  j.  urs."—  lh.  p 


152  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

elements  of  language,  nature  has  stamped  duplicity.  To  establish  this  extraordinary 
doctrine,  he  first  attempts  to  prove,  that  "  the  letter  a,  as  heard  in  the  word  day"  com- 
bines two  distinguishable  yet  inseparable  sounds  ;  that  it  is  a  compound  of  what  he  calls, 
with  reference  to  vowels  and  syllables  in  general,  "  the  radical  and  the  vanishing  move- 
ment of  the  voice,"  —  a  single  and  indivisible  element  in  which  "  two  sounds  are  heard 
continuously  successive,"  the  sounds  of  «  and  e  as  in  ah  and  eve.  He  does  not  know 
that  some  grammarians  have  contended  that  ay  in  day  is  a  proper  diphthong,  in  which 
both  the  vowels  are  heard  ;  but,  so  pronouncing  it  himself,  infers  from  the  experiment, 
that  there  is  no  simpler  sound  of  the  vowel  a.  If  this  inference  is  not  wrong,  the  word 
shape  is  to  be  pronounced  sha-ejte ;  and,  in  like  manner,  a  multitude  of  other  words  will 
acquire  a  new  element  not  commonly  heard  in  them. 

O»s.  14. — But  the  doctrine  stops  not  here.  The  philosopher  examines,  in  some  simi- 
lar way,  the  other  simple  vowel  sounds,  and  finds  a  beginning  and  an  end,  a  base  and 
an  apex,  a  radical  and  a  vanishing  movement,  to  them  all ;  and  imagines  a  sufficient 
warrant  from  nature  to  divide  them  all  "  into  two  parts,"  and  to  convert  most  of  them 
into  diphthongs,  as  well  as  to  include  all  diphthongs  with  them,  as  being  altogether  as 
simple  and  elementary.  Thus  he  begins  with  confounding  all  distinction  between  diph- 
thongs and  simple  vowels ;  except  that  which  he  makes  for  himself  when  he  admits 
"  the  radical  and  the  vanish,"  the  first  half  of  a  sound  and  the  last,  to  have  no  difference 
in  quality.  This  admission  is  made  with  respect  to  the  vowels  heard  in  ooze,  eel,  err, 
end,  and  in,  which  he  calls,  not  diphthongs,  but  "  monothongs."  But  in  the,  a  of  ale,  he 
hears  d'-ee ;  in  that  of  an,  a'-e ;  (that  is,  the  short  a  followed  by  something  of  the  sound 
of  e  in  err ;)  in  that  of  art,  ah'-e ;  in  that  of  all,  awe'-t;  in  the  i  of  isle,  I'-ee  ;  in  the  o  of 
old,  o'-oo ;  in  the  proper  diphthong  ou,  ou'-oo ;  in  the  oy  of  boy,  he  knows  not  what. 
After  his  explanation  of  these  mysteries,  he  says,  "  The  seven  radical  sounds  with  their 
vanishes,  which  have  been  described,  include,  as  far  as  I  can  perceive,  all  the  elementary 
diphthongs  of  the  English  language." — Ib.  p.  60.  But  all  the  sounds  of  the  vowel  u, 
whether  diphthongal  or  simple,  are  excluded  from  his  list,  unless  he  means  to  represent 
one  of  them  by  the  e  in  err ;  and  the  complex  vowel  sound  heard  in  voice  and  hot/,  is  con- 
fessedly omitted  on  account  of  a  doubt  whether  it  consists  of  two  sounds  or  of  three  ! 
The  elements  which  he  enumerates  are  thirty-five  ;  but  if  oi  is  not  a  triphthong,  they 
are  to  be  thirty-six.  Twelve  are  called  "Tonics;  and  are  heard  in  the  usual  sound  of 
the  separated  Italics,  in  the  following  words  :  .4-11,  «-rt,  a-n,  a-le,  ow-r,  i-sle,  o-ld,  cr-1, 
oo-ze,  e-rr,  ^-nd,  *-n." — Ib.  p.  53.  Fourteen  are  called  "  Subtonics  ;  and  are  marked  by 
the  separated  Italics,  in  the  following  words  :  J^-ow,  rf-are,  y-ive,  r-ile,  z-oi\e,  y-e,  w-o, 
th-en,  a-^-ure,  si-nfit  l-ove,  m-&.y,  n-ot,  r-oe." — Ib.  p.  5-i.  Nine  are  called  "Atonies; 
they  are  heard  in  the  words,  U-/>,  ou-£,  ar-A-,  i-/,  ye-s,  A-e,  w,7i-eat,  th-in,  pu-s/i." — Ib.  p. 
56.  My  opinion  of  this  scheme  of  the  alphabet  the  reader  will  have  anticipated. 

IV.     FORMS  OF  THE  LETTERS. 

In  printed  books  of  the  English  language,  the  Roman  characters  are 
generally  employed  ;  sometimes,  the  Italic ;  and  occasionally,  the  (Dlfr 
(Snglisl)  :  but  in  handwriting,  d%*fa  fatet*  are  used,  the  forms  of  which 
are  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  pen. 

Characters  of  different  sorts  or  sizes  should  never  be  needlessly  mixed  ; 
because  facility  of  reading,  as  well  as  the  beauty  of  a  book,  depends  much 
upon  the  regularity  of  its  letters. 

In  the  ordinary  forms  of  the  Roman  letters,  every  thick  stroke  that 
slants,  slants  from  the  left  to  the  right  downwards,  except  the  middle  stroke 
in  Z  ;  and  every  thin  stroke  that  slants,  slants  from  the  left  to  the  right 
upwards. 

Italics  are  chiefly  used  to  distinguish  emphatic  or  remarkable  words  :  in 
the  Bible,  they  show  what  words  were  supplied  by  the  translators. 

In  manuscripts,  a  single  line  drawn  under  a  word  is  meant  for  Italics  ; 
a  double  line,  for  small  capitals  ;  a  triple  line,  for  full  capitals. 

In  every  kind  of  type  or  character,  the  letters  have  severally  ttvo  forms, 
bv  which  they  are  distinguished  as  capitals  and  small  letters.  Small  let- 
ters constitute  the  body  of  every  work ;  and  capitals  are  used  for  the  sake 
of  eminence  and  distinction. 


CHAP.  I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS. FORMS.  153 

The  titles  of  books,  and  the  heads  of  their  principal  divisions,  are  printed 
wholly  in  capitals.  Showbills,  painted  signs,  and  short  inscriptions,  com- 
monly appear  best  in  full  capitals. 

Some  of  these  are  so  copied  in  books  ;  as,  "  I  found  an  altar  with  this 
inscription,  TO  THE  UNKNOWN  GOD."— Acts,  xvii.  2:J.  "  And 
thi'v  set  up  over  his  head,  his  accusation  written,  THIS  IS  JESUS, 
THE  KING  OF  THE  JEWS."— Matt,  xxvii,  37. 

RULES  FOR  THE  USE   OF  CAPITALS. 
RULE  I. — OF  BOOKS. 

When  particular  books  are  mentioned  by  their  names,  the  chief  words  in  their 
titles  begin  with  capitals,  and  the  other  letters  are  small ;  as,  "  Pope's  Essay  on 
Man  "— "  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  " — "  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments."* 

RULE  II. — FIRST  WORDS. 

The  first  word  of  every  distinct  sentence,  or  of  any  clause  separately  numbered 
or  paragraphed,  should  begin  with  a  capital;  as,  "  Rejoice  evermore.     Pray  with- 
out ceasing.      In  every  thing  give  thanks :  for  this  is  the  will  of  God  in  Christ 
'•oncoming  you.     Quench  not  the  Spirit.     Despise  not  prophesyings.  Prove 
all  tiling:  holdfast  that  which  is  good." — 1  T/tcss.  v,  10— '21. 
"  14.    He  has  given  his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended  legislation  : 
15  rtering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among  us  : 

in.    For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  trial,  from  punishment  for  murders: 

17.  Fur  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world  : 

18.  For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  consent :  "  &c. 

Declaration  of  American  Independence. 

RULE  III. — OF  DEITY. 

All  names  of  the  Deity,  and  sometimes  their  emphatic  substitutes,  should  begin 
with  capitals;  as,  "God,  Jehovah,  the  Almighty,  the  Supreme  Being,  Divine 
Providence,  the  Messiah,  the  Comforter,  the  Father,  the  Son,  the  Holy  Spirit,  the 
LordofSahaoth." 

"  The  hope  of  my  spirit  turns  trembling  to  Thee." — Moore. 

RULE  IV. — PROPER  NAMES. 

Proper  names,  of  every  description,  should  always  begin  with  capitals ;    as, 
t'T.ii>us,  Simon  Peter,  Judas  Iscariot,  England,  London,  the  Strand,  the 
mes,  the  Pyrenees,  the  Vatican,  the  Greeks,  the  Argo  and  the  Argonauts." 

RULE  V. — OP  TITLES. 

Titles  of  office  or  honour,  and  epithets  of  distinction,  applied  to  persons,  begin 
usually  with  capitals;  as,  "  \\\<  Majesty  William  the  Fourth,  Chief  Justice  Mar- 
shall, Sir  Matthew  Hale,  Dr.  Johnson,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Chalmers,  Lewis  the  Bold, 
Charles  the  Se<-«md,  .lames  the  Less,  St.  Bartholomew,  Pliny  the  Younger,  Noah 
Webster,  Jun.,  K 

•  RULE  VI. — ONE  CAPITAL. 

Those  compound  proper  names  which  by  analogy  incline  to  a  union  of  their  parts 
without  :i  hyphen,  should  be  so  written,  and  have'but  one  capital  :  as,  "  Ka>tp<>rt, 
Eastville,  Westborough,  Wotfidd,  Wottnwn,  Whitehall,  White-church,  White- 
haven,  Whiteplains,  Mmmtniellirk,  Mountpleasant,  Germantown,  Germanflats, 

*  The  titulary  name  of  the  <arre<l  volume  i«  "The  Holy  IJible  "  The  \vnnl  Srn'i'titrf,  or  Scriptures,  is  a 
common  iiaiiu-  for  the  «:  ••(.•>\  in  this  r  rul,  in  the  hook  r  in  dis- 

tinguished by  a  capital ;  but,  iu  other  works,  it  seems  proper  in  general  to  write  it  so,  by  way  of  eminence. 


154  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

Blackrock,  Redhook,  Kinder-hook,  Newfoundland,  Statenland,  Newcastle,  North- 
castle,  Southbridge,  Fairhaven,   Dekalb,   Deruyter,  Lafayette,  Macpherson." 

RULE  VII. — Two  CAPITALS. 

The  compounding  of  a  name  under  one  capital  should  be  avoided  when  the 
general  analogy  of  other  similar  terms  suggests  a  separation  under  two  ;  as,  "  The 
chief  mountains  of  Ross-shire  are  Ben  Chat,  Benchasker,  Ben  Golich,  Ben  Nore, 
Ben  Foskarg,  and  Ben  Wyvis." — Glasgow  Geog.,  Vol.  ii,  p.  311.  Write  Ben 
Chasker.  So,  when  the  word  East,  West,  North,  or  South,  as  part  of  a  name 
denotes  relative  position,  or  when  the  word  New  distinguishes  a  place  by  contrast, 
we  have  generally  separate  words  and  two  capitals;  as,  "  East  Greenwich,  West 
Greenwich,  North  Bridgewater,  South  Bridgewater,  New  Jersey,  New  Hamp- 
shire." 

RULE  VIII. — COMPOUNDS. 

When  any  adjective  or  common  noun  is  made  a  distinct  part  of  a  compound 
proper  name,  it  ought  to  begin  with  a  capital;  as,  "The  United  States,  the 
Argentine  Republic,  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe,  the  Blue  Ridge,  the  Little  Pedee, 
Long  Island,  Jersey  City,  Lower  Canada,  Green  Bay,  Gretna  Green,  Land's 
End,  the  Gold  Coast." 

RULE  IX. — APPOSITION. 

When  a  common  and  a  proper  name  are  associated  merely  to  explain  each  other, 
it  is  in  general  sufficient,  if  the  proper  name  begin  with  a  capital,  and  the  appella- 
tive, with  a  small  letter;  as,  "The  prophet  Elisha,  Matthew  the  publican,  the 
brook  Cherith,  the  river  Euphrates,  the  Ohio  river,  Warren  county,  Flatbush 
village,  New  York  city." 

RULE  X. — PERSONIFICATIONS. 

The  name  of  an  object  personified,  when  it  conveys  an  idea  strictly  individual, 
should  begin  with  a  capital;  as,  "  Upon  this,  Fancy  began  again  to  bestir  her- 
self."— Addison.  "  Come,  gentle  Spring,  ethereal  mildness,  come." — Thomson. 

RULE  XI. — DERIVATIVES. 

Words  derived  from  proper  names,  and  having  direct  reference  to  particular 
persons,  places,  sects,  or  nations,  should  begin  with  capitals;  as,  "  Platonic,  New- 
tonian, Greek,  or  Grecian,  Romish,  or  Roman,  Italic,  or  Italian,  German,  or 
Germanic,  Swedish,  Turkish,  Chinese,  Genoese,  French,  Dutch,  Scotch,  Welsh  :  " 
so,  perhaps,  "  to  Platonize,  Grecize,  Romanize,  Italicize,  Latinize,  or  Frenchify." 

RULE  XII.— OF  I  AND  0. 

The  words  /and  0  should  always  be  capitals ;  as,  "  Praise  the  Lord,  0  Jeru- 
salem ;  praise  thy  God,  0  Zion." — Psalm  cxlvii.  "  0  wretched  man  that  I 
am  !  " — "  For  that  which  I  do,  I  allow  not :  for  what  I  would,  that  do  I  not;  but 
what  I  hate,  that  do  I." — Rom.  vii,  24.  and  15. 

RULE  XIII.— OF  POETRY. 

Every  line  in  poetry,  except  what  is  regarded  as  making  but  one  verse  with  the 
preceding  line,  should  begin  with  a  capital ;  as, 

"  Our  sons  their  fathers'  failing  language  see, 

And  such  as  Chaucer  is,  shall  Dryden  be." — Pope. 

Of  the  exception,  some  editions  of  the  Psalms  in  Metre  are  full  of  examples ;  as, 
"  Happy  the  man  whose  tender  care 

relieves  the  poor  distress'd  ! 
When  troubles  compass  him  around, 
the  Lord  shall  give  him  rest." 

Psalms  with  Com.  Prayer,  N.  T.  1819,  Ps.  xli. 


CI1AP.   I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS FORMS.  155 

RULE  XIV. — OF  EXAMPLES. 

The  first  word  of  a  full  example,  of  a  distinct  speech,  or  of  a  direct  quotation, 
should  begin  with  a  capital;  as,  "  Hi-member  this  maxim  :  '  Know  thyself.'  " — 
"  A'iriril  suvs.  '  Labour  conquers  all  things.'  " — "  Jesus  answered  them,  Is  it  not 
written  in  your  law.  1  said,  \re  are  gods  V  " — John,  x,  34.  "  Thou  knowest  the 
commandments.  Do  not  commit  adultery,  Do  not  kill,  Do  not  steal,  Do  not  bear 
false  witness,  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother." — Luke,  xviii,  20. 

RULE  XV.— CHIEF  WORDS. 

( >rher  words  of  particular  importance,  and  such  as  denote  the  principal  subjects 
treated  of,  may  be  distinguished  by  capitals ;  and  names  subscribed  frequently 
have  capitals  throughout :  as,  "  In  its  application  to  the  Executive,  with  reference 
to  the  Legislative  branch  of  the  Government,  the  same  rule  of  action  should  make 
the  President  ever  anxious  to  avoid  the  exercise  of  any  discretionary  authority 
which  can  be  regulated  by  Congress." — ANUUKW  JACKSON,  1835. 

RULE  XVI. — NEEDLESS  CAPITALS. 

Capitals  are  improper  wherever  there  is  not  some  special  rule  or  reason  for  their 

:    a  century  ago  books   were  disfigured  by  their  frequency;    as,  "  Many  a 

Noble  Genius  is.  lost  for  want  of  Kilnnitlnn.      Which  wou'd  then  be  Much  More 

Liberal.      As  it  was  when  the  Church  Eujoy'd  her  Possessions.     And  Learning 

in  the  Dark  Ages,  Preserv'd  almost  only  among  the    Clergy" — CHARLES 

LzSLIB,  1700;  Divine  Might  of  Tyf/ies,  p.  228 

OBSERVATIONS. 

>f  the  alphabet,  read  by  their  names,  are  equivalent  to  words. 

•;_rns,  by  which  we  may  mark  and  particulari/e  objects  of 
.  named  or  nameles>  ;    a-.   "To  say,  therefore,  that  while  A  and  B  are  both 
\  ,:  e  or  less  quadrangular  than  B,  is  absurd." — Murray's  Gram.  50. 

fence  they  air  used  in  the  sciences  as  symbols  of   an  infinite  variety  of  things  or  ideas, 
'istrued  both  substantively  and  adjectively ;  as,  "In  ascending  from  the  note  C 
I),  the    interval  is  equal  to  an  inch  ;  and  from  D  to  E,  the  same." —  Music  of  Nafurf, 
"We  have  only  to  imagine  the  G  clef  placed  below  it." — Ib.     Any  of  their 
ms  may  hi-  u-cd  lor  such  purposes,  but  the  custom  of  each  science  determines  our 
|   bra  employs  small  Italics  ;  Music,  Horn  an  capitals  ;  Geometry,  for 
•  reck  characters  ;  and  Grammar,  in  some  part  or 
••  Then  comes  answer  like  an  ABC  book." — Beauties  of 
"  Tiieu  .//  like  an  a,  6,  c,  book. — Shaks^care"  See  A,  B, 

C,  in  ./  Better  : — "like  an  A-Bce-Cee  book." 

"  For  A,  his  magic  pen  evokes  an  O, 

And  turns  the  tide  of  Europe  on  the  foe." — Young. 

-'. — A  lavish  use  of  capita'.-  :y  purpose  for  which  the  letters  were 

.i-hed  in  rank;   and  <  •  to  the-  rules  which  govern  them,  may 

•  the  -writer'-  meaning.     On  many  oecasiu:  ,  their  use  or 

Mient  and  taste  of  authors  and  printers. 

This  kind  will,  for  the  most  part,  concern  <-lii,-f  m ink,  and  come  under  the 
I  Miiiar,  the  number  of  rules  is  increased  ;   but  the  fore- 

' irate  uniformity.     They  will   however 
lesirable  result ;  and  if   doubts  arise  in  their  application,   the  difficulties 
will  be  in  partieif.  1  not  in  the  general  principles  of  the  rules.     For 

our  Bibl>  d  be  thou,  I.<>KI> 

God  of  Israel  our  fath-  :  and  ever."    Others  say,  "BleflSed  be  thou,  LOKD    God 

of  I-r;..  •  T  and  ever."      And  others,'  "  ]',lc— ed  be  thou,  I 

Israel  our   Fathi  ..  The  last  is  wrong,  either  in  tl,<  1'.  or  for 

lack  of  a  comma  after  /-/<//.     The  others  differ  in  meaning;   because  they  con-true  the 
word/  7/,/-.  differently.     Which  is  right  I  know  not.     The 

the  Latin  Vulgate,  and  the  -e.-ond,  with  the  Greek  text  of  the  Septuagint ;  whick  two 
fame  -  here  di-a-ree,  without  ambiguity  in  either.* 

ah  eterno  in  eternum."—  Vrfg'ite.    "  0  Eterti. 

•>n  French  Bible.     "  EuXoy^rdf  ct  Kupu  6 
Qtoi  'l<rpur/X  6  ffurrjp  foGitt/  dno  roii  aiuvof  icai  tn>l  TOV  iiwvoj." — Stptuagint. 


156  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

OBS.  3.— The  innumerable  discrepancies  in  respect  to  capitals,  which,  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  disgrace  the  very  best  editions  of  our  most  popular  books,  are  a  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  want  of  better  directions  on  thh  point.  In  amending  the  rules  for  this 
purpose,  I  have  not  been  able  entirely  to  satisfy  myself;  and  therefore  must  needs  fail  to 
satisfy  the  very  critical  reader.  But  the  public  shall  have  the  best  instructions  I  can 
give.  On  Rule  1st,  concerning  Books,  it  may  be  observed,  that  when  particular  books 
or  writings  are  mentioned  by  other  terms  than  their  real  titles,  the  principle  of  the  rule 
does  not  apply.  Thus,  one  may  call  Paradise  Lost,  "  Milton's  great  poem  ;  "  or  the 
Diversions  of  Purley,  "the  etymological  investigations  of  Home  Tooke."  So  it  is  written 
in  the  Bible,  "  And  there  was  delivered  unto  him  the  book  of  the  prophet  Esaias." — 
Luke,  iv,  17.  Because  the  name  of  Esaias,  or  Isaiah,  seems  to  be  the  only  proper  title 
of  his  book. 

OBS.  4. — On  Rule  2d,  concerning  First  Words,  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  using  of 
other  points  than  the  period,  to  separate  sentences  that  are  totally  distinct  in  sense,  as 
is  sometimes  practised  in  quoting,  is  no  reason  for  the  omission  of  capitals  at  the  begin- 
ning of  such  sentences  ;  but,  rather,  an  obvious  reason  for  their  use.  Our  grammarians 
frequently  manufacture  a  parcel  of  puerile  examples,  and,  with  the  formality  of  appa- 
rent quotation,  throw  them  together  in  the  following  manner  :  "  He  is  above  disguise  ;  " 
"  wre  serve  under  a  good  master ;  "  "  he  rules  over  a  willing  people ;  "  "  we  should  do 
nothing  beneath  our  character." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  118.  These  sentences,  and  all 
others  so  related,  should,  unquestionably,  begin  with  capitals.  Of  themselves,  they  are 
distinct  enough  to  be  separated  by  the  period  and  a  dash.  With  examples  of  one's  own 
making,  the  quotation  points  may  be  used  or  not,  as  the  writer  pleases ;  but  not  on 
their  insertion  or  omission,  nor  even  on  the  quality  of  the  separating  point,  depends  in 
all  cases  the  propriety  or  impropriety  of  using  initial  capitals.  For  example :  "  The 
Future  Tense  is  the  form  of  the  verb  which  denotes  future  time ;  as,  John  will  come, 
you  shall  go,  they  will  learn,  the  sun  will  rise  to-morrow,  he  will  return  next  week." — 
Frazees  Improved  Gram.  p.  38  ;  Old  Edition,  35.  To  say  nothing  of  the  punctuation  here 
used,  it  is  certain  that  the  initial  words,  you,  they,  the,  and  he,  should  have  commenced 
with  capitals. 

OBS.  5. — On  Rule  3d,  concerning  Names  of  Deity,  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  words 
Lord  and  God  take  the  nature  of  proper  names,  only  when  they  are  used  in  reference 
to  the  Eternal  Divinity.  The  former,  as  a  title  of  honour  to  men,  is  usually  written  with 
a  capital ;  but,  as  a  common  appellative,  with  a  small  letter.  The  latter,  when  used 
with  reference  to  any  fabulous  deity,  or  when  made  plural  to  speak  of  many,  should 
seldom,  if  ever,  begin  with  a  capital ;  for  we  do  not  write  with  a  capital  any  common 
name  which  we  do  not  mean  to  honour  :  as,  "  Though  there  be  that  are  called  gods, 
whether  in  heaven  or  in  earth — as  there  be  gods  many,  and  lords  many." — 1  Cor.  viii,  5. 
But  a  diversity  of  design  or  conception  in  respect  to  this  kind  of  distinction,  has  pro- 
duced great  diversity  concerning  capitals,  not  only  in  original  writings,  but  also  in  re- 
prints and  quotations,  not  excepting  even  the  sacred  books.  Example  :  "  The  Lord  is 
a  great  God,  and  a  great  King  above  all  Gods." — Gurney's  Essays,  p.  88.  Perhaps  the 
writer  here  exalts  the  inferior  beings  called  gods,  that  he  may  honour  the  one  true  God 
the  more ;  but  the  Bible,  in  four  editions  to  which  I  have  turned,  gives  the  word  gods 
no  capital.  See  Psalms,  xcv,  3.  The  word  Heaven  put  for  God,  begins  with  a  capital  ; 
but  when  taken  literally,  it  commonly  begins  with  a  small  letter.  Several  nouns 
occasionally  connected  w"ith  names  of  the  Deity,  are  written  with  a  very  puzzling  di- 
versity:  as,  "The  Lord  of  Sabaoth;" — "The  Lord  God  of  hosts;" — "The  God  of 
armies ;  " — "  The  Father  of  goodness ;  " — "  The  Giver  of  all  good ;  " — "  The  Lord,  the 
righteous  Judge."  All  these,  and  many  more  like  them,  are  found  sometimes  with  a 
capital,  and  sometimes  without.  Sabaoth,  being  a  foreign  word,  and  used  only  in  this 
particular  connexion,  usually  takes  a  capital ;  but  the  equivalent  English  words  do  not 
seem  to  require  it.  For  "  Judge"  in  the  last  example,  I  would  use  a  capital ;  for  "good" 
and  "goodness,"  in  the  preceding  ones,  the  small  letter :  the  one  is  an  eminent  name, 
the  others  are  mere  attributes.  Alger  writes,  "the  Son  of  Man,"  with  two  capitals; 
others,  perhaps  more  properly,  "  the  Son  of  man,"  with  one — wherever  that  phrase 
occurs  in  the  New  Testament.  But,  in  some  editions,  it  has  no  capital  at  all. 

OBS.  6.— On  Rule  4th,  concerning  Proper  Names,  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  appli- 
cation of  this  principle  supposes  the  learner  to  be  able  to  distinguish  between  proper 
names  and  common  appellatives.  Of  the  difference  between  these  two  classes  of  words, 
almost  every  child  that  can  speak,  must  have  formed  some  idea.  I  once  noticed  that  a 
very  little  boy,  who  knew  no  better  than  to  call  a  pigeon  a  turkey  because  the  creature 
had  feathers,  was  sufficiently  master  of  this  distinction,  to  call  many  individuals  by 
their  several  names,  and  to  apply  the  common  words,  man,  woman-,  boy,  girl,  &c.,  with 
that  generality  which  belongs  to  them.  There  is,  therefore,  some  very  plain  ground  for 
this  rule.  But  not  all  is  plain,  and  I  will  not  veil  the  cause  of  embarrassment.  It  is  only 
an  act  of  imposture,  to  pretend  that  grammar  is  easy,  in  stead  of  making  it  so.  Innu- 


CHAP.    I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS.— FORMS.  157 

merable  instances  occur,  in  which  the  following  assertion  is  by  no  means  true  :  "  The 
distinction  between  a  common  and  a  proper  noun  is  very  oiboioiu" — Kirkh  mil's  (irain.  p. 
3J.     Xor  do  the  remarks  of  this  author,  or  those  of  any  other  that  I  am  acquainted  with, 
remove  my  part  of  the  difficulty.     We  are  told  by  this  gentleman,  (in  language  incor- 
rigibly bad, )   that,  ••  V  which  denote  the  genus  species,  or  variety  of    beings  or 
are  always  common  ;   as  tr,T,  the  genus  ;  nak,  «/>•//,  <•'  T,  different  spe- 
,  :>'a<-';  ,>uk,  varieties." — //;.  p.  :J2.    Now,  as  it  requires  but  one 

noitn  to  denote  either  a  genus  or  a  specie-*,  I  know  not  how  to  conceive  of  th--i*c  "minus 
which  dcnot  -  of  things"  except  a.s  of  other  confusion  and  nonsense  ;  and,  as 

for  the  three  varieties  of  oak,  there  are  surely  no  "  noun*  "  here  to  denote  them,  unless  he 
will  have  m/,  irl,  '.  to  be  nouns.  But  what  shall  we  say  of — "  the  Red  sea," 

the  White  sea,  the  BUck  sea;"  or,  with  two  capitals,  "  Red  Sea,  White  Sea,  Black 
in  1  a  thousand  other  similar  terms,  which  are  neither  proper  names  unless 
they  are  written  with  capitals,  nor  written  with  capitals  unless  they  are  first  judged  to 
be  proper  inmes  ?  The  simple  phrase,  "the  united  states,"  has  nothing  of  the  nature 
of  a  proper  name  ;  but  what  is  the  character  of  the  term,  when  written  with  two  capi- 
tals, "the  United  States?"  If  we  contend  that  it  is  not  then  a  proper  name,  we 
make  our  country  anonymous.  And  what  shall  we  say  to  those  grammarians  who 
contend,  that  "  //  .  l-'urf/i,  Sun,  and  Moon,  are  proper  names;  "  and  that,  as 

such,  they  should  be  written  with  capitals?     See   (fmrch  ill's   Gram.  p.  380. 

7. — It   would  seem  that  most,  if  not  all,  proper  names   had   originally  some 
common  signification,  and  that  very  many  of  our  ordinary  words  and    phrases  have 
inverted  into  proper  names  merely  by  being  applied  to  particular  persons,  places, 
or  objects,  and  receiving  the   distinction    of  capitals.     How   many   of  the  ocean  . 

.-lands,  m  Mintains,  states,  counties,  streets,  institutions,  buildings,  ami  other 

.  which  we  constantly  particularize,  have  no  other  proper  name.-  than  sac  i  as  are 

111    perhaps,  in  many  instances,  essentially  appellative  ! 

The  difficult.  will  be  further  noticed  below.    A  proper  noun  is  the 

••  particular  individual,  group,  or  people  ;   as,  Adam,  Boston,  the  Hudson,  the 

.    the   Rninann,  the   Jwa,  the   .It-suits,  the   Clu-rokt't-s.     This  is  as  good  a 

definition  a>  I  can  give  of  a  proper  noun  or  name.     Thus  we  commonly  distinguish  the 

•  >f  particular  persons,   j  laces,   nations,   tribes,  or  sects,   with   capitals.     Yet  we 

i,  the  moon,  the  equator,  and  many  other  particular  objects,  without  a  cap- 
ital ;   f  >r  the  word  ///    may  give  a  particular  meaning  to  a  common  noun,  without  con- 
verting it  into  a  proper  name  :  but  if  we  say  .W,  for  the  sun,  or  Limn,  for  the  moon,  we 
write  it  with   a  capital.     With   some  apparent  inconsistency,  we  commonly  write   the 
word    (!<-ntili-s   with  a  capital,  but  ji<if/nnx,  ht-dt/i'-n*,  and   /</-//r^r^t  without  :  thus   eu.-tom 
rked  these  names   with  degradation.     The  names  of  the  days  of  the  week,  and 
of  the    months,  ho\\v  -ed,   apj  ear   to  me  to  partake  of  the  nature  of 

proper  names,  and  to  require  capitals  :  as,  Sunday,  Monday,  Tuesday,  HWm-W,///,  Thurs- 
day, Fridaii,  Satn,  -  the  Friends  denominate  them,  Firstclay,  Secondday,  Third- 
'ifthday,  Sixthdayt  Seventhday.  So,  if  they  will  not  use  January,  Feb- 
ruary, &c.,  they  should  write  as  proper  names  their  Firstmontli,  Si-romlm  >,<th,  \e. 
Tin-  Hebrew  names  for  the  months,  wen-  also  proper  nouns  :  to  wit,  Abib,  /if,  Sivan, 
Thamu/,  Ab,  Klul,  Tisri,  Marchesvan,  Chisleu,  Tebeth,  Shebat,  Adar ;  the  year,  with 
the  a:  i  i>  lit  Je\»-,  bc^inniiiL;',  as  .  mr-  mice  did,  in  March. 

:  >:i  Ivule  ."jth,  concern]  >nr,  it  may  be  observed,  that  names  of 

office  or  rank,  however  high,  do  not  require  capitals  merely  as  such  ;  for,  when  we  use 
them  alone  in  their  ordina:  .r  simply  place  them  in  appo.-ition  with  proper 

.  without  intending  any  particular  honour,  we  begin  them  with  a  .-mall  letter:  as, 
"the.  •--••  our  mighty  sovereign,  Abb.  .vidthe 

King  .  "  —  "Tidal  kin- of  nations  ;  "— "  Bminer,  1  ;-  -ndon  ;  "  — "  Tin 

pha/.  the  ti:  <u  ;  duke  Teman,  duke  Omar,  duke  /epho,  duke  Kena/,  duke 

Korah,  duke  (Jatam,  and  duke  Amalek."  —  </',-//.  \\.\vi,  ,  ..etimes,  in  addi< 

which  even  the   •_  >    intended  to  be  shown  :  indeed 

down  at  the  tirst  time  to  buy  food."— r,Y//.  xliii,  l_»0.     "  ( )  mjford,  let  thy  8<  rvant,  I  prav 

.  word  in  my  h)  -Gen.    xliv,  IS.     The'  Bible,  which  mak.  - 

account  of  worldly  ho:  itals  under  this  rule;   but,  in  soyie  editions, 

we  find  "Xehemiah   th-  • .,[   ••  Her.id  tin-  T,  fmr, •//,"  each  with    a   i. 

capital.  Murray,  in  whose  illustrations  the  word  kin-j  occurs  nearly  one  hundred  times, 
seldom  honours  1:  [tal ;  and,  what  is  more,  in  all  this  ma%\kish  men- 

tioning  of  royalty,  nothing    i  .•„•///    knotrimi.      Example.-:   "The  Liny 

and  the  queen  had  put  on  their  robes."  —  Ml/n-ai/'.s  C,rn,n.  \>.  \.~>l.  "  The  /./////,  with  IILS 
life-guard,  has  just  passed  through  the  village."  —  //,,.  l.iO.  "Tin-  Lin>i  of  (iieat  Hritain's 
dominions."  —  Ih.  \.~y.  ••  ( )n  a  sudden  appeared  the  kin<i." — 1/>.  146.  "Long  live  the 
Kiinj  !  "  —  lh.  MI;.  •«  On  which  side  soever  the  hii,<j  rust  hi.-  tje8."—Ib.  I •'»'>.  "  It  is  the 
kiiiy  of  Great  Britain's."— Ib.  176.  "  He  desired  to  be  their  kiny."—Ib.  181.  "  They  desired 


158  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

him'  to  be  their  king" — Ib.  181.  "  He  caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  king." — Ib.  182. 
These  examples,  and  thousands  more  as  simple  and  worthless,  are  among  the  pretended 
quotations  by  which  this  excellent  man,  thought  "  to  promote  the  cause  of  virtue,  as 
well  as  of  learning  !  " 

OBS.  9. — On  llule  6th,  concerning  One  Capital  for  Compounds,  I  would  observe,  that 
perhaps  there  is  nothing  more  puzzling  in  grammar,  than  to  find  out,  amidst  all  the  di- 
versity of  random  writing,  and  wild  guess-work  in  printing,  the  true  way  in  which  the 
compound  names  of  places  should  be  written.  For  example  :  What  in  Greek  was  "  ho 
Areios  Pagos,"  the  Martial  Hill,  occurs  twice  in  the  New  Testament :  once,  in  the  accusa- 
tive case,  "ton  Areion  Pagon,"  which  is  rendered  Areopagus ;  and  once,  in  the  genitive, 
" tou  Areiou  Pagou,"  which,  in  different  copies  of  the  English  Bible  is  made  Mars'  Hill, 
Mars'  hill,  Mars' -hill,  Marshill,  Mars  Hill,  and  perhaps  Mars  hill.  But  if  Mars  must 
needs  be  put  in  the  possessive  case,  (which  I  doubt,)  they  are  all  wrong :  for  then  it 
should  be  Mars' s  Hill;  as  the  name  Campus  Martins  is  rendered  tl Mars' s  Field,"  in  Collier's 
Life  of  Marcus  Antoninus.  We  often  use  nouns  adjectively;  and  Areios  is  an  adjec- 
tive :  I  would  therefore  write  this  name  Mars  Hill,  as  we  write  Bunker  Hill.  Again  : 
Whitehaven  and  Fairhaven  are  commonly  written  with  single  capitals ;  but,  of  .six  or 
seven  towns  called  Neivhaven  or  New  Haven,  some  have  the  name  in  one  word  and  some 
in  two.  Haven  means  a  harbour,  and  the  words,  New  Haven,  written  separately,  would 
naturally  be  understood  of  a  harbour  :  the  close  compound  is  obviously  more  suitable 
for  the  name  of  a  city  or  town.  In  England,  compounds  of  this  kind  'are  more  used 
than  in  America  ;  and  in  both  countries  the  tendency  of  common  usage  seems  to  be, 
to  contract  and  consolidate  such  terms.  Hence  the  British  counties  are  almost  all 
named  by  compounds  ending  with  the  word  shire ;  as,  Nottinghamshire,  Derbyshire, 
Staffordshire,  Leicestershire,  Northamptonshire,  Warwickshire,  Worcestershire,  &c. 
But  the  best  books  we  have,  are  full  of  discrepancies  and  errors  in  respect  to  names, 
whether  foreign  or  domestic ;  as,  "  Ulswater  is  somewhat  smaller.  The  handsomest  is 
Derwentwater." — Balbi's  Geog.  p.  212.  "  Ullswater,  a  lake  of  England,"  &c.  "  Dencent- 
Water,  a  lake  in  Cumberland,"  &c. —  Univ.  Gazetteer.  "  Ulleswater,  lake,  Eng.  situated 
partly  in  Westmoreland,"  &c. —  Worcester's  Gaz.  "  Derwent  Water,  lake,  Eng.  in  Cum- 
berland."— Ibid.  These  words,  I  suppose,  should  be  written  Ullswater  and  Derwenttmter. 

OBS.  10. — An  affix,  or  termination,  differs  from  a  distinct  word ;  and  is  commonly 
understood  otherwise,  though  it  may  consist  of  the  same  letters  and  have  the  same 
sound.  Thus,  if  I  were  to  write  Stow  Bridge,  it  would  be  understood  of  a  bridge ;  if 
Stowbridge,  of  a  town  :  or  the  latter  might  even  be  the  name  of  &  family.  So  Belli- isle,  is 
the  proper  name  of  a  strait ;  and  Belle  Isle  of  several  different  islands  in  France  and 
America.  Upon  this  plain  distinction,  and  the  manifest  inconvenience  of  any  violation 
of  so  clear  an  analogy  of  the  language,  depends  the  propriety  of  most  of  the  corrections 
which  I  shall  offer  under  Rule  6th.  But  if  the  inhabitants  of  any  place  choose  to  call 
their  town  a  creek,  a  river,  a  harbour,  or  a  bridge,  and  to  think  it  officious  in  other  men 
.to  pretend  to  know  better,  they  may  do  as  they  please.  If  between  them  and  their 
correctors  there  lie  a  mutual  charge  of  misnomer,  it  is  for  the  literary  world  to  deter- 
mine who  is  right.  Important  names  are  sometimes  acquired  by  mere  accident.  Those 
which  are  totally  inappropriate,  no  reasonable  design  can  have  bestowed.  Thus  a  fan- 
cied resemblance  between  the  island  of  Aquidneck,  in  Narraganset  Bay,  and  that  of 
Rhodes,  in  the  vEgean  Sea,  has  at  length  given  to  a  state,  or  republic,  which  lies  chicjh/  on 
the  main  land,  the  absurd  name  of  Rhode  Island ;  so  that  now,  to  distinguish  Aquidneck 
itself,  geographers  resort  to  the  strange  phrase,  "  the  Island  of  11  hode  hland." — Balbi. 
The  official  title  of  this  little  republic,  is,  •«  the  State  of  Rhode  Inland  and  Proridcnce  1'lant- 
atio/m."  But  this  name  is  not  only  too  long  for  popular  use,  but  it  is  doubtful  in  its 
construction  and  meaning.  It  is  capable  of  being  understood  in  four  different  ways.  1. 
A  stranger  to  the  fact,  would  not  learn  from  this  phrase,  that  the  "  Providence  Planta- 
tions "  are  included  in  the  "  State  of  Rhode  Island,"  but  would  naturally  inter  the  con- 
trary. 2.  The  phrase,  "  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations,"  may  be  supposed 
to  mean  "Rhode  Island  [Plantations]  and  Providence  Plantations."  3.  It  may  be  un- 
derstood to  mean  "  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  [i.  e.  two]  Plantations."  4*  It  may 
be  taken  for  "Rhode  Island"  [i.  e.  as  an  island]  and  the  "Providence  Plantations." 
Which,  now,  of  all  these  did  Charles  the  Second  mean,  when  he  gave  the  colony  this 
name,  with  his  charter,  in  1663?  It  happened  that  he  meant  the  last;  but  I  doubt 
whether  any  man  in  the  state,  except  perhaps  some  learned  lawyer,  can  parse  the  phrase, 
with  any  certainty  of  its  true  construction  and  meaning.  This  old  title  can  never  be 
used,  except  in  law.  To  write  the  popular  name  Rhodcisland,  as  Dr.  Webster  has  it,* 
would  be  some  improvement  upon  it;  but  to  make  it  Rhode/and,  or  simply  Rhode,  would 
be  much  more  appropriate.  As  for  Rhode  Island,  it  ought  to  mean  nothing  but  the 
island  ;  and  it  is,  in  fact,  an  abuse  of  language,  to  apply  it  otherwise.  In  one  of  his  pars- 

*  Webster's  old  American  Spelling-Book,  p.  121. 


CHAP.    I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS. FORMS.  159 

--.ns,  S;  mborn  gives  us  for  good  English  the  following  tautology  :  "  Rhode  Inland 
\  its  name  from  the  island  of  Rhode   Jxlund." — Aiiah/firal    drum.  p.  37.     Think  of 
that  sentence  ! 

()I;N.  11. — ()u  Rules  7th  and  8th,  concerning   Tiro  Capiftih  for  Compounds,!  would 

.  with  ;i  general   reference  to  t!.  which   <le>i<rnate  particular 

-y  matter  to  determine,  either  from  custom  or  from 

analo-v,  \\hrther  >ueh  eonnnou  words  as  may  happen  to  be  embraced  in  them,  are  to  be 
;  compound  proper  names  and  written  with  capitals,  or  to  be  regarded 
as  appellatives,  requiring  small  letters  according  to  linle  '.»th.  Again  the  question  may 
he,  whether  they  ought  not  to  be  joined  to  the  foregoing  word,  according  to  Rule  6th. 
Let  the  mil;.  uples  under  these  four  rules  he  duly  considered  :  for  u- 

,  h  of  them,  i-  diverse  ;  so  much  so,  that  we  not  unfrequently  find  it  contra- 
dictory, in  the  very  *ame  page,  paragraph,  or  even  sentence.  Perhaps  we  may  reach 
some  principles  of  uniformity  and  con-i-4ency,  by  observing  the  several  diH'erent  kinds 
of  phrases  thus  used.  1.  We  often  add  an  adjective  to  an  old  proper  name  to  make  a 
new  one,  or  to  serve  the  purpose  of  distinction:  as,  New  York,  New  Orlean-. 

I,  New   Hedford  ;  North  America,  South  America;  Vppc-r  Canada,  Lower  Can- 
B,  Little  Pedee  ;  Ka-t  Cambridge,  West  Cambridge;  Troy,  West  Troy. 
All  names  of  this  class  require  two  capitals:  except  a  few  which  are  joined  together ; 
•iniinjiton,  which  is  sometimes  more  analogically  written  \ortli   //</////;/•///.     'J.  We 
often  u-e  ti.  r  case  with  some  common  noun  after  it;  as,  Behring's  Straits, 

Balh'n's  Bay,  Cook's  Inlet,  Van  Diemen's  Land,  Martha's  Vineyard,  Sacket's  Harbour, 
Glenn's  Falls.     Names  of  this  class  generally  have  more  than  one  capital ;  and  perhaps 
all  of  them  should  be  written  so,  except  such  as  coalesce  ;  as,   Gravesend,  Moorstown, 
the  CrowMi''-t.     '•>.   \Ve  sometimes  use  two  common  nouns  with  of  between  them  ;  as, 
;  Hope,  the  l>le  of  Man,  the  Isles  of  Shoals,  the  Lake  of  the  Woods, 
the  Mountains  of  the  Moon.    Such  nouns  are  usually  written  with  more  than  one  capi- 
tal.    I  would  therefore  write  "the  Mount  of  Olives"  in  this  manner,  though  it  is  not 
•ily  found  so  in  the  Bible.     4.  We  often  use  an  adjective  and  a  common  noun; 
as,  the  Yellow  sea,  the  Indian  ocean,  the  White  hills,  Crooked  lake,  the  Red  river ; 
K  ith  two  capitals,  the  Yellow  Sea,  the  Indian  Ocean,  the  White  Hills,  Crooked 
e,  the  Red  River.     In  this  class  of  names  the  adjective  is  the  distinctive  word,  and 
is  a  capital;  respecting  the  other  term,  usage  is  divided,  but  seems  rather  to 
»ur  two  capitals.     5.  We  frequently  put  an  appellative,  or  common  noun,  before  or 
^r  a  proper  name ;  as,  New  York  city,  Washington  street,  Plymouth  county,  Green- 
wich vilLige.     "  The   Carondelet  canal  extends  from  the  city  of  New  Orleans  to  the 
bayou  St.  John,  connecting  lake  Pontchartrain  with  the  Mississippi  river." — Balbi's 
.     Thi>  is  apposition.     In  phrases  of  this  kind,  the  common  noun  often  has  a  capi- 
tal, but  it  seldom  absolutely  requires  it ;  and  in  general  a  small  letter  is  more  correct, 
iu  >ome  few  instances  in  which  the  common  noun  is  regarded  as  a  permanent 
the  name;  as  in  Washington  (V  ''////.     G.  The  words  Mount,  C'tpr,  Lake, 

and  Ha y,  are  now  generally  written  with  capital*  when  connected  with  their  proper 
Mount  Hope,  Cape  Cod,  Lake  Erie,  Casco  Bay.     But  they  are  not  always 
written,   even  in  modem   books;    and  in  the   Bible  we  read  of  ""  mount   Horeb, 
ount  Sinai,  mount   Zion,    mount  Olivet,"  and  many  others,  always  with  a  single 
pital. 

1  2. —In  modern  compound  names,  the  hyphen  is  now  less  frequently  used  than 
:    few   years    ago.     They  seldom,  if  ever,  need  it,  unless    they  are  employed   as 
:id  then  there  is  a  manite-t  propriety  in  inserting  it.  Thus  the  phrase,  "the 
•  mlon  l>ridge,"  can   be   understood  only  of  a  i.<  in.  London;  anil  if  we 

tend   by  it    a  bri  M    London,  \\  e  i  •••  he  Nc\\  -London  Bridge."      So 

properly  a  directory  for  New  York,  but  a  new  direc- 
York.     I  tl   book--  with  titles  which,  for  this  reason,  we: 

ret  to  the  ancient  Scripture  name-;,  of  this  cia-s,  we  lind,  in 
:   as   in  other  books,  many   discrepancies     The 

ader  :;  lir  specimen  of  them,  by  compai.  :  \vo  vocab- 

ker'a  IM-V.     lie  %\  ill  there  meet  with  an  abundance  of  example-  like  ' 
ih  ;  Talitha  Cumi,  Talithacumi ;  Nathan  M.-lech,  N,r 

rholah;    Ila/.el    Llp.'.ni,  Ila/eleponi ;   Ax  noth  Tabor, 
otli-  .il-hamon  ;    Ilamou    <  Jog,    Ilamongog;    liaal    /. 

ul) ;  Sht'-thar  IJo/.'nai,  Shether-b.  r.'ulacli  l!al  adan,  MiTodarh-bal  adan." 

•ing  ineo;;-  and  many  more,  lias  J)r.  \\  '  yped  from 

alker,  in  h  ':   tionary  !  more  need  of  the  hyphen  in   such   i. 

in  in  those  of  modern  times.     They  ought,  in  some  in>tan< -es,  to  be  joined  together 
ithout  it;    and,  in  others,  to  be  written  separately,  with  double  capit,. 

-hould  be  had  to  the  ancient  text.   The  phrase,  ••  Talitha,  cumi  "  —  i.  e.  "  1  ' 

—is  found  in  some  Bibles,  ••  Talitha-cumi ; "  but  this  form  of  it  is  no  more  correct 


160  THE    GRAMMAR    OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   I. 

than  either  of  those  quoted  above.     See  Mark,  y,  41st,  in  Griesbach's  Greek  Testament, 
•where  a  comma  divides  this  expression. 

OBS.  13. — On  Rule  llth,  concerning  Derivatives,  I  would  observe,  that  not  only  the 
proper  adjectives,  to  which  this  rule  more  particularly  refers,  but  also  nouns,  and  even 
verbs,  derived  from  such  adjectives,  are  frequently,  if  not  generally,  written  with  an. 
initial  capital.  Thus,  from  Greece,  we  have  Greek,  Greeks,  Greekish,  Greekling,  Grecize, 
Grecism,  Grecian,  Grecians,  Grecianize.  So  Murray,  copying  Blair,  speaks  of  "  Latin- 
ized English  ;  "  and,  again,  of  style  strictly  "  English,  without  Scotticisms  or  Gallicisms."  — 
Mur.  Gram.  p.  295  ;  Blair's  Lect.  p.  93.  But  it  is  questionable,  how  far  this  principle  re- 
specting capitals  ought  to  be  carried.  The  examples  in  Dr.  Johnson's  quarto  Dictionary 
exhibit  the  words,  gallicisms,  anglicisms,  Hebrician,  latinize,  latinized,  judaized,  and 
christianized,  without  capitals ;  and  the  words  Latinisms,  Grecisms,  Hebraisms,  and 
Frenchified,  under  like  circumstances,  with  them.  Dr.  Webster  also  defines  Romanize, 
"  To  Latinize ;  to  conform  to  Romish  opinions."  In  the  examples  of  Johnson,  there  is  a 
manifest  inconsistency.  Now,  \vith  respect  to  adjectives  from  proper  names,  and  also  to 
the  nouns  formed  immediately  from  such  adjectives,  it  is  clear  that  they  ought  to  have 
capitals  :  no  one  will  contend  that  the  words  American  and  Americans  should  be  written 
with  a  small  a.  With  respect  to  Americanism,  Gallicism,  and  other  similar  words,  there 
may  be  some  room  to  doubt.  But  I  prefer  a  capital  for  these.  And,  that  we  may  have 
a  uniform  rule  to  go  by,  1  would  not  stop  here,  but  would  write  Americanize  and  A  >m<ri- 
canized  with  a  capital  also  ;  for  it  appears  that  custom  is  in  favour  of  thus  distinguishing 
nearly  all  verbs  and  participles  of  this  kind,  so  long  as  they  retain  an  obvious  reference 
to  their  particular  origin.  But  when  any  such  word  ceases  to  be  understood  as  referring 
directly  to  the  proper  name,  it  may  properly  be  written  without  a  capital.  Thus  we 
write  jalap  from  Jalapa,  hermetical  from  Hermes,  hymeneal  from  Hymen,  simony,  from 
Simon,  philippic  from  Philip ;  the  verbs,  to  hector,  to  romance,  to  japan,  to  christen,  to 
philippize,  to  galvanize ;  and  the  adverbs  hermetically  and  jesuitically,  all  without  a  capi- 
tal :  and  perhaps  judaize,  christianize,  and  their  derivatives,  may  join  this  class.  Dr. 
Webster's  octavo  Dictionary  mentions  "  the prussic  acid"  and  tt2Jrnssian  blue,"  without 
a  capital ;  and  so  does  Worcester's. 

OBH.  14. — On  Rule  12th,  concerning  7  and  O,  it  may  be  observed,  that  although 
many  who  occasionally  write,  are  ignorant  enough  to  violate  this,  as  well  as  every  other 
rule  of  grammar,  yet  no  printer  ever  commits  blunders  of  this  sort.  Consequently,  the 
few  erroneous  examples  Avhich  will  be  exhibited  for  correction  under  it,  will  not  be  un- 
designed mistakes.  Among  the  errors  of  books,  we  do  not  find  the  printing  of  the  words 
I  and  O  in  small  characters ;  but  the  confounding  of  O  with  the  other  interjection  oh,  is 
not  uncommon  even  among  grammarians.  The  latter  has  no  concern  with  this  rule,  nor  is 
it  equivalent  to  the  former,  as  a  sign  :  O  is  a  note  of  wishing,  earnestness,  and  vocative 
address  ;  but  oh  is,  properly,  a  sign  of  sorrow,  pain,  or  surprise.  In  the  following  ex- 
ample, therefore,  a  line  from  Milton  is  perverted : 

"  Oh  thou  !  that  with  surpassing  glory  crowned  !  " — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  88. 

OBS.  15. — On  Rule  13th,  concerning  Poetry,  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  princi^ 
applies  only  to  regular  versification,  which  is  the  common  form,  if  not  the  distinguishi: 
mark,  of  poetical  composition.     And,  in  this,  the  practice  of  beginning  every  line  wi 
a  capital  is  almost  universal ;  but  I  have  seen  some  books  in  which  it  was  whimsi 
disregarded.    Such  poetry  as  that  of  Macpherson's  Ossian,  or  such  as  the  common  tr; 
lation  of  the  Psalms,  is  subjected  neither  to  this  rule,  nor  to  the  common  laws  of  ve 

Ous.  16. — On  Rule  14th,  concerning  Examples,  Speeches,  and  Quotations,  it  may 
observed,  that  the  propriety  of  beginning  these  with  a  capital  or  otherwise,  depends  in 
some  measure  upon  their  form.  One  may  suggest  certain  words  by  way  of  example,  (as 
see,  saw,  seeing,  seen,)  and  they  will  require  no  capital;  or  he  may  sometimes  write  one 
half  of  a  sentence  in  his  own  words,  and  quote  the  other  with  the  guillemots  and  no 
capital ;  but  whatsoever  is  cited  as  being  said  with  other  relations  of  what  is  called  per- 
son, requires  something  to  distinguish  it  from  the  text  into  which  it  is  woven.  Thus 
Cobbett  observes,  that,  "The  French,  in  their  Bible,  say  Le  Vcrbe,  where  \ve  say  The 
Word."  — E.  Gram.  p.  21.  Cobbett  says  the  whole  of  this  ;  but  he  here  refers  one  short 
phrase  to  the  French  nation,  and  an  other  to  the  English,  not  improperly  beginning 
each  with  a  capital,  and  further  distinguishing  them  by  Italic^.  Our  common  Bibles 
make  no  use  of  the  quotation  points,  but  rely  solely  upon  capitals  and  the  common 
points,  to  show  where  any  particular  speech  begins  or  ends.  In  some  instances,  the 
insufficiency  of  these  means  is  greatly  felt,  notwithstanding  the  extraordinary  care  of 
the  original  writers,  in  the  use  of  introductory  phrases.  Murray  says,  "  When  a  quo- 
tation is  brought  in  obliquely  after  a  comma,  a  capital  is  unnecessary :  as,  "  Solomon 
observes,  '  that  pride  goes  before  destruction.'  "  —  Octavo  Gram.  p.  284.  But,  as  the 
word  '  that '  belongs  not  to  Solomon,  and  the  next  word  begins  his  assertion,  I  think  we 


CHAP.   I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTERS. ERRORS. 

lie  it,  "Solomon  oh>erves,  tlnit,  '  7V/<A-  t/o<f/i  before  destruction.'  "     Or,  if  we 
t-i  quote  liim  literally,  we  may  omit  the  guillemets,  and  say,  "Solomon 
res  that  pri  .  .ore  destruction." 

I.Ml'KOPIUKTIKS  FOR  COIUWCTION. 

ERRORS   RESI>K(TIX<;   CAPITALS. 

$y-  [Th"  improprieties  In  the  f.. 11.. win-  ex  imple-  are  to  be  corrected  onlly  bv  the  Iparn- - 

:.. lined    from   tlum    with   siu-h   .-li- 

if.juiic.     A  e..met  example  \\ill  oeoasiunallv  he  admitted  fur  r  nitr.ist,  or  that 

.     It  \vill  al-  cupidity 

nd  wake  up.     Lut  a  full  explanation  of  what  is  intended,  will  be  afforded  in  tin 

UNDKK  HULK  I.  —  OF  BOOKS. 

"  Many  a  reader  of  the  bible  knows  not  who  wrote  the  acts  of  the  apostles."  —  G.  B. 

!"(>er,  because  the  words,  biUe.,  acts,  and  apottltt,  here  begin  wrii  -mail 
nle  l.-t,  ••  \\lieii  par  icular  books  are  mentioned  by  their  names  the  chief  words 

in  their  •  n  1  t|,«.  other  letters  are  small."     Therefore,  "  Bible"  should  begin  with  a 

.  '  ca<  h  with  a  large  A.] 

"  The  sons  Of  Lei  i.  the  chief  of  the  fathers,  were  written  in  the  book  of  the  chroni- 

S      i  i'>  Bn;u:  :   A". •//.  xii,  'J3.     "  Are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the 
Solomon  r  "  —  S<  xi,  41.     "  Are  they  nut  written  in  the  book  of  the 

C'liruni.-li's  of  thekin^  of  l>rael :  "  —  AI.CKII  :   1   /  "  Are  tliey  not  written 

in  the  hook  of  the  chronii-lc*  of  the  kin^s  of  Judah  *:  "  —  SCOTT  :  ib.  vi»r.  4o.     ««  Which 

i  in  the  la\v  of  Mo-cs,  and  in  the  prophets,  and  in  the   psalms."  — 
.  ;..  41.     " The  narrative  of  wlii-hma;.  i  Jpsephus's  ffistory  of  the 

ix.      "  Tliis  history  of  the  Jewish  war  was  Josephus's 

.    .lid  publi-'  A.  I).  7~>." — A  -//'<.v.      "•!   have  re. id,'  says 

.    'the  chronology  of  Justus  of  Tiherias.'  "  —  /,•.  Jof.  1.  'hilosophical 

\  i-itten  l>y  James  Harris,  Esquire."  —  M<n-r<ifs  Cram.  p.  34.     "The  reader  is 
Stfoud's  sketch  of  the  slave  lawp." —   :  .  i,  -•'>.    "  But  (jod  has 

hilile  that  it  interprets  itself."  —  Ih.  i,  78.    "  In  Io(i2,  with  the  help  of  Hop- 
kins,  lie  completed  the  psalter."  —  M  '/•<-,  p.   -js:}.      "(iardincr  says  this  of 
.  whom  the  universal  biographical  dictionary  and  the  American  encyclopedia 
:hat  he  died  in  1  ">!!>." — .\nfli»r.    "The title  of  a  Book,  to  wit :  '  English  Grammar 

kc. — Kirl;lnnn'K  drum.  p.  '2.     "  We  had  not,  at  that  time,  S< 

Kirk!;  .mar  in  familiar  Lectures.'" — Ib.  p.  3.     "When  you  parse,  you  may 

you."  —  Ib.  p.  o3.     "Whenever   you   parse,  you  may 
," — V>.  p.   113.     "Adc'.un.,'    was  the  author  of  a 

grammatical  and  criti'-al  dic-rionary  of  theOerman  lau^ua^e.  and  other  works." —  f '„/>-. 
'••y,  William,  author  of  •  the  poor  man's  li'trary,'  and  a  translation  of 
uch,  died  in  1-370."  —  Ib. 


IiL'LK    TF. OF     KlKST    WoHDS. 

\-  :  improve  your  time  :  !'••  :  sins."  —  Murrny's  Gram.  p.  61. 

•••(•online 
il."    Therefore,  u  Jiiipnive.  ' 

.1  F.J 

'•uptin-4  ;    t  ;  ;x  Hon  is  bi)l-l."  —  M,,r.  dram. 

,.iin  :  "It  may  :  .1,1  walk;  they  should 

B  above-  dis- 
'  —  Ih.  ]).  J 

'.und  with  worse'illu  -:.iiri- 

!«-w    of    tli'  ;my    just 

abundant  ;    but    :  r.    tlieu    lc"  : 

merit!.  la  his  who  could  writ  '."  —  Author.     ' 

i  liri^lit  boy:  "pray,  what  arc  •  rhnMr.  Auth  >r  make  ne\\ 

when   he   pi'  i  diem,     but 

what  ft]  ..  i/  -  "       tafSWl    :  :     M 

of  the  '  '  -'lisname,  •  .  rheir  torn..  h  call  them 

"  if  is  a  personal  proiioun.  of  tlie 
third  } .  \lsr."—Oomly'»  <ir-im.  TJth  E 1.  -  .al  pronoun, 

11 


162  THE    GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   I. 

of  the  first  person  plural."  —  Ib.  138.  "  thee  is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  second  person 
singular."  —  Ib.  126.  "  contentment  is  a  noun  common,  of  the  third  person  singular."  — 
Ib.  128.  "  were  is  a  neuter  verb,  of  the  indicative  mood,  imperfect  tense."  —  Ib,  129. 

UNDER  RULE  III.  —  OF  DEITY. 
"  O  thou  dispenser  of  life  !  thy  mercies  are  boundless." — W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  449. 

[FORMULE — Not  proper,  because  the  word  dispenser  begins  with  a  small  letter.  But,  according  to  Rule  3d, 
"  All  names  of  the  Deity,  and  sometimes  their  emphatic  substitutes,  should  begin  with  capitals.  Therefore, 
"  Dispenser  "  should  here  begin  with  a  capital  D.] 

"  Shall  not  the  judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  ? " — SCOTT  :  Gen.  xviii,  25.  "  And  the 
spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  330.  It  is  the 
gift  of  him,  who  is  the  great  author  of  good,  and  the  Father  of  mercies." — Ib.  287.  "  This 
is  thy  god  that  brought  thee  up  out  of  Egypt." — SCOTT,  ALGER  :  Neh.  ix,  18.  "  For  the 
lord  is  our  defence;  and  the  holy  one  of  Israelis  our  king."  See  Psalm  Ixxxix,  18. 
"By  making  him  the  responsible  steward  of  heaven's  bounties." — Anti-Slavery  Mag.  i, 
29.  "  Which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day." — SCOTT,  I('IUEXDS  : 
2  Tim.  iv,  8.  "  The  cries  of  them  *  *  *  entered  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  sabaoth." 
— SCOTT  :  Jas.  v,  4.  "  In  Horeb,  the  deity  revealed  himself  to  Moses,  as  the  eternal  I 
am,  the  self-existent  one;  and,  after  the  first  discouraging  interview  of  his  messengers 
with  Pharaoh,  he  renewed  his  promise  to  them,  by  the  awful  name,  jehovah — a  name  till 
then  unknown,  and  one  which  the  Jews  always  held  it  a  fearful  profanation  to  pro- 
nounce."— Author.  "And  god  spake  unto  Moses,  and  said  uiito  him,  I  am  the  lord: 
and  I  appeared  unto  Abraham,  unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob,  by  the  name  of  god  al- 
mighty; but  by  my  name  jehovah  was  I  not  known  to  them."  See*  Exod.  vi,  2. 
"  Thus  saith  the  lord  the  king  of  Israel,  and  his  redeemer  the  lord  of  hosts  ;  I  am  the 
first,  and  I  am  the  last ;  and  besides  me  there  is  no  god."  See  Isa.  xliv,  6. 

"  His  impious  race  their  blasphemy  renew' d, 
And  nature's  king  through  nature's  optics  view'd." — Dryden,  p.  90. 

UNDER  RULE  IV. — OF  PROPER  NAMES. 

"Islamism  prescribes  fasting  during  the  month  ramazan." — Balbi's  Geoff,  p.  17. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  ramazan  here  begins  with  a  small  letter.  But,  according  to  Rule 
4th,  "  Proper  names,  of  every  description,  should  always  begin  with,  capitals."  Therefore,  "  Ramazan  " 
should  begin,  with  a  capital  R.  The  word  is  also  misspelled  :  it  should  rather  be  Ramadan.] 

"  Near  mecca,  in  arabia,  is  jebel  nor,  or  the  mountain  of  light,  on  the  top  of  which 
the  mussulmans  erected  a  mosque,  that  they  might  perform  their  devotions  where,  ac- 
cording to  their  belief,  mohammed  received  from  the  angel  gabriel  the  first  chapter  of 
the  Koran." — Author.  "  In  the  kaaba  at  mecca,  there  is  a  celebrated  block  of  volcanic 
basalt,  which  the  mohammedans  venerate  as  the  gift  of  gabriel  to  abraham,  but  their 
ancestors  once  held  it  to  be  an  image  of  remphan,  or  saturn  ;  so  « the  image  which  fell 
down  from  jupiter,'  to  share  with  diaua  the  homage  of  the  ephesians,  was  probably 
nothing  more  than  a  meteoric  stone." — Id.  "  When  the  lycaonians,  at  lystra,  took  paul 
and  barnabas  to  be  gods,  they  called  the  former  mercury,  on  account  of  his  eloquence, 
and  the  latter  jupiter,  for  the  greater  dignity  of  his  appearance." — Id.  "  Of  the  writings 
of  the  apostolic  fathers  of  the  first  century,  but  few  have  come  down  to  us ;  yet  we 
have  in  those  of  barnabas,  clement  of  rome,  hernias,  ignatius,  and  polycarp,  very  certain 
evidence  of  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the  New  Testament  is  a 
voucher  for  the  old." — Id. 

"  It  is  said  by  tatian,  that  theagenes  of  rhegium,  in  the  time  of  cambyses,  stesimbrotus 
the  thracian,  antimachus  the  cotophonian,  herodotus  of  halicarnassus,  dionysius  the 
olynthian,  ephorus  of  cuma?,  philochorus  the  athenian,  metaclides  and  chamacleon  the 
peripatetics,  and  zenodotus,  aristophanes,  callimachus,  crates,  eratosthenes,  aristar- 
chus,  and  apollodorus,  the  grammarians,  all  wrote  concerning  the  poetry,  the  birth,  and 
the  age  of  homer.  (See  Coleridge 's  Introd.  p.  57.)  Yet,  for  aught  that  now  appears, 
the  life  of  homer  is  as  fabulous  as  that  of  hercules  ;  and  some  have  even  suspected, 
that,  as  the  son  of  jupiter  and  alcmena,  has  fathered  the  deeds  of  forty  other  herculeses, 
so  this  unfathered  son  of  critheis,  themisto,  or  whatever  dame — this  melesigenes,  mse- 

*  Where  the  word  "  See  "  accompanies  the  reference,  the  reader  may  generally  understand  that  the  cita- 
tion, whether  right  or  wrong  iu  regard  to  grammar,  is  not  iu  all  respect*  t-xactiy  as  it  will  be  found  iu  the 
place  referred  to.  Oases  of  this  kiud,  however,  will  occur  but  seldom ;  and  ic  is  hoped  the  reason  for  ad- 
mitting a  few,  will  be  sufficiently  obvious.  Some  rules  are  so  generally  known  and  observed,  that  one  might 
search  long  for  half  a  dozen  examples  of  their  uudesigued  violation.  \Vherever  au  error  is  made  intentional ly 
in  the  Exercises,  the  true  reading  and  reference  are  to  be  expected  in  the  Key. 


CIIAP.  I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY.  -  LETTERS.  -  ERRORS.  163 

onidcs,  homer  —  the  blind  schoolmaster,  and  poet,  of  Smyrna,  chios,  colophon,  salamis, 
rhodes  argos,  athens,  or  whatever  place  —  has,  by  the  help  of  lycurgus,  solori,  jiisistra- 
tus,  and  other  learned  ancients,  been  made  up  of  many  poets  or  homers,  and  set  so  far 
aloft  and  aloof  on  old  parnassus,  as  to  become  a  god  in  the  eyes  of  all  greece,  a  wonder 
in  those  of  all  Christendom."  —  Author. 

"  Why  so  sagacious  in  your  guesses  ? 
Your  effs,  and  tees,  and  arrs,  and  esses  ?  "  —  Swift. 

UNDER  RULE  V.  —  OF  TITLES. 

"The  king  has  conferred  on  him  the  title  of  duke."  —  M  array's  Key,  8vo,  p.  193. 

[FORMCLE.  —  Not  proper,  because  the  word  dukf.  begius  with  a   small   letter.     But,  according  to  Rule  5th. 
;  ntlice  or  honour,  and  epithets  of  distinction,  applied  to  persons,  begin  usually  with  capitals.'' 
Therefore,  "  Duke  "  should  here  begin  with  a  capital  D.J 

"  At  the  court  of  queen  Elizabeth."—  Murray's  Gram.  Oct.  p.  157  ;  DuoJ.  p.  12G  ;  Fisk's, 

i/.     "  The  laws  of  nature  are,  truly,    what  lord  Bacon  styles  his  aphorisms, 

law*."  —  Murray's  Key,  p.  260.     "  Sixtus  the  fourth  was,  if  I  mistake  not,  a 

great  collector  of  books."  —  Ib.  p.  257.     "  Who  at  that  time  made  up  the  court  of  king 

Charles  the  second."  —  Murray's  Gram.  p.  314.     "  In  case  of  his  majesty's  dying  without 

issue."  —  Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  181.     "King  Charles  the  first  was  beheaded  i  in  1649."  — 

<;,->/>/i.  p.  4->.     "He  can  no  more  impart  or  (to  use  lord  Bacon's  word,)  transmit 

convictions."  —  Kirkham's  Eloc.  p.  220.    "  I  reside  at  lord  Stonnont's,  my  old  patron  and 

—  Murray's  Gram.  p.  176.    "  We  staid  a  month  at  lord  Lyttleton's,  the  orna- 

ment of  his  country."  —  Ib.  p.  177.     "  Whose  prerogative  is  it-     It  is  the  king  of  Great 

Britain''-;"  "That  is  the  duke  of  Bridgewater's  canal;"  "The  bishop  of  LandafFs 

nt  book;  "  "The  Lord  mayor  of  London's  authority."  —  Ib.  p.  176.     "  Why  call 

ye  me  lord,  lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  say  •  "  —  See  GKIESHACH  :  Luke,  vi,  46. 

•*  And  of  them  he  chose  twelve,  whom  also  he  named  apostles."  —  SCOTT:  Luke,  vi,  13. 

i  irthwith  he  came  to  Jesus,  and  said,  Hail,  master;    and  kissed  him."     See  the 

M,iff.  xxvi,  i:>.     "  And  he  said,  Nay,  father  Abraham:  but  if  one  went  unto 

them  from  the  dead,  they  will  repent."  —  Luke,  xvi,  30. 

UNDER  RULE  VI.  —  OP  ONE  CAPITAL. 
"  Fall  Elver,  a  village  in  Massachusetts,  population  3431."     See  Univ.  Gaz.  p.  416. 


.—  Not  proper,  because  the  name  Fall  River  is  here  written  in  two  parts,  and  with  two  capitals. 
••Those  compound  proper  name*  which   b>  analogy  incline  to  a  uniou  of  their 
iinut  ;i  hjphen.  should  Lc  so  written,  :u.d  have  but  one  capital."    Therefore,  FaUrivtr,  as  the  name 
of  a  ton-it,  should  be  oue  word,  and  retain  but  one  capital.] 

"  !»:-.  Anderson  died  at  West  Hum.  :  in   1S08."  —  Bioy.  Diet.     "Mad  Kiver, 

i:ue  of]  two  towns  in  Ulark  and  Champaign  counties,  <  >liio."  —  !'  ..-icersal 

"White  Creek,  town  of  Washington  county,  N.  York."  —  Ib.     "  Salt  Creek, 

:ue  of  four  towm  -nt  part>  of  Ohio."  —  ~Lb.     "  Salt  Lick,  a  town  of  Fay  - 

ette   county,    IVnnsylvania."  —  Ib.     "  Yellow    Creek,    a   town  of  Columbiana  county, 

Ohio."—//;.     "  White  Clay,  a  hundred  of  N  iuwaro."  —  Ib.     • 

.     and     halfshire     of     Newcastle    county,     Delaware."  —  Ib.       "  Siug-Sing, 

a  village  01  county,  New  York,  .-ituatcd  in  tho  town  of  Mount  Pleas- 

ant."— Ib.      MW<  r,  a   county  of  New  York;    also    a   town  in   Westchester 

county."  —  /  hange  county,  New  York."  —  Ib.     "  White 

.  a  town  of  Hamilton  county,  Ohio."  —  Ib.     "  Wluto  Water  Kiver,  a  considerable 

in  Indiana,  and  tloui;  .lithe  Miami  in  Ohio." 

—  I',.     ••  B'-\ck  Water,  a  village  ..f  II  -  Mid  a  town  in  Ireland."—  Ib. 

.  Water,  the-  name  of  seven  dinx-rent  river>.  in  Kr^'and,  Ireland,  and  the  United 
States."—  Vi.     "lied  llo.»k,  a  town  of  I)utciu-.-s  county,  New  York,  on  the  Hudson." 

—  Ib     "  Kinclcrh  .hia  conn:  >rk,  on  the  Hudson."—  Ib. 

ity,  New  York."—  Ib.     "Lake   Port,  a  town  of 

Chicot  county,  Arkan-  ,  the  i-hi«  •!'  BOUTCe  ut    the  Kcnnc- 

beck,  in  Ma  mty  of  Illinois,  jiopuhition  (in  1830) 

—  Ib.  p.  10S.     "  Me  Donough,  a  county  of  Illinois,  with  a  courthouse,  at  Maeomb."  —  Ib. 
p.  IS.";.      "  Half-Moon,  M^,  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania;   also  of 
two  bays  in  the  V^  ;<eut',  a  town  of  Erie  county, 
Pennsylvania,  near  a  small  lake  of  the  same  name."  —  Ib.     "Charles  City,  Jam 
Elizabeth  City,  names  of  counties  in  Virginia,  not  cities  nor  t» 

ior  qualities  of  the  waters  of  the  Frome,  here  called  Stroud  water."  —  Balbi's 
Geoy.  p.  2 


164  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GKAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

UNDER  RULE  YIT. — TAYO  CAPITALS. 
"The  Forth  rises  on  the  north  side  of  Benloraond,  and  runs  easterly." — Glasg.  Geoff. 

[FORMULK  — Not  proper,  because  the  name  "  B'nlomonr!  •'  is  compounded  under  one  capital,  contrary  to 
the  o-eneral  anal  •£>  of  other  similar  terms.  But,  according  to  Rule  7th,  "  The  compounding  of  a  name  uiider 
one  c:ipial  should  be  avoided  when  the  general  analogy  of  other  similar  terms  suggests  a  separation  under 
two."  Therefore,  "  Ben  Lomond  "  should  be  written  with  two  capitals  and  no  hyphen.] 

"The  red  granite  of  Bon-ncvis  is  said  to  be  the  finest  in  the  world." — Ib.  ii,  311. 
"Ben-more,  in  Perthshire,  is  3,915  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea." — Ib.  313.  "The 
height  of  Bencleugh  is  2,420  feet." — Ib.  "  In  Sutherland  and  Caithness,  are  Ben  Or- 
mod,  Ben  Clibeg,  Ben  Grin,  Ben  Hope,  and  Ben  Lugal." — Ib.  311.  "  Benvracky  is 
2,756  feet  high  ;  Ben-ledi,  3,00!) ;  and  Ben-voirlich,  3,300."—  Ib.  313.  "The  river  Do- 
chart  gives  the  name  of  Glendochart  to  the  vale  through  which  it  runs." — Ib.  314. 
"  About  ten  miles  from  its  source,  the  Tay  diffuses  itself  into  Lochdochart." — Geoy.  al- 
tered. LAKES  : — "  Lochard,  Loch-Achray,  Loch-Con,  Loch-Doine,  Loch-Katrine,  Loch- 
Lomond,  Loch-Voil."— Scott's  Lady  of  the  Lake.  GLENS  :—"  Glentinlas,  Glen  Fruin, 
Glen  Luss,  Ross-dhu,  Leven-glen,  Strath-Endrick,  Strath-Gartney,  Strath-Ire." — Ib. 
MOUNTAINS  : — "  Ben-an,  Benharrow,  Benledi,  Ben-Lomond,  Benvoirlich,  Ben-venue,  and 
sometimes  Benvenue." — Ib.  "Fenelon  died  in  1715,  deeply  lamented  by  all  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Low-countries." — Murray's  Sequel,  p.  322.  "And  Pharaoh-nechoh  made 
Eliakim,  the  son  of  Josiah,  king." — SCOTT,  FRIENDS:  2  Kings,  xxiii,  34.  "Those  Avho 
seem  so  merry  and  well  pleased,  call  her  Good  Fortune ;  but  the  others,  who  weep  and 
wring  their  hands,  Bad-fortune." — Collier's  Tablet  of  Ccbes. 

UNDER  RULE  VIII. — OF  COMPOUNDS. 
"  When  Joab  returned,  and  smote  Edom  in  the  valley  of  salt." — SCOTT  :  Ps.  Ix,  title. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  words  valley  and  salt  begin  with  small  letters.  But,  according  to  Rule 
8th,  "  When  any  adjective  or  common  noun  is  mule  a  distinct  part  of  a  compound  proper  name,  it  ought  to 
begin  with  a  capital.  Therefore,  "  Valley  "  should  here  begin  with  a  capital  V,  and  "  Salt,"  with  a  capital  S.] 

"Then  Paul  stood  in  the  midst  of  Mars'  hill  and  said,"  &c. — SCOTT:  Acts,  xvii,  22. 
"And  at  night  he  went  out,  and  abode  in  the  mount  that  is  called  the  mount  of  Olives." 
— Luke,  xxi,  37.  "  Abgillus,  son  of  the  king  of  the  Frisii,  surnamed  Prester  John,  was 
in  the  Holy  land  with  Charlemagne." — Univ.  Biog.  Diet.  "Cape  Palmas,  in  Africa, 
divides  the  Grain  coast  from  the  Ivory  coast." — Diet,  of  Geog.  p.  125.  "  The  North. 
Esk,  flowing  from  Loch-lee,  falls  into  the  sea  three  miles  north  of  Montrose." — Ib.  p. 
232.  "  At  Queen's  ferry,  the  channel  of  the  Forth  is  contracted  by  promontories  on 
both  coasts." — Ib.  p.  233.  "The  Chestnut  ridge  is  about  twenty-five  miles  west  of  the 
Alleghanies,  and  Laurel  ridge,  ten  miles  further  west." — Balbis  Geog.  p.  65.  "  Washing- 
ton City,  the  metropolis  of  the  United  States  of  America." — W.'s  Univ.  Gaz.  p.  380. 
"Washington  city,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  population  (in  1830)  18,826." — Ib.  p.  408. 
"The  loftiest  peak  of  the  white  mountains,  in  new  Hampshire,  is  called  mount  Wash- 
ington."— Author.  "Mount's  buy,  in  the  west  of  England,  lies  between  the  land's  end 
and  lizard  point." — Id.  "  Salamis,  an  island  of  the  Egean  Sea,  off  the  southern  coast 
of  the  ancient  Attica." — Diet,  of  Geog.  "  Rhodes,  an  island  of  the  Egean  sea,  the  largest 
-and  most  easterly  of  the  Cyclacles." — Ib.  "  But  he  overthrew  Pharaoh  and  his  host  in 
the  Red  sea." — BRUCE'S  BIBLE  :  Ps.  cxxxvi,  15.  "But  they  provoked  him  at  the  sea, 
even  at  the  lied  sea." — SCOTT  :  Ps.  cvi,  7.* 

UNDER  RULE  IX. — OF  APPOSITION. 
"  At  that  time,  Herod  the  Tetrarch  heard  of  the  fame  of  Jesus."— ALGER  :  Matt,  xiv,  1. 

[FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  word  Trtmrrk  begins  with  a  capital  letter.  But,  according  to  Hule  8th, 
"  When  a  common  and  a  proper  name  are  associated  merely  to  explain  each  other,  it  is  in  general  sufficient, 
if  the  proper  name  begin  wicii  a  capital,  and  the  appellative,  with  a  small  letter."  Therefore,  "  tetrarch  " 
ehould  here  begin  wich  a  small  t.] 

"  Who  has  been  more  detested  than  Judas  the  Traitor?" — Author.  "St.  Luke,  the 
Evangelist,  was  a  physician  of  Antioch,  and  one  of  the  converts  of  St.  Paul." — Id. 
"  Luther,  the  Reformer,  began  his  bold  career  by  preaching  against  papal  indul- 
gences."— Id.  "  The  Poet  Lydgate  was  a  disciple  and  admirer  of  Chaucer  :  he  died  in 
1440." — Id.  "The  Grammarian  Varro,  'the  most  learned  of  the  Romans,'  wrote  three 
books  when  he  was  eighty  years  old." — Id.  "John  Despauter,  the  great  Giammarian 
of  Flanders,  whose  works  are  still  valued,  died  in  1,320." — Id.  "  Nero,  the  Emperor 
and  Tyrant  of  Rome,  slew  himself  to  avoid  a  worse  death." — /(/.  "  Cicero  the 
Orator,  •  the  Father  of  his  Country,'  was  assassinated  at  the  age  of  64." — Id. 

*"Etirritaverunt  ascendentcs  in  mare,  Mare  rubrum.'  —  Latin  Vulgate,  folio,  Psal.  cy.  7-  This,I  think, 
should  have  beeu  "  Mare  Rubrum,"  with  two  capitals. — G.  BROWN. 


CHAP,  i.]  ORTHOGRAPHY'. — LETTKKS. — ERRORS.  1G5 

"  Euripides,  the  Gre<  k  Tragedian,    -\vas  horn  in  the  Island  of  Sal  amis,  B.  0.  470." — Id. 

"I  will  say  unto  God  my  Knck,  "Why  hast  thou  forgotten   mi- :"—  SCOTT  :  /'.v.  xlii,  9. 

i  Island,  an  island  of  New  York,  nine  miles  below  New  York  City." — l'i, 

i,  King  of  Men,  und  the  noble  Achilles  first  separated." — 
Colcrii.'ijt's  Introd.  ]>. 

"Hermes,  his  Patron-God,  those  gifts  bestow'd, 
"Whose  shrine  with  weaning  lambs  he  wont  to  load." — POPE  :   Odys.  B.  19. 

UXDKK  HULK  X. — OF  I'KKSOMFICATIONS. 

"But  wisdom  is  justified  of  all  her  children."- — SCOTT,  ALGEII:  Luke,  vii,  3o. 

[FORMI:LK. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  trinloni  br^ii  s  \\itli  a  small  letter.    I'.ut.  according  to  Kule  10th, 
DM  of  an  oljict  pcrsoi.ilied,  win  i  n  i>lt-a  sirictls  individual,  s-huuld  begin  with  a  capital." 

Theiefoiv.   u  Wi.-d<'in  "  hln.nid  lien-  bc.uiu  with  a  capital  \V .] 

:une  and  the  church   are  generally  put    in    the  feminine   gender." — Murray's 
:,  ]).  37.     "Go  to  your  natural  religion;  lay  before  her  Mahomet,  and  his  dis- 
Jl/trtt.ric,    p.    \.~j~  :     See    also    Murray's    dram,    i,    347.       "O    death! 
where  is  thy  sting?      O  grave!    where   is   thy  victory:"  —  1    Cor,   xv,  55;  Murray's 
Cram.  p.  348  ;    Litulish  Rmdi-r,  31  ;  Men-hunt's  (iram.  212.      "Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
Mammon." — SCOTT,    I'KII.NKS,    J.T    AI.  :     Matt,    vi,    21.       "Ye    cannot     serve     God   and 
mammon."— IIJM-:M  :  Lnh»-  xvi,  13.     "This  house  was  built  as  if  suspicion  herself  had 
I  the  plan."     See  Key.     "Poetry  distinguishes  herself  from  prose,  by  yielding 
to  a  musical  law."     E  "My  beauteous  deliverer  thus  uttered  her  divine  in- 

structions :  «  My  name  is  religion.     1  am  the  offspring  of  truth  and  love,  and  the  parent 
of  benevolence,  hope,  and  joy.     That  monster,  from  whose  power  I  have  freed  you,  is 
called  su])orstition  :  she  is  the  child  of  discontent,  and  her  followers  are  fear  and  sor- 
••  Neither  hope  nor  fear  could  enter  the  retreats;  and  .habit  had  so 
D  eonx'ienee,  if  religion  had  employed  her  in  their  favour, 
would  not  have  been  able  to  force  an  entrance."     See  J\i-y. 


In  colleges  and  halls  in  ancient  days. 

There  dwelt  a  sage  called  discipline." — }YaylancCs  M.  Sci.  p.  368. 


UXDKK  Huu:  XL — OF  DERIVATIVES. 
l^nglish,  I  would  have  gallicisms  avoided." — FKI.TOX  :  Johnson's  Diet. 

I  here  begins  \\irh  a  small  letfrr.     But,  according  to 

Rul>-  Hrh,  *•  Words  dcriv.-.l  from   ]>r«p.-r  intnifs,  and  having  'lin-cr  n-lcKMicc  to  particular  pt-ixms,  places, 
uld  Ix'tin  with  capitals.'7     Therefore,  "  t.aliiciMns  "  should  begin  with  a  capital  <;.J 

Mst  was  born   in  Ita;  v  before  the  Christian  era.'' — Murray's  ,v 

•A  us  not  only  a  great   man,   but  one  of  the  most  excellent  and  useful 

Christians,   and  Christian    ministers." — lit.   .'519.      "They    corrupt   their  style   with  un- 

tutorc  .  is." — Mn.ro.N  :    in    Johnxtm's    Dirt.     "Albert    of   Stadc,    author   of   a 

chronic!''   from  the  creation   to   US'1,   a  benedictine  of   the   13th   century." — I'ninrsnl 

"<ha'Vi",   a   it-suit  of  (';i]iu:i  in  tlic   Kith  century,   author  of  two  volumes 

on  moral  subjects." — Ih.     "They  trenchit'y  and  italiani/e  words  whenever  th«_y  can." 

.      "  lie  who  xdls  a  Christian,  sel  s  the  urai-e  of  dod." — Anti-^lar-fry  M,i'!.\\.  11. 

nst  the  Christians,  under  Nero,  It-'uan    A.    I ).  i>4." — (n;  </<>r>/s 

:,        i,  t!u>   jc-nit,  uniformly   decides  in  favour  of    the  Koman  writer^."  — 

••The   Koman   poet  and  epicurean  philosopher  Lm-rctius  has 

il  ••  c-alvini-tic,  atticism,  gothicunn, opicurism,  je- 

suitisin,    sabiani^m,    sm  inianisin,  angli'-an,   anglit  i>m,    an^lr-i/.f,    vandalism,    gallicism, 
roman.  ,,    130-133.     "  The  large  ternate  bat." — \Vtbsler'* 

"  Ckurch-ladden  are  not  always  mounted  best 
By  learned  clerks,  and  latinists  pruless'd." — ( '• 

0 

I'M.KU  lln.K  XII.— OF  I  AND  0. 

"  Fall  back,  fall  back  ;  i  have  not  room  : — o  !  methinks  i  see  a  couple  whom  i  should 
know." — Lin-i,. 

[Four;  '  :•  1  /.  whirh  occur-;  flin-o  tiin<--.  and  th<>  word  O,  wliich  n.-cnrs  onop, 

,  tie  »..ri,   /   and    O  should 

-   i  did,   i  think  as  i  did,   i  love   you  as  i  did;   but  all  these  are  to  no 
id  will  not  live,  think,  or  love,  as  i  d  ,."  "  Whither, 

i  rhc  manner  in  wh  ],,.,„.  <-all  the  sniail 

etue  icttri*,''  or  "  itttt/s  ,ij  : 


166  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

0  !  whither  shall  i  fly  ?  o  wretched  prince  !  o  cruel  reverse  of  fortune  !  o  father  Micipsa  ! 
is  this  the  consequence  of  thy  generosity  ?" —  Sallust,  varied.     "  When  i  was  a  child, 

1  spake  as  a  child,  i  understood  as  a  child",  i  thought  as  a  child ;  but  when  i  became  a 
man,  i  put  away  childish  things."  —  1  Cor.  xiii,  11  :  varied.    "  And  i  heard,  but  i  under- 
stood not :  then  said  i,  o  my  Lord,  what  shall  be  the  end  of  these  things  ? "  —  Dan.  xii, 
8  :  varied.     "  Here  am  i ;  i  think  i  am  very  good,  and  i  am  quite  sure  i  am  very  happy, 
yet  i  never  wrote  a  treatise  in  my  life."' —  Few  Days  in  Athens,  varied.     "  Singular, 
Vocative,  o  master;  Plural,  Vocative,  o  masters."  —  Bicknett's  Gram.  p.  30. 

"  I,  i  am  he  ;  o  father  !  rise,  behold 
Thy  son,  with  twenty  winters  now  grown  old  !  "     See  Pope's  Odyssey. 

UNDER  RULE  XIII. — OP  POETRY. 

"  Reason's  whole  pleasure,  all  the  joys  of  sense, 
lie  in  three  words — health,  peace,  and  competence ; 
but  health  consists  with  temperance  alone, 
arid  peace,  O  virtue  !  peace  is  all  thy  own." 

Pope's  Essay  on  Man,  a  fine  London  Edition. 

[FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  last  three  lines  of  this  example  hegin  with  small  letters.  But,  accord- 
ing to  Rule  13th,  "  Every  line  in  poetry,  except  what  is  regarded  as  making  but  one  verse  with  the  preceding 
line,  should  begin  with  a  capital."  Therefore,  the  words,  "  Lie,"  "But,"  and  "  And,"  at  the  commencement 
of  these  lines,  should  severally  begin  with  the  capitals  L,  B,  and  A.] 

"  Observe  the  language  well  in  all  you  write, 
and  swerve  not  from  it  in  your  loftiest  flight. 
The  smoothest  verse  and  the  exactest  sense 
displease  us,  if  ill  English  give  offence  : 
a  barbarous  phrase  no  reader  can  approve ; 
nor  bombast,  noise,  or  affectation  love. 
In  short,  without  pure  language,  what  you  write 
can  never  yield  us  profit  or  delight. 
Take  time  for  thinking,  never  work  in  haste ; 
and  value  not  yourself  for  writing  fast." 

SeeDryden's  Art  of  Poetry : — British  Poets,  Vol.  iii,  p.  74. 

UNDER  RULE  XIV. — OF  EXAMPLES. 

"The  word  rather  is  very  properly  used  to  express  a  small  degree  or  excess  of  a 
quality :  as,  '  she  is  rather  profuse  in  her  expenses.' "  —  Murray's  Gram.  p.  47. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  she  begins  with  a  small  letter.  But,  according  to  Rule  14th, 
"  The  first  word  of  a  full  example,  of  a  distinct  speech,  or  of  a  direct  quotation,  should  begin  with  a  capital." 
Therefore,  the  word  "  She  "  should  here  begin  with  a  capital  S.] 

"  Neither  imports  not  either ;  that  is,  not  one  nor  the  other  :  as,  '  neither  of  my  friends 
was  there. '" — Murray's  Gram.  p.  56.  "When  we  say,  'he  is  a  tall  man,'  'this  is  a 
fair  day,'  we  make  some  reference  to  the  ordinary  size  of  men,  and  to  different 
weather." — Ib.  p.  47.  "We  more  readily  say,  '  A  million  of  men,'  than  '  a  thousand 
of  men.'  " — Ib.  p.  169.  "  So  in  the  instances,  '  two  and  two  are  four  ; '  '  the  fifth  and 
sixth  volumes  will  complete  the  set  of  books.'" — Ib.  p.  124.  "The  adjective  may 
freqiiently  either  precede  or  follow  it  [the  verb]  :  as,  '  the  man  is  happy ; '  or,  '  happy  is 
the  man :'  'The  interview  was  delightful;'  or,  '  delif/hfful  was  the  interview.'  " — Ib.  p. 
168.  "If  we  say,  'he  writes  a  pen,'  'they  ran  the  river,'  ' the  tower  fell  the  Greeks,' 
'  Lambeth  is  Westminster-abbey,'  [we  speak  absurdly  ;]  and,  it  is  evident,  there  is  a 
vacancy  which  must  be  filled  up  by  some  connecting  word  :  as  thus,  '  He  writes  with  a 
pen  ; '  « they  ran  towards  the  river  ; '  '  the  tower  fell  icpon  the  Greeks  ; '  '  Lambeth  is 
over  against  Westminster-abbey.'" — Ib.  p.  118.  "Let  me  repeat  it; — he  only  is 
great,  who  has  the  habits  of  greatness." — Murray's  Key,  241.  "I  say  not  unto  thee, 
until  seven  times  ;  but,  until  seventy  times  seven."  See  Matt,  xviii,  22. 

"The  Panther  smil'd  at  this  ;  and  when,  said  she, 
Were  those  first  councils  disallow'd  by  me  ? " — Dryden,  p.  95. 

UNDER  RULE  XV. — OF  CHIEF  WORDS. 

"  The  supreme  council  of  the  nation  is  called  the  divan." — Balbi's  Geog.  p.  360. 
[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  riii-n.n  begins  with  a  small  letter.     But,  according  to  Hule  15th, 
"Other  words  of  particular  importance,  and  such  as  denote  the  principal  subjects  treated  of,  may  be  distin- 
gui.sb.ed  by  capitals."     Therefore,  "  Divan  "  should  here  begiu  with  a  capital  D.J 

"The  British  parliament  is  composed  of  king,  lords,  and  commons." — Murray's  Key, 
p.  184.  "  A  popular  orator  in  the  House  of  Commons  has  a  sort  of  patent  for  coining 
as  many  new  terms  as  he  pleases."  See  Campbell's  llhet.  p.  169  ;  Murray's  Gram.  364. 


CHAP.   I.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. LETTtllS. KRRORS.  1G7 


«  The  house  of  lords  ;  '  and,  in  stead  of  '  The  commons'  vote,'  to  say,  '  The  votes  of  the 
commons.'  "     See  ih.  p.  177,  4th  Ann-r.  I'd.  •  also  1'n  »t.  p.  69.     "The  house 

of  lords  were  so  much  influenced  by  these  reasons."  —  Murra  ;/'.<>  drum.  Svo,  p.  !.?_': 

'.  ^3.     "  Rhetoricians  commonly  divide  them  into  two  great  <  _  ures  of 

words,  and  figures  of  thought.     The  former,   figures  of  words,  are  commonly  called 

I'Ju-t.  p.  132.     "  Perhaps  figures  of  imagination,  and  figures  of  passion, 

might  be  a  more  useful    distribution."  —  76.  p.  133.      "Hitherto  we  have  considered 

sentences,  under  the  heads  of  perspicuity,  unity,  and  strength."  —  Ib.  p.  120. 

"  The  word  is  then  depos'd,  and  in  this  view, 
You  rule  the  scripture,  not  the  scripture  you."  —  Dryden,  p.  95. 

'  UNDER  RULE  XVI.  —  OF  NEEDLESS  CAPITALS. 

"  Be  of  good  cheer  :  It  is  I  ;  be  not  afraid."  —  ALGER  :  Matt,  xiv,  27. 

I.E.  —  Not  proper,  because  the  word  It  begins  with  a  capital  /,  for  which  their  appears  to  be  neither 
r  D.     But,  according  to  Rule  16th,  "Capitals  are  improper  whi-n-vi-r  then*  is  i.ot  some  f-pecial 

rule  or  reason  for  their  use."    Therefore,  '  it'  should  here  begin  with  a  small  letter,  as  Dr.  Scott  has  it.] 

"  Between  passion  and  lying,  there  is  not  a  Finger's  breadth."  —  Murray's  Key,  p.  240. 
•'  Can  our  Solicitude  alter  the  course,  or  unravel  the  intricacy,  of  human  events  ?  "  —  Ib. 
p.  242.  "  The  last  edition  was  carefully  compared  with  the  Original  M.  S."  —  Ib.  p.  239. 
««  And  the  governor  asked  him,  saying,  Art  thou  the  King  of  the  Jews  ?  "  —  ALGER  : 
Matt,  xxvii.'ll.  "Let  them  be  turned  back  for  a  reward  of  their  shame,  that  say, 
Aha,  Aha!"  —  FKIEXDS'  BH-.I.K  :  I'*.  Ixx.  3.  "Let  them  be  desolate  for  a  reward  of 
-•lame,  that  say  unto  me,  Aha,  aha!"  —  IB.:  Ps.  xl,  15.  "  What  think  ye  of 
:>  is  he  :  They  say  unto  him,  The  Son  of  David.  He  saith  unto  them, 
IIo\v  then  doth  David  in  Spirit  call  him  Lord  :  "  —  SCOTT  :  Matt,  xxii,  42,  43.  "  Among 
all  Things  in  the  Universe,  direct  your  Worship  to  the  Greatest  :  And  which  is  that  ? 
T  is  that  Being  which  Manages  and  Governs  all  the  Rest."  —  Meditations  of  M.  AurcHus 
Antnm  -•  \-  i'..r  Mmlesty  and  Good  Faith,  Truth  and  Justice,  they  have  left 

thi>  wi<-krd  World  and  retired  to  Heaven:  And  now  what  is  it  that  can  keep  you 
here:"—  Ib.  p.  81. 

44  If  Pulse  of  Verse,  a  Nation's  Temper  shows, 
In  keen  Iambics  English  Metre  flows."  —  Brightiand's  Gram.  p.  151. 

PROMISCUOUS  ERRORS  RESPECTING  CAPITALS. 
LESSON  I.  —  MI.XKD. 

ae,  gentle  spring,  Ethereal  mildness,  come."  —  Gardiner's  Music  of  Nature,  p.  411. 

_•  Ix-L'ins  vithasmall   letter.     But,  according  to  Rul« 

tli.  ••  'II.  v  n«ni«-  <if  ai  .  \vht-n  itconve>8  an   i<k-a  strictly  individual,  should  begin  with  a 

.in  vitli  H  Y;<i>ir«l  *. 

f»r  which  there  appears  to  be  nei- 

ther ru!<  •  iiii|,ro|n.T   whcnewr  thi-re  is  not  some 

-houlil  here  lM-gin  with  a  .-mall  letter.] 


uling  the  lives  of  the  Twelve  Ca'sars."  — 

'•.  "  In  th<    :  Henry  the  fourth,  by  father  Daniel,  we  axe 

7  at  not  finding  him  •  .  m."  —  /V  -/.  \i.  \~>l.     "  In  the  history 

ry  the  fourth,  by  Father   Daniel,  we  are  surprised  at  not  finding  him  the  great 
man."  —  Murray'  9  Gram.  p.  i  .'.)'.».     "Do  not  those  san. 

and  the  Wedge,  and  many  other  instruments  ?  "—M<trr,ni,  288  ; 

from   /  .client  lor   the  gauging  of  Liquors  ;  Geometry, 

:   A-tronomy,  lor  the  maki.  uaeks;  and  Grammar, 

perhaps,  tor  the  drawl:.  //,r/m.v,  p.  J  '.'•").     "The 

:    Flanders,   \\\.  '.  .  ada,  is  a  book  of  some  note."  — 

lUair's   /.'//</.  p.   :  "»,   [•*  a  noun.  —  why?  v.-rb.  —  why:      «    is    an 

article  —  why  rb.  —  why?"     &<-.  —  ',  ^  hnnl  (Irani,  p.  20.     "  In  the 

as  that  word."  — 

n     Urn  m.  ••    numeroii-s    in    the-saly,    niai'edoniti, 

1  albaiiiu."—  /•-  -tyled   by  the  Turks,  Sultan  (Mighty) 

.^hah  (lord)."  —  Dalbi  .  .".00.    "I  %ull   rans'om   them  from  the  power  of 


168  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

the  grave;  I  will  redeem  them  from  death:  O  death,  I  will  be  thy  plagues;*  O 
grave,  I  will  be  thy  destruction." — SCOTT,  ALCJKU,  KT  AL.  :  Mown,  xiii,  14.  "Silver  and 
Gold  have  I  none;  but  such  as  I  have,  give  I  unto  thee." — Murray's  Gram,  Svo,  p.  321. 
"  Return,  we  beseech  thee,  O  God  of  Hosts,  look  down  from  heaven,  and  behold, 
and  visit  this  vine." — Ib.  p.  342.  "  In  the  Attic  Commonwealth,  it  was  the  privilege 
of- every  citizen  to  rail  in  public." — Ib.  p.  316.  "They  assert  that,  in  the  phrases, 
'give  me  that,'  '  this  is  John's,'  and  '  such  were  some  of  you,'  the  words  in  italics  are 
pronouns:  but  that,  in  the  following  phrases,  they  are  not  pronouns;  'this  book  is 
instructive,'  ' some  boys  are  ingenious,'  •  my  health  is  declining,'  'our  hearts  are  deceit- 
ful,' £c." — Ib.  p.  58.  "  And  the  coast  bends  again  to  the  northwest;  as  far  as  Far  Out 
head." — Glasgow  Geoff.  Vol.  ii,  p.  308.  Dr.  Webster,  and  other  makers  of  spelling- 
books,  very  improperly  write  "  Sunday,  monday,  tuesday,  Wednesday,  thursday,  friday, 
Saturday,"  without  capitals.  See  Webster's  Elementary  {Spelling- Book,  p.  85.  "The  com- 
mander in  chief  of  the  Turkish  navy  is  styled  the  capitan-pasha." — Balbi's  Geog.  p.  360. 
"  Shall  we  not  much  rather  be  in  subjection  unto  the  father  of  spirits,  and  live?  " — 
SCOTT'S  BIBLE  :  Heb.  xii,  9.  "  Shall  we  not  much  rather  be  in  subjection  unto  the 
Father  of  Spirits,  and  live?" — FKIEKDS'  BIBLE  :  Heb.  xii,  9.  "He  was  more  anxious  to 
attain  the  character  of  a  Christian  hero." — Murray's  Sequel,  p.  308.  "  Beautiful  for  sit- 
uation, the  joy  of  the  whole  earth,  is  mount  Zion." — Psalms,  xlviii,  2.  "The  Lord  is 
my  Helper,  and  I  will  not  fear  what  man  shall  do  unto  me." — SCOTT  :  Heb.  xiii,  6. 
"Make  haste  to  help  me,  O  LOUD  my  Salvation." — SCOTT  :  Ps.  xxxviii,  22. 

"The  City,  which  Thou  seest,  no  other  deem 
Than  great  and  glorious  Rome,  Queen  of  the  Earth." 

Harris's  Hermes,  p.  49. 

LESSON  IT. — MIXED. 

"That  range  of  hills,  known  under  the  general  name  of  mount  Jura." — Priestley's 
Gram.  p.  170.  "He  rebuked  the  Red  sea  also,  and  it  was  dried  up." — SCOTT  :  Ps.  cvi, 
9.  "  Jesus  went  unto  the  mount  of  Olives." — John,  viii,  1.  "  Milton's  book,  in  reply  to 
the  Defence  of  the  king,  by  Sahnasius,  gained  him  a  thousand  pounds  from  the  pailia- 
ment,  and  killed  his  antagonist  with  vexation."  See  Murray's  Sequel,  343.  "Mande- 
ville,  sir  John,  an  Englishman,  famous  for  his  travels,  born  about  1300,  died  in  1372."- 
Biog.  Diet.  "Ettrick  pen,  a  mountain  in  Selkirkshire,  Scotland,  height  2,200  feet." — 
Glasgow  Geog.  ii,  p.  312.  "The  coast  bends  from  Dungsby-head  in  a  northwest  direc- 
tion to  the  promontory  of  Dunnet  head." — Ib.  p.  307.  "  Gen.  Gaines  ordered  a  detach- 
ment of  near  300  men,  under  the  command  of  Major  Twiggs,  to  surround  and  take  an 
Indian  Tillage,  called  Fowl  Town,  about  fouiteen  miles  from  fort  Scott." —  (Johen's 
Florida,  p.  41.  "  And  he  took  the  damsel  by  the  hand,  and  said  unto  her,  Talitha 
Cumi." — ALGER  :  Mark,  v,  4.  "  On  religious  subjects,  a  frequent  recurrence  of  script- 
ure-language is  attended  with  peculiar  force." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  318.  "  Contem- 
plated with  gratitude  to  their  Author,  the  Giver  of  all  Good." — Ib.  p.  289.  "When  he, 
the  Spirit  of  Truth,  is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth." — Ib.  p.  171 ;  Fisk,  98 ; 
Ingersoll,  186.  "  See  the  lecture  on  verbs,  rule  XV.  note  4." — Fisk's  E.  Gram.  p.  117. 
"  At  the  commencement  of  lecture  II.  I  informed  you  that  Etymology  treats,  3dly,  of 
derivation." — Kirk-ham's  Gram.  p.  171.  "This  VIII.  lecture  is  a  very  important  one." 
— Ib.  p.  113.  "Now  read  the  XL  and  XII.  lectures/bw  or  Jive  times  over." — Ib.  p.  152. 
"  In  1752,  he  was  advanced  to  the  bench,  under  the  title  of  lord  Kames." — Murray's  Se- 
quel,  p.  331.  "One  of  his  maxims  was,  '  know  thyself.'  " — Lempriere's  Diet.  n.  Chilo. 
"  Good  master,  what  good  thing  shall  I  do,  that  I  may  have  eternal  life  ?"  See  Matt. 
xix,  16.  "His  best  known  works,  however,  are  'anecdotes  of  the  earl  of  Chatham,'  2 
vols.  4to.,  3  vols.  8vo.,  and  'biographical,  literary,  and  political  anecdotes  of  several  of 
the  most  eminent  persons  of  the  present  age;  never  before  printed,'  3  vols.  Svo.  1797." 
—  Univ.  Biog.  Diet.  n.  Almon.  "O  gentle  sleep,  Nature's  soft  nurse,  how  have  I 
frighted  thee?" — Merchant's  School  Gram.  p.  172.  "O  sleep,  O  gentle  sleep,  Nature's 
soft  nurse,"  &c. — SINGKU'S  SHAK.  Sec.  Part  of  Hen.  IV,  Act.  iii.  "Sleep,  gentle  sleep, 
Nature's  soft  nurse,"  &c. — Dodd's  Beauties  of  Shakspeare,  p.  129. 

"  And  Peace,  O,  Virtue  !  Peace  is  all  thy  own." — Pope's  Works,  p.  379. 
"  And  peace,  O  virtue  !  peace  is  all  thy  own." — Murray's  Gram,  ii,  16. 

LKSSON  III. — MIXED. 

"  Fenelon  united  the  characters  of  a  nobleman  and  a  Christian  pastor.  His  book 
entitled  '  An  explication  of  the  Maxims  of  the  Saints  concerning  the  interior  lii'e,'  gave 

*I  imagine  that  "  plagues  "  should  here  be  plague,  in  the  singular  number,  and  not  plural.  "  Ero  mors 
tua,  6  mors:  niorsus  tuns  ero,  iuferne."—  Vulgate.  "  flou  y  finer)  aav,  Qdvare  ;  nov  TO  Kfi-rpav  cov,  cufy;" 
— Septuagint,  ibid. 


CHAP.    II.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. SYLLABLES.  1G9 

"•able  offence  to  the  guardians  of  orthodoxy." — Murray's  Sequel,  p.  321.     "When 
natural   reliuri'>'i,    wh<>  -vcctator,   is   int-  !   speaking  by  the 

contu  .   ]>.    l-")7.      "You  cannot   deny,  that  the  great  mover 

and  author  of  na"  ;;tly  explaineth  himself  to  the  eyes  of  men,  by  the  - 

'  ich  have  no  similitude,  or  connexion,  -with  the  things 

1." — lit-r!-  r.  p.  1^9.     "The  name  of  this  letter  is  double 

1",  its  form,  that  of  a  double  V." — U7/w//'.v  F.sxay  on    dram,  p.   19.     "  Murray,  in  his 

spelling  book,  wrote  '  Charles-Town  '  with  a  Hyphen  and  two  Capital-."     See  p.  101. 

"  He  also  wrote  «  enropean  '  without  a  capital."     See  p.  86.     "  They  profess  themselves 

be  heard  and  not  imitated." — <'  .  p.  55. 

"  1  >r.  Webster  wrote-  both  '  Xewhaven  '  and  '  Xewyork  '  with  single  capita' 

•  .  p.  111.     "  Gayhead,  the  west  point  of  Martha's  Vineyard." — 

'•  "Write    "  Craborchard,    Eggh arbor,    Longisland,    Perthamboy, 

Westhampton,  Littfeoompton,  Xewpaltz,  Crownpoint,  Fellspoint,  Sandyhook,  Portpenn, 

Portroyal,    Portobello,   and    Portorico."—  U'cbafn-'n   Anu-ri^m    Spelling-Book,    127-140. 

the  names   of  the  months  :   "janxiary,  february,  march,  april,  may,  June,  July, 

September,    October,    novcmber,    december." — Cobb's    Standard   Sj>d  Una- Book, 

21-10.     AVrite  the   following    names    and   words    properly:    "  tuesday,    Wednesday, 

thursday,   friday.  Saturday,  saturn  ; — christ,  Christian,  Christmas,  Christendom,  michael- 

mas.  indian,   bacchanals  ;  —  Ivisthampton,  omega,  Johannes,  aonian,  levitical,  deutero- 

nomy,  enropean." — Cobb's  Standard  SpMing-Bwk,  sundry  places. 

"  Kight  Letters  in  some  Syllables  we  find, 
And  no  more  Syllables  in  Words  are  joined." 

Uriyhtlantts  Gram.  p.  61. 


CHAPTER  II. -OF  SYLLABLES. 

A    Syllable  is  one  or  more  letters  pronounced  in  one  sound ;  and  is 
either  a  word,  or  a  ]>art  of  a  word:  as,  a,  an,  ant. 

In  every  word  there  arc  as  many  syllables  as  there  are  distinct  sounds ; 

in. 

A    word   of  one    sylluMe  is   called   a  monosyllable;   or  word  of    two 
syllaM'  /'//''.  ;   a  word  of  three  syllables,   a  trissyllable ;  and   a 

.-d  «»f  f.)ur  or  more  syllables,  a  pol>/ syllable. 

.  may  form  a  syllable  of  itself ;  but  the  consonants 

belong  to  the  vowels  or  diphthongs  ;  and  without  a  vowel  no  syllable  can 
be  formed. 

DIPIITIIOXGS  AND  TRIPHTHONGS. 

A  •lijjltlt»ny  is  t v.  g  joined  in  one  syllable  ;  as,  ea  in  beat,  ou  in 

tound. 

a  diphthong  in  which  both  the  vowels  are  sounded ; 

An  '  a  di'ph thong  in  which  only  one  of  the  vowels 

;  as.  vn  in  / 
A  tr>'j./tt;  :io<l  in  one  syllable  ;  as,  eau  in  beau,  lew 

A  i  r  .  '^  a  triphthong  in  which  all  the  vowels  are  sounded  ; 

iu  /"toy. 

a  triphthong  in  which  only  one  or  two  of  the 

.  ,,is. 

di[  hilion-x  i.i  lv  „  ity-uine  ;  embracing  all  but  six  of  the 

e   possible   t  .ns   of  two  vowels :  aa,  ae,  ai,  ao,  an,  aw. 


170  THE    GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  I,, 

ay, — ea,  ee,  ei,  eo,  eu,  ew,  ey, — ia,  ie,  (w,)  io,  (iu,  iw9  iyj) — oa9  oe,  oi, 
oo,  ou,  ow,  oy, — ua9  ue,  ui,  uo,  (uu,  uw,)  uy. 

Ten  of  these  diphthongs,  being  variously  sounded,  may  be  either  proper 
or  improper  ;  to  wit,  ay, — ie9 — oi,  ou,  ow, — ua,  ue9  ui,  uo,  uy. 

The  proper  diphthongs  appear  to  be  thirteen ;  ay9 — ia,  ie,  io, — oi,  ou7 
ow,  oy, — ua,  ue,  ui,  uo,  uy :  of  which  combinations,  only  three,  ia9  io., 
and  oy9  are  invariably  of  this  class. 

The  improper  diphthongs  are  twenty-six ;  aa,  ae9  ai,  ao9  au9  aw,  ay, — 
ea,  ee,  d,  eo,  eu,  ew,  ey, — ie, — oa,  oe,  oi,  oo,  ou,  ow, — ua,  ue,  ui,  uo,  uy. 

The  only  proper  triphthong  in  English  is  uoy,  as  in  buoy,  buoyant, 
"buoyancy  ;  unless  uoi  in  quoit  may  be  considered  a  parallel  instance. 

The  improper  triphthongs  are  sixteen  ;  awe,  aye,  eau,  eou,  ewe,  eye, — ieu, 
lew,  iouy — oeu,  owe, — uai,  uaw,  uay,  uea,  uee. 

SYLLABICATION. 

In  dividing  words  into  syllables,  we  are  chiefly  to  be  directed  by  the 
ear ;  it  may  however  be  proper  to  observe,  as  far  as  practicable,  the 
following  rules. 

RULE  I. — CONSONANTS. 

Consonants  should  generally  be  joined  to  the  vowels  or  diphthongs  which  they 
modify  in  utterance ;  as,  An-ax-aa'-o-ras,  ap-os-tol'-i-cal. 

\ 
RULE  II. — VOWELS. 

Two  vowels,  coming  together,  if  they  make  not  a  diphthong,  must  be  parted  IE 
dividing  the  syllables;  as,  A-cha'-i-a,  A-o'-ni-an,  a-e'-ri-al. 

RULE  III. — TERMINATIONS. 

Derivative  and  grammatical  terminations  should  generally  be  separated  from  the 
radical  words  to  which  they  have  been  added;  as,  harm-less,  great-ly,  connect-ed: 
thus  count-er  and  coun-ter  are  different  words. 

RULE  IV. — PREFIXES. 

Prefixes  in  general  form  separate  syllables ;  as,  mis-place,  out-ride,  up-lift:  but 
if  their  own  primitive  meaning  be  disregarded,  it  may  be  otherwise  ;  thus,  re-create, 
and  rec'-reate,  re-formation,  and  ref-ormation,  are  words  of  different  import. 

RULE  V. — COMPOUNDS. 

Compounds,  when  divided,  should  be  divided  into  the  simple  words  which 
compose  them;  as,  boat-swain,  foot-hold,  never-the-less. 

RULE  VI. — LINES  FULL. 

At  the  end  of  a  line,  a  word  may  be  divided,  if  necessary ;  but  a  syllable  must 
never  be  broken. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  doctrine  of  English  syllabication  is  attended  with  some  difficulties;  be- 
cause its  purposes  are  various,  and  its  principles,  often  contradictory.  The  old  rules, 
borrowed  chiefly  from  grammars  of  other  languages,  and  still  retained  in  some  of  our 
own,  are  liable  to  very  strong  objections.*  By  aiming  to  divide  on  the  vowels,  and  to 

*"  The  usual  rules  for  dividing  [words  into]  syllables,  are  not  only  arbitrary  but  false  and  absurd.  They 
contradict  the  very  definition  of  a  syllable  given  by  the  authors  themselves.  *'*  *  *  A  syllable  in  pronunci- 
ation Is  an  indivisible  thing;  and  strange  its  it  may  appear,  what  is  indivisible  in  utterance,  is  divided  in 
writing:  when  the  very  purpose  of  divi.ling  words  Into  syllables  in  writing,  is  to  lead  the  learner  to  a  just 
pronunciation."—  Webster's  Improved  Gram.  p.  156;  Philosophical  Gram.  221. 


CHAP.   II.]  ORTIIOGRAPIIY. SYLLABLES. RULES.  171 

force  the  consonants,  as  much  as  possible,  into  the  beginning  of  syllables,  they  often 
pervert  or  misrepresent  our  pronunciation.     Thus  Murray,  in  his  Spelling-Book,  has 
•  a,   bro-tht-r,    bo-dy,    iri-dntr,   j>n'-xot<,    a-m-ricc,    c-cc-ri/,   (j-rtin-tii-.s, 
-i/i-cine,  re-pre-sent,  re-so-lu-tion,"  and  a  multitude  of  other  words,  divided 
upon  a  principle  by  which  the  young  learner  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  led  into  error  re- 
specting their  sounds.     This  method  of  division  is  therefore  particularly  reprehensible 
in  such  books  as  are  designed  to  teach  the  true  pronunciation  of  words  ;  for  which 
reason,  it  has  been  generally  abandoned  in  our  modern  spelling-books  and  dictionaries  : 
the  authors  of  which  have  severally  aimed  at  some  sort  of  compromise  between  etymol- 
l   pronunciation ;  but  they  disagree  so  much,  as  to  the  manner  of  effecting  it, 
that  no  two  of  them  will  be  found  alike,  and  very  few,  if  any,  entirely  consistent  with 
themselves. 

_'. — The  object  of  syllabication  may  be  any  one  of  the  following  four:  1.  To 
enable  a  child  to  read  unfamiliar  words  by  spelling  them ;  2.  To  show  the  derivation  or 
composition  of  words ;  3.  To  exhibit  the  exact  pronunciation  of  words ;  4.  To  divide 
words  properly,  when  it  is  necessary  to  break  them  at  the  ends  of  lines.  "With  respect 
to  the  first  of  these  objects,  Walker* observes,  "  When  a  child  has  made  certain  advances 
in  rc-ulinir,  but  is  ignorant  of  the  sound  of  many  of  the  longer  words,  it  may  not  be 
improper  to  lay  down  the  common  general  rule  to  him,  that  a  consonant  between  two 
vowels  must  go  to  the  latter,  and  that  two  consonants  coming  together  must  be  divided. 
1  t/ian  f/ii,s  it  would  be  absurd  to  go  with  a  child." — Walker  s  Principles,  No.  539.  Yet, 

as  a  caution  be  it  recorded,  that,  in  1833,  an  itinerant  lecturer  from  the  South,  who 
made  it  his  business  to  teach  what  he  calls  in  his  title-page,  "An  Abridgment  of  Walk- 
er's Kulcs  on  the  Sounds  of  the  Letters,"— an  Abridgement,  which,  he  says  in  his  preface, 
"  will  be  found  to  contain,  it  is  believed,  all  the  important  rules  that  are  established  by. 
Walker,  and  to  carry  his  prinei;  r  than  he  himself  has  done " — befooled  the 

'  to,  the  School  Committee  and  Common  Council  of  Boston, 

•  of  elocution  at  Harvard  University,  and  many  other  equally  wise  men  of 
it,  into  the  notion  that  English  pronunciation  could  be  conveniently  taught  to 
children,  in  "four  or  five  days,"  by  means  of  some  three  or  four  hundred  rules  of  which, 
the  folio \\ -ing  is  a  specimen  :    "  RULE  282.     When  a  single  consonant  is  preceded  by  a 
owcl  under  the  preantepenultimate  accent,  and  is  followed  by  a  vowel  that  is  suc- 
M;mt,  it  belongs  to  the  accented  vowel." — Mulkey's  Abridgement  of 
*,  p.  34. 

.—A  grosser  specimen  of  literary  quackery,  than  is  the  publication  which  I 
-t  quoted,  can  scarcely  be  found  in  the  world  of  letters.     It  censures  "the  prin- 
id  down  and  illustrated  by  Walker,"  as  "so  elaborate  and  so  verbose  as  to  be 
ae  to  the  scholar  and  useless  to  the  child;  "  and  yet  declares  them  to  be,  "for 
ic  most  part,  the  true   rules  of  pronunciation,  according  to  the  analogy  of  the  lan- 
-Mulkei/'s  Preface,  p.  3.     It   professes  to  be  an  abridgement  and  "simplification 
principles,  especially  adapted  to  the  wants  and  capacities  of  children;  and,  at 


tion 


the  v  -t  eharactcr.     It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  author  teaches  nothing 

•   reading;   nothing  but  the  sounds  of  letters  and  syllables ;  nothing 
•  simple  fractions  of  the  great  science  of  grammar:   and,  for  this   purpose,   he 
•mluct  the  learner  through  the  following  particulars,  and  have  him  remember 
all  :   };  I  Cation  and  organic,  formation  of 

l('t'  f»r  "the  sounds  of  the  vowels,  according  to  their 

Ml  of  "the  different  sounds  of  the  diph- 
r"the  sounds  of  the  consonants,   according  to  posi- 

*;''n."  hundred  and  fifty-six  principles  of  accent. 

•  r   dividing  words  into  syllables."      7.  Thirty-three   "  additional 
•her  promiscuoiuly,  b.-.-ausi«  ho  could  not  class  them. 

.//r.vof  ••irri-gu:.  forming  particular  exceptions  to  the  foregoing 

.    Twenty-eight  .  \tnu-ti-d  from   Walker's  Dictionary,  and  very 

itily  called  "Tl.  -  of  Walker."     All  this  is  Walker  simplified  for  children  ! 

L— Sueh    is    a    brief   sketch  of   Mulke\  of   orthoepy;    a  work  in 

which  "lie  claims  to  have  device  I  what  has  heretofore  be.  :  ••///)<  —  a  mode  by 

irh  children  in  our  common  schools  may  be  taught  ///,.-  rub*  for  the  pronunciation  o*f 
eir  mother  tongue."—  ,  -1.     The  faults  of  the  book  are  so  exceedingly  nu- 

1-ous.  that  to  point  them  out,  would  be  more  toil,  than  to  write  a  volume  of  twice  the 
1  is  it  possible,  that  a  system  like  this  could  find  patronage  in   the  metropolis 
Kiuland,  in  that  proud  centre  of  arts  and  -  :ul  in  the  proudot  halls  of 

learnini;  and   of    legislation:     Examine    the    gentlen.  v.tials,   and  take    your 

choice  between  the  adoption  of  his  plan,  as  a  great  improvement  in  the  management  of 


Bi 



172  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [rART  I. 

syllables,  and  the  certain  conclusion  that  great  men  may  be  greatly  duped  respecting 
them.  Unless  the  public  has  been  imposed  upon  by  a  worse  fraud  than  mere  literary 
quackery,  the  authorities  I  have  mentioned  did  extensively  patronize  the  scheme  ;  and 
the  Common  Council  of  that  learned  city  did  order,  November  14th,  1833,  "That  the 
School  Committee  be  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  to  employ  Mr.  William  Mulkey 
to  give  a  course  of  Lectures  on  Orthoepy  to  the  seceraliitstructers  of  the  public  schools, 
and  that  the  sum  of  live  hundred  dollars  is  hereby  appropriated  for  that  purpose,  and 
that  the  same  amount  be  withdrawn  from  the  reserved  fund."  See  Mulkey' s  Circular. 

OBS.  5. — Pronunciation  is  best  taught  to  children  by  means  of  a  good  spelling-book  ;  a 
book  in  which  the  words  are  arranged  according  to  their  analogies,  and  divided  according 
to  their  proper  sounds.  Vocabularies,  dictionaries,  and  glossaries,  may  also  be  serviceable 
to  those  who  are  sufficiently  advanced  to  learn  how  to  use  them.  *With  regard  to  the 
first  of  the  abovenamcd  purposes  of  syllabication,  I  am  almost  ready  to  dissent  even 
from  the  modest  opinion  of  Walker  himself;  for  ignorance  can  only  guess  at  the  pro- 
nunciation of  words,  till  positive  instruction  conies  in  to  give  assurance ;  and  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  even  the  simple  rule  or  rules  suggested  by  Walker  would  not  about 
as  often  mislead  the  young  reader  as  correct  him.  With  regard  to  the  second  purpose, 
that  of  showing  the  derivation  or  composition  of  words,  it  is  plain,  that  etymology, 
and  not  pronunciation,  must  here  govern  the  division ;  and  that  it  should  go  no  further 
than  to  separate  the  constituent  parts  of  each  word;  as,  ort/to-graphy,  theo-logy.  But 
when  we  divide  for  the  third  purpose,  and  intend  to  show  what  is  the  pronunciation 
of  a  word,  we  must,  if  possible,  divide  into  such  syllabic  sounds  as  will  exactly  recom- 
pose  the  word,  when  put  together  again ;  as,  or-thog-ra-phy,  the-ol-o-gy.  This  being 
the  most  common  purpose  of  syllabication,  perhaps  it  would  be  well  to  give  it  a  gen- 
eral preference ;  and  adopt  it  whenever  we  can,  not  only  in  the  composing  of  spelling- 
books  and  dictionaries,  but  also  in  the  dividing  of  words  at  the  ends  of  lines. 

OBS.  6. — Dr.  Lowth  says,  "  The  best  and  easiest  rule,  for  dividing  the  syllables  in 
spelling,  is,  to  divide  them  as  they  are  naturally  divided  in  a  right  pronunciation  ;  with- 
out regard  to  the  derivation  of  words,  or  the  possible  combination  of  consonants  at  the 
beginning  of  a  syllable." — Lowth' s  Gram.  p.  5.  And  Walker  approves  of  the  principle, 
with  respect  to  the  third  purpose  mentioned  above  :  "This,"  says  that  celebrated  ortho- 
epist,  "is  the  method  adopted  by  those  who  would  convey  the  whole  sound,  by  giving 
distinctly  every  part ;  and,  when  this  is  the  object  of  syllabication,  Dr.  Lowth's  rn.le  is 
certainly  to  be  followed." — Walker's  Principles,  No.  541.  But  this  rule,  which  no  one 
can  apply  till  he  has  found  out  the  pronunciation,  will  not  always  be  practicable  where 
that  is  known,  and  perhaps  not  always  expedient  where  it  is  practicable.  For  example  : 
the  words  colonel,  venison,  transition,  propitious,  cannot  be  so  divided  as  to  exhibit  their 
pronunciation;  and,  in  such  as  acid,  magic,  pacify,  legible,  liquidate,  it  may  not  be  best  tc 
follow  the  rule,  because  there  is  some  reasonable  objection  to  terminating  the  first  sylla- 
bles of  these  words  with  c,  g,  and  q,  especially  at  the  end  of  a  line.  The  rule  for  termi- 
nations may  also  interfere  with  this,  called  "  Lowth's  ;  "  as  in  sizable,  rising,  dranith. 

OBS.  7. — For  the  dividing  of  words  into  syllables,  I  have  given  six  rules,  which  are 
perhaps  as  many  as  will  be  useful.  They  are  to  be  understood  as  general  principles ; 
and,  as  to  the  exceptions  to  be  made  in  their  application,  or  the  settling  of  their  con- 
flicting claims  to  attention,  these  may  be  left  to  tho  judgement  of  each  writer.  The  old 
principle  of  dividing  by  the  eye,  and  not  by  the  ear,  I  have  rejected ;  and,  with  itx  all 
but  one  of  the  five  rules  which  the  old  grammarians  gave  for  the  purpose.  "  The  divis- 
ions of  the  letters  into  syllables,  should,  unquestionably,  be  the  same  in  written,  as  in 
spoken  language ;  otherwise  the  learner  is  misguided,  and  seduced  by  false  re; 
tations  into  injurious  errors." — Wilson  s  Essay  on  Gram.  p.  37.  Through  the  influence 
of  books  in  which  the  words  are  divided  according  to  their  sounds,  the  pronunciation  of 
the  language  is  daily  becoming  more  and  more  uniform ;  and  it  may  perhaps  be  reason- 
ably hoped,  that  the  general  adoption  of  this  method  of  syllabication,  and  a  proper  ex- 
position of  the  occasional  errors  of  ignorance,  will  one  day  obviate  entirely  the  objection 
arising  from  the  instability  of  the  principle.  For  the  old  grammarians  urged,  that  the 
scholar  who  had  learned  their  rules  should  "  strictly  conform  to  them ;  and  that  he 
should  industriously  avoid  that  random  Mvikid  »f  dividing  by  the  Ear,  which  is  subject  to 
mere  jumble,  as  it  must  be  continually  fluctuating  according  to  the  various  Dialects  of 
different  Counties." — Britis/i  Grammar,  p.  47. 

OBS.  8. — Trie  important  exercise  of  oral  spelling  is  often  very  absurdly  conducted. 
In  many  of  our  schools,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  teacher,  in  giving  out  the  words  to 
be  spelled,  is  not  always  careful  to  utter  them  with  what  he  knows  to  be  their  true 
sounds,  but  frequently  accommodates  his  pronunciation  to  the  known  or  supposed  igno- 
rance of  the  scholar;  and  the  latter  is  still  more  frequently  allowed  to  huiry  through 
the  process,  without  putting  the  .syllables  together  as  he  proceeds;  and,  sometimes, 
without  forming  or  distinguishing  the  syllables  at  all.  Merely  to  pronounce  a'  word 
and  then  name  its  letters,  is  an  exceedingly  imperfect  mode  of  spelling ;  a  mode  in 


CHAP,  ii.]  ORTiioon  APIIY.  —  SVLLMSLI-:?.  —  KKHORS.  173 


far  more  is  lo^t  in  respect  to  accuracy  of  speech,  than  is  ur.ii"-''d  in  respect  to  time. 
»!('  not  only  bo  distinctly  formed  an  1  pr<niou'iced.  but  pronounced  as 
;  d  in  the  whole  word;   and  oa<di  should  ')  Mod  to   the   pre- 

ihlos,  till  the  whole  sound  is  formed  mion  of  all  its  part-.     For 

•>.r  -hould  say.  "  Dee  I.  d"  ;    Veo  I    Ivs,  vi/.  do-vi/  ;   I, 
'.11,  bil.  do-vi/-o-bil  ;    I.  de-vi/-e-h:]-e  ;  '!'<•••  \\'y.  t  •,  «l"-vi/-o-bil-e-te." 
Again  :  .     ••<         Aitch  I.  *he;   (>••  A.  ka.  *he-ka  :  En  E  Ar.  nur.  she-ka-nur; 

-ka-mir-'  :   advantages  of  oral   >]>'.•!  'ing,  i>   its  tendency   to 

•i  :  and  thi>  end  it  will  reach,  in  proportion,  to  the  care 

and  >ki'l  with  whi<-h  it  is  conducted,     lint  oral  snelliu-j;  should  not  ho  r-'lied  on  as  the 

sole  m  -hinur  orthography.     It  will  not  be  found  sufficient.     The  method  of 

.vords  for  ]irfictic;d  spelling  on  slates  or  paper,  or  of  reading  something  which 

,-ain  by  the   learner,  is  much  to  be  commended,  as  a  means  of  exer- 

ci<ini:  those  scholars  who  are  so  far  advanced  as  to  write  legibly.     TliLs  is  called,  in  the 

school-. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOPt  CORRECTION. 
ERRORS  IX  SYLLABICATION. 

LESSON  I.  —  CONSONANTS. 

1.     Correct  the  division  of  the  following  words  of  two  syllables:  "  ci-vil,  co-lour, 

tea-ther,   ga-ther,  hca-ven,   hca-vy,  ho-ney,  le-mon, 

li-nen,  mca-dow.  mo-;  .  o-live,  o-rango,  o-ther,  ])hoa-sant.  ])lea-sant,  j)U-nish, 

-:o-mach,  ti-mid,  whi-ther."  —  Murray's 
\.  V.  LSI!). 

.  fho  /  in  m-'ni/r.  tho  p  in  rn-p>/,  ^-c.,  are  written  with  the  fol- 
Hir.  afc.-.'  -  '  nan  t  a  should 

.vcN  or  di|>  iflionx-i  which  they  modify  in  utterance."     Therefore,  these  words 
'-our,  cop-y,  &c.] 

the   division    of   the    following   words    of  three   syllables:   "be-ne-fit, 
bi-iut.  ca-nis-tor,  ca-ta-logue.  cha-rac-ter,  cha-ri-ty,  co-vet-ous,  di-li-gence,  di-mi- 
ihant,  e-vi-  r-grecn,  fri-vo-lous,  ga-ther-ing,  ge-ne-rous,  go-vem-ess, 

-ty,  ka-len-dar,  la-ven-dor,  lo-ve-ret,  li-be-rai,  me-mo-ry,  mi-nis-ter, 
iy,    no-vel-ty,    no-bo-dy.    pa  ra-dise,    ]>o-ver-ty,    pre-si-nt-ly,    pro-vi-dence, 
r-ly,  ]>ri-son-er,  ra-v<>n-ou>,   sa-tis-fy,    se-ve-ral.   so-]ia-ratc,  tra-vel-ler,   va-ga- 
;  —  e-m-si-der,    con-ti-nuo,    do-H-vor,    dis-co-ver,    dis-ii-gnre,    dis-ho-ne>r,   dis-tri- 
-)ia-bit.    mo-clui-nic,    what-e-ver  ;  —  re-com-mend,   re-fu-gee,  rc-pri-mand."  — 

•    the  division   of  the  following  words  of  four  syllables  :  "  ca-ter-pil-lar, 
cha-ri-ta-blo.  di-li-gent-ly,  mi-so-ra-ble.  ])r.)-Ht-a-ble,  to-le-ra-l)le  ;  —  be-ne-vo-lent,  con- 
i-mi-nn-tive,  ox-DO-ri-meiit.   ex-tra-va-gant,  in-ha-bi-tant,  no-bi-li-ty,  par- 
-cn-lar,    ])ros-pf-ri-ty,    ri-di-cu-l'»u<,     siu-co-ri-ty  ;  —  (lo-mon-stra-tion,     e-du-ca-tion, 
e-mii-la-tioTi.  .  ma-nn-fac-ture,  me-mo-ran-dum,  mo-de-ra-tor, 

.-ten-tial,   ro->ig-na-tion,  ion,    se-miiCO-lon."  —  Murray  :  ib. 

p.  84- 

1    -rrcct  the  >f  the  following  wor'l  -yllahles:  "  a-bo-mi-na-ble, 


—  w  .    .    ; 

•roper  names:  "  Ke-lon,  Leo-nard,  Phi-lip, 
•-rah,  Do-ro-thy, 

.   Ly-di-si,  Xi-cho-Ia-.  ::ui-el,  Si-me-on, 

So-lo-mon,  Ti-m  n,  l^ar-tho-lo-mew,  E-li-xa-bf 

tha-ni-el,  IN  -ne-lo-pe,  Thf-o-phi-lu*."— .V  -101. 

II. MlXKD. 

1.     Correct  the  division  of  cap-rice,  cs-teem,  dis- 

.    mat-ron,  !,    trait-or,    tu-noli-er, 

rb-cr,  bnrn-ish.  garu-i-li.  tarn-i^h,  varn-ish,  mark-ct,  musk-et,  j-amjili-let ; — })r  . 
ave-r;  'le-ry,   hri  lii-canc-ry,    ina-diine-ry, 

-lum,  hor-i-/,on, — fi-n-ui-cier,   ho-ro-i  ir-ril-ous, — 

com-e-di-an,  post-e-ri-or."—  tj-B)oks. 


174  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

2.  Correct  the  division  of  the  following  words  by  Rule   2d :    "  oy-er,  fol-io,  gen-ial, 
gen-ius,  jun-ior,  sa-tiate,  vi-tiate ; — am-bro-sia,  cha-mcl-ion,  par-hel-ion,  con-ven-ient, 
in-gen-ious,  om-nis-cience,  pe-cul-iar,  so-cia-ble,  par-tial-i-ty,  pe-cun-ia-ry ; — an-nun- 
ciate,  e-nun-ciate,  ap-pre-ciate,  as-so-ciate,  ex-pa-tiate,  in-gra-tiate,  in-i-tiate,  li-cen- 
tiate,   ne-go-tiate,   no-vi-ciate,   of-fi-ciate,  pro-pi-tiate,    sub-stan-tiate." — Webster:  Old 
Spelling-Book,  86—91;  Neto,  121—128. 

3.  Correct  the  division  of  the  following  words  by  Rule  3d :  "  dres-ser,  has-ty,  pas- 
try,   sei-zure,    rol-ler,  jes-ter    wea-ver,    vam-per,    han-dy,    dros-sy,    glos-sy,   mo-ver, 
mo-vmg,  oo-zy,  ful-ler,  trus-ty,  weigh-ty,  noi-sy,  drow-sy,  swar-thy." — Cobb's  Standard 
Spelling -Book.     Again  :  "  eas-tern,  full-y,  pull-et,  rill-et,  scan-ty,  nee-dy." — Webster. 

4.  Correct  the  division  of  the  following  words  by  Rule  4th:  "  aw-ry," — Webster's 
Old  Book,  52;  "  ath-wart," — Ib.  93;  "  pros-pect-ive," — Ib.  66;  "pa-renth-e-sis," — Ib. 
93;  "res-ist-i-bil-i-ty," — Webster's  New  Book,  93;  "  hem-is-pher-ic," — Ib.   130;   "mo- 
nos-tich,  he-mis-tick,"* — Walkers  Diet.  8vo;  Cobb,  33;  "tow-ards," — Cobb,  48. 

5.  Correct  the  division  of  the  following  words  by  Rule  5th  :  "  E'n-gland," — Murray's 
Spelling -Book,  p.  100  ;  "  a-no-ther," — Ib.  71 ;  "  a-noth-er," — Emerson,  76  ;  "  Be-thes-da, 
Beth-a-ba-ra,"—  Webster,  141;  Cobb,  159. 

LESSON  III. — MIXED. 

1.  Correct  the  division  of  the  following  words,  according  to  their  derivation :  "  ben-der, 
bles-sing,  bras-sy,  chaf-fy,  chan-ter,  clas-per,  craf-ty,  cur-dy,  fen-der,  fil-my,  fus-ty, 
glas-sy,  graf-ter,  gras-sy,  gus-ty,  han-ded,  mas-sy,  mus-ky,  rus-ty,  swel-ling,  tel-ler, 
tes-tcd,  thrif-ty,  ves-ture." — Cobb's  Standard  Spelling -Book. 

2.  Correct  the  division  of  the  following  words,  so  as  to  give  no  wrong  notion  of  their 
derivation  and  meaning:  "barb-er,  burn-ish,  brisk-et,  cank-er,  chart-er,  cuck-oo,  furn- 
ish, garn-ish,  guil-ty,  hank-er,  lust-y,  port-al,  tarn-ish,  test-ate,  test-y,  trait-or,  treat-y, 
varn-ish,  vest-al,  di-urn-al,   e-tern-al,  in-fern-al,  in-tern-al,  ma-tern-al,  noc-turn-al, 
pa-tern- al." — Webster's  Elementary  Spelling-Book. 

3.  Correct  the  division  of  the  following  words,  so  as  to  convey  no  wrong  idea  of 
their   pronunciation :    "  ar-mo-ry,    ar-te-ry,  butch-er-y,   cook-e-ry,  eb-o-ny,    em-e-ry, 
ev-e-ry,  fel-o-ny,  fop-pe-ry,  frip-pe-ry,  gal-le-ry,  his-to-ry,  liv-e-ry,  lot-te-ry,  mock- 
e-ry,  mys-te-ry,  nun-ne-ry,  or-re-ry,  pil-lo-ry,  quack-e-ry,  sor-ce-ry,  witch-e-ry." — 
J3/41-42. 

4.  Correct  the  division  of  the  following  words,  and  give  to  n  before  k  the  sound  of 
•ng :    "  ank-le,  bask-et,  blank-et,  buck-le,    cack-le,  crank-le,  crink-le,  east-er,  fick-le, 
freck-le,  knuck-le,  mark-et,  monk-ey,  port-ress,  prick-le,  poult-ice,  punch- con,  qua- 
drant,  qua-drate,  squa-dron,  rank-le,  shack-le,  sprink-le,  tink-le,  twink-le,  wrink-le." 
— Cobb's  Standard  Spelling-Book. 

5.  Correct  the  division  of  the  following  words,  writh  a  proper  regard  to  rules  1st  and 
3d :  "  a-scribe,  bland-ish,  bran-chy,  clou-dy,  dus-ty,  drea-ry,  eve-ning,  faul-ty,  fil-thy, 
fros-ty,  gau-dy,  gloo-my,  heal-thy,  hear-ken,  hear-ty,  hoa-ry,  lea-ky,  loung-er,  mar- 
shy, migh-ty,  mil-ky,  naugh-ty,  pas-sing,  pit-cher,  rea-dy,  roc-ky,  spee-dy,  stea-dy, 
stor-my,  thirs-ty,  thor-ny,  trus-ty,  ves-try,  wes-tern,  weal-thy." — Emerson's  Spelling- 
Book,  17-44. 


CHAPTER  III.-  OF  WORDS. 

A  Word  is  one  or  more  syllables  spoken  or  written  as  the  sign  of  some 
idea,  or  of  some  manner  of  thought.  Words  are  distinguished  as  prim- 
itive, or  derivative,  and  as  simple  or  compound.  The  former  division  is 
called  their  species  ;  the  latter,  their  figure. 

A  primitive  word  is  one  that  is  not  formed  from  any  simpler  word  in 
the  language  ;  as,  harm,  great,  connect. 

A  derivative  word  is  one  that  is  formed  from  some  simpler  word  in  the 
language  ;  as,  harmless,  greatly,  connected,  disconnect,  unconnected. 

*This  word,  like  distich  and  monostich,  is  from  the  Greek  stichos,  a  Terse  ;  and  is  improperly  spelled  by 
Walker  with  a  final  k.  It  should  be  hemistich,  with  the  accent  on  the  first  syllable.  See  Webster,  Scott, 
Perry,  Worcester,  and  others. 


CHAP.  III.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. — WORDS. — FIGURE.  175 

A  simple  word  is  one  that  is  not  compounded,  not  composed  of  other 
words  ;  as,  watch,  man,  hoiiM,  tower.  'lie,  less. 

A  compound  word  is  one  that  is  composed  of  two  or  more  simple  words  ; 
as,  watchman,  watchhouse,  VHttchtower,  nevertheless. 

Permanent  compounds  are  consolidated ;  as,  bookseller,  schoolmaster : 
others,  which  may  be  called  temporary  compounds,  are  formed  by  the  hy- 
phen ;  as,  good-natured,  negrwnerchcmt. 

RULES  FOR  THE  FIGURE  OF  WORDS. 
( 

RULE  I. — COMPOUNDS. 

t> 

"\Yonls  regularly  or  analogically  united,  and  commonly  known  as  compounds, 
should  never  be  needlessly  broken  apart.  Thus,  steamboat,  railroad,  red-hot, 
wi'll-liring.  m-ic-roitied,  are  preferable  to  the  phrases,  steam  boat,  rail  road, 
red  hot,  well  being,  new  coined ;  and  toward  its  is  better  than  the  old  phrase,  to 
us  ward. 

Hi  LE  II. — SIMPLES. 

When  the  simple  words  would  only  form  a  regular  phrase,  of  the  same  meaning, 
the  compounding  of  any  of  them  ought  to  be  avoided.  Thus,  the  compound  instead 
is  not  to  be  commended,  because  the  simple  phrase,  in  stead  of,  is  exactly  like 
the  other  pi  !><•«  of,  in  place  of,  in  room  of,  in  which  we  write  no  coin- 

pound . 

RULE  III. — THE  SENSE. 

lae  liable  to  be  misunderstood,  must  be  joined  together  or  written 
•!y,  as  the  sense  and  construction   may  happen  to  require.     Thus,  &  glass 
a  house  made  of  glass,  but  a  glasshouse  is  a  house  in  which  glass  is  made  ; 
pro  UK  rrJtant  is  a  coloured  trader,  but  a  negro-merchant  is  a  man  who  buys 
and  Mlla  negn- 

RULE  IV. — ELLIPSES. 

"When  two  or  more  compounds  are  connected  in  one  sentence,  none  of  them 
should  be  spilt  to  make  an  ellipsis  of  half  a  word.  Thus,  "  six  or  seventeen  " 
should  not  he  said  for  "  sixteen  or  seventeen  ;  "  nor  ought  we  to  say,  "  calf,  goat, 
$}  "  for  "  calf tkint,  goatskin*,  and  shecjiskins."  In  the  latter  in- 

noe,  however,  it  might  be  right  to  separate  nil  the  words;  as  in  the  phrase, 
'•offee,  and  tea  houses." — Liberator,  x,  40. 


, 


V. — THE  HYPHKN. 


When  the  parts  of  a  compound  do  not  fully  coalesce,  as  to-day,  to-night,  to- 
morrotr  ;  or  when  each  retain-  il  accent,  so  that  the  compound  has  more 

than  "lie,  or  one  that  is  moval>l>  '»/•/*,  hn/ti/i-r-on,  laughter-loving,  garlic- 

er,  butterjl>/-t}u>ll,  the  hyphen  should  be  inserted  between  them. 


Hi  I.K  VI. — No  HYPHEN. 

When  a  compound  has  but  one  accented  syllable  in  pronunciation,  as  watchword, 

km,  gentleman,  and  tin;  parts  are  such  as  admit  of  a  complete  coalescence, 

no  hyphen  >h»uld  b.-  inser:  m  th.-m.      Churchill,  after  much  attention  to 

ject,  writes  thus:    "  The  practical  instruction  of  the  countinghouse  imparts 

t  Inn  nigh   knowledge  of  bookkeeping,  than  all   the   fictitious  transactions 

of    a    mere    schoolbook,    however   carefully    constructed    to    suit    particular    pur- 

— Xi'ir  <!rum.  p.  vii.     15ut  cowitingJiowe,  having  more  stress  on  the  last 

syllable  than  on  the  middle  one,  is  usually  written  with  the  hyphen ;  and  book- 


176  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

keeping  and  school-book,  though  they  may  not  need  it,  are  oftener  so  formed  than 
otherwise. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

ORS.  1. — Words  are  the  least  parts  of  significant  language;  that  is,  of  language  sig- 
nificant in  each  part ;  for  to  syllables,  taken  merely  as  syllables,  no  meaning  be  'longs. 
But,  to  a  word,  signification  of  some  sort  or  other,  is  essential ;  there  can  be  no  word 
without  it ;  for  a  sign  or  symbol  must  needs  represent  or  signify  something.  And  as  I 
cannot  suppose  words  to  represent  external  things,  I  have  said  "A  Word  is  one  or  moie 
syllables  spoken  or  written  as  the  sign  of  some  idea."  But  of  what  ideas  are  the  words 
of  our  language  significant  ?  Are  we  to  say,  "  Of  all  ideas  ;  "  and  to  recognize  as  an 
English  word  every  syllable,  or  combination  of  syllables,  to  which  we  know  a  meaning  is 
attached  ?  No.  For  this,  in  the  first  place,  would  confound  one  language  with  an  other  ; 
and  destroy  a  distinction  which  must  ever  be  practically  recognized,  till  all  men  shall 
again  speak  one  language.  In  the  next  place,  it  would  compel  us  to  embrace  among 
our  words  an  infinitude  of  terms  that  are  significant  only  of  local  ideas,  such  as  men 
any  where  or  at  any  time  may  have  had  concerning  any  of  the  individuals  they  have 
known,  whether  persons,  places,  or  things.  But,  however  important  they  may  be  in 
the  eyes  of  men,  the  names  of  particular  persons,  places,  or  things,  because  they  convey 
only  particular  ideas,  do  not  properly  belong  to  what  we  call  our  language.  Lexicog- 
raphers do  not  collect  and  define  proper  names,  because  they  are  beyond  the  limits  of 
their  art,  and  can  be  explained  only  from  history.  I  do  not  say  that  proper  names  are 
to  be  excluded  from  grammar ;  but  I  would  show  wherein  consists  the  superiority  of 
general  terms  over  these.  For  if  our  common  words  did  not  differ  essentially  from 
proper  names,  we  could  demonstrate  nothing  in  science  :  we  could  not  frame  from  them 
any  general  or  affirmative  proposition  at  all;  because  all  our  terms  would  be  particular, 
and  not  general ;  and  because  every  individual  thing  in  nature  must  necessarily  be  for- 
ever itself  only,  and  not  an  other. 

OB.S.  2. — Our  common  words,  then,  are  the  symbols  neither  of  external  particulars,  nor 
merely  of  the  sensible  ideas  which  external  particulars  excite  in  our  minds,  but  mainly 
of  those  general  or  universal  ideas  which  belong  rather  to  the  intellect  than  to  tie 
senses.  For  intellection  differs  from  sensation,  somewhat  as  the  understanding  of  a 
man  differs  from  the  perceptive  faculty  of  a  brute  ;  and  language,  being  framed  for  tie 
reciprocal  commerce  of  human  minds,  whose  perceptions  include  both,  is  made  to  coi.- 
sist  of  signs  of  ideas  both  general  and  particular,  yet  without  placing  them  on  equal 
ground.  Our  general  ideas — that  is,  our  ideas  conceived  as  common  to  many  individuals, 
existing  in  any  part  of  time,  past,  present,  or  future — such,  for  example,  as  belong  to 
the  words  man,  horse,  tree,  cedar,  wave,  motion,  strength,  resist — such  ideas,  I  say,  consti- 
tute that  most  excellent  significance  which  belongs  to  words  primarily,  essentially,  and 
immediately ;  whereas,  our  particular  ideas,  such  as  are  conceived  only  of  individual 
objects,  which  are  infinite  in  number  and  ever  fleeting,  constitute  a  significance  which 
belongs  to  language  only  secondarily,  accidentally,  and  mediately.  If  we  express  the 
latter  at  all,  we  do  it  either  by  proper  names,  of  which  but  very  few  ever  become  gen- 
erally known,  or  by  means  of  certain  changeable  limitations  which  are  added  to  our 
general  terms  ;  whereby  language,  as  Harris  observes,  "  without  wandering  into  infini- 
tude, contrives  how  to  denote  things  infinite." — Hermes,  p.  346.  The  particular  manner 
in  which  this  is  done,  I  shall  show  hereafter,  in  Etymology,  when  I  come  to  treat  of 
articles  and  definitives. 

Ons.  3. — If  we  examine  the  structure  of  proper  names,  we  shall  find  that  most  of  them 
are  compounds,  the  parts  of  which  have,  in  very  many  instances,  some  general  signifi- 
cation. Now  a  complete  phrase  commonly  conveys  some  particular  notion  or  conception 
of  the  mind ;  but,  in  this  case,  the  signification  of  the  general  terms  is  restricted  by  the 
other  words  which  are  added  to  them.  Thus  smith  is  a  more  general  term  than  (/old- 
smith ;  and  golds mit. h  is  more  general  than  (/ -goldsmith  ;  a  goldsmith,  than  the  goldsmith ; 
the  yoltltoiiifh,  than  one  Goldsmith;  one  Goldsmith,  than  Mr.  Goldsmifh  ;  Mr.  Gtoftfem&A, 
than  Oliver  Goldsmith.  Thus  we  see  that  the  simplest  mode  of  designating  particular 
persons  or  objects,  is  that  of  giving  them  proper  names ;  but  proper  names  must  needs 
be  so  written,  that  they  may  be  known  as  proper  names,  and  not  be  mistaken  for  com- 
mon terms.  I  have  before  observed,  that  we  have  some  names  Avhich  are  both  proper 
and  common ;  and  that  these  should  be  written  with  capitals,  and  should  form  the 
plural  regularly.  It  is  surprising  that  the  Friends,  who  arc  in  some  respects  particularly 
scrupulous  about  language,  should  so  generally  have  overlooked  the  necessity  there  is, 
&  compounding  their  numerical  names  of  the  months  and  days,  and  writing  them  uni- 
formly with  capitals,  as  proper  names.  For  proper  names  they  certainly  are,  in  every 
thing  but  the  form,  whenever  they  are  used  without  the  article,  and  without  those 
other  terms  which  render  their  general  idea  particular.  And  the  compound  form  with. 


CHAP.  lit.]  OKTIIOGRAPI1Y.  -  FIGURE    OF    WORDS.  177 


a  capital,  is  as  necessary  for  Firatday,  Sc'i-o/iddn;/,  T/ti.rdday,  £e.,  as  for  Sun/la;/,  Monday  , 
"  The  first  day  of  the  week  "  —  "  The  seventh  day  of  the  month  "—  "  The 
second  mo.ith  of  summer"  —  "The  second  month  in  the  year,"  £c.,  are  good  English 
phrases,  in  which  any  compounding  of  the  terms,  or  any  additional  use  of  capitals, 
would  lie  improper;  but,  for  common  use-,  those  phrases  are  found  too  long  and  too 
artificial.  \V"  mu<t  have  a  less  cumbersome  mode  of  specifying  the  months  of  the  year 
and  the  days  of  the  week.  What  then  ?  Shall  we  merely  throw  away  the  terms  of 
particularity,  and,  without  substituting  in  their  place  the  form  of  proper  names,  apply 
general  t-ri'  ular  thoughts,  and  insist  on  it  that  this  is  right?  And  is  not 

this  precisely  what  is  done  by  those  who  reject  as  heathenish  the  ordinary  names  of  the 
months  ~,   and  write  "Jrnt  day,"   for  Sunday,  in  stead  of  "the  first  day  of  the 

•week;"  or  "  '•niari/,  in  stead  of  "the  second  mo.ith  in  the  year;" 

forth:  This  phraseology  may  perhaps  be  well  understood  by  those  to  whom  it 
is  familiar,  but  still  it  is  an  abuse-  of  language,  because  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  com- 
mon acceptation  of  the  terms.  Example:  "The  departure  of  a  ship  will  take  place 
ccrry  sixth  >!<nj  with  punctuality."  —  I'hilath-lphia  Weekly  M>\s>  ////<•>•.  The  writer  of  this 
did  not  men:!,  "  /  /  Friday  ."  and  it  is  absurd  for  the  Friends  so  to  understand  it,  or 
so  to  write,  when  that  is  what  they  mean. 

L  —  In  the  ordinary  business  of  life,  it  is  generally  desirable  to  express  our 
meaning  as  briefly  as  possible  ;  but  legal  phraseology  is  always  full  to  the  letter,  and 
often  redundant.  Hence  a  merchant  will  write,  "Nov.  24,  1837,"  or,  "11  mo.  24th, 
1837  ;"  but  a  conveyancer  will  have  it,  "  On  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  November,  one 

:  1  (ij,ht  hundred  and  thirty-seven"  —  or,  perhaps,  "On  the  twenty-fourth  day 

of  the  eleventh  month,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty- 

seven."       \  \ve  find  that,  in  common  daily  use,  all  the  names  of  the  months, 

except  "-,  and  J«/y,  are  abbreviated;  thus.  Jan.,  /•'<•/;.,  A]>r.,  Aug.,  Sept., 

And  sometimes  even  the  Arabic  number  of  the  year  is  made  yet 

shorter:  :7;  or  1835-6-7,  for  1835,  1836,  and  1837.     In  like  manner,  in 

con«.t  ruciing  tables  of  time,  we  sometimes  denote  the  days  of  the  week  by  the  simple 

;   a-,    8.  for  Sunday,   M.   for  Monday,  &c.     But,  for  facility  of 

abbreviation,  the  numerical  names,  whether  of  the  months  or  of  the  days,  are  perhaps 
still  m  -  ;ent.     For,  if  we  please,  we  may  put  the  simple  Arabic  figures  for 

them;  though  it  is  better  to  add  d  for  day,  and  mo.  for  month:  as,  1  d.  2  d.  3  d.  &c.  ;  — 
i  mo.  &c.  But,  take  which  mode  of  naming  we  will,  our  ordinary  expres- 
sion of  these  things  should  be  in  neither  extreme,  but  should  avoid  alike  too  great 
brevity  and  too  great  prolixity  ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  best  to  make  it  a  general  rule  in 
our  literary  compositions,  to  use  the  full  form  of  proper  names  for  the  months  and  days, 
and  to  denote  the  years  by  Arabic  figures  written  in  full. 

o.  —  In  considering  the  nature  of  words,  I  was  once  a  little  puzzled  with  a 
curiou^  speculation,  if  I  may  not  term  it  an  important  inquiry,  concerning  the  principle 
of  thctr  iil'-mity.  We  often  speak  of  "tin-  sum/-  /r/W.v,"  and  of  "  dijf\  •/•<•//  1  irords  ;"  but 
wherein  docs  the  sameness  or  the  difference  of  words  consist?  Not  in  their  pronuncia- 
tion ;  for  the  same  word  may  be  differently  pronounced  ;  as,  pat  'ran  or  pd'tron,  mat'ron 
or  tun  .',••  »t.  Not  in  their  orthography;  for  the  same  word  may  be  differently  spelled; 
as,  favour  or  far-»r,  /////.•>•/.•  or  musick,  connexion  or  <\i,t/i<'<-fi<»i.  Not  in  their  form  of  pre- 
sentation; for  the  same  word  may  be  either  spoken  or  written;  and  speech  and  writing 
present  what  we  call  tin-  ,  in  two  ways  totally  different.  Not  in  their  mean- 

ing; fox  the  same  word  may   have   different  meanings,  and  different  words  may  signify 
line  thing.     This  sameness  of  words,  then,  must  consist  in  something 
•o  b'_-  reconciled  with  great  diversity.     Vet  every  word  is  itself,  and  not  an 
otht  1  mu-t  nc(-<->s;irily  ha\f  some  property  peculiar  to  itself,  by  which 

it  may  be  -igui>hed   from   every  other.      Were  it  not  so,  lang\iage  would  be 

unintelligible.     But  it  is  so;  and,  therefore,  t  >  mistake  one  word  for  an  other,  is  uni- 
.'.ly  tii'Hiuht  to  betray  great  ignorance  or  great  negligence,  though  such  mistakes  are 
by  no  me.in-  of  uu-Mimnou  occurn  that   the  question  about  the  identity  of 

words  is    not  a  iay  appear  from  the  fact,  that  the  learned  often  disagree 

about  it  in  practice  ;  as  when  one  grammarian  will  have  an  and  a  to  be  two  words,  and  an 
other  will  atlinn  them  t<>  be  only  different  forms  of  one  and  the  same  word. 

5.—  Let  us  see,  then,  if  amidst  all  this  diversity  we  can  lind  that  principle  of 
sameness,  by  which  a  dispute  of  this  kind  ought  to  be  settled.  Now,  although  different 
words  do  generally  differ  in  Orthography,  in  pronunciation,  and  in  meaning,  so  that  an 
entire  sameness  implies  one  orthography,  one  pronunciation,  and  one  meaning;  yet 
some  diversity  is  allowed  in  each  of  these  respects,  so  that  a  sign  differing  from  an  other 
only  in  one,  is  not  therefore  a  different  word,  or  a  si'_;n  a^reein^  with  an  other  only  in 
one,  is  not  therefore  the  same  word.  It  follows  thence,  that  the  principle  of  verbal 
identity,  the  principle  which  distinguishes  every  word  from  every  other,  lies  in  neither 


178  THE   GRAMMAR    OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

extreme  :  it  lies  in  a  narrower  compass  than  in  all  three,  and  yet  not  singly  in  any  one, 
but  jointly  in  any  two.  So  that  signs  differing  in  any  two  of  these  characteristics  of  a 
word,  are  different  words  ;  and  signs  agreeing  in  any  two,  are  the  same  word.  Conse- 
quently, if  to  any  difference  either  of  spelling  or  of  sound  we  add  a  difference  of  signifi- 
cation everybody  will  immediately  say,  that  we  speak  or  write  different  words,  and  not 
the  same  :  thus  dear,  beloved,  and  deer,  an  animal,  are  two  such  words  as  no  one  would 
think  to  be  the  same ;  and,  in  like  manner,  use,  advantage,  and  use,  to  employ,  will 
readily  be  called  different  words.  Upon  this  principle,  an  and  a  are  different  words ; 
yet,  in  conformity  to  old  usage,  and  because  the  latter  is  in  fact  but  an  abridgement  of 
the  former,  I  have  always  treated  them  as  one  and  the  same  article,  though  I  have  no- 
where expressly  called  them  the  same  word.  But,  to  establish  the  principle  above 
named,  which  appears  to  me  the  only  one  on  which  any  such  question  can  be  resolved, 
or  the  identity  of  words  be  fixed  at  all,  we  must  assume  that  every  word  has  one  right  pro- 
nunciation, and  only  one ;  one  just  orthography,  and  only  one  ;  and  some  proper  signi- 
fication, which,  though  perhaps  not  always  the  same,  is  always  a  part  of  its  essence. 
For  when  two  words  of  different  meaning  are  spelled  or  pronounced  alike,  not  to  main- 
tain the  second  point  of  difference,  against  the  double  orthography  or  the  double 
pronunciation  of  either,  is  to  confound  their  identity  at  once,  and  to  prove  by  the  rule 
that  two  different  words  are  one  and  the  same,  by  first  absurdly  making  them  so. 

OBS.  7. — In  no  part  of  grammar  is  usage  more  unsettled  and  variable  than  in  that 
which  relates  to  the  figure  of  words.  It  is  a  point  of  which  modern  writers  have  taken 
but  very  little  notice.  Lily,  and  other  ancient  Latin  grammarians,  reckoned  both  spe- 
cies and  figure  among  the  grammatical  accidents  of  nearly  all  the  different  parts  of 
speech ;  and  accordingly  noticed  them,  in  their  Etymology,  as  things  worthy  to  be  thus 
made  distinct  topics,  like  numbers,  genders,  cases,  moods,  tenses,  &c.  But  the  manner 
of  compounding  wrords  in  Latin,  and  also  in  Greek,  is  always  by  consolidation.  No 
use  appears  to  have  been  made  of  the  hyphen,  in  joining  the  words  of  those  languages, 
though  the  name  of  the  mark  is  a  Greek  compound,  meaning  "under  one."  The  com- 
pounding of  words  is  one  principal  means  of  increasing  their  number ;  and  the  arbitra- 
riness with  which  that  is  done  or  neglected  in  English,  is  sufficient  of  itself  to  make  the 
number  of  our  words  a  matter  of  great  uncertainty.  Such  terms,  however,  having  the 
advantage  of  explaining  themselves  in  a  much  greater  degree  than  others,  have  little 
need  of  definition ;  and  when  new  things  are  formed,  it  is  very  natural  and  proper  to 
give  them  new  names  of  this  sort :  as,  steamboat,  railroad.  The  propriety  or  impro- 
priety of  these  additions  to  the  language,  is  not  to  be  determined  by  dictionaries ;  for 
that  must  be  settled  by  usage  before  any  lexicographer  will  insert  them.  And  so  nu- 
merous, after  all,  are  the  discrepancies  found  in  our  best  dictionaries,  that  many  a  word 
may  have  its  day  and  grow  obsolete,  before  a  nation  can  learn  from  them  the  right  way 
of  spelling  it ;  and  many  a  fashionable  thing  may  go  entirely  out  of  use,  before  a  man 
can  thus  determine  how  to  name  it.  Railroads  are  of  so  recent  invention  that  I  find 
the  word  in  only  one  dictionary ;  and  that  one  is  wrong,  in  giving  the  word  a  hyphen, 
while  half  our  printers  are  wrong,  in  keeping  the  words  separate  because  Johnson  did 
not  compound  them.  But  is  it  not  more  important,  to  know  whether  we  ought  to  write 
railroad,  or  rail-road,  or  rail  road,  which  we  cannot  learn  from  any  of  our  dictionaries, 
than  to  find  out  whether  we  ought  to  write  rocklo,  or  roquelo,  or  roqiielaur,  or  roquelaure, 
which,  in  some  form  or  other,  is  found  in  them  all  ?  The  duke  of  Roquelaure  is  now 
forgotten,  and  his  cloak  is  out  of  fashion. 

OBS.  8. — No  regular  phrase,  as  I  have  taught  in  the  second  rule  above,  should  be 
needlessly  converted  into  a  compound  word,  either  by  tacking  its  parts  together  with 
the  hyphen,  or  by  uniting  them  without  a  hyphen  :  for,  in  general,  a  phrase  is  one  thing, 
and  a  word  is  an  other  ;  and  they  ought  to  be  kept  as  distinct  as  possible.*  But,  when  a 
•whole  phrase  takes  the  relation  of  an  adjective,  the  words  must  be  compounded,  and  the 
hyphen  becomes  necessary ;  as,  "An  inexpressibly  apt  bottle -of -small-beer  comparison." — 
Peter  Pindar.  The  occasions  for  the  compounding  of  words,  are  in  general  sufficiently 
plain,  to  any  one  who  knows  what  is  intended  to  be  said ;  but,  as  we  compound  words, 
-sometimes  with  the  hyphen,  and  sometimes  without,  there  is  no  small  difficulty  in 
:aseertaining  when  to  use  this  mark,  and  when  to  omit  it.  "  Some  settled  rule  for  the 
use  of  the  hyphen  on  these  occasions,  is  much  wanted.  Modern  printers  have  a  strange 
•predilection  for  it ;  using  it  on  almost  every  possible  occasion.  Mr.  L.  Murray,  who  has 
only  three  lines  on  the  subject,  seems  inclined  to  countenance  this  practice  ;  which  is, 
no  'doubt,  convenient  enough  for  those  who  do  not  like  trouble.  His  words  are :  '  A 

*  According  to  Aristotle,  the  compounding  of  terms,  or  the  writing  of  them  as  separate  words,"must  needs 
be  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  the  sense.  For  he  will  have  the  parts  of  a  compound  noun,  or  of  a  com- 
pound verb,  to  be,  like  other  syllables,  destitute  of  any  distinct  signification  in  themselves,  whatever  may  be 
their  meaning  when  written  separately.  See  his  definitions  of  the  parts  of  speech,  in  his  Poetics,  Chapter 
20th -of  the  Greek ;  or  Goulston's  Version  in  Latin,  Chapter  12th. 


CHAP.  III.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. FIGURE   OF   WORDS. — ERRORS.  179 

Hyphen,  marked  thus  -  is  employed  in  connecting  compounded  words :  as,  Lap-dog, 
tea-pot,  pro-existence,  self-love,  to-morrow,  mother-in-law.'  Of  his  six  examples,  John- 
son, our  only  acknowledged  standard,  gives  the  first  and  third  without  any  separation 
between  the  syllables,  lapdoij,  prccxifitcnce ;  his  second  and  fifth  as  two  distinct  words 
each,  (fa  ji  >•'.  '(•>  in»rratc  ;  and  his  sixth  as  three  words,  mot /in-  in  lau- :  so  that  only  his 
fourth  has  the  sanction  of  the  lexicographer.  There  certainly  can  be  no  more  reason  for 
putting  a  hyphen  after  the  common  prefixes,  than  before  the  common  affixes,  ness,  .'//, 
and  the  rest."—CJwrckifft  dram.  p.  374. 

(j,,s. '.». — Again  :  "  While  it  would  be  absurd,  to  sacrifice  the  established  practice  of  all 
good  authors  to  the  ignorance  of  such  readers  [as  could  possibly  mistake  for  a  diphthong 
the  two  contiguous  vowels  in  such  words  as  precxisteit.ce,  cooperate,  and  reottcr] ;  it  would 
unqxiestionably  be  advantageous,  to  have  some  principle  to  guide  us  in  that  labyrinth  of 
words,  in  which  the  hyphen  appears  to  have  been  admitted  or  rejected  arbitrarily,  or  at 
hap-hazard.  Thus,  though  we  find  in  Johnson,  alms-basket,  «////.*-///>/•/-,  with  the  hy- 
phen ;  we  have  alin*d>-c'l,  al/nshouse,  almsman,  without :  and  many  similar  examples  of 
an  unsettled  praetiee  might  be  adduced,  sufficient  to  fill  several  pages.  In  this  perplex- 
ity, is  not  the  pronunciation  of  the  words  the  best  guide?  In  the  English  language, 
every  word  of  more  than  one  syllable  is  marked  by  an  accent  on  some  particular  sylla- 
ble. Some  very  long  words  indeed  admit  a,secondary  accent  on  an  other  syllable  ;  but 
still  this  is  much  inferior,  and  leaves  one  leading  accent  prominent :  as  in  expos' tulatory. 
Accordingly,  when  a  compound  has  but  one  accented  syllable  in  pronunciation,  as 
MpAfcop,  bed'stead,  broadsword,  the  two  words  have  coalesced  completely  into  one, 
and  no  hyphen  should  be  admitted.  On  the  other  hand,  when  each  of  the  radical 
words  has  an  accent,  a,s  Christ  tan- name',  broad' -shoul'dered,  I  think  the  hyphen  should 
be  used.  Good'-na'tured  is  a  compound  epithet  with  two  accents,  and  therefore  requires 
the  hyphen  :  in  y<><>  .  -lond  trill,  and  similar  expressions,  good  is  used  simply  as 

an  adjective,  and  of  course  should  remain  distinct  from  the  noun.  Thus,  too,  when 
a  noun  is  u>ed  adjectively,  it  should  remain  separate  from  the  noun  it  modifies  ;  as, 
a  ijold  rin(j,  a  sitcer  buckle.  AVhen  two  numerals  are  employed  to  express  a  number,  with- 
out a  conjunction  between  them,  it  is  usual  to  connect  them  by  a  hyphen  ;  as,  twc-nty- 
fooe,  fi<ihfy-fuur :  but  when  the  conjunction  is  inserted,  the  hyphen  is  as  improper  as  it 
would  be  between  other  words  connected  by  the  conjunction.  This,  however,  is  a  com- 
mon abuse;  and  we  often  meet  \t\t\\. fice-i$-ticcnty,  six-^-thirty,  and  the  like." — Ib.  p. 
370.  Thus  far  Churchill :  who  appears  to  me,  however,  too  hasty  about  the  hyphen  in 
compound  numerals.  For  we  write  one  hundred,  tiro  hundred,  three  thousand,  &c.,  with- 
out either  hyphen  or  conjunction ;  and  as  Jive-and-tii-mf//  is  equivalent  to  twenty-Jive, 
and  virtually  but  one  word,  the  hyphen,  if  not  absolutely  necessary  to  the  sense,  i* 
certainly  not  so  very  improper  as  he  alleges.  "C&rwtfMNftttamr"  is  as  often  written  without 
the  hyphen  as  with  it,  and  perhaps  as  accurately. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
ERRORS  IX  THE  FIGURE,  OR  FORM,  OF  WORDS. 

I  NDER  RULE  I. — OF  COMPOUNDS. 
•'Professing  to  imitate  Timon,  the  man  hater." — Goldsmith's  Rome,  p.  161. 

[FoRMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  compound  term  manhater  Is  here  made  two  words.    But,  according  to 
;•!  commonly  known  as  compounds,  should  never  be  needlessly  broken 
apart."     lh  -iiould  be  written  as  one  word.] 

"  Men  load  hay  with  a  pitch  fork." — H ',/«// /•'.•,•  \ctr  SpiJI'nKj-Book,  p.  40.  "  A  pear 
tree  »['  a  pear." — Ib.  p.  33.  "A  tooth  brush  is  good  to  brush  your 

.;." — V>.  p.  8-1.     "The  mail  is  opened  at  the  post  office." — Ib.  p.  151.     "The  error 
Id." — tinhorn's   (li-aiii.  p.  230.     "To  pre-engage  means  to  engage 
before  hand."—  U ',  ,i</-B<>ok,  p.  82.     "It  is  a  mean  act  to  deface  the 

tiu'uiv-  on  a  mile  stone."—  Ib.  p.  88.  "  A  grange  i-*  a  farm  and  farm  house."— Ib.  p.  118. 
"  It  is  no  more  right  to  steal  apples  or  water  melons,  than  money." — Ib.  p.  118.  "The 
awl  is  a  tool  uM-d  by  shoemakers,  and  harness  makers." — Ib.  p.  150.  "  Twenty  five  cents 
are  equal  to  one  quarter  of  a  dollar." — Ib.  p.  107.  "The  blowing  up  of  the  Fulton  at 
York  was  a  terrible  di*a-«ter." — lh.  p.  .VI.  "The  elders  also,  and  the  bringers  up 
of  the  children,  sent  to  Jehu." — SCOTT:  2  AV/I//.S-,  x,  5.  "Not  with  eye  >ervice,  as 
men  pleasers." — llic!.<  /-.s/<7//,  <>n  l'r,nj,-r,  p.  04.  "A  good  natured  and  equitable  con- 
struction of  08060." —  i  •/.  p.  138.  "And  purify  your  hearts,  ye  double 
minded." — Gurney's  ]'<>/"  ><•(?$,  p.  Ho.  "  It  is  a  mean  spirited  action  to  steal; 
i.  e.  to  steal  is  a  mean  spirited  action." — (lra»»»nr  nf  Al>.c.  Murray,  the  schoolmaster, 
p.  12 i.  "  There  is,  indeed,  one  form  of  orthography  which  is  a  kin  to  the  subjunctive 


180  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

mood  of  the  Latin  tongue." — Booth's  Introd.  to  Diet.  p.  71.  "To  bring  him  into  nearer 
connexion  with  real  and  everyday  life." — Philological  Museum,  i,  p.  459.  "  The  com- 
mon place,  stale  declamation  of  its  revilers  would  be  silenced." — Ib.  i,  p.  494.  "She 
formed  a  very  singular  and  unheard  of  project." — Goldsmith's  Rome,  p.  160.  "lie  had 
many  vigilant,  though  feeble  talented,  and  mean  spirited  enemies." — ROBERTS  YAUK  : 
The.  Friend^  vii,  p.  74.  "  These  old  fashioned  people  would  level  our  psalmody,"  &c. — 
Music  of  Nature,  p.  292.  "  This  slow  shifting  scenery  in  the  theatre  of  harmony." — 76. 
p.  398.  "So  we  are  assured  from  Scripture  it  self." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  300.  "The 
mind,  being  disheartened,  then  betakes  its  self  to  trifling." — R.  Johnson's  Pref.  to  Gram. 
Com.  "Whose  soever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them." — Beacon,  p.  115: 
SCOTT,  ALGEU,  FRIENDS:  John,  xx,  23.  "Tarry  we  our  selves  how  we  will." — Walk.r's 
English  Particles,  p.  161.  "Manage  your  credit  so,  that  you  need  neither  swear  your 
self,  nor  want  a  voucher." — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  33.  "Whereas  song  never  conveys 
any  of  the  above  named  sentiments." — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  424.  "  I  go  on  horse  back." 

—  Guy's  Gram.  p.  54.     "This  requires  purity,  in  opposition  to  barbarous,  obsolete,  or 
new  coined  words." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  242  ;  Gould's,  234.     "  May  the  Plough  share  shine." 

—  White's  Eng.  Verb,  p.  161.     "  Which  way  ever  we  consider  it." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  83. 

"  Wrhere  e'er  the  silent  (e)  a  Place  obtains, 
The  Voice  foregoing,  Length  arid  softness  gains." — Brightland's  Gr.  p.  15. 

UNDER  RULE  II. — OF  SIMPLES. 

"It  qualifies  any  of  the  four  parts  of  speech  abovenamed." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  83. 

[FORMULE — Not  proper,  because  abovenamed  is  here  unnecessarily  made  a  compound.  But,  according  to 
Rule  2d,  "  When  the  s-imple  words  would  only  form  a  regular  phrase,  of  the  same  meaning,  the  compound- 
ing of  any  of  them  ought  to  be  avoided."  Therefore,  above  and  named  should  here  have  been  written 
as  two  words  ] 

"  After  awhile  they  put  us  out  among  the  rude  multitude." — Fox's  Journal,  i,  p.  169. 
"It  would  be  ashame,  if  your  mind  should  falter  and  give  in." — Collier's  Meditations  of 
Antoninus,  p.  94.  "They  stared  awhile  in  silence  one  upon  another." — Passelas,  p.  73. 
"  After  passion  has  for  awhile  exercised  its  tyrannical  sway." —  Murray's  Gram,  ii, 
135  and  267.  "Though  set  within  the  same  general-frame  of  intonation." — Rush,  on 
the  Voice,  p.  339.  "  Which  do  not  carry  any  of  the  natural  vocal  signs  of  expression." 
— Ib.  p.  329.  "The  measurable  constructive-powers  of  a  few  associable  constituents." 
— Ib.  p.  343.  "  Before  each  accented  syllable  or  emphatic  monosyllabic-word." — Ib. 
p.  364.  "  One  should  not  think  too  favourably  of  oneself."  See  Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  154. 
"  Know  ye  not  your  ownselves,  how  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  you." — Barclay's  Works,  i, 
p.  355.  "  I  judge  not  my  ownself,  for  I  knew  nothing  of  my  ownself." —  Way  land's  Moral 
Science,  p.  84.  "  Though  they  were  in  such  a  rage,  I  desired  them  to  tarry  awhile." — 
Josephus,  v,  p.  179.  "A  instead  of  an  is  now  used  before  words  beginning  with  u  long."- 
Murray's  Gram.  p.  31.  "John  will  have  earned  his  wages  the  next  new-year's  day." — 
Murray's  Gram.  p.  82.  "  A  new-year's-gift  is  a  present  made  on  the  first  day  of  the 
year."  See  Johnson,  Walker,  Webster,  et  al.  "  When  he  sat  on  the  throne,  distributing 
new-year's-gifts." — STILLINGFLEET,  in  Johnson's  Diet.  "  St.  Paul  admonishes  Timothy  to 
refuse  old-wives' -fables."— Author.  "  The  world,  take  it  altogether,  is  but  one." — Collier's 
Antoninus,  B.  vii,  Sec.  9.  "  In  writings  of  this  stamp  we  must  accept  of  sound  instead  of 
sense."— Murray's  Gram.p.  298.  "A  male-child,  A  female-child.  Male-descendants,  Fe- 
male-descendants."— Goldsburi/s  C.  S.  Gram.  p.  13  ;  Rev.  T.  Smith's  Gram.  p.  15.  "  Male- 
servants,  Female-servants.  Male-relations,  Female-relations." — Felton's  Gram.  p.  15. 
"  Reserved  and  cautious,  with  no  partial  aim, 

My  muse  e'er  sought  to  blast  another's  fame." — Lloyd,  p.  162. 

UNDER  RULE  III. — THE  SENSE. 

"  Our  discriminations  of  this  matter  have  been  but  four  footed  instincts." — Rush,  on 
the  Voice,  p.  291. 

[Forrmde.— Not  proper,  because  the  term  four  footed  is  made  two  words,  as  if  the  instincts  were  four  and 
footed.  But.  according  to  Kule  3d,  "  Words  otherwise  liable  to  be  misunderstood,  must  be  joined  together, 
or  wrktetj  separately,  as  the  sense  and  construction  may  happen  to  require."  Therefore,  four-fooled,  as  it 
here  means  <{uail  raped,  or  having  four  feet,  should  be  One  word  ] 

"Tie  is  in  the  right,  (says  Clytus,)  not  to  bear  free  born  men  at  his  table." — Goldsmith's 
Greece,,  ii,  p.  128.  "To  the  sho'rt  seeing  eye  of  man,  the  progress  may  appear  little. "- 
The  Friend,  ix,  p.  377.  "  Knowledge  and  virtue  are,  emphatically,  the  stepping  stone  to 
individual  distinction." — Town's  Analysis,  p.  5.  "  A  tin  peddler  will  sell  tin  vessels  as  he 
travels." —  Webster's  New  Spelling-Book,  p.  44.  "  The  beams  of  a  wood-house  are  held  up 
by  the  posts  and  joists." — Ib.  p.  39.  "  What  you  mean  by  future  tense  adjective,  I  can 


CHAP.  III.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. — FIGURE   OF    WORDS. — ERRORS.  181 

easily  understand." — Tooke's  Diversions,  ii,  p.  450.  "  The  town  has  been  for  several  days 
very  well  behaved." — S/n-rfafor,  Xo.  532.  "A  rounce  is  the  handle  of  a  printing  pre— . "  — 
r'a  !)«•'.;  also  /•."/.  Spi-Htuy-Ii  >•>!;,  p.  118.  "The  phraseology  we  call  th,.-i-  ami  thnuiwj 
is  not  in  so  common  use  with  us,  as  the  tutoyant  among  the  French." —  \Yalk-.r  s  / 
Th>/.  "  Hunting,  and  other  out  door  sports,  are  generally  pursued." — Balbi's  (!--<rr.  p.  'I'll. 
"Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy  laden." — SCOTT,  AUJKK,  FUII.M>S: 
Matt,  xi,  us.  "  (iod  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  to  save 
it." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  p.  71  ;  Scott's  Bible,  John,  iii,  16.  "Jehovah  is  a  prayer  hearing 
God:  Nineveh  repented,  and  was  spared." — A".  1".  Observer,  x,  p.  90.  "These  are  well 
pleading  to  God,  in  all  ranks  and  relations." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  p.  73.  "Whosoever 
cometh  any  thing  near  unto  the  tabernacle." — Numb,  xvii,  13.  "The  words  po 
•when  they  have  a  long  established  association." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  169.  "Open  to  me 
the  gates  of  right  I  will  go  in  to  them." — OLD  13nu.r: :  /'*.  cxviii,  19.  "He 

saw  an  angel  of  Uod  coining  into  him."  See  Acts,  x,  3.  "The  consequences  of  any 
action  are  to  be  considered  in  a  two  fold  light." — Wayland's  Moral  St-ii-nce,  p.  108. 
••  \Ve  commonly  write  two  fold,  three  fold,  four  fold,  and  so  on  up  to  ten  fold,  without  a 
hyphen;  and,  afrer  that,  we  use  one." — Author.  Sec  Matt,  xiii,  8.  "When  the  first 
mark  i-  .  he  cries  turn !  the  glass  holder  answers  d  nie  !  " — Bowditch's  Nav.  p.  128. 

"  It  is  a  kind  of  familiar  shaking  hands  with  all  the  vices." — MafHrin's  Si-rmon.s,  p.  170. 
"  She  is  a  i^ood  natured  woman  ;  "  "  James  is  self  opinionated ;  "  "  He  is  broken  hearted." 
kfj  Gram.  ]>.  147.  "  These  three  examples  apply  to  ihcpresent  tense  construction 
only." — Ih.  p.  65.  "  So  that  it  was  like  a  game  of  hide  and  go  seek." — Edward's  First 
Lessons  in  Grammar,  p.  90. 

"  That  lowliness  is  young  ambition's  ladder, 
Whereto  the  climber  upward  turns  his  face." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  97. 

UNDER  RULE  IV. — OF  ELLIPSES. 

"  This  building  serves  yet  for  a  school  and  a  meeting-house." 

[  FOR-.:  '  roj  ••!-.  ln-1'au-o  the  compound  word  xchooliiimxi-  is  hero  divided  to  avoid  a  repetition  of  the 

Kiir,  iierordiiii;  to  Kule  4tli,  u  \Vheii  two  or  more  compounds  are  connected  in  one  sentence,  none  of 

•  .  make  nn  ellipsis  of  half  a  wurJ."  Therefore,  "  AcAoo/"  should  be  "  sclioulliouse ;  :'  thus, 
'•  This  luiil  linn'  MTV.  s  \«-t  tor  a  schoolhouse  and  a  meeting-house."  ] 

-  and    mi>tresses  of  honest  friends  [are]  to  be  encouraged." — N".  E. 
xv.     "  We  never  assumed  to  ourselves  a  faith  or  worship-making-power." 

.  i.  ]).  83.     "  Pot  and  pe.ul  ashes  are  made  from  common  ashes." —  ll'cb- 

,  p.  69.     "  Both  the  ten  and  eight  syllable  verses  are  iambics." — 

'•'rant.  \>.  \'2\.     "  1  say  to  myself,  thou,  he  says  to  thy,  to  his  self;  &c." — Dr. 

<•//'/.  ii,  p.  TJ1.     "Or  those  who  have  e -teemed  them>clves  skilful, 

have  trie,lf  trthe  mastery  in  two  or  four  horse  chariots." — '/.">i'>bia,\,  p.  152.    "I  remember 

him    barefooted    and    beaded,  running    through    the    streets." — Castle   Rackrcnt,  p.   (18. 

Is  have  tin-  entire  control  of  the  school  and  dwelling-houses." — The  Friend,  vii, 

p.  '2 ">  1 .     '•  The  meeting  is  held  at  the  first  mentioned  place  in  the  iirst  month,  at  the  last  in 

mil  M)  on." — Ib.  ]).  107.     "  M'  i  tings  for  worship  arc  held  at  the  same  hour 

on  lir.-t  and  fourth  days." — Ib.   p.  230.      "Every  part   of  it,  inside   and   out,  is   covered 

with  gold   leaf."  —  Ib.   p.  401.       "The   Eastern   Quarterly  Meeting   is   held    on  the   last 

'.  h'i'tb,   eighth,   and    eleventh    month." — Ib.    p.    87.      "Trenton 

held  on  the  third  lifth  day  in  each  month,  at  ten  o'clock  ;  meet- 

-hip  at  the  same  hour  on  first  and  fifth  days." — Ib.  p.  231.     "  Ketch,  a  vessel 

with  t\.  .  main  and  mi/./.en-mast." — \Vvbstrr' s  Diet.     "I  only  mean  to  suggest  a 

cnlistel  hrr<elf  as  a  ('is  or  Trans  -Atlantic  partisan  ?" — 

••  ISy  large  hammers,  like  tbo>e  n>ed  for  ]i:«]:er  anil  fullingmillH, 

they  beat  thiir  hemp." — MOKTIMKK  :  ///  ,/n/i/isfn/i'.<i  Dirt.  "  Ant-hill,  or  Hillock,  n.  s.  The 
small  protui  •  :  i-arth,  in  which  ants  make  their  nots." — Ib.  "  lt*became 

sary  to  substituh  .led  j>r.>- names  or  noun*."—i:m-tyticat  p.  16. 

;.  where  highest  woods,  impenetrable 
t  sun-light,  spread  their  umbrage  broad." — Milton. 

I.K  V.— THE  Hvi'iiKN. 

"  l-'.ri/f/iin kiny ;  a  noun,  compounded   of  the  noun  evil  and  the  imperfect  participle 
C  number;"  Xc. —  ChurrlnH'x  (i,-<i//i.  p.  180. 

i'-li  li:is  more  tlian  one  accented  s\lhibV 
eonpouodedwi  bout  the  hyphen.     Itur..  .,-•  \Vhcn  the  parts  of  :i  <  ompound  do  not  fully 

:ts  its  origin  :  ;..u'i.i    ha-  nmn-  tlian  oi.e.  or  »,,• 

.-iiould  be  iuscrted  between  them."    Therefore,  the  h\  phea  .-huuld  be  used  in  thb  word; 
^-thinking. } 


1 82  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

"  Evilspedking ;  a  noun,  compounded  of  the  noun  evil  and  the  imperfect  participle 
s-praking." — Ib.  "lam  a  tall,  broadshouldered,  impudent,  black  fellow." — SPECTATOR: 
in  Johnson's  Diet.  "  Ingratitude  !  thou  marblehearted  fiend." — SHAK.  :  ib.  "  A  popular 
licence  is  indeed  the  inanyheaded  tyranny." — SIDNEY  :  ib.  "  He  from  the  manypcopled 
city  flies." — SANDYS  :  ib.  "  He  manylanguaged  nations  has  surveyed." — POPE  :  ib.  "  The 
horsecucumber  is  the  large  green  cucumber,  and  the  best  for  the  table." — MORTIMER  :  ib. 
"  The  bird  of  night  did  sit,  even  at  noonday,  upon  the  market-place." — SHAK.  :  ib. 
"  These  make  a  general  gaoldelivery  of  souls,  not  for  punishment." — SOUTH  :  ib.  "  Thy 
air,  thou  other  goldbound  brow,  is  like  the  first." — SHAK.  :  ib.  "  His  person  was 
deformed  to  the  highest  degree  ;  flatnosed,  and  blobberlipped." — I/ESTRANGE  :  ib.  "  He 
that  defraudeth  the  labourer  of  his  hire,  is  a  bloodshedder."— ECCLUS.  xxxiv,  22:  ib. 
" Bloodyminded,  adj.  from  bloody  and  mind.  Cruel;  inclined  to  blood-shed."  See  John. 
Diet.  "  Bluntwitted  lord,  ignoble  in  demeanour." — SHAK.  :  ib.  "  A  young  fellow  with 
a  bobwig  and  a  black  silken  bag  tied  to  it.  " — SPECTATOR  :  ib.  "  I  have  seen  enough  to 
confute  all  the  boldfaced  atheists  of  this  age." — BRAMHALL  :  ib.  "  Before  milkwhite, 
now  purple  with  love's  wound." — SHAK.:  ib.  "  For  what  else  is  a  redhot  iron  than 
fire  ?  and  what  else  is  a  burning  coal  than  redhot  wood  ? " — NEWTON  :  ib.  "  Poll  evil  is 
a  large  swelling,  inflammation,  or  imposthume  in  the  horse's  poll,  or  nape  of  the  neck 
just  between  the  ears." — FARRIER  :  ib. 

"  Quick-witted,  brazenfac'd,  with   fluent  tongues, 
Patient  of  labours,  and  dissembling  wrongs." — DRYDEN  :  ib. 

UNDER  RULE  VI. — No  HYPHEN. 
"  From  his  fond  parent's  eye  a  tear-drop  fell." — Snetting's  Gift  for  Scribblers,  p.  43. 

[FoRMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  tear-drop,  which  has  never  any  other  than  a  full  accent  on  the 
first  syllable,  is  here  compounded  with  the  hyphen.  But,  according  to  Rule  6th,  "  When  a  compound  has 
but  one  accented  syllable  in  pronunciation,  and  the  parts  are  such  as  admit  of  a  complete  coalescence,  no 
hyphen  should  be  inserted  between  them.5'  Therefore,  teardrop  should  be  made  a  close  compound.] 

"  How  great,  poor  jack-daw,  would  thy  sufferings  be  !  " — Ib.  p.  29.  "  Placed  like  a 
scare-crow  in  a  field  of  corn." — Ib.  p.  39.  "  Soup  for  the  alms-house  at  a  cent  a  quart." 
— Ib.  p.  23.  "  Up  into  the  watch-tower  get,  and  see  all  things  despoiled  of  fallacies." — 
DONNE  :  Johnson's  Diet.  w.  Lattice.  "  In  the  day-time  she  sitteth  in  a  watchtower,  and 
flieth  most  by  night." — BACON  :  ib.  w.  Watchtower.  "  In  the  daytime  Fame  sitteth  in  a 
watch-tower,  and  flieth  most  by  night." — ID.:  ib.  w.  Daytime.  "  The  moral  is  the  first  busi- 
ness of  the  poet,  as  being  the  ground-work  of  his  instruction." — DRYDEN  :  ib.  w.  Moral. 
"  Madam's  own  hand  the  mouse-trap  baited." — PRIOR  :  ib.  w.  Mouse-trap.  "  By  the  sink- 
ing of  the  air-shaft  the  air  hath  liberty  to  circulate." — RAY  :  ib.  ic.  Airshaft.  "  The  multi- 
form r.nd  amazing  operations  of  the  air-pump  and  the  loadstone." — WATTS  :  ib.  w.  Mul- 
tiform. "Many  of  the  fire-arms  are  named  from  animals." — Ib.  w.  Musket.  "  You  might 
have  trussed  him  and  all  his  apparel  into  an  eel-skin." — SHAK.:  ib.  tv.  Truss.  "  They 
may  serve  as  land-marks,  to  shew  what  lies  in  the  direct  way  of  truth." — LOCKE  :  ib.  to. 
Landmark.  "  A  pack-horse  is  driven  constantly  in  a  narrow  lane  and  dirty  road." — Id. 
ib.  w.  Lane.  "  A  mill-horse,  still  bound  to  go  in  one  circle." — SIDNEY:  ib.  u\  Mill-horse. 
"  Of  singing  birds  they  have  linnets,  goldfinches,  ruddocks,  Canary-birds,  black-birds, 
thrushes,  and  divers  others." — CAREW  :  ib.  w.  Goldfinch.  "  Of  singing  birds,  they  have 
linnets,  gold-finches,  blackbirds,  thrushes,  and  divers  others." — ID.:  ib.  w.  Blackbird. 
"Of  singing  birds,  they  have  linnets,  goldfinches,  ruddocks,  canary  birds,  blackbirds, 
thrushes,  and  divers  other." — ID.:  ib.  w.  Canary  bird.  "  Cartridge,  a  case  of  paper  or 
parchment  filled  with  gun-powder." — Johnson. 

"  Deep  night,  dark  night,  the  silent  of    the  night, 
The  time  of  night  when  Troy  was  set  on  fire, 
The  time  when  screech-owls  cry,  and  ban-dogs  howl." 

SHAKSPEARE  :  ib.  w.  Silent. 
"The  time  when  screech-owls  cry,  and  bandogs  howl." 

IDEM  :  ib.  w.  Bandog. 

PROMISCUOUS  ERRORS  IN  THE  FIGURE  OF  WORDS. 
LESSON  I. — MIXED. 

"  They  that  live  in  glass-houses,  should  not  throw  stones." — Old  Adage.  "  If  a  man 
profess  Christianity  in  any  manner  or  form  soever." — Watts,  p.  5.  "For  Cassius  is  a 
weary  of  the  world." — SHAKSFBABE  :  tn  Kir kham's  Elocution,  p.  67.  "By  the  coming 
together  of  more,  the  chains  were  fastened  on." — Walker  s  Particles,  p.  223.  "  Unto  the 
carrying  away  of  Jerusalem  captive  in  the  fifth  month." — Jer.  i,  3.  "  And  the  goings 


CHAP.  III.]  ORTIIOGBAPHY. FIGURE   OF   WORDS. ERRORS.  183 

forth  of  the  border  shall  be  to  Zedad." — .V/////V-/-.V,  xxxiv,  8.  "  And  the  goings  out  of  it 
shall  be  at  Ha/ar-enan."— Ib.  ver.  9.  "For  the  taking  place  of  effects,  in  a  certain 
particular  scries." — Dr.  IIVs/,  <,,,  \  /^ncy,  p.  39.  "The  letting  go  of  which  was  the 
occasion  of  all  that  corruption." — Dr.  J.  <)//•< •„.  "  A  falling  off  at  the  cud  always  hurts 
greatly." — Blair's  Le<-f.  p.  120.  "A  falling  off  at  the  end  is  always  injurious." — 
n'j  rJirtnrir,  p.  127.  "As  all  holdings  forth  were  courteously  supposed  to  be 
trains  of  reasoning." —  Dr.  Murrui/x  I/i*t.  I'.am,,.  Lany.  i,  p.  333.  "Whose  goings  forth 
have  been  from  of  old,  from  everlasting." — Micah,  v,  2.  "  Some  times  the  adjective 
beo>me>  a  >ubstantive." — BriuUt-y's  Gram.  p.  104.  "  It  is  very  plain,  I  consider  man  as 
vi>itcd  a  new." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  p.  331.  "  Xor  do  I  any  where  say,  as  he  falsely 
insinuates." — Ib.  p.  331.  "Every  where,  any  where,  some  where,  no  where." — Alex. 
Mum/', '\  t  irii  in.  p.  ~)~).  "The  world  hurries  off  a  pace,  and  time  is  like  a  rapid  river." 
i  .•f<un'nit-i,i>.  58.  "  But  to  new  model  the  paradoxes  of  ancient  skepticism." — 
Brniri,'  .  i,  p.  102.  "The  south  east  winds  from  the  ocean  invariably  produce 

rain." —  IT,  v,  p.  369.     "  North  west  winds  from  the  high  lands  produce  cold 

clear  weather." — Ib.  "The  greatest  part  of  such  tables  would  be  of  little  use  to  English 
men." — /'/•// sVAy'.s  dram.  p.  155.  "The  ground  floor  of  the  east  wing  of  Mulberry 
street  meeting  house  wax  filled." — The  Friend,  vii,  232.  "  Prince  Rupert's  Drop.  This 
singular  production  is  made  at  the  glass  houses." — Red  Book,  p.  131. 

"  The  lights  and  shades,  whose  well  accorded  strife 
Gives  all  the  strength  and  colour  of  our  life." 

Murray's  Gram.  p.  54  ;  Fish's,  65. 

LESSON  II. — MIXED. 

"  In  the  twenty  and  seventh  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah  did  Zimri  reign  seven  days  in 
Tir/ah." —  ',  ;.  \~t.     "In  the  thirty  and  first  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah,  began 

Omri  to  reign  over  Israel." — Ih.  xvi,  23.  "  lie  cannot  so  deceive  himself  as  to  fancy 
that  he  is  able  to  do  a  rule  of  three  sum."—  ' Quarterly  Review.  "  The  best  cod 

«e  known  under  the  name  of  Isle  of  Shoals  dun  tish." — BalbCs  Geoff,  p.  26.     "  The 
soldiers,  with  down  (  i  med  to  beg  for  mercy." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  ii,  p.  142. 

"  lli-^  ivercd  with  a  coarse  worn  out  piece  of  cloth." — Ib.  p.  124.     "Though 

they  had  lately  received  a  reinforcement  of  a  thousand  heavy  armed  Spartans." — Ib.  p. 
38.     "  But  he  laid  them  by  unopened  ;  and,  with  a  smile,  said,  'Business  to  morrow.'  " 
-tor  monthly  meeting  is  held  at  Moore's  town,  the  third  day  following 
•md  second  day." — The  Friend,  vii,  p.   124.     "  Eggharbour  monthly* meeting  is 
held  the  first  second  day." — Ib.  p.  124.     "  Little  Eurg  Harbour  Monthly  Meeting  is  held 
\"i-t.on  on  the  second  fifth  day  in  each  month." — Ib.  p.  231.     "At  three  o'clock, 
on  first  day  morning  the  2  Ith  of  eleventh  month,  1834,"  &c. — Ib.  p.  64.  "  In  less  than  one- 
fourth  part  of  the  time  usually  devoted." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  4.     "The  pupil  will  not 
have  occasion  to  use  it  one-tenth  part  as  much." — Ib.  p.   11.     "The  painter  dips  his 
paint  brush  in  paint,  to  paint  the  carriage." — Ib.  p.  28.     "  In  an  ancient  English  version 
iinent." — Ib.  p.  74.     "The  little  boy  was  bare  headed.'' — Red  Book,  p. 
!  :ie  man,  being  a  little  >hort  sighted,  did  not  immediately  know  him." — Ib.  p.  40. 
'id." — Ib.  p.   44.     "The  park  keeper  killed  one  of  the 

l>>.  p.  H.     "The  fox  was  killed  near  the  brick  kiln." — Ib.  p.  46.  "  Here  comes 

.  with  her  milk  pail." — Ib.  p.  50.     "The  cabinet  maker  would  not  tell  us." — Ib. 

p.  60.      A  tine  thorn  hedge  extended  along  the  edge  of  the  hill. — Ib.  p.  65.      "If  their 

private  interests  should  be  ever  s  >  little  ati'erted."— If,,  p.  73.      "  Unios  are  fresh  water 

shelU,  vulgarly  called  fre-h  water  clams."  — 1/>.  p.  102. 

"  Did  not  each  poet  mourn  his  luckless  doom, 

!ed  by  pedants  out  of  elbow  room." — Lloyd,  p.  163. 

LESSON  III. — MIXED. 

"The  captive  hovers  a-while  upon  the  sad  remains." — Puiou :  in  Johnson's  I- 

:w  that  the  hand  writing  agreed  with  the  contents  of  the  letter." — 

.  ir.  Unnil.   "  They  have  put  me  in  a  silk  night-gown,  and  a  gaudy  fool'- 

— ID.:  ih.  ir.  .y/v//'      .-,'.      ••  Have   you  no  more  manners  than  to  rail  at  Hocus,  that  has 

«aved    that    rlod-patrd.    numskull'd    ninnyhammer    of    yours    from  min,   and    all    his 

family?"  —  Aunrr!i\'  .     ••  A  noble,  thai  i-.  -i\  -hillinizs  and  eicrht- 

.  ia,  and  usually  hath  been  paid." — li\  birds  thick 

d  and  with  full-sum:  ."  —  Howi ., 

FuU-snninii-iL      "Tomorrow.     This   is  an   idiom  of  the  same  ki;i 
mean  originally  morniny  :  as,  to  night,  to  day." — Juhn^.jn's  Diet.  4to.     "  To-day  goes  away 


184  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

and  to-morrow  comes." — Id.  ib.  w.  Go,  No.  70.  "Young  children,  who  are  tried  in  go 
carts,  to  keep  their  steps  from  sliding." — PRIOR  :  ib.  w.  Go-cart.  "  Which,  followed  well, 
would  demonstrate  them  but  goers  backward." — SHATC.  :  ib.  w.  Goer.  "  Heaven's 
golden  winged  herald  late  he  saw,  to  a  poor  Galilean  virgin  sent." — CRASHAW  :  ib. 
10.  Golden.  "  My  penthouse  eye-brows  and  my  shaggy  beard  offend  your  sight." — 
DRYDEN  :  ib.  in.  Penthouse.  "  The  hungry  lion  would  fain  have  been  dealing  with  good 
horse-flesh." — I/ESTRANGE  :  ib.  w.  Nag.  "  A  broad  brimmed  hat  ensconced  each  careful 
head." — fuelling's  Gift,  p.  63.  "With  harsh  vibrations  of  his  three  stringed  lute."— 
Ib.  p.  42.  "  They  magnify  a  hundredfold  an  author's  merit." — Ib.  p.  14.  "I'll  nail 
them  fast  to  some  oft  opened  door." — Ib.  p.  10.  "  Glossed  over  only  with  a  saint-like 
show,  still  thou  art  bound  to  vice." — DRYDEN  :  in  Johnson's  Diet.  w.  Gloss.  "  Take  of 
aqua-fortis  two  ounces,  of  quick-silver  two  drachms." — BACON  :  ib.  w.  Charge.  "  This 
rainbow  never  appears  but  when  it  rains  in  the  sun-shine." — NEWTON  :  ib.  iv.  Rainbow. 
"  Not  but  there  are,  who  merit  others  palms ; 
Hopkins  and  Stem  hold  glad  the  heart  with  Psalms." 

British  Poets,  Lond.  1800,  Vol.  vi,  p.  405. 


CHAPTER  IV.-OF  SPELLING. 

Spelling  is  the  art  of  expressing  words  by  their  proper  letters.  This 
important  art  is  to  be  acquired  rather  by  means  of  the  spelling-book  or 
dictionary,  and  by  observation  in  reading,  than  by  the  study  of  written 
rules ;  because  what  is  proper  or  improper,  depends  chiefly  upon  usage. 

The  orthography  of  our  language  is  attended  with  much  uncertainty 
and  perplexity :  many  words  are  variously  spelled  by  the  best  scholars, 
and  many  others  are  not  usually  written  according  to  the  analogy  of  similar 
words.  But  to  be  ignorant  of  the  orthography  of  such  words  as  are  spelled 
with  uniformity,  and  frequently  used,  is  justly  considered  disgraceful. 

The  following  rules  may  prevent  some  embarrassment,  and  thus  be  of 
service  to  those  who  wish  to  be  accurate. 

RULES   FOR    SPELLING. 
RULE  I. — FINAL  F,  L,  OR  S. 

Monosyllables  ending  in  /,  I,  or  s,  preceded  by  a  single  vowel,  double  the  final 
consonant ;  as  staff,  mill,  pass — muff,  knell,  gloss — off,  hiss,  puss. 

EXCEPTIONS.  — The  words  clef,  if,  and  of,  are  written  with  single/;  and  as,  gas,  has, 
was,  yes,  his,  is,  this,  MS,  pus,  and  thus,  with  single  s.  So  bid,  for  the  flounder ;  mil,  for 
no,  in  law ;  sol,  for  son  or  sun;  and  sal,  for  salt,  in  chemistry,  have  but  the  single  /. 

OBS. — Because  sal,  salts,  in  Latin,  doubles  not  the  /,  the  chemists  write  salify,  sal/fable, 
salification,  saliferous,  saline,  salinous,  saliniform,  salify  ing,  £c.,  with  single  /,  contrary  to 
Rule  3d.  But  in  gas  they  ought  to  double  the  s ;  for  this  is  a  word  of  their  own  invent- 
ing. Neither  have  they  any  plea  for  allowing  it  to  form  gases  and  gaseous  with  the  s  still 
single ;  for  so  they  make  it  violate  two  general  rules  at  once.  If  the  singular  cannot 
now  be  written  gass,  the  plural  should  nevertheless  be  gasses,  and  the  adjective  should 
be  gasseotis,  according  to  llule  3d. 

RULE  II. — OTHER  FINALS. 

"Words  ending  in  any  other  consonant  than/,  I,  or  s,  do  not  double  the  final  let- 
ter; as,  mob,  nod,  dog,  sum,  sun,  cup,  cur,  cut,  fix,  whiz. 

EXCEPTIONS. — We  double  the  consonant  in  abb,  ebb,  add,  odd,  egg,  jagg,  ragg,  inn,  err, 
burr,  purr,  butt,  buzz,  fuzz,  yarr,  and  some  proper  names.  But  we  have  also  ab  (from) 
and  ad  (to)  for  prefixes  ;  and  jay,  rag,  in,  bur,  and  but,  are  other  words  that  conform  to 
the  rule. 


CHAP.  IV.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. SPELLING. RULES.  185 

RULE  III. — DOUBLING. 

Monosyllables,  and  words  accented  on   the  last  syllable,  when  they  end  with  a 

single  consonant  preceded  by  a  single  vowel,  or  by  a  vowel  after  qu,  double  their 

final   c< •nxuiimt   before   an   additional  syllable   that  begins  with  a  vowel  :    as,  rob, 

r  :./;7',  f'>/tjn's/t,  /'YY"'/'.'/  ,*  aqnat,  squatter,  squatting  ;  thin,  tlimn-r, 

lit! niit'xt  ;    .-  miner,    i>n-i mini mj  ;    commit,    cnminiHcth,    <oni)nitfiu<J,COm- 

tuittcil.  roitiniitter,  committee  ;    acquit,  acquittal,  acquittance,  acquitted,  acquit- 
tinf/.  tirqnitteth. 

11  ,\>. —  1.  X  final,  being  equivalent  to  ks,  is  never  doubled:  thus,  from  mix, 

we  ha\  .    <>/////,  and   miser.     2.  "NVhen  the  derivative  retains  not  the  accent  of 

the  root,  the  final  consonant  is   not  always  doubled:  as,  prefer1 ',  preference,  preferable  ; 

'<",  or  refer 'rible ;  infer',  in'ference,  in'ferable,  or  infer'rible  ;  transfer1, 

'i.'e.     3.  But  letters  doubled  in  Latin,  are  usually 

doubled  in  English,  without  regard  to  accent,  or  to  any  other  principle:  as,  Britain, 
.iia;    appeal,  appel'lant ;   argil,  argil'lous,   argil/a  'ceous  ;  cavil,  car'Ulwis, 
.  excellence ;  inflame',  inflam'mable,  iiiflamma'tion.     See  Obser- 
vations 9  and  10,  p.  190. 

RULE  IV. — No  DOUBLING. 

A  final  consonant,  when  it  is  not  preceded  by  a  single  vowel,  or  when  the  ac- 
cent is  nut  on  the  last  syllable,  should  remain  single  before  an  additional  syllable  : 
a<t  f»if.  /•*///////;  oil.  oil;/  ;  risit,  visited;  differ,  differing;  peril,  perilous ;  viol, 
.  r,-nli~,',  realist ;  dial,  dialing,  dialist ;  equal,  equalize,  equality ; 

'riolnte. 

•MOV-;. —  1.  The  final  /  of  words  ending  in  <••/,  must  be  doubled  before  an  other 
\  er  of  the  e  be  mistaken,  and  a  syllable  be  lost :  as,  travel,  traveller  ; 
.  iiran-lly  ;  niarn-l,  intirr,  Units.     Yet  the  word  parallel, 

Ells  already,  conforms  to  the  rule  in  forming  its  derivatives  ;  as,partilMinrr, 
.  mid   utipat  _'.  Contrary  to  the  preceding  rule,  the  preterits,  partici- 

>,  and  derivative  nouns,  of  the  few  verbs  ending  in  al,  il,  or  ol,  unaccented, —  namely, 
i<df,  /•//(//,  riu',  ma,        .  '. ,  <n-il,p,-ncil,  carol,  gambol,  and  pistol, — are  usually  allowed 

double  the  A  though  some  dissent  from  the  practice:  as,  equalled,  ryuafliny ;  riratfrd, 

•  t'l-il,  carnUin'i,  carollcr.     3.  When  ly  follows  /, 

liave  two  Klls  of  course,  but  in  fact  no  doublin-  -  really  ;  oral,  orally ;  cruel, 

n)l,   u-ooUy.     4.  Compounds,  though  they  often  re- 

the  i  rincipal  accent  from  the  point  of  duplication,   always  retain  the  double 
letter  :  .  /-,*    grass'hopper,    dttrk'-lft/f/i-d,    f>pur'-f/(ifl<-d,    hot'spurred, 

.  '"iff-icitfi'd.     So,  compromittcd  and  manumitted;  but  benefited 
is  different. 

RULE  V.— FINAL  CK. 

ml  Knuli.-h  vt-*rbs  end  not  with  c,  but  take  ck  for  double  c:  as, 
to  <it!n,-l- ;  but,  in  general,  words  derived  from  the  learned  lan- 

nced  not  the  k,  and  common  use  discards  it:   as,  Italic,  maniac,  music, 

El          ids  arc,  part  of  a  circle  ;  ore,  the  name  of  a  fish  ;  lac,  a  gum  or 
n  •  <l  ,  in  old  English  law,  are  ended  with  c  only.     Zinc  is, 

,  better  spelled  zink  ;  marc,  /nark  ;  disc,  disk  ;   and  talc,  talck. 

RrLE   VI. — RKTAINI.N.;. 

ling  with  any  double  letter,  preserve  it  double  before  any  additional 
termination,  not  beginning  with  the  same  letter,!  as  in  the  following  derivatives: 


B;  < 
Di 


;  riii.-ij.l.-.  or  nnr.  i<  qr.c-ti^naM.-.     If  Dr.  \V.O.sti-r  is  ri^ht  in  m:ik- 
!>'•  funii-li,^  a  C,M.-.,H  :»L'.iiii>f  iii-«  own  practice  of  uMng  a  single  p 
v.i.r-l  ;ip pears  to  have  been  wtorthscypr.    But  words 
rui.l  th.-ivf..r.'  th,.\  .'.  ,-ui  to  belong  to  the  rule,  rather 

p.  68. 

\\  lii-ii  ..  <..,,,,„  bffoi  )«  rappOMd  to  do  BO,  or  \M  'iie  letters  is 

"f  tin-  .-an,.  .-LUt,  skillns;  full, 

"'//•     And,  as  bnrg< ^  i,  1  uoi  compound*, 

think  tlu-y  ought  to  follow  the  same  priuciple,  and  be  written  burgess/tip,  hotttsship,  mutresship.   The  proper 


186  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   I. 

wooer,  seeing,  blissful,  oddly,  gruffly,  squally,  shelly,  hilly,  stiffness,  illness,  still- 
ness, shrillness,  feline ss,  smallness,  drollness,freencss,  grassless,  passless,  careless- 
ness, recklessness,  embarrassment,  enfeoffment,  agreement,  agreeable. 

EXCEPTIONS. —  1.  Certain  irregular  derivatives  in  t,  from  verbs  ending  in  II 01  ss,  as 
dwelt  from  dwell,  spelt  from  spell,  shalt  from  shall,  wilt  from  will,  blest  from  bless,  past  from 
pass,  are  exceptions  to  the  foregoing  rule.  2.  If  the  word  pontiff  is  properly  spelled 
with  two  Effs,  its  eight  derivatives  are  also  exceptions  to  this  rule ;  for  they  are  seve- 
rally spelled  with  one  :  as,  pontific,  pontifical,  pontificate,  &c.  3.  The  words  skillful,  skill- 
fully, willful,  willfully,  chillness,  tallness,  dullness,  and  fullness,  have  generally  been  allowed 
to  drop  the  second  /,  though  all  of  them  might  well  be  made  to  conform  to  the  general 
rule,  agreeably  to  the  orthography  of  Webster. 

RULE  VII. — RETAINING. 

"Words  ending  with  any  double  letter,  preserve  it  double  in  all  derivatives 
formed  from  them  by  means  of  prefixes  :  as,  see,  foresee  ;  feoff,  enfeojf ;  pass,  re- 
pass  ;  press,  depress ;  miss,  amiss;  call,  recall;  stall,  forestall ;  thrall,  inthrall ; 
spell,  misspell;  tell,  foretell ;  sell,  undersell;  add,  superadd  ;  snuff,  besnujf ; 
swell,  overswell. 

OBSERVATION.  —  The  words  enroll,  unroll,  miscall,  befall,  befell,  bethrall,  reinstall,  disin- 
thrall,  fulfill,  and  twibill,  are  very  commonly  written  with  one  /,  and  made  exceptions  to 
this  rule  ;  but  those  authors  are  in  the  right  who  retain  the  double  letter. 

RULE  VIII.— FINAL  LL. 

Final  II  is  peculiar  to  monosyllables  and  their  compounds,  with  the  few  deriva- 
tives formed  from  such  roots  by  prefixes ;  consequently,  all  other  words  that  end  in 

1,  must  be  terminated  with  a  single  /:  as,  cabal,  logical,  appal,  excel,  rebel,  refel, 
dispel,   extol,  control,  mogul,  jackal,  rascal,   damsel,  handsel,  tinsel,  tendril, 
tranquil,  gambol,  consul. 

OBSERVATION.  —  The  words  annul,  until,  distil,  extil,  and  instil,  are  also  properly 
spelled  with  one  I ;  for  the  monosyllables  null,  till,  and  still  are  not  really  their  roots, 
but  rather  derivatives,  or  contractions  of  later  growth.  Webster,  however,  prefers  distill, 
extill,  and  instill  with  II ;  and  some  have  been  disposed  to  add  the  other  two. 

RULE  IX.— FINAL  E. 

The  final  e  of  a  primitive  word,  when  this  letter  is  mute  or  obscure,  is  generally 
omitted  before  an  additional  termination  beginning  with  a  vowel :  as,  remove,  re- 
moval; rate,  ratable ;  force,  forcible;  true,  truism;  rave,  raving;  sue,  suing; 
eye,  eying ;  idle,  idling ;  centre,  centring. 

EXCEPTIONS.  —  1.  Words  ending  in  ce  or  ge,  retain  the  e  before  able  or  ous,  to  preserve 
the  soft  sounds  of  c  and  g :  as,  trace,  traceable ;  change,  changeable ;  outrage,  outrageous. 

2.  So,  from  shoe,  we  write  shoeing,  to  preserve  the  sound  of  the  root ;  from  hoe,  hoeing, 
by    apparent   analogy ;  and,  from   singe,  singeing ;  from   swinge,    swingeing ;  from  tinge, 
tingeing ;  that  they  may  not  be  confounded  with  singing,  swinging,  and  tinging.     3.  To 
compounds  and  prefixes,  as  firearms,  forearm,  anteact,  viceagent,  the  rule  does  not  apply ; 
and  final  ee  remains  double,  by  Rule  VI,  as  in  disagreeable,  disagreeing. 

RULE  X. — FINAL  E. 

The  final  e  of  a  primitive  word  is  generally  retained  before  an  additional  termi- 
nation beginning  with  a  consonant :  as,  pale,  paleness ;  edge,  edgeless ;  judge, 
judgeship ;  lodge,  lodgement;  change,  changeful;  infringe,  infringement. 

form  of  gall-less  is  perhaps  more  doubtful.  It  ought  not  to  be  gallless,  as  Dr  Webster  has  it ;  and  gnlless<  the 
analogical  form,  is  yet,  so  far  as  I  know,  without  authority.  But  is  it  not  preferable  to  the  hyphened  form, 
with  three  Ells,  which  has  authority  ?  > '  GALL-LESS,  a.  Without  gall  or  bitterness.  Cleat-eland.'"—  Chalmers. 
Bottes,  Worcester. 

"  Ah  !  mild  and  gall-less  dove, 
Which  dost  the  pure  and  candid  dwellings  love, 

Canst  thou  in  Albion  still  delight  ?  "—Cotvley's  Odes. 

Worcester's  Dictionary  has  also  the  questionable  word  "bellless."  Treen,for  trees,  or  for  an  adjective 
meaning  a  tree's,  or  made  of  a  tree,  is  exhibited  in  several  of  our  dictionaries,  and  pronounced  as  a  monosyl- 
lable :  but  Dr  Beattie,  in  his  Poems,  p.  84,  has  made  it  a  dissyllable,  with  three  like  letters  divided  by  a 
hyphen,  thus  :— 

"Plucking  from  tree-en  bough  her  simple  food." 


CHAP.    IV.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. SPELLING. RULES.  187 

EXPIATION*.  —  1.  When  the  e  is  preceded  by  a  vowel,  it  is  sometimes  omitted  ;  as  in 
dull/,  tnil,  .  rf;  but  much  more  frequently  retained  ;  as  in  diteness,  triteness,* 

///'.  rueful,  dm-ful,  xhnt-h -.s,v,  eyeless.  2.  The  word  wholly  is  also  an  exception  to 
the  rule,  for  nobody  wxitaa  it  idml.ly.  3.  Some  will  have  jmlij  ment,  abridgment,  and  ac- 
kinnrl,:t<ii  irreclaimable  exceptions  ;  but  I  write  them  with  the  e,  upon  the 

authority  of  Lowth.   Beattif,   Ainsworth,   Walker,   Cobb,  Chalmers,  and  others:  the 
French  "jugentent"  judgement,  always  retains  the  e. 

RULE  XI.— FINAL  Y. 

The  final  y  of  a  primitive  word,  when  preceded  by  a  consonant,  is  generally 
changed  into  i  before  an  additional  termination :  as,  merry,  merrier,  merriest, 
•merrily,  merriment;  pity,  pitied,  pities,  pitiest,  pitiless,  pitiful,  pitiable  ;  con- 
trary, rnntriirim'.<*.  r,,/,//v//-//y. 

mam,  —  1.  This  rule  applies  to  derivatives,  but  not  to  compounds  :  thus,  we 
•writ*  ,   md  mercy-scut ;  j>cnnilcns,  and  pennyworth  ;  scttrriness,  and  scurry-grass  ;  &C. 

But  /n>i'>/*/'u'ii  vaA.  goody »hip,  being  unlike  sccretarislnp  and  suretyship  ;  handicraft  and  handi- 
,  *  unlike  handyyripe  and  h a ndy stroke ;  habyship  and  babyhood,  unlike  stateliness  and 
likelihood;  the  distinction  between  derivatives  and  compounds,  we  see,  is  too  nice  a 
point  to  have  been  always  accurately  observed.    2.  Before  ing  or  ish,  the  y  is  retained  to 
prevent  the  doubling  of  i:  as,  pity,  pity  ing ;  baby,  babyish.     3.  Words  ending  in  ie,  drop- 
tin'  0  by  Rule  9th,  change  the  i  into  y,  for  the  same  reason  :  as,  die,  dying ;  vie, 
lie,  lying. 

RULE  XII.— FINAL  Y. 

The  final  y  of  a  primitive  word,  when  preceded  by  a  vowel,  should  not  be 
changed  into  i  before  any  additional  termination  :   as,  day,  days  ;  key,  keys  ;  guy, 
:  rulli'i/.  vti1Ii>ys;  coy,  coyly ;  cloy,  cloys,  cloyed;  boy,  boyish,  boyhood;  an- 
.  "nii'iijnnce  ;  /"//•  joyless,  joyful. 

.  —  1.  From  lay,  pay,  say,  and  stay,  are  formed  laid,  paid,  said,  and  staid ; 
t  the  regular  words,  layrd,  payed,  stayed,  are  sometimes  used.     2.  Raiment,  contracted 
from  in  r  written  with  the  y.     3.  Daily  is  more  common  than  the  regular 

"rm  dayly  ;  but  gayly,  gaycty,  and  (jay ness,  are  justly  superseding  gaily  and  gaiety. 

RULE  XIII.— IZE  AND  ISE. 

ending  in  ize  or  ise  sounded  alike,  as  in  wise  and  size,  generally  take 
H-  r  in  nil  such  as  arc  es.-vntially  formed  by  means  of  the  termination;  and  the  s 
in  mnnnsyllabk's.  and  all  such  as  are  essentially  formed  by  means  of  prefixes:  as, 
f/nninf/ii/f'~f',  <ij>nh(jize,  brnt<ili~i>,  canonize,  pilyriniize,  philosophize,  cauterize, 
ana'lo  n/>/fi:<',  aympnthlze.  disort/miizc,  with  z  ;  f  rise,  arise,  disguise,  advise, 
.  rii-i'innrisi",  despise,  surmise,  surprise,  comprise,  compromise, 
.  with  s. 

itechise,  chastise,  criticise,^,  exercise,  exorcise,  and  merchandise. 

<n ft.  ami  han'lirrnftfman,  appear  to  have  been  corruptly  written  for  handwork,  hand- 
:::rrly  in  ^<KI,I  use,  and  consequently  obtained  a  place  in  our  vocab- 

v.hi.  h  ii..  1. •xi«-..-.'r:i|.liiT.  s..  far  &a  I   know,  has   yet  thought  fit  to  discard  them;  but,  being 
i  ng  obsolete,  or  at  least  showing  a  tendency  to  throw  off  these  questionable 
-ome  dictionaries  ;  and  handiwork  seems  likely 
fr.iin  which  .li.liii.-. 'ii  MI]. poses  it  to  have  been  fornii-<l.     s •••    I'anlm  xlx, 

I.     Tin- •  •  shfii-nh  his  hnniihiT.Tk." Johnson's  Diet.     "  And  the  flr- 

-  ^n.n's   r><>Ar  ;  firurr's  Bible  ;  Harrison's  Gram.  p.  83     "And  the  fir- 

Bible;  Harrison's  Gram,  p   103. 
•. TII, ination  izf,  afterwards  assumes  a  prefix,  to  make 
ii-f.     In  such  ;i  -  must  of 

.1    «.r  i.riiiinry  fnnuatioii  of  both  fnuii  tlie  \vcr.l  organ 
i»e,  and  the  like,  are  e->entially  or 
nnizt,  and  recognize, 

lioh  I  have  noted  am  t,v  \\Iii.-li  method  we  ought  to  suppose 

\cl'.-fii   f.n  '..-.irl\  -all   OCben,  ti  !•  f erj   j.l-iin  ,  an. I  though 

'  I'-r  fi.un.li:  .•!,  n  rule  as  the  forep-ii'^.  the  v<.ice  ..f  general  custom 

in  this  as  in  iu"-t  «.;her  j.i.Mits  or  |.riiuiiilc>  <>i'  orthography,  aud,  surely,  some  rule  in  this  case  is 
rvatlv  i  - 

>;  <.  i<  tli-  orthography  of  Johnson.  Walker,  Webster,  .Tone?,  Prott.  flolle?,  Chalmers,  Cohb, 
ipell  i'  in   liN  (•(.nipn-h.-n-iv.-  Dictionarj  <>f  1-:)1.  hut.  in  his  fniversal 
rrott  it   "Hi   r.  a-   ,ii,i   Bailey   in  his  folio,  about  a  hundred  years  ago. 
the  z  conforms  to  the  foregoing  rule,  and  the  s  does  not. 


188  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   I. 

are  most  commonly  written  with  s ;  and  size,  assize,  capsize,  analyze,  oi-rrprize,  dctonize, 
and  r.-cognize,  with  2.  How  many  of  them  are  real  exceptions  to  the  rule,  it  is  difficult 
to  say.  2.  Prise,  a  thing  taken,  and  prize,  to  esteem  ;  apprise,  to  inform,  and  apprize,  to 
value,  or  appraise,  are  often  written  either  way,  without  this  distinction  of  meaning, 
which  some  wish  to  establish.  3.  The  want  of  the  foregoing  rule  has  also  made  many 
words  variable,  Avhich  ought,  unquestionably,  to  conform  to  the  general  principle. 

RULE  XIV. — COMPOUNDS. 

Compounds  generally  retain  the  Orthography  of  the  simple  words  which  compose 
them  :  as,  wherein,  horseman,  uphill,  shellfish,  knee-deep,  kneedgrass,  kneading- 
trough,  innkeeper,  skylight,  plumtree,  mandrill. 

EXCEPTIONS. —  1.  In  permanent  compounds,  or  in  any  derivatives  of  which  they  are 
not  the  roots,  the  words  fall  and  all  drop  one  I ;  as,  'handful,  careful,  fulfill,  always, 
although,  icithal :  in  temporary  compounds,  they  retain  both;  as,  full-eyed,  chock-full,* 
all-ioisc,  save-all.  2.  So  the  prefix  mis  (if  from  miss,  to  err,)  drops  one  s;  but  it  is  wrong 
to  drop  them  both,  as  in  Johnson's  "mispcll"  and  "mispeiid,'  for  misspell  and  misspend. 
3.  In  the  names  of  days,  the  word  mass  also  drops  one  s ;  as,  Christinas,  Candlemas, 
Lammas.  4.  The  possessive  case  often  drops  the  apostrophe;  as  in  herdsman,  kitesfoot. 
5.  One  letter  is  dropped,  if  three  of  the  same  kind  come  together  :  as,  Rosshire,  chaffinch  ; 
or  else  a  hyphen  is  used :  as,  Ross-shire,  ill-looking,  still-life.  6.  Chilblain,  welcome,  and 
welfare,  drop  one  /.  7.  Shepherd,  wherever,  and  whosever,  drop  an  e ;  and  wherefore  and 
therefore  assume  one. 

RULE  XV.— USAGE. 

Any  word  for  the  spelling  of  which  we  have  no  rule  but  usage,  is  written  wrong 
if  not  spelled  according  to  the  usage  which  is  most  common  among  the  learned  : 
as,  "  The  brewer  grinds  his  malt  before  he  brues  his  beer." — Red  Book,  p.  38. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1 . —  The  foregoing  rules  aim  at  no  wild  and  impracticable  reformation  of  our 
orthography  ;  but,  if  carefully  applied,  they  will  do  much  to  obviate  its  chief  difficul- 
ties. .Being  made  variable  by  the  ignorance  of  some  writers  and  the  caprice  of  others, 
our  spelling  is  now,  and  always  has  been,  exceedingly  irregular  and  unsettled.  Uni- 
formity and  consistency  can  be  attained  in  no  other  way,  than  by  the  steady  application 
of  rules  and  principles  ;  and  these  must  be  made  as  few  and  as  general  as  the  case 
will  admit,  that  the  memory  of  the  learner  may  not  be  overmatched  by  their  num- 
ber or  complexity.  Rules  founded  on  the  analogy  of  similar  words,  and  sanctioned 
by  the  usage  of  careful  writers,  must  be  taken  as  our  guides ;  because  common  practice 
is  often  found  to  be  capricious,  contradictory,  and  uncertain.  That  errors  and  inconsis- 
tencies abound,  even  in  the  books  which  are  proposed  to  the  world  as  standards  of  English 
orthography,  is  a  position  which  scarcely  needs  proof.  It  is  true,  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  of  all  the  spelling-books  and  dictionaries  that  I  have  seen,  and  probably  of  all 
that  have  ever  been  published.  And  as  all  authors  are  liable  to  mistakes,  which  others 
may  copy,  general  rules  should  have  more  weight  than  particular  examples  to  the  con- 
trary. "  The  right  spelling  of  a  word  may  be  said  to  be  that  which  agrees  the  best 
with  its  pronunciation,  its  etymology,  and  with  the  analogy  of  the  particular  class  of 
words  to  which  it  belongs."  —  Philological  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p.  647. 

OBS.  2. —  I  do  not  deny  that  great  respect  is  due  to  the  authority  of  our  lexicogra- 
phers, or  that  great  improvement  was  made  in  the  orthography  of  our  language  when 
Dr.  Johnson  put  his  hand  to  the  work.  But  sometimes  one  man's  authority  may  offset 
an  other's;  and  he  that  is  inconsistent  with  himself,  destroys  his  own  :  for,  surely,  his 
example  cannot  be  paramount  to  his  principles.  Much  has  been  idly  said,  both  for  and 
against  the  adoption  of  Johnson's  Dictionary,  or  Webster's,  as  the  criterion  of  what  is 
right  or  wrong  in  spelling ;  but  it  would  seem  that  no  one  man's  learning  is  sufficiently 
extensive,  or  his  memory  sufficiently  accurate,  to  be  solely  relied  on  to  furnish  a  standard 
by  which  we  may  in  all  cases  be  governed.  Johnson  was  generally  right ;  but,  like 
other  men,  he  was  sometimes  wrong.  He  erred  sometimes  in  his  principles,  or  in  their 
application  ;  as  when  he  adopted  the  k  in  such  words  as  rlietorick  and  dcmoniack ;  or 

*  Like  this,  the  compound  brim-full  ought  to  be  written  with  a  hyphen  and  accented  on  the  last  syllable  ; 
but  all  our  lexicographers  have  corrupted  it  into  brim '/;//,  and,  contrary  to  the  aurhoiiries  they  quote,  ac- 
cented it  on  tho  first.  Tiitir  noun  brimfulnest,  with  a  like  accent,  is  also  a  corruption:  and  the  text  of 
Shakspeare.  which  they  quote  for  it,  is  nonsense,  unless  brim  be  there  made  a  separate  adjective  :  — 

"  With  ample  and  brimfulnff*  of  his  force.1'  — Johnson's  Diet,  et  al. 

"  With  ample  and  brim  fullness  of  his  force,"  would  be  better. 


CHAP.   IV. J  ORTHOGRAPHY. SPELLING. RULES.  189 

•when  he  inserted  the  «   in  such  words  as   t//,r-  rnovr,  irarriour,  stipcriour.     Neither  of 

generally  adopted,  in   any  tiling  like  the  number  of 

words  to  which  lie  applied  them  ;  or  ever  will  be  ;  though  some  indiscreet  compilers  are 

still  /onlously  end.  avou'.'hig  to  impose  them  upon  the  public,  as  tlie  true  way  of  spelling. 

He  also  erred  sometimes  />>/  ri<;-t',l,'//>.  or  oversight;  a.s  when  he  spelled  thus  :  "  i\-<-<tll  and 

••finill  and    h.f/>.~     .  ''  and  d<nr,ij\il,   l'ii/*tnll  and    thumbxtnl,    tntta-fall  and 

••  <',t>,  ,,i  <!,-in!l  and  (liuuihil1,  irtndniiU  and  ti<-ibi(,  uphill   and  doiriihil."     This  occasional 

excision  of  the  letter  /  is  reprehensible,  because  it  is  contrary  to  general  analogy,  and 

.vise  both  !  -ary  to  preserve  the  sound,  and  show  the  derivation  of 

tlie  .     Walker  censure-  it  as  a  "ridiculous  irregularity,"  and  lays   the  blame 

of  it  on  the  "/  :  d  >e-  not  venture  to  correct  it  !     See  Johnson's  Diction  - 

.  :ir>t  American  edition,  quarto:  Walker's  Pronouncing  Dictionary,  under  the  word 

/////,•  and  his  Rhyming  Dictionary,  Introd.  p.  xv. 

;. — "  Dr.  Johnson's  Dictionary  "  has  been  represented  by  some  as  having  "  nearly 
fixed  the  external  form  of  our  language."  lint  Murray,  who  quotes  this  from  Dr. 
Nares  admits,  at  the  same  time,  that,  "The  orthography  of  a  great  number  of  Knglish 
word-,,  is  far  from  being  uniform,  even  amongst  writers  of  distinction." —  Gram.  p.  25. 
And,  after  commending  this  work  of  Johnson's,  as  A  STANDARD,  from  which,  "it  i>  ear- 
be  hoped,  that  no  author  will  henceforth,  on  light  grounds,  be  temptod  to 
innovate,"  he  adds,  "This  Dictionary,  however,  contains  some  orthographical  inconsis- 
tencies which  ought  to  be  rectified  :  such  a<,  immovable,  moreable ;  c/iasfcly,  clnt.^ 
fi'rtt  /  .•  si  mess,  slyly  ;  fearlessly,  fcarl-esncts ;  needfasntss,  needlesly." — Ib.  In 

respe-Tt  to  the  final  ck  and  our,  he  also  i/>tc>i('<>/><i!/>/  departs  fruin  Tin:  STA.VDAIM)  irhii-Ji  he 
thus  .erring,  in  that,  the  authority  of  ll'al^r's  Rhipni.i'f  Dictfumiri/,  from 

•which  lie  borrowed  liis  rules  for  spelling.  For,  against  the  use  of  k  at  the  end  of 
words  from  the  learned  lan^uuges,  and  au:iiii-t  tl:e  it  in  many  words  in  which  Johnson 
n  the  authority,  not  only  of  general  usage  now,  but  of  many  grammari- 
ans who  were  contemporary  with  Johnson,  and  of  more  than  a  dozen  lexicographers, 
ancient  (U  iniong  whom  is  Walker  himself.  In.  this,  therefore,  Murray's  prac- 

-  commended  standard  dictionary,  wrong. 

Oil'.  4. —  Of  words  ending  in  or  or  our,  we  have  about  three  hundred  and  twenty  ; 
of  which  not  more  than  forty  cm  i,ow  with  any  propriety  be  written  with  the  latter 
tc  rmination.  Aiming  to  write  according  to  the  best  usage  of  the  present  day,  I  insert 
in  >o  many  of  these-  words  as  now  seem  most  familiar  to  the  eye  when  so  written ; 
but  I  have  no  partiality  for  any  letters  that  can  well  be  spared ;  and  if  this  book  should 
ever,  by  any  good  fortune,  happen  to  be  reprinted,  after  honour,  labour,  favour,  bchaciour, 
and  •  .  -hall  have  become  as  unfashionable  as  authour,  crruur,  fervour,  and  CIHJJC- 

rnirr,  are  now,  let  the  proof-reader  strike  out  the  useless  letter  not  only  from  these 
words,  but  from  all  others  which  shall  bear  an  equally  antiquated  appearance. 

OBS.  o. —  I  h  te  I  the  above-mentioned  imperfections  in  Dr.  Johnsons  ortho- 

graphy, merely  to  justify  the  liberty  which  1  take  of  spelling  otherwise;  and  not  with 
any  view  to  give  a  preference  to  that  of  Dr.  II,  ^  /,  who  is  now  contending  for  the 
honour  of  having  furnished  a  more  correct  stnnrli.trd.  For  the  latter  author,  though 
right  in  some  things  in  which  the  former  was  wrong,  is,  on  the  whole,  still  more  erro- 
neous and  ineon.-i.stcnt.  In  his  various  attempts  at  reformation  in  our  orthography,  he 
has  spelled  many  hundreds  of  words  in  .such  a  variety  of  ways,  that  he  knows  not  at 
la-t  which  of  them  i-  1  which  are  wroiu'.  But  in  respect  to  dfjiuiti-n^,  he  has 

done  tforl  service  to  our  literature  ;  nor  have  his  critics  been  sufficiently  just  respecting 
ill  hi-   ••  i.m  n  iti  >.i-."  *     To  omit  the  k  from  su.-ii   words  as  publtckt  or  the 
**  fr°'  ,  ''>n;   it   is  but  ignorance  that  censures 

the  general  practice,  under  that  name.     Tlie  I  .  ;.>r  Johnson  and  opponents  of 

iter,  \\ho  are  now  so  /.ealously  stickling  for  the  /•  and  the  u  in  these  cases,  ought 
to  know  tnat  they  are  contending  for  what  was  obsolete,  or  obsolescent,  when  Dr. 
Johnson  ^ 

OHS.  i\. —  I  h;  ed  that  some  of  the  grammarians  who  were  contempo- 

rary with  Johnson,  did  not  adopt  hi>   pr.i:-ti-e   respivtins  the  k  or  the  u,  in  jnib.'ii-k, 
.     And  iml  -c  I  1  a-n  not  sure  there  were  any  who  did.     Dr. 

Johnson  was  birn  in  lied   in    17SL     lint    Brightland's  Grammar,  which 

MM.-  written  durisi-j  th.   r.  :i  Amu-,  who  die  I  in  171 1,  in  treating  of  the  letter 

[f  in  any  Word  the  harder  Sound  p.,  .  k /),  or  (i/),  (/,-)  is  cither  added 

or  put  in  its  I'l .,  \-ul  tho'  the  a.ldiiionul  (/,-)  in  the  fore, 

in.,'  Word  be  an  old    M",/  /  ,^tly  left  off,  .ur- 

nuous  Lettor  ;  I-T  (•  )  at  the  Ivi  .ition,  Lond.  17-i  !,  ]). 

Ous.  7. —  Tlie  -lev,  an. I  Lnvth,  all  appeared,  in  their 

•  See  Cobb'fl  Critical  Review  of  the  Orthography  of  Webster 


190  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

first  editions,  about  one  time  ;  all,  if  I  mistake  not,  in  the  year  1758  ;  and  none  of  these 
learned  doctors,  it  would  seem,  used  the  mode  of  spelling  now  in  question.  In  Ash,  of 
1799,  we  have  such  orthography  as  this :  "  Italics,  public,  domestic,  our  traffic,  music, 
quick ;  error,  superior,  warrior,  authors,  honour,  humour,  favour,  behaviour."  In 
Priestley,  of  1772  :  "Iambics,  dactyls,  dactylic,  anapaestic, monosyllabic,  electric, public, 
critic ;  author,  emperor's,  superior ;  favour,  labours,  neighbours,  laboured,  vigour, 
endeavour ;  meagre,  hillock,  bailiwick,  bishoprick,  control,  travelling."  In  Lowth,  of 
1799  :  "  Comic,  critic,  characteristic,  domestic  ;  author,  favor,  favored,  endeavored,  alledging, 
foretells."  Now  all  these  are  words  in  the  spelling  of  which  Johnson  and  Webster  con- 
tradict each  other ;  and  if  they  are  not  all  right,  surely  they  would  not,  on  the  whole, 
be  made  more  nearly  right,  by  being  conformed  to  either  of  these  authorities  exclusively. 
For  THE  BEST  USAGE  is  the  ultimate  rule  of  grammar. 

OBS.  8. —  The  old  British  Grammar,  written  before  the  American  Revolution,  and 
even  before  "  the  Learned  Mr.  Samuel  Johnson  "  was  doctorated,  though  it  thus  respect- 
fully quotes  that  great  scholar,  does  not  follow  him  in  the  spelling  of  which  I  am  treat- 
ing. On  the  contrary,  it  abounds  with  examples  of  words  ending  in  ic  and  or,  and  not 
in  ick  and  our,  as  he  wrote  them ;  and  I  am  confident,  that,  from  that  time  to  this,  the 
former  orthography  has  continued  to  be  more  common  than  his.  Walker,  the  orthoepist, 
who  died  in  1807,  yielded  the  point  respecting  the  k,  and  ended  about  four  hundred  and 
fifty  words  with  c  in  his  Rhyming  Dictionary  ;  but  he  thought  it  more  of  an  innovation 
than  it  really  was.  In  his  Pronouncing  Dictionary,  he  says,  "  It  has  been  a  custom, 
within  these  twenty  years,  to  omit  the  k  at  the  end  of  words,  when  preceded  by  c.  This 
has  introduced  a  novelty  into  the  language,  which  is  that  of  ending  a  word  with  an  unu- 
sual letter,"  &c.  "This  omission  of  k  is,  however,  too  general  to  be  counteracted,  even 
by  the  authority  of  Johnson ;  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  it  will  be  confined  to  words  from  the 
learned  languages." —  Walker's  Principles  of  Pronunciation,  No.  400.  The  tenth  edition 
of  Burn's  Grammar,  dated  1810,  says,  "It  has  become  customary  to  omit  k  after  c  at 
the  end  of  dissyllables  and  trissyllables,  &c.  as  music,  arithmetic,  logic ;  but  the  k  is  re- 
tained in  monosyllables  ;  as,  back,  deck,  rick,  &c." —  P.  25.  James  Buchanan,  of  whose 
English  Syntax  there  had  been  five  American  editions  in  1792,  added  no  k  to  such,  words; 
as  didactic,  critic,  classic,  of  which  he  made  frequent  use  ;  and  though  he  wrote  honour 
labour,  and  the  like,  with  u,  as  they  are  perhaps  most  generally  written  now,  he  insertec. 
no  u  in  error,  author,  or  any  of  those  words  in  which  that  letter  would  now  be  inconsis- 
tent with  good  taste. 

OBS.  9. —  Bickiiell's  Grammar,  of  1790,  treating  of  the  letter  k,  says,  "And  for  tho 
same  reason  we  have  dropt  it  at  the  end  of  words  after  c,  which  is  there  always  hard ;  at; 
in  publick,  logick,  &c.  which  are  more  elegantly  written  public,  logic." — Part  ii,  p.  13, 
Again  :  "  It  has  heretofore  joined  with  c  at  the  end  of  words  ;  as  publick,  logick ;  but,  as 
before  observed,  being  there  quite  superfluous,  it  is  now  left  out." — Ib.  p.  16.  Horno 
Tooke's  orthography  was  also  agreeable  to  the  rule  which  I  have  given  on  this  subject. 
So  is  the  usage  of  David  Booth :  "  Formerly  a  k  was  added,  as,  rustick,  politick,  Arith- 
metick,  &c.  but  this  is  now  in  disuse." —  Booth's  Introd.  to  Diet.  Lond.  1814,  p.  SO. 

OBS.  10. — As  the  authors  of  many  recent  spelling-books — Cobb,  Emerson,  Burhans, 
Bolles,  Sears,  Marshall,  Mott,  and  others  —  are  now  contending  for  this  "superfluous 
letter"  in  spite  of  all  the  authority  against  it,  it  seems  proper  briefly  to  notice  their 
argument,  lest  the  student  be  misled  by  it.  It  is  summed  up  by  one  of  them  in  the 
following  words  :  "In  regard  to  k  after  c  at  the  end  of  words,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  say, 
that  its  omission  has  never  been  attempted,  except  in  a  small  portion  of  the  cases  where 
it  occurs ;  and  that  it  tends  to  an  erroneous  pronunciation  of  derivatives,  as  in  mimick, 
mimicking,  where,  if  the  k  were  omitted,  it  would  read  mimicing ;  and  as  c  before  i  is 
always  sounded  like  s,  it  must  be  pronounced  mi/nising.  Now,  since  it  is  never  omitted 
in  monosyllables,  where  it  most  frequently  occurs,  as  in  block,  clock,  &c.,  and  can  be  in  a 
part  only  of  polysyllables,  it  is  thought  better  to  preserve  it  in  all  cases,  by  which  we  have 
one  general  rule,  in  place  of  several  irregularities  and  exceptions  that  must  follow  its 
partial  omission." — 'Bolles' s  Spelling -Book,  p.  2.  I  need  not  tell  the  reader  that  these 
two  sentences  evince  great  want  of  care  or  skill  in  the  art  of  grammar.  But  it  is  proper 
to  inform  him,  that  we  have  in  our  language  eighty-six  monosyllables  which  end  with 
ck,  and  from  them  about  fifty  compounds  or  derivatives,  which  of  course  keep  the  same 
termination.  To  these  may  be  added  a  dozen  or  more  which  seem  to  be  of  doubtful 
formation,  such  as  huckaback,  pickapack,  gimcrack,  ticktack,  picknick,  barrack,  knapsack, 
Jwllyhock,  shamrock,  hammock,  hillock,  hommock,  bullock,  roebuck.  But  the  verbs  on  which 
this  argument  is  founded  are  only  six  ;  attack,  ransack,  traffick,  frolick,  mimick,  and  physick  ; 
and  these,  unquestionably,  must  either  be  spelled  with  the  k,  or  must  assume  it  in  their 
derivatives.  Now  that  useful  class  of  words  which  are  generally  and  properly  written 
with  final  c,  are  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  in  number,  and  are  all  of  them  cither  adjec- 
tives or  nouns  of  regular  derivation  from  the  learned  languages,  being  words  of  more 


CHAP.    IV.]  ORTIIOGRAPHY. SPELLING. — RULES.  191 

than  one  syllabic,  which  have  come  to  us  from  Greek  or  Latin  roots.     But  what  has  the 
doubling  otV  by  /.-,  in  our  native  monosyllables  and  their  derivatives,  to  do  with  all  these 
•  L'  foreign  origin  :     For  the  reason  of  the  matter,  we  might  as  well  double  the  /, 
as  our  an  .  in  natural/.  ti'»tp<>ra//,  spiritual/,  Nrc. 

11. —  The  learner  should  observe  that  some  letters  incline  much  to  a  duplication, 
while  some  others  are  doubled  but  seldom,  and  some,  never.  Thus,  among  the  vowels, 
ee  and  oo  occur  frequently  ;  an  i*  used  sometimes;  ii,  never — except  in  certain  Latin 
words,  ( wherein  the  v<>  •  naratcly  uttered,)  such  as  Horatii,  I'rii,  iidt-m,  //»•////. 

A'^iin,  tlie  doubling  of  »  is  precluded  by  the  fact  that  we  have  a  distinct  letter  called 
',  which  was  made  by  joining  two  Vees,  or  two  Ues,  when  the  form  for  u  was  /-. 
So,  among  the  consonants,/,  /,  and  s,  incline  more  to  duplication,  than  any  others.    These 
letters  arc  double,  not  only  at  the  end  of  those  monosyllables  which  have  but  one  vowel, 
.  mill,  pass;  but  also  under  some  other  circumstances.     According  to  general 
.::ial/  i>  doubled  after  a  single  vowel,  in  almost  all  cases ;  as  in  bailiff,  caitiff,  plain- 
/•///','. sheriff,  tariff,  mastiff:  yet  not  in  calif,  which  is  perhaps  better  written  caliph. 
Final  /.  by  Rule  8th,  admits  not  now  of  a  duplication  like  this ;  but,  by 

•;  it  ions  to  Rule  4th,  it  is  frequently  doubled  when  no  other  consonant  would  be  ; 
as  in  trin-rlliiiii,  ;/>•<» -,-//iny ;  unless,  (contrary  to  the  opinion  of  Lowth,  Walker,  and  Web- 
ster,) we  will  \M\\vJilUpping,  gossipping,  and  icorshipping,  to  be  needful  exceptions  also. 
1'2. —  Final  *  sometimes  occurs  single,   as  in  alas,  atlas,  bias;  and  especially  in 
Latin  «  upetus  ;  and  when  it  is  added  to  form  plurals,  as  verse,  verses :  but 

this  letter,  too,  is  generally  doubled  at  the  end  of  primitive  words  of  more  than  one  syl- 
lable ;  as  in  i-iiri-ti-xfi,  compass,  cuirass,  harass,  trespass,  r//'/»«//-/v/.v.v.    On  the  contrary,  the  other 
uts  are  seldom  doubled,  except  when  they  come  under  Rule  3d.     The  letter  p, 
i ,  is  commonly  doubled,  in  some  words,  even  when  it  forms  a  needless  exception 
to  Rule  4th  ;  as  in  the  derivatives  from  fillip,  gossip,  and  perhaps  also  worship.      This 
letter,  too,  was  very  frequently  doubled  in  Greek  ;  whence  we  have,  from  the  name  of 
Philip  of  Macedon,  "the  words  Pk&ppie  and  I'hilippizr,  which,  if  spelled  according  to  our 
rule  for  such  derivatives,  would,  like  galloped  and  i/ail  >]»  r,  sirup,  il  and  siruptj,  have  but 
We  find  them  so  written  in  some  late  dictionaries.     But  if  Ji  Hipped,  gossippccl,  and 
worshipped,  with  the  other  derivatives  from  the  same  roots,  are  just  and  necessary  excep- 
i  Rule  4th,  (which  I  do  not  admit,)  so  are  these;  and  for  a  much  stronger  reason, 
il  scholar  will  think.     In  our  language,  or  in  words  purely  English,  the 
',J\  k,  <!•>  *'»  «">  x,  andy,  are,  properly  speaking,  never  doubled.     Yet,  in  the  form- 
of  compounds,  it  may  possibly  happen,  that  two  Aitches,  two  Kays,  or   even  two 
uble-ucs,  or  Wies  shall  come  together;  as  in  withhold,  brickkiln,  slowworm,  bay-yarn, 
r.-.  13. —  There  are  some  words  —  as  those  which  come  from  metal,  medal,  coral, 
.  tranquil,  pupil,  papil — in  which  the  classical  scholar  is  apt  to 

violate  the  analogy  of  English  derivation,  by  doubling  the  letter  I,  because  he  remembers 
the  //  of  their  foreign  roots,  or  their  foreign  correspondents.  But  let  him  also  remember, 
that,  if  a  knowledge  of  etymology  may  be  shown,  by  spelling  metallic,  metalliferous, 
metallography,  metallurgic,  metallurgist,  metallurgy,  medallic,  medallion,  crystallixe, 
crystalline,  argillous,  argillaceous,  axillar,  axillary,  cavillous,  cavillation,  papillate, 
papillous,  papillary,  tranquillity,  and  pupillary,  with  double  /,  ignorance  of  it  must  needs 
DO  implied  in  spelling  metaline,  metal^t,  metaloid,  metaloidal,  medalist,  coralaceous, 
coralinc,  coralite,  coralinitc,  coraloid,  coraloidal,  crystalite,  argilitc,  argilitic,  tranquilize, 
and  pupilage,  in  like  manner.  But  we  cannot  well  double  the  /  in  the  former,  and  not 
in  the  latter  \v<.nl>.  II.  r<  is  a  choice  of  difficulties.  Etymology  must  govern  orthogra- 
y.  But  what  etymology  r  our  own,  or  that  which  is  foreign:  If  we  say,  both,  they 
;  and  the  mere  English  scholar  cannot  know  when,  or  how  far,  to  be  guided  by 
tin  diminutive,  as  papilla  from  papula  or  papa,  pupillus  from  ptipus,  or 
nautilus  from  (runs  and  t/itirtnx,  happen  to  double  an  /,  must  we  forever  cling  to  the  re- 
uplication,  and  that,  in  spite  of  our  own  rules  to  the  contrary:  Why  is  it  more  objec- 
tionable to  change  pupillaris  to  pupilary,  than  pupilltts  to  jnijiil  f  or,  to  change  tramjuillitas 
I'ilify,  than  traiujiiillus  to  tranquil  f  And  since  pajti/nns,  jinjiiltti/f,  and  trmxjuilize 
are  formed  from  the  English  \vords,  and  not  directly  from  the  Latin,  why  is  it  not  as 
improper  to  write  them  with  double  /,  as  to  write  y,<  rilous,  vassalage,  and  c'ivili:c,  in  the 

14. —  If  the  practice  of  the  learned  would  allow  us  to  follow  the  English  rule 
:  >hould  incline  to  the  opinion,  that  all  the  words  which  I  have  mentioned  above, 
ought  to  be  written  with  single  /.  •  Ainsworth  exhibits  the  Latin  word  for  coral  in  four 
forms,  and  the  (Jreek  word  in  three.     Two  of  the  Latin  and  two  of  the  Greek  have  the 
gle  ;  the  others  double  it.     He  also  spells  "  corn/if i<n.s"    with  one  /,  and  defines  it 
A  sort  of  white  marble,  called  coralinc."*     The  Spaniards,  from  whose  mcdalla,  we 

*  According  to  Littleton,  the  corcditicus  lapis  waa  a  kind  of  Phrygian  marble,  «  called  Coralius,  or  by  an 


192    .  TUB  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

have  medal ;  whose  argil*  is  arcilla,  from  the  Latin  argilla ;  and  to  whose  cai'ihir,  Web- 
ster traces  cavil ;  in  all  their  derivatives  from  these  Latin  roots,  metaUum,  metal  —  cora- 
lium,  corallium,  ciiralium,  or  corallum,  coral  —  crystallus  or  cry  stall  urn,  crystal — pupillus, 
pupil  —  and  tranquillus,  tranquil —  follow  their  own  rules,  and  write  mostly  with  single 
1:  as,  pupilero,  a  teacher  ;  metalico,  metalic  ;  coralina  (fern.)  coraline ;  cristalino,  crysta- 
line  ;  cristalizar,  crystalize  ;  traquilizar,  tranquiiize  ;  and  tranquilidad,  tranquility.  And  if 
we  follow  not  ours,  when  or  how  shall  the  English  scholar  ever  know  why  we  spell  as 
we  do  ?  For  example,  what  can  lie  make  of  the  orthography  of  the  following  words, 
which  I  copy  from  our  best  dictionaries  :  equip',  eq'uipage  ;  wor'ship,  wor'shipper  ;  — 
peril,  perilous ;  cavil,  cavillousf  ; — libel,  libellous  ;  quarrel,  quarrelous  ; — opal,  opaline; 
metal,  metalline]: ; — coral,  coralliform ;  crystal,  crystalform  ;  —  dial,  dialist ;  medal,  med- 
allist; —  rascal,  rascalion;  medal,  medallion;  —  moral,  moralist,  morality;  metal,  metal- 
list,  metallurgy;  —  civil,  civilize,  civility ;  tranquil,  tranquillize,  tranquillity;  —  novel, 
novelism,  novelist,  novelize ;  grovel,  grovelling,  grovelled,  groveller  ? 

OBS.  15. —  The  second  clause  of  Murray's  or  Walker's  5th  Rule  for  spelling,  gives  only 
a  single  I  to  each  of  the  derivatives  above  named.  §  But  it  also  treats  ia  like  manner 
many  hundreds  of  words  in  which  the  /  must  certainly  be  doubled.  And,  as  neither 
"  the  Compiler,"  nor  any  of  his  copiers,  have  paid  any  regard  to  their  own  principle, 
neither  their  doctrine  nor  their  practice  can  be  of  much  weight  either  way.  Yet  it  is 
important  to  know  to  what  words  the  rule  is,  or  is  not,  applicable.  In  considering  this 
vexatious  question  about  the  duplication  of  I,  I  was  at  first  inclined  to  admit  that,  when- 
ever final  I  has  become  single  in  English  by  dropping  the  second  I  of  a  foreign  root,  the 
word  shall  resume  the  //  in  all  derivatives  formed  from  it  by  adding  a  termination  begin- 
ning with  a  vowel;  as,  beryllus,  beryl,  berylline.  This  would,  of  course,  double  the  /in 
nearly  all  the  derivatives  from  metal,  medal,  &c.  But  what  says  custom  ?  She  constantly 
doubles  the  I  in  most  of  them ;  but  wavers  in  respect  to  some,  and  in  a  few  will  have  it 
single.  Hence  the  difficulty  of  drawing  a  line  by  which  we  may  abide  without  censure. 
Pupillage  and  pupil'lary,  with  II,  are  according  to  Walker's  Rhyming  Dictionary ;  but 
Johnson  spells  them  pu'pilage  and  pupilary,  with  single  I ;  and  Walker,  in  his  Pronoun- 
cing Dictionary,  has  pupilage  with  one  I,  and  pupillary  with  two.  Again  :  both  John- 
son's and  the  Pronouncing  Dictionary,  give  us  medallist  and  metallist  with  II,  and  are 
sustained  by  Webster  and  others  ;  but  Walker,  in  his  Rhyming  Dictionary,  writes  them 
medalist  and  metalist,  with  single  I,  like  dialist,  formalist,  cabalist,  herbalist,  and  twenty 
other  such  words.  Farther  :  Webster  doubles  the  /  in  all  the  derivatives  of  metal,  med- 
al, coral,  axil,  argil,  m\(\.  papil ;  but  writes  it  single  in  all  those  of  crystal,  cavil,  pupil,  and 
tranquil  —  except  tranquillity. 

OBS.  16. —  Dr.  Webster  also  attempts,  or  pretends,  to  put  in  practice  the  hasty  propo- 
sition of  Walker,  to  spell  with  single  I  all  derivatives  from  words  ending  in  /  not  under 
the  accent.  "  No  letter,"  says  Walker,  "  seems  to  be  more  frequently  doubled  improp- 
erly than  /.  Why  we  should  write  libelling,  levelling,  revelling,  and  yet  offering,  suffer  ing, 
reasoning,  I  am  totally  at  a  loss  to  determine  ;  and,  unless  /  can  give  a  better  plea  than 
any  other  letter  in  the  alphabet,  for  being  doubled  in  this  situation,  I  must,  in  the  style 
of  Lucian,  in  his  trial  of  the  letter  T,  declare  for  an  expulsion." —  Rhyming  Diet.  p.  x. 
This  rash  conception,  being  adopted  by  some  men  of  still  less  caution,  has  wrought  great 
mischief  in  our  orthography.  With  respect  to  words  ending  in  el,  it  is  a  good  and  suffi- 
cient reason  for  doubling  the  I,  that  the  e  may  otherwise  be  supposed  servile  and  silent. 
I  have  therefore  made  this  termination  a  general  exception  to  the  rule  against  doubling. 
Besides,  a  large  number  of  these  words,  being  derived  from  foreign  words  in  which  the 
I  was  doubled,  have  a  second  reason  for  the  duplication,  as  strong  as  that  which  has 
often  induced  these  same  authors  to  double  that  letter,  as  noticed  above.  Such  are 
bordel,  chapel,  duel,  fardel,  gabel,  gospel,  gravel,  lamel,  label,  libel,  marvel,  model, 
novel,  parcel,  quarrel,  and  spinel.  Accordingly  we  find,  that,  in  his  work  of  expulsion, 
Dr.  Webster  has  not  unfrequently  contradicted  himself,  and  conformed  to  usage,  by 
doubling  the  I  where  he  probably  intended  to  write  it  single.  Thus,  in  the  words  bor- 

Other  name  ffangarius."  But  this  substance  seems  to  be  different  from  all  that  are  described  by  Webster,  un- 
der the  names  of"  coralline.,"  "  r.orallinite,"  and  u  corullite."  !*ee  Webster's  Octavo  Diet. 

*  The  Greek  word  for  argil  is  ayyi7.uc,  or  ii«yjA/o£,  (from  aoyo?,  white,)  meaning  pure  white  earth  ;  and 
is  a.s  often  spelled  with  one  Lambda  as  with  two. 

1  Dr.  Webster,  with  apparent  propriety,  writes  caviling  and  cavilovs  with  one  I,  like  dialing  ;>nd  perilous; 
but  he  has  in  general  no  mure  uniformity  than  Johnson,  in  respect  to  the  doubling  of  /  final,  lit  also,  in 
some  instances,  accents  similar  words  variously  ;  as,  cor'nlliform,  upon  the  first  ay  liable,  metal  liform,  upon 
the  second;  cav'noiis  and  j«if>'illous,  upon  the  first,  argil'lous,  upon  the  second  ;  ax'illar,  upou  tU  first.  .  •- 
dul'lar,  upon  the  second.  Sec  \\'eb*ter's  Octaro  Diet. 

I  Perry  wrote  cri/stati.ne,  crystalize,  cr totalization,  metaline,  metalist,  metalurgist,  and  metftlurgy  •  and  thcs,. 
forms,  as  well  as  crystalogrupliy,  mi-talic,  mttalograpky,  and  metaliferous,  are  noticed  and  preferred  by  the 
authors  of  the  Red  Book,  on  pp.  268  and  802. 

§  "  But  if  a  diphthong  precedes,  or  the  accent  is  on  the  preceding  syllable,  the  consonant  remains  single: 
as,  to  toil,  toiling;  to  offer,  an  offering." — Murray's  Octavo  Gram.  p.  24  ;  Walker's  Rlujni.  Di.t.  lutrod.  p.  ix. 


CHAP.    IV.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. SPELLING. RULES.  193 

dellcr,  chapellany,  chapelling,  gospellary,  gospeller,  gravelly,  lamellate,  lamellar,  lam- 
cllarly,  lamclliibrm,  and  spineUane,  he  has  written  the  /  double,  while  he  has  grossly 
corrupted  many  other  similar  words  by  forbearing  the  reduplication  ;  as,  traveler,  grov- 
eling, <lm-!u>t,  marvelous,  and  the  like.  In  cases  of  such  dithculty,  we  can  never  arrive  at 
uniformity  and  consistency  of  practice,  unless  we  resort  to  principles,  and  such  principles 
as  can  be  made  intelligible  to  the  English  scholar.  If  any  one  is  dissatisfied  with  the 
rules  ami  exceptions  which  I  have  laid  down,  let  him.  study  the  subject  till  he  can  fur- 
nish the  schools  with  better. 

On-.  17.— We  have  in  our  language  a  very  numerous  class  of  adjectives  ending  in 
(Ale  or  ible,  as  affable,  arable,  tolerable,  admissible,  credible,  infallible,  to  the  number  of  nine 
hundred  or  more.  In  respect  to  the  proper  form  and  signification  of  some  of  these,  there 
oivurs  no  small  difficult}.  Able  is  a  common  English  wTord,  the  meaning  of  which  is 
much  better  understood  than  its  origin.  Home  Tooke  supposes  it  to  have  come  from 
the  Gothic  noun  abal,  signifying  xtfen>/th ;  and  consequently  avers,  that  it  "  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  Latin  adjective  habilis,fit,  or  able,  from  which  our  etymologists  erroneous- 
ly derive  it." — Diversions  of  Purley,  ii,  p.  450.  This  I  suppose  the  etymologists  will  dis- 
pute with  him.  But  whatever  may  be  its  true  derivation,  no  one  can  well  deny  that  able, 
as  a  suffix,  belongs  most  properly,  if  not  exclusively,  to  verbs  •  for  most  of  the  worda 
formed  by  it,  are  plainly  a  sort  of  verbal  adjectives.  And  it  is  evident  that  this  author 
is  right  in  supposing  that  English  words  of  this  termination,  like  the  Latin  verbals  in 
bills,  have,  or  ought  to  have,  such  a  signification  as  may  justify  the  name  which  he 
reives  them,  of  " potential  pass iv<:  adjectives  ;  "  a  signification  in  which  the  English  and  the 
Latin  derivatives  exactly  correspond.  Thus  dis'soluble  or  dissoh-'able  does  not  mean  able  to 
.  but  capable  of  being  dissolved ;  and  divisible  or  dividable  does  not  mean  able  to  dividet 
but  <••/  '  ,/v  dicidcd. 

Ous.  IS. — As  to  the  application  of  this  suffix  to  nouns,  when  we  consider  the  signifi- 
cation of  the  words  thus  formed,  its  propriety  may  well  be  doubted.  It  is  true,  how- 
ever, that  nouns  do  sometimes  assume  something  of  the  nature  of  verbs,  so  as  to  give 
rise  to  adjectives  that  are  of  a  participial  character;  such,  for  instance,  as  sainted,  bigoted, 
-',->/,  tuff  ft!.  Ai;ain,  of  such  as  hard-hearted,  good-natured,  cold-blooded,  we 
indefinite  number.  And  perhaps,  upon  the  same  principle,  the  formation  of 
such  words  as  actionable,  companionable,  exceptionable,  marketable,  merchantable,  pasturable, 
treasonable,  and  so  forth,  may  be  justified,  if  care  be  taken  to  use  them  in  a  sense  analo- 
gous to  that  of  the  real  verbals.  But,  surely,  the  meaning  which  is  commonly  attached 
to  the  words  amicable,  changeable,  fashionable,  favourable,  peaceable,  reasonable,  pleasurable, 
seasonable,  suitable,  and  some  others,  would  never  be  guessed  frojn  their  formation.  Thus, 
suitable  means  fitting  or  suiting,  and  not  able  to  suit,  or  capable  of  being  suited. 

19.— Though  all  words  that  terminate  in  able,  used  as  a  suffix,  are  properly 
reckoned  derivatives,  rather  than  compounds,  and  in  the  former  class  the  separate 
meaning  of  the  parts  united  is  much  less  regarded  than  in  the  latter ;  yet,  in  the  use  of 
words  of  this  formation,  it  would  be  well  to  have  some  respect  to  the  general  analogy  of 
their  signification  as  stated  above;  and  not  to  make  derivatives  of  the  same  fashion 
convey  nn-anin^s  so  very  different  as  do  some  of  these.  Perhaps  it  is  from  some  general 
notion  of  their  impropriety,  that  several  words  of  this  doubtful  character  have  already 
become  obsolete,  or  are  gradually  falling  into  disuse  :  as,  accustomablc,  chanceablc,  concord- 
able,  co  •'••,  bekoovable,  leixurahle,  nuilicinable,  personable,  powcrable,  razorablc, 
shapab'  ,  '  critabk.  Still,  there  arc  several  others,  yet  currently  em- 

\\  hit  h  mi;*ht  better  perhaps,  for  the  same  reason,  give  place  to  more  regular  terms : 
.  t  >r  ///r//<7/i/or  kiml ;  churitabb;  for  benevolent  or  liberal;  colourable,  for  apparent 
•\ruithustil'  '•', ,  far  pleasing  Qi  delightful ;  profo- 

:  gainful  or  lucrative  ;  sociable,  for  social  or  a/fubf-  ,><>,  for  rational  or  Just. 

20.— In  respect  to  the  orthography  of  words  ending  in  able  or  ible,  it  is  sometimes 
difficult  to  determine  which  of  these  endings  ought  to  be  preferred  ;  as  whether  we  ought 
to  write  /enable  or  -  or  reversible,  addable  or  a-ldible.  In  Latin,  the  termi- 

nation is  bilis,  and  the  preceding  vowel  is  determined  by  the  conjugation  to  which  the 
verb  belongs.  Thus,  for  verbs  of  the  first  conjugation,  it  is  a  ;  as,  from  ararc,  to  plough, 
c.rabilix,  arablr,  tillable.  For  the  second  conjugation,  it  is  i;  as,  from  doclre,  to  teach, 
c'ocibilis  or  docllis,  docibk  or  docile,  teachable.  For  the  third  conjugation,  it  is  i;  &st 
irom  rt'Hdfff,  to  soil,  rnulibif,  .  .  salable.  And,  for  the  fourth  conjugation,  it  is  t; 

f-s,  from  si-iirlii-,',  to  bu;-\  .         - 1  ible  *,  buriable.     But  from  solvo  and  volvo,  of  the 

third  conjugation,  we  have  ubilis,  ublc  ;  as,solubilis,  sol'uble,  solvible  or  solvable  ;  volubilis, 
rol'n'iU;  Tollable.  Hence  the  English  words,  rev  oluble  rcs'oluble,  irr^'oltMe,  d&sokMe, 

'"hi",  and  insol'ublc.  Thus  the  Latin  verbals  in  bills,  are  a  sufficient  guide  to  the 
orthography  of  all  such  words  as  are  traceable  to  them  ;  but  the  mere  English  scholar 

•Johnson,  Walker,  and  Webster,  all  spell  this  word  srp  ilihle ;  which  is  obviously  wrong;  Mis  Johnson's 
derivation  of  it  from  se^io,  to  hedge  in.     Sfpio  would  make,  not  this  word,  but  sepibilis  and  sepibU,  hedgeable. 

13 


194  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

cannot  avail  himself  of  this  aid  ;  and  of  this  sort  of  words  we  have  a  mnch  greater  num- 
ber than  were  ever  known  in  Latin.  A  few  we  have  borrowed  from  the  French  :  as, 
tenable,  capable,  preferable,  convertible ;  and  these  we  write  as  they  are  written  in  French. 
But  the  difficulty  lies  chiefly  in  those  which  are  of  English  growth.  For  some  of  them 
are  formed  according  to  the  model  of  the  Latin  verbals  in  ibilis ;  as  forcible,  coercible, 
reducible,  discernible :  and  others  are  made  by  simply  adding  the  suffix  able ;  as  traceable, 
pronounceable ,  manageable,  advisable,  returnable.  The  last  are  purely  English  ;  and  yet 
they  correspond  in  form  with  such  as  come  from  Latin  verbals  in  abilis. 

OBS.  21. — From  these  different  modes  of  formation,  with  the  choice  of  different  roots, 
we  have  sometimes  two  or  three  words,  differing  in  orthography  and  pronunciation,  but 
conveying  the  same  meaning  ;  as,  divisible  and  divi'dable,  despicable  and  despi'sable,  refera- 
ble and  refer'ribk,  mis'cible  and  mix'able,  dis'soluble,  dissol'vible,  and  dissol'vable.  Hence, 
too,  we  have  some  words  which  seem  to  the  mere  English  scholar  to  be  spelled  in  a 
very  contradictory  manner,  though  each,  perhaps,  obeys  the  law  of  its  own  derivation ;  as, 
peaceable  and  forcible,  impierceable  and  coercible,  marriageable  and  corrigible,  damageable  and 
eligible,  changeable  and  tangible,  chargeable  and  frangible,  fencible  and  defensible,  preferable 
and  referrible,  conversable  and  reversible,  defendable  and  descendible,  amendable  and  extendi- 
ble,  bendable  and  vendible,  dividable  and  corrodible,  returnable  and  discernible,  indispensable  and 
responsible,  advisable  and  fusible,  respectable  and  compatible,  delectable  and  collectible,  taxa- 
ble and  flexible. 

OBS.  22. — The  American  editor  of  the  Red  Book,  to  whom  all  these  apparent  incon- 
sistencies seemed  real  blunders,  has  greatly  exaggerated  this  difficulty  in  our  orthography, 
and  charged  Johnson  and  "Walker  with  having  written  all  these  words  and  many  more, 
in  this  contradictory  manner,  "  without  any  apparent  reason ! "  He  boldly  avers,  that, 
"  The  perpetual  contradictions  of  the  same  or  like  words,  in  all  the  books,  show  that  the 
authors  had  no  distinct  ideas  of  what  is  right,  and  what  is  wrong ; "  and  ignorantly 
imagines,  that,  *'  The  use  of  ible  rather  than  able,  in  any  case,  originated  in  the  necessity 
of  keeping  the  soft  sound  of  c  and  g,  in  the  derivatives ;  and  if  ible  was  confined  to  that 
use,  it  would  be  an  easy  and  simple  rule." — Red  Book,  p.  170.  Hence,  he  proposes  to 
write  peacible  for  peaceable,  tracible  for  traceable,  changible  for  changeable,  managible  for 
manageable;  and  so  for  all  the  rest  that  come  from  words  ending  in  ce  or  ge.  But,  what- 
ever advantage  there  might  be  in  this,  his  "  easy  and  simple  rule  "  would  work  a  revolu- 
tion for  which  the  world  is  not  yet  prepared.  It  would  make  audible  audable,  fallible 
fallable,  feasible  feasable,  terrible  terrable,  horrible  horrable,  &c.  No  tyro  can  spell  in  a  worse 
manner  than  this,  even  if  he  have  no  rule  at  all.  And  those  who  do  not  know  enough 
of  Latin  grammar  to  profit  by  what  I  have  said  in  the  preceding  observation,  may  con- 
Bole  themselves  with  the  reflection,  that,  in  spelling  these  difficult  words  entirely  by 
guess,  they  will  not  miss  the  way  more  than  some  have  done  who  pretended  to  be 
critics.  The  rule  given  by  John  Burn,  for  able  and  ible,  is  less  objectionable  ;  but  it  is 
rendered  useless  by  the  great  number  of  its  exceptions. 

OBS.  23. — As  most  of  the  rules  for  spelling  refer  to  the  final  letters  of  our 
primitive  words,  it  may  be  proper  for  the  learner  to  know  and  remember,  that  not 
all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  can  assume  that  situation,  and  that  some  of  them  termin- 
.ate  words  much  more  frequently  than  others.  Thus,  in  Walker's  Rhyming  Dictionary, 
the  letter  a  ends  about  220  words  ;  b,  160  ;  c,  450 ;  d,  1550 ;  e,  7000  ;  /,  140  ;  g,  280 ;  h, 
400  ;  i,  29  ; ./,  none ;  k,  550 ;  I,  1900  ;  m,  550  ;  n,  3300 :  o,  200 ;  p,  450  ;  g,  none ;  r,  2750 ; 
*,  3250  ;  t,  3100  ;  u,  14  ;  v,  none  ;  w,  200  ;  x,  100  ;  y,  5000  ;  z,  5.  We  have,  then,  three 
consonants,  j,  q,  and  v,  which  never  end  a  word.  And  why  not  ?  With  respect  to  j 
and  v,  the  reason  is  plain  from  their  history.  These  letters  were  formerly  identified 
with  i  and  u,  which  are  not  terminational  letters.  The  vowel  i  ends  no  pure  English 
word,  except  that  which  is  formed  of  its  own  capital/;  and  the  few  words  which  end 
with  u  are  all  foreign,  except  thou  and  you .  And  not  only  so,  the  letter  j  is  what  was 
formerly  called  i  consonant;  and  v  is  what  was  called  u  consonant.  But  it  was  the 
initial  i  and  u,  or  the  i  and  u  which  preceded  an  other  vowel,  and  not  those  which 
followed  one,  that  were  converted  into  the  consonants,/  and  v.  Hence,  neither  of  these 
letters  ever  ends  any  English  word,  or  is  ever  doubled.  Nor  do  they  unite  with  other 
consonants  before  or  after  a  vowel :  except  that  v  is  joined  with  r  in  a  few  words  of 
French  origin,  as  livre,  manoeuvre ;  or  with  I  in  some  Dutch  names,  as  Watervleit.  Q 
ends  no  English  word,  because  it  is  always  followed  by  u.  The  French  termination 
cue,  which  is  commonly  retained  in  pique,  antique,  critique,  opaque,  oblique,  burlesque, 
and  grv  igue,  is  equivalent  to  k;  hence  we  write  packet,  lackey,  checker,  risk,  m^k,  and 
mosk,  rather  than  paquet,  laquey,  chequer,  risque,  masque,  and  mosque.  And  some  uuthors 
write  burlesk  and  grotesk,  preferring  k  to  que. 

OBS.  24.— Thus  we  see  that j,  q,  and  v,  are,  for  the  most  part,  initial  consonants  only. 
Hen  co  there  is  a  harshness,  if  not  an  impropriety,  in  that  syllabication  which  some  have 
recently  adopted,  wherein  they  accommodate  to  the  ear  the  division  of  such  words  as 
maj-es-ty,  proj-ect,  traj-ect, — eq-ui-ty,  liq-ui-date,  ex-chcq-ucr.  But  v,  in  a  similar  situa- 


CHAP.    IV.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. — SPELLING. ERRORS.  195 

tion,  has  now  become  familiar  ;  as  in  ci'-er-y,  er-i-dcncc  :  and  it  may  also  stand  -with  I  or 
r,  in  the  division  of  such  words  as  .s.,/y-//Y/  and  \,  rr-///y.  Of  words  ending  in  foe,  Walker 
exhibits  four  hundred  and  fifty — exactly  the  same  number  that  he  spells  with  ic.  And 
Home  Tooke,  who  derives  ire  from  the  Latin  irus,  (  q.  d.  vis,  )  and  ic  from  the  Greek 
tai*;,  (  q.  d.  in/r;, )  both  implying  //'>"•-•/•,  has  well  observed  that  there  is  a  general  cor- 
respondence of  meaning  between  these  two  classes  of  adjectives— both  being  of  "  a  po- 
tential active  signification ;  as  j  oomitivet  op  .  i  cathartic,  emetic,  ene1* 
&c." — Din-r.sions  of  Purley,  ii,  p.  11-;.  I  have  before  observed,  that  Tooke  spelled  all  this 
latter  class  of  words  without  the  final  k  ;  but  he  left  it  to  Dr.  Webster  to  suggest  the 
reformation  of  striking  the  final  <•  from  the  former. 

'!'>. — In  Dr.  "Webster's  "Collection  of  Essays  and  Fugitiv  Peeces,"  published  iij 
1790,  we  find,  among  other  equally  ingenious  improvements  of  our  orthography,  a  gen- 
eral omission  of  the  final  e  of  all  words  ending  in  ive,  or  rather  of  all  words  ending  in 

preceded  by  a  short  vowel;  as,  "  primitir,  derirativ,  extensi?,  positio,  dc* 
proov,  luv,  har,  f/iv,  !i>:."  This  mode  of  spelling,  had  it  been  adopted  by  other  learned 
men,  would  not  only  have  made  r  a  very  frequent  final  consonant,  but  would  have 
placed  it  in  an  other  new  and  strange  predicament,  as  being  subject  to  reduplication. 
For  he  that  will  write  har,  yiv,  and  lir,  must  also,  by  a  general  rule  of  grammar,  write 
ha i-  :ng.  And  not  only  so,  there  will  follow  also,  in  the  solemn  style 

of  the  Bible,  a  change  of  givest,  livcst,  giceth,  and  liceth,  into  givvest,  livrest,  givreth,  and 
livteth.     From  all  this  it  may  appear,  that  a  silent  final  e  is  not  always  quite  so  u- 
a  tl.  me  may  imagine.     With  a  levity  no  less  remarkable,  does  the  author  of  the 

Red  Book  propose  at  once  two  different  ways  of  reforming  the  orthography  of  such 
wnr  .  i,t,uni(je(ibl<;  and  so  forth;  in  one  of  which,  the  letter  j  would  be 

br<>  ;  new  position,  and  subjected  sometimes  to  reduplication.    "It  would  be  a 

useful  improvement  to  change  this  c  into  \,  and  g  into  j  ;  "  as,  piersable,  manajable,  &c.  "  ( )r 
they  illicit  assume  i ;"  as,  pi< ,  .  .  &c. — Red  Book,  p.  170.  Now  would  not 

this  "  useful  improvement  "  urive  us  such  a  word  as  allejjabfo  (  and  would  not  one  such 
monster  be  more  offensive  than  all  our  present  exceptions  to  Rule  9th  •  Out  upon  all 
such  tampering  with  orthography  ! 

y  thing  could  arrest  the  folly  of  innovators  and  dabbling  reformers,  it 
rould  be  the  history  of  former  attempts  to  effect  improvements  similar  to  theirs.     With 
every  one  would  do  well  to  acquaint  himself,  before  he  proceeds  to 
words  by  placing  their  written  elements  in  any  new    predicament.      If  the 
rhography  of  the  English  language  is  ever  reduced  to  greater  regularity  than  it  now 
:hibits,  the  reformation  must  be  wrought  by  those  who  have  no  disposition  either  to 
ite  its  present  detects,  or  to  undertake  too  much.  Regard  must  be  had  to  the  origin, 
well  as  to  the  sounds,  of  words.     To  many  people,  all  silent  letters  seem  superfluous; 
id  all  indirect  modes  of  spelling,  absurd.     Hence,  as  the  learner  may  perceive,  a  very 
irge  proportion  of  the  variations  and  disputed  points  in  spelling,  are  such  as  refer  to 
the  silen"  I  hieh  are  retained  by  some  writers  and  omitted  by  others.     It  is  desir- 

able tha-  ,  a-  should  be  always  omitted  ;  and  such  a- 

useful  and  regular  always  retained.      The  rules  which  I  have  laid  down  as  principles 
:  imination,  are  such  as  almost  evry  reader  will  know  to  be  generally  true,  an-l 

renu  f'f  them  have  never  before  been  printed  in 

any  grammar.  Their  application  will  strike  out  some  letters  which  are  often  written. 
and  rctair  some  which  >mitted  ;  but,  if  they  err  on  either  hand,  I  am  confident 

rhan  any  other  set  ol  .  yet  formed  for  the  same  purpose.      Walker, 

Loin  Murray  borrowed  his  rule>  for  spelling,  declares  for  an  expul-ion  of  the  sec- 
ond /  from  traveller,  .  .  .  ;:n</,  and  all  similar  words ;  seems 
'>p  an  /  in  .  ,  i,  and  drollness,  than  to 
retain  both  in  vnall ness,  fullness,  <•///// w.s.v,  dullness,  WOlLfuUm  -  it  one  of  his  or- 
thographical aph  fc,  "  Words  taken  into  composition  often  drop  those 
v.hir];  r:lnous  in  their  simples;  as,  (•/,/•!,«/ ,,nia,  </<//////< /V,  ham'n'nl ;"  and,  at  the 
same  ;  |  -4 ore  the  silent  e  to  the  ten  derivatives  from  m>' 

:  om  which  Johnson  dropped  it,  than  to  drop  it  from  the  ten  similar  words  in  which 
that  author  retained  it  !  And  not  only  so,  he  argues  against  the  principle  of  his  own 
aphorism  :  and  sa;  .-rtainly  to'ln-  feared  that,  if  this  pruning  of  our  words  of  all 

'.led,  should  be  much  farther  indulged,  we  shall 

quickly  antiqua'.c  our  most  respectable  authors,  and  irreparably  maim  our  lan<r. 
—  }}  u/  .  xvii. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

i:oi:s  ix  si'Ki.l.iXG. 

I. — OF  FINAL  F,  L,  OR  S. 
"  He  wil  observe  the  moral  law,  in  hiz  conduct." — Wduttr't  Etsays,  p.  320. 


196  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

[  FORMULES.— 1.  Not  proper,  because  the  word  "  wil "  is  here  spelled  -with  one  I.  But,  according  to  Rule 
1st,  "  Monosyllables  ending  in/,  Z,  or  s,  preceded  by  a  single  vowel,  double  the  final  consonant."  Therefore, 
this  /  should  be  doubled  ;  thus,  will. 

2.  Not  proper  again,  because  the  word  "  hiz  "  is  here  spelled  with  z.  But,  according  to  the  exceptions  to 
Rule  1st,  "  The  words  as,  gas,  has,  ivas,  yes,  his,  4'c.,  are  written  with  single  s."  Therefore,  this  z  should  be 
s;  thus,  his.] 

"  A  clif  is  a  steep  bank,  or  a  precipitous  rock."  See  Rhyming  Diet.  "  A  needy  man's 
budget  is  ful  of  schemes." — Old  Adage.  "  Few  large  publications  in  this  country  wil 
pay  a  printer." — Noah  Webster's  Essays,  p.  x.  "I  shal,  with  cheerfulness,  resign  my 
other  papers  to  oblivion." — Ib.  p.  x.  "  The  proposition  waz  suspended  til  the  next  ses- 
sion of  the  legislature." — Ib.  p.  362.  "Tenants  for  life  wil  make  the  most  of  lands  for 
themselves." — Ib.  p.  366.  "  While  every  thing  iz  left  to  lazy  negroes,  a  state  wil  never  be 
wel  cultivated." — Ib.  p.  367.  "  The  heirs  of  the  original  proprietors  stil  hold  the  soil." — 
Ib.  p.  349.  "  Say  my  annual  profit  on  money  loaned  shal  be  six  per  cent. — Ib.  p.  308. 
"No  man  would  submit  to  the  drudgery  of  business,  if  he  could  make  money  az  fast  by 
lying  stil." — Ib.  p.  310.  "  A  man  may  az  wel  feed  himself  with  a  bodkin,  az  with  a  knife 
of  the  present  fashion." — Ib.  p.  400.  "  The  clothes  wil  be  ill  washed,  the  food  wil  be 
badly  cooked;  and  you  wil  be  ashamed  of  your  wife,  if  sheiz  not  ashamed  of  herself."- 
Ib.  p.  404.  "  He  wil  submit  to  the  laws  of  the  state,  while  he  iz  a  member  of  it." — Ib.  p. 
320.  "  But  wil  our  sage  writers  on  law  forever  think  by  tradition  ? " — Ib.  p.  318.  "  Some 
stil  retain  a  sovereign  power  in  their  territories." — Ib.  p.  298.  "  They  sel  images,  pray- 
ers, the  sound  of  bels,  remission  of  sins,  &c." — Perkins's  Theology,  p.  401.  "And  the 
law  had  sacrifices  offered  every  day  for  the  sins  of  al  the  people."— Ib.  p.  406.  "  Then 
it  may  please  the  Lord,  they  shal  find  it  to  be  a  restorative."— Ib.  p.  420.  "  Perdition  is 
repentance  put  of  til  a  future  day." — Old  Maxim.  "  The  angels  of  God,  which  wil  good 
and  cannot  wil  evil,  have  nevertheless  perfect  liberty  of  wil." — Perkins's  Theolojy,  p.  716. 
"  Secondly,  this  doctrine  cuts  off  the  excuse  of  al  sin." — Ib.  p.  717.  "  Knel,  the  sound  of 
a  bell  rung  at  a  funeral." — Johnson  and  Walker. 

"  If  gold  with  dros  or  grain  with  chaf  you  find, 
Select — and  leave  the  chaf  and  dros  behind." — Author. 

UNDER  RULE  II. — OF  OTHER  FINALS. 

"  The  mobb  hath  many  heads,  but  no  brains." — Old  Maxim. 

[  FORMULE. — "  Not  proper,  because  the  word  "  mobb  "  is  here  spelled  with  double  b.  But,  according  to  "Rule 
2d,  "  Words  ending  in  any  other  consonant  than/,  /,  or  s,  do  not  double  the  final  letter."  Therefore,  this  b 
should  be  single  ;  thus,  mob.  ] 


of  beer  and  spirits 

— Churchill's  Grammar,  p.  22.  "  Lamm,  to  beat  soundly  with  a  cudgel  or  bludgeon." — 
Walker's  Diet.  "  Bunn,  a  small  cake,  a  simnel,  a  kind  of  sweet  bread."  See  ib.  "  Bru- 
nett,  a  woman  with  a  brown  complexion." — Ib.  and  Johnson's  Diet.  "  Wad' sett,  an  ancient 
tenure  or  lease  of  land  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland." —  Webster's  Diet.  "  To  dodd  sheep, 
is  to  cut  the  wool  away  about  their  tails." — Ib.  "  In  aliquem  arietare,  Cic.  To  run  full 
but  at  one." — Walker's  Particles,  p.  95.  "  Neither  your  policy  nor  your  temper  would 
permitt  you  to  kill  me." — Philological  Museum,  i,  p.  427.  "  And  admitt  none  but  his  own 
offspring  to  fill  them." — Ib.  i,  p.  437.  "  The  summ  of  all  this  Dispute  is,  that  some  make 
them  Participles,"  &c. — Johnson  s  Gram.  Com.  p.  352.  "As,  the  whistling  of  winds,  the 
buz  and  hum  of  insects,  the  hiss  of  serpents,  the  crash  of  falling  timber." — Blair's  Rhct.  p. 
129  ;  Adam's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  247  ;  Gould's,  238.  "  Vann,  to  winnow,  or  a  fan  for  winnow- 
ing."—  Walker's  Rhyming  Diet.  "  Creatures  that  buz,  are  very  commonly  such  as  will 
sting." — Author.  "  Begg,  buy,  or  borrow ;  butt  beware  how  you  find." — Id.  "  It  is  bet- 
ter to  have  a  house  to  lett,  than  a  house  to  gett." — Id.  "  Let  not  your  tongue  cutt  your 
throat." — Old  Precept.  "A  little  witt  will  save  a  fortunate  man." —  Old  Adage.  "  There  is 
many  a  slipp  'twixt  the  cup  and  the  lipp."— Id.  "  Mothers'  darlings  make  but  milk- 
sopp  heroes." — Id.  "  One  eye-witness  is  worth  tenn  hearsays." — Id. 
"  The  judge  shall  jobb,  the  bishop  bite  the  town, 
And  mighty  dukes  pack  cards  for  half  a  crown." — POPE  :  in  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Pack. 

UNDER  RULE  III. — OF  DOUBLING. 

"Friz,  to  curl;  frized,  curled;  frizing,  curling." — Webster  s  Diet.  8vo,  Ed.  of  1829. 

[  FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  words  "  frized  "  and  "frizing  "  are  here  spelled  with  the  single  z, 
of  their  primitive  friz.  But,  according  to  Kule  '3d,  "  Monosyllables,  and  words  accented  on  the  last  syllable, 
when  they  end  with  a  single  consonant,  preceded  by  a  single  vowel,  double  their  final  consonant  before  an  ad- 
ditional syllable  that  begins  with  a  vowel."  Therefore,  this  z  should  be  doubled  ;  thus,  frizzed,  frizzing.  } 

"  The  commercial  interests  served  to  foster  the  principles  of  Whigism." — Payne's  Geoff. 
ii,  p.  511.  "Their  extreme  indolence  shuned  every  species  of  labour." — Robertson's 
Amer.  i,  p.  341.  "  In  poverty  and  stripedness  they  attend  their  little  meetings." — The 


CHAP.    IT.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. SPELLING. — ERRORS.  197 

Friend,  vii,  p.  256.  "In  guiding  and  controling  *  the  power  you  have  thus  obtained." — 
Abbott's  Teacher,  p.  15.  "  I  began,  Thou  beganest,  He  began  ;  We  began,  You  began,  They 
began." — .•('•  x.  Murray's  dram.  p.  92.  "  Why  does  began  change  its  ending ;  as,  I  began, 
Thou  beurane^t  r  " — Ib.  p.  93.  "  Truth  and  conscience  cannot  be  controled  by  any  methods 
of  coercion." — Hint*  <>n  Toleration,  p.  xvi.  "Dr.  Webster  noded,  when  he  wrote  'knit, 
kniter,  and  knitiiignecdlc '  without  doubling  the  t."  See  ill.  Spelling-Book,  1st  Ed.  p.  136. 
_;  should  have  wit  enough  to  know  when  other  wags  are  qui/ing  him." — G.  Brown. 
"  Bon'y,  handsome,  beautiful,  merry." — Walker's  Rhym.  Dirt.  "  Coquetish,  practieing 
coquetry  ;  after  the  manner  of  a  jilt." — Webster's  Diet.  "Potage,  a  species  of  food,  made 
of  meat"  and  vegetables  boiled  to  softness  in  water."  See  ib.  "Potager,  from  potato, 
a  porringer,  A  small  vefsel  for  children's  food."  See  ib.  and  Worcester's.  "  Compromit, 
compromited,  compromiting  ;  manumit,  manumitted,  manumitting." — Webster.  "  Infer- 
iblc ;  that  may  be  inferred  or  deduced  from  premises." — Red  Book,  p.  228.  "  Acids  are  either 
solid,  liquid,  or  gaseous." — Gregory's  Diet.  art.  Chemistry.  "  The  spark  will  pass  through 
the  interrupted  space  between  the  two  wires,  and  explode  the  gases." — Ib.  "Do  we 
sound  gases  and  gaseous  like  eases  and  caseous  f  No  :  they  are  more  like  glasses  and  osse- 
ous."-—  .  "I  shall  not  need  here  to  mention  Siciming,  when  he  is  of  an  age 
able  to  learn." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  12.  "  Why  do  lexicographers  spell  thinnish  and  man- 
:.?h  two  Ens,  and  dimis/i  and /•«/«/*/<  with  one  Em,  each?"  See  Joh.  and  It 
•rms  the  plural  regularly,  gases." — O.  B.  1'eiree'n  dram.  p.  38.  "  Singular,  Gas  ; 
Plural,  Gases." — N.  If.  Clark's  Gram.  p.  47.  "These  are  contractions  from  sheded,  burst- 
ed." — /.  "a mar,  p.  45.  "The  Present  Tense  denotes  what  is  occuring  at  the 
present  time." — Day's  dram.  p.  30,  and  p.  61.  "The  verb  ending  in  et  h  is  of  the  solemn 
or  antiquated  style ;  as,  he  loveth,  he  walketh,  he  runeth." — P.  Daris's  Gram.  p.  34. 
"  Thro'  freedom's  sons  no  more  remonstrance  rings, 
Degrading  nobles  and  controling  kings." — Murray's  Sequel,  p.  292. 

UNDER  RULE  IV. — No   DOUBLING. 

"  A  bigotted  and  tyrannical  clergy  will  be  feared." — Broicn's  Estimate,  Vol.  ii,  p.  78. 

[  FORMCLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  final  t  of  bigot  is  here  doubled  in  "  bigotted."    But,  according  to  Rule 
4th,  u  A  final  consonant,  when  it  is  not  preceded  by  a  single  vowel,  orwhen  the  accent  is  not  on  the  last  sylla- 
ble, should  remain  single  before  an  additional  syllable."    Therefore,  this  t  should  be  single;   thus,  bigoted.] 
"  Jacob  worshipped  his-  Creator,  leaning  on  the  top  of  his  staff." — Key  in  Merchant's 
Gram.  p.  is.").     "  For  it  is  all  marvelously  destitute  of  interest." — Merchant's  Critirisms. 

>x,  boxes ;  church,  churches ;  lash,  lashes  ;  kiss,  kisses  ;  rebus,  rebusses." — Murray' a 
Gram.  1 2mo,  p.  42.  "  Gossipping  and  lying  go  hand  in  hand." — Old  Maxim.  "  The  sub- 
stance of  the  Criticisms  on  the  Diversions  of  Purley  was,  with  singular  industry,  gossip- 
ped  by  the  present  precious  secretary  of  war,  in  Payne  the  bookseller's  shop."  See  Key. 
••  \Y«.r~hip  muke-i  worshipped,  worshipper,  worshipping ;  gossip,  gossipped,  gossipper, 
gossipping  ;  fillip,  iillipped,  iillipper,  tillipping." —  p.  72.  "I became  as  fidgetty 

as  a  tly  in  a  milk-jug." — /M/oV'/w/'.v  M<i;/.  xl,  p.  674.    "  That  enormous  error  seems  to  be 

i  in  popular  opinion."—  If, 7w,iv/-\  7-.Yw/>/.v.  p.  :>Ci.     li  Whose  mind  iz  not  biassed  by 

,1  attachments  to  a  sovereign." — Ih.  p.  318.  "  Laws  against  usury  originated  in 
a  bigotted  prejudi  the  Jews." — Ib.  p.  315.  "  The  most  criticcal  period  of  life  iz 

UMially  lu-tween  thirteen  and  seventeen." — 76.  p.  388.  "  Generallissimo,  the  chief  com- 
maiuler  of  an  army  or  military  force."  See  ill.  *]»  11  ing-book,  p.  93.  "Tranquillize,  to 
quiet,  to  make  calm  and  peaceful." — Ib.  p.  133.  "  Pommeled,  beaten,  bruised ;  having 

10,  as  a  sword  or  da^u'i-r."— HVA.x/, /•  and  Chalmers.  "From  what  a  height  does 
the  jeweler  look  down  upon  his  shoemaker  !  " — Red  Book,  p.  108.  "  You  will  have  a  verb- 
al account  from  my  friend  and  fellow  traveler." — Ib.  p.  155.  "  I  observe  that  you  have 
written  the  word  aiunxi-ti-d  with  one  /  only."— Ib.  p.  173.  "  They  were  offended  at  such  as 
combatted  these  notions." — ]>'<,'„  rfsun's  Annriea,  ii,  p.  437."  "  From  libel,  come  libeled, 
.  libi-lini,',  libelous ;  from  grovel,  groveled,  groveler,  groveling;  from  gravel, 

.    ••  Woolim-ss.  the  state  of  being  woolly."— 

Ib.    "  V  Celled  cliapiK-lling,  bordeller,  medallist,  metalline,  metallist,  metallize, 

elavellateil,  \c.  with  //,  contrary  to  his  rule." — <'<>!>b's  Rcricir  of  Webster,  p.  11.     "Again, 
he    lias    spelled  eancelation    and  snively  with  single  /,  and  cupellation,  pannellation, 
wittolly,  with  //." — Ib.     "Oilly,  fatty,   greasy,   containing    oil,   glib." — Wujmii; 
44  Medalli>t,  one  eurious  in  medals  ;  Metalllst,  one  skilled  in  metals."— J»lm- 

•  litted."— .  //<'>i</-Book,p.o.    "  They  traveled 

for  pleasure." —  N.   If.  Clark's  dram.  p.  101. 

"  Without  you,  what  were  man  :     A  ^rovelini;  herd, 
In  darkness,  wretchedness,  and  want  cnchain'd." — /;  ustrel,  p.  40. 

*If  the  variable  word  control,  cnntrovl,  or  contmll,  is  from  cnn  and  trmrl  or  troll,  it  Mmuld  be  spelled  with 
U,  by  Rule  7th,  and  retain  the  U  by  Rule  Gth.     Dr.  Webster  has  it  so,  but  he  gives  control  also. 


198  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

UNDER  RULE  V.— OF  FINAL  CK. 

"He  hopes,  therefore,  to  be  pardoned  by  the  critick." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  10. 

[FORMULE. — Not,  proper,  because  the  word  "  critick  "  is  here  spelled  with  a  final  k.  But,  according  to  Rule 
5th,  "  Monosyllables  and  English  verbs  end  not  with  c,  but  take  ck  for  double  c  ,•  as,  rack,  wreck,  rock,  attack  : 
but,  in  general,  words  derived  from  the  learned  languages  need  not  the  k,  and  common  use  discards  it." 
Therefore,  this  k  should  be  omitted ;  thus,  critic.] 

"  The  leading  object  of  every  publick  speaker  should  be  to  persuade." — Kirkham's 
Elocution,  p.  153.  "  May  not  four  feet  be  as  poetick  as  five  ;  or  fifteen  feet,  as  poetick 
as  fifty?" — Ib.  p.  146.  "Avoid  all  theatrical  trick  and  mimickry,  and  especially  all 
scholastick  stiifness." — 76.  p.  154.  "No  one  thinks  of  becoming  skilled  in  dancing,  or  in 
musick,  or  in  mathematicks,  orlogick,  without  long  and  close  application  to  the  subject." 
Ib.  p.  152.  "Caspar's  sense  of  feeling,  and  susceptibility  of  metallick  and  magnetick 
excitement,  were  also  very  extraordinary." — Ib.  p.  238.  "Authorship  has  become  a 
mania,  or,  perhaps  I  should  say,  an  epidemick." — Ib.  p.  6.  "What  can  prevent  this 
republick  from  soon  raising  a  literary  standard  ?  " — Ib.  p.  10.  "  Courteous  reader,  you 
may  think  me  garrulous  upon  topicks  quite  foreign  to  the  subject  before  me." — Ib.  p. 
11.  "Of  the  Tonick,  Subtonick,  and  Atonick  elements." — Ib.  p.  15.  "The  subtonick 
elements  are  inferiour  to  the  tonicks  in  all  the  emphatick  and  elegant  purposes  of 
speech." — Ib.  p.  32.  "  The  nine  atonicks,  and  the  three  abrupt  subtonicks  cause  an 
interruption  to  the  continuity  of  the  syllabick  impulse." — Ib.  p.  37.  "  On  scientifick 
principles,  conjunctions  and  prepositions  are  but  one  part  of  speech." — Kirkham's  Gram. 
p.  120.  "That  some  inferior  animals  should  be  able  to  mimic  human  articulation,  will 
not  seem  wonderful." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  Vol.  i,  p.  2. 

"  When  young,  you  led  a  life  monastick,  » 

And  wore  a  vest  ecclesiastick  ; 

Now,  in  your  age,  you  grow  fantastick." — Johnson's  Diet. 

UNDER  RULE  VI. — OF  RETAINING. 
"  Fear lesness,  exemption  from  fear,  intrepidity." — Johnson's  Diet. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  "fearltsness  "  is  here  allowed  to  drop  one  s  of  fearless.  But,  ac- 
cording to  Rule  6th,  "  Words  ending  with  any  double  letter,  preserve  it  double  before  any  additional  termina- 
tion not  beginning  with  the  same  letter."  Therefore,  the  other  5  should  be  inserted ;  thus,  fearlessness.] 

"  Dreadlesness  ;  fearlesness,  intrepidity,  undauntedness." — Johnson's  Diet.  "  Regard- 
lesly,  without  heed  ;  Regardlesness,  heedlessness,  inattention." — Ib.  "  Blamelesly, 
innocently  ;  Blamlesness,  innocence." — Ib.  "  That  is  better  than  to  be  flattered  into 
pride  and  carelesness." — TAYLOR:  Joh.  Diet.  "  Good  fortunes  began  to  breed  a  proud 
recklesness  in  them." — SIDNEY  :  ib.  "  See  whether  he  lazily  and  listlesly  dreams  away 
his  time." — LOCKE  :  ib.  "  It  may  be,  the  palate  of  the  soul  is  indisposed  by  listles- 
ness  or  sorrow." — TAYLOR  :  ib.  "  Pitilesly,  without  mercy ;  Pitilesness,  unmerciful- 
ness." — Johnson.  "  What  say  you  to  such  as  these  ?  abominable,  accordable,  agreable, 
&c." — Tooke's  Diversions,  ii,  p.  432.  "  Artlesly  ;  naturally,  sincerely,  without  craft." — 
Johnson.  "A  chilness,  or  shivering  of  the  body,  generally  precedes  a  fever." — Murray's 
Key,  p.  167.  "  Smalness  ;  littleness,  minuteness,  weakness." — Rhyming  Diet.  "  Gallless, 
a.  free  from  gall  or  bitterness." — Webster  s  Diet.  "Talness;  height  of  stature,  upright 
length  with  comparative  slenderness."  See  Johnson  et  al.  "  Wilful ;  stubborn,  con- 
tumacious, perverse,  inflexible." — Id.  "He  guided  them  by  the  skilfulncss  of  his 
hands." — Psal.  Ixxviii,  72.  "The  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fulness  thereof." — 
Murray's  Key,  p.  172.  "What  is  now,  is  but  an  amasment  of  imaginary  conceptions." 
— (JLANVILLE  :  Joh.  Diet.  "  Embarrasment ;  perplexity,  entanglement."  See  Littleton's 
Diet.  "The  second  is  slothfulness,  whereby  they  are  performed  slackly  and  carelesly." 
— Perkins's  Theology,  p.  729.  "  Instalment ;  induction  into  office  ;  part  of  a  large  sum  of 
money,  to  be  paid  at  a  particular  time."  See  Johnson's  Diet.  "  Inthralment ;  servi- 
tude, slavery." — Ib. 

"  I,  who  at  some  times  spend,  at  others  spare, 
Divided  between  carelesness  and  care." — Pope. 

RULE   VII. — OF   RETAINING. 

"  Shall,  on  the  contrary,  in  the  first  person,  simply  foretels." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  88; 
Ingersoll's,  136  ;  Fisk's,  78  ;  Jaudon's,  59  ;  A.  Flint's,' 42  ;  Wright's,  90  ;  Bullions  s,  32. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  "foretels  "  does  not  here  retain  the  double  I  of  tell.  But,  accord- 
ing to  Rule  7th,  "  Words  ending  with  any  double  letter,  preserve  it  double  in  all  derivatives  formed  from 
them  by  means  of  prefixes."  Therefore,  the  other  /  should  be  inserted  ;  thus,forettlls.] 

"There  are  a  few  compound  irregular  verbs,  as  befal,  bespeak,  ftc." — Ash's  Gram.  p.  46. 
"That  we  might  frequently  recal  it  to  our  memory.*" — (.'alcin's  Institutes,  p.  112.  "The 
angels  exercise  a  constant  solicitude  that  no  evil  befal  us." — Ib.  p.  107.  "Inthral;  to 
enslave,  to  shackle,  to  reduce  to  servitude." — Walker's  Diet.  "  He  makes  resolutions, 
and  fulfils  them  by  new  ones." — Red  Book,  p.  138.  "To  enrol  my  humble  name  upon 


. 


CHAP.    IV.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. — SPELLING. — ERRORS.  199 

the  list  of  authors  on  Elocution." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  12.  "Forestal;  to  antici- 
pate, to  take  up  beforehand." — Walker  s  Hhyin.  Diet.  "Miscal;  to  call  wrong,  to  name 
improperly." — Johnson.  "  Bethral ;  to  enslave,  to  reduce  to  bondage."  See  id.  "Be- 
fal;  to  happen  to,  to  come  to  pass." — Rhym.  Diet.  "Unrol;  to  open  what  is  rolled  or 
convolved." — Johnson.  "  Counterrol ;  to  keep  copies  of  accounts  to  prevent  frauds." 
See  id.  "  As  Sisyphus  uprols  a  rock,  which  constantly  overpowers  him  at  the  summit." 
— Author,  "I'nwel;  not  well,  indisposed,  not  in  good  health."  See  Jled  Book,  336. 
"  Undersel ;  to  defeat  by  selling  for  less,  to  sell  cheaper  than  an  other."  See  id.  p.  332. 
•'  Inwal ;  to-  enclose  or  fortify  with  a  wall."  See  id.  p.  295.  "  Twibil ;  an  instrument 
•with  two  bills,  or  with  a  point  and  a  blade ;  a  pickaxe,  a  mattock,  a  halberd,  a  battle- 
axe."  Sec  Dirt.  "  What  you  miscal  their  folly,  is  their  care." — Dryfan.  "  My  heart 
will  sigh  when  I  miscal  it  so." — Shaktpcare.  "But  if  the  arrangement  recal  one  set  of 
ideas  more  readily  than  another." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  130. 

"  'Tis  done ;  and  since  'tis  done,  'tis  past  recal ; 
And  since  'tis  part  recal,  must  be  forgotten." — Dryden. 

UNDER  RULE  VIII.— OF  FINAL  LL. 
"The  righteous  is  taken  away  from  the  evill  to  come." — Perkins's  Works,  p.  417. 

(TORMCLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  "  evill  "  is  here  written  with  final  II.  Bat,  according  to  Rule  8th, 
"  Final  U  is  peculiar  to  monosyllables  and  their  compounds,  with  the  few  derivatives  formed  from  such  roots 
by  prefixes  :  ron<i  .juently, all  other  words  that  end  in  /,  must  be  terminated  with  a  single  /."  Therefore,  one  I 
ahould  be  here  omitted  ;  thus,  en/.] 

"  1'atroll ;  to  go  the  rounds  in  a  camp  or  garrison,  .to  march  about  and  observe  what 
passes."—  Webster's  Amtr.  Diet.  8vo.     "Marshall;  the  chief  officer  of  arms,  one  who 
regulates  rank    and  order."     See    Bailey's  Diet.     "Weevill;  a  destructive  grub  that 
corn."  '  Sec  Rhym.  Diet.     "It  much  excells  all  other  studies  and  arts." — 
Walks'  ,  p.  217.     "It  is  essentiall  to  all  magnitudes,  to  be  in  one  place." — 

Perkins's  Works,  p.  403.  "  By  nature  I  was  thy  vassall,  but  Christ  hath  redeemed  me." — 
Ib.  p.  104.  "  Some,  being  in  want,  pray  for  temporall  blessings." — Ib.  p.  412.  "And 
this  the  Lord  doth,  either  in  temporall  or  spirituall  benefits." — Ib.  p.  415.  "  He  makes 


an  idoll  of  them,  by  setting  his  heart  on  them." — Ib.  p.  416.     "This  triall  by  desertion 
serveth  for  two  purposes." — Ib.  p.  420.     "Moreover,  this  destruction  is  both'perpetuall 
and  terrible." — Ib.  p.  726.     "  Giving  to  several!  men  several  gifts,  according  to  his  good 
pleasure." — Ib.  p.  731.     "  Untill ;  to  some  time,  place,  or  degree,  mentioned."     See 
Red  Book,  p.  330.     "  Annull ;  to  make  void,  to  nullify,  to  abrogate,  to  abolish."    "  Xitric 
acid  combined  with  argill,  forms  the  nitrate  of  argilL" — Gregory's  Diet.  art.  Chemistry. 
41  Let  modest  Foster,  if  he  will,  excell 
Ten  Metropolitans  in  preaching  welL" — Pope,  p.  4H. 


UNDER  RULE  IX.  —  OF  FINAL  E. 

"  Adjectives  ending  in  able  signify  capacity  ;  as,  comfortable,  tenable,  improvable."  — 
'/•am.  p.  33. 


—  Not  proper,  because  the  word  "  improvable  "  here  retains  the  final  e  of  improve.    But,  accord- 
ing to  Ki;  final  e  of  a  primitive  \v«>rd  is  generally  omitted  before  an  additional  termination  begin- 

ning with  a  Towel."    Therefore,  this  e  should  be  omitted  ;  thus,  improvable.} 

"Their  mildness  and  hospitality  are  ascriboablc  to  a  general  administration  of 
religious  ordinances."—  \V,  -fjsf.r's  tesays,  p.  336.  "Ik-trench  as  much  as  possible  with- 
out obtcureing  the  sense."—  ././/,.  <;r<t,n.  1S21,  p.  11.  "  Changable, 

subject  to  change  ;  Unchangeable,  immutable."—  H  '«//.  -,,-'s  lilnnu.  Diet.  "Tameable, 
susceptivi-  of  tamiiiu'  ;  UnUmeable,  not  to  bo  tamed."—  /A.  "  Ileconcileable,  Unreconci- 
leablr,  Utvonri!,  Irreconcilable,  Irreconcilably,  Irreconcilableness."  —  John- 

8ntl  '*  !'  have  thought  it  most  adviscable  to  pay  him  some  little  attention."  — 

•  ,  that  may  be  pr<>v<  ,ble,  blameable,  worthy 

of  reprehension."—  Wttlb-r's  />/.•/.  "Moveable  and  Immovable,  Movcably  and  Immov- 
ably,  Movrables  nnd  K<movnl,  Moveableness  and  Improvable-ness,  Vnn'inovcable  and 
Unimprovable,  Unremoveably  and  Removable,  1'roveable  and  Approvable,  Irreprove- 

able  a:-  '(%  tJnrejooreable  and  Improvable,  Unimproveableneaa  and  Imi)rov- 

ably."—  ./»//..  \].(1  \\\\\i  this   cruelty  yon    are  ehariiuMe  in  some  mea-urc 

yourself."  —  Collier's  At,-  ••  Mothers  would  certainly  resent  it,  a*  judging 

it  proceeded  from  a  low  opinion  of  the  genius  of  their  sex."—  Hriii*h  (i,-<un.  1',-,'f. 
"Titheable,  subject  to  the  payment  of  tithes;  Saleable,  vendible,  fit  for  sale  ;   Loseable, 
pn^ihle   to   be   lost;    Sizeable,  of  reasonable  bulk  or  si/c."—  I)  'nHn-r's  H 
"  When  he  began  this  custom,  he  was  puleing  and  very  tender."—  LocAc,  on  Ed.  p.  8. 
"The  plate,  coin,  revenues,  and  moveaM- 
AVhcrcof  our  uncle  Gaunt  did  stand  possess'd."  —  Shak. 


200  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   I. 

UNDER  RULE  X.  —  OF  FINAL  E. 

"Diversly  ;  in  different  ways,  differently,  variously."  —  Ehym.  Diet.,  and  Webster's. 

[FORMULE.  —  Not  proper,  because  the  word  ;'  Diversly"  here  omits  the  final  e  of  its  primitive  word,  diverse. 
But,  according  to  Rule  10th,  "  The  final  e  of  a  primitive  word  is  generally  retained  before  an  additional  termi- 
nation beginning  with  a  consonant."  Therefore,  this  e  should  be  retained  ;  thus,  Diversely.'] 

"The  event  thereof  contains  a  wholsome  instruction."  —  Bacon's  Wisdom  of  the 
Ancients,  p.  17.  "Whence  Scaliger  falsly  concluded  that  Articles  were  useless."  — 
Brightland's  Gram.  p.  94.  "The  child  that  we  have  just  seen  is  wholesomly  fed."  — 
Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  187.  "  Indeed,  falshood  and  legerdemain  sink  the  character  of  a 
prince."  —  Collier  s  Antoninus,  p.  5.  "  In  earnest,  at  this  rate  of  managment,  thou  usest 
thyself  very  coarsly."  —  Ib.  p.  19.  "  To  give  them  an  arrangment  and  diversity,  as  agree- 
able as  the  nature  of  the  subject  would  admit."  —  Murray's  Prcf.  to  Ex.  p.  vi.  "  Alger's 
Grammar  is  only  a  trifling  enlargment  of  Murray's  little  Abridgment."  —  Author.  "  You 
ask  whether  you  are  to  retain  or  omit  the  mute  e  in  the  word  judgment,  abridgment, 
acknowledgment,  lodgment,  adjudgment,  and  prejudgment."  —  Red  Book,  p.  172.  "Fer- 
tileness,  fruitfulness  ;  Fertily,  fruitfully,  abundantly."  —  Johnson's  Diet.  "  Chastly,  pure- 
ly, without  contamination  ;  Chastness,  chastity,  purity."  —  Ib.  and  Walker's.  "  lihymster, 
n.  One  who  makes  rhymes  ;  a  versifier  ;  a  mean  poet."  —  Johnson  and  Webster.  "  It  is 
therefore  an  heroical  achievment  to  dispossess  this  imaginary  monarch."  —  Berkley's 
Minute  Philos.  p.  151.  "Whereby,  is  not  meant  the  Present  Time,  as  he  imagins,  but  the 
Time  Past."  —  Johnson  s  Gram.  Com.  p.  344.  "  So  far  is  this  word  from  affecting  the 
noun,  in  regard  to  its  definitness,  that  its  own  character  of  definitness  or  indefinitness, 
depends  up'on  the  noun  to  which  it  is  prefixed."  —  Webster's  Philosophical  Gram.  p.  20. 
"  Satire,  by  wholsome  Lessons,  wou'd  reclaim, 
And  heal  their  Vices  to  secure  their  Fame."  —  Brightland's  Gr.  p.  171. 

UNDER  RULE  XI.—  OF  FINAL  Y. 

"  Solon  's  the  veryest  fool  in  all  the  play."  —  Dryden,from  Persius,  p.  475. 


.  —  Not  proper,  because  the  word  "  veryest  "  here  retains  the  final  y  of  its  primitive  very.  But,  ac- 
cording to  Rule  llth,  "  The  final  y  of  a  primitive  word,  when  preceded  by  a  consonant,  is  generally  changed 
into  i  before  an  additional  termination."  Therefore,  this  y  should  be  changed  to  i;  thus,  veriest.] 

"  Our  author  prides  himself  upon  his  great  slyness  and  shrewdness."  —  Merchant's 
Criticisms.  "This  tense,  then,  implys  also  the  signification  of  Debeo."  —  E.  Johnson's 
Gram.  Com.  p.  300.  "  That  may  be  apply'd  to  a  Subject,  with  respect  to  something 
accidental."  —  Ib.  p.  133.  "  This  latter  accompanys  his  Note  with  a  distinction."  —  Ib.  p. 
196.  "  This  Rule  is  defective,  and  none  of  the  Annotators  have  sufficiently  supply'd  it." 

—  Ib.  p.  204.     "  Though  the  fancy'd  Supplement  of  Sanctius,  Scioppius,  Yossius,  and 
Mariangelus,  may  take  place."  —  Ib.  p.  276.     Yet  as  to  the  commutableness  of  these 
two  Tenses,  which  is  deny'd  likewise,  they  are  all  one."  —  Ib.  p.  311.     "Both  these 
Tenses  may  represent  a  Futurity  implyed  by  the  dependence  of  the  Clause."  —  Ib.  p. 
332.     "  Cry,  cries,  crying,  cried,  crier,  decrial  ;  Shy,  shyer,  shyest,  shyly,  shyness  ;  Fly, 
flies,  flying,  flier,  high-flier  ;  Sly,  slyer,  slyest,  slyly,  slyness  ;  Spy,  spies,  spying,  spied, 
espial  ;  Dry,  drier,  driest,  dryly,  dryness."  —  Cobb's  Diet.     "  Cry,   cried,  crying,   crier, 
cryer,  decried,  decrier,  decrial  ;  Shy,  shyly,  shily,  shyness,  shiness  ;  Fly,  flier,  flyer, 
high-flyer  ;  Sly,  slily,  slyly,  sliness,  plyness  ;  Ply,  plyer,  plying,  pliers,  complied,  com- 
plier;  Dry,   drier,  dryer,  dryly,  dryness."  —  Webster's  Diet.  8vo.     "Cry,  crier,  decrier, 
decrial  ;  Shy,  shily,  shyly,  shiness,  shyness  ;  Fly,  flier,  flyer,  high-flier  ;  Sly,  slily,  slyly, 
sliness,  slyness  ;  Ply,  pliers,  plyers,  plying,  complier  ;  Dry,  drie'r,  dryer,  dryly,  dryness." 

—  Chalmers's  Abridgement  of  Todd's  Johnson.     "I  would  sooner  listen  to  the  thrumming 
of  a  dandyzette  at  her  piano."  —  Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  24.     "  Send  her  away  ;  for  she 
cryeth  after  us."  —  Felton's  Gram.  p.  140.       "  Ivyed,  a.  Overgrown  with  ivy."  —  Todd's 
Diet.,  and  Webster's. 

"  Some  dryly  plain,  without  invention's  aid, 
Write  dull  receipts  how  poems  may  be  made."  —  Pope. 

UNDER  RULE  XII.—  OF  FINAL  Y. 

"  The  gaiety  of  youth  should  be  tempered  by  the  precepts  of  age."  —  Mur.  Key,  p.  175. 
[FORMULE.  —  Not  proper,  because  the  word  "gaiety"  does  not  here  retain  the  final  y  of  the  primitive  word 
gay.  But.  according  to  Rule  12th,  "  The  final  y  of  a  primitive  word,  when  preceded  by  a  vowel,  should  not 
be  changed  into  i  before  an  additional  termination."  Therefore,  this  y  should  be  retained  ;  thus,  gayety.} 

"In  the  storm  of  1703,  two  thousand  stacks  of  chimnies  were  blown  down,  in  and 
about  London."  See  Red  Book,  p.  112.  "  And  the  vexation  was  not  abated  by  the  hack- 
nied  plea  of  haste."  —  Ib.  p.  142.  "  The  fourth  sin  of  our  daies  is  lukewarmness."  — 
Perkins's  Works,  p.  725.  "  God  hates  the  workers  of  iniquity,  and  clestroies  them  that 
speak  lies."  —  Ib.  p.  723.  "  For,  when  he  laies  his  hand  upon  us,  we  may  not  fret."  —  Ib. 
p.  726.  "  Care  not  for  it  ;  but  if  thou  maiest  be  free,  choose  it  rather."  —  Ib.  p.  736.  "  Alex- 


CHAP.    IV.]  ORTHOGRAPHY.  —  SPELLING.  -  ERRORS.  201 

ander  Severus  saith,  4  He  that  buieth,  must  sell  :  I  will  not  suffer  buyers  and  sellers  of 

offices.'"  —  Ih.  p.  7-'i7.     "  With  these  measures  fell  in  all  monied  men."  —  SWIFT:  John- 

son's  Diet.     "  But   rattling  nonsense   in   full   vollies   breaks."  —  POPE  :    ib.  w.    Volley. 

"  Yallies  are  the  intervals  betwixt  mountains."  —  WOODWARD  :  ib.    "  The  Hebrews  had  tif- 

ty-two  j.mrnics  or  marches."  —  Wood's  Diet.  "  It  was  not  possible  to  manage  or  steer  the 

gallies  thus  fastened   together."  —  Goldsmith's    Greece,  ii,    p.  106.     "Turkies  were  not 

known  to  naturalists  till  after  the  discovery  of  America."     See  Gregory's  Diet.  "I  would 

not  have  given  it  for  a  wilderness  of  monkies."     See  Key.     "  Men  worked  at  embroid- 

ery, especially  in  abbies."  —  Constable  s  Misee/fa/iy,  xxi,  p.  101.     "  By  which  all  purcha- 

sers or  mortgagees  may  be  secured  of  all  monies  they  lay  out."  —  TEMPLE  :  Johnson's 

Diet,      "lie    would  fly"  to  the  mines  and  the  gallies  for  his  recreation."  —  SOUTH:  ib. 

"  Here  pullies  make  the  pond'rous  oak  ascend."  —  GA.Y  :  ib. 

--  "  You  need  my  help,  and  you  say, 

Shylock,  we  would  have  monies."  —  SHA.KSPEARE  :  ib. 

KR  RULE  XIII.—  OP  IZE  AND  ISE. 

"  "Will  an    able  writer  authorise  other  men  to  revize  his  works  ?  "  —  Author. 


.—  1.  Not  proper,  because  the  word  "  authorise  "  is  here  written  with  s  in  the  last  syllable,  in  stead 
of  z.  Hut  according  to  Uule  13th,  "  Words  ending  in  ize  or  ise  sounded  alike,  as  in  wist  and  size,  generally 
take  --initially  formed  by  means  of  the  termination."  Therefore,  this  s  should  be  z; 

thus,  authorize. 

r  agnin,  because  the  word  "  revize  >'  Is  here  written  with  z  in  the  last  syllable,  in  lieu  of  5.    But, 
according  •  Word*  ending  in  ize  or  ise  sounded  alike,  as  in  wise  and  size,  generally  take  the  #, 

in  in  uid  all  such  as  are  essentially  formed  by  means  of  prefixes.'1    Therefore,  this  z  should  be  s; 

thu?,  / 

«'  It  can  be  made  as  strong  and  expressive  as  this  Latinised  English."  —  Murray's 
Gram.  p.  •_'  •').  ••  (ioverned  by  the  success  or  the  failure  of  an  enterprize."  —  Ib.  ii,  pp. 
128  and  'I'M.  "  Who  have  patronised  the  cause  of  justice  against  powerful  oppressors." 
—  Ib.  pp.  9  1  and  228  ;  M<  reha»t,  p.  199.  "Yet  custom  authorises  this  use  of  it."  —  Priestley's 
Gram.  p.  148.  "They  surprize  myself,  *  •  *  and  I  even  think  the  writers  themselves 
will  be  stirpri/ed."  —  1/>.  1'ref.  p.  xi.  "Let  the  interest  rize  to  any  sum  which  can  be 

•  obtained."  —  Ii  ^tys,  -p.  310.      "To  determin   what  interest  shall  arize  on  the 

use  of  money."  —  Ib.  p.  313.  "To  direct  the  popular  councils  and  check  a  rizing  oppo- 
sition." —  Ib.  p.  33o.  "Five  were  appointed  to  the  immediate  exercize  of  the  office."  — 
Ib.  p.  340.  "  No  man  ever  offers  himself  [as]  a  candidate  by  advertizing."  —  Ib.  p.  344. 
'*  They  arc  honest  and  economical,  but  indolent,  and  destitute  of  enterprize."  —  Ib.  p. 
347.  "  I  would  however  advize  you  to  be  cautious."  —  Ib.  p.  404.  "  "SVe  are  accountable 
for  whatever  we  patronise  in  others."  —  Murray's  Key,  p.  175.  "  After  he  was  baptised,  and 
was  solemnly  admitted  into  the  office."  —  1'crki  tits'  s  Works,  p.  732.  "  He  will  find  all,  or 
most  of  them,  comprized  in  the  Exercises."  —  l>riti*h  Gram.  Pref.  p.  v.  "A  quick  and 
ready  habit  of  methodising  and  regulating  their  thoughts."  —  Ib.  p.  xviii.  "  To  tyrannise 
over  the  time  and  patience  of  his  reader."  —  Kirklnnn'x  Worufimt,  p.  iii.  "  Writers  of 


dull  books,  however,  if  patronised  at  all,  are  rewarded  beyond  their  deserts." — Ib.  p.  v. 
"A  little  reflection,  will  show  the  reader  the  propriety  and  the  reason  for  empha.>i>ing 
the  words  marked." — Ib.  p.  Ki3.  "  The  English  Chronicle  contains  an  account  of  a  sur- 
pri/in.,'  cure." — /  .  til.  "Dogmatise,  to  assert  positively;  Dogn.atizer,  an 

.  a  magisterial   teacher." — Clta!  '.     "  And  their  inflections  might  now 

have  bei-n  easily  analysed." — Murray's   Gram.  8vo,  i,  p.  113.     "Authorize,  disauthorise, 
and  unauthorized  ;  Temporize,  contemporise,  and  extemporize." —  Walker's  Diet.  "  Legal- 
.  methodi-  .i/e,   \vomani-e,   humanize,  patronise,  cantonize,  glut- 

.  phlebotomise,  sain .-tuarise,  characterize,  synonymise,  recog- 
nise, dctonize,  colonise."  —  Ibid. 

"This  P.  -  always  must  comprize, 

Which  from  the  Subject,  well  exprcss'd  will  rl^."—Brightlan^s  Gr.p.  164. 

TM.KR   llru:  XIV. — OF  COMI-I..I 
"  The  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  thy  rereward." — COMMON  BIBLES  :  Isa.  Iviii,  8. 

[FORM;  has  not  here  the  orthography  of  the  two 

.::i«  to  Rule  14th,  ••  Compounds  generally  retain 
ipOM  rln-iii.'      And.  the  accent  being  here  unfixed,  a  hyphen 
10  proper.     Hi.  n  tore,  thLs  word  should  Iw  spelled  thus,  rear-ward.] 

"A  mere  vaunt-courier  to  announce  the  coming  of  his  master." — Toola's  Dirrr*inn*t  i, 
49.  "  The  ])arti-eoloured  shutter  appeared  to  come  close  up  before  him." — Kirk/tarn's 
••  When  the  day  broke  upon  this  handfull  of  forlorn  but  dauntless 
spirits." — Ih.  p.  24->.  "  If,  upon  a  plumbtree,  peaches  and  apricots  are  ingrafted,  no  body 
will  say  they  are  the  natural  growth  of  the  plumbtree." — Berklei/'  I'/ii/os.  p.  45. 

"The  channel  between  Newfoundland  and  Labrador  is  called  the  Straits  of  Bellisle." — 


202  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   I. 

Worcester's  Gaz.  "  There  being  nothing  that  more  exposes  to  Headach."  *— Locke,  on 
Education,  p.  6.  "And,  by  a  sleep,  to  say  we  end  the  heartach." — SHAK.:  in  Joh.  Diet. 
"  He  that  sleeps,  feels  not  the  toothach." — ID.  ibid.  "That  the  shoe  must  fit  him,  be- 
cause it  fitted  his  father  and  granfather."— Philological  Museum,  i,  p.  431.  "  A  single  word, 
mispelt,  in  a  letter,  is  sufficient  to  show,  that  you  have  received  a  defective  education." 
— Bucke's  Gram.  p.  3.  "  Which  mistatement  the  committee  attributed  to  a  failure  of 
memory." — Professors'  Reasons,  p.  14.  "Then  he  went  through  the Banquetting-House 
to  the  scaffold." — Smollett's  England,  Vol.  iii,  p.  345.  "  For  the  purpose  of  maintaining 
a  clergyman  and  skoolmaster/' — Webster's  Essays,  p.  355.  "They  however  knew  that 
the  lands  were  claimed  by  Pensylvania." — Ib.  p.  357.  "  But  if  you  ask  a  reason,  they 
immediately  bid  farewel  to  argument." — Red  Book,  p.  80.  "  Whom  resist  stedfast  in  the 
faith." — SCOTT  :  1  Peter,  v,  9.  "  And  they  continued  stedfastly  in  the  apostles'  doctrine." 
— Acts,  ii,  42.  "  Beware  lest  ye  also  fall  from  your  own  stedfastness." — 2  Peter,  iii,  17. 
"  Galiot,  or  galliott,  a  Dutch  vessel,  carrying  a  main-mast  and  a  mizen-mast." — Web.  Diet. 
"Infinitive,  to  overflow;  Preterit,  overflowed;  Participle,  overflown." — Cobbett's  E. 
Gram.  (1818,)  p.  61.  "  After  they  have  mispent  so  much  precious  Time." — British  Gram. 
p.  xv.  "  Some  say,  two  handsfutt ;  some,  two  handfulls  ;  and  others,  two  handfutt." — 
Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  106.  "  Lapfull,  as  much  as  the  lap  can  contain." — Webster's 
Octavo  Diet.  "  Darefull,  full  of  defiance."—  Walker's  Rhym.  Diet.  "  The  road  to  the  bliss- 
full  regions,  is  as  open  to  the  peasant  as  to  the  king." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  167.  "  Mis- 
spel  is  mis-spelt  in  every  Dictionary  which  I  have  seen." — Barnes's  Red  Book,  p.  303. 
"  Downfal ;  ruin,  calamity,  fall  from  rank  or  state." — Johnson's  Diet.  "  The  whole  legis- 
lature likewize  acts  az  a  court." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  340.  "It  were  better  a  milstone 
were  hanged  about  his  neck." — Perkins's  Works,  p.  731.  "Plum-tree,  a  tree  that  pro- 
duces plums  ;  Hog-plumbtree,  a  tree." — Webster's  Diet.  "Trisyllables  ending  in  re  or 
fe,  accent  the  first  syllable." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  238. 
"  It  happen'd  on  a  summer's  holiday, 
That  to  the  greenwood  shade  he  took  his  way." — Churchill's  Gr.  p.  135. 

UNDER  RULE  XV. — OP  USAGE. 

"Nor  are  the  modes  of  the  Greek  tongue  more  uniform." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  112. 

[FoRMCLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  "worfes'Ms  here  written  for  moods,  which  is  more  common 
among  the  learned,  and  usually  preferred  by  Murray  himself.  But,  according  to  Rule  15th,  "  Any  word  for  th<> 
spelling  of  which  we  have  no  rule  but  usage,  is  written  wrong  if  not  spelled  according  to  the  usage  which  is  mos  j 
common  among  the  learned."  Therefore,  the  latter  form  should  be  preferred  ;  thus,  moods,  and  not  modes.  \ 

"If  we  analize  a  conjunctive  preterite,  the  rule  will  not  appear  to  hold." — Priestley'* 
Gram.  p.  118.  "No  landholder  would  have  been  at  that  expence." — Ib.  p.  116.  "  I 
went  to  see  the  child  whilst  they  were  putting  on  its  cloaths." — Ib.  p.  125.  "  This  stile 
is  ostentatious,  and  doth  not  suit  grave  writing." — Ib.  p.  82.  "The  king  of  Israel,  and 
Jehosophat  the  king  of  Judah,  sat  each  on  his  throne." — Mur.  Gram.  p.  165,  ticice ;  Mer- 
chant's, 89 ;  Churchill's,  300.  "  The  king  of  Israel,  and  Jehosaphat  the  king  of  Judah,  sat 
each  on  his  throne." — Lotcth's  Gram.  p.  90  ;  Harrison's,  99  ;  Churchill's,  138  ;  Wright's,  148. 
"Lisias,  speaking  of  his  friends,  promised  to  his  father,  never  to  abandon  them." — Mur- 
ray's Gram,  ii,  121  and  253.  "  Some,  to  avoid  this  errour,  run  into  it's  opposite." — Church- 
ill's Gram.  p.  199.  "Hope,  the  balm  of  life,  sooths  us  under  every  misfortune." — Mer- 
chant's Key ,  p.  204.  "  Any  judgement  or  decree  might  be  heerd  and  reversed  by  the  leg- 
islature."—  Webster's  Essays,  p.  340.  "  A  pathetic  harang  wil  skreen  from  punishment 
any  knave." — Ib.  p.  341.  "For  the  same  reezon,  the  wimen  would  be  improper  judg- 
es."— Ibid.  "  Every  person  iz  indulged  in  worshiping  az  he  pleezes." — Ib.  p.  345.  "  Most 
or  all  teechers  are  excluded  from  genteel  company." — Ib.  p.  362.  "  The  Kristian  religion, 
in  its  purity,  iz  the  best  institution  on  erth." — Ib.  p.  364.  "  Neether  clergymen  nor  hu- 
man laws  hav  the  leest  authority  over  the  conscience." — Ib.  p.  363.  "  A  gild  is  a  society, 
fraternity,  or  corporation."— Red  Book,  p.  83.  "Phillis  was  not  able  to  unty  the  knot,  and 
so  she  cut  it." — Ib.  p.  46.  "  An  aker  of  land  is  the  quantity  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
perches." — Ib.  p.  93.  "  Oker  is  a  fossil  earth  combined  with  the  oxid  of  some  metal." — Ib. 
p.  96.  "  Genii,  when  denoting  serial  spirits  :  Geniuses,  when  signifying  persons  of  genius." — 
Mur.'s  Gram.  i.  p.  42.  "  Genii,  when  denoting  acriel  spirits  ;  Geniuses,  when  signifying  per- 
sons of  genius." — Frost's  Gram.  p.  9.  "  Genius,  Plu.  geniuses,  men  of  wit ;  but  genii,  aerial 
beings." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  18.  "  Acrisius,  king  of  Argos,  had  a  beautiful  daughter, 
whose  name  was  Danac." — Classic  Tales,  p.  109.  "  Phaeton  was  the  son  of  Apollo  and 
Clymene." — Ib.  p.  152.  "  But,  after  all,  I  may  not  have  reached  the  intended  Gaol." — Bu- 
chanan's Syntax,  Pref.  p.  xxvii.  "  «  Pitticus  was  offered  a  large  sum."  Better  :  « A  large 
sum  was  offered  to  Pitticus.'  " — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  187.  "  King  Missipsi  charged  his 

*  Ache,  and  its  plural,  aches,  appear  to  have  been  formerly  pronounced  like  the  name  of  the  eighth  letter, 
•with  its  plural,  Aitch,  and  Aitch.es ;  for  the  old  poets  made  u  aches  "  two  syllables.  But  Johnson  says  of  ache,  a 
pain,  it  is  "  now  generally  written  akf.,  and  in  the  plural  akes,  of  one  syllable."  See  his  ({narto  Diet.  So 
Walker  :  "  It  is  now  almost  universally  written  ake  and  akes."  See  Walkers  Principles,  No.  355.  So  Webster : 
"  Ake,  less  properly  written  acAe."  See  his  Octavo  Diet.  But  Worcester  seems  rather  to  prefer  ache. — G.  B. 


CHAP.    IV.]  OKTHOGRAPHY. — SPELLING. ERRORS.  203 

sons  to  respect  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome." — See  ib.  p.  161.  "  For  example :  Gallileo 
invented  the  telescope." — Ib.  pp.  54  and  67.  "Cathmor's  warriours  sleep  in  death." — Ib.  p. 
•34.     "  For  parsing  will  enable  you  to  detect  and  correct  errours  in  composition." — Ib.  p.  50. 
"  O'er  barren  mountains,  o'er  the  flow'ry  plain, 
Extends  thy  uncontroul'd  and  boundless  reign." — Dry  den. 

PROMISCUOUS  ERRORS  IN  SPELLING. 

LESSON  I. — MIXED. 

"A  bad  author  deserves  better  usage  than  a  bad  critick." — POPE:  Johnsons  Diet.  w. 
Former.     "Produce  a  single  passage  superiour  to  the  speech  of  Logan,  a  Mingo  chief,  de- 
livered to  Lord  Dunmore,  when  governour  of  Virginia." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  247. 
"  We  have  none  synonimous  to  supply  its  place." — Jamieson's  Rhetoric,  p.  48.      "  There 
is  a  probability  that  the  effect  will  be  accellerated." — Ib.  p.  48.    "  Nay,  a  regard  to  sound 
hatli  fontrouled  the  public  choice." — Ib.  p.  46.     "  Though  learnt  from  the  uninterrupt- 
ed use  of  gutterel  sounds." — Ib.  p.  5.  "  It  is  by  carefully  filing  off  all  roughness  and  ine- 
quuletics,  that  languages,  like  metals,  must  be  polished." — Ib.  p.  48.    "That  I  have  not 
mi>pent  my  time  in  the  service  of  the  community." — Buchanans  Syntax,  Pref.  xxviii. 
44  The  leaves  of  maix  are  also  called  blades." —  Webster  s  El.  Sidling -Book,  p.  43.      "  Who 
:u»t  they  know  what  is  past,  and  can  foretel  what  is  to  come." — Robertson  8  Amcr.  i, 
p.  360.     "  Its  tasteless  dullness  is  interrupted  by  nothing  but  its  perplexities." — Abbott's 
/•,  p.  18.     "  Sentences  constructed  with  the  Johnsonian  fullness  and  swell." — 
.////.  p.  130.    "  The  privilege  of  escaping  from  his  prefatory  dullness  and  pro- 
lixity."— Kirkham's  Monition,  p.  iv.     "But  in  poetry  this  characteristick  of  dulness  at- 
tains its  full  growth." — Ib.  p.  72.     "  The  leading  characteriatick  consists  in  an  increase  of 
the  force  and  fullness." — Ib.  p.  71.      "  The  character  of  this  opening  fulness  and  feebler 
vanish." — Ib.  p.  31.     "  Who,  in  the  fullness  of  unequalled  power,  would  not  believe  him- 
self the  favourite  of  heaven  •" — Ib.  p.  181.  "They  marr  one  another,  and  distract  him." — 
'in,  i,  p.  433.    "  Let  a  deaf  worshipper  of  antiquity  and  an  English  pro- 
sotli.st  settle  this." — Rush,  on  the  voice,  p.  140.      "This  phillipic  gave  rise  to  my  satirical 
reply  in  self-defence." — Merchant's  Criticisms.     "We  here  saw  no  inuendoes,  no  new 
sophistry,  no  falsehoods." — lh.     "  A  witty  and  humourous  vein  has  often  produced  ene- 
—  Murray's  Key,  p.  173.     "  Cry  holla  !  to  thy  tongue,  I  pr'ythee :  it  curvetts  un- 
:bly." — Shak.     "  I  said,  in  my  slyest  manner,  'Your  health,  sir.'  " — Blackicood's 
,  ]>.  (''7!'.   ••  And  attornies  also  travel  the  circuit  in  pursute  of  business." — RedBookt 

L83.      "  Some  whole  counties  in  Virginia  would  hardly  sel  for  the  valu  of  the  dets  du 
m  the  inhabitants." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  361.     "They  were  called  the  court  of  as- 
sistants, and  exereixed  all  powers  legislativ  and  judicial." — Ib.  p.  340.      "Arithmetic  is 
excellent  for  the  guaging  of  liquors." — Murray's  dram.  8vo,  p.  288.  "  Most  of  the  inflec- 
tions may  be  analysed  in  a  way  somewhat  similar." — Ib.  p.  112. 

epithets  allots  emphatic  state, 
Whilst  principals,  ungrac'd,  like  lacquies  wait." — C.  Churchill's  Ros.  p.  8. 

LESSON  II. — MIXED. 
"  Hence  it  [less]  is  a  privative  word,  denoting  destitution;  as,  fatherless,  faithless, 
pennyle>s." — H ', inter's  l>i>-t.  ir.  J.es.s.     "Bay;  red,  or  redish,  inclining  to  a  chesnut  col- 
or."—  ></,/,..     ••  '/',(  niiniick,  to  imitate  or  ape  for  sport;  amimic,  one  who  imitates  ormim- 
i(  '->•" — Ib.     "  Counterroll,  a  Counterpart  or  copy  ot  'the  rolls;  Counterrolment,  a  counter 
account." — Ih.     "  Millenium,  the  thousand  years  during  which  Satan  shall  be  bound." — 
//;.     "  Millenial,  pertaining  to  the  millenium,  or  to  a  thousand  years." — Ib.     "  Thraldom ; 
,  hondag.  .  itude."     See  Johnxm* »  Diet.     "  Brier,  a  prickly  bush  ; 

.  rough,  prickly,  full  of  brier-  ;  Sweetbriar,  a  fragrant  shrub."     See  Johnson,  Walk- 
er, ('/"•  "  Will,  in  the  seeond  and  third  Persons,  barely  fore- 
ItritixJi  c,r<im.  p.  132.      "And  therefor  there  is  no  Word  false,  but  what  "is  dis- 
ced by  Italics."— Ib.  Pref.  p.  v.    ••  What  should  be  repetedis  left  to  their  Discre- 
tion."— //;.  p.  iv.    ••!;.'  luse  they  are  abstracted  or  seperated  from  material  Substances." 
I>>.  p.  ix.     "  All  Motion  is  in  Time,   and  therefor,  where-ever  it  exists,  implies  Time  as 
its  Concommitant." — //;.  p.  140.     "  And  illiterate  grown  persons  are  guilty  of  blameable 
spelling." — lh.   Tret.  p.  xiv.      "They  wil  always  be  ignorant,  and  of  ruf  uncivil  man- 
It').     "This  bet  wil  hardly  be  beleeved  in  the  northern 
7.     "  The  province  however  wax  harra^ed  with  disputes."— Ib.  p.  352. 
"  So  little  concern  ha/  the  legislature  i'or  the  :  ruing." — Ib.  p.  341).     "The gen- 
tlemen wil  not  admit  that  a  skoo'.ma>ter  can  be  a  gentleman." — Ib.  p.  362.   "  Such  absurd 
qui-pro-quoes  cannot  be  too  strenuously  avoided." — Churchill' n  (ir<nn.\).  205.     "When 
• ,  '  a  man  looks  .«////// .- '  we  Dignity,  that  he  assumes  a  sly  look." — Ib.  p.  339.  "  Peep  ; 
to  look  through  a  crevice  ;  to  look  narrowly,  closely,  or  slyly."—  Webster's  Diet.  "  Hence 


204  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

the  confession  has  become  a  hacknied  proverb." — Wayland  's  Moral  Science,  p.  110.  "  Not 
to  mention  the  more  ornamental  parts  of  guilding,  varnish,  &c." — Tooke's  Divers,  i,  p.  20. 
"  After  this  system  of  self-interest  had  been  rivetted." — Brown's  Esti.  ii,  p.  136.    "  Pre- 
judice might  have  prevented  the  cordial  approbation  of  abigotted  Jew."— SCOTT:  on  Luke,  x. 
"  All  twinkling  with  the  dew-drop  sheen, 
The  briar-rose  fell  in  streamers  green." — Lady  of  the  Lake,  p.  16. 

LESSON  III. — MIXED. 

"  The  infinitive  mode  has  commonly  the  sign  to  before  it." — Harrison's  Gram.  p.  25. 
"  Thus,  it  is  adviseable  to  write  singeing,  from  the  verb  to  singe,  by  way  of  distinction 
from  singing,  the  participle  of  the  verb  to  sing." — Ib.  p.  27.  "  Many  verbs  form  both  the 
preterite  tense  and  the  preterite  participle  irregularly." — Ib.  p.  2£.  "  Much  must  be 
left  to  every  one's  taste  and  judgment."— Ib.  p.  67.  "Verses  of  different  lengths  inter- 
mixed form  a  Pindarick  poem." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  44.  "He'll  surprize  you." 

Frost's  EL  of  Gram.  p.  88.  "  Unequalled  archer  !  why  was  this  concealed  ? "— KNOWLES  : 
ib.  p.  102.  "  So  gaily  curl  the  waves  before  each  dashing  prow." — BYRON  :  ib.  p.  104. 
"When  is  a  dipthong  called  a  proper  dipthong  r "— Infant  School  Gram.  p.  11.  "How 
manyss  would  goodness  then  end  with?  Three." — Ib.  p.  33.  "  Q.  "What  is  a  tripthong? 
A.  A  tripthong  is  the  union  of  three  vowels,  pronounced  in  like  manner." — Bacon's 
Gram.  p.  7.  "  The  verb,  noun,  or  pronoun,  is  referred  to  the  preceding  terms  taken  sep- 
erately."—  Ib.  p.  47.  "rrn 
—  Cardell's 
from  the  air. 

"  It  would  be  readily  understood,  that  the  thing  so  labeled,  was  a  bottle  of  Madeira 
wine." — Ib.  p.  99.  «'  They  went  their  ways,  one  to  his  farm,  an  other  to  his  merchan- 
dize."— Ib.  p.  130.  "  A  dipthong  is  the  union  of  two  vowels,  sounded  by  a  single  impulse 
of  the  voice." — Russell's  Gram.  p.  7.  "The  professors  of  the  Mahommedan  religion  are 
called  Mussulmans." — Malibys  Gram.  p.  73.  "This  shews  that  let  is  not  a  sign  of  tie 
imperative  mood,  but  a  real  verb." — Ib.  p.  51.  "Those  preterites  and  participles,  which 
are  first  mentioned  in  the  list,  seem  to  be  the  most  eligible." — Ib.  p.  47.  "Monosylla- 
bles, for  the  most  part,  are  compared  by  er  and  est ;  and  dyssyllables  by  more  and  most." 
— Ib,  p.  19.  "  This  termination,  added  to  a  noun,  or  adjective,  changes  it  into  a  verb  :  as 
modern,  to  modernise ;  a  symbol,  to  symbolize." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  24.  "  An  Abridgment 
of  Murray's  Grammar,  with  additions  from  Webster,  Ash,  Tooke,  and  others." — Maltb.i's 
title-page.  "For  the  sake  of  occupying  the  room  more  advantagously,  the  subject  of  Or- 
thography is  merely  glanced  at." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  5.  "  So  contended  the  accusers  of 
Gallileo." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  12mo,  1839,  p.  380.  "Murray  says,  'They  were  travel- 
ing past  when  we  met  them.'" — Peirce,  ib.  p.  361.  "They  fulfil  the  only  purposes  for 
which  they  are  designed." — Ib.  p.  359.  "  On  the  fulfillment  of  the  event." — Ib.  p.  175. 
"Fullness  consists  in  expressing  every  idea."— Ib.  p.  291.  "  Consistently  with  fulness 
and  perspicuity." — Ib.  p.  337.  "The  word  vcrricst  is  a  gross  corruption;  as,  'He  is  the 
verriest  fool  on  earth.'  " — Wright's  Gram.  p.  202.  "The  sound  will  recal  the  idea  of  the 
object." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  142.  "Formed  for  great  enterprizes." — Bullions' s  Prin.  of 
E.  Gram.  p.  153.  "  The  most  important  rules  and  definitions  are  printed  in  large  type, 
italicised." — Hart's  Gram.  p.  3.  "  HAMLETTED,  a.  Accustomed  to  a  hamlet ;  countrified." 
— Bolles's  Dict.&nd  Chalmers's.  "Singular,  spoonful,  cup-full,  coach- full,  handful;  plural, 
spoonfuls,  cup-fulls,  coach-fulls,  handfuls." — Bullions  s  Anaiyt.  and  Pract.  Gram.  p.  27. 
"  Between  Superlatives  and  following  Names, 
Of,  by  Grammatic  Right,  a  Station  claims."— Brightland's  Gram.  p.  146. 


CHAPTER  V.- QUESTIONS. 

ORDER  OF  REHEARSAL,  AND  METHOD  OF  EXAMINATION. 

O^  [  The  student  ought  to  be  able  to  answer  with  readiness,  and  in  the  words  of  the  book,  all  the  following 
questions  on  grammar.  And  if  he  has  but  lately  commenced  the  study,  it  may  be  well  to  require  of  him  a 
general  rehearsal  of  this  kind,  before  he  proceeds  to  the  correction  of  any  part  of  the  false  grammar  quoted  in 
the  foregoing  chapters.  At  any  rate,  he  should  be  master  of  so  many  of  the  definitions  and  rules  as  precede 
the  part  which  he  attempts  to  correct :  because  this  knowledge  is  necessary  to  a  creditable  performance  of  the 
exercise.  But  those  who  are  very  quick  at  reading,  may  perform  it  tolerably,  by  consulting  the  book  at  the 
time,  for  what  they  do  not  remember.  The  answers  to  these  questions  will  embrace  all  the  main  text  of  the 
work ;  and,  if  any  further  examination  be  thought  necessary,  extemporaneous  questions  may  be  framed  for 
the  purpose.] 

LESSON  I. — GRAMMAR. 

1.  What  is  the  name,  or  title,  of  this  book  ?  2.  What  is  Grammar  ?  3.  What  is  an 
English  Grammar  ?  4.  What  is  English  Grammar,  in  itself  ?  and  what  knowledge 


CHAP.    V.]  ORTHOGRAPHY.  —  QUESTIONS.  205 

does  it  imply  ?  5.  If  grammar  is  the  art  of  reading,  writing,  and  speaking,  define  these 
actions.  What  is  it,  to  red'/  '  (>.  What  is  it,  to  irritc  ?  7.  What  is  it,  t<>  »jtf<ik  !  8.  How 
is  grammar  to  be  taught,  and  by  what  means  are  its  principles  to  be  made  known  ?  9. 
What  is  a  perfect  definition  ?  10.  What  is  an  example,  as  used  in  teaching  ':  11.  What 
is  a  rule  of  grammar?  12.  What  is  an  exercise?  13.  What  was  language  at  first,  and 
what  is  it  now  ?  14.  Of  what  two  kinds  does  the  composition  of  language  consist  ?  and 
how  do  thoy  diltVr  ?  lo.  What  are  the  least  parts  of  language  ?  16.  What  has  discourse  to 
dowith  sentences:  or  sentences,  with  points  ?  17.  In  extended  compositions,  what  is  the  or- 
der of  the  parts,  upwards  from  a  sentence  ?  18.  What,  then,  is  the  common  order  of  literary 
division,  downwards,  throughout  r  19.  Are  all  literary  works  divided  exactly  in  this  v 
20.  How  is  (  rrammar  divide  d  ?  21.  Of  what  does  Orthography  treat  •  22.  "(  )i'  what  does 
Etymology  treat  ?  23,.  Of  what  does  Syntax  treat  ?  24.  Of  what  does  Prosody  treat  ? 

PART  FIRST,  ORTHOGRAPHY. 

LESSON  II.  —  LETTERS. 

1.  Of  what  docs  Orthography  treat?  2.  What  is  a  letter?  3.'  What  is  an  elementary 
sound  of  human  voice,  or  speech  ?  4.  What  name  is  given  to  the  sound  of  a  letter  ?  and 
what  epithet,  to  a  letter  not  sounded  ?  5.  How  many  letters  are  there  in  English  r  and 
how  man;,  I  >  they  represent?  0.  In  what  does  a  knowledge  of  the  letters  con- 

si<t  ?  7.  What  variety  is  there  in  the  letters  ?  and  how  are  they  always  the  same  ?  8. 
What  different  sorts  of  types,  or  letters,  are  used  in  English  ?  9.  What  are  the  names 
of  the  letters  in  English  ?"  10.  What  are  their  names  in  both  numbers,  singular  and  plu- 
ral ?  11.  Into  what  general  classes  are  the  letters  divided?  12.  What  is  a  vowel?  13. 
What  is  :;  :  H.  What  letters  are  vowels  ?  and  what,  consonants  r  1.;.  When 

are  ;r  and  //  •  •onsonants  ?  and  when,  vowels?  10.  How  are  the  consonants  divided?  17. 
What  is  a  semivowel?  18.  What  is  a  mute  ?  19.  What  letters  are  reckoned  semi- 
vowels :  and  how  many  of  those  are  aspirates?  20.  What  letters  are  called  liquids  ?  and 
why  ?  '21.  What  letters  are  reckoned  mutes  ?  and  which  of  them  are  imperfect  mutes  ? 

LESSON  III.  —  SOUNDS. 

1.  What  is  meant,  when  we  speak  of  the  powers  of  the  letters  ?  2.  Are  the  sounds  of 
a  language  fewer  than  its  words  ?  3.  How  are  different  vowel  sounds  produced?  4. 
What  are  the  vowel  sounds  in  English  ?  5.  How  may  these  sounds  be  modified  in  the 
formation  of  syllables?  6.  Can  you  form  a  word  upon  each  by  means  of  an/?  7.  Will 
you  try  the  series  again  with  a  p  ?  8.  How  may  the  vowel  sounds  be  written  ?  and  how- 
uttered  when  they  are  not  words  ?  9.  Which  of  the  vowel  sounds  form  words  ?  and 
what  of  the  rest  :  10.  How  many  and  what  are  the  consonant  sounds  in  English  ?  11. 
In  what  series  of  words  may  all  these  sounds  be  heard?  12.  In  what  series  of  words 
may  each  of  them  be  heard  two  or  three  times  ?  13.  What  is  said  of  the  sounds  ofj  and 
r}  11.  What  is  said  of  the  sounds  of  c  and  9?  lo.  What  is  said  of  sc,  or  s  before  c? 
l'>.  Wh  r  i:ul  rJi  ?  17.  What  sounds  has  the  consonant  g  ?  18.  In  how  many 

different  way-i  <~IH  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  be  combined?  19.  What  do  we  derive 
from  these  combinations  of  sounds  and  characters  ? 

N-  IV.  —  CAPITALS. 

1.  Whnt  characters  are  employed  in  Kn^li-h:  2.  Why  should  the  different  sorts  of 
letters  be  kept  distinct?  3.  What  is  said  of  the  slanting  strokes  in  Roman  letters? 
4.  For  what  purpose  are  Italics  chiefly  u<c  1  'r  ">.  In  preparing  a  manuscript,  how  do  we 
mark  th<  •  >r  the  printer  ?  d.  What  distinction  of  form  belongs  to  each  of  the 

letter-:  7.  What  i>  >aid  of  Miiall  letters  ':  and  why  are  capitals  used  :  >S.  What  things 
are  commonly  exhibited  wholly  in  capitals  ?  !).  How  many  rules  for  capitals  are  given 
in  ti  uid  what  are  their  titles  •  10.  What  says  Rule  1st  of  books?  11.  What 

Kulr  I'd  <>t'  AV.s/  12.  What  says  link-  3d  of  names  of  Deity  f  13.  What  says 

Rule  4th  '  14.  What  says  Rule  .Jth  of  titles  f  '  lo.  What  says  Rule  6th 

of  o  '  ••  7th  of  fir.,  mjntals?  17.  What  says  Rule  8th  of 

OMM;-  Rule  9th  of  qftMritioaf  19.  What  says  Rule  loth  of  /wr- 

Rule  llth  of  1/,-rirnfirr.i'  21.  What  says  Rule  12th  of  / 

ttmdOl  22.  \N  :  at  say-  Rule  13th  of  i»*try  f  23.  What  says  Rule  l"lth  of  «.,-,.•  ,,Vjfe»f 
24.  What  says  Rul<  .  What  says  Rule  liith  of  /  >alsf 

[Now  turn  »o  the  first  chapter  of  Orthography,  and  correct  the  improprieties  there  quoted  for  the  practical 
application  of  these  rules  ] 

LESSON  V.  —  STLLAHM  <. 

1.  What  is  a  syllabic  :  2.  Can  the  syllables  of  a  word  be  perceived  by  the  ear  ?  3. 
T'ndcr  what  names  are  words  clMMd  aivonlin:/  to  the  number  of  their  syllables  ?  4. 
Which  of  the  1  'tt^r-  can  form  syllables  of  themselves  ?  and  which  cannot  r"  5.  What  is 


a  diphthong  ?     6.  What  is  a  proper  diphthong  •     7.  What  is  an  improper  diphthong 
"\Vhatisa  triphthong?     9.  What  is  a  proper  triphthong?     10.   What  is  an  improper 


206  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

triphthong  ?  11.  How  many  and  what  are  the  diphthongs  in  English  ?  12.  How  many 
and  which  of  these  are  so  variable  in  sound  that  they  may  be  either  proper  or  improper 
diphthongs?  13.  How  many  and  what  are  the  proper  diphthongs  ?  14.  How  many  and 
what  are  the  improper  diphthongs?  15.  Are  proper  triphthongs  numerous  in  our  language? 
16.  How  many  and  Avhat  are  the  improper  triphthongs?  17.  What  guide  have  we  for  divid- 
ing words  into  syllables?  18.  How  many  special  rules  of  syllabication  are  given  in  this  book? 
and  what  are  their  titles,  or  subjects?  19.  What  says  Rule  1st  of  consonants?  20.  What 
says  Rule  2d  of  vowels  f  21.  What  says  Rule  3d  of  terminations?  22.  What  says  Rule  4th 
of  prefixes  f  23.  What  says  Rule  5th  of  compounds  ?  24.  What  says  Rule  6th  of  lines  full? 
[  Now  turn  to  the  second  chapter  of  Orthography,  and  correct  the  improprieties  there  quoted  for  the  prac- 
tical application  of  these  rules.] 

LESSON  VI. — WORDS. 

1.  What  is  a  word  ?  2.  How  are  words  distinguished  in  regard  to  species  oxio.  figure? 
3.  What  is  a  primitive  word  ?  4.  What  is  a  derivative  word  ?  5.  What  is  a  simple 
word  ?  6.  What  is  a  compound  word  ?  7.  How  do  permanent  compounds  differ  from 
others  ?  8.  How  many  rules  for  the  figure  of  words  are  given  in  this  book  ?  and  what 
are  their  titles,  or  sub]  ects?  0.  What  says  Rule  1st  of  compounds?  10.  What  says  Rule 
2d  of  simples?  11.  What  says  Rule  3d  of  the  sense  ?  12.  What  says  Rule  4th  of  ellipses  f 
13.  What  says  Rule  5th  of  the  hyphen?  14.  What  says  Rule  6th  of  no  hyphen? 

[  Now  turn  to* the  third  chapter  of  Orthography,  and  correct  the  improprieties  there  quoted  for  the  practical 
application  of  these  rules.] 

LESSON  VII. — SPELLING. 

1.  What  is  spelling  ?  2.  How  is  this  art  to  be  acquired  ?  and'why  so  ?  3.  Why  is  it 
difficult  to  learn  to  spell  accurately  ?  4.  Is  it  then  any  disgrace  to  spell  words  erro- 
neously? 5.  What  benefit  may  be  expected  from  the  rules  for  spelling  ?  6.  How  many 
rules  for  spelling  are  given  in  this  book  ?  and  what  are  their  titles,  or  subjects  ?  7.  Wha'S 
says  Rule  1st  of  final  f,  I,  or  s?  8.  Can  you  mention  the  principal  exceptions  to  thin 
rule  ?  9.  What  says  Rule  2d  of  other  finals  ?  10.  Are  there  any  exceptions  to  this  rule  ? 
11.  What  says  Rule  3d  of  the  doubling  of  consonants  ?  12.  Under  what  three  heads  are 
the  exceptions  to  this  rule  noticed?  13.  What  says  Rule  4th  against  the  doubling  of  con- 
sonants ?  14.  Under  what  four  heads  are  the  apparent  exceptions  to  this  rule  noticed  • 
15.  What  says  Rule  5th  of  final  ck?  16.  What  monosyllables,  contrary  to  this  rule, 
end  with  c  only  ?  17.  What  says  Rule  6th  of  the  retaining  of  double  letters  before  af- 
fixes ?  18.  Under  what  three  heads  are  the  exceptions  to  this  rule  noticed  ?  19.  Wha: 
says  Rule  7th  of  the  retaining  of  double  letters  after  prefixes  ?  20.  What  observation 
is  made  respecting  exceptions  to  this  rule  ? 

LESSON  VIII. — SPELLING. 

21.  What  says  Rule  8th  of  final  II,  and  of  final  I  singk?  22.  What  words  does  this 
rule  claim,  which  might  seem  to  come  under  Rule  7th  ?  and  why  ?  23d  What  says  Rule 
9th  of  final  e  omitted?  24.  Under  what  three  heads  are  the  exceptions,  real  or  apparent, 
here  noticed  ?  25.  What  says  Rule  10th  of  final  e  retained?  26.  Under  what  three  heads 
are  the  exceptions  to  this  rule  noticed?  27.  What  says  Rule  llth  of  final  y  changed? 
28.  Under  what  three  heads  arc  the  limits  and  exceptions  to  this  rule  noticed  ?  29. 
What  says  Rule  12th  of  final  y  unchanged?  30.  Under  what  three  heads  are  the  excep- 
tions to  this  rule  noticed  ?  31.  What  says  Rule  13th  of  the  terminations  ize  and  ise? 
32.  Under  what  three  heads  are  the  apparent  exceptions  to  this  rule  noticed  ?  33.  What 
says  Rule  14th  of  compounds?  34.  Under  what  seven  heads  are  the  exceptions  to  this  rule 
noticed?  35.  What  says  Rule  15th  of  usage,  as  a  law  of  spelling  ? 

[Now  turn  to  the  fourth  chapter  of  Orthography,  and  correct  the  improprieties  there  quoted  for  the  practi- 
cal application  of  these  rules  and  their  exceptions.] 


CHAPTER  VI.-FOR  WRITING, 

EXERCISES  IN  ORTHOGRAPHY. 

yy  [The  following  examples  of  false  orthography  are  inserted  here,  and  not  explained  in  the  general  Key, 
that  they  may  be  corrected  by  the  pupil  in  writing.  Some  of  the  examples  here  quoted  are  less  inaccurate 
than  others,  but  all  of  them,  except  a  few  shown  in  contrast,  are,  in  some  respect  or  other,  erroneous.  It  is 
supposed,  that  every  student  who  can  answer  the  questions  contained  in  the  preceding  chapter,  will  readily 
discern  wherein  the  err  rs  lie,  and  be  able  to  make  the  necessary  corrections.] 

EXERCISE  I.— CAPITALS. 

"Alexander  the  great  killed  his  friend  Clitus." — Harrison's  Gram.  p.  68.  "  The  words 
in  italics  are  parsed  in  the  same  manner." — Maltby's  Gram.  p.  69 .  "  It  may  be  read  by 
those  who  do  not  understand  latin." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  p.  262.  "A  roman  s  being 
added  to  a  word  in  italics  or  small  capitals." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  215.  "This  is  not 
simply  a  gallicism,  but  a  corruption  of  the  French  on  ;  itself  a  corruption." — Ib.  p.  228. 


CHAP.    VI.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. EXERCISES   FOR   WRITING.  207 

"The  Gallicism,  '  it  M  me,'  is  perpetually  striking  the  ear  in  London." — Ib.  p.  316. 
"  'Almost  nothing,'  is  a  common  Scotticism,  equally  improper:  it  should  be,  'scarcely 
any  thing.'  " — V>.  p.  383.  "To  use  learn  for  teach;  is  a  common  Scotticism,  that  ought 
to  be  carefully  avoided."  Sec  ib.  p.  261 .  "  A  few  observations  on  the  subjunctive  mood  as 
it  appears  in  our  Phiglish  bible." — MV/Var'.v  Cram.  p.  40.  "The  translators  of  the  bible, 
have  confounded  two  tenses,  which  in  the  original  arc  uniformly  kept  distinct." — Ib.  p. 
40.  "More  like  heaven  on  earth,  than  the  holy  land  would  have  been." — Anti-Xhu-cry 
Mm],  i.  ]>.  72.  •'  There  is  now  extant  a  poetical  composition,  called  the  golden  verses  of 
Pythagoras." — Z>//////-/Vrr'.«  Dirt.  "  Exercise  of  the  Mind  upon  Theorems  of  Science,  like 
generous  and  manly  Exercise  of  the  Body,  tends  to  call  forth  and  strengthen  Nature's 
original  Vigour." — //arm's-  //' -n>n-s,  p.  295.  " O  that  I  could  prevail  on  Christians  to 
melt  down,  under  the  warm  influence  of  brotherly  love,  all  the  distinctions  of  metho- 
dists,  independents,  baptists,  anabaptists,  arians,  trinitarians,  Unitarians,  in  the  glori- 
ous name  of  christians." — KNOX  :  r// *//•/•// ///'*  dram.  p.  173.  "  Pythagoras  long  ago  re- 
marked, 'that  ability  and  necessity  dwell  near  each  other.'  " — Stio/fitt'*  Manual,  p.  285. 
••The  Latin  Writers  Decency  neglect, 
But  modern  Readers  challenge  more  Respect." —  Brighttand's  Gram.  p.  172. 

EXERCISE  II.— SYLLABLES. 

1.  Correct  /WA.v,  in  the  division  of  the  following  words  :  "Del-ia,  Jul-ia,  Lyd-ia, 
hei'^h-ten,  pat-ron,  ad-roit,  worth-y,  fath-er,   fath-er-ly,  mar-chi-o-ness,  i-dent-ic-al, 
out-ra-ge-ous,    ob-nox-i-ous,  pro-di-gi-ous,  tre-mend-ous,  ob-liv-i-on,  pe-cul-i-ar." — 

!i'f,l; :  New  London,  1831. 

2.  Correct  Star*)  in  the  division  of  the  following  words :  "  A-quil-a,  hear-ty,  drea-ry, 
wor-my,  hai-ry.  thor-ny,  i)liil-os-o-phy,  dis-cov-e-ry,   re-cov-e-ry,  ad-diti-on,  am-biti- 
on,  au-spici-ous.  fac-titi-ous,  na-giti-ous,  fru-iti-on,  sol-stiti-al,  ab-o-liti-on." — Stand- 

New  Haven,  IvJ-;. 

3.  Correct  7i/v//"/,  in  the  division  of  the  following  words :  "  Jes-ter,  rai-ny,  forg-e- 
ry,  tin-e-ry,  spie-e-ry,  brib-e-ry,  groc-e-ry,  chi-can-c-ry,  ler-riage,  line-age;  cri-ed,  tri- 

L,  forc-ed  pledg-ed,  sav-ed,  dup-ed,  strip-ed,  touch-ed,  trounc-ed." — 
\k :  Windsor,  1815. 

in  tin-  division  of  the  following  words:  "  Boar-der,  brigh-ten, 

cei-ling,  frigh-ti-n,  glea-ncr,  lea-kage,  suc-ker,  mos-sy,  fros-ty,  twop-ence,  pu-pill-ar-y, 
crit-i-call-y,  gen-cr-all-y,  lit-er-all-y,  log-i-call-y,  trag-i-call-y,  ar-ti-fici-al,  po-liti- 
oall-y,  sloth-full-y,  spite-full-y,  re-all-y,  sui-ta-ble,  ta-mea-ble,  flumm-er-y,  nesc-i- 
-ence,  shep-her-dess,  trav-ell-er,  re-pea-ter,  re-pressi-on,  suc-cessi-on,  un-lear-ned." 

•  *p<-Uin(i-n<)<>k  :  *  Philadelphia,    1823. 

:nvt  Iforatofl)  in  the  division  of  the  following  words  :  " Trench-er,  tninch-eon, 

is-sy,  dres-ses,  pres-ses,  cal-ling,  chan-ging,  en-chan-ging, 

con-vcr-smir,  mois-ture,  join-ture,  qua-drant,  qua-drate,  trans-gres-sor,  dis-es-teem." — 

\  <>rk,  1836. 

6.  Corn  it  i'.iiu-mon,  in  the  division  of  the  following  words  :  "Dus-ty  mis-ty,  mar-shy, 
mil-ky,  wes-tern,  stor-my,  nee-dy  spee-dy,  drca-ry,  fros-ty,  pas-sing,  roc-ky,  bran-chy, 
biand-ish,  pru-dish,  eve-ning,  a-noth-er." — A  •///«/-//  Sj,,-lli »'/-liook:  Boston,' 1828. 
"Two  Yowrls  nu'C'Ting.  »-ac}i  with  its  full  Sound, 
Always  to  make  Two  Syllables  are  bound." — liny/eland's  Gram.  p.  64. 

:J  ERCISE  HI.— FIGURE  OF  WORDS. 
I  surprised  by  the  return  of  my  long  lost  brother." — Parker's  Exercises  in  En<r- 

by  me  in  silence, 
ul us  of  sun- 

.  employ  the  case  absolute,  instead  of  the  verb  and  conjunction." — Ib.  p.  17. 

•ml  hard  hearted  opinions  accord  with  the  temper  of  the  times." — Ib.  p.  18. 

"That  poor  man  was  put  into  the  mad  house."  —  lh.  p.  UJ.     •«  This  fellow  must  be  put 

into  the  poor  house." — Ib.  p.  22.     "  I  have  seen  the  breast  works  and  other  defences  of 

earth,  that  were  thrown  up."— If,,  p.  _'l.     "  Cloven  footed  animals  are  enabled  to  walk 

more  easily  on  UK  ul. "—!'>.  p.  •_'"».     '•  St-lf  conceit  bla.-ts  the  prospects  of  many 

*  youth." — Ib.  p.  t  a  moment  should  elapse,  without  bringing  some  thing  to 

••  A  .school  master  decoyed  the  children  of  the  principal  citizens  into 

man  camp." — U>.  p.  39.     "Tin  pupil  may  now  write  a  description  of  the  follow- 

A  school  room.     A  steaia  boat.     A  writing  desk.     A  dwelling  hoi. 
.nceting  house.    A  paper  mill.    A  grist  mill.    A  wind  mill."— Ib.  p.  45.    "Every  meta- 

*  This  »M-ok  has.  pruhaMy.  nu>r»-  n  than  any  other  of  the  sort.     I  have  not  patience  to  count 

hem  accurately,  but  it  would  seem  that  timr*  than  a  tht>u\anri  of  r.  !  k-arneil  have  certified  to  the 

«rorld,  that  they  never  before  had  seen  so  good  a  spelling-bock  :     Wkh  pers<.nal  knowle-l^e  of  more  than  fifty 

i  IT-,  c,    It  rft'iis'-'l  to  add  his  poor  name,  being  ashamed  of  the  mischievous  facility  with  which  very 

i^cpectable  meu  had  loaned  their  signatures. 


208  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

phor  should  be  founded  on  a  resemblance  which  is  clear  and  striking  ;  not  far  fetched, 
nor  difficult  to  be  discovered." — Ib.  p.  49.  "I  was  reclining  in  an  arbour  overhung 
with  honey  suckle  and  jessamine  of  the  most  exquisite  fragrance." — Ib.  p.  51.  "The 
author  of  the  following  extract  is  speaking  of  the  slave  trade." — Ib.  p.  60.  "The  all 
wise  and  benevolent  Author  of  nature  has  so  framed  the  soul  of  man,  that  he  cannot  but 
approve  of  virtue." — Ib.  p.  74.  "  There  is  something  of  self  denial  in  the  very  idea  of 
it." — Ib.  p.  75.  "Age  therefore  requires  a  well  spent  youth  to  render  it  happy." — Ib.  p. 
76.  "  Pearl-ash  requires  much  labour  in  its  extraction  from  ashes." — Ib.  p.  91.  "  Club, 
or  crump,  footed,  Loripes;  Rough,  or  feather,  footed,  Plumipes." — Ainsworth's  Diet. 

"  The  hoaey-bags  steal  from  the  humble  bees, 
And  for  night-tapers  crop  their  waxen  thighs." — SHAK.:  Joh.'s  Diet.  w.  Glowworm, 

"  The  honeybags  steal  from  the  humblebees, 
And  for  night  tapers  crop  their  waxen  thighs." — SHAK.:  Joh.'s  Diet.  10.  Humblebee. 

"The  honey  bags -steal  from  the  humble-bees, 
And,  for  night  tapers  crop  their  waxen  thighs." — Dodd's  Beauties  of  Shaks.  p.  51; 

EXERCISE  IV .—SPELLING. 

"His  antichamber,  and  room  of  audience,  are  little  square  chambers  wainscoted."— 
ADDISON  :  Johnson's  Diet.  w.  Antechamber.  "  Nobody  will  deem  the  quicksighted  amongst 
them  to  have  very  enlarged  views  of  ethicks." — LOCKE:  ib.  w.  Quicksighted.  "At  the 
rate  of  this  thick-skulled  blunderhead,  every  plow-jobber  shall  take  upon  him  to  read 
upon  divinit)r." — L'ESTRANGE  :  ib.  w.  Blunderhead.  "  On  the  topmast,  the  yards,  and 
boltsprit  would  I  flame  distinctly."  SHAK.:  ib.  10.  Bowsprit.  "This  is  the  tune  of  our 
catch  plaid  by  the  picture  of  nobody." — ID.  ib.  to.  Nobody.  "  Thy  fall  hath  left  a  kind  of 
blot  to  mark  the  fulfraught  man." — ID.  ib.  w.  Fulfraught.  "  Till  blinded  by  some  Jack 
o'  Lanthorn  sprite." — Snetting's  Gift,  p.  62.  "The  beauties  you  would  have  me  eulogise." 
— Ib.  p.  14.  "  They  rail  at  me — I  gaily  laugh  at  them." — Ib.  p.  13.  "Which  the  king 
and  his  sister  had  intrusted  to  him  withall." — Josephus,  v,  p.  143.  "  The  terms  of  these 
emotions  are  by  no  means  synonimous." — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  336.  "  Lillied,  adj. 
Embellished  with  lilies." — Chalmers's  Diet.  "  They  seize  the  compendious  blessing  with- 
out exertion  and  without  reflexion." — Philological  Museum,  i,  p.  428.  "  The  first  cry 
that  rouses  them  from  their  torpour,  is  the  cry  that  demands  their  blood." — Ib.  p.  433. 
"It  meets  the  wants  of  elementary  schools  and  deserves  to  be  patronised." — Kirkham's 
Gram.  p.  5.  "Whose  attempts  were  paralysed  by  the  hallowed  sound." — Music  of 
Nature,  p.  270.  "It  would  be  an  amusing  investigation  to  analyse  their  language." — 
Ib.  p.  200.  "  It  is  my  father's  will  that  I  should  take  on  me  the  hostess-ship  of  the  day." 
SHAK.:  in  Johnson's  Diet.  "To  retain  the  full  apprehension  of  them  undiminisht." — 
Phil.  Museum,  i,  p.  458.  "  The  ayes  and  noes  were  taken  in  the  House  of  Commons." 
— Anti-Slavery  Mag.  i,  p.  11.  "  Derivative  words  are  formed  by  adding  letters  or  syllables 
to  primatives." — Davenport's  Gram.  p.  7.  "The  minister  never  was  thus  harrassed  him- 
self."— Nelson,  on  Infidelity,  p.  6.  "  The  most  vehement  politician  thinks  himself  un- 
biassed in  his  judgment." — Ib,  p.  17.  "  Mistress-ship,  n.  Female  rule  or  dominion." 
—  Webster's  Diet. 

"  Thus  forced  to  kneel,  thus  groveling  to  embrace 
The  scourge  and  ruin  of  my  realm  and  race." — POPE  :  Ash's  Gram.  p.  83. 

EXERCISE  V.— MIXED. 

"  The  quince  tree  is  of  a  low  stature ;  the  branches  are  diffused  and  crooked." — 
MILLER  :  Johnson's  Diet.  "  The  greater  slow  worm,  called  also  the  blindworm,  is 
commonly  thought  to  be  blind,  because  of  the  littleness  of  his  eyes." — GJIEW  :  ib. 
"  Oh  Hocus  !  where  art  thou  r  It  used  to  go  in  another  guess  manner  in  thy  time." — 
ARBUTHXOT  :  ib.  "  One  would  not  make  a  hotheaded  crackbrained  coxcomb  forward  for 
a  scheme  of  moderation." — ID.  ib.  "As  for  you,  colonel  huff-cap,  we  shall  try  before  a 
civil  magistrate  who's  the  greatest  plotter." — DRYDEX  :  ib.  w.  Huff.  "In  like  manner, 
Actions  co-alesce  with  their  Agents,  and  Passions  with  their  Patients." — Harris's 
Hermes,  p.  263.  "  These  Sentiments  are  not  unusual  even  with  the  Philosopher  now  a 
days." — Ib.  p.  350.  "  As  if  the  Marble  were  to  fashion  the  Chizzle,  and  not  the  Chizzle 
the  Marble." — Ib.  p.  353.  "  I  would  not  be  understood,  in  what  I  have  said,  to  under 
value  Experiment." — Ib.  p.  352.  "  How  therefore  is  it  that  they  approach  nearly  to 
Non-Entitys  ?  " — Ib.  p.  431.  "  Gluttonise,  modernise,  epitomise,  barbarise,  tyranise." 
— Churchill's  Gram.  pp.  31  and  42.  "  Now  fair  befal  thee  and  thy  noble  house  !  " — SHAK.: 
ib.  p.  241.  "Nor  do  I  think  the  error  above-mentioned  would  have  been  so  long 
indulged,  &c." — Ash's  Gram.  p.  4.  "  The  editor  of  the  two  editions  above  mentioned 
was  pleased  to  give  this  little  manuel  to  the  public,  &c." — Ib.  p.  7.  "The  Note  of 
Admiration  denotes  a  modelation  of  the  voice  suited  to  the  expression." — Ib.  p.  16. 
"  It  always  has  some  respect  to  the  power  of  the  agent ;  and  is  therefore  properly  stiled 
the  potential  mode." — Ib.  p.  29.  "  Both  these  are  supposed  to  be  synonomous  expres- 


CHAP.    VI.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. EXERCISES    FOR    WRITING.  209 

sions." — Ib.  p.  105.  "  An  expence  beyond  what  my  circumstances  admit." — DODDRIDOE  : 
ib.  p.  138.  "There  are  four  of  them:  the  Full-Point,  or  Period;  the  Colon;  the  ,s«mt- 
Colon;  the  Comma." — Co//<  "'v  E.  dram.  X.  Y.  1818,  p.  77.  "There  are  many  men,  who 
have  been  at  Latin- Schools  for  years,  and  who,  at  last,  cannot  write  sLx  sentences  in  Eng- 
lish correctly." — Ib.  p.  39.  "But,  figures  of  rhetorick  are  edge  tools,  and  two  edge  tools 
too." — Z5.  p.  182.  "The  horsechesnut  grows  into  a  goodly  standard." — MORTIMER: 
Johnsons  Diet.  "  "Whereever  (/'is  to  be  used." — 0.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  175. 

"  Peel'd,  patch'd,  and  pyebald,  linsey-woolsey  brothers." — POPE:  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Mummer. 

"  Peel' d,  patch' d,  and  piebald,  linsey-woolsey  brothers." — ID.  ib.  w.  Piebald. 

EXERCISE  VI.— MIXED  ERRORS. 

"Pied,  adj.  [from  pie.]  Variegated;  partycoloured." — Johnson's  Diet.  "Pie,  [pica, 
Lat.]  A  magpie ;  a  party-coloured  bird." — Ib.  "  Gluy,  adj.  [from  glue.}  Viscous ;  te- 
nacious; glutinous." — Ib.  "  Gluey,  a.  Viscous,  glutinous.  Glueyness,  n.  The  quality 
of  being  gluey." —  H"  bstt  r't  !>"•'.  "  Old  Euclio,  seeing  a  crow-scrat*  upon  the  muck-hill, 
returned  in  all  haste,  taking  it  for  an  ill  sign." — BUBTON  :  Johnson's  Diet.  "  Wars  are 
begun  by  hairbrainedf  dissolute  captains." — ID.  ib.  "A  carot  is  a  well  known  garden 
root."— Red  Book,  p.  60.  "Natural  philosophy,  metaphysicks,  ethicks,  history,  theolo- 
gy, and  politicks,  were  familiar  to  him." — Kirkhams  Elocution,  p.  209.  "  The  words  in 
Italicks  and  capitals,  are  emphatick." — Ib.  p.  210.  "It  is  still  more  exceptionable ;  Candles, 
Cherry s,  1'igs,  and  other  sorts  of  Plumbs,  being  sold  by  "Weight,  and  being  Plurals." — 
Johnsons  lir.tm.  Com.  p.  135.  "  If  the  End  of  Grammar  be  not  to  save  that  Trouble,  and 
Expence  of  Time,  I  know  not  what  it  is  good  for." — Ib.  p.  161.  "  Caula,  Sheep  Penns, 
or  the  like,  has  no  Singular,  according  to  Charisius." — Ib.  p.  194.  "  These  busi-bodies  are 
like  to  such  as  reade  bookes  with  intent  onely  to  spie  out  the  faults  therof." — Perkins's 
Work*,  p.  711.  "  I  think  it  every  man's  indispensible  duty,  to  do  all  the  service  he  can 
to  his  country." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  4.  "  Either  fretting  it  self  into  a  troublesome  Excess, 
or  Having  into  a  downright  want  of  Appetite." — Ib.  p.  23.  "And  nobody  would  have 
a  child  cramed  at  breakfast." — Ib.  p.  23.  "  Judgeship  and  judgment,  lodgable  and  al- 
ledgeable,  alledgement  and  abridgment,  lodgment  and  infringement,  enlargement  and 
acknowledgment."  Svo.  "  Huckster,  n.  s.  One  who  sells  goods  by  retail, 

or  in  small  quantities  ;  a  pedler." — Johnson's  Diet. 

-eeks  bye-streets,  and  saves  th'  expensive  coach." — GAY  :  ib.  w.  Mortgage. 

"  He  seeks  by-streets,  and  saves  th'  expensive  coach." — GAY  :  ib.  w.  By-street. 

EXERCISE  VII.— MIXED  ERRORS. 

"  Boys  like  a  warm  lire  in  a  wintry  day." — Webster's  El.  Spell  ing -Book,  p.  62.  "The 
lilly  is  a  very  pretty  flower." — Ib.  p.  62.  "  The  potatoe  is  a  native  plant  of  America." — 
Ib.  p.  60.  "  An  anglicism  is  a  peculiar  mode  of  speech  among  the  English." — Ib.  p.  136. 
"  Black  berries  and  raspberries  grow  on  briars." — Ib.  p.  150.  "  You  can  broil  a  beef 
steak  over  the  coals  of  tire." — Ib.  p.  38.  "Beef-steak,  n.  A  steak  or  slice  of  beef  for 
broiling."—  I  Voters  Diet.  "Beefsteak,  s.  a  slice  of  beef  for  broiling." — Treasury  of 
Ki"  -•  As  he  must  suffer  in  case  of  the  fall  of  merchandize,  he  is  entitled  to  the 

corresponding  ^ain  if  merchandize  rises." — Wuiilmid's  Moral  Science,  p.  258.  "He  is  the 
worshipper  <>!'  an  hour,  but  the  worldling  for  life." — Muturin's  Sermons,  p.  424.  "  Slyly 
hinting  something  to  the  disadvantage  of  great  and  honest  men." — Webster's  Essays,  p. 
329.  "  Ti-  by  this  therefore  that  I  Define  the  Verb  ;  namely,  that  it  is  a  Part  of  Speech, 
by  which  something  is  apply 'd  to  another,  as  to  its  Subject." — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p. 
-  throw  a  passing  cloud  over  the  bright  hour  of  gaiety." — Kirk- 

,  p.  178.  "To  eritici/e,  i.s  to  discover  errors;  and  to  crystalize implies  to 
freeze  or  congele."-  .  p.  08.  "  The  affectation  of  using  the  preterite  instead  of 

the  participle,  is  peculiarly  aukward;  as,  he  1  .'.i   Grammar,  p.   125. 

11  Tl.  ::-ihle  for  their  individual  conduct." — CartMfs  El.  Gram.  p.  21. 

"  An  engine  of  >ixty  horse  power,  is  deemed  of  equal  force  with  a  team  of  sixty  hoi 
—  /•'  •    H;5.     "This,  at  fourpcnce  per  ounce,  is  two  shillings  and  fourpence  a 

•  'irnls.  one  shilling  and  four  pence  a  year." — lh.  p.  122.    "The  tru  mcening 
.  /  a  meeting  of  barons  or  peer.-.." —  II, >,*?,  t-'s  Essai/s,  p.  27G.     u  >•  r<  -il  au- 

at  leest  to  favor  this  opinion."—/^,  p.  277.  "  That  iz,  az  I  hav  explained 
:he  tru  primitiv  meening  of  the  word."  —  lh.  p.  27').  "  The  lords  are  peers  of  the  relm  ; 
•;hat  iz,  the  ancient  prescriptiv  judges  or  barons." — Ib.  p.  274. 

I"  Palshood  is  fully,  and  't  is  just  to  own 
The  fault  committed  ;  this  was  mine  alone." — Pope,  Odys.  B.  xxii,  1.  168. 
•  Serat,  for  scratch.    The  word  Is  now  obsolete,  and  may  be  altered  by  taking  eh  in  the  correction. 
'•irmnt'li  ntlj.     This  should  rather  be  written  harebrained ;  unconstant,  unsettled,  wild  as  a  hare."— 
Johnson's  Diet.    Webt-ter  writes  it  harebrained,  as  from  hare  and  brain.     Worcester,  too,  prefers  this  form. 


210  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

EXERCISE  VIII.— MIXED  ERRORS. 

"  A  second  verb  so  nearly  synonimous  with  the  first,  is  at  best  superfluous." — Church' 
ilFs  Gram.  p.  332.  "  Indicate  it,  by  some  mark  opposite  [to]  the  word  misspelt." — .46- 
bott's  Teacher,  p.  74.  "  And  succesfully  controling  the  tendencies  of  mind." — Ib.  p.  24. 
"  It  [the  Monastick  Life]  looks  very  like  what  we  call  Childrens -Play." — [LESLIE'S]  Right 
of  Tythes,  p.  236.  "  It  seems  rather  lik  Playing  of  Booty,  to  Please  those  Fools  and 
Knaves." — Ib.  Pref.  p.  vi.  "And  first  I  Name  Milton,  only  for  his  Name,  lest  the 
Party  should  say,  that  I  had  not  Consider'd  his  Performance  against  Tythes." — Ib.  p.  iv. 
"  His  Fancy  was  too  Predominant  for  his  Judgment.  His  Talent  lay  so  much  in  Satyr 
that  he  hated  Reasoning." — Ib.  p.  iv.  "  He  has  thrown  away  some  of  his  Railery  against 
Tythes,  and  the  Church  then  underfoot." — Ib.  p.  v.  "  They  Vey'd  with  one  another  in 
these  things." — Ib.  p.  220.  "Epamanondas  was  far  the  most  accomplished  of  the  The- 
bans." — Cooper's  New  Gram.p.  27.  "  Whoever  and.  Whichever,  are  thus  declined.  Sing,  and 
Plur.  nom.  whoever,  poss.  whosoever,  obj.  whomever.  Sing,  and  Plu.  nom.  whichever, 
poss.  whoseever,  obj.  whichever." — Ib.  p.  38.  "WHEREEVER,  adv.  [where  and  ever.]  At 
whatever  place." — Webster's  Diet.  "They  at  length  took  possession  of  all  the  country 
south  of  the  Welch  mountains." — Dobson's  Comp.  Gram.  p.  7.  "  Those  Britains,  who  re- 
fused to  submit  to  the  foreign  yoke,  retired  into  Wales."— Ib.  p.  6.  "  Religion  is  the 
most  chearful  thing  in  the  world." — 75".  p.  43.  "  Two  means  the  number  two  compleatly, 
whereas  second  means  only  the  last  of  two,  and  so  of  all  the  rest." — Ib.  p.  44.  "  Now 
send  men  to  Joppa,  and  call  for  one  Simon,  whose  sirname  is  Peter." — Ib.  p.  96.  (See 
Acts,  x,  5.)  "  In  French  words,  we  use  enter  instead  of  inter ;  as,  entertain,  enterlace, 
enterprize." — Ib.  p.  101.  "Amphiology,  i.  e.  a  speech  of  uncertain  or  doubtful  mean- 
ing."— Ib.  p.  103.  "Surprize;  as,  hah!  hey  day!  what!  strange!" — Ib.  p.  109. 
"  Names  of  the  letters :  ai  bee  see  dee  ee  ef  jee  aitch  eye  jay  kay  el  em  en  o  pee  cue  ar 
ess  tee  you  vee  double  u  eks  wi  zed.'-' — Rev.  W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  3. 
"  I,  O,  and  U,  at  th'  End  of  Words  require, 

The  silent  (e),  the  same  do's  (va)  desire." — Brightland's  Gram.  p.  15. 
EXERCISE  IX.— MIXED  ERRORS. 

"  And  is  written  for  eacend,  adding,  ekeing." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of  Europ.  Lang,  i,  p. 
222.  "  The  Hindus  have  changed  ai  into  e,  sounded  like  eimvhsrc." — Ib.  ii,  p.  121. 
"And  therefor  I  wrould  rather  seethe  cruelest  usurper  than  the  mildest  despot." — 
Philological  Museum,  i,  p.  430.  "  Sufficiently  distinct  to  prevent  our  marveling." — Ib.  i,  477 . 
"  Possessed  of  this  preheminence  he  disregarded  the  clamours  of  the  people." — Smollett' v 
England,  iii,  p.  222.  "He  himself,  having  communicated,  administered  the  sacrament  to 
some  of  the  bye-standers." — Ib.  p.  222.  "  The  high  fed  astrology  which  it  nurtured,  in 
reduced  to  a  skeleton  on  the  leaf  of  an  almanac." — Cardell's  Gram.  p.  6.  "  Fulton  was* 
an  eminent  engineer  :  he  invented  steam  boats." — Ib.  p.  30.  "Then,  in  comes  the  be- 
nign latitude  of  the  doctrine  of  good-will." — SOUTH  :  in  Johnson's  Diet.  "Being  very 
lucky  in  a  pair  of  long  lanthorn-jaws,  he  wrung  his  face  into  a  hideous  grimace." — SrEC- 
TATOR  :  ib.  "  Who  had  lived  almost  four-and-twenty  years  under  so  politick  a  king  as 
his  father." — BACON  :  ib.  w.  Lowness.  "The  children  will  answer  ;  John's,  or  William's, 
or  whose  ever  it  may  be." — Infant  School  Gram.  p.  32.  "  It  is  found  tolerably  easy  to 
apply  them,  by  practising  a  little  guess  work." — Cardell's  Gram.  p.  91.  "For  between 
which  two  links  could  speech  makers  draw  the  division  line  ? " — Ib.  p.  50.  "  The  won- 
derful activity  of  the  rope  dancer  who  stands  on  his  head." — Ib.  p.  56.  "The  brilliancy 
which  the  sun  displays  on  its  own  disk,  is  sun  shine." — Ib.  p.  63.  "  A  word  of  three  syl- 
lables is  termed  a  trisyllable." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  23  ;  Coar's,  17  ;  Jaiidon's,  13  ;  Comly's, 
8;  Coopers  New  Gr.  8;  Kirkham's,  20;  Picket's,  10;  Alger's,  12;  Blairs,  7;  Guy's,  2; 
Bolles's  Spelling- Book,  161.  See  Johnson's  Diet.  "  A  word  of  three  syllables  is  termed  a 
trissyllable." — British  Gram.  p.  33  ;  Comprehensive  Gram.  23  ;  Bicknell's,  17;  Allen's,  31  ; 
John  Peircz's,  149  ;  Lennie's,  5  ;  Maltby's,  8  ;  Ingersoll's,  7  ;  Bradley's,  66  ;  Davenport's,  7  ; 
Bucke's,  16;  Bolles's  Spelling -Book,  91.  See  Littleton's  Lat.  Diet.  (1.)  "  Will,  in  the  first 
Persons,  promises  or  threatens  :  But  in  the  second  and  third  Persons,  it  barely  foretels." 
— British  Gram.  p.  132.  (2.)  "  Will,  in  the  first  Persons,  promises  or  threatens  ;  but  in 
the  second  and  third  Persons,  it  barely  foretells." — Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  41.  (3.)  "  Will, 
in  the  first  person,  promises,  engages,  or  threatens.  '  In  the  second  and  third  persons,  it 
merely  foretels." — Jaiidrjn's  Gram.  p.  59.  (4.)  "  Will,  in  the  first  person  singular  and 
plural,  promises  or  threatens ;  in  the  second  and  third  persons,  only  foretells." — Lowth's 
Gram.  p.  41.  (5.)  "  Will,  in  the  first  person  singular  and  plural,  intimates  resolution 
and  promising  ;  in  the  second  and  third  person,  only  foretels." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  88  ; 
Ingersoll's,  136;  Fish's,  78  ;  A  Flint's,  42;  Bullions' s,  32  ;  Ilamlin's,  41;  Cooper's  Abridg. 
50.  1ST  Murray's  Second  Edition  has  it  "foretells."  (6.)  "Will,  in  the  first  person  sin- 
gular and  plural,  expresses  resolution  and  promising.  In  the  second  and  third  persons 
it  only  foretells." — Comly's  Gram.  p.  38  ;  E.  Dwis's,  51  ;  Lennie's,  22.  (7.)  "Will,  in  the 
first  person,  promises.  In  the  second  and  third  persons,  it  simply  foretels." — Maltby's 
Gram.  p.  24.  (8.)  "  Will,  in  the  first  person  implies  resolution  and  promising  ;  in  the 


CHAP.    VI.]  ORTHOGRAPHY. EXERCISES   FOR   WRITING.  211 

second  and  third,  it  foretells." — Cooper's  New  Gram.  p.  51.     (9.)  "  JJ7//,  in  the  first  person 
singular  and  plural,  promises  or  threatens  ;  in  the  second  and  third  persons,  only  fore- 
>u  the  contrary,  in  the  first  person,  simply  foretels;  in  the  second  and  third 
persons,  promises,  commands,  or  threatens." — Adam's  Lot.  and  /•://;/.  dram.  p.  83.     (10.) 
"In  the  first  person  shall  foretels,     and  will  promises  or  threatens  ;  but  in  the   second 
and  third  persons  irill  foretels,  and  shall  promises  or  threatens." — Blair's  Gram,  p.  65. 
"  If  Macvius  scribble  in  Apollo's  spight, 
There  are  who  judge  still  worse  than  he  can  write." — Pope. 

EXERCISE  X.— MIXED  ERRORS. 

"  I  am  liable  to  be  chr.rged  that  I  latinize  too  much." — DRYDEN  :  in  Johnson's  Diet. 
"  To  mould  him  platonically  to  his  own  idea." — WOTTOX  :  ib.  "  I  will  marry  a  wife  as 
beautiful  as  the  houries,  and  as  wise  as  Zobeide." — Murray's  E.  Reader,  p.  148.  "I 
will  m:\rry  a  wife,  beautiful  as  the  liouries." — Wilcox's  Gram.  p.  6;3.  "The  words 
in  italics  are  all  in  the  imperative  mood." — Maltby's  Gram.  p.  71.  "  Words  Italicised, 
arc  emphatick,  in  various  degrees." — Kfrkham'.i  Elocution,  p.  173.  "  Wherever  two  gg's 
come  together,  they  are  both  hard." — Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  5.  "But  these  are  rather 
silent  (o)  's  than  obscure  (u) 's." — Brightland's  dram.  p.  19.  "That  can  be  Guest  at  by 
us,  only  from  the  Consequences." — Riyht  of  Tythes,  p.  viii.  "  He  says  he  was  glad  that 
he  had  Baptized  so  few  ;  And  asks  them,  Were  ye  Baptised  in  the  Name  of  Paul? " — 
Therefor  he  Charg'd  the  Clergy  with  the  Name  of  Hirelings." — Ib.  p.  viii. 
"  On  the  fourth  day  before  the  first  second  day  in  each  month." — The  Friend,  vii,  p.  230. 
"  We  arc  not  bound  to  adhere  for  ever  to  the  terms,  or  to  the  meaning  of  terms,  which 
-tablished  by  our  ancestors." — Murray'*  Gram.  p.  140.  "  O  !  learn  from  him  to 
station  quick  eyed  Prudence  at  the  helm." — Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  104.  "  It  pourtrays  the 
serene  landscape  of  a  retired  village." — Music  of  Nature,  p.  421.  "  By  stating  the  fact,  in 
a  circumlocutary  manner." — Booth' a  Introd.  to  Diet.  p.  33.  "  Time  as  an  abstract  being 
i-entity." — Ih.  p.  '20.  "From  the  difficulty  of  analysing  the  multiplied  combina- 
Ih.  p.  19.  "Drop those  letters  that  are  superfluous,  as  :  handful,  fore- 
ver/. Gram.  p.  10.  "  Shall,  in  the  first  person,  simply  foretells." 

//;.  p.  .51.     "And  the  latter  must  evidently  be  so  too,  or,  at  least,  cotemporary,  with 
o  act."—//;,  p.  (iO.    «'  The  man  has  been  traveling  for  five  years." — Ib.  p.  77.     "  I  shall 
up  time  in  combatting  their  scruples." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  320.     "  In  several  of 
e  chorusses  of  Euripide-  and  Sophocles  we  have  the  same  kind  of  lyric  poetry  as  in 
indar." — Ih.  p.  ,398.      "Until  the  Statesman  and  Divine  shall  unite  their  efforts  in 

•  the  human  mind,  rather  than  in  loping  its  excressences,  after  it  has  been  neg- 
lected."—  II  ••'//.«,  p.  '!('•>.     "Where  conviction  could  be  followed  only  by  a 

•e  in  error." — Ib.  p.  78.    "All  the  barons  were  entitled  to  a  sect  in  the 
tional  rouncii,  in  right  of  their  baronys." — Ib.  p.  260.     "Some  knowlege  of  ari.thme- 
y  lady."— Ih.  JK,  29.     "  Upon  this,  [the  system  of  chivalry,]  were 

ii'li  .•(!  tho>o  romances  of  night-errantry." — Blair's  lihet.  p.  374.     "The  subject  is,  the 
iitchicvemcnts  of  Charlemagne  and  his  Peers,  or  Paladins." — Ib.  p.  374.     "Aye,  aye; 

•  to  be  sure  outweighs  the  other." — Blair's  Header,  p.  31.     "In  the  common 

:i  lilies  /w.v.s- /////,  <i'>it>fi.     The  phrase  signifies,  a  good  going,  a  pros- 
«l  is  equivalent  to  fareu-ell." — Webster's  Diet.     "  Good-by,  ado. — a 
'/  i/mt — a  familiar  way  of  bidding  farewell."  See  Chalmers's  Diet. 

OH'  he  sprung,   and   did   not   so  much  as  stop  to   say  good  bye  to  you." — Blair1* 
,'.  1<>.    "It  no  1'  Ifl  the  notion  of  the  action." — Barnard's  Gram,  pu  69. 

"  Good-nature  and  good-sense  must  ever  join ; 
To  err,  is  human  ;  to  forgive,  divine." — I 'ope,  Ess.  on  Crit. 

\  I.— MIXED  ERRORS. 
"  The  practices  in  the  art  of  carpentry  are  called  planrinir,  sawing,  mortising,  scribing, 
moulding,  &C."— JB  .  ]  is'.     "With  her  left 'hand,  she  guides  the 

>und   •  rather  round  a  spolc  which   goes  on  the  spindle."— Jf>.  p.  13*. 

•    their  honours  claim."— POPE  :    JnJt.  .   to.    Much. 

}  .urging  dill."-  '.     "  An,  in  old 

•ir  honor.'" — ll'i-hstcr's  Diet.     "  What,  then,  was 

il  worth  of  these  renoTmed  .460.     "Behold  how 

ry  form  of  human  n.i  by  the  self  denying  diligence  of  the  benevolent." — 

p.  111.  "  Reptiles  ba-  ;  uf  creatures— jackalls,  hyenas,  and  lions— inhabit  the 

•  1  cavern*.  . •<  ity." — Ib.  p/L'70.   "  ADAVS,  a-lr.    On  or  in 

.  in  the  ])hrase,  now  uddi/s." — II  .  :!.|.;>  one  to  whom  a  thing  is 

to  whom  a  transfer  is  made."— Ib.  "  The  Hospitallers 

ere  an  order  of  knights  who  built  a  hospital  at  Jerusalem  for  pilgrims." — Ib.  "  <  > 
Tom,  or  Tnng,  w:n  the  institutor  and  first  grand  master  of  the  knights  hospitalers  :  he 
died  in  1 120."—  Bioy.  Diet.    "  I  had  a  purpose  now  to  lead  our  many  to  the  holy  land."— 


212  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I. 

SHAK  :  in  Johnsons  Diet.  "  lie  turned  their  heart  to  hate  his  people,  to  deal  subtilly  with 
his  servants." — Psalms,  cv,  25.  "  In  Dryden's  ode  of  Alexander's  Feast,  the  line,  «  Fain, 
fain,  fain,  fain,'  represents  a  gradual  sinking  of  the  mind." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  ii,  p.  71. 
"  The  first  of  these  lines  is  marvelously  nonsensical." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  117.  "  We  have 
the  nicely  chiseled  forms  of  an  Apollo  and  a  Venus,  but  it  is  the  same  cold  marble  still." 
— Christian  Sped,  viii,  p.  201.  "Death  waves  his  mighty  wand  and  paralyses  all." — Bucke's 
Gram.  p.  35.  "  Fear  God.  Honor  the  patriot.  Respect  virtue." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p. 
216.  "  Pontius  Pilate  being  Governour  of  Judea,  and  Herod  being  Tetrarch  of  Galilee." 
— Ib.  189.  See  Luke,  iii,  1.  "  AUCTIONIER,  n.  s.  The  person  that  manages  an  auction." — 
Johnson's  Diet.  "  The  earth  put  forth  her  primroses  and  days-eyes,  to  behold  him." — 
HOWEL  :  ib.  "  Musselman,  not  being  a  compound  of  man,  is  musselmans  in  the  plural." — 
Lennie's  Gram.  p.  9.  "  The  absurdity  of  fatigueing  them  with  a  needless  heap  of  gram- 
mar rules." — Burgh's  Dignity,  i,  p.  147.  "John  was  forced  to  sit  with  his  arms  a  kimbo,  to 
keep  them  asunder." — ARBUTHNOT  :  Joh.  Diet.  "  To  set  the  arms  a  kimbo,  is  to  set  the 
hands  on  the  hips,  with  the  elbows  projecting  outward." — Webster's  Diet.  "  We  almost 
uniformly  confine  the  inflexion  to  the  last  or  the  latter  noun." — Maunder' s  Gram.  p.  2. 
"  This  is  all  souls  day,  fellows  !  Is  it  not  r " — SHAK.  :  in  Joh.  Diet.  "  The  english  physi- 
cians make  use  of  troy- weight." — Johnson's  Diet.  "  There  is  a  certain  number  of  ranks 
allowed  to  dukes,  marquisses,  and  earls." — PEACHAM  :  ib.  ic.  Marquis. 
"How  could  you  chide  the  young  good  natur'd  prince, 
And  drive  him  from  you  with  so  stern  an  air." — ADDISON:  ib.  w.  Good,  25. 

EXERCISE  XII.— MIXED  ERRORS. 

"  In  reading,  every  appearance  of  sing-song  should  be  avoided." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p. 
75.  "  If  you  are  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  inflexions  of  the  verb." — Ib.  p.  53.  "The 
preterite  oiread  is  pronounced  red." — Ib.  p.  48.  "  Humility  opens  a  high  way  to  dignity." — 
Ib.  p.  15.  "  What  is  intricate  must  be  unraveled." — Ib.  p.  275.  "  Roger  Bacon  in- 
vented gun  powder,  A.  D.  1280." — Ib.  p.  277.  "  On  which  ever  word  we  lay  the  em- 
phasis."— Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  243;  12mo,  p.  195.  "  Each  of  the  leaders  was  appriz- 
ed of  the  Roman  invasion." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  123.  "  If  I  say,  '  I  gallopped  from  Isling- 
ton to  Holloway ; '  the  verb  is  intransitive  :  if,  '  I  gallopped  my  horse  from  Islington  to 
Holloway ; '  it  is  transitive." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  238.  "  The  reasonableness  of  setting 
a  part  one  day  in  seven." — The  Friend,  iv,  p.  240.  "  The  promoters  of  paper  money  mak- 
ing reprobated  this  act." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  196.  "There  are  five  compound  person- 
al pronouns,  which  are  derived  from  the  five  simple  personal  pronouns  by  adding  to  some 
of  their  cases  the  syllable  self ;  as,  my- self,  thy-self,  him-self,  her-self,  it-self." — Perleys 
Gram.  p.  16.  "Possessives,  my-own,  thy-own,  his-own,  her-own,  its-own,  our-own, 
your-own,  their-own." — Ib.  Declensions.  "Thy  man  servant  and  thy  maid  servant  may 
rest,  as  well  as  thou." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  160.  "  How  many  right  angles  has  an 
acute  angled  triangle  ?  " — Ib.  p.  220.  "  In  the  days  of  Jorum,  king  of  Israel,  flourished 
the  prophet  Elisha." — Ib.  p.  148.  "  In  the  days  of  Jorum,  king  of  Israel,  Elisha,  the  pro- 
phet flourished." — Ib.  p.  133.  "Lodgable,  a.  Capable  of  affording  a  temporary  abode." 
—  Webster's  Octavo  Diet. — "Win  me  into  the  easy  hearted  man." — 'Johnson's  Quarto  Diet. 
"And  then  to  end  life,  is  the  same  as  to  dye." — Milnes's  Greek  Gram.  p.  176.  "Those 
usurping  hectors  who  pretend  to  honour  without  religion,  think  the  charge  of  a  lie  a  blot 
not  to  be  washed  out  but  by  blood." — SOUTH  :  Joh.  Diet.  "  His  gallies  attending  him, 
he  pursues  the  unfortunate." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  91.  "  This  cannot  fail  to  make  us 
shyer  of  yielding  our  assent." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  117.  "  When  he  comes  to  the  Itali- 
cised word,  he  should  give  it  such  a  definition  as  its  connection  with  the  sentence  may 
require." — Claggett's  Expositor,  p.  vii.  "Learn to  distil  from  your  lips  all  the  honies  of 
persuasion." — Adams's  Rhetoric,  Vol.  i,  p.  3 1.  "To  instill  ideas  of  disgust  and  abhorrence 
against  the  Americans." — Ib.  ii,  300.  "  Where  prejudice  has  not  acquired  an  uncontroled 
ascendency." — Ib.  i,  31.  "  The  uncontrolable  propensity  of  his  mind  was  undoubtedly  to 
oratory." — Ib.  i,  100.  "The  Brutus  is  a  practical  commentary  upon  the  dialogues  and 
the  orator." — Ib.  i,  120.  "  The  oratorical  partitions  are  a  short  elementary  compendium." 
—Ib.  i,  130.  "You  shall  find  hundreds  of  persons  able  to  produce  a  crowd  of  good 
ideas  upon  any  subject,  for  one  that  can  marshall  them  to  the  best  advantage."— Ib.  i, 
169.  "  In  this  lecture,  you  have  the  outline  of  all  that  the  whole  course  will  comprize." 
— Ib.  i,  182.  "  He  would  have  been  stopped  by  a  hint  from  the  bench,  that  he  was  trav- 
eling out  of  the  record." — Ib.  i,  289.  "  To  tell  them  that  which  should  befal  them  in  the 
last  days." — Ib.  ii,  308.  "  Where  all  is  present,  there  is  nothing  past  to  recal." — Ib.  ii, 
358.  "Whose  due  it  is  to  drink  thebrimfull  cup  of  God's  eternal  vengeance." — Laio 
and  Grace,  p.  36. 

"  There,  from  the  dead,  centurions  see  him  rise, 
See,  but  struck  down  with  horrible  surprize  !  " — Savage. 

"  With  seed  of  woes  my  heart  brimful  is  charged." — SIDNEY  :  Joh.  Diet. 

"  Our  legions  are  brimful,  our  cause  is  ripe." — SHAKSPEARE  :  ib. 


CHAP.    I.]  ETYMOLOGY. PARTS   OF    SPEECH. — DEFINITIONS.  -1  • 

PART   II, 

ETYMOLOGY. 

ETYMOLOGY  treats  of  the  different  parts  of  speech,  with  their  classes  and 
modifications. 

The  Parts  of  Speech  are  the  several  kinds,  or  principal  classes,  into  which 
words  are  divided  by  grammarians. 

Classes,  under  the  parts  of  speech,  are  the  particular  sorts  into  which  the 
several  kinds  of  words  are  subdivided. 

Modifications  are  inflections,  or  changes,  in  the  terminations,  forms,  or 
senses,  of  some  kinds  of  words. 

CHAPTER  I.- PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 

The  Parts  of  Speech,  or  sorts  of  words,  in  English,  are  ten  ;  namely,  the 
Article,  the  Noun,  the  Adjective,  the  Pronoun,  the  Verb,  the  Participle,  the 
Adverb,  the  Conjunction,  the  Preposition,  and  the  Interjection. 

1.  THE  ARTICLE. 

An  Article  is  the  word  the,  an,  or  a,  which  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit 
their  signification  :  as,  The  air,  the  stars  ;  an  island,  a  ship. 

2.    THE  NOUN. 

A  Noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or 
mentioned  :  as,  George,  York,  man,  apple,  truth. 

3.  THE  ADJECTIVE. 

An  Adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally 
expresses  quality  :  as,  A  wise  man ;  a  new  book.  You  two  are  diligent. 

4.  THE  PRONOUN. 

A  Pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun :  as,  The  boy  loves  his  book ; 
he  has  long  lessons,  and  he  learns  them  well. 

5.  THE  VERB. 

A  Verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon :  as,  I 
,  I  rule,  I  am  ruled  ;  I  love,  thou  lovest,  he  loves. 

6.  THE  PARTICIPLE. 
A  Participle  is  a  word  derived  from  a  verb,  participating  the  properties 
of  a  verb,  and  of  an  adjective  or  a  noun  ;  and  is  generally  formed  by  adding 
ing,  d,  or  ed,  to  the  verb :  thus,  from  the  verb  rule,  are  formed  three  parti- 
ciples, two  simple  and  one  compound;  as,  1.  rulinr/,  '2.  ruled,  3.  having 

7.  THE  ADVERB. 

An  Adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an 
other  adverb  ;  and  generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner  :  as. 
They  are  now  here,  studying  very  diligently. 

8.  THE  CONJUNCTION. 

A  Conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  in  construc- 
tion, and  to  show  the  dependence  of  the  terms  so  connected :  as,  "  Thou  and 
he  are  happy,  because  you  are  good." — Murray. 


214  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

9.  THE  PREPOSITION. 

A  Preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things 
or  thoughts  to  each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pro- 
noun :  as,  The  paper  lies  before  me  on  the  desk. 

10.  THE  INTERJECTION. 

An  Interjection  is  a  word  that  is  uttered  merely  to  indicate  some  strong  or 
sudden  emotion  of  the  mind  :  as,  Oh  !  alas  !  ah  ! poh  !  pshaiu  !  avaunt  I  aha  ! 
hurrah  ! 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  first  thing  to  be  learned  in  the  study  of  this  the  second  part  of  grammar,  is  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  words  of  the  language  into  those  principal  sorts,  or  classes,  which  are  denominated 
the  Parts  of  Speech.  This  is  a  matter  of  some  difficulty.  And  as  no  scheme  which  can  be  adopted, 
will  be  in  all  cases  so  plain  that  young  beginners  will  not  occasionally  falter  in  its  application,  the 
teacher  may  sometimes  find  it  expedient  to  refer  his  pupils  to  the  following  simple  explanations, 
which  are  designed  to  aid  their  first  and  most  difficult  steps. 

How  can  we  know  to  what  class,  or  part  of  speech,  any  word  belongs  ?  By  learning  the  defi- 
nitions of  the  ten  parts  of  speech,  and  then  observing  how  the  word  is  written,  and  in  what  sense 
it  is  used.  It  is  necessary  also  to  observe,  so  far  as  we  can,  with  what  other  words  each  particular 
one  is  capable  of  making  sense. 

1.  Is  it  easy  to  distinguish  an  ARTICLE  ?    If  not  always  easy,  it  is  generally  so :  the,  an,  and  a, 
are  the  only  English  words  called  articles,  and  these  are  rarely  any  thing  else.     Because  an 
and  a  have  the  same  import,  and  are  supposed  to  have  the  same  origin,  the  articles  are  commonly 
reckoned  two,  but  some  count  them  as  three. 

2.  How  can  we  distinguish  a  NOUN  ?     By  means  of  the  article  before  it,  if  there  is  one  ;  as,  the 
house,  an  apple,  a  book  :  or,  by  adding  it  to  the  phrase,  "/  mentioned;  "  as,  "  I  mentioned  peace  " — 
"  I  mentioned  tear" — "  I  mentioned  slumber."    Any  word  which  thus  makes  complete  sense,  is, 
in  that  sense,  a  noun ;  because  a  noun  is  the  name  of  any  thing  which  can  thus  be  mentioned  by 
a  name.     Of  English  nouns,  there  are  said  to  be  as  many  as  twenty-five  or  thirty  thousand. 

3.  How  can  we  distinguish  an  ADJECTIVE?     By  putting  a  noun  after  it,  to  see  if  the  phrase 
will  be  sense.     The  noun  thing,  or  its  plural  thinys,  will  suit  almost  any  adjective  ;    as,  A.  good 
thing — A  bad  thing — A  little  thing — A  great  thing — Few  things — Many  things — Some  things-- 
Fifty  things.     Of  adjectives,  there  are  perhaps  nine  or  ten  thousand. 

4.  How  can  we  distinguish  a  PKONOUN  ?     By  observing  that  its  noun  repeated  makes  the  same 
sense.     Thus,  the  example  of  the  pronoun  above,  "  The  boy  loves  his  book  ;  he  has  long  lessons, 
and  he  learns  them  well," — very  clearly  means,  "  The  boy  loves  the  boy's  book  ;  the  boy  has  long 
lessons,  and  the  boy  learns  those  lessons  well."     Here,  then,  by  a  disagreeable  repetition  of  two 
nouns,  we  have  the  same  sense  without  any  pronoun  ;  but  it  is  obvious  that  the  pronouns  form  a 
better  mode  of  expression,  because  they  prevent  this  awkward  repetition.     The  different  pro- 
nouns in  English  are  twenty-four ;    and  their  variations  in  declension  are  thirty- two  :   so  that  the 
number  of  words  of  this  class,  is  fifty-six. 

5.  How  can  we  distinguish  a  VERB  ?     By  observing  that  it  is  usually  the  principal  word  in  the 
sentence,  and  that  without  it  there  would  be  no  assertion.     It  is  the  word  which  expresses  what 
is  affirmed  or  said  of  the  person  or  thing  mentioned  ;  as,  "  Jesus  ivept." — "  Felix  trembled." — 
"  The  just  shall  live  by  faith."     It  will  make  sense  when  inflected  with  the  pronouns  ;  as,  I  write, 
thou  wrifst,  he  writes ;  we  write,  you  icrite,  they  write. — I  walk,  thou  ivalkst,  he  icalks ;  we  walk, 
you  walk,  they  walk.     Of  English  verbs,  some  recent  grammarians  compute  the  number  at  eight 
thousand  ;  others  formerly  reckoned  them  to  be  no  more  than  four  thousand  three  hundred.* 

6.  How  can  we  distinguish  a  PARTICIPLE  ?     By  observing  its  derivation  from  the  verb,  and 
then  placing  it  after  to  be  or  having;  as,  To  be  icriting,  Having  written — To  bo  wcilking,  Having 
walked — To  be  weeping,    Having  wept — To  be  studying,    Having  studied.     Of  simple   participles, 
there  are  twice  as  many  as  there  are  of  simple  or  radical  verbs  ;  and  the  possible  compounds  are 
not  less  numerous  than  the  simples,  but  they  are  much  less  frequently  used. 

7.  How  can  we  distinguish  an  ADVERB  ?    By  observing  that  it  answers  to  the  question,  When  f 
Where?  How  much?  or  How? — or  serves  to  ask  it ;  as,  "  He  spoke  fluently."     How  did  he  speak  ? 
Fluently.     This  \vordjluentfy  is  therefore  an  adverb  :  it  tells  how  he  spoke.     Of  adverbs,  there  are 
about  two  thousand  six  hundred ;  and  four  fifths  of  them  end  in  ly. 

8.  How  can  we  distinguish  a  CONJUNCTION  ?     By  observing  what  words  or  terms  it  joins  to- 
gether, or  to  what  other  conjunction  it  corresponds;  as,  "Neither  wealthnor  honor  can  heal  a 

*  "  The  -whole  number  of  verbs  in  the  English  language,  regular  and  irregular,  simple  and  compounded,  taken 
together,  is  about  4.300.  See,  in  Dr.  Ward's  Essays  on  the  English  language,  the  catalogue  of  Knglish  verbs. 
The  wholn  number  of  irregular  verbs,  the  defective  included,  is  about  176." — LowMs  Gram.  Philad.  1799,  p.  59. 
Lindley  Murray  copied  the  first  and  the  last  of  the.<e  three  sentences,  but  made  the  latter  number  "  about  177."— 
Octavo  Gram.  p.  109;  Duodecimo,  p.  98.  In  the  latter  work,  he  has  this  note  :  "  The  whole  number  of  words,  in 
the  English  language,  is  about  thirty-five  thousand." — 76.  Churchill  says,  "  The  whole  number  of  verbs  in  the 
English  language,  according  to  Dr.  Ward,  is  about  4,300.  The  irregulars,  including  the  auxiliaries,  scarcely  ex- 
ceed 200." — New  Gram,  p  113.  An  other  late  author  has  the  following  enumeration  :  "  There  are  in  the  English 
language  about  twenty  thousand  five  hundred  nouns,  forty  pronouns,  eight  thousand  verbs,  nine  thousand  two 
hundred  adnouns,  two  thousand  six  hundred  adverbs,  sixty-nine  prepositions,  nineteen  conjunctions,  and  sixty- 
eight  interjections;  in  all,  above  forty  thousand  words." — Rev.  Dnri'l  Blair's  Gram.  p.  10.  William  Ward, 
M.  A.,  in  an  old  grammar  undated,  which  speaks  of  Dr.  Lowth's  as  one  with  which  the  public  had  "  very  lately  been 
favoured,"  says  :  "  There  are  four  Thousand  and  about  Jive  Hundred  Vetbs  in  the  English  [language]." —  Ward's 
Practical  Gram.  p.  52. 


CHAP.  I.]  ETYMOLOGY. — PARTS   OF    SPEECH. OBSERVATIONS.  215 

wounded  conscience." — Dillwyn's  Ref.  p.  16.  Or,  it  may  be  well  to  learn  the  whole  list  at  once  : 
And,  as,  both,  because,  even,  fur,  if,  that,  then,  since,  seeing,  no:  Or,  nor,  either,  neither,  than,  though, 
although,  yet,  but,  except,  whether,  lest,  unless,  nave,  provided,  notwithstanding,  whereas.  Of  conjunc- 
tions, there  are  these  twenty-nine  in  common  use,  and  a  few  others  now  obsolete. 

9.  How  can  we  distinguish  a  PREPOSITION  ?     By  observing  that  it  will  govern  the  pronoun 
thetn,  and  is  not  a  verb  or  a  participle  ;  as,  About  them — above  them — across  them — after  them — 
against  them — amidst  them — a/nony  them — around  them — at  them — Before  them — behind  them — 
below  them — beneath  them — beside  them — bettoeen  them — beyond  them— by  them — For  them— from 
them — In  them — into  them,  &c.     Of  the  prepositions,  there  are  about  sixty  now  in  common  use. 

10.  How  can  we  distinguish  an  INTERJECTION  ?     By  observing  that  it  is  an  independent  word 
or  sound,  uttered  earnestly,  and  very  often  written  with  the  note  of  exclamation  ;  as,  Lo  !  behold! 
look!  see!  hark!  hush  !  h'ist .'  mum!    Of  interjections,  there  are  sixty  or  seventy  in  common  use, 
some  of  which  are  seldom  found  in  books. 

DBS.  2. — An  accurate  knowledge  of  words,  and  of  their  changes,  is  indispensable  to  a  clear  dis- 
cernment of  their  proper  combinations  in  sentences,  according  to  the  usage  of  the  learned.  Ety- 
mology, therefore,  should  be  taught  before  syntax  ;  but  it  should  be  chiefly  taught  by  a  direct 
analysis  of  entire  sentences,  and  those  so  plainly  written  that  the  particular  effect  of  every  word 
may  be  clearly  distinguished,  and  the  meaning,  whether  intrinsic  or  relative,  be  discovered  with 
precision.  The  parts  of  speech  are  usually  named  and  denned  with  reference  to  the  use  of  words 
in  sentences  ;  and,  as  the  same  word  not  unfrequently  stands  for  several  different  parts  of  speech, 
the  learner  should  be  early  taught  to  make  for  himself  the  proper  application  of  the  foregoing  dis- 
tribution, without  recurrence  to  a  dictionary,  and  without  aid  from  his  teacher.  He  who  is  en- 
deavouring to  acquaint  himself  with  the  grammar  of  a  language  which  he  can  already  read  and  un- 
derstand, is  placed  in  circumstances  very  different  from  those  which  attend  the  school-boy  who  is 
just  beginning  to  construe  some  sentences  of  a  foreign  tongue.  A  frequent  use  of  the  dictionary 
may  facilitate  the  progress  of  the  one,  while  it  delays  that  of  the  other.  English  grammar,  it  is 
hoped,  may  be  learned  directly  from  this  book  alone,  with  better  success  than  can  be  expected 
when  the  attention  of  the  learner  is  divided  among  several  or  many  different  works. 

Oiss.  3. — Dr.  James  P.  Wilson,  in  speaking  of  the  classification  of  words,  observes,  "  Thenamea 
of  the  distributive  parts  should  either  express,  distinctly,  the  influence,  which  each  class  produces 
on  sentences  ;  or  some  other  characteristic  trait,  by  which  the  respective  species  of  words  may  be 
distingui>hed,  without  danger  of  confusion.  It  is  at  least  probable,  that  no  distribution,  suffi- 
ciently minute,  can  ever  be  made,  of  the  parts  of  speech,  which  shall  be  wholly  free  from  all  ob- 
jection. Hasty  innovations,  therefore,  and  crude  conjectures,  should  not  b2  permitted  to  dis- 
turb that  course  of  grammatical  instruction,  which  has  been  advancing  in  melioration,  by  the  un- 
remitting labours  of  thousands,  through  a  series  of  ages." — Wilson's  Essay  on  Gram.  p.  66.  Again  : 
"  The  .  i  he  parts  of  speech  may  be  reduced,  or  enlarged,  at  pleasure ;  and  the  rules  of  syn- 

tax may  be  accommodated  to  such  new  arrangement.  The  best  grammarians  find  it  difficult,  in 
practice,  to  distinguish,  in  some  instances,  adverbs,  prepositions,  and  conjunctions  ;  yet  their  effects 
are  generally  distinct.  This  inconvenience  should  be  submitted  to,  since  a  less  comprehensive 
distribution  would  be  very  unfavourable  to  a  rational  investigation  of  the  meaning  of  English  sen- 
tences."— Ib.  p  68.  Again:  tl  As  and  so  have  been  also  deemed  substitutes,  and  resolved  into 
other  words.  'But  if  all  abbreviations  are  to  be  restored  to  their  primitive  parts  of  speech,  there 
will  be  a  general  revolution  in  the  present  systems  of  grammar ;  and  the  various  improvements, 
which  have  sprung  from  convenience,  or  necessity,  and  been  sanctioned  by  the  usage  of  ancient 
times,  must  be  retrenched,  and  anarchy  in  letters  universally  prevail." — 76.  p.  114. 

Ons.  4. — I  have  elsewhere  sufficiently  shown  why  ten  parts  of  speech  are  to  be  preferred  to  any 
Other  number,  in  English  ;  and  whatever  diversity  of  opinion  there  may  be  respecting  the  class  to 
which  some  particular  words  ought  to  be  referred,  I  trust  to  make  it  obvious  to  good  sense,  that  I 
have  seldom  erred  from  the  course  which  is  most  expedient.  1.  Articles  are  used [with  appellative 
nouns,  sometimes  to  denote  emphatically  the  species,  but  generally  to  designate  individuals.  2. 
Nouns  stand  in  discourse  for  persons,  things,  or  abstract  qualities.  3.  Adjectives  commonly  ex- 
press the  concrete  qualities  of  persons  or  things;  but  sometimes,  their  situation  or  number.  4. 
l*ronouns  are  substitutes  lor  names,  or  nouns  ;  but  they  sometimes  represent  sentences.  5.  Verbs 
assert,  ask,  or  say  something ;  and,  for  the  most  part,  express  action  or  motion.  6.  Participles 
contain  the  essential  meaning  of  their  verbs,  and  commonly  denote  action,  and  imply  time  ;  but, 
apart  from  auxiliaries,  they  express  that  meaning  cither  adjectively  or  substantively,  and  not  with 
assertion.  7  express  the  circumstances  of  time,  of  place,  of  degree,  and  of  manner;  the 

when,  the  tr/im-,  the  how  much,  and  the  how.  8.  Conjunctions  connect,  sometimes  words,  and 
some:  phrases  ;  and  always  show,  either  the  manner  in  which  one  sentence 

or  one  phr;  upon  an  other,  or  what  connexion  there  is  between  two  words  that  refer  to 

a  third.  9.  Prepositions  express  the  correspondent  relations  of  things  to  things,  of  thoughts  to 
thoughts,  or  of  words  to  words  ;  for  these,  if  we  speak  truly,  must  be  all  the  same  in  expres- 
sion. 10.  /  ^  are  either  natural  sounds  or  exclamatory  words,  used  independently,  and 
serving  briefly  to  indicate  the  wishes  or  feelings  of  the  speaker. 

Ons.  i)  —In  the  following  passage,  all  the  parts  of  speech  are  exemplified,  and  each  is  pointed 
out  by  the  figure  plund  over  the  word  :  — 

1  -  '.'-•.111!  3  9212  6  9494 

"  The  power  of  speech  is  a  faculty  peculiar  to  man  :  a  faculty  bestowed  on  him  by  his  beneficent 
2:>1  3  8          7  8       10  775454      'Jl 

Creator,  for  the  greatest  and  most  excellent  uses ;   but,  alas  !  how  often  do  we  pervert  it  to  the 

39          2 
worst  of  purposes  !  "    See  Lowth's  Gram.  p.  7. 

In  this  sentence,  which  has  been  adopted  by  Murray,  Churchill,  and  others,  we  have  the  follow- 
ing parts  of  speech  :  1.  The  words  the,  a,  and  an.  are  articles.  2.  The  words  power,  speech,  facul- 
ty, man,  faculty,  (Creator,  uses,  and  purpose*,  are  nouns.  3.  The  words  peculiar,  bcnr-ficcnt,  yrcat- 

,  excellent,  and  trorst,  are  adjectives.     4.  The  words  him,  his,  t/v,  and  >t,  are  pronouns.     5.  The 
rds  is,  do,  and  pervert,  arc  verbs.    6.  The  word  bestowed  is  a  participle.     7.  The  words  most, 


a 


216  THE   GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

how,  and  often,  are  adverbs.    8.  The  words  and  and  but  are  conjunctions.    9.  The  words  of,  to, 
on,  by,  for,  to,  and  of,  are  prepositions.     10.  The  word  alas!  is  an  interjection. 

OBS.  6. — In  speaking  or  writing,  we  of  course  bring  together  the  different  parts  of  speech  just  as 
they  happen  to  be  needed.  Though  a  sentence  of  ordinary  length  usually  embraces  more  than, 
one  half  of  them,  it  is  not  often  that  we  find  them  all  in  so  small  a  compass.  Sentences  some- 
times abound  in  words  of  a  particular  kind,  and  are  quite  destitute  of  those  of  some  other  sort. 
The  following  examples  will  illustrate  these  remarks.  (1.)  ARTICLES  :  "  A  square  is  less  beautiful 
than  a  circle ;  and  the  reason  seems  to  be,  that  the  attention  is  divided  among  the  sides  and  angles 
of  a  square,  Avhereas  the  circumference  of  a  circle,  being  a  single  object,  makes  one  entire  impres- 
sion."— Kames,  Elements  of  Crit.  i,  p.  175.  (2.)  NOUNS  :  " A  number  of  things  destined  for  the  same 
use,  such  as  windows,  chairs,  spoons,  buttons,  cannot  be  too  uniform;  for,  supposing  their  figure  to 
be  good,  utility  requires  uniformity" — Ib.  i,  176.  (3.)  ADJECTIVES:  "  Hence  nothing  just,  prop- 
er, decent, beautiful,  proportioned,  or  grand,  is  risible" — Ib.  i,  229.  (4.)  PRONOUNS  :  "  /must  en- 
treat the  courteous  reader  to  suspend  his  curiosity,  and  rather  to  consider  what  is  written  than  who 
they  are  that  write  it" — Addison,  Spect.  No.  556.  (5.)  VERBS  :  "  The  least  consideration  will  in- 
form us  how  easy  it  is  to  put  an  ill-natured  construction  upon  a  word  ;  and  what  perverse  turns 
and  expressions  spring  from  an  evil  temper.  Nothing  can  be  explained  to  him  who  will  not  under- 
stand, nor  will  any  thing  appear  right  to  the  unreasonable." — Cecil.  (6.)  PARTICIPLES:  "The 
Scriptures  are  an  authoritative  voice,  reproving,  instriicting ,  and  warning  the  world  ;  and  declaring 
the  only  means  ordained  and  provided  for  escaping  the  awful  penalties  of  sin." — G.  B.  (7.)  AD- 
"VERBS  :  "  The  light  of  Scripture  shines  steadily,  purely,  benignly,  certainly*  superlatively  " — Dr. 
S.H.Cox.  (8.)  CONJUNCTIONS:  "  Quietness  and  silence  both  become  ana  befriend  religious  ex- 


ay  dear  strong- 
box!  OA,  my  lost  guineas !  Oh, poor, ruined,  beggared  old  man!  Hoo .'  hoc !  hoo ! " — MOLIEBE: 
Burgh's  Art  of  Speaking,  p.  266. 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 

Parsing  is  the  resolving  or  explaining  of  a  sentence,  or  of  some  related 
word  or  words,  according  to  the  definitions  and  rules  of  grammar.  Parsing 
is  to  grammar  what  ciphering  is  to  arithmetic. 

A  Praxis  is  a  method  of  exercise,  or  a  form  of  grammatical  resolution., 
showing  the  learner  how  to  proceed.  The  word  is  Greek,  and  literally  signi- 
fies action,  doing,  practice,  or  formal  use. 

PRAXIS  I.— ETYMOLOGICAL. 

In  the  First  Praxis,  it  is  required  of  the  pupil  merely  to  distinguish  and  define 

the  different  parts  of  speech. 
The  definitions  to  be  given  in  the  First  Praxis,  are  one,  and  only  one,  for  each 

word,  or  part  of  speech.     Thus :  — 

EXAMPLE  PARSED. 
"  The  patient  ox  submits  to  the  yoke,  and  meekly  performs  the  labour  required  of  him." 

The  is  an  article.    1.*  An  article  is  the  word  the,  an,  or  a,  which  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit  their  signification. 
Patient  is  an  adjective.    1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality. 
Ox  is  a  noun.     1.  A  noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  he  known  or  mentioned. 
Submits  is  a  verb.    1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be.  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon. 
To  is  a  preposition.    1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts  to 

each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

The  is  an  article.     1.  An  article  is  the  word  the,  an,  or  a,  which  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit  their  signification. 
Yoke  is  a  noun.    1.  A  noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned. 
And  is  a  conjunction.    1.  A  conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  in  construction,  and  to 

show  the  dependence  of  the  terms  so  connected. 
Meekly  is  an  adverb.    1.  An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb  ; 

and  generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner. 

Performs  is  a  verb.     1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  vpon. 

The  is  an  article.     1.  An  article  is  the  word  the,  an,  or  a,  which  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit  their  signification. 
Labour  is  a  noun.    1.  A  noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned. 
Required  is  a  participle.     1.  A  participle  is  a  word  derived  from  a  verb,  participating  the  properties  of  a  verb,  and 

of  an  adjective  or  a  noun  ;  and  is  generally  formed  by  adding  ing,  d,  or  ed,  to  the  verb. 
Of  is  a  preposition.    1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts  to 

each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 
Him  is  a  pronoun.    1.  A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun. 

*  These  definitions  are  numbered  here,  because  each  of  them  is  the  first  of  a  series  now  begun.  In  class  re- 
hearsals, the  pupils  may  he  required  to  give  the  definitions  in  turn ;  and,  to  prevent  any  from  losing  the  place,  it 
is  important  that  the  numbers  be  mentioned.  When  all  have  become  sufficiently  familiar  with  the  definitions, 
the  exercise  may  he  performed  without  them.  They  are  to  be  read  or  repeated  till  faults  disappear — or  till  the 
teacher  is  satisfied  with  the  performance.  He  may  then  save  time,  by  commanding  his  class  to  proceed  more 
briefly  ;  making  such  distinctions  as  are  required  in  the  praxis,  but  ceasing  to  explain  the  terms  employed  ;  that  ifl, 
omitting  all  the  definitions,  for  brevity's  sake.  This  remark  is  applicable  likewise  to  all  the  subsequent  praxes  or 
etymological  parsing. 


CHAP.  I.]  ETYMOLOGY. PARTS  OF  SPEECH. — PARSING.  217 

LESSON*  I. — PARSING. 

"  A  nimble  tongue  often  trips.  The  rule  of  the  tongue  is  a  great  attainment. 
The  language  of  truth  is  direct  and  plain.  Truth  is  never  evasive.  Flattery  is  the 
food  of  vanity.  A  virtuous  mind  loathes  flattery.  Vain  persons  are  an  easy  prey 
to  parasites.  Vanity  easily  mistakes  sneers  for  smiles.  The  smiles  of  the  world  are 
deceitful.  True  friendship  hath  eternal  views.  A  faithful  friend  is  invaluable. 
Constancy  in  friendship  denotes  a  generous  mind.  Adversity  is  the  criterion  of 
friendship.  Love  and  fidelity  are  inseparable.  Few  know  the  value  of  a  friend  till 
they  lose  him.  Justice  is  the  first  of  all  moral  virtues.  Let  justice  hold,  and  mercy 
turn,  the  scale.  A  judge  is  guilty  who  connives  at  guilt.  Justice  delayed  is  little 
better  than  justice  denied.  Vice  is  the  deformity  of  man.  Virtue  is  a  source  of 
constant  cheerfulness.  One  vice  is  more  expensive  than  many  virtues.  Wisdom, 
though  serious,  is  never  sullen.  Youth  is  the  season  of  improvement." — Dillwyri's 
Reflections,  pp.  4-27. 

"Oh  !  my  ill-chang'd  condition  !  oh,  my  fate  ! 
Did  I  lose  heaven  for  this  1 " — Cowley's  Davideis. 

LESSON  II. — PARSING. 

"  So  prone  is  man  to  society,  and  so  happy  in  it,  that,  to  relish  perpetual  solitude, 
one  must  be  an  angel  or  a  brute.  In  a  solitary  state,  no  creature  is  more  timid  than 
man ;  in  society,  none  more  bold.  The  number  of  offenders  lessens  the  disgrace  of 
the  crime ;  for  a  common  reproach  is  no  reproach.  A  man  is  more  unhappy  in 
reproaching  himself  when  guilty,  than  in  being  reproached  by  others  when  innocent. 
The  pains  of  the  mind  are  harder  to  bear  than  those  of  the  body.  Hope,  in  this 
mixed  state  of  good  and  ill,  is  a  blessing  from  heaven  :  the  gift  of  prescience  would 
be  a  curse.  The  first  step  towards  vice,  is,  to  make  a  mystery  of  what  is  innocent : 
whoever  loves  to  hide,  will  soon  or  late  have  reason  to  hide.  A  man  who  gives  his 
children  a  habit  of  industry,  provides  for  them  better  than  by  giving  them  a  stock  of 
money.  Our  good  and  evil  proceed  from  ourselves :  death  appeared  terrible  to 
Cicero,  indifferent  to  Socrates,  desirable  to  Cato." — Home's  Art  of  Thinking,  pp. 
26-53. 

"  0  thou  most  high  transcendent  gift  of  age  ! 
Youth  from  its  folly  thus  to  disengage." — Denhani's  Age. 

LESSON  III. — PARSING. 

"  Calm  was  the  day,  and  the  scene,  delightful.  We  may  expect  a  calm  after  a 
storm.  To  prevent  passion  is  easier  than  to  calm  it." — Murray's  Ex.  p.  5.  "  Better 
is  a  little  with  content,  than  a  great  deal  with  anxiety.  A  little  attention  will  rectify 
some  errors.  Unthinking  persons  care  little  for  the  future."  See  ib.  "  Still  waters 
are  commonly  deepest,  lie  laboured  to  still  the  tumult.  Though  he  is  out  of  danger, 
he  is  still  afraid." — Ib.  "  Damp  air  is  unwholesome.  Guilt  often  casts  a  damp 
over  our  sprightliest  hours.  Soft  bodies  damp  the  sound  much  more  than  hard  ones. 
— Ib.  "  The  haU  was  very  destructive.  Hail,  virtue  !  source  of  every  good.  We 
hail  you  as  friends." — Ib.  p.  6.  "  Much  money  makes  no  man  happy.  Think  much, 
and  speak  little.  He  has  seen  much  of  the  world. "  See  ib.  "  Every  being  loves  its 
like.  We  must  make  a  like  space  between  the  lines.  Behave  like  men.  We  are 
apt  to  like  pernicious  company.  ' — Ib.  "  Give  me  more  love,  or  more  disdain." — 
Carew.  "He  loved  Rachel  more  than  Leah." — Genesis.  "But  how  much  that 
n.ore  is,  he  hath  no  distinct  notion." — L 

"And  my  more  having  would  be  as  a  sauce 
To  make  me  hunger  more." — Shakspeare. 


218  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

CHAPTER  II- ARTICLES. 

An  Article  is  the  word  the,  an,  or  a,  winch  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit 
their  signification :  as,  The  air,  the  stars ;  an  island,  a  ship. 

An  and  a,  being  equivalent  in  meaning,  are  commonly  reckoned  one  and  the  same 
article.  An  is  used  in  preference  to  a,  whenever  the  following  word  begins  with  u 
vowel  sound ;  as,  An  art,  an  end,  an  heir,  an  inch,  an  ounce,  an  hour,  an  urn. 
A  is  used  in  preference  to  an,  whenever  the  following  word  begins  with  a  consonant 
sound ;  as,  A  man,  a  house,  a  wonder,  a  one,  a  yew,  a  use,  a  ewer.  Thus  the 
consonant  sounds  of  w  and  y,  even  when  expressed  by  other  letters,  require  a  and 
not  an  before  them. 

A  common  noun,  when  taken  in  its  widest  sense,  usually  admits  no  article :  as, 
"A  candid  temper  is  proper  for  man  ;  that  is,  for  all  mankind." — Murray. 

In  English,  nouns  without  any  article,  or  other  definitive,  are  often  used  in  a  sense 
indefinitely  partitive:  as,  "He  took  bread,  and  gave  thanks." — Acts.  That  is, 
"  some  bread."  "  To  buy  food  are  thy  servants  come." — Genesis.  That  is,  "  some 
food."  "  There  arejfishes  that  have  wings,  and  are  not  strangers  to  the  airy  region." 
—Locke's  Essay,  p.  322.  That  is,  "  some  fishes." 

11  Words  in  which  nothing  but  the  mere  being  of  any  thing  is  implied,  are  used  with- 
out articles:  as,  '  This  is  not  beer,  but  water  ; '  'This  is  not  brass,  but  steeV  "  See 
Dr.  Johnson's  Gram.  p.  5. 

An  or  a  before  the  genus,  may  refer  to  a  whole  species  ;  and  the  before  the 
species,  may  denote  that  whole  species  emphatically  :  as,  "A  certain  bird  is  termed 
the  cuckoo,  from  the  sound  which  it  emits." — Blair. 

But  an  or  a  is  commonly  used  to  denote  individuals  as  unknown,  or  as  not  specially 
distinguished  from  others  :  as,  "  I  see  an  object  pass  by,  which  I  never  saw  till  now  ; 
and  I  say,  '  There  goes  a  beggar  with  a  long  beard.'  " — Harris. 

And  the  is  commonly  used  to  denote  individuals  as  known,  or  as  specially  distin- 
guished from  others:  as,  "The  man  departs,  and  returns  a  week  after;  and  I  say, 
*  There  goes  the  beggar  with  the  long  beard.'  " — Id. 

The  article  the  is  applied  to  nouns  of  either  number :  as,  "  The  man,  the  men  ;  " 
"The  good  boy,  the  good  boys." 

The  is  commonly  required  before  adjectives  that  are  used  by  ellipsis  as  nouns :  as, 
"The  young  are  slaves  to  novelty  ;  the  old,  to  custom." — Ld.  Kames. 

The  article  an  or  a  implies  unity,  or  one,  and  of  course  belongs  to  nouns  of  the 
singular  number  only  ;  as,  A  man, —  An  old  man, —  A  good  boy. 

An  or  a,  like  one,  sometimes  gives  a  collective  meaning  to  an  adjective  of  number, 
when  the  noun  following  is  plural ;  as,  A  few  days, — A  hundred  men, —  One  hundred 
pounds  sterling. 

Articles  should  be  inserted  as  often  as  the  sense  requires  them  ;  as,  "  Repeat  the 
preterit  and  [the']  perfect  participle  of  the  verb  to  abide." — Error  in  Merchant's 
Gram.  p.  66. 

Needless  articles  should  be  omitted ;  they  seldom  fail  to  pervert  the  sense  :  as, 
"The  Rhine,  the  Danube,  the  Tanais,  the  Po,  the  Wolga,  the  Granges,  like  many 
hundreds  of  similar  names,  rose  not  from  any  obscure  jargon  or  irrational  dialect." 
— Error  in  Dr.  Murray's  Hist:  of  Europ.  Lang.  Vol.  i,  p.  327. 

The  articles  can  seldom  be  put  one  for  the  other,  without  gross  impropriety  ;  and 
of  course  either  is  to  be  preferred  to  the  other,  as  it  better  suits  the  sense  :  as,  "The 
violation  of  (his  rule  never  fails  to  hurt  and  displease  a  reader." — Error  in  Blair's 
Lectures,  p.  107.  Say,  " A  violation  of  this  rule  never  fails  to  displease  the  reader." 

CLASSES. 

The  articles  are  distinguished  as  the  definite  and  the  indefinite. 
I.  The  definite  article  is  the,  which  denotes  some  particular  thing  or 
things ;  as,  The  boy,  the  oranges. 


CHAP.  II.]  ETYMOLOGY. ARTICLES. OBSERVATIONS.  219 

II.  The  indefinite  article  is  an  or  a,  which  denotes  one  thing  of  a  kind, 
but  not  any  particular  one  ;  as,  A  boy,  an  orange. 

MODIFICATIONS.' 

The  English  articles  have  no  modifications,  except  that  an  is  shortened 
into  a  before  the  sound  of  a  consonant ;  as,  "  In  an  epic  poem,  or  a  poem 
upon  an  elevated  subject,  a  writer  ought  to  avoid  raising  a  simile  on  a  low 
image." — Ld.  Karncs. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — No  other  words  are  so  often  employed  as  the  articles.  And,  by  reason  of  the  various  and 
very  frequent  occasions  on  which  these  definitives  are  required,  no  words  are  oftener  misapplied ; 
none,  oftener  omitted  or  inserted  erroneously.  I  shall  therefore  copiously  illustrate  both  their  uses 
and  their  u'niscs ;  with  the  hope  that  every  reader  of  this  volume  will  think  it  worth  his  while  to 
gain  that  knowledge  which  is  requisite  to  the  true  use  of  these  small  but  important  words.  Some 
parts  of  the  explanation,  however,  must  be  deferred  till  we  come  to  Syntax. 

OKS.  2—  With  the  attempts  of  Tooke,  Dalton,  Webster,  Cardell,  Fowle,  Wells,  f  Weld,  Butler, 
Frazee,  Perley,  and  other  writers,  todfyrade  the  article  from  its  ancient  rank  among  the  parts  of 
speech,  no  judicious  reader,  duly  acquainted  with  the  subject,  can,  I  think,  be  well  pleased.  An 
article  is  not  properly  an  "  adjective,"  as  they  would  have  it  to  be ;  but  it  is  a  word  of  a  peculiar  sort 
— a.  cuxtomtiry  index  to  the  sense  of  nouns.  It  serves  not  merely  to  show  the  extent  of  significa- 
tion, in  which  nouns  are  to  be  taken,  but  is  often  the  principal,  and  sometimes  the  only  mark,  by 
which  a  word  is  known  to  have  the  sense  and  construction  of  a  noun. 

•"•.  —  First  let  it  be  understood,  that  an  or  a  is  nearly  equivalent  in  meaning  to  the  numeral 
adjective  one,  but  less  emphatic ;  and  that*Aeis  nearly  equivalent  in  meaning  to  the  pronominal  ad- 
jective that  or  those,  but  less  emphatic.  On  some  occasions,  these  adjectives  may  well  be  substituted 
for  the  articles  ;  but  not  generally.  If  the  articles  were  generally  equivalent  to  adjectives,  or  even 
if  they  were  generally  like  them,  they  would  be  adjectives  ;  but,  that  adjectives  may  occasionally 
supply  their  DO  argument  at  all  for  confounding  the  two  parts  of  speech.  Distinctions 

must  be  made,  where  differences  exist;  and,  that  a,  an,  and  the,  do  differ  considerably  from  the 
other  words  which  they  most  resemble,  is  shown  even  by  some  who  judge  "  the  distinctive  name  of 
article  to  be  useless."  See  Crombic's  Treatise,  Chap.  2.  The  articles  therefore  must  be  distin- 
guished, not  only  from  adjectives,  but  from  each  other.  For,  though  both  are  articles,  each  is  an 
the  one  definite,  the  other  indefinite.  And  as  the  vrorrlithat  and  one  cannot  often. 
be  interchanged  without  a  difference  of  meaning,  so  the  definite  article  and  the  indefinite  are  seldom, 
if  ever,  interchangeable.  To  put  one  for  the  other,  is  therefore,  in  general,  to  put  one  meaning 
f)r  an  other  :  "  A  daughter  of  a  poor  man" — "  The  daughter  of  the  poor  man" — "A  daughter  of 
the  poor  man" — and,  "  The  daughter  of  a  poor  man,"  are  four  phrases  which  certainly  have  four 
different  and  distinct  significations.  This  difference  between  the  two  articles  may  be  further  illus- 
trated by  the  following  example :  "  That  Jesus  was  a  prophet  sent  from  God,  is  one  proposition  ; 
that  Jf  prophet,  the  Messiah,  is  an  other  ;  and,  though  he  certainly  was  both  a  prophet 

and  the  prophet,  yet  the  foundations  of  the  proof  of  these  propositions  are  separate  and  distinct." 
—  II'        -    ijKiloyi/,  p.  10-5. 

OKS.  4.— -Common  nouns  are,  for  the  most  part,  names  of  large  classes  of  objects;  and,  though 
what  really  constitutes  the  species  must  always  be  found  entire  in  every  individual,  the  several  ob- 

•  The  mo'lifieatinns  which  belong  to  the  different  parts  of  speech  consist  chiefly  of  the  inflections  or  changes  to 

whidi  certain  won!-  .  lerm  sometimes  in  a  rather  broader  sense,  as  including  not  only 

\orils.  but.  iu  certain  instances,  their  original  forms,  and  also  such  of  their  relation.*  us  serve  to  in- 

r  properties.     ;  ID  the  use  of  the  term  ,  for  when  the  position  of  a  word 

r  is  clearly  a  grammatical  modification,  though  there 

te  no  ..  'I'/int  (jii'ility  which  'Us; inpuishes  one  genus,  one  species,  or 

•hus  the  s.-imo  particul.it  that  is  termed  a  property  or 
mMuiil.  <>r  a  cla<>  of  iixlivi.lu.il  •<.  i-;  termed  a  moihficat ion,  when 

i  :m  order." — Elements  of  Criticism,  Vol.  ii.  p  892. 

articles  into  the  claw  of  ad.  authority  as  follows  :  u  '  The  words  a  or 

u.irians  a  separate  part  of  speech  ;  but,  as  they  in  all  respects  come  under 

••eessary,  as  well  as  improper,  to  rank  them  as  a  clat-s  by  themselves.' — 

•  s  are  also  ranked  with  adjectives  by  Priestley,  E  Oliver,  Bell,  Klphinston, 

•ham.  Dalton.   King,  Hort,    Buchanan,   Crane,  J.  Russell, 

\\  iilarl.  Kobbins,  Felt"ii.  Snyler.  l!utler,S.  Barrett,  Badgley,  Howe, 

,"ol  Giam.  p.  6y.    In  this  way,  he  may  have  made  it 

atVr  thorough  investigation.  In-  h:i<l  ilcci<le<l  the  point  discreetly,  an.l  \\ith  preponderance  of 
author!  uliar  mcri:  "  «.f  thn  Kr.iinm.ir,  that,    ••  Kvery "point  of  practical  imp«  rtance 

if  tlwr.  inlly  made  to  tho  re  searches  of  preceding  writers,  in  all  cases  which 

authority.''' — WILLIAM  UUSSEIL,  on  the  cover.     But,  in  this  instance,  as  in 

euii'lr  ininiin  doctrine,  ami  cites  concurrent  authors,  both  he  and  all  his 

authorities  are  iemonstrnblv  in  the  wronir.     F<>r  how  can  they  be  ri^'ht,  while  reason,  usage,  and  the  prevailing 
opinion,  are  still  ajr.;  .::imars  which  reject  the  article-;  as  a  part  of  speech,  we  have 

more  than  twice  at*  many  w!ii'-!»r „'!.:  .,  h  ;  anioir.;  which  are  those  of  the  following  author 

Adam,  D.Adams,  Ainsworth,  Al  l.-n    AL-.-r.  Al  :1,  Harnard.  Beattie,  Beck,  Bicknell.  P.ingham,  Blair, 

Mullic'ii*.  Hum.  I!;  •  hurchill,  four.  Cohhett.  C'omly.  Cooper.    Davi-s.  Iv:irl>»rn,  Kverett,  Far- 

I  inn,   Fi.-k.  A    Flint.  Folk.  r.  Kr.  It,    11    '•  Mall,"  Uallock.  Hart,  Harrison,  Mntt.  Harrison, 

Ibuen,  Hemlrick.  Hiley.  Hull.  Inp-rM,!!.  .Ian  Ion.  Johnson.  Kirkham.  I.ennie.  A.  Lewis,  Ixnvth.  Maltby,  Maunder, 

Blennye,  Merchant.  T.  11.  Miller.  Murray   Ni.v  rkerand  Fox,  John  1'eirce.  1'ickef.  Pond.  S.  Putnam, 

Sanborn,  8a  r,  Tucker    Walker,  Woblxrr.  \\ilcox,  \\ilson,  Wood- 

worth,  .1.  K  Worcester.  >.  \V  '"r-  <•-••  T.  v\  i  i-  'r.    The  articles  characterize  our  language  more  than  some  of  the  other 

I  arts  of  speech,  and  are  worthy  of  distinction  for  many  reasons,  one  of  which  Ls  the  Tory  gre&t/requency  of  their  use. 


[PART  ir. 


220  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [: 

jects  thus  arranged  under  one  general  name  or  idea,  are  in  most  instances  susceptible  of  such  a 
numerical  distribution  as  gives  rise  to  an  other  form  of  the  noun,  expressive  of  plurality  ;  as,  horse, 
horses.     Proper  nouns,  in  their  ordinary  application,  are,  for  the  most  part,  names  of  particular 
individuals  ;  and  as  there  is  no  plurality  to  a  particular  idea,  or  to  an  individual  person  or  thin^ 
as  distinguished  from  all  others,  so  there  is  in  general  none  to  this  class  of  nouns  ;  and  no  roora 
for  further  restriction  by  articles.     But  we  sometimes  divert  such  nouns  from  their  usual  significa- 
tion, and  consequently  employ  them  with  articles  or  in  the  plural  form  ;  as,  "  I  endeavoured  to 
retain  it  nakedly  in  my  mind,  without  regarding  whether  I  had  it  from  an  Aristotle  or  a  Zoilus,  a 
Newton  or  a  Descartes." — Churchill's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  8.     "It  is  not  enough  to  have  Vitruviuses , 
we  must  also  have  Augustuses  to  employ  them." — Bicknetts  Gram.  Part  ii,  p.  61. 
"  A  Daniel  come  to  judgment !  yea,  a  Daniel!" — SHAK.  Shylock. 
"  Great  Homer,  in  th'  Achilles,  whom  he  drew, 
Sets  not  that  one  sole  Person  in  our  View." — Brightland 's  Gram.  p.  183. 

OBS.  5. — The  article  an  or  a  usually  denotes  one  out  of  several  or  many ;  one  of  a  sort  of  which  there 
are  more  ;  any  one  of  that  name,  no  matter  which.  Hence  its  effect  upon  a  particular  name,  or  proper 
noun,  is  directly  the  reverse  of  that  which  it  has  upon  a  common  noun.  It  varies  and  fixes  the 
meaning  of  both  ;  but  while  it  restricts  that  of  the  latter,  it  enlarges  that  of  the  former.  It  reduces 
the  general  idea  of  the  common  noun  to  any  one  individual  of  the  class  :  as,  "  A  man ;  "  that  is, 
"  One  man,  or  any  man."  On  the  contrary,  it  extends  the  particular  idea  of  the  proper  noun,  and 
makes  the  word  significant  of  a  class,  by  supposing  others  to  whom  it  will  apply  :  as,  "  A  Nero  ;  " 
that  is,  "  Any  Nero,  or  any  cruel  tyrant."  Sometimes,  however,  this  article  before  a  proper  name, 
seems  to  leave  the  idea  still  particular  ;  but,  if  it  really  does  so,  the  propriety  of  using  it  may  be 
doubted :  as,  "  No,  not  by  a  John  the  Baptist  risen  from  the  dead." — Henry's  Expos.  Mark,  vi.  "  It 
was  not  solely  owing  to  the  madness  and  depravity  of  a  Tiberius,  a  Caligula,  a  Nero,  or  a  Cara- 
calla,  that  a  cruel  and  sanguinary  spirit,  in  their  day,  was  so  universal." — M'llvaine's  Evid.  p.  398. 

OBS.  6. — With  the  definite  article,  the  noun  is  applied,  sometimes  specifically,  sometimes  in- 
dividually, but  always  definitely,  always  distinctively.  This  article  is  demonstrative.  It  marks 
either  the  particular  individual,  or  the  particular  species, — or,  ( if  the  noun  be  plural,  )  some  parti- 
cular individuals  of  the  species, — as  being  distinguished  from  all  others.  It  sometimes  refers  to  a 
thing  as  having  been  previously  mentioned  ;  sometimes  presumes  upon  the  hearer's  familiarity  with  . 
the  thing  ;  and  sometimes  indicates  a  limitation  which  is  made  by  subsequent  words  connected  with 
the  noun.  Such  is  the  import  of  this  article,  that  with  it  the  singular  number  of  the  noun  is  oftea 
more  comprehensive,  and  at  the  same  time  more  specific,  than  the  plural.  Thus,  if  I  say,  "  The 
horse  is  a  noble  animal,"  without  otherwise  intimating  that  I  speak  of  some  particular  horse,  the 
sentence  will  be  understood  to  embrace  collectively  that  species  of  animal ;  and  I  shall  be  thought 
to  mean,  "  Horses  are  noble  animals."  But  if  I  say,  "  The  horses  are  noble  animals,"  I  use  an  es  - 
pression  so  much  more  limited,  as  to  include  only  a  few ;  it  must  mean  some  particular  horses,  whic  b. 
I  distinguish  from  all  the  rest  of  the  species.  Such  limitations  should  be  made,  whenever  there 
is  occasion  for  them ;  but  needless  restrictions  displease  the  imagination,  and  ought  to  be  avoided  ; 
because  the  mind  naturally  delights  in  terms  as  comprehensive  as  they  may  be,  if  also  specific;. 
Lindley  Murray,  though  not  uniform  in  his  practice  respecting  this,  seems  to  have  thought  it  ne- 
cessary to  use  the  plural  in  many  sentences  in  which  I  should  decidedly  prefer  the  singular ;  as, 
"That  the  learners  may  have  no  doubts." — Murray's  Octavo  Gram,  i,  p.  81.  "  The  business  will 
not  be  tedious  to  the  scholars." — Ib.  81.  "For  the  information  of  the  learners." — Ib.  81.  "It 
may  afford  instruction  to  the  learners." — Ib.  110.  "  That  this  is  the  case,  the  learners  will  per- 
ceive by  the  following  examples." — Ib.  326.  "  Some  knowledge  of  it  appears  to  be  indispensable 
to  the  scholars." — Ib.  335. 

OBS.  7. — Proper  names  of  a  plural  form  and  signification,  are  almost  always  preceded  by  the  de- 
finite article ;  as,  "  The  Wesleys,"  —  "  The  twelve  Casars," — "  All  the  Howards."      So  the  names 
of  particular  nations,  tribes,  and  sects  ;  as,  The  Romans,  the  Jews,  the  Levites,  the  Stoics.     Like- 
wise the  plural  names  of  mountains ;  as,  The  Alps,  the  Apennines,  the  Pyrenees,  the  Andes.      Of 
plural  names  like  these,  and  especially  of  such  as  designate  tribes  and  sects,  there  is  a  very  great 
number.     Like  other  proper  names,  they  must  be  distinguished  from  the  ordinary  words  of  the 
language,  and  accordingly  they  are  always  written  with  capitals  ;  but  they  partake  so  largely  of  the 
nature  of  common  nouns,  that  it  seems  doubtful  to  which  class  they  most  properly  belong.     Hence 
they  not  only  admit,  but  require  the  article;  while  most  other  proper  names  are  so  definite  in 
themselves,  that  the  article,  if  put  before  them,  would  be  needless,  and  therefore  improper. 
"  Nash,  Rutledge,  Jefferson,  in  council  great, 
And  Jay,  and  Laurens  oped  the  rolls  of  fate  ; 
The  Livingstons,  fair  freedoms  generous  band, 
The  Lees,  the  Houstons,  fathers  of  the  land." — Barlow. 

OBS.  8. — In  prose,  the  definite  article  is  always  used  before  names  of  rivers,  unless  the  wordn'v- 
er,  be  added  ;  as,  The  Delaware,  the  Hudson,  the  Connecticut.  But  if  the  word  river  be  added,  the 
article  becomes  needless ;  as,  Delaware  river,  Hudson  river,  Connecticut  river.  Yet  there  seems  to 
be  no  impropriety  in  using  both  ;  as,  The  Delaware  river,  the  Hudson  river,  the  Connecticut  river. 
And  if  the  common  noun  be  placed  before  the  proper  name,  the  article  is  again  necessary  ;  as,  The 
river  Delaware,  the  river  Hudson,  the  river  Connecticut.  In  the  first  form  of  expression,  however, 
the  article  has  not  usually  been  resolved  by  grammarians  as  relating  to  the  proper  name ;  but  these 
examples,  and  others  of  a  similar  character,  have  been  supposed  elliptical:  as,  "  The  [river]  Po- 
tomac"— "  The  [ship]  Constitution" — "  The  [ steamboat ]  Fulton."  Upon  this  supposition,  the 
words  in  the  first  and  fourth  forms  are  to  be  parsed  alike ;  the  article  relating  to  the  common 
noun,  expressed  or  understood,  and  the  proper  noun  being  in  apposition  with  the  appellative. 
But  in  the  second  form,  the  apposition  is  reversed;  and,  in  the  third,  the  proper  name  appears  to 
be  taken  adjectively.  Without  the  article,  some  names  of  rivers  could  not  be  understood ;  as, 
"No  more  the  Varus  and  the  Atazfeel 
"  The  lordly  burden  of  the  Latian  keel." — Rowe's  Lucan,  i,  p.  722. 

OBS.  9. — The  definite  article  is  often  used  by  way  of  eminence,  to  distinguish  some  particular  in- 


CHAP.  II.]  ETYMOLOGY. ARTICLES. OBSERVATIONS.  221 

dividual  emphatically,  or  to  apply  to  him  some  characteristic  name  or  quality  :  as,  "  The  Stagi- 
ritc" — that  is,  Aristotle;  "  The  Psalmist" — that  is,  David;  "Alexander  the  Great" — that  is, 
(perhaps,)  Alexander  the  Great  Monarch,  or  Great  Hero.  So,  sometimes,  when  the  phrase  relates 
to  a  collective  body  of  men  :  as,  "  The  Honourable,  the  Legislature" — "  The  Honourable,  the  Senate;" 
— that  is,  "The  Honourable  Body,  the  Legislature,"  &c.  A  similar  application  of  the^  article  in  the 

3  are  the 
Palemon 
after 
to 

be  improper  ever"to  construe  two  articles  as  having  reference  to  one  unrepeated  word.  Dr. 
Pric.stley  says,  "  We  sometimes  repeat  the  article,  when  the  epithet  precedes  the  substantive;  as, 
He  was  met  by  the  worshipful  Me  magistrates." — Gram.  p.  148.  It  is  true,  we  occasionally  meet 
with  such  fulsome  phraseology  as  this  ;  but  the  question  is,  how  is  it  to  be  explained  ?  I  imag- 
ine that  the  word  personages,  or  something  equivalent,  must  be  understood  after  icorshipful,  and 
that  the  Doctor  ought  to  have  inserted  a  comma  there. 

OBS.  10. — In  Greek,  there  is  no  article  corresponding  to  our  an  or  a,  consequently  man  and  a 
man  are  rendered  alike  ;  the  word,  ou-doo)7iog  may  mean  either.  See,  in  the  original,  these  texts  : 
"  There  was  u  man  sent  from  God,"  (John,  i,  6,)  and,  "  What  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of 
him  ?  " — Hcb.  ii,  6.  So  of  other  nouns.  But  the  definite  article  of  that  language,  which  is  exactly 
equivalent  to  our  the,  is  a  declinable  word,  making  no  small  figure  in  grammar.  It  is  varied  by 
numbers,  genders,  and  cases  ;  so  that  it  assumes  more  than  twenty  different  forms,  and  becomes 
susceptible  of  six  and  thirty  different  ways  of  agreement.  But  this  article  in  English  is  perfectly 
simple,  being  entirely  destitute  of  grammatical  modifications,  and  consequently  incapable  of  any 
form  of  grammatical  agreement  or  disagreement — a  circumstance  of  which  many  of  our  gramma- 
rians seem  to  be  ignorant ;  since  they  prescribe  a  rule,  wherein  they  say,  it  "agrees,"  "may  agree" 
or  "  must  agree,"  with  its  noun.  Nor  has  the  indefinite  article  any  variation  of  form,  except 
the  change  from  an  to  a,  which  has  been  made  for  the  sake  of  brevity  or  euphony. 

OHS.  11. — As  an  or  a  conveys  the  idea  of  unity,  of  course  it  applies  to  no  other  than  nouns  of 
the  singular  number.  An  eagle  is  one  eagle,  and  the  plural  word  eagles  denotes  more  than  one ; 
but  what  could  possibly  be  meant  by  "  ans  eagles,"  if  such  a  phrase  were  invented  ?  Harris  very 
8tran^r  •  The  Greeks  have  no  article  correspondent  to  an  or  a,  but  supply  its  place  by  a 

NEGATION  of  their  article.  And  even  in  English,  where  the  article  a  cannot  be  used,  as  in  plurals, 
its  forrc  is  exprest  by  the  same  NEGATION." — flarru'j  Hermes,  p.  218.  What  a  sample  of  gram- 
mar is  this  !  Besides  several  minor  faults,  we  have  here  a  nonentity,  a  NEGATION  of  the  Greek  ar- 
ticle, made  to  occupy  a  place  in  language,  and  to  express  force!  The  force  of  what  ?  Of  a  plural 
an  or  a  !  of  such  a  word  as  ans  or  aes  !  The  error  of  the  first  of  these  sentences,  Dr.  Blair  has 
copied  entire  into  his  eighth  lecture. 

(Jus.  12. — The  following  rules  of  agreement,  though  found  in  many  English  grammars,  are  not 
only  objectionable  with  respect  to  the  sense  intended,  but  so  badly  written  as  to  be  scarcely  intel- 
liaji'ble  in  any  sense  :  1.  "  The  article  a  or  an  agrees  with  nouns  in  the  singular  number  only,  indi- 
vidually, or  collectively :  as,  A  Christian,  an  infidel,  a  score,  a  thousand."  2.  "  The  definite  article 
the  may  ar/ree  with  nouns  in  the  singular  AND*  plural  number :  as,  The  garden,  the  houses,  the 
stars."— Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  170;  12mo,  139;  Fisk's  Murray,  98;  a  ^Teacher's,  4.5.  For  the 
purpose  of  preventing  any  erroneous  construction  of  the  articles,  these  rules  are  utterly  useless  ; 
and  for  the  purpose  of  syntactical  parsing,  or  the  grammatical  resolution  of  this  part  of  speech, 
they  are  awkward  and  inconvenient.  The  syntax  of  the  articles  may  be  much  better  expressed 
in  this  manner :  "Articles  relate  to  the  noun's  which  they  limit ;"  for,  in  English,  the  bearing  of 
the  articles  upon  other  words  is  properly  that  of  simple  relation,  or  dependence,  according  to  the 
sense,  and  not  that  of  agreement,  not  a  similarity  of  distinctive  modifications. 

Oi-.s.  i:>. — Among  all  the  works  of  earlier  grammarians,  I  have  never  yet  found  a  book  which 
taught  correctly  the  ujtplicution  of  the  two  forms  of  the  indefinite  article  an  or  a.    Murray,  con- 
>  JoluuoB  and  Webster,  considers  a  to  be  the  original  word,  and  an  the  euphonic  derivative. 
I  becomes  an  before  a  vowel,  and  before  a  silent  /*.     But  if  the  h  be  sounded,  the  a 
only  is  to  be  used." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  31.     To  this  he  adds,  in  a  marginal  note,  "  A  instead  of 
;'ore  words'  beginning  with  u  long.     It  is  used  before  one.    An  must  be  used  be- 
fore icords  WHERE  the  h  is  not  silent,  if  the  accent  is  on  the  second  syllable ;  as,  an  heroic  action, 
an  historical  account." — 76.     This  explanation,  clumsy  as  it  is,  in  the  whole  conception;  broken, 
prolix,  di  ii  'ieut,  and  inacurate  as  it  is,  both  in  style  and  doctrine;  has  been  copied  and  copied 
grammar,  as  if  no  one  could  possibly  better  it.     Besides  several  other  faults,  it 
ise  of  the  article  itself:  "  the  h  "  which  is  specified  in  the  second  and  fifth. 

sentences,  is  the  "  silent  h  ''  of  the  first  sentence  ;  and  this  inaccurate  specification  gives  us  the 
two  obvious  solecisms  of  suppling,  "  if  the  [silent]  h  he  sounded,"  and  of  locating  "  irordx  WHERE 
the  [si  f  silent!"  In  the  word  humour,  and  its  derivatives,  the  h  is  silent,  by  all  au- 

thority ^er's  ;  and  yet  these  words  require  d  and  not  an  before  them. 

II.— It  is  the  sound  o\\\\,  that  governs  the  form  of  the  article,  and  not  the  letter  itself;  as, 
ie  which  admit  of  tbe  regular  form,  are  marked  with  an  it." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  107.     "  A 
heroic  poem,  written  by  Virgil." —  I '  ry  poem  of  the  kind  has  no  doubt  a  his- 

torical groundwork." — Philological  Museum,  i,  p.  4o7.  "  .-1  poi-t  must  be  a  naturalist  and  a  histo- 
rian."— ( 'o'cridge's  Introduction,  p.  111.  Before  h  in  an  unaccented  syllable,  either  form  of  the  article 
may  be  used  without  offence  to  the  ear  ;  and  either  may  be  made  to  appear  preferable  to  the  other, 
by  merely  aspirating  the  letter  in  a  greater  or  less  degree.  But  as  the  //,  though  everso  feebly  as- 
pirated has  something  of  a  consonant  sound,  I  incline  to  think  the  article  in  this  case  ought  to 
conform  to  the  general  principle  :  as,  "  A  historical  introduction  has,  generally,  a  happy  effect  to 

*  In  Murray's  Abridgement,  and  in  bis  "  Second  Edition,"  12mo,  the  connective  in  this  place  is  "  or ;"  and  flO 
if  it  given  by  most  of  his  ainenders  ;  as  in  Aider's  Murray,  p.  6s  :  Bacon's,  48 ;  Cboper'*,  111:  A. 

Flint's,  »*> ;  Maltby's,CO]  Miller's,  07  ;  <S>.  Putnam's,  74 ;  RusseU's,  52;  T.  Smith's,  61.  All  these,  and  many 
more,  repeat  both  of  these  rules. 


222  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

rouse  attention." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  311.  "  He  who  would  write  heroic  poems,  should  make  his 
whole  life  a  heroic  poem."  See  Life  of  Schiller,  p.  56.  Within  two  lines  of  this  quotation,  the 
biographer  speaks  of  "  an  heroic  multitude  !"  The  suppression  of  the  sound  of  h  being  with 
Englishmen  a  very  common  fault  in  pronunciation,  it  is  not  desirable  to  increase  the  error,  by 
using  a  form  of  the  article  which  naturally  leads  to  it.  "  How  often  do  we  hear  an  air  metamor- 
phosed into  a  hair,  a  hat  into  a  gnat,  and  a  hero  into  a  Nero  !  " — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  205.  Thus  : 
"  Neither  of  them  had  that  bold  and  adventurous  ambition  which  makes  a  conqueror  an  hero." — 
Bollinqbroke,  on  History,  p.  174. 

OBS^  15  — Some  later  grammarians  are  still  more  faulty  than  Murray,  in  their  rules  for  the  ap- 
plication of  an  or  a.  Thus  Sanborn  :  "  The  vowels  are  a,  e,  i,  o,  and  u.  An  should  be  used  before 
words  beginning  with  any  of  these  letters,  or  with  a  silent  h." — Analytical  Gram.  p.  11.  "An  is 
used  before  words  beginning  with  u  long  or  with  h  not  silent,  when  the  accent  is  on  the  second  syl- 
lable ;  as,  an  united  people,  an  historical  account,  an  heroic  action." — Ib.  p.  85.  "  A  is  used  when 
the  next  word  begins  with  a  consonant ;  an,  when  it  begins  with  a  voioel  or  silent  h." — Ib.  p.  129, 
If  these  rules  were  believed  and  followed,  they  would  greatly  multiply  errors. 

OBS.  16. — Whether  the  word  a  has  been  formed  from  an,  or  an  from  a,  is  a  disputed  point — or 
rather,  a  point  on  which  our  grammarians  dogmatize  differently.  This,  if  it  be  worth  the  search, 
must  be  settled  by  consulting  some  genuine  writings  of  the  twelfth  century.  In  the  pure  Saxon 
of  an  earlier  date,  the  words  seldom  occur ;  and  in  that  ancient  dialect  an,  I  believe,  is  used  only 
as  a  declinable  numerical  adjective,  and  a  only  as  a  preposition.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  both 
forms  were  in  common  use,  in  the  sense  now  given  them,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  writings  of  Robert 
of  Gloucester ;  though  some  writers  of  a  much  later  date — or,  at  any  rate,  one,  the  celebrated 
Gawin  Douglas,  a  Scottish  bishop,  who  died  of  the  plague  in  London,  in  1522 — constantly  wrote 
ane  for  both  an  and  a :  as, 

"  Be  not  ouer  studyous  to  spy  ane  mote  in  myn  E, 

That  in  gour  awin  ane  ferrye  bot  can  not  se." — Tooke's  Diversions,  i,  p.  124. 
"  Ane  uthir  mache  to  him  was  socht  and  sperit ; 
Bot  thare  was  nane  of  all  the  rout  that  sterit." — Ib.  i,  p.  160. 

OBS.  17- — This,  however,  was  a  Scotticism ;  as  is  also  the  use  of  ae  for  a :  Gower  and  Chaucer 
used  an  and  a  as  we  now  use  them.  The  Rev.  J.  M.  M'Culloch,  in  an  English  grammar  published 
lately  in  Edinburgh,  says,  "A  and  an  were  originally  ae  and  ane,  and  were  probably  used  at  first 
simply  to  convey  the  idea  of  unity  ;  as,  ae  man,  ane  ox." — Manual  of  E.  Gram.  p.  30.  For  this 
idea,  and  indeed  for  a  great  part  of  .his  book,  he  is  indebted  to  Dr.  Crombie  ;  who  says,  "  To  sig- 
nify unity,  or  one  of  a  class,  our  forefathers  employed  ae  or  ane;  as,  ae  man,  ane  ox." — Treatise 
on  Etym.  and  Synt.  p.  53.  These  authors,  like  Webster,  will  have  a  and  an  to  be  adjectives.  Dr. 
Johnson  says,  "A,  an  article  set  before  nouns  of  the  singular  number:  as,  a  man,  a  tree.  T  lis 
article  has  no  plural  signification.  Before  a  word  beginning  with  a  vowel,  it  is  written  an;  is, 
an  ox,  an  egg  ;  of  which  a  is  the  contraction." — Quarto  Diet.  w.  A. 

OBS.  18. — Dr.  Webster  says,  "  A  is  also  an  abbreviation  of  the  Saxon  an  or  ane,  one,  used  before 
words  beginning  with  an  articulation ;  as,  a  table  instead  of  an  table,  or  one  table.  This  it:  a 
modern  change  ;  for,  in  Saxon,  an  was  used  before  articulations  as  well  as  vowels  ;  as,  an  tid,  a 
time,  an  gear,  a  year." — Webster's  Octavo  Diet.  A  modern  change,  indeed  !  By  his  own  showing 
in  other  works,  it  was  made  long  before  the  English  language  existed !  He  says,  "  An,  therefore,  is 
the  original  English  adjective  or  ordinal  number  one ;  and  was  never  written  a  until  after  the  Con- 
quest."— Webster's  Philos.  Gram.  p.  2t);  Improved  Gram.  14.  "  The  Conquest,"  means  the  Nor- 
man Conquest,  in  1066;  but  English  was  not  written  till  the  thirteenth  century.  This  author  has 
long  been  idly  contending,  that  an  or  a  is  not  an  article,  but  an  adjective  ;  and  that  it  is  not  pro- 
perly distinguished  by  the  term  "  indefinite."  Murray  has  answered  him  well  enough,  but  he  will 
not  be  convinced.*  See  Murray's  Gram,  pp  34  and  3-5.  "  If  a  and  one  were  equal,  we  could  not 
say,  "  Such  a  one" — "  What  a  one  " — "  Many  a  one" — "  This  one  thing;  "  and  surely  these  are 
all  good  English,  though  a  and  one  here  admit  no  interchange. 

OBS.  19. — An  is  sometimes  a  conjunction,  signifying  if;  as,  "  Nay,  an  thou'lt  mouthe,  I'll  rant  as 
well  as  thou." — Shah.  "An  I  have  not  ballads  made  on  you  all,  and  sung  to  fifty  tunes,  may  a 
cup  of  sack  be  my  poison." — Id.  Fallstaff.  "  But,  an  it  were  to  do  again,  I  should  write  ngain." 
— Lord  Byron's  Letters.  "  But  an  it  be  a  long  part,  I  can't  remember  it." — SHAKSPEAIIE  :  Burgh's 
Speaker,  p.  136. 

OBS.  20. — In  the  New  Testament,  we  meet  with  several  such  expressions  as  the  following : 
"  And  his  disciples  were  an  hungrcd." — SCOTT'S  BIBLF,  :  Matt,  xii,  1.  "  When  he  was  an  hunyred."— 
Ib.  xii,  3.  "  When  he  had  need  and  was  an  hungered." — Ib.  Mark,  ii,  25.  Alger,  the  improver  of 
Murray's  Grammar,  and  editor  of  the  Pronouncing  Bible,  taking  this  an  to  be  the  indefinite  arti- 
cle, and  perceiving  that  the  h  is  sounded  in  hungered,  changed  the  particle  to  a  in  all  these  pass- 
ages ;  as,  "  And  his  disciples  were  a  hungered."  But  what  sense  he  thought  he  had  made  of  the 
sacred  record,  I  know  not.  The  Greek  text,  rendered  word  for  word,  is  simply  this  :  "  And  his 
disciples  hungered."  And  that  the  sentences  above,  taken  either  way,  are  not  good  English,  must 
be  obvious  to  every  intelligent  reader.  An,  as  I  apprehend,  is  here  a  mere  prefix,  which  has  some- 
how been  mistaken  in  form,  and  erroneously  disjoined  from  the  following  word.  If  so,  the  cor- 
rection ought  to  be  made  after  the  fashion  of  the  following  passage  from  Bishop  M'llvaine  :  "  On 
a  certain  occasion,  our  Saviour  was  followed  by  five  thousand  men,  into  a  desert  place,  whero 
they  were  enhungered." — Lectures  on  Christianity,  p.  210. 

OBS.  21. — The  word  a,  when  it  does  not  denote  one  thing  of  a  kind,  is  not  an  article,  but  a 
gen  nine  preposition;  being  probably  the  same  as  the  French  «,  signifying  to,  at,  on,  in,  or  of:  as, 
"  Who  hath  it  ?  He  that  died  a  Wednesday." — Shak.  That  is,  on  Wednesday.  So  sometimes' before 
plurals  ;  as,  "  He  carves  a  Sundays." — Siclft.  That  is,  on  Sundays.  "  He  is  let  out  a  nights." — Id. 
That  is,  on  nights — like  the  following  example  :  "A  pack  of  "rascals  that  walk  the  streets  on 
nights." — Id.  "  He  will  knap  the  spears  a  pieces  with  his  teeth." — Morc's  Ant  id.  That  is,  in 

*  When  this  -was  written,  Dr.  Webster  was  living. 


CHAP.    II.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  ARTICLES.  -  OBSERVATIONS.  223 

pieces,  or  to  pieces.    So  in  the  compound  word  now-a-days,  where  it  means  on;  and  in  the  proper 
names,  Thomas  a  Beckct,  Thomas  a  Ketnpis,  Anthony  a  Wood,  where  it  means  at  or  of. 
"  Bot  certainly  the  daisit  blude  now  on  dayis 

Waxis  dolf  and  dull  throw  myne  unwieldy  age."  —  Douglas. 

OBS.  22.  —  As  a  preposition,  a  has  now  most  generally  become  a.  prefix,  or  what  the  grammarians 
call  an  inseparable  preposition  :  as  in  abed,  in  bed;  aboard,  on  board  ;  abroad,  at  large  ;  afire,  on 
fire;  afore,  in  front;  afoul,  in  contact;  aloft,  on  high;  aloud,  with  loudncss  ;  amain,  at  main 
strength;  at)thlst,in  the  midst;  akin,  of  kin;  ajar,  unfastened;  ahead,  onward;  afield,  to  the 
field  ;  alee,  to  the  leeward  ;  aneio,  of  new,  with  renewal.  "  A-nights,  he  was  in  the  practice  of  sleeping, 
&c.;  but  a-days  he  kept  looking  on  the  barren  ocean,  shedding  tears."  —  Dr.  Murray's  Hist.  ofEurop. 
Lang.  ii,  p.  162.  Compounds  of  this  kind,  in  most  instances,  follow  verbs,  and  are  consequently 
reckoned  adverbs  ;  as,  To  go  astray  —  To  turn  aside  —  To  soar  aloft  —  To  fall  a  sleep.  But  sometimes 
the  antecedent  term  is  a  noun  or  a  pronoun,  and  then  they  are'as  clearly  adjectives  ;  as,  "  Imagi- 
nation is  like  to  work  better  upon  sleeping  men,  than  men  awake."  —  Lord  Bacon.  "  Man  alive, 
did  you  ever  make  a  hornet  afraid,  or  catch  a  weasel  asleep?"  And  sometimes  the  compound 
governs  a  noun  or  a  pronoun  after  it,  and  then  it  is  a  preposition  ;  as,  "  A  bridge  is  laid  across  a 
river."  —  Webster's  Diet.  "  To  break  his  bridge  athwart  the  Hellespont."  —  Bacon's  Essays. 
"  Where  Ufens  glides  along  the  lowly  lands, 

Or  the  black  water  of  Pornptina  stands."  —  Dryden. 

Ons.  23.  —  In  several  phrases,  not  yet  to  be  accounted  obsolete,  this  old  preposition  ct  still  re- 
tains its  place  as  a  separate  word  ;  and  none  have  been  more  perplexing  to  superficial  gramma- 
rians, than  those  which  are  formed  by  using  it  before  participles  in  ing  ;  in  which  instances,  the 

' 


participles  are  in  fact  governed  by  it  :  for  nothing  is  more  common  'in  our  language,  than  for 


might  be  tak,en  for  an  article  and  a  noun,  meaning  an  edifice*  Yet,  in  almost  all  cases,  other 
prepositions  are,  I  think,  to  be  preferred  to  a,  if  others  equivalent  to  it  can  be  found.  Examples  : 
"  Lastly,  they  go  about  to  apologize  for  the  long  time  their  book  hath  been  a  coming  out:  "  i.  e. 
in  coming  out. — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  p.  179.  "  And,  for  want  of  reason,  he  falls  a  railing  : "  i.  e  to 
railing.—//;,  iii,  3.37.  "  That  the  soul  should  be  this  moment  busy  a  thinking:"  i.e.  at  or  in 
think;;  -  Jlsmti/,  p.  78.  "  Which,  once  set  a  going,  continue  in  the  same  steps:  "  i.  e. 


piece,  and  fell  it  <•  <t>n  / :  "  i.  e.  to  eating. — .\rt>irsj>'tper.  "  To  go  a  mothering,^-  is  to  visit  parents 
on  Midlent  Sunday." — Webster's  l)i<-t.  tr.  M<}(li>,-riii[/.  "  Which  we  may  find  when  we  come  a  fish- 
tViyhere." — Wotton.  "  They  go  a  begging  to  a  bankrupt's  door." — Dryden.  "  A  hunting  Chlofi 
v/eut." — Prior.  "  They  burst  out  a  laughing." — M.  Edyeieorth.  In  the  last  six  sentences,  a 
aeems  more  suitable  than  any  other  preposition  would  be :  all  it  needs,  is  an  accent  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  article  ;  as,  a. 
OBS.  21. — Dr.  Alexander  Murray  says,  "  To  be  a-seeking,  is  the  relic  of  the  Saxon  to  he  on  or 


*  In  French,  the  preposition  ",  (to.)  is  always  carefully  distinguished  from  the  verb  a,  (has,)  by  means  of  the 
grave  a-  ,  the  former  for  that  purpose.     And  in  general  also  the  Latin  word  «,  (from,)  is 

i  has  hitherto  been  adopted  to  distinguish  the  preposi- 
tion a  from  th  \on  »,  (to.)  is  jjivt-n  by  Johnson  with  nn  acute,  even  where  no  other  a  is 
found,     i                                    ranee,  " 
ikeii  this  prei 


.  :nnl  unions  them  the  authors  of  sundry  grammars, 
ii  for  an  artii •!<-.    Example :  "  Some  adverbs  arc  composed  of  the  article  a 


-.  ^  false  and  al  Latin ;  for,  a  hunting,  a 

•••'»i  j>-."— Yirg.  .En.  I.e.  "  To  go  a  hunting.'1    "Abeo 

j  school-boy  ought  to  know  better  than  to  call  this  a  an 

i,    FIT  the  Greek  of  the  foregoing  text  is  cr/iuyo)  uiti i'f  tr, 

••  I  go  tojisk."    One  author  ignorantly  says,  "  The  article  a 

i'i  such  expressions  as  these.     'lie  went  a-hiinting.' 

marvel,  that  he  o.iiM  not  funl  the  meaning  of  an  article  in 

tlii-iu  •  nils  this  •-  Tii,-  .-.a, rl,   ,,  ,  ;ktsenseot* 

p,-rpositinn,  t!     Some,  too,  hare 

pl«  ;  -renerallv  with  tho  hyph.  n,  but  Mwetiines  with- 

out:  tli-:  as,  to  set  an;  r'*  Dirt.  The  doctor  does  not  tell  us  what  part 

oi'spee.  M  same  meaning,  and  is  about  u 

okeii  I;  .  ven  as  asleep;"  hut,  in  the 

•  thus:  •  They  are  aa  a  sltep:'-  that  is,  as  a  dream  that 

i>  lie. I.     N  right. 

1  11.  'iciple,  and  writes  the  words  xfpnmt^y, 

•~  always  have  .,.  tin-  .-irfirle  ,/  :ij.|,. 

tl.e  Ian  i  at  all  in  the  common  notions  of  its  origin.     Webster  says, 

'•  In  th         .  he  should  have  said,  '  and 

b'fore  ,  i  of  'in  or  at.    It  may  be  BO 

it .  some  c«,s'^,'  luit  \\itht.  'ix  ge,  and  lomttimti  per* 

haps  of  the  '  ••.«.  (i>am.  p.  '241.    wimt  admirable  learning  iithis? 

A,  forsooth,  Is  a  contraction  ofge !    And  this  Li  the  doctor's  reason  (or  joining  it  to  the  participle  ! 


224  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

what ;  and  it  may  be  observed,  in  passing,  that  the  want  of  it,  in  such  as  "  the  going  on,"  leaves  us  a 
loose  and  questionable  word,  which,  by  the  conversion  of  the  participle  into  a  noun,  becomes  a 
nondescript  in  grammar.  I  dissent  also  from  Dr.  Murray,  concerning  the  use  of  the  preposition 
or  prefix  a,  in  examples  like  that  which  he  has  here  chosen.  After  a  neuter  verb,  this  particle  is 
unnecessary  to  the  sense,  and,  I  think,  injurious  to  the  construction.  Except  in  poetry,  which 
is  measured  by  syllables,  it  may  be  omitted  without  any  substitute ;  as,  "  I  am  a  walking." — 
Johnson's  Diet.  w.  A.  "  He  had  one  only  daughter,  and  she  lay  a  dying." — Luke,  viii,  42.  "  In. 
the  days  of  Noah,  while  the  ark  was  a  preparing." — 1  Pet.  iii,  20.  "  Though  his  unattentive 
thoughts  be  elsewhere  a  wandering." — Locke's  Essay,  p.  281.  Say — "  be  wandering  elsewhere  ;  " 
and  omit  the  a,  in  all  such  cases. 

"  And — when  he  thinks,  good  easy  man,  full  surely 
His  greatness  is  a  ripening — nips  his  root." — Shak. 

OBS.  25. — "  A  has  a  peculiar  signification,  denoting  the  proportion  of  one  thing  to  an  other.  Thus 
we  say,  The  landlord  hath  a  hundred  a  year  ;  the  ship's  crew  gained  a  thousand  pounds  a  man." — 
Johnson's  Diet.  "  After  the  rate  of  twenty  leagues  a  day." — Addison.  "  And  corn  was  at  two  sester- 
ces a  bushel." — Duncan's  Cicero,  p.  82.  Whether  a  in  this  construction  is  the  article  or  the  preposi- 
tion, seems  to  be  questionable.  Merchants  are  very  much  in  the  habit  of  supplying  its  place  by 
the  Latin  preposition  per,  by;  as,  "Board,  at  $2 per  week." — Preston's  Book-Keeping,  p.  44. 
"Long  lawn,  at  $12  per  piece." — Dihcorth's,  p.  63.  "  Cotton,  at  2s.  6d.  per  pound." — Morrison's, 
p.  75.  "  Exchange,  at!2,d.per  livre." — Jackson's, p.  73.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  an,  as  well  as  a,  is 
used  in  this  manner;  as,  "  The  price  is  one  dollar  an  ounce."  Hence,  I  think,  we  may  infer, 
that  this  is  not  the  old  preposition  a,  but  the  article  an  or  a,  used  in  the  distributive  sense  of  each 
or  every,  and  that  the  noun  is  governed  by  a  preposition  understood  :  as,  "  He  demands  a  dollar 
an  hour:  "  i.  e.  a  dollar  for  eachhour. — "  He  comes  twice  a  year:  "  i.  e.  twice  in  every  year. — 
"  He  sent  them  to  Lebanon,  ten  thousand  a  month  by  courses  :  "  (1  Kings,  v,  14 :)  i.  e.  ten  thou- 
sand, monthly  ;  or,  as  our  merchants  say,  "per  month."  Some  grammarians  have  also  remarked, 
that,  "  In  mercantile  accounts,  we  frequently  see  a  put  for  to,  in  a  very  odd  sort  of  way ;  as,  '  Six 
bales  marked  I  a  6.'  The  merchant  means,  'marked  from  1  to  6.'  This  is  taken  to  be  a  relic  of 
the  Norman  French,  which  was  once  the  law  and  mercantile  language  of  England  ;  for,  in  French, 
a,  with  an  accent,  signifies  to  or  at." — Emmons's  Gram.  p.  73.  Modern  merchants,  in  stead  of 
accenting  the  a,  commonly  turn  the  end  of  it  back  ;  as,  tfz). 

OBS.  26. — Sometimes  a  numeral  word  with  the-  indefinite  article — as  a  fete,  a  great  many,  a 
dozen,  a  hundred,  a  thousand— denotes  an  aggregate  of  several  or  many  taken  collectively,  and  yet 
is  followed  by  a  plural  noun,  denoting  the  sort  or  species  of  which  this  particular  aggregate  is  a 
part :  as,  "  A  few  small  fishes  " — "  A  great  many  mistakes  " — "  A  dozen  bottles  of  wine  " — "  A 
hundred  lighted  candles  " — "  A  thousand  miles  off."  Respecting  the  proper  manner  of  explain- 
ing these  phrases,  grammarians  differ  in  opinion.  That  the  article  relates  not  to  the  plural  noun, 
but  to  the  numerical  word  only,  is  very  evident;  but  whether,  in  these  instances,  the  words  fe,oy 
many,  dozen,  hundred,  and  thousand,  are  to  be  called  nouns  or  adjectives,  is  matter  of  dispute. 
Lowth,  Murray,  and  many  others,  call  them  adjectives,  and  suppose  a  peculiarity  of  construction 
in  the  article  ; — like  that  of  the  singular  adjectives  every  and  one  in  the  phrases,  "  Every  ten  days  " 
— "  One  seven  times  more." — Dan.  iii,  19.  Churchill  and  others  call  them  nouns,  and  suppose 
the  plurals  which  follow,  to  be  always  in  the  objective  case  governed  by  of,  understood:  as,  "  A 
few  [of]  years  " — "A  thousand  [of]  doors  ;  " — like  the  phrases,  "  A  couple  of  fowls  " — "  A  score 
of  fat  bullocks." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  279.  Neither  solution  is  free  from  difficulty.  For  example : 
*'  There  are  a  great  many  adjectives." — Dr.  Adam.  Now,  if  many  is  here  a  singular  nominative, 
and  the  only  s\ibject  of  the  verb,  what  shall  we  do  with  arc  ?  and  if  it  is  a  plural  adjective,  what 
shall  we  do  with  a  and  great.  Taken  in  either  of  these  ways,  the  construction  is  anomalous. 
One  can  hardly  think  the  word  "  adjectives  "  to  be  here  in  the  objective  case,  because  the  sup- 
posed ellipsis  of  the  word  of  cannot  be  proved  ;  and  if  many  is  a  noun,  the  two  words  are  perhaps 
in  apposition,  in  the  nominative.  If  I  say,  "  A  thousand  men  are  on  their  way,  "  the  men  are  the 
thousand,  and  the  thousand  is  nothing  but  the  men;  so  that  I  see  not  why  the  relation  of  the  terms 
may  not  be  that  of  apposition.  But  if  authorities  are  to  decide  the  question,  doubtless  we  must 
yield  it  to  those  who  suppose  the  whole  numeral  phrase  to  be  taken  adjectively ;  as,  "  Most  young 
Christians  have,  in  the  course  of  half  a  dozen  years,  time  to  read  a  great  many  pages." — Young 
Christian,  p.  6. 

"  For  harbour  at  a  thousand  doors  they  knock'd ; 
Not  one  of,  all  the  thousand  but  was  lock'd." — Dryden. 

OBS.  27. — The  numeral  words  considered  above,  seem  to  have  been  originally  adjectives,  and 
such  may  be  their  most  proper  construction  now ;  but  all  of  them  are  susceptible  of  being  con- 
strued as  nouns,  even  if  they  are  not  such  in  the  examples  which  have  been  cited.  Dozen,  or 
hundred,  or  thousand,  when  taken  abstractly,  is  unquestionably  a  noun ;  for  we  often  speak  of 
dozens,  hundreds,  and  thousands.  Few  and  many  never  assume  the  plural  form,  because  they  have 
naturally  a  plural  signification  ;  and  a  few  or  a  great  many  is  not  a  collection  so  definite  that  we 
can  well  conceive  oifeios  and  manies ;  but  both  are  sometimes  construed  substantively,  though  in. 
modern  English  *  it  seems  to  be  mostly  by  ellipsis  of  the  noun.  Example :  "  The  praise  of  the  judi- 
cious few  is  an  ample  compensation  for  the  neglect  of  the  illiterate  many." — Churchill's  Gram.  p. 
278.  Dr.  Johnson  says,  the  word  many  is  remarkable  in  Saxon  for  its  frequent  use.  The  follow- 
ing are  some  of  the  examples  in  which  he  calls  it  a  substantive,  or  noun :  "  After  him  the  rascal 
many  ran." — Spenser.  "  O  thou  fond  many." — Shakspeare.  "  A  care-craz'd  mother  of  a.  many 
children." — Id.  "  And  for  thy  sake  have  I  shed  many  a  tear." — Id.  "  The  vulgar  and  the  many 
are  fit  only  to  be  led  or  driven." — South.  "  He  is  liable  to  a  great  many  inconveniences  every  mo- 
ment of  his  life." — Tillotson.  "  Seeing  a  great  many  in  rich  gowns,  he  was  amazed." — Addison. 
"  There  parting  from  the  king,  the  chiefs  divide, 
And  wheeling  east  and  west,  before  their  many  ride." — Dryden. 

*  The  following  construction  maybe  considered  an  archaism,  or  a  form  of  expression  that  is  now  obsolete: 
"You  have  bestowed  a  many  of  kindnesses  upon  me." — Walker's  English  Particles,  p.  278. 


CHAP.  II.]  ETYMOLOGY. ARTICLES. PARSING. PRAXIS  II.  225 

OBS.  28. — "On  the  principle  here  laid  down,  we  may  account  for  a  peculiar  use  of  the  article  with 

the  adjectiv*  ither  diminutives.     In  his  adherents  rein  lined  with 

him  ;  '   we  insinuate,  that,  they  constituted  a  number  sufficiently  important   to  be  foimcd   into  an 

aggregate  :  while,  if  th        •  emitted,  as,  '  /•'<•«?  of  his  adherents  remained  with  him  ;'  this  im- 

-••rted,  by  representing  them  as   individuals  not  worth  reckoning  up. 

A  similar  difference  occurs  between  the  phrases:    '  He  exhibited  n  little  reg  ird  for  his  character;' 

and 'He  exhibited  ird  for  his  character '" — Churchill'*'  '.  I'he  word  little,  in  its 

-    an    adjective,    signifying    smnll ;  as,  "  He  ^  --titure." — 

vnd   in  sentences  like  the  following,  it  is  also  reck- 

.  ins  to  relate  to  it,  rather  than  to  the  subsequent  noun  ;  or 

perhn.  t  ikeu  as  rel  itnig  to  them  both  :  "  Yet  a  &ttl0 sleep,  a  little  slumber,  a  little  fold- 

ing of  the  ':.  10;  xxiv,  33.     But,  by  a  common  ellipsis,  it  is  u*ed  as  a 

noun,  both  with  and  without  the  article;  as,  "  A  little  that  a  righteous  man   hath,  is  better  than 
the  rich"s  of  m.uu  wir1,,  ',/,.<;,  xxxvii,  16.  "  Better  is  little  with  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  than 

great  treasure  and  trouble  therewith." — Prov.  xv,  16.  "  H"  that  despiseth  little  things,  shall  perish 

'  used  adverbially,  both  alone  and  with  the  article  a; 

..••or    sleep   litf'e." — Ottcaif.     ''Though   they    are    a    little  astringent" — Arbuthnot. 
"  Wi  farther  thence." — Murk,  i,  19.     "  Let  us  vary  the  phrase  [in]  a  very 

.  Vol   ii,  p.   163. 

On^  it  is  the  nature  of  the  articles  to  limit  the  signification  of  a  word,  they  are  appli- 

cable .pable  of  being  individualized,  or  conceived  of  as  single 

:.d  nouns  implying  a  general  state,  condition,  or  hab.it,  must  be  used  without  the 
-,  but  on  fixed  principles,  that  the  article  is  omitted,  or  insert- 
ed, in  t  :,e  following  :  '  in  terror,  in  fear,  in  dread,  in  haste,  in  sickness,  in  p  iin.  in 
trouble;  in  a  fright,  in  a  hurry,  in  a  consumption;  the  pain  of  his  wound  was  great;  her  son's 
dissij  eat  trouble  to  her.'" — UkurchilC*  (tram.  p.  127 

md  a,  are  the  only  articles  in  our  language,  they  are  far  from  being 

the  onlv  definith  .  while  some  have  objected  to  the  peculiar  distinction  bestowed  upon 

.^tini;  on  throwing  them  in  among  the  common  mass  of  adjectives ; 

.t,  that  the  definitive  adjectives — I  know  not  how  many — such   as,  this,  that, 

rl!h>r — ••  aie  much  more  properly  arti- 

.  p  234.  But,  in  spite  of  this  opinion,  it  has  somehow  happened, 

that  t  ve   very  orenerallv.  and  very   absurdly,  acquired  the  n  ime  of 

,  we  find    Booth,  who  certainly  excelled  most  other  grammarians  in  learning 

and  a  .rvelling  that  t!.  •  were  ever  separated   from  the  class  of  pronouns." 

To  all  this  I  rep'u  //,  and  a,  are  worthy  to  be  distinguished  as  the  only  articles,  because 

re  not  only  used  with   much  great'  -/than   any  other  definitives,  but  are  specially 

restricted  to  the  limiting  of  the  signification  of  nouns.     Whereas  the  other  definitives  above  men- 

ly  the  place  of  their  nouns;  that  \<,  to  represent  them  under- 
stood. 1,  it  is  only  by  ellipsis  of  the  noun  a'ter  it,  and  not  as  the  representative 
of  a  noun  i:                     .  that  any  one  of  t  :-SHMH>S  the  appearance  of  a  pronoun.   Hence, 
•  nut  pronouns,  but  adjectives      Xor  are  they  "  more  properly  articles  than  any   thing 
else  ;  "  for,  "  if  the  essence  of  an  article  be  to  define  and  ascertain  "  the  meaning  of  a  noun,  this 
tiou  of  the  thing  necessarily  supposes  the  noun  to  be  used  with  it. 

•  ,  or  explanation,  mav  show  what  is  meant  by  definitives.     Let 

plural   of  which  is  n»-n  :     \  mm — jne   unknown  or  indefinite  ;   The 

, — some  particular  onet       '  •/< — one  ind<finiiely  ;  A 

—one  n^ar  ;    That  man — one  distant ;    T!  -everal 

near;  man — me  like  some  other;  Stvh  m>  n — some  like 

i  tltitade  taken  singly ;  M  —in  indefinite  multitude  taken  plu- 

sh without  exception  ;   Enrh 
opposed  to  none  ;  — in  indcfi- 

— the  whole  taken  plurully  }  JVo  men — noue  of  the  sex  ;  JVo  man — 
k-er  oue  of  the  race. 

.AMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 
PKAXIS   H.— ETYMOLOGICAL. 


'  /V^rit,  if  i*  required  of  the  pupil — .'«  <l'?tin'i>'i:J/  find  dtfineifa 

•!<.  in,, I  f>>  /-./y/A////  the  Ai. TH  finite  or  imtrjinite. 

an  tirtirle,  and  one 
'ciple,  an  adverb,  a  conjunc- 

:  — 
KXAMPLK    1 

iv  |iri.!i:|iti:!ir  ;,nd  urging  an  indolent  class,  is 
th.-in  lii-  wl:o  drives  In/y  Imr-  ,•,,!/' 

h  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit  their  eig- 

' 

.ilTcruut  things  or  thought*  to  each 

•••I.-     1    AH  -  nouns  to  limit  their  slg* 

.;•  nut  air.  p.irtioiilar  one. 
•  -  ia  a  nouu.     1.  A  uuun  is  the  name  of  any  ptrson,  p:  that  cau  be  known  or  mentioned. 

15 


226  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  H. 

Laboriously  is  an  adverb.  1.  An  adverb  is  a  -word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb  ; 
and  generally  expresses  time,  place,  degiee,  or  manner. 

Prompting  is  a  participle.  1.  A  participle  is  a  word  derived  from  a  verb,  participating  the  properties  of  a  verb, 
and  of  an  adjective  or  a  noun  ;  and  is  generally  formed  by  adding  ing,  d,  or  ed,  to  the  verb. 

And  is  a  conjunction.  1.  A  conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  in  construction,  and  to 
show  the  dependence  of  the  terms  so  connected. 

Urging  is  a  participle.  1.  A  participle  is  a  word  derived  from  a  verb,  participating  the  properties  of  a  verb,  and 
of  an  adjective  or  a  noun  ;  and  is  generally  formed  by  adding  ing,  d,  or  ed,  to  the  verb. 

An  is  the  indefinite  article.  1.  An  article  is  the  word  the,  an,  or  a,  which  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit  their  sig- 
nification. 2.  The  indefinite  article  is  an  or  #,  which  denotes  one  thing  of  a  kind,  but  not  any  particular  one. 

Indolent  is  an  adjective.    1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality. 

Class  is  a  noun.    1.  A  noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned. 

Is  is  a  verb.    1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  vpon. 

Worse  is  an  adjective.    1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality, 

Than  is  a  conjunction.  1.  A  conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  in  construction,  and  tc 
show  the  dependence  of  the  terms  so  connected. 

His  is  a  pronoun.    1.  A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun. 

Who  is  a  pronoun.     1.  A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun. 

Drives  is  a  verb.    1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be.  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  vpon. 

Lazy  is  an  adjective.    1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality. 

Horses  is  a  noun.     1.  A  noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned. 

Along  is  a  preposition.  1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts 
to  each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

A  is  the  indefinite  article.  1.  An  article  is  the  word  the,  an,  or  a,  which  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit  their  sig- 
nification. 2.  The  indefinite  article  is  an  or  «,  which  denotes  one  thing  of  a  kind,  but  not  any  particular  one 

Sandy  is  an  adjective.     1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality. 

-Road  is  a  noun.    1.  A  noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned. 

LESSON  I. — PARSING. 

"  The  Honourable,  the  Corporation  of  the  city,  granted  the  use  of  the  common 
council  chamber,  for  holding  the  Convention ;  generously  adding  the  privilege  of 
occupying  the  rotunda,  or  the  new  court-room,  if  either  would  better  suit  the  wishes 
of  the  committee." — Journal  of  Literary  Convention,  N.  Y.  1830. 

"  When  the  whole  is  put  for  a  part,  or  a  part  for  the  whole ;  the  genus  for  a  species, 
or  a  species  for  the  genus ;  the  singular  number  for  the  plural,  or  the  plural  for  th(5 
singular ;  and,  in  general,  when  any  thing  less,  or  any  thing  more,  is  put  for  the 
precise  object  meant ;  the  figure  is  called  a  Synecdoche."  See  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  141 . 

"  The  truth  is,  a  representative,  as  an  individual,  is  on  a  footing  with  other  people  ; 
but,  as  a  representative  of  a  State,  he  is  invested  with  a  share  of  the  sovereign 
authority,  and  is  so  far  a  governor  of  the  people."  See  Webster's  Essays,  p.  50. 

"  Knowledge  is  the  fruit  of  mental  labour — the  food  and  the  feast  of  the  mind. 
In  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  the  greater  the  excellence  of  the  subject  of  inquiry, 
the  deeper  ought  to  be  the  interest,  the  more  ardent  the  investigation,  and  the  dearer 
to  the  mind  the  acquisition  of  the  truth." — Keith's  Evidences,  p.  15. 
"  Canst  thou,  0  partial  Sleep  !  give  thy  repose 
To  the  wet  seaboy  in  an  hour  so  rude  ?  " — Shakspeare. 


LESSON  II. — PARSING. 

"  Every  family  has  a  master ;  (or  a  mistress — I  beg  the  ladies'  pardon  ;)  a  ship 
has  a  master ;  when  a  house  is  to  be  built,  there  is  a  master ;  wh#n  the  highways  are 
repairing,  there  is  a  master  ;  every  little  school  has  a  master  :  the  continent  is  a  great 
school ;  the  boys  are  numerous,  and  full  of  roguish  tricks ;  and  there  is  no  master. 
The  boys  in  this  great  school  play  truant,  and  there  is  no  person  to  chastise  them." 
See  Webster's  Essays,  p.  128. 

"A  man  who  purposely  rushes  down  a  precipice  and  creaks  his  arm,  has  no  right 
to  say,  that  surgeons  are  an  evil  in  society.  A  legislature  may  unjustly  limit  the 
surgeon's  fee  ;  but  the  broken  arm  must  be  healed,  and  a  surgeon  is  the  only  man  to 
restore  it,"  See  ib.  p.  135. 

"  But  what  new  sympathies  sprung  up  immediately  where  the  gospel  prevailed  ! 
It  was  made  the  duty  of  the  whole  Christian  community  to  provide  for  the  stranger, 
the  poor,  the  sick,  the  aged,  the  widow,  and  the  orphan." — M'llvaine's  Evi.  p.  408. 

"In  the  English  language,  the  same  word  is  often  employed  both  as  a  noun  and 
as  a  verb  ;  and  sometimes  as  an  adjective,  and  even  as  an  adverb  and  a  preposition 
also.     Of  this,  round  is  an  example."     See  Churchill's  Gram.  p.  24. 
"  The  old  oaken  bucket,  the  iron-bound  bucket, 
The  moss-covered  bucket,  arose  from  the  well." — Woodworth. 


CHAP.    II.]  ETYMOLOGY. ARTICLES. ERRORS.  227 

LESSON  III. — PARSING. 

"Most  of  the  objects  in  a  natural  landscape  are  beautiful,  and  some  of  them  are 
grand  :  a  flowing  river,  a  spreading  oak,  a  round  hill,  an  extended  plain,  arc  delight- 
ful; and  even  a  rugged  rock,  and  a  barren  heath,  though  in  themselves  disagreeable, 
contribute  by  contrast  to  the  beauty  of  the  whole."  See  Kames's  El.  of  Crit.  i,  185. 
'•  An  animal  body  is  still  more  admirable,  in  the  disposition  of  its  several  parts, 
and  in  their  order  and  symmetry:  there  is  not  a  bone,  a  muscle,  a  blood-vessel,  a  nerve, 
that  hath  not  one  corresponding  to  it  on  the  opposite  side ;  and  the  same  order  is 
carried  through  the  ii>n<t  minute  parts."  See  ib.  i,  -71.  "  The  constituent  parts 
of  a  plant,  the  roots,  the  stem,  the  branches,  the  leaves,  the  fruit,  are  really  different 

08,  united  by  a  mutual  dependence  on  each  other." — Ib.  i,  272. 
"  With   respect  to  the  form  of  this  ornament,  I  observe,  that  a  circle  is  a  more 
agreeable  figure  than  a  square,  a  globe  than  a  cube,  and  a  cylinder  than  a  parallelo- 
."ii.     A  column  is  a  more  agreeable  figure  than  a  pilaster  ;  and,  for  that  reason, 
it  ought  to  be   preferred,  all  other  circumstances  being  equal.     An  other  reason 
ITS,  that  a  column  connected  with  a  wall,  which  is  a  plain  surface,  makes  a 
greater  variety  than  a  pilaster."     See  ib.  ii,  352. 

"  But  ah  !  what  myriads  claim  the  bended  knee  ! 
Go,  count  the  busy  drops  that  swell  the  sea." — Rogers. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

ERRORS  RESPECTING  ARTICLES. 

LKSSON  I. — ADAPT  THE  ARTICLES. 

"  Honour  is  an  useful  distinction  in  life." — Mihics's  Greek  Gram.  p.  vii. 

f  FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  arti<  •!«•  n,\  i~  u*cd  before  useful,  which  begins  with  the  sound  of  yu.    But, 
:  UK  i|,..  expressed  on  page  218th,  u  A  is  to  be  used  whenever  the  following  word  begins  with  a  con- 
I.       There-fore,  an  should  here  be  changed  to  a :  thus,  "  Honour  is  a  useful  distinction  in  life."] 

writer,  therefore,  ought  to  foment  an  humour  of  innovation." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  55. 
Conjunctions  require  a  situation  between  the  things  of  which  they  form  an  union." — Ib.  p, 
3.     "Nothing  is  more  easy  than  to  mistake  an  u  for  an  a." — Tooke's  Diversions,  i,  130. 
From  making  so  ill  an  use  of  our  innocent  expressions." — Wm.  Penn.     "  To  grant  thee  an 
ly  and  incorruptible  crown  of  glory." — Sein-Ps  Hist.  Ded.  p.  iv.     "It  in  no  wise 
.  that  such  an  one  was  able  to  predict." — 76.  p.  viii.     "  With  an  harmless  patience 
icy  have  borne  most  heavy  oppressions." — Ib.  p.  x.     "My  attendance  was  to  make  me  an 
appier  man." — >><•/.  No.  480.     "  On  the  wonderful  nature  of  an  human  mind." — 76.  Xo. 
.-•it  an  hussy  of  a  maid,  who  is  most  craftily  given  to  this." — 76.  Xo.  534. 
>  have  had  an  hundred  eyes,  some  of  which  were  always  awake." — Classic 
.  p.  1  is.     "  I'entiped,  an  hundred  feet ;  centennial,  consisting  of  a  hundred  years." — 
No  good  man,  he  thought,  could  be  an  heretic." — Gilpins  Lives, 

]>.  7-'.  ian,  an  intidel,  an  heathen." — Ash's  Gram.  p.  50.     "  Of  two  ormore 

illy  joined  by  an  hyphen." — Ji/dir'.i  Gram.}-).  7.     "  "We  may  consider  the  whole 

69.     "  In  guard- 
orship  is  an  hom- 
an  eulogium  on  the 
Bounced." — Grimx/Kor'*  I'.  8.  p.  92.     "  15 ut  for  Adam  there  was  not  found 
him."— Grn.  ii.  'Jit.     ••  My  (!a\  s  are  consumed  like  smoke,  and  my  bones  are 
burned  a*  an  hearth." — ]'-  "  A  foreigner  and  an  hired  servant  shall  not  eat  there- 

of."— />,,/.   xii.  4.3.     "The  hill  of  God  i^  MS  the  hill  of  Bashan  ;  an  high  hill,  as  the  hill 
.-han."— 7W//J.V,  Ixviii,  lo.     "Hut  I  do   declare  it  to  have  been  an  holy  offering, 
and  MU-h  an  one  too  as  was  to  be  once  lor  all."—  II '///.  /'.•////.     "  An  hope  that  does  not  make 
ashamed  those  that  have  it."— llarclays  \Vorks,  Vol.  i,  p.  75.   "  Where  there  is  not  an  unity, 
•rue  charity. "—Ib.  i,  96.     "  Tell  me,  if  in  any  of  these  such  an  union  can 
be  found  •  " — Ilroicn's  :.  1(>. 

"  Such  holy  drops  her  tresses  steeped, 
Though  'twas  an  hero's  eje  that  weeped." — Sir  W.  Scott. 

Lr.ssox  II. — INSERT  ARTICLES. 

"  This  veil  of  flesh  parts  the  visible  and  invisible  world." — Sherlock. 

[FpRMtLE  — Not  proper,  because  the  article  iht  is  orn  >m-i.<iblf,  where  the  sense  requires  it.  But,  ac- 

cording to  a  suggestion  on  ]>a-f»  'Jlvli.  "  Ar'i<  it-s  should  bt-  ii  ••••n  as  the  sense  it-quires  them/'  Then- 

fore,  the  should  be  here  supplied  ;  thus,  '•  This  veil  of  flt-sh  parts  the  visible  and  the  invisible  world."] 

41  The  copulative   and  disjunctive  conjunctions  operate  differently  on  the  verb." — J/ur- 


228  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PAR  Til. 

ray's  Gram,  ii,  p.  286.  "  Every  combination  of  a  preposition  and  article  with,  the  noun." — Ib. 
i,  44.  "  Either  signifies,  '  the  one  or  the  other  ; '  neither  imports  not  either,  that  is,  «  not 
one  nor  .the  other.'  "-^-Ib.  i,  56.  "  A.  noun  of  multitude  may  have  a  pronoun,  or  verb, 
agreeing  with  it,  either  of  the  singular  or  plural  number." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  90.  "  Copu- 
lative conjunctions  are,  principally,  and,  as,  both,  because,  for,  if,  that,  then,  since,  &c." 
See  ib.  28.  "The  two  real  genders  are  the  masculine  and  feminine." — Ib.  34.  "  In  which 
a  mute  and  liquid  are  represented  by  the  same  character,  th." — Music  of  Nature,  p.  481. 
•'They  said,  John  Baptist  hath  sent  us  unto  thee." — Luke,  vii.  20.  "  They  indeed  remem- 
ber the  names  of  abundance  of  places." — Sped.  No.  474.  "  Which  created  a  great  dispute 
between  the  young  and  old  men." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  ii,  p.  127.  "Then  shall  be  read  the 
Apostles'  or  Nicene  Creed." — Com.  Prayer,  p.  119.  "The  rules  concerning  the  perfect 
tenses  and  supines  of  verbs  are  Lily's."—  King  Henry's  Gram.  p.  iv.  "  It  was  read  by  the 
high  and  the  low,  the  learned  and  illiterate." — Johnson  s  Life  of  Swift.  "  Most  commonly, 
both  the  pronoun  and  verb  are  understood." — Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  via.  '•  To  signify  the 
thick  and  slender  enunciation  of  tone." — Knight,  on  the  Greek  Alph.  p.  9.  "The  difference  be- 
tween a  palatial  and  guttural  aspirate  is  very  small." — Ib.  12.  "  Leaving  it  to  waver  between 
the  ligurative  and  literal  sense." — Jamieson's  Rhet.p.  154.  "  Whatever  verb  will  not  admit  of 
both  an  active  and  passive  signification." — Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  31.  "  The  is  often  set 
before  adverbs  in  the  comparative  or  superlative  degree." — Ib.  p.  15  ;  Kirkham's  Gram.  66. 
"  Lest  any  should  fe-ir  the  effect  of  such  a  change  upon  the  present  or  succeeding  age  of 
writers." — Fowle's  Common  School  Gram.  p.  5.  "  In  all  these  measures,  the  accents  are  to 
be  placed  on  even  syllables  ;  and  every  line  is,  in  general,  more  melodious,  as  this  rule  is 
more  strictly  observed." — L.  Murray's  Octavo  Gram.  p.  256  ;  Jamieson's  Rhet.  307.  "  How 
many  numbers  do  nouns  appear  to  have?  Two,  the  singular  and  plural." — Smith's  Xaio 
Gram.  p.  8.  "  How  many  persons  ?  Three  persons — the  first,  second,  and  third." — Ib.  p.  10. 
"How  many  cases?  Three — the  nominative,  possessive  and  objective." — Ib.  p.  12. 
"Ah  !  what  avails  it  me,  the  flocks  to  keep, 
Who  lost  my  heart  while  1  preserv'd  sheep." 

POPE'S  WORKS:  British  Poets,  Vol.  vi,  p.  309  :  Lond.  1800. 

LESSON  III. — OMIT  ARTICLES. 

"The  negroes  are  all  the  descendants  of  Africans." — Morse's  Geog. 

[FORMULE  — N<>t  proper,  because  the  article  the  before  dfsctnflants,  is  useless  to  the  construction,  and  injurious 
to  the  sense  But.  according  to  a  principle  on  page  218th,  il  Needless  articles  should  he  omitted  ;  tht\\  seldom  IV.il 
to  pervert  the  sense."  Therefore,  the  should  be  here  omitted  ;  thus,  "  The  negroes  are  all  descendant*  of  At'i  i.  aus  " '] 

*'  A  Sybarite  was  applied  as  a  term  of  reproach  to  a  man  of  dissolute  manners." — Morse's 
Ancient  Georj.  p.  4.  "  The  original  signification  of  knave  was  a  boy." — Webster  s  EL  Spell. 
p.  138.  "  The  meaning  of  these  will  be  explained,  for  the  greater  clearness  and  precision." 
Bucke's  Gram.  p.  58.  "  What  Sort  of  a  Noun  is  Man  ?  A  Noun  Substantive  common." — 
Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  166.  "  Is  what  ever  used  as  three  kinds  of  a  pronoun  ?  " — Kirkhams 
Cram.  p.  117.  "They  delighted  in  the  having  done  it,  as  well  as  in  the  doing  of  it," — 
Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  344.  "  Both  the  parts  of  this  rule  are  exemplified  in  the  following, 
Sentences." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  174.  "  He  has  taught  them  to  hope  for  another  and  a  bet- 
ter world." — N.  L.  Knapp.  "  It  was  itself  only  preparatory  to  a  future,  a  better,  and  per- 
fect revelation." — Keith's  Evid.  p.  23.  "  Es  then  makes  another  and  a  distinct  svllab'e." — 
Brightland's  Gram.  p.  17.  "  The  eternal  clamours  of  a  selfish  and  a  factious  people." — 
Broi.cn  s  Estimate,  i,  74.  "  To  those  whose  taste  in  Elocution  is  hut  a  little  cultivated." — Kirk- 
ham's  Eloc.p.  65.  "  They  considered  they  had  but  a  Sort  of  a  Gourd  to  rejoice  in." — Ben- 
net's  Memorial,  p.  333.  "  Now  there  was  but  one  only  such  a  bough,  in  a  spacious  and  shady 
grove." — Bacon's  Wisdom,  p.  75.  "  Now  the  absurdity  of  this  latter  supposition  will  go  a  great 
way  towards  the  making  a  man  easy." — Collier  s  Antoninus,  p.  131.  "This  is  true  of  the 
mathematics,  where  the  taste  has  but  little  to  do." — Todd's  Student's  Manual,  p.  331.  "  To 
itand  prompter  to  a  pau.-ing,  yet  a  ready  comprehension." — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  251. 
"  Such  an  obedience  as  the  yoked  and  the  torture-d  negro  is  compelled  to  yield  to  the  whip 
Of  the  overseer." — Chalmers's  Sunn.  p.  90.  "For  the  gratification  of  a  momentary  and  an 
unholy  desire."—  Wai/land's  M'>r.  Sci.  p.  288.  "The  body  is  slenderly  put  together;  the 
mind  a  rambling  sort  of  a  thing." — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  26.  "  The  only  nominative  to 
the  verb,  is  the  q;/i  •:•/•." — Murray's  Gram.ii,  22.  "  And  though  in  the  general  it  ought  to  be 
admitted,  &c." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  376.  "Philosophical  writing  admits  of  a  polished,  a  neat, 
and  elegant  style." — Ib.  p.  3fi7.  "  But  notwithstanding  this  defect,  Thomson  is  a  string 
and  a  be  nitiful  describcr." — Ib.  p.  405.  "  So  should  he  be  sure  to  be  ransomed,  and  a  ^any 
poor  men's  lives  saved." — SHAK.:  lien,  v.* 

"  \\  ho  felt  the  wrong,  or  fear'd  it,  took  the  alarm, 
Appeal'd  to  Law,  and  Justice  lent  her  arm." — Pope,  p.  406. 

LESSON  IV. — CHANGE  ARTICLES. 

"To  enable  us  to  avoid  the  too  frequent,  repetition  of  •  he  same  word." — Bucke's  Gr.  p.  52. 
[FOK.VIULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  article  <...e  is  used  to  limit  the  meaning  of  •' repetition,"  or  ''too  -requeut 


CHAP.  II.]  ETYMOLOGY.  —  ARTICLES.  -  ERRORS.  229 

>n,"  where  a  would  hotter  suit  the  cense.     But.  arc-nr.linir  to  a  principle  on  pnjre  21Sth,  "  The  article?  earn 

" 


t  Imii  !»•  put  olio  t"»r  tlu-  othrr.  wrhoiu  :;;».--  impr<>|irii-t\  :  ;i  ,<1  t-ir!i«r  is  of  O'lir.-i-  t/>  i>r  infrirvl  r->  th.-  n-in-r 

:  iirri-fore.  "  ttir  "  should  he  u.  which,  in  Mii>  i:(-<tanre,  ougUt  to  be  placed  alter  the  ad- 
•  ruble  us  lo  avoid  too/rerju-  n'  n  r,fj-  titum  of  ihr  same  w«>rd."J 

"  The  former  is  commonly  acquired  in  the  third  part  of  the  time."  —  Burn's  Gram.  p.  xi. 

adjective  becoq  mtive,  and  has  another  adjective  joined  to  it  :  as, 

4  The  ehief  good.'  "  —  L.  Murray'  a  dram,  i,  10!).     "  An  articuLite  sound  is  the  sound  of  the 

hum-in  voice,  formed  by  the  organs   of  speech.."  —  Ib.  i.  2  ;   Loictfis  dram.  2;    T.  S/nilh's,5. 

"  Ten-e  is  the  distinction  of  time  :   there  are  >ix  tenses."  —  Manner's  drum.  p.  6.     "In  this 

!lipsis  of   the   last    article  would  he  improper."  —  L.    Murray'.*   dram.  i,   p.  218. 

luays    the  cil'eet   to  make   each  of  the  contrasted  objects  ap,  ear  in  the 

Jit."  —  Ib.  i,  319;    It'air'fi  U  hH.  p.    li'.T.      "  These  remarks  n.  •>  show  the 

of  the  proper  use  of  the  article."  —  Lowth's  Gram.  p.  12  ;    J/«/v(///'.s,  i,  171. 

-hop  Tillot-  ii  author  of  the  History  of  England,  'died  in  this  year.'  " 

.  M7.     "  Pronoun*  are  used  instead  of  substantives,  to  prevent  the  too  fre- 

que.i:  .    .f  them."  —  Alc.c.  Murray's  drum.  p.  __'.      '  i  relative,  seems  to  be 

•  e  the  too  frequent  repetition  of  wko  and  which"  —  Ib.  p.  23.     "  A  pronoun 

!  of  a  noun  to  avoid  the  too  frequent  repetition  of  the  same  word."  — 

.    .          -.     "  That  is  often  used  as  a  relative,  to  prevent   the  too  frequent 

h"  —  Kirk/ft  m'x    dra/n.p.lQQ;   L.   Murray's  ,  i,    oo  ;    Uilt-ifs,  84. 

•  te  one  against  an  other."  —  Lvgaiis  N,  •/•//<  >.vs\     "They  stand  now  on  one 
ther."  —  \\'dlk>-rs  Particles,  p.  2-39.     "The  I^ord  watch  between  me  and 

one  from  another.''  —  d,  n.  xxxi,  49.     44  Some  have  enumerated 

ten    I  ,   making  a  participle  a  distinct  part."  —  L.  Murray'*    drum,   i,  p.  29. 

>e  a  Hart  is  a  most  lively  Cie  iture."  —  Bacon's  117*- 

doni,  :  i   ie  transition  of  the  voice  from  one  vowel  ot  the  diphthong  to  another."  — 

difficult  it  is  to  separate  these  two  things  from  one 

\Vithoutthematerialbreachofanyrule."  —  Ib.  p.  101.  "The 

•  npoMtionto  pu"-iM'>n,  is  the  injudicious  useof  those  words 

'  —  Ib.  p.  97.  "  The  great  source  of  a  loose  style,  in  opposition  to  preei- 

ittfl  use  of  the  words  termed  tynonymotu."  —  Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  302. 

-  improperly  used  for  another."  —  Sa/tborn's  Gram.  p.  197. 

«•.  alas  !  can  Sporus  feel? 
"Who  breaks  a  butterfly  upon  a  wheel  ?  "  —  Pope,  p.  396. 

LESSON  V.  —  MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

/.nth  no  delight  in  the  strength  of  an  horse."  —  Maturin's  Sermons,  p.  311.  "  The  head 
•  ulil  !)(•  an  universal  monarch."  —  Il<  •///,  p.  98.     "  Here  they  confound  the 

i  lonn  1  ohji-rt  of  faith."  —  Hare/ay'*   ll'o/-/,-.v.  iii,  p.  57.     "  The  Irish  and  Srotish 
v      -h.  (  'ornish,  and  Armorican,  ai'e  another."  —  Dr.  Murray's 
/i  \mitbrm  and  perspicuous  manner."  —  /  .  -  Tipture,  n.  Ap- 

propriate'. y.  and  by  way  of  distinction,  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  ;  the  lii- 
"  In    two  si-,  a-atr  •  ntitled  the  Old  and  the  new  Testa- 

o  (  )ld  and  New  Test  an.  en  t  con- 

:  E  an  u  after  it  ;  which  is  not  >ouuded  in  words  derived 

from-  -Mould  we  say  of  *uch  an  oner     That 

'•  .."  —  Hnjtki,.  ',.  p.  22.    "Son,.  ;:uis  subdivide  vowels 

rid."  —  M"  .  .      •    1  i       liasifl  bat  been  fur- 

iphaais."—  7&.  L,  244.     "  Em])ha>i>  has 

emphasis."  —  />,.  i,  •_'}.">.     ««  Pronouns  must 

•'•i'h  thei!  •  nouns  \\hieh  !).•  !   r,  number,  and  per- 

ill.andl,1  !  verb  //•//,/-.  iniproj  erly  n>ed, 

I   .    M.     "The  termination   /*//  ini,  01  ts  diminu- 
•  >   ],r,ic«-rd  :    the 

to  the  other.  "—HI*,,  .384.      "  To  an 

i  u'lory.  unknown  to   any  ' 

.     -  llous."—  il,r-h 

^"li.  :,>rm  a  plural."—  /•'"•/.<  'v  drum.  p.  40. 

r   a  primitive,  derivative,  or  compound." 

L  p.  \  ii.    "  It  is  obvious,  that  neither  the  2d,  .'id,  nor  Ith  cliapter  of   Matthew  is 
.   utly.ther.  .•  —  r//  ///-,•//  ill's  <•  "^onie 

writ«-r  want-  ;irt    to  introduce  in  its  proper  place."  —  Hhiir'x  Hint.  p.  109. 
-:-l  meadows  are  mo>t  jilrasitig  in  the  >prmg."  —  1'>.  _<>7.      "  The  '  '\\ei-n 

iritnil  mind,  is  often  lonur."—  '-  trt.  i'.r.  p.  H'>.      "A  I'hildsophi- 

•liry  into  the  Origin  of  our  Id.-as  of  the  Sublime  av.d  Beautiful  '—Burke't  Ti(k-jiaye. 
"  Silence,  my  muse  !  make  not  these  jew- 

/  »ing  to  the  world  too  large  an  heap."—  H  alter,  p.  113. 


THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

CHAPTER  III- NOUNS. 

A  Noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or 
mentioned :  as,  George,  York,  man,  apple,  truth. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — All  words  and  signs  taken  technically,  (that  is,  independently  of  their  meaning,  and 
merely  as  things  spoken  of,  )  are  nouns ;  or,  rather,  are  things  read  and  construed  as  nouns  :  as, 
"For  this  reason,  I  prefer  contemporary  to  cotemporary." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  17 o ;  Murray's 
Gram,  i,  p.  368.  "  I  and  J  were  formerly  expressed  by  the  same  character  ;  as  were  U  and  V." 
— Allen's  Gram.  p.  3.  "  Us  is  a  personal  pronoun." — Murray.  "  Th  has  two  sounds." — Id.  "The 
's  cannot  be  a  contraction  of  his,  because  's  is  put  to  female  [  feminine  ]  nouns  ;  as,  Woman's  beau- 
ty, the  Virgin's  delicacy." — Dr.  Johnson's  Gram.  "  Their  and  theirs  are  the  possessives  likewise 
of  they,  when  they  is  the  plural  of  it." — Ib.  "  Let  B  be  a  now  or  instant." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  103. 
"  In  such  case,  I  say  that  the  instant  B  is  the  end  of  the  time  A  B." — Ib.  103.  "  A  is  sometimes 
a  noun  ;  as,  a  great  A." — Todd's  Johnson.  "Formerly  sp  was  cast  in  a  piece,  as  st's  are  now." — 
Hist,  of  Printing,  1770.  "  I  write  to  others  than  he  will  perhaps  include  in  his  ice." — Barclay's 
Works,  iii,  p.  455.  "  Here  are  no  fewer  than  eight  ands  in  one  sentence." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  112; 
Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  319.  "Within  this  wooden  O;"  i.  e.  circle. — Shak. 

OBS.  2. — In  parsing,  the  learner  must  observe  the  sense  and  use  of  each  word,  and  class  it  ac- 
cordingly. Many  words  commonly  belonging  to  other  parts  of  speech  are  occasionally  used  as 
nouns  ;  and,  since  it  is  the  manner  of  its  use,  that  determines  any  word  to  be  of  one  part  of  speech 
rather  than  of  an  other,  whatever  word  is  used  directly  as  a  noun,  must  of  course  be  parsed  as  such. 

1.  Adjectives  made  nouns  :  "  The  Ancient  of  days  did  sit." — Bible.     "  Of  the  ancients." — Swift. 
"  For  such  impertinents ." — Steele.     "  He  is  an  ignorant  in  it." — Id.     "  In  the  luxuriance  of  an  un- 
bounded picturesque." — Jamieson.    "  A  source  of  the  sublime;"  i  e.  of  sublimity. — Burke.     "The 
Tast  immense  of  space ;  "  i.  e.  immensity. —  Murray.     "  There  is  none  his  like." — Job,  xli,  33.  "  A 
little  more  than  a  little,  is  by  much  too  much." — Shakspeare.     "  And  gladly  make  much  cf  that  en- 
tertainment."— Sidney.     "A  covetous  man  makes  the  most  of  what  he  has." — L' Estrange.     "It 
has  done  enough  for  me." — Pope.     "  He  had  enough  to  do." — Bacon. 

"  All  withers  here;  who  most  possess,  are  losers  by  their  gain, 
Stung  by  full  proof,  that  bad  at  best,  life's  idle  all  is  vain." — Young. 
"  Nor  grudge  I  thee  the  much  the  Grecians  give, 
Nor  murm'ring  take  the  little  I  receive." — Dryden. 

2.  Pronouns  made  nouns :  "A  love  of  seeing  the  what  and  how  of  all  about  him." — STORY'S 
LIFE  OF  FLAXMAN  :  Pioneer,  i,  p.  133.  "  The  nameless  HE,  whose  nod  is  Nature's  birth." — Yoiing, 
Night  iv.     "  I  was  wont  to  load  my  she  with  knacks." — Shak.  Winter's  Tale.     "  Or  any  he,  the 
proudest  of  thy  sort." — Shak.     "I  am  the  happiest  she  in  Kent." — Steele.     "  The  shcs  of  Italy." 
— Shak.  "The  hes  in  birds." — Bacon.  "  We  should  soon  have  as  many  hes  and  shes  as  the  French." 
— Cobbett's   Gram.  H  42.     "If,  for  instance,  we  call  a  nation  a  she,  or  the  sun  a  he." — Ib.  H  193. 
"  When  I  see  many  its  in  a  page,  I  always  tremble  for  the  writer." — Ib.  H  196.     "  Let  those  two 
questionary  petitioners  try  to  do  this  with  their  whos  and  their  ichiches." — SPECT.  :  Ash's  Gr.  p.  131. 

"  Such  mortal  drugs  I  have  ;  but  Mantua's  law 
Is  death  to  any  he  that  utters  them." — Shak. 

3.  Verbs  made  nouns:  "  Avaunt  all  attitude,  and  stare,  and  start  theatric." — Coicper.     "  A  may- 
be of  mercy  is  sufficient." — Bridge.     "Which  citts  are  reckoned  among  the  fractures." — Wise- 
man.    "  The  officer  erred  in  granting  ^.permit." — "  Feel  darts  and  charms,  attracts  and  flames." 
— Iludibras.     "  You  may  know  by  the  falling-off  of  the  come,  or  sprout." — Mortimer.    "  And  thou 
hast  talk'd  of  sallies  and  retires." — Shak. 

"  For  all  that  else  did  come,  were  sure  to  fail ; 
Yet  would  he  further  none,  but  for  avail." — Spenser. 

4.  Participles  made  nouns  :  "  For  the  producing  of  real  happiness." — Crabb.     "  For  the  crying 
of  the  poor  and  the  sighing  of  the  needy,  I  will  arise." — Bible.     "Surely  the  churning  of  milk 
bringeth  forth  butter,  and  the  wringing  of  the  nose  bringeth  forth  blood  ;  so  the  forcing  of  wrath 
bringeth  forth  strife." — Prov.  xxx,  33.      "  Reading,  writing,  and  ciphering,  are'indispensable  to 
civilized  man." — "  Hence  was  invented  the  distinction  between  doing  and  permitting." — Calvin's 
Inst.  p.  131.     "  Knowledge  of  the  past  comes  next." — Hermes,  p.  113.     "lam  my  beloved's,  and 
his  desire  is  toward  rne." — Sol.  Sony,  vii,  10.     "  Here's — a  simple  coming-in  for  one  man." — Shak. 

"  What  are  thy  rents  ?  What  are  thy  comings-in? 
O  Ceremony,  show  me  but  thy  worth." — Id. 

5.  Adverbs  made  nouns  :  "  In  these  cases  we  examine  the  why,  ihewtiat,  and  ihehoioof  things." 
— L' Estrange.      "  If  a  point  or  now  were  extended,  each  of  them  would  contain  within  itself  infin- 
ite other  points  or  nows." — Hermes,  p  102.     "  The  why  is  plain  as  way  to  parish  church.'1 — Shak. 
"  'Tis  Heaven  itself  that  points  out  an  hereafter." — Addison.    "  The  dread  of  a  hereafter." — Fuller. 
"  The  murmur  of  the  deep  amen." — Sir  W.  Scott.     "  For  their  whereabouts  licth  in  a  mystery." 
— Book  of  Thoughts,  p.  14.     Better  :  "  Their  whereabout  lieth,"  or,  "  Their  whereabouts  lie,"  <fcc. 

"Bid  them  farewell,  Cordelia,  though  unkind; 
Thou  losest  here  a  better  where  to  find." — Shak. 

6.  Conjunctions  made  nouns  :     "  The  if,  which  is  here  employed,  converts  the  sentence  into  a 
supposition." — Blair's  Rhet.     "  Your  ifis  the  only  peacemaker;  much  virtue  is  in  if." — Shak. 

"  So  his  Lordship  decreed  with  a  grave  solemn  tone, 

Decisive  and  clear,  without  one  if  or  but — 
That  whenever  the  Nose  put  his  spectacles  on, 

By  daylight  or  candlelight — Eyes  should  be  shut." — Cowper. 


CHAP.    III.]  ETYMOLOGY. NOUNS. CLASSES. — PERSONS.  231 

7.  Interjections  or  phrases  made  nouns  :  "  Come  away  from  all  the  lo-heres !  and  lo  theres  ! " — 
Sermon.     "  Will  cuts  him  short  with  a  '  What  then  ' '  "—Addison.     "  With  hark  and  w hoop ,  and 
wild  halloo." — Scott.     "  And  made  a  pish  at  chance  and  sufferance." — Shak. 
"  A  single  look  more  marks  th'  internal  wo, 
Than  all  the  windings  of  the  lengthen'd  oh." — Lloyd. 

CLASSES. 

Nouns  are  divided  into  two  general  classes  ;  proper  and  common. 

I.  A  proper  noun  is  the  name  of  some  particular  individual,  or  people,  or 
group ;  as,  Adam,  Boston,  the  Hudson,  the  Romans,  the  Azores,  the  Alps. 

II.  A  common  noun  is  the  name  of  a  sort,  kind,  or  class,  of  beings  or 
things  ;  as,  Beast,  bird,  fish,  insect,  creatures,  persons,  children. 

The  particular  classes,  collective,  abstract,  and  verbal,  are  usually  included  among 
common  nouns. 

1.  A  collective  noun,  or  noun  of  multitude,  is  the  name  of  many  individuals  to- 
gether ;  as,    Council,  meeting,  committee,  flock. 

2.  An  abstract  noun  is  the  name  of  some  particular  quality  considered  apart  from 
its  substance  ;  as,  Goodness,  hardness,  pride,  frailty. 

3.  A  verbal  or  participial  noun  is  the  name  of  some  action,  or  state  of  being ;  and 
is  formed  from  a  verb,  like  a  participle,  but  employed  as  a  noun :  as,  "  The  triumph- 
ing of  the  wicked  is  short." — Job,  xx,  5. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — Through  the  influence  of  an  article,  a  proper  name  sometimes  acquires  the  import  of 
a  common  noun  :  of  his  age  ;  "  that  is,  the  great  orator.  "  Many  a  Jiery 

that  is,//-  mountain.     "  Such  is  the  following   application  of  famous  names; 

a  Solomon  for  a  wise  111:111,  a  OKI-MIS  for  a  rich  man,  a  Judas  for  a  traitor,  a  Demosthenes  for  an. 
orator,  and  a  Komer  for  a  poet." — CamjMrs  Khct.  p.  326. 
"  Consideration,  like  an  angel,  came, 

And  whipp'd  tk1  ojfendin<i  .\d,n,t  out  of  him." — Shak. 
Hits.     -2  — A.  common  noun,  with  the  definite  article  before  it,  sometimes  becomes  proper  :  as, 

f/it-  ('/tunnel  ;  (/IK  Ituirtfi  ;  the  I'tu'ti-if  States. 

3  — The  common  name  of  a  thing  or  quality  personified,  often  becomes  proper ;  our  con- 
ption  of  the  object  bring  changed  by  the  figure  of  speech  :  as,  "  My  power,"  said  Reason,  "is 
advise,  not  to  compel." — JoJtnsnn.     "  Fair  Peace  her  olive  branch  extends."  For  such  a  word, 
the  form  of  p  ir>in<*  should  be  like  this  :  "  Peace  is  a  common  -noun,  personified  proper;  of  the 
third  person,  singular  number,  fem  r,  and  nominative  case."     Here  the  construction  of 

the  wuiil  a>.  ••"//.  and  of  the  feminine  gender,  is  the  result  of  the  personification,  and 

contrary  to  the  literal  usage. 

MODIFICATIONS. 

Nouns  have  modifications  of  four  kinds  ;  namely,  Persons,  Numbers, 
Genders,  and  ' ' 

PERSONS. 
!,  in  grammar,  art  modifications  that  distinguish  the  speaker,  the 

heaivr.  mi  I  tip-  ]><T-"ii  or  thing  merely  spoken  of. 

Then*  are  tli:  08 ;  th<- //•*/.  the  xm/W,  and  the  third. 

Th-  ifl  that  which  denotes  the  speaker  or  writer;  as,  "I Paul 

have  written  it.'' 

The  second  /-.rx"/j  is  that  which  denotes  the  hearer,  or  the  person  addressed ; 
as,  "  J!»r»rt.  who  did  t< 

Th-  tliir*/  /><rx«n  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely  spoken 
of;  as,  k'  James  loves  his  book" 

OBSERVATIONS. 

Ons.  1 — The  distinction  of  per-  led   on    the   different  relations  which  the  objects 

mentioned  in    am  •  t>flf.     The  •  IH-:T:LC  the 

ill.!  maker  of  the  co'iimunieatinn,  Uons. 

The  hearer  or   ln-arrr-;,   )>ei:,  lM,l    dn-ccti  .  u  the 

next  or  x-i-ond  of  tlx-^  -A-!ien  he  perukes  what  is 

fcddresftedto  hi  n-rit"  m  print  or  writing.   Listlv,  w\  i<  meri-lv  mentioned  in 

the  discourse,  bears  to  it  that  more  remote  relation  which  constitutes  the  third  person.     The  dis- 


232  THE    GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

tinction  of  persons  belongs  to  nouns,  pronouns,  and  finite  verbs ;  and  to  these  it  is  nlways  applied, 
either  by  peculiarity  of  form  or  construction,  or  by  inference  from  the  principles  of  concord. 
Pronouns  are  like  their  antecedents,  and  verbs  are  like  their  subjects,  in  person. 

OBS.  2. — Of  the  persons,  numbers,  genders,  cases,  and  some  other  gramm  itical  modifications  of 
words,  it  should  be  observed  that  they  belong  not  exclusively  to  any  one  part  of  speech,  but  joint- 
ly and  equally,  to  two  or  three.  Hence,  it  is  necessary  that  our  definitions  of  these  things  be 
such  as  will  apply  to  each  of  them  in  full,  or  under  all  circumstances  ;  for  the  definitions  o\ight 
to  be  as  g(  neral  in  their  application  as  are  the  things  or  properties  defined.  Any  person,  num- 
ber, gender,  case,  or  other  grammatical  modification,  is  really  but  one  and  the  same  thing,  in 
whatever  part  of  speech  it  may  be  found.  This  is  plainly  implied  in  the  very  nature  of  every  form 
of  syntactical  agreement ;  and  as  plainly  contradicted  in  one  half,  and  probably  more,  of  the  defi- 
nitions usually  given  of  these  things. 

OBS.  X. — Let  it  be  understood,  that  persons,  in  grammar,  are  not  words,  but  mere  forms,  rela- 
tions, or  modifications  of  words;  that  they  are  things,  thus  named  by  &Jiyure ;  thim/s  of  the  neu- 
ter geiuler,  and  not  living  souls  But  persons,  in  common  parlance,  or  in  ordinary  life,  are  intelli- 
gent beings,  of  one  or  the  other  sex.  These  objects,  different  as  they  are  in  their  nature,  are  continu- 
ally confound*  d  by  the  makers  of  English  grammars  :  as,  "  The^W  person  is  the  person  who  speaks." 
— Comly's  Gram  p.  17.  So  Bickneil,  of  London  :  •'  1'hejirst  person  speaks  of  himself ,  as,  I  John 
takethee  Elizabeth.  The  second  person  has  the  speech  directed  to  him,  and  is  supposed  to  be  pre- 
sent; as,  Thou  Harry  art  a  wicked  felt'ow.  The  third  person  is  spoken  of,  or  described,  and  sup- 
posed to  be  absent ;  as,  That  Thomas  is  a  good  man.  And  in  the  same  manner  the  plural  pronouns 
are  used,  when  more  than  one  are  spoken  of." — Bicknelf's  Grammatical  Wreath,  p.  50.  "The 
person  speaking  is  the  first  person  ;  the  person  spoken  to,  the  second  ;  and  the  person  spoken  of, 
the  third." — Russell's  Gram.  p.  16.  "The  first  person  is  the  speaker  " — Parser  &  Fox's  Gram. 
Part  i,  p.  6  "  Person  is  that,  which  distinguishes  a  noun,  that  speaks,  one  spo'cen  to,  or  one  spok- 
en about." — S.  R.  Hall's  Gram.  p.  6.  "  A  noun  that  speaks  !  "  A  noun  "spoken  to  !  "  If  ever 
one  of  Father  Hall's  nouns  shall  speak  for  itself,  or  answer  when  "  spoken  to,"  will  it  not  reprove 
him  ?  And  how  can  ihefirsiptrson  be  "  theperson  WHO  speaks"  when  every  word  of  this  phrase 
is  of  the  third  person  ?  Most  ceitainly,  it  in  not  HE,  nor  any  one  of  his  sort.  If  any  body  can 
boast  of  being  "  the  first  person  in  f/rammar,"  1  pray,  1}' ho  is  it  ?  Is  it  not  I,  even  If  Many 
grammarians  say  so.  But  nay  :  such  authors  know  not  what  the  first  person  in  grammar  is. 
The  Rev.  Charles  Adams,  with  infinite  absurdity,  makes  the  three  persons  in  grammar  to  be 
never  any  thing  but  three  nouns,  whicti  hold  a  confabulation,  thus  :  "  PI  rs  >n  is  defined  to  be  that 
which  distinguishes  a  noun  that  speaks,  one  spoken  to,  or  one  spoken  of.  The  noun  that  speaks  [,] 
is  the  first  person;  as,  /,  James,  was  present.  Thewoww  that  is  spoken  to,  is  the  second  person; 
as,  James,  were  you  present  ?  The  noun  that  is  spoken  of,  is  the  third  person  ;  as,  James  was 
present." — Adums's  System  of  Em/Hah  Gram  p.  9.  What  can  be  a  greater  blunder,  than  to  call 
the  first  person  of  a  verb,  of  a  pronoun,  or  even  of  a  noun,  "  the  no  an  that  speaks?  "  What  can  be 
more  absurd  than  are  the  following  assertions  ?  "  Nouns  are  in  the  rir>t  person  when  speaking. 
Nouns  are  of  the  second  person  when  addressed  or  sj<okento." — O.  C.  Fe/ton's  Gram  p.  9. 

OBS.  4. — Ar.  other  error,  scarcely  le-s  gross  than  that  which  has  just  been  noticed,  is  the  very 
common  one  of  identifying  the  three  grammatical  persons  with  certain  words,  called  personal 
pronouns:  as,  "  Us  the  first  person,  thou  the  second,  he,  she  or  it,  the  third." — Smith's  Pro- 
ductive Gram.  p.  -53.  "  /is  the  first  person,  singular.  Thou  is  the  second  person,  singular.  He, 
she,  or  it,  is  the  third  person,  singular.  We  is  the  first  person,  plural.  Y?  or  you  is  the  second 
person,  plural.  They  is  the  third  person,  plural." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  ol  ;  I/^/erso'/'s,  54  ;  D. 
Adams's,  37 ;  A  Flint's,  18  ;  Kirkham's,  98 ;  Cooper's,  34 ;  T.  H.  Miller's,  26 ;  Hall's,  21  :  Frost's, 
13;  Wilt-ox's,  18;  Bacon's,  19;  Alf/cr's,  2'2  ;  Maltby's,  19 ;  Percy's,  \~) ;  S  Putii'im's,  22.  Now 
there  is  no  more  propriety  in  affiiming,  that  "  I  is  the  first  person."  than  in  declaring  that  we, 
we,  us,  am,  oiirselves,  we  think,  I  write,  or  any  other  word  or  phiase  of  the  first  person,  is  the  first 
person.  Yet  Murray  has  given  us  no  other  definitions  or  explanations  of  the  persons  than  the 
foregoing  erroneous  assertions  ;  and,  if  I  mistake  not,  all  the  rest  who  are  here  named,  have  been 
content  to  d<  fine  them  only  as  he  did.  Some  others,  however,  have  done  still  worse  :  as,  "  There 
are  three  personal  pronouns ;  so  called,  because  they  denote  the  three  persons,  who  are  the  sub- 
jects of  a  discourse,  viz.  1st.  /,  who  is  the  person  speaking ;  2d  thou.  irho  is  spoken  to;  3d  he 
she,  or  it,  who  is  spoken  of,  and  their  plurals,  ice,  ye  or  you,  they." — Bin,, hum's  Accidence,  20th 
Ed.,  p.  7.  Here  the  two  kinds  of  error  which  1  have  just  pointed  out,  are  jumbled  together.  It 
is  impossible  to  write  worse  English  than  this!  Nor  is  the  following  much  better:  "Of  the 
personal  pronouns  there  are  five,  viz.  /,  in  the  first  person,  speaking;  Thou,  in  the  second 
person,  spoken  to;  and  He,  she,  it,  in  the  third  person,  spoken  of." — \'ttftin,-/'s  Gram.  p.  2-5. 

OBS.  5. — In  written  language,  the  first  person  denotes  the  writer  or  author  ;  and  the  second,  the 
reader  or  person  addressed:  except  when  the  writer  describes  not  himself,  but  some  one  else,  as 
uttering  to  an  other  the  words  which  he  records.  This  exception  takes  place  more  particularly 
in  the  writing  of  dialogues  and  dramas  ;  in  which  the  first  and  second  persons  are  abundantly 
used,  not  as  the  representatives  of  the  author  and  his  reader,  but  as  denoting  the  fictitious  speak- 
ers and  hearers  that  figure  in  each  scene.  But,  in  discourse,  the  grammatical  persons  may  be 
changed  without  a  change  of  the  living  subject.  In  the  following  sentence,  the  three  grammati- 
cal persons  are  all  of  them  used  with  reference  to  one  and  the  same  individual  :  "  Say  ye  of  Him 
whom  the  Father  hath  sanctified  and  sent  into  the  world,  Thou  blasphemes',  because  I  said  I  am 
the  Son  of  God  ?  " — John,  x,  36. 

OBS.  6. — The  speaker  seldom  refers  to  himself  by  name,  as  the  speaker ;  and,  of  the  objects 
which  there  is  occasion  to  name  in  discourse,  but  comparatively  few  are  sucb  as  can  ever  be  sup- 
posed to  speak.  Consequently,  nouns  are  rarely  used  in  the  first  person  ;  and  when  they  do  as- 
sume this  relation,  a  pronoun  is  commonly  associated  with  them  :  as,  "  I  John'' — "  We  Britons." 
These  words  I  conceive  to  agree  throughout,  in  person,  number,  gender,  and  cise;  though  it 
must  be  confessed,  that  agreement  like  this  is  not  always  required  between  words  in  apposition. 
But  some  grammarians  deny  the  first  person  to  nouns  altogether  ;  others,  with  much  more  con- 


"CHAP.    III.]  KTYMOLOGY. NOUNS. PERSONS. NUMBERS.  233 

gistency,  ascribe  it ;  *  while  very  manv  are  entirely  silent  on  the  subject.    Yet  it  is  plain  that  both 
the  do  Is,  tn  1  the   analogy  of  general  grammar,  require  its  admission.     The  rea- 

Bon  ()|  .:,  the  following  ••  ThenUstocle*  ad  te  <•,><>  "     ••  I  ThemUtocles 

;  ,        •.  "— VirgiL     ••  Romuba 

—  Livy.     '•  Ami'h  il  /"'  — Id.     "Co  ,fr" 

•  •'.  an  apostle,  Xc.,  unto  Timothy,  m>j   own  son  .n  the  faith." — 

;  .rd  f>W  is  of  the  second  person,  in  the  text,  "  Tlttm.  me," 

Li  /'.//</ is  of  the  tii.st  person,  in  this  one?    "  /  written  it." 

the  hand  of  me  Pinil  " — Co/  iv,  18      And  *>o  of  the 

plur.,;  >'•  us  the  apoxtles."—Pet.  iii,  2.     How  can  it  be  pre- 

.ii.  the  phr.i-.-,  "  /  P,mt."  I  is  of  the  rir-t  person,  as  den  , ting  the  speaker,  and  Paul, 

...  ,,ther  pc:  -  MMuethnii?  or  somebody  that  is  not  the  speaker  ?     Let  the  ad- 

i  .  .r.-rsoll,  R.   C.  Smith,  C'omly,  Greenleaf,  Parkhurst,  or  of  any 

O,ts.  7  _A, ,111   the  direct  application  of  what  are  called  Christian  names,  there  is  a  kind  of 

:  .a    many  occasion*  would   seem    to  indicate  a  lack  of  proper  respect ;  so  in  a 

tamiliar  use  of  the  second  person,  as  it  is  the  placing  of  an  other  in  the  more  inti- 

:  i:id   one's  self  in  that  of  the  speaker,  there  is  a  sort  of  assumption 

:   and  respectful  than  to  use  the  third  person.     In  the  following  ex- 

ib  uses  both  forms;  applying  the  term  serv  int  to  himself,  and  to  his  bro- 

:   "  L-'t  /////  'or,/,  I  pr  i  i  over  before  his  s<'rr  int :  and  /  will  lead 

.  H.     For  when  a  speaker  or  a  writer  does  not  choose  to  declare  himself 

in  the  or  to  address  his  hearer  or  reader  in  the  second,  he  speaks  of  both  or  either  in 

t  Muses  did,  and  Caesar  records  the  achievements  of  Casar.  So 

Judah  humbly  beseeches   Joseph  :  "  Let   thy  servant  abide  in  stead  of  the  lad  a  bondman  to  my 

-Gen.  xliv,  :«.     And  Abraham  reverently  intei  cedes  with  God  :  "  Oh  !   let  not  the  Lord  be 

and  I  will  -pt -ak." — (,Y/<  xviii,  30.    And  the  Psalnu>t  prays  :  -'God  be  merciful  unto  us,  and 

'•  his  face  to  shine  upon  us." — Ps.  Ixvii,  1.   So,  on  more  common  occasions:  — 


will  the  rest,  so  iri">th   \\'<nrfi  *f, •/•." — 

1  of  York,  how/it/vs  our  de  irest  brother?" — Id. 

•  .ings  are  spoken  to,  they  are  person/ [fird  •  and  their  names  are  put  in 
figure  the  objec  -  ">std  to  be  cap  ible  of  hearing:  as, 

•  •       t  Hedde-t  ?  t/tou  Jonl«n,  that  thou  wast  driven  b  u-k  ?     Y« 

f  •'///*,  likr  lambs  ?    Tremble,  thou  earth,  at  the 

presence  ot  the  Lord,  at  the  presence  of  the  God  of  Jacob." — Psalms,  cxiv,  5-7. 

NUMBERS. 

fumb  i  mmar,  are  modifications  that  distinguish  unity  and  plurality. 

:nv  two  numV'rs  ;  the  r  and  the  plural. 

ir  nmiiln'r  is  that  which  denotes  but  one  ;  as,  "  The  boy  learns." 
h<-  /  is  that  which  denotes  more  than   one;  as,  u  The  boys 

' 

1       jilur.il  iiuin  _'il:irlv  formed   by  adding  8  or  es  to  the 

•  r  :    as,  I ;  ftox,  boxes  ;  sofa,  sofas  ;  hero,  heroes. 

Wh'Mi  the   siii.Mihir  en«ls   in  a    sound  which  will    unite  with    that  of  *,  the 
plur::  !'"nu  <l  hy  adding  s  only^  and   the  number  of  syllables  is 

not  \\. 

when  the  sound  of  N  cannot  he  united  with  that  of  the  primitive  word, 
•  r  plural  adds  x  t"  final  r,  and  »•*  to  other  terminations,  and   forms  a 
separate  sjllah'.  ,.ces. 

OBSF.KVAII" 

1  — The  distinction  of  nunr  to  show  whether  we  speak  of  one  object,  or 

•  k  and  the  Arabic,  there  is  a  <ln  il  number,  which  denotes 

•cuds  no  farther 

ty,  and  plurality  from  unit)  .onus,  pronouns, 

»nd  h:.  >!ied,  either  by  peculiarity  of  form,  or  by  inference 

••'If.  /,   V  -  ,V  -,  //.  rlnif  ;  «?<•,  AT—  an<l  M— 

•  r  IHT-I.II^  tpmk  ng,»n  siiid  to  be  of 
' 

liiiti.-r.  c.-ipii-ll,  Chjin.ll-r,  S.  W.(  lark. ' 

!l  ill.  llallnrk, 

Hnrlri.-k.  Hi!»->.   I'erlej  .   I'i.-K.--  \\.-U, 

leiiifd,  ••itln-r  .,    C,,nil\.  I».ivK  Dilwnrth, 

i,   ln_''T-.ll.  .l.Mi'lnii,  Kirkli.iui.   L.  Mu-  l.lli-r.  Niirtinjr.  I'arkhurst, 

-•:  ifh.  itn.l  (ir)n-r».      Ani«.n-  t|,«-  .-r.-iuiin 

ofni'Uii-  \    Icn.  Ali'-n.  A  .-a.  ni<-kn«-ll.  IJiiiU'i  i  n.  HI  lir.  Ituoliaiiui).  hucki-.  Hurt).  Hurr.  Churchil. 

i'"iri.  .ni.  AU-I  Hi   t,  K.  W.  Ureen,  Uarridon,  Johnsou,  U-uuie,  Lowih,  Menuye.  Priestley. 
ford    War.'.  u».|.!.,.r.  ;u.  1  \\ 


234  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

from  the  principles  of  concord.  Pronouns  are  like  their  antecedents,  and  verbs  are  like  their  sub- 
jects, in  number. 

OBS.  2 — The  most  common  way  of  forming  the  plural  of  English  nouns,  is  that  of  simply  add- 
ing to  them  an  s ;  which,  when  it  unites  with  a  sharp  consonant,  is  always  sharp,  or  hissing;  and 
when  it  follows  a  vowel  or  aflat  mute,  is  generally  flat,  like  z  :  thus,  in  the  words,  ships,  skiffs,  pife^ 
rocks,  depths,  lakes,  ff'.tif'i,  it  is  sharp  ;  but  in  seas,  bays,  rivers,  hills, ponds,  paths,  rows,  webs,  flags,  it 
is  flat.  The  terminations  which  always  make  the  regular  plural  in  es,  with  increase  of  syllables,  are 
twelve  ;  namely,  ce,  ge,  ch  soft,  che  soft,  sh,  ss,  s,  se,  x,  xe,  z,  and  ze :  as  in  face,  faces  ;  age,  ages  ; 
torch,  torches;  niche,  niches;  dish,  dishes;  kiss,  kisses;  rebus,  rebuses ;  lens ,  lenses;  chaise,  chaises ; 
corpse,  corpses ;  nurse,  nurses ;  box,  boxes ;  axe,  axes  ;phiz,  phizzes ;  maze,  mazes.  All  other  endings 
readily  unite  in  sound  either  with  the  sharp  or  with  the  flat  s,  as  they  themselves  are  sharp  or  flat; 
and,  to  avoid  an  increase  of  syllables,  we  allow  the  final  e  mute  to  remain  mute  after  that  letter  is 
added  :  thus,  we  always  pronounce  as  monosyllables  the  words  babes,  blades,  strifes,  tithes,  yokes, 
scales,  names,  canes,  ropes,  shores, plates,  doves,  and  the  like. 

OBS.  3. — Though  the  irregular  plurals  of  our  language  appear  considerably  numerous  when 
brought  together,  they  are  in  fact  very  few  in  comparison  with  the  many  thousands  that  are  per- 
fectly simple  and  regular.  In  some  instances,  however,  usage  is  various  in  writing,  though  uni- 
form in  speech  ;  an  unsettlement  peculiar  to  certain  words  that  terminate  in  vowels :  as,  Rabbis, 
or  rabbies ;  octavos,  or  octavoes  ;  attornies,  or  attorneys.  There  are  also  some  other  difficulties  re- 
specting the  plurals  of  nouns,  and  especially  respecting  those  of  foreign  words;  of  compound 
terms  ;  of  names  and  titles  ;  and  of  words  redundant  or  deficient  in  regard  to  the  numbers.  What 
is  most  worthy  of  notice,  respecting  all  these  puzzling  points  of  English  grammar,  is  briefly  con- 
tained in  the  following  observations. 

OBS.  4 — It  is  a  general  rule  of  English  grammar,  that  all  singular  nouns  ending  with  a  vowel 
preceded  by  another  vowel,  shall  form  the  plural  by  simply  assuming  ans:  as,  Plea,  pleas ;  idea, 
ideas :  hernia,  hernias ;  bee,  bees;  lie,  lies;  foe,  foes ;  shoe,  shoes;  cue,  cues  ;  eye,  eyes  ;  folio,  folios; 
bamboo,  bamboos  ;  cuckoo,  cuckoos ;  embryo,  embryos  ;  bureau,  bureaus  ;  pur  lie  a,  purlieus ;  sou,  soits  ; 
view,  views  ;  straw,  straws  ;  play,  plays,  key,  keys  ;  medley,  medleys  ;  viceroy,  viceroys  ;  guy,  guys. 
To  this  rule,  the  plurals  of  words  ending  in  quy,  as  allpquies,  colloquies,  obloquies,  soliloquies,  are 
commonly  made  exceptions ;  because  many  have  conceived  that  the  u,  in  such  instances,  is  a  mere 
appendage  to  the  q,  or  a  consonant  having  the  power  of  w,  and  not  a  vowel  forming  a  diphthong 
with  the  y.  All  other  deviations  from  the  rule,  as  monies  for  moneys,  allies  for  alleys,  vallies  for 
valleys,  chimnies  for  chimneys,  &c.,  are  now  usually  condemned  as  errors.  See  Rule  12th  for  Spell- 
ing. 

OBS.  /). — It  is  also  a  general  principle,  that  nouns  ending  in  y  preceded  by  a  consonant,  change 
the  y  into  i,  and  add  es  for  the  plural,  without  increase  of  syllables  :  as,  fly,  flies ;  ally,  allies ;  city, 
cities ;  colony,  colonies.  So  nouns  in  i,  (  so  far  as  we  have  any  that  are  susceptible  of  a  chang3  of 
number,)  form  the  plural  regularly  by  assuming  es  :  as,  alkali,  alkalies ;  salmagundi,  salma^un- 
dies.  Common  nouns  ending  in  y  preceded  by  a  consonant,  are  numerous  ;  and  none  of  them  de- 
viate from  the  foregoing  rule  of  forming  the  plural .  thus,  duty,  duties.  The  termination  added  is 
es,  and  the  y  is  changed  into  i,  according  to  the  general  principle  expressed  in  Rule  llth  for  Spell- 
ing. But,  to  this  principle,  or  rule,  some  writers  have  supposed  that  proper  nouns  were  to  be  ac- 
counted exceptions.  And  accordingly  we  sometimes  find  such  names  made  plural  by  the  mere  ad- 
dition of  an  s  ;  as,  "  How  come  the  Pythagoras' ,  [  it  should  be,  the  Pythagorases,  ]  the  Aristotles, 
the  Tullys,  the  Livys,  to  appear,  even  to  us  at  this  distance,  as  stars  of  the  first  magnitude  in  the 
vast  fields  of  ether  ?" — Burgh's  Dignity,  Vol.  i,  p.  131.  This  doctrine,  adopted  from  some  of  our 
older  grammars,  I  was  myself,  at  one  period,  inclined  to  countenance  ;  (  see  Institutes  of  English 
Gram  p.  33,  at  the  bottom  ;)  but  further  observation  having  led  me  to  suspect,  there  is  more  au- 
thority for  changing  the  y  than  for  retaining  it,  I  shall  by-and-by  exhibit  some  examples  of  this 
change,  and  leave  the  reader  to  take  his  choice  of  the  two  forms,  or  principles. 

OBS.  6. — The  vowel  a,  at  the  end  of  a  word,  (except  in  the  questionable  term  huzza,  or  when 
silent,  as  in  guinea,')  has  always  its  Italian  or  middle  sound,  as  heard  in  the  interject!  >n  aha  !  a 
sound  which  readily  unites  with  that  of  s  flat,  and  which  ought,  in  deliberate  speech,  to  be  care- 
fully preserved  in  plurals  from  this  ending  :  as,  Canada,  the  Canadas ;  cupola,  cupolts ;  comma, 
commas ;  anathema,  anathemas.  To  pronounce  the  final  a  flat,  as  Africay  for  Africa,  is  a  mark  of 
vulgar  ignorance. 

OBS.  7. — The  vowel  e  at  the  end  of  a  word,  is  generally  silent ;  and,  even  when  otherwise,  it  re- 
mains single  in  plurals  from  this  ending  ;  the  es,  whenever  the  e  is  vocal,  being  sounded  cez,  or  like 
the  word  ease  :  as,  apostrophe,  apostrophes  ;  epitome,  epitomes  ;  simile,  similes.  This  class  of  words 
being  anomalous  in  respect  to  pronunciation,  some  authors  have  attempted  to  reform  them,  by 
changing  the  e  to  y  in  the  singular,  and  writing  ies  for  the  plural :  as,  apostrophy,  apostrophies ;  epit- 
omy,  epitomies ;  s'imily,  similies.  A  reformation  of  some  sort  seems  desirable  here,  and  this  has 
the  advantage  of  being  first  proposed  ;  but  it  is  not  extensively  adopted,  and  perhaps  never  will 
be;  for  the  vowel  sound  in  question,  is  not  exactly  that  of  the  terminations  y  undies,  but  one  which 
seems  to  require  ee — a  stronger  sound  than  that  of  y,  though  similar  to  it. 

OBS.  8. — For  nouns  ending  in  o  preceded  by  a  consonant,  the  regular  method  of  forming  the 
plural  seems  to  be  that  of  adding  es ;  as  in  bilboes,  umboes,  buboes,  calicoes,  moriscoes,  gambadoes, 
barricadoes,  fumadoes,  carbonadoes,  tornadoes,  bravadoes,  torpedoes,  innuendoes,  viragoes,  mangoes, 
embargoes,  cargoes,  potar goes  echoes,  buffaloes,  volcanoes,  heroes,  negroes,  potatoes,  manifestoes, 
mullatoes,  stilettoes,  ^l•oes'.  In  words  of  this  class,  the  e  appears  to  be  useful  as  a  means  of  pre- 
serving the  right  sound  of  the  0;  consequently,  such  of  them  as  are  the  most  frequently  used, 
have  become  the  most  firmly  fixed  in  this  orthography.  In  practice,  however,  wo  find  many  simi- 
lar nouns  very  frequently,  if  not  uniformly,  written  with*  only;  as,  cantos, juntos,  ijrotton,  solos, 
quartos,  octavos,  duodecimos,  tyros.  So  that  even  the  best  scholars  seem  to  have  frequently  doubt- 
ed which  termination  they  ought  to  regard  as  the  regular  one.  The  whole  class  includes  more 
than  one  hundred  words.  Some,  however,  are  seldom  used  in  the  plural;  and  others,  never. 
Wo  zndpotato  are  sometimes  written  woe  andpotatoe.  This  may  have  sprung  from  a  notion,  that 


CHAP.    III.]  ETYMOLOGY. NOUNS. NUMBERS.  235 

such  as  have  the  e  in  the  plural,  should  have  it  also  in  the  singular.  But  this  principle  has  never 
been  carried  out;  and,  being  repugnant  to  derivation,  it  probably  never  will  be.  The  only  Eng- 
lish appellatives  that  are  established  in  oe,  are  the  following  fourteen  :  seven  monosyllables,  doe, 
Joe,  roe,  shoe,  sloe,  soe,  toe;  and  seven  longer  words,  rockdoe,  a/oe,  felloe,  canoe,  mitsletoe,  tiptoe, 
diplor.  The  last  is  pronounced  dip'-lo-e  by  Worcester;  but  Webster,  Bolles,  and  some  others, 
give  it  as  a  word  of  two  syllables  only. 

Oas.  9  — Established  exceptions  ought  to  be  enumerated  and  treated  as  exceptions  ;  but  it  is 
impossible  to  remember  how  to  write  some  scores  of  words,  so  nearly  alike  as  fumadoes  and  ore- 
nados,  stih-ttoes  and  palmettos,  if  they  are  allowed  to  differ  in  termination,  as  these  examples  do  in 
Johnson's  Dictionary.  Nay,  for  lack  of  a  rule  to  guide  his  pen,  even  Johnson  himself  could  not 
remember  the  orthography  of  the  common  word  mangoes  well  enough  to  copy  it  twice  without  in- 
con-istcncy.  This  may  be  seen  by  his  example  from  King,  under  the  words  manyo  and potargo. 
Sim  o,  therefore,  either  termination  is  preferable  to  the  uncertainty  which  must  attend  a  division 
of  this  cl.iss  of  words  between  the  two;  and  since  es  has  some  claim  to  the  preference,  as  being 
a  better  index  to  the  sound;  I  shall  make  no  exceptions  to  the  principle,  that  common  nouns 
ending  in  o  preceded  by  a  consonant  take  es  for  the  plural.  Murray  says,  "  Nouns  which  end  in  o 
tmetimes  es  added,  to  form  the  plural;  as,  cargo,  echo,  hero,  negro,  manifesto,  potato, 
Tolcano,  wo  :  and  sometimes  only  s  ;  as,  folio,  nuncio,  punctilio,  seraglio." — Octavo  Gram.  p.  40. 
This  amounts  to  nothing,  unless"  it  is  to  be  interred  from  his  examples,  that  others  like  them  in 
form  are  to  take  *  or  es  accordingly ;  and  this  is  what  I  teach,  though  it  cannot  be  said  that  Mur- 
ray maintains  the  principle. 

bus.  10. — Proper  names  of  individuals,  strictly  used  as  such,  have  no  plural.  But  when  sever- 
al persons  of  the  same  name  are  spoken  of,  the  noun  becomes  in  some  degree  common,  and  ad- 
mits of  the  plural  form  and  an  article;  as,  "  The  Stuarts, the  C&sars." — Allen's  Gram,  p  41.  So 
likewise  when  such  nouns  are  used  to  denote  character:  as,  "  Solomons,  for  wise  men  ;  Neros,  for 
tvrants." — II).  "  Here  we  see  it  becomes  a  doubt  which  of  the  two  Hemileses,  was  the  monster- 
queller." — \otes  to  Pope's  Dunriad,  iv,  492.  The  proper  names  of  nations,  tribes,  and  societies, 
are  generally  plural ;  and,  except  in  a  direct  address,  they  are  usually  construed  with  the  definite 
article  :  as,  :<  Tin-  Greeks,  the  Athenians,  the  Jews,  the  Jesuits."  But  such  words  mav  take  the 
singular  form  with  the  indefinite  article,  as  often  as  we  have  occasion  to  speak  of  an  individual  of 
such  a  people  ;  as,  "  A  Greek,  an  Athenian,  a  Jew,  a  Jesuit." 

Ons.  11. — Proper  names,  when  they  form  the  plural,  for  the  most  part  form  it  regularly,  by  as- 
suming s  or  e*  according  to  the  termination:  as,  Carolina,  the  Carolinas ;  James,  the  Jameses. 
And  those  which  are  only  or  chiefly  plural,  have,  or  ought  to  have,  such  terminations  as  are  proper 
to  distinguish  them  as  plurals,  so' that  the  form  for  the  singular  may  be  inferred  :  as,  "  The  Tun- 
.  :ly  a  third  of  Siberia." — Balbi's  Gcoy.  p.  :i?9.  Here  the  singular  must  certainly 
DC  a  7  "  The  principal  tribes  are  the  /'•'"•//o.v.  the  Arrajtahoes,  and  the  Cumanches,  who 

roam  through  the  regions  of  the  Platte.  the  Arkansaw,  and  the  Norte." — Ib.  p    179.     Here  the 
singulars  in  iv  be  supposed  to  he  a   /'turner,  fin  Arrapaho,  and  a  Cumanche.     "The  Southern  or 
in  family  comprised  the  Cherokees,  Creeks,  Chickasaws,  Chot-tnirs,  St- mi  notes,  and  Natchez." 
I  li  re  all  are  regular  plurals,  except  the  last ;  and  this  probably  ought  to  be  Natchezes, 
but  .li  tf.'isnn  spells  it  Xaf'-hcx,  the  singular  of  which  1  do  not.  know.     Sometimes  foreign  words  or 
;  terminations  have  been  improperly  preferred  to  our  own  ;  which  last  are  more  intelligible, 
and  therefore  betl  •'ifiinmj-.  to  Kiyuimaw  './•,  to  Knistenaus,  or  Crees ;  Sioux, 

/>.  to  Iroguoya,  or  Huron*. 

the  plurals  of  noun's  ending  in  /,  o,  u,  or  y,  preceded  by  a  consonant,  there 

is  in  p  h  uncertainty.     As  any  vowel  sound  may  be  uttered  with  an  s,  many  writers 

suppose  th«  •  require  for  plurals  strictly  regular,  the  s  only  ;  and  to  take  es  occasionally, 

rption.     Others,  (  perhaps  with  more  reason, )  assume,  that  the  most  usual,  regular, 

and   proper  endings  for   the  plural,  in  these  instances,  are  ies,  oes,  and  ues :  as,  alkali,  alkalies  ; 

This,  I  think,  is  right  for  common  nouns.      How  far 

proper  name's  are  to  lie  made  exceptions,  because  they  are  proper  names,  is  an  other  question.     It 

ne  ot'them  are  not  to  be  excepted :  as,  tor  instance,  Allt></hany,t}\e  Alld/hanies; 

the  Two  Sii-f/irs  ;  I'(»ltnit/,  the   /'  J--hit,  the  Jdtiti'S.      So  the  names  of  tribes  ;  as, 

Tin-   1,  "<-s.     Likewise,  the  houries  and  the  hnr/,ies;  which  words, 

not  strictly  proper  names,  are  often  written  with  a  capital  as  such.    Like  these  nrcrabbies, 

•hirs,  from  which  some  writers  omit  the  e.     Johnson,  Walker,  and  others,  write 

:cr,  now  writes  (ii/na-y  and  '  Worcester  prefers  Gypsy,  and  proba- 

ncc  wrote  the  plural  yypsies  •  (see  his  Essays,  p.  333 ;  )  and  Johnson  cites 

the  following  line  :  — 

"  I,  near  yon  stile,  three  sallow  gypsies  met." — Gay. 

13  —Proper  names  ino  are  commonly  made  plural  by  *  only.     Yet  there  seems  to  be  the 

same  reas.m  for  inserting  the  e  in  t  <.thcr  nouns  of  the  same  ending  ;  namely,  to  prevent 

:om  acquiring  a  short  I  apprehend,"  says  Churchill,   "it  has  been  from  an  erro- 

notion  of  proper  n  ;ie,  feeling  the  necessity  of  obviating  this 

put  an  apostrop'  the  o  and  the  s  in   the  plural",  in  stt-<id  <>f'an  e  ; 

and  on  a  similar  principle,  Ajnj-'x,  1',-nux's;  thus  using  the  pOMewive  case 

the  nominative  or  objective  plural.       Harris  says  very  properly,  •  We  have  our  Marks 

andj  ur  Antonits  ii.  4  ;  tor  which  these  would  have  given  us  Mark's  :\\u\  Antony's." 

drum.  p.  '2  ><>.       Whatever  may  have  been  the  motive  for  it,  such  a  use  of  the  apostrophe 

"In  this  quotation,  [  '  From  the  S.u-rates's,  the  Plato's,  and  the  Confucius's 

the  proper  names  >hould  have  been  pluralixed  like  common  nouns  ;  thus.  Krom  the 

.  and  the  Ci  <  ram.  p.  126:  7Ji/// /<•/».•>'>.  1  12. 

•Allowing  are  son.  ,,f  the  plurals  of  proper  names,  which  I  submit  to 

lit  of  the  reader,  in  connexion  with  th  vations:    "  The  Romans  had 

-  Marri  and  Anttmii.  as  \\e  in  later  days  h.lVt.  ,,,,,•  Mirk*  andour  Antln,,ii,  s." — H.irris't 

10.     "  There  seems  to  be  more  reason  tor  such  plurals,  as  the  Ptolemies,  Scipios,  Catoi; 


236  THE   GRAMMAR    OP    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PAR1?   II. 

or,  to  instance  in  more  modern  names,  the  Howards,  Pel  hams,  and  Montagues." — Ib.  40.  "  Near 
the  family  seat  of  the  Montuomeries  of  Coil's-field." — Bttrns's  Poems,  Note,  p.  7.  "  Tryphon,  t.  sur- 
name of  one  of  the  Ptolemies." — Lempriere's  Diet.  "  Sixteen  of  the  Tuber  on,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  lived  in  a  small  house." — Ib.  "  What  are  t\i?Jupiters  and  Junosot  the  heathens  to  such, 
a  God  ?" — Bur,/h'\  Di./nity,  i,  234.  *' Also  when  we  speak  of  more  than  one  person  of  the  same 
name;  as,  the  He/tries,  the  Edwards." — Cobhetfs  Gram.  ^T  40.  "She  was  descended  from  the 
Perries  and  the  Stanleys." — Lores  of  the  Poets,  ii,  102.  "Naples,  or  the  Two  Sicilies."— Bat- 
to?*  Gc-off  p.  2/3.  The  word  India,  comnvmly  m  tkes  the  plural  Indies,  not  Indian  ;  and,  for  Aj  txes, 
the  poets  write  A/aces.  But  Richard  Hiley  says,  "  Proper  nouns,  when  pluralized,  follow  the  same 
rules  as  common  nouns  ;  as,  Venus,  the  Venuses  ;  Ajax,  the  Ajaxes  •  Cato,  the  Catoes  ;  Henry,  the 
Henries." — Hiley's  E  Gram.  p.  18. 

"  He  ev'ry  day  from  King  to  King  can  walk, 

Of  all  our  Harries,  all  our  Edwards  talk." — Pope's  Satires,  iv. 

OBS.  15. — When  a  name  and  a  title  are  to  he  u*ed  together  in  a  plural  sense,  many  persons  are 
puzzled  to  determine  whether  the  name,  or  the  title,  or  both,  should  he  in  the  plural  form.  For 
example — in  speaking  of  two  young  ladies  whose  family  name  is  Bel! — whether  to  call  them  the 
Alms  Bells,  the  Misses  Bell,  or  the  Misses  Bells.  To  an  inquiry  on  this  point,  a  learned  e-litor, 
who  prefers  the  last,  lately  gave  his  answer  thus  :  "  There  are  two  young  ladies;  of  course  they  are 
*  the  Mi>ses.'  Their  name  is  Bell ;  of  course  there  are  two  '  Bells.'  Ergo,  the  correct  phrase,  in  speak- 
ing of  them,  is — '  the  Misses  B.'lls.'  " — N.  Y.  Com.  Adv.  This  puts  the  words  in  apposition  ;  and 
there  is  no  question,  that  it  is  formally  correct  But  still  it  is  less  agreeable  to  the  ear,  less  frequent- 
ly heard,  and  less  approved  by  grammarians,  than  the  first  phrase  ;  which,  if  we  may  be  allowed  to 
assume  that  the  two  words  may  be  taken  together  as  a  sort  of  compound,  is  correct  also.  Dr.  Priest- 
ley says,  "  Wh^n  a  name  has  a  title  prefixed  to  it,  as  Doctor,  Miss,  Master,  £c.,  the  plural  termina- 
tion affects  only  the  latter  of  the  two  words;  as, 'The  two  Doctor  Ncttletons'—'The  two  Miss 
Thomsons ;'  though  a  strict  analogy  would  plead  for  the  alteration  of  the  former  word,  and  lead  us 
to  say,  •  The  two  Doctors  Nettteton  '— «  The  two  Misses  Thomson.'  "—Priestley's  Gram.  p.  .59.  The 
following  quotations  show  the  opinions  of  some  other  grammarians  :  "  Two  or  more  nouns  in  con- 
cordance, and  forming  one  complex  name,  or  a  name  and  a  title,  have  the  plural  termination  an- 
nexed to  the  last  only  ;  as,  •  The  Miss  Smiths' — •  The  three  Doctor  Simpson*  ' — '  The  t\vo  Mister 
Wigginses.'  With  a  few  exceptions,  and  those  not  parallel  to  the  examples  just  given,  we  al  nost 
uniformly,  in  complex  names,  confine  the  inflection  to  the  last  or  the  latter  noun." — Dr.  (,'ro.nbie. 
The  foregoing  opinion  from  Crombie,  is  quoted  and  seconded  by  Maunder,  who  adds  the  following 
examples  :  "  Thus,  Dr.  Watts  :  '  May  there  not  be  Sir  Isaac  "Newton*  in  every  science  ?' — '  You 
must  not  suppose  that  the  world  is  made  up  of  La>/y  Aurora  Granvilles.'  " — Maunder' s  Gram.  p.  2. 

OBS.  16  — These  writers  do  not  seem  to  accord  with  W.  L.  Stone,  the  editor  above  quoted  nor 
Would  his  reasoning  apply  well  to  several  of  their  examples.  Yet  both  opinions  are  right,  if  naith- 
er  be  carried  too  far.  For  when  "he  words  are  in  apposition,  rather  than  in  composition,  the  first 
name  or  title  must  be  made  plural,  if  it  refer  to  more  than  one  :  as,  "  The  Misses  Bell  and  Br<  wn" 
— "  Messrs.  Lambert  and  Son" — "The  Lords  Calthorpe  and  Erskintt" — "  The  Lord*  Bishops  of 
Durham  and  St.  David's" — "  The  Kniyhts  Hospitalers" — "  The  Knu/hts  Templar.-." — "  The  Knit/his 
Baronets."  But  this  does  not  prove  the  other  construction,  which  varies  the  last  word  only, to 
be  irregular;  and,  if  it  did,  there  is  abundant  authority  for  it  Nor  is  that  which  varies  the  first 
only,  to  be  altogether  condemned,  though  Dr  Priestley  is  unquestionably  wrong  respecting  the 
"strict  ana'otiy"  of  which  he  speaks.  The  joining  of  a  plural  title  to  one  singular  noun,  as, 
"Misses  Rot/" — "  The  Misses  Bell" — "The  two  Misses  Thomson"  produces  a  phrase  which  is 
in  itself  the  least  analoanus  of  the  three  ;  but  "  The  Misses  June  and  Eliza  Bell"  is  a  phrase  w  hich 
nobody  pei  haps  will  undertake  to  amend.  It  appears,  then,  that  each  of  these  forms  of  expression 
may  he  right  in  some  cases  ;  and  each  of  them  may  be  wrong,  if  improperly  substituted  for  either 
of  the  others 

OBS.  17- — The  following  statements,  though  erroneous  in  several  particulars,  will  show  the  opin- 
ions of  some  other  grammarians,  upon  the  foregoing  point :  "  Proper  nouns  have  the  plural  only 
when  they  refer  to  a  race  or  family  ;  as,  The  Campbells  ;  or  to  several  persons  of  the  same  name  ;  as, 
The  eit/ht  Henrys  •  the  two  Mr.  Bells ;  the  tivo  Miss  Browns ;  or,  without  the  numeral,  the  Mist 
Roys.  But  in  addressing  letters  in  which  both  or  all  are  equally  concerned,  and  also  when  the 
names  are  different,  we  pluralize  the  title,  (Mr.  or  Miss,)  and  write,  Misses  Brown  ;  Misses  Roy; 
A/f'.v.sr.s  (for  Messieurs,  Fr.)  Guthtie  and  Tait  " — Lenm'e's  Gram  p  7  "  If  we  wish  to  distin- 
guish the  unmarried  from  the  married  Howards,  we  call  them  the.  Miss  Howards.  If  we  wish  to 
distinguish  these  Misses  from  other  Misses,  we  call  them  the  Misses  Howard  " — Fowlc's  Gra/n. 
"  To  distinguish  several  persons  of  the  same  name  and  family  from  others  of  a  different  name  and 
family,  the  title,  and  not  the  proper  name,  is  varied  to  express'the  distinction  ;  as,  the  Mi^cs  Story, 
the  Messrs.  Story.  The  elliptical  meaning  is,  the  Misses  and  Messrs,  who  arc  named  Story.  To 
distinguish  unmarried  from  married  ladies,  the  proper  name,  and  not  the  title,  should  be  varied  ; 
as,  the  Miss  Clarks.  \Vhen  we  mention  more  than  one  person  of  different  names,  the  title  should 
be  expressed  befoie  each  ;  as,  Miss  Burns,  Miss  Parker,  and  Miss  Hopkinson,  were  present." — 
Sanborn'*  Gram.  p.  79  In  the  following  examples  from  Pope's  Works,  the  last  word  only  is  varied  : 
"  He  paragons  himself  to  two  Lord  Chancellors  for  law." — Vol.  iii,  p.  61.  "Yearly  panegyrics 
upon  the  Lord  Mayors  " — Ib.  p.  83. 

"  Whence  hapless  Monsieur  much  complains  at  Paris 

Of  wrongs  from  Duchesses  and  Lady  Maries." — Dunciad,  B.  ii,  1.  13-5. 

OBS.  18  — The  following  eleven  nouns  in  /',  change  the  f  into  v  and  assume  es  for  the  plural : 
sheaf,  sheaves;  leaf,  leaves;  loaf  ,  loaves ;  beef,  beeves;  th'ief,  thieves;  <-alf,  ralres  ;  half,  hair es ; 
elf  .  elves ;  shelf,  shelves;  self,  selves;  wolf,  wolves.  Three  others  in  fe  are  similar:  'life,  lives ; 
Jtnife,  knives  ;  wife,  wives  These  are  specific  exceptions  to  the  general  'rule  for  plurals,  and  not  a 
series  of  examples  coming  under  a  particular  rule;  for,  contrary  to  the  instructions  of  nearly  all 
our  grammarians,  there  are  more  than  twice  as  many  words  of  the  same  endings,  which  take  a 
only :  as,  chiefs,  kerchiefs,  handkerchiefs,  mischiefs,  beliefs,  misbeliefs,  reliefs,  bassreliefs,  briefs, 


CHAP.    ITT.]  IOLOGY. — NOUNS. NUMBERS.  237 

'•refs,  oaf*,  waifs,  coifs,  gulfs,  hoofs,  roofs,  proofs,  reproofs,  woofs,  califs, 
.  ,/iv,   «•//</•/••.  plural    of    ?/•// -trf  is    MMiietimcs    written 

.1  perhaps  a  •  '.more   accurately,  trtxirfs.      Kx  .unpies  anil  authori- 

• 

not  in  London  so  HKU.\  keys,  for  the  landing  of  merchants'  yo  >ds." — 

(.  .   in  .lf>/in*o/t's  Dift.     "The  wharf's  of  Boston  are  also  wortny  of  notice." — li'tlb!'* 

:  'A  \vitri  dwelhn^-h'mses.  manufactories,  and  toAor^r." — I  Bunion 

Nouns"  in  /f  t  ike  s  only  ;  as,  skijfs,  staffs,  fluff's.      But  the  plural  of  atf  (//" 

,    generally  writt  i  'puzzling    m<i  useless  anomaly,  both  in  form  and 

i   ,s^/y/'  are  regular  .  ;f'v,  whipst  iji 

s  is  the  regular  plural  of  since,  a  word  now  in  very  common  use  with  aoif- 
•mows.     Staffs   is  now  sometimes   used  ;   as, 

:mg  over  their  st'iffs  " — Lord  Carnarvon.  "  With  their  stiff*  in  their 

•>.    "  To  distinguish  between  the  two  st  'Jf*." — 'Comstock'* 

In  one  instance,  I  o  is  rve.  a  very  excellent  scholar  has  written  self's  for  selves, 

"d  plur.il  o: 
;-.ove  would  cease,  or  be  dilated,  when 

:iould  behold  as  many  self's  as  in  -n." — Waller's  Poems,  p.  55. 

QBS.  10. — Of  nouns  purely  English,  the  following  thirteen  are  the  only  simple  w  >rds  that  form 

t  ending  in  i  four  of  these  are  often  regular  •  i/i'i/i.  men;  icuman,  >ro- 

,  bri'.thn-n  or  brothers  ;  ox,  oxen  ;  goose,  yeese ;  foot,  feet  •  tooth,  teeth  ; 

/iy,  pence  or  pennies ;  pea,  pease  or  peat.     The  word 

;  -.ilied  only  to  fellow-members  of   the  same  church  or  fraternity;  for  sons  of  the 

;itw.iys  use  brothers  ;  and  this  form  is  sometimes  employed  in  the  other  sense. 

.tted  cubes  tor  gaming;  dies  are  stamps  for  coining  money,  or  for  impressing  metals. 

e,  refers  to  the  amount  of  money  in  value  ;  pennies  denotes  the  coins  themselves. 

or  two  or  more  individual  seeds;  but  petite,  for  an  indefinite  number  in  quanti- 

—  \\'tb*tt:r's    i)i<-t.     This   la>t  anomaly,!  think,  might  well  enough   be  spared;  the 

-ime,  and  the  distinction  to  the  eye  not  always  regarded.     Why  is  it 

pn.ip.-r,  to  write  an  order  for  "  a  bushel  of  peas,11  as  for  "a  bushel  of  bi-um  f  "     "  Peas  and 

red  from  the  ground  before  they  be  quite  dry." — Cobbett's  E.  Gram  *U  31. 

•  a  comp-mnd,  ending  with  any"  of  the  foregoing  irregular  words,  is  made  plural, 

!  with   which  it  ends:  as,  Gentleman,  gentlemen;  bo ndw >»n  in, 

:  eyi'tooth ,  eyeteeth,  woodlouse,  wood- 

.     In  this   way,  these  irregularities 

metaphorical  class,  a>  kite's  foot,  colt's-foot,  bear's- 

names  of  plants,  have  no  plural.     The  word  man,  which  is  used  the  most 

in  re  than  seventy  such  comj  ounds.     But  there  are  some  words  of 

5  compounds  of  man,  are  regular:  as,  German,  Genwinn;  Turcoman, 

•  us  ;  leman,  lenians ;  ciiirti'nt,  c.iimans. 

•  •iieral.  admit  but  one  variation  to  form  the  plural,  and  that  must  be 
•'.pal  word,  rath-  r  tiian  in  the  adjunct;  but  where  the  terms  differ  little  in  imp  >r- 
..f  the  lanu'ia-c  o!jviou->ly  iin-iiu.  s  L^  a  variation  of  the  last  only.  Thus  we  write 

.-man,  h  ittyt-rs-on,  comin/s-in, 
:n'g   tlie   tir^t  ;    and   innnfi  it, 

'lunntfx,  infjatheri  tt/injx,  orer- 

many  instances,  when   there  is  a  less  intimate  connexion  of 

i  with  a  hyphen,  if  not  separately,  we  choose  to  vary  the  latter 

.  h'--</oats,  .s  x,  jack- 

irregular  in  two  respoc.ts  ;   first,  I- 
b')tli  arc>  varied  :   "  Is  it  unreasonable  to  ^  iv  with 
:iyona    level  with  men  stealersf" — OoODBLL'a  LECT.  II : 


22.     From  1  both  authority  and  analogy 

uch  quint'.'. 

;i<-cting  the  proper  forms  for  the  plurals 

:  nouns   in  irrneral  ;   but    ttir  ir  w.>r-  Is  mm  and  wom  i/i  are  often   varied  at 

•  appears  to  be  the  general  analogy 
.   I  shall  have  q-Mted  a  I 

//,  vii,  67.  "  And  I  have 
- 

.    men."  —  /  .  .d  "he 

.th  a  rod  of  iron  "  —  /.'  .-.  \:i,  5.     "  Why 

.18.  Booh  term*  as  these,  if  thought 

irt  of  the  compound  th< 

rate  n  female  ;  as.  r  those  of  the  third  example, 

,  vii.   67  ;  fi>r,   in  tlie  ancient 

./en." 

are  usually,   iri    the  lai: 
.   ire  mad-  plural  in  Kng  i^h 
add  tiuis  ..i  .v  ur  ts  at  the  end.   But,  in  all  such  ca>es,  I  think  the  hyphen  should  be  inserted  in  the 


*"hiT--  an-  <x>!iie  siD'juliir  compouiuls  <>f  the  plur.  which  form  thoir  own  plurals 

; 
i  posed  of  the  diBputoa  Uitlureiiie  iu  tae  value  of  two  doubtful  silences.''  —  uool>tLL'a   L.M.I-.: 


238  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

compound,  though  it  is  the  practice  of  many  to  omit  it.  Of  this  odd  sort  of  words,  I  quote  the 
following  examples  from  Churchill ;  taking  the  liberty  to  insert  the  hyphen,  which  he  omits  :  "  Ave- 
Maries,  Te-Deums,  camera-obscuras,  af/nus-castuses,  habeas-corpuses,  scire-faciases,  hiccius-doc  ius- 
es,  hocus-pocuses,  ignis-fattiuses,  chef-d'-ceiivres,  conge'-d'-elires,  flower-de-luces,  louis-d '-ores ,  tite-a- 
tetes." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  62. 

OBS.  24. — Some  nouns,  from  the  nature  of  the  things  meant,  have  no  plural.  For,  as  there 
ought  to  be  no  word,  or  inflection  of  a  word,  for  which  we  cannot  conceive  an  appropriate  m?an- 
ing  or  use,  it  follows  that  whatever  is  of  such  a  species  that  it  cannot  be  taken  in  any  plural  sense, 
must  naturally  be  named  by  a  word  which  is  singular  only  :  as,  perry,  cider,  coffee,  flax, 
hemp,  fennel,  tallow,  pitch,  gold,  sloth,  pride,  meekness,  eloquence.  But  there  are  somethings, 
which  have  in  fact  neither  a  comprehensible  unity,  nor  any  distinguishable  plurality,  and  which 
may  therefore  be  spoken  of  in  either  number;  for  the  distinction  of  unity  and  plurality  is,  in  such 
instances,  merely  verbal ;  and,  whichever  number  we  take,  the  word  will  be  apt  to  want  the 
other  :  as,  dreys,  or  sediment ;  riches,  or  wealth  ;  pains,  or  toil ;  ethics,  or  moral  fjhi/oxophy;  poli- 
tics, or  the  science  of  government ;  belles-lettres,  or  polite  literature.  So  darkness,  which  in  English 
appears  to  have  no  plural,  is  expressed  in  Latin  by  tenebra,  in  French  by  tenebres,  which  have  no 
singular.  It  is  necessary  that  every  noun  should  be  understood  to  be  of  one  number  or  the  other ; 
for,  in  connecting  it  with  a  verb,  or  in  supplying  its  place  by  a  pronoun,  we  must  assume  it  to  be 
either  singular  or  plural.  And  it  is  desirable  that  singulars  and  plurals  should  always  abide  by 
their  appropriate  forms,  so  that  they  may  be  thereby  distinguished  with  readiness.  But  custom, 
•which  regulates  this,  as  every  thing  else  of  the  like  nature,  does  not  always  adjust  it  well;  or,  at 
least,  not  always  upon  principles  uniform  in  themselves  and  obvious  to  every  intellect. 

OBS.  2o. — Nouns  of  multitude,  when  taken  collectively,  generally  admit  the  regular  plural 
form ;  which  of  course  is  understood  with  reference  to  the  individuality  of  the  whole  collec- 
tion, considered  as  one  thing :  but,  when  taken  distributively,  they  have  a  plural  signification 
without  the  form  ;  and,  in  this  case,  their  plurality  refers  to  the  individuals  that  compose  the  assem- 
blage. Thus,  a  council,  a  committee,  a.  jury,  ^.meeting,  a  society,  a.  flock,  or  a, herd,  is  singular  ;  and 
the  regular  plurals  are  councils,  committees,  juries,  meetings,  societies,  flocks,  herds.  But  these,  and 
many  similar  words,  may  be  taken  plurally  without  the  s,  because  a  collective  noun  is  the  name 
of  many  individuals  together.  Hence  we  may  say,  -''The  council  were  unanimous." — "  The  Com- 
mittee are  in  consultation." — "  The  jury  were  unable  to  agree." — "  The  meeting  have  shown  ,'heir 
discretion." — "  The  society  have  settled  their  dispute." — "  The  flock  are  widely  scattered." — "  The 
whole  herd  were  droivned  in  the  sea."  The  propriety  of  the  last  example  seems  questionable  ;  be- 
cause whole  implies  unity,  and  were  drowned  is  plural.  Where  a  purer  concord  can  be  effected, 
it  may  be  well  to  avoid  such  a  construction,  though  examples  like  it  are  not  uncommon:  as, 
"  Clodius  was  acquitted  by  a  corrupt  jury,  that  had  palpably  taken  shares  of  money  before  they 
gave  their  verdict." — Bacon.  "  And  the  whole  multitude  of  the  people  icere  praying  without,  at 
the  time  of  incense." — Luke,  i,  10. 

OBS.  26. — Nouns  have,  in  some  instances,  a  unity  or  plurality  of  meaning,  which  seems  to  be 
directly  at  variance  with  their  form.  Thus,  cattle,  for  beasts  of  pasture,  and  pulse ,  fur  peas  and 
beans,  though  in  appearance  singulars  only,  are  generally,  if  not  always,  plural;  and  sumn  ons, 
gallows,  chints,  series,  superflcies,  molasses,  suds,  hunks,  jakcs,  trapes,  and  corps,  with  the  ap- 
pearance of  plurals,  are  generally,  if  not  always,  singular.  Dr.  Webster  says  that  cattle  is  of  >oth 
numbers ;  but  wherein  the  oneness  of  cattle  can  consist,  I  know  not.  The  Bible  says,  "  God 
made — cattle  after  their  kind." — Gen.  i,  2o.  Here  kind  is  indeed  singular,  as  if  cattle  were  a 
natural  genus  of  which  one  must  be  acattle ;  as  sheep  are  a  natural  genus  of  which  one  is  a  sleep : 
but  whether  properly  expressed  so  or  not,  is  questionable;  perhaps  it  ought  to  be,  "  and  cittle 
after  their  kinds."  Dr.  Gillies  says,  in  his  History  of  Greece,  "  Cattle  teas  regarded  as  the  most 
convenient  measure  of  value."  This  seems  to  me  to  be  more  inaccurate  and  unintelligible,  than 
to  say,  "  Sheep  was  regarded  as  the  most  convenient  measure  of  value."  And  what  would  this 
mean  }  Sheep  is  not  singular,  unless  limited  to  that  number  by  some  definitive  word  ;  and  cattle 
I  conceive  to  be  incapable  of  any  such  limitation. 

OBS.  27. — Of  the  last  class  of  words  above  cited,  some  may  assume  an  additional  es,  when  taken 
plurally  ;  as,  summonses,  gallowses,  chintses  :  the  rest  either  want  the  plural,  or  have  it  seldom 
and  without  change  of  form.  Corps,  a  body  of  troops,  is  a  French  word,  which,  when  singular,  is 
pronounced  core,  and  when  plural,  cores.  But  corpse,  a  dead  body,  is  an  English  word,  pronounced 
korps,  and  making  the  plural  in  two  syllables,  corpses.  Summonses  is  given  in  Cobb's  Dictionary  as 
the  plural  of  summons  ;  but  some  authors  have  used  the  latter  with  a  plural  verb  :  as,  "  But  Love's 
first  summons  seldom  are  obey'd." — Waller's  Poems,  p.  8.  Dr.  Johnson  says  this  noun  is  from 
the  verb  to  summon;  and,  if  this  is  its  origin,  the  singular  ought  to  be  a  summon,  and  then  sum- 
mons would  be  a  regular  plural.  But  this  *'  singular  noun  with  a  plural  termination,"  as  Webster 
describes  it,  more  probably  originated  from  the  Latin  verb  submoneas,  used  in  the  writ,  and  came 
to  us  through  the  jargon  of  law,  in  which  we  sometimes  hear  men  talk  of  "  summonsing  witnesses." 
The  authorities  for  it,  however,  are  good  enough;  as,11  This  present  summons." — SHAK.:  Joh. 
Diet.  "  This  summons  he  resolved  to  disobey." — FELL:  ib.  Chints  is  called  by  Cobb  a"  substan- 
tive plural,"  and  defined  as  "  cotton  cloths,  made  in  India;  "  but  other  lexicographers  define  it  as 
singular,  and  Worcester  (perhaps  more  properly)  writes  it  chintz.  Johnson  cites  Pope  as  speak- 
ing of  "a  charming  chints,"  and  I  have  somewhere  seen  the  plural  formed  by  adding  es.  "  Of  the 
Construction  of  single  Words,  or  Serieses  of  Words." — IVard's  Gram.  p.  114.  Walker,  in  his 
Elements  of  Elocution,  makes  frequent  use  of  the  word  "  serieses,"  and  of  the  phrase  "  series  of 
serieses."  But  most  writers,  I  suppose,  would  doubt  the  propriety  of  this  practice ;  because,  in 
Latin,  all  nouns  of  the  fifth  declension,  such  as  caries,  congeries,  series,  species,  superficies,  make 
their  nominative  and  vocative  cases  alike  in  both  numbers.  This,  however,  is  no  rule  for  writing 
English.  Dr.  Blair  has  used  the  word  species  in  a  plural  sense ;  though  I  think  he  ought  rather 
to  have  preferred  the  regular  English  word  kinds  :  "  The  higher  species  of  poetry  seldom  admit 
it." — Rhet.  p.  403.  Specie,  meaning  hard  money,  though  derived  or  corrupted  from  species,  is  not 
the  singular  of  that  word  ;  nor  has  it  any  occasion  for  a  plural  form,  because  we  never  speak  of 


CHAP.    III.]  ETYMOLOGY. NOUNS. NUMBERS.  239 

a  specie.    The  plural  at  gallows,  according  to  Dr.  Webster,  is  gallowses ;  nor  is  that  form  without 
other  authority,  though  some  say,  ynlloie.t  is  of  both  numbers  and  not  to  be  varied  :     "  Gallows- 
es were  occasionally  put  in  order  by  the  side  of  my  windows." — Leigh  Hunt's  Byron,  p.  363. 
"  Who  woulo  not  guess  there  might  be  hopes, 

The  fear  of  yalloicses  and  ropes, 

Before  their  eyes,  might  reconcile 

Their  animosities  awhile  ?  " — Hudibras,  p.  90. 

OBS.  28. — Though  the  plural  number  is  generally  derived  from  the  singular,  and  of  course  must 
as  generally  imply  its  existence,  we  have  examples,  and  those  not  a  few,  in  which  the  case  is 
otherwise.  Some  nouns,  because  they  signify  such  things  as  nature  or  art  has  made  plural  or 
double  ;  some,  because  they  have  been  formed  from  other  parts  of  speech  by  means  of  the  plural 
ending  which  belongs  to  nouns ;  and  some,  because  they  are  compounds  in  which  a  plural  word  is 
principal,  and  put  lust,  are  commonly  used  in  the  plural  number  only,  and  have,  in  strict  proprie- 
ty, no  singular.  Though  these  three  classes  of  plurals  may  not  be  perfectly  separable,  I  shall  en- 
deavour to  exhibit  them  in  the  order  of  this  explanation. 

1.  Plurals  in  meaning  and  form  :  analects,  annals,*  archives,  ashes,  assets,  billiards,  bowels,  breech- 
es, cat  ,  rlothes,  compasses,  crants,  eaves,  embers,  estovers,  forfeps,  giblets,  goggles, 

•rrhoids,ides,  matins,  nippers,  nones,  obsequies,  orgies,  f  piles,  pincers 

or  pinchers,  s  scissors,  shears,  skittles,  smtjf'ers,  spectacles,  teens,  tongs,  troicsers,  tweezers, 

f  tut  Is. 

2.  Plurals  by  formation,  derived  chiefly  from  adjectives:  acoustics,  aeronautics, analytics,  bitters, 

I'cdentials,  delicates,  dioptrics,  economics,  ethics,  extraordinaries, filings, 
goods,  her/neneutics,  hustings,  hydrodynamics,  hydrostatics,  hy- 
drant. .  't/s,  magnetics,   mathematics,   measles,  mechanics,  mnemonics, 
'•ihi/sics,  middlings,  movables,  mumps,  nuptials,  optics,  phonics,  physics,  J  pneumatics, 
poet  it -.                                       tt,  settlings,  shambles,  shatters,  skimmings,  spherics,  staggers,  statics, 
'i/a,  xtranylcs,  sundries,  sweepings,  tactics,  thanks,  tidings,  trappings,  vives,  vitals,  icages,§ 
withers,  yellows. 

3.  Plurals  by  composition:  backstairs,  cocklestairs,  firearms,  \\  headquarters,  hotcockles,  spatter- 
dashes, self -off airs.     To  these  may  be  added  the  Latin  words,  aborigines,  antipodes,  antes,  antceci, 
mnphiscii,  anthropophagi,  antiscit,  asdi,  literati,  fauces,  regalia,  and  credenda,  with  the  Italian 
ver/itiri'.'/i,  and  the  French  beUet-lettrm  and  - 

Ons.  2:). — There  are  several  nouns  which  are  set  down  by  some  writers  as  wanting  the  singular, 

and  by  others  as  having  it.     Of  this  class  are  the  following:  amends,  H  ancients,  awns,  bots,  cata- 

•'•-sses,  dogsears,  <  -,**  entrails,  fetters,  fireworks,  greens,  gyves, 

nalanden,  nnt!I<nrx,  moderns,  oats,  arts,  plciads,  premises,  relics, 

The  fact  is,  that  these  words  have,  or  ought  to 

have,  the  singular,  as  often  as  there  is  any  occasion  to  use  it ;  and  the  same  may,  in  general  terms, 
bo  sc.id  of  other  nouns,  respecting  the  formation  of  the  plural.  JJ  For  where  the  idea  of  unity  or 
plurality  comes  clearly  before  the  mind,  we  are  very  apt  to  shape  the  word  accordingly,  without 
thinking  much  about  the.authorities  we  can  quote  for  it. 

Ons.  30. — In  general,  where  both  numbers  exist  in  common  use,  there  is  some  palpable  one- 
ness or  individuality,  to  which  the  article  a  or  an  is  applicable  ;  the  nature  of  the  species  is  found 
entire  in  every  individual  of  it;  and  a  multiplication  of  the  individuals  gives  rise  to  plurality  in  the 
nani'-«.  But  the  nature  of  a  mass,  or  of  an  indefinite  multitude  taken  collectively,  is  not  found  in 
individuals  as  such;  nor  is  the  name,  whether  singular,  as  gold,  or  plural,  as  ashes,  so  under- 
stood. Hence,  though  every  noun  must  be  of  one  number  or  the  other,  there  are  many  which 
have  little  or  no  need  of  both.  Thus  we  commonly  speak  of  wheat,  barley,  or  oats,  collectively; 
and  very  seldom  find  occasion  for  any  other  forms  of  these  words.  But  chafferers  at  the  corn- 

*  I-i  the  third  canto  of  Lord  Byron's  Prophecy  of  Dante,  this  noun  is  used  in  the  singular  number :  — 
"And  orean  wrk'en  o'er  would  not  afford 

I  for  the  nun"!.  \c:  it  shall  go  forth. •' 

t  "They  nt-v.-r  yet  had  separated  for  their  ts,  without  a  climax  to  their  orgy,  something  like  the 

]:;.     ••  And  straps  never  called  upon  to  diminish  that  long  whity-brown 
p.  -Jt. 

J  I'h.-  MM-  of  medicine  ;  in  which  sense,  it  seems  to  have  no 

plur.-i!  in  which /</<  I  in  the  Sens* 

of  th  ;,.s   in  which  }>/n/tirx, 

'.  with  verbs  or  pronouns  of  the  singular 

numi"  nstruction  of  such  words,  u  is  more  common,  and  more  agreeable 

to  an  i 

•  ion  of  a  compositor  in  a  printing-office,  at  a  limited  weekly  wage," 

••  Compound  that  has  no  singular.     But  some 
:ines  used,  but  the  way  of  writing  it  is  unsettled. 

Dr.  •'"'•  a  small  sort  of  fire  arm;"  Webrter  h;is  it.  "a  short  gun,  or 

M>n*ster,  "a  small  '  a  sort  of  emalljireanns.''    Webster  uses  "fire-arm,'  in  de- 

• 

Platea."— Hist.  Rtadtr,  p.  48. 


it, soon  afterwards,  h  :  his  fault,  at  the  battle  of  I 

fbere  not  p.  ^7. 

x    vii.  1.  47;,.  lar  of /CM,  is  found  ; 


t  In  Youi  ,-  of  lees,  is  found  ;  Webster  and  Bolles  hare  alao 

both  forms  in  tin  ir  di 

••  Ketnie.  exalt,  throw  down  their  poisonous  lee. 

in  the  i.owi  <,n.ii^."_. 

II  I.  W.  Wright  remarks.  ,  j.hmil  distinctions:  as.  n-mr.  iraod,  beer,  sugar,  tea<tim- 

all  nouns  ending  in  ne« .v—/Vi //«.*.   drum.  j..  loti.     If  tola 

iiitlinr  had  :-i-ad  cf  ^lurrav's  '•  richer  >rin>  >.''  fir   ! 

Solomon's  '-d.inn   •  <.  or  read  in  Isaiah  that  "all  our 

nfht'OUSittf'St.i  are  as  fil'li  I,  like  Timothy,  "a  good  ]inifes-ii«  n  liefore  many  u-itnrf*et.'' — be 

-  of  some  rude  ra»>in.  an  !  1  fruits  which  nature  affords.    If 

these  niuu  plurals  are  right,  his  assertion  is  nine  times  wrong,  or  misappDed  by  himself  seven  times  in  the  ten. 


240  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IX. 

market,  in  spite  of  Cobbett,*  will  talk  about  wheats  and  barleys,  meaning  different  kinds  f  or 
qualities  ;  and  a  gardener,  if  he  pleases,  will  tell  of  an  oat,  (as  does  Milton,  in  his  Lycidas.) 
meaning  a  single  seed  or  plant.  But,  because  icheat  or  barley  generally  means  that  sort  of  grain, 
in  mass,  if  he  will  mention  a  single  kernel,  he  must  call  it  a  grain  of  wheat  or  a  barleycorn.  And 
these  he  may  readily  make  plural,  to  specify  any  particular  number;  as,  five  grains  of  wheat,  or 
three  barleycorns. 

OBS.  31. — My  chief  concern  is  with  general  principles,  but  the  illustration  of  these  requires 
many  particular  examples — even  far  more  than  I  have  room  to  quote.  The  word  amends  is  repre- 
sented by  Murray  and  others,  as  being  singular  as  W"ll  as  plural  ;  but  Weoster's  lite  dictionaries 
exhibit  amend  as  singular,  and  amends  as  plural,  with  definitions  that  needlessly  differ,  though. 
not  much  I  judge  "  an  amends  "  to  be  bad  English  ;  and  prefer  the  regular  singular,  an  amend. 
The  word  is  of  French  origin,  and  is  sometimes  written  in  English  with  a  needless  final  e ;  as, 
"  But  only  to  make  a  kind  of  honourable  amende  to  God." — Rollings  Aniient  Hint  Vol.  ii,  p.  24. 
The  word  remains  Dr.  Webster  puts  down  as  plural  only,  and  yet  uses  it  himself  in  the  singular  : 
"  The  creation  of  a  Dictator,  even  for  a  tew  months,  would  have  buried  every  remain  of  freedom." 
—  Webster'1 's  Essays,  p.  70  There  are  also  other  authorities  for  this  usage,  and  also  for  some 
other  nouns  that  are  commonly  thought  to  have  no  singular;  as,  "  But  Duelling  is  unlawful  and 
murderous,  a.remain  of  the  ancient  Gothic  barbarity." — Brown's  Divinity,  p.  26.  "  I  grieve  with 
the  old,  for  so  many  additional  inconveniencies,  more  than  their  small  remain  of  life  seemed  des- 
tined to  undergo." — POTE:  in  Joh.  Diet.  "  A  disjunctive  syllogism  is  one  whose  major  premise 
is  disjunctive  " — Hedge's  Lot/ic.  "  Where  should  he  have  this  gold  ?  It  is  some  poor  fragment, 
some  slender  ort  of  his  remainder." — SHAK  :  Tinton  of  Athens. 

OBS.  32. — There  are  several  nouns  which  are  usually  alike  in  both  numbers.  Thus,  deer,  folk, 
fry,  (/entry,  y>ouse,  hose,  neat,  sheep,  swine,  vermin,  and  rest,  (i.  e.  the  rest,  the  others,  the  residue,) 
are  regular  singulars,  but  they  are  used  also  as  plurals,  and  that  more  frequently.  Again,  alms, 
aloes,  belloivs,  means,  news,  odds,  shambles,  and  species,  are  proper  plurals,  but  most  of  them  are 
oitener  construed  as  singulars.  Folk  and  fry  are  collective  nouns.  Folk  means  people  ;  a  fol/c, 
a  people:  as,  "  The  ants  are  a  people  not  strong  ;  " — "  The  conies  are  but  a  feeble  folk." — Prat?. 
xxx,  25,  26.  "  He  laid  his  hands  on  a  few  sick  folk,  and  healed  them."— Mark,' vi,  5.  Folks, 
which  ought  to  be  the  plural  of  folk,  and  equivalent  to  peoples,  is  now  used  with  reference  to  a 
plurality  of  individuals,  and  the  collective  word  seems  liable  to  be  entirely  superseded  by  it.  A 
fry  is  a  swarrn  of  young  fishes,  or  of  any  other  little  creatures  living  in  water  :  so  called,  perhaps, 
because  their  motions  often  make  the  surface  fry.  Several  such  swarms  might  properly  be  calUd 
fries ;  but  this  form  can  never  be  applied  to  the  individuals,  without  interfering  with  the  other. 
"  So  numerous  was  the  fry." — Cowper.  "  The  fry  betake  themselves  to  the  neighbouring  pools." 
— Quarterly  Review.  "You  cannot  think  more  contemptuously  of  these  gentry  than  they  we  e 
thought  of  by  the  true  prophets." — Watson's  Apology,  p.  93.  "  Grouse,  a  heathcock." — Johnson. 
"  The  'squires  in  scorn  will  fly  the  house 

For  better  game,  and  look  fur  grouse." — Swift. 

"  Here's  an  English  tailor,  come  hither  for  stealing  out  of  a  French  Jiose  " — Shak.     "  He,  being 
in  love,  could  not  see  to  garter  his  hose."— Id     Formerly,  the  plural   wasAosm:  "  Then  thesie 
men  were  bound,  in  their  coats,  their  hosen,  and  their  hats." — Dan.  iii,  21. 
"  Who  both  by  his  calf  and  his  lamb  will  be  known, 

May  well  kill  a  'neat  and  a  sheep  of  his  own." — Tasser. 
"His  droves  of  asses,  camels,  herds  of  neat, 
And  ft  >cks  of  sheep,  grew  shortly  twice  as  great  " — Snndys.    ' 

"  As  a  jewel  of  gold  in  a  swine's  snout." — Prov.  xi,  22.  "  A  herd  of  many  stcine,  feeding." — 
Matt,  viii,  30.  "  An  idle  person  only  lives  to  spend  his  time,  and  eat  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  like 
a  vermin  or  a  wolf." — Taylor.  "  The  head  of  a  wolf,  dried  and  hanged  up,  will  scare  away  vermin." 
Bacon.  "  Cheslip,  a  small  vermin  that  lies  under  stones  or  tiles." — SKI.NNRR:  in  Joh.  and  in 
Web.  Diet.  "  This  is  flour,  the  rest  is  bran." — "  And  the  rest  were  blinded  " — Horn,  xi,  7.  "  The 
poor  beggar  hath  a  just  demand  ofrm  alms." — Swift.  "  Thine  alms  are  come  up  tor  a  memorial  be- 
fore God." — Acts,  x,  4.  "The  draught,  of  air  performed  the  function  of  a  be/lows" — Rttbeftson't 
Amer.ii,  223.  "  As  the  bellows  do."—Bi,c.kneirs  Gram,  ii,  11.  "  The  bellows  are  burned." — Jer. 
vi,  29.  "  Let  a  gallows  be  made." — Esther,  v.  14  "  M'llloios  are  very  useful  in  medicine."— 
Wood's  Diet.  "  Nvws,"  says  Johnson,  "is  without  the  singular,  unless  it  be  considered  as  singu- 
lar."— Diet.  "  So  is  good  news  from  a  far  country." — Prov.  xxv,  25.  "  Evil  nncs  rides  fast, 
while  good  news  bails." — Milton.  "  When  lihea  heard  these  news,  she  fled  " — Riltiiuh.  "  News 
were  brought  to  the  queen." — Hume's  Hist,  iv,  426.  "  The  news  I  bring  are  afflicting,  but  the 
consolation  with  which  t/iey  are  attended,  ought  to  moderate  your  grief." — Gil  Hlas,  ii,  p.  20. 
"  Between  these  two  cases  there  are  great  odds." — Hookvr.  "  Where  the  odds  is  considerable." — 
Campbell.  "  Determining  on  which  side  the  odd-s  lie." — Locke.  "  The  greater  are  the  odd*-  that 
he  mistakes  his  author." — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  1.  "  Though  thus  an  odds  unequally  they 
meet." — Row's  Lm-<ui.¥>  iv,  1.  789.  "Preeminent  by  so  much  odds." — Milton.  "To  make  a 
shambles  of  the  parliament  house." — Shak.  "  The  earth  has  been,  from  the  beginning,  a  great 
Aceldama,  a  shambles  of  blood  " — Christian's  Vade-Mecum,  p.  6.  "  A  shutnbles  "  sounds  so  in- 
consistent, 1  should  rather  say,  "  A  sha/t/b'c."  Johnson  says,  the  etymology  of  the  word  is  un- 
certain; Webster  refers  it  to  the  Saxon  scamel :  it  means  a  butcher's  stall,  a  meat  market ;  and  there 
would  seem  to  be  no  good  reason  for  the  s,  unless  more  than  one  such  place  is  in  ten  led.  "  Who 
sells  his  subjects  to  the  shambles  of  a  foreign  power." — Pitt.  "  A  special  idea  is  called  by  the 
schools  a  species." — Watts.  "  He  intendeth  the  care  of  species,  or  common  natures.'' — Broion. 

*  "  I  will  not  supple  if  possible  for  my  dear  .lames  to  fill  into  either  the  company  or  Mi«>  language  of  those 
persons  who  talk,  and  even  write,  about  barleys,  cheats,  clovers,  Jiours,  grasses,  and  malts.-' — CobbetPs  E. 
Gram.  p.  ti'.f 

t  u  H  is  a  general  rule,  that  all  name- of  things  measured  or  weighed,  have  ro  plural  ;  for  in  them  not  number, 
but  quali-.v,  is  ivtf.u-  ied  :  as,  wool,  win-,  oil.  U'i,*>n  we  .-peak,  how.  ver,  of  different  kinds,  we  use  tilt-  plural :  as, 
tut?  coax-er  wouts,  tue  richer  wines,  the  tuei  oiis .'"—  Murray^s  Gram.  p.  41. 


CHAP.    III.]  ETYMOLOGY. NOUNS. NUMBERS.  1241 

"  ALOE,  (al'o)  n.;  plu.  Ar.ov:s." — II '< ' ^fcr's  Diet,  and  Worcester's.  "But  it  was  aloe  itself  to 
lose  the  reward." — Tapper's  Crock  of  Gold,  p.  16. 

"  But  high  in  amphitheatre  above, 
///v  arms  the  everlasting  aloes  threw." — Cumpbi-ll,  G.  of  W.,  ii,  10. 

OBS.  33. — There  are  some  nouns,  which,  though  really  regular  in  respect  to  possessing  the  two 
forms  for  the  two  numbers,  are  not  free  from  irregularity  in  the  manner  of  their  application.  Thus 
means  is  the  regular  plural  ofmc(tn;  and,  when  the  word  is  put  lor  mediocrity,  middle  point,  place, 
or  degree,  it  takes  both  forms,  each  in  its  proper  sense  ;  but  when  it  signifies  things  instrumental,  or 
that  which  is  used  to  effect  an  object,  most  writers  use  means  for  the  singular  as  well  as  for  the  plu- 
ral :«  as,  "  Bv  thin  means,"--"  By  'thnt  means,"  with  reference  to  one  mediating  cause  ;  and,  "  By  these 
means," — "  By  fhoxe  //n-f»i.s,"  with  reference  to  more  than  one.  Dr.  Johnson  says  the  use  of  means  for 
mean  is  not  very  grammatical ;  and,  among  his  examples  for  the  true  use  of  the  word,  he  has  the  fol- 
lowing: "  Pamela's  noble  heart  would  needs  gratefully  make  known  the  valiant  meanof  her  safety." 
— Sidney.  "  Their  virtuous  conversation  was  a  mean  to  work  the  heathens'  conversion." — Hooker. 
"  Whether  his  wits  should  by  that  mean  have  been  taken  from  him." — Id.  "  I'll  devise  a  mean 
to  draw  the  Moor  out  of  the  way." — S/iak.  "  Xo  place  will  please  me  so,  no  mean  of  death." — 
Id.  "  Nature  is  made  better  by  no  mean,  but  nature  makes  that  mean." — Id.  Dr.  Lowth  also 
questioned  the  propriety  of  construing  //nans  as  singular,  and  referred  to  these  same  authors  as 
authorities  for  preferring  the  regular  form.  Buchanan  insists  that  means  is  right  in  the  plural  only; 
and  that,  "  The  singular  should  be  used  as  perfectly  analogous  ;  by  this  mean,  by  that  mean." — 
English  Syntax,  p.  103.  Lord  Kames,  likewise,  appears  by  his  practice  to  have  been  of  the  same 
opinion  :  '"  Of  this  the  child  must  be  sensible  intuitively,  for  it  has  no  other  mean  of  knowledge." 
— Elements  of  Criticism,  Vol.  i,  p.  357.  "  And  in  both'the  same  mean  is  employed." — Ib.  ii,  271. 
Caleb  Alexander,  too,  declares  "  this  means,"  "  that  means"  and  "a  means,"  to  be  "  ungramma- 
tieal." — Gram.  p.  58.  But  common  usage  has  gone  against  the  suggestions  of  these  critics,  and 
later  grammarians  have  rather  confirmed  the  irregularity,  than  attempted  to  reform  it. 

OBS.  34. — Murray  quotes  sixteen  good  authorities  to  prove  that  means  may  be  singular ;  but 
whether  it  ought  to  be  so  or  not,  is  still  a  disputable  point,  principle  is  for  the  regular  word 
mean,  and  good  practice  favours  the  irregularity,  but  is  still  divided.  Cobbett,  to  the  disgrace  of 
grammar,  says,  "  i  noun,  is  never  used  in  the  singular.  It,  like  some  other  words,  has 

broken  loose  from  all  principle  and  rule.  Byuniversalconsent.it  is  become  always  a  plural, 
whether  used  with  singular  or  plural  pronouns  and  articles,  or  not." — Gram.  p.  141.  This 
is  as  ungrammatical,  as  it  is  untrue.  Both  mean  and  means  are  sufficiently  authorized  in 
the  singular  :  "  The  prospect  which  by  this  mean  is  opened  to  you." — Melmoth's  Cicero.  "  Faith 
in  this  doctrine  never  terminates  in  itself,  but  is  a  mean  to  ho'liness  as  an  end." — Dr.  Chalmers, 
Strmoni,  p.  v.  "Tin-  mean  of  basely  affronting  him." — Brown's  Divinity,  p.  19.  "  They  used 
every  mean  to  prevent  the  re-establishment  of  their  religion." — Dr.  Jamieson's  Sacred  Hist,  i,  p. 
20.  "Asa?  to  prepare  men  for  the  discharge  of  that  duty." — Bofinybroke,  on 

Hist.  p.  153.  "  Greatest  is  the  power  of  a  mean,  when  its  power  is  least  suspected."— -Tapper's 
Book  of  Thoughts,  p.  37.  "  To  the  deliberative  orator  the  reputation  of  unsullied  virtue  is  not  only 

.  ,.,  -.**..  1*      _  ._/• ._.*.*___     1_   *          _  1     •„  .fl ._        •  j.     •_      _  !_•__  -*._/!?_•  •  '*• 


usefulness  in  the  world." — Ib.  ii,  39-5.     "  Exercise  will  be  admitted  to  be  a  necessary  mean  of  im- 


.ent."  —  Blair's  lihtt.  p.  343.     "  And  by  tJuit  means  we  have  now  an  early  prepossession  in 
their  favour."  —  ib.  p.  .'}48.     "  To  abolish  all  sacrifice  by  revealinga  better  mean  of  reconciliation." 

—  Keif!  v.  p   46.     "As  a  mean  of  destroying  the  distinction."  —  Ib.  p.  3.     "  Which  how- 
ever is  by  no  m-nn  universally  the  ease."  —  Hr/ii/ioits  ]Vorld  Displayed,  Vol.  iii,  p.  lo-l. 

OBS.  '•>,').  —  Again,  there  are  some  nouns,  which,  though  they  do  not  lack  the  regular  plural  form, 

arc  sometimes  used  in  a  plural  sense  without  the  plural  termination.     Thus  manner  makes  the 

plural  m'tnncrs,  which  last  K  now  generally  used  in  the  peculiar  sense  of  behaviour,  or  deport- 

ment, but  not  always  :  it  sometime^  means  "methods,  modes,  or  \vays  ;  as,  "At  sundry  times  and  in 

divers  mnn/ti  ffi."  —  //t//.  i,  1.  "  In  the  manm.rs  above  mentioned."—  Butler's  Anafauy.  100.  "There 

be  tin.  of  trials  in  England."  —  COWEI.L:  Joh.  Diet.  to.  Jury.    "  These'  {wo  manners  of 

Mtation."  —  Lou-tit's  drum.  p.  1">.     "  The>e  are  the  three  primary  modes,  or  manners,  of 

ion."  —  Linrf/t's  (-'i-ii/.'i.  ]).  s:>.  "  In  an..:  :  urns  manners  suit  various  styles." 

I'Jiil.  of  Il/ift.  p.  17-.  the  two  manners."  —  Bolin<;brokc,  on  Hint.  p.  35. 

three   different   manners  of  asserting."  —  lii/rna/'f/'s   Gram.  ]>.'-7).     But  manner  has 

often  been  put  for  sorts,  without  tl.-  ;  ':,«•  tn  e  of  life,  which  bare  tirelrc  manner  of  fruits." 

v.i,  _'.     "A/,1  mun/f  /•  <>t   in«  n  ,;-  -emMed  here  in  arms."  —  S/tak.     "All  manner  of  outward 

advant.un  -."  —  \(ti  rhtin/.     Milton  usi-d  kind  in  the  same  way,  but  not  very  properly  ;  as,  "Alt 

kind  of  Ltures."—  P.  L»*(.  \\.  i\,  1.  2ST>.     This  irregularity  it  would  be  well  to  avoid. 

lp».  !.,•  printer  for  modes  or  ways;  and  all"  manner,  if  allowed,  must  be 

taJwn   in   th  noun;  but  for  sorts',  kinds,  classes,  or  species,  I  would  use 

noither  the  plural  nor  the  singular  of  this  word.     The  word  heathen,  too,  makes  the  regular  plural 
//•  at  I-.,  us,  aii'l  yet  is  often  used  in  a  plural  sense  without  the  s  ;  as,  "  Why  do  the  heathen  -: 

—  Psalms,  ii,  1.     "  Christianity  was  formerly  propagated  among  the  hcat/tt.;s."  —  M./rray'x  Key, 
8vo,  p.  217.     The  word  youth,  likewise,  ha>  "the  same  peculiarities.  / 


•So  paint  it  tli.-  rozular  plurr:]  r,f  rnin.  nml.  by  Johnson  .  U'.-hster,  and  othor  Icxiro^rnphcrs.  i<< 
only  as  pluml  ;  luit  \\  ek  words.  ^\ith  ;i  poninicnt,  tlius  :   ••  PMV,  n.  Labor  :  work  ; 

ti  il  ;  caro  ;  trouble.     [T."'""  Acci>r.lin_'  to  Mn-  >'c-t  ns:-.^-.  tlic  \vunl  pains,  though  of  plural  form,  is  u.-i'ii  in  thei-'e 
-  ' 


. 

wnses  as  singular,  and  is  j»inrd  \\\-\\  a  flhignlar  Terb  ;  U,  •  The  pains  they  had  taken  in:.-  :  vcrv  LT'^I'.'    flnrnutan. 

ken.1  r<-]".  '  Great  pains  »'»  taken.'   Pii'stlry.  •  Murk  jiains.-  J>olins>/rn/<>-."—  f'nir.  HIT/  Crtt.  Diet. 

T  10  multiplication  of  anom:ilir<  of  tliis  kind  is  so  undcsinihlo.  tli;it  nothing  short  of  a  very  rlc:ir  drri.-ion  of  Cus- 

Inst  tho  use  of  the  regular  (Mmconl.  r.-m  well  justify  -,y  surli  examplei  may  be  cited, 

but  are  they  not  examples  of  false  syntax  '     I  inrli-io  t«>  think  "  th.'  '  would  still  make  alt  these  Terbs 

plural.    Dr.  Johnson  cites  the  first  example  thus  :  "  Tlv»  pains  they  had  taken  were  very  great.   Clartndon."  — 

Quarto  Diet.  w.  Pain. 

16 


242  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 


Ons.  36. — Under  the  present  head  come  names  of  fishes,  birds,  or  other  things,  when  the  appli- 
cation of  the  singular  is  extended  from  the  individual  to  the  species,  so  as  to  supersede  the  plural 
by  assuming  its  construction  :  as,  Sing.  "A  great  fish." — Jonah,  i,  17-  Plur.  "For  the  multitude 
of  fishes." — John,  nni,  G.  "A  very  great  multitude  offish." — Ezekiel,  xlvii,  9.*  The  name  of 
the  genus  being  liable  to  this  last  construction,  men  seem  to  have  thought  that  the  species  should 
follow ;  consequently,  the  regular  plurals  of  some  very  common  names  of  fishes  are  scarcely 
known  at  all.  Hence  some  grammarians  affirm,  that  salmon,  mackerel,  herring,  perch,  tench,  and 
several  others,  are  alike  in  both  numbers,  and  ought  never  to  be  used  in  the  plural  form.  I  am 
not  so  fond  of  honouring  these  anomalies.  Usage  is  here  as  unsettled,  as  it  is  arbitrary  ;  and,  if 
the  expression  of  plurality  is  to  be  limited  to  either  form  exclusively,  the  regular  plural  ought 
certainly  to  be  preferred.  But,  for  fish  taken  in  bulk,  the  singular  form  seems  more  appropriate  ; 
as,  "  These  vessels  take  from  thirty-eight  to  forty-five  quintals  of  cod  and  pollock,  and  six  thou- 
sand barrels  of  mackerel,  yearly."— Balbi's  Geog.  p.  28. 

OHS.  37. — The  following  examples  will  illustrate  the  unsettled  usage  just  mentioned,  and  from 
them  the  reader  may  judge  for  himself  what  is  right.  In  quoting  at  second-hand,  I  generally 
think  it  proper  to  make  double  references  ;  and  especially  in  citing  authorities  after  Johnson, 
because  he  so  often  gives  the  same  passages  variously.  But  he  himself  is  reckoned  good  au- 
thority in  things  literary.  Be  it  so.  I  regret  the  many  proofs  of  his  fallibility.  "  Hear  you  this 
Triton  of  the  minnows  '?  " — Shak.  "  The  shoal  of  herrings  was  of  an  immense  extent  " — Murray's 
Key,  p.  185.  "  Buy  my  herring  fresh." — SWIFT  :  in  Joh.  Diet.  "  In  the  fisheries  of  Maine,  cod, 
herring,  mackerel,  alewives,  salmon,  and  other  fish,  are  taken." — Balbi's  Geog.  p.  23.  "  MEASE,  n, 
The  quantity  of  500  ;  as,  a  mease  of  herrings." — Webster's  Diet.  "  We  shall  have  plenty  of  mack- 
erel this  season." — ADDISON  :  in  Joh.  Diet.  "Mackarel  is  the  same  in  both  numbers.  Gay  ha* 
improperly  mackarels." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  208.  "  They  take  salmon  and  fronts  by  groping  and 
tickling  them  under  the  bellies." — CAREW  :  in  Joh.  Diet.  "  The  pond  will  keep  trout  and  salmon 
in  their  seasonable  plight." — Id.  ib.  w.  Trout.  ''  Some  fish  are  preserved  fresh  in  vinegar,  as  turbot." 
— Id.  ib.  w.  Turbot.  "  Some  fish  are  boiled  and  preserved  fresh  in  vinegar,  as  tunny  and  turbot." 
— Id  ib.  w.  Tunny.  "  Of  round  fish,  there  are  brit,  sprat,  barn,  smelts." — Id.  ib.  w.  Smelt.  "  For 
sprats  and  spurlinys  for  your  house." — TUSSER:  ib.  to.  Spurting.  "The  coast  is  plentifully  stored 
with  pilchards,  herrings,  and  haddock." — CAREW  :  ib.  w.  Haddock.  "  The  coast  is  plentifully  stored 
with  round  fish,  pilchard,  herring,  mackerel,  and  cod." — Id.  ib.  w.  Herring.  "  The  coast  is  plenti- 
fully stored  with  shellfish,  sea- hedgehogs,  scallops,  pilcherd,  herring,  and  pollock." — Id.  ib.  w.  Pollock. 
"A  roach  is  a  fish  of  no  great  reputation  for  his  dainty  taste.  It  is  noted  that  roaches  recover 
strength  and  grow  a  fortnight  after  spawning." — WALTON  :  ib.  w.  Roach.  "A  friend  of  mine 
stored  a  pond  of  three  or  four  acres  with  carps  and  tench." — HALE  :  ib.  w.  Carp.  "  Having  stored 
a  very  great  pond  with  carps,  tench,  and  other  pond-fish,  and  only  put  in  two  small  pikes,  this 
pair  of  tyrants  in  seven  years  devoured  the  whole." — Id.  ib.  w.  Tench.  "  Singular,  tench  ;  plural. 
"tenches." — Bright  land's  Gram.  p.  78.  "  The  polar  bear  preys  upon  seals,  fish,  and  the  carcasses 
of  whales." — Balbi's  Geog.  p.  172.  "  Trouts  and  salmons  swim  against  the  stream." — BACON: 
Ward's  Gram.  p.  130. 

"  'Tis  true  no  turbots  dignify  my  boards, 

But  gudgeons,  flounders,  what  my  Thames  affords.". — Pope. 

OBS.  38. — From  the  foregoing  examples  it  would  seem,  if  fish  or  fishes  are  often  spoken  of 
without  a  regular  distinction  of  the  grammatical  numbers,  it  is  not  because  the  words  are  nol 
susceptible  of  the  inflection,  but  because  there  is  some  difference  of  meaning  between  the  mere 
name  of  the  sort  and  the  distinct  modification  in  regard  to  number.  There  are  also  other  noun? 
in  which  a  like  difference  may  be  observed.  Some  names  of  building  materials,  as  brick,  stone., 
plank,  joist,  though  not  destitute  of  regular  plurals,  as  bricks,  stones,  planks,  joists,  and  not 
unadapted  to  ideas  distinctly  singular,  as  a  brick,  a  stone,  a  plank,  a  joist,  arc  nevertheless  some- 
times used  in  a  plural  sense  without  the  s,  and  sometimes  in  a  sense  which  seems  hardly  to 
embrace  the  idea  of  either  number  ;  as,  "  Let  us  make  brick,  and  burn  them  thoroughly." — Gen. 
xi,  3.  "  And  they  had  brick  for  stone." — Ib.  "  The  tale  of  bricks." — Exod.  v,  8  and  18.  "  Make 
brick." — Ib.  v,  16.  "  From  your  bricks." — Ib.  v,  19.  "  Upon  altars  of  brick." — Isaiah,  Ixv,  3. 
"  The  bricks  are  fallen  down." — Ib.  ix,  10.  The  same  variety  of  usage  occurs  in  respect  to  a  fevr 
other  words,  and  sometimes  perhaps  without  good  reason  ;  as,  "  Vast  numbers  of  sea  fowl  frequent 


the  rocky  cliffs." — Balbi's  Geog.  p  231.  "Bullocks,  sheep,  and  fowls." — Ib.  p.  439.  "  Cannon 
is  used  alike  in  both  numbers." — Everest's  Gram.  p.  48.  "  Cannon  and  shot  may  be  used  in  the 
singular  or  plural  sense." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  37.  "  The  column  in  the  Place  Vendome  is 


is  used  alike  in  both  numbers."  —  Everest's  Gram.  p.  48.     "  Cannon  and  shot  may  be  used  in  the 
singular  or  plural  sense."  —  O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  37.  "  The  column  in  the  Place  Vendome  is 
one  hundred  and  thirty  -four  feet  high,  and  is  made  of  the  brass  of  the  cannons  taken  from  the 
Austrians  and  Prussians."  —  Balbi's  Geog.  p.  249.    "  As  his  cannons  roar."  —  Dry  den's  ]}ocms,  p.  81. 
"  Twenty  shot  of  his  greatest  cannon."  —  CLARENDON:  Joh.  Diet.     "  Twenty  shots"  would  here, 
I  think,  be  more  proper,  though  the  word  is  not  made  plural  when  it  means  little  balls  of  lead. 
"And  cannons  conquer  armies."  —  Ihidihras,  Part  III,  Canto  iii,  1.  249. 
"  Healths  to  both  kings,  attended  with  the  roar 
Of  cannons  echoed  from  th'  affrighted  shore."  —  Waller,  p.  7. 

Ons.  39.  —  Of  foreign  nouns,  many  retain  their  original  plural  ;  a  few  are  defective  ;  and  some 
are  redundant,  because  the  English  form  is  also  in  use.  Our  writers  have  laid  many  languages 
under  contribution,  and  thus  furnished  an  abundance  of  irregular  words,  necessary  to  be  ex- 
plained, but  never  to  be  acknowledged  as  English  till  they  conform  to  our  own  rules.' 

1.  Of  nouns  in  a,  saliva,  spittle,  and  scoria,  dross,  have  no  occasion  for  the  plural  ;  lamina,  a 

*"  And  the  fish  that  is  in  the  river  shall  die."—  Fxori.  vii,  18.  "  And  the  fish  that  was  in  the  river  died.'-—  Ib. 
21.  Here  the  construction  is  altogether  in  the  singular,  and  yet  the  meaning  seems  to  be  plural.  This  construc- 
tion appears  to  be  more  objectionable,  than  the  use  of  the  word  Jisli  with  a  plural  verb.  The  French  Kible  her* 
corresponds  with  ours  ;  but  the  Latin  Vulgate,  and  the  Greek  S*-ptuagint,  have  both  the  noun  aijd  the  verb  in  the 
al  :  as,  "  Thejfo/zcs  that  are.  in  the  river,"—  ';  The./5.s/x,s  that  were.-'1  &c.  In 


plural  :  as,  "  Thejfo/zcs  that  are.  in  the  river,"—  ';  The./5.s/x,s  that  were.-'1  &c.  In  our  Bible,ybw/,  as  well  .asjfoA,  it 
Bometirr.es  plural;  and  yet  both  words,  in  some  passages,  have  the  plural  form  :  as,  "  And  few'  that  mayfly," 
&c.—  Gen.  i,  20.  u  I  will  consume  the  fowls  of  the  heaven,  and  ttiefshes  of  the  sea."—  Zeph.  i  3. 


CHAP.    III.]  ETYMOLOGY. — NOUNS. NUMBERS.  243 

thin  plate,  makes  lamina-  ;  macula,  a  spot,  marula> ;  minutia,  a  little  thing,  minutiae ;  nebula,  a 
mist,  iifbuftp ;  siliqua,  a  pod,  siliqua*.     Dogma  makes  dogmas  or  dogmata;  exanthema,  exanthema* 
'•'  ;  miasm  or  miasma,  titfasnu  or  miasmata  ;  stigma,  stigmas  or  stigmata. 

2.  Of  nouns  in  um,  some  have  no  need  of  the  plural  ;  as,'  bdellium,  decorum,  elysium,  equili- 
brium, <iii'ii(i-K,ii,  t-'ind:initm,  nilium,  opium,  petroleum,  serum,  viaticum.     Some  form  it  regularly; 
as,  as yl ions,  compendium*,  craninms,  emporiums,  encomiums,  forums,  frustums,  lustrums,  mauso- 

niisi -iims. pi-ndnhims,  nostrums,  rostrums,  rcsiduums,  vacuums.  Others  take  either  the  Eng- 
lish or  the  Latin  plural ;  a^.  i!<'*i<i<-r<ifums  or  desiderata,  mediums  or  media,  menstruums  or  menstrua, 

'lulums  or  memoranda,  spectrum*  or  spectra,  spcculums  or  specula,  stratums  or  strata,  sue- 
cedaneiims  or  succcd  uu-n,  trapt-zln/itx  or  trapezia,  vinculums  or  vincula.  A  few  seem  to  have  the 
Latin  plural  only:  as,  arcanum,  arcana;  datum,  data;  effluvium,  effluvia;  erratum,  errata; 
scholium,  scholia. 

3.  Of  nouns  in  «v,  a  few  have  no  plural;  as,  asparaqus,  calamus,  mucus.    Some  have  only  the 
Latin  plural,  which  usually   changes   us   tot;   as,  alumnus,  alumni;    androgynus,   androgyni; 

>>'/' ;  dracunculus,  dracunculi ;  echinus,  echini  ;  magus,  magi.  But  such  as  have  prop- 
erly become  Kn-zli-li  words,  may  form  the  plural  regularly  in  es  ;  as,  chorus,  choruses  :  so,  appar- 
atus, bo  ••>*,' focus,  fucuv,  fungus,  hiatus,  ignoramus,  impetus,  incubus,  isthmus, 
nantii'  prospeehu,  rant*,  rflMM,  surplus.  Five  of  these  make  the  Latin  plural  like  the 
singular  ;  but  the  mere  English  scholar  has  no  occasion  to  be  told  which  they  are.  Radius 
makes  the  plural  radii  or  radiuses.  Genius  has  genii,  for  imaginary  spirits,  and  geniuses,  for  men 
of  wit.  (remi.s,  a  sort,  becomes  genera  in  Latin,  and  genuses  in  English.  Denarius  makes,  in  the 
plural,  denarii  or  denariuses. 

4.  Of  nouns  in  is,  some  are  regular;  as,  trellis,  trellises:  so,  annolis,  butteris,  caddis,  derm's, 
tV/v,  m-'rquis,  metropolis,  portcullis,  proboscis.    Some  seem  to  have  no  need  of  the  plural ;  as,  am- 
bf-ri/rit.,  a>/na -ford's,  arthritis,  hreiris,  crasis,  elephantiasis,  genesis,  orris,  siriasis,  tennis.  But  most 

of  thi<  ending  follow  the  Greek   or  Latin  form,  which  simply  changes  is  toes  :  as,  aman- 

I .  analysis,  analyses ;  antithesis,  antitheses ;  axis,  axes ;  basis,  bases ;  crisis,  crises  ; 

rears  ;  d it-vis,  dieses;  ellipsis,  ellipses  ;  emphasis,  emphases ;  fascis,  fasces ;  hypothesis, 

hypotheses;   metamorphosis,  metamorphoses;  phasis,  phases  ;  praxis,  praxes ;  synopsis,  synopses  ; 

synth'  n'ten  ;  t/«  v/.v,  theses.     In  some,  however,  the  original  plural  is  not  so 

formed  ;  but  is  made  by  changing  is  to  ides  :  as,  aphis,  aphides  ;  apsis,  apsides ;  ascaris,  ascarides  ; 

bolis,  bolides;  canthartx,  cuntharidcs  ;   chrysalis,  chri/s  tlides  ;  epnemcris,  ephemerides  ;  epidermis, 

So  iris  and  proboscis,  which  we  make  regular  ;  and  perhaps  some  of  the  foregoing 

made  so  too.    Fisher  writes  Praxises  for  praxes,  though  not  very  properly.    See  his  Gram. 

l>.  v.     I'.ijiie-i,  a  Roman  knight,  makes  eyuites  in  the  plural. 

5.  Of  nouns  in  x,  there  are  few,  if  any,  which  ought  not  to  form  the  plural  regularly,  when 

:.i>h  words  ;  though  the  Latins  changed  x  to  ces,  and  ex  to  ices,  making  the  i  some- 
time- long,  and  sometime*  short:  as,rt/x'.r,  apices,  for  apexes ;  appendix,  appendices,  for  appendixes  ; 
.  for  raii.rrn  ;  calx,  calecs,  for  calxes ;  calyx,  calyces,  for  calyxes ;  caudex,  caudices,  for 
caude.r  .  lor  cicatrixes ;    helix,  helices,  for  helixes ;    index,  indices,  for  indexes; 

>r  mat  rises  ;  quincunx,  quincunces,  for  quincunxes ;  radix,  radices,  forradixes; 
.s,  for  vertexes;  vortex,  vortices,  tor  vortexes.     Some  Greek 
words  in  x  change  that  letter  to  yes :  as,  larynx,  larynges,  for  larinxes ;  phalanx,  phalanges,  for 

I'roin  the  French,  is  billets-doux  in  the  plural. 

G.  Of  nouns  in  on,  derived  from  Greek,  the  greater  part  always  form  the  plural  regularly;  as, 
..s,   myrmidons,  phlet/mons,  trigons,  tetragons,  pentagons,  hexagon9t 

"//.»,  oct(i(/oi>  /o//.s,  h<-ndfcagons,  dodecagons, polygons.     So  trihedrons,  tetrct- 

:iough  some  say,  these  last  may  end  in  dra,  which  I  think  improper. 

For  a  few  words  of  this  class,  however,  there  are  double  plurals  in  use  ;    as,  automata  or  automa- 
tons, criteria  or  critcrions,  jHirhelia  o* parhelions ;  and  the  plural  of  phenomenon  appears  to  be  al- 

7.  Tin-  plural  of  let;um<-n  is  legumens  or  legume na  ;  of  stamen,  stamens  or  stamina ;  of  cherub, 
>ruli*  or  r/i,  rn'ii/n  ,  <>f  x<  ra/th,  seraphs  or  seraphim  ;  of  beau,  beaus  or  beaux;  of  bandit,  bandits 
bum/itli.  The  regular  forms  are  in  general  preferable.  The  Hebrew  plurals  cherubim  and 

M   f(jr  singulars,  other  plurals  have  been  formed  from  them; 

a>,  "And  pi  .  ").     "  Then  flew  one  of  the  seraphims  unto 

e." — I.Mi/nh,  vi,  6.     Dr.  Campbell  remarks:  "  \\'.-  are  authorized,  both  by  use  and  by  analogy, 

:i'4  to  tin-  English  idiom,  or  chcnihim  and  xa'aphim,  ao- 

cordinj;  to  the  orit  ntal.     The  former  suits  beU;-r  tin-  familiar,  the  latter  the.  solemn  style.     I 
shall  .,1.1  to  this  i  .  i-kerubhn  and  serujmhn  are  nlural,  the 

-ing  the  plural,  are  (juite  improper." — rhilofllhet.\>.'2tt\. 
li. — When  other  pa. ;  ..iu-  nouns,  they  cither  want  the  plural,  or  form  it 

-     1  •!_   _  _      _  f      .  I 1  •  ',    r   •  ,r      .  f       .  1 


<7  I/-, 

:  J  xpanglcs." — Bacon.  "  The  ins  and  the  outs." — Newspaper.  "  We  find  it  more  safe  against 

ic  authors,  when  Mioy  give  to  mrrt  irnnti  tlie  construction  of  plural  nouns,  are  in  the  habit  of  writing 
them  in  flu-  form  of  hnv.-of  la'e,  'ti-s  true,  refonne.l,  in  point- inca-un-.  tl. 

.1  il-.n.!!.,'  W'rk  ol  :  t  tliis  kirnl." 

"  MIT--.  la  improperly  used  for  the  objective  rase  plural.     It  should  b«, 

'  •    on  Eiym.  nnil  Xynt.  p.  3&J.     According  to  our  rules,  thea* 

>.  th'TLofs,  therewith*.    u  Any  word,  when  us«-ij  ;is  the  name  ot  itfielf^ 

i  -nc'x  (iram    :  iy,   "  Tlie  plural  or  words,  coDsiderud  sa 

the   apo.-trn^hc  an  I  x ;  a.«,  '  Who,  that  has  any  ta.«te,  can  endure  the  iiices.-'ant.  quick 

returns  of  the  otto'j,  and  the  •-.••/f/.v'.^,  and  the  marrm-tr'*,  and  the  tiowvers,  and  the  notwit/ntan  ling's  ."— 
CAMi-nr-LL."—  WelU'.\  School  <l,am.  p.  i,\.  l'ntrri«-(.  is  not  alto^-ther  in  favour  of  this  principle,  and  perhaps  H 
woul  i  be  better  to  decide  with  Crombie  that  such  a  u?e  of  the  apostrophe  u  improper. 


244  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

outs  and  doubles." — Printer's  Gram.  "  Hisanrfo  and  his  ors" — Mott.  "  One  of  the  bids." — Fowls. 
"In  raising  the  mirth  of  stupids." — Steele.  "Eatings,  drinkinqs,  wakinys,  sleepings,  walkings, 
Walkings,  sayings,  doings— oil  were  for  the  good  of  the  public ;  there  was  not  such  a  thing  as  a 
•ecret  in  the  town."— LANDON  :  Keepsake,  1833.  "  Her  innocent^brsootfw  and  yesscs."— Sped. 
No.  266. 

"Henceforth  my  wooing  mind  shall  be  expressed 
In  russet  yeas  and  honest  kersey  noes." — SHAK.     See  Johnson's  Diet.  w.  Kersey. 

GENDERS. 

Genders,  in  grammar,  are  modifications  that  distinguish  objects  in  regard 
to  sex. 

There  are  three  genders ;  the  masculine,  the  feminine,  and  the  neuter. 

The  masculine  gender  is  that  which  denotes  persons  or  animals  of  the  male 
kind ;  as,  man,  father,  king. 

The  feminine  gender  is  that  which  denotes  persons  or  animals  of  the  fe- 
male kind  ;  as,  woman,  mother,  queen. 

The  neuter  gender  is  that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor 
female ;  as,  pen,  ink,  paper. 

Hence,  names  of  males  are  masculine  ;  names  of  females,  feminine  ;  and 
names  of  things  inanimate,  literally,  neuter. 

Masculine  nouns  make  regular  feminines,  when  their  termination  is 
changed  to  ess :  as,  hunter,  huntress  ;  prince,  princess  ;  lion,  lioness. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  different  genders  in  grammar  are  founded  on  the  natural  distinction  of  sex  in 
animals,  and  on  the  absence  of  sex  in  other  things.  In  English,  they  belong  only  to  nouns 
and  pronouns  ;  and  to  these  they  are  usually  applied,  not  arbitrarily,  as  in  some  other  languages, 
but  agreeably  to  the  order  of  nature.  From  this  we  derive  a  very  striking  advantage  over 
those  who  use  the  genders  differently  or  without  such  rule ;  which  is,  that  our  pronouns  are 
easy  of  application,  and  have  a  fine  effect  when  objects  are  personified.  Pronouns  are  of  the 
same  gender  as  the  nouns  for  which  they  stand. 

OBS.  2. — Many  nouns  are  equally  applicable  to  both  sexes  ;  as,  cousin,  friend,  neighbour, 
parent,  person,  servant.  The  gender  of  these  is  usually  determined  by  the  context ;  and  they 
are  to  be  called  masculine  or  feminine  accordingly.  To  such  words,  some  grammarians  have 
applied  the  unnecessary  and  improper  term  common  gender.  Murray  justly  observes,  "  There  is 
no  such  gender  belonging  to  the  language.  The  business  of  parsing  can  be  effectually  per- 
formed, without  having  recourse  to  a  common  gender." — Gram.  8vo,  p.  39.  The  term  is  more 
useful,  and  less  liable  to  objection,  as  applied  to  the  learned  languages  ;  but  with  us  it  is  plainly 
a  solecism. 

OBS.  3. — A  great  many  of  our  grammars  define  gender  to  be  "the  distinction  of  sex,"  and 
then  speak  of  a  common  gender,  in  which  the  two  sexes  are  left  undistinguished;  and  of  the 
neuter  gender,  in  which  objects  are  treated  as  being  of  neither  sex.  These  views  of  the  matter 
are  obviously  inconsistent.  Not  genders,  or  a  gender,  do  the  writers  undertake  to  define,  but 
"  gender  "  as  a  whole  ;  and  absurdly  enough,  too  ;  because  this  whole  of  gender  they  immedi- 
ately distribute  into  certain  other  genders,  into  genders  of  gender,  or  kinds  of  gender,  and  these 
not  compatible  with  their  definition.  Thus  Wells:  "  Gender  is  the  distinction  of  objects  with 
regard  to  sex.  There  are  four  genders  ; — the  masculine,  the  feminine,  the  common,  and  the 
neuter."— School  Gram.  1st  Ed.  p.  49.  [Those]  "Nouns  which  are  applicable  alike  to  both 
texes,  are>  of  the  common  gender."— Ib.  This  then  is  manifestly  no  gender  under  the  fore- 
going definition,  and  the  term  neuter  is  made  somewhat  less  appropriate  by  the  adoption  of  a 
third  denomination  before  it.  Nor  is  there  less  absurdity  in  the  phraseology  with  which  Murray 
proposes  to  avoid  the  recognition  of  the  common  gender  :  "  Thus  we  may  say,  Parents  is  a  noun 
of  the  masculine  and  ^feminine  gender ;  Parent,  if  doubtful,  is  of  the  masculine  or  feminine 
gender ;  and  Parent,  if  the  gender  is  known  by  the  construction,  is  of  the  gender  so  ascer- 
tained."—Gram.  8vo,  p.  39.  According  to  this,  we  must  have  five  genders,  exclusive  of  that 
which  is  called  common;  namely,  the  masculine,  the  feminine,  the  neuter,  the  androm/nal,  and 
tin  doubtful. 

OBS.  4. — It  is  plain  that  many  writers  on  grammar  have  had  but  a  confused  notion  of  what 
*  gender  really  is.  Some  of  them,  confounding  gender  with  sex,  deny  that  there  are  more  than 
two  genders,  because  there  are  only  two  sexes.  Others,  under  a  like"  mistake,  resort  occasion- 
ally, (as  in  the  foregoing  instance,)  to  an  androgynal,  and  also  to  a  doubtful  gender  :  both  of 
which  are  more  objectionable  than  the  common  gender  of  the  old  grammarians  ;  though  this 
common  "  distinction  with  regard  to  sex,"  is,  in  our  language,  confessedly,  no  distinction  at  all. 
I  assume,  that  there  are  in  English  the  three  genders,  masculine,  feminine,  and  neuter,  and  no 
more  ;  and  that  every  noun  and  every  pronoun  must  needs  be  of  some  gender  ;  consequently, 
of  some  one  of  these  three.  A  gender  is,  literally,  a  sort,  a  kind,  a  sex.  But  genders,  in 
grammar,  are  attributes  of  words,  rather  than  of  persons  or  things  ;  whereas  sexes  are  attri- 
butes, not  of  words,  but  of  living  creatures.  He  who  understands  this,  will  perceive  that  the 
absence  of  sex  iu  some  things,  is  as  good  a  basis  for  a  grammatical  distinction,  as  the  presence 


CHAP.  III.]  ETYMOLOGY. NOUNS. GENDERS.  245 

or  the  difference  of  it  in  others  ;  nor  can  it  be  denied,  that  the  neuter,  according  to  my  defini- 
tion, is  a  gender,  is  a  distinction  "in  regard  to  sex,"  though  it  does  not  embrace  either  of  the 
sexes.  There  are  therefore  three  genders,  and  only  three. 

Uns.  .).— Generic  names,  even  when  construed  as  masculine  or  feminine,  often  virtually  in- 
clude both  sexes  ;  as,  "  Hast  thou  given  the  horse  strength  ?  hast  thou  clothed  his  neck  with 
thunder  ?  Canst  thou  make  him  afraid  as  a  grasshopper  ?  the  glory  of  his  nostrils  is  terrible." — 
\xix,  19.     Doth  the  hawk  fly  by  thy  wisdom,  and  stretch  her  wings  toward  the  south  ?  Doth 
•le  mount  up  at  thy  command,  and  make  her  nest  on  high  :" — Ib.  ver.  26.     These  were 
called,  by  the  old  grammarians,  t'/tt\-<-/u>  nouns — that  is,  supcrco/ntiion  ;  but  they  arc  to  be  parsed, 
according  to  the  gender  of  the  pronoun  which  is  put  for  them. 

OB.S.  6  — Tin-  gender  of  words,  in  many  instances,  is  to  be  determined  by  the  following  prin- 
ciple of  universal  grammar      Those   terms  which  are  equally  applicable  to  both  sexes,   (if  they 
are  not  expressly  applied  to  females,)  and  those  plurals  which  are  known  to  include  both  sexes, 
should  be  called  masculine  in  parsing ;  for,  in  all  languages,  the  masculine  gender  is  considered 
the  most  worthy,  *  and  is  generally  employed  when  both  sexes  are  included  under  one  common 
ita  is  always  masculine,  and  must  be  represented  by  a  masculine  pronoun,  for 
the  gcml'T  of  a  word  is  a  property  indivisible,  and  that  which  refers  to  the  male  sex.  always  takes 
the  lead  in  such  eases.     If  one   say,  "  Joseph  took  the  young  child  and  his  mother  by  night,  and 
fled  with  them  into  Egypt,"  the  pronoun  them  will  be  masculine  ;  but  let  "  his  "  be  changed  to  its, 
and  the  plural  pronoun  that  follows,  will  be  feminine.     For  the  feminine  gender  takes  precedence 
of  the  neuter,  but  not  of  the  masculine ;  and  it  is  not  improper  to  speak  of  a  young  child  without 
the  sex.     As  for  such  singulars  as  parent,  frieiid,  neighbour,  thief,  sUice,  and  many 
I,  they  arc  feminine  when  expressly  applied  to  any  of  the  female  sex;  but  otherwise, 
masculine. 


a  jury,  a  sort,  or  a  sex,  if  taken  collectively,  is  neuter ;  being  represented  in  discourse  by 
the  neuter  pronoun  it :  and  the  formal  plurals,  congresses,  councils,  committees,  juries,  sorts,  sexes, 
of  course,  are  neuter  also.  But,  if  I  say.  "  The  committee  disgraced  themselves,"  the  noun  and 
pronoun  are  presumed  to  be  masculine,  unless  it  be  known  that  I  am  speaking  of  a. committee  of 
females.  Again  :  "  The  fair  sex,  ichose  task  is  not  to  mingle  in  the  labours  of  public  life,  have  their 
own  p  1  them  to  act." — Comly's  Gram.  p.  132.  Heres<?.r,  and  the  three  pronouns  which 

have  that  word  for  their  antecedent,  are  all  feminine.  Again  :  "  Each  sex,  dressing  themselves  in 
the  clothes  of  the  other." — Wood's  Dictionary  \.  Feast  of  Purim.  Here  sex,  and  the  pronoun 
which  follows,  are  masculine;  because,  the  male  sex,  as' well  as  the  female,  is  here  spoken  of 
plurally. 

OBS.  8. — To  persons,  of  every  description,  known  or  unknown,  real  or  imaginary,  we  uniformly 
r    But,  as  personality  implies  intelligence,  and  sex  supposes  some  obvious  difference. 
u  yon/it/  child  may  be  spnken  of  with  distinction  of  sex  or  without,  according  to  the  notion  of 
the  s]  .  ••  1  went  to  see  the  child  whilst  they  were  putting  on  its  cloaths." — Priestley't 

:>.  1-1      ••  Because  the  child  has  no  idea  of  any  nurse  besides  his  own." — Ib.  p.  153.     To 
brute  iinim-ilv  aKo.  the  same  distinction  is  generally  applied,  though  with  less  uniformity.     Some 
that  an-  very  small,  have  a  gender  which  seems  to  be  merely  occasional  and  figurative;  as,  '•  Go 
"nt,  thou  sluggard;  consider  her  ways,  and  be  wise." — Prov.  vi,  6.     "The  spider  taketk 
hold  with  her  hands,  and  is  in  kings'  palaces." — Prov.  xxx,  28.     So  the  bee  is  usually  made  fem- 
a  little    creature  of  admirable  industry  and  economy.     But,  in  genera'l,  irrational 
crcaii;  unknown,  or  unnecessary  to  be  regarded,  are  spoken  of  as  neuter;  as, 

"And  it  became  a  serpent;  and  Moses  lied  from  before  it.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses.  Put 
forth  thine  hand,  and  take  it  by  the  tail.  And  he  put  forth  his  hand  and  caught  it,  and  it  be- 
came a  rod  in  his  hand." — Bxotf.  iv,  3,  4.  Here,  although  the  vrordserjjent  is  sometimes  masculine, 
the  n  Miter  pronoun  >eem><  l«  be  more  proper.  So  of  some  imaginary  creatures  :  as.  "  Phenix,  the 
fowl  which  is  said  to  exist  single,  and  to  rise  again  from  it*  own  ashes." — Webster's  Diet.  "  So 
shall  the  J'/  .  with  no  stain  on  it*  plumage." — Dr.  Barf  left's  Lcct.  p.  10. 

'.I. — But  tiiis  liberty  of  representing  animals  as  of  no  sex,  is  often  carried  to  a  very  ques- 
tionable extent;  as,  "The  Ji>in-  sleeps  with  /Vv  eyes  open." — Bttfbavld.  "  The  hedgehog,  as  soon 
as  if  ]•  .-ked,  rolls  itself  into  a  kind  of  ball,  and  presents  nothing  but  &  prickle* 

t  )  the  foe  " — HI"'  .  p.  138.     "  The  panther  is  a  ferocious  creature  :  like  the  tiger  it  sei/es 

102.     "  The  leopard,  in  its  chace  of  prey,  spares  neither  man  nor 

—  Ih.  p.  10:{       "  If  a  man  shall  steal  an  ox,  or  a  *hr/-p,  ami  kill  ff,  nr  sell  //." — E.r»d.  x.xii,  1. 
•  run  after  a  bare,  because  //  recollects  the  beating  it  has  previously 
1  on  that  account.       The  horse  avoids  the  stone  at  which   it  once  has  stumbled." — 5 

3.     "  The  r  \  upon  with  pleasure  ;  but  it  is  the  tcarhorse, 

h-ur  in  its  idea." — /Hair's   Jt/ut.  p.  30. 

.ishi-d  hi/  iconls,  in  four  different  ways.     First,  by  the 
.dilations.  Julius,  Julia  ;  Item,  heroine.    Secondly,  by  the  us. 

t,  II-  in-./.  Mil'/  •  \i/i  ;.  qtu  ,  n.    Thirdly,  by  compounds  or  phrases  including 
6>mo  distinctive  term:  as,  Mr.  Murray,  Mrs.  Murray ;  Englishman,  Englishwoman;  yraiu 

•"ThoSuprvmi-  r,cin.'(  '  '*  i/<.  />;<•».  &r.i  !•=.  in  all  !-,•  .  ulino  :  in  as  much  n>  th«  inn-ro- 

:  la  th«  Buperior  and  more  excellent ;  :m  l  .-i-  I!  r  of  all,  the  Father  of  god*  and  men." — 7/or- 

riY<  //  /-//i-  v.  p.  :,l.    Tlii-i  remark  applies  to  all  the  direct  names  of  the  Dt.-ity,  but  the  abstract  idea  of  Dem/  it^lf. 

nmtn.  Go'lhin'l.^r  Divinity,  is  nr  t  nia.-rnl'ne,  but  neuter.     On  this  point,  some  notions  h 

pib'.i-  >.  0.  I>.  Circe's  Gram.  p. 208. 

t  Th-i:  is,  wt-  jrive  them  st>x.  if  we  mean  to  represent  them  as  persons.     In  the  following  example,  a  character 
comuioi..  vmminr  i-  n-pvi-.-ci.  ;-.•  the  author  would  seem  to  doubt  both  the  sez  au4 

tL.e  personality  :    "  I  don't  know  what  a  icitch.  is,  or  what  it  was  then." — N.  P  Hogers's  Writings,  p.  154. 


246  THE   GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

grandmother;  landlord,  landlady ;  merman,  mermaid ;  servingman,  servingmaid ;  man-servant, 
maid-servant ;  schoolmaster,  schoolmistress ;  school-boy,  school-girl;  peacock, peahen ;  cock-spar 'row , 
hen-sparrow ;  he-goat,  she-goat ;  buck-rabbit,  doe-rabbit  •  male  elephant,  female  elephant  ;  male 
convicts,  female  convicts.  Fourthly,  by  the  pronouns  he,  his,  him,  put  for'nouns  masculine  ;  and 
she,  her,  hers,  for  nouns  feminine:  as,  "Ask  him  that  fleeth,  and  her  that  escapeth,  and  say, 
What  is  done  ?" — Jer.  xlviii,  19. 

"  O  happy  peasant !  Oh  unhappy  bard ! 
His  the  mere  tinsel,  hers  the  rich  reward." — Cowper. 

OBS.  11. — For  feminine  nouns  formed  by  inflection,  the  regular  termination  is  ess;  but  the 
manner  in  which  this  ending  is  applied  to  the  original  or  masculine  noun,  is  not  uniform  : — 

1.  In  some  instances  the  syllable  ess  is  simply  added  :  as,  accuser,  accuseress  ;  advocate,  advo- 
catess ;  archer,  archeress ;  author,  authoress;  avenger,  avcngeress ;  barber,  barber  ess ;  baron,  bar- 
oness ;  canon,  canont-ss  ;  cit,  cittess  ;*  coheir,  coheir  ess  ;    count,  countess ;  deacon,  deaconess ;  demon, 
demoness;  di  ciner,  diviner  ess  ;  doctor,  doctoress ;   giant,  giantess ;  god,  goddess;  guardian,  quardi- 
aness  ;  Hebrew,  Hebrewess ;  heir,  heiress ;  herd,  herdess ;  hermit,  hermitess ;  host,  hostess;  Jesuit, 
Jesuitess ;  Jew,  Jewess;  mayor,  mayoress ;  Moabite,  Moabitess ;  monarch,  monarchcss ;  pape,papess ; 
or,pope,popess  ;  patron,  patroness  ;  peer,  peeress  ;  poet,  poetess  ;  priest,  priestess  ;  prior,  prior  ess  ; 
prophet,  prophetess  ;  regent,  regentess ;  saint ,  saintess ;  shejjherd,   shepherdess;  soldier,  soldi er ess  ; 
tailor,  tailoress ;  viscount,  viscountess ;  icarrior,  warrioress. 

2.  In  other  instances  the  termination  is  changed,  and  there  is  no  increase  of  syllables  :  as,  abbot, 
abbess  ;  actor,  actress  ;  adulator,  adulatress ;  adulterer,  adulteress ;  adventurer,  adventuress ;  ad- 
voutrer ,  advoiitress  ;  ambassador,  ambassadress;    anchorite,  anchoress;  or,  anachoret, anacJiorcss ; 
arbiter,  arbitress ;  auditor,  auditress  ;  benefactor,  benefactress  ;  caterer,  cateress ,  chanter,  cJiantress  ; 
cloisterer,  cloisteress ;   commander,  commandress  ;  conductor,  conductress;  creator,  creatress;  de- 
mander,    demandress ;   detractor,  detractr ess ;    eagle,  eagless  ;   editor,    editress;    elector,  elcctress  ; 
tmperor,  emperess,  or  empress;   emulator,  emulatress ;  enchanter,  enchantress;   exactor,  exact ress ; 

fautor,  fautress ;  fornicator,fornicatress ;  fosterer,  fosteress,  or  fostress ;  founder,  foundress ;  gover- 
nor, f/overness ;  htickster,  huckstress  ;  or,  huc/isterer,  hucksteress ;  idolater,  idolatress;  inhabited, 
inhabitress ;  instructor,  instructress;  inventor,  inventress ;  launderer,  launderess,  or  laundress; 
minister,  ministress ;  monitor,  monitress  ;  murderer,  murderess ;  negro,  negress ;  offender,  off  en- 
dress ;  ogre,  ogress;  porter,  portress ;  progenitor,  progenitress ;  protector,  protectress ;  proprietor, 
proprietress ;  pythonist,  pythoness ;  seamster,  seamstress ;  solicitor,  solicitress ;  songster,  songstress ; 
torcerer,  sorceress ;  suitor,  suitress ;  tiger,  tigress ;  traitor,  traitress  ;  victor,  victress ; '  votary, 
votaress. 

3.  In  a  few  instances  the  feminine  is  formed  as  in  Latin,  by  changing  or  to  rix;  but  some 
of  these  have  also  the  regular  form,  which  ought  to  be  preferred:  as,  adjutor,  adjutrix  ;  adminis- 
trator, administratrix ;  arbitrator,  arbitratrix ;  coadjutor,  coddjutrix  ;  competitor,  compctitrcss,  or 
compctitrix ;  creditor,  creditrix ;  director,  directress,  or    directrix;  executor,  executress,  or  execu- 
trix; inheritor,  inheritress,  or  inheritrix ;  mediator,  mediatrcss,  or  mediatrix ;  orator,  oratn-^,or 
oratrix ;  rector,  rectress,  or  rectrix ;  spectator,  spectatress,  or  spectatrix ;  testator,  testatrix;  tutor, 
tutoress,  or  tutress,  or  tutrix ;   deserter,  desertress,  or  desertriee,  or  desertrix. 

4.  The  following  are  irregular  words,  in  which  the  distinction  of  sex  is  chiefly  made  by  the  ter- 
mination:  amoroso,  amorosa ;  archduke ,  archduchess ;  chamberlain,  chambermaid ;  chfke,  duchess; 
gaffer,  gammer ,  goodman,  goody;  hero,  heroine;  landgrave,  langravine ;  margrave,  mar c/rarinK ; 
'marquis,  marchioness  ;  palsgrave,  palsgravine ;  sakeret,  sakerhaivk ;  sewer,  sewster  ;  sultan,  sul- 
tana ;  tzar,  tzarina  ;  tyrant,  tyranness  ;  widower,  widow. 

OBS.  12. — The  proper  names  of  persons  almost  always  designate  their  sex  ;  for  it  has  been 
found  convenient  to  make  the  names  of  women  different  from  those  of  men.  We  have  also  some 
appellatives  which  correspond  to  each  other,  distinguishing  the  sexes  by  their  distinct  application 
to  each  :  as,  bachelor,  maid ;  beau,  belle;  boy, gir I ;  bridegroom,  bride;  brother,  sister ;  buck,  doe; 
boar,  sow  ;  bull,  cow ;  cock,  hen;  colt, filly  ;  dog,  bitch;  drake,  duck;  earl,  countess ;  father,  mother  ; 
friar,  nun ;  gander,  goose ;  grandsire,  grandam  ;  hart,  roe ;  horse,  mare ;  husband,  wife ;  king, 
queen;  lad,  lass ;  lord,  lady ;  male,  female;  man,  woman;  master,  mistress ;  Mister,  Missis  ;  (Mr., 
Mrs.;)  milter,  spawner ;  monk,min;  nephew,  niece  ;  papa,  mamma;  rake,  jilt ;  ram,  ewe:  rnjf, 
reeve ;  sire,  dam ;  sir,  madam ;  sloven,  slut ;  son,  daughter ;  stag,  hind;  steer,  heifer ;  swain,  nymph; 
uncle,  aunt;  wizard,  witch;  youth,  damsel ;  young  man,  maiden-. 

OBS.  13. — The  people  of  a  particular  country  are  commonly  distinguished  by  some  name  derived 
from  that  of  their  country ;  as,  Americans,  Africans,  Egyptians,  Russians,  Turks.  Such  words  are 
sometimes  called  gentile  names.  There  are  also  adjectives,  of  the  same  origin,  if  not  the  same 
form,  which  correspond  with  them.  "  Gentile  names  are  for  the  most  part  considered  as  niascu- 
lino,  and  the  feminine  is  denoted  by  the  gentile  adjective  and  the  noun  woman:  as,  a  Spaniard, 
a  Spanish  woman ;  a  Pole,  or  Polander,  a  Polish  icoman.  But,  in  a  few  instances,  we  ahvuvs  use 
a  compound  of  the  adjective  with  man  or  woman:  as,  an  Englishman,  an  Englishwoman  ;  a  Welsh- 
man, a  Welshwoman;  an  Irishman,  an  Irishwoman;  a  Frenchman,  a  Frenchwoman ;  a  Dutchman, 
a  Dutchwoman :  and  in  these  cases  the  adjective  is  employed  as  the  collective  noun;  as,  Me 
Dutch,  the  French,  &c.  A  Scotchman,  and  a  Scot,  are  both  in  use  ;  but  the  latter  is  not  common 
in  prose  writers  :  though  some  employ  it,  and  these  generally  adopt  the  plural,  Scots,  with  the 
definite  article,  as  the  collrctive  term." — Churchill's  Netv  Gram.  p.  70. 

OBS.  14. — The  names  of  things  without  life,  used  literally,  arc  always  of  the  neuter  gender  :  as, 
"  When  Cleopatra  fled,  Antony  pursued  her  in  a  fivc-oarcd  galley  ;  and,  coming  along  side  of 
her  ship,  entered  -it  without  being  seen  by  her." — Goldsmith's  Rome,  p.  160.  "  The  sit»,  high  as 
it  is,  has  its  business  assigned  ;  and  so  have  the  stars." — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  138.  But  inani- 
mate objects  are  often  represented  figuratively  as  having  sex.  Things  remarkable  for  p  >wer, 

*  There  is  the  same  reason  for  doublino:  the  t  in  citte.ss,  as  for  doubling   the  d  in  goddess.    See  Rule  3d  for 
Spelling     Yet  Johnson,  Tocld,  Webfter,  Holies,  Worcester,  and  others,  spell  it  eitess,  with,  one  t. 
"  Cits  and  ciussct  raise  a  joyful  strain." — DRYDBN  :  Joh.  Diet. 


CHAP.    III.]  ETYMOLOGY. NOUX3. CASES.  lM7 

greatness,  or  sublimity,  are  spoken  of  as  masculine  ;  as,  the  sun,  time,  death,  sleep,  fear,  anier, 
.war.     Things  beautiful,  amiable,  Or  prolific,  are  spoken  of  as  feminine;  as,  a  ship,  the 
moon,  the  earth,  nature,  fortu  ' •><•,  hope,  spring,  jn-'i.-c.     Figurative  gender  is  indicated 

only  by  tin-  personal  pronouns  of  the  singular  number  :  as,  l<  When  we  say  of  the *"><,  //rjs  setting; 
or  of  a 'ship,  She  sails  well." — L.  Murray.  For  these  two  objects,  the  sun  and  I  ship,  this  phrase- 
ology is  so  common,  that  the  literal  construction  quoted  above  is  rarely  met  with. 

6ns.  1.5. —  When  any  inanimate  objector  abstract  quality  is  distinctly  personified,  and  presented 
to  the  imagination  in  the  character  of  a  living  and  intelligent  being,  there  is  necessarily  a  clnn^e 
of  the  gender  of  the  word;  for,  whenever  personality  is  thus  ascribed  to  what  is  literally  neuter, 
there  must  be  an  assumption  of  one  or  the  other  sex  :  as,  "  The  G.-'nius  of  Liberty  is  awakened,  and 
springs  up  ;  she  sheds  her  divine  light  and  creative  powers  upon  the  two  hemispheres.  A  great 
nation,  astonished  at  seeing  herself  free,  stretches  her  arms  from  one  extremity  of  the  earth  to  the 
other,  and  embraces  the  first  nation  that  became  so." — Abbe  Fauehet.  But  there  is  an  inferior 
kind  of  personification,  or  of  what  is  called  such,  in  which,  so  far  as  appears,  the  gender  remains 
neuter  :  as,  "  The  following  is  an  instance  of  personification  and  apostrophe  united :  '  O  thou  sicord 
of  the  Lord  !  how  long  will  it  be  ere  thou  be  quiet  ?  put  thyself  up  into  thy  scabbard,  rest,  and  be 
still !  How  can  it  bo  quiet,  seeing  the  Lord  hath  given  it  a.  charge  against  Askelon,  and  against 
the  sea-shore  ?  there  hath  he  appointed  it.'  " —  Mnrrxifs  Gram.  p.  348.  See  Jer.  xlvii.  6. 

Ons.  16.  —  If  what  is  called  personification,  does  not  always  imply  a  change  of  gender  and 
an  ascription  of  sex,  neither  does  a  mere  ascription  of  sex  to  what  is  literally  of  no  sex, 
necessarily  imply  a  personification;  for  there  may  be  sex  without  personality,  as  we  see  in 
brute  animals.  Hence  the  gender  of  a  brute  animal  personified  in  a  fable,  may  be  taken  liter- 
ally as  before;  and  the  gf  rider  which  is  figuratively  ascribed  to  the  sun,  the  moon,  or  a  ship, 
is  merely  metaphorical.  In  the  following  sentence,  nature  is  animated  and  made  feminine  by  a- 
metaphor,  while  a  lifeless  object  bearing  the  name  of  Venus,  is  spoken  of  as  neuter  :  "  Like  that 
conceit  of  old,  which  declared  that  the  Venus  of  Guides  was  not  the  work  of  Praxiteles,  since 
nature  7/rrv,  //'had  concreted  the  boundary  surface  of  its  beauty." — Rush,  on  tlie  Voice,  p.  xxv. 

Oiss.  17-  —  "  In  personifications  regard  must  be  had  to  propriety  in  determining  the  gender.  Of 
most  of  the  passions  and  moral  qualities  of  man  the  ancients  formed  deities,  as  they  did  of  various 
other  things  :  and,  when  these  are  personified,  they  are  usually  made  male  or  female,  according  as 
they  were  gods  or  goddesses  in  the  pagan  mythology.  The  same  rule  applies  in  other  cases  :  and 
thus  the  planet  Jupiter  will  be  masculine  ;  Venus,  feminine  :  the  ocean,  Oce/inu.s,  masculine  :  riv- 
ers, months,  and  winds,  the  same :  the  names  of  places,  countries,  and  islands,  feminine."  — 
Chun-hill's  Grain,  p.  71. 

18.  —  These  suggestions  are  worthy  of  consideration,  but,  for  the  gender  which  ought  to  be 
adopted  in  personifications,  there  seems  to  be  no  absolute  general  rule,  or  none  which  English 
writers  have  observed  with  much  uniformity.  It  is  well,  however,  to  consider  what  is  most  com- 
mon in  each  particular  case,  and  abide  by  it.  In  the  following  examples,  the  sex  ascribed  is  not 
that  under  which  these  several  objects  are  commonly  figured;  for  which  reason,  the  sentences  are 
perhaps  erroneous  :  — 

"  Knowledge  is  proud  that  he  has  learn'd  so  much ; 

"///  is  humble  that  he  knows  no  more." —  Cowper. 
"But  hoary  Winter,  unadorned  and  bare, 

Dwells  in  the  dire  retreat,  and  freezes  there ; 

There  *//<•  assembles  all  her  blackest  storms. 

And  the  rude  hail  in  rattling  tempests  forms." — Addison. 
"  II<  r  pow'r  extends  o'er  all  things  that  have  breath, 

A  cruel  tyrant,  and  her  name  is  Death." — Sheffield. 

CASES. 

Cases,  in  grammar,  are  modifications  that  distinguish  the  relations  of  nouns 
or  pronouns  to  other  wor 

There  are  three  cases  ;  the  nominative,  the  possessive,  and  the  objective. 

Th  <>ase  is  that  form  or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  de- 

notes the  subject  of  a  verb :  as.  The  boy  runs ;  /run. 

Tlu-  <iibj-.'i-t  of  a  \vrh  i~  that  which  answers  to  who  or  iclmt  before  it;  as, 
^Th'-  •"•>'  runs." — \V  h"  runs?    u  The  boy"  Boy  is  therefore  here  in  the 
ise. 

The  powsaive  caxe  is  that  form  or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  de- 
notes the  relation  of  property  :  as.  The  bo-  ///  hat. 

The  possessive  <•  la  formed,  in  I  lar  number,  by  adding 

to  the  nominative  ind,  in  the  plural,  when  the 

nominative  e  .  by  adding  <m   apostr  '//:  as,  singular,  /' 

plural,  A •'//*'  ;  —  sounded  alike,  but  written  ditr'erentlv. 

Tli'  '••«  case  is    that  form  or  state   of    a  noun  or  pronoun  which 

denotes  the    object  of  a    verb,  participle,  or  preposition:  as,  I  khow  the  boy, 
having  seen  him  at  school ;  and  he  knows  me. 


248  TUB  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

The  object  of  a  verb,  participle,  or  preposition,  is  that  which  answers  to 
whom  or  what  after  it ;  as,  "  I  know  the  boy." — I  know  whom?  "  The  boy" 
Boy  is  therefore  here  in  the  objective  case. 

The  nominative  and  the  objective  of  nouns,  are  always  alike  in  form,  be- 
ing distinguishable  from  each  other  only  by  their  place  in  a  sentence,  or  by 
their  simple  dependence  according  to  the  sense. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  cases,  in  grammar,  are  founded  on  the  different  relations  under  which  things 
are  represented  in  discourse  ;  and  from  which  the  words  acquire  correspondent  relations ;  or 
connexions  and  dependences  according  to  the  sense.  In  Latin,  there  are  six  cases  ;  and  in 
Greek,  five.  Consequently,  the  nouns  and  pronouns  of  those  languages,  and  also  their  adjec- 
tives and  participles,  (which  last  are  still  further  inflected  by  the  three  genders,)  are  varied  by 
many  different  terminations  unknown  to  our  tongue.  In  English,  those  modifications  or  rela- 
tions which  we  call  cases,  belong  only  to  nouns  and  pronouns ;  nor  are  there  ever  more  than 
three.  Pronouns  are  not  necessarily  like  their  antecedents  in  case. 

OBS.  2. — Because  the  infinitive  mood,  a  phrase,  or  a  sentence,  may  in  some  instances  be  made 
the  subject  of  a  verb,  so  as  to  stand  in  that  relation  in  which  the  nominative  case  is  most  com- 
monly found  ;  very  many  of  our  grammarians  have  deliberately  represented  all  terms  used  in  this 
manner,  as  being  "  in  the  nominative  case :  "  as  if,  to  sustain  any  one  of  the  relations  which  are 
usually  distinguished  by  a  particular  case,  must  necessarily  constitute  that  modification  itself. 
Many  also  will  have  participles,  infinitives,  phrases,  and  sentences,  to  be  occasionally  "  in  the 
objective  case:"  whereas  it  must  be  plain  to  every  reader,  that  they  are,  all  of  them,  indeclinable 
terms  ;  and  that,  if  used  in  any  relation  common  to  nouns  or  pronouns,  they  assume  that  office, 
as  participles,  as  infinitives,  as  phrases,  or  as  sentences,  and  not  as  cases.  They  no  more  take 
the  nature  of  cases,  than  they  become  nouns  or  pronouns.  Yet  Nixon,  by  assuming  that  of,  with 
the  word  governed  by  it,  constitutes  a, possessive  case,  contrives  to  give  to  participles,  arid  even 
to  the  infinitive  mood,  all  three  of  the  cases.  Of  the  infinitive,  he  says,  "An  examination  of  the 
first  and  second  methods  of  parsing  this  mood,  must  naturally  lead  to  the  inference  that  it  is  a 
substantive ;  and  that,  if  it  has  the  nominative  case,  it  must  also  have  the  possessive  and  objective 
cases  of  a  substantive.  The  fourth  method  proves  its  [capacity  of]  being  in  the  possessive  case  : 
thus,  'A  desire  io  learn  ;  '  that  is,  '  of  learning.'  When  it  follows  a  participle,  or  a  verb,  as  by  the 
fifth  or  [the]  seventh  method,  it  is  in  the  objective  case.  Method  sixth  is  analogous  to  the  Case 
Absolute  of  a  substantive." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  83.  If  the  infinitive  mood  is  really  a  declinable 
substantive,  none  of  our  grammarians  have  placed  it  in  the  right  chapter  ;  except  that'bold  contem- 
ner  of  all  grammatical  and  literary  authority,  Oliver  B.  Peirce.  When  will  the  cause  of  learn- 
ing cease  to  have  assailants  and  underminers  among  those  who  profess  to  serve  it  ?  Thus  every 
new  grammatist,  has  some  grand  absurdity  or  other,  peculiar  to  himself  ;  and  what  can  be  more 
gross,  than  to  talk  of  English  infinitives  and  participles  as  being  in  the  possessive  easel 

OBS.  3. — It  was  long  a  subject  of  dispute  among  the  grammarians,  what  number  of  cases  an 
English  noun  should  be  supposed  to  have.  Some,  taking  the  Latin  language  for  their  model, 
and  turning  certain  phrases  into  cases  to  fill  up  the  deficits,  were  for  having  six  in  each  num- 
ber;  namely,  the  nominative,  the  genitive,  the  dative,  the  accusative,  the  vocative,  and  the  ab- 
lative. Others,  contending  that  a  case  in  grammar  could  be  nothing  else  than  a  terminational 
inflection,  and  observing  that  English  nouns  have  but  one  case  that  (lifters  from  the  nominative 
in  form,  denied  that  there  were  more  than  two,  the  nominative  and  the  possessive.  This  was 
certainly  an  important  question,  touching  a  fundamental  principle  of  our  grammar  ;  and  any  er- 
roneous opinion  concerning  it,  might  well  go  far  to  condemn  the  book -that  avouched  it.  Every 
intelligent  teacher  must  see  this.  For  what  sense  could  be  made  of  parsing,  without  supposing 
an  objective  case  to  nouns  ?  or  what  propriety  could  there  be  in  making  the  words,  of,  and  to,  and 
from,  govern  or  compose  three  different  cases  ?  Again,  with  what  truth  can  it  be  said,  that  nouns 
have  no  cases  in  English  ?  or  what  reason  can  be  assigned  for  making  more  than  three  ? 

OBS.  4. — Public  opinion  is  now  clear  in  the  decision,  that  it  is  expedient  to  assign  to  English 
nouns  three  cases,  and  no  more  ;  and,  in  a  matter  of  this  kind,  what  is  expedient  for  the  pur- 
pose of  instruction,  is  right.  Yet,  from  the  works  of  our  grammarians,  may  be  quoted  every 
conceivable  notion,  right  or  wrong,  upon  this  point.  Cardell,  with  Tooke  and  Gilchrist  on  his 
side^  contends  that  English  nouns  have  no  cases.  Brightland  averred  that  they  have  neither 
cases  nor  genders.*  Buchanan,  and  the  author  of  the  old  British  Grammar,  assigned  to  them 
one  case  only,  the  possessive,  or  genitive.  Dr.  Adam  also  says,  "  In  English,  nouns  have  only 
one  case,  namely,  the  genitive,  or  possessive  case." — Latin  and  Eng.  Gram.  p.  7.  W.  B.  Fowle 
has  two  cases,  but  rejects  the  word  case  :  "  We  use  the  simple  term  agent  for  a  noun  that  acts,  and 
object  for  the  object  of  an  action." — Fowle's  True  Eng.  Giam.  Part 'II,  p.  68.  Webber's  Gram- 
mar, published  at  Cambridge  in  1832,  recognizes  but  two  cases  of  nouns,  declaring  the  objective 
to  be  "  altogether  superfluous." — P.  22.  "  Our  substantives  have  no  more  cases  than  two."— Jamie- 
sou's  Mitt.  p.  14  "A  Substantive  doth  not  properly  admit  of  more  than  two  cases  :  the  Nom- 
inative, and  the  Genitive." — E//m  /)<>ris's  Gram.  p.  19.  Dr.  Webster,  in  his  Philosophical  Gram- 
mar, of  1807,  and  in  his  Improved  Grammar,  of  1831,  teaches  the  same  doctrine,  but  less  posi- 
tively. This  assumption  has  also  had  the  support  of  Lowth,  Johnson,  Priestley,  Ash,  Bicknell, 
Fisher,  Dalton,  and  our  celebrated  Lindley  Murray .f 

*  "  But  in  the  English  we  have  no  Gf.nrif.rs,  as  has  been  seen  in  the  foregoing  Notes.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  Cases  "—Brinhtltinrl''*  Gram.  Seventh  Edition,  Lond.  1746.  p.  85. 

tl'ho  Hev.  David  Blair  so  palpably  rontradirt.<  himself  In  respect  to  this  matter,  that  I  know  not  which  he 
favours  most,  two  cases  or  three.  In  his  main  text,  he  adopts  no  objective,  but  says  :  "  According  to  the  sense  or 


CHAP.  III.]  ETYMOLOGY. NOUNS. CASES.  249 

P 

Ons.  5. — For  the  true  doctrine  of  three,  cases,  we  have  the  authority  of  Murray,  in  his  later 
editions  :  of  Webster,  in  his  "Plain  andComp.  Grammar,  grounded  on  True  Principle*,"  1790; 
also  in  his  "Rudiments  of  English  Grammar,"  1811  ;  together  with  the  united  authority  of 
Adams,  Ainsworth,  Alden,  Alger,  Baoon,  Barnard,  Bingham,  Burr,  Bullions,  Butler,  Churchill, 
Chandler,  Cobbett,  Comly,  Cooper,  Crombie,  Davenport,  Davis,  Fisk,  A.  Flint,  Frost,  Guy, 
Hart,  Hiley,  Hull,  Ingersoll,  Jaudon,  Kirkham,  Lennie,  Mack,  M'Culloch,  Maunder,  Merchant, 
Nixon,  Nutting,  John  Peirce,  Perley,  Picket,  Russell,  Smart,  R.  C.  Smith,  Rev.  T.  Smith,  Wil- 
cox,  and  I  know  not  how  many  other^. 

OBS.  6. — Dearborn,  in  179-5,  recognized  four  cases  ;  "  the  nominative,  the  possessive,  the  objective, 
and  the  absolute."  Charles  Bucke,  in  his  work  misnamed  "A  Classical  Grammar  of  the  English  Lan- 
guage,"published  in  London  in  1829.  asserts,  that,  "Substantives  in  English  do  not  vary  their  termi- 
nations ;"  yet  he  gives  them/ow  cases  ;  "the  nominative,  the  genitive,  the  accusative,  and  the  voca- 


p. 

possessive,  the  objective,  and  \\\e  absolute." —Text-Book,  p.  31.  Goldsbury,  of  Cambridge,  has  also  four  : 
"  the  Nominative,  the  Possessive,  the  Objective,  and  the  Vocative." — Com.  S.  Gram.  p.  13.  Three 
other  recent  grammarians, —  Wells,  of  Andover, —  Weld,  of  Portland, —  and  Clark,  of  Bloomfield, 
N.  Y. — also  adopt  "  four  cases ; — the  nominative,  the  possessive,  the  objective,  and  the  independent." 
—  l\'-'/s'a  Gram,  p.' 57  ;  UWr/'.x,  GO;  Clark's,  49.  The  first  of  these  gentlemen  argues,  that, 
"  Since  a  noun  or  pronoun,  used  independently,  cannot  at  the  same  time  be  employed  as  '  the  sub- 
ject of  a  verb,'  there  is  a  manifest  impropriety  in  regarding  it  as  a  nominative."  It  might  as  well 
be  urged,  that  a  nominative  after  a  verb,  or  in  apposition  with  an  other,  is,  for  this  reason,  not  a 
noniiiidtirc.  He  also  cites  this  argument :  "  '  Is  there  not  as  much  difference  between  the  nomina- 
tire  and  [the]  indeju-ndent  case,  as  there  is  between  the  no/nf native  and  [the]  objective?  If  so, 
why  class  them  together  as  one  case  ?' — S.  R.  Hall." — lfW/,s'.v  School  Gram.  p.  57.  To  this  I  an- 
swer, Xo.  "  The  nominative  is  that  case  which  primely  denotes  the  name  of  any  person  or  thing  ;" 
(Burn's  Gram,  p.  36;)  and  this  only  it  is,  that  can  be  absolute,  or  independent,  in  English.  This 
scheme  of  four  cases  is,  in  fact,  a  grave  innovation.  As  authority  for  it,  Wells  cites  Felton  ;  and 
bids  his  readers,  "  See  also  Kennion,  Parkhurst,  Fowle,  Flint,  Goodenow,  Bucke,  Hazen,  Golds- 


No.     Certainly  one  half  of  them,  and  probably  more,  give  little  or  no  countenance  to  such  an  in- 
dependent case  as  he  has  adopted.     Parkhurst  admitted  but  three  cases  ;  though  he  thought  two 
others  "  might  he  an  improvement.1'     What  Fowle  has  said  in  support  of  Wells's  four  cases,  I 
-ought  with  diligence,  and  not  found.  Felton's  "  independent  case  "  is  only  what  he  absurd- 
ly calls,  >•'/%<•  unit, i  ni-  ),!•<>, iniin  addressed." — Page  91.     Bucke  and  Goldsbury  acknowledge  "the 
;md  none  of  the  twelve,  so  far  as  I  know,  admit  any  objective  word, 
or  what  others  call  objective,  to  be  independent  or  absolute,  except  perhaps  Goldsbury. 

OBS.  7- — S.  11.  Hall,  formerly  principal  of  the  Seminary  for  Teachers  at  Andover,  (but  no 
gn -at  grammarian,)  in  1832,  published  a  manual,  called  "  The  Grammatical  Assistant ;  "  in  which 

.  ••  There  are  at  least  ^fire  rases,  belonging  to  English  nouns,  differing  as  much  from  each 
other,  as  th<-  cases  of  L;itin  'ami  Greek  nouns.  They  may  be  called  Nominative,  Possessive,  Ob- 

,  Independent  and  Absolute." — P.  7-  O.  B.  Peirce  will  have  both  nouns  and  pronouns  to  be 
used  in  .  \vhiehhethuscnumerates:  "  Four  simple  cases;  the  Subjective,  Possessive,  Ob- 

jective.'and  the  Independent ;  and  the  Twofold  case." — Grant  p.  42.  But,  on  page  56th,  he  speaks 
of  a  "  twofold  xtt':  ."  '•  the  twofold  objeefive  case, "and  shows  how  thOMMVMMM  may  be 

twofold  also;  >o  that,  without  taking  any  of  the  Latin  cases,  or  even  all  of  Hall's,  he  really 

:/es  as  many  as  >cvcn,  it'  not  eight.     Among  the  English  grammars  which  assume  all  the 
'.lie  Latin   Language,  an-  IJnrn's.  ('oar's,  Dilworth's,  Mackintosh's,  Mennye's,  Win. 

s,  and  the  "  Comprehensive  Grammar,"  a  respectable  little  book,  published  by  Dobson  of 
Philadelphia,  in  17S9,  but  written  by  somebody  in  England. 

S. — Of  the  English  grammars  which  can  properly  be  said  to  be  now  in  use,  a  very  great 
majority  agree  in  ascribing  to  nouns  three  cases,  and  three  only.  This,  I  am  persuaded',  is  the 
best  number,  and  susceptible  of  the  best  defence,  whether  we  appeal  to  authority,  or  to  other  ar- 
gument. The  disputes  of  grammarians  make  no  small  part  of  the  history  of  ura nimar ;  and  in 
submitting  to  be  guided  by  their  decisions,  it  is  proper  for  us  to  consider  what  degree  of  certainty 

Trillion  in  \vhirii  r,  :.the\  ap-  in  the  NOMI.NATIVK  or  [the]  POSSESSIVE  CASE,  thus,  nom.  man  ;  post. 

marginal  note  •  "  In  tin-  Kn^lish  language,  the  distinction  of  the  objective 

!'«-inx  nothing  hut  in/lections,  where  inflections  do  not  exist,  tin-re 

•i  of  cases,  for  the  terms  inflation  and  case  ;n  Anonymous  and  ron- 

n,  so  no  other  case  is  here  adopted.    The  objec- 

•CH//H  it  is  c:isy  to  distinjjm-  ::ntn  obj'Cts.     A  noun 

i  a-  in  the  nominitive  case,  and  one  governed  by  the  verb,  or  following  a 

pr<  i)'i.-i:iu:!.  a>  in  tii.  1'ractical  Gram.,  Seven'h  Eilition.  London,  1815,  p.  11.    The  terms 

:  Ically  synonymous,   and  i.ever  were  so  in  the  grammars  of  the  language  from 

which  they  ant  derived     The  man  who  reject*  the  «\  jee-ive  it  has  not  a  form  pe- 

cu  iar  n-a'ive  ami  the  vo,  ati\e  r,f  all  neuter  nouns  in  Utin.  for  the  .-aim-  : 

an  I  th  I.  .1  (.11  the  same  principle.     In  some  other  parts  of  his  book,  Blair 

speaks  of  the  i  do  other  authors  ! 

*   This  au:li»r  saj  -.  "  \\ '••  ,,-r  than  nominative,  because  it  is  shorter,  and 

becausi  'he  larter  word  means,  indeed,  livle  ..r  nothing  in  if.<elt." — 

I  his  appears  to  uie  a  f'«.!i>h  innovation,  too  much  in  the  spirit  of  Oliver  U.  IViree.  \\\m  al.-o 

adepts  it.  iiu-  person  \slio  knows  no:  tlie  meaning;  of  the  won!  nnminntii-t,  will  not  ho  very  likelv  to  h'ud  out 
whit  is  meai.t  \>\  subjtctive;  especially  as  some  learned  grainmari  ins,  even  such  men  as  J>r.  CroinMe  and  Pro- 
fessor Riillimis.  i  I'ren  erron.  onsly  call  the  \vnrd  wiii. •!.  :  by  the  verb  its  subj-  ii"  we  >-ay  sub- 
jective ,1  of  'nominative  and  objective ^  we  shall  inevitably  change  the  accent  of  both,  and  give 
the  01  a  pronunciation  hitherto  unknown  to  the  words.— G.  BROWX. 


250  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART    II. 

there  is  in  the  rule,  and  what  difference  or  concurrence  there  is  among  them  :  for,  the  teaching  of 
any  other  than  the  best  opinions,  is  not  the  teaching  of  science,  come  from  what  quarter  it  may. 
On  the  question  respecting  the  objective  case  of  nouns,  Murray  and  Webster  changed  sides  with 
each  other  ;  and  that,  long  after  they  first  appeared  as  grammarians.  Nor  was  this  the  only,  or 
the  most  important  instance,  in  which  the  different  editions  of  the  works  of  these  two  gentlemen, 
present  them  in  opposition,  both  to  themselves  and  to  each  other.  "What  cases  are  there  in  Eng- 
lish ?  The  nominative,  which  usually  stands  before  a  verb  ;  as,  the  boy  writes  :  The  possess. ive, 
which  takes  an  s  with  a  comma,  and  denotes  property ;  as,  John's  hat :  The  objective,  which  fol- 
lows a  verb  or  preposition  :  as,  he. honors  virtus,  or  it  is  an  honor  to  him." — H^'W  -/-'.v  P //(hi  and 
Comp.  Gram  ,  Sixth  Edition,  1800,  p.  9.  "But  for  convenience,  the  two  positions  of  nouns,  one 
before,  the  other  after  the  verb,  are  called  cases.  There  are  then  three  cases,  the  no »i'> native, 
possessive,  and  objective." — Webster's  Rudiments  of  Grain.,  1811,  p.  12.  "In  English  therefore 
names  have  two  cases  only,  the  nominative  or  simple  name,  and  the  2^ossessive." — Webster's  Phi- 
losoph.  Gram.,  1807,  p.  32  :  also  his  Improved  Gram.,  1831,  p.  24. 

OBS.  9. — Murray  altered  his  opinion  after  the  tenth  or  eleventh  edition  of  his  duodecimo  Gram- 
mar. His  instructions  stand  thus  :  "In  English,  substantives  have  but  two  cases,  the  nomina- 
tive, and  [the]  possessive  or  genitive." — Murray's  Gram.  12mo,  Second  Edition.  1796,  p.  35. 
"For  the  assertion,  that  there  are  in  English  but  two  cases  of  nouns,  and  three  of  pronouns,  we 
have  the  authority  of  Lowth,  Johnson,  Priestley,  &c.  names  which  are  sufficient  to  decide  this 
point." — Ib.  p.  36.  "In  English,  substantives  have  three  cases,  the  nominative,  the  possessive, 
and  the  objective." — Murray's  Gram.  12/wo,  Twenty-third  Edition,  1816,  p.  44.  "  The  author  of 
this  work  long  doubted  the  propriety  of  assigning  to  English  substantives  an  objective  case :  but 
a  renewed  critical  examination  of  the  subject;  an  examination  to  "which  he  was  prompted  by  the 
extensive  and  increasing  demand  for  the  grammar,  has  produced  in  his  mind  a  full  persuasion, 
that  the  nouns  of  our  language  are  entitled  to  this  comprehensive  objective  case." — Ib.  p.  46.  If 
there  is  any  credit  in  changing  one's  opinions,  it  is,  doubtless,  in  changing  them  for  the  better; 
but,  of  all  authors,  a  grammarian  has  the  most  need  critically  to  examine  his  subject  before  he 
goes  to  the  printer.  "This  case  was  adopted  in  the  twelfth  edition  of  the  Grammar." — Murray's 
Exercises,  12mo,  N.  Y.  1818,  p.  viii. 

OBS.  10.  —  The  possessive  case  has  occasioned  no  less  dispute  than  the  objective.  On  this  vexed 
article  of  our  grammar,  custom  has  now  become  much  more  uniform  than  it  was  a  century  ago  ;  and 
public  opinion  may  be  said  to  have  settled  most  of  the  questions  which  have  been  agitated  about  it. 
Some  individuals,  however,  are  still  dissatisfied.  In  the  first  place,  against  those  who  hive 
thought  otherwise,  it  is  determined,  by  infinite  odds  of  authority,  that  there  is  such  a  case,  b  )th 
of  nouns  and  of  pronouns.  Many  a  common  reader  will  wonder,  who  can  have  been  ignorint 
enough  to  deny  it.  "  The  learned  and  sagacious  Wallis,  to  whom  every  English  grammarian  O'ves 
a  tribute  of  reverence,  calls  this  modification  of  the  noun  an  adjective  possessive ;  I  think,  with  no 
more  propriety  than  he  might  have  applied  the  same  to  the  Latin  genitive."— Dr.  Johnson's  Grc.m. 
p.  5.  Brightland  also,  who  gave  to  adjectives  the  name  of  qualities,  included  all  possessives  among 
them,  calling  them  "  Possessive  Qualities,  or  Qualities  of  Possession." — Brightland' s  Gram.  p.  90. 

OBS.  11.  — This  exploded  error,  William  S.  Cardell,  a  few  years  ago,  republished  as  a  novelty  ; 
for  .vhich,  among  other  pretended  improvements  of  a  like  sort,  he  received  the  ephemeral  praise 
of  some  of  our  modern  literati.  William  B.  Fowle  also  teaches  the  same  thing.  See  his  Com- 
mon School  Gram.  Part  II,  p.  104.  In  Felch's  Grammar,  too,  published  in  Boston  in  1837,  an 
attempt  is  made,  to  revive  this  old  doctrine ;  but  the  author  takes  no  notice  of  any  of  the  above- 
named  authorities,  being  probably  ignorant  of  them  all.  His  reasoning  upon  the  point,  does  not 
appear  to  me  to  be  worthy  of  a  detailed  answer.*  That  the  possessive  case  of  nouns  is  not  an  adjec- 
tive, is  demonstrable  ;  because  it  may  have  adjectives,  of  various  kinds,  relating  to  it  :  as,  "  This 
old  man's  daughter." —  Shak.  It  may  also  govern  an  other  possessive  ;  as,  "  Peter's  wife's  moth- 
er."—  Bible.  Here  the  former  possessive  is  governed  by  the  latter  ;  but,  if  both  were  adjectives, 
they  would  both  relate  to  the  noun  mother,  and  so  produce  a  confusion  of  ideas.  Again,  nouns  of 
the  possessive  case  have  a  distinction  of  number,  which  adjectives  have  not.  In  gender  also,  there 
lies  a  difference.  Adiectives.  whenever  thev  are  varied  bv  sender  or  number,  aorce  with  their 


Ib.  ver.  22. 

OBS.  12.  —  Secondly,  general  custom  has  clearly  determined  that  the  possessive  ca.se  of  nouns 
is  always  to  be  written  with  an  apostrophe :  except  in  those  few  instances  in  which  it  is  not  gov- 
erned singly  by  the  noun  following,  but  so  connected  with  an  other  that  both  are  governed 
jointly  ;  as,  Cato  the  Censor's  doctrine, — Sir  Walter  Scott's  Works, — Beaumont  and  Fletcher's 
Plays.  This  custom  of  using  the  apostrophe,  however,  has  been  opposed  by  many.  Bright- 
land,  and  Buchanan,  and  the  author  of  the  British  Grammar,  and  some  late  writers  in  the  Philo- 

*  The  authorities  cited  by  Felch,  for  his  doctrine  of  "  possfsu've  adnouns,"  amount  to  nothing.  They  are 
ostensibly  two.  The  first  is  a  remark  of  Dr.  Adam's  :  '• '  John's  book  was  formerly  written  Juhnis  book.  Some 
have  thought  the  '.«  a  contraction  of  his,  but  improperly.  Others  have  imagined,  with  more  justness,  that,  by  the 
addition  of  the  '*,  the  substantive  is  changed  into  a  possessive  adjective.' — Adam's  Latin  and  Eng/i^'i  Grammar, 
p.  7 ."—  FelrMs  Comp.  Gram.  p.2G.  Ileic  Dr.  Adam  by  no  means  concurs  with  what  those  "  Imagin- 

ed ;  "  for.  in  the  very  same  place,  he  declares  the  possessive  ca«<e  of  nouns  to  be  their  only  case.  Th<-  second  is  a 
dogmatical  and  inconsistent  remark  of  some  anonymous  writer  in  some  part  of  the  "  American  Journn1  of  Educa- 
tion," a  work  respectable  indeed,  but,  on  the  subject  of  grammar,  too  often  fantastical  and  heterodox.  Felch 
thinks  it  not  improper,  to  use  the  possessive  case  before  parriciples  ;  in  which  situation,  ir,  denotes,  not  the  owner 
of  something,  but  the  agent,  subject,  or  recipient,  of  the  action,  being,  or  change.  And  what  a  jumM-  does  ho 
make,  where  he  attempts  to  resolve  this  uiiicrammatical  construction  ! — telling  us,  in  almost  the  sa rue  breath, 
that,  ';  The  agent  of  a  nounal  verb  [i.  e.  participle]  is  never  expressed ,  ':  but  that,  "  Sometimes  it  [Mio  nounal  or 
gerumlial  verb]  i*  quaJJfi*'/,  in  it?  nounal  capacity,  by  a  possessive  atlnmm  indicative  of  it*  itsrx  < 
is  nothing  like  onSt  BEING  useful ;  he  doubted  </i*ir" HAVING  it:  "  and  then  concluding,  "Hence  it  altars,  that 
the  presml  purti'ip'r.  may  be  used  as  agrnt  or  object,  and  yet  retain  its  character  as  a  verb." — Felc/i  s  Compre- 
hensive Gram.  p.  81.  Alas  for  the  schools,  if  the  wise  men  of  the  East  receive  for  grammar  such  utter  confusion, 
and  palpable  self-contradiction,  as  this ! 


CHAP.  III.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  NOUNS.  -  CASES.  251 

logical  Museum,  are  among  those  who  have  successively  taught,  that  the  possessive  case  should 
be  formed  like  the  nnmin  tfin-  phira/,  by  adding  s  when  the  pronunciation  admits  the  sound,  and  ea 
•when  the  word  acquires  an  additional  syllable.  Some  of  these  approve  of  the  apostrophe,  and 
others  do  not.  Thus  Brightland  cives  some  examples,  which  are  contrary  to  his  rule,  adopting 
that  strange  custom  of  putting  the  s  in  Roman,  and  the  name  in  Italic;  "as,  King  C'/uirles'a 
Court,  and  St.  J(it,t,-*'*  Park."  —  (>,-<i,n.  of  the  English  Tongue,  p.  91. 

Or.*  13  —  "  The  genitive  case,  in  my  opinion,"  says  Dr.  Ash,  "might  be  much  more  properly 
formed  by  adding  »,  or  when  the  pro  .uiviation  requires  it,  es,  without  an  Apostrophe  :  as,  men, 
mat*  •  //O/-.ST,  llor  —  Aah's  Grum.  p.  23.  "  To  write  Ox's,  Ass's,  Fox's, 

and  at  the  same  time  pronounce  it  .   l-'o.ces,  is  such  a  departure  from  the  original  for- 

mation, at  least  in  writing,  and  such  an  inconsistent  use  of  the  Apostrophe,  as  cannot  be  equalled 
perhaps  in  any  other  language."  —  Ib.  Lowth,  too,  gives  some  countenance  to  this  objection: 
"  It  [i.  e.  '  G  'J  was  formerly  written  '  Godis  grace  ;  '  we  now  always  shorten  it  with  an 

apostrophe;  often  v<  ry  l/»pn>/>i:r!i/,   when  we  are  obliged  to  pronounce  it  fully  ;  as,  '  Thomas'  8 
book,'  that  is,  «  Thomasis  book,'  not  '  Thomas  his  book,'  as  it  is  commonly  supposed."  —  Lowth's 
p.  17.     Whatever  weight  thrre  may  be  in  this  argument,  the  objection  has  been  overruled 
by  general  custom.     The  convenience  of  distinguishing,  even  to  the  eye  alone,  the  numbers  and 

>t'  the  noun,  is  found  too  great  to  be  relinquished.  If  the  declension  of  English  nouns  is 
ever  to  be  amended,  it  cannot  be  done  in  this  way.  It  is  understood  by  every  reader,  that  the  apos- 
trophir  s  adds  a  syllable  to  the  noun,  whenever  it  will  not  unite  with  the  sound  in  which  the  nomi- 
native ends  ;  as,  torch's,  pronounced  tort  />/'-. 

"  Yet  time  ennobles  or  degrades  each  line; 

It  brighten'd  Cragtjs's,  and  may  darken  thine."  —  Pope. 

OBS.  It.  —  The  English  possessive  case  unquestionably  originated  in  that  form  of  the  Saxon 
genitive  which  terminates  in  e.v,  examples  of  which  may  be  found  in  almost  any  specimen  of  the 
Saxon  tongue:  as,  "  On  Ih  -rodes  dagum,"  —  "In  Htrod's  days  ;  "  —  "  Of  Aarones  dohtrum,"  — 
"  Of  Aui-o/t'ft  daughters."  —  Luke,  i,  6.  This  ending  was  some'times  the  same  as  that  of  the  plu- 
ral ;  and  both  were  changed  to  is  or  ys,  before  they  became  what  we  now  find  them.  This  ter- 
mination added  a  syllable  to  the  word  ;  and  Lowth  suggests,  in  the  quotation  above,  that  the 
apostrophe  was  introduced  to  shorten  it.  But  some  contend,  that  the  use  of  this  mark  originated 
in  a  mi-take.  It  appears  from  the  testimony  of  Brightland,  Johnson,  Lowth,  Priestley,  and 
others,  who  have  noticed  the  error  in  order  to  correct  it,  that  an  opinion  was  long  entertained, 
that  the  termination  's  was  a  contraction  of  the  word  his.  It  is  certain  that  Addison  thought 
so;  for  he  expressly  says  it,  in  the  135th  number  of  the  Spectator.  Accordingly  he  wrote, 
in  lieu  of  the  regular  possessive,  "  My  paper  is  l'/i/xtn-s  his  bow."  —  Guardian,  No.  98.  "  Of  Soc- 
ri'fes  his  rules  of  prayer."  —  >);"/.  N<>.  207.  So  Lowth  quotes  Pope  :  "  By  youmi  Ti-ft/machita  his 
bloom  —lifim.  p.  17.*  There  is  also  one  late  author  who  says,  "  The  '*  is  a  con- 

n  of  his,  and  was  formerly  written  in  full  ;   as,   William  Russell  his  book."  —  Goodetiow's 

p.  32.  This  is  undoubtedly  bad  English  ;  and  always  was  so,  however  common  may  have 
been  the  erroneous  notion  which  gave  rise  to  it.  But  the  apostrophe,  whatever  may  have  been 
its  origin,  is  now  the  acknowledged  distinctive  mark  of  the  possessive  case  of  English  nouns. 
The  application  of  the  's,  frequently  to  feminines,  and  sometimes  to  plurals,  is  proof  positive 
that  it  id  )iot  a  contraction  of  the  pronoun  his  ;  as, 

"  Now  Jove  suspends  his  golden  scales  in  air, 

'•v  wits  against  the  Lady's  hair."  —  Pope,  R.  of  L.  v,  72. 

OBS.  1-3.  —  Many  of  the  old  grammarians,  and  Guy  among  the  moderns,  represent  the  regular 
formation  of  the  possessive  case  as  being  the  same  in  both  numbers,  supposing  generally  in  the 
plural  an  abbreviation  of  the  word  by  the  omission  of  the  second  or  syllabic  s.  That  is,  they  sup- 

.  it  siieh  te;  .  were  written  for  eagles's  wings,  ant/els's  Pt*M% 

&c.  This  view  of  the  matter  accounts  well  enough  for  the  fashion  of  such  plurals  zsmeii's,  wotm-n's, 
children's,  and  makes  them  regular.  But  I  find  no  evidence  at  all  of  the  fact  on  which  these  au- 
thors presume  ;  nor  do  I  believe  that  the  regular  possessive  plural  was  ever,  in  general,  a  syllable 

than  the  nominative.     If  it  ever  had  been  so,  it  would  still  be  easy  to  prove  the  point,  by 
11  ancient  books.     The  general  principle  then  is,  that  the  apostrophe  forms  the  posses- 

te,  with  an  *  i*  the  singular  ,  tutd  >rith»'/t  it  in  the  pi  '»//•«/  '.  •  but  there  are  some  exception* 
rule,  on  cither  hand  ;  and  these  must  be  duly  noticed. 
KJ  —  The  chief  exceptions,  or  irregularities,  IB   the  formation  of  the  possessive  singular, 

•liink,  to  be  accounted    m«-n-  poe;  ,,  it'   e\er,  to    be  allowed  in  prose. 

(  Lowth,)  Sj     <ks  of  them  thus  :  '•  In  poetry  the  s  is  frequently  omitted 

.   'The  wrath   ol  M.'     I'i>j,<>.     This   is  scarcely 

>\c  in  prose,  thm.  JDS/I,  i,  1.  'Phim-has'  wife.' 

K!V,  27.     It  was  done  in  prose  evidently 

to  avoid  the  recurr«ju-e  of  a  sibilant  sound  at  the  end  of  two  following  syllables  ;  but  this  may  as 
readily  be  ol  ii.m  of,  which  is  now  commonly  substituted  for  th< 

1>.  -2\~>.    In  Scott's  Bible,  Philadelphia, 

1814,  the  texts  here  quoted  are  all  of  then  correct.  •<!.  thus:  •  nister,"—  "  7V// 

wife,"  —  ••/•'.-•/>•.,  room."     But  the  phraso,    "j  e  sake,"  (Rom.  xiii,  o,)  is  there  given 

without  the  apostrophe.     Algvr  prints  it,    "for  cot  ke,"  which  is  better;  and  though 

pillar,  it  i-  a  common  form  for  this  p.rticuhr   expression.     Our   common  Bible-  ha\«-  this 

•  And  the  \\vancil  child  shall  put  his  hand  on    the  •  ••//,  xi.  S.     Alger, 

this  to  he  wrong,  wn.f  it.  "on  ti,  "  —  Pronouncing  Bible.     Dr.  Scott,  in  his 

Reference  Bible,  makes  this  ;  >  -ul.ir,   "oath  -'s  den."     This  is  right.     The 


*  A  critic's  accuracy  is  .eomotini.^  lhM.>  to  he  brought  into  doubt,  by  subsequent  alterations  of  the  texts  which 
he  quo-os.  Many  an  frr«>r  <  i  ••  I  in  this  volume  of  cri  irj-m.  may  poa«ibly  not  be  foun«l  in  soim-  firurr  eilition  of 
thi>  book  ref.  voral  of  Mi  ,,-  l,y  Lowth,  have  disappeared  from  tin-  places 

Uaaaed  for  thMD.  Churchill  also  titea  this  line  as  »boi  >i.  p.  '211;)  but.  in  my  edkion  of  the  Odyssey, 

by  Pope,  the  reading  is  this  :  "  By  lov'd  Telcmackuss  blooming  years  !  "  —  Book  xi,  1.  8i. 


252  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

Vulgate  has  it,  "in  caverna  reguli;"  which,  however,  is  not  classic  Latin.    Afters  also,  the 
poets  sometimes  drop  the  s  :  as, 

"  Sad  was  the  hour,  and  luckless  was  the  day, 
When  first  from  Shiraz'  walls  I  bent  my  way." — Collins. 

OBS.  17- — A  recent  critic,  who,  I  think,  has  not  yet  learned  to  speak  or  write  the  possessive 
case  of  his  own  name  properly,  assumes  that  the  foregoing  occasional  or  poetical  forms  are  the 
only  true  ones  for  the  possessive  singular  of  such  words.  He  says,  "  When  the  name  does  end 
with  the  sound  of  s  or  z,  (no  matter  what  letter  represents  the  sound,)  the  possessive  form  is 
madefy  annexing  only  an  apostrophe." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  44.  Agreeably  to  this  rule,  he 
letters  his  work,  "  Peirce'  Grammar,"  and  condemns,  as  bad  English,  the  following  examples 
and  all  others  like  them:  "  James  Otis's  letters,  General  Gates's  command,  General  Knox's  ap- 
pointment, Gov.  Meigs's  promptness,  Mr.  Williams' s  oration,  The  ^oitness's  deposition." — Ib.  p. 
60.  It  is  obvious  that  this  gentleman's  doctrine  and  criticism  are  as  contrary  to  the  common 
practice  of  all  good  authors,  as  they  are  to  the  common  grammars,  which  he  ridicules.  Surely, 
such  expressions  as,  "  Harris's  Hermes,  Philips's  Poems,  Prince's  Bay,  Prince's  Island,  Fox's 
Journal,  King  James's  edict,  a.jiistice's  warrant,  Sphinx's  riddle,  the  lynx's  beam,  the  lass's  beauty," 
have  authority  enough  to  refute  the  cavil  of  this  writer  ;  who,  being  himself  wrong,  falsely 
charges  the  older  grammarians,  that,  "their  theories  vary  from  the  principles  of  the  language 
correctly  spoken  or  written." — Ib.  p.  60.  A  much  more  judicious  author  treats  this  point  of 
grammar  as  follows  :  "  When  the  possessive  noun  is  singular,  and  terminates  with  an  s,  another  * 
is  requisite  after  it,  and  the  apostrophe  must  be  placed'between  the  two  ;  as,  '  Die  kens' s  works,' 
— '  Harris's  wit.'  " — Day's  Punctuation,  Third  London  Edition^  p.  136.  The  following  example, 
too,  is  right :  "  I  would  not  yield  to  be  your  house's  guest." — Shakespeare. 

OBS.  18. — A\\phiral  nouns  that  differ  from  the  singular  without  ending  in  s,  form  the  posses- 
sive case  in  the  same  manner  as  the  singular:  as,  man's,  men's;  woman's,  women's;  child's, 
children's ;  brother's,  brothers'  or  brethren's;  ox's,  oxen's;  goose's,  geese's.  In  two  or  three  words 
which  are  otherwise  alike  in  both  numbers,  the  apostrophe  ought  to  follow  the  s  in  the  plural, 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  singular:  as,  the  sheep's  fleece,  the  sheeps'  fleeces  ;  a  wear's  tongue, 
neats'  tongues  ;  a  deer's  horns,  a  load  of  deers'  horns. 

OBS.  19. — Dr.  Ash  says,  "Nouns  of  the  plural  number  that  end  in  s,  will  not  very  properly 
admit  of  the  genitive  case." — Ash's  Gram.  p.  54.  And  Dr.  Priestley  appears  to  have  been  of  the 
same  opinion.  See  his  Gram.  p.  69.  Lowth  too  avers,  that  the  sign  of  the  possessive  case  is 
"  never  added  to  the  plural  number  ending  in  s." — Gram.  p.  18.  Perhaps  he  thought  the  phval 
sign  must  involve  an  other  s,  like  the  singular.  This  however  is  not  true,  neither  is  Dr.  Ash's 
assertion  true;  for  the  New  Testament  speaks  as  properly  of  "the  soldiers'  counsel,"  as  of  the 
tf  centurion' s  servant;  "  of  "  the  scribes  that  were  of  the  Pharisees'  part,"  as  of  "Paul's  siste-'s 
son."  It  would  appear,  however,  that  the  possessive  plural  is  less  frequently  used  than  tie 
possessive  singular  ;  its  place  being  much  oftener  supplied  by  the  preposition  of  and  the  obj(  c- 
tive.  We  cannot  say  that  either  of  them  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  language  ;  but  they  are 
both  worthy  to  be  commended,  as  furnishing  an  agreeable  variety  of  expression. 
"  Then  shall  man's  pride  and  dulness  comprehend 
His  actions' ,  passions' ,  being's  xise  and  end." — Pope. 

OBS.  20. — The  apostrophe  was  introduced  into  the  possessive  case,  at  least  for  the  singular  num- 
ber, in  some  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Its  adoption  for  the  plural,  appears  to  have  been 
later :  it  is  not  much  used  in  books  a  hundred  years  old.  In  Buchanan's  "Regular  English 
Syntax,"  which  was  written,  I  know  not  exactly  when,  but  near  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  I  find  the  following  paragraph:  "We  have  certainly  a  Genitive  Plural,  though  there 
has  been  no  Mark  to  distinguish  it.  The  Warriors  Arms,  i.  e.  the  Arms  of  the  Warriors,  is  as 
much  a  Genitive  Plural,  as  the  Warrior's  Arms,  for  the  Arms  of  the  Warrior  is  a  Genitive  Sin- 
gular. To  distinguish  this  Genitive  Plural,  especially  to  Foreigners,  we  might  use  the  Apos- 
trophe reversed,  thus,  the  Warrior's  Arms,  the  Stone's  End,  for  the  End  of  the  Stones,  the 
Grocer's,  Taylor's,  Haberdasher's,  &c.  Company ;  for  the  Company  of  Grocers,  Taylors,  &c. 
The  Surgeon's  Hall,  for  the  Hall  of  the  Surgeons  ;  the  Rider's  Names,  for  the  Names  of  the 
Riders  ;  and  so  of  all  Plural  Possessives."  See  Buchan.  Synt.  p.  111.  Our  present  form  of  the 
possessive  plural,  being  unknown  to  this  grammarian,  must  have  had  a  later  origin ;  nor  can 
it  have  been,  as  some  imagine  it  was,  an  abbreviation  of  a  longer  and  more  ancient  form. 

OBS.  21. — The  apostrophic  s  has  often  been  added  to  nouns  improperly ;  the  words  formed  by  it 
not  being  intended  for  the  possessive  singular,  but  for  the  nominative  or  objective  plural.  Thiia 
we  find  such  authors  as  Addison  and  Swift,  writing  Jacobus's  and  genius's,  for  Jacobuses  and 
geniuses  ;  idea's,  toga's,  and  tunica's,  for  ideas,  togas,  and  tunicas  ;  enamorato's  and  virtuoso's,  for 
enamoratoes  and  virtuosoes.  Errors  of  this  kind,  should  be  carefully  avoided. 

OBS.  22. — The  apostrophe  and  s  are  sometimes  added  to  mere  characters,  to  denote  plurality, 
and  not  the  possessive  case  ;  as,  two  a's,  three  i's,  four  9's.  These  we  cannot  avoid,  except  by 
using  the  names  of  the  things  ;  as,  two  Aes,  three  Bees,  four  Nines.  "  Laced  down  the  sides  with 
little  c's." — Steele.  "  Whenever  two  ^'s  come  together,  they  are  both  hard." — Buchanan.  The 
names  of  c  and  g,  plural,  are  Gees  and  Gees.  Did  these  authors  know  the  words,  or  did  they  not  ? 
To  have  learned .the  names  of  the  letters,  will  be  found  on  many  occasions  a  great  convenience, 
especially  to  critics.  For  example  :  "  The  pronunciation  of  these  two  consecutive  s's  is  hard." — 
Webber's  Gram.  p.  21.  Better :  "  Esses."  "  S  and  x,  however,  are  exceptions.  They  are  plura- 
lyzed  by  adding  es  preceded  by  a  hyphen  [-],  as  the  s-es ;  the  x-es." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  40. 
Better,  use  the  names,  Ess  and  Ex,  and  pluralize  thus  :  "  the  Esses  ;  the  Exes." 
"  Make  Q's  of  answers,  to  waylay 
What  th'  other  party  's  like  to  sa.y."—Hudibras,  P.  in,  C.  ii,  1.  951. 

Here  the  cipher  is  to  be  read  Kucs,  but  it  has  not  the  meaning  of  this  name  merely.  It  is  put 
either  for  the  plural  of  Q.,  a  Question,  like  D.  D.'s,  (read  Dee-Dees,)  for  Doctors  of  Divinity ;  or 
else,  more  erroneously,  for  cues,  the  plural  of  cue,  a  turn  which  the  next  speaker  catches. 

OBS.  23. — In  the  following  example,  the  apostrophe  and  s  are  used  to  give  the  sound  of  a 


CHAP.    III.] 


ETYMOLOGY. — NOUNS. PARSING. PRAXIS   III. 


253 


verb's  termination,  to  words  which  the  writer  supposed  were  not  properly  verbs  :  "  When  a  man 
in  a  soliloquy  reasons  with  himself,  and  pro's  and  con's,  and  weighs  all  his  designs." — Conqreve. 
But  here,  "procs  and  cons,"  would  have  been  more  accurate.  "  We  put  the  ordered  number  of 
m's  into  our  composing-stick." — Printer's  Gram.  Here  "'Ems"  would  have  done  as  well.  "  All 
measures  for  folio's  and  y/w/r/.v,  should  be  made  to  m's  of  the  English  body  ;  all  measures  for 
octavo's,  to  P'ica  m's." — Ibid.  'Here  regularity  requires,  "folios,  quartoes,  octa  roes"  and  "pica 
Ems."  The  verb  /.v,  when  contracted,  sometimes  gives  to  its  nominative  the  same  form  as  that 
of  the  possessive  case,  it  not  being  always  spaced  off  for  distinction,  as  it  may  be  ;  as, 
"  A  wit's  a  feather,  and  a  chief  a  rod  ; 

An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God." — Pope,  on  Han,  Ep.  iv,  1.  247. 
Ous.  21.  —  As  the  o'>J-  »f  nouns  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  nominative,  only  by 

th<  sen  .  v.'lation,  and  position,  of  words  in  a  sentence,  the  learner  must  acquire  a  habit  of 
att-'iidinu'  to  these  several  things.  Nor  ought  it  to  be  a  hardship  to  any  reader  to  understand 
that  which  he  thinks  worth  reading.  It  is  seldom  possible  to  mistake  one  of  these  cases  for 
the  other,  without  a  total  misconception  of  the  author's  meaning.  The  nominative  denotes 
the  agent,  actor,  or  door ;  the  person  or  thing  that  is  made  the  subject  of  an  affirmation,  nega- 
tion, question,  or  supposition  :  its  place,  except  in  a  question,  is  commonly  before  the  verb. 
Tin-  oliji  i  tive,  when  governed  by  a  verb  or  a  participle,  denotes  the  person  on  whom,  or  the 
thin^  0:1  \\liich,  the  action  falls  and  terminates :  it  is  commonly  placed  after  the  verb,  parti- 
ciple, or  preposition,  which  governs  it.  Nouns,  then,  by  changing  places,  may  change  cases: 
as,  "  Jun-it/K'n  loved  David;"  "David  loved  Jonathan."  Yet  the  case  depends  not  entirely 
upon  position  ;  for  any  order  in  which  the  words  cannot  be  misunderstood,  is  allowable  :  as, 
"Such  tricks  hath  strong  imagination."  —  Shak.  Here  the  cases  are  known,  because  the 
meaning  is  plainly  this:  "Strong  imagination  hath  such  tricks."  "To  him  give  all  the 
prophets  witness.  — Acts,  x,  43.  This  is  intelligible  enough,  and  more  forcible  than  the  same 
meaning  expressed  thus:  "All  the  prophets  give  witness  to  him."  The  order  of  the  words 
never  can  affect  the  explanation  to  be  given  of  them  in  parsing,  unless  it  change  the  sense,  and 
form  them  into  a  different  sentence. 

THE  DECLENSION  OF  NOUNS. 

The  declension  of  a  noun  is  a  regular  arrangement  of  its  numbers  and  cases. 
Thus : — 

EXAMPLE    I. FRIEND. 

Sing.  Norn.         friend,  Plur.  Nom.         friends, 

Poss..        friend's,  Poss.         friends', 

Obj.          friend ;  Obj.          friends. 

EXAMPLE    II.  MAN. 

Sing.  Nom.         man,  Plur.  Nom.         men, 

Poss.         man's,  Poss.         men's, 

Obj.          man ;  Obj.  men. 

EXAMPLE   III. FOX. 

Sing.  Nom.         fox,  Plur.  Nom.         foxes, 

Poss.         fox's,  Poss.         foxes', 

01)j.          fox;  Obj.          foxes. 

EXAMPLE   IV. FLY. 

Sing.  Nom.         fly,  Plur.  Nom.         flies, 

Poss.         fly's,  Pots.         flies', 

Obj.          fly;  Obj.          flies. 

i:\AMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 

PRAXIS  III.— ETYMOLOGICAL. 

tird  Praxis,  it  ?.«?  required  of  the  pi/pi?  —  to  distinguish  and  define  the 
\£dijferent  parts  of  speech,  and  the  classes  and  modifications  of  the  ARTICLES  and 

NOUNS. 
The  definitions  to  be  given  in  ////•  Third  Praxis,  arc  two  for  an  article,  six  for  a 

noun,  and  one  for  an  adjective,  a  pronoun,  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adverb,  a 

conjunction,  a  preposition,  or  an  interjection.      Thus:  — 

FXAMPLE  PARSED. 
"  The  writings  of  Hannah  More  appear  to  me  more  praiseworthy  than  Scott's." 

The  is  the  definite  article.    1.    An  article  is  the  wonl  the,  an,  or  a,  which  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit  their 
Signification.    2.  The  definite  article  is  tkr,  which  denotes  some  prr  icular  thing  or  things. 


254  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

Writings  Is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  plural  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case.  1.  A 
noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  2.  A  common  noun  is 
the  name  of  a  sorb,  kind,  or  class,  of  beings  or  things.  3.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or 
thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  plural  number  is  that  which  denotes  more  than  one.  5.  The  neuter  gen- 
der is  that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  nominative  case  is  that  form  or 
?tate  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  subject  of  a  verb. 

Of  is  a  preposition.  1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts  to 
each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

Hannak  More  is  a  proper  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  feminine  gender,  and  objective  case.  1.  A 
noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  2  A  proper  noun  is  the 
name  of  some  particular  individual,  or  people,  or  group.  3  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  per- 
son or  thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5  The  feminine 
gend-jr  is  that  which  denotes  persons  or  animals  of  the  female  kind  G.  The  objective  case  is  that  form  or 
state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  object  of  a  verb,  participle,  or  preposition. 

Appear  is  a  verb.    1.    A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon. 

To  is  a  preposition.  1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts  to 
each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

Me  is  a  pronoun.     1.    A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun. 

More  is  an  adverb.  1.  An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb  ;  and 
generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner. 

Praiseworthy  is  an  adjective.  1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally  expresses 
quality. 

Than  is  a  conjunction.  1.  A  conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  in  construction,  and  to 
show  the  dependence  of  the  terms  so  connected. 

Scott's  is  a  proper  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  masculine  gender,  and  possessive  case.  1.  A 
noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  2.  A  proper  noun  is 
the  name  of  some  particular  individual,  or  people,  or  group.  3.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the 
person  or  thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one  5.  The  masculine 
gender  is  that  which  denotes  persons  or  animals  of  the  male  kind.  6.  The  possessive  case  is  that  form  or 
state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  relation  of  property. 

LESSON  I.  —  PARSING. 

"  The  virtue  of  Alexander  appears  to  me  less  vigorous  than  that  of  Socrates. 
Socrates  in  Alexander's  place  I  can  readily  conceive  :  Alexander  in  that  of  Socrai.es 
I  cannot.  Alexander  will  tell  you,  he  can  subdue  the  world  :  it  was  a  greater  work 
in  Socrates  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  life.  Worth  consists  most,  not  in  great,  but  in 
good  actions."  — Names' s  Art  of  Thinldng,  p.  70. 

"  No  one  should  ever  rise  to  speak  in  public,  without  forming  to  himself  a  just 
and  strict  idea  of  what  suits  his  own  age  and  character;  what  suits  the  subject,  the 
hearers,  the  place,  the  occasion."  — Blair's  Rhetoric,  p.  260. 

"  In  the  short  space  of  little  more  than  a  century,  the  Greeks  became  such  states- 
men,  warriors,    orators,    historians,   physicians,    poets,    critics,    painters,    sculptors, 
architects,  and,  last  of  all,  philosophers,  that  one  can  hardly  help  considering  that 
golden  period,  as  a  providential  event  in  honour  of  human  nature,  to  show  to  what 
perfection  the  species  might  ascend."  —  Harris's  Hermes,  p.  417. 
"  Is  genius  yours  ?     Be  yours  a  glorious  end, 
Be  your  king's,  country's,  truth's,  religion's  friend." —  Young. 
LESSON  II. — PARSING. 

"  He  that  is  called  in  the  Lord,  being  a  servant,  is  the  Lord's  freeman  :  likewise 
also,  he  that  is  called,  being  free,  is  Christ's  servant."  —  1  Cor.  vii,  22. 

"  What  will  remain  to  the  Alexanders,  and  the  Caesars,  and  the  Jenghizes,  and 
the  Louises,  and  the  Charleses,  and  the  Napoleons,  with  whose  '  glories '  the  idle 
voice  of  fame  is  filled  ?  "  —  J.  Dymond. 

"  Good  sense,  clear  ideas,  perspicuity  of  language,  and  proper  arrangement  of 
words  and  thoughts,  will  always  command  attention."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  174. 

"  A  mother's  tenderness  and  a  father's  care  are  nature's  gifts  for  man's  advan- 
tage. —  Wisdom's  precepts  form  the  good  man's  interest  and  happiness."  —  Mur- 
ray* &  Key,  p.  194. 

"  A   dancing-school   among   the   Tuscaroras,  is  not  a  greater  absurdity  than  a 
masquerade  in  America.     A  theatre,  under  the  best  regulations,  is  not  essential  to 
our  happiness.     It  may  afford  entertainment  to  individuals  ;  but  it  is  at  the  expense. 
of  private  taste  and  public  morals."  —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  80. 
"  Where  dancing  sunbeams  on  the  waters  played, 
And  verdant  alders  form'd  a  quivering  shade."  — Pope. 

LESSON  III. — PARSING. 
"  I  have  ever  thought  that  advice  to  the  young,  unaccompanied  by  the  routine  of 


CHAP.     III.]  ETYMOLOGY. — NOUNS. ERRORS.  255 

honest  employments,  is  like  an  attempt,  to  make  a  shrub  grow  in  a  certain  direction, 
by  blowing  it  with  a  bellows." —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  247. 

"  The  Aral )ie  characters  for  the  writing  of  numbers,  were  introduced  into  Europe 
by  Pope  Sylvester  II.,  in  the  eleventh  century." —  Constable's  Miscellany. 

"  Emotions  raised  by  inanimate  objects,  trees,  rivers,  buildings,  pictures,  arrive  at 
perfection  almost  instantaneously ;  and  they  have  a  long  endurance,  a  second  view 
producing  nearly  the  same  pleasure  with  the  first."  —  Kames's  Elements,  i,  108. 

"  There  is  great  variety  in  the  same  plant,  by  the  different  appearances  of  its 
stem,  branches,  leaves,  blossoms,  fruit,  size,  and  colour ;  and  yet,  when  we  trace 
that  variety  through  different  plants,  especially  of  the  same  kind,  there  is  discovered 
a  surprising  uniformity."  —  Ib.  i,  273. 

••  Attitude,  action,  air,  pause,  start,  sigh,  groan, 

lie  borrow'd,  and  made  use  of  as  his  own."  —  Churchill. 
"  I  dread  thee,  fate,  relentless  and  severe, 
With  all  a  poet's,  husband's,  father's  fear !  "  —  Burns. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

ERRORS   OF   NOUNS. 

LESSON  I. — NUMBERS. 

"All  the  ablest  of  the  Jewish  Rabbis  acknowledge  it."  —  Wilson's  Heb.  Gram.  p.  7. 
[FORMPLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  Rabbi  is  here  made  plural  by  the  addition  of  s  only.    But,  according 
to  Obsorv;iri..n  12th  on  the  numbers,  nouns  in  i  ought  rather  to  form  the  plural  in  us.    The  capital  /f,  too,  is  not 
necessary .     Then-fore.  Rabbis  should  be  rabbits,  \\hli  i>s  aud  a  small  r.] 

""Who  has  thoroughly  imbibed  the  system  of  one  or  other  of  our  Christian  rabbis." — 
CampbeWs  Rhet.  p.  378.  "  The  seeming  singularitys  of  reason  soon  wear  off." —  Collier's  An- 
toninus, p.  47.  "The  chiefs  and  arikis  or  priests  have  the  power  of  declaring  a  place  or 
object  taboo." —  Balbi's  Grog,  p.  460.  "  Among  the  various  tribes  of  this  family,  are  the 
Pottawatomies,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  or  Saukis  and Ottogamis." — Ib.  p.  178.  "The  Shaw- 
nees,  Kickapoos,  Menomonies,  Miamis  and  Delawares,  are  of  the  same  region." —  Ib.  p. 
178.  The  Moheganfl  and  Abenaquis  belonged  also  to  this  family." —  Ib.  p.  178.  "  One  tribe 
of  this  family,  the  Winnebagos,  formerly  resided  near  lake  Michigan." — Ib.  p.  179.  "The 
other  tribes  are  the  loways,  the  Otoes,  the  Missouris,  the  Quapaws." — Ib.  p.  179.  "The 
great  Mexican  family  comprizes  the  Aztecs,  Toltecs,  and  Tarascos." — Ib. p.  179.  "The 
Mulattocs  are  born  of  negro  and  white  parents  ;  the  Zambos,  of  Indians  and  negroes." — Ib. 
p.  1G5.  "To  have  a  place  among  the  Alexanders,  the  Caesars,  the  Lewis',  or  the  Charles', 
the  s  d  butchers  of  their  fellow -creatures." — IhiryJis  Diynity,  i,  132.  ""Which 

was  the  notion  of  the  Platonic  Philosophers  and  Jewish  rabbii." — Ib.  p.  248.  "That  they 
should  relate  to  the  whole  body  of  virtuosos." —  Cobbctt's  E.  Gram.  U  212.  "  What  thank 
have  }  also  love  those  that  love  them." —  Luke,  vi,  32.  "  There  are  five  ranks 

of  nobility  ;  dukes,  marquesses.  e.-irls  viscounts,  and  barons." —  Hull's  Gcoff.p.  228.  "Acts, 
which  .  rll  known  to  the  two  Charles's." —  Payne's  Geoy.  ii,  511.  "  Court  Martials 

aro  held  in  all  parts,  for  the  trial  of  the  blacks." —  Ol»<  rw  /•,  No.  458.     "  It  becomes  a  com- 
mon noun,  and  may  have  a  plural  number;   as,  the  two  Davids  ;  the  two  Xcipios,  the  two 
m.  p.  8.     "The  food  of  the  rattlesnake  is  birds,  squirrels,  hare, 
rats,  and  reptiles." —  7,v///;/'\  <;,•<>,/.  p.  177.     "  And  let  fowl  multiply  in  the  earth." —  G< 

iched  the  hill-side  where  eight  bulfalo  were    grazing." — Marthicaus 
\  pair  of  bodice  for  a  woman." — Worcester's  Diet.  12mo.  "  As  the 

be's  ,-  e  rloubliijus." — <>.  /•'.  .  p. -10.     "  Simplicity  is  the  means  bc- 

Q  and  ru-ticity." — Pop/'s  Pn-f.  to  lloimr.     "You  have   disguised  your- 
'  —  Gil  Bias,  i,  1 1 1.     "  But  who,  that  hath  any  taste,  can  endure  the  in- 
•  turns  of  tli.  d  the ///.Y>«-/.SV'S,  and  the  moreover  s,  and  the  hv> 

and  the  noivrithttandurf*)"  —  ''<///  .  p.  139. 

"  Sometimes,  in  mutual  sly  disguise. 
Let  Aye's  seem  No's,  and  Xo's  seem  Aye's." —  Gay,  p.  431. 

->ON   II.  —  CASES. 
•'For  whose  name  sake,  I  have  been  made  willing."—  Wm.  Penn. 

[FORMIC.— Not  propt-r,  bivausi-  the  noun  natnt.  which  is  hero  meant  for  the  possessire  cafe  Mnpular,  has  not 
the  true  form  But,  according  to  a  princi]  247th,  u  The  p<  :  mod,  in 

the  singular  number,  by  adding  to  th«>  nominative  .«  ;r,<v,/,,/  bi/ an  ni>t,itr,.j>hf ;  and.  in  tin-  plural,  when  the 
nominiitiv,-  ni.ls  in  .«,  by  adding  an  <if>o.\tri>{,h-  vn'y."  Tlu-rcfore,  name  should  be  name's ;  thus,  •>  For  whose 
name's  s;.kc,  I  hive  been  made  willing  ''J 

•'  1>  by  your  conscience,  and  never  ask  any  bodies  leave  to  be  honest." —  Col- 

lier's   An1  >n;>i-i-i,   p.  105.      "To   overlook    nobodies    me  it   or  misbehaviour." — Ib.  p.  9. 


256  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

p.  91.  "Nothing  is  lazier,  than  to  keep  ones  eye  upon  words  without  heeding  their 
meaning." — Philological  Museum,  i,  645.  "  Sir  William  Joneses  division  of  the  day." — 
Ib.  Contents.  "I  need  only  refer  here  to  Vosses  excellent  account  of  it." — Ib.  i,  465. 
"  The  beginning  of  Stesichoruses  palinode  has  been  preserved." — Ib.  i,  442.  "  Though 
we  have  Tibulluses  elegies,  there  is  not  a  word  in  them  about  Glycera." — Ib.  p.  440.  "  That 
Horace  was  at  Thaliarchuses  country-house." — Ib.  i,  451.  "That  Sisyphuses  foot-tub 
should  have  been  still  in  existence." — Ib.  i,  468.  "How  every  thing  went  on  in  Horace's 
closet,  and  in  Mecenases  antechamber." —  Ib.  i,  458.  "  Who,  for  elegant  brevities  sake,  put 
a  participle  for  a  verb." — Walker's  Particles,  p.  42.  "  The  countries  liberty  being  oppressed, 
we  have  no  more  to  hope." — Ib.  p.  73.  "A  brief  but  true  account  of  this  peoples'  princi- 
ples."—  Barclay's  Pref.  "As,  the  Churche's  Peace,  or  the  Peace  of  the  Church;  Virgil's 
Eneid,  or  the  Eneid  of  Virgil." —  British  Gram.  p.  93.  "  As,  Virgil's  VEneid,  for  the  ^Eneid 
of  Virgil;  the  Church' es  Peace,  for  the  Peace  of  the  Church." — Buchanans  Syntax,  p.  18. 
"  Which,  with  Hubner's  Compend,  and  Wells'  Geographia  Classica,  will  be  sufficient." — 
Burgh's  Dignity,  i,  155.  "  Witness  Homer's  speaking  horses,  scolding  goddesses,  and  Jupi- 
ter enchanted  with  Venus'  girdle." — Ib.  i,  184.  "  Dr.  Watts'  Logic  may  with  success  be 
read  and  commented  on  to  them." — Ib.  p.  156.  "  Potter's  Greek,  and  Rennet's  Roman  Anti- 
quities, Strauchius'  and  Helvicus'  Chronology." — Ib.  p.  161.  "Sing.  Alice'  friends, Felix' 
property;  Plur.  The  Alices'  friends,  The  Felixes'  property." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  46. 
"  Such  as  Bacchus' es  company," — "  at  Bacchus' es  festivals." — Ainsicorth's  Diet.  w.  Thyrsiis. 
"  Burn's  inimitable  Tarn  o'Shanter  turns  entirely  upon  such  a  circumstance." —  Scott's  Lay, 
Notes,  p.  201.  "  Nominative,  Men.  Genitive,  Mens.  Objective,  Men." — Cutler's  Gram.  p. 
20.  "Mens  Happiness  or  Misery  is  most  part  of  their  own  making." — Locke,  on  Educa- 
tion, p.  1.  "That  your  Sons  Cloths  be  never  made  strait,  especially  about  the  Breast." — Ib. 
p.  15.  "  Childrens  Minds  are  narrow  and  weak." — Ib.  p.  297.  "  I  would  not  have  little 
Children  much  tormented  about  Punctilio's,  or  Niceties  of  Breeding." — Ib.  p.  90.  "  To  fill 
his  Head  with  suitable  Idea's." — Ib.  p.  113.  "  The  Burgusdiscius's  and  the  Scheiblers  did 
not  swarm  in  those  Days,  as  they  do  now." — Ib.  p.  163.  "  To  see  the  various  ways  of  dress- 
ing— a  calve's  head !  " — Shenstone,  Brit.  Poets,  Vol.  vii,  p.  143. 
"  He  puts  it  on,  and  for  decorum  sake 
Can  wear  it  e'en  as  gracefully  as  she." — Cowpers  Task. 

LESSON  III. — MIXED. 

"  Simon  the  witch  was  of  this  religion  too." — Bunyan's  P.  P.,  p.  123. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  feminine  name  witch  is  here  applied  to  a  man.  But,  according  to  the  doc- 
trine of  genders,  on  page  24ith,  "  Names  of  males  are  masculine  ;  names  of  females,  feminine  ;  "  &c.  Therefore, 
witch  should  be  wizard;  thus,  "  Simon  the  wizard^  &c.] 

"Mammodis,  n.  Coarse,  plain  India  muslins." — Webster's  Diet.  "Go  on  from  single 
persons  to  families,  that  of  the  Pompeyes  for  instance." — Cottier's  Antoninus,  p.  142.  "  By 
which  the  ancients  were  not  able  to  account  for  phaenomenas." — Bailey's  Ovid,  p.  vi.  "After 
this  I  married  a  wife  who  had  lived  at  Crete,  but  a  Jew  by  birth." — Josephm's  Life,  p.  194. 
"The  very  heathen  are  inexcusable  for  not  worshipping  him." — Student's  Manual,  p.  328. 
"  Such  poems  as  Camoen's  Lusiad,  Voltaire's  Henriade,  &c." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  422.  "  My 
learned  correspondent  writes  a  word  in  defence  of  large  scarves." — SPECT.  in  Joh.  Diet.  "  The 
forerunners  of  an  apoplexy  are  dulness,  vertigos,  tremblings." — ARBUTHNOT:  ib.  "Ver- 
tigo changes  the  o  into  ines,  making  the  plural  vertigines." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  59. 
"  Noc'ambulo  changes  the  o  into  ones,  making  the  plural  noctambulonls." — Ib.  p.  59.  "  What 
shall  we  say  of  noctambulos  ? — ARBUTHNOT  :  in  Joh.  Diet.  "  In  the  curious  fretwork  of 
rocks  and  grottos." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  220.  "  Wharf  makes  the  plural  wharves." — Smith's 
Gram.  p.  45  ;  Merchant's,  29  ;  Picket's,  21  ;  Frost's,  8.  "  A  few  cent's  worth  of  maccaroni 
supplies  all  their  wants." — Balbi's  Geog.  p.  275.  "  C  sounds  hard,  like  k,  at  the  end  of  a 


1  Perching  within  square  royal 

even  in  poetry,  be  used  with  moderation." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  166.  "  Similies  should  never  be 
taken  from  low  or  mean  objects." — Ib.  p.  167.  "  It  were  certainly  better  to  say,  '  The  house 
of  lords,'  than  « the  Lord's  house.'  " — Murray's  Gram.  8vo.  p.  177.  "  Read  your  answers. 
Unit  figure?  'Five.'  Ten's?  'Six.'  Hundreds?  <  Seven.'  "—Abbott's  Teacher,  p.  79.  "  Alex- 
ander conquered  Darius'  army." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  58.  "Three  days  time  was  requi- 
site, to  prepare  matters."—  Brown's  Estimate,  ii,  156.  "  So  we  say  that  Ciceros  stile  and 
Sallusts,  were  not  one,  nor  Cesars  and  Livies,  nor  Homers  and  Hesiodus,  nor  Herodotus 
and  Theucidides,  nor  Euripides  and  Aristophanes,  nor  Erasmus  and  Budeus  stiles." — Put- 
tenham's  Arte  of  English  Poesie,  iii,  5.  "Lex  (i.  e.  leys}  is  no  other  than  our  ancestors  past 
partciplc  teg,  laid  down." — Tooke's  Diversions,  ii,  7.  "  Achaia's  sons  at  Ilium  slain  for  the 
Atridac'  sake." — Coioper's  Iliad.  "The  corpse*  of  half  her  senate  manure  the  fields  of 
Thessaly." — Addison's  Cato. 

"  Poisoning,  without  regard  of  fame  or  fear  : 
And  spotted  corpse  are  frequent  on  the  bier." — Dry  den. 

*  Corpse  forms  the  plural  regularly,  corpses;  as  in  2  Kings,  xix,  35 :    "  In  the  morning,  behold,  they  were  all 
dead  corpses." 


CHAP.   IV.]  ETYMOLOGY. ADJECTIVES. OBSERVATIONS.  257 


CHAPTER  IV.-ADJECTIVES. 

An  Adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and   generally  ex- 
es quality  :  as,  A  wise  man  ;  a  new  book.     You  two  are  (////// 

OBSERVATIONS. 

Ons.  1.  —  Adjectives  have  been  otherwise  called  attributes,  attributives,  qualities,  adnouns  ; 
but  none  of  these  names  is  any  better  than  the  common  one.  Some  writer's  have  classed  adjec- 
ti\  es  with  v  ii'a  neuter  verb  for  the  copula,  they  often  form  logical  predicates  :  as, 

'in  grammarians  uMially  class  them  with  nouns;  consequently 

their  nouns  are  divided  into  nouns  substantive  and  noun's  adjective.     With  us,  substanti\. 
nouns  ;  and  adjectives  form  a  part  of  speech  by  themselves.     This  is  generally  acknowledged  to 
;   ution.     Adjectives  cannot  with   propriety  be   called  nouns,   in  any  lan- 
;u^e  thvy  an.-  not  the  names  of  the  qualities  which  they  signify.     They  must  be 
•us   or  pronouns  in  order  to  make  sense.     But  if,  in  a  just  distribution  of  words,  the  term 
-  and  improper,  the  term  "  atfaective  pronotttu"  is,  certainly,  not  less 
so  :  most  of  the  words  which  Murray  and  others  call  by  this  name,  are  not  pronouns,  but  adjectives. 

-  2.  —  The  noun,  or  substantive,  is  a  n<imi>,  which  makes  sense  of  it  elf.     The  adjective  is  an 
adjunct  to  the  noun  or  pronoun.     It  is  a  word  added  to  denote  quality,  situation,  quantity,  number, 

r  whatever  d-o  may  characterize  and  distinguish  "the  thing  or  things  spoken  of. 

Adjectives,  therefore,  n>  -bed  from  nouns  by  their  relation  /othem  ;  a  relation  correspond- 

ing to  that  which  qualities  bear  to  things:  so  that  no  part  of  speech  is  more  easily  discriminated 

th  in  the  adjective.    Again  :  English  adje  ;--h,  are  all  indeclinable.    When,  thereioie.  any 

!v  belonging  to  this  class,  are  found  to  take  either  the  plural  or  the  possessive  form, 

.  they  arc  to  be  parsed  as  nouns.     To  abbreviate  expression,  we  not  unfre- 

quently,  in  this  manner,  convert    adjectives  into  nouns.      Thus,  in  grammar,  we  often  speak  of 

no/nil.  s,  meaning  neuiis  or  pronouns  of  the  nominative,  the  posses- 

r  the  objective  c;:  .  or  superlutici-s,  meaning  adjectives  of  the  pos- 

>r  the  superla  live  degree;   of  infitiittV€8,  subjunctives,  or  it 

ii  4  \erbs  of  the  infinitive,   the  subjunctive,  or  the  imperative  mood;   and  of  singular*,  plurals, 

and  n;  .  iu  the  same  way.     So  a  man's  superiors  OT  inferiors  are  persons  supe- 

iuferior  t'>  hin--  are  persons  better  than  he.     Others  are  any  persons  or 

-bed  from   some  that  are  named  or   referred   to;    as,    "If  you  want  enemies, 

>u  want  friends,  let  ot''  >.     All  adjectives  thus  taken  sub- 

st-intivcly,  become  nouns,  and  ought  to  be  parsed  as  such,  unless  this  word  others  is  to  be  made  an 

tion. 

"  Th'  event  is  fear'd  ;  should  we  again  provoke 

Our  stronger,  some  worse  way  his  wrath  may  find."  —  Milton,  P.  L.  ii,  82. 

Ons  3.  —  Murray  says,  "  Perhaps  the  -words  former  and  latfermav  be  properly  ranked  amongst  the 
demonstrative  pronouns,  \nny  of  their  applications.  The  following  sentence  may 

serve  as  an  example:   4  It  was  happy   to;  that   Fabius  continued  in  the  command  with 

Minutius:     the  former's  pM-  ^m   was  a   check  upon  the  hitter's  vivacity.'"  —  Gram.  8vo,  p.  57. 

ought  to  be  adjectives  only  ;  except  wlu  n  fi>r- 

•  .     And,  it   not  so,  it  is  too  (  multiplying  pronouns,  to  manufacture 

jigle  anonymous  sentence.     If  it.  were  said,    "'Hie  deliberation  of  the   : 

'    :uper  of  tl,  Is  former  and'  latter  would 

•  )  me  not  to  be  pronouns,  but  adje  i  relating  to  the  noun  commander  understood 
:   it. 

rise  and  relation  of  words  in  sentence*,  as  well  as  their  particular  form  and 
•  the  lean  .  with  certainty,  to  what  class 

Other  ji  i  p  i  -ticiples.  by  a  change  in  tbcir 

!  of  which  a  thing  is  formed. 
•     •  iiat  of  the  thing 
. 

ret  the  former  word  may  In-  p 

>eatrr, 
\    LT'dd,  no 

//.  and  many  sim- 
il  ••''  '  is  white  ;   and  /> 

;i  be  ])redi  latter.     So 

In  the  ;-on  of  public  pronunoi- 

ation."  —  /•  full,  would  give  a  very  agreeable 

.    —  I'.  •!•];:   / 

•'  Come,  calm  ( 

••tly  -uide  my  ;/• 

mid. 
.  .">  —  Murr  .ther    nouns     assume*    the   nature 


j,  sea  fish,    wine  vessel,  corn  h-ld,   me;;,  'ii-nm.  p.  48. 

\    lame   instruction.      I  .,\-  in   all  his  examples, 

tl  c  proprit  '  .  -pt  a:id  follow  out    tlicir  principle, 

w  >uld    be,     to   tear   apart    some    thousands    of    r>nr    mr.st    famil  indi.        "Meadow 

ground"1  may  perhaps  be  a  correct  phrase,  since  the  ground   is  .t  seems  therefore  pref- 

erable to  the  compound  word  meadow-ground.     What  he  meant  by  "  trine  vessel,"  is  doubtful: 


258  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

that  is,  whether  a  ship  or  a  cask,  a  flagon  or  a  decanter.  If  we  turn  to  our  dictionaries,  Web- 
ster has  sea-fish  and  icine-caskvfiih  a  hyphen,  and  cornfield  without;  while  Johnson  and  others 
have  corn-field  with  a  hyphen,  and  scafish  without.  According  to  the  rules  for  the  figure  of  words, 
•we  ought  to  write  them  seafish,  winecask,  cornfield.  What  then  becomes  of  the  thousands  of 
"adjectives"  embraced  in  the  "&c."  quoted  above  ? 
OBS.  6. — The  pronouns  he  and  she,  when  placed  before  or  prefixed  to  nouns  merely  to  denote 


Most  writers,  however,  think  proper  to  insert  a  hyphen  in  the  terms  here  referred  to  :  as,  he-bear, 
she-bear,  the  plurals  of  which  are  he-bears  and  she-bears.     And,  judging  by  the  foregoing  rule  of 
predication,  we  must  assume  that  this  practice  only  is  right.     In  the  first  example,  the  word  he 
is  useless  ;  for  the  term  "male  animals"  is  sufficiently  clear  without  it.     It  has  been  shown  in  the 
third  chapter,  that  he  and  she  are  sometimes  used  as  nouns  ;  and  that,  as  such,  they  may  take  the 
regular  declension  of  nouns,  making  the  plurals  hes  and  shes.     But  whenever  these  words  are  used 
adjectively -to  denote  gender,  whether  we  choose  to  insert  the  hyphen  or  not,  they  are,  without 
question,  indeclinable,  like  other  adjectives.     In  the  following  example,  Sanborn  will  have  he  to 
be  a  noun  in  the  objective  case ;  but  I  consider  it  rather,  to  be  an  adjective  signifying  masculine  : 
*^(  Philosophy,  I  say,  and  call  it  He; 
For,  whatsoe'er  the  painter's  fancy  be, 
It  a  male-virtue  seems  to  me.)" — Coicley,  Brit.  Poets,  Vol.  ii,  p.  54. 

OBS.  7. — Though  verbs  give  rise  to  man}7  adjectives,  they  seldom,  if  ever,  become  such  by  a 
mere  change  of  construction.  It  is  mostly  by  assuming  an  additional  termination,  that  any  verb 
is  formed  into  an  adjective  :  as  in  teachable,  moveable,  oppressive,  diffusive,  prohibitory.  There 
are,  however,  about  forty  words  ending  in  ate,  which,  without  difference  of  form,  are  either  verbs 
or  adjectives  ;  as,  aggregate,  animate,  appropriate,  articulate,  aspirate,  associate,  complicate,  confed- 
erate, consummate,  deliberate,  desolate,  effeminate,  elate,  incarnate,  intimate,  legitimate,  moderate, 
ordinate,  precipitate,  prostrate,  regenerate,  reprobate,  separate,  sophisticate,  subordinate.  This  class 
of  adjectives  seems  to  be  lessening.  The  participials  in.  ed,  are  superseding  some  of  them,  at 
least  in  popular  practice:  as,  contaminated,  for  contaminate,  defiled;  reiterated,  for  reiterate,  re- 
peated ;  situated,  for  situate,  placed ;  attenuated,  for  attenuate,  made  thin  or  slender.  Devote, 
exhaust,  and  some  other  verbal  forms,  are  occasionally  used  by  the  poets,  in  lieu  of  the  participial 
forms,  devoted,  exhavisted,  &c. 

OBS.  8. — Participles,  which  have  naturally  much  resemblance  to  this  part  of  speech,  often  drop 
their  distinctive  character,  and  become  adjectives.  This  is  usually  the  case  whenever  they  stai  d 
immediately  before  the  nouns  to  which  they  relate  ;  as,  A.  pleasing  countenance,  &  piercing  eye, ;  n 
accomplished  scholar,  an  exalted  station.  Many  participial  adjectives  are  derivatives  formed 
from  participles  by  the  negative  prefix  un,  which  reverses  the  meaning  of  the  primitive  word  ;  as, 


any  participial  adjective  be  needlessly  varied  from  the  true  orthography  of  the  participle:  a  dis- 
tinction is,  however,  observed  by  some  writers,  between  past  and  passed,  staid  and  stayed;  and 
some  old  words,  as  drunken,  stricken,  shotten,  rotten,  now  obsolete  as  participles,  are  still  retained 
as  adjectives.  This  sort  of  words  will  be  further  noticed  in  the  chapter  on  participles. 

OBS.  9. — Adverbs  are  generally  distinguished  from  adjectives,  by  the  form,  as  well  as  by  the 
construction,  of  the  words.  Yet,  in  instances  not  a  few,  the  same  word  is  capable  of  being  used 
both  adjectively  and  adverbially.  In  these  cases,  the  scholar  must  determine  the  part  of  speech, 
by  the  construction  alone ;  remembering  that  adjectives  belong  to  nouns  or  pronouns  only  ;  and 
adverbs,  to  verbs,  participles,  adjectives,  or  other  adverbs,  only.  The  following  examples  from 
Scripture,  Avill  partially  illustrate  this  point,  which  will  be  noticed  again  under  the  head  of  syntax : 
"  Is  your  father  well?  " — Gen.  xliii,  27.  "  Thou  hast  icell  said." — John,  iv,  17.  "  He  separateth 
very  friends." — Prov.  xvi,  9.  "  Esaias  is  very  bold." — Rom.  x,  20.  "For  a  pretence,  ye  make 
long  prayer." — Matt,  xxiii,  14.  "They  that  tarry  long  at  the  wine." — Prov.  xxiii,  30.  "It  had 
not  much  earth." — Mark,  iv,  5.  "  For  she  loved  much." — Luke,  vii,  47. 

OBS.  10. — Prepositions,  in  regard  to  their  construction,  differ  from  adjectives,  almost  exactly  as 
active-transitive  participles  differ  syntactically  from  adjectives:  that  is,  in  stead  of  being  mere 
adjuncts  to  the  words  which  follow  them,  they  govern  those  words,  and  refer  back  to  some  other 
term  ;  which,  in  the  usual  order  of  speech,  stands  before  them.  Thus,  if  I  say,  "  A  spreading 
oak,"  spreading  is  an  adjective  relating  to  oak  ;  if,  "A  boy  spreading  hay,"  spreading  is  a  partici- 
ple, governing  hay,  and  relating  to  boy,  because  the  boy  is  the  agent  of  the  action.  So,  when  Dr. 
Webster  says,  "  The  off  horse  in  a  team,"  off  is  an  adjective,  relating  to  the  noun  horse;  but,  in 

1  From  the  above  specula- 
LL  :  in  Web.  Diet.  "  With 
Whom  this  beneath  world  doth 
embrace  and  hug.'T — Shak.  "Especially  is  over  exertion  made." — Journal  of  Lit.  Conv.  p.  119. 
"  To  both  the  under  worlds." — lludibras.  "  Please  to  pay  to  A.  B.the  amount'of  the  within  bill." 
Whether  properly  used  or  not,  the  words  above,  after,  beneath,  over,  under,  and  within,  are  here 
unquestionably  made  adjectives ;  yet  every  scholar  knows,  that  they  are  generally  prepositions, 
though  sometimes  adverbs. 

CLASSES. 

Adjectives  may  be  divided  into  six   classes  ;  namely,  common,  proper, 
numeral,  pronominal,  participial,  and  compound. 


CHAP.    IV.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  ADJECTIVES.  —  CLASSES.  259 

I.  A  common    adjective  is   any  ordinary  epithet,  or   adjective   denoting 
quality  or  situation  ;    as,   Good,  bad,  peaceful,  ivarlike  —  eastern,   western, 
outer,  inner. 

II.  Kproper  adjective  is  an  adjective  formed  from  a  proper  name  ;  as, 
American,  English,  Platonic,  Genoese. 

III.  A  numeral  adjective  is  an  adjective  that  expresses  a  definite  num- 
ber ;  as,  One,  two,  three,  four,  five,  six,  &c. 

IV.  A  pronominal  adpective  is  a  definitive  word  which  may  either  accompany 
its  noun,  or  represent  it  understood  ;  as,  "All  join  to  guard  what  each  desires 
to  gain."  —  Pope.     That  is,  "All  men  join  to  guard  what  each  man  desires  to 
gain." 

V.  A  participial  adjective  is  one  that  has  the  form  of  a  participle,  but 
differs  from  it  by  rejecting  the  idea  of  time;  as,  "  An  amusing  story,"  — 
"  A  lying  divination." 

VI.  A  compound  adjective  is  one   that  consists  of  two  or  more  words 
joined  together,  either  by  the  hyphen  or   solidly  :  as,  Nut-brown,  laughter- 
loving,  four-footed  ;  threefold,  lordlike,  lovesick. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1.  —  This  distribution  of  the  adjectives  is  no  less  easy  to  be  applied,  than  necessary  to  a 
proper  explanation  in  parsing.  How  many  adjectives  there  are  in  the  language,  it  is  difficult  to 
say  ;  none  of  our  dictionaries  profess  to  exhibit  all  that  are  embraced  in  some  of  the  foregoing 
classes.  Of  the  Common  Adjectives,  there  are  probably  not  fewer  than  six  thousand,  exclusive  of 
the  common  nouns  which  we  refer  to  this  class  when  they  are  used  adjectively.  Walker's  Rhym- 
ing Dictionary  contains  five  thousand  or  more,  the  greater  part  of  which  may  be  readily  distin- 
guished by  their  peculiar  endings.  Of  those  which  end  in  ous,  as  generous,  there  are  about  850. 
O.'  those  in  y  or  ly,  as  sh'njgi/,  Jio>nehj,  there  are  about  550.  Of  those  in  ive,  as  deceptive,  there  are 
about  400.  Of  those  in  at,  as  autumnal,  there  are  about  550.  Of  those  in  ical,  as  mechanical, 
there  are  about  350.  Of  those  in  able,  as  valuable,  there  are  about  600.  Of  those  in  ible,  as  cred- 
ible, there  arc  about  200.  Of  those  in  ent,  as  different,  there  are  about  300.  Of  those  in  ant,  as 
abundant,  there  are  about  170.  Of  those  in  less,  as  ceaseless,  there  are  about  220.  Of  those  inful, 
as  useful,  there  are  about  130.  Of  those  in  ory,  as  explanatory,  there  are  about  200.  Of  those  in 
is//,  as  childish,  there  are  about  100.  Of  those  in  ine,  as  masculine,  there  are  about  70.  Of  those 
:  here  are  about  50.  Of  those  in  some,  as  quarrelsome,  there  are  about  30.  These 
added  together,  make  4770. 

Ons.  '2  —  The  Proper  Adjectives  are,  in  many  instances,  capable  ofbeing  converted  into  declina- 

ble nouns  :  as,  European,  a  Enropron.  f/f  Enrojirins  ;   Greek,  a  Greek,  the  Greeks  ;  Asiatic,  an  Asi- 

ati'-,  f  lint  with  the  v.  •  '•'/.  French,  Dutch,  Scotch,  Welsh,  Irish,  and  in  gen-' 

end  all  siu-h  as  would  acquire  an  additional  syllable  in  their  declension,  the  case  is  otherwise. 

:itile  noun  has  frequently  fewer  syllables  than  the  adjective,  but  seldom  more,  unless  de- 

-ome  different  root.     Examples:  Arabic,  an  Arab,  the  Arabs;  Gallic,  a   Gaul,  the 

>/-ish,  a  Moor,  the  Moors  ;  Polish,  a  Pole,  or  Po/anrler,  the 

Pole*.  h,a  Turk,  the  Turks.     When  we  say,  the  Etu/lish, 

the  I-',-,,  i-  >',,  the  Dntrfi,  the  Scotch,  the  UW.sV/.  tin'  Irish,  —  meaning,  the  Etvili*h  people,  the  French 


people,  AT  .  many  grammarians  conceive  that  Eni/li-th,  1  ^uwt.t.     But 

in  my  opinion,  it  is  better  to  reckon  them  rim  noun  men  or  people  understood. 

-  are  nouns,  so  arc  a  thousand  others,  after  which  there  is  the  same  ellipsis;  as 

when  f  The  principle  would  involve  the  incon- 

venience of  multiplying  our  nouns  of  the  singular  form  and  a  plural  meaning,  indefinitely.     If 

are,  in  this  sense,   plural   only  ;    and,   in   an  other,    they   are   singular 

only.  /,,   for  an    Englishman,  an 

rn,   or  a  1  •  i    old,  a  sclfixh,  or  a  rich,  for  an  old  man, 

.'>hing  the  languages,  wo  call  them  En</li<ih, 
m,   certainly,   in  no  plural   sense;    and 

prefer  the  line  n:  re  the  gentile  noun  is  different:   as,  Arabic,  and 

»'  t  -  i  In  this  sense,  as   well  as  in  the 

former,    \V  niers,    and    other    modern  :.<TS,    call    the  words  nouns  ;   and 

Iho  reader  will  perceiye,  that  the  d  before  do  not  apply  here.     But  Johnson, 

in  his  two  quarto  volumes,  gives  only  two  words  of  this  sort,  English  and  Latin;    and  both  of 


•  Mr-  put  without  a  suhstantivo.  with  tlm  ili-finiv  nrticln  before  it,  bernmr*  a 

N  ••«*••  ami  tnm.iiii;'.  :uiil  i  ,  ...vi-k-nce  rewards  the  goo>l.  ami  punishes  the 

ftdfl.'"     If   I  i.  iinly  contrary  to    thft  f.ict.       I  suppose  tlie  author  to 

•I*  ik  i  :  -here  not  an  cllip-n-*  in  his  lantrii.-i-ro  '     II°W  ™n  it  be 

•aii  I,  thut  ^one/and  bail  are  here  in  in!  meaning  nM  n-t'ii-f  the  plur.il  form?    A 

woi-d  '•  n-rittrn  a*  a  -  >r>  that 

naiie.     Yet  Smi-li.  aa.l  <)•'•:  '  ;  inf  :   atnl   M  •'  :m<l  '"»'/  in  this  ex- 

am ile,  and  all  .-nljci'tiv,^  ^ilnil:l^lv  circumstanced,  "in:iy  ho  •  tns  in  i):ir>in^'."  —  Smith's  New  Gram. 

•  ••  with  th«-  definite  article  before  it,  becomes  a  noun,  (of  the  third  person,  plural  number,) 
ant.  must  be  parsed  &s  such."  —  R.  (r.  Greene's  Grammatical  Ttxt-Book,  p.  55. 


260  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

these  he  calls  adjectives:  "ENGLISH,  adj.  Belonging  to  England;  hence  English*  is  the 
language  of  England."  The  word  Latin,  however,  lie  makes  a  noun,  when  it  means  a  sc-hool- 
boy's  exercise  ;  for  which  usage  he  quotes,  the  following  inaccurate  example  from  Aschum  :  "He 
shall  not  use  the  common  order  in  schools  for  making  of  Latins." 

OBS.  3. — Dr.  Webster  gives  us  explanations  like  these  :  "  CHINESE,  n.  sinrj.  and/)///.  A  native 
of  China  ;  also  the  language  of  China." — "  JAPAXKSE,  n.  A  native  of  Japan  ;  or  the  language  of  the 
inhabitants." — "GENOESE,  n.  pi.  the  people  of  Genoa  in  Italy.  Addtison." — "DANISH,  n.  The 
language  of  the  Danes." — "  IRISH,  n.  1.  A  native  of  Ireland.  2.  The  language  of  the  Irish  ;  the 
Hiberno-  Celtic."  According  to  him,  then,  it  is  proper  to  say,  a  Chinese,  a  Japanese,  or  an  Irish  ; 
but  not,  a  Genoese,  because  he  will  have  this  word  to  be  plural  only  !  Again,  if  with  him  we  call 
a  native  of  Ireland  an  Irish,  will  not  more  than  one  be  Irishes  /f  If  a  native  of  Japan  be  a  Jap- 
anese, will  not  more  than  one  be  Japanesesf  In  short,  is  it  not  plain,  that  the  words,  Chinese, 
Japanese,  Portugv&e,  Maltese,  Genoese,  Milanese,  and  all  others  of  like  formation,  should  follow 
one  and  the  same  rule  ?  And  if  so,  what  is  that  rule  ?  Is  it  not  this  ; — that,  like  En;/li.':h, 
French,  &c.,  they  are  always  adjectives;  except,  perhaps,  when  they  denote  ltin!/n,a(/esf  There 
may  possibly  be  some  real  authority  from  usage,  for  calling  a  native  of  China  a  Chinese, —  of 
Japan  a  Japanese,  —  &c.  ;  as  there  is  also  for  the  regular  plurals,  Chinotcti,  Jajxtnescs,  &o. ; 
but  is  it,  in  either  case,  good  and  sufficient  authority  ?  The  like  forms,  it  is  acknowl- 
edged, are,  on  some  occasions,  mere  adjectives ;  and,  in  modern  \isage,  we  do  not  find  these 
words  inflected,  as  they  were  formerly.  Examples:  "The  Chinese  are  by  no  means  a  cleanly 
people,  either  in  person  or  dress  " — Balbi's  Geo,/.  p.  415.  •'  The  Japanese  excel  in  working  in. 
copper,  iron,  and  steel." — Ib.  p.  419.  "  The  PortfqptMM  are  of  the  same  origin  with  the  Span- 
iards."— Ib.  p.  272.  "  By  whom  the  undaunted  Tyrolese  are  led." — Wordsworth's  Poems,  p  122. 
Again :  "  Amongst  the  Portugueses,  'tis  so  much  a  F.ishion,  and  Emulation,  amongst  their  Chil- 
dren, to  learn  to  Read,  and  Write,  that  they  cannot  hinder  them  from  it." — Locke,  on  Education,  p. 
271.  "  The  Malteses  do  so,  who  harden  the  Bodies  of  their  Children,  and  reconcile  them  to  the 
Heat,  by  making  them  go  stark  Naked." — Idem,  Edition  of  1699,  p.  5.  "CHINESE,  n.  s.  Used 
elliptically  for  the  language  and  people  of  China:  plural,  Chineses.  Sir  T.  Herbert." — Abridge- 
ment of  'jTodd's  Johnson.  This  is  certainly  absurd.  For  if  Chinese  is  used  elliptical/!/  for  the 
people  of  China,  it  is  an  adjective,  and  does  not  form  the  plural,  Chineses:  which  is  pre- 
cisely what  I  urge  concerning  the  whole  class.  These  plural  forms  ought  not  to  be  imitated. 
Home  Tooke  quotes  some  friend  of  his,  as  saying,  "  No,  I  will  never  descend  with  him  benet  th 
even  a  Japanese :  and  I  remember  what  Voltaire  remarks  of  that  country." — Diversions  of  Purl 't/, 
i,  187-  In  this  case,  he  ought,  unquestionably,  to  have  said — •'  beneath  even  a.  native  oj  Japan  ;" 
because,  whether  Japanese  be  a  noun  or  not,  it  is  absurd  to  call  a  Japanese,  ((that  count  ri/."  liutl  3r, 
in  his  Hudibras,  somewhere  uses  the  word  Chineses  •  and  it  was,  perhaps,  in  his  day,  common  ; 
but  still,  I  say,  it  is  contrary  to  analogy,  and  therefore  wrong.  Milton,  too,  has  it : 
"  But  in  his  way  lights  on  the  barren  plains 

Of  Sericana,  where  Chineses^  drive 

With  sails  and  wind  their  cany  tcaygons  light." — Paradise  Lost,  B.  iii,  1.  437. 
Ons.  4. —  The  Numeral  Adjectives  are  of  three  kinds  ;    namely,  cardinal,  ordinal,  and  multi- 
plicative: each  kind  running  on  in  a  series  indefinitely.     Thus  :  — 

1.  Cardinal ;  One,  two,  three,  four,  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  nine,  ten,  eleven,  twelve,  thirteen, 
fourteen,  fifteen,  sixteen,  seventeen,  eighteen,  nineteen,  twenty,  twenty-one,  twenty-two,  \-c. 

2.  Ordinal;  First,  second,  third,  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  tenth,  eleventh, 
twelfth,  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  eighteenth,  nineteenth,  twen- 
tieth, twenty-first,  twenty-second,  &c. 

3.  Multiplicative;  Single  or  alone,  double  or  twofold,  triple  or  threefold,  quadruple  or  four- 
fold, quintuple  or  fivefold,  sextuple  or  sixfold,  septuple  or  sevenfold,  octuple  or  eightfold,  &c. 
But  high  terms  of  this   series    are  seldom  used.     All  that  occur  above  decuple  or  tenfold,  are 
written   with  a  hyphen,  and  are  usually  of  round  numbers  only ;  as,  thirty-fold,  sixty-fold,  hun- 
dred-fold. 

OBS.  5. — A  cardinal  numeral  denotes  the  whole  number,  but  the  corresponding  ordinal  denotes 
only  the  last  one  of  that  number,  or,  at  the  beginning  of  a  series,  the  first  of  several  or  many. 
Thus  :  "  One  denotes  simply  the  number  one,  without  any  regard  to  more  ;  but_/?/'.v£  has  respect  to 
more,  and  so  denotes  only  the  first  one  of  a  greater  number  ;  and  two  means  the  number  lico  com- 
pletely ;  but  second,  the  last  one  of  two :  and  so  of  all  the  rest." — Burn's  Gram.  p.  ;3i.  A  cardinal 

*  Here  the  word  English  appears  to  be  used  substantively,  not  by  reason  of  the  article,  but  rather  In 
has  no  article ;  for,  when  the  definite  article  is   used  before  BUCh  a  word  taken  in  the  singular   number,   if  seems 
to  show  that  the  noun  language   is   understood.     And  it  is  remarkable,  that  before   the   names  or   epr 
•which  we  distinguish  the  languages,  this  article  may,  in  many  instances,  be  either  used  or  not.  used,  rep 
not  repeated,  without  any  apparent   impropriety  :    as,   '•  This   is  the   case   with  iAe  Hebrew,  French,  Italian,  and 
Spanish."— Murray's  Gram  i,  p.  88.  Better,  perhaps  :  ';  This  is  the  case  with  the  Hebrew,  the  French.  lh>-  Italian, 
and  tfie  Spanish."     But  we  may  say  :   ••  This    is  the   case  with    Hebrew,    French,  Italian,  and    J-panisli  ''     In  the 
first  of  these  forms,  there  appears  to  be  an  ellipsis  of  the  plural   noun   languages,  at  the  end  of  the  sentence  ;   in 
the  second,  an  ellipsis  of  the  .-ingular  noun  I'tng'Hige,  afcer  each  of  tae  national  epithets  ;  iii  the  last,  no  ellipsis, 
but  rather  a  substantive  use  of  the  words  in  question. 

t  The  Doctor  may,  for  aught  I  know,  have  taken  his  notion  of  this  "n<nm,"  from  the  language  "  of  Dugald 
Dalgetty,  boasting  of  his  '  5000  Iris/us  '  in  the  prison  of  Argyle."  See  Letter  of  Wendell  r/nlli/>s,  in  the.  Lib,  nitnr, 
Vol.  xi,  p.  211. 

$  Lindley  Murray,  or  some  ignorant  printer  of  his  octavo  Grammar,  has  omitted  this  s  ;  and  thereby  spoiled 
the  prosody,  if  not  the  sense,  of  the  line  : 

"  Of  Seric;m:i.  where  C'iin?se  drive,"  &c. —  Fourth  American  E4.  p.  345. 

If  there  was  a  design  to  correct  the  error  of  Milton's  word,  something  should  have  been  inserte  1.  The  common 
phrase,  l;  the  Chinisc,"  would  give  the  sense,  and  the  right  number  of  syllables,  but  not  tin- right  accent.  It 
•would  be  sufficiently  analogous  wirh  our  mode  of  forming  the  words,  Englishmen,  Frenchmen,  Scotchmen,  Dutch- 
men, and  Irishmen,  and  perhaps  not  unpoetical,  to  say  : 

•'  Of  Sericana,  where  Chinese-men  drive, 
With  sails  and  wind,  their  cany  u-agons  light." 


CHAP.    IV.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  ADJECTIVES.  —  CLASSES.  261 

number  answers  to  the  question,  "  How  many?  "  An  ordinal  number  answers  to  the  question, 
"  U  '///'/'/  <  it*  .•'"  or,  "  \Vlxtt  uiu'.'"  All  the  ordinal  numbers,  except  frat,  second,  third,  and  the 
compounds  of  th<  •  '.  tirrnty-xi  cond,  tirenty-third,  arc  formed  directly  from  the  car- 

dinal numbers  by  means  of  the  termination  th.  And  as  the  primitives,  in  this  case,  are  many  of 
them  either  compound  words,  or  phrases  consisting  of  several  words,  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  the 
addition  is  made  to  the  last  term  only.  That  is,  of  every  compound  ordinal  number,  the  last  term 
only  is  ordinal  in  form.  Thus  we  say,  forty-n  inf/i,  and  not  fortieth-ninth  ;  nor  could  the  mean- 
ing of  the  phrase,  four  hundred  and  Jift  icth,  be  expressed  by  saying,  fourth  h  undrcdth  and  fif- 
tieth •  for  this,  it'  it  means  any  thins;,  speaks  of  three  different  num1 

Ons.  I)  —  Some  of  the  numerals  are  often  used  as  nouns;  and,  as  such,  are  regularly  declined: 

as,  Om.s,   finxfi,    •  ..    \-c.      So,  Fifths,  sist/is,  sercnths,  eighths,   ninths',  tenth*,   \c. 

"  The  ai-i-enty's  translation."—  1  1  '.  //.  p.  32.     <l  I  will  not  do  it  for  forty's  sake."  — 

I  will  not  destroy  it  for  twenty's  sake."  —  Ib.  ver  31.     "  For  t  fit's  sake."  —  lb.\cr. 

32.    "  They  sat  down  in  ranks,  by  hundreds,  anil  by  fifths."  —  Murk,  vi,  40.    "  There  are  millions  of 

truths  that  a  man  is  not  concerned  to  know."—  Locke.     With  the  compound  numerals,   such  a 

Construction  -i:mon  ;  yet  the  denominator  of  a  fraction  may  be  a  number  of  this  sort: 

Hty-jifth*.     And  here  it  may  be  ol)served,  that,  in  stead  of  the  ancient  phraseology  , 

as  in  1  Chron.  xxiv,  l~th,  "  The  one  and  ttcentfcth  to  Jachin,  the  tiro  and  twentieth  to  Gamul,  the 

•'//  to  Delaiah,  the  four  and  twentieth  to  Maaziah,"   we  now  generally  say,  t/te 

tici  -nfy  frst,  the  ttccnfy-scrond,  ftc.  ;  using  the  hyphen  in  all  compounds  till  we  arrive  at  one  hun- 

md  then  first  introducing  the  word  and  ;    as,  one  hundred  and  one,  or  one  hundred  and 

first, 

~.  —  The  Pronominal  Adjectives  are  comparatively  very  few;  but^frequency  of  use  gives 
them  great  importance  in  grammar.     The  following  words  are  perhaps  all  that  properly  belong  to 

id  several  of  these  are  much  oftener  something  else  :  All,  any,  both,  certain,  < 
each,  either,  else,  enow/h,  ecery,  few,  fewer,  fewest,  former,  J'rst,  latter,  last,  little,  less,  least,  many, 
more,  >no\f,  /////r//,  neither,  no  or  no/ic,  one,  other,  own,onfy,  same,  .v  -rcral,  some,  such,  sundry,  that, 
t/ii*,  /  -rhat,    ichati'i-er,  ichat*oer<-r,  tchtch,  trhichen-r,  icliichsoever*     Of  these  forty-six 

words,  seven  are  always  .singular,  if  the  word  one  is  not  an  exception  ;  namely,  each,  either,  era-//, 
neither,  one,  that,  this'  :  and  nine  or  ten  others  are  always  plural,  if  the  word  many  is  not  an  excep- 
tion ;  namely,  both,  dicers,  f  ,,i'tny.  se'reral,  sundry,  them-,  those.  All  the  rest,  like 

our  common  adjectives,  are  applicable  to  nouns  of  either  number.  Else,  erery,  only,  no,  and  none,  are 
definitive  word>,  which  I  have  thought  proper  to  call  pronominal  adjectives,  though  only  the  last 
can  now  with  propriety  be  made  to  represent  its  noun  understood.  "  Nor  has  Vossius,  or  any  else 
that  I  know  of,  observed  it."  —  Jo/i  .-/.  Com.  p.  279.  Say,  "or  anyone  else."  Dr.  Web- 

ster explains  this  word  ehe  thus:  "  Ki.sr.,  </.   or  j>run.    [Sax.   elles  ]   Other;  one   or  something 
.  \\"ho   rAsr  is  coming  ?  "  —  Octaro  Diet.     "  Each  and  every  of  them,"  is  an  old  phrase 
in  wh  used  pronominally,  or  with  ellipsis  of  the  word  to  which  it  refers;  but,  in  com- 

mon (1  .      e  now  say,  •  •••ry  man,  X'c.,  never  using  the  word  every  alone  to  sug- 

gest its  noun.  Only  is  perhaps  most  commonly  an  adverb  ;  but  it  is  still  in  frequent  use  as  an 
•  i  ml  in  old  books  we  sometimes  find  an  ellipsis  of  the  noun  to  which  it  belongs;  as, 
re  they  the  only  [verbs]  in  which  it  is  read."  —  Johnson's  Grammatical  Commuifar'n  .*, 

£it  1  think  he  is  the  only  [one]  of  these  Authors."  —  Ib.  p.  193.  No  and  none  seem  to 
!  only  different  forms  of  the  same  adjective  ;  the  former  being  used  before  a  noun  expressed, 
and  the  latter  when  the  noun  is  understood,  or  not  placed  after  the  adjective  ;  as,  "  For  none  of 
usliveth  to  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  to  himself."  —  Romans,  xiv,  7.  Xone  was  anciently  used 
for  no  before  all  words  beginning  with  a  vowel  sound;  as,  "They  are  sottish  children;  and 
they  have  /<<>;/,  understanding."  —  Jeremiah,  iv,  22.  This  practice  is  now  obsolete.  None  is  btill 
used,  when  its  noun  precedes  it  ;  as, 

"  Fools  !  who  from  hence  into  the  notion  fill, 

That  rice  or  virtue  there  is  none  at  all."  —  Pope. 
OBS.  8.  —  Of  the  words  given  in  the  foregoing  list  as  pronominal  adjectives,  about  one  third  are 


t'rc'ir.enth  pronouns  ;  ami  sonic  writers  will  have  well-nigh  all  the  rest 

••  In  like  manner.  ii.  there    h-iN.                          •  from  the   iuljri  'tivi-s.  ;UM 

with  tin-  ]T":  .  this,  tln-sf  ;  iind  by 

otli«T                                          !">rh.  ritlirr.  '.  lu-itlii-r.  an                                                    m  on  Uxnti.  p.  106. 

in-  -.VdllM   K.tM-  t  m-llt  a  jiiuch  h. 

arc  what  Dr    i  -.,,,,  |    ••  /  ;.  j>.  24.     This  class  of  a.i 

-  whi,  h  .Murs  i.limi-i.  Kirkliuni.  an.  I  i.tln-rs.  so  aliMinlly  ilciiuiniiiatu   "Ad- 

i\o  I'roiioui  .  nuthf  r:  "  tlirir  ••  Dt  inonstrative 

•    .'/((<,  tliit,   t  Hi.  I  their   ••  In.lt  !'n  ,  ,,'f,  othfr,  ««»/.  ewe, 

all.  xi"  K-ni  ln-ri-  :  f<>r  tln-y  all  :irc  .-I  /j-nir,-*,  an  1  not  I'm/minn      An.l  i   i.-  olnimis.  t!:at 

•   ..  or  Fr.-iii-h.  ;ik,-ui.-.-.  .-n,,!  are,  for  the  .  called: 

BO  that,  from  •  muar.  «>r  *  the  u-:i.'''s  of  o-hcr  l.n.L'na.c-."  ari-i-s  an  argument  for  ranking  thrin  as  ad- 

jectives. r.irli.T  than  jcctive 

niu-t-  an-1  tln-ncc  u  Lrl  ,  1  1-  callt-il  ndjec- 

{i>-  v.  .  rilly  a.-si^'ii  to 

tin  <>•  K  UaM»-  for  self-cootradiotioa,  u  well  u 

thi  .  !:•  tiorl    note    upon  the  r  N,  that  1  shall  present;  the   whole  of  it  for  the 

•  i'lii 

•  li-trU'titivc-:.  -l.-in  iv  1)«.  ralleil  p'uinntnx:  .-ince  fl:. 

Btninl    i  Min«.  but  al. 

1     wit/I    pro  ii 

a<v  .rl.iiK  ,•  \.i-:i  .'  ,'  "•  ;,-•  s  <>/'  .if'/.r    ///;i.7i/  -i£.  s.  which  nmT.il>y  ./  .tsjilacf.     All  the-e.  t<  -ether  with 

the  po«teMitv«,  in  parsing,  i  *urh  in 

syntax."—/  t         -o  Irs  .-[/>/  en<iu-  u:,  K.  (Jr.nn  p    1     . 

"  \i'h  .t  .1  -  i'H].ie  ..f  prammatieal  Insti  \\-  -\<>n  is  heri-  '    The  pronominal  a.ljei  -hes  ••  c  mil":  jipipeiiy  i.e  ea 
jtniv  "  may  with  •uffloient  prop  iety  be  t.r,nf,i  nilj,-rti>  ?.<.'•      .\i.  or  the 

per.wx  '  •  case!  ••  Here."  i.p.  in  Etymology,  thej  Kre  all  ••  <!n\<«i'  v-,th  j>r<»i<'iin*  ;  "  but, 

they  are  "  unit'.nnly  reyirridi  as  adjectives  !  '•'      1'reciotiB  MODEL  for   the  •'  Scries  of  Grammars, 
Eu  ,:lish.  Latin,  and  Greek,  all  on  TUK  SAMH  PLAN  '.  " 


262  THE   GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 


sometimes  used  adverbially.  They  are  the  following:  All,  when  it  means  totally;  any,  for  in 
any  degree ;  else,  meaning  otherwise ;  enough,  signifying  sufficiently  ;  first,  for  in  the  first  place  ; 
last,  for  in  the  last  place  ;  little,  for  in  a  small  degree  ;  less,  for  in  a  smaller  degree  ;  least,  for  in  the 
smallest  degree ;  much,  for  in  a  great  degree;  more,  for  in  a  greater  degree;  most,  for  in  the  greatest 
degree ;  no,  or  none,  for  in  no  degree ;  only,  for  singly,  merely,  barely ;  what,  for  in  what  degree, 
or  in  how  great  a  degree*  To  these  may  perhaps  be  added  the  word  other,  when  used  as  an  alter- 
native to  somehow  ;' as,  "  Somehow  of  other  he  will  be  favoured. — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  89.  Here 
other  seems  to  be  put  for  otherwise  ;  and  yet  the  latter  word  would  not  be  agreeable  in  such  a  sen- 
tence." "  Somewhere  or  other,"  is  a  kindred  phrase  equally  common,  and  equally  good  ;  or,  rather, 
equally  irregular  and  puzzling.  Would  it  not  be  better,  always  to  avoid  both,  by  saying,  in  their 
stead,  "In  some  way  or  other," — "  In  someplace  or  other  ?  "  In  the  following  examples,  however, 
other  seems  to  be  used  for  otherwise,  without  such  a  connexion :  "  How  is  THAT  used,  other  than 
as  a  Conjunction  ?" — Ainsworth's  Gram.  p.  88. 

"  Will  it  not  be  receiv'd  that  they  have  done  't  ? 

—  Who  dares  receive  it  other?" — SHA.K.:  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Other. 

OBS.  9. — All  and  enough,  little  and  much,  more  and  less,  sometimes  suggest  the  idea  of  quan- 
tity so  abstractly,  that  we  can  hardly  consider  them  as  adjuncts  to  any  other  words ;  for  which 
reason,  they  are,  in  this  absolute  sense,  put  do\vn  in  our  dictionaries  as  nouns.  If  nouns,  how- 
ever, they  are  never  inflected  by  cases  or  numbers  ;  nor  do  they  in  general  admit  the  usual  ad- 
juncts or  definitives  of  nouns. f  Thus,  we  can  neither  say,  the  all,  for  the  whole,  nor  an  enough, 
for  a  sufficiency .  And  though  a  little,  the  more,  and  the  less,  are  common  phrases,  the  article  does 
not  here  prove  the  following  word  to  be  a  noun  ;  because  the  expression  may  either  be  elliptical, 
or  have  the  construction  of  an  adverb:  as,  "  Though  the  more  abundantly  I  love  you,  the  less  I  be 
loved." — 2  Cor.  xii,  15.  Dr.  Johnson  seems  to  suppose  that  the  partitive  use  of  these  words 
makes  them  nouns;  as,  "They  have  much  of  the  poetry  of  Mecsenas,  but  little  of  his  liberal- 
ity."— DRYDEN  :  in  Joh.  Diet.  Upon  this  principle,  however,  adjectives  innumerable  would  be 
made  nouns  ;  for  we  can  just  as  well  say,  "  Some  of  the  poetry," — "  Any^of  the  poetry  " — "  Thebest 
of  Poetry,"  &c.  In  all  such  expressions,  the  name  of  the  thing  divided,  is  understood  in  the 
partitive  word  ;  for  a  part  of  any  thing  must  needs  be  of  the  same  species  as  the  whole.  Nor  was 
this  great  grammarian  sufficiently  attentive  to  adjuncts,  in  determining  the  parts  of  speech. 
Nearly  all,  quite  enough,  so  little,  too  much,  vastly  more,  rather  less,  and  an  abundance  of  similar 
phrases,  are  familiar  to  every  body ;  in  none  of  which,  can  any  of  these  words  of  quantity,  how- 
ever abstract,  be  very  properly  reckoned  nouns  ;  because  the  preceding  word  is  an  adverb,  ar  d 
adverbs  do  not  relate  to  any  words  that  are  literally  nouns.  All  these  may  also  be  used  parti- 
tively  ;  as,  "  Nearly  all  of  us." 

OBS.  10. — The  following  are  some  of  Dr.  Johnson's  "nouns ;"  which,  in  connexion  with  the 
foregoing  remarks,  I  would  submit  to  the  judgement  of  the  reader  :  "  '  Then  shall  we  be  news-cram- 
med.'— '•All  the  better ;  we  shall  be  the  more  remarkable.'  "— SHAK.  :in  Joh.  Diet.  "  All  the  fitter, 
Lentulus ;  our  coming  is  not  for  salutation;  we  have  business." — BEN  JONSON  :  ib.  "  'Tis 
enough  for  me  to  have  endeavoured  the  union  of  my  country." — TEMPLE  :  ib.  "  Ye  take  too 
much  upon  you." — NUMBERS  :  ib.  "  The  fate  of  love  is  such,  that  still  it  sees  too  little  or  too 
much." — DRYDEN:  ib.  "  He  thought  not  much  to  clothe  his  enemies." — MILTON:  ib.  "There 
remained  not  so  much  as  one  of  them." — Ib.  Exod.  xiv,  28.  "We  will  cut  wood  out  of  Lebanon, 
as  much  as  thou  shalt  need." — Ib.  2  Chronicles.  "  The  matter  of  the  universe  was  created  before 
the  flood ;  if  any  more  was  created,  then  there  must  be  as  much  annihilated  to  make  room  for 
it." — BURNET  :  ib.  "  The  Lord  do  so,  and  much  more,  to  Jonathan." — 1  SAMUEL:  ib.  "They 
that  would  have  more  and  more,  can  never  have  enough;  no,  not  if  a  miracle  should  interpose  to 
gratify  their  avarice." — L'EsTRANGE  :  ib.  "  They  gathered  some  more,  some  less." — EXODUS  :  ib. 
"Thy  servant  knew  nothing  of  this,  less  or  more." — 1  SAMUEL:  ib.  The  first  two  examples 
above,  Johnson  explains  thus  :  "  That  is,  "  Every  thing  is  the  better." — "  Everything  is  the  fitter." 
— Quarto  Diet.  The  propriety  of  this  solution  may  we'll  be  doubted  ;  because  the  similar  phrases, 
"  So  much  the  better," — "  None  the  fitter,"  would  certainly  be  perverted,  if  resolved  in  the  same 
way  :  much  and  none  are  here,  very  clearly,  adverbs. 

OBS.  11. — Whatever  disposition  may  be  made  of  the  terms  cited  above,  there  are  instances  in 
which  some  of  the  same  words  can  hardly  be  any  thing  else  than  nouns.  Thus  all,  when  it  signi- 
fies the  ii-hole,  or  every  thing,  maybe  reckoned  a  noun  ;  as,  "  Our  all  is  at  stake,  and  irretrievably 
lost,  if  we  fail  of  success."— A ddison.  "  A  torch,  snuff  and  all,  goes  out  in  a  moment,  when  dip- 
ped in  the  vapour." — Id.  "  The  first  blast  of  wind  laid  it  flat  on  the  ground;  nest,  eagles,  and 
all. " — L'Estra  nge. 

"  Finding,  the  wretched  all  they  here  can  have, 
But  present  food,  and  but  a  future  grave." — Prior. 

"  And  will  she  yet  debase  her  eyes  on  me  ; 
On  me,  whose  all  not  equals  Edward's  moiety  ?" — Shak. 

"  Thou  shalt  be  all  in  all,  and  I  in  thee, 
Forever  ;  and  in  me  all  whom  thou  lov'st." — Milton. 

*  Some,  for  somewhat,  or  in  tome  dfgree,  appears  to  me  a  vulgarism  ;  as,  "  This  pause  is  generally  some  longer 
than  that  of  a  period." — SavboTn1*  Gram.  p.  271.  The  word  what  seems  to  have  been  used  adverbially  in  seve- 
ral different  senses  ;  in  none  of  which  is  it  much  to  be  commended  :  as,  ;'  Though  I  forbear,  what  am  I  eased  ?  " — 
Job,  xvi,  6.  "  What  advantageth  it  me  ?  "— 1  Gor.  xv,  32.  Here  what  means  in  what  degree?  how  much?  or 
wherein?  "  For  ivhat  knowest  thou,  0  wife,  whether  thou  shalt  save  thy  husband?"—!  Cor.  vii,  1(3.  Here  how 
•would  have  been  better.  "The  enemy,  having  his  country  wasted,  what  by  himself  load,  what  by  the  soldiers, 
findeth  succour  in  no  place  " — l^pen^r.  Here  ichat  means  partly ; — "  wasted  partly  by  himself  and  partly  by  the 
soldiers."  This  use  of  what  was  formerly  very  common,  but  is  now,  I  think,  obsolete.  What  before  an  adjec- 
tive seems  sometimes  to  denote  with  admiration  the  degree  of  the  quality  ;  and  is  called,  by  some,  an  adi-trb  ;  as, 
<;  What  partial  judges  are  our  love  arid  hate  !  " — Dryden.  But,  here  1  take  what  to  be  an  adjective  ;  as  when  we 
say,  such  partial  judges,  some  partial  judges,  &  c.  "  What  need  I  be  forward  with  Death,  that  calls  not  on  me  1  "— 
Shaksptare.  Here  what  seems  to  be  improperly  put  in  place  of  why. 

1  Dr.  Blair,  in  his  Lectures  on  Rhetoric  and  Bellas- Lettres,  often  uses  the  phrase  <£  this  much ;  "  but  it  is,  I 
think,  more  common  to  say  "  thus  much,r-  even,  when  the  term  is  used  substan lively. 


CHAP.  IV.]  ETYMOLOGY. ADJECTIVES. CLOSES.  263 

OBS.  12. — There  arc  yet  some  other  words,  which,  by  their  construction  alone,  are  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  pronominal  adjectives.  Both,  when  it  stands  as  a  correspondent  to  and,  is 
reckoned  a  conjunction  ;  as,  "  For  both  he  that  sanctifieth,  and  they  who  are  sanctified,  are  all  of 
one." — Ileb.  ii,  11.  But,  in  sentences  like  the  following,  it  seems  to  be  an  adjective,  refer- 
ring to  the  nouns  which  precede:  "  Language  and  manners  are  both  established  by  the  usase  of 
people  of  fashion." — Ann  r.  Chesterfield,  p^83.  So  either,  corresponding  to  or,  and  neither,  referring 
to  nor,  are  conjunctions,  and  not  adjectives.  Which  and  what,  with  their  compounds,  whichever  or 
whichsoever,  irhntcrt-r  or  whatsoever,  though  sometimes  put  before  nouns  as  adjectives,  are,  for 
the  most  part,  relative  or  interrogative  pronouns.  When  the  noun  is  used  after  them,  they  are 
adjectives  ;  when  it  is  omitted  they  are  pronouns:  as,  "  There  is  a  witness  of  God,  which  < 
gives  true  judgement." — /.  Penin'/ton.  Here  the  word  witness  might  be  omitted,  and  ichich  would 
become  a  relative  pronoun.  Dr.  Lowth  says,  "  Thy,  my,  her,  our,  your,  their,  are  pronominal 
adjectives" — drum.  p.  '23.  This  I  deny  ;  and  the  reader  may  see  my  reasons,  in  the  obervations 
upon  the  declension  of  pronouns. 

(Jus.  I-'. — The  words  one  and  other,  beside  their  primitive  uses  as  adjectives,  in  which  they  still 
remain  without  inflection,  are  frequently  employed  as  nouns,  or  as  substitutes  for  nouns  ;  and,  in 
this  substantive  or  pronominal  character,  they  commonly  have  the  regular  declension  of  nouns,  and 
are  reckoned  such  by  some  grammarians  ;  though  others  call  them  indefinite  pronouns,  and  some, 
(among  whom  are  Lowth  and  Comly,)  leave  them  with  the  pronominal  adjectives,  even  when 
they  are  declined  in  both  numbers.  Each  of  them  may  be  preceded  by  either  of  the  articles  ; 
and  so  general  is  the  signification  of  the  former,  that  almost  any  adjective  may  likewise  come 
before  it :  as,  Any  one,  some  one,  su  h  a  o,tr>,  many  a  one,  a  new  one,  an  old  one,  an  oth,r  one,  the 
same  one,  the  young  ones,  the  little  ones,  the  mic/hty  ones,  the.  wicked  one,  tlie  Holy  One,  the  Ever- 
lasting (>n>\  'So,  like  the  French  on,  or  I'on,  the  word  one,  without  any  adjective,  is  now  very 
frequently  used  as  a  general  or  indefinite  term  for  any  man,  or  any  person.  In  this  sense,  it  is 
sometimes,  unquestionably,  to  be  preferred  to  a  personal  pronoun  applied  indefinitely:  as,  "  Pure 
religion,  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father,  is  this,  To  visit  the  fatherless  and  widow-  in 
their  affliction,  and  to  keep  himself  [better,  one's  self]  unspotted  from  the  world." — James,  i,  27. 
But,  as  its  generality  of  meaning  seems  to  form  a  sort  of  covering  for  egotism,  some  writers  are 
tempted  to  make  too  frequent  a  use  of  it.  Churchill  ridicules  this  practice,  by  framing,  or  anony- 
mously citing,  the  following  sentence:  "  If  one  did  but  dare  to  abide  by  one's  own  judgement, 
one's  I  mid  be  much  more  refined;  but  one  fancies  one's  ^//"obliged  to  follow,  where- 

ever  the  many  choose  to  lead  one."  See  Churchill's  Gram.  p.  229.  Here  every  scholar  will  con- 
cur with  the  critic  in  thinking,  it  would  be  better  to  say  :  "  If  we  did  but  dare  to  abide  by  our  own 
judgement,  our  \  »uld  be  much  more  refined  ;  but  we  fancy  ourselves  obliged  to  follow, 

wherever  the  many  choose  to  lead  us."  See  ib. 

14. — Of  the  pronominal  adjectives  the  following  distribution  has  been  made:  "  E%ch,every, 
and  either,  are  called  distributives;  because,  though  they  imply  all  the  persons  or  things  that 
make  up  a  number,  they  consider  them,  not  as  one  whole,  but  as  taken  separately.  This,  that, 
former,  lnt<>  W,  are  termed  dt-monstra tices  ;  because  they  point  out  precisely  the  sub- 

jects to  which  they  relate.   This  has  these  for  its  plural ;  that  has  t/iose.    This  and  that  are  frequently 
put  in  opposition  to  each  other;  this,  to  express  what  is  nearer  in  place  or  time;    that,  what  is 
more  remote.     All,  any,  one,  other,  some,  such,  are  termed  indefinite.     Another  is  merely  other  in 
the  singular,  with  the  indefinite  article  not  kept  separate  from  it.*     Oth-.r,  \yhen  not  joined  with 
a  noun,  is  occasionally  used  both  in  the  possessive  case,  and  in  the  plural  number  :  as, 
'  Teach  me  to  feel  an  other's  wo,  to  hide  the  fault  I  see  ; 
That  mercy  I  to  others  sho.w,  that  mercy  show  10  me.' — Pope. 

E'teh  other  and  one  another,  when  used  in  conjunction,  may  be  termed  reciprocals;  as  they  are 
employed  to  express  a  reciprocal  action  ;  the  former,  between  two  persons  or  things ;  the  latter, 
/if  more  than  two.  The  possessive  cases  of  the  personal  pronouns  h;ive  been  also  ranked 
under  the  head  of  pronominal  adjectives,  and  styled  possess  i  v  es  ;  but  for  this  I  see  no  good  rea- 
son."— Churchill's  Gram.  p.  7G. 

OHS.  1-3. — The  reciprocal  terms  each  other  and  onean  other  divide,  according  to  some  mutual  act 
or  interchangeable  relation,  the  persons  or  things  spoken  of,  and  are  commonly  of  the  singular  num- 
btr  only.  /'.  If  rightly  used,  supposes  two,  and  only  two,  to  be  acting  and  acted  upon 

reciprocal!)  r,  it'not  misapplied,  supposes  more  than  two,  under  like  circumstances,  and 

h;is  ;in  indefinite  reference  to  all  taken  distributive!)- :  as,  "  Brutus  and  Aruns  killed  each  other." 
'  killed  the  <>'h,  r.     lt  Tin-  di^.-iplcs  were  commanded  to  love  one  an  other, 

and  to  be  willing  t  t-t."     Tint  is,  A/I  the  disciples  were  commanded  to  love 

'">/ ;  fur  b  >th  tei  '///iff,  or  »t:  <!isci])le,  must  be  here  under- 

stood as  taken  in<K-!initely.  The  reader  will  observe,  that  the  two  terms  thus  brought  together, 
if  taken  sub>tantively  or  pronominully  in  parsing,  must  be  represented  as  being  of  di fferent  cases  ; 
or,  if  we  take  them  adjectively,  the  noun,  which  is  twice  to  be  supplied,  will  necessarily  be  so. 

*  There  ?eom<  t- .  be  no  p>od  reason  for  joining  an  and  other :  on  the  contrary,  the  phrase  an  other  is  always  as 
prDpcri  i"  phrase  tkf  otti'r.  ;m  1  uunv  so.  The  latter,  being  long  ngo  vulgarly  comraru-.i  into 

;  >n  another;    which   many  people  nowadays  are  ignorant 

to   .livi.ii'    \vr..iur.    an  1    mi-p:..n,,,iii.-.  »    jn     M,,r-  -Honk,   p.  71  ;    and 

i-tr"  in  En  .  n.l  both  :m-il(i'jy  ami  consistency  require 

that  the  words  be  sepirau-d.      Tlu-ir  ut.ion.  lik.  rimes  to  aii  impro- 

per repetition  of  the  article;  M,  u  .4«otA«r  raeh  a  mao,"  t>r, w  Am  other  tneh  man."— "  r.ind  my  '»>r  m>.  As 
't'ras  \  S  i,  nor  tnrt'ui  <n  Joh.  Diet.  ••  II.-  ran  not  tell  when  he  should  tnke 

th>-  ton',  and  when  th*  f^cr."  — Sm  T.  MoORE:  T.H^-\  />.  p.  V,,).  jj.  j,.  .jjS  That  !•;—••«  hen  h«-  shoul.l  tikei/r«  <m» 
ar.d  w'..  •  :',u- a  iiiiiin,  an.l  ha-i  the  plur.il  at'i'rs-  but  rt 

pounding  of  anoth, .  haft  DO  phml."      All  th»->e   dit1 

will  br  renn'v.-. I  by  writing  an  ottifr  <u  two  words.      The  ;>n:  n.       To   thei;. 

refer  it ;  with  directions,  n»t  to  univ  tln-.-e  words  for  me,  e.v.vpt  when.-  if  bas  been  done  in  the  manuscript,  for 
thesakr  — O.  HROW.V. 

t  Tliis  is  a  tiii<applii-arioii  of  tin-  \\..r  1  '>•.'/••;!,  which  cannot  bare  refeience  to  more  than  two  things  or  parties: 
the  term  should  have  been  among.— G.  Baowu. 


264  THE    GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

DBS.  16. — Misapplications  of  the  foregoing  reciprocal  terms  are  very  frequent  in  books,  though 
it  is  strange  that  phrases  so  very  common  should  not  be  rightly  understood.  Dr.  Webster,  among 
his  explanations  of  the  word  other,  has  the  following:  '-Correlative  to  each,  and  applicable  to 
any  •number  of  individuals." — Octavo  Diet.  "  Other  is  used  as  a  substitute  for  a  noun,  and  in  this 
use  has  the  plural  number  and  the  sign  of  the  possessive  case." — Ib.  Now  it  is  plain,  that  the 
Vtordoffcr,  as  a  "  correlative  to  each,'"  may  be  so  far  "a  substitute  for  a  noun"  as  to  take  the  form 
of  the  possessive  case  singular,  and  perhaps  also  the  plural  ;  as,  "  Lock'd  in  each  other's  arms 
they  lay."  But,  that  the  objective  other,  in  any  such  relation,  can  convey  a  plural  idea,  or  be 
so  loosely  applicable — "to  any  number  of  individuals, "  I  must  here  deny.  If  it  were  so,  there 
would  be  occasion,  by  the  foregoing  rule,  to  make  it  plural  in  form  ;  as,  '"  The  ambitious  strive 
to  excel  each  others."  But  this  is  not  English.  Xor  can  it  be  correct  to  say  of  more  than  two, 
"  They  all  strive  to  excel  each  other."  Because  the  explanation  must  be,  "  Each  strives  to  excel 
other ;  "  and  such  a  construction  of  the  word  other,  is  not  agreeable  to  modern  usage.  Each  other 
is  therefore  not  equivalent  to  one  an  other,  but  nearer  perhaps  to  the  one  the  other :  as,  "  The  two 
generals  are  independent  the  one  of  the  other." — Voltaire's  Charles  XII,  p.  67.  "  And  these  are 
contrary  the  one  to  the  other." — Gal.  v,  17.  "  The  necessary  connexion  of  the  one  with  the  other." 
— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  304.  The  latter  phraseology,  being  definite  and  formal,  is  now  seldom  used, 
except  the  terms  be  separated  by  a  verb  or  a  preposition.  It  is  a  literal  version  of  the  French 
I'un  I'autre,  and  in  some  instances  to  be  preferred  to  each  other;  as, 
"  So  fellest  foes,  whose  plots  have  broke  their  sleep, 
To  take  the  one  the  other,  by  some  chance." — Shak. 

OBS.  17. — The  Greek  term  for  the  reciprocals  each  other  and  one  an  other,  is  a  certain  plural  de- 
rivative from  «AAoc,  other  ;  and  is  used  in  three  cases,  the  genitive,  «/P.i'Ator,  the  dative,  dwUiJAoic, 
the  accusative,  aAAi  l.ovg  :  these  being  all  the  cases  which  the  nature  of  the  expression  admits  ;  and 
for  all  these  we  commonly  use  the  objective  • — that  is,  we  put  each  or  one  before  the  objective  other. 
Now  these  English  terms,  taken  in  a  reciprocal  sense,  seldom,  if  ever,  have  any  plural  form ; 
because  the  article  in  one  an  other  admits  of  none  ;  and  each  other,  when  applied  to  two  persons 
or  things,  (as  it  almost  always  is,)  does  not  require  any.  I  have  indeed  seen,  in  some  narrative, 
such  an  example  as  this  :  "  The  two  men  were  ready  to  cut  each  others'  throats."  But  the 
meaning  could  not  be,  that  each  was  ready  to  cut  "  others'  throats  ;"  and  since,  between  the  two, 
there  was  but  one  throat  for  each  to  cut,  it  would  doubtless  be  more  correct  to  say,  "each other's 
throat."  So  Burns,  in  touching  a  gentler  passion,  has  an  inaccurate  elliptical  expression  : 
"  'Tis  when  a  youthful,  loving,  modest  pair, 

In  others'  arms,  breathe  out  the  tender  tale." — Cotter's  Sat.  Night. 

He  meant,  "  In  each  other's  arms;"  the  apostrophe  being  misplaced,  and  the  metre  improperly 
allowed  to  exclude  a  word  which  the  sense  requires.  Now,  as  to  the  plural  of  each  other,  although 
we  do  not  use  the  objective,  and  say  of  many,  "  They  love  each  others,"  there  appear  to  be  som<; 
instances  in  which  the  possessive  plural,  eachothers',  would  not  be  improper;  as,  "Sixteen  minis- 
ters, who  meet  weekly  fit  each  other's  houses." — Johnson's  Life  of  Swift.  Here  the  singular  i$ 
wrong,  because  the  governing  noun  implies  a  plurality  of  owners.  "The  citizens  of  different 
states  should  know  each  others  characters." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  3o.  This  also  is  wrong,  be- 
cause no  possessive  sign  is  used.  Either  write,  "  each  others'  characters,"  or  say,  "  one  an  other's 
character." 

Ons.  18. — One  and  other  are,  in  many  instances,  terms  relative  and  partitive,  rather  than  reci- 
procal ;  and,  in  this  use,  there  seems  to  be  an  occasional  demand  for  the  plural  form.  In  French, 
two  parties  are  contrasted  by  les  tins — les  autres  ;  a  mode  of  expression  seldom,  if  ever  imitated 
in  English.  Thus  :  "  II  les  separera  les  uns  d'avec  les  autres."  That  is,  "  He  shall  separate  them 
some  from  others  ;" — or,  literally,  "  the  ones  from  the  others."  Our  version  is  :  "  He  shall  separate 
them  one  from  an  other." —  Matt,  xxv,  32.  Beza  has  it :  "  Separabit  eos  alteros  ab  alteris."  The 
Vulgate:  "  Separabit  POS  abinvicem."  The  Greek:  "^yoniff  ariuvg  <>//'  <)AA//;(.>r."  To  separate 
many  "one  from  another,"  seems,  literally,  to  leave  none  of  them  together  ;  and  this  is  not,  "as  a 
shepherd  divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats."  To  express  such  an  idea  with  perfect  propriety, 
in  our  language,  therefore,  we  must  resort  to  some  other  phraseology.  In  Campbell's  version,  we 


read  :  "  And  out  of  them  he  will  separate  the  f/ood  from  the  bad,  as  a  shepherd  separateth  the 
sheep  from  the  goats."  Better,  perhaps,  thus  :  "  And  he  shall  separate  them,  the  riyhtcousfrom 
the  wicked,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats." 

OHS.  19. — Dr.  Bullions  says,  "  One  and  o^A<°rrefer  to  the  singular  only." — Entj.  Gram.  p.  98.  Of 
ones  and  others  he  takes  no  notice  ;  nor  is  he  sufficiently  attentive  to  usage  in  respect  to  the  roots. 
If  there  is  any  absurdity  in  giving  a  plural  meaning  to  the  singulars  one  and  other,  the  following 
sentences  need  amendment  :  "  The  one  preach  Christ  of  contention;  but  the,  other,  of  love." — 
Philippians,  i,  16.  Here  "the  one  "  is  put  for  "  the  one  class,"  and  "  the  other,"  for  "  the  other 
class;"  the  ellipsis  in  the  first  instance  not  being  a  very  proper  one.  "The  confusion  arises, 
when  the  one  will  put  their  sickle  into  the  other's  harvest." — LESLEY  :  inJoh.  Diet.  This  may  be 
corrected  by  saying,  "  t  he  one  party,"  or  "the  one  nation,"  in  stead  of  "  the  one."  "  It  is  clear  from 
Scripture,  that  Antichrist  shall  be  permitted  to  work  false  miracles,  and  that  they  shall  so  coun- 
terfeit the  true,  that  it  will  be  hard  to  discern  the  one  from  the  other." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  93. 
If  in  any  case  we  may  adopt  the  French  construction  above,  "  the  ones  from  the  others,"  it  will  be 
proper  here.  Again  :  "  I  have  seen  children  at  a  table,  who,  whatever  was  there,  never  asked  for 
any  thing,  but  contentedly  took  what  was  given  them  :  and,  at  an  other  place,  I  have  seen  othrrs 
cry  for  every  thing  they  saw;  they  must  be  served  out  of  every  dish,  and  that  first  too.  What 
made  this  vast  difference,  but  this :  That  one  wis  accustomcd'to  have  what  they  called  or  cried 
for;  the  other  to  go  without  it  ?" — Locke,  on  Education,  p.  oo.  Here,  (with  were  for  ioas,)  the 
terms  of  contrast  ought  rather  to  have  been,  the  ones — the  others ;  the  latter — the  former ;  or,  the 
importunate — the  modest.  "  Those  nice  shades,  by  which  virtues  and  vices  approach  each  one 
another." — Mut  ray's  Gram,  i,  p.  3oO.  This  expression  should  be  any  thing,  rather  than  what  it 
is.  Say,  "  By  which  virtue  and  vice  approach  i-n'li  other."  Or  :  "By  which  certain  virtues  and 
vices  approximate — blend — become  difficult  of  distinction  " 


ClIAP.  IV.]  ETYMOLOGY. ADJECTIVES. DEGREES.  265 

OBS.  2V — "  Most  authors  have  given  the  name  of  pronoun  adjectives,  [' pronouns  adjective,' 
or  '  pronominal  adjectives,']  in  my,  mine  ;  our,  nurs  ;  tJiy,  thine;  your,  yours  ;  his,  her,  hers; 
their,  theirs:  perhaps  became  they  are  followed  by,  or  refer  to,  some  substantive  [expressed  or 
understood  after  them].  But,  wore  they  adjectives,  they  must  either  express  the  quality  of  their 
substantive,  or  limit  its  extent :  adjectives  properly  so  called,  do  the  first ;  definitive  pronouns  do 
the  last.  All  adjectives  [that  are  either  singular  or  plural,]  agree  with  their  substantives  in  num- 
ber ;  but  I  can  say,  '  They  arc  my  books ;'  my  is  singular,  and  books  plural ;  therefore  my  is  not  an, 
adjective.  Beside*,  my  "does  not  express  the  quality  of  the  books,  but  only  ascertains  the  pos- 
sessor, the  s;ime  as  the  genitive  or  substantive  does,  to  which  it  is  similar.  Examples  :  '  They 

'  7///'.s  books  ;'  &c." — Alex.  Murray's  dram.  p.  108. 

21.— To  the  class  of  Participial  Adjectives,  should  be  referred  all  such  words  as  the  follow- 
ing :    (1.)    The  simple  participles  made  adjectives  by  position;    as,    "A  roaring  lion," — "A 
hear," — "A  brmcliitii  woman," — "  A  Ji  ittering    mouth," — "  An  understanding  heart," — 
••ring  ear,  and  the  seeing  eye." — Bible.  "  A  troubled  fountain," — "  A 

wounded  spirit," — "An  appointed  time." — Ib.  (2.)  Words  of  a  participial  appearance,  formed 
from  nouns  by  adding  ed ,-  as,  "  The  eve  thy  sainted  mother  died." — IF.  Scott.  "  What  you  write 
of  mo,  would  make  me  more  conceited,  than  what  I  scribble  myself." — Pope.  (3.)  Participles,  or 
participial  adjectives,  reversed  in  sense  by  the  prefix  un ;  as,  unaspiring,  unavailing,  unbeliev- 
ing, n  v&efricndcd.  (4.)  Words  of  a  participial  form  construed  elliptically, 
\>-re  nouns  ;  as,  "  Among  the  dying  and  the  dead." — "  The  called  of  Jesus  Christ." — 
Horn.  i,"6  "Dearly  belored,  I  beseech  you." — 1  Pet.  ii,  11.  "The  redeemed  of  the  Lord  shall 
return."— /V/////,  li,  11.  "  They  talk,  to  the  grief  of  thy  wounded" — Psalms,  Ixix,  26:  Margin. 
'11  — In  the  text,  Prov.'vii,  26,  "  She  hath  cast  down  many  wounded,"  wounded  is  a  par- 
ticiple ;  because  the  meaning  is,  '•///<-//>//  men  wounded,"  and  not,  "  many  wounded  men."  Our 
Participial  Adjectives  are  exceedingly  numerous.  It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  how  many  there 
are  of  them  ;  because  almost  any  simple  participle  may  be  set  before  a  noun,  and  thus  become 
an  adjective  :  as, 

"  Where  smiling  spring  its  earliest  visit  paid, 
And  parting  summer's  lingering  blooms  delay'd." — Goldsmith. 

OBS.  23. — Compound  Adjectives,  being  formed  at  pleasure,  are  both  numerous  and  various.   In 
their  form, iti. m,  however,  certain  an  tlo^ies   may  be  traced  :  (1.)  Many  of  them  are  formed  by  join- 
live  to  its  noun,  and  giving  to  the  latter  the  participial  termination  ed  ;  as,  able-bodied, 
.  left-handed,fu  .  </.  cloven-footed,  high-lulled.  (2. )  In  some, 

two  11  :ied,  U*e latter  assuming  ed,  as  above;  as,  beli-sh. iped,  hawk-nosed,  eagle-sighted, 

Von-!*  i.     (3.)     In  some,  the  object  of  an  active  participle  is  placed  before  it  ; 

.  doud-oompeltony,  fortune-hunting,  sh-cp-dixturbing. 

(1. )     Some,  embracing  numerals,   form  a  series,  though  it  is 'seldom  carried  far;  as,  one-legged, 

'.     So,  <>iie-feiii;-d,  tiro-leu  n  d .  f/i/'ee-leavcd,  four-leaved :  or,  per- 
•r'<  (/,  tiru-leiifed,  £c.     But,  upon  the  same  principle, 

-a .mid  be-  i  :id  long-lived,  long-lifcd.     (5.)  In  some,  there  is  a  combination 

:.d  a  participle  ;  as,  n<>b'<--lotiking,   high-sounding,  nl<»c  nenfing,  thoroii'ih-going, 
.  heavy-laden,  n/////-V/<"'«Y/i.     (6.)     In  some,  we  find  an  adverb  and  a  par- 
ticiple unit'  'icitu/,   ill  judgii>  t'-tr-shootini/,   forth-issuim/,    buck- sliding, 
ill-trained,  <iotrn-trotl<'                       utinmd.      (1 .)     Some'consist  of  a  noun  and  a  participle  which 
might  be  reversed  with  a  preposition  between  them  ;  as,  c/nn-rft-going,  care-crazed,  tnn-<  !-$oiled, 
..'•-'„  sprinkli-d.     (S  )     A  lew,  and  those  inelegant,  terminate  with  a  proposition  ; 
as,    unlooked-for,    long-looked-for,   untltonght-<>f,  vnlieard-if.       (9.)     Some  are    phrases  of  many 
•words,  I'unviTtod  into  one  part  of  speech  by  the  hyphen  ;  'as,  "  Where  is  the  evt-r-to-bc-honoured 
Chaucer  ':" —  Wordtioorth. 

.  witli  (ioil-onlii-kiuurx-Jtoir-gotlen  light. 

Informs  the  nation  what  is  wrong  or  ri-^lit .."— Sne/liw/'s  Gift  for  Scribblers,  p.  49. 

Ons.  2J. —  Nouns  derived  from  compound  adject:-.  ;>rovedby  good  w.iters  ; 

yet  w«-  :  with  them:  as,  fi<ii-i{-/ie,irteihie^,  for  hardnoss  of  he-art,  or  01  nclty  ;  t/uick- 

.  for  quickness  of  sight,  or  perspicacity ;  trorldly-mi,,  »r  devotion  tb  the  world, 

or  love  of  nain  ;  heaven! y-mind< ^///rs.v,  for  the  lovo  of  Hod,  or  true   ])ioty.     In  speaking  of  anees- 

ive   the  noun,    ;i.  r,   or  child ;    prefix    the 

adject  .  -.   for  the  third  ;  and  then.  -  .   repeat 

.rent-i/rand- 

.  thought  I,  could  she  know  that  ttiou  art  to  be 
chopped  up  for  fuel  to  warm  the  frigid  fingers  of  her  great-yrcat-grtat-granddaiigfULri, ; .'" — T. 

MODIFIOATJONS. 

A«V  -ivc,  commonly,  no  modifications  but  comparison. 

Compa;  ,1  variation  of  the  adjective,  to  express  quality  in  different 

dc^r--'--:  &s,  hard, harder ,  hardest ;  soft,  softer,  softest. 

There  are  three  degrees  of  comparison;  \\iQ-potitive,  the  comparative, 
and  the  superlative. 

TL  i<  that  which  is  expressed  by  the  adjective  in  its  sim- 

ple form:  as,  "An  elephant  is  lartjc ;  a  mouse,  small;  a  lion,  fierce  and 
strong." 

The  comparative  degree  is  that  which  is  more  or  less  than  something  con- 


266  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

trasted  with  it :  as,  "  A  whale  is  larger  than  an  elephant ;  a  mouse  is  smaller 
than  a  rat." 

The  superlative  degree  is  that  which  is  most  or  least  of  all  included  with  it : 
as,  "  The  whale  is  the  largest  of  the  animals  that  inhabit  this  globe ;  the 
mouse  is  the  smallest  of  all  beasts." — Dr.  Johnson. 

Those  adjectives  whose  signification  does  not  admit  of  different  degrees, 
cannot  be  compared ;  as,  two,  second,  all,  every,  immortal,  infinite. 

Those  adjectives  which  may  be  varied  in  sense,  but  not  in  form,  are 
compared  by  means  of  adverbs  ;  as,  fruitful,  more  fruitful,  most  fruitful — 
fruitful,  less  fruitful,  least  fruitful. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — "  Some  scruple  to  call  the  positive  a  degree  of  comparison  ;  on  the  ground,  that  it 
does  not  imply  either  comparison,  or  degree.  But  no  quality  can  exist,  without  existing  in  some 
degree :  and,  though  the  positive  is  very  frequently  used  without  reference  to  any  other  degree; 
as  it  is  the  standard,  with  which  other  degrees  of  the  quality  are  compared,  it  is  certainly  an 
essential  object  of  the  comparison.  While  these  critics  allow  only  two  degrees,  we  might  in  fact 
with  more  propriety  say,  that  there  are  five  :  1,  the  quality  in  its  standard  state,  or  positive  de- 
gree;  as  wise:  2,  in  a  higher  state,  or  the  comparative  ascending;  more  wise:  3,  in  a  lower,  or 
the  comparative  descending  ;  less  wise:  4,  in  the  highest  state,  or  superlative  ascending  ;  most 
toise:  5,  in  the  lowest  state,  or  superlative  descending  ;  least  wise.  All  grammarians,  however, 
agree  about  the  things  themselves,  and  the  forms  used  to  express  them  ;  though  they  differ  about 
the  names,  by  which  these  forms  should  be  called  :  and  as  those  names  are  practically  best,  which 
tend  least  to  perplex  the  learner,  I  see  no  good  reason  here  for  deviating  from  what  has  been 
established  by  long  custom." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  231. 

OBS.  2. — Churchill  here  writes  plausibly  enough,  but  it  will  be  seen,  both  from  his  explanation, 
and  from  the  foregoing  definitions  of  the  degrees  of  comparison,  that  there  are  but  three.  The 
comparative  and  the  superlative  may  each  be  distinguishable  into  the  ascending  and  the  descending, 
as  often  as  we  prefer  the  adverbial  form  to  the  regular  variation  of  the  adjective  itself;  but  this 
imposes  no  necessity  of  classing  and  defining  them  otherwise  than  simply  as  the  comparative  and 
the  superlative.  The  assumption  of  two  comparatives  and  two  superlatives,  is  not  only  contrary 
to  the  universal  practice  of  the  teachers  of  grammar ;  but  there  is  this  conclusive  argument 
against  it — that  the  regular  method  of  comparison  has  no  degrees  of  diminution,  and  the  form 
which  has  such  degrees,  is  no  inflection  of  the  adjective.  If  there  is  any  exception,  it  is  in  the 
words,  small,  smaller,  smallest,  and  little,  less,  least.  But  of  the  smallness  or  littleness,  consid- 
ered abstractly,  these,  like  all  others,  are  degrees  of  increase,  and  not  of  diminution.  Smaller  is 
as  completely  opposite  to  less  small,  as  wiser  is  to  less  wise.  Less  itself  is  a  comparative  descend- 
ing, only  when  it  diminishes  some  other  quality  :  less  little,  if  the  phrase  were  proper,  must  needs 
be  nearly  equivalent  to  greater  or  more.  Churchill,  however,  may  be  quite  right  in  the  following 
remark  :  "  The  comparative  ascending  of  an  adjective,  and  the  comparative  descending  of  an 
adjective  expressing  the  opposite  quality,  are  often  considered  synonymous,  by  those  who  do  not 
discriminate  nicely  between  ideas.  But  less  imprudent  does  not 'imply  precisely  the  same  thing  ag 
more  prudent ;  or  more  brave,  the  same  as  less  cowardly." — Neic  Gram.  p.  231. 

OBS.  3. — The  definitions  which  I  have  given  of  the  three  degrees  of  comparison,  are  new.  In 
short,  I  know  not  whether  any  other  grammarian  has  ever  given  what  may  justly  be  called  a 
definition,  of  any  one  of  them.  Here,  as  in  most  other  parts  of  grammar,  loose  remarks,  ill-writ- 
ten and  untrue  assertions,  have  sufficed.  The  explanations  found  in  many  English  grammars  are 
the  following :  "The  positive  state  expresses  the  quality  of  an  object,  without  any  increase  or 
diminution  ;'  as,  good,  wise,  great.  The  comparative  degree  increases  or  lessens  the  positive  in 
signification  ;  as,  wiser,  greater,  less  wise.  The  superlative  degree  increases  or  lessens  the  pos- 
itive to  the  highest  or  [the]  lowest  degree  ;  as,  wisest,  greatest,  least  wise.  The  simple  word, 
or  positive,  becomes  [the]  comparative  by  adding  rover ;  and  the  superlative  by  adding  st  or  est, 
to  the  end  of  it.  And  the  adverbs  more  and  most,  placed  before  the  adjective,  have  the  same 
effect ;  as,  wise,  more  wise,  most  wise." — Murray's  Grammar,  2d  Ed.,  1796,  p.  47.  If  a  man 
wished  to  select  some  striking  example  of  bad  writing — of  thoughts  ill  conceived,  and  not  well 
expressed — he  could  not  do  better  than  take  the  foregoing :  provided  his  auditors  knew  enough 
of  grammar  to  answer  the  four  simple  questions  here  involved ;  namely,  What  is  the  positive 
degree  ?  What  is  the  comparative  degree  ?  What  is  the  superlative  degree  ?  How  are  adjectives 
regularly  compared?  To  these  questions  I  shall  furnish  direct  answers^  which  the  reader  may  com- 
pare with  such  as  he  can  derive  from  the  foregoing  citation  :  the  last  two  sentences  of  which 
Murray  ought  to  have  credited  to  Dr.  Lowth  ;  for  he  copied  them  literally,  except  that  he  says, 
"the  adverbs  more  AND  most,"  for  the  Doctor's  phrase,  "  the  adverbs  more  on  most."  See  the 
whole  also  in  Kirkham's  Grammar,  p.  72;  in  Inr/ersoll's,  p.  3-5  ;  in  Aider's,  p.  21 ;  in  Bacon's,  p. 
18;  in  Russell's,  p.  14;  in  Hamlin's,  p.  22;  in  J.  M.  Putnam's,  p.  33  fin  S.  Putnam's,  p.  20;  in 
R.  C.  Smith's,  p.  51 ;  in  Rev.  T.  Smith's,  p.  20. 

OBS.  4. — In  the  five  short  sentences  quoted  above,  there  are  more  errors,  than  can  possibly  be 
enumerated  in  ten  times  the  space.  For  example  :  (1.)  If  one  should  say  of  a  piece  of  iron,  "It 
grows  cold  or  hot  very  rapidly,"  cold  and  hot  could  not  be  in  the  "  positive  state,"  as  they  define  it : 
because,  either  the  "  quality"  or  the  "  object,"  (I  know  not  which,)  is  represented  by  them  as 
"  without  any  increase  or  diminution  ;"  and  this  would  not,  in  the  present  case,  be  true  of  either ; 
for  iron  changes  in  bulk,  by  a  change  of  temperature.  (2.)  What,  in  the  first  sentence,  is  errone- 
ously called  "  the  positive  state,"  in  the  second  and  the  third,  is  called  "  the  positive  dec/tee ;"  and 


81 

: 

ni 


CIIAP.  IV.]  ETYMOLOGY. ADJECTIVES. — DEGREES.  267 

_-:un,  in  the  fourth,  is  falsely  indentified  with  "  the  simple  word"  Now,  if  we  suppose  the 
:i^  to  be,  that  "the  positive  state,"  "  the  positive  degree,"  or  "the  simple  word,"  is 
"without  any  increase  or  diminution;"  this  is  expressly  contradicted  by  three  sentences  out  of 
the  five,  and  "implicitly,  by  one  of  the  others.  (3.)  Not  one  of  these  sentences  is  tn<i>,  in  the 
most  obvious  si  use  of  the  words,  it'  in  any  other;  and  yet  the  doctrines  they  were  designed  to 
teach,  may  have  been,  in  general,  correctly  gathered  from  the  examples."  (4.)  The  phrase, 
"positive  'in  ni unification  "  is  not  intelligible  in  the  sense  intended,  without  a  comma  after 
posit  ice  ;  and  yet,'  in  an  armful  of  dinerent  English  grammars  which  contain  the  passage,  I  find 
not  one  that  lias  a  point  in  that  place,  (o.)  It  is  not  more  correct  to  say,  that  the  comparative 
or  the  superlative  degree  "  increases  or  lessens  the  positive,"  than  it  would  be  to  aver,  that  the 

Slural  number   i:  lessens  the  singular,  or  the  feminine  gender,  the  masculine      Nor 

oes  the  superlative  mean,  what  a  certain  learned  Doctor  understands  by  it — namely,  "  the  greatest 
."      If  it  did,  "  the  thickest  parts  of  his  skull,"  for  example,  would  imply 

small  room  for  brains;  "  the  thinnest,"  protect  them  ill,  if  there  were  any.     (6.)  It  is  improper 
.  ••  T/i>>  M'mph-  word  becomes  [the]  comparative  by  addiny  r  or  er  ;  and  the  superlative  by  adding 
The  thought  is  wrong  ;  and  nearly  all  trie  words  are  misapplied  ;  as,  simple  forprim- 
•:>!<lin(f  for  assuming,  &c.      (7.)    Nor  is  "it  very  wise  to  say,  "the  adverbs  more  and  most, 
placed  before  the  adjective,  have  the  same  effect:"  because  it  ought  to  be  known,  that  the  effect 
of  the  one  is  very  different  from  that  of  the  other  !    "  The  same  effect"  cannot  here  be  taken  for 
any  rtf'i -ct  previously  described  ;  \inless  we  will  have  it  to  be,  that  these  words,  more  and  most, 
"become  comparative  by  adding  r  or  er ;  and  the  superlative  by  adding  st  or  est,  to  the  end  of 
."  all  of  which  is  grossly  absurd.      (8.)  The  repetition  of  the  word  degree,  in  saying,  "  The 
superl  <>V  lessens  the  positive  to  the  highest  or  lowest  degree"  is  a  disagree- 

able tautol  8,  unless  it  involves  the  additional  error  of  presenting  the  same  word  in 

ditf'en  it  makes  one  degree  swell  or  diminish  an  other  to  itself;  whereas,  in  the  very  next 

sentence,  this  singular  agency  is  forgotten,  and  a  second  equally  strange  takes  its  place  :  "The 
posith  the  superlative  by  in/din;/  st  or  est,  to  the  end  of  it ;"  i.  e.  to  the  end  of  itself. 

Nothing  can  be  more  ungrammatical,  than'is  much  of  the  language  by  which  grammar  itself  is 
now  professedly  taught! 

Oi;s  .;  — it  has  been  almost  universally  assumed  by  grammarians,  that  the  positive  degree  is 
the  only  standard  to  which  the  other  degrees  can  refer;  though  many  seem  to  think,  that  the 
superlative  always  implies  or  includes  the  comparative,  and  is  consequently  inapplicable  when 
only  two  things  are  spoken  of.  Neither  of  these  positions  is  involved  in  any  of  the  definitions 
which  I  have  given  above.  The  reader  may  think  what  he  will  about  these  points,  after  observ- 
ing the  MfTeraJ  ways  in  which  each  form  may  be  used.  In  the  phrases,  "greater  than  Solo- 
>rt  than  a  bushel," — "  later  than  one  o'clock,"  it  is  not  immediately  obvious  that  the 
positn  .»(c/t,  and  late,  are  the  real  terms  of  contrast.  And  how  is  it  in  the  Latin 

.  ••  Diih-ior  me/l>\  sweeter  than  honey," — "  Prtestantior  atiro,  better  than  gold  ?"  These 
authors  will  resolve  all  such  phrases  thus  :  "  yreater,  than  Solomon  was  great," — "  more,  than  a 
.  /.s-  mm-//,"  \-c.     As  the  conjunction  than  never  governs  the  objective  case,  it  seems  neces- 

'sary  to  suppose  an  ellipsis  of  some  verb  after  the  noun  which  follows  it  as  above  ;  and  possibly  the 
'lution,  uncouth  as  it  seems,  may,  for  the  English  idiom,  be  the  true  one  :  as,  "  My 
•/KI /i  /." — John,  xiv,  'JS.  That  is,  "My  Father  is  greater  than  I  am;"— or,  per- 
.  I  am  (/nut."      But  if  it  appear  that  some  degree  of  the  same  quality  must  always  be 
contrasted  with  the  comparative,  there  is  slill  room  to  question  whether  this  degree  must  always 
be  that  which  we  call  the  positive.     Cicero,  in  exile,  wrote  to  his  wife  :  "  Ego  autem  hoc  miserior 
sum,  quam  tu,  <i  rima,  quod  ipsa  calamitas  communis  est  utriusque  nostrum,  sed 

calpa  mea  propna  est." — Epixt.  ad  I-'a/n.  xiv,  3.      "But  in  this  I  am  more  wretched,  than  thou, 
ho  ar  >>i-rl,  that  the  calamity  itself  is  common  to  us  both,  but  the  fault  is  all  my  own." 

8. — In  my  Institutes  and  First  Lines  of  English  Grammar,  I  used  the  following  brief  defi- 
nitions :  "  The  <-(.i,ij>a/-  is  that  which  exceeds  the  positive  ;  as,  harder,  softer,  better." 
— "The  s-i/prrlati'' •  -  that  which  is  not  exceeded;  as,  hardest,  softest,  best."  And  it  is 
rather  for  the  iak«  of  -inc^estin^  to  the  Irarner  the  peculiar  Ofptieatum  of  eaeli  of  these  degrees, 
than  from  any  decided  dissatisfaction  with  th-  :<>ns,  that  I  now  present  others.  The 
first,  however,  proceeds  upon  the  common  supposition,  that  the  comparative  degree  of  a  quality, 
'!  to  any  object,  must  needs  he  contrasted  with  the  positive  in  some  other,  or  with  the 

Titive  in  t:  •    an  other  time.     This   id. -a  may  be  plausibly  maintained,  though  it  is  eer- 

i  that  the  positive  term  referred  to,  is  seldom,  if  ever,   allowed  to  appear.      Besides,  the 
appear,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be,  or  seem  to  be,  in  the 

int  of  contract.      Th  r  our  view  are  apt  to  be  thought  greater  thanthose  of  a 

•  remote."-  ]>.  186.  Upon  the  principle  above,  the  expla- 

:uust  be,  that  the  meaning  i> — "  art-aicr  than  those  of  a  larger  size  are  thomjht  yrcat." 
:"xn-  man  that  loveth  Chri-?  ''/an  the  ri<  h. -.•<(  man  in  the  world,  that  hates  him." 

—  liti,  :'  '  .        ~         This  must  be  "richer  than  the  richest  man  /•>•  nr/i."    The 

riekes  contemplated  hi  >rt»j  and  the  comparative  or  the  superlative   of  one 

sort,  may  !>••   exceeded   bv   either   of  th  of  an  other  sort,  though  the  same  epithet  be 

01  both.    So  in  the  following  ••  He  that  is  h'nhi-r  than  the  hiyhi^t  regardeth  ;   and 

there   l,e  //•'////<•/•  than  /  .    ••  H,-  that  is  higher  than  the  highest  earthly 

i.-th  ;  and  there  are  higher  authoriti,-*  than  the*i\"      "  Fain  r  than  aii^ht  ira- 
igine<l  • ."—  /'  than  saddest    night." — Byron.    It  is  evident  that  the 

is  not,  in  general,  that  which  cannot  be  exceeded,  but  that  which,  in  the 
xetual  state  of  the  things  included,  "  is  not  exceeded."  Again,  as  soon  as  any  given  comparative 
•)r  superlative  is,  by  a  further  elevation  or  intension  of  the  quality,  surpassed  and  exceeded,  that 
particular  dearer,  "whatever  it  was,  becomes  merely  positive ;  for  the  positive  degree  of  a  quality, 
:hough  it  commonly  includes  the  very  lowest  measure,  and  is  understood  to  exceed  nothing,  may 
;vt  any  time  erjutil  the  very  highest.  There  i--;  no  p.irado.x  in  all  this,  which  is  not  also  in  the 
following  simple  examples:  "  7vwVr,  indeed.  I  was,  but  far  from  easy." — Cowper's  Life,  p.  50. 
"Who  canst  the  >ria,\t  iriscr  make. 


268  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

OBS.  7- — The  relative  nature  of  these  degrees  deserves  to  be  further  illustrated,  (1.)  It  is  plain, 
that  the  greatest  degree  of  a  quality  in  one  thing,  may  be  less  than  the  least  in  an  other;  and, 
consequently,  that  the  least  degree  in  one  thing,  may  be  greater  than  the  greatest  in  an  other. 
Thus,  the  heaviest  wood  is  less  heavy  than  the  lightest  of  the  metals  ;  and  the  least  valuable  of  the 
metals  is  perhaps  of  more  value  than  ihechoicest  wood.  (2  )  The  comparative  degree  may  increase 
upon  itself,  and  be  repeated  to  show  the  gradation.  Thus,  a  man  may  ascend  into  the  air  with  a 
balloon,  and  rise  higher,  and  higher,  and  higher,  and  higher,  till  he  is  out  of  sight.  This  is  no 
uncommon  form  of  expression,  and  the  intension  is  from  comparative  to  comparative.  (3.)  If  a 
ladder  be  set  up  for  use,  one  of  its  rounds  will  be  the  highest,  and  one  other  will  be  the  lowest,  or 
least  high.  And  as  that  which  is  highest,  is  higher  than  all  the  rest,  so  every  one  will  be  higher 
than  all  below  it.  The  higher  rounds,  if  spoken  of  generally,  and  without  definite  contrast,  will 
be  those  in  the  upper  half ;  the  lower  rounds,  referred  to  in  like  manner,  will  be  those  in  the 
lower  half,  or  those  not  far  from  the  ground.  The  highest  rounds,  or  the  loicest,  if  we  indulge 
such  latitude  of  speech,  will  be  those  near  the  top  or  the  bottom ;  there  being,  absolutely,  or  in 
strictness  of  language,  but  one  of  each.  (4.)  If  the  highest  round  be  removed,  or  left  uncounted, 
the  next  becomes  the  highest,  though  not  so  high  as  the  former.  For  every  one  is  the  highest  of 
the  number  which  it  completes.  All  admit  this,  till  we  come  to  three.  And,  as  the  third  is  the 
highest  of  the  three,  I  see  not  why  the  second  is  not  properly  the  highest  of  the  two.  Yet  nearly  all 
our  grammarians  condemn  this  phrase,  and  prefer  "  the  higher  of 'the  two."  But  can  they  give  a 
reason  for  their  preference  ?  That  the  comparative  degree  is  implied  between  the  positive  and  the 
superlative,  so  that  there  must  needs  be  three  terms  before  the  latter  is  applicable,  is  a  doctrine 
which  I  deny.  And  if  the  second  is  the  higher  of  the  two,  because  it  is  higher  than  the  first  ;  is  it 
not  also  the  highest  of  the  two,  because  it  completes  the  member?  (5.)  It  is  to  be  observed,  too, 
that  as  our  ordinal  numeral  first,  denoting  the  one  which  begins  a  series,  and  having  reference  of 
course  to  more,  is  an  adjective  of  the  superlative  degree,  equivalent  to  foremost,  of  which  it  is 
perhaps  a  contraction;  so  last  likewise,  though  no  numeral,  is  a  superlative  also.  (6.)  These, 
like  other  superlatives,  admit  of  a  looser  application,  and  may  possibly  include  more  than  one 
thing  at  the  beginning  o*r  the  end  of  a  series  :  as,  "  The  last  years  of  man  are  often  helpless,  like 
the  first."  (7.)  With  undoubted  propriety,  we  may  speak  of  the  first  two,  the  last  two,  the  first 
three,  the  last  three,  &c. ;  but  to  say,  the  two  first,  the  two  last,  &c.,  with  this  meaning,  is  obvi- 
ously and  needlessly  inaccurate.  "  The  two  first  men  in  the  nation,"  may,  I  admit^  be  good 
English  ;  but  it  can  properly  be  meant  only  of  the  two  most  eminent.  In  specifying  any  part  of 
a  series,  we  ought  rather  to  place  the  cardinal  number  after  the  ordinal.  (8.)  Many  of  the  fore- 
going positions  apply  generally,  to  almost  all  adjectives  that  are  susceptible  of  comparison. 
Thus,  it  is  a  common  saying,  "  Take  the  best  first,  and  all  will  be  best."  That  is,  remove  that 
degree  which  is  now  superlative,  and  the  epithet  will  descend  to  an  other,  "  the  next  best." 

OBS.  8. — It  is  a  common  assumption,  maintained  by  almost  all  our  grammarians,  that  the 
degrees  which  add  to  the  adjective  the  terminations  er  and  est,  as  well  as  those  which  are  express- 
ed by  more  and  most,  indicate  an  increase,  or  heightening,  of  the  quality  expressed  by  the  positive. 
If  such  must  needs  be  their  import,  it  is  certainly  very  improper,  to  apply  them,  as  many  do,  to 
what  can  be  only  an  approximation  to  the  positive.  Thus  Dr.  Blair  :  "  Nothing  that  belongs  to 
human  nature,  is  more  universal  than  the  relish  of  beauty  of  one  kind  or  other." — Lectures,  p.  16. 
"In  architecture,  the  Grecian  models  were  long  esteemed  the  most  perfect." — Ib.  p  20.  Again  :  In 
his  reprehension  of  Capernaum,  the  Saviour  said,  "  It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  of 
Sodom,  in  the  day  of  judgement,  than  for  thee." — Matt,  xi,  24.  Now,  although  uif/.TuTtnor, 
more  tolerable,  is  in  itself  a  good  comparative,  who  would  dare  infer  from  this  text,  that  in  the  day 
of  judgement  Capernaum  shall  fare  tolerably,  and  Sodom,  still  better/  There  is  much  reason  to 
think,  that  the  essential  nature  of  these  grammatical  degrees  has  not  been  well  understood  by 
those  who  have  heretofore  pretended  to  explain  them.  If  we  except  those  few  approximations  to 
sensible  qualities,  which  are  signified  by  such  words  as  whitish,  greenish,  &c.,  there  will  be 
found  no  actual  measure,  or  inherent  degree  of  any  quality,  to  which  the  simple  form  of  the 
adjective  is  not  applicable  ;  or  which,  by  the  help  of  intensive  adverbs  of  a  positive  character,  it 
may  not  be  made  to  express;  and  that,  too,  without  becoming  either  comparative  or  superlative, 
in  the  technical  sense  of  those  terms..  Thus  very  lohite,  exceedingly  white,  perfectly  white,  are 
terms  quite  as  significant  as  whiter  and  whitest,  if  not  more  so.  Some  grammarians,  observing 
this,  and  knowing  that  the  Romans  often  used  their  superlative  in  a  sense  merely  intensive, 
as  altissimus  for  very  'high,  have  needlessly  divided  our  English  superlative  into  two,  "  the 
definite  and  the  indefinite ;"  giving  the  latter  name  to  that  degree  which  we  mark  by  the  adverb 
very,  and  the  former  to  that  which  alone  is  properly  called  the  superlative.  Clmrchill  does  this  : 
while,  (as  we  have  seen  above,)  in  naming  the  degrees  he  pretends  to  prefer  "  what  has  been 
established  by  long  custom." — New  Gram.  p.  231.  By  a  strange  oversight  also,  he  failed  to 
notice,  that  this  doctrine  interferes  with  his  scheme  of  five  degrees,  and  would  clearly  furnish, 
him  with  six :  to  which  if  he  had  chosen  to  add  the  "  imperfect  degree"  of  Dr.  Webster,  (as  whit- 
ish, greenish,  &c.,)  which  is  recognized  by  Johnson,  Murray,  and  others,  he  might  have  had 
seven.  But  I  hope  my  readers  will  by-and-by  believe  there  is  no  need  of  more  than  three. 

OBS.  9. — The  true  nature  of  the  Comparative  degree  is  this :  it  denotes  either  some  excess  or 
some  relative  deficiency  of  the  quality,  when  one  thing  or  party  is  compared  with  an  other,  in  res 

ect  to  what  is  in  both  :  as,  "  Because  the  foolishncs 

ess  of  God  is  stronger  than  men." — 1  Cor.  i,  2-5.  " 
the  English." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  87.  "  Our  style  is  less  comj)> 
p.  88.  "  They  are  counted  to  him  less  than  nothing  and  vanity." — Isaiah,  xl,  17.  As  the  compar- 
atives in  a  long  scries  are  necessarily  many,  and  some  of  them  higher  than  others,  it  may  be  ask- 
ed, "  How  can  the  comparative  degree,  in  this  case,  be  merely  '  that  which  exceeds  the  positive  ?'  " 
Or,  as  our  common  grammarians  prompt  me  here  to  say,  "  May  not  the  comparative  degree  in- 
crease or  lessen  the  comparative,  in  signification  ?  "  The  latter  form  of  the  question  they  may 
answer  for  themselves ;  remembering  that  the  comparative  mag  advance  from  the  comparative, 
step  by  step,  from  the  second  article  in  the  series  to  the  utmost.  Thus,  three  is  a  higher  or 
greater  number  than  two  ;  but  four  is  higher  than  three  ;  five,  than  four  ;  and  so  on,  ad  infinitum. 


P< 
G< 


pect  to  what  is  in  both  :  as,  "  Because  the  foolishness  of  God  is  iviser  than  men  ;  and  the  weak- 
ness of  God  is  stronger  than  men." — 1  Cor.  i,  2-5.  "  Few  languages  are,  in  fact,  more  copious  than 
the  English." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  87.  "  Our  style  is  less  compact  than  that  of  the  ancients." — Ib. 


CHAP.    IV.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  ADJECTIVES.  -  DEGREES.  269 

My  own  form  of  the  question  I  answer  thus  :  "The  highest  of  the  higher  is  not  higher  than  the 
rest  arc  Jii<ihi-v,  but  -imply  higher  than  they  arc  high." 

Ons.   10.  —  The  true  nature'  of  the  Superlative  decree  is  this:  it  denotes,  in  a  quality,  s<>. 
tretne,  or  >iu  It  may  he  used  either  absolutely,  us  being  without  bounds  ;  or  rela- 

tively. as  being  confined  within  any  limits  we  choose  to  give  it.  It  is  equally  applicable  to  that  which 
is  naturally  unsurpassable,  and  to  that  which  stands  within  the  narrowest  limits  of  comparison. 
of  (,'.  would  scarcely  be  thought  a  henry  thing,  and  yet  the  expression  is 


proper;  bfcansf  tin;  weight,  whatever  it  is,  is  relatively  '  The  youngest  of  three  per- 

i:iy  not  be  /•»  ///  goung  ;  nor  need  we  suppose  tin-  oldest  in  a  whole  college  to  have  arrived  at 
What  then  shall  be  thought  of  the  explanations  which  our  grammari- 
ii  of  this  degree  of  comparison?      That  of  Murray  I  have  already  criticised.      It  is 
ascribed  to  him,  not  upon  *h<-  >n  that  he  invented  it  ;  but  because  common  sense  contin- 

ues to  give  place  to  the  authority  of  his  name  in  support  of  it.     Comly,  Russell,  Alger,  In;: 

Merchant.  Kirkham,  T.  Smith,  II.  C.  Smith,  Hall,  Ililey,  and  many  others,  have 

copied  it  into  their  grammars,  as  being  natter  than  any  definition  they  could  devise.   "Murray  him- 

self n:  lj  took  it  from  some  obscure  pedagogue  among  the   old  grammarians."     Bu- 

chanan, who  long  preceded  him,  has  nearly  the  same  words:    "The  Superlative  increases  or  di- 

minish ;itication,  to  the  highest  or  [the]  lowest  Degree  of  all  "  —  English 

•v     If  this  must  be  taken  for  a  grammatical  definition,  what  definition  shall  gram- 

ear  ? 

1  1.  —  Let  us  see  whether  our  later  authors  have  done  better.     "  The  superlative  expr- 

quality  in  the  greatest  or  [the]  least  possible  degree  ;    as,  tristst,  coldest,   least  //v'.v."  —  Webster's 

In  his  later  speculations,  this  author  conceives  that  the  termination  ish  forms 

fhcjirst  d'-gree  of  comparison  ;  as,  •<  Imperfect,  danldsh,"  Pos.  dank,  Comp.  danker,  Superl. 

est.     "  '1  here  are  therefore  four  degrees  of  comparison."  —  II  -'ebut  er's  Philosophical   Gram.   p.  65. 

"The   fourth  denotes  the  utmost  or  [the]  least  degree  of  a  quality;    as,  bravest,  wisest,  poorest, 

f.      This  is  called   the  superlative  degree."  —  Ih.  ,•    also  his   I/nprovcd  Gram  .  1831,    p    47. 

"This  the  Superlai  from  its  raising  the  amount  of  the  quality  above  that 

of  all  others."  —  1!  -/«.,   1832,  p.  26.      It  is  not  easy  to  quote,  from  any  source,  a  worse 

sentence  than  this  ;  if,  indeed,  so  strange  a  jum'ile  of  words  can  be  called  a  sentence.      "  I-'roni 

a  vicious  and  untranslatable  phrase,  here  put  for  "be' 

Ive  of  the  superlative  degree,  as  "  raising  tin-  amoi'nt  of 
-.hat  of  all  other  ipi.tlitirs  .'  "     Or,  if  it  be  supposed  to  mean,  •«  above  the  amount 


of  all  hat  is  this  amount  ?  Is  it  that  of  one  and  one,  t\iQ  positive  wn<\  ther^ 

.  ically  ?  or  is  it  the  sum  of  all  the  quantities  which  these  may  indicate  ?  Per- 
haps the  author  meant,  "above  the  amount  of  all  other  amounts."  If  none  of  these  absurdities 
is  here  taught,  r<  i^ht,  and  the  words  are  nonsense.  Again:  "The  stii»  /•/<////•/••  degree 


E] 
\ 


or  diminis  nification  of  the  Positive  or  Adjective,  to  a  rery  high  or  a  very  low  De- 

ee." — llrit isli  Gv-ini.  p.  1)7.     What  excess  of  skill,  or  what  I'l-ry  hii/h  degree  of  acutcness,  have 
c  brightest  grammarians  exhibited?     There  must  be  some,  if  their  definitions 

12. — The  common  assertion  of  the  grammarians,  that  the  superlative  degree  is  not  appli- 
cable to  tin-  -  not  only  unsupported  by  any  reason  in  the  nature  of  things,  but  it  is  con- 
tradicted in  practice  by  almost  every  man  who  affirms  it      Thus  Maunder:  "  When  only  two  per- 
rompa'ratively,  to  use  the  superlative  is  improper  :  as,  '  Deborah,  my 
-  a  lump  of  sugar  each  :  and  let  Dick's  be  the  largest,  because  he  spoke 
first.'     This,"  sa\  >  the  critic,  "  should  have  been  'larger.'  " — Mintt'/rr's  Gram.  p.  4. 


the  comp.r 


p.  4.      It  is  true, 


arative  ive  been  used;  but  the  superlative  is  clearer,  and  more  agreeable  to 

And  li'iu  .-an  "  largest  "  be  wrong,  if  "jirst  "  is  right  ?     "  Let  Dick's  be  the  larger,  be- 
•  ••  much  upon  a  different  idea,  that  of  proportion  .-  as    win  n   we 
-      1  So    Blair:    "  When  only  two  thii. 

compare  ee  shouldbe  used,  ai.d  not  the  superlative."  —  Vractieal  ' 

<'  unaccented." — Ib.   p.    118. 

liable  unaer.'nted,  and  the  lust  accented." — Ibid.        ,  exam- 

ples ai>  '.v  Gram.  p.  2.33;    Kirhhani's,  21!) ;    llul- 

\\'\\<-\  :  ••  When  tiro  persona  or  thing«  are  compared, 

i.e  employed.      When  three  or  UK,  .compared, 

—  Contradiction  in  pi  . 

-   than  his  />,-nf'i>  /-.-,." — /  vre  not  "  t!>  here    com- 

ipar-itive"  -  \  liable  5>  unaccented." — Ib.  p   123. 

An  iai':  :.d  thi>  author  ex- 

form  of  ai: 

iation  of  •;  sens  the  meaning  of  ti- 

tire,      • 
or  les 

.  p.  So'.     Tl.  Led  definitions  of  the  di 

of  compare  not  only  the  absurdities  which  I  liave  already  censured  in  those   of   our 

•  I  suppose  thru,  in  a  comparison  of  two,  any  of  tho  decrees  may  be  accurately  employed.     The  common  usage 

-  tperlative  wirii  of.     Hut   hen- 
allows  i.  a  manner  of  the  superlative ;    a^.   uThfc  c/' the 

»'ll  wliim  Of  ,  to  lin.l  in  this  :i  rc.-t.-ou  f.-r  .le.-larinir  it  iiiitrraii  D 

uThi-i~  1  the  former  construction  c  i!>prov- 

ed,  thus  :  " ThU u  the  better  book  of  the  two.  :  rhe  a.lj-rri\- 

ter,)  can  not  i-.-rn-.-pcnd  wi:li  the  preposition,  of.  The  definite  arti-.-le,  th>.  is  likewise  improperly  applied  to  the 
comparative  state  ;  the  sentence  should  stand  thus,  This  Li  the  bat  book  of  the  two.;'—  Chandler's  Gram.;  Ed.  of 
1821,  p.  130  ;  Ed.  of  1^47.  p.  I'A. 


270  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

common  grammars,  but  several  new  ones  peculiar  to  this  author.  Of  the  inconsistency  of  his 
doctrine  and  practice,  take  the  following  examples  :  "  Which  of  two  bodies,  that  move  with  the 
same  velocity,  will  exercise  the  greatest  power  ?  " — Ib.  p.  93  ;  and  again,  p.  208.  "  '/  was  offered  a 
dollar;'  — '  A  dollar  was  offered  (to)  me.'  The  first  form  should  always  be  avoided." — Ib.  p.  128. 
"  Nouns  in  apposition  generally  annex  the  sign  of  the  possessive  case  to  the  last;  as,  '  For  David 
my  servant's  sake.' — '  John  the  Baptist's  head.'  Bible." — Ib.  p.  197. 

OBS.  13. — So  Murray :  "  We  commonly  say,  '  This  is  the  weaker  of  the  two  ; '  or  '  The  weakest 
of  the  two  :  '*  but  the  former  is  the  regular  mode  of  expression,  because  there  are  only  two  things 
compared." — Octavo  Gram,  i,  167.  What  then  of  the  following  example  :  "  Which  of  those 
two  persons  has  most  distinguished  himself?  " — Ib.  Key,  ii,  187.  Again,  in  treating  of  the  adjec- 
tives this  and  that,  the  same  hand  writes,  thus  :  "  This  refers  to  the  nearest  person  or  thing,  and 
that  to  the  most  distant :  as,  '  This  man  is  more  intelligent  than  that.'  This  indicates  the  latter, 
or  last  mentioned  ;  that,  the  former,  or  first  mentioned  :  as,  '  Both  wealth  and  poverty  are  temp- 
tations ;  that  tends  to  excite  pride,  this,  discontent.'  " — Murray's  Gram,  i,  56.  In  the  former 
Eart  of  this  example,  the  superlative  is  twice  applied  where  only  two  things  are  spoken  of;  and, 
i  the  latter,  it  is  twice  made  equivalent  to  the  comparative,  with  a  like  reference.  The  following 
example  shows  the  same  equivalence  :  "  This  refers  to  the  last  mentioned  or  nearer  thing,  that 
to  the  first  mentioned  or  more  distant  thing." — Webber's  Gram.  p.  31.  So  Churchill :  "  The  su- 
perlative should  not  be  used,  when  only  two  persons  or  things  are  compared." — New  Gram.  p.  80. 
"  In  the  first  of  these  two  sentences." — Ib.  p.  162  ;  Lowth,  p.  120.  According  to  the  rule,  it  should 
have  been,  "In  the  former  of  these  two  sentences;"  but  this  would  be  here  ambiguous,  be- 
cause former  might  mean  maker.  "When  our  sentence  consists  of  two  members,  the  longest 
should,  generally,  be  the  concluding  one." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  117  :  and  Jamieson's,  p.  99.  "  The 
shortest  member  being  placed  first,  we  carry  it  more  readily  in  our  memory  as  we  proceed  to  the 
second." — Ib.  &  Ib.  "  Pray  consider  us,  in  this  respect,  as  the  weakest  sex." — Spect.  No.  533.  In 
this  last  sentence,  the  comparative,  weaker,  would  perhaps  have  been  better ;  because,  not  an 
absolute,  but  merely  a  comparative  weakness  is  meant. 

OBS.  14. — Hyperboles  are  very  commonly  expressed  by  comparatives  or  superlatives  ;  as,  "My  lit- 
tle finger  shall  be  thicker  than  my  father's  loins." — 1  Kings,  xii,  10.  "  Unto  me,  who  am  less  than, 
the  least  of  all  saints,  is  this  grace  given." — Ephesians,  iii,  8.  Sometimes,  in  thus  heightening  or 
lowering  the  object  of  his  conception,  the  writer  falls  into  acatachresis,  solecism,  or  abuse  of  tlu 
grammatical  degrees  ;  as,  "  Mustard-seed — which  is  less  than  all  the  seeds  that  be  in  the  earth." — 
Mark,  iv,  31.  This  expression  is  objectionable,  because  mustard-seed  is  a  seed,  and  cannot  be  less 
than  itself;  though  that  which  is  here  spoken  of,  may  perhaps  have  been  "  the  least  of  allseeds  :r 
and  it  is  the  same  Greek  phrase,  that  is  thus  rendered  in  Matt,  xiii,  32.  Murray  has  inserted  in 
his  Exercises,  among  "  unintelligible  and  inconsistent  words  and  phrases,"  the  following  extfnv 
pie  from  Milton : 

"And,  in  the  lowest  deep,  a  lower  deep 
Still  threat'ning  to  devour  me,  opens  wide." — Exercises,  p.  122. 

For  this  supposed  inconsistency,  he  proposes  in  his  Key  the  following  amendment : 
"  And,  in  the  lower  deep,  another  deep 

Still  threat'ning  to  devour  me,  opens  wide." — Key,  p.  2o4 
But,  in  an  other  part  of  his  book,  he  copies  from  Dr.  Blair  the  same  passage,  with  commendation  : 
saying,  "  The  following  sentiments  of  Satan  in  Milton,  as  strongly  as  they  are  described,  contain 
nothing  but  what  is  natural  and  proper : 

'  Me  miserable  !  which  way  shall  I  fly 
Infinite  wrath,  and  infinite  despair  ? 
Which  way  I  fly  is  Hell ;  myself  am  Hell ; 
And  in  the  lowest  depth,  a  lower  deep, 
Still  threat'ning  to  devour  me,  opens  wide, 
To  which  the  Hell  I  suffer  seems  a  Heaven.'    P.  Lost.  B.  iv,l.  73." 

Blair's  Lectures,  p.  153 ;  Murray's  Grammar,  p.  352. 

OBS.  15. — Milton's  word,  in  the  fourth  line  above,  is  deep,  and  not  depth,  as  these  authors  here 
give  it :  nor  was  it  very  polite  in  them,  to  use  a  phraseology  which  comes  so  near  to  saying,  the 
devil  was  in  the  poet.  Alas  for  grammar  !  accuracy  in  its  teachers  has  become  the  most  rare  of 
all  qualifications.  As  for  Murray's  correction  above,  I  see  not  how  it  can  please  any  one  who 
chooses  to  think  Hell  a  place  of  great  depth.  A  descent  into  his  "tower  deep  "  and  "  other  deep," 
might  be  a  plunge  less  horrible  than  two  or  three  successive  slides  in  one  of  our  western  caverns  ! 
But  Milton  supposes  the  arch-fiend  might  descend  to  the  lowest  imaginable  depth  of  Hell,  and 
there  be  liable  to  a  still  further  fall  of  more  tremendous  extent.  Fall  whither  ?  Into  the  horrid 
and  inconceivable  profundity  of  the  bottomless  pit!  What  signifies  it,  to  object  to  his  language 
as  "  unintelligible,  if  it  conveys  his  idea  better  than  any  other  could  ?  In  no  human  conception 
of  what  is  infinite,  can  there  be  any  real  exaggeration.  To  amplify  beyond  the  truth,  is  here  im- 
possible. Nor  is  there  any  superlation  which  can  fix  a  limit  to  the  idea  of  more  and  more  in  in- 
finitude. Whatever  literal  absurdity  there  may  be  in  it,  the  duplication  seems  greatly  to  aug- 
ment what  was  even  our  greatest  conception  of  the  thing.  Homer,  with  a  like  figure,  though  ex- 
pressed in  the  positive  degree,  makes  Jupiter  threaten  any  rebel  god,  that  he  shall  be  thrown 
down  from  Olympus,  to  suffer  the  burning  pains  of  the  Tartarian  gulf;  not  in  the  centre,  but, 
"  As  deep  beneath  th'  infernal  centre  hurl'd, 
As  from  that  centre  to  th'  ethereal  world."— Poke's  Iliad,  B.  viii,  1.  19. 

*  This  example  appears  to  have  been  borrowed  from  Campbell ;  who,  however,  teaches  a  different  doctrine  from 
Murray,  and  clearly  sustains  my  position  :  "  Both  degrees  are  in  such  cases  used  indiscriminately.  We  say  right- 
ly, either  '  This  is  the  weaker  of  the  two,'  or—'  the  weakest  of  the  two.'  "—Philosophy  of  Rhetoric,  p  202.  Uo-vr 
positively  do  some  other  men  contradict  this  !  "In  comparing  two  persons  or  things,  by  means  of  an  adjective,  care 
must  be  taken,  that  the  superlative  state  be  not  employed  :  We  properly  say,  '  John  is  the  taller  of  the  two  ;  '  but 
•we  should  not.  .say,  '  John  is  the  tallest  of  the  two."1  The  reason  is  plain  :  we  compare  but  two  person?,  and  must 
therefore  use  the  comparative  state."—  Wright's  Philosophical  Gram.  p.  143.  Kev.  Matt.  Harrison,  too,  insists  on 
it,  that  the  superlative  must  "  have  reference  to  more  than  two,"  and  censures  Dr.  Johnson  for  not  observing  the 
rule*  See  Harrison's  English  Language,  p.  265. 


:u,  <,v/te,u*7.» 


CHAP.    IV.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  ADJECTIVES.  -  REGULAR    COMPARISON.  271 

REGULAR  COMPARISON. 

Adjectives  are  regularly  compared,  when  the  comparative  degree  is  expressed  by 
adding  er,  and  the  superlative,  by  adding  est  to  them  :  as,  Pos.  great,  Comp.  greater, 
Super!  grrdlcst  :  Pus.  mild,  (Jump,  milder,  Superl.  mildest. 

In  the  variation  of  adjectives,  final  consonants  are  doubled,  final  e  is  omitted,  and 
final  y  is  changed  to  i,  agreeably  to  the  rules  for  spelling  :  as,  hot,  hotter,  hottest  ; 
wide,  wider,  widest  ;  happy,  /nippier,  happiest. 

The  regular  method  of  comparison  belongs  almost  exclusively  to  monosyllables, 
with  dissyllables  ending  in  w  or  y,  and  such  others  as  receive  it  and  still  have  but 
one  syllable  after  the  accent  :  as,  fierce,  fiercer,  fiercest  ;  narrow,  narrower,  nar- 
rowest ;  gloomy,  gloomier,  gloomiest  ;  serene,  serener,  serenest  ;  noble,  nobler,  no- 
blest ;  gentle,  gentler,  gentlest. 

COMPARISON  BY  ADVERBS. 

The  two  degrees  of  superiority  may  also  be  expressed  with  precisely  the  same  im- 
port as  above,  by  prefixing  to  the  adjective  the  adverbs  more  and  most  :  as,  wise, 
more  wise,  most  wise  ;  famous,  more  famous,  most  famous  ,*  amiable,  more  amior 
lie,  invar  a  //liable. 

The  degrees  of  inferiority  are  expressed,  in  like  manner,  by  the  adverbs  less  and 
least  :  as,  wise,  less  wise,  least  wise  ;  famous,  less  famous,  least  famous  ;  amiable, 
less  aininble,  least  amiable.  The  regular  method  of  comparison  has,  properly  speak- 
ing, no  degrees  of  this  kind. 

irly  all  adjectives  that  admit  of  different  degrees,  may  be  compared  by  means 
of  the  adverbs;  but,  for  short  words,  the  regular  method  is  generally  preferable  :  as, 
quick,  quicker,  quickest  ;  rather  than,  quick,  more  quick,  most  quick. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1.  —  The  genius  of  our  language  is  particularly  averse  to  the  lengthening  of  long  words  by 
additional  syllables  ;  and,  in  the  comparison  of  adjectives,  er  and  est  always  add  a  syllable  to  the 
word,  except  it  end  in  le  after  a  mute.  Thus,  free,  frefr,  freest,  increases  syllabically  ;  but  ample, 
cmph  :  ;oes  not.  Whether  any  particular  adjective  admits  of  comparison  or  not,  is  a 

matter  of  reasoning  from  the  sense  of  the  term  ;  by  which  method  it  shall  be  compared,  is  in  some 
a  mutter  of  taste  ;  though  custom  has  decided  that  long  words  shall  not  be  inflected,  and 
for  the  shorter,  there  is  generally  an  obvious  bias  in  favour  of  one  form  rather  than  the  other. 
Dr.  Johnson  says,  "The  comparison  of  adjectives  is  very  im-ertain  ;  and  being  much  regulated 
by  commodiousness  of  utterance,  or  agreeableness  of  sound,  is  not  easily  reduced   to  rules. 
Monosj  llal'i.-s  arc  commonly  compared.     Polysyllables,  or  words  of  more  than  two  syllables,  are 
seldom  compared  otherwise  than  by  more  and  most.      Dissyllables  are  seldom  compared  if  they 
terminate  in  fit/,  less,  inn,  ous,  ed,  'id,  fil,  cut,  (tin,  or  in-."—  dram,  of  the  English   Tongue,  p.  6. 
-  hut  one  syllable,  the  degrees  are  usually  formed  by  adding  er  or  est. 

When  th'-  positive  contains  two  syllables,  it  is  matter  of  taste  which  method  you  shall  use  in 

.legrees.     The  ear  is,  in'  this  case,  the  best  guide.      But,  when  the  positive  contains 

llables,  the  degrees  must  be  formed  by  the  use  of  more  and  most.    We  may  say, 

and  plcusa>iti-st,  pntfar  and  prettiest  ;  but  who  could  endure 

a'elicaf-  •tr.it?"  —  c,  «  81.    Quirt,  hitter,  clever,  sober,  and  perhaps  some 

ethers  like  them,  are  still  regularlv  compared  ;  but  such  words  .  .  famousest,  rirtuousest, 

.  which  were  usnl  by  Milton,  have  gone  out  of  fashion.      The'  following,  though  not 
•:re  perhaps  allowable.       "  Yet  these  are  the  two  commonest  occupations  of 
'' 


they  are  gone. 

f  Of  his  crew, 

-till  contriving  something  bad,  but  new."  —  KlXG  :  ib. 

.  2.  —  I  make  a  distinction  between  the  regular  comparison  by  cr  and  csf,  and  the  compari- 
son h\  -umatical  point  of  view,  these  two  methods  are  totally  different  : 

the  meaning,  though   the  samo,  being  cxprc-^cd  in  the  one  case,  by  an  inflection  of  the  adjec- 
nd  in  the  other,  by  a  .;  Of  two  different  parts  of  speech.     If  the  placing  of 

;m  ail\<  r'.i  before  an  ad  to  be  called  a  grammatical  modification  or  variation  of  the  latter 

word,  we  shall  hav?  many  other  degrees  than  those  which  are  enumerated  above.  The  words 
nay  with  much  more  propriety  ,-cr  bein<j  ascribed  to  the  adrerb. 

The  degrees  in  which  qualities  "may  exist  in  nature,  are  infinitely  various  ;  but  the  only  degrees 
vith  which  the  grammarian  is  concerned,  are  those  which  our  rnr'icfionof  the  adjective  or  adverb 
enables  us  to  express  —  including,  as  of  course  we  must,  the  state  or  sens*  of  the  primitive 
word,  as  one.  The  reasoning  which  would  make  the  positive  degree  to  be  no  degree,  would 
also  make  the  nominative  case,  or  the  M  of  the  Latins,  to  be  no  case. 

OBS.  3.—  Whenever  the  adjective  itself  denotes  these  degrees,  and  is  duly  varied  in  form  to 


272  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

express  them,  they  properly  belong  to  it ;  as,  worthy,  worthier,  icorthiest.  (Though  no  apology 
can  be  made  for  the  frequent  error  of  confounding  the  deqree  of  a  quality,  with  the  verbal  sign 
which  expresses  it.)  If  an  adverb  is  employed  for  this  purpose,  that  also  is  compared,  and  the  two 
degrees  thus  formed  or  expressed,  are  properly  its  own;  as,  worthy,  more  worthy,  most  worthy. 
But  these  same  degrees  may  be  yet  otherwise  expressed  ;  as,  worthy,  in  a  higher  degree  worthy, 
in  the  highest  degree  worthy.  Here  also  the  adjective  worthy  is  virtually  compared,  as  before  ;  but 
only  the  adjective  high  is  grammatically  modified.  There  are  also  other  adverbs,  which,  though 
not  varied  in  themselves  like  much,  more,  most,  may  nevertheless  have  nearly  the  same  effect 
upon  the  adjective;  as,  worthy,  comparatively  worthy,  superlatively  Avorthy.  I  make  these 
remarks,  because  many  grammarians  have  erroneously  parsed  the  adverbs  more  and  most,  less  and 
least,  as  parts  of  the  adjective. 

OBS.  4. — Harris,  in  his  Hermes,  or  Philosophical  Inquiry  concerning  Universal  Grammar,  has 
very  unceremoniously  pronounced  the  doctrine  of  three  degrees  of  comparison,  to  be  absurd  ;  and 
the  author  of  the  British  Grammar,  as  he  quotes  the  whole  passage  without  offering  any  defence 
of  that  doctrine,  seems  to  second  the  allegation.  "  Mr.  Harris  observes,  that, '  There  cannot  well 
be  more  than  two  degrees  ;  one  to  denote  simple  excess,  and  one  to  denote  superlative.  Were 
we  indeed  to  introduce  more  degrees,  we  ought  perhaps  to  introduce  infinite,  which  is  absurd. 
For  why  stop  at  a  limited  number,  when  in  all  subjects,  susceptible  of  intension,  the  intermediate 
excesses  are  in  a  manner  infinite  ?  There  are  infinite  degrees  of  more  white  between  the  first 
simple  white  and  the  superlative  whitest ;  the  same  may  be  said  of  more  great,  more  strong,  more 
minute,  &c.  The  doctrine  of  grammarians  about  three  such  degrees,  which  they  call  the  Positive, 
the  Comparative,  and  the  Superlative,  must  needs  be  absurd ;  both  because  in  their  Positive 
there  is  no  comparison  at  all,  and  because  their  Superlative  is  a  Comparative  as  much  as  their 
Comparative  itself.'  Hermes,  p.  197." — Brit.  Gram.  p.  98.  This  objection  is  rashly  urged.  No 
comparison  can  be  imagined  without  bringing  together  as  many  as  two  terms,  and  if  the  positive 
is  one  of  these,  it  is  a  degree  of  comparison  ;  though  neither  this  nor  the  superlative  is,  for  that 
reason,  "a  Comparative."  Why  we  stop  at  three  degrees,  I  have  already  shown:  we  have  three 
forms,  and  only  three. 

OBS.  5. — "  The  termination  ish  may  be  accounted  in  some  sort  a  degree  of  comparison,  by 
which  the  signification  is  diminished  below  the  positive,  as  black,  blackish,  or  tending  to 
blackness  ;  salt,  saltish,  or  having  a  little  taste  of  salt:*  they  therefore  admit  of  no  comparison. 
This  termination  is  seldom  added  but  to  words  expressing  sensible  qualities,  nor  often  to  words 
of  above  one  syllable,  and  is  scarcely  used  in  the  solemn  or  sublime  style." — Dr.  Johnson's  Gran. 
"  The  first  [degree]  denotes  a  slight  degree  of  the  quality,  and  is  expressed  by  the  termination  isl  ; 
as,  reddish,  brownish,  yellowish.  This  may  be  denominated  the  imperfect  degree  of  the  attribute." — 
Dr.  Webster's  Improved  Gram.  p.  47.  I  doubt  the  correctness  of  the  view  taken  above  by  John- 
son, and  dissent  entirely  from  Webster,  about  his  ^  first  degree  of  comparison."  Of  adjectives  :n 
ish  we  have  perhaps  a  hundred;  but  nine  out  often  of  them  are  derived  clearly  from  noutis,  a>, 
boyish,  girlish;  and  who  can  prove  that  blackish,  saltish,  reddish,  brou:nish,  smdyelloivish,aren<)t 
also  from  the  nouns,  black,  salt,  red,  brown,  and  yellow  ?  or  that  "  a  more  reddish  tinge," — "  a 
more  saltish  taste,"  are  not  correct  phrases  ?  There  is,  I  am  persuaded,  no  good  reason  for  noticing 
this  termination  as  constituting  a  degree  of  comparison.  All  "  double  comparisons"  are  said  ';o 
be  ungrammaticalj^but,  if  ish  forms  a  degree,  it  is  such  a  degree  as  may  be  compared  again :  as, 
"And  seem  more  learncdish  than  those 
That  at  a  greater  charge  compose." — Butler. 

OBS.  6. — Among  the  degrees  of  comparison,  some  have  enumerated  that  of  equality  ;  as  when 
we  say,  "'it  is  as  sweet  as  honey."  Here  is  indeed  a  comparison,  but  it  is  altogether  in  the 
positive  degree,  and  needs  no  other  name.  This  again  refutes  Harris  ;  who  says,  that  in  the 
positive  there  is  no  comparison  at  all.  But  further:  it  is  plain,  that  in  this  degree  there  may  be 
comparisons  of  inequality  also;  as,  "Molasses  is  not  so  sweet  as  honey." — "Civility  is  not  so 
slight  a  matter  as  it  is  commonly  thought." — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  92.  Nay,  such  comparisons 
may  equal  any  superlative.  Thus  it  is  said,  I  think,  in  the  Life  of  Robert  Hall :  "  Probably  no 
human  being  ever  before  suffered  so  much  bodily  pain."  What  a  preeminence  is  here  !  and  yet 
the  form  of  the  adjective  is  only  that  of  the  positive  degree.  "  Nothing  so  uncertain**  general 
reputation." — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  59.  "  Nothing  so  nauseous  as  undistinguishing  civility  " — Ib. 
p.  88.  These,  likewise,  would  be  strong  expressions,  if  they  were  correct  English.  But,  to  my 
apprehension,  every  such  comparison  of  equality  involves  a  solecism,  when,  as  it  here  happens, 
the  former  term  includes  the  latter.  The  word  nothing  is  a  general  negative,  and  reputation  is  a 
particular  affirmative.  The  comparison  of  equality  between  them,  is  therefore  certainly  improper  : 
because  nothing  cannot  be  equal  to  something ;  and,  reputation  being  something,  and  of  course 
equal  to  itself,  the  proposition  is  evidently  untrue.  It  ought  to  be,  "  Nothing  is  more  uncertain 
than  general  reputation."  This  is  the  same  as  to  say,  "  General  reputation  is  as  uncertain  as  a/ii/ 
thing  that  can  be  named."  Or  else  the  former  term  should  exempt  the  latter  ;  as,  "  Nothing  eke 
— or,  "  No  other  thing,  is  so  uncertain  as"  this  popular  honour,  public  esteem,  or  "general  reputa- 
tion." And  so  of  all  similar  examples. 

OBS  7.  — In  all  comparisons,  care  must  be  taken  to  adapt  the  terms  to  the  degree  which  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  adjective  or  adverb.  The  superlative  degree  requires  that  the  object  to  which  it 

*  Murray  copied  this  passage  literally,  (though  anonymously.)  as  far  as  the  colon  ;  and  of  course  his  book  teach- 
es US  to  account  "  the  termination  is-'i,  in  sonic  sort,  a  ih«rtf.  of  ctunj-arhon.'1' — Octavo  Gram.  p.  47.  l>ut  what  is 
more  absurd,  than  to  think  of  accounting  this,  or  any  other  suffix,  "  a  dr-gree  of  comparison?  "  The  inaccuracy 
of  the  language  is  a  sufficient  proof  of  the  haste  with  which  Johnson  adopted  this  notion,  and  of  the  blindness 
with  which  be  has  been  followed.  The  passage  is  now  found  in  most  of  our  English  grammars.  Sanborn  ex- 
presses the  doctrine  thus  :  "Adjectives  terminating  with  ?.s/i,  denote  a  degree  of  comparison  less  than  the  posi- 
tive ;  as,  nfiftish,  whitish,  blackish." — Analytical  Gram.  p.  87.  But  who  does  not  know,  that  most  adjectives  of  this 
ending  are  derived  from  nouns,  and  are  compared  only  by  adverbs,  as  r.hilrlisli,  foolish,  and  so  furth?  Wilcox 
says,  '•  Words  ending  in  ish.  generally  express  a  slight  degree;  as,  reddish,  bookish." — P>actical  Gram,  p  17. 
But  who  will  suppose  that  foolish  denotes  but  a  slight  degree  of  folly,  or  bookish  but  a  slight  fondness  for  books  ? 
And,  with,  such  an  interpretation,  what  must  be  the  meaning  of  mote  bookishor  most  foolish? 


CHAP.    IV.]  ETYMOLOGY. ADJECTIVES. IRREGULAR    COMPARISON.  273 

relates,  be  one  of  those  with  which  it  is  compared;  as,  "  Eve  was  the  fairest  of  women."     The 
comparative  degree,  on  the  contrary,  requires  that  the  object  spoken  of  be  not  included  among 
v.-ith  which  it  is  Compared;  a  vr  than  any  of  fur  d"  wjlitcr  s."     To  take  the 

inclusive  term  here,  and  say,  •  >•  than  any  irmnnn"  would'be  no  less  absurd,  than 

Milton's  assertion,  thu:  of  her  daugkten : M  the  former  supposes  that  she 

was  not  a  icoman  ;  the  latter,  that  she  was  <>w  af  //'•/•  ov/i  daughters.      But  Milton's  solecism  is 
double;  he  makes  Adam  one  of  his  oirn  son*  : — 

"  Adam  the  goodliest  man  of  men  since  born 

:ie  fairest  of  her  daughters  Eve." — P.  Lost,  B.  iv,  1.  32±. 
8. — ''  Such  adjectives,"  says  Churchill,    "as  have  in  themselves  a  superlative  significa- 


wo/-,  '  •  Holder,  more  undeceivable  .  for  these  the  proper  expressions  would  have 

been  the  op;  ^  without  the  negation;    least  apt,  less  corrupted,  less  deceit-able.      Watts 

'  sarrier.'     If  he  had  simply  said  '  an  impassable  barrier,'  we  should  have 

understood  it  at  once  in  the  strongest  sense,  as  a  barrier  impossible  to  be  surmounted :  but,  by  at- 
tempting to  express  something  more,  he  gives  an  idea  of  something  less ;  we  perceive,  that  his 
iniji"-  This  is  the  mischief  of  the  propensity  to  exaggeration  ;  which, 

striving  after  strength,  sinks  into  weakness." — Ib.  p.  234. 

.  'i. — The  foregoing  remarks  from  Churchill  appear  in  general  to  have  been  dictated  by  good 
but,  if  his  own  practice  is  right,  there  must  be  some  exceptions  to  his  rule  respecting  the 
comparison  of  adjectives  with  a  negative  prefix  ;  for,  in  the  phrase  "  less  imprudent,"  which,  ac- 
cording to  a  passage  quoted  before,  he  will  have  to  be  different  from  "more prudent,"  he  himself 
furnishes  an  example  of  such  comparison.      In  fact,  very  many  words  of  that  class  are  compared 
<1  writers:  ns,  "  Nothing  is  more  unnecessary." — Loicth's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  v.     "  What  is  yet 
'••." — RooF.u-s  :  in  Jok.  Diet.     "  It  is  hard  to  determine  which  is  most  uneliffible." 
—  l<l  i'>.       "  Where  it  appears  the  nw*f  'ural." — ADIHSOX  :  ib.      "  Men  of 

the  best  sense,  and  of  the  most  unblemished  lives."— 1<I.  ib.     "  March  and  September  are  the  most 

of  seasons." — BEXTLEY  :  ib.     "  Barcelona  was  taken  by  a  most  tint:, 

accident." — SWIFT:  ib.  "  The  moxt  barren  and  unpleasant." — WOODWARD:  ib.  "  O  good,  but 
most  /'.  -^-i\K.:ib.  "  More  unconstant  than  the  wind." — Id.  ib.  "  We  may  say 

more  (•}  —  •.  p.  108.     "  Some  of  those  [passions]  which  act  with  the 

'ipon  the  hearts  of  mankind,  are  altogether  omitted  in  the  catalogue  of 
"  The  wrong  of  him  who  presumes  to  talk  of  owning  me,  is 
i  by  kindness." — ('Innniiirt,  en  Ennnfipation,  p.  52.      "  Which,  we 
sible,  are  more  inconclusive  than  the  rest." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  319. 
Ere  yet  the  salt  of  most  >nt)  i.;liti ous  tears 
Had  left  the  flushing  in  her  galled  eyes." — Shak. 

). — Comparison  must  not  be  considered  a  general  property  of  adjectives.      It  belongs 
chiefly  to  the  class  which  I  call  common  adjectives,  and  is  by  no  means  applicable  to  all  of  these, 
f,  or  epithets  denoting  quality,  are  perhaps  more  numerous  than  all  the  other 
-  put  together.     Many  of  these,  and  a  few  that  are  pronominal,  may  be  varied  by  cpmpari- 
•i:cetives  may  be  compared  by  means  of  the  adverbs.     But  adjectives 

i  from  proper  namt8t  all  :/\,  and  most  of  the  compounds,  are  in  no  way  smsceptible 

iparison.     All  nouns  used  adjectively,  as  an  iron  bar,  an  ',<n>l,  ;i  muhoyainj  chair, 

'.h-Sea  dream,  are  also  incapable  of  comparison.       In  the  title  of  "  His  Mo\t  Cftniltan  Ma- 
plied  to  a  i  ut  who  will  pretend  that  we  ought 

to  understand  by  it  "  tin-  //it','  '  ;n   attainment?     It  might  seem  uncourtly  to 

i  that  this  is  "  an  abuM  of  the  king's  English."  I  shall  therefore  say  no  such  thing.     Pope 
is  the  word  Christian,  in  the  following  couplet: — 
.  ;>urified  bv 

Ibettai  and  '-in  proge'ny." — Dunciad,  B.  i,  1.  227. 

IIIKKUCLAK    COMPARISOX. 

The  following  adjectives  are  ooinpureil  irregularly  :  good,  letter,  best ;  bad,  evil,  or 

re,  most ;  many,  more,  most. 

OBSKKVATIi 

. "Y.s7/,  and  also  in  that  denote  place  or  situat ion,  not  only 

form  the  siipeilat  ither  dei'ective  or  redundant  in  compari- 

I.  'I  iore  than  one  sujx-rlat:' 

.    hind,   h'hulir,   kittam 

«, 

'  • 

tesi  or 

II.  Th»  ?'  •  want  the  positive:  [aft,  adv.]  afar,  nftmost  or  aftermost;  [forth,  adv.] 

III.  The  following  want  the  compara* 

'  'most;  top,  t upmost ;  bottom,  bottommost  .  >/,*  midmost  or  /// 

contraction  of  the  regular  guperl  ut  now  obsolete.     Mi<?st.  »l.co, 

ieems  t»  .  fnqmMiMy  ns<-,l  as  a  noun  ;  a*.  ••  In  the  mi  fist.'' — }V,'^:-r.     li  i* 

ofti'ti  a  jKx>;ic  coiitracri'in  f.,r  ilu'  ir;m  rxdverb.     In  the  following 

exn  nple  it  is  ?<juiv:ili  >ft,  and  therefore  an  a-:.  -.ill  greatest  lie  the  midst,  Now  dragon 

gro  vn.:<— Paradise  Lost,  B.  x,  1. 

18 


274  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

north,  northmost ;  south,  southmost ;   east,  eastmost ;   icest,  westmost ;  northern,  northernmost ; 
southern,  southernmost ;  eastern,  easternmost ;  ivestern,  westernmost. 

OBS.  2. — Many  of  these  irregular  words  are  not  always  used  as  adjectives,  but  oftener  as  nouns, 
adverbs,  or  prepositions.  The  sense  in  which  they  are  employed,  will  show  to  what  class  they 
belong.  The  terms  fore  and  hind,  front  and  rear,  right  and  left,  in  and  out,  high  and  low,  top  and 
bottom,  up  and  down,  upper  and  under,  mid  and  after,  all  but  the  last  pair,  are  in  direct  contrast 
with  each  other.  Many  of  them  are  often  joined  in  composition  with  other  words  ;  and  some, 
when  used  as  adjectives  of  place,  are  rarely  separated  from  their  nouns  :  as,  inland,  oi^house, 
mid-sea,  after-ages.  Practice  is  here  so  capricious,  I  find  it  difficult  to  determine  whether  the 
compounding  of  these  terms  is  proper  or  not.  It  is  a  case  about  which  he  that  inquires  most, 
may  perhaps  be  most  in  doubt.  If  the  joining  of  the  words  prevents  the  possibility  of  mistaking 
the  adjective  for  a  preposition,  it  prevents  also  the  separate  classification  of  the  adjective  and  the 
noun,  and  thus  in  some  sense  destroys  the  former  by  making  the  whole  a  noun.  Dr.  Webster 
writes  thus  :  "  FE.ONTKOOM,  n.  A  room  or  apartment  in  the  forepart  of  a  house.  BACKROOM,  n. 
A  room  behind  the  front  room,  or  in  the  back  part  of  the  house." — Octavo  Diet.  So  of  many 
phrases  by  which  people  tell  of  turning  things,  or  changing  the  position  of  their  parts  ;  as,  mside 
out,  outside  in;  tipside  down,  doivnside  up;  wrong  end  foremost,  but-end  foremost ;  forepart  back, 
/ore-end  aft ;  hind  side  before,  backside  before.  Here  all  these  contrasted  particles  seem  to  be 
adjectives  of  place  or  situation.  What  grammarians  in  general  would  choose  to  call  them,  it  is 
hard  to  say;  probably,  many  would  satisfy  themselves  with  calling  the  whole  "an  adverbial 
phrase," — the  common  way  of  disposing  of  every  thing  which  it  is  difficult  to  analyze.  These, 
and  the  following  examples  from  Scott,  are  a  fair  specimen  of  the  uncertainty  of  present  usage  : 
"  The  herds  without  a  keeper  strayed, 

The  pknighwas  in  mid-furrow  staid." — Lady  of  the  Lake. 
"  The  eager  huntsman  knew  his  bound, 

And  in  mid  chase  called  off  his  hound." — Ibidem. 

OBS.  3. — For  the  chief  points  of  the  compass,  we  have  so  many  adjectives,  and  so  many  modes 
of  varying  or  comparing  them,  that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  their  number,  or  to  know  which  to 
choose  in  practice.  (1.)  North,  south,  cast,  and  west,  are  familiarly  used  both  as  nouns  and  as 
adiectives.  From  these  it  seems  not  improper  to  form  superlatives,  as  above,  by  adding  most ; 
as^  "  From  Aroar  to  Nebo,  and  the  wild  of  southmost  Abarim." — Milton.  "  There  are  no  rivulets 
or  springs  in  the  island  of  Feror,  the  westmost  of  the  Canaries." — White's  Nat.  Hist.  (2.)  These 
primitive  terms  may  also  be  compared,  in  all  three  of  the  degrees,  by  the  adverbs  farther  anl 
farthest,  or  further  and  furthest ;  as,  "Which  is  yet  farther  west." — Bacon.  (3.)  Though  wa 
'never  employ  as  separate  words  the  comparatives  norther,  souther,  easier,  wester,  we  have  north- 
erly, southerly,  easterly,  and  westerly,  which  seem  to  have  been  formed  from  such  comparative? , 
by  adding  ly ;  and  these  four  may  be  compared  by  the  adverbs  more  and  most,  or  less  and  least  : 
as,  "  These  hills  give  us  a  view  of  the  most  easterly,  southerly,  and  tcesterly  parts  of  England." — 
GRAUNT:  in  Joh.  Diet.  (4.)  From  these  supposed  comparatives  likewise,  some  authors  form  the 
superlatives  northermost,  souther  most,  castermost,  and  wester  most ;  as,  "  From  the  westermost  part 
of  Oyster  bay." — Dr.  Webster's  Hist.  U.  S.  p.  126.  "  And  three  miles  southward  of  the  souther- 
most  part  of  said  bay." — Trumbull's  Hist,  of  Amer.  Vol.  i,  p.  88.  "  Pockanocket  was  on  the 
westermost  line  of  Plymouth  Colony." — Ib.  p.  44.  "As  far  as  the  northermost  branch  of  the  said 
bay  or  river." — Ib.  p.  127.  The  propriety  of  these  is  at  least  questionable  ;  and,  as  they  aie 
neither  very  necessary  to  the  language,  nor  recognized  by  any  of  our  lexicographers,  I  forbear  to 
approve  them.  (5.)  From  the  four  primitives  we  have  also  a  third  series  of  positives,  ending  in 
ern ;  as,  northern,  southern,  eastern,  western.  These,  though  they  have  no  comparatives  of  their 
own,  not  only  form  superlatives  by  assuming  the  termination  most,  but  are  sometimes  compared, 
perhaps  in  both  degrees,  by  a  separate  use  of  the  adverbs  :  as,  "  Southernmost,  a.  Furthest 
towards  the  south." — Webster's  Diet.  "Until  it  shall  intersect  the  northernmost  part  of  the 
thirty-first  degree  of  north  latitude." — Articles  of  Peace.  "To  the  north-westernmost  head  of 
Connecticut  river." — Ib.  "  Thence  through  the  said  lake  to  the  most  north-western  point 
thereof." — Ib. 

OBS.  4. — It  may  be  remarked  of  the  comparatives  former  and  latter  or  hinder,  upper  and  undef 
or  nether,  inner  and  outer  or  litter,  after  and  hither  ;  as  well  as  of  the  Latin  superior  and  inferior, 
anterior  and  posterior,  interior  and  exterior,  prior  and  ulterior,  senior  and  Junior,  major  and  minor  ; 
that  they  cannot,  like  other  comparatives,  be  construed  with  the  conjunction  than.  After  all 
genuine  English  comparatives,  this  conjunction  may  occur,  because  it  is  the  only  fit  word  for 
introducing  the  latter  term  of  comparison;  but  we  never  say,  one  thing  is  former  or  latter, 
'or  or  inferior,  than  an  other.  And  so  of  all  the  rest  here  named.  Again,  no  real  compara- 
tive or  superlative  can  ever  need  an  other  siiperadded  to  it ;  but  inferior  and  superior  convey 
ideas  that  do  not  always  preclude  the  additional  conception  of  more  or  'less  :  as,  "  With  respect  to 
high  and  low  notes,  pronunciation  is  still  more  inferior  to  singing." — Kames,  Elements  of  Criti- 
.  Vol.  ii,  p.  73.  "  The  mistakes  which  the  most  superior  understanding  is  apt  to  fall  into." 
—  West's  Letters  to  a  Young  Lady,  p.  117. 

OBS.  5. — Double  comparatives  and  double  superlatives,  being  in  general  awkward  and  unfashion- 
able, as  well  as  tautological,  ought  to  be  avoided.  Examples:  "The  duke  of  Milan,  and  his 
more  braver  daughter,  could  control  thee." — Shak.  Tempest.  Say,  "  his  more  valiant  daughter." 
"  What  in  me  was  purchased,  falls  upon  thee  in  a  more  fairer  sort." — Id.  Henry  IV.  Say, 
"fairer"  or,  "  more  honest  ,•"  for  "purchased"  here  means  stolen.  "  Changed  to  a  worscr  shape 
thou  canst  not  be."— Id.  1  Hen.  VI.  Say,  "  a  worse  shape"— or,  "  an  uglier  shape." 
most  straitcst  sect  of  our  religion,  I  lived  a  Pharisee." — Acts,  xxvi,  5.  Say,  "  the  strictest  sect." 
'Some  say  he's  mad;  others,  that  lesser  hate  him,  do  call  it  valiant  fury." — Shak.  Say, 
"  others,  that  hate  him  less."  In  this  last  example,  lesser  is  used  adverbially  ;  in  which  construc- 
tion it  is  certainly  incorrect.  But  against  lesser  as  an  adjective,  some  grammarians  have  spoken 
with  more  severity,  than  comports  with  a  proper  respect  for  authority.  Dr.  Johnson  says, 
'  LESSER,  adj.  A  barbarous  corruption  of  less,  formed  by  the  vulgar  from  the  habit  of  terminating 


CHAP.    IV.]  ETYMOLOGY. ADJECTIVES. IRREGULAR    COMPARISON. 


275 


comparatives  in  er ;  aftcnrnrd  adopted  by  poets,  and  then  by  icritcrs  of  prose,  till  it  has  all  the 
author! f  >/ tr.  uriy/u-'il/y  erroneous  c<>  ." — <^ci>-^>   I)i<t,      With  no 

great  fairness,  Churchill  quotes  this  p  .  to  as  the  semicolon,  and  there  stops.     The 

n  he   further  endeavours  to  strengthen,  by  saying,  •'  \\~<>rsi-r,  though  not  more 
har>>  tr  the  ear  in  a  much  greater  d^ree,  because  it  has  not  been  so  frequently  used." 

:  God  made  two  great  lights  ;  the  greater  light  to  rule  the 

day,  and  the  lesser  light  to  rule  the  night." — (Jen.  i,  16.      Kirkham,  after  making  an  imitation  of 
this  passage,   remarks  upon  it:  M  ;   as  ftuddi-r,  gooder,  icorser." — Gnnn.\>. 

77.     The  judgement  of  any  critic  who  is  ignorant  enough  to  say  this,  is  worthy  only  of  contempt. 
1  frequently  "used  by  the  most  tasteful  authors,  both  in  verse  ami  •' It  is 

the  glowing  style  of  a  man  who  is  negligent  of  A. >•*•«•/•  graces" — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  18'J. 
"  Athos,  Olympus,  .Ktna,  Atlas,  made 

^giiity." — Byron. 

:  jective  little  is  used  in  different  Censes ;  for  it  contrasts  sometimes  with  great, 

and  someti!  /•  appears  to  refer  only  to  size.     Hence  less  and  lesser  are  not  al- 

1'iivalent  terms.      Lesser  means  mnalii-r,  and  contrasts  only  with  greater.      Less  contrasts 

.  but  oftener  with  more,  the  comparative  of  much  ;  for,  though  it  may  mean 

not  so  hn'ife,  its  inost  common  meaning  U  /'.      It  ought  to  be  observed,  likewise,  that 

iot  an  adjective  of  number,*  though  not  unfrequently  used  as  such.     It  does  not  mean  few- 
er, and  is  therefore  not  properly  employed  in  sentences  like  the  following:    "  In  all  verbs,  there 
are  no  test  than  three  things  implied  at  once." — Blair's  Rket.  p.  81.     "  Smaller  things  than  three," 
is  nonsense;  arid  so,  in  reality,  is  what  the  Doctor  here  says.     Less  is  not  the  proper  opposite 
•'•  is  the  comparative  of  many  :  few,  fewer,  fewest,  are  the  only  words  which  con- 
trast regularly  with  many,  more,  moxt.      In  the  following  text,  these  comparatives  are  rightly  em- 
vnd  to  the  more  ye  shall  give  the  more  inheritance,  and  to  the  fewer  ye  shall  give  the 
But  if  writers  will  continue  to  use  less  for  fewer,  so  that 

for  inst.iiR'e.m  iy  mean  "  fewer  cattle  ;  "  we  shall  be  under  a  sort  of  necessity  to  retain 
ler  to  speak  intelligibly:  as,  "  It  shall  be  for  the  sending  forth  of  oxen,  and  for  the 
treading  «.f  lesser  cattle." — l*<ti<iti,  v'li,  2-5.     I  have  no  partiality  for  the  word  lesser,  neither  will  I 
make  myself  ridiculous  by  flouting  at  its  rudeness.      "This  word,"  says  Webster,  "is  a  cor- 
ruption,'but  [it  is]  too  well  established  to  be  discarded.     Authors  always  write  the  Lesser  Asia." 
•••(>  l)i'-t.     "  By  the  same  reason,  may  a  man  punish  the  leaser  breaches  of  that  law." — Locke. 
"  "NVh  -•-'!'  differences  among  the  tastes  of  men." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  20.      "In 

>:nplexity." — Burke,  on  Sublime,  p.  94.      "  The  greater  ought  not  to 

succumb  to  the  A  NV-/-." — /;  /?,  p.  128.      "  To  such  productions,  lesser  composers 

must  resort  for  ideas." — 0<K  're,  p.  413. 

"  The  larger  here,  and  there  the  lesser  lambs, 

The  new-fall'n  young  herd  bleating  for  their  dams." — Pope. 

On*.  7. — Our  grammarians  deny  the  comparison  of  many  adjectives,  from  a  false  notion  that  they 
alr>  .     Thus  Allen  :  "  Adjectives  compounded  with  the  Latin  preposition  per, 

already  superlative;  '.if/it,  &c.'' — We/m-nts  of  E.  Gram.  p.  52.     In 

reply  to  this.  1  would  s  iy,  tint  nothing  is  really  superlative,  in  English,  but  what  has  the  form 
-itruclion  of  the  superlative  :  as,  "  The  most  permanent  of  all  dyes."     No  word  beginning 
A-  virtue  of  this  La-tin  prefix.      "  Separate  spirits,  which  are  beings  that 


;e  and  greater  happiness  than  we,  must  needs  have  also  a  perfecter  way  of 
i  than  we  have."—  >7y,  B.  ii,  Ch.  24,  $  36.     This  mode  of 

>od,  but  it  shows  that  perfect  is  no  superlative.     Thus  Kirkham  :  "  The 
/  others,  are  always  in  (//<•  supcrlntice  deyri-e ;    because,  by  express- 
.  they  carry  in  them-i  Ives  a  superlative  signification:   <•/'< 

•  •,  rist,   immense,  ceaseless,  infinite  t 
.  >nlimit<-d,  omnipotent,  all-wise,  eternal.''-^ — Gram.  p.  73. 

*  What  II;  "         'i  th«  teaching  of  all  onr  lexicographers  and  grammarians,  except  one  dauntless 

-  uiken  particular  p  in  the  defensive.    This  gentleman 

•at  actually  exhibits 
-,  posi- 

An  I  -i -rices  less  and  more, least  and  moat,  to  the  same 

:md  most  is  equivalent  to 
ADNAMES,"  and  just 
MSS  ;  Few,  fewer  or  less,  few- 
nore,  nm  >-ce's  Gram.  p.  1 1 1- 

f  these  a  1  j.i-rhaps  all  the  rest ;  for  his 

es  to  inn.  nph   be 

• 

:  such  as,  '  Chief,  ex- 
ii-st,  per- 

\{>ressions  are  therefore  improper.      '  Ho 
»1  became  ;uid  national ;  '    'A  method 

universal,  &c. 
not  pos- 

i»ydo  as  he  pleases  about  con.  •;  adjec- 

)regoing,  will   Irive  work  enough  on   bis  hands. 
. 

l:nit  of   no   variation 
')  fnir\ 
about  as  often  at  i"  the  langm 

'  ••  mart 
''    and 
.<  of  per- 

lion."—lh.  pp.  1  \:}  :ni'l  l")l.  'iit  quali- 

cannot  be  r>"  :}i\p}\   Dr.   I'.;  s   ic  "  impr", 

ettw 


•  TV-  .,u 


e  he  judges  them  to  have  "  an  absolute  or  superlative  signification, ';  are  u  true,  perfect,  universal,  chief > 
e.  supreme.  &c."— no  boJv  knows  how  uiaiiv.  ,>ec  Principles  of  E.  Gram.  n.  19  and  p.  115. 


276  THE    GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

So  the  Rev.  David  Blair :  "  The  words  perfect,  certain,  infinite,  universal,  chief,  supreme,  right, 
trite,  extreme,  superior,  and  some  others,  which  express  a  perfect  and  superlative  sense  in  them- 
selves, do  not  admit  of  comparison." — English  Gram.  p.  81.  Now,  according  to  Murray's  defini- 
tion, which  Kirkham  adopts,  none  of  these  words  can  be  at  all  in  the  superlative  degree.  On  the 
contrary,  there  are  several  among  them,  from  which  true  superlatives  are  frequently  and  correctly 
formed.  Where  are  the  positives  which  are  here  supposed  to  be  "  increased  to  the  highest  degree  '.<"' 
Every  real  superlative  in  our  language,  except  best  and  u-orst,  most  and  least,  first  and  last,  with, 
the  still  more  irregular  word  next,  is  a  derivative,  formed  from  some  other  English  word,  by  add- 
ing est  or  most;  as,  truest,  hindmost.  The  propriety  or  impropriety  of  comparing  the  foregoing 
words,  or  any  of  the  "many  others"  of  which  this  author  speaks,  is  to  be  determined  according 
to  their  meaning,  and  according  to  the  usage  of  good  writers,  and  not  by  the  dictation  of  a  feeble 
pedant,  or  upon  the  supposition  that  if  compared  they  would  form  "  double  superlatives." 

OBS.  8. — Chief  is  from  the  French  word  chef,  the  head :  chief  est  is  therefore  no  more  a  double 
superlative  than  headmost :  "  But  when  the  headmost  foes  appe'ared." — Scott.  Nor  are  chief  and 
chief  cut  equivalent  terms:  "  Doeg  an  Edomite,  the  chief  est  of  the  herdsmen." — 1  Samuel,  xxi,  7. 
"  The  chief  of  the  herdsmen,"  would  convey  a  different  meaning  ;  it  would  be  either  the  leader 
of  the  herdsmen,  or  foe  principal  part  of  them.  Chief  est,  however,  has  often  been  used  where 
chief  would  have  been  better;  as,  "  He  sometimes  denied  admission  to  the  chiefest  officers  of  the 
army." — Clarendon.  Let  us  look  further  at  Kirkham's  list  of  absolute  "  superlatives." 

OBS.  9. — Extreme  is  from  the  Latin  superlative  extremes,  and  of  course  its  literal  signification 
is  not  really  susceptible  of  increase.  Yet  extremest  has  been  used,  and  is  still  used,  by  some  of 
the  very  best  writers  ;  as,  "  They  thought  it  the  extremest  of  evils." — Bacon.  "  That  on  the  sea's 
extremest  border  stood." — Addison.  "  How,  to  extremest  thrill  of  agony." — Pollok,  B.  viii,  1.  270.  "  I 
go  th'  extremest  remedy  to  prove." — Dry  den.  "In  extremest  poverty." — Sivift.  •'  The  hairy  fool 
stood  on  th'  extremest  verge  of  the  swift  brook,  augmenting  it  with  tears." — Shak.  "  While  the 
extremest  parts  of  the  earth  were  meditating  submission." — Atterbury.  "  His  writings  are  poeti- 
cal to  the  extremest  boundaries  of  poetry." — Adams's  Rhetoric,  i,  87.  In  prose,  this  superlative 
is  not  now  very  common  ;  but  the  poets  still  occasionally  use  it,  for  the  sake  of  their  measure ; 
and  it  ought  to  be  noticed  that  the  simple  adjective  is  not  partitive.  If  we  say,  for  the  first  exam- 
ple, "  the  extreme  of  evils ;  "  we  make  the  word  a  noun,  and  do  not  convey  exactly  the  same  idea 
that  is  there  expressed. 

OBS.  10. — Perfect,  if  taken  in  its  strictest  sense,  must  not  be  compared ;  but  this  word,  like 
many  others  which  mean  most  in  the  positive,  is  often  used  with  a  certain  latitude  of  meaning, 
which  renders  its  comparison  by  the  adverbs  not  altogether  inadmissible  ;  nor  is  it  destitute  of 
authority,  as  I  have  already  shown.  (See  Obs.  8th,  p.  268.)  "  From  the  first  rough  sketches,  to 
the  more  perfect  draughts." — Bolingbroke,  on  Hist.  p.  152.  "  The  most  perfect." — Adams's  Lect. 
on  Rhet.  i,  99  and  136  ;  ii,  17  and  57  :  Blair's  Lect.  pp.  20  and  399.  "  The  most  beautiful  and  per- 
fect example  of  analysis." — Lowth's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  10.  "  The  plainest,  most  perfect,  and  most 
useful  manual." — Bullions' s  E.  Gram.  Rec.  p.  7.  "  Our  sight  is  the  most  perfect,  and  the  most 
delightful,  of  all  our  senses." — Addison,  Spect.  No.  411 ;  Blair's  Lect.  pp.  115  and  194  ;  Murray's 
Gram,  i,  322.  Here  Murray  anonymously  copied  Blair.  "  And  to  render  natives  more  perfect  in 
the  knowledge  of  it." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  171 ;  Murray's  Gram.  p.  366.  Here  Murray  "copied 
Campbell,  the  most  accurate  of  all  his  masters.  Whom  did  he  copy  when  he  said,  "  The  phrases, 
more  perfect,  and  most  perfect,  are  improper?" — Octavo  Gram.  p.  168.  But  if  these  are  wrong, 
so  is  the  following  sentence  :  "  No  poet  has  ever  attained  a  greater  perfection  than  Horace." — 
Blair's  Lect.  p.  398.  And  also  this  :  "  Why  are  we  brought  into  the  world  less  perfect  in  respect 
to  our  nature  ? " — West's  Letters  to  a  Young  Lady,  p.  220. 

OBS.  11. — Right  and  wrong  are  not  often  compared  by  good  writers ;  though  we  sometimes  see 
&uch  phrases  as  more  right  and  more  wrong,  and  such  words  as  rightest  and  wrongest :  "  'Tis  al- 
ways in  the  icrongest  sense." — Butler.  "  A  method  of  attaining  the  rightest  and  greatest  hap- 
piness."— PRICE  :  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  78.  "It  is  no  more  right  to  steal  apples,  than  it  is  to  steal 
money." — Webster's  Neto  Spelling-Book,  p.  118.  There  are  equivalent  expressions  which  seem 
preferable;  as,  more  proper,  more  erroneous,  most  proper,  most  erroneous. 

OBS.  12. — Honest,  just,  true,  correct,  sincere,  and  vast, may  all  be  compared  at  pleasure.  Pope's 
Essay  on  Criticism  is  more  correct  than  any  thing  this  modest  pretender  can  write  ;  and  in  it  he 
may  find  the  comparative  justcr,  the  superlatives  justest,  truest,  sincerest,  and  the  phrases,  "  So 
vast  a  throng," — "  So  vast  is  art  :"  all  of  which  are  contrary  to  his  teaching.  " 


Unjust er  dealing  Is 

used  in  miying  man  in  senmg." — nuuer  s  j^oems,  p.  IDS.  "  iniquissimam  p&ceio.justisaimo  bcllo 
antefero." — Cicero.  "I  prefer  the  unjmtest  peace  before  the  ju&test  war." — Walker's  English 
Particles,  p.  68.  The  poet  Cowley  used  the  word  honestcst ;  which  is  not  now  very  common.  So 
Swift:  "  What  honester  folks  never  durst  for  their  ears." — The  Yahoo's  Overthrow.  So  Junius  : 
"  The  honestest  and  ablest  men." — Letter  XVIII.  "  The  sentence  would  be  more  correct  in  the 
following  form." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  223.  "  Elegance  is  chiefly  gained  by  studying  the 
correctcst  writers." — Ilolmes's  Rhetoric,  p.  27.  Honest  and  correct,  for  the  sake  of  euphony, 
require  the  adverbs  ;  as,  more  honest,  "  most  correct" — Lowth's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  iv.  Vast,  vaster, 
vastest,  are  words  as  smooth,  as  fast,  faster,  fastest ;  and  more  vast  is  certainly  as  good  English 
as  more  just:  "  Shall  mortal  man  be  more  just  than  God  ?" — Job,  iv,  17,  "  Wilt  thou  condemn 
him  that  is  most  just /"' — Ib.  xxxiv,  17.  "More  wise,  more  learn'd,  more  just,  morc-everything." — 
Pope.  Universal  is  often  compared  by  the  adverbs,  but  certainly  with  no  reinforcement  of 
meaning:  as,  "One  of  the  most  universal  precepts,  is,  that  the  orator  himself  should  feel  the 
passion'."— Adams's  Rhet.  i,  379.  "  Though  not  so  universal."— Ib.  ii,  311.  "  This  experience  is 
general,  though  not  so  universal,  as  the  absence  of  memory  in  childhood.'' — Ib.  ii,  362.  "  We  can 
suppose  no  motive  which  would  more  universally  operate." — Dr.  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  55.  "  Music  is 
known  to  have  been  more  universally  studied." — Ib.  "p.  123.  "  We  shall  not  wonder,  that  his  gram- 
mar has  been  so  universally  applauded." — Walker's  Recommendation  in  Murray's  Gram,  ii,  306. 
"  The  pronoun  it  is  the  most  universal  of  all  the  pronouns." — Cutler's  Gram.  p.  66.  Thus  much 
for  one  half  of  this  critic's  twenty-two  "  superlatives."  The  rest  are  simply  adjectives  that  are  not 
susceptible  of  comparison  :  they  are  not  "  superlatives"  at  all.  A  man  might  just  as  well  teach, 
that  (jood  is  a  superlative,  and  not  susceptible  of  comparison,  because  "  there  is  nonegoodbut  one." 


CHAP.    IV.]  ETYMOLOGY. ADJECTIVES. PARSING. — PRAXIS    IV.  277 

OBS.  13. — Pronominal  adjectives,  when  their  nouns  are  expressed,  simply  relate  to  thorn,  and 
have  no  modifications  :  except  this  and  that,  which  form  the  plurals  t/i>,M  and  those ;  and  much, 
many,  and  a  few  others,  which  are  compared.  Examples  :  "Whence  hath  this  man  this  wisdom, 
and  these  mighty  works  ?" — Mutt,  xiii,  54.  "  But  some  man  will  say.  How  are  the  dead  raised  up  ? 
and  with  what  body  do  they  come  ?" — 1  Cor.  xv,  35.  "The  first  man  Adam  was  made  a  living  soul ; 
the  last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening  spirit." — lb.  45.  So,  when  one  pronominal  adjective 
"  precedes  an  other,  the  former  mu-st  be  taken  simply  as  an  adjective  ;  as, 

"  Those  suns  are  set.    0  rise  some  other  such  !" — Coicper's  Task,  B.  ii,  1.  252. 
Ons.   14. — Pronominal   adjectives  when  their   nouns  are   not  expressed,  may  be   parsed   as 
representing  them   in  person,    number,  vender,   and  case;  but  those  who  prefer  it,  may  supply 
the  ellipsis,  and  parse  the  adjective,  simply  as  an  adject  ice.    Example  :  "  He  threatens  many,  who 
injures  MM." — K'imcs.      Here  it  may  be  said,  "  Many  is  a  pronominal  adjective,  meaning 
persons;  of  the  third  person,  plural  number,  masculine  gender,  and  objective  case."  Or  those  who 
will  take  the  word  simply  as  an  adjective,  may  say,"  M  -my  is  a  pronominal  adjective,  of  the 
positive  degree,  compared  many,  //<  \-\  relating  to  persons  understood."  And  so  of  • 

which  represents,  or  relates  to,  person  understood.  Either  say,  "  One  is  a  pronominal  adjective, 
not  compared,"  and  give  the  three  definitions  accordingly ;  or  else  say,  "  One  is  a  pronominal 
adjective,  relating  to  person  understood;  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  masculine  gender, 
and  objective  case,"  and  give  the  six  dejinitions  accordingly. 

OBS.  15. — Elder  for  older,  and  eldest  for  oldest,  are  still  frequently  used ;  though  the  ancient 
positive,  eld  for  old,  is  now  obsolete.  Hence  some  have  represented  old  as  having  a  two-fold  com- 
l  have  placed  it,  not  very  properly,  among  the  irregular  adjectives.  The  comparatives 
.ad  better,  are  often  used  as  nouns  ;  "so  are  the  Latin  comparatives  superior  and  inferior, 
interior  and  exterior,  senior  and  junior,  major  and  minor  :  as,  The  elder's  advice — One  of  ihe  elders 
— His  betters — Our  superiors — The  interior  of  the  country — A  handsome  exterior — Your  seniors — 
My  junior* — A  nnijor  in  the  army — He  i-.  yet  a  minor.  The  word  other,  which  has  something  of 
the  nature  of  a  comparative,  likewise  takes  the  form  of  a  noun,  as  before  suggested  ;  and,  in  that 
form,  the  reader,  if  he  will,  may  call  it  a  noun  :  as,  "  What  do  ye  more  than  others  /" — Bible. 
"  God  in  thus  much  is  bounded,  that  the  evil  hath  he  left  unto  an  other;  and  that  Dark  Other 
hath  usurped  the  evil  which  Omnipotence  laid  down." — T/fj>per's  Book  of  Thoitf/hts,  p.  45.  Some 
call  it  a  pronoun.  But  it  seems  to  be  pronominal,  merely  by  ellipsis  of  the  noun  after  it; 
although,  unlike  a  mere  adjective,  it  assumes  the  ending  of  the  noun,  to  mark  that  ellipsis. 
Perhaps,  therefore,  the  best  explanation  of  it  would  be  this  :  "  Others  is  a  pronominal  adjective,, 
having  the  form  of  a  noun,  and  put  for  other  men  ,•  in  the  third  person,  plural  number,  masculine 
r,  and  nominative  case."  The  gender  of  this  word  varies,  according  to  that  of  the  contrasted 
term  ;  and  the  case,  according  to  the  relation  it  bears  to  other  words.  In  the  following  example, 
it  is  neuter  and  objective :  '•  The  fibres  of  this  muscle  act  as  those  of  others" — Cheyne.  Here, 

>\  others,"  means,  "  as  the  fibres  of  other  muscles." 

OBS.  16. — "  Comparatives  and  superlatives  seem  sometimes  to  part  with  their  relative  nature, 

and  only  to  retain  their  intcnsirr,  especially  those  which  are  formed  by  the  sxiperlative  adverb 

.  "/  man,' — '  A  mostbrare  man  :'  i.  e.    Not  the  bravest  or  the  most  learned 

man  that  ever  was,  but  a  man  possessing  bravery  or  learning  in  a  very  eminent  degree."     See 
///*.  p.  110.      This  use  of  the  terms  of  comparison  is  thought  by  some  not 
to  be  \  :tical. 

Ous.  17. — Contractions   of  the  superlative  termination  cat,  as  Jiii/Ji'st  for  hii/hest,  bi</</'st  for 
.  though  sometimes  used  by  the  poets,  are  always  inelegant,  and  may  justlv  be  considered 
prammatically  improper.     They  occur  most  frequently  in  doggerel  verse,  like  that  of  Hudibras ; 
the  author  of  which  work,  wrote,  in  his  droll  fashion,  'not  only  the  foregoing  monosyllables,  but 
•  Ic'st  for  most  a •'  ('st  i'or  most  desperate,  epidemical'st  for 

£c. 

••  A:,  i  ,'//•        .r'.v/  fancies  share  as  loose  alloys. 

For  want  of  equal  weight  to  coun;  —Butler's  Poems. 

"  Who  therefore  Minis  tin-  urtifieial'st  fools 
Have  not  been  chang'd  /'  W  cradle,  but  the  schools." — lb.  p.  143. 

Touns  used  adjectively  are  not  varied  in  number  to  agree  with  the  nouns  to  which 
t':icy   relate,  but  what  is   singular  "or  plural  when  •, ntively,  is  without  number  when 

adjective:  :"  the  nine  xi*ft  r  goddesses" — IT/  '-'.-.'.  ,-'.s  Di<t.\r.  .1/,/x,-.     "He 

has  nv  1  !ie   latter   mode  of  expression   is  uncommon,   and   the    term 

ompoonded,  but  the  hyphen  dors  not  really  affect  the  nature  of  the 

forme  doubtful,  however,  whether  a  plural  noun  can  ever  properly  assume  thecharac- 

['  it  is  not  then  really  the  same  as  the  j  ;se,  it  will  always 

be  liable  to  be  thought  a   false  form  of  that  case.      What  Johnson  wrote  "  ful'cr.s  earth"  and 

!  onrth"  and  "  fuller's  tbi^tle  ,-"  W  -irth" 

"'and   "j'o/'rr's   fl/isf,',-  ."    Walker  !,:;•<  only 

••'th  ,-"  Cobb,    "/  ,"    the  Treasury  of  Know- 

'•;•.',' -e>  i  rth."  Miis  part  of  our  grammar,  that  in   many   such  cases  it 

if  diJii  •  t.  to  use  the  apostrophe,  or  the  hyphen,  or  both,  or  neither.    To 

insert  neither,  unless  we  make  a  <•!  .d.  is  to  use  a  plural  noun  adjectivriy  ,•  which  form, 

I   think,  is  the  in  M  able  of  all  ints'- 

dvj,"  \v..  in  tli'-  dictionaries.     These  may  well  be  written  "    ! 

KXAMPLKS  FOR  PARSING. 

PKAXIS    IV.— KTVMOLOGICAL. 
2>i  the  Fourth  Praxis,  it  is  required  of  the  pupil  —  to  distinguish  and  dejine  the 


278  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. 

different  parts  of  speech,  and  the   classes  and  modifications  of  the  ARTICLES, 
NOUNS,  and  ADJECTIVES. 

The  definitions  to  be  given  in  the  Fourth  Praxis,  are  two  for  an  article,  six  for  a 
noun,  three  for  an  adjective,  and  one  for  a  pronoun,  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  ad- 
verb, a  conjunction,  a  preposition,  or  an  interjection.  Thus  :  — 

EXAMPLE  PARSED. 
"  The  best  and  most  effectual  method  of   teaching  grammar,   is  precisely  that  of 

which  the  careless  are  least  fond  :    teach  learnedly,  rebuking  whatsoever   is  false, 

blundering,  or  unmannerly." 

The  is  the  definite  article.  1.  An  article  is  the  word  the,  an,  or  a,  which  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit  their  sig- 
nification. 2.  The  definite  article  is  the,  which  denotes  some  particular  thing  or  things. 

Best  is  a  common  adjective,  of  the  superlative  degree  ;  compared  irregularly,  good,  better,  best.  1.  An  adjective 
is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality.  2.  A  common  adjective  is  any  ordi- 
nary epithet,  or  adjective  denoting  quality  or  situation.  8.  The  superlative  degree  is  that  which  is  most  or 
least  of  all  included  with  it. 

And  is  a  conjunction.  1.  A  conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  in  construction,  and  to  show 
the  dependence  of  the  terms  so  connected. 

Most  is  an  adverb.  1.  An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb  ;  and 
generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner. 

Effectual  is  a  common  adjective,  compared  by  means  of  the  adverbs  ;  effectual,  more  effectual,  most  effectual ;  or, 
effectual,  less  effectual,  least  effectual.  1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally 
expresses  quality.  2.  A  common  adjective  is  any  ordinary  epithet,  or  adjective  denoting  quality  or  situation. 
3.  Those  adjectives  which  may  be  varied  in  sense,  but  not  in  form,  are  compared  by  means  of  adverbs. 

Method  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case.  1.  A  noun 
is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  2.  A  common  noun  is 
the  name  of  a  sort,  kind,  or  class,  of  beings  or  things.  3.  The  third  person,  is  that  which  denotes  the  per- 
son or  thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter  gen- 
der is  that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  nominative  case  is  that  form  or 
state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  subject  of  a  verb. 

Of  is  a  preposition.  1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts  to 
each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

Teaching  is  a  participle.  1.  A  participle  is  a  word  derived  from  a  verb,  participating  the  properties  of  a  verb,  atd 
of  an  adjective  or  a  noun  ;  and  is  generally  formed  by  adding  ing,  d,  or  ed,  to  the  verb. 

Grammar  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case.  1.  A  noun 
is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  2.  A  common  noun  is  the 
name  of  a  sort,  kind,  or  class,  of  beings  or  things.  3.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or 
thing  merely  spoken  of.  4-  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter  gender  is 
that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  objective  case  is  that  form  or  state  of  a 
noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  object  of  a  verb,  participle,  or  preposition. 

Is  is  a  verb.     1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon. 

Precisely  is  an  adverb.  1.  An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb; 
and  generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner. 

That  is  a  pronominal  adjective,  not  compared  ;  standing  for  that  method,  in  the  third  person,  singular  number, 
neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case.  [See  OBS.  14th,  p.  277.]  1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or 
pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality.  2.  A  pronominal  adjective  is  a  definitive  word  which  mayeithsr 
accompany  its  noun  or  represent  it  understood  3.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or 
thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter  gender  is 
that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  nominative  case  is  that  form  or  state  of 
a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  subject  of  a  verb. 

Of  is  a  preposition.  1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts  to  each 
other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

Which  is  a  pronoun.    1.  A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun. 

The  is  the  definite  article.  1.  An  article  is  the  word  the,  an,  or  a,  which  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit  their  signi- 
fication. 2.  The  definite  article  is  the,  which  denotes  some  particular  thing  or  things. 

Careless  is  a  common  adjective,  compared  by  means  of  the  adverbs  ;  careless,  more  careless,  most  careless ;  or,  care- 
leas,  less  carehss,  least  careless.  1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally  express- 
es quality.  2.  A  common  adjective  is  any  ordinary  epithet,  or  adjective  denoting  quality  or  situation.  3. 
Those  adjectives  which  may  be  varied  in  sense,  but  not  in  form,  are  compared  by  means  of  adverbs. 

Are  is  a  verb.     1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon. 

Least  is  an  adverb.  1.  An  adverb  i.s  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb  ;  and 
generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner. 

Fond  is  a  common  adjective,  compared  regularly,  fond,  fonder,  fondest ;  but  here  made  superlative  by  the  ad- 
verb Itast.  1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality.  2.  A 
common  adjective  is  any  ordinary  epithet,  or  adjective  denoting  quality  or  situation.  3*.  The  superlative  de- 
gree is  that  which  is  most  or  least  of  all  included  with  it. 

Teach  is  a  verb.     1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon. 

Learnedly  is  an  adverb.  1.  An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb  ; 
and  generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner. 

Rebuking  is  a  participle.  1.  A  participle  is  a  word  derived  from  a  verb,  participating  the  properties  of  a  verb,  and 
of  an  adjective  or  a  noun  ;  and  is  generally  formed  by  adding  ing.  d,  or  ed,  to  the  verb. 

Whatsoever  is  a  pronoun.     1.  A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun. 

Is  is  a  verb.    1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  beaded  upon. 

False  is  a  common  adjective,  of  the  positive  degree  ;  compared  regularly,  false,  falser,  falsest.  1.  An  adjective  is 
a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality.  2  A  common  adjective  is  any  ordinary 
ep;th(>t.  or  adjective  denoting  quality  or  situation.  3.  The  positive  degree  is  that  which  is  expressed  by  the 
adjective  in  its  simple  form. 

Elundtrhig  is  a  participial  adjective,  compared  by  means  of  the  adverbs  ;  blundering,  more  blundering, most  blun- 
dering;  or,  blundering,  less  Uunilfrin^,  Lm^t  bl.underhig.  1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pro- 
noun, and  generally  expresses  quality.  2.  A  participial  adjective  is  one  that  has  the  form  of  a  participle,  but 
differs  from  it  by  rejecting  the  Idea  of  time.  3.  Those  adjectives  which  may  be  varied  in  sense,  but  not  in 
form,  are  compared  by  means  of  adverbs. 

is  a  cos  junction.    1.  A  conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  in  construction,  and  to  show 
the  dependence  of  the  terms  so  connected. 


CHAP.    IV.]  ETYMOLOGY. ADJECTIVES. PARSING. PRAXIS    IV.  27 'J 

Unmannerly  is  a  common  adjective,  compared  by  means  of  the  adverbs;   unmannerly,  more  unmannerly,  mox  t 
unmannerly ;  or.  unmannerly,  l?sx  u  '•/.     1.    An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun 

or  pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality.     '2.  A  common  adjective  is  any  ordinary  epithet,  or 
n.'-i'i,'  <jii  lii-v  .,r  -i    i  r.iun.    3.  Those  adjectives  which  may  be  varied  in  sense,  but  not  in  form,  are  compared 
by  means  of  adverbs. 
> 

LESSON  I.  —  PARSING. 

"  The  noblest  and  most  beneficial  invention  of  which  human  ingenuity  can  boast, 
is  that  of  writing." — Robertson's  America,  Vol.  ii,  p.  193. 

"  Charlemagne  was  the  tallest,  the  handsomest,  and  the  strongest  man  of  his  time  ; 
his  appearance  was  truly  majestic,  and  he  had  surprising  agility  in  all  sorts  of  manly 
exercises." — Stories  of  France,  p.  19. 

"  Money,  like  other  things,  is  more  or  less  valuable,  as  it  is  less  or  more  plentiful." 
— Beatties  Moral  Science,  p.  378. 

*'  The  right  way  of  acting,  is,  in  a  moral  sense,  as  much  a  reality,  in  the  mind  of  an 
ordinary  man,  as  the  straight  or  the  right  road." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist.  Lang,  i,  118. 

"  The  full  period  of  several  members  possesses  most  dignity  and  modulation,  and 
conveys  also  the  greatest  degree  of  force,  by  admitting  the  closest  compression  of 
thought." — Jarnieson's  Rhet.  p.  79. 

••  His  great  master,  Demosthenes,  in  addressing  popular  audiences,  never  had  re- 
course to  a  similar  expedient.  He  avoided  redundancies,  as  equivocal  and  feeble. 
He  aimed  only  to  make  the  deepest  and  most  efficient  impression ;  and  he  employed 
for  this  purpose,  the  plainest,  the  fewest,  and  the  most  emphatic  words  " — Ibid.  p.  68. 

"  The  high  eloquence  which  I  have  last  mentioned,  is  always  the  offspring  of  pas- 
sion. A  man  actuated  by  a  strong  passion,  becomes  much  greater  than  he  is  at  other 
times.  He  is  conscious  of  more  strength  and  force  ;  he  utters  greater  sentiments, 
conceives  higher  designs,  and  executes  them  with  a  boldness  and  felicity,  of  which, 
on  other  occasions,  he  could  not  think  himself  capable." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  236. 
"  His  words  bore  sterling  weight,  nervous  and  strong, 

In  manly  tides  of  sense  they  roll'd  along." — Churchill. 
"  To  make  the  humble  proud,  the  proud  submiss, 
AVisc-r  the  wisest,  and  the  brave  more  brave." — W.  S.  Landor. 

"  T  nm   a 


LESSON  II.  —  PARSING. 


"  I  am  satisfied  that  in  this,  as  in,  all  cases,  it  is  best,  safest,  as  well  as  most  right 
and  honorable,  to  speak  freely  and  plainly."  —  Channing's  Letter  to  Clay,  p.  4. 

"  The  gospel,  when  preached  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven,  through 
the  wonder-working  power  of  God,  can  make  the  proud  Humble,  the  selfish  disinter- 
ested, the  worldfy  heavenly,  the  sensual  pure."  —  Christian  Experience,  p.  399. 

"  I  am  so  much  the  better,  as  I  am  the  liker*  the  best  ;  and  so  much  the  holier,  ns 
I  am  more  conformable  to  the  holiest,  or  rather  to  Him  who  is  holiness  itself."  —  Bp. 


"  Whether  anything  in  Christianity  appears  to  them  probable,  or  improbable;  con- 
sistent, or  inconsistent;  agreeable  to  what  they  should  have  exported,  or  the  contrary  ; 
<>r  ridiculous  and  useless;  is  perfectly  irrelevant."  —  M'Hvaine** 

"G  i  '-  providence  is  higher,  and  deeper,  and  larger,  and  stronger,  than  all  the 
skill  of  his  ndv  ".1  his  pl<-asun'  >}v\\\  be  accomplished  in  their  overthrow,  ex- 

cept they  repent  and  boronie  his  friends."  —  Cox,  on  Christianity,  p.  445. 

••  A  just  i"'i-!i  of  what  is  beautiful,  proper,  elegant,  and  ornamental,  in  writing  or 
painting,  in  architecture  or  gardening,  is  a  tine  preparation  for  the  same  just  relish  of 

I  these  qualities  in  rh:ir:i<-t-.-r  and  behaviour.  To  the  man  who  has  ai'quirt-d  a  taste  so 
acute  and  accomplished,  every  action  wrong  or  improper  must  be  highly  disgustful  : 
if,  in  any  instance,  the  overbearing  power  of  passion  sway  him  from  his  duty,  he  re- 

*  The  regular  rotnpnrUon  of  this  word,  (like,  liker,  lik'*!.)  seems  to  be  obsolete,  or  nearly  fo.     It  is  seldom  met 
with,  except  in  oil  l>onk>  <"  lik',  or  wo<r  likt,  I'ti  likr,  or  l>ntt  Ukf.     "  To  ?ay  the  flock  with  \\\\<  m 

Hkeat  to  Christ."  —  &irclay's~  Works,  Vol.  i,  p.  1"  i.      "  Of  Godlike  pow'r?  for  likest  Goda  they  seem'd.''— 
Milt,r  ..301. 


280  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

turns  to  it  with  redoubled  resolution  never  to  be  swayed  a  second  time." — Kames, 
Elements  of  Criticism,  Vol.  i,  p.  25. 

"  In  grave  Quintilian's  copious  work,  we  find 
The  justest  rules  and  clearest  method  join'd." — Pope,  on  Grit. 

LESSON  III.  —  PARSING. 

"  There  are  several  sorts  of  scandalous  tempers ;  some  malicious,  and  some  effemi- 
nate ;  others  obstinate,  brutish,  and  savage.  Some  humours  are  childish  and  silly  ; 
some,  false,  and  others,  scurrilous;  some,  mercenary,  and  some,  tyrannical." — Col- 
lier's Antoninus,  p.  52. 

"  Words  are  obviously  voluntary  signs  :  and  they  are  also  arbitrary;  excepting  a 
few  simple  sounds  expressive  of  certain  internal  emotions,  which  sounds  being  the 
same  in  all  languages,  must  be  the  work  of  nature  :  thus  the  unpremediated  tones  of 
admiration  are  the  same  in  all  men." — Kames,  Elements  of  Crit.  i,  347. 

"A  stately  and  majestic  air  requires  sumptuous  apparel,  which  ought  not  to  be 
gaudy,  nor  crowded  with  little  ornaments.  A  woman  of  consummate  beauty  can  bear 
to  be  highly  adorned,  and  yet  shows  best  in  a  plain  dress." — Ib.  p.  279.  "  Of  all 
external  objects  a  graceful  person  is  the  most  agreeable.  But  in  vain  will  a  person 
attempt  to  be  graceful,  who  is  deficient  in  amiable  qualities." — Ib.  p.  299. 

"  The  faults  of  a  writer  of  acknowledged  excellence  are  more  dangerous,  because 
the  influence  of  his  example  is  more  extensive ;  and  the  interest  of  learning  requires 
that  they  should  be  discovered  arid  stigmatized,  before  they  have  the  sanction  of  an- 
tiquity bestowed  upon  them,  and  become  precedents  of  indisputable  authority." — Dr. 
Johnson,  Rambler,  Yol.  ii,  No.  93. 

"Judges  ought  to  be  more  learned  than  witty,  more  reverend  than  plausible,  and 
more  advised  than  confident ;  above  all  things,  integrity  is  their  portion  and  proper 
virtue." — Bacon's  Essays,  p.  145. 

"  The  wisest  nations,  having  the  most  and  best  ideas,  will  consequently  have  the 
best  and  most  copious  languages." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  408. 

Here  we  trace  the  operation  of  powerful  causes,  while  we  remain  ignorant  of  their 
nature ;  but  every  thing  goes  on  with  such  regularity  and  harmony,  as  to  give  a  strik- 
ing and  convincing  proof  of  a  combining  directing  intelligence." — Life  of  W.  Allen, 
Vol.  i,  p.  170. 

"  The  wisest,  unexperienced,  will  be  ever 
Timorous  and  loth,  with  novice  modesty, 
Irresolute,  unhardy,  unad venturous." — Milton. 


IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

ERRORS  OF  ADJECTIVES. 

LESSON  I. — DEGREES. 

"  I  have  the  real  excuse  of  the  honestest  sort  of  bankrupts." — Cowley's  Preface,  p.  viii. 

f  FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  adjective  honestest  is  harshly  compared  by  est.  But,  according  to  a  princi- 
ple stated  on  page  271*r,,  concerning  the  regular  degrees,  "  This  method  of  comparison  is  to  be  applied  only  to 
monosyllables,  and  to  dissyllables  of  a  smooth  termination,  or  such  as  receive  it  and  still  have  but  one  syllable 
after  the  accent."  Therefore,  honestest  should  be  most  honest ;  thus,  "  I  have  the  real  excuse  of  the  most  honest 
sort  of  bankrupts.5'] 

"  The  honourablest  part  of  talk,  is,  to  give  the  occasion." — Bacon's  Essays,  p.  90.  "  To 
give  him  one  of  his  own  modestest  proverbs." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  340.  "  Our  language 
is  now  certainly  properer  and  more  natural,  than  it  was  formerly." — Bj).  Burnet.  "  Which 
will  be  of  most  and  frequentest  use  to  him  in  the  world." — Locke,  on  Education, -p.  163. 
"  The  same  is  notified  in  the  notablest  places  in  the  diocese." — Whitgift.  "  But  it  was  the 
dreadfullest  sight  that  ever  I  saw." — Pilgrim's  Progress,  p.  70.  "  Four  of  the  ancientest, 
soberest,  and  discrcetest  of  the  brethren,  chosen  for  the  occasion,  shall  regulate  it." — Locke, 
on  Church  Gov.  "Nor  can  there  be  any  clear  understanding  of  any  Roman  author, 
especially  of  ancicnter  time,  without  this  skill." — Walker's  Particles,  p.  x.  "  Far  the  Icarn- 
edest  of  the  Greeks."— Ib.  p.  120.  "  The  learneder  thou  art,  the  humbler  be  thou."— Ib.  p. 
228.  "He  is  none  of  the  best  or  honestest." — Ib.  p.  274.  "The  properest  methods  of 
communicating  it  to  others." — Burn's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  viii.  "  What  heaven's  great  King  hath 
powerfullest  to  send  against  us." — Paradise  Lost.  "Benedict  is  not  the  unhopefullest 
husband  that  I  know." — SIIAK.  :  in  Joh.  Diet.  "That  he  should  immediately  do  all  the 


CHAP.    IV.]  ETYMOLOGY. — ADJECTIVES. ERRORS.  281 

meanest  and  triflingest  things  himself." — RAY  :  in  Johnson's  Gram.  p.  6.    "I  shall  be  named 
among  the  famouscst  of  women." — MILTON'S  S<tm<son  i!>.  "Those  have  the inven- 

heads  for  all  purpo-  i AM  :  ib.     "The  wrctcheder  are  the  contemners  of  all 

." — BKX  JONSOX  :  ib.  "  1  will  now  deliver  a  few  of  the  properest  and  naturallest  con- 
siderations that  belong  to  this  piece." — WI/TTOX  :  ib-  "  The  mortalest  poisons  practised  by 
the  We^t  Indians  have  some  mixture  of  the  blood,  fat,  or  flesh  of  man." — BACOX  :  ib.  "  He 
so  won  upon  him,  that  he  rendered  him  one  of  the  faithfulest  and  most  affectionate  allies 
the  M<"l"s  ever  had." — Rnllin,  ii,  71.  "  '  You  see  before  you,'  says  he  to  him,  '  the  most 
devoted  servant,  and  the  faithfullest  ally,  you  ever  had.'"— Ib.  ii/79.  "I  chose  the  flour- 
ishing'st  tree  in  all  the  park." — Coirl-i/.  "  Which  he  placed,  I  think,  some  centuries 
backyarder  than  Julius  Africanus  thought  fit  to  place  it  afterwards." — Bolinybroke,on  His- 
tory, p.  53.  "  The  Tiber,  the  notedst  river  of  Italy." — Littleton's  Diet. 

"To  fartherest  shores  the  ambrosial  spirit  flies." — Cutler's  Gram.  p.  140. 

"  That  what  she  wills  to  do  or  say, 

Seems  wisest,  virtuousest,  discreetest,  best." — Milton,  B.  viii,  1.  550. 

LESSON  II.  MIXED. 

"  During  the  three  or  four  first  years  of  its  existence." — Taylor's  District  School,  p.  27. 

[K.iKMi  I.K.— Not  proper,  because  the  cardinal  numbers  three  and  four  are  put  before  the  ordinal  first.  Bat, 
accor.liii^  to  the  7th  part  of  Obs.  7th,  page  26Sth,  "  In  specifying  any  part  of  a  series,  we  ought  to  place  the  cardi- 
nal number  after  the  ordinal."  Therefore  the  words  three  and/our  should  be  placed  after  first  /  thus,  "  During 
•  three  or  four  years  of  its  existence/'] 

"  I'o  the  first  of  these  divisions,  my  ten  last  lectures  have  been  devoted." — Adams's  Rhet. 
Vol.  i,  p.  391.  "  There  are  in  the  twenty-four  states  not  less  than  sixty  thousand  common 
schools." — Taylors  District  School,  p.  38.  "I  know  of  nothing  which  gives  teachers  so 
much  trouble  as  this  want  of  firmness." — Ib.  p.  57.  "I  know  of  nothing  that  throws  such 
vor  the  line  which  separates  right  from  wrong." — Ib.  p.  58.  "  None  need  this 
purity  and  simplicity  of  language  and  thought  so  much  as  the  common  school  instructer." 

—  Ib.  p.   01.      "  I  know  of  no  periodical  that  is  so  valuable  to  the  teacher  as  the  Annals  of 

:ion." — Ib.  p.  67.  "Are  not  these  schools  of  the  highest  importance  ?   Should  not  every 

individual  feel  the  deepest  interest  in  their  character  and  condition:" — Ib.  p.  78.     "If 

•tion  were  made  a  profession,  teachers  would  feel  a  sympathy  for  each  other." — Ib. 

"  Notiling  is  so  likely  to  interest  children  as  novelty  and  change." — Ib.  p.  131.     "  I 

of  no  labour  which  affords  so  much  happiness  as  that  of  the  teacher's." — Ib.  p.  136. 

r  school  exercises  are  the  most  pleasant  and  agreeable  of  any  that  they  engage  in." 

—  /';.  p.  13';.     "I  know  of  no  exercise  so  beneficial  to  the  pupil  as  that  of  drawing  maps." 

—  ft.  p.  176,    •'  I  know  of  nothing  in  which  our  district  schools  are  so  defective  as  they  are 
in  the  art  of  teaching  grammar." — Ib.  p.  196.     "I  know  of  nothing  so  easily  acquired  as 
history." — Ib.  p.  206.      "I  know  of  nothing  for  which  scholars  usually  have  such  an 

•abhorrence,  as  composition." — Ib.  p.  210.     "There  is  nothing  in  our  fellow-men  that  we 
should  respect  with  so  much  sacredness  as  their  good  name." — Ib.  p.  307.     "  Sure  never 
any  tiling  was  so  unbred  as  that  odious  man." — CONGREVE:  in  Joh.  Diet.  "  In  the  dialogue 
between  the  mariner  and  the  shade  of  the  deccast." — Philological  Museum,  i,  4G6.     "  These 
master-works  would  still  be  less  excellent  and  finisht." — Ib.  i,  469.      "Every  attempt  to 
Btuylaee  the  language  of  polisht   conversation,  renders   our  phraseology  inelegant  and 
clumsy." — /',.  i,  678.    "  Here  are  a  few  of  the  unpleasant'st  words  that  ever  blotted  paper." 
K.  :  ///  J(th.  Did.     "  With  the  most  easy,  undisobliging  transitions." — BUOOME  :  ib. 
"1        i>,  of  all  affections,  the  unaptest  to  admit  any  conference  with  reason." — HOOKER  :  ib. 
'-   think  glass  a  body  more  undestroyable  than  gold  itself." — BOYLE:  ib. 
"  To  part  with  unhai-kt  edges,  and  bear  back  our  barge  undinted." — SIIAK.  :  ib.    "  Erasmus, 
who  was  an  unbigotted  Roman  Catholic,  was  transported  with  this  passage." — ADDISOX  :  ib. 
'tan  five  words,  witli  any  of  which  the  sentence  might  have  termina- 
ted."—r.,.,  |    rf.  p.  897.     "  The  one  p'rca-h  Christ  of  contention  ;  but  the  other,  of 
:,  L6.     "  I!' •;!••••  \\     i; ;il  1.,-s  discontent  and  heart-burnings,  than  where 
•tally  burdene'l."  —  .!/•/  ,//'  Thinkimi,  p.  56. 
••The  serpent,  subtil'.-!  beast  of  all  the  Held, 

I  knew  ;  but  not  with  human  voice  indu'd." — MILTOX  :  ib.  w.  Human. 
••  II  >\v  much  more  grievous  would  our  lives  appear, 
To  reach  th' eighth  hundred, than  the  eightieth  year?" — Denham,  B.  P.,  ii,  -ii. 

LESSON  III.  MIXKK 

4 '  Brutus  .  Ith  Aruns  ;  and  so  fierce  was  the  attack,  that  they  pierced  one  another 

atth(  Dii-t. 

the  i>hnu«e  one  anothtr  is  here  applied  to  two  persons  only,  the  words  an  and 
Oth-  '   i  •;_•.  (•fimiii'Uii'lf'l.        I-  i  .5  of  A'lj»ctivi-s.  tiirh  athff 

n  other  to  more  than  ftwo.       Therff»ri-  "»•    nn»tittr 

her.  \*.<ir-i  other;  thus,  "  Brutus  engaged  with  Aruns  ;  and  so  fierce  was  the  attack,  that  they  pierced  each  othtr 
at  the  same  time.''] 

"  Her  two  brothers  were  one  after  another  turned  into  stone." — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  194. 


282  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 


"  Nouns  are  often  used  as  adjectives  ;  as,  A  gold-ring,  a  silver-cup." — Lennie's  Gram.  p.  14. 
"Fire  and  water  destroy  one  another." — Wanostrocht' s  Gram.  p.  82.  "Two  negatives  in 
English  destroy  one  another,  or  are  equivalent  to  an  affirmative."— Lowth's  Gram.  p.  94  ; 
E.  Dems' s,  111  ;  Mack's,  147;  Murray's,  198;  Churchill's,  148  ;  Putnam's,  135  ;  C.  Adams's] 
102 ;  Hamliris,  79  ;  Aider's,  66  ;  Fisk's,  140  ;  Ingcrsoll's,  207  ;  and  many  others.  "  Two 
negatives  destroy  one  another,  and  are  generally  equivalent  to  an  affirmative." — Kirkham's 
Gram.  p.  191 ;  Feltons,  85.  " Two  negatives  destroy  one  another  and  make  an  affirmative." 
— J.  Flint's  Gram.  p.  79.  "  Two  negatives  destroy  one  another,  being  equivalent  to  an 
affirmative." — Frost's  EL  of  E.  Gram.  p.  48.  "Two  objects,  resembling  one  another,  are  pre- 
sented to  the  imagination." — Parker's  Exercises  in  Comp.  p.  47.  "Mankind,  in  order  to 
hold  converse  with  each  other,  found  it  necessary  to  give  names  to  objects." — Kirkham's 
Gram.  p.  42.  "  Words  are  derived  from  each  other*  in  various  ways." — Cooper's  Gram.  p. 
108.  "  There  are  many  other  ways  of  deriving  words  from  one  another." — Murray's  Gram. 
p.  131.  "  When  several  verbs  connected  by  conjunctions,  succeed  each  other  in  a  sentence, 
the  auxiliary  is  usually  omitted  except  with  the  first." — Frost's  Gram.  p.  91.  "  Two  or  more 
verbs,  having  the  same  nominative  case,  and  immediately  following  one  another,  are  also 
separ  ated  by  commas."  ^— Murray's  Gram.  p.  270  ;  C.Adams's,  126  ;  Russell's,  113  ;  and  others. 
"Two  or  more  adverbs  immediately  succeeding  each  other,  must  be  separated  by  commas." 
— Same  Grammars.  "  If,  however,  the  members  succeeding  each  other,  are  very  closely  con- 
nected, the  comma  is  unnecessary." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  273;  Comly's,  152;  and  others. 
"  Gratitude,  when  exerted  towards  one  another,  naturally  produces  a  very  pleasing  sensa- 
tion in  the  mind  of  a  grateful  man." — Mur.  p.  287.  "  Several  verbs  in  the  infinitive  mood, 
having  a  common  dependence,  and  succeeding  one  another,  are  also  divided  by  commas." 
—  Comly's  Gram.  p.  153.  "  The  several  words  of  which  it  consists,  have  so  near  a  relation 
to  each  other." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  268  ;  Comly's,  144  ;  Russell's,  111 ;  and  others.  "When 
two  or  more  verbs  have  the  same  nominative,  and  immediately  follow  one  another,  or  two 
or  more  adverbs  immediately  succeed  one  another,  they  must  be  separated  by  cominas."- 
Comly's  Gram.  p.  145.  "  Nouns  frequently  succeed  each  other,  meaning  the  same  thing." 
— Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  63.  "And  these  two  tenses  may  tl  us  answer  one  another." — John- 
son's Gram.  Com,  p.  322.  "  Or  some  other  relation  which  two  objects  bear  to  one  another." 
— Jamiesons  Rhet.  p.  149.  "  That  the  heathens  tolerated  each  other,  is  allowed." — Gospel 
its  own  Witness,  p.  76.  "  And  yet  these  two  persons  love  one  another  tenderly." — Murray's 
E.  Header,  p.  112.  " In  the  six  hundredth  and  first  year." — Gen.  viii,  13.  "Nor  is  tiis 
arguing  of  his  but  a  reiterate  clamour." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  250.  "  In  severals  of  them  the 
inward  life  of  Christianity  is  to  be  found." — Ib.  iii,  272.  "  Though  Alvarez,  Despauterias, 
and  other,  allow  it  not  to  be  Plural." — Johnson  s  Gram.  Com.  p.  169.  "  Even  the  most  dissi- 
pate and  shameless  blushed  at  the  sight." — Lemp.  Diet.  w.  Antiochus.  "  We  feel  a  superior 
satisfaction  in  surveying  the  life  of  animals,  than  that  of  vegetables." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  1 72. 
"  But  this  man  is  so  full  fraughted  with  malice." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  265.  "  That  I  sug» 
gest  somethings  concerning  the  properest  means." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  337. 

"  So  hand  in  hand  they  pass'd,  the  loveliest  pair 
That  ever  since  in  love's  embraces  met." — Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  iv,  1.  321. 

"Aim  at  the  high'est,  without  the  high'est  attain'd 
Will  be  for  thee  no  sitting,  or  not  long." — Id.  P.  II.,  B.  iv,  1,  106. 


CHAPTER  V- PRONOUNS. 

A  Pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun  :  as,  The  boy  loves  his  book ; 
he  has  long  lessons,  and  he  learns  them  well. 

The  pronouns  in  our  language  are  twenty-four  ;  and  their  variations  are 
thirty-two  :  so  that  the  number  of  words  of  this  class,  is  fifty-six. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  word  for  which  a  pronoun  stands,  is  called  its  antecedent,  because  it  usually  pre- 
cedes the  pronoun.  But  some  have  limited  the  term  antecedent  to  the  word  represented  by  a  re- 
lative pronoun.  There  can  be  no  propriety  in  this,  unless  we  will  have  every  pronoun  to  be  a  rela- 

*  This  example,  and  several  others  that  follow  it,  are  no  ordinary  solecisms ;  they  are  downright  Irish  bulls, 
making  actions  or  relations  reciprocal,  where  reciprocity  is  utterly  unimaginable.  Two  words  can  no  more  be 
"  derived  from  each  other ^  than  two  living  creatures  can  have  received  their  existence  from  each  other.  Fo,  two 
things  can  never  "  succeed  each  other,"  except  they  alternate  or  move  in  a  circle  ;  and  a  greater  number  in  train, 
can  '••follow  one  another"  only  in  some  imperfect  sense,  not  at  all  reciprocal.  In  some  instances,  therefore,  the 
best  form  of  correction  will  be,  to  reject  the  reciprocal  terms  altogether.— G.  BROWN. 

t  This  doctrine  of  punctuation,  if  not  absolutely  false  in  itself,  is  here  very  badly  taught.  When  only  two 
words,  of  any  sort,  occur  in  the  same  construction,  they  seldom  require  the  comma;  and  never  can  they  need 
more  than  one,  whereas  these  grammarians,  by  their  plural  word  a  commas,"  suggest  a  constant  demand  for 
two  or  more. — G.  BROWN. 


CHAP.  V.]  KTYMOLOGY. PRONOUNS. OBSERVATIONS.  283 

tivc,  when  it  stands  for  a  noun  which  precedes  it ;  and,  if  so,  it  should  be  called  something  else, 
when  the  noun  is  to  be  found  •  In  the  example  above,  /its  and  he.  represent  hoi/,  and 

tJUm  represents  feMon* ;  and  these  nouns  are  as  truly  the  antecedents  to  the  pronouns,  as  any 
can  be.  Yet  ///.v,  he,  and  them,  in  our  most  approved  grammars,  are  not  called  relative  pronouns, 
but  personal. 

Ons.  'J  — Kvcry  pronoun  may  be  explained  as  standing  for  the  name  of  something,  for  the  thiny 
•feaif  unnamed,  or  for  iformerpfonom  :  and,  with  the  noun,  pronoun,  orthiim,  for  which  it  stands, 
every  pronoun  must  agree  in  person,  number,  and  gender.  The  exceptions  to  this,  whether  ap- 
parent or  real,  aie  very  lew;  and,  as  their  occurrence  is  unfrequent,  there  will  be  little  occasion 
to  notice  them  till  w'e  come  to  syntax.  But  if  the  student  will  observe  the  use  and  import  of 
pronoun-,  he  may  easily  see,  that  some  of  them  are  put  si(f>.sf(ititicc/>/,  for  nouns  not  previously 
introduced:  some,  re/atirefy,  for  nouns  or  pronouns  going  before  ;  some,  adjectivcly,  for  nouns 
that  must  follow  them  in  any  explanation  which  can  be  made  of  the  sense.  These  three  modes 
of  subMituiiun,  are  very  different,  each  from  the  others.  Yet  they  do  not  serve  for  an  accurate 
division  of  the  pronouns;  because  it  often  happens,  that  a  substitute  which  commonly  represents 
the  noun  in  one  of  tin •><•  w:,ys.  will  sometimes  represent  it  in  an  other. 

<)i:s.  3. — The  pronouns  /  and  tftov,  in  their  different  modifications,  stand  immediately  for  per- 
sons that  are,  in  general,  sufficiently  known  without  being  named  ;  (/  meaning  the  sjirtiker,  and 
tfiou,  the  In  arcr  ,•)  their  Antecedents,  or  nouns,  are  therefore  generally  understood.  The  other 
personal  pronouns,  also,  arc  sometimes  taken  in  a  general  and  demonstrative  sense,  to  denote 
3  or  things  not  previously  mentioned;  as,  "  lie  that  hath  knowledge,  spareth  his  words." 
— Biblt.  Here  //c  is  equivalent  to  tin-  man,  cr  the  person.  "  The  care  of  posterity  is  most  in  Hum  that 
have  no  posterity." — !',(/<•(, n.  Here  tin  >n  is  equivalent  to  those  persons.  "  How  far  do  you  call  it 


.       .  .  or  people 

latives,  do  not  always  relate  to  %  noun  or  pronoun  going  before  them  ;  for  who  may  be  a  direct 
substitute  for  irhnt  person;  and  irhich  may  mean  which  person,  onchich  thine/ :  as,  "  And  he  that 
was  heal.-d.  wist  not  ic ho  it  was." — John,  V,  13.  That  is,  "  The  man  who  was  healed,  knew  not 
what  pd-on  it  was."  "  1  care  not  which  you  take  ;  they  are  so  much  alike,  one  cannot  tell  which 
is  which.'" 


(Jus.   1. — A  pronoun  with  which  a  question  is  asked,  usually  stands  for  some  person  or  thing 


•Tid,  in  fact,  as  they  have  no  inflections  for  the  numbers  and  cases,  there  is  reason  to 
think  them  at  all  times  essentially  such.  We  call  them  pronouns,  to  avoid  the  inconvenience  of 
supposing  and  supplying  an  infinite  multitude  of  ellipses.  But  who,  though  often  equivalent  (as 
•bore)  to  an  adjective  and  a  noun,  is  never  itself  used  adjectively  ;  it  is  always  a  pronoun. 

OBS.  o.  —  In  respect  to  icho  or  ir/,o>/>,  it  sometimes  makes  little  or  no  difference  to  the  sense, 
whether  we  take  it  as  a  demonstrative  pronoun  equivalent  to  tchat  person,  or  suppose  it  to  relate 
to  an  antecedent  understood  before  it  :  as,  ««  Even  so  the  Son  quickeneth  whom  he  will."  —  John, 
v,  21.  That  is  —  "  what  persona  he  will,"  or,  "  those  persons  whom  he  will  ;  "  for  the  Greek  word 
for  whom,  is,  in  this  instance,  plural.  The  former  is  a  shorter  explanation  of  the  meaning,  but 
the  latter  I  take  to  be  the  true  account  of  the  construction  ;  for,  by  the  other,  we  make  whom  a 
double  relative,  and  the  object  of  two  governing  words  at  once.  So,  perhaps,  of  the  following 
example,  which  Dr.  Johnson  cites  under  the  word  who,  to  show  what  he  calls  its  "  disjunctive 
sense  :  "  — 

"  There  thou  tellst  of  kings,  and  who  aspire  ; 

Who  fall,  who  rise,  who  triumph,  who  do  moan."  —  Daniel. 

•'•.—  It  sometimes  happen!  that  the  real  antecedent,  or  the  term  which  in  the  order  of  the 

-tand  before  the  pronoun,  is  not  placed  antecedently  to  it,  in  the  order  given  to  the 

••  It  is  written,  TO  irhinn  he  was  not  spoken  of,  they  shall  see  ;  and  they  that  have  not 

understand."  —  /  .21.     Here  the  sense  is,  "  They  to  whom  he  was  not  spo- 

Whoever  take-  the  passage  otherwise,  totally  misunderstands  it.      And  yet 

Vr  of  the  words  might  be  used  to  signify,  "  They  shall  see  to  whom  (that  is,  to  what 

•  ken  of."  Transpositions  of  this  kind,  "as  well  as  of  ei  ery  other,  occur  most 

frequently  in  poetry.      The  following  example  is  from  an  Essay  on  Satire,  printed  with  Pope's 
Works,  but  written  by  ono  of  his  friend-  :  — 

"  !  '  'lime,  the  scandal  too  be  theirs  ; 

The  knave  and  fool  are  their  own  libellers."  —  /.  Proton. 

DM.  7.—  The  personal  and  the  interrogative  pronouns  often  stand  in  construction  as  the  ante- 
pronouns  :  as,   ••  l\>-  also  that  is  slothful  in  his  w,.rk,  is  brother  to  him  that  is  a 
great    waster."—  Prw.   xvhi,  9.      Here  he  and   him   are  each  equivalent  to  tin-  ma,,,  and  each  is 
**«n  '  ''ive  which  follows  it.     "  For  both  he  that  ianctifieth,  ami  thnj 

t/7/0  are  -an.  tified,  are  all  ..four  :  for  which  cause,  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call  tht-m  brethren."— 
Ll,    11.      Here  h>-  and  they  may  be  considered  the  antecedents  to  that  and  irho,  of  the  first 
•  •  he  and  them,  of  the  second.      So  the  interrogative  who  may  be  the  antecedent 
IIVio    that  has   any   moral   sense,   dares  tell  lies:"    Here   who,   being 
n,  is  the  term  with  which  the  other  pronoun  agrees.  Nay,  an  interrogative 


.  , 

•Kiun  which  is  implied  in  it.)  may  be  the  antecedent  to  a  tx  rsonal  pronoun  ;  as, 
'Who  hath  first  given  to  Him,  and  it  shall  be  recompensed  to  Asm  again  ?"—.Romaji«,  ki,  30. 
Hen-  the  idea  is,  "  What  penon  hath  first  given  ani/thhii/  to  the  Lord,  so  that  it  ought  to  be  re- 

I1  _'"  -it  the  (lift  ought  to  be  recompensed  from  Heaven  to  t/u;  yiu-r  f"     In 

following  example,  the  first  pronoun  is  the  antecedent  to  all  the  rest:  — 
"  And  he  that  never  doubted  of  his  state, 
He  may  perhaps—  perhaps  he  may—  too  late."—  Cowper. 


284       .          THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

OBS.  8. — So  the  personal  pronouns  of  the  possessive  case,  (which  some  call  adjectives,)  are 
sometimes  represented  by  relatives,  though  less  frequently  than  their  primitives  :  as,  "  How 
different,  O  Ortogrul,  is  thy  condition,  who  art  doomed  to  the  perpetual  torments  of  unsatisfied 
desire!" — Dr.  Johnson.  Here  who  is  of  the  second  person,  singular,  masculine  ;  and  represents 
the  antecedent  pronoun  thy :  for  thy  is  a  pronoun,  and  not  (as  some  writers  will  have  it)  an 
adjective.  Examples  like  this,  disprove  the  doctrine  of  those  grammarians  who  say  that  my,  thy, 
his,  her,  its,  and  their  plurals,  our,  your,  their,  are  adjectives.  For,  if  they  were  mere  adjectives, 
they  could  not  thus  be  made  antecedents.  Examples  of  this  construction  are  sufficiently  common, 
and  sufficiently  clear,  to  settle  that  point,  unless  they  can  be  better  explained  in  some  other  way. 
Take  an  instance  or  two  more  :  "  And  they  are  written  for  our  admonition,  upon  whom  the  ends 
of  the  world  are  come." — 1  Cor.  x,  11. 

"  Be  thou  the  first  true  merit  to  befriend ; 
His  praise  is  lost,  who  stays  till  all  commend." — Pope. 

CLASSES. 

Pronouns  are  divided  into  three  classes  ;  personal,  relative,  and  interroga- 
tive. 

I.  A  personal  pronoun  is  a  pronoun  that  shows,  by  its  form,  of  what  per- 
son it  is  :  as,  "  Whether  it*  were  Jor  they,  so  we  preach,  and  so  ye  believed." 
— 1  Cor.  xv,  11. 

The  simple  personal  pronouns  are  five :  namely,  /,  of  the  first  person ; 
thou,  of  the  second  person  ;  he,  she,  and  it,  of  the  third  person. 

The  compound  personal  pronouns  are  also  five  :  namely,  myself,  of  the 
first  person ;  thyself,  of  the  second  person  ;  himself,  herself,  and  itself,  of 
the  third  person. 

II.  A  relative  pronoun  is  a  pronoun  that  represents  an  antecedent  word  or 
phrase,  and  connects  different  clauses  of  a  sentence ;  as,  "  No  people  can  be 
great,  who  have  ceased  to  be  virtuous." — Dr.  Johnson. 

The  relative  pronouns  are  who,  which,  what,  that,  as,  and  the  compounds 
whoever  or  whosoever,  whichever  or  whichsoever,  whatever  or  whatsoever.^ 

What  is  a  kind  of  double  relative,  equivalent  to  that  which  or  those  which  ; 
Sind  is  to  be  parsed,  first  as  antecedent,  and  then  as  relative  :  as,  "  This  is 
what  I  wanted  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  thing  tvhich  I  wanted." — L.  Murray. 

III.  An  interrogative  pronoun  is  a  pronoun  with  which  a  questi'on  is  asked ; 
as,  "  Who  touched  my  clothes  ?  "—Mark,  v,  30. 

The  interrogative  pronouns  are  who,  which,  and  what ;  being  the  same  in 
form  as  relatives. 

Who  demands  a  person's  name  ;  which,  that  a  person  or  thing  be  distin- 
guished from  others  ;  what,  the  name  of  a  thing,  or  a  person's  occupation  and 
character. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  pronouns  /and  myself,  thou  and  thy&cif,  with  their  inflections,  are  literally  appli- 
cable to  persons  only  ;  but,  figuratively,  they  represent  brutes,  or  whatever  else  the  human 
imagination  invests  with  speech  and  reason.  The  latter  use  of  them,  though  literal  perhaps  in 
every  thing  but  person,  constitutes  the  purest  kind  of  personification.  For  example  :  "  The  trees 
went  forth  on  a  time  to  anoint  a  king  over  them :  and  they  said  unto  the  olive-tree,  '  lleign  thou 
over  us.'  But  the  olive-tree  said  unto  them,  '  Should  /leave  my  fatness,  wherewith  by  me  they 
honour  God  and  man,  and  go  to  be  promoted  over  the  trees  ?'  "  See  Judyes,  ix,  from  8  to  16. 

OBS.  2. — The  pronouns  he  and  himself,  she  and  herself,  with  their  inflections,  are  literally 
applicable  to  persons  and  to  brutes,  and  to  these  only  ;  if  applied  to  lifeless  objects,  they  animate 
them,  and  are  figurative  in  gender,  though  literal  perhaps  in  every  other  respect.  For  example  : 
"  A  diamond  of  beauty  and  lustre,  observing  at  his  side  in  the  same  cabinet,  not  only  many  other 

*  Some  grammarians  exclude  the  word  it  from  the  list  of  personal  pronouns,  because  it  does  not  convey  the 
idea  of  that  personality  which  consists  in  individual  intelligence.  On  the  other  hand,  they  will  have  who  to  be  a 
personal  pronoun,  because  it  is  literally  applied  to  persons  only,  or  intelligent  beings.  But  I  judge  them  to  be 
•wrong  in  respect  to  both  ;  and,  had  they  given  definitions  ot  their  several  classes  of  pronouns,  they  might  perhaps 
have  found  out  that  the  word  it  is  always  personal,  iu  a  grammatical  sense,  and  who,  either  relative  or 
interrogative. 

t  uwhoto  and  ivhatso  are  found  in  old  authors,  but  are  mm  out  of  use.'' — ChurchilPs  Gram.  p.  76.  These 
antiquated  words  are  equivalent  in  import  to  whosoever  and  whatsoever.  The  former,  whoso,  being  used  many  times 
in  the  Bible,  and  occasionally  also  by  the  poets,  as  by  Cowper,  Whittier,  and  others,  can  hardly  be  said  to  be 
obsolete  ;  though  Wells,  like  Churchill,  pronounced  it  so,  in  his  first  edition. 


CHAP.  V.]  ETYMOLOGY. PRONOUNS. — CLASSES.  285 

gems,  but  even  a  loadstone,  began  to  question  the  latter  how  he  came  there — he,  who  appeared  to 
be  no  better  than  a  mere  flint,  a  sorry  rusty-looking  pebble,  without  the  least  shining  quality  to 
advance  him  to  such  honour;  and  concluded  with  desiring  hiin  to  keep  his  distance,  and  to  pay  a 
proper  respect  to  his  superiors." — .  '  «f  Thinhin<i,  p.  226. 

OIH.  3. — The  pronoun  it,  as  it  carries  in  itself  no  such  idea  as  that  of  personality,  or  sex,  or  life, 
is  chiefly  used  with  reference  to  things  inanimate  ;  yet  the  word  is,  in  a  certain  way,  applicable  to 
animals,  or  even  to  persons;  though  it  doe>  not,  in  itself,  present  them  as  such.  Thus  we  say, 
/,•" — "/<'  was  they;" — ".ft  was  you;" — "It  was  your  a</tnt;" — "  It  is  your  bull  that  has  killed 
one  of  my  oxen."  In  examples  of  this  kind,  the  word  it  is  simply  demonstrative;  meaning,  the 
thii><!  >  '>kcn  of.  That  subject,  whatever  it  be  in  itself,  may  be  introduced  again  after  tiie 

•i  ;.ny  person,  number,  or  gender,  that  suits  it.  But,  as  the  verb  agrees  with  the  pronoun 
it,  the  \\\trd  which  follows,  can  in  no  sense  be  made,  as  Dr.  Priestley  will  have  it  to  be,  the 
dent  to  that  pronoun.  Besides,  it  is  contrary  to  the  nature  of  what  is  primarily  demonstrative,  to 
represent  a  preceding  word  of  any  kind.  The  Doctor  absurdly  says,  "  Not  only  things,  but  per- 
sons, rtviy  be  the  antecedent  to  this  pronoun;  as,  Who  is  it  /  Is  it  not  Thomas f  i.  e.  Who  is  the 
person.'  Is  not  he  Tho.r  n.  p.  So.  In  these  examples,  the  terms  are  trans- 

posed by  interrogation  ;  but  that  circumstance,  though  it  may  have  helped  to  deceive  this  author 
and  his  copiers,  affects  not  my  assertion. 

I. — The  pronoun  who  is  usually  applied  only  to  persons.  Its  application  to  brutes  or  to 
things  is  improper,  unless  we  mean  to  personify  them.  But  whose,  the  possessive  case  of  this 
relati  times  used  to  supply  the  place  of  the  possessive  case,  otherwise  wanting,  to  the 

relative  whf,-h.     Examples:  '-The  mutes  are  those  consonants  whose  sounds  cannot  be  pro- 


period  is  used." — Xuttiny's  Gram.  p.  124.      "  We  remember  best  those  things  whose  parts  are 
methodically  disposed,  and  mutually  connected." — Beat  tic's  Moral  Science,  i,  59.      "  Is  there  any 
other  doctrine  whose  followers  are  piaiished  ?" — ADDISOX  :  Murray's  Gram.  p.  54;  Lowth's,p.  2o. 
"  The  question,  whose  solution  I  require, 
Is,  what  the  sex  of  women  most  desire." — DRYDEN  :  Lowth,  p.  25. 

Ons.  5. — Buchanan,  as  well  as  Lowth,  condemns  the  foregoing  use  of  whose,  except  in  grave 
poetry  :  saying,  "  This  manner  of  personification  adds  an  air  of  dignity  to  the  higher  and  more 
solemn  kind  of  poetry,  but  it  is  highly  improper  in  the  lower  kind,  or  in  prose." — Buchanan's 
;<  Sijnta.r,  p.  73".  And,  of  the  last  two  examples  above  quoted,  he  says,  "  It  ought  to  be  of 
oth  places:  L  e.  The  followers  of  which  ;  the  solution  of  which." — Ib.  p.  73.  The 
truth  i*.  th  it  no  personification  is  here  intended.  Hence  it  may  be  better  to  avoid,  if  we  can,  this 
use  of  w'iosf,  as  seeming  to  imply  what  we  do  not  mean.  But  Buchanan  himself  (stealing  the 
text  of  an  older  author)  has  furnished  at  least  one  example  as  objectionable  as  any  of  the  fore- 
going :  "  Prepositions  are  naturally  placed  betwixt  the  Words  whose  Relation  and  Dependence 
— English  >y<///./-,  p.  90;  British  Gram.  p.  201.  I  dislike  this  con- 
struction, and  yet  sometimes  adopt  it,  for  want  of  an  other  as  good.  It  is  too  much,  to  say  with 
Churchill,  that  "this  practice  is  now  discountenanced  by  all  correct  writers." — Ncic  Gram.  p.  226. 
Grammarians  would  perhaps  differ  less,  if  they  would  read  more.  Dr.  Campbell  commends  the 
use  of  w/t'j.tc  for  of  ichl':h,  as  an  improvement  suggested  by  good  taste,  and  established  by  abun- 
dant authority.  See  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric,  p.  42'J.  "  WHOSE,  the  possessive  or  genitive  case  of 
tcho  or  ic/tic/i  ;  applied  to  persons  or  things." — Webster's  Octavo  Diet.  "  Whose  is  well  author- 
ized by  good  usage,  as  the  possessive  of  which." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  69.  "  Nor  is  any  language 
complete,  whuse  verbs  have  not  tenses." — Harris's  Hern 

•' '  Past  and  future,  are  the  wings 

On  whose  support,  harmoniously  conjoined, 

Moves  the  great  jspirit  of  human  knowledge.' — MS." 

Wordsworth's  Preface  to  his  Poems,  p.  xviii. 

ORS.  6. — The  relative  which,  though  formerly  applied  to  persons  and  made  equivalent  to  who, 
is  n>\v  confined  to  brute  animals  and  inanimate  things.  Thus,  "  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven," 
is  not  now  reckoned  go  ;  it  should  be,  "  Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven."  In  this,  as 

well  as  in  many  oth'  r  things,  the  custom  of  speech  has  changed;  so  that  what  was  once  right,  is 
now  un.:nii;imatical.  The  use  of  which  for  who  is  very  common  in  the  Bible,  and  in  other  books 
of  the  th  century  ;  but  all  good  writers  now  avoid  the  construction.  It  occurs  seventy- 

.ird  chapter  of  I.  >,  whirl,  was  the  son  of  Heli,  which  was  the 

son  ot  :  a  personal  term  taken  by  metonymy  for  a  thing,  which  is  not 

impro;  'Of  the  particular  author  which  he  is  studying." — Galluudet.     And  as  an  interro- 

gative or  :.  demonstrative  pronoun  or  adjective,  the  wonpc/,/r/t  is  still  applicable  to  persons,  as 
former! \  ;  is,  "  Which  of  you  all?" — ••  Which  man  of  you  all?" — "There  arose  a  reasoning 
among  them,  which  of  them  ^loul.:  -^."—Luke,  ix,  46.  "Two  fair  twins— the  puzzled 

strangers,  which  is  which,  inquire." — TickeL 

7 — If  which,  as  a  direct  relative,  is  inapplicable  to  persons,  who  ought  to  be  preferred  to 
it  in  all  personifications 

"Thcs-  Icome  thou  dread  power, 

Nameless,  yet  thus  omnipotent,  which  here 
Walk'st  in  the  shadow  of  the  midnight  hour." 

UYUOX  :  Child.  ''primage,  Cant,  iv,  st.  138. 

What  sort  of  personage  is  here  imagined  and  addressed,  I  will  not  pretend  to  say  ;  but  it  should 
seem,  that  icho  would  be  more  proper  than  which,  though  less  agreeable  in  sound  before  the  word 
In  one  of  his  iiotes^m  this  word,  Ch»rchill  has  fallen  into  a  strange  error.  He  will  have 
who  to  represent  a  horm- .'  and  that,  in  such  a  sense  as  would  require  which  and  not  who,  even  for 
a  person.  As  he  prints  the  masculine  pronoun  in  Italics,  perhaps  he  thought,  with  Murray  and 


286  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[rART   II. 


Webster,  that  which  must  needs  be  "  of  the  neuter  gender."*  He  says,  "  In  the  following  passage, 
which  seems  to  be  used  instead  of  who  : — 

'  Between  two  horses,  which  doth  bear  him  best; 
I  have,  perhaps,  some  shallow  spirit  of  judgment.' 

SHAK.,  1  Hen.  ~\~L"— Churchill's  Gram.  p.  226. 

OBS.  8. — The  pronoun  what  is  usually  applied  to  things  only.  It  has  a  twofold  relation,  and  is 
often  used  (by  ellipsis  of  the  noun)  both  as  antecedent  and  as  relative,  in  the  form  of  a  single  word  ; 
being  equivalent  to  that  which,  or  the  thiiif/  which,  —  those  which,  or  the  things  which.  In  this  dou- 
ble relation,  what  represents  two  cases  at  the  same  time :  as,  "  He  is  ashamed  of  wJiat  he  has 
done;"  that  is,  "of  what  [thing  or  action]  he  has  done  ;" — or,  "of  that  [thing  or  action]  which  he 
has  done."  Here  are  two  objectives.  The  two  cases  are  sometimes  alike,  sometimes  different; 
for  either  of  them  may  be  the  nominative,  and  either,  the  objective.  Examples  :  "  The  dread  of 
censure  ought  not  to  prevail  over  what  is  proper." — Kamesy  EL  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  252.  "The  public  ear 
will  not  easily  bear  what  is  slovenly  and  incorrect." — Blair's  llhct.  p.  12.  "  He  who  buys  whathe 
does  not  need,  will  often  need  what  he  cannot  buy." — Student's  Manual,  p.  290.  "  What  is  just, 
is  honest ;  and  again,  what  is  honest,  is  just." — Cicero.  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what 
the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches."— Rev.  ii,  7,  11,  17,  29  ;  iii,  6,  13,  22. 

OBS.  9. — This  pronoun,  what,  is  usually  of  the  singular  number,  though  sometimes  plural :  as, 
"  I  must  turn  to  the  faults,  or  ichat  appear  such  to  me." — Byron.  "  All  distortions  and  mimic- 
ries, as  such,  are  what  raise  aversion  instead  of  pleasure." — Steele.  "  Purified  indeed  from  total 
appear  to  be  its  real  defects." — Wordsworth's  Pref.  p.  xix.  "  Every  single  impression,  made  even 


1 P1  ^_ 

manifest  solecism  :  "  What  has  since  "followed  are  but  natural  consequences." — J.  C.  CALHOUN, 
Speech  in  U.  S.  Senate,  March  4,  18oO.  Here  has  should  be  have;  or  else  the  form  should  be  this  : 
"  What  has  since  followed,  is  but  a  natural  consequence." 

OBS.  10. — The  common  import  of  this  remarkable  pronoun,  what,  is,  as  we  see  in  the  foregoing 
examples,  twofold  ;  but  some  instances  occur,  in  which  it  does  not  appear  to  have  this  double  con- 
struction, but  to  be  simply  declaratory ;  and  many,  in  which  the  word  is  simply  an  adjective :  as, 
"  What  a  strange  run  of  luck  I  have  had  to-day !  " — Columbian  Orator,  p.  293.  Here  what  is  a 
mere  adjective;  and,  in,  the  following  examples,  a  pronoun  indefinite: — 

"  I  tell  thee  what,  corporal,  I  could  tear  her." — Shak. 
"  He  knows  what  's  what,  and  that  's  as  high 

As  metaphysic  wit  can  fly." — Hudibras. 

OBS.  11. — What  is  sometimes  used  both  as  an  adjective  and  as  a  relative  at  the  same  time,  and 
is  placed  before  the  noun  which  it  represents;  being  equivalent  to  the  adjective  any  or  all,  and 
the  simple  relative  who,  which,-];  or  that :  as,  "  What  money  we  had,  was  taken  away."     That  is, 
"All  the  money  that  we  had,  was  taken  away."      "  What  man  but  enters,  dies."      That  is,  "Any 
man  who  enters,  dies."     "It  was  agreed  that  ichat  goods  were  aboard  his  vessels,  should  belaud- 
ed."— Mickle's  India,  p.  89.     "  What  appearances  of  worth  afterwards  succeeded,  were  drawn  ft  om 
thence." — Internal  Policy  of  Great  Britain,  p.  196.     That  is,  "All  the  appearances  of  wo:-th, 
which  afterwards  succeeded." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  93.     Indeed,  this  pronoun  does  not  admit  of 
being  construed  after  a  noun,  as  a  simple  relative  :  none  but  the  most  illiterate  ever  seriously  use 
it  so.      What  put  for  who  or  which,  is  therefore  a  ludicrous  vulgarism  ;  as,  "  The  aspiring  youth 
what  fired  the  Ephesian  dome." — Jester.    The  word  used  as  above,  however,  does  not  always  pre- 
clude the  introduction  of  a  personal  pronoun  before  the  subsequent  verb ;  as, 
"  What  god  but  enters  yon  forbidden  field, 
Who  yields  assistance,  or  but  wills  to  yield, 
Back  to  the  skies  with  shame  he  shall  be  driven, 

Gash'd  with  dishonest  wounds,  the  scorn  of  heaven/' — Pope's  Homer. 

OBS.  12. — The  compound  whatever  or  whatsoever  has  the  same  peculiarities  of  construction  as 
has  the  simpler  word  what:  as,  "Whatever  word  expresses  an  affirmation,  or  assertion,  is  a  verb  ; 
or  thus,  Whatever  word,  with  a  noun  or  pronoun  before  or  after  it,  makes  full  sense,  is  a  verb." — 
Adam's  Latin  Gram.  p.  78.  That  is,  "Any  word  which  expresses,"  &c.  "  We  will  certainly  do 
whatsoever  thing  goeth  forth  out  of  our  own  mouth." — Jeremiah,  xliv,  17.  That  is — "  any  thing, 
or  every  thing,  which."  "Whatever  sounds  are  difficult  in  pronunciation,  are,  in  the  same  propor- 
tion, harsh  and  painful  to  the  ear." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  121 ;  Murray's  Gram.  p.  325.  "  Whatsoever 
things  were  written  aforetime,  were  written  for  our  learning." — Romans,  xv,  4.  In  all  these  ex- 
amples, the  word  whatever  or  whatsoever  appears  to  be  used  both  adjectively  and  relatively.  There 
are  instances,  however,  in  which  the  relation  of  this  term  is  not  twofold,  but  simple  :  as,  "  What- 
ever useful  or  engaging  endowments  we  possess,  virtue  is  requisite  in  order  to  their  shining  with 
proper  lustre." — English  Reader,  p.  23.  Here  whatever  is  simply  an  adjective.  "  The  declarations 
contained  in  them  [the  Scriptures]  rest  on  the  authority  of  God  himself;  and  there  can  be  no  ap- 
peal from  them  to  any  other  authority  whatsoever." — London  Epistle,  1836.  Here  whatsoever  may 

*  "  '  The  man  is  prudent  which  speaks  little.'  This  sentence  is  incorrect,  because  which  is  a  pronoun  of  the 
neuter  gender." — Murray'1  s  Exercises,  p.  18.  "  Which  is  also  a  relative,  but  it  is  of  [the]  neuter  gender.  It  is 
also  interrogative."—  Webster's  Improved  Gram.  p.  26.  For  oversights  like  these,  I  cannot  account.  The  relative 
which  is  of  all  the  genders,  as  every  body  ought  to  know,  who  has  ever  heard  of  the  horse  ivhich  Alexander  rude,  of 
the  ass  which  spoke  to  Balaam,  or  of  any  of  the  animals  ivhich  Noah  had  with  him  in  the  ark. 

t  The  word  which,  also,  when  taken  in  its  discriminative  sense,  (i.  e.  to  distinguish  some  persons  or  things  from 
others,)  may  have  a  construction  of  this  sort ;  and,  by  ellipsis  of  the  noun  after  it,  it  may  likewise  bear  a  resem- 
blance to  the  double  relative  what :  as,  "  I  phall  now  give  you  two  passages ;  and  request  you  to  point  uufc 
which  words  are  mono-syllables,  ivhich  dis-syllables,  which  tris-syllables,  and  which  poly  -syllables.  "'—Ihicke's 
Gram.  p.  16.  Here,  indeed,  the  word  what  might  be  substituted  for  ivhich;  because  that  also  has  a  discriminatiYB 
sense.  Either  would  be  right ;  but  the  author  might  have  presented  the  same  words  and  thoughts  rather  more 
accurately,  thus  :  "  I  shall  now  give  you  two  passages  ;  and  request  you  to  point  out  which  words  are  monosylla- 
bles ;  which,  dissyllables ;  which,  trissyllables  ;  and  which,  polysyllables." 


CHAP.  V.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  PRONOUNS.  -  CLASSES.  287 

be  parsed  cither  as  an  adjective  relating  to  authority,  or  as  an  emphatic  pronoun  in  apposition  with 
its  noun,  like  himself  in  the  preceding  clause.  In  this  general  explanatory  sense,  irlnitwever 
may  be  applied  to  persons  as  well  as  to  things  ;  as,  "  I  should  be  sorry  if  it  entered  into  the  ima- 
gination or  '  <erer,  that  I  was  preferred  to  all  other  patrons."  —  Duncan's  Cicero, 

p.  11.     Here  the  word  \ohomtOe99f  might  have  been  used. 

OBS.  13.  —  But  there  is  an  other  construction  to  be  here  explained,  in  which  w-huterer  or  irhatso- 

eter  appears  to  >••  .>  l^tirc,  or  a  term  which  includes  both  antecedent  and  relative  ;  as, 

"  Wlxf,  per  pun:  •  ;;lso  the  heart."  —  Emjlixh  lieatlrr,  p.  23.  Thatis.  "Atl  t/ic.t  purifies  — 

or.  Everything  fliir/t  purifies  —  fortifies  also  the  heart.''     •'  H7t<ttsoever\ic  doeth,  shall  prosper."  — 

.  '4.  That  is,  "  All  that  he  doeth  —  or,  All  the  t/i/n>/t<  trhich  he  doeth  —  shall  prosper."  This  con- 

struction, however,  may  be  supposed  elliptical.  The  Latin  expression  is,  "O  faciet 

'  ilnmtur."  —  ]~«'</ri(e.    The  (Jrcek  is  similar:  "  AK<  ;i.inn  '«o>.(  ur  .im^  x<rr«vooW9^'0n 

It  is  doubtless  by  some  sort  of  ellipsis  which  familiarity  of  use  inclines  us  to  overlook, 
that'  /-,  which  are  essentially  adjectives,  have  become  susceptible  of 

this  double,  construction  as  pronouns.  But  it  is  questionable  what  particular  ellipsis  we  ought 
here  to  suppose,  or  whether  any  ;  and  certainly,  we  ought  always  to  avoid  the  supposing  of  an 
ellii^:  i.*  Now  if  we  say  the  meaning  is,  "  Whatsoever  things  he  doeth  ,  shall  pros- 

per ;  "  _'h  analogous  to  other  expressions,  does  not  simplify  the  construction.      If  we 

will  have  it  to  be,  "  Whatsoever  things  he  doeth,  they  shall  prosper;  "  the  pronoun  they  appears 
to  be  pleonastic.  So  is  the  word  it,  in  the  text,  "  Vrhatooever  he  saith  unto  you,  do  ii."—John, 
ii,o.  It'  we  say  the  full  phrase  is,  "All  things  whatsoever  he  doeth,  shall  prosper  ;"  this  presents, 
to  an  English  ear,  a  still  more  obvious  pleonasm.  It  may  he,  too,  a  borroired  idiom,  found  no- 
where but  in  translations  ;  as,  •'  All  things  whatsoever  yc  shall  ask  in  prayer,  believing,  ye  shall 
receive."  —  Matt,  xxi,  22.  From  these  views,  there  seems  to  be  some  objection  to  any  and  every 
method  of  parsing  the  above-mentioned  construction  as  elliptical.  The  learner  may  therefore  say, 
in  such  instances,  that  whatever  or  whatsoever  is  a  double  relative,  including  both  antecedent  and 
relative  ;  and  parse  it,  first  as  antecedent,  in  connexion  with  the  latter  verb,  and  then  as  relative, 
in  connexion  with  the  former.  But  let  him  observe  that  the  order  of  the  verbs  may  be  the  reverse 
of  the  foregoing;  as,  "Ye  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you."  —  John,  xv,  14. 
That  is,  according  to  the  Greek,  "  If  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  to  you  ;  ""  though  it  would  be 
better  Engl  "  If  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you  to  do."  In  the  following  example, 

howe\er,  it  seems  proper  to'  recognize  an  ellipsis;  nay,  the  omissions  in  the  construction  of  the 
last  line,  are  us  many  as  three  or  four  :  — 

11  Expatiate  with  glad  step,  and  choose  at  will 
Whuteer  briy/tt  spoils  the  florid  earth  contains, 
M'/i'tfe'cr  tlu  waters,  or  the  liquid  air."  —  Akenside. 

OB3.  11.  —  As  the  simple  word  who  differs  from  which  and  what,  in  being  always  a  declinable 
pnnc  differ  from  theirs,  in  being  incapable  of  either  of  the  double  construc- 

tions above  described.    Yet  who-n-r  and  irlmsn  or  whot-ucrcr,  as  well  as  whichever  and  tchic/tsoever, 

r,  derive,  from  the  affix  which  is  added,  or  from  the  peculiarity  of  their 
syntax,  uu  unlimited  signification  —  or  a  signification  which  is  limited  only  by  the  following  verb  ; 

*  As  for  Butler's  method  of  pn:  5  rfrozntzing  a  noun  ai  being  "  UNDERSTOOD"  bffore 


them,  —  it  method  by  which,   uccoriii.i;  to  liis  publishers'  notice.  "  The  ordinary  unphiloKOpbieal  explanation  of 
:<•<!.  un.l  .t  Dimple.  intelligible,  common-sense  view  of  the  matter  now  for  thejirst  time 
1  know  uot  what  novelty  then-  i.-  in  ir,  that  is  not  also  just  so  much  error.     u  Compare,"  says  he, 
I  saw  whom  I  wanted  to  .-  I  to  see.'     If  what  in  the  latter  is 

equivai-  irh,  whom  in  tin-  former  is  equivalent  to  him  u-hom,or  the  person  whom." 

•tirul   Cram.  p.  61.      Th<  iple  being  simply  elliptical  of  the  antecedent,  he  judges  th« 

latter  to  bo  so  too  ;   an«l  in:  Mum  a  relative  pronoun,  and  includes  nothing  else." 

—  Ib      This  conclusion  it  not  well  •   two  examples  are  not  analogous,-   and  whoever  thus  finds 

"  that  ic  hat  is  nothing  more  than  a  relative,-  ought  aNo  to  rind  it  is  something  less,  —  a  mere  adjective.     "I  saw 

can  scarcely  {.pare  the  antecedent  and  retain  the  sense  ;  "  I 
antecedent,  without  changing  both  the  sense  and  the 

OMistruction.     One  D  I  saw  what  tin  in  stead  of  giving  what  an  antece- 

i:  retains  the  Jt>rce  of  a  relai  '<nj  insert  a  noun  before  u-hat,  agreeably 

i  saw  thf  il».  or,  if  he  please,  both  before  and  after; 

Km  still,  in  .-kh.  no  '•  Minjile  relative  ;"  for 

/  ax.  Or,  agjiin,  he  may  omi-  the  conima,  and  say,  "  I  ativrthe  thing 

what  I  wan:-  .  -'  I  saw  the  thing  to  be  what  I  wanted  to 

•»."    80  that  this  method  .  Improvement,  but  rather  a  perversion 

an  dm 

But.  for  furthei  -  ••  the  relative  THAT  u-ith  the  ante- 

wivs.  •'  \\ill  helj.  u.-  to  a.-.-crtain  the  nature  of  u-lmt.      'We  speak 

Mtuw,  .,,.we  that  wicked  is.' 

i1.  possible  lie  .-hnnM  km  ,,,|  l...  that  1  •  (;:.ther  the  sequel  by  that 

1'i.     In  th.sv  c.v.i  ;•  is  a  relativ.  ihj  si/nonyvious  with  what. 

line.      The  antecedent  is  omitted, 
s's  Analytical  ati'l  Practical 

i  at  his  wisest  age,  by  these  false  arguments,  so  as  to  renounce  an  •! 
taught  aim..  -,  -'  What  is  • 

lilllli-.  11-  DOM 

:t  *  *  * 

<l  the  mill'/,  ii-TOOD, 

;Iy,  though  he 

di;li-r-  suggestions  of  this  author, 

with  tin-  f....  inient:    ••  These  remarks  appear  to  me  just,. 

:!iat  are  all  of 

th  'in  different 

It  is  quite  as 
easy  ami  natural   •• 

as  to  -  •  be  the  same 

ui  cer.  ID  terms  are  not  ;-  tsactly  synuny- 

"1  but,  even  if  they  were  so,  exact  sym.'inmy  v.ouid  not  evince  a  sameness  of  construction. 


288  THE   GRAMMAR   OP    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. 


[PART  n. 


and,  as  some  general  term,  such  as  any  person,  or  all  persons,  is  implied  as  the  antecedent,  they 
are  commonly  connected  with  other  words  as  if  they  stood  for  two  cases  at  once  :  as,  "  Whoever 
seeks,  shall  find."  That  is,  "  Any  person  icho  seeks,  shall  find."  But  as  the  case  of  this  com- 
pound, like  that  of  the  simple  word  who,  ichose,  or  whom,  is  known  and  determined  by  its  form, 
it  is  necessary,  in  parsing,  to  treat  this  phraseology  as  being  elliptical.  The  compounds  of  who 
do  not,  therefore,  actually  stand  for  two  cases,  though  some  grammarians  affirm  that  they  do.* 
Example:  "The  soldiers  made  proclamation,  that  they  would  sell  the  empire  to  whoever  would 
purchase  it  at  the  highest  price." — Goldsmith's  Rome,  p.  231.  That  is — "  to  any  man  who  would 
purchase  it."  The  affix  ever  or  soever  becomes  unnecessary  when  the  ellipsis  is  supplied;  and 
this  fact,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  a  plausible  argument  against  the  supposition  of  an  ellipsis.  Bat 
the  supposing  of  an  antecedent  understood,  is  here  unavoidable  ;  because  the  preposition  to  cannot 
govern  the  nominative  case,  and  the  word  whoever  cannot  be  an  objective.  And  so  in  all  other 
instances  in  which  the  two  cases  are  different:  as,  "He  bids  whoever  is  athirst,  to  come." — 
Jenks's  Devotions,  p.  151.  "  Elizabeth  publicly  threatened,  that  she  would  have  the  head  oficho- 
ever  had  advised  it." — HUME  :  in  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  104. 

OBS.  15. — If  it  is  necessary  in  parsing  to  supply  the  antecedent  to  whoever  or  whosoever,  whsn 
two  different  cases  are  represented,  it  is  but  analogous  and  reasonable  to  supply  it  also  when  two 
similar  cases  occur:  as,  "  Whoever  borrows  money,  is  bound  in  conscience  to  repay  it." — Palcy. 
"  Whoever  is  eager  to  find  excuses  for  vice  and  folly,  will  find  his  own  backwardness  to  practise 
them  much  diminished." — Chapone.  "  Whoever  examines  his  own  imperfections,  will  cease  to  be 
fastidious;  whoever  restrains  humour  and  caprice,  will  cease  to  be  squeamish." — Cr abb's  Syr/ o- 
nymcs.  In  all  these  examples,  we  have  the  word  in  the  third  person,  singular  number,  masculine 
gender,  and  nominative  case.  And  here  it  is  most  commonly  found  It  is  always  of  the  third 
person ;  and,  though  its  number  may  be  plural ;  its  gender,  feminine ;  its  case,  possessive  or 
objective;  we  do  not  often  use  it  in  any  of  these  ways.  In  some  instances,  the  latter  verb  is 
attended  with  an  other  pronoun,  which  represents  the  same  person  or  persons ;  as,  "  Arid  whono- 
ever  will,  let  him  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely." — Rev.  xxii,  17.  The  case  of  this  compound 
relative  always  depends  upon  what  follows  it,  and  not  upon  what  precedes  ;  as,  "  Or  ask  of  whom- 
soever he  has  taught." — Cowper.  That  is — "  of  any  jjerson  whom  he  has  taught."  In  the 
following  text,  we  have  the  possessive  plural :  "  Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted 
unto  them." — John,  xx,  23.  That  is,  "  Whatever  persons'  sins." 

OBS.  16. — In  such  phraseology  as  the  following,  there  is  a  stiffness  which  ought  to  be  avoided: 
"For  ichomever  God  loves,  he  loves  them  in  Christ,  and  no  otherways." — Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  )ii, 

6215.  Better:  "  For  all  whom  God  loves,  he  loves  in  Christ,  and  no  otherwise."  "  When  the 
ather  draws,  whomever  he  draws,  may  come." — Penington.  Better :  "  When  the  Father  dravs, 
all  whom  he  draws,  (or,  every  one' whom  he  draws,)  may  come."  A  modern  critic  of  immense 
promise  cites  the  following  clause  as  being  found  in  the  Bible :  "  But  he  loveth  whomson  cr 
followeth  after  righteousness." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  72.  It  is  lamentable  to  see  the  unfaith- 
fulness of  this  gentleman's  quotations.  About  half  of  them  are  spurious  ;  and  I  am  confide  it 
that  this  one  is  neither  Scripture  nor  good  English.  The  compound  relative,  being  the  subject  of 
followeth,  should  be  in  the  nominative  case;  for  the  object  of  the  verb  loveth  is  the  antecedent 
every  one,  understood.  But  the  idea  may  be  better  expressed,  without  any  ellipsis,  thus  :  "  He 
loveth  every  one  who  followeth  after  righteousness."  The  following  example  from  the  same  hand 
is  also  wrong,  and  the  author's  rule  and  reasoning  connected  with  it,  are  utterly  fallacious  :  "I 
will  give  the  reward  to  ivhomsoever  will  apprehend  the  rogue." — Ib.  p.  256.  Much  better  say,  "  to 
any  one  who ;"  but,  if  you  choose  the  compound  word,  by  all  analogy,  and  all  good  authority,  it  must 
here  be  whoever  or  whosoever.  The  shorter  compound  ichoso,  which  occurs  very  frequently  in  the 
Bible,  is  now  almost  obsolete  in  prose,  but  still  sometimes  used  by  the  poets.  It  has  the  same 
meaning  as  whosoever,  but  appears  to  have  been  confined  to  the  nominative  singular;  and  wha,'so 
is  still  more  rare :  as,  "  Whoso  diggeth  a  pit,  shall  fall  therein." — Prov.  xxvi,  27. 

"  Which  whoso  tastes,  can  be  enslaved  no  more." — Coicper. 

"  On  their  intended  journey  to  proceed, 

And  over  night  whatso  thereto  did  need." — Hubbard. 

OBS.  17. — The  relative  that  is  applied  indifferently  to  persons,  to  brute  animals,  and  to  inani- 
mate things.  But  the  word  that  is  not  always  a  relative  pronoun.  It  is  sometimes  a  pronoun, 
sometimes  an  adjective,  and  sometimes  a  conjunction.  I  call  it  not  a  demonstrative  pronoun  and 
also  a  relative;  because,  in  the  sense  inw'hich  Murray  and  others  have  styled  it  a  "demonstrative 
adjective  pronoun,"  it  is  a  pronominal  adjective,  and  it  is  better  to  call  it  so.  (1.)  It  is  a  relative 
pronoun  whenever  it  is  equivalent  to  who,  whom,  or  which  :  as,  "  There  is  not  A  just  man  upon 
earth,  that  doeth  good,  and  sinneth  not." — Eccl.  vii,  20.  "  It  was  diverse  from  all  the  beasts  that 
were  before  it." — Dan.  vii,  7.  "  And  he  had  a  name  written,  that  no  man  knew  but  he  himself." 
— Rev.  xix,  12.  (2.)  It  is  &  pronominal  adjective  whenever  it  relates  to  a  noun  expressed  or 
understood  after  it:  as,  "  Thus  with  violence  shall  that  great  city,  Babylon,  be  thrown  down." — 
Rev.  xviii,  21.  "  Behold  that  [thing]  which  I  have  seen."— Eccl.  v,  18.  "  And  they  said,  '  What 
is  that\  [matter]  to  us  ?  See  thou  to  that'  [matter]."— Matt,  xxvii,  4.  (3.)  In  its  other  uses,  it  is 

*  See  this  erroneous  doctrine  in  Kirkham's  Grammar,  p.  112  ;  in  Wells's,  p.  74  ;  in  Sanborn's,  p.  71,  p.  96,  and 
p.  177  ;  in  Cooper's,  p.  38  ;  in  0.  B.  Peirce's,  p.  70.  These  writers  show  a  great  fondness  for  this  complex  mode 
of  parsing.  But,  in  fact,  no  pronoun,  not  even  the  word  wluit,  has  any  double  construction  of  cases  from  a  real 

•hnose 
both 

No  pronoun 

can  properly  be  called 'l  compound'1''  merely  because  it  has  a  double  construction,  and  is  equivalent  to  two  other 
words.  These  positions,  if  true,  as  I  arn  sure  they  are,  will  refute  sundry  assertions  that  are  contained  in  the 
above-named  grammars. 

t  Here  the  demonstrative  word  that,  as  well  as  the  phrase  that  matter,  which  I  form  to  explain  its  construction, 
unquestionably  refers  back  to  Judas's  confession,  that  he  had  sinned  ;  but  still,  as  the  word  has  not  the  connecting 
power  of  a  relative  pronoun,  its  true  character  is  that  of  an  adjective,  and  not  that  of  a  pronoun.  This  pronomi- 
nal adjective  is  very  often  mixed  with  some  such  ellipsis,  and  that  to  repeat  the  import  of  various  kinds  of  words 
and  phrases  ;  as,  >'  God  shall  help  her,  and  that  right  early."— Fsal.  xlvi,  5.  "  Nay,  ye  do  wrong,  and  defraud, 
and  that  your  brethren."  —1  Cor.  vi,  8.  "  I'll  know  your  business,  thai  I  will."—  Shaksptare. 


CHAP.  V.]  ETYMOLOGY. PRONOUNS. — CLASSES.  289 

a  conjunction ;  and,  as  such,  it  most  commonly  makes  what  follows  it,  the  purpose,  object,  or 
final  cause,  of  what  precedes  it :  as,  "  I  read  th'it  I  may  learn." — Dr.  Adam.   "  Ye  men  of  Athens, 

ul.     "Live  well,  that  you  may  die 
•Genesis.     "  Judge  not,  that  ye  be 


i  111.  ill   U«*U*^J     V/l      »T  Hv*l,     pi  ^U^VA^O     Ifc    .       iA^j  JL   *  V  «**_».    MTV***     A     lllt*t?      IV     HH. 

I  perceive  that  in  all  things  ve  arc  too  superstitious." — St.  Paul.     "Live  well,  that  you  may  die 
well." — Anon.     "  Take  heed  that  thou  speak  not  to  Jacob." — < 


not  judged." — Matthew. 

OBS.  18. — The  word  that,  or  indeed  any  other  word,  should  never  be  so  used  as  to  leave  the 
part  of  speech  uncertain  ;  as,  "  For  in  the"  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof,  thou  sh.ilt  surely  die." — 
Gen.  ii,  17.  IlereM'W  seems  to  be  a  relative  pronoun,  representing  day,  in  the  third  person,  sin- 
gular, neuter;  yet,  in  other  respects  it  seems  to  be  a  conjunction,  because  there  is  nothing  to 
determine  its  case.  Better:  "  For  in  the  day  on  which  thou  eatest  thereof,  thoushalt  surely  die." 
This  mongrel  construction  of  the  word  that,  were  its  justification  possible,  is  common  enough  in 
our  language  to  be  made  good  English.  But  it  must  needs  be  condemned,  because  it  renders  the 
character  of  the  term  ai  md  is  such  a  grammatical  difficulty  as  puts  the  parser  at  a  dead 

nonplus.  Examples  :  (I.)  "  But  at  the  same  time  THAT  men  are  giving  their  orders,  God  on  his  part 
is  likewise  giving  his." — Rollings  Hist,  ii,  106.  Here  the  phrase,  "  at  the  same  time  that,"'  is  only 
equivalent  to  the  adverb  while ;  and  yet  it  is  incomplete,  because  it  means,  "at  t/te  same  time  at 
tOAicA,"  or,  "at  the  very  tim>  at  ichich."  (2.)  "  The  author  of  this  work,  at  the  same  time  THAT  he 
has  endeavoured  to  avoid  a  plan,  which  may  be  too  concise  or  too  extensive,  defective  in  its  parts 
or  irregular  in  the  disposition  of  them,  has  studied  to  render  his  subject  sufficiently  easy,  intelli- 
gible, and  comprehensive." — Murray's  Gram.,  Introd.,  p.  1.  This  sentence,  which  is  no  unfair 
specimen  of  its  author's  original  style,  needs  three  corrections  :  1.  For  "  at  the  same  time  that," 
say  while:  2.  Drop  the  phrase,  "which  may  be,"  because  it  is  at  least  useless :  3.  For  "  aufr- 
ject,"  read  treatise,  or  compilation.  You  will  thus  have  tolerable  diction.  Again:  (3.)  "The 
participles  of  active  verbs  act  upon  objects  and  govern  them  in  the  objective  case,  in  the  same 
manner  that  the  verbs  do,  from  which  they  are  derived.  A  participle  in  the  nature  of  an  adjective, 
belongs  or  refers  to  nouns  or  pronouns  in"  the  same  manner  that  adjectives  do ;  and  when  it  will 
admit  the  degrees  of  comparison,  it  is  called*,  participial  adjective." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  38.  This 
is  the  style  of  a  gentleman  of  no  ordinary  pretensions,  one  who  thinks  he  has  produced  the  best 
grammar  that  has  ever  appeared  in  our  language.  To  me,  however,  his  work  suggests  an  abun- 


the  relation"  ?  When  do'es  a  participle  "  admit  the  degrees  of  comparison  ?"  How  shall  we  parse  the 
word  that  in  the  foregoing  senteni 

UHS.  1!» — The  word«.v,  though  usually  a  conjunction  or  an  adverb,  has  sometimes  the  construc- 
tion of  a  relative  pronoun,  especially  after  such,  so  many,  or  as  many  •  and,  whatever  the  antecedent 
noun  m;iy  be,  this  is  the  only  jit  relative  to  follow  any  of  these  terms  in  a  restrictive  sense.  Exam- 
ples: "We  have  been  accustomed  to  repose  on  its  veracity  with  such  humble  confidence  as 
suppresses  curiosity." — Johnson's  Life  of  Cowfey.  "  The  malcontents  made  such  demands  as  none 
but  a  tyrant  could  refuse." — Bolinabroke,  on  Hist.  Let.  1.  "  The  Lord  added  to  the  church  daily 
such  [persons]  as  should  be  saved." — Acts,  ii,  47.  "And  as  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal 
life,  believed." — Acts,  xiii,  48.  "As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten." — Rev.  iii,  19. 
"  Know  ye  not,  that  so  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,  were  baptized  into  his 
death  :"—//"///.  vi,  3.  "For  as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ,  have  put  on 
Christ." — Gal.  iii,  27-  "  A  syllable  is  s»  ma»>/  letters  as  are  spoken  with  one  motion  of  the  voice." 
— l'i  r/'-if's  H mm.  p.  8.  "  The  compound  tenses  are  s^lch  as  cannot  be  formed  without  an  auxili- 
ary verb." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  91.  "Send  him  such  books  as  will  please  him." — Webster's 
Improved  Gntm.  p.  37.  "In  referring  to  su>-/t  a  division  of  the  day  as  is  past,  we  use  the  imper- 
f-'ct." — M//rr  KI '.>  drum.  p.  ~().  "  1'articiples  have  the  same  government  as  the  verbs  from  which 
they  are  derived." — Ib.  Rule  xiv.  "  Participles  ha\  e  government  as  the  verbs  have  from 

which  they  an-  derived." — Sunburn's  Gram.  p.  'Jl.  In  some  of  these  examples,  as  is  in  the  nomina- 
•  d  in  others,  in  the  objective ;  in  some,  it  is  of  the  masculine  gender,  and  in  others,  it 
is  neuter;  in  some,  it  is  of  the  plural  number,  and  in  others,  it  is  singular :  but  in  all,  it  is  of  the 
third  person  ;  and  in  all,  its  person,  number,  gender,  and  case,  are  as  obvious  as  those  of  any  inva- 
riable pronoun  can  be. 

Oiss.  -2'}. — Some  writers — (the  most  popular  are  Webster,  Bullions,  Wells,  and  Chandler — )ima- 

gine  that  as,  in  such  sentence*  :is  the  foregoing,  can  be  made  a  conjunction,  and  not  a  pronoun,  if 

i  to  consider  the  phraseology  elliptical.  Of  the  example  for  which  I  am  indebted  to 

him,  Dr.  Webstc :  :ed  as  the  nominative  to  ir ill  please,  orwemustsup- 

•  ral  words  :   as,  '  Send  him  such  books  as  the  books  ichich  will  please  him,  or 

as  those,   u-hich  will  please  him.'" — Imprm-nl  dram.  p.  .'57.  This  pretended  explanation  must  be 

d  as  an  absurditv.      In  either  form  of  it,  tiro  nominatives  are  idly  imagined  between  as  and 

•,} ;  and,  I  ask,  of  what  is  the  first  one  the  subject  ?  If  you  say,  "  Of  are  understood, "making 

i  books  as  theliook*  an  •"  does  not  as  bear  the  same  relation  to  this  new  verb  arc, 

that  is  found  in  the  pronoun  who,  when  one  says,  "  Tell  him  u'/io  you  arc?"  If  so,  as  is  a  pronoun 

still ;  so  that,  thus  far,  you  gain  nothing.  And  if  you  will  have  the  whole  explanation  to  be,  "  Send 

him    such   books   as   the  books  are  boote   ichich    will   please  him  ;"    you   multiply   words,   and 

finally  arrive  at  nothing,  bat  tautology  and   nonsense.     Wells,  not  condescending  to  show  his. 

pupils  what  he  would  supply  after  this  as,  thinks  it  sufficient  to  say,  the  word  is  "  followed  by  an, 

ellipsis  of  one  or  more  words  required  to  complete  the  construction  ;  as,  '  !!-•  was  the  father  of  all 

]  handle  the  harp  and  organ.' — Gen.  4:  21." — W'dls's  School  Gram.  1st  Ed.  p.  IGl ; 

3d    Ed.  p.  17 J. 

OHS.  21. — Chandler  exhibits  the  sentence,  "  These  are  not  such  as  are  worn;"  and,  in  parsiag  it, 
expounds  the  words  as  and  are,  thus  ;  the  crotchets  being  his,  not  mine  :  "  as  .  .  .  .  is  an  adverb, 
tie  two  sentences,  in  comparing  them.  [It  is  a  fault  of  some,  that  they  make  as  a  pro- 
noun, when,  in  a  comparative  sentence,  it  corresponds  with  such,  and  is  immediately  followed,  by 

19 


290  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [FAKT  II, 

a  verb,  as  in  the  sentence  now  given.  This  is  probably  done/rorn  an  ignorance  of  the  real  nomi~ 
native  to  the  verb.  The  sentence  should  stand  thus :  '  These  (perhaps  bonnets)  are  not  such 
(bonnets)  as  (those  bonnets)  are  (which  are)  worn.'  Then]  are  ....  is  the  substantive  verb, 
third  person,  plural  number,  indicative  mood,  present  tense,  and  agrees  with  the  noun  bonnets, 
understood." — Chandler's  Common  School  Gram.  p.  162.  All  this  bears  the  marks  of  shallow 
flippancy.  No  part  of  it  is  accurate.  "  Are  worn,"  which  the  critic  unwarrantably  divides  by  his 
misplaced  curves  and  uncouth  impletions,  is  a  passive  verb,  agreeing  with  the  pronoun  as.  But 
the  text  itself  is  faulty,  being  unintelligible  through  lack  of  a  noun ;  for,  of  things  that  may  b? 
"  worn"  there  are  a  thousand  different  sorts.  Is  it  not  ridiculous,  for  a  great  grammarian  to  offer, 
as  a  model  for  parsing,  wh;it  he  himself,  "from  an  ignorance  of  the  real  nominative,"  can  only 
interpret  with  a  "perhaps  f"  But  the  noun  which  this  author  supplies,  the  meaning  which  he 
guesses  that  he  had,  he  here  very  improperly  stoAvs  away  within  a  pair  of  crotchets.  Nor  is  it  true, 
that  "  the  sentence  should  stand"  as  above  exhibited  ;  for  the  tautological  correction  not  only  ha» 
the  very  extreme  of  awkwardness,  but  still  makes  as  a  pronoun,  a  nominative,  belonging  after  are: 
so  that  the  phrase,  "as  are  worn"  is  only  encumbered  and  perverted  by  the  verbose  addition 
made.  So  of  an  other  example  given  by  this  expounder,  in  which  as  is  an  objective :  "  He  is 
exactly  such  a  man  as  I  saw." — Chandler's  Com.  iSch.  Gram.  p.  163.  Here  as  is  the  object  of  saw. 
But  the  author  says,  "  The  sentence,  hoAvever,  should  stand  thus  :  '  He  is  exactly  such  a  man  as 
that  person  was  whom  I  saAV.'  " — Ibid.  This  inelegant  alteration  makes  as  a  nominative  depen- 
dent on  was. 

OBS.  22. — The  use  of  as  for  a  relative  pronoun,  is  almost  entirely  confined  to  those  connexions 
in  which  no  other  relative  Avould  be  proper  ;  hence  feAV  instances  occur,  of  its  absolute  equivalence 
to  who,  which,  or  that,  by  Avhich  to  establish  its  claim  to  the  same  rank.  Examples  like  the  follow- 
ing,  hoAveArer,  go  far  to  prove  it,  if  proof  be  necessary  ;  because  who  and  tvhich  are  here  employed, 
where  as  is  certainly  nOAV  required  by  all  good  usage :  "  It  is  not  only  convenient,  but  absolutely 
needful,  that  there  be  certain  meetings  at  certain  places  and  times,  as  may  best  suit  the  conveni- 
ence of  siich,  who  may  be  most  particularly  concerned  in  them." — Barclay's  Works,  "Vol.  i,  p.  495. 
"Which,  no  doubt,  will  be  found  obligatory  upon  all  such,  who  have  a  sense  and  feeling  of  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit." — Ib.  i,  p.  578.  "  Condemning  or  removing  such  things,  which  in  themselves 
are  evil." — Ib.  i,  p.  511.  In  these  citations,  not  only  are  who  and  zvhich  improperly  used  for  as, 
but  the  commas  before  them  are  also  improper,  because  the  relatives  are  intended  to  be  taken  in  a 
restrictive  sense.  "  If  there  be  such  that  AA-alk  disorderly  noAV." — Ib.  i,  p.  488.  Here  that  ought 
to  be  as;  or  else  such  ought  to  be  persons,  or  those.  "  When  such  virtues,  as  which  still  accom- 
pany the  truth,  are  necessarily  supposed  to  be  wanting/' — Ib.  i,  p.  502.  Here  which,  and  the 
comma  before  as,  should  both  be  expunged.  "  I  shall  raise  in  their  minds  the  same  course  of 
thought  as  has  taken  possession  of  my  OAvn." — Duncan's  Logic,  p.  61.  "  The  pronoun  must  be  in 
the  same  case  as  the  antecedent  would  be  in,  if  substituted  for  it." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  18: . 
"The  verb  must  therefore  have  the  same  construction  as  it  has  in  the  folloAving  sentence." — 
Murray's  Key,  p.  190.  Here  as  is  exactly  equivalent  to  the  relative  that,  and  either  may  be  usei 
with  equal  propriety.  We  cannot  avoid  the  conclusion,  therefore,  that,  as  the  latter  word  is  some- 
times a  conjunction  and  sometimes  a  pronoun,  so  is  the  former. 

OBS.  23. — The  relatives  that  and  as  have  this  peculiarity ;  that,  unlike  whom  and  which,  they 
never  folloAv  the  word  on  which  their  case  depends  :  nor  indeed  can  any  simple  relative  be  so- 
placed,  except  it  be  governed  by  a  preposition  or  an  infinitive.  Thus,  it  is  said,  (John,  xiii,  29th  ) 
"  Buy  those  things  that  we  have  need  of;"  so  Ave  may  say,  "  Buy  such  things  as  we  have  need  of." 
But  we  cannot  say,  "  Buy  those  things  of  that  we  have  need;"  or,  ".P^y  such  things  of  as  we 
have  need."  Though  we  may  say,  "  Buy  those  things  of  which  we  havt  U'3d,"  as  Avell  as,  "  Buy 
those  things  which  Ave  have  needo/";"  or,  "  Admit  those  persons  of  whom  we  hare  need,"  as  well 
as,  "  Admit  those  persons  whom  AVC  have  need  of."  By  this  it  appears  that  that  and  as  have  a 
closer  connexion  Avith  their  antecedents  than  the  other  relatives  require  :  a  circumstance  Avortby 
to  have  been  better  remembered  by  some  critics.  "  Again,  that  and  as  are  used  rather  differently. 
When  that  is  used,  the  verb  must  be  repeated  ;  as,  '  Participles  require  the  same  government, 
that  their  verbs  require.' — '  James  shoiced  the  same  credulity,  that  his  minister  showed'  But  Avhen 
as  is  used,  the  verb  generally  may,  or  may  not  be  repeated  ;  as,  '  Participles  require  the  same  gov- 
ernment as  their  verbs  ;'  or,  '  as  their  verbs  require.' — '  James  showed  the  same  credulity  as  his 
minister  ;'  or,  '  as  his  minister  showed :'  the  second  nominative  minister  being  parsed  as  the  nomi- 
native to  the  same  verb  showed  understood." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  140.* 

OBS.  24. — The  terminating  of  a  sentence  Avith  a  preposition,  or  other  small  particle,  is  in 
general  xmdignined,  though  perhaps  not  otherAvise  improper.  Hence  the  above-named  inflexibi- 
lity in  the  construction  of  that  and  as,  sometimes  induces  an  ellipsis  of  the  governing  Avord 
designed ;  and  is  occasionally  attended  with  some  difficulty  respecting  the  choice  of  our  terms. 
Examples :  "  The  answer  is  always  in  the  same  case  that  the  interrogative  word  is." — Sanborn's 
Gram.  p.  70.  Here  is  a  faulty  termination  ;  and  with  it  a  more  faulty" ellipsis.  In  stead  of  ending 
the  sentence  Avith  is  in,  say,  "  The  ansAver  ahvays  agrees  in  case  with  the  interrogative  Avord." 
Again :  "  The  relative  is  of  the  same  person  witH  the  antecedent." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  101.  This 
sentence  is  Avrong,  because  the  person  of  the  relative  is  not  really  identical  with  the  antecedent. 
'*  The  relative  is  of  the  same  person  as  the  antecedent." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  154.  Here  the 
writer  means — "as  the  antecedent  is  of."  "A  neuter  verb  becomes  active,  when  follo\ved  by  a 
noun  of  the  same  signification  with  its  OAvn." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  127.  Here  same  is  wrong,  or 
else  the  last  three  words  are  useless.  It  Avould  therefore  be  improper  to  say — "  of  the  same  signi- 
fication as  its  OAvn."  The  expression  ought  to  be — "  of  a  signification  similar  to  its  own."  "  Ode 

*  Dr.  Bullions  has  undertaken  to  prove,  "  That  the  word  AS  should  not  be  considered  a  relative  in  any  circum- 
stances." The  force  of  his  five  great  arguments  to  this  end,  the  reader  may  well  conceive  of,  when  he  has  com- 
pared the  following  one  with  Avhat  is  shown  in  the  22d  and  28d  observations  above  :  "  3.  As  can  never  be  used  as 
a,  substitute  for  another  relative  pronoun,  nor  another  relative,  pronoun  us  a  substitute,  j or  it.  If,  then,  it  is  a 
relative  pronoun,  it  is,  to  say  the  least,  a  very  unaccommodating  one." — Bullions'*  Analytical  and  Practical  Gram, 
of  1849,  p.  233. 


CHAP.  V.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  PRONOUNS.  —  CLASSES.  291 

<",reek,  the  same  with  song  or  hymn."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  396.  Sony  being  no  Greek  word,  I 
cannot  think  the  foregoing  expression  accurate,  though  one  might  say,  "  Ode  is  identical  with 
song  or  hymn  "  Would  it  not  be  better  to  say,  "  Ode  is  the  same  as  song  or  hymn  :"  That  is, 
"  Ode  is,  KteraUy,  the  same  thiny  that  song  or  hymn  is  /"  "  Treatises  of  pkllosopnj,  ought  not  to 
be  composed  in  the  same  style  icith  orations."  —  'Blair's  Ithet.  p.  17-).  Here  neither  with  nor  as 
can  be  proper;  because  orations  are  not  a  style.  Expunge  same  ;  and  say  —  "in  the  style  of 
oniti 

Oi:s  2-1.  —  Few  writers  are  sufficiently  careful  in  their  choice  and  management  of  relatives.  In 
the  following  instance,  Murray  and  others  viol  ite  a  special  rule  of  their  own  grammars,  by  using 
whom  tor  that  "  after  an  adjective  of  the  superlative  degree  :"  "  Modifying  them  according  to  the 
genius  of  that  tongiie,  and  the  established  practice  of  the  best  speakers  and  writers  by  icho/n  it  is 
used."  —  O'f'ii-o  (int/n.  p.  1  ;  Fink's,  p.  11;  ct  at.  According  to  Priestley  and  himself,  the  great 
Compiler  is  here  in  an  error.  The  rule  is  perhaps  too  stringent;  but  whoever  teaches  it,  should 
keep  it.  If  he  did  not  like  to  say,  "  the  best  speakers  and  writers  that  it  is  used  by  ;"  he  ought 
to  have  said,  "  the  best  speakers  and  writers  that  use  it."  Or,  rather,  he  ought  to  have  said 
noth  tinj  after  the  word  "  writers  ;"  because  the  whole  relative  clause  is  here  weak  and  useless. 
Yet  how  many  of  the  amenders  of  this  grammar  have  not  had  perspicacity  enough,  either  to  omit 
the  expression,  or  to  correct  it  according  to  the  author's  own  rule  ! 

Ons.  20.  —  Relative  pronouns  are  capable  of  being  taken  in  two  very  different  senses  :  the  one, 

'ire  of  the  general  idea  suggested  by  the  antecedent;  the  other,  resumptive  of  that  idea,  in 
the  full  import  of  the  term  —  or,  in  whatever  extent  the  previous  definitives  allow.  The  distinc- 
tion between  these  two  senses,  important  as  it  is,  is  frequently  made  to  depend  solely  upon  the 
insertion  or  the  omission  of  a  comma.  Thus,  if  I  say,  "  Men  who  grasp  after  riches,  are  never 
satisfied  ;"  the  relative  icho  is  taken  rcstrictively,  and  I  am  understood  to  speak  only  of  th 
ricious.  But,  if  I  say,  "  Men,  who  grasp  after  riches,  are  never  satisfied  ;"  by  separating  the 
'.  !;d  who,  1  declare  all  men  to  be  covetous  and  unsatisfied.  For  the  former  sense,  the 

relative  that  is  preferable  to  who  ;  and  I  shall  presently  show  why.  This  example,  in  the  latter 
form,  is  t'oun  i  in  Sanborn's  Grammar,  page  142d  ;  butwhether  the  author  meant  what  he  says,  or 
not,  I  doubt.  Like  many  other  unskillful  writers,  he  has  paid  little  regard  to  the  above-mention- 
ed distinction  ;  and,  in'some  instances,  his  meaning  cannot  have  been  what  his  words  declare  : 
as,  "  A  prism  is  a  solid,  whose  sides  are  all  parallelograms."  —  Analytical  Gram.  p.  142.  This,  as 
it  stands,  is  no  definition  of  a  prism,  but  an  assertion  of  two  things  ;  that  a  prism  is  a  solid,  and 
that  all  the  sides  of  a  solid  are  parallelograms.  Erase  the  comma,  and  the  words  will  describe  the 
prism  as  a  peculiar  kind  of  solid;  because  whose  will  then  be  taken  in  the  restrictive  sense. 
This  sense,  however,  may  be  conveyed  even  with  a  comma  before  the  relative  ;  as,  "  Some  ficti- 
tious histories  yet  remain,  that  were  composed  during  the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire."  —  Blair's 

...  .'J71.  This  does  not  suggest  that  there  are  no  other  fictitious  histories  now  extant,  than 
such  as  were  composed  during  the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire  ;  but  I  submit  it  to  the  reader, 
whether  the  word  which,  if  here  put  for  that,  would  not  convey  this  idea. 

OHS.  27  —  Upon  this  point,  many  philologists  aie  open  to  criticism  ;  and  none  more  so,  than  the 
recent  aiithor  above  cited.  By  his  own  plain  showing,  this  grammarian  has  no  conception  of  the 
difference  of  meaning,  upon  which  the  foregoing  distinction  is  founded.  What  marvel,  then,  that 
he  falls  into  errors,  both  of  doctrine  and  of  practice  ?  But,  if  no  such  difference  exists,  or  none  that 
is  worthy  of  a  critic's  notice  ;  then  the  error  is  mine,  and  it  is  vain  to  distinguish  between  the 
restrictive  and  the  resumptive  sense  of  relative  pronouns.  For  example  :  "  The  boy  that  desires 
to  assist  his  companions,  deserves  respect."  —  G.  Broicn.  "  That  boy,  who  desires  to  assist  his 
companions,  deserves  respect."  —  D.  II.  tinhorn.  According  to  my  notion,  these  two  sentences 
clearly  convey  two  very  different  meanings  ;  the  relative,  in  the  former,  being  restrictive,  but,  in 
the  hitter,  resumptive  of  the  sense  of  the  antecedent.  But  of  the  latter  example  this  author  says, 
'•  The  clause,  '  who  desires  to  assist  his  companions,'  with  the  relative  who  at  its  head,  explains 
or  tells  what  boy  deserves  respect  ;  and,  like  a  conjunction,  connects  this  clause  to  the  noun  boy." 
,•'.  p.  69.  He  therefore  takes  it  in  a  restrictive  sense,  as  if  this  sentence  were 

.  equivalent  to  the  former.    But  he  adds,  "A  relative  pronoun  is  resolvable  into  a  personal 
and  a  conjunction.     The  sentence  would  then  read,  'That  boy  desires  to  assist  his  com- 

" 


.   unit  hi-   deserves  respect.'      The  relative  pronoun  governs  "the  nearer  verb,   and   the 

antecedent   the  more  distant  one."  —  76.  p.  69.      Now,  concerning  the  restrictive  relative,  this 

lence  does  not  hold  good  ;    and,  besides,  the  explanation  here  given,  not  only 

is  former  declaration  of  the  sense  he  intended,  but,  with  other  seeming  contradiction, 

•  i  the  nearer  verb,  and  the  substituted  pronoun  to  the  more  distant. 
.  the  following  principles  of  this  author's  punctuation  are  no  less  indicative  of 
s  of  this  matter:  "  Rri.r.  xiv.  —  Relative  pronouns  in  the  nominative  or  [the]  objec- 

when  the  clause  which  the  relative  connects  [,]  ends  a  sent 
•  hment.'  —  B. 


temper  is  a  quality,  which  reflects  a  lustre   on  every  aceomplishme 

Self  [-]  denial  is  the  sacrifice  [,]  which  virtue  must  make.'  [ — L.  Murray.]  The: 

is  omitted  before*  the  relative,  when  the  verb  which  the  antecedent  geiverns.  follows  the 

:  hut  suffers  by  imposture,  has  too  often  his  virtue  more  impaired  than  his  fortune.' 
— ./«/•  »'s  Analytical  Cram.  p.  269.     Such  are  some  of  our  author's  principles — 

"  the  essence  of  modern  improvements."      His  practice,  though  often  wrong,  is  none  the  worse 
•itradie-ting  these  doctrines.      Nay,  his  proudest  boast  is  ungrammatk-al,  though  peradvcn- 
t.ire  not  the  less  believed  :   "  \0  [other]  yrammar  in  the  language  probably  contains  so  great  a 
quantity  of  condensed  and  useful  matter  with  so  little  superfluity.'" — Xan'mr  !>    v. 

OBS.  29. — Murray's  rule  for  the  punctuation  of  relatives,  (a 'rule  which  he  chiefly  copied  from 
rowth,)  rccogni/es  virtually  the  distinction  which  I  have  made  above  ;  but,  in  assuming  that 
;lativi  "?/"  require  a  comma  before  them,  it  erroneously  suggests  that  the  resumptive 

isnse  is  more  common  than  the  restrictive.      Churchill,  on  the  contrary,  as  wrongly  makes  it  an 
essential  characteristic  of  all  relatives,  "  to  limit  or  explain  the  words  f>  which  they  refer."     See 
p.  74.    The  fact  is,  that  relatives  are  so  generally  restrictive,  that  not  one  half  of 


292  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

them  are  thus  pointed ;  though  some  that  do  restrict  their  antecedent,  nevertheless  admit  the 
point.  This  may  be  seen  by  the  first  example  given  us  by  Murray  :  "  Relative  pronouns  are  con- 
nective words,  and  generally  admit  a  comma  before  them:  as,  '  He  preaches  sublimely,  who  lives 
a  sober,  righteous,  and  pious  life.'  But  when  two  members,  or  phrases,  [say  clauses,]  are  closely 
connected  by  a  relative,  restraining  the  general  notion  of  the  antecedent  to  a  particular  sense,  the 
comma  should  be  omitted:  as,  '  Self-denial  is  the  sacrifice  which  virtue  must  make  ;'  '  A  man  who 
is  of  a  detracting  spirit,  will  misconstrue  the  most  innocent  words  that  can  be  put  together.'  In 
the  latter  example,  the  assertion  is  not  of  '  a  man  in  general,'  but  of  '  a  man  who  is  of  a  detracting 
spirit ;'  and  therefore  they  [say  the  pronoun  and  its  antecedent]  should  not  be  separated." — Mur- 
ray's Gram.  Octavo,  p.  273  ;  Ingersoll's,  285  ;  Comly's,l52.  This  reasoning,  strictly  applied,  would 
exclude  the  comma  before  who  in  the  first  example  above;  but,  as  the  pronoun  does  not 
"  closely"  or  immediately  follow  its  antecedent,  the  comma  is  allowed,  though  it  is  not  much 
needed.  Not  so,  when  the  sense  is  resumptive  :  as,  "  The  additions,  -which  are  very  considerable, 
are  chiefly  such  as  are  calcuated  to  obviate  objections."  See  Murray's  Gram.  p.  ix.  Here  the 
comma  is  essential  to  the  meaning.  Without  it,  which  would  be  equivalent  to  that ;  with  it,  which 
is  equivalent  to  and  they.  But  this  latter  meaning,  as  I  imagine,  cannot  be  expressed  by  the  rel- 
ative that. 

OBS.  30. — Into  the  unfortunate  example  which  Sanborn  took  from  Murray,  I  have  inserted  the 
comma  for  him  ;  not  because  it  is  necessary  or  right,  but  because  his  rule  requires  it:  "  Self 
denial  is  the  sacrifice,"  &c.  The  author  of  "  a  complete  system  of  grammar,"  might  better  con- 
tradict even  Murray,  than  himself.  But  why  was  this  text  admired  ?  and  why  have  Greene, 
Bullions,  Hiley,  Hart,  and  others,  also  copied  it  ?  A  sacrifice  is  something  devoted  and  lost,  for 
the  sake  of  a  greater  good  ;  and,  if  Virtue  sacrifice  self-denial,  what  will  she  do,  but  run  into  indul- 
gence ?  The  great  sacrifice  which  she  demands  of  men,  is  rather  that  of  their  self-love.  Win.  E. 
Russell  has  it,  "  Self  defence  is  the  sacrifice  which  virtue  must  make  !" — Russell's  Abridgement  of 
Murray's  Gram.  p.  116.  Bishop  Butler  tells  us,  "  It  is  indeed  ridiculous  to  assert,  that  self-denial 
is  essential  to  virtue  and  piety ;  but  it  would  have  been  nearer  the  truth,  though  not  strictly  the 
truth  itself,  to  have  said,  that  it  is  essential  to  discipline  and  improvement." — Analogy  of 
Religion,  p.  123. 

OBS.  31. — The  relative  that,  though  usually  reckoned  equivalent  to  who  or  which,  evidently 
differs  from  both,  in  being  more  generally,  and  perhaps  more  appropriately,  taken  in  the  restrictive 
sense.  It  ought  therefore,  for  distinction's  sake,  to  be  preferred  to  who  or  which,  whenever  an 
antecedent  not  otherwise  limited,  is  to  be  restricted  by  the  relative  clause  ;  as,  "  Men  that  grasp 
after  riches,  are  never  satisfied." — "  I  love  wisdom  that  is  gay  and  civilized." — Art  of  Thinking, 
p.  34.  This  phraseology  leaves  not  the  limitation  of  the  meaning  to  depend  solely  upon  the 
absence  of  a  pause  after  the  antecedent ;  because  the  relative  that  is  seldom,  if  ever,  used  by  good 
writers  in  any  other  than  a  restrictive  sense.  Again  :  "A  man  of  a  polite  imagination  is  let  into  a 
great  many  pleasures  that  the  vulgar  are  not  capable  of  receiving." — Addison,  Spect.  No  411. 
Here,  too,  according  to  my  notion,  that  is  obviously  preferable  to  which ;  though  a  great  critu , 
very  widely  known,  has  taken  some  pains  to  establish  a  different  opinion.  The  "  many  pleasures  ' 
here  spoken  of,  are  no  otherwise  defined,  than  as  being  such  as  "  the  vulgar  are  not  capable  <>f 
receiving."  The  writer  did  not  mean  to  deny  that  the  vulgar  are  capable  of  receiving  a  grert 
many  pleasures ;  but,  certainly,  if  that  were  changed  to  which,  this  would  be  the  meaning  con- 
veyed, unless  the  reader  were  very  careful  to  avoid  a  pause  where  he  would  be  apt  to  make  one. 
I  therefore  prefer  Addison's  expression  to  that  which  Dr.  Blair  would  substitute. 

OBS.  32. — The  style  of  Addison  is  more  than  once  censured  by  Dr.  Blair,  for  the  frequency  with 
which  the  relative  that  occurs  in  it,  where  the  learned  lecturer  would  have  used  ichich.  The  rea- 
sons assigned  by  the  critic  are  these  :  "  Which  is  a  much  more  definitive  word  than  that,  being 
never  employed  in  any  other  way  than  as  a  relative ;  whereas  that  is  a  word  of  many  sense;* ; 
sometimes  a  demonstrative  pronoun,  often  a  conjunction.  In  some  cases  we  are  indeed  obliged 
to  use  that  for  a  relative,  in  order  to  avoid  the  xingraceful  repetition  of  which  in  the  same  sen- 
tence. But  when  we  are  laid  under  no  necessity  of  this  kind,  which  is  always  the  preferable  word, 
and  certainly  was  so  in  this  sentence  :  'Pleasures  which  the  vulgar  are  not  capable  of  receiving,' 
is  much  better  than  'pleasures  that  the  vulgar  are  not  capable  of  receiving.'  " — Blair's  Rhetoric, 
Lect.  xx,  p.  200.  Now  the  facts  are  these :  (I.)  That  that  is  the  more  definitive  or  restrictive 
word  of  the  two.  (2.)  That  the  word  which  has  as  many  different  senses  and  uses  as  the  word 
that,  (3.)  That  not  the  repetition  of  ichich  or  who  in  a  series  of  clauses,  but  a  needless  change  of 
the  relative,  is  ungraceful.  (4.)  That  the  necessity  of  using  that  rather  than  which  or  who,  de- 
pends, not  upon  what  is  here  supposed,  but  upon  the  different  senses  which  these  words  usually 
convey.  (5.)  That  as  there  is  always  some  reason  of  choice,  that  is  sometimes  to  be  preferred; 
which,  sometimes  ;  and  who,  sometimes  :  as,  "  It  is  not  the  man  who  has  merely  taught,  or  who 
has  taught  long,  or  who  is  able  to  point  out  defects  in  authors,  that  is  capable  of  enlightening 
the  world  in  the  respective  sciences  which  have  engaged  his  attention  ;  but  the  man  who  has  taught 
well." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  7. 

OBS.  33. — Blair's  Rhetoric  consists  of  forty-seven  lectures  ;  four  of  which  are  devoted  to  a 
critical  examination  of  the  style  of  Addison,  as  exhibited  in  four  successive  papers  of  the  Spec- 
tator. The  remarks  of  the  professor  are  in  general  judicious  ;  but,  seeing  his  work  is  made  a 
common  textbook  for  students  of  "  Belles  Lettres,"  it  is  a  pity  to  find  it  so  liable  to  reprehension 
on  the  score  of  inaccuracy.  Among  the  passages  which  are  criticised  in  the  twenty-first  lecture, 
there  is  one  in  which  the  essayist  speaks  of  the  effects  of  novelty  as  follows  : — 

'  It  is  this  which  bestows  cha'rms  on  a  monster,  and  makes  even  the  imperfections  of  nature  please 
us.  It  is  this  that  recommends  variety,  where  the  mind  is  every  instant  called  off  to  something 
new,  and  the  attention  not  suffered  to  dwell  too  long  and  waste  itself  on  any  particular  object.  It 
is  this,  likewise,  that  improves  what  is  great  or  beautiful,  and  makes  it  afford  the  mind  a  double 
entertainment.' — Spectator,  No.  412. 

This  passage  is  deservedly  praised  by  the  critic,  for  its  "  perspicuity,  grace,  and  harmony  ;  "  but, 
in  using  different  relatives  under  like  circumstances,  the  writer  has  hardly  done  justice  to  his  own 
good  taste.  Blair's  remark  is  this  :  "  His  frequent  use  of  that,  instead  of  which,  is  another  pe- 


CHAP.    V.]  ETYMOLOGY. PRONOUNS. CLASSES.  293 

culiarity  of  his  style;  but,  on  this  occasion  in  particular,  [it]  cannot  be  much  commended,  as, '  It 
'which,'  seeing  in  every  view,  to  be  better  than,   '  It  is  this  that,'  three  times  repeated." — 
What  is  here  meant  by  "  erer>i  dew."  may,  I  suppose,   be  seen  in  the  corre- 
sponding criticism  which  is  noticed  in  my  last  observation  above;   and  I  am  greatly  deceived,  if, 
in  this  instance  also,  the  relative  that  is  not  better  than  which,  and  more  agreeable  to  polite  usage. 
The  direct  relative  which  corresponds  to   the  introductory  pronoun  it  and  an  other  ante 
should,  I  think,  be  that,  and  not  who  or  which  :  as,  "  It  is  not  yet/tat  speak." — Matt,  x,  20.      "It 
is  th-Hi,  Lord,  ir/io  hast  the  hearts  of  all  men  in  thy  hands,  that  turnest  the  hearts  of  any  to  show 
me   favour." — Jt-n  kit's  Prayer*,  p.  278.      Here  who  has  reference. to  thou  or  Lord  only;"  but  that 

me  resj.i-rt  to  the  pronoun  it,  though  it  agrees  in  person  and  gender  with  thou.'  A  similar 
example  is  cited  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  observation  ;  and  I  submit  it  to  the  reader,  whether 
the  word  that,  as  it  there  occurs,  is  not  the  only  Jit  word  for  the  place  it  occupies.  So  in  the 
following  examples:  "There  are  Words,  irliirh  are  not  I'crhs,  that  signify  actions  and  passions, 
and  even  things  transient." — Bright tantf  9  dram.  p.  100.  "It  is  the  universal  taste  of  mankind, 
wh>i  h  is  subject  to  no  such  changing  modes,  that  alone  is  entitled  to  possess  any  authority."— 

Hhetnri,-,  p.  286. 

()}!s.  ,'34. — Sometimes  the  broad  import  of  an  antecedent  is  doubly  restricted,  first  by  one  rela- 
tive clause,  and  then  by  an  other ;  as,  "And  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth,  shall  worship  him,  whose 
•  •>'  written  in  the  hoof;  of  fife." — Rev.  xiii,  8.  "  And  then,  like  true  Thames-Watermen, 
ix>  every  nrin  that   passes  by,  who  is  better  dressed  than  themselves." — Brown's  Esti- 

Vol.  ii,  p.  10.  Here  and,  or  (/'  he,  would  be  as  good  as  "  who  ;  "  for  the  connective  only  serves 
to  carry  the  restriction  into  nairower  limits.  Sometimes  the  limit  fixed  by  one  clause,  is  fj-f  ended 
by  an  "other  ;  as,  "  There  is  no  evil  that  you  may  suffer,  or  that  you  may  expect  to  mtjf<  r,  which 
prayer  is  not  the  appointed  means  to  alleviate." — Bickersteth,  on  Prayer,  p.  16.  Here  which 
resumes  the  idea  of  "  ecil,"  in  the  extent  last  determined  ;  or  rather,  in  that  which  is  fixed  by 
either  clause,  since  the  limits  of  both  are  embraced  in  the  assertion.  And,  in  the  two  limiting 

3,  the  same  pronoun  was  requisite,  on  account  of  their  joint  relation  ;  but  the  clause  which 
assumes  a  different  relation,  is  rightly  introduced  by  a  different  pronoun.  This  is  also  the  case  in 
the  following  examples  :  "  For  there  is  no  condemnation  to  those  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who 
walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit." — Barclay's  Works, Vol.  i,  p.  432.  "  I  will  tell  thee  the 

v  of  the  woman,  and  of  the  beast  that  carrieth  her,  which  hath  the  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns  " — Her.  xvii,  7.  Here  the  restrictive  sense  is  well  expressed  by  one  relative,  and  the 
resumptive  by  an  other.  When  neither  of  these  senses  is  intended  by  the  writer,  any  form  of  the 
relative  must  needs  be  improper :  as,  "The  greatest  genius  which  runs  through  the  arts  and 
sciences,  takes  a  kind  of  tincture  from  them,  and  falls  unavoidably  into  imitation." — Addison,  Spect. 
'.  Here,  as  I  suppose,  which  runs  should  be  in  ru/Dting.  What  else  can  the  author  have 
meant  ? 

OHS.  3-5. — Having  now,  as  I  imagine,  clearly  shown  the  difference  between  the  restrictive  and 
the  resumptive  sense  of  a  relative  pronoun,  and  the  absolute  necessity  of  making  such  a  choice 
of  words  as  will  express  that  sense  only  which  we  intend ;  I  hope  the  learner  will  see,  by  these 
observations,  not  merely  that  clearness  requires  the  occasional  use  of  each  of  our  five  relatives,  who, 
which,  what,  that,  and'r/.v  ,•  but  that  this  distinction  in  the  meaning,  is  a  very  common  principle 
by  which  to  determine  what  is,  and  what  is  not,  good  English.  Thus  that  and  as  are  appropri- 
at'-ly  our  n-xtrictirc  relatives,  though  who  and  which  are  sometimes  used  restrictively;  but,  in  a 
'••ho  or  trhich  is  required,  and  required  even  after  those  terms  which  usually  de- 
mand thnt  or  ax  :  thus,  "  We  are  vexed  at  the  unlucky  chance,  and  go  away  dissatisfied.  Such 
impressions,  irhifh  ought  not  to  be  cherished,  are  a  sufficient  reason  for  excluding  stories  of  that 
kind  from  the  theatre." — Katncs,  El.  ofCrit.  ii,  279.  Here  which  is  proper  to  the  sense  intended  ; 
but  Mf-'/i  requires  us,  \\hen  the  latter  term  limits  the  meaning  of  the  former.  In  sentences  like 


prodigies  that  attended  the  death  of  Julius  C;esar." — lh.  p.  401.     "  By  unfolding  those  principles 

that  ought  to  govern  the  taste  of  every  individual." — A'<////<  v'.s  Dedication  to  El.  ofCrit.    "  But  I 

m  sure  he  has  that  ///'//  is  better  than  an  estate." — Spect.  No.  47-5.     "  There  are  two  properties, 

li/e  and  essentially  d.  lative  pronouns." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  74.      By 

•  !cs,   it  maybe  seen,  that  Dr.  Blair   often  forgot  or  disregarded  his  own  doctrine 

;  itivc;  though  he  was  oftener  led,  by  the  error  of  that  doctrine,  to 

for  tJmt  improji. 

On-  it  an  interrogative  pronoun,  in  which  sense  it  always  re- 

and  blind  !  for  whether  is  greater,  the  gold,  or  the 

temple  that  sanctifieth  1  ".  xxiii,  17.     Th-  :.»w  obsolete;  and,  in  stead  of 

Munition,  corresponding  to  or,  the  word 

whether  is  still  in  good  repn-  t  will  go  or  not." — Webster's  J)ict.       In 

ill  irhetln-r  an  ailrero. 

'  ;ironouns  differ  from  relatives  chiefly  in 

ed  to  ifl  unknown  to  the  speaker,  they  do  not  relate  to  a  j 

.11,  but  to  s  I  in  the  answer  to  the  question.      It  i-  ceit  nn 

Lh.it  t:.  .  arc  not  regulated  by  an  antecedent  noun  ;  but  by  what  the 

with  them  in  these  respects  : 

K.  ll  II  / ..-/  ,  :;  that,   standing  forw/tat  thimj,  is  of 

;he  third  person,  singular  number,  and  neuter  gender ;   but  men,  which  is  the  term   that  answers 

:o  it,  is  of  the  third  person,  plural,  masculine.  There  is  therefore  no  necessary  agreement  between 

:he  question  and  the  answer,  in  any  of  th'^e  properties  in  which  a  pronoun  usually  agrees  with 

minarians  will  ha\e  i:.:  ,-ree  with  these   "  's"  as 

i  agree  with  tin.  i:  .     The  answer,  it  must  be  granted,  commonly  contains  a  noun, 


294  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [t>ART  II. 

corresponding  in  some  respects  to  the  interrogative  pronoun,  and  agreeing  with  it  in  case  ;  but 
this  noun  cannot  be  supposed  to  control  the  interrogation,  nor  is  it,  in  any  sense,  the  word  for 
which  the  pronoun  stands.  For  every  pronoun  must  needs  stand  for  something  that  is  uttered  or 
conceived  by  the  same  speaker  ;  nor  can  any  question  be  answered,  until  its  meaning  is  under- 
stood. Interrogative  pronouns  must  therefore  be  explained  as  direct  substitutes  for  such  other 
terms  as  one  might  use  in  stead  of  them.  Thus  who  means  what  person  ? 
"  Who  taught  that  heav'n-directed  spire  to  rise  ? 

The  Man  of  Ross,  each  lisping  babe  replies." — Pope. 

OBS.  38. — In  the  classification  of  the  pronouns,  and  indeed  in  the  whole  treatment  of  them, 
almost  all  our  English  grammars  are  miserably  faulty,  as  well  as  greatly  at  variance.  In  some  forty 
or  fifty,  which  I  have  examined  on  this  point,  the  few  words  which  constitute  this  part  of  speech, 
have  more  than  twenty  different  modes  of  distribution.  (1.)  Cardell  says,  "  There  is  butonekind 
of  pronouns." — Elements  of  Gram.  p.  30.  (2.)  D.Adams,  Greenleaf,  Nutting,  and  Weld,  will 
have  two  kinds  ;  "personal  and  relative."  (3.)  Dr.  Webster's  "  Substitutes,  or  pronouns,  are  of 
two  kinds  :"  the  one,  "  called  personal;"  the  other,  without  name  or  number.  See  Improved 
Gram.  p.  24.  (4.)  Many  have  fixed  upon  three  sorts  ;  "personal,  relative,  and  adjective ;  "  with  a 
subdivision  of  the  last.  Of  these  is  Lindley  Murray,  in  his  late  editions,  with  his  amenders, 
Ainsworth,  Alger,  Bacon,  Bullions,  Fisk,  A.  Flint,  Frost,  Guy,  Hall,  Kirkham,  Lennie,  Merchant, 
Picket,  Pond,  and  S.  Putnam.  (5.)  Kirkham,  however,  changes  the  order  of  the  classes;  thus, 
" personal,  adjective,  and  relative;"  and,  with  ridiculous  absurdity,  makes  mine,  thine,  hers,  ours, 
yours,  and  theirs  to  be  "  compounds."  (6.)  Churchill  adopts  the  plan  of  "personal,  relative,  and 
adjective  pronouns  ;  "  and  then  destroys  it  by  a  valid  argument.  (7-)  Comly,  Wilcox,  Wt-lls,  and 
Perley,  have  these  three  classes  ;  "personal,  relative,  and  interrogative  :"  and  this  division  is  right. 
(8.)  Sanborn  makes  the  following  bull :  "  The  general  divisions  of  pronouns  are  into  personal,  re- 
lative, interrogative,  and  several  sub -divisions." — Analytical  Gram.  p.  91.  (9.)  Jaudon  has  these 
three  kinds  ;  "personal,  relative,  and  distributive."  (10.)  Robbins,  these  ;  "simple,  conjunctive, 
and  interrogative."  (11.)  Lindley  Murray,  in  his  early  editions,  had  these  four;  personal,  poss  es- 
sive,  relative,  and  adjective."  (12.)  Bucke  has  these;  " personal,  relative,  interrogative,  and  ad' 
jective."  (13.)  Ingersoll,  these;  "personal,  adjective,  relative,  and  interrogative."  (14.)  Bucha- 
nan; "personal,  demonstrative,  relative,  and [interrogative."  (15.)  Coar;  "  personal,  possessive  or 
pronominal  adjectives,  demonstrative,  and.  relative."  (16)  Bicknell ;  "  personal,  possessive,  relative, 
and  demonstrative."  (17.)  Cobbett;  " personal,  relative,  demonstrative,  and  indefinite."  (18.) 
M'Culloch  ;  "personal,  possessive,  relative,  and  reciprocal."  (19,)  Staniford  has  five  ;  "  personal, 
relative,  interrogative,  definitive,  and  distributive."  (20.)  Alexander,  six;  "personal,  relative, 
demonstrative,  interrogative,  definitive,  and  adjective."  (21.)  Cooper,  in  1828,  had  five;  "personal, 
relative,  possessive,  definite,  and  indefinite."  (22.)  Cooper,  in  1831,  six;  "personal,  relative,  defi- 
nite, indefinite,  possessive,  and  possessive  pronominal  adjectives."  (23.)  Dr.  Crombie  says  :  "Pro- 
nouns may  be  divided  into  Substantive,  and  Adjective  ;  Personal,  and  Impersonal ;  Relative,  and 
Interrogative."  (24.)  Alden  has  seven  sorts  ;  " personal,  possessive,  relative,  interrogative,  distri- 
butive, demonstrative,  and  indefinite.''  (25. )  Smith  has  many  kinds,  and  treats  them  so  badly  that 
nobody  can  count  them.  In  respect  to  definitions,  too,  most  of  these  writers  are  shamefully  in- 
accurate, or  deficient.  Hence  the  filling  up  of  their  classes  is  often  as  bad  as  the  arrangement. 
For  instance,  four  and  twenty  of  them  will  have  interrogative  pronouns  to  be  relatives  ;  but  who 
that  knows  what  a  relative  pronoun  is,  can  coincide  with  them  in  opinion  ?  Dr.  Crombie  thinks, 
"  that  interrogatives  are  strictly  relatives  ;  "  and  yet  divides  the  two  classes  with  his  own  hand  ! 

MODIFICATIONS. 

Pronouns  have  the  same  modifications  as  nouns ;  namely,  Persons,  Num- 
bers, G-enders,  and  Cases.  Definitions  universally  applicable  have  already 
been  given  of  all  these  things  ;  it  is  therefore  unnecessary  to  define  them  again 
in  this  place. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — In  the  personal  pronouns,  most  of  these  properties  are  distinguished  by  the  words  them- 
selves ;  in  the  relative  and  the  interrogative  pronouns,  they  are  ascertained  chiefly  by  means  of 
the  antecedent  and  the  verb.  Interrogative  pronouns,  however,  as-well-as  the  relatives  which, 
what,  as,  and  all  the  compounds  of  who,  which,  and  tchat,  are  always  of  the  third  person.  Even 
in  etymological  parsing,  some  regard  must  be  had  to  the  syntactical  relations  of  words.  By  mod- 
ifications, we  commonly  mean  actual  changes  in  the  forms  of  words,  by  which  their  grammatical 
properties  are  inherently  distinguished  ;  but,  in  all  languages,  the  distinguishable  properties  of 
words  are  somewhat  more  numerous  than  their  actual  variations  of  form  ;  there  being  certain  prin- 
ciples of  universal  grammar,  which  cause  the  person,  number,  gender,  or  case,  of  some  words,  to 
be  inferred  from  their  relation  to  others  ;  or,  what  is  nearly  the  same  thing,  from  the  sense  which 
is  conveyed  by  the  sentence.  Hence,  if  in  a  particular  instance  it  happen,  that  some,  or  even  all, 
of  these  properties,  are  without  any  index  in  the  form  of  the  pronoun  itself,  they  are  still  to  be 
ascribed  in  parsing,  because  they  may  be  easily  and  certainly  discovered  from  the  construction. 
For  example  :  in  the  following  text,  it  is  just  as  easy  to  discern  the  genders  of  the  pronouns,  as 
the  cases  of  the  nouns  ;  and  both  are  known  and  asserted  to  be  what  they  are,  upon  principles  of 
mere  inference  :  "  For  what  knowest  thou,  O  wife,  whether  thou  shalt  save  thy  husband?  or  hovr 


knowest  thou,  O  man,  whether  thou  shalt  save  thy  ivife?" — 1  Cor.  vii,  16.  Again:  "  Who  betrayed 

w,p.  211.     Here  h 
the  inference  of  every  reader,  that  who  and  /  are  so  too  ;  but  whether  the  word  companion  is  mas- 


htr  companion  ?  Not  /." — Murray's  Key,  p   211.     Here  her  being  of  the  feminine  gender,  it  is 


culine  or  feminine,  is  not  so  obvious. 

OBS.  2. — The  personal  pronouns  of  the  first  and  second  persons,  are  equally  applicable  to  both 
sexes  ;  and  should  be  considered  masculine  or  feminine,  according  to  the  known  application  of 


Ul 

: 

di 


CHAP.    V.]  ETYMOLOGY. — PRONOUNS. — MODIFICATIONS.  295 

them.  [See  Levizac's  French  Gram.  p.  73.]  The  speaker  and  the  hearer,  being  present  to  each 
other,  of  course  know  the  sex  to  which  they  respectively  belong ;  and,  whenever  they  appear  in 
narrative  or  dialogue,  we  are  told  who  they  are.  In  Latin,  an  adjective  or  a  participle  relating  to 
these  pronouns,  is  varied  to  agree  with  them  in  number,  gender,  and  case.  This  is  a  sufficient 
proof,  that  ego,  I,  and  tu,  thou,  are  not  destitute  of  geuder,  though  neither  the  Latin  words  nor 
the  English  are  themselves  varied  to  express  it : — 

"  Miseree  hoc  tamen  unum 

Excquere,  Anna,  mihi :  solam  nam  perfidus  ille 
Te  colere,  arcanos  etiam  tibi  credere  sensus  ; 
Sola  viri  molles  aditus  et  tempora  ndras." — Virgil. 

Ons.  3. — Many  English  grammarians,  and  Murray  at  their  head,  deny  the  first  person  of  nouns, 
and  the  gender  of  pronouns  of  the  first  and  second  persons  ;  and  at  the  same  time  teach,  that, 
"Pronouns  must  always  agree  with  their  antecedents,  and  the  nouns  for  which  they  stand,  in 
gender,  number,  and  person  :"  (Murray's  Gr.  Id  Ed.  p.  Ill  ;  Rev.  T.  Smith's,  p.  60  :)  and  further, 
with  redundance  of  expression,  that,  "  The  relative  is  of  the  same  person  with  the  antecedent, 
and  the  verb  agrees  with  it  accordingly." — Same.  These  quotations  form  Murray's  fifth  rule  of 
syntax,  as  it  stands  in  his  early  editions.*  In  some  of  his  rcvisings,  the  author  erased  the  word 
person  from  the  former  sentence,  and  changed  with  to  as  in  the  latter.  But  other  pronouns  than 
relatives,  agree  with  their  nouns  in  person ;  so  that  his  first  alteration  was  not  for  the  better, 
though  Ingersoll,  Kirkham,  Alger,  Bacon,  J.  Greenleaf,  and  some  others,  have  been  very  careful  to 
follow  him  in  it.  And  why  did  he  never  discern,  that  the  above-named  principles  of  his  etymology 
are  both  of  them  contradicted  by  this  rule  of  his  syntax,  and  one  of  them  by  his  rule  as  it  now 
stands  ?  It  is  manifest,  that  no  two  words  can  possibly  agree  in  any  property  which  belongs  not 
to  both.  Else  what  is  agreement?  Nay,  no  two  things  in  nature,  can  in  any  wise  agree,  accord, 
or  be  alike,  but  by  having  some  quality  or  accident  in  common.  How  strange  a  contradiction 
then  is  this !  And  what  a  compliment  to  learning,  that  it  is  still  found  in  well-nigh  all  our 
grammars  ! 

OBS.  4. — If  there  were  truth  in  what  Murray  and  others  affirm,  that  "  Gender  has  respect  only 
to  the  third  person  singular  of  the  pronouns,  he,  she,  it,"-\-  no  two  words  could  ever  agree  in  gen- 
der ;  because  there  can  be  no  such  agreement  between  anv  two  of  the  words  here  mentioned,  and 
the  assertion  is,  that  gender  has  respect  to  no  others.  But,  admitting  that  neither  the  author 
nor  the  numerous  copiers  of  this  false  sentence  ever  meant  to  deny  that  gender  has  respect  to 
noun's,  they  do  deny  that  it  has  respect  to  any  other  pro)ioun.i  than  these  ;  whereas  I  affirm  that  it 
ought  to  be  recognized  as  a  property  of  all  pronouns,  as  well  as  of  all  nouns.  Not  that  the 
gender  of  either  is  in  all  instances  invariably  fixed  by  the  forms  of  the  particular  words ;  but 
there  is  in  general,  if  not  in  every  possible  case,  some  principle  of  grammar,  on  which  the  gender 
of  any  noun  or  pronoun  in  a  sentence  may  be  readily  ascertained.  Is  it  not  plain,  that  if  we  know 
who  speaks  or  writes,  who  hears  or  is  addressed,  we  know  also  the  gender  of  the  pronouns  which 
are  applied  to  these  persons  ?  The  poet  of  The  Task  looked  upon  his  mother's  picture,  and 
expressed  his  tender  recollections  of  a  deceased  parent  by  way  of  address ;  and  will  any  one  pre- 
tend, that  the  pronouns  which  he  applied  to  himself  and  to  her,  are  either  of  the  same  gender,  or 
of  no  gender?  If  we  take  neither  of  these  assumptions,  must  we  not  say,  they  are  of  different 
genders  ?  In  this  instance,  then,  let  the  parser  call  those  of  the  first  person,  masculine ;  and  tkose 
of  the  second,  feminine : — 

"  My  mother  !  when  /  learned  that  thou  wast  dead, 

Say,  wast  thou  conscious  of  the  tears  /  shed  ?" — Coipper. 

OBS.  5. — That  the  pronouns  of  the  first  and  second  persons  are  sometimes  masculine  and  some- 
mes  feminine,  is  perfectly  certain ;  but  whether  they  can  or  cannot  be  neuter,  is  a  question 
difficult  to  be  decided.  To  things  inanimate  they  are  only  applied  figuratively ;  and  the  question 
is,  whether  the  figure  always  necessarily  changes  the  gender  of  the  antecedent  noun.  We 
assume  the  general  principle,  that  the  noun  and  its  pronoun  arc  always  of  the  same  gender  ;  and 
we  know  that  when  inanimate  objects  are  personified  in  the  third  person,  they  are  usually  repre- 
sented as  masculine  or  feminine,  the  gender  being  changed  by  the  figure.  But  when  a"  lifeless 
object  is  spoken  to  in  the  second  person,  or  represented  as  speaking  in  the  first,  as  the  pronouns 
here  employed  are  in  themselves  without  distinction  of  gender,  no  such  change  can  be  proved  by 
the  mere  words ;  and,  if  we  allow  that  it  would  be  n  '*«'  it  where  the  words  do  not 

ve  it,  the  gender  of  these  pronouns  must  in  such  cases  be  neuter,  because  w«  have  no  ground 
think  it  otherwise.   Examples  :  "  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  uuto  it,  [the  barren  ft/free,']  No 
•  fruit  of  th  re  hereafter  forever." — Mir';,  xi,  It.      "()  i-trfh,  cover  not  thnn  mY  blood." — 
,  xvi,  IS.  "  O  thou  tsironl  of  the  Lord,  how  ling  will  it  be  ere  thou  be  quiet  ?" — Jeremiah,  xlvii, 
In  •  :he  objects  addressed  do  not  appear  to  be  figuratively  invested  with  the 

attribute  of  -  with  respect  to  the  first  person.     If,  in  the  following  example,  gold 

and  ('/..  it  the  pronoun  me;  and,  if  not  neuter,  of  what  gender  are  they  ?  The 

iication  indicates  no  other. 

'•  Where  thy  true  treasure  ?  (Jold  snv<s,  '  Not  in  me  .•' 
And,  'Not  in  w,'  the  diamond.     Gold  is  poor." — Young. 

*  The  latter  pnrt  of  thi*  awkward  ami  complex  rule  «  n  Lowth's  Grammar,  p.  l^l.    Dr.  Ash's  nil* 

"  Pronoun*  must  a                                 \                 .  f,,r  whirl)  rhcy  -t";jj.  <>r  to  which  they  rrftr  in  .Y,/;','Vr.  prnon, 

I  gender."— Grammatical  I::  /«  j»  the  book  :  the  Italics  are  his, 
t  mine       Uosxv.-ll  <'.  Smith  appear-  .,di-  in  tin  tif'h  nil.-  :  for  he 

II  publishes  at  Murray's  a  prl  .<-ord  which  <  <'<>-n>- 
.liiu  with  Murr.i\'-  Qrami                                                                               •//<•  noun*  fat  uliirh  ih'ii  -i'liii'f.  in  zrnrf'r, 

.  in  hi-i  ••  Murr.iv's  English  Grammar  Simpli- 

p.  Ill:   A'twn   M.  M-'i'mnt.  in  hi-   ••  ;  .  Grammar,  !:•  "/  and 

proved."  p.  7'.*;    and  .'•/-•  Rev.  J.  '  of  Murr;i\  's  Kir_'li.-'i  Grammar,"  p.  118 1 

ere,  from  the  title*,  I-VITV   reader  would  •  -ni:r.-  r.f  Mnrni\ .  and  not  what  he  had  so 

g  ago  renounced  or  rha: 

.  j..  .".1  ;  1'Jino.  '1  :  Advns's,  37  :  Ali-rr's.  21  :  llncon'?.  19  :  Fi.-k>,  20  ; 

Kirkh nn's,  1)7  :  Merchant'.-  M.irr  hint's  American  Gram.  40  ;  T.  II.  Miller's  Gram.  26  ;  Pond's.  28  j 

8.  Putnain'i,  22  ;  Russell's,  K3 ;  1: 


296  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GPAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

THE    DECLENSION    OF    PRONOUNS. 
The  declension  of  a  pronoun  is  a  regular  arrangement  of  its  numbers  and  cases. 

I.    SIMPLE    PERSONALS. 

The  simple  personal  j  ronouns  are  thus  declined  : — 

I,  of  the  FIRST?  PERSON,  any  of  the  genders.* 
Sing.  Nora.         I,  Plur.  Nom.         we, 

Poss.         my,  or  mine,f  Poss.         our,  or  ours, 

Obj.          me;  Obj.          us. 

TIIOU,  of  the  SECOND  PERSON,  any  of  the  genders. 
Sing.  Nom.         thou,  j  Plur.  Nom.         ye,  or  you, 

Poss.          thy,  or  thine,  Poss.          your,  or  yours, 

Obj.  thee ;  Obj.  you,  or  ye.  § 

HE,  of  the  THIRD  PERSON,  masculine  gender. 
Sing.  Nom.         he,  Plur.  Nom.         they, 

Poss.          his,  Poss.         their,  or  theirs, 

Obj.  him;  Obj.  them. 

SHE,  of  the  THIRD  PERSON,  feminine  gender. 
Sing.  Nom.          she,  Plur.  Nom.         they, 

Poss.          her,  or  hers,  Poss.         their,  or  theirs, 

Obj.  her;  Obj.          them. 

IT,  of  the  THIRD  PERSON,  neuter  gender. 

Sing.  Nom.         it,  Plur.  Nom.  they, 

Poss.          its,  Poss.  their,  or  theirs, 

Obj.  it;  Obj.  them. 

II.    COMPOUND    PERSONALS. 

The  word  self,  added  to  the  simple  personal  pronouns,  forms  the  class  of  compound 
personal  pronouns  ;  which  are  used  when  an  action  reverts  upon  the  agent,  and  also 
when  some  persons  are  to  be  distinguished  from  others  :  as,  sing,  myself,  plur.  our- 
selves ;  sing,  thyself,  plur.  yourselves  ;  sing,  himself,  plur.  themselves  ;  sing,  herself, 
plur.  themselves ;  sing,  itself,  plur.  themselves.  They  all  want  the  possessive  case, 
and  are  alike  in  the  nominative  and  objective.  Thus  : — 

MYSELF,  of  the  FIRST  PERSON,))  any  of  the  genders. 
Sing.  Nom.         myself,  Plur.  Nom.         ourselves, 

Poss.         ,  Poss.          , 

Obj.          myself;  Obj.  ourselves. 

*  Dr.  Crombie,  and  some  others,  represent  /  and  thou,  with  their  inflections,  as  being  "masculine  and  femi- 
nine." Lennie,  M'Culloch,  and  others,  represent  them  as  being  "  masculine  or  feminine."  But,  if  either  of  them 
can  have  an  antecedent  that  is  neuter,  neither  of  these  views  is  strictly  correct.  (See  Obs.  5th,  above.)  Mackin- 
tosh says.  "  AVe  use  our,  your,  their,  in  speaking  of  a  thing  or  things  belonging  to  plural  nouns  of  any  gender." — 
Essay  on  Sngluh  Gram.  p.  149. 

t  "  It  is  perfectly  plain,  then,  that  my  and  mine  are  but  different  forms  of  the  same  word,  as  are  a  and  an.  Minr, 
for  the  sake  of  euphony,  or  from  custom,  stands  for  the  possessive  case  without  a  noun  ;  but  must  be  changed  for 
my  when  the  noun  is  expressed  :  and  my,  for  a  similar  reason,  stands  before  a  noun,  but  must  be  changed  for  mine 
when  the  noun  is  dropped.  *  *  *  Mine  and  my,  thine  and  t/iy,  will,  therefore,  be  considered  in  this  book,  as 
different  forms  of  the  IK  s.-c-.-ivc  case  from  /and  Thou.  And  the  same  rule  will  be  extended  to  her  and  hers,  our 
and  ours,  your  and  ymirs.  their  and  theirs." — Barnard's  Analytic  Grammar,  p.  142. 

%  It  baf long  been  fashionable,  in  the  ordinary  intercourse  of  the  world,  to  substitute  the  plural  form  of  this 
pronoun  for  the  singular  through  all  the  cases.  Thus,  by  the  figure  K.NAU.ACE,  ''•you  are,"  for  instance,  is  com- 
monly put  for  ••  tiimi  art.''  See  Observations  20th  and  21st,  below  ;  also  Figures  of  Syntax,  in  Part  I  V. 

§  The  original  nominative  was  ye.,  which  is  still  the  only  nominative  of  the  solemn  style  ;  and  the  original 
objective  wa.-  '/"".  which  is  still  the  only  objective  that  our  grammarians  in  general  acknowledge.  Hut,  whether 
grammatical  or  not,  ye  is  now  very  often  used,  in  a  familiar  way,  for  the  objective  case.  (See  Observations  22d  and 
23d,  upon  the  d«-clen.-ions  of  pronouns'.)  T.  Dil  worth  gate  both  cases  alike  :  "  No?n.  Ye  or  you;"  "Arc.  [or 
Obj.]  Ye  or  you.'' — His  Ntu*  (inirf,\  p.  US.  Dr.  Campbell  says.  "  I  am  in.-lincd  to  prefer  that  usV  which  makes  ye 
invariably  ibe  nominative  plural  of  the  personal  pronoun  thou'.  and  you  the  accusative,  when  applied  to  an  actual 
plurality." — Philosophy  of  l\lutonr.,  p.  174.  No  grammarian,  however,  discards  you  as  a  nominative  of  u  actual 
plurality;"  and  the  present  casual  practice  of  putting  ye  in  the  objective,  has  prevailed  to  some  extent  for  at 
least  two  centuries  :  as, 

"  Your  change  approaches,  when  all  there  delights 

Will  vanish  and  deliver  ye  to  woe."—  Milton,  P.  L.,  I?,  iv.  1.  367. 

||  Dr.  Young  has,  in  one  instance,  and  with  very  doubtful  propriety,  converted  this  pronoun  into  the  second 
per&on,  by  addressing  himself  thus  : — 

"  0  thou,  myxrlf!  abroad  our  counsels  roam 
And,  like  ill  husbands,  take  no  care  at  home."— Love  of  Fame  Sat.  II,  1.  271. 


CHAP.   V.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  PRONOUNS.  -  DECLENSIONS.  297 

THYSELF,  of  the  SECOND  PERSON,  any  of  the  genders. 
Sing.  Norn.         thyself,  *  Plur.  Nora.         yourselves, 

Poss.          -  , 


Obj.  thyself;  Ol-j.  yourselves. 

HIMSELF,  of  the  THIRD  PERSON,  masculine  gender. 
Sing.  Norn.         himself,  Plur.  Nom.         themselves, 

Poas.          -  ,  Poss.          --  , 

Obj.  himself;  Obj.  themselves. 

HERSELF,  of  the  THIRD  PERSON,  fan  it/in  e  gender. 

Sing.  NODI.         herself,                              Plur.  Nom.  themselves, 

Poss.          -  ,                                          Poss.  --  , 

Obj.           herself;                                       Obj.  themselves. 

ITSELF,  of  the  TIIIRD  PERSON,  neuter  gender. 

Sing.  Nom.         itself,                                 Plur.  Nom.  themselves, 

Poss.          -  ,                                          Poss.  --  , 

Obj.           itself;                                          Obj.  themselves. 

III.    RELATIVES    AND    INTERROGATIVES. 

The  relative  and  the  interrogative  pronouns  are  thus  declined  :  — 

WHO,  literally  applied  to  persons  only. 

Sing.  Nom.         who,  Plur.  Nom.         who, 

Poss.          whose,  Poss.         whose, 

Obj.  whom  ;  Obj.  whom. 

WHICH,  applied  to  animals  and  things. 

Sing.  Nom.         which,  Plur.  Nom.         which, 

Poss.          f  -  ,  Poss.          -  , 

Obj.  which  ;  Obj.  which. 

WHAT,  applied  ordinarily  to  things  only.% 
Sing.  Nom.         what,  Plur.  Nom.         what, 

-  Poss. 


, 
Obj.  what;  Obj.  what. 

The  fashion  of  usinp  the  plural  number  for  the  singular,  or  you  for  thou,  has  also  substituted  yourself  tor 
;M  (-'minion  discourse.    In  pin-try,  in  prayer,  in  Scripture,  and  in  the  familiar  language  of  the  Friends,  the 
original  com],  mind  is  s;i!l  retained  :  hut  the  poets  use  either  term,  according  to  the  gravity  or  the  lightness  of 
.  le.    Hut  i/inirs'lf.  like  the  regal  compound  t>u*se!f,  though  apparently  of  the  singular  number,  and  always 
I>er8on  only,  i-,  in  ir<  very  nature,  an  anomalous  and  uiicrammatical  word  ;  for  it  can  neither  mean 
fiaore  than  one,  nor  agree  wHi  a  pronoun  or  a  ver).  that  i-  -inpilar.      Swift  indeed  wrote  :    "  Conversation  is  but 
can-in-.-  lUit  he  wrote  t-rrone.>u-ly.  and  hi-  meaning  is  doubtful  :  probably 

•  nals.  when  they  are  nominatives  before 

the  v.i  -Acts,  x,  16.     "That  thou 

-Ri»n.\i.r.t.     "Hi  '^prart.     "  That  ynu  ynursrlf  are 

ned.  '—11.     And.::  .  requires  the  same  form  of 

th-  verl.  :   as,  ••  U  hieh  way  I  tly  I-  Hell  :  ,,.,,(  :    ••  I  Jove 

Prrf  p.  x.     Dr.  Kollen 
m  1.  it  his  own  is  good  English,  the  verb  t« 


/.«,"  cannot  be 

•ea  any  one  M;  as,  "  Captain, 

•MI  a  third  part  of  the  langunpe  iip.-idc- 


..r:.l  nnnil.er  with   the  Mnjjulur  through 
all  "tir  •  rather  plural-  put  for  .-inpulars  by  a  figure  of 

rds  are.  in  some  few  parat.-l\  :  and  then   l,,,th  the  meaning  and  the  con- 

strucri.  -/(  vol.  i.  ],.  Hi.   perhaps  the  word  mystlf 

a  inonarchi. .  f  hat  I  can  love."  The  two 

el  in  person  and  caw,  perhaps  also  in  gen. ler  ;  ami.  in  tt.c  pn-ci-din-.'  bwUac«,  they  differ  in  person, 

•  its  lirst  part, 

.   i  i^'ht  other-  whom 

-.true.   H"  "•'.  i-iir.  and  «», 

:  *  nothing  can  be  worse 

iyaU»^ 

he  possewive  cane  of  which;  as,  '•  A  ,ose  origin  is  divine."—  Blair,  See 

•ions   fli  an  i 

I  AT.  nrenr-e.  the'  double  relative  what  ia  sometimes  applied  to  persons;  and  it  is  here 

•q  iivalent  to  tlif friend  who :  — 

"  Loronro,  pride  repress  ;  nor  hope  to  find 
A  friend,  but  what  has  found  a  friend  in  thee.?'—  Young. 


298  THE   GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART    II. 

THAT,  applied  to  persons,  animals,  and  things. 

Sing.  Norn.         that,  Plur.  Norn.  that, 

Poss. ,  Poss.  , 

Obj.  that;  Obj.  that. 

As,  applied  to  persons,  animals,  and  things. 

Sing.  Norn.         as,  Plur.   Norn.  as, 

Poss.          — ,  Poss.  — , 

Obj.  as;  Obj.  as. 

IV.    COMPOUND    RELATIVES. 

The  compound  relative  pronouns,  whoever  or  ivhosoever,  whichever  or  whichsoever, 
and  whatever  or  whatsoever*  are  declined  in  the  same  manner  as  the  simples,  who, 
which,  what.  Thus  : — 

WHOEVER  or  WHOSOEVER,  applied  only  to  persons. 

Sing.  Norn.         whoever,  Plur.  Norn.         whoever, 

Poss.          whosever,  Poss.         whosevcr, 

Obj.  whomever;  Obj.          whomever. 

Sing.  Norn.         whosoever,  Plur.  Norn.         whosoever, 

Poss.          whosesoever,  Poss.         whosesoever, 

Obj.  whomsoever;  Obj.  whomsoever. 

WHICHEVER  or  WHICHSOEVER,  applied  to  persons,  animals,  and  things. 

Sing.  Norn.         whichever,  Plur.  Norn.         whichever, 

Poss. ,  Poss.  — , 

Obj.  whichever;  Obj.  whichever. 

Sing.  Norn.         whichsoever,  Plur.  Norn.         whichsoever, 

Poss. ,  Poss. , 

Obj.  whichsoever ;  Obj.  whichsoever. 

WHATEVER  or  WHATSOEVER,  applied  ordinarily  to  things  only. 

Sing.  Norn.         whatever,  Plur.  Norn.         whatever, 

Poss. ,  Poss. , 

Obj.  whatever;  Obj.  whatever. 

Sing.  Norn.         whatsoever,  Plur.  Nom.         whatsoever, 

Poss.          -; ,  Poss. , 

Obj.  whatsoever;  Obj.  whatsoever. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

Ons.  1. — Most  of  the  personal  pronouns  have  two  forms  of  the  possessive  case,  in  each 
number  :  as,  my  or  mine,  our  or  ours ;  thy  or  thine,  your  or  yours ;  her  or  hers,  their  or  theirs. 
The  former  is  used  before  a  noun  expressed,  or  when  nothing  but  an  adjective  intervenes ; 
the  latter,  when  the  governing  noun  is  understood,  or  is  so  placed  that  a  repetition  of  it  is 
implied  in  or  after  the  pronoun  :  as,  "  My  powers  are  thine ;  be  thine  alone  The  glory  of  my 
song." — Montgomery.  «•  State  what  mine  and  your  principles  are." — Legh  Richmond,  to  hit 
Daughters.  Better,  perhaps  :  "  State  what  my  principles  and  yours  are  ;  " — "  State  what  your 
principles  and  mine  are ;  " — or,  "  State  what  are  my  principles  and  your  own." 
"  Resign' d  he  fell ;  superior  to  the  dart 

That  quench'd  its  rage  in  yours  and  Britain's  heart." — J.  Brown. 
"  Behold  !  to  yours  and  my  surprise, 

These  trifles  to  a  volume  rise." — Lloyd,  p.  186. 

ORS.  2. — Possibly,  when  the  same  persons  or  things  stand  in  a  joint  relation  of  this  kind 
to  different  individuals  or  parties,  it  may  be  proper  to  connect  two  of  the  simple  possessives 
to  express  it ;  though  this  construction  can  seldom,  if  ever,  be  necessary,  because  any  such 

*  Of  all  these  compounds,  L.  Murray  very  improperly  says,  "  They  are  seldom  used  in  modern  style." — Octavo 
Gram.  p.  54 ;  also  fufc'*,  p.  65.  None  of  them  are  yet  obsolete,  though  the  shorter  forms  seem  to  he  now  gener- 
ally preferred.  The  following  suggestion  of  Cobbett's  is  erroneous  ;  because  it  implies  that  the  shorter  forms  are 
innovations  and  faults  ;  and  because  the  author  carelessly  speaks  of  them  as  one  */«'»§•  only  :  "  We  sometimes  omit 
the  so,  and  say,  whoever,  whomever,  w hat  ever,  and  even  ivhosever.  It  is  a  mere  abbreviation.  The  50  is  under- 
stood :  and.  it  is  best  not  to  omit  to  write  it."— Eng.  Gram.  IT  209.  R.  C.  Smith  dismisses  the  compound  relatives 
with  three  lines ;  and  these  he  closes  with  the  following  notion  :  "  They  art  not  often  used  /" — New  Gram,  p  61. 


CHAP.    V.]  ETYMOLOGY. — PRONOUNS. — DECLENSIONS.  299 

expression  as  thy  and  her  sinter,  my  and  his  duty,  if  not  erroneous,  can  mean  nothing  but  your 
sister,  our  duty,  &c.  But  some  examples  occur,  the  propriety  of  which  it  is  worth  while  to 
consider :  as,  "  I  am  sure  it  will  be  a  pleasure  to  you  to  hear  that  she  proves  worthy  of  her 
father,  worthy  of  you,  and  of  your  and  her  ancestors." — Spectator,  No.  525.  This  sentence 
is  from  a  version  of  Pliny's  letter  to  his  wife's  aunt ;  and,  as  the  ancestors  of  the  two  in- 
dividuals are  here  the  same,  the  phraseology  may  be  allowable.  But  had  the  aunt  commend- 
ed her  niece  to  Pliny,  she  should  have  said,  "  worthy  of  you,  and  of  your  ancestors  and 
"Is  it  her  or  tti  honour  that  is  tarnished  ?  It  is  not  hfrs,  but  his." — Murray's  Gram. 
p.  1 1~).  This  question  I  take  to  be  bad  English.  It  ought  to  be,  "  Is  it  her  honour,  or  his, 
that  is  tarnished  :  "  Her  honour  and  his  honour  cannot  be  one  and  the  same  thing.  This 
example  was  framed  by  Murray  to  illustrate  that  idle  and  puzzling  distinction  which  he 
and  some  others  make  between  "possessive  adjective  pronouns  "  and  "the genitive  case  of 
the  personal  pronouns ;  "  and,  if  I  understand  him,  the  author  will  here  have  her  and  his  to 
be  of  the  former  class,  and  hers  and  his  of  the  latter.  It  were  a  better  use  of  time,  to  learn 
how  to  employ  such  words  correctly.  Unquestionably,  they  are  of  the  same  class  and  the 
same  case,  and  would  be  every  way  equivalent,  if  the  first  form  were  fit  to  be  used  ellipti- 
cally.  For  example  :  "  The  same  phrensy  had  hindered  the  Dutch  from  improving  to  their 
pnd  to  the  common  advantage  the  public  misfortunes  of  France.'' — Bolingbroke,  on  Hist.  p. 
309.  Here  the  possessive  case  their  appears  to  be  governed  by  advantage  ^  understood,  and 
therefore  it  would  perhaps  be  better  to  say,  theirs,  or  their  own.  But  in  the  following  instance, 
our  may  be  proper,  because  both  possessives  appear  to  be  governed  by  one  and  the  same 
noun:  — 

"Although  'twas  our  and  their  opinion 

Each  other's  church  was  but  a  Ilimmon." — Iludibras. 

OBS.  3. — Mine  and  thine  were  formerly  preferred  to  my  and  thy,  before  all  words  begin- 
ning with  a  vowel  sound ;  or  rather,  mine  and  thine  were  the  original  forms,*  and  my  and 
thy  were  lirst  substituted  for  them  before  consonants,  and  afterwards  before  vowels :  as, 
"  Hut  it  was  thou,  a  man  mine  equal,  my  guide,  and  mine  acquaintance." — Psalms,  Iv,  13. 
"  Tliy  prayers  and  thine  alms  are  come  up  for  a  memorial  before  God." — Acts,  x,  4.  "SVhen 
the  JHble  was  translated,  either  form  appears  to  have  been  used  before  the  letter  h;  as, 
"  II;ith  not  my  hand  made  all  these  things  :  " — Acts,  vii,  50.  "  By  stretching  forth  thine  hand 
.  iv,  30.  According  to  present  practice,  my  and  My  are  in  general  to  be  pre- 
;  before  all  nouns,  without  regard  to  the  sounds  of  letters.  The  use  of  the  other  forms, 
in  the  manner  here  noticed,  has  now  become  obsolete  ;  or,  at  least,  antiquated,  and  peculiar 
to  the  poets.  We  occasionally  meet  with  it  in  modern  verse,  though  not  very  frequently, 
and  only  where  the  melody  of  the  line  seems  to  require  it :  as, 

"Time  writes  no  Avrinkle  on  thine  azure  brow." — Byron. 

"  Deign  on  the  passing  world  to  turn  thine  eyes." — Johnson. 

"  Mine  eyes  beheld  the  messenger  divine." — Lusiad. 

"  Thine  ardent  symphony  sublime  and  high." — Sir  W.  Scott. 

.  4. — The  possessives  mine,  thine,  /urn,  ours,  yours,  theirs,  usually  denote  possession,  or 
the  relation  of  property,  with  an  el/ipsis  of  the  name  of  the  thing  possessed  ;  as,  "  My  sword 
and  i/'jttrs  are  kin." — SAaJbpMTV.  Here  yours  means  your  sword.  "You  may  imagine  what 
kind  of  faith  theirs  was." — Bacon.  Here  theirs  means  their  faith.  "  He  ran  headlong  into 
his  own  ruin  whilst  he  endeavoured  to  precipitate  ours." — Bolingbroke.  Here  ours  means  our 
ruin.  "  Kvery  one  that  hearcth  these  sayings  of  mine." — Matt,  vii,  26.  Here  mine  means 
my  stiylntjs.  "  Sing  unto  the  Lord,  O  ye  saints  of  his." — 7  W///.9,  xxx,  4.  Here  his  means 
"its.  The  noun  which  governs  the  possessive,  is  here  understood  after  it,  being  inferred 
fro: a  that  which  precedes,  as  it  is  in  all  the  foregoing  instances.  "And  the  man  of  thine, 
whom  I  shall  not  cut  off  from  mini-  altar,  shall  be  to  consume  thine,  eyes,  and  to  grieve  thine 
lie;  rt." — 1  s.tmn-1,  ii,  thine,  in  the  first  phrase,  means  My  men;  but,  in  the  subse- 

quent parts  of  the  sentence,  both  mine  and  thine  mean  neither  more  nor  less  than  thy  and 
my,  because  there  is  no  ellipsis,  of  before  the  possessive  case,  governs  the  noun  which  is 
'  this  case  ;  and  is  al\\ays  taken  in  a  part  it  ice  sense,  and  not  as  the  sign  of 
tin-  po>s(  sxive  relation  :  as,  ••  \Vhcn  we  say,  'a  soldier  of  the  king's,'  we  mean,  « one  of  the 
king'-  a  re  m.  p.  29.  There  is  therefore  an  ellipsis  of  the 

word  toUitn,  in  the  former  phi..  Q  the  following  example,  mine  is  used  elliptically 

for  //*//  feet ;  or  rather,  feet  is  understood  after  mine,  though  mine  feet  is    no  longer    good 
English,  for  reasons  before  stated  : — 

c  1  absolve  thee,  stoop  !  that  on  thy  neck 

Levelled  with  earth  this  fi,ut  nf  mine  may  tread." — Wordmcorth. 

.  5. — Respecting  the  .  •!'  the  simple  personal  pronouns,  there  appears 

am  ->ng  our  grammarians  a  strange  diversity  of  sentiment.      Yet  is  there  but  one  view  of 

•  Sanborn,  with  strange  i-noranro  of  the  history  of  these  words,  teaches  thus :  "JU//K  and  thin*  appear  to 
ha-vr  h.-en   formal   from  >////  and  r;n/  \<\  into  i  and  addinir  n.  and  then  subjoining  f  to  retain  the  long 

urn  i'l  < -ft  hi-  vowel  "—Analytical  <irn»i.  ]>.  '.<_:  ',<>tion,  as  we  learn  from  his  unillt  me'-  and  a  remark  in 

his  preface,  he   borrowed    fr 'in   "  I'arkhiirM  !  :.tn>:lurfion  "     lip.  I, owth  saj  s,  "  The  Saxon  Ic  hath 

••  '-ase  Mm  :   Thu,  posses.-i.  ;  ..--,  *-jve  n,s :  from  which  our  possessive  cases  of  the  same 

pronouns  are  taken  without  alteration.'' — LowtWs  Gram.  p.  23. 


300  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

the  matter,  that  has  in  it  either  truth  or  reason,  consistency  or  plausibility.  And,  in  the 
opinion  of  any  judicious  teacher,  an  erroneous  classification  of  words  so  common  and  so 
important  as  these,  may  well  go  far  to  condemn  any  system  of  grammar  in  which  it  is  found. 
A  pronoun  agrees  in  person,  number,  and  gender,  with  the  noun  for  which  it  is  a  substitute ; 
and,  if  it  is  in  the  possessive  case,  it  is  usually  governed  by  an  other  noun  expressed  or  im- 
plied after  it.  That  is,  if  it  denotes  possession,  it  stands  for  the  name  of  the  possessor,  and 
is  governed  by  the  name  of  the  thing  possessed.  Now  do  not  my,  thy,  his,  her,  our,  your, 
their,  and  mine,  thine,  hers,  its,  ours,  yours,  theirs,  all  equally  denote  possession  ?  and  do  they 
not  severally  show  by  their  forms  the  person,  the  number,  and  sometimes  also  the  gender, 
of  whomever  or  whatever  they  make  to  be  the  possessor  ?  If  they  do,  they  are  all  of  them 
pronouns,  and  nothing  else;  all  found  in  the  possessive  case,  and  nowhere  else.  It  is  true, 
that  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  some  other  languages,  there  are  not  only  genitive  cases  correspond- 
ing to  these  possessives,  but  also  certain  declinable  adjectives  which  we  render  in  English 
by  these  same  words  :  that  is,  by  my  or  mine,  our  or  ours  ;  thy  or  thine,  your  or  yours  ;  &c. 
But  this  circumstance  affords  no  valid  argument  for  considering  any  of  these  English  terms 
to  be  mere  adjectives  ;  and,  say  what  we  will,  it  is  plain  that  they  have  not  the  signification 
of  adjectives,  nor  can  we  ascribe  to  them  the  construction  of  adjectives,  without  making 
their  grammatical  agreement  to  be  what  it  very  manifestly  is  not.  They  never  agree,  in 
any  respect,  with  the  nouns  which  follow  them,  unless  it  be  by  mere  accident.  This  view 
of  the  matter  is  sustained  by  the  authority  of  many  of  our  English  grammars  ;  as  may  be 
seen  by  the  declensions  given  by  Ash,  C.  Adams,  Ainsworth,  Barnard,  Buchanan,  Bickriell, 
Blair,  Burn,  Butler,  Comly,  Churchill,  Cobbett,  Dalton,  Davenport,  Dearborn,  Farnum,  A. 
Flint,  Fowler,  Frost,  Gilbert,  Greenleaf,  Hamlin,  Hiley,  Kirkham,  Merchant,  Murray  the 
schoolmaster,  Parkhurst,  Picket,  Russell,  Sanborn,  Sanders,  R.  C.  Smith,  Wilcox. 

OBS.  6. — In  opposition  to  the  classification  and  doctrine  adopted  above,  many  of  our  gram- 
marians teach,  that  my,  thy,  his,  her,  our,  your,  their,  are  adjectives  or  "  adjective  pronouns ;" 
and  that  mine,  thine,  hers,  its,  ours,  yours,  theirs,  are  personal  pronouns  in  the  possessive  case. 
Among  the  supporters  of  this  notion,  are  D.  Adams,  Alden,  Alger,  Allen,  Bacon,  Barrett, 
Bingham,  Bucke,  Bullions,  Cutler,  Fisk,  Frost,  (in  his  small  Grammar,)  Guy,  Hall,  Hart, 
Harrison,  Ingersoll,  Jaudon,  Lennie,  Lowth,  Miller,  L.  Murray,  Pond,  T.  Smith,  Spear,  Stan- 
iford,  Webber,  Woodworth.  The  authority  of  all  these  names,  however,  amounts  to  l.ttle 
more  than  that  of  one  man  ;  for  Murray  pretended  to  follow  Lowth,  and  nearly  all  the  rest 
copied  Murray.  Dr.  Lowth  says,  "  Thy,  my,  her,  our,  your,  their,  are  pronominal  adjectives  ; 
but  his,  (that  is,  he's,}  hers,  ours,  your's,  their  s,  have  evidently  the  form  of  the  possessive  ci.se  : 
And,  by  analogy,  mine,  thine,  may  be  esteemed  of  the  same  rank." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  23. 
But  why  did  he  not  see,  that  by  the  same  analogy,  and  also  by  the  sense  and  meaning  of  the 
words,  as  well  as  by  their  distinctions  of  person,  number,  and  gender,  all  the  other  six  are 
entitled  to  "  the  same  rank  ? "  Are  not  the  forms  of  my,  thy,  her,  our,  your,  their,  as  fit  to 
denote  the  relation  of  property,  and  to  be  called  the  possessive  case,  as  mine,  thine,  his,  or 
any  others  ?  In  grammar,  all  needless  distinctions  are  reprehensible.  And  where  shall  we 
find  a  more  blamable  one  than  this  ?  It  seems  to  have  been  based  merely  upon  the  false  no- 
tion, that  the  possessive  case  of  pronouns  ought  to  be  formed  like  that  of  nouns ;  whereas 
custom  has  clearly  decided  that  they  shall  always  be  different :  the  former  must  never  be 
written  with  an  apostrophe  ;  and  the  latter,  never  without  it.  Contrary  to  all  good  usage, 
however,  the  Doctor  here  writes  "  her's,  our's,  your's,  their  s,"  each  with  a  needless  apos- 
trophe. Perhaps  he  thought  it  would  serve  to  strengthen  his  position ;  and  help  to  refute 
what  some  affirmed,  that  all  these  words  are  adjectives. 

OBS.  7. — Respecting  mine,  thine,  and  his,  Lowth  and  L.  Murray  disagree.  The  latter  will 
have  them  to  be  sometimes  "possessive  pronouns,"  and  sometimes  "possessive  cases."  An  ad- 
mirable distinction  this  for  a  great  author  to  make  !  too  slippery  for  even  the  inventor's  own 
hold,  and  utterly  unintelligible  to  those  who  do  not  know  its  history  !  In  short,  these  au- 
thors disagree  also  concerning  my,  thy,  her,  our,  your,  their ;  and  where  two  leaders  of  a  par- 
ty are  at  odds  with  each  other,  and  each  is  in  the  wrong,  what  is  to  be  expected  from  their 
followers  ?  Perceiving  that  Lowth  >vg  s  wrong  in  calling  these  words  "  pronominal  adjectiveaf" 
Murray  changed  the  term  to  "  possessive  pronouns,"  still  retaining  the  class  entire  ;  and  ac- 
cordingly taught,  in  his  early  editions,  that,  "  There  we  four  kinds  of  pronouns,  viz.  the  per- 
sonal, the  possessive,  the  relative,  and  the  adjective  pronouns." — Murray's  Gram.,  2d  Edition, 
p.  37.  "  The  Possessive  Pronouns  are  such  as  principally  relate  to  possession  or  property. 
There  are  seven  of  them  ;  viz.  my,  thy,  his,  her,  our,  your,  their.  The  possessives  his,  mine, 
thine,  may  be  accounted  either  possessive  pronouns,  or  the  possessive  cases  of  their  respective 
personal  pronouns." — Ib.  p.  40.  He  next  idly  demonstrates  that  these  seven  words  may 
come  before  nouns  of  any  number  or  case,  without  variation  ;  then,  forgetting  his  own  dis- 
tinction, adds,  "When  they  are  separated  from  the  noun,  all  of  them,  except  his,  vary  (/tar 
terminations ;  as,  this  hat  is  mine,  and  the  other  is  thine  ;  those  trinkets  are  hers  ;  t\\\s  house 
is  ours,  and  that  is  yoiirs ;  theirs  is  more  commodious  than  ours." — Ib.  p.  40.  Thus  all  his 
personal  pronouns  of  the  possessive  case,  he  then  made  to  be  inflections  of  pronouns  of  a 
different  class !  What  are  they  now  ?  Seek  the  answer  under  the  head  of  that  gross  sole- 
cism, "Adjective  Pronouns."  You  may  find  it  in  one  half  of  our  English  grammars. 


°!IIAP.  V.]  ETYMOLOGY. PRONOUNS. DECLENSIONS.  301 

Ows.  8. — Any  considerable  error  in  the  classing  of  words,  does  not  stand  alone;  it  natu- 
rally brings  others  in  its  train.  Murray's  "  Adject i>-<-  1'r >,fiuns,"  (which  he  now  subdivides 
into  four  little  classes,  poss^*i'-c,  di*ft-ibutn-c,  demount  rot/ >•,;  and  i»<l,-jin iff,)  being  all  of  them 
misnamed  and  misplaced  in  his  etymology,  have  led  both  him  and  many  others  into  strange 
errors  in  syut  ix.  Th  i  only  are  "  pronouns  ;  "  and  these  are  pronouns  of  the  pos- 

ses^ive  oo*  .     AS  such,  they  agree  with  the  antecedent  nouns  for  which  they  stand,  in  j>erson, 
numbi-r,  and   i/,->ul<-r ;  and  are  governed,  like  all  other  possessives,  by  the  nouns  which  fol- 
low them.      The  rest  are  no  r,  but  pronominal  adjectives  ;  and,  as  such,  they  relate 
to  nouns  expressed  or  understood  after  f/n-.n.     Accordingly,  they  have  none  of  the  above- 
mentioned  (Dualities,  except  that  the  words  this  and  that  form  the  plurals  tliese  and  those.     Or, 
if  we  choose  to  ascribe  to  a  pronominal  adjective  all  the  properties  of  the  noun  understood, 
it  is  merely  for  the  sake  of  brevity  in  parsing.     The  difference,  then,  between  a  "  pronomi- 
nal adjective  "  and  an  "  adjective  pronoun  "  should  seem  to  be  this  ;  that  the  one  is  an  ad- 
.  and  the  other  <t                    it  is  like  the  difference  between  &/torscrace  and  a  racehorse. 
What  can  be  hoped  from  the  grammarian  who  cannot  discern  it  ?      And  what  can  be  made 
of  ru                     .inples  like  the  following ?      "Adjective  pronouns  must  agree,  in  number, 
with                                    as,  '  This  book,  these  books  ;  Mai  sort,  those  sorts  ;  another  road,  other 
roads.'  " — M/n-r                     .  Rule  viii,  Late  Editions  ;  Alyer's  Murray,  p.  <56  ;  Alden's,  85  ;  Ba- 
Mti'ftnfs,   59  ;  Miller's,  66  ;  Merchant's,  81 ;  S.  Putnam's,  70  ;  and  others.      "Pro- 
nominal adjectives  must  agree  with  their  nouns  in  gender,  number,  and  person  ;  thus,  «  My  son, 
hear  the  instructions  of  thy  father.'     «  Call  the  labourers,  and  give  them  their  hire.'  " — Maun- 
.  Rule  xvii.      Here  Murray  gives  a  rule  for  pronouns,  and  illustrates  it  by  adjcc- 
and  Maunder,  as  ingeniously  blunders  in  reverse  :  he  gives  a  rule  for  adjectives,  and 
illustrates  it  by  pronouns.     But  what  do  they  mean  by  "  their  substantives,"  or  "  their  nouns  ?  " 
As  applicable  to  pronouns,  the  phrase  should  mean  nouns  and-eedmt ;  as  applicable  to  adjec- 
it  should  mean  nouns  subsequent.      Both  these  rules  are  therefore  false,  and  tit  only  to 
bewilder;  and  the  examples  to  both  are  totally  inapplicable.      Murray's  was  once  essenti- 
ally right,  but  he  afterwards  corrupted  it,  and  a  multitude  of  his  admirers  have  since  copied 
the  perversion.     It  formerly  stood  thus  :  "  The  pronominal  adjectives  this  and  that,  &c.  and 
the  numbers*  one,  tiro,  &c.  must  agree  in  number  with  their  substantives  :  as,  « This  book, 
books;  that  sort,  those  sorts;  one  girl,  ten  girls;  another  road,  other  roads." — Mur- 
< tram.,  Kulc  viii,  2d  Ed.,  1796. 

.  9. — Among  our  grammarians,  some  of  considerable  note  have  contended,  that  the 
personal  pronouns  have  but  two  cases,  the  nominative  and  the  objective.     Of  this  class,  may 
be  reckoned  Brightland,  Dr.  Johnson,  Fisher,  Mennye,  Cardell,  Cooper,  Dr.  Jas.  P.  "Wilson, 
W.  B.  Fowle,  and,  according  to  his  late  grammars,  Dr.  Webster.     But,  in  contriving  what 
to  make  of  my  or  mine,  our  or  ours,  thy  or  thine,  your  or  yours,  his,  her  or  hers,  its,  and  their 
or  thi-irs,  they  are  as  far  from  any  agreement,  or  even  from  self- consistency,  as  the  cleverest 
of  them  could  ever  imagine.     To  the  person,  the  number,  the  gender,  and  the  case,  of  each 
of  these  words,  they  either  profess  themselves  to  be  total  strangers,  or  else  prove  themselves 
so,  by  the  absurdities  they  teach.      Brightland  calls  them  "  Possessive  Qualities,  or  Quali- 
ties of  Possession  ;  "  in  which  class  he  also  embraces  all  nouns  of  the  possessive  case.     John- 
son calls  them  pronouns;  and  then  says  of  them,  "  The  possessive  pronouns,  like  other  adjec- 
;re  without  cases  or  change  of  termination." — Gram.  p.  6.      Fisher  calls  them  "Per- 
sonal :  Qualities  ;  "   admits  the  person  and  number  of  )ny,  our,  &c. ;  but  supposes 
,xc.  to  supply  the  place  of  the  nouns  ichich  govern  thi-m  !    Mennye  makes  them  one 
of  his  thiv.  .pronouns,   "personal,  possessive,   and   relative;"  giving  to  both  forms 
the  rank  which  Murray  once  gave,  and  which  Allen  now  gives,  to  the  first  form  only.     Car- 
dell  places  them  among  his  "  dclining  adjectives."     With  Fowle,  these,  and  all  other  posses- 
,  are  "poss  ti\ <.•>."     ( 'ooper,  in  his  grammar  of  1828,  copies  the  last  scheme 
of  Murray:  in  that  of  1831,  he  avers  that  the  personal  pronouns  "want  the  possessive  case." 
N  .w,    like  Webster  and  Wilson,  he  will  have  mini',  thim-,  hers,  ours,  yours,  and  theirs,  to  be 
pronouns  of  the  nominative  or  the  objective  case.      Dividing  the  pronouns  into  six  general 
tifth  ;  calling  them  "  Possessive  Pronouns,"  but  preferring  in  a 
:  •  >us  name,   u  Pott  uit     ProMtNM  Substitute."      His  sixth  class  are  what  he 
calls,  "T!.                    re  Pronominal  Adjectives; "  namely,  "  my,  thy,  his,  her,  our,  your,  their, 

i  I  thine."'  —  Cooper's  I'l.  and  J'r.  (in/m.  p.  43.       But  all  these 

he  has,  unquestionably,  either  misplaced  or  misnamed  ;  while  he  tells  us,  that,  "  Simplicity 

of  arrangement  should  be  the  object  of  every  compiler."— Ib.  p.  33.     Dr.  Perley,  (in  whose 

scheme  of  grammar  all  the  pronouns  are  nouns,)  will  have  my,  thy.  his.  In-,-,  its,  mtr,  your,  and 

.  to  be  in  the  possessi\  it  of  mim-,  thine,  In rs,  ours,  yours,  and  theirs,  he  says, 

.••>c  may  be  called  J>  <1  I'ronouns." — I'lt-fry's  drum.  p.  \~>. 

.  10. — Kirkham,  though  he  professes  to  follow  Murray,  declines  the  simple  personal 
pronouns  as  1  have  declined  them  ;  and  argues  admirably,  that  my,  thy,  his,  &c.,  are  pronouns 
ot  the  possessive  case,  because,  "  They  always  xt  and  for  nouns  in  the  possessive  case."  But  he 
afterwards  palpably  contradicts  both  himself  and  the  common  opinion  of  all  former  gram- 

•  This  word  should  hare  been  numerals,  for  two  or  three  reasons.    The  author  speaks  of  the  numeral  adjectives ; 
and  to  say  ••  the  MMtartmtMlaCfeM  iu  number  with  their  substantives,'' is  tautological. — G.  BROW.V 


302  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

marians,  in  referring  mine,  thine,  hers,  £c.,  to  the  class  of  "Compound  Personal  Pronouns" 
Nay,  as  if  to  outdo  even  himself  in  absurdity,  he  first  makes  mine,  thine,  hers,  ours,  &c.,  to 
be  compounds,  by  assuming  that,  "  These  pluralizing  adjuncts,  ne  and  s,  were,  no  doubt,  for- 
merly detached  from  the  pronouns  with  which  they  now  coalesce  ;  "  and  then,  because  he 
finds  in  each  of  his  supposed  compounds  the  signification  of  a  pronoun  and  its  governing 
noun,  reassumes,  in  parsing  them,  the  very  principle  of  error,  on  which  he  condemns  :heir 
common  classification.  He  says,  "They  should  be  parsed  as  two  icords."  He  also  supposes 
them  to  represent  the  nouns  which  govern  them  —  nouns  with  which  they  do  not  agree  in  any 
respect  !  Thus  is  he  wrong  in  almost  every  thing  he  says  about  them.  See  Kirkham's  (jnun. 
p.  99,  p.  101,  and  p.  104.  Goodenow,  too,  a  still  later  writer,  adopts  the  major  part  of  all 
this  absurdity.  He  will  have  my,  thy,  his,  her,  its,  our,  your,  their,  for  the  possessive  case  of 
his  personal  pronouns  ;  but  mine,  thine,  hers,  ours,  yours,  theirs,  he  calls  "  compound  possessive 
pronouns,  in  the  subjective  or  [the]  objective  case."  —  Text-Book  of  E.  Gram.  p.  33.  Thus  he 
introduces  a  new  class,  unknown  to  his  primary  division  of  the  pronouns,  and  not  included 
in  his  scheme  of  their  declension.  Fuller,  too,  in  a  grammar  produced  at  Plymouth,  Mass. 
in  1822,  did  nearly  the  same  thing.  He  called/,  thou,  he,  she,  and  it,  with  their  plurals, 
"antecedent  pronouns  ;  "  took  my,  thy,  his,  her,  £c.,  for  their  only  possessive  forms  in  his  de- 
clension ;  and,  having  passed  from  them  by  the  space  of  just  half  his  book,  added  :  "  Some- 
times to  prevent  the  repetition  of  the  same  word,  an  antecedent  pronoun  in  the  possessive  case, 
is  made  to  represent,  both  the  pronoun  and  a  noun  ;  as,  «  That  book  is  mine  '  —  i.  e.  «  my  book.' 
MINE  is  a  compound  antecedent  pronoun,  and  is  equivalent  to  my  book.  Then  parse  my,  and 
book,  as  though  they  were  both  expressed."  —  Fuller's  Gram.  p.  71. 

OBS.  11.  —  Amidst  all  this  diversity  of  doctrine  at  the  very  centre  of  grammar,  who  shall 
so  fix  its  principles  that  our  schoolmasters  and  schoolmistresses  may  know  what  to  believe  and 
teach?  Not  he  that  speculates  without  regard  to  other  men's  views  ;  nor  yet  he  that  makes 
it  a  merit  to  follow  implicitly  "  the  footsteps  of"  one  only.  The  true  principles  of  grammar 
are  with  the  learned;  and  that  man  is  in  the  wrong,  with  whom  the  most  learned  will  not, 
in  general,  coincide.  Contradiction  of  falsities,  is  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  truth  ; 
correction  of  errors,  to  the  success  of  science.  But  not  every  man's  errors  can  be  so  con- 
siderable as  to  deserve  correction  from  other  hands  than  his  own.  Misinstruction  in  gram- 
mar has  for  this  reason  generally  escaped  censure.  I  do  not  wish  any  one  to  coincide  with 
me  merely  through  ignorance  of  what  others  inculcate.  If  doctors  of  divinity  and  doctors 
of  laws  will  contradict  themselves  in  teaching  grammar,  so  far  as  they  do  so,  the  love  rs  of 
consistency  will  find  it  necessary  to  deviate  from  their  track,  Respecting  these  prone  uns, 
I  learned  in  childhood,  from  Webster,  a  doctrine  which  he  now  declares  to  be  false.  This 
was  nearly  the  same  as  Lowth's,  which  is  quoted  in  the  sixth  observation  above.  But,  in 
stead  of  correcting  its  faults,  this  zealous  reformer  has  but  run  into  others  still  greater. 
Now,  with  equal  reproach  to  his  etymology,  his  syntax,  and  his  logic,  he  denies  that  our 
pronouns  have  any  form  of  the  possessive  case  at  all.  But  grant  the  obvious  fact,  that  sub- 
stitution is  one  thing  and  ellipsis  an  other,  and  his  whole  argument  is  easily  overthrown  ;  for 
it  is  only  by  confounding  these,  that  he  reaches  his  absurd  conclusion. 

OBS.  12.  —  Dr.  Webster's  doctrine  now  is,  that  none  of  the  English  pronouns  have  more 
than  two  cases.  He  says,  "  Mine,  thine,  his,  hers,  yours,  and  theirs,  are  usually  considered  as 
[being  of]  the  possessive  case.  But  the  three  first  are  either  attributes,  and  used  with  nouns, 
or  they  are  substitutes.  The  three  last  are  always  substitutes,  used  in  the  place  of  names 
WHICH  ARE  UNDERSTOOD."  —  "  That  mine,  thine,  his,  [ours,]  yours,  hers,  and  theirs,  do  not  con- 
stitute a  possessive  case,  is  demonstrable  ;  for  they  are  constantly  used  as  the  nominatives 
to  verbs  and  as  the  objectives  after  verbs  and  prepositions,  as  in  the  following  passages. 
'  Whether  it  could  perform  its  operations  of  thinking  and  memory  out  of  a  body  organized 
as  ours  is.'  —  Locke.  'The  reason  is,  that  his  subject  is  generally  things  ;  theirs,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  persons.'  —  Camp.  Rhet.  «  Therefore  leave  your  forest  of  beasts  for  ours  of  brutes, 
called  men.'  —  Wycherley  to  Pope.  It  is  needless  to  multiply  proofs.  We  observe  these  pre- 
tended possessives  uniformly  used  as  nominatives  or  objectives.*  Should  it  be  said  that  a 

*  Cardell  assails  the  common  doctrine  of  the  grammarians  on  this  point,  with  similar  assertions,  and  still  more 
earnestness,  ^ee  his  Essay  on  Language,  p.  89.  The  notion  that  "  these  pretended  possessives  [are]  uniformly 
used  as  nominatives  or  objectives'1'1  —  though  demonstrably  absurd,  and  confessedly  repugnant  to  what  is  "  usually 
considered''  to  be  their  true  explanation—  was  adopted  by  Jaudon,  in  1812  ;  and  has  recently  found  several  new 
advocates  ;  among  whom  are  Davis,  Eelch,  Goodenow,  Hazen,  Smart,  Weld,  and  Wells.  There  is,  however,  much 
diversity,  as  well  as  much  inaccuracy,  in  their  several  expositions  of  the  matter.  Smart  inserts  in  his  declensions, 
as  the  only  forms  of  the  possessive  case,  the  words  of  which  he  afterwards  speaks  thus  :  "  The  followi 


casts  of  the  personal  pronouns.  (See  page  vii,)  must  be  railed  PERSONAL  PRONOUNS  POSSESSIVE:  mine,  thine,  his, 
hers,  ours,  yours,  tlitns.  For  these  words,  are  always  utedsiibslantively,  so  as  to  include  the  meaning  of  some  noun 
in  the  third  person  singular  or  plural,  in  the  nominative  or  the  objective  case.  Thus,  if  we.  are  speaking  of  books, 
and  say  [,]  '  Mine  are  here,'  mine  means  my  books,  f(£r"]  and  it  must  be  deemed  a  personal  pronoun  possfssire  in 
the  third  person  plural,  and  nominative  to  the  verb  are.''  —  Smart's  Accidence,  p.  xxii.  If  to  say,  these  "  possessive 
cases  must  be  called  a  class  of  pronoun*,  used  substantially.  and  deemed  nominatives  or  objectives,''  is  not  absurd, 
then  nothing  can  be.  Nor  is  any  thing  in  grammar  more  certain,  than  that  the  pronoun  "  mine"  can  only  be  used 
by  the  speaker  or  writer,  to  denote  himself  or  herself  as  the  owner  of  something.  It  is  therefore  of  thejirst  person, 
singular  number,  masculine  (or  feminine)  gender,  und  possessive  case  ;  being  governed  by  the  name  of  the  tiling 
or  things  possessed.  This  name  is.  of  course,  always  known  ;  and,  if  known  and  not  expressed,  it  is  "  understood." 
For  sometimes  a  word  is  repeated  to  the  mind,  and  clearly  understood,  where  "  it  cannot  properly  be"  expressed  ; 
as,  "  And  he  came  and  sought  fruit  thereon,  and  found  none."—  Luke,  xiii,  6.  Wella  opposes  this  doctrine,  citing* 


CHAP.  V.]  ETYMOLOGY. PRONOUNS. — DECLENSIONS.  303 

noun  is  understood ;  I  reply,  this  cannot  be  true,"  &c. — Philosophical  Gram.  p.  35  ;  Improved 
.  ]}.  2il.  Now,  whether  it  be  true  or  not,  this  very  position  is  expressly  affirmed  by  the 
Doctor  himself,  in  the  citation  above  ;  though  he  is,  unquestionably,  wrong  in  suggesting 
that  the  pronouns  are  "  used  in  the  place  of  [those]  names  WHICH  AUK  UNDKKSTOOD."  They 
are  used  in  the  place  of  other  names — the  names  of  the  possessors ;  and  are  governed  by 
those  which  he  here  both  admits  and  denies  to  be  "  understood." 

.  1:;. — The  other  arguments  of  Dr.  Webster  against  the  possessive  case  of  pronouns, 
may  perhaps  be  more  easily  answered  than  some  readers  imagine.  The  first  is  drawn  from, 
the  tact  that  conjunctions  connect  like  cases.  "  Besides,  in  three  passages  just  quoted,  the 
word  ij'>ura  is  joined  by  a  connective  to  a  name  in  the  same  case  ?  '  To  ensure  yours  and  their 

•nitty.'  '  The  easiest  part  of  yours  and  my  desir/n.'  '  My  sicord  and  yours  are  kin.'  "Will 
any  person  pretend  that  the  connective  here  joins  different  cases  •" — Improved  Grain,  p.  '28; 
Philox:,]il,irul  Gram.  p.  30.  I  answer,  No.  But  it  is  falsely  assumed  that  yours  is  here  con- 
nected by  and  to  immortality,  to  design,  or  to  sword ;  because  these  words  are  again  severally- 
understood  after  yours  :  or,  if  otherwise,  the  two  pronouns  alone  are  connected  by  and,  so 
that  the  proof  is  rather,  that  their  and  my  are  in  the  possessive  case.  The  second  argument 
is  drawn  from  the  use  of  the  preposition  of  before  the  possessive.  "  For  we  say  correctly, 
« an  acquaintance  of  yours,  ours,  or  theirs' — of  being  the  sign  of  the  possessive  ;  but  if  the 
words  in  themselves  are  possessives,  then  there  must  be  two  signs  of  the  same  case,  which 
is  absurd." — Imjn-ort-d  Gram.  p.  28  ;  1'hil.  Gr.  36.  I  deny  that  of  is  here  the  sign  of  the 

-ivr,  and  affirm  that  it  is  taken  partitively,  in  all  examples  of  this  sort.  "  I  know  my 
sheep,  and  am  known  of  mine,"  is  not  of  this  kind;  because  of  here  means  by — a  sense  in 
which  the  word  is  antiquated.  In  recurring  afterwards  to  this  argument,  the  Doctor  mis- 
quotes the  following  texts,  and  avers  that  they  "  are  evidently  meant  to  include  the  whole 
•"ing  to  the  Lord,  all  ye  saints  of  his.' — Ps.  30,  4.  '  lie  that  heareth  these  sayings 
of  mine.' — Matt.  7." — Improved  Gram.  p.  29  ;  Phil.  Gr.  38.  If  he  is  right  about  the  mean- 
ing, however,  the  passages  are  mistranslated,  as  well  as  misquoted  :  they  ought  to  be,  "Sing 
nntn  the  Lord,  O  ye  his  Saints." — "Every  one  that  heareth  these  my  sayings."  But  when  a 
definitive  particle  precedes  the  noun,  it  is  very  common  with  us,  to  introduce  the  possess- 
ive ellipticaJly  after  it ;  and  what  Dr.  Wilson  means  by  suggesting  that  it  is  erroneous,  I 
know  not :  "  When  the  preposition  of  precedes  mine,  ours,  yours,  &c.  the  errour  lies,  not  in 
this,  that  there  arc  double  possessive  cases,  but  in  forming  an  implication  of  a  noun,  which 
the  substitute  already  denotes,  together  with  the  persons." — Essay  on  Gram.  p.  110. 

.    1 I. — In  his  Syllabus  of  English  Grammar,  Dr.  Wilson  teaches  thus :   "  My,  our,  thy, 

your,  his,  her,  its,  their,  whose,  and  ichosesoercr  are  possessive  pronominal  adjectives.      Ours, 

.  and  theirs  are  pronoun  substantir.cs,  used  either  as  subjects,  or  [as]  objects;  as 

singulars,  or  [as]  plurals  ;  and  are  substituted  both  for  [the  names  of]  the  possessors,  and 

(for  those  of  the]  things  possessed.      His,  its,  whose,  mine,  and  thine,  are  sometimes  used  as 

,  but  also  are  at  other  times  pronominal  possessive  adjectives." — Wilson's 

v,  ]).  x.      Xow  compare  with  these  three  positions,  the  following  three  from  the  same 

learned  author.      "In  Hebrew,  the  adjective  generally  agrees  with  its  noun  in  gender  and 

number,   but  pronouns  follow  the  gender  of  their  antecedents,  and  not  of  the  nouns  with 

whii-h  they  stand.       So  in  English,  my,  thy,  his,  her,  its,  our,  your,  and  their,  agree  with  the 

nouns  they  represent,  in  number,   gender,  and  person.      But  adjectives,  having  no  change 

of  number,  gender,  or  case,  cannot  accord  with  their  nouns." — l\'ilson's  Essay  on 

passage  from  Webster,  as  above,  and  also  imitating  his  argument.   This  author  acknowledges  three  classes  of  pro- 

.  excluding  these  words  from  their  true  place  among 

•  MB  possessive  ca.«e,  al'.-m  •. .  .  a  siifirr numt  rary  class  of  poss>  ^  >r  objec- 

•/'teirs,  are  POSSESSIVE    PRONOI  >s.  u-fi   in    ci.rstniciion    cither  as 

isures  are  past,  mine  are  to  come.'    Here  the  word  mine,  which  is  used  as 

asul'-"  •  ;tif  filbert  of  the  vc-rb  nt>."  -   'tool  Gram.  p.  71  ;  113  Ed.  p.  78.     Now 

•it  are  to  come  ?:?  Ans.  '•  treasures."  But  the  author 

li  t<>  ar^m-  in  a  n<n«;  thus  :  "  Minr,  tlm  •  \\  parsed  as  pronouns  in  the  possessive  case,  and  gov- 

'.     Tim?,  in  :  -'I  hi.-  Look  is  mini-.' tin-  \r<.,il  m  i  ,\(  is  said  to  possess  book. 

.c  tact,  that,  wlu-n  i:  i>  supplied,  tin-  phra.M-  becomes 

:i  tnine   to  my;  so  that  we  are  made,  by  this 

ir«e  mine  aa  possessing  a  word  understood,  before  which  it  cannot  properly  be  used      The   word 

•nls  my  and  book." — Wtlls,ibid.  This  note  appears 

to  nu-  ••  \  respects,  fai.  ce,  its  whole  dedgn  was,  to  disprove  what  is  true.     F<  r.  1-at- 

.  nal  t<>  tin.- :  -Your   pleasures  are  past,  U".  H. 
At  in  both.     But  ellipsis  is  not  substitution  ;  no.  nor  is 

it  suggests  an  ellipsis  of  the  governing  noun,  i  to  my  am/  tlmt  ntiuii :  hut 

'•  ii.iuii.  for  the  name  of  Jhr  sj'eaktr  or  icri- 

rms  representing,  and  always  agreeing  with,  that  nanio  IT  JHTS'HI  only.     No  posseohre 
.»•••  with  thai  for  which  i  <'iidly,  if  the 

DOU  n!  ,.im  in  (ju,-ti"ii  art  "governed  by  nouns  \nnltr- 

*<<>"/,  ,|cn\  ir.     In  the  third  place,  the 

exainj.  -  m.t  a  pood  <  -.-      'Hi.,   u  irl\  parsed  as 

ft pGMMive,  without  supposing  any  ellij  _-iv.  n,  and   li 

ous  c«-i  .  .  n-«iuiriiiu'  -iii'-r-nt  rrt.v»t;  and  not  the 

DMC,  which  mu.-t  t.»-  put  in  the  same  case.    In  tin-  tnurtli  j'lacc.  t<>  nn-taki- 
n/i  oJ/i*r,  a  ni"'!'1  (i<  '  '  urring 

twke  in  tin-  ii.r«-p<«ii!^  no  •  .  -il.lv.  the  .-mfhor  may  have 

meant  by  ir,  to  ndi.  nk-  th.  A  noun  or  pronoun  in  the  posse5Sive  case, 

ug<  verned  by  the  noun  it  possesses.  —  Kirkliam't  Gram.  p.  Iffl  ;  Frazee's,  1844.  p.  'Jo. 


304  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

Gram.  p.  192.  "  Ours,  yours,  hers,  and  theirs,  are  most  usually  considered  possessive  cases 
of  personal  pronouns ;  but  they  are,  more  probably,  possessive  substitutes,  not  adjectives, 
but  nouns." — Ib.  p.  109.  "  Nor  can  mine  or  thine,  with  any  more  propriety  than  ours,  yours, 
&c.  be  joined  to  any  noun,  as  possessive  adjectives  and  possessive  cases  may." — Ib.  p.  110. 
Whoever  understands  these  instructions,  cannot  but  see  their  inconsistency. 

OBS.  15. — Murray  argues  at  some  length,  without  naming  his  opponents,  that  the  words 
which  he  assumes  to  be  such,  are  really  personal  pronouns  standing  rightfully  in  the  pos- 
sessive case  ;  and  that,  "  they  should  not,  on  the  slight  pretence  of  their  differing  from 
nouns,  be  dispossessed  of  the  right  and  privilege,  which,  from  time  immemorial  they  have 
enjoyed." — Ostavo  Gram.  p.  53.  Churchill  as  ably  shows,  that  the  corresponding  terms, 
which  Lowth  calls  pronominal  adjectives,  and  which  Murray  and  others  will  have  to  be  pro- 
nouns  of  no  case,  are  justly  entitled  to  the  same  rank.  "  If  mine,  thine,  hers,  ours,  yours,  theirs, 
be  the  possessive  case ;  my,  thy,  her,  our,  your,  their,  must  be  the  same.  Whether  we  say, 
'  It  is  John's  book,'  or,  '  The  book  is  John's ;'  John's  is  not  less  the  possessive  case  in  one 
instance,  than  it  is  in  the  other.  If  we  say,  '  It  is  his  book,'  or,  « The  book  is  his ;'  '  It  is  her 
book,'  or,  '  The  book  is  hers  „•'  « It  is  my  book,'  or,  '  The  book  is  mine ;'  l  It  is  your  book,'  or, 
'  The  book  is  yours  ;'  are  not  these  parallel  instances  ?  Custom  has  established  it  as  a  law, 
that  this  case  of  the  pronoun  shall  drop  its  original  termination,  for  the  sake  of  euphony, 
when  it  precedes  the  noun  that  governs  it ;  retaining  it  only  where  the  noun  is  understood  : 
but  this  certainly  makes  no  alteration  in  the  nature  of  the  word  ;  so  that  either  my  is  as 
much  a  possessive  case  as  mine ;  or  mine  and  my  are  equally  pronominal  adjectives." — 
Churchill's  New  Gram.  p.  221.  "  Mr.  Murray  considers  the  phrases,  '  our  desire,'  *  your  inten- 
tion,' *  their  resignation,'  as  instances  of  plural  adjectives  agreeing  with  singular  nouns  ;  and 
consequently  exceptions  to  the  general  (may  we  not  say  universal?}  rule:  but  if  they  [the 
words  our,  your,  their,]  be,  as  is  attempted  to  be  proved  above,  the  possessive  cases  of  pro- 
nouns, no  rule  is  here  violated." — Ib.  p.  224. 

OBS.  16. — One  strong  argument,  touching  this  much-disputed  point  of  grammar,  was  inci- 
dentally noticed  in  the  observations  upon  antecedents :  an  adjective  cannot  give  person, 
number,  and  gender,  to  a  relative  pronoun ;  because,  in  our  language,  adjectives  do  not 
possess  these  qualities  ;  nor  indeed  in  any  other,  except  as  they  take  them  by  immediate 
agreement  with  nouns  or  pronouns  in  the  same  clause.  But  it  is  undeniable,  that  my,  thy, 
his,  her,  our,  your,  their,  do  sometimes  stand  as  antecedents,  and  give  person,  number,  and 
gender  to  relatives,  which  head  other  i clauses.  For  the  learner  should  remember,  that, 
"  When  a  relative  pronoun  is  used,  the  sentence  is  divided  into  two  parts ;  viz.  the  antece- 
dent sentence,  or  that  which  contains  the  antecedent ;  and  the  relative  sentence,  containing 
the  relative." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  123.  We  need  not  here  deny,  that  Terence's  Latin,  as 
quoted  in  the  grammars,  "  Omnes  laudare  fortunas  meas,  qui  haberem  gnatumtali  ingonio 
praeditum,"  is  quite  as  intelligible  syntax,  as  can  literally  be  made  of  it  in  English — "That 
all  would  praise  my  fortunes,  who  had  a  son  endued  with  such  a  genius."  For,  whether  the 
Latin  be  good  or  not,  it  affords  no  argument  against  us,  except  that  of  a  supposed  analogy  ; 
nor  does  the  literality  of  the  version  prove,  at  all  points,  either  the  accuracy  or  the  same- 
ness of  the  construction. 

OBS.  17. — Surely,  without  some  imperative  reason,  we  ought  not,  in  English,  to  resort  to 
such  an  assumption  as  is  contained  in  the  following  Rule  :  "  Sometimes  the  relative  agrees 
in  person  with  that  pronoun  substantive,  from  which  the  possessive  pronoun  adjective  is 
derived  ;  as,  Pity  my  condition,  who  am  so  destitute.  I  rejoice  at  thy  lot,  who  art  so  fortu- 
nate. We  lament  his  fate,  who  is  so  unwary.  Beware  of  her  cunning,  who  is  so  deceitful. 
Commiserate  our  condition,  who  are  so  poor.  Tremble  at  your  negligence,  who  are  so  care- 
less. It  shall  be  their  property,  who  are  so  diligent.  We  are  rejoicing  at  thy  lot,  who  hast 
been  so  fortunate." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  142.  In  his  explanation  of  the  last  of  these  sentences, 
the  author  says,  "  Who  is  a  relative  pronoun ;  in  the  masculine  gender,  singular  number, 
second  person,  and  agrees  with  thee,  implied  in  the  adjective  thy.  RULE. — Sometimes  the 
relative  agrees  in  person,  &c.  And  it  is  the  nominative  to  the  verb  hast  been.  RULE. — • 
When  no  nominative  comes  between  the  relative  and  the  verb,  the  relative  is  the  nomina- 
tive to  the  verb." — Ib.  p.  143.  A  pupil  of  G.  Brown's  would  have  said,  "  Who  is  a  relative 
pronoun  ;  representing  « thy,'  or  the  person  addressed,  in  the  second  person,  singular  num- 
ber, and  masculine  gender  ;  according  to  the  rule  which  says,  '  A  pronoun  must  agree  with 
its  antecedent,  or  the  noun  or  pronoun  which  it  represents,  in  person,  number,  and  gender :' 
and  is  in  the  nominative  case,  being  the  subject  of  hast  been ;  according  to  the  rule  which 
says,  '  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  which  is  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  must  be  in  the  nomina- 
tive case.'  Because  the  meaning  is — who  hast  been ;  that  is,  thy  lot,  or  the  lot  of  thee,  who 
hast  been." 

Oiis.  18. — Because  the  possessive  case  of  a  noun  or  pronoun  is  usually  equivalent  in 
meaning  to  the  preposition  of  and  the  objective  case,  some  grammarians,  mistaking  this 
equivalence  of  meaning  for  sameness  of  case,  have  asserted  that  all  ovir  possessives  have^a 
double  form.  Thus  Nixon  :  "  When  the  particle  of  comes  between  two  substantives  signi- 
fying different  things,  it  is  not  to  be  considered  a  preposition,  but  the  siyn  of  the  substantive's 
being  in  the  possessive  case,  equally  as  if  the  apostrophic  s  had  been  affixed  to  it ;  as,  « The 


CHAP.  V.]  ETYMOLOGY. PRONOUNS. DECLENSIONS.  305 

skill  o/*  Crrsar,'  or  '  (\rsar  s  skill.'  " — F.,i  ;!i*h  Parser,  p.  38.  "  When  the  apostrophic  s  is  used, 
the  genitive  is  the  former  of  the  two  substantives  ;  as,  '  John's  house  : '  but  when  the  parti- 
cle rif  i-j  used,  it  is  tho  latter ;  as,  «  The  house  of  John.'  "—[>).  p.  4G.  The  work  here  quoted 
to  I  wo  different  grammars ;  namely,  Murray's  and  Allen's.  These  the  author 
doubtless  conceived  to  be  the  best  English  grammars  extant.  And  it  is  not  a  little  remark- 
able, that  both  of  these  authors,  as  well  as  many  others,  teach  in  such  a  faulty  manner,  that 
their  intentions  upon  this  point  may  be  matter  of  dispute.  "  When  Murray,  Allen,  and 
other>,  -ay,  •  we  make  use  of  the  particle  of  to  express  the  relation  of  the  genitive,'  the 
ambiguity  of  their  assertion  loaves  it  in  doubt  whether  or  not  they  considered  the  substan- 
tive which  is  preceded  by  of  and  an  other  substantive,  as  in  the  genitive  case." — Xixon's 
Eti'ili  .  88.  U"-  living  this  doubt  according  to  his  own  fancy,  Nixon  makes  the 

of  our  personal  pronouns  to  be  as  follows :  "  mine  or  of  me,  ours  or  of  us  ; 
•  •(r.-i  or  of  //  »i  ,•  /i  in  or  of  him,  //V- //••>•  or  of  tlfm  ;  hers  or  of  her,  theirs  or  of  them; 
its  or  ]>.  43.     This  doctrine  gives  us  a  form  of  de- 

clensio-i  that  is  both  complex  and  deficient.  It  is  therefore  more  objectionable  than  almost 
any  of  those  which  are  criticised  above.  The  arguments  and  authorities  on  which  the  author 

is  position,  are  not  thought  likely  to  gain  many  converts;  for  which  reason,  I  d. 
the  subject,  without  citing  or  answering  them. 

.   19. — In  old  books,  we  sometimes  find  the  word  I  written  for  the  adverb  ay,  yes  :  as, 

"To  dye,  to  slecpe  ;  To  sleepe,  perchance  to  dreame  ;  /,  there's  the  rub." — Shakspeare,  Old 

The  British  Grammar,  printed  in  1784,  and  the  Grammar  of  Murray  the  school- 

r,  published  some  years  earlier  than  Lindley  Murray's,  say  :  "  We  use  /  as  an  Answer, 
in  a  famili :  ,  or  merry  Way ;  as,  'I,  I,  Sir,  I,  I ; '  but  to  use  ay,  is  accounted  rude, 

especially  to  our  Betters."  See  Brit.  Gram.  p.  198.  The  age  of  this  rudeness,  or  incivility, 
if  it  ever  existed,  has  long  passed  away  ;  and  the  fashion  seems  to  be  so  changed,  that  to 
write  or  utter  /  for  ay,  would  now  in  its  turn  be  "  accounted  rude  " — the  rudeness  of  igno- 
rance— a  false  orthography,  or  a  false  pronunciation.  In  the  word  ay,  the  two  sounds  of 

i-.-e  plainly  heard  ;  in  the  sound  of  /,  the  same  elements  are  more  quickly  blended. 
When  this  sound  is  suddenly  repeated,  some  writers  make  a  new  word  of  it,  which  must  be 
called  an  /  as,  "  '  Pray,  answer  me  a  question  or  two.'  *  Ey,  ey,  as  many  as  you 

ploa-e,  r  nisin  Bridget,  an  they  be  not  too  hard.'  " — Burgh's  Speaker,  p.  99.     "  Ey,  ey,  'tis  so  ; 

•  ut  of  her  head,  poor  thing." — Ib.  p.  100.  This  is  probably  a  corruption  of  ay,  which 
is  often  doubled  in  the  same  manner  :  thus, 

,  ay,  Antipholus;  look  strange,  and  frown." — Shakspeare. 

.  20. — The  common  fashion  of  address  being  nowadays  altogether  in  the  plural  form, 
the  pronouns,  thou,  thy,  thine,  t/tee,  and  thyself,  have  become  unfamUiar  to  most  people,  espe- 
cially to  the  vulgar  and  uneducated.     These  words  are  now  confined  almost  exclusively  to 
the  writings  of  the  poets,  to  the  language  of  the  Friends,  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  to 
the  solemn  services  of  religion.     They  are,  however,  the  only  genuine  representatives  of  the 
second  person  singular,  in  English  ;  and  to  displace  them  from  that  rank  in  grammar,  or  to 
,  y  mr,  and  your*  as  being  literally  singular,  though  countenanced  by  several  late 
•id  pernicious  innovation.      It  is  sufficient  for  the  information  of  the 

learner,  and  far  more  consistent  with  learning  and  taste,  to  say,  that  the  plural  is  fashion- 
ably use< \  for  the  singular,  by  a  figure  of  syntax  ;  for,  in  all  correct  usage  of  this  sort,  the 
plural,  as  well  as  the  pronoun — Dr.  Webster's  fourteen  authorities  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding.       For,  surely,  "  You  MW"  cannot  be  considered  good  English,  merely 
it  number  of  respectable  writers  have  happened,  on  some  particular  occasions,  to 
adopt  the  phrase  ;  and  even  if  we  must  needs  concede  this  point,  and  grant  to  the  Doctor 
and  his  converts,  tha'       .  i  i*  prim iti<-  < ',"  the  example  no  more  proves  that 

-ingular,  than  that  jr«s  is  plural.      And  what  is  one  single  irregular  preterit,  com- 

with  all  the  verbs  in  the  langu-i 

.  '1\. — In  our  present  authorised  version  of  the  Bible,  the  numbers  and  cases  of  the 
second  person  are  kept  remarkably  distinct,*  the  pronouns  being  always  used  in  the  following 
inann  r  the  nominative,  thy  or  thine  for  the  po^e~-ive,  and  thee  for  the  objective, 

siniru  the  nominative,  ymr  or  yours  for  the  p<>  — e^ive,  and  you  for   the  objective, 

plural.       Vet,  before  that  ^  -.'lionahle  usage  had   commonly    substitut- 

.  iking  the  firmer  word  nominative  as  well  as  objective,  and  applying  it  to 
one  h  '1  as  to  in  -ubsequently,   as  it  appears,  the  religious  sect  that 

cmtert  Miple  about  applying  ^dividual,  fell  for  the  most  part  into  an 

ungrammatiral  practice  of  putting  th-  making,  in  like  manner,  the  objective  pro- 

noun t  >  be  both  nominative  and  objective;  or,  at  lea-4,  u-ing  it  very  commonly  so  in  their 
conversation.  Their  manner  of  speaking,  however,  was  not — or,  certainly,  with  the  present 

«  In  rrsprrt  to  the  numl'T*.  th*>  following  text  i*  an  uncouth  exception  :  "  Pas«  ye  away,  tkou  inhabitant  of 

Faphir.'1-  Mirah.  i,  11.     The  singular  ami  the  plural  an-  II-T  nfounded.     Perhaps  the  muting  ulionld 

(>  inhabitant  of  Saphir."     Nor  is  the  I  \\\  abrupt  transitions  from  one  number  to 

the  other,  or  from  one  person  to  an  other,  which  arc  m-i'li.T  a-rcciihle  u<>r  -trictly  pramuiatiral  J  a*,  '*  Brethren,  If 
a  man  K-  .  VIT  aken  in  a  fault,  ]it  trhtr/i  [ichn]  arc  spirimal.  :  ..,  [a]  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness  ;  con- 

•idering  t.'i '/<'//",  lest  fAovalso  be  tempted. "—  (in!,  vi.  1  ••  \'e  that  put  far  away  the  evil  day,  and  cause  the  geat 
cf  violence  to  come  near;  that  lie  upon  I-  m«l  stretch  t  fit  much- ?s  upon  their  couches,"  &C.— 4»no5,vi,  3 

20 


306  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

generation  of  their  successors,  is  not — as  some  grammarians  represent  it  to  be,  that  formal  and 
antique  phraseology  which  we  call  the  solemn  style.*  They  make  no  more  use  of  the  pro- 
noun ye,  or  of  the  verbal  termination  eth,  than  do  people  of  fashion  ;  nor  do  they,  in  using 
the  pronoun  thou,  or  their  improper  nominative  thee,  ordinarily  inflect  with  st  'or  est  the 
preterits  or  the  auxiliaries  of  the  accompanying  verbs,  as  is  done  in  the  solemn  style.  In- 
deed, to  use  the  solemn  style  familiarly,  would  be,  to  turn  it  into  burlesque  ;  as  when  Peter 
Pindar  "tellath  uhuthetroweth."^  And  let  those  who  think  with  Murray,  that  our  present 
version  of  the  Scriptures  is  the  best  standard  of  English  grammar,  J  remember  that  in  it  they 
have  no  warrant  for  substituting  s  or  es  for  the  old  termination  eth,  any  more  than  for  ceas- 
ing to  use  the  solemn  style  of  the  second  person  familiarly.  That  version  was  good  in  its 
day,  yet  it  shows  but  very  imperfectly  what  the  English  language  now  is.  Can  we  consist- 
ently take  for  our  present  standard,  a  style  which  does  not  allow  us  to  use  you  in  the  nomi- 
native" case,  or  its  for  the  possessive  ?  And  again  is  not  a  simplification  of  the  verb  as 
necessary  and  proper  in  the  familiar  use  of  the  second  person  singular,  as  in  that  of  the 
third  ?  This  latter  question  I  shall  discuss  in  a  future  chapter. 

ORS.  22. — The  use  of  the  pronoun  ye  in  the  nominative  case,  is  now  mostly  confined  to  the 
solemn  style  ;  §  but  the  use  of  it  in  the  objective,  which  is  disallowed  in  the  solemn  style, 
and  nowhere  apprortd  by  our  grammarians,  is  nevertheless  common  when  no  emphasis  falls 
upon  the  word :  as, 

"  When  you're  unmarried,  never  load  ye 

With  jewels  ;  they  may  incommode  ye." — Dr.  King,  p.  384. 

Upon  this  point,  Dr.  Lowth  observes,  "  Some  writers  have  used  ye  as  the  objective  case 
plural  of  the  pronoun  of  the  second  person,  very  improperly  and  ungrammatically ;  [as,] 
4  The  more  shame  for  ye  :  holy  men  I  thought  ye.'     Shak.  Hen.  VIII. 
1  But  tyrants  dread  ye,  lest  your  just  decree 
Transfer  the  pow'r,  and  set  the  people  free.'     Prior. 
4  His  wrath,  which  one  day  will  destroy  ye  both.'     Milt.  P.  L.  ii.  7.34. 
Milton  uses  the  same  manner  of  expression  in  a  few  other  places  of  his  Paradise  Lost, 
and  more  frequently  in  his  [smaller]  po&ms.     It  may,  perhaps,  be  allowed  in  the  comic  and  bur- 
lesque style,  which  often  imitates  a  vulgar  and  incorrect  pronunciation  ;  but  in  the  serious  and 
solemn  style,  no  authority  is  sufficient  to  justify  «e  manifest  a  solecism." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  '22. 
Churchill  copies  this  remark,  and  adds  ;  "  Dryden  ham  you  as  the  nominative,  and  ye  as  the 
objective,  in  the  same  passage  :  || 

4  What  gain  you,  by  forbidding  it  to  teaze  ye  f 
It  now  can  neither  trouble  ye,  nor  please  ye.' 

Was  this  from  a  notion,  that  you  and  ye,  thus  employed,  were  more  analogous  to  thou  and 
thee  in  the  singular  number? " — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  225.  I  answer,  No  ;  but,  more  proba- 
bly, from  a  notion,  that  the  two  words,  being  now  confessedly  equivalent  in  the  one  case, 
might  as  well  be  made  so  in  the  other  :  'just  as  the  Friends,  in  using  thee  for  you,  are  care- 
lessly converting  the  former  word  into  a  nominative,  to  the  exclusion  of  thou  ;  because  the 
latter  has  generally  been  made  so,  to  the  exclusion  of  ye.  When  the  confounding  of  such 
distinctions  is  begun,  who  knows  where  it  will  end  ?  With  like  ignorance,  some  writers 
suppose,  that  the  fashion  of  using  the  plural  for  the  singular  is  a  sufficient  warrant  for  put- 
ting the  singular  for  the  plural :  as, 

"The joys  of  love,  are  they  not  doubly  thine, 

Ye  poor!  whose  health,  whose  spirits  ne'er  decline  ?  " — Southwick's  Pleas,  of  Poverty. 
"  But,  Neatherds,  go  look  to  the  kine, 

Their  cribs  with  fresh  fodder  supply ; 
The  task  of  compassion  be  thine, 

For  herbage  the  pastures  deny."— Perfect's  Poems,  p.  5. 
OBS.  23. — When  used  in  a  burlesque  or  ludicrous  manner,  the  pronoun  ye  is  sometimes  a 

*  "  The  solemn  style  is  used,  chiefly,  in  the  Bible  and  in  prayer.  The  Society  of  Friends  retain  it  in  common 
parlance.  It  consists  in  using  thou  in  the  singular  number,  and  ye  in  the  plural,  instead  of  using  you  in  both  num- 
bers as  in  the  familiar  style.  *  *  *  The  third  person  singular  [of  verbs]  ends  with  tk  or  eth,  which  affects  only  th« 
present  indicative,  and  hath  of  the  perfect.  The  second  person,  singular,  ends  with  st,  est,  or  t  only." — Sanborn's 
Gram.  p.  58.  "  In  [the]  solemn  and  poetic  styles,  mine,  thine,  and  thy,  are  used  ;  and  THIS  t*  the  style  adopted  by 
the  Friends'1  society.  In  common  discourse  it  appears  very  stiff  and  affected." — Bartlett's  C.  S.  Man1 1,  Part  II,  p.  7U. 

t  "  And  of  the  History  of  his  being  tost  in  a  Blanket,  he  saith,  '  Here,  Scriblerus,  thouleesest  in  what  thou  assert- 
eft  concerning  the  blanket :  it  was  not  a  blanket,  but  a  rug.'  Curlliad,  p.  26.*' — Notes  to  Pope's  Dunciad,  B.  ii, 
Terse  3.  A  vulgar  idea  solemnly  expressed,  is  ludicrous.  Uttered  in  familiar  terms,  it  is  simply  vulgar  :  as,  "  You 
tie,  Scriblerus,  in  what  you  say  about  the  blanket." 

t  "  Notwithstanding  these  verbal  mistakes,  the  Bible,  for  the  size  of  it,  is  the  most  accurate  grammatical  compp- 
•ition  that  we  have  in  the  English  language.  The  authority  of  several  eminent  grammarians  might  be  adduced  in 
support  of  this  assertion,  but  it  may  be  sufficient  to  mention  only  that  of  Dr.  Lowth,  who  says,  '  The  present 
translation  of  the  Bible,  is  the  best  standard  of  the  English  language.'  "—Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  166.  I  revere 
the  Bible  vastly  too  much  to  be  pleased  with  an  imitation  of  its  peculiar  style,  in  any  man's  ordinary  speech  or 
writing. — G.  BROWN. 

§  "  Ye,  except  in  the  solemn  style,  is  obsolete;  but  it  is  used  in  the  language  of  tragedy,  to  express  contempt : 
as,  l  When  ye  shall  know  what  Margaret  knows,  ye  may  not  be  so  thankful.'     Franklin."—  Allen's  Gram.  p.  57. 
"  The  second  person  plural  had  formerly  YE  both  in  the  nominative  and  the  objective.     This  form  is  now  obsolete 
in  the  objective,  and  nearly  obsolete  in  the  nominative." — Hart's  Gram.  p.  55. 
1)  So  has  Milton :  — 

"  To  waste  it  all  myself,  and  leave  ye  none ! 
So  disinherited  how  would  you  bless  me  !  "—Par.  Lost.  B.  x,  1.  820. 


CHAP.   V.]  ETYMOLOGY. PRONOUNS. DECLENSIONS.  307 

mere  expletive  ;  or,  perhaps,  intended  rather  as  an  objective  governed  by  a  preposition 
understood.  But,  iu  such  a  construction,  I  see  no  reason  to  prefer  it  to  the  regular  objec- 
tive you 

"  He'll  laugh  ye,  dance  ye,  *in£  ye,  vault,  look  gay, 

And  ruffle  all  the  ladies  in  his  play." — AV//y,  p.  574. 

Some  grammarians,  who  will  have-  you  to  be  singular  as  well  as  plural,  ignorantly  tell  us, 
that  "  i/i-  always  means  more  than  one."  But  the  fact  is,  that  when  yc  was  in  common  use, 
it  was  as  frequently  applied  to  one  person  as  you  :  thus, 

re.wcll  my  doughtcr  lady  Margarcte, 
( iod  wotte  full  oft  it  grieued  hath  my  mynde, 
That  ye  should  go  where  we  should  seldome  mete  : 
Now  am  I  gone,  and  haue  left  you  bchyncU."— .SV  7'.  More,  1.503. 

In  the  following  example,  //<•  is  used  for  thee,  the  objective  singular  ;  and  that  by  one 
whose  knowledge  of  the  English  language,  is  said  to  have  been  unsurpassed  : — 
41  Proud  Baronet  of  Nova  Scotia  ! 

The  Dean  and  Spaniard  must  reproach  ye" — Swift. 
So  in  the  story  of  the  Chameleon  : — 

"  '  Tis  green,  '  tis  green,  Sir,  I  assure  ye." — Mcrrick. 

Thus  we  have  ye  not  only  for  the  nominative  in  both  numbers,  but  at  length  for  the  objec- 
tive in  both  ;  ye  and  you  being  made  everywhere  equivalent,  by  very  many  writers.  Indeed 
this  pronoun  has  been  so  frequently  used  for  the  objective  case,  that  one  may  well  doubt 
any  grammarian's  authority  to  condemn  it  in  that  construction.  Yet  I  cannot  but  think  it 
ill-chosen  in  the  third  line  below,  though  right  in  the  first  : — 

who  have  traced  the  Pilgrim  to  the  scene 
Which  is  his  last,  if  in  your  memories  dwell 
A  thought  which  once  was  his,  if  on  ye  swell 
A  single  recollection,  not  in  vain 

He  wore  his  sandal-shoon,  and  scallop-shell." — Byron. 

OBS.  24. — The  three  pronouns  of  the  third  person,  he,  she,  and  it,  have  always  formed 
their  plural  number  after  one  and  the  same  manner,  they,  their  or  theirs,  tJicm.  Or,  rather, 
these  plural  words,  which  appear  not  to  be  regular  derivations  from  any  of  the  singulars, 
have  ever  been  applied  alike  to  them  all.  But  it,  the  neuter  pronoun  singular,  had  formerly 
no  variation  of  cases,  and  is  still  alike  in  the  nominative  and  the  objective.  The  possessive 
its  is  of  comparatively  recent  origin.  Iff  our  common  Bible,  the  word  is  not  found,  except  by 
misprint ;  nor  do  other  writings  of  the  same  age  contain  it.  The  phrase,  of  it,  was  often  used 
as  an  equivalent;  as,  "And  it  had  three  ribs  in  the  mouth  of  it  between  the  teeth  of  it." — 
Dan.  vii,  o.  That  is — "  in  its  mouth,  between  its  teeth,"  But,  as  a  possessive  case  was 
sometimes  necessary,  our  ancestors  used  to  borrow  one ;  commonly  from  the  masculine, 
though  sometimes  from  the  feminine.  This  produced  what  now  appears  a  strange  confusion 
of  the  genders :  as,  "  L«irn;n<i  hath  his  infancy,  when  it  is  but  beginning,  and  almost  child- 
i^h  ;  then  A-'v  youth,  when  it  is  luxuriant  and  juvenile  ;  then  his  strength  of  years,  when  it 
is  solid  and  reduced  ;  and  lastly  his  old  age,  when  it  waxcth  dry  and  exhaust." — Bacon 's 
Essays,  p.  58.  "  Of  beaten  work  shall  the  cimdb'stitk  be  made  :  his  shaft,  and  hi*  branches,  his 
bowls,  hit  knops,  and  his  flowers,  shall  be  of  the  same." — /,>o/</v,  xxv,  31.  "They  came 
and  emptied  the  chest,  and  took  it  and  carried  it  to  his  place  again." — 2  Chron.  xxiv,  11, 
"  Look  not  thou  upon  the  irm/>,  when  it  is  red,  when  it  giveth  his  colour  in  the  cup,  when 
it  moveth  <V.y.-// aright." — I'rnr.  xxiii,  31.  "  The  tree  is  known  by  Ats  fruit." — Matt,  xii,  33. 
44  When  thou  ti  mud,  if  shall  not  henceforth  yield  unto  thee^er  strength." — Gen. 

iv,  !•_'.     "lie  that  priekuh  the  heart,  muketh  it  to  show  her  knowledge."— Ecd.  xxii,  19. 
Shakspcure  rarely,  if  ever,  used  its  ;  and  hid  style  is  sometimes  obscure  for  the  want  of  it :  as, 
"  There  is  no  pfa  so  simple,  but  assumes 

k  of  virtue  on  his  outward  parts." — IL-rch.  of  Venice. 
"  The  name  of  Cassius  honours  this  corruption, 
An-:  nt  doth  therefore  hide  his  head." — JuL  Os.  Act  iv. 

of  pronouns  should  never  be  written  with  an  apostrophe. 

A  few  pronominal  adjerti  *  -uhstantively  receive  it ;  but  the  construction  which  it 

:is  to  make  them  nouns  :   a-,  mi,  '.v,  <,:/,, •/•'*,  and,  according  to  Murray,  former's 
and  ,'  e  real  pronouns  that  end  in  .s-,  a>  /m,  ,-/•«,  th,  if*,  though  true 

possi  r  their  kind,  have  no  occasion  for  this  mark,  nor  does  good  usage  admit  it. 

Churchill,  with  equal  disregard  of  con-i-tency  and  authority,  givrs  it  to  one  of  them,  and 
denies  it  to  the  rc-t.  •  to  the  classiiii-ation  of  thc*e  word-  .  and  of 

my,  thy,  her,  our,  your,  their,  as  adject:  jn  :   "  It  M  ema  as  if  the  termination  in  s  had. 

led  to  the  di.^tincti  m  :  but  no  one  will  contend,  that  ours  is  the  possessive  ease  of  our,  or 
theirs  of  (heir;  though  ours,  yours,  hers,  and  (heirs,  are  often  very  improperly  spelt  with  an 
apostrophe,  u  fault  not  always  imputable  to  the  printer ;  while  in  it's,  which  is  unq\ 
ably  the  possessive  case  of  it,  the  apostrophe,  by  a  -train;'1  perversencss,  is  almost  always, 
omitted." — Churchill's  dram.  p.  'I'l'l.  The  charge  of  strange  perverseness  may,  in  this 
instance,  I  think,  be  retorted  upon  the  critic  ;  and  that,  to  the  fair  exculpation  of  those  who 
choose  to  conform  to  the  general  usage  which  offends  him. 


308  THE   GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

OBS.  26. — Of  the  compound  personal  pronouns,  this  author  gives  the  following  account : 
"  Self,  in  the  plural  selves,  a  noun,  is  often  combined  with  the  personal  pronouns,  in  order 
to  express  emphasis,  or  opposition,  or  the  identity  of  the  subject  and  [the]  object  of  a  verb  ; 
and  thus  forms  a  pronoun  relative :  as,  « I  did  it  myself;'  '  he  was  not  himself,  when  he  said 
so  ;'  '  the  envious  torment  tJiemsclves  more  than  others.'  Formerly  self  and  selves  were  used 
simply  as  nouns,  and  governed  the  pronoun,  which  was  kept  distinct  from  it  [them]  in  the 
possessive  case  :  but  since  they  [the  pronoun  and  the  noun]  have  coalesced  into  one  word, 
they  [the  compounds]  are  used  only  in  the  following  forms  :  for  the  first  person,  myself,  our- 
selves ;  for  the  second,  thyself,  or  yourself,  yourselves  ;  for  the  third,  himself,  herself,  itself, 
themselves  :  except  in  the  regal  style,  in  which,  as  generally  in  the  second  person,  the  sin- 
gular noun  is  added  to  the  plural  pronoun,  [making]  our  self.  Each  of  these  is  the  same  i.t 
all  three  cases." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  75.  In  a  note  referring  to  the  close  of  this  explana- 
tion, he  adds  :  "  Own  also  is  often  employed  with  the  possessive  cases  of  the  personal 
pronouns  by  way  of  emphasis,  or  opposition  ;  but  separately,  as  an  adjective,  and  not  com- 
bining with  them  to  form  a  relative :  as,  '  I  did  it  of  my  own  free  will :'  '  Did  he  do  it  with 
his  own  hand  ?'  " — Ib.  p.  227. 

OBS.  27. — The  preceding  instructions,  faulty  and  ungrammatical  as  they  are,  seem  to  be 
the  best  that  our  writers  have  furnished  xipon  this  point.  To  detect  falsities  and  blunders, 
is  half  the  grammarian's  duty.  The  pronouns  of  which  the  term  self  or  selves  forms  a  party 
are  used,  not  for  the  connecting  of  different  clauses  of  a  sentence,  but  for  the  purpose  of 
emphatic  distinction  in  the  sense.  In  calling  them  "  relatives,"  Churchill  is  wrong,  even  by 
his  own  showing.  They  have  not  the  characteristics  which  he  himself  ascribes  to  relatives  ; 
but  are  compound  personal  pronouns,  and  nothing  else.  He  is  also  manifestly  wrong  in 
asserting,  that  they  are  severally  "  the  same  in  all  three  cases."  From  the  very  nature  of 
their  composition,  the  possessive  case  is  alike  impossible  to  them  all.  To  express  owner- 
ship with  emphasis  or  distinction,  we  employ  neither  these  compounds  nor  any  others ;  but 
always  use  the  simple  possessives  with  the  separate  adjective  own :  as,  "  With  my  own 
eyes," — "By  thy  own  confession," — "To  his  own  house," — "For  her  own  father," — "By  its  own 
weight," — "  To  save  our  oivn  lives," — "  For  your  oion  sake," — "In  their  own  cause." 

OBS.  28. — The  phrases,  my  own,  thy  own,  his  own,  and  so  forth,  Dr.  Perlcy,  in  his  little 
Grammar,  has  improperly  converted  by  the  hyphen  into  compound  words  :  calling  them  the 
possessive  forms  of  myself,  thyself,  himself,  and  so  forth  ;  as  if  one  set  of  compounds  could 
constitute  the  possessive  case  of  an  other  !  And  again,  as  if  the  making  of  eight  new  pro- 
nouns for  two  great  nations,  were  as  slight  a  feat,  as  the  inserting  of  so  many  hyphens  ! 
The  word  own,  anciently  written  owen,  is  an  adjective  ;  from  an  old  form  of  the  perfect  parti- 
ciple of  the  verb  to  owe ;  which  verb,  according  to  Lowth  and  others,  once  signified  to  possets. 
It  is  equivalent  to  due,  proper,  or  peculiar ;  and,  in  its  present  use  as  an  adjective,  it  stands 
nowhere  else  than  between  the  possessive  case  and  the  name  of  the  thing  possessed :  as, 
"  The  Boy's  Own  Book," — "Christ's  own  words," — "  Solomon's  own  and  only  son."  Dr. 
Johnson,  while  he  acknowledges  the  above-mentioned  derivation,  very  strangely  calls  ovm 
a  noun  substantive  ;  and,  with  not  much  more  accuracy,  says  :  "  This  is  a  word  of  no  other 
use  than  as  it  is  added  to  the  possessive  pronouns,  my,  thy,  his,  our,  your,  their." — Quarto 
Diet.  w.  Own.  O.  B.  Peirce,  with  obvious 'untruth,  says,  "  Own  is  used  in  combination  with 
a  name  or  substitute,  and  as  a  part  of  it,  to  constitute  it  emphatic." — Gram.  p.  63.  He 
writes  it  separately,  but  parses  it  as  a  part  of  the  possessive  noun  or  pronoun  which  precedes  it! 
OBS.  29. — The  word  self  was  originally  an  adjective,  signifying  same,  very,  or  particular ; 
but,  when  used  alone,  it  is  now  generally  a  noun.  This  may  have  occasioned  the  diversity 
which  appears  in  the  formation  of  the  compound  personal  pronouns.  Dr.  Johnson,  in  his 
great  Dictionary,  calls  self  a  pronoun  ;  but  he  explains  it  as  being  both  adjective  and  sub- 
stantive, admitting  that,  "  Its  primary  signification  seems  to  be  that  of  an  adjective."- 
Again  he  observes,  "  Myself,  himself,  themselves,  and  the  rest,  may,  contrary  to  the  analogy 
of  my,  him,  them,  be  used  as  nominatives."  Hisself,  itsself,  and  thcirseloes,  would  be  more 
analogical  than  himself,  itself,  themselves ;  but  custom  has  rejected  the  former,  and  established 
the  latter.  When  an  adjective  qualifies  the  term  self,  the  pronouns  are  written  separately 
in  the  possessive  case  ;  as,  My  si/iyle  self — My  own  self — His  own  self — Their  own  selves.  So, 
anciently,  without  an  adjective :  as,  "  A  man  shall  have  diffused  his  life,  his  self,  and  his 
whole  concernments  so  far,  that  he  can  weep  his  sorrows  with  an  other's  eyes." — South, 
11  Something  valuable  for  its  self  without  view  to  any  thing  farther." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  293. 
"That  they  would  willingly,  and  of  their  selves  endeavour  to  keep  a  perpetual  chastity."- 
Stat.  Ed.  VI,  in  Loicth's  Gram.  p.  26.  "  Why  I  should  either  imploy  my  self  in  that  study  or 
put  others  upon  it." — Walker's  English  Particles,  p.  xiv.  "  It  is  no  matter  whether  you  do 
it  by  your  proctor,  or  by  your  self." — Ib.  p.  96.  The  compound  oneself  is  sometimes  written 
in  stead  of  the  phrase  one's  self;  but  the  latter  is  preferable,  and  more  common.  Even  hi* 
self,  when  written  as  two  words,  may  possibly  be  right  in  some  instances  ;  as, 
"  Scorn' d  be  the  wretch  that  quits  his  genial  bowl, 
His  loves,  his  friendships,  ev'n  his  self,  resigns ; 
Perverts  the  sacred  instinct  of  his  soul, 

And  to  a  ducat's  dirty  sphere  confines." — SHENSTONE:  Brit.  Poets,  Vol.  vii,  p.  107. 
OBS.  30. — In  poetry,  and  even  in  some  compositions  not  woven  into  regular  numbers,  th« 


CHAP.    V.]  ETfMOIyOQY. PRONOUNS. — DECLENSIONS.  309 

simple  personal  pronouns  are  not  ^infrequently  used,  for  brevity's  sake,  in  a  reciprocal  sense  ; 
that  is,  iu  stead  of  the  compound  personal  pronouns,  which  are  the  proper  reciprocals  :  as, 
"  Wash  I/OK,  make  you  clean." — Isaiah,  i,  16.  "  I  made  me  great  works;  I  bullied  m« 
houses;  I  planted  tin:  vineyards;  I  made  me  gardens  and  orchards." — /  .  ii,  4. 

J'Thou  shall  surely  clothe  thee  with  them  all  as  with  an  ornament,  and  bind  them  on  thee 
as  a  bride  doeth." — Ixiitah,  xlix,  18.  Compare  with  tho.-^c  the  more  regular  expression  : 
"As  a  bridegroom  decketh  A////v,7/'  with  ornaments,  and  as  a  bride  adorneth  hrr»<-[f  with 
jewels." — Isaiah,  Ixi,  10.  Thi-;  phraseology  is  almost  always  preferable  in  prose;  the  other 
is  a  poetical  license,  or  peculiarity  : 

"  I  turn  me-  from  the  martial  roar." — Xmtt's  L.  L.,  p.  97. 

"  Hush  thec,  poor  maiden,  and  be  still." — Ib.  p.  110. 

"  Firmer  he  roots  him  the  ruder  it  blow." — Ib.  p.  49. 

OHS.  31. — To  accommodate  the  writers  of  verse,  the  word  ever  is  frequently  contracted  into 
r'cr,  pronounced  like  the  monosyllable  air.  An  easy  extension  of  this  license,  gives  us 
similar  contractions  of  all  the  compound  relative  pronouns  ;  as,  >rhoe'crOTirhosoc'cr,whose'er 
or  whnsi-» -t.-'er,  trh'imr'rr  or  irhotttsue'er,  ichichc'er  or  irhichsoeer,  ichateer  or  whatsoe'er.  The 
character  and  properties  of  these  compounds  are  explained,  perhaps  sufficiently,  in  the 
observations  upon  the  classes  of  pronouns.  Some  of  them  are  commonly  parsed  as  represent- 
ing two  cases  at  once  ;  there  being,  in  fact,  an  ellipsis  of  the  noun,  before  or  after  them  :  as, 
"  Each  art  he  prompts,  each  charm  he  can  create, 

Whole  er  he  gives,  are  f/icen  for  you  to  hate." — Pope's  Duuciad. 

OBS.  32. — For  a  form  of  parsing  the  double  relative  what,  or  its  compound  ir/i>rfen.r  or 
tchat  soccer,  it  is  the  custom  of  some  teachers,  to  suggest  equivalent  words,  and  then  proceed 
to  explain  these,  in  lieu  of  the  word  in  question.  This  is  the  method  of  RtmeU'a  drum.  p. 
99;  of  Merchant's,  p.  110;  of  Kirkhanis,  p.  Ill ;  of  Gilbert's,  p.  92.  But  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  equivalence  of  meaning  is  not  sameness  of  grammatical  construction  ;  and,  even 
if  the  construction  be  the  same,  to  parse  other  equivalent  words,  is  not  really  to  parse  the 
text  that  is  given.  A  good  parser,  with  the  liberty  to  supply  obvious  ellipses,  should  know 
how  to  explain  all  goo  I  English  r/.v  //  stands  ;  and  for  a  teacher  to  pervert  good  English  into 
false  doctrine,  must  needs  seem  the  very  worst  kind  of  ignorance.  What  can  be  more  fan- 
tastical than  the  following  etymology,  or  more  absurd  than  the  following  directions  for 
parsing:  "  What  is  compounded  of  which  that.  These  words  have  been  contracted  and 
made  to  coalesce,  a  part  of  the  orthography  of  both  being  still  retained  :  irhat—irh[ich — 
t]hat ;  (ir/tich-that.)  Anciently  it  appeared  in  the  varying  forms,  tha  qua,  qua  tha,  qutha, 

Iquthat,  quJuif,  Jurat,  and  tinally  ichat." — Kirkhanis  dram.  p.  111.  This  bald  pedantry  of 
"  tha  qua,  qua  tha,"  was  secretly  borrowed  from  the  grammatical  speculations  of  William 
S.  Cardell:*  the  "  which-that"  notion  contradicts  it,  and  is  partly  of  the  borrower's  own 
invention.  If  it-h-if  is  a  compound,  it  was  compounded  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago; 
and,  of  course,  long  before  any  part  of  the  English  language  existed  as  such.  King  Alfred 
used  it,  as  he  found  it,  in  the  Saxon  form  of  Inert.  The  Scotch  afterwards  spelled  it  quhat. 
Our  English  grammarians  have  improperly  called  it  a  compound;  and  Kirkham,  still  more 
absurdly,  calls  the  word  others  a  compound,  and  mine,  thine,  ours,  yours,  &c.  compounds.f 

On-  ording  to  this  gentleman's  notion  of  things,  there  is,  within  the  little  circle 

of  the  word  irhat,  a  very  curious  play  of  antecedent  parts  and  parts  relative — a  dodging 
contra-danrc  of  //•///,//  that  and/1//'//  irJiic.h,  with  things  "•///>•//,  and  so  forth.  Thus  :  "When 
tchaf  i-  you  most  always  parse  it  ••  !»;  that  is,  you  must  parse 

the  antecedent  part  «v  a  //  »/n,  and  give  it  case  ;  the  relative  part  you  may  anti/i/.-.e  like  any 
other  iving  it  a  case  likewise.  Example:  'I  will  try  what  (that  which)  can  be 

•  liTl>ew.  :  '..,,/of  ticoxp-  '  >-f. *.  each,  of  course,  referring  to  a  «o/m,  expressed  or 

/  ti-hirh  :  thn-  ''it  that:  or  that  tkat ;  used  also  in  tin-  plural.     At  dif- 

f.T.jnt   ji.-i:   •!-.  ati.l  in  'lit)  |,  it  appears  in  tin-  varvin..  ,/,  t/itu  //,«.  ijn'thn.  r/itt/ifif.  quhat, 

in  other  forms  :  but,  it  i-  multiply  them."— Cfcrrf«/Tj    Essay 

on  lji> 

•  f  which  I  have  tak  i  »  in  Obs.  10th  abcm-.  is  reraark- 

••  I'roii.iiu.s  an-  .-< -ii'-ra/lii  divi  led   into  tlir«-  kinds, 

nm.  p. 

in-  far  from  i]  kind* 

leqnate.      And  if  we 

look  it,  -ir,n.     of  t':.  .i;ioun«, 

he  wt\-  ,,,1  iM  fh«-ir<l.  . 

ihlf  tht-  nimilirr.  Dm-:  "  \Vlu-n 

ni|'<.iMnlf  "f   M.    or* 

withw/,  tlti.  ••  They 

'  -Vi.  v    I'M.       N' 
!  iiii-=Ti:inn"l  •  ' 

'  Ii  an. I  -imj.li- 

to/to  on'  pronouns  ;  '« 

»nd  th-r  /  far,  but  always  belong  to  nouns,  tither 

expressed  or  implied. "—Ib.  p.  114.     What  admirable  t 


310  THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

found  in  female  delicacy.'  Here  that,  the  antecedent  part  of  what,  is  in  the  obj.  case,  gov- 
erned by  the  verb  '  will  try  ;'  which,  the  relative  part,  is  in  the  nom.  case  to  '  can  be  found.' 
'I  have  heard  what  (i.  e.  that  which,  or  the  thing  which)  has  been  alleged.'" — Kirkham' a 
Gram.  p.  111.  Here,  \ve  see,  the  author's  "  zohich-that"  becomes  that  which,  or  something 
else.  But  this  is  not  a  full  view  of  his  method.  The  following  vile  rigmarole  is  a  further 
sample  of  that  "  New  Systematick  Order  of  Parsing,"  by  virtue  of  which  he  so  very  compla- 
cently and  successfully  sets  himself  above  all  other  grammarians  :  "  '  From  what  is  recorded, 
he  appears,  &c.'  What  is  a  comp.  rel.  pron.  including  both  the  antecedent  and  the  relative, 
and  is  equivalent  to  that  which,  or  the  thing  lohich. —  Thing,  the  antecedent  part  of  what,  is  a 
noun,  the  name  of  a  thing — com.  the  name  of  a  species — neuter  gender,  it  has  no  sex — third 
person,  spoken  of — sing,  number,  it  implies  but  one — and  in  the  obj.  case,  it  is  the  object  of 
the  relation  expressed  by  the  prep.  '  from,'  and  gov.  by  it :  RULE  31.  (Repeat  the  Rule,  and 
every  other  Rale  to  which  I  refer.)  Which,  the  relative  part  of  what,  is  a  pronoun,  a  word  used 
instead  of  a  noun — relative,  it  relates  to  '  thing'  for  its  antecedent — neut.  gender,  third  per- 
son, sing,  number,  because  the  antecedent  is  with  which  it  agrees,  according  to  RULE  14. 
Eel.  pron.  &c.  Which  is  in  the  nom.  case  to  the  verb  *  is  recorded,'  agreeably  to  RULE  15. 
The  relative  is  the  nominative  case  to  the  verb,  when  no  nominative  comes  betiveen  it  and  the  verb." 
— Kirkham  s  Gram.  p.  113. 

OHS.  34.— The  distinction  which  has  been  made  by  Murray  and  others,  between  etymolo- 
gical parsing  and  syntactical — or,  between  that  exercise  which  simply  classifies  and  describes 
the  words  of  a  sentence,  and  that  which  adds  to  this  the  principles  of  their  construction — 
is  rejected  by  Kirkham,  and  also  by  Ingersoll,  Fuller,  Smith,  Sanborn,  Mack,  and  some 
others,  it  being  altogether  irreconcilable  with  their  several  modes  of  confounding  the  two 
main  parts  of  grammar.  If  such  a  distinction  is  serviceable,  the  want  of  it  is  one  of  the 
inherent  faults  of  the  schemes  which  they  have  adopted.  But,  since  "  grammar  is  the  art 
of  speaking  and  writing  with  propriety"  who  that  really  values  clearness  and  accuracy  of 
expression,  can  think  the  want  of  them  excusable  in  models  prescribed  for  the  exercise  of 
parsing  ?  And  is  it  not  better  to  maintain  the  distinction  above  named,  than  to  interlace  our 
syntactical  parsing  with  broken  allusions  to  the  definitions  which  pertain  to  etymology  ? 
If  it  is,  this  new  mode  of  parsing,  which  Kirkham  claims  to  have  invented,  and  Smith  pre- 
tends to  have  got  from  Germany,  whatever  boast  may  be  made  of  it,  is  essentially  defective 
and  very  immethodical.*  This  remark  applies  not  merely  to  the  forms  above  cited,  respect- 
ing the  pronoun  what,  but  to  the  whole  method  of  parsing  adopted  by  the  author  of  "  Eng- 
lish Grammar  in  Familiar  Lectures." 

OBS.  35. — The  forms  of  etymological  parsing  which  I  have  adopted,  being  designed  to 
train  the  pupil,  in  the  first  place,  by  a  succession  of  easy  steps,  to  a  rapid  and  accurate 
description  of  the  several  species  of  words,  and  a  ready  habit  of  fully  defining  the  technical 
terms  employed  in  such  descriptions,  will  be  found  to  differ  more  from  the  forms  of  syntac- 
tical parsing,  than  do  those  of  perhaps  any  other  grammarian.  The  definitions,  which 
constitute  so  large  a  portion  of  the  former,  being  omitted  as  soon  as  they  are  thoroughly 
learned,  give  place  in  the  latter  to  the  facts  and  principles  of  syntax.  Thus  have  we  fullness 
in  the  one  part,  conciseness  in  the  other,  order  and  distinctness  in  both.  The  separation  of 
etymology  from  syntax,  however,  though  judiciously  adopted  by  almost  all  grammarians,  is 
in  itself  a  mere  matter  of  convenience.  No  one  will  pretend  that  these  two  parts  of  grammar 
are  in  their  nature  totally  distinct  and  independent.  Hence,  though  a  due  regard  to  method 
demands  the  maintenance  of  this  ancient  and  still  usual  division  of  the  subject,  we  not 
tm  frequently,  in  treating  of  the  classes  and  modifications  of  words,  exhibit  contingently  some 
of  the  principles  of  their  construction.  This,  however,  is  very  different  from  a  purposed 
blending  of  the  two  parts,  than  which  nothing  can  be  more  unwise. 

OBS.  3!>. — The  great  peculiarity  of  the  pronoun  what,  or  of  its  compound  whatever  or  what- 
soever, is  a  peculiarity  of  construction,  rather  than  of  etymology.  Hence,  in  etymological 
parsing,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  notice  it  only  as  a  relative,  though  the  construction  be 
double.  It  is  in  fact  a  relative ;  but  it  is  one  that  reverses  the  order  of  the  antecedent, 

*  "It  is  now  proper  to  give  some  examples  of  the.  manner  in  which  the  learners  should  be  exercised,  in  order  to 
improve  their  knowledge,  and  to  render  it  familiar  to  them.  This  is  called  pursing.  The  nature  of  the  subject, 
as  well  as  the  adap'atiou  of  i"  to  learners,  requires  that  it  sh  'Uld  be  divided  into  two  parts  ;  viz.  pursing,  as  it  re- 
gpec  s  el.VMiol'igy  alone  :  juid  parsing,  as  it  respects  both  etymology  and  syntax." — Mu.r'ii/'s  (.train.  Oitnro.  Vol.  i, 
p.  22").  lluw  very  little  real  respect  for  the  opinions  of  Murray,  has  been  entertained  by  these  self-seikmg  magni- 
fiers and  modifiers  of  his  work! 

U'imt  Murrav  calls  '•  Syntactical  Parsing,-'  i.s  sometimes  called  "  Construing,"  especially  by  those  who  will  hare 
Parsing  to  be  nothing  in  ore  than  an  er,\mological  exercise.  A  late  author  says,  "  The  practice  of  Construing  dif- 
fers from  that  of  parsing,  in  the  extension  of  irs  objects.  Parsing  merely  indicates  the  parts  of  speech  and  their 
accidents,  bur  construing  searches  for  and  points  out  their  syntactical  relations." — I).  7>/.nV.«  Gram.  ]>•  4  '. 

Here  the  distinction  which  Murray  judged  to  be  necessary,  is  still  more  strongly  marked  and  in.-i^fed  on.  And 
tho'iiM  I  see  no  utility  in  restricting  the  word  Parsing  to  a  mere  description  of  the  parts  of  speech  uMi  their 
accidents,  and  no  impropriety  in  calling  the  latter  branch  of  the  exercise  "  Syntactical  Parsing;"  I  cannot  but 
think  there  is  such  a  necessi  y  for  the  division,  as  forms  a  very  grave  argument  against  tho-e  r.-mgled  schemes 
of  grammar  which  do  not  admit  of  it.  151  air  is  grossly  inconsistent  with  himself.  For.  at'rer  drawing  his  distinc- 
tion between  Parsing  and  Construing,  as  above,  he  takes  no  further  noriee  of  the  latter  ;  but,,  bavin  a  filled  up  seven 
pages  wi'h  his  most  wretched  mode  of  "  PAUSING,"  adds,  in  au  emphatic  note:  "  The  T,  acker  should  direct  the 
Pufil  to  CONSTRUE,  IN  THE  SAME  MANNER,  any  passage  from  MY  CLASS-BOOK,  or  othir  Wutk,  at  the  iatt  of  thret 
or  four  lines  per  day."—  D.  Blair* »  Gram,  pi  5G. 


CIIAP.    V.]  ETYMOLOGY. — PRONOUN'S. PARSING. — PRAXIS    V.  311 

whenever  the  noun  is  inserted  with  it.  But  as  the  noun  is  usually  suppressed,  and  as  the 
supplying  of  it  is  attended  with  an  obvious  difficulty,  arising  from  the  transposition,  we  cut 
the  matter  short,  by  declaring  the  word  to  have,  as  it  appears  to  have,  a  double  syntactical 
relation.  Of  the  foregoing  example,  therefore — viz.,  "  From  ickat  is  recorded,"  &c., — a 
pupil  of  mine,  in  parsing  etymolotjically  would  say  thus  :  "  What  is  a  relative  pronoun,  of  the 
third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case.  1.  A  pronoun  is  a 
word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun.  2.  A  relative  pronoun  is  a  pronoun  that  represents  an  ante- 
redfit  word  or  phrase,  and  connects  different  clauses  of  a  sentence.  3.  The  third  person  is 
that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that 
which  denotes  but  one.  ').  The  neuter  gender  is  that  which  denotes  things  that  arc  neither 
male  nor  female.  6.  The  nominative  case  is  that  form  or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which 
denotes  the  subject  of  a  verb."  In  parsing  syntactically,  he  would  say  thus:  "What  is  a 
double  relative,  including  both  antecedent  and  relative,  being  equivalent  to  that  -which.  As 
'••nt,  it  is  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case  ;  being 
governed  by  from  ;  according  to  the  rule  which  says,  '  A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  made  the  object 
of  a  preposition,  is  governed  by  it  in  the  objective  case.'  Because  the  meaning  is—from 
what.  As  relative,  it  is  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nomina- 
tive ea>c ;  being  the  subject  of  is  recorded ;  according  to  the  rule  which  says,  'A  Noun 
or  a  Pronoun  which  is  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  must  be  in  the  nominative  case.'  Because 
the  meaning  is — what  is  recorded." 

Gits.  37. — The  word  what,  when  uttered  independently  as  a  mark  of  surprise,  or  as  the 
prelude  to  an  emphatic  question  which  it  does  not  ask,  becomes  an  interjection ;  and,  as 
such,  is  to  be  parsed  merely  as  other  interjections  are  parsed  :  as,  "  What!  came  the  word  of 
God  out  from  you  ?  or  came  it  unto  you  only  :" — 1  Cur.  xiv,  36.  "  What !  know  ye  not  that 
your  1) o  ly  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  in  you,  which  ye  have  of  God  r" — 1  Cor. 
vi,  l.i.  "But  what !  is  thy  servant  a  dog,  that  he  should  do  this  great  thing-" — 2  Kings, 
viii,  13.  "  Whnt !  are  you  so  ambitious  of  a  man's  good  word,  who  perhaps  in  an  hour's 
time  shall  curse  himself  to  the  pic  of  hell :" — ('ullii-rs  A/ttnni/mx,  p.  \~>-2. 

'.'  up  and  down,  carv'd  like  an  apple-tart  r" — Shakspeare. 
"  Wh-it !  can  you  lull  the  winged  winds  asleep  :" — Campbell. 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 

PRAXIS   V.— ETYMOLOGICAL. 

fifth  Praxis,  it  is  required  of  the  pupil — to  distinguish  and  define  the 
different  /»trts  of  speech,  and  the  classes  and  modifications  of  the  ARTICLES, 

A  IM  KCTIVES,  and  PRONOI 

The  definitions  to  In-  (jii  m  in   the   Fifth  Praxis,  are  two  for  an  article,  six  for  a 
// ,  three  for  an  adjective,  six  for  a  pronoun,  and  one  for  a  verb,  a  participle, 
an  adcerb,  a  conjunction,  a  preposition,  or  an  interjection.      Thus: — 

EXAMPLE  PARSED. 

"  N  iy  Lut,  0  man,  who  art  thou  that  repliest  against  God?  Shall  the  tiling  formed 
:iim  that  formed  it,  Why  hast  thou  made  me  thus?" — Rom.  ix,  20. 

i.«  an  adverb.     1.  An  adverb  is  a  *  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  oiher  adverb  ;    and 

r. •>.<«•<  tiiiM-,  j.Uri'.  <l.-;:rr«'.  or  manner. 
n      1.  A  rniijiinrtii.il  is  a  w.,rd  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  in  construction,  and  to  show 

tin-  'l>'|ii'ii  ..MII-C  <.f  ttic  ti-nii-  »«>  ronii' 

>»>  >  1    An  in;.  rj.M-tiou  i>  a  word  that  is  uttered  merely  to  indicate  some  strong  or  sudden  emo- 

<r  tminlM-r    m aw u lino  Render,  an.  1  nominative  ca*e.      1.  A 
•tint  ran   he  known   or   mentioned.    2.    A  common  noun  to 
:i.    I'll.-   s.-.-oii'l   i-cr-un    is  that  which  denotes  the 

h  'ingular  number  L)  that  which  denotes  but  one.     5.  Tin'  i culine 

P- "  I«T  i-  -  <>f  tli..  MI  .1-  kind.      G.  The  nominative    case  Is  that  form  or 

\.-rh. 

^nlar  nnnil  <-r.  nifiM-u!ii;««  ponder,  and    rmniinittivp  rase. 

1.  A  pr«i:(>iin  is  :.  In  interrogative  pronoun  is  a  pronoun  with  which  ft 

Mi.it  wiiiHi  d.-iinvsMi.-  PT-OM  or  Miin«  m.-r.-h  s|."k.-n  oi'      4.  The 

mmber  is  thai  ie  masculine  gender  ix  that  which  d«notM    i»-iM.nsor 

malt-  kind.     U.  The  noniiimtivi-  case  is  that  form  or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun  which  denote* 
v  verb. 

•  ifi.'rt  tn  b'.  tr>  net,  or  tn  If  acini  upon. 

•-.in  ,1  pronoun,  of  •  nninh.-r.   ma.*ruline  ponder,  and  nomitm'iv.-  case.     1. 

\  !i   is  awi.pt  .   of  a  n. tun.     _  ..  |n,,u.  ,111;  is  n  pronoun  that  ghow»,  b,  inform, 

of  whit  person  i-  i        3    l':i-  weond  I>.T-«.H  i  lenote^  the  hearer,  or  the  yenon  »l<ir«w  I     4. 

alar  number  is  that  which  ..-.     0.  Th>- i;.  liat  \rliir;i  .i.-intt.  R  persons 

or  .ini.n  lU  of  the  ma'c  kin  I.      -.   1  h  •   ui-iniua:ive  cose  is  that  form   or  stale  of  a  nounor  pronoun  which 
denotes  the  subject  of  a  verb. 


312  'Jin.   M:\MM\IJ    or    BfftLItH    <;I:A.MMARS.  fi'AiiTlI. 

That  \H  a  relative  pioiioiin,  of  Ihe  •  OOnd  p'-r  .on,  nin^uliir  nnmhcr,  nunculiiu!  gender,  and  nominal  iu-  Cfl  ••  1 .  A 
pronoun  IH  H  word  n  --,)  I,,  ;,..,, I  nl  a  nmin.  ii.  A  i.-la.'i-.c  pmnoun  IH  a  pronoun  that  n  pic  .  n1  ail  atlt<  '  edi  nl 
wm  d  or  phra-  e  a  ml  >  nn  IK  '  I  Milli  rent  c|a  n.  ,<  nl  .  'I  lie  ei  m,<l  pei  .mi  I  ,  t 'ia  f,  which  ilcnolc  I  ho 

hcaier     m    the   pei    on   addle      ,  .|  |      ]  DUmbtil    l      '  hat.   which   denote-,   hoi.  one.       f,.    r|  he   m  .  •  ciilinn 

gender  ia  that  which  dei  ounal   ni  the  male  kind.     '.   rih' 

i    a   i  mm  m    piniK,u:i,   which  dcnn'i      the    lubJfCt  ol    a    vei  h. 

i   -.  v.,  i,.     i    A  rerb  i*  a  word  that  algnlflea  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon 

epo  i1 1  ,n    i    \  proportion  la  a  word  n  ed  toexpri       omo  relation  m  .inh-i-i-nt,  i.hh.fvnr  thought*  to 

e.i.  h  ntlier  ll,    pi  .'  •  -.  I   I,,  Im  ••  a    IK  ,n  n  nr  a    p  rnnnn  n  . 

proper  noon,  of  the  third  pei  on  (singular  number  masculine  gender,  and  objective  cane,     l.  Ai 

Ihe  name  nl    any   person,  place,  nr  Miintf,  Mia  t.  can   he  l.nn.vn  nr  im  iit.inm-d.       '1.    A   proper  m.uii   i  ;  tin-  name  of 
HOlne  p.i  i  i  i.  nlai    1 1,,||  vi'l  nal     mpinpli      of    ;'inii|(.        ;;      I  IK      third     perm,    in    I  ha  t.  which   dcnnte      I(M-     pe;    m,    nr 

t.hi.  :  i  ii  ni     4.  Tin-  ,  in/ni.ii  niimhi  r  i    that  which  denote!  but  one,    ••'•   The  maiicu 

fhtch  di  lint,       pei  -on      n,   a  iiimai      nl    I  IM-   111.1  |i     1. 1 1  .'I  i;       'I  hi!    nhjeel.ivi!    case     is    Uilll,    t'nrm    0 

noun  or  pronoun,  which  dcnoii-     UK    nl,j,-,  t  o|    a  vcrh,  pa,  IK  ip|.  ion. 

Muill.  \n  n  vcrh,  nu>.  ii.  iQd  in..  ,    I.-    lal-.en  ui'h  it. 

Tkr.  IM  !ln    il<  hnite  ai  IK  l«-        I.      An  article  I     i  he  -.-.  m  .  I  tln.itn    m-,,     v.h,.h   •.-. .    put   hi  I'nrc  nnn  n,'.  tn  limil.   Ii. 
•  ..tion.      ii.    The  definite  article  il  <Al,  Which  denote     :  mm-  particular  thin;'  nr  l.hinKH. 

a  i  on.ninn   nniiii.  ol    I  h<-  I  hii  d   |  ,  lai    on  in  hi-r .   licnli-r  ;••  nd<T  .a  ml    IK  ,m  1 11:1 '  I  vi  •  •  a    I         I       A    no,  in 

inHic  ban  e  i.l  any   p'  I    mi.   pl.-n  ,-    ni    t  h  i  M\<  ,  t  ha  I .  ca  n  he  I.  now n  nr  men  I  inncd        ii.    A   f  nmmnn   nniin  i:    I  In-  namn 

of  a  ."-it   kind  orcia      n i  being   orthinga,     :;   Tin-  third  peraon  la  that  which  denotea  the  peraoti  or  t.hiutc 
men  •      -i    'ihc   Ingular  number  la  that  whiob  din<  6,  'i  IK-  neuter  gender  IH  that 

which  il<  i.nl,;:  Ihin^.v  l.hat.  ai'c  ncilln-r  male  nor  female.         Ii.     '|  he    nnminalr., 
i, nun  nr  pronoun,  which  dttlOtC  •  'h.-     uhj.i-t.  ,,|   a   v, 

in"t  in  a  parMrlplu.        I.    A   pai  I  i<  iplc  i>   a   word  di-i  i  v.-,|    homa    vei  h ,  pai  I  n  ipat  in"   Mn-  prop.  -h,  and 

01   a  noun  ;   and  JH  (.'cm-rally   |nrim-d  hy  adding  /'/(<,'.  t/,nntf,  to  the  v.rh. 


ay.  or  .\//////  •'"?/,  i«  a  \<-r\>.      I     A  Mil.  i    ;i  \vi.nl  th.'it.  ,  ij'iijlM     /,,  /,, .  /,,  «,/    1,1  /,/  ///  m 

Til    W  a  |,l'«  pi,    id, ,n  I       A    |,|,  |,,,    |i|',i,    l      :i    .M.iil    ii    i  .1    I',  .-   ,],rcfH  HOIII 

each  other,  and  IK  K''IK  run  v  pi;"i'i  befbni  noon  or  a  pronoun, 


pi.r  H.if.ii.       I.    A  pn-p..  -I  u  , •.(  I,.  <•  --.pn -,;  ,'i,ni,-  M  l;ili'in  ,,)   ililli-i,  1,1,   tbingl    <>r   lli'.ughta  to 


i, . .1  |,|, .in.iiii,  ,,l    I!K-  tiiinl   prri'dii,    ;  iii;'ii|.-,r    iniuihi-r,    in;if '  uliin-  (.7-11, li-r,  :i  ml    i.l.jccl  i  v    I-MM-.       1.    A 
pp. IK, u  n   i  ••'.  :i    w.i  il    u    i  <l   in      I,  .,'1  nl    ;i.  111,1111.        '.!,      A    per.  nn;il     pi  iiiinun   i     ;i  Jirulion  n  t  li.'it      li'ivv.! ,    I.  y   1 1      I'll'ln  ,  i,l 

vvliHi,  piTHon  ii,  In.    :;.  Tii.- u.ir.i  p.-.  mi  in  Mint  v.hni,  -i.  ,,,,1,  i  Ui<  person  or  thing  i  n  of ,     4.  Tho 

•ingular  number  to  that  which  denote    iiui  «,n<-.     :,.    Tin-  m.-i  .CHIHK-  ;•.-,,, i, ,  i    n-.t  whic.h  iii-noic   penooioi 

:iniiii;i|  :  i.llln-  m.-ili-  l.inil.  c,  The  i.l.ji-ci  ivit  i  ;i  ••  i  l,h;i.l,  lonn  or  KiiiN-  ol  n  noun  or  pronoun  which  'I'-iintcH  the 
i  ., i  .1  v.  ri.,  j..iriici-  Klon, 

That  In  Ii  rchiim-    PM.IK.HII,    i.l'lhi-    llnnl     pi  i  mi.      iii;'iil.n-    iiuml.rr,    in:i."-n  lim \-  r,  ;i  irl  IK. in  in  '  -  I 

A  pronoun  if  a  word  used  la   tcadoranottn,     ii    ^Mlatir*  pronoun  ii  a  pronoun  that  n 

.!•  i  I   ITOrd  "i    plira :'<•.  :IIK|  connect*  ililli-n-nl  i-l.-nii  .     i.l   :i  .  i-uli -LCI-.      .'!.   Tin-  t.hinl  pi-r-  ',!.  i     l.li:iL  v.lni'li  ilem. 'i-rt 

ii..-  |.i  i  on  (,i-  UibiK  merely  «),<.k,-ii  .,r    4.  'i  IK-  liBgnlat  number  i .  ih.-ii.  whi.  h  dcnoi 

<  nine  i ii-r  i,'-.  l,h;il,  which  ilci,i,i.     p- i   urn   orunitnal    oftliH  male  kind<     'i.   Th*  nominatl  IfollU 

«r  HtllU-  of  :i   I i  i,r  pi  i.ni.iin,   which  I|CIK,|C;(  Ihe  ;.nl.  j.-cl,  nl    :i    v,-|l. 

Formed  l»  &  verb.    ].  A  vi-.h  i   n.  wr.nl  that.  Hit'Miii.-H  in  /»',  <>,  «,i.  m-  /„  h,  i«i,it ,!,«,,!. 

// ii  a  permniil  pi»i B| of  the  third ptrton, cingular  namb<  tndei   umi  nhj-ci.ivi- i-;ivi-.    l.  A  jironoim 

If  a  WOrd  u  id  m  Htead  Of  a  noun.     Ii.    A  per;  ..mil  pmhniin  in  ,-i  prniK.uii  l.h.-it,  nhown,  hy  SlM  Inrm,  nl   wh.-il.  \><  r- 

•onltin.    ::.  TI..  third  person  I   ihai  irhlob  denote   thi  pel  on  or  thing  nurel     poken  ol      i    Th«  .in^ulir 

i  iiinl.i  r  i,i  Hint,  whi.-h  dCttOtol  Im?  "i,.-.       :,    TI,,.    ,,,  ,,!,,•    gradd    i     that  uhi.-h  ,|,-m,i..H  thinjTH  that,  arc  neither 

mill,  i;    Tin-  nhjci-iivc  en;  ••  i ,,  th.-it  Inrm  or  ;-.tat.t*  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  di'iiotcs    tin:   nl.jicl 

'•I    :i  \,-i  I,,   p.uli,  iplc,  nr  pr.-pi,;;illnii. 
Why  ih  an  :nl vi  i  h.       I      An  .-iilvi-ih  i    ;i   wnnl  :i.l'|,-'l   In   ;i  vi-i  (.,  a.   p;i rt i' iplc,  ;m   .-nljcrl.i v<-,  nr  :LII    f.lhcr    a.lvi'.rh;   :>  nl 

I-  groe     nr  iiianiK  r 

HanHn  II.  M  l  I,,  .iii-'.ihai  y   t.o  iiiiiili  -,;iml  m. .«/   he  I  :i  I.  i-n    v.itli   il,. 
'I'll-. a  i.     I  pel    nn.-il   pmnniin    ,,l    lh>-     BOOnd  p«l  01     :<  ml   hnini  nal  i  i  •-  ••:>   '-         I. 

A   pi '.IK  ii  i  n  is  a  wni-'l  ii   '  'I  in     l  cail  nl'  a.  m.iiii.       ii.     A    pi  i .  mi.il  pronoun  is  a   pronoun  t,ha,t,  nhnw- ,  |,v  its  I'nnii, 

hat.  p.  iHnn  \t,\*.    I!.  Tin- -,,-<  nnii  pci  ..MI   that  which  denot«   the  bearer,  or  the  perion  addrWied     -l.  Tho 
•Ingular  numberii  that  which  denote*  i.nt  «,m-      '.,.  The  matcullne  gender  ii  i.h:i.t,  which  ,h  m,!.    personioraiil* 

I   .'h'    m.  I.  -liiml.     i;.  Tin-  iinininalivi!  ca.  ••  is  l.hat.  Inrm  nr  ,  '  ili   .-I   .1  nnim  m   pi  nnnun,  which  •!(  note*  the 

•  vcrh. 
Min/i ,  or  /in-,/  ninth  .  |H  a  vcrh.      I.    A  vci  h  in  a  wnril  Unit.  sl^niHitH  /»  '"•,  liiml .  nr  lulu  m  li/l  n/mii. 

,1   pronoun,  nf  (In    I,,,  I.   p,  ,    m,     :  in-Milar  nuinher.  m-uliT  -',-i,,|.  i     ami  nhjYctivi-  ca,  e.       ].     A  prnnniin 
iri  11  word  u   .  -I  ii(  :  ii  -.nl  nl    a,  m.iin.      ii.    A   pcrnn.,1   pi  -niinn  n  i::   a   pi  nnnu  n  th  a.t,  H.lmws,  hy  it.H  lonn,  of  'what,  per- 
il IM     :;.  Tin- in  i  p,  i  on  U  thai  which  iicnnii    n,.-    peaker  «.i  writer,    -I    The  ilngular  number  ! 

'"He.       f,.    The   licilli  i    ;•<  -nil,  i    l      I  1 1.1 1    v,  1 1  ii  h   ,  Icnnl ,  •;    !  1, 1 1  ,<•; '  I  |,a  I.  a  re  i ,,  il  I  M  r     inilciM,,    !. 

h'     'I  he  nl.jei-livi-  can-  i.4  l.hat,  I'm  m  nr  'tale  of  a  nmin  or  pronoun  which  ilcnolc:'  l.hc  ohj.-c|,  i,|  ;i  v,-rh,  jiarli'  iplc, 
or  pri  pn  Him,. 

"'  idTerb.        I.    An  ailvcrhi.-:  a.  word  mldcd  t.n  a  VCrb,  a  participle,  an   adjective,  or  an  nlhcr   mlvcrli;  and 
-illy  rxprcMoH  tliim,  place,  dogTM,  "i-  111. mm  r. 

LESSON  I.  —  PAUSING. 

"  livery  limn   li;is  uniloulitrrlly  ;in    inward    [HTccplion   of  I!K-   (•(•]<•,  fi;il    "no-lncss  ]»y 

\vlidi  lie  i,>  (jiiickciicil.       |!ut,  if  l.o  ;i!l;iin   somr   ideas  o('  (iod,  il.  I.e.  not,  nree.^ary  for 

US  to  p"  lieyond  our :  el \  c:-,  \vliat  an  tin panloiialile  indolence  is  if  in  those  who  \vill  imt 

i  d  into  lliein.-'c!ve:.  tint  they  may  lind  him  ?"-  -Ciilrins  /us/if  tifrs,  1 1.  i,   (Hi.  f>. 

"  .lesii.s  aiisvvereil.   If  I  liononr  niy:-i'lf,  my  honour  is  nolhin<!;  :    it  is  my  l''a!lier  that, 

bonourethme;  of  whom  ye  say ,  that  be  is  yotir  God  :  ynt,  ye  have  not,  known  him; 

Inil    I   know  him."-  John,  x,  .r>l. 

"  Wli.-il, !  have  ye  not  boUSCS  to  cut  and  to  ilrink  in?  or  «!  'he  elinreh  of 

(lod,  and  :  h;ime  tiiem  that  have  not,  v  \Vhat  shall  I  say  to  you?  shall  I  pr:ii.-e  you  in 
fl,i-v  I  prai  6  y*\  not." — 1  (?or.  xi,  H'J. 

"  \\re  know  not  what  we  ouvht  to  wi;-h  for,  but,  He  who  made  US,  knows." — 
\v  Di'iinty,  Vol.  ii,  ]>.  -<>. 


V.]  MYMOLOQY.—  i  10.  -  I'FIAXIM   V.  318 


:i;it  will  harm  you,  if  yi:  he  fitilnwi-r.-i  <>f  that  which  i>  miod  V" 
1    /V/r/'.  iii.   l:i. 

"  For  we  i  Ijii-  ii'  >  t  make  (nu>el\e  >  of  tin-  n  urn  IMT,  i  >r  emu  p.i  ic  oui   ••!  vi-.-.  \vitli 

-.iiiiiii-inl  tin-in  rlvi-:-  :    lint  they,  in-  hy  them  c|\c.-.  and  <-..m- 

paini"   I    ••(,!  olvi     amon^  tlirii'  <•  imt   u  i  ••."•      'J    fV//-.   \,  I  '_! 

"  Whatever  i     humane,  i-  ui  6  ;  whatever  i.    \\\  B,  i-  JM  I  ;  what---  '    :itid 

humane,  \\ill  lie  found  ill''  tine  inlri>  "        />/.    l!n*li,nn    /'////  /.\7////r///.s.  |i     ID. 

"  lint,  inciliinl.  ,  wa  cannot  anawai  ittooui  elves,  a   irell-a   to  oui  Maker,  that  wt 

frhnuld  ii\e  and  die  i;-norant  «.l  :m<l    thcrehy  "f  him,  ;in<l   «•!'  the   nl.li'.'.'ili'iiiH 

whi'-li  \vr  :m-  III,I|«T  l«»  liim  I'm  ..MI    llvfl   ."        \\illi,  n,i    /'»////. 

•   lii.t    v,  in-n-  ,  -!i;ill   \\i-<l«uii  li«:  louinl  V    Mini    \\ln-nr    i.s   the    plucc    of    u  'ing? 

The  i|i-|itli  Miith,  '  It  is  nut  in  MM-  ;'    :unl  llii'.-rji  wiith,  '  It   i-  imt   willi  in--.'        l» 

tinii  ;ui<i  (ir;ith  mjt  '  NVi-  bftve  beard  tb«  IMMP-  thrn-i.r  \\iih  mn  See  Job, 

,    \-2,  U,  ^  :iii'l  BZntVi  A"/.  |.    117. 

'ill  hml  |MI|»'.-,  my  I 

Ainiil:-!  tin'  «•  hiinihlc  Liw'rs  to  lay  in«-  d"\\  n.  "—  Goldsmith. 
"  \\hy  (Id.-t  th'ni  then  Mii'LV'.1-'  t"  mi1  ili-tn 
Knowing  \vln»  I  :ini,  U  I   kii"\v  wlm  llnni  Mil'.'"-     Milln,,.,   I1.  II. 

!.:       .      II.         I'M. 

'•  I  woiilil,  ni'-thinks,  hav6so  nnir.li  to  hay  fur  iny.^-lf,  that  if  I    fell   into  the   hands 
of  hiii  i    UK;   ill,  In-   >honM    '  u  \\ln-n    In-   di'l   BO  I 

hhonld  !><•  >.  M  my  v-'pln,  \vh  >  /<•_  ,^'j,,,  I 

i!>l   mi-li'Marid  iii  -  iin'lln-r  loii'/m-  \\i-ll  l.i  |n|r  !,,•  ml.  i  |  ii|  .....  lh< 

of  :td.  -ail  '  In-  y  honl'l  In-  iii:i>|i*  |M-r!'i-«-t  ma  :  t.-r  of  the  meaning 

of  all  flu-  woi-il-  uhi'h  :m-  in  .-••     :ny  I"  I'lirui-h  him  with  a  translation  of  tin-  particular 

author  \vhi.-h  be  U  stud  viog.        GoJlauditt  Lit    Oonv,  |».  -'MI. 

'  No  discipline  'H  more  suitable  to   man,  or   UK.  ic  rnii'Tiion  ;    to  tin  nf   Iu3 

,  than  thai   whirl)  r«-lin--~  hi-  ta   ''•,  and   |i-:nU  him  •  i   h,  in  .  \M  -,     nlji-ct, 

oi.l.-rlv,  what    i-   :-nitahh-,   and  what,   i  -i   lit    and    proper.    — 
1  /   of(  ///.  i,  :  , 

Simph-  th.  naturally;    what    tlio  occasion  or  the   Klllijcct   BUff- 

•i  "lit  ;    rui'l    what,    wh«'ii    onCO  I.    Ifffl    ^a-ily    appr.'hiMidi'd'    \>y   all. 

1  in  writin  ;l  and  [!••:•>>  J  ol»\ion    train   <-!'  thought." 

—  Blair  »  HI,*!    p.   I-  I. 

"  Whi-iT  tin-  >tory  of  an  :'..  iin.lcd   mi    truth,  no  cii  -»  HiUHt  be 

i  naturallv  v.  ith  what  arc  l:no\vn  to  he  tine  ;    hi  tmv  m:iy  I)O 
•   nut   In-  r.,i|tr.:1|ir-t<.d."      Sri-   I\IIIH,*\    i'.l    t,f    Orit    i!. 


•   nut     n-  r.,i|tr.:1r-t<..  ri-     \IIIH,*         .     t,f 

"  Uthcr--.   I  am  t«,ld,  |in-t«  nd  t',  liidid-.      Sun-lv  lln 

-ui  be  molt  odlOUS  thaO   '•>   'r«-at    a    IVn-nd    a-   they 
I'.ut  oj'thi-:  I  cannot  pcp-uadc  niv-cll',  when  I  con-idcr  the  cun  taut 
M/I  I  e  "frill  had  writ-  "       <'/,  •/<!»</,  in  /)</,,,,-,•  „/'  /'-.///•. 

"    P'ron  !,.  ._    |,e    pi 

\nd  laemi  i»  wnidt-r  •  .im-  n|'  \'alc-."       (  '/////»•/////. 

'I  that   |  .ailing  day, 
Tluit  eall'd  them  from  th-ir  n.itiv.-  walk>  away  !"  —  (,'nlilsinilli. 

:\.,Iv.  d  in  tlio  natiii'  ,.,not  IM-  indifl^r'-nt  to  an  «•-.,  Mt  thnt 

•un  it.-,  it  givOfi  him  joy  ;   if  nnfor- 

i 

uriii  who  had  rulinqtmhod  tho  >untry  life  :  in  tho  corner  of  nil 

i  il  ill-unit  with  a  |.-v.-i  ^nu-nir,  resembli 

'iot    i.nly   il  .:|,|    I,,.,-,.    ),,.    .,,  ,,,-ially   Walked.  "— 

.•.  limii  c]--e   i  .  it    thnt 
inted,  \v!i-  mur  al  !';<•  di  -iiii-'Hion  of  thin;^  hi 


314  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

because  our  own  condition  is  less  agreeable  than  we  would  have  it,  or  because  that  of 
others  is  more  prosperous  than  we  imagine  they  deserve  V" — Archbishop  Seeker. 

"  Things  cannot  charge  into  the  soul,  or  force  us  upon  any  opinions  about  them ; 
they  stand  aloof  and  are  quiet.  It  is  our  fancy  that  makes  them  operate  and  ^all  us  ; 
it  is  we  that  rate  them,  and  give  them  their  bulk  and  value." — Collier's  Antoninus, 
p.  212. 

"  What  is  your  opinion  of  truth,  good-nature,  and  sobriety  ?  Do  any  of  these  virtues 
stand  in  need  of  a  good  word  ;  or  are  they  the  worso  for  a  bad  one  ?  I  hope  a  diamond 
will  shine  ne'er  the  less  for  a  man's  silence  about  the  worth  of  it." — Ib.  p.  49. 

"Those  words  which  were  formerly  current  and  proper,  have  now  become  obsolete 
and  barbarous.  Alas!  this  is  not  all :  fame  tarnishes  in  time  too;  and  men  grow 
out  of  fashion,  as  well  as  languages." — Ib.  p.  55. 

"  0  Luxury  !  thou  curs'd  by  Heaven's  decree, 

How  ill  exchang'd  are  things  like  these  for  thee  !" — Goldsmith. 
"  0,  then,  how  blind  to  all  that  truth  requires, 
Who  think  it  freedom  when  a  part  aspires  !" — Id. 


IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
ERRORS  OF  PRONOUNS. 

LESSON  I. — RELATIVES. 

"  At  the  same  time  that  we  attend  to  this  pause,  every  appearance  of  sing-song  and  tone 
must  be  carefully  guarded  against." — Murray's  English  Reader,  p.  xx. 

[FoRMCLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  that  has  not  clearly  the  construction  either  of  a  pronoun  or  of  a  con- 
junction. But,  according  to  Observation  18th,  on  the  Classes  of  Pronouns,  "  The  word  that,  or  indeed  ;iny  other 
word,  should  never  be  so  used  as  to  leave  the  part  of  speech  uncertain."  Therefore,  the  expres.-ion  should  be 
altered  ;  thus,  "  While  we  attend  to  this  pause,  every  appearance  of  singsong  must  be  carefully  avoidtcl.^] 

"For  thou  shalt  go  to  all  that  I  shall  send  thee." — Jeremiah,  i,  7  ;  Gurney's  Obs.  p.  223. 
"Ah  !  how  happy  would  it  have  been  for  me,  had  I  spent  in  retirement  these  twenty-three 
years  that  I  have  possessed  my  kingdom." — See  Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  242.  "In  the  same 
manner  that  relative  pronouns  and  their  antecedents  are  usually  parsed." — Ib.  p.  71. 
"  Parse  or  mention  all  the  other  nouns  in  the  parsing  examples,  in  the  same  manner  that 
you  do  the  word  in  the  form  of  parsing." — Ib.  p.  8.  "  The  passive  verb  will  always  be  of 
the  person  and  number  that  the  verb  be  is,  of  which  it  is  in  part  composed." — Ib.  \>.  53. 
"You  have  been  taught  that  a  verb  must  always  be  of  the  same  person  and  number  that  its 
nominative  is." — Ib.  p.  68.  "  A.  relative  pronoun,  also,  must  always  be  of  the  same  person, 
number,  and  even  gender  that  its  antecedent  is." — Ib.  p.  68.  "  The  subsequent  is  always 
in  the  same  case  that  the  word  is,  which  asks  the  question." — Ib.  p.  95.  "  One  sometimes 
represents  an  antecedent  noun  in  the  same  definite  manner  that  personal  pronouns  do." — 
Ib.  p.  98.  "  The  mind  being  carried  forward  to  the  time  that  an  event  happens,  easily  con- 
ceives it  to  be  present." — Ib.  p.  107.  "  Save  and  saving  are  parsed  in  the  same  manner  that 
except  and  excepting  are." — Ib.  p.  123.  "Adverbs  describe,  qualify,  or  modify  the  meaning 
of  a  verb  in  the  same  manner  that  adjectives  do  nouns." — Ib.  p.  16.  "The  third  person 
singular  of  verbs,  is  formed  in  the  same  manner,  that  the  plural  number  of  nouns  is." — Ib. 
p.  41.  "He  saith  further  :  'that  the  apostles  did  not  anew  baptize  such  persons,  that  had 
been  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  John.'  " — Barclay's  Works,  i,  292.  "  For  we  which  live, 
are  always  delivered  unto  death  for  Jesus'  sake." — 2  Cor.  iv,  11.  "  For  they,  which  believe 
in  God,  must  be  careful  to  maintain  good  works." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  431.  "Nor  yet  of 
those  which  teach  things  which  they  ought  not,  for  filthy  lucre's  sake."—  Ib.  i,  43-5.  "  So 
as  to  hold  such  bound  in  heaven,  whom  they  bind  on  earth,  and  such  loosed  in  heaven, 
whom  they  loose  on  earth." — Ib.  i,  478.  "  Now,  if  it  be  an  evil  to  do  any  thing  out  of  strife  ; 
then  such  things  that  are  seen  so  to  be  done,  are  they  not  to  be  avoided  and  forsaken  •"- 
Ib.  i,  522.  "  All  such  who  satisfy  themselves  not  with  the  superficies  of  religion." — Ib.  ii, 
23.  "  And  he  is  the  same  in  substance,  what  he  was  upon  earth,  both  in  spirit,  soul  and 
body." — Ib.  hi,  98.  "  And  those  that  do  not  thus,  are  such,  to  whom  the  Church  of  Rome 
can  have  no  charity." — Ib.  iii,  204.  "Before  hi?  book  he  placeth  a  groat  list  of  that  he 
accounts  the  blasphemous  assertions  of  the  Quakers." — Ib.  in.  l-il.  "  And  this  is  that  he 
should  have  proved." — Ib.  iii,  322.  "Three  of  which  were  at  that  time  actual  students  of 
philosophy  in  the  university." — Ib.  iii,  180.  "  Therefore  it  is  not  lawful  for  any  whatsoever 
*  *  *  to  force  the  consciences  of  others." — Ib.  ii,  13.  "  What  is  the  cause  that  the  I'onuer 
days  were  better  than  these  r" — Eccf.  vii,  10.  "  In  the  same  manner  that  the  term  >»</  de- 
pends on  the  name  books." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  54.  "  In  the  same  m  inner  as  the  term 
house  depends  on  the  relative  near." — Ib.  p.  58.  "James  died  on  the  day  that  Henry 
returned."— Ib.  p.  177. 


CHAP.    V.]  ETYMOLOGY. PRONOUNS. ERRORS.  315 

LESSON  II.  —  DECLENSIONS. 

"  Other  makes  the  plural  others,  when  it  is  found  without  it's  substantive." — Priestley'* 
Gram.  p.  U. 

[FoRMi'LE.  —  Not  pro;>.T.  bpoaufe  the  pronoun  it's  is  written  with  an  apostrophe.  Bat,  according  to  Observation 
25th,  on  the  lii-rlcn-i  'i.s  of  Pronouns,  v' The  possessive  case  of  pronouns  should  never  be  written  with  an  apos- 
trophe "  Thi-n-fiin-.  this  apostrophe  should  be  omitted  ;  thus, 4i  Other  makes  the  plural  others,  when  it  is  found 
without  it\  -ulis'antive  "J 

"  But  his,  //<•/•' A-,  oar's,  your's,  their's,  have  evidently  the  form  of  the  po-scs>ive  case." — 
Loicth's  Grtiin.  p.  '2o.  "To  the  Saxon  possessive  cases,  hire,  lire,  cower,  him,  (that  is,  her's, 
oiir'.s  >j  nir's,  tln-irs, )  we  have  added  the  *,  the  characteristic  of  the  possessive  case  of  nouns." 
— Ib.  p.  '!'•<• .  "  I'pon  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  both  their' s  andour's." — FRIENDS' 
BIHLI:  :  1  <'  >r.  i,  2.  "  In  this  Place  His  Hand  i.s  clearly  preferable  either  to  Hers  or  It's."* 
—Hi  r,  p.  o9.  "  That  roguish  leer  of  your's  makes  a  pretty  woman's  heart  ake." 

— AUDI  SON  :  in  Joh.  Diet.  "  Lest  by  any  means  this  liberty  of  your*fc  become  a  stumbling- 
block." — FKIKXD.-'  UIULK  :  1  (.-or.  viii,  9.  "First  person:  Sing.  I,  mine,  me;  Plur.  we, 
our's,  us" — Wilbur  and  Livingston,'*  Gram.  p.  16.  "  Second  person  :  Sing,  thou,  thine,  thee ; 
Plur.  ye  or  you,  your's,  you." — Ib.  "  Third  person :  Sing,  she,  her's,  her;  Phir.  they, 
their's,  them." — Ib.  "  So  shall  ye  serve  strangers  in  a  land  that  is  not  your's." — SCOTT  ET 
AL.:  ./-/-.  v,  11).  "  Second  person,  Singular:  S'om.  thou  or  you,  Poss.  thine  or  yours,  Obj. 
theo  or  you." — Font's  EL  of  K.  Gram.  p.  13.  "  Second  person,  Dual:  Nom.  Gyt,  ye  two; 
Gen.  Incer,  of  ye  two  ;  Dat.  Inc,  incrum,  to  ye  two ;  Ace.  Inc,  ye  two ;  Voc.  Eala  inc,  O  ye 
two  ;  Abl.  Inc,  inerum,  from  ye  two." — Gwilt's  Saxon  Gram.  p.  12.  "  Second  person,  Plural : 
Nom.  <en.  Eower,  of  ye;  Dat.  Eow,  to  ye;  Ace.  Eow,  ye;  Voc.  Eala  ge,  O  ye; 

Abl.  Eow.  iVom  ye." — Ib.  (written  in  1829.)  "These  words  are,  mine,  thine,  his,  her's,  our's, 
your's,  theirs,  and  whose." — Cardell's  Essay,  p.  88.  "  This  house  is  our's,  and  that  is  yours. 
rnmodious." — Ib.  p.  90.  "  And  they  shall  eat  up  thine  harvest,  and  thy 
bread  :  they  shall  eat  up  thy  flocks  and  thine  herds." — Jeremiah,  v,  17.  "  Whoever  and 
II  ire  thus  declined.  Swy.  and  I'/H.  nom.  whoever, poss.  whoseever,  obj.  whomever. 

.:i.l  1'lu.  no/n.  whichever,  poss.  whoseever,  obj.  whichever." — Cooper's  Plain  and  Practi- 
cal (j-  "  The  compound  personal  pronouns  are  thus  declined ;  Sing.  A'.  Myself,  P. 
my-own,  O.  my.- elf;  Plur.  \.  ourselves,  P.  our- own,  O.  ourselves.  Siny.  N.  Thyself  or 
P.  thy-own  or  your-own,  O.  thyself  or  yourself;"  &c. — Perlcy's  Gram.  p.  16. 

y  one  of  us.  each  for  hisself,  laboured  how  to  recover  him." — SIDNEY  :  in  Priestley'* 
Grant.  I':i!e>s  when  ideas  of  their  opposites  manifestly  suggest  their  selves." — 

?»  (i /••nn.  p.  1  >.     '-It  not  only  exists  in  time,  but  is  time  its  self." — Ib.  p.  7o.     "A 

•  I  which  the  action  its  self  will  palpably  deny." — Ib.  p.  102.  "A  difficulty  sometimes 
present  its  self." — Ib.  p.  165.  "  They  are  sometimes  explanations  in  their  selves." — Ib.  p. 

t"  Our's,  Your's.  Their's,  Her's,  It's."— N.  Barrett's  Gram.  p.  24. 
"  Their's  the  wild  chace  of  false  felicities; 
His,  the  compos' d  possession  of  the  true." — Murray's  E.  Reader,  p.  216. 


LKSSON  III.  — MIXED. 


"  It  is  th"  boast  of  Americans,  without  distinction  of  parties,  that  their  government  is  the 
most  tr.'e  ,  which  exists  on  the  earth." — Dr.  Atfrn's  Lectures,  p.  18. 

TLK. — Not  proper,  because  the  relative  \rltidi  is  h  ;re  intended  to  be  taken  in  a  restrictive  sense  But,  ae- 
eordi:  _•  ''ronouns,  and  (others  thnt  f  >llow  it,)  the  word  ivlitt  or  whirh,  with  t> 

usually  limit  the  preceding  term.     Tin  k  should  be  that,  and  the  comma 

ahoui  I  ;  i;is,— "  thattli^ir  j;ov».'rinii»-nt  id  the  most  free  and  jx-rft-oc  that  exists  on  the  earth. ''J 

.ildreu.  wl\o  are  dutiful  to  their  parents,  enjoy  great  prosperity." — S(in/»rns  Gram.  p. 
69.  "The  scholar,  who  improves  his  tim".  -rU  an  example  worthy  of  imitation." — 76.  p. 
G9.  ••  Nouns  an  1  pr  .nouns,  which  signify  the  same  person,  place,  or  thing,  agree  in  case." 

ve  sentence  is  one,  which  asks  a  question." — Ib. 

p.  1 1 1.     "In  tMe  UM  of  words  and  phrases,  which  in  point  of  time  relate  to  each  other,  a 
Mould  he  ttbserrcd." — M.  p.  1  Murray's  Rule  xiii.     "The 

.-,  which  have  been  made  respecting  the  effect  of  the  article  and  participle, 
ile  to  the  pronoun  and  participle."—  Murray's  dram.  p.  193.     "the 
th  .t  they  have  not  tl.  of  them  in  reading,  may  be  traced  to  the  very  defec- 

tive an<l  err  mcous  method,  in  which  the  art  of  i  •." — //,.  p.  2-VJ.   "  Since  the 

•  '  •  ra,  thought,  during  our  waking   hours,  has  been 

;,  without  a  moment'  ..  ." — M,,,-, •,///•,•  Key,  p.  -J71  ; 

.  'Jl_'.  "  In  speaking  of  such  who  greatly  ilelight  in  the  same." — .W<'.s  to 
•  •pt  such  to  whom  the  king  shall  hold  out  the  golden  sreptre,  that  he 
.  11.  "  Hut  the  sani"  day  that  Lot  went ,  out  oi  Sodom,  it  rained  fi-e  and 

briii-'  i.eaven,   and  destroyed  them  all ." — Luk.',  xvii,  'J'.).     "  In  the  next  j)lace  I 

will  i  r.il  cases  of  nouns  and  pronouns  which  have  not  yet  come  under  our  notice." 

•This  is  a  comment  upon  the  f  '.  ifion  from  Milton,  whtre  ll-rs  for  His  would  be  a  gross  barbarism: 

•    inn  niriin 
Ihs  red  right  haud  to  plague  us.'' — Par.  Lett,  ii,  174. 


316  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IX. 

— Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  129.  "Three  natural  distinctions  of  time  are  all  which  can  exist." — 
Hall's  Gram.  p.  15.  "  We  have  exhibited  such  only  as  are  obviously  distinct ;  and  which 
seem  to  be  sufficient,  and  not  more  than  sufficient." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  68  ;  Hall's,  14. 
"  This  point  encloses  a  part  of  a  sentence  which  may  be  omitted  without  materially  injuring 
the  connexion  of  the  other  members." — Hall's  Gram.  p.  39.  "  Consonants  are  letters,  which 
cannot  be  sounded  without  the  aid  of  a  Vowel." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  9.  "Words  are  not 
simple  sounds,  but  sounds,  which  convey  a  meaning  to  the  mind." — Ib.  p.  16.  "  Nature's 
postures  are  always  easy ;  and  which  is  more,  nothing  but  your  own  will  can  put  you  out 
of  them." — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  197.  "  Therefore  ought  we  to  examine  our  o\vnsclves,  and 
prove  our  ownselves." — Barclay's  Works,\,  426.  "  Certainly  it  had  been  much  more  nat- 
ural, to  have  divided  Active  Verbs  into  Immanent,  or  such  whose  Action  is  terminated  in 
it  self,  and  Transient,  or  such  whose  Action  is  terminated  in  something  without  it  self."- 
Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  273.  "  This  is  such  an  advantage  which  no  other  lexicon  will  afford." 
— DR.  TAYLOR  :  in  Pile's  Lex.  p.  iv.  "  For  these  reasons,  such  liberties  are  taken  in  the 
Hebrew  tongue  with  those  words  as  are  of  the  most  general  and  frequent  use." — Pike's 
Heb.  Lexicon,  p.  184.  "  At  the  same  time  that  we  object  to  the  laws,  which  the  antiquarian 
in  language  would  impose  upon  us,  we  must  enter  our  protest  against  those  authors,  who 
are  too  fond  of  innovations." — Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  i,  p.  136. 


CHAPTER  VI -VERBS- 

A  Verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon  :  as,  I  am, 
I  rule,  I  am  ruled  ;  I  love,  thou  lovest,  he  loves. 

VERBS  are  so  called,  from  the  Latin  Verbum,  a  Word;  because  the  verb 
is  that  word  which  most  essentially  contains  what  is  said  in  any  clause  or 
sentence. 

An  English  verb  has  four  CHIEF  TERMS,  or  PRINCIPAL  PARTS,  ever  need- 
ful to  be  ascertained  in  the  first  place  ;  namely,  the  Present,  the  Preterit, 
the  Imperfect  Participle,  and  the  Perfect  Participle. 

The  Present  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  is  the  root  of  all  the  rest  ; 
the  verb  itself;  or  that  simple  term  which  we  should  look  for  in  a  dictionary : 
as,  be,  act,  rule,  love,  defend,  terminate. 

The  Preterit  is  that  simple  form  of  the  verb,  which  denotes  time  past ;  and 
which  is  always  connected  with  some  noun  or  pronoun,  denoting  the  subject 
of  the  assertion  :  as,  I  was,  I  acted,  I  ruled,  I  loved,  I  defended. 

The  Imperfect  Participle  is  that  which  ends  commonly*  in  ing,  and  implies 
a  continuance  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion  :  as,  being,  acting,  ruling, 
loving,  defending,  terminating. 

The  Perfect  Participle  is  that  which  ends  commonly  in  ed  or  en,  and  im- 
plies a  completion  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion  :  as,  been,  acted,  ruled,  loved. 

CLASSES. 

Verbs  are  divided,  with  respect  to  their  form,  into  four  classes  ;  regular  and 
irregular,  redundant  and  defective. 

I.  A  regular  verb  is  a  verb  that  forms  the  preterit  and  the  perfect  par- 
ticiple by  assuming  d  or  ed;  as,  love,  loved,  loving,  loved. 

II.  An  irregular  verb  is  a  verb  that  does  not  form  the  preterit  and  the 
perfect  participle  by  assuming  d  or  ed  ;  as,  see,  saw,  seeing,  seen. 

III.  A  redundant  verb  is  a  verb  that  forms  the  preterit  or  the  perfect 

«  The  Imperfect  Participle,  when  simple,  or  when  taken  as  one  of  the  four  principal  terms  consfituting  the  verb 
OT  springing  from  it,  ends  always  in  ing.  But,  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  I  include  under  this  nanu:  the  iirst  parti- 
ciple of  the  pas-ive  verb  ;  and  this,  in  our  language,  is  always  a  compound,  and  the  latter  term  of  it  does  not 
end  in  ing :  as.  "  In  all  languages,  indeed,  examples  are  to  be  found  of  adjectives  being  comprtml  \vliosc  significa- 
tion admits  neither  intension  nor  remission." — CROMBIE,  on  En/m.  and  Syntax,  p.  106-  According  to  most  of  our 
writer*  on  English  grammar,  the  Present  or  Imperfect  Participle  Passive 'is  always  a  compound  of  bring  and  the 
form  of  the  perfect  participle  ;  as,  being  loved,  being  seen.  But  some  represent  it  to  have  tu-  >  forms,  one  of  which 
is  always  simple  ;  as,  "  Obeyedj  or  being  obeyed,"— Sanborn's  Analytical  G-ram.  p.  55  :  "  Loved  «/•  being  loved,"— 
Parkhursfs  Grammar  for  B-gmners,  p.  110  :  "  Loved,  or,  being  loved,"—  Clark's  Practical  Gram.  p.  83.  I  her* 
concur  with  the  majority,  who  in  no  instance  take  the  participle  in  ed  or  en,  alone,  for  the  Imperfect. 


OIIAP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  VERBS.  -  CLASSES.  •  317 

participle  in  two  ways  or  more,  and  so  as  to  be  both  regular  and  irregular  ; 
as,  tliritw,  thrived  or  throve,  thriviny,  thrived  or  thriven. 

IV.  A  defective  verb  is  a  verb  that  forms  no  participles,  and  is  used  in  but 
few  of  the  moods  and  tenses  ;  as,  beware,  ouylit,  yHoth. 

Verbs  arc  divided  again,  with  respect  to  their  signification,  into  four  classes; 
tUJtive-transitive,  active-intransitive,  passive,  and  neuter. 

I.  An  ti>-f  ire-transitive  verb  is  a  verb  that  expresses  an  action  which  has 
some  person  or  thing  for  its  object  ;  as,   "  Cain  slew  Abel"  —  "  Cassius  loved 
frwtus." 

II.  An  active-intransitive  verb  is  a  verb  that  expresses  an  action  which  has 
no  person  or  thing  for  its  object  ;  as,  "  John  walks"  —  "  Jesus  icq>(." 

III.  A  2^ssive  verb  is  a  verb  that  represents  its  subject,  or  what  the  nom- 
inative expresses,  as  being  acted  upon  ;  as,  "  I  am  compelled."  —  "  Caesar  icas 
slain." 

IV.  A  neuter  verb  is  a  verb  that  expresses  neither  action  nor  passion,  but 
simply  being,  or  a  state  of  being  ;  as,  "  There  was  light."  —  "  The  babe  sleeps" 

OBSERVATIONS. 

Ons.  1.  —  So  various  have  been  the  views  of  our  grammarians,  respecting  this  complex 
and  most  important  part  of  speech,  that  almost  every  thing  that  is  contained  in  any  theory 
or  distribution  of  the  English  verbs,  may  be  considered  a  matter  of  opinion  and  of  dispute. 
Nay,  the  essential  nature  of  a  verb,  in  Universal  Grammar,  has  never  yet  been  determined 
by  "any  received  definition  that  can  be  considered  unobjectionable.  The  greatest  and  most 
acute  philologists  confess  that  a  faultless  definition  of  this  part  of  speech,  is  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  to  be  formed.  Home  Tooke,  at  the  close  of  his  Diversions  of  Purley,  cites  with 
contempt  nearly  a  dozen  different  attempts  at  a  definition,  some  Latin,  some  English,  some 
French  ;  then,  with  the  abruptness  of  affected  disgust,  breaks  oft*  the  catalogue  and  the 
conversation  together,  leaving  his  readers  to  guess,  if  they  can,  what  he  conceived  a  verb  to 
be.  lie  might  have  added  some  scores  of  others,  and  probably  would  have  been  as  little 
satisfied  with  any  one  of  them.  A  definition  like  that  which  is  given  above,  may  answer  in 
Borne  degree  the  purpose  of  distinction  ;  but,  after  all,  we  must  judge  what  is,  and  what  is 
not  a  verb,  chiefly  from  our  own  observation  of  the  sense  and  use  of  words.* 

OBS.  2.—  Whether  participles  ought  to  be  called  verbs  or  not,  is  a  question  that  has  been 
nnich  disputed,  and  is  still  variously  decided  ;  nor  is  it  possible  to  settle  it  in  any  way  not 
liable  to  some  serious  objections.  The  same  may  perhaps  be  said  of  all  the  forms  called 
itijitii(irr<i.  If  the  essence  of  a  verb  be  made  to  consist  in  affirmation,  predication,  or  asser- 
tion, (as  it  is  in  many  grammars,)  neither  infinitives  nor  participles  can  be  reckoned  verbs, 
without  a  manifest  breach  of  the  definition.  Yet  are  the  former  almost  universally  treated 
as  verbs,  and  by  some  as  the  only  pure  verbs  ;  nor  do  all  deny  them  this  rank,  who  say 
that  affirmation  is  essential  to  a  verb.  Participles,  when  unconnected  with  auxiliaries,  arc 
most  commonly  considered  a  separate  part  of  speech;  but  in  the  formation  of  many  of  our 
moods  and  I  take  them  as  c<ni*.tihn  nf  parts  of  the  n-rb.  If  there  is  absurdity  in 

this,  there  is  more  in  undertaking  to  avoid  it;  and  the  inconvenience  should  be  submitted 
to,  since  it  amounts  to  little  or  nothing  in  practice.  "With  auxiliaries,  then,  participles  are 
verbs  .-  without  auxiliaries,  they  are  not  nr.;>\,  but  form  a  separate  part  of  s>peech. 

.  3.  —  The  number  of  verbs  in  our  language,  amounts  unquestionably  to  four  or  five 
thousand;  some  >;iy,  (perhaps  truly,  )  to  eight  thousand.  All  these,  whatever  be  the  num- 
ber, arc  cont'"s.-rdly  ,>-,</»/<//•  in  their  formation,  except  about  two  hundred.  For,  though  the 
catalogues  in  our  grammars  give  the  number  somewhat  variously,  all  the  irregular,  redun- 
dant, and  defective  verbs,  put  together,  are  commonly  reckoned  iewer  than  two  hundred.  I 
admit,  in  all,  two  hundred  and  nineteen.  The  regular  verbs,  therefore,  are  vastly  more 
numerous  than  those  which  deviate  from  the  stated  form.  But,  since  many  of  the  latter 
are  words  of  very  frequent  occurrence,  the  irregular  verbs  appear  exceedingly  numerous 
in  practice,  and  consequently  req\iir«>  a  great  deal  of  attention.  The  defective  verbs  being 
very  few,  and  most  of  thc-r  tew  being  mere  auxiliaries,  which  are  never  parsed  separately, 
there  is  little  occasion  to  treat  them  as  a  distinct  class  ;  though  Murray  and  others  have 
ranked  them  so,  and  perhaps  it  is  best  to  follow  their  example.  The  redundant  verbs, 

•  In  the  following  example,  "  hr  -•  and  il  .«V  "  arc  converted  into  verbs  ;  as  "  thou  "  sometimes  if.  i»  the  writing! 
Offihakapeare,  :md  others:  "  Is  it  not  an  impulse  of  selfishness  or  of  ;i  deprived  nature  t-  iuini;it« 

Objects?"  —  Cntl<r\t  English,  Gram.  p.  10.  Dr.  Bullions,  who  has  heretofore  puMished  several  of  the  worst  defini- 
tions of  the  verb  anywhere  extant,  h:ts  now  perhaps  one  of  the  Lest  :  '•  A  nl  »-eil  to  expres.s  the  act. 

t  "  he  ';  and  "  sfu  '4 


T)  or  stat?  of  its  subject."  —  Anal'jt.  £  Pract.  Gram.  p.  5'J.      Yet  it  is  not  very  obvious,  that 
re  here  verbs  under  this  definition. 


318  .  THE    GRAMMAR    OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART    II. 

which  arc  regular  in  one  form  and  irregular  in  an  other,  being  of  course  always  found 
written  either  one  way  or  the  other,  as  each  author  chooses,  may  be,  and  commonly  have 
been,  referred  in  parsing  to  the  class  of  regular  or  irregular  verbs  accordingly.  13ut,  as  their 
number  is  considerable,  and  their  character  peculiar,  there  may  be  some  advantage  in  making 
them  a  separate  class.  Besides,  the  definition  of  an  irregular  verb,  as  given  in  any  of  our 
grammars,  seems  to  exclude  all  such  as  may  form  the  preterit  and  the  perfect  participle  by 
assuming  d  or  eel. 

OBS.  4. — In  most  grammars  and  dictionaries,  verbs  are  divided,  with  respect  to  their  sig- 
nification, into  three  classes  only ;  active,  passive,  and  neuter.  In  such  a  division,  the  class 
of  active  verbs  includes  those  only  which  are  active-transitive,  and  all  the  active- intransitive 
verbs  are  called  neuter.  But,  in  the  division  adopted  above,  active-intransitive  verbs  are 
made  a  distinct  class  ;  and  those  only  are  regarded  as  neuter,  which  imply  a  state  of  exist- 
ence without  action.  When,  therefore,  we  speak  of  verbs  without  reference  to  their  regi- 
men, we  may,  if  \ve  please,  apply  the  simple  term  active  to  all  those  which  express  action, 
whether  transitive  or  intransitive.  "  We  act  whenever  we  do  any  thing  ;  but  we  may  act 
without  doing  any  thing." — Crabb's  Synonymes. 

^  OBS.  5. — Among  the  many  English  grammars  in  which  verbs  are  divided,  as  above  men- 
tioned, into  active,  passive,  and  neuter,  only,  are  those  of  the  following  writers :  Lowth, 
Murray,  Ainsworth,  Alden,  Allen,  Alger,  Bacon,  Bicknell,  Blair,  Bullions,  (at  first,) 
Charles  Adams,  Bucke,  Cobbett,  Dilworth,  A.  Flint,  Frost,  (at  first,)  Greenleaf,  Hall, 
Johnson,*  Lennie,  Picket,  Pond,  Sanborn,  R.  C.  Smith,  Revv  T.  Smith,  and  Wright.  These 
authors,  and  many  more,  agree,  that,  "  A  verb  neuter  expresses  neither  action  nor  passion, 
but  being,  or  a  state  of  being." — L.  Murray.  Yet,  according  to  their  scheme,  such  words 
as  icalk,  run,  swim,  fly,  strive,  struggle,  icrestle,  contend,  are  verbs  neuter.  In  view  of  this  pal- 
pable absurdity,  1  cannot  but  think  it  was  a  useful  improvement  upon  the  once  popular 
scheme  of  English  grammar,  to  make  active-intransitive  verbs  a  distinct  class,  and  to  apply 
the  term  neuter  to  those  few  only  which  accord  with  the  foregoing  definition.  This  had 
been  done  before  the  days  of  Lindley  Murray,  as  may  be  seen  in  Buchanan's  English  Syn- 
tax, p.  56,  and  in  the  old  British  Grammar,  p.  153,  each  published  many  years  before  the 
appearance  of  his  work  ;f  and  it  has  often  been  done  since,  and  is  preferred  even  by  many 
of  the  professed  admirers  and  followers  of  Murray ;  as  may  be  seen  in  the  grammars  of 
Comly,  Fisk,  Merchant,  Kirkham,  and  others. 

OBS.  6.— Murray  himself  quotes  this  improved  distribution,  and  with  some  appearance  of 
approbation  ;  but  strangely  imagines  it  must  needs  be  inconvenient  in  practice.  Had  he  1  een 
a  schoolmaster,  he  could  hardly  have  so  judged.  He  says,  "  Verbs  have  been  distinguished 
by  some  writers,  into  the  following  kinds  : — 

"  1st.  Active-transitive,  or  those  which  denote  an  action  that  passes  from  the  agent  to 
some  object :  as,  Ccesar  conquered  Pompey. 

"2d.  Active -intransitive,  or  those  which  express  that  kind  of  action,  which  has  no  effect 
upon  any  thing  beyond  itself :  as,  Ceesar  walked. 

"  3d.  Passive,  or  those  which  express,  not  action,  but  passion,  whether  pleasing  or  pain- 
ful :  as,  Portia  was  loved  ;  Pompey  was  conquered. 

"  4th.  Neuter,  or  those  which  express  an  attribute  that  consists  neither  in  action  nor 
passion  :  as,  Caesar  stood. 

"  This  appears  to  be  an  orderly  arrangement.  But  if  the  class  of  active-intransitive  verbs 
were  admitted,  it  would  rather  perplex  than  assist  the  learner  :  for  the  difference  between 
verbs  active  and  neuter,  as  transitive  and  intransitive  is  easy  and  obvious :  but  the  difference 
between  verbs  absolutely  neuter  and  [those  which  are]  intransitively  active,  is  not  always 
clear.  It  is,  indeed,  often  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible  to  be  ascertained." — Murray's 
Gram.  8vo,  p.  60. J 

*  Dr.  Johnson  says,  "  English  verbs  are  active,  as  Hove ;  or  neuter,  as  /  languish.  The  neuters  are  formed  like 
the  actives.  The  passive  voice  is  formed  by  joining  the  participle  preterit  to  the  substantive  verb,  as  /  am  loved." 
He  also  observes,  "  iMost  verbs  signifying  action  may  likewise  signify  condition  or  habit,  and  become  neuters  ;  as,  / 
love,  I  am  in  love  ;  I  strike..  lam  now  striking."— Grow,  with  his  Quarto  Diet.  p.  7. 

I-  The  doctrine  here  referred  to,  appears  in  both  works  in  the  very  same  words  :  to  wife,  <;  English  Verbs  are 
either  Active,  Passive,  or  Neuter.  There  are  two  sorts  of  Active  Verbs,  viz.  active-transitive  and  active-intransi- 
tive Verbs." — British  Gram.  p.  153  ;  Buchanan's,  56.  Buchanan  was  in  this  case  the  copyist. 

I  "  The  distinction  between  verbs  absolutely  neuter,  as  to  sleep,  and  verbs  active  intransitive,  as  to  walk,  though 
founded  in  NATURE  and  TRUTH,  is  of  little  use  in  grammar.  Indeed  it  would  rather  perplex  than  assist  the  learner ; 
for  the  difference  between  verbs  active  and  [verbs]  neuter,  as  transitive  and  intransitive,  is  easy  and  obvious  ;  but 
the  difference  between  verbs  absolutely  neuter  and  [those  which  are]  intransitively  active  is  not  always  clear.  But 
however  these  latter  may  differ  in  nature,  the  construction  of  them  both  is  the  same  ;  and  grammar  is  not  so  much 
concerned  with  their  real,  as  with  their  grammatical  properties."— Lowth's  Gram,  p  30.  But  are  not  "  TRUTH, 
NATURE,  and  REALITY,"  worthy  to  be  preferred  to  any  instructions  that  contradict  them  ?  If  they  are,  the  good  doc- 
tor and  his  worthy  copyist  have  here  made  an  ill  choice.  It  is  not  only  for  the  sake  of  these  properties,  that  I 
retain  a  distinction  which  these  grammarians,  and  others  above  named,  reject ;  but  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  the 
untruth,  confusion,  and  absurdity,  into  which  one  must  fall  by  calling  all  active-intransitive  verbs  neuter.  The 
distinction  of  active  verbs,  as  being  either  transitive  or  intransitive,  is  also  necessarily  retained.  But  the  sugges- 
tion, that  this  distinction  is  more  "  easy  and  obi-ious"  than  the  other,  is  altogether  an  error.  The  really  neuter 
verbs,  being  very  few,  occasion  little  or  no  difficulty.  But  very  many  active  verbs,  perhaps  a  large  majority,  are 
sometimes  used  intransitively  ;  and  of  those  which  our  lexicographers  record  as  being  always  transitive,  not  a  few 


are  occasionally  found  without  any  object,  either  expressed  or  clearly  suggested  :  as,  "  He  'convinces,  but  he  doei 
ate  nor  animate."—  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  242.     "  The  child  imitates^  and  commits  to  me: 


CHAP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. CLASSES.  319 

Ons.  7. — The  following  note,  from  a  book  written  on  purpose  to  apply  the  principles  of 
Murray's  (irammar,  and  of  Allen's,  (the  two  best  of  the  foregoing  two  do'/.cn, )  may  serve  aa 
an  offset  to  the  reason  above  assigned  for  rejecting  the  class  of  active-intransitive  verbs: 
"  It  is  possible  that  some  teachers  may  look  upon  the  nice  distinction  here  made,  between 
the  active  tmttxiiirc  and  the  active  intrarwitici'  verbs,  as  totally  unnecessary.  They  may, 
perhaps,  rank  th"  latter  with  the  neuter  verbs.  The  author  had  his  choice" of  difficulties  : 
on  the  one  hand,  he  was  aware  that  his  arrangement  might  not  suit  the  views  of  the  above- 
mentioned  persons;  and.  on  the  other,  he  was  so  sensible  of  the  inaccuracy  of.'  their  system, 
and  of  its  clashing  with  the  definitions,  as  well  as  rules,  laid  down  in  almost  every  gram- 
mar, that  he  was  unwilling  to  bring  before  the  public  a  work  containing  so  well-known  and 
manifest  an  error.  Of  what  use  can  Murray's  definition  of  the  active  verb  be,  to  one  who 
ours  to  prove  the  propriety  of  thus  a*-i.:ning  an  epithet  to  the  various  parts  of  speech, 
in  the  course  of  parsing  :  lie  says,  '  A  verb  active  expresses  an  action,  and  necessarily  im- 
plies an  agent,  and  an  object  acted  upon.'  In  the  sentence,  'William  hastens  away,'  the 
active  intransitive  verb  fccptau  has  indeed  an  ayc-nt,  'William,'  but  \\here  is  the  object? 
Again,  he  say-,  •  Active  verbs  govern  the  objective  case  ;'  although  it  is  clear  it  is  not  the 

:iu'aning  of  the  rerb  which  requires  the  objective  case,  but  the  transit ici>,  and  that 
only,  lie  adds,  «  A  verb  neuter  expresses  neither  action  nor  ptissi&n,  but  being,  or  a  state  of 

.'  and  the  accuracy  of  this  definition  is  borne  out  by  the  assent  of  perhaps  every  other 
grammarian.  If,  with  tins  dear  and  forcible  definition  before  our  eyes,  we  proceed  co  class 

intransitive  verbs  with  neuter  verbs,  and  direct  our  pupils  to  prove  such  a  classifica- 
tion by  reciting  Murray's  definition  of  the  neuter  verb,  we  may  indeed  expect  from  a  think- 
ing pupil  the  remonstrance  which  was  actually  made  to  a  teacher  on  that  system,  while 
parsing  the  verb  -  the  boy,  '  does  not  to  run  imply  action,  for  it  always 

makes  me  perspire  :'  " — .Y/>>//',y  Knylish  Parser,  p.  9. 

.  8. — For  the  consideration  of  those  classical  scholars  who  may  think  we  arc  bound 
by  the  authority  ,  to  adhere  to  the  old  division  of  verbs  into  active,  passive, 

and  neuter,  it  may  be  proper  to  say,  that  the  distribution  of  the  verbs  in  Latin,  has  been 
as  much  a  matter  of  dispute  among  the  great  grammarians  of  that  language  a-  has  the  dis- 
tribution  of  English,  verbs,  more  recently,  among  ourselves;  and  often  the  points  at  issue 
were  ;  c  same.*  To  explain  here  the  different  views  of  the  very  old  grammarians, 

as  Chariaius,  1 »  uatiu,  >'  .  \ius,  1'riscian  ;  or  even  to  notice  the  opinions  of  later  critics,  as 

:;/.oiiiu-;  might  seem  perhaps  a  needless  departure  from 

wh.it  the  student  of  mere  English  grammar  is  concerned  to  know.  The  curious,  however, 
may  iind  interesting  citations  from  all  these  authors,  under  the  corresponding  head,  in  some 
of  our  Latin  grammars.  See  Prat's  <>  Lntina,  8vo,  London,  1722.  It  is  certain 

that  the  division  of  active  verbs,  into  tran^itire  and  intransitive — or,  (what  is  the  same  thing,) 
into  "abaoluU  and  transitire" — or,  into  "  immanent  and  transit-tit" — is  of  a  very  ancient  date. 
The  notion  of  calling  pa&sicc  verbs  transitive,  when  used  in  their  ordinary  and  proper  con- 
struction, as  some  now  do,  is,  1  think,  a  modern  one,  and  no  small  error. 

age  rft §•<•<•'«,  ami  rhinks  independently.-— Dr.  Lieber,  Lit.  Coin',  p.  313.     Of  examples  like  these,  three  different 

ty  IK?  taken  ;    ami  it  is  »ri/  iiufsdoii'Me  which  is  the  ri^lit  one  :  First,  that  these  verbs  are  here  intransi- 

uot  commonly  so ;  >'•••/!••/.  tint  they  arc  transitive,  and  have  objects  understood;  Tkird,  that 

thr\  :ii'  '''fly,  because  m<  d  ••terminate  ol  j<  -IMS  are  given  them.   If  we  assume  the  second  opinion  or  the 

lull  or  tliu  •  these  :  "  !!•  < -onvince.s  t!\e  jmlznnent,  but  he  does  not  elevate  the 

ima^m  </»:,'<."—••  The  child  imitates  other*,  and  ••.•mi:  ;  .ciiMr;,  ;  whilst  the 

\  or  truths,  and  thinks  Independently."  •  re  here  transitive,  hut  are  they  so  above? 

i :•_'  mi  other  <li.»ti!!ction  important,  make  of  verbs  but  two  classes,  transitive  and 

as  iniieh  .it  variance,  ami  a*  much  at  f,mlt,as  others,  (ami  often  moiesM.)  when  they  come  to 

draw  the  line  of  tills  distinction.     To  "  rcjuirt  "  an  i.bj.-ctive,  to  *'  govern  ''  an  objective.  (»  ••  nilutit  "  an  objective, 

blv  different.     Then  whether   infinitives, 

list  or  can  have  the  elTect  of  objectives.    One  author  says.  ••  It'.-i  verb  ha>  any  •  ; 

Case  (Tptrsstil,  it  is  tran-i'ive  :   it  i'  has  none,  it  is  int;  <  iclutk  appear  trai.-i'he  in  their  nature,  may 

freijin'!.-  mifln'\  Ol'l  tiiiDn.  ]>.'.>!  ;  his  I'mntnun  Srkool  ( itttm.  p.  48.     An  other 

ion  which '/  me  object."— /  ">i.  p.  2'J     An 

-t  from  each  other,  viz:    Thus,,  which  do,  and  those 

which  Ami  \\\~  detiniti"n  i--,  '•  A  Transitive  Verb  is  one  which  Tfquirts&n  objec- 

!l  at'"  J-:.<;r'i  And  the  latter 

tL'ithout  an  objective  case  ;  as,  The  apple  tastes 

•  In  ;io  Principle*  of  Litin  r,rammar,;i  and  "  the  Trinciplpsof  English  Gram- 

mar,1' ,  tngeable  ;   and,  wh;it  is  very  remarkable,  a  comparison  of  different  editions  will 

•h.n\,r  4li>h,  Latin,  and  <ireek."  may  so  change 

hi  r  'liir.Tent.  Dr    l:ulli"n>'-  L'r:mini  .r<.  a  few  years  ago,  like 

led  verbs  into  "  three  kinds,  ^  (•<••.  !'• 

'  "  and  ab-urillv  av.  <  mine 

pa*x,vrf<'r,-t  ,tre  us  really  t-  Prin.  of  E.  '.'.rnn,     '.  as  if  no  verb 

couM  IK-  plural,  and  ii"  tr  ni.-i'.ivi-  act  could  be  future,  conditional,  in  pvr.^re?--.  or  left  undone,  they  define  thus  : 
14  A  Tramnn---  M  rti  e\p:-e«si»s  an  art  >/  ;-i.«nii  or  fhii._'  "•  another.'' — Ib.  p.  '29  ;  Analyt.  <nni  Prart. 

division  wh:  :j  was  pronounced  oy  tin-  Doctor  to  be 

••  nn  re  u-  ;;ii  than  any  other."  and  advantageously  a<  •  dictionari'-s  ot   t!;r  English  language," 

(see  iis  l-\nt'tti  Edition^  p.  ::  I,)  is  whollj  Now.  the  ••  '  "  about 

:  verbs,"  which,  at  smile  revi-imi  still  later,  drew  fn>m  this  author  wh-de  paircs  of  weak  argu- 

••ni"  i  ;.iplacently  huppn^ed  to  have  been  wellstttltd  in  his  favour  •  r.  now, 

'.  he  speaks  thus  :  i%  The  division  of  verbs  into  transitive  and  intransitive  1.  ;  'td  and 

»Ppr  iv,  ;  grammarians,  that  any  discussion  of  the  subject  is  now  unnecessary."— Lullions's  Analyt. 

and  Pract.  Grain,  p.  09. 


320  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

OBS.  9. — Dr.  Adam's  distribution  of  verbs,  is  apparently  the  same  as  the  first  part  of 
Murray's  ;  and  his  definitions  are  also  in  nearly  the  same  words.  But  he  adds,  "  The 
verb  Active  is  also  called  Transitive,  when  the  action  passeth  over  to  the  object,  or  hath  an 
effect  on  some  other  thing ;  as,  scribo  literas,  I  write  letters  :  but  when  the  action  is  confined 
within  the  agent,  and  passeth  not  over  to  any  object,  it  is  called  Intransitive ;  as,  ambulo,  I 
walk  ;  curro,  I  run  :  SP  which  are  likewise  called  Neuter  Verbs." — Adam' s  Latin  and  Eng- 
lish Gram.  p.  79.  But  he  had  just  before  said,  "A  Neuter  verb  properly  expresses  neither 
action  nor  passion,  but  simply  the  being,  state,  or  condition  of  things  ;  as,  dor  mis,  I  sleep  ;  secleo, 
I  sit." — Ibid.  Verbs  of  motion  or  action,  then,  must  needs  be  as  improperly  called  neuter, 
in  Latin,  as  in  English.  Nor  is  this  author's  arrangement  orderly  in  other  respects  ;  for  he 
treats  of  "Deponent  and  Common  Verbs,"  of  "  Irregular  Verbs,"  of  "Defective  Verbs,"  and  of 
"  Impersonal  Verbs,"  nons  of  which  had  he  mentioned  in  his  distribution.  Nor  are  the  late 
revisers  of  his  grammar  any  more  methodical. 

OBS.  10. — The  division  of  our  verbs  into  active-transitive,  active-intransitive,  passive,  and 
neuter,  must  be  understood  to  have  reference  not  only  to  their  signification  as  of  themselves, 
but  also  to  their  construction  with  respect  to  the  government  of  an  objective  word  after  them. 
The  latter  is  in  fact  their  most  important  distinction,  though  made  with  reference  to  a  different 
part  of  speech.  The  classical  scholar,  too,  being  familiar  with  the  forms  of  Latin  and  Greek 
verbs,  will  doubtless  think  it  a  convenience,  to  have  the  arrangement  as  nearly  correspon- 
dent to  those  ancient  forms,  as  the  nature  of  our  language  will  admit.  This  is  perhaps  the 
strongest  argument  for  the  recognition  of  the  class  of  passive  verbs  in  English.  Some  gram- 
marians, choosing  to  parse  the  passive  participle  separately,  reject  this  class  of  verbs 
altogether  ;  and,  forming  their  division  of  the  rest  with  reference  to  the  construction  alone, 
make  but  two  classes,  transitive  and  intransitive.  Such  is  the  distribution  adopted  by  C. 
Alexander,  D.  Adams,  Bingham,  Chandler,  E.  Cobb,  Harrison,  Nutting,  and  John  Peirce ; 
and  supported  also  by  some  British  writers,  among  whom  are  M'Culloch  and  Grant.  Such 
too  was  the  distribution  of  Webster,  in  his  Plain  and  Comprehensive  Grammar,  as  published 
in  1800.  He  then  taught :  "  We  have  no  passive  verb  in  the  language ;  and  those  which  are 
called  neuter  are  mostly  active." — Page  14.  But  subsequently,  in  his  Philosophical,  Abridged, 
and  Improved  Grammars,  he  recognized  "  a  more  natural  and  comprehensive  division" 
of  verbs,  "into  transitive,  intransitive,  and  passive." — Webster's  Rudiments,  p.  20.  This,  in 
reality,  differs  but  little  from  the  old  division  into  active,  passive,  and  neuter.  In  some  gr  im- 
mars  of  recent  date,  as  Churchill's,  Butler's,  S.  W.  Clark's,  Frazee's,  Hart's,  Hendrick's, 
Perley's,  Weld's,  Wells's,  and  the  improved  treatises  of  Bullions  and  Frost,  verbs  are  sai  1  to 
be  of  two  kinds  only,  transitive  and  intransitive ;  but  these  authors  allow  to  transitive  verbs 
a  "  passive  form,"  or  "  passive  voice," — absurdly  making  all  passive  verbs  transitive,  am  all 
neuters  intransitive,  as  if  action  were  expressed  by  both.  For  this  most  faulty  classification, 
Dr.  Bullions  pretends  the  authority  of  "Mr.  Webster;"  and  Frazee,  that  of  "Webster, 
Bullions,  and  others." — Gram.  p.  30.  But  if  Dr.  Webster  ever  taught  the  absurd  doctrine 
that  passive  verbs  are  transitive,  he  has  contradicted  it  far  too  much  to  have  any  weight  in  its 
favour. 

OBS.  11. — Dalton  makes  only  two  classes ;  and  these  he  will  have  to  be  active  and  passive  : 
an  arrangement  for  which  he  might  have  quoted  Scaliger,  Sauctius,  and  Sciopj  ius. 
Ash  and  Coar  recognize  but  two,  which  they  call  active  and  neuter.  This  was  also  the 
scheme  of  Bullions,  in  his  Principles  of  E.  Gram.,  4th  Edition,  1842.  Priestley  and  Maun- 
der have  two,  which  they  call  transitive  and  neuter ;  but  Maunder,  like  some  named  above, 
will  have  transitive  verbs  to^e  susceptible  of  an  active  and  a  passive  voice,  and  1'ri^stley 
virtually  asserts  the  same.  Cooper,  Day,  Davis,  Hazen,  Hiley,  Webster,  Wells,  (in  his  1st 
Edition,)  and  Wilcox,  have  three  classes;  transitive,  intransitive,  and  passive.  Sanders's 
Grammar  has  three;  "  Transitive,  Intransitive,  and  Neuter ;"  and  two  voices,  both  transitive! 
Jaudon  has  four  ;  transitive,  intransitive,  auxiliary,  and  jjassive.  Burn  has  four;  active,  pas- 
sive, neuter,  and  substantive.  Cardell  labours  hard  to  prove  that  all  verbs  are  both  active  and 
transitive;  and  for  this,  had  he  desired  their  aid,  he  might  have  cited  several  ancient 
authorities.*  Cutler  avers,  "  All  verbs  are  active  ;"  yet  he  divides  them  "  into  active  transi- 
tive, active  intransitive,  and  participial  verbs." — Grammar  and  Parser,  p.  31.  Some  gramma- 
rians, appearing  to  think  all  the  foregoing  modes  of  division  useless,  attempt  nothing  of  the 
kind.  William  Ward,  in  1765,  rejected  all  such  classification,  but  recognized  three  voices  ; 
*'  Active,  Passive,  and  Middle  ;  as,  /  call,  I  am  called,  I  am  calling."  Farnum,  in  1842, 
acknowledged  the  first  two  of  these  voices,  but  made  no  division  of  verbs  into  classes. 

OBS.  12. — If  we  admit  the  class  of  active-intransitive  verbs,  that  of  verbs  neuter  will 
unquestionably  be  very  small.  And  this  refutes  Murray's  objection,  that  the  learner  will 
"  often"  be  puzzled  to  know  which  is  which.  Nor  can  it  be  of  any  consequence,  if  he  hap- 
pen in  some  instances  to  decide  wrong.  To  be,  to  exist,  to  remain,  to  seem,  to  lie,  to  sli'i-p,  to 
rest,  to  belong,  to  appertain,  and  perhaps  a  few  more,  may  best  be  called  neuter ;  though  some 
grammarians,  as  may  be  inferred  from  what  is  said  above,  deny  that  there  are  any  neuter 

*  This  late  writer  seems  to  have  published  his  doctrine  on  this  point  as  a  novelty ;    and  several  teacher*  igno- 
rantly  received  and  admired  it  as  such  :  I  have  briefly  shown,  in  the  Introduction  to  this  work,  how  easily  they 
were  deceived.     "  By  this,  that  Question  may  he  resolv'd,  whether  every  Verb  not  Passive  governs  always  ;m  Accu- 
sative, at  least  understood  :  T/.«  the  Opinion  of  \orne  very  able  GRAMMARIANS,  butfor  our  Parts  we  dont  think  it. 
—  Grammar  published  by  John  Brifhtland,  7th  Ed.,  London,  1746,  p.  115. 


CHAP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. CLASSES.  321 

verbs  in  any  language.  "  Vcrba  Ncutra,  ait  Sanctius,  millo  pacto  cssc  possunt ;  quia,  teste 
Aristotelc,  omnis  motus,  actio,  vel  passio,  nihil  medium  est." — Prat's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  117. 
John  Grant,  in  his  Institutes  of  Latin  Grammar,  recognizes  in  the  verbs  of  that  language 
the  distinction  which  Murray  supposes  to  be  so  "very  difficult"  in  those  of  our  own  ;  and, 
without  falling  into  the  error  of  Sanctius,  or  of  Lily,*  respecting  neuter  verbs,  judiciously 
confines  the  term  to  such  as  are  neuter  in  reality. 

I.  13.— Active-transitive  verbs,  in  English,  generally  require,  that  the  agent  or  doer  of 
the  action  be  expressed  before  them  in  the  nominative  case,  and  the  object  or  receiver  of  the 
action,  after  them  in  the  objective  ;  as,  "  C'a-sar  conquered  Pompcy."  Passive  verbs,  which 
are  never  primitives,  but  always  derived  from  active- transitive  verbs,  (in  order  to  form  sen- 

3  of  like  import  from  natural  opposites  in  voice  and  sense,)  reverse  this  order,  change 
the  cases  of  the  nouns,  and  denote  that  the  subject,  named  before  them,  is  affected  by  the 
action  ;  while  the  agent  follows,  being  introduced  by  the  preposition  by :  as,  "  Pompey  was 
conquered  by  Caesar."  But,  as  our  passive  verb  always  consists  of  two  or  more  separable 
parts,  this  order  is  liable  to  be  varied,  especially  in  poetry ;  as, 

"How  many  things  by  season  seasoned  are 

To  their  right  praise  and  true  perfection  !" — Shakspeare. 
"  Experience  is  by  industry  achicci-d, 

And  perfected  by  the  swift  course  of  time." — Id. 

.  11. — Most  active  verbs  may  be  used  either  transitively  or  intransitively.  Active 
verbs  are  transitive,  whenever  there  is  any  person  or  thing  expressed  or  clearly  implied  on, 
which  the  action  terminates;  as,  "I  knew  him  well,  and  every  truant  knew." — Goldsmith. 
When  they  do  not  govern  such  an  object,  they  are  intransitive,  whatever  may  be  their 
power  on  other  occasions ;  as,  "  The  grand  elementary  principles  of  pleasure,  by  which  he 

.  and  lives,  and  moves." — Wordsworth's  Pref.  p.  xxiii.    "The  Father  ori 
andr/c-x.v.     The  Son  mediates  and  atones.     The  Holy  Spirit  regenerates  and  sanctifies." — 

i's  Portable  Evidences,  p.  66.  "Spectators  remark,  judges  decide,  parties  watch." — 
Blair's  Rhet.  p.  271.  "  In  a  sermon,  a  preacher  may  explain,  demonstrate,  infer,  exhort,  admo- 
nish, comfort." — Alexander  s  Gram.  p.  91. 

.  i'.-,._ Some  verbs  may  be  used  in  either  an  active  or  a  neuter  sense.  In  the  sentence, 
"Here  I  rest,"  rest  is  a  neuter  verb;  but  in  the  sentence,  "Here  I  rest  my  hopes,"  rest  is 
an  active-transitive  verb,  and  governs  hopes.  And  a  few  that  are  always  active  in  a  gram- 

1  sense,  as  necessarily  requiring  an  object  after  them,  do  not  always  indicate  such  an 
exertion  of  force  as  we  commonly  call  action.  Such  perhaps  are  the  verbs  to  have,  to  possess, 
to  owe,  to  cost ;  as,  "  They  have  no  wine." — "  The  house  has  a  portico." — "  The  man  possesses 
no  real  estate." — "  A  son  owes  help  and  honour  to  his  father." — Holyday.  "  The  picture  cost 
a  crown." —  Wright,  p.  181.  Yet  possibly  even  these  may  be  sometimes  rather  active-intran- 
sitive ;  as,  "I  can  bear  my  part ;  'tis  my  occupation :  have  at  it  with  you." — Shakspeare. 
"  Kings  hare  to  deal  with  their  neighbours." — Bacon.  "  She  will  not  let  instructions  enter 
: •(.•  folly  now  possesses." — Shaiktpea 

"  Thou  hast  deserv'd  more  love  than  I  can  show  ; 

But  'tis  thy  fate  to  give,  and  mine  to  owe." — Dryden. 
Oi?s.  16. — An  active-intransitive  verb,  followed  by  a  preposition  and  its  object,  will  some- 

idmit  of  being  put  into  the  passive  form  ;  the  object  of  the  preposition  being  assumed 
for  the  nominative,  and  the  preposition  itself  being  retained  with  the  verb,  as  an  adverb : 
as,  (Actfi-r,  i  "  They  laughed  at  him." — (J'assice,)  "He  was  laughed  at."  "For  some  time 
the  nonconformists  were  connived  at." — Robertson's  America,  Vol.  ii,  p.  414.  "Everyman 
shall  h,>  dealt  eqxiitably  with." — RittU-rs  Analogy,  p.  212.  "  If  a  church  would  be  looked  up  to, 
it  must  stand  high." — Par.  •>.  15. 

->me  instances,  what  is  commonly  considered  the  active  form  of  the  verb, 
;md,  still  oftener,  as  we  have  no  other  passive  form  that  so  well 

denotes  continue  ?l°v  the  participle  in  ing  in  that  sense  also  :  as,  "  I'll  teach  you  all 

what's  wing  to  your  Uueen."— Drt/d>  n.    That  is— what  is  due,  or  meed.   "  The  books  continue 

selUn-i  :  i.  <•.  "/""' '/"'  s<llt'i  or  fo }"'  sold." — 1'rieatley's  Gram.  111.     "So  we  say  the  brass  isforg- 

.  or  in  [being  forged."] — 76.    "  They  arc  to  blame  ;  i.  e.  to  be  blamed." — Jb. 

Hence  some  grammarian*  seem  to  think,  that  in  our  language  the  distinction  between  active 
and  pa  -  i>  of  little  consequence  :  "  Mr.  Grant,  however,  observes,  p.  65,  'The  com- 

ponent parts  of  tin-  English  verb,  or  name  of  action,  are  few,  simple,  and  natural;  they  con- 
sist of  three  words,  as  plough,  plough  ing,  ploughed.  Now  these  words,  and  their  inflections, 
may  be  employed  either  actively  or  passively.  Actively,  '  They  plough  the  fields  ;  they  are 
ploughing  the  fields  ;  they  ploughed,  or  har,-  ploughed,  the  fields.'  Passively,  '  The  fields  plough 
well ;  the  fields  are  ploughing ;  the  fields  are  ploughed."  This  passive  use  of  the  present  tense 

•  Upon  this  point,  Richard  .Johnson  cites  and  criticiw-s  Lily's  system  thus  :  "'A  Verb  Neuter  endeth  in  o  or  m, 
ami  ciuiuot  take  r  to  make  him  a  Passive  ;  as,  Curro,  I  run  ;  SkHM,  I  am.' — Grammar,  Eng.  p.  13.  This  Definition. 
is  founded  upon  the  Notion  aboveim-ntioned,  viz.  That  none  but  Transit! ves  are  Verbs  Active,  which  is  contrary 
to  tie  reason  of  Things,  and  the  common  sense  of  Mankind.  And  what  can  shock  a  Child  more,  of  any  Ingenuity, 
than  to  be  told.  That  Ambulo  and  Curro  are  Verbs  Neuter  ;  that  is,  to  speak  according  to  the  common  Apprehen- 
sions of  Mankind,  that  they  signifie  neither  to  do,  nor  suffer." — Johnson's  Grammatical  Commentaries.  8vo,  London , 
170.5,  p.  273. 

21 


322  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

and  participle  is,  however,  restricted  to  what  he  denominates  verbs  of  external,  material,  or 
mechanical  action ; '  and  not  to  be  extended  to  verbs  of  sensation  and  perception ;  e.  g.  love, 
feel,  see,  &c." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  40. 

MODIFICATIONS. 

Verbs  have  modifications  of  four  kinds  ;  namely,  Moods,  Tenses,  Persons, 
and  Numbers. 

MOODS. 

Moods*  are  different  forms  of  the  verb,  each  of  which  expresses  the  being, 
action,  or  passion,  in  some  particular  manner. 

There  are  five  moods ;  the  Infinitive,  the  Indicative,  the  Potential,  the 
Subjunctive,  and  the  Imperative. 

The  Infinitive  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  expresses  the  being, 
action,  or  passion,  in  an  unlimited  manner,  and  without  person  or  number : 
as,  "  To  die, — to  sleep  ; — To  sleep  I — perchance,  to  dream  !" 

The  Indicative  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  simply  indicates  or 
declares  a  thing  :  as,  I  write  ;  you  know  :  or  asks  a  question  ;  as,  "Do  you 
know  ?  "—"Know  ye  not  ?  " 

The  Potential  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  expresses  the  power, 
liberty,  possibility,  or  necessity,  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion :  as,  "  I  can 
walk  ;  he  may  ride  ;  we  must  go" 

The  Subjunctive  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  represents  the  being, 
action,  or  passion,  as  conditional,  doubtful,  and  contingent :  as,  "  If  thou  go, 
see  that  thou  offend  not." — "  See  thou  do  it  not." — -Rev.  xix,  10. 

The  Imperative  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  is  used  in  command- 
ing, exhorting,  entreating,  or  permitting :  as,  "Depart  thou." — "Be  com- 
forted."— "Forgive  me." — "Gro  in  peace." 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS,  1. — The  Infinitive  mood  is  so  called  in  opposition  to  the  other  moods,  in  which  the 
verb  is  said  to  Toe  finite.  In  all  the  other  moods,  the  verb  has  a  strict  connexion,  and  neces- 
sary agreement  in  person  and  number,  with  some  subject  or  nominative,  expressed  or 
understood ;  but  the  infinitive  is  the  mere  verb,  without  any  such  agreement,  and  has  :ao 
power  of  completing  sense  with  a  noun.  In  the  nature  of  things,  however,  all  being, 
action,  or  passion,  not  contemplated  abstractly  as  a  thing,  belongs  to  something  that  is,  or 
acts,  or  is  acted  upon.  Accordingly  infinitives  have,  in  most  instances,  a  reference  to  some 
subject  of  this  kind;  though  their  grammatical  dependence  connects  them  more  frequently 
with  some  other  term.  The  infinitive  mood,  in  English,  is  distinguished  by  the  preposition 
to ;  which,  with  a  few  exceptions,  immediately  precedes  it,  and  may  be  said  to  govern  it.  In 
dictionaries,  and  grammars,  to  is  often  used  as  a  mere  index,  to  distinguish  verbs  from  the 
other  parts  of  speech.  But  this  little  word  has  no  more  claim  to  be  ranked  as  a  part  of  the 
verb,  than  has  the  conjunction  if,  which  is  the  sign  of  the  subjunctive.  It  is  the  nature 
of  a  preposition,  to  show  the  relation  of  different  things,  thoughts,  or  words,  to  each  other ; 
and  this  "  sign  of  the  infinitive  "  may  well  be  parsed  separately  as  a  preposition,  since  in 
most  instances  it  manifestly  shows  the  relation  between  the  infinitive  verb  and  some  other 
term.  Besides,  by  most  of  our  grammarians,  the  present  tense  of  the  infinitive  mood  is 
declared  to  be  the  radical  form  of  the  verb  ;  but  this  doctrine  must  be  plainly  untrue,  upon 
the  supposition  that  this  tense  is  a  compound. 

OBS.  2. — The  Indicative  mood  is  so  called  because  its  chief  use  is.  to  indicate,  or  declare 
positively,  whatever  one  wishes  to  say.  It  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  we  always  employ 
when  we  affirm  or  deny  any  thing  in  a  direct  and  independent  manner.  It  is  more  fre- 
quently used,  and  has  a  greater  number  of  tenses,  than  any  other  mood ;  and  is  also,  in 
our  language,  the  only  one  in  which  the  principal  verb  is  varied  in  termination.  It  is  not 
however,  on  all  occasions,  confined  to  its  primary  use  ;  else  it  would  be  simply  and  only 
declarative.  But  we  use  it  sometimes  interrogatively,  sometimes  conditionally  ;  and  each 
of  these  uses  is  different  from  a  simple  declaration.  Indeed,  the  difference  between  a  ques- 

*  Murray  says,  "Mood  or  Mode  is  a  particular  form  of  the  verb,  showing  the  manner  in  which  the  being,  action, 
or  passion  is  represented." — Octavo  Gram.  p.  63.  By  many  grammarians,  the  term  Mode  is  preferred  to  Mood ;  but 
the  latter  is,  for  this  use,  the  more  distinctive,  and  by  far  the  more  common  -word.  In  some  treatises  on  grammar, 
as  well  as  in  books  of  logic,  certain  parts  of  speech,  as  adjectives  and  adverbs,  are  called  Modes,  because  they  qualify 
or  modify  other  terms.  E.  g.  "  Thus  all  the  parts  of  speech  are  reducible  to  four;  viz.,  Names,  Verbs,  Modes, 
Connectives."— Enclytica,  or  Universal  Gram.  p.  8.  "Modes  are  naturally  divided,  by  their  attribution  to  names 
or  verbs,  into  adnames  and  adverbs."— Ibid.  p.  24.  After  making  this  application  of  the  name  modes,  was  it  not 
improper  for  the  learned  author  to  call  the  moods  also  "modes  ?" 


CHAP.  VI.]  KTYMOLOGY. VERBS. MOODS. 

tion  and  an  assertion  is  practically  very  great.  Hence  some  of  the  old  grammarians  made 
the  form  of  inquiry  a  separate  mood,  which  they  called  the  Interrogative  Mood.  But,  as 
these  differ  -ions  are  distinguished,  not  by  any  difference  of  form  in  the  verb  itself, 

but  merely  by  a  different  order  of  the  words,  it  has  been  found  most  convenient  in  practice, 
to  treat  them  as  one  mood  susceptible  of  different  senses. 

.  3. — The  /  »ood  is  so  called  because  the  leading  idea  expressed  by  it,  is  that 

of  the  power  of  performing  some  action.  This  mood  is  known  by  the  signs  may,  can,  must, 
mi'jht,  r»/A7,  ir>,n!-l,  and  MMdUL  Some  of  these  auxiliaries  convey  other  ideas  than  that 
of  power  in  the  agent ;  but  there  is  no  occasion  to  explain  them  severally  here.  The 
potential  mood,  like  the  indicative,  may  be  used  in  asking  a  question  ;  as,  "Must  I  budge? 
must  I  observe  you  ?  must  I  stand  and  crouch  under  your  testy  humour  r " — Shakspeare.  No 
question  can  be  ysked  in  any  other  mood  than  these  two.  By  some  grammarians,  the  poten- 
tial mood  has  been  included  in  the  subjunctive,  because  its  meaning  is  often  expressed  in 
Latin  by  what  in  that  language  is  called  the  subjunctive.  By  others,  it  has  been  entirely 
rejected,  because  all  its  tenses  are  compound,  and  it  has  been  thought  the  words  could  as 
well  be  parsed  separately.  Neither  of  these  opinions  is  sufficiently  prevalent,  or  suffi- 
ciently plausible,  to  deserve  a  laboured  refutation.  On  the  other  hand,  James  White,  in  his 
Essay  on  the  English  Verb,  (London,  1761,)  divided  this  mood  into  the  following  five : 
namely,  "  the  Elective,"  denoted  by  may  or  might;  "the  Potential,'"  by  can  or  could;  "  the 
'••«,"  by  would;  "the  Obligative,"  by  s/iould;  and  "the  Compulsive,"  by  must. 
Such  a  distribution  is  needlessly  minute.  Most  of  these  can  as  well  be  spared  as  those 
other  "  moods,  Interrogative,  Optative,  Promissive,  Hortative,  Precative,  &c.",  which  Murray 
mentions  only  to  reject.  See  his  Octavo  Gram.  p.  68. 

.  4. — The  Subjunctive  mood  is  so  called  because  it  is  always  subjoined  to  an  other  verb, 
and  usually  denotes  some  doubtful  contingency,  or  some  supposition  contrary  to  fact.  The 
manner  of  its  dependence  is  commonly  denoted  by  one  of  the  following  conjunctions ;  if, 
that,  though,  .  -.  The  indicative  and  potential  moods,  in  all  their  tenses,  may  be  used 

in  the  same  dependent  manner,  to  express  any  positive  or  potential  condition ;  but  this 
seems  not  to  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  considering  them  as  parts  of  the  subjunctive  mood. 
In  short,  the  idea  of  a  "subjunctive  mood  in  the  indicative  form,"  (which  is  adopted  by 
( 'handler,  Fraxee,  Fisk,  S.  S.  Greene,  Comly,  Ingersoll,  It.  C.  Smith,  Sanborn,  Mack,  Butler, 
Hart,  "\\YUl,  and  others,)  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  any  just  notion  of  what  a  mood  is ;  and 
the  suggestion,  which  we  frequently  meet  with,  that  the  regular  indicative  or  potential  mood 
may  be  thi-mm.  Into  the  subjunctive  by  merely  prefixing  a  conjunction,  is  something  worse 
than  nonsense.  Indeed,  no  mood  can  ever  be  made  a  part  of  an  other,  without  the  grossest 
confusion  and  absurdity.  Yet,  strange  as  it  is,  some  celebrated  authors,  misled  by  an  if, 
have  tangled  together  three  of  them,  producing  such  a  snarl  of  tenses  as  never  yet  can  have 
been  understood  without  being  thought  ridiculous.  See  Murray's  Grammar,  and  others  that 
agree  with  his  late  editions. 

OBS.  5. — In  regard  to  the  number  and  form  of  the  tenses  which  should  constitute  the 
.i>if>jun'-ti' •>•  iiio'xl  in  English,  our  grammarians  are  greatly  at  variance;  and  some,  supposing 
its  distinctive  parts  to  be  but  elliptical  forms  of  the  indicative  or  the  potential,*  even  deny 
the  existence  of  such  a  mood  altogether.  On  this  point,  the  instructions  published  by 
Lindley  Murray,  however  commended  and  copied,  are  most  remarkably  vague  and  inconsist- 
ent, f  The  early  editions  of  his  Grammar  gave  to  this  mood  six  tenses,  none  of  which  had 
any  of  the  personal  inflections ;  consequently  there  was,  in  all  the  tenses,  some  difference 
between  it  ami  the  indicative.  His  Hter  editions,  on  the  contrary,  make  the  subjunctive 
exactly  like  the  '.  .  except  in  the  present  tense,  and  in  the  choice  of  auxiliaries  for 

the  second-future.     JJotli  ways,  he  goes  too  far.     And  while  at  last  he  restricts  the  distinc- 
•ibjunctive  to  narrower  bounds  than  he  ought,  and  argues  against,  "  If  thou 
.  t  • .  thi>  mood  not  only  the  last  five  tenses  of  the  indicative, 
but  also  all  .    ..irh  its  multiplied"  auxiliaries  ;  alleging,  "that  as  the 

ilivc  mood  ibjnnctivc,  by  the  expression  of  a  condition,  motive, 

>  it,  so  the  potential  mood  may,  in  like  manner, 

*   "  \v  '-rimperfcct,  if  I  irrre,  if  thoutwf,  ftc.Of 

.iir.1  Jl.vuni'I.-  i.f  Copjuiriition,  in  this  chapter.]     The  phrase 


il  ;  shall,  mm:.  'nod;  as,  'Though  hand  (shall)  join  in 

— Rev. 
appear  to  disprove  this  doctrine. 


'/otv,"  appear  to  disprove  this  doctrine. 

low] 

t  "  Mr.  n,  as  often  as  Laban  changed  Jacob's  wages.  In  the  edition  we  print  from, 

I  used  in  each  pets"!  ,  Of  the  st.!>jiii:i-iiv",  l>ut  h«  now 

-  in  the  only 

lie  ha«  made  i  •-,,«  of  Lindlty  Murray's  English 

G  ram 

•  s an}-  mo-lorn  grammarian  /  forms 

ofth«-;>'.  -"Ifthnu/.-  -iljunc- 

/  put  as 

m  my  indic-ai:  mood  in  one 

hilo  the  conjunction  controls  it  in  tli<>  oth'-r  :  :»at  in  cases  wherein  contin- 

gency and  futurity  do  not  occur,  it  is  not  proper  to  turn  the  Terb  f:  •  .  nor  to  rary 

[h'S  means,  or  'to  forbrar  to  change]  its  form  or  termination.      [£7"  '.  i  >>e  in  thz  indicativt  mood, 

Whatever  conjunctions  might  attend  it.r—L.  Murray's  Gram.  STO,  p.  208 ;  12mo,  p.  107. 


324  THE  GRAMMAR  OT  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS".  [FART  II. 

be  turned  into  the  subjunctive."—  Octavo  Gram.  p.  82.  According  to  this,  the  subjunctive 
mood  of  every  regular  verb  embraces,  in  one  voice,  as  many  as  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  different  expressions  ;  and  it  may  happen,  that  in  one  single  tense  a  verb  shall  have 
no  fewer  than  fifteen  different  forms  in  eaeh  person  and  number.  Six  times  fifteen  are 
ninety ;  and  so  many  are  the  several  phrases  which  now  compose  Murray's  pluperfect  tense 
of  the  subjunctive  mood  of  the  verb  to  straw — a  tense  which  most  grammarians  very  prop- 
erly reject  as  needless  !  But  this  is  not  all.  The  scheme  not  only  confounds  the  moods, 
and  utterly  overwhelms  the  learner  with  its  multiplicity,  but  condemns  as  bad  English 
what  the  author  himself  once  adopted  and  taught  for  the  imperfect  tense  of  the  subjunctive 
mood,  "  If  thou  loved,  If  thou  knew,"  &c.,  wherein  he  was  sustained  by  Dr.  Priestley,  by 
Harrison,  by  Caleb  Alexander,  by  John  Burn,  by  Alexander  Murray,  the  schoolmaster,  and 
by  others  of  high  authority.  Dr.  Johnson,  indeed,  made  the  preterit  subjunctive  like  the 
indicative  ;  and  this  may  have  induced  the  author  to  change  his  plan,  and  inflect  this  part 
of  the  verb  with  st.  But  Dr.  Alexander  Murray,  a  greater  linguist  than  either  of  them, 
very  positively  declares  this  to  be  wrong :  "  When  such  words  as  if,  though,  unless,  except, 
whether,  and  the  like,  are  used  before  verbs,  they  lose  their  terminations  of  cst,  cth,  and  s,  in 
those  persons  which  commonly  have  them.  No  speaker  of  good  English,  expressing  himself 
conditionally,  says,  Though  thou  fattest,  or  Though  he  falls,  but,  Though  thou  fall,  and 
Though  he  fall;  nor,  Though  thou  earnest,  but,  Though,  or  although,  thou  came." — History 
of  European  Languages,  Vol.  i,  p.  5o. 

OBS.  6. — Nothing  is  more  important  in  the  grammar  of  any  language,  than  a  knowledge 
of  the  true  forms  of  its  verbs.  Nothing  is  more  difficult  in  the  grammar  of  our  own,  than 
to  learn,  in  this  instance  and  some  others,  what  forms  we  ought  to  prefer.  Yet  some 
authors  tell  us,  and  Dr.  Lowth  among  the  rest,  that  our  language  is  wonderfully  simple 
and  easy.  Perhaps  it  is  so.  But  do  not  its  "simplicity  and  facility"  appear  greatest  to 
those  who  know  least  about  it  r — i.  e.  least  of  its  grammar,  and  least  of  its  history  ?  In 
citing  a  passage  from  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Ezekiel,  Lord  Kames  has  taken  the  liberty 
to  change  the  word  hath  to  have  seven  times  in  one  sentence.  This  he  did,  upon  the  sup- 
position that  the  subjunctive  mood  has  a  perfect  tense  which  differs  from  that  of  the 
indicative ;  and  for  such  an  idea  he  had  the  authority  of  Dr.  Johnson's  Grammar,  and  others. 
The  sentence  is  this  :  "  But  if  he  be  a  robber,  a  shedder  of  blood ;  if  he  have  eaten  upon  the 
mountains,  and  defiled  his  neighbour's  wife ;  if  he  have  oppressed  the  poor  and  needy,  havt 
spoiled  by  violence,  have  not  restored  the  pledge,  have  lift  up  his  eyes  to  idols,  have  given 
forth  upon  usury,  and  have  taken  increase  :  shall  he  live  ?  he  shall  not  live." — Elements  of 
Criticism,  Vol.  ii,  p.  261.  Now,  is  this  good  English,  or  is  it  not?  One  might  cite  about 
half  of  our  grammarians  in  favour  of  this  reading,  and  the  other  half  against  it ;  with  Mur- 
ray, the  most  noted  of  all,  first  on  one  side,  and  then  on  the  other.  Similar  puzzles  may 
be  presented  concerning  three  or  four  other  tenses,  which  are  sometimes  ascribed,  and  some- 
times denied,  to  this  mood.  It  seems  to  me,  after  much  examination,  that  the  subjunctive 
mood  in  English  should  have  two  tenses,  and  no  more  ;  the  present  and  the  imperfect.  The: 
present  tense  of  this  mood  naturally  implies  contingency  and  futurity,  while  the  imperfect 
here  becomes  an  aorist,  and  serves  to  suppose  a  case  as  a  mere  supposition,  a  case  contrary  to 
fact.  Consequently  the  foregoing  sentence,  if  expressed  by  the  subjunctive  at  all,  ought  to 
be  written  thus  :  "  But  if  he  be  a  robber,  a  shedder  of  blood ;  if  he  eat  upon  the  mountains, 
and  defile  his  neighbour's  wife ;  if  he  oppress  the  poor  and  needy,  spoil  by  violence,  restore. 
not  the  pledge,  lift  up  his  eyes  to  idols,  give  forth  upon  usury,  and  take  increase  ;  shall  he  li ve  ? 
he  shall  not  live." 

OBS.  7. — "  Grammarians  generally  make  a  present  and  a  past  time  under  the  subjunctive 
mode." — Cobbett's  Gram.  IT  100.  These  are  the  tenses  which  are  given  to  the  subjunctive  by 
Blair,  in  his  "Practical  Grammar."  If  any  one  will  give  to  this  mood  more  tenses  than 
these,  the  five  which  are  adopted  by  Staniford,  are  perhaps  the  least  objectionable  :  namely, 
4t Present,  If  thou  love,  or  do  love ;  'imperfect,  If  thou  loved,  or  did  love  ;  Perfect,  If  thou 
have  loved  ;  Pluperfect,  If  thou  had  loved  ;  Future,  If  thou  should  or  would  love." — Stani- 
ford's  Gram.  p.  22.  But  there  are  no  sufficient  reasons  for  even  this  extension  of  its  tenses. 
— Fisk,  speaking  of  this  mood,  says :  "  Lowth  restricts  it  entirely  to  the  present  tense." — 
4<  Uniformity  on  this  point  is  highly  desirable." — "  On  this  subject,  we  adopt  the  opinion  of 
Dr.  Lowth." — English  Grammar  Simplified,  p.  70.  His  desire  of  uniformity  he  has  both  her- 
•alded  and  backed  by  a  palpable  misstatement.  The  learned  Doctor's  subjunctive  mood,  in 
.the  second  person  singular,  is  this  :  "  Present  time.  Thou  love  ;  AND,  Thou  mayest  love. 
Past  time.  Thou  mightest  love  ;  AND,  Thou  couldst,  &c.  love ;  and  have  loved." — Lowth's 
Gram.  p.  38.  But  Fisk's  subjunctive  runs  thus  :  "Indie,  form,  If  thou  lovest ;  varied  form, 
If  thou  love."  And  again  :  "Present  tense,  If  thou  art,  If  thou  be  ;  Imperfect  tense,  If  thou 
wast,  If  thou  wert." — Fisk's  Grammar  Simplified,  p.  70.  His  very  definition  of  the  subjunc- 
tive mood  is  illustrated  only  by  the  indicative ;  as,  "If  thou  wcdkest." — "I  will  perform  the 
operation,  if  he  desires  it." — Ib.  p.  69.  Comly's  subjunctive  mood,  except  in  some  of  his  early 
editions,  stands  thus  :  "Present  tense,  If  thou  lovest ;  Imperfect  tense,  If  thou  lovedst  or  loved ; 
First  future  tense,  If  thou  (shalt)  love."— Eleventh  Ed.  p.  41.  This  author  teaches,  that  the 
indicative  or  potential,  when  preceded  by  an  if,  "  should  be  parsed  in  the  subjunctive 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. — MOODS.  325 

mood." — Ib.  p.  42.  Of  what  is  in  fact  the  true  subjunctive,  he  says  :  "Some  writers  use  the 
singular  number  in  the  present  tense  of  the  subjunctive  mood,  without  any  variation;  as, 
«  if  I  loce,  if  thou  lure,  if  he  toce.'  But  this  usage  must  be  ranked  amongst  the  anom^U, -,v  of  our 
language." — Ib.  p.  -il.  Cooper,  in  his  pretended  "  Abridgment  of  Murray's  Grammar, 
Philad.  18'28,"  gave  to  the  subjunctive  mood  the  following  form,  which  contains  all  six  of 
the  tenses  :  "  2d  pers.  If  thou  love,  If  thou  do  love,  If  thou  loved,  If  thou  did  love.  If  thou 
have  loved,  If  thou  had  loved,  If  thou  shall  (or  will)  love,  If  thou  shall  (or  will)  have 
loved."  This  is  almost  exactly  what  Murray  at  first  adopted,  and  afterwards  rejected  ;  though 
it  is  probable,  from  the  abridgor's  preface,  that  the  latter  was  ignorant  of  this  fact.  Soon 
afterwards,  a  perusal  of  Dr  Wilson's  Essay  on  Grammar  dashed  from  the  reverend  gentle- 
man's mind  the  whole  of  this  fabric  ;  and  in  his  "  Plain  and  Practical  Grammar,  Philad. 
1831,"  he  acknowledges  but  four  moods,  and  concludes  some  pages  of  argument  thus: 
"  From  the  above  considerations,  it  will  appear  to  every  sound  grammarian,  that  our  language 
does  not  admit  a  subjunctive  mode,  at  least,  separate  and  distinct  from  the  indicative  and 
potential." — Cooper  s  Ncic  Gram.  p.  63. 

()i;>.  8. — The  true  Subjtt,n.-fire  mood,  in  English,  is  virtually  rejected  by  some  later  gram- 
marians, who  nevertheless  acknowledge  under  that  name  a  greater  number  and  variety  of 
forms  than  have  ever  been  claimed  for  it  in  any  other  tongue.  All  that  is  peculiar  to  the 
Subjunctive,  all  that  should  constitute  it  a  distinct  mood,  they  represent  as  an  archaism,  an 
obsolete  or  antiquated  mode  of  expression,  while  they  willingly  give  to  it  every  form  of  both 
the  indicative  and  the  potential,  the  two  other  moods  which  sometimes  follow  an  if.  Thus 
Wells,  in  his  strange  entanglement  of  the  moods,  not  only  gives  to  the  subjunctive,  as  well 
as  to  the  indicative,  a  "  Simple  "  or  "  Common  Form,"  and  a  "  Potential  Form  ;  "  not  only 
recognizes  in  each  an  "Auxiliary  Form,"  and  a  "  Progressive  Form;  "  but  encumbers  the 
whole  with  distinctions  of  style, —  with  what  he  calls  the  "  Common  Style,"  and  the  "  Ancient 
Style  ;  "  or  the  "  Solemn  Style,"  and  the  "  Familiar  Style :"  yet,  after  all,  his  own  example 
of  the  Subjunctive,  "  Take  heed,  lest  any  man  deceive  you,"  is  obviously  different  from  all 
these,  and  not  explainable  under  any  of  his  paradigms  !  Nor  is  it  truly  consonant  with  any 
part  of  his  theory,  which  is  this  :  "  The  subjunctive  of  all  verbs  except  be,  takes  the  same 
form  as  the  Good  writers  were  formerly  much  accustomed  to  drop  the  personal 

termination  in  the  subjunctive  present,  and  write  'If  he  have,'  'If  he  deny,'  etc.,  for  'If  he 
has,'  « If  IK  :c.  ;  but  this  termination  is  now  generally  retained,  unless  an  auxiliary 

v>  un'/>;-^tnftfl.  Thus,  '  If  he  hear,'  may  properly  be  used  for  ' If  he  shall  hear  '  or  '  If  he  should 
hear,'  but  not  for  'If  he  hears.'  " — Wells' s  School  Gram.  p.  83  ;  3d  Ed.  p.  87.  Now  every 
position  here  taken  is  demonstrably  absurd.  How  could  "  good  writers  "  indite  "  much  " 
bad  English  by  dropping  from  the  subjunctive  an  indicative  ending  which  never  belonged  to 
it :  And  how  can  a  needless  "  auxiliary"  be  "  understood,"  on  the  principle  of  equivalence, 
where,  by  awkwardly  changing  a  mood  or  tense,  it  only  helps  some  grammatical  theorist  to 
convert  good  English  into  bad,  or  to  pervert  a  text  ?  The  phrases  above  may  all  be  right,  or 
all  be  wrong,  according  to  the  correctness  or  incorrectness  of  their  application  :  when  each 
is  used  as  best  it  may  be,  there  is  no  exact  equivalence.  And  this  is  true  of  half  a  dozen 
more  of  the  same  sort ;  as,  "  If  he  does  hear," — "  If  he  do  hear," — "  If  he  is  hearing," — "  If  he 
be  hearing," — "If  he  shall  be  hearing," — "  If  he  should  be  hearing." 

Oi:s.  9. — Similar  to  Wells's,  are  the  subjunctive  forms  of  Allen  II.  Weld.  Mistaking 
mtmtf  to  signify  ;»vA>,  this  author  teaches  thus  :  "  ANNEX  //',  (hough,  unless,  suppose,  admit, 
grant,  alloir,  or  any  word  implying  a  condition,  to  each  tense  of  the  Indicative  and  Potential 
modes,  to  form  the  subjunctive  ;  as,  If  thou  lovest  or  love.  If  he  loves,  or  love.  Formerly 
it  was  customary  to  omit  (I  in  tin-  second  and  third  persons  of  the  present 

.ode.     But  now  the  terminations  are  /A/,-/-,/'///  retained,  except 

when  the  ellipsis  of  .%•/'  ^,  If  he  obey,  i.  e.,  if  he  shall,  or  should  obey." 

.   ]).   71.     Again:  ••  /     .  /  :,,-a1,  the  form  of  the  verb  in 

the  Subjunctive,  is  the  *<inn-  "-  /  •   r/n  in  the  second  and 

third  )n-rx»n  [persons]  singular,  is  used  in  the  following  instance-;:   (1.)   /'//'///-.•  ,     // 

as,  If  he  go,  for,  if  he  shall  go. 

Though  In-  -lay  me,  i.  e..  t  :nc.     (2.)  Lest  and  that  annexed  to  a  com- 

mand are  followi  -/  of  the  Subjunctive  ;  as,  Love  not  sleep  [,]  lest  thou 

.  i   //'  with  hut  following  it,  'when  futurity  is  denoted,  requires  the 
the  hills,  thcv  shall  smoke"." — V>.  p.  liM.     As  for  this 

s. -he-mi1,  i ;  .  f  it.     First,  the  rule  for  formi; 

sibjuiictive  is  faNe,  and  is  plain';  in  tho   examples:    "  If  thou 

>r,  "//"  he  it  the  form  of  the-  indi-.-aiive.     Secondly,  no  terminations 

have  ever  been  "  generally  "  om.  i  in,  the  form  of  the  subjunctive  pres- 

eit;  because  that  part  of  the  mood,  as  common  well  known  to  be  made  of 

il  talk  of  suffixes  for  the  imperative, 

"Lore  thou,"  or  "l).i  thou  .  '.ever  be  really   impliiMl  in 

the  subjunctive  present ;  bivau-e  thv  .  i  unexampled,  would 

:•  the  tense,  the  mood,   ai  ;ly  also  the  n.-  ."properly 

h  vplies  a  condition  of  future  certainty ;  "  If  he  nh'»d-';"  a  -upp»-itioii  of  duty  :  the  true  sub- 


326  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

junctive  suggests  neither  of  these.  Fourthly,  "  the  ellipsis  of  shall  or  should"  is  most 
absurdly  called  above,  "  the  omission  of  the  Indicative  termination."  Fifthly,  it  is  very 
strangely  supposed,  that  to  omit  what  pertains  to  the  indicative  or  the  potential  mood,  will 
produce  an  "  elliptical  form  of  the  Subjunctive"  Sixthly,  such  examples  as  the  last,  "  If  he 
do  but  touch  the  hills,"  having  the  auxiliary  do  not  inflected  as  in  the  indicative,  disprove; 
the  whole  theory. 

OBS.  10.— In  J.  R.  Chandler's  grammars,  are  taken  nearly  the  same  views  of  the  "  Sub- 
junctive or  Conditional  Mood,"  that  have  just  been  noticed.  "  This  mood,"  we  are  told, 
"  is  only  the  indicative  or  potential  mood,  with  the  word  if  placed  before  the  nominative 
case." — Gram,  of  1821,  p.  48  ;  Gram,  of  1847,  p.  73.  Yet,  of  even  this,  the  author  has  said, 
in  the  former  edition,  "  It  would,  perhaps,  be  better  to  abolish  the  use  of  the  subjunctive  mood 
entirely.  Its  use  is  a  continual  source  of  dispute  among  grammarians,  and  of  perplexity  to 
scholars." — Page  33.  The  suppositive  verb  were, — (as,  "Were  I  a  king," — "If  I  were  a 
king," — )  which  this  author  formerly  rejected,  preferring  teas,  is  now,  after  six  and  twenty 
years,  replaced  in  his  own  examples ;  and  yet  he  still  attempts  to  disgrace  it,  by  falsely 
representing  it  as  being  only  "  the  indicative  plural  "  very  grossly  misapplied  !  See  Chan- 
dler's Common  School  Gram.  p.  77. 

OBS.  11. — The  Imperative  mood  is  so  called  because  it  is  chiefly  used  in  commanding.  It 
is  that  brief  form  of  the  verb,  by  which  we  directly  urge  upon  others  our  claims  and  wishes. 
But  the  nature  of  this  urging  varies  according  to  the  relation  of  the  parties.  "We  command 
inferiors  ;  exhort  equals ;  entreat  superiors  ;  permit  whom  we  will ; — and  all  by  this  same 
imperative  form  of  the  verb.  In  answer  to  a  request,  the  imperative  implies  nothing  more 
than  permission.  The  will  of  a  superior  may  also  be  urged  imperatively  by  the  indicative 
future.  This  form  is  particularly  common  in  solemn  prohibitions  \  as,  "Thou  shaltnot  kill. 
»  *  *  ThousAafe  not  steal." — Exodus,  xx,  13  and  15.  Of  the  ten  commandments,  eight  are 
negative,  and  all  these  are  indicative  in  form.  The  other  two  are  in  the  imperative  mood  : 
"Remember  the  sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy.  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother." — Ib. 
But  the  imperative  form  may  also  be  negative  :  as,  "Touch  not;  taste  not ;  handle  not." — 
Colossians,  ii,  21. 

TENSES. 

Tenses  are  those  modifications  of  the  verb,  which  distinguish  time. 

There  are  six  tenses  ;  the  Present,  the  Imperfect,  the  Perfect,  the  Plu- 
perfect, the  First-future,  and  the  Second-future. 

The  Present  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  now  exists,  or  is  taking 
place  :  as,  "  I  hear  a  noise  ;  somebody  is  coming" 

The  Imperfect  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  took  place,  or  was  occur- 
ring, in  time  fully  past :  as,  "  I  saw  him  yesterday,  and  hailed  him  as  he  was 


The  Perfect  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  has  taken  place,  within  soms 
period  of  time  not  yet  fully  past :  as,  "  I  have  seen  him  to-day  ;  something 
must  have  detained  him." 

The  Pluperfect  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  had  taken  place,  at  some 
past  time  mentioned :  as,  "  I  had  seen  him,  when  I  met  you." 

The  First-future  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  mil  take  place  here- 
after :  as,  "  I  shall  see  him  again,  and  I  will  inform  him." 

The  Second-future  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  will  have  taken  place, 
at  some  future  time  mentioned  :  as,  I  shall  have  seen  him  by  to-morrow  noon." 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  terms  here  defined  are  the  names  usually  given  to  those  parts  of  the  verb  to 
which  they  are  in  this  work  applied ;  and  though  some  of  them  are  not  so  strictly  appropri- 
ate as  scientific  names  ought  to  be,  it  is  thought  inexpedient  to  change  them.  In  many  old 
grammars,  and  even  in  the  early  editions  of  Murray,  the  three  past  tenses  are  called  the 
Preterimperfcct,  Preterperfect,  and  Preterpluperfect.  From  these  names,  the  term  Prefer, 
(which  is  from  the  Latin  preposition  prater,  meaning  beside,  beyond,  or  past,}  has  well  been 
dropped  for  the  sake  of  brevity. 

OBS.  2. — The  distinctive  epithet  Imperfect,  or  Preter  imperfect,  appears  to  have  been  much 
less  accurately  employed  by  the  explainers  of  our  language,  than  it  was  by  the  Latin  gram- 
marians from  whom  it  was  borrowed.  That  tense  which  passes  in  our  schools  for  the  Im- 
perfect, (as,  I  slept,  did  sleep,  or  tvas  sleeping,}  is  in  fact  more  completely  past,  than  that  which 
we  call  the  Perfect.  Murray  indeed  has  attempted  to  show  that  the  name  is  right ;  and, 
for  the  sake  of  consistency,  one  could  wish  he  had  succeeded.  But  every  scholar  must 
that,  the  simnle  nreterit.  which  is  the  first  form  of  this  tense,  and  is  never  found  in 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. TENSES.  327 

any  other,  as  often  as  the  sentence  is  declarative,  tells  what  happened  within  some  period  of 
time  f nil n  past,  as  hi^t  trcrk,  la-styi'nr  :  whereas  the  perfect  tense  is  used  to  exrpess  what  has 
happened  within  some  period  of  time  not  yet  fully  past,  as  this  week,  this  year.  As  to  the  com- 
pleteness of  the  action,  there  is  no  difference ;  for  what  has  been  done  to-day,  is  as  completely 
done,  as  what  was  achieved  a  year  ago.  Hence  it  is  obvious  that  the  term  Imperfect  has  no 
other  applicability  to  the  English  tense  so  called,  than  what  it  may  have  derived  from  the 
participle  in  in;/,  which  we  use  in  translating  the  Latin  imperfect  tense  :  as,  Dormiebam,  I  was 
sleeping ;  I,  ; .  '"in.  f  wm  r  "/'///;  Docebam,  I  was  teaching.  And  if  for  this  reason  the  whole 
Engli-  .'.  ith  ;ill  it-;  variety  of  forms  in  the  different  moods,  "may,  with  propriety,  be 

denominated  imperfect ;  "  surely",  the  participle  itself  should  be  so  denominated  a  fortiori  : 
for  it  always  conveys  this  same  idea,  of  "action  not  finished"  be  the  tense  of  its  accompany- 
ing auxiliary  what  it  may. 

OBS.  3.— The  tenses  do  not  all  express  time  with  equal  precision ;  nor  can  the  whole 
number  in  any  language  supersede  the  necessity  of  adverbs  of  time,  much  less  of  dates, 
and  of  nouns  that  express  periods  of  duration.  The  tenses  of  the  indicative  mood,  are  the 
most  definite  ;  and,  for  this  reason,  as  well  as  for  some  others,  the  explanations  of  all  these 
modifications  of  the  verb,  are  made  with  particular  reference  to  that  mood.  Some  suppose 
the  compound  or  participial  form,  as  I  am  writing,  to  be  more  definite  in  time,  than  the 
simple  form,  as  I  write,  or  the  emphatic  form,  as  I  do  write  ;  and  accordingly  they  divide  all 
the  tenses  into  Indefinite  and  Definite.  Of  this  division  Dr.  "Webster  seems  to  claim  the 
invention ;  for  he  gravely  accuses  Murray  of  copying  it  unjustly  from  him,  though  the  lat- 
ter acknowledges  in  a  note  upon  his  text,  it  "is,  in  part,  taken  from  Webster's  Grammar." 
— Murray's  (Maro  dram.  p.  73.  The  distribution,  as  it  stands  in  either  work,  is  not  worth 
quarrelling  about :  it  is  evidently  more  cumbersome  than  useful.  Nor,  after  all,  is  it  true 
that  the  compound  form  is  more  definite  in  time  than  the  other.  For  example ;  "  Dionys- 
ius,  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  was  always  betraying  his  unhappiness." — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  123. 
Now,  if  was  betraying  were  a  more  definite  tense  than  betrayed,  surely  the  adverb  "always" 
would  require  the  latter,  rather  than  the  former. 

OBS.  4. — The  present  tense,  of  the  indicative  mood,  expresses  not  only  what  is  now  actu- 
ally going  on,  but  general  truths,  and  customary  actions  :  as,  "  Vice  produces  misery." — "  He 

v  to  repent,  who  gives  sentence  quickly." — Grant's  Lot.  Gram.  p.  71.  "Among  the 
Purthians,  the  signal  y  the  drum,  and  not  by  the  trumpet." — Justin.  Deceased 

authors  may  be  spoken  of  in  the  present  tense,  because  they  seem  to  live  in  their  works ; 
as,  "  Sene  •  \  well." — Murray.  "Women  talk  better  than  men,  from 

the  superior  shape  of  their  tongues  :  an  ancient  writer  speaks  of  their  loquacity  three  thou- 
sand '.v  Music  of  Nature,  p.  27. 

.  o. — The  text,  John,  viii,  58,  "  Before  Abraham  was,  I  am,"  is  a  literal  Grecism,  and 
not  to  be  cited  a.s  an  example  of  pure  English  :  our  idiom  would  seem  to  require,  "  Before 
Abraham  //•  .  I  tittod."  In  animated  narrative,  however,  the  present  tense  is  often  sub- 
stituted for  the  past,  by  the  figure  enallage.  In  such  cases,  past  tenses  and  present  may 
occur  together ;  because  the  latter  are  used  merely  to  bring  past  events  more  vividly  before 
us:  as,  "  Ui  >,  not  knowing  where  he  was." — Pope.  "The  dictator  flies  forward 

to  the  cavalry,  beseeching  them  to  dismount  from  their  horses.    They  obeyed ;  they  dismount, 
rush  onward,  and  for  vancouriers  show  their  bucklers." — Livy.     On  this  principle,  perhaps, 
the  following  couplet,  which  Murray  condemns  as  bad  English,  may  be  justified : — 
•    Him  portion'd  maids,  apprentic'd  orphans  blest, 
The  young  who  labour,  and  the  old  who  rest."     See  Murray's  Key,  R.  13. 

.  0.— The  present  tense  of  the  subjunctive  mood,  and  that  of  the  indicative  when 
'>-e,  till,  or  when,  is  generally  used  with  reference  to  future 

time  ;  as.  ""if  he  cuk  a  tUh.  will  he  irive  him  a  serpent?  " — Matt,  vii,  10.  "  If  I  will  that  he 
t'irrij  till  I  <•  >,n  •.  what  is  that  to  thee  ?  Follow  thou  me." — John,  xxi,  22.  "When  he 
arrives,  1  will  send  for  you."  The  imperative  mood  has  but  one  tense,  and  that  is  always 
;ird  to  the  giving  of  the  command  ;  though  what  is  commanded,  must  be 
done  in  the  future,  if  done  at  all.  So  the  subjunctive  may  convey  a  present  supposition  of 
what  the  will  of  another  may  make  uncertain  :  as,  "  If  thou  count  me  therefore  a  partner, 
raoeive  him  a-  mysi •!!'." — >'/.  I'm/'  /,  17.  The  perfect  indicative,  like  the  present,  is 

sometime-*  u--,l  with  reference  to  time  that  is  relatively  future ;  as,  "He  will  be  fatigued 
before  he  lias  iralked  a  mile." — "My  lips  shall  utter  praise,  when  thou  hast  taught  me  thy 
statut.  ;.x,  1 70.  •'  Marvel  not  at  this  :  for  the  hour  is  coming,  in  the  whirl i  all 

.  -hall  hear  his  vni.-r.  and  shall  come  forth;  they  that  have  done,  good, 

ruto  the  resurrection  of  life ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  damna- 
tion."— John,  V, 

.  7. — What  is  called  the  pwnt  infinitive,  can  scarcely  be  said  to  express  any  par- 
ticular time.*  It  is  usually  dependent  on  an  other  verb,  and  therefore  relative  in  time. 
It  may  be  connected  with  I  •;'  any  mood:  as,  "I  indnd  to  do  it;  I  intended  to  do 

ii; ;  I/  '// to  do  it;  I  /n/<;  >  it;"  fee.     For  want   of  a  better  mode  of 

-ion,  we  often  use  the  infinitive  to  denote  futurity,  especially  when  it  seems  to  be 

*  "  The  infinitive  mood,  as  '  to  tliinr,'  may  be  called  the  name  of  the  verb  ;  it  carries  ntithfr  time  nor  aflirma- 

tion  ;  but  .-im  !hat  attribute,  fiction,  or  state  of  things,  which  is  to  be  the  subject  of  the  other  moods 

and  tenses."  — /;:'<nV  \  Lrcturfs,  p.  81.     By  the  word  "  subject  "  the  Doctor  does  not  here  mean  the  nominative  to 

the  other  uioods  and  tenses,  but  the  material  of  them,  or  that  which  is  formed  into  them. 


328  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

taken  adjectively  ;  as,  "The  time  to  come" — "The  world  to  come," — "Rapture  yet  to  be." 
This,  sometimes  with  the  awkward  addition  of  about,  is  the  only  substitute  we  have  for  the 
Latin  future  participle  in  rus,  as  venturus,  to  come,  or  about  to  come.  This  phraseology,  accord- 
ing to  Home  Tooke,  (see  Diversions  of  Pur  ley,  Vol.  ii,  p.  457,)  is  no  fitter  than  that  of  our 
ancestors,  who  for  this  purpose  used  the  same  preposition,  but  put  the  participle  in  ing  after 
it,  in  lieu  of  the  radical  verb,  which  we  choose  to  employ:  as,  "  Generacions  of  eddris,  who 
shewide  to  you  to  fle  fro  wraththe  to  comynge?  " — Matt,  iii,  7.  Common  Version  :  "  O  gen- 
eration of  vipers  !  who  hath  warned  you  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come  ?"  "  Art  thou  that 
art  to  comynge,  ether  abiden  we  an  other  ? " — Matt,  xi,  3.  Common  Version :  "  Art  thou  he 
that  should  come,  or  do  we  look  for  another  ?  "  "  Sotheli  there  the  ship  was  to  puttyng  out 
the  charge." — Dedis,  xxi,  3.  Common  Version  :  "  For  there  the  ship  was  to  unlade  her  bur- 
den."— Acts,  xxi,  3.  Churchill,  after  changing  the  names  of  the  two  infinitive  tenses  to 
"Future  imperfect"  and  "Future  perfect,"  adds  the  following  note:  "The  tenses  of  the 
infinitive  mood  are  usually  termed  present  and  preterperfect :  but  this  is  certainly  improper ; 
for  they  are  so  completely  future,  that  what  is  called  the  present  tense  of  the  infinitive  mood 
is  often  employed  simply  to  express  futurity  ;  as,  'The  life  to  come.'  " — New  Gram.  p.  249. 

OBS.  8. — The  pluperfect  tense,  when  used  conditionally,  in  stead  of  expressing  what 
actually  had  taken  place  at  a  past  time,  almost  always  implies  that  the  action  thus  supposed 
never  was  performed ;  on  the  contrary,  if  the  supposition  be  made  in  a  negative  form,  it  sug- 
gests that  the  event  had  occurred:  as,  "Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not 
died." — John,  xi,  32.  "  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  unto  them,  they  had  not  had  sin  ;  but 
now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin." — John,  xv,  22.  "  If  thou  hadst  knoivn,  even  thou,  at 
least  in  this  thy  day,  the  things  which  belong  unto  thy  peace  !  But  now  they  are  hid  from 
thine  eyes." — Luke,  xix,  42.  The  supposition  is  sometimes  indicated  by  a  mere  transposi- 
tion of  the  verb  and  its  subject ;  in  which  case,  the  conjunction  if  is  omitted  :  as,  "  Had  ye 
believed  Moses,  ye  would  have  believed  me." — John,  v,  46. 

"  Had  I  but  fought  as  wont,  one  thrust 
Had  laid  De  Wilton  in  the  dust." — Scott. 

OBS.  9. — In  the  language  of  prophecy  we  find  the  past  tenses  very  often  substituted  for 
the  future,  especially  when  the  prediction  is  remarkably  clear  and  specific.  Man  is  a 
creature  of  present  knowledge  only  ;  but  it  is  certain,  that  He  who  sees  the  end  from  tho 
beginning,  has  sometimes  revealed  to  him,  and  by  him,  things  deep  in  futurity.  Thus  the 
sacred  seer  who  is  esteemed  the  most  eloquent  of  the  ancient  prophets,  more  than  seven  hun- 
dred years  before  the  events  occurred,  spoke  of  the  vicarious  sufferings  of  Christ  as  o::' 
things  already  past,  and  even  then  described  them  in  the  phraseology  of  historical  facts 
"  Surely  he  hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows  :  yet  we  did  esteem  him  stricken 
smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted.  But  he  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions ;  he  was  bruisec' 
for  our  iniquities  :  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him  ;  and  by  his  stripes  we  are 
healed." — Isaiah,  liii,  4  and  5.  Multiplied  instances  of  a  similar  application  of  the  past; 
tenses  to  future  events,  occur  in  the  Bible,  especially  in  the  writings  of  this  prophet. 

PERSONS  AND   NUMBERS. 

The  person  and  number  of  a  verb  are  those  modifications  in  which  it  agrees 
with  its  subject  or  nominative. 

In  each  number,  there  are  three  persons  ;  and  in  each  person,  two  num- 
bers: thus, 

Singular.  Plural. 

1st  per.  I        love,  1st  per.  We     love, 

2d  per.  Thou  lovest,  2d  per.  You    love, 

3d  per.  He     loves ;  3d  per.  They  love. 

Definitions  universally  applicable  have  already  been  given  of  all  these  things ; 
it  is  therefore  unnecessary  to  define  them  again  in  this  place. 

Where  the  verb  is  varied,  the  second  person  singular  is  regularly  formed 
by  adding  st  or  est  to  the  first  person ;  and  the  third  person  singular,  in  like 
manner,  by  adding  s  or  es :  as,  I  see,  thou  seest,  he  sees  ;  I  give,  thou  givest, 
he  gives  ;  I  go,  thou  goest,  he  goes;  I  fly,  thonfliest,  he  flies;  I  vex,  thou 
vexest,  he  vexes;  I  lose,  thou  losest,  he  loses. 

Where  the  verb  is  not  varied  to  denote  its  person  and  number,  these  prop- 
erties are  inferred  from  its  subject  or  nominative  :  as,  If  I  love,  if  thou  love, 
if  he  love  /  if  we  love,  if  you  love,  if  they  love. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1.— It  is  considered  a  principle  of  Universal  Grammar,  that  a  finite  verb  must  agree  with 
its  subject  or  nominative  in  person  and  number.  Upon  this  principle,  we  ascribe  to  every  such 


CHAP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. PERSONS    AND    NUMBERS.  329 

verb  the  person  and  number  of  the  nominative  word,  whether  the  verb  itself  be  literally  modified 
by  the  relation  or  not.  The  doctrine  must  be  constantly  taught  and  observed,  in  every  language 
in  which  the  verbs  have  any  variations  of  this  kind.  But  suppose  an  instance  of  a  laimuajje  in 
which  all  the  verbs  were  entirely  destitute  of  such  inflections  ;  the  principle,  as  regards  that  lan- 
.  must  drop.  Finite  verbs,  in  such  a  case,  would  still  relate  to  their  subjects,  or  nominatives, 
agreeably  to  the  sense  ;  but  they  would  certainly  be  rendered  incapable  of  adding  to  this  relation 
any  agreement  or  disagreement.  So  the  concords  which  belong  to  adjectives  and  participles  in 
Latin  and  Greek,  are  rejected  in  English,  and  there  remains  to  these  parts  of  speech  nothing  but 
a  simple  relation  to  their  nouns  according  to  the  sense.  And  by  the  fashionable  substitution  of 
you  for  than,  the  concord  of  English  verbs  with  their  nominatives,  is  made  to  depend,  in  com- 
mon practice,  on  little  more  than  one  single  terminational  s,  which  is  used  to  mark  one  person  of 
one  number  of  one  tense  of  one  mood  of  each  verb.  So  near  does  this  practice  bring  us  to  the 
dropping  of  what  is  yet  called  a  universal  principle  of  grammar.* 

Ojts.  -2. — In  most  languages,  there  are  in  each  tense,  through  all  the  moods  of  every  verb,  six 
different  terminations  to  di>tin-j;uish  the  different  persons  and  numbers.  This  will  be  well  under- 
stood by  every  one  who  has  ever  glanced  at  the  verbs  as  exhibited  in  any  Latin,  Greek,  French, 
Spanish,  or  Italian  grammar.  To  explain  it  to  others,  a  brief  example  shall  be  given  :  (with  the 
remark,  that  the  Latin  pronouns,  here  inserted,  are  seldom  expressed,  except  for  emphasis :) 
"Ego  d/>x>,  I  love;  Ta  <i/tt-rtx,  Thou  Invest;  ///<•  a  unit,  He  loves;  Nos  amamus,  "W  e  love;  Vos 
love  ;  ////  ainunt,  They  love."  Hence  it  may  be  perceived,  that  the  paucity  of  vari- 
ations in  the  English  verb,  is  a  very  striking  peculiarity  of  our  language.  Whether  we  are  gain- 

•  question  for  learned  idleness  to  discuss.  The  common  people 

who  spe.k  English,  have  far  less  inclination  to  add  new  endings  to  our  verbs,  than  to  drop  or 
avoid  all  the  remains  of  the  old.  Lowth  and  Murray  tell  us,  "  This  scanty  provision  of  termina- 
tions i.v  sitffirii  nf  for  all  the  purposes  of  discourse;  and  that,  "For  this  reason,  the  plural  termi- 
nation in  'en,  (they  toren,  they  wttren,)  formerly  in  use,  was  laid  aside  as  unnecessary,  and  has  long 
been  obsul  W*  Ur'nm.  p.  31;  Murray's,  63. 

Ous.  :'. — Though  modern  usage,  especially  in  common  conversation,  evidently  inclines  to  drop 
or  shun  all  unnecessary  suffixes  and  inflections,  still  it  is  true,  that  the  English  verb  in  some  of 
its  parts,  varies  its  termination,  to  distinguish,  or  agree  with,  the  different  persons  and  numbers. 
The  cli a nuc  is.  however,  principally  confined  to  the  second  and  third  persons  singular  of  the  pres- 
ent tense  of  the  indicative  mood,  and  to  the  auxiliaries  liast  and  has  of  the  perfect.  In  the 
:  biblical  style,  now  used  only  on  solemn  occasions,  the  second  person  singular  is  distin- 
1  through  all  the  tenses  of  the  indicative  and  potential  moods.  And  as  the  use  of  the  pro- 
noun '  fined  to  the  solemn  style,  the  terminations  of  that  style  are  retained 
in  (onmxion  with  it,  through  all  the  following  examples  of  the  conjugation  of  verbs.  In  the 
plural  number,  tl;  nation  of  ending,  to  denote  the  different  persons  ;  and  the  verb  in 
the  th  plural,  (witli  the  two  exceptions  are  and  were,  from  am  and  was,)  is  the  same 
as  in  tt.e  ii.  •  '-.i^iilar.  Nor  does  the  use  of  you  for  the  singular,  warrant  its  connexion 
with  any  other  than  the  plural  form  of  the  verb.  This  strange  and  needless  confusion  of  the 
numbers,  is,  in  all  languages  that  indulge  it,  a  practical  inconvenience.  It  would  doubtless  have 
been  much  better,  hud  thou  and  you  still  kept  their  respective  places — the  one,  nominative  singu- 
lar— the  other,  objective  plural — as  they  appear  in  the  Bible.  But  as  the  English  verb  is  always 
attend'  d  by  a  noun  or  a  pronoun,  expressing  the  subject  of  the  affirmation,  no  ambiguity  arises 
from  the  want  of  particular  terminations  in  the  verb,  to  distinguish  the  different  persons  and 

t. — Although  our  language,  in  its  ordinary  use,  exhibits  the  verbs  in  such  forms  only,  as 

will  make,  \vhon  put  together,  but  a  very  simple  conjugation  ;  there  is  probably  no  other  language 

ii,  in  which  it  would  be  so  difficult  for  a  learned  grammarian  to  fix,  settle,  and  exhibit,  to 

tiou   of  himself  and  others,  the  principles,  paradigms,  rules,  and  exceptions,  which 

y  for  a  full  and  just  exhibition  of  this  part  of  speech.     This  difficulty  is  owing,  part- 

•  atibilities  or  unsettled  boundaries  between  the  solemn  and  the  familiar  style;  partly 


ny  that  persons  and  numbers  are  properties  of  verbs  at  all :    not  indeed  be- 

u-e  the-e  authors  wish  to  discard  the  little  distinction  that  remains  ; 

n.  that  these  properties  cannot  pertain  to  a  verb.      Vet,  when  they 

it"u  verb  has  n<i  per-on  and  number,  it  cannot  agree  with  a  i,ominative 

•rirtly  sjie.ikinp.  is  a  quality  that  belongs  not  to  vfrb*.  but  to  nouns 

\\ell  as  in  number." 

'A".  UiuiiiiT:  u  In  truth,  number  and  person  or«  not  profttrftii  of  verbs. 

Mr.  Mi..  .-ophical  BtrietDem,  both  number  and  }<•  -ay.  VIHII)  he  excluded  from 

porties  of  substantives,  not  a  j.art  of  the  essence  of  the  v.  it.  '   '—Philo- 
makes  them  !i«ree  with  their  nomina'ive-.  not  in  per 

.-0  as  to 

168.     Hut    Murray-  ree  with 

:ant  to  that  interpretation  of  hit 

,t.tedly,  both 

persons  of  a  ,.  would  still  be  intelligible. 

i  i"  I",  .i-m  them,  they  bel-.n^  a-'  properly 
i:iction  of  number  •  ••  verb  ;" 

•ulie-  i,.'f!iin_'  which  run  be  num- 
a  lie.v  form  of  the  blunder  whieh  I  h:r. 

:";:r  \urh   number."  in  arithmetic.     .1.  M.  I'urnam.  M  •  :   Pleating 

:'-  applied  to  the  Teri  ••'.The 

'•'  cake  are  ascribed  to  another.'1—  Gram,  p  4'.i.     Kirkham 

:   the  world,  thfv  perform/  and  DO 

is  thrre  arf  <>rt<  r*  :  and  that 

-e,  'We 

•vp.-l-f..rn,ed  1  lie  verb, 

.  written,  always  a.-r  ^inative  in  number  and  person."—  Kirkham't 

(rram.  p.  47.  It  seems  to  me,  that  these  authors  do  not  very  well  know  what  persona  or  numbers,  in  grammar,  are. 


330  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PAST  II. 

to  differences  in  the  same  style  between  ancient  usage  and  modern  ;  partly  to  interfering  cl aims 
of  new  and  old  forms  of  the  preterit  and  the  perfect  participle  ;  partly  to  the  conflicting  notions 
of  different  grammarians  respecting  the  subjunctive  mood  ;  and  partly  to  the  blind  tenacity  with 
which  many  writers  adhere  to  rugged  derivatives,  and  prefer  unutterable  contractions  to  smooth 
and  easy  abbreviations.  For  example  :  a  clergyman  says  to  a  lucky  gamester,  (1.)  "  You  dwett 
in  a  house  which  you  neither  planned  nor  built."  A  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends  would  say. 
(2.)  "T/tou  dwellst  in  a  house  which  thou  neither  planned  nor  built."  Or,  if  not  a  scholar,  as 
likely  as  not,  (3.)  "Thee  dicells  in  a  house  which  thee  neither  planned  nor  built."  The  old  or 
solemn  style  would  be,  (4.)  "  Thou  dwellest  in  a  house  which  thou  neither  planned st  nor  buildedst." 
Some  untasteful  and  overgrammatical  poet  will  have  it,  (5.)  "Thou  dwell' st  in  halls  thou  neither 
plann'dst  nor  build' d^t."  The  doctrines  of  Murray's  Grammar,  and  of  most  others,  would  require, 
(6.)  "Thou  dwellest  in  a  house  which  thou  neither  planncdst  nor  builtest."  Or,  (according  to  this 
author's  method  of  avoiding  unpleasant  sounds,)  the  more  complex  form,  (7.)  "Thou  dost  dwell 
in  a  house  which  thou  neither  didst  plan  nor  didst  build."  Out  of  these  an  other  poet  will  make 
the  line,  (9.)  "Dost  dwell  in  halls  which  thou  nor  plann'dst  nor  built'st."  An  other,  more  taste- 
fully ,would  drop  the  st  of  the  preterit,and  contractthe  present,  asin  the  second  instance  above:  thus, 
(10.)  "  Thou  dwellstin  halls  thou  n either  planned  nor  built, 
And  revelst  there  in  riches  won  by  guilt." 

OBS.  5. — Now  let  all  these  ten  different  forms  of  saying  the  same  thing,  by  the  same  verbs,  in 
the  same  mood,  and  the  same  two  tenses,  be  considered.  Let  it  also  be  noticed,  that  for  these 
same  verbs  within  these  limits,  there  are  yet  other  forms,  of  a  complex  kind  ;  as,  "  You  do  dwell" 
or,  "  You  are  dwelling ;  "  used  in  lieu  of,  "  Thou  dost  dwell,"  or,  "  Thou  art  dwelling  : "  so,  "  You 
didplan,"  or,  "  You  were  planning ;  "  used  in  lieu  of,  "  Thou  didst  plan,"  or,  "Thou  wast  planning" 
Take  into  the  account  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Webster  and  others,  that,  "  You  was  planning,"  or, 
"Youioas  building"  is  a  still  better  form  for  the  singular  number ;  and  well  "established  by 
national  usage,  both  here  and  in  England." — Improved  Gram.  p.  25.  Add  the  less  inaccurate 
practice  of  some,  who  use  was  and  did  familiarly  with  thou;  as,  "  Thou  was  planning,  did  thou 
build?"  Multiply  all  this  variety  tenfold,  with  a  view  to  the  other  moods  and  tenses  of  these 
three  verbs,  dwell,  plan,  and  build;  then  extend  the  product,  whatever  it  is,  from  these  three 
common  words,  to  all  the  verbs  in  the  English  language.  You  will  thus  begin  to  have  some  idea 
of  the  difficulty  mentioned  in  the  preceding  observation.  But  this  is  only  a  part  of  it ;  for  all 
these  things  relate  only  to  the  second  person  singular  of  the  verb.  The  double  question  is, 
Which  of  these  forms  ought  to  be  approved  and  taught  for  that  person  and  number  ?  and  which 
of  them  ought  to  be  censured  and  rejected  as  bad  English  ?  This  question  is  perhaps  as  in.por- 
tant,  as  any  that  can  arise  in  English  grammar.  With  a  few  candid  observations  by  way  of  illus- 
tration, it  will  be  left  to  the  judgement  of  the  reader. 

OBS.  6. — The  history  of  youyouing  and  thouthceing  appears  to  be  this.  Persons  in  high  stat  ons, 
being  usually  surrounded  by  attendants,  it  became,  many  centuries  ago,  a  species  of  court  flat  ;ery, 
to  address  individuals  of  this  class,  in  the  plural  number,  as  if  a  great  man  were  something  more 
than  one  person.  In  this  way,  the  notion  of  greatness  was  agreeably  multiplied,  and  those  who 
laid  claim  to  such  honour,  soon  began  to  think  themselves  insulted  whenever  they  were  addressed 
with  any  other  than  the  plural  pronoun.*  Humbler  people  yielded  through  fear  of  offence  ;  and 
the  practice  extended,  in  time,  to  all  ranks  of  society  :  so  that  at  present  "the  customary  mode  of 
familiar  as  well  as  complimentary  address,  is  altogether  plural;  both  the  verb  and  the  pronoun 
being  used  in  that  form.f  This  practice,  which  confounds  one  of  the  most  important  distinctions 
of  the  language,  affords  a  striking  instance  of  the  power  of  fashion.  It  has  made  propriety  itself 
seem  improper.  But  shall  it  be  allowed,  in  the  present  state  of  things,  to  confound  our  conjuga- 
tions and  overturn  our  grammar  ?  Is  it  right  to  introduce  it  into  our  paradigms,  as  the  only  form 
of  the  second  person  singular,  that  modern  usage  acknowledges  ?  Or  is  it  expedient  to  augment 
by  it  that  multiplicity  of  other  forms,  which  must  either  take  this  same  place  or  be  utterly  reject- 
ed ?  With  due  deference  to  those  grammarians  who  have  adopted  one  or  the  other  of  these 
methods,  the  author  of  this  work  answers  all  these  questions  decidedly  in  the  negative.  It  is 
not  to  be  denied,  that  the  use  of  the  plural  for  the  singular  is  now  so  common  as  to  form  the  cus- 
tomary mode  of  address  to  individuals  of  every  rank.  The  Society  of  Friends,  or  Quakers,  how- 
ever, continue  to  employ  the  singular  number  in  familiar  discourse;  and  custom,  which  has  novr 
destroyed  the  compliment  of  the  plural,  has  removed  also  the  supposed  opprobrium  of  the  singu- 
lar, and  placed  it  on  an  equality  with  the  plural  in  point  of  respect.  The  singular  is  universally 
employed  in  reference  to  the  Supreme  Being;  and  is  generally  preferred  in  poetry.  It  is  the 
language  of  Scripture,  and  of  the  Prayer-Book  ;  and  is  consistently  retained  in  nearly  all  our 
grammars  ;  though  not  always,  perhaps,  consistently  treated . 

OBS.  7. — Whatever  is  fashionable  in  speech,  the  mere  disciples  of  fashion  will  always  approve ; 
and,  probably,  they  will  think  it  justifiable  to  despise  or  neglect  all  that  is  otherwise.  Those  may 
be  contented  with  the  sole  use  of  such  forms  of  address  as,  "  You,  you,  sir ;  " — "  You,yoit,  ma<lom" 
But  the  literati  who  so  neglect  all  the  services  of  religion,  as  to  forget  that  these  are  yet  conducted 
in  English  independently  of  all  this  fashionable  youyouing,  must  needs  be  poor  judges  of  what 

*  John  Despauter,  whose  ample  Grammar  of  the  Latin  language  appeared  in  its  third  edition  in  1517,  represents 
this  practice  as  a  corruption  originating  in  false  pride,  and  maintained  by  the  wickedness  of  hungry  flatterers.  On 
the  twentieth  leaf  of  his  Syntax,  he  says,  "  Videntur  hodie  Christian!  superbiores,  quam  olim  ethnic!  imperatores, 
qui  dii  haberi  voluerunt ;  nam  hi  nunquam  inviti  audierunt  pronomina  tu,  tibi,  tims.  Qua?  si  hodie  alicui  mon- 
achorum  autistiti,  aut  decano,  aut  pontifici  dicantur  aut  scribantur,  videbitur  ita  loqucns  aut  scribens  bhisphemasse, 
et  anathemate  dignus  :  nee  tamen  Abbas,  aut  pontifex,  tarn  a3grt-  feret.  quam  Malchi,  aut  famelici  gnat  hones,  his 
assistentes,  et  vociferantes,  Sic  loqueris,  aut  scribis,  pontifici  ?,  Quintilianus  et  Donatus  dicunt  barbarismum,  aut 
eoloacismum  esse,  siquis  uni  dicat,  Salvete."  The  learned  Erasmus  also  ridiculed  this  practice,  calling  those 'who 
adopted  it,  ;c  voscitatores,"  or  yoityouers. 

t  "By  &  perversion  of  language  the  pronoun  you  is  almost  invariably  used  for  the  second  person  singular,  as 
well  as  plural :  always,  however,  retaining  the  plural  verb  ;  as,  '  My  friend,  you  write,  a  good  hand.'  Thou  is  con- 
fined to  a  solemn  style,  or  [to]  poetical  compositions."—  Chandler's  Grammar,  Edition  of  1821,  p.  41  ;  Ed.  of 
1847,  p.  66. 


CIIAP.    TI.]  ETYMOLOGY. — VERBS. — PERSONS   AND    NDMBEBS.  331 

belongs  to  their  own  justification,  either  as  grammarians  or  as  moral  agents.  A  fashion  by  virtue 
of  which  millions  of  youth  are  now  growing  up  in  ignorance  of  that  form  of  address  which,  in 
their  own  ton  UUP,  is  most  appropriate  to  poetry,  and  alone  adapted  to  prayer,  is  perhaps  not  quite 
so  light  a  matter  as  some  people  imagine.  It  is  at  least  so  far  from  being  a  good  reason  for  dis- 
placing th:.t  form  from  the  paradigms  of  our  verbs  in  a  grammar,  that  indeed  no  better  needs  be 
offered  for  tenaciously  retaining  it.  Many  children  may  thus  learn  at  school  what  all  should  know, 
and  what  there  is  little  chance  for  them  to  learn  elsewhere.  Not  all  that  presume  to  minister  in 
religion,  are  well  acquainted  with  what  is  called  the  solemn  style.  Not  all  that  presume  to  explain 
it  in  grammars,  do  know  what  it  is.  A  late  work,  which  boasted  the  patronage  of  De  Witt  Clinton, 
and  through  the  influence  of  false  praise  came  nigh  to  be  imposed  by  a  law  of  New  York  on  all 
the  common  schools  of  that  State  ;  and  which,  being  subsequently  sold  in  Philadelphia  for  a  great 
price,  was  there  republished  under  the  name  of  the  "  National  School  Manual ;  "  gives  the  follow- 
•ount  of  this  part  of  grammar  :  "  In  the  solemn  and  poetic  styles,  the  second  person  sin- 
gular, in  both  the  above  tenses,  is  thou ;  and  the  second  person  plural,  is  ye,  or  you.  The  verb, 
to  agree  with  the  second  person  singular,  changes  its  termination.  Thus  :  2d  person,  sing.  Pres. 
Tense,  Thou  walkest,  or  Thou  icalketh.  Imperfect  Tense,  Thou  walkedst.  In  the  third  person 
singular,  in  tin-  nhurc  styles,  the  verb  has  sometimes  a  different  termination:  as,  Present  Tense, 
He,  she,  or  it  walk*  or  walketh.  The  above  form  of  inflection  may  be  applied  to  all  verbs  used  in 
the  solemn  or  poetic  styles  ;  but  for  ordinary'purposes,  I  have  supposed  it  proper  to  employ  the 
form  of  the  verb,  adopted  in  common  conversation,  as  least  perplexing  to  young  minds." — Bart- 
left's  Comnton  .V  ,  Part  ii,  p.  114.  What  can  be  hoped  from  an  author  who  is  ignorant 

enough  to  think  "  Thou  icalkcth  "  is  good  English  ?  or  from  one  who  tells  us,  that  "  It  tcalks  " 
is  of  the  solemn  style  ?  or  from  one  who  does  not  know  that  you  is  never  a  nominative,  in  the 
style  of  the  Bible  ? 

OBS.  8. — Nowhere  on  earth  is  fashion  more  completely  mistress  of  all  the  tastes  and  usages  of 
society,  than  in  France.  Though  the  common  French  Bible  still  retains  the  form  of  the  second 
person  singular,  which  in  that  language  is  shorter  and  perhaps  smoother  than  the  plural ;  yet 
even  that  sacred  book,  or  at  least  the  New  Testament,  and  that  by  different  persons,  has  been 
translated  into  more  fashionable  French,  and  printed  at  Paris,  and  also  at  New  York,  with  the 
form  of  address  everywhere  plural;  as,  "Jesus  anticipated  him,  saying,  'What  do  you  think, 
Simon?  of  whom  do  "the  kings  of  the  earth  take  taxes  and  tribute?'  " — Matt,  xvii,  24.  "And, 
going  to  prayers,  they  said,  '  O  Lord,  vow  who  know  the  hearts  of  all  men,  show  which  of  these 
two  you  f«i  ' — Acts,  i,  24.  This  is  one  step  further  in  the  progress  of  politeness,  than 

has  yet  been  taken  in  English.    The  French  grammarians  however,  so  far  as  I  perceive,  have 
never  yet  disturbed  the  ancient  order  of  their  conjugations  and  declensions,  by  inserting  the 
plural'verb  and  pronoun  in  place  of  the  singular;  and,  in  the  familiarity  of  friendship,  or  of 
lie  life,  the  practice  which  is  denominated  tutoyant,  or  thoutheeing,  is  far  more  prevalent  in 
than  in  Kngland.     Also,  in  the  prayers  of  the  French,  the  second  person  singular  appears 
to  be  yet  generally  preserved,  as  it  is  in  those  of  the  English  and  the  Americans.     The  less  fre- 
quent'use  of  it  in 'the  familiar  conversation  of  the  latter,  is  very  probably  owing  to  the  general 
impression,  that  it  cannot  be  used  with  propriety,  except  in  the  solemn  style.     Of  this  matter, 

elves,  cannot'with  much  modesty  pretend  to  judge  for  those 

•who  have  not ;  or,  if  they  may,  there  is  still  a  question,  how  far  it  is  right  to  lav  it  aside.     The 

following  lines  are  a  sort  of  translation  from  Horace ;  and  I  submit  it  to  the  reader,  whether  it  is 

comely  for  a  Christian  divine  to  be  less  reverent  toward  God,  than  a  heathen  poet ;  and  whether 

the  plural  language  here  used,  does  not  lack  the  reverence  of  the  original,  which  is  singular :  — 

"  Preserve,  Almighty  Providence  ! 

Just  what  you  gave  me,  competence." — Swift. 

OBS.  9. — The  terms,  ,vo/<-//m  xtt/fr,  fmnilinr  style,  modern  style,  aix-ient  style,  legal  style ,  regal 
ttylr,  ,,  .  •<>, union  style,  and  the  like,  as  used  in  grammar,  imply  no  certain  divisions  of 

the  lai  designed  merely  to  distinguish,  in  a  general  way,  the  occasions  on  which 

sonic  particular  forms  of  expression  may  be  considered  proper,  or  the  times  to  which  they  belong. 
For  what  i-  \\  sometimes,  may  not  be  so  always.  It  would  not  be  easy  to  tell,  definitely, 

in  what  an\  ;  because  they  all  belong  to  one  language,  and  the  num- 

ber or  natm  ulia'rities  of  each  is  not  precisely  fixed.     But  whatever  is  acknowledged 

to  be  peculiar  to  any  «'  piently  understood  to  be  improper  for  any  other:  or,  at  least, 

;i^  to  styles  of  an  opposite  character;  and  words  of  general  use 

belong  to  no  particular  style.*  For  example:  "  So  thru  it  is  not  of  him  that  willeth,  nor  of  him 
that  runnef/i,  hut  of  (Jod  that  s/'iinr,-f/i  men  v." — Horn,  ix,  16.  If  the  termination  eth  is  not  obso- 
lete, a  which  this  ending  is  added,  are  of  the  solemn  style;  for  the 
common  or  famiK  ui  would  here  he  this  :  "  So  then  it  is  not  of  him  that  wills,  nor  of  him 
that  runs,  hut  of  (*o<l  that  shown  mercy."  Ben  Jonson,  in  his  grammar,  endeavoured  to  arrest 
this  change  of  / ///  to  \  .-  and,  according'to  Lindlcy  Mur:  < Irani,  p.  90,)  Addison  also 
injudiciously  ili<a]i;iro\cd  it.  In  spite  of  all  such  objectors,  however,  some  future  grammarian 
will  probably  have  to  say  of  the  singular  ending  eth,  as  Lowth  and  Murray  have  already  said  of  the 
plural*/; .  "  It  \v  >sary." 

*  In  re-rani  to  the  intln-tinn  of  .,lir  verbs.  William  B.  Fowle,  who  is  something  of  an  antiquarian  in  grammar, 
and  who  professes  now  to  be  "  conserve  ,t  makes  a  threefold  distim-M"ii  <*f  -t\  1»,  thus  : 

"E'iplNi  verbs  have  three  .vr/./..v  [,]  or  Mo,l,s,  [:]oalh-d  [tin-]"  Familiar,  [the]  .V/,/,  inn  (.1  and  [the]  Ann.nt.  The 
fan.  iliar  sti/l?.  or  in  ••iniiion  eon\  .  you  see,  he  fears  The  solemn  style,  or  mode, 

IB  that  n  <>-arfth.     The  ancirnt  style,  or  mode,  now  little  used. 

allows  no  rh.i  -insular,  ot"  the  verb,   and  generally  follows  the  word 

if,  thov^ii,  /'.</.  or  '  ii"ii  ttt  :  though  he  fear;  lest  he  be  jmurv  ;  whe'ln-r  h-  i'"  or  stay ," —  FowWs 

Vettmo  •  !-  suh-e.pient  tz&mplea  of  the  .s-/. »/»  >///v,  hegive« 

the  following  :   "  Thou  !,,i;.*t.  Thou  l<ir"l.\t,  Thou  art.  Th-m  trust,  Thou  hast,  Thou  hmlst.  Thou  (trust  or  r/o*t,  Thou 

,M.U  lui-f,  Thou  loved, Thou 

oryoube.  Tie  .Thou  lm<1,  Thou  -In,  Thou    '!t</."—I/).,  pp.  44-50.     This    dis'iucti  >,n   and   this 

i  by  facts.     The  necessar-  l"  i/iootfs,  this 

author  ,  i:U  the  Indicative,  in  order  to  furnish  out  this  useless  and  fanciful 

con.rast  of  hLs  Sultmn  and  Ancient  stales. 


332  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PAET  II. 

OBS.  10. — Of  the  origin  of  the  personal  terminations  of  English  verbs,  that  eminent  etymologist 
Dr.  Alexander  Murray,  gives  the  following  account :  "  The  readers  of  our  modern  tongue  may 
be  reminded,  that  the  terminations,  est,  eth,  and  s,  in  our  verbs,  as  in  layest,  layeth,  and  laid'st, 
or  laidest ;  are  the  faded  remains  of  the  pronoum  which  were  formerly  joined  to  the  verb  itself, 
and  placed  the  language,  in  respect  of  concise  expression,  on  a  level  with  the  Greek,  Latin,  and 
Sanscrit,  its  sister  dialects." — History  of  European  Languages,  Vol.  i,  p.  52.  According  to  this, 
since  other  signs  of  the  persons  and  numbers  are  now  employed  with  the  verb,  it  is  not  strange 
that  there  should  appear  a  tendency  to  lay  aside  such  of  these  endings  as  are  least  agreeable  and 
least  necessary.  Any  change  of  this  kind  will  of  course  occur  first  in  the  familiar  style.  For 
example  :  "  Thou  wentest  in  to  men  uncircumcised,  and  didst  eat  with  them." — Acts,  xi,  3. 
"  These  things  write  I  unto  thee,  that  thou  mayest  know  how  thou  oughtcst  to  behave  thyself  in 
the  house  of  God." — 1  Tim.  iii,  L5.  These  forms,  by  universal  consent,  are  now  of  the  solemn 
style ;  and,  consequently,  are  really  good  English  in  no  other.  For  nobody,  I  suppose,  will  yet 
pretend  that  the  inflection  of  our  preterits  and  auxiliaries  by  st,  or  est,  is  entirely  obsolete  ;*  and 
surely  no  person  of  any  literary  taste  ever  uses  the  foregoing  forms  familiarly.  The  termination 
est,  however,  has  in  some  instances  become  obsolete  ;  or  has  faded  into  st  or  t,  even  in  the  solemn 
style.  Thus,  (if  indeed,  such  forms  ever  were  in  good  use,)  diddest  has  become  didst;  havest, 
hast;  haddest,  hadst ;  shallest,  shalt ;  wiliest,  wilt ;  and  cannest,  canst.  Mayest,  mightest,  couldest, 
wouldest,  and  shouldest,  are  occasionally  found  in  books  not  ancient ;  but  mayst,  mif/htst,  couldst, 
wouldst,  and  shouldst,  are  abundantly  more  common,  and  all  are  peculiar  to  the  solemn  style. 
"Must,  burst,  durst,  thrust,  blest,  curst,  past,  lost,  list,  crept,  kept,  girt,  built,  felt,  dwelt,  left,  bereft, 
and  many  other  verbs  of  similar  endings,  are  seldom,  if  ever,  found  encumbered  with  an  additional 
est.  For  the  rule  which  requires  this  ending,  has  always  had  many  exceptions  that  have  not  been 
noticed  by  grammarians.f  Thus  Shakspeare  wrote  even  in  the  present  tense,  "  Do  as  thou  list," 
and  not  "  Do  as  thou  listest."  Possibly,  however,  list  may  here  be  reckoned  of  the  subjunctive 
mood ;  but  the  following  example  from  'Byron  is  certainly  in  the  indicative :  — 
"  And  thou,  who  never  yet  of  human  wrong 
Lost  the  unbalanced  scale,  great  Nemesis  !  " — Harold,  C.  iv,  st.  132. 

OBS.  11. — Any  phraseology  that  is  really  obsolete,  is  no  longer  fit  to  be  imitated  even  in  the 
solemn  style  ;  and  what  was  never  good  English,  is  no  more  to  be  respected  in  that  style,  than 
in  any  other.  Thus  :  "  Art  not  thou  that  Egyptian,  which  before  these  days  modest  an  uproar, 
and  leddest  out  into  the  wilderness  four  thousand  men  that  were  murderers  ?" — Acts,  xxi,  38. 
Here,  (I  think,)  the  version  ought  to  be,  "  Art  not  thou  that  Egyptian,  who  a  while  ago  made  an 
uproar,  and  led  out  into  the  wilderness  four  thousand  men,  that  were  murderers  ?"  If  so,  th  >re  is 
in  this  no  occasion  to  make  a  difference  between  the  solemn  and  the  familiar  style.  But  what  ia 
the  familiar  form  of  expression  for  the  texts  cited  "before  ?  The  fashionable  will  say,  it  is  this: 
"  You  went  in  to  men  uncircumcised,  and  did  eat  with  them." — "  I  write  these  things  to  you,  that 
you  may  know  how  you  ought  to  behave  yourself  in  the  house  of  God."  But  this  is  not  litera'ly  of 
the  singular  number  :  it  is  no  more  singular,  than  vos  in  Latin,  or  v ous  in  French,  or  we  used  for  / 
in  English,  is  singular.  And  if  there  remains  to  us  any  other  form,  that  is  both  singular  and 
grammatical,  it  is  unqestionably  the  following  :  "  Thou  went  in  to  men  uncircumcised,  and  did  eat 
with  them."—"  I  write  these  things  to  thee,  that  thou  may  knoto  how  thou  ought  to  behave  t],yself 
in  the  house  of  God."  The  acknowledged  doctrine  of  all  the  teachers  of  English  grammar,  that 
the  inflection  of  our  auxiliaries  and  preterits  by  st  or  est  is  peculiar  to  "  the  solemn  style,"  leaves 
us  no  other  alternative,  than  either  to  grant  the  propriety  of  here  dropping  the  suffix  for  the  fa- 
miliar style,  or  to  rob  our  language  of  any  familiar  use  of  the  pronoun  thou  forever.  Who,  then, 
are  here  theneologists,  the  innovators,  the  impairers  of  the  language  ?  And  which  is  the  greater 
innovation,  merely  to  drop,  on  familiar  occasions,  or  when  it  suits  our  style,  one  obsolescent  ver- 
bal termination, — a  termination  often  dropped  of  old  as  well  as  now, — or  to  strike  from  the  con- 
jugations of  all  our  verbs  one  sixth  part  of  their  entire  scheme  ? 

' '.  O  mother  myn,  that  cleaped  loere  Argyue, 
Wo  worth  that  day  that  thou  me  bare  on  lyue." — Cfiaucer. 

OBS.  12. — The  grammatical  propriety  of  distinguishing  from  the  solemn  style  both  of  the  forms 
presented  above,  must  be  evident  to  every  one  who  considers  with  candour  the  reasons,  analogies, 
and  authorities,  for  this  distinction.  The  support  of  the  latter  is  very  far  from  resting  solely  on 
the  practice  of  a  particular  sect ;  though  this,  if  they  would  forbear  to  corrupt  the  pronoun  while 
they  simplify  the  verb,  would  deserve  much  more  consideration  than  has  ever  been  allowed  it. 
Which  of  these  modes  of  address  is  the  more  grammatical,  it  is  useless  to  dispute  ;  since  fashion 

*  In  that  monstrous  jumble  and  perversion  of  Murray's  doctrines,  entitled,  "  English  Grammar  on  the  Pro- 
ductive System,  by  Uoswell  C.  Smith,"  you  is  everywhere  preferred  to  thou,  and  the  verbs  are  conjugated  ivithout 
the  latter  pronoun.  At  the  close  of  his  paradigms,  however,  the  author  inserts  a  few  lines  respecting  "  these  obso- 
lete conjugations,"  with  the  pronoun  thou;  for  a  further  account  of  which,  he  refers  the  learner,  with  a  sneer,  to 
the  common  grammars  in  the  schools.  See  the  work,  p.  79.  He  must  needs  be  a  remarkable  grammarian,  with 
whom  Scripture,  poetry,  and  prayer,  are  all  %'  obsolete .'"  Again  :  "  Thou  in  the  singular  is  obsolete,  except  among 
the  Society  of  Friends;  and  ye  is  an  obsolete  plural  !" — Guy's  School  Gram.  p.  25.  In  an  other  late  grammar, 
professedly  tk  constructed  upon  the  basis  of  Murray's,  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Adams,  A.  M.,  Principal  of  Newbury 
Seminary,"  the  second  person  singular  is  everywhere  superseded  by  the  plural ;  the  former  being  silently  dropped 
from  all  his  twenty  pag<-s  of  conjugations,  without  so  much  as  a  hint,  or  a  saving  clause,  respecting  it ;  and  the 
latter,  which  is  put  in  its  stead,  is  falsely  called  singular.  By  his  pupils,  all  forms  of  the  verb  that  agree  only 
with  thou,  will  of  course  be  conceived  to  be  either  obsolete  or  barbarous,  and  consequently  ungrammatical. 
Whether  or  not  the  reverend  gentleman  makes  any  account  of  the  Bible  or  of  prayer,  does  not  appear  ;  he  cites 
some  poetry,  in  which  there  are  examples  that  cannot  be  reconciled  with  his  u  System  of  English  (Jrammar." 
Parkhurst,  in  his  late  "  Grammar  for  Beginners,"  tells  us  that,  "  Such  words  as  are  used  in  the  Bible,  and  not 
used  in  common  books,  are  called  obsolete.'  " — P.  146.  Among  these,  he  reckons  all  the  distinctive  forms  of  the 
second  person  singular,  aud  all  the  "  peculiarities"  which  "  constitute  what  is  commonly  called  the  Solemn  Style." 
— Ib.  p.  148.  Yet,  with  no  great  consistency,  he  adds  :  "  This  style  is  always  used  in  prayer,  and  is  frequently 
used  in  poetry." — Ibid.  Joab  Brace,  Jnr.,  may  be  supposed  to  have  the  same  notion  of  what  is  obsolete  ;  for  hfi 
too  has  perverted  all  Lennie's  examples  of  the  verb,  as  Smith  and  Adams  did  Murray's. 

t  Coar  gives  durst  in  the  "  Indicative  mood,"  thus  :  "  I  durst,  thou  durst,  he  durst ;  "  &c. —  Courts  E.  Gram.  p. 
115.  But  when  he  comes  to  wist,  he  does  not  know  what  the  second  person  singular  should  be,  and  so  he  leaves 
it  out :  "  I  wist, ,  he  wist ;  we  wist,  ye  wist,  they  wist."—  Courts  E.  Gram.  p.  116 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY.— VERBS. — PERSONS   AND   NUMBERS.  333 

rules  the  one,  and  a  scniplc  of  conscience  is  sometimes  alleged  for  the  other.  A  candid  critic 
will  consequently  allow  all  to  take  their  choice.  It  is  enough  for  him,  if  he  can  demonstrate  to 
the  candid  inquirer,  what  phraseology  is  in  any  view  allowable,  and  what  is  for  any  pood  reason 
reprehensible.  That  the  use  of  the  plural  for  the  singular  is  ungrammatical,  it  is  neither  discreet 
nor  available  to  affirm  ;  yet,  surely,  it  did  not  originate  in  any  regard  to  grammar  rules.  Murray 
the  schoolmaster,  wh"  imar  appeared  some  years  before  that  of  Lindley  Murray, 

speaks  of  it  as  follow-  :   "  /        .  the  second  person  singular,  though  strt<  tttteal,  is  sel- 

dom used,  except  in  addresses  to  God,  in  poetry,  and  by  the  people  called  Quakers.  In  all  other 
cases  a  ''<>r  foreign  manners,*  and  the  power  of  custom,  have  given  a  sanction  to  the  use 

of  you,  for  the  -i  ,-inH  person  singular,  though  contrary  to  (jranon<'i\-\  and  attended  with  this  par- 
ticular inconvenicney,  that  a  plural  verb  must  be  used  to  agree  with  the  pronoun  in  number,  and 
both  applied  to  a  ••// .  as,  i/<»i  a,-/-,  or  yon  trcre, — not  you  wast,  or  yon  MV/.V." — Third 

,  Lond.  1793,  p.  31.  This  author  everywhere  exhibits  the  auxiliaries,  /nfn/.\(,  /niyhtst, 
couldsf,  inm/ilst,  and«A0u&bf,  as  words  of  one  syllable;  and  also  observes,  in  a  marginal  note, 
"  Some  writers  begin  to  say,  '  Thnu  muy,  thou  miirftt,'  &c." — Ib.  p.  36.  Exa/nples  of  this  are  not 
very  uncommon  :  "  Thou  «Aofl  want  ere  I  want." — OM  Motto  ;  Scott's  Lay,  Note  1st  to  Canto  3. 
"  Thyself  the  mournful  tale  shall  tell." — Felton's  dram.  p.  20. 

*'  One  sole  condition  would  I  dare  suggest, 
That  thou  icon  Id  sate  me  from  my  own  request." — Jane  Taylor. 

OBS.  13. — In  respect  to  the  second  person  singular,  the  grammar  of  Lindley  Murray  makes  no 
distinction  between  the  solemn  and  the  familiar  style  ;  recognizes  in  no  way  the  fashionable  sub- 
stitution of  you  tor  t/ion  ;  and,  so  far  as  I  perceive,  takes  it  for  granted,  that  every  one  who 
pretends  to  speak  or  write  grammatically,  must  always,  in  addressing  an  individual,  employ  the 
singular  pronoun,  and  inflect  the  verb  with  st  or  est,  except  in  the  imperative  mood  and  the  sub- 
junctive present.  This  is  the  more  remarkable,  because  the  author  was  a  valued  member  of  the 
Society  of  Friends;  and  doubtless  his  own  daily  practice  contradicted  his  doctrine,  as  palpably 
as  does  that  of  every  other  member  of  the  Society.  And  many  a  schoolmaster,  taking  that  work 
for  his  text-book,  or  some  other  as  faulty,  is  now  doing  precisely  the  same  thing.  But  what  a 
teacher  is  he,  who  dares  not  justify  as  a  grammarian  that  which  he  constantly  practices  as  a  man! 
What  a  scholar  is  he,  who  can  be  led  by  a  false  criticism  or  a  false  custom,  to  condemn  his  own 
;md  that  of  every  body  else  !  What  a  casuist  is  he,  who  dares  pretend  conscience  for  prac- 
tising that  which  he  knows  and  acknowledges  to  be  wrong!  If  to  speak  in  the  second  person 
singular  without  inflecting  our  preterits  and  auxiliaries,  is  a  censurable  corruption  of  the  language, 
the  Friends  have  no  alternative  but  to  relinquish  their  scruple  about  the  application  of  you  to  one 
person  ;  for  none  but  the  adult  and  learned  can  ever  speak  after  the  manner  of  ancient  books  : 
children  and  common  people  can  no  more  be  brought  to  speak  agreeably  to  any  antiquated  forms 
of  the  English  language,  than  according  to  the  imperishable  models  of  Greek  and  Latin.  He  who 
traces  the  history  of  our  vernacular  tongue,  will  find  it  has  either  simplified  or  entirely  dropped 
several  of  its  ancient  terminations  ;  and  that  the  st  or  est  of  the  second  person  singular,  never  was 
adopted  in  any  thing  like  the  extent  to  which  our  modern  grammarians  have  attempted  to  impose 
it.  "  Thus  becoming  unused  to  inflections,  we  lost  the  perception  of  their  meaning  and  nature." 
— P,'ii/of<i:r/  .  i,  669.  "  You  cannot  make  a  whole  people  all  at  once  talk  in  a  different 

tonpue  from  that  which  it  has  been  used  to  talk  in :  you  cannot  force  it  to  unlearn  the  words  it 
has  learnt  from  its  fathers,  in  order  to  learn  a  set  of  newfangled  words  out  of  [a  grammar  or]  a 
dictionary." — Ib.  i,  GoO.  Nor  can  you,  in  this  instance,  restrain  our  poets  from  transgressing  the 
doctrine  of  Lowth  and  Murray  :  — 

11  Come,  thou  pure  Light,  which  first  in  Eden gloinrl, 
And  threw  thy  splendor  round  man's  calm  abode." — Alonzo  Lewis. 

OBS.  It. — That  which  has  passed  away  from  familiar  practice,  may  still  be  right  in  the  solemn 
style,  and  may  there  remain  till  it  becomes  obsolete.  But  no  obsolescent  termination  has  ever  yet 
been  recalled 'into  the  popular  service.  This  is  as  true  in  other  languages  as  in  our  own:  "In 
ahn«  -i  >•'.  TV  word  of  the  Greek,"  says  a  learned  author,  "  we  meet  with  contractions  and  abbrevi- 
ations ;  but,  the  flexions  of  no  language  allow  of  extension  or  amplification.  Incur 
own  we  may  write  *l,  rjH-d  or  metre  of  a  line  or  the  rhythm  of  a  period  may  require: 
but  by  no  license  may  we  write  s/r c/^W. " — Kniyht,  on  (•  ' 'nhahet,  4to,  p.  107.  But,  if 
after  contracting  steeped  into  shyt,  we  add  an  est  and  make  alcjitcst,  is  there  not  here  an  extension  of 
MI  one  syllable  to  two  ?  Is  there  not  an  amplification  that  is  at  once  novel,  disagree- 
able unauthorized,  and  unnecessary?  Nay,  even  in  the  regular  and  established  change,  as  of 
there  not  a  syllabic  increase,  which  is  unpleasant  to  the  ear,  and  unsuited  to 
famili  -tent  do  th  us  apply  to  the  verbs  of  our  language  ? 
Lindley  Murray,  it  is  presumed,  had  no  conception  of  that  extent ;  or  of  the  weight  of  the  objec- 

•ion  of  you  for  thou.  our  grammarians  assign  various  causes.     That  which  is  most  commonly 
given  ii  zinal  one,  because  it  concerns  no  other  language  than  ours  :   "  In 

order  .'•  ,>ltasant  formality  which  acconij  a  of  thou  with  a  correspondent  verb,  its  plural 

you.   -  u-ii  'h    idoptod  in  i  •••rwition;   a?.  '  ;/owwalk?  instead  of — wilt  tkou  walk  ?     You 

p.  33. 

t  This  position,  aa  may  be  seen  above,  I  do  not  suppose  it  competent  for  any  critic  to  maintain.    The  use  of  you 
•:iar,"  than   tin-  u-e  of  i/--  for  /;   which.  grammatical  enough 

for  all>  :  IK. t  fur  others.     But  both  are  itar ;  and,  as  such, 

fecy  :<tand  upon  the  same  footing.  Their  mily  contrariety  to  grammar  mn-ists  in  this.  th:it  tli-vorN  .ire  not 
the  /  ternl  r- fr>  \.  n'.'itii-tf  of  the  number  for  which  they  are  put.  I$ut  in  what  a  posture  does  the  grammarian 
place  him.-elf,  who  condemns,  as  bn  /  KinzluJt.  that  phraseology  which  he  constantly  and  purposely  uses  ?  The 
authrr  nf  the  following  remark,  as  well  :isall  who  h:iv-  pnJMOhh  work,  ought  immediately  to  adopt  the  style  of 
the  F-icnd.«,  or  Quak  rd  rAow,  in  grammatical  construciion,  is  preferable  t>  yon,  in  the  second  person 

singular:  however,  custom  has  familiarized  the  latter,  and  consequently  made  it  more  general,  though  BAD  GRAM- 
MAR. To  say.  '  You  are  a  wan,'  is  NOT  GRAMMATICAL  LANGUAGE  ;  the  word  you  having  reference  to  a  plural  noun 
only.  It  should  be,  '  .Thou  art  a  man.'1  " —  Wright' &  Philosoph.  Gram.  p.  55.  This  author,  like  Lindley  Murray 
and  many  others,  continually  calls  himstlf  WB  ;  and  it  is  probable,  that  neither  he,  nor  any  one  of  his  sixty  rev- 
erend commenders,  dares  address  any  man  otherwise  than  by  the  above-mentioned  "  BAD  GRAMMAR  !M 


334  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

tion  which  is  implied  in  the  second.  With  respect  to  a  vast  number  of  our  most  common  verbs, 
he  himself  never  knew,  nor  does  the  greatest  grammarian  now  living  know,  in  what  way  he  ought 
to  form  the  simple  past  tense  in  the  second  person  singular,  otherwise  than  by  the  mere  uninfiect- 
ed  preterit  with  the  pronoun  thou.  Is  thou  sleepedst  or  thou  sleptest,  thou  ledvedst  or  thou  leftest, 
thou  feeledst  or  thou  feltest,  thou  dealedst  or  thou  dealtest,  thou  tossedst  or  thou  tostest,  thou  losedst 
or  thou  lostest,  thoupayedst  or  thou  paidest,  thou  layedst  or  thou  laidest,  better  English  than  thou 
slept,  thou  left,  thou  felt,  thou  dealt,  thou  tossed,  thou  lost,  thou  paid,  thou  laid?  And,  if  so,  of  the 
two  forms  in  each  instance,  which  is  the  right  one?  and  why?  The  Bible  has  "  saidst"  and 
"  layedst ;  Dr.  Alexander  Murray,  "  laid'st "  and  "laidest  !  "  Since  the  inflection  of  our  preterits 
has  never  been  orderly,  and  is  now  decaying  and  waxing  old,  shall  we  labour  to  recall  what  is  so 
nearly  ready  to  vanish  away  ? 

"  Tremendous  Sea !  what  time  thou  lifted  up 

Thy  waves  on  high,  and  with  thy  winds  and  storms 
Strange  pastime  took,  and  shook  thy  mighty  sides 
Indignantly,  the  pride  of  navies  fell."— Pollok,  B.  vii,  1.  611. 

OBS.  15. — "Whatever  difficulty  there  is  in  ascertaining  the  true  form  of  the  preterit  itself,  not 
only  remains,  but  is  augmented,  when  st  or  est  is  to  be  added  for  the  second  person  of  it.  For, 
since  we  use  sometimes  one  and  sometimes  the  other  of  these  endings  ;  (as,  saidst,  sawes£,  bids£, 
knewes£,  loveds£,  wentes^;)  there  is  yet  need  of  some  rule  to  show  which  we  ought  to  prefer.  The 
variable  formation  or  orthography  of  verbs  in  the  simple  past  tense,  has  always  been  one  of  the 
greatest  difficulties  that  the  learners  of  our  language  have  had  to  encounter.  At  present,  there 
is  a  strong  tendency  to  terminate  as  many  as  we  can  of  them  in  ed,  which  is  the  only  regular 
ending.  The  pronunciation  of  this  ending,  however,  is  at  least  threefold ;  as  in  remembered, 
repented,  relinquished.  Here  the  added  sounds  are,  first  d,  then  ed,  ihent;  and  the  effect  of 
adding  st,  whenever  the  ed  is  sounded  like  t,  will  certainly  be  a  perversion  of  what  is  established 
as  the  true  pronunciation  of  the  language.  For  the  solemn  and  the  familiar  pronunciation  of  ed 
unquestionably  differ.  The  present  tendency  to  a  regular  orthography,  ought  rather  to  be  encour- 
aged than  thwarted ;  but  the  preferring  of  mixed  to  mixt,  whipped  to  whipt,  worked  to  wrought, 
kneeled  to  knelt,  and  so  forth,  does  not  make  mixedst,  ivhippedst,  workedst,  kneeledst,  and  the  like, 
any  more  fit  for  modern  English,  than  are  mixtest,  ivhiptest,  wroughtest,  kneltest,  burntest,  dweltest, 
heldest,  giltest,  and  many  more  of  the  like  stamp.  And  what  can  be  more  absurd  than  for  a  gram- 
marian to  insist  upon  forming  a  great  parcel  of  these  strange  and  crabbed  words  for  which  he  cau 
quote  no  good  authority  ?  Nothing  ;  except  it  be  for  a  poet  or  a  rhetorician  to  huddle  together 
great  parcels  of  consonants  which  no  mortal  man  can  utter,*  (as  lov'dst,  lurltdst,  shruga'dst,}  and 
call  them  "  words"  Example  :  "  The  clump  of  subtonick  and  atonick  elements  at  the  termination  of 
such  words  as  the  following,  is  frequently,  to  the  no  small  injury  of  articulation,  particularly  slight- 
ed :  couldst.  wouldst,  hadst,  prob'st, prob'dst,  hurl'st,  hurl'dst,  arm'st,  arm'dst,  want'st,  wani'dst, 
burn'st,  bum'dti,  bark'st,  bark'dst,  bubbl'st,  bubbl'dst,  troubbl'st,  troubbl'dst." — Kirkham's  E'ocu- 
tion,  p.  42.  The  word  trouble  may  receive  the  additional  sound  of  st,  but  this  gentleman  doe*  not 
here  spell  so  accurately  as  a  great  author  should.  Nor  did  they  who  penned  the  following  1  nes, 
write  here  as  poets  should  : — 

'  Of  old  thou  build'st  thy  throne  on  righteousness."— Follows  C.  ofT.,  B.  vi,  1.  638. 

'  For  though  thou  work'dst  my  mother's  ill." — Byron's  Parasina. 

'  Thou  thyself  doat'dst  on  womankind,  admiring." — Milton's  P.  R.,  B.  ii,  1,  175. 

;But  he,  the  sev'nthfrom  thee,  whom  thou  beheldst."—Id.  P.  L.,  B.  xi,  1.  700. 

:  Shall  build  a  wondrous  ark,  as  thou  beheldst."—Id.  ib.  B.  xi,  1.  819. 

'  Thou,  who  inform' d'st  this  clay  with  active  fire  !" — Savage's  Poems,  p.  247. 

'  Thy  valiantness  was  mine,  thou  suck'dst  it  from  me." — Shak.  Coriol.  Act  iii. 

'  This  cloth  thou  dipp'dst  in  blood  of  my  sweet  boy." — Id.  Henry  VI,  P.  i. 

'  Great  Queen  of  arms,  whose  favour  Tydeus  won  ; 
As  thou  defend' st  the  sire,  defend  the  son." — Pope,  Iliad,  B.  x,  1.  337. 

OBS.  16. — Dr.  Lowth,  whose  popular  little  Grammar  was  written  in  or  about  1758,  made  no 
scruple  to  hem  up  both  the  poets  and  the  Friends  at  once,  by  a  criticism  which  I  must  needs  con- 
sider more  dogmatical  than  true ;  and  which,  from  the  suppression  of  what  is  least  objectionable 
in  it,  has  become,  in  other  hands,  the  source  of  still  greater  errors:  "  Thou  in  the  polite,  and 
even  in  the  familiar  style  is  disused,  and  the  plural  you  is  employed  instead  of  it ;  we  say,  you  have, 
not  thou  hast.  Though  in  this  case,  we  apply  you  to  a  single  person,  yet  the  verb  too  must  agree 
with  it  in  the  plural  number ;  it  must  necessarily  be,  you  have,  not  you  hast.  You  was  is  an  enor- 
mous solecism,  f  and  yet  authors  of  the  first  rank  have  inadvertently  fallen  into  it.  *  *  *  On 
the  contrary,  the  solemn  style  admits  not  of  you  for  a  single  person.  This  hath  led  Mr.  Pope  into 
a  great  impropriety  in  the  beginning  of  his  Messiah  : — 

'  O  thou  my  voice  inspire, 
Who  touch'd  Isaiah's  hallow'd  lips  with  fire  !' 

*  ';  We  arc  always  given  to  cut  our  words  short  ;  and,  ivith  very  few  exceptions,  you  find  people  writing  :ov'd, 
mov'd,  wal  :d ;  instead  of  loved,  moved,  walked.  They  wish  to  make  the  pen  correspond  with  the  tongue.  From 
lov'd,  mov'd,  walk'd,  it  is  very  easy  to  slide  into  lovt,  movt,  ivalkt.  And  this  has  been  the  case  with  regard  to 
curst,  dealt,  divelt,  leapt  helpt,  and  many  others  in  the  last  inserted  list.  It  is  just  as  proper  to  say  jumpt,  as  it  \» 
to  say  leapt ;  and  just  as  proper  to  say  walkt  as  either  ;  and  thus  we  might  go  on  till  the  orthography  of  the  whole 
language  were  changed.  When  the  love  of  contraction  came  to  operate  on  such  verbs  as  to  burst  and  to  light,  it 
found  such  a  clump  of  consonants  already  at  the  end  of  the  words,  that  it  could  add  none.  It  could  not  enable 
the  organs  even  of  English  speech  to  pronounce  burst- d,  light-d.  It,  therefore,  made  really  short  work  of  it,  and 
dropping  the  last  syllable  altogether,  wrote,  burst,  light,  [rather,  lit,]  in  the  past  time  and  passive  participle.'-— 
Cobbttfs  English  Gram.  IT  109.  How  could  the  man  who  saw  all  this,  insist  on  adding  st  for  the  second  person, 
where  not  even  the  d  of  the  past  tense  could  be  articulated  ?  Am  I  to  be  called  an  innovator,  because  I  do  not 
like  in  conversation  such  new  and  unauthorized  words  as  litlest,  leafiest,  curstest  ?  or  acorruptcr  of  the  language, 
because  I  do  not  admire  in  poetry  such  unutterable  monstrosities  as,  lightest,  leap'dst,  cur&dst  ?  The  novelism, 
with  the  corruption  too,  is  Avholly  theirs  who  Stickle  for  these  awkward  forms. 

1  "  You  were,  not  you  luas,  for  you  ivas  seems  to  be  as  ungrammatical,  as  you  hast  would  be.  For  the  pronoun 
you  being  confessedly  plural,  its  correspondent  verb  ought  to  be  plural." — John  Burn's  Gram.  10th  Ed.  p.  72. 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. PERSONS    AND    NUMBERS.  335 

The  solemnity  of  the  style  would  not  admit  of  you  for  thou,  in  the  pronoun  ;  nor  the  measure  of 
the  verse  touoMdtt,  orchdst  tuwh,  in  the  verb,  as  it  indispensably  oiujht  tuba,  in  the  one  or  the  other 
of  these  two  forms  ;  you,  who  towh'-d,  or  thou,  who  foueAdrfsf,  or  </{<£s£  touch. 
'  Just  of  My  word,  in  every  thought  sincere  ; 

Who  knetc  no  wish,  but  what  the  world  might  hear.' — Pope. 

It  ought  to  be  your  in  the  first  line,  or  kncicest  in  the  second.     In  order  to  avoid  this  grammatical 
inconratit'ifi',  the  two  distinct  forms  of  MOM  and  you,  are  often  used  promiscuously  by  our  modern 
poets,  in  the  same  paragraph,  and  even  in  the  same  sentence,  very  inelegantly  and  improperly: — 
'  Now,  now,  I  seize,  I  clasp  thy  charms; 

And  now  you  burst,  ah  cruel  !  from  my  arms.' — Pope." — Lowth' s  English  Gram.  p.  34. 

OBS.  17. — The  points  of  Dr.  Lowth's  doctrine  which  are  not  sufficiently  true,  are  the  following: 

First,  it  is  not  true,  that  thou,  in  the  familiar  style,  is  totally  disused,  and  the  plural  you  employed 

universally  in  its  ste;'.d  ;  though  Churchill,  and  others,  besides  the  good  bishop,  seem  to  represent 

hundred  years  since  the  rise  of  the  Society  of  Friends:  and,  whatever 

may  have  been  the  practice  of  others'before  or  since,  it  is  certain,  that  from  their  rise  to  the  present 

day,  there  have  been,  at  every  point  of  time,  many  thousands  who  made  no  use  of  you  for  thou; 

and,  but  for  the  clumsy  forms  which  most  grammarians  hold  to  be  indispensable  to  verbs  of  the 

.  person  singular,  the  beautiful,  distinctive,  and  poetical  words,  thou,  thyself,  thy,  thine,  and 

thec,  would  certainly  be  in  no  danger  yet  of  becoming  obsolete.     Nor  can  they,  indeed,  at  any  rate, 

e  so,  till  the  fairest  branches  of  the  Christian  Church  shall  wither;  or,  what  should  seem 

no  gracious  omen,  her  bishops  and  clergy  learn  to  pray  in  the  plural  number,  for  fashion's  sake. 

Secondly,  it  is  not  true,  that,  "  thou,  who  touched,"  ought  indispensably  to  be,  "  thou,  who  touchedst, 

or  tKdst  touch."     It  is  far  better  to  dispense  with  the  inflection,  in  such  a  case,  than  either  to 

e  it,  or  to  resort  to  the  plural  pronoun.     The  "grammatical  inconvenience"  of  dropping  the 

tt  or  i-xt  of  a  preterit,  even  in  the  solemn  style,  cannot  be  great,  and  may  be  altogether  imaginary; 

that  of  imposing  it,  except  in  solemn  prose,  is  not  only  real,  but  is  often  insuperable.    It  is  not 

.:rceabic,  how.,  ver,  to  see  it  added  to  some  verbs,  and  dropped  from  others,  in  the  same 

sentence  : 

"  Thou,  who  didst  call  the  Furies  from  the  abyss, 

And  round  Orestes  bade  them  howl  and  hiss." — Byron's  Childe  Harold,  Canto  iv,  st.  132. 
''  Thou  tatt'ft  from  age  to  age  insatiate, 

Aii'  i  blood  of  men,  and  gorged  their  flesh." — Pollok's  Course  of  Time,  B.  vii,  1.  700. 

Ons.  18. — We  see  then,  that,  according  to  Dr.  Lowth  and  others,  the  only  good  English  in  which 

in  individual  on  any  ordinary  occasion,  is  you  with  a  plural  verb;  and  that, 

according  to  Linuley  Murray  and  others,  the  only  good  English  for  the  same  purpose,  is  MOM  with 

.     Both  par;  -  pointed  contradiction,  are  more  or  less  in  the 

wrong.     The  re-peet  of  the  Friends  for  those  systems  of  grammar  which  deny  them  the  familiar 

the  pronoun  thou,  is  certainly  not  more  remarkable,  than  the  respect  of  the  world  for  those 

whirh  condemn  the  substitution  of  the  plural  you.     Let  grammar  be  a  true  record  of  existing  facts, 

and  all  such  contradictions  must  vanish.    And,  certainly,  these  great  masters  here  contradict 

each  other,  in  what  every  one  who  reads  English,  ought  to  know.     They  agree,  however,  in 

requiring,  as  indispensable  to  grammar,  what  is  not  only  inconvenient,  but  absolutely  impossible. 

For  what  "the  measure  of  verse  irill  not  admit"  cannot  be  used  in  poetry  ;  and  what  may  possibly 

be  crowded  into  it,  will  often  be  far  from  ornamental.     Yet  our  youth  have  been  taught  to  spoil 

rsification  of  Pope  and  others,  after  the  following  manner  :  "  Who  touch'1  d Isaiah's  hallow'd 

lips  with  fire."     Say,  "  Who  touchedst  or  didst  touch." — Murray's  Key,   8vo,  p.  180.     "For  thee 

that  ever  felt  another's  wo."  Say,  "Didst  feel." — 76.  "  Who  knew  no  wish  but  what  the  world  might 

hear."     Say,  "  Who  kncwcxt  or\//  --/&.     "  Who  all  my  sense  mnjin'd"     Say,    "  Confi- 

nnc." — Ib,  p.  186.     "  Yet  gave  me  in  this  dark  estate."     Say,  "  Gavedstoi  didst 

will." — Pope.     Murray's  criticism  extends'not  to  this  line,  but 

by  tin  ni'^t  Miy,  "  I.i-avedst  or  leftest."     Now  it  would  be  easier  to  fill  a  volume  with 

such  •  -ud  such  corrections,  than  to  find  sufficient  authority  to  prove  one  such  word  as 

rood  English.     If  Lord  Byron  is  authority  for  "  work'dst," 
he  is  authority  also  for  dropping  t1.  vhere  it  might  be  added  : — 

"Thou,  who  with  thy  frown 

,it.    ." — /  <   into  iv,  st.  83. 

Ons.  19. — Accor  .  Lowth,  as  well  as  Coar  and  some  others,  those  preterits  in  which  cd 

is  sounded  like  t,  "  admit  the  change  of  cd  in;  .,-(,  dropping  also 

our  ot  the  double  letter    .  '/''*   <ir<nn.  p.    10.     If  this  principle  were  generally 

r  ui'  our  :  .1.1  be  greatly  diminished,  and  irregularities  would  be 

indifin  -  must  make  in  the  language,  especially  when 

we  co:.  rerbwith*lor«rf,  has  already  been  suggested.    Yet  an  ingenious 

and  learned  \uiter,  an  able  contributor  to  the  Philological  Museum,  published  at  Cambridge, 

1  rinding  that  after  the 

contractrd  in  pronunciation,  :nont  writer-  Iton,  arid  others,  adopted  in 

most  in   t  iv        .  contracted  ;  )gruphy  ;  lias  seriously  endeavoured  to  bring  us  back  to 

uthors,  he  .  ,  on  tractions  as  the  following: 

Id,  compeld,  spoild,  kild,  seemd,  benumbd,  arind, 

'Ivd,  obeyd,  cquald,  fovld,  hurld, 

ruiinl,  .jo\  •!.  •!.    ••  it  lord,  witherd,"  and  others  ending  in  d.     2.  "  Clapt,  whipt,  worshipt,  lopt, 
stamp  t,  pickt,  knockt,  linkt,  puft, 

talkt,  twit. -lit."  and  many  others  ending  in  /.     This  scheme  divides  our  regular  verbs  into  threo 

it  very  few  of  them  to  be  written  a^  tii-.  y  now  arc.     It  proceeds  up-i'i  the  principle 

of  aicoramodatingour  or  thography  to  the  fkmilisjr,  rather  than  to  the  solemn  -ion  of 

: '.-.  Johnson  observes  "  is  to  measure  by  a  «.h::d<<\v."     It  i.-,  whatever 

show  of  learning  or  authority  may  support  it,  a  perniciou-  ::.     Die  cri:  I  have 

not  ventured  t  >  follow  the  example  of  Spenser  and  Milton  throughout,  but  have  merely  attempted 
to  rjvive  the  old  form  of  th«  preterit  in  t." — J'hil.  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p.  6G;3.     "We  ought  no* 


336  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

however  to  stop  here,"  he  thinks  ;  and  suggests  that  it  would  be  no  small  improvement,  "  to  write 
leveld  for  levelled,  enameld  for  enamelled,  reformd  for  reformed,"  &c. 

OBS.  20. — If  the  multiplication  of  irregular  preterits',  as  above  described,  is  a  grammatical  orror 
of  great  magnitude  ;  the  forcing  of  our  old  and  well-known  irregular  verbs  into  regular  forms  that 
are  seldom  if  ever  used,  is  an  opposite  error  nearly  as  great.  And,  in  either  case,  there  is  the 
same  embarrassment  respecting  the  formation  of  the  second  person.  Thus  Cobbett,  in  his  English 
Grammar  in  a  Series  of  Letters,  has  dogmatically  given  us  a  list  of  seventy  verbs,  which,  he  ^ays, 
are,  "  by  some  persons,  erroneously  deemed  irregular;"  and  has  included  in  it  the  words,  How, 
build,  cast,  ding,  creep,  freeze,  draw,  throw,  and  the  like,  to  the  number  of  sixty ;  so  that  he  is 
really  right  in  no  more  than  one  seventh  part  of  his  catalogue.  And,  what  is  more  strange,  for 
several  of  the  irregularities  which  he  censures,  his  own  authority  may  be  quoted  from  the  early 
editions  of  this  very  book  :  as,  "  For  you  could  have  thrown  about  seeds." — Edition  of  1818,  p.  13. 
"  For  you  could  have  throived  about  seeds." — Edition  of  1832,  p.  13.  "  A  tree  is  blown  down." — 
Ed.  of  1818,  p.  27.  "  A  tree  is  blowed  down."— Ed.  of  1832,  p.  25.  "  It  froze  hard  last  night.  Now, 
what  was  it  that/rose  so  hard  ?  " — Ed.  of  1818,  p.  38.  "  Itfreezed  hard  last  night.  Now,  what  was 
it  that  freezed  so 'hard  ?" — Ed.  of  1832,  p.  35.  A  whole  page  of  such  contradictions  may  be  quoted 
from  this  one  grammarian,  showing  that  he  did  not  know  what  form  of  the  preterit  he  ought  to 
prefer.  From  such  an  instructor,  who  can  find  out  what  is  good  English,  and  what  is  not  ? 
Respecting  the  inflections  of  the  verb,  this  author  says,  "  There  are  three  persons  ;  but, our  verbs 
have  no  variation  in  their  spelling,  except  for  the  third  person  singular." — Cobbett's  E.  Gram.  If  88. 
Again:  "  Observe,  however,  that,  in  our  language,  there  is  no  very  great  use  in  this  distinction  of 
modes  ;  because,  for  the  most  part,  our  little  signs  do  the  business,  and  they  never  vary  in  the 
letters  of  which  they  are  composed" — Ib.  If  95.  One  would  suppose,  from  these  remarks,  that 
Cobbett  meant  to  dismiss  the  pronoun  thou  entirely  from  his  conjugations.  Not  so  at  all.  In 
direct  contradiction  to  himself,  he  proceeds  to  inflect  the  verb  as  follows  :  "  I  work,  Thou-  workest, 
He  works  ;  &c.  I  worked,  Thou  loorkedst,  He  worked  ;  £c.  I  shall  or  will  work,  Thou  shalt  or  wilt 
work,  He  shall  or  will  work  ;"  &c. — Ib.  If  98.  All  the  compound  tenses,  except  the  future,  he 
rejects,  as  things  which  "  can  only  serve  to  fill  up  a  book." 

OBS.  21. — It  is  a  common  but  erroneous  opinion  of  our  grammarians,  that  the  unsyllabic  suffix 
st,  wherever  found,  is  a  modern  contraction  of  the  syllable  est.  No  writer,  however,  thinks  it 
always  necessary  to  remind  his  readers  of  this,  by  inserting  the  sign  of  contraction  ;  though  Eng- 
lish books  are  not  a  little  disfigured  by  questionable  apostrophes  inserted  for  no  other  reason. 
Dr.  Lowth  says,  "  The  nature  of  our  language,  the  accent  and  pronunciation  of  it,  [incline]  us  to  con- 
tract even  all  our  regular  verbs :  thus  loved,  turned,  are  commonly  pronounced  in  one  syllable 
lov'd,  turn'd :  and  the  second  person,  which  was  originally  in  three  syllables,  lovedest,  turneiest, 
is  [say  has]  now  become  a  dissyllable,  lovedst,  turnedst." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  45;  Hiley's,  45; 
Churchill's,  104.  See  also  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  114;  and  Coar's,  p.  102.  This  latter  doctiine, 
with  all  its  vouchers,  still  needs  confirmation.  What  is  it  but  an  idle  conjecture  ?  If  it  were 
true,  a  few  quotations  might  easily  prove  it ;  but  when,  and  by  whom,  have  any  such  words  as 
lovedest,  turnedest,  ever  been  used  ?  For  aught  I  see,  the  simple  st  is  as  complete  and  as  c  Id  a 
termination  for  the  second  person  singular  of  an  English  verb,  as  est;  indeed,  it  appears  to  be 
older :  and,  for  the  preterit,  it  is,  and  (I  believe)  always  has  been,  the  most  regular,  if  no1  the 
only  regular,  addition.  If  suffer edest,  woundedext,  and  killedcst,  are  words  more  regular  •  han 
sujferedst,  woundedst,  killedst,  then  are  heardest,  kneioest,  sleioest,  sawcst,  rannest,  mettest,  swam- 
mest,  and  the  like,  more  regular  than  heardst,  kneuist,  slewst,  sawst,  ranst,  metst,  sivamst,  satst, 
saidst,  ledst,  fledst,  toldst,  and  so  forth  ;  but  not  otherwise.*  So,  in  the  solemn  style,  we  write 
seemest,  deemest,  sicimmest,  like  seemeth,  deemcth,  swimmeth,  and  so  forth  ;  but,  when  we  use;  the 
form  which  has  no  increase  of  syllables,  why  is  an  apostrophe  more  necessary  in  the  second  per- 

*  Among  grammarians,  as  well  as  among  other  writeivs,  there  is  some  diversity  of  usage  concerning  the  personal 
inflections  of  verbs  ;  while  nearly  all,  nowadays,  remove  the  chief  occasion  for  any  such  diversity,  by  denying  with 
a  fashionable  bigotry  the  possibility  of  any  grammatical  use  of  the  pronoun  thou  in  a  familiar  style.  To  illustrate 
this,  I  will  cite  Cooper  and  Wells — two  modern  authors  who  earnestly  agree  to  account  you  and  its  verb  literally 
singular,  and  thou  altogether  erroneous,  in  common  discourse  :  except  that  Wells  allows  the  phrase,  "  If  thou 
art,"  for  "Common  style."— School  Gram.  p.  100. 

1.  Cooper,  improperly  referring  all  inflection  of  the  verb  to  the  grave  or  solemn  style,  says  :     "In  the  collo- 
quial or  familiar  style,  we  observe  no  change.     The  same  is  the  case  in  the  plural  number."     He  then  proceeds 
thus  :  "  In  the  second  person  of  the  present  of  the  indicative,  in  the  solemn  style,  the  verb  takes  st  or  est ;  and 
in  the  third  person  th  or  eth,  as  :  thou  hast,  thou  lovest,  thou  teachest ;  he  hath,  he  loveth,  he  goeth.    In  the  collo- 
quial or  familiar  style,  the  verb  does  not  vary  in  the  second  person  ;  and  in  the  third  person,  it  ends  in  s  or  st,  as  : 
he  loves,  he  teaches,  he  does.    The  indefinite,  [i.  e.  the  preterit,]  in  the  second  person  singular  of  the  indicative,  in 
the  grave  style,  ends  in  est,  as  :  thou  taughtest,  thou  wentest.     O=*  But,  in  those  verbs,  whtre  the  sound  .of  st  will 
unite  with  the  last  syllable  of  the  verb,  the  vowel  is  omitted,  as  :  thou  lovtdst,  thou  heardst,  thou  didst. " — Cooper's 
Murray,  p  60  ;  Plain  and  Practical  Gram.  p.  59.    This,  the  reader  will  see,  is  somewhat  contradictory  ;  for  the 
colloquial  style  varies  the  verb  by  "  s  or  ts,"  and  taught'st  may  be  uttered  without  the  e.    As  for  "  lovedst,"  I 
deny  that  any  vowel  "  is  omitted  "  from  it  ;  but  possibly  one  may  be,  as  lov'dst. 

2.  Wells's  account  of  the  same  thing  is  this  :  "  In  the  simple  form  of  the  present  and  past  indicative,  the  second 
person  singular  of  the  solemn  style  ends  regularly  in  st  or  est.  as,  thou  seest,  thou  hearest,  thou  sawest,  thou 
heardest ;  and  the  third  person  singular  of  the  present,  in  5  or  e's,  as,  he  hears,  he  wishes,  and  also  in  th  or  eth,  as, 
he  saith,  he  loveth.    In  the  simple  form  of  the  present  indicative,  the  third  person  singular  of  the  common  or 
familiar  style,  ends  in  s  or  es  ;  as,  he  sleeps  ;  he  rises.    The  first  person  singular  of  the  solemn  style,  and  the  first 
and  second  persons  singular  of  the  common  style,  have  the  same  form  as  the  threo  persons  plural." — Wells1  s 
School  Grammar,  1st  Ed.  p.  83 ;  3d  Ed.  p.  86.    This,  too,  is  both  defective  and  inconsistent.    It  does  not  tell  when 
to  add  est,  and  when,  st  only.     It  does  not  show  what  the  regular  preterit,  as  freed  or  loved,  should  make  with  thou  : 
whether ffeedest  and  lovedest,  by  assuming  the  syllable  est ;  fre-edst  and  lov-edst,  by  increasing  syllabically  from 
assuming  st  only  ;  orfreedst  and  lov'dst,  or  lovedst,  still  to  be  uttered  as  monosyllables.      It  absurdly   makes  "  ; 
or  es"  a  sign  of  two  opposite  styles.    (See  OBS.  9th,  above.)    And  it  does  not  except  "  lam,  1  u-as.  If  I  am,  If  I 
tvas,  If  ttwu  art,  I  am  loved,"  and  so  forth,  from  requiring  "  the  same  form,  [are  or  were,]  as  the  three  persons 
plural."    This  author  prefers  "  heardest ;"  the  other,  "  heardst,"  which  I  think  better  warranted  : — 

"  And  heardst  thou  why  he  drew  his  blade? 
Heardst  thou  that  shameful  word  and  blow 
Brought  Roderick's  vengeance  on  his  foe?"—  Scott,  L.  L.,  C.  v,  st.  6. 


CHAP.  VI.]  lOi.OCV. — VERBS. PERSONS  AND  NUMBERS.  337 

son,  than  in  the  third? — in  '.than  in  seems,  deems,  swims  f    When  final  e 

is  dropped  from  the  verb,  the 

"  Th  nead  oft'  with  a  golden  axe, 

And  .s/W/V  upon  the  stroke  taut  murders  mo." — > 

OBS.  22. — T)r.  Lowth  rmination  s  or  cs  to  have  come  from  a  contraction 

of  cth.     II<  the  rapidity  of  our  pronunciation,  the  vowels  are  shortened  or 

lost;  and  1!  re  thrown  together,  do  not  coalesce  with  one  another,  and  are 

therefore  c!  ,•  of  a  kindred  species.     Th'-  a  far- 

ther deviation   from  (/',  t)iu*.  ton-th,  turm-tl>,  are  contracted  int  rn'fh, 

and   tV  riation,  ///  s  turn:;.1'—  p.  46 ; 

iu->t,  hut  certainly  such  contractions  as  arc  here 
spoken  of,  v-  mon  in  Lowth's  age,  or  even  in  that  of  Ben  Jonson,  who  it 

',  of  sharp  Mvery  obviously  akin  to  flat  s.     The  change  would  have  been 
!  fur/uf  had  become  lores  and  turns ;  as  some  people  nowadays  are  apt  to 
change  them,  though  doubtless  this  is  a  grammatical  error  :  as, 
1  wheresoe'er  thou  cast*  thy  view." — Coirf,  >/. 

••  thou  that  Jliniis  me  floundering  from  thy  back." — Eat.  of  Frogs  and  Mice,\.  123. 
"  Thou  tiitt'xt  on  high,  and  matnurcs  destinies." — Pollok,  Course  of  T</tn-,  \\.  vi,  1.  668. 
OBS.  23. — Possibly,  those  personal  terminations  of  the  verb  which  do  not  form  syllables,  are 
mere  contractions  or  relics  of  cst  and  cth,  which  are  syllables ;  but  it  is  perhaps  not  quite  so  easy 
to  prove  th<  •  lie  authors  imagine.     In  the  oldest  specimens  given  by  l)r.  Johnson  in 

his  History  of  the  English  Language, — specimens  bearing  a  much  earlier  date  than  the  English  lan- 
guage can  d-iim, — even  in  what  he  calls  "  Saxon  in  its  highest  state  of  purity,"  both  st  and  th 
are  often  added  to  verbs,  without  forming  additional  syllables,  and  without  any  sign  of  contrac- 
tion. Nor  were  verbs  of  the  second  person  singular"  always  inflected  of  old,  in  those  parts  to 
which  •  I  commonly  added.  Examples  :  "  Buton  ic  wat  tha^t  thu  Itcffat  thara 

wa?pna." — 7\  '.     "But  I  know  that  thou  hast  those  weapons."     "Thaet  thnOMMMM 

thara  worda  so'thfie'stnesse.  of  tham  the  thu  getored  cart." — Luca,  i,  4.     "  That  th 

•he  certainty  of  those  things  wherein  thou  hast  been  instructed." — Luke,  i,  4.      "And  thu 

his  naman   Johannes." — L uctr,  i,  13.      "And  his  name  schal  be  clepid  Jon." — Wickliffe's 

"And  tliou  xhult  rail  his  name  John." — Luke,  i,  13.     "Andhene  drincth  win  ne  beor." 

•'••el  not  drinkc  wyn  ne  sydyr." — Wickliffe.  "  And  shnll  drink  ncithrr  wine 

nor  strong  drink." — Luke,  i,  15.     "And  nu  thu  hist  suwigende.  and  thu  sprecnn  ne  miht  oth  thone 
'h.  fortham  thuminum  wordum  ne  yelyfdcfit.  tha  beoth  on  hyratiman 

yefi/U  '.      "And  lo,  thou  schalt  be  doumbe,  and  thou  schalt  not  mowe  spckc,  til 

into  the  day  in  whioh  these  thingis  xdntlen  be  don,  for  thou  hast  not  beleved  to  my  wordis,  whiche 
scltttl'  in  lurtyme." — Wic'dijf'i'.  "  And,  behold,  thou  shalt  be  dumb,  and  not  able  to 

speak,  until  the  day  that*  these  things  shall  be  performed,  because  thou  bclievest  not  my  words, 
which  shall  I  a  their  season." — Luke,  i,  20. 

laungyng  of  her  course,  the  chaunge  shcicth  this, 

rtt&a  knauc,  and  downc  i\\we  faith  a  knight." — Sir  Thomas  More. 

OBS.  21. — The  corollary  towards  which  the  fore'going  observations  are  directed,  is  this.  As 
most  of  the  peculiar  terminations  by  which  the  second  person  singular  is  properly  distinguished 
in  the  solemn  style,  are  not  only  difficult  of  utterance,  but  are  quaint  and  formal  hi  conversation ; 
the  preterits  and  auxiliaries  of  our  verbs' are  seldom  varied  in  familiar  discourse,  and  the  present 
is  generally  simplified  by  contraction,  or  by  the  adding  of  st  without  increase  of  syllables.  A  dis- 
tinction b.-'twi  en  the-  solemn  and  the  familiar  style,  has  long  been  admitted,  in  the  pronunciation 
of  the  termination  it/,  and  in  the  ending  of  the  verb  in  the  third  person  singular  ;  and  it  is  evi- 
dently according  to  tcood  taste  and  the  best  usage,  to  admit  such  a  distinction  in  the  second 
person  singular.  In  the  familiar  use  of  the  second  person  singular,  the  verb  is  usually  varied 
only  i:  it  tense  of  the  indicative  mood,  and  in  the  auxilia.y  hust  of  the  pcii'ect.  This 

method  of  varying  the  verb  renders  the  second  person  singular  analogous  to  the  third,  and 
acnonl  the  most  intelligent  of  those  who  retain  the  common  use  of  this  dis- 

.     It  disencumbers  their  familiar  dialect  of  a  multitude 

of  harsh  an  ruinations,  which  serve  only,  when  uttered,  to  give  an  uncouth  promi- 

nency to  \\ords  not  ot'tm   emphatic;  and,  without  impairing  the  strength  or  perspicuity  of  the 
!:.irmony,  and  r.-duces  the  form  of  the  verb  in  the  second  person  singular 
in   the  other  persons  and  numbers.     It  may  serve  also,  in  some 
poets,  in  tho-so  abbreviation!  for  which  they  have  been  so  unreasonably 

md  some  Otl  OS!  as, 

thou  their  nat;:: 

tlino  rcpe;;'  »n,  P.  L.,  Book  vii.  line  401. 

rue  FriemK  beiv-.r  ni'^tly  of  a  grave  cast,  afford  but  few  examples  of 

thfir  •  ';.ng  the  v,  .   with  the  pronoun   thon,  in  familiar  dis- 

:o  the  office  thou  Avy.s/  claim  to." — 
iihstanding  thon  inuy  ///m-  sentiment 
mine." — T:  •     |  nice;" — "  If  thou  . s/tO" 

-•'Thou    kindly  .  " — ••  Tl-.p    rMistln  v,  •  nt  me;" — 

"Thn  I  ,.  tho'l  //•/'/.-  "  —  ••>•'•' •••'-••'tl.fi nurt;" 

— "  That  thou  h<;  " — "Before 

thou;  •'; — •'  What  thou  mrrf.s  "  [me- -tst]  ; — "Iftli  1  thou 

— "  That  thou  /  -  at  my  house." — JO;:N  K    NDALI,. 

—"That  t  -  .  thou  trait'  :  ^mujht 

him:" — "i  hope  thou   iriti  heir  my  >:  _.;••;"—••  Thou  also   knnu-s"   .1 
up:" — "I  irish   thou   would  yet  i  >i>.     "Th( 

tei.d,  forth  thy  delivering  hand,  and  ;-  •THER- 

Bef.  <n  whirh  ;"  •'  •  nouns  of  time,  the  relative  that  is  often  used, 

i/o  or  qu  •,  as  boing  equivalent  to  in  which  or  on  n-lncli. 

22 


THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

GILL.  The  writer  has  met  with  thousands  that  used  the  second  person  singular  in  conversation, 
but  never  with  any  one  that  employed,  on  ordinary  occasions,  all  the  regular  endings  of  the 
solemn  style.  The  simplification  of  the  second  person  singular,  which,  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  is  everywhere  adopted  by  the  Friends,  and  which  is  here  defined  and  explained,  removes 
from  each  verb  eighteen  of  these  peculiar  terminations  ;  and,  (if  the  number  of  English  verbs  be, 
as  stated  by  several  grammarians,  8000,)  disburdens  their  familiar  dialect  of  144,000  of  these  awk- 
ward and  useless  appendages.*  This  simplification  is  supported  by  usage  as  extensive  as  the 
familiar  use  of  the  pronoun  thou  ;  and  is  also  in  accordance  with  the  canons  of  criticism  :  "  The 
first  canon  on  this  subject  is,  All  words  and  phrases  which  are  remarkably  harsh  and  unharmo- 


abbreviations  "  as  "  the  eagerness  of  conveying  one's  sentiments,  the  rapidity  and  ease  of  utter- 
ance, necessarily  produce,  in  the  dialect  of  conversation." — Pages  426  and  427.  Lord  Kames  says, 
"That  the  English  tongue,  originally  harsh,  is  at  present  much  softened  by  dropping  many 
redundant  consonants,  is  undoubtedly  true  :  that  it  is  not  capable  of  being  further  mellowed  with- 
out suffering  in  its  force  and  energy,  will  scarce  be  thought  by  any  one  who  possesses  an  ear." — 
Elements  of  Criticism,  Vol.  ii,  p.  12. 

OBS.  26. — The  following  examples  are  from  a  letter  of  an  African  Prince,  translated  by  Dr. 
Desaguillier  of  Cambridge,  England,  in  1743,  and  published  in  a  London  newspaper  :  "  I  lie  there  too 
upon  the  bed  thou  presented  me  ;" — "  After  thou  left  me,  in  thy  swimming  house  ;" — "  Those  good 
things  thou  prescntedme  ;" — "  "When  thou  spake  to  the  Great  Spirit  and  his  Son."  If  it  is  desirable 
that  our  language  should  retain  this  power  of  a  simple  literal  version  of  what  in  others  may  be  famil- 
iarly expressed  by  the  second  person  singular,  it  is  clear  that  our  grammarians  must  not  continue  to 
dogmatize  according  to  the  letter  of  some  authors  hitherto  popular.  But  not  every  popular  grammar 
condemns  such  phraseology  as  the  foregoing.  "  I  improved,  Thou  improveds£,  &c.  This  termi- 
nation of  the  second  person  preterit,  on  account  of  its  harshness,  is  seldom  used,  and  especially 
in  the  irregular  verbs." — Harrison's  Gram.  p.  26.  "The  termination  est,  annexed  to  the  preter 
tenses  of  verbs,  is,  at  best,  a  very  harsh  one,  when  it  is  contracted,  according  to  our  general  cus- 
tom of  throwing  out  the  e;  as  learnedst,  for  learnedest;  and  especially,  if  it  be  again  contracted 
into  one  syllable,  as  it  is  commonly  pronounced,  and  made  learndst.  *  *  *  I  believe  a  writer 
or  speaker  would  have  recourse  to  any  periphrasis  rather  than  say  keptest,  or  keptst.  *  *  *  Indeed 
this  harsh  termination  cst  is  generally  quite  dropped  in  common  conversation,  and  sometimes  by 
the  poets,  in  writing." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  115.  The  fact  is,  it  never  was  added  with  much  uni- 
formity. Examples  :  "  But  like  the  hell  hounde  thou  waxed  full  furious,  expressyng  thy  malice 
when  thou  to  honour  stied." — FABIAN'S  CHRONICLE,  V.  ii,  p.  522:  in  Tooke's  Divers.,  V.  ii,  p.  2;# 

"  Thou  from  the  arctic  regions  came.     Perhaps 
Thou  noticed  on  thy  way  a  little  orb, 
Attended  by  one  moon — her  lamp  by  night." — Pollok,  B.  ii,  1.  5. 

"'  So  I  believ'd.' — No,  Abel !  to  thy  grief, 

So  thou  relinquish ?d  all  that  was  belief." — Crabbe,  Borough,  p.  279. 

OBS.  27. — L.  Murray,  and  his  numerous  copyists,  Ingersoll,  Greenleaf,  Kirkham,  Fisk,  Flir.t, 
Comly,  Alger,  and  the  rest ;  though  they  insist  on  it,  that  the  st  of  the  second  person  can  never 
be  dispensed  with,  except  in  the  imperative  mood  and  some  parts  of  the  subjunctive ;  are  not 
altogether  insensible  of  that  monstrous  harshness  which  their  do'ctrine  imposes  upon  the  language. 
Some  of  them  tell  us  to  avoid  this  by  preferring  the  auxiliaries  dost  and  didst :  as  dost  burst,  for 
hurstcst ;  didst  check,  for  checkedst.  This  recommendation  proceeds  on  the  supposition  that  dost 
and  didst  are  smoother  syllables  than  est  and  edst  ;  which  is  not  true  :  didst  learn  is  harsher  than 
either  learnedst  or  learntest  ;  and  all  three  of  them  are  intolerable  in  common  discourse.  Nor  is 
the  "  energy,  or  positivcness,"  which  grammarians  ascribe  to  these  auxiliaries,  always  appropriate. 
Except  in  a  question,  dost  and  didst,  like  do,  docs,  and  did,  are  usually  signs  of  emphasis ;  and 
therefore  unfit  to  be  substituted  for  the  st,  est,  or  edst,  of  an  unemphatic  verb.  Kirkham,  who,  as 
we  have  seen,  graces  his  Elocution  with  such  unutterable  things,  as  "prob'dst,  hurVdst,  arm'dst, 
want'dst,  burn  dst,  bark1  dst,  bubbl'dst,  troubbl'dst,"  attributes  the  use  of  the  plural  for  the  singular, 
to  a  design  of  avoiding  the  ruggedness  of  the  latter.  "  In  order  to  avoid  the  disagreeable  harsh- 
ness of  sound,  occasioned  by  the  frequent  recurrence  of  the  terminations  est,  edst,  in  the  adaptation 
of  our  verbs  to  the  nominative  thou,  a  modern  innovation  which  substitutes  you  for  thou,  in  familiar 
style,  has  generally  been  adopted.  This  innovation  contributes  greatly  to  the  harmony  of  our 
colloquial  style.  You  was  formerly  restricted  to  the  plural  number;  but  now  it  is  employed  to 

*  It  is  not  a  little  strange,  that  some  men,  who  never  have  seen  or  heard  such  words  as  their  own  rules  would 
produce  for  the  second  person  singular  of  many  hundreds  of  our  most  common  verbs,  will  nevertheless  pertina- 
ciously insist,  that  it  is  wrong  to  countenance  in  this  matter  any  departure  from  the  style  of  King  James's  Bible. 
One  of  the  very  rashest  and  wildest  of  modern  innovators, — a  critic  who,  but  for  the  sake  of  those  who  still  speak 
in  this  person  and  number,  would  gladly  consign  the  pronoun  thou,  and  all  its  attendant  verbal  forms,  to  utter 
oblivion, — thus  treats  this  subject  and  me  :  "  The  Quakers,  or  Friends,  however,  use  thou,  and  its  attendant  form 
of  the  asserter,  in  conversation.  FOR  THEIR  BENEFIT,  thou  is  given,  in  this  work,  in  all  the  varieties  of  inflection  ; 
(in  some  of  which  it  could  not  properly  be  used  in  an  address  to  the  Deity  ;  /  for  THEY  ERR  MOST  EGREGIOUSIA*  iu 
the  use  of  thou,  with  the  form  of  the  asserter  which  follows  fie  or  they,  and  are  countenanced  in  their  errors  by 
G.  Brown,  who,  instead  of  '  disburdening  the  language  of  144,000  useless  distinctions,'1  increases  their  number  just 
144.000." — Oliver  B-Ptirce^s  Gram.  p.  85.  Among  people  of  sense,  converts  are  made  by  teaching,  and  reasoning, 
and  proving;  but  this  man's  disciples  must  yield  to  the  balderdash  of  a.  false  speller, ,  false  quottr,  and/ak« 
assert'  r!  This  author  says,  that  "dropt"1  is  the  past  tense  of  "rfrop,"  (p.  118  ;)  let  him  prove,  for  example, 
that  droptest  is  not  a  clumsy  innovation,  and  that  droppedst  is  not  a  formal  archaism,  and  then  tell  of  the  egregious 
error  of  adopting  neither  of  the.se  forms  in  common  conversation.  The  following,  with  its  many  common  con- 
tractions, is  the  language  of  POPE  ;  and  I  ask  this,  or  any  other  opponent  of  my  doctrine,  TO  SHOW  HOW  SUCH 
vtRBS  ARE  RIGHTLY  FORMED,  either  for  poetry  or  for  conversation,  in  the  second  person  singular. 
"  lifted,  I  followed  ;  now  in  hope,  now  pain  ; 

It  stopt,  1  stopt  ;  it  mov^d,  I  mov^d  again. 

At  last  itfixt,  'twas  on  what  plant  it  plfas'd, 

And  where  itjix'd,  the  beauteous  bird  I  seized. "— Dunciad,  B.  IV,  1.  427. 


CHAP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. PERSONS    AND   NUMBERS.  339 

represent  cither  a  singular  or  a  plural  noun." — Kirkhani's  Gram.  p.  99.  A  modern  innovation, 
for  sooth  !  Does  not  every  body  know  it  was  current  four  hundred  years  ago,  or  more  ?  Certainly, 
both  ye  and  you  were  applied  in  this  manner,  to  the  great,  as  early  as  the  fourteenth  century. 
Chaucer  sometimes  used  them  so,  and  he  died  in  1400.  Sir  T.  More  uses  them  so,  in  a  piece  dated  1503. 
"  O  dere  cosyn,  Dan  Johan,  she  sayde, 

What  eyleth  you  so  rathe  to  arys'e  ?" — Chaucer. 

Shakspeare  most  commonly  uses  thou,  but  he  sometimes  has  you  in  stead  of  it.    Thus,  he  make* 
Portia  say  to  Butus  : 

••  You  suddenly  arose,  and  walk'd  about, 
Musing,  and  sighing,  wilh  your  arms  across  ; 
And  when  I  ask'd  you  what  the  matter  was, 

You  star'd  upon  me  with  ungentle  looks." — J.  Ceesar,  Act  ii,  Sc.  2. 

Ons.  28. — "  There  is  a  natural  tendency  in  all  languages  to  throw  out  the  rugged  parts  which 
improper  consonants  produce,  and  to  preserve  those  which  are  melodious  and  agreeable  to  the 
car."—  ••  of  Nature,  p.  29.  "The  English  tongue,  so  remarkable  for  its  gram- 

v.  is  loaded  with  a  great  variety  of  dull  unmeaning  terminations.  Mr.  Sheridan 
attributes  this  defect,  to  an  utter  inattention  to'what  is  easy  to  the  organs  of  speech  and  agreeable 
to  the  ear  ;  and  further  adds,  that,  '  the  French  having  been  adopted  as  the  language  of  the  court, 
no  notice  was  taken  of  the  spelling  or  pronunciation  of  our  words,  until  the  reign  of  queen 
Anne.'  So  little  was  spelling  attended  to  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  that  Dr.  Jchnson  informs  us, 
that  on  referring  to  Shakspeare's  will,  to  determine  how  his  name  was  spelt,  he  was  found  to  have 
written  it  himself  [in]  no  less  [fewer]  than  three  different  ways." — Ib.  p.  477.  In  old  books,  our 
participial  or  verbal  termination  cd,  is  found  written  in  about  a  dozen  different  ways  ;  as,  ed,  de, 
d,  t,  id,  it,  yd,  yt,  cdc,  oil,  ud.  For  est  and  eth,  we  find  sometimes  the  consonants  only  ;  sometimes, 
•:nt,  it/i  or  yth  ;  sometimes,  for  the  latter,  oth  or  ath  ;  and  sometimes  the  ending  was  omitted 
iher.  In  early  times  also  the  th  was  an  ending  for  verbs  of  the  third  person  plural,  as 
well  as  for  tho>e  of  the  third  person  singular  ;»  and,  m  the  imperative  mood,  it  was  applied  to 
the  second  person,  both  singular  and  plural :  as, 

"Demith  thyself,  that  demist  other's  dede  ; 

And  trouthe  the  shall  deliver,  it's  no  drede." — Chaucer. 

Ons.  29. — It  must  be  obvious  to  every  one  who  has  much  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  our 

language,  that  this  part  of  its  grammar  has  always  been  quite  as  unsettled  as  it  is  now;  and, 

may  wish  to  establish  its  principles,  it  is  idle  to  teach  for  absolute  certainty  that  which 

may  confute.     Let  those  who  desire  to  see  our  forms  of  conjugation  as 

M  of  other  tongues,  study  to  exemplify  in  their  own  practice  what  tends  to  uniformity. 

The  best  that  can  be  done  by  the  author  of  a  grammar,  is,  to  exhibit  usage,  as  it  has  been,  and 

as  it  is;  pointing  out  to  the  learner  what  is  most  fashionable,  as  well  as  what  is  most  orderly  and 

le.     It  by  these  means  the  usage  of  writers  and  speakers  cannot  be  fixed  to  what  is  fittest 

for  their  occasio'ns,  and  therefore  most  grammatical,  there  is  in  grammar  no  remedy  for  their 

inaccuracies ;  as  there  is  none  for  the  blunders  of  dull  opinionists,  none  for  the  absurdities  of 

Ignorance  stalled  in  the  seats  of  Learning.    Some  grammarians  say,  that,  whenever  the  preterit 

of  an  irregular  verb  is  like  the  present,  it  should  take  edst  for  the  second  person  singular.     This 

rule,  (which  is  adopted  by  Walker,  in  his  Principles,  No.  372,)  gives  us  such  words  as  cast-edst, 

'lnt,  Jiit-trdst,  Irt-tcdst,  jiut-ti-dst,  hurt-edst,  rid-dedst,  shcd-dedst, 
which  may  be  adduced  from  ancient  writings,  in  support  of  this  principle, 

are  undoubtedly  formed  in  the  usual  manner  from  regular  preterits  now  obsolete ;  and  if  this  were 
not  the  case,  no  person  of  taste  could  think  of  employing,  on  any  occasion,  derivatives  so  uncouth. 
Dr.  Johnson  has  justly  remarked,  that  "the  chief  defect  of  our  language,  is  ruggedness   and 
asperity."     And  this  defect,  as  some  of  the  foregoing  remarks  have  shown,  is  peculiarly  obvious, 
when  even  the  regular  termination  of  the  second  person  singular  is   added  to  our  preterits. 
Accordingly,  we  find  numerous  instances  among  the  poets,  both  ancient  and  modern,  in  which  that 
:  ttion  is  omitted.     See  Percy's  Keliqu«\s  of  Ancient  Poetry,  everywhere. 
••  Thou,  who  of  old  the  prophet's  eye  muetbtL" — Pollok. 
"  Thou  saw  the  fields  laid  bare  and  waste." — Bums.-\- 

W.  Allen,  in  i  -  immar,  p.  132.  says  :   <•  Vr/i  and  eth  (from  the  Saxon  ia5  )  were  formerly, 

< .t/i  man.'     William  t.f  W\  keham's  motto.      'After long  advisement,  they 

Doctrine  and   discourse  maktth   nature 

utly  earlier  than  th 

r   is  utterly  obsolete,  and  the  firmer  !•.  have   been  F.n^li^h. 

Th«  Anslo-Snxon  v  appears  to  have  h.  en   inflected  \\ith  the  several  pronouns 

•i.  Hi  hitiiith.      The  form  in  Old  English  was  this  :  I 

M  marks,  (though  in  my  opinion 

require  a  .-higular  construction  ; 

.  «','?  pays  he,  "  in  some  measure,  vindicate  the 

•  ,ak(th  man.'' — Piiestley't  Gram. 

•\vnot  what  half-i*  -uch  construction.     Manners  and  rnutk- 

••  uiU-r.  and  then-fore  both  it  and  maktth  are  wrong.        I  judge  it  better 

,'irs  are  a  useful  ptu  ake  the  man.''     But  perhaps  both  ideas  may 

-'•*sed  by  a  change  of  the    nominative,  thus  :    '•  The  study  of  mathematics  is  U5eful.'; — 

t    Ah  it  the  i   i:.-  of  •  sir  i/erruro  v,oul  I  have  been,  had  no  author  attempted  any  thing  on  English  grammar, 

and  not  of  ai  ;ion."   It  is  my  opinion,  that,  with 

all  tin  i.  Df  the  books  and  essays  in  which  this  subject  has  been  handled,  have  been  in  some  degree 

i  it,  without  their  influence,  our  language  must  have  been  much 
:,  01  it  now  is.  Hut  a  late  writer  s*\s.  ami.  with  respect  to  some  of  our  verbal 
iv  MH/vrr  rnni-iftinn  that  fewer  ir,  .mid  hare  crept  into  the  language 

had  MO  grammars  existed,  than  have  been  authorized  by  gramman  i<>uld  be  understood  that  the  first 

of  our  K:-amm:iriai!«.  finding  that  good  wi  upon  many  points,  instead  of  endeavouring  to  reconcile  these 

.ibsolutely  perpetuated  then  ,  n-ing  ht%h  authorities  for  both.   To  thi« 

weo^e  all  the  irregularity  which  exis'.«  in  the  personal  terminations  of  verbs,  some  of  the  best  early  writers  using 
them  promi^i-it  vising  them  unifotmly,  and  others  making  no  uxe  of  them  ;  and  really  they  are  of  no 

vie  I  at  to  puzzle  children  and  foreigners,  perplex  poets,  and  furnish  an  awkward  dialect  to  that  exemplary  sect 


840  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

.  OBS.  30. — "With  the  familiar  form  of  the  second  person  singular,  those  who  constantly  put  you 
for  thoit  can  have  no  concern ;  and  many  may  think  it  unworthy  of  notice,  because  Murray  has 
said  nothing  about  it :  others  will  hastily  pronounce  it  bad  English,  because  they  have  learned  at 
school  some  scheme  of  the  verb,  which  implies  that  this  must  needs  be  wrong.  It  is  this  partial 
learning  which  makes  so  much  explanation  here  necessary.  The  formation  of  this  part  of  speech, 
form  it  as  you  will,  is  central  to  grammar,  and  cannot  but  be  very  important.  Our  language  can 
never  entirely  drop  the  pronoun  thou,  and  its  derivatives,  thy,  thine,  thec,  tJtysclf,  without  grert 
injury,  especially  to  its  poetry.  Nor  can  the  distinct  syllabic  utterance  of  the  termination  cd  be 
now  generally  practised,  except  in  solemn  prose.  It  is  therefore  better,  not  to  insist  on  those  old 
verbal  forms  against  which  there  are  so  many  objections,  than  to  exclude  the  pronoun  of  the  second 
person  singular  from  all  such  usage,  whether  familiar  or  poetical,  as  will  not  admit  them.  It  is 
true  that  on  most  occasions  you  may  be  substituted  for  thou,  without  much  inconvenience;  and 
so  may  ice  be  substituted  for  /,  with  just  as  much  propriety  ;  though  Dr.  Perley  thinks  the  latter 
usage  "  is  not  to  be  encouraged."—  Gram.  p.  28.  Our  authors  and  editors^  like  kings  and  emperors, 
are  making  we  for  /their  most  common  mode  of  expression.  They  renounce  their  individuality 
to  avoid  egotism.  And  when  all  men  shall  have  adopted  this  enallage,  the  fault  indeed  will  be 
banished,  or  metamorphosed,  but  with  it  will  go  an  other  sixth  part  of  every  English  conjugation. 
The  pronouns  in  the  following  couplet  are  put  for  the  first  person  singular,  the  second  person 
singular,and  the  second  person  plural;  yet  nobody  will  understand  them  so, but  by  their  antecedents: 
"  Right  trusty,  and  so  forth — we  let  you  to  know 

We  are  very  ill  used  by  you  mortals  below." — Sicift. 

OBS.  31. — It  is  remarkable  that  some,  who  forbear  to  use  the  plural  for  the  singular  in  the  sec- 
ond person,  adopt  it  without  scruple,  in  the  first.  The  figure  is  the  same  in  both  ;  and  in  both, 
sufficiently  common.  Neither  practice  is  worthy  to  be  made  more  general  than  it  now  is.  If  thou 
should  not  be  totally  sacrificed  to  what  was  once  a  vain  compliment,  neither  should  /,  to  what  is 
now  an  occasional,  and  perhaps  a  vain  assumption.  Lindley  Murray,  who  does  not  appear  to  have 
used  you  for  thou,  and  who  was  sometimes  singularly  careful  to  periphrase  and  avoid  the  latter, 
nowhere  in  his  grammar  speaks  of  himself  in  the  first  person  singular.  He  is  often  "the  Com- 
piler; "  rarely,  "  the  Author ; "  generally,  "We  :  "  as,  "  We  have  distributed  these  parts  of  gram- 
mar, in  the  mode  which  we  think  most  correct  and  intelligible." — Octavo  Gram.  p.  58.  "We 
shall  not  pursue  this  subject  any  further." — Ib.  p.  62.  "We  shall  close  these  remarks  on  the 
tenses." — Ib.  p.  76.  "We  presume  no  solid  objection  can  be  made." — Ib.  p.  78.  "  The  observa- 
tions which  we  have  made." — Ib.  p.  100.  "  We  shall  produce  a  remarkable  example  of  this  beau- 
ty from  Milton." — Ib.  p.  331.  "We  have  now  given  sufficient  openings  into  this  subject." — Ib.  p. 
334.  This  usage  has  authority  enough ;  for  it  was  not  uncommon  even  among  the  old  Lat  n 
grammarians ;  but  he  must  be  a  slender  scholar,  who  thinks  the  pronoun  we  thereby  becomes 
singular.  What  advantage  or  fitness  there  is  in  thus  putting  we  for  /,  the  reader  may  judgx 
Dr.  Blair  did  not  hesitate  to  use  /,  as  often  as  he  had  occasion;  neither  did  Lowth,  or  Joh  i- 
son,  or  Walker,  or  Webster:  as,  "/  shall  produce  a  remarkable  example  of  this  beauty  fro  n 
Milton." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  129.  tll  have  now  given  sufficient  openings  into  this  subject." — Ib.  p. 
131.  So  in  Lowth's  Preface  :  "/believe," — "/am  persuaded," — "/am  sure," — "/think," — '•! 
am  afraid," — "/  will  not  take  upon  me  to  say." 

OBS.  32. — Intending  to  be  critical  without  hostility,  and  explicit  without  partiality,  I  write  not 
for  or  against  any  sect,  or  any  man ;  but  to  teach  all  who  desire  to  know  the  grammar  of  o  ir 
tongue.  The  student  must  distinctly  understand,  that  it  is  necessary  to  speak  and  write  diff  erect- 
ly, according  to  the  different  circumstances  or  occasions  of  writing.  Who  is  he  that  will  pretend 
that  the  solemn  style  of  the  Bible  may  be  used  in  familiar  discourse,  without  a  mouthing  affecta- 
tion ?  In  preaching,  the  ancient  terminations  of  cst  for  the  second  person  singular  and  eth  for 
the  third,  as  well  as  ed  pronounced  as  a  separate  syllable  for  the  preterit,  are  admitted  to  be  gen- 
erally in  better  taste  than  the  smoother  forms  of  the  familiar  style ;  because  the  latter,  though 
now  frequently  heard  in  religious  assemblies,  are  not  so  well  suited  to  the  dignity  and  gravity  of 
a  sermon  or  a  prayer.  In  grave  poetry  also,  especially  when  it  treats  of  scriptural  subjects,  to 
which  you  put  for  thou  is  obviously  unsuitable,  the  personal  terminations  of  (he  verb,  though 
from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present  day  they  have  usually  been  contracted  and  often  omitted  by 
the  poets,  ought  still  perhaps  to  be  considered  grammatically  necessary,  whenever  they  can  be 
uttered,  agreeably  to  the  notion  of  our  tuneless  critics.  The  critical  objection  to  their  elision, 
however,  can  have  no  very  firm  foundation  while  it  is  admitted  by  some  of  the  objectors  them- 
selves, that,  "Writers  generally  have  recourse  to  this  mode  of  expression,  that  they  may  avoid 
harsh  terminations." — Irving'*  Elements  of  English  Composition,  p.  12.  But  if  writers  of  good 
authority,  such  as  Pope,  Byron,  and  Pollok,  ha've  sometimes  had  recourse  to  this  method  of  sim- 
plifying the  verb,  even  in  compositions  of  a  grave  cast,  the  elision  may,  with  tenfold  stronger 
reason,  be  admitted  in  familiar  writing  or  discourse,  on  the  authority  of  general  custom  among 
those  who  choose  to  employ  the  pronoun  thou  in  conversation. 

'  But  thou,  false  Arcite,  never  shall  obtain,"  &c. — Drydm,  Fables. 

'  These  goods  thyself  can  on  thyself  bestow." — Id.  in  Joh.  Diet. 

'  What  I  show,  thy  self  may  freely  on  thyself  bestow." — Id.  Lowth' s  Gram.  p.  26. 

'  That  thou  might  Fortune  to  thy  side  engage." — Prior. 

'  Of  all  thou  ever  conquered,  none  was  left."— Pol/ok,  B.  vii,  1.  760. 

'  And  touch  me  trembling,  as  thou  touched  the  man," — &c. — Id.  B.  x.  1.  60. 
OBS.  33. — Some  of  the  Friends  (perhaps  from  an  idea  that  it  is  less  formal)  misemploy  thce  for 
of  Christians,  who  in  every  thing  else  study  simplicity."—  Fowlers  True  E.  Gram.  Part  II,  p  26.  Wells,  a  still 
later  writer,  gives  this  unsafe  rule:  "When  thr.  past  tense  is  a  monosyllable  not  ending  in  a  single  vowel,  the 
second  person  singular  of  the  solemn  style  is  generally  formed  by  the  addition  of  est ;  as  heardest,  Reddest,  tookest. 
Hadst,  wast,  saidst,  and  didst,  are  exceptions."—  Wells's  School  Gram.  1st  Kd.  p.  106  ;  3d  Ed  p.  110  ;  113th  Ed. 
p.  115.  Now  the  termination  d  or  ed  commonly  adds  no  syllable  ;  so  that  the  regular  past  tense  of  any  mono- 
syllabic verb  is,  with  a  few  exceptions,  a  monosyllable  still ;  as,  freed,  feed,  loved,  feared,  planned,  turned :  and  how 
would  these  sound  with  est  added,  which  Lowth,  Hiley,  Churchill,  and  some  others  erroneously  claim  as  having 
pertained  to  such  preterits  anciently  ?  Again,  if  heard  is  a  contraction  of  heared,  anUJled,  offleed,  as  seems  prob- 
able ;  then  are  hcardst  and  fledst,  which  are  sometimes  used,  more  regular  than  heardtst,  Jltddest :  so  of  many 
other  preterits. 


CHAP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. — VERBS. PERSONS   AND    NUMBERS.  341 

thou  ;  and  often  join  it  to  the  third  person  of  the  verb  in  stead  of  the  second.  Such  expressions 
as,  tin  <•  does,  thce  is,  thcc  has.  thcc  thinks,  &c.,  are  double  solecisms  ;  they  set  all  grammar  at  de- 
.in,  many  persons  who  are  not  ignorant  of  grammar,  and  who  employ  the  pronoun 
aright,  sometimes  improperly  sacrifice  concord  to  a  slight  improvement  in  sound,  and  give  to  the 
verb  the  ending  of  the  third  'person,  for  that  of  the  second.  Three  or  four  instances  of  this,  oc- 
cur in  the  examples  which  have  been  already  quoted.  See  also  the  following,  and  many  more, 
in  the  works  of  the  poet  Burns;  who  says  of  himself.  "Though  it  cost  the  schoolmaster  some 
thrashings,  I  made  an  excellent  English  "scholar ;  and,  by  the  time  I  was  ten  or  eleven  years  of 
age,  I  was  a  critic  in  substantives,  vi:uns,  and  particles  :'" — "  But  when  thou  pours ;  " — "  There 
thou  shines  chief;  " — "Thou  dears  the  head;  " — "  Thou  striiu/s  the  nerves  ;  " — "  Thou  bri/fhteru 
black  despair;" — "  Th  — "Thou  frov0b£ur;" — "Nowtfoufc  turned  out;" — "Unseen 

thou  /»/•.•/>•  .  " — "  O  thou  pale  orb  that  silent  ,s-// //*/.*."     This  mode  of  simplifying  the  verb,  con- 
founds the  i  t  little  advantage  in  sound,  over  the  regular  contracted  form  of 
ond  person,  it  ought  to  be  avoided.   With  this  author  it  may  be,  perhaps,  a  Scotticism  :  as, 
"  Thou  jmiids  auld  nature  to  the  nines, 

In  thy  sweet  Caledonian  lines." — Burns  to  Ramsay. 

"  Thou  paintst   ohl  nature."  would  be   about  as  smooth  poetry,  and  certainly  much  better  En- 
gli^h.     This  confounding  of  the  persons  of  the  verb,  however,  is  no  modern  peculiarity.     It  ap- 
to  be  about  as  old  as  the  use  of  s  for  th  or  eth.     Spenser,  the  great  English  poet  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  may  be  cited  in  proof:  as, 

"  Siker,  thou's  but  a  lazy  loord, 

And  rckes  much  of  thy  swinke." — Joh.  Diet.  w.  Loord. 

Ons.  34. — In  the  solemn  style,  (except  in  poetry,  which  usually  contracts  these  forms,)  the 
second  person  singular  of  the  present  indicative,  and  that  of  the 'irregular  preterits,  commonly 
end  in  cat,  pronounced  as  a  separate  syllable,  and  requiring  the  duplication  of  the  final  consonant, 
according  to  llule  3d  for  Spelling:  as,  I  run,  thou  runnest ;  I  ran,  thou  rannest.  But  as  the 
terini;  o  solemn  discourse,  constitutes  a  syllable,  the  regular  preterits  form  the  second 

person  singular  by  assuming  st,  without  further  increase  of  syllables :  as,  I  loved,  thou  loccdst ; 
not,  '•  >s   (.'handler  made  it  in  his  English  Grammar,  p.  41,  Edition  of  1821;  and   as 

Wells's  rule,  above  cited,  if  literally  taken,  would  make  it.     Dost  and  hast,  and  the  three  irreg- 
ular p.  *?,dif/*(.  and  liadit,  are  permanently  contracted;  though  doest  and  did,. 
sometimes  seen  in  old  b<  '  is  more  common,  and  perhaps  more  regular,  than  saide.st.  Werest 
has  long  been  contracted  into  irert :  "  I  would  thou  werest  either  cold  or  hot." —  \V.  Perkinx.  1608.* 
The  auxiliaries  shall  and  will  change  the  final  /  to  t,  and  become  shalt  and  wilt.      To  the  auxil- 
•  !,  -u-ould,  and  should,  the  termination  cst  was  formerly  added;  but 
'rally  written  with  st  only,  and  pronounced  as  monosyllables,  even  in  solemn 
disc-on '                      v,  in  quoting  the  Scriptures,  very  often  changes  mayest  to  mayst,  mightest  to 
iniyhl                     :ue  other  permanent  contractions  are  occasionally  met  with,  in  what  many  gram- 
call  the  solemn  »'dst  for  biddext,  Jledst  for  Jlcddest,  satst  for  sattest  : 
"  Hiding  sublime,  thou  bidst  the  world  adore, 
And  humblest  nature  with  thy  northern  blast." — Thomson. 

\  thither  whence  thou  fledst."— Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  iv,  1.  963. 
"  Unspeakable,  who  sitst  above  these  heavens." — Id.  ib.  B.  v,  1.  156. 
'•  Why  satst  thou  like  an  enemy  in  wait  ?  " — Id.  ib.  B.  iv,  1.  82o. 

;>•}. — The  formation  of  the  third  person  singular  of  verbs,  is  now  precisely  the  same  as 
that  of  the  plural  number  of  noun-;:    as  lore.  lore*;  xh»w,  shows;  boast,  boasts ;  fly,  flies  ;  reach, 

1  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.     The  ending 
winded  as  ,v  or  z  :  as, 
"  And  thus  I  see  among  these  pleasant  thynges 

.    — F.nrl  of  Snrry. 

'•  With  throte  yrent,  he  roares,  he  lycth  along." — Sir  T.  Wyat. 
'•  He  iii/it/i,  he  is  all  dead,  ':.  — Id.  lot''. 

all  theso  instance  »me  improper.     The  es  does  not  here  form  a 

ither  does  the  ////.  in  "  /V'/'  "  and  "  dycth."  In  very  ancient  times,  the  third  person 
adding  th  or  eth  nearly  as  we  now  add  s  or  es.  f  After- 
H.ble,  it  was  formed  by  adding  th  to  verbs  ending  in  c,  and  ((Ji  to  all 
'.<///  unworthily,  etttcth  and  drinkcth  damnation  to 
.an,  who  is  dead  in  trespasses  and  sin.-;  he  '< 

•  \   life;    lie   sniffi  ,;1 1, ,  x,,l<di<xh,  and  con- 

method  of  inflection,  as  now  pronounced, 

n fined  to  the  solemn  style,  and  is  little  used. 
Of  verbs  thus  formed.      In  the  days 

°f  ^:  .  mixed  them,  in  a  way  which  is  not 

•'   I          qu  il.ty  of  :  iued; 

.lie  rain  from  heaven 
N  neath  :    it  is  twice  hh 

1  him  that  takes." — Merchant  of  Venice. 

.pie  of 

I 

DWARD  VI  :    Toolu,    V..].ii 

i  hove. 

.in  a  remark  upon 

.<•  tliini 

an  addi- 

.  Is  i:o  syllable  : — 
I  ;nickic 
To  see  a  sword  th  r 

Harrington's  Ariosto,  B  xiii :  see  Singer's  SJiak.  Vol.  ii,  p.  296. 


342  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

OBS.  36. — When  the  second  person  singular  is  employed  in  familiar  discourse,  with  any  regard 
to  correctness,  it  is' usually  formed  in  a  manner  strictly  analogous  to  that  which  is  now  adopted 
in  the  third  person  singular.  When  the  verb  ends  with  a  sound  which  will  unite  with  that  of  st 
or  s,  the  second  person  singular  is  formed  by  adding  st  only,  and  the  third,  by  adding  s  only  ;  and 
the  number  of  syllables  is  not  increased  :  as,  Iread,  thou  readst,  he  reads  ;  I  know,  thou  /cnow&t, 
he  knows  ;  I  take,  thou  takest,  he  takes ;  I  free,  thou  freest,  he  frees.  For,  when  the  verb  ends 
in  mute  e,  no  termination  renders  this  e  vocal  in  the  familiar  style,  if  a  synseresis  can  take  place. 
To  prevent  their  readers  from  ignorantly  assuming  the  pronunciation  of  the  solemn  style,  the 
poets  have  generally  marked  such  words  with  an  apostrophe  :  as, 
"  Look  what  thy  soul  holds  dear,  imagine  it 

To  lie  the  way  thou  go'st,  not  whence  thou  com'st." — Shah. 

OBS.  37. — But  when  the  verb  ends  in  a  sound  which  will  not  unite  with  that  of  st  or  s,  the  sec- 
ond and  third  persons  are  formed  by  adding  est  and  es  ;  or,  if  the  first  person  end  in  mute  e,  the 
st  and  s  render  that  e  vocal ;  so  that  the  verb  acquires  an  additional  syllable  :  as,  I  trace,  thou 
tracest,  he  traces;  I  pass,  thou  passest,  he  passes;  I  fix,  thou  fixest,  he  fixes;  I  preach,  thou 
preachest,  he  preaches  ;  I  blush,  thou  blushest,  he  blushes ;  I  judge,  thou  judgest,  he  judges.  But 
verbs  ending  in  o  or  y  preceded  by  a  consonant,  do  not  exactly  follow  either  of  the  foregoing 
rules.  In  these,  y  is  changed  into*,  and,  to  both  o  and  i,  est  and  es  are  added  without  increase 
of  syllables  :  as,  I  go,  thou  goest,  he  goes ;  I  undo,  thou  undoest,  *  he  undoes  ;  I  fly,  thoujliest,  he 
flies ;  I  pity,  thou  pitiest,  he  pities.  'Thus,  in  the  following  lines,  goest  must  be  pronounced  like 
ghost ;  otherwise,  we  spoil  the  measure  of  the  verse  : 

"  Thou  goest  not  now  with  battle,  and  the  voice 
Of  war,  as  once  against  the  rebel  hosts  ; 
Thou  goest  a  Judge,  and  findst  the  guilty  bound : 
Thou  goest  to  prove,  condemn,  acquit,  reward." — Pollok,  B.  x. 

In  solemn  prose,  however,  the  termination  is  here  made  a  separate  syllable  :  as,  I  go,  thou  go?st, 
he  goe'th;  I  undo,  thou  undoest,  he  undoe'th ;  I  fly,  thou  fliest,  \\eflifth;  I  pity,  thou  pitiest,  he 
pitieth. 

OBS.  38. — The  auxiliaries  do,  dost,  does, — (pronounced  doo,  dust,  duz ;  and  not  as  the  words 
dough,  dosed,  doze, — )  am.  art,  is, — have,  hast,  has, — being  also  in  frequent  use  as  principal  verbs 
of  the  present  tense,  retain  their  peculiar  forms,  with  distinction  of  person  and  number,  when 
they  help  to  form  the  compound  tenses  of  other  verbs.  The  other  auxiliaries  are  not  varied,  or 
ought  not  to  be  varied,  except  in  the  solemn  style.  Example  of  the  familiar  use  :  "  That  th.DU 
may  be  found  truly  owning  it." — Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  i,  p.  234. 

OBS.  39. — The  only  regular  terminations  that  are  added  to  English  verbs,  are  ing,  d  or  ed,  st  or 
cst,  s  or  es,  th  or  eth.  f  Ing,  and  th  or  eth,  always  add  a  syllable  to  the  verb ;  except  in  doth,  ha<h, 
saith.^.  The  rest,  whenever  their  sound  will  unite  with  that  of  the  final  syllable  of  the  vob, 
are  usually  added  without  increasing  the  number  of  syllables  ;  otherwise,  they  are  separate  ly 
pronounced.  In  solemn  discourse,  however,  ed  and  est  are  by  most  speakers  uttered  distinctly 
in  all  cases  ;  except  sometimes  when  a  vowel  precedes  :  as  in  sanctified,  glorified,  which  are  pro- 
nounced as  three  syllables  only.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this  analogy,  many  readers  will  have  sanctifi'ist 
and  glorificst  to  be  words  of  four  syllables.  If  this  pronunciation  is  proper,  it  is  only  so  in  sol- 
emn prose.  The  prosody  of  verse  will  show  how  many  syllables  the  poets  make :  as, 
"  Thou  diedst,  a  most  rare  boy,  of  melancholy  !  " — Shak.  Cymb.  Activ,  sc.  2. 
';  Had  not  a  voice  thus  warn'd  me  :  What  thou  seest, 

What  there  thou  seest,  fair  creature,  is  thyself." — Milton,  B.  iv,  1.  467. 
"  By  those  thou  wooedst  from  death  to  endless  life." — Pollok,  B.  ix,  1.  7. 
"  Attend :  that  thou  art  happy,  owe  to  God ; 

That  thou  continuest  such,  owe  to  thyself." — Milton,  B.  v,  1.  520. 
OBS.  40. — If  the  grave  and  full  form  of  the  second  person  singular  must  needs  be  supposed  to 

*  The  second  person  singular  of  the  simple  verb  do,  is  now  usually  written  dost,  and  read  dust ;  being  perma- 
nently contracted  in  orthography,  as  well  as  in  pronunciation.  And  perhaps  the  compounds  may  follow :  as, 
Thou  undost,  outdost,  misdost,  overdost,  Sec.  But  exceptions  to  exceptions  are  puzzling,  even  when  they  con- 
form to  the  general  rule.  The  Bible  has  dost  and  doth  for  auxiliaries,  and  doest  and  dnetli  for  principal  verbs. 

t  N.  Butler  avers, "  The  only  regular  terminations  added  to  verbs  are  est,  s,  ed,  edst,  and  /'??§•." — Butler's  Practical 
Gram.  p.  81.  But  he  adds,  in  a  marginal  note,  this  information  :  "  The  third  person  singular  of  the  present  for- 
merly ended  in  eth.  This  termination  is  still  sometimes  used  in  the  solemn  style.  Contractions  sometimes  take 
place  ;  as,  sayst  for  sa?/-'st." — Ibid.  This  statement  not  only  imposes  a  vast  deal  of  needless  irregularity  upon  th0 
few  inflections  admitted  by  the  English  verb,  but  is,  so  far  as  it  disagrees  with  mine,  a  causeless  innovation.  The 
terminations  rejected,  or  here  regarded  as  irregular,  are  d,  st,  es,  th,  and  eth;  while  eclst,  which  is  plainly  a  com- 
bination of  ed  and  st, — the  past  ending  of  the  verb  with  the  personal  inflection, — is  assumed  to  be  one  single  and 
regular  termination  which  I  had  overlooked!  It  has  long  been  an  almost  universal  doctrine  of  our  grammarians, 
that  regular  verbs  form  their  preterits  and  perfect  participles  by  adding  d  to  final  f,  and  ed  to  any  other  radical 
ending.  Such  is  the  teaching  of  Blair,  Brightland,  Bullions,  Churchill,  Coar,  Comly,  Cooper,  Fowle,  Frazee,  In- 
gersoll,  Kirkham,  Lennie,  Murray,  Weld,  Wells,  Sanborn,  and  others,  a  great  multitude.  But  this  author 
alleges,  that,  "Loved  is  not  formed  by  adding  d  to  love,  but  by  adding  ed,  and  dropping  e  from  love."—  Kutler^s 
Answer  to  Brown.  Any  one  is  at  liberty  to  think  this,  if  he  will.  But  I  see  not  the  vuc  of  playing  thus  with 
mute  EPS,  adding  one  to  drop  an  o:her,  and  often  pretending  to  drop  two  under  one  apostrophe,  as  in  lov'd.  lov'st .' 
To  suppose  that  the  second  person  of  the  regular  preterit,  as  lovedst,  is  not  formed  by  adding  52  to  the  first  person, 
is  contrary  to  the  analogy  of  Other  verbs,  and  is  something  worse  than  an  i  Ik;  whim.  And  why  should  the  for- 
mation of  the  third  person  be  called  irregular  when  it  requires  es,  as  in  flies,  denies,  goes,  vetoes,  ivishes.  prrnrhes, 
and  so  forth  ?  In  fonningjlifs  from.////,  Butler  changes  "  y  into  ie,"  on  page  20th,  adding  s  only  ;  and,  on  page  llth, 
"  into  y  "  only,  adding  es.  Uniformity  would  be  better. 

J  Cooper  says,  "  The  termination  eth  i*  commonly  contracted  into  th,  to  prevent  the  addition  of  a  syllable  to 
the  verb,  as  :  dotth,  doth."— Plain  awl  Practical  Gram,  p  59.  This,  with  reference  to  modern  usage,  is  plainly 
erroneous  For,  when  s  or  es  was  substituted  for  th  or  eth,  and  the  familiar  use  of  the  latter  ceased,  this  mode  of 
inflecting  the  verb  without  increasing  its  syllables,  ceased  also,  or  at  least  became  unusual.  It  appears  that  the 
inflecting  of  verbs  with  tli  without  a  vowel,  as  well  as  with  st  without  a  vowel,  was  more  common  in  very  ancient 
times  than  subsequently.  Our  grammarians  of  the  last  century  seem  to  hnve  been  more  willing  to  encumber  the 
language  with  syllabic  endings,  than  to  simplify  it  by  avoiding  them.  See  Observations,  21st, 22d,  and  23d,  above. 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  VERBS.  -  PERSONS   AND    NUMBERS.  343 

end  rather  with  the  syllable  cst  than  with  st  only,  it  is  certain  that  this  form  may  be  contracted, 
whenever  the  verb  ends  in  a  sound  which  will  unite  with  that  of  xt.  The  poets  generally  employ 
the  briefer  or  contracted  forms  ;  but  they  seem  not  to  have  adopted  a  uniform  and  consistent 
method  of  writing  them.  Some  usually  insert  the  apostrophe,  and,  after  a  single  vowel,  double 
the  tinal  consonant  before  st  ;  as,  kottfft,  bidd'st,  saitl'sf,  tedd'xt,  ircdd'xt,  triintn'st,  matfst, 
might'st,  and  so  forth  :  others,  in  numerous  instances,  add  st  only,  and  form  permanent  contrac- 
tions ;  as,  huldxt,  bidst,  saidst,  ledst,  wedst,  trimst,  mayst,  mi<ihtstt  and  so  forth.  Some  retain  the 
vowel  e,  in  the  termination  of  certain  words,  and  suppress  a  preceding  one  ;  as,  qu/'-k'm-xt, 
happ  next  ,  scutt'rest,  rend'  rest,  rend'redst,  si  timb'  rest  ,  slutnb'rcdst:  others  contract  the  termination 
of  such  words,  and  insert  the  apostrophe;  as,  quicken'  at,  happen  st,  scatter'  st,  render'.1-/1  . 
slumber'  st,  xlmnber'dst.  The  nature  and  idiom  of  our  language,  "  the  accent  and  pronunciation 
of  it,"  incline  us  to  abbreviate  or  "  contract  even  all  our  regular  verbs  ;"  so  as  to  avoid,  if  possible, 
an  increase  of  syllables  in  the  inflection  of  them.  Accordingly,  several  terminations  which 
formerly  constituted  distinct  syllables,  have  been  either  wholly  dropped,  or  blended  with  the  final 
syllables  of  the  verbs  to  which  they  are  added.  Thus  the  plural  termination  en  has  become  entirely 
obsolete  ;  th  or  eth  is  no  longer  in  common  use  ;  ed  is  contracted  in  pronunciation  ;  the  ancient 
ys  or  is,  of  the  third  person  singular,  is  changed  to  s  or  est  and  is  usually  added  without  increase 
of  syllables  ;  and  st  or  est  has,  in  part,  adopted  the  analogy.  So  that  the  proper  mode  of  forming 
these  contractions  of  the  second  person  singular,  seems  to  be,  to  add  st  only  ;  and  to  insert  no 
apostrophe,  unless  a  vowel  is  suppressed  from  the  verb  to  which  this  termination  is  added:  as, 
thinkst,suyst,  bidst,  sitst,  satst,  lov'st,  lov'dst,  shtmberxt,  slumber'  dst. 

"And  know,  for  that  thou  slnmbcrst  on  the  guard, 
Thou  shall  be  made  to  answer  at  the  bar."  —  Cotton. 

OBS.  41.  —  No  man  deserves  more  praise  for  his  attention  to  English  pronunciation,  than  John 

Walker.     His  Pronouncing  Dictionary  was,  for  a  long  period,  the  best  standard  of  orthoepy,  that 

our  schools  possessed.     But  he  seems  to  me  to  have  missed  a  figure,  in  preferring  such  words  as 

quick'.-  '.'t'ncst,  to  the  smoother  and  more  regular  forms,  quickenst,  ttfCHffthaut.  It  is  true 

that  these  are  rough  words,  in  any  form  you  can  give  them;  but  let  us  remember,  that  needless 

Apostrophes  are  as  rough  to  the  eye,  as  needless  st's  to  the  ear.     Our  common  grammarians  are 

d  to  encumber  the  language  with  as  many  of  both  as  they  can  find   any   excuse  for,  and 

more  than  can  be  sustained  by  any  good  argument.     In  words  that  are  well  understood  to 

be  contracted  in  pronunciation,  the  apostrophe  is  now  less  frequently  used  than  it  was  formerly. 

•ntraction  of  the  participial  cd,  and  the  verbal  en,  is  so  fixed  an  idiom  of 

our  pronunciation,  that  to  alter  it,  would  be  to  alter  the  sound  of  the  whole  language.  It  must, 
howt-vcr,  W  regretted  that  it  subjects  our  tongue  to  some  of  the  most  hissing,  snapping,  clashing, 
grinding  sounds  tint  ever  grated  the  ears  of  a"  Vandal:  thus,  rjxped,  serai  .'ted,  bridled, 

.  fee.  almost  frighten  us  when  written  as  they 

are  actually  pronounced  .  rntclit,  icrencht,  bridl'd,  fant/l'd,  birch'  n,  xtrenntIS  nd,  quick'n'd, 

they  become  still  more  formidable  when  used  contracted!}'  in  the  solemn  style,  which  never 
ought  to  l)e  the  case;  for  here  instead  of  thou  strength'  n'st  or'  strength'  n'd'st,  thou  qitick'n'st  or 
''    ' 


qui<  k'n'i,  '  ••<'.  we  ought  to  pronounce  tf/ou  stretii/th'next  or  strength'  neast,  thou   quick'1  nest, 
iiedst,  which  are  sufficiently  harsh  of  all  conscience."  —  Prindpli  s,  Xo.  3-39.     Here  are  too  many 
it  does   not  appear  that  such  words  as  strenythenedest  and  qui>-kenetl<  xt  eve'r 
•pt  in  the  imagination  of  certain  grammarians.     In  s'olemn  prose  one  may  write,  thou 
.  or,  thou  quickened**,  thou  ttrtngthenedst  ;  but,  in  the  familiar  style, 

or  in  poetry,  it  is  better  to  write,  //,<»/  quicketixt,  thou  ttrengthenst,  thou  quickened,  thou  streni; 
This  is  lai!'_rn,i^e  which  it  is  possible  to  utter;  and  it  is  'foolish  to  strangle  ourselves  with  strings 
of  rou.  its,  merely  because  they  are  insisted  on  by  some  superficial  grammarians.     Is  it 

,  is  it  not  incredible,  that  the  "same  hand  should  have  written  the  two  following  lines, 
the  Surely,  the  printer  has  been  at  fault. 

••  With  noli  l>>ss  foot,  tho-i  'lie  vales  of  earth"  — 

st  honourable  th  ,  and  most 

To  be  desire.1  "—ToUok's  Course  of  Time.  15.  ix,  1.  18,  and  1.  24. 
OBS.  ry  common  pra  .  in  contractions  of  the 

.  person  of  n.  .1  i:i  /•/.  and  to  a  Id  tl.e  •  onsouant  terminations 

.  with  an  apostrophe  before  .  ,f  for 

::  -turn,  fair 
:oiu  thou  //v'.sV,  of  him  th.ri  art."—  P.  L.,  B.  iv,  1.  481. 

:i  index  to  the  pronunciation  of  the 

iturefrom  .  derivatives.     That  rule  is, 

len  preceded  b\  :i£rod  into  /  bof- 

pt  those  of  the  r  tury, 

,  or  their  printers,  ha\ 

rul  -  that 

.ill  of  whirM  .1  their 


rm  by 

. 

'.n  both  t>'< 

. 

;'  the  term 

'  <•  as  r< 

one  h  rt  linly  w.  generally,  then  f< 

.   like 
illy  a  syllabic  termin   tion;  hut  .s/,  li  of  the  third  person,  the 


. 

the  termin  :t:  'ii    *t  is 
•  linly  i-  considered  to  be  as  r> 

.<  and 

juivalent  ;   and. 

^°met  boo.     To  all  \evbs  that  admit  the  sound,  we 

add  ihe.s  without  marking  it  as  a  ,  :  an  against 

adding  the  st  in  like  manner,  whenever  we  choose  to  form  the  second  person  without  adding  a 


344  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

syllable  to  the  verb.  The  foregoing  observations  I  commend  to  the  particular  consideration  of 
all  those  who  hope  to  write  such  English  as  shall  do  them  honour — to  every  one  who,  from  a  spark 
of  literary  ambition,  may  say  of  himself, 

"  I  twine 

My  hopes  of  being  remembered  in  my  line 

With  my  land's  language."— Byron's  C.  Harold,  Canto  iv,  st.  9. 

THE  CONJUGATION  OF  VERBS. 

The  conjugation  of  a  verb  is  a  regular  arrangement  of  its  moods,  tenses, 
persons,  numbers,  and  participles. 

There  are  four  PRINCIPAL  PARTS  in  the  conjugation  of  every  simple  and 
complete  verb  ;  namely,  the  Present,  the  Preterit,  the  Imperfect  Participle, 
and  the  Perfect  Participle*  A  verb  which  wants  any  of  these  parts,  is 
called  defective :  such  are  most  of  the  auxiliaries. 

An  auxiliary  is  a  short  verb  prefixed  to  one  of  the  principal  parts  of  an 
other  verb,  to  express  some  particular  mode  and  time  of  the  being,  action,  or 
passion.  The  auxiliaries  are  do,  be,  have,  shall,  will,  may,  can,  and  must, 
with  their  variations. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  present,  or  the  verb  in  the  present  tense,  is  radically  the  same  in  all  the  moods, 
and  is  the  part  from  which  all  the  rest  are  formed.  The  present  infinitive  is  commonly  considered 
the  root,  or  simplest  form,  of  the  English  verb.  We  usually  place  the  preposition  TO  before  it ;  but 
never  when  with  an  auxiliary  it  forms  a  compound  tense  that  is  not  infinitive  :  there  are  also 
some  other  exceptions,  which  plainly  show,  that  the  word  to  is  neither  a  part  of  the  verb,  as 
Cobbett,  R.  C.  Smith,  S.  Kirkham,  and  Wells,  say  it  is  ;  nor  a  part  of  the  infinitive  mood,  as  Hart 
and  many  others  will  have  it  to  be,  but  a  distinct  preposition.  (See,  in  the  Syntax  of  this  work, 
Observations  on  Rule  18th.)  The  preterit  and  the  perfect  participle  are  regularly  formed  by 
adding  d  or  cd,  and  the  imperfect  participle  by  adding  ing,  to  the  present. 

OBS;  2. — The  moods  and  tenses,  in  English,  are  formed  partly  by  inflections,  or  change  s 
made  in  the  verb  itself,  and  partly  by  the  combination  of  the  verb  or  its  participle,  with  a  f e  v 
short  verbs,  called  auxiliaries,  or  helping  verbs.  This  view  of  the  subject,  though  disputed  by 
some,  is  sustained  by  such  a  preponderance  both  of  authority  and  of  reason,  that  I  shall  not  trouble 
the  reader  with  any  refutation  of  those  who  object  to  it.  Murray  the  schoolmaster  observes,  "  la 
the  English  language,  the  times  and  modes  of  verbs  are  expressed  in  a  perfect,  easy,  and  beautiful 
manner,  by  the  aid  of  a  few  little  words  called  auxiliaries,  or  helping  verbs.  The" possibility  of  a 
thing  is  expressed  by  can  or  could;  the  liberty  to  do  a  thing,  by  may  or  might ;  the  inclination  of 
the  will,  by  will  or  would;  the  necessity  of  a  thing,  by  must  or  ought,  shall  or  should.  The  prepo- 
sition to  is  never  expressed  after  the  helping  verbs,  except  after  ought." — Alex.  Murray's  Gram. 
p.  112.  See  nearly  the  same  words  in  Buchanan's  English  Syntax,  p.  3G;  and  in  the  British 
Grain,  p.  12o. 

OBS.  3. — These  authors  are  wrong  in  calling  ought  a  helping  verb,  and  so  is  Oliver  B.  Peirce,  in 
calling  Bought  to,"  and  "  ought  to  have"  auxiliaries  ;  for  no  auxiliary  ever  admits  the  preposition 
to  after  it  or  into  it :  and  Murray  of  Holdgate  is  no  less  in  fault,  for  calling  let  an  auxiliary  ;  because 
no  mere  auxiliary  ever  governs  the  objective  case.  The  sentences.  "  He  ought  to  hc/p'you,"  and 
"Let  him  help  you,"  severally  involve  two  different  moods :  they  are  equivalent  to,  '"It  is  h>s 
duty  to  help  you;" — "Permit  him  to  help  you."  Hence  ought  and  let  are  not  auxiliaries,  but 
principal  verbs. 

OBS  4. — Though  most  of  the  auxiliaries  are  defective,  when  compared  with  other  verbs  :  yet  these 
three,  do,  be,  and  have,  being  also  principal  verbs,  are  complete  :  but  the  participles  of  do  and  have 
are  not  used  as  auxiliaries  ;  unless  having,  which  helps  to  form  the  third  or  "  compound  perfect " 
participle,  (as  having  loved,)  may  be  considered  such.  The  other  auxiliaries  have  no  participles. 

OBS.  .5  — English  verbs  are  principally  conjugated  by  means  of  auxiliaries ;  the  only  tenses 
which  can  be  formed  by  the  simple  verb,  being  the  present  and  the  imperfect ;  as  I  love,  I  loved. 
And  even  here  an  auxiliary  is  usually  preferred  in  questions  and  negations  ;  as,  "Do  you  love  ?" — 
"You  do  not  love."  "Did  he  love?"—'1  He  did  not  love."  "Do  I  not  yet  grieve'/"— -'Did  she 
not  die?"  All  the  other  tenses,  even  in  their  simplest  form,  are  compounds.' 

0ns.  6. — Dr.  Johnson  says,  "Do  is  sometimes  used  superfluously,  as  /  do  lore,  I  did  love  ;  simply 
for  I  lore,  or  I  loved ;  but  this  is  considered  as  a  vitious  mode  of  speech." — (Irani,  hi  \to  Diet.  p. 
8.  He  also  somewhere  tells  us,  that  these  auxiliaries  "  are  not  proper  before  be  and  have ;  "  as, 
"Idobe,"  for  Iain;  "I  did  have"  for  I  had.  The  latter  remark  is  generally  true,  and  it  ought  to 

*  These  are  what  William  Ward,  in  his  Practical  Grammar,  written  about  1765,  denominated  "  the  CAPITAL 
FORMS,  or  'Hoots,  of  the  English  Verb."  Their  number  too  is  the  same.  "  And  these  ;  lie,  "  are  con- 

sidered as  i'nnr  ii>  each  verb  :  although  in  many  verbs  two  of  them  are  alike,  and  in  some  few  three  are  alike." 
— P.  fiO.  Few  modern  grammarians  have  been  careful  to  display  these  Chief  Terms,  or  Principal  Parrs,  properly. 
Many  say  nothing  about  them.  Some  speak  of  three,  and  name  them  faultily.  Thus  \Vells:  ••  The  '  h  ree />«'»«'- 
palparts  of  a  verb  are  the  .  the  /jnst  tense,  and  Vhu  perfect  participle."— School  Cmm.  \\:;.\\  Ed.  p.  0'2. 

Now  a  whole-  "  tc,is>:  "  is  something  more  than  one  verbal  form,  and  \Vells's  "  perfect  participle  ''  includes  the 
nuxili.ir.  ••  Ihn-ht^.'1'    Hence,  in  stead  ot  write, wrote,  writing,  written,  (the  true  principal  parts  of  •.:  certain  verb,) 
snider  V.'ells's  description,  cither  of  these  threes,  bof.li  entirely  false  •  titii  n:ril.in  :,  ili/l  vri/f,  and 
liavinif  writti  n  :  or,  tin  writ  'I  iini-in^  icritten.    But  writing,  being  the  root  of  the  "  Pro.uresi-ivo  1'orm 

of  tho  Verb,"  is  far  more  worthy  to  he  here  counted  a  chief  term,  than  wrote,  the  preterit,  which  occurs  only  in 
one  tense,  and  never  receives  an  auxiliary.  So  of  other  verbs.  This  sort  of  treatment  of  the  Principal  Parts,  is 
a  yery  grave  defect  in  sundry  schemes  of  grammar. 


CI1AP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY.  —  VERBS.  -  CONJUGATION.  345 

be  remc-nb.?red;*  but,   in  the  imperative  mood,  be  and  have  will  admit  the  emphatic  word  do 

before-  i-  ireful;"  —  "It  >  ///•"••  a  little  discretion."     Sanbor  v  puts 

do  before  fe,  in  this  mood  :  M,  ••/>>>•  m  <>•.    DJ  y  >n  '-  -  j;u  irded.    Dothou6^.    Dothoa  6*  guarded." 

p.   1  •;  >.     "Do'thou  be  watchful."  —  Ih.  p.  135.     In  these  instances,  he  must 

have  t  .  -ewheresaid  positively,  that.  "Do,  as  an  auxiliary,  '  with 

theve:  —  V).  p.  112.  In  the  other  moods,  it  is  seldom  proper  before  be;  but  it  is  sometimes 

Mad  before  Aa#e,  especially  with  ft  n  if  "  Those  modes  of  charity  which  •'  .:iview 

the  cultivation  or  moral  excellence,  are  essentially  defective."  —  \Va  p.  428. 

"  Sun  natural  or  revealed,  does  not  have  respect  merely  to  the  external 

condu,  ••  And  each  day  of  our  lives  do  we 

.I'tnt  it."  —  Dr.  Bartlvtt's  Lecture  on  Hc.dth,  p.  ').'    "  Verbs,  in  them- 

person  and  number."  —  It.  ('.  S/tc't/t'x  X<-io  Gram.  p.  21.     [This  notion 

1.    Kirkham  taught  the  sam  rson."]     In  the  following  example, 

—the  auxihiry  is,  —  and  perhaps  allowably  :"  It  is  certain  from  scripture,  that 

i   the  course  of  life  many  times  offend  and  be  forgiven."  —  Ji 
to  a  ': 

OBS.  7.—  In  the  compound  tenses,  there  is  never  any  variation  of  ending  for  the  different  persons 

and  n  '[>t  iu  the  first  auxiliary  :  as,  "Thou  wilt  hive  finished  it;"  not,  "Thoawiif 

hastji,  .  s  nonsense.     And  even  for  the  former,  it  is  better  to  say,  in  the  familiar 

>ed  it  ;"  for  it  is  characteristic  of  many  of  the  auxiliaries,  that,  unlike 

other  u-e  not  varied  by  s  or  eth,  in  the  third  person  singular,  and  never  by  st  or  est,  in 

i  singular,  except  in  the  solemn  style.     Thus  all  the  auxiliaries  of  the  potential 

mood,  as  well  as  shall  and  will  of  the  indicative,  are  without  inflection  in  the  third  person  singular, 

principal  verb,  makes  wills  or  willeth,  as  well  as  wiliest,  in  the  indicative  present. 

there  appears  a  tendency  in  the  language,  to  confine  the  inflection  of  its  verbs  to  this  tense 

only  :  and  to  the  auxiliary  have,  hast,  has,  which  is  essentially  present,  though  used  with  a  par- 

ticiple to  form  the  perfect.    Dot  dost,  does,  and  am,  art,  is,  whether  used  as  auxiliaries  or  as 

princip  .  e  always  of  the  indicative  present. 

>rd  need,  —  (though,  as  a  principal  verb  and  transitive,  it  is  unquestionably  both 

regular  airl  <•.>  .ipl^t^,  —  having  all  the  requisite  parts,  need,  needed,  need  —  and  being 

jd  in  the  indicative  present,  as,    I  need,  thou  needst  or  tieedcst,  he  needs  or 

.qu.'ntly  used  without  inflection,  when  placed  before  an  other  verb  to  express  a 

ity  nf  the  being,  action,  or  passion,  that  one  may  well  question  whether  it  has  not  become, 

under  these  circumstances,  an  auxiliary  of  the  potential  mood  ;  and  therefore  proper  to  be  used, 

like  all  the  other  auxiliaries  of  this  mood,  without  change  of  termination.     I  have  not  yet  know- 

ingly i:  .  nor  does  it  appear  to  have  been  classed  with  the  auxiliaries,  by  any  of  our 

•   r.f    I  shall  therefore  not  presume  to  say  now,  with  positiveness,  that 

nk  ;  (though  I  incline  to  think  it  does  ;)  but  rather  quote  such  instances  as  have 

occurred  t.)  m  •  in  re  a.  ling,  and  leave  the  student  to  take  his  choice,  whether  to  condemn  as  bad 

iples,  or  to  justify  them  in  this  manner.  "  He  that  can  swim,  need  not 

-.is  Rasselas,  p.  '1  .».    •  •  One  therefore  needs  not  expect  to  do  it."  —  Kirkham'  s 

\~i~>.     "In  so  doing  I  should  only  record  some  vain  opinions  of  this  age,  which  a 

>•/«.,   on  the  Voice,  p.  34-5.     "  That  a  boy  needs  not  be  kept  at 

:on,  p.  161.     "  No  man  need  promise,  unless  he  please."  — 

,312.     "  What  better  reason  needs  \>e  given  ?  "  —  Cainjtbell's  Rhct.  p.  51. 

no  other  reason  for  his  conduct."  —  Way  land,  ib.  p.  214.     "  Now  there  is  nothing 

that  a  ;  :i  unod  of  in  all  this."  —  Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  45.     "  No  notice  need   be 

taken  of  t'.  '•  llhyminy  Diet.  Vol.  ii,  p.  304.     "Yet  it  need?  not  be 

repeat  .  Part  ii,  p.  51.     "He  need  not  be  anxious."  —  Grcenle.if's   Gram. 

b  not  be  air  :/ied,  p.  124.     "  He  who  will 

i  to  write."  —  Red  Book,  p.  22.     "  The  hccder  need  be  under  no 

.  :>S.  j;     "  More  i»;<>  not  be  s;iid  about  it."  —  Cobbctt's  E.  Gram.  IT  272. 

I."  —  Booth's  Introd.  to  Diet.  p.  37.     "  Indeed,  th^re  need  be  no 

7.v  to  be  illustrated."—//;,    p.  81.     "And  no 

' 


omitt'  1."  —  /'  .'uner*,  p.  1  1  1.    "  The  learner 

»;  —  /'"'.  p.  6.     "  No  one  need  be  apprehensive  of 

•'»/),  p.  171.     "The  student  who  has  bought 

r.-pent  "  —  Dr.  ./  /t/txu/i,  .lilr.  loDi<t.     "  He  need  not  enumerate 

•A  quotation  consisting  of  a  word 

th  a  capital."—  Their  sex  is  commonly 

1."  —  /''•!>  -  dram.  •'>[.     "  One  need  only 

open  1.  ::id  examples  every  where."  —  Blair's  Rhct  p.  108.     "Their  sex 

is  coin  rrai/'s  Duodecimo 

—  LOCKK:   in  Sviborn'* 

••  r  uninteresting  to  the  pur- 

•uer."-  i     p.  vii.     "The  exact  amount  of  knowledge  is  not,  and  need  not  be, 

•    V  •  li^m  for  school-bofs,  such  English  as  the  fol- 

• 

ii  1  h:ive."— 
Ib.  p.   1    .  .b  be  after  thi  '.at  the 

ire.  is  formed  /<£«   nn  <m  riliary.  and  if 

!s   Imp. 

;  trnilicts  him- 

.  '  he  ntedsj  '  /»«•  dares."1  an 

:  175. 

.';-.•*  a  remark  for  the  justifl- 
•i  any  other  thau  anoayiuous  examples, 
which  a:  ntion. 


346  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

great." — Todd's  Student's  Manual,  p.  44.  "  He  needs  to  act  under  a  motive  which  is  all-pervading." 
— Ib.  p.  375.  "What  need  be  said,  will  not  occupy  a  long  space." — Ib.  p.  244.  "The  sign  TO 
needs  not  always  be  used." — Buckets  Gram.  p.  96.  "  Such  as  he  need  not  be  ashamed  of." — Snell- 
ing's  Gift  for  Scribblers,  p.  23. 

"  Neeckt  thou — need  any  one  on  earth — despair  ?  " — Ib.  p. 32. 

"Take  timely  counsel;  if  your  dire  disease 

Admits  no  cure,  it  needs  not  to  displease." — Ib.  p.  14. 

OBS.  9. — If  need  is  to  be  recognized  as  an  auxiliary  of  the  potential  mood,  it  must  be  under- 
stood to  belong  to  two  tenses  ;  the  present  and  the  perfect ;  like  may,  can,  and  must :  as,  "  He  need 
not  go,  He  need  not  have  gone ;  Thou  need  not  go,  Thou  need  not  have  gone;"  or,  in  the  solemn 
style,  "Thou  needst  not  go,  Thou  needst  not  have  gone."  If,  on  the  contrary,  we  will  have  it  to 
be  always  a  principal  verb,  the  distinction  of  time  should  belong  to  itself,  and  also  the  distinction 
of  person  and  number,  in  the  parts  which  require  it :  as,  "  He  needs  not  go,  He  needed  not  go  ; 
Thou  needst  not  go,  Thou  needed  not  go  ;"  or,  in  the  solemn  style,  "  Thou  needcst  not  go,  Thou 
neededst  not  go."  Whether  it  can  be  right  to  say,  "  He  needed  not  have  gone"  is  at  least  ques- 
tionable. From  the  observations  of  Murray,  upon  relative  tenses,  under  his  thirteenth  rule  of 
syntax,  it  seems  fair  to  infer  that  he  would  have  judged  this  phraseology  erroneous.  Again,  i(  He 
needs  not  have  gone,"  appears  to  be  yet  more  objectionable,  though  for  the  same  reason.  And  if, 
"  He  need  not  havegone,"  is  a  correct  expression,  need  is  clearly  proved  to  be  an  auxiliary,  and 
the  three  words  taken  together  must  form  the  potential  perfect.  And  so  of  the  plural ;  for  the 
argument  is  from  the  connexion  of  the  tenses,  and  not  merely  from  the  tendency  of  auxiliaries  to 
reject  inflection  :  as,  "  They  need  not  have  been  under  great  concern  about  their  public  affairs." — 
Hutchinson's  History,  i,  194.  From  these  examples,  it  may  be  seen  that  an  auxiliary  and  a  princi- 
pal verb  have  some  essential  difference  •  though  those  who  dislike  the  doctrine  of  compound 
tenses,  pretend  not  to  discern  any.  Take  some  furtker  citations  ;  a  few  of  which  are  erroneous 
in  respect  to  time.  And  observe  also  that  the  regular  verb  sometimes  admits  the  preposition  to 
after  it :  "  «  There  is  great  dignity  in  being  waited  for,'  said  one  who  had  the  habit  of  tardiness, 
and  who  had  not  much  else  of  which  he  need  be  vain." — Student's  Manual,  p.  64.  "  But  he  needed 
not  have  gone  so  far  for  more  instances." — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  143.  "  He  need  not  have  said, 
'perhaps  the  virtue.'  " — Sedgwick's  Economy,  p.  196.  "  I  needed  not  to  ask  how  she  felt." — Ab- 
bott's Young  Christian,  p.  84'.  "  It  need  not  have  been  so."— Ib.  p.  111.  "  The  most  unaccommo- 
dating politician  need  not  absolutely  want  friends." — Hunt's  Feast  of  the  Poets,  p.  iii.  "Which 
therefore  needs  not  be  introduced  with  much  precaution." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  326.  "  Whc  \  an 
obscurer  term  needs  to  be  explained  by  one  that  is  clearer." — Ib.  p.  367.  "  Though,  if  she  had  died 
younger,  she  need  not  have  known  it." — West's  Letters,  p.  120.  "  Nothing  netd  be  said,  but  that 
they  were  the  most  perfect  barbarisms." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  470.  "  He  need  not  go." — Goodeiow's 
Gram.  p.  36.  "  He  needed  but  use  the  word  body." — LOCKE  :  in  Joh.  Diet.  "He  need'  not  b?  re- 
quired to  use  them." — Parker's  Eng.  Composition,  p.  50.  "  The  last  consonant  of  appear  need 
not  be  doubled." — Dr.  Webster.  "  It  needs  the  less  to  be  inforced." — Brown's  Estimate,  ii,  158. 
"  Of  these  pieces  of  his,  we  shall  not  need  to  give  any  particular  account." — Seneca's  Morals,  p.  vi. 
"  And  therefore  I  shall  need  say  the  less  of  them." — Scougal,  p.  101.  "This  compounding  of 
words  need  occasion  no  surprise." — Cardell's  Essay  on  Language,  p.  87. 

"  Therefore  stay,  thou  necdst  not  to  be  gone."' — Shakspeare. 

"Thou  need  iia  start  awa  sae  hasty." — Burns.  Poems,  p.  15. 

"  Thou  need  n&jouk  behint  the  hallan." — Id.  ib.  p.  67. 

OBS.  10. — The  auxiliaries,  except  must,  which  is  invariable,  have  severally  two  forms  in  respect 
to  tense,  or  time  ;  and  when  inflected  in  the  second  and  third  persons  singular,  are  usually  varied 
in  the  following  manner  :  — 

|TO  DO. 

PRESENT  TENSE  ;  AND  SIGN  OF  THE  INDICATIVE  PRESENT. 
Sing.    I  do,  thou  dost,  he  does  ;  Plur.     We  do,  you  do,  they  do. 

IMPERFECT  TENSE  ;   AND  SIGN  OF  THE  INDICATIVE  IMPERFECT. 
Siny.    I  did,  thou  didst,  he  did ;  Plur.    We  did,  you  did,  they  did. 

TO  BE. 

PRESENT  TENSE;  AND  SIGN  OF  THE  INDICATIVE  PRESENT. 
Sing.     I  am,  thou  art,  he  is  ;  Plur.     We  are,  you  are,  they  arc. 

IMFERFECT  TENSE  ;  AND  SIGN  OF  THE  INDICATIVE  IMPERFECT. 
Sing.     I  was,  thou  wast,  he  was  ;  Plur.     We  were,  you  were,  they  were. 

TO  HAVE. 

PRESENT  TENSE;  BUT  SIGN  OF  THE  INDICATIVE  PERFECT. 
Sing.     I  have,  thou  hast,  he  has  ;  Plur.    We  have,  you  have,  they  Lave. 

IMPERFECT  TENSE  ;   BUT  SIGN  OF  THE  INDICATIVE  PLUPERFKCT. 
Sing.     I  had,  thou  hadst,  he  had  ;  Plur.    WTe  had,  you  had,  they  had. 

SHALL  AND  WILL. 

These  auxiliaries  have  distinct  meanings,  and,  as  signs  of  the  future,  they  are  interchanged 
thus: 

PRESENT  TENSE;  BUT  SIGNS  OF  THE  INDICATIVE  FIRST-FUTURE. 

1.  Simply  to  express  a  future  action  or  event :  — 

Sing.    I  shall,  thou  wilt,  he  will ;  Plur.    We  shall,  you  will,  they  will. 

2.  To  express  a  promise,  command,  or  threat:  — 

Sing.    I  will,  thou  shalt,  he  shall ;  Plur.     We  will,  you  shall,  they  shall. 


CIIAP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. CONJUGATIONS.  347 

IMPERFECT  TENSE;   BUT,  AS  SIGNS,  AORIST,  OR  INDEFINITE. 

1.  Used  with  reference  to  duty  or  expediency  :  — 
S//i<7.     I  should,  thou  shouldst,  he  should  ;  Plar.  We  should,  you  should,  they  should. 

2.  Used  with  reference  to  volition  or  desire  :  — 
Si/iy.     I  would,  thou  wouldst,  he  would;  Plur.     We  would,  you  would,  they  would. 

MAY. 

PRESENT  TINSK;    AND  SK;N  OF  THE  POTENTIAL  PRESENT. 
N/'/iy.     I  iiuiy,  thou  iiKiyst,  he  m:iy  ;  Plur.     We  may,  you  may,  they  may. 

IMPERFECT  TENSK  :   AND  SIGN    OF  THE  POTENTIAL  IMPERFECT. 
Sing.     I  might,  thou  mightst,  he  might;  Plur.     We  might,  you  might,  they  might. 

CAX. 

PKi.M-.N-r  TKXSF.  :    AND  SIGN  OF  THE  POTENTIAL  PRESENT. 
N//K/.     I  can,  thou  canst,  he  run  ;  Plur.     We  can,  you  can,  they  can. 

IMPERFECT  TENSK;   AND  SIGN  OF  THE  POTENTIAL  IMPERFECT. 
Siny.    I  could,  thou  couldst,  he  could ;  Plur.    We  could,  you  could,  they  could. 

MUST. 

TENSE;   AND  SIGN  OF  THE  POTENTIAL  PRESENT. 

I  must,  thou  must,  he  must;  Plur.     We  must,  you  must,  they  must. 

If  must  is  ever  used  in  the  sense  of  the  Imperfect  tense,  or  Preterit,  the  form  is  the  same  aa 
that  of  the  Present :  this  word  is  entirely  invariable. 

OHS.  11. — Several  of  the  auxiliaries  are  occasionally  used  as  mere  expletives,  being  quite  un- 
necessary to  the  sense  :  as,  1.  Do  and  DID  :  "And  it  is  night,  wherein  all  the  beasts  of  the  forest 
do  creep  forth." — Psalmx,  civ,  20.  ''And  ye,  that  on  the  sands  with  printless  foot  do  chase  the 
ebbing  Xr-UTU',  and  do  fly  him  when  he  comes  back." — Shak.  "And  if  a  man  did  need  a  poison 
now." — /  '.  lii  3  needle<>  u*c  of  do  and  did  is  now  avoided  by  good  writers.  2.  SHALL,  SHOULD, 
and  Co;  \.\t:  '•  "  Men  .shall  deal  unadvisedly  sometimes,  which  after-hours  give  leisure  to  repent 
of.'  1  >u  to  proceed.  I  should  think  it  would  succeed.  He  it  should  seem,  thinks 

m.  p.  65.     "  I  row/i/  wish  yon  to  go."— /i.  p.  71.    3.  WILL,  &c.    The 

follow::  :  ly  of  the  same  character,  but  not  exactly  :   "  The  isle  is  full  of  noises  ;    some- 

twanging  instruments  irill  hum  about  mine  ears." — Shak.     "In  their  evening 
sport-  in  amongst  them." — fturbauld. 

"  His  l>tU---  length  at  noontide  would  he  stretch." — Gray. 

old  writers  often  formed  the  infinitive  in  en,  so  they  sometimes  dropped  the 

tormina1  ion  of  the  perfect  participle.     Hence  we  find,  in  the  infancy  of  the  language,  done  used 

for  do,  and  d  .   and  that  by  the  same  hand,  with  like  changes  in  other  verbs  :  as,  "  Thou 

canst:  ie  was  wont  to  done." — Id.     "  The  treson  that  to  women 

•r  to  ben  honourable  and  free." — Id.     "  I  am  sworn  to  holden  it  secre." — 

Id.     "  Our  nature  God  hath  to  him  innjte." — Dnwilas.     "  None  otherwise  negligent  than  I  you 
•aic  hauc  I  not  bee.1' — Id.     See  W.Atten'i  7-,'.  Grain,  p.  97. 
11  But  nethcless  the  thynge  is  do, 
That  fals  god  was  soone  go." — GOWER  :  H.  Tookc,  Vol.  i,  p.  376. 

is  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  m&gan,  to  be  able.     In  the  parent  language  also,  it 
:;i  auxiliary.     It  '•.  hv  Fortescue,    as  a  principal  verb  ;  'They  shall  may  do 

it : '  i.  e.  t!ii  v  shall  be  able  (to)  do  it." — W.  Allen's  (Irani,  p.  70.     ''3/ay  not,  was  formerly  used 
for  ;//  ces  for  which  we  may  not  cease  to  sue.'  Hooker." — Ib.  p.  91.     "May  fre- 

quently expresses  doubt  of  the  fact ;  as,  < I  may  have  the  book  in  my  library,  but  I  think  I  have 
not.'     It    is    used    aU<>.  .  doubt,  or  a  consequence,  with  a  "future  signification;  as,   'I 

L86  of  my  limbs,  but  I  see  httle  probability  of  it.' — 'That  they  may  receive  me 
into  their  1,  .4." — ('/mrr/tiir*   drum.  p.  217.     In  these  latter  instances,  the  po- 

tential akin  to  the  subjunctive.     Hence  Lowth  and  others  improperly  call  "/may 

[uncttre  mood.     Others,  for  the  same  reason,  and  with  as  little  propriety,  deny 
that  \  subjunctive  mood  ;  alleging  an  ellipsis  in    «  verv  thing  that  bears  that  name: 

as,  "  '  If  it  .  .sly  with  all  men.'  Scriptures." — ]V.  Allt  //'.v  < //•,.',//.  p.  61. 

-hin^.  ami  ten  in   prayer:  as,   "Mm/  it  be  thy  good 

— ••  (.)  that:  --'•Mm/at  thou  be  pleas'ed."     Hence  the  potential  is 

ukin  aN'i  t  >  the  itnper  Thy  will   he  done," — "May   thy  will  be    done," — 

"  lie  th\  \\ill  d»:.  thy  Will  b-  alike  in  meaning,  but  not  in  mood  or  con- 

ion. 

the  same  as  the  regular  verbs  ken,  to  sec.  and  con, 

'i  or  cunnnn,  to  know;  whence  al-  >  the 

In  the  following  example  irill  and   can  are 

don  is,  not  •  second,  not/o  can." — Ld.  Bacon. 

•  siirnify  power,   appears  from  these  example* : 

!  -MfuAiouffSf  &g  i,K\iif,   Strengthen 

it  as  \  :-i,    I  know   not  how   to  (i.  e.   7  cannot) 

lie"—  M  .   p.  71.     v  .   for  which  reason 

shdtld  literally    •  '.      In    the   foil  .;>le 'from  Chaucer,  shall  is  a  principal 

veib,  with  its  original  meaning  : 

•  •-.  by  the  faith  I  !.  I  wcne, 

Was  neucr  stran:  ' — II'.  Allen's  Gram.    p.  01. 

Ons.  1 1. — Do  and  <^d are  auxiliary  on!  ofinitive,  or  the  radical  verb ;  MtdotJtrOtot 

dit  th,  in  //irnir  is  marked  by  t/o  or  to.     Jic,   in  all  its  parts,  is 

auiili  r  of  the  simple  participles ;  nx,  to  be  throwing,  to  be  f/n-<»c/t  .•    7  a»i  throwing,  I 

niii    thrown  :  and  so,  through  the  whole  conjugation.    Have  and  had,  in  their  literal  use,  are 


348  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

auxiliary  to  the  perfect  participle  only;  as,  hare  thrown,  had  thrown.  Have  is  from  the  Saxon 
habban,'to  possess  ;  and,  from  the  nature  of  the  perfect  participle,  the  tenses  thus  formed,  suggest 
in  general  a  completion  of  the  action.  The  French  idiom  is  similar  to  this  :  as,  J'ai  vu,  I  have  seen. 
Shall  and  should,  icill  and  would,  may  and  might,  can  and  could,  must,  and  also  need,  (if  we  call 
the  last  a  helping  verb,)  are  severally  auxiliary  to  both  forms  of  the  infinitive,  and  to  these  only  : 
as,  shall  throw,  shall  have  thrown ;  should  throw,  sho^tld  hare  throicn;  and  so  of  all  the  rest. 

OBS.  16. — The  form  of  the  indicative  pluperfect  is  sometimes  used  in  lieu  of  the  potential  plu- 
perfect; as,  "  If  all  the  world  could  have  seen  it,  the  wo  had  been  universal." — Shakspean.  Ihat 
is,  ((  u'ould  have  been  universal."  "I  had  been  drowned,  but  that  the  shore  was  shelvy  and 
shallow." — Id.  That  is — "  I  should  have  been  drowned."  This  mode  of  expression  may  be  referred 
to  the  figure  cnallage,  in  which  one  word  or  one  modification  is  used  for  an  other.  Similar  to 
this  is  the  use  of  were  for  would  be:  "It  were  injustice  to  deny  the  execution  of  the  law  to 
any  individual ;"  that  is,  "  it  would  be  injustice." — Murray's  Grammar,  p.  89.  In  some  in- 
stances, were  and  had  been  seem  to  have  the  same  import ;  as,  "  Good  were  it  for  that  man  if  he 
had  never  been  born." — Mark,  xiv,  21.  "  It  had  been  good  for  that  man  if  he  had  not  been  born." — 
Matt,  xxvi,  24.  In  prose,  all  these  licenses  are  needless,  if  not  absolutely  improper.  In  poetry, 
their  brevity  may  commend  them  to  preference ;  but  to  this  style,  I  think,  they  ought  to  be  con- 
fined :  as, 

"  That  had  been  just,  replied  the  reverend  bard  ; 

But  done,  fair  youth,  thou  ne'er  hadst  met  me  here." — Pollok. 
"  The  keystones  of  the  arch  ! — though  all  \vere  o'er, 
For  us  repeopled  were  the  solitary  shore." — Byron. 

OBS.  17. — With  an  abverb  of  comparison  or  preference,  as  better,  rather,  best,  as  lief,  oraslieve, 
the  auxiliary  had  seems  sometimes  to  be  used  before  the  infinitive  to  form  the  potential 
imperfect  or  pluperfect :  as,  '"  He  that  loses  by  getting,  had  betterlose  than  get." — Pcnn's  Maxims. 
"  Other  prepositions  had  better  have  been  substituted.'" — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  166.  "  I  had  as  lief 
say." — LOWTH  :  ib.  p.  110.  "  It  compels  me  to  think  of  that  which  I  had  rather  for  get." — Bicker- 
steth,  on  Prayer,  p.  25.  "  You  had  much  better  say  nothing  upon  the  subject." — Webster's  Essays, 
p.  147.  "  I  had  much  rather  show  thee  what  hopes  thou  hast  before  thec." — Baxter.  "I  had 
rather  speak  five  words  with  my  understanding,  than  ten  thousand  words  in  an  unknown  tongue." 
— 1  Cor.  xiv,  19.  "  I  knew  a  gentleman  in  America  who  told  me  how  much  rather  he  had  be  a 
woman  than  the  man  he  is." — Martineau's  Society  in  America,  Vol.  i.  p.  153.  "  I  had  as  lief  go 
as  not." — Webster's  Diet.  w.  Lief.  "I  had  as  licve  the  town  crier  spoke  my  lines." — SHAK.:  Hari'let. 
"  We  had  best  leave  nature  to  her  own  operations." — Kames,  EL  of  Grit.  Vol.  i,  p.  310.  "  "What 
method  had  he  best  take?" — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  ix.  These  are  equivalent  to  the  phrases,  m  'ght 
better  lose — might  better  have  been  substituted — icould  as  lief  say — would  rather  forget — m  ight  m  uch 
better  say — icould  much  rather  shoAV — would  rather  speak — how  much  rather  he  icould  be — u\  uld 
as  lief  go — should  best  leave — might  he  best  take  ;  and,  for  the  sake  of  regularity,  these  latter  fo  'ms 
ought  to  be  preferred,  as  they  sometimes  are :  thus,  "  For  my  own  part,  I  would  rather  took  upon 
a  tree  in  all  its  luxuriancy." — Addison,  Spect.  No.  414;  Blair's  RJiei.  p.  223.  The  following  con- 
struction is  different :  "  Augustus  had  like  to  have  been  slain." — &.  Butler.  Here  had  is  a  principal 
verb  of  the  indicative  imperfect.  The  following  examples  appear  to  be  positively  erroneous: 
"Much  that  was  said,  had  better  remained  unsaid." — N.  Y.  Observer.  Say,  "  might  better  have  re- 
mained." "  A  man  that  is  lifting  a  weight,  if  he  put  not  sufficient  strength  to  it,  had  as  good  put 
none  at  all." — Baxter.  Say,  "might  as  well  put."  "You  were  better  pour  off  the  first  infusion, 
and  use  the  latter." — Bacon.  Say,  "might  letter  pour  "  or,  if  you  preterit,  "had  better  pour." 
Shakspeare  has  an  expression  which  is  still  worse : — 

"  Or,  by  the  worth  of  mine  eternal  soul, 
Thou  hadst  been  better  have  been  born  a  dog." — Beauties,  p.  295. 

OBS.  18. — The  form  of  conjugating  the  active  verb,  is  often  called  the  Active  Voice,  and  that  of 
the  passive  verb,  the  Passive  Voice.  These  terms  are  borrowed  from  the  Latin  and  Greek  grammars, 
and,  except  as  serving  to  diversify  expression,  are  of  little  or  no  use  in  English  grammar.  Some 


grammarians   deny  that  there  is  any  propriety  in  them,  with  respect  to  any  language.     De  Saey, 
after  showing  that  the  import  of  the  verb  does  not  always  follow  its   form   of  voice,    adds:  •'  We 

h  the  Voice  of  a  Verb  from  its  signification.  To  facilitate 
rx  Active  Verb  which  contains  an  Attribute  in  which  the  action 
ject ;  and. that  a  Passive  Verb  which  contains  an  Attribute  in 
fered  by  the  Subject,  and  performed  upon  it  by  some  agent. 


must,  therefore,  carefully  distinguish  the  Voice  of  a  Verb  from  its  signification.  To  facilitate 
the  distinction,  I  denominate  that  an  Active  Verb  which  contains  an  Attribute  in  which  the  action 
is  considered  as  performed  by  the  Subject ;  and.  that  a  Passive  Verb  which  contains  an  Attribute  in 
which  the  action  is  considered  as  suffe 


OBS.  19. — A  recognition  of  the  difference  between  actives  and  passives,  in  our  original  classifica- 
tion of  verbs  with  respect  to  their  signification, — a  principle  of  division  very  properly  adopted  in 
a  great  majority  of  our  grammars  and  dictionaries,  but  opinionately  rejected  by  Webster,  Bolles, 
and  sundry  late  grammarians, — renders  it  unnecessary,  if  not  improper,  to  place  Voices,  the  Active 
Voice  and  the  Passive,  among  the  modifications  of  our  verbs,  or  to  speak  of  them  as  such  in  the 
conjugations.  So  must  it  be  in  respect  to  "a  Neuter  Voice,"  or  any  other  distinction  which  the 
classification  involves.  The  significant  characteristic  is  not  overlooked ;  the  distinction  is  not 
neglected  as  nonessential ;  but  it  is  transferred  to  a  different  category.  Hence  I  cannot  exactly 
approve  of  the  following  remark,  which  "  the  Rev.  W.  Allen"  appears  to  cite  with  approbation: 
"'  The  distinction  of  active  or  passive,'  says  the  accurate  Mr.  Jones,  '  is  not  cssci,ti<tl  to  verbs. 
In  the  infancy  of  language,  it  was,  in  all  probability,  not  known.  In  Hebrew,  the  diHoifiic:  but 
imperfectly  exists,  and,  in  the  early  periods  of  it,  probably  did  not  exist  at  all.  In  Aml-ic,  the 
only  distinction  which  obtains,  arises  from  the  vowel  points,  a  late  invention  compared  with  the 
antiquity  of  that  language.  And  in  our  own  tongue,  the  names  of  active  and  vnsxire  v.ould  have 
remained  unknown,  if  they  had  not  been  learnt  in  Latin.'" — AlUn'a  J^'aj/cnts  of  1., 
Gram.  p.  96. 


CHAP.    VI.]       ,  ETYMOLOGY.  —  V1.RBS.  -  CONJUGATIONS.  349 

OHS.  20  —  By  the  conjugation  of  a  verb,  some  teachers  choose  to  understand  nothing  more  than 
the  naming  of  its  principal  parts  :  the  arrangement  of  its  numbers  and  persons,  through 

all    the  moods  and  tenses,  the  name  of  <  .     This  is  a  misapplication  •  nd  the 

distinction  is  as  needless,  us  it  is  contrary  to  general  usage.     Dr.    Bullions,   long  silent  concern- 
ing r>rini-i  ;  -\v  to  mal;.-  distinction  between  "<  -\  "  con- 

;  it  ions  include  the  moods,  tenses,  and  inflections  of  verbs  ;  hut  he  teaches 
"  The  principal  parts  of  the  verb  are  the  J'i-c;<-/it  hulica- 
.nd   the   l\tst  p>t>-(i<-i/ili'.     The  mentioning  of  these  parts  is  called 


::  vi:ui:."  —  Airilyf.  niul  Pra'-t.  (Iran).,  1849,  p.  80. 

Mi  wrbs  having  hut  very  few  inflections  to  indicate  to  what  part  of  the  scheme 

of  moods  ;  ,  it  is  found  convenient  to  insert  in  our  conjugations  the  prepo- 

sition to,  to  mnr';;  the  infinitive;  p>.-rs.  •..  >•,  to  distinguish  the  persons  and  numbers  ;  the 

•  denote  the  subjunctive  m<)<  d  ;  and  the  adverb  not,  to  show  the  form  of  negation. 

,  or  indexes,  a  verb  may  be  conjugated  in  Jour  ways  :  — 
1.  Afiinn  'lively  ;  as,  I  write,  1  do  write,  or,  I  am  writing;  and  so  on. 
-,  I  write  not,  I  do  not  write,  or,  I  am  not  writing. 

3.  I:  .'..'/  ite  I?    Do  I  write  ?  or,  Am  I  writing  ? 

4.  Intern  .1  negatively  ;  as,  Write  I  not  ?    Do  I  not  write  ?  or,  Am  I  not  writing  ? 

1.  SIMPLE  FORM,  ACTIVE  OR  NEUTER. 

The  simplest  form  of  an  English  conjugation,  is  that  which  makes  the 
present  and  imperfect  tenses  without  auxiliaries  ;  but,  even  in  these,  auxiliaries 
are  required  for  the  potential  mood,  and  are  often  preferred  for  the  indicative. 

FIRST  EXAMPLE. 

The  regular  active  verb  LOVE,  conjugated  affirmatively. 

PIUXCIPAL  PARTS. 

Pn  Preterit.          Imperfect  Participle.         Perfect  Participle. 

Love.  Loved.  Loving.  Loved. 

INFINITIVE  MOOD.* 

The  infinitive  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  expresses  the  being,  action,  or  passion, 
in  an  unlimited  manner,  and  without  person  or  number.  It  is  used  only  in  the  present  and 
perfect  tenses. 

PKESENT  TEN 

This  tense  is  tlie  rort,  or  radical  verb  ;  and  is  usually  preceded  by  the  preposition  to,  which 
shows  its  relation  to  some  other  word  :  thus, 

To  love. 

PERFECT  TEXSE. 

This  tense  prefixes  the  auxiliary  have  to  the  perfect  participle  ;  and,  like  the  infinitive 
at,  is  usually  preceded  by  the  preposition  to  :  thus, 

To  have  loved. 
INDICATIVE  MOOD. 

The  indicative  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  simply  indicates  or  declares  a  thing, 
or  asks  a  question.  It  is  used  in  all  the  tenses. 

Pi:  .SB. 

The  present  indicative,  in  its  simple  form,  is  essentially  the  same  as  the  present  infinitive, 
or  radical  verb  ;  except  that  the  verb  be  has  am  in  the  indicative. 

1.  The  simple  form  of  the  present  tense  is  varied  thus  :  — 

''l«r.  Plural 

1st  person,  I         love,  1st  person,  We     love, 

L'  1  p".->o:i,  Thou  1  :>d  person,  You   love, 

:M  p.-rson,   lie      loves;  8d  person,  They  love. 

'2.  This  tunso  in:iy  als  >  lie  formed  l>y  pr.M\m<*  the  auxiliary  do  to  the  verb  :  thus, 

,  xhir.  Plural 

1.  I         do    love,  1.  We    do  love, 

12.  Thou  dost  love.  -_'.  You  do  love, 

:'».   lie     does  love;  ;;.  They  do  love. 

•  •'  The  substantive  form,  or,  as  it  i.;  mmmo;.;  ??joo7,  contains  at  the  same  time  the 

.1  nir:mi:i:r.  an  rb   >irc   to   !•  Mi 


inon  to  the  infinitive  in  all  langoagw  to  pn-oi  >ie  the  [other]  moM>  of          , 

Instead  of  being  made  to  follow  them,  as  i.*  ubsurJly  practice-  1  ;rammatical  systems."—  Enrlytica,  p.  11. 


850  TIIE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART    II. 

IMPERFECT  TENSE. 

This  tense,  in  its  simple  form  is  the  preterit ;  which,  in  all  regular  verbs,  adds  d  or  ed  to 
the  present,  but  in  others  is  formed  variously. 

1.  The  simple  form  of  the  imperfect  tense  is  varied  thus :  — 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         loved,  1.  We    loved, 

2.  Thou  lovedst,  2.  You  loved, 

3.  He     loved;  3.  They  loved. 

2.  This  tense  may  also  be  formed  by  prefixing  the  auxiliary  did  to  the  present :  thus, 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         did     love,  1.  We     did  love, 

2.  Thou  didst  love,  2.  You   did  love, 

3.  He     did     love;  3.  They  did  love. 

PERFECT  TENSE. 
This  tense  prefixes  the  auxiliary  have  to  the  perfect  participle  :  thus, 

Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         have  loved,  1.  We     have  loved, 

2.  Thou  hast   loved,  2.  You   have  loved, 

3.  He      has    loved  ;  3.  They  have  loved. 

PLUPERFECT  TE>TSE. 

This  tense  prefixes  the  auxiliary  had  to  the  perfect  participle  :  thus, 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         had     loved,  1.  We     had  loved, 

2.  Thou  hadst  loved,  2.  You    had  loved, 

3.  He      had     loved;  3.  They  had  loved. 

FIRST-FUTURE  TISNSE. 
This  tense  prefixes  the  auxiliary  shall  or  will  to  the  present  :  thus, 

1.  Simply  to  express  a  future  action  or  event :  — 

Singular.  Plural. 

I.I         shall  love,  1.  We     shall  love, 

2.  Thou  wilt    love,  2.  You   will    love, 

2.  He      will    love;  3.  They  will    love. 

2.  To  express  a  promise,  volition,  command,  or  threat :  — 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         will    love,  1.  We  will   love, 

2.  Thou  shaltlove,  2.  You  shall  love, 

3.  He      shall  love;  3.  They  shall  love. 

SECOND-FUTURE  TENSE. 

This  tense  prefixes  the  auxiliaries  shall  have  or  will  have  to  the  perfect  participle  :  thus, 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I        shall  have  loved,  1.  We    shall  have  loved, 

2.  Thou  wilt    have  loved,  2.  You  will  have  loved, 

3.  He     will    have  loved  ;  3.  They  will  have  loved. 

OBS. — The  auxiliary  shall  may  also  be  nsed  in  the  second  and  third  persons  of  this  tense,  when 
preceded  by  a  conjunction  expressing  condition  or  contingency  ;  as,  "If  he  shall  have  completed 
the  work  by  midsummer." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  80.  So,  with  the  conjunctive  adverb  when  ;  as, 
"  Then  cometh  the  end,  when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father ; 
when  he  shall  have  put  down  all  rule  and  all  authority  and  power." — 1  Cor.  xv,  24.  And  perhaps 
will  may  here  be  used  in  the  first  person  to  express  a  promise,  though  such  usage,  I  think,  seldom 
occurs.  Professor  Fowler  has  given  to  this  tense,  first,  the  "Predictive  "  iorm,  as  exhibited 
above,  and  then  a  form  which  he  calls  "Promissive,"  and  in  which  the  auxiliaries  are  varied  thus  : 
"  Singular.  1.  I  will  have  taken.  2.  Thou  shalt  have  taken,  you  shall  have  taken.  3.  He  shall 
have  taken.  Plural.  1.  We  will  have  taken.  2.  Ye,  or  you  shall  have  taken.  3.  He  [say  They,} 
shall  have  taken."— Folder's  E.  Gram.  8vo,  N.  Y.  1850,  p.  281.  But  the  other  instances  just 
cited  show  that  such  a  form  is  not  always  promissory. 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. CONJUGATIONS.  351 

POTENTIAL  MOOD. 

The  potential  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  expresses  the  power,  liberty,  possibility 
or  necessity  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion.  It  is  used  in  the  first  four  tenses  ;  but  the 
potential  imperfect  is  properly  an  airist :  its  time  is  very  indeterminate;  as,  "lie  would  be 
devoid  of  sensibility  were  he  not  greatly  satisfied." — Lord  Kames,  EL  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  11. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 

This  tense  prefixes  the  auxiliary  may,  can,  or  must,  to  the  radical  verb  :  thus, 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I        may     love,  1.  Wo     may  love, 

2.  Thou  muyst  love,  2.  You   may  love, 

3.  He     may     love  ;  3.  They  may  love. 

IMPERFECT  TENSE. 

This  tense  prefixes  the  auxiliary  might,  cynld,  would,  or  should,  to  the  radical  verb  :  thus 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I        might     love,  1.  We    might  love, 

2.  Thou  mightst  love,  2.  You  might  love, 

3.  He     might     love;  3.  They  might  love. 

PERFECT  TENSE. 

This  tense  prefixes  the  auxiliaries,  may  have,  can  have,  or  must  have,  to  the  perfect  parti- 
ciple :  thus, 

Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         may    have  loved,  1.    We     may  have  loved, 

2.  Thou  rnaysthave  loved,  2.  You    may  have  loved, 
.".  He     may    have  loved  ;  3.  They  may  have  loved. 

PLUPERFECT  TENSE. 

This  tense  prefixes  the  auxiliaries,  might  have,  could  have,  would  have,  or  should  have,  to  the 
perfc  ct  participle  :  thus, 

Singulnr.  Plural. 

I".  I        might    have  loved,  1.  We    might  have  loved, 

2.  Thou  mightst  have  loved,  2.  You   might  have  loved, 

').  He     might    have  loved  ;  3.  They  might  have  loved. 

SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD. 

The  subjunctive  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  represents  the  being,  action,  or 

passion,  as  conditional,  doubtful,  or  contingent.     This  mood  is  generally  preceded  by  a 

conjunction ;  as  */,  that,  though,  lest,  unless,  except.  But  sometimes,  especially  in  poetry,  it 

is  formed  by  a  more  placing  of  the  verb    before  the   nominative;  as,  "Were  I,"  for,    "If  I 

were;"— "//•/-,' .'/•-,"  i'-ir,  "Ifkekad;"-  tor,   "Ifv>9faU;"—"Knewtkey"tott  "If 

•w."     It  does  not  vary  its  termination  at  all,  in  the  different  persons.*     It  is  used  in 

the  present,  and  sometimes  in  the  imperfect  tense  ;  rarely — and  perhaps  never  pr^prrly — in 

his  mood  can  be  used  only  in  a  dependent  clause,  the  time  implied  in  its 

tenses  is  always  relative,  and  generally  indefinite ;  as, 

"  It  shall  be  in  eternal  restless  change, 
Sell'-  if-consum'd  :  iff/if- 

The  pillar'd  firmament  is  rottenness."-— Jfflfem,  Comus,  1.  596. 

•  Bv  tin*.  I  mean,  that  the  verb  in  nil  the  persons,  '  and  plural,  is  the  same  in  form.    Buf.  Lindlej 

.  the  verb,  most  absurdly  me:ius  by  it. 
:>'>tentialmood  ;  and  when  he  •peaks  of  changes  or 

nH  in  the  first  person  singular  !     For 

pie:  '•  !  :i£ular  of  the  imperfect  tense  in  the  subjunctive  mood,  is  also  very  frequently  vtiri--/  in 

:.im."' — Mitrrritt't  Gram,  oro,  p.  209.  "The 
i  '<»  the  subjunctive,  <fo  not  cAan^e  the  termination  of  the  second 
•  >."— Ib.  p.  210  "  Some  authors  think,  that  the  termination  of 

:  i  may  t>.-w. ire. "  —  ]?>.    p.   'J10.      l;  When    tho  oircum- 

and  futurity  concur,  it  is  proper  to  vary  the  terminations  of  the  second  and  third  person! 

•  It  may  !>••  i  rule,  that  tk'  changes  of  termination  are  nrrestanj,    when  these 

:icur.v — V).  p.  U')7.     ''It  maybe>  •  -\  rulo,  that  no  dinners  of  r.-nmnations  are  ne- 

ncur  " — InftrMfft  Gram.  p.  264    Now  Murruv  and  Ingersollhere  mean 

:'mlt  is  that?    [fMorray'B,  hcbaseomn  inch.    Bat,  In  this  matter, 

only  by  Ingwrsoll,  but,  on  one  orra.<ion,  by  him«olf.     Fur  hn  df-rlares  it  to  be  an  opinion  in 

which  ii  I'liat  thedefiu  ^e  of  tlic  suhjuiH-tivc  moo  1,  hav.-  n»  T.  ;•  rtitet  to  change  of  termi- 

nation '  '-am.  8ro,  p.  211.  And  yet,  iimidst  his  strange  blunders,  he  seems  to  have  ascribed  the  meaning 

.'  inf]"-tin>u  which  i"  'i  hat  part  of  the  verb 

••  i-umari-iiis  call  the  present  ten?c  of  the  subjunctive  mood,  h  signification.      This  is  effected  by 

varying  tht  terminations  of  the  second  and  third  persons  singular  of  the  indicative  ."' — 76.  p.  207.  But  the  absurd- 
ity wr.ich  he  r^allv  means  to  teach,  K  thit  tho  subjunctire  moodii  derived  from  the  indicative^ — the  primitive  or 
radical  Terb,  from  its  derivatives  or  branches! 


352  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 

This  tense  is  generally  used  to  express  some  condition  on  which  a  future  action  or  event 
is  affirmed.  It  is  therefore  erroneously  considered  by  some  grammarians,  as  an  elliptical  form 
of  the  future. 

Singular.  Plural. 

1.  If  I  "     love,  1.  If  we     love, 

2.  If  Thou  love,  2.  If  you   love, 

3.  If  He      love;  3.  If  they  love. 

OBS. — In  this  tense,  the  auxiliary  do  is  sometimes  employed ;  as,  "  If  tliou  do  prosper  my 
vr  ay. "—Genesis,  xxiv,  42.  "  If  he  do  not  utter  it." — Leviticus,  v,  1.  "  If  he  do  but  intimate  his 
desire." — Murray's  Key,  p.  207.  "  If  he  dopromise,  he  will  certainly  perform." — Ib.  p.  208.  "An  event 
which,  if  it  ever  do  occur,  must  occur  in  some  future  period." — Hiley's  Gram.  (3d  Ed.  Lond.)  p.  89. 
"  If  he  do  \)\it  promise,  thou  art  safe." — Ib.  89. 

"  Till  old  experience  do  attain 

To  something  like  prophetic  strain." — MILTON  :  II  Pcnseroso. 

These  examples,  if  they  are  right,  prove  the  tense  to  Represent,  and  not  future,  as  Hiley  and  some 
others  suppose  it  to  be. 

IMPERFECT  TENSE. 

This  tense,  like  the  imperfect  of  the  potential  mood,  with  which  it  is  frequently  connect- 
ed, is  properly  an  aorist,  or  indefinite  tense ;  for  it  may  refer  to  time  past,  present,  or  future  : 
as,  "  If  therefore  perfection  were  by  the  Levitical  priesthood,  what  further  need  was  there 
that  an  other  priest  should  rise?  " — Heb.  vii,  1 1.  "  They  must  be  viewed  exactly  in  the  same 
light,  as  if  the  intention  to  purchase  now  existed.'" — Murray's  Parsing  Exercises,  p.  24.  "If 
it  were  possible,  they  shall  deceive  the  very  elect." — Matt,  xxiv,  24.  "  If  the  whole  body 
were  an  eye,  where  icere  the  hearing  ? " — 1  Corinthians,  xii,  17.  "  If  the  thankful  refrained, 
it  would  be  pain  and  grief  to  them." — Atterbury. 

Singular.  Plural. 

1.  If  I       loved,  l.  If  we     loved, 

2.  If  thou  loved,  2.  If  you   loved, 

3.  If  he    loved  ;  3.  If  they  loved. 

OBS. — In  this  tense,  the  auxiliary  did  is  sometimes  employed.  The  subjunctive  may  here  be 
distinguished  from  the  indicative,  by  these  circumstances;  namely,  that  the  time  is  indefinite, 
and  that  the  supposition  is  always  contrary  to  the  i'act :  as,  "  Great  is  the  number  of  those  who 
might  attain  to  true  wisdom,  if  they  did  not  already  think  themselves  wise." — Dilhcyn's  Rcflectnms, 
p.  36.  This  implies  that  they  do  think  themselves  wise;  but  an  indicative  supposition  or  con:cs- 
sion — (as,  "  Though  they  did  not  think  themselves  Avise,  they  were  so — ")  accords  with  the  fict, 
and  with  the  literal  time  of  the  tense, — here  time  past.  The  subjunctive  imperfect,  suggesting 
the  idea  of  what  is  not,  and  known  by  the  sense,  is  sometimes  introduced  without  any  of  the  iintal 
signs ;  as,  "  In  a  society  of  perfect  men,  where  all  understood  what  was  morally  right,  and  were 
determined  to  act  accordingly,  it  is  obvious,  that  human  laws,  or  even  human  organization  to 
enforce  God's  laws,  would  be  altogether  unnecessary,  and  could  serve  no  valuable  purpose." 
— PRES.  SHANNON  :  Examiner,  No.  78. 

IMPERATIVE  MOOD. 

The  imperative  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  is  used  in  commanding,  exhorting, 
entreating,  or  permitting.  It  is  commonly  used  only  in  the  second  person  of  the  present 
tense. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 

Singular.     2.  Love  [thou,]  or  Do  thou  love  ; 

Plural.         2.  Love  [ye  or  you,]  or  Do  you    love. 

OBS. — In  the  Greek  language,  which  has  three  numbers,  the  imperative  moocl  is  used  in  the 
second  and  third  persons  of  them  all;  and  has  also  several  different  tenses,  sonic  of  which  cannot 
be  clearly  rendered  in  English.  In  Latin,  this  mood  has  a  distinct  form  for  the  third  person,  both 
singular  and  plural.  In  Italian,  Spanish,  and  French,  the  first  person  plural  is  also  given  it. 
Imitations  of  some  of  these  forms  are  occasionally  employed  in  English,  particularly  by  the 
poets.  Such  imitations  must  be  referred  to  this  mood>  unless  by  ellipsis  and  transposition  we 
make  them  out  to  be  something  else;  and  against  this  there  are  strong  objections.  Again,  as 
imprecation  on  one's  self  is  not  impossible,  the  first  person  singular  may  be  added;  so  that  this 
mood  may  possibly  hare  all  the  persons  and  numbers.  Examples:  "Come  ire  now  to  his  trans- 
lation of  the  Iliad." — 1'opc's  Pref.  to  Dunciad.  "  Proceed  we  therefore  in  our  subject." — Ib. 
"Blessed  be  he  that  blesseth  thee."'—  Gen.  xxvii,  29.  "  Thy  kingdom  come."— Matt,  vi,  10.  "  But 
pass  ice  that." — W.  Scott.  <l  Third  person  :  Be  he,  Be  theyS'—ChttrchilTa  Gram.  p.  92. 

"  My  soul,  turn  from  them — turn  we  to  survey,"  &c. —  Goldsmith. 

"  Then  tarn  ice  to  her  latest  tribune's  name." — Byron. 

"  Where'er  the  eye  could  light  these  words  you  read: 
'  Who  comes  this  way  —  behold,  and/ear  to  sin  !'  " — Pottok. 

"  FaU  he  that  must,  beneath  his  rival's  arms, 
And  live  the  rest,  secure  of  future  harms." — Pope. 

"  Cursed  be  I  that  did  so  !—  All  the  charms 

Of  Sycorax,  toads,  beetles,  bats,  light  on  you  !  " — Shakspcarc. 

"  Have  done  thy  charms,  thou  hateful  with  or 'd  hag  !  " — Idem. 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGT. — VERBS. CONJUGATIONS.  353 

PARTICIPLES. 

1.   The  Imperfect.  2.   The  Perfect.  3.    The  Preperfect. 

Loving.  Loved.  Having  loved. 

SYNOPSIS  OF  THE  FIRST  EXAMPLE. 

FIRST  PERSON  SINGULAR. 

IND.  I  love  or  do  love,  I  loved  or  did  love,  I  have  loved,  I  had  loved,  I  shall  or 
will  love,  I  shall  or  will  have  loved.  POT.  I  may,  can,  or  must  love ;  I  might, 
could,  would,  or  should  love  ;  I  may,  can,  or  must  have  loved ;  I  might,  could,  would, 
or  "should  have  loved.  SUBJ.  If  I  love,  If  I  loved. 

SECOND  PERSON  SINGULAR. 

IXD.  Thou  lovest  or  dost  love,  Thou  lovedst  or  didst  love,  Thou  hast  loved,  Thou 
hadst  loved,  Thou  shalt  or  wilt  love,  Thou  shalt  or  wilt  have  loved.  POT.  Thou 
mayst,  canst,  or  must  love  ;  Thou  mightst,  eouldst,  wouldst,  or  shouldst  love  ;  Thou 
mayst,  canst,  or  must  have  loved  ;  Thou  mightst,  couldst,  wouldst,  or  shouldst  have 
loved.  SUBJ.  If  thou  love,  If  thou  loved.  IMP.  Love  [thou,]  or  Do  thou  love. 

THIRD  PERSON  SINGULAR. 

IND.  He  loves  or  does  love,  He  loved  or  did  love,  He  has  loved,  He  had  loved, 
He  shall  or  will  love,  He  shall  or  will  have  loved.  POT.  He  may,  can,  or  must  love  ; 
He  might,  could,  would,  or  should  love ;  He  may,  can,  or  must  have  loved ;  He 
might,  could,  would,  or  should  have  loved.  SUBJ.  If  he  love,  If  he  loved. 

FIRST  PERSON  PLURAL. 

IND.  We  love  or  do  love,  We  loved  or  did  love,  We  have  loved,  We  had  loved,  We 
shall  or  will  love,  We  shall  or  will  have  loved.  POT.  We  may,  can,  or  must  love  , 
We  might,  could,  would,  or  should  love;  We  may,  can,  or  must  have  loved;  We 
might,  could,  would,  or  should  have  loved.  SUBJ.  If  we  love,  If  we  loved. 

SECOND  PERSON  PLURAL. 

IND.  You  love  or  do  love,  You  loved  or  did  love,  You  have  loved,  You  had  loved, 
You  shall  or  will  love,  You  shall  or  will  have  loved.  POT.  You  may,  can,  or  must 
love  ;  You  might,  could,  would,  or  should  love  ;  You  may,  can,  or  must  have  loved  ; 
You  might,  could,  would,  or  should  have  loved.  SUBJ.  If  you  love,  If  you  loved. 
IMP.  Love  [ye  or  you,]  or  Do  you  love. 

THIRD  PERSON  PLURAL. 

IND.  They  love  or  do  love,  They  loved  or  did  love,  They  have  loved,  They  had 
loved,  They  shall  or  will  love,  They  shall  or  will  have  loved.  POT.  They  may,  can, 
or  must  love  ;  They  might,  could,  would,  or  should  love  ;  They  may,  can,  or  must 
have  loved  ;  They  might,  could,  would,  or  should  have  loved.  SUBJ.  If  they  love, 
If  they  loved. 

FAMILIAR  FORM  WITH  4  THOU.' 

NOTE. — In  the  familiar  style,  the  second  person  singular  of  this  verb,  is  usually  and  more 
properly  formed  thus :  Ixn.  Thou  lov'st  or  dost  love,  Thou  loved  or  did  love,  Thou  hast 
loved,  Thou  had  loved,  Thou  shall  or  will  love,  Thou  shall  or  will  have  loved.  POT.  Thou 
may,  can,  or  must  love  ;  Thou  might,  could,  would,  or  should  love  ;  Thou  may,  can,  or  must 
have  loved  ;  Thou  mi^ht,  could,  would,  or  should  have  loved.  SUBJ.  If  thou  love,  If  thou 
loved.  IMP.  Love  [thou,]  or  Do  thou  love. 


SECOND  EXAMPLE. 

The  irregular  active  verb  SEE,  conjugated  affirmatively. 

PRINCIPAL  PARTS. 

Present.  Preterit.  Imp.  Participle.         Perf.  Participle. 

See.  Saw.  Seeing.  Seen. 

INFINITIVE  MOOD. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 

To  see. 


354 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  n. 


PERFECT  TENSE. 
To  have  seen. 


Singular. 

1.  I        see, 

2.  Thouseest, 

3.  He     sees; 

Singular. 

1.  I         saw, 

2.  Thou  sawest, 

3.  He     saw; 


Singular. 
I         have  seen, 


Thou  hast 
He      has 


seen, 
seen  ; 


Singular. 

1.  I        had    seen, 

2.  Thou  hadst  seen, 

3.  He      had    seen  ; 


Singular. 
I         shall  see, 

2.  Thou  wilt   see, 

3.  He     will 


INDICATIVE  MOOD. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 


IMPERFECT  TENSE. 


PERFECT  TENSE. 


PLUPERFECT  TENSE. 


FIRST- FUTURE  TENSE. 


1. 


see 


SECOND-FUTURE  TENSE. 


Singular. 

1.  I         shall  have  seen, 

2.  Thou  wilt   have  seen, 

3.  He     will  have  seen ; 


Singular. 

1.  I         may     see, 

2.  Thou  mayst  see, 

3.  He     may     see; 

Singular. 

1.  I         might     see, 

2.  Thou  mightst  see, 

3.  He     might    see ; 


POTENTIAL  MOOD. 
PRESENT  TENSE. 


IMPERFECT  TENSE. 


Singular. 

1.  I         may    have  seen, 

2.  Thou  mayst  have  seen, 

3.  He     may    have  seen  ; 


PERFECT  TENSE. 


Plural 

1.  We     see, 

2.  You    see, 

3.  They  see. 

Plural. 

1.  We     saw, 

2.  You    saw, 

3.  They  saw. 

Plural. 

1.  We     have  seen, 

2.  You    have  seen, 

3.  They  have  seen. 

Plural 

1.  We    had  seen, 

2.  You   had  seen, 

3.  They  had  seen. 

Plural 

1.  We     shall  see, 

2.  You    will   see, 

3.  They  will  see. 

Plural 

1.  We      shall  have  seen, 

2.  You    will  have  seen, 

3.  They   will  have  seen. 


Plural 

1.  We     may  see, 

2.  You    may  see, 

3.  They  may  see. 

Plural 

1.  We     might  see, 

2.  You    might  see, 

3.  They  might  see. 

Plural 

1.  We     may  have  seen, 

2.  You    may  have  seen, 

3.  They  may  have  seen. 


CHAP.  VI.] 


ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. CONJUGATIONS. 


355 


TENSE. 


Singular. 

1.  I  might  have  seen, 
2-  Thou  mightst  have  seen, 
3.  He  might  have  seen  ; 


Singular. 

1.  If  I        see. 

2.  If  thou  see, 

3.  If  he      see  ; 


Singular. 
If  I       saw, 

2.  If  thou  saw, 

3.  If  he     saw  : 


SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD. 
PRESENT  TENSE. 


IMPERFECT  TENSE. 


1. 


Plural. 

1.  We     might  have  seen, 

2.  You   might  have  seen, 

3.  They  might  have  seen. 


Plural. 

1.  If  we      see, 

2.  If  you     see, 

3.  If  they  see. 

Plural. 

1.  If  we     saw, 

2.  If  you  saw, 

3.  If  they  saw. 


IMPERATIVE  MOOD. 


PRESENT  TENSE. 
2.  See  [thou,] 
2.  See  [ye  or  you,] 

PARTICIPLES. 
1.    The  Imperfect.         2.   The  Perfect. 


Singular. 
Plural 


seeing. 


Seen. 
NOTES. 


or  Do  thou  see  ; 
or  Do  you  see. 

3.   The  Preperfect. 
Having  seen. 


NOTE  I. — The  student  ought  to  be  able  to  rehearse  the  form  of  a  verb,  not  only  according 
to  the  order  of  the  entire  conjugation,  but  also  according  to  the  synopsis  of  the  several 
persons  and  numbers.  One  sixth  part  of  the  paradigm,  thus  recited,  gives  in  general  a  fair 
sample  of  the  whole  ;  and,  in  class  recitations,  this  mode  of  rehearsal  will  save  much  time  : 
as,  IND.  I  see  or  do  see,  I  saw  or  did  see,  I  have  seen,  I  had  seen,  I  shall  or  will  see,  I  shall  or 
will  have  seen.  POT.  I  may,  can,  or  must  see  ;  I  might,  could,  would,  or  should  see ;  I  may, 
can,  or  must  have  seen ;  I  might,  could,  would,  or  should  have  seen.  SUBJ.  If  I  see,  If  I 
saw. 

NOTE  II. — In  the  familiar  style,  the  second  person  singular  of  this  verb  is  usually  and 
more  properly  formed  thus  :  IXD.  Thou  seest  or  dost  see,  Thou  saw  or  did  see,  Thou  hast 
seen,  Thou  had  seen,  Thou  shall  or  will  see,  Thou  shall  or  will  have  seen.  POT.  Thou  may, 
can,  or  must  see :  Thou  might,  could,  would,  or  should  see  ;  Thou  may,  can,  or  must  have 
seen ;  Thou  might,  could,  would,  or  should  have  seen.  SCBJ.  If  thou  see,  If  thou  saw. 
IMP.  See  [thou,]  or  Do  thou  see. 

THIRD  EXAMPLE. 

The  irregular  neuter  verb  BE,  conjugated  affirmatively. 

PRINCIPAL  PARTS. 

Present.         Preterit.         Imp.   Participle.         Perf.  Participle. 
Be.  Was.  Being.  Been. 

INFINITIVE  MOOD. 
PRESENT  TENSE. 

To  be. 

PERFECT  TENSE. 
To  have  been. 

INDICATIVE  MOOD. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 

Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         am,  1.  We     are, 

2.  Thou  art,  2.  You    are, 

3.  He      is ;  3.  They  are. 


356 


THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. 


[PART  it. 


Singular. 

1.  I         was, 

2.  Thou  wast,  (or  wert,)' 

3.  He      was; 

Singular. 

1.  I         have  been, 

2.  Thou  hast  been, 

3.  He      has    been  ; 


IMPERFECT  TENSE. 


PERFECT  TENSE. 


Singular. 

1.  I         had     been, 

2.  Thou  hadst  been, 

3.  He      had     been; 

Singular. 

1.  I         shall  be, 

2.  Thou  wilt    be, 

3.  He     will    be; 


PLUPERFECT  TENSE. 


1. 
2. 
3. 

FIRST-FUTURE  TENSE. 

1. 
2. 
3. 


Plural. 
We     were, 
You  were, 
They  were. 

Plural 

We  have  been, 
You  have  been, 
They  have  been. 

Plural 

We  had  been, 
You  had  been, 
They  had  been. 

Plural 
We     shall  be, 
You    will  be, 
They  will  be. 


SECOND-FUTURE  TENSE. 
Singular. 

1.  I         shall  have  been,  1. 

2.  Thou  wilt   have  been,  2. 

3.  He      will  have  been  ;  3.  They  will    have  been. 


Plural 

We     shall  have  been, 
You   will    have  been, 


POTENTIAL  MOOD. 


Singular. 

1.  I         may    be, 

2.  Thou  mayst  be, 

3.  He     may    be; 

Singular. 

1.  I         might    be, 

2.  Thou  mightst  be, 

3.  He     might    be; 


PRESENT  TENSE. 


IMPERFECT  TENSE. 


Plural 
We     may  be, 
You   may  be, 
They  may  be. 

Plural 

We  might  be, 
You  might  be, 
They  might  be. 


Singular. 

1.  I        may    have  been, 

2.  Thou  mayst  have  been, 

3.  He     may    have  been  ; 


PERFECT  TENSE. 


PLUPERFECT  TENSE. 
Singular. 

1.  I         might    have  been,  1. 

2.  Thou  mightst  have  been,  2. 

3.  He      might    have  been ;  3. 


Plural 

We  may  have  been, 
You  may  have  been, 
They  may  have  been. 

Plural 

We  might  have  been, 
You  might  have  been, 
They  might  have  been. 


SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 
Singular.  Plural 

1.  If  I        be,  1.  If  we     be, 

2.  If  thou   be,  2.  If  you    be, 

3.  If  he      be;  3.  If  they   be. 

*  Wert  is  sometimes  used  in  lieu  of  wast  ;  and,  in  such  instances,  both  by  authority  and  by  analogy,  it  appear* 
to  belong  here,  if  anywhere.    See  DBS.  2d  and  3d,  below. 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. CONJUGATION'S.  357 

IMPERFECT  TENSE. 

Singular.                                          .  Plural. 

1.  If  I       were,*  1.  If  we      were, 

2.  If  thou  were,  (or  wert,)  |  2.  If  you    were, 

3.  If  he     were;  3.  If  they  were. 

IMPERATIVE  MOOD. 

PHESENT  TENSE. 

Singular.     2.  Be  [thou,]  or  Do  thou  be  ; 

Plural.         2.  Be  [ye  or  you,]          or  Do  you  be. 

PARTICIPLES. 

1.    The  Imperfect.         2.   The  Perfect.         3.    The  Preper feet. 
Being.  Been.  Having  been. 

FAMILIAR  FORM  WITH  «  THOU.' 

NOTE. — In  the  familiar  style,  the  second  person  singular  of  this  verb,  is  usually  and  more 
properly  formed  thus  :  IND.  Thou  art,  Thou  was,  Thou  hast  been,  Thou  had  been,  Thou 
shall  or  will  be,  Thou  shall  or  will  have  been.  POT.  Thou  may,  can,  or  must  be  ;  Thou 
might,  could,  would,  or  should  be  ;  Thou  may,  can,  or  must  have  been  ;  Thou  might,  could, 
would,  or  should  have  been.  SUBJ.  If  thou  be,  If  thou  were.  IMP.  Be  [thou,]  or  Do 
thou  be. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

Oas.  1. — It  appears  that  be,  as  well  as  am,  was  formerly  used  for  the  indicative  present :  as,  "  I 

be,  Thou  becst,  He  be  ;  Wo  be,  Ye  be,  They  be."     See  fcrightland's  Gram.  p.  114.     Dr.  Lowth, 

whose  Grammar  is  still  preferred  at  Harvard  University,  gives  both  forms,  thus  :  "  I  am,  Thou  art, 

He  is  ;  We  are,  Ye  are,  They  are.     Or,  I  be,  Thou  beest,  He  is ;  We  be,  Ye  be,  They  be."     To 

tho  third  person  singular,  he  subjoins  the  following  example  and  remark :    "  *  I  think  it  be  thine 

indeed,  for  thou  liest  in  it.'     Shak.  Hamlet.     Be,  in  the  singular  number  of  this  time  and  mode, 

especially  in  the  third  person,  is  obsolete ;  and  is  become  somewhat  antiquated  in  the  plural."— 

Loioth's  Gram.  p.  36.  Dr.  Johnson  gives  this  tense  thus :  "Sing.  I  am  ;  thou  art ;  he  is  ;  Plur.  We 

are,  or  be;  ye  are,  or  be ;  they  are,  or  be."    And  adds,  "The  plural  be  is  now  little  in  use." — 

Gram,  in  Johtixnn'x  Dirt.  p.  8.     The  Bible  commonly  has  am,  art,  is,  and  are,  but  not  always; 

the  indicative  be  occurs  in  some  places  :  as,  "  We  be  twelve  brethren." — Gen.   xlii,   32.     "What 

be  these  two  olive  branches  ?  " — Zcch.  ir,  12.     Some  traces  of  this  usage  still  occur  in  poetry  :  as, 

"  There  be  more  things  to  greet  the  heart  and  eyes 

In  Arno's  dome  of  Art's  most  princely  shrine, 

Where  Sculpture  with  her  rainbow  sister  vies; 

There  be  more  marvels  yet — but  not  for  mine." — Byron's  Childe  Harold,  Canto  iv,  st.  61. 
Ons.  2. — Respecting  the  verb  wert,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  whether  it  is  most  properly  of  the 
indicative  mood  only,  or  of  the  subjunctive  only,  or  of  both,  or  of  neither.  The  regular  and  analogi- 
cal form  for  tho  indicative,  is  "  Thou  wast ;"  and  for  the  subjunctive,  "  If  thou  were."  Brightland 
exhibits,  "  I  was  or  f/v/v,  Thou  least  or  wert,  He  was  or  were,"  without  distinction  of  mood,  for 
tho  three  persons  singular;  and,  for  the  plural,  were  only.  Dr.  Johnson  gives  us,  for  the  indica- 
tive. "  Thou  wast,  or  wert;"  with  the  remark,  "Wert  is  properly  of  the  conjunctive  mood,  and 
ought  not  to  be  used  in  the  indicative." — Johnson's  Gram.  p.  8.  In  his  conjunctive  (or  subjunctive) 
mood,  he  has,  "  Thou  beest,"  and  "  Thou  wert."  So  Milton  wrote,  "  If  thou  beest  he." — P.  Lost, 
B.  i,  1.  81.  Likewise  Shakspeare  :  "  If  thou  beest  Stephano." — Tempest.  This  inflection  of  be  is 
obsolete  :  all  now  say,  "  If  thou  be."  But  wert  is  still  in  use,  to  some  extent,  for  both  moods  ; 
being  generally  placed  by  the  grammarians  in  the  subjunctive  only,  but  much  oftener  written  for 
tho  indicative  :  as,  "  Whate'er  thou  art  or  wert." — Byron's  Harold,  Canto  iv,  st.  Ho.  "  O  thou 
that  wert  so  happy  !" — lb.  st.  109.  "  Vainly  wert  thou  wed." — Ib.  st.  169. 

Ons.  3. — Dr.  Lowth  gave  to  this  vorb,  BK,  that  form  of  the  subjunctive  mood,  which  it  now  has 
in  most  of  our  grammars  ;  appending  to  it  the  following  examples  and  questions:  "  '  Before  the 

•  ?omt>  pnxmniriri ,'  M  of  the  general  usage  of  authors,  prefer  was  to  were  in  the*singular  number  of 

. •Mit.jmictivc  mood.     In  the  following  remark,  the  tens«  is  named  "  present,"  and  this  preference 

ii'iral  extravagance  :  ••  M'c/.t.  though   the  past  tense  of  the  indicative  mood,   expresses  the 

f  th<- h\i>otliftic;il  :  as,  »  I  \\Nh  thnf.  I  I/---M  well.'      Thr  itxe  of  this  hypothetical  form   of  the  subjunctive 

mood,  /i«.v  c"'-  n  nV  to  a  form  < >f  «-xii-r-sion  wholly  unwarranted  by  the  rules  of  grammar.     When  the  verb  was  is 

to  I*  used  in  the  present  tense  singular,  in  Mii-  form  <>f  the  sulyimctive  mood,  the  ear  is  often  pained  with  a.  plural 

w,Tf.  .is,  •  \\'err  1  your  muster'— '  HVrc  ht  compelled  to  do  ir.'  &c.     This  has  become  so  common  that  some  of  the 

bes1-.  grammars  of  the  language  furni>h  authority  for  the  barbarism,  and  even  in  the  second  person  supply  wert, 

rentait  accompaniment.     If  rach  a  conjugation  ii  admitted,   we  may  expect  soon  to  see  Shatapeare's 

1  l/ii>u  beest'  in  full  use.'' — CftatMfltr'j  (hunt.  Ed  .of  1-J'Jl.  p.    :,",.     In    '•  Chandler's   Common  School  Grammar," 

of  1847,  the  language  of  this  paragraph  is  somewhat  softened,  but  the  substance  is  still  retained.    See  the  latter 

work,  p.  80. 

t  ••  If  I  mm,  It  thou  were,  Ifho  wore." — Harriton's  Gram.  p.  31.  "  If,  or  though ,  I  were  loved    If,  orthough, 

thou  were,  or  t/v /-Moved.  If.  or  though,  he  were  loved/'—JJicAnc/rj  Gram.  Part  i,  p.  69.   <;  If,  though,  &c.  I  were 

burned,  thou    it-frr  Imrnr-l  or  you  were  burnt,!,  hi-  wore  l.urned."—  Buchanan's    Gram.   p.  53.     ''Though   thou 

v-ff.     -  hough  thou  tr-rt.'"—  Mackintosh's  Gram.  p.  178.     "  If  or  though  I  were.     If  or  though  thou 

I  for   though  he   were."— St.  Qit'ntin's  Gfnrral  Gram.  p.  86.    "  If  I  \v.is.  Thou  wast,  or  You  was  or  were, 

Or   tliu-:  :   If  I  wen>,  T',  You  was  or  were,  He  were.'1—  W'rbstrr'f  Philosophical  Gram.  p.  95; 

Improved  Gram.  p.  01.     M  l'r.;..-:Nr    TlXU.   i:«-foro,  &r.  I    be  ;  thou   beett,  or  you  be  ;  he,  she,  or  it,  br  :  We,  you 

or  \e,  they,   If.     PAST  TENSF.     l?of"n>.    &<-.  I  ii-fr*  ;  thou  uyrf,  or  you  were  ;  he,  she,  or  it,  were:  We,  you  or 

ye,  they,  were.''— WHITE,  on  the  English,  Verb.  p.  o'J. 


358  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

sun,  Before  the  Heavens,  fh.ou.wert.' — Milton.  '  Remember  what  thou  wert.' — Dryden.  'I  knew 
thou  wert  not  slow  to  hear.' — Addison.  '  Thou  who  of  old  wert  sent  to  Israel's  court.' — Prior. 
'  All  this  thou  wert.' — Pope.  *  Thou,  Stella,  wert  no  longer  young.' — Swift.  Shall  we,  in  deference 
to  these  gi-eat  authorities,"  asks  the  Doctor,  "  allow  wert  to  be  the  same  with  wast,  and  common 
to  the  indicative  and  [the]  subjunctive  mood  ?  or  rather  abide  by  the  practice  of  our  best  ancient 
writers  ;  the  propriety  of  the  language,  which  requires,  as  far  as  may  be,  distinct  forms,  for  different 
moods  ;  and  the  analogy  of  formation  in  each  mood  ;  I  was,  thou  wast ;  I  were,  thou  wert  ?  all  which 
conspire  to  make  inert  peculiar  to  the  subjunctive  mood." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  37  ;  Churchill's,  p. 
251.  I  have  before  shown,  that  several  of  the  "  best  ancient  writers"  did  not  inflect  the  verb  were, 
but  wrote  "  thou  were  ;  "  and,  surely,  "the  analogy  of  formation,"  requires  that  the  subjunctive  be 
not  inflected.  Hence"  the  propriety  which  requires  distinct  forms,"  requires  not  wert,  in  either 
mood.  Why  then  should  we  make  this  contraction  of  the  old  indicative  form  icerest,  a  solitary 
exception,  by  fixing  it  in  the  subjunctive  only,  and  that  in  opposition  to  the  best  authorities  that 
ever  used  it  ?  It  is  worthier  to  take  rank  with  its  kindred  bcest,  and  be  called  an  archaism. 

OBS.  4. — The  chief  characteristical  difference  between  the  indicative  and  the  subjunctive  mood, 
is,  that  in  the  latter  the  verb  is  not  inflected  at  all,  in  the  different  persons  :  as,  IND.  "  Thou  mag- 
nifiest  his  work."  SUBJ.  "  Remember  that  thou  magnify  his  work." — Job,  xxxvi,  24.  IND.  "  He 
cuts  off,  shuts  up,  and  gathers  together."  SUBJ.  "  If  he  cut  off,  and  shut  up,  or  gather  together, 
then  who  can  hinder  him  ?  " — Jo6,xi,  10.  There  is  also  a  difference  of  meaning.  The  Indicative, 
"  If  he  icas,"  admits  the  fact ;  the  Subjunctive,  "  If  he  ivere,"  supposes  that  he  was  not.  These 


JOU-iii  JJ  tlUlA    J.1C1C    13j  JL.UUUM11  lb  U»»U'>W*C*/tf*OT  j          u*  >  J.  11V  UgH   CllC-lC    Ct/W-O    t'/t'tWfcU  t/    y  LI1U   OUUJ  UJ.1OLA  V  C« 

;  Though  it  should  thunder,"  or,  "  Though  there  were  thunder."  These  senses  are  clearly  differ- 
ent. Writers  however  are  continually  confounding  these  moods  ;  some  in  one  way,  some  in  an 
other.  Thus  S.  R.  Hall,  the  teacher  of  a  Seminary  for  Teachers  :  "SuBJ.  Present' Tense.  1.  If 
I  be,  or  am,  2.  If  thou  be,  or  art,  3.  If  he  be,  or  is ;  1.  If  we  be,  or  are,  2.  If  ye  or  you  be,  or  are, 
3.  If  they  be,  or  are.  Imperfect  Tense.  1.  If  I  were,  or  was,  2.  If  thou  wert,  or  wast,  3.  If  he 
were,  or  was;  1.  If  we  were,  2.  If  ye  or  you  were,  3.  If  they  were." — Hall's  Grammatical  Assistant, 
p.  17.  Again:  "  SUBJ.  Present  Tense.  1.  If  I  love,  2.  If  thou  lovest,  3.  If  he  love;"  &c.  "The 
remaining  tenses  of  this .mode,  are,  in  general,  similar  to  the  correspondent  tenses  of  the  Indicative 
mode,  only  with  the  conjunction  prefixed." — Ib.  p.  20.  Dr.  Johnson  observes,  "  The  indicative 
and  conjunctive  moods  are  by  modern  writers  frequently  confounded;  or  rather  the  conjunctive 
is  wholly  neglected,  when  some  convenience  of  versification  does  not  invite  its  revival.  It  is  used 
among  the  purer  writers  of  former  times  ;  as,  '  Doubtless  thou  art  our  father,  though  Abraham  oe 
ignorant  of  us,  and  Israel  acknowledge  us  not.'  " — Gram,  in  Joh.  Diet.  p.  9.  To  neglect  the  sub- 
junctive mood,  or  to  confound  it  with  the  indicative,  is  to  augment  several  of  the  worst  faults  of 
the  language. 

II.  COMPOUND  OR  PROGRESSIVE  FORM. 

Active  and  neuter  verbs  may  also  be  conjugated,  by  adding  the  Im- 
perfect Participle  to  the  auxiliary  verb  BE,  through  all  its  changes ;  as, "  I 
am  writing  a  letter." — "  He  is  sitting  idle." — "  They  are  going"  This  form 
of  the  verb  denotes  a  continuance  of  the  action  or  state  of  being,  and  is,  on 
many  occasions,  preferable  to  the  simple  form  of  the  verb. 

FOURTH  EXAMPLE. 

The  irregular  active  verb  READ,  conjugated  affirmatively,  in  the 
Compound  Form. 

PRINCIPAL  PARTS  OF  THE  SIMPLE  VERB. 

Present.     Preterit.      Imp.  Participle.         Perf.  Participle. 
Read.          Read.  Reading.  Read. 

INFINITIVE  MOOD. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 
To  be  reading. 

PERFECT  TENSE. 
To  have  been  reading. 

INDICATIVE  MOOD. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 

Singular.  Plural. 

I         am  reading,  1.  We     are  reading, 

2.  Thou  art  reading,  2.  You    are  reading, 

3.  He      is    reading;  3.  They  are  reading. 


CHAP.  VI.]         ETYMOLOGY. VEEBS. — CONJUGATIONS.  359 

IMPERFECT  TENSE. 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I        was   reading,  1.  We    were  reading, 

2.  Thou  wast  reading,  2.  You  were  reading, 

3.  He     was   reading;  3.  They  were  reading. 

PERFECT  TENSE. 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         have  been  reading,  1.  We    have  been  reading, 

2.  Thou  hast   been  reading,  2.  You  have  been  reading, 

3.  He      has     been  reading;  3.  They  have  been  reading. 

PLUPERFECT  TENSE. 
1  Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         had     been  reading,  .1.  We    had  been  reading, 

2.  Thou  hadst  been  reading,  2.  You  had  been  reading, 

3.  He     had     been  reading ;  3.  They  had  been  reading. 

FIRST-FUTURE  TENSE. 

Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         shall  be  reading,  1.  We     shall  be  reading, 

2.  Thou  wilt  be  reading,  2.  You    will   be  reading, 

3.  He      will  be  reading ;  3.  They  will   be  reading. 

SECOND-FUTURE  TENSE. 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         shall  have  been  reading,  1.  We    shall  have  been  reading, 

2.  Thou  wilt  have  been  reading,  2.  You    will  have  been  reading, 

3.  He      will  have  been  reading ;  3.  They  will  have  been  reading. 

POTENTIAL  MOOD. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 

Singular.  Plural. 

I        may     be  reading,  1.    We     may  be  reading, 

2.  Thou  mayst  be  reading,  2.    You    may  be  reading, 

3.  He      may    be  reading ;  3.    They  may  be  reading. 

IMPERFECT  TENSE. 

Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I        might     be  reading,  1.  We    might  be  reading, 

2.  Thou  mightst  be  reading,  2.  You   might  be  reading, 
o.  lie     might    be  reading;  3.  They  might  be  reading. 

PERFECT  TENSE. 

Singular.  Plural. 

I         may    have  been  reading,  1.  We     may  have  been  reading, 

Thou  mayst  have  been  reading,  2.  You    may  have  been  reading, 

0.  He      may    have  been  reading ;  3.  They  may  have  been  reading. 

PLUPERFECT  TENSK. 

Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I        might     have  been  reading,  1.  We   might  have  been  reading, 

2.  Thou  mightst  have  been  reading,  2.  You  might  have  been  reading, 

3.  He     might    have  been  reading;  3.  They  might  have  been  reading. 

SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  If    I        be  reading,  1.  If  we    be  reading, 

2.  If    thou  be  reading,  2.  If  you  be  reading, 

3.  If   he      be  reading  ;  3.  If  they  be  reading. 


360  THE   GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

IMPERFECT  TENSE. 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  If  I       were  reading,  1.  If  we     were  reading, 

2.  If  thou  were  reading,  2.  If  you  were  reading, 

3.  If  he      were  reading  ;  3.  If  they  were  reading. 

IMPERATIVE  MOOD. 

Sing.  2.     Be     [thou]  reading,  or  Do  thou  be  reading ; 

Plur.  2.     Be     [ye  or  you]     reading,          or  Do  you   be  reading. 

PARTICIPLES. 

1.    The  Imperfect.  2.    The  Perfect.  3.   The  Preperfect. 

Being    reading,  Having  been  reading. 

FAMILIAR  FORM  WITH  'Tuou.' 

NOTE. — In  the  familiar  style,  the  secon'd  person  singular  of  this  verb,  is  usually  and  more 
properly  formed  thus  :  IND.  Thou  art  reading,  Thou  was  reading,  Thou  hast  been  reading, 
Thou  had  been  reading,  Thou  shall  or  will  be  reading,  Thou  shall  or  will  have  been  reading. 
POT.  Thou  may,  can,  or  must  be  reading ;  Thou  might,  could,  would,  or  should  be  read- 
ing ;  Thou  may,  can,  or  must  have  been  reading ;  Thou  might,  could,  would,  or  should 
have  been  reading.  SUBJ.  If  thou  be  reading,  If  thou  were  reading.  IND.  Be  [thou,] 
reading,  or  Do  thou  be  reading. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — Those  verbs  which,  in  their  simple  form,  imply  continuance,  do  not  admit  the  com- 
pound form  :  thus  we  say,  "  I  respccthim  ;  "  but  not,  "  I  amrespecting  him."  This  compound  form 
seems  to  imply  that  kind  of  action,  which  is  susceptible  of  intermissions  and  renewals.  Affections 
of  the  mind  or  heart  are  supposed  to  last;  or,  rather,  actions  of  this  kind  are  complete  as  soon  as 
they  exist.  Hence,  to  love,  to  hate,  to  desire,  to  fear,  to  forget,  to  remember,  and  many  other  suai 
verbs,  are  incapable  of  this  method  of  conjugation.*  If  is  true,  we  often  find  in  grammars  suc!a 
models,  as,  "  I  was  loving,  Thou  least  loving,  He  icas  loving,"  &c.  But  this  language,  to 
express  what  the  authors  intend  by  it,  is  not  English.  "'He  was  loving,"  can  only  mean,  "  H3 
was  affectionate :"  in  which  sense,  loving  is  an  adjective,  and  susceptible  of  comparison.  Who, 
in  common  parlance,  has  ever  said,  "  He  teas  loving  me,"  or  any  thing  like  it  ?  Yet  some  hav3 
improperly  published  various  examples,  or  even  whole  conjugations,  of  this  spurious  sort.  Se3 
such,  in  Adam's  Gram.  p.  91;  Gould's  Adam,  83;  Bullions' s  English  Gram.  52;  hi*  Analyt.  ani 
Pract.  Gram.  92 ;  Chandler's  New  Gram.  85  and  86 ;  Clark's,  80  ;  Cooper's  Plain  and  Practical, 
70 ;  Frazee's  Improved,  66  and  69  ;  S.  S.  Greene's,  234 ;  Guy's,  25  ;  Hallock's,  103 ;  Hart's,  88  ;  Henc- 
rick'8,38;Lenrite's,3l;  Lowth's,  40;  Harrison's,  34;  Perley's,  36. 

OBS.  2. — Verbs  of  this  form  have  sometimes  a  passive  signification ;  as,  "  The  books  are  now  sell- 
ing."— Allen's  Gram.  p.  82.  "As  the  money  was  paying  down." — Ainsworth's  Diet.  w.  As.  "It 
requires  no  motion  in  the  organs  whilst  it  is  forming." — Murray's  Gram.-  p.  8.  "  Those  works 
are  long  forming  which  must  always  last." — Dr.  Chetwood.  "  While  the  work  of  the  temple  too* 
carrying  on." — Dr.  J.  Owen.  "  The  designs  of  Providence  are  carrying  on." — Bp.  Butler.  "A 
scheme,  which  has  been  carrying  on,  and  is  still  carrying  on." — Id.  Analogy,  p.  188.  "We  are 
permitted  to  know  nothing  of  what  is  transacting  in  the  regions  above  us." — Dr.  Blair.  "  While 
these  things  were  transacting  in  Germany." — Russell's  Modern  Europe,  Part  First,  Let.  59.  "As 
he  was  carrying  to  execution,  he  demanded  to  be  heard." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  Vol.  i,  p.  163.  "  To 
declare  that  the  action  was  doing  or  done." — Booth's  Introd.  p.  28.  "It  is  doing  by  thousands 
now." — Abbott's  Young  Christian,  p.  121.  "  While  the  experiment  was  making,  he  was  watching 
every  movement." — Ib.  p.  309.  "A  series  of  communications  from  heaven,  which  had  been  making 
for  fifteen  hundred  years." — Ib.  p.  166.  "  Plutarch's  Lives  are  re-printing." — L.  Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  p.  64.  "  My  Lives  are  reprinting." — Dit.  JOHNSON  :  Worcester's  Univ.  and  Crit.  Diet.  p.  xlvi. 
"All  this  has  been  transacting  within  130  miles  of  London." — BYIION  :  Perley's  Gram.  p.  37. 
"  When  the  heart  is  corroding  by  vexations." — Student's  Manual,  p.  336.  "  The  padlocks  for  our 
\ipsareforging." — WHITTIER:  Liberator,  No.  993.  "When  his  throat  is  cutting." — Collier's 
Antoninus.  "  While  your  story  is  telling." — Adams's  Rhet.  i,  425.  "  But  the  seeds  of  it  wercsoicing 
some  time  before." — Bolingbroke,  on  History,  p.  168.  "As  soon  as  it  was  formed,  nay  even  whilst 
it  was  forming." — Ib.  p.  163.  "Strange  schemes  of  private  ambition  were  formed  and  forming 
there." — Ib.  p.  291.  "  Even  when  it  was  making  and  made." — Ib.  299.  "Which  have  been  made 
and  arc  making." — HENRY  CLAY  :  Liberator,  ix,  p.  141.  "And  they  are  in  measure  sanctified,  or 
sanctifying,  by  the  power  thereof." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  537.  "Which  is  now  accomplishing  amongst 

*  The  text  in  Acts,  xxii,  20th,  "  I  also  was  standing  by,  and  consenting  unto  his  death,"  ought  rather  to  be,  "  I 
also  stood  by,  and  contented  to  his  death  ;  "  but  the  present  reading  is,  thus  far,  a  literal  version  from  the  Greek, 
though  the  verb  "kept,"  that  follows,  Is  not.  Montamis  renders  it  literally  :  u  Et  ip?e  tram  astans,  et  conscntims 
interemptioni  ejus,  et  custodiens  vestimenta  interflcientium  ilium."  Beza  makes  it  better  Latin  thus:  "Ego 
quoque  adstabam,  et  una  asttnt.ifbax  caedi  ipsius,  et,  custodiebam  pallia  eorum  qui  interimebant  eum."  Other  ex- 
amples of  a  questionable  or  improper  use  of  the  progressive  form  may  occasionally  be  found  in  good  authors  ;  as, 
"A  promising  boy  of  six  years  of  age,  wan  missing  by  his  parents." — Wkittier,  Stranger  in  Lowell,  p.  100.  Missing, 
wanting,  and  willing,  after  the  verb  to  be,  are  commonly  reckoned  participial  adjectives  ;  but  here  "  was  missing'* 
is  made  a  passive  verb,  equivalent  to  was  missed,  which,  perhaps,  would  better  express  the  meaning.  To  miss,  to 
perceive  the  absence  of,  is  such  an  act  of  the  mind,  as  seems  unsuited  to  the  compound  form,  to  be  missing;  and, 
if  we  cannot  say,  "  The  mother  was  missing  her  eon,"  I  think  we  ought  not  to  use  the  same  form  passively,  as 
above. 


CHAP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. — VERBS. CONJUGATIONS.  3d 

the  uncivilized  countries  of  the  earth." — Chalmers,  Sermons,  p.  281.  "  Who  arc  ruining,  or  ruined, 
[in]  this  way." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  155.  "  Whilst  they  were  undoing" — Ibid.  "Whether  he  was 
employing  fire  to  consume  [something,]  or  was  himself  consuming  by  fire." — Crombic,  on  Ety/n. 
and  s'i/ntnx,  p.  148.  "At  home,  the  greatest  exertions  are  making  to  promote  its  progress." — 
Sheridan's  Etocution,  p.  iv.  "  With  those  [sounds]  which  are  uttering." — 76.  p.  125.  "Orders 
are  now  concerting  for  the  dismissal  of  all  officers  of  the  Revenue  marine." — Proridi-nce  Journal, 
Feb.  1,  18-50.  Expressions  of  this  kind  are  condemned  by  some  critics,  under  the  notion  that  the 
participle  in  ing  must  never  be  passive  ;  but  the  usage  is  unquestionably  of  far  better  authority, 
and,  according  to  my  apprehension,  in  far  better  taste,  than  the  more  complex  phraseology  which 
some  late  writers  adopt  in  its  stead  ;  as,  "  The  books  are  now  being  sold." — •'  In  all  the  towns  about 
Cork,  the  whiskey  shops  are  bcinq  closed,  and  soup,  coffee,  and  tea  houses  [are]  establishing  gene- 
rally."— Dublin  Evening  7W.  1840. 


other  equivalent  phrase.  Dr.  Johnson,  after  noticing  the  compound  form  of  active-intransitives, 
as,  "  I  am  f/oitu/,"  —  "  She  is  dying,"  —  "  The  tempest  is  raging,"  —  "  I  have  been  walking,"  and  so 
forth,  adds:  "  There  is  another  manner  of  using  the  active  participle,  which  gives  it  a  passive 
signification  :*  as,  The  grammar  is  now  printing,  Grammatica  jam  mine  chart  is  imprimatur.  The 
bra^s  is  forging,  .7-,'m  fxnuhmhar.  This  is,  in  my  opinion,"  says  he,  "  a  vitious  expression, 
probably  corrupted  from  a  phrase  more  pure,  but  now  somewhat  obsolete  :  The  book  is  a  printing, 
The  brass  is  a  forging  ;  a  being  properly  at,  and  printing  and  forging  verbal  nouns  signifying 
action,  according  to  the  analogy  of  this  "language."  —  Gram,  in  Joh.  Diet.  p.  9. 

OBS.  4.  —  A  is  certainly  sometimes  a  preposition  ;  and,  as  such,  it  may  govern  a  participle,  and 
that  without  converting  it  into  a  "  verbal  noun."  But  that  such  phraseology  ought  to  be  preferred 
to  what  is  exhibited  with  so  many  authorities,  in  a  preceding  paragraph,  and  with  an  example 
from  Johnson  among  the  rest,  I  am  not  prepared  to  concede.  As  to  the  notion  of  introducing  a 
new  and  more  complex  passive  form  of  conjugation,  as,  "  The  bridge  is  being  built,"  "  The  bridge 
was  being  built,"  and  so  forth,  it  is  one  of  the  most  absurd  and  monstrous  innovations  ever  thought 
of.  Yet  some  two  or  three  men,  who  seem  to  delight  in  huge  absurdities,  declare  that  this 
"  modern  innovation  is  likely  to  supersede  "  the  simpler  mode  of  expression.  Thus,  in  stead  of,  "  The 
work  is  now  publishing,"  they  choose  to  say,  "The  work  is  now  being  published."  —  Kirkham's 
Gram.  p.  82.  This  is  certainly  no  better  English  than,  "  The  work  was  being  published,  has  been 
In  iii'/  pnbti*/ift/,  had  been  being  published,  shall  or  will  be  being  published,  shall  or  will  have  been 
brin  i  j»ih!i\!iftl  •  "  and  so  on.  through  all  the  moods  and  tenses.  What  a  language  shall  we  have 
when  our  verbs  are  thus  conjugated  ! 

Ous.  5.  —  A  certain  Irish  critic,  who  even  outdoes  in  rashness  the  above-cited  American,  having 

recently  arrived  in  New  York,  has  republished  a  grammar,  in  which  he  not  only.  repudiates  the  pas- 

sive use  of  the  participle  in  ing,  hut  denies  the  usual  passive  form  of  the  present  tense,  "lam  loved, 

I  am  smitten,"  \'-..  us  tauffht  by  Murray  and  others,  to  be  good  English  ;  and  tells  us  that  the  true 

form  is,    '•/  am  h<in</  fared,  I  am  being  smitten,"  &c.    See  the  98th  and  103rd  pages  of  Joseph  W. 

Wri<:hCs  Philosophical  Grammar,  (Edition  0/1838,)  dedicated  "  TO  COMMON  SENSE  !"  f     But  both 

are  offset,  if  not  refuted,  by  the  following  observations  from  a  source  decidedly  better  :  "  It  has 

Secome  common  to  use  the  present  participle  passive  [,]  to  express  the  suffering  of  an  ac- 

tion as  continuing,  instead  of  the  participle  in  -ing  in  the  passive  sense  ;  thus,  instead  of,   'The 

house  ii  buililinti.'  w<-  now  very  frequently  hear,  '  The  house  is  being  built.'     This  mode  of  ex- 

awkward,  is  incorrect,  and  docs  not  express  the  idea  intended.     This  will  be 

,  I  think,  from  the  following  considerations. 

"  1.  The  expression,  '  is  being,'  is  equivalent  to  'is,'  and  expresses  no  more  ;  just  as,  tutatingtt 
is  equivalent  to,  '  A-  ».1  Hence,  'w  being  built,'  is  precisely  equivalent  to,  '  is  built.' 

"  '-.  •  /  i  perfect  participle  ;  and  therefore  cannot,  in  any  connexion,  express  an  action, 

or  the  suffering  of  an  action,  noir  in  progress.  The  verb  to  be,  signifies  to  exist  ;  '  being,'  therefore, 
is  equivalent  to  '  c.;-/x  tin;/.  '  It'  then  we'  substitute  the  synonyme,  the  nature  of  the  expression 
will  In-  obvious  ;  thus,  '  the  house  is  being  built,'  is,  in  other  words,  '  the  house  is  existing  built,' 


*  Some  grammarians,  contrary  to  the  common  opinion,  suppose  the  verbs  here  spoken  of,  to  have, 

Joseph  Guy,  .Inn  .  of  London  :   •  .:  •  Trm  take  a    n-i.-r.r   >et;>e  ;  as.   A 

•  TI-.  M  fin  i  !  /)/(:,'  i-  n<.  'I  in   :t   neutn  -u'Mitioation.  because  it  has  no  objcrt  after  ir.     My  this 
rule  IT  •  \    j.'.KMtiou  i<  \vii,tinj:  The  grammar  is  printing  ;  The  lottery  i-  dnnvino:  : 

".'^1/xh  Gni>n.p.2l.     uArett/^,''h«-re.  a<  in  many  other  plaees.  is  meai  t  t't  jm-lnde  the. 
:  an  I  ••  is  ir<mti/ix."  corresponding  to  the  Ijitin  car,  t.  appears  to 
•  j..!.->ive<.     Tiie'l.  however.  l>y  the  usual     ci  in-iion.—  the  nan.injj  of  tho^ 
uiiii-h.i'  i  wh.-ir  may  at  first  m-m  j>rogre-M\--    : 

:mdsuch.     ••^fovM'erli-  sL'i:if-  ;.-  i\sl)r.  .li.lnison.  ••may    lil.t-nisc   signify  con- 

r  im^it.  nt\>\  '  I  ''.>r,  .  I  aiii  in  !«>%,-  ;  /.«/i  //.-..  I  am  i:o\v  striking.'1 

•  ly  tranM  ive.   ha\e  .-Mii.rtinn-s  an 

activ-inrran-:  ..  li  nearly  nj>;  ptuaive,  and  of  which  ore   stUiitg,  is   /,,,1'iim:.  or.' 

and  'lie  !i'<.-  May  be  only  equivalent  exprwioos.     For  example  :  u  It  is  <  •ormt  rapidly—  if  fonnivg 

•  rapi«llv."     Here,  with  little  diff<  ninir.   i^  the  a]>i>ear:inrp  of  both  TOJ. 

:nt  the  I'a-ive  :   while  -  ,  A  hi.-h  M  nie  will  ha\e  f.  T  'an  exam  j.le  of  "  the  Midtil'   voice,*'    may 

>  ri^hr.  i\   ir,  /,;'/;-  i  r  «r,  ini/itin^'  may  I  ••    a 
-  four  dilT  n-nt  surfs:  '•  K«  :'  :H;IV  ilrivi-  i\\-.i\  despair  runnel  t,e  UMHUmfbyhim^ho  coi. 

mWs  ««;;,.'.  rr,No    IV.- 

t  l»r.  Bullions,  in  hi^  K-iimnar  «  :  ly  woiiM  thii,  ![.-  i-  being  loved'—  •  This  n-pnlt 

•.nmtPiart.  rdingtoJ.    U'.    \Vii-ht.    wl  rity  in 

grammar  ha-  -  •  .i*  \intn-  ir  I  <>f  hartiarism  is.  for  the  ]".  •  •>'   «nd   solely 

in  fict.  anv  more  h:irbamn«.  <>v  IIIOM.    fon-i.cn    fr"in    usaye.  than   tl»e  spurious 

example  which  the  Doctor  himself  take*  for  a  model  in  the  a-  /nr,,.-.  Th«.u    art  lot-ing,    kc.  ; 

I  ha  •(  ':'cn  loving,  Thou  hast  bten  loving.  &c."  —  A.  ami  P.  Gr.  p.  'J2.     So  :  '•  James  is  loving  me."  —  Ib.  p.  235. 

24 


362  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 


5.  11  tne  expression,  •  is  oeing  built,  be  a  correct  form  ot  the  present  indicative  passive,  then  it 
;  be  equally  correct  to  say  in  the  perfect,  '  has  been  being  built ; '  in  the  past  perfect,  '  had 
being  built ;  '  in  the  present  infinitive,  « to  be  being  built ;  '  in  the  perfect  infinitive,  <  to  have 
being  built ; '  and  in  the  present  participle,  '  being  being  built;  '  which  all  will  admit  to  be  ex 


or  more  simply  as  before,  '  the  house  is  built ;  '  plainly  importing  an  action  not  progressing,  but 
now  existing  in  a  finished  state. 

11  3.  If  the  expression,  '  is  being  built,'  be  a  correct  form  of  the  present  indicative  passive,  then  it 
must  be  eqnallv  correct  tr>  snv  in  thp  nprfWt    '  Jtn.it  hwn.  hf>inn  hnilt.  • '    in    thp    nnst    noi-fnnf     '  /i/j/7 
been  being 
been  being 

pressions  as  incorrect  as  they  are  inefegant/but  precisely  analogous  to  that  which  noAV  begins  to- 
prevail." — Bullions' s  Principles  of  English  Gram.  p.  58. 

OBS.  6. — It  may  be  replied,  that  the  verbs  to  be  and  to  exist  are  not  always  synonymous  ;  be- 
cause the  former  is  often  a  mere  auxiliary,  or  a  mere  copula,  whereas  the  latter  always  means 
something  positive,  as  to  be  in  being,  to  be  extant.  Thus  we  may  speak  of  a  thing  as  being  de- 
stroyed, or  may  say,  it  is  annihilated;  but  we  can  by  no  means  speak  of  it  as  existing  destroyed, 
or  say,  it  exists  annihilated.  The  first  argument  above  is  also  nugatory.  These  drawbacks,  how- 
ever, do  not  wholly  destroy  the  force  of  the  foregoing  criticism,  or  at  all  extenuate  the  obvious 
tautology  and  impropriety  of  such  phrases  as,  is  being,  was  being,  &c.  The  gentlemen  who  affirm 
that  this  new  form  of  conjugation  "  is  being  introduced  into  the  language,"  (since  they  allow  par- 
ticiples to  follow  possessive  prononns)  may  very  fairly  be  asked,  "  What  evidence  have  you  of 
its  being  being  introduced  f"  Nor  can  they,  on  their  own  principles,  either  object  to  the  mon- 
strous phraseology  of  this  question,  or  tell  how  to  better  it ! 

OBS.  7. — D.  H.  Sanborn,  an  other  recent  writer,  has  very  emphatically  censured  this  innovation, 
as  follows  :  "  English  and  American  writers  have  of  late  introduced  a  new  kind  of  phraseology, 
which  has  become  quite  prevalent  in  the  periodical  and  popular  publications  of  the  day.  Their 
intention,  doubtless,  is,  to  supersede  the  use  of  the  verb  in  the  definite  form,  when  it  has  a  passive 
signification.  They  say,  '  The  ship  is  being  built,' — '  time :  is  being  wasted,' — 'the  work  is  being 
advanced,'  instead  of,  '  the  ship  is  building,  time  is  icasting,  the  work  is  advancing.'  Such  a 
phraseology  is  a  solecism  too  palpable  to  receive  any  favor  ;  it  is  at  Avar  with  the  practice  of  the 
most  distinguished  writers  in  the  English  language,  such  as  Dr.  Johnson  and  Addison.  When 
an  individual  says,  *  a  house  is  being  burned,'  he  declares  that  a  house  is  existing,  bumed,vrhich  is 
impossible ;  for  being  means  existing,  and  burned,  consumed  by  fire.  The  house  ceases  to  exist  as 
such,  after  it  is  consumed  by  fire.  But  when  he  says,  '  a  house  is  burning,'  we  understand  that 
it  is  consuming  by  fire  ;  instead  of  inaccuracy,  doubt,  and  ambiguity,  we  have  a  form  of  expression, 
perfectly  intelligible,  beautiful,  definite,  and  appropriate." — Sanborn' s  Analytical  Gram.  p.  102. 

OBS.  8. — Dr.  Perley  speaks  of  this  usage  thus :  "An  attempt  has  been  made  of  late  to  intro- 
duce a  kind  of  passive  participial  voice;  as,  '  The  temple  is  being  built.'  This  ought  not  to  be 
encouraged.  For,  besides  being  an  innovation,  it  is  less  convenient  than  the  use  of  the  present 
participle  in  the  passive  sense.  Being  built  signifies  action  finished;  and  how  can,  Is  being 
built,  signifiy  an  action  unfinished  f" — Perley' s  Gram.  p.  37. 

OBS.  9. — The  question  now  before  us  has  drawn  forth,  on  either  side,  a  deal  of  ill  scholarship 
and  false  logic,  of  which  it  would  be  tedious  to  give  even  a  synopsis.  Concerning  the  import  of 
some  of  our  most  common  words  and  phrases,  these  ingenious  masters, — Bullions,  Sanborn,  and 
Perley, — severally  assert  some  things  which  seem  not  to  be  exactly  true.  It  is  remarkable  that 
critics  can  err  in  expounding  terms  so  central  to  the  language,  and  so  familiar  to  all  ears,  as 
"  be,  being,  being  built,  burned,  being  burned,  is,  is  burned,  to  be  burned,"  and  the  like.  That  to  be 


According  to  his  reasoning,  as  well  as  that  of  Bullions,  is  burned  must  mean  exists  consumed , 
was  burned,  existed  consumed;  and  thus  our  whole  passive  conjugation  would  often  be  found 
made  up  of  bald  absurdities  !  That  this  new  unco-passive  form  conflicts  with  the  older  and  better 
usage  of  taking  the  progressive  form  sometimes  passively,  is  doubtless  a  good  argument  against 
the  innovation  ;  but  that  "  Johnson  and  Addison  "  are  fit  representatives  of  the  older  "  practice  " 
in  this  case,  may  be  doubted.  I  know  not  that  the  latter  has  any  where  make  use  of  such 
phraseology;  and  one  or  two  examples  from  the  former  are  scarcely  an  offset  to  his  positive  ver- 
dict against  the  usage.  See  OBS.  3rd,  above. 

OBS.  10. — As  to  what  is  called  "  the  present  or  the  imperfect  participle  passive," — as,  "being: 
burned,"  or  "being  burnt," — if  it  is  rightly  interpreted  in  any  of  the  foregoing  citations,  it  is, 
beyond  question,  very  improperly  thus  named.  In  participles,  ing  denotes  continuance  :  thus  be- 
_.._,, ....  ..  tinning  to  build,— or 

sense  more  precisely 
'ing built, "but  "con- 
tinuing to  be  built,"  the  same,  or  nearly  the  same,  as  "  building  "  taken  passively?  True  it  is, 
that  built,  when  alone,  being  a  perfect  participle,  does  not  mean  "  in  process  of  construc- 
tion," but  rather,  "constructed,"  which  intimates  completion;  yet,  in  the  foregoing  passive 
phrases,  and  others  like  them,  as  well  as  in  all  examples  of  this  unco-passive  voice,  continuance 
of  the  passive  state  being  first  suggested,  and  cessation  of  the  act  being  either  regarded  as  future 
or  disregarded,  the  imperfect  participle  passive  is  for  the  most  part  received  as  equivalent  to  the 
simple  imperfect  used  in  a  passive  sense.  But  Dr.  Bullions,  who,  after  making  "is  being  built 
precisely  equivalent  to  is  built,"  classes  the  two  participles  differently,  and  both  erroneously, — the 
one  as  a  "present  participle,"  and  the  other,  of  late,  as  a  "past,"— has  also  said  above,  "  '  Built/ 
is  a. perfect  participle  ;  and  THEREFORE  cannot,  in  any  connexion,  express  an  action,  or  the  suffer- 
ing of  an  action,  now  in  progress."  And  Dr.  Perley,  who  also  calls  the  compound  of  being  a  "pres- 
ent participle,  argues  thus:  "Being  built  signifies  an  action  finished ;  and  how  can  /*  being  built, 
signify  an  action  unfinished?"  To  expound  a  passive  term  actively,  or  as  "signifying  action," 
is,  at  any  rate,  a  near  approach  to  absurdity  ;  and  I  shall  presently  show  that  the  fore-cited  no- 
tion of  "  a  perfect  participle,"  now  half  abandoned  by  Bullions  himself,  has  been  the  seed  of  the 
very  worst  form  of  that  ridiculous  neology  which  the  good  Doctor  was  opposing. 

OBS.  11. — These  criticisms  being  based  upon  the  meaning  of  certain  participles,  either  alone  or 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VJJBBS. — CONJUGATIONS.  363 

in  phrases,  and  the  particular  terms  spoken  of  being  chiefly  meant  to  represent  classes,  what  is 
said  of  them  may  be  understood  of  their  kinds.  Hence  the  appropriate  naming  of  the  kinds,  so  as 
to  convey  no  false  idea  of  any  participle's  import,  is  justly  brought  into  view  ;  and  I  may  he  allowed 
to  say  here,  that,  for  the  first  participle  passive,  which  begins  with  "briny,"  the  epithet  "Imper- 
fect'* is  better  than  "  Present,  because  this  compound  participle  denotes,  not  always  what  is 
present,  but  always  the  state  of  something  by  which  an  action  is,  or  icas,  or  will  be,  undergone  or 
undergoing — ;i  sttitc  continuing,  or  so  regarded,  though  perhaps  the  action  causative  may  be  end- 
ed— or  sometimes  perhaps  imagined  only,  and  not  yet  really  begun.  With  a  marvellous  insta- 


'and  Pnict.  dram  mar,  1849,  p.  77.  And  what  was  the  "Perfect"  before,  in  his  several  books,  is 
now  called  the  "Past ;  "  though,  with  this  change,  he  has  deliberately  made  an  other  which  is  re- 
pugnant to  it :  this  participle,  being  the  basis  of  three  tenses  always,  and  of  all  the  tenses  some- 
times, is  now  allowed  by  the  Doctor  to  lend  the  term  "perfect  "  to  the  three, — "Present-perfect, 
Past-per  fe,f,  Future-perfect," — even  when  itself  is  named  otherwise  ! 

Ons.  \'2. — From  the  erroneous  conception,  that  a  perfect  participle  must,  in  every  connexion,  ex- 
press "action  finished,"  actionpa-st, — or  perhaps  from  only  a  moiety  of  this  great  error, — the  notion 
that  such  a  participle  cannot,  in  connexion  with  an  auxiliary,  constitute  a  passive  verb  of  the  present 
tense, — J .  W.  Wright,  above  mentioned,  has  not  very  unnaturally  reasoned,  that,  "  The  expression, 
'lam  fared,'  which  Mr.  Murray  has  employed  to  exhibit  the  passive  conjugation  of  the  present  tense, 
may  much  more  feasibly  represent pttst  than  present  time."  See  Wright's  Philosophical  drum. 
p.  99.  Accordingly,  in  his  own  paradigm  of  the  passive  verb,  he  has  formed  this  tense  solely  from 
what  he  calls  the  participle  present,  thus  :  "  I  am  being  smitten,  Thou  art  being  smitten,"  &c. — Ib. 
p.  98.  His  "Passed  Tense,"  too,  for  some  1'eason  which'l  do  not  discover,  he  distinguishes  above  the 
rest  by  a  double  form,  thus  :  "  I  tea*  smitten,  or  being  smitten;  Thou  wast  smitten,  or  being  smit- 
ten; "  &c. — P.  $9.  In  his  opinion,  "  Few  will  object  to  the  propriety  of  the  more  familiar  phrase- 
ology, 'lam  in  the  ACT, — or,  suffering  the  ACTION  q/" BEING  SMITTEN  :  '  and  yet,"  says  he,  "in 
substance  and  effect,  it  is  wholly  the  same  as,  *  I  am  being  smitten,'  which  is  THE  TRUE  FORM  of 
the  verb  in  the  present  tense  of  the  passive  voice  !  " — Ibid.  Had  we  not  met  with  some  similar  ex- 
:is  of  English  or  American  blunderers,  "the  act  or  action  of  being  smitten,"  would  be  ac- 
counted a  downright  Irish  bull;  and  as  to  this  ultra  notion  of  neologizing  all  our  passive  verbs, 
by  the  addition  of  "being," — with  the  author's  cool  talk  of  "the presentation  of  this  theory,  and 
[the]  consequent  suppression  of  that  hitherto  employed," — there  is  a  transcendency  in  it,  worthy  of 
the  most  sublime  aspirant  among  grammatical  new-fanglers. 

Ous.  13. — But,  with  all  its  boldness  of  innovation,  Wright's  Philosophical  Grammar  is  not  a 
little  self-contradictory  in  its  treatment  of  the  passive  verb.  The  entire  "  suppression  "  of  the 
usual  form  of  its  present  tense,  did  not  always  appear,  even  to  this  author,  quite  so  easy  and 
reasonable  a  matter,  as  the  foregoing  citations  would  seem  to  represent  it.  The  passive  use  of 
the  participle  in  ing,  he  has  easily  disposed  of:  despite  innumerable  authorities  for  it,  one  false 
assertion,  of  seven  syllables,  suffices  to  make  it  quite  impossible.*  But  the  usual  passive  form, 
which,  with  some  show  of  truth,  is  accused  of  not  having  always  precisely  the  same  meaning  as 
the  progressive  used  passively, — that  is,  of  not  always  denoting  continuance  in  the  state  of  receiving 
continued  action, — and  which  is,  for  that  remarkable  reason,  judged  worthy  of  rejection,  is  neverthe- 
less admitted  to  have,  in  very  many  instances,  a  conformity  to  this  idea,  and  therefore  to  "  belong 
[thus  far]  to  the  present  tense." — P.  103.  This  contradicts  to  an  indefinite  extent,  the  proposi- 
tion for  its  rejection.  It  is  observable  also,  that  the  same  examples,  '/am  loved  'and  'I  am  smit- 
ten,'— the  same  "tolerated,  but  erroneous  forms,"  (so  called  on  page  103,)  that  are  given  as 
specimens  of  what  he  would  reject, — though  at  first  pronounced  "equivalent  in  grammatical  con- 
struction," censured  for  the  same  pretended  error,  and  proposed  to  be  changed  alike  to  "  the  true 
form  "  by  the  insertion  of  "  being" — are  subsequently  declared  to  "  belong  to  "  different  classes 
and  different  tenses.  •'/  am  loved,"  is  referred  to  that  "  numerous  "  class  of  verbs,  which  "  de- 
tail  ACTION  of  prior,  but  r>  ('lined,  endured,  and  continued  existence;  and  therefore,  in  this  sense, 
belong  to  the  present  tense."  But  "/  am  smitten,"  is  idly  reckoned  of  an  opposite  class,  (said 
by  Dr.  Bullions  to  be  "  perhaps  the  greater  number,")  whose  "'ACTIONS  described  are  neither  con- 
tintt'nts  in  their  nature,  nor  pro</rcxfii> 'c  in  their  duration  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  completed  andpcr- 
fected:  and  [which]  are  consequently  descriptive  of  passed  time  and  ACTION."—  Wright's  Gram.  p. 
103.  Again:  "  In  what  instance  soever  this  latter  form  and  signification  caw  be  introduced,  their 
import  sh'nt.'d  be,  and,  indeed,  migh  t  f<>  be,  supplied  by  the  perfect  tense  construct  inn  : — for  example, 
•I  am  smitten,'  I  should]  be,  >  I  have  been  smitten.'  " — Ib.  Here  is  self-contradiction  indefinitely  ex- 
tended in  an  of/it  r  ten;/.  Many  a  good  phrase,  if  not  every  one,  that  the  author's  first  suggestion 
would  turn  to  the  unco-passive  form,  his  present  "remedy  "  would  about  as  absurdly  convert  into' 
"the  perfect  tense." 

OIH.  14.— But  Wright's  inconsistency,  about  this  matter,  ends  not  here  :  it  runs  through  all  he- 
says  of  it  ;  for,  in  this  instance,  error  and  inconsistency  constitute  his  whole  story.  In  one 
place,  he  anticipates  and  answers  a  question  thus  :  "  To  what  tense  do  the  constructions,  '  I  am 
pleas  >d  ; '  'He  is  expected  : '  '/  am  smitten  ,  '  '  He  is  bound  ; '  belong  ?  "  We  answer  : — ^o  far  at 

i 

*  "  Suppose  a  criminal  to  be  enduring  the  operation  of  binding :— Shall  we  say,  with  Mr.  Murray,—'  The  crimina 
la  Uncling  ? '  If  so,  HE  MUST  UK  BINDING  SOMETHING,— a  circumstance,  in  effect,  quite  opposed  to  the  fart  present- 
ed. Shall  wo  then  s.\v,  as  In-  il  o<,  in  the  jnrsenl  tfntr  conjugation  of  his  pasM\v  vcrl>,— 4  The  criminal  is  bound? ' 
If  «O,  the  arlion  of  binding,  which  the  criminal  te  suffering,  will  be  represented  as  completed, — a  position  which 
the  arum  its  self  will  palpably  deny."  Sec  Wight's  Pliii.  0>a;;i.  p.  102.  It  is  folly  for  a  man  to  pu/.zle  himself 
or  others  thus,  with  Jicntiout  fxami'lfs,  imagined  on  purpose  to  make  good  usage  seem  u-rong.  There  is  bad 
grammar  enough,  for  all  useful  purposes,  in  the  actual  writings  of  valued  authors  ;  but  who  can  enow,  by  any 
proofs,  that  the  English  language,  as  heretofore  written,  ia  so  miserably  inadequate  to  our  wants,  that  we  need 
use  tho  strange  neologism,  u  The  criminal  w  being  bound,-'  or  any  thing  similar  ? 


364  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

these  and  like  constructions  are  applicable  to  the  delineation  of  continuous  and  retained  ACTION, 
they  express  -present  time  ;  and  must  be  treated  accordingly." — P.  103.  This  seems  to  intimate 
that  even,  fla?n  smitten,'  and  its  likes,  as  they  stand,  may  have  some  good  claim  to  be  of  the  pres- 
ent tense  ;  which  suggestion  is  contrary  to  several  others  made  by  the  author.  To  expound  this, 
or  any  other  passive  term,  ptmivtfy,  never  enters  his  mind :  with  him,  as  with  sundry  others, 
"ACTION,"  "Jinished  ACTION,"  or  " progressive  ACTION,"  is  all  any  passive  verb  or  participle  ever 
means  !  No  marvel,  that  awkward  perversions  of  the  forms  of  utterance  and  the  principles  of 
grammar  should  follow  such  interpretation.  In  Wright's  syntax  a  very  queer  distinction  is  ap- 
parently made  between  a  passive  verb,  and  the  participle  chiefly  constituting  it ;  and  here,  too, 
through  a  fancied  ellipsis  of  "being  "  before  the  latter, most,  if  not  all,  of  his  other  positions  con- 
cerning passives,  are  again  disastrously  overthrown  by  something  worse — a  word  "  imperceptibly 
understood."  "  '  J  am  smitten  ;  '  '/  ivas  smitten  ;  '  &c.,  are,"  he  says,  "  the  universally  acknowledged 
forms  of  the  VERBS  in  these  tenses,  in  the  passive  voice  : — not  of  the  PARTICIPLE.  In  all  verbal 
constructions  of  the  character  of  which  we  have  hitherto  treated,  (see  page  103)  and,  where  the 
ACTIONS  described  are  continuous  in  their  operations, — the  participle  BEING  is  imperceptibly  omit- 
ted, by  ellipsis."— P.  144. 

OBS.  15. — Dr.'Bullions  has  stated,  that,  "  The  present  participle  active,  and  the  present  participle 
passive,  are  not  counterparts  to  each  other  in  signification ;  [,]  the  one  signifying  the  present 
doing,  and  the  other  the  present  suffering  of  an  action,  [ ;  ]  for  the  latter  always  intimates  the 
present  being  of  an  ACT,  not  in  progress,  b^tt  completed." — Prin.ofEng.Gram.  p.  58.  In  this,  he 
errs  no  less  grossly  than  in  his  idea  of  the  "  action  or  the  suffering  "  expressed  by  "  a.  perfect  par- 
ticiple," as  cited  in  OBS.  5th  above;  namely,  that  it  must  have  ceased.  Worse  interpretation, 
or  balder  absurdity,  is  scarcely  to  be  met  with  ;  and  yet  the  reverend  Doctor,  great  linguist  as  he 
should  be,  was  here  only  trying  to  think  and  tell  the  common  import  of  a  very  common  sort  of  Eng- 
lish  participles  ;  such  as,  "being  loved  "  and  "being  seen."  In  grammar,  "  an  act,"  that  has  " pres- 
ent being,"  can  be  nothing  else  than  an  act  now  doing,  or  "in  progress ;"  and  if,  "the  present  being 
of  an  ACT  not  in  progress,"  were  here  a  possible  thought,  it  surely  could  not  be  intimated  by  any 
such  participle.  In  Acts,  i,  3  and  4,  it  is  stated,  that  our  Saviour  showed  himself  to  the  apostles, 
"  alive  after  his  passion,  by  many  infallible  proofs,  being  seen  of  them  forty  days,  an&speaking  of  the 
things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God  :  and,  being  'assembled  together  with  them  commanded 
them  that  they  should  not  depart  from  Jerusalem."  Now,  of  these  misnamed  "present  partici- 
ples," we  have  here  one  "active,"  one  "passive,"  and  two  others — (one  in  each  form — )  that  are 
neuter ;  but  no  present  time,  except  what  is  in  the  indefinite  date  of  "pertaining."  The  events  are 
past,  and  were  so  in  the  days  of  St.  Luke.  Yet  each  of  the  participles  denotes  continuance: 
not,  indeed,  in  or  to  the  present  time,  but  for  a  time.  "Being  seen  "  means  continuing  to  be  s?en ; 
and,  in  this  instance,  the  period  of  the  continuance  was  "forty  days"  of  time  past.  But,  accord- 
ing to  the  above-cited  "principle  of  English  Grammar,"  so  long  and  so  widely  inculcates  by 
"the  Rev.  Peter  Bullions,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Languages,"  &c., — a  central  principle  of  interpre- 
tation, presumed  by  him  to  hold  "always," — this  participle  must  intimate  "  the  present  being  of  an 
act,  not  in  progress,  but  completed;  "  — that  is,  "  the  present  being  of"  the  apostles'  act  infornerly 
seeing  the  risen  Saviour  ! 

OBS.  16. — This  grammarian  has  lately  taken  a  deal  of  needless  pains  to  sustain,  by  a  studied  divi- 
sion of  verbs  into  two  classes,  similar  to  those  which  are  mentioned  in  OBS.  13th  above,  a  part  oe  the 
philosophy  of  J.  W.  Wright,  concerning  our  usual  form  of  passives  in  the  present  tense.  But,  ;is  he 
now  will  have  it,  that  the  two  voices  sometimes  tally  as  counterparts,  it  is  plain  that  he  adheres  but 
partially  to  his  former  erroneous  conception  of  a  perfect  or  "  past "  participle,  and  the  terms  which 
hold  it  "  in  any  connexion  "  The  awkward  substitutes  proposed  by  the  Irish  critic,  he  does  not 
indeed  countenance;  but  argues  against  them  still,  and,  in  some  respects,  very  justly.  The 
doctrine  now  common  to  these  authors,  on  this  point,  is  the  highly  important  one,  that,  in  re- 
spect to  half  our  verbs,  what  we  commonly  take  for  the  passive  present,  is  not  such — that,  in  "  the 
second  class,  (perhaps  the  greater  number,)  the  present-passive  implies  that  the  act  expressed  by  the 
active  voice  has  ceased.  Thus,  '  The  house  is  built.'  *  *  *  Strictly  speaking,  then,"  says  the  Doctor, 
"  the  PAST  PARTICIPLE  with  the  verb  TO  BE  is  not  the  present  tense  in  the,  passive  voice  of  verbs  thus 
used;  that  is,  this  form  does  not  express  passively  the  doing  of  the  act." — Bullions' s  A.nzh/t.  and 
Pract.  Grammar,  Ed.  of  1849,  p.  235.  Thus  far  these  two  authors  agree;  except  that  Wright 
seems  to  have  avoided  the  incongruity  of  calling  that  "the present-passive"  which  he  denies  to  be 
such.  But  the  Doctor,  approving  none  of  this  practitioner's  "  remedies,"  and  being  less  solicit- 
ous to  provide  other  treatment  than  expulsion  for  the  thousands  of  present  passives  which  both 
deem«purious,  adds,  as  from  the  chair,  this  verdict :  "  These  verbs  either  have  no  present-passive, 
or  it  is  made  by  annexing  the  participle  in  ing,  in  its  passive  sense,  to  the  verb  to  be  •  as,  '  The 
house  is  building.'  " — 76.  p.  236. 

OBS.  17.— It  would  seem,  that  Dr.  Bullions  thinks,  and  in  reality  Wright  also,  that  nothing  can 
be  a  pi'esent  passive,  but  what  "expresses passively  the  DOING  of  the  act."  This  is  about  as  wise, 
as  to  try  to  imagine  every  active  verb  to  express  actively  the  receiving  of  an  act !  It  borders  ex- 
ceedingly hard  upon  absurdity  ;  it  very  much  resembles  the  nonsense  of  "  expressing  recepffre!>/ 
the  giving  of  something!"  Besides,  the  word  "  DOING,"  being  used  substantively,  does  not  deter- 
mine well  what  is  here  meant ;  which  is,  I  suppose,  continuance,  or  an  unfinished  state  of  the  act 
received — an  idea  which  seems  adapted  to  the  participle  in  ing,  but  which  it  is  certainly  no  fault  of 
a  participle  ending  in  d,  t,  or  n,  not  to  suggest.  To  "  express  passively  the  doing  of  the  act,"  if  the 


though  neither  of  them  necessarily  intimates  either  continuance  or  cessation  of  the  act  suffered, 
or,  if  it  did,  would  be  the  less  or  the  more  passive  or  present, — may,  in  such  a  sense,  "  express  the 
doing  of  the  act,"  if  any  passives  can  : — nay,  the  "  finished  act"  has  such  completion  as  may  be 
stated  with  degrees  of  progress  or  of  frequency  ;  as,  "  The  house  is  partly  built." — "I  am  oftcner 
smitten."  There  is,  undoubtedly,  some  difference  between  the  assertions,  "  The  house  is  building," 


CIIAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. — COJUGATIONS.  3G5 

— and,  "  The  house  is  partly  built ;"  though,  for  practical  purposes,  perhaps,  we  need  not  always 
be  very  nice  in  choosing  between  them,  tor  the  sake  of  variety,  however,  if  for  nothing  else,  it  is 
to  be  hoped,  the  doctrine  above-cited,  which  limits  half  our  passive  verbs  of  the  present  tense,  to 
the  progressive  form  only,  will  not  soon  be  generally  approved.  It  impairs  the  language  more  than 
unco-passives  are  likely  ever  to  corrupt  it. 

Ons.  IS. — '•  No  startling  novelties  have  been  introduced,"  says  the  preface  to  the  "Analytical 
and  Practical  Grammar  of  the  English  Language."  To  have  shunned  all  shocking  innovations, 
is  only  to  have  exercised  common  prudence.  It  is  not  pretended,  that  any  of  the  Doctor's  errors 
here  remarked  upon,  or  elsewhere  in  this  treatise,  will  startle  any  body;  but,  if  errors  exist,  even 
in  plausible  guise,  it  may  not  be  amiss,  if  I  tell  of  them.  To  suppose  every  verb  or  participle  to  be 
either  "transitive'"  or  "  intransitive,"  setting  all  passives  with  the  former  sort,  all  neuters  with  the 
latter ;  (p.  59 ;) — to  define  the  transitive  verb  or  participle  as  expressing  always  "on  act  DONE  by  one 
person  or  thing  to  another ;  "  (p.  60  ;) — to  say,  after  making  passive  verbs  transitive,  "  The  object 
of  a  transitive  verb  is  in  the  objective  case,''  and,  "  A  verb  that  does  not  make  sense  with  an  ob- 
jective after  it,  is  intransitive ;  "  (p.  60  ;) — to  insist  upon  a  precise  and  almost  universal  identity  of 
"  meaning  "  in  terms  so  obviously  contrasted  as  are  the  two  voices,  "  active  "  and  "  passive  ;  "  (pp.  95 
and  23-5  ;) — to  allege,  as  a  general  principle,  "  that  whether  we  use  the  active,  or  the  passive  voice, 
the  ntxining  is  the  same,  except  in  some  cases  in  the  present  tense  ;"  (p.  67  ;) — to  attribute  to  the 
forms  naturally  opposite  in  voice  and  sense,  that  sameness  of  meaning  which  is  observable  only  in 
certain  whole  sentences  formed  from  them  ;  (pp.  67,  95,  and  235  ;)  — to  assume  that  each  "  VOICE  is 
a  particular  form  of  the  verb,"  yet  make  it  include  two  cases,  and  often  a  preposition  before  one 
of  them ;  (pp.  66,  67,  and  95 ;) — to  pretend  from  the  words,  "  The  PASSIVE  VOICE  represents  the 
subject  of  the  verb  as  acted  upon,"  (p.  67,)  that,  "According  to  Me  DEFINITION*,  the  passive  voice 
expresses,  passively,  the  same  thing  that  the  active  does  actively;"  (p.  235;) — to  affirm  that,  "  'Caesar 
conquered  Gaul,'  and  '  Gaul  was  conquered  by  Cresar,'  express  precisely  the  same  idea," — and  then 
say,  "  It  will  be  felt  at  once  that  the  expressions,  '  Caesar  conquers  Gaul,'  and  '  Gaul  is  conquered 
by  Caesar,"  do  not  express  the  same  thing ;"  (p.  235;) — to  deny  that  passive  verbs  or  neuter  are 
worthy  to  constitute  a  distinct  class,  yet  profess  to  find,  in  one  single  tense  of  the  former,  such  a 
difference  of  meaning  as  warrants  a  general  division  of  verbs  in  respect  to  it ;  (ib.;) — to  announce,  in 
bad  English,  that,  "  In  regard  to  this  matter  [,]  there  are  evidently  Two  CLASSES  of  verbs  ;  namely, 
those  whose  present-passive  expresses  precisely  the  same  thing,  passively,  as  the  active  voice 
does  actively,  and  those  in  which  it  does  not :"  (ib. :) — to  do  these  several  things,  as  they  have 
been  done,  is  to  set  forth,  not  "  novelties  "  only,  but  errors  and  inconsistencies. 

O»s.  19. — Dr.  Bullions  still  adheres  to  his  old  argument,  that  being  after  its  own  verb  must  be 
devoid  of  meaning ;  or,  in  his  own  words,  "  that  is  being  built,  if  it  mean  anything,  can  mean 
nothing  more  than  is  built,  which  is  not  the  idea  intended  to  be  expressed." — Analyt.  and  Pract. 
(i.'-fii/i.  p.  237.  He  had  said,  (as  cited  in  OBS.  5th  above,)  "The  expression,  '  i 's  being,'  is  equiv- 
alent to  is,  and  expresses  no  more ;  just  as,  '  is  loving,'  is  equivalent  to  '  loves.'  Hence,  '  is  being 
built,'  is  precisely  equivalent  to  '  is  built.'  " — Principles  of  E.  Gram.  p.  58.  He  has  now  discov- 
ered "  that  there'is  no  progressive  form  of  the  verb  to  6e,'and  no  need  of  it:  "  and  that,  "  hence, 
no  such  eapreuumin  English  as  is  being." — Analyt.  ami  Pract.  Gram.  p.  236.  He  should 
have  noticed  also,  that  "  is  loving  "  is  not  an  authorized  "  equivalent  to  loves ;  "  and,  further,  that 
the  error  of  saying  "  is  being  built,"  is  only  in  the  relation  of  the  first  two  words  to  each  other.  If 
"  is  being  "  and  "  is  loving  "  are  left  unused  for  the  same  reason,  the  truth  may  be,  that  is  itself, 
like  loves,  commonly  denotes  "  continuance ;  "  and  that  being  after  it,  in  stead  of  being  necessary 
or  proper,  can  only  be  awkwardly  tautologous.  This  is,  in  fact,  THE  GRAND  OBJECTION  to  the  new 
phraseology— "  is  being  practised" — "am  being  smitten" — and  the  like.  Were  there  no  danger 
that  petty  writers  would  one  day  seize  upon  it  with  like  avidity,  an  other  innovation,  exactly 
similar  to  this  in  every  thing  but  tense — similar  in  awkwardness,  in  tautology,  in  unmistakable- 
ness — might  here  be  uttered  for  the  sake  of  illustration.  Some  men  conceive,  that  "  The  perfect 
participle  is  always  compound  ;  as,  having  seen,  having  written  ;  " — and  that  the  simple  word,  seen 
or  written,  had  originally,  and  still  ought  to  have,  only  a  passive  construction.  For  such  views, 
th"y  find  authorities.  Hence,  in  lieu  of  the  common  phrases,  "  had  we  seen,"  "  we  have  written," 
they  adopt  such  English  as  this  :  "7/arf  tee  having  tmcn  you,  we  should  have  stopped." — "We  have 
having  written  but  just  now,  to  our  correspondent."  Now,  "  We  are  being  smitten,"  is  no  better 
grammar  than  this  ; — and  no  worse  :  "  The  idea  intended  "  is  in  no  great  jeopardy  in  either  case. 
JO. — J.  K.  Chandler,  of  Philadelphia,  in  his  Common  School  Grammar  of  1817,  has  earnestly 
Undertaken  the  defence  of  this  now  and  much-mooted  passive  expression  ;  which  he  calls  "  the 
Defiii  or  "///<  y./.ss/rr  I'airr  i,f  tin  I), fmit^  /•'<»•/,/."  He  admits  it,  however,  to 


kuwTj       i.v  *»  «MW   AW*    vv**«*\sfr  o£rwvu.|   uj         iiic  iiciuikui    /uti/i/iy    aiiu.   UMllt    >vuiu.r>  /*/««// U//I//M**** 

ca!ly  !  "     See  p.  89.     Claiming  this  new  form  as  <l  the  tru<  jMMttW,"  in  just  contrast  with  the  pro- 
.0  active,  he  not  only  rebukes  all  attempts  "  to  evade  "  the  use  of  it,  "  by  some  real  or  sup- 
posed equivalent,  but  also  declares,  that,  "  The  attempt  to  deprive  the  transitive  definite  verb  of  [this] 
its  pa*  -'.<•  at  the  foundation  of  tin-  language,  and  to  strip  it  of  one  of  its  most  i>/>, 

qualities;  that  of  making  bot:  i  in  turn  and  at  pleasure,  the  subject  of  conver- 

sation."— Ibid.     Concerning  >,  he  evidently  argues  fallaciously;  for  he  urges,  that  the 

>f  them  "  (/•  -vu-ero/ee." — P.  88.     But  it  is 

plain,  that,  of  the  many  fair  substitutes  which  may  in  most  cases  be  found,  if  any  one  is  preferred., 

;in,  and  all  the  rest,  are  of  course  rejected  for  the  time. 

3its.  21. — By  Chandler,  as  well  as  others,  this  new  passive  form  is  justified  only  on  the  supposi- 
tion, that  the  >implc  participle  in  /»// can  never  with  propriety  be  used  jvi^sively.  No  plausible 
argument,  indeed,  can  be  framed  for  it,  without  the  assumption,  that  the  simpler  form,  when  used 
in  the  same  sense,  /.v  ungrammatical.  But  this  is,  in  fact,  a  begging  of  the  main  question;  and 
that,  in  opposition  to  abundant  authority  for  the  usage  condemned.  (See  OBS.  3d,  above.)  This 


3G6  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

author  pretends  that,  "The  RULE  of  all  grammarians  declares  the  verb  is,  and  &  present  participle 
(is  building,  or  is  writing},  to  be  in  the  active  voice"  only. — P.  88.  (I  add  the  word  "only,"  but 
this  is  what  he  means,  else  he  merely  quibbles.)  Now  in  this  he  is  wrong,  and  so  are  the  several 
grammarians  Avho  support  the  principle  of  this  imaginary  "RULE."  The  opinion  of  critics  in 


remark  applies  to  the  participle  used  as  a  noun  :  as,  actively,  drawing  is  an  elegant  amusement, 
building  is  expensive  ;  and,  passively,  his  drawings  are  good,  this  is  a  fine  building." — Allen's 
Elements  of  E.  Gram.  p.  82. 

OBS.  22.' — Chandler  admits,  that,  "  When  it  is  said,  'The  house  is  building,'  the  meaning  is 
easily  obtained  ;  though,"  he  strangely  insists,  "it  is  exactly  opposite  to  the  assertion." — P.  89. 
He  endeavours  to  show,  moreover,  by  a  fictitious  example  made  for  the  purpose,  that  the  progres- 
sive form,  if  used  in  both  voices,  will  be  liable  to  ambiguity.  It  may  be  so  in  some  instances  ; 
but,  were  there  weight  enough  in  the  objection  to  condemn  the  passive  usage  altogether,  one 
would  suppose  there  mi^ht  be  found,  somewhere,  an  actual  example  or  two  of  th»  abuse.  Not 
concurring  with  Dr.  Bullions  in  the  notion  that  the  active  voice  and  the  passive  usually  "  express 
precisely  the  same  thing,"  this  critic  concludes  his  argument  with  the  following  sentence  :  "  There 
is  an  import  ant  difference  between  doing  and.sitff'ering  ;  and  that  difference  is  grammatically  shown 
by  the  appropriate  use  of  the  active  and  passive  voices  of  a  verb.  — Chandler's  Common  School 
Gram.  p.  89. 

OBS.  23. — The  opinion  given  at  the  close  of  OBS.  2d  above,  was  first  published  in  1833.  An 
opposite  doctrine,  with  the  suggestion  that  it  is  "  improper  to  say,  '  the  house  is  building,'  instead 
of  '  the  house  is  being  built,'  " — is  found  on  page  61th  of  the  Rev.  David  Blair's  Grammar,  of  1815, 
— "  Seventh  Edition,"  with  a  preface  dated,  "  October  20th,  1814."  To  any  grammarian  who  wrote 
at  a  period  much  earlier  than  that,  the  question  about  unco-passives  never  occurred.  Many  critics 
have  passed  judgement  upon  them  since,  and  so  generally  with  reprobation,  that  the  man  must 
have  more  hardihood  than  sense,  who  will  yet  disgust  his  readers  or  hearers  with  them.*  That 
"  This  new  form  has  been  used  by  some  respectable  ivriters,"  we  need  not  deny  ;  but  let  us  look  at 
the  given  "  instances  of  it:  'For  these  who  are  being  educated  in  our  seminaries.'  R.  SOUTHEY. 
— '  It  was  being  littered.'  COLERIDGE. — '  The  foundation  was  being  laid.'  BRIT.  CRITIC." — 
English  Grammar  with  Worcester's  Univ.  and  Crit.  Diet.  p.  xlvi.  Here,  for  the  first  example,  it 
would  be  much  better  to  say,  "For  those  who  are  educated"  f — or,  "  who  are  receiving  their  educa- 
tion;" for  the  others,  "  It  was  uttering  " — "  toas  tittered," — or,  "was  in  ^lttering." — "  The  founda- 
tion was  laying," — "was  laid" — or,  "was  about  being  laid."  Worcester's  opinion  of  the  "new 
form"  is  to  be  inferred  from  his  manner  of  naming  it  in  the  following  sentence  :  "  Within  a  :"ew 
years,  a  strange  and  awkward  neologism  has  been  introduced,  by  which  the  present  passive  part  tri- 
ple is  substituted,  in  such  cases  as  the  above,  for  the  participle  in  ing." — Ibid.  He  has  two  instances 
more,  in  each  of  which  the  phrase  is  linked  with  an  expression  of  disapprobation  ;  "  'It  [T«Ttu/u*jo$] 
signifies  properly,  though  in  uncouth  English,  one  who  is  being  beaten.'  ABP.  WHATELY. — '  The 
bridge  is  being  built,  and  other  phrases  of  the  like  kind,  have  pained  the  eye.'  D.  BOOTH." — Ib,d.~^ 

OBS.  24. — Richard  Hiley,  in  the  third  edition  of  his  Grammar,  published  in  London,  in  1840, 
after  showing  the  passive  use  of  the  participle  in  ing,  proceeds  thus  :  "  No  ambiguity  arises,  we 
presume,  from  the  use  of  the  participle  in  this  manner.  To  avoid,  however,  affixing  a  passive 
signification  to  the  participle  in  ing,  an  attempt  has  lately  been  made  to  substitute  the  passive 
participle  in  its  place.  Thus  instead  of  '  The  house  was  building,'  '  The  work  is  printing,'  we 
sometimes  hear,  'The  house  was  being  built,'  '  The  work  is  being  printed.'  But  this  mode  is  con- 
trary to  the  English  idiom,  and  has  not  yet  obtained  the  sanction  of  reputable  authority." — Hiley's 
Gram.  p.  30. 

OBS.  25. — Professor  Hart,  of  Philadelphia,  whose  English  Grammar  was  first  published  in  1845, 
justly  prefers  the  usage  which  takes  the  progressive  form  occasionally  in  a  passive  sense ;  but,  in 
arguing  against  the  new  substitute,  he  evidently  remoulds  the  early  reasoning  of  Dr.  Bullions, 
errors  and  all ;  a  part  of  which  he  introduces  thus  :  "  I  know  the  correctness  of  this  mode  of 
expression  has  lately  been  very  much  assailed,  and  an  attempt,  to  some  extent  successful,  has 

*  It  is  a  very  strange  event  in  the  history  of  English  grammar,  that  such  a  controversy  as  this  should  have 
arisen  ;  but  a  stranger  one  still,  that,  after  all  that  has  been  said,  more  argument  is  needed.  Some  men,  who  hope 
to  be  valued  as  scholars,  yet  stickle  for  an  odd  phrase,  which  critics  have  denounced  as  follows  :  "  But  the  history 
of  the  language  scarcely  affords  a  parallel  to  the  innovation,  at  once  unphilosophical  and  hypercritical,  pedantic 
and  illiterate,  which  has  lately  appeared  in  the  excruciating  refinement '  is  being,'  and  its  unmerciful  variations. 
We  hope,  and  indeed  believe,  that  it  has  not  received  the  sanction  of  any  grammar  adopted  in  our  popular  educa- 
tion, as  it  certainly  never  will  of  any  writer  of  just  pretensions  to  scholarship." — The  True  Sun.  N.  Y.,  April 
16,  1846. 

t  Education  is  a  work  of  continuance,  yet  completed,  like  many  others,  as  fast  as  it  goes  on.  It  is  not,  like  the 
act  of  loving  or  hating,  so  complete  at  the  first  moment  as  not  to  admit  the  progressive  form  of  the  verb  ;  for  one 
may  say  of  a  lad,  "  I  am  educating  him  for  the  law  ;"  and  possibly.  "  He  is  educating  for  the  law  ;"  though  not 
so  well  as,  "  He  -is  to  be  educated  for  the  law."  But,  fo  suppose  that  "  is  educated  "  or  "  are  educated  "  implies 
necessarily  a  cessation  of  the  educating,  is  a  mistake.  That  conception  is  right,  only  when  educated  is  taken 
adjectively.  The  phrase,  "  those  who  are  educated  in  oxir  seminaries,"  hardly  includes  such  as  have  been  educat- 
ed there  in  times  past;  much  less  does  it  apply  to  these  exclusively,  as  some  seem  to  think.  "•Being,"  as  inserted 
by  Southey,  is  therefore  quite  needless  :  so  is  it  often,  in  this  new  phraseology,  the  best  correction  being  its  mere 
omission. 

t  Worcester  has  also  this  citation  :  "  The  Eclectic  Review  remarks,  '  That  a  need  of  this  phrase,  or  an  equivalent 
one,  is  felt,  is  sufficiently  proved  by  the  extent  to  which  it  is  used  by  educated  persons  and  respectable  writers.'  " 
—  Gram,  before  Dirt.  p.  xlvi.  Sundry  phrases,  equivalent  in  sense  to  this  new  voice,  have  long  been  in  use,  and 
are,  of  course,  still  needed  ;  something  from  among  them  being  always,  by  every  accurate  writer,  still  preferred. 
But  this  awkward  innovation,  use  it  who  will,  can  no  more  be  justified  by  a  plea  of  "«eerf,"  than  can  every  other 
hackneyed  solecism  extant.  Even  the  Archbishop,  if  quoted  right  by  Worcester,  has  descended  to  "uncouth 
English,"  without  either  necessity  or  propriety,  having  thereby  only  misexpounded  a  very  common  Greek  word — 
a  "  perfect  or  pluperfect  "  participle,  which  means  "  beaten,  struck,  or  having  been  beaten." — G.  BROWN. 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. — CONJUGATIONS.  367 

been  made  [,]  to  introduce  the  form  [,]  '  is  being  built.'  But,  in  the  first  place,  the  old  mode  of 
expression  is  a  well  established  usage  of  the  language,  being  found  in  our  best  and  most  correct 
writers.  Secondly,  is  being  built  does  not  convey  the  idea  intended,  [  ;]  namely  [,]  that  ol progres- 
sive action.  Is  being,  taken  together,  means  simply  is,  just  as  is  writing  means  writes  ;  therefore, 
is  being  built  means  is  built,  a  perfect  and  not  a  progressive  ACTION.  Or,  if  being  [and]  built  be 
taken 'together,  they  signify  an  ACTION  COMPLETE,  and  the  phrase  means,  as  before,  the  house  is 
(EXISTS)  being  built." — Hart's  dram.  p.  76.  The  last  three  sentences  here  axe  liable  to  many 
objections,  some  of  which  are  suggested  above. 

OBS.  26. — It  is  important,  that  the  central  phraseology  of  our  language  he  so  understood,  as  not 
to  be  misinterpreted  with  credit,  or  falsely  expounded  by  popular  critics  and  teachers.  Hence 
errors  of  exposition  are  the  more  particula'rly  noticed  in  these  observations.  In  "being  built," 
Prof.  Hart,  like  sundry  authors  named  above,  finds  nothing  but  "ACTION  COMPLETE."  Without 
doubt,  Butler  interprets  better,  when  he  says,  "  '  The  house  is  built,'  denotes  an  existing  state, 
rather  than  a.  completed  action."  But  this  author,  too,  in  his  next  three  sentences,  utters  as  many 
errors  ;  for  he  adds  :  "The  name  of  the  agent  cannot  be  expressed  in  phrases  of  this  kind.  We 
cannot  say,  '  The  house  is  built  by  John.'  When  we  say,  '  The  house  is  built  by  mechanics,'  we 
do  not  express  an  existing  state." — Butler's  Practical  Gram.  p.  80.  Unquestionably,  "is  built  by 
mechanics,"  expresses  nothing  else  than  the  "existing  state"  of  being  "built  by  mechanics," 
together  with  an  affirmation: — that  is,  the  "  existing  state"  of  receiving  the  action  of  mechanics, 
is  affirmed  of  "  the  house."  And,  in  my  judgement,  one  may  very  well  say,  "The  house  is  built 
by  John;"  meaning,  "John  is  building  the  house."  St.  Paul  says,  "Every  house  is  builded  by 
SOME  MAN." — Heb.  iii,  4.  In  this  text,  the  common  "  name  of  the  agent"  is  "expressed." 

Ons.  27. — Wells  and  Weld,  whose  grammars  date  from  1846,  being  remarkably  chary  of  finding 
any  thing  wrong  in  "  respectable  writers,"  hazard  no  opinion  of  their  own,  concerning  the  correct- 
ness or  incorrectness  of  either  of  the  usages  under  discussion.  They  do  not  always  see  absurdity 
in  the  approbation  of  opposites ;  yet  one  should  here,  perhaps,  count  them  with  the  majorities 
they  allow.  The  latter  says,  "  The  participle  in  ing  is  sometimes  used  passively  ;  as,  forty  and 
six  years  was  this  temple  in  building ;  not  in  being  built." — Weld's  English  Gram.  2d  Ed.  p.  170.  Here, 
if  he  means  to  suggest,  that  "  in  being  built  "  would  "  not"  be  good  English,  he  teaches  very 
erroneously  ;  if  his  thought  is,  that  this  phrase  would  "  not"  express  the  sense  of  the  former  one, 
'•in  building,"  he  palpably  contradicts  his  own  position  !  But  he  proceeds,  in  a  note,  thus  :  "  The 
form  of  expression,  is  being  built,  is  being  committed,  &c.,  is  almost  universally  condemned  by 
grammarians  ;  but  it  is  sometimes  met  with  in  respectable  writers.  It  occurs  most  frequently  in 
newspaper  paragraphs,  and  in  hasty •compositions."—  Ibid.  Wells  comments  thus:  "Different 
opinions  have  long  existed  among  critics  respecting  this  passive  use  of  the  imperfect  participle. 
Many  respectable  writers  substitute  the  compound  passive  participle;  as,  '  The  house  is  being 
built ; '  '  The  book  is  being  printed.'  But  the  prevailing  practice  of  the  best  authors  is  in  favor  of 
the  simple  form;  as,  'The  house  is  building.'  "—Wells' s  School  Gram.  1st  Ed.  p.  148;  113th 
Ed.  p.  161.* 

OBS.  28. — S.  W.  Clark,  in  the  second  edition  of  his  Practical  Grammar,  stereotyped  and  pub- 
lished in  New  York  in  1848,  appears  to  favour  the  insertion  of  "being  "  into  passive  verbs ;  but 
his  instructions  are  so  obscure,  so  often  inaccurate,  and  so  incompatible  one  with  an  other,  that  it 
is  hard  to  say,  with  certainty,  what  he  approves.  In  one  place,  he  has  this  position  :  "  The  Passive 
Voice  of  a  verb  is  formed  by  adding  the  Passive  Participle  of  that  verb,  to  the  verbie.  EXAMPLES 
— To  be  loved.  I  am  feared.  They  are  worshipped." — Page  69.  In  an  other,  he  has  this  :  "  When 
the  Subject  is  to  be  represented  as  receiving  the  action,  the  Passive  Participle  should  be  used. 
EXAMPLE — Henry's  lesson  is  BEING  JIECITED." — P.  132.  Now  these  two  positions  utterly  con- 
found each  other ;  for  they  are  equally  general,  and  "  the  Passive  Participle  "  is  first  one  thing, 
and  then  an  other.  Again,  he  has  the  following  assertions,  both  false  :  "  The  Present  (or  First) 
Participle  always  ends  in  ing,  and  is  limited  to  the  Active  Voice.  The  Past  (or  Second)  Participle 
of  Regular  Verbs  ends  in  rf  or  ed,  and  is  limited  to  the  Passive  Voice." — P.  131.  Afterwards,  in 
spite  of  the  fancied  limitation,  he  acknowledges  the  passive  use  of  the  participle  in  ing,  and  that 
there  is  "authority  "  for  it ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  most  absurdly  supposes  the  word  to  predicate 
"action"  and  also  to  be  wrong :  saying,  "Action  is  sometimes  predicated  of  a  passive  subject. 
EXAMPLE — '  The  house  is  building  '. .  for . .  '  The  house  is  being  built,'  .  .which  means  . .  "  The  house 
is  becoming  built."  On  this,  he  remarks  thus  :  "  This  is  one  of  the  instances  in  which  Authority  is 
against  Philosophy.  For  an  act  cannot  properly  be  predicated  of  a  passive  agent.  Many  good 
writers  properly  ri-jirt  this  idiom.  '  Mansfield's  prophecy  is  being  realized.' — MICHELET'S  LUTHER." 
— Clark's  Practical  Gram.  p.  133.  It  may  require  some  study  to  learn  from  this  which  idiom  it  is, 

*  Wells  has  also  the  following  citations,  which  most  probably  accord  with  his  own  opinions,  though  the  first  Is 
rather  extravagant :  '•  The  propriety  of  these  imperfect  passive  tenses  has  been  doubted  by  almost  all  our  gramma- 
rians ;  though  I  believ-i  but  few  of  th<>m  hare  written  many  pages  without  condescending  to  make  use  of  them. 
Dr.  llc.utk-  >.-iys,  '  One  of  the  greatest  defects  of  the  English  tongue,  with  regard  to  the  verb,  seems  to  be  the  want 
of  an  imperfect  passive  participle.'  And  yrt  lie  u--p*  tlie  imperfect  participle  in  a  passive  sense  as  often  as  most 
writers."— '/'ic/Houm's  Dissertation  on  the  English  Verb. 

ral  other  rxj>r«  -MOMS  <>t"  this  sort  now  and  then  occur,  such  as  the  new-fangled  and  most  uncouth  solecism, 
'  is  being  done,'  for  the  good  old  English  idiomatic  expression,  'is  doing '—an  absurd  periphrasis,  driving  out  a 
pointed  and  pithy  turn  of  the  English  language.1'— AT.  A.  Rtview.  See  WelWs  Grammar,  I860,  p.  161. 

The  term,  "  imrrrfect  passive  te»*f.<,"  .-coins  not  a  very  accurate  one  ;  because  the  present,  the  perfect,  &c., 
are  included  Pickboum  applies  it  to  any  passive  tenses  formed  from  the  simple  "  imperfect  participle  ;"  but  the 
phrise,  "jussive  verbs  in  the  progrrMitr  form,'-  would  better  express  the  meaning.  The  term,  "  compound  pas- 
$iv(  participle."  which  Wells  applies  above  to  k>  being  built,"  kl  being  printed,1-  and  the  like,  is  also  both  unusual  and 
inaccurate.  Most  readers  would  sooner  understand  by  it  the  form,  having  bftn  built,  having  been  printer!,  &c. 
Thlt  author's  mode  of  naming  parti(  Spies  is  always  either  very  awkward  or  not  distinctive.  His  scheme  makes  it 
nec«!8sary  to  add  here,  for  each  of  these  forms,  a  third  epithet,  referring  to  his  main  distinction,  of  "  imperfect  and 
11  as,  "  the  compound  imperftct  participle  passive,"  and  "  the  compound  perfect  participle  passive." 
\Vh  it  is  <-bfint;  built"  or  u  being  printed,'1  but  "  an  imperfect  passive  participle  ?  "  Waa  this,  or  something  else,  the 
desideratum  of  Beattie? 


368 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  LI. 


that  these  "  many  good  writers  reject :"  but  the  grammarian  who  can  talk  of  "  a  passive  agent" 
without  perceiving  that  the  phrase  is  self-contradictory  and  absurd,  may  well  be  expected  to  enter- 
tain a  "  Philosophy  "  which  is  against  "Authority,"and  likewise  to  prefer  a  ridiculous  innovation 
to  good  and  established  usage. 

OBS.  29. — As  most  verbs  are  susceptible  of  both  forms,  the  simple  active  and  the  compound  or 
progressive,  and  likewise  of  a  transitive  and  an  intransitive  sense  in  each ;  and  as  many,  when  taken 
intransitively,  may  have  a  meaning  which  is  scarcely  distinguishable  from  that  of  the  passive  form  ; 
it  often  happens  that  this  substitution  of  the  imperfect  participle  passive  for  the  simple  imperfect 
in  ing,  is  quite  needless,  even  when  the  latter  is  not  considered  passive.  For  example  :  "  Sec  by 
the  following  paragraph,  how  widely  the  bane  is  being  circulated  I " — Liberator,  No.  999,  p.  34.  Here 
is  circulating  would  be  better ;  and  so  would  is  circulated.  Nor  would  either  of  these  much  vary 
the  sense,  if  at  all ;  for  "circulate  "  may  mean,  according  to  Webster,"  to  be  diffused,"  or,  as  John- 
son and  Worcester  have  it,  "  to  be  dispersed." 

III.    FORM  OF  PASSIVE  VERBS. 

Passive  verbs,  in  English,  are  always  of  a  compound  form ;  being  made 
from  active-transitive  verbs,  by  adding  the  Perfect  Participle  to  the  auxiliary 
verb  BE,  through  all  its  changes :  thus  from  the  active-transitive  verb  love, 
is  formed  the  passive  verb  be  loved. 

FIFTH  EXAMPLE. 


The  regular  passive  verb  BE  L  0  VED}  conjugated  affirmatively. 
PRINCIPAL  PARTS  or  THE  ACTIVE  VERB. 


Present. 
Love. 


Singular. 

1.  I         am  loved, 

2.  Thou  art  loved, 

3.  He     is     loved; 

Singular. 

1.  I         was   loved, 

2.  Thou  wast  loved, 

3.  He     was  loved ; 

Singular. 

1.  I         have  been  loved, 

2.  Thou  hast  been  loved, 

3.  He     has    been  loved  ; 


Preterit.  Imp.  Participle. 

Loved.  Loving. 

INFINITIVE  MOOD. 

PRESENT   TENSE. 

To  be  loved. 

PERFECT  TENSE. 
To  have  been  loved. 

INDICATIVE  MOOD. 

PRESENT  TENSE. 


Perf.  Participle. 
Loved. 


Singular. 

1.  I         had     been  loved, 

2.  Thou  hadst  been  loved, 

3.  He      had     been  loved ; 


IMPERFECT  TENSE. 


PERFECT  TENSE. 


PLUPERFECT  TENSE. 


Singular. 

1.  I         shall  be  loved, 

2.  Thou  wilt  be  loved, 

3.  He      will   beloved; 


FIRST-FUTURE   TENSE. 


Pural. 

1.  We    are  loved, 

2.  You  are  loved, 

3.  They  are  loved. 

Pural. 

1.  We    were  loved, 

2.  You  were  loved, 

3.  They  were  loved. 

Pural. 

1.  We    have  been  loved, 

2.  You  have  been  loved, 

3.  They  have  been  loved. 

Plural 

1.  We    had  been  loved, 

2.  You   had  been  loved, 

3.  They  had  been  loved. 

Plural. 

1.  We    shall  be  loved, 

2.  You  will   be  loved, 

3.  They  will  be  loved. 


CHAP.  VI.] 


ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. CONJUGATIONS. 


lififl 


SECOND-FUTURE  TENSE. 
Singular.  Plural. 

1.  I         shall  have  been  loved,  1.  We    shall  have  been  loved, 

2.  Thou  wilt  have  been  loved,  2.  You   will  have  been  loved, 

3.  He     will  have  been  loved ;  3.  They  will  have  been  loved. 


Singular. 

1.  I         may    be  loved, 

2.  Thou  mayst  be  loved, 

3.  He     may     be  loved ; 


POTENTIAL  MOOD. 
PRESENT  TENSE. 


IMPERFECT  TENSE. 


Singular. 

1.  I         might     be  loved, 

2.  Thou  mightst  be  loved, 

3.  He     might     be  loved ; 

PERFECT  TENSE. 
Singular. 

1.  I         may    have  been  loved, 

2.  Thou  mayst  have  been  loved, 

3.  He     may    have  been  loved ; 

PLUPERFECT  TENSE. 
Singular. 

1.  I         might    have  been  loved, 

2.  Thou  mightst  have  been  loved, 

3.  He      might     have  been  loved  ; 


Plural 

1.  We    may  be  loved, 

2.  You   may  be  loved, 

3.  They  may  be  loved. 

Plural. 

1.  We     might  be  loved, 

2.  You   might  be  loved, 

3.  They  might  be  loved. 

Plural. 

1.  We    may  have  been  loved, 

2.  You    may  have  been  loved, 

3.  They  may  have  been  loved. 

Plural 

1.  We    might  have  been  loved, 

2.  You   might  have  been  loved, 

3.  They  might  have  been  loved. 


Singular. 
If  I       be  loved, 
If  thou  be  loved, 
If  he     be  loved  ; 


SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD. 
PRESENT  TENSE. 


Singular. 

1 .  If  I       were  loved, 

2.  If  thou  were  loved, 

3.  If  he     were  loved  ; 


IMPERFECT   TENSE. 


Plural. 

1.  If  we    be  loved, 

2.  If  you  be  loved, 

3.  If  they  be  loved. 

Plural        * 

1.  If  we     were  loved, 

2.  If  you   were  loved, 

3.  If  they  were  loved. 


Singular. 
Plurnl. 


2. 


IMPERATIVE  MOOD. 

IY.NSE. 

Be       [thou]     loved,  or  Do  thou  be  loved  ; 

2.  Be  [ye  or  you]  loved,  or  Do  you  be  loved. 

PARTICIPLES. 

1.    The  Imperfect.         '2.    The  Perfect.  3.    The  Preperfect. 

Being  loved.                    Loved.  Having  been  loved. 

I     WITH   '  T 

XOTE.  —  In  the  familiar  style,  the  second  person  singular  of  this  verb,  is  usually  and  more 
rly  formed  thus  :  IND.  Thou  art  loved,  Thou  was  loved,  Thou  hast  been  loved,  Thou 
had  been  loved,  Thou  shall  or  v>  ill  be  loved,  Thou  shall  or  will  have  been  loved.  Pox. 
Thou  may,  can,  or  must  be  loved  ;  Thou  might,  could,  would,  or  should  be  loved  ;  Thou 
may,  can,  or  must  have  been  loved;  Thou  might,  could,  would,  or  should  have  been  loved. 
Hriij.  If  thou  be  loved,  If  thou  were  loved,  l.v  v.  lie  [thou]  loved,  or  Do  thou  be  loved. 

OBSERVATIONS. 


Oita.  1.  —  A  few  active-intransitive  verbs,  that  signify  mere  motion,  change  of  place,  or 
of  condition,  may  be  put  into  this  form,  mth  a  neuter  signification  ;  making  riot  passire  but  neuter 

24 


370  THE   GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

verbs,  which  express  nothing  more  than  the  state  which  results  from  the  change:  as,  "lam 
come." — "  She  is  gone." — "  He  is  risen." — "They  are  fallen."  These  are  what  Dr.  Johnson  aiid 
some  others  call  "  neuter  passives  ;  "  a  name  which  never  was  very  proper,  and  for  which  we  have 
no  frequent  use. 

OBS.  2. — Most  neuter  verbs  of  the  passive  form,  such  as,  "  am  grown,  art  become,  is  lain,  are 
flown,  are  vanished,  are  departed,  was  sat,  were  arrived,"  may  now  be  considered  errors  of  con- 
jugation, or  perhaps  of  syntax.  In  the  verb,  to  be  mistaken,  there  is  an  irregularity  which  ought 
to  be  particularly  noticed.  When  applied  to  persons,  this  verb  is  commonly  taken  in  a  neuter 
sense,  and  signifies,  to  be  in  error \  to  be  icrony  ;  as,  "  I  am  mistaken,  thou  art  mistaken,  he  is 
mistaken."  But,  when  used  of  things,  it  is  a  proper  passive  verb,  and  signifies  to  be  misunder- 
stood, or  to  be  taken  wrong ;  as,  "  The  sense  of  the  passage  is  mistaken;  that  is,  not  rightly  un- 
derstood." See  Webster's  Diet,  w.  Mistaken.  "  I  have  known  a  shadow  across  a  brook  to  be  mis- 
taken for  a  footbridge." 

OBS.  3. — Passive  verbs  may  be  easily  distinguished  from  neuter  verbs  of  the  same  form,  by  a 
reference  to  the  agent  or  instrument,  common  to  the  former  class,  but  not  to  the  latter.  This 
frequently  is,  and  always  may  be,  expressed  after  passive  verbs ;  but  never  is,  and  never  can  be, 
expressed  after  neuter  verbs  :  as,  "  The  thief  has  been  caught  by  the  officer." — "  Pens  are  made 
with  a  knife."  Here  the  verbs  are  passive;  but,  "I am  not  yet  ascended,"  (John,  xx,  17,)  is  not 
passive,  because  it  does  not  convey  the  idea  of  being  ascended  by  some  one's  agency. 

OBS.  4. — Our  ancient  writers,  after  the  manner  of  the  French,  very  frequently  employed  this 
mode  of  conjugation  in  a  neuter  sense  ;  but,  with  a  very  few  exceptions,  present  usage  is  clearly 
in  favour  of  the  auxiliary  have  in  preference  to  be,  whenever  the  verb  formed  with  the  perfect  par- 
ticiple is  not  passive;  as,  "They  have  arrived," — not,  "They  are  arrived."  Hence  such  ex- 
amples as  the  following,  are  not  now  good  English  :  "  All  these  reasons  are  now  ceased." — But- 
ler's Analogy,  p.  157.  Say,  "  have  now  ceased!"  "  Whether  he  were  not  got  beyond  the  reach  of 
his  faculties." — Ib.  p.  158.  Say,  "had  not  got."  "  Which  is  now  grown  wholly  obsolete." — 
Churchill's  Gram.  p.  330.  Say,  "  has  now  grown."  "And  when  he  ivas  entered  into  a  ship." — 
Bible.  Say,  "  had  entered." — "  What  is  become  of  decency  and  virtue  ?  " — Murray's  Key,  p.  196. 
Say,  "  has  become." 

OBS.  5. — Dr.  Priestley  says,  "  It  seems  not  to  havebcen  determined  by  the  English  grammarians, 
whether  the  passive  participles  of  verbs  neuter  require  the  auxiliary  am  or  have  before  them. 
The  French,  in  this  case,  confine  themselves  strictly  to  the  former.  '  What  has  become  of  nation- 
al liberty? '  Hume's  History,  Vol.  6.  p.  254.  The  French  would  say,  what  is  become;  and,  in 
this  instance,  perhaps,  with  more  propriety." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  128.  It  is  no  marvel  t'lat 
those  writers  who  have  not  rightly  made  up  their  minds  upon  this  point  of  English  grammar, 
should  consequently  fall  into  many  mistakes.  The  perfect  participle  of  a  neuter  verb  is  not 
" passive,"  as  the  doctor  seems  to  suppose  it  to  be  ;  and  the  mode  of  conjugation  which  he  here 
inclines  to  prefer,  is  a  mere  Gallicism,  which  is  fast  wearing  out  from  our  language,  and  is  e^en 
now  but  little  countenanced  by  good  writers. 

OBS.  6. — There  are  a  few  verbs  of  the  passive  form  which  seem  to  imply  that  a  person's  own 
mind  is  the  agent  that  actuates  him  ;  as,  "  The  editor  is  rejoiced  to  think,"  &c. — Juvenile  Ktep- 
sake.  "  I  am  resolved  what  to  do." — Luke,  xvi,  4.  "  He  was  resolved  on  going  to  the  city  to  re- 
side."— Comly's  Gram.  p.  114.  "  Jam^s  teas  resolved  not  to  indulge  himself." — Murray's  Key, 
ii,  220.  "  He  is  inclined  to  go." — "  He  is  determined  to  go." — "  He  is  bent  on  going."  These 
are  properly  passive  verbs,  notwithstanding  there  are  active  forms  which  are  nearly  equivalent  to 
most  of  them  ;  as,  "  The  editor  rejoices  to  think." — "  I  know  what  to  do." — "  He  had  resolved 
on  going." — "  James  resolved  not  to  indulge  himself."  So  in  the  phrase,  "  I  am  ashamed  to  beg," 
we  seem  to  have  a  passive  verb  of  this  sort;  but,  the  verb  to  ashame  being  now  obsolete, 
ashamed  is  commonly  reckoned  an  adjective.  Yet  we  cannot  put  it  before  a  noun,  after  the  ut  ual 
manner  of  adjectives.  To  be  indebted,  is  an  other  expression  of  the  same  kind.  In  the  following 
example,  "  am  remember'd  "  is  used  for  do  remember,  and,  in  my  opinion,  inaccurately  : 
"  He  said  mine  eyes  were  black,  and  my  hair  black  ; 
And,  now  I  am  remember'd,  scorn'd  at  me." — Shakspeare. 

IV.    FORM  OF  NEGATION. 

A  verb  is  conjugated  negatively,  by  placing  the  adverb  not  after  it,  or  after 
the  first  auxiliary  ;  but  the  infinitive  and  participles  take  the  negative  first : 
as,  Not  to  love,  Not  to  have  loved  ;  Not  loving,  Not  loved,  Not  having 
loved. 

FIRST  PERSON   SINGULAR. 

IND.  I  love  not,  or  I  do  not  love  ;  I  loved  not,  or  I  did  not  love  ;  I  have  not 
loved ;  I  had  not  loved  ;  I  shall  not,  or  will  not,  love  ;  I  shall  not,  or  will  not,  have 
loved.  POT.  I  may,  can,  or  must  not  love ;  I  might,  could,  would,  or  should  not 
love;  I  may,  can,  or  must  not  have  loved;  I  might,  could,  would,  or  should  not 
have  loved.  SUBJ.  If  I  love  not,  If  I  loved  not. 

SECOND  PERSON  SINGULAR. 

SOLEMN  STYLE  : — IND.  Thou  lovest  not,  or  Thou  dost  not  love ;  Thou  lovedst  not, 
or  Thou  didst  not  love  ;  Thou  hast  not  loved ;  Thou  hadst  not  loved ;  Thou  shalt 
not,  or  wilt  not,  love  ;  Thou  shalt  not,  or  wilt  not,  have  loved.  POT.  Thou  mayst, 
canst,  or  must  not  love  ;  Thou  mightst,  couldst,  wouldst,  or  shouldst  not  love  ;  Thou 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. — VERBS. — CONJUGATIONS.  371 

inayst,  canst,  or  must  not  have  loved ;  Thou  mightst,  couldst,  wouldst,  or  shouldst 
not  have  loved.  SCBJ.  If  thou  love  not,  If  thou  loved  not.  IMP.  Love  [thou]  not, 
or  Do  thou  not  love. 

FAMILIAR  STYLE  :  — IND.  Thou  lov'st  not,  or  Thou  dost  not  love ;  Thou  loved  not, 
or  Thou  did  not  love  ;  Thou  hast  not  loved  ;  Thou  had  not  loved  ;  Thou  shall  not, 
or  will  not,  love;  Thou  shall  not,  or  will  not,  have  loved.  POT.  Thou  may,  can,  or 
must  not  love  ;  Thou  might,  could,  would,  or  should  not  love  ;  Thou  may,  can,  or 
must  not  have  loved  ;  Thou  might,  could,  would,  or  should  not  have  loved. 
Sn;j.  If  thou  love  not,  If  thou  loved  not.  IMP.  Love  [thou]  not,  or  Do  [thou]  not 
love. 

THIRD   PERSON  SINGULAR. 

IND.  He  loves  not,  or  He  does  not  love  ;  He  loved  not,  or  He  did  not  love ;  He 
has  not  loved  ;  lie  had  not  loved;  He  shall  not,  or  will  not,  love  ;  He  shall  not,  or 
will  not,  have  loved.  POT.  He  may,  can,  or  must  not  love ;  He  might,  could,  would, 
or  should  not  love  ;  He  may,  can,  or  must  not  have  loved  ;  He  might,  could,  would, 
or  should  not  have  loved.  SUBJ.  If  he  love  not,  If  he  loved  not. 

V.    FORM  OF  QUESTION. 

A  verb  is  conjugated  interrogatively ',  in  the  indicative  and  potential  moods, 
by  placing  the  nominative  after  it,  or  after  the  first  auxiliary :  as, 

FIRST  PERSON  SINGULAR. 

IND.  Love  I  ?  or  Do  I  love  ?  Loved  I  ?  or  Did  I  love  ?  Have  I  loved  ?  Had  I 
loved?  Shall  I  love?  Shall  I  have  loved?  POT.  May,  can,  or  must  Hove?  Might, 
could,  would,  or  should  I  love?  May,  can,  or  must  I  have  loved?  Might,  could, 
would,  or  should  I  have  loved  ? 

SECOND   PERSON   SINGULAR. 

SOLEMN  STYLE  : — IND.  Lovest  thou  ?  or  Dost  thou  love  ?  Lovcdst  thou  ?  or  Didst 
thou  love Y  Hast  thou  loved  ?  Hadst  thou  loved  ?  Wilt  thou  love  ?  Wilt  thou  have 
loved?  TOT.  Mayst,  canst,  or  must  thou  love?  Mightst,  couldst,  wouldst,  or 
shouldst  thou  love  '.'  Mayst,  canst,  or  must  thou  have  loved  ?  Mightst,  couldst,  wouldst, 
or  shouldst  thou  have  loved? 

FAMIUUI  STYLE: — IND.  Lov'st  thou?  or  Dost  thou  love?  Loved  thou?  or  Did 
thou  love '.'  Hast  thou  loved  ?  Had  thou  loved  ?  Will  thou  love  ?  Will  thou  havo 
loved  ?  POT.  May,  can,  or  must  thou  love  ?  Might,  could,  would,  or  should  thou  love  ? 
May,  can,  or  must  thou  have  loved  ?  Might,  could,  would,  or  should  thou  have  loved  ? 

TUMID  PERSON  SINGULAR. 

I ND.  Loves  he?  or  Does  he  love?  Loved  he?  or  Did  he  love?  Has  he  loved? 
lad  J3e  loved  ?  Shall  or  will  he  love  ?  Will  he  have  loved  ?  POT.  May,  can,  or  must  he 
love?  Mi^lit,  could,  would,  or  should  he  love?  May,  can,  or  must  he  have  loved? 
Mitrht,  could,  would,  or  should  he  have  loved? 

VI.    FORM  IION   WITH  NEGATION. 

A  verb  is  conjugated  interrogatwdy  and  negatively,  in  the  indicative  and 
]X)tential  moods,  by  placing  the  nominative  and  the  adverb  not  after  the  verb, 
or  after  the  first  auxiliary  :  as, 

T  I.URAL. 

IND.  Love  we  not?  or  Do  we  not  love?  Loved  we  not?  or  Did  we  not  love? 
Have  we  not  lov.-d  V  Hud  we  not  lov  1  we  not  love?  Shall  wo  not  have 

loved  V  POT.  May,  can,  or  must  we  not -love  Y  Mi^ht,  c'.uld,  would,  or  should  we 
not  love?  May.  can,  or  must  we  not  have  loved?  Might,  could,  would,  or  should  we 
not  have  loved  Y 

SECOND  PERSON  Pn 

IND.  See  ye  not  ?  or  Do  you  not  see  ?  Saw  ye  not  ?  or  Did  you  not  see  ?  Have 
vou  not  seen  ?  Had  you  not  seen  ?  Will  you  not  sec  ?  Will  you  not  have  seen  ? 


372  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

POT.  May,  can,  or  must  you  not  see?  Might,  could,  would,  or  should  you  not  see? 
May,  can,  or  must  you  not  have  seen?  Might,  could,  would,  or  should  you  not  have 
seen? 

THIRD    PERSON    PLURAL. 

IND.  Are  they  not  loved ?  Were  they  not  loved  ?  Have  they  not  been  loved?  Had 
they  not  been  loved  ?  Shall  or  will  they  not  be  loved  ?  Will  they  not  have  been  loved  ? 
May,  can,  or  must  they  not  be  loved  ?  Might,  could,  would,  or  should  they  not  be 
loved?  May,  can,  or  must  they  not  have  been  loved?  Might,  could,  would,  or  should 
they  not  have  been  loved  ? 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — In  a  familiar  question  or  negation,  the  compound  or  auxiliary  form  of  the  verb  is,  in 
general,  preferable  to  the  simple  :  as,  "  No  man  lives  to  purpose,  who  does  not  live  for  posterity." 
— Dr.  Wayland.  It  is  indeed  so  much  more  common,  as  to  seem  the  only  proper  mode  of  ex- 
pression :  as,  ''Do  I  say  these  things  as  a  man  ?  " — "Do  you  think  that  we  excuse  ourselves  ?  " 
— "Do  you  not  know  that  a  little  leaven  leavens  the  whole  lump  ?  " — "Dost  thou  revile  ?  "  &c.  But 


'  Know  ye 

whole  lump?" — 1  Cor.v,  6.     "  Revilest  thou  God's  high  priest?" — Acts.     "King  Agrippa,  be- 
lievest  thou  the  prophets  ?  " — Ib.       "  Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest  ?  " — Ib.      "  Of  whom 
speaketh  the  prophet  this  ? " — Id.     "  And  the  man  of  God  said,  Where  fell  it  ?  " — 2  Kings,  vi,  G. 
"What !  heardyenot  of  lowland  war  ?  "—Sir  W.  Scott,  L.  L. 
"  Seems  he  not,  Malise,  like  a  ghost  ?  " — Id.  L.  of  Lake. 
"Where  thinkst  thou  he  is  now  ?     Stands  he,  or  sits  he? 
Or  does  he  walk?  or  is  he  on  his  horse  ?  " — Shak.  Ant.  and  Chop. 

OBS.  2. — In  interrogative  sentences,  the  auxiliaries  shall  and  will  are  not  always  capable  of 
being  applied  to  the  different  persons  agreeably  to  their  use  in  simple  declarations  :"thus,  "Will 
I  go  ?"  is  a  question  which  there  never  can  be  any  occasion  to  ask  in  its  literal  sense  ;  because 
none  knows  better  than  I,  what  my  will  or  wish  is.  But  "Shall  I  go  ?  "  may  properly  be  asked ; 
because  shall  here  refers  to  duty,  and  asks  to  know  what  is  agreeable  to  the  will  of  an  oth(  r. 
In  questions,  the  first  person  generally  requires  shall;  the  second,  will;  the  third  admits  ~>f 
both  :  but,  in  the  second-future,  the  third,  used  interrogatively,  seems  to  require  will  only.  Yet, 
in  that  figurative  kind  of  interrogation  which  is  sometimes  used  to  declare  a  negative,  there  m;  y 
be  occasional  exceptions  to  these  principles;  as,  "Will  I  eat  the  flesh  of  bulls,  or  drink  tic- 
blood  of  goats  ?  " — Psalms,  1,  13.  That  is,  I  to  ill  not  eat,  &c. 

OBS.  3. — Cannot  is  not  properly  one  word,  but  two:  in  parsing,  the  adverb  must  be  taken 
separately,  and  the  auxiliary  be  explained  with  its  principal.  When  power  is  denied,  can  and 
not  are  now  generally  united — perhaps  in  order  to  prevent  ambiguity;  as,  "I  cannot  go."  Bi;t 
•when  the  power  is  affirmed,  and  something  else  is  denied,  the  words  are  written  separately  ;  as, 
"  The  Christian  apologist  can  not  merely  expose  the  utter  baseness  of  the  infidel  assertion,  but 
he  has  positive  ground  for  erecting  an  opposite  and  confronting  assertion  in  its  place." — D,'. 
Chalmers.  The  junction  of  these  terms,  however,  is  not  of  much  importance  to  the  sense  ;  ami, 
as  it  is  plainly  contrary  to  analogy,  some  writers, — (as  Dr.  Webster,  in  his  late  or  "improved  " 
works;  Dr.  Bullions,  in  his;  Prof.  W.  C.  Fowler,  in  his  new  "English  Grammar,"  8vo ;  J.  R. 
Chandler,  W.  S.  Cardell,  0.  B.  Peirce,— )always  separate  them.  And,  indeed,  why  should  we 
write,  "  I  cannot  go,  Thou  canst  not  go,  He  cannot  go  ?  "  Apart  from  the  custom,  we  have  just  as 
good  reason  to  join  not  to  camt  as  to  can;  and  sometimes  its  union  with  the  latter  is  a  gros^ 
error  :  as,  "  He  cannot  only  make  a  way  to  escape,  but  with  the  injunction  to  duty  can  infuse  the 
power  to  perform."— Maturings  Sermons,  p.  287.  The  fear  of  ambiguity  never  prevents  us  from 
disjoining  can  and  not  whenever  we  wish  to  put  a  word  between  them:  as,  "Though  the  waves 
thereof  toss  themselves,  yet  can  they  not  prevail ;  though  they  roar,  yet  can  they  not  pass  over 
it." — Jeremiah,  v,  22.  "  Which  then  I  can  resist  not." — Byron's  Manfred,  p.  1. 
"  Can  I  not  mountain  maiden  spy, 
But  she  must  boar  the  Douglas  eye?  " — Scott. 

OBS.  4. — In  negative  questions,  the  adverb  not  is  sometimes  placed  before  the  nominative,  and 
sometimes  after  it:  as,  "  Told  not  I  thee  I"— Numb,  xxiii,  26.  "  Spake  I  not  also  to  thy  mes- 
sengers ?  "— Ib.  xxiv,  12.  "  Cannot  I  do  with  you  as  this  potter  ?  "—Jer.  xviii,  6.  "  Art  not  thou 
a  seer  ?  "_2  Sam.  xv,  27.  "  Did  not  Israel  know  ?  "—Rom.  x,  19.  "  Have  they  not  heard  ?  "—fb.  18. 
"Do  not  they  'blaspheme  that  worthy  name?" — James,  ii,  7.  This  adverb,  like  every  Other, 
should  be  placed  where  it  will  sound  most  agreeably,  and  best  suit  the  sense.  Dr.  Priestley  im- 


May 

Priestley's  Gram.  p.  177. 

.  5. — In  grave  discourse,  or  in  oratory,  the  adverb  not  is  spoken  as  distinctly  as  othrr 


Mayn't,  can't,  or  mustn't  they  have  done  it  ?  Mightn't,  couldn't,  wouldn't,  or  shouldn't  they 
have  done  it  ? 


CHAP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. IRREGULAR    VERBS. OBSERVATIONS.  373 

CDS.  6. — Well-educated  people  commonly  utter  their  words  with  more  distinctness  and  fullness 
than  the  vulgar,  yet  without  adopting  ordinarily  the  long-drawn  syllables  of  poets  and  orators 
or  the  solemn  phraseology  of  preachers  and  prophets.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  gram- 
matical propriety  of  such  contractions  as  the  foregoing,  no  one  who  has  ever  observed  how  tho 
English  language  is  usually  spoken,  will  doubt  their  commonness,  or  their  antiquity.  And  it 
may  be  ol>sr:\i;l,  that,  in  the  u>t-  it'  these  forms,  the  distinction  of  persons  and  numbers  in  the 
verb,  is  almost,  if  not  entirely,  dropped.  Thus  d'^n't  is  used  for  dost  not  or  docs  not,  as  properly 
as  for  do  not ;  and,  "  Thou  can'f  do  it,  or  shan't  do  it,"  is  as  good  English  as,  "He  can't  do  it,  or 
than'tdn  it."  Will,  according  to  Webster,  was  anciently  written  icoll :  hence  won't  acquired  the 
o,  which  is  long  in  Walker's  orthoepy.  Hurcn't,  which  cannot  be  used  for  /MS  not  or  hast  not, 
is  still  further  contracted  by  the  vulgar,  and  spoken  ha'nt,  which  serves  for  all  three.  These 
forms  are  sometimes  found  in  books ;  as,  "  WONT,  a  contraction  of  woll  not,  that  is,  will  not." — 
Webster's  Diet.  "  II  A.'XT,  a  contraction  of  have  not  or  has  not." — Id.  "WoNT,  (w6nt  or  wunt,) 
A  contraction  of  tcould  not: — used  for  will  not." — Worcester's  Diet.  "HAN'T,  (hant  or  hant,) 
A  vulgar  contraction  for  has  not,  or  have  not." — Id.  In  the  writing  of  such  contractions,  the 
apostrophe  is  not  always  used;  though  some  think  it  necessary  for  distinction's  sake:  as,  "Which 
is  equivalent,  because  what  can't  be  done  won't  be  done." — Johnson's  Gram.  Cobi.  p.  312. 

IRREGULAR  VERBS. 

An  irregular  verb  is  a  verb  that  docs  not  form  the  preterit  and  the  perfect 
participle  by  assuming  dor  ed;  as,  see,  saw,  seeing,  seen.  Of  this  class  of 
verbs  there  are  about  one  hundred  and  ten,  beside  their  several  derivatives 
and  compounds. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — Regular  verbs  form  their  preterits  and  perfect  participles,  by  adding  d  to  final  e, 
and  ed  to  all  other  terminations  ;  the  final  consonant  of  the  verb  being  sometimes  doubled, 
(as  in  dropped,}  and  final  y  sometimes  changed  to  i,  (as  in  cried,}  agreeably  to  the  rules 
for  spelling  in  such  cases.  The  verb  hear,  heard,  hearing,  heard,  adds.d  to  r  and  is  there- 
fore irregular.  Heard  is  pronounced  herd  by  all  our  lexicographers,  except  Webster :  who 
formerly  wrote  it  hccrd,  and  still  pronounces  it  so ;  alleging,  in  despite  of  universal  usage 
against  him,  that  it  is  written  "more  correctly  heared." — Octavo  Diet.,  1829.  Such  pro- 
nunciation would  doubtless  require  this  last  orthography,  "heared;"  but  both  are,  in  fact, 
about  as  fanciful  as  his  former  mode  of  spelling,  which  ran  thus  :  "Az  I  had  heerd  suggest- 
ed by  fronds  or  indifferent  recders." — Dr.  Webster's  Essays,  Preface,  p.  10. 

Oits.  2. — AVhcn  a  verb  ends  in  a  sharp  consonant,  t  is  sometimes  improperly  substituted  for 
ed,  making  the  preterit  and  the  perfect  participle  irregular  in  spelling,  when  they  are  not  so 
in  sound  ;  as,  distrest  for  distressed,  tost  for  tossed,  mixt  for  mixed,  crackt  for  cracked.  These 
contractions  are  now  generally  treated  as  errors  in  writing ;  and  the  verbs  are  accordingly 
( with  a  few  exceptions)  accounted  regular.  Lord  Kames  commends  Dean  Swift  for  having 
done  «« all  in  his  power  to  restore  the  syllable  ed; "  says,  he  "  possessed,  if  any  man  ever 
did,  the  true  genius  of  the  English  tongue  ;"  and  thinks  that  in  rejecting  these  ugly  con- 
tractions, «•  he  well  deserves  to  be  imitated." — Elements  of  Criticism,  Vol.  ii,  p.  12.  The  regular 
orthography  is  indeed  to  be  preferred  in  all  such  cases;  but  the  writing  of  cd  restores  no 
F yllable,  except  in  solemn  discourse  ;  and,  after  all,  the  poems  of  Swift  have  so  very  many 
<-l  these  irregular  contractions  in  t,  that  one  can  hardly  believe  his  lordship  had  ever  read 
thorn.  Sin. •(>  the  days  of  these  critics  still  more  has  been  done  towards  the  restoration  of 
',  in  orthography,  though  not  in  sound  ;  but,  even  at  this  present  time,  our  poets  not 
imirequently  write,  c st  for  esscd  or  ess'd,  in  forming  the  preterits  or  participles  of  verbs  that 
end  in  tl  i-  v.  liable  ess.  This  is  an  ill  practice,  which  needlessly  multiplies  our  redundant 
-,  and  greatly  embarrasses  what  it  seems  at  first  to  simplify  :  as, 

lend  !  I  know  not  which  way  I  must  look 
For  comfort,  being,  as  I  am,  opprcst, 
To  think  that  now  our  life  is  only  drest 
For  show."—  Wordsworth's  Poetical  Works,  8vo,  p.   119. 

.  3.— When  the  verb  ends  with  a  smooth  consonant,  the  substitution  of  t  for  ed  pro- 
duces an  irregularity  in  sound,  as  well  as  in  A\  riting.  In  some  such  irregularities,  the  poets 
arc  indulged  for  the  sake  of  rhyme  ;  but  the  best  speakers  and  writers  of  prose  prefer  the  reg- 
ular form,  wherever  good  use  has  sanctioned  it :  thus  learned  is  better  than  learnt ;  burned, 
•-han  burnt ;  penned,  than  pent ;  absorbnl,  than  absorbt ;  spelled,  than  spelt ;  smelted,  than  smelt. 
So  many  of  this  sort  of  words  as  are  allowably  contracted,  belong  to  the  class  of  redundant 
verbs,  ;uaor..c  vhi-.-h  they  may  be  seen  in  a  subsequent  table. 

.  4. — Several  of  the  irregular  verbs  arc  variously  UM>dby  the  best  authors;  rcdundan 

>  arc  occasionally  given  to  some  verbs,  without  sufficient  authority  ;  and  many  preterits 

and  p.-'rtii -i^k's  wlm-h  were  formerly  in  good  use,  are  now  obsolete,  or  becoming  so.     The 

rimplc  irregular  verbs  in  English  are  about  one  hundred  and  ten,  and  they  are  nearly  all 

monosyllables.     They  are  derived  from  the  Saxon,  in  which  language  they  arc  also,  for  the 

most  part,  irregular. 

OBS.  5 — The  following  alphabetical  list  exhibits  the  simple  irregular  verbs,  as  they  are 


374 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  n. 


now  generally  used.  In  this  list,  those  preterits  and  participles  which  are  supposed  to  be 
preferable,  and  best  supported  by  authorities,  are  placed  first.  Nearly  all  compounds  that 
follow  the  form  of  their  simple  verbs,  or  derivatives  that  follow  their  primitives,  are  here 
purposely  omitted.  Welcome  and  behave  are  always  regular,  and  therefore  belong  not  here. 
Some  words  which  are  obsolete,  have  also  been  omitted,  that  the  learner  might  not  mistake 
them  for  words  in  present  use.  Some  of  those  which  are  placed  last,  are  now  little  used. 

LIST  OF  THE  IRREGULAR  VERBS. 


Present. 

Preterit.                   Imperfect  Participle. 

Perfect  Participle 

Arise, 

arose, 

arising, 

arisen. 

Be, 

was, 

being, 

been. 

Bear, 

bore  or  bare, 

bearing, 

borne  or  born.* 

Beat, 

beat, 

beating, 

beaten  or  beat. 

Begin, 

began  or  begun,  f 

beginning, 

begun. 

Behold, 

beheld, 

beholding, 

beheld. 

Beset, 

beset, 

besetting, 

beset. 

Bestead, 

bestead, 

besteading, 

bestead.  \ 

Bid, 

bid  or  bade, 

bidding, 

bidden  or  bid. 

Bind, 

bound, 

binding, 

bound. 

Bite, 

bit, 

biting, 

bitten  or  bit. 

Bleed, 

bled, 

bleeding, 

bled. 

Break, 

broke,§ 

breaking, 

broken. 

Breed, 

bred, 

breeding, 

bred. 

Bring, 
Buy, 

brought, 
bought, 

bringing, 
buying, 

brought, 
bought. 

Cast, 

cast, 

casting, 

cast. 

Chide, 

chid, 

chiding, 

chidden  or  chid. 

Choose, 

chose, 

choosing, 

chosen. 

Cleave,  || 

cleft  or  clove, 

cleaving, 

cleft  or  cloven. 

Cling, 

clung, 

clinging, 

clung. 

Come, 

came, 

coming, 

come. 

Cost, 

cost, 

costing, 

cost. 

Cut, 

cut, 

cutting, 

cut. 

Do, 

did, 

doing, 

done. 

Draw, 

drew, 

drawing, 

drawn. 

Drink, 

drank, 

drinking, 

drunk,  or  drank.  ' 

Drive, 

drove, 

driving, 

driven. 

*Borne  usually  signifies  carrifd  ;  born  signifies  brought  forth.  J.  E.  Worcester,  the  lexicographer,  speaks  of 
these  two  participles  thus  :  "  O^  The  participle  born  is  used  in  the  passive  form,  and  borne  in  the  active  form, 
[with  reference  to  birth]  ^  as,  •  lie  was  born  bli:id.'  John  ix.  ;  '  The  barren  hath'  borne  seven,'  1  Sam.  ii.  This 
distinction  between  born  and  borne.,  though  not  recognized  by  grammarians,  is  in  accordance  with  common  usage, 
at  least  in  this  country  In  many  editions  of  the  Bible  it  is  recognized;  and  in  many  it  is  nofc  It  seems  to  have 
been  more  commonly  recognized  in  American,  than  in  Knglish,  editions.-'  —  Worcester's  Universal  and  Critical 
Dirt.  iv.  Bear.  In  five,  out  of  seven  good  American  editions  of  the  Bible  among  my  books,  the  latter  text  is, 
"  The  barren  hath  born  seven  ;"  in  two,  it  is  as  above,  "  hath  borne.'''  In  Johnson's  Quarto  Dictionary,  the  per- 
fect participle  of  bear  is  given  erroneously,  "  bore,  or  born;"  and  that  of  forbear,  which  should  be  forborne,  is  found, 
both  in  his  columns  and  in  his  preface,  liforborn." 

f  According  to  Murray,  Lennie,  Bullions,  and  some  others,  to  use  begun  for  began  or  run  for  ran,  is  improper  ; 
but  Webster  gives  run  as  well  as  ran  for  the  preterit,  and  begun  may  be  used  in  like  manner,  on  the  authority  of 
Dryden,  Pope,  and  Parnell. 

$  "  And  they  shall  pass  through  it,  hardly  bestead,  and  hungry."—  Isaiah,  viii,  21. 

$  "Brake  [for  the  preterit  of  Biealc]  seems  now  obsolescent."  —  Dr.  Crornbie,  Etymo'.  and  Syntax,  p.  193.  Some 
recent  grammarians,  however,  retain  it;  among  whom  are  Bullions  and  M'Culloch.  Wells  retains  it,  but  marks  it 
as,  "  Obsolete  ;  "  as  he  does  also  the  preterits  hare,  clave,  (have,  gat,  slang,  spoke,  span,  spat,  swarf,  tare,  writ; 
and  the  participles  hoven.  loaden,  rid  from  ride,  spitttn.  stricken,  and  writ.  In  this  he  is  not  altogether  consistent. 
Forms  really  obsolete  belong  not  to  any  modern  list  of  irregular  verbs  ;  and  even  such  as  are  arch.iie  and  obsoles- 
cent, it  is  sometimes  better  to  omit.  If  "  leaden,*'  for  example,  is  now  out  of  use,  why  should  •'  loud,  unload,  and 
overload,"  be  placed,  as  they  are  by  this  author,  among  u  irregular  verbs  ;"  while  freight  and  distract,  in  spite  of 
fraught  and  dist>  aught,  are  reckoned  regular?  "Rid,"  for  rode  or  ridden,  though,  admitted  by  Worcester,  appears 
to  me  a  low  vulgarism. 

||  Chaw-,  to  split,  is  most  commonly,  if  not  always,  irregular,  as  above  ;  cleave,  to  stick,  or  adhere,  is  regular, 
but  clave  was  formerly  used  in  the  preterit  :  as,  "  The  men  of  Judah  clave  unto  their  king."  —  Sam  ml.. 

IT  Respecting  the  preterit  and  the  perfect  participle  of  this  vrb,  drink,  our  grammarian*  are  gre.-itly  at  variance. 
Dr.  Johnson  f-ays,  "  proter.  drank  or  drunk  ;  part.  p;is.s.  drunk  or  drunken."  Dr.  Webster  :  u  pret.  and  pp.  drank. 
Old  pret.  and  pp.  drunk;  pp.  drunken."  Lowth  :  '•  pret.  d'ank  ;  part,  drunk  or  drunken."  So  Staniford,  Webber, 
and  others.  Murray  has  it  :  "  Imperf.  drank.  IVi  f.  Part,  drunk."  So  Comly,  Lennie,  Bullions  Blair,  Butler,  Frost, 
Felton,  Goldsbury,  and  many  others.  Churchill  cites  the  text,  "Serve  me  till  I  have  eaten  and  drunken  ;"  and 
observes,  "Drunken  is  now  used  only  as  an  adjective.  The  impropriety  of  using  the  preterimperfect  ['frank]  for 
the  participle  of  this  verb  is  very  common.1'—  Ne  w  Gram.  p.  261.  Sanborn  gives  both  forms  for  the  participle, 


CHAP.    VI.] 


ETYMOLOGY. LIST   OF    THE   IRREGULAR   VERBS. 


375 


Present. 
Kat. 
Fall, 
Feed, 
Feel, 
Fight, 
Find, 
Flee, 
Fling, 
Fly, 

Forbear, 
Forsake, 
Get, 
Give, 
Go, 
Grow, 
Have, 
Hear, 
Hide, 
Hit, 
Hold, 
Hurt, 
Keep, 
Know, 
Lead, 
Leave, 
Lend, 
Let, 
Lie,§ 
Lose, 
Make, 
Meet, 
Outdo, 
Put, 
Read, 
Rend, 
Bid, 
Ride, 
Ring, 

Boa, 


Preterit. 
ate  or  eat, 
fell, 
fed, 
felt, 
fought, 
found, 
fled, 
flung, 
flew, 
forbore, 
forsook, 

got» 

gave, 

went, 

grew, 

had, 

heard, 

hid, 

hit, 

held, 

hurt, 

kcpt,t 

knew, 

led, 

left, 

lent, 

let, 

lay, 

lost, 

made, 

met, 

outdid, 

put, 

read, 

rent, 

rid, 

rode, 

rung  or  rang, 

rose, 

ran  or  run, 


Imperfect  Participle. 
eating, 
falling, 
feeding, 
feeling, 
fighting, 
finding, 
fleeing, 
flinging, 
flying, 
forbearing, 
forsaking, 
getting, 
giving, 


growing, 

having, 

hearing, 

hiding, 

hitting, 

holding, 

hurting, 

keeping, 

knowing, 

leading, 

leaving, 

lending, 

letting, 

lyi"g. 

losing, 

making, 

meeting, 

outdoing, 

putting, 

reading, 

rending, 

ridding, 

riding, 

ringing, 

rising, 

running, 


Perfect  Participle. 
eaten  or  eat. 
fallen, 
fed. 
felt, 
fought, 
found, 
fled, 
flung, 
flown, 
forborne, 
forsaken, 
got  or  gotten, 
given, 
gone, 
grown, 
had. 
heard. 

hidden  or  hid. 
hit, 
held.* 
hurt.f 
kept, 
known, 
led. 
left, 
lent, 
let. 
lain, 
lost, 
made, 
met. 
outdone, 
put. 
read, 
rent.  || 
rid. 

ridden  or  rode, 
rung, 
risen, 
run. 


preferring  drank  to  (trunk.    Kirkham  prefers  drunk  to  drank  ;  but  contndicts  himself  in  a  note,  by  unconsciously 

mikin_'  •  The  men  were  drunk;  i.e.  inebriated.     The   toasts  were  drank.'1'1  —  Gram,  p,  149. 

'/nnk.  drunk,  drunk  ;  r  but  in  his  story  of  Jaek  Halyard,  on  page  69,  he  wrote, 

Kowle's  True  Kiulisli  (iraumiar,  is  not  incorrect.     The  preponderance  of 

authority  is  \ei  in  t'.ivmirof  saying,  "  had  drunk  ;  but  drank  seems  to  be  a  word  of  greater  delicacy,  and   perhap* 
it  i«  Hullirj.  i  -  may  be  quoted  for  it,  and  some  that  were  popular  in  the  day* 

of  Johnson.  "In  tl  and  drank."—  Btatlit's  Moral  Science,  Vol.  i,  p.  51.    "Which 

I  had  no  sooner  tl,unk."l—AdJi- 

brother's  blood  the  I  i  hath  rfranfc, 

>'eely  point  of  Clifford's  lance."—  Shakxpeare. 

*  *••  HoLIrn  i*  not  in  eeneral  use  :  and  is  rhi.-tly  employe  1  l<y  :u,  :••.•  -m--.  s.v  —  Crombie,  on  Etymology  and  Synt.  p. 
If6.     Wells 

uilty  of  killing  cats  I  never  li  >i  r  t»l.^—  II  oderick  Random.  Vol.  I,  p.  8. 

.p.  19. 
Lu,  to  be  at  n->'  as  above  ;  but  lif.  to  utter  falsehood,  is  regular,  as  follows  :  lit,  lied,  lying,  litd. 

Ill"Ulit:iill%f:ui.le, 

•-ntt'x  Lady  of  the  Lak'. 
Perhaps  there  H  auth"ri:\  -rf!ii-i.  nt  t<>  place  the  verb  n  <-h  are  redundant. 

"  U'hele'er   its  cli.U«ly  Veil  was  r- 

••  MI.  .  if  thiv  :  thy  rhiiin  to  earth  is  rmdrd  ; 

:he«-  t"  efrri.ity  ;  prepare  !  thy  cmir.-e  is  elided.  M  —  Tht  Amultt. 

'—Sir  H'.  Srolt. 
"  The  hunger  pangs  her  sons  which  rttnttU."—  NEW  QOABTERLY  KEVIEW  :  Examiner,  No.  11D. 


376 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  n. 


Present. 

Preterit.                 Imperfect  Participle. 

Perfect  Participle. 

Say, 

said, 

saying, 

said.* 

See, 

saw, 

seeing, 

seen. 

Seek, 

sought, 

seeking, 

sought. 

Sell, 

sold, 

selling, 

sold. 

Send, 

sent, 

sending, 

sent. 

Set, 

set, 

setting, 

set. 

Shed, 

shed, 

shedding, 

shed. 

Shoe, 

shod, 

shoeing, 

shod.f 

Shoot, 

shot, 

shooting, 

shot. 

Shut, 

shut, 

shutting, 

shut. 

Shred, 

shred, 

shredding, 

shred. 

Shrink, 

shrunk  or  shrank, 

shrinking, 

shrunk. 

Sing, 

sung  or  sang,J 

singing, 

sung. 

Sink, 

sunk  or  sank, 

sinking, 

sunk. 

Sit, 

sat, 

sitting, 

sat.§ 

Slay, 

slew, 

slaying, 

slain. 

Sling, 

slung, 

slinging, 

slung. 

Slink, 

slunk  or  slank, 

slinking, 

slunk. 

Smite, 

smote, 

smiting, 

smitten  or  srnit. 

Speak, 

spoke, 

speaking, 

spoken. 

Spend, 

spent, 

spending, 

spent. 

Spin, 

spun, 

spinning, 

spun. 

Spit, 

spit  or  spat, 

spitting, 

spit  or  spitten. 

Spread, 

spread, 

spreading, 

spread. 

Spring, 

sprung  or  sprang, 

springing, 

sprung. 

Stand, 

stood, 

standing, 

stood. 

Steal, 

stole, 

stealing, 

stolen. 

Stick, 

stuck, 

sticking, 

stuck.    v 

Sting, 

stung, 

stinging, 

stung. 

Stink, 

stunk  or  stank, 

stinking, 

stunk. 

Stride, 

strode  or  strid, 

striding, 

stridden  or  strid.  |j 

Strike, 

struck, 

striking, 

struck  or  stricken. 

Swear, 

swore, 

swearing, 

sworn. 

Swim, 

swum  or  swam, 

swimming, 

swum. 

Swing, 

swung  or  swang, 

swinging, 

swung. 

Take, 

took, 

taking, 

taken. 

*  We  find  now  and  then  an  instance  in  which  gainsay  is  made  regular  :  as,  "  It  can  neither  be  rivalled  nor 
%ainsayed."—  Chapman's  Sermons  to  Presbyterian*,  p.  36.    Perhaps  it  would  be  as  well  to  follow  Webster  here, 
in  writing  rivaled  with  one  I ;  and  the  analogy  of  the  simple  verb  say,  in  forming  this  compound  irregularly, 
gainsaid.    Usage  warrants  the  latter,  however,  better  than  the  former. 

t  "  Shoe,  shoed  or  shod,  shoeing,  sfioed  or  shod."—  Old  Gram,  by  W.  Ward,  p.  64  ;  and  Fowlers  True  English 
Gram,  p.  46. 

*  "A  Murray  has  rejected  sung  as  the  Preterit,  and  L.  Murray  has  rejected  sang.    Each  Preterit,  however,  rests 
on  good  authority.     The  same  observation  may  be  made,  respecting  sank  and  sunk.  Respecting  the  preterits  which 
have  a  or  u,  as  filing,  or  slung,  sank,  or  sunk,  it  would  be  better  were  the  former  only  to  be  used,  as  the  Preterite  and 
Participle  would  thus  be  discriminated."— Dr.  Crombie,  on  Etymology  and   Syntax,  p.   199.    The  preterits  which 
this  critic  thus  prefers,  are  rang,  sang,  slang,  sprang,  swung,  sank,  shrank,   slank,  stank,  steam,  and  span  for 
tpun.    In  respect  to  them  all.  I  think  he  makes  an  ill  choice.    According  to  his  own  showing,  fling,  string,  and 
sting,  always  make  the  preterit  and  the  participle  alike  ;  and  this  is  the  obvious  tendency  of  the  language,  in  all 
these  words.    I  reject  slang  and  span,  as  derivatives  from  sling  and  spin  ;  because,  in  such  a  sense,  they  are  obso- 
lete, and  the  words  have  other  uses.     Lindley  Murray,  in  Ids  early  editions,  rejected  sang-,  sank,  slang,  swang, 
shrank,  slank,  stank,  and  span  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  preferred  rang,  sprang,  and  swam,  to  rung,  sprung,  and 
swum.    In  his  later  copies,  he  gave  the  preference  to  the  u,  in  all  these  words ;  but  restored  sang  and  sank, 
which  Crombie  names  above,  still  omitting  the  other  six,  which  did  not  happen  to  be  mentioned  to  him. 

§  Sate  for  the  preterit  of  sit,  and  sitten  for  the  perfect  participle,  are,  in  my  opinion,  obsolete,  or  no  longer  in 
good  use.  Yet  several  recent  grammarians  prefer  sitten  to  sat ;  among  whom  are  Crombie,  Lennie,  Bullions,  and 
M'Culloch.  Dr.  Crombie  says, "  Sitten,  though  formerly  in  use,  is  now  obsolescent.  Laudable  attempts,  however, 
have  been  made  to  restore  it." — On  Etymol.  and  Syntax,  p.  199.  Lennie  says.  "  Many  authors,  both  here  and 
in  America,  use  sate  as  the  Past  time  of  sit ;  but  this  is  improper,  for  it  is  apt  to  be  confounded  with  sate  to  glut. 
Sitten  and  spitten  are  preferable  [to  sat  and  spit,]  though  obsolescent." — Principles  of  E.  Gram.  p.  45.  Bullion* 
•ays,  "Sit 
M'Culloch  _ 

Manual  of  E.  Gram.  p.  65. 
|  "  He  will  find  the  political  hobby  which  he  has  bestrided  no  child's  nag."—  The  Vanguard,  a  Newspaper. 

"  Through  the  pressed  nostril,  spectacle-fcesm'rf." — Cowpei. 

"  A  lank  haired  hunter  strided."—WJiittier'l3  Sabbath  Scene. 


"Sitten  and  spitten  are  nearly  obsolete,  though  preferable  to  sat  and  spit."'1 — Principles  of  E.  Gram.  p.  64. 
loch  gives  these  verbs  in  the  following  form  :  "  Sit,  sat,  sitten  or  sat.     Spit,  spit  or  spat,   spit  or  spitten."— 


CliAP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. EEDDNDANT    VERliS. — OBSERVATIONS.  377 

Present.  Preterit.  Imperfect  Participle.    Perfect  Participle. 

Teach,  taught,  teaching,  taught. 

Tear,  tore,  tearing,  torn. 

Tell,  told,  telling,  told. 

Think,  thought,  thinking,  thought. 

Thrust,  thrust,  thrusting,  thrust. 

Tread,  trod,  treading,  trodden  or  trod. 

Wear,  wore,  wearing,  worn. 

Win.  \von,  winning,  won. 

Write,  wrote,  writing,  written.* 

REDUNDANT  VERBS. 

A  redundant  verb  is  a  verb  that  forms  the  preterit  or  the  perfect  participle 
in  two  or  more  ways,  and  so  as  to  be  both  regular  and  irregular  ;  as,  Thrive, 
thrived  or  throve,  thriving,  thrived  or  thriven.  Of  this  class  of  verbs,  there 
are  about  ninety-five,  beside  sundry  derivatives  and  compounds. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — Those  irregular  verbs  which  have  more  than  one  form  for  the  preterit  or  for 
the  perfect  participle,  are  in  some  sense  redundant;  but,  as  there  is  no  occasion  to  make 
a  distinct  class  of  such  as  have  double  forms  that  are  never  regular,  these  redundancies  are 
either  included  in  the  preceding  list  of  the  simple  irregular  verbs,  or  omitted  as  being 
improper  to  be  now  recognized  for  good  English.  Several  examples  of  the  latter  kind, 
including  both  innovations  and  archaisms,  will  appear  among  the  improprieties  for  correc- 
tion, at  the  end  of  this  chapter.  A  few  old  preterits  or  participles  may  perhaps  be  ac- 
counted good  English  in  the  solemn  style,  which  are  not  so  in  the  familiar  :  as,  "And  none 
spate  a  word  unto  him." — Job,  ii,  13.  "When  I  brake  the  five  loaves." — Mark,  viii,  19. 
"And  he  drave  them  from  the  judgement-seat." — Acts,  xviii,  16.  "  Serve  me  till  I  have 
eaten  and  drunken." — Luke,  xvii,  8.  "It  was  not  possible  that  he  should  be  holdcn  of  it." 
— Acts,  ii,  21.  "Thou  castedst  them  down  into  destruction." — Psal.  Ixxiii,  18.  "Behold, 
1  was  shapcn  in  iniquity." — Ib.  Ii,  5.  "A  meat-offering  baken  in  the  oven." — Leviticus,  ii,  4. 

k"  With  castcd  slough,  and  fresh  celerity." — SHAK.  Henry  V. 
"  Thy  dreadful  vow,  louden  with  death." — AUDISON  :  in  Joh.  Diet. 
BS.  2. — The  verb  bet  is  given  in  Worcester's  Dictionary  as  being  always  regular  :  "BET, 
[i.  BETTED  ;  pp.  KKTTIXG,  BETTED.]     To  wager  ;  to  lay  a  wager  or  bet.    SHAK." — Octavo 
.     In  Ainsworth's  Grammar,  it  is  given  as  being  always  irregular :  "Present,  Bet ;  /m- 
i»-'jtct,  Bet;  J'urd'cijilc,  Bet." — Page  36.     On  the  authority  of  these,  and  of  some  others 
cited  in  Oi;>.  <ii.li  below,  I  have  put  it  with  the  redundant  verbs.     The  verb  prove  is  redun- 
dant, if  promt,  which  is  noticed  by  Webster,  Bollcs,  and  Worcester,  is  an  admissible  word. 
"The  participle  proven  is  used  in  Scotland  and  in  some  parts  of  the  United  States,  and 
sometimes,  though  rarely,  in  England. — '  There  is  a  mighty  difference  between  not  proven 
and  di.sp/-"  .  TH.  CHALMERS.  'Not  proven.'  Qu.    REV." — Worcester's    Uniccrsal  and 

>'"-i.  The  verbs  bless  and  dress  are  to  be  considered  redundant,  according  to  the 
authority  of  Worcester,  Webster,  Bolles,  and  others.  Cobbett  will  have  the  verbs,  cast, 
chide,  cling,  draw,  yroir,  shred,  sli/iy,  slink,  spring,  sting,  stride,  swim,  suing,  and  thrust,  to  be 
always  regular  ;  but  I  find  no  sufficient  authority  for  allowing  to  any  of  them  a  regular 
form ;  and  therefore  leave  them,  where  they  always  have  been,  in  the  list  of  simple  irreg- 
ulars. These  fourteen  verbs  are  a  part  of  the  long  list  of  went;/  which  this  author  says, 
"  arc,  by  some  persons,  erroneously  deemed  irregular."  Of  the  following  ten  only,  is  his 
lion  true  ;  namely,  dip,  help,  leap,  load,  ovcrjloir,  slip,  snow,  stamp,  strip,  whip.  These 
1»c  formed  regularly  ;  for  all  their  irregularities  may  well  be  reckoned 
obsolete.  Alter  these  deductions  from  this  most  erroneous  catalogue,  there  remain  forty- 
tour  other  v-  iv  common  verbs,  to  be  disposed  of  contrary  to  this  author's  instructions. 
.Ml  but  two  o;  hall  place  in  the  list  of  redundant  verbs;  though  for  the  use  of 

nd  no  written  authority  but  his  and  William  Ii.  Fowle's.  The  two  which  I  do 
not  consider  redundant  are  spit  and  stn-ic,  of  which  it  may  be  proper  to  take  more  particu- 
lar notice. 

Oits.  3.— Np<V,  to  stab,  or  to  put  upon  a  spit,  is  regular;   as,  "  I  spitted  frogs,  I  crushed  a 

*  In  ;•«•,  »'"'.'  was  frequently  ufcd  both  for  the  participle  and  for  the  preterit  of  this  verb.     It  is 

now  oiihi-r  •  i  i.ir  to  th<-  poets.     In  prose  it  Becras  vulgar  :  as.  "  He  writ  it,  at  least,  published  it,  in 

1>J70."— Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  i.  p.  77. 

••  IN-  who,  Miprcnie  hi  judgement,  as  in  vi(, 

•  Lolilly  rtT.surc.  a-  ,t."—Popf,  Ess.  on  Crit. 

Dr.  Crombie  remark*!,  nioic  than  thirty  years  ago.  that,  *•  Wrote  as  the  Participle  [of  Write,]  is  generally  dis- 
nied,  and  likewise  u-rit."—  Treatise  on  Etym.  and  Synt.  p.  202. 


378  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

heap  of  emmets." — Dryden.  Spit,  to  throw  out  saliva,  is  irregular,  and  most  properly 
formed  thus  :  spit,  spit,  spitting,  spit.  "Spat  is  obsolete." — Webster's  Diet.  It  is  used  in  the 
Bible  ;  as,  "  He  spat  on  the  ground,  and  made  clay  of  the  spittle." — John,  ix,  6.  L.  Murray 
gives  this  verb  thus  :  "  Pres.  Spit;  Imp.  spit,  spat :  Perf.  Part,  spit,  spitten."  NOTE  :  "Spit- 
ten  is  nearly  obsolete." — Octavo  Gram.  p.  106.  Sanborn  has  it  thus  :  "  Pres.  Spit ;  Imp.  spit ; 
Pres.  Part,  spitting ;  Perf.  Part,  spit,  spat." — Analytical  Gram.  p.  48.  Cobbett,  at  first, 
taking  it  in  the  form,  "  to  spit,  I  spat,  spitten,"  placed  it  among  the  severity  which  he  so 
erroneously  thought  should  be  made  regular ;  afterwards  he  left  it  only  in  his  list  of  irreg- 
ulars, thus:  "to  spit,  I  spit,  spitten." — Cobbett's  E.  Gram,  of  1832,  p.  54.  Churchill,  in 
1823,  preferring  the  older  forms,  gave  it  thus :  "  Spit,  spat  or  spit,  spitten  or  spit." — New 
Gram.  p.  111.  NOTE  : — "  Johnson  gives  spat  as  the  preterimperfect,  and  spit  or  spitted  as  the 
participle  of  this  verb,  when  it  means  to  pierce  through  with  a  pointed  instrument :  but 
in  this  sense,  I  believe,  it  is  always  regular ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  regular  form  is 
now  never  used,  when  it  signifies  to  eject  from  the  mouth ;  though  we  tiud  in  Luke,  xviii, 
32, «  He  shall  be  spitted  on.'  " — Churchill's  New  Gram.  p.  264.  This  text  ought  to  have  been, 
"  He  shall  be  spit  upon." 

OBS.  4. —  To  strew  is  in  fact  nothing  else  than  an  other  mode  of  spelling  the  verb  to  strow ; 
as  shew  is  an  obsolete  form  for  shoio ;  but  if  we  pronounce  the  two  forms  differently,  we 
make  them  different  words.  Walker,  and  some  others,  pronounce  them  alike,  stro  ;  Sheri- 
dan, Jones,  Jameson,  and  Webster,  distinguish  them  in  utterance,  stroo  and  stro.  This  is 
convenient  for  the  sake  of  rhyme,  and  perhaps  therefore  preferable.  But  streiv,  I  incline 
to  think,  is  properly  a  regular  verb  only,  though  Wells  and  Worcester  give  it  otherwise  : 
if  strewn  has  ever  been  proper,  it  seems  now  to  be  obsolete.  EXAMPLES  :  "  Others  cut 
down  branches  from  the  trees,  and  strewed  them  in  the  way." — Matt,  xxi,  8.  "  Gathering 
where  thou  hast  not  streived." — Matt,  xxv,  24. 

"  Their  name,  their  years,  spelt  by  th'  unletter'd  muse, 

The  place  of  fame  and  elegy  supply  : 
And  many  a  holy  text  around  she  strews, 

That  teach  the  rustic  moralist  to  die." —  Gray. 

OBS.  5. — The  list  which  I  give  below,  prepared  with  great  care,  exhibits  the  redundant 
yerbs,  as  they  are  now  generally  used,  or  as  they  may  be  used  without  grammatical  rn- 
propriety.*  Those  forms  which  are  supposed  to  be  preferable,  and  best  supported  by  au- 
thorities, are  placed  first.  No  words  are  inserted  here,  but  such  as  some  modern  authors 
countenance.  L.  Murray  recognizes  bereaved,  catched,  dcaled,  digged,  dwelled,  hanyed,  knitt  id, 
shined,  spilled;  and,  in  his  early  editions,  he  approved  of  bended,  builded,  creeped,  weavid, 
worked,  wringed.  His  two  larger  books  now  tell  us,  "  The  Compiler  has  not  inserted  such 
verbs  as  learnt,  spelt,  spilt,  &c.  which  are  improperly  terminated  by  t,  instead  of  ed." — Oci'u- 
vo  Gram.  p.  107  ;  Duodecimo,  p.  97.  But  if  he  did  not,  in  all  his  grammars,  insert,  "Spill, 
spilt,  K.  spilt,  R.,"  (pp.  108,  96,)  preferring  the  irregular  form  to  the  regular,  somebody  else 
has  done  it  for  him.  And,  what  is  remarkable,  many  of  his  amenders,  as  if  misled  by  some 
evil  genius,  have  contradicted  themselves  in  precisely  the  same  way!  Ingersoll,  Fisk, 
Merchant,  and  Hart,  republish  exactly  the  foregoing  words,  and  severally  become  "  The  Com- 
piler" of  the  same  erroneous  catalogue  !  Kirkham  prefers  spilt  to  spilled,  and  then  declares 
the  word  to  be  "improperly  terminated  by  t  instead  of  ed" — Gram.  p.  151.  Greenleaf,  who 
condemns  learnt  and  spelt,  thinks  dwelt  and  spilt  are  "  the  only  established  f  jrms  ;  "  yet  he  will 
have  dwell  and  spill  to  be  "  regular  "  verbs,  as  well  as  "  irregular !  " — Gram.  Simp.  p.  29.  Web- 
ber prefers  spilled  to  spilt;  but  Picket  admits  only  the  latter.  Cobbett  and  Sanborn  prefer 
bereaved,  builded,  deakd,  digged,  dreamed,  hanged,  and  knitted,  to  bereft,  built,  dealt,  dug,  dreamt, 
hung,  and  knit.  The  former  prefers  creeped  to  crept,  andfreezed  to  froze ;  the  latter,  slitted  to 
slit,  wrinyed  to  wrung ;  and  both  consider,  "/  bended,"  "Ibursted,"  and  "/  blowed"  to  be 
good  modern  English.  W.  Allen  acknowledges/m^edand  slided;  and,  like  Webster,  prefers 
hove  to  hoven :  but  the  latter  justly  prefers  heaved  to  both.  EXAMP.  :  "  The  supple  kinsman 
slided  to  the  helm." — New  Timon.  "  The  rogues  slided  me  into  the  river." — Shak.  "  And  the 
seaid  slided  from  beneath  my  feet." — Du.  JOHNSON  :  in  Murray's  Sequel,  p.  179.  "Wherewith 
shefreez'd  her  foes  to  congeal' d  stone." — Milton's  Comus,  1.  449.  "  Itfreezed  hard  la*t  night. 
Now,  what  was  it  that  freazcd  so  hard  ?  " — Emmons's  Gram.  p.  25.  "  Far  hence  lies,  ever 
freez'd,  the  northern  main." — Savage's  Wanderer,  1.  57.  "  Has  he  not  taught,  beseeched,  and 
shed  abroad  the  Spirit  unconfiuedr" — Pollok's  Course  of  Time,  B.  x,  1.  27-5. 

OBS.  6. — U.  Blair  supposes  catched  to  be  an  "erroneous"  word  and  unauthori/cd  :  "I 
catch' d  it,"  for  "  I  caught  it,"  he  sets  down  for  a  "  vulgarism." — E.  Grain,  p.  1 1 1.  But  catched  is 
used  by  some  of  the  most  celebrated  authors.  Dearborn  prefers  the  regular  form  of  creep  '• 
"  creep,  creeped  or  crept,  creeped  or  crept." — Columbian  Gram.  p.  38.  I  adopt  no  man's 
opinions  implicitly ;  copy  nothing  without  examination  ;  but,  to  prove  all  my  decisions  to  be 
right,  would  be  an  endless  task.  I  shdll  do  as  much  as  ought  to  be  expected,  toward  show- 
ing that  they  are  so.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  the  poets,  as  well  as  the  vulgar,  use 

*  A  word  is  not  necessarily  ttngrammatical  by  reason  of  having  a  rival  form  that  is  more  common.  The  regular 
•words,  b*seec/iKi:  biota  d,  bur-ilxl.  dixx--'J,  Jrtf-nl,  bmnvKl,  liun^rd,  mea-ted,  sawed,  s/towtd,  stringed,  weepeU,  I 
admit  for  good  English,  though  we  find  them  all  condemned  by  some  critics. 


CHAP.    VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. REDUNDANT   VERBS. OBSERVATIONS.  379 

some  forms  which  a  gentleman  would  be  likely  to  avoid,  unless  he  meant  to  quote  or  imi- 
tate :  as, 

"  So  clomb  the  first  grand  thief  into  God's  fold  ; 

So  since  into  his  church  lewd  hirelings  climb." — Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  iv,  1.  192. 
"  He  shore  his  sheep,  and,  having  packed  the  wool, 
Sent  them  unguarded  to  the  hill  of  wolves." — Pollok,  C.  of  T.,  B.  vi,  1.  306. 

"  The  King  of  heav'n 

Bar'd  his  red  arm,  and  launching  from  the  sky 
Ili-  irrithen  bolt,  not  shaking  empty  smoke, 
Down  to  the  deep  abyss  the  naming  felon  strook" — Dryden. 

OBS.  7. — The  following  are  examples  in  proof  of  some  of  the  forms  acknowledged  be- 
low :  "Where  etiquette  and  precedence  abided  far  away." — Paulding's  Westward-IIo  !  p.  6. 
"  But  tlic-ie  were  no  secrets  where  Mrs.  Judith  Paddock  abided." — Ib.  p.  8.  "They  abided 
by  the  firms  of  government  established  by  the  charters." — John  Q.  Adams,  Oration,  1831. 
"'l  have  a  piences  often  enough  in  the  course  of  my  life." — Id.  Speech,  1839.  "I 

au-u.\    /  u;>  last  of  all." — Ecclus.  xxxiii,  16.     "  For  this  are  my  knees  bended  before  the  God 
of  th  t  all  flesh." — Wm.  Penn.     "There  was  never  a  prince  bereaved  of  his  de- 

pendencies." &c. — Bacon.  "  Madam,  you  have  bereft  me  of  all  words." — Shakspeare.  "  Reave, 
reaved  or  /•/'/,  reaving,  reared  or  reft.  Bereave  is  similar." — Ward's  Practical  Gram.  p.  65. 
"  And  let  them  tell  their  tales  of  woful  ages,  long  ago  betid." — Shak.  "  Of  every  nation 
blent,  an, I  every  age." — Pollok,  C.  of  T.,  B.  vii,  p.  153.  "I  builded  me  houses." — Ecclesiastes, 
ii,  4.  "  For  every  house  is  builded  by  some  man ;  but  he  that  built  all  things  is  God." — 
iii,  1.  "What  thy  hands  builded  not,  thy  wisdom  gained." — Milton's  P.  L.,  x,  373. 
14  Present,  bet ;  Past,  bet ;  Participle,  bet." — Mackintosh's  Gram.  p.  197  ;  Alexander's,  38.  "  John 
of  Gaunt  loved  him  well,  &ndbetted  much  upon  his  head." — SHAKSPEARE  :  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Bet. 
"  He  lost  every  earthly  thing  he  betted"— PRIOR  :  ib.  "A  seraph  kneeled."— Pollok,  C.  T.,  p.  96. 
"At  first,  he  declared  he  himself  would  be  blowed, 

Ere  his  conscience  with  such  a  foul  crime  he  would  load." — J.  R.  Lowell. 
"They  are  catche.d  without  art  or  industry." — Robertson's  Amer.  Vol.  i,  p.  302.     "Apt  to  be 
catchcd  ai  I- 1  dux/led." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  2G.  "  The  lion  being  catcJied  in  a  net." — Art  of  Think- 
ing, p.  252.     '•  In  their  self-will  they  digijed  down  a  wall." — Gen.  xlix,  6.     "  The  royal 
mother  instantly  dove  to  the  bottom  and  brought  up  her  babe  unharmed." — Trumbidts 
111."  "The  learned  have  diven  into  the  secrets  of  nature." — CARNOT  :  Colum- 
bian ()t\t-  -/-,  |>.  82.    "They  have  awoke  from  that  ignorance  in  which  they  had  slept." — Lon- 
don 1.  • .  "  And  he  slept  and  dreamed  the  second  time." — Gen.  xli,  5.  "  So  I  awoke." 
— J'i.  21.     "  But  he  hanged  the  chief  baker." — Gen.  xl,  22.     "  Make  as  if  you  hanged  your- 
self."— Auiii  Tiixor  :  in  Joh.  Diet.     "Graven  by  art  and  man's   device." — Acts,  xvii,   29. 
'd  on  the  -.tone  beneath  yon  aged  thorn." — Gray.     "That  the  tooth  of  usury  maybe 
grind<-<l." — /. '/  /  Bacon.     "And  he  built  the  inner  court  with  three  rows  of  hewed  stone." — 
.,  vi,  .!  l.      "A  thing  by  which  matter  is  hewed." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of  Europ.  Lang. 
Vol.  i,  ]>.  -J78.     "  SC.UJD  or   SCAD  moaned  distinction,  dividing." — Ib.  i,  114.     "He  only 
/  to  acknowledge  him  to  be  an  extraordinary  person." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  12.      "Tht 
determine-*  what  particular  thing  is  meaned." — Ib.  p.  11.     "If  Hermia  meand  to  say  Ly- 
sander  lied." — Xhuk.    "As  if   I  meaned  not  the  first  but  the  second  creation." — Barclay's 
"  From  some  stones  have  rivers  bursted  forth." — Sale's  Koran,  Vol.  i,  p.  14. 
"  So  move  we  on  ;  I  only  meant 

To  show  the  reed  011  which  you  leant." — Scott,  L.  L.,  C.  v,  st.  11. 

OIM.  8. —  Laycd,  payed,  and  stayed,  are  now  less  common  than  laid,  paid,  and  staid;  but 
perhu:  correct,  sinee  they  are  the  same  words  in  a  more  regular  and  not  uncom- 

mon •  >!  Thou  takest  up  that  [which]  thou  layedstnot  down." — FRIENDS'  BIBLE, 

SMITU'>,  li  'tt's  Bible,  in  this  place,  has  "  layest,"  which  is  wrong 

ion  upon  our  loins." — FRIENDS'   BIBLE:  Psalms,  Ixvi,  11. 
v'  aiilietion  upon  our  loins."— SCOTT'S  \\i\\\.\\,  mid  U;u  ci.'s.     "Thou  laMst  afflic- 

]>cd  by  J.  Ho>r>\     "Which  gently  lay'd  my 

knighthood  on  my  shoulder." — 8  :  Richard  II,  Act  i,  Sc.  1.      "  But  no 

.  Vol.  iii,  p.  212.    "  Therefore  the 

.   uul  the  earth  is  stayed  from  her  fruit." — Hayflai,  i,  10. 

or  STAIII  ;  .;>)." — Worcester's  Univ.  and  Crit.  Diet. 

i-hau  and   Ahimaaz  stayt  ///i.  xvii,  17.    "This  day  have  I 

ott's  Bible  has  "paid."      "They  not 

onlv.s/-.       :  »r  th   ;.i    resort,  but  <liver-." — II  v\  \v\:;:i :  in  Joh.  Diet.     "I  stayed 

till  th  ;.jie." — I!  .  ,  and  has  in  the 

••/t.  p.  54.     "To  the  flood,  that  stay'd 

her  Hi.  "A-l  ru  le,  all  \vast<%  and  desolate  is  layd." — Howe's 

Lutan,  i>.  ix,  1.  l(',;Jo.      "And  he  smote  tl,  '//<•"'." — -  A'///>'v,  xiii,  18. 

"  When  Cobham,  generous  as  the  noble  peer 

rs  his  honours,  pay'd  the  fatal  price 
Of  virtue  blooming,  ere  the  storms  were  laid." — Shenstone,  p.  167. 


380  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

OBS.  9. — By  the  foregoing  citations,  lay,  pay,  and  slay,  are  clearly  proved  to  be  redim- 
dant.     But,  in  nearly  all  our  English  grammars,  lay    and  pay  are  represented  as  being 
always  irregular ;  and  stay  is  as  often,  and  as  improperly,  supposed  to  be  always  regular. 
Other  examples  in  proof  of  the  list :  "  I  lit  my  pipe  with  the  paper." — Addison. 
"  While  he  whom  learning,  habits,  all  prevent, 

Is  largely  mulct  for  each  impediment." — Crabbe,  Bor.  p.  102. 
"And  then  the  chapel — night  and  morn  to  pray, 

Or  mulct  and  threaten' d  if  he  kept  away." — Ib.  p.  162. 

"A  small  space  is  formed,  in  which  the  breath  is  pent  up." — Gardiner's  Music  of  Nature,  p. 
493.  "Pen,  when  it  means  to  write,  is  always  regular.  Boyle  has  penned  in  the  sense  of 
confined." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  261.  "Rapped  with  admiration." — HOOKER:  Joh.  Diet. 
"And  being  rapt  with  the  love  of  his  beauty." — Id.  ib.  "And  rapt  in  secret  studies.'  '- 
SHAK.  :  ib.  "  I'm  rapt  with  joy." — ADDISON  :  ib.  "Roast  with  fire." — FRIENDS'  BIBLE  :  Exod. 
xii,  8  and  9.  "Roasted  with  fire." — SCOTT'S  BIBLE  :  Exod.  xii,  8  and  9.  "  Upon  them  hath 
the  light  shined." — Isaiah,  ix,  2.  "  The  earth  shined  with  his  glory." — Ezekicl,  xliii,  2. 
"After  that  he  had  showed  wonders." — Acts,  vii,  36.  "  Those  things  which  God  before  had 
showed." — Acts,  iii,  18.  "As  shall  be  shewed  in  Syntax." — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  28.  "  I 
have  shown  you,  that  the  two  first  may  be  dismissed." — Cobbett's  E.  Gram.  H  10.  "And  in 
this  struggle  were  sowed  the  seeds  of  the  revolution." — Everett's  Address,  p.  16.  "Your  fa- 
vour showed  to  the  performance,  has  given  me  boldness." — Jenks's  Prayers,  Ded.  "Yea,  so 
have  I  strived  to  preach  the  gospel." — Rom.  xv,  20.  "Art  thou,  like  the  adder,  waxen  deaf? " 
— Shakspeare.  "Hamstring' d  behind,  unhappy  Gyges  died." — Dryden.  "  In  Syracusa  was 
I  born  and  wed." — Shakspeare.  "And  thou  art  wedded  to  calamity." — Id.  "I  saw  thee  first, 
and  wedded  thee." — Milton.  "  Sprung  the  rank  weed,  and  thrived  with  large  increase."- 
Pope.  "  Some  errors  never  would  have  thriven,  had  it  not  been  for  learned  refutation."- 
Book  of  Thoughts,  p.  34.  "  Under  your  care  they  have  thriven." — Junius,  p.  5.  "  Fixed  by 
being  rolled  closely,  compacted,  knitted." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist.  Vol.  i,  p.  374.  "With  kind 
converse  and  skill  has  weaved." — Prior.  "  Though  I  shall  be  wetted  to  the  skin." — Sandford 
and  Merton,  p.  64.  "  I  speeded  hither  with  the  very  extremest  inch  of  possibility."— Shak- 
speare. "And  pure  grief  shore  his  old  thread  in  twain." — Id.  "And  must  I  ravel  out  my 
weaved-up  follies? " — Id.  Rich.  II.  "Tells  how  the  drudging  Goblin  swet." — Milton's  L' Al- 
legro. "  Weave,  wove  or  weaved,  weaving,  wove,  weaved,  or  woven." — Ward's  Gram.  p.  67. 
"  Thou  who  beneath  the  frown  of  fate  hast  stood, 

And  in  thy  dreadful  agony  sweat  blood." — Young,  p.  238. 

OBS.  10. — The  verb  to  shake  is  now  seldom  used  in  any  other  than  the  irregular  form, 
shake,  shook,  shaking,  shaken;  and,  in  this  form  only,  is  it  recognized  by  our  principal  giam- 
marians  and  lexicographers,  except  that  Johnson  improperly  acknowledges  shook  as  well  as 
shaken  for  the  perfect  participle  :  as,  "  I've  shook  it  off." — DRYDEN  :  Joh.  Diet.  But  the 
regular  form,  shake,  shakcd,  shaking,  shaked,  appears  to  have  been  used  by  some  writers 
of  high  reputation  ;  and,  if  the  verb  is  not  now  properly  redundant,  it  formerly  was.  so. 
Examples  regular:  "The  frame  and  huge  foundation  of  the  earth  shak'd  like  a  coward." 
— SHAKSPEARE  :  Hen.  IV.  "  I  am  he  that  is  so  love-shaked." — Id.  As  You  Like  it.  "A  sly 
and  constant  knave,  not  to  be  shak'd." — Id.  Cymbeline :  Joh.  Diet.  "  I  thought  he  would 
have  shaked  it  off." — Tattler:  ib.  "To  the  very  point  I  shaked  my  head  at." — Spectator, 
No.  4.  "From  the  ruin'd  roof  of  shak'd  Olympus." — Milton s  Poems.  "None  hath 
»hak'd  it  off."—  Walker's  English  Particles,  p.  89.  "They  shaked  their  heads."— Psalms, 
cis,  25.  Dr.  Crombie  says,  "  Story,  in  his  Grammar,  has,  most  unwarrantably,  asserted,  that 
the  Participle  of  this  Verb  should  be  skaked." — ON  ETYMOLOGY  AND  SYNTAX,  p.  198.  Fowle, 
on  the  contrary,  pronounces  shaked  to  be  right.  See  True  English  Gram.  p.  46. 

OBS.  11. — All  former  lists  of  our  irregular  and  redundant  verbs  are,  in  many  respects, 
defective  and  erroneous  ;  nor  is  it  claimed  for  those  which  are  here  presented,  that  they 
are  absolutely  perfect.  I  trust,  however,  they  are  much  nearer  to  perfection,  than  are  any 
earlier  ones.  Among  the  many  individuals  who  have  published  schemes  of  these  verbs, 
none  have  been  more  respected  and  followed  than  Lowth,  Murray,  and  Crombie;  yet  are 
these  authors'  lists  severally  faulty  in  respect  to  as  many  as  sixty  or  seventy  of  the  words 
in  question,  though  the  whole  number  does  not  amount  to  two  hundred.  By  Lowth,  eight 
verbs  are  made  redundant,  which  I  think  are  now  regular  only  :  namely,  bake,  climb,  fold, 
help,  load,  owe,  wash.  By  Crombie,  as  many :  to  wit,  bake,  climb,  freight,  help,  lift,  load, 
shape,  writhe.  By  Murray,  two  :  load  and  shape.  With  Crombie,  and  in  general  with  the 
others  too,  twenty- seven  verbs  are  always  irregular,  which  I  think  are  sometimes  regular, 
and  therefore  redundant :  abide,  beseech,  blow,  burst,  creep,  freeze,  grind,  lade,  lay,  pay,  rive, 
seethe,  shake,  show,  sleep,  slide,  speed,  string,  strive,  strow,  sweat,  thrive,  throw,  weave,  weep,  ^eind, 
wring.  Again,  there  are,  I  think,  more  than  twenty  redundant  verbs  which  arc  treated  by 
Crombie, — and,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  by  Lowth  and  Murray  also — as  if  they  were 
always  regular  :  namely,  betide,  blend,  bless,  burn,  dive,  dream,  dress,  geld,  kneel,  lean,  kap, 
learn,  mean,  mulct,  pass,  pen,  plead,  prove,  reave,  smell,  spell,  slave,  stay,  sweep,  wake,  whet, 
wont.  Crombie's  list  contains  the  auxiliaries,  which  properly  belong  to  a  different  table. 
Erroneous  as  it  is,  in  all  these  things,  and  more,  it  is  introduced  by  the  author  with  the 


ETYMOLOGY.— LIST    OF   THE   REDUNDANT    VERBS. 


381 


following  praise,  in  bad  English  :  "Verbs,  wkich  depart  from  this  rule,  are  called  Irregular, 
of  which  I  believe  the  subsequent  enumeration  to  be  nearly  complete."— TREATISE  ON  ETYM. 
AND  SYNT.  p.  192. 

QBS<  1 2. Dr.  Johnson,  in  his  Grammar  of  the  English  1  ongue,  recognizes  two  forms  which 

would  make  teach  and  reach  redundant.  But  Cached  is  now  "  obsolete,"  and  rought  is 
"  old,"  according  to  his  own  Dictionary.  Of  loaded  and  loaden,  which  he  gives  as  participle* 
of  load,  the  regular  forni  only  Appears  to  be  now  in  good  use.  For  the  redundant  forms  of 
many  words  in  the  foregoing  list,  as  of  abode  or  abided,  awaked  or  awoke,  besought  or  beseeched, 
caught  or  catched,  hewed  or  hewn,  mowed  or  mown,  laded  or  laden,  seethed  or  sod,  sheared  or 
shore,  sowed  or  sowu,  waked  or  wofa,  wove  or  weaved,  his  authority  may  be  added  to  that 
of  others  already  cited.  In  Dearborn's  Columbian  Grammar,  published  in  Boston  in  1795, 
the  vear  in  vhich.  Lindley  Murray's  Grammar  first  appeared  in  York,  no  fewer  than  thirty 
verbs  are  made  redundant,  which  are  not  so  represented  by  Murray.  Of  these  I  have  re- 
tained eighteen  in  the  following  list,  and  left  the  other  twelve  to  be  now  considered  always 
regular.  °Tho  thirty  are  these  :  "bake,  bend,  build,  burn,  climb,  creep,  dream,  fold,  freight, 
geti,  heat,  heave,  he2p,  lay,  leap,  lift,  light,  melt,  owe,  quit,  rent,  rot,  seethe,  spell,  split,  strive. 
wash,  weave,  wet,  vork."  See  Dearborn's  Gram.  p.  37 — 45. 


LIST  OF  THE  REDUNDANT  VERBS. 


Present. 

Abide, 

Awake, 

Belay, 

Bend, 

Bereave, 

Beseech, 

Bet, 

Betide, 

Blend, 

Bless, 

Blow, 

Build, 

Burn, 

Burst, 

Catch, 

Clothe, 

Creep, 

Crow, 

Curse, 

Dare, 

Deal, 

Dig, 

Dive, 

Dream, 

Dress, 

Dwell, 

Freeze, 

Gild, 
Gird, 

Grind, 

re, 

Kneel, 
K  nit, 
Lade, 
Lay, 
Lean, 


Preterit.  Imperfect  Participle. 

abode  or  abided,  abiding, 

awaked  or  awoke,  awaking, 

belayed  or  belaid,  belaying, 

bent  or  bended,  bending, 

bereft  or  bereaved,  bereaving, 
besought  or  beseeched,       beseeching, 

betted  or  bet,  betting, 

betided  or  betid,  betiding, 

blended  or  blent,  blending, 

blessed  or  blest,  blessing, 

blew  or  blowed,  blowing, 

built  or  builcled,  building, 

burned  or  burnt,  burning, 

burst  or  bursted,  bursting, 

caught  or  catched,  catching, 

clothed  or  clad,  clothing, 

crept  or  creeped,  creeping, 

crowed  or  crew,  crowing, 

cursed  or  curst,  cursing, 

dared  or  durst,  daring, 

dealt  or  dealed,  dealing, 

dug  or'digged,  digging, 

dived  or  dove,  diving, 

dreamed  or  dreamt,  dreaming, 

dressed  or  drest,  dressing, 

dwelt  or  dwelled,  dwelling, 

froze  or  freezed,  freezing, 

gelded  or  gelt,  gelding, 

gilded  or  gilt,  gilding, 

i  ">•  girt,  girding, 

graved,  graving, 

ground  or  grinded,  grinding, 

hung  or  hanged,  hanging, 

heaved  or  hove,  heaving, 

hewed,  hewing, 

kneeled  or  knelt,  kneeling, 

knit  or  knitted,  knitting, 

laded,  lading,      , 

laid  or  layed,  laying, 

leaned  or  leant,  leaning, 


Perfect  Participle. 
abode  or  abided, 
awaked  or  awoke, 
belayed  or  belaid, 
bent  or  bended, 
bereft  or  bereaved, 
besought  or  beseeched. 
betted  or  bet. 
betided  or  betid, 
blended  or  blent, 
blessed  or  blest, 
blown  or  blowed. 
built  or  builded. 
burned  or  burnt, 
burst  or  bursted. 
caught  or  catched. 
clothed  or  clad, 
crept  or  creeped. 
crowed. 

cursed  or  curst, 
dared. 

dealt  or  dealed. 
dug  or  digged, 
dived  or  diven. 
dreamed  or  dreamt, 
dressed  or  drest. 
dwelt  or  dwelled, 
frozen  or  freezed. 
gelded  or  gelt, 
gilded  or  gilt, 
girded  or  girt, 
graved  or  graven, 
ground  or  grinded, 
hung  or  hanged, 
heaved  or  hoven. 
hewed  or  hewn, 
kneeled  or  knelt 
knit  or  knitted, 
laded  or  laden, 
laidorlayed. 
leaned  or  leant. 


382 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  n. 


Present. 

Leap, 

Learn, 

Light, 

Mean, 

Mow, 

Mulct, 

Pass, 

Pay, 

Pen,  (to  coop, 

Plead, 

Prove, 

Quit, 

Rap, 

Reave, 

Rive, 

Roast, 

Saw, 

Seethe, 

Shake, 

Shape, 

Shave, 

Shear, 

Shine, 

Show, 

Sleep, 

Slide, 

Slit, 

Smell, 

Sow, 

Speed, 

Spell, 

Spill, 

Split, 

Spoil, 

Stave, 

Stay, 

String, 

Strive, 

Strow, 

Sweat, 

Sweep. 

Swell, 

Thrive, 

Throw, 

Wake, 

Wax, 

Weave, 


Preterit.  Imperfect  Participle. 

leaped  or  leapt,  leaping, 


learned  or  learnt, 

lighted  or  lit, 

meant  or  meaned, 

mowed, 

mulcted  or  mulct, 

passed  or  past, 

paid  or  payed, 
)  penned  or  pent, 

pleaded  or  pled, 

proved, 

quitted  or  quit, 

rapped  or  rapt, 

reft  or  reaved, 

rived, 

roasted  or  roast, 

sawed, 

seethed  or  sod, 

shook  or  shaked, 

shaped, 

shaved, 

sheared  or  shore, 

shined  or  shone, 

showed, 

slept  or  sleeped, 

slid  or  slided, 

slitted  or  slit, 

smelled  or  smelt, 

sowed, 

sped  or  speeded, 

spelled  or  spelt, 
spilled  or  spilt, 
split  or  splitted, 
spoiled  or  spoilt, 
stove  or  staved, 
staid  or  stayed, 
strung  or  stringed, 
strived  or  strove, 
strowed, 

sweated  or  sweat, 
swept  or  sweeped, 
swelled, 

thrived  or  throve, 
threw  or  throwed, 
waked  or  woke, 
waxed, 
wove  or  weaved, 


learning, 

lighting;, 

meaning, 

mowing, 

mulcting, 

passing, 

paying, 

penning, 

pleading, 

proving, 

quitting, 

rapping, 

reaving, 

riving, 

roasting, 

sawing, 

seething, 

shaking, 

shaping, 

shaving, 

shearing, 

shining, 

showing, 

sleeping, 

sliding, 

slitting, 

smelling, 

sowing, 

speeding, 

spelling, 

spilling, 

splitting, 

spoiling, 

staving, 

staying, 

stringing, 

striving, 

strowing, 

sweating, 

sweeping, 

swelling, 

thriving, 

throwing, 

waking, 

waxing, 

weaving, 


Perfect  Participle. 

leaped  or  leapt.* 
learned  or  learnt, 
lighted  or  lit. 
meant  or  meaned. 
mowed  or  mown, 
mulcted  or  mulct, 
passed  or  past, 
paid  or  payed, 
penned  or  pent, 
pleaded  or  pio,d. 
proved  or  proven, 
quitted  or  quit.j 
rapped  or  rapt, 
reft  or  roaved. 
riven  or  rived, 
roasted  or  roast. 
sawed  or  sawn, 
seethed  or  soddon. 
shaken  or  shaked. 
shaped  or  shapen. 
shaved  or  shaven, 
sheared  or  shorn, 
shined  or  shone, 
showed  or  shown, 
slept  or  sleeped. 
slidden,  slid,  or  slid  3d. 
slitted  or  slit, 
smelled  or  smelt, 
sowed  or  sown, 
sped  or  speeded, 
spelled  or  spelt, 
spilled  or  spilt, 
split  or  splitted. % 
spoiled  or  spoilt, 
stove  or  staved, 
staid  or  stayed, 
strung  or  stringed, 
strived  or  striven, 
strowed  or  strown. 
sweated  or  sweat, 
swept  or  sweeped. 
swelled  or  swollen, 
thrived  or  thriven, 
thrown  or  throwed. 
waked  or  woke, 
waxed  or  waxen, 
woven  or  weaved. 


*  »  And  the  man  in  whom  the  evil  spirit  was,  leapt  on  them."— FRTENPS'  BIBLE  :  Acts,  xix,  16.  In  Scotfc'a 
Bible,  and  several  others,  the  word  is  "  leaped."  Walker  says,  "  The  past  time  of  this  verb  is  generally  heard 
with  the  diphthong  short  ;  and  if  so,  it  ought  to  be  spelled  leapt,  rhyming  with  kept."— Diet.  w.  Leap.  Worces- 
ter, who  improperly  pronounces  leaped  in  two  ways,  "  ICpt  or  lept,''  misquotes  Walker,  as  saying,  "  it  ought  to  be 
gpelled  lept."1—  Universal  and  Critical  Diet.  w.  Leap.  In  the  solemn  style,  leaped  is,  of  course,  two  syllables.  A* 
for  leapedst  or  leaptest,  I  know  not  that  either  can  be  found. 

t  Acquit  is  almost  always  formed  regularly,  thus  :  acquit,  acquitted,  acquitting,  acquitted.  Put,  like  quit,  it  is 
sometimes  found  in  an  irregular  form  also ;  which,  if  it  be  allowable,  will  make  it  redundant :  as,  "  To  be  acquit 
from  my  continual  smart." — SPENCER  :  Johnson's  Diet.  "  The  writer  holds  himself  acquit  of  all  charges  in  thi» 
regard."— Judd,  on  the  Revolutionary  War,  p.  5. 

j  "  Not  know  my  voic% !  0,  time's  extremity  ! 

Hast  thou  so  crack'd  and  splitted  my  poor  tongue  ?  "— SHAK.  :  Com.  of  Er. 


CHAP.    VI.]  IITVMOLOGY. DEFECTIVE    VERBS. OBSERVATIONS.  383 

Present.  Preterit.  Imperfect  Participle.     Perfect  Participle. 

Wed,  wedded  or  wed,  wedding,  wedded  or  wed. 

Weep,  wept  or  weeped,  weeping,  wept  or  weepcd. 

Wet,  wet  or  wcttc'd,  wetting,  wet  or  wetted. 

Whet,  whetted  or  whet,  whetting,  whetted  or  whet.* 

Wind,  wound  or  winded,  winding,  wound  or  winded. 

\V»>nt,  wont  or  wonted,  wonting,  wont  or  wonted. 

Work,  worked  or  wrought,  working,  worked  or  wrought. 

Wring,  wringed  or  wrung,  wringing,  wringed  or  wrung. f 

DEFECTIVE  VERBS. 

A  def<  '••  is  a  verb  that  forms  no  participles,  and  is  used  in  but  few 

of  the  moods  and  tenses  ;  as,  beware,  ought,  quoth. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — "When  any  of  the  principal  parts  of  a  verb  are  wanting,  the  tenses  usually  derived  from 
those  parts  are  also,  of  course,  wanting.  All  the  auxiliaries,  except  do,  be,  and  hate,  if  we  com- 
pare them  with  other  verbs,  are  defective  ;  but,  as  auxiliaries,  they  lack  nothing  ;  for  no  complete 
verb  is  used  throughout  as  an  auxiliary,  except  be.  And  since  an  auxiliary  differs  essentially 
from  a  principal  verb,  the  propriety  of  referring  may,  can,  nv.tst,  and  shall,  to  the  class  of  defec- 
tive verbs,  is  at  least  questionable.  In  parsing  there  is  never  any  occasion  to  call  them  defective 
verbs,  because  they  are  always  taken  together  with  their  principals.  And  though  we  may  tech- 
nically say,  that  their  participles  are  "  wanting,"  it  is  manifest  that  none  are  needed. 


thou  wiliest  it  to  be  a  minister  to  our  pleasure." — Harris.  "  I  will;  be  thou  clean." — Luke,  v,  13. 
•4  Nevrrth'-!,  •••>,  v.nt  as  I  trill,  but  as  thou  wilt." — Matt,  xxvi,  39.  "To  will  is  present  with  me." 
— /.'  /.  vii,  18.  But  would  is  sometimes  also  a  principal  verb  ;  as,  "  What  would  this  man  ?" — 
Pope.  "  Would  God  that  all  the  Lord's  people  were  prophets." — Ni<mb.  xi,  29.  "  And  Israel 
/co</Wnone  of  me. "— /'-/  to,  Ixxxi,  11.  If  we  refer  this  indefinite  preterit  to  the  same  root,  will 
becomes  n  (hr.<!  ..nt ;  will,  willed  or  trovld,  willing,  willed.  In  respect  to  time,  wottldis  less  definite 
than  willed,  though  both  are  called  preterits.  It  is  common,  and  perhaps  best,  to  consider  them 
distinct  verbs.  The  latter  only  can  be  a  participle  :  as, 

••  How  rarely  does  it  meet  with  this  time's  guise, 

When  man  was  will'd  to  love  his  enemies !" — Shakespeare. 

OBS.  3 — The  remaining  defective  verbs  are  only  five  or  six  questionable  terms,  which  our 
grammarians  know  not  well  how  else  to  explain;  some  of  them  being  now  nearly  obsolete,  and 
others  never  having  been  very  proper.     Begone  is  a  needless  coalition  of  be  and  gone,  better  written 
separately,  unless  Dr.  Johnson  is  right  in  calling  the  compound  an  interjection :  as, 
"  Ii'-f/one!  the  goddess  cries  with  stem  disdain, 

Begone!  nor  dare  the  hallow'd  stream  to  stain." — Addison. 

nci'-are  also  seems  to  be  a  needless  compound  of  fteand  the  old  adjective  ware,  wary,  aware,  can- 
Both  those  are,  of  course,  used  only  in  those  forms  of  expression  in  which  be  is  proper; 
as,   •/;<>/••/,        i       .  : -/rfirc  of  evil  workers,"  beware  of  the  concision." — Philipjriam,  iii,  2.     "But 
:;'g   our   attention   to   this   beauty   too   far." — Blair's  llhet.  p.  119. 

These  words  were  formerly   separated:  as,  "  Of  whom  be  thou  ware  also."— 1   Tim.  iv,  15. 

ware  of  it." — FUIKM»'   Pii'.i.r,  :m<!  AI.<;I:K*S:  Acts,  xiii.  6.     "  The  v  were  aware  of 

If—Soon  ifc.     "And  in  an  hour  that  he  is  not  ware  of  him."— Johnson's  Diet.  w. 

:  an  hour  that  he  in  not  aware  of."— COMMON  BIBLES:  Matt,  xxiv,  50.     "Bid 

her  we',':  till  en  -  t." — MII.TON  :  m  Johnson's  Diet.     "  That  even  Silence  was  took  ere 

Id.  C»nm.«,  line  j"»S.     Th»  adjective  wore  is  now  said  to  be  ••  obsolete;  "  but  the 

ty  of  this          ition  depends  upon  that  of  forming  such  a  defective  verb.     What  is  the  use 

of  doing  so? 

•   \Vhet  is  n,  /ii-an  Dictionary,  as  well  as  in  Wells 's  Grammar;  but  I  can  hardly 

affirm  r! 

1   In  8  In  1C17— a  work  of  high  pretensions,  and  prepared 

ty-t/trre  out  of  the   foregoing  ninety-five  Redundant  Verbs,  an 
:  i   .•  follow  in<;  twenty  -nine  are  omitttii  by  this  author,  as 

if  the-.   .  >  i-ti<!e,  blend.  ».:.--.  .-iir-.-,  dive,  dress,  geld,  lean,  leap,  learn,  mulct,  pam, 

p«-n.  Head,  prove,  rap,  reave,  roast,  wethe,  smell,  *].<  .   wed.  whet,  wont.    (2.)  'i  he  following 

'hir\-:  abide,  bend,  beseech,  blow,  burst,  catch,  chide,  creep, 

leep,   slide,  speed,  spell,  spill,  split,   string,  strive, 

.  weave,  weep,  «••;.  wiml.     Thirty-two  ol  'the  ninty-five  are  made  redundant   by  him, 
,  ,-alli'i  in  hi-  . 

In  V.  >r.  "  the  113th  Thousand  the  deficiencies  of  the  foregoing  kinds,  if  I  am 

:''.rfy-four  Hedundant.s,  to  which  he  awigns  a 

regular  t'cnn  ' "h  nc;irer  ri^ht  than  Clark,  as  this  number  sur passe* 

thirty-two,  si  The  wordi  about  whkh  they  differ,  ar« — j-m,  seethr,  and  u-het,  i  f  the 

'.  :uid  th,ri-f.  c.ftlie  latter. 

t  In  the  full«i\\ii>_'  rxainplo,  then-  i>  :i  different  phraseology,  which  scorns  not  so  well  suited  to  the  sense  :  "  But 
we  must  be  <i<  r  stvle  strong  and  expressive,  by  a  constant  and  multiplied   use  of 

epithet*.'1—  £/<ii;'>  /.  1  of  "  be  aware."  the  author  should   have  said,  '•  bwnre"  or  "  be 

vtu: :  "  that  b,  be  trary,  or  cautions  ;  for  aware  means  apprised,  or  informed,  a  sense  very  different  from  the 
othor. 


384  TIIE   GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   II, 

"  This  to  disclose  is  all  thy  guardian  can; 

Beioare  of  all,  but  most  beware  of  man." — Pope. 

The  words  written  separately  will  always  have  the  same  meaning,  unless  we  omit  the  prepo- 
sition of,  and  suppose  the  compound  to  be  a  transitive  verb.  In  this  case,  the  argument  for  com- 
pounding the  terms  appears  to  be  valid ;  as, 

"Beware  the  public  laughter  of  the  town  ; 
Thou  springst  a-leak  already  in  thy  crown." — Dryden. 

OBS.  4. — The  words  ought  and  own,  without  question,  were  originally  parts  of  the  redundant 
verb  to  owe ;  thus  :  owe,  owed  or  ought,  owing,  owed  or  own.  But  both  have  long  been  disjoined 
from  this  connexion,  and  hence  owe  has  become  regular.  Own,  as  now  used,  is  either  a  pronom- 
inal adjective,  as,  "  my  own  hand,"  or  a  regular  verb  thence  derived,  as,  "to  own  a  house.'" 
Ought,  under  the  name  of  a  defective  verb,  is  now  generally  thought  to  be  properly  used,  in  this  one 
form,  in  all  the  persons  and  numbers  of  the  present  and  the  imperfect  tense  of  the  indicative  and 
subjunctive  moods.  Or,  if  it  is  really  of  one  tense  only,  it  is  plainly  an  aorist ;  and  hence  the 
time  must  be  specified  by  the  infinitive  that  follows:  as,  "He  ought  to  fjo ;  He  ought  to  have 
gone."  "If  thou  ought  to  go  ;  If  thou  ought  to  have  gone."  Being  originally  a  preterit,  it  never 
occurs  in  the  infinitive  mood,  and  is  entirely  invariable,  except  in  the  solemn  style,  where  we  find 
oughtest  in  both  tenses  ;  as,  "  How  thou  oughtest  to  behave  thyself." — 1  Tim.  iii,  15.  "  Thou  oughtest 
therefore  to  have  put  my  money  to  the  exchangers." — Matt,  xxiv,  27.  We  never  say,  or  have  said. 

He,  she,  or  it,  oughts  or  oughteth. "    Yet  we  manifestly  use  this  verb  in  the  present  tense,  and  in 


also   affirmed  that   must  and  ought  "  have  only  the  present  time"   and  are  alike  invariable. 
11  It  is  now  quite  obsolete  to  say,  thou  oughtest ;  for  ought  now  changes  its  ending  no  more  than 
must" — Brightland's  Gram.,  (approved  by  Isaac  Bickerstaff,  Esq.,)  p.  112. 
" Do,  icill,  and  shall,  must,  OUGHT,  and  may, 
Have,  am,  or  be,  this  Doctrine  will  display." — Ib.  p.  107. 

OBS.  5. — Wis,  preterit  wist,  to  know,  to  think,  to  suppose,  to  imagine,  appears  to  be  now  nearly 
or  quite  obsolete;  but  it  may  be  proper  to  explain  it,  because  it  is  found  in  the  Bible  :  as,  "  I 
wist  not,  brethren,  that  he  was  the  high  priest." — Acts,  xxiii,  5.  "He  himself  *  wist  not  that 
his  face  shone.'  " — Life  of  Schiller,  p.  iv.  Wit,  to  know,  and  wot,  knew,  are  also  obsolete,  ex- 
cept in  the  phrase  to  wit ;  which,  being  taken  abstractly,  is  equivalent  to  the  adverb  namely,  or 
to  the  phrase,  that  is  to  say.  The  phrase,  "  we  do  you  to  wit,"  (in  2  Cor.  viii,  1st,)  means,  "  we 
inform  you."  Churchill  gives  the  present  tense  of  this  verb  three  forms,  weet,  wit,  and  wot ;  and 
there  seems  to  have  been  some  authority  for  them  all :  as,  "  He  was,  to  weet,  a  little  roguis-h  pa  *e." 
—Thomson.  "  But  little  wotteth  he  the  might  of  the  means  his  folly  despiseth."—  Tapper's  Book 
of  Thoughts,  p.  35.  To  wit,  used  alone,  to  indicate  a  thing  spoken  of,  (as  the  French  use  thei  •  in- 
finitive, savoir,  a  savoir,  or  the  phrase,  c'est  a  savoir,)  is  undoubtedly  an  elliptical  expression; 
probably  for,  "I give  you  to  wit;  "  i.  e.  "  I  give  you  to  know."  Troio,  to  think,  occurs  in  the 
Bible ;  as,  "I  trow  not."— N.  Test.  And  Coar  gives  it  as  a  defective  verb  ;  and  only  in  the  first 
person  singular  of  the  present  indicative,  "Itroiv."  Webster  and  Worcester  mark  the  word  as 
obsolete  ;  but  Sir  W.  Scott,  in  the  Lady  of  the  Lake,  has  this  line  : 

"  Thinkst  ihou  hetrow'd  thine  omen  ought  ?  " — Canto  iv,  stanza  10. 

Quoth  and  quod,  for  say,  saith,  or  said,  are  obsolete,  or  used  only  in  ludicrous  language.  Webster 
supposes  these  words  to  be  equivalent,  and  each!  confined  to  the  first  and  third  persons  of  the  pres- 
ent and  imperfect  tenses  of  the  indicative  mood.  Johnson  says,  that,  "quoth  you,"  as  used  by 
Sidney,  is  irregular  ;  but  Tooke  assures  MS,  that  "  The  th  in  quoth,  does  not  designate  the  third 
person." — D.  P.  ii,  323.  They  are  each  invariable,  and  always  placed  before  the  nominative  : 
as,  quoth  I,  quoth  he. 

"Yea,  so  sayst  thou,  (quod  TrOylns,)  alas  !  "—Chaucer. 

"  I  feare,  quod  he,  it  wyll  not  be." — Sir  T.  More. 

"  Stranger,  go  !  Heaven  be  thy  guide  ! 

Quod  the  beadsman  of  Nith-side." — Burns. 

OBS.  6. — Methinks,  (i.  e.,  to  me  it  thinks,)  for  I  think,  or,  it  seems  to  me,  with  its  preterit  me- 
thought,  (i.  e.,  to  me  it  thought,)  is  called  by  Dr.  Johnson  an  "  ungrammatical  word."  He 
imagined  it  to  be  "  a  Norman  corruption,  the  French  being  apt  to  confound  me  and  1." — Joh. 
Diet.  It  is  indeed  a  puzzling  anomaly  in  our  language,  though  not  without  some  Anglo- 
Saxon  or  Latin  parallels  ;  and,  like  its  kindred,."  me  scemeth,"  or  "  mesecms,"  is  little  worthy  to 
he  countenanced,  though  often  used  by  Dryden,  Pope,  Addison,  and  other  good  writers.  Our 
lexicographers  call  it  an  impersonal  verb,  because,  being  compounded  with  an  objective,  it  cannot 


may  be  used  as  a  participle.  In  the  Bible,  we  find  the  following  text :  "Me  think  eth  the  running 
of  the  foremost  is  like  the  running  of  Ahimaaz." — 2  Sam.  xviii,  27.  And  Milton  improperly 
makes  thought  an  impersonal  verb,  apparently  governing  the  separate  objective  pronoun 
him;  as, 

"Him  thought  he  by  the  brook  of  Cherith  stood."— P.  R.,  B.  ii,  1.  264. 

OBS.  7. — Some  verbs  from  the  natiire  of  the  stibjects  to  which  they  refer,  .are  chiefly  confined  to 
the  third  person  singular  ;  as,  "It  rains;  it  siioics  ;  it  freezes  ;  it  hails  ;  it  lightens ;  it  thunders. 
These  have  been  called  impersonal  verbs;  because  the  neuter  pronoun  it,  which  is  commonly 
used  before  them,  does  not  seem  to  represent  any  noun,  but,  in  connexion  with  the  verb,  merely 
to  express  a  state  of  things.  They  are  however,  in  fact,  neither  impersonal  nor  defective. 
Some,  or  all  of  them,  may  possibly  take  some  other  nominative,  if  not  a  different  person  ;  as, 
"  The  Lord  rained  upon  Sodom,  and  upon  Gomorrah,  brimstone  and  fire." — Gen.  xix,  24.  "  The 
God  of  glory  thundereth." — Psalms,  xxix,  3.  "Canst  than  thunder  with  a  voice  like  him  ?  " — Job, 


CHAP.  VI.] 


ETYMOLOGY. VERBS. — PARSING. — PRAXIS  VI. 


385 


xl,  9.     In  short,  as  Harris  observes,  "The  doctrine  of  Impersonal  Verbs  has  been  justly  rejected 
by  the  best  grammarians,  both  ancient  and  modern." — H>  r,nts,  p.  17-5. 

OBS.  8. — By  some  writers,  words  of  this  kind  are  called  Munojjcraotial  Vcrhs ;  that  is,  verbs 
one  person.     This  name,  though  not  very  properly  compounded,  is  perhaps  more  fit  than  the  other 
but  we  have  little  occasion  to  speak  of  these  verbs  as  a  distinct  class  in  our  language.    Dr.  Mur 
rav  says,  "\Vhat  is  called  an  impersonal  verb,  is  not  so  ;  for  lic-tt,  .  ort-et,   have 

Tf/a,  >r  it,  in  their  composition." — History  of  European  1.  ii.  p.  146 

'•,  and  behoove,  are  regular  verbs  and  transitive ;  but  they  are  used  only  in  the  third  person 
singular:  ::s,  '•  \Vhat  ails  you  ?" — "  It /r/i.s-mc.'' — "  It  behoocc* you."  The  last  two  are  obsolescent 
or  at  least  not  in  very  common  use.  In  Latin,  passive  verbs,  or  neuters  of  the  passive  form,  are 
often  xised  impersonally,  or  without  an  obvious  nominative ;  and  this  elliptical  construction  is 
sometimes  imitated  in  English,  especially  by  the  poets  :  as, 

•'  Meanwhile,  ere  thus  was  sinn'a  and  iudy'd  on  ear^h, 

Within  the  gates  of  Hell  sat  Sin  and  Death.  '—Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  x,  1.  230. 
"  Forthwith  on  all  sides  to  his  aid  was  run 
By  angels  many  and  strong,  who  interpos'd." — Id.  B.  vi,  1.  335. 


LIST  OF  THE  DEFECTIVE  VEKBS. 


Present. 

Beware, 

Can, 

May, 

Methinks, 

Must, 

Ought, 


Preterit, 

could. 

might. 

methought. 

must.} 

ought.} 


Present. 

Shall, 

Will,* 

Quoth, 

Wis, 

Wit, 


Preterit. 

should. 

would. 

quoth. 

wist.f 

wot. 


EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 

PRAXIS  VI.— ETYMOLOGICAL. 

In.  the  Sixth  Praxis,  it  is  required  of  the  pupil — to  distinguish  and  define  the  dif- 
ferent parts  of  speech,  and  the  classes  and  modifications  of  the  ARTICLES, 
NOUNS,  ADJECTITES,  PRONOUNS,  and  VERBS. 

The  definitions  to  be  given  in  the  Sixth  Praxis,  are  two  for  an  article,  six  for 
noun,  three  for  an  adjective,  six  for  a  pronoun,  seven  for  a  verb  finite,  five  foi 
an  ii/jiititive,  and  one  for  a  participle,  an  adverb,  a  conjunction,  a  preposition, 
or  an  interjection.     Tlius : — 

EXAMPLE  PARSED. 
"  The  freedom  of  choice  seems  essential  to  happiness  ;  because,  properly  speaking, 
nf  is  not  our  own  which  is  imposed  upon  us." — Dillwyn's  Reflections,  p.  109. 

us  to  limit  their  slg- 


atlvc  case.    1.  A 
inmon  noun  Is 

i 

•  gcjulcr 
that  form  or  state 


o  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts  to 

case.    1.  A  noun 
union  noun  is  tho 

Vr  H 
•a  or  state  of  a 

ivc  mood,  i>-       •  t 

•nlflos  to  It,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon. 

•••  assuming  d  or  ed.          v 

In*    4.  The 

,  or  asks  a  question.    5. 


*  Dr.  Crombie  conU 

njtion  : 

-  on  Et 


kaown, 


I  only  in  the  present  tonec. 
•  nnk>,  and  1 

*  and  [ 
>j  as  ai.  ;;lis  we  gay^  « 

•   to  the  familiar  stylr,  ia 
,  be,  and  have,  are  inilcxiblo.    For,  in  the  solemn  style,  we  do  not  say,  «  Thou 


(Sec  his  Treatise,  p.  204.)    In 
.  :  illions,  adopt  the  game 
]  post  signification." 
lt.  u-//;  go  ;  '  and  '  he  wiUs  to 


ression.  Ok  that  I  had  known,    (rotcw."  —  Chalmer^s  Diet,  also  Webster's 

<iupoundGd,  and  not  Tery  properly  explained,  we  pee  ivist  used  as  a  per 

ete.    "Had  I  «?wf,"   is  therefore  an  obsolete  phraeo,  meaning,  If  I  had 


25 


386  THE   GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

The  present  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  now  exists,  or  is  taking  place.  6.  The  third  person  is  that 
which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely  spoken  of.  7.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one. 

Essential  is  a  common  adjective,  compared  by  means  of  the  adverbs  ;  essential,  more  essential,  most  essential; 
or,  essential,  less  essential,  least  essential.  1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and 
generally  expresses  quality.  2.  A  common  adjective  is  any  ordinary  epithet,  or  adjective  denoting  quality 
or  situation.  3.  Those  adjectives  which  may  be  varied  in  sense,  but  not  in  form,  are  compared  by  means  of 
adverbs. 

To  is  a  preposition.  1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts!  to 
each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

Happiness  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case.  1.  A 
noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  2.  A  common  noun  is 
the  name  of  a  sort,  kind,  or  class,  of  beings  or  things,  y.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the.  pe-son 
or  thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter  gender 
is  that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  objective  case  is  that  form  or  state  of 
a  noun  or  pronoun  which  denotes  the  object  of  a  verb,  participle,  or  preposition. 

Because  is  a  conjunction.  1.  A  conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  in  construction,  and 
to  show  the  dependence  of  the  terms  so  connected. 

Properly  is  an  adverb.    1.  An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb  ; 


and  generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner. 

'dicing  is  a  participle.    1.  A  participle  is  a  word  derived  from  a  verb,  participating  the  properties  of  a  verb, 

and  of  an  adjective  or  a  noun  ;  and  is  generally  formed  by  adding  ing,  d,  or  ed,  to  the  verb. 


That  is  a  pronominal  adjective,  not  compared  ;  standing  for  that  thing,  in  the  third  person,  singular  number, 
neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case.  [See  OBS.  14th,  p.  277.]  1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or 
pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality.  2.  A  pronominal  adjective  is  a  definitive  word  which  may  either 
accompany  its  noun,  or  represent  it  understood.  3.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or 
thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter  gender 
is  that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  nominative  case  is  that  form  or  state 
of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  subject  of  a  verb. 

Is  is  an  irregular  neuter  verb,  from  be,  teas,  being,  been  ;  found  in  the  indicative  mood,  present  tense,  third  per- 
son, and  singular  number.  1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon.  2.  An  irreg- 
ular verb  is  a  verb  that  does  not  form  the  preterit  and  the  perfect  participle  by  assuming  d  or  ed.  3.  A 
neuter  verb  is  a  verb  that  expresses  neither  action  nor  passion,  but  simply  being,  or  a  state  of  being.  4.  The 
indicative  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  simply  indicates  or  declares  a  thing,  or  asks  a  question.  5. 
The  present  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  now  exists,  or  is  taking  place.  6.  The  third  person  is  that 
which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely  spoken  of.  7.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one. 

Not  is  an  adverb.  1.  An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb  ;  and 
generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner. 

Our  is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  first  person,  plural  number,  masculine  gender,  and  possessive  case.  1.  A 
pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun.  2.  A  personal  pronoun  is  a  pronoun  that  shows,  by  its  form,  of 
what  person  it  is.  3.  The  first  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  speaker  or  writer.  4.  The  plural  number  is 
that  which  denotes  more  than  one.  5.  The  masculine  gender  is  that  which  denotes  persons  or  animals  of 
the  male  kind.  6.  The  possessive  case  is  that  form  or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  relation 
of  property. 

Own  is  a  pronominal  adjective,  not  compared.  1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and 
generally  expresses  quality.  2.  A  pronominal  adjective  is  a  definitive  word  which  may  either  accompany 
its  noun,  or  represent  it  understood.  3.  Those  adjectives  whose  signification  does  not  admit  of  different 
degrees  cannot  be  compared. 

Wfiich  is  a  relative  pronoun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case.  1.  A 
pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun.  2.  A  relative  pronoun  is  a  pronoun  that  represents  an  antece- 
dent word  or  phrase,  and  connects  different  clauses  of  a  sentence.  3.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes 
the  person  or.  thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  n>  'liter 
gender  is  that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  nominative  case  is  that  form 
or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun  which  denotes  the  subject  of  a  verb. 

Is  Imposed  is  a  regular  passive  verb,  from  the  active  verb,  impose,  imposed,  imposing,  imposed,—  passive,  'o  be 
imposed;  found  in  the  indicative  mood,  present  tense,  third  person,  and  Singular  number.  1.  A  verb  is  a 
word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon.  2.  A  regular  verb  is  a  verb  that  forms  the  preteril  and 
the  perfect  participle  by  assuming  d  or  ed.  3.  A  passive  verb  is  a  verb  that  represents  the  subject,  or  what 
the  nominative  expresses,  as  being  acted  upon.  4.  The  indicative  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb  which 
simply  indicates  or  declares  a  thing,  or  asks  a  question.  5.  The  present  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what 
now  exists,  or  is  taking  place.  C.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely  sj  oken 
of.  7.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one. 

Upon  is  a  preposition.  1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts 
to  each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

Us  is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  first  person,  plural  number,  masculine  gender,  and  objective  case.  1.  A  pro- 
noun is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun.  2.  A  personal  pronoun  is  a  pronoun  that  shows,  \>f  its  form,  of  what 
person  it  is.  3.  The  first  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  speaker  or  writer.  4.  The  plural  number  is  that 
which  denotes  more  than  one.  5.  The  masculine  gender  is  that  which  denotes  persons  or  animals  of  the  male 
kind.  6.  The  objective  ease  is  that  form  or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  object  of  a  verb, 
participle,  or  preposition. 

LESSON  I.  —  PARSING. 

"  He  has  desires  after  the  kingdom,  and  makes  no  question  but  it  shall  be  his  ;  he 
wills,  runs,  strives,  believes,  hopes,  prays,  reads  scriptures,  observes  duties,  and  regards 
ordinances." — Penington,  ii,  124. 

"  AVo  unto  you,  lawyers !  for  ye  have  taken  away  the  key  of  knowledge  :  ye  enter 
not  in  yourselves,  and  them  that  were  entering  in  ye  hindered." — Luke,  xi,  52. 

"Above  all  other  liberties,  give  me  the  liberty  to  know,  to  utter,  and  to  argue  freely, 
according  to  my  conscience." — Milton. 

"  Eloquence  is  to  be  looked  for  only  in  free  states.  Longinus  illustrates  this  obser- 
vation with  a  great  deal  of  beauty.  'Liberty,'  he  remarks,  'is  the  nurse  of  true 
genius  ;  it  animates  the  spirit,  and  invigorates  the  hopes,  of  men  ;  it  excites  honourable 
emulation,  and  a  desire  of  excelling  in  every  art.'  " — ^Blair's  Rhet.  p.  237. 

"  None  of  the  faculties  common  to  man  and  the  lower  animals,  conceives  the  idea  of 
civil  liberty,  any  more  than  that  of  religion." — Spurzheim,  on  Education,  p.  259. 
"  Whoever  is  not  able,  or  does  not  dare,  to  think,  or  does  not  feel  contradictions  and 
absurdities,  is  unfit  for  a  refined  religion  and  civil  liberty." — Ib.  p.  258. 

"  The  too  great  number  of  journals,  and  the  extreme  partiality  of  their  authors,  have 
much  discredited  them.  A  man  must  have  great  talents  to  please  all  sorts  of  readers ; 


CHAP.  VI.]         ETYMOLOGY.  -  VERBS.  -  PARSING.  -  PRAXIS  VI.  387 

and  it  is  impossible  to  please  all  authors,  who,  generally  speaking,  cannot  bear  with 
the  most  judicious  and  most  decent  criticisms."  —  Formeys  Belles-Letters,  p.   170. 

•  Son  of  man,  I  have  broken  the  arm  of  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt  ;  and,  lo,  it  shall 
not  be  bound  up  to  be  healed,  to  put  a  roller  to  bind  it,  to  make  it  strong  to  hold  the 
sword."—  /;:,/•/,-/,  xxx, 


Yet  he  was  humble,  kind,  forgiving,  meek, 

v  to  be  entreated,  gracious,  mild  ; 
And,  with  all  patience  and  affection,  taught, 
Rebuked,  persuaded,  solaced,  counselled,  warned."  —  PolloJc,  B.  ix. 

LESSON  II.  —  PARSING. 

"  What  is  coming,  will  come;  what  is  proceeding  onward,  verges  towards  comple- 
tion." —  Dr.  Murray's  Europ.  Lang,  i,  324.  "  Sir,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  art  of 
printing,  we  should  now  have  had  no  learning  at  all  ;  for  books  would  have  perished 
faster  than  they  could  have  been  transcribed."  —  Dr.  Johnson's  Life,  iii,  400. 

"  Passionate  reproofs  are  like  medicines  given  scalding  hot  :  the  patient  cannot  take 
them.  If  we  wish  to  do  good  to  those  whom  we  rebuke,  we  should  labour  for  meek- 
ness of  wisdom,  and  use  soft  words  and  hard  arguments."  —  Dodd. 

"  My  prayer  for  you  is,  that  God  may  guide  you  by  his  counsel,  and  in  the  end 
bring  you  to  glory  :  to  this  purpose,  attend  diligently  to  the  dictates  of  his  good  spirit, 
which  you  may  hear  within  you  ;  for  Christ  saith,  '  He  that  dwelleth  with  you,  shall 
be  in  you.'  And,  as  you  hear  and  obey  him,  he  will  conduct  you  through  this  troub- 
lous world,  in  ways  of  truth  and  righteousness,  and  land  you  at  last  in  the  habitations 
of  everlasting  rest  and  peace  with  the  Lord,  to  praise  him  for  ever  and  ever."  —  T.  Gwin. 

"  By  matter,  we  mean,  that  which  is  tangible,  extended,  and  divisible  ;  by  mind, 
that  which  perceives,  reflects,  wills,  and  reasons.  These  properties  are  wholly  dissimi- 
lar and  admit  of  no  comparison.  To  pretend  that  mind  is  matter,  is  to  propose  a 
contradiction  in  terms  ;  and  js  just  as  absurd,  as  to  pretend  that  matter  is  mind." 

—  Gumey's  Portable  Evidence,  p.  78. 

'*  If  any  one  should  think  all  this  to  be  of  little  importance,  I  desire  him  to  consider 
what  he  would  think,  if  vice  had,  essentially,  and  in  its  nature,  these  advantageous 
tendencies,  or  if  virtue  had  essentially  the  direct  contrary  ones."  —  Sutler,  p.  99. 
"  No  man  can  write  simpler  and  stronger  English  than  the  celebrated  Boz,  and  this 
renders  us  the  more  annoyed  at  those  manifold  vulgarities  and  slipshod  errors,  which 
unhappily  have  of  late  years  so  disfigured  his  productions."  —  LIVING  AUTHORS  OP 
.AND  :   T.  /ier,  No.  119. 

••  Iluru  llavard,  all  serene,  in  the  same  strains, 

Loves,  hates,  and  rages,  triumphs,  and  complains."  —  Churchill,  p.  3,. 
"  Let  Satire,  then,  her  proper  object  know, 
And  ere  she  strike,  be  sure  she  strike  a  foe."  —  John  Brown. 

LESSON  III.  —  PARSING. 

"  The  Author  of  nature  has  as  truly  directed  that  vicious  actions,  considered  as 
vous  to  society,  should  be  punished,  and  has  as  clearly  put  mankind  under  a 
ne<  ing  tli-m,  as  lie  has  directed  and  necessitated  us  to  preserve  our 

lives  by  foo<l."  —  8  •//,  p.  88. 

"An  author  may  injun-  his  works  by  altering,  and  even  amending,  the  successive 
editions  :  the  first  impression  sinks  the  deepest,  and  with  the  credulous  it  can  rarely 
be  effaced  ;  nay,  ho  will  be  vainly  employed  who  endeavours  to  eradicate  it." 

—  Wcrtcr.  j. 

"  It  is  well  ordered,  that  even  the  most  innocent  blunder  is  not  committed  with 
impunity  :  were  errors  licensed  where  they  do  no  hurt,  inattention  would  grow 

into  habit,  and  lie  the  occasion  of  much  hurt."  —  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  2*C>. 

"  The  force  of  language  consists  in  raising  complete  images  ;  which  have  the  effect 
to  transport  the  reader,  as  by  magic,  into  the  very  place  of  the  important  action,  and 
to  convert  him  as  it  were  into  a  spectator,  beholding  every  thing  that  passes."  —  Id. 
ib-  ii,  241. 


388  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

"An  orator  should  not  put  forth  all  his  strength  at  the  beginning,  but  should  liso 
and  grow  upon  us,  as  his  discourse  advances." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  309. 

"  When  a  talent  is  given  to  any  one,  an  account  is  opened  with  the  giver  of  it, 
who  appoints  a  day  in  which  he  will  arrive  and  '  redemand  his  own  with  usury.' ' 
—  Wests  Letters  to  a  Toung  Lady,  p.  74. 

"  Go,  and  reclaim  the  sinner,  instruct  the  ignorant,  soften  the  obdurate,  and  (as 
occasion  shall  demand)  cheer,  depress,  repel,  allure,  disturb,  assuage,  console,  or  ter- 
rify."— Jerningharis  Essay  on  Eloquence,  p.  97. 

"  If  all  the  year  were  playing  holydays, 
To  sport  would  be  as  tedious  as  to  work  : 
But  when  they  seldom  come,  they  wish'd-for  come, 
And  nothing  pleaseth  but  rare  accidents." — Skak.  Hen.   V. 
"  The  man  that  once  did  sell  the  lion's  skin 
While  the  beast  liv'd,  was  kill'd  with  hunting  him." — Id.  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Bev.st. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
ERRORS  OF  VERBS. 
LESSON  I. — PRETERITS. 

"In  speaking  on  a  matter  which  toucht  their  hearts." — Philological  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p. 


. — Not  proper,  because  the  verb  toucht  is  terminated  in  t.  But,  according  to  Observation  2nd,  on  the 
irregular  verbs,  touch  is  regular.  Therefore,  this  t  should  be  changed  to  ed  ;  thus,  "  In  speaking  on  a  matter 
which  touched  their  hearts."] 

" Though  Horace  publisht  it  some  time  after."— Ib.  i,  444.  "The  best  subjects  -,vith 
which  the  Greek  models  furnisht  him." — Ib.  i,  444.  "  Since  he  attacht  no  thought  to  it." 
— Jb.  i,  645.  "By  what  slow  steps  the  Greek  alphabet  reacht  its  perfection." — Ib.  i,  651. 
"  Because  Goethe  wisht  to  erect  an  affectionate  memorial." — Ib.  i,  469.  "But  the  Suxon 
forms  soon  dropt  away." — Ib.  i,  668.  "  It  speaks  of  all  the  towns  that  perisht  in  the  age  of 
Philip." — Ib.  i,  252.  "  This  enricht  the  written  language  with  new  words." — Ib.  i,  668.  '  He 
merely  furnisht  his  friend  with  matter  for  laughter." — Ib.  i,  479.  *  A  cloud  arose  and  *  topt 
the  light."— Surift'8  Poems,  p.  313.  "She  slipt  spadills  in  her  breast."— Ib.  p.  371.  "I 
guest  the  hand." — Ib.  p.  372.  "  The  tyrant  stript  me  to  the  skin  :  My  skin  he  flay'd  my 
hair  he  cropt ;  At  head  and  foot  my  body  lopt." — Ib.  On  a  Pen,  p.  338.  "  I  see  the  greatest 
owls  in  you,  That  ever  screecht  or  ever  flew." — Ib.  p.  403.  "  I  sate  with  delight,  From  rr.orn- 
ing  till  night." — Ib.  p.  367.  "  Dick  nimbly  skipt  the  gutter." — Ib.  p.  375.  "  In  at  the  pantry 
door  this  morn  I  slipt.*' — Ib.  p.  369.  "Nobody  living  ever  toucht  me,  but  you." — Winker's 
Particles,  p.  92.  "Present,  I  ship  ;  Past,  I  shipped  or  shipt ;  Participle,  shipped  or  ship  ;."- 
Murray  the  schoolmaster,  Gram.  p.  31.  "Then  the  king  arose,  and  tare  his  garments." — 2  Sam. 
xiii,  31.  "  When  he  lift  up  his  foot,  he  knew  not  where  he  should  set  it  next." — Buu-yan. 
"He  lift  tip  his  spear  against  eight  hundred,  whom  he  slew  at  one  time." — 2  SAM.  :  in  Joh. 
Diet.  "  Upon  this  chaos  rid  the  distressed  ark." — BUIINET  :  ib.  "  On  whose  foolish  honesty, 
my  practices  rid  easy." — SHAK.  :  ib.  "  That  form  of  the  first  or  primogenial  Earth,  which 
rise  immediately  out  of  chaos." — BURNET  :  ib.  "  Sir,  how  come  it  you  have  holp  to  make 
this  rescue  ?  " — SHAK.  :  in  Joh.  Diet.  "  He  sware  he  had  rather  lose  all  his  father's  images 
than  that  table." — PEACHAM  :  ib.  "  When  our  language  dropt  its  ancient  terminations. "- 
Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  ii,  5.  "  When  themselves  they  vilify'd."— Milton,  P.  L.,  xi,  515.  "  But 
I  choosed  rather  to  do  thus." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  456.  "  When  he  plead  against  the  par- 
sons."— School  History,  p.  168.  "  And  he  that  saw  it,  bear  record." — Cutter's  Grnni,  p.  72. 
"  An  irregular  verb  has  one  more  variation,  as  drive,  drivest,  drives,  drivedst,  drove,  driving, 
driven." — REV.  MATT.  HARRISON,  on  the  English  Language,  p.  260.  "Beside  that  village 
Hannibal  pitcht  his  camp." — Walker's  Particles,  p.  79.  "  He  fetcht  it  even  from  Tmohis." — Ib. 
p.  114.  "  He  supt  with  his  morning  gown  on." — Ib.  p.  285.  "  There  stampt  her  sacred  name." 
— Barlow's  Columbiad,  B.  i,  1.  233. 

"  Fixt  on  the  view  the  great  discoverer  stood, 
And  thus  addrest  the  messenger  of  good." — Barlow,  B.  i,  1.  658. 

LESSON  II. — MIXED. 
"Three  freemen  were  being  tried  at  the  date  of  our  last  information." — Neiosj 

[FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  participle  being  is  used  after  its  own  verb  were.  But,  according  to  Obser- 
vation 4th,  on  the  compound  form  of  conjugation,  this  complex  passive  form  is  an  absurd  innovation.  Therefore, 
the  expression  should  be  changed  ;  thus,  ';  Three  freemen  ivere  on  trial'1'1 — or,  "  were  receiving  their  trial—  at  the 
date  of  our  last  information."] 

"  While  the  house  was  being  built,  many  of  the  tribe  arrived."— Ross  Cox's  Travels,  p,  102. 


CHAP.  VI.]  ETYMOLOGY. — VERBS. EIU.OR3.  389 

J 

«'  But  a  foundation  has  been  laid  in  Zion,  and  the  church  is  being  built  upon  it." — The 

,  ix,  377.     "  And  one  fourth  of  the  people  are  hein'j:  educated." — £«. 

"The  present,  or  that  which  is  now  being  done." — /•'  .  p.   13.     "  A  new   church, 

called  thii  1'  just  bcii.  d  in  an  expensive    style." — G.  A.    Thompson's 

'.  ••  Wh-jn  I  la-t  saw  him,  he  was  grown  considerably." — Murray'*  ; 

"I  know  :-nus  path  I*  am  got  into." 

Von  were  ;  to  one  on  the  rack." — Locke's  Rtsny, 

"  Thou  hnst  Ivard  me,  and  art  becom  :tion." — 7 '.«?/.  cxviii,  121.     "  While   • 

ement  i  ;  being  prepared  for  the  press." — L.  (  ",  p.  vi.     "  Lan- 

.  in  modern  times,  more  correct  and  accurate." — Jamicson's  Rhet.  p.   16. 
"  If  th  uted  in  any  measure  answerable  to  the  author's  wishes." — Rob- 

.  :?.     "The  vial  of  wrath  is  still  bein^  poured  out  on  the  seat  of  : 

,  p.  409.     "  Chri  .s  become  the  generally  adopted  and  cstab- 

.  the  whole  Koman  Empire." — Gurncy's  Essays,  p.  So.     "  Who  wrote  before 

-1." — If),  p.  13.      "The  original  and  analogical  form  is  grown 

quite  ob«o]<  p.  56.     "Their  love,  and  their  hatred,  and  their  envy,  aro 

perish  ffram.  i,  149.     "The  poems  were  got  abroad  and  in  a  great  "many 

Vr.  "  It  is  more  harmonious,  as  well  as  more  correct,  to  say,  '  the  bub- 
ble is  almost  bursted." — Cobbctt's  E.  Gram.  If  109.  "  I  drave  my  suitor  from  his  mad  humour 
of  love." — >'//  '/.-.     "  Se  viriliter  expedivit.    (Cicero.)     He  hath  plaid  the  man." — U'a'kcr's 
"  Wilt  thou  kill  me,  as  thou  diddest  the  Egyptian  yesterday?  " — FUIEXDB' 
Ui::u: :   .!  A-,  vii,  2^.     "  And  we,  methoughts,  look'd  up  t'him  from  our  hill." — <' 

•  iii,  1.  386.  "  I  fear  thou  doest  not  think  a>  much  of  best  things  as  thou  oughtest." 
»na3,  p.  34.     "  When  this  work  was  being  commenced." — \\'i-i<jht's 
p.  10.     "  Exercises  and  Key  to  this  work  are  being  prepared." — Ib.  p.  12.     "  James 
is  loved,  or  being  loved  by  John." — Ib.  p.  64.     "  Or  that  which  is  being  exhibited." — Ib.  p. 
as  being  smitten." — Ib.  78.    "  In  the  passive  state  we  say,   '  I  am  being  loved.'  " 
— Ib.  p.  80.     "  Subjunctive  Mood  :  If  I  am  being  smitten,  If  thou  art  being  smitten,    If  he 
isbei;;  ." — Ib.  p.  100.     "I  will  not  be  able  to  convince  you  how  superficial  the 

reforn  .>.ons,  p.  88.     " I  said  to  myself,  I  will  be  obliged  to  expose 

the  fol  .  p.  3.  "  When  Clodius,  had  he  meant  to  return  that  day  to  Rome, 

must  1  18.     "  That  the  fact  has  been  done,  is  being 

done,  or  shall  or  ie." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  pp.  347  and  356.     "Am  I  being  in- 

structed? " — Wright's  Gram.  p.  70.     "  I  am  choosing  him." — Ib.  p.  112.     "John,  who  was 
•  Uer,  was  obedient  to  his  commands." — Barrett's  Revised  Gram.  p.  69.    "  The 
re^ionechos  to  the  clash  of  arms." — Bcattics  Poems,  p.  63. 

"And  sitt*  st  on  high,  and  mak'st  creation's  top 
Thy  footstool ;  and  behold' st  below  thec,  all." — Pottok,  B.  vi,  1.  663. 
"And  see  if  thou  can'st  punish  sin,  and  let 
Mankind  go  free.     Thou  fail'st — be  not  surprised." — Id.  B.  ii,  1.  118. 

LESSON  III. — MIXED. 

"  What  follows,  had  better  been  wanting  altogether." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  201. 

•  the  phrase  had  better  been,  is  nsed  in  the  ecnse  of  the  potential   pluperfect. 
;,  on  the  ecu,.:  itionofone  form  for  another  is  of  q 

the  regular  form  should  here  be  preferred ;  thus,  "  What  follows,  might  better  fiavt 

"  T!.  of  the  sentence  had  much  better  have  been  omitted  altogether." — Ib.  p. 

>ther  of  them,  therefore,  had  better  have  been  omitted." — Ib.  p.  212. 

.uber  of  the  sen'  '>ecn  dropped." — Ih.  p.  112. 

41  In  t"  y  hud  much  be".  >ed." — Ib.  p.  173.  "  He  had  better  have  said  « tho 

•  f  poetry  to  Orpheus, 
ago,  that  all  these  lietitious 
71.  "When  I  found  that 

'i,  I  have  determined  to  send  him."— .In'.*,  xxv, 

c  of  my  God." — Ps.  Ixxxiv,  10.     "  As  for 

••  It  would  a  made  our 

•  '       should  not  a  been  able 

i  ioned  our  prudence,  if  we 

•ire  thou  bee'st  not  IU:C.I:SAII'I>  ;  i.   e. 

-i  not  dwindle  into  a  mere   Ciesar." —  -Thou 

record  tlv  H-S." — Ai;:  .Diet. 

. 

•.tunr.tc  1.  1"  me  !'  crys  such    a  ono." — 70.  p.  60. 

"  The  nr.iso  th:>t  soft  and  "A  man  were  better  relate 

—  litcon.      "I   heard    thee  say   but   now,    thou   lik'dst   not    that." 

— SfozA-.     "  In  my  whole  course  of  wooing,  thou  cried'st,  Indeed!  " — Id.     "But  our  cars  are 


390  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

grown  familiar  with  I  have  wrote,  I  have  drank,  &c.,  which  are  altogether  as  ungrammatical." 
— Lowth's  Gram.  p.  63;  Churchill's,  114.  "The  court  was  sat  before  Sir  lloger  came." — 
Addison,  Sped.  No.  122.  "  She  need  be  no  more  with  the  jama  dice  possest." — &vift's  Poems, 
p.  346.  "  Besides,  you  found  fault  with  our  victuals  one  day  that  you  was  here." — Ib.  p.  333. 
"If  spirit  of  other  sort,  So  minded,  have  o'erleap'd  these  earthly  bounds." — Milton,  P.  L., 
B.  iv,  1.  582.  "It  should  have  been  more  rational  to  have  forborn  this." — Barclay's  Works, 
Vol.  iii,  p.  265.  "A  student  is  not  master  of  it  till  he  have  seen  all  these." — Dr.  Murray's 
Life,  p.  55.  "The  said  justice  shall  summons  the  party." — Brevard's  Digest.  "Now  what 
is  become  of  thy  former  wit  and  humour?" — Spect.  No.  532.  "  Young  stranger,  whither 
wand'rcst  thou  ?  " — Burns,  p.  29.  "  SUBJ.  :  Pres.  If  I  love,  If  thou  lovest,  If  he  love.  Imp. 
If  I  loved,  If  thou  lovedst,  If  he  loved." — Merchant's  Gram.  p.  51.  "  SUBJ.  :  If  I  do  not  love, 
If  thou  dost  not  love,  If  he  does  not  love ;"  &c. — Ib.  p.  56.  "  If  he  have  committed  sins,  they 
shall  be  forgiven  him." — James,  v,  15.  "  Subjunctive  Mood  of  the  verb  to  call,  second  person 
singular  :  If  Thou  callest.  If  Thou  calledst.  If  Thou  hast  called.  If  Thou  hadst  called. 
If  Thou  call.  If  Thou  shalt  or  wilt  have  called." — Hiley's  Gram,  p-  41.  "  Subjunctive  Mood 
of  the  verb  to  love,  second  person  singular  :  If  thou  love.  If  thou  do  love.  If  thou  lovedst. 
If  thou  didst  love.  If  thou  hast  loved.  If  thou  hadst  loved.  If  thou  shalt  or  wilt  love. 
If  thou  shalt  or  wilt  have  loved." — Bullions' s  E.  Gram.  p.  46.  "  I  was;  thou  wast,  or  you 
was;  he,  she,  or  it  was :  We,  you  or  ye,  they,  were." — White,  on  the  English  Verb,  p.  51. 
"I  taught,  thou  taughtedst,  he  taught.'' — Coar's  English  Gram.  p.  66.  "We  say,  if  it 
rains,  suppose  it  rains,  lest  it  should  rain,  unless  it  rains.  This  manner  of  speaking  is  called 
the  SUBJUNCTIVE  mode." — Weld's  Gram.  2d  Ed.  p.  72  ;  Abridged  Ed.  59.  "He  is  arrived  at 
what  is  deemed  the  age  of  manhood." — Priestley's  Gram.  163.  "  He  had  much  better  have 
let  it  alone." — Tooke's  Diversions,  i,  43.  "  He  were  better  be  without  it." — Locke,  on  Educa- 
tion, p.  105.  "  Hadest  not  thou  been  by." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  107.  "  I  learned  geography. 
Thou  learnedest  arithmetick.  He  learned  grammar." — Fuller's  Gram.  p.  34.  "Till  the 
sound  is  ceased." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  126.  "  Present,  die ;  Preterit,  died  ;  Perf.  Parti- 
ciple, dead." — British  Gram.  p.  158 ;  Buchanan's,  58  ;  Priestley's,  48  ;  Ash's,  45  ;  Fisher's* 
71;  Bicknell's,  73. 

"Thou  bowed' st  thy  glorious  head  to  none,  feared' st  none." — Pollok,  B.  viii,  1.  603. 

"  Thou  look' st  upon  thy  boy  as  though  thou  guessedst  it." — N.  A.  Reader,  p.  320. 

"  As  once  thou  slept' st,  while  she  to  life  was  form'd." — Milt.  P.  L.,  B.  xi,  1.  369. 
"  Who  finds  the  partridge  in  the  puttock's  nest, 

But  may  imagine  how  the  bird  was  dead  ?  " — SHAK.  :  Joh.  Diet. 
"  Which  might  have  well  becom'd  the  best  of  men." — Id.  Ant.  and  Ckop. 


CHAPTER  VII.-PARTICIPLES. 

A  Participle  is  a  word  derived  from  a  verb,  participating  the  properties  of  a 
verb,  and  of  an  adjective  or  a  noun  ;  and  is  generally  formed  by  adding  ing, 
d,  or  ed,  to  the  verb  :  thus,  from  the  verb  rule,  are  formed  three  participles, 
two  simple  and  one  compound;  as,  1.  ruling,  2.  ruled,  o.  having  ruled.. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — Almost  all  verbs  and  participles  seem  to  have  their  very  essence  in  motion,  or 
the  privation  of  motion — in  acting,  or  ceasing  to  act.  And  to  all  motion  and  rest,  time  and  place 
are  necessary  concomitants  ;  nor  are  the  ideas  of  degree  and  manner  often  irrelevant.  Hence 
the  use  of  tenses  and  of  adverbs.  For  whatsoever  comes  to  pass,  must  come  to  pass  some- 
time  and  somewhere ;  and,  in  every  event,  something  must  be  affected  somewhat  and 
somehmo.  Hence  it  is  evident  that  those  grammarians  are  right,  who  say,  that  "  all  partici- 
ples imply  time."  But  it  does  not  follow,  that  the  English  participles  divide  time,  like  the 
tenses  of  a  verb,  and  specify  the  period  of  action ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  certain  and  manifest, 
that  they  do  not.  The  phrase,  "  men  labouring,"  conveys  no  other  idea  than  that  of  labour- 
ers at  work ;  it  no  more  suggests  the  time,  than  the  place,  degree,  or  manner,  of  their  work. 
All  these  circumstances  require  other  words  to  express  them ;  as,  "  Men  now  here  awkwardly 
labouring  much  to  little  purpose."  Again:  "Thenceforward  will  men,  there  labouring  hard 
and  honourably,  be  looked  down  upon  by  dronish  lordlings." 

OBS.  2.— Participles  retain  the  essential  meaning  of  their  verbs;  and,  like  verbs,  are  either 
active-transitive,  active-intransitive,  passive,  or  neuter,  in  their  signification.  For  this  reason, 
many  have  classed  them  with  the  verbs.  But  their  formal  meaning  is  obviously  different. 
They  convey  no  affirmation,  but  usually  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns,  like  adjectives,  except 
when  they  are  joined  with  auxiliaries  to  form  the  compound  tenses  of  their  verbs  ;  or  when 
they  have  in  part  the  nature  of  substantives,  like  the  Latin  gerunds.  Hence  some  have  in- 
judiciously ranked  them  with  the  adjectives.  The  most  discreet  writers  have  commonly 


CHAP.  VII.]  ETYMOLOGY. — PARTICIPLES. OBSERVATIONS.  391 

assigned  them  a  separate  place  among  the  parts  of  speech  ;  because,  in  spite  of  all  opposite 
usages,  experience  has  shown  that  it  is  expedient  to  do  so. 

OBS.  3. — According  to  the  doctrine  of  Harris,  all  words  denoting  the  attributes  01 
things,  are  either  verbs,  or  participles,  or  adjectives.  Some  attributes  have  their  essence  in 
motion:  as,  to  walk,  to  run,  to  Jly,  to  strike,  to  life;  or,  walking,  running,  flying,  striking,  living. 
Others  have  it  in  the  privation  of  motion  :  as,  to  stop,  to  rest,  to  cease,  to  die ;  or,  stopping,  rest- 
.  dying.  And  there  are  others  which  have  nothing  to  do  with  either  motion  or  its 
privati'  >u  ;  but  have  their  essence  in  the  quantity,  quality,  or  situation  of  things :  as,  great  and 
and  black,  wise  a.nd  foolish,  eastern  and  western.  These  last  terms  are  adjectives  ; 
and  those  which  denote  motion  or  its  privation,  are  either  verbs  or  participles,  according 
to  their  formal  meaning  ;  that  is,  according  to  their  manner  of  attribution.  See  Hermes, 
p.  95.  Verbs  commonly  say  or  affirm  something  of  their  subjects;  as,  "The  babe  wept" 
Parti.-:  rest  the  action  or  attribute  without  affirmation;  as,  "A  babe  weeping" — 

"An  ff 

I.  —A  verb,  then,  being  expressive  of  some  attribute,  which  it  ascribes  to  the  thing 
or  person  named  as  its  subject;  of  time,  which  it  divides  and  specifies  by  the  tenses;  and 
also,  (with  the  exception  of  the  infinitive,)  of  an  assertion  or  affirmation ;  if  we  take  away 
the  affirmation  and  the  distinction  of  tenses,  there  will  remain  the  attribute  and  the  general 
notion  of  time  ;  and  these  form  the  essence  of  an  English  participle.  So  that  a  participle  is 
something  less  than  a  verb,  though  derived  immediately  from  it ;  and  something  more  than 
an  adjective,  or  mere  attribute,  though  its  manner  of  attribution  is  commonly  the  same. 
Hence,  though  the  participle  by  rejecting  the  idea  of  time  may  pass  almost  insensibly  into 
an  adjective,  and  become  truly  a  participial  adjective ;  yet  the  participle  and  the  adjective 
are  by  no  means  one  and  the  same  part  of  speech,  as  so'me  will  have  them  to  be.  There  is 
alway.-  an  essential  difference  in  their  meaning.  For  instance :  there  is  a  difference  between 
a  thinking  man  and  a  man  thinking ;  between  a  bragging  fellow  and  a  fellow  bragging  ;  between 
a  fast-  i  and  a  ship  sailing  fast.  A  thinking  man,  a  bragging  fellow,  or  a  fast-sailing 

ship,  is  contemplated  as  being  habitually  or  permanently  such ;  a  man  thinking,  a  fellow 
::ig,  or  a  ship  sailing  fast,  is  contemplated  as  performing  a  particular  act;  and  this 
must  embrace  a  period  of  time,  whether  that  time  be  specified  or  not.  John  Locke  was  a 
thinking  man ;  but  we  should  directly  contradict  his  own  doctrine,  to  suppose  him  alway* 
thin!. 

•'•>. — The  English  participles  are  all  derived  from  the  roots  of  their  respective 
verbs,  and  do  not,  like  those  of  some  other  languages,  take  their  names  from  the  tenses.  On 
the  contrary,  they  are  reckoned  among  the  principal  parts  in  the  conjugation  of  their  verbs, 
and  many  of  the  tenses  are  formed  from  them.  In  the  compound  forms  of  conjugation,  they 
are  found  alike  in  all  the  tenses.  They  do  not  therefore,  of  themselves,  express  any  partic- 
ular time ;  but  they  denote  the  state  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion,  in  regard  to  its  pro- 
>r  completion.  This  I  conceive  to  be  their  principal  distinction.  Respecting  the  par- 
ticipli  .it  has  been  matter  of  dispute,  whether  those  which  are  called  the  present  and 

•ire  really  so  in  respect  to  time  or  not.     Sanctius  denies  it.     In    Greek,  the  dis- 
«  in  the  participles  is  more  apparent,  yet  even  here  the  time  to  which  they 
refer,  docs  not  always  correspond  to  their  names.     See  remarks  on  the  Participles  in  the 
>nd  Greek  Grammars. 

<j. — Home  Tooke  supposes  our  participles  in  ed  to  express  time  past,  and  those  in 
ing  to  have  no  signification  of  time.  He  says,  "  I  did  not  mean  to  deny  the  adsignification 
of  time  to  all  the  participles  ;  though  I  continue  to  withhold  it  from  that  which  is  called 
the  j>  ru  nf  /'///•/<//,  Vol.  ii,  p.  415.  Upon  the  same  point,  he 


•Turmun  sm    ha>e   terra   vidcbit.'     Virg." — Tooke's  Div.  ii,   420. 

"  And  thus  I  have  urivi  u  yuu  my  opinion  concerning  what  is  called  the  present  par- 
Which  1  think  improperly  so  called  ;  because  I  take  it  to  be  merely  the  simple  verb 

-Tooke's  Div.  Vol.  ii,  p.  423. 

•  "• — I  do  \vith  this  author,  either  in  limiting  participles  in  ed  to  time  past, 

or  in  denying  all  :  time  to  tl.  .  but  I  admit  that  what  is  commonly 

called  the  :  v  properly  so  denominated,  either  in  English   or  in 

Latin,  or  perhaps  in  any  1  .  With  us,  however,  this  participle  is  certainly,  in  very 

n.any  -omethin-  el*e  than  "  merely  the  simple  verb  adjecticed."     For,  in  the  first 

i  often  of  a  complex  character,  as  beii>  '>,  in  which  two  verbs   are 

.  and  that  by  different  terminations.     Yet  do  these  words  as  perfectly 

rverything  else;  an.l  /  or  being  seen  is  confessedly 

a*  much  a  ";//-c.vc/^"  participle,  ;<  — neither  form  being  solely  con- 

fined to  what  no  in,  our  participl  ,,t  only  for  the  present  participle 

of  the  Latin  or  ( •  .:narians,  but  also  for  the  Latin  gerund,  and  often  for  the  Greek 

infinitive  used  SU  y  ;  so  that  by  this  en  .nglish  verb  is  not  only  adjectived, 

but  also  substantived,  if  one  may  so  speak.     For  the  participle  when  governed  by  a  preposi- 


392  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

tion,  partakes  not  of  the  qualities  "  of  a  verb  and  an  adjective"  but  rather  of  those  of  a  verb 
and  a  noun. 

CLASSES. 

English  verbs,  not  defective,  have  severally  three  participles  ;*  which  havo 
been  very  variously  denominated,  perhaps  the  most  accurately  thus :  the  Im- 
perfect, the  Perfect,  and  the  Preperfect.  Or,  as  their  order  is  undisputed, 
they  may  be  conveniently  called  the  First,  the  Second,  and  the  Third. 

I.  The  Imperfect  participle  is  that  which  ends  commonly  in  ing,  and  im- 
plies a  continuance  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion  :  as,  being,  acting,  ruling, 
loving,  defending,  terminating. 

II.  The  Perfect  participle  is  that  which  ends  commonly  in  ed  or  m,and 
implies  a  completion  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion  :  as,  been,   acted,  ruled, 
loved,  defended,  terminated. 

III.  The  Preperfect  participle  is  that  which  takes  the  sign  having,  and  im- 
plies a  previous  completion  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion :  as,  liaving  loved, 
having  seen,  having  written  ;  having  been  loved,  having  been  writing,  hay- 
ing been  ivritten. 

The  First  or  Imperfect  Participle,  when  simple,  is  always  formed  by  adding 
ing  to  the  radical  verb ;  as,  look,  looking :  when  compound,  it  is  formed 
by  prefixing  being  to  some  other  simple  participle ;  as,  being  reading,  being 
read,  being  completed. 

The  Second  or  Perfect  Participle  is  always  simple,  and  is  regularly  formed 
by  adding  d  or  ed  to  the  radical  verb  :  those  verbs  from  which  it  is  formed 
otherwise,  are  either  irregular  or  redundant. 

The  Third  or  Preperfect  Participle  is  always  compound,  and  is  formed  by 
prefixing  having  to  the  perfect,  when  the  compound  is  double,  and  having 
been  to  the  perfect  or  the  imperfect,  when  the  compound  is  triple  :  as,  having 
spoken,  having  been  spoken,  having  been  spealdng. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — Some  have  supposed  that  both  the  simple  participles  denote  present  time ;  some 
have  supposed  that  the  one  denotes  present,  and  the  other,  past  time  ;  some  have  supposed 
that  the  first  denotes  no  time,  and  the  second,  time  past ;  some  have  supposed  that  neither 
has  any  regard  to  time ;  and  some  have  supposed  that  both  are  of  all  times.  In  regard  to 
the  distinction  of  voice,  or  the  manner  of  their  signification,  some  have  supposed  the  one 
to  be  active,  and  the  other  to  be  passive  ;  some  have  supposed  the  participle  in  ing  to  be 
active  or  neuter,  and  the  other  active  or  passive ;  and  some  have  supposed  that  either  of 
them  may  be  active,  passive,  or  neuter.  Nor  is  there  any  more  unanimity  among  gram- 
marians, in  respect  to  the  compounds.  Hence  several  different  names  have  been  loosely 
given  to  each  of  the  participles  :  and  sometimes  with  manifest  impropriety  ;  as  when  Bu- 
chanan, in  his  conjugations,  calls  being,  "Active," — and  been,  having  been,  having  had,  "Pas- 
sive." Learned  men  may  differ  in  opinion  respecting  the  nature  of  words,  but  grammar 
can  never  well  deserve  the  name  of  science,  till  at  least  an  ordinary  share  of  reason  and 
knowledge  appears  in  the  language  of  those  who  teach  it. 

OBS.  2. — The  FIRST  participle  has  been  called  the  Present,  the  Progressive,  the  Im- 
perfect, the  Simple  Imperfect,  the  Indefinite,  the  Active,  the  Present  Active,  the  Present 
Passive,  the  Present  Neuter,  and,  in  the  passive  voice,  the  Preterimperfect,  the  Compound 

*  That  is,  passive  verbs,  as  well  as  others,  have  three  participles  for  each  ;  so  that,  from  one  active-transitive 
root,  there  come  six  participles — three  active,  and  three  passive.  Those  numerous  grammarians  who,  like  LindJey 
Murray,  make  passive  verbs  a  distinct  class,  for  the  most  part,  very  properly  state  the  participles  of  a  rerb  to  be 
"  three  ; :'  hut,  to  represent  the  two  voices  as  modifications  of  one  species  of  verbs,  and  then  say,  "  The  Participles 
are  //tree,"  as  many  recent  writers  do,  is  manifestly  absurd  ;  because  two  threes  should  be  six.  Thus,  for  example, 
Dr.  Bullions:  "In  English  f,l  the  transitive  verb  has  always  two  voice,  the  Active  and  [the]  Passive."— Prin. 
of  E.  Gram.  p.  33.  "  The  Participles  are  three,  [ :]  the  Present,  the  Perfect,  and  the  Compound  Ptrf,  ct.''—lb.  p. 
57.  Again:  "  Transitive  verbs  have  two  voices,  called  the  Active  and  the  Passive." — Bullions' s  Analyt.  and 
Pract.  Gram.-p.6Q.  Verbs  have  three  participles — the  present,  the  past,  and  the perff ct  ;  as,  lovins;,  loved, 
bavins;  loved,  in  the  active  voice  :  &.HCD  being  loved,  loved,  having  been  loved,  in  the  passive." — lb.  p.  70.  Now 
either  not  all  these  are  the  participles  of  out verb,  or  that  verb  has  more  than  three.  Take  your  choice.  Redun- 
dant verbs  usually  have  duplicate  forms  of  all  the  participles  except  the  Imperfect  Active  ;  as,  lighting,  lighted  ot 
lit,  having  lighted  or  having  lit ;  so  again,  being  lighted  or  being  lit,  lighted  or  lit,  having  been  lighted  or  having 
been  lit. 


CHAP.  VII.]  ETYMOLOGY. — PARTICIPLES. CLASSES. NAMES.  393 

Imperfect,  the  Compound  Passive,  the  Passive.  The  SKCO.VD,  which,  though  it  is  always 
but  one  word,  some  authors  treat  as  being  two  participles,  or  three,  has  been  called  the  Per- 
fect, the  1'reter,  the  Prcterperfect,  the  Imperfect,  the  Simple  Perfect,  the  Past,  the  Sim- 
ple Past,  the  Preterit,  the  Passive,  the  Present  Passive,  the  Perfect  Active,  the  Past 
Active,  the  c,  the  Perfect  Neuter,  the  Simple  Perfect 

Active,  the  Sin;;  i  he  Tumi)  has  been  called  the  Compound,  the  Com- 

pound Active,  the  Con  .  the  Compound  Perfect,  the  Compound  Perfect  Active, 

the   Compound  1  .   the  Compound  Preter,  the  Present,  the  Present  Perfect, 

the  P-  t  Compound,  the  Compound  Past,  the  Prior-perfect,  the  Prior-pi 

the  Perfect,  the  Pluperfect,  the  I'rcterperfect,  the  Preperfect.*  In  teaching  others  to  speak 
and  write  well,  it  becomes  us  to  express  our  doctrines  in  the  most  suitable  terms ;  but 
the  application  of  a  name  is  of  no  great  consequence,  so  that  the  thing  itself  be  right- 
ly understood  by  the-  learner.  Grammar  should  be  taught  in  a  style  at  once  neat  and  plain, 

•iid  brief.  Upon  the  choice  of  his  terms,  the  writer  of  this  work  has  bestowed  much 
reflection ;  yet  he  finds  it  impossible  either  to  please  everybody,  or  to  explain,  without 
intolerable  prolixity,  all  the  reasons  for  preference. 

OHS.  3. — The  participle  in  ing  represents  the  action  or  state  as  continuing  and  ever  in- 

te ;  it  is  therefore  rightly  termed  the  IMPERFECT  participle  :  whereas  the  participle  in 
td  always,  or  at  least  usually,  has  reference  to  the  action  as  done  and  complete ;  and  is,  by 
proper  contradistinction,  called  the  PERFECT  participle.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add,  that 
the  terms  perfect  and  imperfect,  as  thus  applied  to  the  English  participles,  have  no  reference 

*  The  diversity  in  the  application  of  these  names,  and  in  the  number  or  nature  of  the  participles  recognized  in 
;i-  remarkable  :'..-  thnt  of  the  names  themselves.    To  prepare  a  general  synopsis  of  this 
no  man  will  pmbaMv  think  it  worth  his  while.     The  following  are  a  few  examples  of  it : 

1.  i  There  are  two,  the  Active  Part:<  <  mis   in  (ing),  as  burning, 

.<•  Participle  which  ends  in  (ed)  as,  burned."—  The  British  Grammar,  p.  140.    In  this  book,  the 
iving.    PASSIVE.    Been,  having  been."— J2>.  p.  188. 

2.  ••  How  ninny  >  '  A.  Two;  the   Active   Participle,  that  ends  always  in  fng-;  a«. 

.f  Passive  Participle,  that  ends  always  in  ed,  t,  or  n  ;  as,  /<•  < 'am."— Fisher's  Practical 

Present,  calling.    Past,  having  called.    Future,  being  about  to  call.    PASSIVB 
.ist,  having  been  called.    Future,  being  about  to  be  called." — Ward's  Practical 

:  Perfect,  loved :  Past,  having  loved." — Lovth's  Gram.  p.  39.    The  participles  passive 

:  is  passive  verb,"  they  must  be  these: 
i  loved."    See  Loucth's  Grant,  p.  44. 

Loved.    P(  PAS.  V.     Pres.    Being  loved.     Past, 

pp.  25  and  33 :  linilions's  Analyt.  and  Pract.  Gram.  87 
.  iner  one  copied  from  Murray. 
Hiving  loved."    PAS.     "PrfSfnt.    Being 

loved.  .''— L.  Murray's  late  editions,  pp  93  and 

E.  Gram .  pp.  47  and  55.  No  form  or  name  of  the  first  par- 
i  ions. 

Compound   perfect.    Having  pursued."    PAS.    "Present 

''ffect.  Having  been  pursued." — R?v.  W.  AHm's  Gram.  pp. 

.•ms,  and  their  names  too,  are  thrown  together;  the  former  as  equivalents, 

1 '.-•($.  Loved  or  Being  loved,  Pcrf.  Having  been 
i  Fere  the  second  active  form  is  wanting ;  and  the  second  pafl- 

Perfect,  Havinplov.nl  [.]"      PAS.    "/>  .  '•_•  loved  [;]  Prrftct,   Loved, 

x>  ami  Hil.  '.  .o  is  not  given  ;  the  third  it 

.  as  if  they  were  but  forma 

nt.)  Loving.  Perfect,  Havinglov  Perfect,  Loved."  PAS.  "Imperfect,  (Pret- 

tr.t.    Gram.  pp. '84  and  91. 

!.  ami  as  manv  are  misnamed. 

>  -ing  Ifredf:] 

— Frazee's  Improved  Gram.  68 and  73. 
••'/,"  is  not  commonly  recognized,  except 

V.  "Prettrirr>rrrf>rt,  Being 
:c   the  chief  and  radical   pasriT* 

,  ing  loved,  [j] 

Pav.  i  ;m.,  oflRI3.pi>.  37  and  60. 

PAS.     "  iVrfirt    or 
I'art  I,  pp.  66  and 
\ 

•   Voice. 

'.p.  70.    Here  the  chief  Passir* 
tern  .  • 

Prnrtical  Gram,  of  1*18,  p.  71. 

-tt  ...  Lovi:  .-—Tb.  p.   81. 

p.  83. 

ie  fourth  isf  '-is 

•ho\  ut. 

iiplp*  is  very  discrepant.    I  have,  in  brackets, 
suggested  some  corrections,  but  have  not  attempted  a  general  adjustment  of  it. 


394  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

to  time,  or  to  those  tenses  of  the  verb  which  are  usually  (but  not  very  accurately)  named  by 
these  epithets.  The  terms  present  and  past,  which  some  still  prefer  to  imperfect  and  perfoct, 
do  denote  time,  and  are  in  a  kind  of  oblique  contradistinction ;  but  how  well  they  apply  to 
the  participles,  may  be  seen  by  the  following  texts :  "  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  i;he 
world  unto  himself." — "We  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God." — ST.  PAUL  : 
2  Cor.  v,  19,  20.  Here  reconciling  refers  to  the  death  of  Christ,  and  reconciled,  to  the  de- 
sired conversion  of  the  Corinthians ;  and  if  we  call  the  former  a  present  participle,  and  the 
latter  a  past,  we  nominally  reverse  the  order  of  time  in  respect  to  the  events,  and  egre- 
giously  misapply  both  terms. 

OBS.  4. — Though  the  participle  in  ing  has,  by  many,  been  called  the  Present  participle,  it 
is  as  applicable  to  past  or  future,  as  to  present  time;  otherwise,  such  expressions  as,  "I 
had  been  Meriting" — "  I  shall  be  writing,"  would  be  solecisms.  It  has  also  been  called,  almost 
as  frequently,  the  Active  participle.  But  it  is  not  always  active,  even  when  derived  from 
an  active  verb  ;  for  such  expressions  as,  "  The  goods  are  selling" — "  The  ships  are  now  build- 
ing" are  in  use,  and  not  without  good  authority :  as,  "And  hope  to  allay,  by  rational  dis- 
course, the  pain  of  his  joints  tearing  asunder." — Locke's  Essay,  p.  285.  "  Insensible  of  the 
designs  now  forming  by  Philip." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  ii,  48.  "The  improved  edition  now 
publishing." — Bp.  HALIFAX:  Pref.  to  Butler,  "The  present  tense  expresses  an  action  now 
doing." — Emmons's  Gram.  p.  40.  The  distinguishing  characteristic  of  this  participle  is, 
that  it  denotes  an  unfinished  and  progressive  state  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion  ;  it  is 
therefore  properly  denominated  the  IMPERFECT  participle.  If  the  term  were  applied  with 
reference  to  time,  it  would  be  no  more  objectionable  than  the  word  present,  and  would  be 
equally  supported  by  the  usage  of  the  Greek  linguists.  I  am  no  more  inclined  to  "  innova- 
tion," than  are  the  pedants  who,  for  the  choice  here  made,  have  ignorantly  brought  the 
false  charge  against  me.  This  name,  authorized  by  Beattie  and  Pickbourn,  is  approved 
by  Lindley  Murray,*  and  adopted  by  several  of  the  more  recent  grammarians.  See  the 
works  of  Dr.  Crombie,  J.  Grant,  T.  O.  Churchill,  R.  Hiley,  B.  H.  Smart,  M.  Harrison, 
and  G.  Lewis,  published  in  London  ;  and  J.  M.  M'Culloch's  Grammar^  published  in  Edin- 
burgh ;  also  some  American  grammars,  as  E.  Hazen's,  N.  Butler's,  D.  B.  Tower's,  W.  H. 
Wells's,  the  Sanderses'. 

OBS.  5. — The  participle  in  ed,  as  is  mentioned  above,  usually  denotes  a  completion  of 
the  being,  action,  or  passion,  and  should  therefore  be  denominated  the  PERFECT  par- 
ticiple. But  this  completion  may  be  spoken  of  as  present,  past,  or  future ;  for  the 
participle  itself  has  no  tenses,  and  makes  no  distinction  of  time,  nor  should  the  name  be 
supposed  to  refer  to  the  perfect  tense.  The  conjugation  of  any  passive  verb,  is  a  sufficient 
proof  of  all  this :  nqr  is  the  proof  invalidated  by  resolving  verbs  of  this  kind  into  their 
component  parts.  Of  the  participle  in  ed  applied  to  present  time,  the  following  is  an  ex- 
ample :  "  Such  a  course  would  be  less  likely  to  produce  injury  to  health,  than  the  present 
course  pursued  at  our  colleges." — Literary  Convention,  p.  118.  Tooke's  notion  of  gram- 
matical time,  appears  to  have  been  in  several  respects  a  strange  one  :  he  accords  v;ith 
those  who  call  this  a  past  participle,  and  denies  to  the  other  not  only  the  name  and  no- 
tion of  a  tense,  but  even  the  general  idea  of  time.  In  speaking  of  the  old  participial  ter- 
mination and  or  ende,  fwhich  our  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors  used  where  we  write  ing,  he  says, 
"I  do  not  allow  that  there  are  any  present  participles,  or  any  present  tense  of  the  verb."  £ — 
Diversions  of  Purley,  Yol.  ii,  p.  41. 

OBS.  6. — The  Perfect  participle  of  transitive  verbs,  being  used  in  the  formation  of  passive 
verbs,  is  sometimes  called  the  Passive  participle.  It  usually  has  in  itself  a  passive  signili ca- 
tion, except  when  it  is  used  in  forming  the  compound  tenses  of  the  active  verb.  Hence 
the  difference  between  the  sentences,  "  I  have  written  a  letter,"and,  "I  have  a  letter  writ- 

*  "  The  most  unexceptionable  distinction  ivhich  grammarians  make  between  the  participles,  is,  that  the  one 
points  to  the  continuation  of  the  action,  passion,  or  state  denoted  by  the  verb  ;  and  the  other,  to  the  completion 
of  it.  Thus,  the  present  participle  signifies  imperfect  action,  or  action  begun  and  not  ended  :  as,  '  I  am  writing  » 
letter.'  The  past  participle  signifies  action  perfected,  or  finished:  as,  '  I  have  written  a  letter.' — 'The  letter  U 
•written.'  "—  Murray's  Grammar,  8vo,  p.  65.  "  The  first  [participle]  expresses  a  continuation  ;  the  other,  a  com- 
pletion."—  W.  Allen's  Grammar,\2mo,  London,  1813.  "  The  idea  which  this  participle  [e.  g.  '  tearing'}  really  ex- 
presses, is  simply  that  of  the  continuance  of  an  action  in  an  incomplete  or  unfinished  state.  The  action  may  belong 
to  time  present,  to  time  past,  or  to  time  future.  The  participle  which  denotes  the  completion  of  an  action,  as  torn, 
Is  called  the  perfect  participle  ;  because  it  represents  the  action  as  perfected  QT  finished.'1'1— Barnard's  Analytic 
Gram.  p.  51.  Emmons  stealthily  copies  from  my  Institutes  as  many  as  ten  lines  in  defence  of  the  term  '•Imper- 
fect,'1 and  yet,  in  his  conjugations,  he  calls  the  participle  in  .ing,  "Present."  This  seems  inconsistent.  See  his 
"  Grammatical  Instructtr, "  p.  61. 

t  "The  ancient  termination  (from  the  Anglo-Saxon)  was  and;  as,  'His  schynand  sword.'  Douglas.  And 
sometimes  ende  ;  as,  '  She,  betwene  the  deth  and  life,  Swounende.  lay  full  ofte.'  Gower." —  W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  88. 
"  The  present  Participle,  in  Saxon,  was  formed  by  ande,  ende,  or  onde  ;  and,  by  cutting  off  the  final  e,  it  acquired 
a  Substantive  signification,  and  extended  the  idea  to  the  agent :  as,  alysende,  freeing,  and  alystnd,  a  redeemer  ; 
fteonde,  loving  cr  friendly,  audfreond,  a  lover  or  a  friend." — J>oo//t's  Introd.  to  Diet.  p.  75. 

t  William  B.  Fowle,  a  modern  disciple  of  Tooke,  treats  the  subject  of  grammatical  time  rather  more  strangely 
than  his  master.  Thus  :  "  How  many  times  or  tenses  have  verbs  ?  Two,  [the]  present  and  [the]  pastS*  To  thif 
he  immediately  adds  in  a  note  :  "  We  do  not  believe  in  apast  any  more  than  a  future  tense  of  verbs. ;- — The  True 
English  Gram.  p.  30.  So,  between  these  two  authors,  our  verbs  will  retain  no  tenses  at  all.  Indeed,  by  his  two 
tenses,  Fowle  only  meant  to  recognize  the  two  simple  forms  of  an  English  verb.  For  he  says,  in  an  other  place, 
"  We  repeat  our  conviction  that  no  verb  in  itself  expresses  time  of  any  sort." — Ib.  p.  69. 


CHAP.    VII.]  ETYMOLOGY. PARTICIPLES. CLASSES. NAMES.  395 

ten  ;  "  the  former  being  equivalent  to  Scripsi  literas,  and  the  latter  to  Sunt  mihi  liters  scripts. 
But  there  arc  many  perfect  participles  which  cannot  with  any  propriety  be  called  passive. 
Such  are  all  those  which  come  from  intransitive  or  neuter  verbs  ;  and  also  those  which 
so  often  occur  in  the  tenses  of  verbs  not  passive.  I  have  already  noticed  some  instances  of 
this  misnomer  ;  and  it  is  better  to  preclude  it  altogether,  by  adhering  to  the  true  name  of 
this  participle,  s  r.  Nor  is  that  entirely  true  which  some  assert,  "  that  this  par- 

ticiple in  the  active  is  only  found  in  combination ; "  that,  "  Whenever  it  stands  alone  to  be 
parsed  as  a  Participle,  it  is  passive." — //<//•/'*  llirilish  Gram.  p.  75.    See  Bullion*  s  Anabjt.  and 
,.    p.   77.     "Rebelled,"  in   the  following  examples,  cannot  with  any  propriety 
be  called  a  passive  participle  : 

,  did  I  not  send  them  terms  of  peace, 

Which  not  my  justice,  but  my  mercy  asked  ? " — Pollok,  x,  253. 
"  Arni'd  with  thy  might,  rid  Heav'n  of  these  rebelFd, 
To  their  prepar'd  ill  mansion  driven  down." — Milton,  vi,  737. 

OBS.  7. — The  third  participle  has  most  generally  been  called  the  Compound  or  the  Com- 
pound perfect.  The  latter  of  these  terms  seems  to  be  rather  objectionable  on  account  of  its 
length  ;  and  against  the  former  it  may  be  urged  that,  in  the  compound  forms  of  conjuga- 
tion, the  first  or  imperfect  participle  is  a  compound :  as,  being  writing,  being  seen.  Dr. 
Adam  /  loved  the  perfect  participle  active,  which  he  says  must  be  rendered  in  Latin 

by  the  of   the  subjunctive ;"  as,  he  having  loved,  quum  amavisset;"  (Lat.  and 

.  p*.  140  ;)  but  it  is  manifest  that  the  perfect  participle  of  the  verb  to  love,  whether 
active  or  passive,  is  the  simple  word  loved,  and  not  this  compound.  Dr.  Adam,  in  fact, 
if  he  denies  this,  only  contradicts  himself;  for,  in  his  paradigms  of  the  English  Active 
Vioce,  he  gives  the  participles  as  two  only,  and  both  simple,  thus :  "Present,  Loving ; 
Perfect,  Loved -."—"Present,  Having;  Perfect,  Had."  So  of  the  Neuter  Verb :  "Present, 
Being;  Pcrfccf,  Ik-en." — Ib.  pp.  81  and  82.  His  scheme  of  either  names  or  forms  is  no 
model  of  accuracy.  On  the  very  next  page,  unless  there  is  a  misprint  in  several  editions, 
he  calls  tli  irticiple  the""  imperfect;  "  saying,  "The  whole  of  the  passive  voice  in 

English  is  formed  by  the  auxiliary  verb  to  be,  and  the  participle  imperfect ;  as,  /  am  loved,  I 
teas  loved,  L\C."  Further  :  "  In  many  verbs,"  he  adds,  "  the  present  participle  also  is  used  in 
a  pas>l  "<-.sr  things  arc  doing,  were  doing,  &c. ;  The  house  is  building,  was  building, 

&c." — Ib.  p.  s  :.  X.  Butler,  in  his  Practical  Grammar,  of  1845,  names,  and  counts,  and 
orders,  the  participles  very  oddly:  "  Every  verb,"  he  says,  "has  two  participles — the  im- 
perfect and  ;  .  " — P.  78.  Yet,  for  the  verb  love,  he  finds  these  six ;  two  "  IMPERFECT, 
Loving  and  lid /if/  loved ;  "  two  "  PERFECT,  Having  loved  and.  Having  been  loved ;  "  one  "AUXIL- 
IARY 1  ."of  the  "Active  Voice;"  and  one  "PASSIVE,  Loiyd,"  of  the  "Passive 
."  Many  old  writers  erroneously  represent  the  participle  in  ing  as  always  active,  and 
the-  participle  in  cd  or  en  as  always  passive ;  and  some,  among  whom  is  Buchanan,  making 
no  distinction  between  the  simple  perfect  loved  and  the  compound  having  loved,  place  the 
latter  with  the  former,  and  call  it  passive  also.  The  absurdity  of  this  is  manifest :  for 
having  /  ;  oi  //•<•/,/'/  seen  is  active;  Juicing  been  or  having  sat  is  neuter;  and  having  been 
loved  or  A>  ifl  passive.  Again,  the  triple  compound,  having  been  writing,  is 
active  ;  and  h<n-lnj  bcm  nit  (ing  is  neuter;  but  if  one  speak  of  goods  as  having  been  selling 
low,  a  similar  compound  is  passive. 

OHS.  8. — Now  all  the  compound  participles  which  begin  with  having  are  essentially  alike ; 
and,  a-  terms,  they  ought  to  have  a  name  adapted  to  their  nature,  and  expressive  of 

their  leading  characteristic.  llu>-ing  toccd  differs  from  the  simple  participle  loved,  in  significa- 
tion as  well  as  in  form;  and,  if  this  participle  is  to  be  named  with  reference  to  its  nn-aning,  there 
is  no  i!i  .a  for  it,  than  the  epithet  1 '  r, — a  word  which  explains  itself, 

like  ;//•  .     Of  the  many  other  names,  the  most  correct  one  is  PLUPERFECT, — 

which  y  nearly  the  same  meaning.     Not  bccaxise  this  compound  is  really  of 

the  pi1.  it  always  denotes  being,  action,  or  passion,  that  is,  orwas, 

or  will  the  doing  or  being  of  something  else;  and,  of  course,  when 

the  latter  thing  is   i«  is  pa-t,  the  participle  must  correspond  to  the   pluperfect 

tense  oi  \  >.  it  was  necessary  she  should  expatiate  on 

•aity  and  futility  of  tin-  enjoym  rare."—- /ofiMMon'j  Wn-t.  p.  181. 

Here  \     \\\\  "  I  may  say, 

"/  commanded,  we  obeyed." — Felch's  Com- 

ji.   i\.     Here  the  two  phrases  in  Italics  correspond  in  import,  though  not 
in  construction. 

Ons.  Q.—I'/iijH-rfcct  is   a  derivative  contracted  from  the   Latin  pin-  .  and 

literally  signifii  s  more  tli-;.  ,-t ;  i.  e.,  (as  confirmed  by  use,)  ante- 

ced'^i'  ual  name  of  our  fourth  tense  ;  is    likewise 

applicable  ling  tenae  in  other  tongues  ;  and  is  a  word  familiar  to  every 

scholar.     Y  grammarians — too  ready,  ;  r  innovation, — have  shown  their 

willingness    to    discard  it  altogether.     Bullions,  Butler,  HUey,    Perley,   Wi-lN,   and    some 


others,  call  the  Eng!i  .  -perfect,  and  understand  either  epithet   to 

mem — "  completed  at  or  before  a  certain  past  time  ;  "  ( Bullions' s  E. 


Gram.  p.  39;)  that  is— 


396  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [l>ART  21. 

"finished  or  past,  at  some  past  time." — Butler's  Pract.  Gram.  p.  72.  The  relation  of  tlie  tense  is 
before  the  past,  but  the  epithet  pluperfect  is  not  necessarily  limited  to  this  relation,  any  more 
than  what  is  perfect  is  necessarily  past.  Butler  has  urged,  that,  "Pluperfect  does  not 
mean  completed  before"  but  is  only  "  a  technical  name  of  a  particular  tense ; "  and, 
arguing  from  this  erroneous  assumption,  has  convinced  himself,  "  It  would  be  as  correct  to 
call  this  the  second  future  participle  as  the  pluperfect." — Ib.  p.  79.  The  technical  name,  as 
limited  to  the  past,  is  preter pluperfect,  from  the  older  teiTaprceteritumplusQu.'  -m  ;  so 

preter perfect,  from  prceteritumperfectum,  i.  e.  past  perfect,  is  the  name  of  an  other  tense,  now 
called  tho  perfect :  wherefore  the  substitution  of  past-perfect  for  pluperfect  is  the  less  to  be 
commended.  There  may  be  a  convenience  in  having  the  name  of  the  tense  to  differ  from 
that  of  the  participle,  and  this  alone  induces  me  to  prefer  preperfect  to  pluperfect  for  the 
name  of  the  latter. 

OBS.  10. — From  the  participle  in  ed  or  en,  we  form  three  tenses,  which  the  above-named 
authors  call  perfect ; — "  the  present-perfect,  the  post-perfect,  and  \h&  future-perfect ; " — as,  have 
seen,  had  seen,  will  have  seen.  Now  it  is,  doubtless,  the  participle,  that  gives  to  these  their 
perfectness ;  wrhile  diversity  in  the  auxiliaries  makes  their  difference  of  time.  Yet  it 
is  assumed  by  Butler,  that,  in  general,  the  simple  participle  in  cd  or  en,  "  does  not  denote 
an  action  done  and  completed,"  and  is  not  to  be  called  perfect ;  (p.  80 ;)— that,  "  If  we 
wish  to  express  by  a  participle,  an  action  completed  at  any  time,  we  use  the  compound 
form,  and  this  is  THE  perfect  participle ;"  (p.  79;) — that,  "  The  characteristic  of  the  par- 
ticiple in  ed  is,  that  it  implies  the  reception  of  an  action ;  "  (p.  79  ;) — that,  hence,  it 
should  be  called  the  passive,  though  it  "  is  usually  called  the  perfect  participle  ;  "  (p.  79  ;) 
— that,  "  The  use  of  this  participle  in  the  perfect  tenses  of  the  active  voice  should  not  be 
taken  into  consideration  in  giving  it  a  name  or  a  definition ;  "  (p.  80 ;) — that  its  active, 
neuter,  or  intransitive  use  is  not  a  primitive  idiom  of  the  language,  but  the  result  of  a  gradual 
change  of  the  term  from  the  passive  to  the  active  voice ;  (p.  80  ;) — that,  "  the  participle  has 
changed  its  mode  of  signification,  so  that,  instead  of  being  passive,  it  is  now  active  in  sense ; " 
(p.  105;)— that,  "having  changed  its  original  meaning  so  entirely,  it  should  not  be  con- 
sidered the  same  participle ;"  (p.  78  ;) — that,  "  in  such  cases,  it  is  a  perfect  participle,"  and,  "  for 
the  sake  of  distinction  [,]  this  may  be  called  the  auxiliary  perfect  participle." — Ib.  These 
speculations  I  briefly  throw  before  the  reader,  without  designing  much  comment  u:x>n 
them.  It  will  be  perceived  that  they  are,  in  several  respects,  contradictory  one  to  an  other. 
The  author  himself  names  the  participle  in  reference  to  a  usage  which  he  says,  "  shoild 
not  be  taken  into  consideration  ;  "  and  names  it  absurdly  too  ;  for  he  calls  that  "  the  auxil- 
iary," which  is  manifestly  the  principal  term.  He  also  identifies  as  one  what  he  professe  3  to 
distinguish  as  two. 

OBS.  11. — Participles  often  become  adjectives,  and  are  construed  before  nouns  to  derote 
quality.  The  terms  so  converted  form  the  class  of  participial  adjectives.  Words  of  a  parti- 
cipial form  may  be  regarded  as  adjectives,  under  the  following  circumstances  :  1.  "When  they 
reject  the  idea  of  time,  and  denote  something  customary  or  habitual,  rather  than  a  tran- 
sient act  or  state ;  as,  "A  lying  rogue," — i.e.,  one  addicted  to  lying.  2.  When  they  admit 
adverbs  of  comparison ;  as,  "A  more  learned  TXLQIL."  3.  When  they  are  compounded  v.'ith 
something  that  does  not  belong  to  the  verb  ;  as,  "  unfeeling,  unfelt : "  there  is  no  verb  to  unfeel, 
therefore  these  words  cannot  be  participles.  Adjectives  are  generally  placed  before  iieir 
nouns  ;  participles,  after  them.  The  words  beginning  with  un,  in  the  following  lines  may 
be  classed  with  participial  adjectives  : 

"  No  king,  no  subject  was  ;  unscutcheoned  all ; 
Uncrowned,  unplumed,  unhelmed,  unpedigreed ; 
Unlaced,  uncoroneted,  unbestarred." — Pollok,  C.  of  T.,  B.  viii,  1.  89. 

OBS.  12. — Participles  in  ing  of ten  become  nouns.  When  preceded  by  an  article,  an  adjective 
or  a  noun  or  pronoun  of  the  possessive  case,  they  are  construed  as  nouns ;  and,  if  wholly 
such,  have  neither  adverbs  nor  active  regimen :  as,  "  He  laugheth  at  the  shaking  of  a  spear." 
— Job,  xli,  29.  "There  is  no  searching  of  his  understanding ." — Isaiah,  xl,  28.  "In  their 
setting  of  their  threshold  by  my  threshold." — Ezehiel,  xliii,  8.  "  That  any  man  should  make 
my  glorying  void." — 1  Cor.  ix,  15.  The  terms  so  converted  form  the  class  of  verbal  or  par- 
ticipial nouns.  But  some  late  authors — ( J.  S.  Hart,  S.  S.  Greene,  W.  H.  Wells,  and  others—) 
have  given  the  name  of  participial  nouns  to  many  participles, — such  participles,  often,  as 
retain  all  their  verbal  properties  and  adjuncts,  and  merely  partake  of  some  syntactical  re- 
semblance to  nouns.  Now,  since  the  chief  characteristics  of  such  words  arc  from  the  verb, 
and  are  incompatible  with  the  specific  nature  of  a  noun,  it  is  clearly  improper  to  call  them 
nouns.  There  arc,  in  the  popular  use  of  participles,  certain  mixed  constructions  which  are 
reprehensible  ;  yet  it  is  the  peculiar  nature  of  a  participle,  to  participate  the  proper- 
ties of  other  parts  of  speech, — of  the  verb  and  adjective, — of  the  verb  and  noun, — or  some- 
times, perhaps,  of  all  three.  A  participle  immediately  preceded  by  a  preposition,  is  not 
converted  into  a  noun,  but  remains  a  participle,  and  therefore  retains  its  adverb,  and  also 
its  government  of  the  objective  case  ;  as,  "  I  thank  you  for  helping  him  so  seasonably."  Par- 
ticiples in  this  construction  correspond  with  the  Latin  gerund,  and  are  sometimes  called 
gerundives. 


CIUP.    VII.] 


ETTMOLOGY.^PARTICIPLES. — PARSING. — PRAXIS   VII. 


397 


Ons.  13.— To  distinguish  the  participle  from  the  participial  noun,  the  learner  should  ob- 
serve  the  following  four  things:  1.  Nouns  take  articles  and  adjectives  before  them  ;  parti- 
ciples, as  such,  do  not.  '2.  Nouns  may  govern  the  possessive  case  before  them,  but  not  the 
objective  after  them ;  participles  may  govern  the  objective  case,  but  not  so  properly  the 
3.  Nouns,  if  they  have  adverbs,  require  the  hyphen  ;  participles  take  adverbs 
separately. ;;  do  their  verbs.  4.  Participial  nouns  express  actions  as  things,  and  are  some- 
times drained  like  other  nouns;  participles  usually  refer  actions  to  their  agents  or  recipi- 
ents, arvl  imve  in  English  no  grammatical  modifications  of  any  kind. 

Oi;s.   1  : . — To  distinguish  the  perfect  participle  from  the  preterit  of  the  same  form,  observe 
which  of  the  auxiliary  forms  will  express  it :  thus,  loved  for  b<  ' 

•'  for  did  love,  is  a  preterit  verb.     So  Jield  for  did  hold,  stung  for  did  sting, 
•rt,  and  the  like,  are  irregular  verbs ;  but  held  for  being  held,  stung  for  being 
ttung,  tau/iht  for  being  taught,  and  the  like,  are  perfect  participles. 

.  15. — Though  the  English  participles  have  no  inflections,  and  are  consequently  in- 
capable of  any  grammatical  agreement  or  disagreement,  those  which  are  simple,  are  sometimes 
elegantly  taken  in  a  plural  sense,  with  the  apparent  construction  of  nouns;  but,  under 
these  circumstances,  they  are  in  reality  neither  nouns  nor  participles,  but  participial  adjec- 
tives construed  clliptically,  as  other  adjectives  often  are,  and  relating  to  plural  nouns  under- 
stood. The  ellipsis  is  sometimes  of  a  singular  noun,  though  very  rarely,  and  much  less 
properly.  Examples :  "  To  them  who  are  the  called  according  to  his  purpose." — Rom.  x,  28. 
That  is — "  the  called  ones  or  persojis."  "  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living" 
— Matt,  xxii,  32.  "  Neither  is  it  found  in  the  land  of  the  living." — Job,  xxviii,  13.  "  The  liv- 
ing, the  licincj,  he  shall  praise  thee,  as  I  do  this  day." — Isaiah,  xxxviii,  19.  "  Till  we  are 
made  fit  to  live  and  reign  with  him  and  all  his  redeemed,  in  the  heavenly  glory  forever." — 
Jenlx's  Prayers,  p  18. 

"  Ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  come,  ye  just, 

Enter  the  joy  eternal  of  your  Lord." — Pottok,  B.  x,  1.  591. 
"  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  the  fire 
Prepared  eternal  in  the  gulf  of  Hell."— 7<Z.  B.  x,  1.  449. 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 
PRAXIS  VII.  — ETYMOLOGICAL. 

Li  the  Seventh  Praxis  it  is  required  of  the  pupil — to  distinguish  and  define  the 
different  parts  of  speech,  and  the  classes  and  modifications  of  the  ARTICLES, 
NOUNS,  ADJECTIVES,  PRONOUNS,  VERBS,  and  PARTICIPLES. 

The  definitions  to  le  given  in  the  Seventh  Praxis,  are  two  for  an  article,  six  fora 
noun,  three  for  an  adjective,  six  for  a  pronoun,  seven  for  a  verb  finite,  five  for 
an  two  for  a  participle, — and  one  for  an  adverb,  a  conjunction,  a 

preposition,  or  an  interjection.  Thus: — 

EXAMPLE  PARSED. 
"  Religion,  rjghtly  understood  and  practised,  has  the  purest  of  all  joys  attending  it." 

mmon  noun,  of  the  third  ;  .neuter  gender,  and  nominative  cose.  1.  A  noun 

noun  is  tin- 

on  or 

.lor  is 

.  The  nominative  case  10  that  form  or  state  of 

participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb  ; 

•ttantt- 


• 

rson  or 


,'*«.  practised,  practising,  prae- 
:idjec- 
participle  is 

,ivo  inood,  present 
/  upon. 
•iplc  by  assii' 

.Angular  number  is  that  \\ 

wo  pat  before  nouns  to  limit 
tilings. 

;re,  purer,  purest.    1.  An 

uTcioa  »i .  •>.  A  common  adjective 

.•  superlative  degree  is  that  which 
is  moil  or  least  ol  all  Included  with  it. 


398  THE  GKAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

Of  is  a  preposition.  1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  tilings  or  thoughts  to 
each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

All  is  a  pronominal  adjective,  not  compared.  1.  An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and 
generally  expresses  quality.  2.  A  pronominal  adjective  is  a  definitive  word  which  may  either  accompany 
its  noun  or  represent  it  understood,  o.  Those  adjectives  whose  signification  does  not  admit  of  different 
degrees,  cannot  be  compared. 

Joys  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  plural  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case.  1.  A  noun  is 
the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  2.  A  common  noun  is  the  name 
of  a  sort,  kind,  or  class,  of  beings  or  things,  3.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thing 
mei'ely  spoken  of.  4.  The  plural  number  is  that  which  denotes  more  than  one.  5.  The  neuter  gene er  is 
that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  objective  case  is  that  form  or  state 
of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  object  of  a  verb,  participle,  or  preposition. 

Attending  is  an  imperfect  participle,  from  the  regular  active-transitive  verb,  attend,  attended,  attending, 
attended.  1.  A  participle  is  a  word  derived  from  a  verb,  participating  the  properties  of  a  verb,  and  of  an 
adjective  or  a  noun  ;  and  is  generally  formed  by  adding  ing,  d,  ored,  to  the  verb.  2.  The  imperfect  participle 
is  that  which  ends  commonly  in  ing,  and  implies  a  continuance  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion. 

It  is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case.  1.  A  pronoun 
is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun.  2.  A  personal  pronoun  is  a  pronoun  that  shows,  by  its  form,  of  what 
person  it  is.  '6.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The 
singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter  gender  is  that  which  denotes  things  that  are 
neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  objective  case  is  that  form  or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes 
the  object  of  a  verb,  participle,  or  preposition. 

LESSON  I. — PARSING. 

"A  Verb  is  a  word  whereby  something  or  other  is  represented  as  existing,  possess- 
ing, acting,  or  being  acted  upon,  at  some  particular  time,  past,  present,  or  future ; 
and  this  in  various  manners." — Wldte,  on  the  English  Verb,  p.  1. 

"  Error  is  a  savage,  lurking  about  on  the  twilight  borders  of  the  circle  illuminated 
by  truth,  ready  to  rush  in  and  take  possession,  the  moment  her  lamp  grows  dim.'' — 
Beecher. 

"  The  science  of  criticism  may  be  considered  as  a  middle  link,  connecting  the 
different  parts  of  education  into  a  regular  chain." — Ld.  Kames,  EL  of  Orit.,  p.  xxii. 

"  When  I  see  a  man  walking,  a  tree  growing,  or  cattle  grazing,  I  cannot  doubt  but 
that  these  objects  are  really  what  they  appear  to  be.  Nature  determines  us  to  rely 
on  the  veracity  of  our  senses ;  for  otherwise  they  could  not  in  any  degree  answer 
their  end,  that  of  laying  open  things  existing  and  passing  around  us." — Id.  ib.  i,  85. 

"  But,  advancing  farther  in  life,  and  inured  by  degrees  to  the  crooked  ways  of  men ; 
pressing  through  the  crowd,  and  the  bustle  of  the  world  ;  obliged  to  contend  with 
this  man's  craft,  and  that  man's  scorn  ;  accustomed,  sometimes,  to  conceal  their  senti- 
ments, and  often  to  stifle  their  feelings ;  they  become  at  last  hardened  in  heart,  and 
familiar  with  corruption." — BLAIR  :  Murray's  Sequel,  p.  140. 

"  Laugh'd  at,  he  laughs  again  ;  and  stricken  hard, 
Turns  to  his  stroke  his  adamantine  scales, 
That  fear  no  discipline  of  human  hands." — Cowper's  Task,  p.  47. 

LESSON  II. — PARSING. 

"  Thus  shame  and  remorse  united  in  the  ungrateful  person,  and  indignation  united 
with  hatred  in  the  hearts  of  others,  are  the  punishments  provided  by  nature  for  in- 
justice."—/Tames,  El  of  Grit.  Vol.  i,  p.  288. 

"Viewing  man  as  under  the  influence  of  novelty,  would  one  suspect  that  custom 
also  should  influence  him  ? — Human  nature,  diversified  with  many  and  various 
springs  of  action,  is  wonderfully,  and,  indulging  the  expresssion,  intricately  con- 
structed."— Id.  ib.  i,  325. 

"  Dryden  frequently  introduces  three  or  four  persons  speaking  upon  the  same 
subject,  each  throwing  out  his  own  notions  separately,  without  regarding  what  is  said 
by  the  rest." — Id.  ib.  ii,  294. 

"Nothing  is  more  studied  in  Chinese  gardens,  than  to  raise  wonder  or  surprise. 
Sometimes  one  is  led  insensibly  into  a  dark  cavern,  terminating  unexpectedly  in  a 
landscape  enriched  with  all  that  nature  affords  the  most  delicious." — Id.  ib.  ii,  334. 
"  The  answer  to  the  objection  here  implied,  is  obvious,  even  on  the  supposition 
of  the  questions  put  being  answered  in  the  affirmative." — Prof.  VethaJce. 

"  As  birds  flying,  so  will  the  Lord  of  hosts  defend  Jerusalem  ;  defending  also,  he 
will  deliver  it;  and,  passing  over,  he  will  preserve  it." — Isaiah,  xxxi,  5. 
"  Here,  by  the  bonds  of  nature  feebly  held, 

Minds  combat  minds,  repelling  and  repell'd." — Goldsmith. 
"  Suffolk  first  died,  and  York,  all  haggled  over, 
Comes  to  him  where  in  gore  he  lay  insteeped." — Shakspeare. 


CHAP.    VII.]  ETIMOLOGT. — PARTICIPLES. — ERRORS.  399 

LESSON  III. — PARSING. 

"  Every  change  in  the  state  of  things  is  considered  as  an  effect,  indicating  the 
agency,  characterizing  the  kind,  and  measuring  the  degree,  of  its  cause." — Dr.  Mur- 
ray, Hist,  of  En.  L.,  i,  171K 

"  Having  loved  his  own  who  were  in  the  world,  he  loved  them  unto  the  end.  And 
supper  being  ended,  (the  devil  having  now  put  it  into  the  heart  of  Judas  Iscariot, 
Simon's  son,  to  betray  him,)  Jesus,  knowing  that  the  Father  had  given  all  things 
into  his  hand,  and  that  he  had  come  from  God  and  was  going  to  God,  arose  from  sup- 
per, and  laid  aside  his  coat,  and,  taking  a  towel,  girded  himself:  then  he  poured 
some  wafer  into  a  basin,  and  began  to  wash  the  disciples'  feet,  and  to  wipe  them  with 
the  towel  with  which  he  wag  girded." — See  John,  xiii. 

"  Spiritual  desertion  is  naturally  and  judicially  incurred  by  sin.  It  is  the  with- 
drawal of  that  divine  unction  which  enriches  the  acquiescent  soul  with  moral  power 
and  pleasure.  The  subtraction  leaves  the  mind  enervated,  obscured,  confused,  de- 
graded, and  distracted." — HOMO:  N.  T.  Observer. 

"  Giving  no  offence  in  any  thing,  but  in  all  things  approving  ourselves  as  the 
ministers  of  God  :  as  unknown,  and  yet  well  known  ;  as  dying,  and,  behold,  we  live  ; 
as  chastened,  and  not  killed  ;  as  sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing ;  as  poor,  yet  making 
many  rich  ;  as  having  nothing,  and  yet  possessing  all  things." — 2  Cor.  vi. 
"  0  may  th'  indulgence  of  a  father's  love, 
Pour'd  forth  on  me,  be  doubled  from  above." — Young. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
ERRORS  OF  PARTICIPLES. 

(£/"•  [As  the  principles  upon  which  our  participles  ought  to  be  formed,  were  necessarily  anticipated  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter  on  verbs,  the  reader  must  recur  to  that  chapter  for  the  doctrines  by  which  the  following  errors  are 
to  be  corrc<  tc  1.  The  jn-at  length  of  that  chapter  seemed  a  good  reason  for  separating  these  exam  pies  from  it,  and 
it  was  :i  rh  words  as  are  erroneously  written  for  participles,  should,  for  the  sake  of  order,  be 

•••.    In  many  of  these  examples,  however,  the  participle  is  not  really  a  separate  part  of 
spei  c-h,  but  is  in  fact  taken  with  an  auxiliary  to  form  some  compound  tense  of  its  verb.] 

LESSON  I. — IRREGULARS. 

'•  Many  of  your  readers  have  mistook  that  passage." — Steele,  Spect.,  No.  544. 

[FoRMULE  — Not  proper,  because  the  preterit  verb  mistook  Is  here  used  for  the  perfect  participle.  But,  according 
rbs,  we  ought  to  Ray.  mistake,  mistook,  mistaking,  mistaken;  after  the  form  of  the 
Itn.     Therefore,  the  sentence  should  be  amended  thus :  "  Many  of  your  readers 
/i  that  p:issa_- 

"  Had  not  my  dig  of  a  steward  ran  away." — Addison,  Spcct.  "  None  should  be  admitted, 
except  he  had  broke  his  collar-bone  thrice."— Spcct.  No.  474.  "  We  could  not  know  what  was 
wrote  at  twenty." — /  "  I  have  wrote,  thou  hast  wrote,  he  has  wrote;  we 

have  wrote,  ye  have  wrote,  they  have  wrote." — Ash's  Gram.  p.  62.  "As  if  God  had  spoke  his 
last  words  there  to  his  people." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  462.  "  I  had  like  to  have  came  in  that 
ship  myself."— A  >.  453.  "  Our  ships  and  vessels  being  drove  out  of  the  har- 

bour 1  .  470.     "  lie  will  endeavour  to  write  as  the 

ancient  author  would  have  wrote,  had  he  writ  in  the  same  language." — Boliiigbroke,  on  Hist,  i, 
68.  "When  hi-  ;  re w  too  strong  to  be  shook  by  his  enemies." — Attcrbury.  "The 

iminortal  mind  that  hath  forsook  Her  mansion." — Milton.  "  Grease  that's  sweaten  from  the 
murderer's  gibbet,  throw  into  the  flame." — Xhak.  Macbeth.  The  court  also  was  chided  for 
allowing  such  questions  to  be  put." —  ''•'•emasonry,  p.  470.  "  He  would  have 

spoke." — Milton,  I'.  1...  15.  x,  1.  ,>17.  >vith  sighs  found  out  their  way." 

— /'/.  >  have  strove."— Id.  i:iii>nnchi»i%\\\\.  "That 

-  took." — ,  ~.     "And  envious  Darkness,  ere  they  could  re- 

tur.i,  hem  from  me." — Id.  r<. ////>*,  1.  i:i.i.     "I  have  chose   this  perfect  man." — 

.  /,'.,  15.  i,  1.  165.     "I  will  scarce  think  you  h:ive  swam  in  a  gondola."— Mink.  As  You 
iragrant  bn  :i." — hn/d<n,   Fables.     "Then  finish  what 

yo\.  have  i  •  .     "  Lut  now  the  years  a  numerous  train  have  ran." — 

!.  o'jo.     "  lie-peats  y  -.vrote  on  glasses."— Prior.     "  Who  by 

turns  — Id.     "  Which  from  great  authors  I  have  took." — Id.  Alma.     Ev'n  there 

he  should  have  fell."—/*/.  Solomon. 

"  The  sun  has  rose,  and  gone  to  bed, 
Just  ;is  ii"  Partridge  were  not  dead." — Sicift. 

\  ml  though  no  marriage  words  are  spoke, 
They  part  not  till  the  ring  is  broke." — Id.  Riddles. 


400  Till:    UKAMMAK    01-'    KXiM.lSII    GRAMMAR.  [I'AttT    II. 

*x  IT.  —  KKUULARS. 

"  When  the  word  is  stript  of  all  the  terminations."  /..,  i.  319. 

•rinntoil  in  I.  IHit,  a<  •  •:-s»Tv:iti.>n  LM. 

•<is  t  shouUl  l>«  ohnugud  to  »</.•  anil  tho  ihml  /•  ^houUl  In-  . 
:i;i:*  to  Kalo  inl  tor  iSyoUini;  :  thu.s  "  \\  lu'U  tho  NUH\I  is  >.'•'.»•;"'  of  all  (ho  trnntn:itior 

••  Forgive  him.  TOT-.-  •  . 

I    with    his    own  potav."--   ''•        .    Ao:     :.     "A 
are,    L    was    nuv  ll    mother.'  /\v/.'?>\    p.   ;UO.      "If  ho    ^honld    now    he 

i  -inoehisi  '  c  head  and 

"We   seo   the   D  •;]•_'.      "  Hooanso    they    t'nul    their  j 

-  /.'•.  p.  ,'v'S.    "  0  what  a  pleasure  muct  vrith  pain  1  "-  ••Aiuloniy>.-ith 

.llowM,  That  iui;;-l\t  noi  he 

oonfest."—  /».  p.  361.     "My  love    to    Sluvb.h  is  more   i  -The 

observations  awnext  to  them  will  K  ,   \\A.  i,  p.   157. 

res  are  always  fixt  on.  the  general  priu<  ,  468.    "Laborious  i 

wiUbobanishl  t'ror.;   >  1,  :u\d 

as  reestablisht  in  his  sto:ul."—  / 

—  /&.  i,  466.     '*  Nor  should  I  have  spol  ,  v.uloss   Maxtor  had    t:i]kt   abo: 

such."  —  /d.  i,  467.    "And  the  reformers  of  a^ht  on."  —  !•>.  i,  >(;). 

"Three  oc-..  '  a  half  had  then  elaptt  since  the  date,1  ••ot'sm-horiti-ria, 

as  has  beer.  .uulauce."  —  Ib.  -}\  have  >ur- 

every  other  nation  in  their  services."  —  Ib.  i,  306. 
iity  to  the  speaker."  —  Boms'*  Hermes,  p.  66.    "To  -\\Vi  h  wo 
('otter'*  Pitrtidos,  p.  13.     "  But  for  him,  I  should  have  lookt  M  oil  enough  to  in 
—  Id.  p.  88.      "Why   are  you  vext,  Lady?  why  do  frown?"  —  !///'/<>;/,    r«/;m,<,   1 
"Obtruding  false  rules  prank  t  in  reason's  garb."  —  Ib.  1.  759,    '•  Hut.  i  '.ko  Pavid  on 
Saul's  armour,  it  is  encumbered  and  oppressed."  —  Compfott**  Met.  p.  378. 
"  And  when  their  merchants  are  blown  up,  and  crackt, 
Whole  towns  are  oast  away  in  storms,  and  wreckt."  —  Butler,  p.  163. 

LESSON  III.  —  MIXED. 
"The  lands  are  holden  in  free  and  common  soccage."  —  Trumbuffs  Hist,  i,  133. 


ot  proper,  because  the  participle  koldtn  is  not  m  that  form  which  present  us:  '•'  ut  , 

ncroiMir-  to  tho  table  of  irregular  verbs,  the  four  parts  of  the  rwrb  to  hold,  as  now  used,  mv 

.   .  •.       ;      -.v.-.vo,    .  :•:•:,  '      :-...   -  .    .     L:.^  avo    :  i  ..     •  ..:    I,,-.-.    -    n  ^>  .,,  .,.."| 

"  A  stroke  is  drawed  under  sn  i  rammar,  Edition  of  1S3-J.  •    ',">!. 

"It  is  striked  even,  with  a  strickle."—  Ho«w\-  /'.:  .-;  :.\  :.>•.  p.  il->.     ••  Wi 
ring,  without  any  on  v  my  bounds."  —  lit.  p.  S;>.     "YTuou  one  wouh: 

thing,  unless  hundred  ;t."  —  JbAtuo/t's  < 

potentially,   but  not  so  as 

dote  upon  things  hurryod  down  the  Stream  thus 
en  hnth  timely  try*d  their  growth."—  Milton,  Conuu. 
have  Pnntcht  his  wand."  —  Ib.  p.  815. 
that  they  have  at  last  come  to  ' 
"Tho  n  among  the  pots."  —  P«o/. 

olive-  U  a  (  pluck  i  RXI>S'  BIBLB,  ar, 

Are  rid,  like  madmen,  through  the  u 
Luke,  xviii,  82.     "  And  are  not  tho  oo 

'try's  .Vrmom.     "No;  as  she  was 

cloud."—  UWtot»,  B  P«*s«roso,  1,  123.   "  To  satisly  .  H.  aJ 

"  With  him  there  v 

W.  P.  L.,  B.  x,  1.  325.     "] 
rgon/'—J  . 
o,  alas,  is  quick 

74.     "  In  i 

uld  you  not  wi.- 

^150.    *'  In  the 

Gran:  . 

ion    pretixt    to    them."  —  Grai:-  .  ••,  hoover  n 

place  the  . 

Itr's  Did.     "Being  mo, 
Essays,  p.  40. 

\vn, 

Till  '  >scommon* 

"  In  iny  own  Th.auies  may  I  bo  d 
If  e'er  1  .  orown'd-hoad."  —  Sicifl. 


CHAP.     VIII.] 


. — AI 


401 


CIIAITKIl  YIIL-ADVKRIiS. 

An  An.  M<-<1  to  a  vcrl»,  a  particijilc,  ;m  a'ljr-ctivc,  or  an 

:mf,  pl;u''  .  .  <  i-  milliner:    as, 

itly. 

BRVATH 

•••lid  oth<  :  :  as,  Now, 

'•  :  —  I)Uiif,  ullij,  I 

lailJfd      b; 

::'liii'^  with  a  noun. 

hhort   words,  which   fir*' 

'-  i:  if  I  ft, 

<'.',  i in  i»i in t't!.     ]Jut  all 
,'!y  retain  thr-ir  individuality,  ought  t< 

\\  ith  t!  .i;  a  few  elli  i'nis  parser 

In  these  i;  »yfh, 

!ioii;il)lv  nouns  j  u  a  noun  ;/////  and  alt 

uns  arc  understood;  at  least,  is, 

,cnt,  is,  at  the  present  time ;  and  in  vain,  is,  in  a  vain  course,  or 

ttion  of  two  or  more  separable  parts  of  speech,  the  parsing 

11.     And  though  the  division  of  our  language 

cch,  have  never  yet  been  made 

Mily  desirable  to  bring  them  as  near  together  as  possible. 

,  cverso,  to-<  /-and- 

it'  tlicy  an  to  be   COm- 

!  thf  (liff'crfiit.  (rl;):«:-."s  of  -\vonls,  some  particular  instances  may 

to  take  the  nature  oi  >  as  either 

1  This  may  appear  in- 

/'/•.  ,  337.     "The  other  party  waa  a 

\Q8tone*  blind."—  Cuirjur.  "He 

will  '  ." -c/'ir!;.     "Tlicy  were  travelling  post  when  he  met  them." — 

ii'l  \\itli  a  vengeance  sent  :  i;i  post  to  Egypt." — Milton, 

'  work  or  not." — Kirk- 

!l  iii^lit,  and  i^  /•/  i.>.»-unce  cold."  i  IVES  : 

not."—  J'»t»-.     "A   |  .ms  deep."—  If  /.      "That 

may  speak  louder  or  softer  in  the 
;>.  116. 

i  i.i  r  :  tin -c ":"— a, ,/.  xx,  9. 

'.;  went  the  \vliij),  round  went  the 

f/,   along  the  miry  road." — Id. 

'   went   the  yard 

•  medicines  given  scalding 

came  Squire   South,  stark, 

'.  iv,  8.     "  How  sweet,  how 

'  we  act  according  to  our  duty." — 

lifted  up  axe-,  upon  the  thick  trees." 
1  \ilo\\-  ih i,  leather  from  my  face. "- 
ofman."- 

"From  r  i  fro  in  the 

in  it."—  /  eposi- 

hough 
r  words  for 

lot  aetu.dly  call  adverbs,)  maybe 
'    as, 


•  i 


in. 


•fly  appears  when  one 


402  THE   GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   II, 

OBS.  5. — As  other  parts  of  speech  seem  sometimes  to  take  the  nature  of  adverbs,  HO 
adverbs  sometimes,  either  really  or  apparently,  assume  the  nature  of  other  parts  of  speech.. 
(1.)  Of  NOUNS:  as,  "A  committee  is  not  needed  merely  to  say  Yes  or  No;  that  will  do 
very  little  good  ;  the  yes  or  the  no  must  be  accompanied  and  supported  by  reasons." — Dr.M'- 
Cartee.  "Shall  I  tell  you  why  ?  Ay,  sir,  and  wherefore ;  for,  they  say,  every  why  hath  a 
wherefore" — Shalt.  (2.)  Of  ADJECTIVES  :  as,  "  Nebuchadnezzar  invaded  the  country,  and 
reduced  it  to  an  almost  desert." — Wood's  Diet.  w.  Moab.  "  The  then  bishop  of  London,  Dr. 
Laud,  attended  on  his  Majesty." — Clarendon.  "With  upward  speed  his  agile  wings  he 
spread." — Prior.  "  She  lights  the  doionward  heaven,  and  rises  there." — Dry  den.  (3.)  Of 
PRONOUNS  :  as,  "  He  liked  the  ground  whereon  she  trod." — Milton.  "  Wherein  have  you  been 
galled  by  the  king  ? " — Shak.  "  O  how  unlike  the  place  from  ichcnce  they  fell !  " — Par.  Lost, 
B.  i,  1.  75.  Here  whereon  is  exactly  equivalent  in  sense  to  on  which  ;  wherein,  to  in  what ; 
and  tohence,  to  which :  but  none  of  them  are  actually  reckoned  pronouns.  (4.)  Of  VERES  : 
as,  "  If  he  be  hungry  more  than  wanton,  bread  alone  will  down." — Locke.  "  To  down 
proud  hearts  that  would  not  willing  die." — Sidney.  "  She  never  could  away  with  me."  — 
Shah.  "Away,  and  glister  like  the  god  of  war." — Id.  "Up,  get  ye  out  of  this  place."—  Gen. 
xix,  14.  (5.)  Of  CONJUNCTIONS  :  as,  "  I,  even  I,  am  he." — Isaiah,  xliii,  25.  "  If  I  will  that 
he  tarry  till  I  come." — John,  xxi,  22.  "I  will  go  and  see  him  before  I  die." — Gen.  xlv,  28, 
"  Before  I  go  whence  I  shall  not  return." — Job,  x,  21.  (6.)  Of  PREPOSITIONS  :  as,  "  Superior 
to  any  that  are  dug  out  the  ground." — Barnes's  Lect.  p.  28.  "Who  act  so  counter  heavenly 
mercy's  plan." — Burns.  Better  perhaps,  "  out  of"  and  "  counter  to."  (7.)  Of  INTERJECTIONS  : 
as,  "Up,  up,  Glentarkin  !  rouse  thee,  ho  !" — Scott.  "Down,  down,  cried  Mar,  your  lances 
down  ! " — Id.  "Off!  or  I  fly  for  ever  from  thy  sight." — Smith. 

OBS.  6. — In  these  last  examples,  up,  and  down,  and  off,  have  perhaps  as  much  resemblance 
to  imperative  verbs,  as  to  interjections ;  but  they  need  not  be  referred  to  either  of  these 
classes,  because  by  supplying  a  verb  we  may  easily  parse  them  as  adverbs.  I  neither 
adopt  the  notion  of  Home  Tooke,  that  the  same  word  cannot  belong  to  different  parts  of 
speech,  nor  refer  every  word  to  that  class  to  which  it  may  at  first  sight  appear  to  belong ; 
for  both  of  these  methods  are  impracticable  and  absurd.  The  essential  nature  of  each 
part  of  speech,  and  every  important  peculiarity  of  its  individual  terms,  it  is  hoped,  will  be 
sufficiently  explained  in  some  part  or  other  of  this  work  ;  but,  as  the  classification  of  word* 
often  depends  upon  their  construction,  some  explanations  that  go  to  determine  the  parts  of 
speech,  must  be  looked  for  under  the  head  of  Syntax. 

OBS.  7. — The  proper  classification,  or  subdivision,  of  adverbs,  though  it  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  discovered  by  any  of  our  earlier  grammarians,  is  certainly  very  clearly  n- 
dicated  by  the  meaning  and  nature  of  the  words  themselves.  The  four  important  circum- 
stances of  any  event  or  assertion,  are  the  when,  the  where,  the  how-much,  and  the  how ;  or 
the  time,  the  place,  the  degree,  and  the  manner.  These  four  are  the  things  which  we  usually 
express  by  adverbs.  And  seldom,  if  ever,  do  we  find  any  adverb  the  notion  of  which  does 
not  correspond  to  that  of  sometime,  somewhere,  somewhat,  or  somehow.  Hence  the  gencxal 
classes  of  this  sort  of  words  ought  to  be  formed  under  these  four  heads.  The  classifica- 
tion heretofore  most  commonly  adopted  in  English  grammars,  has  every  fault  which  the 
spirit  of  awkwardness  could  possibly  give  it.  The  head  of  it  is  this :  "Adverbs,  though 
very  numerous,  may  be  reduced  to  certain  classes,  the  chief  of  which  are  those  of  Number, 
Order,  Place,  Time,  Quantity,  Manner  or  Quality,  Doubt,  Affirmation,  Negation,  Interroga- 
tion, and  Comparison." — Murray's  Gram.  p. 115 ;  Comly's,  66  ;  Kirkham's,  86  ;  R.  C.  Smith's, 
34  ;  Hall's,  26  ;  and  others. 

CLASSES. 

Adverbs  may  be  reduced  to  four  general  classes  ;  namoly,  adverbs  of  time, 
of  place,  of  degree,  and  of  manner.  Besides  these,  it  is  proper  to  distinguish 
the  particular  class  of  conjunctive  adverbs. 

I.  Adverbs  of  time  are  those  which  answer  to  the  question,  When?  How 
long  ?  How  soon  f  or,  How  often  ?  including  these  which  ask. 

OBS. — Adverbs  of  time  may  be  subdivided  as  follows  : — 

1.  Of  time  present ;  as,  Now,  yet,  to-day,  nowadays,  presently,  instantly,  immediately,  straight- 
way, directly,  forthwith. 

2.  Of  time  past;  as,  Already,  just  now,  lately,  recently,  yesterday,  formerly,  anciently,  once,  here- 
tofore, hitherto,  since,  till  now,  long  ago,  ercwhile,  erst. 

3.  Of  time  to  come ;  as,  Tomorrow,  hereafter,  henceforth,  henceforward,  by-and-by,  soon,  erelong, 
short/)/. 

4.  Of  time  relative ;  as,  When,  then,  first,  just,  before,  after,  while,  whilst,  meanwhile,  as,  till, 
until,  seasonably,  betimes,  early,  late,  whenever,  afterward,  afterwards,  other  while,  otherivhiles. 

5.  Of  time  absolute ;  as,  Always,  ever,  never,  aye,  eternally,  forever,  perpetually,  continually, 
incessantly,  endlessly,  evermore,  everlastingly. 

6.  Of  time  repeated ;  as,  Often,  oft,  again,  occasionally,  frequently,  sometimes,   seldom,  rarely, 
daily,  weekly,  monthly,  yearly,  annually,   once,  twice,  thrice,  or  three  times.    Above  this,  we  u»« 


CHAP.    TIT.]  ETYBIOLOGY. — ADVERBS. CLASSES.  403 

only  the  phrases,  four  times,  five  times,  six  times,  &c.     Whether  these  ought  to  be  reckoned 
adverbs  or  not,  is  questionable  :  times,  for  repetitions,  may  be  supposed  a  noun. 

II.  Adverbs  of  place  are  those  which  answer  to  the  question,  Where  ? 
Whither  ?   Whence  ?  or,  Whereabout  ?  including  these  which  ask. 

OBS. — Adverbs  of  place  mav  be  subdivided  as  follows  : — 

1.  Of  place  in  which  ;  as,   iVhere,  here,  there,  yonder,  above,  below,  about,  around,  somewhere, 
any  win  i  ',   otherwhere,   everywhere,   nowhere,   wherever,   wheresoever,  within,  without, 
whereabout,  ir!n-refii«ntts,  hereabout,  hereabouts,  thereabout,  thereabouts. 

2.  Of  place  to  which;  a*,    Whither,  hither,  thither,  in,  up,  doicn,  back,  forth,  aside,   ashore, 
abroad,  aloft,  home,  Immcicards,  inwards,  upwards,  downwards,  backwards,  forwards.    Inward, 
homeward  ^  upward,  downward,  backward,  and  forward,  are  also  adverbs,  as  well  as  adjectives;  but 
some  critics,  for  distinction's  sake,  choose  to  use  these  only  as  adjectives. 

3.  Of  place  from  which  ;  as,   Whence,  hence,  thence,  away,  out,  off,  far,  remotely. 

4.  Of  the  order  of  place  ;  as,  First,  secondly,  thirdly,  fourthly,  £c.      Thus,   secondly  means  in 
the  second  place ;  thirdly,  in  the  third  place  ;  &c.    For  order,  or  rank,  implies  place,  though  it  may 
consist  of  relative  degrees. 

III.  Adverbs  of  degree  are  those  which  answer  to  the  question,  How  much  ? 
How  little  ?  or  to  the  idea  of  more  or  less. 

OBS. — Adverbs  of  degree  may  be  subdivided  as  follows  : — 

1.  Of  excess  or  abundance ;  as,  Much,  more,  most,  too,  very,  greatly,  far,  besides  ;  chief  y, princi- 
pally, mainly,  mostly,  generally ;  entirely,  full,  fully,  completely, perfectly,  wholly,  totally,  altogether, 
all,  ynitt;  clear,  stark;  exceedingly,  excessively,  extravagantly,   intolerably;  immeasurably,  incon- 

',  injinitely. 

2.  Of  equality  or  sufficiency ;  as,  Enough,  sufficiently,  competently,  adequately,  proportionally, 
equally,  so,  as,  even,  just,  exactly,  precisely. 

3.  Of  deficiency  or  abatement ;  as,  Little,  less,  least,  scarcely,  hardly,  scantly,  scantily,  merely, 
barely,  only,  but,  partly,  partially,  nearly,  almost,  well-nigh,  not  quite. 

4.  Of  quantity  in  the  abstract ;  as,  How,  (meaning,  in  what  degree,)  however,  howsoever,  everso, 
•'n'nt/.  anything,  nothing,  a  groat,  a  sixpence,  a  sou-markee,  and  other  nouns  of  quantity  used 

adverbially. 

IV.  Adverbs  of  manner  are  those  which  answer  to  the  question,  How  ?  or, 
by  affirming,  denying,  or  doubting,  show  how  a  subject  is  regarded. 

OBS. — Adverbs  of  manner  may  be  subdivided  as  follows  : — 

1.  Of  manner  from  quality;  as,   Well,  ill,  wisely,  foolishly,  justly,  wickedly,  and  many  others 
formed  by  adding  ly  to  adjectives  of  quality.     Ly  is  a  contraction  of  like;  and  is  the  most  common 
termination  of  English  adverbs.     When  added  to  nouns,  it  forms  adjectives;  but  some  few  o 
these  are  also  used  adverbially  :  as,  daily,  weekly,  monthly,  which  denote  time. 

2.  Of  affirmation  or  assent ;  as,  Yes,  yea,  ay,  verily,  truly,  indeed,  surely,  certainly,  doubtless, 
undoubtedly,  assur  .  forsooth,*  amen. 

3.  Of  negation;  as,  No,  nay,  not,  nowise,  noway,  noways,  nohow. 

4.  Of  doubt  or  uncertainty ;  as,  Perhaps,  haply,  possibly,  perchance,  peradventure,  may-be. 

~>.  Of  mode  or  way  ;  as,  Thus,  so,  hotr,  somehow,  nohow,  anyhow,  however,  howsoever,  like,  elst, 
-.''•ross,  together,  ap-nt,  n^undtr,  namely, particularly,  necessarily,  hesitatingly,  trippingly, 
.  I:  endlong,  i 

V.  Conjunctive  adverbs  are  those  which  perform  the  office  of  conjunctions, 
and  serve  to  connect  sentences,  as  well  as  to  express  some  circumstance  of 
time,  place,  degree,  or  the  like.     This  class  embraces  a  few  words  not  strictly 
belonging  to  any  of  the  others  :    as,  (1.)     The   abverbs  of  cause ;  why, 

refore,  therefore  ;  but  the  last  two  of  these  are  often  called  conjunctions. 

)     The  pronominal  compounds ;  herein,  therein,  wherein,  &c. ;  in  which 

the  former  term  is  a  substitute,  and  virtually  governed  by  the  enclitic  particle. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

1. — Conjunctive  adverbs  often  relate  equally  to  two  verbs  in  different  clauses,  on  which 

•unt  it  is  the  more-  ncrcs-aiy  to  distinguish  them  from  others;  as,  "And  they  feared  when 

they  heard  that  they  wore  Romans."—  -S.     Here  when  is  a  conjunctive  adverb  of  time, 

and  relates  equally  'to  feared  and  to  heard.     "  The  right  of  coming  on  the  shore  for  their  purposes 

in  general,  as  and  when  they  pl«':x  it." — ffolroyd.     Here  as  is  a  conjunctive  adverb  of  manner,  and 

.  of  time  ;  both  relating  equally  to  coming  and  to  j> 

ous.  2 — The  following  words  are  the  most  frequently  used  as  conjunctive  adverbs:  after, 
again,  ako,  ax,  before,  besides,  ronterju,  nth/,  rthermore,  hence,  how, however,  mort- 

•:  *o,  stilt,  till,  then,  thence,  therefore,  too,  until,  when,  whert, 
•hither,  and  while,  or  whilst. 

OBS.  3. — Adverbs  of  titm-,  plwe,  and  manner,  are  generally  connected  with  verbs  or  participles  ; 
those  of  degree  are  more  frequently  placed  before  adjectives  or  adverbs  :  the  latter,  however,  some- 

*  Forsooth  is  literally  a  word  of  affirmation  or  a*wnt.  meaning  for  truth,  but  it  is  now  almost  always  nsed  ironi- 
as,  u  In  those  gentlemen  whom  the  world  forsooik  calls  wi«e  and  solid,  there  is  generally  either  a  morosenew 
that  persecutes,  or  a  dullness  that  tires  you." — Home's  Art  of  Thinking,  p.  24. 


404  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

times  denote  the  measure  of  actions  or  effects  ;  as,  "And  I  wept  much." — Rev.  v,  4.  "And  Isaac 
trembled  very  exceedingly." — Gen.  xxvii,  33.  "  Writers  who  had  felt  less,  would  have  said  more." 
—Fuller. 

"  Victors  and  vanquished,  in  the  various  field, 
Nor  wholly  overcome,  nor  wholly  yield." — Dryden. 

OBS.  4. — The  adverbs  keret  there,  and  where,  when  compounded  with  prepositions,  have  the 
force  of  pronouns,  or  of  pronominal  adjectives:  as,  Hereby,  for  by  this;  thereby,  for  by  that; 
whereby,  for  by  lohich,  or  by  what.  The  prepositions  which  may  be  subjoined  in  this  manner,  are 
only  the  short  words,  at,  by,  for,  from,  in,  into,  of,  on,  to,  unto,  under,  upon,  and  with.  Compounds 
of  this  kind,  although  they  partake  the  nature  of  pronouns  with  respect  to  the  nouns  going  before, 
are  still  properly  reckoned  adverbs,  because  they  relate  as  such  to  the  verbs  which  follow  them  ; 
as,  "  You  take  my  life,  when  you  do  take  the  means  wJiereby  I  live." — Shak.  Here  whereby  is 
a  conjunctive  adverb,  representing  means,  and  relating  to  the  verb  live.*  This  mode  of  expression 
is  now  somewhat  antiquated,  though  still  frequently  used  by  good  authors,  and  especially  by  the 
poets. 

OBS.  5. — The  adverbs,  ichen,  where,  whither,  whence,  how,  why,  wherefore,  wherein,  whereof, 
whereby,  and  other  like  compounds  of  where,  are  sometimes  .used  as  inter  roc/at  ivcs  ;  but,  as  such, 
they  still  severally  belong  to  the  classes  under  which  they  are  placed  in  the  foregoing  distribution, 
except  that  words  of  interrogation  are  not  at  the  same  time  connectives.  These  adverbs,  ar>d 
the  three  pronouns,  who,  which,  and  what,  are  the  only  interrogative  words  in  the  language ;  but 
questions  may  be  asked  without  any  of  them,  and  all  have  other  uses  than  to  ask  questions. 

OBS.  6. — The  conjunctive  adverbs,  when,  where,  whither,  whence,  how,  and  why,  are  sometimes 
so  employed  as  to  partake  of  the  nature  of  pronouns,  being  used  as  a  sort  of  special  relatives, 
which  refer  back  to  antecedent  nouns  of  time,  place,  manner,  or  cause,  according  to  their  own 
respective  meanings  ;  yet  being  adverbs,  because  they  relate  as  such,  to  the  verbs  which  follow 
them:  as,  "  In  the  day  when  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men." — Rom.  ii,  16.  "In  a  time 
when  thou  mayest  be  found." — PsaL  xxxii,  6.  "  I  sought  for  some  time  what  I  at  length  found 
here,  a  place  where  all  real  wants  might  be  easily  supplied."—!);-.  Johnson.  "  To  that  part  of  the 
mountain  where  the  declivity  began  to  grow  craggy." — Id.  "At  Canterbury,  ivhither  some  voice 
had  run  before." — Wotton.  "  Look  unto  the  rock  whence  ye  are  hewn,  and  to  the  hole  of  the  pit 
whence  ye  are  digged." — Isaiah,  li,  1.  "  We  may  remark  three  different  sources  whence  it  arises." — 
Blair's  Rhet.  p.  163.  "  I'll  tell  you  a  way  how  you  may  live  your  time  over  again." — Collier's 
Antoninus,  p.  108.  "A  crude  account  of  the  method  how  they  perceive  truth." — Harris's  Hermes,  p. 
404.  "  The  order  hoio  the  Psalter  is  appointed  to  be  read" — Common  Prayer.  "In  the  sane 
reasoning  we  see  the  cause,  why  no  substantive  is  susceptible  of  these  comparative  degrees."  — 
Hermes,  p.  201.  •  "  There  seems  no  reason  why  it  should  not  work  prosperously." — Society  in 
America,  p.  68.  "  There  are  strong  reasons  why  an  extension  of  her  territory  would  be  injurio  is 
to  her." — Ib.  "An  other  reason  why  it  deserved  to  be  more  studied." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  Ii3. 
"  The  end  ichy  God  hath  ordained  faith,  is,  that  his  free  grace  might  be  glorified." — Goodwin. 

OBS.  7. — The  direct  use  of  adverbs  for  pronouns,  is  often,  if  not  generally,  inelegant;  arid, 
except  the  expression  may  be  thereby  agreeably  shortened,  it  ought  to  be  considered  ungrammat- 
ical.  The  following  examples,  and  perhaps  also  some  of  the  foregoing,  are  susceptible  of 
improvement:  "  Youth  is  the  time,  when  we  are  young." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  120.  Say  rathor, 
"Youth  is  that  part  of  life  which  succeeds  to  childhood."  "The  boy  gave  a  satisfactory  reason 
why  he  was  tardy."— Ibid.  Say  rather,  "  The  boy  gave  a  satisfactory  reason  for  his  tardinesu." 
"The  several  sources  from  whence  these  pleasures  are  derived." — Murray's  Key,  p.  2o8.  Say 
rather — "  sources  from  which."  "  In  cases  ichere  it  is  only  said,  that  a  question  has  been  asked." 
— Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  217.  Say,  "  In  those  cases  inwJdch"  "  To  the  false  rhetoric  of  the  v,ga 
when  he  lived." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  415.  Say  rather — "  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived." 

OBS.  8. — When  a  conjunctive  adverb  is  equivalent  to  both  an  antecedent  and  a  relative,  Ihe 
construction  seems  to  be  less  objectionable,  and  the  brevity  of  the  expression  affords  an  additional 
reason  for  preferring  it,  especially  in  poetry:  as,  "  But  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  icJtcrc  to  lay  his 
head." — Matt,  viii,  20.  "  There  might  they  see  whence  Po  and  Ister  came." — Hoole's  Tasso. 
"  Tell  how  he  formed  your  shining  frame." — Ogilvic.  "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and 
thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  ivhcnceit  cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth." — John, 
in,  8.  In  this  construction,  the  adverb  is  sometimes  preceded  by  a  preposition  ;  the  noun  being, 
in  fact,  understood:  as, 

"  Sinks,  like  a  sea-weed,  into  whence  she  rose." — Byron. 
"  Here  Machiavelli's  earth  return'd  to  whence  it  rose." — Id. 

OBS.  9. — The  conjunctive  adverb  so,  very  often  expresses  the  sense  of  some  word  or  phrase 
going  before;  as,  "Wheresoever  the  speech  is  corrupted,  so  is  the  mind." — Seneca's  Morals,  p. 
267.  That  is,  the  mind  is  also  corrupted.  "  I  consider  grandeur  and  sublimity,  as  terms  synony- 
mous, or  nearly  so." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  29.  The  following  sentence  is  grossly  wrong,  because  the 
import  of  this  adverb  was  not  well  observed  by  the  writer  :  "  We  have  now  come  to  far  the  most 
complicated  part  of  speech  ;  and  one  which  is  sometimes  rendered  still  more  so,  than  the  nature 
of  our  language  requires." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  38.  So,  in  some  instances,  repeats  the  import  of 
a  preceding  noun,  and  consequently  partakes  the  nature  of  a  pronoun;  as, 
"  We  think  our  fathers  fools,  so  wise  we  grow; 

Our  wiser  sons,  no  doubt,  will  think  us  so." — Pope,  on  Crit. 

OBS.  10. — "  Since  is  often  improperly  used  for  ago  :  as,  '  When  were  you  in  France  ? — Twenty 

*  In  most  instances,  however,  the  words  hereof,  thereof,  and  whereof,  are  placed  after  nount,  and  have  nothing 
to  do  with  any  verb.  They  are  therefore  not  properly  atlvftbi,  though  all  our  grammarians  and  lexicographer! 
call  them  so.  Nor  are  they  adjectives  ;  because  they  are  not  used  adjectively,  but  rather  in  the  sense  of  a  pro- 
noun governed  by  of;  or,  what  is  nearly  the  same  thing,  in  the  sense  of  the  possessive  or  genitive  case.  Example : 
"And  the  lame  hereof  went  abroad."— Malt,  ix,  26.  That  is,  '•  the  fame  of  this  miracle;"  which  last  is  a  better 
expression,  the  other  being  obsolete,  or  worthy  to  be  so,  on  account  ol  its  irregularity. 


CHAP.    Till.]  ETYMOLOGY. ADVERBS. MODIFICATIONS.  405 

years  since.'  It  ought  to  be,  '  Twenty  years  ago.'  Since  may  be  admitted  to  supply  the  place  of 
ago  that :  it  being  equally  correct  to  say,  "  It  is  twenty  years  since  I  was  in  F  ance;'  and,  '  It  is 
twents  .'/, •;/.'  1  \v.is  in  France.1" — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  337.  The  difference  between 

o  is  clearly  this  :  the  former,  being  cither  a  preposition  or  a  conjunctive  adverb,  can- 
not with  strict  propriety  be  used  adjc-tin-ly  ,  the  latter,  being  in  reality  an  old  participle,  naturally 
comes  after  a  noun,  in  the  sense  of  an  adjective  ;  as,  a  year  ajo,  a  month  arjo,  a  week  ayo.  "Go, 
ago,  y  re  all  used  indiscriminately  by  our  old  English  writers  as  the 

le  <;f  the  verb  to  go." — Tooke's  Diversions,  Vol.  i,  p.  376.  "Three  days  at/one,  I  fell 
sick." — 1  &t//tiul,  xxx,  lo. 

MODIFICATIONS. 

Adverbs  have  no  modifications,  except  that  a  few  are  compared,  after  the 
manner  of  adjectives:  as,  soon,  sooner,  soonest;  often,  oftener,  oftenest;* 

,  lonycr,  longest ;  fast,  faster,  fastest. 

The  following  are  irregularly  compared :  well,  letter,  best ;  badly  or  ill, 
worse,  worst  ;  little,  less,  least ;  much,  more,  most ;  far,  farther,  farthest ; 
forth,  farther,  furthest.  Hath,  rather,  rathest,  is  now  used  only  in  the  com- 
parative. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

.  1. — Most  adverbs  that  are  formed  from  adjectives  by  the  addition  of  ly,  will  admit 

the  comparative  adverbs  more  and  m-)st,  less  and  least,  before  them  :  as,  wisely,  more  wisely, 

most  10  /,  least  culpably.     This  is  virtually  a  comparison  of  the  latter 

adverb,  but  the  1  inflection,  or  degree,  belongs  only  to  the  former  ;  and  the  words 

oarately,  it  is  certainly  most  proper  to  parse  them  separately,  ascribing  the 

•  of  comparison  to  the  word  which  expresses  it.     As  comparison  does  not  belong  to 

aclver  il,  it  should  not  be  mentioned  in  parsing,  except  in  the  case  of  those  few 

which  ;r  it. 

.  J. — lu  the  works  of  Milton,  and  occasionally  in  those  of  some  other  poets  of  his  age,t 
adverbs  of  two  syllables,  ending  in  ly,  are  not  only  compared  regularly,  like  adjectives  of  the 
same  ending,  but  are  used  in  the  measure  of  iambic  verse  as  if  they  still  formed  only 
two  syllables.  Examples  :  — 

"  But  God  hath  wiselier  arm'd  his  vengeful  ire." — P.  Lost,  B.  x,  1.  1022. 
"  Destroyers  riyhtlier  call'd  and  plagues  of  men." — Ib.  B.  xi,  1.  699. 
"And  on  his  quest,  where  likeliest  he  might  find." — Ib.  B.  ix,  1.  414. 
"  Now  amptier  known  thy  Saviour  and  thy  Lord." — Ib.  B.  xii,  1.  544. 
"Though  thou  \\crtjirmlicr  fasten'd  than  a  rock." — Sam.  Agon.  1.  1398. 
"  Not  rustic,  as  before,  but  seemlier  clad." — P.  Reg.  B.  ii,  1.  299. 
"  Whereof  to  thee  anon 


'ier  shall  be  reveal'd." — Paradise  Lost,  B.  xii,  1.  150. 

"  To  show  what  coast  thy  sluggish  crare 

harbour  in." — >'//<//. -vjt.'are,  Cymb.  Act  IV. 

"  Shall  not  myself  be  kindlier  mov'd  than  thou  art  :" — Id.  Tempest,  Act  V. 
"  But  carthlic'r  happy  is  the  rose  distill' d."— /(/.  M.  S.  JV.  Dream,  Act  I. 
.  3. — The  usage  just  cited  is  clearly  analogical,  and   has  the   obvious    advantage   of 
;  to  the  flexibility  of  \  ile  it  also  multiplies  its  distinctive  forms.    If  car- 

it  be,  it  would  furnish  to  poets  and  orators   an  ampler  choice  of  phrase- 
:ic  time,  obviate  in  a  great  measure  the  necessity  of  using  the  same 
;i  >th  adjcftivcly  and  adverbially.     The-  words  which  are  now  commonly  used  in  this 
C,  arc"  principally  monosyllables;  and,  of  adjectives,  monosyllables  are  the 
and  cst :  next  to  which  come  dissyllables  ending  in 

y ;  as,  liut  if  to  any  monosyllabic  we  add  fy  to  form  an  adverb,  we  have 

:>s  of  this  class  may  be  compared  regularly, 

after  t  little  or  no  occasion  to  use  the  primitive  word 

•  ivc.     But,  according  to  present  usage,  few  adverbs  are  ever  com- 

hy  inflection,  except  such  \v..  ..djcctively.     For  example : 

arly,  kindly,  kingly,  HI  ',/,  seemly,  trenk'/y,  may  all  be  thus 

According  to  Johnson  and  Webster,  they  may  all  be  used  either  adjectively 

1  in  this  manner,  though  not  frequently  ;  as,  "  This  kind  of  verse  occurs  the 

f|lU  Hn««<,  but  has  a  h-ippy  « !(>•,•:.  in  div.-i  ;,,  IUIIIKT  <l:us,  this  word, 

i    Tim.  v,  '23. 

.'   lin  \ValluT  h;is  r'^ularly 

epmpau-il  tlie  adveri  speaks  of  the  tip  of  the  tongue  as  being  "brought  a 

;  the  rt^uLir  inflection  of  adverbs  ending  in  ly,  may  be   met  with  in  modern  composition*, 
sons:  "  As  melodies  will  sometimes  ring  xii-nllier  in  the  echo. " — The    Dial,   Vol.  i,  p. 
0.      •  I  K,. .uuber  no  poet  whoso  writings  would  saftli.fr  stand  the  teat."—  Coleridge's  Biog.  Lit.  Vol.  ii,  p.  53. 


406  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

or  averbially.  Again  :  late,  later,  latest,  is  commonly  contrasted  in  both  senses,  -with  early, 
earlier,  earliest ;  but  if  lately,  latelier,  lateliest,  were  adopted  in  the  adverbial  contrast,  early 
and  late,  earlier  and  later,  earliest  and  latest,  might  be  contrasted  as  adjectives  only. 

OBS.  4. — The  using  of  adjectives  for  adverbs,  is  in  general  a  plain  violation  of  grammar. 
Example  :  "To  is  a  preposition,  governing  the  verb  sell,  in  the  infinitive  mood,  agreeable  to 
Rule  18,  which  says,  The  preposition  TO  governs  the  infinitive  mood." — Comfy* s  Gram.  p.  1S7. 
Here  agreeable  ought  to  be  agreeably ;  an  adverb,  relating  to  the  participle  governing. 
Again,  the  using  of  adverbs  for  adjectives,  is  a  fault  as  gross.  Example  :  "  Apprehending 
the  nominative  to  be  put  absolutely.'" — Murray's  Gram.  p.  155.  Here  absolutely  ought  to  be 
absolute;  an  adjective,  relating  to  the  word  nominative.  But,  in  poetry,  there  is  not  only  a 
frequent  substitution  of  quality  for  manner,  in  such  a  way  that  the  adjective  may  still 
be  parsed  adjectively  ;  but  sometimes  also  what  appears  to  be  (whether  right  or  wrong) 
a  direct  use  of  adjectives  for  adverbs,  especially  in  the  higher  degrees  of  comparison  :  as, 
"  Firmer  he  roots  him  the  ruder  it  blow." — Scott,  L.ofL.,  C.  ii,  st.  19. 
"  True  ease  in  writing  comes  from  art,  not  chance, 

As  those  move  easiest  who  have  learn'd  to  dance." — Pope,  Ess.  on  Grit. 
"And  also  now  the  sluggard  soundest  slept." — Pollok,  C.  of  T.,  B.  vi,  1.  257. 
"  In  them  is  plainest  taught,  and  easiest  learnt, 

What  makes  a  nation  happy,  and  keeps  it  so." — Milton,  P.  R.,  B.  iv,  1.  361. 
OBS.  5. — No  use  of  words  can  be  right,  that  actually  confounds  the  parts  of  speech  ;  but  in 
many  instances,  according  to  present  practice,  the  same  words  may  be  used  either  adjective- 
ly or  adverbially.  Firmer  and  ruder  are  not  adverbs,  but  adjectives.  In  the  example  above, 
they  may,  I  think,  be  ranked  with  the  instances  in  which  quality  is  poetically  substituted  for 
manner,  and  be  parsed  as  relating  to  the  pronouns  which  follow  them.  A  similar  usage 
occurs  in  Latin,  and  is  considered  elegant.  Easiest,  as  used  above  by  Pope,  may  perhaps  be 
parsed  upon  the  same  principle  ;  that  is,  as  relating  to  those,  or  to  persons  understood  before 
the  verb  move.  But  soundest,  plainest,  and  easiest,  as  in  the  latter  quotations,  cannot  be 
otherwise  explained  than  as  being  adverbs.  Plain  and  sound,  according  to  our  dictionaries, 
are  used  both  adjectively  and  adverbially ;  and,  if  their  superlatives  are  not  misapplied  in 
these  instances,  it  is  because  the  words  are  adverbs,  and  regularly  compared  as  such. 
Easy,  though  sometimes  used  adverbially  by  reputable  writers,  is  presented  by  our  lexic  :>g- 
raphers  as  an  adjective  only  ;  and  if  the  latter  are  right,  Milton's  use  of  easiest  in  the  sease 
and  construction  of  most  easily,  must  be  considered  an  error  in  grammar.  And  besides,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  practice,  he  ought  to  have  pref erred  plainliest  to  plainest,  in  the  adverbial 
sense  of  most  plainly . 

OBS.  6. — Beside  the  instances  already  mentioned,  of  words  used  both  adjectively  and  ad- 
verbially, our  dictionaries  exhibit  many  primitive  terms  which  are  to  be  referred  to  the  one 
class  or  the  other,  according  to  their  construction ;  as,  soon,  late,  high,  low,  quick,  slack,  hard, 
soft,  wide,  close,  clear,  thick,  full,  scant,  long,  short,  clean,  near,  scarce,  sure,  fast ;  to  which  may  as 
well  be  added,  slow,  loud,  and  deep  ;  all  susceptible  of  the  regular  form  of  comparison,  and  all 
regularly  convertible  into  adverbs  in  ly ;  though  soonly  and  longly  are  now  obsolete,  and 
fastly,  which  means  firmly,  is  seldom  used.  In  short,  it  is,  probably,  from  an  idea,  that  no 
adverbs  are  to  be  compared  by  er  and  est  unless  the  same  words  may  also  be  used  adjective- 
ly, that  we  do  not  thus  compare  lately,  highly,  quickly,  loudly,  &c.,  after  the  example  of  Milton. 
But,  however  custom  may  sanction  the  adverbial  construction  of  the  foregoing  simple  terms, 
the  distinctive  form  of  the  adverb  is  in  general  to  be  preferred,  especially  in  prose.  For  ex- 
ample :  "  The  more  it  was  complained  of,  the  louder  it  was  praised." — Daniel  Webster,  in 
Congress,  1837.  If  it  would  seem  quaint  to  say,  "  The  loudlier  it  was  praised,"  it  would  perhaps 
be  better  to  say,  "  The  more  loudly  it  was  praised  ;  "  for  our  critics  have  not  acknowledged 
loud  or  louder  to  be  an  adverb.  Nor  have  slow  and  deep  been  so  called.  Dr.  Johnson  cites 
the  following  line  to  illustrate  the  latter  as  an  adjective  : 

"  Drink  hellebore,  my  boy  !  drink  deep,  and  scour  thy  brain.  DRYDEN." — Joh.  Diet.  w.  Deep. 
"  Drink  hellebore,  my  boy  !  drink  deep,  and.  purge  thy  brain." — Dryd.  IV  Sat.  of  Persius. 
OBS.  7. — In  some  instances,  even  in  prose,  it  makes  little  or  no  difference  to  the  sense, 
whether  we  use  adjectives  referring  to  the  nouns,  or  adverbs  of  like  import,  having  reference 
to  the  verbs  :  as,  "  The  whole  conception  is  conveyed  clear  and  strong  to  the  mind." — Blair'* 
Rhet.  p.  138.  Here  clear  and. strong  are  adjectives,  referring  to  conception;  but  we  might  as 
well  say,  "  The  whole  conception  is  conveyed  clearly  and  strongly  to  the  mind."  "Against 
a  power  that  exists  independent  of  their  own  choice." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  46.  Here  we 
might  as  well  say,  "  exists  independently  ; "  for  the  independence  of  the  power,  in  which- 
ever way  it  is  expressed,  is  nothing  but  the  manner  of  its  existence.  "  This  work  goeth  fast 
on  and  prospereth." — Ezra.  "  Skill  comes  so  slow,  and  life  so  fast  doth  fly." — Davies.  Dr. 
Johnson  here  takes  fast  and  slow  to  be  adjectives,  but  he  might  just  as  well  have  called  them 
adverbs,  so  far  as  their  meaning  or  construction  is  concerned.  For  what  here  qualifies  the 
things  spoken  of,  is  nothing  but  the  manner  of  their  motion ;  and  this  might  as  well  be  ex- 
pressed by  the  words,  rapidly,  slowly,  swiftly.  Yet  it  ought  to  be  observed,  that  this  docs  not 
prove  the  equivalent  words  to  be  adverbs,  and  not  adjectives.  Our  philologists  have  often 
been  led  into  errors  by  the  argument  of  equivalence. 


CUAP.    VIII.]  ETYMOLOGY. ADVERBS. PAUSING. PRAXIS    VIII.  407 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 

PRAXIS  VIII.— ETYMOLOGICAL. 

In  the  Eighth  Praxis,  it  ' --d  of  the.  pupil — to  distinguish  and  define  the 

different  parts  of  speech,  and  the  classes  and  modifications  of  the  AUTICLES, 
NOUNS,  AD.JI  I'KOXOUNS.  PARTICIPLES,  awe?  ADVERBS. 

The  definitions  to  le  given  in  the  Eighth  Praxis,  are  two  for  an  article,  six  for  a 
noun,  three  for  an  adjective,  six  for  a  pronoun,  seven  for  a  verb  finite,  five  for 
an  infinitive,  two  for  a  participle,  two  (and  sometimes  three)  for  an  adverb, — 
and  one  for  a  conjunction,  a  preposition,  or  an  interjection.  Thus  : — 

EXAMPLE  PARSED. 

'•  When  was  it  that  Rome  attracted  most  strongly  the  admiration  of  mankind?" 
~Ji.  G.  J/arper. 

Wlien  Is  an  adverb  of  time.  1.  An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other 
:•!> :  and  generally  i  i.c,  place,  decree,  or  manner.  2.  Adverbs  of  time  are  those  which 

answer  t<-  .  \Vln-n  f  //<  noon?  orl/owoftfn?  inclndijig  these  which  :i 

U'as  i*an  irrciMilar  neuter  verb,  fromfte,  ica*.  liin<i,  been  ;  found  in  the  Indicative  mood,  imperfect  tense,  third 
penoo,  and  singular  number.  1.  A  •  .t"t/ct,or  to  be  actednpon.  '2.  An 

Irregular  vi-rb  i*  a  verb  tlmt  does  not  form  the  preterit  and  tin-  ,  :in;r  d  nr  ed.  3.  A 

neuter  vcr'.  is  a  vrr'i  tb.it  expresses  neither  action  nor  passion,  but  simplv  beim:,  or  a  -tate  of  bein-..'.  4.  The 
.nond  is  that  i  :'!'.  which  simplv  i ndicates  or  ('.••  ,  or  ask«  a  question.  6. 

The  impei  i  ..ttwhiehex:  time  Cully  pa-t.  (•>.  The 

third  persi  n  is  that  \sl,kh  Denotes  the  person  or  tiling  merely  spoken  of.  7.  The  singular  "number  is  that 

•"  the  third  person,  sinpular  number,  nenter  per.der,  and  nominative  case.    1.  A  pro- 
:  .1  n-'iin.    '-'.  A  personal  pronoun   is  a  pronoun   that   sh"\\s.    bv   its  form,  of 

\\h.r  3.  Tlie  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely  spoken  of.    4.  The 

singular  number  The  neuter  gender  to  that  which  den  at  are 

.  ue  nominative  ease  is  that  furm  or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes 

•  >rd  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  In  construction,  and  to 

r,  personified  feminine,  and  nominative   case.     1.  A 

nohn  it   be    known   or  mentioned,     i'.   A    proper  noun  is 

tli-  D  third  person!*  that  which  denote*  th« 

penon  or  thing  >  i  that  vrhlch  denotes  but  one.     *>.  The  feminine 

,;iale  kind.    (',.  'i  he  nominative  case  is  that  form  or 
State  Of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  deno  •  verl). 

A'.trart,  lar  active-tran  -(traded,  attracting,  attracted;  found  in  the  indic- 

ative m<>(,d,  inn..'  and  singular  number.     1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  sijrnines  to  be, 

to  act,  or  to  rii  is  a  verb  that  i-mns  the  ]»reterit  and  the  perfect  participle  bv 

ass:.  s  an  action  which  has  some  person  or 

thii!  ;  I'.irm  ot'tlii-  verl>,  which  simply  indicates  or  declares  a 

thin^.  «.r  a-k-  a  q  i-;  tliat  whicli  expr.  or  was  occur- 

ring,  in  tim  "'.  The  tbinl  II-TS-III   i<  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thin-;  merely  spoken  oC 

7.   T: 

i/ost  \-  :•.  •  1  found  in  the  superlative.     1.  An  adverb  is  a  word 

added  t"  .1  verb;   and  jjcneralh  expresses  tiine.  place,  degree, 

f-r  maiMi'M-  h  f  /low  lililf  »  or  to  th« 

idea.  thai  \vhich  is  f  of  all  included  with  it. 

,•;..    a    parti.-iple,    an    adje,  live,  or  an 
manner  are  those 

•  nvin-.  or  duuMinr,  show  Itmr  a  subj.'d  is  regarded. 

The  l«  t  .  or  a,  whuh  we  put  before  noun-,  to  limit  their  sig- 

irliculnr  thinjr  or  tilings. 

hler,   and   o'ljective  ease.     1.  A 

noun  I  tioned.    2.  A   common  noun  la 

tl.e  i  is  that  which  denotes   iln-perM.ii 

"r  i!  The   renter  gender 

>•>"  tive  case  is  that  form  or  slate  of 

-  tion. 
r  dale-rent  things  or  thoughts  to 

:  of  pluralitv,   masculine  pender, 

.it  can  be  known  <ir  mentioned. 

ds  together.     :>.   Tlie  third    person 

number    is    that  which  rtenotei 

-    or   animals   of  the  male  Kind.     6. 

object  of  a  verb,  participle, 

<w   ; 

LI:S?ON  I. — PA  KM. \<;. 

"  Wisely,  tlu'ref'-r  :^red,  and  agreeably  to  the  system  of  Providence,  that 

w<3  should  li  iv  r  our  inst;  -K'unes,  EL  of  Crit.  \,  358. 

"  It  is  .surpri.^inv:,  how  quickly,  and  for  the  most  part  how  correctly,  we  judge  of 
darai'U-r  from  external  appearance." — Id  ib.  i,  :;.")'.». 

"  The  incml'crs  of  a  period  connected  by  proper  copulatives,  glide  smoothly  and 
gently  along,  and  are  a  proof  of  sedatcne?s  ami  leisure  in  the  speaker." — Id.  ib.  ii,  33. 

"Antithesis  ought  only  to  be  occasionally  studied,  when  it  is  naturally  demanded 
by  the  compari>«ui  or  opposition  of  objects." — Jamiesons  Rhet.  p.  102. 

*'  Did  men  always  think  clearly,  and  were  they  at  the  same  time  fully  masters  of 


408  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IL, 

the  language  in  which  they  write,  there  would  be  occasion  for  few  rules." — Ib.  102. 
"  Rhetoric,  or  oratory,  is  the  art  of  speaking  justly,  methodically,  floridly,  and 
copiously,  upon  any  subject,  in  order  to  touch  the  passions,  and  to  persuade." — Brad- 
ley's  Literary  Guide,  p.  155. 

"The  more  closely  we  follow  the  natural  order  of  any  subject  we  may  be  investi- 
gating, the  more  satisfactorily  and  explicitly  will  that  subject  be  opened  to  our  under- 
standing."—  Gurney's  Essays,  p.  160. 

"Why  should  we  doubt  of  that,  whereof  our  sense 
Finds  demonstration  from  experience  ? 
Our  minds  are  here,  and  there,  below,  above  ; 
Nothing  that's  mortal,  can  so  swiftly  move." — Denham. 

LESSON   II. — PARSING. 

"  If  we  can  discern  particularly  and  precisely  what  it  is,  which  is  most  directly 
obedience  or  disobedience  to  the  will  and  commands  of  God  ;  what  is  truly  morally 
beautiful,  or  really  and  adsolutely  deformed ;  the  question  concerning  liberty,  as  far 
as  it  respects  ethics,  or  morality,  will  be  sufficiently  decided." — West,  on  Agency, 
p.  xiii. 

"  Thus  it  was  true,  historically,  individually,  philosophically,  and  universally,  that 

they  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge." — Cox,  on  Christianity,   p.  327. 

"  We  refer  to  Jeremiah  Evarts  and  Gordon  Hall.     They  had  their  imperfections, 

and  against  them  they  struggled  discreetly,  constantly,  successfully,  until  they  were 

fitted  to  ascend  to  their  rest"— N.  T.  Observer,  Feb.  2d,  1833. 

"  Seek  not  proud  riches ;  but  such  as  thou  mayst  get  justly,  use  soberly,  distrib- 
ute cheerfully,  and  leave  contentedly." — Ld.  Bacon. 

"  There  are  also  some  particularly  grievous  sins,  of  which  conscience  justly  accuses 
us ;  sins  committed  more  or  less  presumptuously  and  willingly,  deliberately  and  re- 
peatedly."— Biclcersteth,  on  Prayer,  p.  59. 

"Arid  herein  I  apprehend  myself  now  to  suffer  wrongfully,  being  slanderously  re- 
ported, falsely  accused,  shamefully  and  despiteful  ly  used,  and  hated  without  a  cause." 
— Jenks's  Prayers,  p.  173. 

"  Of  perfect  knowledge,  see,  the  dawning  light 
Foretells  a  noon  most  exquisitely  bright ! 
Here,  springs  of  endless  joy  are  breaking  forth  ! 
There,  buds  the  promise  of  celestial  worth  !  " — Young. 

LESSON  III. — PARSING. 

"A  true  friend  unbosoms  freely,  advises  justly,  assists  readily,  adventures  boldly, 
takes  all  patiently,  defends  courageously,  and  continues  a  friend  unchangeably." — 
Penn's  Maxims. 

"  That  mind  must  be  wonderfully  narrow,  that  is  wholly  wrapped  up  in  itself;  but 
this  is  too  visibly  the  character  of  most  human  minds." — Burgh's  Dignity,  ii,  35. 

"  There  is  not  a  man  living,  who  wishes  more  sincerely  than  I  do,  to  see  a  plan 
adopted  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  ;  but  there  is  only  one  proper  and  effectual  mode  by 
which  it  can  be  accomplished,  and  that  is,  by  legislative  authority. —  Gco.  Washing- 
ton, 1786. 

"Sloth  has  frequently  and  justly  been  denominated  the  rust  of  the  soul.     The 
habit  is  easily  acquired  ;  or,  rather,  it  is  a  part  of  our  very  nature  to  be  indolent.  "- 
Student's  Manual,  p.  176. 

"  I  am  aware  how  improper  it  is  to  talk  much  of  my  wife  ;  never  reflecting  how 
much  more  improper  it  is  to  talk  much  of  myself." — Home's  Art  of  Thinking,  p.  89, 

"Hovvbeit  whereinsoever  any  is  bold,  (I  speak  foolishly,)  I  am  bold  also.  Are 
they  Hebrews  ?  so  am  I.  Are  they  Israelites '?  so  am  1.  Are  they  the  seed  of 
Abraham  ?  so  ani  I.  Are  they  ministers  of  Christ  *?  (I  speak  as  a  fool,)  I  am  more." 
—2  Cor.  xi. 

"  Oh,  speak  the  wondrous  man  !  how  mild,  how  calm, 
How  greatly  humble,  how  divinely  good, 
How  firm  establish'd  on  eternal  truth." — Thomson. 


CHAP.  IX.]      ETYMOLOGY. ADVERBS. ERRORS. CONJUNCTIONS.  409 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

ERRORS  RESPECTING  ADVERBS. 
"We  can  much  easier  form  the  conception  of  a  fierce  combat." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  167. 

[FOR1"  '-cause  the  adjective  easier  is  used  as  an  adverb,  to  qualify  the  verb  ran  form.      But, 

accordii;  -  '  Hie  using  of  adjectives  for  adverbs,  is  in   general 

a  plain  \  ir."      Therefore,  easier  should  be  mote  easily;  thus,  •'  We  can  much  mor*  easily  form 

the  concepiioii  of  a,  lu-rce  combat."] 

"When  he  was  restored,  agreeable  to  the  treaty,  he  was  a  perfect  savage." — Webster's 
Essays,  p.  236.  "  II  >-,\-  I  -hall  acquit  myself  suitable  to  the  importance  of  the  trial." — 
••  Can  any  thing  show  your  holiness  how  unworthy  you  treat  man- 
kind •  "— ,s>,  ">.  No.  497.  "  In  what  "other  [language,]  consistent  with  reason  and  common 
flense,  can  you  go  about  to  explain  it  to  him  r" — Loirtfis  Gram.  Prcf.  p.  viii.  "Agreeable 
to  this  rule,  the  short  vowel  Sheva  has  two  characters." — Wilson's  Hebrew  Gram.  p.  46. 
"  We  shall  give  a  remarkable  fine  example  of  this  figure." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  347.  "All 
of  which  is  most  abominable  false." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  431.  "He  heaped  up  great 
riches,  but  passed  his  time  miserable." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  ii,  202.  "He  is  never  satisfied 
with  expressing  anything  clearly  and  simple." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  96.  "Attentive  only  to 
exhibit  his  ideas  clear  and  exact,  he  appears  dry." — Ib.  p.  100.  "  Such  words  as  have 
the  most  liquids  and  vowels,  glide  the  softest." — Ib.  p.  129.  "The  simplest  points,  such 
as  are  easiest  apprehended." — Ib.  p.  312.  "Too  historical,  to  be  accounted  a  perfect  regu- 
lar epic  poem." — //>.  p.  441.  "Putting  after  them  the  oblique  case,  agreeable  to  the 
French  construction." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  108.  "  Where  the  train  proceeds  with  an  ex- 
treme -  .  .  ,,'•'.  i,  1,31.  "  So  as  scarce  to  give  an  appearance  of 
succession." — Ib.  i,  152.  "That  concord  between  sound  and  sense,  which  is  perceived  in 
some  expression*  independent  of  artful  pronunciation." — Ib.  ii,  63.  "  Cornaro  had  be- 
come very  corpulent,  previous  to  the  adoption  of  his  temperate  habits." — Hitchcock,  on 
!>read,  which  is  a  solid  and  tolerable  hard  substance." — Sandford  and  Mer- 
ton,  p.  38.  "  To  command  every  body  that  was  not  dressed  as  tine  as  himself." — Ib.  p.  19. 
"  Many  of  them  have  scarce  outlived  their  authors." — Prcf.  to  Lily's  Gram.  p.  ix.  "  Their 
labour.  i  I  not  penetrate  very  deep." — Wilson's  Heb.  Gram.  p.  30.  "The  people 
are  miserable  poor,  and  subsist  on  fish." — Hume's  Hist,  ii,  433.  "A  scale,  which  I  took 
great  pains,  some  years  since,  to  make." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  81.  "There  is  no  truth  on 
earth  I  !  the  truth  of  the  Bible." — Taylors  District  School,  p.  288.  "  I 
know  of  no  work  so  much  wanted  as  the  one  Mr.  Taylor  has  now  furnished." — Du.  NOTT: 
ib.  p.  ii.  "And  therefore  their  requests  are  seldom  and  reasonable." — Taylor:  ib.  p.  58. 
"  Questions  are  easier  proposed  than  rightly  answered." — Dillwyn's  Ilcftectiojis,  p.  19. 
"  Often  reflect  on  the  advantages  you  possess,  and  on  the  source  from  whence  they  are  all 
derived."—  .  ;>.  )J7t.  "  If  there  be  no  special  Rule  which  requires  it  to  be 
put  forwarder."-— Jfttttrt  Greek  Gram.  p.  234.  "The  Masculine  and  Neuter  have  the 
saiae  Dialect  in  all  Numbers,  especially  when  they  end  the  same." — Ib.  p.  259. 
"And  children  are  more  busy  in  their  play 
Than  those  that  wisely' st  pass  their  time  away." — Butler,  p.  163. 


CHAPTER  IK-CONJUNCTIONS. 

A  Conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  in  construc- 
tion, and  the  dependence  of  the  terms  so  connected  :  as,  "  Thou,  and 
he  arc  hunpy,  because  you  arc  good." — 

OBSKIIYATI- 

\vords  are  of  four  kinds  ;  namely,  relative  pronouns,  conjunctive 
have  a  certain  resemblance  toono  ?m  other, 

so  tar  a-  they    iro  all  of  them   conne  there   are   also  characteristical   differences 

by  which  they  i.:  i.     Relative  pronouns  represent  ante- 

•De.-'  •  relative  pronouns  "Co n 

.".     II". i!->  -  rtheonly  word*   which  connect 

v.  1-11   aii 

whit  Ii .-  :  ri:  Con- 

jun>  iiv>  :  ; 

kno  v  i,.  •  in    ri-'c«'".   t<>   the   conjunctive 

-    to  me   to  b<-  a   pronoun,   and  not  an 
•  ;  and  of  his  "  Conjuntti  ought  to  have  given,  us  some  examples,  if  he  knew  of  auv. 


410  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART    II. 

cedents,  and  stand  in  those  relations  which  we  call  cases  ;  conjunctive  adverbs  assume  tho 
connective  power  in  addition  to  their  adverbial  character,  and  consequently  sustain  a  double 
relation;  conjunctions,  (except  the  introductory  correspondents,)  join  words  or  sentences 
together,  showing  their  relation  either  to  each  other  or  to  something  else ;  prepositions, 
though  naturally  subject  themselves  to  something  going  before,  assume  the  government 
of  the  terms  which  follow  them,  and  in  this  they  differ  from  all  the  rest. 

OBS.  2. — Conjunctions  do  not  express  any  of  the  real  objects  of  the  understanding, 
whether  things,  qualities,  or  actions,  but  rather  the  several  modes  of  connexion  or  centrist 
under  which  these  objects  are  contemplated.  Hence  conjunctions  were  said  by  Aristotle 
and  his  followers  to  be  in  themselves  "  devoid  of  signification ;"  a  notion  which  Harris, 
with  no  great  propriety,  has  adopted  in  his  faulty  definition*  of  this  part  of  speech.  It  is 
the  omce  of  this  class  of  particles,  to  link  together  words,  phrases,  or  sentences,  that  would 
otherwise  appear  as  loose  shreds,  or  unconnected  aphorisms ;  and  thus,  by  various  forms 
of  dependence,  to  give  to  discourse  such  continuity  as  may  fit  it  to  convey  a  connected  train 
of  thought  or  reasoning.  The  skill  or  inability  of  a  writer  may  as  strikingly  appear  in  his 
management  of  these  little  connectives,  as  in  that  of  the  longest  and  most  significant  words 
in  the  language. 

"The  current  is  often  evinced  by  the  straws, 

And  the  course  of  the  wind  by  the  flight  of  a  feather  ; 
So  a  speaker  is  known  by  his  ands  and  his  ors, 
Those  stitches  that  fasten  his  patchwork  together." — Robert  F.  Mott. 

OBS.  3. — Conjunctions  sometimes  connect  entire  sentences,  and  sometimes  particular 
words  or  phrases  only.  When  one  whole  sentence  is  closely  linked  with  an.  other,  both 
become  clauses  or  members  of  a  more  complex  sentence ;  and  when  one  word  or  phrase  is 
coupled  with  an  other,  both  have  in  general  a  common  dependence  upon  some  other  word 
in  the  same  sentence.  In  etymological  parsing,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  name  the  conjunc- 
tion as  such,  and  repeat  the  definition  above  ;  but,  in  syntactical  parsing,  the  learner  should 
always  specify  the  terms  connected.  In  many  instances,  however,  he  may  conveniently 
abbreviate  his  explanation,  by  parsing  the  conjunction  as  connecting  "  what  precedes 
and  what  follows ;"  or,  if  the  terms  are  transposed,  as  connecting  its  own  clause  to  ;he 
second,  to  the  third,  or  to  some  other  clause  in  the  context. 

OBS.  4. — However  easy  it  may  appear,  for  even  the  young  parser  to  na me  the  terms  which. 
in  any  given  instance  are  connected  by  the  conjunction,  and  of  course  to  know  for  him;  elf 
what  these  terms  are, — that  is,  to  know  what  the  conjunction  does,  or  does  not,  connect, — it 
is  certain  that  a  multitude  of  grammarians  and  philosophers,  great  and  small,  from  Aris- 
totle down  to  the  latest  modifier  of  Murray,  or  borrower  from  his  text,  have  been  constantly 
contradicting  one  an  other,  if  not  themselves,  in  relation  to  this  matter.  Harris  avers,  tnat 
"  the  Conjunction  connects,  not  Words,  but  Sentences ;  "  and  frames  his  definition  accordingly. 
See  Hermes,  p.  237.  This  doctrine  is  true  of  some  of  the  conjunctions,  but  it  is  by  no  means 
true  of  them  all.  He  adds,  in  a  note,  "  Grammarians  have  usually  considered  the  Conjunc- 
tion as  connecting  rather  single  Parts  of  Speech,  than  whole  Sentences,  and  that  too  with  the 
addition  of  like  with  like,  Tense  with  Tense,  Number  with  Number,  Case  with  Case,  &c.  This 
Sanctius  j  ustly  explodes." — Ib.  p.  238.  If  such  has  been  the  usual  doctrine  of  the  grammari- 
ans, they  have  erred  on  the  one  side,  as  much  as  our  philosopher,  and  his  learned  authorities, 
on  the  other.  For,  in  this  instance,  Harris's  quotations  of  Latin  and  Greek  writers,  prove  only 
that  Sanctius,  Scaliger,  Apollonius,  and  Aristotle,  held  the  same  error  that  he  himself  had 
adopted  ; — the  error  which  Latham  and  others  now  inculcate,  that,  "There  are  always  two 
propositions  where  there  is  one  Conjunction." — Fowler's  E.  Gram.  Svo,  1850,  p.  557. 

OBS.  5. — The  common  doctrine  of  L.  Murray  and  others,  that,  "  Conjunctions  connect  the 
same  moods  and  tenses  of  verbs,  and  cases  of  nouns  and  pronouns,"  is  not  only  badly  ex- 
pressed, but  is  pointedly  at  variance  with  their  previous  doctrine,  that,  "  Conjunctions  very 
often  unite  sentences,  when  they  appear  to  unite  only  words  ;  as  in  the  following  instances  : 
'  Duty  and  interest  forbid  vicious  indulgences ; '  '  Wisdom  or  folly  governs  us.'  Each  of  these 
forms  of  expression,"  they  absurdly  say,  "  contains  two  sentences." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  124 ; 
•Smith's,  95  ;  Frisk's,  84  ;  Ingersoll's,  81.  By  "  the  same  moods,  tenses,  or  cases,"  we  must  needs 
here  understand  some  one  mood,  tense,  or  case,  in  which  the  connected  words  agree  ;  and,  if 
the  conjunction  has  any  thing  to  do  with  this  agreement,  or  sameness  of  mood,  tense,  or  case, 
it  must  be  because  words  only,  and  not  sentences,  are  connected  by  it.  Now,  if,  that,  though, 
lest,  itnless,  or  any  other  conjunction  that  introduces  the  subjunctive,  will  almost  always  bo 
found  to  connect  different  moods,  or  rather  to  subjoin  one  sentence  to  another  in  which 
there  is  a  different  mood.  On  the  contrary,  and,  as,  even,  than,  or,  and  nor,  though  they 
may  connect  sentences,  do,  in  very  many  instances,  connect  words  only;  as,  "The  king 
and  queen  are  an  amiable  pair." — Murray.  "And  a  being  of  more  than  human  dignity  stood 
before  me." — Dr.  Johnson.  It  cannot  be  plausibly  pretended,  that  and  and  than,  in  these 
two  examples,  connect  clauses  or  sentences.  So  and  and  or,  in  the  examples  above,  con- 

*  "Now  the  Definition  of  a  CONJUNCTION  is  as  follows— a  Part  of  Speech,  void  of  Signification  -itself,  but  so 
formed  as  to  help  Kiynijicittion,  by  making  TWO  or  more  significant  Sentences  to  be  ONE  significant  Sentence." 
—  Harris's  Hermts,  Otk  Edition,  London,  p.  238. 


CHAP.    IX.]  ETYMOLOGY.  —  CONJUNCTIONS.—  CLASSES.  411 

nect  the  nouns  only,  and  not  "  sentences  :  "  else  our  common  rules  for  the  agreement  of  verbs 
or  pronouns  with  words  connected,  are  nothing  but  bald  absurdities.  It  is  idle  to  siy,  that 
the  construction  and  meaning  are  not  what  they  appear  to  be  ;  and  it  is  certainly  absurd 
to  contend,  that  conjunctions  always  connect  sentences  ;  or  always,  words  only.  One 
author  very  strangely  conceives  that,  "Conjunctions  may  be  said  either  always  to  connect 
words  only,  or  always  to  connect  sentences,  according  to  the  view  ichich  may  be  taken  of  them 
in  analyzing."  —  Xi'lt'/ifi's  (tram.  p.  77. 

<)i  9.   •  '.  —  ••  S<  trend  \  ords  belonging  to  other  parts  of  speech,  are  occasionally  used  as  con- 
junctions.    Such  are  the  follow  ir  •',  except,  verbs  ;  both,  an  adjective  ;  rif/irr,  neither, 

that,  pronouns  ;  :ticij>les;  before,  since,  for,  prepositions.     I  will  do  it,  pro- 

you  lend  some  help.     Hcv<-  ;;  a  conjunction,  that  connects  the  two  sentences. 

•  Paul  idein  the  ship,  ye  cannot  be  saved.'     Here  except  is  a  conjunc- 

tion. is  also  u.-.ed  a-<  u  participle  and  conjunction.     'Being  this  reception  of  the 

gospel  was  so  anciently  foretold.'  —  />'/«;/<•","  Pearson,     'teeing  all  the  congregation  are  holy.' 

—  Bible,    llere  being  and  weing  are  used  as  conjunctions."  —  Alexander's  Gram.  p.  50.     The 

-.114  remark,  though  worthy  of  some  attention,  is  not  altogether  accurate.     Before, 

it  connects  sentences,   is  not  a  conjunction,  but  a  conjunctive  adverb.     Provided,  as 

cit(  d  above,  resembles  not  the  verb,  but  the  perfect  participle.     Either  and  neither,  when  they 

are  not  conjunctions,  are  pronominal  adjectives,  rather  than  pronouns.     And,  to  say,  that, 

••  words  belonging  to  of  hi  r  /.'«/•/  s-  of  speech,  are  used  as  conjunctions"  is  a  sort  of  solecism,  which 

r  in  doubt  to  what  class  they  really  belong.     Being,  and  being  that,  were 

formerly  used  in  the  sense  of  because,  since,  or  seeing  that  ;  (Lat.  cum,  quoniam,  or  quando  ;) 

but  thi>  u  -.;)-<•  i-  now  obsolete.     So  there  is  an  uncommon  or  obsolete  use  of  without,  in  the 

i  cxcejrt  ;  (Lat.  -nisi  ;)  as,  ««  He  cannot  rise  without  he  be  helped."  —  Walker* 

Particles,  p.  425.     "  Json  potest  nisi  adjutus  exsurgere."  —  Seneca. 

CLASSES. 

Conjunctions  are  divided  into  two  general  classes,  copulative  and  disjunc- 
tive ;  and  a  few  of  each  class  arc  particularly  distinguished  from  the  rest,  as 
being  correspond 

I.  A  copulative  -<,}i  is  a  conjunction  that  denotes  an  addition,  a 
cause,   a  consequence,  or  a  supposition  :  as,  "  He  and  I  shall  not  dispute  ; 

7*  lie  has  any  choice,  I  shall  readily  grant  it." 

II.  A  disjunctive  conjunction  is  a  conjunction  that  denotes  opposition  of 
meaning  :    as,  "Though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live."  —  St.  John's  Gos- 
}>d.     "  Be  not  faithless,  but  believing."  —  Id. 

III.  The  cor.-  I'tions  are  those  which  are  used  in  pairs,  so 
that  the  latter  answers  to  the  former:    as,  "John  came  neither  eating  nor 
drinkini:."  —  Matt,   xi,  1$.     "  But  if  I  cast  out  devils  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 

the  kingdom  of  God  is  come  unto  you."  —  Ib.  xii,  28. 

LIST  OF   THE  CONJUNCTIONS. 

1    Copulatives  :   And,  as,   both,  because,  even,  for,  if,  that,  then,  since, 

;/.  so. 
'2.  Tin.'   Disjunctives:    Or,  nor,  either,  neither,  than,  though,  although,  yet,   but, 

•I.  ir/nth<.r,  lest,   ?////<>•>,  mirr.  provided,  notwithstanding,  whereas. 
3.    The  Con  Both  —  and;   as  —  as;    as  —  so;   if  —  then;    either 

—  or  ;  neither  —  nor  ;  whether  —  or;  though,  or  ulfhouah  —  yet. 

OBSERVATIONS, 


.  1  .—l>y  pnme  writers,  the  words,  also,  since,  too,  thru,  therefore,  and  wherefore,  are 
placed  among  the  copulative  conjunctions  ;  and  as,  so,  stiff,  however,  and  albeit,  among  tho 
diminutive  :  but  Johr.-oi,  and  Webster  have  marked  nn.>t  of  those  terms  as  riu'n-rb.i  only. 
It  is  perhaps  of  little  moment,  by  which  n  re  called  ;  for,  in  some  instance?,  con- 

jui  ciions  and  conjunctive  adverbs  do  not  differ  very  r»r:;tially.  As,  so,ere»,  then,  i/ef,  and 
but,  seem  to  be'umj  MMBM  timei  to  the  one  part  of  spc-et-h,  and  sometimes  to  the  other.  I 
call  them  adverbs  when  they  chiefly  express  time,  manner,  or  degree;  and  conjunctions, 
when  they  appear  to  be  mere  connectives.  As,  yet,  and  but,  are  generally  conjunctions  ;  but 
to,  even,  and  then,  arc  aim  adverbs.  Sedny  and  provided,  when  used  as  connec- 

tives, arc  more  properly  conjunction*  than  anything  else;  though  Johnson  ranks  them 
with  the  adverbs,  and  Webster,  by  supposing  niany  awkward  ellipses,  keeps  them  with  the 


412  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II- 

participles.  Examples :  "  For  these  are  not  drunken,  as  ye  suppose,  seeing  it  is  but  the 
third  hour  of  the  day." — Acts,  ii,  15.  "  The  senate  shall  have  power  to  adjourn  them- 
selves, provided  such  adjournment  shall  not  exceed  two  days  at  a  time." — Constitution  of 
New  Hampshire. 

OBS.  2. — Since,  when  it  governs  a  noun  after  it,  is  a  preposition  :  as,  "  Hast  thou  com- 
manded the  morning  since  thy  days?" — Job.  Albeit  is  equivalent  in  sense  to  although,  and 
is  properly  a  conjunction;  but  this  old  compound  is  now  nearly  or  quite  obsolete.  As  is 
sometimes  a  relative  pronoun,  sometimes  a  conjunctive  adverb,  and  sometimes  a  copulative 
conjunction.  Example  of  the  last :  "  We  present  ourselves  as  petitioners."  If  as  is  ever 
disjunctive,  it  is  not  so  here  ;  nor  can  we  parse  it  as  an  adverb,  because  it  comes  between 
two  words  that  are  essentially  in  apposition.  The  equivalent  Latin  term  quasi  is  called 
an  adverb,  but,  in  such  a  case,  not  very  properly  :  as,  "  Et  colles  quasi  pulverem  pones  ;  " — 
"And  thou  shalt  make  the  hills  as  chaff." — Isaiah,  xli,  15.  So  even,  which  in  English  is 
frequently  a  sign  of  emphatic  repetition,  seems  sometimes  to  be  rather  a  conjunction  than 
an  adverb  :  as,  "  I,  even  I,  am  the  Lord." — Isaiah,  xliii,  11. 

OBS.  3. — Save  and  saving,  when  they  denote  exception,  are  not  adverbs,  as  Johnson 
denominates  them,  or  a  verb  and  a  participle,  as  Webster  supposes  them  to  be,  but  dis- 
junctive conjunctions  ;  and,  as  such,  they  take  the  same  case  after  as  before  them :  as, 
"All  the  conspirators,  save  only  he,  did  that  they  did,  in  envy  of  great  Caesar." — Shak. 
"All  this  world's  glory  seemeth  vain,  and  all  their  shows  but  shadows,  saving  she." — Spen- 
ser. "Israel  burned  none  of  them,  save  Hazor  only." — Joshua,  xi,  13.  "And  none  of 
them  was  cleansed,  saving  Naaman  the  Syrian." — Luke,  iv,  27.  Save  is  not  here  a  transitive 
verb,  for  Hazor  was  not  saved  in  any  sense,  but  utterly  destroyed ;  nor  is  Naaman  here 
spoken  of  as  being  saved  by  an  other  leper,  but  as  being  cleansed  when  oihers  were  not. 
These  two  conjunctions  are  now  little  used ;  and  therefore  the  propriety  of  setting  the 
nominative  after  them  and  treating  them  as  conjunctions,  is  the  more  apt  to  be  doubted. 
The  Rev.  Matt.  Harrison,  after  citing  five  examples,  four  of  which  have  the  nominative 
with  save,  adds,  without  naming  the  part  of  speech,  or  assigning  any  reason,  this  decision, 
which  I  think  erroneous  :  "  In  all  these  passages,  save  requires  after  it  the  objective  casa." 
His  five  examples  are  these:  "All,  save  I,  were  at  rest,  and  enjoyment." — Frankensttin. 
"There  was  no  stranger  with  us,  in  the  house,  save  we  two." — 1  Kings,  iii,  18. 
"And  nothing  wanting  is,  save  she,  alas  !  " — DRUMMOXD  of  Haivthorndcn. 
"When  all  slept  sound,  save  she,  who  bore  them  both." — ROGERS,  Italy,  p.  108. 
"And  all  were  gone,  save  him,  who  now  kept  guard." — Ibid.  p.  185. 

OBS.  4. — The  conjunction  if  is  sometimes  used  in  the  Bible  to  express,  not  a  supposition 
of  what  follows  it,  but  an  emphatic  negation :  as,  "  I  have  sworn  in  my  wrath,  if  tLey 
shall  enter  into  my  rest." — Heb.  iv,  3.  That  is,  that  they  shall  not  enter.  The  same  pe- 
culiarity is  found  in  the  Greek  text,  and  also  in  the  Latin,  and  other  versions.  Or,  in  the 
obsolete  phrase  "or  ever"  is  not  properly  a  conjunction,  but  a  conjunctive  adverb  of  time, 
meaning  before.  It  is  supposed  to  be  a  corruption  of  ere :  as,  "  I  was  set  up  from  everlast- 
ing, from  the  beginning,  or  ever  the  earth  was." — Prov.  viii,  23.  "And  we,  or  ever  he  come 
near,  are  ready  to  kill  him." — Acts,  xxiii,  15.  This  term  derives  no  support  from  the  origi- 
nal text. 

OBS.  5. — There  are  some  peculiar  phrases,  or  combinations  of  words,  which  have  the 
force  of  conjunctions,  and  which  it  is  not  very  easy  to  analyze  satisfactorily  in  parsing : 
as,  "And  for  all  there  were  so  many,  yet  was  not  the  net  broken." — John,  xxi,  11.  Here 
for  all  is  equivalent  to  although,  or  noticiths'anding  ;  either  of  which  words  would  have  been 
more  elegant.  Nevertheless  is  composed  of  three  words,  and  is  usually  reckoned  a  con- 
junctive adverb ;  but  it  might  as  well  be  called  a  disjunctive  conjunction,  for  it  is  obvious- 
ly equivalent  to  yet,  but,  or  notwithstanding ;  as,  "I  am  crucified  with  Christ :  nevertheless  I 
live;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me." — Gal.  ii,  20.  Here,  for  nevertheless  and  but,  we 
have  in  the  Greek  the  same  particle  <$«.  "  Each  man's  mind  has  some  peculiarity,  as  well  as 
his  face." — Locke.  "  Relative  pronouns,  as  well  as  conjunctions,  serve  to  connect  sentences." 
— Murray's  Gram.  p.  124.  Here  the  first  as  corresponds  to  the  second,  but  iccll  not  being 
used  in  the  literal  sense  of  an  adverb,  some  judicious  grammarians  take  the  whole  phrase 
as  a  conjunction.  It  is,  however,  susceptible  of  division  :  as,  "  It  is  ador-ned  with  admira- 
ble pieces  of  sculpture,  as  well  modern,  as  ancient." — Addison. 

OBS.  G. — So  the  phrases,  for  as  much  as,  in  as  much  as,  in  so  much  that,  if  taken  collect- 
ively, have  the  nature  of  conjunctions  ;  yet  they  contain  within  themselves  correspondent 
terms  and  several  different  parts  of  speech.  The  words  are  sometimes  printed  separately, 
and  sometimes  partly  together.  Of  late  years,  forasmuch,  inasmuch,  insomuch,  have  been 
usually  compounded,  and  called  adverbs.  They  might  as  well,  perhaps,  be  called  con- 
junctions, as  they  were  by  some  of  our  old  grammarians ;  for  two  conjunctions  sometimes 
come  together  :  as,  "Answering  their  questions,  as  if  *  it  were  a  matter  that  needed  it."— 

*  Whether  these,  or  any  other  conjunctions  that  come  together,  ought  to  be  parsed  together,  is  doubtful.  lam 
riot  in  f  ivour  of  taking  any  words  together,  that  can  well  be  parsed  separately.  Goodenow,  who  defines  a  phrase 
to  be  "  the  union  of  two  or  more  words  having  the  nature  and  construction  of  a  single  word ',"  find.s  an  immense 
number  of  these  unions,  which  he  cannot3  or  does  not,  analyze.  As  examples  of  "a  conjunctional  phrase,"  J» 


CHAP.    IX.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  CONJUNCTIONS.  -  PARSING.  -  PRAXIS    IX.  413 


"These  should  bo  at  first  gently  treated,  as  though  we  expected  an  imposthuma- 
tion."  —  *h(trp.  "But  there  are  many  things  which  we  must  acknowledge  to  be  true,  not- 
withstanninrj  that  we  cannot  comprehend  tjiem."  —  />'  -nee,  p.  211.  "There 

is  no  difference,  •  .  •  are  heavier  than  others."  —  "We  may  be  playful,  and  yet 

innocent  ;  grave,  and  i/et  corrupt."  —  Murray's  AVy,  p. 

Ons.  7.  —  (injunctions  have  no  grammatical  modifications,  and  are  consequently  in- 
capable of  any  formal  agreement  or  disagreement  with  other  words  ;  yet  their  import  as 
connectives,  copulative  or  disjunctive,  nuist  be  carefully  observed,  lest  we  wiite  or  speak 
them  improperly.  Example  of  error  :  "  Prepositions  are  generally  set  before  nouns  and  pro- 
nouns." —  Wilbur's  Gram.  p.  20.  Here  and  should  be  or;  because,  although  a  preposition 
usual'  -  a  noun  or  a  pronoun,  it  seldom  governs  both  at  once.  And  lH'-ul<--,  the 

assert:  y  naturally  to  mean,  that  nouns  and  pronouns  a  (>(  pre- 

ould  invent  !     L.  Murray  also  says  of 

prepositions:  "  They  are,  /  ;-ut  before  nouns  and  pronouns."  —  Cram.  p.  117. 

So  Felton  :  "  They  generally  stand  before  nouns  and  pronouns."  —  Analytic,  and  /'/-."•.  Cram. 
p.  61.  The  blunder  however  came  originally  from  Lowth,  and  out  of  the  following  ad- 
miralile  enigma  :  "  Prepositions,  standing  by  themselves  in  construction,  are  put  before  nouns 
and  pronoun-;  and  sometimes  after  verbs;  but  in  this  sort  of  composition  they  are  chiefly 

to  verbs  :  as,  to  outgo,  to  overcome."  —  Lowth'  s  Gram.  p.  66. 

.  8.  —  The  opposition  I  by  the  disjunctive  particle  or,  is  sometimes  merely 

nominal,  or  verbal  :  as,  "  That  object  is  a  triangle,  or  figure  contained  under  three  right 

.     "So  if  we  say,  that  figure  is  a  sphere,  or  a  globe,  or  abalL"  —  Id.  Hermes, 

I.    In  these  cases,  the  disjunction  consists  in  nothing  but  an  alternative  of  words  ;  for 

the  terms  connected  describe  or  name  the  same  thing.    For  this  sense  of  or,  the  Latins  had 

liar  particle,  sire,  which  they  called  «Va,  a  SV<  .   a-;.  "AVxander 

M:ivor<."  —  II  trr  ,  p.  258.     In  English,  the  conjunction  or  is 

•itly  equivocal  :  .  were  both  more  ancient  than  Zoroaster  or  Zcrdusht." 

f.  p.  250  ;  Irani,  p.  297.     Here,  if  the  reader  does  not  happen  to 

kno-.v  that  '  mean  the  same  person,  he  will  be  very  likely  to  mistake 

To  avoid  this  ambiguity,  we  substitute,  (in  judicial  proceedings,)  the  Latin  ad- 

verb f  it  as  a  conjunction  subdisjunctive,  in  lieu  of  or,  or  the  Latin. 

idcr,  alias  Ellick."  —  "  Simsoii,  alias  Smith,  alias  Baker."  —  Johnson  s  Diet. 

AMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 

PRAXIS  IX.—  ETYMOLOGICAL. 

'h  Praxis,  it  is  required  of  the  pupil  —  to  distinguish  and  define  the 

>  parts  of  speech,  find  the  classes  and  modifications  of  the  ARTICLES, 

Nuu.xs,    ADJECTIVES,    PRONOUNS,    VERBS,    PARTICIPLES,   ADVERBS,   and  CON- 

T/ie  d  .Yinfh  Praxis,  are  two  for  an  article,  six  for  a 

"  [Tonoun,  seven  for  a  verb  finite,  five  for 
pnrticijtl',  two  (and  sometimes  three)  for  an  adverb,  two 
for  a  conjunction,  —  undone  for  a  preposition,  or  -  ction.      Thus  :  — 

EXAMPLE  Pj 
"  Tf  thou  h-ist  clone  n  £•  I  not  of  it."  —  Maxims. 

•Tils  or  sentences  in  construction, 
•MjuiK'tioii  is  u  vuiijaii.  Hun  that 

vocase. 

t  i<  nil  "r  .-inn-  LI'  a  ]••  i.  n  or  jironuun,  which 


to  be  acted 
miing 

• 

.    will.iM     S"l; 

•  ~;       '  •_  •  IP  arrr,  t.r  U  i  .  Ircssed. 

;t  brfore  noiuia  to  liinit  tli. 

l 

iS  ;l  \s  [3    auy 

"  if"1  and  "O.T  though."— Gram.  p.  25.     But  when  he  comes  to  speak  of  ellipsi*,  he  «ays  :  t:.Aftc-r  the  con- 
icUcns   than,  a*.  /CA]  will 

««•  ;'     'He  .u  t<-d  as[he  icculd  act]  if  he  were  mad.1"— Ib.  p.  41.     'j  his  <]•  -  ••.n-.c   La    i    ti         rt-i»ugLant  to  the 


414  THE   GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   IT. 

ordinary  epithet,  or  adjective  denoting  quality  or  situation.  3.  The  positive  degree  is  that  which  is  expressed 
by  the  adjective  in  its  simple  form. 

Deed  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neater  gender,  and  objective  case.  1.  A  noun 
is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  2.  A  common  noun  is  the 
name  of  a  sort,  kind,  or  class,  of  beings  or  things,  y.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or 
thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter  gender  is 
that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  objective  case  is  that  form  or  state  of  a 
noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  object  of  a  verb,  participle,  or  preposition. 

Boast  is  a  regular  active-intransitive  verb,  from  boast,  boasted,  boasting,  boasted ;  found  in  the  imperative  mood, 
present  tense,  second  person,  and  singular  number.  1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act.  or  to  be 
acted  upon.  2.  A  regular  verb  is  a  verb  that  forms  the  preterit  and  the  perfect  participle  by  assuming  d  or 
ed.  o.  An  active-intransitive  verb  is  a  verb  that  expresses  an  action  which  has  no  person  or  thing  for  its 
object.  4.  The  imperative  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb,  which  is  used  in  commanding,  exhorting,  entreat- 
ing, or  permitting.  5.  The  present  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  now  exists,  or  is  taking  place.  6. 
The  second  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  hearer,  or  the  person  addressed.  7.  The  singular  number  is  that 
which  denotes  but  one. 

Not  is  an  adverb  of  manner,  expressing  negation.  1.  An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an 
adjective,  or  an  other  adverb ;  and  generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner.  2.  Adverbs  of 
manner  are  those  which  answer  to  the  question,  How  ?  or,  by  am'rming,  denying,  or  doubting,  show  how  a 
subject  is  regarded. 

Of  is  »  preposition.  1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts  to 
each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun, 

It  is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case.  1.  A  pronoun 
is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun.  2.  A  personal  pronoun  is  a  pronoun  that  shows,  by  its  form,  of  what 
person  it  is.  3.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singu- 
lar number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter  gender  is  that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither 
male  nor  female.  6.  The  objective  case  is  that  form  or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun  which  denotes  the  object 
of  a  verb,  participle,  or  preposition. 

LESSON  I. — PARSING. 

"  In  all  gratifications,  disgust  ever  lies  nearest  to  the  highest  pleasures ;  and  there- 
fore let  us  not  marvel,  if  this  is  peculiarly  the  case  in  eloquence.  By  glancing  at  either 
poets  or  orators,  we  may  easily  satisfy  ourselves,  that  neither  a  poem  nor  an  oration 
which  aims  continually  at  what  is  fine,  showy,  and  sparkling,  can  please  us  long. 
Wherefore,  though  we  may  wish  for  the  frequent  praise  of  having  expressed  ourselves 
well  and  properly,  we  should  not  covet  repeated  applause  for  being  bright  and  splen- 
did."— CICERO,  de  Oratore. 

"  The  foundation  of  eloquence,  as  well  as  of  every  other  high  attainment,  is  pnc- 
tical  wisdom.  For  it  happens  in  oratory,  as  in  life,  that  nothing  is  more  difficult, 
than  to  discern  what  is  proper  and  becoming.  Through  lack  of  such  discernme  it, 
gross  faults  are  very  often  committed.  For  neither  to  all  ranks,  fortunes,  and  ages, 
nor  to  every  time,  place,  and  auditory,  can  the  same  style  either  of  language  or  of 
sentiment  be  adapted.  In  every  part  of  a  discourse,  as  in  every  part  of  life,  we  must 
consider  what  is  suitable  and  decent;  and  this  must  be  determined  with  reference  both 
to  the  matter  in  question,  and  to  the  personal  character  of  those  who  speak  and  those 
who  hear." — CICERO,  Orator  ad  Brutum. 

"  So  spake  th'  Omnipotent,  and  with  his  words 
All  seem'd  well  pleas'd  ;  all  seem'd,  but  were  not  all." — Milton. 

LESSON  II. — PARSING. 

"A  square,  though  not  more  regular  than  a  hexagon  or  an  octagon,  is  more 
beautiful  than  either :  for  what  reason,  but  that  a  square  is  more  simple,  and  the  at- 
tention is  less  divided?" — Kames,  EL  of  Grit,  i,  175. 

"  We  see  the  material  universe  in  motion  ;  but  matter  is  inert;  and,  so  far  as  we 
know,  nothing  can  move  it  but  mind  :  therefore  God  is  a  spirit.  We  do  not  mean 
that  his  nature  is  the  same  as  that  of  our  soul ;  for  it  is  infinitely  more  excellent.  But 
we  mean,  that  he  possesses  intelligence  and  active  power  in  supreme  perfection  ;  and, 
as  these  qualities  do  not  belong  to  matter,  which  is  neither  active  nor  intelligent, 
we  must  refer  them  to  that  which  is  not  matter,  but  mind." — Beanie's  Moral 
Science,  p.  210. 

"  Men  are  generally  permitted  to  publish  books,  and  contradict  others,  and  even 
themselves,  as  they  please,  with  as  little  danger  of  being  confuted,  as  of  being  un- 
derstood."— Boyle. 

"  Common  reports,  if  ridiculous  rather  than  dangerou?,  are  best  refuted  by  neglect." 
— Kames 's  Thinking,  p.  76.  "No  man  is  so  foolish,  but  that  he  may  give  good 
counsel  at  a  time ;  no  man  so  wise,  but  he  may  err,  if  he  take  no  counsel  but  his 
own.»_ /&.  p.  97. 

"  Young  heads  are  giddy,  and  young  hearts  are  warm, 
And  make  mistakes  for  manhood  to  reform." — Cowper. 


CHAP.  IX.]  ETYMOLOGY. — CONJUNCTIONS. — ERRORS.  415 

LESSON  III. — PARSING. 

"  The  Nouns  denote  substances,  and  those  either  natural,  artificial,  or  abstract. 
They  moreover  denote  things  either  general,  or  special,  or  particular.  The  Pronouns, 
their  substitutes,  are  either  prepositive,  or  subjunctive." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  85. 
"  In  a  thought,  generally  speaking,  there  is  at  least  one  capital  object  considered 
as  acting  or  as  suffering.  This  object  is  expressed  by  a  substantive  noun  :  its  action 
is  expressed  by  an  active  verb  ;  and  the  thing  affected  by  the  action  is  expressed  by 
an  other  substantive  noun  :  its  suffering,  or  passive  state,  is  expressed  by  a  passive 
verb  ;  and  the  thing  that  acts  upon  it,  by  a  substantive  noun.  Beside  these,  which  are 
the  capital  parts  of  a  sentence,  or  period,  there  are  generally  underparts ;  each  of  the 
substantives,  as  well  as  the  verb,  may  be  qualified :  time,  place,  purpose,  motive, 
means,  instrument,  and  a  thousand  other  circumstances,  may  be  necessary  to  complete 
the  thought."— Names,  EL  of  Grit,  ii,  34. 

"  Yet  those  whom  pride  and  dullness  join  to  blind, 
To  narrow  cares  and  narrow  space  confined, 
Though  with  big  titles  each  his  fellow  greets, 
Are  but  to  wits,  as  scavengers  to  streets." — Mallet. 

IMPROPRIETIES    FOR    CORRECTION. 
ERRORS  RESPECTING  CONJUNCTIONS. 

"A.  Verb  is  so  called  from  the  Latin  verbum,  or  word." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram.  p.  56. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  conjunction  or,  connecting  verbum  and  word,  suppo?es  the  latter  to  be  T.atfr . 
But,  according  to  Observation  7th,  on  the  Classes  of  Conjunctions,  "  The  import  of  connectives,  copulative  or  dis- 
junctive, niu-t  be  carefully  observe'!,  k-st  we  write  or  speak  them  improperly."  In  this  instance,  or  should  be 
changed  to  a  .  tklH,  M  ^  Y>irb  is  so  called  from  the  Latin  verbum,  a  word :  "  that  is,  li  which  means,  a  word."] 

"  References  arc  often  marked  by  letters  and  figures." — Gould's  Adam's  Gram.  p.  283. 
(1.)  "A  Conjunction  is  a  word  -which  joins  woi'ds  and  sentences  together." — Lennies  E. 
Gram.  p.  51;  J'mllions's,  70  ;  Brace's,  57.  (2.)  "A  conjunction  is  used I  to  connect  words  and 
sentences  together." — Smith's  Xeio  Gram.  p.  37.  (3.)  "A  conjunction  is  used  to  connect  words 
and  sentences." — Mawufrr's  Gram.  p.  1.  (4.)  "  Conjunctions  are  words  used  to  join  words 
and  sentences." — Wihox's  Gram.  p.  3.  (5.)  "A  Conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect 
words  and  sentences."— M'Culloch's  Gram.  p.  36;  Hart's,  92;  Day's,  10.  (6.)  "A  conjunc- 
tion joins  Avords  and  sentences  together." — Mackintosh's  Gram.  p.  115;  Hiky's,  10  and  53. 
(7.)  "  The  Conjunction  joins  words  and  sentences  together." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  2d  Edition, 
p.  28.  (8.)  "  Conjunctions  connect  words  and  sentences  to  each  other." — Wright's  Gram. 
p.  3-5.  (9.)  "Conjunctions  connect  words  and  sentences." — Wilcox's  Gram.  p.  80  ;  Wells' st 
1st  Ed.  Io9  and  168.  (10.)  "  The  conjunction  is  a  part  of  speech  used  to  connect  words  and 
sentences." — H'cWs  Gram.  2d Ed.  p.  49.  (11.)  "A  conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect 
words  and  sentences  together." — Fowler 's  E.  Gram.  §  320.  (12.)  "Connectives  are  words 
whi'rh  unite  words  and  sentences  in  construction." —  Webster's  PhUos.  Gram.  p.  123  ;  Improved 
Gram.  81.  .  Grammar  is  miserably  taught  in  our  district  schools  ;  the  teacher* 

know  but  little  or  nothing  about  it." —  Taylor's  District  School,  p.  48.  "  Least,  instead  of  pre- 
venting, you  draw  on  Diseases." — I^ckc,  on  Ed.  p.  40.  "  The  definite  article  the  is  fre- 
quent! in  the  comparative  and  superlative  degree." — Murray's  Gram. 

and  others.  "  When  nouns  nat- 
urally neuter  are  converted  into  masculine  and  feminine." — Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  p.  38.  "Thi* 
form  of  the  perfect  :  ents  an  action  completely  past,  and  often  at  no  great  dis- 

oc'ified." —  /'>.  j>.  71.     "The  Conjunction  Copulative  serves  to  connect  or 
to  continu  •,  by  expressing  an  addition,  a  supposition,  a  cause,  &c."— 76.  p.  liM. 

unction  Disjun  .-•«,  not  only  to  connect  and  continue  the  sentence,  but 

imposition  of  meaning  in  different  degrees."— Ib.  p.  123.     "Whether  we 
open  tin-  volumes  of  our  divines,  philosophers,  historians,  or  artists,  we  shall  find  that  they 
h  all  the  f .  to  communicate  their  observations  and  discoveries."— 

•'  \\hr-i  :i  divunotivo  occurs  between  a  singular  noun,  or  pronoun,  and  a  plural 
one,  the  verb  is  made  to  agree  with  the  plural  noun  and  pronoun. "—/'».  p.  1";2  :  A'.  C.  Smith, 
Afyr,  "  Pronouns  must  always  agree  with  their  antece- 

dent s  and  the  nouns  for  which  they  stand,  in  gender  and  number." — Murray's  Gram.  p. 
154.  •  uter  do  not  act  upon,  or  govern,  nouns  and  pronouns." — Ib.  p.  179.  • 

the  auxiliary  both  of  the  present  and  past  imperfect  times." — Ib.  p.  72.  "If  this  rule 
shov  Id  not  appear  to  apply  to  every  example,  which  has  been  produced,  nor  to  otherH 
which  might  be  adduced."— Ib.  p.  216.  "An  cmphatical  pause  is  made,  after  something 
has  been  said  of  peculiar  moment,  and  on  which  we  desire  to  fix  the  hearer's  attention." — 
/&.  p.  2i8;  Hart's  Gram.  175.  "An  imperfect  phrase  contains  no  assertion,  or  does  not 


416  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

amount  to  a  proposition  or  sentence." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  267.  "  The  -word  was  in  the 
mouth  of  every  one,  but  for  all  that,  the  subj ect  may  still  be  a  secret." — Ib.  p.  213.  "A 
word  it  was  in  the  mouth  of  every  one,  but  for  all  that,  as  to  its  precise  and  definite  idea,  this 
may  still  be  a  secret." — Harris's  Three  Treatises,  p.  5.  "  It  cannot  be  otherwise,  in  regard 
that  the  French  prosody  differs  from  that  of  every  other  country  in  Europe." — Smollett's 
Voltaire,  ix,  303.  "  So  gradually  as  to  allow  its  being  engrafted  on  a  subtonic." — Rush,  on 
the  Voice,  p.  2o5.  "  Where  the  Chelsea  or  Maiden  bridges  now  are." — Judt/v  Parker.  "  Ad- 
verbs are  words  joined  to  vevbs,  participles,  adjectives,  and  other  adverbs. — Smith's  Produc- 
tive Gram.  p.  92.  "  I  could  not  have  told  you,  who  the  hermit  was,  nor  on  what  mountf  in 
he  lived." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram,  p.  32.  "Am,  or  be  (for  they  are  the  same)  naturally, 
or  in  themselves  signify  being." — BrighUand's  Gram.  p.  113.  "Words  are  distinct  sounds, 
by  which  we  express  our  thoughts  and  ideas." — Infant  School  Gram.  p.  13.  "  His  fears  will 
detect  him,  but  he  shall  not  escape." — Comly's  Gram.  p.  64.  "Whose  is  equally  applicable 
to  persons  or  things." — WEBSTER  :  in  Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  95.  "  One  negative  destroys  an- 
other, or  is  equivalent  to  an  affirmative." — Bullions,  Eng.  Gram.  p.  118. 
"  No  sooner  does  he  peep  into 
The  world,  but  he  has  done  his  do." — Uudibras. 


CHAPTER  X.-PKEPOSITIONS. 

A  Preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things 
or  thoughts  to  each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pro- 
noun ;  as,  "  The  paper  lies  before  me  on  the  desk." 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  relations  of  things  to  things  in  nature,  or  of  words  to  words  in  dis- 
course, are  infinite  in  number,  if  not  also  in  variety.  But  just  classification  may  make 
even  infinites  the  subjects  of  sure  science.  "Every  relation  of  course  implies  more  objects, 
and  more  terms,  than  one  ;  for  any  one  thing,  considered  merely  in  itself,  is  taken  inde- 
pendently, abstractly,  irrelatively,  as  if  it  had  no  relation  or  dependence.  In  all  corract 
language,  the  grammatical  relation  of  the  wards  corresponds  exactly  to  the  relation  of  1he 
things  or  ideas  expressed ;  for  the  relation  of  words,  is  their  dependence,  or  connexion,  ac- 
cording to  the  sense.  This  relation  is  oftentimes  immediate,  as  of  one  word  to  an  other,  without 
the  intervention  of  a  preposition ;  but  it  is  seldom,  if  ever,  reciprocally  equal ;  because  de- 
pendence implies  subordination  ;  and  mere  adjunction  is  a  sort  of  inferiority. 

OBS.  2. — To  a  preposition,  the  antecedent  term  may  be  a  noun,  an  adjective,  a  prono  an, 
a  verb,  a  participle,  or  an  adverb  ;  and  the  subsequent  term  may  be  a  noun,  a  pronoun,  a 
pronominal  adjective,  an  infinitive  verb,  or  a  participle.  In  some  instances,  also,  as  in  the 
phrases,  in  vain,  on  high,  at  once,  till  now,  for  ever,  by  how  much,  until  thai,  from  thence,  from 
above,  we  find  adjectives  used  elliptically,  and  adverbs  substantively,  alter  the  preposition. 
But,  in  phrases  of  an  adverbial  character,  what  is  elsewhere  a  preposition  often  becomes 
an  adverb.  Now,  if  prepositions  are  concerned  in  expressing  the  varioxis  relations  of  so 
many  of  the  different  parts  of  speech,  multiplied,  as  these  relations  must  be,  by  that  end- 
less variety  of  combinations  which  may  be  given  to  the  terms  ;  and  if  the  sense  of  the  writer 
or  speaker  is  necessarily  mistaken,  as  often  as  any  of  these  relations  are  misunderstood,  or 
their  terms  misconceived ;  how  shall  we  estimate  the  importance  of  a  right  explanation, 
and  a  right  use,  of  this  part  of  speech  ? 

OBS.  3. — The  grammarian  whom  Lowth  compliments,  as  excelling  all  others,  in  "  acute- 
ness  of  investigation,  perspicuity  of  explication,  and  elegance  of  method;"  and  as  sur- 
passing all  but  Aristotle,  in  the  beauty  and  perfectness  of  his  philological  analysis  ;  com- 
mences his  chapter  on  conjunctions  in  the  following  manner :  "  Connectives  are  the  subject 
of  what  follows  ;  which,  according  as  they  connect  either  Sentences  or  Words,  arc  called  by  the 
different  Names  of  Conjunctions  on  Prepositions.  Of  these  Names,  that  of  the  Preposition  is 
taken  from  a  mare  accident,  as  it  commonly  stands  in  connection  before  the  Part,  irhich  it  con- 
nects. The  name  of  the  Conjunction,  as  is  evident,  has  reference  to  its  essential  character. 
Of  these  two  we  shall  consider  the  Conjunction^^,  because  it  connects,  not  Words,  but  Sen- 
tences."— Harris's  Hermes,  p.  237. 

Or,s.  4. — In  point  of  order,  it  is  not  amiss  to  treat  conjunctions  before  prepositions  ;  though 
this  is  not  the  method  of  Lowth,  or  of  Murray.  But,  to  any  one  who  is  well  acquainted  with 
these  two  parts  of  speech,  the  foregoing  passage  cannot  but  appear,  in  three  sentences  out  of 
the  four,  both  defective  in  style  and  erroneous  in  doctrine.  It  is  true,  that  conjunctions 
generally  connect  sentences,  and  that  prepositions  as  generally  express  relations  between 
particular  words  :  but  it  is  true  also,  that  conjunctions  often  connect  words  only;  and  that 
prepositions,  by  governing  antecedents,  relatives,  or  even  personal  pronouns,  may  serve 


CHAP.  X.]        %  ETYMOLOGY — PREPOSITIONS. — THEIR   NATURE.  417 

to  subjoin  sentences  to  sentences,  as  well  as  to  determine  the  relation  and  construction  of 
the  particular  words  which  they  govern.  Example  :  "  The  path  seems  now  plain  and  even, 
but  there  are  asperities  and  pitfalls,  over  which  Religion  only  can  conduct  you." — Dr.  John- 
son. Here  are  three  simple  sentences,  which  are  made  members  of  one  compound  sentence, 
by  means  of  but  and  orer  irhirh  ,•  while  two  of  these  members,  clauses,  or  subdivisions,  con- 
tain particular  words  connected  by  and. 

OBS.  o. — In  one  respect,  the  preposition  is  the  simplest  of  all  the  parts  of  speech :  in  our 
common  schemes  of  grammar,  is  lias  neither  classes  nor  modifications.  Every  connective 
word  that  governs  an  object  after  it,  is  called  a  preposition,  because  it  does  so ;  and  in  etymo- 
logical parsing,  to  name  the  preposition  as  such,  and  define  the  name,  is,  perhaps,  all  that  is 
necessary.  But  in  syntactical  parsing,  in  which  we  are  to  omit  the  definitions,  and  state 
the  construction,  we  ought  to  explain  what  terms  the  preposition  connects,  and  to  give  a  rule 
adapted  to  this  office  of  the  particle.  It  is  a  palpable  defect  in  nearly  all  our  grammars, 
that  their  syntax  contains  NO  srcu  KULE.  "  Prepositions  govern  the  objective  case,"  is  a 
rule  for  ///  IM,  and  not  for  the  syntax  of  prepositions.  "Prepositions  show  the  re- 

lations of  words,  and  of  the  things  or  thoughts  expressed  by  them,"  is  the  principle  for  the 
latter ;  a  principle  which  we  cannot  neglect,  without  a  shameful  lameness  in  our  interpreta- 
tion ; — that  is,  when  we  pretend  to  parse  syntactically. 

.  f>. — Prepositions  and  their  objects  very  often  precede  the  words  on  which  they  de- 
pend, and  sometimes  at  a  great  distance.  Of  this  we  have  an  example,  at  the  opening  of 
Milton's  Paradise  Lost;  where  "Of"  the  first  word,  depends  upon  "Sing,"  in  the  sixth  line 
below  ;  for  the  meaning  is — "Sing  ofmansfrst  disobedience"  &c.  To  find  the  terms  of  the 
relation,  is  to  find  the  meaning  of  the  passage;  a  very  useful  exercise,  provided  the  words 
have  a  meaning  which  is  worth  knowing.  The  following  text  has  for  centuries  afforded 
ground  of  dispute,  because  it  is  doubtful  in  the  original,  as  well  as  in  many  of  the  versions, 
whether  the  preposition  in  (i.  e.  "  in  the  regeneration")  refers  back  to  have  followed,  or  for- 
ward to  the  last  verb  shall  sit :  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you  that  ye  who  have  followed  me,  in  the 
regeneration,  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  in  the  throne  of  his  glory,  ye  also  shall  sit 
upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel." — Matt,  xix,  28.  The  second 
wrong  :  the  Greek  word  is  i.ii,  on  or  upon;  i.  e.  "upon  the  throne  of  his 
glory." 

OBS.  7. — The  prepositions  have,  from  their  own  nature,  or  from  custom,  such  an  adaptation 
to  particular  terms  and  relations,  that  they  can  seldom  be  used  one  for  an  other  without 
manifest  impropriety.  Example  of  error :  "  Proper  seasons  should  be  allotted  for  re- 
tirement."—Murray's  Key,  p.  17.3.  We  do  not  say  "  allotted  for"  but  "  allotted  to  ;  "  hence 
for  is  either  wrong  in  itself  or  misplaced.  Such  errors  always  vex  an  intelligent  reader. 
He  sees  the  terms  mismatched,  the  intended  connexion  doubtful,  the  sense  obscured,  and 
wishes  the  author  could  have  valued  his  own  meaning  enough  to  have  made  it  intelligible ; 
— that  is,  (to  speak  technically,)  enough  to  have  made  it  a  certain  clew  to  his  syntax. 
We  can  neither  parse  nor  correct  what  we  do  not  understand.  Did  the  writer  mean,  "  Proper 
seasons  should  be  allotted  to  retirement:" — or,  "Proper  seasons  for  retirement  should 
be  allotted-" — or,  "Seasons  proper  for  retirement  should  be  allotted:"  Every  ex- 
pression is  incorrigibly  bad,  the  iniunuui  of  which  cannot  be  known.  Expression?  Nay, 
expression  it  is  not,  but  only  a  mock  utterance  or  an  abortive  attempt  at  expression. 

.  S. — Harris  observes,  in  substance,  though  in  other  words,  that  almost  all  the 
prepositions  were  originally  formed  to  denote  relation  of  place ;  that  this  class  of  relations 
is  primary,  being  that  which  natural  bodies  maintain  at  all  times  one  to  another ;  that  in 
the  continuity  of  place  these  bodies  form  the  universe,  or  visible  whole  ;  that  we  have  some 
prepositions  to  denote  the-  cnnti<nii»ix  relation  of  bodies,  and  others  for  the  detached  relation  ; 
and  that  both  have-,  by  <l<  .  .dcd  from  local  relations,  to  the  relations  of  sub- 

jects incur;!,, real.  He  appears  also  to  assume,  that,  in  such  examples  as  the  following, — 
"Car;  '.';  " — "The  statue  stood  iijxm  a  pedestal ;" — "The  river  ran  over 

a  sand ;"—  ••  '          ;  " — "  The  sun  /.v  >-/V-«  oforethe  hills ;  " — "These  figs  came 

from  Turki  v  ;  "—the  antecedent  term  of  the  relation  is  not  the  verb,  but  the  noun  or  pro- 
'noun  before  it.  B  Now  the  true  antecedent  is,  unquestionably, 

that  word  which,  in  the  order  of  the  sense,  the  preposition  should  immediately  follow  :  and 
a  verb,  a  participle,  or  an  adjective,  may  sustain  this  relation,  just  a  well  as  a  substantive. 
f  t-dlnur,"  (lues  not  in  .,nn  of  ml  our  spoke  ;  "  nor  does,  "The  mem- 

l>i'laware." 

9.— To  make  this  matter  more  clear,  it  may  be  proper  to  observe  further,  that  what 
I  call  the  order  of  the  scn-e,  is  not  always  that  order  of  the  words  which  is  fittest  to  express 
the  .sense  of  a  whole  period  ;  and  that  the  true  antecedent  is  that  word  to  which  the  prepo- 
sition and  its  object  would  naturally  be  subjoined,  were  there  nothing  to  interfere  with  such 
an  arrangement.  In  practice  it  often  happens,  that  the  preposition  and  its  object  cannot  be 
placed  immediately  alter  the  word  on  which  they  depend,  and  which  they  would  naturally 
follow.  For  example:  "She  hates  the  means  'by  irhich  she  lives."  That  is,  "She  hates 
the  means  which  she  I  ires  by."  Here  we  cannot  say,  "  She  hates  the  means  she  lives  by 
which;"  and  yet,  in  regard  to  the  preposition  by,  irds  is  really  the  order  of  the  sense. 

27 


418  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II, 

Again  :  "  Though  thou  sliouldcst  bray  a  fool  in  a  mortar  among  -wheat  with  a  pestle,  yet  will 
not  his  foolishness  depart  from  him." — Prov.  xxvii,  22.  Here  is  no  transposition  to  affect 
our  understanding  of  the  prepositions,  yet  there  is  liability  to  error,  because  the  words  which 
immediately  precede  some  of  them,  are  not  their  true  antecedents  :  the  text  does  not  really 
•peak  of  "  a  mortar  among  wheat"  or  of  "  -wheat  with  a  pestle"  To  what  then  are  the  mortar, 
the  wheat,  and  the  pestle,  to  be  mentally  subjoined?  If  all  of  them,  to  any  one  thing, 
it  must  be  to  the  action  suggested  by  the  verb  bray,  and  not  to  its  object  fool ;  for  the  text 
does  not  speak  of  "  a  fool  with  a  pestle"  though  it  docs  seem  to  speak  of  "  a  fool  in  a  mortar,  and 
among  wheat."  Indeed,  in  this  instance,  as  in  many  others,  the  verb  and  its  object  are  so 
closely  associated  that  it  makes  but  little  difference  in  regard  to  the  sense,  whether  you  take 
both  of  them  together,  or  either  of  them  separately,  as  the  antecedent  to  the  preposition.  But, 
as  the  instrument  of  an  action  is  with  the  ngcnt  rather  than  with  the  object,  if  you  will  have 
the  substantives  alone  for  antecedents,  the  natural  order  of  the  sense  must  be  supposed 
to  be  this  :  "  Though  thou  with  a  pestle  shouldest  bray  9.  fool  in  a  mortar  [and]  among  wheat, 
yet  will  not  \\\s>  foolishness  from  him  depart."  This  gives  to  each  of  the  prepositions  an  ante- 
cedent different  from  that  which  I  should  assign.  Sanborn  observes,  "  There  seem  to  be  two 
kinds  of  relation  expressed  by  prepositions, — an  existing  and  a  eonneeting  relation." — Analyt. 
Gram.  p.  225.  The  latter,  he  adds,  "  is  the  most  important" — Ib.  p.  22(>.  But  it  is  the  for- 
mer that  admits  nothing  but  nouns  for  antecedents.  Others  besides  Harris  may  have  adopted 
this  notion,  but  I  have  never  been  one  of  the  number,  though  a  certain  author  scruples  not 
to  charge  the  error  upon  me.  See  O.  B.  Peiree's  Grammar,  p.  1G5. 

OBS.  10. — It  is  a  very  common  error  among  grammarians,  and  the  source  of  innumerable 
discrepancies  in  doctrine,  as  well  as  one  of  the  chief  means  of  maintaining  their  interminable 
disputes,  that  they  suppose  ellipses  at  their  own  pleasure,  and  supply  in  every  given  instancy 
just  what  words  their  fancies  may  suggest.  In  this  work,  I  adopt  for  myself,  and  also  rec- 
ommend to  others,  the  contrary  course  of  avoiding  on  all  occasions  the  supposition  of  any 
needless  ellipses.  Not  only  may  the  same  preposition  govern  more  than  one  object,  but  then* 
may  also  be  more  than  one  antecedent  word,  bearing  a  joint  relation  to  that  which  is  governed 
by  the  preposition.  (1.)  Examples  of  joint  objects  :  "  There  is  an  inseparable  connexion 
i»BTWEEN/>M?ty  a)id  virtue." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  171.  "  In  the  conduct  of  Parmenio,  a  mix- 
ture or  wisdom  and  folly  was  very  conspicuous." — Ib.  p.  179.  "  True  happiness  is  an  enemy 
TO  pomp  and  noise." — Ib.  p.  171.  (2.)  "Examples  of  joint  antecedents  :  "In  unity  consist 
the  welfare  and  security  OF  every  society." — Ib.  p.  182.  "It  is  our  duty  to  be  just  and  kind 
TO  our  fellow-creatures,  and  to  be  pious  and  faithful  TO  Him  that  made  us." — Ib.  p.  181.  "  I  f 
the  author  did  not  mean  to  speak  of  being'  pious  to  God  as  well  as  faithful  to  Him,  he  ha* 
written  incorrectly  :  a  comma  after  pious,  would  alter  both  the  sense  and  the  construction. 
So  the  text,  "  For  I  am  meek,  and  lowly  in  heart,"  is  commonly  perverted  in  our  Bibles,  for 
want  of  a  comma  after  meek.  The  Saviour  did  not  say,  he  was  meek  in  heart :  the  Greek 
may  be  very  literacy  rendered  thus  :  "  For  gentle  am  I,  and  humble  in  heart." 

OBS.  11. — Many  writers  seem  to  suppose,  that  no  preposition  can  govern  more  than  on& 
object.  Thus  L.  Murray,  and  his  followers  :  "  The  ellipsis  of  the  preposition,  as  well  as  of 
the  verb,  is  seen  in  the  following  instances :  « He  went  into  the  abbeys,  halls,  and  public 
buildings  ; '  that  is,  'He  went  into  the  abbeys,  he  went  into  the  halls,  and  he  went  into  the 
public  buildings.' — «He  also  went  through  all  the  streets,  and  lanes  of  the  city; '  that  is, 
*  Through  all  the  streets,  and  through  all  the  lanes,'  &c." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  219.  See 
the  same  interpretations  in  Ligcrsolt's  Gram.  p.  15o  ;  Merchant's,  100  ;  Picket's,  211  ;  Algcr'n. 
73;  Fisk's,  147  ;  Guy's,  91  ;  Adams's,  82  ;  11.  C.  Smith's,  183  :  Haniliiis,  105  ;  Putnam's, 'l39  ; 
Weld's,  292.  Now  it  is  plain,  that  in  neither  of  these  examples  is  there  any  such  ellipsis  at 
all.  Of  the  three  prepositions,  the  first  governs  three  nouns ;  the  second,  two  ;  and  the  third, 
one  only.  But  the  last,  (which  is  of,)  has  two  antecedents,  streets  and  lanes,  the  comma 
after  streets  being  wrong  ;  for  the  author  does  not  speak  of  all  tlxe  streets  in  the  world,  but 
of  all  the  streets  and  lanes  of  a  particular  city.  Dr.  Ash  has  the  same  example  without  the 
comma,  and  supposes  in  it  only  an  ellipsis  of  the  preposition  through,  and  even  that  suppo- 
sitioa  is  absurd.  He  also  furnished  the  former  example,  to  show  an  ellipsis,  not  of  the 
verb  icent,  but  only  of  the  preposition  into ;  and  in  this  too  he  was  utterly  wrong.  See 
Ash's  Grammar,  p.  100.  Bicknell  also,  whose  grammar  appeared  five  years  before  Mur- 
ray's, confessedly  copied  the  same  examples  from  Ash ;  and  repeated,  not  the  verb  and  it» 
nominative,  but  only  the  prepositions  through  and  into,  agreeably  to  Ash's  erroneous  notion. 
See  his  Grammatical  Wreath,  Part  i,  p.  124.  Again  the  principles  of  Murray's  supposed 
ellipses,  are  as  inconsistent  with  each  other,  as  they  are  severally  absurd.  Had  the  author 
explained  the  second  example  according  to  his  notion  of  the  first,  he  should  have  made  it 
to  mean,  'He  also  went  through  all  the  streets  of  the  city,  and  he  also  went  through  all  the 
lanes  of  the  city.'  What  a  pretty  idea  is  this  for  a  principle  of  grammar  !  And  what  a  multi- 
tude of  admirers  are  pretending  to  carry  it  out  in  parsing  !  One  of  the  latest  writers  on 
grammar  says,  that,  "Between  him  and  me,"  signifies,  "Between  him,  and  between  me!  — 
Wright's  Philosophical  Gram.  p.  206.  And  an  other  absurdly  resolves  a  simple  sentence  into 
a  compound  one,  thus  :  "  'There  was  a  difficulty  between  John,  and  his  brother.'  That  is, 
there  was  a  difficulty  between  John,  and  there  was  a  difficulty  between  his  brother." — Jaint» 
Brouvi's  English  Syntax,  p.  127  ;  and  again,  p.  130. 


CHAP.  X.]  ETYMOLOGY. PREPOSITIONS. — THEIR   NATURE.  419 

OBS.  12. — Two  prepositions  are  not  unfrequcntly  connected  by  a  conjunction,  and  that 
for  different  purposes,  thus:  (1.)  To  express  two  different  relations  at  once;  as,  "The 
picture  of  my  travels  in  and  around  Michigan." — Society  in  America,  i,  231.  (2.)  To  suggest 
an  alternative  in  the  relation  affirmed  ;  as,  "  The  action  will  be  fully  accomplished  at  or 
before  the  time." — Murray's  dram,  i,  7-.  Again  :  "  The  First  Future  Tense  represents  the 
action  as  yet  to  come,  ntforwM  or  without  respect  to  the  precise  time." — 76.  Felt  on' s  Gram. 
p.  23.  With  and  without  being  direct  opposites,  this  alternative  is  a  thing  of  course,  and 
the  phrase  is  an  idle  truism.  (3.)  To  express  two  relations  so  &s  to  affirm  the  one  and 
deny  the  other ;  as,  "  Captain,  yourself  are  the  fittest  to  live  and  reign  not  over,  but  next 
and  immediately  under  the  people." — Dryrlen.  Here,  perhaps,  "  the  people  "  may  be  under- 
stood after  over.  (4.)  To  suggest  a  mere  alternative  of  words';  as,  "NEGATIVELY,  adv. 
With  or  by  denial." — Webster's  Diet.  (5.)  To  add  a  similar  word,  for  aid  or  force;  aa, 
"  Hence  adverbs  of  time  were  necessary,  over  and  above  the  tenses." — See  Murray's  Cram. 
p.  116.  "  To  take  effect  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  May." — X<  ir^,,ip,  /•. 

OHS.  13. — In  some  instances,  two  prepositions  come  directly  together,  so  as  jointly  to  ex- 
press a  sort  of  compound  relation  between  what  precedes  the  one  and  what  follows  the 
other:  as,  "And  they  shall  sever  the  wicked  from  among  the  just." — Matt,  xiii,  49.  "Moses 
brought  out  all  the  rods  from  before  the  Lord." — JV«w6.  xvii,  9.  "  Come  out  from  among 
them." — 2  Cor.  vi,  17.  "  From  Judea,  and  from  beyond  Jordan." — Matt,  iv,  25.  "  Nor  a  law- 
giver from  between  his  feet." — Gen.  xlix,  10.  Thus  the  preposition  from,  being  itself  adapt- 
ed, to  the  ideas  of  motion  and  separation,  easily  coincides  with  any  preposition  of  place,  to 
express  this  sort  of  relation ;  the  terms  however  have  a  limited  application,  being  used 
only  between  a  verb  and  a  noun,  because  the  relation  itself  is  between  motion  and  the  place 
of  its  beginning:  as,  "The  sand  xlidcd  from  beneath  my  feet." — Dr.  Johnson.  In  this  man- 
ner, we  may  form  complex  prepositions  beginning  with  from,  to  the  number  of  about  thirty ; 
as,  from  amidst,  from  around,  from  before,  from  behind,  &c.  Besides  these,  there  are  several 
others,  of  a  more  questionable  character,  which  are  sometimes  referred  to  the  same  class  ; 
as,  according  to,  as  to,  as  for,  because  of,  instead  of,  off"  of,  out  of,  over  against,  and  round  about. 
Most  or  all  of  these  are  sometimes  resolved  in  a  different  way,  upon  the  assumption  that 
the  former  word  is  an  adverb  ;  yet  we  occasionally  find  some  of  them  compounded  by  the 
hyphen  :  as,  "  Pompcy's  lieutenant?,  Ai'ranius  and  Petreius,  who  lay  over-against  him,  de- 
camp suddenly." — E<  .  Argument  to  B.  iv.  But  the  common  fashion  is,  to  write 
ihem  separately  ;  as,  "  One  thing  is  set  over  against  an  other." — Bible. 

OBS.  14. — It  is  not  easy  to  fix  a  principle  by  which  prepositions  may  in  all  cases  be 
distinguished  from  adverbs.  The  latter,  we  say,  do  not  govern  the  objective  case  ;  and  if 
we  add,  that  the  former  do  severally  require  some  object  after  them,  it  is  clear  that  any 
word  which  precedes  a  preposition,  must  needs  be  something  else  than  a  preposition.  But 
this  destroys  all  the  doctrine  of  the  preceding  paragraph,  and  admits  of  no  such  thing  as  a 
compli-.c  proposition  ;  whereas  that  doctrine  is  acknowledged,  to  some  extent  or  other,  by 
every  one  of  our  grammarians,  not  excepting  even  those  whose  counter-assertions  leave  no 
room  for  it.  Under  these  circumstances,  I  see  no  better  way,  than  to  refer  the  student  to 
the  definitions  of  these  parts  of  speech,  to  exhibit  examples  in  all  needful  variety,  and  then 
let  him  judge  for  himself  what  disposition  ought  to  be  made  of  those  words  which  different 
grammarians  parse  differently. 

.  15. — If  our  prepositions  were  to  be  divided  into  classes,  the  most  useful  distinction 
would  be,  to  divide  them  into  Single  and  Double.  The  distinction  which  some  writers 
make,  who  divide  them  into  "  S.-jinra'dc.  and  Iiisrparabk,"  is  of  no  use  at  all  in  parsing,  be- 
cause the  latter  are  mere  syllables ;  and  the  idea  of  S.  It.  Hall,  who  divides  them  into  "Pos- 
:md  Jtfldtirc,"  is  positively  absurd  ;  for  he  can  show  us  only  one  of  the  former  kind, 
and  that  one,  (the  word  of,)  is  not  always  such.  A  Don'  -ion,  if  such  a  thing  is 

n  l::,i— ible,  is  one  that  consists  of  two  words  which  in  syntactical  parsing  must  be  taken 
together,  because  they  jointly  express  the  relation  between  two  other  terms;  as,  "The 
re  dried  up  from  off  the  earth." — dm.  viii.  13.     "The  clergy  kept  this  charge 
from   off  u*."—  ,  p.  'J-J1.     "Confidence  in  an   unfaithful  man  in  time  of 

trouble,  is  like  a  broken  tooth,  and  a  foot  out  of  joint."— 7V, r.  xxv,  19.  "The  beam  out  of 
the  timber  shall  answer  it."— Hub.  ii,  11.  Off  and  out  are  most  commonly  adverbs,  but 
neither  of  them  can  be  called  an  adverb  here. 

.in,  if  according  to  or  a.?  to  is  a  preposition,  then  is  according  or  as  a  preposi- 
tion also,  although  it  does  not  of  itself  govern  the  objective  case.  As,  thus  used,  is  called 
a  conjunction  by  some,  an  adverb  by  others.  Dr.  Webster  considers  according  to  be  always 
a  participle,  and  cxpr  -  or  a  preposition." — Octavo  Diet.  The  following 

is  an  instance  in  which,  if  it  is  not  a  preposition,  it  is  a  participle  :  "  This  is  a  constiuction 
net  according  to  the  rules  of  grammar." — Murray's  (Si-am.  Vol.  ii,  p.  22.  But  according  to 
arid  contrary  to  arc  expressed  in  Latin  and  Greek  by  single  prepositions  ;  and  if  to  alone  is 
the  preposition  in  English,  then  both  according  and  contrary  must,  in  many  instances,  be 
aaverbs.  Example  :  "  For  dost  thou  sit  as  judging  me  according  to  the  law,  and  contrary  to 
law  command  me  to  be  smitten?"  (See  the  Greek  of  Acts,  xxiii,  3.)  Contrary,  though 
literally  an  adjective,  is  often  made  either  an  adverb,  or  a  part  of  a  complex  preposition, 


420  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

unless  the  grammarians  are  generally  in  error  respecting  it :  as,  "  He  dares  not  act  contrary 
to  his  instructions." — Murray's  Key,  p.  179. 

OBS.  17. — J.  W.  Wright,  with  some  appearance  of  analogy  on  his  side,  but  none  of  usage, 
everywhere  adds  ly  to  the  questionable  word  according;  as,  "We  are  usually  estimated 
accordingly  to  our  company." — Philosophical  Gram,  p.  127.  "Accordingly  to  the  forms  in 
which  they  are  employed." — Ib.  p.  137.  "Accordingly  to  the  above  principles,  the  adjective 
ACCORDING  (or  agreeable)  is  frequently,  but  improperly,  substituted  for  the  adverb  ACCORD- 
INGLY (or  agreeably.}" — Ib.  p.  145.  The  word  contrary  he  does  not  notice ;  but,  on  the 
same  principle,  he  would  doubtless  say,  "He  dares  not  act  contrarily  to  his  instructions." 
We  say  indeed,  "  He  acted  agreeably  to  his  instructions  ;  " — and  not,  "  He  acted  agreeable 
to  his  instructions."  It  must  also  be  admitted,  that  the  adverbs  accordingly  and  contrarily 
are  both  of  them  good  English  words.  If  these  were  adopted,  where  the  character  of 
according  and  contrary  is  disputable,  there  would  indeed  be  no  longer  any  occasion  to  call 
these  latter  either  adverbs  or  prepositions.  But  the  fact  is,  that  no  good  writers  have  yet 
preferred  them,  in  such  phrases  ;  and  the  adverbial  ending  ly  gives  an  additional  syllable  to 
a  word  that  seems  already  quite  too  long. 

OBS.  18. — Instead  is  reckoned  an  adverb  by  some,  a  preposition  by  others  ;  and  a  few 
write  instead-of  with  a  needless  hyphen.  The  best  way  of  settling  the  grammatical  ques- 
tion respecting  this  term,  is,  to  write  the  noun  stead  as  a  separate  word,  governed  by  in. 
Bating  the  respect  that  is  due  to  anomalous  usage,  there  would  be  more  propriety  in  com- 
pounding in  quest  of,  in  lieu  of,  and  many  similar  phrases.  For  stead  is  not  always  followed 
by  of,  nor  always  preceded  by  in,  nor  always  made  part  of  a  compound.  We  say,  in  our 
stead,  in  your  stead,  in  their  stead,  &c.  ;  but  'lieu,  which  has  the  same  meaning  as  stead,  is 
much  more  limited  in  construction.  Examples  :  "  In  the  stead  of  sinners,  He,  a  divine  and 
human  person,  suffered." — Barnes's  Notes.  "Christ  suffered  in  the  place,  and  stead  of  sin- 
ners."— Ib.  "For,  in  its  primary  sense,  is  pro,  loco  altcrius,  in  the  stead  or  place  of  another." 
— Lowth's  Gram.  p.  65. 

"If  it  may  stand  him  more  in  stead  to  lie." — Milt.  P.  L.,  B.  i,  1.  473. 
"  But  here  thy  sword  can  do  thee  little  stead." — Id.  Comus,  1.  611. 

OBS.  19. — From  forth  and  from  out  are  two  poetical  phrases,  apparently  synonymous,  in 
which  there  is  a  fanciful  transposition  of  the  terms,  and  perhaps  a  change  of  forth  and  out 
from  adverbs  to  prepositions.  Each  phrase  is  equivalent  in  meaning  to  out  of  or  out  from. 
Forth,  under  other  circumstances,  is  never  a  preposition ;  though  out,  perhaps,  may  be. 
We  speak  as  familiarly  of  going  out  doors,  as  of  going  up  stairs,  or  down  cellar.  Hence  from 
out  may  be  parsed  as  a  complex  preposition,  though  the  other  phrase  should  seem  to  be  a 
mere  example  of  hyperbaton  : 

"I  saw  from  out  the  wave  her  structures  rise." — Byron. 
"'Peeping  from  forth  their  alleys  green." — Collins. 

OBS.  20. — "Out  of  and  as  to,"  says  one  grammarian,  "  are  properly  prepositions,  although 
they  are  double  words.  They  may  be  called  compound  prepositions." — Cooper's  Gram.  p. 
103.  I  have  called  the  complex  prepositions  double  rather  than  compound,  because  several 
of  the  single  prepositions  are  compound  words ;  as,  into,  notwithstanding,  overthu'art, 
throughout,  upon,  within,  without.  And  even  some  of  these  may  follow  the  preposition 
from ;  as,  "  If  he  shall  have  removed  from  within  the  limits  of  this  state."  But  in  and 
to,  up  and  on,  with  and  in,  are  not  always  compounded  when  they  come  together,  because 
the  sense  may  positively  demand  that  the  former  be  taken  as  an  adverb,  and  the  latter 
only  as  a  preposition  :  as,  "  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him." — Rev.  iii,  20 . 
"  A  statue  of  Venus  was  set  up  on  Mount  Calvary." — M'llvaine's  Lectures,  p.  332.  "  The 
troubles  which  we  meet  with  in  the  world." — Blair.  And  even  two  prepositions  may  be 
brought  together  without  union  or  coalescence ;  because  the  object  of  the  first  one  may 
be  expressed  or  understood  before  it :  as,  "  The  man  whom  you  spoke  with  in  the  street ;" 
— "The  treatment  you  complain  of  on  this  occasion;" — "The  house  that  you  live  in  in 
the  summer  ; " — "  Such  a  dress  as  she  had  on  in  the  evening." 

OBS.  21. — Some  grammarians  assume,  that,  "Two  prepositions  in  immediate  succession 
require  a  noun  to  be  understood  between  them;  as,  '  Hard  by,  a  cottage  chimney  smokes, 
From  beticixt  two  aged  oaks.' — «  The  mingling  notes  came  softened  from  below.'  " —  Nut- 
ting's Gram.  p.  105.  This  author  would  probably  understand  here — "  From  the  space  be- 
twixt two  aged  oaks ; " — "  came  softened  from  the  region  below  us."  But  he  did  not  con- 
sider all  the  examples  that  are  included  in  his  proposition ;  nor  did  he  rightly  regard  even 
those  which  he  cites.  The  doctrine  will  be  found  a  very  awkward  one  in  practice  ;  and 
an  other  objection  to  it  is,  that  most  of  the  ellipses  which  it  supposes,  are  entirely  im- 
aginary. If  there  were  truth  in  his  assumption,  the  compounding  of  prepositions  would 
be  positively  precluded.  The  terms  ovcr-against  and  round-about  are  sometimes  written  with 
the  hyphen,  and  perhaps  it  would  be  well  if  all  the  complex  prepositions  were  regularly 
compounded  ;  but,  as  I  before  suggested,  such  is  not  the  present  fashion  of  writing  them, 
and  the  general  usage  is  not  to  be  controlled  by  what  any  individual  may  think. 

OBS.  22.— Instances  may,  doubtless,  occur,  in  which  the  object  of  a  preposition  is  sup- 
pressed by  ellipsis,  when  an  other  preposition  follows,  so  as  to  bring  together  two  that  do 


CHAP.  X.]  ETYMOLOGY. — PREPOSITIONS. THE    LIST.  421 

not  denote  a  compound  relation,  and  do  not,  in  any  wise,  form  one  complex  preposition. 
Of  such  suppression,  the  following  is  an  example  ;  and,  I  think,  a  double  one  :  "They  take 
pronouns  after  in^t-ad  of  before  them." — Foiclcr,  E.  Gram.§  521.  This  maybe  interpreted 
to  mean,  and  probably  does  mean — "  They  take  pronouns  after  them  in  stead  of  taking 
them  before  them." 

OBS.  23. — In  some  instances,  the  words,  in,  on,  of,  for,  to,  with,  and  others  commonly  reck- 
oned prepositions,  are  used  after  infinitives  or  participles,  in  a  sort  of  adverbial  construction,  be- 
cause they  do  not  govern  any  objective;  yet  not  exactly  in  the  usual  sense  of  adverbs,  because 
they  evidently  express  the  relation  between  the  verb  or  participle  and  a  nominative  or  objective 
going  before."  Examples  :  "  Houses  are  built  to  live  in,  and  not  to  look  on ;  therefore  let  use  be 
preferred  before  uniformity,  except  where  both  may  be  had." — Ld.  Kames.  "  These  are  not  mys- 
teries for  ordinary  readers  to  be  let  into." — ADDISOX  :  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Let.  "Heaven  is  worth 
dying;  for,  though  earth  is  not  worth  living/or." — R.  Hall.  "  What!  have  ye  not  houses  to  eat 
and  to  'drink  in  f  " — 1  for.  xi,  22.  This  is  a  very  peculiar  idiom  of  our  language  ;  and  if  we  say, 
"  II.ivc  ye  not  houses  in  which  to  eat  and  to  drink  ?  "  we  form  an  other  which  is  not  much  less 
so.  Greek  :  "  M >  yl.tn  olx'tn;  «i  /.  l/frt  ?<;  i>>  cvQitir  Kal  TIITHI-  ',  "  Latin  :  "  Num  enim  domos  non 
habetis  ad  manducandum  et  bibendum  ?  " — Leusden.  "  N'avez  vous  pas  des  maisons  pour  man- 
ger et  pour  boire  ?  " — French  Bible.* 

OBS.  24. — In  OBS.  10th,  of  Chapter  Fourth,  on  Adjectives,  it  was  shown,  that  words  of  place, 
(such  as,  aboi'e,  beloic,  beneath,  under,  and  the  like,)  are  sometimes  set  before  nouns  in  the 
character  of  adjectives,  and  not  of  prepositions  :  as,  "  In  the  above  list  " — "  From  the  above  list." — 
Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  70.  To  the  class  of  adjectives  also,  rather  than  to  that  of  adverbs,  may 
some  such  words  be  referred,  when,  without  governing  the  objective  case,  they  are  put  after 
nouns  to  signify  place:  as,  "The  way  of  life  is  above  to  the  wise,  that  he  may  depart  from'hell 
beneath." — Prov.  xv,  24.  "  Of  any  thing  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath." 
—Exod.  xx,  4. 

"  Say  first,  of  God  above  or  man  below, 
What  can  we  reason  but  from  what  we  know  ? " — Pope. 

LIST  OF  THE  PREPOSITIONS. 

The  following  are  the  principal  prepositions  arranged  alphabetically :  Aboard, 
about,  above,  across,  after,  against,  along,  amid  or  amidst,  among  or  amongst, 
around,  at.  athwart ; — Bating,  before,  behind,  below,  beneath,  beside  m  besides,  be- 
tween or  betwixt,  beyond,  by  ; — Concerning  ; — Down,  during  ; — Ere,  except,  except- 
in;/  ; — For,  from  ; — In,  into  ; — Mid  or  midst  ; — Notwithstanding  ; — Of,  off,\  on, 
out,  over,  overthwart ; — Past,  pending  ; — Respecting,  round  ; — Since  ; — Through, 
throughout,  till,  to,  touching,  toward  or  towards  ; — Under,  underneath,  until,  unto, 
up,  upon  ; —  With,  within,  without. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — Grammarians  differ  considerably  in  their  tables  of  the  English  prepositions.    Nor  are 
they  all  of  one  opinion,  concerning  either  the  characteristics  of  this  part  of  speech,  or  the  partic- 
ular   instances    in  which  the  acknowledged  properties  of  a  preposition  are  to  be  found.     Some 
teach   that,  "Every  preposition  requires  an  objective  case  after  it." — Lennie,  p.  50;    Bullions, 
Prin.  of  E.  Grant,  p.  69.     In  opposition  to  this,  I  suppose  that  the  preposition  to  may  take  an  in- 
finitive rrrb  after  it;  that  about  also  may  be  a  preposition,  in  the  phrase,  "  about  to  write  ;"  that 
/,  for,  from,  in,  of,  and  some  other  prepositions,  may  govern  partici- 
;  (i.  e.  without  making  them  nouns,  or  cases  ;)  and,  lastly,  that  after  a  preposition  an 
mptimrs  construed  substantively,  and  yet  is  indeclinable  ;   as,  for  once,  from  afar, 
from  abort  '-es. 

OBS.  2. — The  writers  just  quoted,  proceed  to  say  :  "  Whon  a  proposition  docs  not  govern  an  ob- 
jective case,  it  becomes  an  adverb  ;  as,  4  He  rides  about.'  But  in  such  phrases  as,  cast  up,  hold 
otif,  f'tll  on,  the  words  nj>,  out,  and  on,  must  be  considered  as  a  part  of  the  verb,  rather  than  as 


to  speak  of  it  as  governing  nothing ;  yet  it  does  not  always  govern  the  objective  case,  for  partici- 
ples and  infinitives  ha-.  About,  up,  out,  and  on,  as  here  cited,  are  all  of  them  adverbs; 
and  so' are  all  other  particles  that  thus  qualify  verbs,  without  governing  anything.  L.  Murray 
grossly  errs  where  he  assumes,  that,  "  The  distinct  component  parts  of  suchpnrasesas,  to  •• 
to  fall  on,  to  bear  on?,  to  vc.,  are  no  c/uidc  to  the  sense  of  the  whole."  Surely,  "  to  cast 
up"  is  to  cast  some/low,  though  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  may  be  "  to  compute."  By  this  author, 

*  Of  the  consirnr'ion  no'ico  1  in  this  observation,  tho  P.»»v.  Matt.  Harrison  cites  a  good  example  :  pronounces 
it  elliptical;  :ui  1  icarcelj  f  >rln-ar-i  to  condemn  it  as  bad  Kn^lis'n  :  "  In  the  following  sentence,  the  relative  pronoun 
is  thn>c>  tiuif-i  f  inirf.- 1  :—  •  ]<  tlu-n-  a  God  to  swear  bit.  and  is  tbere  none  to  bclicvr  in.  none  to  trust  to  .' ' — Letters 
liinntfmoii.i.  Jlii.  in.  and  to.  as  ]•  -and  alone,  ilfmirltil  of  the  relatii-f$  to  which  they 

apply.  The  -  its  nn  attraction*  worthy  nf  imitation.  It  exhibits  a  license  carried  to  the  extreme 

point-  of  i-:i,lnr.ii!i •••."  —  Harrison's  English  I-an, 

t  ••  \:i  rili|>-is  dt  -,-..,  ,  after  the  advi-rh  art  ha<  rained  the  latter  word  sometimes  to  be  inserted  incorrectly  among 
the  pr.  ,  !  x.  '  off  (from )  hi»  hone.'" — Hut's  'Irani,  p . 'J6.  Off  and  on  are  oppositos  ;  and,  in  a  sen- 

tence lik«  the  following,  I  see  no  more  need  of  inserting  "/rom  "  after  the  former,  than  to  after  the  latter :  "  Thou 
shalt  not  come  down  off  that  bed  on  which  thou  art  gona  up." — 2  Kings,  i,  10. 


422  THE    GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   II 

and  some  others,  all  such  adverbs  are  absurdly  called  prepositions,  and  are  also  as  absurdly  declared 
to  be  parts  of  the  preceding  verbs!  See  Murray's  Gram.  p.  117;  W.  Allen's,  179 ;  Kirkham' st  95  •, 
R.  C.  Smith's,  93  ;  Fish's,  86 ;  Butler's,  63 ;  Wells' s,  146. 

OBS.  3. — In  comparing  the  different  English  grammars  now  in  use,  we  often  find  the  primary 
distinction  of  the  parts  of  speech,  and  every  thing  that  depends  upon  it,  greatly  perplexed  by  the 
fancied  ellipses,  and  forced  constructions,  to  which  their  authors  resort.  Thus  Kirkham:  "  Prep- 
ositions are  sometimes  erroneously  called  abverbs,  when  their  nouns  are  understood.  '  He  rides 

;  act  or  misfor- 
He  came  down 
angels  above ; ' 
n.  p.  89.  The 

errors  of  this  passage  are  almost  as  numerous  as  the  words  ;  and  those  to  which  the  doctrine  leads 
are  absolutely  innumerable.  That  up  and  down,  with  verbs  of  motion,  imply  ascent  and  descent,  as 
wisely  and  foolishly  imply  wisdom  and  folly,  is  not  to  be  denied  ;  but  the  grammatical  bathos  of 
coming  "  doivn  [the  ascent]  from  the  hill"  of  science,  should  startle  those  whose  faces  are  directed 
upward  !  Doionward  ascent  is  a  movement  worthy  only  of  Kirkham,  and  his  Irish  rival,  Joseph 
W.  Wright.  JThe  brackets  here  used  are  Kirkham's,  not  mine. 

OBS 
tions 

gfl 

will 

p.  119.  Here,  after,  before,  and  against,  are  neither  conjunctions  nor  prepositions,  but  conjunctive 
adverbs  of  time,  referring  to  the  verbs  which  follow  them,  and  also,  when  the  sentences  are  complet- 
ed, to  others  antecedent.  The  awkward  addition  of  "  the  time  ichen,"  is  a  sheer  perversion.  If 
after,  before,  and  the  like,  can  ever  be  adverbs,  they  are  so  here,  and  not  conjunctions,  or  prep- 
ositions. 

OBS.  5. — But  the  great  Compiler  proceeds:  "  The  prepositions,  after,  before,  above,  beneath,  and 
several  others,  sometimes  appear  to  be  adverbs,  and  may  be  so  considered:  as,  'They  had 
their  reward L  soon  after  ; '  (  He  died  not  long  before ;'  '  He  dwells  above;'  but  if  the  nouns  time 
and  place  be  added,  they  will  lose  their  adverbial  form  :  as,  '  He  died  not  long  before  that  time,' 
&c." — Ib.  Now,  I  say,  when  any  of  the  foregoing  words  "appear  to  be  adverbs,"  they  are  adverbs, 
fend,  if  adverbs,  then  not  prepositions.  But  to  consider  prepositions  to  be  adverbs,  as  Murray  here 
does,  or  seems  to  do  ;  and  to  suppose  "  the  NOUNS  time  AND  place"  to  be  understood  in  the  several 
examples  here  cited,  as  he  also  does,  or  seems  to  do  ;  are  singly  such  absurdities  as  no  grammarian 
should  fail  to  detect,  and  together  such  a  knot  of  blunders,  as  ought  to  be  wondered  at,  even  in 
the  Compiler's  humblest  copyist.  In  the  following  text,  there  is  neither  preposition  nor  ellipsis : 
"Above,  below,  without,  within,  around, 
Confus'd,  unnumber'd  multitudes  are  found." — Pope,  on  Fame. 

OBS.  6. — It  comports  with  the  name  and  design  of  this  work,  which  is  a  broad  synopsis  of  gram- 
matical criticism,  to  notice  here  one  other  absurdity  ;  namely,  the  doctrine  of  "  sentential nouns." 
There  is  something  of  this  in  several  late  grammars :  as,  ''The  prepositions  after,  before,  ere, 
since,  till,  and  until,  frequently  govern  sentential  nouns  ;  and  after,  before,  since,  notwithstand- 
ing, and  some  others,  frequently  govern  a  noun  or  pronoun  understood.  A  preposition  governing 
a  sentential  noun,  is,  by  Murray  and  others,  considered  a  conjunction;  and  a  preposition  govern- 
ing a  noun  understood,  an  adverb." — J.  L.  PAKKHUKST  :  in  Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  123.  "  Example  : 
*  He  will,  before  he  dies,  sway  the  sceptre.'  He  dies  is  a  sentential  noun,  third  person,  singular 
number;  and  is  governed  by  before;  before  he  dies,  being  equivalent  iu  meaning  to  before  his 
death." — Sanborn,  Gram.  p.  176.  "'After  they  had  waited  a  long  time,  they  departed.*'  After 
waiting." — Ib.  This  last  solution  supposes  the  phrase,  "  icaitiny  a  longtime,"  or  at  least  the  par- 
ticiple waiting,  to  be  a  noun ;  for,  upon  the  author's  principle  of  equivalence,  *'  they  had  tvaited," 
will  otherwise  be  a  "sentential"  participle — a  thing  however  as  good  arid  as  classical  as  the  other  1 

OBS.  7. — If  a  preposition  can  ever  be  justly  said  to  take  a  sentence  for  its  object,  it  is  chiefly  in 
certain  ancient  expressions,  like  the  following  :  "  For  in  that  he  died,  he  died  unto  sin  once  ;  but 
in  that  he  liveth,  he  liveth  unto  God." — Rom.  vi,  10.  "  My  Spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with 
man,  for  that  he  also  is  flesh." — Gen.  vi,  3.  "  For,  after  that,  in  the  wisdom  of  God,  the  world  by 
wisdom  knew  not  God,  it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe." 
— 1  Cor.  i,  21.  Here,  in,  for,  and  after,  are  all  followed  by  the  word  that;  which  Tooke,  Web- 
ster, Frazee,  and  some  others,  will  have  to  be  "  a  substitute,"  or  "pronoun,"  representing  the 
sentence  which  follows  it,  and  governed  by  the  preposition.  But  that,  in  this  sense,  is  usually, 
and  perhaps  more  properly,  reckoned  a  conjunction.  And  if  we  take  it  so,  in,  for,  and  after, 
(unless  the  last  be  an  adverb,)  must  either  be  reckoned  conjunctions  also,  or  be  supposed  to  gov- 
ern sentences.  The  expressions  however  are  little  used;  because  "in  that"  is  nearly  equiv- 
alent to  as;  "for  that"  can  be  better  expressed  by  because;  and  "after  that,"  which  is  equiva- 
lent to  */7£/rf;(,  postquam,  may  well  be  rendered  by  the  term,  seeing  that,  or  since.  "Before  that 
Philip  called  thee,"  is  a  similar  example  ;  but  "  that  "  is  here  needless,  and  "  before  "  may  be  parsed 
as  a  conjunctive  adverb  of  time.  I  have  one  example  more  :  "  But,  besides  that  he  attempted  it 
formerly  with  no  success,  it  is  certain  the  Venetians  keep  too  watchful  an  eye,"  &c. — Addison. 
This  is  good  English,  but  the  word  "  besides,"  if  it  be  not  a  conjunction,  may  as  well  be  called  an 
adverb,  as  a  preposition. 

OBS.  8. — There  are  but  few  words  in  the  list  of  prepositions,  that  are  not  sometimes  used  as 
being  of  some  other  part  of  speech.  Thus  bating,  excepting,  concerning,  touching,  respecting,  dur- 
ing, pending,  and  a  pnrt  of  the  compound  notwithstanding,  are  literally  participles  ;  and  some 
writers,  in  opposition  to  general  custom,  refer  them  always  to  their  original  class.  Unlike  most 
other  prepositions,  they  do  not  refer  to  place,  but  rather  to  action,  state,  or  duration ;  for,  even  as 
prepositions,  they  are  still  allied  to  participles.  Yet  to  suppose  them  always  participles,  as  would 
Dr.  Webster  and  some  others,  is  impracticable.  Examples  :  "They  speak  concerning  virtue." — 
Bullions,  Prin.  of  E.  Gram.  p.  69.  Here  concerning  cannot  be  a  participle,  because  its  antecedent 


CHAP.   X-]  ETYMOLOGY. PREPOSITIONS. — OF    THE   LIST.  423 

term  is  a  verb,  and  the  moaning  is,  "  they  speak  of  virtue."  "  They  are  bound  durinn  life :  "  that 
is,  durantti  vita,  life  continuing,  or,  as  long  as  life  lasts.  So,  ''Notwithstanding  this  ,•  "  i.  e.  "  hot 
non  obstante,"  this  not  hindering.  Here  the  nature  of  the  construction  seems  to  depend  on  the 
order  of  the  words.  "  Since  he  had  succeeded,  notwithstanding  them,  peaceably  to  the  throne." — 
Bolinybrokc,  on  Hist.  p.  31.  "  This  is  a  correct  English  idiom,  Dr.  Lowth's  criticism  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding." — Webster's  Improved  Gram.  p.  8-5.  In  the  phrase,  "  notwithstanding 
the/n,"  "the  former  word  is  clearly  a  preposition  governing  the  latter  ;  but  Dr.  Webster  doubtless 
supposed  the  woid  "  criticism  "  to  be  in  the  nominative  case,  put  absolute  with  the  participle  :  and 
so  it  would  have  been,  had  he  written  not  withstanding/  as  two  words,  like  "non  obstante ;  "  but 
the  compound  word  notwithstanding  is  not  a  participle,  because  there  is  no  verb  to  not  withstand. 
But  notwithstanding,  when  placed  before  a  nominative,  or  before  the  conjunction  that,  is  a  con- 
junction, and,  as  such,  must  be  rendered  in  Latin  by  tamcn,  yet,  quatnvis,  although,  or  nihilomi- 
uus,  ntverti 

OBS.  9. — Fur,  when  it  signifies  because,  is  a  conjunction  :  as,  "  Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrom; 
for  thou  knowest  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth." — Piov.  xxvii,  1.  For  has  this  meaning,  and, 
according  to  Dr.  Johnson,  is  a  conjunction,  when  it  precedes  that  ;  as,  "  Yet  for  that  the  worst 
men  are  most  ready  to  remove,  I  would  wish  them  chosen  by  descretion  of  wise  men." — Spoiser. 
The  phrase,  as  I  'have  before  suggested,  is  almost  obsolete  ;  but  Murray,  in  one  place,  adopts 
It  from  Dr.  Bcattio  :  "For  that  those  parts  of  the  verb  are  not  properly  called  tenses." — 
/  Gram.  p.  ?•>•  How  he  would  have  parsed  it,  does  not  appear.  But  both  words  are  con- 
nectives. And,  from  the  analogy  of  those  terms  which  serve  as  links  to  other  terms,  I  should  in- 
cline to  take  for  that,  in  that,  after  that,  and  besides  that,  (in  which  a  known  conjunction  is  put  last,) 
as  complex  conjunctions  ;  and  also,  to  take  as  for,  as  to,  and  because  of,  (in  which  a  known  prep. 
Qsition  is  put  last,)  as  complex  prepositions.  But  there  are  other  regular  and  equivalent  expres- 
sions that  ought  in  general  to  be  preferred  to  any  or  all  of  those. 

Ous.  10. — Several  words  bes-ides  those  contained  in  the  list  above,  are  (or  have  been)  occasion- 
ally employed  in  English  as  prepositions  :  as,  A,  (chiefly  used  before  participles,)  abaft,  adoicn, 
afore,  aloft,  aloof,  alongside,  ancar,  ancath,  ancnt,  aslant,  aslope,  astride,  atirecn,  aticixt> 
bcsouth,  bi/irest,  cross,  dehors,  despite,  inside,  left-hand,  maift/re,  minus,  onto,  opposite,  outside, pcrt 
plus,  sans,  spite,  thorough,  traverse,  cersi/s,  via',  in  thai,  withinside. 

Ons.  11. — Dr.  Lowth  says,  "  the  particle  a  before  participles,  in  the  phrases,  a  coming,  a  going, 
a  walking,  a  shooting,  &c.  and  before  nouns,  as  a  bed,  a-board,  a-shore,  a-foot,  &c.  seems  to  be 
a  true  and  >  position,  a  little  disguised  by  familiar  use  and  quick  pronunciation.  Dr. 

Wallis  supposes  it  to  be  the  proposition  at.  I  rather  think  it  is  the  preposition  on." — Lowth- '* 
Gram.  p.  0  > ;  Churchill's,  268.  There  is  no  need  of  supposing  it  to  be  either.  It  is  not  fromow;  foi 
in  Saxon  it  sometimes  accompanied  on  :  as  in  the  phrase,  "on  it  u'coruhl ;  "  that  is,  "on  to  aaes ;  '* 
or,  as  Wicklitfc  rendered  it,  "into  tcorldis  ;  "  or,  as  our  version  has  it,  "for  ever"  See  Luke, 
i,  55.  This  preposition  was  in  use  long  before  either  a  or  an,  as  an  article,  appeared  in  its  present 
form  in  the  language;  and,  for  ought  I  can  discover,  it  may  be  as  old  as  either  on  or  at.  An,  too, 
is  found  to  have  had  at  times  the  sonse  and  construction  of  in  or  on;  and  this  usage  is,  beyond 
doubt,  older  than  that  which  makes  it  an  article.  On,  however,  was  an  exceedingly  common  prep- 
osition in  Saxon,  being  used  almost  always  where  we  now  put  on,  in,  into,  upon,  or  among,  and 
sometimes,  for  with  or  by ;  so,  sometimes,  where  a  was  afterwards  used:  thus,  "  What  in  the 
Saxon  Gospel  of  John,  is,  '  Io  wylle  gan  on  fixoth,'  is,  in  the  English  version,  'I  go  a  fishing.' 
Chap,  xxi,  ver.  3."  Sec  Lowth's  Gram.  p.  f>.> :  Churchill's,  269.  And  a  is  now  sometimes  equiv- 
alent to  on  ;  as,  "  He  would  have  a  learned  University  make  Barbarisms  a  purpose." — Bentley, 
Diss.  on  Phalaris,  p.  223.  That  is, — "on  purpose."  How  absurdly  then  do  some  grammarians 
interpret  the  forgoing  text !  — "  I  go  on  a  fishing." — Alden's  Gram.  p.  117.  "  I  go  on  a  fishing 
— Murray's  Gram.  p.  221  ;  Merchant's,  101.  "  It  may  not  be  improper,"  says 


Churchill  in  another  place,  "  to  observe  here,  that  the  proposition  on,  is  too  frequently  pro- 
nounced as  if  it  wore  the  vowel  a,  in  ordinary  conversation;  and  this  corruption/*  [has]  become 
so  prevalent,  that  I  have  even  met  with  '  laid  it  a  oncsidc  '  in  a  periodical  publication.  It  should 
have  been  '"//  om-  side,'  if  the  expression  were  meant  to  bo  particular  ;  '•aside,'  if  general  " — Nei* 
p.  .'iJ">.  By  those  writers,  a  is  also  supposed  to  be  sometimes  a  corruption  of  o/:  as, 
"  Much  iu  tho  same  manner,  Thomas  of  Bocket,  by  very  frequent  and  familiar  use,  became 
Thorn  •  ;  and  ono  of  the  clock,  or  poihaps  on  the  clock,  is  written,  one  o'clock,  but  pro- 

nouncod,  one  a  clock.  The  phrases  with  a  before  a  participle  are  out  of  use  in  the  solemn  style; 
but  still  prevail  in  familiar  discourse.  They  are  established  by  long  usage,  and  good  authority  ; 
and  tl  to  be  no  reason,  why  they  should  be  utterly  rejected. " — Lotcth's  Gram.  p.  66. 

"  Much  i:i  the  s  HMO  manner,  Julin  of  Xokes  and  John  of  Styles,  become  John  a  Nokes,  and  John 
a  Stylos :  and  nr.e  of  the  clock,  or  rather  on  the  clock,  is  written  one  o'clock,  but  pronounced  one 
a  clock.  The  phra'ses  with  a  before  participles,  are  out  of  use  in  the  solemn  style;  but  still  pre- 
vail in  familiar  discourse-." — Cltun-hiH'.\  AVi/-  Gram.  p.  269. 

Ous.  12. — The  following  are  wimples  of  the  loss  usual  prepositions,  a,  and  others  that  begin 
with  a :  "And  ho  set — throe  thous  .ml  ;n;d  six  hundred  overseers  to  set  the  people  a  work." — 2 
C/tron.  ii.  IS  •«  Who  gorth  a  wart'.ire  any  time  at  his  own  charges?" — 1  Cor.  ix,  7.  "And  the 
mixed  multitude  that  was  amnnir  them  foil  a  lusting." — .\um.  xi,  4. 

1  swret  Billv  Dirnond,  a  patting  his  hair  Tip." — Feast  of  the  Poets,  p.  17. 
'•The  god  fell  a  laudiing  to  SIT  his  mistake." — Ib.  p.  18. 
"You'd  have  thought  'twas  the  bishops  or  judges  a  coming." — Ib.  p.  22. 

"A  place  on  the  lower  dock,  ab-ift  the  mainmast." — Gre<;oru's  Diet.  "A  moment  gazed  adovm 
the  dale." — No//,  /,  /..  p.  10.  "Adoton  Strtth-Gartney's  valley  broad." — Ib.  p.  81.  "  For  afor» 
the  harvot,  w'ni-n  thc»bud  is  perfect,"  v  •  — Itaiah,  xviii,  o.  "  Whore  the  great  luminary  aloof 
the  rolfrxr  constellations  thick."  Seo  Milton'*  /'<//  !',.  iii,  1.  .')7<;.'  "The  great  lumi- 

nary aloft  the  vulgar  constellations  thick." — JoJtnxon'x  Diet.  tc.  Aloft.  "Captain  Falconer  having 
previou-lv  gone  alongside  the  Constitution." — \eirxjtajier.  "So\onteen  ships  sailed  for  Xe\» 
England,  and  aboard  these  above  fifteen  hundred  persons." — Robertson's  Amer.  ii,  421).  "There 


424  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

is  a  willow  grows  askant  the  brook:  "  Or,  as  in  some  editions  :  "  There  is  a  willow  grows  aslant 
the  brook." — SHAK.  Hamlet,  Act  iv,  7-  "Aslant  the  dew-bright  earth." — Thomson.  "  Swift 
as  meteors  glide  aslope  a  summer  eve." — Fenton.  "Aneath  the  heavy  rain." — James  Hogg.  "  With 
his  magic  spectacles  astride  his  nose." — Merchant's  Criticisms. 

"Aticeen  his  downy  wings  be  furnished,  there." — Wordsworth's  Poems,  p.  147- 
"  And  there  a  season  atween  June  and  May."— 'Castle  of  Indolence,  C.  i,  st.  2. 
OBS.  13. — The  following  are  examples  of  rather  unusual  prepositions  beginning  with  b,  c,  ord: 
"Or  where  wild-meeting  oceans  boil  besouth  Magellan." — Burns.     "Whereupon  grew  that  by- 
word, used  by  the  Irish,  that  they  dwelt  by-west  the  law,  which  dwelt  beyond  the  river  of  the  Bar- 
row."— DAVIES  :  in  Joh.  Diet.     Here  Johnson  calls  by-ivest  a  noun  substantive,  and  Webster,  as 
improperly,  marks  it   for  an  adverb.    No  hyphen  is  needed  in  byword  or  byioest.     The  first  sylla- 
ble of  the  latter  is  pronounced  be,  and  ought  to  be  written  so,  if  "  besouth"  is  right. 
1 '  From  Cephalenia  cross  the  surgy  main 

Philaetius  late  arrived,  a  faithful  swain." — Pope,  Odys.,  B.  xx,  1.  234. 
"And  cross  their  limits  cut  a  sloping  way, 

Which  the  twelve  signs  in  beauteous  order  sway." — Dry  den's  Virgil. 
"A  fox  was  taking  a  walk  one  night  cross  a  village." — L' Estrange.  "  The  enemy  had  cut  down 
great  trees  cross  the  ways." — Knolles.  "DEHORS,'  prep.  [Fr.] 'Without ;  as,  '  dehors  the  land.' 
Blackstone." — Worcester's  Diet.  8vo.  "  You  have  believed,  despite  too  our  physical  conforma- 
tion. ' ' — Bulwer. 

"And  Roderick  shall  his  welcome  make, 

Despite  old  spleen,  for  Douglas'  sake." — Scott,  L.  L.,  C.  ii,  st.  26. 

OBS.  14. — The  following  quotations  illustrate  further  the  list  of  unusual  prepositions :  "And 
she  would  be  often  weeping  inside  the  room  while  George  was  amusing  himself  without." — Anna 
Ross,  p.  81.  "  Several  nuts  grow  closely  together,  inside  this  prickly  covering." — Jacob  Abbott. 
"An  other  boy  asked  why  the  peachstone  was  not  outside  the  peach." — Id.  "As  if  listening  to 
the  sounds  withinside  it." — Gardiner's  Music  of  Nature,  p.  214.  "  Sir  Knight,  you  well  might 
mark  the  mound,  Left  hand  the  town." — Scott's  Marmion.  "  Thus  Butler,  maugre  his  wicked  in- 
tention, sent  them  home  again." — Scwel's  Hist.  p.  256.  "And,  maugre  all  that  can  be  said  in  its 
favour." — Stone,  on  Freemasonry,  p.  121.  "And,  maugre  the  authority  of  Sterne,  I  even  doubt  its 
benevolence." — West's  Letters,  p.  29. 

"  I  through  the  ample  air  in  triumph  high 

Shall  lead  Hell  captive  maugre  Hell."— Milton's  P.  L.,  B.  iii,  1.  255. 

"  When  Mr.  Seaman  arose  in  the  morning,  he  found  himself  minus  his  coat,  vest,  pocket-hand- 
kerchief, and  tobacco-box." — Newspaper.  "  Throw  some  coals  onto  the  fire." — FOKBY  :  Worcester's 
Diet.  10.  Onto.  "Flour,  at  $4  per  barrel." — Preston's  Book-Keeping.  "Which  amount,  per 
invoice,  to  $4000." — Ib.  "To  Smiths  is  the  substantive  Smiths,  plus  the  preposition  to." — 
Fowler's  E.  Gram.  §33.  "  The  Mayor  of  Lynn  versus  Turner." — Cowper's  Reports,  p.  86.  "Slaves 
were  imported  from  Africa,  via  Cuba." — Society  in  America,  i,  327.  "Pending  the  discussion  of 
this  subject,  a  memorial  was  presented." — Gov .  Everett. 

"  Darts  his  experienced  eye  and  soon  traverse 

The  whole  battalion  views  their  order  due." — Milton. 
"  Because,  when  thorough  deserts  vast 

And  regions  desolate  they  past." — Iludibras. 

QBS>  15. — Minus,  less,  plus,  more,  per,  by,  versus,  towards,  or  against,  and  via,  by  the  way  of, 
are  Latin  words  ;  and  it  is  not  very  consistent  with  thepiirity  of  our  tongue,  to  use  them  as  above. 
Sans,  without,  is  French,  and  not  now  heard  with  us.  Afore  for  before,  atween  for  between,  trav- 
erse for  across,  thorough  for  through,  and  withal  for  ^cith,  are  obsolete.  Withal  was  never  placed 
before  its  object,  but  was  once  very  common  at  the  end  of  a  sentence.  I  think  it  not  properly  a 
preposition,  but  rather  an  adverb.  It  occurs  in  Shakspeare,  and  so  does  sans ;  as, 

"  I  did  laugh,  sans  intermission,  an  hour  by  his  dial." — As  You  Like  It. 
"  I  pr'ythee,  whom  doth  he  trot  withal?  " — Ib. 
"Saws  teeth,  sans  eyes,  saws  taste,  sans  every  thing." — Ib. 

OBS.  16.— Of  the  propriety  and  the  nature  of  such  expressions  as  the  following,  the  readermay  now 
judge  for  himself :  "In  consideration  of  what  passes  sometimes  icithin-side  of  those  vehicles."-— 


Burr,  p.  viii.  "Who  had  never  been  broken  in  to  the  experience  of  sea  voyages." — Timothy 
Flint.  "And  there  came  a  fire  out  from  before  the  Lord." — Levitictis,Ya,1±.  "Because  eight 
readers  out  often,  it  is  believed,  forget  it." — Broivn's  Estimate,  ii,  32.  Fifty  days  after  the  Pass- 
over, and  their  coming  out  of  Egypt." — Watts's  Script.  Hist.  p.  57.  "As  the  mountains  are  round 
about  Jerusalem,  so  the  Lord  is  roundabout  his  people."— Psal.  cxxv,  2.  "  Literally,  •  I  proceeded 
forth  from  out  o/'God  and  am  come.'  "—Gurney's  Essays,  p.  161.  "  But  he  that  came  down  from 
(oifrom  out  of)  heaven." — Ibid. 

"  Here  none  the  last  funereal  rights  receive ; 
To  be  cast  forth  the  camp,  is  all  their  friends  can  give."— Rowe's  Lucan,  vi,  166. 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 
PRAXIS   X.— ETYMOLOGICAL. 

In  the  Tenth  Praxis,  it  is  required  of  the  pupil — to  distinguish  and  define  the 
different  parts  of  speech,  and  the  classes  and  modifications  of  the  ARTICLES, 
NOUNS,  ADJECTIVES,  PRONOUNS,  VERBS,  PARTICIPLES,  ADVERBS,  CONJUNCTIONS, 
and  PREPOSITIONS. 


CHAP.  X.]         ETYMOLOGY.  -  PREPOSITIONS.  -  PARSING.  -  PRAXIS  X.         425 

The  definitions  to  be  given  in  the  Tenth  Praxis,  are  two  for  an  article,  six  for  a 
noun,  three  for  an  adjective,  six  for  a  pronoun,  seven  for  a  verb  finite,  jive  for 
an  infinitive,  two  for  a  participle,  two  (and  sometimes  three)  for  an  adverb,  two 
for  a  conjunction,  one  for  a  preposition,  and  one  for  an  interjection.  Titus  :  — 

EXAMPLE  PARSED. 
"Never  adventure  on  too  near  an  approach  to  what  is  evil."  —  Maxims. 

Never  is  an  adverb  of  time.  1.  An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other 
adverb  ;  and  generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner.  •>.  Adverbs  of  time  an-  those  which 
answer  to  the  question,  \\'ln-n  ?  How  long  ?  How  soon  ?  or,  How  often  f  including  these  Avlrich  ask. 

-:    is  u  rc-iilar  active-intransitive  verb,  from  adventure,  adventured,   adventuring,   n</rciifnn-i{  :  found 


in  tin-  Imperative  mood,  present  tense,  second  person,  singular  (or  it  may  be  plural)  number.  1.  A  verb  is 
a  word  that  signii  '  A  or  to  >>e  acted  m/on.  '2.  A  regular  verb  is  a  verb  that  forms  the  preterit 

and  the  perfect  participle  by  assuming  d  or  «d.  ;;.  An  active-intransitive  verb  Is  a  verb  that  expresses  an 
action  that  lias  no  person  or  thin;-'  f«>r  its  object.  4.  The  imperative  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb  which  is 
used  in  commanding,  exhorting,  entreating,  or  permitting.  5.  The  present  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what 
now  exists,  or  is  taking  place.  <;.  The  second  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  hearer,  or  the  person  address- 
ed. 7.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  hut  one. 

On  is  a  preposition.  1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts  to 
each  other,  and  is  -cm-rally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

Too  to  an  adverb  of  degree.  1.  An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other 
adverb;  anil  generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner.  2.  Adverbs  of  degree  are  those  which 
answer  to  the  question,  How  much  f  How  little  f  or  to  the  idea  of  more  or  Jess. 

Near  is  a  common  adjective,  of  the  positive  decree  ;  compared,  near,  nearer,  nearest  or  next.  1.  An  adjective 
is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  generally  expresses  quality,  l'.  A  common  adjective  is  any  ordi- 
nary epithet,  or  adjective  denoting  quality  or  situation.  a.  The  positive  degree  is  that  which  is  expressed 
by  the  adjective  in'its  simple  form. 

An  is  the  indefinite  article.  1.  An  article  Is  the  word  the,  an,  or  a,  which  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit  their 
signification.  2.  The  indefinite  article  is  an  or  a,  which  denotes  one  thing  of  a  kind,  but  not  any  particular 
one. 

Approach  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case.  1.  A 
noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  •!.  A  common  noun  is  the 
name  of  a  sort,  kind,  or  class,  of  beings  or  things.  iJ.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or 
thing  merelv  spoken  of.  4.  Tin-  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter  gender  is 
that  which  denotes  tilings  that  ar--  neither  male  nor  female.  C.  The  objective  case  is  that  form  or  state  of  a 
noun  or  pronoun  which  denotes  the  object  of  a  verb,  participle,  or  preposition. 

To  is  a  preposition.     1.   A  preposition  is  a  "word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts  to 

each  other,  and  is  yenerallv  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

What  la  a  relative  pronoun,  ofthe  third  penon,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case.  1.  A 
pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun.  '2.  A  relative  pronoun  is  a  pronoun  that  represents  an  antecedent 
word  or  phrnse.  and  connects  different  clauses  of  a  sentence,  3.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the 
person  or  thing  merelv  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter 
gender  is  that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor  female,  (i.  The  nominative  case  is  that  form 
or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  subject  of  a  verb. 

Is  is  an  irregular  neuter  verb,  from  b>-,  w«s,  lt\»n,  been  •  found  in  the  indicative  mood,  present  tense,  third  per- 
son, and  singular  number.  1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  6*,  to  act,  or  to  be  actedupon.  2.  An  irreg- 
ular verb  is  a  verb  that  does  not  form  the  preterit  and  the  perfect  participle  by  assuming  d  or  ed.  3.  A 
neuter  verb  is  a  verb  that  expresses  neither  action  nor  passion,  but  simply  being,  or  a  state  of  being.  4.  The 
indicative  mood  i-  that  form  of  a  verb,  which  simply  indicates  or  declares  a  thing,  or  asks  a  question.  5.  The 
present  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  now  exists,  or  is  taking  place.  6.  The  third  person  is  that  which 
denotes  the  person  or  tiling  merely  spoken  of.  7.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one. 

Ecil  is  a  common  adjective,  of  the  positive  degree  ;  compared  irregularly,  bad,  evil,  or  ill.  worse,  worst.  1.  An 
adjective  is  a  word  ad.  led  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  and  gem-rally  expresses  qualitv.  2.  A  common  adjective  is 
any  ordinary  epithet,  or  adjective  denoting  quality  or  situation,  o.  The  positive  degree  is  that  which  is 
expressed  by  the  adjective  in  its  simple  form. 

LESSON  I.  —  PARSING. 

"  My  Lord,  I  do  here,  in  the  name  of  all  the  learned  and  polite  persons  of  the 
nation,  complain  to  your  Lordship,  as  first  minister,  that  our  language  is  imperfect  ; 
that  its  daily  improvements  are  by  no  means  in  proportion  to  its  daily  corruptions  ;  that 
the  pretenders  to  polish  and  refine  it,  have  chiefly  multiplied  abuses  and  absurdities  ; 
and  that,  in  many  instances,  it  offends  against  every  part  of  grammar."  —  Dean  Swift, 
to  the  Earl  of  Oxford. 

"  Swift  must  be  allowed  to  have  been  a  good  judge  of  this  matter  ;  to  which  he 
was  himself  very  attentive,  both  in  his  own  writings,  and  in  his  remarks  upon  those 
of  his  friends  :  He  is  one  of  the  most  correct,  and  perhaps  [he  is]  the  best,  of  our 
prose  writers.  Indeed  the  justness  of  this  complaint,  as  far  as  I  can  find,  hath  never 
yet  been  questioned  ;  and  yet  no  effectual  method  Jtcith  hitherto  been  taken  to  re- 
dress the  grievance  which  was  the  object  of  it."  —  Lowltis  Gram.  p.  iv. 

"  The  only  proper  use  to  be  made  of  the  blemishes  which  occur  in  the  writings  of 
such  authors,  is,  to  point  out  to  those  who  apply  themselves  to  the  study  of  com- 
position, some  of  the  rules  which  they  ought  to  observe  for  avoiding  such  errors  ; 
and  to  render  them  sensible  of  the  necessity  of  strict  attention  to  language  aiid 
style."—  Blairs  Rhet.  p.  20:]. 

"  Thee,  therefore,  and  with  thee  myself  I  weep, 

For  thee  and  me  I  mourn  in  anguish  deep."  —  Popes  Homer. 


426  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART 

LESSON  II. — PARSING. 

"The  southern  corner  of  Europe,  comprehended  between  the  thirty-sixth  ai 
fortieth  degrees  of  latitude,  bordering  on  Epirus  and  Macedonia  towards  the  nortl 
and  on  other  sides  surrounded  by  the  sea,  was  inhabited,  above  eighteen  centuric 
before  the  Christian  era,  by  many  small  tribes  of  hunters  and  shepherds,  among  whoi 
the  Pelasgi  and  Hellenes  were  the  most  numerous  and  powerful." — Gillies,  Gr.  p.  1^ 

"  In  a  vigorous  exertion  of  memory,  ideal  presence  is  exceedingly  distinct :  thus 
when  a  man,  entirely  occupied  with  some  event  that  made  a  deep  impression,  forget 
himself,  he  perceives  every  thing  as  passing  before  him,  and  has  a  consciousness 
presence,  similar  to  that  of  a  spectator." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  i,  88. 

"  Each  planet  revolves  about  its  own  axis  in  a  given  time ;  and  each  moves  roui 
the  sun,  in  an  orbit  nearly  circular,  and  in  a  time  proportioned  to  its  distanc 
Their  velocities,  directed  by  an  established  law,  are  perpetually  changing  by  reguh 
accelerations  and  retardations." — Ib.  i,  271. 

"  You  may  as  well  go  about  to  turn  the  sun  to  ice  by  fanning  in  his  face  with  a 
peacock's  feather." — Shak. 

u  Ch.  Justice.    I  sent  for  you,  when  there  were  matters  against  you  for  your  life, 
come  speak  with  me.    Falstaff.    As  I  was  then  advised  by  my  learned  counsel  in  tl 
laws  of  this  land-service,  I  did  not  come." — Id.  2.  Hen.  IV,  Act  i,  Sc.  2. 

"  It  is  surprising  to  see  the  images  of  the  mind  stamped  upon  the  aspect ;  to 
the  cheeks  take  the  die  of  the  passions  and  appear  in  all  the  colours  of  thought. "- 
Collier. 

"  Even  from  out  thy  slime 

The  monsters  of  the  deep  are  made." — Byron. 

LESSON  III. — PARSING. 

"  With  a  mind  weary  of  conjecture,  fatigued  by  doubt,  sick  of  disputation,  ea 
for  knowledge,  anxious  for  certainty,  and  unable  to  attain  it  by  the  best  use  of 
reason  in  matters  of  the  utmost  importance,  I  have  long  ago  turned  my  thoughts 
to  an  impartial  examination  of  the  proofs  on  which  revealed  religion  is  grounded,  and 
I  am  convinced  of  its  truth." — Bp.  Watson's  Apology,  p.  G9. 

"  The  sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between  his  feet 
until  Shiloh  come  ;  and  unto  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be." — Gen.  xlix,  10 

"  Again,  ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said  by  them  of  old  time,  thou  shalt  no 
forswear  thyself,  but  shalt  perform  unto  the  Lord  thine  oaths.  But  I  say  unto  you 
Swear  not  at  all :  neither  by  heaven  ;  for  it  is  God's  throne  :  nor  by  the  earth  ;  fo 
it  is  his  footstool :  neither  by  Jerusalem  ;  for  it  is  the  city  of  the  great  King 
Neither  shalt  thou  swear  by  thy  head ;  because  thou  canst  not  make  one  hair  whitt 
or  black."— Matt,  v,  33—30. 

"  Kefined  manners,  and  polite  behaviour,  must  not  be  deemed  altogether  artificial 
men  who,  inured  to  the  sweets  of  society,  cultivate  humanity,  find  an  elegant  pleasur 
in  preferring  others,  and  making  them  happy,  of  which  the  proud,  the  selfish,  scarce 
ly  have  a  conception." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  i,  105. 

"  Bacchus,  that  first  from  out  the  purple  grape 
Crush'd  the  sweet  poison  of  misused  wine." — Milton. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
ERRORS  RESPECTING  PREPOSITIONS. 

"  Nouns  are  often  formed  by  participles." — L.  Murray's  Index,  Octavo  Gram,  ii,  200. 

[FORMCLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  relation  here  intended,  between  are  forme  /  and  participles,  is  not  well  sig- 
nified by  the  preposition  by.  But.  according  to  Observation  'fth,  on  this  part  of  speech,  u  The  prepositions  have, 
from  their  own  nature,  or  from  custom,  such  an  adaptation  to  particular  terms  and  relations,  Unit  they  can  sel- 
dom be  used  one  for  an  other  without  manifest  impropriety."  This  relation  would  be  better  expressed  by  fromi 
thus, ''  Nouns  are  often  formed  from  participles.''] 

"  What  tenses  are  formed  on  the  perfect  participle  ? " — IngcrsolFs  Gram.  p.  104.  "  Which 
tense  is  formed  on  the  present  ? " — Ibid.  "  When  a  noun  or  pronoun  is  placed  before  a 
participle,  independently  on  the  rest  of  the  sentence,"  £c. — Ib.  p.  150  ;  Murray,  145  ;  and 


CIIAP.    XI.]       ETYMOLOGY. PREPOSITIONS. ERRORS. — INTERJECTIONS.  427 

others.  "  If  the  addition  consists  in  two  or  more  words." — Murray  s  Gram.  p.  176  ;  Ingcrsotf^ 
177.  "The  infinitive  mood  is  often  made  absolute,  or  \ised  independently  on  the  rest  of 
the  sentence." — Mur.  p.  181;  Ing.  2-14;  and  others.  "For  the  great  satisfaction  of  the 
reader,  we  shall  present  him  with  a  variety  of  false  constructions." — Mm-rai/'fi  (it-am,  p.  189. 
u  For  your  satisfaction,  I  shall  present  you  with  a  variety  of  false  constructions." — In- 
ffersoll's  Gram,  p.  2,58.  "I  shall  here  present  you  with  a  scale  of  derivation." — Bitches 
Gram.  p.  81.  "These  two  manners  of  representation  in  respect  of  number." — Istirth's 
Gram. -p.  15;  ChurchMs,  57.  "There  are  certain  adjectives,  which  seem  to  be  derived 
without  any  variation  from  verbs." — Loicf/is  Gram.  p.  89.  "Or  disqualify  us  for  receiving 
instruction  or  reproof  of  others." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  253.  "  For  being  more  studious  than 
any  other  pupil  of  the  school." — lb.  p.  226.  "  From  misunderstanding  the  directions,  we 
lost  our  way." — lb.  p.  201.  "  These  people  reduced  the  greater  part  of  the  island  to  their 
own  power." — lb.  p.  261.*  "The  principal  accent  distinguishes  one  syllable  in  a  word 
from  the  rest." — Murni>/'$  Gram.  p.  236.  "Just  numbers  are  in  unison  to  the  human 
mind." — lb.  p.  298.  "  We  must  accept  of  sound  instead  of  sense." — lb.  p.  298.  "Also, 
instead  for  consnltation,]\c  uses  consult." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  143.  "This  ablative  seems  to 
be  governed  of  a  preposition  understood." — Walkers  Particles,  p.  268.  "That  my  father 
may  not  hear  on't  by  some  means  or  other." — lb.  p.  257.  "And,  besides,  my  wife  would 
hear  on't  by  some  means." — lb.  p.  81.  "  For  insisting  in  a  requisition  so  odious  to  them.'*' 
-  /•.  i,  206.  "  Based  in  the  great  sell-evident  truths  of  liberty  and  equali- 
ty."— Scholar's  Mainutf.  "Very  little  knowledge  of  their  nature  is  acquired  by  the  spelling 
book." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  21.  "They  do  not  cut  it  off:  except  in  a  few  words;  as,  due, 
duly,  &c."— 76.  p.  21.  "  "\Vhethcr  passing  in  such  time,  or  then  finished." — Loidh's  Gram. 
p.  151.  "  It  hath  disgusted  hundreds  of  that  confession." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  269.  "But 
they  have  egregiously  fallen  in  that  inconveniency." — lb.  iii,  73.  "For  is  not  this  to  set 
nature  a  work  :  " — lb.  i,  270.  "And  surely  that  which  should  set  all  its  springs  a- work,  is 
(iod." — ATTEUIIUKY  :  in  Blairs  Hint.  p.  298.  "He  could  not  end  his  treatise  without  a 
panegyric  of  modern  learning." — TKMPLJ:  :  ib.  p.  110.  "These  are  entirely  independent 
on  the  modulation  of  the  voice." — Walker's  Elocution,  p.  308.  "  It  is  dear  of  a  penny.  It 
is  cheap  of  twenty  pounds." — Walker  s  Particles,  p.  274.  "  It  will  be  despatched,  in  most 

i  >ns,  without  resting." — Locke.  "  '  O,  the  pain  the  bliss  in  dying.'  " — Kirkhanis  Gram* 
p.  129.  "When  [he  is]  presented  with  the  objects  or  the  facts." — Smith's  Proditctii-e  Gram. 
p.  6.  "  I  will  now  present  you  with  a  synopsis." — Ib.  p.  25.  "  The  conjunction  disjunctive 
connects  sentences,  by  expressing  opposition  of  meaning  in  various  degrees." — Ib.  p.  38. 
"I  shall  now  present  you  with  a  few  lines." — Bucko's  Classical  Gram.  p.  13.  "Common 
names  of  Substantives  are  those,  which  stand  for  things  generally." — Ib.  p.  31.  "Adjec- 
tives in  the  English  language  admit  no  variety  in  gender,  number,  or  case  whatever,  ex- 
cept that  of  the  degrees  of  comparison." — Ib.  p.  48.  "Participles  are  adjectives  formed 
of  verbs." — Ib.  p.  63.  "I  do  love  to  walk  out  of  a  fine  summer's  evening." — Ib.  p.  97. 
"An  Ellipsis,  when  applied  to  grammar,  is  the  elegant  omission  of  one  or  more  words  in 
a  sentence." — Mt-n-hn.  .  p.  99.  "The  prefix  to  is  generally  placed  before  verbs  in 

the  infinitive  mood,  but  before  the  following  verbs  it  is  properly  omitted;  (viz.)  bid,  make^ 
I,  and  let ;  a?,  lie  bid  me  do  it;  He  made  me/earn;  &c." — Ib.  Stereo- 

'  'iliu/i,  p.  91  ;  Old  EJiti.jn,  85.  "The  infinitive  sometimes  follows  than,  after  a  com- 
parison ;  as,  I  wish  nothing  more,  than  to  know  his  fate." — Ib.  p.  92.  See  Mm  ray's  Gram. 
8vo,  i,  184.  "Or  by  prefixing  the  adverbs  more  or  less,  in  the  comparative,  and  most  or 
iaast,  in  the  superlative."-  Gram.  p.  36.  "A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  instead 

of  a  noun." — Ib.  p.  17  ;   Com/;/,  15.    "In  monosyllables  the  Comparative  is  regularly  formed 
by  adding  r  or  er."—  .  p.  21.      "lie  has  particularly  named  these,  in  dis- 

tinction to  others." — liar,  .  p.  vi.      "To  revive  the  decaying  taste  of  antient 

Literature." — lb.  p.  xv.     "  lie  found  the  greatest  difficulty  of  writing." — HUME  :  in  Priest- 
ley's Gram.  p.  159. 

"And  the  tear  that  is  wip'd  with  a  little  address 
May  be  followed  perhaps  with  a  smile." 

'•,  p.  78  ;  and  Murray's  E.  Render,  p.  212. 


CHAPTER  XL -INTERJECTIONS. 

An  Interjection  is  a  word  that  is  uttered  merely  to  indicate  some  strong 
(rr  sudden  emotion  of  the  mind:  as,  Oh!  alas!  ah!  poh!  pzliaw  !  avaunt! 
(iha!  hurrah! 

•"U7io  mnirrjttfnt[>j  rnluccil  tlic  zrfat'st  rart  of  the  i.«laml  TO  their  own  power/'—  Fifift,  on  thf  English 
Ton%ur     ••  \\  t  ,,n.  nation  rfducts  another  TO  subjection.     But  wheu  dominion  or  poii-er  is  uted,  no 

always,  as  [so]  far  as  I  know,  say,  rtducc  UNDER  thtir power"  [01  dominion ^ — Blan's  Witt.  p.  2LU. 


428  THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — Of  pure  interjections  but  few  are  admitted  into  books.  Unimpassioned  writings  re- 
ject this  part  of  speech  altogether.  As  words  or  sounds  of  this  kind  serve  rather  to  indicate 
feeling  than  to  express  thought,  they  seldom  have  any  definable  signification.  Their  use  also  is 
so  variable,  that  there  can  be  no  very  accurate  classification  of  them.  Some  significant  words;, 
perhaps  more  properly  belonging  to  other  classes,  are  sometimes  ranked  with  interjections,  when 
uttered  with  emotion  and  in  an  unconnected  manner;  as,  strange!  prodigious!  indeed!  Wells 
says,  "Other parts  of  speech,  used  by  way  of  exclamation,  are  properly  regarded  as  interjections  ; 
as,  hark  I  surprising  !  mercy  !  " — School  Gram.  1846,  p.  110.  This  is  an  evident  absurdity  ;  because 
it  directly  confounds  the  classes  which  it  speaks  of  as  being  different.  Nor  is  it  right  to  say, 
"Other  parts  of  speech  are  frequently  used  to  perform  the  office  of  interjections." — Wells,  1850,  p.  120. 

OBS.  2. — The  word  interjection  comes  to  us  from  the  Latin  name  interjectio,  the  root  of  which  is 
the  verb  interjicio,  to  throw  between,  to  interject.  Interjections  are  so  called  because  they  are 
usually  thrown  in  between  the  parts  of  discourse,  without  any  syntactical  connexion  with  other 
words.  Dr.  Lowth,  in  his  haste,  happened  to  describe  them  as  a  kind  of  natural  sounds  "  thrown 
in  between  the  parts  of  a  sentence ;  "  and  this  strange  blunder  has  been  copied  into  almost  every 
definition  that  has  been  given  of  the  Interjection  since.  See  Murray's  Grammar  and  others. 
"Webster's  Dictionary  defines  it  as,  "  A  word  thrown  in  between  icords  connected  in  construction  ;  " 
but  of  all  the  parts  of  speech  none  are  less  frequently  found  in  this  situation. 

OBS.  3. — The  following  is  a  fair  sample  of  "  Smith's  New  Grammar," — i.  e.  of  "  English  Gram- 
mar on  the  Productive  System," — a  new  effort  of  quackery  to  scarf  up  with  cobwebs  the  eyes  of 
common  sense  :  "  Q.  When  I  exclaim, '  Oh  !  I  have  ruined  my  friend,'  'Alas  !  I  fear  for  life,' 
which  icords  here  appear  to  be  thrown  in  between  the  sentences,  to  express  passion  or  feeling  ? 
Ans.  Oh  !  Alas  !  Q.  What  does  interjection  mean  ?  Ans.  Thrown  between.  Q.  What  name,  then, 
shall  we  give  such  words  as  oh!  alas  !  &c.?  Ans.  INTERJECTIONS.  Q.  What,  then,  are  interjec- 
tions ?  Ans.  Interjections  are  words  thrown  in  between  the  parts  of  sentences,  to  express  the 
passions  or  sudden  feelings  of  the  speaker.  Q.  How  may  an  interjection  generally  be  known  ? 
Ans.  By  its  taking  an  exclamation  point  after  it :  [as,]  fOh  !  I  have  alienated  my  friend.'  " — R.  C. 
Smith's  Neiv  Grammar,]}.  39.  Of  the  interjection,  this  author  gives,  in  his  examples  for  parsing, 
fifteen  other  instances ;  but  nothing  can  be  more  obvious,  than  that  not  more  than  one  of  the 
whole  fifteen  stands  either  "between  sentences  "  or  between  the  parts  of  any  sentence!  (See 
Neio  Gram.  pp.  40  and  96.)  Can  he  be  a  competent  grammarian,  who  does  not  know  the  mean- 
ing of  between  ;  or  who,  knowing  it,  misapplies  so  very  plain  a  word  ? 

OBS.  4. — The  Interjection,  which  is  idly  claimed  by  sundry  writers  to  have  been  the  first  of 
words  at  the  origin  of  language,  is  now  very  constantly  set  down,  among  the  parts  of  speech,  as 
the  last  of  the  series.  But,  for  the  name  of  this  the  last  of  the  ten  sorts  of  words,  some  of  our 
grammarians  have  adopted  the  term  exclamation.  Of  the  old  and  usual  term  interjection,  a  recent 
writer  justly  says,  "  This  name  is  preferable  to  that  of  exclamation,  for  some  exclamations  are 
not  interjections,  and  some  interjections  are  not  exclamations." — Folder's  E.  Grain.  §  333. 

LIST  OF  THE  INTERJECTIONS. 

The  following  are  the  principal  interjections  arranged  according  to  the  emotion? 
which  they  are  generally  intended  to  indicate  :  (1.)  Of  joy;  eiglil  hey!  io  !  (2. ) 
Of  praise  ;  well-done!  good!  bravo!  (3.)  Of  sorrow  ;  oh  !  ah!  alas  !  alack!  hoo  r 
welladay  !  or  welaway !  (4.)  Of  wonder;  heigh  !  ha!  strange!  indeed!  whew  / 
hoity-toity!  hoida !  zounds!  egad!  my  stars!  (5.)  Of  wishing,  earnestness,  or 
vocative  address ;  (often  with  a  noun  or  pronoun  in  the  nominative  absolute  ;)  0  ! 
(6.)  Of  pain  or  fear;  oh!  0  dear !  ah!  eh!  (7.)  Of  contempt ;  fudge  !  puyh  ! 
poh!  pshaw!  pish!  tush!  tut!  humph!  (8.)  Of  aversion;  f oh!  faugh!  jie! 
fy!  foy!*  off!  begone!  avaunt!  aroynt!  whew!  (9.)  Of  calling  aloud;  ho! 
what  ho!  soho!  hollo!  halloo!  hoy!  ahoy!  (10.)  Of  exultation;  ah!  aha! 
huzza!  hey!  heyday!  hurrah!  (11.)  Of  laughter  ;  ha,  ha,  ha;  he,  he,  he.  (12.) 
Of  salutation;  welcome!  hail!  all-hail!  (13.)  Of  calling  to  attention;  ho!  lo  ! 
behold!  look!  see!  hark!  la!  law !  f  (14.)  Of  calling  to  silence;  hush!  hist! 
whist!  'st!  aw!  mum!  (15.)  Of  surprise  or  horror ;  oh!  ha!  hah!  what!  (16.) 
Of  languor  or  weariness;  heigh-ho!  heigh-ho-hum !  (17.)  Of  stopping;  hold! 
soft!  avast!  whoh  !  (18.)  Of  parting ;  farewell !  adieu!  (19.)  Of  knowing  or 
detecting;  oho!  ahah!  ay-ay!  (20.)  Of  interrogating;  eh?  ha?  I  hey? 

*  "  O  foy,  don't  misapprehend  me  ;  I  don't  Pay  so."— DOUBLE  DEALER  :  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  305. 

t  According  to  Walker  and  Webster,  la  is  pronounced  law ;  and,  if  they  are  right  in  this,  the  latter  is  only  a 
false  mode  of  spelling.  But  I  set  down  both,  because  both  are  found  in  books,  and  because  I  incline  to  think  the 
former  in  from  the  French  la,  which  is  pronounced  lah.  Johnson  and  Webster  make  la  and  lo  synonymous  ;  de- 
riving lo  from  the  Saxon  la,  and  la  either  from  lo  or  from  the  French  la.  '••Law,  how  you  joke,  cousin." — Co- 
lumbian Orator,  p.  178.  "Law  me!  the  very  ghosts  are  come  now  ! '; — Ibid.  l'-Law,  sister  Betty  !  1  am  glad 
to  see  you  !  " — Ibid. 

"La  you  !  if  you  speak  ill  of  the  devil, 
How  he  takes  it  at  heart !  " — SUAKSPEARE  :  Joh.  Diet.  w.  La. 

J  The  interjection  of  interrogating,  being  placed  independently,  either  after  a  question,  or  after  something  which 
it  converts  into  a  question,  is  usually  marked  with  its  own  separate  eroteme  ;  as,  "  But  this  is  even  so  :  eh  ?  "- 
Newspaper.  "  Is  't  not  drown'd  i'  the  last  ruin  ?  Ila?  " — S/iakspeare.  "  Does  Bridget  paint  still,  Pompey  ?  Ha?" 
— Id.  "  Suits  my  complexion  — hey  gal  ?  so  I  think  " — Yankee  Schoolmaster.  Sometimes  we  see  it  divided  only 
by  a  comma,  from  the  preceding  question  :  as,  "  What  dost  thou  think  of  this  doctrine,  Friend  Gurth,  ha?  " — 
SCOTT'S  IVANHOE  :  Fowler's  E.  Gram.  §  29. 


CHAP.    XI.]  ETYMOLOGY.  -  INTERJECTIONS.  -  PARSING.  -  PRAXIS   XI.  429 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1.  —  \Vith  the  interjections,  may  perhaps  be  reckoned  hau  and  gect  the  imperative  words 
of  teamsters  driving  cattle;  and  other  similar  .sounds,  useful  under  certain  circumstances,  but 
seldom  found  in  books.  Besides  these,  and  all  the  foregoing,  there  are  several  others,  too  often 
heard,  which  are  unworthy  to  be  considered  parts  of  a  cultivated  language.  The  frequent  use  of 
interjections  savours  more  of  thoughtlessness  than  of  sensibility.  Philosophical  writing  and 
dispassionate  discourse  exclude  them  altogether.  Yet  are  there  several  words  of  this  kind,  which 
in  earnest  utterance,  animated  poetry,  or  impassioned  declamation,  are  not  only  natural,  but 
exceedingly  expressive:  as,  "  Lift  up  thy  voice,  O  daughter  of  Gallim  ;  cause  it  to  be  heard  unto 
Laish,  O  poor  Anathoth."  —  Isaiah,  x,  30.  "Alns,  alas,  that  great  city  Babylon,  that  mighty 
city  !  for  in  one  hour  is  thy  judgement  come."  —  Rev.  xviii,  10. 

'•  \/i  me!  forbear,  returns  the  queen,  forbear  ; 

Oh  !  talk  not,  talk  not  of  vain  beauty's  care."  —  Odyssey,  B.  xviii,  1.  310. 

ORS.  2.  —  Interjections,  being  in  general  little  else  than  mere  natural  voices  or  cries,  must  of 
course  be  adapted  to  the  sentiments  which  are  uttered  with  them,  and  never  carelessly  con- 
founded one  with  an  other  when  we  express  them  on  paper.  The  adverb  ay  is  sometimes  im- 
properly written  for  the  interjection  ah  ;  as,  ay  me!  for  ah  me  I  and  still  oftener  we  find  oh,  an 
interjection  of  sorrow,  pain,  or  surprise,*  written  in  stead  of  0,  the  proper  sign  of  wishing,  earn- 
estness, or  vocative  address  :  as, 

"Oh  Flappiness  !  our  being's  end  and  aim  !  "  —  Pope,  Ess.  Ep.  iv,  1.  1. 
"  And  peace,  oh  Virtue  !  peace  is  all  thy  own."  —  Id.  ib.  Ep.  iv.  1.  82. 
"O/f  stay,  O  pride  of  Greece  !  Ulysses,  stay  ! 

O  cease  thy  course,  and  listen  to  our  lay  !  "  —  Odys.  B.  xii,  1.  222. 

OBS.  3.  —  The  chief  characteristics  of  the  interjection  are  independence,  exclamation,  and  the 
want  of  any  definable  signification.  Yet  not  all  the  words  or  signs  which  we  refer  to  this  class, 
will  be  found  to  coincide  in  all  these  marks  of  an  interjection.  Indeed  the  last,  (the  want  of  a 
rational  meaning,)  would  seem  to  exclude  them  from  the  language;  forwards  must  needs  be  sig- 
nificant of  something.  Hence  many  grammarians  deny  that  mere  sounds  of  the  voice  have  any 
more  claim  to  be  reckoned  among  the  parts  of  speech,  than  the  neighing  of  a  horse,  or  the  low- 
ing of  a  cow.  There  is  some  reason  in  this  ;  but  in  fact  the  reference  which  these  sounds  have 
to  the  feelings  of  those  who  utter  them,  is  to  some  extent  instinctively  understood;  and  does 
constitute  a  sort  of  significance,  though  we  cannot  really  define  it.  And,  as  their  use  in  lan- 
guage, or  in  connexion  with  language,  makes  it  necessary  to  assign  them  a  place  in  grammar,  it 
is  certainly  more  proper  to  treat  them  as  above,  than  to  follow  the  plan  of  the  Greek  gram- 
marians, most  of  whom  throw  all  the  interjections  into  the  class  of  adverbs. 

()i:>.  1.  —  Significant  words  uttered  independently,  after  the  manner  of  interjections,  ought  in 
general,  perhaps,  to  be  referred  to  their  original  classes  ;  for  all  such  expressions  may  be  sup- 
posed elliptical:  as,  "Order!  gentlemen,  order!  "  i.  e.  "  Come  to  order,"—  or,  "Keep  order." 
"Silence!  "  i.  e.  "  Preserve  silence."  "Out  .'  out  !  "  i.  e.  "  Get  out,"  —  or,  "  Clear  out  !  "  (See  Obs. 
oth  and  6th,  upon  Adverbs.) 

"  Charge,  Chester,  charge  !     On,  Stanley,  on! 

Were  the  last  words  of  Marmion."  —  Scott. 
OBS.  5.  —  In  some  instances,  interjections  seem  to  be  taken  substantively  and  made  nouns  ;"*as, 

"  I  may  sit  in  a  corner,  and  cry  hcy-ho  for  a  husband."—  Sha  k. 

So,  according  to  James  White,  in  his  Essay  on  the  Verb,  is  the  word  fa,  in  the  following  ex- 
ample : 

"  If  you  deny  me,  fte  upon  your  law."  —  SHAK.  :  IVhite's  Verb,  p.  163. 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 
PRAXIS    XI.  —  ETYMOLOGIC  AL. 


In  the  Eleventh  Praxis,  it  is  m/.'/t'/W  of  the  pupil  —  to  distinguish  and  define  the 
different  parts  of  speech,  and  ALL  their  classes  and  modifications. 

The  dcj'itifi'i/'s  to  fa  (/iren  in  the  Eleventh  Pru.ris,  are,  two  for  an  article,  six  for 
a  no"  a.  .'///•'  "for  an  adjective,  six  for  a  pronoun,  seven  for  a  verb  finite,  five  for 
an  intuit  ire,  two  for  a  participle,  two  (and  sometimes  three)  for  an  adverb,  two 
for  a  cunj-inrtian,  one  for  a  preposition,  and  two  for  an  interjection.  Thus:  — 

KXAMI'LK  1'AllSED. 
"  0  !  sooner  Flmll  the  earth  and  stars  fall  into  chaos  !  " 

O  [*  an   int.-ri,  .;;,,,!.   iu.li  1.   Aii   interio.-tinn  is  a  word  that  Is  uttered  merely  to  indicate 

Home  strong  or  sudden  emotion  of  the  mind.    -'.  The  Interjection  of  wishln  -3,  or  vocative  ad- 

is  an  adverb  of  time,  of  the  comparath  mpared,  soon,  sooner,  soonest.    1.  An  adverb  is 


,  .      . 

word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb  ;  ;md  -cin-rallv  .\presses  time,  place, 
degree,  or  manner.     •-'.    Atlsv  irhieh  answer  to  th<  '  •«:  long  ?  Jloic  soon  t 

or,  It  i  lie  comparative  decree    is  that  i\  iiich  i<  m»re  or  less  than 

HOmetblng  r"litr:i>trd  with  it. 

all  is  an  auxiliary  to/,///.    1.  An  auxiliary  ,,ne  of  the  principal  parts  of  an  other 

verb,  t«.i  express  vimr  particular  mode  and  time  of  the  tttmf,  action.  <,r 


*  Though  oh  and  a/i  are  most  commonly  used  as  signs  of  these  depressing  passions,  it  must  be  confessed  that 
they  are  sometime*  employed  by  repir  :rks  of  cheerfulness  or  exultation;  as,  a.4/j,  plea.sant 

proof,"  &c.  —  Cowper's    Task,  p.  179.      "  Merrily  o  h  .'  merrily  oh  ."'  —  Moore's   Tyro!'  Ay  oh.' 

cheerily  oh.'  "—  74.  But  even  if  this  usa^e  be  supposed  to  b«  right,  there  is  .-till  tome  difference  between  these 
worc'js  and  the  interjection  O:  if  there  were  not,  we  might  dispense  with  the  latter,  and  substitute  one  of  the  for- 
mer ;  but  this  would  certainly  change  the  import  of  many  an  invocation. 


430  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II- 

Fhe  is  the  definite  article.  1.  An  article  is  tlie  word  the,  an,  or  a,  which  we  put  before  nouns  to  limit  their  tif- 
nifieation.  2.  The  definite  article  is  the,  which  denotes  some  particular  thing  or  things. 

Earth  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case.  1.  A  noilft 
is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  2.  A  common  noun  is  the 
name  of  a  sort,  kind,  or  class,  of  being*  or  things.  3.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person 
or  thine  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter  gender  to 
that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  nominative  case  is  that  form  or  state  of 
a  noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  subject  of  n  verb. 

And  is  a  copulative  conjunction.  1.  A  conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect  word?  or  sentences  in  construction, 
and  to  show  the  dependence  of  the  terms  so  connected.  2.  A  copulative  conjunction  is  a  conjunction  tiK.it 
denotes  an  addition,  a  cause,  a  consequence,  or  a  supposition. 

Stars  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  plural  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case.  1.  A  noun 
is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  2.  A  common  noun  is  the  nam« 
Of  A  sort,  kind,  or  class,  of  beings  or  things.  3.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  th.nu 
merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  plural  number  is  that  which  denotes  more  than  one.  5.  The  neuter  gender  is  that 
which  denotes  thines  that  are  neither  male  nor  female.  6.  The  nominative  case  is  that  form  or  state  of  a 
noun  or  pronoun,  which  denotes  the  subject  of  a  verb. 

Fall,  or  Shall  fall,  is  an  irregular  active-intransitive  verb,  (rom  fall,  fell,  fatting,  fallen  ;  found  in  the  indicative 
mood,  first-future  tense,  third  person,  and  plural  number.  1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or 
to  be  acted  upon.  '2.  An  irregular  verb  is  a  verb  that  docs  not  form  the  preterit  and  the  perfect  participle 
by  assuming  i!  orcd.  3.  An  active-intransitive  verb  is  a  verb  that  expresses  an  action  which  has  no  person 
or  thing  for  its  object.  4.  The  indicative  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb, which  simplv  indicates  or  declares 
a  thing,  or  asks  a  question.  5.  The  first-future  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  will  take  place  hereafter. 
6.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely  spoken  of.  7.  The  plural  number  is  that 
which  denotes  more  than  one. 

Into  is  a  preposition.  1.  A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  express  some  relation  of  different  things  or  thoughts  to 
each  other,  and  is  generally  placed  before  a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

Chaos  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case.  1.  A  noon 
is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned.  2.  A  common  noun  is  thft 
name  of  a  sort,  kind,  or  class,  of  beings  or  things,  y.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or 
thing  merely  spoken  of.  4.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one.  5.  The  neuter  gender  in 
that  which  denotes  things  that  are  neither  male,  nor  female.  6.  The  objective  case  is  that  form  or  state  of  » 
noun  or  pronoun  which  denotes  the  object  of  a  verb,  participle,  or  preposition. 

LESSON  I. — PARSING. 

"Ah!  St.  Anthony  preserve  me  ! — Ah — ah — eh — eh! — Why — why — after  all, 
your  hand  is  not  so  co-o-o-old,  neither.  Of  the  two,  it  is  rather  warmer  than  my  own. 
Can  it  be,  though,  that  you  are  not  dead?"  "Not  I." — MOLIERE  :  in  Burgh's 
Speaker,  p.  232. 

"I'll  make  you  change  your  cuckoo  note,  you  old  philosophical  humdrum,  you — 
[Beats  him] — I  will — [Beats  him].  I'll  make  you  say  somewhat  else  than,  'All 
things  are  doubtful ;  all  things  are  uncertain  ;' — [Beats  him]  I  will,  you  old  fusty 
pedant."  "Ah  !— oh  !— eh  !— What,  beat  a  philosopher  !— Ah  !— oh  !— eh  !  "•— 
MOLIERE  :  ib.  p.  247. 

"  What !  will  these  hands  never  be  clean  ? — No  more  of  that,  my  lord  ;  no  mere 
of  that.  You  mar  all  with  this  starting."  *  *  *  "  Here  is  the  smell  of  blood  still. — 
All  the  perfumes  of  Arabia  will  not  sweeten  this  little  hand.  Oh!  oh!  oh!" — 
Sheik.,  Macbeth,  Act  V,  Sc  1. 

"  Ha  !  at  the  gates  what  grisly  forms  appear  ! 
What  dismal  shrieks  of  laughter  wound  the  ear  !  " — Merry. 

LESSON  II. — PARSING. 

"  Yet  this  may  be  the  situation  of  some  now  known  to  us. — 0  frightful  thought  I 
0  horrible  image  !  Forbid  it,  O  Father  of  mercy  !  If  it  be  possible,  let  no  creature 
of  thine  ever  be  the  object  of  that  wrath,  against  which  the  strength  of  thy  whole 
creation  united,  would  stand  but  as  the  moth  against  the  thunderbolt !  " — Burgh's 
Speaker,  p.  289. 

"  If  it  be  so,  our  God,  whom  we  serve,  is  able  to  deliver  us  from  the  burning 
fiery  furnace;  and  he  will  deliver  us  out  of  thine  hand,  0  king.  But  if  not,  bo  it 
known  unto  thee,  0  king,  that  we  will  not  serve  thy  gods,  nor  worship  the  golden 
image  which  thou  hast  set  up." — Daniel,  iii,  17  and  18. 

"  Grant  me  patience,  just  Heaven  ! — Of  all  the  cants  which  are  canted  in  this  canting 
world — though  the  cant  of  hypocrites  may  be  the  worst — the  cant  of  criticism  is  the 
most  tormenting !  " — Sterne. 

"Ah,  no  !  Achilles  meets  a  shameful  fate, 
Oh  !  how  unworthy  of  the  brave  and  great." — Pope. 

LESSON  III. — PARSING. 

tt  0  let  not  thy  heart  despise  me  !  thou  whom  experience  has  not  taught  that  it  i? 
misery  to  lose  that  which  it  is  not  happiness  to  possess." — Dr.  Johnson. 

"  Disguise  thyself  as  thou  wilt,  still,  Slavery  !  still  thou  art  a  bitter  draught ;  and 
though  thousands  in  all  ages  have  been  made  to  drink  of  thee,  thou  art  no  less  bitter 
on  that  account." — Sterne. 


(1HAP.    XII.]      ETYMOLOGY. PARSING. PRAXIS   XI. INTERJECTIONS. — ERRORS.      431 

"  Put  it  out  of  the  power  of  truth  to  give  you  an  ill  character  ;  and  if  any  body  re- 
ports you  not  to  be  an  honest  or  a  good  man,  let  your  practice  give  him  the  lie.  ThU 
is  all  very  feasible." — Antoninus. 

"  Oh  that  men  should  put  an  enemy  into  their  mouths  to  steal  away  their  brain  j ! 
that  we  should,  with  joy,  pleasancc,  revel,  and  applause,  transform  ourselves  into 
beasts  !  " — Shakspeare. 

"All  these  afar  off  stood,  crying,  Alas  ! 
Alas  !  and  wept,  and  gnashed  their  teeth,  and  groaned ; 
And  with  the  owl,  that  on  her  ruins  sat, 
Made  dolorous  concert  in  the  ear  of  Night." — Pollok. 
"  Snatch'd  in  thy  prime  !  alas,  the  stroke  were  mild, 

Had  ray  frail  form  obey'd  the  fate's  decree  ! 
Blest  were  my  lot,  0  Cynthio  !  0  my  child  ! 

Had  Heaven  so  pleas'd,  and  I  had  died  for  thee  !  " — Shenstonc. 

I M PROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

ERRORS  RESPECTING  INTERJECTIONS. 
**  Of  chance  or  change,  oh  let  not  man  complain." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram.  p.  85. 

fFoBMULE. — Not  proper,  because  fhe  interjection  ok,  a  sign  of  sorrow,  pain,  or  surprise,  is  here  used  to  indicate 
mere  Ml  Hut,  according  to  the  list  of  interjections,  or  Ons.  2d  under  it,  the  interjection  of  wishing, 

earnestness,  or  vocative  address,  Is  O,  and  not  ok.    Therefore,  ok  should  here  be  0;  thus,  "  Of  chance  or  change.. 
O  let  not  man  complain."— Beattie's  Minstrel,  B.  ii,  1.  1.] 

"  O  thou  persecutor  !  Oh  ye  hypocrites." — Merchant's  Gram.  p.  99  ;  ct  al.  "  Oh  !  thou, 
who  touchedst  Isaiah's  hallowed  lips  with  fire." — Ib.  (Key,)  p.  197.  "  Oh  !  happy  we, 
surrounded  by  so  many  blessings." — Ib.  (Exercises,)  p.  138.  "Oh!  thou,  who  art  so 
nnmindful  of  thy  duty." — Ib.  (Key,)  p.  196.  "If  I  am  wrong,  oh  teach  my  heart  To  find 
that  better  May." — Pope's  Works.  "Ileus!  evocate  hue  Davum.  Tcr.  Hoe!  call  Da- 
vus  out  hither." — Walkers  Particlfx,  p.  loo.  "It  was  represented  by  an  analogy,  (Oh, 
how  inadequate  !)  which  was  borrowed  from  the  religion  of  paganism."" — Murray's  Gram. 
p.  281.  "Oh  that  Ishmael  might  live  before  thee!" — ALGER'S  BIBLE:  Gen.  xvii,  18. 
"And  he  said  unto  him,  Oh  let  not  the  Lord  be  angry,  and  I  will  speak." — FRIENDS'  BIBLB  : 
Gen.  xviii,  30.  "And  he  said,  Oh  let  not  the  Lord  be  angry." — ID.  and  SCOTT'S  :  ib.  ver.  32. 
•*  Oh,  my  lord,  let  thy  servant,  I  pray  thee,  speak  a  word." — FRIENDS'  BIBLE,  and  ALGER'B  : 
Gen.  xliv,  18.  "Oh,  Virtue!  how  amiable  thou  art!  I  fear,  alas!  for  my  life." — Fisk'i 
Gram.  p.  89.  "Ay  me,  they  little  know  How  dearly  I  abide  that  boast  so  vain." — Milton's 
I1.  .L.,B.  iv,  1.  86.  "  Oh  !  that  I  had  digged  myself  a  cave." — FLETCHER  :  in  Bucke's  Gram. 
p.  78.  "  O,  my  good  lord  !  thy  comfort  comes  too  late." — SHAK.  :  ib.  p.  78.  "The  voca- 
tive takes  no  article  ;  it  is  distinguished  thus  :  O  Pedro,  Oh  Peter  !  O  Dios,  Oh  God  !  " 
— Bucke's  Gram.  p.  43.  "Oh,  o  !  But,  the  relative  is  always  the  same." — Cobbett's  Eng. 
Gram.  1st  EJ.  p.  127.  "Oh,  oh!  But, the  relative  is  always  the  same." — Id.  Edition  of 
1832,  p.  116.  "Ah  hail,  ye  happy  men  !  " — Jandons  Gram.  p.  116.  "  Oh  that  I  had  wings 
like  a  dove  !  "—  Kim  (TD81  BIBLB,  and  ALGER'S  :  Ps.  Iv,  6.  "  Oh  Glorious  hope  !  O  Bless- 
ed abode!  " — o.  B.  Pcircc's  Gram.  p.  183.  "Alas,  Friends,  how  joyous  is  your  presence." 
— Rev.  T.  Smith's  Cr-n/i.  p.  87.  ""  Oh,  blissful  days  !  Ah  me  !  how  soon  ye  pass  !  " — Park- 
er and  Fox's  Gram.  Part  I,  p.  16 ;  Part  III,  p.  29. 

"  Oh  golden  days  !  oh  bright  unvalued  hours  ! 

What  bliss  (did  ye  but  know  that  bliss)  were  yours  !  " — Barbauld. 
"  Ay  me  !  what  perils  do  environ 

The  man  that  meddles  with  cold  iron  !  " — Hudibras. 


CHAPTER  XII. -QUESTIONS. 

ORDER  OF  RKHKARSAL,  AND  METHOD  OF  EXAMINATION. 
PART  SECOND,  ETYMOLOGY. 

proceeds  to  any  subsequent  put 


tT9*  [The  follow-in;*  questions  refer  almost  wholly  to  the  main  toit  of  the  Etymology  of  this  work,  and  arc  roch 
a*  every  student  should  l-o  able  to  .in»-wi>r  with  readiness  and  accuracy,  before  he  proceed*  to  any  aub 


of  the  study  or  the  exercit«es  of  English  grammar.] 

•N*  I.— PARTS  OP   SPEECH. 

1.     Of  what  does  Etymology  treat  ?     2.  What  is  meant  by  the  term,  "Paris  of  Speech?" 
3   What  are  Classes,  under  the   parts  of  speech  ?     4.  What   are  Modificationt  t    6.  How 


432  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

many  and  what  are  the  parts  of  speech  ?  6.  What  is  an  article  ?  7.  What  is  a  noun?  8. 
What  is  an  adjective  ?  9.  What  is  a  pronoun  ?  10.  What  is  a  verb  ?  11.  What  is  a  par- 
ticiple ?  12.  Wh at  is  an  adverb  ?  13.  What  is  a  conjunction  ?  14.  What  is  a  preposition  ? 
15.  What  is  an  interjection  ? 

LESSONV  II. — PARSING. 

1.  What  is  Parsing  ?  and  what  relation  docs  it  bear  to  grammar  ?  2.  What  is  a  Praxis  ? 
and  what  is  said  of  the  word  ?  3.  What  is  required  of  the  pupil  in  the  FIRST  PRAXIS  ?  4. 
How  many  definitions  are  here  to  be  given  for  each  part  of  speech  ?  5.  How  is  the  follow- 
ing example  parsed?  "  The  patient  ox  submits  to  the  yoke,  and  meekly  performs  the  la- 
bour required  of  him." 

[Now  parse,  in  like  manner,  the  three  lessons  of  the  First  Chapter,  or  the  First  Praxis.} 

LESSOX  III. — ARTICLES. 

1.  What  is  an  ARTICLE?  2.  Are  an  and  a  different  .articles,  or  the  same?  3.  When 
ought  an  to  be  used,  and  what  are  the  examples  ?  4.  When  should  a  be  used,  and  what 
are  the  examples?  5.  What  form  of  the  article  do  the  sounds  of  w  and  y\ require?  6. 
Can  you  repeat  the  alphabet,  with  an  or  a  before  the  name  of  each  letter  ?  7.  Will  you 
name  the  ten  parts  of  speech,  with  an  or  a  before  each  name?  8.  When  does  a  common 
noun  not  admit  an  article  ?  9.  How  is  the  sense  of  nouns  commonly  made  indefinitely 
partitive?  10.  Does  the  mere  being  of  a  thing  demand  the  use  of  articles?  11.  Can 
articles  ever  be  used  when  we  mean  to  speak  of  a  whole  species  ?  12.  But  how  does  an  or 
a  commonly  limit  the  sense  ?  13.  And  how  does  the  commonly  limit  the  sense  ?  14.  Which 
number  does  the  limit,  the  singular  or  the  plural?  15.  When  is  the  required  before  ad- 
jectives ?  16.  Why  is  an  or  a  not  applicable  to  plurals  ?  17.  What  is  said  of  an  or  a  be- 
fore an  adjective  of  number?  18.  When,  or  how  often,  should  articles  be  inserted?  19. 
What  is  said  of  needless  articles  ?  20.  What  is  the  effect  of  putting  one  article  for  the 
other,  and  how  shall  we  know  which  to  choose?  21.  How  are  the  two  articles  distin- 
guished in  grammar  ?  22.  Which  is  the  definite  article,  and  what  does  it  denote  ?  23 
Which  is  the  indefinite  article,  and  what  does  it  denote  ?  24.  What  modifications  have 
the  articles  ? 

LESSOX   IV. — PARSING. 

1.  What  is  required  of  the  pupil  in  the  SECOND  PRAXIS  ?  2.  How  many  definitions  are 
here  to  be  given  for  each  part  of  speech  ?  3.  How  is  the  following  example  parsed  ?  "The 
task  of  a  schoolmaster  laboriously  prompting  and  urging  an  indolent  class,  is  worse  than 
his  who  drives  lazy  horses  along  a  sandy  road." 

[Now  parse,  in  like  manner,  the  three  lessons  of  the  Second  Chapter,  or  the  Second  Praxis  ;  andj^hen,  if  you 
please,  you  may  correct  orally  the  five  lessons  of  bad  English,  with  which  the  Second  Chapter  concludes.] 

LESSON    V. — NOUNS. 

1.  What  is  a  NOUN,  and  what  are  the  examples  given?  2.  Into  what  general  classes  an; 
nouns  divided  ?  3.  What  is  a  proper  noun  ?  4.  What  is  a  common  noun  ?  5.  Wha ; 
particular  classes  are  included  among  common  nouns  ?  6.  What  is  a  collective  noun  ?  7. 
What  is  an  abstract  noun  ?  8.  What  is  a  verbal  or  participial  noun?  9.  What  modifica- 
tions have  nouns  ?  10.  What  are  Persons,  in  grammar  ?  11.  How  many  persons  are  there, 
and  what  are  they  called  ?  12.  What  is  the  first  person  ?  13.  What  is  the  second  person  ? 
14.  What  is  the  third  person  ?  15.  What  are  Numbers,  in  grammar  ?  16.  How  man}- 
numbers  are  there,  and  what  are  they  called  ?  17.  What  is  the  singular  number?  18*. 
What  is  the  plural  number?  19.  How  is  the  plural  number  of  nouns  regularly  formed  • 

20.  How  is  the  regular  plural  formed  without  increase  of  syllables  ?    21.  How  is  the  regu- 
lar plural  formed  when  the  word  gains  a  syllable  ? 

LESSON  VI. — NOUNS. 

1.  What  are  Genders,  in  grammar?  2.  How  many  genders  are  there,  and  what  are  they 
called  ?  3.  What  is  the  masculine  gender  ?  4.  What  is  the  feminine  gender  ?  5.  What 
is  the  neuter  gender  ?  6.  What  nouns,  then,  are  masculine  ?  what,  feminine  ?  and  what, 
neuter  ?  7.  What  inflection  of  English  nouns  regularly  changes  their  gender  ?  8;  On 
what  are  the  different  genders  founded,  and  to  what  parts  of  speech  do  they  belong  ?  9. 
When  the  noun  is  such  as  may  be  applied  to  either  sex,  how  is  the  gender  usually  deter- 
mined? 10.  What  principle  of  universal  grammar  determines  the  gender  when  both  sexes 
are  taken  together  ?  11.  What  is  said  of  the  gender  of  nouns  of  multitude  ?  12.  Under 
what  circumstances  is  it  common  to  disregard  the  distinction  of  sex  ?  13.  In  how  many 
•ways  are  the  sexes  distinguished  in  grammar  ?  14.  When  the  gender  is  figurative,  how  is 
it  indicated  ?  15.  What  are  Cases,  in  grammar  ?  16.  How  many  cases  are  there,  and 
what  are  they  called  ?  17.  What  is  the  nominative  case?  18.  What  is  the  subject  of  a 
verb  ?  19.  What  is  the  possessive  case  ?  20.  How  is  the  possessive  case  of  nouns  formed  ? 

21.  What  is  the  objective  case  ?     22.  What  is  the  object  of  a  verb,  participle,  or  prepo- 
sition ?     23.  What  two  cases  of  nouns  are  alike  in  form,  and  how  are  they  distinguished  ? 
24.  What  is  the  declension  of  a  noun  ?      25.  How  do  you  decline  the  nouns,  friend,  man, 
fox, 


CHAP.    XII.]  KTYMOLOGT.  -  QUESTIONS.  433 


LESSON  VII.  — 

1.  What  is  required  of  the  pupil  in  the  THIUI>  PKXMS  ?  2.  How  many  definitions  are 
here  to  be  given  f°r  each  part  of  speech  •  3.  How  is  the  following  exaini)lc  parsed  ?  "  The 
writings  of  Hannah  More  appear  to  me  more  praise-worthy  than  Scott's." 

[Now  parse,  in  like  manner,  the  thre«  lessons  of  the   Third    Ckn;>ttr,  or  the   Third  Praxis;  and  then,  if  you 
"i  may  correct  orally  the  three  lessons  of  bad  English,  with  which  the  Third  Chapter  concludes.] 

L;  -«»v  VIII.  —  AD.II.I  TIVKS. 

1.  What  is  an  A  .  and  what  are  the  examples  given?     2.  Into  what  classes  may 

adjective*  be  divided  ?      3.  What  is  a  common  adjective  •      4.  What  is  a  proper  adjective  ? 

5.   What  is  u  numeral  adjective-    6.  What  is  a  pronominal  adjective  r    7.  What  is  a  parti- 

cipial adjective  :     8.   What  is  a  compound  adjective:      9.  What  modifications  have  adjec- 

tives •      lo.   "What  is  comparison,  in  grammar  ?   11.  How  many  and  what  are  the  degrees  of 

comparison:     1U.  What   is  the  positive  degree:     13.  What  is  the  comparative  degree? 

11.   What  is  the  superlative-  degree  •    M.  What  adjectives  cannot  be  compared  ?    16.  What 

adjec-  -mpared  by  means  of  adverbs?     17.  How  arc  adjectives  regularly  corn- 

is.  What  principles  of  spelling  must  be  observed  in  the  comparing  of  adjectives? 

19.  To  what  adjectives  is  the  regular  method  of  comparison,  by  er  &ndest,  applicable  ?     20. 

Is  there  any  other  method  of  expressing  the  degrees  of  comparison?     21.  How  are  the 

.-.  of  diminution,  or  inferiority,   expressed  ?     22.  Has  the  regular  method  of  com- 

>t'  this  kind  ?     23.  l3o  we  ever  compare  by  adverbs  those  adjectives 

which  can  be  compared  by  cr  and  ruff     24.  How  do  you  compare  good?  bad,  cril,  or  ill? 
y.'     -•">.  How  do  you  compare  far?  near?  fore?  hind?  in?  out?  up?  low* 
2G.  What  words  want  the  positive  ?     27.  What  words  want  the  comparative? 


-<>v  IX.  — 

1.  What  is  required  of  the  pupil  in  the  FOURTH  PKAXIS  ?      2.  How  many  definitions  are 

here  to  be  given  for  each  part  of  speech  ?    3.  How  is  the  following  example  parsed  ?  "The 

id  most  effectual  method  of  teaching  grammar,  is  precisely  that  of  which  the  careless 

are  least  find  :  tt  ;M  h  learnedly,  rebuking  whatsoever  is  false,  blundering,  or  unmannerly." 

[Now  parse,  in  like  i.-s  of  the  Fourth  Chapter,  or  the  Fourth  Praxis;  and  then,  if  you 

n  ma)  correct  unliv  the  three  lessons  of  bud  English,  with  which  the  Fourth  Chapter  concludes.] 

-ON    X.  —  PBONOVNS. 

1.  What  is  a  PUOVMV,  and  what  is  the  example  given?     2.  How  many  pronouns  are 

there  ?     3.  How  arc  pronouns  divided  :      4.  What  is  a  personal  pronoun  ?      5.  How  many 

hat  are  the  simple  personal  pronouns  ?      6.  How  many  and  what  are  the  compound 

id  pronouns  ?    7.  What  is  a  relative  pronoun  ?    8.  Which  are  the  relative  pronouns  ? 

'.».   What  peculiarity  has  the  relative  what  ?     10.  What  is  an  interrogative  pronoun?     11. 

Which  are  the  interrogative  pronouns  ?     12.  Do  who,  ichich,  and  what,  all  ask  the  same 

13.  What  modinVations  have  pronouns  ?    14.  Why  are  not  these  things  defined 

under  the  head  of  pr  •  "».   W  hat  is  the  declension  of  a  pronoun?    16.  How  do  you 

dot-line  the  pronoun  /  /   '     17.   What  is  said  of  the  compound  personal 

pronoun-:  is.  Sow  do  you  decline  the  pronoun  <    yselft  llim^lff  llerwlf?  Itself? 

declined  like  the  simple  relatives?     20.  How  do  you 
•2  i  .   II  ive  the  compound  relative  pronouns  any 
rt    Jl  /,,,-.•/.'     Whichever  f     Whichsoever* 
\l'/i  -rf 

. 

1.  V,  '  of  the  pupil  in  the  2.  How  many  definitions  are 

.   How  I-;   the  following  example  parsed? 
i  that  repliest  against  (Jod  :     Shall  the  thing  formed  say  t;> 
him  that  formed  it,  V. 

'   'th   Chapter,  or  the   Fifth  Praxis  :  and  then,  if  you 
tliu-e  lessons  of  ba  i  i'il'th  Chapter  concludes.] 

1.  What'  2.  Why  are  r.-rfa  called  by  that 


name  ugh  t  in  the  first  place  ?     4. 

What  '  I'arlirijif- 

.  r.  to'  their  form  :    9.  What  is 

ilar  verb:      10.  rb  ?      11.  Wli  tr   is   u  redundant  verb?      12. 

-••)  :      13.  h  respect  to  their  signification  ? 

U.  What  is  tin  :  ;ivc  verb  r    1C.  What 

•verb?      17.  "V\  l;at  >  rb:      IS.   What  modhic  -ttions  have  verts  ?     19. 

W  )-v/\,  in  grammar:    'JO.  I  low  many  moo-.l-  .  mid  what  are  they  called  .' 

•.!!.  What  is  the  iniinitive  ;  the  indicative  mood  ?     23.  What  is  the  po- 

tential inood  ?     21.   What  is  the  subjunctive  mood  ?     2o.  What  is  the  imperative  mood  ? 

18 


434  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   II. 

LESSON  XIIT. — VERBS. 

1.  What  are  Tenses,  in  grammar  ?  2.  How  many  tenses  are  there,  and  what  are  they 
called?  3.  "What  is  the  present  tense  ?  4.  "What  is  the  imperfect  tense?  5.  What  is  the 
perfect  tense?  6.  What  is  the  pluperfect  tense?  7.  What  is  the  first-future  tense?  8. 
What  is  the  second-future  tense?  9.  What  arc  the  Person  and  Number  of  a  verb?  10. 
How  many  persons  and  numbers  belong  to  verbs?  11.  Why  are  not  these  things  denned 
under  the  head  of  verbs  ?  12.  How  are  the  second  and  third  persons  singular  distinctively 
formed?  13.  How  are  the  person  and  number  of  a  verb  ascertained,  where  no  peculiar 
ending  is  employed  to  mark  them  ?  14.  \\  hat  is  the  conjugation  of  a  verb  ?  15.  What 
are  the  PRINCIPAL  PARTS  in  the  conjugation  of  a  verb?  16.  What  is  a  verb  called  which 
wants  some  of  these  parts  ?  17.  What  is  an  auxiliary,  in  grammar?  18.  What  verbs  are 
•used  as  auxiliaries  ?  19.  What  are  the  inflections  of  the  verb  do,  in  its  simple  tenses  ?  20. 
What  are  the  inflections  of  the  verb  be,  in  its  simple  tenses?  21.  What  are  the  inflections 
of  the  verb  have,  in  its  simple  tenses  ?  22.  What  are  the  inflections  and  uses  of  shall  and 
will?  23.  What  arc  the  inflections  and  uses  of  may?  24.  What  are  the  inflections  and 
uses  of  can  1  25.  What  are  the  uses  of  must,  which  is  uninflccted  ?  26.  To  what  style  is 
the  inflecting  of  shall,  -will,  mat/,  can,  should,  would,  might,  and  could,  now  restricted  ? 

LESSON    XIV. — VERBS. 

1.  What  is  the  simplest  form  of  an  English  conjugation  ?  2.  What  is  the  first  example 
of  conjugation  ?  3.  What  are  the  principal  parts  of  the  verb  LOVE?  4.  How  many  and 
what  tenses  has  the  infinitive  mood? — the  indicative? — the  potential ? — the  subjunctive? — the 
imperative  ?  9.  What  is  the  verb  LOVE  in  the  Infinitive,  present  ? — perfect  ? — Indicative,  pres- 
ent ? — imperfect  ? — perfect  r — pluperfect  ?  — first-future  ?  — second-future  ?  — Potential,  pres- 
ent ?  — imperfect  ?  — perfect  ? — pluperfect  ?  — Subjunctive,  present  ?  — imperfect  ? — Imperative^ 
present  ?  24.  What  are  its  participles  ? 

LESSON  XV. — VERBS. 

1.  What  is  the  synopsis  of  the  verb  LOVE,  in  the  first  person  singtilar  ? — second  person 
singular,  solemn  style  ? — third  person  singular  ? — first  person  plural  ? — second  person  plural  ? 
— third  person  plural  ?  7.  If  the  second  person  singular  of  this  verb  be  used  familiarly,  how 
should  it  be  formed  ? 

LESSON   XVI. — VERBS. 

1.  What  is  the  second  example  of  conjugation?  2.  What  are  the  principal  parts?  3. 
How  is  the  verb  SEE  conjugated  throughout  ?  4.  How  do  you  forrn  a  synopsis  of  the  verb 
see,  with  the  pronoun  I  ?  thou  ?  he  ?  we  ?  you  ?  they  ? 

LESSON  XVII. — VERBS. 

1.  What  is  the  third  exam  pie  of  conjugation?  2.  What  are  the  principcil  parts  ?  3.  How 
is  the  verb  BE  conjugated  ?  4.  How  do  you  form  a  synopsis  of  the  verb  be,  with  the 
nominative/?  thou?  he?  we?  you?  they?  the  man?  the  men? 

LESSON  XVIIL— VERBS. 

1.  What  is  the  compound  form  of  conjugating  active  or  neuter  verbs  ?  2.  What  peculiar 
meaning  does  this  form  convey  ?  3.  What  is  the  fourth  example  of  conjugation  ?  4.  What 
are  the  principal  parts  of  the  simple  verb  HEAD  ?  5.  How  is  the  verb  HEAD  conjugated  in 
the  compound  form  ?  6.  How  do  you  form  a  synopsis  of  the  verb  BE  BEADING,  with  the 
nominative/?  thou?  he?  we?  you?  they?  the  boy  ?  the  boys  ? 

LESSON  XIX. — VERBS. 

1.  How  are  passive  verbs  formed  ?  2.  What  is  the  fifth  example  of  conjugation.  3.  How 
is  the  passive  verb  BE  LOVED  conjugated  throughout?  4.  How  do  you  form  a  synopsis  of 
of  the  verb  BE  LOVED,  with  the  nominative  //  thou?  he?  we?  you?  they?  the  child?  the 
children  ? 

LESSON  XX. — VERBS. 

1.  How  is  a  verb  conjugated  negatively  ?  2.  How  is  the  form  of  negation  exemplified  by 
the  verb  love  in  the  first  person  singular  ?  3.  What  is  the  form  of  negation  for  the  solemn 
style,  second  person  singular  ?  4.  What  is  the  form  for  the  familiar  style  ?  5.  What  is  the 
negative  form  of  the  verb  love  with  the  pronoun  he  ?  6.  How  is  the  verb  conjugated  in- 
terrogatively ?  7.  What  is  the  interrogative  form  of  the  verb  love  with  the  pronoun  // 
8.  What  is  the  form  of  question  in  the  solemn  style,  with  this  verb  in  the  second  person 
singular?  9.  How  are  such  questions  asked  in  the  familiar  style  ?  10.  What  is  the  inter- 
rogative form  of  the  verb  love  with  the  pronoun  he?  11.  How  is  a  verb  conjugated  inter- 
rogatively and  negatively?  12.  How  is  the  negative  question  exemplified  in  the  first  per- 
son plural?  13.  How  is  the  negative  question  exemplified  in  the  second  person  plural? 
14.  How  is  the  like  synopsis  formed  in  the  third  person  plural? 


CHA.P.   XII.]  ETYMOLOGY.  —  QUESTIONS.  435 

LESSON    XXI.  —  VERBS. 

1.  What  is  an  irregular  verb?  2.  How  many  simple  irregular  verbs  arc  there  ?  3.  What 
are  the  principal  parts  of  the  following  verbs  :  Arise,  be,  bear,  beat,  begin,  behold,  beset, 
bestead,  bid,  hind,  bite,  bleed,  break,  breed,  bring,  buy,  cast,  chide,  choose,  cleave,  cling, 
come,  cost,  cut,  do,  draw,  drink,  drive,  eat,  fall,  feed,  feel,  fight,  find,  flee,  fling,  fly,  forbear, 
forsake,  get,  give,  go,  grow,  have,  hear,  hide,  hit,  hold,  hurt,  keep,  know,  lead,  leave,  lend, 
let,  lie,  lose,  make,  meet,  outdo,  put,  read,  rend,  rid,  ride,  ring,  rise,  run,  say,  see,  seek, 
sell,  send,  -hoc,  shoot,  shut,  shred,  shrink,  sing,  sink,  sit,  slay,  sling,  slink,  smite, 

speak,  spend,  spin,  spit,  spread,  spring,  stand,  steal,  stick,  sting,  stink,  stride,  strike,  swear, 
,  swing,  take,  teach,  tear,  tell,  think,  thrust,  tread,  wear,  win,  write? 


LESSON  XXII.  —  Vi-uns. 

1.  What  is  a  redundant  verb?  2.  How  many  redundant  verbs  are  there?  3.  What  are 
the  principal  parts  of  the  following  verbs  :  Abide,  awake,  belay,  bend,  bereave,  beseech, 
bet,  betide,  blond,  bless,  blow,  build,  burn,  burst,  catch,  clothe,  creep,  crow,  curse,  dare,  deal, 
dig.  dive,  dream,  dr"ss,  dwell,  freeze,  geld,  gild,  gird,  grave,  grind,  hang,  heave,  hew,  kneel, 
knit,  lade,  lay,  lean,  leap,  learn,  light,  mean,  mow,  mulct,  pass,  pay,  pen,  plead,  prove,  quit, 
rap,  reave,  rive,  roast,  saw,  seethe,  shake,  shape,  shave,  shear,  shine,  show,  sleep,  slide,  slit, 
smell,  sow,  speed,  spell,  spill,  split,  spoil,  stave,  stay,  string,  strive,  strow,  sweat,  sweep, 
swell,  thrive,  throw,  wake,  wax,  weave,  wed,  weep,  wet,  whet,  wind,  wont,  work,  wring? 
4.  What  is  a  defective  verb  ?  5.  What  verbs  arc  defective  ? 

LESSON  XXIII.—  PAUSING. 

1.  What  is  required  of  the  pupil  in  the  SIXTH  FKAXIS  ?  2.  How  many  definitions  are 
here  to  be  given  for  each  part  of  speech  r  3.  How  is  the  following  example  parsed  ?  "  The 
freedom  of  choice  seems  essential  to  happiness  ;  because,  properly  speaking,  that  is  not  our 
own  which  is  imposed  upon  us." 

[Now  parse,  in  like  manner,  the  three  lessons  of  the  Sirtfi   Chapter,  or  the  Sixth  Praxis;  and  then,  if  you 
y  correct  orally  the  three  lessons  of  bad  English,  with  which  the  Sixth  Chapter  concludes.] 

LESSON  XXIV.  —  PARTICIPLES. 

1.  What  is  a  PARTICIPLE,  and  how  is  it  generally  formed?  2.  How  many  kinds  of  par- 
ticiples are  there,  and  what  are  they  called  ?  3.  What  is  the  imperfect  participle  ?  4. 
What  is  the  perfect  participle  ?  5.  What  is  the  preperiect  participle  ?  6.  How  is  the  first 
or  imperfect  participle  formed  ?  7.  How  is  the  second  or  perfect  participle  formed  ?  8.  How 
is  the  third  or  prcperfect  participle  formed  ?  9.  What  are  the  participles  of  the  following 
verbs,  according  to  the  simplest  form  of  conjugation  :  Repeat,  study,  return,  mourn,  seem, 
rejoice,  appear,  approach,  suppose,  think,  set,  come,  rain,  stand,  know,  deceive  ? 

LESSON  XXV.  —  PARSING. 

1.  What  is  required  of  the  pupil  in  the  SEVENTH  PRAXIS  ?  2.  How  many  definitions  are 
here  to  be  given  lor  each  part  of  speech  ?  3.  How  is  the  following  example  parsed  ?  "  Re- 
ligion, rightly  understood  and  practised,  lias  the  purest  of  all  joys  attending  it." 

[Now  parse,  in  like  manner,  the  three  lessons  of  the  Sn-rnth  Chapttr,  or  the  Seventh  Praxis  ;  and  then,  if  you 
pl«ase,  you  ui^v  correct  ondly  the  three  lesions  of  bad  English,  with  which  the  Seventh  Chapter  concludes.] 

LESSON  XXVI.—  ADVERBS. 

1.  What  is  an  .'  -<\  what  is  the  example  given  ?     2.  To  what  general  classes  may 

adverbs   IK  3.  What  are   adverbs  of  time?     4.  What  are   adverbs  of  place  ? 

;;.  What  are  adverbs  of  degree  ?  G.  What  are  adverbs  of  manner  ?  7.  What  are  conjunc- 
tive adverbs  •  8.  Are  all  the  conjunctive  adverbs  included  in  the  first  four  classes? 
9.  How  may  the  adverbs  of  time  be  subdivided  ?  10.  How  may  the  adverbs  of  place  be 
subdivided  :  1  1  .  I  lov  .  dverbs  of  degree  be  subdivided  ?*  12.  How  may  the  adverbs 

of  manner  1  i  I.   What  modifications  have  adverbs?     14.  How  "do  we  corn- 

pave  ?'•  15.  Of  what  degree  is  the  adverb  rather? 

M.    What  is  Mid  of  th  i  rbs  by  more  and  most,  less  and  least? 

'I.  —  PARSING. 

1.  What  is  required  of  the  pupil  in  the  EIGHTH  PRAXIS?  2.  How  many  definitions  are 
here  to  be  ,.  How  is  the  following  example  parsed? 

••  When  was  it  that  Rome  attracted  most  strongly  the  admiration  of  mankind  ?  " 

[Now  parse,  in  like  manner,  the  three  lessons  of  the  Eighth  Chapter,  or  the  Eighth  Prnri.t;  and  then,  if  you 
pleaae,  you  muy  correct  orally  the  lemon  of  bail  .  i;ighth  Chapter  concludes.] 

LESSON  XXVIII.—  CONJUNCT; 

1.  What  is  a  CONJUNCTION,  and  what  is  the  example  given  ?  2.  Have  we  any  connective 
words  besides  the  conjunctions  ?  3.  How  do  relative  pronouns  differ  from  other  connectives  ? 
4.  How  do  conjunctive  adverbs  differ  from  other  connectives  ?  5.  How  do  conjunctions 
differ  from  other  connectives  ?  C.  How  do  prepositions  differ  from  other  connectives  ? 


436  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  II. 

7.  How  are  the  conjunctions  divided?     8.  What  is  a  copulative  conjunction  ?  9.  What  is 

a  disjunctive  conjunction?      10.  What  are  corresponsive  conjunctions?     11.  Which  are 

the  copulative  conjunctions?     12.  Which  are  the  disjunctive  conjunctions?  13.  Which 
are  the  corresponsive  conjunctions  ? 

LESSON  XXIX. — PARSING. 

1.  What  is  required  of  the  pupil  in  the  NINTH  PRAXIS?  2.  How  many  definitions  are 
here  to  be  given  for  each  part  of  speech  ?  3.  How  is  the  following  example  parsed  ?  "  If 
thou  hast  done  a  good  deed,  boast  not  of  it." 

[Now  parse,  in  like  manner,  the  three  lessons  of  the  Ninth,  Chapter,  or  the  Ninth  Praxis;  and  then,  if  yon 
please,  you  may  correct  orally  the  lesson  of  bad  English,  with  which  the  Ninth  Chapter  concludes.] 

LESSON  XXX. — PREPOSITIONS. 

1.  What  is  a  PREPOSITION,  and  what  is  the  example  given  ?  2.  Are  the  prepositions  di- 
vided into  classes  ?  3.  Have  prepositions  any  grammatical  modifications  ?  4.  How  are  the 
prepositions  arranged  in  the  list  ?  5.  What  are  the  prepositions  beginning  with  a  ? — with 
b  ? — with  cf— with  df — with  e  ? — with/.? — with  i  f — with  m  f — with  n  ? — with  o  ? — with  p  f 
— withr? — with  s? — with  t  /—with  u  1 — with  to?  21.  Does  this  list  contain  all  the  words 
that  are  ever  used  in  English  as  prepositions  ? 

LESSON  XXXI. — PARSING. 

1.  What  is  required  of  the  pupil  in  the  TENTH  PRAXIS?  2.  How  many  definitions  are 
here  to  be  given  for  each  part  of  speech  ?  3.  How  is  the  following  example  parsed  r 
"Never  adventure  on  too  near  an  approach  to  what  is  evil." 

[Now  parse,  in  like  manner,  the  three  lessons  of  the  Tenth  Chapter,  or  the  Tenth  Praxis ;  and  then,  if  yon 
please,  you  may  correct  orally  the  lesson  of  bad  English,  with  which  the  Tenth  Chapter  concludes.] 

LESSON  XXXII. — INTERJECTIONS. 

1.  What  is  an  INTERJECTION,  and  what  are  the  examples  given  ?  2.  Why  are  interjec- 
tions so  called  ?  3.  How  are  the  interjections  arranged  in  the  list  ?  4.  What  are  the  inter- 
jections of  joy  ? — of  praise  ? — of  sorrow  ? — of  wonder  ? — of  wishing  or  earnestness  ? — of  pain 
or  fear  ? — of  contempt  ? — of  aversion  ? — of  calling  aloud  ? — of  exultation  ? — of  laughter  r — 
of  salutation  ? — of  calling  to  attention  ? — of  calling  to  silence  ? — of  surprise  or  horror  ? — of 
languor  ? — of  stopping  ? — of  parting  r — of  knowing  or  detecting  ? — of  interroga  ing  ? 

LESSON  XXXIIL— PARSING. 

1.  What  isTequired  of  the  pupil  in  the  ELEVENTH  PRAXIS?  2.  How  many  definitions 
are  here  given  for  each  part  of  speech?  3.  How  is  the  following  example  parsed  ?  "O! 
sooner  shall  the  earth  and  stars  fall  into  chaos  !  " 

[Now  parse,  in  like  manner,  the  three  lessons  of  the  Eleventh  Chapter,  or  the  Eleventh  Praxis;  and  then,  if  you 
please,  you  may  correct  orally  the  lesson  of  bad  English,  with  which  the  Eleventh  Chapter  concludes.] 


CHAPTER  XIII. -FOR  WRITING. 

EXERCISES  IN  ETYMOLOGY. 

OCr"  [When  the  pupil  has  become  familiar  with  the  different  parts  of  speech,  and  their  classes  and  ~.~~ 

tions,  and  has  been  sufficiently  exercised  in  etymological  parsing  arid  correcting,  he  should  write  out  the  following 
exercises ;  for  speech  and  writing  afford  us  different  modes  of  testing  the  proficiency  of  students,  and  exercise* 
in  both  are  necessary  to  a  complete  course  of  English  Grammar.] 

EXERCISE  I.— ARTICLES. 

1.  Prefix  the  definite  article  to  each  of  the  following  nouns  :  path,  paths ;  loss,  losses ; 
name,  names ;  page,  pages  ;  want,  wants ;  doubt,  doubts  ;  votary,  votaries. 

2.  Prefix  the  indefinite  article  to  each  of  the  following  nouns  :  age,  error,  idea,  omen, 
urn,    arch,   bird,  cage,   dream,    empire,  farm,    grain,    horse,   idol,  jay,  king,  lady,  man, 
novice,  opinion,  pony,  quail,  raven,  sample,  trade,  uncle,  vessel,  window,  youth,  zone,  whirl- 
wind, union,  onion,  unit,  eagle,  house,  honour,  hour,  herald,  habitation,  hospital,  harper, 
harpoon,  ewer,  eye,  humour. 

3.  Insert  the  definite  article  rightly  in  the  following  phrases  :  George  Second— fair  ap- 
pearance— part  first — reasons  most  obvious — good  man — wide  circle — man  of  honour — man 
of  world — old  books — common  people — same  person — smaller  piece — rich  and  poor — first 
and  last — all   time— great   excess — nine  muses — how  rich  reward — so  small  number — all 
ancient  writers — in  nature  of  things — much  better  course. 

4.  Insert  the  indefinite  article  rightly  in  each  of  the  following  phrases :  new  name — very 
quick  motion — other  sheep — such  power — what  instance — great  weight— such  worthy  cause 
— to  great  difference — high  honour — humble  station — universal  law — what  strange  event — 
so  deep  interest — as  firm  hope — so  great  wit — humorous  story — such  person — few  dollars — 
little  reflection. 


: 


CHAP.    XIII.]  ETYMOLOGY.  —  EXERCISES   FOB   WRITING.  437 

EXERCISE  II.—  NOUNS. 

1.  Write  the  plurals  of  the  following  nouns  :  town,  country,  case,  pin,  needle,  harp,  pen, 
sex,  rush,  arch,  marsh,  monarch,  blemish,  distich,  princess,  gas,  bias,  stigma,  wo,  grotto, 
folio,  punctilio,  ally,  duty,  toy,  money,  entry,  valley,  volley,  half,  dwarf,  strife,  knife,  roof, 
muff,  staff,  chief,  sheaf,  mouse,  penny,  ox,  loot,  erratum,  axis,  thesis,  criterion,  bolus,  rebus, 
son-in-law,  pailful,  man-servant,  fellow-citixen. 

2.  Write  the  feminines  corresponding  to  the  following  nouns  :  earl,  friar,  stag,  lord,  duke, 
marquis,  hero,  executor,  nephew,  heir,  actor,  enchanter,  hunter,  prince,  traitor,  lion,  arbiter, 
tutor,  soni^ster,  abbot,  master,  uncle,  widower,  son,  landgrave. 

3.  Write  the  possessive  case  singular,  of  the  following  nouns  :  table,  leaf,  boy,  torch, 
park,  porch,  portico,   lynx,   calf,   sheep,  wolf,  echo,  folly,  cavern,  father-in-law,  court- 
martial,  precipice,  countess,  lordship. 

4.  Write  the  possessive  case  plural,  of  the  following  nouns  :  priest,  tutor,  scholar,  moun- 
tain, city,  courtier,  judge,  citizen,  woman,  servant,  writer,  grandmother. 

.;.  Wrire  the  possessive  case,  both  singular  and  plural,  of  the  following  nouns:  body, 
fancy,  lady,  attorney,  negro,  nuncio,  life,  brother,  deer,  child,  wife,  goose,  beau,  envoy, 
distaff,  hero,  thief,  wretch. 

EXERCISE  III.—  ADJECTIVES. 

1.  Annex    a  suitable  noun  to  each  of  the  following  adjectives,  without  repeating  any 
word  :  good,    great,  tall,  wise,  strong,  dark,  dangerous,  dismal,  drowsy,  twenty,  true,  dif- 
ficult, pale,  livid,    ripe,  delicious,  stormy,  ramy,  convenient,  heavy,  disastrous,  terrible, 
necessary.     Thus  —  good  manners,  &c. 

2.  Place  a  suitable  adjective  before  each  of  the  following  nouns,  without  repeating  any 
word  :  man,  son,  merchant,  work,  fence,  fear,  poverty,  picture,  prince,  delay,  suspense, 
devices,  follies,  actions.     Thus  —  vise  man,  &c. 

3.  Write  the  forms  in  which  the  following  adjectives  are  compared  by  inflection,  or  change 
of  form  :  black,  bright,  short,  white,  old,  high,  wet,  big,  few,  lovely,   dry,  fat,  good,  bad, 
little,  much,  many,  far,  true,  just,  vast. 

4.  Write  the  forms  in  which  the  following  adjectives  are  compared,  using  the  adverbs  of 
increase  :   delightful,  comfortable,  agreeable,  pleasant,  fortunate,  valuable,  wretched,  vivid, 
timid,  poignant,  excellent,  sincere,  honest,  correct. 

5.  Write  the  forms  in  which  the  following  adjectives  are  compared,  using  the  comparative 
adverbs  of  inferiority  or  diminution  :  objectionable,  formidable,  forcible,  comely,  pleasing, 
obvious,  censurable,  prudent,  imprudent,  imperfect,  pleasant,  unpleasant. 

EXERCISE  IV.—  PRONOUNS. 

1.  Write  the  nominative  plural  of  the  following  pronouns  :  I,  thou,  he,  she,  it,  who, 
which,  what,  that,  as. 

2.  Write  the  objective  singular  of  the  following  pronouns  :  I,  thou,  he,  she,  it,  who, 
which,  what,  that,  as. 

3.  Write  the  following  words  in  their  customary  and  proper  forms  :  he's,  her's,  it's,  our's 
your's,  their's,  who's,  meself,  hisself,  theirselves. 

4.  Write  together  in  declension  the  following  pronoxins,  according  to  the  agreement  of 
each  two  :  I  myself,  thou  thyself,  he  himself,  she  herself,  it  itself. 

•'>.  lie-write  the  following  sentences,  and  make  them  good  English:  "Nor  is  the  crim- 
inal binding  any  thing:  but  was,  his  self,  being  bound."  —  Wright's  Gram.  p.  193.  "The 
writer  surely  did  not  mean,  that  the  work  was  preparing  its  self."  —  76.  "May,  or  can,  in 
its  self,  denotes  possibility."  —  76.  p.  2  Hi.  "  Consequently  those  in  connection  with  the  re- 
maining pronouns  respectively,  should  be  written,  —  he,  his  self;  —  she,  her  self;  —  ye  or  you, 
your  set  ccs  ;  they,  their  selrt's."  —  In.  p.  1  H.  "Lest  their  beacons  be  lost  to  the  view,  and 
their  -  kcd  on  the  shoals  of  destruction."  —  76.  p.  1.55.  "  In  the  regal  style,  as 

generally  in  the  second  person,  the  singular  noun  is  added  to  the  plural  pronoun,  ourself" 
—  ('!"•  <.  p.  7<i.     "Each!.  /liar  advantages."  —  II).  p.  283.     "  Who  his 

if  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree."  —  '/'//'•  /•'/•/  .  nd,  iv,  302.      "  It  is  difficult 
to  look  inwardly  on  oneself."—  Journal  of  _V.  1".  Lit.  Con  cant  ion,  p.  267. 


V.—  VERBS. 

1.  Write  the  four  principal  parts  of  each  of  the  following  verbs  :  slip,  thrill,  caress, 
:ry,  die,  obey,  delay,  destroy,  deny,  buy,  come,  do,  feed,  lie,  say, 
hu//u,  pretend,  deliver,  arrest. 

'J.  Write  the  following  preterits  each  in  its  appropriate  form  :  cxprcst,  stript,  dropt, 
jumpt,  pre-4,  topt,  wrapt,  linkt,  propt,  fixt,  crost,  slept,  distrest,  gusht,  confest,  snapt, 
shipt,  kist,  diseust,  laekt. 

:;.  Write  the  following  verbs  in  tl.  re  mood,  present  tense,  second  person  sin- 

gular :  move,  strive,  please,  reach,  confess,  fix,  deny,  survive,  know,  go,  outdo,  close,  lose, 
pursue,  defend,  surpass,  conquer,  di  ':  Men,  protect,  polish. 

4.  Write  the  following  verbs  in  the  indicative  mood,  present  tense,  third  person  singular  : 


438  THE   GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART 

leave,  seem,  search,  impeach,  fear,  redress,  comply,  bestow,  do,  woo,  sue,  view,  allure,  rely, 
beset,  release,  be,  bias,  compel,  degrade,  efface,  garnish,  handle,  induce. 

5.  Write  the  following  verbs  in  the  subjunctive  mood,  present  tense,  in  the  three  persons 
singular :  serve,  shun,  turn,  learn,  rind,  wish,  throw,  dream,  possess,  detest,  disarm,  allow, 
pretend,  expose,  alarm,  deprive,  transgress. 

EXERCISE  VI.— VERBS. 

1.  Write  a  synopsis  of  the  first  person  singular  of  the   active  verb  amuse,  conjugated 
affirmatively. 

2.  Write  a  synopsis  of  the  second  person  singular  of  the  neuter  verb  sit,  conjugated 
affimatively  in  the  solemn  style. 

3.  Write  a  synopsis  of  the  third  person  singular  of  the  active  verb  speak,  conjugated 
affirmatively  in  the  compound  form. 

4.  Write  a  synopsis  of  the  first  person  plural  of  the  passive  verb  be  reduced,  conjugated 
affirmatively. 

5.  Write  a  synopsis  of  the  second  person  plural  of  the  active  verb  lose,  conjugated  neg- 
atively. 

6.  Write  a  synopsis  of  the  third  person  plural  of  the  neuter  verb  stand,  conjugated  in- 
terrogatively. 

7.  Write  a  synopsis  of  the  first  person  singular  of  the  active  verb  derive,  conjugated  in- 
terrogatively and  negatively. 

EXERCISE  VII.— PARTICIPLES. 

1  Write  the  simple  imperfect  participles  of  the  following  verbs :  belong,  provoke,  de- 
grade, impress,  fly,  do,  survey,  vie,  coo,  let,  hit,  put,  defer,  differ,  remember. 

2.  Write  the  perfect  participles  of  the  following  verbs :  turn,  burn,  learn,  deem,  crowd, 
choose,  draw,  hear,  lend,  sweep,  tear,  thrust,  steal,  write,  delay,  imply,  exist. 

3.  Write  the  preperi'ect  participles  of  the  following  verbs:  depend,  dare,  deny,  value, 
forsake,  bear,  set,  sit,  lay,  mix,  speak,  sleep,  allot. 

4.  Write   the  following   participles   each  in  its   appropriate  form :  dipt,  deckt,  markt, 
equipt,  ingulft,  embarrast,  astonisht,  tost,   embost,  absorpt,   attackt,  gasht,  soukt,  hackt. 

5.  Write  the  regular  participles  which  are  now  generally  preferred  to  the  following  irreg- 
ular ones:  blent,  blest,  clad,  curst,  diven,  clrest,  graven,  hoven,  hewn,  knelt,  leant,  leapt, 
learnt,  lit,  mown,  mulct,  past,  pent,  quit,  riven,  roast,  sawn,  sodden,  shaven,  shorn,  sown, 
striven,  strown,  sweat,  swollen,  thriven,  waxen. 

6.  Write  the  irregular  participles  which  are  commonly  preferred  to  the  following  regular 
ones:  abided,  bended,  builded,  bursted,  catched,  crceped,  dealcd,  digged,  dwelled,  freezed, 
grinded,  knitted,  layed,  meaned,  payed,  reaved,  slided,  speeded,  spiitted,  stringed,  sweeped, 
throwed,  weaved,  weeped,  winded. 

EXERCISE  VIII.— ADVERBS,  &c. 

1.  Compare  the  following  adverbs :  soon,  often,  long,  fast,  near,  early,  well,  badly  or  ill, 
little,  much,  far,  forth. 

2.  Place  the  comparative  adverbs  of  increase  before  each  of  the  following  adverbs  : 
purely,  fairly,  sweetly,  earnestly,  patiently,  completely,  fortunately,  profitably,  easily. 

3.  Place  the  comparative  adverbs  of  diminution  before  each  of  the  following  adverbs: 
secretly,  slily,  liberal!)',  favourably,  powerfully,  solemnly. 

4.  Insert  suitable  conjunctions  in  place  of  the  following  dashes:  Love — fidelity  are  in- 
separable.    Be   shy  of  parties — factions.     Do   well — boast   not.     Improve   time — it   flies. 
There  would  be  few  paupers — no  time  were  lost.     Be  not  proud — thou  art  human.     I  saw 
— it  was  necessary.     Wisdom  is  bettor — wealth.     Neither  he — I  can  do  it.     Wisdom — 
folly  governs  us.     Take  care — thou  fall.     Though  I  should  boast — am  I  nothing. 

5.  Insert   suitable   prepositions   in   place   of  the  following   dashes :  Plead — the   dumb. 
Qualify  thyself — action — study.     Think  often — the  worth — time.     Live — peace — all  men. 
Keep — compass.      Jest  not — serious  subjects.     Take  no  part — slander.     Guilt  starts — its 
own   shadow.     Grudge   not — giving.     Go   not — sleep — malice.     Debate  not — temptation. 
Depend  not — the  stores — others.     Contend  not — trifles.     Many  fall — grasping — things — 
— their  reach.     Be  deaf — detraction. 

6.  Correct  the  following  sentences,  and  adapt  the  interjections  to  the  emotions  expressed 
by  the  other  words :  Aha  !  aha !     1  am  undone.     Hey  !  io  !  I  am  tired.     Ho  !  be  still. 
Avaunt !  this  way.      Ah  !  what  nonsense.      Heigh-ho  !  I  am  delighted.     Hist !  it  is  con- 
temptible.    Oh  !  for  that  sympathetic  glow  !     Ah  !  what  withering  phantoms  glare  ! 


CHAP.  I.]  SYNTAX. — SENTENCES. — DEFINITIONS.  439 

PART  III, 

SYNTAX. 

SYNTAX  treats  of  the  relation,  agreement,  government,  and  arrangement, 
of  words  in  sentences. 

The  relation  of  words  is  their  reference  to  other  words,  or  their  dependence 
according  to  the  sense. 

The  agreement  of  words  is  their  similarity  in  person,  number,  gender,  case, 
mood,  tense,  or  form. 

The  government  of  words  is  that  power  which  one  word  has  over  an  other, 
to  cause  it  to  assume  some  particular  modification. 

The  arrangement  of  words  is  their  collocation,  or  relative  position,  in  a 
sentence. 

CHAPTER  I. -SENTENCES. 

A  sentence  is  an  assemblage  of  words,  making  complete  sense,  and  always 
containing  a  nominative  and  a  verb  ;  as,  "  Reward  sweetens  labour." 

The  principal  parts  of  a  sentence  are  usually  three  ;  namely,  the  SUBJECT, 
or  nominative, — the  attribute,  or  finite  VERB, — and  the  case  put  after,  or  the 
OBJECT  *  governed  by  the  verb  :  as,  "  Crimes  deserve  punishment." 

The  other  or  subordinate  parts  depend  upon  these,  either  as  primary  or  as 
secondary  adjuncts ;  as,  "High  crimes  justly  deserve  very  severe  punish- 
ments." 

Sentences  are  of  two  kinds,  simple  and  compound.^ 

A  simple  sentence  is  a  sentence  which  consists  of  one  single  assertion,  sup- 
position, command,  question,  or  exclamation  ;  as,  "  David  and  Jonathan  loved 
each  other." — "  If  thine  enemy  hunger." — "  Do  violence  to  no  man." — "Am 
I  not  an  apostle  ?  " — 1  Cor.  ix,  1.  "  What  immortal  glory  shall  I  have  ac- 
quired ! " — HOOKE:  Mur.  Seq.  p.  71. 

A  compound  sentence  is  a  sentence  which  consists  of  two  or  more  simple 
one  scither  expressly  or  tacitly  connected  ;  as,  "  Send  men  to  Joppa,  and  call 
for  Simon,  wJtoae  surname  is  Peter  ;  who  shall  tell  thee  words,  whereby  thou 
and  all  thy  house  shall  be  saved." — Acts,  xi,  13.  "  The  more  the  works  of 
Cowper  are  read,  the  more  his  readers  will  find  reason  to  admire  the  variety 
and  the  extent,  the  graces  and  the  energy,  of  his  literary  talents." — HAYLEY  : 
Mur.  *SWy.  p.  250. 

A  clause,  or  member,  is  a  subdivision  of  a  compound  sentence  ;  and  is  itself  a 
sentence,  either  simple  or  compound  :  as,  "  If  thine  enemy  be  hungry,  give 
him  bread  to  eat ;  if  he  be  thirsty,  give  him  water  to  drink." — Prov.  xxv,  21 .  J 

*  Tbi-i  po«i'Son  is  denied  by  pome  frammarians.      One  recent  anthor  says,  "The  object  cannot  properly  be 
MlM  <NM  of  UM  prfaetptl  par-  •  belongs  only  to  some  sentences,  and  then  is  dependent  on 

the  verb,  which  it  modifies  or  exi  nt  ennujrh  with  the  notion, 

that,  l>An   inh'ni'.ive,  \\\  \\  or  without  a  m;iy  be  the  object  of  a  tmmitiv  verb;  as,  '  I  wish  to  ri>tt ;  ' 

ride.'  "—Ib.  p  37.     Or.  wi  ,r,  "  An  inh'ni'.ive  may  be  the  object  ofn  pr>posi- 

tion,  expresse  1  or  in:  ib  fot  you  tor'  l!ut  if  the  object  governed  by  the  Tefb,isalway* 

a  mere  qualifying  «' I  •• -Unite,*'  ( Ib   p.  2P.)  IMW   ili.TVrs   it  from  an  adverb? 

ro  r//M///i/  their  meaning."—  Ib.  p.  23      And  if 

infinitives,  and   other  mere  adjuncts,   may  be  the  rejects    which   i  [ve,   ln»,v  -lull  a  traiiM'ivc- 

verb  be  known  ?    T;:  \   -t  of  the  tran>irive  verb  n  one  of  tnt  principal  parts  of  the  sen- 

tence, and  that  the  infinitive  n:o.. d  cannot  properly  \» 

t  Sonic  writers  di •'  'ft  kinds,  sinij,'?.  and  r.ompl'X,  and  comjiovnri ;  but,  in  this 

work,  care  has  not  in  gen-rnl  been  taken  to  di.-oriminare   1  u  and  compound.      A  late 

•lie  different  :inic  hut  one  proposition  is  simple  ;  a  sentence  containing 

'•  of  which  Ti!  ' •  r ;  a  sentence  containing  two  propositions  which  in 

no  way  modify  each  other,  is  com/" I'lt-i."  —  (>r>  ent'x  Analysis,  p.  3.     The  term  compound,  as  applied  to  sentences, 

is  not  itMially  ."••<  re-rri«  ted. 

J  The  terms  clautf  and  inrmbrr,  in  grammar,  appcnr  to  have  been  generally  used  as  words  synonymous ;  but 
?ome  authors  have  thought  it  conYenient  to  discriminate  them,  as  having  different  senses,  lliley  says,  "  Those 


• 


440  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

A  phrase  is  two  or  more  words  which  express  some  relation  of  different  ideas, 
but  no  entire  proposition  ;  as,  "  By  the  means  appointed." — "  To  be  plain 
with  you." — "  Having  loved  his  own." 

Words  that  are  omitted  by  ellipsis,  and  that  are  necessarily  understood  in 
order  to  complete  the  construction,  (and  only  such,)  must  be  supplied  in 
parsing. 

The  leading  principles  to  be  observed  in  the  construction  of  sentences,  are 
embraced  in  the  following  twenty-four  rules,  which  are  arranged,  as  nearly  as 
possible,  in  the  order  of  the  parts  of  speech. 

THE  RULES  OF  SYNTAX. 

RULE  I. — ARTICLES. 
Articles  relate  to  the  nouns  which  they  limit. 

RULE  II. — NOMINATIVES. 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  which  is  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  must  be  in  the 
nominative  case. 

RULE  III. — APPOSITION. 

A  Noun  or  a  personal  Pronoun  used  to  explain  a  preceding  noun  or  pronoun, 
is  put,  by  apposition,  in  the  same  case. 

RULB    IV. POSSESSIVES. 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  in  the  possessive  case,  is  governed  by  the  name  of 
the  thing  possessed. 

RULE  V. — OBJECTIVES. 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  made  the  object  of  an  active-transitive  verb  or  parti- 
ciple, is  governed  by  it  in  the  objective  case. 

RULE  VI. — SAME  CASES. 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  put  after  a  verb  or  participle  not  transitive,  agrees 
in  case  with  a  preceding  noun  or  pronoun  referring  to  the  same  thing. 

RULE  VII. — OBJECTIVES. 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  made  the  object  of  a  preposition,  is  governed  by  it 
in  the  objective  case. 

RULE  VIII. — NOM.  ABSOLUTE. 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  is  put  absolute  in  the  nominative,  when  its  case  de- 
pends on  no  other  word. 

RULE  IX. — ADJECTIVES. 
Adjectives  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns. 

RULE  X. — PRONOUNS. 

A  Pronoun  must  agree  with  its  antecedent,  or  the  noun  or  pronoun  which 
it  represents,  in  person,  number,  and  gender. 

parts  of  a  sentence  which  are  separated  by  commas,  are  called  clauses ;  and  those  separated  by  semicolons,  are 
called  members." —  Hitey's  Gram.  p.  6G.  W.  Allen  too  confines  the  former  term  to  simple  members  :  •'  A  compound 
sentence  is  formed  by  uniting  two  or  more  simple  sentences  ;  as,  Man  is  mortal,  and  life  is  uncertain.  Each  of 
these  simple  sentences  is  called  a  clause.  When  the  members  of  a  compound  sentence  are  complex,  they  are  sub- 
divided into  clauses;  as.  Virtue  leads  to  honor,  and  insures  true  happiness  ;  but  vice  degrades  the  understanding, 
and  is  succeeded  by  infamy." — Allen's  Gram.  p.  128.  By  some  authors,  the  terms  clause  and  phrase  are  often 
carelessly  confounded,  each  being  applied  with  no  sort  of  regard  to  its  proper  import.  Thus,  where  L.  Murray 
and  his  copyists  expound  their  text  about  "  the  pupil's  composing  frequently,"  even  the  minor  phrase,  "  compos- 
ing frequently^"  is  absurdly  called  a  clause;  "an  entire  clause  of  a  sentence."  See  Murray's  Gram.  p.  179 ; 
Alger's,  61;  FisVs,  108;  IngersoWs,  180;  Me reliant'*,  84 ;  R.  C.  Stnith's,  152;  Weld's,  2d  Ed.,  150.  The  term 
sentence  also  is  sometimes  grossly  misapplied.  Thus,  by  R.  C.  Smith,  the  phrases  "James  and  William,"  "  Thom- 
as and  John,"'  and  others  similar,  are  called  "  sentences."— Smith's  New  Gram.  pp.  9  and  10.  So  \Veld  absurdly 
writes  as  follows  :  UA  whole  sentence  is  frequently  the  object  of  a  proposition  ;  as,  '  The  crime  of  being  a  young 
man.'  Being  a  young  man,  is  the  object  of  the  preposition  of."—  Weld's  E.  Gram.  2d  Edition,  p.  42.  The  phrase 
"  being  a  young  man,"  here  depends  upon  "  of;  "  but  this  preposition  governs  nothing  but  the  participle  "  being.-' 
The  construction  of  the  word  "  man  "  is  explained  below,  in  Obs.  7th  on  Rule  6th,  of  Same  Cases. 


CHAP.  I.]  SYNTAX. SENTENCES. RULES. — OBSERVATIONS.  441 

RULE  XL — PRONOUNS. 

When  the  antecedent  is  a  collective  noun  conveying  the  idea  of  plurality, 
the  Pronoun  must  agree  with  it  in  the  plural  number. 

RULE  XII. — PRONOUNS. 

When  a  Pronoun  has  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  and,  it  must 
agree  with  them  jointly  in  the  plural,  because  they  arc  taken  together. 

RULE  XIII. — PRONOUNS. 

When  a  Pronoun  has  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  or  or  nor,  it 
must  agree  with  them  singly,  and  not  as  if  taken  together. 

RULE  XIV.— FINITE  VERBS. 

Every  finite  verb  must  agree  with  its  subject,  or  nominative,  in  person  and 
number. 

RULE  XV.— FINITE  VERBS. 

When  the  nominative  is  a  collective  noun  conveying  the  idea  of  plurality, 
the  Verb  must  agree  with  it  in  the  plural  number. 

RULE  XVI. — FINITE  VERBS. 

When  a  Verb  has  two  or  more  nominatives  connected  by  and,  it  must  agree 
with  them  jointly  in  the  plural,  because  they  are  taken  together. 

RULE  XVII. — FINITE  VERBS. 

When  a  Verb  has  two  or  more  nominatives  connected  by  or  or  nor,  it  must 
agree  with  them  singly,  and  not  as  if  taken  together. 

RULE  XVIII. — INFINITIVES. 

The  preposition  TO  governs  the  Infinitive  mood,  and  commonly  connects  it 
to  a  finite  verb. 

RULE  XIX. — INFINITIVES. 

The  active  verbs,  bid,  dare,  feel,  hear,  let,  make,  need,  see,  and  their  par- 
ticiples, usually  take  the  Infinitive  after  them  without  the  preposition  TO. 

RULE  XX. — PARTICIPLES. 

Participles  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns,  or  else  are  governed  by  preposi- 
ns. 

RULE  XXI. — ADVERBS. 
Adverbs  relate'to  verbs,  participles,  adjectives,  or  other  adverbs. 

RULK  XXII. — CONJUNCTIONS. 
Conjunctions  connect  words,  sentences,  or  parts  of  sentences. 

RULE  XXI II. — PREPOSITIONS. 

Prepositions  show  the  relations  of  words,  and  of  the  things  or  thoughts  ex- 
pressed by  them. 

RULE  X  X IV.— INTERJECTIONS. 

Interjections  have  no  dependent  construction  ;  they  are  put  absolute,  either 
alone,  or  with  other  words. 

i.UAL  OR  CRITICAL  OI3SKRVATIONS    ON  SYNTAX. 

OIN.  1. — An  explanation  of  the  relation,  agreement,  government,  and  arrangement,  of  words 

in  sentences,  constitutes  that  part  of  grammar  which  we   call  Si/ntn.r.       But  many  grammarians, 

representing  this  branch  of  their  BI  ••nsMimr  ,,f  two  parts  only,  "  eoftconi  and  <iovern- 

.ittle  or  nothing  of  the   n-ltttwn  and  m-rnnnmn  nt  of  words,  except  as  these  are  in- 

.  ntially  different  in  their  nature,  as  may  he  seen  by 

the  di  :ii;itions  ghen  above,  yet  not  so  distinct  in  practice  that  they  can  well  be  made-  the  basis  of 
:>ny  perfect  division  of  the  rules  of  syntax.     I  have  therefore,  o'n  this  occasion,  preferred  the 


442  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

order  of  the  parts  of  speech ;  each  of  which  will  form  a  chapter  in  the  Syntax  of  this  work,  as 
each  forms  a  chapter  in  the  Etymology. 

OBS.  2. — Agreement  and  concord  are  one  and  the  same  thing.  Relation  and  agreem.ent,  though 
different,  may  yet  coincide,  and  be  taken  together.  The  latter  is  moreover  naturally  allied  to 
the  former.  Seven  of  the  ten  parts  of  speech  are,  with  a  few  exceptions,  incapable  of  any  agree- 
ment: of  these  the  relation  and  use  must  be  explained  in  parsing;  and  all  requisite  agreement 
between  any  of  the  rest,  is  confined  to  words  that  relate  to  each  other.  For  one  word  may  relate 
to  an  other  and  not  agree  with  it ;  but  there  is  never  any  necessary  agreement  between  words  that 
have  not  &  Delation  one  to  the  other,  or  a  connexion  according  to  the  sense.  Any  similarity 
happening  between  unconnected  words,  is  no  syntactical  concord,  though  it  may  rank  the  terms 
in  the  same  class  etymologically. 

OBS.  3. — From  these  observations  it  may  be  seen,  that  the  most  important  and  most  comprehen- 
sive principle  of  English  syntax,  is  the  simple  Relation  of  words,  according  to  the  sense.  To 
this  head  alone  ought  to  be  referred  all  the  rules  of  construction  by  which  our  articles,  our  nomina- 
tives, our  adjectives,  our  participles,  our  adverbs,  our  conjunctions,  our  prepositions,  and  our  in- 
terjections, are  to  be  parsed.  To  the  ordinary  syntactical  use  of  any  of  these,  no  rules  of  con- 
cord, government,  or  position,  can  at  all  apply.  Yet  so  defective  and"  erroneous  are  the  schemes 
of  syntax  which  are  commonly  found  in  our  English  grammars,  that  no  rules  of  simple  relation, 
none  by  which  any  of  the  above-named  parts  of  speech  can  be  consistently  parsed,  are  in  general 
to  be  found  in  them.  If  there  are  any  exceptions  to  this  censure,  they  are  very  few,  and  in  treatises 
Btill  marked  with  glaring  defects  in 'regard  to  the  syntax  of  some  of  these  parts  of  speech. 

OBS.  4. — Grammarians,  of  course,  do  not  utter  falsehoods  intentionally  ;  but  it  is  lamentable 
to  see  how  often  they  pervert  doctrine  by  untruths  uttered  ignonmtly.  It  is  the  design  of  this 
pandect,  to  make  every  one  who  reads  it,  an  intelligent  judge  of  the  perversions,  as  well  as  of  the 
true  doctrines,  of  English  grammar.  The  following  citations  will  show  him  the  scope  and  parts 
which  have  commonly  been  assigned  to  our  syntax  :  "  The  construction  of  sentences  depends 
principally  upon  the  concord  or  agreement,  and  the  regimen  or  government,  of  words." — Loicth's 
Gram.  p.  68  ;  Churchill's,  120.  "Words  in  sentences  have  a  twofold  relation  to  one  another; 
namely,  that  of  Concord  or  Agreement;  and  that  of  Government  or  Influence." — Dr.  Adam's 
Latin  nnd  English  Grammar,  p.  151.  "The  third  part  of  Grammar  is  SYNTAX,  which  treats  of 
the  agreement  and  construction  of  words  in  a  sentence." — R.  G.  Greene's  Grammatical  Text- 
Book,  p.  L3.  "Syntax  principally  consists  of  two  parts,  Concord  and  Government." — Murray's 
Gram.  p.  142;  Ingersoll's,  170;  Aider's,  51;  R.  C.  Smith's,  119;  and  many  others.  "Syntax 
consists  of  two  parts,  Concord  and  Government." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  175;  Wright's,  124.  "The 
Rules  of  Syntax  may  all  be  included  under  three  heads,  Concord,  Government,  and  Position." — 
Bullions's  E  Gram.  p.  87.  "Position  means  the  place  which  a  word  occupies  in  a  sentence." — Ib. 
"These  rules  may  be  mostly  ranked  under  the  two  heads  of  agreement  and  government;  the 
remainder  may  be  termed  miscellaneous." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  92.  "  Syntax  treats  of  the  agree- 
ment, government  and  proper  arrangement  of  words  in  a  sentence." — Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  43. 
This  last-named  author,  in  touching  the  text  of  my  books,  has  often  corrupted  it,  as  he  does 
here  ;  but  my  definitions  of  the  tenses  he  copied  without  marring  them  much.  The  borrowing  oc- 
curred as  early  as  1828,  and  I  add  this  notice  now,  lest  any  should  suppose  me  the  plagiarist. 

OBS.  5. — Most  of  our  English  grammars  have  more  rules  of  syntax  than  are  needed,  and  yet 
are  very  deficient  in  such  as  are  needed.  To  say,  as  some  do,  that  articles,  adjectives,  and  parti- 
ciples, agree  with  nouns,  is  to  teach  Greek  or  Latin  syntax,  and  not  English.  To  throw,  as 
Nutting  does,  the  whole  syntax  of  adverbs  into  a  remark  on  such  a  rule  of  agreement,  is  to  choose 
disorder  for  its  own  sake.  To  say,  with  Frost,  Hall,  Smith,  Perlcy,  Kirkham,  Sanborn,  Rand,  and 
others,  "  The  nominative  case  governs  the  verb  in  number  and  person,"  and  again,  "A  verb  must 
agree  with  its  nominative  case  in  number  and  person,"  is  to  confound  the  meaning  of  govern- 
ment and  agreement,  to  say  the  same  thing  in  different  words,  and  to  leave  the  subject  of  a  verb 
still  without  a  rule:  for  rules  of  government  are  applicable  only  to  the  words  governed,  and 
nothing  ever  agrees  with  that  which  governs  it.*  To  say,  with  Murray  and  others',  "  Participles 
have  the  same  government  as  the  verbs  from  which  they  are  derived,"  is  to  say  nothing  by  which 
either  verbs  or  participles  may  be  parsed,  or  any  of  their  errors  corrected  :  "those  many  gram- 
marians, therefore,  who  make  this  their  only  r  jle  for  participles,  leave  them  all  without  any 
syntax.  To  say,  with  Murray,  Alger,  and  others,  "Adverbs,  thouf/h  they  have  no  government  of 
case,  tense,  £c.  require  an  appropriate  situation  in  the  sentence,"  is  to  squander  words  at  random, 
and  leave  the  important  question  unanswered,  "  To  what  do  adverbs  relate  ?  "  To  sajr  again, 
with  the  same  gentlemen,  "  Conjunctions  connect  the  same  moods  and  tenses  of  verbs,  and  cases  of 
nouns  and  pronouns,"  is  to  put  an  ungrammatical,  obscure,  and  useless  assertion,  in  the  place 

*  In  the  very  nature  of  things,  all  agreement  consists  in  concurrence,  correspondence,  conformity,  similarity, 
Barueness.  equali  v  :  but  goL-e.rnmt-nt  is  direction,  control,  regulation,  restraint,  influence,  authoritative  n>|uisi- 
tion,  with  the  implication  of  inequality.  That  these  properties  ought  to  be  so  far  distinguished  in  grammar,  as 
never  to  be  supposed  to  coexist  in  the  same  terms  and  under  the  same  circumstances,  muse  be  manifest  to  every 
reasoner.  Some  grammarians  who  seem  to  have  been  not  always  unaware  of  this,  hiive  nevertheless  egregiously 
for-otten  it  at  times.  Thus  Nutting,  in  the  following  remark,  expresses  a  true  doctrine,  though  he  has  written  it 
with  no  great  accuracy  :  '-A  word  in  parsing  never  governs  the  same  word  which,  it  qualifies,  or  with  which  it 
agrees. ''—Pr.tct icnl  Gram,  p.  108.  Yet,  in  his  syntax,  in  which  he  pretends  to  separate  agreement  from  govern- 
ment, he  frames  his  first  rule  under  the  latter  head  thus  :  •'  The  nominative  case  govtrns  a  verb/' — lh  p.  96. 
Lind!;!.v  Murray  recognizes  no  such  government  as  this  ;  but  seems  tosuppose  his  rule  for  the  agreement  of  a  verb 
with  its  nominative-  to  be  suffieien,  for  both  verb  and  nominative.  He  appears,  however,  not  to  have  known  that 
a  word  does  not  agree  syntactically  with  an  other  that  governs  it ;  for.  in  his  Exercifte*,  h<>  has  given  us.  Apparent- 
ly from  his  own  pen,  the  following  untrue,  but  othnrwise  not  very  objectionable  sentence  :  "On  these  occasions, 
the  pronoun  is  gov  rned  by,  and  eont*qneiitly  a.^xes  with,  the  preceding  word." — Exercises,  8vo,  ii,  10.  This  he 
corrects  thus:  "  On  these  occasions,  the  pronoun  is  governed  by  the  preceding  word,  and  consequently  agrees  with 
it."—Kry,  8vo,  ii.  201.  The  amendments  most  needed  he  overlooks  ;  for  the  thought  is  not  just,  and  the  two 
verbs  which  are  here  connected  with  one  and  the  same  nominative,  are  different  in  form.  See  the  same  example, 
with  the  same  variation  of  it.  in.  Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  107  ;  and,  without  the  change,  in  IngersolPs,  p.  233 ;  and 
Pisk's,  141. 


CHAP.  I.]         SYNTAX. SENTENCES. RULES. OBSEKYATIONS.  443 

of  an  important  rule.  To  say  merely.  "  Prepositions  govern  the  objective  case,"  is  to  rest  all  the 
syntax  of  prepositions,  on  a  rule  which  never  applies  to  them,  but  which  is  mrant  oi:ly  for  one  of 
the  con-tnii-tions  of  the  objective  case.  To  say,  as  many  do,  "  Interjections  n-ijuire  the  objec- 
tive case  of  a  pronoun  of  the  first  person  after  them,  and  the  nominative  case  of  the  second,"  is 
to  tell  what  is  utterly  false  as  the  words  stand,  and  by  no  means  true  in  the  sense  which  the 
authors  intend.  Finally,  to  suppose,  with  Murray,  that,  "  the  Interjection  docs  not  require  a 
distiiiet,  <i/,/.»<>)iri<it<-  rule, "  is  in  admirable  keeping  with  all  the  foregoing  quotations,  and  espe- 
cially with  his  notion  of  what  it  does  require;  namely,  "the  objective  cane  of  the  first  person:  " 
but  who  dares  deny  that  the  following  exclanrition  is  good  English  ? 
'"O  wretched  we!  why  were  we  hurried  down 
This  lubric  and  adulterate  age  !  " — J)r >/(!<•  n. 

OB.S.  6. — The  truth  of  any  doctrine  in  science,  can  be  nothing  else  than  its  conformity  to  facts, 
or  to  the  nature  of  things  ;  and  chiefly  by  what  he  knows  of  the  things  themselves  must  any  one 
judge  of  what  others  say  concerning  them.  Erroneous  or  inadequate  views,  confused  or  in- 
•t-.'iit  statements,  are  the  peculiar  property  of  those  who  advance  them;  they  have,  in 
reality,  no  relationship  to  science  itself,  because  they  originate  in  ignorance;  but  all  science  is 
knowledge — it  is  knowledge  methodized.  What  general  rules  are  requisite  for  the  syntactical 
parsing  of  the  sever  il  parts  of  speech  in  English,  may  be  seen  at  once  by  any  one  who  will  con- 
sider for  a  moment  the  usual  construction  of  each.  The  correction  of  false  syntax,  in  it-;  various 
forms,  will  require  more — yes,  five  times  as  many  ;  but  such  of  these  as  answer  only  the  latter 
purpose,  are,  1  think,  better  reserved  for  notes  under  the  principal  rules.  The  doctrines  which  I 
conceive  mo>t  worthy  to  form  the  leading  canons  of  our  syntax,  are  those  which  are  expressed  in 
the  twenty  four  rules  above.  If  other  authors  prefer  more,  or  fewer,  or  diiferent  principles  for 
their  chief  rules,  I  must  suppose,  it  is  because  they  have  studied  the  subject  less.  Biased,  as 
we  may  be,  both  by  our  knowledge  and  by  our  ignorance,  it  is  easy  for  men  to  differ  respecting 
matters  of  i-rjh-iUi •//'•//,•  but  that  clearness,  order,  and  consistency,  are  both  expedient,  and  ra/ 
in  didactic  compositions,  is  what  none  can  doubt. 

OHS.  7. — Those  English  grammarians  who  toll  us,  as  above,  that  syntax  is  divided  into  parts,  or 
included  under  a  certain  number  of  heads,  have  almost  universally  contradicted  themselves  by 
treating  the  subject  without  any  regard  to  such  a  division  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  not  a  few 
have  -  >n  led  into  the  gross  error  of  Mipposing  broad  principles  of  concord  or  govern- 

ment ..-h  things  exist.     For  example,  they  have  invented  general  HULKS  like  these: 

"  The  with  its  noun  in  number,  case,  and  gender." — Bint/ham's  English  Gram. 

p.  40.     "  Interjections  govern  the  nominative  case,  and  sometimes  the   objective:  as.  'O  thou  ! 
alas  me!  " — 1'>.  p.  43.     "Adjectives  at/ree \vith  their  nouns  in  number." — Wilbur 

iples  agree  with  their  nouns  in   number." — Ib.  p.  23.     "Every 
with  some  substantive  expressed  or  understood." — Hileifs   Gram.  Rule  8th, 
aiticle  THE  agrees  with  nouns  in  cither  number  :  as,  The  wood,  the  woods." — Bucke's 
<  '"</?-,  p.  >*U.     "  O  !  oh  !  ah  !  require  the  accusative  case  of 

a  pronoun  in  the  first  person  after  Them  :  as  *Ah  me.  !  '       But  when  the  second  person  is  used,  it 
requiri'n  .1  nomina1  is,  'O  tlion  ! '  " — Ib.  p.  87.     "  Two  or  more  Nominatives  in  the  singular 

n  iinber.  connected  by  the  Conjunction  or,  nor,  EITHER,  NEITHER,  govern  a  singular  Verb.      But 
Pronouns  sinsrulur,  of  different  persons,  joined  by  or,  EITHER,  nor,  NEITHER,  govern  a  plural 
Verb." — Ib.  p.  (J4.     "  One  Nominative  frequently  governs  many  Verbs." — Ib.  p.  9-5.     "  Partici- 
>y  the  article." — Murray's  Grain.  8vo,  p.  192.      "An  adverb,  an  ad- 
jective, or  a  participle,  may  involve  in  itself  the  force  of  a  preposition,  nnd  govern  the  objective 
.'.-.  p.  99.       "  The  nominative  />*  the  verb."* — Greenleafs  Gram. 

.  IT1';  and  others.      "  The  nominative  <  "fore  the  verb  " — nfnyhatn't 

Gram  p  :$S  ;    H"  23.    "  1  'he  Verb  TO  BE,  alirays governs  a  Nominative,  unless 

i  »iood." — II  .  p.  94.     "A  verb  in  the  infinitive  mood  may 

i;y  a  verb,  noun,  adjective,  participle,  or  pronoun." — Kirlift'ini'a  Grtnn.  p.  18".    Or,  (as 
.•  foregoing  rule.)  say,  according  to  this  author:    "A  verb  in  the  infinitive  mood, 
rnioun,  as  it>  subject  or  actor  " — Ib.  p.  188.     Now  what  does  he  know  of 
:iy  of  these  rules  to  be  worthy  of  the  place  which  they  hold,  or 
•i  the  halls  of  instruct 

Oi-.s.  s.— I  ilt  with  the  compilers  of  English  grammars,  to  join  together 

in  tin-  of  speech,  uniting  laws  that  must  ever  be  applied 

r.H  xi.     Articles   and  adje«-;  •'»  nnirn.i  ex- 

pressed or  understood;  an-!  e  in  number  with  the 

nouns  to  which   tin  v   relate."-  Now,  in  parsing  an  urtifle,  why  should 

;  to  tell  all  this  st  >ry  about  u  Such  a  mode  of  expre»ing  the  rule,  is 

ly  in   bi-1  taste;  and,  aft.T  all,  t  >  is  not  here  comprised,  for  they 

often  r--' .t  '  t  >  pi  ,m<l  purtir:  -me  noun  or 

prono';  /"'  (',,-•! m.  p   41.       H  ipiler  who  in  his 

etyni"  ::iemnoot;i  i  ion  than  that  of  adjeo- 

i>arts  of  their  verbs  in  the  formation  of 

lsnM>.  <  To  suppose  that  a  n  "in  may 

govern  the  object.-  ooth  absurd  in  itself,  and  contrary  to  all  authority  ;  yet,  among  his 

*  It  has  been  the  notin:,  •   thr  rrrb  %m'rrn<t  the  nominative  before  it.      This  is  an  old 

rule,  w  .  •.iithuts:  tlnui'.'h  ,|                                     :md  w 

w  rth\  ,•  vorbuni  personal* 

finiti  in  iiiMtivuin  vd  rili.jni.l  pro  nouiiiia- 

tivo :  H  'I'lii-i  I)c'-p:iu'.-r  ^                         author, 

who,  wi;liin  :•  r  the  inn-u'lm-tSnii  of  printirip.  complains  that  lie  fouml  lii<  t;i-k  luavy,  on  account  of 

th*>  inr.  :!t.  •    ••  NCI-  (um  t.iiin-n  Imi'-  op,  ri  uliimum  ma- 

num  alicvr  im;  .  \in\  (niuin  in  multis  turn  in  hue  uric  est  diffl- 

cillimr.:  -iiini  innunu'ram  diversitatem.'1' — Ibid. 

AI  ologetica,  A.  D.  lolo.     But  if,  for  this  reason,  the  task  was  heavy  then,  what  ia  it  now  ! 


444  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

forty-nine  rules,  this  author  has  the  following :  "  RULE  xxv.  A  participial  noun  is  sometimes 
governed  by  a  preposition  and  may  govern  an  objective  case ;  as,  '  George  is  too  fond  of  wasting 
time  in  trifles.'  " — Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  47.  Here  again  is  the  fault  of  which  I  am  speaking, 
two  rules  in  one  ;  and  this  fault  is  combined  with  an  other  still  worse.  Wasting  is  a  participle^, 
governed  by  of;  and  time  is  a  noun,  governed  by  toasting.  The  latter  is  a  declinable  word,  and 
found  in  the  objective  case ;  the  former  is  indeclinable,  and  found  in  no  case.  It  is  an  error  to 
suppose  that  cases  are  the  only  things  which  are  susceptible  of  being  governed ;  nor  is  the  brief 
rule,  "  Prepositions  govern  the  objective  case,"  so  very  clear  a  maxim  as  never  to  be  misapprehend- 
ed. If  the  learner  infer  from  it,  that  all  prepositions  must  necessarily  govern  the  objective  case, 
or  that  the  objective  case  is  always  governed  by  a  preposition,  he  will  be  led  into  a  great  mistak3. 

OBS.  9.  This  error  of  crowding  things  together,  is  still  more  conspicuous  in  the  following 
examples  :  "  RULE  iv.  Every  article,  adjective,  and  participle,  must  qualify  some  noun,  or  pro- 
noun, either  expressed  or  understood." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  94.  "  RULE  ix.  The  objective  case 
is  governed  by  a  transitive  verb  or  a  preposition,  usually  coming  before  it." — Ib.  p.  98.  Here  an 
author  who  separates  participles  from  verbs,  has  attempted  first  to  compress  the  entire  syntax  of 
three  different  parts  of  speech  into  one  short  rule  ;  and,  secondly,  to  embrace  all  the  forms  of 
dependence,  incident  to  objective  nouns  and  pronouns,  in  an  other  as  short.  This  brevity  is  a  poor 
exchange  for  the  order  and  distribution  which  it  prevents  —  especially  as  none  of  its  o'bjects  are 
here  reached.  Articles  do  not  relate  to  pronouns,  unless  the  obsolete  phrase  the  which  is  to  be 
revived;*  participles  have  other  constructions  than  those  which  adjectives  admit;  there  are 
exceptions  to  the  rules  which  tie  articles  to  nouns,  and  adjectives  to  nouns  or  pronouns;  and  the 
objective  case  may  not  only  be  governed  by  a  participle,  but  may  be  put  in  apposition  with  an 
other  objective.  The  objective  case  in  English  usually  stands  for  the  Latin  genitive,  dative,  accu- 
sative, and  ablative ;  hence  any  rule  that  shall  embrace  the  whole  construction  of  this  one  case, 
will  be  the  sole  counterpart  to  four  fifths  of  all  the  rules  in  any  code  of  Latin  syntax.  For  I 
imagine  the  construction  of  these  four  oblique  cases,  will  be  found  to  occupy  at  least  that  propor- 
tion of  the  syntactical  rules  and  notes  in  any  Latin  grammar  that  can  be  found.  Such  rules, 
however,  are  often  placed  under  false  or  equivocal  titles  ;  f  as  if  they  contained  the  construction 
of  the  governing  words,  rather  than  that  of  the  governed.  And  this  latter  error,  again,  has  been 
transferred  to  most  of  our  English  grammars,  to  the  exclusion  of  any  rule  for  the  proper  con- 
struction of  participles,  of  adverbs,  of  conjunctions,  of  prepositions,  or  of  interjections.  See  the 
syntax  of  Murray  and  his  copyists,  whose  treatment  of  these  parts  of  speech  is  noticed  in  the 
fifth  observation  above. 

OBS.  10. — It  is  doubtless  most  convenient,  that,  in  all  rules  for  the  construction  of  cases,  nouns 
and  pronouns  be  taken  together ;  because  the  very  same  doctrines  apply  equally  well  to  both, 
and  a  case  is  as  distinct  a  thing  in  the  mind,  as  a  part  of  speech.  This  method,  therefore,  I  have 
myself  pursued ;  and  it  has  indeed  the  authority  of  all  grammarians  —  not  excepting  those  who 
violate  its  principles  by  adopting  two  special  rules  for  the  relative  pronoun,  which  are  not  needei. 
These  special  rules,  which  1  shall  notice  again  hereafter,  may  be  seen  in  Murray's  Rule  6th,  which 
is  double,  and  contains  them  both.  The  most  complex  rule  that  I  have  admitted,  is  that  which 
embraces  the  government  of  objectives  by  verbs  and  participles.  The  regimen  by  verbs,  and  tl  e 
regimen  by  participles,  may  not  improperly  be  reckoned  distinct  principles  ;  but  the  near  allian  :e 
of  participles  to  their  verbs,  seems  to  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  preferring  one  rule  to  two,  in  this 
instance. 

OBS.  11. — An  other  common  fault  in  the  treatment  of  this  part  of  grammar,  is  the  practice  3f 
making  many  of  the  rules  double,  or  even  triple,  in  their  form.  Of  L.  Murray's  twenty-two  ruks, 
for  instance,  there  are  six  which  severally  consist  of  two  distinct  paragraphs  ;  and  one  is  composed 
of  three  such  parts,  with  examples  under  each.  Five  others,  though  simple  in  their  form,  are 
complex  in  their  doctrine,  and  liable  to  the  objections  which  have  been  urged  above  against  this 
characteristic.  These  twelve,  therefore,  I  either  reject  entirely  from  my  catalogue,  or  divide  and 
simplify  to  fit  them  for  their  purpose.  In  short,  by  comparing  the  twenty-two  rules  which  were 
adopted  by  this  popular  grammarian,  with  the  twenty-four  which  are  given  in  this  work,  the 
reader  may  see,  that  twelve  of  the  former  have  pleased  me  too  little  to  have  any  place  at  all  among 
the  latter,  and  that  none  of  the  remaining  ten  have  been  thought  worthy  to  be  copied  without 
considerable  alteration.  Nor  are  the  rules  which  I  adopt,  more  nearly  coincident  with  those  of 
any  other  writer.  I  do  not  proffer  to  the  schools  the  second-hand  instructions  of  a  mere  com- 
piler. In  his  twenty-two  rules,  independently  of  their  examples,  Murray  has  used  six  hundred 
and  seventeen  words,  thus  giving  an  average  of  twenty-eight  to  each  rule ;  whereas  in  the  twen- 
ty-four rules  which  are  presented  above,  the  words  are  but  four  hundred  and  thirty-six,  making 

*  Nutting's  rule  certainly  implies  that  articles  may  relate  topronoun*,  though  he  gives  no  example,  nor  can  be 
give  any  that  i.s  now  good  English  ;  but  he  may,  if  he  pleases,  quote  some  other  modern  grammatisrs.  who  teach 
the  same  fake  doctrine  :  as, "  RULE  n.  The  article  refers  tn  its  noun  (OK  PROXOUN)  to  limit  -its  $i}>->i(fi':ation.r — K.  G. 
Greene's  Grammatical  Text-Book,  p.  18.  Greene's  two  grammars  are  used  extensively  in  the  suite  of  Maine,  luit 
they  appear  to  be  little  known  anywhere  else.  This  author  professes  to  inculcate  "  the  principles  established  by 
Lindley  Murray."  If  veracity,  on  this  point,  is  worth  any  thing,  it  is  a  pity  that  in  both  books  there  are  so  many 
points  which,  like  the  foregoing  parenthesis,  belie  this  profession.  He  followed  here  Ingersol/'s  RULE  iv.  which  is 
this:  "  The  article  refers  to  a  noun  OR  PRONOUN,  expressed  or  understood^  to  limit  its  signification." — Conversa- 
tions on  E.  Gram.  p.  185. 

f  It  is  truly  a  matter  of  surprise  to  find  under  what  titles  or  heads,  many  of  the  rules  of  syntax  have  been  set, 
by  some  of  the  best  scholars  that  have  ever  written  on  grammar.  In  this  respect,  the  Latin  and  Greek  gramma- 
rians are  particularly  censurable ;  but  it  better  suits  my  purpose  to  give  an  example  or  two  from  ore  ot  the  ablest 
of  the  English.  Thus  that  elegant  scholar  the  Rev.  W.  Allen  :  "  SYNTAX  OF  NOUNS.  325.  A  verb  agrees  with 
Its  nominative  case  in  number  and  person."— Element.*  of  E.  Gram.  p.  131.  This  is  in  no  wise  the  syntax  ol 
Abuns,  but  rather  that  of  the  Verb.  Again  :  "  SYNTAX  OF  VERBS.  405.  Active  Verbs  govern  the  accusative 
case;  as,  llovuhim.  We  saw  Mem.  God  rules  the  world.'1'1— Ib.  p.  161.  This  is  not  properly  the  s\ntax  oi 
Verbs,  but  rather  that  of  Nouns  or  Pronouns  in  the  accusative  or  objective  case  Any  one  who  has  but  the  least 
sense  of  order,  must  see  the  propriety  of  referring  the  rule  to  that  sort  of  words  to  which  it.  is  applied  in  parsing, 
and  not  to  some  other.  Verbs  are  never  parsed  or  construed  by  the  latter  of  these  rules,  nur  nouns  by  tlw 
former. 


CHAP.  I.]         SFNTAX.  —  SENTENCES.  -  RULES.  -  OBSERVATIONS.  445 

the  average  less  than  nineteen.  And  yet  I  have  not  only  divided  some  of  his  propositions  and 
extended  others,  but,  by  rejecting  what  was  useless  or  erroneous,  and  filling  up  the  deficiencies 
which  mark  his  code,  I  have  delivered  twice  the  amount  of  doctrine  in  two  thirds  of  the  space, 
and  furnished  eleven  important  rules  which  are  not  contained  in  his  grammar.  Thus  much,  in 
this  place,  to  those  who  so  frequently  ask,  "  Wherein  does  your  book  differ  from  Murray's  ?  " 

Ous.  !:>  —  Of  all  the  systems  of  syntax,  or  of  grammar,  which  it  has  been  my  fortune  to  ex- 
amine, a  book  which  was  first  published  by  Robinson  and  Franklin  of  New  York  in  1839,  a  fair- 
looking  duodecimo  volume  of  384  pages,  under  the  brief  but  rather  ostentatious  title,  "  TUB 
GKAMMAK  of  the  Kmjli.sh  Lan<n!>titi-,"  is,  I  think,  the  most  faulty  —  the  most  remarkable  for  the 
magnitude,  'multitude,  and  variety",  of  its  strange  errors,  inconsistencies,  and  defects.  This  sin- 
gular performance  is  the  work  of  OKver  II  /'-,/,,,  an  itinerant  lecturer  on  grammar,  who  dates 
his  preface  at  "  Home,  N.  Y.,  December  29th,  1838."  Its  leading  characteristic  is  boastful  inno- 
vation ;  it  being  full  of  acknowledged  "contempt  for  the  works  of  other  writers."  —  P.  379.  It 

claim  to  ximjulariti/"  as  a  merit,  and  boasts  of  a  new  thing  under  the  sun  —  "  in  a  theory 
KAIUCM.'.Y  Ni:\v,  it  (ii-niiinntr  <>/  the  L/tt//ish  Language;  something  which  I  believe,"  says  the 
author,  "  has  M;VI;U  HKKOKK  iu:;':\  rODWD."  —  P.  9.  The  old  scholastic  notion,  that  because  Cus- 
tom is  the  arbitress  of  speech,  novelty  is  excluded  from  grammar,  this  hopeful  reformer  thoroughly 
condemns;  "  repudiating  this  sentiment  to  the  full  extent  of  it,"  (ib.)  and  "writing  his  theory 
n.-  thoimli  he  had  never  seen  a  book,  entitled  an  English  Grammar."  —  Ib.  And,  for  all  the  ends 
of  good  learning,  it  would  have  been  as  well  or  better,  if  he  never  had.  His  passion  for  novelty 

1  him  not  only  to  abandon  or  misapply,  in  an  unprecedented  degree,  the  usual  terms  of  the 
art,  but  to  disregard  in  many  instances  its  most  unquestionable  principles,  universal  as  well  as 
particular.  His  parts  of  speech  are  the  following  ten:  "  Names,  Substitutes,  Asserters,  Adnames, 
Modifiers,  Relatives,  Connectives,  Interrogative*,  Repliers,  and  Exclamations."  —  The  Gram.  p. 
2<*.  His  names  arc  nouns  ;  his  substitutes  are  pronouns,  and  any  adjectives  whose  nouns  are  not 
expressed  ;  his  <tsst'fti-rs  are  verbs  and  participles,  though  the  latter  assert  nothing;  his  adnames 
are  articles,  adjectives  whose  nouns  or  pronouns  are  expressed,  and  adverbs  that  relate  to  adjec- 
tives ;  his  modifiers  are  such  adverbs  as  "  modify  the  sense  or  sound  of  a  whole  sentence  ;  "  his 
rciuti  '•<;<<  are  prepositions,  some  of  which  govern  no  object;  his  •  |  are  conjunctions,  with 

certain  adverbi  and  phrases;  his  inf<-r/-oyatires  and  repliers  are  new  parts  of  speech,  very  lamely 

'     iless 
in  is 
more 
i  Jive 

year/afteVward.s,"  he  would  call  the  same  words  "a  secondary  mudijicr  /"  i.  e.  adverb.  —  Ib.  p.  203. 
And,  in  the  phrase,  "more  than  fice,  years  before  the  war,""  he  would  call  them  "a  secondary 

'•  ;  "  i.  e.  preposition.  —  Ih.  p.  204.  And  so  of  other  phrases  innumerable.  His  cases  are 
five,  two  of  which  are  new,  "  the  Indepi'/tdrnt,"  and  "  the  Twofold  case."  His  "  independent  case  " 
is  sometimes  the  nominative  in  form,  as  "z7/ow"  and  "she;"  (p.  62;)  sometimes  the  objective,  as, 
"  me  "  and  "  him  ;  "  (p.  62  and  p.  199  ;)  sometimes  erroneously  supposed  to  be  the  subject  of  a 
finite  verb  ;  while  his  nominative  is  sometimes  as  erroneously  said  to  have  no  verb.  His  code  of 
syntax  has  two  soits  of  rules,  Analytical  and  Synthetical.  The  former  are  professedly  seventeen 
iii  number;  but,  many  of  them  consisting  of  two,  three,  or  four  distinct  parts,  their  real  number 
is  more  properly  thirty-four.  The  latter  are  reckoned  forty-five  ;  but  if  we  count  their  separate 
parts,  they  are  fifty-six  :  and  these  with  the  others  make  ninety.  I  shall  not  particularize  their 
faults.  All  of  them  are  whimsically  conceived  and  badly  written.  In  short,  had  the  author  art- 
fully designed  to  turn  English  grammar  into  a  subject  of  contempt  and  ridicule,  by  as  ugly  a 
caricature  of  it  as  he  could  possibly  invent,  he  could  never  have  hit  the  mark  more  exactly  than 

-  done  in  this  "  ni'tr  theory  "  —  this  rash  production,  on  which  he  so  sincerely  prides  himself. 
Alone  as  he  is,  in  well-nigh  all  his  opinions,  behold  how  prettily  he  talks  of  "COMMON  .-• 
the  only  sure  foundation  of  any  theory  !"  and  says,  "  On  this  imperishable  foundation  —  this 
rock  of  eternal  endurance  —  I  rear  my  .superstructure,  the  edifice  of  scientific  truth,  the  temple  of 

istenc)  !  "—  .  .  p.  7. 

Oiss.  i:>.  —  For  t  s,  it  has  been  thought  very  desirable  to  have 

•',;,  Latin,  English,  &c.,  all,  so  far  as  general  principles  are  concerned, 

upon  the  same  plan,  and  us  neaily  in  the  >;ime  wonls  as  tli,-  genius  of  the  languages  would  per- 

mit."     See  Ilitlliun.Sti  1'rin  drum.  2d  Ed.  pp.  iv  and  vi.     This  scheme  necessarily 

demands  a  minute  comparison  not  only  of  the  several  languages  themselves,  but  also  of  the 

..in.  us  in  wl.ich  their  principles,  whether  general  or  particular,  are  developed.     For 

1  to  what  extent  uniformity  of  this  kind  will  be  either 

profitable  to  the  learner,  or  consistent  with  truth.     Some  books  have  been  published,  which,  it  is 

Sreteniied,  are  thus  accommodated  to  one  an  other,  and  to  the  languages  of  which  they  treat. 
ut,  in  vi«-w  of  the  fact,  that  the  Latin  or  the  Greek  grammars  now  extant,  (to  say  nothing  of 
the  Fren.  h,  Spanish,  and  others,)  are  almost  as  various  and  as  faulty  as  the  English,  I  urn  appre- 
hensive that  this  is  a  desideratum  not  soon  to  be  realized  —  a  design  more  plausible  in  the  pros- 
pectus, than  feasible  in  the  attempt.  At  any  rate,  the  grammars  of  diiferent  languages  must 
needs  dilft-r  as  much  as  do  the  la:.  aerwise  some  of  their  principles  will  of 

..at  the  nonobservance  of  this  has  been  a  fruitful 

source  of  error  in  respect  to  KnglMi  syntax.      The  achievement,  however,  is  not  altogether  ira- 

i  man  of  competent  learning  will  devote  to  it  a  s;i  roe  of  labour.     But  the 

altering  of  some  one  grammar  in  each  -carccly  amount  to  any 

more  than  a  pretence  of  improve::  .  of  compiling  upon  th- 

of  another  man's  compilation,  the  foundation  of  a  goi^i  for  any  lai  ist  be 

both  deeper  and  broader  than  all  the  works  which  1'.  .ilions  has  selected  to  build  upon: 

foi  the  Greek,  than  Dr.  Moor's  "Elements  Limjiuc  (Jrcrccc;"  for  the  Latin,  than  Pr.  A 


,  . 

Rudiment*  of  Latin  and  English  Grammar;"  for  the  KnglSsh,  than  Murray's  "  EmjUsh  Gram- 
iple  of  Ewjtish  Grammar;"  which  last  work,  in  fact,  the  learned  gen- 


me-r,"  or  Lenuie's  "Principle 


446  TIIE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

tleman  preferred)  though  he  pretends  to  have  mended  the  code  of  Murray.  But,  certainly, 
Lennie  never  supposed  himself  a  copyist  of  Murray ;  nor  was  he  to  much  extent  an  imitator  of 
him,  either  in  method  or  in  style. 

OBS.  14. — We  have,  then,  in  this  new  American  form  of  "The  Principles  of  English  Grammar," 
Lennie's  very  compact  little  book,  altered,  enlarged,  and  bearing  on  its  title-page  (which  is  oth- 
erwise in  the  very  words  of  Lennie)  an  other  author's  name,  and,  in  its  early  editions,  the  fake 
and  self-accusing  inscription,  "(ON  THE  PLAN  OF  MURRAY'S  GRAMMAR.)"  And  this  work, 
claiming  to  have  been  approved  "  by  the  most  competent  judges,"  now  challenges  the  praise  not 
only  of  being  "better  adapted  to  the  use  of  academies  and  schools  than  any  yet  published,"  but 
of  so  presenting  "  the  rules  and  principles  of  general  grammar,  as  that  they  may  apply  to,  and  be 
in  perfect  harmony  with,  the  grammars  of  the  dead  lanr/uaycs." — Recommendations,  p.  iv.  Thes-e 
are  admirable  professions  for  a  critical  author  to  publish ;  especially,  as  every  rule  or  principle  of 
General  Grammar,  condemning  as  it  must  whoever  violates  it,  cannot  but  "  be  in  perfect  harmony 
with"  every  thing  that  is  true.  In  this  model  for  all  grammars,  Latin,  Greek,  &c.,  the  doctrines 
of  punctuation,  of  abbreviations,  and  of  capital  letters,  and  also  sections  on  the  rhetorical  divi- 
sions of  a  discourse,  the  different  kinds  of  composition,  the  different  kinds  of  prose  composition, 
and  the  different  kinds  of  poetry,  are  made  parts  of  the  Syntax;  while  his  hints  for  correct  and 
elegant  writing,  and  his  section  on  the  composition  of  letters  and  themes,  which  other  writers 
suppose  to  belong  rather  to  syntax,  are  here  subjoined  as  parts  of  Prosody.  In  the  exercises  for 
parsing  appended  to  his  Etymology,  the  Doctor  furnishes  ttventy-five  Rules  of  Syntax,  which,  he 
*ays,  "  are  not  intended  to  be  committed  to  memory,  but  to  be  used  as  directions  to  the  be- 
ginner in  parsing  the  exercises  under  them." — E.  Gram.  p.  75.  Then,  for  his  syntax  proper,  he 
copies  from  Lennie,  with  some  alterations,  thirty -four  other  rules,  nine  of  which  are  double,  and 
all  are  jurnhled  together  by  both  authors,  without  any  regard  to  the  distinction  of  concord  and  gov- 
ernment, so  common  in  the  grammars  of  the  dead  languages,  and  even,  so  far  as  I  can  discover, 
without  any  principle  of  arrangement  whatever.  They  profess  indeed  to  have  placed  those  rules 
first,  which  are  easiest  to  learn,  and  oftenest  to  be  applied;  but  the  syntax  of  articles,  which 
even  on  this  principle  should  have  formed  the  first  of  the  series,  is  placed?  by  Lennie  as  the  thirty- 
fourth  rule,  and  by  his  amender  as  the  thirty-second.  To  all  this  complexity,  the  latter  adds 
twenty-two  Special  Rules,  with  an  abundance  of  "Notes,"  "Observations,"  and  "Remarks,"  distin- 
guished by  these  titles,  on  some  principle  which  no  one  but  the  author  can  understand.  Lastly, 
his  method  of  syntactical  parsing  is  not  only  mixed  up  with  etymological  questions  and  answers, 
but  his  directions  for  it,  with  their  exemplification,  are  perplexingly  at  variance  with  his  own 
specimen  of  the  performance.  See  pages  131  and  133.  So  much  for  this  grand  scheme. 

OBS.  15. — Strictures  like  the  foregoing,  did  they  not  involve  the  defence  of  grammar  itself, 
so  as  to  bear  upon  interests  more  important  than  the  success  or  failure  of  an  elementary  book, 
might  well  be  withheld  through  motives  of  charity,  economy,  and  peace.  There  is  many  a  gram- 
mar now  extant,  concerning  which  a  truly  critical  reader  may  know  more  at  first  sight,  than  ev?r 
did  he  that  made  it.  What  such  a  reader  will  be  inclined  to  rate  beneath  criticism,  an  other  per- 
haps will  confidently  pronounce  above  it.  If  my  remarks  are  just,  let  the  one  approve  them  f  )r 
the  other's  sake.  For  what  becomes  of  the  teaching  of  grammar,  when  that  which  is  received 
as  the  most  excellent  method,  must  be  exempted  from  censure  by  reason  of  its  utter  worthless- 
ness  ?  And  what  becomes  of  Universal  Syntax,  when  the  imperfect  systems  of  the  Latin  aiid 
Greek  grammars,  in  stead  of  being  amended,  are  modelled  to  the  grossest  faults  of  what  is 
worthless  in  our  own  ?  * 

OBS.  16. — What  arrangement  of  Latin  or  Greek  syntax  may  be  best  in  itself,  I  am  not  new 
concerned  to  show.  Lily  did  not  divide  his,  as  others  have  divided  the  subject  since;  but  fiist 
stated  briefly  his  three  concords,  and  then  proceeded  to  what  he  called  the  construction  of  t.ie 
several  parts  of  speech,  taking  them  in  their  order.  The  three  concords  of  Lily  are  the  following : 
(1.)  Of  the  Nominative  and  Verb ;  to  which  the  accusative  before  an  infinitive,  and  the  collective 
noun  with  a  plural  verb,  are  reckoned  exceptions  ;  while  the  agreement  of  a  verb  or  pronoun 
with  two  or  more  nouns,  is  referred  to  the  figure  syllepsis.  (2.)  Of  the  Substantive  and  Adjective ; 
under  which  the  agreement  of  participles,  and  of  some  pronouns,  is  placed  in  the  form  of  a  note. 

*  What  "the  Series  of  Grammars,  English,  Latin,  and  Greek,  ON  THE  SAME  PLAN,"  will  ultimately  be,  —  how 
many  treatises  for  each  or  any  of  the  languages  it  will  probably  contain,  —  what  uniformity  will  be  ibund  in  the 
distribution  of  their  several  sorts  and  sizes,  —  or  what  lameness  they  will  have,  except  that  which  is  bestowed  by 
the  binders,  —  cannot  yet  be  stated  with  any  certainty.  It  appears  now,  in  1850,  that  the  scheme  has  thus  far 
resulted  in  the  production  of  three  remarkably  different  grammars,  for  the  English  part  of  the  series,  and  two 
more,  a  Latin  grammar  and  a  Greek,  which  resemble  each  other,  or  any  of  these,  as  little.  In  these  works,  abound 
changes  and  discrepances,  sometimes  indicating  a  great  unsettltment  of  "  principles  "  or  "  plan,"  and  often  ex- 
ulting our  special  wonder  at  the  extraordinary  variety  of  teaching,  which  has  been  claimed  to  be,  "  as  nearly  in 
the  same  words  as  the  genius  of  tke,  languages  would  permit !  "  In  what  should  have  been  uniform,  and  easily 
might  have  been  so,  these  grammars  are  rather  remarkably  diverse  !  Uniformity  in  the  order,  number,  or  phrase- 
ology of  the  Jlules  of  Syntax,  even  for  our  own  language,  seems  scarcely  yet  to  have  entered  this  "  SAME  PLAN  " 
at  all !  The  "onward  progress  of  English  grammar,"  or,  rather,  of  the  author's  studies  therein,  has  already, 
within  "  fifteen  years,"  greatly  varied,  from  the  first  model  of  the  "Series,"  his  own  idea  of  a  good  grammar  ; 
nnd,  though  such  changes  bar  consistency,  a  future  progress,  real  or  imaginary,  may  likewise,  with  as  good  rt-a- 
»on,  vary  it  yet  as  much  more.  In  the  preface  to  the  work  of  1849,  it  is  said  :  "  This,  though  not  essentially 
different  from  the  former,  is  yet  in  some  respects  a  new  work.  It  has  been  almost  entirely  rewritten."  And 
Hgain  :  "The  Syntax  is  much  fuller  thau  in  the  former  work  ;  and  though  the  rules  are  not  different,  they  are 
arranged  in  a  d\ 'ffcrt.nl  order.'1''  So  it  is  proved,  that  the  model  needed  remodelling ;  and  that  the  Syntax,  espe- 
cially, was  defective,  in  matter  as  well  as  in  order.  The  suggestions,  that  "  the  rules  are  not  different,'''1  and  the 
works,  "  not  essentially  "  so,  will  sound  best  to  those  who  shall  never  compare  them.  The  old  code  has  thirty-four 
chief,  and  twenty-two  "  special  rules  ;  "  the  new  has  twenty  chief,  thirty-six  *'  special,"  and  one  "  general  rule." 
Among  all  these,  we  shall  scarcely  find  exact  sameness  preserved  in  so  many  as  half  a  do/en  instances.  Of  the 
old  thirty-four,  fourteen  only  were  judged  worthy  to  remain  as  principal  rules  ;  and  two  of  these  have  no  claim 
at  all  to  such  rank,  one  of  them  being  quite  useless.  Of  the  twenty  now  made  chief,  five  are  new  to  "  the  Series 
of  Grammars,"  and  three  of  these  exceedingly  resemble  as  many  of  mine  ;  five  are  slightly  altered,  and  five 
greatly,  from  their  predecessors  among  the  old  ;  one  is  the  first  half  of  an  old  rule  ;  one  is  an  old  subordinate 
rule,  altered  and  elevated ;  and  three  are  as  they  were  before,  their  numbers  and  relative  positions  excepted ! 


CHAP.  I.]         SYNTAX. SENTENCES. RULES. OBSERVATIONS.  447 

(3.)  Of  the  Relative  nnd  Antecedent;  after  which  the  two  special  rules  for  the  cases  of  relatives 
are  given  as  underparts.  Dr.  Anam  divided  his  syntax  into  two  parts;  of  Simple  Sentences,  and 
of  Compound  Sentences.  His  thiee  concords  are" the  following  :  (1.)  Of  <  tic«  trith  an 

.  which  construct  d  by  Lily  and  many  others  among  the  figures  of  syntax,  and  is 

called  apposition.     (2.)  Of  an  Aetfeettoe  ic/i/t  a  Substantive;  under  which  principle,  we  are  told  to 

ijective  pronouns  and  participles.  (3.)  Of  a  Verb  with  a  Nominative;  under  which,  the 
collective  noun  with  a  verb  of  either  number,  is  noticed  in  an  observation.  The  conduction  of 
relatives,  of  conjunctions,  of  comparatives,  and  of  words  put  absolute,  this  author  reserves  for 
the  second  part  of  his  syntax  ;  and  the  agreement  of  plural  verbs  or  pronouns  with  joint  nomina- 
tives or  antecedents,  which  Kuddiman  places  in  an  observation  on  his  four  <•<>/«  o;v/.v,  is  here 
absurdly  reckoned  a  p  irt  of  the  construction  of  conjunction-;.  Various  divisions  and  subdi- 
visions of  the  Latin  syntax,  with  spivial  dispositions  of  some  particular  principles  of  it,  may  be 
seen  in  the  elaborate  grammars  of  Despauter,  Prat,  Kuddiman,  Grant,  and  other  writers.  And 
here  it  may  be  proper  to  observe,  that,  the  mixing  of  syntax  with  etymology,  after  the  manner  of 

•ill,  Kirkham,  K.  \V.  Given,  11.  C.  Smith,  Sanborn,  Felton,  Parkhurst,  Parker  and  Fox,  and 
others,  is  a  modern  innovation,  pernicious  to  both;  either  topic  being  sufficiently  comprehensive, 
and  suifieiently  difficult,  when  they  are  treated  separately  ;  and  each  having,  in  some  instances, 
employed  the  pens  of  able  writers  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other. 

OHS'   17. — The   syntax  of  any  language  must  needs  conform   to  the  peculiarities  of  its  ety- 
mology, and  also  be  consistent  "with  itself;  for  all  will  expect  better  things  of  a  scholar,  than  to 
lay  down  positions  in  one  part  of  his  grammar,  that  are  irreconcilable  with  what  he  has  stated 
in  an  other.     The  English  language,  having  few  inflections,  has  also  few  concords  oragreements, 
and  still  fewer  governments.     Articles,  adjectives,  and  participles,  which  in  many  other  Ian- 
a  with  their  nouns  in  gender,  number,  and  case,  have  usually,  in  English,  no  mo  din- 
iu  which  they  •  ith  their  nouns.     Yet  Loicth  savs,   "  The  adjective  in  English, 

having  no  variation  of  gender  and  number,  cannot  but  ai/rc-c  with  the  substantive  in  these 
respects." — Short  I  tit  rod.  to  Gram.  p.  W.  "tt'hat  then  is  the  agreement  of  words  ?  Can  it  be  any 
thing  else  than  their  similarity  in  some  common  property  or  modification  ?  And  is  it  not  obvious, 
that  no  two  thini;s  in  nature  can  at  all  agree,  or  ///•  a!iki>,  "except  in  some  quality  or  accident  which 
belongs  to  each  of  them  ?  Yet  how  often  have  Murray  and  others,  as  well  as  Lowth,  forgotten 
this  !  To  give  one  instance  out  of  many  :  "Gender  has  respect  only  to  the  third  person  singular 
of  the  pronouns,  ///-,  s/tr-,  it." — Mit/-nt>/, ./.  7',  /'/vr,  /'/////,  J.yan,  Bacon,  7»V,v,w  /'.  l-'isk,  Maltby,  Alger, 
'nut,  K'i;(/<n/n,  and  othrr  careless  copyists.  Yet,  according  to  those  same  gentle- 
men, "  Gender  is  t/u>  distinction  of  ><i,uns,  with  regard  to  sex  ;  "  and,  "  Pronouns  must  always 
with  their  antecedents,  and  t/ic  nowix  for  which  they  stand,  in  (fender."  Now,  not  one  of 
tiiese  three  careless  assertions  can  possibly  be  reconciled  with  either  of  the  others  ! 

I  respect  only  to  nouns,  pronouns,  verbs,  participles,  and  preposi- 
tions ;  the  other  five  parts  of  speech  neither  govern  nor  are  governed.  The  governing  words  may 
be  either  nouns,  or  verbs,  or  participles,  or  propositions ;  the  words  governed-  are  either  nouns,  or 
pronouns,  or  verbs,  or  participles.  In  parsing,  the  learner  must 'remember  that  the  rules  of 
government  are  not  to  be  applied  to  the-  words,  but  to  those  which  arc  governed;  and 

which,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  are  often  technically  named  after  the  particular  form  or  modifica- 
tion assumed;  as,  jw.^  \itwes,  gerundives.  These  are  the  only  things  in 

h,  that  can  properly  be  said  to  be  subject  to  government;  and  these  are  always  so,  in 

their   own   names ;    unless   we   except   such  infinitives   as   stand   in   the  place  of  nominatives. 

rt triples  governed  by  prepositions  ;  but,  there  being  little  or  no  occasion  to  dis- 


tinguish these  ti inn  other  participles,  we  seldom  use  this  name.  The  Latin  Gerund  differs  from 
a  participle,  and  the  English  G<-nmdii:e  dliters  from  a  participial  noun.  The  participial  noun 
may  be  the  subject  or  the  object  of  a  verb,  or  may  govern  the  possessive  case  before  it,  like  any 


.oun  ;  but  the  tru«"  Kinii-h  gerundive,  being  essentially  a  participle,  and  governing  an 
i,  like  any  other  participle,  is  itself  governed  only  by  a  preposition.     At  least,  this  is 

A  and  allowed  construction,  and  no  other  is  acknowledged  to  be  indisputably  right. 
li> — The  simpl-  of  words  in  English,  (or  those  several  uses  of  the  parts  of 

speech  which  \vo  may  reft  r  to  this  head,)  are  the  following  nine:  (1.)  Of  Articles  to  nouns,  by 
Rule  1st;  (2.)  Of  Nominative*  to  verbs,  by  Rule  2d;  (3.)  Of  Nominatives  absolute  or  indepen- 
dent, by  Rule  8th  ;  (4.)  Of.1*  •  nouns  or  pronouns,  by  Rule  9th  ;  (;').)  Of  Participles  to 

or  pronouns,  by  Rule  2  ith  ;    (G.)  Of  Adverbs  to  verbs,  participles,  &e  ,  by  Rule  21st;    (7.) 
Of  Conjunctions  as  connecting  word-,   phi  iences,  by   Rule  22nd;    (8.)  Of  Prepo- 

sitions as  showing  the  relations  of  things,  by  Rule  23d;  (9.)  Of  Interjections  as  being  used 
independent  21th. 

v  in  English,  though  actually  much  fewer  than  those 

w'lirh  occur  in  Latin,  Greek,  or  French,  may  easily  lie  so  reckoned  as  to  amount  to  double,  or 
even  triple,  the  number  usually  spoken  of  by  the  old  grammarians.  The  twenty-four  rules 
alove.  e  following  ten  heads,  whir'  .iproperly  be  taken  for  so  many  distinct 

conronk:   (1.)  Of  a  N.mn  or  Pronoun  in  din-  n  with  an  other,  by  Rule  3d;  (2.)  Of  a 

N  mn  or  Pronoun  at'tei  'isitive,  by  Rule  6th  ;   (3.*)  Of  a  Pronoun  with 

it-  antcrcd.-Tit,  by  ll-iie  loth  ;  (4.1  Of  a  Pronoun  with  a  collective  noun,  by  Rule  llth;  (-3.)  Of  a 

in  with  joint  ant  •  12th;  ('!.)  Of  a  Pronoun  with  disjunct  antecedents,  by 

Rule  loth;  (7.)  Of  a  Verb  with  it's  nominative,  by  Rule  Hth;  (8.)  Of  a  Verb  with  a  collective 
ncun,  by  Rulr  loth;  (9.)  Of  a  Veib  with  joint  nominatives,  by  Rule  IGth;  (10.)  Of  a  Y«  10  with 
disjunct  nominatives,  by  Rule  17th.  To  the  ;.-ords,  less 

common  and  less  important,  which  will  be  explained  in  notes  under  the  rules :  (11.)  Of  one  Verb 
with  an  other,  in  mood,  tense,  and  form,  when  two  ar<>  connected  so  as  to  agree  with  the  same 
nominative  ;  1 12.)  Of  Adjectives  that  imply  unity  or  plurality,  with  their  nouns,  in  number. 

Ons.  21. — Again,  by  a  different  mode  oi  :  ;'iem,  the  concords,  or  the  f/  rteso( 

agreement,  in  our  language,  mav  be  made  to  be  only  three  or  four ;  and  some  of  those  much  less 
ge,\eral,  than  they  are  iu  other  languages:  (1.)  FFomi  in  apposition-  agree  in  case,  according  to 


.     erorum.      .      ocum    necnaum.  —    it.it  mans      ram.   p.         .  s 

subject  Iriiigs    all  the  titles  of  the  rules  wrong.      For  example,  if  the  rule  be,  " 
govern  (.In-  accusative  case,"  this  is  not  properly  "  the  government  of  verbs,"  but  ra 
ernment  of  fhf  a-rcnfiofira  by  verbs.      At  least,  sucli  titles  are  equivocal,  and  likely  t 
' 


448  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLTSII    GRAMMARS.  [PART    III. 

Ruin  3d;  of  which  principle,  Rule  6th  may  he  considered  a.  modification.  (2.)  Pronouns  agrte 
with  tin-!,-  iidi'ns,  in  jierson,  number,  and  ffenaer,  according  to  Rule  10th;  of  which  principle,  Rules 
llth,  121.1  1,  ;md  l.'Jtli,  may  be  reckoned  modifications.  (•'»  )  V'crbs  rrr/rce  with  their  noniinalic/-*,  in 
ji'-rsnn  an,  I  -number,  according  to  Rule  14th;  of  which  principle,  Rules  loth,  IGth,  and  17th,  and 
the  occasional  agreement  of  on-  verb  with  an  other,  may  be  esteemed  mere  modifications. 
(I  .  )  S»rn>'  adjective*  mjrce  with  their  noitns  in  number.  These  make  up  the  twelve  concords 
;iliove  cii'iMn  rated. 

OHS.  22  —  'I'lio  rules  of  Government  in  the  best  Latin  grammars  are  about  sixty;  and  these  are 
usually  distributed  (though  not  very  properly)  under  three  heads  ;  "  1.  Of  Nouns.  2.  Of  Verbs. 
3.  Of  Words  indeclinable."  —  Grant's  Ln.t  .  Gram.  p.  170.  "Regimen  est  triplex  ;  1.  Nominnn.. 
2.  Verborum.  3.  Vocum  indeclinabilium."  —  Rit.iltli  man's  Gram.  p.  138.  This  division  of  the 

e,  "Active  verbs 
ut  rather  the  gov- 
ely to  mislead  the 

learner.  'The  governments  in  Knglish  are  only  seven,  and  these  are  expressed,  perhaps  with 
KiiMieicnf  diM  inet  ness,  in  six  of  the  foregoing  niles  :  (1.)  Of  Possessors  by  nouns,  in  Rule  4th  ; 
(2)  Of  Obj  "('fives  by  verbs,  in  Rule  5th;  (•'!.)  Of  Objectives  by  participles,  in  Rule  5th;  (4.)  Of 
Objectives  by  prepositions,  in  Rule  7th  ;  (5.)  Of  Infinitives  by  the  preposition  to,  in  Rule  ISth  ; 
(6.1  Of  Infinitives  hy  the  verbs  bid,  dare,  &c.,  in  Rule  19th;  (7.)  Of  Participles  by  prepositions, 
in  Rule  20t!i. 

OHS.  21  —  The  Arrangement  of  words,  (which  will  be  sufficiently  treated  of  in  the  observations 
hereafter  to  |)f.  made  on  the  several  rules  of  construction,)  is  an  important  part  of  syntax,  in 
which  not  only  the  beauty  but  the  propriety  of  language  is  intimately  concerned,  and  to  which 
particular  attention  should  therefore  be  paid  in  composition.  'Hut  it  is  to  be  remembered,  th;,t 
the  mere  collocation  of  words  in  a  sentence  never  affects  the  method  of  parsing  them:  on  the 
contrary,  the  same  word-;,  however  placed,  are  always  to  be  parsed  in  precisely  the  same  way,  so 
long  as  they  express  precisely  the  same  meaning.  In  order  to  show  that  we  have  parsed  any 
part  of  an  inverted  or  diflicnlt  sentence  rightly,  w.-  are  at  liberty  to  declare  the  meaning  by  any 
arrangement  which  will  make  the  construction  more  obvious,  provided  we  retain  both  the  seme 
and  all  the  words  unaltered;  but  to  drop  or  alter  any  word,  is  to  pervert  the  text  under  pretence 
of  resolving  it,  and  to  make  a  mockery  of  parsing,  (irammar  rightly  learned,  enables  one  to 
understand  both  the  sense  and  the  construction  of  whatsoever  is  rightly  written  ;  and  he  who 
reads  wb.it  be  does  not  understand,  reads  to  little  purpose.  With  great  indignity  to  the  muses, 
several  pretenders  to  grammar  have  foolishly  taught,  that,  "  In  parsing  poetry,  in  order  to  (•(>'„.-« 
at  the-  tni'diiimi  of  the  author,  the  learner  will  find  it  necessary  to  transpose  his  language.  ''  — 
Kirl;l>ain's  Gram.  p.  166.  See  also  the  books  of  Merchant,  Wileox,  O.  Ji.  I'f/rrc,  Hull,  S/n/t/i, 
l'\;lton.,  and  others,  to  the  same  effect.  To  what  purpose  can  he  transpose  the  words  of  a  sen- 
tence, who  does  not  first  see  what  they  mean,  and  how  to  explain  or  parse  them  as  they  stand  • 

OHS.  24.  —  Krrors  innumerable  have  been  introduced  into  the  common  modes  of  p; 
through  a  false  notion  of  what  Constitutes  a  fftmpfo  sentence-.  Lowth,  Adam,  Murray,  (Jouhi, 
Smith,  Ingersoll,  Comly,  Lennie,  Hiley,  Bullions,  Wells,  and  many  others,  say,  "A  simple  sen- 
tence has  in  it  but  one  subject,  and  one  Jin  tie  r  erb  ;  as,  '  Life  is  short.'"  —  /,.  Murray's  (iron'. 
p.  141.  In  accordance  with  this  assertion,  some  assume,  that,  "  Every  nominative  has  its  oirn 
r,-r'i  expressed  or  understood;  "  and  that,  "  Kvery  verb  (except  in  the  infinitive  mood  and  pa  •- 
ticiples)  IHIS  its  oini  noin  tint  tire  expressed  or  understood"  —  Ihditons'x  I'].  Gram.  p.  87.  Tie 
adopters  of  these  dogmas,  of  course  think  it  right  to  supply  a  nominative  whenever  they  do  not 
find  a  separate  one  expressed  for  every  finite  verb,  and  a  verb  whenever  they  do  not  find  a  sepa- 
rate one  expressed  for  every  nominative.  This  mode  of  interpretation  not  only  precludes  tl  e 
agreement  of  a  verb  with  two  or  more  nominatives,  so  as  to  render  nugatory  two  of  the  most  hu- 
nt rules  of  these  very  gentlemen's  syntax;  but,  what  is  worse,  it  perverts  many  a  plain, 
simple,  and  perfect  sentence,  to  a  form  winch  its  author  did  not  choose,  and  a  meaning  which  he 
never  intended.  Suppose,  for  example,  the  text  to  be,  "A  good  constitution  and  good  laws  mal-e 
good  subjects."  —  \\',  'liter's  /V.V.S7///.V,  p.  1">2.  Does  not  the;  verb  make  agree  with  constituti( 
hnrs,  taken  conjointly?  and  is'  it  not  a  /lerrcrsinn  of  the  sentence  to  interpret  it  otherwise? 
then  with  all  this  needless  subaudition  !  But  while  we  thus  deny  that  there  can  be  a  trie 
ellipsis  of  what  is  not  necessary  to  the  construction,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  there  are  titie 
ellipses,  and  in  some  men's  style  very  many.  The  assumption  of  O.  B.  I'eirce,  that  no  correct 
elliptical,  and  his  impracticable  project  of  a  grammar  founded  on  this  principle,  are 
amor  >'st  .  o.f  possible  absurdities. 

Oits.  2-">.  —  Dr.  Wilson  says,  "There  may  be  several  subjects  to  the  same  verb,  several  verbs 
to  the  same  subject,  or  several  objects  to  the  same  verb,  and  the  sentence  be  simple.  But  when 
the  sentene  •  remains  simple,  the  same  verb  must  be  differently  all'ected  bv  its  several  adjuncts, 
or  flic  sense  liable  to  be  altered  by  a  separation.  If  the  verb  or  the  subject  be  affected  in  the  same 
manner,  or  the  sentence  /.->•  resolvable  into  more,  it  is  compounded.  Thus,  '  Violet,  indigo,  blue, 
green,  yellow,  orange,  and  red,  mixed  in  due  proportion,  produce  white,'  is  a  simple  sentence,  for 
the  subject  is  indivisible,  liut,  'Violet,  indigo,  blue,  green,  yellow,  orange,  and  red,  are  r< 
blc  rays  of  light,'  is  a  compound  sentence,  and  may  be  separated  into  seven."  —  I'.ssai/  on  Gram. 
p.  !»«;'.  '1  lie  propriety  of  the  distinction  here  made,  ii  at  least  questionable  ;  and  I  incline  to  con- 
;he  second  example  a  simple  sentence,  as  well  as  the  first;  because  what  the  writer  calls  a 
separation  into  seven,  involves  a  change  of  arc  to  is,  and  of?v/y.s  to  ray,  as  well  as  a  sevenfold  rep- 
etition of  this  altered  predicate,  "  is  a  refrangible  ray  of  light"  But  tho  parser,  in  interpreting 
the  words  of  others,  and  exp  .Minding  the  construction  of  what  is  written,  has  no  right  to  alter 
any  thing  in  this  manner.  Nor  do  I  admit  that  he  lias  a  right  to  insert  or  repeat  any  thing  nced- 
Its'x/i/;  for  the  nature  of  a  sentence,  or  the  syntax  of  some  of  its  words,  may  often  be  altered 
without  change  of  the  sense,  or  of  any  word  for  an  other:  as,  "  'A  wall  seven  feet  high;'  that  is, 
•A  wall  I'-i'ieft  is  seven  feet  high.'"  —  "llilei/'s  Grain,  p.  109.  "•'  He  spoke  and  acted  prudently;' 
that  is,  '  He  spoke  prudently,  and  7<t-  acted  prudently.'  "  —  Ibid.  "  '  He  spoke  and  acted  wisely  ;  ' 


CHAP.    I.]  SYNTAX. — SENTENCES. OBSERVATIONS.— ANALYSIS.  449 

that  is,  « He  spoke  icisely,  and  he  acted  wisely.'"— Murray's  Gram.  p.  219;  Atyer's,  70;  .R.  C. 
X»iit/rs,  183;  Wrlti's,  192;  uud  others.  By  this  notion  of  ellipsis,  the  connexion  or  joint  rela- 
tion of  words  is  destroyed. 

Ous.  26. — Dr.  Adam,  who  thought  the  division  of  sentences  into  simple  and  compound,  of 
sufficient  importance  to  be  made  the  basis  of  a  general  division  of  syntax  into  two  parts,  has  de- 
fined a  simple  sentence  to  be,  "  that  which  has  but  one  nominative,  and  one  finite  verb  ;  "  and  a 
compound  sentence,  "  that  which  has  more  than  one  nominative,  or  one  finite  verb."  And  of  the 
latter  he  gives  the  following  erroneous  and  self-contradictory  account:  "A  compound  sentence  is 
made  up  of  two  or  more  simple  sentences  or  phrases,  and  is  commonly  called  a  Period.  The  parts 
of  which  a  compound  sentence  consists,  arc  called  Members  or  Clauses.  In  every  compound  sen- 
tence there  are  either  several  subjects  and  one  attribute,  or  several  attributes  and  one  subject,  or 
both  several  subjects  and  several  attributes  ;  that  is,  there  are  either  several  nominatives  applied 
to  the  same  verb,  or  several  verbs  applied  to  the  same  nominative,  or  both.  Every  verb 
murks  a  judgment  or  attribute,  and  every  attribute  must  have  a  subject.  There  must,  therefore, 
be  in  every  sentence  or  period,  as  many  propositions  as  there  are  verbs  of  a  finite  mode.  Sen- 
are  compounded  by  means  of  relatives  and  conjunctions ;  as,  Happy  is  the  man  who 
loveth  religion,  and  practiseth  virtue." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  202;  Gould's,  199;  and  others. 

OHS.  '27. — Now  if  every  compound  sentence  consists  of  such  parts,  members,  or  clauses,  as  are  in 
themselves  sentences,  either  simple  or  compound,  either  elliptical  or  complete  ;  it  is  plain,  in  the 
first  place,  that  the  term  "phrases  "  is  misapplied  above,  because  a  phrase  is  properly  only  a  part 
of  some  simple  sentence.  And  if  "  a  simple  sentence  is  that  which  has  but  one  nominative  and 
one  finite  verb,"  and  "  a  compound  sentence  is  made  up  of  two  or  more  simple  sentences,"  it  fol- 
inee  "  all  sentences  are  either  simple  or  compound,"  that,  in  no  sentence,  can  there  be 
"  either  several  nominatives  applied  to  the  same  verb,  or  several  verbs  applied  to  the  same 
nominative."  What,  therefore,  this  author  regarded  as  the  characteristic  of  all  compound  sen- 
tences, is,  according  to  his  own  previous  positions,  utterly  impossible  to  any  sentence.  Nor  is  it 
less  repugnant  to  his  subsequent  doctrine,  that,  "  Sentences  are  compounded  by  means  of  relatives 
and  conjunctions  ;  "  for,  according  to  his  notion.  "A  conjunction  is  an  indeclinable  word,  which 
serves  to  join  sentences  together." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  149.  It  is  assumed,  that,  "  In  every 
fn-ntence  there  must  be  a  verb  and  a  nominative  expressed  or  understood." — Ib.  p.  151.  Now  if 
there  happen  to  be  two  nominatives  to  one  verb,  as  when  it  was  said,  "  Even  the  winds  and  the 
sea  obey  him  ; "  this  cannot  be  anything  more  than  a  simple  sentence  ;  because  one  single  verb  is 
ji  thing  indivisible,  and  how  can  we  suppose  it  to  form  the  most  essential  part  of  two  different 
sentences  at  once  ? 

Ous.  28. — The  distinction,  or  real  difference,  between  those  simple  sentences  in  which  two  or 
more  nominatives  or  verbs  are  taken  conjointly,  and  those  compound  sentences  in  which  there  is 
an  ellipsis  of  some  of  the  nominatives  or  verbs,  is  not  always  easy  to  be  known  or  fixed  ;  because, 
in  many  instances,  a  supposed  ellipsis,  without  at  all  affecting  the  sense,  may  obviously  change 
the  construction,  and  consequently  the  nature  of  the  sentence.  For  example:  "And  they  all  for- 
sook him,  and  [they  all]  fled." — Mark,  xiv,  50.  Some  will  say,  that  the  words  in  brackets  are 
here  understood.  I  may  deny  it,  because  they  are  needless  ;  and  nothing  needless  can  form  a  true 
ellipsis.  To  the  supplying  of  use-less  words,  if  we  admit  the  principle,  there  may  be  no  end  ;  and 
the  notion  that  conjunctions  join  sentences  only,  opens  a  wide  door  for  it.  For  example  :  "And 
that  man  was  perfect  and  upright,  and  one  that  feared  God,  and  eschewed  evil." — Job,  i,  1.  No  ad- 
ditional words  will  make  this  clause  any  plainer,  and  none  are  really  necessary  to  the  construction ; 
yet  some  grammarians  will  parse  it  with  the  following  impletions,  or  more  :  "And  that  man  was 
t  limn,  and  lie  KV/.V  tm  upright  man,  and  he  teas  one  man  that  feared  God,  and  that  eschew- 
ed evil  t/iin(/s."  It  is  easy  to  see  how  this  liberty  of  interpretation,  or  of  interpolation,  will  change 
simple  sentences  to  compound  sentences,  as  well  as  alter  the  nature  and  relation  of  many  par- 
ticular words  ;  and  at  the  same  time,  it  takes  away  totally  those  peculiarities  of  construction  by 
which  Dr.  Adam  and  others  would  recognize  a  se'ntence  as  being  compound.  What  then?  are 
there  not  two  kinds  of  sentences  ?  Yes,  truly  ;  but  these  authors  are  wrong  in  their  notions  and 
definition*  of  both.  Joint  nominatives  or  joint  verbs  may  occur  in  either;  but  they  belong  primarily 
ntences,  and  only  for  that  reason  are  found  in  any  that  are  compound.  A  sen- 
tence, too,  may  possibly  be  made  compound,  when  a  simple  one  would  express  the  whole  meaning 
;i  or  better;  a-,  "And  [David]  smote  the  Philistines  from  Geba  until  thou  come  to  Gazer." 
Here,  if  we  omit  the  words  in  Italics,  the  sentence  will  become  simple,  not 
elliptical. 

THE  ANALYZING  OF  SENTENCES. 

To  analyze  a  sentence,  is,  to  resolve  it  into  some  species  of  constituent 
parts,  but  most  properly  into  words,  its  first  significant  elements,  and  to  point 
out  their  several  relations  and  powers  in  the  given  connexion. 

The  component  parts  of  a  sentence  are  mcnilH-r*,  r/^/.svx,  phrases,  or  ivords. 
Some  sentences,  which  are  short  and  simple,  can  only  be  divided  into  their 
words;  others,  which  are  long  and  complex,  may  be  resolved  into  parts  again 
raid  again  divisible. 

Of  analysis  applicable  to  sentences,  there  are  several  different  methods  ; 
and,  so  far  as  their  difference  may  compatibly  aid  the  application  of  different 
]  riiiciples  of  the  science  of  grammar,  there  may  be  an  advantage  in  the  occa- 
sional use  of  each. 

29 


450  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

FIRST  METHOD  OF  ANALYSIS. 

Sentences  not  simple  may  be  reduced  to  their  constituent  members,  clauses,  or 
simple  sentences  ;  and  the  means  by  which  these  are  united,  may  be  shown.  Thus : — 

EXAMPLE  ANALYZED. 

"  Even  the  Atheist,  who  tells  us  that  the  universe  is  self-existent  and  indestructi- 
ble— even  he,  who,  instead  of  seeing  the  traces  of  a  manifold  wisdom  in  its  manifold 
varieties,  sees  nothing  in  them  all  but  the  exquisite  structures  and  the  lofty  dimen- 
sions of  materialism — even  he,  who  would  despoil  creation  of  its  God,  cannot  look 
upon  its  golden  suns,  and  their  accompanying  systems,  without  the  solemn  impres- 
sion of  a  magnificence  that  fixes  and  overpowers  him." — DR.  CHALMERS,  Discourses 
on  Revelation  and  Astronomy,  p.  231. 

ANALYSIS.  —  This  is  a  compound  sentence,  consisting  of  three  complex  members,  which  are  separated  by  the 
two  dashes.  The  three  members  are  united  in  one  sentence,  by  a  suspension  of  the  sense  at  each  dash,  and  by 
two  virtual  repetitions  of  the  subject,  "Atheist,"  through  the  pronoun  "  Ae,"  put  in  the  same  case,  and  represent- 
ing this  noun.  The  sense  mainly  intended  is  not  brought  out  till  the  period  ends.  Each  of  the  three  members 
is  complex,  because  each  has  not  only  a  relative  clause,  commencing  with  "  7r/io,"  but  also  an  antecedent  word 
which  makes  sense  with  "  cannot  look,"  &c.  The  first  of  these  relative  clauses  involves  also  a  subordinate,  sup- 
plementary clause, —  u  the  universe  is  self-existent  and  indestructible,'"  —  introduced  after  the  verb  u  tells  "  by 
the  conjunction  v<  that.'1''  The  last  phrase,  "  without  the  solemn  impression,'1''  &c.,  which  is  subjoined  by  "  with- 
out "  to  "  cannot  look,'1''  embraces  likewise  a  subordinate,  relative  clause,  —  "  that  fixes  and  overpowers  him,"  — 
which  has  two  verbs ;  the  whole,  antecedent  and  all,  being  but  an  adjunct  of  an  adjunct,  yet  an  essential  element 
of  the  sentence. 

SECOND  METHOD  OF  ANALYSIS. 

Simple  sentences,  or  the  simple  members  of  compound  sentences,  may  be  resolved 
into  their  PRINCIPAL  and  their  SUBORDINATE  PARTS  ;  the  subject,  the  verb,  and  the 
case  put  after  or  governed  by  the  verb,  being  first  pointed  out  as  the  principal 
parts ;  and  the  other  words  being  then  detailed  as  adjuncts  to  these,  according  to 
THE  SENSE,  or  as  adjuncts  to  adjuncts.  Thus : — 

EXAMPLE  ANALYZED. 

"  Fear  naturally  quickens  the  flight  of  guilt.  Rasselas  could  not  catch  the  fugi- 
tive, with  his  utmost .  efforts ;  but,  resolving  to  weary,  by  perseverance,  him  whom 
he  could  not  surpass  in  speed,  he  pressed  on  till  the  foot  of  the  mountain  stopped 
his  course." — DR.  JOHNSON,  Rasselas,  p.  23. 

ANALYSIS. — The  first  period  here  is  a  simple  sentence.  Its  principal  parts  arc  —  Fear,  quickens,  flight ;  Fear 
being  the  subject,  quickens  the  verb,  and  flight  the  object.  Fear  has  no  adjunct ;  naturally  is  an  adjunct  of  quick- 
ens,' the  and  of  guilt  are  adjuncts  of  flight.  The  second  period  is  composed  of  several  clauses,  or  simple  mem- 
bers, united.  The  first  of  these  is  also  a  simple  sentence,  having  three  principal  parts  —  Rasselas,  could  catch, 
and  fugitive  ;  the  subject,  the  verb,  and  its  object,  in  their  order.  Not  is  added  to  could  catch,  reversing  the 
meaning  ;  the  is  an  adjunct  to  fugitive  ;  with  joins  its  phrase  to  could  not  catch ;  but  his  and  utmost  are  adjuncts 
of  efforts.  The  word  but  connects  the  two  chief  members  as  parts  of  one  sentence.  "Resolving  to  weary ',"  is  an 
adjunct  to  the  pronoun  he,  which  stands  before  pressed.  "By  perseverance,''''  is  an  adjunct  to  weary.  Him  is 
governed  by  weary,  and  is  the  antecedent  to  whom.  "  Whom  he  could  not  surpass  in  speed,"  is  a  relative  clause, 
or  subordinate  simple  member,  having  three  principal  parts  —  he,  could  surpass,  and  whom.  Not  and  in  speed 
are  adjuncts  to  the  verb  could  surpass.  uHe  pressed  on,"  is  another  simple  member,  or  sentence,  and  the  chief 
clause  here  used,  the  others  being  subjoined  to  this.  Its  principal  parts  are  two,  he  and  pressed ;  the  latter  taking 
the  particle  on  as  an  adjunct,  and  being  intransitive.  The  words  dependent  on  the  nominative  he,  (to  wit, 
resolving,  &c.,)  have  already  been  mentioned.  Till  is  a  conjunctive  adverb  of  time,  connecting  the  concluding 
clause  to  pressed  on.  %£  The  foot  of  the  mountain  stopped  his  course,'1'  is  a  subordinate  clause  and  simple  member, 
whose  principal  parts  are — the  subject  foot,  the  verb  stopped,  and  the  object  course.  The  adjuncts  of  foot  are  the 
and  of  the  mountain;  the  verb  in  this  sentence  has  no  adjunct  but  course,  which  is  better  reckoned  a  principal 
word  ;  lastly,  his  is  an  adjunct  to  course,  and  governed  by  it. 

THIRD   METHOD   OF  ANALYSIS. 

Sentences  may  be  partially  analyzed  by  a  resolution  into  their  SUBJECTS  and  their 
PREDICATES,  a  method  which  some  late  grammarians  have  borrowed  from  the  logi- 
cians ;  the  grammatical  subject  with  its  adjuncts,  being  taken  for  the  logical  sub- 
ject;  and  the  finite  verb,  which  some  call  the  grammatical  predicate  *  being,  with 

*  "  The  grammatical  predicate  is  a  verb." — Butler's  Pract.  Gram.,  1845,  p.  135.  "  The  grammatical  predicate  is 
a  finite  verb." — Wells's  School  Gram.,  1850,  p.  185.  "The  grammatical  predicate  is  either  a  verb  alone,  or  the 
copula  sum  [some  part  of  the  verb  be]  with  a  noun  or  adjective." — Andrews  and  Sto/l/lard's  Isit.  Gram.  p.  162. 


p. 

matical,  with  all  the  words  or  phrases  that  modify  it." — Ib.  p.  180.  "  The  Grammatical  predicate  is  the  word  or 
words  containing  the  simple  affirmation,  made  respecting  the  subject." — Bullions,  Latin  Gram.  p.  209.  "Every 
proposition  necessarily  consists  of  these  three  parts ;  [the  subject,  the  predicate,  and  the  copula ;]  but  then  it  is  not 
alike  needful,  that  they  be  all  severally  expressed  in  words ;  because  the  copula  is  oftenincluded  in  the  term  of  the 


CHAP.    I.]  SYNTAX.  -  SENTENCES.  -  METHODS    OP   ANALYSIS.  451 

its  subsequent  case  and  the  adjuncts  of  both,  denominated  the  predicate,  or  the  logi- 
cal predicate.      Tlim:  — 

EXAMPLE  ANALYZED. 

"  Such  is  the  emptiness  of  human  enjoyment,  that  we  are  always  impatient  of  the 
present.  Attainment  is  followed  by  neglect,  and  possession,  by  disgust.  Few  mo- 
ments are  more  pleasing  than  those  in  which  the  mind  is  concerting  measures  for  a 
new  undertaking.  From  the  first  hint  that  wakens  the  fancy,  to  the  hour  of  actual 
execution,  all  is  improvement  and  progress,  triumph  and  felicity."  —  DR.  JOHNSON, 
Rambler. 

ANALYSIS.—  Here  th«  first  period  is  a  compound  sentence,  containing  two  clauses,  -which  are  connected  by  that. 
In  the  first  clause,  emptiness  is  the  grammatical  subject,  and  "  the  emptiness  of  human  enjoyment,"  is  the  logical. 
/*  «ome  would  call  the  grammatical  predicate,  and  "  Such  is,"  or  is  such,  the  logical  ;  but  the  latter  consists,  as 
the  majority  teach,  of  '•  the  copula"  is,  and  "  the  attribute,"  or  £1  predicate,"  such.  In  the  second  clause,  the 
subject  is  we;  which  is  unmodified,  and  in  which  therefore  the  logical  form  and  the  grammatical  coincide  and  are 
the  same.  Are  may  here  be  called  the  grammatical  predicate  ;  and  "  are  always  impatient  of  the  present,"  the 
logical.  The  second  period,  too,  is  a  compound  sentence,  having  two  clauses,  which  are  connected  by  and.  At- 
tainment is  the  subject  of  the  former  ;  and,  "  is  followed  by  neglect,"  is  the  predicate.  In  the  latter,  possession 
alone  is  the  subject;  and,  u  [is  followed]  by  disgust,"  is  the  predicate  ;  the  verb  is  followed  being  understood  at 
the  comma.  Tae  third  period,  likewise,  is  a  compound,  having  three  parts,  with  the  two  connectives  than  and 
which.  Here  we  have  moments  for  the  first  grammatical  subject,  and  Few  moments  for  the  logical  ;  then,  are  for 
the  grammatical  predicate,  and  are  more  pleasing  for  the  logical  :  or,  if  we  choose  to  say  so,  for  u  the  copula  and 
the  attribute."  "Than  those,"  is  an  elliptical  member,  meaning,  "  than  are  those  moments,"  or,  "  than  those 
moments  are  pleasing  :  "  both  subject  and  predicate  are  wholly  suppressed,  except  that  those  is  reckoned  a  part  of 
the  logical  subject.  In  which  is  an  adjunct  of  is  concerting,  and  serves  well  to  connect  the  members,  because 
which  represents  those,  i.  e.  those  moments.  Mind,  or  the  mind,  is  the  next  subject  of  affirmation  ;  and  is  concat- 
ing,  or,  "  15  concerting  measures  for  a  new  undertaking,"  is  the  predicate,  or  matter  affirmed.  Lastly,  the  fourth 
period,  like  the  rest,  is  compound.  The  phrases  commencing  with  From  and  to,  describe  a  period  of  time,  and 
are  adjuncts  of  the  verb  is.  The  former  contains  a  subordinate  relative  clause,  of  which  that  (representing  hint) 
is  the  subject,  and  wakens,  or  wakens  the  fancy,  the  predicate.  Of  the  principal  clause,  the  word  ali}  taken  as  a 
ijoun.N  the  subject,  whether  grammatical  or  logical;  and  "the  copula,"  or  "  grammatical  predicate,"  is,  become*, 
with  its  adjuncts  and  the  nominatives  following,  the  logical  predicate. 

FOURTH  METHOD  OF  ANALYSIS. 

All  syntax  is  founded  on  the  RELATION  of  words  one  to  an  other,  and  the  CONNEX- 
ION of  clauses  and  phrases,  according  to  THE  SENSE.  Hence  sentences  may  be,  in 
some  sort,  analyzed,  and  perhaps  profitably,  by  the  tracing  of  such  relation  or  con- 
nexion, from  link  to  link,  through  a  series  of  words,  beginning  and  ending  with 
such  as  are  somewhat  remote  from  each  other,  yet  within  the  period.  Thus  :  — 

EXAMPLES  ANALYZED. 

1.  "  Swift  would  say,  '  The  thing  has  not  life  enough  in  it  to  keep  it  sweet  ;  '  John- 
>n,  '  The  creature  possesses  not  vitality  sufficient  to  preserve  it  from  putrefaction.'  ' 

—  MATT.  HARRISON,  on  the  English  Language,  p.  102. 

ANALYSIS.  —  What  is  the  general  sense  of  this  passage  ?  and  what,  the  chain  of  connexion  between  the  words 
•  nd  putrefaction  ?    The  perio  1  is  denned  to  show,  that  Swift  preferred  words  of  Saxon  origin  ;  and  John- 
son, of  Latin.    It  h'i-  ite  members,  tacitly  connected  ;  the  verb  would  say  being  under- 

after  Johnson,  and  perhaps  also  the  particle  but,  after  the  semicolon.      Swift  is  the  subject  of  would  say; 
•  introduces  the  clause  after  it,  as  what  would  be  said.      The  relates  to  thing  ;  thing  is  the  subject  of 
lia*  :  /ifi\  is  qualified  by  ;i^,  and  governs  lift  ;   life  is  ciualitii-i.1  by  the  adjective  enough,  and  by  the  phrase,  in  it  ; 
to  to  ;  to  governs  keep;  keep  governs  it,  which  stands  for  th<-  thing  ;  and  ?f,'in  lieu  of  the  thing, 
\^  .JIM,.  members  are  connected  either  by  standing  in  contrast  as  members,  or  by  but, 

\--  the  subject  «  :  and  this  would  say,  again  intro- 

."  subject  of  possesses;  possesses  in 

qualified  l>\-  /.  -if,  'lit  i/  is  (|ualilied  by  siiffirimt  :  sitj/jrimt  is  antecedent  to  to!  to  governs 

present  :  p/».<Tiv  govern-  utecedent  to  from;  and/rom  governs  putrefaction. 

2.  "  There  is  one  Being  to  whom  we  can  look  with  a  perfect  conviction  of  finding 
that  security,  which  nothing  about  us  can  give,  and  which  nothing  about  us  can  take 
away."  —  GREENWOOD:    HW/s's  School  Gram.  p.  102.* 

icatc  :  as  when  we  say,  he  fits:  which  imports  the  same  as,  he  M  sitting.'11  —  Di/nrrrn's  J.oyir,  p.  105.     In  re- 

t  fc.  this  Thirl  Method  .h|e,  whether  a  noun  or  an  adjective  which  follows  the  verb 

forms  part  of  the  nsser;  ,,r  not.      Wells  says,  No:  "It 

would  destroy  at  onee  all  di  ••.•.mari.-al  and  the  lo-ical  predicate."—  School  Gram.  p.  185. 

'  n  oth.  -.  whether  ti.r  r  the  like.)  which  the  ioxiriuns  discriminate,  should  be 

:ts  part  of  the  l.-xi<-nl  prcdicit'.c,  wlicn  it  occurs  a<<  a  distinct  word.     The  prevalent  practice  of  the  gram- 

to  include  it  —  a  practice  which  in  itsi-lf  is  not  verv  '•  logical.  v     The  distinction  of  sub; 
d  pr.  immatirnl  a  ..m-.     In  .^mie  grammars,  the  partition  used  in  logic 


copied  without  change,  except  pi-rh-ips  of  vor'l^:  •.,  ';tenccs,  a  subject,  a  predicate,  and  a 

ula.1'—  Jos.  R.  CinM'i.KK.  <i>tu,i.  •  .  ,,t  1M7.  p.  llo. 


is  co 

copul 

«  1  cite  this  examplf  from  Wells,  for  the  purpose  of  explaining  it  without  the  several  errors  which  that  gentle- 
man's "Jf  cxf  e/"  inculcate*.   He  raggmt*that  a  -r  th<»  two  P-,  •  .  but  the  two  verbs 

in  tnl.f  :  and  that  the  connexion  between  nvai/  and  is  must  be  traced  through  the  former,  and  its 
i<>ns,  1  think,  are  ^  r  ions,  "  which 

relates  it,1'  and,  u  which  is  related  by,-1  each  in  ft  very  unusual,  and  perhaps  an  unauthorized,  sense.    Ilia  formula 


452  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

ANALYSIS.— What  is  the  general  structure  of  this  passage?  and  -what,  the  chain  of  connexion  "bet-ween  the 
•words  away  and  in  ?  "  The  period  is  a  complex  sentence,  having  four  clauses,  all  connected  together  by  relatives  ; 
the  second,  by  whom,  to  the  first  and  chief  clause,  "  There  is  one  Being ;  "  the  third  and  the  fourth,  to  the  second, 
by  u-hichnnd.  which  ;  but  the  last  two,  having  the  same  antecedent,  security,  and  being  coordinate,  are  also  con- 
nected one  to  the  other  by  and.  As  to  "  the  chain  of  connexion,"  Away  relates  to  can  take  ;  can  take  agrees  with 
its  nominative  nothing,  and  governs  which  ;  whicli  represents  security;  security  is  governed  by  finding;  Jintiing 
is  governed  by  of;  of  refers  back  to  conviction;  conviction  is  governed  by  with  ;  with  refers  back  to  can  look ;  can 
look  agrees  with  we,  and  is,  in  sense,  the  antecedent  of  to  ;  to  governs  whom;  whom  represents  Being ;  and  Being 
is  the  subject  of  is. 

FIFTH  METHOD  OF  ANALYSIS. 

TJie  best  and  most  thorough  method  of  analysis  is  that  of  COMPLETE  SYNTACTICAL 
PARSING  ;  a  method  which,  for  the  sake  of  order  and  brevity,  should  ever  be  kept 
free  from  all  mixture  of  etymological  definitions  or  reasons,  but  which  may  be  pre- 
ceded or  followed  by  any  of  the  foregoing  schemes  of  resolution,  if  the  teacher 
choose  to  require  any  such  preliminary  or  subsidiary  exposition.  This  method  is 
fully  illustrated  in  the  Twelfth  Praxis  below. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  METHODS  OF  ANALYSIS. 

OBS.  1. — The  almost  infinite  variety  in  the  forms  of  sentences,  will  sometimes  throw  difficulty 
in  the  way  of  the  analyzer,  be  his  scheme  or  his  skill  what  it  may.  The  last  four  or  five  observa- 
tions of  the  preceding  series  have  shown,  that  the  distinction  of  sentences  as  simple  or  compound, 
which  constitutes  the  chief  point  of  the  First  Method  of  Analysis  above,  is  not  always  plain, 
even  to  the  learned.  The  definitions  and  examples  which  I  have  given,  will  make  it  generally 
so  ;  and,  where  it  is  otherwise,  the  question  or  puzzle,  it  is  presumed,  cannot  often  be  of  much 
practical  importance.  If  the  difference  be  not  obvious,  it  can  hardly  be  a  momentous  error,  to 
mistake  a  phrase  for  an  elliptical  clause,  or  to  call  such  a  clause  a  phrase. 

OBS.  2. — The  Second  Method  above  is,  I  think,  easier  of  application  than  any  of  the  rest ;  and, 
if  other  analysis  than  the  regular  method  of  parsing  seem  desirable,  this  will  probably  be  found  as 
useful  as  any.  There  is,  in  many  of  our  popular  grammars,  some  recognition  of  the  principles 
of  this  analysis — some  mention  of  "  the  principal  parts  of  a  sentence,"  in  accordance  with  what 
are  so  called  above, — and  also,  in  a  few,  some  succinct  account  of  the  parts  called  "  adjuncts ;  " 
but  there  seems  to  have  been  no  prevalent  practice  of  applying  these  principles,  in  any  stated  or 
well-digested  manner.  Lowth,  Murray,  Alger,  W.  Allen,  Hart,  Hiley,  Ingersoll,  Wells,  and  others, 
tell  of  these  "PRINCIPAL  PARTS;" — Lowth  calling  them,  "the  agent,  the  attribute,  and  the 
object;"  (Gram.  p.  72;) — Murray,  and  his  copyists.  Alger,  Ingersoll',  and  others,  calling  them, 
"  the  subject,  the  attribute,  and  the  object ;  " — Hiley  and  Hart  calling  them,  "  the  subject  or  nomi- 
native, the  attribute  or  verb,  and  the  object  ;  " — Allen  calling  them,  "the  nominative,  the  verb,  and 


juncts,"  as  a  species  which  "  embraces  all  the  words  of  a  simple  sentence  [,]  except  the  principal 
parts  ;  " — yet  not  more  than  two  of  them  all  appearing  to  have  taken  any  thought,  and  they  but 
little,  about  the  formal  application  of  their  common  doctrine.  In  Allen's  English  Grammar, 
which  is  one  of  the  best,  and  likewise  in  Wells's,  this  reduction  of  all  connected  words,  or  parts  of 
speech,  into  "the  principal  parts"  and  "the  adjuncts,"  is  fully  recognized;  the  adjuncts,  too, 
are  discriminated  by  Allen,  as  "  either  primary  or  secondary,"  nor  are  their  more  particular 
species  or  relations  overlooked ;  but  I  find  no  method  prescribed  for  the  analysis  intended,  ex- 
cept what  Wells  adopted  in  his  early  editions  but  has  since  changed  to  an  other  or  abandoned, 
and  no  other  allusion  to  it  by  Allen,  than  this  Note,  which,  with  some  appearance  of  intrusion,  is  ap- 

Eded  to  his  "  Method  of  Parsing  the  Infinitive  Mood  :  " — "  The  pupil  may  now  bcyin  to  analyse 
%lyze\  the  sentences,  by  distinguishing  the  principal  words  and  their  adjuncts." — W.  Allen's  E. 
tm.  p.  258. 

OBS.  3. — These  authors  in  general,  and  many  more,  tell  us,  with  some  variation  of  words,  that 
the  agent,  subject,  or  nominative,  is  that  of  which  something  is  said,  affirmed,  or  denied;  that 
the  attribute,  verb,  or  predicate,  is  that,  which  is  said,  affirmed,  or  denied,  of  the  subject ;  and  that 
the  object,  accusative,  or  case  sequent,  is  that  which  is  introduced  by  the  finite  verb,  or  affected 
by  the  action  affirmed.  Lowth  says,  "  In  English  the  nominative  case,  denoting  the  agent, 
usually  goes  before  the  verb,  or  attribution  ;  and  the  objective  case,  denoting  the  object,  follows 
the  verb  active." — Short  Introd.  p.  72.  Murray  copies,  but  not  literally,  thus  :  "  The  nominative 
denotes  the  subject,  and  usually  goes  before  the  verb  [,]  or  attribute ;  and  the  word  or  phrase, 
denoting  the  object,  follows  the  verb  :  as,  'A  wise  man  governs  his  passions.'  Here,  a  wise  man 
is  the  subject ;  governs,  the  attribute,  or  thing  affirmed  ;  and  his  passions,  the  object." — Murray's 
Octavo,  p.  142;  Duodecimo,  115.  To  include  thus  the  adjuncts  with  their  principals,  as  the  logi- 
cians do,  is  here  manifestly  improper ;  because  it  unites  what  the  grammatical  analyzer  is  chiefly 
concerned  to  separate,  and  tends  to  defeat  the  main  purpose  for  which  "  THE  PRINCIPAL  PARTS  " 
are  so  named  and  distinguished. 

OBS.  4. — The  Third  Method  of  Analysis,  described  above,  is  an  attempt  very  briefly  to  epito- 
mize the  chief  elements  of  a  great  scheme — to  give,  in  a  nutshell,  the  substance  of  what  our 
grammarians  have  borrowed  from  the  logicians,  then  mixed  with  something  of  their  own,  next 

reads  thus  :  '•'•Away  modifies  can  take ;  can  take  is  CONNECTED  with  ran  give  by  and;  WHICH  is  governed  by  CAN 
GIVE,  and  relates  to  security  ;  sfcurity  is  the  object  of  finding,  which  is  RELATED  BY  of  to  conviction  ;  conviction  is 
the  object  of  with,  which  RELATES  IT  to  can  look;  to  expresses  the  relation  bc-tween  whom  aud  can  look,  and  whom 
relates  to  Being,  which  is  the  subject  of  is.':—  Wells's  School  Gram.,  113th  Ed.,  p.  192.  Neither  this  nor  the  sub- 
sequent method  has  been  often  called  u  analysis;  "  for,  in  grammar,  each  user  of  this  term  has  commonly  applied 
it  to  some  one  method  only  —  the  method  preferred  by  himself. 


CHAP.    I.]  SYNTAX. SENTENCES. BIETHODS   OF   ANALYSIS.  453 

amplified  with  small  details,  and,  in  some  instances,  branched  out  and  extended  to  enormous 
bulk  and  length.  Of  course,  they  have  not  failed  to  set  forth  the  comparative  merits  of  this 
scheme  in  a  sufficiently  favourable  light.  The  two  ingenious  gentlemen  who  seem  to  have  been 
chiefly  instrumental  in  making  it  popular,  say  in  their  preface,  "  The  rules  of  syntax  contained  in 
this  work  result  directly  from  the  analysis  of  propositions,  and  of  compound  sentences  ;  and  for 
this  reason  the  student  should  make  himself  perfectly  familiar  with  the  sections  relating  to  sub- 
ject UulLpntUcate,  and  should  be  able  readily  to  analyze  sentences,  whether  simple  or  compound, 
and  to  explain  their  structure  and  connection.  *  *  *  This  exercise  should  always  precede  the  more 
minute  and  subsidiary  labor  of  parsing.  If  the  latter  be  conducted,  as  it  often  is,  independently 
of  previous  analyses,  the  i>rii><-i/><il  adrantaiie  to  be  derived  from  the  study  of  language,  as  an  in- 
tellectual exercise,  will  inevitably  be  lost." — Latin  Grammar  q£  Andrews  an/1  Stoddard,  p.  vi, 
N.  Butler,  who  bestows  upon  this  subject  about  a  dozen  duodecimo  pages,  says  in  his  preface, 
"The  rules  for  the  analysis  of  sentences,  which  is  a  very  useful  anil  intcre*fi/n/  exercise,  have 
been  taken  from  Andrews'  and  Stoddard's  Latin  Grammar,  some  changes  and  additions  being 
made." — Butler's  Practical  drain,  p.  iv.* 

OHS  5. — Wells,  in  the  early  copies  of  his  School  Grammar,  as  has  been  hinted,  adopted  a  method 
of  analysis  similar  to  the  Serand  one  prescribed  above;  yet  referred,  even  from  the  first,  to 
"Andrews  and  Stoddard's  Latin  Grammar,"  and  to  "  De  Sacy's  General  Grammar,"  as  if  these 
were  authorities  for  what  he  then  inculcated.  Subsequently,  he  chatu/ed  Jiis  scheme,  from  that  of 
Purt.t  Principal  and  Adjuncts,  to  one  of  Subjects  and  Predicates,  "  either  grammatical  or  logical," 

differing 
Third 
logical 

subject  and  predicate  before  the  grammatical.  "  The  chapter  on  Analysis,"  said  he  then,  "  has 
been  revised  and  enlarged  with  great  care,  and  will  be  found  to  embody  all  the  most  important 
principles  on  this  subject  [,]  which  are  contained  in  the  works  of  De  Sacy,  Andrews  and  Stoddard, 
KUhner,  Crosby,  and  Crane.  It  is  gratifying  to  observe  that  the  attention  of  teachers  is  now  so 
generally  directed  to  this  important  mode  of  investigating  the  structure  of  our  language,  in  con- 
•i  with  the  ordinary  exercises  oletymoloyical  and  syntactical  parsing." — Wells' a  School  Gram., 
New  Ed.,  1850,  p.  iv. 

OHS.  6. — In  view  of  the  fact,  that  Wells's  chief  mode  of  sentential  analysis  had  just  undergone  an 
almost  total  metamorphosis,  a  change  plausible  perhaps,  but  of  doubtful  utility, — that,  up  to  the 
date  of  the  words  just  cited,  and  afterwards,  so  far  and  so  long  as  any  copies  of  his  early  "  Thou- 
1  remain  in  use,  the  author  himself  has  earnestly  directed  attention  to  a  method  which  he 
now  means  henceforth  to  abandon, — in  this  view,  the  praise  and  gratulation  expressed  above  seem 
singular.  If  it  has  been  found  practicable,  to  slide  "  the  attention  of  teachers,"  and  their  approba- 
tion too,  adroitly  over  from  one  "  important  mode  of  investigating  the  structure  of  our  language," 
to  an  other  ; — if  "  it  is  gratifying  to  observe,"  that  the  direction  thus  given  to  public  opinion  sus- 
tains itself  so  well,  and"  is  so  generally"  acquiesced  in; — if  it  is  proved,  that  the  stereotyped 
praise  of  one  system  of  analysis  may,  without  alteration,  be  so  transferred  to  an  other,  as  to  answer 
the  double  purpose  of  commending'  and  superseding; — it  is  not  improbable  that  the  author's 
next  new  plates  will  bear  the  stamp  of  vet  other  "  most  important  principles"  of  analysis.  This 
process  is  here  recommended  to  be  used  "  in  connection  u-ith  the  ordinary  exercises  of  etymological 
and  syntactical  parsing," — exercises,  which,  in  Wells's  Grammar,  are  generally,  and  very  improp- 
erly, commingled  ;  and  if,  to  these,  may  be  profitably  conjoined  either  his  present  or  his  former 
scheme  of  analysis,  it  were  well,  had  he  somewhere  put  them  together  and  shown  how. 

7. — But  there  are  other  passages  of  the  School  Grammar,  so  little  suited  to  this  notion  of 
-."  that  one  can  hardly  believe  the  word  ought  to  be  taken  in  what  seems  its  only  sense. 
need  classes  should  attend   less  to  the  common  Order  of  Parsinu,  and  more  to  the  Analy- 
—  HW/.s'.s  (irrfiittnur,  •'  od  Thousand,"  p.  125  ;  "  113th  Thousand,"  p.  132.     This 
implies,  what  is  probably  true  of  the  etymological  exercise,  that  parsing  is  more  rudimental  than 
the  other  f<>:  It  also  intimates,  what  is  not   so  clear,  that  pupils  rightly  instruct- 

ed mil  irom  the  former  to  the  latter,  as  to  something  more  worthy  of  their  intellectual 

La  u>ed  with  reference  to  cither  form  of  analysis  adopted  by  the  author. 

So  the  foil..  n,  in  which  Parsing  is  plainly  disparaged,  stands  permanently  at  the 

head  of  "  the  chapter  on  Analysis,"  to  commend  first  one  mode,  and  then  an  other:  "It  is  particu- 
larly desirable  that  pupils  should  pass  as  ear/;/  a»  practicable  from  the  formalities  ot  common  FARS- 
impftrfonl  exercue  of  ANALYZING  critically  the  structure  of  language.    The  me- 
chanical routine  of  technical  parsing  is  peculiarly  liable  to  become  monotonous  and  dull,  while  Me 

\nt  ami  liffi'  idapted  to  call  the 

mind  of  the  learner  i:  -ion,  and  can  hardly  fail  of  exciting  the  deepest 

;..  1S1  ;  113th  Th.  p.  184. 

Oits.  8. — An  is:  >l  one,  is  almost  as  unlucky  ingrammar, 

as  an  ill  method  <  n  ill  use  of  a  good  one,  would  be  in  arithmetic.     From  the  strong 

contrast  cited  ai"  -.  de\ising,  or  using,  a  technical  process 

for  the  exercising  of  learners  in  the  principles  of  etyniol...  •  ix,  this  author  had  been  less 

fortunate  than  the  generality  of   his  tVllow>.     Not  only  is 'it   implied,  that  parsing  is  no  critical 
'  in  opposition  to  the  "mechanical  routine,"  may  very  well  serve  for 

•  The  ponecrive  phrase  h«-n-  -Oifiild  !>«•.  •tAn>lrrn-<  \Vr!ls  and  others  write  it.     The  adding 

of  the  apostn  ruuT  name  i»  wrong,  even  by  tl.  rn  absurd  and  Mlf-ooatxa- 

Kulr  :  to  wit,'-  U  !i«-ii  tw  'no  pofvemive  case  an-  com,.  \t-termi- 

i  should  br  a>:  as,  '  Thefe  ;ir  liur.  if  ol'jcrts  arc  possessed 


iii  couiiiKiii  li\  t\\<>  i  r  ii  it  any  intorv 

tiTii'.inati'iu  ,-.-•'/<//'/  .'c  tilt  (art  n  mn  > 


••.lohn'<  .-in  ;  's  books  and 

Elija's:         Ai.  .:      .-  and  Stoddard's  Latin  Grammar  "  =  "Andrews'  (or  Andrews's)  Latin  Grammar  and  Stod- 


454  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

a  definition  of  Syntactical  Parsing — "  the  practice  of  explaining  the  various  relations  and  offices  of 
icords  in  a  sentence  !  "  If  this  "  practice,"  well  ordered,  can  be  at  once  interesting  and  profitable 
to  the  learner,  so  may  parsing.  Nor,  after  all,  is  even  this  author's  mode  of  parsing,  defective 
though  it  is  in  several  respects,  less  "  important  "  to  the  users  of  his  book,  or  less  valued  by  teach- 
ers, than  the  analysis  which  he  sets  above  it. 

OBS.  9. — S.  S.  Greene,  a  public  teacher  in  Boston,  who,  in  answer  to  a  supposed  "  demand  for 
a. -more  philosophical  plan  of  teaching  the  English  language,"  has  entered  in  earnest  upon  the 
"Analysis  of  Sentences,"  having  devoted  to  one  method  of  it  more  than  the  space  of  two  hundred 
duodecimo  pages,  speaks  of  analysis  and  of  parsing,  thus :  "  The  resolving  of  a  sentence  into 
its  elements,  or  of  any  complex  element  into  the  parts  which  compose  it,  is  called  analysis." — 
Greene's  Analysis,  p.  14.  "  Parsing  consists  in  naming  a  part  of  speech,  giving  its  modifications, 
relation,  agreement  or  dependence,  and  the  rule  for  its  construction.  Analysis  consists  in  point- 
ing out  the  words  or  groups  of  words  which  constitute  the  elements  of  a  sentence.  Analysis 
should  precede  parsing." — Ib.  p.  26.  "A  large  proportion  of  the  elements  of  sentences  are  not 
single  words,  but  combinations  or  groups  of  words.  These  groups  perform  the  office  of  the  sub- 
stantive, the  adjective,  or  the  adverb,  and,  in  some  one  of  these  relations,  enter  in  as  the  component 
parts  of  a  sentence.  The  pupil  who  learns  to  determine  the  elements  of  a  sentence,  must,  therefore, 
learn  the  force  of  these  combinations  before  he  separates  them  into  the  single  words  which  compose 
them.  This  advantage  is  wholly  lost  in  the  ordinary  methods  of  parsing." — Ib.  p.  3. 

OBS.  10. — On  these  passages,  it  may  be  remarked  in  the  first  place,  that  the  distinction 
attempted  between  analysis  and  parsing  is  by  no  means  clear,  or  well  drawn.  Nor  indeed  could 
it  be  ;  because  parsing  is  a  species  of  analysis.  The  first  assertion  would  be  just  as  true  as  it  is 
now,  were  the  former  word  substituted  for  the  latter :  thus,  "  The  resolving  of  a  sentence  into  its 
elements,  or  of  any  complex  element  into  the  parts  which  compose  it,  is  called  parsing"  Nextr 
the  "Parsing"  spoken  of  in  the  second  sentence,  is  Syntactical  Parsing  only;  and,  without  a 
limitation  of  the  species,  neither  this  assertion  nor  the  one  concerning  precedence  is  sufficiently 
true.  Again,  the  suggestion,  that,  "Analysis  consists  in  pointing  out  the  words  or  groups 


intelligi 

same  thing,  "  learn  the  force  of  the  words  combined" — before  he  can  be  sure  of  parsing  each  word 
rightly,  is  a  very  plain  and  certain  truth;  but  what  "  advantage"  over  parsing  this  truth  givea 
to  the  lesser  analysis,  which  deals  with  "groups,"  it  is  not  easy  to  discover.  If  the  author  had 
any  clear  idea  of  "  this  advantage,"  he  has  conveyed  no  such  conception  to  his  readers. 

OBS.  11. — Greene's  Analysis  is  the  most  expanded  form  of  the  Third  Method  above.  Its 
nucleus,  or  germinating  kernel,  was  the  old  partition  of  subject  and  predicate,  derived  from  the 
art  of  logic.  Its  chief  principles  may  be  briefly  stated  thus  :  Sentences,  which  are  simple,  or 
complex,  or  compound,  are  made  up  of  icords,  phrases,  and  clauses — three  grand  classes  of 
elements,  called  the  first,  the  second,  and  the  third  class.  From  these,  each  sentence  must  have 
two  elements ;  the  Subject,  or  Substantive  element,  and  the  Predicate,  or  Predicative  element, 
which  are  principal ;  and  a  sentence  may  have  five,  the  subordinates  being  the  Adjective 
element,  the  Objective  element,  and  the  Adverbial  element.  The  five  elements  have  sundry 
modifications  and  subdivisions.  Each  of  the  five  may,  like  a  sentence,  be  simple,  or  complex,  or 
compound;  and  each  may  be  of  any  of  the  three  grand  classes.  The  development  of  this 
scheme  forms  a  volume,  not  small.  The  system  is  plausible,  ingenious,  methodical,  mostly  true, 
and  somewhat  elaborate ;  but  it  is  neither  very  useful  nor  very  accurate.  It  seems  too  much 
like  a  great  tree,  beautiful,  symmetrical,  and  full  of  leaves,  but  raised  or  desired  onlv  for  fruit,  yet 
bearing  little,  and  some  of  that  little  not  of  good  quality,  but  knurly  or  bitter.  The  chief  end 
of  a  grammar,  designed  for  our  tongue,  is,  to  show  what  is,  and  what  is  not,  good  English.  To 
this  end,  the  system  in  question  does  not  appear  to  be  well  adapted. 

OBS.  12. — Dr.  Bullions,  the  projector  of  the  "  Series  of  Grammars,  English,  Latin,  and  Greek, 
all  on  the  same  plan,"  inserted  in  his  Latin  Grammar,  of  1841,  a  short  sketch  of  the  new  analysis- 
by  "subjects  and  predicates,"  "grammatical  and  logical,"  the  scheme  used  by  Andrews  and 
Stoddard;  but  his  English  Grammar,  which  appeared  in  1834,  was  too  early  for  this  "new 
and  improved  method  of  investigating"  language.  In  his  later  English  Grammar,  of  1849r 
however,  paying  little  regard  to  sameness  of  "plan"  or  conformity  of  definitions,  he  carefully 
devoted  to  this  matter  the  space  of  fifteen  pages,  placing  the  topic,  not  injudiciously,  in  the  first 
part  of  his  syntax,  and  referring  to  it  thus  in  his  Preface:  "The  subject  of  ANALYSIS,  wholly 
omitted  in  the  former  work,  is  here  introduced  in  its  proper  place ;  and  to  an  extent  in  accord- 
ance with  its  importance." — Bullions,  Analyt.  and  Pract.  Gram.  p.  3. 

OBS.  13. — In  applying  any  of  the  different  methods  of  analysis,  as  a  school  exercise,  it  will 
in  general  perhaps  be  best  to  use  each  separately ;  the  teacher  directing  which  one  is  to  be 
applied,  and  to  what  examples.  The  selections  prepared  for  the  stated  praxes  of  this  work,  will 
he  found  as  suitable  as  any.  Analysis  of  sentences  is  a  central  and  essential  matter  in  the 
teaching  or  the  study  of  grammar ;  but  the  truest  and  the  most  important  of  the  sentential  analyses 
is  parsing ;  which,  because  it  is  a  method  distinguished  by  a  technical  name  of  its  own,  is  IUH 
commonly  denominated  analysis.  The  relation  which  other  methods  should  bear  to  parsing,  is, 
as  we  have  seen,  variously  stated  by  different  authors.  Etymological  parsing  and  Syntactical  are, 
or  ought  to  be,  distinct  exercises.  The  former,  being  the  most  simple,  the  most  elementary, 
;md  also  requisite  to  be  used  before  the  pupil  is  prepared  for  the  latter,  should,  without  doubt, 
take  precedence  of  all  the  rest,  and  be  made  familiar  in  the  first  place.  Those  who  say, 
"  Analysis  should  precede  parsing ,"  will  scarcely  find  the  application  of  other  analysis  practicable, 
till  this  is  somewhat  known.  But  Syntactical  Parsing  being,  when  complete  in  form,  the  most 
horough  process  of  grammatical  resolution,  it  seems  proper  to  have  introduced  the  other 
methods  before  it,  as  above.  It  can  hardly  be  said  that  any  of  these  are  necessary  to  this  exer- 
cise, or  to  one  an  other  ;  yet  in  a  full  course  of  grammatical  instruction,  each  may  at  times  be 
usefully  employed. 


CHAP.  I.]      SYNTAX. SENTENCES. ANALYSIS. PARSING. PBAXIS  XII.       455 

OBS.  14. — Dr.  Bullions  suggests,  that,  "Analysis  should  precede  Syntactical  parsing,  be- 
cause, till  we  know  the  parts  and  elements  of  a  sentence,  we  can  not  understand  their  relations, 
nor  intelligently  combine  them  into  one  consistent  whole." — Ana/i/tiarl  <m<l  J'nn-t.  drain,  p.  114. 
This  reason  is  entirely  fictitious  and  truthless  ;  for  the  icords  of  a  sentence  are  intuitively  known 
to  be  its  "parts  and  elements ;  "  and,  to  ' '  understand  their  relations,"  is  as  necessary  to  one 
form  of  analysis  as  to  an  other ;  but,  "intelligently  to  combine  them,"  is  no  part  of  the  parser's 
duty  :  this  belongs  to  the  writer ;  and  where  he  has  not  done  it,  he  must  be  criticised  and  cen- 
sured, as  one  that  knows  not  well  what  he  says.  In  W.  Allen's  Grammar,  as  in  Wells's,  Syntactical 
parsing  and  Etymological  are  not  divided.  Wells  intersperses  his  "  Exercises  in  Parsing,"  at 
seven  points  of  his  Syntax,  and  places  "  the  chapter  on  Analysis,"  at  the  end  of  it.  Allen  treats 
first  of  the  several  parts  of  grammar,  didactically  ;  then  presents  a  series  of  exercises  adapted  to 
the  various  heads  of  the  whole.  At  the  beginning  of  these,  are  fourteen  "  Methods  of  Parsing," 
which  show,  successively,  the  properties  and  construction  of  his  nine  parts  of  speech  ;  and,  at  the 
ninth  method,  which  resolves  infinitives,  it  is  proposed  that  the  pupil  begin  to  apply  a  method  of 
analysis  similar  to  the  Second  one  above. 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 
PRAXIS  XII.— SYNTACTICAL. 

The  grand  clew  to  all  syntactical  parsing  is  THE  SENSE  ;  and  as  any  composition  is 
faultjf  which  does  not  rightly  deliver  the  author's  meaning,  so  every  solution  of  a 
word  or  sentence  is  necessarily  erroneous,  in  which  that  meaning  is  not  carefully 
noticed  and  literally  preserved. 

In  all  complete  syntactical  parsing,  it  is  required  of  the  pupil — to  distinguish  the 
different  parts  of  speech  and  their  classes  ;  to  mention  their  modifications  in 
order  ;  to  point  out  their  relation,  agreement,  or  government ;  and  to  apply  the 
Rules  of  Syntax.  Thus : — 

EXAMPLE  PARSED. 

UA  young  man  studious  to  know  his  duty,  and  honestly  bent  on  doing  it,  will  find 
himself  led  away  from  the  sin  or  folly  in  which  the  multitude  thoughtlessly  indulge 
themselves ;  but,  ah  !  poor  fallen  human  nature  !  what  conflicts  are  thy  portion,  when 
inclination  and  habit — a  rebel  and  a  traitor — exert  their  sway  against  our  only  saving 
principle  !  " 

A  is  the  indefinite  article  :  and  relates  to  man,  or  young  man  ;  according  to  Rule  1st,  which  says,  "  Articles  relate 
to  the  nouns  which  they  limit."  Because  the  meaning  is— a  man— a  young  man. 

\ng  is  a  common  adjective,  of  the  positive  degree,  compared  regularly,  young,  younger,  youngest:  and  relates 
to  i/i'tti ;  according  to  Rule  yth,  which  says,  "  Adjectives  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns."    Because  the  mean- 

ommon  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  masculine  gender,  and  nominative  case  :  and  is  the 
t  nfwiJlJhtd;  according  to  Rule  '.'d.  which  savs,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  which  is  the  subject  of  a  finite 
verb,  inu-t  be  in  the  nominative  ease."     Because  the  meaning  is—  ntaii  will  find. 

live,  compared  by  means  of  the  adverbs  :   studious,  more  studious,  most  studious ;  or, 
uid  relate-  •  rding  to  Rule  Dth,  which  says,  "  Adjectives 

l'."cau»e  the  meaning  is    /«.///  ftii<n<nix. 

,;iou:   and  show-  the  relation  between  stmlwus  and  know  ;  according  to  Rule  2;Jd,  which  says, 
:,ov,  the  r.-iation-  uf  words,  and  of  the  tilings  or  thoughts  expressed  bv  them."    Because  the 

lliejtl  -•    t<>   ktl'Hr. 

r  active-transitive  verb,  from  know,  kiinc,  knowing,  knowti ;  found  in  the  infinitive  mood, 
.  rson.  or  number:   and  is  governed  by  /,) ;  according  to  Rale  18th,  which   savs,   "The 
•  governs  the  Infinitive  mood,  and  commonlv  connects  it  to  a  Unite  verb."     Because  the  mean- 
•ow. 

•1  pronoun,  representing  r>»m,  in   the  third   person,   simrnlar  number,  and  masculine  gender; 
Uule  loth.  v.  -A  pronoun  must  agree  with  its  or  the  noun   or  pronoun 

whieh  it  re,  imber,  and  gender  :"  and  is  in  the  possessive  case,  being  governed  bv  </'//;/; 

•  liule -1th.  "  .  V    noun  or  a  pronoun  in  the  j.osses-iv,  nicd  bv  the  name 

obje<  live  case:  and  is  governed 

\>\-/,n,ir:    .  •    tofan   activc-t  ran.-itive 

to  ki,,,,r  his  ,/„/,/. 

Ai«l  i-  v,  hi,  ]i  follows  it.  to   that  which  precedes  ;  according 

entences."    Because  the 

'i  says,  "Adverbs  relate  to 

''•'d,  bending,  bent  or 
to  nouns  or  pronouns, 

•yenied  bv  p, 

il«  i'.;d.  Mhichsays,  'Trep- 
,  .rcs.M-d  by   them."    Because  the 

•'•'Hf:  nnd  is  governed 

by  p-  -e  the  men! 

'•-onal  pronoun.   repve<eiitin/  ••'••  •-.  and  neuter  -rding 

to  Rule  10th,  whi<  nt,  or  the  noun  or  pronoun  which  it 

•ed  by  iltnmi  ; 

..-irtici- 

ple.    I- 

uiood, 

•h   it-  nominaiive  man  ;  according  to 
...mmativc,  in  person  and  num- 
ber 


456  THE   GRAMMAR   OF  ENGLISH    GRAMMARS,  [PART   III. 

Himself  is  a  compound  personal  pronoun,  representing  man,  in  the  third  person,  singular  number,  and  masculine 

gender;  according  to  Kule  10th,  which  says,  "  A  pronoun  must  agree  with  its  antecedent,  or  the  noun  or 

pronoun  which  it  represents,  in  person,  number,  and  gender  :  '  '  and  is  in  the  objective  case,  being  governed  by 

will  find;  according  to  Kule  5th,  which  says,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  made  the  object  of  an  active-transitive 

verb  or  participle,  is  governed  by  it  in  the  objective  case.  "    Because  the  meaning  is—  will  find  himself—  i    e 

his  own  mind  or  person. 
Led  is  a  perfect  participle,  from  the  irregular  active  -transitive  verb,  lead,  led,  leading,  led:  and  relates  to  him- 

self; according  to  Rule  20th,  which  says,  "  Participles  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns,  or  else  are  governed  by 

prepositions."    Because  the  meaning  Is—  himself  led. 
Away  is  an  adverb  of  place  :  and  relates  to  led;  according  to  Rule  21st,  which  says,  "Adverbs  relate  to  verbs, 

participles,  adjectives,  or  other  adverbs.  '  '    Because  the  meaning  is—  led  away. 

From  is  a  preposition  :  and  shows  the  relation  between  led  and  sin  or  folly;  according  to  Rule  23d,  which  says, 
'  Prepositions  show  the  relations  of  words,  and  of  the  things  or  thoughts  expressed  by  them."    Because  the 

meaning  is—  led  from  sin  or  folly. 
The  is  the  definite  article  :  and  relates  to  sin  and  folly;  according  to  Rule  1st,  which  says,  "Articles  relate  to 

the  nouns  which  they  limit.  '  '    Because  the  meaning  is—  the  sin  or  folly. 
JSin  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case  :  and  is  governed 

by  from;  according  to  Rule  7th,  which  says,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun    made  the  object  of  a  preposition,  is 

governed  by  it  in  the  objective  case."    Because  the  meaning  is—  from  sin. 
Or  is  a  disjunctive  conjunction  :  and  connects  sin  and  folly  ;  according  to  Kule  22d,  which  says,  "  Conjunctions 

connect  words,  sentences,  or  parts  of  sentences."    Because  the  meaning  is—  sin  or  folly. 
folly  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case:  and  is  con- 

nected by  or  to  sin,  and  governed  by  the  same  preposition  m>m  ;  according  to  Rule  7th,  which  says,  "A  noun 

or  a  pronoun  made  the  object  of  a  preposition,  is  governed  by  it  in  the  objective  case.  '  '    Because  the  meaning 

is-/rom  sin  or  folly. 
In  is  a  preposition  :  and  shows  the  relation  between  indulge  and  which  ;  according  to  Rule  23d,  which  says, 

"  Prepositions  show  the  relations  of  words,  and  of  the  things  or  thoughts  expressed  by  them."    Because  the 

meaning  is—  indulge  in  which—  or,  which  they  indulge  in. 
Which  is  a  relative  pronoun,  representing  sin  or  folly,'  in  the  third  person,  singular  number,  and  neuter  gender  ; 

according  to  Kule  13th,  which  says,  "  When  a  pronoun  has  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  or  or  norr 

it  must  agree  with  them  singly,  and  not  as  if  taken  together:"  and  is  in  the  objective  case,  being  governed 

by  in  ;  according  to  Rule  7th,  which  says,  "A  noun  or  a  pronoun  made  the  object  of  a  preposition,  is  gov- 

erned by  it  in  the  objective  case."    Because  the  meaning  is—  in  which—  i.  e.  in  which  sin  or  folly. 
The  is  the  definite  article  :  and  relates  to  multitude  ;  according  to  Rule  1st,  which  says.  "  Articles  relate  to  the 

nouns  which  they  limit.  '  '    Because  the  meaning  is—  the  multitude. 
Multitude  is  a  common  noun,  collective,  of  the  third  person,  conveying  the  idea  of  plurality  ,  masculine  gender, 

and  nominative  case  :  and  is  the  subject  of  indulge  ;  according  to  Rule  2d,  which  says,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun 

which  is  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  must  be  in  the  nominative  case."    Because  the  meaning  is—  multitude 

indulge. 
Thoughtlessly  is  an  adverb  of  manner:  and  relates  to  indulge;  according  to  Kule  21st,  which  says,  "Adverbs 

relate  to  verbs,  participles,  adjectives,  or  other  adverbs.  "    Because  the  meaning  is—  thoughtlessly  indulge. 
Indulge  is  a  regular  active-transitive  verb,  from  indulge,  indulged,  indulging,  indulged;  found  in  the  indicative 

mood,  present  tense,  third  person,  and  plural  number:  and  agrees  with  its  nominative  multitude  ;  according 

to  Rule  15th,  which  says,  "  When  the  nominative  is  a  collective  noun  conveying  the  idea  of  plurality,  the 

verb  must  agree  with  it  in  the  plural  number."    Because  the  meaning  is—  multitude  indulge. 
Themselves  is  a  compound  personal  pronoun,  representing  multitude,  in  the  third  person,  plural  number,  and 

masculine  gender;  according  to  Rule  llth,  which  says,  "  When  the  antecedent  is  a  collective  noun  convey- 

ing the  idea  of  plurality,  the  pronoun  must  agree  with  it  in  the  plural  number  :"  and  is  in  the  objective  case, 

being  governed  by  indulge  ;  according  to  Rule  5th,  which  says,  "A  noun  or  a  pronoun  made  the  object  of 

an  active-transitive  verb  or  participle,  is  governed  by  it  in  the  objective  case."    Because  the  meaning  is— 

indulge  themselves—  i.  e.  the  individuals  of  the  multitude  indulge  themselves. 
But  is  a  disjunctive  conjunction  :  and  connects  what  precedes  and  what  follows  ;  according  to  Rule  22d,  which 

says,  "  Conjunctions  connect  words,  sentences,  or  parts  of  sentences.  "    Because  the  meaning  is—  A  young 

man,  &c.  but,  ah!  <fcc. 
Ah  is  an  interjection,  indicating  sorrow:  and  is  used  independently  ;  according  to  Rule  24th,  which  says,  "  Inter- 

jections have  no  dependent  construction;  they  are  put  absolute,  either  alone,  or  with  other  words."  Because 

the  meaning  is—  ah  /—unconnected  with  the  rest  of  the  sentence. 
Poor  is  a  common  adjective,  pf  the  positive  degree,  compared  regularly,  poor,  poorer,  poorest:  and  relates  to 

nature  ;  according  to  Rule  9th,  which  says,  "Adjectives  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns."    Because  the  mean- 

ing is—  poor  human  nature. 
Fallen  is  a  participial  adjective,  compared  (perhaps)  by  adverbs:  and  relates  to  nature  ;  according  to  Rule  9th, 

•which  says,  "Adjectives  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns."    Because  the  meaning  is—  fallen  nature. 
Human  is  a  common  adjective,  not  compared:  and  relates  to  nature;  according  to  Rule  9th,  which  says, 

"  Adjectives  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns."    Because  the  meaning  is—  human  nature. 
Mature  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  second  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case  :  and  is 


put  absolute  by  direct  address  ;  according  to  Rule  8th,  which  says,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  is  put  absolute  in 

the  nominative,  when  its  case  depends  on  no  other  word."    Because  the  meaning  is—  poor  fallen  human 

nature  .'-the  noun  being  unconnected  with  any  verb. 
What  is  a  pronominal  adjective,  not  compared  :  and  relates  to  conflicts  ;  according  to  Rule  9th,  which  says, 

"Adjectives  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns."    Because  the  meaning  is—  what  conflicts. 
Conflicts  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  plural  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case  :  and  is  the 

subject  of  are  ;  according  to  Kule  2d,  which  says,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  which  is  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb, 

must  be  in  the  nominative  case."    Because  the  meaning  Is—  conflicts  are. 
Are  is  an  irregular  neuter  verb,  from  be,  was,  being,  been  ;  found  in  the  indicative  mood,  present  tense,  third  per- 

son, and  plural  number:  and  agrees  with  its  nominative  conflicts;  according  to  Kule  14th,  which  says, 
Every  finite  verb  must  agree  with  its  subject,  or  nominative,  in  person  and  number."    Because  the  mean- 

ing is—  conflicts  are. 
Thy  is  a  personal  pronoun,  representing  nature,  in  the  second  person,  singular  number,  and  neuter  gender; 

according  to  Kule  10th,  which  says,  "  A  pronoun  must  agree  with  its  antecedent,  or  the  noun  or  pronoun 

which  it  represents,  in  person,  number,  and  gender  :"  and  is  in  the  possessive  case,  being  governed  by  portion  ; 

according  to  Rule  4th,  which  says,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  in  the  possessive  case,  is  governed  by  the  name  of 

the  thing  possessed."    Because  the  meaning  is—  tny  portion. 
Portion  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case  :  and  is  put 

after  are,  in  agreement  with  conflicts  ;  according  to  Rule  6th,  which  says,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  put  after  a 

verb  or  participle  not  transitive,  agrees  in  case  with  a  preceding  noun  or  pronoun  referring  to  the  same  thing.  " 

Because  the  meaning  is—  conflicts  are  thy  portion. 
When  is  a  conjunctive  adverb  oi  time  :  and  relates  to  the  two  verbs,  are  and  exert  ;  according  to  Rule  21st,  which 

says,  "  Adverbs  relate  to  verbs,  participles,  adjectives,  or  other  adverbs."    Because  the  meaning  is—  what 

conflicts  are  thy  portion,  when  inclination  and  habit  exert,  &c. 
Inclination  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case  :  and  is 

one  of  the  subjects  of  exert  ;  according  to  Rule  3d,  which  says,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  which  is  the  subject 

of  a  finite  verb,  must  be  in  the  nominative  case."    Because  the  meaning  is—  inclination  and  habit  exert. 
And  is  a  copulative  conjunction  :  and  connects  inclination  and  habit  ;  according  to  Kule  22d,  which  *ays,  "  Con- 

junctions connect  words,  sentences,  or  parts  of  sentences."    Because  the  meaning  to—melinatio*  and  habit. 
Habit  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case  :  and  is  one 

of  the  subjects  of  exert  ;  according  to  Rule  2d,  which  savs,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  which  is  the  subject  of  a 

finite  verb,  must  be  in  the  nominative  case."    Because  the  meaning  is  —  inclination  and  habit  exert. 
A  is  the  indefinite  article  :  and  relates  to  rebel  ;  according  to  Kule  1st,  which  says,  "  Articles  relate  to  the  nouns 

which  they  limit."     Because  the  meaning  is—  a  rebel. 
Rebelis  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  masculine  gender,  and  nominative  case  :  and  is 

put  in  apposition  with  inclination  ;  according  to  Rule  3d,  which  says,  "  A  noun  or  a  personal    pronoun  used 

to  explain  a  preceding  noun  or  pronoun,  is  put,  by  apposition,  in  the  same  case."    Because  the  meaning  is  - 

inclination,  a  rebel. 


CHAP.    I.]  SYNTAX.  -  SENTENCES.  -  PARSING.  -  PRAXIS   XII.  457 

And  is  a  copulative  conjunction  :  and  connects  rebel  and  traitor;  according  to  Rule  22d,  which  says.  "Con- 

junctions connect  words,  -<-n  retires,  or  parts  of  sentence*."     r.ecau*e  the  meaning  is—  a  rebel  and  a  traitor. 
.4  Is  the  indefinite  article  :  and  relate*  to  traitor  ;  according  to  Rule  1st,  which  savs,  "•Articles  relate  to  the 

nouns  which  they  limit."     Because  tin-  mcanin.-  is-a  traitor. 

Traitor  is  a  common  noun,  of  tin-  thiril  person,  singular  number,  masculine  render,  and  nominative  case:  and 
;t  in  apposition  withAuiiY;  according  to  Hule  :>d,  which  says,   "  A  noun  or  a  personal   pronoun   used  to 
explain  a  preceding  noun  or  pronoun,  is  put,  by  apposition,  in  the  same  case."    Because  the  meaning  Is  — 
halit,  a  traitor. 

Exert  is  a  regular  active-transitive  verb,  from  exert,  exerted,  exerting,  exerted;  found  in  the  Indicative  mood, 

present  tense,  third  person,  and  plural  number:  and  a  i?  roes  with  its  two  nominatives  inclination  and  habit  ; 

according  to  Rule  Itlth.  which  savs,  "  When  a  vert)  hits  two  or  more  nominatives  connected  l>v  and,  it  must 

with  tliem  jointly  in  the  plural,  because  they  are  taken  together."    Because  the  meaning  is—  inclina- 

tion and  ha'i  it  •  .1 

Their  is  a  personal  pronoun,  representing  inclination  and  habit,  in  the  third  person,  plural  number,  and  neuter 
gender;  according  to  Rule  12th,  which  gays,  "When  a  pronoun  has  two  or  more  antecedents  connected 
bv  /mil.  it  must  a^ree  with  them  jointly  in  the  plural,  because  they  are  taken  together:"  and  is  in  the  pos- 
sessive case,  being  governed  bj  ord  Ing  to  Bule  4th,  which  says,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  in  the 

pc.~s,--sivi  -lii-d  by  the  name  of  the  thing  possessed.  "    Because  the  meaning  is—  their  sway—  1.  e. 

the  swav  of  Inclination  and  habit. 

Sway  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case  :  and  is  govern- 

ed bv  fj-i-f!  :  according  to  Kule  ;'<th,  which  suvs,  "A  noun  or  a  pronoun  made  the  object  of  an  active-transi- 

tive" vci-l)  or  participle,  is  governed  bv  it  in  the  objective  case.  '    Because  the  meaning  is—  exert  sway. 

Against  is  a  preposition  :  and  shows  the  relation  between  exert  and  principle;  according  to  Role  2M,  which 

.   ••  Prepositions  show  the  relations  of  words,  and  ufthc  things  or  thoughts  expressed  by  them."    Be- 

•  he  meaning  Is—  «tt  rt  <m«tni<t  principle. 

0«ris  a  pei>onal  pronoun,  representing  the  speakers,  in  the  flrst  person,  plural  number,  and  masculine  gender; 

•din-.'  to  Kule  luth,  -\\hich  says,  "  A  pronoun  must  agree  with  its  antecedent,  or  the  noun  or  pronoun 

which  it  reuresents,  in  person,  number,  and  gender:"  and  is  in  the  possessive  case,  being  governed  by  prin- 

ciple ;  aecord'n;,'  to  Kule  4th,  which  savs.  "A  noun  or  a  pronoun  in  the  possessive  case,  is  governed  by  the 

name  of  the  thini:  possessed.       Because  the  meaning'  is—  our  principle—  i.  e.  the  speakers'  principle. 

On  I  ft  is  a  jiroiiominal  adjective,  not  compared:  and  relates  to  principle}  according  to  Rule  9th,  which  says, 

lives  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns."     lieeause  the  meanin.i:  is  —<*/////  />rinciple. 

vittij  is  a  participial  adjective,  compared  by  adverbs  when  it  mc&n&  frugal,  but  not  compared  in  the  sense  here 
Intended:  and  relates  to  prmct^/«;  according  to  Role  9tb,  wbieb  says,  "Adjectives  relate  to  nouns  or  pro- 
nouns." Because  the  meaning  is—  sariny  principle. 

Prfoctpfe  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case:  and  is 

ule 


-7  ;  aeei.rdinv  to  Kule  7th,  which  says,  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  made  the  object  of  aprepo- 
.sitiun,  is  governed  by  it  in  the  objective  case."    Because  the  meaning  is—  against  principle. 

LESSON  I.  —  ARTICLES. 

"  In  English  heroic  verse,  the  capital  pause  of  every  line,  is  determined  by  the 
sense  to  be  after  the  fourth,  the  fifth,  the  sixth  or  the  seventh  syllable."  —  Kames, 
El.  of  Orit.  ii,  105. 

"  When,  in  considering  the  structure  of  a  tree  or  a  plant,  we  observe  how  all  the 
parts,  the  roots,  the  stem,  the  bark,  and  the  leaves,  are  suited  to  the  growth  and 
nutriment  of  the  whole  ;  when  we  survey  all  the  parts  and  members  of  a  living 
animal  ;  or  when  we  examine  any  of  the  curious  works  of  art  —  such  as  a  clock,  a 
ship,  or  any  nice  machine  ;  the  pleasure  which  we  have  in  the  survey,  is  wholly 
founded  on  this  sense  of  beauty."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  49. 

"It  never  can  proceed  from  a  good  taste,  to  make  a  teaspoon  resemble  the  leaf  of 
a  tree;  for  such  a  form  is  inconsistent  with  the  destination  of  a  teaspoon."  —  Kames, 
EL  ofCrit.n,  3.")1. 

"  In  an  epic  poem,  a  history,  an  oration,  or  any  work  of  genius,  we  always  require 
a  fitness,  or  an  adjustment  of  means  to  the  end  which  the  author  is  supposed  to  have 
in  view."  —  Blair'  s  Rhet.  p.  50. 

"  llhi'tn  .  and  Grammar,  are  three  arts  that  should  always  walk  hand  in 

hand.  The  first  is  the  art  of  speaking  eloquently;  the  second,  that  of  thinking  well  ; 
and  the  third,  that  of  speaking  with  propriety."  —  Formey's  Bellcs-Lettres,  p.  114. 

k"  Spring  hangs  her  infant  blossoms  on  the  trees, 
Kock'd  in  the  cradle  of  the  western  breeze."  —  Cowper. 
LESSON  II.  —  NOUNS. 

'*  There  goes  a  rumour,  that  I  am  to  be  banished.  And  let  the  sentence  come,  if 
(  Jod  so  will.  The  other  side  of  the  sea  is  my  Father's  ground,  as  well  as  this  side." 
—  Rutherford. 

"  (ientlemen,  there  is  something  on  earth  greater  than  arbitrary  or  despotic  power. 
The  lightning  has  it.s  power,  and  the  whirlwind  has  its  power,  and  the  earthquake 
has  its  power.  But  there  is  something  among  men  more  capable  of  shaking  despotic 
power,  than  lightning,  whirlwind,  or  earthquake;  that  is  —  the  threatened  indig- 
nation of  the  whole  civili/.ed  world."  —  Dunit-l  ll'rbsfrr. 

"  And  Isaac  sent  away  Jacob;  and  he  went  to  Padan  Aram,  unto  Laban,  son  of 
llethuel  the  Syrian,  and  brother  of  Rebecca,  Jacob's  and  Esau's  mother."  —  See 
<!en.  xxviii,  5. 


458  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART 

"  The  purpose  you  undertake  is  dangerous."     "  Why  that  is  certain  :  it  is  dai 
gerous  to  take  a  cold,  to  sleep,  to  drink :    but  I  tell  you,  my  Lord  fool,  out  of 
nettle  danger,  we  pluck  this  flower  safety." — Shakspeare. 

"And  towards  the  Jews  alone,  one  of  the  noblest  charters  of  liberty  on  eartl 
Magna  Charta,  the  Briton's  boast — legalized  an  act  of  injustice." — Keith's  T 
dences,  p.  74. 

"  Were  Demosthenes's  Philippics  spoken  in  a  British  assembly,  in  a  similar  coi 
juncture  of  affairs,  they  would  convince  and  persuade  at  this  day.     The  rapid  style 
the  vehement  reasoning,  the  disdain,  anger,  boldness,  freedom,  which  perpetually 
animate   them,    would  render   their  success  infallible  over  any  modern  assembly. 
I  question  whether  the  same  can  be  said  of  Cicero's  orations;   whose  eloquence, 
however  beautiful,  and  however  well  suited  to  the  Roman  taste,  yet  borders  oftem 
on  declamation,  and  is  more  remote  from  the  manner  in  which  we  now  expect  to 
real  business  and  causes  of  importance  treated." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  248. 

"In  fact,  every  attempt  to  present  on  paper  the  splendid  effects  of  impassioned 
eloquence,  is  like  gathering  up  dewdrops,  which  appear  jewels  and  pearls  on  tl 
grass,  but  run  to  water  in  the  hand :  the  essence  and  the  elements  remain,  but  tl 
grace,  the  sparkle,  and  the  form,  are  gone." — Montgomery's  Life  of  Spencer. 

"  As  in  life  true  dignity  must  be  founded  on  character,  not  on  dress  and  apj 
ance;  so  in  language  the  dignity   of  composition   must  arise  from   sentiment  ai 
thought,  not  from  ornament." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  144. 

"  And  man,  whose  heaven-erected  face  the  smiles  of  love  adorn, 
Man's  inhumanity  to  man  makes  countless  thousands  mourn." — Burns. 

"  Ah  wretched  man  !  unmindful  of  thy  end  ! 
A  moment's  glory  !  and  what  fates  attend  !  " — Pope,  Iliad,  B.  xvii,  1.  231. 

LESSON  III. — ADJECTIVES. 

"  Embarrassed,  obscure,  and  feeble  sentences,  are  generally,  if  not  always,  the  re- 
sult of  embarrassed,  obscure,  and  feeble  thought." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  120. 

"  Upon  this  ground,  we  prefer  a  simple  and  natural,  to  an  artificial  and  affected 
style  ;  a  regular  and  well-connected  story,  to  loose  and  scattered  narratives  ;  a  catas- 
trophe which  is  tender  and  pathetic,  to  one  which  leaves  us  unmoved." — Ib.  p.  23. 

"  A  thorough  good  taste  may  well  be  considered  as  a  power  compounded  of  natural 
sensibility  to  beauty,  and  of  improved  understanding." — Ib.  p.  18. 

"  Of  all  writings,  ancient  or  modern,  the  sacred  Scriptures  afford  us  the  highest 
instances  of  the  sublime.  The  descriptions  of  the  Deity,  in  them,  are  wonderfully 
noble  ;  both  from  the  grandeur  of  the  object,  and  the  manner  of  representing  it." — 
Ib.  p.  36. 

"  It  is  not  the  authority  of  any  one  person,  or  of  a  few,  be  they  ever  so  eminent, 
that  can  establish  one  form  of  speech  in  preference  to  another.  Nothing  but  the 
general  practice  of  good  writers  and  good  speakers  can  do  it." — Priestley's  Gram. 
p.  107. 

';  What  other  means  are  there  to  attract  love  and  esteem  so  effectual  as  a  virtuous 
course  of  life  ?  If  a  man  be  just  and  beneficent,  if  he  be  temperate,  modest,  and  pru- 
dent, he  will  infallibly  gain  the  esteem  and  love  of  all  who  know  him." — Kames, 
El.  of  Grit,  i,  167. 

"  But  there  are  likewise,  it  must  be  owned,  people  in  the  world,  whom  it  is  easy  to 
make  worse  by  rough  usage,  and  not  easy  to  make  better  by  any  other." — Abp.  Seeker. 

"  The  great  comprehensive  truth  written  in  letters  of  living  lip;ht  on  every  page  of 
our  history — the  language  addressed  by  every  past  age  of  New  England  to  all  future 
ages,  is  this :    Human  happiness   has  no  perfect  security  but  freedom ; — freedom, 
none  but  virtue  ; — virtue,  none  but  knowledge  :  and  neither  freedom,  nor  virtue,  nor 
knowledge,  has  any  vigour  or  immortal  hope,  except  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
faith,  and  in  the  sanctions  of  the  Christian  religion." — President  Quincy. 
"  For  bliss,  as  thou  hast  part,  to  me  is  bliss ; 
Tedious,  -unshared  with  thee,  and  odious  soon." — P.  Lost,  B.  ix,  1.  880. 


CHAP.  I.]  SYNTAX.  -  SENTENCES.  -  PARSING.  -  PRAXIS   XII.  459 

LESSON  IV.  —  PRONOUNS. 

"  There  is  but  one  governor  whose  sight  we  cannot  escape,  whose  power  we  cannot 
resist  :  a  sense  of  His  presence  and  of  duty  to  Him,  will  accomplish  more  than  all  the 
laws  and  penalties  which  can  be  devised  without  it."  —  Woodbridge,  Lit.  C.  p.  154. 

"  Every  voluntary  society  must  judge  who  shall  be  members  of  their  body,  and 
enjoy  fellowship  with  them  in  their  peculiar  privileges."  —  Watts. 

11  Poetry  and  impassioned  eloquence  are  the  only  sources  from  which  the  living 
growth  of  a  language  springs  ;  and  even  if  in  their  vehemence  they  bring  down  some 
mountain  rubbish  along  with  them,  this  sinks  to  the  bottom,  and  the  pure  stream  flows 
along  over  it."  —  Philological  Museum,  i,  645. 

"  This  use  is  bounded  by  the  province,  county,  or  district,  which  gives  name 
to  the  dialect,  and  beyond  which  its  peculiarities  are  sometimes  unintelligible,  and 
always  ridiculous."  —  Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  1G3. 

"  Every  thing  that  happens,  is  both  a  cause  and  an  effect  ;  being  the  effect  of 
what  goes  before,  and  the  cause  of  what  follows."  —  Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  ii,  297. 

"  Withhold  not  good  from  them  to  whom  it  is  due,  when  it  is  in  the  power  of  thine 
hand  to  do  it."  —  Prov.  iii,  27. 

"  Yet  there  is  no  difficulty  at  all  in  ascertaining  the  idea.  *  *  *  By  reflecting 
upon  that  which  is  myself  now,  and  that  which  was  myself  twenty  years  ago,  I  discern 
they  are  not  two,  but  one  and  the  same  self."  —  Butler's  Analogy,  p.  271. 

"  If  you  will  replace  what  has  been  long  expunged  from  the  language,  and  extir- 
pate what  is  firmly  rooted,  undoubtedly  you  yourself  become  an  innovator."  _ 
Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  167  ;  Murray's  Gram.  3G4. 

"  To  speak  as  others  speak,  is  one  of  those  tacit  obligations,  annexed  to  the  con- 
dition of  living  in  society,  which  we  are  bound  in  conscience  to  fulfill,  though  we  have 
never  ratified  them  by  any  express  promise  ;  because,  if  they  were  disregarded, 
society  would  be  impossible,  and  human  happiness  at  an  end."  —  See  Murray's 
Gram.  Svo,  p.  139. 

"  In  England  thou  was  in  current  use  until,  perhaps,  near  the  commencement  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  though  it  was  getting  to  be  regarded  as  somewhat  disre- 
spectful. At  Walter  Raleigh's  trial,  Coke,  when  argument  and  evidence  failed  him, 
insulted  the  defendant  by  applying  to  him  the  term  thou.  '  All  that  Lord  Cobham 
Ji  1,'  he  cried,  '  was  at  thy  instigation,  thou  viper  !  for  I  thou  thee,  thou  traitor  !  '  "  _ 
Fowler  s  E.  Gram.  §  220. 

"  Th'  Egyptian  crown  I  to  your  hands  remit  ; 
And  with  it  take  his  heart  who  offers  it."  —  Shakspeare. 

LESSON  V.  —  VERBS. 

"  Sensuality  contaminates  the  body,  depresses  the  understanding,  deadens  the 
moral  feelings  of  the  heart,  and  degrades  man  from  his  rank  in  the  creation."  _ 
J/"/v/y'.v  A>y,  ii,  ]>.  'J:)l. 

"  When  a  writer  reasons,  we  look  only  for  perspicuity  ;  when  he  describes,  we  ex- 
pect embellishment;  when  he  divides,  or  relates,  we  desire  plainness  and  simplicity." 

—  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  1  \\. 

"  Livy  and  Herodotus  are  diffuse  ;  Thucydides  and  Sallust  are  succinct  •  yet  all 
of  thorn  arc  IgnMble."  —  Ih.  p.  178. 

"  Whenever  petulant  imionmco,  pride,  malice,  malignity,  or  envy,  interposes 
to  cloud  or  sully  his  faiw,  I  will  take  upon  me  to  pronounce  that  the  eclipse  will  not 
last  long."  —  Dr.  Debut*/. 

11  She  said  >he  had  nothing  to  say,  for  she  was  resigned,  and  I  knew  all  she  knew 

oncerned  us  in  this  world  ;  but  she  desired  to  be  alone,  that  in  the  presence  of 

God  only,  she  might  \\ithoutinterruption  do  her  last  duty  to  me."  _  Spect.  No.  520. 

"  \\  "isdom  and  truth,  the  offspring  of  the  sky,  are  immortal;  while  cunning  and 
deception,  the  meteors  of  the  earth,  after  glittering  for  a  moment,  must  pass  away." 

—  Robert  Hall.     "  See,  I  have  this  day  set  thee  over  the  nations,  and  over  the  kino-- 


doms,  to  root  out,  and  to  pull  down,  and  to  destroy,  and  to  throw  down,  to  build,  and 
to  olant."  —  Jeremiah,  i,  10. 


460  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

"  God  might  command  the  stones  to  be  made  bread,  or  the  clouds  to  rain  it;  but 
he  chooses  rather  to  leave  mankind  to  till,  to  sow,  to  reap,  to  gather  into  barns,  to 
grind,  to  knead,  to  bake,  and  then  to  eat." — London  Quarterly  Review. 

"  Eloquence  is  no  invention  of  the  schools.  Nature  teaches  every  man  to  be  elo- 
quent, when  he  is  much  in  earnest.  Place  him  in  some  critical  situation,  let  him  have 
some  great  interest  at  stake,  and  you  will  see  him  lay  hold  of  the  most  effectual  means 
of  persuasion." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  235. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  possess  great  fame  and  great  ease  at  the  same  time.  Fame,  like 
fire,  is  with  difficulty  kindled,  is  easily  increased,  but  dies  away  if  not  continually  fed. 
To  preserve  fame  alive,  every  enterprise  ought  to  be  a  pledge  of  others,  so  as  to  keep 
mankind  in  constant  expectation." — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  50. 

"  Pope,  finding  little  advantage  from  external  help,  resolved  thenceforward  to  direct 
himself,  and  at  twelve  formed  a  plan  of  study  which  he  completed  with  little  other 
incitement  than  the  desire  of  excellence." — Johnson  s  Lives  of  Poets,  p.  498. 
"  Loose,  then,  from  earth  the  grasp  of  fond  desire, 
Weigh  anchor,  and  some  happier  clime  explore." — Young. 

LESSON  VI. — PARTICIPLES. 

"  The  child,  affrighted  with  the  view  of  his  father's  helmet  and  crest,  and  clinging 
to  the  nurse  ;  Hector,  putting  off  his  helmet,  taking  the  child  into  his  arms,  and  offer- 
ing up  a  prayer  for  him  ;  Andromache,  receiving  back  the  child  with  a  smile  of  pleas- 
ure, and  at  the  same  instant  bursting  into  tears ;  form  the  most  natural  and  affecting 
picture  that  can  possibly  be  imagined." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  435. 

"  The  truth  of  being,  and  the  truth  of  knowing  are  one ;  differing  no  more  than 
the  direct  beam  and  the  beam  reflected." — Ld.  Bacon.  "Verbs  denote  states  of 
being,  considered  as  beginning,  continuing,  ending,  being  renewed,  destroyed,  and 
again  repeated,  so  as  to  suit  any  occasion." — William  Ward's  Gram.  p.  41. 

"  We  take  it  for  granted,  that  we  have  a  competent  knowledge  and  skill,  and  that 
we  are  able  to  acquit  ourselves  properly,  in  our  native  tongue;  a  faculty,  soldy 
acquired  by  use,  conducted  by  habit,  and  tried  by  the  ear,  carries  us  on  without  reflec- 
tion."— Lowth's  Gram  p.  vi. 

"  I  mean  the  teacher  himself;  who,  stunned  with  the  hum,  and  suffocated  with  the 
closeness  of  his  school-room,  has  spent  the  whole  day  in  controlling  petulance,  excit- 
ing indifference  to  action,  striving  to  enlighten  stupidity,  and  labouring  to  soften 
obstinacy."— Sir  W.  Scott. 

"  The  inquisitive  mind,  beginning  with  criticism,  the  most  agreeable  of  all  amuse- 
ments, and  finding  no  obstruction  in  its  progress,  advances  far  into  the  sensitive  part 
of  our  nature ;  and  gains  imperceptibly  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  of 
its  desires,  and  of  every  motive  to  action." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  i,  42. 
"  They  please,  are  pleased ;  they  give  to  get  esteem  ; 
Till,  seeming  blest,  they  grow  to  what  they  seem." — Goldsmith. 

LESSON  VII. — ADVERBS. 

"How  cheerfully,  how  freely,  how  regularly,  how  constantly,  how  unweariedly, 
how  powerfully,  how  extensively,  he  communicateth  his  convincing,  his  enlightening, 
his  heart-penetrating,  warming,  and  melting ;  his  soul-quickening,  healing,  refreshing, 
directing,  and  fructifying  influence  !  " — Brown's  Metaphors,  p.  96. 

"  The  passage,  I  grant,  requires  to  be  well  and  naturally  read,  in  order  to  be 
promptly  comprehended  ;  but  surely  there  are  very  few  passages  worth  comprehend- 
ing, either  of  verse  or  prose,  that  can  be  promptly  understood,  when  they  are  read 
unnaturally  and  ill." — ThelwalVs  Lect.  "  They  waste  life  in  what  are  called  good 
resolutions  —  partial  efforts  at  reformation,  feebly  commenced,  heartlessly  conducted, 
and  hopelessly  concluded." — Maturings  Sermons,  p.  262. 

"  A  man  may,  in  respect  of  grammatical  purity,  speak  unexceptionably,  and  yet 
speak  obscurely  and  ambiguously ;  and  though  we  cannot  say,  that  a  man  may  speak 
properly,  and  at  the  same  time  speak  unintelligibly,  yet  this  last  case  falls  more  nat- 


CHAP.    I.]  SYNTAX. SENTENCES. PARSING. PRAXIS   XII.  461 

urally  to  be  considered  as  an  offence  against  perspicuity,  than  as  a  violation  of  propri- 
ety."— Jamiesoris  Rhet.  p.  H>4. 

"  Ye  are  witnesses,  and  God  also,  how  holily  and  justly  and  unblamably  we 
behaved  ourselves  among  you  that  believe." — 1  Thes.  ii,  10. 

"  The  question  is  not,  whether  they  know  what  is  said  of  Christ  in  the  Scriptures; 
but  whether  they  know  it  savingly,  truly,  livingly,  powerfully." — Peningtori's  Works, 
iii,  28. 

11  How  gladly  would  the  man  recall  to  life 
The  boy's  neglected  sire  !  a  mother  too, 
That  softer  friend,  perhaps  more  gladly  still, 
Might  he  demand  them  at  the  gates  of  death  !  " — Cowper. 

LESSON  VIII. — CONJUNCTIONS. 

1 '  Every  person's  safety  requires  that  he  should  submit  to  be  governed  ;  for  if  one 
man  may  do  harm  without  suffering  punishment,  every  man  has  the  same  right,  and 
no  person  can  be  safe." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  38. 

"  When  it  becomes  a  practice  to  collect  debts  by  law,  it  is  a  proof  of  corruption 
and  degeneracy  among  the  people.  Laws  and  courts  are  necessary,  to  settle  contro- 
verted points  between  man  and  man  ;  but  a  man  should  pay  an  acknowledged  debt, 
not  because  there  is  a  law  to  oblige  him,  but  because  it  is  just  and  honest,  and  because 
he  has  promised  to  pay  it." — Ib.  p.  42. 

"  The  liar,  and  only  the  liar,  is  invariably  and  universally  despised,  abandoned, 
and  disowned.  It  is  therefore  natural  to  expect,  that  a  crime  thus  generally  detested, 
should  be  generally  avoided." — Hawkcsworth . 

"  When  a  man  swears  to  the  truth  of  his  tale,  he  tacitly  acknowledges  that  his  bare 
word  does  not  deserve  credit.  A  swearer  will  lie,  and  a  liar  is  not  to  be  believed 
even  upon  his  oath;  nor  is  he  believed,  when  he  happens  to  speak  the  truth." — Red 
Book,  p.  108. 

"  John  Adams  replied,  '  I  know  Great  Britain  has  determined  on  her  system,  and 
that  very  determination  determines  me  on  mine.  You  know  I  have  been  constant 
and  uniform  in  opposition  to  her  measures.  The  die  is  now  cast.  I  have  passed  the 
Ilubicon.  Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish  with  my  country,  is  my  unal- 
terable determination.'  " — SEWARD'S  Life  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  p.  26. 

"  I  returned,  and  saw  under  the  sun  that  the  race  is  not  to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle 
to  the  strong,  neither  yet  bread  to  the  wise,  nor  yet  riches  to  men  of  understanding, 
nor  yet  favour  to  men  of  skill;  but  time  and  chance  happen  to  them  all." — Eccle- 
s  tastes,  ix,  11. 

"  Little,  alas  !  is  all  the  good  I  can  ; 
A  man  oppress'd,  dependent,  yet  a  man." — Pope,  Odys.  B.  xiv,  p.  70. 

LESSON  IX. — PREPOSITIONS. 

11  He  who  legislates  only  for  a  party,  is  engraving  his  name  on  the  adamantine  pillar 
of  his  country's  history,  to  be  gazed  on  forever  as  an  object  of  universal  detestation." 
—  Wfii/ltfitfl's  Monti  Science,  p.  401. 

"  Tin?  (lri'«'k  language,  in  the  hands  of  the  orator,  the  poet,  and  the  historian,  must 
be  allowed  to  bear  away  the  palm  from  every  other  known  in  the  world  ;  but  to  that 
only,  in  my  opinion,  need  our  own  yield  the  precedence." — Harrow's  Essays,  p.  91. 

"  For  my  part,  I  am  convinced  that  the  method  of  teaching  which  approaches  most 
nearly  to  the  method  of  investigation,  is  incomparably  the  best;  since,  not  content 
witli  serving  up  a  few  barren  mid  lifeless  truths,  it  leads  to  the  stock  on  which  they 
grew." — Jitirke,  on  Tast<\  p.  -'>7 .  Better  —  "on  which  truths  grow" 

"  All  that  I  have  done  in  this  difficult  part  of  grammar,  concerning  the  proper  use 
of  prepositions,  has  been  to  make  a  few  general  remarks  upon  the  subject;  and  then 
tc  give  a  collection  of  instances,  that  have  occurred  to  me,  of  the  improper  use  of  some 
of  them.'' — I'ricstleys  Gram.  p.  155. 

"  This  is  not  an  age  of  encouragement  for  works  of  elaborate  research  and  real 


462  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

utility.      The  genius  of  the  trade  of  literature  is  necessarily  unfriendly  to  such  pro- 
ductions."— ThelwaWs  Lect.  p.  102. 

"  At  length,  at  the  end  of  a  range  of  trees,  I  saw  three  figures  seated  on  a  bank  of 
moss,  with  a  silent  brook  creeping  at  their  feet." — Steele. 

"  Thou  rather,  with  thy  sharp  and  sulph'rous  bolt, 
Splitst  the  unwedgeable  and  gnarled  oak." — Shdkspeare. 

LESSON  X. — INTERJECTIONS. 

"  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord,  0  king  of  Judah,  that  sittest  upon  the  throne  of 
David ;  thou,  and  thy  servants,  and  thy  people  that  enter  in  by  these  gates :  thus 
saith  the  Lord,  Execute  ye  judgement  and  righteousness,  and  deliver  the  spoiled  out  of 
the  hand  of  the  oppressor." — Jeremiah,  xxii,  2,  3. 

"  Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  concerning  Jehoiakim  the  son  of  Josiah  king  of 
Judah,  They  shall  not  lament  for  him,  saying,  Ah  my  brother !  or,  Ah  sister !  they 
shall  not  lament  for  him,  saying,  Ah  lord !  or,  Ah  his  glory  !  He  shall  be  buried 
with  the  burial  of  an  ass,  drawn  and  cast  forth  beyond  the  gates  of  Jerusalem." — 
Jer.  xxii,  18,  19. 

"  0  thou  afflicted,  tossed  with  tempest,  and  not  comforted,  behold,  I  will  lay  thy 
stones  with  fair  colours,  and  lay  thy  foundations  with  sapphires." — Isaiah,  liii,  11. 
"  0  prince  !  0  friend  !  lo  !  here  thy  Medon  stands  ; 

Ah  !  stop  the  hero's  unresisted  hands." — Pope,  Odys.  B.  xxii,  1.  417. 
"  When,  lo  !  descending  to  our  hero's  aid, 

Jove's  daughter  Pallas,  war's  triumphant  maid!  " — 11.  B.  xxii,  1.  222. 
"  0  friends  !  oh  ever  exercised  in  care  ! 

Hear  Heaven's  commands,  and  reverence  what  ye  hear !  " — Ib.  B.  xii,  1.  324. 
"  Too  daring  prince  !  ah,  whither  dost  thou  run? 
Ah,  too  forgetful  of  thy  wife  and  son  !  "—Pope's  Iliad,  B.  vi,  1.  510. 


CHAPTER  II. -ARTICLES. 

In  this  chapter,  and  those  which  follow  it,  the  Rules  of  Syntax  are  again 
exhibited,  in  the  order  of  the  parts  of  speech,  with  Examples,  Exceptions, 
Observations,  Notes,  and  False  Syntax.  The  Notes  are  all  of  them,  in  form 
and  character,  subordinate  rules  of  syntax,  designed  for  the  detection  of 
errors.  The  correction  of  the  False  Syntax  placed  under  the  rules  and  notes, 
will  form  an  oral  exercise,  similar  to  that  of  parsing,  and  perhaps  more  useful.* 

RULE  I.— ARTICLES. 

Articles  relate  to  the  nouns  which  they  limit :  f  as,  "At  a  little  distance 
from  the  ruins  of  the  abbey,  stands  an  aged  elm." 
"  See  the  blind  beggar  dance,  the  cripple  sing, 
The  sot  a  hero,  lunatic  a  king." — Pope's  Essay,  Ep.  ii,  1.  268. 

*  «  I  will  not  take  upon  me  to  say,  whether  we  have  any  Grammar  that  sufficiently  instructs  us  by  rule  and 
example  ;  but  I  am  sure  we  have  none,  that  in  the  manner  here  attempted,  teaches  us  what  is  right,  by  showing 
what  is  wrong  ;  though  this  perhaps  may  prove  tlie  more  useful  and  effectual  method  of  instruction." — Lowtli's 
Gram.  Prff.  p.  viii. 

t  With  the  possessive  case  and  its  governing  noun,  we  use  but  one  article ;  and  sometimes  it  seems  questionable, 
to  which  of  the  two  that  article  properly  relates :  as,  "  This  is  one  of  tkf.  Hebrews'  children."— Exodus,  ii,  6.  The 
sentence  is  plainly  equivalent  to  the  following,  which  has  two  articles  :  "  This  is  one  of  the  children  of  the 
Hebrews."  Not  because  the  one  article  is  equivalent  to  the  two,  or  because  it  relates  to  both  of  the  nouns  ;  but 
because  the  possessive  relation  itself  makes  one  of  the  nouns  sufficiently  definite.  Now,  if  we  change  the  latter 
construction  back  into  the  former,  it  is  the  noun  children  that  drops  its  article ;  it  is  therefore  the  other  to  which 
the  remaining  article  relates.  But  we  sometimes  find  examples  in  which  the  same  analogy  does  not  hold.  Thus, 
"  a  summers  «/a?/,"  means,  "  a  day  of  summer ;  •'  and  we  should  hardly  pronounce  it  equivalent  to  "  the  day  of  a. 
summer."  So  the  questionable  phrase,  "  a  three  days'1  journey,"  means,  "  a  journey  of  three  days  :  "  and,  whether 
the  construction  be  right  or  wrong,  the  article  a  cannot  be  said  to  relate  to  the  plural  noun.  Possibly  such  a 
phrase  as,  "  the  three  years'  warf  might  mean,  u  the  war  of  three  years;  "  so  that  the  article  must  relate  to  the 
latter  noun.  But  in  general  it  is  the  latter  noun  that  is  rendered  definite  by  the  possessive  relation  :  thus  the 
phrase,  "  man's  works,"  is  equivalent  to  "  the  works  of  man,"  not  to  "  works  of  the  man  ;  "  so,  "  the  man's  works,"1 
is  equivalent,  not  to, "  the  works  of  man,"  but  to  "  the  works  of  the  man." 


CHAP.  H.]  SYNTAX. RULE   I. — ARTICLES. OBSERVATIONS.  463 

EXCEPTION  FIRST. 

The  definite  article  used  intensively,  may  relate  to  an  adjective  or  adverb  of  the  comparative 
or  the  superlative  degree ;  as,  "A  land  -which  was  the  mightiest." — Byron.  "  The  farther  they 
proceeded,  the  greater  appeared  their  alacrity." — Dr.  Johnson.  "  He  chooses  it  the  rather." 
— Cowper.  See  Obs.  10th,  below. 

EXCEPTION  SECOND. 

The  indefinite  article  is  sometimes  used  to  give  a  collective  meaning  to  what  seems  a  plural 
adjective  of  number ;  as,  "  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis." — Rev.  iii,  4.  "There  are 
a  thousand  things  which  crowd  into  my  memory." — Spectator,  No.  468.  "The  centurion 
commanded  a  hundred  men." — Webster.  See  Etymology,  Articles,  Obs.  26. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  I. 

Ons.  1. — The  article  is  a  kind  of  index,  usually  pointing  to  some  noun;  and  it  is  a  gen- 
eral, if  not  a  universal,  principle,  that  no  one  noun  admits  of  more  than  one  article.  Hence, 
two  or  more  articles  in  a  sentence  are  signs  of  two  or  more  nouns  ;  and  hence  too,  by  a  very 
convenient  ellipsis,  an  article  before  an  adjective  is  often  made  to  relate  to  a  noun  under- 
stood; as,  "The  grave  [people]  rebuke  the  gay  [people],  and  the  gay  [people]  mock  the  grave" 
[people]. — Matt/rin's  Sermons,  p.  103.  "The  wise  {persons}  shall  inherit  glory." — Fror.  iii, 
35.  "The  vile  [person]  will  talk  villainy." — Coleridge's  Lay  Sermons,  p.  105:  see  Isaiah, 
xxxii,  6.  "The  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple"  [ones]. — Psal.  xix, 
7.  "The  Old  [ Testament}  and  the  New  Testament  are  alike  authentic." — "The  animal 
[irorld]  and  the  vegetable  world  are  adapted  to  each  other." — "An  epic  [poem]  and  a  dra- 
matic poem  are  the  same  in  substance." — Ld.  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  274.  "  The  neuter  verb 
is  conjugated  like  the  active  "  [vc-rb]. — Murray's  Gram.  p.  99.  "  Each  section  is  supposed  to 
contain  a  heavy  {portion}  and  a  light  portion ;  the  heavy  {portion}  being  the  accented  sylla- 
ble, and  the  light  [portion]  the  unaccented"  [syllable], — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  364. 

OBS.  2. — Our  language  does  not,  like  the  French,  require  a  repetition  of  the  article  before 
every  noun  in  a  series  ;  because  the  same  article  may  serve  to  limit  the  signification  of  sev- 
eral nouns,  provided  they  all  stand  in  the  same  construction.  Hence  the  following  sentence 
is  bad  English  :  "  The  understanding  and  language  have  a  strict  connexion." — Murray's 
dram,  i,  p.  3oO.  The  sense  of  the  former  noun  only  was  meant  to  be  limited.  The  expres- 
sion therefore  should  have  been,  "Language  and  the  understanding  have  a  strict  connexion," 
or,  "  The  understanding  has  a  strict  connexion  with  language."  In  some  instances,  one 
article  seems  to  limit  the  sense  of  several  nouns  that  are  not  all  in  the  same  construction, 
thus :  "As  it  proves  a  greater  or  smaller  obstruction  to  the  spca/cer's  or  writer's  aim." — 
Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  200.  That  is  —  "  to  the  aim  of  the  speaker  or  the  writer."  It  is,  in  fact, 
the  possessive,  that  limits  the  other  nouns ;  for,  "  a  man's  foes"  means,  "  the  foes  of  a  man ;  " 
and,  "  num'*  ii-isdom"  means,  "the  wisdom  of  man."  The  governing  noun  cannot  have  an 
article  immediately  before  it.  Yet  the  omission  of  articles,  when  it  occurs,  is  not  properly 
by  ellipsis,  as  some  grammarians  declare  it  to  be ;  for  there  never  can  be  a  proper  ellipsis  of  an 
article,  when  there  is  not  also  an  ellipsis  of  its  noun.  Ellipsis  supposes  the  omitted  words 
to  be  necessary  to  the  construction,  when  they  are  not  so  to  the  sense ;  and  this,  it  would 
seem,  cannot  be  the  case  with  a  mere  article.  If  such  a  sign  be  in  any  wise  necessary,  it 
ought  to  be  used  ;  and  if  not  needed  in  any  respect,  it  cannot  be  said  to  be  understood. 
The  definite  article  being  generally  required  before  adjectives  that  are  used  by  ellipsis  as 
nouns,  we  in  this  case  repeat  it  before  every  term  in  a  series;  as,  "They  are  singled  out 
from  among  their  fellows,  as  the  kind,  the  amiable,  the  sweet-tempered,  the  upright." — Dr. 
Chalmers. 

"The  great,  the  gay,  shall  they  partake 

The  heav'n  that  thou  alone  canst  maker"—  C1mrp,^. 

.  3.— The  articli  its  noun,  and  is  never,  by  itself,  placed  after  it ;  as,  "Pas- 

sion is  the  drunkenness  of  thf  mind." — Southcy.  "NVhen  an  diljtrfire  likewise  precedes  the 
noun,  the  article  is  usually  placed  before  the  adjective,  that  its  power  of  limitation  may  ex- 
tend over  that  also;  as,  "A  concise  writer  compresses  his  thoughts  into  the  fewest  possible 
words." — Blairs  Rhet.  p.  I  7  . 

/•ft  acts  of  men, 

It'  noble,  far  tin-  noblest  of  their  lives."—  Young. 

.  4. — The  relative  position  of  the  article  and  the  adjective  is  seldom  a  matter  of  indif- 
ference. Thus  it  U  good  English  to  say,  "toth  ;  •  "  but  wu  can  by 
no  me  -'/I-  buth  nn'/i,"  or,  tltiroth»-  ;aiu,  the  two  phrases,  "  half  a  dollar," 
and  "«  half  dollar,"  though  both  good,  are  I >y  no  means  equivalent.  Of  the  pronominal 
-ome  exclude  the  article;  some  precede  it;  and  some  follow  it,  like  other  adjec- 
tives. The  word  .«rim<-  is  seldom,  if  ever  used  without  the  definite  article  or  some  stronger 
definitive  lici'.ire  it ;  as,  "  On  the  same  day," — "  In  that,  smm-  hour," — "These  sanu-  gentle- 
tr.en."  After  the  adjective  both,  the  definite  article  nun/  be  u^ed,  but  it  i-  generally  u, 
st.ry,  and  this  is  a  sufficient  reason  for  omitting  it :  as,  "The  following  sentences  will  fully 
exemplify,  to  the  young  grammarian,  both  the  parts  of  this  rule." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  192. 


464  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

Say,  "  both  parts"  The  adjective  few  may  be  used  either  with  or  without  an  article,  but 
not  with  the  same  import :  as,  "The  few  who  were  present,  were  in  the  secret ;  "  i.  e.  All 
then  present,  knew  the  thing.  "Few  that  were  present,  were  in  the  secret ;  "  i.  e.  Not 
many  then  present  knew  the  thing.  "  When  I  say,  «  There  were  few  men  with  him,'  I 
speak  diminutively,  and  mean  to  represent  them  as  inconsiderable ;  whereas,  when  I  say, 
*  There  were  a  few  men  with  him,'  I  evidently  intend  to  make  the  most  of  them." — Mur- 
ray's Gram.  p.  171.  See  Etymology,  Articles,  Obs.  28. 

OBS.  5. — The  pronominal  adjectives  which  exclude  the  article,  are  any,  each,  either,  every, 
much,  neither,  no,  or  none,  some,  this,  that,  these,  those.  The  pronominal  adjectives  which  pre- 
cede the  article,  are  all,  both,  many,  such,  and  what ;  as,  "All  the  world," — "Both  the  judges,'' 
— "Many  a  *  mile," — "Such  a  chasm," — "What  a  freak."  In  like  manner,  any  adjective  of 
quality,  when  its  meaning  is  limited  by  the  adverb  too,  so,  as,  or  how,  is  put  before  the 
article  ;  as,  "Too  great  a  study  of  strength,  is  found  to  betray  writers  into  a  harsh  manner." 
— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  179.  "  Like  many  an  other  poor  wretch,  I  now  suffer  all  the  ill  conse- 
quences of  so  foolish  an  indulgence."  "Such  a  gift  is  too  small  a  reward  for  so  great  a  labour." 
— Brightland's  Gram.  p.  95.  "  Here  flows  as  clear  a  stream  as  any  in  Greece.  How  beautiful 
a  prospect  is  here  !  " — BicknelVs  Gram.  Part  ii,  p.  52.  The  pronominal  adjectives  which 
follow  the  article,  are  few,  former,  first,  latter,  last,  little,  one,  others,  and  same ;  as,  "An 
author  might  lean  either  to  the  one  [style]  or  to  the  other,  and  yet  be  beautiful." — Blair  3 
Ehet.  p.  179.  Many,  like  few,  sometimes  follows  the  article ;  as,  "The  many  favours  which 
we  have  received." — "  In  conversation,  for  many  a  man,  they  say,  a  many  men." — Johnson's 
Diet.  In  this  order  of  the  words,  a  seems  awkward  and  needless  :  as, 
"Told of  a  many  thousand  warlike  French." — Shak. 

OBS.  6. — When  the  adjective  is  preceded  by  any  other  adverb  than  too,  so,  as,  or  how,  the 
article  is  almost  always  placed  before  the  adverb  :  as,  "  One  of  the  most  complete  models ;  " — 
"An  equally  important  question ;  " — "An  exceedingly  rough  passage ;  " — "A  very  impor- 
tant difference."  The  adverb  quite,  however,  may  be  placed  either  before  or  after  the 
article,  though  perhaps  with  a  difference  of  construction:  as,  "This  is  quite  a  different 
thing  ;  "  —  or,  "  This  is  a  quite  different  thing."  "  Finding  it  quite  an  other  thing  ;  "  —  or, 
"Finding  it  a  quite  other  thing." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  153.  Sometimes  two  adverbs  intervene 
between  the  article  and  the  adjective;  as,  "  We  had  a  rather  more  explicit  account  of  the 
Novii." — Philol.  Museum,  i,  458.  But  when  an  other  adverb  follows  too,  so,  as,  or  how,  the 
three  words  should  be  placed  either  before  the  article  or  after  the  noun  ;  as,  "  Who  stands 
there  in  so  purely  poetical  a  light." — Ib.  i,  449.  Better,  perhaps  :  "In  a  light  so  purely  poetical.' 

OBS.  7. — The  definitives  this,  that,  and  some  others,  though  they  supersede  the  article  a>i 
or  a,  may  be  followed  by  the  adjective  one;  for  we  say,  "this  one  thing,"  but  not  "this   i 
thing."     Yet,  in  the  following  sentence,  this  and  a  being  separated  by  other  words,  appear 
to  relate  to  the  same  noun  :  "For  who  is  able  to  judge  this  thy  so  great  a  people?" — 1 
Kings,  iii,  9.     But  we  may  suppose  the  noun  people  to  be  understood  after  this.     Again,  the 
following  example,  if  it  is  not  wrong,  has  an  ellipsis  of  the  word  use  after  the  first  a : 
"  For  highest  cordials  all  their  virtue  lose 
By  a  too  frequent  and  too  bold  a  use." — Pomfret. 

OBS.  8. — When  the  adjective  is  placed  after  the  noun,  the  article  generally  retains  its 
place  before  the  noun,  and  is  not  repeated  before  the  adjective :  as,  "A  man  ignorant  of 
astronomy;" — "The  primrose  pale."  In  Greek,  when  an  adjective  is  placed  after  its  noun, 
if  the  article  is  applied  to  the  noun, it  is  repeated  before  the  adjective;  as,  "'H  TKM/S  /; 
jueyuAf/," — "The  city  the  great;"  i.  e.  "The  great  city." 

OBS.  9. — Articles,  according  to  their  own  definition  and  nature,  come  before  their 
nouns ;  but  the  definite  article  and  an  adjective  seem  sometimes  to  be  placed  after  the  noun 
to  which  they  both  relate :  as,  "  Section  the  Fourth ; " — "  Henry  the  Eighth."  Such  exam- 
ples, however,  may  possibly  be  supposed  elliptical ;  as,  "  Section,  the^fourth  division  of  the 
chapter ; " — "  Henry,  the  eighth  king  of  that  name  :  "  and,  if  they  are  so,  the  article,  in 
English,  can  never  be  placed  after  its  noun,  nor  can  two  articles  ever  properly  relate  to  one 
noun,  in  any  particular  construction  of  it.  Priestley  observes,  "  Some  writers  affect  to  trans- 
pose these  words,  and  place  the  numeral  adjective  first;  [as,]  'The  first  Henry  '  Hume's 
History,  Vol.  i,  p.  497.  This  construction  is  common  with  this  writer,  but  there  seems  to 
be  a  want  of  dignity  in  it." — Rudiments  of  E.  Gram.  p.  150.  Dr.  Webster  cites  the  word 
Great,  in  "Alexander  the  Great,"  as  a  name,  or  part  of  a  name ;  that  is,  he  gives  it  as  an  in- 
stance of  "  cog  nomination."  See  his  American  Diet.  8vo.  And  if  this  is  right,  the  article 
may  be  said  to  relate  to  the  epithet  only,  as  it  appears  to  do.  For,  if  the  word  is  taken 
substantively,  there  is  certainly  no  ellipsis ;  neither  is  there  any  transposition  in  putting  it 
last,  but  rather,  as  Priestley  suggests,  in  putting  it  first. 

OBS.  10. — The  definite  article  is  often  prefixed  to  comparatives  and  superlatives;  and  its 
effect  is,  as  Murray  observes,  (in  the  words  of  Lowth,)  "to  mark  the  degree  the  more 
strongly,  and  to  define  it  the  more  precisely  :  as,  « The  more  I  examine  it,  the  better  I  like  it.' 

*  Home  Tooke  says,  "  The  use  of  A  after  the  word  MANY  is  a  corruption  for  of;  and  has  no  connection  whatever 
with  the  article  A,  i.  e.  one."— Diversions  of  Purley,  Vol.  ii,  p.  324.  With  this  conjecture  of  the  learned  etymolo- 
gist, I  do  not  concur :  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  state  here,  what  may  be  urged  pro  and  con. 


CHAP    II.]  SYNTAX.  —  RULE   I.  -  ARTICLES.  -  OBSERVATIONS.  465 

'  I  like  this  the  least  of  any.'  "—  Murray  s  Gram.  p.  33  ;  Lowth's,  14.  "  For  neither  if  we  eat, 
are  we  the  better  ;  neither  if  we  eat  not,  are  we  the  worse."  —  1  Cor.  via,  8.  "  One  is  not 
the  more  agreeable  to  me  for  loving  beef,  as  I  do  ;  nor  the  less  agreeable  for  preferring  mut- 
ton."— Kumc.i,  ill.  of  ('fit.  Vol.  ii,  p.  365.  "They  are  not  the  men  in  the  nation,  the  most 
difficult  to  be  replaced."  —  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  148.  In  these  instances,  the  article  seems  to 
be  used  'y,  and  to  relate  only  to  the  adjective  or  adverb  following  it.  (See  observa- 

tion fourth,  on  the  Etymology  of  Adverbs.)  Yet  none  of  our  grammarians  have  actually 
reckoned  M->  an  adverb'.  After  the  adject  ice,  the  noun  might  perhaps  be  supplied  ;  but  when 
the  word  tin-  is  added  to  an  adverb,  we  must  either  call  it  an  adverb,  or  make  an  exception 
to  Rule  1st  above  :  and  if  an  exception  is  to  be  made,  the  brief  form  which  I  have  given, 
cannot  well  be  improved.  For  even  if  a  noun  be  understood,  it  may  not  appear  that  the 
article  relates  to  it,  rather  than  to  the  degree  of  the  quality.  Thus:  "The  deeper  the  well, 
the  clearer  the  water."  This  Dr.  Ash  supposes  to  mean,  "  The  deeper  well  the  well  is,  tho 
clearer  irater  the  water  is."  —  Ash's  Gram.  p.  107.  But  does  the  text  specify  a  particular 
"  deeper  well  "  or  "  clearer  water  :  "  I  think  not.  To  what  then  does  the  refer,  but  to  the 
proportionate  degree  of  da  per  and  cl 

DBS.  11.  —  The  article  the  is  sometimes  elegantly  used,  after  an  idiom  common  in  the 
French  language,  in  lieu  of  a  possessive  pronoun;  as,  "He  looked  him  full  in  the  face  ; 
i.  e.  in  ///<  fare."  —  I'riextlcy's  dram.  p.  150.  "Men  who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  the 
image  of  Baal."  —  Rom.  xi,  4.  That  is,  their  knees. 

.  \'l.  —  The  article  an-  or  a,  because  it  implies  unity,  is  applicable  to  nouns  of  the 
singular  number  only  ;  yet  a  collective  noun,  being  singular  in  form,  is  sometimes  preceded 
by  this  article  even  when  it  conveys  the  idea  of  plurality  and  takes  a  plural  verb  :  as, 
"  There  arc-  a  very  great  number  [of  adverbs]  ending  in  ly."  —  Buchanan  s  Syntax,  p.  63.  "A 
plurality  of  them  arc.  sometimes  felt  at  the  same  instant."  —  Kames,  EL  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  114. 
In  support  of  this  construction,  it  would  be  easy  to  adduce  a  great  multitude  of  examples 
from  the  most  reputable  writers  ;  but  still,  as  it  seems  not  very  consistent,  to  take  any  word 
plurally  after  restricting  it  to  the  singular,  we  ought  rather  to  avoid  this  if  we  can,  and 
prefer  words  that  literally  agree  in  number  :  as,  "  Of  adverbs  there  are  very  many  ending 
in  ly"  —  "More  than  one  of  them  are  sometimes  felt  at  the  same  instant."  The  word  plural- 
ity >  like  other  collective  nouns,  is  literally  singular  ;  as,  "  To  produce  the  latter,  a  plurality 
of  objects  iff  necessary."  —  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  ii24. 

.  lo.  —  Respecting  the  form  of  the  indefinite  article,  present  practice  differs  a  little 
from  that  of  our  ancient  writers.  An  was  formerly  used  before  all  words  beginning  with 
h,  and  before  several  other  words  which  are  now  pronounced  in  such  a  manner  as  to  require 
a:  thus,  we  read  in  the  Bible,  "An  help,"  —  "an  house,"  —  "an  hundred,"  —  "an  one,"  — 
"  an  ewer,"  —  "  an  usurer  ;  "  whereas  we  now  say,  "A  help,"  —  "  a  house,"  —  "  a  hundred," 
—  "  a  one,"  —  "  a  ewer,"  —  "a  usurer." 

OBS.  14.  —  Before  the  word  humble,  with  its  compounds  and  derivatives,  some  use  an,  and 
tors,  a  ;  according  to  their  practice,  in  this  instance,  of  sounding  or  suppressing  the  aspi- 
.tion.       "NVebster  and  Jameson  sound  the  ht  and  consequently  prefer  a;  as,  "But    a 
imblincj  image  is  not  always  necessary  to  produce  that  effect."  —  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  205. 
•Owhat  a  humble  mind!"  —  Christian  Experience,  p.  342.      But  Sheridan, 

Walker,  1'  .  and  perhaps  a  majority  of  fashionable  speakers,  leave  the  h  silent, 

and  would  <-ou>e  [\u  -ntly  say,  "An  humbling  image,"  —  "  an  humble  mind,"  —  &c. 

.  lo.  —  An  observance  of  the  principles  on  which  the  article  is  to  be  repeated  or  not 
repeated  in  a  sentence,  is  of  very  great  moment  in  respect  to  accuracy  of  composition. 
These  principles  are  briefly  stated  in  the  notes  below,  but  it  is  proper  that  the  learner  should 
know  the  r  the  distinctions  which  arc  there  made.  By  a  repetition  of  the  article 

befort  i'^.-tivcs  in  the  same  construction,  a  repetition  of  the  noun  is  implied;  but 

without  a  repetition  of  the  article,  the  adjectives,  in  all  fairness  of  interpretation,  are  con- 
fined to  one  and  the  same  noun  :  as,  "No  figures  will  render  a  cold  or  an  empty  composition 
interesting."  —  /;  .  p.  134.  Here  the  author  speaks  of  a  cold  composition  and  an 

empty  composition  as  different  things.  "The  metaphorical  and  the  literal  meaning  are  im- 
properly mixed."—  M  •/.-<.  p.  339.  Here  the  verb  arc  has  two  nominatives,  one  of 

which  i  '1,  and  the  other  understood.     "  But  the  third  and  the  last  of  these  [forms] 

are  seldom  u^ed."  —  I  Here  the  verb  "  are  tt.ied  "  has  two  nomina- 

i  >oth  of  which  are  understood  ;  namely,  "  the  third  form  "  and  "  the  last  form."  Again  : 
:nitication  i*  always  retained."  —  Dr.  Murray's  Hi  fit.  of  Lang.  Vol. 

ii,  p.  14!).  Here  <>nr  *•«'.//*//''-.<  fimi  is  characteri/.ed  as  being  both  original  and  present.  "A 
loose  and  n  rbnsr  manner  never  ails  to  create  disust."  —  Blair's  llhet.  .  261.  That  i 


loose  and  n  rbnsr  manner  never  fails  to  create  disgust."  —  Blair's  llhet.  p.  261.     That  is,  on* 
manner,  loose  and  verbosr.  •  a  short  and  yet  clear  and  plain  answer  to  this  propo- 

sition." —  liar,  './y'.v  \l'<trks,  Vol.  i,  p.  533.     That  is,  one  answer,  short,  clear,  and  plain  ;  for  the 
conjunctions  in  the  text  connect  nothing  but  the  adjectives. 

I.  16.  —  To  avoid  repetition,  even  of  the  little  word  the,  we  sometimes,  with  one  article, 

join  inconsistent  qualities  to  a  plural  noun  ;  —  that  is,  when  the  adjectives  so  differ  as  to 

individualize  the  things,  we  sometimes  make  the  noun  plural,  in  stead  of  repeating  the 

article  :  as,  "The.  north  and  south  poles;"  in  steadof,  "The  north  and  the  south  pole."  — 

30 


466  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAM3IAKS.  [PART   III. 

"The  indicative  and  potential  moods;"  in  stead  of,  "The  indicative  and  the  potential  mood." 
— "The  Old  and  New  Testaments;"  in  stead  of,  "The  Old  and  the  New  Testament."  But, 
in  any  such  case,  to  repeat  the  article  when  the  noun  is  made  plural,  is  a  huge  blunder ; 
because  it  implies  a  repetition  of  the  plural  noun.  And  again,  not  to  repeat  the  article 
when  the  noun  is  singular,  is  also  wrong ;  because  it  forces  the  adjectives  to  coalesce  in 
describing  one  and  the  same  thing.  Thus,  to  say,  "The  north  and  south  pole"  is  certainly 
wrong,  unless  we  mean  by  it,  one  pole,  or  slender  stick  of  wood,  pointing  north  and  south ; 
and  again,  to  say,  "  The  north  and  the  south  poles,"  is  also  wrong,  unless -we  mean  by  it, 
several  poles  at  the  north  and  others  at  the  south.  So  the  phrase,  -"The  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment," is  wrong,  because  we  have  not  one  Testament  that  is  both  Old  and  New ;  and  again, 
**  The  Old  and  the  New  Testaments,"  is  wrong,  because  we  have  not  several  Old  Testaments 
a)id  several  New  ones :  at  least  we  have  them  not  in  the  Bible. 

OBS.  17. — Sometimes  a  noun  that  admits  no  article,  is  preceded  by  adjectives  that  do  not 
describe  the  same  thing ;  as,  "  Never  to  jumble  metaphorical  and  plain  language  together." — 
Blairs  Rhet.  p.  146.  This  means,  "  metaphorical  language  and  plain  langisage ;  "  and,  for  the 
sake  of  perfect  clearness,  it  would  perhaps  be  better  to  express  it  so.  "For  as  intrinsic 
and  relative  beauty  must  often  be  blended  in  the  same  building,  it  becomes  a  difficult  task 
to  attain  both  in  any  perfection." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.'Vol.  ii,  p.  330.  That  is,  "intrinsic 
beauty  and  relative  beavsty  must  often  be  blended  ;  and  this  phraseology  would  be  better. 
"  In  correspondence  to  that  distinction  of  male  and  female  sex." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  74  Thi& 
may  be  expressed  as  well  or  better,  in  half  a  dozen  other  ways ;  for  the  article  may  be- 
added,  or  the  noun  may  be  made  plural,  with  or  without  the  article,  and  before  or  after 
the  adjectives.  "They  make  no  distinction  betwee-n  causes  of  civil  and  criminal  jurisdic- 
tion."— Adams's  Rhet.  Vol.  i,  p.  302.  This  means  —  "  between  causes  of  civil  and  causes  of 
criminal  jurisdiction  ;  and,  for  the  sake  of  perspicuity,  it  ought  to  have  been  so  written, — 
or,  still  better,  thits :  "  They  make  no  distinction  between  civil  causes  and  criminal." 

NOTES  TO  RULE  I. 

NOTE  I. — When  the  indefinite  article  is  required,  a  should  always  be  used  before 
the  sound  of  a  consonant,  and  an,  before  that  of  a  vowel ;  as,  "  With  the  talents  of  an 
angel,  a  man  may  be  a  fool." — Young. 

NOTE.  II. — The  article  an  or  a  must  never  be  so  used  as  to  relate,  or  even  seem 
to  relate,  to  a  plural  noun.  The  following  sentence  is  therefore  faulty  :  "  I  invited 
her  to  spend  a  day  in  viewing  a  seat  and  gardens" — Rambler,  No.  34.  Say,  "  u 
seat  and  its  gardens." 

NOTE  III. — When  nouns  are  joined  in  construction,  with  different  adjuncts,  dif- 
ferent dependence,  or  positive  contrast,  the  article,  if  it  belong  at  all  to  the  latter, 
must  be  repeated.  The  following  sentence  is  therefore  inaccurate  :  "  She  never  con- 
sidered the  quality,  but  merit  of  her  visitors." — Wm.  Penn.  Say,  "  the  merit." 
So  the  article  in  brackets  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  sense  and  propriety  of  tbs 
following  phrase,  though  not  inserted  by  the  learned  author  :  *'  The  Latin  introduced 
between  the  Conquest  and  [the\  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth." — Fowler's  E.  Gram. 
8vo,  1850,  p.  42. 

NOTE  IV. — When  adjectives  are  connected,  and  the  qualities  belong  to  things 
individually  different,  though  of  the  same  name,  the  article  should  be  repeated  :  as, 
"A  black  and  a  white  horse  ;  "  i.  e.  two  horses,  one  black  and  the  other  white. 
"The  north  and  the  south  line  ;"  i.  e.  two  lines,  running  east  and  west. 

NOTE  V. — When  adjectives  are  connected,  and  the  qualities  all  belong  to  the  same 
thing  or  things,  the  article  should  not  be  repeated  :  as,  "A  black  and  white  horse  ;  " 
i.  e.  one  horse,  piebald.  "The  north  and  south  line ;  "  i.  e.  one  line,  running  north 
and  south,  like  a  meridian. 

NOTE  VI. — When  two  or  more  individual  things  of  the  same  name  are  distin- 
guished by  adjectives  that  cannot  unite  to  describe  the  same  thing,  the  article  must 
be  added  to  each  if  the  noun  be  singular,  and  to  the  first  only  if  the  noun  follow  them 
in  the  plural :  as,  "The  nominative  and  the  objective  case ;  "  or,  "The  nominative 
and  objective  cases." — "The  third,  the  fifth,  the  seventh,  and  the  eighth  chapter;" 
or,  "The  third,  fifth,  seventh,  and  eighth  chapters.'"'* 

*  Churchill  rashly  condemns  this  construction,  and  still  more  rashly  proposes  to  make  the  noun  singular  with- 
out repeating  the  article.  See  his  New  Gram.  p.  311.  But  he  sometimes  happily  forgets  his  own  doctrine;  as, 
M  In  fact,  the  second  and  fourth  line*  here  stamp  the  character  of  the  measure." — Ib.  p.  391.  0.  15.  Peirce  says, 
"  '  Joram's  second  and  third  daughters,'  must  mean,  if  it  means  any  thing,  his  second  daughters  and  third  daugh- 
ters; and, '  the  first  and  second  verses,'  if  it  means  any  thing,  must  represent  the  first  vtrses  and  the  second 


CHAP.  II.]  SYNTAX. — RULE  I. ARTICLES. — NOTES.  467 

NOTE  VII. — When  two  phrases  of  the  same  sentence  have  any  special  correspond- 
ence with  each  other,  the  article,  if  used  in  the  former,  is  in  general  required  also  in 
the  latter:  as,  "For  ye  know  neither  the  day  nor  the  hour." — Matt,  xxv,  13. 
"  Neither  the  cold  nor  the  fervid  are  formed  for  friendship." — Murray's  Key,  p. 
209.  "  The  vail  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom." — 
Matt,  xxvii,  51. 

NOTE  VIII. — When  a  special  correspondence  is  formed  between  individual  epi- 
thets, the  noun  which  follows  must  not  be  made  plural ;  because  the  article,  in  such 
a  case,  cannot  be  repeated  as  the  construction  of  correspondents  requires.  Thus,  it  is 
improper  to  say,  "  Both  the  first  and  second  editions"  or,  "  Both  the  first  and  the 
second  editions"  for  the  accurate  phrase,  "  Both  the  first  and  the  second  edition  ; 
and  still  worse  to  say,  "Neither  the  Old  nor  New  Testaments"  or,  "  Neither  the 
Old  nor  the  New  Testaments"  for  the  just  expression,  "  Neither  the  Old  nor  the 
New  Testament."  Yet  we  may  say,  " Neither  the  old  nor  the  new  statutes" 
or,  "Both  the  early  and  the  late  editions ;"  for  here  the  epithets  severally  apply 
to  more  than  one  thing. 

NOTE  IX. — In  a  series  of  three  or  more  terms,  if  the  article  is  used  with  any, 
it  should  in  general  be  added  either  to  every  one,  or  else  to  the  first  only.  The  fol- 
lowing phrase  is  therefore  inaccurate :  "  Through  their  attention  to  the  helm,  the 
sails,  or  rigging." — Brown's  Estimate,  Vol.  i,  p.  11.  Say,  "  the  rigging." 

NOTE  X. — As  the  article  an  or  a  denotes  "  one  thing  of  a  kind"  it  should  not  be 
used  as  we  use  the,  to  denote  emphatically  a  whole  kind;  and  again,  when  the 
gpecies  is  said  to  be  of  the  genus,  no  article  should  be  used  to  limit  the  latter.  Thus 
some  will  say,  "A  jay  is  a  sort  of  a  bird;"  whereas  they  ought  to  say,  "The  jay 
is  a  sort  of  bird."  Because  it  is  absurd  to  suggest,  that  one  jay  is  a  sort  of  one  bird. 
Yet  we  may  say,  "The  jay  is  a  bird,"  or,  "A  jay  is  a  bird;"  because,  as  every 
species  is  one  under  the  genus,  so  every  individual  is  one  under  both. 

NOTE  XI. — The  article  should  not  be  used  before  the  names  of  virtues,  vices, 
passions,  arts,  or  sciences,  in  their  general  sense ;  before  terms  that  are  strictly  limited 
oy  other  definitives ;  or  before  any  noun  whose  signification  is  sufficiently  definite 
without  it :  as,  "Falsehood  is  odious." — "Iron  is  useful." — "Beauty  is  vain." — 
"Admiration  is  useless,  when  it  is  not  supported  by  domestic  worth." — Webster's 
Essays,  p.  30. 

NOTE  XII. — When  titles  are  mentioned  merely  as  titles ;  or  names  of  things, 
merely  as  names  or  words  ;  the  article  should  not  be  used  before  them  :  as,  "  He  is 
styled  Marquis  ;"  not,  "  the  Marquis,"  or,  "  a  Marquis." — "Ought  a  teacher  to 
call  his  pupil  Muster?  " — "Thames  is  derived  from  the  Latin  name  Tamesis" 

NOTE  XIII. — When  a  comparison  or  an  alternative  is  made  with  two  nouns,  if  both 
of  them  refer  to  the  same  subject,  the  article  should  not  be  inserted  before  the  latter  ; 
if  to  different  subjects,  it  should  not  be  omitted:  thus,  if  we  say,  "  He  is  a  better 
teacher  than  poet,"  we  compare  different  qualifications  of  the  same  man;  but  if  we 
say,  "  He  is  a  better  teacher  than  a  poet,"  we  speak  of  different  men,  in  regard  to  the 
game  qualification. 

NOTE  XIV. — The  definite  article,  or  some  other  definitive,  (as  this,  that,  these, 
tfwse,)  is  generally  required  before  the  antecedent  to  the  pronoun  who  or  which  in  a 
restrictive  clause;  as,  "All  the  men  who  were  present,  agreed  to  it." — W.Allen's 

uer*ei."—Pfirce-s  English  Gram.  p.  2*33.  According  to  my  notion,  this  interpretation  is  as  false  and  hypercritical, 
as  is  the  rule  by  which  the  author  professes  to  show  what  is  right.  He  might  hare  been  better  employed  in  ex- 
plaining some  of  his  own  phraseology,  such  as,  "  the  indefinite -past  and  present  of  the  declarative  mode.'1'1 — 76.  p. 
100.  The  critic  who  writes  such  stulT  n*  tliis,  may  well  b«  a  misinterpreter  of  good  common  English.  It  i«  plain, 
that  th«  two  examples  which  he  thus  distort*,  are  neither  obscure  nor  inelegant.  But,  in  an  alternative  of  single 
things,  the  article  must  be  repeated,  and  a  plural  noun  is  improper  ;  as,  "  But  they  do  not  receive  the  Nicene  or 
the  Athan:isi.ui  <-r-f  Is."— Adam's  Religious  \V«r!>l,  Vol.  ii.  p.  lo.'j.  Say .  '•  crrrrl."1  So  in  an  enumeration  ;  as,  "There 
are  three  participles:  the  present,  the  perfect,  and  the  compound  perfect  participles.-1 — Inger  soil's  Gram.  p.  42. 
Expunge-  this  last  word,  "jNtfftetpto."  Sometimes  a  sentence  is  wrong,  not  as  being  in  itself  a  solecism,  but  a* 
being  unadapted  to  the  author's  thought.  Kxample  :  "  Other  tendencies  will  be  noticed  in  the  Etymological  and 
Syntactical  part."— Fowler's  E.  Gram.,  N.  Y..  1>.">).  p.  75  This  implies,  what  appears  not  to  be  true,  that  the 
author  meant  to  treat  Etymology  and  Syntax  toytther  in  a  single  part  of  his  work.  Had  he  put  an  s  to  the  noun 
"parr,"'  he  might  hare  been  understood  in  either  of  two  other  ways,  but  not  in  this.  To  make  sure  of  his  mean- 
ing, therefore,  he  should  have  said  —  "  in  the  Etymological  Part  and  the  Syntantical." 


468  THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

Gram.  p.  145.  "The  thoughts  which  passion  suggests  aro  always  plain  and 
obvious  ones." — Blair's  JKhet.  p.  468.  "The  things  which  are  impossible  with 
men,  are  possible  with  God." — Luke,  xviii,  27.  See  Etymology,  Chap.  V,  Obs. 
26th,  &c.,  on  Classes  of  Pronouns. 

NOTE  XV. — The  article  is  generally  required  in  that  construction  which  converts 
a  participle  into  a  verbal  or  participial  noun;  as,  "The  completing  of  tins,  by  the 
working-out,  of  sin  inherent,  must  be  by  the  power  and  spirit  of  Christ  in  the  heart." 
—  Wm.  Penn.  "They  shall  be  an  abhorring  unto  all  flesh." — Isaiah,  Ixvi,  24. 
"  For  the  dedicating  of  the  altar." — Numb,  vii,  11. 

NOTE  XVI. — The  article  should  not  be  added  to  any  participle  that  is  not  taken 
in  all  other  respects  as  a  noun ;  as,  "  For  the  dedicating  the  altar." — "  He  made 
a  mistake  in  the  giving  out  the  text."  Expunge  the,  and  let  dedicating  and  giving 
here  stand  as  participles  only ;  for  in  the  construction  of  nouns,  they  must  have  not 
only  a  definitive  before  them,  but  the  preposition  of  after  them. 

NOTE  XVII. — The  false  syntax  of  articles  properly  includes  every  passage  in 
which  there  is  any  faulty  insertion,  omission,  choice,  or  position,  of  this  part  of  speech. 
For  example  :  "  When  the  verb  is  a  passive,  the  agent  and  object  change  places." — 
Lowth's  Gram.  p.  73.  Better:  "  When  the  verb  is  passive,  the  agent  and  the  ob- 
ject change  places."  "  Comparisons  used  by  the  sacred  poets,  are  generally  short." — 
JZusscirs  Gram.  p.  87.  Better:  "The  comparisons,"  &c.  "Pronoun  means  for 
noun,  and  is  used  to  avoid  the  too  frequent  repetition  of  the  noun." — Infant  School 
Gram.  p.  89.  Say  rather:  "  The  pronoun  is  put  for  a  noun,  and  is  used  to  pre- 
vent too  frequent  a  repetition  of  the  noun."  Or  :  "The  word  PRONOUN  means  for 
noun  ;  and  a  pronoun  is  used  to  prevent  too  frequent  a  repetition  of  some  noun." 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE   SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  I. 

d^T5"  [The  examples  of  False  Syntax  placed  under  the  rules  and  notes,  are  to  be  corrected  orally  by  the  pupil, 
according  to  the  fonnules  given,  or  according  to  others  framed  in  like  manner,  and  adapted  to  the  several  notes.] 

EXAMPLES  UNDER  NOTE  I. — AN  on  A. 

"  I  have  seen  an  horrible  thing  in  the  house  of  Israel." — Hosea,  vi,  10. 

[FoRMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  article  an  is  used  before  horrible,  which  begins  with  the  sound  of  the  conso- 
nant A.  But,  according  to  Note  1st,  under  Rule  1st,  "  When  the  indefinite  article  is  required,  a  should  alwaj  » 
be  used  before  the  sound  of  a  consonant,  and  an,  before  that  of  a  vowel."  Therefore,  an  should  be  a;  thus,  "  £ 
have  seen  a  horrible  thing  in  the  house  of  Israel."] 

"  There  is  an  harshness  in  the  following  sentences." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  188.  "  Indeed, 
such  an  one  is  not  to  be  looked  for." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  27.  "  If  each  of  you  will  be  disposed 
to  approve  himself  an  useful  citizen." — Ib.  p.  263.  "  Land  with  them  had  acquired  almost 
an  European  value." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  325.  "He  endeavoured  to  find  out  an  whole- 
some remedy." — Neef's  Method  of  Ed.  p.  3.  "  At  no  time  have  we  attended  an  Yearly 
Meeting  more  to  our  own  satisfaction." — The  Friend,  v,  224.  "  Addison  was  not  an  humour- 
ist in  character." — Kames,  El.  ofCrit.\,  303.  "  Ah  me  !  what  an  one  was  he?" — Lily's 
Gram.  p.  49.  "He  was  such  an  one  as  I  never  saw." — Ib.  "No  man  can  be  a  good 
preacher,  who  is  not  an  useful  one." — Blair 's  Rhet.  p.  283.  "  An  usage  which  is  too  fre- 
quent with  Mr.  Addison." — Ib.  p.  200.  "  Nobody  joins  the  voice  of  a  sheep  with  the  shape 
of  an  horse." — Locke's  Essay,  p.  298.  "  An  universality  seems  to  be  aimed  at  by  the  omis- 
sion of  the  article." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  154.  "  Architecture  is  an  useful  as  well  as  a  fine 
art." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  335.  "  Because  the  same  individual  conjunctions  do  not  pre- 
serve an  uniform  signification." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  78.  "  Such  a  work  required  the 
patience  and  assiduity  of  an  hermit." — Johnson's  Life  of  Morin.  "Resentment  is  an  union 
of  sorrow  with  malignity." — Rambler,  No.  185.  "His  bravery,  we  know,  was  an  high 
courage  of  blasphemy." — Pope.  "Hyssop;  a  herb  of  bitter  taste." — Pike's  Ileb.  Lex.  p.  3. 
"  On  each  enervate  string  they  taught  the  note 
To  pant,  or  tremble  through  an  Eunuch's  throat." — Pope. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — AN  on  A  WITH  PLURALS. 

"At  a  sessions  of  the  court  in  March,  it  was  moved,"  &c. — Hutchinson's  Ilist.  of  Mass,  i,  61. 
"  I  shall  relate  my  conversations,  of  which  I  kept  a  memoranda." — Duchess  D' Abr antes,  p.^26. 
"I  took  another  dictionary,  and  with  a  scissors  cut  out,  for  instance,  the  word  ABACUS." — 
A.  B.  Johnson's  Plan  of  a  Diet.  p.  12.  "A  person  very  meet  seemed  he  for  the  purpose,  of 
a  forty-five  years  old." — Gardiner's  Music  of  Nature,  p.  338.  "And  it  came  to  pass  about 
an  eight  days  after  these  sayings." — Luke,  ix,  28.  "  There  were  slain  of  them  upon  a  three 


CHAP.  II.]  SYNTAX. — RULE   I. ARTICLES. — ERRORS.  469 

thousand  men." — 1  Mac.  iv,  15.  "Until  I  had  gained  the  top  of  these  white  mountains, 
which  seemed  another  Alps  of  snow." — Addison,  Tut.  No.  161.  "To  make  them  a  satisfac- 
tory amends  for  all  the  losses  they  had  sustained." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  p.  187.  "As  a  first 
fruits  of  many  more  that  shall  be  gathered." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  506.  "  It  makes  indeed 
a  little  amends,  by  inciting  us  to  oblige  people." — Sheffield's  Works,  ii,  229.  "A  large  and 
lightsome  back-stairs  leads  up  to  an  entry  above." — Ib.  p.  260.  "  Peace  of  mind  is  an 
honourable  amends  for  the  sacrifices  of  interest." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  162  ;  Smith's,  138. 
"  With  such  a  spirit  and  sentiments  were  hostilities  carried  on." — Robertson'  i,  166. 

" In  the  midst  of  a  thick  woods,  he  had  long  lived  a  voluntary  recluse." — G.  Ii.  "The 
flats  look  almost  like  a  young  woods." — Mornin;/  .  "  As  we  went  on,  the  country 

for  a  little  ways  improved,  but  scantily." — Essex  Cjunty  Freeman,  Vol.  ii.  No.  11.  "  Where- 
by the  Jews  were  permitted  to  return  into  their  own  country,  after  a  seventy  years  captivity 
at  Babylon." — /,'  Hist.  Vol.  ii,  p.  20.  "He  did  not  go  a  great  ways  into  the 

country." — Gilbert's  Gra/n.  p.  85. 

"A  large  amends  by  fortune's  hand  is  made, 
And  the  lost  Punic  blood  is  well  repay'd." — Rowe's  Lucan,iv,  12 il. 

UNDER  NOTE  III. — NOUNS  CONNECTED. 

"As  where  a  landscape  is  conjoined  with  the  music  of  birds  and  odour  of  flowers." — 
Kamcs,  El.  of  C fit.  i,  117.  "  The  last  order  resembles  the  second  in  the  mildness  of  its 
accent,  and  softness  of  its  pause." — Ib.  ii,  113.  "  Before  the  use  of  the  loadstone  or  knowl- 
edge of  the  compass." — Dryden.  "The  perfect  participle  and  imperfect  tense  ought  not  to 
be  confounded." — Murray's  Gram,  ii,  292.  "In  proportion  as  the  taste  of  a  poet,  or  orator, 
becomes  more  refined." — Blair's  li/ict.  p.  27.  "A  situation  can  never  be  intricate,  as  long 
as  there  is  an  angel,  devil,  or  musician,  to  lend  a  helping  hand." — Kames,  El.ofCrit.  ii,  285. 
"Avoid  rude  sports  :  an  eye  is  soon  lost,  or  bone  broken." — "  Not  a  word  was  uttered,  nor 
sign  given." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  125.  "  I  despise  not  the  doer,  but  deed." — Ibid.  "  For  the 
sake  of  an  easier  pronunciation  and  more  agreeable  sound." — Lou-th.  "The  levity  as  well 
as  loquacity  of  the  Greeks  made  them  incapable  of  keeping  up  the  true  standard  of  history." 
— Bulinybntke,  on  Hist.  p.  115. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — ADJECTIVES  CONNECTED. 

"  It  is  proper  that  the  vowels  be  a  long  and  short  one." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  327.  "  Whether 
the  person  mentioned  was  seen  by  the  speaker  a  long  or  short  time  before." — Ib.  p.  70  ;  Fisk's, 
72.  "  There  are  three  genders,  Masculine,  Feminine,  and  Neuter." — Adam's  Lat.  Gram. 
p.  8.  "The  numbers  are  two;  Singular  and  Plural." — Ib.  p.  80;  Gould's,  77.  "The  persons 
are  three ;  First,  Second,  [and]  Third." — Adam,  et  al.  "  Nouns  and  pronouns  have  three 
cases ;  the  nominative,  possessive,  and  objective." — Comly's  Gram.  p.  19 ;  IngrrsolFs,  21. 
"Verbs  have  five  moods;  namely,  the  Indicative,  Potential,  Subjunctive,  Imperative,  and 
Infinitive." — Bullions' s  E.  Gram.  p.  35  ;  Lcnnie's,  20.  "  How  many  numbers  have  pronouns  ? 
Two,  th«»  singular  and  plural."— Bradley's  Gram.  p.  82.  "  To  distinguish  between  an  inter- 
rogative and  exclamatory  sentence." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  280  ;  Comly's,  163  ;  InycrxoU's,  292. 
"  The  first  and  last  of  which  are  compounded  members." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  123.  "  In  the 
last  lecture,  I  treated  of  the  concise  and  diffuse,  the  nervous  and  feeble  manner."  — Blair  % 
Rhet.  p.  183.  "  The  passive  and  neuter  verbs,  I  shall  reserve  for  some  future  conversation." 
dram.  p.  (I1.).  "  There  are  two  voices;  the  Active  and  Passive." — Adams  Gram. 
<".s,  87.  "  U 'hose  is  rather  the  poetical  than  regular  genitive  of  irh ic.h." — Dr.  John- 
sons (/'/•  1 1. 1.  p.  7.  "  To  feel  the  force  of  a  compound,  or  derivative  word." — Town's  Analysis, 
p.  4.  "To  preserve  the  distinctive  uses  of  the  copulative  and  disjunctive  conjunctions." — 
Murr  |;  I /it/Orson's,  233.  "  E  has  a  long  and  short  sound  in  most  languages," 

—  Birkiit-ll'x  Hnnn.  Tart  ii,  p.  13.  "When  the  figurative  and  literal  sense  are  mixed  and 
iumbU'd  together."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  151.  "The  Hebrew,  with  which  the  Canaanitish and 
1'hu'i::  1  in  connection." — CONVN;  :  /•;.  d'tam.  8vo,  1850, p.  28.  "The lan- 

guages of  Scandinavia  proper,  the  Norwegian  and  Swedish.— Fowler,  ib.  p.  31. 

•  No  IT.  V.— ADJECTIVES  CONNECTED. 

"  The  path  of  truth  is  a  plain  and  a  safe  path."—  Murray's  Key,  p.  236.  "  Directions  for  ac- 
quiring a  just  and  a  happy  elocution."— Kirkham's  Elnniiini,  p.  1 11.  "  Its  leading  object  is 
to  adopt  a  correct  and  an  easy  method." — Kirkham'x  dram.  p.  9.  "  How  can  it  choose  but 
wither  in  a  lomj  and  a  sharp  winter."-  .",--•/'.  p.  vi.  "  Into  a  dark  and  a  distant  un- 

known."—  dial,  -ronomy,  p.   230.     "  When  the  bold  and  the  strong  enslaved  his 

follow  man." — C  ;>.  21.     "  We  now  proceed  to  consider  the  things  most 

tialto  an  accurate  and  a  perfect  sentence." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  306.  "And  hence  a: 
second  and  a  very  considerable  source  of  the  improvement  ot 'taste."— Blair's  Rhct.  p.  18. 
"  Novelty  produces  in  the  mind  a  vivid  and  an  agreeable  emotion." — Ib.  p.  50.  "  The  deepest 
and  the  bitterest  feeling  still  is,  the  separation." — Dr.  M'  Ric.  "A  great  and  a  good  man  looks 
beyond  time." — Brmrnn  I-istittiii-t,  p.  125.  "They  made  but  a  weak  and  an  ineffectual  resist- 
ance."—  /';.  "The  light  and  the  worthless  kernels  will  float." — Ib.  "  I  rejoice  that  there  is 
an  other  and  a  better  world." — Ib.  For  he  is  determined  to  revise  his  work,  and  present  to 


470  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART    III. 

the  publick  another  and  a  better  edition." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  7.  "  He  hoped  that  this  title 
would  secure  him  an  ample  and  an  independent  authority." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  172  :  see 
Priestley's,  147.  "There is  however  another  and  a  more  limited  sense." — Adams's  Rhet. 
Vol.  ii,  p.  232. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI. — ARTICLES  OR  PLURALS. 

"  This  distinction  forms,  what  are  called  the  diffuse  and  the  concise  styles." — Blair's  Rhet. 
p.  176.  "  Two  different  modes  of  speaking,  distinguished  at  first  by  the  denominations  of  the 
Attic  and  the  Asiatic  manners." — Adams's  Rhet.  Vol.  i,  p.  83.  "But  the  great  design  of 
uniting  the  Spanish  and  the  French  monarchies  under  the  former  was  laid." — Bolingbroke, 
on  History,  p.  180.  "  In  the  solemn  and  the  poetic  styles,  it  [do  or  did]  is  often  rejected."- 
W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  68.  "  They  cannot  be  at  the  same  time  in  the  objective  and  the  nominative 
cases." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  151  ;  Ingersoll's,  239  ;  R.  C.  Smith's,  127.  "  They  are  named 
the  POSITIVE,  the  COMPARATIVE,  and  the  SUPERLATIVE  degrees." — Smart's  Accidence,  p.  27. 
"  Certain  Adverbs  are  capable  of  taking  an  Inflection,  namely,  that  of  the  comparative  and 
the  superlative  degrees." — Fowler's  E.  Gram.  Svo,  1850,  $  321.  "  In  the  subjunctive  mood,  the 
present  and  the  imperfect  tenses  often  carry  with  them  a  future  sense." — L.  Murray's  Gram. 
p.  187;  Fisk's,  131.  "  The  imperfect,  the  perfect,  the  pluperfect,  and  the  first  future  tenses  of 
this  mood,  are  conjugated  like  the  same  tenses  of  the  indicative." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  145. 
"  What  rules  apply  in  parsing  personal  pronouns  of  the  second  and  third  person  ?" — Ib.  p.  116. 
"  Nouns  are  sometimes  in  the  nominative  or  objective  case  after  the  neuter  verb  to  be,  or 
after  an  active-intransitive  or  passive  verb." — Ib.  p.  55.  "  The  verb  varies  its  endings  in  the 
singular  in  order  to  agree  in  form  with  the  first,  second,  and  third  person  of  its  nominative." 
— Ib.  p.  47.  "  They  are  identical  in  effect,  with  the  radical  and  the  vanishing  stresses." — 
Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  339.  "  In  a  sonnet  the  first,  fourth,  fifth,  and  eighth  line  rhyme  to 
each  other :  so  do  the  second,  third,  sixth,  and  seventh  line  ;  the  ninth,  eleventh,  and  thir- 
tenth,  line;  and  the  tenth,  twelfth,  and  fourteenth  line." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  311.  "The 
iron  and  the  golden  ages  are  run;  youth  and  manhood  are  departed." — Wright's  Athens, 
p.  74.  "If,  as  you  say,  the  iron  and  the  golden  ages  are  past,  the  youth  and  the  manhood 
of  the  world." — Ib.  "An  Exposition  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament." — Matthew  Henry's  Title- 
page.  "  The  names  and  order  of  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament." — Friends'  Bible, 
p.  2  ;  Bruce 's,  p.  2  ;  et  al.  "  In  the  second  and  third  person  of  that  tense." — L.  Murray's  Gram. 
p.  81.  "And  who  still  unites  in  himself  the  human  and  the  divine  natures." — Gurney's 
Evidences,  p.  59.  "Among  whom  arose  the  Italian,  the  Spanish,  the  French,  and  the 
English  languages." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  p.  111.  "Whence  arise  these  two,  the 
singular  and  the  plural  Numbers." — Burn's  Gram.  p.  32. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII.— CORRESPONDENT  TERMS. 

"Neither  the  definitions,  nor  examples,  are  entirely  the  same  with  his." — Ward's  Prcf. 
to  Lilys  Gram.  p.  vi.  "  Because  it  makes  a  discordance  between  the  thought  and  expres- 
sion."— Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  24.  "  Between  the  adjective  and  following  substantive." 
— Ib.  ii,  104.  "Thus,  Athens  became  both  the  repository  and  nursery  of  learning." — 
Chazotte's  Essay,  p.  28.  "  But  the  French  pilfered  from  both  the  Greek  and  Latin." — 
Ib.  p.  102.  "He  shows  that  Christ  is  both  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God." — The  Friend, 
x,  414.  "That he  might  be  Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  living." — Rom.  xiv,  9.  "This 
is  neither  the  obvious  nor  grammatical  meaning  of  his  words." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  209. 
"  Sometimes  both  the  accusative  and  infinitive  are  understood." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  155 ; 
Gould's,  158.  "In some  cases  we  can  use  either  the  nominative  or  accusative  promis- 
cuously."— Adam,  p.  156;  Gould,  159.  "Both  the  former  and  latter  substantive  are 
sometimes  to  be  understood." — Adam,  p.  157  ;  Gould,  160.  "  Many  whereof  have  escaped 
both  the  commentator  and  poet  himself."— Pope.  "  The  verbs  must  and  ought  have  both  a 
present  and  past  signification." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  108.  "How  shall  we  distinguish  be- 
tween the  friends  and  enemies  of  the  government  ? " — Webster's  Essays,  p.  352.  "  Both  the 
ecclesiastic  and  secular  powers  concurred  in  those  measures." —  Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  260.  "As 
the  period  has  a  beginning  and  end  within  itself  it  implies  an  inflexion." — Adams's  Rhet.  ii, 
245.  "  Such  as  ought  to  subsist  between  a  principal  and  accessory." — Kames,  on  Crit.  i,  39. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII. — CORRESPONDENCE  PECULIAR. 

"  When  both  the  upward  and  the  downward  slides  occur  in  pronouncing  a  syllable,  they 
are  called  a  Circumflex  or  Wave." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  pp.  75  and  104.  "The  word  that 
is  used  both  in  the  nominative  and  objective  cases." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  69.  "But  all 
the  other  moods  and  tenses  of  the  verbs,  both  in  the  active  and  passive  voices,  are  con- 
jugated at  large." — Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  p.  81.  "Some  wrriters  on  Grammar  object  to  the 
propriety  of  admitting  the  second  future,  in  both  the  indicative  and  subjunctive  moods." — Ib. 
p.  82.  "The  same  conjunction  governing  both  the  indicative  and  the  subjunctive  moods, 
in  the  same  sentence,  and  in  the  same  circumstances,  seems  to  be  a  great  impropriety." — 
Ib.  p.  207.  "  The  true  distinction  between  the  subjunctive  and  the  indicative  moods  in  this 
tense." — Ib.  p.  208.  "  I  doubt  of  his  capacity  to  teach  either  the  French  or  English 
languages." — Chazotte's  Essay,  p.  7.  "  It  is  as  necessary  to  make  a  distinction  between  the 


CHAP.    II.]  SYNTAX. RULE   I. — ARTICLES. ERRORS.  471 

active  transitive  and  the  active  intransitive  forms  of  the  verb,  as  between  the  active  and 
passive  forms." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  13. 

UNDER  NOTE  IX. — A  SERIES  OF  TERMS. 

"  As  comprehending  the  terms  uttered  by  the  artist,  the  mechanic,  and  husbandman." — 
Chazotte's  fasa>/,  p.  24.  "They  may  be  divided  into  four  classes — the  Humanists,  Philan- 
thropists, Pestaloy./ian  and  the  Productive  Schools." — Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  iii.  "Verbs 
have  six  tenses,  the  Present,  the  Imperfect,  the  Perfect,  the  Pluperfect,  and  the  First  and 
Second  Future  tenses." — Kirkhams  Gram.  p.  138  ;  L.  Murray's,  68  ;  R.C.  Smith's,  27  ;  Alger's, 
28.  "  7s  is  an  irregular  verb  neuter,  indicative  mood,  present  tense,  and  the  third  person 
singular.'" — Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  '2.  "Should  give  is  an  irregular  verb  active,  in  the 
potential  mood,  the  imperfect  tense,  and  the  first  person  plural." — Ibid.  "  Us  is  a  personal 
pronoun,  first  person  plural,  and  in  the  objective  case." — Jbid.  "  Them  is  a  personal  pro- 
noun, of  the  third  person,  the  plural  number,  and  in  the  objective  case." — Ibid.  "It  is 
surprising  that  the  Jewish  critics,  with  all  their  skill  in  dots,  points,  and  accents,  never 
had  the  ingenuity  to  invent  a  point  of  interrogation,  of  admiration,  or  a  parenthesis." — 
Wilson's  Hebrew  Gram.  p.  47.  "  The  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  the  eighth  verse." — 
().  B.  l'i:ir'',-'s  Gram. -p.  263.  "Substitutes  have  three  persons;  the  First,  Second,  and 
the  Third." — Ib.  p.  34.  "John's  is  a  proper  noun,  of  the  masculine  gender,  the  third 
person,  singular  number,  possessive  case,  and  governed  by  wife,  by  Rule  I." — Smith** 
New  Gram.  p.  48.  "  Nouns  in  the  English  language  have  three  cases ;  the  nominative, 
the  possessive,  and  objective." — Barrett's  Gram.  p.  13;  Alexander's,  11.  "The  Potential 
[mood]  has  four  [tenses],  viz.  the  Present,  the  Imperfect,  the  Perfect,  and  Pluperfect." 
— Ingcrsoll's  Gram.  p.  96. 

"  Where  Science,  Law,  and  Liberty  depend, 
And  own  the  patron,  patriot,  and  the  friend." — Savage,  to  Walpole. 

:.R  NOTE  X. — SPECIES  AND  GENUS. 

"A  pronoun  is  a  part  of  speech  put  for  a  noun." — Paul's  Accidence,  p.  11.  "A  verb  is  a 
part  of  speech  declined  with  mood  and  tense." — Ib.  p.  15.  "  A  participle  is  a  part  of  speech 
derived  of  a  verb." — lh.  p.  38.  "An  adverb  is  a  part  of  speech  joined  to  verbs  to  declare 
their  signification." — Ib.  p.  40.  "  A  conjunction  is  a  part  of  speech  that  joineth  sentences 
together." — Ib.  p.  41.  "  A  preposition  is  a  part  of  speech  most  commonly  set  before  other 
parts." — Ib.  p.  42.  "  An  interjection  is  a  part  of  speech,  which  betokeneth  a  sudden 
motion  or  passion  of  the  mind." — Ib.  p.  44.  "  An  enigma  or  riddle  is  also  a  species  of 
allegory."— Blair's  Rhct.  p.  151;  Murray's  Gram.  343.  "We  may  take  from  the  Scrip- 
tures a  very  line  example  of  an  allegory." — Ib.  Blair,  151;  Mur.  341.  "And  thus  have 
you  exhibited  a  sort  of  a  sketch  of  art." — HARRIS  :  in  1'riesf  ley's  Gram.  p.  176.  "  We  may 
4  imagine  a  subtle  kind  of  a  reasoning,'  as  Mr.  Harris  acutely  observes." — Churchill's  Gram. 
p.  71.  "  But,  before  entering  on  these,  I  shall  give  one  instance  of  a  very  beautiful  met- 
aphor, that  I  may  show  the  figure  to  full  advantage." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  143.  "Aristotle, 
in  his  Poetics,  uses  metaphor  in  this  extended  sense,  for  any  figurative  meaning  imposed 
upon  a  word  ;  as  a  whole  put  for  the  part,  or  a  part  for  a  whole ;  the  species  for  the  genus,  or  a 
genus  for  the  species." — Ib.  p.  142.  "It  shows  what  kind  of  an  apple  it  is  of  which  we 
are  speaking." — Klrkham's  Gram.  p.  69.  "  Cleon  was  another  sort  of  a  man." — Goldsmith'* 
Greece,  Vol.  i,  p.  124.  "To  keep  off  his  right  wing,  as  a  kind  of  a  reserved  body." — Ib.  ii, 
•  Thi<  part  of  speech  is  called  a  verb."— Mack's  Gram.  p.  70.  "  What  sort  of  a  thing 
i*  it:" — I! //<•>,'*  Gram.  p.  20.  "What  sort  of  a  charm  do  they  possess?" — Bullions' s 
Principles  of  /•,'.  Gram.  p.  7;;. 

"  Dear  Welstrd.  mark,  in  dirty  hole, 
That  painful  animal,  a  Mole." — Note  to  Dunciad,  B.  ii,  1.  207. 

UNDKK  NOTE  XI. — ARTICLES  XOT  REQUISITE. 
"  Either  thou  or  the  boys  were  in  the  fault."—  ('unity's  AVy,  in  Gram.  p.  174.  "  It  may, 
at  the  first  view,  appear  to  be  too  general." — Murray's  Grant,  p.  222  ;  Imjcrsolfs,  275. 
"When  tin-  verb  has  a  reference  to  future  time."— Ib.  M.  p.  207;  Ing.  2G4.  "No;  they 
are  the  language  of  imagination  rather  than  of  a  passion." — Blair's  Rkat.  p.  165.  "The 
dislike  of  the  Knglish  (irammar,  which  has  so  generally  prevailed,  can  only  be  attributed 
to  the  intricacy  of  syntax." — /,'//«,//'*  Gram.  p.  iv.  "Is  that  ornament  in  a  good  taste?" — 
.  /;/.  i  if  'crit.  ii,  :I2C..  "There  are  not  many  fountains  in  a  good  taste." — Ib.  ii,  329. 
"And  I  persecuted  this  way  unto  the  death." — Arts,  xxii,  4.  "  The  sense  of  the  feeling 
can,  indeed,  give  us  the  idea  of  e\tci»inn."  —  Blair's  Rlut.  p.  196.  "The  distributive  adjec- 
tive pronouns,  i  with  the  nouns,  pronouns,  and  verbs,  of  the  singular 
number  only." — Murray's  Gram.  v.  !"•>;  /.•.,/ Y/,-'.V,  s'j.  "Expressing  by  one  word,  what 
might,  by  a  circumlocution,  be  resolved  into  two  or  more  words  belonging  to  the  other 
••f  speech." — Blair's  Ulut.  p.  B4.  "I'.y  the  certain  muscle*  which  operate  all  at  the 
same  time." — Murray's  Grain,  p.  !'.».  "It  is  sufficient  here  to  have  observed  thus  much  in 
i.he  general  concerning  them." — Campbell'*  Ji/ut.  p.  112.  "Nothing  disgusts  us  sooner 
i.han  the  empty  pomp  of  language." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  319. 


472  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

UNDER  NOTE  XII. — TITLES  AND  NAMES. 

"He  is  entitled  to  the  appellation  of  a  gentleman." — Broivn's  Inst.  p.  120.  "  Cromwell 
assumed  the  title  of  a  Protector." — Ib.  "  Her  father  is  honoured  with  the  title  of  an  Earl." 
— Ib.  "The  chief  magistrate  is  styled  a  President." — Ib.  "  The  highest  title  in  the  state 
is  that  of  the  Governor." — Ib.  "  That  boy  is  known  by  the  name  of  the  Idler/' — Murray's 
Key,  8vo,  p.  205.  "  The  one  styled  the  Mufti,  is  the  head  of  the  ministers  of  law  and 
religion." — Balbi's  Geog.  p.  360.  "  Ranging  aU  that  possessed  them  under  one  class,  he 
called  that  whole  class,  a  tree" — Blairs  Rhet.  p.  73.  "  For  the  oak,  the  pine,  and  the  ash, 
were  names  of  whole  classes  of  objects." — Ib.  p.  73.  "  It  is  of  little  importance  whether  we 
give  to  some  particular  mode  of  expression  the  name  of  a  trope,  or  of  a  figure." — Ib.  p.  133. 
"  The  collision  of  a  vowel  with  itself  is  the  most  ungracious  of  all  combinations,  and  has 
been  doomed  to  peculiar  reprobation  under  the  name  of  an  hiatus." — J.  Q.  Adams's  Rhet, 
Vol.  ii,  p.  217.  "  We  hesitate  to  determine,  whether  the  Tyrant  alone,  is  the  nominative, 
or  whether  the  nominative  includes  the  spy." — Cobbett's  E.  Gram.  U  246.  "  Hence  origin- 
ated the  customary  abbreviation  of  twelve  months,  into  a  ticelvemonth ;  seven  nights  into 
te'niffht;  fourteen  nights  into  a  fortnight" — Webster's  Improved  Gram.  p.  105. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIH. — COMPARISONS  AND  ALTERNATIVES. 

44  He  is  a  better  writer  than  a  reader." — W.  Allen's  False  Syntax,  Gram.  p.  332.  "  He  was 
an  abler  mathematician  than  a  linguist." — Ib.  "  I  should  rather  have  an  orange  than 
apple." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  126.  "  He  was  no  less  able  a  negotiator,  than  a  courageous  war- 
rior."— Smollett's  Voltaire,  Vol.  i,  p.  181.  "In  an  epic  poem  we  pardon  many  negligences 
that  would  not  be  permitted  in  a  sonnet  or  epigram." — Kames,  EL  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  18G. 
"  That  figure  is  a  sphere,  or  a  globe,  or  a  ball." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  258. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIV. — ANTECEDENTS  TO  WHO  OR  WHICH. 

"Carriages  which  were  formerly  in  use,  were  very  clumsy." — List.  p.  126.  "The 
place  is  not  mentioned  by  geographers  who  wrote  at  that  time." — Ib.  "  Questions 
which  a  person  asks  himself  in  contemplation,  ought  to  be  terminated  by  points  of 
interrogation." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  279;  Comly's,  162;  Ingcrsoll's,  291.  "The  work  is 
designed  for  the  use  of  persons,  who  may  think  it  merits  a  place  in  their  Libraries." — 
Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  iii.  '*  That  persons  who  think  confusedly,  should  express  themselves 
obscurely,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at." — Ib.  p.  298.  "  Grammarians  who  limit  the  number 
to  two,  or  at  most  to  three,  do  not  reflect."— Ib.  p.  75.  "  Substantives  which  end  in  ian, 
are  those  that  signify  profession." — Ib.  p.  132.  "To  these  may  be  added  verbs,  which 
chiefly  among  the  poets  govern  the  dative." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  170  ;  Gould's,  171.  "  Conso- 
nants are  letters,  which  cannot  be  sounded  without  the  aid  of  a  vow  el." — Bnckc's  Gram.  p.  9. 
"  To  employ  the  curiosity  of  persons  who  are  skilled  in  grammar." — Murray's  Gram.  Pref, 
p.  iii.  '*  This  rule  refers  only  to  nouns  and  pronouns,  which  have  the  same  bearing  or  rela- 
tion."— Ib.  i.  p.  204.  "  So  that  things  which  are  seen,  were  not  made  of  things  which 
do  appear." — Heb.  xi,  3.  "Man  is  an  imitative  creature  ;  he  may  utter  sounds,  which  he 
has  heard." — Wilson's  Essay  on  Gram.  p.  21.  "  But  men,  whose  business  is  wholly  domes- 
tic, have  little  or  no  use  for  any  language  but  their  own." — Webster's  E&says,  p.  5. 

UNDER  NOTE  XV. — PARTICIPIAL  NOUNS. 

"  Great  benefit  may  be  reaped  from  reading  of  histories." — Sewel's  Hist.  p.  iii.  "And  some 
attempts  were  made  towards  writing  of  history." — Bolingbroke,  on  Hist.  p.  110.  "It  is  In- 
vading of  the  Priest's  Office  for  any  other  to  Offer  it." — Right  of  Tythcs,  p.  200.  "And  thus 
far  of  forming  of  verbs." —  Walker's  Art  of  Teaching,  p.  35.  "And  without  shedding  of  blood 
is  no  remission." — Heb.  ix,  22.  "  For  making  of  measures  we  have  the  best  method  here  in 
England." — Printer's  Gram.  "  This  is  really  both  admitting  and  denying,  at  once." — Butler '3 
Analogy,  p.  72.  "And  hence  the  origin  of  making  of  parliaments." — Brown's  Estimate,  Vol. 
i,  p.  71.  "  Next  thou  objectest,  that  having  of  saving  light  and  grace  presupposes  conver- 
sion. But  that  I  deny :  for,  on  the  contrary,  conversion  presupposcth  having  light  and 
grace." — Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  i,  p.  143.  "  They  cried  down  wearing  of  rings  and  other  super- 
fluities, as  we  do." — Ib.  i,  236.  "Whose  adorning,  let  it  not  be  that  outward  adorning 
of  plaiting  the  hair,  and  of  wearing  of  gold,  or  of  putting  on  of  apparel." — 1  Peter,  iii,  3. 
"  In  spelling  of  derivative  Words,  the  Primitive  must  be  kept  whole." — British  Gram.  p.  50 ; 
Buchanans  Syntax,  9.  "And  the  princes  offered  for  dedicating  of  the  altar." — Numbers,  vii, 
10.  "Boasting,i9  not  only  telling  of  lies,  but  also  many  unseemly  truths." — Sheffield's 
Works,  ii,  214.  "We  freely  confess  that  forbearing  of  prayer  in  the  wicked  is  sinful." — 
Barclay,  i,  316.  "For  revealing  of  a  secret,  there  is  no  remedy." — Inst.  E.  Gram.  p.  126. 
"  He  turned  all  his  thoughts  to  composing  of  laws  for  the  good  of  the  state." — Rottin'* 
Ancient  Hist.  Vol.  ii,  p.  38. 

UNDER  NOTE  XVI. — PARTICIPLES,  NOT  NOUNS. 

"  It  is  salvation  to  be  kept  from  falling  into  a  pit,  as  truly  as  to  be  taken  out  of  it  after 
the  falling  in." — Barclay,  i,  210.  "  For  in  the  receiving  and  embracing  the  testimony 


CIIAP.    III.]       SYNTAX. RULE   I. ARTICLES. RULE    II. NOMINATIVES.  473 

of  truth,  they  felt  their  souls  eased." — Ib.  i,  469.  "True  regularity  does  not  consist  in 
the  having  but  a  single  rule,  and  forcing  every  thing  to  conform  to  it." — Plti'ol.  Museum, 
i,  664.  "To  the  man  of  the  world,  this  sound  of  glad  tidings  appears  only  an  idle  tale,  and 
not  worth  the  attending  to." — Life  of  Tho.  Say,  p.  144.  "To  be  the  deliverer  of  the  cap- 
tive Jews,  by  the  ordering  their  temple  to  be  rebuilt,"  &c. —  Hot/in,  ii,  1 2 1.  "And  for  the  pre- 
serving them  from  being  defiled." — X.  I-'.  lHx;-ij>lin<>,  p.  133.  "A  wise  man  will  avoid  the 
showing  any  excellence  in  trifles." — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  80.  "  Ilirsutus  had  no  other  reason 
for  the  valuing  a  book."— Rambler,  No.  177  ;  Wri'jht's  Gram.  p.  190.  "  To  the  being  heard 
with  satisfaction,  it  is  necessary  that  the  speaker  should  deliver  himself  with  ease." — 
Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  114.  "And  to  the  being  well  heard,  and  clearly  understood,  a  good 
and  distinct  articulation  contributes  more,  than  power  of  voice." — Ib.  p.  117. 
"Potential  means  the  having  power  or  will ; 
As,  If  you  would  improve,  you  should  be  still." — Tobitt's  Gram.  p.  31. 

UNDER  NOTE  XVII. — VARIOUS  ERRORS. 

"  For  the  same  reason,  a  neuter  verb  cannot  become  a  passive." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  74. 
"The  period  is  the  whole  sentence  complete  in  itself." — Ib.  p.  115.  "The  colon  or 
member  is  a  chief  constructive  part,  or  greater  division  of  a  sentence." — Ib.  "  The  semi- 
colon or  half  member,  is  a  less  constructive  part  or  subdivision,  of  a  sentence  or  mem- 
ber."— Ib.  "A  sentence  or  member  is  again  subdivided  into  commas  or  segments." — Ib. 
p.  116.  "The  first  error  that  I  would  mention,  is,  a  too  general  attention  to  the  dead  lan- 
guages, with  a  neglect  of  our  own." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  3.  "One  third  of  the  importa- 
tions would  supply  the  demands  of  people." — Ib.  p'.  119.  "And  especially  in  grave  stile." 
— 7V/<  //.  p.  72.  "  By  too  eager  pursuit,  he  ran  a  great  risk  of  being  disappointed." 

Murray' *  A""/,  (Maco  Gram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  201.  "Letters  are  divided  into  vowels  and  conso- 
nants."— Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  7  ;  and  others.  "  Consonants  are  divided  into  mutes  and  semi- 
vowels."— Ib.  i,  8  ;  and  others.  "The  first  of  these  forms  is  most  agreeable  to  the  English 
idiom." — Ib.  i,  176.  "Iftheygain.it  is  a  too  dear  rate." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  504.  "A 
pronoun  is  a  word  used  instead  of  a  noun,  to  prevent  a  too  frequent  repetition  of  it." — Maun- 
der's  Gram.  p.  1.  "  This  vulgar  error  might  perhaps  arise  from  a  too  partial  fondness  for  the 
Latin."—/  ,nm.  Pref.  p.  iv.  "  The  groans  which  a  too  heavy  load  extorts  from 

her." — Ilitc/i  •<•/.•.  .,„  1>:,'^» />•*>/,  p.  50.  "The  numbers  [of  a  verb]  are,  of  course,  singular  and 
plural." — Bucket  <;/•</, n.  p.  58.  "To  brook  no  meanness,  and  to  stoop  to  no  dissimulation, 
are  the  indications  of  a  great  mind." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  236.  "This  mode  of  expression 
rather  suits  familiar  than  grave  style." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  198.  "This  use  of  the  word 
rather  suits  familiar  and  low  style." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  134.  "According  to  the  nature 
of  the  composition  the  one  or  other  may  be  predominant." — Blair's  Ithct.-p.  102.  "Yet 
the  commonness  of  such  sentences  prevents  in  a  great  measure  a  too  early  expectation  of 
the  end."-  Rhet.  p.  411.  "An  eulogy  or  a  philippic  may  be  pronounced  by  an 

individual  of  one  nation  upon  the  subject  of  another." — Adams's  Rhet.  i,  298.  "A  French 
sermon,  is  for  most  part,  a  warm  animated  exhortation." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  288.  "  I  do  not 
envy  tho>e  who  think  slavery  no  very  pitiable  a  lot." — Channinfj,  on  Emancipation,  p.  52. 
"The  auxiliary  and  principal  united,  constitute  a  tense." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  75.  "There 
are  som»  rei  ba  winch  are  defective  with  respect  to  persons." — Ib.  i.  109.  "  In  youth,  the 
habits  of  industry  arc  most  easily  acquired." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  235.  "Apostrophe  (')  is 
used  in  place  of  a  letter  left  out." — Bullions,  Eny.  Gram.  p.  156. 


CHAPTER  III. -CASES,  OR  NOUNS. 

The  rules  for  the  construction  of  Nouns,  or  Cases,  are  seven  ;  hence  this 
chapter,  according  to  the  order  adopted  above,  reviews  the  scries  of  rules  from 
the  second  rule  to  the  eighth,  inclusively.  Though  Nouns  are  here  the  topic, 
all  these  seven  rules  apply  alike  to  Xvttns  and  to  Pronouns  ;  that  is,  to  all 
the  words  of  oui;  language  which  are  susceptible  of  Cases. 

RULE  II.— NOMINATIVES. 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  which  is  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  must  be  in  the 
nominative  ease  :  as,  "  The  ',o  were  covetous,  heard  all  these 

tilings  ;  and  tht-y  derided  him." — L  14.     "  But  where  the  meekness 

of  self-knowledge  veileth  the  front  of  self-respect,  there  look  thoa  for  the  man 
whom  none  can  know  bub  they  will  honour. — Book  of  Thotiyhts,  p.  GG. 
"  Dost  t/tou  mourn  Philander* s  fate  ? 
1  know  thou  sayst  it :  says  thy  life  the  same  ?  " — Young,  N.  ii,l.  2k2. 


474  THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  II. 

OBS.  1. — To  this  rule,  there  are  no  exceptions;  and  nearly  all  nominatives,  or  far  the  greater 
part,  are  to  be  parsed  by  it.  There  are  however  four  different  ways  of  disposing  of  the  nominative 
case.  First,  it  is  generally  the  subject  of  a  verb,  according  to  Rule  2d.  Secondly,  it  may  be  put 
in  apposition  with  an  other  nominative,  according  to  Rule  3d.  Thirdly,  it  may  be  put  after  a 
verb  or  a  participle  not  transitive,  according  to  Rule  6th.  Fourthly,  it  may  be  put  absolute,  or 
may  help  to  form  &  phrase  that  is  independent  of  the  rest  of  the  sentence,  according  to  Rule  8th. 

OBS.  2. — The  subject,  or  nominative,  is  generally  placed  before  the  verb  ;  as,  "Peace  dawned 
npon  his  mind." — Johnson.  "WJtat  is  written  in  the  law  ?" — Bible.  But,  in  the  following  nin* 
cases,  the  subject  of  the  verb  is  usually  placed  after  it,  or  after  the  first  auxiliary  : 

1.  When  a  question  is  asked  without  an  interrogative  pronoun  in  the  nominative  case  ;  as, 
"Shall  mortals  be  implacable?" — Ilooke.     "What  art  thou  doing?" — Id.     "How  many  loave* 
hare  yef  " — Bible.     '•'•Are  they  Israelites  ?  so  am  I." — Ib. 

2.  When  the  verb  is  in  the  imperative  mood  ;  as,  "Go  thou." — "Come  ye."     But,  with  this  mood, 
the  pronoun  is  very  often  omitted  and  understood  ;  as,  "  Philip  sailh  unto  him,  Come  and  see* 
— John,  i,  46.     "And  he  saith  unto  them,  .Be not  ctjfriyhtcd." — Mark,  xvi,  o. 

3.  When  an  earnest  wish,  or  other  strong  feeling,  'is  expressed;  as,   "May  she  be  happy  !" — 
"  How  were  ice  struck  !  " — Young.     "  Not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you." — Bible. 

4.  When  a  supposition  is  made  without  the  conjunction  if;  as,  "Had  they  known  it;"    for,  "If 
they  had  known  it." — "Were  it  true;"  for,  "If  it  were  true." — "Could  we  draic  by  the  covering 
oX  the  grave  ;"  for,  "//"we  could  draw,"  &c. 

5.  When  neither  or'nor,  signifying  and  not,  precedes  the  verb  ;  as,  "  This  was  his  fear  ;  nor 
was  his  apprehension  groundless." — "  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither  shall  ye  touch  it." — Gen.  iii,  3. 

6.  When,  for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  some  word  or  words  are  placed  before  the  verb,  which  more 
naturally  come  after  it ;  as,  "  Here  am  I." — "  Narrow  is  the  way." — "  Silver  and  gold  havelnone  ; 
but  such  as  I  have,  give  /thee." — Bible. 

1.  When  the  verb  has  no  regimen,  and  is  itself  cm phatical ;  as,  " Echo  the  mountains  round." — 
Thomson.  '  'After  the  Light  Infantry  marched  the  Grenadiers,  then  followed  the  Horse." — Buchan- 
an's Syntax,  p.  71. 

8.  When  the  verbs,  say,  ansiccr,  reply,  and  the  like,  introduce  the  parts  of  a  dialogue ;  as, 
"  '  Son  of  affliction,'  said  Omar,  '  who  art  thou  : '     '  My  name,'  replied  the  stranger,  '  is  Hassan.'  " 
— Dr.  Johnson. 

9.  When  the  adverb  there  precedes  the  verb  ;  as,  "  There  lived  a.  man." — Montgomery.     "  In  all 
worldly  joys,  there  is  a  secret  tvound." — Oicen.    This  use  of  there,  the  general  introductory  adverb 
of  place,  is  idiomatic,  and  somewhat  different  from  the  use  of  the  same  word  in  reference  to  a 
particular  locality  ;  as,  "  Because  there  was  much  water  there." — John,  iii,  23. 

OBS.  3. — In  exclamations,  and  some  other  forms  of  expression,  a  few  verbs  are  liable  to  be  sup- 
pressed, the  ellipsis  being  obvious  ;  as,  "  How  different  [is]  this  from  the  philosophy  of  Greece 
and  Rome  !  " — DR.  BEATTIE  :  Murray's  Sequel,  p.  127.  "  What  a  lively  picture  [is  here]  of  the 
most  disinterested  and  active  benevolence  !  " — HERVEY:  ib.  p.  94.  "  When  Adam  [spake]  thus 
to  Eve." — MILTON  :  Paradise  Lost,  B.  iv,  1.  610. 

OBS.  4. — Though  we  often  use  nouns  in  the  nominative  case  to  show  whom  we  address,  yet  th9 
imperative  verb  takes  no  other  nominative  of  the  second  person,  than  the  simple  personal  pro- 
noun, thou,  ye,  or  you,  expressed  or  understood.  It  would  seem  that  some,  who  ought  to  know 
better,  are  liable  to  mistake  for  the  subject  of  such  a  verb,  the  noun  which  we  put  absolute  in  the 
nominative  by  direct  address.  Of  this  gross  error  the  following  is  an  example  :  "Study  boys.  In 
this  sentence","  (says  its  author.)  "study  is  a  verb  of  the  second  person,  plural  number,  and 
agrees  with  its  nominative  case,  boys — according  to  the  rule  :  A  verb  must  agree  with  its  nomi- 
native case  in  number  and  person.  Boys  is  a  noun  of  the  second  person,  plural  number,  masculine 
gender,  in  the  nominative  case  to  the  verb  study." — In(/ersoll's  Gram.  p.  17-*  Now  the  fact  is, 
that  this  laconic  address,  of  three  syllables,  is  written' wrong  ;  being  made  bad  English,  for  want 
of  a  comma  between  the  two  words.  Without  this  mark,  boys  must  be  an  objective,  governed  by 
study ;  and  with  it,  a  nominative,  put  absolute  by  direct  address.  But,  in  either  case,  study 
agrees  with  ye  or  you  understood,  and  has  not  the  noun  for  its  Mibject,  or  nominative. 

OBS.  5. — Some  authors  say,  and  if  the  first  person  be  no  exception,  say  truly  :  "  The  nominative 
case  to  a  verb,  unless  it  be  a  pronoun,  is  always  of  the  third  person." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  141. 
But  W.  B.  Fowle  will  have  all  pronouns  to  be  adjectives.  Conseqiiently  all  his  verbs,  of  every 
sort,  agree  with  nouns  "  expressed  or  understood."  This,  and  every  other  absurd  theory  of  lan- 
guage, can  easily  be  made  out,  by  means  of  a  few  perversions,  which  may  be  called  corrections, 
and  a  sufficient  number  of  interpolations,  made  under  pretence  of  filling  up  ellipses.  Thus,  accord- 
ing to  this  author,  "They  fear,"  means,  "They  things  spoken  o/'fcar." — True  Eng.  Gram.  p.  33. 
And,  "John,  open  the  door,"  or,  "Boys,  stop  your  noise,"  admits  no  comma.  And,  "  Be  grateful, 
ye  children,"  and,  "  Be  ye  grateful  children,"  are,  in  his  view,  every  way  equivalent :  the  comma 
in  the  former  being,  in  his  opinion,  needless.  See  ib.  p.  39. 

OBS.  6. — Though  the  nominative  and  objective  cases  of  nouns  do  not  differ  in  form,  it  is  never- 
theless, in  the  opinion  of  many  of  our  grammarians,  improper  to  place  any  noun  in  both  relations 
at  once,  because  this  produces"  a  confusion  in  the  syntax  of  the  word.  Examples  :  "  He  then  goes 

*  Oliver  B.  Peirce,  in  his  new  theory  of  grammar,  not  only  adopts  Ingersoll's  error,  but  adds  others  to  it.  II» 
rapposes  no  ellipsis,  and  declares  it  grossly  improper  ever  to  insert  the  pronoun.  According  to  him.  the  follow- 
ing text  is  wrong  :  u  My  son,  di-spiie  not  thou  the  chastening  of  the  Lord.'- — Heb.  xii,  5.  See  Ptirce's  Gram.  p. 
255.  Of  this  gentleman's  book  1  sha.ll  say  the  less,  because  its  faults  are  so  many  and  so  obvious.  Yet  this  is 
"  Thf.  Grammar  ofthr  English  Lnn%itn«e^  and  claims  to  be  the  only  work  which  is' worthy  to  be  called  an  English 
Grammar.  "  The  first  and  only  Grammar  of  the  English  Language !  " — Ib.  p.  10.  In  punctuation,  it  is  a  very 
cAaos,  as  one  rniidit  guess  from  the  following  Rule  :  "A  word  of  the  second  person*  and  in  the  subjt  r.ti»>  case,  must 
have  a  semicolon  after  it:  as,  .John;  hear  me."—  Ib.  p  282.  Behold  his  practice!  "John,  beware."— P.  84. 
"Children,  study."— P.  80.  "Henry;  study."— P.  249.  "Pupil:  parse.'1— P.  211;  and  many  other  places. 
"  Be  thou,  or  do  thou  be  writing?  Be  ye  or  you,  or  do  ye  or  you  be  writing?  "—P.  110.  According  to  his  Rule, 
tills  tense  requires  six  semicolons ;  but  the  author  points  it  with  two  commas  and  two  notes  of  interrogation ! 


CHAP.    III.]  SYNTAX. RULE    II. NOMINATIVES. OBSERVATIONS.  475 

on  to  declare  that  there  arc,  and  distinguish  of,  four  manners  of  saying  Pi-rsc."—  Walker's  Trea- 
tise of  Particles,  p.  xii.  Better:  "  He  then  proceeds  to  show,  that  JMT  .sr  is  sa.-ceptible  of  four 
different  senses."  "  In  just  allegory  and  similitude  there  is  always  a  propriety,  or,  if  you  choose 
to  call  it,  coiigruity,  in  the  literal  sense,  a.s  well  as  a  distinct  meaning  or  lentil  i sted, 

which  is  called  the  figurative  sense." — C  ,  p.  --'1.     Better:   "In 

just  allegory  or  similitude,  there  is  always  a  propriety — or,  it'  >ou  choose  to  rail  it  so,  a  con 
— in  the  literal  -  "It  mtut  then  be  meant  of  hi's  sins  who   tti'ikcs,  not  of  Ins  who 

becomes,  the  convert." — Att> .  t  :  "  It  must  then  be  meant  of  his  sins 

who  makes  the  convert,  not  of  his  who  becomes  conrertcd."  "Eye  finth  not  scui,  nor  •  ar  h<-ard. 
neither  hucc  ottered  into  the  heart  of  man,  tin-  things  which  God  hatli  prepared  for  them  that  love 
him." — 1  C^r.  ii,  9.  A  more  regular  construction  would  be  :  "  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  cam-dec,  the  thing!  which  God  hath  prepared 
for  them  that  love  him."  The  following  example,  from  Pope,  may  perhaps  be  conceded  to  th« 
poet,  as  an  allowable  ellipsis  of  the  words  "a  friend,"  after  is  : 
"  In  who  obtain  defence,  or  who  defend  ; 

In  him  who  ix,  or  him  \v\\nfmds,  dfrioid." — 7.'^    -y  on  Man,  Ep   iv,  1.  60. 

Dr.  Lowth  cites  the  last  three  examples,  without  suggesting  any  forms  of  correction;  and  says 
of  them,  "  There  seems  to  be  an  impropriety  in  these  sentences  in  which  the  same  noun  stands 
in  a  double  capacity,  performing  at  the  same  time  the  oliices  both  of  the  nomhiathe  and  oi 
case." — /Mirth's  dram.  p.  73.  lie  should  have  said — "of  lotJt  the  nominative  and  the  objective 
case."  Dr.  Webster,  citing  the  line,  "  In  him  who  is,  and  him  who  finds,  a  friend,"  adds,  "Lowth 
condemns  this  use  of  the  noun  in  the  nominative  and  objective  at  the  same  time  ;  but  witliuut 
reason,  as  the  cases  arc  not  distinguished  in  English." — Improved  Gram.  p.  175. 

Ons.  7. — In  Latin  and  Greek,  the  accusative  before  the  infinitive,  is  often  reckoned  the  subject 
of  the  latter  verb  ;  and  is  accordingly  parsed  by  a  sort  of  exception  to  the  foregoing  rule — or 
rather,  to  that  general  rule  of  concord  which  the  grammarians  apply  to  the  verb  and  its  nomina- 
te e.  This  construction  is  translated  into  English,  and  other  modern  tongues,  sometimes 
literally,  or  nearly  so,  but  much  oftener,  by  a  nominative  and  a  finite  verb.  Example:  "  Etnir 
cot." — .!/'/• /.-,  x,  1'J.  "  Ait  ilium  vocari." — Letisden.  "  Jussit  cum  vocari." — Beza. 
"  Pruxepit  ilium  vocari." — Vultjute.  "  He  commanded  him  to  be  called." — English  Bible.  "  He 
commanded  that  he  should  be  called." — Milm-.-i's  (>r.  <!,;im.  p.  113.  "II  dit  qu'on  Pappelat." — 
Bible.  "  He  bid  that  somebody  should  call  him."  "  II  commanda  qu'on  le  tit  venir." 
— Xuuccau  Test.  Paris,  1812.  "  He  commanded  that  they  should  nxikt-ltiin  mine;"  that  is,  "  lead 
him  or  brtntj  him."  "  II  commanda  qu'on  1'appc  I  .t." — / >.-  Sacy't  .V.  Te.it. 

Ous.  S.— In  English,  the  objective  case  before  the  infinitive  mood,  although  it  may  truly  denote 
the  agent  of  the  infinitive  action,  or  the  subject  of  the  infinitive  passion,  is  nevertheless  taken  as 
the  object  of  the  preceding  verb,  participle,  or  preposition.  Accordingly  our  language  does  not 
admit  a  literal  translation  of  the  above-mentioned  construction,  except  the  preceding  verb  be 
such  as  can  be  interpreted  transitively,  "(iavdco  tc  r«A~/r,"  "  I  am  glad  that  thouart  well,"  can- 
not be  translated  more  literally  ;  because,  "  I  am  glad  thee  to  be  well,"  would  not  be  good  Eng- 
lish. "Aiutif  reiji-m  (idrentnrc"  "  They  say  the  king  is  coming,"  may  be  otherwise  rendered 
"  They  declare,  the  king  to  be  coming;"  but  neither  version  is  entirely  literal;  the  objective 
being  retained  only  by  a  change  ot '  uinnf,  *:/>/,  into  such  a  verb  as  will  govern  the  noun. 

OBS.  9. — The  following  sentence  is  a  literal  imitation  of  the  Latin  accusative  before  the  infini- 
tive, and  for  that  reason  it  is  not  good  English  :  "  But  experience  teacheth  us,  both  these  opinions 
to  be  alike  ridiculous." — Barclay' 9  Works,  Vol.  i,  p.  262.  It  should  be,  "  But  experience  teacher 
us,  that  both  these  opinions  are  alike  ridiculous."  The  verbs  bc-lierc,  thi/ik,  imagine,  and  others 
expressing  mental  fiction,  I  suppose  to  be  capable  of  governing  nouns  or  pronouns  in  the  objective 
case,  and  consequently  of  being  interpreted  transitively.  Hence  I  deny  the  correctness  of  the 
following  explanation  :  LIT.  The  objective  case  precedes  the  infinitive  mode  ;  [as,]  '  I 

vour  brut/a  od  man.'      Here   oelieve  docs  not  govern   brother,  in  the  objective 

1C  it  is  not  the  object  after  it.  Brother,  in  the  objective  case,  third  person  singular, 
precedes  the  neuter  verb  to  be,  in  the  infinitive  mode,  present  time,  third  person  singular." — 
>'.  Ban;  tt'n  Cram  p.  13-3.  This  author  teaches  that,  "  The  infinitive  mode  ayrccs  with  the  objective 
case  in  number  and  person." — Ibid.  Which  doctrine  is  d'enied  ;  because  the  infinitive  has  no 
number  or  person,  in  any  language.  Nor  do  I  s>ce  why  the  noun  brother,  in  the  foregoing  exam- 
ple, may  not  be  both  the"  obj  .•  live  verb  bdieve,  and  the  subject  of  the  neuter  infinitive 
to  be,  at  the  same  time;  for  the  subject  of  the  infinitive,  if  the  infinitive  can  be  said  to  have  a 
fcubject,  is  not  necessarily  in  the  nominati\e  case,  or  necessarily  independent  of  what  precedes. 

QMS.  10. — There  are  many  teachers  of  English  grammar,  who  still  adhere  to  the  principle  of 
the  Latin  and  Greek  grammaiians,  which  refers  th<  or  objective  to  the  latter  verb,  and 

supposes  the  former  to  be   intransitive,  or  t  ly  the  infinitive.      Thus   Nixon:  "The 

objective  case  is  frequently  put  before  the  infinitive  mood,  as  its  subject;  as,  '  Sulfcr  me  to  de- 
part.'"*— Enali*'  "  When  an  objective  case  stands  before  an  infinitive  mood,  as 
"  I  understood  it  to  be  him,'  '  Suii"  ;>>irt,'  such  objective  should  be  parsed,  not  as  gov- 
erned by  the  preceding  .^e  before  the  infinitive  ;  that  is,  the  subject  of 
it.  The  reason  of  this  is  —  the  former  verb  r;ui  govern  one  object  only,  and  that  is  (in  such  sen- 
tences) the  infinitive  mood  ;  the  inter  v  i  •.-.%  the  subject  of  the  infinitive  following, 
and  not  governed  by  the  former  verb;  as,  in  that  instance,  it  icoulii  be  'joverniny  two  objects."— 
Ib.  Note.\ 

*  In  Bailor's  I'rartii-.-il  Gnimni.ir,  first  published  in  1^."),  this  dootrinr  is  taught  as  a  norrlty.     Hi*  puMi-On-r*,  in 

their  circular  ;  "f  it  as  one  of  "the  p'nilmr  n  /  mmar  orer  preceding  works,"  «n4 

••  an  important  matt  •  •>tmttni  hv  ^  .  I  r>f  his 

filse  principle:  "A  vrrluu  tin-  infinitive  j,  ott-  n  j>r.  <>un  or  pronoun  in  Hit-  oijir  i\v.  \\liirh  has  no 

•  •  um  if  tiff  on  any  <>;h'-r  wnrd.      Kxamples :— ( Colon  ••-.<»  of  wood  ami    |>1  i.-tt-r  to 

:•/ '—Imii^  here  should  make  i/s  trnnble  '—  i  \    S<h<<i>l  Unun.  p    147. 

t  "Sonu'tiun-s  ind<M- 1  '  >•  i^rh  Hath  tteo  rrgnnfii.*,  and   then   the   •  nrrt-sary  to  one  of  them  ;  a*,  '  I 

•ddren  raj-wlf  to  my  judges.'  r— Cumuli's  P/ulosophy  of  Rhetoric,  p.  178.    Here  the  verb  addrtsi  governs  tht 


476  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III, 

OBS.  11. — The  notion  that  one  verb  governs  an  other  in  the  infinitive,  just  as  a  transitive  verb 
governs  a  noun,  and  so  that  it  cannot  also  govern  an  objective  case,  is  not  only  contradictory  to 
my  scheme  of  parsing  the  infinitive  mood,  but  is  also  i'alse  in  itself,  and  repugnant  to  the  princi- 
ples of  General  Grammar.  In  Greek  and  Latin,  it  is  certainly  no  uncommon  thing  for  a  verb  to 
govern  two  cases  at  once ;  and  even  the  accusative  before  the  infinitive  is  sometimes  governed  by 
the  preceding  verb,  as  the  objective  before  the  infinitive  naturally  is  in  English.  But,  in  regard 
to  construction,  every  language  differs  more  or  less  from  every  other;  hence  each  must  have 
its  own  syntax,  and  abide  by  its  own  rules.  In  regard  to  the  point  here  in  question,  the  reader 
may  compare  the  following  examples:  "  "E/ta  Aruyx^v  iztAStiv." — Luke,  xiv,  18.  "  Habeo 
necesse  exire." — Lcusdcn.  English  :  "  I  have  occasion  to  go  away."  Again :  " r  O  *•'/«>•  or«  axaouiv, 
£X«»'TCI>." — Luke,  xiv,  3o.  "  Habens  aures  audiendi,  audiat." — Leusden.  "  Qui  habet  aures  ad 
audiendum,  audiat." — Bezel.  English  :  "  He  thai  hath  cars  to  hear,  let  him  hear."  But  our  most 
frequent  use  of  the  infinitive  after  the  objective,  is  in  sentences  that  must  not  be  similarly  con- 
structed in  Latin  or  Greek;*-  as,  "And  he  commanded  the  porter  to  watch." — Mark,  x'iii,  34. 
"And  he  delivered  Jesus  to  be  crucified." — Mark,  xv,  15.  "And  they  led  him  out  to  crucify  him." 
— Mark,  xv,  20.  "  We  heard  him  say." — Mark,  xiv,  58.  "  That  I  might  make  thee know'" — Prov. 
xxii,  21. 

OBS.  12. — If  our  language  does  really  admit  any  thing  like  the  accusative  before  the  infinitive, 
in  the  sense  of  a  positive  subject  at  the  head  of  a  clause,  it  is  only  in  some  prospective  descrip- 
tions like  the  following  :  "  Let  certain  studies  be  prescribed  to  be  pursued  during  the  freshman 
year ;  some  of  these  to  be  attended  to  by  the  whole  class ;  with  regard  to  others,  a  choice  to  be 
allowed ;  ivhich,  when  made  by  the  student,  (the  parent  or  guardian  sanctioning  it,)  to  be  binding 
during  the  freshman  year  :  the  same  plan  to  be  adopted  with  regard  to  the  studies  of  the  succeed- 
ing years."— GALLAUDRT:  Journal  of  the  N.  Y.  Literary  Convention, p.  118.  Here  the  four  words, 
some,  choice,  which,  nndplan,  may  apppear  to  a  Latinist  to  be  so  many  objectives,  or  accusatives, 
placed  before  infinitives,  and  used  to  describe  that  state  of  things  which  the  author  would  pro- 
mote. If  objectives  they  are,  we  may  still  suppose  them  to  be  governed  by  let,  would  have,  or 
something  of  the  kind,  understood  :  as,  "Let  some  of  these  be  attended  to  ;  ""or,  "  Some  of  these 
I  would  have  to  be  attended  to,"  &c.  The  relative  which  might  with  more  propriety  be  made 
nominative,  by  changing  "to  be  binding  "  to  "  shall  be  binding  ;"  and  as  to  the  rest,  it  is  very 
doubtful  whether  they  are  not  now  nominatives,  rather  than  objectives.  The  infinitive,  as  used 
above,  is  a  mere  substitute  for  the  Latin  future  participle ;  and  any  English  noun  or  pronoun  put 
absolute  with  a  participle,  is  in  the  nominative  case.  English  relatives  are  rarely,  if  ever,  put 
absolute  in  this  manner:  and  this  may  be  the  reason  why  the  construction  of  which,  in  the  sen- 
tence above,  seems  awkward.  Besides,  it  is  certain  that  the  other  pronouns  are  sometimes  put 
absolute  with  the  infinitive  ;  and  that,  in  the  nominative  case,  not  the  objective :  as, 
"And  I  to  be  a.  corporal  in  his  field, 
And  wear  his  colours  like  a  tumbler's  hoop  ! 
What  ?  //  Hove!  I  sue!  I  seek  a  wife  !  "—Shak.  Love's  Labour  Lost. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  II. 

THE  SUBJECT  OF  A  FINITE  VERB. 
"  The  whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  them,  that  are  sick." — Bunyan's  Law  $  Gr.  p.  iv, 

[FosMor,E.— Not  proper,  because  the  objective  pronoun  them  is  here  made  the  subject  of  the  verb  neerl,  under- 
stood. But,  according  to  Rule  2d,  "  A  nouu  or  a  pronoun  which  is  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  must  be  in  the 
nominative  case."  Therefore,  them  should  be  they ;  thus,  "  The  whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that 
are  sick."J 

"  He  will  in  nojwise  cast  out  whomsoever  cometh  unto  him." — Robert  Hall.  "  He  feared  the 
enemy  might  fall  upon  his  men,  whom  he  saw  were  off  their  guard." — Hutchinson's  Massa- 
chusetts, ii,  133.  "  Whomsoever  shall  compel  thee  to  go  a  mile,  go  with  him  twain." — 
Dymond's  Essays,  p.  48.  "The  idea's  of  the  author  have  been  conversant  with  the  faults  of 
Other  writers." — Swift's  T.  T.  p.  55.  "  You  are  a  much  greater  loser  than  me  by  his  death." 

pronoun  myself,  and  is  also  the  antecedent  to  the  preposition  to ;  and  the  construction  would  be  similar,  if  th« 
preposition  governed  the  infinitive  or  a  participle  :  as,  "  I  prepared  myself  to  swim  ;  "  or,  "  1  prepared  myself  for 
swimming."  But,  in  any  of  these  cases,  it,  is  not  very  accurate,  to  say,  "tin  verb  has  two  reghnens  ;  ^  for  the 
latter  term  is  properly  the  regimen  of  tibe  preposition.  Cardtll,  by  robbing  the  prepositions,  and  supposing  ellip- 
ses, found  two  regimens  for  f.very  verb.  \V.  Allen,  on  the  contrary,  (from  whom  Nixon  gathered  his  doctrine  above,) 
by  giving  the  "accusative  ;)  to  the  infinitive,  makes  a  multitude  of  our  active-transitive  verbs  u  neuttr."  See 
Allen's  G/am.  p.  166.  But  Nixon  absurdly  calls  the  verb  "active-transitive,"  because  it  governs  the  infinitive; 
i.  e.  as  he  supposes— ami,  except  when  to  is  not  used,  rrronromly  .supposes 

*  A  certain  new  tktorist,  who  very  innocently  fogs  himself  and  his  credulous  readers  with  a  deal  of  impertinent 
pedantry,  after  denouncing  my  doctrine  that  to  before  the  infinitive  is  a  preposition,  appeals  to  me  thus:  "  Let 
me  ask  you,  G.  B.  — u  not  the  infinitive  in  Latin  the  same  as  in  the  English  ?  Thus,  I  de.-ire  to  tenrh  Latin  — Ego 
Cupio  docere.  1  saw  Abel  came  —  Ego  videbam  Abelem  venire.  The  same  principle  is  recognized  by  the  Greek 
grammars  and  thoi-e  of  most  of  the  modern  languages."— O.  B.  Ptirce's  Grain,  p.  358.  Of  this  gentleman  I 
know  nothing  but  from  what  appears  in  his  book  —  a  work  of  immeasurable  and  ill-founded  vanity  —  a  whim- 
sical, dogmatical,  blundering  performance.  This  short  sample  of  hi-  Latin,  'with  six  puerile  errors  in  seven 
words,)  is  proof  positive  that  be  knows  nothing  of  th;<t  language,  whatever  may  be  his  attainments  in  Greek,  or 
the  other  tongues  of  which  he  tells.  To  his  question,  1  answer  emphatically.  NO.  In  Latin,  •'  One  verb  governs 
an  other  in  the  infinitive  :  as,  Cupio  discere,  1  desire  to  learn." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  181  This  government  never 
admits  the  intervention  of  a  preposition.  "  T  saw  Abel  come."  has  no  preposition;  but  the  Latin  of  it  is,  :'  Vidi 
Abelem  vt-ni"ii>>iri,''  and  not  what  is  given  above:  or,  according  to  St.  Jerome  and  others,  who  wrote,  "Abel" 
without  declension,  we  ought  rather  to  say,  "Vidi  Abel  venientem."  If  they  are  right,  "Ego  vidtbam  Abelem 
is  every  word  of  it  wrong  ! 


CHAP.    III.]        SYNTAX. — RULE   II. — ERRORS. RULE   III. APPOSITION.  477 

— Strife  (o  Pope,  1.  63.  "  Such  peccadillo's  pass  with  him  for  pious  frauds." — Barclay's 
Works,  Vol.  iii,  p.  279.  "  In  whom  I  am  nearly  concerned,  and  whom  I  know  would  be 
very  apt  to  justify  my  nrhole  procedure." — 76.1,560.  "  Do  not  think  such  a  man  as  me 
contemptible  for  my  garb." — Addison.  "  His  wealth  and  him  bid  adieu  to  each  other." — 
Priest :  •  p.  107.  "  So  that,  'He  is  greater  than  me,'  will  be  more  grammatical 

than,  'He  is  greater  than/.'  " — Ib.  p.  106.  "  The  Jesuits  had  more  interests  at  court  than 
him." — SMOU.KTT  :  in  Pr.  dram.  p.  106.*  "Tell  the  Cardinal  that  I  understand  poetry 
better  than  him." — Id.  ib.  "An  inhabitant  of  Grim  Tartary  was  far  more  happy  than  him." 
Id.  i'>.  "  My  father  and  him  have  been  very  intimate  since." — Fair  Anu-rlean,  ii,  53. 
"  Who  w;is  the  agent,  and  whom  the  Abject  struck  or  kissed?  " — Infant  School  (it-urn,  p.  32. 
"To  find  the  person  whom  he  imagined  was  concealed  there." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  225. 
"  He  offered  a  great  recompense  to  whomsoever  would  help  him." — lion; :  in  Pr.  Cram. 
p.  104.  "They  would  be  under  the  dominion,  absolute  and  unlimited,  of  whomsoever 
might  cxcrci<e  the  right  of  judgement." — Gov.  llayncs's  Speech,  in  1832.  "  They  had  promised 
to  accept  whomsoever  should  be  born  in  Wales." — Stories  by  Crokcr.  "  We  sorrow  not  as 
that  have  no  hope." — Maturin's  Sermons,  p.  27.  "If  he  suffers,  he  suffers  as  them 
that  have  no  hope." — Ib.  p.  U2.  "We  acknowledge  that  he,  and  him  only,  hath  been  our 
peacemaker." —  (if' '.'(on.  "And  what  can  be  better  than  him  that  made  it : " — Jenks's  Prayers, 
p.  329.  None  of  his  school-fellows  is  more  beloved  than  him." — Coojjcr's  Gram.  p.  42. 
"  Solomon,  who  was  wiser  than  them  all." — Watson  s  Apology,  p.  76.  "Those  whom  the 
Jews  thought  were  the  last  to  be  saved,  first  entered  the  kingdom  of  God." — Eleventh  Hour, 
Tract,  Xo.  4.  "A  stone  is  heavy,  and  the  sand  weighty  ;  but  a  fool's  wrath  is  heavier  than 
them  both." — Pro",  xxvii,  3.  "A  man  of  business,  in  good  company,  is  hardly  more  insup- 
portable than  her  they  call  a  notable  woman." — Si  .  "  The  king  of  the  Sarmatians, 
whom  we  may  imagine  was  no  small  prince,  restored  him  a  hundred  thousand  Koman  prison- 

h  notions  would  be  avowed  at  this  time  by  none  but 

rosicrueians,  and  fanatics  a.s  mad  as  them." — Bolingbroke '.s  Ph.  7V.  p.  24.     "  Unless,  as  I  said, 

urs,  yoxi  are  the  masters,  and   not  me." — BASIL  HALL:  Harrison's  E.  Lang,  p.  173. 

"  We  had  <!r<r.vii  up  against  peaceable  travellers,  who  must  have  been  as  glad  as  us  to  escape." 

— BUIIXKS'S  TRAVELS  :  ibid.    Stimulated,  in  turn,  by  their  approbation  and  that  of  better  judges 

than  them,  she  turned  to  their  literature  with  redoubled  energy." — (  ITAUTKIUA'  KKVIKW  : 

Life  of  11.  More  :  ibid.     "  I  know  not  whom  else  are  expected." — SCOTT'S  PIRATE  :  ibid.    "  He 

it,  but  truth  is  greater  than  us  all."— Horr/cc  Mann,  in  Congress,  1850.     "  Him  I  accuse 

has  entered." — Fun-.'  n.  §  482  :  see  Shakspeare's  Coriolanus,  Act  V,  sc.  5. 

1  Scotland  and  thce  did  each  in  other  live." — Drydens  Po.  Vol.  ii,  p.  220. 

'  We  are  alone  ;  here's  none  but  thee  and  I." — Shak.  2  Hen.  VI. 

'  Me  rather  had,  my  heart  might  feel  your  love, 
Than  my  unplcas'd  eye  see  your  courtesy." — Idem  :  Joh.  Diet. 

•  Tell  me,  in  sadness,  whom  is  she  you  love  r — Id.  Romeo  and  Juliet^  A.  I,  sc.  1. 

'  Hotter  leave  undone,  than  by  our  deeds  acquire 
Too  high  a  fame,  when  him  we  serve's  away." — Shak.  Ant.  and  Cleop. 

RULE  III.— APPOSITION. 

foun  or  a  personal  Pronoun  used  to  explain  a  preceding  noun  or  pro- 
noun, is  put,  by  apposition,  in  the  same  case  :  as,  "  But  it  is  really  7,  your  old 
friend  and  n--t>//Ji'jni\  /'/->•(/,  late  a  dweller  upon  the  Coelian  hill,  who  am  now 
basking  in  the  warm  skies  of  Palmyra." — Zenobia. 

"  But  he,  our  graciou-  .  kind  as  just, 

Knowing  our  frame,  remembers  we  are  dust." — Barlauld. 

OBSERVATIONS  OX  RULE  III. 

Ons.  1. — Apposition  is  that  peculiar  relation  which  one  noun  or  pronoun  bears  to  an  other, 

tc  the  same  person 
Golinh ;"— "  Which 
for  many  ;  " — "  I 
I* of  the  United  State*."  This 
piadng-togelher  ol  nouns  and  pronouns  in  the  same  case,  was  reckoned  by  the  old  grammarians 
fLfiffin  .  and  from  them  it  received,  in  their  elaborate  detail  of"  the  grammatical  and 

rhetorical  figures,  its  present  name  of  n:  They  reckoned  it  a  species  of  t////;.v.\v,  and  sup- 

plied between  the  words,  the  participle  being,  the  infinitive  to  be,  or  some  other  part  of  their 
"substantial  is,  "  Cicero  •  " — "  To  make  him  to  be  king  ;  " — "  I  who  am 

thy  schoolmaster."  But  the  later  Latin  grammarians  have  usually  placed  it  am<mg  their  rep- 
vJar  concords ;  some  calling  it  the  first  concord,  while  others  make  it  the  last,  in  the  series ;  and 

*  I'ri.  .  >e  examples  as  avthnritifx.  not  as  fnhr  syntax.    The  errors  which  T  thus  quote  at  secondhand 

fi-om  other  grammarians,  and  nmrk  with  ilouk  .m-  in  general  such  as  the  first  quoter?  have  allowed, 

and  made  Ui  •  for;  but  this  is  not,  the  instance,      ^uch  credit  ha*  sometime?, 

though  rarely,  been  given,  where  the  expression  was  disapproved. — O.  nowv. 


478  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

some,  with  no  great  regard  to  consistency,  treating  it  both  as  a  figure  and  as  a  regular  concord, 
at  the  same  time. 

OBS.  2. — Some  English  grammarians  teach,  "  that  the  words  in  the  cases  preceding  and  follow- 
ing the  verb  to  be,  may  be  said  to  be  in  apposition  to  each  other." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  181 ;  JR. 
C.  Smith's,  155  ;  Fisk's,  126;  Ingersoll's,  146;  Merchant's,  91.  But  this  is  entirely  repugnant  to 
the  doctrine,  that  apposition  is  *.  figure  ;  nor  is  it  at  all  consistent  with  the  original  meaning  of 
the  word  apposition  ;  because  it  assumes  that  the  literal  reading,  when  the  supposed  ellipsis  is 
supplied,  is  apposition  still.  The  old  distinction,  however,  between  apposition  and  same  cases,  is 
generally  preserved  in  our  grammars,  and  is  worthy  ever  to  be  so.  The  rule  for  same  cases  ap- 
plies to  all  nouns  or  pronouns  that  are  put  after  verbs  or  participles  not  transitive,  and  that  are 
made  to  agree  in  case  with  other  nouns  or  pronouns  going  before,  and  meaning  the  same  thing. 
But  some  teachers  who  observe  this  distinction  with  reference  to  the  neuter  verb  be,  and  to  cer- 
tain passive  verbs  of  naming,  appointing,  and  the  like,  absurdly  break  it  down  in  relation  to  other 
verbs,  neuter  or  active-intransitive.  Thus  Nixon  :  "  Nouns  in  apposition  are  in  the  same  case  ; 
as,  'Hortensiiis  died  a  martyr  ;  '  'Sydney  lived  the  shepherd's  friend.'  " — English  Parser,  p.  55. 
It  is  remarkable  that  all  this  author's  examples  of  "  nominatives  in  apposition,"  (and  he  grves 
eighteen  in  the  exercise,)  are  precisely  of  this  sort,  in  which  there  is  really  no  apposition  at  all. 

OBS.  3. — In  the  exercise  of  parsing,  rule  third  should  be  applied  only  to  the  explanatory  term; 
because  the  case  of  the  principal  term  depends  on  its  relation  to  the  rest  of  the  sentence,  and 
comes  under  some  other  rule.  In  certain  instances,  too,  it  is  better  to  waive  the  analysis  which 
might  be  made  under  rule  third,  and  to  take  both  or  all  the  terms  together,  under  the  rule  for  the 
main  relation.  Thus,  the  several  proper  names  which  distinguish  an  individual,  are  always  in  ap- 
position, and  should  be  taken  together  in  parsing  ;  as,  William  Pitt — Marcus  Tullius  Cicero.  It 
may,  I  think,  be  proper  to  include  with  the  personal  names,  some  titles  also  ;  as,  Lord  Bacon — 
Sir  Isaac  Neioton.  Win.  E.  Russell  and  Jonathan  Ware,  (two  American  authors  of  no  great  note,) 
in  parsing  the  name  of  "George  Washington,"  absurdly  take  the  former  word  as  an  adjective  belong- 
ing to  the  latter.  See  Russell's  Gram.  p.  100 ;  and  Ware's,  17.  R.  C.  Smith  does  the  same,  both 
with  honorary  titles,  and  with  baptismal  or  Christian  names.  See  his  New  Gram.  p.  97-  And 
one  English  writer,  in  explaining  the  phrases,  John  Wicklijfe's  influence,"  "Robert  Bruce's  ex- 
ertions," and  the  like,  will  have  the  first  nouns  to  be  governed  by  the  last,  and  the  intermediate 
ones  to  be  distinct  possessives  in  apposition  with  the  former.  See  Nixon's  English  Parser,  p.  59. 
Wm.  B.  Fowle,  in  his  "  True  English  Grammar,"  takes  all  titles,  all  given  names,  all  possessives, 
and  all  pronouns,  to  be  adjectives.  According  to  him,  this  class  embraces  more  than  half  the 
words  in  the  language.  A  later  writer  than  any  of  these  says,  "  The  proper  noun  is  philosophically 
an  adjective.  Nouns  common  or  proper,  of  similar  or  dissimilar  import,  may  be  parsed  as  adjec- 
tives, when  they  become  qualifying  or  distinguishing  words  ;  as,  President  Madison, — Doctor 
Johnson, — Mr.  Webster, — Esq.  Carleton, — Miss  Gould, — Professor  Ware, — lake  Erie, — the  Pacific 
ocean, — Franklin  House, — Union  street." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  134.  I  dissent  from  all  these 
views,  at  least  so  far  as  not  to  divide  a  man's  name  in  parsing  it.  A  person  will  sometimes  have 
such  a  multitude  of  names,  that  it  would  a  flagrant  waste  of  time,  to  parse  them  all  separate' y  : 
for  example,  that  wonderful  doctor,  Paracelsits,  who  called  himself,  "Aureolus  Philippics  Thuo- 
phrastus  Bombastus  Paracelsus  de  Hoenheim." — Univ.  Biog.  Diet. 

OBS.  4. — A  very  common  rule  for  apposition  in  Latin,  is  this:  "  Substantives  signifying  1he 
game  thing,  agree  in  case." — Adam's  Latin  Gram.  p.  L56.  The  same  has  also  been  applied  to 
our  language  :  "  Substantives  denoting  the  same  person  or  thing,  agree  in  case." — Bull  ions' s  E. 
Gram.  p.  102.  This  rule  is,  for  two  reasons,  very  faulty  :  first,  because  the  apposition  of  pronouns 
seems  not  to  be  included  in  it;  secondly,  because  two  nouns  that  are  not  in  the  same  case,  do 
sometimes  "  signify  "  or  "  denote  "  the  same  thing.  Thus,  "  the  city  of  London"  means  only  th* 
city  London;  "  the  land  of  Egypt,"  is  onl^Effypt ;  and  "  the  person  of  Richard,"  is  Richard  hhn- 
self.  Dr.  Webster  defines  apposition  to  be,  "  The  placing  of  two  nouns  in  the  same  case,  without 
a  connecting  word  between  them." — Octavo  Diet.  This,  too,  excludes  the  pronouns,  and  has  ex- 
ceptions, both  various  and  numerous.  In  the  first  place,  the  apposition  may  be  of  more  than  two 
nouns,  without  any  connective;  as,  "Ezra  the  priest,  the  scribe  of  the  law." — Ezra,  vii,  21. 
Secondly,  two  nouns  connected  by  a  conjunction,  may  both  be  put  in  apposition  with  a  preceding 
noun  or  pronoun ;  as,  "  God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus,  whom  ye  have  crucified,  both  Lord  and 
Christ." — Acts,  ii,  36.  "  Who  made  me  a  judge  or  a  divider  over  you." — Luke,  xii,  14.  Thirdly, 
the  apposition  may  be  of  two  nouns  immediately  connected  by  and,  provided  the  two  words  de- 
note but  one  person  or  thing  ;  as,  "This  great  ^philosopher  and  statesman  was  bred  a  printer." 
Fourthly,  it  may  be  of  two  words  connected  by  as,  expressing  the  idea  of  a  partial  or  assumed 
identity  ;  as,  "  Yet  count  him  not  as  an  enemy,  but  admonish  him  as  a  brother." — 2  Thcss.  iii,  15. 
"  So  that  he,  as  God,  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God." — Ib.  ii,  4.  Fifthly,  it  may  perhaps  be  of  two 
words  connected  by  than  ;  as,  "He  left  them  no  more  than  dead  men." — Law  and  Grace,  p.  28. 
Lastly,  there  is  a  near  resemblance  to  apposition,  when  two  equivalent  nouns  are  connected  by  or ; 
as,  "  The  back  of  the  hedgehog  is  covered  wilh  prickles,  or  spines." — Webster's  Diet. 

ORS.  5. — To  the  rule  for  apposition,  as  I  have  expressed  it,  there  are  properly  no  exceptions. 
But  there  are  many  puzzling  examples  of  construction  under  it,  some  of  which  are  but  little  short 
of  exceptions ;  and  upon  such  of  these  as  are  most  likely  to  embarrass  the  learner,  some  further 
observations  shall  be  made.    The  rule  supposes  the  first  word  to  be  the  principal  term,  with  which 
the  other  word,  or  subsequent  noun  or  pronoun,  is  in  apposition ;  and  it  generally  is  so  :  but  th« 
explanatory  word  is  sometimes  placed  first,  especially  among  the  poets  ;  as, 
"  From  bright'ning  fields  of  ether  fair  disclos'd, 
Child  of  the  sun,  refulgent  Summer  comes." — Thomson. 

OBS.  6. — The  pronouns  of  the  .first  and  second  persons  are  often  placed  before  nouns  merely  to  dis- 
tinguish their  person  ;  as,  "I  John  saw  these  things." — Bible.  "  But  what  is  this  to  you  receivers?  " 
— Clarkson's  Essay  on  Slavery,  p.  108.  "  His  praise,  ye  brooks,  attune." — Thomson.  In  this  case 
of  apposition,  the  words  are  in  general  closely  united,  and  either  of  them  may  be  taken  as  the  ex- 
planatory term.  The  learner  will  find  it  easier  to  parse  the  noun  by  rule  third ;  or  both  nouns,  it 


CIIAP.  III.]  SYNTAX. — RULE   III. — APPOSITION. OBSERVATIONS.  479 

there  be  two  :  as,  "  I  thy  father-in-law  Jcthro  am  come  unto  thee." — Exod.  xviii,  G.  There  are 
many  other  examples,  in  which  it  is  of  no  moment,  which  of  the  terms  we  take  for  the  principal ; 
and  to  all  such  the  rule  may  be  applied  literally:  as,  "  Thy  son  Benhadad  kiity  of  Syria  hatli  sent 
me  to  thee." — 2  Kinf/s,  viii,  9. 

Ons.  7. — When  two  or  more  nouns  of  the  posscssire  case  are  put  in  apposition,  the  possessive 
termination  added  to  one,  denotes  the  case  of  both  or  all;  as,  "  For  Hcrodins'  sake,  his  brother 
Philip's  ir  iff." — Matt,  xiv.  3  ;  Mark,  vi,  17.  Here  icifc  is  in  apposition  with  Herorfias',  andbroth- 


er  with  Philip's  :  consequently  all  these  words  are  reckoned  to  be  in  the  possessive  case.  The 
Greek  text,  which  is  better,  stands  essentially  thus  :  "  For  the  sake  of  Herodias,  the  wife  of  Philip 
his  brother."  "  For  Jacob  my  servant's  sake,  and  Israel  mine  elect." — Isaiah,  xlv,  4.  Here,  as  Ja- 
cob and  /.smtVare  only  different  names  for  the  same  person  or  nation,  the  four  nouns  in  Italic 
according  to  the  rule",  all  made  posscssives  by  the  one  sign  used ;  but  the  construction  is  r 
be  commended  :  it  would  be  better  to  say,  "  For  the  sake  of  Jacob  my  servant,  and  Israel 
elect."  "  With  Hi/reanus  the  high  priest's  consent." — Wood's  Diet.  w.  Herod.  "  I  call 


006  and  /.swtVare  only  different  names  for  the  same  person  or  nation,  the  four  nouns  in  Italics  are, 

mine 

priest's  consent." — Wood's  Diet.  w.  Herod.      "  I  called  at 

Smith's,  the  bookseller;  or,  at  Smith  the  bookseller's." — Bi'llions's  E.  (Irani,  p.  10.5.  Two  words, 
each  having  the  possessive  sign,  can  never  be  in  apposition  one  with  the  other;  because  that 
sign  has  immediate  reference  to  the  governing  noun  expressed  or  understood  after  it ;  and  if  it 
be  repeated,  separate  governing  nouns  will  be  implied,  and  the  apposition  will  be  destroyed.* 

Ons.  8. — If  the  foregoing  remar*k  is  just,  the  apposition  of  two  nouns  in  the  possessive  case, 
requires  the  possessive  sign  to  be  added  to  that  noun  which  immediately  precedes  the  governing 
word,  whether  expressed  or  understood,  and  positively  excludes  it  from  the  other.  The  sign  of 
the  case  is  added,  sometimes  to  the  former,  and  sometimes  to  the  latter  noun,  but  never  to  both: 
or,  if  added  to  both,  the  two  words  are  no  longer  in  apposition.  Example  :  "  And  for  that  rea- 
•on  they  ascribe  to  him  a  great  part  of  his  father  Ximrod's,  or  Belus's  actions." — Rollings  An. 
Hist.  Vol.  ii,  p.  0.  Here  father  and  Ximrod's  are  in  strict  apposition;  but  if  actions  governs 
Belus's,  the  same  word  is' implied  to  govern  Nint rod's,  and  the  two  names  are  not  in  apposition, 
though  they  are  in  the  same  case  and  mean  the  same  person. 

!'.— Dr.  Priestley  says,  "  Some  would  say,  '  I  left  the  parcel  at  Mr.  Smith's  the  book* 
others,  'at  Mr.  Smith  the  bookseller's;'  and  perhaps  others,  at  '  Mr.  Smith's  the  bookseller's.' 
The  last  of  these  forms  is  most  agreeable  to  the  Latin  idiom,  but  the  first  seems  to  be  mor« 
natural  in  ours;  and  if  the  addition  consist  [consists,  says  Murray,]  of  two  or  more  words,  th« 
ms  to  be  vert/  clear;  as,  '  I  left  the  parcel  at  Mr.  Smith'*  the  bookseller  and  stationer;  '  i.  c. 
at  Mr.  Smith's,  irho  is  a,  bookseller  and  stationer." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  70.  Here  the  exam- 
ples, if  rightly  pointed,  iconld  all  be- right ;  but  the  ellipsis  supposed,  not  only  destroys  the  ap- 
position, but  converts  the  explanatory  noun  into  a  nominative.  And  in  the  phrase,  "  at  Mr. 
Smith's,  the  bookseller's,"  there  is  no  apposition,  except  that  of  Mr.  with  Smith's  ;  for  the  govern- 
ing noun  hoiise  or  store  is  understood  as  clearly  after  the  one  possessive  sign  as  after  the  other. 
Churchill  imagines  that  in  Murray's  example,  "  I  reside  at  Lord  Stormont's,  my  old  patron  and 
benefactor,"  the  last  two  nouns  are  in  the  nominative  after  "  who  was,"  understood;  and  also 
erroneously  suggests,  that  their  joint  apposition  with  Stormont's  might  be  secured,  by  saying, 
less  elegantly,  "  I  reside  at  Lord  Stormont's,  my  old  patron  and  benefactor's." — Churchill's  New 
Gram.  p.  285.  Lindley  Murray,  who  tacitly  takes  from  Priestley  all  that  is  quoted  above,  except 
the  term  "  Mr.,"  and  the  notion  of  an  elipsis  of"  who  is,"  assumes  each  of  the  three  forms  as  an 
instance  of  apposition,  but  pronounces  the  first  only  to  be  "  correct  and  proper."  If,  then,  the 
first  is  elliptical,  as  Priestley  suggests,  and  the  others  are  ungrammatical,  as  Murray  pretends  to 
prove,  we  cannot  have  in  reality  any  such  construction  as  the  apposition  of  two  possessives  ;  for 
the  sign  of  the  case  cannot  possibly  be  added  in  more  than  these  three  ways.  But  Murray  does  not 
adhere  at  all  to  his  own  decision,  as  may  be  seen  by  his  subsequent  remarks  and  examples,  on 
Ihe  same  page;  as,  "The  emperor  Leopold's;" — "  Dionyaius  the  tyrant's;" — "For  David  my 
.•t's  sake  ;  "-  -"  (Jive  me  here  John  the  Baptist's  head  ;  " — "  Paul  the  apostle's  advice."  See 
Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  p.  176;  Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  150;  and  others. 

in. — An  explanatory  noun  without  the  possessive  sign,  seems  sometimes  to  be  put  in 
apposition  with  a  pronoun  of  the  possessive  case ;  and,  if  introduced  by  the  conjunction  as,  it  may 
ejther  precede  or  follow  the  pronoun  :  thus,  "  I  rejoice  in  your  success  as  an  instnafcr." — 
Sanborn's  (h\',,i.  p.  I'll.  "As  an  author,  his  'Adventurer'  is  his  capital  work." — Murray' i 
Sequel,  p. 

"  Thus  shall  mankind  his  guardian  care  engage, 

The  promised  father  of  a  future  age." — P ope. 

P.ut  r  h  examples  may  be  otherwise  explained  on  the  principle  of  ellipsis  ;  as,  [1ft 

••  the  promised  fithir,"  tVc.     "  As  [lie  was]  an  author,"  &c.     "As  [you  are]  an  instructer." 

Onx.  11. — Whf-n  a  noun  or  pronoun  ?.v  r  the  sake  of  emphasis,  or  for  the  adding  of  an 

epithet,  the  word  which  is  repi-atfd  may  properly  be  said  to  be  in  apposition  with  that  which  "is  first 
introduced;  or,  if  not,  the  repetition  "itself  implies  sameness  of  case  :  as,  "They  have  forsaken 


*  I.irdley  Murrnv  thought  it  not  imprartirnble  fo  put  two  or  more  nouns  In  apposition  and  add  the  . 

l '0  any  positive  im propriety  in  so  doing.     His  words,  on  thic 

point,  arc  these:  '•  On  thr  -  /iication  of  "ti  ,  io  both  or  all  of  the  nouns  in  apposi- 

ti'.ii.  vsi.nl  .1  ]•>•  -.-.'I'mlly  h  irsh  -.  au.l   yrriinj.x   in  some  cases  incorrect:  as, '  The  Kinperor's  Lco- 

jold's;  KSiv:'-  -nithX  the  bookseller's  and  stationer's.' » 

—  Oftai  177.     Wheiht-r  h-  i  of  these  to  be  "  incorrect  "  or  not,  does  not  appear !     Under 

the  next  rule,  I  shall  give  a  short  note  which  will  show  them  all  to  be  so.    The  author,  however,  after  presenting 
these  uncouth  ti-tion-,  which  show  nothing  l.u  rammar,  has  done  the  world  the  favour 

liot  to  pronounce  them  very   ttmvenitnt  phrases;  for  he  continues  the  pirajraph  as  follows  :  "The  rules  which 
v>e  hare  endeavoured  to  elucidate,  will  prevent  the  inroni-fnirncrs  of  both  these  modes  of  expression  ;  and  they 

•  ppear  to  be  <  •  uaux,  and  c>in*i*ttnt  with  the  idnm  of  the  language." — Ib.      This  undeserved  praiaa 
U"  his  o\vn  rii'u--!.  h,-  mi^ht  as  well  have  left  to  some  other  hand.      They  have  had  the  fortune,  however,  to  pleaa* 

•  undry  critics,  and  to  become  the  prey  of  many  thieves  ;  but  are  certainly  very  deficient  in  the  three  qualities  he» 
ramed  ;  and,  taken  together  with  their  illustrations,  they  form  little  else  than  a  tissue  of  errors,  partly  bis  own, 
and  partly  copied  from  Lowth  and  Priestley. 


480  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

me,  the  fountain  of  living  waters,  and  hewed  them  out  cisterns,  broken  cisterns,  that  can  hold  no 
water." — Jcr.  ii,  13. 

"  I  find  the  total  of  their  hopes  and  fears 
Dreams,  empty  dreams." — Coicper's  Task,  p.  71. 

OBS.  12. — A  noun  is  sometimes  pxit,  as  it  were,  in  apposition  to  a  sentence;  being  used  (perhaps 
clliptically)  to  sum  up  the  whole  idea  in  one  emphatic  word,  or  short  phrase.  But,  in  such 
instances,  the  noun  can  seldom  be  said  to  have  any  positive  relation  that  may  determine  its  case; 
and,  if  alone,  it  will  of  course  be  in  the  nominative,  by  reason  of  its  independence.  Examples: 
"  He  permitted  me  to  consult  his  library, — a  kindness  which  I  shall  not  forget." — IF.  Allen's  Gram. 
p.  143.  "  I  have  offended  reputation  ;  a  most  unnoble  sioerving." — Shakspeare.  "  I  want  a  hero, 
— an  uncommon  want." — Byron.  "  Lopez  took  up  the  sonnet,  and  after  reading  it  several  times, 
frankly  acknowledged  that  he  did  not  understand  it  himself;  a  discovery  which  the  poet  probably 
never  made  before." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  280. 

"  In  Christian  hearts  O  for  a  pagan  zeal ! 

A  needful,  but  opprobrious  prayer  !" — Young,  N.  ix,  1.  995. 
"  Great  standing  miracle,  that  Heav'n  assign'd 
Its  only  thinking  thing  this  turn  of  mind." — Pope. 

OBS.  13. — A  distributive  term  in  the  singular  number,  is  frequently  construed  in  apposition 
with  a  comprehensive  plural;  as,  "  They  reap  vanity,  every  one  with  his  neighbour." — Bible. 
"  Go  ye  every  man  unto  his  city." — Ibid.  So  likewise  with  two  or  more  singular  nouns  which  are 
taken  conjointly ;  as,  "  The  Son  and  Spirit  have  each  his  proper  office. "—Butler's  Analogy,  p. 
163.  And  sometimes  a  plural  word  is  emphatically  put  after  a  series  of  particulars  comprehended 
under  it;  as,  "Ambition,  interest,  glory,  all  concurred." — Letters  on  Chivalry,  p.  11.  "Royal- 
ists, republicans,  churchmen,  sectaries,  courtiers,  patriots,  all  parties  concurred  in  the  illusion." 
— Hume's  History,  Vol.  yiii,  p.  73.  The  foregoing  examples  are  plain,  but  similar  expressions 
sometimes  require  care,  lest  the  distributive  or  collective  term  be  so  placed  that  its  construction 
and  meaning  may  be  misapprehended.  Examples  :  "  We  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way." 
— Isaiah,  lili,  6.  Better:  "  We  have  every  one  turned  to  his  own  way."  "  For  in  many  things  we 
offend  all." — James,  iii,  2.  Better:  "For  in  many  things  we  all  offend."  The  latter  readings 
doubtless  convey  the  true  sense  of  these  texts.  To  the  relation  of  apposition,  it  may  be  proper 
also  to  refer  the  construction  of  a  singular  noun  taken  in  a  distributive  sense  and  repeated  after 
by  to  denote  order  ;  as,  "  They  went  out  one  by  one." — Bible.  "  Our  whole  company,  man  by 
man,  ventured  in." — Goldsmith.  "  To  examine  a  book,  'page  by  page  ;  to  search  a.  place,  house 
by  house." — Ward's  Gram.  p.  106.  So  too,  perhaps,  when  the  parts  of  a  thing  explain  tka 
whole;  as, 

"  But  those  that  sleep,  and  think  not  on  their  sins, 
Pinch  them,  arms,  legs,  backs,  shoulders,  sides,  and  shins." — Shak. 

OBS.  14. — To  express  a  reciprocal  action  or  relation,  the  pronominal  adjectives  each  other  r  nd 
one  an  of  her  are  employed :  as,  "  They  love  each  other ;  " — "  They  love  one  an  otJier."  The  words, 
separately  considered,  are  singular ;  but,  taken  together,  they  imply  plurality ;  and  they  can  be 
properly  construed  only  after  plurals,  or  singulars  taken  conjointly.  Each  other  is  usually  ip- 
plied  to  two  persons  or  things  ;  and  one  an  other,  to  more  than  two.  The  impropriety  of  apply- 
ing them  otherwise,  is  noticed  elsewhere  ;  (see,  in  Part  II,  Obs.  15th,  on  the  Classes  of  Adjec- 
tives ;)  so  that  we  have  here  to  examine  only  their  relations  of  case.  The  terms,  thovgh 
reciprocal  and  closely  united,  are  seldom  or  never  in  the  same  construction.  If  such  expressions 
be  analyzed,  each  and  one  will  generally  appear  to  be  in  the  nominative  case,  and  other  in  the 
objective;  as,  "  They  love  each  other ;"  i.  e.  each  loves  the  other.  "They  love  one  another;" 
i.  e.  any  or  every  one  loves  any  or  every  other.  Each  and  one  ( — if  the  words  be  taken  as  casies, 
and  not  adjectively,) — are  properly  in  agreement  or  apposition  with  they,  and  other  is  governed 
by  the  verb.  The  terms,  however,  admit  of  other  constructions;  as,  "Be  ye  helpers  one  of  an 
other." — Bible.  Here  owe  is  in  apposition  with  ye,  and  other  is  governed  by  of.  "Ye  are  on* 
an  other's  joy." — Ib.  Here  one  is  in  apposition  with  ye,  and  other's  is  in  the  possessive  case, 
being  governed  by  joy.  "Love  will  make  you  one  an  other's  joy."  Here  one  is  in  the  objective 
case,  being  in  apposition  Avith  you,  and  other's  is  governed  as  before.  "Men's  confidence  in  one 
an  other ;  " — "  Their  dependence  one  upon  an  other."  Here  the  word  one  appears  to  be  in  appo- 
sition with  the  possessive  going  before ;  for  it  has  already  been  shown,  that  words  standing  in 
that  relation  never  take  the  possessive  sign.  But  if  its  location  after  the  preposition  must  make  it 
objective,  the  uihole  object  is  the  complex  term,  "  one  an  other."  "  Grudge  not  one  against  an 
other." — James,  v,  9.  "  Ne  vous  plaignez  point  les  uns  dcs  autres." — French  Bible.  "  Ne 
suspirate  a/ins  adversus  alium." — Beza.  "  Ne  ingemiscite  adversus  alii  alios." — Leusden. 
"A/», ortruLfTs  y.ar'  c>j.).i'tf.wv." — Greek  New  Testament. 

OBS.  15. — The  construction  of  the  Latin  terms  alius  alium,  alii  alios,  &c.,  with  that  of  the 
French  I'un  I'autre,  I'un  de  Vautre,  &c.,  appears,  at  first  view,  sufficiently  to  confirm  the  doctrine 
of  the  preceding  observation;  but,  besides  the  frequent  use,  in  Latin  and  Greek,  of  a  reciprocal 
adverb  to  express  the  meaning  of  one  an  other  or  each  other,  there  arc,  from  each  of  these  lan- 
guages, some  analogical  arguments  for  taking  the  English  terms  together  as  compounds.  The 
most  common  term  in  Greek  for  one  an  other,  (14 II, fan  dat.  &il$oif,  uic,  OK,  ace.  uMtfavc,: 
ab  «;./oc,  alius,)  is  a  single  derivative  word,  the  case  of  which  is  known  by  its  termination ;  and 
each  other  is  sometimes  expressed  in  Latin  by  a  compound:  as,  "  Et  osculantes  se  dlterutrum, 
fleverunt  pariter." — Vulgate.  That  is  :  "And  kissing  each  other,  they  wept  together."  As  this 
text  speaks  of  but  two  persons,  our  translators  have  not  expressed  it  well  in  the  common  ver- 
sion :  "  And  they  kissed  one  an  other,  and  wept  onewith  an  other." — 1  Sam.  xx,  41.  Alter-utrum 
is  composed  of  a  nominative  and  an  accusative,  like  each-other  ;  and,  in  the  nature  of  things,  there 
is  no  reason  why  the  former  should  be  compounded,  and  the  latter  not.  Ordinarily,  there  seems 
to  be  no  need  of  compounding  either  of  them.  But  some  examples  occur,  in  which  it  is  not 


CHAP.  III.]  SYNTAX. RULE   III. — APPOSITION. — ERRORS.  481 

easy  to  parse  cwh  other  and  one  an  other  otherwise  than  as  compounds  :  as,  "  He  only  recom- 
mended this,  and  not  the  washing  of  one  another's  feet." — Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  iii,  p.  143. 
"  The  Temple  late  two  brother  sergeants  saw, 
Who  deem'c  <-nrh  other  oracles  of  law." — Pope,  B.  ii,  Ep.  2.* 

Ons.  16. — Tho  cn/nmon  and  the  proper  name  of  an  object  are  very  often  associated,  and  put  hi 
apposition;  as,  '• '/'//<;/  -  •  7'A/   ship  Albion" — "The  pm-t  Coirper," — '•'Lake  Erie," 

'  •//," — "•Mount  Atlnx."  But,  in  English,  the  proper  name  of  a  place,  when  accom- 
panied by  the  common  name,  is  generally  put  in  the  objective  case,  and  preceded  by  of;  as, 
"  The  city  of  New  York," — "  The  land  of  Canaan," — "  The  island  of  Cuba," — "  The  peninsula  of 
Yucatan."  Yet  in  some  instances,  even  of  this  kind,  the  immediate  apposition  is  preferred  ;  as, 
"  That  the  x  mid  be  subordinate  to  the  city  YY/v/V'/v." — /,///•  of  Josephus,  p.  142. 

In  the  following  sentence,  the  preposition  of  is  at  least  needless:  "The  law  delighteth  herself 
in  the  number  of  twelve  ;  and  the  number  of  twelve  is  much  respected  in  holy  writ." — Coke,  on 
Jurii-s.  Two  <>r  three  late  grammarians,  supposing  of  always  to  indicate  a  possessive  relation  be- 
tween one  thing  and  an  other,  contend  that  it  is  no  less  improper,  to  sav,  "The  city  of  London, 
the  city  of  New  Haven,  the  month  of  March,  the  islands  of  Cuba  and  Hispaniola,  the  towns  of 
Exeter  and  Dover,"  than  to  say,  "King  of  Solomon,  Titus  of  the  Roman  Emperor,  Paul  of  the 
apostle,  or,  Cicero  of  the  orator." — See  oomtft  Gram.  p.  101 ;  Emmcms's,  16.  I  cannot  but 
think  there  is  some  mistake  in  their  mode  of  finding  out  what  is  proper  or  improper  in  gram- 
Emmons  scarcely  achieved  two  pages  more,  before  he  forgot  his  criticism,  and  adopted  the 
phrase,  "  in  the  city  of  New  Haven." — Gram.  p.  19. 

Ons.  17. — When  "an  object  acquires  a  new  name  or  character  from  the  action  of  a  verb,  the  new 
appellation  is  put  in  apposition  with  the  object  of  the  active  verb,   and  in  the  nominative  after 
the  passive:  as,   "They  named  the  child  John;" — "The  child  was  named  John.'1 — "They 
elected  him  president ;  ""— "  He  was  elected .president."     After  the  active  verb,  the  acquired  nams 
must  be  parsed  by  Rule  3d  ;  after  the  passive,  by  Rule  6th.     In  the  following  example,  the  pro- 
nominal adjective  some,  or  the  noun  men.  understood  after  it,  is  the  direct  object  of  the  verb  gave, 
and  the  nouns  expressed  are  in  apposition  with  it :  "And  he  gave  some,  apostles ;  and  some,  pro- 
>-any<-lixtx  ;  and  XO/HC,  jxistors  and  trm-hcm," — Ephetsiam,  iv,  11.     That  is,  "  He 
/  *n,ne  [men]  as  apostles ;  and  some  as  prophets ;  and  some  as  evunyeliats ;  and  some  as  pas- 
tnrx  and  faodtarv."     The  common  reader  might  easily  mistake  the  meaning  and  construction  of 
this  text,  in  two  different  ways  ;   for  he  might  take  some  to  be  either  a  ttatwe  rasr,  meaning  to 
I,  or  an  adjective  to  the  nouns  which  are  here  expressed.    The  punctuation,  however, 
is  calculated  to  show  that  the  nouns  are  in  apposition  with  some,  or  some  men,  in  what  the  Latins 
call  //,  .     But  the  version  ought  to  be  amended  by  the  insertion  of  as,  which 

would  !  \press  sign  of  the  apposition  intended. 

•  authors  teach   that  words  in  apposition  must  agree  in  person,  number,  and 
gender,  as  well  as  in  case ;  but  such  agreement  the  following  examples  show  not  to  be  always 
necessary  :  "  The  /•"/•<//  of  Germany." — ]V.  Allen's  Grmn.     "  The  Kenite  tribe,  the  d&- 

•ifa  of  Hobab." — Mil/nan'.*  Hist,  of  the  J>'irs.     "  But  how  can  you  a  soul,  still  either  hunger 
or  thirst  ?  " — Lii'-inn'*  l)i'ulot/ncs,  p  14.     "  Vv'ho  sei/ed  the  wife  of  me  his  host,  and  fled. — Ib.  p.  Id. 
••  Thy  gloomy  grandeurs  (Nature's  most  august, 
Iii>piring  a.ipect  I)  claim  a  grateful  verse." — Young,  N.  ix,  1.  566. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UXDER  RULE  III. 
ERRORS  OF  "\VORDS  ix  APPOSITIOX. 

"  Xow,  therefore,  come  thou,  let  us  make  a  covenant,  I  and  thou." — Gen.  xxxi,  44. 

1  .cause  the  pronouns  /and  thou,  of  the  nominative  case,  are  here  put  in  apposition 
i  1/5,  which  is  objective.     But,  according  to  Rule  3d,  "A  noun  or  a  personal  pronoun, 
noun  or  pronoun,  is  put,  by  appo-i-iuii.  in  the  same  case."      Therefore,  /  and  thou 
me ;  (the  first  person,  in  our  idiom,  being  usually  put  last :)  thus,  "  Now,  therefore,  com* 
thou,  let  us  make  a  covenant,  thee  and  ni'."] 

"  Xow,  therefore,  come  thou,  we  will  make  a  covenant,  thee  and  me." — Variation  of  Gen* 

*  In  l'n>fp-«>r  Filler's  recent  rind  copious  work,  "Tin-  I'nirlish  I.ansruap-  in  its  Elements  and  Forms,"  our  pre»- 

•  minimal  A--  nid  are  spoken  fit",  in  the  first  instance, 
A  KKrn-Ro.  AL  I'RONorN  is  MM  that  implies  flu-  mutual  action  of  different  agents.    EACH  OTHER, 

nri'l  ON:  al  Pit  ins,  ir  /  f.r/irtly  as  if  t/iti/  were  compound  pronoun*,  taking 

for  thii;  r 'vr  i-  pvoJBtrijr  VMd  Of  (WO,  aiid  one  another  of  more.1' 

i-putalilc,  that  ••  nirli  otltrr^  or  "  one  another,'1'1  is  nol 
HOIK-  cf  his  thrtM-  important  positions  here  taken,  does  the  author 

hinwlt  "-her.'      Here  enrh  is  in  the  nom- 

inative CO.T  in  nppi-:  1  !,,.v  helped  one  another.'      Here  one  it 

in  appo-  hy  this  ino.lo  of  paryinp.  the  reciprocal  termn 

L-ar.-  treated,"  not  a-  t"  distinct  or  separable  words:  and,  as 

•  oraeparabla  word-.  \          ;\,>,,r  I'roiiouns.  tlicy  conform  not  to  his  definition 

n  showing,  l,,-'li:is  misapplied  one  or  the  other 

I   Art  differ  from  one  another  as  the  on- 

j  - ':i y  —  u  from  enrh  other  ;  "  or  —  >;  onr  from  tht 

:  iN-«o  each  other."—  Ib  -  to  one  another  ;» 

because  ;  .  the  Germans.  lOu  the  French  and  tht 

•  /  nth'-r  in  t'.imiliar  rouvi-rsiition  by  the  Scci  i  _'iilar." — V>.  «  '^1-     Say  —  "»d- 

•  sentences  ;>:  i  in  the  way  of  co-ordination  [,] 
•»hi>n  they  an-  r.<>t  :'.,                                                                                                \\\v\\  rark  other;"  or — "one  upon  tht 

'  !it  two.  (5.)  i;  The-=e  two  r.  ..  from  one  another."—  Ib.  $  617. 

from  rnrh  otln-r  ;  "  or  —  '-one  from  thr  other."  (6.)  "  The  trees  [in  the  Forest  of  Bombast}  are  close, 
t  preading,  and  twined  into  earh  other."— Ib.  $  617.    Say  —  "  into  one  an  other." 

31 


482  THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  III 

"The  word  came  not  to  Esau,  the  hunter,  that  stayed  not  at  home ;  but  to  Jacob,  the 
plain  man,  he  that  dwelt  in  tents." — Wm.  Pcim.  "Not  to  every  man,  but  to  the  man  of 
God,  (i.  e.)  he  that  is  led  by  the  spirit  of  God." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  266.  "For,  admitting 
God  to  be  a  creditor,  or  he  to  whom  the  debt  should  be  paid,  and  Christ  he  that  satisfies 
or  pays  it  on  the  behalf  of  man  the  debtor,  this  question  will  arise,  whether  he  paid  that 
debt  as  God,  or  man,  or  both  ? " — Wm.  Fenn.  "  This  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  heavenly  Man, 
the  Emmanuel,  God  with  us,  we  own  and  believe  in :  he  whom  the  high  priests  raged 
against,"  &c. — George  Fox.  "  Christ,  and  Him  crucified,  was  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  all 
his  addresses,  the  fountain  and  foundation  of  his  hope  and  trust." — Experience  of  Paul,  p. 
399.  "  «  Christ  and  Him  crucified '  is  the  head,  and  the  only  head,  of  the  church."— Dem- 
son's  Sermon.  "  But  if  '  Christ  and  Him  crucified  '  are  the  burden  of  the  ministry,  such 
disastrous  results  are  all  avoided." — Ib.  "  He  never  let  fall  the  least  intimation,  that  himself, 
or  any  other  person,  whomsoever,  was  the  object  of  worship." — Hannah  Adams's  View,  p. 
250.  "  Let  the  elders  that  rule  well,  be  counted  worthy  of  double  honour,  especially  they 
who  labour  in  the  word  and  doctrine."—!  Tim.  v,  17.  "  Our  Shepherd,  him  who  is  styled 
King  of  saints,  will  assuredly  give  his  saints  the  victory." — Sermon.  "  It  may  seem  odd 
to  talk  of  we  subscribers." — Foicles  True  Eng.  Gram.  p.  20.  "And  they  shall  have  none  to 
bury  them,  them,  their  wives,  nor  their  sons,  nor  their  daughters ;  for  I  will  pour  their 
wickedness  upon  them." — Jeremiah,  xiv,  16.  "  Yet  I  supposed  it  necessary  to  send  to  you, 
Epaphroditus,  my  brother,  and  companion  in  labour,  and  fellow- soldier,  but  your  messen- 
ger, and  he  that  ministered  to  my  wants." — PMippiana,  ii,  25. 
"Amidst  the  tumult  of  the  routed  train, 
The  sons  of  false  Antimachus  were  slain ; 
He,  who  for  bribes  his  faithless  counsels  sold, 

And  voted  Helen's  stay  for  Paris'  gold." — Pope,  Iliad,  B.  xi,  1.  161. 
"  See  the  vile  King  his  iron  sceptre  bear  — 
His  only  praise  attends  the  pious  Heir ; 
'  He,  in  whose  soul  the  virtues  all  conspire, 

The  best  good  son,  from  the  worst  wicked  sire." — Dr..  LOWTH  :  Union  Poems,  p.  IV. 
"  Then  from  thy  lips  poured  forth  a  joyful  song 
To  thy  Redeemer  ! — yea,  it  poured  along 
In  most  melodious  energy  of  praise, 
To  God,  the  Saviour,  he  of  ancient  days." — Arm  Chair,  p.  15. 


RULE  IV.— POSSESSIYES.  • 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  in  the  possessive  case,  is  governed  by  the  name  of 
the  thing  possessed:  as,  "6rW*  mercy  prolongs  man's  life." — Allen. 
."TJteirs  is  the  vanity,  the  learning  thine; 
Touch' d  by  thy  hand,  again  Rome's  glories  shine." — Pope. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  IV. 

OBS.  1. — Though  the  ordinary  syntax  of  the  possessive  case  is  sufficiently  plain  and  easy, 
there  is  perhaps,  among  all  the  puzzling  and  disputable  points  of  grammar,  nothing  more  diffi- 
cult of  decision,  than  are  some  questions  that  occur  respecting  the  right  management  of  this 
case.  That  its  usual  construction  is  both  clearly  and  properly  stated  in  the  foregoing  rule,  i> 
what  none  will  doubt  or  deny.  But  how  many  and  what  exceptions  to  this  rule  ought  to  be 
allowed,  or  whether  any  arc  justly  demanded  or  not,  arc  matters  about  which  there  may  be  mucii 
diversity  of  opinion.  Having  heretofore  published  the  rule  without  any  express  exceptions.  I 
am  not  now  convinced  that  it  is  best  to  add  any  ;  yet  arc  there  three  different  modes  of  expression 
which  might  be  plausibly  exhibited  in  that  character.  Two  of  these  would  concern  only  the 
parser  ;  and,  for  that  reason,  they  seem  not  to  be  very  important.  The  other  involves  the  ap- 
proval or  reprehension  of  a  great 'multitude  of  very  common  expressions,  concerning  which  our 
ablest  grammarians  differ  in  opinion,  and  our  most  popular  digest  plainly  contradicts  itself. 
These  points  are ;  first,  the  apposition  of  possessives,  and  the  supposed  ellipses  which  may  affect 
that  construction;  secondly,  the  government  of  the  possessive  case  after  is,  was,  &c.,  when  the 
ownership  of  a  thing  is  simply  affirmed  or  denied ;  thirdly,  the  government  of  the  possessive  by 
a  participle,  as  such — that  is,  while  it  retains  the  government  and  adjuncts  of  a  participle. 

OBS.  2. — The  apposition  of  one  possessive  with  an  other,  (as,  "  For  David  my  servant's  sake,") 
might  doubtless  be  consistently  made  a  formal  exception  to  the  direct  government  of  the  posses- 
sive by  its  controlling  noun.  But  this  apposition  is  only  a  sameness  of  construction,  so  that  what 
governs  the  one,  virtually  governs  the  other.  And  if  the  case  of  any  noun  or  pronoun  is  known 
and  determined  by  the  nile  or  relation  of  apposition,  there  can  be  no  need  of  an  exception  to  the 
foregoing  rule  for  the  purpose  of  parsing  it,  sUlcc  that  purpose  is  already  answered  by  rule  third. 
If  the  reader,  by  supposing  an  ellipsis  which  I  should  not,  will  resolve  any  given  instance  of 
this  kind  into  something  else  than  apposition,  I  have  already  shown  him  that  some  great  gram- 
marians have  differed  in  the  same  way  before.  Useless  ellipses,  however,  should  never  be  sup- 
posed; and  such  perhars  is  the  following:  "At  Mr.  Smith's  [who  is]  the  bookseller."— See 
Dr.  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  71. 

OBS.  3.— In  all  our  Latin  grammars,  the  verb  sum,  fui,  esse,  to  be,  is  said  (though  not  witn 


CTJAP.  III.]  SYNTAX. RULE   IT. — POSSESSIVJSS. — OBSERVATIONS.  483 

strict  propriety)  sometimes  to  signify  possession,  property,  or  duty,  and  in  that  sense  to  govern 
the  genitive  case  :  as,  '  " — "  It  is  the  kind's." — "  Hominis  cst  errare ;  " — "  It  is  man's 

to  err.'' — "  Fecit*  .     — •'  The  flock  is  Melibrrus's."     And  sometimes,  with  like  import, 

this  verb,  expressed  or  understood,  may  govern  the  dative  ;  as,  "  Ego  £sum]  dilecto  meo,et  dilectut 
incus  [cst]  nii/ti." — 1'ulyate.  "I  am  my  beloved's,  and  my  beloved  is  mine." — Solomon's  Song, 
vi,  3.  Here,  a-  both  the  genitive  and  the  dative  are  expressed  in  English  by  the  possessive,  if 
the  former  arc  governed  by  the  verb,  there  seems  to  he  precisely  the  same  reason  from  the  nature 
of  the  expression,  and  an  additional  one  from  analogy,  for  considering  the  latter  to  be  so  too. 
But  all  the  annotators  upon  the  Latin  syntax  suggest,  that  the  genitive  thus  put  after  sum  or 
est,  is  really  governed,  not  by  the  verb,  but  by  some  noun  understood ;  and  with  this  idea,  of  an 
ellipsis  in  the  construction,  all  our  English  grammarians  appear  to  unite.  They  might  not,  how- 
ever, find  \\  to  tell  by  what'noun  the  word  beloved's  or  mine  is  governed,  in  the  last 
example  above";  and  so  of  many  others,  which  are  used  in  the  same  way:  as,  "There  shall 
nothing  die  of  all  that  is  the  children's  of  Israel." — Exod.  ix,  4.  The  Latin  here  is,  "  Ut  nihil 
omnino  pereat  ex  his  qutr  pertinent  ad  filios  Israel." — Vulgate.  That  is, — "of  all  those  which 
belong  to  the  children  of  Israel." 

"  For  thou  art  Freedom's  now — and  Fame's, 
One  of  the  few,  the  immortal  names 

That  were  not  born  to  die." — HALLECK  :  Marco  Bozzaris. 

OBS.  4. — Although  the  possessive  case  is  always  intrinsically  an  adjunct,  and  therefore  incapa- 
ble of  being  used  or  comprehended  in  any  sense  that  is  positively  abstract;  yet  we  see  that  there 
are  instances  in  which  it  is  used  with  a  "certain  degree  of  abstraction, — that  is,  with  an  actual 
separation  from  the  name  of  the  thing  possessed ;  and  that  accordingly  there  are,  in  the  simple 
personal  pronouns,  (where  such  a  distinction  is  most  needed,)  two  different  forms  of  the  case ; 
the  one  adapted  to  the  concrete,  and  the  other  to  the  abstract  construction.     That  form  of  the 
pronoun,  however,  which  is  equivalent  in  sense  to  the  concrete  and  the  noun,  is  still  the  pos- 
sessive case,  and  nothing  more;  as,  "And  all  mine  are  thine,  and  thine  are  mine." — John,  xvii, 
10.    For  if  we  suppose  this  equivalence  to  prove  such  a  pronoun  to  be  something  more  than  the 
sive  case,  as  do  some  grammarians,  we  must  suppose  the  same  thing  respecting  the  pos- 
sessive case  of  a  noun,  whenever  the  relation  of  ownership  or  possession  is  simply  affirmed  or 
denied  with  such  a  noun  put  last :  as,  "  For  all  things  are  yours ;  and  ve  are  Christ's  •  and  Christ 
Is  God's." — 1  Cor.  iii,  21.    By  the  second  example  placed  under  the  mle,  I  meant  to  suggest,  that 
the  possessive  case,  when  placed  before  or  after  this  verb,  (be,)  might  be  parsed  as  being  governed 
by  the  nominative;   as  we  may  suppose  "  theirs"  to  be  governed  by  "  vanity"  and  "thine"  by 
ing,"  these  nouns  being  the  names  of  the  things  possessed.     But  then  we  encounter  a 
difficulty,  whenever  a  pronoun  happens  to  be  the  nominative ;  as,  "  Therefore  glorify  God  in 
Your  body,  and  in  your  spirit,  which  are  God's." — 1  Cor.  vi,  20.     Here  the  common  resort  would 
be  to  some  ellipsis  ;  and  yet  it  must  be  confessed,  that  this  mode  of  interpretation  cannot  but 
make  some  difference  in  tlie  sense:  as,  "  If  ye  be  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed." — Gal. 
iii,  29.    Here  some  may  think  the  meaning  to  be,  "  If  ye  be  Christ's  seed,  or  children."    But  a 
"     er  version  of  the  text  would  be,  "  If  ye  are  of  Christ,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed." — "  Que 
vous  >'tcs  a  Christ,  vous  etes  done  la  posterity"  d' Abraham." — French  Bible. 
OILS.  .5. — Possession  is  the  having  of  something,  and  if  the  possessive  case  is  always  an  ad- 
inct,  referring  either  directly  or  indirectly  to  that  which  constitutes  it  a  possessive,  it  would 
•cm  but  reasonable,  to  limit  the  government  of  this  case  to  that  part  of  speech  which  is  under- 
tood  substantively — that  is,  to  "the  name  of  the  tiling  possessed."    Yet,  in  violation  of  this 
pstriction,  many  grammarians  admit,  that  a  participle,  with  the  regimen  and  adjuncts  of  a  par- 
ticiple, may  govern  the  possessive  case ;  and  some  of  thorn,  at  the  same  time,  with  astonishing 
'-tcncy,  aver,  that  the  possessive  case  before  a  participle  converts  the  latter  into  a  noun, 
d  necessarily  deprives  it  of  its  regimen.     ^Vhether  participles  are  worthy  to  form  an  exception 
my  rule  or  not,  this  palpable  contradiction  is  one  of  the  gravest  faults  of  L.  Murray's  code  of 
,'ntax.     After  copying  from  Lowth  the  doctrine  that  a  participle  with  an  article  before  it  becomes 
noun,  and  must  drop  the  government  and  adjuncts  01  a  participle,  this  author  informs  us,  that 
tie  same  principles  are  applicable  to  the  pronoun  and  participle:  as,  "Much  depends  on  their 
IK/  of  the  rule,  and  error  will  be  the  consequence  of  their  neglecting  of  it;  "  in  stead  of, 
^  tin  i  ihe  rule,"  and  "  t/ieir  neyh-rdng  /'."     And  this  doctrine  he  applies,  with  yet 

—  ore  positiveness,  to  the  noun  and  participle  ;  as  if  the  error  were  still  more  glaring,  to  make  an 
stive  participle  govern  a  possessive  noun :  saying,  "We  shall  perceive  this  more  clearly,  if  we 
ubstitute  a  noun  for  the  pronoun  :  as,  '  Much  depends  upon  Tyro's  observing  of  the  rule,'  &c. ; 
rhich  is  the  same  a>,  •  Much  depends  on  !  '-once  of  the  rule.'  But,  as  this  construction 

ounds  rather  harshly,  it  would,  in  general,  be  better  to  express  the  sentiment  in  the  following. 
\r  some  other  form :  '  Much  depends  on  the  rule's  being  observed ;  and  error  will  be  the  conse- 
quence of  //  :ccted:'  or — '  on  observing  the  rule;  and — of  neglecting  it.'" — Murray'* 
Uram.  8vo,  ]>.  and  others. 

OHS.  6. — Here  it  is  assumed,  that  "their  observing  the  rule,"  or  "  Tyro's  observing  the  rule,"  is 
a  ungrammatical  phra^  oral  different  methods  being  suggested  for  its  correction,  a 

reference  is  at  length  given  t  not  less  objectionable  than  the  original  phrase 

iclf.     The  last  form  offered,  "  on  o  .,  is  indeed  correct  enough  in  itself;  but, 

a  substitute  for  the  other,  it  is  both  inaccurate  and  insufficient.     It  merely  omits  the  possee- 
ive  case,  and  leaves  the  action  of  the  participle  undetermined  in  respect  to  the  agent.     For  thr 
ive  case  before  a  real  participle,  denotes  not  the  possessor  of  something,  as  in  other 
stances,  but  the  agent  of  the  action,  or  the  subject  of  the  being  or  passion;  and  the  simple 
uestion  here  is,  whether  this  extraordinary  use  of  the  possessive  case  is,  or  is  not,  such  an  idiom 
if  our  language  as  ought  to  be  justified.     Participles  may  become  nouns,  if  we  choose  to  use 
them  substantive!}' ;  but  can  they  govern  the  possessive  case  before  them,  while  they  govern  also 
the  objective  after  them,  or  while  they  have  a  participial  meaning  which  is  qualified  by  adverbs  ? 
If  they  can,  Lowth,  Murray,  and  others,  are  wrong  in  supposing  the  foregoing  phrases  to  be  un- 


484  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III, 

grammatical,  and  in  teaching  that  the  possessive  case  before  a  participle  converts  it  into  a  noun ; 
and  if  they  cannot,  Priestley,  Murray,  Hiley,  Wells,  Weld,  and  others,  are  wrong  in  supposing 
that  a  participle,  or  a  phrase  beginning  with  a  participle,  may  properly  govern  the  possessive 
case.  Compare  Murray's  seventh  note  under  his  Rule  10th,  with  the  second  under  his  Rule  14th. 
The  same  contradiction  is  taught  by  many  other  compilers.  See  Smith's  Neic  Grammar,  pp.  152 
and  162;  Comly's  Gram.  91  and  108;  Ingersoll's,  180  and  199. 

OBS.  7- — Concerning  one  of  the  forms  of  expression  which  Murray  approves  and  prefers, 
among  his  corrections  above,  the  learned  doctors  Lowth  and  Campbell  appear  to  have  formed 
very  different  opinions.  The  latter,  in  the  chapter  which,  in  his  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric,  he  de- 
votes to  disputed  points  in  syntax,  says  :  "  There  is  only  one  other  observation  of  Dr.  Lowth,  on 
which,  before  I  conclude  this  article,  I  must  beg  leave  to  offer  some  remarks.  '  Phrases  like  the 
following,  though  very  common,  are  improper:  Much  depends  upon  the  ride's  being  observed; 
and  error  will  be  the  consequence  of  its  beinq  neglected.  For  here  is  a  noun  and  a  pronoun  repre- 
senting it,  each  in  the  possessive  case,  that  is,  under  the  government  of  another  noun,  but 
without  other  noun  to  govern  it :  for  being  observed,  and  being  neglected,  are  not  nouns  :  nor  can 
you  supply  the  place  of  the  possessive  case  by  the  preposition  of  before  the  noun  or  pronoun.'* 
For  my  part,"  continues  Campbell,  "  notwithstanding  what  is  here  very  speciously  urged,  I  am 
not  satisfied  that  there  is  any  fault  in  the  phrases  censured.  They  appear  to  me  to  be  perfectly 
in  the  idiom  of  our  tongue,  and  such  as  on  some  occasions  could  not  easily  be  avoided,  unless  by 
recurring  to  circumlocution,  an  expedient  which  invariably  tends  to  enervate  the  expression." — 
Philosophy  of  Rhetoric,  B.  ii,  Ch.  iv,  p.  234. 

OBS.  8. — Dr.  Campbell,  if  I  understand  his  argument,  defends  the  foregoing  expressions  against 
the  objections  of  Dr.  Lowth,  not  on  the  ground  that  participles  as  such  may  govern  the  posses- 
sive case,  but  on  the  supposition  that  as  the  simple  active  participle  may  become  a  noun,  and  in 
that  character  govern  the  possessive  case,  so  may  the  passive  participle,  and  with  equal  propriety, 
notwithstanding  it  consists  of  two  or  more  words,  which  must  in  this  construction  be  considered 
as  forming  "one  compound  noun."  I  am  not  sure  that  he  means  to  confine  himself  strictly  to 
this  latter  ground,  but  if  he  does,  his  position  cannot  be  said  in  any  respect  to  contravene  my 
rule  for  the  possessive  case.  I  do  not,  however,  agree  with  him,  either  in  the  opinion  which  he 
offers,  or  in  the  negative  which  he  attempts  to  prove.  In  view  of  the  two  examples,  "  Much  de- 
pends upon  the  rule's  being  observed,"  and,  "Much  depends  upon  their  observing  of  the  rule,"  he 
says :  "  Now,  although  I  allow  both  the  modes  of  expression  to  be  good,  I  think  the  first  situpler 
and  better  than  the  second."  Then,  denying  all  faults,  he  proceeds:  "Let  us  consider  whether 
the  former  be  liable  to  any  objections,  which  do  not  equally  affect  the  latter."  But  in  his  argu- 
ment, he  considers  only  the  objections  offered  by  Lowth.  which  indeed  he  sufficiently  refutes. 
Now  to  me  there  appear  to  be  other  objections,  winch  are  better  founded.  In  the  first  place,  the 
two  sentences  are  not  equivalent  in  meaning;  hence  the  preference  suggested  by  this  critic  and 
others,  is  absurd.  Secondly,  a  compound  noun  formed  of  two  or  three  words  without  any  hyphen, 
is  at  best  such  an  anomaly,  as  we  ought  rather  to  avoid  than  to  prefer.  If  these  considerations 
do  not  positively  condemn  the  former  construction,  they  ought  at  least  to  prevent  it  from  dis- 
placing the  latter ;  and  seldom  is  either  to  be  preferred  to  the  regular  noun,  which  we  can  limit 
by  the  article  or  the  possessive  at  pleasure :  as,  "  Much  depends  on  an  observance  of  the  rule." — 
««  Much  depends  on  their  observance  of  the  rule."  Now  these  two  sentences  are  equivalent  to  the 
two  former,  but  not  to  each  other ;  and,  vice  versa :  that  is,  the  two  former  are  equivalent  to 
these,  but  not  to  each  other. f 

OBS.  9. — From  Dr.  Campbell's  commendation  of  Lowth,  as  having  "given  some  excellent 
directions  for  preserving  the  proper  distinction  between  the  noun  and  the  gerund," — that  is,  be- 
tween the  participial  noun  and  the  participle, — it  is  fair  to  infer  that  he  meant  to  preserve  it 
himself ;  and  yet,  in  the  argument  above  mentioned,  he  appears  to  have  carelessly  framed  one 
ambiguous  or  very  erroneous  sentence,  from  which,  as  I  imagine,  his  views  of  this  matter  have 
been  misconceived,  and  by  which  Murray  and  all  his  modifiers  have  been  furnished  with  an  ex* 
ample  wherewith  to  confound  this  distinction,  and  also  to  contradict  themselves.  The  sentence 
is  this  :  "  Much  will  depend  on  your  pupil's  composing,  but  more  on  his  reading  frequently."— 
Philos.  of  Rhct.  p.  '23').  Volumes  innumerable  have  gone  abroad,  into  our  schools  and  elsewhere^ 
which  pronounce  this  sentence  to  be  "  correct  and  proper."  But  after  all,  what  does  it  mean  i 
Does  the  adverb  "frequently"  qualify  the  verb  "will  depend"  expressed  in  the  sentence  ?  or 
"  will  depend"  understood  alter  more  '{  or  both  ?  or  neither  ?  Or  does  this  adverb  qualify  the  ac- 
tion of  "reading?"  or  the  action  of  "composing?"  Or  both?  or  neither?  But  composing  and 
reading,  if  they  are  mere  nouns,  cannot  properly  be  qualified  by  any  adverb ;  and,  if  they  are 
called  participles,  the  question  recurs  respecting  the  possessives.  Besides,  composing,  as  a  par- 
ticiple, is  commonly  transitive;  nor  is  it  very  fit  for  a  noun,  without  some  adjunct.  And,  when 
participles  become  nouns,  their  government  (it  is  said)  falls  upon  of,  and  their  adverbs  are  usually 

*  For  this  quotation,  Dr.  Campbell  gives,  in  his  margin,  the  following  reference:  "  Introduction,  &c.  Sentences, 
Note  on  the  b'ch  Phrase."  But  in  my  edition  of  Dr.  Lowth's  Introduction  to  English  Grammar,  (a  Philadelphia 
edition  of  1799,)  I  <lo  not  find  the  passage.  Perhaps  it  hits  been  omitted  in  consequence  of  Campbell's  criticism, 
-  of  which  1  here  cite  but  a  part.— G.  BROWN. 

t  By  some  grammarians  it  is  presumed  to  be  consistent  with  the  nature  of  participles  to  govern  the  possessive 
case  ;  and  Hiley,  it  he  is  to  be  understood  literally,  assumes  it  as  an  •'  established  principle,"  that  they  all  do  so  I 
"Participle*  govern  nouns  aud  pronouns  in  the  possessive  case,  and  at  the  same  time,  if  derived  from  transitive 
verbs,  rtquire  the  noun  or  pronoun  following  to  be  in  the  objective  case,  without  the  intervention  of  the  preposi- 
tion of;  as,  '  Much  depends  on  William'*  observing  the  rule,  and  error  will  be  the  consequence  of  his  neglecting 
it; '  or, '  Much  to  ill  depend  on  the  rulSs  being  observed  by  William,  and  error  will  be  the  consequence  of  its  being 
neglected.'  " — HiUy's  Gram.  \>.  94.  These  sentences,  without  doubt,  are  nearly  equivalent  to  each  other  in  mean- 
ing. To  make  them  exactly  so,  "  depends  "  or  "  will  depend  "  must  be  changed  in  tense,  and  "  its  being  neglected  " 
must  bo  ••  its  b>im>  ntgUcted  by  him."  But  who  that  has  looked  at  the  facts  in  the  case,  or  informed  himself  on 
the  points  here  in  dispute,  wilt  maintain  that  either  the  awkward  phraseology  of  the  latter  example,  or  the  mixed 
and  questionable  construction  of  the  former,  or  the  extensive  rule  under  which  they  are  here  presented,  is  ainpng 
"  the  established  principles  and  best  usages  of  the  English  language  1 " — lb.  p.  1. 


CIIAP.  III.]  SYNTAX. BULB   IV. — POS3ESSIYES. — OBSERVATIONS.  485 

converted  into  adjectives ;  as,  "  Much  will  depend  on  your  pupiFs  composing  of  themes ;  but 
more,  on  7//.v  freyiunf  reading."  This  may  not  be  the  author's  meaning,  for'the  example  was 
originally  composed  as  a  mere  mock  sentence,  or  by  way  of  "experiment;"  and  one  may  doubt 
whether  lU  meaning  was  ever  at  all  thought  of  by  the  philosopher.  But,  to  make  it  a  respect- 
able example,  some  correction  there  must  be ;  for,  surely,  no  man  can  have  any  clear  idea  to 
communicate,  which  he  cannot  better  express,  than  by  imitating  this  loose  phraseology.  It  is 
scarcely  more  correct,  than  to  say,  "Much  will  depend  on  an  author's  using,  but  more  on  his 
learn!  ii<i  frequently."  Yet  is  it  commended  as  a  mode!,  either  entire  or  in  part,  by  Murray,  In- 
gersoll,  Fisk.  11.  C.  Smith,  Cooper,  Lennie,  Hiley,  Bullions,  C.  Adams,  A.  H.  Weld,  and  I  know 
not  how  many  other  school  critics. 

OBS.  10. — That  singular  notion,  so  common  in  our  grammars,  that  a  participle  and  its  adjuncts 
may  form  "  one  name,"  or  "substantive  phrase,"  and  so  govern  the  possessive  case,  where  it  is 
presumed  the  participle  itself  could  not,  is  an  invention  worthy  to  have  been  always  ascribed  to 
its  true  author.  For  this  doctrine,  as  I  suppose,  our  grammarians  are  indebted  to  Dr.  Priestley. 
In  his  grammar  it  stands  thus  :  "  When  an  entire  clause  of  a  sentence,  beginning  with  a  partici- 
ple of  the  present  tense,  is  used  as  one  name,  or  to  express  one  idea,  or  circumstance,  the  noun 
on  which  it  depends  may  be  put  in  the  genitive  case.  Thus,  instead  of  saying,  What  in  the  mean- 
ing of  (/ns  !adi/  ho/ding  up  her  train,  i.  P.  u'Jiat  is  the  meaning  of  the  lady  in  holding  uj>  her  train, 
.  ll'hat  is  the  meaning  of  this  lady's  holding  up  her  train;  just  as  we  say,  What  is  the 


pl< 

e,  that  is  either  conceived  or  worded  properly.  Yet,  coming  from  a  Doctor  of  Laws,  and 
Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  it  is  readily  adopted  by  Murray,  and  for  his  sake  by  others  ;  and  so, 
with  all  its  blunders,  the  vain  gloss  passes  uncensured  into  the  schools,  as  a  rule  and  model  for 
elegant  composition.  Dr.  Priestley  pretends  to  appreciate  the  difference  between  participles  and 
participial  nouns,  but  he  rather  contrives  a  fanciful  distinction  in  the  sense,  than  a  real  one  in 
the  construction.  His  only  note  on  this  point, — a  note  about  the  "horse  running  to-day,"  and 
the  "horses  running  to-day," — I  shall  leave  till  we  come  to  the  syntax  of  participles. 

OHS.  11. — Having  prepared  the  reader  to  understand  the  origin  of  what  is  to  follow,  I  now 
cite  from  L.  Murray's  code  a  paragraph  whicli  appears  to  be  contradictory  to  his  own  doctrine,  as 

ted  in  the  fifth  observation  above;  and  not  only  so,  it  is  irreconcilable  with  any  proper 
distinction  between  the  participle  and  the  participial  noun.  "When  an  entire  clause  of  a  sen- 
tence, beginning  with  a  participle  of  the  present  tense,  is  used  as  one  name,  or  to  express  one 
idea  or  circumstance,  the  noun  on  trhirh  if  depends  may  be  put  in  the  genitive  case  ;  thus,  instead 
of  saying,  '  What  is  the  reason  of  this  person  dismissing  his  servant  so  hastily  ? '  that  is,  '  What 
is  the  reason  of  this  person,  in  dismissing  his  servant  so  hastily?'  we  may  say,  and  perhaps 
ought  tn  iar,  •  What  is  the  reason  of  this  person's  dismissing  of  his  servant  so  hastily?'  Just  as 

.  '  What  is  the  reason  of  this  person's  Jiasti/  dismission  of  his  servant?'  So  also,  we  say, 
'  I  remember  it  being  reckoned  a  great  exploit;'  or  more  properly,  'I  remember  its  being  reck- 
oned.' \-e.  The  following  sentence  is  correct  and  proper:  'Much  will  depend  on  the  pupil's 
com/inshir/,  but  more  on  his  reading  frequently.'  It  would  not  be  accurate  to  say,  '  Much  will  de- 
pend on  the  ]>n]n!  composing,'  &c.  We  also  properly  say  ;  '  This  will  be  the  effect  of  the  pupil's 
composing  frequently  :'  instead  of,  '  Of  the  pupil  composing  frequently.'  The  participle,  in  such 
constructions,  docs  the  <ifti<-e  of  a  substantive;  and  it  should  therefore  have  a  CORRESPONDENT 
KK«;IMKN."— Mnrnn/'ti  drum.  Rule  X,  Note  7;  Inqersoll's,  p.  180;  Fisk's,  108:  R.  C.  Smith's, 
•'•tint's,  84.  See  also  Weld's  Gram.  2d  Ed.,  p.  150;  "  Abridged  Ed.,"  117.* 
12 — Now,  if  it  were  as  easy  to  prove  that  a  participle,  as  such,  or  (what  amounts  to  the 
same  thing)  a  phrase  beginning  with  a  participle,  ought  never  to  govern  the  possessive  case,  as 
it  is  to  show  that  every  part  and  parcel  of  the  foregoing  citations  from  Priestley,  Murray,  and 

*  What,  in  WeM>  •-. \brid.-ed  KdiM'T.."  i»  improperly  called  a  "  participial  noun,'1'  was,  in  his  "  original  work," 

still  ni"  t.-rin.Ml  ••  a  participial  rinns'."    "This   gentleman,  who  has  lately  amended  his  general  rule 

for  pueai  MlTC*  by  wrongfully  copying  or  imitating  mine,  has  al-o  as  widely  varied  his  conception  of  the  particij'ial 

u  my  judgement,  a  change  still  greater  might  not  be  amiss.     "  The  possessive  is  often 

h  will  depend  on  the  {mini'.*  composing  frequently.     Pupil's  is  governed 

frtifitmtli/.'1      NOTE.— Th.  uld  he  nnnexed  to  the  word  governed  by  the 

•\\i\-z  it."-  ''lion.  p.  150.     Again  :  "  The  possessive  is  often  governed  by 

Much     will   depend  mi   the  /nif>it'x  composing  frequently.       Pupil's  is  governed  by  the 

participial  noui  NOTE.— Th.  >iM  he  annexed  to  the  word  governed  by  the  participial  noun 

following  it  p.  117.      ('ho.i.-inu  the  possessive  case,  where,  both  by  analogy  and  by 

autli'M-i  inite  as  grammatical,  if  not  more  so;  destroying,  as  far  as  possible,  all  syntac- 

tical distinction  between  the  participle  ami  the  participial  noun,  by  confounding  them  purposely,  even  in  name; 

thi-    author,  like   Wells,  whom  he  too  often   in,  ,    ,  untie f  the  question    here   discussed,  and   seems 

quite  uncon-ci'iiis  t'.  -  partly  nnde  nouns  ran  /iro/lurr  false  syntax.     To  the  foregoing  instructions,  he 

!  the  followi-  ••  Tli"  pnrtirij'/f  uted  ns  a  noun,  still  rrtnins  it*  nrbal  prop- 

govern  the  i  fie  l  by  an  adverb  or  adjunct,  like  the  verb  from  which  it  is 

derived.'     i  i'i     When  one  part  of  tpe<  %  the  learner  may  be  greatly  pn/zi.-d  to 

mull  r-"ind  t"  n  in.  Dg8,      If"  t/ir  fitntiri/,!,-  //.<•, /n«  n  noun,  still  retains  it-i  verbal  prop- 

erties." if  is.  manife  --ill  :  not  a  participial  noun,  but  a  mninnl  ;>  u'ir,p!f.  whether 

the  thing  be  allowable  or  i  i  are  incunsUvnt.     Wells  says,  "Participlts  ar. 

riiere  w  v.-  a.-ain  the  -.;nnr/\  i;i-  of  whips,  the  rl,ttt>  rin^  of  hoof  A,  and  the  glittering 

of  harne*!.— laVIHG."— ScAool  (irani.\t    l.'.l.      Thi-  .   these  are  participial  naiinx,  and 

not  '•  j>'irtiri/>'"i."     What  Wells  calls  '•  participial  nouns,"  ditler  fr  I  an-  nil  spurious,  all  mongrels,  all 

participles  rather  than  nouns.     In  regard  to  powtessives  before  participles,  no  instructions  appear  to  be  more  de- 

i  oses  the  pupil  always  to  know   when  and  why   the 

poeaun  i  ind  only  instructs  him  nut  tn    '  it  t/ir  xi^u  .'     It  is  this:  *;  Whon  a  noun  or  a 

;i,  prei-ediiiii  a  partici/>!r   i/.w  /  as  n  nmni.  is  i>ri'/»rli/  in  tin  ise,  the  -i_'n  of  po.-session   should 

>'•/!()<'/  Grain,  p.  121.      All  tin-  examples  put  under  this  rule,  are  inappropriate:  each  will 

1  the  learner.      Those  which  are  called  UC<-  l    think,  erroneous ;  and  those  which  are  called 

t(False  Syntax,"'  the  adding  of  the  possessive  sign  will  not  amend. 


486  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

others,  is  both  weakly  conceived  and  badly  written,  I  should  neither  have  detained  the  reader  so 
long  on  this  topic,  nor  ever  have  placed  it  among  the  most  puzzling  points  of  grammar.  Let  it 
be  observed,  that  what  these  writers  absurdly  call  "an  entire  CLAUSE  of  a  sentence,"  is  found  on 
examination  to  be  some  short  PHRASE,  the  participle  with  its  adjuncts,  or  even  the  participle 
alone,  or  with  a  single  adverb  only;  as,  "holding  up  her  train," — "dismissing  his  servant  so 
hastily," — "  composing," — "  reading  frequently,"—"  composing  frequently."  And  each  of  these, 
with  an  opposite  error  as  great,  they  will  have  to  be  "  one  name,"  and  to  convey  but  "  one  idea  :" 


admissible,  and  in  our  language,  no  participle  ever  can  depend  on  any  other  than  the  nominative 
or  the  objective  case.  Every  participle  so  depending  is  an  adjunct  to  the  noun  ;  and  every  pos- 
sessive, in  its  turn,  is  an  adjunct  to  the  word  which  governs  it.  In  respect  to  construction,  no 
terms  differ  more  than  a  participle  which  governs  the  possessive  case,  and  a  participle  which  does 
not.  These  different  constructions  the  contrivers  of  the  foregoing  rule,  here  take  to  be  equiva- 
lent in  meaning ;  whereas  they  elsewhere  pretend  to  find  in  them  quite  different  significations. 
The  meaning  is  sometimes  very  different,  and  sometimes  very  similar ;  but  seldom,  if  ever,  are 
the  terms  convertible.  And  even  if  they  were  so,  and  the  difference  were  nothing,  would  it  not 
be  better  to  adhere,  where  we  can,  to  the  analogy  of  General  Grammar  ?  In  Greek  and  Latin,  a 


version  is,  "  Puisque  vous  cherchez  une  preuve  que  Christ  jmrle  par  moi ;  "  and  this,  too,  might 
be  imitated  in  English:  "  Since  ye  seek  a  proof  that  Christ  speaks  by  me." 

OBS.  13. — As  prepositions  very  naturally  govern  any  of  our  participles  except  the  simple  per- 
fect, it  undoubtedly  seems  agreeable  to  our  idiom  not  to  disturb  this  government,  when  we  would 
express  the  subject  or  agent  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion,  between  the  preposition  and  the 
participle.  Hence  we  find  that  the  doer  or  the  sufferer  of  the  action  is  usually  made  its  possessor, 
whenever  the  sense  does  not  positively  demand  a  different  reading.  Against  this  construction 
there  is  seldom  any  objection,  if  the  participle  be  taken  entirely  as  a  noun,  so  that  it  may  be 
called  a  participial  noun  ;  as,  "  Much  depends  on  their  observing  of  the  rule." — Lowth,  Campbell, 
and  L.  Murray.  On  the  other  hand,  the  participle  after  the  objective  is  unobjectionable,  if  the 
noun  or  pronoun  be  the  leading  word  in  sense ;  as,  "  It  would  be  idle  to  profess  an  apprehension 
of  serious  evil  resulting  in  any  respect  from  the  utmost  publicity  being  given  to  its  contents." — 
London  Eclectic  Revieic,  1816.  "The  following  is  a  beautiful  instance  of  the  sound  of  words 
corresponding  to  motion." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  333.  "We  shall  discover  many  things  par- 
taking  of  both  those  characters." — West's  Letters,  p.  182.  "  To  a  per 'son  following  the  vulgar  mode 
of  omitting  the  comma." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  365.  But,  in  comparing  the  different  construc- 
tions above  noticed,  writers  are  frequently  puzzled  to  determine,  and  frequently  too  do  they  err 
in  determining,  which  word  shall  be  made  the  adjunct,  and  which  the  leading  term.  NOAV, 
wherever  there  is  much  doubt  which  of  the  two  forms  ought  to  be  preferred,  I  think  we  may  well 
conclude  that  both  are  wrong ;  especially,  if  there  can  easily  be  found  for  the  idea  an  other  ex- 
pression that  is  undoubtedly  clear  and  correct.  Examples :  "  These  appear  to  be  instances  of 
the  present  participle  being  used  passively." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  64.  "These  are  examples  of 
the  past  participle  being  applied  in  an  active  sense." — Ib.  64.  "  We  have  some  examples  of  ad- 
verbs being  used  for  substantives." — Priestley's  Gram,  p.  134;  Murray's,  198;  Ingersoll's,  206; 
Fisk's,  140  ;  Smith's,  165.  "  By  a  noun,  pronoun,  or  adjective,  being  prefixed  to  the  substantive." 
— Murray's  Gram.  p.  39  ;  also  Ingersoll's,  Fisk's,  Alger's,  Maltby's,  Merchant's,  Bacon's,  and 
others.  Here,  if  their  own  rule  is  good  for  any  thing,  these  authors  ought  rather  to  have  pre- 
ferred the  possessive  case ;  but  strike  out  the  word  being,  which  is  not  necessary  to  the  sense,  and 
all  question  about  the  construction  vanishes.  Or  if  any  body  will  justify  these  examples  as  they 
stand,  let  him  observe  that  there  are  others,  without  number,  to  be  justified  on  the  same  princi- 
ple; as,  "  Much  depends  on  the  rule  being  observed." — "  Much  will  depend  on  the  pupil  composing 
frequently."  Again:  "Cyrus  did  not  wait  for  the  Babylonians  coming  to  attack  him." — Rollin, 
ii,  86.  "  Cyrus  did  not  wait  for  the  Babylonians'  coming  to  attack  him."  That  is — "  for  their 
coming,"  and  not,  "  for  them  coming ;"  but  much  better  than  either:  "Cyrus  did  not  Avait  for 
the  Babylonians  to  come  and  attack  him."  Again  :  "  To  prevent  his  army's  being  enclosed  and 
hemmed  in." — Rollin,  ii,  89.  "  To  prevent  his  army  being  enclosed  and  hemmed  in."  Both  are 
wrong.  Say,  "  To  prevent  his  army  from  being  enclosed  and  hemmed  in."  Again  :  "  As  a  sign 
of  God's  fulfilling  the  promise." — Rollin,  ii,  23.  "As  a  sign  of  God  fulfilling  the  promise." 
Both  are  objectionable.  Say,  "  As  a  sign  that  God  ivould  fulfill  the  promise."  Again  :  "  '1  here 


OBS.  14. — NOAV,  although  thousands  of  sentences  might  easily  be  quoted,  in  which  the  posses- 
sive case  is  actually  governed  by  a  participle,  and  that  participle  not  taken  in  every  respect  ;is  a 
noun;  yet  I  imagine,  there  are,  of  this  kind,  few  examples,  if  any,  the  meaning  of  which  might 
not  be  better  expressed  in  some  other  way.  There  are  surely  none  among  all  the  examples  which 
are  presented  by  Priestley,  Murray,  and  others,  under  their  rule  above.  Nor  Avould  a  thousand 
such  as  are  there  given,  amount  to  any  proof  of  the  rule.  They  are  all  cf  them  unreal  or  feigned 
sentence;  ,  made  up  for  the  occasion,  'and,  like  most  others  that  are  produced  in  the  same  way, 
made  up  badly — made  up  after  some  ungrammatical  model.  If  a  gentleman  could  possibly  de- 
mand a  lady's  meaning  in  such  an  act  as  the  holding-lip  of  her  train,  he  certainly  Avould  use  none 
of  Priestley's  three  questions  ;  but  Avould  probably  say,  "  Madam,  what  do  you  mean  by  holding 


CHAP,    in.]  SYNTAX.  —  RCLB   IV.  -  POS8ES3IVES.  -  OBSERVATIONS.  487 


meaning  better  than  he.     The  text  is  therefore  not  to  be  corrected  by  inserting  a  hyphen  and  an 
ore  cited  ;  as,  "  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  lady's  holding-up  of 


up  your  train  ?"     It  was  folly  for  the  doctor  to  ask  an  of  her  /.erson,  as  if  an  other  could  guess  her 
meaning  better  than  he.     The  tex 
of,  after  Murray's  doctrine  before 

ner  train  ?  "  Murray  did  well  to  reject  this  example,  but  as  a  specimen  of  English,  his  own  is  no 
better.  The  question  which  he  asks,  ought  to  have  been,  "  If'////  did  this  p<  rson  OTMM*M  his  ser- 
vant so  hastily  ?"  Fisk  has  it  in  the  following  form:  "What  is  the  reason  of  this  person's 
dismissing  his  servant  so  hastily  •  "  —  Etn;/i.s/<  Grammar  Simplified^  p.  108.  This  amender  of  gram- 
mars omits  the  of  which  Murray  and  others  scrupulously  insert  to  govern  the  noun  servant,  and 
boldly  avows  at  once,  what  their  rule  implies,  that,  "  Participles  are  sometimes  used  both  as  verbs 
and  as  nouns  at  the  same  time;  as,  'By  the  mind's  chmujinu  the  object,'  &c."  —  Ib.  p.  134;  so 
Emmons's  Gram.  p.  64.  But  he  errs  a.s  "much  UN  they,  and  contradicts  both  himself  and  them. 
For  one  ought  rather  to  say,  "  By  the  mina"fi  changing  of  the  object;  "  else  changing,  which  "  does 
the  office  of  a  noun,"  has  not  truly  "  a  correspondent  regimen."  Yet  of  is  useless  after  dismiss- 
ing,  unless  we  take  away  the  adrcrb  by  which  the  participle  is  prevented  from  becoming  a  noun. 
"^Dismissing  of  his  servant  so  kattily,"  is  in  itself  an  ungrammaticul  phrase;  and  nothing  but  to 
omit  cither  the  preposition  or  the  two  adverbs,  can  possibly  make  it  right.  Without  the  latter, 
it  may  follow  the  possessive  :  but  without  the  former,  our  most  unproved  grammars  say  it  cannot. 
Some  critics,  however,  object  to  the  of,  because  the  dis/niyxinf/  is  not  the  serrant's  act  ;  but  this, 
as  1  shall  hereafter  show,  is  no  valid  objection  :  they  stickle  lor  a  false  rule. 

OBS.  l~).  —  Thus  these  authors,  differing  from  one  an  other  as  they  do,  and  each  contradicting 
himself  and  some  of  the  rest,  are,  as  it  would  seem,  all  wrong  in  respect  to  the  whole  matter  at 
issue.  For  whether  the  phrase  in  question  be  like  Priestley's,  or  like  Murray's,  or  like  Fisk's,  it 
is  still,  according  to  the  best  authorities,  unfit  to  govern  the  possessive  case  ;  because,  in  stead 
of  being  a  substantive,  it  is  something  more  than  a  participle,  and  yet  they  take  it  substantively. 
They  form  this  phrase  in  many  different  fashions,  and  yet  each  man  of  them  pretends  that  what 
be  approves,  is  just  like  the  construction  of  a  regular  noun  :  ''Just  as  we  say,  '  What  is  the 
reason  of  this  person's  hasty  tlixmixsion  of  his  servant.'  "  —  Murray,  Fi*k,  and  others.  "Just  as 
we  say,  'What  is  the  meaning  of  this  lady's  dress,'  <N:c."  —  Prietuty,  The  meaning  of  &  lady's 
lorsooth  !  The  illustration  is  worthy  of  the  doctrine  tnught.  ".•!«  entire  clan-tie  of  a  sentence," 
tubstautively  possessed,  is  sufficiently  like  "/,'•  "fa  Uulifs  dress,  &c."  Coubett  despised 

andsoforths,  for  their  lack  of  meaning  ;  avd  i  find  none  in  this  one,  unless  it  be,  "  of  tinse.l  and 
(\f  '  fiistitut."  This  gloss  therefore  I  wholly  disapprove,  judging  the  position  more  tenable,  to 
deny,  if  we  consequently  must,  that  either  a  phrase  or  a  participle,  as  such,  can  consistently 
govern  the  possessive  case.  For  whatever  word  or  term  gives  rise  to  the  direct  relation  of  prop- 
erty. and  is  rightly  made  to  govern  the  possessive  case,  ought  in  reason  to  be  a  noun  —  ought  to 
be  the  name,  of  soine  substance,  quality,  state,  action,  passion,  being,  or  thing.  When  therefore 
Other  parts  of  speech  assume  this  relation,  they  naturally  become  •nouns  ;  as,  "Against  the  day 
of  my  burying."  —  John,  xii,  7.  "Till  the  day'of  his  shoving  unto  Israel."  —  Luke,  i,  80.  "By 
my  own  showing."  —  Cotcper,  Life,  p.  ~2'2.  "By  a  fortune  of  my  own  getting."  —  Ib.  "  Let  your 
yea  be  yea,  and  your  nay  nay."  —  James,  v,  12."  "  Prate  of  my  ic  hereabout.''  —  Shak. 


OBS.  16.  —  The  government  of  possessives  by  "entire  clauses,"  or  "  substantive  jfhrases,"  as 
they  are  sometimes  called,  I  am  persuaded,  may  best  be  disposed  of,  in  almost  every  instance,  by 
-arging  the  construction  with  impropriety  or"  awkwardness,  and  substituting  for  it  some  better 
For  example,  our  grammars  abound  with  sentences  like  the  following,  and  call 
tern  good  English  :  (1.)  "  So  we  may  either  say,  '  I  remember  it  being  reckoned  a  great  exploit  ;  ' 
ips  more  elegantly,  '  I  remember  its  beinr/  reckoned  a  great  exploit.'  "  —  Priestley,  Murray, 
others.     Here  both  modes  are  wrong  ;  the  latter,   especially  ;  because  it  violates  a  general 
lie  of  syntax,  in  regard  to  the  case  of  the  noun  exploit.     Say,  "I  remember  it  was  reckoned  a 
reat  exploit."     Again  :  (2.)  "  We  also  properly  say,  '  This  will  be  the  effect  of  the  pupil's  com- 
frequently.'"  —  Murray's  dram.  p.   1J9;  and  others.     Better,  "This  will  be  the  effect,  if 
frequently."     But  this  sentence  is  petitions,  and  one  may  doubt  whether  good 
ithoi  'id  who  use  compose,  or  composing  &B  being  intransitive.     (3.)  "  What  can  be 

ic  reason  of  the  commit-  -?i-/ai/>  d  th  "  —  Murray's  Key,  p.  223.     Say,  "  Why 

dt  laved  this  business?"  (4.)  "  What  can  be  the  cause  of  the  parliament's 
important  a  business  :  "  —  1*>.  p.  1:'  II7/y  doe*  the  parliament  neglect  so  im- 

artant  ••  The  time  of   U'Hiimn's  making  the  experiment,  at  length  arrived." 

-Ib.  ]>.  -      ."The  time  J»r  William  to  make  the  experiment,  at  length  arrived."     (6.)  "I 

)po  this  is  the  hi>t  time  of  /  ,  imprudently."  —  Ib.  p.  263.     Say,  "I  hope  1  shall  never 

lain  nrf  so  imprudently.  t  reason  for  their  looking  so  well,  it  would  be, 

at  they  rise  early."  —  'lh.  p.  •_'<;:>.     Say,  "  I  should  attribute  their  healthful  appearance  to  their 
rly  rising."     (8.)  "  The  tutor  said,  that  diligence  and   application  to  study  were  necessary  to 
g  good  scholars."  —  Coo/>i  •/•'.>•  (inm,.  p.  1  1~>.     Here  is  an  anomaly  in  "the  construction  of 

' 


/ro!;n-s.     Say,  "  The  tutor  said,  that  diligent  application  to  strnt'y  wv/.v  necessary  to  our 
•  irning."  .•/,/  //r/vf/  //j///r  manner  he  did,  was  not  fully  ex- 

plair.ed." — .l///»  .         mthor  has  a  very  singular  mode  of  giving  "  BTBBN0TB  " 

-L  -entences.     The  l.nilty  text  here  was,  "The  reason  why  he  acted  in  the  manner  he  did, 
is  not  fully  explained."—  i  »,  p.  131.     This  M  much  better  than  the  other,  but 

I  should  choose,  to  sa  ,  .  ison  of  A/.v  -  not  fully  explained."     For,  surely,  the 

"  one  idea  or  circumstance  "  of  his  "  ha\  ing  a  ./ted  in  the  manner  in  which  he  did  act,"  may  be 
uite  as  forcibly  named  by  the  one  \\  '.   as   by   all  this  verbiage,  this   "substantire 

hrase,"  or  "  entire  clause,"  of  such  cumbrous  length. 

|  —The  foregoing  observations  tend  to  show,  that  the  government  of  posses- 
ticiples,  is  in  general  a  construction  little  to  lie  commended,  if  at  all  allowed.     I  thus  narrow 
)wn  the  application  of  the  principle,  but  do  not  hereby  determine  it  to  be  altogether  wrong. 
. 'trier  arguments,  both  for  and  against  the  doctrine,  which  must  be  taken  into  the  ac- 
int,  bet"'  .  tally  decide  the  question.     The  double  construction  which  may  be  given  to 

initivc  verbs ;   the  Greek  idiom  which  allows  to  such  verbs  an  article  before  them  and  an 


488  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

objective  after  them  ;  the  mixed  character  of  the  Latin  gerund,  part  noun,  part  verh  ;  the  use  or 
substitution  of  the  participle  in  English  for  the  gerund  in  Latin  ; — all  these  afford  so  many  reasons 
by  analogy,  for  allowing  that  our  participle — except  it  be  the  perfect — since  it  participates  the 
properties  of  a  verb  and  a  noun,  as  well  as  those  of  a  verb  and  an  adjective,  may  unite  in  itself  a 
double  construction,  and  be  taken  substantively  in  one  relation,  and  participially  in  an  other. 
Accordingly  some  grammarians  so  define  it ;  and  many  writers  so  use  it ;  both  parties  disregard- 
ing the  distinction  between  the  participle  and  the  participial  noun,  and  justifying  the  con- 
struction of  the  former,  not  only  as  a  proper  participle  after  its  noun,  and  as  a  gerundive  after  its 
preposition;  not  only  as  a  participial  adjective  before  its  noun,  and  as  a  participial  noun,  in  the 
regular  syntax  of  a  noun ;  but  also  as  a  mixed  term,  in  the  double  character  of  noun  and  parti- 
ciple at  once.  Nor  are  these  its  only  uses  ;  for,  after  an  auxiliary,  it  is  the  main  verb;  and  in  a 
few  instances,  it  passes  into  a  preposition,  an  adverb,  or  something  else.  Thus  have  we  from, 
the  verb  a  single  derivative,  which  fairly  ranks  with  about  half  the  different  parts  of  speech,  and 
takes  distinct  constructions  even  more  numerous ;  and  yet  these  authors  scruple  not  to  make  of 
it  a  hybridous  thing,  neither  participle  nor  noun,  but  constructively  both.  "  But  this,"  says  Lowth, 
"  is  inconsistent;  let  it  be  either  the  one  or  the  other,  and  abide  by  its  proper  construction." — 
Gram.  p.  82.  And  so  say  I — as  asserting  the  general  principle,  and  leaving  the  reader  to  judge 
of  its  exceptions.  Because,  without  this  mongrel  character,  the  participle  in  our  language  has  a 
multiplicity  of  uses  unparalleled  in  any  other ;  and  because  it  seldom  happens  that  the  idea 
intended  by  this  double  construction  may  not  be  otherwise  expressed  more  elegantly.  But  if  it 
sometimes  seem  proper  that  the  gerundive  participle  should  be  allowed  to  govern  the  possessive 
case,  no  exception  to  my  rule  is  needed  for  the  parsing  of  such  possessive ;  because  whatever  is 
invested  with  such  government,  whether  rightly  or  wrongly,  is  assumed  as  "  the  name  of  some- 
thing possessed." 

OBS.  18. — The  reader  may  have  observed,  that  in  the  use  of  participial  nouns  the  distinction  of 
toice  in  the  participle  is  sometimes  disregarded.  Thus,  "Against  the  day  of  my  burying,"  means, 
"Against  the  day  of  my  being  buried."  But  in  this  instance  the  usual  noun  burial  or  funeral 
would  have  been  better  than  either  :  "Against  the  day  of  my  burial."  I.  e.  "  In  diem  funerationis 
meee." — Beza.  "  In  diem  sepultura  mece." — Leusden.  "  ^Etgr'^v  i^ifoar  rov  fatty  iota  U6V  uov." — 
John,  xii,  7-  In  an  other  text,  this  noun  is  very  properly  used  for  the  Greek  infinitive,  and 
the  Latin  gerund  ;  as,  "  For  my <  burial." — Matt,  xxvi,  12.  "Ad  funerandum  me." — Beza.  "Ad 
sepeliendum  me." — Leusden.  Literally:  "For  burying  me."  '<77(>oc  ro  traynrfat  ut."  Nearly: 
"  For  to  have  me  buried."  Not  all  that  is  allowable,  is  commendable  ;  and  if  either  of  the  un- 
compounded  terms  be  found  a  fit  substitute  for  the  compound  participial  noun,  it  is  better  to  dis- 
pense with  the  latter,  on  account  of  its  dissimilarity  to  other  nouns:  as,  "Which  only  proceed 
upon  the  question's  being  begged" — Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  iii,  p.  361.  Better,  "  Which  only  pro- 
ceed upon  a  begging  of  the  question"  "The  king's  having  conquered  in  the  battle,  established 
his  throne." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  128.  Better,  "The  king's  conquering  in  the  battle  ;  "  for,  in  the 
participial  noun,  the  distinction  of  tense,  or  of  previous  completion,  is  as  needless  as  that  of  voice. 
"  The  fleet's  having  sailed  prevented  mutiny." — Ib.  p.  78.  Better,  "  The  sailing  of  the  fleef," — or, 
"The  fleet's  sailing,"  &c.  "The  prince's  being  murdered  excited  their  pity." — Ibid.  Better, 
"  The  prince's  murder  excited  their  indignation." 

OBS.  19. — In  some  instances,  as  it  appears,  not  a  little  difficulty  is  experienced  by  our  gram- 
marians, respecting  the  addition  or  the  omission  of  the  possessive  sign,  the  terminational  apos- 
trophic  s,  which  in  nouns  is  the  ordinary  index  of  the  possessive  case.  Let  it  be  remembered 
that  every  possessive  is  governed,  or  ought  to  be  governed,  by  some  noun  expressed  or  under- 
stood, except  such  as  (without  the  possessive  sign)  are  put  in  apposition  with  others  so 
governed;  and  for  every  possessive  termination  there  must  be  a  separate  governing  word,  which, 
if  it  is  not  expressed,  is  shown  by  the  possessive  sign  to  be  understood.  The  possessive  sign 
itself  may  and  must  be  omitted  in  certain  cases ;  but,  because  it  can  never  be  inserted  or  dis- 
carded without  suggesting  or  discarding  a  governing  noun,  it  is  never  omitted  bij  ellipsis,  as 
Buchanan,  Murray,  Nixon,  and  many  others,  erroneously  teach.  The  four  lines  of  Note  2d 
below,  are  sufficient  to  show,  in  every  instance,  when  it  must  be  used,  and  when  omitted ;  but 
Murray,  after  as  many  octavo  pages  on  the  point,  still  leaves  it  perplexed  and  undetermined.  If 
a  person  knows  what  he  means  to  say,  let  him  express  it  according  to  the  Note,  and  he  will  not 
fail  to  use  just  as  many  apostrophes  and  Esses  as  he  ought.  How  absurd  then  is  that  common 
doctrine  of  ignorance,  which  Nixon  has  gathered  from  Allen  and  Murray,  his  chief  oracles  !  "  If 
several  nouns  in  the  genitive  case,  are  immediately  connected  by  a  conjunction,  the  apos  trophic  s 
is  annexed  to  the  last,  but  tinderstood  to  the  rest;  as,  Neither  John  (i.  e.  John's)  nor  Eliza's 
books." — English  Parser,  p.  115.  The  author  gives  fifteen  other  examples  like  this,  all  of  them 
bad  English,'or  at  any  rate,  not  adapted  to  the  sense  which  he  intends  ! 

OBS.  20. — The  possessive  case  generally  comes  immediately  before  the  governing  noiin,  ex- 
pressed or  understood  ;  as,  "All  nature's  difference  keeps  all  nature's  peace." — Pope.  "Lady! 
be  thine  [i.e.  thy  walk]  the  Christian's  walk." — Chr.  Observer.  "  Some  of  sEschylus's  [plays] 
and  Euripidcs's  plays  are  opened  in  this  manner." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  459.  And  in  this  order  one 
possessive  sometimes  governs  another:  as,  "Peter's  wife's  mother;" — "Paul's  sister's  son." — 
Bible.  But,  to  this  general  principle  of  arrangement,  there  are  some  exceptions  :  as, 

1.  When  the  governing  noun  has   an  adjective,  this  may   intervene  ;    as,   "  Flora's  earliest 
smells." — Milton.     "  Of  man's  first  disobedience."— Id.     In  the  following  phrase  from  the  Spec- 
tator, "  Of  Will's  last  night's  lecture,"  it  is  not  very  clear,  whether  Witt's  is  governed  by  night's  or 
by  lecture  ;  yet  it  violates  a  general  principle  of  our  grammar,  to  suppose  the  latter  ;  because,  on 
this  supposition,  two  possessive?,  each  having  the  sign,  will  be  governed  by  one  noun. 

2.  When  the  possession  is  affirmed  or  denied  ;  as,    "  The  book  is  mine,  and  not  John's."     But 
here  the  governing  noun  may  be  supplied  in  its  proper  place  ;    and,  in  some  such  instances,  it 
must  be,  else  a  pronoun  or  the  verb  will  be  the  only  governing  word :  as,  "  Ye  are  Christ's  [dis- 
ciples, or  people];   and  Christ  is  God's"  [son]. — St.  Paul.  "Whether  this  phraseology  is  thus 
elliptical  or  not,  is  questionable.     See  Obs.  4th,  in  this  series. 


CHAP.    III.]  SYNTAX. RULE   IV. — POSSESSIVES. — OBSERVATIONS.  489 

3.  When  the  case  occurs  without  the  sign,  either  by  apposition  or  by  connexion  ;  as,   "  In  her 

brother  Af>M t lorn' a  house." — Bible      "David  and  Jonathan's  friendship." — Aden.     "Adam  and 

morning  hymn." — />/•.   At>h.     "Behold,   the  heaven,   and  the  heaven  of  heavens,  is  the 

Lord's  thy  God."—Deut.  \,  It.     "  For  peace  and  auiet's  sake." — Cowper.     "To  the  beginning  of 

King  James  the  First's  reign." — Boliiitjbruke,  on  Hist.  p.  32. 

21. — The  possessive  case  is  in  general  (though  not  always)  equivalent  to  the  proposition 
of  ami  the  iibjiTtin- ;  as,  "  Of  Judas  Iscariot,  Sit/ton's  son." — Jo/in,  xiii,  2.  "To  Judas  Iscariot, 
the  son  ( ./N////r///." — //;.  xiii,  26.  On  account  of  this  one-sided  equivalence,  many  grammarians 
erroneously  reckon  the  latter  to  be  a  "  yen  it  ire  case  "  as  well  as  the  former.  But  they  ought  to 
;'ier,  "that  the  preposition  is  used 'more  frequently  than  the  possessive,  ami  in  a  variety  of 
senses  that  cannot  be  interpreted  by  this  rase  ;  as,  "  <)f  some  of  the  books  of  each  of  these 
classes  of  literature,  a  catalogue  will  be  given  at  the  end  o/'the  work." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  178. 
Murray  Calls  this  a  "  laborious  mode  of  expression,"  and  doubtless  it  might  be  a  little  improved 
by  substituting  tn  for  the  third  of;  but  my  argument  is,  that  the  meaning  conveyed  cannot  be 
expressed  by  possessives.  The  notion  that  of  forms  a  genitive  case,  led  Priestley  to  suggest, 
that  our  language  admits  a  "  double  f/cnifire ;"  as,  "This  book  of  my  friend's." — Pri 
(jram.  p.  71.  "It  is  a  discovery  of  S'/V  haac  Xew  ton's." — Ib.  p.  72.  "  T"his  exactness  of  his." 
— STKUNK  :  ib.  The  doctrine  has  since  passed  into  nearly  all  our  grammars;  yet  is  there  no 
double  ease  here,  as  I  shall  presently  show. 

Ous.  22. — Where  the  governing  noun  cannot  be  easily  mistaken,  it  is  often  omitted  by  ellipsis: 


•At   the   alderman's"    [/muse]  ; — "St.    Paul's"    [church]; — "A  book    of   my   brother's" 
i-'s  "  [subjects'] ; — "A  friend  of  mine  ;  "  i.  e.,  one  of  my  friends. 

.    „/?      I  J >„      .    ^   _r    y?     •„     ,„     yli.^/»«V''          r«o/.'« 


[books]  ; — "  A  subject  of  the  emperor's 


Shall  we  say  that  Sacrificing  was  a  pure  invention  of  Adam's,  or  of  Cain  or  Abel's?"  —  Leslie, 
on  Tythes,  p.  93.  That  is  —  of  Adam's  inventions,  or  of  Cain  or  Abel's  inventions.  The  Rev.  David 
Blair,  unable  to  resolve  this  phraseology  to  his  own  satisfaction,  absurdly  sets  it  down  among 
what  he  calls  "EKUONKOUS  OK  TVMAB  FHUASES."  His  examples  are  "these:  "A  poem  of 
Pope's;"  —  "A  soldier  of  the  king's;"  —  "That  is  a  horse  of  my  father's."  —  Blair's  Practical 
(  i  rant.  p.  110,  111.  He  ought  to  have  supplied  the  plural  nouns,  poems,  soldiers,  horses.  Thia 
is  the  true  explanation  of  all  the  "double  genitives"  which  our  grammarians  discover;  for  when 
the  first  noun  is  jiartitice,  it  naturally  suggests  more  or  other  things  of  the  same  kind,  belong- 
ing to  this  possessor;  and  when  such  is  not  the  meaning,  this  construction  is  improper.  In  thii 
following  example,  the  noun  eyes  is  understood  after  his  : 

"Ev'n  his,  the  womor'j  ei/i-s,  were  forced  to  yield, 

That  saw,  without  a  tear,  Fharsalia's  field."—  Roicc's  Lucan,  B.  viii,  1.  144. 
Ons.  23.  —  When  two  or  more  nouns  of  the  possessive  form  are  in  any  way  connected,  they 
usually  refer  to  things  individually  different  but  of  the  same  name  ;  and  when  such  is  the  meaning, 
the  governing  noun,  which  we  always  suppress  somewhere  to  avoid  tautology,  is  understood 
wherever  the  sign  is  added  without  it;  as,  "  A  father's  or  mother's  sister  is  an  aunt."  —  Dr. 
Webster.  That  is,  "A  father's  sister  or  a  mother's  sister  is  an  aunt."  "In  the  same  com- 
memorative acts  of  the  senate,  were  thy  name,  thy  father's,  thy  brother's,  and  the  emperor's."— 

•-,  Vol.  i,  p.  231. 

"From  Stiles's  pocket  into  Xokcs's"  [pocket].  —  Hud  ib  rets,  B.  iii,  C.  iii,  1.  71o. 
"Add  Xaf-  m'tt  Rriixon's,  Passion's  strife."  —  Pope,  Brit.  Poets,  Vol.  vi,  p.  383. 

nd  name,  which 
At  the  residence 

quite  as  agreeable  ;  and,  as  for  the  plural,  one  would  hardly  think 

Of  saying,  "  Men's  wedding  parties  are  usually  held  at  their  fathers-in-hnr's  houses."  When  the 
compound  is  formed  with  of,  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  this  particle,  the  possessive  sign  is  some- 
times addf  d  as  above  ;  and  yet  the  hyphen  is  not  commonly  inserted  in  the  phrase,  as  I  think  it 
ought  to  be.  Examples:  "The  duke  of  Bridgewater's  canal;"  —  "The  bishop  of  LandafF's 
•at  book;"  —  "The  Lord  mayor  of  London's  authority;"  —  "The  captain  of  the  guard's 
house."  —  Murray's  (Jram.  p.  1~<>.  "The  Bishop  of  Cambrav's  writings  on  eloquence."  —  Blair's 
li/nf.  i>.  •';!•>.  "The  bard  of  Lomond's  lay  is  done."  —  (Jun-ii's  Wake,  p.  '.):».  "  For  the  kingdom 
of  God's  sake."—  Lufo;  \\iii,  2i).  "Of  the  children  of  Israel's  half."—  Xton'xrs,  xxxi,  30. 
From  these  examples  it  would  seem,  that  the  possessive  sii^n  ha>  a  less  intimate  alliance  with  the 
vian  with  the  governing  noun;  or,  at  any  rate,  a  dependence  less  close  than 
that  of  the  objective  noun  which  here  si  the  two  nouns  here  so  intimately 

joined  by  »f,  car.not  be  explained  separately  as  forming  two  cases,  but  must  be  parsed  together 
us  one  i  ned  in  the  usual  way,  I  should  either  adopt  some  other  phraseology,  or  write 

the  compound  term  with  hyphens,  th'us  :  "The  D*b+i>f-Brulpetoatert*  canal;"  —  "The  Bishop- 
'.lent  book;"  —  "The  Bard^f-LomOM't  lay  is  done."     But  there  is  commonly 
Home  better  mode  of  correcting  such  phrases.  '  With  deference  to  Murray  and  others,  "  The  Kintj 
of  (in-at   ttritnii'  '•,"*    is  but  an 


OBS.  21.  —  The  -ignis  sometimes  annexed  to  that  part  of  a  compound 

is,  of  itself,  in  the  objective  case  ;  as,  "At  his  fathcr-in-lair's  residence.     "  Here,  "At 
of  his  f''i'.'ti-r-i'n-hni-,"  would  be  quite  as  agreeable  ;  and,  as  for  the  plural,  one  would 


untoward  v.  •,;*,   "  The  prerogative  of  tit* 


*  It  is  r.-iiKirk.nMp.  that  I.itxllpy  Murray,  with  nil  hN  <-:iri-  in  revising  his  work,  <1M  not  si-<-  flu-   inronsittrni-y  of 
Ms  in-'  o  phrmw*  of  tnis  kind.     !  rioe,  literally  and  aaonjnuMUlyt 

from  the  Doctor's  17  "When  the  thing  to  whfchomX  ux-um- 

locution,  <>r  !••  -  commonly  « 

Great    /  1,,.  ,-,,,,, l(.mns   thi~  :   "  The  «. ml  in  the 

eenitiv  D  IMPROPERI\ 

i, ' from tha expcrim  "f  IJimiinjrhani.'  "—I".  \<-  IT.",,     knd  ;I-:MII  he  makes 

:  which  the  v.  I  .in. I  .|i-|..']i.li-ii*.  ;is  to  admit  <•!  re  the 

is  it  ? 

•<iin'*  : '  •  That  is  the  duke  of  BridgewaUr's  <  Is  there  no! 

.  thvfe  iDstructioiis  ? 


490  THE   GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

— or,  "  For  the  sake  of  God's  kingdom."     And  in  lien  of  the  other  text,  we  might  say,  "  Of  the 
Israelites'  half." 

OBS.  25. — "  Little  explanatory  circumstances,"  says  Priestley,  "  are  particularly  awkward  be- 
tween the  genitive  case,  and  the  word  which  usually  follows  it;  as,  'She  began  1o  extol  the 
farmer's,  as  she  called  him,  excellent  understanding.'  Harriet  Watson,  Vol.  i,  p.  27." — 
Priestley's  Gram.  p.  174.  Murray  assumes  this  remark,  and  adds  respecting  the  example,  "  It 
ought  to  be,  '  the  excellent  understanding  of  the  farmer,  as  she  called  him.'  " — Murray'*  dram. 
p.  175.  Intersertions  of  this  kind  are  as  uncommon  as  they  are  uncouth.  Murray,  it  seems,  found 
none  for  his  Exercises,  but  made  up  a  couple  to  suit  his  purpose.  The  following  might  have 
answered  as  well  for  an  other :  "  Monsieur  D'acier  observes,  that  Zeno's  (the  Founder  of  the  Sect,) 
opinion  was  Fair  and  Defensible  in  these  Points." — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  ii. 

Ois.s.  26. — It  is  so  usual  a  practice  in  our  language,  to  put  the  possessive  sign  always  and  only 
where  the  two  terms  of  the  possessive  relation  meet,  that  this  ending  is  liable  to  be  added  to  any 
adjunct  which  can  be  taken  as  a  part  of  the  former  noun  or  name  ;  as,  (1.)  "The  court-martiaVf 
violent  proceedings."  Here  the  plural  would  be  courts-martial ;  but  the  possessive  sign  must 
be  at  the  end.  (2.)  "In  Henry  the  Eighth's  time."—  Walker's  Key,  Introd.  p.  11.  This  phraso 
can  be  justified,  only  by  supposing  the' adjective  a  part  of  the  name.  Better,  "  In  the  time  of 
Henry  the  Eighth."  (3.)  "And  strengthened  with  a  year  or  two's  age." — Locke,  on  Education, 
p.  6.  Here  two's  is  put  for  two  years';  ami,  I  think,  improperly ;  because  the  sign  is  such  as 
suits  the  former  noun,  and  not  the  plural.  Better,  "And  strengthened  with  a  year's  aye  or 
more."  The  word  two  however  is  declinable  as  a  noun,  and  possibly  it  may  be  so  taken  in. 
Locke's  phrase.  (4.)  "  This  rule  is  often  infringed,  by  the  case  absolute's  not  being properly  dis- 
tingvisked  from  certain  forms  of  expression  apparently  similar  to  it." — Murray's  Grain,  p.  155  ; 
Fisk's,  113;  Ingersoll's,  210.  Here  the  possessive  sign,  being  appended  to  a  distinct  adjective, 
and  followed  by  nothing  that  can  be  called  a  noun,  is  employed  as  absurdly  as  it  well  can  be. 
Say,  "This  rule  is  often  infringed  by  an  improper  use  of  the  nominative  absolute;"  for  this  is 
precisely  what  these  authors  mean.  (5.)  "  The  participle  is  distinguished  from  the  adjective  by  the 


objections,      day,  ••  me  participle   cutlers   irom  an  actjec 

whereas  the  adj'ective  denotes  only  a  quality."  (6.)  "The  relatives  that  and  as  differ  from  ivho 
and  which  in  the  former's  not  being  immediately  joined  to  the  governing  word." — Nixon's  Parser, 
p.  140.  This  is  still  worse,  because  former's,  which  is  like  a  singular  noun,  has  here  a  plural 
meaning ;  namely,  "  in  the  former  terms'  not  being,"  &c.  Say — "  in  that  the  former  never  follow 
the  governing  word." 

OBS.  27. — The  possessive  termination  is  so  far  from  being  liable  to  suppression  by  ellipsis, 
agreeably  to  the  nonsense  of  those  interpreters  who  will  have  it  to  be  "  understood"  wherever  the 
case  occurs  without  it,  that  on  the  contrary  it  is  sometimes  retained  where  there  is  an  actur  1 
suppression  of  the  noun  to  which  it  belongs.  This  appears  to  be  the  case  whenever  the  pro- 
nominal adjectives  former  and  hitter  are  inflected,  as  above.  The  inflection  of  these,  however, 
seems  to  be  needless,  and  may  well  be  reckoned  improper.  But,  in  the  following  line,  the  adjec- 
tive elegantly  takes  the  sign  ;  because  there  is  an  ellipsis  of  both  nouns ;  poor's  being  put  for 
poor  man's,  and  the  governing  noun  joys  being  understood  after  it:  "The  rich  man's  joys 
increase,  the  poor's  decay." — Goldsmith.  So,  in  the  following  example,  guilty's  is  put  for  guilty 
person's : 

"  Yet,  wise  and  righteous  ever,  scorns  to  hear 

The  fool's  fond  wishes,  or  the  guilty's  prayer." — Roice's  Lucan,  B.  v,  1.  155. 

This  is  a  poetical  license;  and  others  of  a  like  nature  are  sometimes  met  with.  Our  poets  use 
the  possessive  case  much  more  frequently  than  prose  Avriters,  and  occasionally  inflect  words  that 
are  altogether  invariable  in  prose  ;  as, 

"  Eager  that  last  great  chance  of  war  he  waits, 

Where  either's  fall  determines  both  their  fates." — Ibid.  B.  vi,  1.  13. 

OBS.  28. — To  avoid  a  concurrence  of  hissing  sounds,  the  s  of  the  possessive  singular  is  some- 
times omitted,  and  the  apostrophe  alone  retained  to  mark  the  case;  as,  "For  conscience'  sake." 
'—Bible.  "Moses*  minister." — Ib.  '•'•Felix'  room." — Ib.  "Achilles'  wrath." — Pope.  "  Shiraz* 
walls." — Collins.  "Epicurus'  sty." — Beattie.  "Douglas'  daughter." — Scott.  "For  Douglas' 
sake." — Ib.  "To  his  mistress'  eyebrow." — Shak.  This  is  a  sort  of  poetic  license,  as  is  sug- 
gested in  the  16th  Observation  upon  the  Cases  of  Nouns,  in  the  Etymology.  But  in  prose  the 
elision  should  be  very  sparingly  indulged ;  it  is  in  general  less  agreeable,  as  well  as  less  proper, 
than  the  regular  form.  Where  is  the  propriety  of  saying,  Hicks'  Sermons,  Barnes'  Notes, 
Kames'  Elements,  Adams'  Lectures,  Josephus'  Works,  while  we  so  uniformly  say,  in  Charles's 
reign.  St.  James's  Palace,  and  the  like  ?  The  following  examples  are  right :  "At  Westminster 
and  Hicks's  Hall." — Huilibras.  "  Lord  Kames's  Elements  of  Criticism." — Murray's  Sequel,  p. 
331.  "  Of  Rubens's  allegorical  pictures." — Hazliit.  "  With  respect  to  Burns' s  early  education." 
— Dugald  Stewart.  "  Isocrates's  pomp;" — "  Demosthenes' s  life." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  242.  "The 
repose  of  Epicurus' s  gods."—  Wilson's  Ileb.  Gram.  p.  93. 

"  To  Douglas's  obscure  abode." — Scott,  L.  L.,  C.  iii,  st.  28. 
Such  was  the  Douglas's  command." — Id.  ib.,  C.  ii,  st.  36. 


the  possessive  case  ends  in  ence,  the  s  is  omitted,  but  the  apostrophe  is  retained  ;  as,  '  For  con- 
science' sake.'  " — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  49;  Hamlin's,  16;  Smith's  New  Gram.  47.*     Of  principles 

*  A  late  grammarian  tells  us:  "7/t  nouns  ending  in  es  and  ss,  the  other  s  is  not  added;  as,  C.'mrles"1  hat. 
Goodness''  sake." — Wilr.ox's  Gram.  p.  11.  lie  should  rather  have  said.  "To  nouns  ending  in  ^  •  /-  .w,  the  other 
*  is  not  added.''  But  his  doctrine  is  worse  than  his  syntax  ;  and,  what  'is  remarkable,  he  himself  forgets  it  in  the 
course  of  a  few  minutes,  thus  :  "  Decline  C/iarles.  Nom.  diaries,  Poss.  Charles's,  Obj.  Charles.''— Ib.  p.  42. 


CHAP.    III.]  SYNTAX.  -  RULE   IT.  —  POSSESSITES.—  OBSERVATIONS.  491 

or  inferences  very  much  like  these,  is  the  whole  system  of  "  Inductive  Cram  mar"  essentially 
made  up.  But  is  it  not  plain  that  heiress's,  a!  -v'.v,  <  nunti  .v.v'.-.  and  many  other  words  of 

the  same  form,  are  as  good  English  as  witness's?  Did  not  Jane  West  write  justly,  "  She  made 
an  attempt  to  look  in  at  the  dear  dntchess's  '  "  —  Letters  to  a  Lady,  p.  95.  Does  not  the  Bible  speak 
correctly  of  "  an  ass's  head,"  sold  at  a  groat  price  ?  —  2  Kings,  vi,  2-5.  Is  Burns  also  wrong,  ub'jut 
•l  miss's  ^finc  lunardi,"  and  "  miss'  —  Poems,  p.  44.  Or  did  Scott  write  inaccurately, 

whose  guide  "Led  slowly  through  the  pass's  jaws  ':  "  —  Ludi/  of  ?/<>•  Lake,  p.  121.  So  much  for 
the  ss  ;  nor  is  the  rule  for'the  termination  encc,  or  (as  Smith  has  it)  nee,  more  true.  Prince's  and 
dunce's  are  as  good  po-  -  I  any  ;  and  so  are  the  following  : 

"  That  vice  should  triumph,  virtue  vice  obey  ; 
This  sprung  some  doubt  ot  Providences  -way."  —  Farncll. 

"  And  sweet  Benevolence's  mild  command."  —  Lord  Lyttelton. 

"  I  heard  the  lance's  shivering  crash, 

As  when  the  whirlwind  rends  the  ash."  —  Sir  Walter  S<.ott. 

OBS.  30.  —  The  most  common  rule  now  in  use  for  the  construction  of  the  possessive  case,  is  a  shred 
from  the  old  code  of  Latin  grammar  :  "  One  substantive  governs  another,  signifying  a  different  thing, 
in  the  possessive  or  genitive  case."  —  L.  Murray's  itttle  X.  This  i-anon  not  only  leaves  occasion  for 
an  additional  one  respecting  pronouns  of  the  possessive  case,  but  it  i>  also  obscure  in  its  phraseology, 
and  too  negligent  of  the  various  modes  in  which  nouns  may  come  together  in  English.  All  nouns 
used  adjcctively,  and  many  that  are  compounded  together,  seem  to  form  exceptions  to  it.  But  who 
can  limit  or  enumerate  these  exceptions/  Different  combinations  of  nouns  have  so  often  little  or 
no  difference  of  meaning,  or  of  relation  to  each  other,  and  so  fiequently  is  the  very  same  v< 
pression  written  variously  by  our  best  scholars,  and  ablest  lexicographers,  that  in  many  ordinary 
instances  it  seems  scarcely  possible  to  determine  who  or  what  is  right.  Thus,  on  the  au- 
thority of  Johnson,  one  might  write,  a  stone's  cast,  or  stona's  throw  ;  but  Webster  has  it,  stones- 
(MSt,ox  stones-throtr  ;  Maunder,  stonecast,  stunethrotc  ;  Chalmers,  ttonescast;  Worcester,  stone's- 
cast.  So  Johnson  and  Chalmers  write  ston<-smick!e,  a  bird  ;  Webster  has  it  stone'  s-mickle  ;  yet 
all  three  refer  to  Ainsworth  as  their  authority,  and  his  word  is  st>.  Littleton  has  it 

utont'-smieh.  Johnson  and  Chalmers  write,  popeseye  and  sheep's  eye;  Walker,  Maunder,  and 
Wore*  p's-cyc  ;  Scott  h;i  and  s/teepy  '  and 

bird-eye  and  birds-eye.      Ainsworth  has  (/oat's  beard,  for  the  name  of  a  plant  ;  John- 
son, goatbeard;   Webster,  goat-beard  and  yoat's-brnrd.     Ainsworth  !•  '  •   fmthcr,  for  the 

amaranth;  Johnson,  Chalmers,    Walker,"  and  Maunder,  write  it  princes-feather  ',  Webster  and 

ttlnr:  and  here   they  'are  all  wrong,  for  the 

word  should  be  prince*  8-feather.  There  are  hundreds  more  of  such  terms  ;  all  as  uncertain  in 
their  orthography  as  t! 

OHS.   ol.  —  While  descrepances  like  the  foregoing  abound  in  our  best  dictionaries,  none  of  our 
grammars  supply  any  hints    tending  to  show  which  of  these  various  forms  we  ought  to  prefer. 
Perhaps  the  following  suggestions,  together  with  the  six  Rules  for  the  Figure  of  Words,  in  Part 
First,  may  enable  the  reader  to  decide  these  questions  with  sufficient  accuracy.     (I.)  Two  short 
radical  nouns  are  apt  to  unite  in  a  permanent  compound,  when  the  former,  taking  the  sole  accent, 
expresses  the  main  purpose  or  chief  characteristic  of  'the  thing  named  by  the  latter  ;  as,  teacup, 
aystar,  horseman,   shcepfold,  houndfsh,  hourglass.     (2.)  Temporary  compounds  of  a 
like   nature   may   be    formed  with  the  hyphen,  when  there  remain  two  accented  syllables  ;  as, 
.••(•///,  bosom-friend^  j'<-lloir-si  mi,,-  '-/nut,  goat-marjoram,    marsh-marigold.      (3.) 

The  former  of  two  nouns,  if  it  be  not  plural,  may  be  taken  adjectively,  in  any  relation  that  differs 
from  apposition  and  from  possession;  as,  "  'J  he  silctr  cu]),"  —  "  The  jiarent  birds,"  —  "My  pil- 
—  "Thy  hn-i:iit  cell."  —  "Two  hfoihi-r  sergeants."  (4.)  The  possessive  case  and  its 
governing  noun,  combining  to  form  a  literal  name,  may  be  joined  together  without  either  hy- 
phen or  apostrophe  :  as,  tradesman,  ratsbane,  doomsday,  kinswoman,  <  .  (•").)  The  posses- 

sive case  and  its  governing  noun,  combining  to  form  a  mctapJiori'-ul  name,  should  be  written 
with  both  apostrophe  and  hyphen;  as,  Job's-'  •  <  ar's-foof,  eolt's-tooth,  sheep's-head, 

'  ,  Jady's-l 


I's-toni/ue.  ;  lady's-stipper,  Jady's-l  tc.     ((>.)  The 

.  iiing  noun,  combining  to  form  an  adject  ire,  whether  literal  or  ineta- 

,1,  >hould   generally  be  writen  with  both  apostrophe  and  hyphen;  ;•••>,  "Xmt's-fant  oil,"  — 

•v/ow/j/e  drill,"—  -'A  /..'  .   --  •••  !  tes'  -rights  p*rtj"— 

!  -<;t  a  triple  compound  noun  maybe   for/tied   with    one  'hyphen  only  : 

as,  "  In  doomsday-book  i  "  (—Jok,  Diet.;]  "An  armt«*d-Uft."     Garden,  wlio  will  have  all  posses- 
sives  to  be  adject:  an  example    thus:  "  John'sVanul's  hair  girdle'."  —  Elements  of  Eng. 

Gram.  p.  39.     This  is  as  if  John's  mind  had  a  hair  oirdh!     (1.)  When   the  possessive  ca'se  and 
\erning  noun  merely  help  to  t'unn  a  n  -ul.a  phrase,  the  compounding  of  them  in  any  fashion 
may  be  reckoned  improper  ;  thus  the  \>-.  ,,r,  on  AW    : 

\I1  fools'  Day,  the  xniiifx'  bell,  the  /imrt's  blood, 
for  doi/'s  /,uat,  though  often  written  ot!i-  -land  as  they  do  here. 

Ous.  32.  —  The  existence  of  a  permanent  compound  of  any  two  words,  does  not  necessarily  pre- 
clude the  use  of  the  possessive  relation  between  the  .-ame  w'onls.     Thus,  we  ma\  sju-ak  of  </ 
shoe  or  a  (/oat's  skin,  notwithstanding  there  are  sue:  ',///.   K.  g.  "  That 

preach  ye  upon  the  hoc*.  •  ,    ."  —  .'.  -keton  the  house's 

top."—  p.  238.      V  ',  (which,  under  the  word  co/'-t,  he  erro- 

neously  writes   'fmxt  nail,)   "A  nail  driven  into  *  hone-shoe,  to  prevent   the  horse  fioin  slipping  on 
ice."      \\"ui«.estei  luis   it,  "A  nail  driven   into  a  horse's   ti  vent  his  slipping  oil  ///fire." 

John-  with  uprii,:  •  t  that  it  mav  p;«  . 

Maunder,  "A.  nail  with  a  shar/>  head<;,-i<-i-n'u\\.u  the  weather."  None  of  these 

c.escrij)tions  is  very  well  written.  -,,n<leil   nail  driven  int. 

prevent  hint  from  slipping."     There  is  commonly  BO  .  isouietiiu  it  one, 

letween  the  compound  noun  and  the  iv  en  the  radical  compound 

and  that  of  the  possessive.     Thus  a  harelip  is  not  a  hare's  lip,  nor  is  -A  headman  a  headsman,  or 


492  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART 


heart-ease  heart' s-ease.  So,  according  to  the  books,  a  cat-head,  a  cat's-head,  and  a  cat's  head,  are 
three  very  different  things ;  yet  what  Webster  writes,  cat-tail,  Johnson,  cats-tail,  Walker  and 
others,  oafs-tail,  means  but  the  same  thing,  though  not  a  cat's  tail.  Johnson's  "  kinqspear* 
Jews-car,  lady-mantle,  and  lady -bed-straw"  are  no  more  proper,  than  Webster's  "  bear's-wori,  lion's 
foot,  Jadi/'s  mantle,  and  lady's  bed-straw."  All  these  are  wrong. 

OBS.  33. — Particular  examples,  both  of  proper  distinction,  and  of  blind  irregularity,  under  all 
the  heads  above  suggested,  may  be  quoted  and  multiplied  indefinitely,  even  from  our  highest 
literary  authorities ;  but,  since  nothing  can  be  settled  but  by  the  force  of  principles,  he  who  would 
be  accurate,  must  resort  to  rules, — must  consider  what  is  analogical,  and,  in  all  doubtful  cases,  give 
this  the  preference.  But,  in  grammar,  particular  analogies  are  to  respected,  as  well  as  thosfi 
which  are  more  general.  For  example,  the  noun  side,  in  that  relation  which  should  seem  to  re- 
quire the  preceding  noun  to  be  in  the  possessive  case,  is  usually  compounded  with  it,  the  hyphen, 
being  used  where  the  compound  has  more  than  two  syllables,  but  not  with  two  only  ;  as,  bedside, 
hillside,  roadside,  wayside,  seaside,  river-side,  water-side,  mountain-side.  Some  instances  of  the 
separate  construction  occur,  but  they  are  rare  :  as,  "And  her  maidens  walked  along  by  the  river's 
side." — Exodus,  ii,  5.  After  this  noun  also,  the  possessive  preposition  of  is  sometimes  omitted; 
as,  "  On  this  side  the  river  ;  "( — Bible;}  "  On  this  side  Trent." — Coioell.  Better,  "  On  this  sida 
of  the  river,"  &c.  "  Blind  Bartimeus  sat  by  the  highway  side,  begging." — Mark,  x,  46.  Hero 
Alger  more  properly  writes  "  highivay-sicle."  In  Rev.  xiv,  20th,  we  have  the  unusual  compound, 
"horse-bridles."  The  text  ought  to  have  been  rendered,  "  even  unto  the  horses'  bridles".  Latin, 
"usque  ad  frsenos  equonim."  Greek,  "  a/Qt  rtiv  /alirfiv  TMV  'inntar." 

OBS.  34. — Correlatives,  as  father  and  son,  husband  and  wife,  naturally  possess  each  other; 
hence  such  combinations  us,  father's  son,  and  son's  father,  though  correct  enough  in  thought,  are 
redundant  in  expression.  The  whole  and  a  part  are  a  sort  of  correlatives,  but  the  whole  seems  to 
possess  its  parts,  more  properly  than  any  of  the  parts,  the  whole.  Yet  we  seldom  put  the  whole 
in  the  possessive  case  before  its  part,  or  parts,  but  rather  express  the  relation  by  of ;  as,  a  quar- 
ter of  a  dollar,"  rather  than,  "  a  dollar's  quarter."  After  the  noun  half,  we  usually  suppress 
this  preposition,  if  an  article  intervene;  as,  "  half  a  dollar,"  rather  than,  "half  of  a  dollar," 
or  "  a  dollar's  half."  So  we  may  say,  "  half  the  way,"  for  "  half  of  the  way  ;  "  but  we  cannot 
say,  "  half  us,"  for  "  half  of  us."  In  the  phrase,  "  a  half  dollar,"  the  word  half  is  an  adjective, 
and  a  very  different  meaning  is  conveyed.  Yet  the  compounds  half-pint  and  halfpenny  are 
sometimes  used  to  signify,  the  quantity  of  half  a  pint,,  the  value  of  'half  a  penny.  In  weight, 
measure,  or  time,  the  part  is  sometimes  made 'possessive  of  the  whole  ;  as,  "a  pound's  weight, 
a  yard's  length,  an  hour's  time."  On  the  contrary,  we  do  not  say,  "weight's  pound,  length's 
yard,  or  time's  hour;  "  nor  yet,  "  a  pound  of  weight,  a  yard  of  length  ;  "  and  rarely  do  we  say, 
"  an  hour  of  time."  Pound  and  yard  having  other  uses,  we  sometimes  say,  "  a  pound  in  weight, 
a  yard  in  length  ;  "  though  scarcely,  "  an  hour  in  time." 

OBS.  3-5. — Between  a  portion  of  time  and  its  correlative  action,  passion,  or  being,  the  posses- 
sive relation  is  interchangeable  ;  so  that  either  term  maybe  the  principal,  and  either,  the  adjunct : 
as,  "  Three  years'  hard  work,"  or,  "Three  years  of  hard  work."  Sometimes  we  may  even  put 
either  term  in  either  form  ;  as,  "  During  the  ten  years'  war," — "  During  the  ten  years  of  war," — 
"  During  the  war  of  ten  years," — "  During  the  war's  ten  years."  Hence  some  writers,  not  pei- 
ceiving  why  either  word  should  make  the  other  its  governed  adjunct,  place  both  upon  a  par,  as 
if  they  were  in  apposition;  as,  "Three  days  time." — Brown's  Estimate,  Vol.  ii,  p.  156.  "By  i 
few  years  preparation." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  341.  "  Of  forty  years  planting." — Wm.  Penn.  "A:i 
account,  of  five  years  standing"  If  these  phrases  were  correct,  it  would  also  be  correct  to  say, 
"  one  day  time," — "  one  year  preparation," — "  one  year  planting" — "  of  one  year  standing ;  "  but 
all  these  are  manifestly  bad  English  ;  and,  by  analogy,  so  are  the  others. 

OBS.  36. — Any  noun  of  weight,  measure,  or  time,  put  immediately  before  an  other,  if  it  be  net 
in  the  possessive  case,  will  naturally  be  understood  adje  ctively ;  as,  "No  person  can,  bywords 
only,  give  to  an  other  an  adequate  'idea  of  a  pound  weight,  or  [a]  foot  rule" — Gregory's  DicL 
This  phraseology  can,  with  propriety,  refer  only  to  the  weight  or  the  rule  with  which  we  weigh 
or  measure  ;  it  cannot  signify  a  pound  in  weight,  or  a  foot  in  length,  though  it  is  very  probable 
that  the  author  intended  the  latter.  When  the  noun  times  is  used  before  an  other  noun  by  way 
of  multiplication,  there  may  be  supposed  an  ellipsis  of  the  preposition  of  between  the  two,  just 
as  when  we  divide  by  the  word  half;  as,  "An  hour  is  sixty  times  the  length  of  a  minute." — Mur*- 
ray's  Gram.  p.  48.  "  Thirty  seconds  are  half  the  length  of  a  minute."  That  is, — "  half  of  the 
length," — "  sixty  times  of  the  length." 

NOTES  TO  RULE  IV. 

NOTE  I. — In  the  syntax  of  the  possessive  case,  its  appropriate  form,  singular  or 
plural,  should  be  observed,  agreeably  to  the  sense  and  declension  of  the  word.  Thus, 
write  John's,  men's,  hers,  its,  ours,  yours,  theirs,  ;  and  not,  Johns,  mens' ,  her's,  it's, 
our's,  y  our's,  their'  &. 

NOTE  II. — When  nouns  of  the  possessive  case  are  connected  by  conjunctions 
or  put  in  apposition,  the  sign  of  possession  must  always  be  annexed  to  such,  and 
such  only,  as  immediately  precede  the  governing  noun,  expressed  or  understood  ;  as, 
"John  and  Eliza's  teacher  is  a  man  of  more  learning  than  James's  or  Andrew's" 
— "  For  David  my  servant's  sake." — Bible.  "  For  my  sake  and  the  gospel's." — Ib. 
"  Lost  in  love's  ^friendship's  smile." — Scott. 

NOTE.  III. — The  relation  of  property  may  also  be  expressed  by  the  preposition  of 
and  the  objective  ;  as,  "The  will  of  man,"  for  "  man's  will"  Of  these  forms,  we 


CHAP    III.]  SYNTAX.  -  RULE    IV.  -  POSSESSIVES.  -  ERROKS.  493 

should  adopt  that  which  will  render  the  sentence  the  most  perspicuous  and  agreeable  ; 
and,  by  the  use  of  both,  avoid  an  unpleasant  repetition  of  either. 

NOTE  IV.  —  A  noun  governing  the  possessive  plural,  should  not,  by  a  forced 
agreement,  be  made  plural,  when  its  own  sense  does  not  require  it;  as,  "For  our 
parts,"  —  u  Were  I  in  your  places  :  "  for  we  may  with  propriety  say,  "Our  part, 
your  place,  or  >/>>/ir  condition  f9i  as  well  as,  "Our  desire,  your  intention,  their  res- 
ignation." —  L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  1G9.  A  noun  taken  figuratively  may  also  be 
singular,  when  the  literal  meaning  would  require  the  plural  :  such  expressions  as  their 
face,  their  neck,  their  hand,  their  head,  their  heart,  our  mouth,  our  life,  are  fre- 
quent in  the  Scriptures,  and  not  improper. 

-NuTK  V.  —  The  possessive  case  should  not  be  needlessly  used  before  a  participle 
that  is  not  taken  in  other  respects  as  a  noun.  The  following  phrase  is  therefore 
wrong:  "Adopted  by  the  Goths  in  their  pronouncing  the  Greek."  —  Walker's 


p.  17.  Expunge  their.  Again:  "  Here  we  speak  of  their  becoming  both  in  form 
and  signification  passive."  —  Campbells  Rhet.  p.  226.  Say  rather,  "  Here  we  speak 
of  them  as  becoming  passive,  both  in  form  and  signification." 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  IV. 

E\AM!M.!.S    VNDKR    XoTK    I.  -  TlIE    FosSK  SSIVK    FollM. 

"  Mans  chief  good  is  an  upright  mind."     See  Broim's  Institutes  ofE.  Gram.  p.  179. 

[FoRMi'LE.  —  Not  proper,  because  the  noun  wa/i*.  which  is  intended  for  the  possessive  singular  of  man,  has  not 

the  appropriate  form  of  that  cn.*p  and  number.     I?ut.  according  to  Note  1st  under  Rule  4th,  "  In  the  syntax  of  the 

ppropriate  form,  Mtigular  or  plural,  should  be  observed,  agreeably  to  the  sense  and  declension 

of  the  word.''    Therefore,  >/tans  should  be  man's,  with  th«  apostrophe  before  the  5  ;  thus,  "Man  's  chief  good  is  an 

upright  inn. 

"The  translator  of  Mallets  History  ha/  the  following  note."  —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  263. 
"The  act,  while  it  gave  live  years  lull  pay  to  the  officers,  allowed  but  one  year's  pay  to 
the  privates."  —  //>.  p.  184.  "  For  the  study  of  English  is  preceded  by  several  years  atten- 
tion to  Latin  and  Greek."  —  Ib.p.7.  "The  first,  the  Court  Baron,  is  the  freeholders  or 
freemens  court."—  f.W.r,  Lift.  p.  74.  "  I  affirm,  that  Vaugelas'  definition  labours  under  an 
essential  delect."—  fV/,v//W/'s  Rhrt.  p.  in:;.  "I  affirm,  'that  Vangelas's  definition  labours 
under  an  essential  defect."  —  Murray's  Ocfaro  dram.,  Fourth  Amer.  Ed.,  Vol.  ii,  p.  360.* 
"There  is  a  chorus  in  Aristophane's  plays."  —  Blair  s  KJit-t.  p.  480.  "It  denotes  the  same 
perception  in  my  mind  as  in  their's."—  'Duncan's  Logic,  p.  65.  "This  afterwards  enabled 
him  to  read  Ilicke's  Saxon  Grammar."  —  Life  of  J)r.  Murray,  p.  76.  "I  will  not  do  it  for 
tens  sake."  —  /;/-.  .  !s/,'\  Cr^nn.  p.  56.  "I  arose,  and  asked  if  those  charming  infants  were 
her's."  —  MV/vV/-,  p.  21.  "  They  divide  their  time  between  milliners  shops  and  taverns."  — 
ittmate.  Vol.  i,  p.  65.  "The  angels  adoring  of  Adam  is  also  mentioned  in  the 
Talmud."  —  .s«/t.-'.v  Koran,  p.  C>.  "Quarrels  arose  from  the  winners  insulting  of  those  who 
-/'>.  ]>.  171.  "The  vacancy,  occasioned  by  Mr.  Adams'  resignation."  —  Adams's  Hhet, 
Vol.  i,  p.  vii.  "  Read  I'm-  instance  Junius'  address,  commonly  called  his  letter  to  the  king." 
—I'1--  :-petujil  struggle  against  the  tide  of  Hortensius'  influence."  —  Ib.  ii,  23. 

"  Which,  for  distinction  sake,  I  shall  put  down  severally."—  Jo/neon's  Gram.  Com.  p.  302, 
"The  fifth  c:is«-  is  in  a  rl:m>r  Minifying  the  matter  of  ones  fear."—  Ib.  p.  312.  "And  they 
took  counsel,  and  bought  with  them  the  potters'  field."—  ALGKU'S  BM:I.K  :  Maff.  xxvii,  7. 
"Arise  lor  thy  servant's  help,  and  redeem  them  for  thy  mercy's  sake."  —  ./  •  r.v,  p. 

865.  "Shall  not  their  cattle,  and  their  substance,  and  every  beast  of  their's  be  our-  .-  "— 
SCOTT'S  Bim.i.  :  <;,u.  xxxiv.  23.  "And  every  beast  of  their's,"  be  our's  •  "—  FRIKNDS'  BIBLE: 
ib.  "It's  regular  plural,  biiUwis,  i-  u.-rd  by  Bacon."—  Chun  hil'C.  *  tiratn.  p.  213.  "Mor- 
decai  walked  every  day  before  the  court  of  'the  womcns  hou-e."—  SCO-IT'S  BIHM:  : 


ii,  11.     "Behold,  they  that  wear  soft  clothing  are  in  kind's  houses."—  lit.  and  FKII:XI>S* 
BIHLE:   Matt,   xi,   M:  also    II  W<  </,-,<///.  p.  173.     «•  Then  Jethro,  Moses'  fnther-in- 

•-'  wife,  and  her  two:  sons;  and  Jethro,  Moses'  father-in-law,  came, 

•with  his  sons  and  his  wife,  unt»  .  xviii, 

2—  .').     "  King  James'   tran-lutors  merely  vmer  translations."— 

finmt.  j».  137.     "  May  they  be  like  corn  on  houses  tops."  —  \Vhi    .  ///.s/i  Verb,  p.  100. 

"And  for  his  Maker's  image  sake  exempt."  —  /'  .  xi,  1.  ->1-1. 

"By  all  the  fame  aequir'd  in  ten  years  war."—  /W/'.v  Lunm,  ]}.  i.  1.  674. 

"Nor  glad  vile  poets  with  true  eritics  gore."—  /',  .  ',  p.  175. 

"  Man  only  of  a  softer  mold  is  made, 
-Not  tor  his  fellow's  ruin,  but  their  aid."  —  Drydens  Poems,  p.  92. 

•  VAV.I-.I.  \s  was  a  noted  French  critic,  who  died  in  l<wO.     In  Murray's  Grammar,  the  name  is  more  than  onc« 
nkttaken.    On  page  SuUth,  of  the  edition  above  cited,  it  is  printed  "  Vangelas."1  —  G.  BROWS. 


494  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

UNDER  NOTE  II.  —  POSSESSIVES  CONNECTED. 

"It  was  necessary  to  have  both  the  physician,  and  the  surgeon's  advice." — Cooper's  PI. 
and  Pr.  Gram.  p.  140.  "This  out-side  fashionableness  of  the  Taylor  or  Tire-womar.'s 
making." — Locke,  on  Education,  p.  49.  "  Some  pretending  to  be  of  Paul's  party,  others  of 
Apollos,  others  of  Cephas,  and  others,  pretending  yet  higher,  to  be  of  Christ's*." — Wood's 
Diet.  ic.  Apollos.  "  Nor  is  it  less  certain  that  Spenser's  and  Milton's  spelling  agrees  better 
with  our  pronunciation." — Philol.  Museum,  i,  661.  "  Law's,  Edwards',  and  Watts'  Surveys 
of  the  Divine  Dispensations." — Burgh's  Dignity,  Vol.  i,  p.  193.  "And  who  was  Enoch's 
Saviour,  and  the  Prophets  ?  " — Bayly's  Works,  p.  600.  "  Without  any  impediment  but  his 
awn,  or  his  parents  or  guardians  will." — Literary  Convention,  p.  145.  "  James  relieves 
neither  the  boy*  nor  the  girl's  distress." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  116.  "John  regards  neither 
the  master  nor  the  pupil's  advantage." — Ib.  p.  117.  "  You  reward  neither  the  man  nor  the 
woman's  labours." — Ib.  "  She  examines  neither  James  nor  John's  conduct." — Ib.  "  Thou 
pitiest  neither  the  servant  nor  the  master's  injuries." — Ib.  "  We  promote  England  or  Ire- 
land's happiness." — Ib.  "  Were  Cain  and  Abel's  occupation  the  same  ?" — Brown's  Inst.  p. 
179.  "  Were  Cain's  and  Abel's  occupations  the  same?" — Ib.  "What  was  Simon's  and 
Andrew's  employment  ?  " — Author.  "  Till  he  can  read  himself  Sanctii  Minerva  with 
Scioppius  and  Perizonius's  Notes." — Locke,  on  Education,  p.  295. 
"And  love's  and  friendship's  finely-pointed  dart 
Falls  blunted  from  each  indurated  heart." — Goldsmith. 

UNDER  NOTE  III.  —  CHOICE  OF  FORMS. 

"But  some  degree  of  trouble  is  all  men's  portion." — Murray's  Key,  p.  218  ;  Merchant's, 
197.  "With  his  father's  and  mother's  names  upon  the  blank  leaf." — Corner-Stone,  p.  144. 
"The  general,  in  the  army's  name,  published  a  declaration." — HUME  :  in  Priestley's  Gram. 
p.  69.  "The  Commons'  vote."— Id.  ib.  "The  Lords'  house." — Id.  ib.  "A  collection  of 
writers  faults." — SWIFT:  ib.  p.  68.  "After  ten  years  wars." — Id.  ib.  " Professing  his  de- 
testation of  such  practices  as  his  predecessors." — Notes  to  the  Dunciad.  "By  that  time  I 
shall  have  ended  my  years  office." — Walkers  Particles,  p.  104.  " For Herodias'  sake,  his 
brother  Philip's  wife." — Mark,  vi,  17.  "  For  Herodias's  sake,  his  brother  Philip's  wife." — 
Murray's  Key,  p.  194.  "  I  endure  all  things  for  the  elect's  sakes,  that  they  may  also  obtain 
salvation." — FRIENDS'  BIBLE:  2  Tim.  ii,  10.  "For  the  elects'  sakes." — SCOTT'S  BIBLE. 
" For  the  elect's  sake." — ALGER'S  BIBLE,  and  BRUCE' s.  "He  was  Louis  the  Sixteenth's 
son's  heir." — W.  Allen's  Exercises,  Gram.  p.  329.  "  The  throne  we  honour  is  the  choice  of  the 
people." — "An  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the  court  of  Alexander." — "An  excellent 
tutor  of  a  person  of  fashion's  child  !  " — Gil  Bias,  Vol.  i,  p.  20.  "  It  is  curious  enough,  that 
this  sentence  of  the  Bishop  is,  itself,  ungrammatical !  " — Cobbett's  E.  Gram.  U  201.  "The 
troops  broke  into  Leopold  the  emperor's  palace." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  59.  "The  meet'ng 
was  called  by  Eldon  the  judge's  desire."— Ibid.  "Peter's,  John's,  and  Andrew's  occupa- 
tion was  that  of  fishermen." — Brace's  Gram.  p.  79.  "  The  venerable  president  of  the  Royal 
Academy's  debility  has  lately  increased." — Maunder  s  Gram.  p.  12. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV.  —  POSSESSIVES  PLURAL. 

"God  hath  not  given  us  our  reasons  to  no  purpose." — Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  i,  p.  496. 
"  For  our  sakes,  no  doubt,  this  is  written." — 1  Cor.  ix,  10.  "Are  not  health  and  strength 
of  body  desirable  for  their  own  sakes?" — Hermes,  p.  296  ;  Murray's  Gram.  289.  "Some 
sailors  who  were  boiling  their  dinners  upon  the  shore." — Day's  Sandford  and  Merton,  p.  99. 
"And  they  in  their  turns  were  subdued  by  others." — Pinnock's  Geography,  p.  12.  "Indus- 
try on  our  parts  is  not  superseded  by  God's  grace." — Arrowsmith.  "  Their  Healths  perhaps 
may  be  pretty  well  secur'd." — Locke,  on  Education,  p.  51.  "  Though  he  was  rich,  yet  for 
our  sakes  he  became  poor." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  211.  "  It  were  to  be  wished,  his  correctors 
had  been  as  wise  on  their  parts." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  60.  "  The  Arabs  are  commended 
by  the  ancients  for  being  most  exact  to  their  words,  and  respectful  to  their  kindred." — 
Sale'*  Koran.  "That  is,  as  a  reward  of  some  exertion  on  our  parts." — Gurney's  Evidences, 
p.  86.  "  So  that  it  went  ill  with  Moses  for  their  sakes." — Psalms,  cvi,  32.  "All  liars  shall 
have  their  parts  in  the  burning  lake." — Watts,  p.  33.  "For  our  own  sakes  as  well  as  for 
thine." — Pref.  to  Wallers  Poems,  p.  3.  "  By  discovering  their  abilities  to  detect  and  amend 
errors." — Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  iv. 

"  This  world  I  do  renounce  ;  and,  in  your  sights, 
Shake  patiently  my  great  affliction  off." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  268. 

"  If  your  relenting  angers  yield  to  treat, 
Pompey  and  thou,  in  safety,  here  may  meet." — Rowe's  Lucan,  B.  iii,  1.  500. 

UNDER  NOTE  V.  —  POSSESSIVES  WITH  PARTICIPLES. 

"This  will  encourage  him  to  proceed  without  his  acquiring  the  prejudice." — Smith'* 
Gram.  p.  5.  "And  the  notice  which  they  give  of  an  action's  being  completed  or  not  com- 

*  Nixon  parses  loj/,&n  being  "  in  the  possessive  case,  governed  by  distress  understood ;"  and  girVs,  as  being 
"  coupled  by  nor  to  boy,''  according  to  the  Rule,  "  Conjunctions  connect  the  same  cases."  Thus  one  word  ia  writ- 
ten wrong ;  the  other,  parsed  wrong :  and  so  of  aU  his  examples  above.— G.  BnoWK. 


CHAP.  III.]  SYNTAX.  -  BULE    V.  -  OBJECTIVES.  -  OBSERVATION*.  49-"» 

pleted."  —  L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  72  ;  Alyers,  30.    "  Some  obstacle  or  impediment  that  prevents 
its  taking  place."—  7V<V.tf  fry's  dram.  p.  38;  Ahx.  .Vf/m'y'-v,  37.     "  They  have  apostolical 


authority  for  their  so  frequently  urging  the  seeking  of  the  Spirit."  —  Tin-  Friend,  Vol.  xii, 
p.  .54.  "  Here  then  is  a  wide  field  for  reason's  exerting  its  powers  in  relation  to  the  objects 
of  taste."—  Blair  *  Il/u-t.  p.  18.  "  Now  this  they  derive  altogether  from  their  having  a 
greater  capacity  of  imitation  and  description."  —  //;.  p.  51.  "This  is  one  clear  reason  of 
their  paying  a  greater  attention  to  that  construction."  —  76.  p.  123.  "  The  dialogue  part 
had  also"  a  modulation  of  its  own,  which  was  capable  of  its  being  set  to  notes."—  Ib.  p.  471. 
"  "What  is  the  reason  of  our  being  often  so  frigid  and  unpersuasivc  in  public  discourse  :  "  — 
Ib.  p.  334.  "  \Vhich  is  only  a  preparation  for  his  leading  his  forces  directly  upon  us."  —  Ib. 
p.  i>fi4.  "The  nonsense  about  ichieh's  relating  to  things  only,  and  having  no  declension, 
needs  no  refutation."  —  Foicle's  True  E.  Grain.  p.  18.  "Who,  upon  his  breaking  it  open, 
found  nothing  but  the  following  inscription."  —  Roll  in,  Vol.  ii,  p.  33.  "A  prince  will  quickly 
have  reason  to  repent  his  having  exalted  one  person  so  high."  —  Id.  ii,  116.  "Notwith- 
standing it's  being  the  immediate  subject  of  his  discourse."  —  Churchill's  Gram.  p.  294-. 
"  "With  our  definition  of  its  being  synonymous  with  time."  —  Booth's  Iiitrod.  p.  29.  "  It  will 
considerably  increase  the  danger  of  our  being  deceived."  —  ('nm]ib>-H'>i  Jthct.  p.  293.  "His 
beauties  can  never  be  mentioned  without  their  suggesting  his  blemishes  also."  —  Blair  '.i 
Rhet.  p.  442.  "  No  example  has  ever  been  adduced  of  a  man's  conscientiously  approving 
of  an  action,  because  of  its  badness."  —  Gt/r/ic;/'*  l*.cidrnr<>s,  p.  90.  "The  last  episode  of 
the  aniriTs  shewing  Adam  the  fate  of  his  posterity,  is  happily  imagined."  —  Blair  s  Rhct.  p. 
4-VJ.  "And  the  news  came  to  my  son,  of  his  and  the  bride  being  in  Dublin."  —  fasti* 
Ttackratt,  p.  44.  "There  is  no  room  for  the  mind's  exerting  any  great  effort."  —  Blair  x 
Rhet.  p.  32.  "  One  would  imagine,  that  these  eriticks  never  so  much  as  heard  of  Homer> 
having  written  first."  —  Popes  Preface  to  Homer.  "  Condemn  the  book,  for  its  not  being  a 
geography."  —  O.  B.  Peirces  Gram.  p.  317.  "There  will  be  in  many  words  a  transition 
from  their  being  the  figurative  to  their  being  the  proper  signs  of  certain  ideas."  —  Camp- 
bfll's  Rhet.  p.  322.  "  The  doctrine  of  the  Pope's  being  the  only  source  of  ecclesiastical 
power."  —  Religions  World.,  ii,  200.  "This  has  been  the  more  expedient  from  the  work's 
being  designed  for  the  benefit  of  private  learners."  —  Murray's  Exercises,  Introd.  p.  v.  "  This 
was  occasioned  by  the  Grammar's  having  been  set  ?/;;,  and  not  admitting  of  enlargement." 
—  Ib.  Advertisement,  p.  ix. 

RULE  V.—  OBJECTIVES. 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  made  the  object  of  an  active-transitive  verb  or  par- 
ticiple, is  governed  by  it  in  the  objective  case  :  as,  "  I  found  her  assisting 
him"  —  "  Having  finished  the  work,  I  submit  it." 
"  Preventing  fame,  misfortune  lends  him  icings, 

And  Pompey's  self  his  own  sad  story  brings."  —  Howe's  Lucan,  B.  viii,  1.  60. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  HULK  V. 

1.  —  To  this  rule  there  are  no  exceptions;   but  to  the  old  one  adopted  by  Murray  and 

.  "Active  verbs  govern  the  objective  case,"  thrre  are  more  than  any  writer  will  ever  think 

it  worth  his  while  to  enumerate.     In  point  of  brevity,  the  latter  has  the  advantage,  but  in  noth- 

ing else  ;  for,  as  a  general  rule  for  NOTNS  AN;>  ntoxorxs,  this  old  brief  assertion  is  very  defec- 

tive ;  and,  as  a  rule  for  "THK  SYNTAX  <>r  YI.KHS,"  under  which  head  it  has  been  oftener  ranked, 

it  is  entireh  1  inapplicable.     As  there  are  four  different  constructions  to  which  the 

nominative  case  is  liable,  so  there  are  four  in  which  the  objective  may  be  found  ;  and   two  of 

:ire  common  to  both  ;  namely,  apposition,  and  i  Every  objective  is  governed 

,<•  n-r'i  or  jtttrtifiple.  according  to  Rule  ->tli,  or  by  •OBMJWiMaMflOft,  according  to  Rule  7th  ; 

except  such  as  are  put  in  apjiox/fimi  with  others,  according  to  Rule  3d,  or  after  an  infinitive  or 

*  participle  not  transit  irr,  according  to  Rule  6th:   ns,  ••  Mistaking  one  for  the  other,  they  took 
!tim,  a  sturdy  fellorc,  called  Red  Billy,  to  he  tin-."     Here  is  every  construction  which  the  objective 
<jasc  can  have';  except,  perhaps,  that  in  which,  as  an  expression  of  time,  place,  measure,  or  man- 
ner, it  is  taken  after  the  fashion  of  an  adrcrh,  the  governing  preposition  being  suppressed,  or, 
n*  some  say,  no  governing  word  bein^  needed.     Of  this  exception,  the  following  quotations  may 
serve   for  examples:  "  It  holds  on  by  a  single   button  round   my  neck,  cloak  ftUMOtt."  —  I 

•  U'ickrcnt,  p.  17.     A  man  quite  at  leisure  to  parse  all  his  words',  would  have  said, 


"in   the   fashion  of  n  clo;>k."     Again:  "  He  docs  not  care  the  rind  of  n  h'mon  for  her  all  thv 
while."  —  Ib.  p.  10S.     "We  turn  our  eyes  this  iraij  or  f/iaf  inn/."  —  jr//j\.'V/-'.v  Pltilos.  (ham.  p.  172; 
'j  drum.  Io7.     Among  his   instances   of  "the  onj-  •  rrstricfivc,"   or  of  the  noun 

•'UM-d  in  the  objective,  without  a  go\erning  word,"  Dr.  Bullions  gives  this:  "Let  us  go  home." 
Hut,  according  to  the  better  opinion  of  Worcester,  home  is  here  an  adverb,  and  not  a  nouu.  JSee 
<Jbs.  6th  on  Rule  7th. 

Oiis.  2.  —  The  objective  case  generally  follows  the  governing  word:  as,  "And  Joseph  knew  his 
brethren,  but  they  knew  not  him."  —  Gen.  xlii,  8.     But  when  it  is  emphatic,  it  often  precodi 
i  ominative;  as,  "Me  he  restored  to  mine  office,  and  him  he  hanged.''  —  Geti.  xli,  13.     "John  have 
I  beheaded."—  Luke,  ix,  9.    "  But  me  ve  have  not  always."—  Mn't.  \xvi,  11.     "  Him  walking  on 


496  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [CHAP.  III. 

a  sunny  hill  he  found." — Milton.  In  poetry,  the  objective  is  sometimes  placed  between  the  nom- 
inative and  the  verb  ;  as, 

"  His  daring  foe  securely  him  defied." — Milton. 
"  Much  he  the  place  admir'd,  the  person  more." — Id. 
"The  broom  its  yellow  /ea/'hath  shed." — LangJiorne. 

If  the  nominative  be  a  pronoun  which  cannot  be  mistaken  for  an  objective,  the  words  may  possi- 
bly change  places ;  as,  "  Silver  and  gold  have  /  none."  "  Created  thing  nought  valued  he  nor 
shunn'd." — Milton,  B.  ii,  1.  679.  But  such  a  transposition  of  two  nouns  can  scarcely  fail  to 
render  the  meaning  doubtful  or  obscure ;  as, 

"  This  poiv'r  has  praise,  that  virtue  scarce  can  warm, 

Till  fame  supplies  the  universal  charm." — Dr.  Johnson. 

A  relative  or  an  interrogative  pronoun  is  commonly  placed  at  the  head  of  its  clause,   and   of 
course  it  precedes  the  verb  which  governs  it ;  as,  "  I  am  Jesus,  whom  thou  persecutcst." — Acfe, 
ix,  5.     "Which  of  the  prophets  have  not  your  fathers  persecuted  ? " — Ib.  vii,  52. 
"  Before  their  Clauses  plac'd,  by  settled  use, 
The  Relatives  these  Clauses  introduce." — Ward's  Gram.  p.  86. 

OBS.  3. — Every  active-transitive  verb  or  participle  has  some  noun  or  pronoun  for  its  object,  or 
gome  pronominal  adjective  which  assumes  the  relation  of  the  objective  case.  Though  verbs  are 
often  followed  by  the  infinitive  mood,  or  a  dependent  clause,  forming  a  part  of  the  logical  predi- 
cate ;  yet  these  terms,  being  commonly  introduced  by  a  connecting  particle,  do  not  form  such 
an  object  as  is  contemplated  in  our  definition  of  a  transitive  verb.  Its  government  of  the  objective, 
is  the  only  proper  criterion  of  this  sort  of  verb.  If,  in  the  sentence,  "  Boys  love  to  play,"  the 
former  verb  is  transitive,  as  several  respectable  grammarians  affirm ;  why  not  also  in  a  thousand 
Others  ;  as,  "Boys  like  to  play  ;  " — "  Boys  delight  to  play  ;  " — "  Boys  lony  to  play ;  " — "  The  boys 
seem  to  play;" — "The  boys  cease  to  play;" — "The  boys  ought  to  play;" — "The  boys  go  out 
to  play;" — "The  boys  are  gone  out  to  play;" — "The  boys  are  allowed  to  play;  "'and  the 
like  ?  The  construction  in  all  is  precisely  the  same,  and  the  infinitive  may  follow  one  kind  of 
verb  just  as  well  as  an  other.  How  then  can  the  mere  addition  of  this  mood  make  any  verb 
transitive  ?  or  where,  on  such  a  principle,  can  the  line  of  distinction  for  transitive  verbs  be 
drawn  ?  The  infinitive,  in  fact,  is  governed  by  the  preposition  to;  and  the  preceding  verb,  if  it 
has  no  other  object,  is  intransitive.  It  must,  however,  be  confessed  that  some  verbs  which  thus 
take  the  infinitive  after  them,  cannot  otherwise  be  intransitive;  as,  "A  great  mind  disdains  to 
hold  anything  by  courtesy." — Johnson's  Life  of  Swift.  "They  require  to  be  distinguished  by  a 
comma." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  272. 

OBS  4. — A  transitive  verb,  as  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  may  both  govern  the  objective  case, 
asnd  be  followed  by  an  infinitive  also  ;  as,  "What  have  I  to  do  with  thee  ?  " — John,  ii,  4.  This 
question,  as  one  would  naturally  take  it,  implies,  "  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  thee  ;  "  and,  by 
analogy,  what  is  governed  by  have,  and  not  by  do  ;  so  that  the  latter  verb,  though  not  commonly 
intransitive,  appears  to  be  so  here.  Indeed  the  infinitive  mood  is  often  used  without  an  objec- 
tive, when  every  other  part  of  the  same  verb  would  require  one.  Maunder's  rule  is,  "  Transitive 
verbs  and  participles  govern  either  the  objective  case  or  the  infinitive  mode." — Comprehensive 
Gram.  p.  14.  Murray  teaches,  not  only  that,  "  The  infinitive  mood  does  the  office  of  a  substan- 
tive in  the  objective  case  ;  as,  '  Boys  love  to  play ; '  "  but  that,  "  The  participle  with  its  adjunct  5, 
may  be  considered  as  a  substantive  phrase  in  the  objective  case,  governed  by  the  preposition  or 
verb;  as,  <  He  studied  to  avoid  expressing  himself  too  severely.'  " — See  his  Octavo  Gram.  pp.  1<>4 
and  194.  And  again :  "Part  of  a  sentence,  as  well  as  a  noun  or  pronoun,  may  be  said  to  be  in  t/ie 
objective  case,  or  to  be  put  objectively,  governed  by  the  active  verb  ;  as,  '  We  sometimes  see  virtue 
in  distress,  but  we  should  consider  how  great  will  be  her  ultimate  reward.'  Sentences  or  phrases 
tinder  this  circumstance,  may  be  termed  objective  sentences -or  phrases." — Ib.  p.  189. 

OBS.  5. — If  we  admit  that  sentences,  parts  of  sentences,  infinitives,  participles  with  their 
adjuncts,  and  other  phrases,  as  well  as  nouns  and  pronouns,  may  be  "  in  the  objective  case ;"  it 
will  be  no  easy  matter,  either  to  define  this  case,  or  to  determine  what  words  do,  or  do  not,  gov- 
ern it.*  The  construction  of  infinitives  and  participles  will  be  noticed  hereafter.  But  on  one  of 

*  Wells,  whose  Grammar,  in  its  first  edition,  divides  verbs  into  "transitive,  intransitive,  and  passive;"  but 
whose  late  editions  absurdly  make  all  passives  transitive  ;  says,  in  his  third  edition,  "A  transitive  verb  is  a  verb 
that  has  some  noun  or  pronoun  for  its  object ;  "  (p.  78  ;)  adopts,  in  his  syntax,  the  old  dogma,  "  Transitive  verbs 
govern  the  objective  case  ; "  (3d  Ed.  p.  154;)  and  to  this  rule  subjoins  a  series  of  remarks,  so  singularly  fit  to 
puzzle  or  mislead  the  learner,  and  withal  so  successful  in  winning  the  approbation  of  committees  and  teachers, 
that  it  may  be  wortli  while  to  notice  most  of  them  here. 

"  HEM.  1. — A  sentence  or  phrase  often  supplies  the  place  of  a  noun  or  pronoun  in  the  objective  case  ;  as,  '  Yon 
see  hoiv  few  of  these  men  have  returned.'  " — Wells' 's  School  Gram.,  "  Third  Thousand,"  p.  154  ;  late  Ed.  §  215. 
According  to  this,  must  we  not  suppose  verbs  to  be  often  transitive,  when  not  made  so  by  the  author's  definition? 
And  if  "  see  • '  i*  here  transitive,  would  not  other  forms,  such  as  are  told,  have  been  told,  or  are  aware,  be  just  as 
much  so,  if  put  in  its  place  1 

"  REM.  2. — An  intransitive  verb  may  be  used  to  govern  an  objective,  when  the  verb  and  the  noun  depending 
upon  it  are  of  kindred  signification  ;  as,  '  To  live  a  blameless  life; ' — '  To  run  a  race.'  " — Ib.  Here  verbs  are  ab- 
surdly called  ';  intransitive.,"  when,  both  in  fact  and  by  the  foregoing  definition,  they  are  clearly  transitive  ;  or, 
at  least,  are,  by  many  teachers,  supposed  to  be  so. 

"  REM.  3 — Idiomatic  expressions  sometimes  occur  in  which  intransitive  verbs  are  followed  by  objectives  depend- 
ing upon  them  ;  as,  '  To  look  the  subject  fully  in  the  face.' — C/i'inning.  '  They  laughed  him  to  scorn.' — Matt.  9  : 
24.  'And  talked^  the  night  away.' — Goldsmith.'' — Ib.  Here,  again,  verbs  evidently  made  transitive  by  the  con- 
ftruction,  are,  with  strange  inconsistency,  called  "  intransitive.''  By  these  three  remarks  together,  the  distinction 
between  transitives  and  intransitives  must  needs  be  extensively  obscured  in  the  mind  of  the  learner. 

"  REM.  4. — Transitive  verbs  of  asking,  giving,  teaching,  and  some  others,  are  often  employed  to  govern  two 
objectives ;  as,  lAsk  him  his  opinion; ' — '  This  experience  taught  me  a  valuable  lesson.' — 'Spare  me  yet  this  bitter 
cup.' — ffemam.  'I  thrice  presented  him  a  kingly  crown.' — Shakspeare." — Ib.  This  rule  not  only  jumbles 
together  several  different  constructions,  such  as  would  require  different  cases  in  Latin  or  Greek,  but  is  evidently 
repugnant  to  the  sense  of  many  of  the  passages  to  which  it  is  meant  to  be  applied.  Wells  thinks,  the  practice  of 
•applying  a  preposition,  "is,  in  many  cases,  arbitrary,  and  does  violence  to  an  important  and  well  established 


CHAP.    III.]  SXXTAX. — RULE    V. OBJECTIVES. — OBSERVATIONS  497 

Murray's  examples  T  would  here  observe,  thnt  the  direct  use  of  the  infinitive  for  an  objective 
nmtn  is  ;i  manifest  dm  is,,i  ;  as,  "For  to  will  is  present  with  me;  but  to  perform  that  which  is 
good,  I  find  not." — (),-t<irn  Cm  in.  p.  184.  That  is.  "  ike  performance  <>f  that  which  is  Rood,  I  find 
not."  Or  perhaps  we  may  supply  a  noun  after  the  verb,  and  take  this  text  to  mean,  "  Uut  to 
perform  that  which  is  gooa,  I  find"  not  the  ahi/ify."  Our  Bible  has  it,  "  But  hoir  to  perform  that 
which  is  good,,  I  find  not;  "  a-s  if  tin'  manner  in  which  he  might  do  Rood,  was  what  the  apostle 
found  not :  but  Murray  cites  it  differently,  omitting  the  word  Aoto,  as  we  sec  above.  All  active 
verbs  to  wliich  something  is  subjoined  by  -irln-n,  •»•///•/>•,  u-Jtence,  how,  or  wJnj,  must  be  accounted 
intransitive,  unless  we  suppose  them  to  govern  such  nouns  of  time,  place,  degree,  manner,  or 
cause,  as  correspond  to  these  connectives  ;  as,  "  I  know  icliy  she  blushed."  Ik-re  we  might  sup- 
ply the  noun  .  ••  I  know  tin-  reason  why  she  blushed;"  but  the  word  is  needless,  and  I 
should  rather  parse  hnoir  as  bring  intransitive.  As  for  "  rirtvc  in  r//,y//-<,v.v,''  if  this  is  an  " 
tin-  /j/trafir,"  and  not  to  be  analyzed,  we  have  millions  of  tlie  same  sort;  but,  if  one  should  say, 
"  I'irtue  in  ///V/r.v.v  excites  pity,'  the  same  phrase  would  demonstrate  the  absurdity  of  Murray's 
doctrine,  because  the  two  nouns  here  take  tico  dljt'erent  rat.es. 

<>!;•>.  0. — The  word  that,  which  is  often  employed  to  introduce  a  dependent  clause,  is,  by  some 
grammarians,  considered  as  a  prvnoun,  representing  the  clause  which  follows  it ;  as,  "  1  know 
thnt  Mrssias  cometh." — JoJin,'\\,  2~).  This  text  they  would  explain  to  mean,  ••  retht  I 

know  that ;  "  and  their  opinion  seems  to  be  warranted  both  by  the  origin  and  by  the  usual  import  of 
the  particle.  But,  in  conformity  to  general  custom,  and  to  his  own  views  of  the  practical  pur- 
poses of  grammatical  analysis,  the  author  has  ranked  it  with  the  conjunctions.  And  he  thinks  it 
better,  to  call  those  verbs  intransitive,  which  are  followed  by  that  and  a  dependent  clause,  than. 
to  supply  the  very  frequent  ellipses  which  the  other  explanation  supposes.  To  explain  it  as  u 
conjunction,  connecting  an  active-transitive  verb  and  its  object,  as  several  respectable  gram- 
marians do,  appears  to  involve  some  inconsistency.  If  that'is  a  conjunction,  it  connects  what 
precedes  and  what  follows  ;  but  a  transitive  verb  should  exercise  a  direct  government,  without 
the  intervention  of  a  conjunction.  On  the  other  hand,  the  word  that  has  not,  in  any  such  sen- 
tence, the  inherent  nature  of  a  pronoun.  The  transposition  above,  makes  it  only  a  pronominal 

idiom  of  the  language." — Ih.  But  how  can  any  idiom  be  violated  by  a  mode  of  parsing,  which  merely  expounds 
its  true  meaning  .*  If  the  daf  ive  ca-e  ha*  the  meaning  of  to,  and  the  ablative  has  rhe  inclining  of  from,  how  can 
they  ho  expounded,  in  Kngh'sh.  1  'ing  the  jmrtirte.  where  i'  is  omirted  .'  For  example  :  ••  Spare  me 

yet  [  from]  this  hitter  nip." — "  Spnrv  [to]  me  yet  this  joyous  cup."     This  author  says,  '•  T/ifrule  for  the  govern- 
ment of  nvu  objectives  by   ;i   verb,  without  the "aid  of  a    prvpo-Hon,  is  adopted  h\-    \\Vl.~t<T.  Murray.  Alexander, 
Nu'ti:i_r.  IVrley.  Goldsburj,  .1.  M.  Putnam.  Hamliu,  Flower,  Crane,  Brace,  and  many  others. v — Ib.     Yet, 
if  I  mistake  ni.t,  tin-  weight  of  authority  is  va-tl\  againit  it.  at  this,  is  not  extensively  approved  ;  and 

.MO  of  the  names  here  given,  arc  improperly  cire  1.     I.indley  Murra;,  's  remark,  u  Some  of  our  verbs  appear 
D  two  word»  in  the  objective  ease."  is  applied  only  to  irordi  in  apposition,  and  wrong  even  there;  Perley's 
•M  ly  of  "  Samf  verbs  of  asking  and  teaching ;  '•  and  Nutting's  nore,  "  It  sonif  times  happens  that  one  tran- 
sitive verb  governs  two  objective  cases,"  is  so  very  loose,  that  one  can  neither  deny  it,  nor  tell  how  much  it 
means. 

"  HEM.  5. — Verbs  of  asking,  giving,  tenrhiiig,  and  some  others,  are  often  employed  in  the  passive  voice  to  govern 
noun  or  pronoun  ;  as.  •  He  ?/VM-  a^k-d  his  npinittn  ' — Johnson.     '  He  had  been  refuted  shelter.'1 — Irving."1' — Ib  p. 
'",  §  21").     Passive  I'm-trning  is  not  far  from  absurdity.     Here,  by  way  of  illustration,  we  have  examples  of  two 
the  one  elliptical,  the  other  solecistical.       The   former  text  appears  to  mean,  "He  was  asked  for  his 
opinion  :  " — or.  '•  He  was  asked  to  xire  his  opinion:  "  the  latter  should  have  been,  "Shelter  had  been  refused 
him  ;  "— i.  e.  "  to  him  "      Of  the  seven  instances  cited  by  the  author,  five  at  least  are  of  the  latter  kind,  and 
rctbre  to  be  condemned  ;  and  it  is  to  be  ohs.-rve.l.  that  when  they  are  corrected,  and  the  right  word  is  made 
inatiw.  the  passive  government,  by  Wells's  own  showing,  becomes  nothing  but  the  ellipsis  of  a  preposition, 
ring  ju.-t  given  a  nti>\  h\  which  all  his  various  examples  are  assumed  to  be  regular  and  right,  be  very  incon- 
cntlv  add*  this  note  :  ••  This  form  of  expression  is  nnninnlnns,  and  might,  in  many  cases,  be  improved.     Thus, 
tfn'l  of  saving,    '  He  w.-i?  offered  a  seat  in  the  council.'   ir  would  be  preferable  to  say,    >A  seat  in  the  council 
offered  [to]  him.'"  —  If>.  p.  I'.o,  §  215.    By  admitting  here  the  ellipsis  of  the  preposition  to,  he  evidently  refutes 
vine  of  his  own  text,  so  far  as  it  relates  „>,  and.  by  implication,  the  doctrine  of  his 

fourth  rmiiirk  abo.      For  the  ellipsis  of  tn,  hefore  ••  him."  is  just  as  e\ident  in  the  active  expression,  ••  1  thrice 
'  him  a  kiiu  in  the  p:i--ivc.  --A   kingly  crown  was  tkrirf  pr<stnled  him."      It  is  absurd   to 

i  it  usly  li.-il.i:  -u'tirs.  pro  <ind  ran  :  but,  the  ellip- 

>nn  this  usage  altogether." 

>;.— The  (i-i--  In  eonncciion  with  a  prtpositinn,  forming  a  compound 

•  inlency  to  be  guarded  against.' — 

A  bitter  -rjifd  nn.'—i'  "..      The  words  here  called  ••  //r>},<>*irn,>i,<t,"  are 

:  s  they  cntiTv  r..<  subsequent    term.       N.T  is  it  ei'lie.- 

of  rhe  verb:  '•)/•</<  miritd  on,"  is  no  more  a  '•  compound  verb,'' than  "  u>a$  carried 

'  or  u  I'VM  rnrri.il  tot  :,.-  like. 

|{F.M.  7.—  hlioiiiari'  ur  in  wliich  a  IIMHI  in  tlie  objective  is  preceded  by  a  passive  verb, 

d  followed  by  'i  }>r> ,  .  •  :t;ii  ii!U>je  vr>   i/uule  use  of."1 — 

I,  fourth,  and  fifth,  f  >  <>f  at  half  past  eight.' — Kmithf  >/.     '  Tlie  Pinta  was 

inner  of  th«  i 

*m>morepi-  •rbinll*i.">* 

•  \en  if  the  former  j  •  and  the  thing  coneeiv.-ible.  here 

no  instance  of  it  :   for  "  •  -f  "  here  modi'  ijecMve.  or  adverh.       'i'he  i-.-nsntiction   i>  .in    nn) 

-narl,  whieh  no  irratnmarian  should  h«  .   cai-h  he  C.M 

Sa\  — 
kfy  made  \\  instriunent:  (.bird,  tne  foin  rli,  and '  ii,r  fifth,  tfi'y  :<» 

_!it."— ••  <lf  tlie  Pint  i  t'u  v  *"'  MI  of  both vocal 

d  instrumental  m-  third.///'  lourth,  and  thr  lif  h,  v  as  taken  at  halt  "past  ei-ht." — 

The  I'ii.'-i  >ooii   dit'ippmr'!/  iii  the  d.irkness  of  tl)(.  niiht."     lb-r  la  pu/./le>  his  pup: 

which  half  justifies  nnd   half  c. .,  School  Gram.  1st  Ed.  p.  : 

•    S  —There  are  som*.  verbs  whie  ; •  trin«itiv<-ly  or  inr-  iril!  rrtitrn  in 

'  He  trill  return  the  J»,ok.'  "      /'-.  |>   1-17  :  !"/'> :  .Sec.  According  to  Dr.  Johnson,  ti. 
and  Lindley  Murray  a^.-erts  it  of  "  mtm'i."     There  :ire,  I  thiiik,  but  feir  which  may  >«'t.  in  some  | 

Other,  be  u.-*-d   l.o-li   w:i\s.       1 1  el  ,ee  t  h^  T  U  le.  "  Tfn  II  >  i : : '  ili'nit, 

-  vern  rhc  o1  on |\    upon  a  Jistiiictiou  which. 

itself  creates,  between  transitive.*  and  intransitive.*  ;  and  therefore  it  amounts  to  little. 

32 


me; 


498  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III- 


Tooke  and  Webster  must  resort  to  more  than  one  imaginary  ellipsis,  and  to  such  an  inversion  as 
will  scarcely  leave  the  sense  in  sight. 

OBS.  7.— In  some  instances  the  action  of  a  transitive  verb  gives  to  its  direct  object  an  additional 
name,  which  is  also  in  the  objective  case,  the  two  words  being  in  apposition;  as,  "Thy  saints 
proclaim  thee  king" — Coicper.  "And  God  called  the  firmament  Heaven." — Bible.  "Ordering 
them  to  make  themselves  masters  of  a  certain  steep  eminence." — Rollin,  ii,  67.  And,  in  such  a 
construction,  the  direct  object  is  sometimes  placed  before  the  verb;  though  the  name  which 
results  from  the  action,  cannot  be  so  placed  :  as,  "And  Simon  he  surnamed  Peter." — Mark,  iii, 
15.  "Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God." — Rev.  iii,  12.  Some 
grammarians  seem  not  to  have  considered  this  phraseology  as  coming  within  the  rule  of  apposi- 
tion. Thus  Webster :  "  We  have  some  verbs  which  govern  two  toorat  in  the  objective  case  ;  as, 
'  Did  I  request  thee,  maker,  from  my  clay 
To  mold  me  man  ?'— Milton,  10,  744. 

'God  seems  to  have  made  him  what  he  was.' — Life  of  Cowpcr."* — Philosophical  Gram.  p.  170; 
Improved  Gram.  p.  120.  See  also  Weld's  Gram.  2d  Ed.  p.  154;  "Abridged  Ed."  p.  119;  and 
Foivler's  E.  Gram.  §  450.  So  Murray  :  "  Some  of  our  verbs  appear  to  govern  two  words  in  the  ob- 
jective case ;  as,  '  The  Author  of  my  being  formed  me  man.'  — *  They  desired  me  to  call  them 
brethren.' — '  He  seems  to  have  made  him  whathe  was.'" — Octavo  Gram.  p.  183.  Yet  this  latter 
writer  says,  that  in  the  sentence,  "  They  appointed  me  executor"  and  others  like  it,  "  the  verb 
to  be  is  understood." — Ib.  p.  182.  These  then,  according  to  his  own  showing,  are  instances  of  ap- 
position ;  but  I  pronounce  them  such,  without  either  confounding  same  cases  with  apposition,  or 
making'the  latter  a  species  of  ellipsis.  See  Obs.  1st  and  2d,  under  Rule  3d. 

OBS.  8. — In  general,  if  not  always,  when  a  verb  is  followed  by  two  objectives  which  are  neither 
in  apposition  nor  connected  by  a  conjunction,  one  of  them  is  governed  by  a  preposition  under- 
stood ;  as,  "  I  paid  [to]  him  the  money." — "  They  offered  [to]  me  a  seat." — "  He  asked  [of]  them 
the  question." — "I  yielded,  and  unlock'd  [to]  her  all  my  heart." — Milton.  In  expressing  such 
sentences  passively,  the  object  of  the  preposition  is  sometimes  erroneously  assumed  for  the  nomi- 
native ;  as,  "He  was  paid  the  money"  in  stead  of,  "  The  money  was  paid  [to]  him" — "I  was  offered 
a  seat,"  in  stead  of,  "A  seat  was  offered  [to]  me."  This  kind  of  error  is  censured  by  Murray  more 
than  once,  and  yet  he  himself  has,  in  very  many  instances,  fallen  into  it.  His  first  criticism  on 
it,  is  in  the  following  words :  "  We  sometimes  meet  with  such  expressions  as  these  :  '  They  were 
asked  a  question ; '  *  They  were  offered  a  pardon ; '  '  He  had  been  left  a  great  estate  by  his 
father.'  In  these  phrases,  verbs  passive  are  made  to  govern  the  objective  case.  This  license  is 
not  to  be  approved.  The  expressions  should  be  :  'A  question  was  put  to  them  ; '  'A  pardon  was 
offered  to  them;'  'His  father  left  him  a  great  estate.'" — L.  Murray's  Octavo  Gram.  p.  183 
See  Obs.  12,  below. 

OBS.  9. — In  the  Latin  syntax,  verbs  of  asking  and  teaching  are  said  to  govern  two  accusatives ; 
as,  "Posce  Deum  veniam,  Beg  pardon  of  God." — Grant's  Latin  Gram.  p.  207.  "Docuit  me  gram- 
maticam,  He  taught  me  grammar." — Grant,  Adam,  and  others.  And  again:  "  When  a  verb  in 
the  active  voice  governs  two  cases,  in  the  passive  it  retains  the  latter  case  ;  as,  Doceor  grammaticam 
I  am  taught  grammar." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  177.  These  writers  however  suggest,  that  in  reality  tht 
latter  accusative  is  governed,  not  by  the  verb,  but  by  a  preposition  understood.  In  general  the 
English  idiom  does  not  coincide  with  what  occurs  in  Latin  under  these  rules.  We  commonly 
insert  a  preposition  to  govern  one  or  the  othe?  of  the  terms.  But  we  sometimes  leave  to  the  verb 
the  objective  of  the  person,  and  sometimes  that  of  the  thing;  and  after  the  two  verbs  ask  and 
teach,  we  sometimes  seem  to  leave  both  :  as,  "When  thou  dost-ask  me  blessing,  I'll  kneel  down, 


thy  children." — Ib.  vi,  7.  "  Ye  shall  teach  them  your  children." — Ib.  xi,  19.  "  Shall  any  teach  God 
knowledge?"— Job,  nxi,  22.  "  I  will  teoeA  you  the  fear  of  the  Lord."— Psal.  xxxiv,  11.  "He 
will  teach  us  of  his  ways." — Isaiah,  ii,  3;  Micah,  iv,  2.  "Let  him  that  is  taught  in  the  word, 
communicate." — Gal.  vi,  6. 

OBS.  10. — After  a  careful  review  of  the  various  instances  in  which  more  than  one  noun  or  pro- 
noun may  possibly  be  supposed  to  be  under  the  government  of  a  single  active  verb  in  English,  I 
incline  to  the  opinion  that  none  of  our  verbs  ought  to  be  parsed  as  actually  governing  two  cases, 
except  such  as  are  followed  by  two  objectives  connected  by  a  conjunction.  Consequently  I  do 
not  admit,  that  any  passive  verb  can  properly  govern  an  objective  noun  or  pronoun.  Of  the 
ancient  Saxon  dative  case,  and  of  what  was  once  considered  the  government  of  two  cases,  there 
yet  appear  some  evident  remains  in  our  language  ;  as,  "  Give  him  bread  to  eat." — "  Bread  shall  be 
given  him" — Bible.  But  here,  by  almost  universal  consent,  the  indirect  object  is  referred  to  the 
"  preposition  understood  ;  "  and  in  many  instances  this  sort  of  ellipsis  is  ( 


government  of  a  "  preposition  understood  ;  "  and  in  many 
tainly  no  elegance :  as,  "  Give  \to]  truth  and  virtue  the  sat 
falsehood,  and  the  former  are  likely  to  prevail." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  235 


tainly  no  elegance:  as,  "  Give  \to~\  truth  and  virtue  the  same  arms  which  you  give  [to]  vice  and 

"35.     The  questionable  expres- 


*  To  these  examples,  Webster  adds  two  others,  of  a  different  sort,  with  a  comment,  thus  :  "  'Ask  him  his  opin- 
ion ; '  '  You  have  asked  me  the  nnvs.'1  Will  it  be  said  that  the  latter  phrases  are  elliptical,  for  '  ask  of  him  his 
opinion?  '  I  apprehend  this  to  be  a  mistake.  According  to  the  true  idea  of  the  government  of  a  transitive  verb, 
him  must  be  the  object  in  the  phrase  under  consideration,  as  much  as  in  this,  'Ask  him  for  a  guinea ;  '  or  in  this, 
'ask  him  to  go.'  " — Ibid,  ut  supra;  Frnzee^x  Gram.  p.  152  ;  Fowler's,  p.  480.  If,  for  the  reason  here  stated  it  is  a 
"  mistake  "  to  supply  o/in  the  foregoing  instances,  it  does  not  follow  that  they  are  not  elliptical.  On  the  con- 
trary, if  they  are  analagous  to,  "Ask  him/or  a  guinea  ;  "  or,  "Ask  him  to  go  ;  "  it  is  manifest  that  the  construction 
must  be  this  :  "Ask  him  [  for}  his  opinion  ;  "  or,  "Ask  him  [to  tell}  his  opinion."  So  that  the  question  resolves 
itself  into  this:  What  is  the  best  way  of  supplying  the  ellipsis,  when  two  objectives  thus  occur  after  ask?— Q. 
BROWN. 


CHAP.  III.]  SYNTAX. RULE   V. OBJECTIVES. OBSERVATIONS.  499 

sion,  "Ask  tneblesfiina"  if  interpreted  analogically,  must  mean,  "Ask  fur  me  a  blessing,"  which, 
is  more  correct  and  explicit ;  or,  if  me  be  not  supposed  a  dative,  (ami  it  does  not  appear  to  be  so, 
above,)  the  sent  once  is  still  wrong,  and  the  correction  must  be,  "Ask  of  me  a  blessing,"  or  "Ask 
tni/  blessing."  So,  "Ask  your  master  /cure,'"  ought  rather  to  be,  "Ask  o/' your  master  leave," 
"Ask  vour  master  for  leave,"  or,  "Ask  your  matter's  leave."  The  example  from  Mark  ought  to 
be.  "  they  asked  htm  about  the  parable."  Again,  the  elliptical  sentence,  "Teach  them  thy  sons," 
is  less  perspicuouft,  and  therefore  less  accurate,  than  the  full  expression,  "  Teach  them  to  thy 
sons."  Totetre/i  is  to  tell  things  to  persons,  or  to  instruct  persons  i,t  things;  to  ask  is  to  request 
or  demand  things  of  or  from  persons,  or  to  interrogate  or  solicit  persons  about  or  for  things. 
These  verbs  cannot  be  proved  to  govern  two  cases  in  English,  because  it  is  more  analogical  and 
more  reasonable  to  supply  a  preposition,  (if  the  author  omits  it,)  to  govern  one  or  the  other  of 
the  olr 

OHS.  11. — Some  writers  erroneously  allow  passive  verbs  to  govern  the  objective  in  English,  not 
only  where  they  imagine  our  idiom  to  coincide  with  the  Latin,  but  even  where  they  know  that  it 
does  not.  Thus  Dr.  Crombie :  "  Whatever  is  put  in  the  accusative  case  after  the"  verb,  must  be 
the  nominative  to  it  in  the  passive  voice,  while  the  other  case  is  retained  under  the  government 
of  the  verb,  and  cannot  become  its  nominative.  Thus,  '  I  persuade  you  to  this  or  of  this,'  Per- 
11  ere.  the  person  persuaded  is  expressed  in  the  dative  case,  and  cannot,  there- 
fore, be  the  nominative  to  the  passive  verb.  We  must,  therefore,  say,  Hoc  tibi  per stiadetur,  '  You 
arc  persuaded  of  this  ;'  not,  TwperMMuferi*.  He  trusted  me  tcith  this  affair,'  or  '  He  believed 
me  in  this,'  Hoc  mihi  credidit. — Passively,  Hoc  tnilii  creditum  est.  '  I  told  you  this,'  ]1<>r  tibi.  di.ri. 
'  Yor  YVEUE  TOLD  THIS,'  Hoc  tibi  diction' cxt ;  not,  Tudictus  es."  [No,  surely  :  for,  '  Tu  diet  uses,' 
means,  '  You  were  called,'  or,  'Thou  art  reputed;  ' — and,  if  followed  by  any  case,  it  must  be  the 
•nominative.'}  "  It  is  the  more  necessary  to  attend  to  this  rule,  and  to  these  distinctions,  as  the 
idioms  of  the  two  languages  do  not  always  concur.  Thus,  Hoc  tibi  dictum  cxt,  means  not  only 
'  This  was  told  to  you,'  but '  You  WERE  TOLD  THIS.'  Liber  miMapctirtpromusiu  eat,  means  both 
'  A  book  was  promised  (to)  me  by  my  father,'  and  '  I  WAS  PROMISED  A  BOOK.'  Is  primhm  roaattis 
<,s7  s,-nf<>ntiain,  '  He  was  first  asked  t/b/-  his  opinion,'  and  '  An  opinion  was  first  asked  of  him  ;  '  in 
•which  last  the  accusative  of  the  person  becomes,  in  Latin,  the  nominative  in  the  passive  voice." 
Sec  (iranfs  Latin  (tram.  p.  210. 

O»s.  VI.— Murray's  second  censure  upon  passive  government,  is  this:  "The  following  sen- 
tences, which  give  [to]  the  passive  voice  the  regimen  of  an  active  verb,  are  very  irreaular,  and  by 
tto  means  to  n,  nnitnl'd.  '  The  bishops  and  abbots  were  allowed  tlteir  seats  in  the  house  of  lords.' 
*  Thrasea  trus  forbidden  (In-  presence  of  the  emperor.'  '  He  was  shown  that  very  story  in  one  of 
his  own  books.'*  These  sentences  should  have  been;  '  The  bishops  and  abbots  were  allowed  to 
/nrre  (or  to  take)  their  seats  in  the  house  of  lords  ;  '  or,  '  Seats  in  the  house  of  lords  were  allowed 
to  the  bishops  and  abbots  : '  '  Thrasea  was  forbidden  to  approach  the  presence  of  the  emperor  ;  ' 
or,  '  The  presence  of  the  emperor  was  forbidden  to  Thrasea :  '  '  That  very  story  was  shown  to  him 
in  one  of  his  own  books.' " — Octavo  (train,  p.  223.  See  Obs.  8,  above.  One  late  grammarian, 
whose  style  is  on  the  whole  highly  commendable  for  its  purity  and  accuracy,  forbears  to  condemn 
the  phraseology  here  spoken  of;  and,  though  he  does  not  expressly  defend  and  justify  it,  he 
seems  disposed  to  let  it  pass,  with  the  license  of  the  following  canon.  "For  convenience,  it  may 
be  well  to  state  it  as  a  rule,  that — I'assirc  verbs  (jovern  an  ob/eef/re,  wJicn  tJie  -nominative  to  the 
is  not  the  proper  object  of  tit  e  (ftive  voice." — Barnard's  Analytic  Gram.  p.  134.  An 
oilier  asserts  the  government  of  two  cases  by  very  many  of  our  active  verbs,  and  the  government 
of  one  by  almost  any  passive  verb,  according  to  the  following  rules  :  "  Verbs  of  teaching,  giving, 
and  some  others  of  a.  similar  nature,  govern  two  objectives,  the  one  of  a  person  and  the  other  of 
a  thing  ;  as,  lie  taught  ////;  <: ram  mar  :  Bis  tutor  gave  /'///*  a  lesson  :  lie  promised  me  a  reward, 
\  passive  verb  may  govern  an  objective,  when  the  words  immediately  preceding  and  following  it, 
do  not  refer  to  the"  same  thing  ;  as,  Henry  was  offered  a  (foliar  by  his  father  to  induce  him  to 
remain." — J.  M.  Putnam's  (Irani,  pp.  110  and  112. 

13. — The  common  dogmas,  that  an  active  verb  must  govern  an  object,  and  that  a  neuter 

or  intransitive  verb  must  not,  amount  to  nothing  as  directions  to  the  composer;  because  the 

•at ion  of  verbs  depends  upon  this  very  matter,  whether  they  have,  or  have  not,   an  object 

after  them;  and  no  general  principle    his  been,  or  can  be,  furnished  beforehand,  by  which  their 

or  unfitncss  for  taking  such  go\  eminent  can  be  determined.     This  must  depend  upon 

must  conform  to  the  sense  intended.     Very  many  verbs — probablv  avastmajor- 

•vern  an  ol  -it  not  always:  many  that  are  commonly  intransitive  or  neuter, 

are  not  in  all  thei  :nl  many  that  are  commonly  transitive,  have  sometimes  no  apparent 

•  n.     The  distinction,  then,  in  our  dictionaries,  of  verbs  active  and  neuter,  or  transitive  and 

•••fly  any  other  purpose,  than  to  show  how  the  presence  or  absence   of  the 
object  L     In  some  instances  the  signification  of  the  verb 

•  nlmost  merged  in    that  of  its  object;  as,  to  I  use,  to  lake  care.     In  others, 
the  transitive  character  of  the  word   is  partial  ;   as,  •'•  He  /tri/d  my  board ;  I   told  yon  so."     Some 

will  goM-rn  any  object;-.  .,<•,  („  mmtion.     What  is  there  that  cannot  be 

named  or  mention  n  are  restricted  to  one  noun,  or  to  a  few;  as,   to   transgress  a 

\  rule.     "NVhatca:  1,  but  a  law,   a  limit,   or  something  equivalent?'  Some 

•    Miu,  or  its  pronoun,  but  scarcely  any  other;  as,    "He  lived  a  vir- 

'//;•." — "Hear,  1  ;>rav  you,  this  dream  -which  I   bare  dreunii'd."1 — Gen.   XXXvii,    6.     "I   will 
also  OOHUnand  the  clouds  that  th<  :,  >n  it." — Jsuinh,  v,  ('». 

Ur.s.  11. — Our  grammarians,  when  they  conic  to  determine  what  verbs  are  properly  transitive, 
and  what  are  not  so,  do  not  in  all  instances  aurce  in  opinion.  In  short,  plain  as  they  think  the 
matter,  they  arc  much  at  odds.  Many  of  them  say,  that,  "In  the  phrases,  '  To  dream  a  dream,' 

*  Thcw  examples  Murray  borrowed  from  Wrhsf.-r.  who  pnl.Iished  them,  withr. •  fences,  under  his  34th  Rule. 
"With  MO  little  t'.iirli  in  tin-  oorrtt-tive  power  of  ^niniinar.  t!.  upon  the  construction  as  follows: 

u  This  idiom  is  outrageously  anomalous,  but  perhaps  incorrigible.''—  Wtbster'f  Plulos.  Gram.  p.  180  ;  Imp.  Gr.  128. 


500  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

'  To  live  a  virtuous  life,'  '  To  run  a  race,'  '  To  walk  a  horse,'  '  To  dance  a  child,'  the  verbs  assume 
a  transitive  character,  and  in  these  cases  may  be  denominated  active." — See  Guy's  Gram.  p.  21 ; 
Murray's,  180 ;  IngersolVs,  183  ;  Fisk's,  123 ;  Smith's,  153.  This  decision  is  undoubtedly  just ;  yet 
a  late  writer  has  taken  a  deal  of  pains  to  find  fault  with  it,  and  to  persuade  his  readers,  that,  "  No 
verb  is  active  in  any  sense,  or  under  any  construction,  that  will  not,  in  every  sense,  permit  the  objec- 
tive case  of  a  personal  pronoun  after  it." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  174.  Wells' absurdly  supposes,  "An 
intransitive  verb  may  be  used  to  govern  an  objective." — Gram.  p.  145.  Some  imagine  that  verbs 
of  mental  action,  such  as  conceive,  think,  believe,  &c.,  are  not  properly  transitive;  and,  if  they 
find  an  object  after  such  a  verb,  they  choose  to  supply  a  preposition  to  govern  it :  as,  "  I  conceived 
it  (of  it)  in  that  light." — Guy's  Gram.  p.  21.  "  Did  you  conceive  (of)"him  to  be  me  ?  " — Ib.  p.  28. 
With  this  idea,  few  will  probably  concur. 

OBS.  15. — We  sometimes  find  the  pronoun  me  needlessly  thrown  in  after  a  verb  that  either 
governs  some  other  object  or  is  not  properly  transitive,  at  least  in  respect  to  this  word  ;  as,  "  It 
ascends  me  into  the  brain;  dries  me  there  all  the  foolish,  dull,  and  crudy  vapours." — Shakspeare's 
Falstaff.  "  Then  the  vital  commoners  and  inland  petty  spirits  muster  me  all  to  their  captain, 
the  heart." — Id.  This  is  a  faulty  relic  of  our  old  Saxon  dative  case.  So  of  the  second  person  : 
"  Fare  you  well,  Falstaff." — Shak.  Here  you  was  written  for  the  objective  case,  but  it  seems  now 
to  have  become  the  nominative  to  the  verb  fare.  "Fare  thee  well." — W.  Scott.  "Farewell  to 
thee." — Id.  These  expressions  were  once  equivalent  in  syntax  ;  but  they  are  hardly  so  now  ; 
and,  in  lieu  of  the  former,  it  would  seem  better  English  to  say,  "  Fare  thou  well."  Again  :  "  Turn 
thee  aside  to  thy  right  hand  or  to  thy  left,  and  lay  thee  hold  on  one  of  the  young  men,  and  take 
thee  his  armour." — 2  Sam.  ii,  21.  If  any  modern  author  had  written  this,  our  critics  would  have 
guessed  he  had  learned  from  some  of  the  Quakers  to  misemploy  thee  for  thou.  The  construction 
is  an  imitation  of  the  French  reciprocal  or  reflected  verbs.  It  ought  to  be  thus:  "Turn  thou 
aside  to  thy  right  hand  or  to  thy  left,  and  lay  hold  on  one  of  the  young  men,  and  take  to  thyself 
his  armour."  So  of  the  third  person  :  "  The  king  soon  found  reason  to  repent  him  of  his  pro- 
voking such  dangerous  enemies." — HUME  :  Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  180.  Here  both  of  the  pronouns 
are  worse  than  useless,  though  Murray  discerned  but  one  error. 
"  Good  Margaret,  run  thee  into  the  parlour  ; 
There  thou  shalt  find  my  cousin  Beatrice." — SHAK.  :  Much  Ado. 

NOTES  TO  RULE  V. 

NOTE  I. — Those  verbs  or  participles  which  require  a  regimen,  or  which  signify 
action  that  must  terminate  transitively,  should  not  be  used  without  an  object ;  as, 
"She  affects  [kindness,]  in  order  to  ingratiate  [herself]  with  you." — "I  must 
caution  [you,]  at  the  same  time,  against  a  servile  imitation  of  any  author  whatever." 
—Blair's  Met.  p.  192. 

NOTE  II. — Those  verbs  and  participles  which  do  not  admit  an  object,  or  which 
express  action  that  terminates  in  themselves,  or  with  the  doer,  should  not  be  used 
transitively;  as,  "  The  planters  grow  cotton."  Say  raise,  produce,  or  cultivate. 
"  Dare  you  speak  lightly  of  the  law,  or  move  that,  in  a  criminal  trial,  judges  should 
advance  one  step  beyond  what  it  permits  them  to  go?" — Blair's  llhet.  p.  278. 
Say, — "  beyond  the  point  to  which  it  permits  them  to  go." 

NOTE  III. — No  transitive  verb  or  participle  should  assume  a  government  to  which 
its  own  meaning  is  not  adapted ;  as,  "Thou  is  a  pronoun,  a  word  used  instead  of  a 
noun — personal,  it  personates  'man.'" — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  131.  Say,  "  It  rep- 
resents man."  "Where  a  string  of  such  sentences  succeed  each  other." — Blairs 
JKhet.  p.  168.  Say,  "  Where  many  such  sentences  come  in  succession." 

NOTE  IV. — The  passive  verb  should  always  take  for  its  subject  or  nominative  the 
direct  object  of  the  active-transitive  verb  from  which  it  is  derived  ;  as,  (Active,) 
"  They  denied  me  this  privilege."  (Passive,)  "  This  privilege  was  denied  me;" 
not,  "JT  was  denied  this  privilege :  "  for  me  may  be  governed  by  to  understood,  but 
privilege  cannot,  nor  can  any  other  regimen  be  found  for  it. 

NOTE  V. — Passive  verbs  should  never  be  made  to  govern  the  objective  case,  be- 
cause the  receiving  of  an  action  supposes  it  to  terminate  on  the  subject  or  nominative.* 
Errors:  "Sometimes  it  is  made  use  of  to  give  a  small  degree  of  emphasis." — 
L.  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  197.  Say,  "  Sometimes  it  is  used"  &c.  "  His  female 

*  This  seems  to  be  a  reasonable  principle  of  syntax,  and  yet  I  find  it  contradicted,  or  a  principle  opposite  to  it 
set  up,  by  some  modern  teachers  of  note,  who  venture  to  justify  all  those  abnormal  phrases  which  I  here  condemn 
as  errors.  Thus  Fowler  :  "  Note  5.  When  a  Verb  with  its  Accusative  case,  is  equivalent  to  a  fingle  verb,  it  may 
take  this  accusative  after  it  in  the  passive  voice  ;  as, '  This  has  been  pvt  an  end  toS  " — Fowler's  English  Language, 
8vo,  §  552.  Now  what  is  this,  but  an  effort  to  teach  bad  English  by  rule?— and  by  such  a  rule,  too,  as  is  vastly- 
more  general  than  even  the  great  class  of  terms  which  it  was  designed  to  include  ?  And  yet  this  rule,  broad  as  it 
is,  does  not  apply  at  all  to  the  example  given  !  For  '•'•put  an  end."  without  the  important  word  "  /o,"  is  not  equiv- 
alent to  stop  or  terminate.  Nor  is  the  example  right.  One  ought  rather  to  say,  "  This  has  been  ended;  "  or, 
"  This  has  been  stopped."  See  the  marginal  Note  to  Obs.  5th,  above. 


In, 
su 


I 

T) 


CIIAP.    III.]  SYNTAX. — RULE   V. — OBJECTIVES. — EURO  US.  501 

characters  have  been  found  fault  with  as  insipid." — HazlitCs  Led.  p.  111.  Say, — 
"  have  been  censured ;  or, — "  have  been  blamed,  decried,  dispraised,  or  condemned." 

NOTE  VI. — The  perfect  participle,  as  such,  should  never  be  made  to  govern  any 
objective  term ;  because,  without  an  active  auxiliary,  its  signification  is  almost  always 
passive  :  as,  "  We  shall  set  down  the  characters  made  use  of  to  represent  all  the 
elementary  sounds." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  5  ;  Fish's,  34.  Say, — "  the  charac- 
ters employed,  or  used." 

NOTE  VII. — As  the  different  cases  in  English  are  not  always  distinguished  by 
their  form,  care  must  be  taken  lest  their  construction  be  found  equivocal,  or  am- 
biguous;  as,  "And  we  shall  always  find  our  sentences  acquire  more  vigour  and 
energy  when  thus  retrenched." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  111.  Say,  "  We  shall  always 
find  that  our  sentences  acquire  more  vigour,"  &c. ;  or,  "We  shall  always  find  our 
sentences  to  acquire  more  vigour  and  energy  when  thus  retrenched." 

NOTE  VIII. — In  the  language  of  our  Bible,  rightly  quoted  or  printed,  ye  is  not 
found  in  the  objective  case,  nor  you  in  the  nominative ;  scriptural  texts  that  preserve 
not  this  distinction  of  cases,  are  consequently  to  be  considered  inaccurate. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  V. 
UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — THE  OBJECTIVE  FORM. 

"  Who  should  I  meet  the  other  day  but  my  old  friend !  " — Spectator,  No.  32. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  pronoun  who  is  in  the  nominative  case,  and  is  used  as  the  object  of  the 
art  i  vi!- transitive  verb  should  men.  But,  according  to  Kulc  5th, '" A  noun  or  a  pronoun  made  the  object  of  an  active- 
f.r.in-irive  verb  or  participle,  is  governed  by  it  in  the  objective  case."  Therefore,  who  should  be  whom;  thus, 
"  \Ynoin  should  i  meet,"  &.C.] 

"  Let  not  him  boast  that  puts  on  his  armour,  but  he  that  takes  it  off." — Barclay's  Works, 
"  Let  none  touch  it,  but  they  who  are  clean." — Sale's  Koran,  95.  "Let  the  sea 
roar,  and  the  fullness  thereof;  the  world,  and  they  that  dwell  therein." — Psalms,  xcviii,  7. 
"  Pray  be  private,  and  careful  who  you  trust." — Mrs.  Gojfes  Letter.  "  How  shall  the  people 
know  who  to  entrust  with  their  property  and  their  liberties?" — District  School,  p.  301. 
"  The  chaplain  entreated  my  comrade  and  I  to  dress  as  well  as  possible." — World  Displayed, 
i,  163.  "  He  that  cometh  unto  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." — Tract,  No.  3,  p.  6.  "  Who, 
during  this  preparation,  they  constantly  and  solemnly  invoke." — Hope  of  Israel,  p.  84. 
Whoever  or  whatever  owes  us,  is  Debtor;  whoever  or  whatever  we  owe,  is  Creditor." — 
Ii  iok-Ki-i j>inij,  p.  23.  "Declaring  the  curricle  was  his,  and  he  should  have 
ho  he  chose  in  it." — Anna  lioss,  p.  147.  "The  fact  is,  Burke  is  the  only  one  of  all  the 
o>t  of  brilliant  contemporaries  who  we  can  rank  as  a  first-rate  orator." — The  Knickerbocker, 
Mai/,  1833.  "  Thus  you  see,  how  naturally  the  Fribbles  and  the  Daffodils  have  produced 
the  M  it'  our  time."  —Browns  Estimate,  ii,  53.  "They  would  rind  in  the  Roman 

list  both  the  Scipio's."— lb.  ii,  70.  "He  found  his  wife's  clothes  on  fire,  and  she  just  ex- 
piring."— Xeir-York  Observer.  "To  present  ye  holy,  unblameable,  and  unreproveable  in 
iit." — Jiurclui/'ji  Works,  i,  353.  "Let  the  distributer  do  his  duty  with  simplicity;  the 
superintendent,  with  diligence ;  he  who  performs  offices  of  compassion,  with  cheerfulness." 
— st  uur('s  ]{»in-ni\,  xii,  9.  "If  the  crew  rail  at  the  master  of  the  vessel,  who  will  they 
inindr" — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  106.  "He  having  none  but  them,  they  having  none  but 
hee." — Di;  I  -'iiolhion. 

"Thou,  nature,  partial  nature,  I  arraign  ! 

Of  thy  caprice  maternal  I  complain." — Burns's  Poems,  p.  50. 
"Nor  knows  he  who  it  is  his  arms  pursue 
With  eager  clasps,  but  loves  he  knows  not  who." — Addison's,  p.  218. 

I'NDKR  NOTE  I. — OF  VERBS  TRANSITIVE. 

"  When  it  gives  that  sense,  and  also  connects,  it  is  a  conjunction." — L.  Murray's  Gram. 
p.  llf>.  "Though  thou  wilt  not  acknowledge,  thou  canst  not  deny  the  fact." — Murray's 
Key,  p.  209.  "  They  specify,  like  many  other  adjectives,  andtvwmr/  sentences." — Kirkhams 
dram.  p.  1 11.  "  The  violation  of  this  rule  tends  so  much  to  perplex  and  obscure,  that  it  is 
safer  to  err  by  too  many  short  sentences." — Murray's  (iru/n.  p.  o!2.  "A  few  l'.j-,'reim-s  are 
subjoined  to  each  important  definition,  for  him  to  practice,  upon  as  he  proceeds  in  commit- 
ing." — A  'n't  in'/'  .v  dram.  3d  Ed.  p.  vii.  "A  verb  signifying  actively  governs  the  accusative." 
''.v  <;ru/n.p.  171  ;  (i'l.rJ.i"*,  17_;  Ci rant's,  199;  and  others.  "Or,  any  word  that  will 
conjugate,  is  a  verb." — Kirk  hum's  dram.  p.  11.  "  In  these  two  concluding  sentences,  the 
author,  hastening  to  finish,  appears  to  write  rather  carelessly."— Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  216. 


502  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

"  He  simply  reasons  on  one  side  of  the  question,  and  then  finishes." — Ib.  p.  306.  "  Praise 
to  God  teaches  to  be  humble  and  lowly  ourselves." — ATTEKBURY  :  ib.  p.  304.  "  This 
author  has  endeavored  to  surpass." — Green's  Inductive  Gram.  p.  54.  "  Idleness  and  plezure 
fateeg  az  soon  az  bizziness." — Noah  Webster's  Essays,  p.  402.  "And,  in  conjugating,  you 
must  pay  particular  attention  to  the  manner  in  which  these  signs  are  applied." — Kirkham's 
Gram.  p.  140.  "  He  said  Virginia  would  have  emancipated  long  ago." — The  Liberator,  ix, 
33.  "And  having  in  a  readiness  to  revenge  all  disobedience." — 2  Cor.  x,  6.  "  However,  in 
these  cases,  custom  generally  determines." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  50.  "  In  proof,  let  the  fol- 
lowing cases  demonstrate." — Ib.  p.  46.  "  We  must  surprise,  that  he  should  so  speedily  have 
forgotten  his  first  principles." — Ib.  p.  147.  "  How  should  we  surprise  at  the  expression, 
« This  is  a  soft  question  ! '  " — Ib.  p.  219.  "And  such  as  prefer,  can  parse  it  as  a  possessive 
adjective." — Goodenow's  Gram.  p.  89.  "  To  assign  all  the  reasons,  that  induced  to  deviate 
from  other  grammarians,  would  lead  to  a  needless  prolixity." — Alexander's  Gram.  p.  4. 
"  The  Indicative  mood  simply  indicates  or  declares." — Farnum's  Gram.  p.  33. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — OF  VERBS  INTRANSITIVE. 

"  In  his  seventh  chapter  he  expatiateth  himself  at  great  length." — Barclay's  Works, 
iii,  350.  "He  quarrelleth  my  bringing  some  testimonies  of  antiquity,  agreeing  with  what 
I  say." — Ib.  iii,  373.  "  liepenting  him  of  his  design." — Humes  Hist,  ii,  56.  "  Henry 
knew,  that  an  excommunication  could  not  fail  of  operating  the  most  dangerous  efFects."- 
II).  ii,  165.  "The  popular  lords  did  not  fail  to  enlarge  themselves  on  the  subject." — 
Macaulay's  Hist,  iii,  177.  "He  is  always  master  of  his  subject;  and  seems  to  play  himself 
with  it." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  445.  "But  as  soon  as  it  comes  the  length  of  disease,  all  his 
secret  infirmities  shew  themselves." — Ib.  p.  256.  "No  man  repented  him  of  his  wicked- 
ness."— Jeremiah,  viii,  6.  "  Go  thee  one  way  or  other,  either  on  the  right  hand,  or  on  the 
left." — Ezekiel,  xxi,  16.  "  He  lies  him  down  by  the  rivers  side." — Walker's  Particles,  p.  99. 
"  My  desire  has  been  for  some  years  past,  to  retire  myself  to  some  of  our  American  plan- 
tations."— Coicley's  Pref.  to  his  Poems,  p.  vii.  "I  fear  me  thou  wilt  shrink  from  the 
payment  of  it." — Zenobia,  i,  76.  "  We  never  recur  an  idea,  without  acquiring  some  com- 
bination."— Rippingham's  Art  of  Speaking,  p.  xxxii. 

"  Yet  more  ;  the  stroke  of  death  he  must  abide, 
Then  lies  him  meekly  down  fast  by  his  brethren's  side." — Milton. 

UNDER  NOTE  III. — OF  VERBS  MISAPPLIED. 

"  A  parliament  forfeited  all  those  who  had  borne  arms  against  the  king." — Hume's  Hist,  ii., 
223.  "  The  practice  of  forfeiting  ships  which  had  been  wrecked." — Ib.  i,  500.  "The  nearer 
his  military  successes  approached  him  to  the  throne." — Ib.  v.  383.  "  In  the  next  example, 
you  personifies  ladies,  therefore  it  is  plural." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  103.  "The  first  its  per- 
sonates vale ;  the  second  its  represents  stream." — Ib.  p.  103.  "  Pronouns  do  not  always 
avoid  the  repetition  of  nouns." — Ib.  p.  96.  "Very  is  an  adverb  of  comparison,  it  compares 
the  adjective  good." — Ib.  p.  88.  "  You  will  please  to  commit  the  following  paragraph." — 
Ib.  p.  140.  "Even  the  Greek  and  Latin  passive  verbs  require  an  auxiliary  to  conjugate 
some  of  their  tenses." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  100.  "The  deponent  verbs,  in  Latin,  require 
also  an  auxiliary  to  conjugate  several  of  their  tenses." — Ib.  p.  100.  "I  have  no  doubt  he 
made  as  wise  and  true  proverbs,  as  any  body  has  done  since." — Ib.  p.  145.  "A  uniform 
variety  assumes  as  many  set  forms  as  Proteus  had  shapes." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  72. 
"When  words  in  apposition  follow  each  other  in  quick  succession." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  57. 
"Where  such  sentences  frequently  succeed  each  other." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  349. 
"  Wisdom  leads  us  to  speak  and  act  what  is  most  proper." — Blairs  Rhet.  p.  99  ;  Murray's 
Gram,  i,  303. 

"  Jul.  Art  thou  not  Romeo,  and  a  Montague  ? 
Rom.  Neither,  fair  saint,  if  either  thee  dislike." — Shak. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — OF  PASSIVE  VERBS. 

"We  too  must  be  allowed  the  privilege  of  forming  our  own  laws." — L.  Murray's  Gram. 
p.  134.  "  For  we  are  not  only  allowed  the  use  of  all  the  ancient  poetic  feet,"  kc.—Ib.  p. 
259;  Kirkham's  Elocution,  143;  Jamieson's  Rhet.  310.  "By  what  code  of  morals  am  I 
denied  the  right  and  privilege  ?  " — Dr.  Bartlett's  Lect.  p.  4.  "  The  children  of  Israel  have 
alone  been  denied  the  possession  of  it." — Keith's  Evidences,  p.  68.  "At  York  fifteen  hundred 
Jews  were  refused  all  quarter." — Ib.  p.  73.  "He  would  teach  the  French  language  in 
three  lessons,  provided  he  was  paid  fifty-five  dollars  in  advance." — Chazotte's  Essay,  p.  4. 
"And  when  he  was  demanded  of  the  Pharisees,  when  the  kingdom  of  God  should  come." 
— Luke,  xvii,  20.  "I  have  been  shown  a  book." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  392.  "John  Home 
Tooke  was  refused  admission  only  because  he  had  been  in  holy  orders." — Diversions  of 
Purley,  i,  60.  "  Mr.  Home  Tooke  having  taken  orders,  he  was  refused  admission  to  the 
bar." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  145.  "Its  reference  to  place  is  lost  sight  of." — Bullions' s  E. 
Gram.  p.  116.  "  What  striking  lesson  are  we  taught  bythe  tenor  of  this  history  ?  " — Bush's 
Questions,  p.  71.  "  He  had  been  left,  by  a  friend,  no  less  than  eighty  thousand  pounds." — 
Priestley's  Gram.  p.  112.  "  Whtere  there  are  many  things  to  be  done,  each  must  be  allowed 


CHAP.    III.]  SYNTAX. RULE   V.— OBJECTIVES. — ERRORS.  503 

its  share  of  time  and  labour." — Johnsons  Prcf.  to  Diet.  p.  xiii.  "  Presenting  the  subject  in 
a  far  more  practical  form  than  it  has  been  heretofore  given." — Kirk/tarn's  Phrenology,  p.  v. 
"If  a  being  of  entire  impartiality  should  be  shown  the  two  companies." — Scott's  Pref.  to 
Bible,  p.  vii.  "  He  was  ottered  the  command  of  the  British  army." — Grimshaw's  Hist.  p.  81. 
"  Who  had  been  unexpectedly  left  a  considerable  sum." — Johnson's  Life  of  Goldsmith. 
"  Whether  a  maid  or  a  widow  may  be  granted  such  a  privilege." — Spectator,  Xo.  536. 
"Happily  all  these  affected  terms  have  been  denied  the  public  suffrage." — Campbell's  Rhet. 
p.  199.  "  Let  him  next  be  shewn  the  parsing  table." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  viii.  "Thence, 
he  may  be  shown  the  use  of  the  Analyzing  Table." — Ib.  p.  ix.  "Pittacus  was  offered  a 
great  sum  of  money." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  228.  "  He  had  been  allowed  more  time  for 
study." — Ib.  p.  229.  "If  the  walks  were  a  little  taken  care  of  that  lie  between  them." — 
Addison,  Spect.  Xo.  414.  "  Suppose  I  am  offered  an  office  or  a  bribe." — Pierpont's  Discourse, 
Jan.  27,  1839. 

"Am  I  one  chaste,  one  last  embrace  deny'd  ? 
Shall  I  not  lay  me  by  his  clay-cold  side  r  " — Eowes  Lucan,  B.  ix,  1.  103. 

UNDER  XOTE  V.  —  PASSIVE  VERBS  TRANSITIVE. 

"  The  preposition  to  is  made  use  of  before  nouns  of  place,  when  they  follow  verbs  and 
participles  of  motion." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  203  ;  Ingersoll's,  231 ;  Greenleaf's,  35  ;  Fish's, 
1  lo  ;  Smith's,  170;  Guy's,  90;  Foicler's,  555.  "They  were  refused  entrance  into  the 
house." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  204.  "Their  separate  signification  has  been  lost  sight  of." — 
Home  Tooke,  ii,  422.  "  But,  whenever  ye  is  made  use  of,  it  must  be  in  the  nominative,  and 
never  in  the  objective,  case." — Cobbett's  Gram.  If  58.  "  It  is  said,  that  more  persons  than 
one  are  paid  handsome  salaries,  for  taking  care  to  see  acts  of  parliament  properly  worded." 
—  f'/turrhi/l's  Gram.  p.  334.  "The  following  Rudiments  of  English  Grammar,  have  been 
made  use  of  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania." — DR.  ROGERS  :  in  Harrison's  Gram.  p.  2. 
"  It  never  should  be  lost  sight  of." — Xcicman's  Rhetoric,  p.  19.  "A  very  curious  fact  hath 
been  taken  notice  of  by  those  expert  metaphysicians." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  281.  "The 
archbishop  interfered  that  Michelet's  lectures  might  be  put  a  stop  to." — The  Friend,  ix,  378. 
"The  disturbances  in  Gottengen  have  been  entirely  put  an  end  to." — Daily  Advertiser. 
'.;ose  that  are  taken  notice  of  in  these  exceptions." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  6.  "As 
one,  two,  or  three  auxiliary  verbs  are  made  use  of." — Ib.  p.  24.  "The  arguments  which 
have  been  made  use  of." — Addi.ion's  1-A-idences,  p.  32.  "The  circumstance  is  properly  taken 
notice  of  by  the  author." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  217.  "Patagonia  has  never  been  taken  posses- 
sion of  by  any  European  nation." — Cumming's  Geog.  p.  62.  "  He  will  be  found  fault  withal 
no  more,  i.  e.  not  hereafter." —  Walker  s  Particles,  p.  226.  "  The  thing  was  to  be  put  an  end 
to  somehow." — Leigh  Hunt's  Byron,  p.  15.  "In  1798,  the  Papal  Territory  was  taken  pos- 
session of  by  the  French." — Pinnock's  Geog.  p.  223.  "  The  idea  has  not  for  a  moment  been 
:ht  of  by  the  Board." — Common  School  Journal,  i,  37.  "  I  shall  easily  be  excused  the 
labour  of  more  transcription." — Johnsons  Life  of  Dryden.  "If  I  may  be  allowed  that  ex- 
::."  —  ('amji'fi il'.-i  Itlttt.  p.  259,  and  288.  "If  without  offence  I  may  be  indulged  the 
observation." — Ib.  p.  295.  "  There  are  other  characters,  which  are  frequently  made  use 
of  in  composition." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  281;  Ingersolfs,  293.  "Such  unaccountable  in- 
firmities might  1)0  in  many,  perhaps  in  most,  cases  got  the  better  of." — Beattie's  Moral 
Science,  i,  1  •>'•',.  "  Which  ought  never  to  be  had  recourse  to." — 76.  i,  186.  "  That  the  widows 
may  be  taken  care  of." — B-u; •'./;/' \  Works,  i,  499.  "Other  cavils  will  yet  be  taken  notice 
of." —  /'  .  "  Which  implies,  that  all  Christians  are  offered  eternal  salva- 

tion."—  West's  Letters,  p.  119.  "  Yet  even  the  dogs  are  allowed  the  crumbs  which  fall  from 
their  ;  ihle." — dunpfn  •'"  M-tff.  xv,  27.  "For  we  say  the  light  within 

must  be  taken  hoed  unto." — Barclay's  U'wAv,  i,  148.  "This  sound  of  a  is  taken  notice  of 
in  Steele's  ( irammar." —  II  .  .  .  ••  One  came  to  be  paid  ten  guineas  for  a  pair 

of  silver  buckles." — c  •  n(,  p.  104.     "Let  him,  therefore,  be  carefully  shewn  the 

application  of  the  several  questions  in  the  table." — Xutti/tf/'s  dram.  p.  8.  "After  a  few 
time-,  it  is  no  In  D  notice  of  by  the  hearers." — Sheridan's  Lect.  p.  182.  "It  will 

not  admit  of  the  >r  be  allowed  the  same  indulgence,  by  people  of  any  dis- 

•  ""•"'"" — Ibid.     "Inanimate  thing*  may  be  made  property  of." — Baattfe't  M.  N /.  p*.  355. 
"And,  when  he's  bid  a  lil>eraller  pri<-e, 
Will  not  be  sluggish  in  the  work,  nor  nice." — Butler's  Poems,  p.  162. 

Vxi>:  .  r  PARTIC: 

"All  the  words  made  use  of  to  denote  spiritual  and  intellectual  things,  are  in  their  origin 
metaphors." — Cm  >'>•     "A   tepl]  _ument  commonly  made  use  of 

')y  unbelievers."  —  Hi.  tofore  the  only  form  made  use  of  in 

i  he  preter  tenses." — Dr.  Ash's  Gram.  p.  47.     "  Of  the  points,  and  other  characters  made 
•ise  of  in  writing." — Ib.  p.  xv.     "It"  thy  be  the  personal  pronoun  made  use  of." — W'alkcr's 
unction  is  a  word  made  use  of  to  connect  sentences." — Burn' a  Gram.  p. 
The  {joints  made  u-e  »t'  to  answer  tb  >  are  the  four  following." — Harrison's 

p.  07.     "Incense  signifies  perfumes  exhaled  by  fire,  and  made  use  of  in  religious 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GEAMMAKS.  [PART  III. 

ceremonies." — Murray's  Key,  p.  171.  "  In  most  of  his  orations,  there  is  too  much  art ;  even 
carried  the  length  of  ostentation." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  246.  "  To  illustrate  the  great  truth, 
so  often  lost  sight  of  in  our  times." — Common  School  Journal,  i,  88.  "  The  principal  figures, 
made  use  of  to  affect  the  heart,  are  Exclamation,  Confession,  Deprecation,  Commination, 
and  Imprecation." — Formey's  Belles- Lettres,  p.  133.  "  Disgusted  at  the  odious  artifices 
made  use  of  by  the  Judge." — Junius,  p.  13.  "The  whole  reasons  of  our  being  allotted  a 
condition,  out  of  which  so  much  wickedness  and  misery  would  in  fact  arise." — Butler's 
Analogy,  p.  109.  "  Some  characteristic al  circumstance  being  generally  invented  or  laid 
hold  oL"—Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  246. 

"And  by  is  likewise  us'd  with  Names  that  shew 
The  Means  made  use  of,  or  the  Method  how." — Ward's  Gram.  p.  105. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII.  —  CONSTRUCTIONS  AMBIGUOUS. 

"  Many  adverbs  admit  of  degrees  of  comparison  as  well  as  adjectives." — Priestley's  Gram, 
p.  133.  "But  the  author,  who,  by  the  number  and  reputation  of  his  works,  formed  our 
language  more  than  any  one,  into  its  present  state,  is  Dryden." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  180.  "In 
some  States,  Courts  of  Admiralty  have  no  juries,  nor  Courts  of  Chancery  at  all." — Web- 
ster's Essays,  p.  146.  "  I  feel  myself  grateful  to  my  friend." — Murray's  Key,  p.  276.  "  This 
requires  a  writer  to  have,  himself,  a  very  clear  apprehension  of  the  object  he  means  to 
present  to  us." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  94.  "  Sense  has  its  own  harmony,  as  well  as  sound." — Ib. 
p.  127.  "The  apostrophe  denotes  the  omission  of  an  i  which  was  formerly  inserted,  and 
made  an  addition  of  a  syllable  to  the  word." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  67.  "There  are  few, 
whom  I  can  refer  to,  with  more  advantage  than  Mr.  Addison." — Blair's  RJiet.  p.  139. 
"  DEATH,  in  theology,  [is  a]  perpetual  separation  from  God,  and  eternal  torments." — Web- 
ster's Diet.  "  That  could  inform  the  traveler  as  well  as  the  old  man  himself !  " —  O.  B.  Peirce's 
Gram.  p.  345. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII.  — YE  AND  YOU  IN  SCRIPTURE. 

"  Ye  daughters  of  Rabbah,  gird  ye  with  sackcloth." — ALGER'S  BIBLE  :  Jer.  xlix,  3. 
"  Wash  ye,  make  you  clean." — Brown's  Concordance,  w.  Wash.  "Strip  ye,  and  make  ye 
bare,  and  gird  sackcloth  upon  your  loins." — ALGER'S  BIBLE:  Isaiah,  xxxii,  11.  "You  are. 
not  ashamed  that  you  make  yourselves  strange  to  me." — FRIENDS'  BIBLE  :  Job,  xix,  3. 
"  You  are  not  ashamed  that  ye  make  yourselves  strange  to  me." — ALGER'S  BIBLE  :  ib.  "  If 
you  knew  the  gift  of  God." — Brown's  Concordance,  10.  Kneiv.  "  Depart  from  me,  ye  workers 
of  iniquity,  I  know  ye  not." — Peningtons  Works,  ii,  122. 

RULE  VI.  —  SAME  CASES. 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  put  after  a  verb  or  participle  not  transitive,  agrees 
in  case  with  a  preceding  noun  or  pronoun  referring  to  the  same  thing :  at, 
"It  is  /."  —  "  These  are  they:1  —  "The  child  was  named  John."  — "  It 
could  not  be  he." — "  The  Lord  sitteth  King  forever." — Psalms >  xxix,  10. 

"  What  war  could  ravish,  commerce  could  bestow, 
And  he  return'd  a  friend,  who  came  a  foe" — Pope,  Ep.  iii,  1.  20(>. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  VI. 

OBS.  1. — Active-transitive  verbs,  and  their  imperfect  and  pluperfect  participles,  always  govern 
the  objective  case  ;  but  active-intransitive,  passive,  and  neuter  verbs,  and  their  participles,  take  the 
same  case  after  as  before  them,  when  both  words  refer  to  the  same  thing.  The  latter  are  rightly 
supposed  not  to  govern*  any  case;  nor  are  they  in  general  followed  by  any  noun  or  pronoun. 
But,  because  they  are  not  transitive,  same  of  them  become  connectives  to  such  words  as  are  in 
the  same  case  and  signify  the  same  thing.  That  is,  their  finite  tenses  may  be  followed  by  a  nom- 
inative, and  their  infinitives  and  participles  by  a  nominative  or  an  objective,  agreeing  with  a  noun 
or  a  pronoun  which  precedes  them.  The  cases  are  the  same,  because  the  person  or  thing  is  one  ; 
as,  "/  am  he." — "  Thou  art  Peter." — "  Civil  government  being  the  sole  object  of  forming  societies, 
its  administration  must  be  conducted  by  common  consent." — Jefferson's  Notes,  p.  129.  Identity 
is  both  the  foundation  and  the  characteristic  of  this  construction.  We  chiefly  use  it  to  affirm  or 
deny,  to  suggest  or  question,  the  sameness  of  things;  but  sometimes  figuratively,  to  illustrate 
the  relations  of  persons  or  things  by  comparison  :  f  as,  "/  am  the  true  vine,  and  my  Father  is  the 
husbandman." — John,  xv,  1.  "/  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches." — John,  \\,  5.  Even  the 
names  of  direct  opposites,  are  sometimes  put  in  the  same  case,  under  this  rule;  as, 
"  By  such  a  change  thy  darkness  is  made  light, 
Thy  chaos  order,  and  thy  toeakness  might." — Cowper,  Vol.  i,  p.  88. 

OBS.  2. — In  this  rule,  the  terms  after  and  preceding  refer  rather  to  the  order  of  the  sense  and 
construction,  than  to  the  mere  placing  of  the  words  ;  for  the  words  in  fact  admit  of  various  posi- 

*  Some,  however,  have  conceived  the  putting  of  the  Fame  case  after  the  verb  as  before  it,  to  be  government ;  as, 
"  Neuter  verbs  occasionally  govern  either  the  nominative  or  [the]  objective  case,  after  them." — Alexander's  Gram. 
p.  54.  "  The  verb  to  be,  always  governs  a  Nominative,  unless  it  be  of  the  Infinitive  Mood." — Buchanan's  Gram. 
p.  94.  This  latter  assertion  is,  in  fact,  monstrously  untrue,  and  also  solecistical. 

f  Not  unfrequently  the  conjunction  as  intervenes  between  these  "  same  cases,"  as  it  may  also  between  words  m 
apposition  ;  as,  "  He  then  is  as  the  head,  and  we  as  the  members  :  he  the  vine,  and  we  the  branches." — Barclay'* 
Works,  Vol.  ii,  p.  139. 


CHAP.    III.]  SYNTAX. RULE   VI. SAME    CASES. — OBSERVATIONS.  505 

tions.  The  proper  subject  of  the  verb  is  the  nominative  to  it,  or  before  it,  by  Rule  2d ;  and  the 
other  nominative,  however  planed,  is  understood  to  be  that  which  comes  after  it,  by  Rule  6th.  In 
general,  however,  the  proper  subject  precedes  the  verb,  and  the  other  word  follows  it,  agreeably 
to  the  literal  sense  of  the  rule.  But  when  the  proper  subject  is  placed  after  the  verb,  as  in  cer- 


uc 

" 


the  contrary,  there  is  a  transposition  of  the  entire  lines,  and  the  verb  agrees  with  the  two  nomi- 
natives in  the  latter : 

"  To  thee  were  solemn  toys  or  empty  show, 

The  robes  of  pleasure  and  the  veils  of  wo." — Dr.  Johnson. 

Ons.  3. — In  interrogative  sentences,  the  terms  are  usually  transposed,*  or  both  are  placed  after 
the  verb  ;  as,  "Am  /  a  Jeio  f  " — John,  xviii,  35.     "Art  thou  a  king  then  ?  " — Ib.  ver.  37.     "  What 
is  truth f  "— Ib.  ver.  38.     "  Who  art  thouf"— Ib.  i,  19.     "Art  thou  Elias? "— Ib.  i,  21.     "Tellme, 
Alciphron,  is  not  distance  a  line  turned  endwise  to  the  eye  ?  " — Berkley's  Dialogues,  p.  161. 
"  Whence,  and  what  art  thou,  execrable  shape  ?  " — Milton. 
"  Art  thou  that  traitor  angel  f  art  thou  he  /  " — Idem. 

OBS.  4. — In  a  declarative  sentence  also,  there  may  be  a  rhetorical  or  poetical  transposition  of 
one  or  both  of  the  terms;  as,  "And  I  thy  victim  now  remain." — Francis's  Horace,  ii,  4-3.  ''To 
thy  own  dogs  a  prey  thou  shalt  be  made." — Pope's  Homer.  "  I  was  eyes  to  the  blind,  &nd.  feet 
was  /  to  the  lame." — Job,  xxix,  15.  "  Far  other  scene  is  Thrasymene  now." — Byron.  In  the 
following  sentence,  the  latter  term  is  palpably  misplaced :  "  It  does  not  clearly  appear  at  first 
what  tin-  antecedent  is  to  they." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  218.  Say  rather :  "  It  does  not  clearly  appear  at 
first,  trh'tt  is  tJtc  antecedent  to  [the  pronoun]  they."  In  examples  transposed  like  the  following, 
there  is  an  elegant  ellipsis  of  the  verb  to  which  the  pronoun  is  nominative  ;  as,  am,  art,  &c. 

:ien  pain  and  anguish  wring  the  brow, 
A  ministering  angel  thou." — Scott's  Marmion. 
"  The  forum's  champion,  and  the  people's  chief, 

Her  new  born  Xuma  thou — with  reign,  alas!  too  brief." — Byron. 
"  For  this  commission'd,  I  forsook  the  sky — 

X:ty,  cease  to  kneel — thy  fellow-servant  I." — Parnell. 

OBS.   5. — In  some  peculiar  constructions,  both  words  naturally  come  before  the  verb ;  as,  "  I 
know  not  who  sin-  is." — "  Who  did  you  say  it  was  ?  " — "  I  know  not  how  to  tell  thee  who  /am." — 
i.     "  Inquire  thou  whose  son  the  stripling  is." — 1  Sam.  xvii,  06.     "  Man  would  not  be  the 
creature  which  he  now  is." — Blair.     "  I  could  not  guess  who  it  should  be." — Addison.    And  they 
uetimes  placed  in  this  manner  by  hyperbaton,  or  transposition  ;  as,  "  Yet  he  it  is." — Yuuny. 
•  ntemptible  orator  he  was." — Dr.  Blair.     "He  it  is  to  whom  I  shall  give  a  sop." — John, 
xiii,  2'5.     "And  a  very  noble  personage  Cato  is." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  457.     "Clouds  they  are  without 
ter." — Jurte,  12. 

"  Of  worm  or  serpent  kind  it  something  looked, 
^^^^^^^^B     But  monstrous,  with  a  thousand  snaky  heads." — Pollok,  B.  i,  1.  183. 

OBS.  6. — As  infinitives  and  participles  have  no  nominatives  of  their  own,  such  of  them  as  are 
not  transitive  in  their  nature,  may  take  different  cases  after  them ;  and,  in  order  to  determine 
what  case  it  is  that  follows  them,  the  learner  must  carefully  observe  what  preceding  word  denotes 
me  person  or  thing,  and  apply  the  principle  of  the  rule  accordingly.     This  word  being 
often  remote,  and  sometimes  understood,  the  sense  is  the  only  clew  to  the  construction.     Exam- 
ples :  "  Who  then  can  bear  the  thought  of  being  an  outcast  from  his  presence  ?  " — Addison.    Here 
..ill  who,  and  not  with  thought,     "/cannot  help  being  so  passionate  an  admirer 
;i>  1  HMI." — >'.'«•/,-.     Hi-re  admirer  agrees  with  /.     "  To  recommend  ichat  the  soberer  part  of  man- 
kind look  upon  to  be  a  trifle." — St<->-lc.     Here  trifle  agrees  with  ic/tnt  as  relative,  the  objective 
:ld  be  a  romantic  madness,  for  a  man  to  be  a  lord  in  his  closet." — Id. 
In  the  nominative  ease,   agreeing  with  it ;  and  lord,  in  the  objective,  agreeing 
with  mnn.     "To  alfect  to  br  a  lord  in  one's  closet,  would  be  a  romantic  madness."     In  this  sen- 
tence also,  lord  is  in  the  objective,  after  to  be ;  and  madness,  in  the  nominative,  after  would  be. 
//Hits  ! '  if  that  will  not  do, 

,  and  be  Odd  you." — J'upr,  B.  ii,  Ep.  ii,  143. 

7. — An  active  intransitive  or  a  neuter  participle  in  ing,  when  governed  by  a  preposition, 

•  wed  by  a  noun  or  a  pronoun  the  case  of  which  depends  not  on  the  preposition,  but  on 

the  case  which  i^oes  before.     Example:  "The  Jews  were  in  a  particular  manner  ridiculed  for 

a  credulous  "—  !         •   —   J  ,!e  js  in   the  nominative  case, 

"  The  learned  pagans  ridiculed  the  Jews  for  being  a  credulous  people." 

Here  people  is  in  the  object  \  the  preceding  noun  Jcirs  is  so.     In  both  instances 

the  preposition/  I  the  participle  being,  and  nothing  else.     "  The  atrocious  crime  of 

:iull  neither  attempt  to  palliate-  or  deny." — 1'rrr:  llniiii>nx's  /.'.  Cram.  p.  82  ; 

text,  with   "nor  "  "tor  "or." — Analiftiml   drum.  p.  190. 

This  example  has  been  erroneously  cited,  as  one  in  which  the  case  of  the  noun  after  the  partici- 
ple is  not  detcnnin«t  by  its  relation  to  any  other  word.  Sanborn  absurdly  supposes  it  to  be  "in 
the  noininutice  independent."  Bullions  as  strangely  tells  us,  "it  may  correctly  be  called  the 

•      •-'Whose  house  is  that?'     This  »•  parwi,  should  be  transposed :  thu.«, '  Whoso  is  that 

house?'     Tin-  at  a  Miuilar  omMruclion." — (.'Imiuil'T's  ol<l  </ 

93.     This  instructio  I  tan  nmiK-n.-f  :  fur  it  tear  he.-*  tin-  pupil  to  ]  -nl  in  tin-  sentence  I'-roni;  .' 

The  author  proceeds  to  o\.  «1 ;"  is,  as  agreeing '' with  it*  nominative, 

housr  ;  "  thnt,  as  "  qualifying  /"  -linalive  case  to  the  vt-rb.  M."      Nothing  of  this  i.*  true 

of  the  original  question.     F»r.  i  ...rneU  by  house;  house  is  nominative  afl 

hints'  i  .iiul  tfuit  relates  to  house  understood.     The  uit-aniij^  is,  ••  Whose  house  ii  that  houtc-  ?:'  or,  iu 

the  order  of  a  declarative  scuteiice,  "  That  houise  is  whose  house  ?  " 


506  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

objective  indefinite" — like  me  in  the  following  example:  "He  was  not  sure  of  its  being  me." — 
Bullions' 's  E.  Gram.  p.  82.  This  latter  text  I  take  to  be  bad  English.  It  should  be,  "  He  was  not 
sure  of  it  as  being  me ;  "  or,  "  He  was  not  sure  that  it  was  I."  But,  in  the  text  above,  there  is  an 
evident  transposition.  The  syntactical  order  is  this  :  "/shall  neither  deny  nor  attempt  to  palliate 
the  atrocious  crime  of  being  a  young  man."  The  words  man  and  /  refer  to  the  same  person, 
and  are  therefore  in  the  same  case,  according  to  the  rule  which  I  have  given  above. 

OBS.  8. — S.  S.  Greene,  in  his  late  Grammar,  improperly  denominates  this  case  after  the  partici- 
ple being,  "  the  predicate-nominative,"  and  imagines  that  it  necessarily  remains  a  nominative 
even  when  a  possessive  case  precedes  the  participle.  If  he  were  right  in  this,  there  would  be  an 
important  exception  to  Rule  6th  above.  But  so  singularly  absurd  is  his  doctrine  about  "  abridged 
predicates,"  that  in  general  the  abridging  shows  an  increase  of  syllables,  and  often  a  conversion 
of  good  English  into  bad.  For  example  :  "It  [the  predicate]  remains  unchanged  in  the  nomina- 
tive, when,  with  the  participle  of  the  copula,  it  becomes  a  verbal  noun,  limited  by  the  possessive 
case  of  the  subject;  as,  'That  rie  was  a  foreigner  prevented  his  election '  =  ' His  being  a.  for- 
eigner prevented  his  election.' " — Greene's  Analysis,  p.  169.  Here  the  number  of  syllables  is 
unaltered;  but  foreigner  is  very  improperly  called  "  a  verbal  noun,"  and  an  example  which  only 
lacks  a  comma,  is  changed  to  what  Wells  rightly  calls  an  "  anomalous  expression,"  and  one 
wherein  that  author  supposes  foreigner  and  his  to  be  necessarily  in  the  same  case.  But  Greene 
varies  this  example  into  other  "  abridged  forms,"  thus  :  "  I  knew  that  he  was  a  foreigner,"  =  "  I 
knew  his  being,  or  of  his  being  a  foreigner."  "  The  fact  that  he  was  a  foreigner,  =  oj  his  being  a, 
foreigner,  was  undeniable."  "  When  he  was  first  called  a  foreigner,  — on  his  being  first  called  a 
foreigner,  his  anger  was  excited." — Ib.  p.  171.  All  these  changes  enlarge,  rather  than  abridge, 
the  expression  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  make  it  questionable  English,  to  say  the  least  of  it. 

OBS.  9. — In  some  examples,  the  adverb  there  precedes  the  participle,  and  we  evidently  have 
nothing  by  which  to  determine  the  case  that  follows  ;  as,  "  These  judges  were  twelve  in  number. 
Was  this  owing  to  there  being  twelve  primary  deities  among  the  Gothic  nations  ?" — Webster's 
Essays,  p.  263.  Say  rather:  "Was  this  because  there  were  twelve  primary  deities  among  the 
Gothic  nations  ?  "  "  How  many  are  injured  by  Adam's  fall,  that  know  nothing  of  there  ever  being 
such  a  man  in  the  world  !  " — Barclay's  Apology,  p.  185.  Say  rather, — "who  know  not  that  there 
ever  was  such  a  man  in  the  world  !  " 

OBS.  10. — In  some  other  examples,  we  find  a  possessive  before  the  participle  and  a  doubtful 
case  after  it ;  as,  "  This  our  Saviour  himself  was  pleased  to  make  use  of  as  the  strongest  argu- 
ment of  his  being  the  promised  Messiah." — Addison's  Evidences,  p.  81.  "But  my  chief  affliction 
consisted  in  my  being  singled  out  from  all  the  other  boys,  by  a  lad  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  as 
a  proper  object  upon  whom  he  might  let  loose  the  cruelty  of  his  temper." — Cowpcr's  Memoir,  p.  13. 
*'  Tov  naTQog  [orrog]  orov  svdvg  vTffuv^nS^.  He  had  some  sort  of  recollection  of  his  father's  being 
an  ass." — Collectanea  Graced  Minora,  Notes,  p.  7.  This  construction,  though  not  uncommon,  is 
anomalous  in  more  respects  than  one.  Whether  or  not  it  is  worthy  to  form  an  exception  to  th<; 
rule  of  same  cases,  or  even  to  that  of  possessivcs,  the  reader  may  judge  from  the  observations 
made  on  it  under  the  latter.  I  should  rather  devise  some  way  to  avoid  it,  if  any  can  be  found — 
and  I  believe  there  can;  as,  "This  our  Saviour  himself  was  pleased  to  advance  as  the  stronges; 
proof  that  he  was  the  promised  Messiah." — "But  my  chief  affliction  consisted  in  this,  that  I  ira  ; 
singled  out,"  £c.  The  story  of  the  mule  is,  "He  seemed  to  recollect  on  a  sudden  that  his  fathe.' 
was  an  ass"  This  is  the  proper  meaning  of  the  Greek  text  above  ;  but  the  construction  is  differ- 
ent, the  Greek  nouns  being  genitives  in  apposition. 

OBS.  11. — A  noun  in  the  nominative  case  sometimes  follows  a  finite  verb,  when  the  equivalent 
subject  that  stands  before  the  verb,  is  not  a  noun  or  pronoun,  but  a  phrase  or  a  sentence  which 
supplies  the  place  of  a  nominative  ;  as,  "  That  the  barons  and  freeholders  derived  their  authority 
from  kings,  is  wholly  a  mistake." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  277.  "To  speak  of  a  slave  as  a  member 
of  civil  society,  may,  by  some,  be  regarded  a  solecism." — Stroud's  Sketch,  p.  65.  Here  mistake 
and  solecism  are  as  "plenty  nominatives,  as  if  the  preceding  subjects  had  been  declinable  words. 

OBS.  12. — When  a  noun  is  put  after  an  abstract  infinitive  that  is  not  transitive,  it  appears 
necessarily  to  be  in  the  objective  case,*  though  not  governed  by  the  verb  ;  for  if  we  supply  any  noun 

*  1.  In  Latin,  the  accusative  case  is  used  after  such  a  verb,  because  an  other  word  in  the  same  case  is  under- 
stood before  it ;  as,  "  Facerc  quse  libefc,  ID  est  [hominem]  esse  regent." — SALLUST.  "  To  do  what  he  pleases,  THAT 
is  [for  a  man]  to  be  a  king."  If  Professor  Bullions  had  understood  Latin,  or  Greek,  or  English,  as  well  as  his 
commenders  imagine,  he  might  have  discovered  what  construction  of  cases  we  have  in  the  following  instances  : 
"  It  is  an  honour  [for  a  man]  to  be  the  author  of  such  a  work." — Bullions^  Eng.  Gram.  p.  82.  "  To  be  surtty  for 
a  stranger  [,]  is  dangerous." — Ib.  "  Not  to  know  what  happened  before  you  were  born,  is  to  be  always  a  child." 
—Ib.  "  Nescire  quid  acciderit  antequam  natus  es,  est  semper  esse  puerum."—lb.  u  "Ean  r^r  iti'a/otir  . . . 
ru/rwv,  (l)v  JjU*v  TTOTZ  XI'QIOI  (paivta&at  nQoieutvovg."  "  It  is  a  shame  to  be  seen  giving  up  countries  of 
which  we  were  once  masters."— DEMOSTHENES  :  ib.  What  support  these  examples  give  to  this  grammarian's  new 
notion  of  "  the.  objective  indefinite,"  or  to  his  still  later  seizure  of  Greene's  doctrine  of  "  the  predicate -no  mi  native, " 
the  learned  reader  may  judge.  All  the  Latin  and  Greek  grammarians  suppose  an  ellipsis,  in  such  instances  ;  but 
some  moderns  are  careless  enough  of  that,  and  of  the  analogy  of  General  Grammar  in  this  case,  to  have 
seconded  the  Doctor  in  his  absurdity.  See  Famum's  Practical  Gram.  p.  23  ;  and  S.  W.  Clark's,  p.  149. 

2.  Professor  Hart  has  an  indecisive  remark  on  this  construction,  as  follows  :  •'  Sometimes  a  verb  in  the  infini- 
tive mood  has  a  noun  after  it  without  any  other  noun  before  it;  as,  '  To  be  a  good  man,  is  not  so  easy  a  thing  as 
many  people  imagine.'    Here  '  man '  may  be  parsed  as  used  indefinitely  after  the  verb  to  be.    It  is  not  easy  to  say 
in  what  case  the  noun  is  in  such  sentences.      The  analogy  of  the  Latin  would  seem  to  indicate  the  objective. — 
Thus,  '  Not  to  know  what  happened  in  past  years,  is  to  be  always  a  child,'1  Latin,  '  semper  esse  puen/wr.'      In  like 
"manner,  in  English,  we  may  say,  '•Its  being  me,  need  make  no  change  in  your  determination.'  " — Harfs  English 

3.  These  learned  authors  thus  differ  about  what  certainly  admits  of  no  other  solution  than  that  which  is  given 
in  the  Observation  above.    To  parse  the  nouns  in  question,  "  as  used  indefinitely,"  without  case,  and  to  call  them 
"  objectives  indefinite,"  without  agreement  or  government,  are  two  methods  equally  repugnant  to  reason.      The 
last  suggestion  of  Hart's  is  also  a  false  argument  for  a  true  position.     The  phrases,  "Its  being  me,"  and  "  To  be  a 
good  man  "  are  far  from  being  constructed  "in  like  manner."    The  former  is  manifestly  bad  English  ;  because  its 
and  me  are  not  in  the  same  case.    But  S.  S.  Greene  would  say,  "Its  being  I,  is  right."    For  iu  a  similar  instance, 


CHAP.   III.]  SXNTAX. RULE    VI. SAME    CASES. NOTES.  507 

to  which  such  infinitive  may  be  supposed  to  refer,  it  must  be  introduced  before  the  verb  by  the 
preposition  for :  as,  "  To  be  an  Englishman  in  London,  a  Frenchman  in  Paris,  a  Spaniard  in 
Madrid,  is  no  easy  matter ;  and  yet  it  is  necessary." — Home's  Art  of  Thinking,  p.  89.  That  is, 
"/•or  a  traveller  to  be  an  Englishman  in  London,"  &c.  "  It  is  certainly  as  easy  to  be  &  scholar,  as 
a  i/tnni'^fi  r." — /A//v/.s\s  Hermei,  p.  42-5.  That  is,  "  It  is  as  eujforayottng  mania  l>e  i\.  scholar,  as  it 
it  for  him  to  be  a  yam>  .v^r."  "  To  be  an  eloquent  speaker,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  is  far 
from  being  a  common  or  an  easy  attainment." — Blair's  Ehet.  p.  3U7.  Here  attainment  is  in  the 
nominative,  after  is— or,  rather,  after  hdny,  for  it  follows  both  ;  and  speaker,  in  the  objective  after 
to  he.  "  It  is  almost  as  hard  a  thing  [for  a  man]  to  be  a  poet  in  despite  of  fortune,  as  it  is  [for  one 
to  be  apoet]  in  despite  of  nature."—  Cotcley's  Preface  to  his  Poems,  p.  vii. 

Ons.  13. — Where  precision  is  necessary,  loose  or  abstract  infinitives  are  improper;  as,  "  But  to 
?»•  jirt-cise,  signifies,  that  they  express  that  idea,  and  no  more." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  94;  Murray'* 
C ra in,  301 ;  JamiesoiCs  Rhet.  64.  Say  rather  :  "  But, /bran  author's  words  to  be  precise,  signifies, 
that  they  express  his  exact  idea,  and  nothing  more  or  less." 

OHS.  14. — The  principal  verbs  that  take  the  same  case  after  as  before  them,  except  those  which 
are  passive,  are  the  following  :  to  be,  to  stand,  to  sit,  to  lie,  to  live,  to  grow,  to  become,  to  turn, 
to  commence,  to  die,  to  expire,  to  come,  to  go,  to  range,  to  wander,  to  return,  to  seem,  to  appear, 
to  remain,  to  continue,  to  reign.  There  are  doubtless  some  others,  which  admit  of  such  a  construc- 
tion ;  and  of  some  of  these,  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  they  are  sometimes  transitive,  and  govern  the 
objective  :  as,  "  To  commence  a  suit." — Johnson.  "  O  continue  thy  loving  kindness  unto  them." — 
Ptalm,  xxxvi,  10.  "A  feather  will  turn  the  scale." — Shak.  "Return  him  a  trespass  offering." — 
1  Strmut-/.  "  For  it  becomes  me  so  to  speak." — Dryden.  But  their  construction  with  like  <• 
easily  distinguished  by  the  sense;  as,  "  When  /commenced  author,  my  aim  was  to  amuse." — 
/.  ii,  286.  "Men  continue  men's  destroyers." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  56.  "  *Tis 
most  just,  that  thou  turn  rascal." — SHAK.  Timon  of  Athens.  "  He  went  out  mate,  but  he  returned 
captain."' — Murmy's  dram.  p.  182.  "After  this  event  he  became  physician  to  the  king." — Ib. 
That  is,  "  When  I  began  to  be  an  author,"  &c. 

"  Ev'n  mean  self-lore  becomes,  by  force  divine, 
The  scale  to  measure  others'  wants  by  thine." — Pope. 

Oiis.  l->. — The  common  instructions  of  our  English  grammars,  in  relation  to  the  subject  of  the 
preceding  rule,  arc  exceedingly  erroneous  and  defective.  For  example  :  "  The  verb  TO  BIJ,  has  always 
a  nominative  case  after  it,  ittueu  it  be  in  the  infinitive  mode." — Lmrth'*  Cram.  p.  77.  "  The  verb 
TO  UK  rc'/nires  the  same  case  after  it  as  before  it." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  142.  "  The  verb  TO  BE, 
through  all  its  variations,  has  the  same  case  after  it,  expressed  or  understood,  as  that  which  next  pre- 
r."— Mui-ray's  Cram.  p.  181;  Al;/cr\s,(52;  Merchant's,  91  ;  Putnam's,  116;  Smith's,  97  ;  and 
many  others.  "  The  verb  TO  BE  has  usually  the  same  case  after  it,  as  that  which  immediately  pre- 
cedes  it." — Hairs  Cram.  p.  31.  ""Xeuter  verbs  have  the  same  case  after  them,  as  that  which  next  pre- 
cedes them." — Fol/icr's  Cram.  p.  14.  "  Passive  verbs  which  signify  naminy,  and  others  of  a  similar 
.  have  the  same  case  before  and  after  them." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  182.  "  A  Noun  or  Pro- 
noun used  in  predication  with  a  verb,  is  in  the  Independent  Case.  EXAMPLES — '  Thou  art  a 
'  It  is  /.'  '  God  is  /ore.'  " — £»'.  H*.  Clark's  Pract.  Cram.  p.  149.  So  many  and  monstrous 
are  the  faults  of  these  rules,  that  nothing  but  very  learned  and  reverend  authority,  could  possibly 
impose  such  teaching  anywhere.  The  first,  though  written  by  Lowth,  is  not  a  whit  wiser,  than  to 
say,  "  The  preposition  to  has  always  an  infinitive  mood  aftefit,  unless  it  be  a  preposition."  And 
this  latter  absurdity  is  even  a  better  rule  for  all  infinitives,  than  the  former  for  all  predicated  nom- 
inatives. Nor  is  there  much  more  fitness  in  any  of  the  rest.  "  The  verb  TO  BE,  through  all,"  or 
•  vcn  in  "in/,  of  its  parts,  has  neither  "always"  nor  usually  a  case  "  expressed  or  understood  "  after 
it ;  and,  even  when  there  is  a  noun  or  a  pronoun  put  after  it,  the  case  is,  in  very  many  instances,  not 


Luther,  p.  13.     "  The  devil  otters  his  service  ;  he  is  sent  with  a  positive  commission  to   be 
a  lying  spirit  in  the  mouth  of  all  the  prophet-;."  —  Calrin's  Institutes,  p.  131.      It  is  perfectly  cer- 
tain that  in  these  four  texts,  the  words,  sum,  kin>/,  reliance,  and  npirit,  are  iwmtitnticex,  after  the 
:  participle;  and  not  '/  they  must  be,  if  there  were  any  truth  in  the  common  as- 

sertion, "  that  the  two  cases,  which,  in  the  construction  of  the  sentence,  are  the  next  before  and 
after  it,  must  always  he  alike."  —  Smith's  Xetc  Cram.  p.  !»S.     Not  only  may  the  nominative  before 
the  verb  he  followed  by  an  objective,  but  the  nominative  after  it  may"  be  preceded  by  a  possessive  ; 
mot,  the  herdsman  of    :  not  a  prophet's  son."  —  "  It'is  the  kiny's  chapel,  and  it  is 

v,  vii,  13.     How  ignorant  then  must  that  person  be,  who  cannot  see  the 
1  ity  of  the  instructions  above  cited!     How  careless  the  reader  who  overlooks  it  ! 

NOTES  TO  RULH  VI. 

XOTK  T.  —  The  putting  of  a  noun  in  an  unknown  case  after  a  participle  or  a  par- 
ticipial noun,  prudiuM.'.s  an  anomaly  which  it  sec-ins  better  to  avoid  ;  for  the  cases  ought 
to  be  clear,  even  in  exceptions  to  the  common  rules  of  construction.  KxampK-s  : 
1.  "  WinowiiooD,  n.  The  state  oflnntj  a  widmr.^  —  JIVAx/r/.v  Diet.  Say  rather, 
"  WIDOWHOOD,  n.  The  State  of  a  widow."  —  Julmson,  H1///.-»r,  Worcester.  (2.)  "I 
had  a  suspicion  of  the  fellow's  being  a  swindler.1'  Say  rather,  "  I  had  a  suspicion 


in-  lin-5  this  conclusion  :  u  Hence,  in  abridgim*   the  following  proposition,  '  T  was  not  aware  that  it  icux  fit,1  we 
*huulil  suy'o/itj  >-  •  1.  p.  171.      N 

nonn,  no  case  after  it  appears  f«.  be  \>>ry  yr«]*'T  ;  but  this  author,  thus  ••  u'm  i-^m^  '   i«»ur  syllables  into  Jive,  pro- 
duces an  anomalous  coustructiou  which  it  would  be  much  butter  to  avoid. 


508  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

that  the  fellow  was  a  swindler."     (3.)   "  To  prevent  zVs  being  a  dry  detail  of  terms. " 
— Buck.     Better,  "  To  prevent  it  from  being  a  dry  detail  of  terms."* 

NOTE  II. — The  nominative  which  follows  a  verb  or  participle,  ought  to  accord  in 
signification,  either  literally  or  figuratively,  with  the  preceding  term  which  is  taken 
for  a  sign  of  the  same  thing.  Errors  :  (1.)  "To  be  convicted  of  bribery,  was  then  a 
crime  altogether  unpardonable." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  265.  To  be  convicted  of  a  crime, 
is  not  the  crime  itself;  say,  therefore,  "Bribery  was  then  a  crime  altogether  unpardon- 
able." (2.)  "  The  second  person  is  the  object  of  the  Imperative." — Murray's  Gram. 
Index,  ii,  292.  Say  rather,  M  The  second  person  is  the  subject  of  the  imperative ;  " 
for  the  object  of  a  verb  is  the  word  governed  by  it,  and  not  its  nominative. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  VI. 
UNDER,  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — OP  PROPER  IDENTITY. 

"  Who  would  not  say,  '  If  it  be  me,'  rather  than,  If  it  be  I?  " — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  105. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  pronoun  me,  which  comes  after  the  neuter  verb  be,  is  in  the  objective  case, 
and  does  not  agree  with  the  pronoun  it,  the  verb's  nominative,!  which  refers  to  the  same  thing.  But,  according 
to  Rule  6th,  "A  noun  or  a  pronoun  put  after  a  verb  or  participle  not  transitive,  agrees  in  case  with  a  preceding 
noun  or  pronoun  referring  to  the  same  thing."  Therefore,  me  should  be  I ;  thus.  "  Who  would  not  say. '  If  it  be 
/,'  rather  than,  '  If  it  be  me  ?  ' "] 

"  Who  is  there  ?  It  is  me." — Priestley,  ib.  p.  104.  "  It  is  him." — Id.  ib.  104.  "  Are  these 
the  houses  you  were  speaking  of?  Yes,  they  are  them." — Id.  ib.  104.  "It  is  not  me  you 
are  in  love  with." — Addison's  Sped.  No.  290  ;  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  104  ;  and  Campbell's  Rhet. 
p.  203.  "  It  cannot  be  me." — SWIFT  :  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  104.  "To  that  which  once  was 
thee." — PRIOR:  ib.  104.  "There  is  but  one  man  that  she  can  have,  and  that  is  me." — 
CLARISSA:  ib.  104.  "We  enter,  as  it  were,  into  his  body,  and  become,  in  some  measure, 
him." — ADAM  SMITH  :  ib.  p.  105.  "Art  thou  proud  yet?  Ay,  that  I  am  not  thee." — Shak. 
Timon.  "He  knew  not  whom  they  were." — Milnes,  Greek  Gram.  p.  234.  "Who  do  you 
think  me  to  be?" — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  108.  "  Whom  do  men  say  that  I,  the  Son  of  man, 
am  ?" — Matt,  xvi,  13.  "  But  whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  " — Ib.  xvi,  15.  "  Whom  think  ye 
that  I  am?  I  am  not  he." — Acts,  xiii,  25.  "No;  I  am  mistaken  ;  I  perceive  it  is  not  the 
person  whom  I  supposed  it  was-" — Winter  in  London,  ii,  66.  "And  while  it  is  Him  I  servo, 
life  is  not  without  value." — Zenobia,  i,  76.  "Without  ever  dreaming  it  was  him." — Life 
of  Charles  XII,  p.  271.  "  Or  he  was  not  the  illiterate  personage  whom  he  affected  to  be." 
— Montgomery's  Lect.  "Yet  was  he  him,  who  was  to  be  the  greatest  apostle  of  the  Ger- 
tiles." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  540.  "  Sweet  was  the  thrilling  ecstasy ;  I  know  not  if  'twas  lovo, 
or  thee." — Queen's  Wake,  p.  14.  "Time  was,  when  none  would  cry,  that  oaf  was  me." — 
Dryden,  Prol.  "No  matter  where  the  vanquish' d  be,  nor  whom." — Rowe's  Lucan,  B.  i,  1. 
676.  "  No,  I  little  thought  it  had  been  him." — Life  of  Gratton.  "That  reverence  and 
godly  fear,  whose  object  is  *  Him  who  can  destroy  both  body  and  soul  in  hell.'  " — Maturin's 
Sermons,  p.  312.  "It  is  us  that  they  seek  to  please,  or  rather  to  astonish." — West's  Letters, 
p  .28.  "Let  the  same  be  she  that  thou  hast  appointed  for  thy  servant  Isaac." — Gen.  xxiv, 

*  Parkhurst  and  Sanborn,  by  what  they  call  "A  NEW  RULE,"  attempt  to  determine  the  doubtful  or  unknown 
cnse  which  this  note  censures,  and  to  justify  the  construction  as  being  well-authorized  and  hardly  avoidable. 
Their  rule  is  this  :  "A  noun  following  a  neuter  or  [a]  passive  participial  noun,  is  in  the  nominative  independent. 
A  noun  or  pronoun  in  the  possessive  case,  always  precedes  the  participial  noun,  either  expressed  or  understood, 
signifying  the  same  thing  as  the  noun  does  that  follows  it."  To  this  new  and  exceptionable  dogma,  Sanborn  adds  : 
"  This  form  of  expression  is  one  of  the  most  common  idioms  of  the  language,  and  in  general  composition  cannot 
be  well  avoided.  In  confirmation  of  the  statement  made,  various  authorities  are  subjoined.  Two  grammarians 
only,  to  our  knowledge,  have  remarked  on  this  phraseology :  '  Participles  are  sometimes  preceded  by  a  possessive 
case  and  followed  by  a  nominative  ;  as,  There  is  no  doubt  of  his  being  a  great  statesman.'1  B.  GKEENLEAF.  '  We 
sometimes  find  a  participle  that  takes  the  same  case  after  as  before  it,  converted  into  a  verbal  noun,  and  the  latter 
word  retained  unchanged  in  connexion  with  it;  as,  I  have  some  recollection  of  his  father's  being  a  judge..' 
GOOLD  BROWN." — Sanborn's  Analytical  Cham.  p.  189.  On  what  principle  the  words  statesman  and  judge  can  be 
affirmed  to  be  in  the  nominative  case,  I  see  not ;  and  certainly  they  are  not  nominatives  "•  independent,''1  because 
the  word  bthtg,  alter  which  they  stand,  is  not  itself  independent.  It  is  true,  the  phraseology  is  common  enough 
to  be  good  English  :  but  1  dislike  it ;  and  if  this  citation  from  me,  was  meant  for  a  confirmation  of  the  reasonless 
dogmatism  preceding,  it  is  not  made  with  fairness,  because  my  opinion  of  the  construction  is  omitted  by  the 
quoter.  See  Institutes  of  English  Gram.  p.  Iti2.  In  an  other  late  grammar, — a  shameful  work,  because  it  is  in 
great  measure  a  tissue  of  petty  larcenies  from  my  Institutes,  with  alterations  for  the  worse, — 1  find  the  following 
absurd  '•  Note,"  or  Rule  :  "An  infinitive  or  participle  is  often  followed  by  a  substantive  explanatory  of  an  indefinite 
person  or  thing.  The  substantive  is  then  in  the  objective  case,  and  may  be  called  the  objective  after  the  infinitive, 
or  participle  ;  [as,]  It  is  an  honor  to  be  the  author  of  such  a  work,  llis  being  a  great  man,  did  not  make  him  a 
happy  man.  By  being  an  obedient  child,  you  will  secure  the  approbation  of  your  parents." — Farnum's  Practical 
Gram.  1st  Ed.  p.  25.  The  first  of  these  examples  is  elliptical ;  (see  Obs.  12th  above,  and  the  Marginal  Note  ;) 
the  second  is  bad  English  —  or,  at  any  rate,  directly  repugnant  to  the  rule  for  same  cases  ;  and  the  third  parsed 
wrong  by  the  rule  :  u  child  "  is  in  the  nominative  case.  See  Obs.  7th  above. 

T  When  the  preceding  case  is  not  "  the  verb's  nominative,"  this  phrase  must  of  course  be  omitted  ;  and  when  the 
word  which  is  to  be  corrected,  does  not  literally  follow  the  verb,  it  may  be  proper  to  say,  "  constructively  follows,11 
in  lieu  of  the  phrase,  u  comes  after." 


CHAP.    III.]  SYNTAX. — RULE   VI. SAME   CASES. ERRORS.  509 

14.     "Although  I  knew  it  to  be  he." — Dickens  s  Notes,  p.  9.      "  Dear  gentle  youth,  is't  none 
but  thee  :  " — Dorset's  J'o>;n.i,  p.  4.     "  Whom  do  they  say  it  is  r " — Fowler's  E.  Gram.  §  493. 
"  These  are  her  garb,  not  her ;  they  but  express 
Her  form,  her  semblance,  her  appropriate  dress." — Hannah  More. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — THE  CASE  DOUBTFUL. 

"I  had  no  knowledge  of  there  being  any  connexion  between  them." — Stone,  on  Freema- 
sonry, p.  25.  "To  promote  iniquity  in  others,  is  nearly  the  same  as  being  the  actors  of  it 
ourselves." — Murray's  Key,  p.  170.  "  It  must  arise  from  feeling  delicately  ourselves." — 
Blair's  Rhct.  p.  330  ;  Murray's  Gram.  248.  "  By  reason  of  there  not  having  been  exercised 
a  competent  physical  power  for  their  enforcement." — Mass.  Legislature,  1839.  "  PUPILAGE, 
n.  The  state  of  being  a  scholar." — Johnson,  Walker,  Webster,  Worcester.  "  Then  the  other 
part's  being  the  definition  would  make  it  include  all  verbs  of  every  description." — O.  B. 
Peirces  Gram.  p.  343.  "John's  being  my  friend,*  saved  me  from  inconvenience." — Ib.  p. 
201.  "  William's  having  become  a  judge,  changed  his  whole  demeanor." — Ib.  p.  201. 
"  William's  having  been  a  teacher,  was  the  cause  of  the  interest  which  he  felt." — Ib.  p.  216. 
"  The  being  but  one  among  many  stifleth  the  chidings  of  conscience." — Book  of  Thoughts,  p. 
131.  "As  for  its  being  esteemed  a  close  translation,  I  doubt  not  many  have  been  led  into  that 
error  by  the  shortness  of  it." — Pope's  Pref.  to  Homer.  "All  presumption  of  death's  being 
the  destruction  of  living  bodies,  must  go  upon  supposition  that  they  are  compounded,  and 
so  discerptible." — Butkrs  Analogy,  p.  63.  "This  argues  rather  their  being  proper  names." 
—  Churchill's  Gram.  p.  382.  "But  may  it  not  be  retorted,  that  its  being  a  gratification  is 
that  which  excites  our  resentment:" — Campbell's  Rhct.  p.  145.  "  Under  the  common  no- 
tion, of  its  being  a  system  of  the  whole  poetical  art." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  401.  "Whose  time 
or  other  circumstances  forbid  their  becoming  classical  scholars." — Literary  Convention,  p. 
113.  "  It  would  preclude  the  notion  of  his  being  a  merely  fictitious  personage." — Philo- 
•'/»,  i,  446.  "For,  or  under  pretence  of  their  being  heretics  or  infidels." — The 
'i :  (rco.  Ill,  31st.  "We  may  here  add  Dr.  Home's  sermon  on  Christ's  being 
the  Object  of  religious  Adoration." — R<>ti<j.  World,  Vol.  ii,  p.  200.  "To  say  nothing  of  Dr. 
Priestley's  being  a  strenuous  advocate,"  &c. — Ib.  ii,  207.  "By  virtue  of  Adam's  being  their 
public  head." — Ib.  ii,  233.  "  Objections  against  there  being  any  such  moral  plan  as  this." 
— But  .  p.  •>", .  "A  greater  instance  of  a  man's  being  a  blockhead." — Sped.  No. 

620.      "  We  may  insure  or  promote  its  being  a  happy  state  of  existence  to  ourselves." — 
sf>.      "  By  its  often  falling  a  victim  to  the  same  kind  of  unnatural 

treatment." — Kirkhnm's  Elocution,  p.  41.  "Their  appearing  foolishness  is  no  presumption 
ngainst  this." — ]{itf?>-r's  Analogy,  p.  189.  "  But  what  arises  from  their  being  offences;  ».  e. 
from  their  being  liable  to  be  perverted." — Ib.  p.  185.  "And  he  entered  into  a  certain  man's 
house,  named  Justus,  one  that  worshipped  God." — Acts,  xviii,  7. 

UNDER  NOTE  II.— OF  FALSE  IDENTIFICATION. 

"  But  to  be  popular,  he  observes,  is  an  ambiguous  word." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  307.      "The 
infinitive  mood,  or  part  of  a  sentence,  is  often  the  nominative  case  to  a  verb." — L.  Murray's 

-n.  Vol.  ii,  p.  290.  "  When  any  person,  in  speaking,  introduces  his  own 
name,  it  is  the  first  person;  as, 'I,  James,  of  the  city  of  Boston.'" — R.  ('.  Smith's  New 
Gram.  p.  43.  "The  name  of  the  person  spoken  to,  is  the  second  person;  as,  'James,  come 
t  >  me.'  " — 1'ii'l.  "The  name  of  the  person  or  thing  spoken  of,  or  about,  is  the  third  per- 
irnes  has  come.'  " — Ibid.  "The  object  [of  a  passive  verb]  is  always  its  subject 
or  nominative  case." — Ib.  p.  62.  "When  a  noun  is  in  the  nominative  case  to  an  active 
verb,  it  is  the  actor."  —  Kirk  ham' a  Gram.  p.  41.  "And  the  person  commanded,  is  its  nomi- 
native."—  Ingrrs-itt's  Cram.  p.  120.  "The  lirst  person  is  that  who  speaks." — Fasquicr's 
1 .  "  The  ( 'onjugation  of  a  Verb  is  its  different  variations  or  inflections  through- 
out the  Moods  and  TenttO."— VfnpAft  Gram.  p.  80.  "The  first  person  is  the  speaker. 
The  second  person  is  the  one  spoken  to.  The  third  person  is  the  one  spoken  of." — J'ur/crr 

1'art  i,  p.  6  ;  Ifilcy's,  18.     "The  first  person  is  the  one  that  speaks,  or  the 
speaker."— .sVi//Wn'.t  Gr,nn.  pp.  2:;  and  7-1.      "The  second  person  is  the  one  that  is  spoken 
to,  or  addressed." — Jbi,l.      "The  third  person  is  the  one  that  is  spoken  of,  or  that  is  the 
topic   of  conversation." — Ibid.     "/,  is  the  first  person   Singular.        II V,  i-;   the   first    ; 
Plural." — Murray's  Cram.  p.  •">  1  :  '>'.«,  and  many  afh,r*.      "Thau,  is  the  second 

person   Singular.       }V  or  yon,  is  the  second   person   Plural.  ' — Ibid.       "//<•,  s/tr,  or  if,  is  the 
third  person  Singular.      They,  is  the  third  person  Plural." — Ibid.     "The  nominative  < 
the  actor,  or  subject  of  the  verb." — Kirkh<:  .  p.  43.     "The  noun  John  is  the  actor, 

*  The  author  of  this  i-xumple  supposes  frirnd  to  be  In  the  nominative  case,  though  John's:  is  in  the  po- 
;i   words   driniv  Mi'  Kilt  this  is  not  onlv  cnntr.-irv  to  the  prm-nil    rii'i1  f>r  sain*1  CM 

cc  ntrary  t<>  his  own  apjilic  i  hi-  m\n  nil-  -       .  to  instruct  her 

pupils."    H.  r  ."  nriifT\<  in  the;>o\-  i  relation  to  the  name  Mario,  denoting  th«  mm* 

-11.    TbU  explanation,  L  account  of  to  grammatical 

racy,     lit-  mr.-ux.  h"-,M-v.-r.  Miat.  .  fpim  its  relation  to  the  name  Mfi'ia't, 

the  two  words  denoting  tin  word  can  be  po»«'~ iv«  ••  from  its  relation  to  the  name  Maria,"  ex- 

ctpt  by  standing  immediately  before  it,  in  the  usual  uuiuner  of  popsesv. 


510  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

therefore  John  is  in  the  nominative  case." — Ibid.  "The  actor  is  always  the  nominative 
case." — Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  62.  "The  nominative  case  is  always  the  agent  or  actor." — 
Mark's  Gram.  p.  67.  "Tell  the  part  of  speech  each  name  is." — J.  Flint's  Gram.  p.  (5. 
"  What  number  is  boy  ?  Why  ?  What  number  is  pens  ?  Why  ? " — Ib.  p.  27.  "  The  speaker 
is  the  first  person,  the  person  spoken  to,  the  second  person,  and  the  person,  or  thing  spoken 
of,  is  the  third  person." — Ib.  p.  26.  "  What  nouns  are  masculine  gender  ?  All  males  are 
masculine  gender." — Ib.  p.  28.  "An  interjection  is  a  sudden  emotion  of  the  mind." — 
Barrett's  Gram.  p.  62. 

RULE  VII.  —  OBJECTIVES. 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  made  the  object  of  a  preposition,  is  governed  by  it 
in  the  objective  case :  as,  "  The  temple  of  fame  stands  upon  the  grave :  the 
flame  that  burns  upon  its  altars^  is  kindled  from  the  ashes  of  great  men" 
—Hazlitt. 

"  Life  is  His  gift,  from  whom  whate'er  life  needs, 
With  ev'ry  good  and  perfect  gift,  proceeds." — Cowper,  Vol.  i,  p.  95. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  VII. 

OBS.  1. — To  this  rule  there  are  no  exceptions  ;  for  prepositions,  in  English,  govern  no  other 
case  than  the  objective.*  But  the  learner  should  observe,  that  most  of  our  prepositions  may  take 
the  imperfect  participle  for  their  object,  and  some,  the  pluperfect,,  or  preperfect ;  as,  "On  opening 
the  trial,  they  accused  him  of  having  defrauded  them." — "A  quick  wit,  a  nice  judgment,  &c., 
could  not  raise  this  man  above  being  received  only  upon  the  foot  of  contributing  to  mirth  and  diver- 
sion."— Steele.  And  the  preposition  to  is  often  followed  by  an  infinitive  verb ;  as,  "When  one 
sort  of  wind  is  said  to  wnistut,  and  another  to  roar;  when  a  serpent  is  said  to  hiss,  a  fly  to  buzz, 
and  falling  timber  to  crash;  when  a  stream  is  said  to  flow,  and  hail  to  rattle ;  the  analogy  between 
the  word  and  the  thing  signified,  is  plainly  discernible." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  55.  But  let  it  not  be 
supposed  that  participles  or  infinitives,  when  they  are  governed  by  prepositions,  are  therefore  in  the 
objective  case  ;  for  case  is  no  attribute  of  either  of  these  classes  of  words  :  they  are  indeclinable  in 
English, 'whatever  be  the  relations  they  assume.  They  are  governed  as  participles,  or  as  injinitires, 
and  not  as  cases.  The  mere  fact  of  government  is  so  far  from  creating  i\\e  modification  governed, 
that  it  necessarily  presupposes  it  to  exist,  and  that  it  is  something  cognizable  in  etymology. 

OBS.  2. — The  brief  assertion,  that,  "  Prepositions  govern  the  objective  case,"  which  till  very 
lately  our  grammarians  have  universallv  adopted  as  their  sole  rule  for  both  terms,  the  governing 
and  the  governed, — the  preposition  and  its  object, — is,  in  respect  to  both,  somewhat  exception- 
able, being  but  partially  and  lamely  applicable  to  cither.  It  neither  explains  the  connecting  na- 
ture of  the  preposition,  nor  applies  to  all  objectives,  nor  embraces  all  the  terms  which  a  prepr  si- 
tion  may  govern.  It  is  true,  that  prepositions,  when  they  introduce  declinable  words,  or  wo- -da 
that  have  cases,  always  govern  the  objective ;  but  the  rule  is  liable  to  be  misunderstood,  and  is 
in  fact  often  misapplied,  as  if  it  meant  something  more  than  this.  Besides,  in  no  other  instance 
do  grammarians  attempt  to  parse  both  the  governing  word  and  the  governed,  by  one  and  ;he 
same  rule.  I  have  therefore  placed  the  objects  of  this  government  here,  where  they  belong 
in  the  order  of  the  parts  of  speech,  expressing  the  rule  in  such  terms  as  cannot  be  mis- 
taken ;  and  have  also  given,  in  its  proper  place,  a  distinct  rule  for  the  construction  of  the  prepo- 
sition itself.  See  Rule  23d. 

OBS.  3. — Prepositions  are  sometimes  ellipticalhj  construed  with  adjectives,  the  real  object  of 
the  relation  being  ihought  to  be  some  objective  noun  understood  :  as,  in  vain,  in  secret,  atjtrst, 
on  hiah ;  i.  e.  in  a  vain  manner,  in  secret  places,  at  the  first  time,  on  high  places.  Sxich  phrases 
usually  imply  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner,  and  are  equivalent  to  adverbs.  In  parsing,  the 
learner  may  supply  the  ellipsis. 

OBS.  4. — In  some  phrases,  a  preposition  seems  to  govern  a  perfect  participle ;  but  these  expres- 
sions are  perhaps  rather  to  be  explained  as  being  elliptical :  as,  "  To  give  it  up  for  lost ;  " — "  To 
take  that  for  granted  which  is  disputed." — Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  i,  p.  109.  That'is,  perhaps,  "  To 
give  it  up  for  a  tliinq  lost ;  " — "  To  take  that  for  a  thing  granted,"  &c  In  the  following  passage, 
the  words  might  and  should  are  employed  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  to  what  part 
of  speech  they  belong  :  "  It  is  that  very  character  of  ourjht  and  should  which  makes  justice  a  law 
to  us ;  and  the  same  character  is  applicable  to  propriety,  though  perhaps  more  faintly  than  to 
justice." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  286.  The  meaning  seems  to  be,  "  It  is  that  very  charac- 
ter of  being  owed  and  required,  that  makes  justice  a  law  to  us  ;  "  and  this  mode  of  expression,  as 
it  is  more  easy  to  be  parsed,  is  perhaps  more  grammatical  than  his  Lordship's. 

OBS.  5. — In  some  instances,  prepositions  precede  adverbs  ;  as,  at  once,  at  unawares,  from  thence, 
from  above,  till  now,  till  very  lately,  for  once,  for  ever.  Here  the  adverb,  though  an  indeclinable 

*  Dr.  Webster,  who  was  ever  ready  to  justify  almost  any  usage  for  which  he  could  find  half  a  dozen  respectable 
authorities,  absurdly  supposes,  that  ivho  may  sometimes  be  rightly  preferred  to  whom,  as  the  object  of  a  preposi- 
tion. His  remark 'is  this  :  "  In  the  use  of  who  as  an  interrogative,  there  is  an  apparent  rlerintinn  from  regular 
construction  —  it  being  u«ed  without  distinction  of  case  :  as.  '  Who  do  you  speak  tn?>  '  Who  is  she  married  to  ?  ' 
'  Who  is  this  reserved  for  ?  '  '  Who  was  it  made  by?  '  This  idiom  is  not  merely  colloquial :  it  is  found  in  the  writ- 
incrs  of  our  b»st  authors." — Webster's  Philoxvphic.nl  Gram.  p.  194  ;  his  Improved  Gram.  p.  130.  "  Tn  this  phrase, 
*  Who  do  you  speak  to?"1  there  is  a  cferiation  from  regular  construction;  but  the  practice  of  thus  using  i"ho, 
in  certain  familiar  phrases,  seems  to  be  established  by  the  best  authors."—  Webster's  Rudiments  of  E.  Gram.  p. 
72.  Almost  any  other  solecism  may  be  quite  as  well  justified  as  this.  The  present  work  shows,  in  fact,  a  great 
mass  of  authorities  for  many  of  the  incongruities  which  it  ventures  to  rebuke. 


CHAP.    III.]  SYNTAX. RULE   VII. OBJECTIVES. OBSERVATIONS.  51 1 

word,  appears  to  be  made  the  object  of  the  preposition.  It  is  in  fact  used  substantively,  and  gov- 
erned by  the  preposition.  The  term  forever  is  often  written  as  one  word,  and,  as  such,  is  obviously 
an  adverb.  The  rest  are  what  some  writers  would  call  adverbial  phrases ;  a  term  not  very  con- 
sistent with  itself,  or  with  the  true  idea  of  parsing.  If  different  parts  of  speech  are  to  be  "taken 
together  as  bavins:  the  nature  of  an  adverb,  they  ought  rather  to  coalesce  and  be  united ;  for  the 
verb  to  narsc,  being  derived  from  the  Latin  jxirs,  a  part,  implies  in  general  a  distinct  recognition 
of  the  elements  or  words  of  every  phrase  or  sentence. 

.  6. — Nouns  of  time,  measure,  distance,  or  rahie,  have  often  so  direct  a  relation  to  verbs  or 


nouns  are  in  the  objective  case,  and,  in  parsing  them,  the  learner  may  supply  the  ellipsis ;  *  or, 
perhaps  it  might  be  as  well,  to  say,  as  do  B.  H.  Smart  and  some  others,  that  the  noun  is  an  ob- 


qualify  the  time  or  measure. 

OBS.  7-  —  After  the  adjectives  like,  near,  and  nigh,  the  preposition  to  or  vnto  is  often  under- 
stood ;  f  as,  "  It  is  like  [to  or  unto]  silver."  —  Allen.  "  How  like  the  former."  —  Dryden.  "  Near 
yonder  copse."  —  Goldsmith.  "  Nigh  this  recess."  —  Garth.  As  similarity  and  proximity  are  rela- 
tions, and  not  qualities,  it  might  seem  proper  to  call  like,  near,  and  nigh,  prepositions  ;  and  some 
grammarians  have  so  classed  the  last  two.  Dr.  Johnson  seems  to  be  inconsistent  in  calling  near 
a  preposition,  in  the  phrase,  "  So  near  thy  heart,"  and  an  adjective,  in  the  phrase,  "  Being  near 
their  master."  See  his  Quarto  Diet.  I  have  not  placed  them  with  the  prepositions,  for  the  fol- 
lowing four  reasons  :  (1.)  Because  they  are  sometimes  compared  ,-  (2.)  Because  they  sometimes 
have  (tdi-t-rhs  evidently  relating  to  them  ;  (3.)  Because  the  preposition  to  or  nnfo  is  sometimes  ex- 
pressed after  them;  and  (4.)  Because  the  words  which  usually  stand  for  them  in  the  learned 
languages,  are  clearly  adjectives.^  But  like,  when  it  expresses  similarity  of  manner,  and  near 
and  nigh,  when  they  express  proximity  of  degree,  are  adcerbs. 

8.  —  The  word  irort/i  is  often  followed  by  an  objective,  or  a  participle,  which  it  appears  to 
govern  ;  as,  (i  If  your  arguments  produce  no  conviction,  they  are  worth  nothing  to  me."  —  Bmttir. 
"To  reign  is  worth  ambition."  —  Milton.  "This  is  life  indeed,  life  worth  preserving."  —  Addison. 
It  is  not  easy  to  determine  to  what  part  of  speech  worth  here  belongs.  Dr.  Johnson  calls  it  an 
adject  ire,  but  says  nothing  of  the  object  after  it,  which  some  suppose  to  be  goveined  by  of  under- 
stood. In  this  supposition,  it  is  gratuitously  assumed,  that  worth  is  equivalent  to  worthy,  after 
which  of  should  be  expressed  ;  as,  "  Whatsoever  is  worthy  of  their  love,  is  worth  their  anger."  — 

>.  But  as  worth  appears  to  have  no  certain  characteristic  of  an  adjective,  some  call  it  a 
noun,  ;nid  suppose  a  double  ellipsis  ;  as,  "  My  knife  is  worth  a  shilling  ;  "  i.  e.  "  My  knife  is  of 
the  worth  of  a  shilling."  —  Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  163.  '"The  book  is  worth  that  sum  ;'  that  is, 

*  Grammarians  differ  much  as  to  the  proper  mode  of  parking  such  nouns.     Wells  snys,  "  This  Is  the  rase  inde- 
'  draw.  p.  123.     But  the  idea  of  xm-h  a  ease.  is  a  flat  absurdity.      Ellipsis  occurs  only 

where  F-nnethitis.  IT  •  implied:  and  where  a  preposition  is  thns  wanting,  the  noun  is,  of  course,  it* 

ahj'ct  ;  and  therefore  Tint  in  UVI>-ter.  with  too  much  contempt  for  the  opinion  of  "  Lowth,  followed 

l.v  the  whole  tribe  of  \critrrs  on  th;-  .-lares  it  ••  a  palpahle  error,"  to  suppose  "  prepositions  to  be  under- 

md,  by  two  new  rules,  his  22d  and  28th,  teaches,  that,  "  Names  of  measure  or 

dimension,  followed  by  an  adjective."  and  "  Names  of  certain  portions  of  time  and  space,  and  especially  words 

inuance  of  time  or  progrMrion,  an  u«-'d  without  a  gnvernim*  U'ord."—Philos.  Gram,  pp/165  and 

]7'J  ;   hup.  d'rtnn.  11'',  and  l.'J  :   i:>i-/>nifnti.  »r,  and  67.     Hut  this  is  no  account  at  all  of  the  ronttnirtinn,  or  of  the 

\"  the  nominative,  or  the  case  which  we  may  use  independently,  is  never  a  subject  of  fjOTern- 

ini-nt.  t!,  '  implies  that  the  case  is  nhj,rtivf  :  and  how  can  this  case  be  known, 

except  t  ing  word/'  of  which  it.  is  the  ohjrrt?     \\>  find,  however,  many  such  rules 

•n-e,  are  put  in  the  objective  case  without  a  preposition/'— 
which  denor,.  time.  .|inntity,  measure,  distance,  value,  or  direction  are  often 

T"'f  i"  ':  uttkm."—  TTeWj  dram,  p,  ir,:;  :  "Ahrid-fd  lid."  US.    "Names  si-nifv- 

in«  dur  quality,  nnd  valuation,  are  in  the  obj»  -,-  ;,out  a  governing  wor  !."— 

visa  similar  rule.      To  estimate  th.-«-  rules  aright,  one  should  observe 

l..ow  off  ire  found  with  a  goreming  word.     UVld.  of  late,  contradicts  himself  bv  ndmit- 

wiih  hi<  admi-M.,11.  mo-t  absurdly  dmirx  ih»  fmjvfnt  vst  of  tlie  prepo- 
•  ' 


•h  nouns  of  time,  >;  -Tiption,  th'  rllip*i*  'nfn  proposition  is  . 

.  f.,n-  Mi.-h  words."—  TfVtt'j  ^Abridzi  !  Eilition  "  p.  118. 


. 
.••-«sor  Fi.w  ler  absur  ar,  n*rt,  like,  who  n  followpd  by  the  i.l  j.-rt  ivo  rase,  m 

/.8vo,18oO. 

"  /"  '  '  that  no  one  of  these  words  can  be  accounted  a  preposition,  but  by  sn; 

the  preposition  t,,  1  c  complex,  and  to  )v  ..  „,.,„  nn  ;  il(.  whim  .  nrid> 

ilways  positive  and  exclusive,  to  refer  smv  particular  wor-l 

riMvely  t..  "  eitker  "  of  two  classes,  is  certainly  n  „-,  than  to  say,  "  I  do  not  know  of  which  sort 

;  call  it  what  \r>u  j 

^e  points  :  "  These  Verbs,  and  all  others  lilt  m  them,  were  like 

MAO  ''—  Dr.   V  28.     •'  Tin-  -M  i.Yriiian.  nnd  evm  tin-  modern   (Ji-rnmn, 

«i-e  much  lik'r  tn  the  Yisi-othir  than  they  are  r  ••  Proximus  fin.-ni. 

-  ntarfr  to  our  own  lantcuaffe."—  Dr.  'Blair'* 

fry  l<k'  a  paradox."—  HrATTlE  :    Murrnv's  Gram,  i,  p.  11:}.      "  He  was  near  [to]  fallinc."—  Ih.  p.  1  ' 
who  puta  nffir  into  his  list  of  pr  iis  example  to  show  how  "  prtpositions  become  adverb!" 

"  There  was  none  ever  before  like  unto  it.'1  —  Stone, 


the  p: 
T1HAC 


"And  earthly  power  doth  then  show  nicest  God's, 
When  mercy  seasons  j\i»tice."l—Beautieto/Shakfpearf,  p. 


4.-,. 


512  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


«  The  book  is  (the}  worth  (of)  that  sum; '  '  It  is  worth  while; '  that  is,  '  It  is  (the)  worth  (of  the) 
while.'  " — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  54.  This  is  still  less  satisfactory ;  *  and  as  the  whole  appears  to  bo 
mere  guess-work,  I  see  no  good  reason  why  worth  is  not  a  preposition,  governing  the  noun  or 
participle. f  If  an  adverb  precede  worth,  'it  may  as  well  be  referred  to  the  foregoing  verb,  as 
when  it  occurs  before  any  other  preposition  :  as,  "  It  is  richly  worth  the  money." — "  It  lies  directly 
before  your  door."  Or  if  we  admit  that  an  adverb  sometimes  relates  to  this  word,  the  same  thing 
may  be  as  true  of  other  prepositions:  as,  "And  this  is  a  lesson  which,  to  the  greatest  part  of 
mankind,  is,  I  think,  very  well  u-orth  learning." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  303.  "  He  sees  let  down  from 
the  ceiling,  exactly  over  his  head,  a  glittering  sword,  hung  by  a  single  hair." — Murray's  E. 
Reader,  p.  33. 

OBS.  9. — Both  Dr.  Johnson  and  Home  Tooke,  (who  never  agreed  if  they  could  help  it,)  unite 
in  saying  that  worth,  in  the  phrases,  "  Wo  worth  the  man," — "  Wo  ^vorth  the  day,"  and  the  likf , 
is  from  the  imperative  of  the  Saxon  verb  wyrthan  or  weorthan,  to  be  ;  i.  e.  "  Wo  be  \to~\  the  man,  ' 
or,  "  Wo  betide  the  man,"  &c.  And  the  latter  affirms,  that,  as  the  preposition  by  is  from  the  im- 
perative of  beon,  to  be,  so  with,  (though  admitted  to  be  sometimes  from  withan,  to  join)  is  often 
no  other  than  this  same  imperative  verb  wyrth  or  worth:  if  so,  the  three  words  by,  with,  and 
worth,  were  originally  synonymous,  and  should  now  be  referred  at  least  to  one  and  the  same  class. 
The  dative  case,  or  oblique  object,  which  they  governed  as  Saxon  verbs,  becomes  their  proper  ob- 
ject, when  taken  as  English  prepositions  ;  and  in  this  also  they  appear  to  be  alike.  Worth,  then, 
when  it  signifies  value,  is  a  common  noun  ;  but  when  it  signifies  equal  in  value  to,  it  governs  an 
objective,  and  has  the  usual  characteristics  of  a  preposition.  Instances  may  perhaps  be  found  in 
which  worth  is  an  adjective,  meaning  valuable  or  useful,  as  in  the  following  lines : 
"  They  glow'd,  and  grew  more  intimate  with  God, 

More  worth  to  men,  more  joyous  to  themselves." — Young,  N.  ix,  1.  988. 

In  one  instance,  the  poet  Campbell  appears  to  have  used  the  word  worthless  as  a  preposition  : 
"  Eyes  a  mutual  soul  confessing, 
Soon  you'll  make  them  grow 
Dim,  and  worthless  your  possessing, 
Not  with  age,  but  woe  !  " 

OBS.  10. — After  verbs  of  giving,  paying,  procuring,  and  some  others,  there  is  usually  an  ellipsis 
of  to  or  for  before  the  objective  of  the  person  ;  as,  '"  Give  [to]  him  water  to  drink." — "  Buy  [for] 
me  a  knife." — "Pay  \to]  them  their  wages."  So  in  the  exclamation,  "Wo  is  me/"  meaning, 
"  Wo  is  to  me  !  "  This  ellipsis  occurs  chiefly  before  the  personal  pronouns,  and  before  such  nouns 
as  come  between  the  verb  and  its  direct  object;  as,  "Whosoever  killeth  you,  will  think  1hat  he 
doeth  [to]  God  service." — John,  xvi,  2.  "  Who  brought  [to]  her  masters  much  gain  by  sooth- 
saying."— Acts,  xvi,  16.  "  Because  he  gave  not  [to]  God  the  glory." — Ib.  xii,  23.  "  Give  [to]  me 
leave  to  allow  [to]  myself  no  respite  from  labour." — Spect.  No.  4.54.  "And  the  sons  of  Joseph, 
which  were  born  [to]  him  in  Egypt,  were  two  souls." — Gen.  xlvi,  27.  This  elliptical  construction 
of  a  few  objectives,  is  what  remains  to  us  of  the  ancient  Saxon  dative  case.  If  the  order  of 
the  words  be  changed,  the  preposition  must  be  inserted  ;  as,  "  Pray  do  my  service  to  1  is 
majesty." — Shak.  The  doctrine  inculcated  by  several  of  our  grammarians,  that,  "Verbs  of  ask- 
ing ,  giving,  teaching,  and  some  others,  are  often  employed  to  govern  two  objectives,"  (  Wells,  §  21-' ,) 
I  have,  under  a  preceding  rule,  discountenanced;  preferring  the  supposition,  which  appears  to 
have  greater  weight  of  authority,  as  well  as  stronger  support  from  reason,  that,  in  the  instances 
cited  in  proof  of  such  government,  a  preposition  is,  in  fact,  understood.  Upon  this  question  of 
ellipsis,  depends,  in  all  such  instances,  our  manner  of  parsing  one  of  the  objective  words. 

OBS.  11. — In  dates,  as  they  are  usually  written,  there  is  much  abbreviation  ;  and  several  nouns 
of  place  and  time  are  set  down  in  the  objective  case,  without  the  prepositions  which  govern 
them  :  as,  "  New  York,  Wednesday,  20th  October,  1830."— Journal  of  Literary  Convention.  That 
is,  "At  New  York,  on  Wednesday,  the  20th  day  of  October,  in  the  year  1830." 

NOTE  TO  RULE  VII. 

An  objective  noun  of  time  or  measure,  if  it  qualifies  a  subsequent  adjective,  must 
not  also  be  made  an  adjunct  to  a  preceding  noun  ;  as,  "  To  an  infant  of  only  two  or 
three  years  old" — Dr.  Wayland.  Expunge  of,  or  for  old  write  of  age.  The  fol- 
lowing is  right :  "  The  vast  army  of  the  Canaanites,  nine  hundred  chariots  strong, 
covered  the  level  plain  of  Esdraelon." — Milman's  Jews,  Vol.  i,  p.  159.  See  Obs. 
6th  above. 

*  Wright's  notion  of  this  construction  is  positively  absurd  nnd  self-contradictory.  In  the  sentence.  "  My  cane 
is  worth  a  shilling,"  he  takes  the  word  worth  to  be  a  noun  "  in  apposition  to  the  word  shilling."  And  to  prove  ib 
FO,  he  puts  the  sentence  successively  into  these  four  forms  :  "  My  cane  is  worth  or  vain*,  for  a  shilling  ;  " — "  The 
worth  or  value  of  my  cane  is  a  shilling;" — "My  cane  is  a  shilling's  irortlt;" — "  Mv  cane  is  the  irnrth  of  a 
shilling." — Philosophical  Gram  p.  150.  In  all  these  transmutations,  worth  is  unquestionably  a  noun  ;  but.  in 
none  of  them,  is  it  in  apposition  with  the  word  shilling;  and  he  is  quite  mistaken  in  supposing  that  they  "  indis- 
pensably prove  the  word  in  question  to  be  a  noun.'1'  There  are  other  authors,  who,  with  equal  confidence,  and 
equal  absurdity,  call  ivorth  a  verb.  For  example  :  "A  noun,  which  Minifies  the  price,  is  put  in  the  objective  case, 
without  a  preposition  ;  as,  '  my  book  is  worth  twenty  shillings.'  Is  ivorth  is  a  nmtfr  vrrb,  and  answers  to  the 
latin  verb  vattt." — TtarretCs  Gram.  p.  138.  I  do  not  deny  that  the  phrase  "  is  worth  •'  is  a  just  version  of  the  verb 
valet;  but  this  equivalence  in  import,  is  no  proof  at  all  that  worth  is  a  verb.  Prodest  is  a  Latin  verb,  which 
signifies  ':  is  profitable  to  ;  "  but  who  will  thence  infer,  that  profitable  to  is  a  verb  ? 

t  In  J.  R.  Chandler's  English  Grammar,  as  published  in  1821,  the  word  worth  appears  in  the  list  nf  prepositions  ; 
but  the  revised  list,  in  his  edition  of  1847,  does  not  contain  it.  In  both  books,  however,  it  is  expressly  parsed  as  a 
preposition;  and,  in  expounding  the  sentence,  "The  book  is  worth  a  dollar,"  the  author  makes  this  remark: 
"  Worth  has  been  called  an  adjective  by  some,  and  a  noun  by  others  :  u<ort/t,  however,  in  this  sentence  expresses  a 
relation  by  value,  and  is  so  far  a  preposition  ;  and  no  ellipsis,  which  may  be  formed,  would  change  the  nature  of 
the  word,  without  giving  the  sentence  a  different  meaning."—  Chandler's  Gram.  Old  Ed.  p.  155  ;  New  Ed.  p.  181. 


CHAP.  III.]  SYNTAX. — RULE   VII. OBJECTIVES. — ERRORS.  513 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  VII. 

T'.VDKR    THE    IIULE    ITSELF.  —  OF    TUE    OBJECTIVE    IN    FORM. 

"  But  I  do  not  remember  who  they  were  for." — Abbott's  Teacher,  p.  265. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  pronoun  icko  is  in  the  nominative  case,  and  is  made  the  object  of  the  prep- 
osition f-ir.  Rut.  according  to  Rule  7th,  "A  noun  or  a  pronoun  made  the  object  of  a  preposition,  is  governed 
by  it  MI  the  objective  case."  Therefore,  who  should  be  whom  ;  thus,  "  But  I  do  not  remember  whom  they  were 
for."] 

"  Hut  if  you  can't  help  it,  who  do  you  complain  of  ? "—  Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  137.  "  Who 
was  it  from  ?  and  what  was  it  about  ? " — Edgewortk'*  Frank,  p.  72.  "  I  have  plenty  of  victuals, 
and,  between  you  and  I,  something  in  a  corner." — Day's  Sandford  and  Morton.  "The  upper 
one,  who  I  am  now  about  to  speak  of." — Hunt's  Byron,  p.  311.  "And  to  poor  we.thine  enmity's 
'!>ital." — Beauties  of  Shakspeare,  p.  201.  "  Which  thou  dost  confess,  were  fit  for  thee 
to  use,  as  they  to  claim." — Ib.  p.  196.  "To  beg  of  thee,  it  is  my  more  dishonour,  than 
thou  of  them." — Ib.  p.  197.  "  There  are  still  a  few  who,  like  thou  and  I,  drink  nothing  but 
water."— (Ill  Bias,  Vol.  i,  p.  104.  "  Thus,  I  shall  fall;  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  ;  He 
sh«r!  he  rewarded,  express  no  resolution  on  the  part  of  /,  thou,  he." — Lcnnies  E.  Gram.  p. 
'2-  ;  /,'  .  32.  "  So  saucy  with  the  hand  of  she  here — What's  her  name  ? " — S/KI.':. 

and  ('>',-•>/>.  Act  iii,  Sc.  11.  "All  debts  are  cleared  between  you  and  I." — Iff.  Merchant  of 
Venice,  Act  iii,  Sc.  2.  "  Her  price  is  paid,  and  she  is  sold  like  thou." — Milmans  Fall  oj 
"  Search  through  all  the  most  flourishing  era's  of  Greece." — Browns  Estimate, 
ii,  1'i.  "The  family  of  the  Rudolph's  had  been  long  distinguished." — The  Friend,  Vol. 
v,  p.  54.  "It  will  do  well  enough  for  you  and  I." — Castle  liackreiit,  p.  120.  "  The  public 
will  soon  discriminate  between  him  who  is  the  sycophant,  and  he  who  is  the  teacher." — 
Chazotte's  Essay,  p.  10.  "  We  are  still  much  at  a  loss  who  civil  power  belongs  to." — Locke. 
"  What  do  you  call  it?  and  who  does  it  belong  tor  " — Collier 's  Cebcs.  "  He  had  received 
no  lessons  from  the  Socrates's,  the  Plato's,  and  the  Confucius's  of  the  age." — Halter's  Let- 
ters. "  I  cannot  tell  who  to  compare  them  to." — llunyun's  P.  P.,  p.  128.  "  I  see  there  was 
some  resemblance  betwixt  this  good  man  and  I." — Pilgrim's  Progress,  p.  298.  "  They  by 
that  means  have  brought  themselves  into  the  hands  and  house  of  I  do  not  know  who." — 
Ih.  p.  193.  "  But  at  length  she  said  there  was  a  great  deal  of  difference  between  Mr.  Cot- 
ton and  we." — Hutchinso/is  Muss,  ii,  430.  "  So  you  must  ride  on  horseback  after  we."*  — 
Mus.  (JII.IMN:  c.nrprr,  i,  275.  "A  separation  must  soon  take  place  between  our  minister 
and  I." — \\'crter,  p.  109.  "When  she  exclaimed  on  Hasting,  you,  and  I." — Shakspeare. 
"To  who-  to  thee?  What  art  thou  ?" — Id.  "That  they  should  always  bear  the  certain 
marks  who  they  came  from." — Butler  s  Analogy,  p.  221. 
"  This  life  has  joys  for  you  and  I, 
And  joys  that  riches  ne'er  could  buy." — Burns. 

UXDKU  tHl  NOTE.  —  OF  TIME  OK  MEASURE. 

Such  as  almost  every  child  often  years  old  knows." — Toini's  Analysis,  p.  4.  "One 
winter's  school  of  four  months,  will  carry  any,  industrious  scholar,  of  ten  or  twelve  years 
old,  completely  through  this  book." — lh.  p.  12.  "A  boy  of  six  years  old  may  be  taught  to 
speak  as  eorm-tly,  as  Cicero  did  before  the  Roman  Senate." — nv/v/r/-'*  Essays,  p.  27.  "A 
lad  of  about  twelve  years  old,  who  was  taken  captive  by  the  Indians." — Ib.  p.  235.  "  Of 
nothing  else  but  that  individual  white  figure  oi'  five  inches  long  which  is  before  him." — 
>.  "Where  lies  the  fault,  that  boys  of  eight  or  ten  years  old,  art- 

with    great  difficulty  made   to  understand  any  of   its    principles  ? " — Guy's    Gram.  p.  v. 

"  Where   language  of  three   ccntviries  old  is  employed." — Booth's   Introd.  to  Diet.  p.  21. 

"Let  .!  ie  of  fifty  cubits  high." — Esther,  v,  14.     "I  say  to  this  child  of  nine 

••Id  bring  me  that  hat,  he  hastens  and  brings  it  me." — Osborns  Key,  p.  3.     "  He  laid 

it  long,  and  nine  feet  wide ;  that  is,  over  the  extent  of  twelve  feet  long, 

and  nf  nine  feet  wide." — .U»;v/.  <//,.''/>•  .sy/w/  Cram.  p.  95.     "The  Goulah  people  are  a  tribe 

of  about  fifty  thousand  strong." — Examiner,  No.  71. 

RULE  VIII.— NOM.  ABSOLUTE. 

A  Noun  or  a  Pronoun  is  put  absolute  in  the  nominative,  when  its  case  de- 
pends on  no  other  word :  as,  "He  failimj,  who  shall  meet  success  ?  " — 
k-  Your  /•(//•••/•*,  where  are  they?  and  the  2'fojJietSj  do  they  live  forever  ?  " 
— Zech.  i,  5.  "  Or  /  only  and  Barnabas,  have  not  we  power  to  forbear 

*  Cowper  here  purposely  i  ' ;  i'pin  use  had  English  ;  but  this  is  no  rea.«on  why  a  school-boy  may  not  b« 

taught  to  correct  it.  '  Dr.  1'ru-stU'y  support  that  the  word  tcf,  in  the  example,  "To  poor  we,  thine  enmity,"  &o.f 
ww  also  used  hv  Miakspcnrc,  "  in  :i  dml!  hium T<>HS  \va\ ."  —  dram.  p.  1U3.  lie  surely  did  not  know  the  connex- 
ion of  the  text.  It  is  in  •'  Volumnia's  pathetic  speech  "  to  her  victorious  son.  See  Coriolanus,  Act  V,  Sc.  3. 

33 


514  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

working?"—!  Cor.  ix,  6.  "  Nay  but,  0  man,  who  art  thou  that  repliest 
against  God?" — Rom.  ix,  20.  "0  rare  we!  "  —  Cowper.  "Miserable 
they  !  " — TJiomson. 

"  The  hour  conceal'd,  and  so  remote  the  fear, 
Death  still  draws  nearer,  never  seeming  near." — Pope. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  VIII. 

Ons.  1. — Many  grammarians  make  an  idle  distinction  between  the  nominative  absolute  and  the 
nominative  independent,  as  if  these  epithets  were  not  synonymous  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  they 
are  miserably  deficient  in  directions  for  disposing  of  the  words  so  employed.  Their  two  rules  do 
not  embrace  more  than  one  half  of  those  frequent  examples  in  which  the  case  of  the  noun  or 
pronoun  depends  on  no  other  word.  Of  course,  the  remaining  half  cannot  be  parsed  by  any  of 
the  rules  which  they  give.  The  lack  of  a  comprehensive  rule,  like  the  one  above,  is  a  great  and 
glaring  defect  in  all  the  English  grammars  that  the  author  has  seen,  except  his  own,  and  such  as 
are  indebted  to  him  for  such  a  rule.  It  is  proper,  however,  that  the  different  forms  of  expression 
which  are  embraced  in  this  general  rule,  should  be  discriminated,  one  from  an  other,  by  the 
scholar  :  let  him  therefore,  in  parsing  any  nominative  absolute,  tell  how  it  is  put  so  ;  whether 
with  a  participle,  by  direct  address,  by  pleonasm,  or  by  exclamation.  For,  in  discourse,  a  noun  or 
a  pronoun  is  put  absolute  in  the  nominative,  after  four  modes,  or  under  the  following  four  cir- 
cumstances:  (of  which  Murray's  "case  absolute,"  or  "nominative  absolute,"  contains  only  the 
first:) 

I.  When,  with  a  participle,  it  is  used  to  express  a  cause,  or  a  concomitant  fact;  as,  "  I  say,  this 
being  so,  the  law  being  broken,  justice  takes  place." — Law  and  Grace,  p.  27.     "  Pontius  Pilate  be- 
ing governor  of  Judea,  and  Herod  being  tetrarch  of  Galilee,  and  his  brother  Philip  tetrarch  of 
Itiirea,"  &c. — Luke,  iii,  1.     "  /  being  in  the  way,  the  Lord  led  me  to  the  house  of  my  master's 
brethren." — Gen.  xxiv,  27. 

"  While  shame,  thou  looking  on, 

Shame  to  be  overcome  or  overreach'd, 

Would  utmost  vigor  raise." — Milton,  P.  L.,  B.ix,  1.  312. 

II.  When,5y  direct  address, h  is  put  in  the  second  person,  and  set  off  from  the  verb,  by  a  com- 
ma or  an  exclamation  point ;  as,  "At  length,  Seged,  reflect  and  be  wise." — Dr.  Johnson.     "  It  may 
be,  drunkard,  swearer,  liar,  thief,  thou  dost  not  think  of  this." — Law  and  Grace,  p.  27. 

"This said,  he  form'd  thee,  Adam!  thee,  O  man! 
Dust  of  the  ground,  and  in  thy  nostiils  breath'd 
The  breath  of  life."— Milton's  Paradise  Lost,  B  vii,  1.  524. 

III.  When,  by  pleonasm,  it  is  introduced  abruptly  for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  and  is  not  made  the 
subject  or  the  object  of  any  verb  ;  as,  "He  that  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given." — Mark,  iv,  2o.     "  Tie 
that  is  holy,  let  him  be  holy  still." — Rev.  xxii,  11.     "Gad,  a  troop  shall  overcome  him." — Get',. 
xlix,  19.     "The  north  and  the  south,  thou  hast  created  them." — Psalms,  Ixxxix,  12.     "And  thty 
that  have  believing  masters,  let  them  not  despise  them." — 1  Tim.  vi,  2.     "And  the  leper  in  whom 
the  plague  is,  his  clothes  shall  be  rent,  and  his  head  bare." — Levit.  xiii,  4o.     "They  who  serve  rr  e 
with  adoration, — I  am  in  them,  and  they  [are]  in  me." — R.  W.  EMEKSON:  Liberator,  No.  99'). 

"  What  may  this  mean, 

That  thou,  dead  corse,  again  in  complete  steel, 

Revisitst  thus  the  glimpses  of  the  moon, 

Making  night  hideous  ;  and,  we  fools  of  nature,* 

So  horribly  to  shake  our  disposition 

With  thoughts  beyond  the  reaches  of  our  souls  ?  " — Shak.  Hamlet. 

IV.  When,  by  mere  exclamation,  it  is  used  without  address,  and  without  other  words  expressed 
or  implied  to  give  it  construction;  as,  "And  the  Lord  passed  by  before  him,  and  proclaimed,  the 
Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth." 
Exodus,  xxxiv,  6.     "  O  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God !  " — 
Rom.  xi,  33.     "  I  should  not  like  to  see  her  limping  back,  Poor  beast !  " — Southcy. 

"  Oh  !    deep  enchanting^Wnrfe  to  repose, 

The  dawn  of  bliss,  the  tioilight  of  our  woes  !  " — Campbell. 

OBS.  2. — The  nominative  put  absolute  with  a  participle,  is  often  equivalent  to  a  dependent 
clause  commencing  with  when,  while,  if,  since,  or  because.  Trms,  "  I  being  a  child,"  may  be 
equal  to,  "  When  I  was  a  child,"  or,  "  Because  I  was  a  child."  Here,  in  lieu  of  the  nominative, 
the  Greeks  used  the  genitive  case,  and  the  Latins,  the  ablative.  Thus,  the  phrase, 


vOTfor/navroc  oi'rov,"  "And  the  wine  failing,"  is  rendered  by  Montanus,    "Et  dtficicntc  vivo;" 
but  by  Beza,  "Et  cum  defecissct  vinum  ;  "  and  in  our  Bible,  "And  when  they  wanted  wine." — John, 
ii,  3.     After  a  noun  or  a  pronoun  thus  put  absolute,  the  participle  being  is  frequently  understood, 
especially  if  an  adjective  or  a  like  case  come  after  the  participle  ;  as, 
"  They  left  their  bones  beneath  unfriendly  skies, 
His  worthless  absolution  [being}  all  the'pnze." — Cowper,  Vol.  i,  p.  84. 

"Alike  in  ignorance,  his  reason  [ ]  such, 

Whether  he  thinks  too  little  or  too  much." — Pope,  on  Man. 

OT?S.  3 — The  case  which  is  put  absolute  in  addresses  or  invocations,  is  what  in  the  Latin  and 
Creek  grammars  is  called  the  Vocative.  Richard  Johnson  says,  "  The  only  use  of  the  Vocative 

*  Dr.  Enfield  misunderstood  this  passage ;  and,  in  copying  it  into  his  Speaker,  (a  very  popular  Fchool-book,)  he 
has  perverted  the  text,  by  changing  we  to  ?/,s :  «is  if  the  meaning  were.  '•  Making  us  fools  of  nature.''  But  it  i* 
plain,  that  all  "fools  of  nature  "  must  be  fools  of  nature's  own  making  and  not  persons  temporarily  frighted  out 
of  their  wits  by  a  ghost ;  nor  does  the  meaning  of  the  last  two  lines  comport  with  any  objective  construction  of 
this  pronoun.  See  Enfieltfs  Speaker,  p.  364. 


CHAP.  III.]         SYNTAX. — RULE   VIII. — NUM.    ABSOLUTE. OBSERVATIONS.  515 

Case,  is,  to  call  upon  a  Person,  or  a  thing  put  Personally,  which  we  speak  to,  to  give  notice  to 
what  we  direct  our  Speech  ;  and  this  is  therefore,  properly  speaking,  the  only  Case  absolute  or  in- 
dependent which  we  may  make  use  of  without  respect  to  any  other  Word." — Gram.  Commentaries, 
p.  131.  This  remark,  however,  applies  not  justly  to  our  language;  for,  with  us,  the  vocative  case, 
is  unknown,  or  not  distinguished  from  the  nominative.  In  English,  all  nouns  of  the  second  per- 
son are  either  put  absolute  in  the  nominative,  according  to  Rule  8th,  or  in  apposition  with  their 
own  pronouns  placed  before  them,  according  to  Rule  3d :  as,  "  This  is  the  stone  which  was  set  at 
nought  of  you  builders.'1'' — Acts,  iv,  11.  "  How  much  rather  ought  you  receivers  to  be  considered 
as  abandoned  and  execrable!  " — Clarkson's  Essay,  p.  114. 

"  Peace !  minion,  peace  !  it  boots  not  me  to  hear 

The  selrish  counsel  of  you  ha m/era -on." — Brown's  lust.  p.  189. 
'•  )',•  Sylj,/i>i  and  Sylphids,  to  your  chief  give  ear  ; 

Fays,  Farics,  <•  '.  and  Demons,  hear!  " — Pope,  R.  L.  ii,  74. 

Ons.  4. — The  case  of  nouns  used  in  exclamations,  or  in  mottoes  and  abbreviated  sayings,  often 
depends,  or  may  be  conceived  to  depend,  on  something  understood;  and,  when  their  construction 
can  be  satisfactorily  explained  on  the  principle  of  ellipsis,  they  are  not  put  absolute,  unless  the 
ellipsis  be  that  of  the  participle.  The  following  example^  may  perhaps  be  resolved  in  this  man- 
ner, though  the  expressions  will  lose  much  of  their  vivacity  :  "A  horse!  ahorse!  my  kingdom  for 
a  horse  !  " — Shsik.  "And  he  said  unto  his  father,  My  head!  my  head!" — 2  Kings,  iv,  19.  "And 
Samson  said,  With  the  jaw-bone  of  an  ass,  heaps  upon  heaps,  with  the  jaw  of  an  ass,  have  I  slain 
a  thousand  men." — Jud</cs,  xv,  16.  "Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  An  eye  for  an  eye, 
and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth."— Matt,  v,  38.  "Peace,  be  still."— Mark,  iv,  39.  "One  God,  world 
without  end.  Amen." — Corn.  Prayer. 

fan,  let  others  say,  who  laugh  at  toil; 
Fan!  hood!  (/love!  scarf.'  is  her  laconic  style." — Youna. 

Ons.  0. — "  Such  Expressions  as,  Hand  'to  Hind,  Fair  to  Face,  Foot  to  Foot,  are  of  the  nature  of 
Adverbs,  and  are  of  elliptical  Construction  :  For  the  Meaning  is,  Hand  OPPOSED  to  Hand,  £c." — 
W.  Ward's  Gram.  p.  100.  This  learned  and  ingenious  author  seems  to  suppose  the  former  noun 
to  be  here  put  absolute  with  a  participle  understood;  and  this  is  probably  the  best  way  of  ex- 
plaining the  construction  both  of  that  word  and  of  the  preposition  that  follows  it.  So  Samson's 
phrase,  '•  //'  •'/>*  r/">n  heaps,"  may  mean,  "  heaps  being  piled  upon  heaps  ;  "  and  Scott's,  "  man  to 
man,  and  stcrl  to  steel,"  may  be  interpreted,  "  man  being  opposed  to  man,  and  steel  being  opposed 
to  steel: " 

"  Now,  man  to  man,  and  steel  to  steel, 
A  chieftain's  vengeance  thou  shalt  feel." — Lady  of  the  Lake. 

OBS.  6. — Cobbctt,  after  his  own  hasty  and  dogmatical  manner,  rejects  the  whole  theory  of 
nominaiives  absolute,  and  teaches  his  "soldiers,  sailors,  apprentices,  and  ploughboys,"  that, 
"  The  supposition,  that  there  can  be  a  noun,  or  pronoun,  which  has  reference  to  no  verb,  and  no 
preposition,  is  certainly  a  mistake." — Cobbctt's  E.  Gram.  IT  201.  To  sustain  his  position,  he  lays 
violent  hands  upon  the  plain  truth,  and  even  trips  himself  up  in  the  act.  Thus  :  "  For  want  of  a 
little  thought,  as  to  the  matter  immediately  before  us,  some  grammarians  have  found  out  '  an 
absolute  ca^c,'  as  they  call  it;  and  Mr.  Lindley  Murray  gives  an  instance  of  it  in  these  words: 
4  Shame  being  lost,  all  virtue  is  lost.'  The  full  meaning  of  this  sentence  is  this  :  'It  being,  or  the 
ttate  of  thitu/s  bcinq  such,  that  shame  is  lost,  all  virtue  is  lost.' " — Cobbetfs  E.  Gram.  IT  191. 
Again:  "There  must,  you  will  bear  in  mind,  always  be  a  verb  expressed  or  understood.  One 
would  think,  that  this  was  not  the  case  in  [some  instances  :  as,]  '  Sir,  1  beg  you  to  give  me  a  bit 
of  bread.'  The  sentence  which  follows  the  Sir,  is  complete  ;  but  the  Sir  appears  to  stand  wholly 
without  connexion.  However,  the  full  meaning  is  this  :  '  I  beg  you,  who  are  a  Sir,  to  give  me  a 
bit  of  bread.'  Now,  if  you  take  time  to  reflect  a  little  on  this  matter,  you  will  never  be  puzzled 
for  a  moment  by  those  detached  words,  to  suit  which  grammarians  have  invented  vocative  cases 
and  cases  absolute,  and  a  great  many  other  appellations,  with  which  thev  puzzle  themselves,  and 
confuse  and  In-wilder  and  torment  those  who  read  their  books." — Ib.  Let.  xix,  HIT  225  and  226. 
All  this  is  just  like  Cobbett.  But,  let  his  admirers  reflect  on  the  matter  as  long  as  they  please, 
the  t'.v  it  and  state,  in  the  text,  "It  being,  or  the  state  of  tilings  I.,  inn 

tuch,"  wii'.  •    :.d  a  glaring  confutation  both  of  his  doctrine  and  of  his  censure  :  "  the  case 

absolute"  .  in  fact,  only  converted  the  single  example  into  a  double  one  ! 

f-\  -    _          »T  T  \ir  Tf^      ...  ^  -*-  -  —       -     - 

I 

JUS 


/Ol/t-M-tC  iM     I  11 VI  V    BfclAI    .  -Ill     U«U>f     Ill     ItVV,  L,    WUI1      1,'MitVJLVU.     lilt-    O(/CyC'O    C  A  U I UJ J 1 C 

7. — The    Irish    philologer,   J.    \V.    Wright,    is   even   more   confident    than   Cobbett,   in 
cnouri'  nd  more  severe  in  his  reprehension  of  "  Grammarians  in  gen- 

ral,  and  Lowth  and  Murray  in  particular,"   for  entertaining  the  idea  of  such  a  case.     "Surprise 
uist  c-'  a  an  acquaintance  with  thefact,  that  persons  who  imbibe  such  fantastical 

octrine  should  be  destitute  of  aft-rHng  information  on  the  subject  of  English  grammar. — The 
Inglis'n  '.ranger  to  ti  ak  thus,  with  confidence,  conscious  of  the 


justness  of  our  opinion  : — an  opinion,  not  precipitately  formed,  but  one  which  is  the  result  of 
mature  and  •  •  last,  all  virtue  is  lost : '   The  meaning  of  this  is, — 

•  When  shame  is  being  lost,  all  virtue  is  lost.'     Here,  the  words  ?.v  being  lost  form  the  true  jrresent 


Wril, 

fVTio   r 


of  the  p  ;  in  which  voice,  all  verbs,  thus  expressed, 'are  t//*mv; 

'/jy  with  tho  noun  «//  •  nominative  of  the  first  member  of  the  sentence." — 

i(jJd's  1'.'  drum.  n.  l'.>2.     With  all  his  deliberation,  this  gentleman  has  committed 

one  oversight  here,  which,  as  it  goes  to  contradict  his  scheme  of  the  passive  verb,  some  of  his 
•ixtv  venerable  commcnders  ought  to  have  pointed  out  to  hi'n.  My  old  friend,  the  "  Professor 
of  Elocution  in  Columbia  College,"  who  finds  by  this  work  of  "  superior  excellence,"  thai  "  the 
nature  of  the  rrrb,  the  most  difficult  part  of  grammar,  has  been,  at  length,  satisfactorily  ex- 
plained," ought  by  no  means,  after  his  "  very  attentive  examination"  of  the  book,  to  have  left 
this  service  to  me.  In  the  clause,  "  all  virtue  is  lost,"  the  passive  verb  "  is  lost "  has  the  form 
which  Murray  gave  it — the  form  which,  till  within  a  year  or  two,  all  men  supposed  to  be  the  only 
right  one;  buti  according  to  this  new  philosophy  of  the  language,  all  men  have  been  as  much  in 
•error  in  this  matter,  as  in  their  notion  of  the  nominative  Absolute.  If  Wright's  theory  of  th« 


516  THE   GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

verb  is  correct,  the  only  just  form  of  the  foregoing  expression  is,  "  all  virtue  is  being  lost."  If 
this  central  position  is  untenable,  his  management  of  the  nominative  absolute  falls  of  course.  To 
me,  the  inserting  of  the  word  being  into  all  our  passive  verbs,  seems  the  most  monstrous  absurdity 
ever  broached  in  the  name  of  grammar.  The  threescore  certifiers  to  the  accuracy  of  that  theory, 
have,  I  trow,  only  recorded  themselves  as  so  many  ignoramuses ;  for  there  are  more  than  three- 
score myriads  of  better  judgements  against  them. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  VIII. 

NOUNS  OR  PRONOUNS  PUT  ABSOLUTE. 

"  Him  having  ended  his  discourse,  the  assembly  dispersed." — Browns  Inst.  p.  190. 
[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  pronoun  Aim,  whose  case  depends  on  no  other  word,  is  in  the  objective 
case.    But,  according  to  Rule  8th,  "A  noun  or  a  pronoun  is  put  absolute  in  the  nominative,  when  its  case  depends 
on  no  other  word."    Therefore,  him  should  be  he;  thus,  "He  having  ended  his  discourse,  the  assembly  dis- 
persed."] 

"Me  being  young,  they  deceived  me." — Inst.  E.  Gram.  p.  190.  "Them refusing  to  com- 
ply, I  withdrew." — Ib.  "  Thee  being  present,  he  would  not  tell  what  he  knew." — Ib.  "  The 
child  is  lost ;  and  me,  whither  shall  I  go  ?  " — Ib.  "  Oh  !  happy  us,  surrounded  with  so 
many  blessings." — Murray's  Key,  p.  187  ;  Merchant's,  197  ;  Smith's  Neio  Gram.  96  ;  Farnum's, 
63.  "  '  Thee  too  !  Brutus,  my  son  ! '  cried  Caesar  overcome." — Broion's  Inst.  p.  190. 
"Thee  !  Maria  !  and  so  late  !  and  who  is  thy  companion?" — New- York  Mirror,  Vol.  x,  p. 
353.  "  How  swiftly  our  time  passes  away  !  and  ah  !  us,  how  little  concerned  to  improve 
it!  "—Comly's  Gram.  Key,  p.  192. 

"  There  all  thy  gifts  and  graces  we  display, 
Thee,  only  thee,  directing  all  our  way." 


CHAPTER  IV. -ADJECTIVES. 

The  syntax  of  the  English  Adjective  is  fully  embraced  in  the  following  brief 
rule,  together  with  the  exceptions,  observations,  and  notes,  which  are,  in  due 
order,  subjoined. 

RULE  IX.— ADJECTIVES. 

Adjectives  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns  :  as,  "Miserable  comforters  are  yo 
all." — Job,  xvi,  2.  "JVo  worldly  enjoyments  are  adequate  to  the  high  desires 
and  powers  of  an  immortal  spirit." — Blair. 

"  Whatever  faction's  partial  notions  are, 
No  hand  is  wholly  innocent  in  war." — Howe's  Lucan^  B.  vii,l.  191. 

EXCEPTION  FIRST. 

An  adjective  sometimes  relates  to  &  phrase  or  sentence  which  is  made  the  subject  of  an  in- 
tervening verb  ;  as,  "To  insult  the  afflicted,  is  impious." — Dillwyn.  "That  he  should  refuse,  is 
not  strange." — "  To  err  is  human."  Murray  says,  "Human  belongs  to  its  substantive  '  nature ' 
understood." — Gram.  p.  233.  From  this  I  dissent. 

EXCEPTION  SECOND. 

In  combined  arithmetical  numbers,  one  adjective  often  relates  to  an  other,  and  the  whole 
phrase,  to  a  subsequent  noun ;  as,  "  One  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty-six  men." — "  Six  dol- 
lars and  eighty-seven  and  a  half  cents  for  every  Jive  days'  service." — "  In  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty-second  year." — "One  seven  times  more  than  it  was  wont  to  be  heated." — Daniel,  iii,  19. 

EXCEPTION  THIRD. 

With  an  infinitive  or  a  participle  denoting  being  or  action  in  the  abstract,  an  adjective  is 
sometimes  also  taken  abstractly  •  (that  is,  without  reference  to  any  particular  noun,  pronoun, 
or  other  subject ;)  as,  "  To  be  sincere,  is  to  be  wise,  innocent,  and  safe" — Hawkesworth.  "Ca- 
pacity marks  the  abstract  quality  of  being  able  to  receive  or  hold." — Crabb's  Synonymes. 
"Indeed,  the  main  secret  of  being  sublime,  is  to  say  great  things  in  few  and  plain  words."- 
Hiley's  Gram.  p.  215.  "  Concerning  being  free  from  sin  in  heaven,  there  is  no  question." 
— Barclay's  Worfo,  iii,  437.  Better:  "  Concerning  freedom  from  sin,"  &c. 

EXCEPTION  FOURTH. 

Adjectives  are  sometimes  substituted  for  their  corresponding  abstract  nouns ;  (perhaps, 
in  most  instances,  ellipticalli/,  like  Greek  neuters  ;)  as,  "  The  sensations  of  sublime  and  beau- 


CIIAP.    IV.]  SYNTAX. RULE   IX. ADJECTIVES. OBSERVATIONS.  517 

tifid  are  not  always  distinguished  by  very  distant  boundaries." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  47.  That 
is,  "of  sublimity  and  beauty."  "The  faults  opposite  to  t/ie  sublime  are  chiefly  two  :  the 
frigid,  and  tit,-.  bombast" — Ib.  p.  44.  Better  :  "The  faults  opposite  to  sublimity,  are  chiefly 
two ;  frir/idify  and  bombast."  "  Yet  the  ruling  character  of  the  nation  was  that  of  barbarous 
and  cru,:l." — Brown' »  Estimate,  ft,  26.  That  is,  "  of  barbarity  and  cruelty."  "In  a  word, 
.1  disagreeable  are  qualities  of  the  objects  we  perceive  ;  "  &c. — Kamcs,  EL  of  Crit. 
i,  99.  "Polished,  or  refined,  was  the  idea  which  the  author  had  in  view." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  219. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  IX. 

Ons.  1. — Adjectives  often  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns  understood;  as,  "Anew  sorrow  recalls 
all  the  former"  [sorrows]. — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  31.     [The  place]  "  Farthest  from  him  is  best." — 
Milton,   I'.   L      "To  whom  they  all  gave  heed,  from  the  least  [person]  to  the  greatest"  [per- 
son].— Acts,  viii,  10.     "  The  Lord  your  God  is  God  of  gods,  and  Lord  of  lords,  a  great  God,  a 
•/  [God],  and  a  terrible"  [God]. — Dcut.  x,  17.     "Every  one  can  distinguish  an  angry  from 
•/,  a  cheerful  from  a  melancholy,  a  thoughtful  from  a  thoughtless,  and  a  dull  from  a  penetrat- 


mrt 

?? 


came  unto  his  own  (creatures,}  and  his  own  (creatures)  received  him  not." — PL  and  Pract.  Gram.  p. 
41.  This  ambitious  editor  of  Virgil,  abridger  of  Murray,  expounder  of  the  Bible,  and  author  of 
several  "new  and  improved"  grammars,  (of  different  languages,)  should  have  understood  this 
text,  notwithstanding  the  obscurity  of  our  version.  "  Elg  rui'J/u  //.#«,  *«i  «t  ISioi  uvr<n  or 
xu^oi ." — "  In  projtria  venit,  et  proprii  eum  non  receperunt." — Montainis.  "Ad  sua  venit.  et  sui 
earn  non  exceperunt." — Beza.  "  11  est  vonu  chez  soi ;  et  Iix  sicns  ne  1'ont  point  re9u." — French 
Bible.  Sometimes  the  construction  of  the  adjective  involves  an  ellipsis  of  several  teord-s.  and 
perhaps  the  principal  parts  of  the  clause  ;  as,  "  The  sea  appeared  to  be  agitated  more  than 
[iu  that  degree  which  is]  usual." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  217.  "During  the  course  of  the  sen- 
tence, the  scene  should  be  changed  as  little  as  [in  the  least]  possible"  [degree]. — Blair's  Rhet.  p. 
107;  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  312. 

"  Presumptuous  man  !  the  reason  wouldst  thou  find, 
Why  [thou  art]  form'd  so  weak,  so  little,  and  so  blind  ?"— Pope. 

OBS.  2. — Because  fMO&tiat  belong  only  t>  thinf/s,  most  grammarians  teach,  that,  "Adjective* 
are  capable  of  being  added  to  nouns  only." — Bvcnanan'a  Syntax,  p.  26.  Or,  as  Murray  expresses 
the  doctrine  :  "  Every  adjective,  and  every  adjective  pronoun,  belongs  to  a  substantive,  expressed 
or  understood." — Octavo  Gram.  p.  161.  "The  adjective  always  relates  to  a  substantive." — Ib.  p. 
169.  This  teaching,  which  is  alike  repugnant  to  the  true  definition  of  an  adjective,  to  the  true 
rule  for  its  construction,  and  to  all  the  exceptions  to  this  rule,  is  but  a  sample  of  that  hasty  sort 
of  induction,  which  is  ever  jumping  to  false  conclusions  for  want  of  a  fair  comprehension  of  the 
facts  in  point.  The  position  would  not  be  tenable,  even  if  all  our  pronouns  were  admitted  to  be 
nouns,  or  " mbstantivet ;  "  and,  if  these  two  parts  of  speech  are  to  be  distinguished,  the  conse- 

ence  must  be,  that  Murray  supposes  a  countless  number  of  unnecessary  and  absurd  ellipses. 
. 'liciently  evident,  that  in  the  construction  of  sentences,  adjectives  often  relate  immediately 
to  jironoHiin,  and  only  through  them  to  the  nouns  which  they  represent.     Examples:  "I  should 
like  to  know  who  has  been  carried  off,  except  poor  dear  me." — Byron.     "  To  poor  us  there  is  not 
much  hope  remaining." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  201.     "  It  is  the  final  pause  which  alone,  on  many 


OCCi 

2! 


asions,  marks  the  difference  between  prose  and  verse." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  260.  "Andsome- 
•  th" — Ib.  p.  196.  "All  men  hail'd  me  happy." — Milton.  "  To  receive  unhappy 
me." — Dryden.  "Superior  to  them  all." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  419.  "  They  returned  to  their  own 
country,  full  of  the  discoveries  which  they  had  made." — Ib.  p.  350.  "All  ye  are  brethren." — 
Matt,  xxiii,  8.  "And  hi//i  only  shalt  thou  serve." — Matt,  iv,  10. 
"  Go  wiser  thou,  and  in  thy  scale  of  sense 

;h  thy  opinion  against  Providence." — Pope. 
Ons.  3. — When  an  adjective  follows  a  finite  verb,  and  is  not  followed  by  a  noun,  it  generally 
relates  to  the  subject  of  the  verb;  as,  "/  am  glnd  that  the  door  is  made  wide  " — "An  unbounded 
t  doth  not  long  continue  aum  able." — Katncs.  El.  of  Crit.  i,  244      "Every  thing  which  is 
,  or  unn-orthy,  is  despicable  to  him,  though  all  the  world  should  approve  it." — Spec- 
<  tcioits,  and  amrorthy,  relate  to  irhich  ;  and  despicable  relates  to  thing. 
The  p.  his  followers,  of  supplying  a  "substantive  "  in  all  such  eases,  is  ab- 

__j         ««  Yi  \  .1  *     ,.*: r ~*i jj^.*L..j__r          T\  •    -  i      i  *i_       .  r 


surd.     "When  t'  •  forms  the  Attribute  of  a  Proposition,  it  belongs  to  the  noun  [or 

pronoun]  w.  tion,  and  cannot  be  joined  to  any  other  noun, 

since  it  is  of  the  Subject  that  we  aiiirm   trie  qualiu  .  Ijective."— DC.  Sacy,  on 

•i  Gram.  p.  37.     In  some  peculiar  phra  : .   such  as,  to  fa/I  short  of,  to  make  bold 

with,  to  sit  li<iht  by,  the  adjective  ).  i  ion  with  the  veib,  that  it  may  seem  qurstion- 

able  how  it  explained  in  pa:  aples:  (1.)  '*  This  latter  mode  of  expression 

<«f  the  former." — /,.  Murray's  Gnm.  p.  3.">o.     Some  will 
suppose  the  word  short  to  be  her,-  used  .   or   to  qualify  falls  only;  but  perhaps  it  may 

.  be  parsed  at  an  adjective  relating  to  the  nnmln'itive.     (2.)  "And  that  I  have 

made  BO  <•''<>•'</  with   thy  glorious  .M-i;.-ty. "—./.•  This  expression  is  perhaps 

elliptical:  it  may  mean,  "  that  I   have   m  -  (3.)  "  Cursed  be  he  that  set- 

ht.\)\  his 'father  or  his   mother:  and  all  the   people  shall   say.  Amen." — D- tit.  xxvii,  16. 
This  inay  mean,  "that  sctteth  V\^}.' 

!  —When  an  adjective  follows  an  infinitive  or  a  participle,  the  noun  or  pronoun  to  which 
t  rel..  ::ietimcs  after  it,  and  often  considerably  remote  ;  ;; 

ntleniaii  cannot  but  practi.-e   th"  -filch,  by  an  intimate  knowledge  of  mankind, 

:ie  has  found  to  lie  u-rtnl  to  them." — "  He  [a  melancholy  enthusiast]   thinks  himself  obliged  in 
duty  to  be  sud  and  diacun-iolate." — Addison.     "He  is  scandalized  at  youth  for  being  lively,  and  at 


518  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

childhood  for  being  playful." — Id.     "  But  growing  weary  of  one  who  almost  walked  him  out  of 
breath,  he  left  him  for  Horace  and  Anacreon." — Steele. 

OBS.  5. — Adjectives  preceded  by  the  definite  article,  are  often  used,  by  ellipsis,  as  nouns ;  as, 
the  learned,  for,  learned  men.  Such  phrases  usually  designate  those  classes  of  persons  or  things, 
which  are  characterized  by  the  qualities  they  express  ;  and  this,  the  reader  must  observe,  is  a  use 
quite  different  from  that  substitution  of  adjectives  for  nouns,  which  is  noticed  in  the  fourth  ex- 
ception above.  In  our  language,  the  several  senses  in  which  adjectives  may  thus  be  taken,  are 
not  distinguished  with  that  clearness  which  the  inflections  of  other  tongues  secure.  Thus,  the 
noble,  the  vile,  the  excellent,  or  the  beautiful,  may  be  put  for  three  extra  constructions :  first,  for 
noble  persons,  vile  persons,  &c. ;  secondly,  for  the  noble  man,  the  vile  man,  &c. ;  thirdly,  for  the  ab- 
stract qualities,  nobility,  vileness,  excellence,  beauty.  The  last-named  usage  forms  an  exception 
to  the  rule  ;  in  the  other  two  the  noun  is  understood,  and  should  be  supplied  by  the  parser.  Such 
terms,  if  elliptical,  are  most  commonly  of  the  plural  number,  and  refer  to  the  word  persons  or 
things  understood ;  as,  "The  careless  and  the  imprudent,  the  giddy  and  the  fickle,  the  ungrateful 
and  the  interested,  everywhere  meet  us." — Blair.  Here  the  noun  persons  is  to  be  six  times  sup- 
plied. "Wherever  there  is  taste,  the  witty  and  the  humorous  make  themselves  perceived." — 
Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  21.  Here  the  author  meant,  simply,  the  qualities  wit  and  humour,  and  he 
ought  to  have  used  these  words,  because  the  others  are  equivocal,  and  are  more  naturally  con- 
ceived to  refer  to  persons.  In  the  following  couplet,  the  noun  places  or  thirty s  is  understood  after 
"open,"  and  again  after  "covert,"  which  last  word  is  sometimes  misprinted  "coverts :" 
"  Together  let  us  beat  this  ample  field, 
Try  what  the  open,  what  the  covert,  yield." — Pope,  on  Man. 

OBS.  6. — The  adjective,  in  English,  is  generally  placed  immediately  before  its  noun  ;  as,  "Vain 
man!  is  grandeur  given  to  gay  attire?" — Beattie.  Those  adjectives  which  relate  to  pronouns, 
most  commonly  follow  them ;  as,  "  They  left  me  weary  on  a  grassy  turf."— -Milton.  But  to  both 
these  general  rules  there  are  many  exceptions  ;  for  the  position  of  an  adjective  may  be  varied  by 
a  variety  of  circumstances,  not  excepting  the  mere  convenience  of  emphasis  :  as,  "And  Jehu 
said,  Unto  which  of  all  us?" — 2  Kings,  ix,  5.  In  the  following  instances  the  adjective  is  placed 
after  the  word  to  which  it  relates  : 

1.  When  other  words  depend  on  the  adjective,  or  stand  before  it  to  qtialify  it;  as,  "A  mind 
conscious  of  right," — "A  wall  three  feet  thick," — "A  body  of  troops  fifty  thousand  strong." 

2.  When  the  quality  results  from  an  action,  or  receives  its  application  through  a  verb  or  par- 
ticiple ;  as,  "  Virtue  renders  life  happy." — "He  was  in  Tirzah,  drinking  himself  drunk  in  the 
house  of  Arza." — 1  Kings,  xv'i,  9.     "All  men  agree  to  call  vinegar  sour,  honey 'sweet,  and  aloes 
bitter." — Burke,  on  Taste,  p.  38.     "  God  made  thee  perfect,  not  immutable." — Mdton. 

3.  When  the  quality  excites  admiration,  and  the  adjective  would  thus  be  more  clearly  dis- 
tinctive ;  as,  "  Goodness  infinite," — "  Wisdom  unsearchable." — Murray. 

4.  When  a  verb  comes  between  the  adjective  and  the  noun;  as,  "Truth  stands  independent  of 
all  external  things." — Burgh.     "  Honour  is  not  seemly  for  a  fool." — Sofomon. 

5.  When  the  adjective  is  formed  by  means  of  the  prefix  a ;  as,  afraid,  alert,  alike,  alive,  alone, 
asleep,  awake,  aware,  averse,  ashamed,  askew.     To  these  may  be  added  a  few  other  words  ;  as,  else, 
enout/h,  extant,  extinct,  fraught,  pursuant. 

6.  'When  the  adjective  has  the  nature,  but  not  the  form,  of  a  participle  ;  as,  "A  queen  regnant," 
— "  The  prince  regent," — "  The  heir  apparent" — "A  lion,  not  rampant,  but  couchant  or  dormant" — 
"For  the  time  then  present." 

OBS.  7. — In  some  instances,  the  adjective  may  either  precede  or  follow  its  noun  ;  and  the  writer 
may  take  his  choice,  in  respect  to  its  position  :  as, 

1.  In  poetry — provided  the  sense  be  obvious  ;  as, 

"  Wilt  thou  to  the  isles 

Atlantic,  to  the  rich  Hesperian  c<imt>, 

Fly  in  the  train  of  Autumn  ? " — Akenside,  P.  of  I.  Book  i,  p.  27. 

"  Wilt  thou  fly 

With  laughing  Autumn  to  the  Atlantic  isles, 

And  range  with  him  t/i'  Hesperian  field?" — Id.  Buckets  Gram.  p.  120. 

2.  When  technical  usage  favours  one  order,  and  common  usage  an  other  ;  as,  "A  notary  public," 
or,  "  A  public  notary  ;  " — "  The  heir  presumptive"   or,   "  The  presumptive  heir."     See  Johnson's 
Diet,  and  Webster's. 

3.  When  an  adverb  precedes  the  adjective;  as,  "A  Being  infinitely  wise,"  or,  "An  infinitely 
wise  Being."     Murray,  Comly,  and  others,  here  approve  only  the  former  order;  but  the  latter  is 
certainly  not  ungrammatical. 

4.  When  several  adjectives  belong  to  the  same  noun;  as,  "A  woman,  modest,  sensible,  and 
virtuous,"  or,  "A  modest,  sensible,  and  virtuous  woman."     Here  again,  Murray,  Comly,  and  others, 
approve  only  the  former  order  ;   but  I  judge  the  latter  to  be  quite  as  good. 

5.  When  the  adjective  is  emphatic,  it  may  be  foremost  in  the  sentence,  though  the  natural 
order  of  the  words  would  bring  it  last;  as,  "Weighty  is  the  anger  of  the  righteous." — Bible. 
"Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart." — Ib.     "Great  is  the  earth,  high  is  the  heaven,  swift  is  the  sun  in 
his  course." — 1  Esdras,  iv,  34.     "  The  more  laborious  the  life  is,  the  less  populous  is  the  country." 
— Goldsmith's  Essays,  p.  151. 

OBS.  S.— By  an  ellipsis  of  the  noun,  an  adjective  with  a  preposition  before  it,  is  sometimes 
equivalent  to  an  adverb  ;  as,  "in  particular ;  "  that  is,  "In  a  particular  manner ;  "  equivalent  to 
particularly.  So  "  in  general"  is  equivalent  to  generally.  It  has  already  been  suggested,  that, 
in  parsing,  the  scholar  should  here  supply  the  ellipsis.  See  Obs.  3d,  under  Rule  vii. 

Oiis.  9 — Though  English  adjectives  are,  for  the  most  part,  incapable  of  any  agreement,  yet 
such  of  them  as  denote  unity  or  plurality,  ought  in  general  to  have  nouns  of  the  same  number ; 
as,  this  man,  one  man,  two  men,  many  men.  *  "in  phrases  of  this  form,  the  rule  is  well  observed; 

*  In  Clark's  Practical  Grammar,  of  1S4S.  is  found  this  NOTE:  u The  Noun  should  correspond  in  number  with 
the  Adjectives.  EXAMPLES  —  A  two  feet  ruler.  A  ten  feet  pole." — P.  165.  These  examples  are  wrong  :  the  doc- 


CHAP.  IV.]      SYNTAX. — RULE  IX. — ADJECTIVES. — OBSERVATIONS.  519 

but  in  some  peculiar  ways  of  numbering  things,  it  is  commonly  disregarded  ;  for  certain  nouns 
are  taken  in  a  plural  sense  without  assuming  the  plural  termination.  Thus  people  talk  of  many 
stone  of  cheese, — many  anil  of  vessels, — many  stand  of  arms, — many  head  of  cattle. — many  dozen 
of  eggs, — many  hrarr  of  partridges, — many  pair  of  shoes.  So  we  read  in  the  Bible  of  "  two 
hundred  pennyworth  of  bread,"  and  "twelve  manner  of  fruits."  In  all  such  phraseology,  there 
is,  in  regard  to  the  fnrm  of  the  latter  word,  an  evident  disagreement  of  the  adjective  with  its 
immediate  noun:  but  sometimes,  (where  the  preposition  of  does  not  occur,)  expressions  that 
-mi' what  like  these  may  be  elliptical:  as  when  historians  tell  of  many  thousand  foot 
(soldiers),  or  many  Inindn-d  horse  (troops).  To  denote  a  collective  number,  a  singular  adjective 
may  precede  a  plural  one;  as,  '••One  hundred  men,"  —  "Every  six  weeks."  And  to  denote 
pluralitv.  the  adjective  many  may,  in  like  manner,  precede  an  or  a  with  a  singular  noun  ;  as, 
"Th"  ndvs<e\-  entertains  u<  with  nnny  a  wonderful  advt  nf //>•/•,  and  many  a  landscape  of  nature." 
—  lllair's  lihit.  p  436.  "  There  start-up  many  a  writer." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  306. 
"  Full  many  a  fltnr<-r  is  horn  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air." — Gray. 

Ons  10. — Though  this  and  that  cannot  relate  to  plurals,  many  writers  do  not  hesitate  to  place 
them  before  singulars  taken  conjointly,  which  are  equivalent  to  plurals;  as,  "'/'///,?  power  and 
tri'l  do  necessarily  produce  that  which  man  is  empowered  to  do." — Sale's  Koran,  i,  220.  "That 
sohrli-tif  and  self-denial  which  are  essential  to  the  support  of  virtue." — Murray's  Key,  Hvo,  p.  218. 
"This  ttir>di-*fi/  and  decency  were  looked  upon  by  them  as  a  law  of  nature." — Rolliu's  Hist,  ii,  4.5. 
Her"  the  plural  forms,  these  and  those,  cannot  he  substituted ;  but  the  singular  may  be  repeated, 
if  the  repetition  be  thought  necessary.  Yet.  when  these  same  pronominal  adjectives  are  placed 
afti-r  the  nouns  to  suggest  the  things  again,  they  must  be  made  plural  ;  as,  "Modesty  nnd  di'rencv 
were  thus  carefully  guarded,  for  these  were  looked  upon  as  being  enjoined  by  the  law  of  nature." 

OHS.  11. — In  prose,  the  use  of  adjectives  for  adverbs  is  improper;  but,  in  poetry,  an  adjective 
relating  to  the  noun  or  pronoun,  is  sometimes  elegantly  used  in  stead  of  an  adverb  qualifying  the 
verb  or  participle  ;  as.  "(Ira.dital  sinks  the  breeze  Into  a  perfect  calm." — Thomson's  Seasons,  p. 
31.  "  To  Thee  I  bend  the  knee ;  to  Thee  my  thoughts  Continual  climb." — Ih.  p.  48.  "As  on  he 
walks  drn^eful,  and  crows  defiance." — Ih.  p.  56.  "As  through  the  falling  glooms  PCI.  I 
stray." — Ib.'p.  80.  "  They,  sportive,  wheel ;  or,  sailing  down  the  stream,  Are  snatch'd  immediate 
bv  the  quick-eyed  trout." — Ih  p.  82.  "-In'-essant  still  you  flow." — Ih.  p.  91.  "The  shatter'd 
clouds  T">iiii'fi/ftns  rove,  the  interminable  sky  SnhH/ner  swells." — Ih.  p.  116.  In  order  to  deter- 
mine, in  difficult  cases,  whether  an  adjective  or  an  adverb  is  required,  the  learner  should  carefully 
attend  to  the  definitions  of  these  parts  of  speech,  and  consider  whether,  in  the  case  in  question, 
qua iit  11  is  to  be  expressed,  or  manner :  if  the  former,  an  adjective  is  always  proper  ;  if  the  latter, 
an  adverb.  That  is,  in  this  case,  the  adverb,  though  not  always  required  in  poetry,  is  specially 
requisite  in  prose.  The  following  examples  will  illustrate  this  point:  "  She  looks  cold;" — "She 
looks  ro'dly  on  him  " — "  I  sat  silent;  " — "  I  sat  silently  musing." — "  Stand  firm  ;  maintain  your 
/.o,1se  firmly ."  See  Etymology t  Chap,  viii,  Obs.  4th,  5th,  6th,  and  7th,  on  the  Modifications  of 

0»s.  12. — In  English,  an  adjective  and  its  noun  are  often  taken  as  a  sort  of  compound  term, 
to  which  other  adjectives  may  be  added;  as,   "An  old  man  ;  a  good  old  man;  a  very  learned, 
••s,  good  old  man." — L.  Murray's  dram.  p.  169;   Brit.  Gram.  19'1 ;  linrhanan's,   79.     "Of 
an   o'hcr  d<-terminnfe  jxjxitire  m  ir  birth,   subsequent  to   baptism,   we    know  nothing." — West's 
.  p.  183.     When  adjectives  are  thus  accumulated,  the  subsequent  ones  should  convey  such 
!  the  former  mav  consistently  qualify,  otherwise  the  expression  will  he  objectionable. 
Thus  the  ordinal  adjectives  first,  second,  third,  next,  and  last,  may  qualify  the  cardinal  numbers, 
but  they  cannot  very  properly  be  qualified  by  them.     When,  therefore,  we  specify  any  part  of  a 
irdinal  adjective  ought,  by  good  fight,  to  follow  the  ordinal,  and  not,  as  in  the  folio-w- 
ing phrase,  be  placed  before  it:  "  In  reading  the  nine  la^f  chapters  af  John." — Fuller.     Properly 
speaking,  there  is  but  one  last  clnpter  in   any  hook.     Say,  therefore,   "the  l"st  nine  chapters;*' 
for,  out  of  the  twentv-one  chapters  in  John,  a  man  may  select  several  different  nines.     (See 

Degrees  of  Comparison. )     TVhen  one  of  the  adjectives 

merely  qualifies  the  other,  thev  should  be  joined  together  by  a  hyphen;  as,  "A  red-hot,  iron," — 
"A  dead-ripe  melon."  And  when  both  or  all  refer  equally  and  solely  to  the  noun,  they  ought 
either  to  be  conn '  •  '(junction,  or  to  be  separated  by  a  comma.  The  following  example 

is  therefor'   faulty:   "It  is  the   business  of  an   epic   poet,  to  form  a  prohahlr  inttrcsfhxi  tale." — 
HJu-t.  p.  427.     Say.   "probable  and  interesting;"  or  else  insert  a  comma  in  lieu  of  the 
conjunction. 

"Around  him  wide  a  sable  army  stand, 

A  hi"  selfish,  servile  band." — Dnnriad,  B.  ii,  1.  355. 

Ons.  13. — Dr.    Priestley  has  observed  :   "  There  is  a  remarkable  ambiguity   in  the  use  of  the 
»gative  adjec'ive  7i"  ;  and  I  do  not  he.  "how  it  can  be  remedied  in  any  language.      It' 

.Vo  lairs  are  hfffrr  than  the  r'.ntdish,'   it  is  onlv  my  known  sentiments  that  can  in: 
whether  I  mean  to  praise,  or  dispraise  them." — Vr'n  xf/t  >/'s    Cram.   p.    136.      It  may  not  he 
possible  to  remove  the  ambiguity  from  the  ph-  •,  d.  but  it  is  easy  enough  to  avoid 

the  form,  nnd  say  in  stead  of  it.  "The   English  lairs   are   n-nrse  than  none,"  or,  "The  Kin/listi  laics 
it  any  ;"  and,  in   neither  of  these  expressions    is    there  any  ambiguity,  though  the 
other  may  doubtless  be  taken  in  either  o  Sueh  an  ambiguity  is  sometimes  used  on 

purpose  ;  as  when  one  man  says  of  an  other,  "  He  is  no  small  knave  ;  "  or,  "  He  is  no  small  fool." 

irino  in  misapplied  in  both.       With  this  author,  a,  as  well  an  two  or  tfn,  is  an  a'/jtftirr  of  number:  and,  uince 

TIT  in    numlxT.  what  sort  "f  <  ..n«.nl  or  r<iiMriic-i'.n   ,|.,  the  four  words  in  cnrh  of  tln-n-  phra.'TS  make? 

.•al  au.l  a  noun  nrc  united  to  form  a  rnmjnmnil  a'lj-rtirf,  we  n  mmouly,  if  not  alwavs.  n-o  flu-  latter 

n  iN  primi'ive  or  Mnjrul'ir  f>rm  ;  a«,  "A   tn-,ii  ,n»t/  toy," — "a  ttraf'u/r/  error," — "  thrft-cont  plasterinp,'' — "a 

itirr'r>'iini/  lo;if,"—  •'•  a   ftniT>r/n>irr   fi_Miro," — "  of  ticrnty-tuir.ir   power."      And  no  carpenter  ).•  ay.  "a 

"!]«•." — "a  tenfoot  pole  :  '*  which  phrases  are  right;  while  Clark's  are  not  only  unusual,  but  unnnalogi- 

<;il,  ungrammatical. 


= 


con 


520  THE    GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

NOTES  TO  RULE  IX. 

NOTE  I. — Adjectives  that  imply  unity  or  plurality,  must  agree  with  their  nouns  in 
number  :  as,  "That  sort,  those  sorts  ;  " — "This  hand,  these  hands"* 

NOTE  II. — When  the  adjective  is  necessarily  plural,  or  necessarily  singular,  the 
noun  should  be  made  so  too:  as,  "Twenty  pounds"  not,  "Twenty  pound;" — 
"'Four  feet  long,"  not,  "  Four  foot  long;  " — "  One  session,"  not,  "  One  sessions." 

NOTE  III. — The  reciprocal  expression,  one  an  other,  should  not  be  applied  to  two 
objects,  nor  each  other,  or  one  the  other,  to  more  than  two;  as,  "Verse  and  prose, 
on  some  occasions,  run  into  one  another,  like  light  and  shade." — Blair's  Rhet.  p. 
377  ;  Jamieson's,  298.  Say,  "  into  each  other"  "  For  mankind  have  always  been 
butchering  each  other" — Webster's  Essays,  p.  151.  Say,  "  one  another"  See 
Etymology,  Chap,  iv,  Obs.  15th,  16th,  17th,  and  18th,  on  the  Classes  of  Adjectives. 

NOTE  IV. — When  the  comparative  degree  is  employed  with  than,  the  latter  term 
of  comparison  should  never  include  the  former ;  nor  the  former  the  latter  :  as,  "Iron 
is  more  useful  than  all  the  metals." — "All  the  metals  are  less  useful  than  iron"  In 
either  case,  it  should  be,  "  all  the  other  metals." 

NOTE  V. — When  the  superlative  degree  is  employed,  the  latter  term  of  comparison, 
which  is  introduced  by  of,  should  never  exclude  the  former ;  as,  "A  fondness  for 
show,  is,  of  all  other  follies,  the  most  vain."  Here  the  word  other  should  be  ex- 
punged ;  for  this  latter  term  must  include  the  former  :  that  is,  the  fondness  for  show 
must  be  one  of  the  follies  of  which  it  is  the  vainest. 

NOTE  VI. — When  equality  is  denied,  or  inequality  affirmed,  neither  term  of  the 
comparison  should  ever  include  the  other ;  because  every  thing  must  needs  be  equal 
to  itself,  and  it  is  absurd  to  suggest  that  a  part  surpasses  the  whole  :  as,  "No  writ- 
ings whatever  abound  so  much  with  the  bold  and  animated  figures,  as  the  sacred 
books." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  414.  Say,  "  No  other  writings  whatever;  "  because  the 
sacred  books  are  "  writings"  See  Etymology,  Chap,  iv,  Obs.  6th,  on  Regular  Com- 
parison. 

NOTE  VII. — Comparative  terminations,  and  adverbs  of  degree,  should  not  be 
applied  to  adjectives  that  are  not  susceptible  of  comparison  ;  and  all  double  compara- 
tives and  double  superlatives  should  be  avoided  :  as,  "So  universal  a  complaint :  " 
say  rather,  "  So  general." — "  Some  less  nobler  plunder  : "  say,  "  less  noble."-  — "  The 
most  straitest  sect:  "  expunge  most.  See  Etymology,  Chap,  iv,  from  Obs.  5th  to 
Obs.  13th,  on  Irregular  Comparison. 

NOTE  VIII. — When  adjectives  are  connected  by  and,  or,  or  nor,  the  shortest  and 
simplest  should  in  general  be  placed  first;  as,  "  He  is  older  and  more  respectable 
than  his  brother."  To  say,  "more  respectable  and  older"  would  be  obviously 
inelegant,  as  possibly  involving  the  inaccuracy  of  "  more  older.'1 

NOTE  IX. — When  one  adjective  is  superadded  to  an  other  without  a  conjunction 
expressed  or  understood,  the  most  distinguishing  quality  must  be  expressed  next  to 
the  noun,  and  the  latter  must  be  such  as  the  former  may  consistently  qualify ;  as, 
"An  agreeable  young  man,"  not,  "A  young  agreeable  man." — "  The  art  of  speaking, 
like  all  other  practical  arts,  may  be  facilitated  by  rules." — Enjield's  Speaker,  p.  10. 
Example  of  error:  "  The  Anglo-Saxon  language  possessed,  for  the  two  first  persons, 
a  Dual  number." — Fowler's  E.  Gram.  1850,  p.  59.  Say,  "the  first  two  persons  ;  " 
for  the  second  of  three  can  hardly  be  one  of  the  first ;  and  "two  first,"  with  the 
second  and  third  added,  will  clearly  make  more  than  three.  See  Obs.  12th,  above. 

NOTE  X. — In  prose,  the  use  of  adjectives  for  adverbs,  is  a  vulgar  error;  the  adverb 
alone  being  proper,  when  manner  or  degree  is  to  be  expressed,  and  not  quality :  as, 
"  He  writes  elegant ;  "  say,  "  elegantly." — "  It  is  a  remarkable  good  likeness ;  "  say, 
"  remarkably  good." 

*  Certain  adjectives  that  differ  in  number,  are  sometimes  connected  disjunctively  by  or  or  than,  while  the  noun 
literally  agrees  with  that  which  immediately  precedes  it,  and  with  the  other  merely  hy  implication  or  supplement, 
under  the  figure  which  is  called  zfu.°ma:  us,  "Two  or  more  nouns  joined  together  by  onf  or  more  copulative 
conjunctions."— Lowth's  Gram.  p.  75  ;  L  Murray's,  2d  Ed.  p.  106.  "  He  speaks  not  to  one  or  a  few  judges,  but 
to  a  large  assembly."—  Blairs  Rhet  p.  280.  " More  than  one  object  at  a  time."— Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  801. 
See  Obs.  10th  on  Rule  17th. 


CIIAP.  IV.]  SYNTAX.  -  RULE    IX.  -  ADJECTIVES.  -  NOTES.  521 

NOTE  XI.  —  The  pronoun  them  should  never  be  used  as  an  adjective,  in  lieu  of 
those:  say,  "Thought  those  books;"  not,  "them  books."  This  also  is  a  vulgar 
error,  and  chiefly  confined  to  the  conversation  of  the  unlearned.* 

NOTE  XII.  —  When  the  pronominal  adjectives,  this  and  that,  or  these  and  those,  are 
contrasted  ;  this  or  these  should  represent  the  latter  of  the  antecedent  terms,  and  that 
or  those,  the  former  :  as, 

"And,  reason  raise  o'er  instinct  as  you  can, 

In  this  'tis  God  directs,  in  that  'tis  man."  —  Pope. 
"  Farewell  my  friends  !  farewell  my  foes  ! 

My  peace  with  these,  my  love  with  those!"  —  Burns. 

X»TK  XIII.  —  The   pronominal  adjectives  either  and  neither,  in  strict  propriety  of 

syntax,  relate  to  two  things  only  ;  \vhen  more  are  referred  to,  any  and  none,  or  any 

ml  no  one,  should  be  used  in  stead  of  them  :  as,  "Any  of  the  three."  or,  "Any 

:'  the  three  ;  "  not,  "Either  of  the  three."  —  "None  of  the  four,"  or,  "No  one 

of  the  four  ;  "  not,  "Neither  of  the  four."f 

NMTK  XIV.  —  The  adjective  whole  must  not  be  used  in  a  plural  sense,  for  all;  nor 
less,  in  the  sense  of  fewer  ;  nor  more  or  most,  in  any  ambiguous  construction,  where 
it  may  be  either  an  adverb  of  degree,  or  an  adjective  of  number  or  quantity  :  as, 
"Almost  the  whole  inhabitants  were  present."  —  Hume:  sec  Priestley's  Gram.  p. 
190.  |  Say,  "Almost  all  the  inhabitants."  "  No  less  than  three  dictionaries  have 
been  published  to  correct  it."  —  Dr.  Webster.  Say,  "No  fewer."  "  This  trade 
enriched  some  people  more  than  them."  —  Murray  s  Gram.  i,  p.  215.  This  passage 
rle.'ir  in  its  import  :  it  may  have  either  of  two  meanings.  Say,  "  This  trade 


enriched  some  other  people,  besides  them."     Or,  "This  trade  enriched  some  others 
more  than  it  did  them." 


XV.  —  I  Virticipial  adjectives  retain  the  termination,  but  not  the  government  of 
participles;  when,  therefore,  they  are  followed  by  the  objective  case,  a  preposition 
must  be-  inserted  to  govern  it  :  as,  ''The  man  who  is  most  sparing  of  his  words,  is 
generally  most  dwn-\ng  of  attention." 

NOTE  XVI.  —  When  the  figure  of  any  adjective  affects  the  syntax  and  sense  of  the 

sentence,  care  must  be  taken  to  give  to  the  word  or  words  that  form,  simple  or  com- 

pound, which  suits  the  true  meaning  and  construction.     Examples:  "  He  is  forehead 

bald,  yet  he  is  clean  "  —  FRIENDS'  BIBLE  :  Lev.  siii,  41.     Say,  "forehead-bald."  — 

Ar.«;i-.u'<  HIBLE,  and  SCOTT'S.      "From   such  phrases  as,  'New  England  scenery,1 

uience  requires  the  omission  of  the  hyphen."  —  Sanborn's  Gram   p.  89.     This 

ilse  notion.     Without  the  hypbtB,  the  phrase  properly  means,  "New  scenery  in 

England  ;  "  but  Neu'-Kn(jl<ni<l  senary  is  scenery  in  New  England.      "  'Many  col- 

oured wings,1  means  many  wings  which  are  coloured  ;  but  '  many  coloured  wings1 

means  wings  of  many  colours."  —  Blairs  Gram.  p.  110. 

•  The  leirne.l   William  I?    Fowl*'  strangely   imagines  all  pronouns  to  he  a///-  '•///•'  <.  he-longing  to  nouns  expressed 
or  untl'-r-fno'l  af-er  them  :  :is.  ••  MV  king*  require  /A'm  (rabj  ,>yl>sh  Gram. 

I'.-l.      ••  '/'  m  grammarians,  [i.  e.]  fAoxe  grammarians.      Titty  i-  i  an  other  Bpelitojr  of  fAf,  and  of  conne  mean* 

aim,   th.  n.  •   lh<m  grannni<,itin>."  f,  r  "  those 
.'.-"i/i-,"  though  rhe  vulgar  do  not  t;ik. 

pronoun,  if  a  fit  counter* 

part  to  that  of  some  other  franm  -;most  ever\  noun.     Thus: 

"  The  i  •  .  i  :  as.  Man"  (he)  is  the  Lord 

of  this   !,,\vei    \VorM.      Wo  it)  stands  on  a  llill       Men 

anil  \Vo?i:en  (rhry)  arc  nfimial  Cn  '•  .    r,n  r  hn  nun's.  1"1.     It  wouM  h;..ve  1'een  worth 

agre.it    .  men.  to  hnve  known   irhnt  <m  Wli^i*  i*  ;  an  1  the  man  who  shall  yet  make  .-m-h  knowledge 

common,  omrht  to  tx>  forever  hoi.oun-.l  i: 

t  -An  Illegitimate  and  m  i,  eAA«r  and  tutJA«r,  has  lately  been  creeping  into  the 

K.l.c  into  tin-  house, 

tA^r  of  them  could    >  *  «'ii  will  fm.i  of  them  will  do.'  M— 

MATT.  HARRISON,  on  th'  English   Istnzi  and  „,  it/,/  r.  nppli,.,]  f(,  any  number  n 

.  is  ;i  iniTc  so'..  •  in  OR  rfit/i-  • 

J  Dr.  i  ion,  on  the  jj-mmul,  tlistt  the  \\OP!  n-h<>lr  is  «n  "  attnf/i/t'  <\f  unity,'"1  and 

then-fun-  improperly  added  to  a  plural  noun.      l!ut.  in  far-,  tive  is  not  H-  '!  ir,  iior  is  all 

necessarily  plural.  'Yet  there  is  a  dilfer.  .-.juivalent  to  all  only  \\  !.en  the  noun  is 

singular:  tor  then  only  do  entiren  A  i:ian  rna>  .-  1  •..••,••/-  ?/',.'•  .'  .  -'-.-.     «  ii.  n  }.<•  means, 

"  all  th'  thing  ;"  hut  he  nn  In  the  f.  l!o\\inp  example.  ".'/  i»  I-ut  lor  ichole, 

and  taken  fubsUn  lively;  but  the  express!  n  i--  .1  >|uain>.  01  .  article  and  pri-p'^ition  secin  needless: 

Which  doth  encompass  and  embrace  the  aii  of  things."—  The  Dial,  Vol.  i.  p 


522  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 


IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  IX. 

EXAMPLES  UNDER  NOTE  I. — AGREEMENT  OF  ADJECTIVES. 
"I  am  not   recommending  these  kind  of  sufferings  to  your  liking." — BP.  SHERLOCK: 
Loicttis  Gram.  p.  87. 

[FORMULA. — NTot  proper,  because  the  adjective  these  is  plural,  and  does  not  agree  with  its  noun  kin tf,  which  is 
singular.  Bur.  accordirg;  t<>  Nore  1st  under  Rule  9th.  ''Adjectives  that  imply  unity  or  plurality,  must  agree  with 
their  nouns  in  number."  Therefore,  these  should  be  this ;  thus, k'  I  am  not  recommending  this  kind  of  sufft- rings. :'] 

"I  have  not  been  to  London  this  five  years." — Webster s  Philos.  Gram.  p.  152.  "These 
kind  of  verbs  are  more  expressive  than  their  radicals." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of  Lang,  Vol.  ii, 
p.  163.  "  Few  of  us  would  be  less  corrupted  than  kings  are,  were  we,  like  them,  beset  with 
flatterers,  and  poisoned  with  that  vermin." — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  66.  "  But  it  seems  this 
literati  had  been  very  ill  rewarded  for  their  ingenious  labours." — Roderick  Random,  Vol.  ii, 
p.  87.  "  If  I  had  not  left  off  troubling  myself  about  those  kind  of  things." — Swift.  "  For 
these  sort  of  thing*  are  usually  join'd  to  the  most  noted  fortune." — Bacon's  Essays,  p.  101. 
"The  nature  of  that  riches  and  long-suffering  is,  to  lead  to  repentance." — Barclay's  Works, 
iii,  380.  "  I  fancy  they  arc  these  kind  of  gods,  which  Horace  mentions." — Addison,  on 
Medal?,  p.  74.  "  During  that  eight  days  they  are  prohibited  from  touching  the  skin." — Hope 
of  Israel,  p.  78.  "Besides,  he  had  not  much  provisions  left  for  his  army." — Goldsmith's 
Greece,  i,  86.  "Are  you  not  ashamed  to  have  no  other  thoughts  than  that  of  amassing 
wealth,  and  of  acquiring  glory,  credit,  and  dignities?" — Ib.  p.  192.  "It  distinguished 
still  more  remarkably  the  feelings  of  the  former  from  that  oi  the  latter." — Kames,  El.  of 
Crit.  Vol.  i.  p.  xvii.  "And  this  good  tidings  of  the  reign  shall  be  published  through  all 
the  world." — Campbell's  Gospels,  Matt,  xxiv,  14.  "This  twenty  years  have  I  been  with 
thee." — Gen.  xxxi,  38.  "  In  these  kind  of  expressions  some  words  seem  to  be  under- 
stood."—  Walkers  Particles,  p.  179.  "He  thought  these  kind  of  excesses  indicative  of 
greatness." — Hunt's  Byron,  p.  1 17.  "  These  sort  of  fellows  are  very  numerous." — Spect.  No. 
486.  "  Whereas  these  sort  of  men  cannot  give  account  of  their  faith." — Barclay's  Works, 
i,  444.  "  Hut  the  question  is,  whether  that  be  the  words." — Ib.  iii,  321.  "  So  that  these 
sort  of  Expressions  are  not  properly  Optative." — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  276.  "Many 
things  are  not  that  which  they  appear  to  be." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  176.  "So  that  every 
possible  means  are  used." — Formey's  Belles -Lettres,  p.  iv. 

"  We  have  strict  statutes,  and  most  biting  laws, 
Which  for  this  nineteen  years  we  have  let  sleep." — Shak. 

"  They  could  not  speak ;  and  so  I  left  them  both, 
To  bear  this  tidings  to  the  bloody  king." — Id.  Richard  III. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — OF  FIXED  NUMBERS. 

"Why,  I  think  she  cannot  be  above  six  foot  two  inches  high." — Sped.  No.  533.  "  The 
world  is  pretty  regular  for  about  forty  rod  east  and  ten  west." — Ib.  No.  535.  "The  stand- 
ard being  more  than  two  foot  above  it." — BACON:  Joh.  Diet.  10.  Standard.  "Supposing, 
(among  other  Things)  he  saw  two  Suns,  and  two  Thebes." — Bacons  Wisdom,  p.  25.  "On 
the  right  hand  we  go  into  a  parlour  thirty  three  foot  by  thirty  nine." — Sheffield's  Works,  ii, 
258.  "Three  pound  of  gold  went  to  one  shield." — 1  Kings,  x,  17.  "  Such  an  assemblage 
of  men  as  there  appears  to  have  been  at  that  sessions." — The  Friend,  x,  389.  "And,  truly, 
he  hath  saved  me  this  pains." — Barclay's  Works,  ii,  266.  "  Within  this  three  mile  may 
you  see  it  coming." — SHAK.:  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Mile.  "Most  of  the  churches,  not  all,  had  one 
or  more  ruling  elder." — Hutchinson's  Hist,  of  Mass,  i,  375.  "  While  a  Minute  Philosopher, 
not  six  foot  high,  attempts  to  dethrone  the  Monarch  of  the  universe." — Berkley's  Alciphron, 

L151.  "The  wall  is  ten  foot  high." — Harrison's  Gram.  p.  50.  "The  stalls  must  be  ten 
t  broad." — Walkers  Particles,  p.  201.  "A  close  prisoner  in  a  room  twenty  foot  square, 
being  at  the  north  side  of  his  chamber,  is  at  liberty  to  walk  twenty  foot  southward,  not  to 
walk  twenty  foot  northward." — LOCKE  :  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Northward.  "  Nor,  after  all  this  pains 
and  industry,  did  they  think  themselves  qualified." — Columbian  Orator,  p.  13.  "  No  less 
than  thirteen  gypsies  were  condemned  at  one  Suffolk  assizes,  and  executed." — Webster's 
Essays,  p.  333.  "The  king  was  petitioned  to  appoint  one,  or  more,  person,  or  persons." — 
MACAULAY  :  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  194.  "He  carries  weight!  he  rides  a  race !  '  Tis  for  a 
thousand  pound  !  " — C.ncpcr's  Poems,  i,  279.  "They  carry  three  tire  of  guns  at  the  head, 
and  at  the  stern  there  are  two  tire  of  guns." — Joh.  Diet.  w.  Galleass.  "  The  verses  consist  of 
two  sort  of  rhymes." — Formey's  Belles -Lettres,  p.  112.  "A  present  of  40  camel's  load  of  the 
most  precious  things  of  Syria." — Wood's  Diet.  Vol.  i,  p.  162.  "A  large  grammar,  that  shall 
extend  to  every  minutiae." — N.  Barrett's  Gram.,  Tenth  Ed.,  Pref.  p.  iii. 
"  So  many  spots,  like  nreves  on  Venus'  soil, 

One  jewel  set  off  with  so  many  foil." — Drydcn. 
"  For,  of  the  lower  end,  two  handful 
It  had  devour' d,  it  was  so  manful." — Iludibras,  i,  365. 


CHAP.  IV.]  SYNTAX.  -  RULE    IX.  -  ADJECTIVES.  -  ERRORS.  523 

UNDER  NOTE  III.  —  OF  RECIPUOCALS. 

"That  shall  and  will  might  be  substituted  for  one  another."  —  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  131. 
"  We  u<e  not  shall  and  icill  promiscuously  for  one  another.  "  —  Brigktlantft  dram.  110. 
"  But  I  wish  to  distinguish  the  three  high,  ones  from  each  other  also."  —  /WA-'.v  Trn,-  I-'.ny. 
Gram.  p.  13.  "Or  on  some  other  relation,  which  two  objects  bear  to  one  another."  — 
Blair's  Jihft.  p.  142.  "Yet  the  two  words  lie  so  near  to  one  another  in  meaning,  that,  in 
the  present  case,  any  one  of  them,  perhaps  would  have  been  sufficient."  —  lit.  p.  203. 
"  Both  oral  i:>  use  great  liberties  with  one  another."  —  Ib.  p.  244.  "That  greater  separation 
of  the  two  i  one  another."  —  76.466.  "Most  of  whom  live  remote  from  each 

other."  —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  39.     "  Teachers  like  to  see  their  pupils  polite  to  eich  other." 
—  ll'.  >!;,  p.  28.     "In  a  little  time,  he  and  I  must  keep  company  with 

one   another   only."  —  Spact.  No.  474.     "Thoughts   and   circumstances   crowd  upon  each 
other."  —  /w//v.vf  /,'/.  of  Cr<i.  i,  '-\'l.     "They  cannot  see  how  the  ancient  Greeks  could  under- 
stand eaeh  other."  —  'Literary  Convention,"^.  96.     "The  spirit  of  the  poet,  the  patriot,  and 
the  prophet,  vied  with  each  other  in  his  breast."  —  Hazlitt's  Lect.  p.  112.     "Athamas  and 
Ino  loved  one  another."  —  Classic  Talcs,  p.  91.     "  Where  two  things  are  compared  or  con- 
traste  I  to  one  another."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  119.     "  Where  two  things  are  compared,  or  con- 
l,  with  one  another."  —  Murray's  Grvm.  i,  p.  324.     "  In  the  classification  of  words, 
almost  all  writers  differ  from  each  other."  —  Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  iv. 
"  I  will  not  trouble  thee,  my  child.     Farewell  ; 
"We'll  no  more  meet;  no  more  see  one  another."  —  Shak.  Lear. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV.  —  OF  COMPARATH 

"  Erroxirs  in  Education  should  be  less  indulged  than  any."  —  Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  iv.      "  This 

was  less  his  case  than  any  man's  that  ever  wrote."  —  Pref.  to  Waller.     "This  trade  enriched 

some  people  more  than  it  enriched  them."*  —  Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  21/3.     "The  Chaldee 

alphabet,  in  which  the  Old  Testament  has  reached  us,  is  more  beautiful  than  any  ancient 

chanvTcr    known."  —  ll'i/son'n  fasay,  p.  o.     "The   Christian  religion    gives  a  more  lovely 

for  of  (rod,  than  any  religion  ever  did."  —  Murray's  Kr,y,  p.  169.     "The  temple  of 

Cholula   was  deemed  more  holy  than  any  in   New  Spain."  —  Robertson's  America,  ii,  477. 

it  to  be  a  better  poem  of  its  kind  than  ever  was  writ."  —  Pope.     "  Shak- 

Bpeare  is  more  faithful  to  the  true  language  of  nature,  than  any  writer."  —  Blairs  Rhct. 

.     "One  son  I  had  —  one,  more  than  all  my  sons,  the  strength  of  Troy."  —  Cowper's 

••  \i»\v  Israel  loved  Joseph  more  than  all  his  children,  because  he  was  the  son  of 

his  old  age."  —  Gen.  xxxvii,  3. 


^ 


NOTE  V.  —  OF  SUPEIILAI 

Of  all  other  simpletons,  he  was  the  greatest."  —  Xuttinf/'s  English  Idioms.     "  Of  all  other 
.   man  has  certainly  the  greatest  reason  for  gratitude."  —  Ibid.  Gram.  p.  110.     "This 
la  ly   i-   th<-   '.'ivtrir-r   of  all  her  sisters."  —  Peyton's   Elements  of   Eng.  Laiuj.   p.  39.     "The 
relation  which,  of  all  other*,  is  by  fir  the  most  fruitful  of  tropes,  I  have  not  yet  mentioned." 
.111.     "lie  studied  (ireek  the  most  of  any  nobleman."  —  Walkers  Par- 
And  indeed  that  was  the  qualification  of  all  others  most  wanted  at  that 
time."  .  ii.  '.>•').     "  Yet  we  deny  that  the  knowledge  of  him,  as  outwardly 

crucified,  is  the  best  of  all  other  knowledge  of  him."  —  Barclay'  a  Works,  i,  141.     "  Our  ideas 
of  numbers  are  of  all  others  the  most  accurate  and  distinct."  —  I  Han-ail's  Loyic,  p.  35.     "  This 
!  is  of  all  others  the  ease  when  it  can  be  least  necessary  to  name  the  agent."  —  ./.  <i. 
"  The  period,  to  which  you  have  arrived,  is  perhaps  the  most  critical 

and  important  of  any  moment  <>f  your  lives."  —  V>.  i,  394.     "  Perry's  royal  octavo  is  esteemed 
:  of  any  pronou  'ionary  yet  known."  —  7,W  Bo;>k,  p.  x.     "  Tin's  is  tin-  tenth 

'•f  all  the  foregoing,  the  most  bloody."  —  Sammy's  Antiqui'tii-*,  Chap.  xiii. 
"The  !  -t   sux-eptihle  of  .sublime  imagery,  of  any  language  in  the 

world."  —  S  '  ,'ram.  p.  111.      "  Horn   r  is  universally  allowed  to  have  had  the  great- 

est Invention  of  any  w.  ,  er."  —  P<>-.  f,,  lLu>i<-r.     "  In  a  version  of  this  par- 

ticular work,  which  most  of  any  other  seems  to  require  a  venerable  antique  cast."  —  Ib. 
.  think  him  th"  he-t  informed  of  any  naturalist  who  has  ever  written."  —  Je/fer- 
ton's  A  .      "Man  N  capable  of  b;  ing  the  most  social  of  any  animal."  —  Sheridan'  3 

Elocution,  p.  1  l">.     "  It  is  of  all  others  that  which  most  moves  us."—  Ib.  L3S.     "Which  of 
all  others,  i.s  the  :  .trtiele."  —  lh.  p. 

"  <  Juoth  he  '  this  gambol  thou 
Is,  of  all  others,  the  unwi>est.'  "  —  Hudibras,  iii,  316. 

I'M.!  it  Norr.  VI.- 


id  his  family  outlived  all  the  people  who  lived  before  the  flood."—  II"-' 
El.  Sfi  .  p.  101.     "I  think  it  superior  to   any  work  of  that  nature  we  have  yet 

had."  —  lh\  B,'>n'r's  /IT.  in  Murray's  Cram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  300.     "  We  have  had  no  grammarian 

*  This  is  not  a  more  repetition  of  the  last  example  rited  under  Note  1  Jth  .above  ;  but  it  is  Murray's  interpreta- 
tion of  the  text  there  quoted.     Both  forms  anj  faulty,  but  not  in  the  same  way.—  G.  BROWN. 


524  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. 


who  has  employed  so  much  labour  and  judgment  upon  our  native  language,  as  the  author 
of  these  volumes." — British  Critic,  ib.  ii,  299.  "  No  persons  feel  so  much  the  distresses  of 
others,  as  they  who  have  experienced  distress  themselves." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  227. 
"Never  was  any  people  so  much  infatuated  as  the  Jewish  nation." — Ib.  p.  185;  Frazets 
Gram.  135.  "No  tongue  is  so  full  of  connective  particles  as  the  Greek." — Blair's  Rhet. 
p.  85.  "  Never  sovereign  was  so  much  beloved  by  the  people." — Murray's  Exercises,  II.  xv, 
p.  68.  "  No  sovereign  was  ever  so  much  beloved  by  the  people." — Murray's  Key,  p.  202. 
"  Nothing  ever  affected  her  so  much  as  this  misconduct  of  her  child." — Ib.  p.  203 ;  Mer- 
chant's, 195.  "  Of  all  the  figures  of  speech,  none  comes  so  near  to  painting  as  metaphor/' 
— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  142  ;  Jamiesons,  149.  "I  know  none  so  happy  in  his  metaphors  as  Mr. 
Addison." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  150.  "  Of  all  the  English  authors,  none  is  so  happy  in  his 
metaphors  as  Addison." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  157.  "  Perhaps  no  writer  in  the  world  was 
ever  so  frugal  of  his  words  as  Aristotle." — Blair,  p.  177  ;  Jamicson,  251.  "Never  was  any 
writer  so  happy  in  that  concise  spirited  style  as  Mr.  Pope." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  403.  "In 
the  harmonious  structure  and  disposition  of  periods,  no  writer  whatever,  ancient  or  modern, 
equals  Cicero." — Blair,  121 ;  Jamieson,  123.  "Nothing  delights  me  so  rmich  as  the  works 
of  nature." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  150.  "  No  person  was  ever  so  perplexed  as  he  has  been 
to-day." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  216.  "In  no  case  are  writers  so  apt  to  err  as  in  the  position  of 
the  word  only." — Maunder' s  Gram.  p.  15.  "For  nothing  is  so  tiresome  as  perpetual  uni- 
formity."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  102. 

"  No  writing  lifts  exalted  man  so  high, 
As  sacred  and  soul-moving  poesy." — Sheffield. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII. — EXTRA  COMPARISONS. 

"How  much  more  are  ye  better  than  the  fowls  !  " — Luke,  xii,  24.  "  Do  not  thou  hasten 
above  the  Most  Highest." — 2  Esdras,  iv,  34.  "This  word  peer  is  most  principally  used  for 
the  nobility  of  the  realm." — Cowell.  "  Because  the  same  is  not  only  most  universally 
received,"  &c. — Barclay's  Works,  i,  447.  "This  is,  I  say,  not  the  best  and  most  principal 
evidence." — Ib.  iii,  41.  "Offer  unto  God  thanksgiving,  and  pay  thy  vows  unto  the  Most 
Highest." — The  Psalter,  Ps.  1, 14.  "  The  holy  place  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  Most  Highest." 
— Ib.  Ps.  xlvi,  4.  "As  boys  should  be  educated  with  temperance,  so  the  first  greatest 
lesson  that  should  be  taught  them  is  to  admire  frugality." — Goldsmith's  Essays,  p.  152. 
"More  universal  terms  are  put  for  such  as  are  more  restricted." — Browns  Metaphors,  p. 
11.  "This  was  the  most  unkindest  cut  of  all." — Dodd's  Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  251 ;  Singer's 
Shak.  ii,  264.  "  To  -take  the  basest  and  most  poorest  shape."— Dodd's  Shak.  p.  261.  "  I'll 
forbear  :  and  am  fallen  out  with  my  more  headier  will." — Ib.  p.  262.  "The  power  of  the 
Most  Highest  guard  thee  from  sin." — Percival,  on  Apostolic  Succession,  p.  90.  "  Which 
title  had  been  more  truer,  if  the  dictionary  had  been  in  Latin  and  Welch." — VEUSTEGA>  : 
Harrison's  E.  Lang,  p.  254.  "The  waters  are  more  sooner  and  harder  frozen,  than  more 
further  upward,  within  the  inlands." — Id.  ib.  "At  every  descent,  the  worst  may  become 
more  worse." — H.  MANN  :  Louisville  Examiner,  8vo,  Vol.  i,  p.  149. 

"  Or  as  a  moat  defensive  to  a  house 
Against  the  envy  of  less  happier  lands." — Shakspcare. 

"A  dreadful  quiet  felt,  and  worser  far 
Than  arms,  a  sullen  interval  of  war." — Dryden. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII. — ADJECTIVES  CONNECTED. 
"It  breaks  forth  in  its  most  energetick,  impassioned,  and  highest  strain." — Kirkham's 
Elocution,  p.  66.  "  He  has  fallen  into  the  most  gross  and  vilest  sort  of  railing." — Barclay's 
Works,  iii,  261.  "  To  receive  that  more  general  and  higher  instruction  which  the  public 
affords." — District  School,  p.  281.  "If  the  best  things  have  the  perfectest  and  best 
operations." — HOOKER:  Joh.  Diet.  "It  became  the  plainest  and  most  elegant,  the  most 
splendid  and  richest,"  of  all  languages.  See  Bucke's  Gram.  p.  140.  "But  the  most  fre- 
quent and  the  principal  use  of  pauses,  is,  to  mark  the  divisions  of  the  sense." — Blair's  Rhet. 
p.  331;  Murray's  Gram.  248.  "That  every  thing  belonging  to  ourselves  is  the  perfectest 
and  the  best." — Clarkson's  Prize  Essay,  p.  189.  "And  to  instruct  their  pupils  in  the  most 
thorough  and  best  manner." — Report  of  a  School  Committee. 

UNDER  NOTE  IX.— ADJECTIVES  SUPERADDED. 

"  The  Father  is  figured  out  as  an  old  venerable  man." — Dr.  Brownlee's  Controversy. 
"There  never  was  exhibited  such  another  masterpiece  of  ghostly  assurance." — Id-  "After 
the  three  first  sentences,  the  question  is  entirely  lost." — Sped.  No.  476.  "  The  four  last 
parts  of  speech  are  commonly  called  particles." — Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  14.  "The  two 
last  chapters  will  not  be  found  deficient  in  this  respect." — Student's  Manual,  p.  6.  "  Write 
upon  your  slates  a  list  of  the  ten  first  nouns." — Abbott's  Teacher,  p.  85.  "  We  have  a  few 
remains  of  other  two  Greek  poets  in  the  pastoral  style,  Moschus  and  Bion." — Blair  s  Rhet. 
p.  393.  "  The  nine  first  chapters  of  the  book  of  Proverbs  are  highly  poetical."— Ib.  p.  417. 
"  For  of  these  five  Leads,  only  the  two  first  have  any  particular  relation  to  the  sublime."- 
Ib.  p.  35.  "  The  resembling  sounds  of  the  two  last  syllables  give  a  ludicrous  air  to  the 


"The  is  an  article,  relating  to  the  noun  balm,  agreeable  to  Rule  11." — Comly's  Gram.  p. 
is  an  adjective  relating  to  the  noun  mans,  agreeable  to  llule  llth." — Ibid.  12th 


CnAP.    V.]  SYNTAX. RULE   IX. — ADJECTIVES. — ERRORS.  525 

whole."— Kames,  Kl.  nf  Cnt.  ii,  69.  "The  three  last  are  arbitrary." — Ib.  p.  72.  "  But  in 
the  phrase  '  She  hangs  the  curiains,'  the  verb  hany*  is  a  transitive  active  verb." — Comly's 
Gram.  p.  30.  "  If  our  definition  of  a  verb,  and  the  arrangement  of  transitive  or  intransitive 
active,  passive,  and  neuter  verbs,  are  properly  understood." — Ib.,  1,5th  Ed.,  p.  30.  "These 
two  last  Hues  have  an  embarrassing  construction." — Hush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  1GO.  "  God  was 
provoked  to  drown  them  all,  but  Noah  and  other  seven  persons." — Wood's  Dict.ii,  129. 
"The  six  first  books  of  the  JEneid  arc  extremely  beautiful." — Forim-ifs  Ilfl(,:*-L/t(r<s,  p.  27. 
"A  few  more  instances  only  can  be  given  here." — Mur/-<iy'x  Cram.  p.  131.  "A  few  more 
years  will  obliter.re  every  vestige  of  a  subjunctive  form." — Xidti/ti/'s  Cram.  p.  46.  "Some 
define  them  to  be  verbs  devoid  of  the  two  first  persons." — Crombies  Treatise,  p.  205.  "In 
such  another  Essay-tract  as  this." — Witifi-'s  /•;//;///.>//  \~<-rb,  p.  302.  "  But  we  fear  that  not 
such  another  man  is  to  be  found." — lti:v.  ED.  IKVIM;  :  on  Homes  Psalms,  p.  xxiii. 
"  Oh  such  another  sleep,  that  I  might  see 
But  such  another  man  !  " — SHAK.  Antony  and  Cleopatra. 

UXDI  ;i  XOTI:  X. — ADJECTIVES  FOR  ADVKKHS. 

133. 

12th  Ed. 

often.      "  To  whom  1  .  that  the  beer  was  extreme  good." — Goldsmith's  Essays,  p. 

"He  writes  remarkably  elegant." — O.  B.  Feirces  Gram.  p.  152.  "John  behaves 
truly  civil  to  all  men." — Ib.  p.  153.  "All  the  sorts  of  words  hitherto  considered  have  each 
of  them  some  meaning,  even  when  taken  separate." — Bcatties  Moral  Science,  i,  44.  "He 
behaved  himself  conformable  to  that  blessed  example." — Sprat'*  Sermons,  p.  80.  "Marvel- 
lous graceful." —  ]).  18.  "The  Queen  having  changed  her  ministry  suitable 
to  her  wisdom." — Sic  iff,  E.r,i,n.  X<>.  21.  "The  assertions  of  this  author  are  easie'r  detect- 
ed."— Swift:  censured  in  Loicth's  (-ram.  p.  93.  "The  characteristic  of  his  sect  allowed 
him  to  affirm  no  stronger  than  that." — Bentlcy  :  ibid.  "If  one  author  had  spoken  nobler 
and  loftier  than  an  other." — LI.  ib.  "  Xenophon  says  express." — Id.ib.  "lean  never 
think  so  very  mean  of  him." — Id.  ib.  "  To  convince  all  that  are  ungodly  among  them,  o 
all  their  ungodly  deeds,  which  they  have  ungodly  committed." — Judc,  loth  :  ib.  "  I  think 
it  very  masterly  written."—  'v^»  I'Ct.  7i:  ib.  "The  whole  design  must  refer  to 
the  golden  age,  which  it  lively  represents." — Addison,  on.  Me-lals  :  ib.  "Agreeable  to  this,  we 
read  of  names  being  blotted  out  of  God's  book."— BUKDKU:  approved  in  Webster's  Lnpr. 
dram.  p.  lu7  :  />..•-"  'v,  HO  ;  Maltby's,  93.  "Agreeable  to  the  law  of  nature,  children  are 
bound  to  support  their  indigent  parents." — W(b.iter's  Imp.  Gram.  p.  109.  "Words  taken 
independent  of  their  meaning  are  parsed  as  nouns  of  the  neuter  gender." — Maltby's  Gr.  96. 
"  Conceit  in  weakest  bodies  strongest  works." — Beaut,  of  Shak.  p.  236. 

L'XDEH  NOTE  XI.— THEM  FOR  THOSE. 

"Though  he  was  not  known  by  them  letters,  or  the  name  Christ." — Wm.  Bayly's  Works, 
p.  94.  "In  a  gig,  or  some  of  them  things." — E:l<ien\»rth's  Castle  Rackrent,  p.  35.  "When 
cross-examined  by  them  lawyers." — Ib.  p.  98.  "As  the  custom  in  them  cases  is." — Ib.  p. 
101.  "If  you'd  have  li-tened  to  them  slanders." — Ib.  p.  115.  "The  old  people  were 
out  them  fairies,  but  to  the  best  of  my  judgment  there's  nothing  in  it." — 
!b.  p.  l.vs.  "And  is  it  not  a  pity  that  the  Quakers  have  no  better  authority  to  substantiate 
their  principles  than  the  testimony  of  them  old  Pharisees:  " — Hibbard's  Errors  of  the  Qua- 
kers, p.  107. 

XII.-TIIIS  AND  THAT. 

"  Hope  is  as  strong  an  incentive  to  action,  as  fear :  this  is  the  anticipation  of  good,  that 
of  evil." — /  'ituti'S,  p.  13-3.  "The  poor  want  some  advantages  which  the  rich 

enjoy ;  but  we  should  not  therefore  account  those  happy,  and  these  miserable." — Ib. 
"  Ellen  and  Margaret,  fearfully,  I  Then  turned  their  ghastly  look  each  one, 

Sought  comfort  in  each  other's  eye;     |  This  to  her  sire,  that  to  her  son." 

•'</  <>f  the  Lake,  Canto  ii,  Stanza  29. 
"  Six  youthful  sons,  as  many  blooming  maids, 
In  one  sad  day  beheld  the  Stygian  shades; 

M  by  Apollo's  silver  bow  were  slain, 
Those  Cynthia  -retched  upon  the  plain." — Pope,  11.  xxiv,  760. 

>ry  and  forecast  just  returns  enj 
Thi-s  pointing  back  to  youth,  that  on  to  age."— See  Key. 

UN;.;.;;   NOTl   XIII.— F.ITIIKU   AND  NEITHER. 

"These  make  the  three  great  subjects  of  discussion  among  mankind;  truth,  duty,  and 
interest.  But  the  arguments  directed  towards  either  of  them  are  generically  distinct." — 
Blair's  Jl/n-t.  p.  :J18.  "A  thousand  other  deviations  may  be  made,  and  still  either  of  them 
nay  be  correct  in  principle.  For  these  divisions  and  their  technical  terms,  are  all  arbitra- 
ry.'"'—/.'. II  "'•  p-  vi.  "  Thus  it  appears,  that  our  alphabet  is  deficient, 
as  it  has  but  seven  vowels,  to  represent  thirteen  different  sounds ;  and  has  no  letter  to 
represent  either  of  five  simple  consonant  sounds." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  19.  "  Then  neither 


526  THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

of  these  [five]  verbs  can  be  neuter." — Oliver  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  343.  "And  the  asserter 
is  in  neither  of  the  four  already  mentioned." — Ib.  p.  356.  "As  it  is  not  in  either  of  these 
four." — Ib.  p.  356.  "  See  whether  or  not  the  word  comes  within  the  definition  of  either  of 
the  other  three  simple  cases." — Ib.  p  51.  "  Neither  of  the  ten  was  there." — F razee  s  Gram. 
p.  108.  "  Here  are  ten  oranges,  take  either  of  them." — Ib.  p.  102.  "  There  are  three  modes, 
by  either  of  which  recollection  will  generally  be  supplied  ;  inclination,  practice,  and  asso- 
ciation."— Rippingham's  Art  of  Speaking,  p.  xxix.  "Words  not  reducible  to  either  of  the 
three  preceding  heads." — Fowler  s  E.  Gram.  8vo,  1850,  pp.  335  and  340.  "  Now  a  sentence 
raay  be  analyzed  in  reference  to  either  of  these  [four]  classes." — Ib.  p.  577. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIV.— WHOLE,  LESS,  MORE,  AND  MOST. 

"  Does  not  all  proceed  from  the  law,  which  regulates  the  whole  departm3nts  of  the  state  ? ' ' 
Blair  s  Rhet.  p,  278.  "A  messenger  relates  to  Theseus  the  whole  particulars." — Kamcs,  EL  of 
Grit.  Yol.  ii,  p.  313.  "  There  are  no  less  than  twenty  diphthongs  in  the  English  language." 
— Dr.  Ash's  Gram.  p.  xii.  "  The  Kedcross  Knight  runs  through  the  whole  steps  of  the  Chris- 
tian life." — Spectator,  No.  540.  "There  were  not  less  than  tifty  or  sixty  persons  present." 
— Teachers'  Report.  "  Greater  experience,  and  more  cultivated  society,  abate  the  warmth 
of  imagination,  and  chasten  the  manner  of  expression." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  152  ;  Murray's 
Gram,  i,  351.  "  By  which  means  knowledge,  much  more  than  oratory,  is  become  the  prin- 
cipal requisite." — "Blair's  Rhet.  p.  254.  "No  less  than  seven  illustrious  cities  disputed  the 
right  of  having  given  birth  to  the  greatest  of  poets." — Lemp.  Diet.  n.  Homer.  "Temperance, 
more  than  medicines,  is  the  proper  means  of  curing  many  diseases." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p. 
222.  "  I  do  not  suppose,  that  we  Britons  want  genius,  more  than  our  neighbours." — Ib.  p. 
215.  "In  which  he  saith,  he  has  found  no  less  than  twelve  untruths." — Barclay's  Works, 
i,  460.  "The  several  places  of  rendezvous  were  concerted,  and  the  whole  operations  fixed." 
HUME:  see  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  190.  "In  these  rigid  opinions  the  whole  sectaries  con- 
curred."— Id.  ib.  "  Out  of  whose  modifications  have  been  made  most  complex  modes." — 
LOCKE  :  Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  148.  "The  Chinese  vary  each  of  their  words  on  no  less  than 
five  different  tones." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  58.  "These  people,  though  they  possess  more 
shining  qualities,  are  not  so  proud  as  he  is,  nor  so  vain  as  she." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  211. 
"  'Tis  certain,  we  believe  ourselves  more,  after  we  have  made  a  thorough  Inquiry  into 
the  Thing." — Brightlantfs  Gram.  p.  244.  "As  well  as  the  whole  Course  and  Reasons  of  the 
Operation." — Ib.  "Those  rules  and  principles  which  are  of  most  practical  advantage." — 
Neioman's  Rhet.  p.  4.  "And  there  skall  be  no  more  curse." — Rev.  xxii,  3.  "And  there 
shall  be  no  more  death." — Rev.  xxi,  4.  "  But  in  recompense,  we  have  more  pleasing  pic- 
tures of  ancient  manners." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  436.  "Our  language  has  suffered  more 
injurious  changes  in  America,  since  the  British  army  landed  on  our  shores,  than  it  htd 
suffered  before,  in  the  period  of  three  centuries." — Webster's  Essays,  Ed.  of  1790,  p.  96.  "  Tl  e 
whole  conveniences  of  life  are  derived  from  mutual  aid  and  support  in  society.'7 — Kamtst 
El.  of  Grit.  Vol.  i,  p.  166.  , 

UNDER  NOTE  XV. — PARTICIPIAL  ADJECTIVES. 

"To  such  as  think  the  nature  of  it  deserving  their  attention." — Butler's  Analogy,}).  84. 
"In  all  points,  more  deserving  the  approbation  of  their  readers." — Keepsake,  1830.     "But 
to  give  way  to  childish  sensations  was  unbecoming  our  nature." — Lcmpriere's  Diet.  n.  Zeno. 
"  The  following  extracts  are  deserving  the  serious  perusal  of  all." — The  Friend,  Vol.  v,  p.  135. 
"No  inquiry  into  wisdom,  however  superficial,  is  undeserving  attention." — Bulwer's  Dis- 
oicned,  ii,  95.     "  The  opinions  of  illustrious  men  are  deserving  great  consideration." — Porter's 
Family  Journal,  p.  3.     "And  resolutely  keep  its  laws,  Uncaring  consequences." — Burns' s 
Works,  ii,  43.     "This  is  an  item  that  is  deserving  more  attention." — Goodell's  Lectures. 
"Leave  then,  thy  joys,  unsuiting  such  an  age, 
To  a  fresh  comer,  and  resign  the  stage." — Dryden. 

UNDER  NOTE  XVI. — FIGURE  OF  ADJECTIVES. 

"  The  tall  dark  mountains  and  the  deep  toned  seas." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  278.  "  O  !  learn 
from  him  To  station  quick  eyed  Prudence  at  the  helm." — ANON.  :  Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p. 
104.  "  He  went  in  a  one  horse  chaise." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  113.  "It  ought  to  be,  '  in  a  one 
horse  chaise.'  " — Dr.  Crombie's  Treatise,  p.  334.  "These  are  marked  with  the  above  men- 
tioned letters." — Folker's  Gram.  p.  4.  "A  many  headed  faction." — Ware's  Gram.  p.  18. 
"  Lest  there  should  be  no  authority  in  any  popular  grammars  for  the  perhaps  heaven  in- 
spired effort." — Fowle's  True  English  Gram.  Part  2d,  p.  25.  "  Common  metre  stanzas  consist 
of  four  Iambic  lines  ;  one  of  eight,  and  the  next  of  six  syllables.  They  were  formerly 
written  in  two  fourteen  syllable  lines." — Goodenow' s  Gram.  p.  69.  "  Short  metre  stanzas 
consist  of  four  Iambic  lines  ;  the  third  of  eight,  the  rest  of  six  syllables." — Ibid.  "Par- 
ticular metre  stanzas  consist  of  six  Iambic  lines;  the  third  and  sixth  of  six  syllables,  the 
rest  of  eight." — Ibid.  "Halleluiah  metre  stanzas  consist  of  six  Iambic  lines;  the  last  two 
of  eight  syllables,  and  the  rest  of  six." — Ibid.  "  Long  metre  stanzas  are  merely  the  union 
of  f.iur  Iambic  lines,  of  ten  syllables  each." — Ibid.  "A  majesty  more  commanding  than  is 
to  be  found  among  the  rest  of  the  Old  Testament  poets.'" — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  418. 


CHAP.    V.]  SYNTAX. RULE  X. — PRONOUNS. EXCEPTIONS. 

"  You  sulphurous  and  thought  executed  fires, 
Vaunt  couriers  to  oak  cleaving  thunderbolts, 
Singe  my  white  head  !     And  thou,  all  shaking  thunder 
Strike  flat  the  thick  rotundity  o'  the  world  !  "—Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  2f>4. 


CHAPTER  V.-PRONOliNS. 

The  rules  for  the  agreement  of  Pronouns  with  their  antecedents  arc  four  ; 
hence  this  chapter  extends  from  the  tenth  rule  to  the  thirteent'i,  iiulusively. 
The  cases  of  Pronouns  are  embraced  with  those  of  nouns,  in  the  seven  rules 
of  the  third  chapter. 

RULE  X.  — PRONOUNS. 

A  Pronoun  must  agree  with  its  antecedent,  or  the  noun  or  pronoun  which 
it  represents,  in  person,  number,  and  gender :  *  as,  "  This  is  the  friend  of 
whom  I  spoke  ;  he  has  just  arrived." — "  This  is  the  book  ivhich  I  bought ; 
it  is  an  excellent  work." — "10,  therefore,  who  love  mercy,  teach  your  sons 
to  love  it  too." — Cowper. 

"  Speak  thou,  whose  thoughts  at  humble  peace  repine, 
Shall  Wolsey's  wealth  with  Wolsey's  end  be  thine  ?  " — Dr.  Johnson. 

EXCEPTION  FIRST. 

When  a  pronoun  stands  for  some  person  or  thing  indefinite,  or  unknown  to  the  speaker,  this 
rule  is  not  strictly  applicable ;  because  the  person,  number,  and  gender,  are  rather  assumed 
in  the  pronoun,  than  regulated  by  an  antecedent :  as,  "  I  do  not  care  W/o  knows  it." — Steele. 
"Who  touched  me  f1  Tell  me  u-'ho  it  was." — "  We  have  no  knowledge  how,  or  by  whom,  it 
is  inhabited." — ABBOT:  Joh.  Diet. 

EXCEPTION  SECOND. 

The  neuter  pronoun  it  may  be  applied  to  a  young  child,  or  to  other  creatures  masculine 
or  feminine  by  nature,  when  they  are  not  obviously  distinguishable  with  regard  to  sex ;  as, 
"  Which  is  the  real  friend  to  the  child,  the  person  who  gives  it  the  sweetmeats,  or  the  per- 
son who,  considering  only  ifs  health,  resists  its  importunities:" — Opie.  "He  loads  the 
animal  he  is  showing  me,  with  so  many  trappings  and  collars,  that  I  cannot  distinctly  view 
it." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  301.  "The  nightingale  sings  most  sweetly  when  it  sings  in  the 
night." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  62. 

EXCEPTION  THIRD. 

The  pronoun  it  is  often  used  without  a  definite  reference  to  any  antecedent,  and  is  some- 
times a  mere  expletive,  and  sometimes  the  representative  of  an  action  expressed  afterwards 
by  a  verb  ;  as,  "  Whether  she  grapple  it  with  the  pride  of  philosophy." — Chalmers.  "  Seek- 
ing to  lord  it  over  (iod's  heritage." — The  Frirnrl,  vii,  'Jo3.  "/C  is  not  for  kings,  O  Lemuel, 
it  is  not  for  kings  to  drink  wine,  nor  for  princes  strong  drink." — r>-<»\  xxxi,  4.  "  Having  no 
temptati  >n  to  it,  God  cannot  act  unjustly  without  defiling  his  nature." — Broicn's  Divinity,  p.  11. 
"  Come,  and  trip  it  as  you  go,  On  the  light  fantastic  toe." — Milton. 

PTION  FOURTH. 

A  singular  antecedent  with  the  adjective  many,  sometimes  admits  a  plural  pronoun,  but 
never  in  the  same  clause ;  as,  •«  Hard  has  been  the  fate  of  many  a  great  gcniiis,  that  while 
they  have  conferred  immortality  on  others,  they  have  wanted  themselves  some  friend  to 
embalm  their  names  to  posterity." — HW/n-  ,an. 

"  In  Ilawick  twinkled  many  a  Unfit, 
Behind  him  soon  they  set  in  night." — W.  Scott. 

m  FIFTH. 

When  a  plural  pronoun  is  put  by  enallage  for  the  singular,  it  docs  not  agree  with  its  noun 
in  number,  because  it  still  requires  a  plural  verb;  as,  "  \\'c  [Lindlcy  Murray]  have  followed 
those  authors,  who  appear  to  have  given  them  the  most  natural  and  intelligible  distribu- 

*  Some  authors  erroneously  Fay,  "A  prrtnnnl  pronoun  docs  not  always  nprec  in  person  with  its  antecedent ;  as, 

'John  said.  /  will  do  it.'  "—Gooitrnnw'n  (irarn.     "  When  I  Fay,  •  <  .,  those  children,  you  inu.-t  mine 

perceive  that  the  noun   children  in  of  the  r  ;it   th«-  pronoun  you  is  of  the  sKoml ;  jet  you 

itan'ds  tor  r/iilffrrn.'' — In^irant/'x  drum,  p.  f,}.      H,  ...  FpeMkers,  with  Feparatv  speeche*  ;  mid  these 

ire  iiruiil'oth  'I..-  circumstance.     It  is  not  to  b<-  MU-IM.^-.!.  that  th.-  nouns   K-\T 

ipeaker'x  pronouns,  are  to  be  found  or  sought,  in  what  an  other  speaker  u-terc.     '1  In1  pronoun  /  dot  s  i  <>t  here 
;«tand  for  the  noun  John  which  H  of  the  third  person  ;  it  is  John's  own  word,  rrprost -nHi <s  f'  ->  <Mk<-r. 

The  nieaniiiR  is.  •>/  mysflf,  A/m,  of  the./?r.t<  jlfr*on.  will  dn  it."     Nor  d.*-s  ymt  ffand  for  cliHilrni  as  spoken  r,f  by 
;i :  imt  for  childnn  of  the  second  person,  uttered  or  implied  in  tue  address  ol  his  messenger  :  a*,  "  Children, 
you  must  come  in." 


528  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III- 

tion." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  29.  "We  sliall  close  our  remarks  on  this  subject,  by 
introducing  the  sentiments  of  Dr.  Johnson  respecting  it." — Ib.  "  My  lord,  you  know  I  love 
you." — Shakspeare. 

EXCEPTION  SIXTH. 

The  pronoun  sometimes  disagrees  with  its  antecedent  in  one  sense,  because  it  takes  it  in 
an  other;  as,  "I  have  perused  Mr.  Johnson's  Grammatical  Commentaries,  and  find  it*  a 
very  laborious,  learned,  and  useful  Work." — Tho.  Kn»'pe,  D.  D.  "Lamps  is  of  the  plural 
number,  because  it  means  more  than  one." — Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  8.  "Man  is  of  the 
masculine  gender,  because  it  is  the  name  of  a  male." — Ib.  "  The  Utica  Sentinel  says  it  has 
not  heard  whether  the  wounds  are  dangerous." — Evening  Post.  (Better:  "The  editor  <$ 
the  Utica  Sentinel  says,  he  has  not  heard,"  &c.)  "  There  is  little  Benjamin  with  their  ruler.  ' 
— Psalms,  Ixviii,  27. 

"Her  end  when  emulation  misses, 
She  turns  to  envy,  stings,  and  hisses." — Sicift's  Poems,  p.  415. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE.  X. 

OBS.  1.  —  Respecting  a  pronoun,  the  main  thing  is,  that  the  reader  perceive  clearly  for  what  it 
stands  •  and  next,  that  he  do  not  misapprehend  its  relation  of  case.  For  the  sake  of  completeness 
and  uniformity  in  parsing,  it  is,  I  think,  expedient  to  apply  the  foregoing  rule  not  only  to  those 
pronouns  which  have  obvious  antecedents  expressed,  but  also  to  such  as  are  not  accompanied  by 
the  nouns  for  which  they  stand.  Even  those  which  are  put  for  persons  or  things  unknown  or 
indefinite,  may  be  said  to  agree  with  whateA7eris  meant  by  them  ;  that  is,  with  such  nouns  as  their 
own  properties  indicate.  For  the  reader  will  naturally  understand  something  by  every  pronoun, 
unless  it  be  a  mere  expletive,  and  without  any  antecedent.  For  example  :  "  It  would  depend  upon 
who  the  forty  were."  —  Trial  at  Steubenville,  p.  50.  Here  who  is  an  indefinite  relative,  equivalent 
to  what  persons ;  of  the  third  person,  plural,  masculine;  and  is  in  the  nominative  case  after  were, 
by  Rule  6th.  For  the  full  construction  seems  to  be  this  :  "  It  would  depend  upon  the  persons  who 
the  forty  were."  So  which,  for  which  person,  or  which  thing,  (if  we  call  it  a  pronoun  rather  than 
an  adjective,)  maybe  said  to  have  the  properties  of  the  noun  person  or  thing  understood ;  as, 
"  His  notions  fitted  things  so  well, 
That  lohich  was  which  he  could  not  tell."  — Tludibras. 

OBS.  2.  —  The  pronoun  we  is  used  by  the  speaker  to  represent  himself  and  others,  and  is  there- 
fore plural.  But  it  is  sometimes  used,  by  a  sort  of  fiction,  in  stead  of  the  singular,  to  intimate 
that  the  speaker  is  not  alone  in  his  opinions  ;  or,  perhaps  more  frequently,  to  evade  the  charge  of 
egotism  ;  for  this  modest  assumption  of  plurality  seems  most  common  with  those  who  have  some- 
thing else  to  assume:  as,  "And  so  lately  as  1809,  Pope  Pius  VII,  in  excommunicating  his  'own 
dear  son,'  Napoleon,  whom  he  crowned  and  blessed,  says:  'We,  unworthy  as  we  are.  represent 
the  God  of  peace.'"  —  Dr.  Brownlee.  Monarchs  sometimes  prefer  we  to  7,  in  immediate  con- 
nexion with  a  singular  noun;  as,  "We  Alexander,  Autocrat  of  all  the  Russias."  —  "We  tie 
Emperor  of  China,"  &c. — Economy  of  Human  Life,  p.  vi.  They  also  employ  the  anomalox  s 
compound  ourself,  which  is  not  often  used  by  other  people  ;  as,  "  Witness  ourself  at  Westmh  - 
ster,  28  day  of  April,  in  the  tenth  year  of  our  reign.  CHARLES." 

"Ourself  to  hoary  Nestor  will  repair." — Pope,  Iliad,  B.  x,  1.  65. 

OBS.  3. — The  pronoun  you,  though  originally  and  properly  plural,  is  now  generally  applied 
alike  to  one  person  or  to  more.  Several  observations  upon  this  fashionable  substitution  of  the 
plural  number  for  the  singular,  will  be  found  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  chapters  of  Etymology.  This 
usage,  however  it  may  seem  to  involve  a  solecism,  is  established  by  that  authority  against  which 
the  mere  grammarian  has  scarcely  a  right  to  remonstrate.  Alexander  Murray,  the  schoolmaster, 
observes,  "  When  language  was  plain  and  simple,  the  English  always  said  thou,  when  speaking 
to  a  single  person.  But  when  an  affected  politeness,  and  a  fondness  for  continental  manners  and 
customs  began  to  take  place,  persons  of  rank  and  fashion  said  you  in  stead  of  thou.  The  innova- 
tion gained  ground,  and  custom  gave  sanction  to  the  change,  and  stamped  it  with  the  authority  of 
law." — English  Gram.  Third  Edition,  1793,  p.  107.  This  respectable  grammarian  acknowledged 
both  thou  and  you  to  be  of  the  second  person  singular.  I  do  not,  however,  think  it  necessary  or 
advisable  to  do  this,  or  to  encumber  the  conjugations,  as  some  have  done,  by  introducing  the  lat- 
ter pronoun,  and  the  corresponding  form  of  the  verb,  as  singular. f  It  is  manifestly  better  to  say, 
that  the  plural  is  used  for  the  singular,  by  the  figure  Enallag£.  For  if  you  has  literally  become 
singular  by  virtue  of  this  substitution,  we  also  is  singular  for  the  same  reason,  as  often  as  it  is 
substituted  for  /;  else  the  axithority  of  innumerable  authors,  editors,  compilers,  and  crowned 
heads,  is  insufficient  to  make  it  so.  And  again,  if  you  and  the  corresponding  form  of  the  verb  are 
literally  of  the  secondperson  singular,  (as  Wells  contends,  with  an  array  of  more  than  sixty  names 

*  The  propriety  of  this  construction  is  questionable.     See  Obs.  2d  on  Rule  14th. 

t  Among  the  authors  who  have  committed  this  great  fault,  are.  Alden,  the  Aliens,  C.  Adams,  the  author  of  the  Brit- 
ish Grammar,  Buchanan,  Cooper,  Cutler,  Davis,  Dilworth,  Felton,  Fisher,  Fowler,  Frazee,  Goldsbury,  Hallock.  Hull, 
M'Culloch,  Morley,  J  Putnam,  Russell,  Sanborn,  R.  C.  Smith,  Weld,  Wells,  Webster,  and  White.  "  You  is  plu- 
ral, whether  it  refer  to  only  one  individual,  or  to  more."— Dr.  Crombie,  on  Etym.  and  Synt.  p.  240.  "  The  word 
you,  even  when  applied  to  one  person,  is  plural,  and  should  never  be  connected  with  a  singular  verb." — Alexan* 
der'i  Gra.rn.Tf>.  53;  Emmons's.  26.  "  You  is  of  the  Plural  Number,  even  though  used  as  the  Name  of  a  single 
Person." — W.  Ward's  Gram.  p.  88.  "Altho'  the  Second  Person  Singular  in  both  Times  be  marked  with  thou,  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  Plural,  yet  we,  out  of  Complaisance,  though  we  speak  but  to  one  particular  Person,  use  the 
Plural  you,  and  never  thou,  but  when  we  address  ourselves  to  Almighty  God,  or  when  we  speak  in  an  emphatical 
Manner,  or  make  a  distinct  and  particular  Application  to  a  Person." — British  Gram.  p.  126 ;  Buchanan's,  37. 
"  But  you,  tho'  applied  to  a  single  Person,  requires  a  Plural  Verb,  the  same  as  ye ;  as,  you  love,  not  you  lovest  or 
loves;  you  were,  not  you  was  or  ivast." — Buchanans  Gram.  p.  37. 


CHAP.    V.]  SYNTAX. RULE    X. PRONOUNS. OBSERVATIONS.  529 

of  English  grammarians  to  prove  it,)  then,  by  their  own  rule  of  concord,  since  thou  and  its  verb 
are  still  generally  retained  in  the  same  place  by  these  grammarians,  a  verb  that  agrees  with  one 
of  these  nominatives,  must  also  agree  with  the  other  ;  so  that  you  hast  and  thou  have,  you  scent  and 
thou  sec,  may  bo,  so  i';ir  as  appears  from  their  instructions,  as  good  a  concord  as  can  be  made  of 
these  words"! 

OKS.  4. — The  putting  of  yon  for  thou  has  introduced  the  anomalous  compound  yourself,  which 
is  now  very  generally  used  in  >tead  of  thi/sr/f.  In  this  instance,  as  in  the  less  frequent  adoption 
Ototmelflot  inysrlf,  'Fashion  so  tramples  upon  the  laws  of  grammar,  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to 
frame  an  intellig  •  on  in  her  favour.  These  pronouns  arc  essentially  singular,  both  in 

form  and  meaning;  and  yet  they  cannot  be  used  with  /or  thou,  with  IIK-  or  f/x-r,  or  with  any 
verb  that  is  literally  si:.  •.-self  am  :"  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  must  bo  connected 

only  with  such  plural  terms  as  arc  put  for  the  singular;  as,  '•  Jf'e  ow>c[f  are  kina  " — "  Undoubtedly 
you  your.-"  n  innovator."  —  L.  Murray's  drum.  p.  3G1 ;  CampbeW I Bhet*  167. 

"  Try  touch,  or  sight,  or  smell  ;  try  what  you  will, 

strangely  ,/SfM  nought  but  yourself  alone." — Pollok,  C.  of  T.,  B.  i,  1.  1G2. 

OlJS.  5.  —  Such  terms  of  address,  as  your  Mftje.sti/,  your  Ilif/hness,  your  Lordship,  your  Honour, 
are  sometimes  followed  by  verbs  and  pronouns  of  the'  second  person  plural,  substituted  for  the 
singular;  and  sometime-;  bywords  literally  singular,  and  of  the  third  person,  with  no  other  figure 
than  a  substitution  of  ir.'t'i  for  n-hirh  :  as,  "  Wherein  your  Lonk/iij),  u-Jio  sJiint-s  with  so  much  dis- 
tinction in  the  noblest  assembly  in  the  world,  peculiarly  excels." — I)edicati(.n  <[f  Sale's  Koran. 
"  We  have  good  cause  to  give  yo>  the  first  place  ;  who,  by  a  continued  series  of  favours, 

httrf'.  Dot  only  while  you  wo  ceil  in  a  lower  orb,  but  since  the  Lord  hath   called  your 

Ilii/hnrts  to  supreme  authority." — Musixn-husctts  to  Cromwell,  in  Hi-;  I. 

Ons.  6. — The  general  usage  of  the  French  is  like  that  of  the  English,  you  for  thou  ;  but  Span- 
ish, Portuguese,  or  German  politeness  requires  that  the  third  person  be  substituted  for  the  sec- 
ond. And  when  they  would  be  very  courteous,  the  Germans  use  also  the  plural  for  the  singular, 
as  they  for  thou.  Thus  they  have  a  fourfold  method  of  addressing  a  person  :  as,  they,  denoting 
the  highest  degree  of  respect ;  he,  a  less  degree  ;  you-,  a  degree  still  less  ;  and  tJtou,  none  at  all,  or 
absolute  reproach.  Yet,  even  among  them,  the  last  is  used  as  a  term  of  endearment  to  children, 
and  of  veneration  to  God  !  Thou,  in  English,  still  retains  its  place  firmly,  and  without  dispute, 
in  all  addresses  to  the  Supreme  Being  ;  but  in  respect  to  the  Jirst  person,  an  observant  clergyman 
has  suggested  the  following  dilemma  :  '•  Some  men  will  be  pained,  if  a  minister  says  ice  in  the  pul- 
pit; and  others  will  quarrel  with  him,  if  he  says  /." — Abbott's  Yomui  Christian,  p.  268. 

7. — Any  extensive  perversion  of  the  common  words  of  a  language  from  their  original  and 
proper  use,  is  doubtless  a  matter  of  considerable  moment.  These  changes  in  the  use  of  the  pro- 
nouns, being  some  of  them  evidently  a  sort  of  complimentary  fictions,  some  religious  people  have 
made  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to  abstain  from  them,  and  have  published  their  reasons  for  so 
doing.  But  the  moral  objections  which  may  lie  against  such  or  any  other  applications  of  words,  do 
not  come  within  the  grammarian's  province.  Let  every  one  consider  for  himself  the  moral  bear- 
ing of  what  he  utters:  not  forgetting  the  text,  "  But  I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  word  that 
men  shall  speak,  they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgement ;  for  by  thy  trords 
thou  shalt  be  justified,"  and  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  condemned." — Matt,  xii,  36  and  37.  What 
scruples  this  declaration  ottt/ht  to  raise,  it  is  not  my  business  to  define.  But  if  such  be  God's  law, 
what  shall  be  the  reckoning  of  those  who  make  no  conscience  of  uttering  continually,  or 
when  they  will,  not  idle  words  only,  but  expressions  the  most  absurd,  insignificant,  false,  exagger- 
ated, vulgar,  indecent,  injurious,  wicked,  sophistical,  unprincipled,  ungentle,  and  perhaps  blas- 
phemous, or  profane  ? 

OBS.  8. — The  agreement  of  pronouns  with  their  antecedents,  it  is  necessary  to  observe,  is  liable 

to  be  controlled  or  affected  by  several  of  the  figures  of  rhetoric.     A  noun  used  figuratively  often 

suggests  two  different  senses,  the  one  literal,  and  the  other  tropical ;  and  the  agreement  of  the 

pronoun  must  be  sometimes  with  this,  and  sometimes  with  that,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 

trope.     If  the  reader  be  unacquainted  with  tropes  and  figures,  he  should  turn  to  the  explanation 

of  them  in  P;irt  Fourth  of  this  work  ;  but  almost  every  one  knows  something  about  them,  and  such 

;st   here  be   named,  will  perhaps  lie  made  sufficiently  intelligible  by  the  examples.     There 

D   to  introduce  under  this  head  more  than  four ;  namely,  personification, 

metaphor,  metonymy, 

9. — When  a  pronoun  represents  the  name  of  an  inanimate  object  personified,  it  agrees 
with  its  antecedent  in  the  figurative,  and  not  in  the  literal  sc:  !  here  were  others  who  -r 

crime  it  was  rather  to  :.  'mson.     "Pcnanre  dreams  her 

life  a v,  ^hroud." — Id.     Here  if  the  pronoun  were 

made  neuter,  th"  tion  would  be  destroyed  ;  as,  "  By  the  progress  which  Jlnr/lntifl  had 

already  m.v:  -<>d  for  advancing  farther." — linhcrt- 

•  \.  ii.  p.  341.     If  the  pronoun  it  was   here   intvnde-d  to  represent  lino/and,  the 
feminine  she  would  have  been  much  hi  •  •  [f  such  was  not  the  author's  meaning,  the  sen- 

tence ha^  finilt  than  the  :;  :  a  pronoun  with  its  noun  in  a  wrong  sense. 

Oi!-.    1". — When  the  antec  :,oun  usual!-,  'hit  in 

its  literal,  and  not  in  'cA  upheld  the  state.   — 

"The  ,  "'u'ch  the  builders  reje<" 

;•_'.     According  t  would  be  better  than  trho/n,  in  the  following  text  : 

"  I  considered  the  horns,  and,  behold,  there  came  up  among  them  an  other  litth  horn,  before 
tchom  there  were  three  of  t'  u  plueked  UM  by  the  roots." — /J./»,W.  \ii,  S.  In  Rom.  ix, 

33,  there  is  something  similar  :   "Belio!  aid  rock  of  offence  :  and 

whosoever  bclieveth  on  him  shall  not  be  ashanied."     I!-:-  '*  a  metaphor  for  Christ. 

and  the  pronoun  him  i  :red  to  the  sixth  exception  above;  but  the  construction  is  not 

c  it  is  not  regular  :  it  would  be  more  grammatical,  to  change  on  him  to  t' 
te  following  example,  the  noun   "wohcs,"  which  literally  requires  irhich,  and   not  who,  is 

34 


— "O 


530  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

used  metaphorically  for  selfish  priests  ;  and,  in  the  relative,  the  figurative  or  personal  sense  is  allow- 
ed to  prevail : 

"Wolves  shall  succeed  for  teachers,  grievous  icolves, 
Who  all  the  sacred  mysteries  of  Heaven 

To  their  own  vile  advantages  shall  tu»-n." — Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  xii,  1.  508. 

This  seems  to  me  somewhat  forced  and  catachrestieal.     So  too,  and  worse,  the  following ;  which 
makes  a  star  rise  and  speak  : 

"  So  spake  our  Morning  star  then  in  his  rise, 
And  looking  n;und  on  every  side  beheld 

A  pathless  desert,  dusk  with  horrid  shades." — Id.  P.  R.,  B.  i,  1.  294. 

OBS.  11. — When  the  antecedent  is  put  by  metonymy  for  a  noun  of  different  properties,  the  pro- 
noun sometimes  agrees  with  it  in  the  figurative,  and  sometimes  in  the  literal  sense;  as,  "  When 
Israel  vras  a  child,  then  I  loved  him,  and  called  my  son  out  of  Egypt.  As  they  called  them,  so 
they  went  from  them  :  [i.  e.  When  Moses  and  the  prophets  called  the  Israelites,  they  often  refused  to 
hear  :]  they  sacrificed  unto  Baalim,  and  burnt  incense  to  graven  images.  I  taught  Ephraim  also 
to  go,  taking  them  by  their  arms;  but  they  knew  not  that  I  healed  them." — Hosea,  xi,  1,  2,  3. 
The  mixture  and  obscurity  which  are  here,  ought  not  to  be  imitated.  The  name  of  a  man,  put 
for  the  nation  or  tribe  of  his  descendants,  may  have  a  pronoun  of  either  number,  and  a  nation 
may  be  figuratively  represented  as  feminine  ;  but  a  mingling  of  different  genders  or  numbers 
Ought  to  be  avoided:  as,  "Moab  is  spoiled,  anil  gone  up  out  of  her  cities,  and  his  chosen  young 
men  are  gone  down  to  the  slaughter." — Jeremiah,  xlviii,  15. 

"  The  wolf,  who  [say  that]  from  the  nightly  fold, 
Fierce  drags  the  bleatingyjre?/,  ne'er  drunk  her  milk, 
Nor  wore  her  warming  fleece." — Thomson's  Seasons. 
"  That  each  may  fill  the  circle  mark'd  by  Heaven, 
Who  sees  with  equal  eye,  as  God  of  all, 
A  hero  perish  or  a  sparrow  fall." — Pope's  Essay  on  Man. 
"And  heaven  beholds  its  image  in  his  breast." — Ib. 
"  Such  fate  to  suffering  worth  is  given, 

Who  long  with  wants  and  woes  has  striven." — Burns. 
OBS.  12. — When  the  antecedent  is  put  by  synecdoche  for  more  or  less  that  it  literally  signifies, 
the  pronoun  agrees  with  it  in  the  figurative,  and  not  in  the  literal  sense  ;  as, 
"A  dauntless  soiil  erect,  who  smiled  on  death." — Thomson. 
"  But  to  the  generous  still  improving  mind, 
That  gives  the  hopeless  heart  to  sing  for  joy, 
To  him  the  long  review  of  ordered  life 
Is  inward  rapture  only  to  be  felt." — Id.  Seasons. 

OBS.  13 — Pronouns  usually/b//ow  the  words  which  they  represent;  but  this  order  is  sometime? 
reversed  :  as,  "  Whom  the  cap  fits,  let  him  put  it  on." — "  Hark  !  they  whisper  ;  angels  say,"  &c. — 
Pope.  "Thou,  O  Lord,  art  a  God  full  of  compassion." — Old  Test.  And  in  some  cases  of  apposi 
tion,  the  pronoun  naturally  comes  first;  as,  "7  Tertius" — "Ye  lawyers."  The  pronoun  it,  like 
wise,  very  often  precedes  the  clause  or  phrase  which  it  represents  ;  as,  "  Is  it  not  manifest,  that 
the  generality  of  people  speak  and  write  very  badly  ?  " — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  160  ;  Murray's  Gram 
i,  358.  This  arrangement  is  too  natural  to  be  called  a  transposition.  The  most  common  forn. 
of  the  real  inversion  is  that  of  the  antecedent  and  relative  in  poetry ;  as, 
"  Who  stops  to  plunder  at  this  signal  hour, 

The  birds  shall  tear  him,  and  the  dogs  devour." — POPE:  Iliad,  xv,  400. 

OBS.  14. — A  pronoun  sometimes  represents  a  phrase  or  a  sentence ;  and  in  this  case  the  pronoun 
is  always  in  the  third  person  singular  neuter:  as,  "  Surely  the  Lord  is  in  this  place,  and  1  knewzV 
not." — Gen.  xxviii,  10.  "  Yet  men  can  go  on  to  vilify  or  disregard  Christianity  ;  which  is  to  talk 
and  act  as  if  they  had  a  demonstration  of  its  falsehood." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  269.  "  When  it 
is  asked  wherein  personal  identity  consists,  the  answer  should  be  the  same  as  if  it  were  asked, 
wherein  consists  similitude  or  equality." — Ib.  p.  270.  "Also,  that  the  soul  be  without  knowledge, 
it  is  not  good." — Prov.  xix,  2.  In  this  last  example,  the  pronoun  is  not  really  necessary.  "Thai 
the  soul  be  without  knowledge,  is  not  good." — Jenks's  Prayers,  p.  144.  Sometimes  an  infinitive 
verb  is  taken  as  an  antecedent ;  as,  "  He  will  not  be  able  to  think,  without  which  it  is  impertinent 
tt>  read;  nor  to  act,  without  which  it  is  impertinent  to  think." — Bolingbroke,  on  History,  p.  103. 

OBS.  15. — When  a  pronoun  follows  two  words,  having  a  neuter  verb  between  them,  and  both 
referring  to  the  same  thing,  it  may  represent  either  of  them,  but  not  often  with  the  same  mean- 
ing:  as,  1.  "  I  am  the  man,  who  command."  Here,  who  command  belongs  to  the  subject  I.  and 
the  meaning  is,  "  i  who  command,  am  the  man."  (The  latter  expression  places  the  relative  nearer 
to  its  antecedent,  and  is  therefore  preferable.)  2.  "I  am  the  man  who  commands."  Here,  who 
commands  belongs  to  the  predicate  man,  and  the  meaning  is,  "  I  am  the  commander."  Again  : 
"  I  perceive  thou  art  a  pupil,  who  possessest  good  talents." — Cooper's  PL  and  Pract.  dram.  p.  136. 
Here  the  construction  corresponds  not  to  the  perception,  which  is,  of  the  pupil's  talents.  Say, 
therefore,  "  I  perceive  thou  art  z.  pupil  possessing  (or,  icho  jiossesscs)  good  talents." 

OBS.  16. — After  the  expletive  it,  which  maybe  employed  to  introduce  a  noun  or  a  pronoun  of  any 
person,  number,  or  gender,  the  above  mentioned  distinction  is  generally  disregarded ;  and  the 
relative  is  most  commonly  made  to  agree  with  the  latter  word,  especially  if'this  word  be  of  the  first 
or  the  second  person:  as,  "  It  is  no  more  I  that  do  it." — Rom.  vii,  2D.  "'For  it  is  not  ye  that  speak." 
— Matt,  x,  20.  The  propriety  of  this  construction  is  questionable.  In  the  following  examples, 
the  relative  agrees  with  the  if,  and  not  with  the  subsequent  nouns  :  "It  is  the  combined  excellen- 
cies of  all  the  denominations  that  gives  to  her  her  winning  beauty  and  her  powerful  charms." — Bible 
Society's  Report,  1838,  p.  89.  "It  is  purity  and  neatness  of  expression  which  is  chiefly  to  be 
Studied." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  271.  "It  is  not  the  difficulty  of  the  language,  but  on  the  contrary  the 
simplicity  and  facility  of  it.  that  occasions  this  neglect  " — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  vi.  "It  is  a  wise  head 
and  a  good  heart  that  constitutes  a  great  man."—  Child's  Instructor,  p.  22. 


CHAP.  V.]  SYNTAX.  -  ROLE   X.  -  PRONOUNS.  —  OBSERVATIONS.  531 

OBS.  17.  —  The  pronoun  it  very  frequently  refers  to  something  mentioned  subsequently  in  the 
sentence  ;  as,  •'/£  is  useless  to  complain  ot  what  is  irremediable."  This  pronoun  is  a  necessary 
expletive  at  the  commencement  of  any  sentence  in  which  the  verb  is  followed  by  a  phrase  or  a 


clause  which,  by  transposition,  ini^'lit  he  made  the  subject  of  the  verb;  as,  "It  is  impossible  to 
please  every  one.''  —  H  .  Allen's  dram.  "It  was  requisite  that  the  papers  xhoultl  he  sent.  —  Ib.  The 
following  example  is  censured  by  the  Ilev.  Matt  Harrison:  "It  is  really  curious,  the  course  which 
balls  will  sometimes  take."  —  AberiMtkjf't  Lectures.  "This  awkward  expression,"  says  the  critic, 
"miijht  have  been  avoided  by  saving,  '  The  course  which  balls  will  sometimes  take  is  really  curi- 
ous.'" —  Harrison,  on  the  /,'/i///.v/<  Lnnuuaijc,  p.  1  17.  If  the  construction  is  objectionable,  it  may, 
in  this  instance,  be  altered  inns  :  "  It  is  really  curious,  to  obscrce  the  course  which  balls  will  some- 
times take  !  ''  So,  it  appears,  we  may  avoid  a  jid'onaxm  by  an  addition.  But  he  finds  a  worse  ex- 
ample "Aiiain,  in  an  article  from  the  •  New  Monthly,'  No.  103,  we  meet  with  the  same 

form  of  expression,  out  with  anaaoravatfd  aspect  :  —  '  It  is  incredible,  the  number  of  apothecaries' 


ss 


i 


the  original  form  is  not  allowable, 
the  following  line,  we  seem  to  have  something  like  it : 

"  It  curled  not  Tweed  alone,  that  breeze." — Sir  W.  Scott. 

OBS.  13. — Relative  and  interrogative  pronouns  are  placed  at  or  near  the  beginning  of  their  own 
clauses  ;  and  the  learner  must  observe  that,  through  all  their  cases,  they  almost  invariably  retain 
this  situation  in  the  sentence,  and  are  found  before  their  verbs  even  whfn  the  order  of  the  con- 
struction would  reverse  this  arrangement :  as,  "  He  who  preserves  me,  to  whom  I  owe  my  being, 
wlujse  I  am,  and  ichom  I  serve,  is  eternal." — Murray,  p.  1-V.).  "  He  whom  you  seek." — Lowtli. 
"  The  good  must  merit  God's  peculiar  care  ; 

But  ic/io,  but  God,  can  tell  us  who  they  are  ?  " — Pope. 

OBS.  19. — A  relative  pronoun,  being  the  representative  of  some  antecedent  word  or  phrase, 
derives  from  this  relation  its  person,  number,  and  gender,  but  not  its  case.  By  taking  an  other 
relation  of  case,  it  helps  to  form  an  other  clause;  and,  by  retaining  the  essential  meaning  of  its 
antecedent,  serves  to  connect  this  clause  to  that  in  which  the  antecedent  is  found.  No  relative, 
therefore,  can  ever  be  used  in  an  independent  simple  sentence,  or  be  made  the  subject  of  a  sub- 
junctive verb,  or  be  put  in  apposition  with  any  noun  or  pronoun;  but,  like  other  connectives,  this 
pronoun  belongs  at  the  head  of  a  clause  in  a  compound  sentence,  and  excludes  conjunctions,  ex- 
cept when  two  such  clauses  are  to  be  joined  together,  as  in  the  following  example:  "  I  should  be 
glad,  at  least,  of  an  easy  companion,  who  may  tell  me  his  thoughts,  and  to  icJiom  I  may  com- 
municate mine." — Goldsmith's  Essays,  p.  196. 

OBS.  20. — The  two  special  rules  commonly  given  by  the  grammarrians,  for  the  construction  of 
relatives,  are  not  only  unnecessary,*  but  faulty.  I  shall  notice  them  only  to  show  my  reasons  for 
discarding  them.  With  whom  they  originated^  it  is  difficult  to  say.  Paul's  Accidence  has  them, 
and  if  Dean  Colet,  the  supposed  writer,  did  not  take  them  from  tome  earlier  author,  they  must 
have  been  first  taught  by  him,  about  the  year  1510;  and  it  is  certain  that  they  have  been  copied 
to  al:  grammar  published  since.  The  first  one  is  faulty,  because,  "  When  there  comith 

nomi,  ;ntwcen  the  relative  and  the  verb,  the  relative  shall  [not  always]  be  the  nominative 

•eto(,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  examples :  "  Many  are  the  works  of  human 

idustr\  begin  and  finish  are  [say  is]  hardly  granted  to  the  same  man." — Dr.  Johnson's 

dr.   to  Diet.       "  They  aim  at   his  removal;  which  there  is   reason  to   fear  they  will  effect." — 
/id,  I  cut  them  olf." — Shuk.  lien.  IV.     The  second  rule  is  faulty,  because,    "When 
re  co,  •  n  tltc  rdatirc  and  the  re,-'),  tin   rciultce  shall  [not  always]  be 

h  en  .ay  be  seen  by  the  following  examples;   "The  author 

. -icf-d  any  ia  './'•//  he  does  not  think  are  pertinent." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  192. 

:.ave  reason  to  think  was  the  case  with  the  Greek  and  Latin." — Ib.  112.     "  Is  this  your 
son,  ;r/  75  born  blind  ?  " — John,  i\,  19.     The  case  of  the  relative  cannot  be  accurately 

detcrmint  <1   by  any  rules  of  mere  location.     It  may  be  nominative  to  a  verb  afar  off,  or  it  may  be 

\^'l<lc/l  I  do  not  find  that  there  ever  iras." — 

iijht,  on  •  .  p.  31.     "And  our  chief  reason  for  believing  w/n'rhis  that  our  ances- 

did  —  >/n,  i,  Gil.     Both  these  particular  rules  are  useless,  be- 

use  \]  rules  for  the  iven  in  chapter  third  above,  are  applicable  to  relatives, 

fficient  to  all  the  purpose,  and  not  liable  to  any  exceptions. 

Jl. — In  pyntacti*  each  word,  in  general,  is  to  be  resolved  by  some  one  rule; 

ng  of  a  pronoun  commonly  requires  tiro  ;  one  for  its  agreement  with  the  noun  or 
ouns  for  wi.  is,  and  an  other  for  its  case.      The  rule  of  agreement  will  be  one  of  the 

l.apter ;  and  the  rule  for  the  case  will  be  one  of  the  seven 
which  •    :  that  the  whole  syntax  of  pronouns  requires  the  application  of 

eleven  differ  nt  rules,  while  that  of  nouns  or  Braced  in  six  or  seven,  and  that  of  any 

other  i  <  h,  in  one  only.     In  respect  to  their  case?,  relatives  and  interrogatives  admit  of 

every  eor>tructinn  common  to  nouns,  or  to  the  personal  pronouns,  except  apposition.      This  id 
proved  by  the  following  exan 

1.     Not!/-  i  write;  —  Thou   who  writcst ; —  He  who  writes;  —  The 

imnl  ii  'hat  sparcth  his  rod,  hatcth  his  son." — Salomon.      '•  He 

io  does  any  thing  w/<  •  ires  on  dangerous  ground." — "M7/rr/  will  be- 

come of  us  without  religion  ?  " — Blair.     "  Here  I  determined  to  wait  the  hand  of  death  ;  which, 

"M:-.  '                                                                      '  /,W/u>»M'.«,  p.  90.     The  two  roles 

hirli  -  Knit-  VI;  Men-ham 's  Kul*  IX;  Ineersoll'a 

ile   XII;   Kirklinni'fl   Knl-  JCXII ;  I'lornl.!.-'.-  \Mi-l  XI:   Nixon's  Obs.  86th 

.-.TV  found  in  Lowth's  Gram.  p.  100  ;  Churchill's,  Io6;  A.'                        .  Allen's,  156  ;  Blair's,  75; 
and  many  other  books. 


532  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III, 

I  hope,  when  at  last  it  comes,  will  fall  lightly  upon  me." — Dr.  Johnson.  "What  is  sudden  and 
unaccountable,  serves  to  confound." — Crabb.  "They  only  are  wise,  ^oho  are  wise  to  salvation." 
— Goodwin. 

2.  Nominatives  by  Rule  6th  :  (i.  e.  words  parsed  as  nominatives  after  the  verbs,  though  mostly 
transpOvScd  :)  "  Who  art  thou  ?  " — Bible.    "  What  were  we  ?  " — Ib.    "  Do  not  tell  them  who  I  am." 
— "  Let  him  be  who  he  may,  he  is  not  the  honest  fellow  that  he  seemed." — "  The  general  conduct 
of  mankind  is  neither  ichat  it  was  designed,  nor  what  it  ought  to  be." 

3.  Nominatives  absolute  by  Rule  8th  :  "  There  are  certain  bounds  to  imprudence,  which  being 


202.     This  construction  of  the  relative  is  a  Latinism,  and  very  seldom  used  by  the  best  English 
writers. 

4.  Possessives  by  Rule  4th  :  "  The  chief  man  of  the  island,  whose  name  was  Publius." — Acts. 
"  Despair,  a  cruel  tyrant,  from  whose  prisons  none  can  escape." — Dr.  Johnson.     "  To  contemplate 
on  Him  whose  yoke  is  easy  and  whose  burden  is  light." — Steele. 

5.  Objectives  by  Rule  oth  :  "  Those  whom  she  persuaded." — Dr.  Johnson.     "  The  cloak  that  I 
left  at  Troas." — St.  Paul.      "By  the  things  whic  h  he  suffered." — Id.      "A  man  whom  there  is 
reason  to  suspect." — "  What  are  we  to  do  ?  " — Burke.     "Love  refuses  nothing  that  love  sends." 
— Gtirnall.     "  The  first  thing,  says  he,  is,  to  choose  some  maxim  or  point  of  morality  ;  to  incul- 
cate ichich,  is  to  be  the  design  of  his  work." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  421.      "  Whomsoever  you  please  to 
appoint." — Lowth.      "Whatsoever  he  doeth,  shall  prosper." — Bible.      "What  we  are  afraid  to  do 
before  men,  we  should  be  afraid  to  think  before  God." — Sibs.     "  Shall  I  hide  from  Abraham  that 
thing  which  I  dp  ?  " — Gen.  xviii,  32.      "  Shall  I  hide  from  Abraham  what  I  am  going  to  do  ?  " — 
"  Call  imperfection  what  thou  fanciest  such." — Pope. 

6.  Objectives  by  Rule  6th :  (i.  e.  pronouns  parsed  as  objectives  after  neuter  verbs,  though  they 
stand  before  them:)  "  He  is  not  the  man  that  I  took  him  to  be." — "Whom  did  you  suppose  me 
to  be  ? " — "  If  the  lad  ever  become  what  you  wish  him  to  be." 

7.  Objectives  by  Rule  7th :  "  To  whom  shall  we  go  ?  " — Bible.     "  The  laws  by  which  the  world 
is  governed,  are  general." — Bp.  Butler.      "Whom  he  looks  upon  as  his  defender." — Addison. 
"That  secret  heaviness  of  heart  which  unthinking  men  are  subject  to." — Id.      "I  cannot  but 
think  the  loss  of  such  talents  as  the  man  of  ichom  I  am  speaking  was  master  of,  a  more  melan- 
choly instance." — Steele.     "  Grammar  is  the  solid  foundation  upon  which  all  other  science  rests." 
— Buchanan's  Eng.  Synt.  p.  xx. 

OBS.  22. — In  familiar  language,  the  relative  of  the  objective  case  is  frequently  understood ;  as, 
"  The  man  [whom]  I  trust." — Cowper.  "  Here  is  the  letter  [which]  I  received."  So  in  the  fol- 
lowing sentences  :  "This  is  the  man  they  hate.  These  are  the  goods  they  bought.  Are  these 
the  Gods  they  worship  ?  Is  this  the  woman  you  saw  ?  " — Ash's  Gram.  p.  96.  This  ellipsis  seems 
allowable  only  in  the  familiar  style.  In  grave  writing,  or  deliberate  discourse,  it  is  much  better 
to  express  this  relative.  The  omission  of  it  is  often  attended  with  some  obscurity;  as,  "The 
next  error  [that]  I  shall  mention  [,]  is  a  capital  one." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii.  157.  "  It  is  little 
[that]  we  know  of  the  divine  perfections." — Scougal,  p.  94.  "The  faith  \iohich]  we  give  to  mem- 
ory, may  be  thought,  on  a  superficial  view,  to  be  resolvable  into  consciousness,  as  well  as  that 
[which]  we  give  to  the  immediate  impressions  of  sense." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  53.  "  We  speak 
that  [which]  we  do  know,  and  testify  that  [which]  we  have  seen." — John,  iii,  11.  The  omission 
of  a  relative  in  the  nominative  case,  is  almost  always  inelegant ;  as,  "  This  is  the  worst  thing  [<Aa£] 
could  happen." — "  There  were  several  things  [which]  brought  it  upon  me." — Pilgrim's  Progress, 
p.  162.  The  latter  ellipsis  may  occur  after  but  or  than,  and  it  is  also  sometimes  allowed  in 
poetry;  as,  [There  is]  "No  person  of  reflection  but  [who]  must  be  sensible,  that  an  incident 
makes  a  stronger  impression  on  an  eye-witness,  than  when  heard  at  second  hand." — Kames,  EL 
of  Crit.  ii,  257. 

"  In  this  'tis  God  directs,  in  that  'tis  man." — Pope,  on  Man. 

"  Abuse  on  all  he  lov'd,  or  lov'd  him,  spread." — Id.  to  Arbuthnot. 

"  There's  nothing  blackens  like  the  ink  of  fools." — Id.  to  Augustus. 

OBS.  23. — The  antecedent  is  sometimes  suppressed,  especially  in  poetry ;  as,  "  Who  will,  may  be 
a  judge." — Churchill.  "  How  shall  I  curse  [him  or  them]  whom  God  hath  not  cursed  ?  " — Num- 
bers, xxiii,  8.  "  There  are,  indeed,  [some  persons]  who  seem  disposed  to  extend  her  authority 
much  farther."— Campbell's  Philosophy  of  Rhet  p.  187. 

[He]  "  Who  lives  to  nature,  rarely  can  be  poor; 

[He]     Who  lives  to  fancy,  never  can  be  rich." — Young. 

"  Serious  should  be  an  author's  final  views  ; 
[They]  Who  write  for  pure  amusement,  ne'er  amuse." — Id. 

OBS.  24. —  Which,  as  well  as  who,  was  formerly  applied  to  persons  ;  as,  "  Our  Fattier  which  art 
in  heaven." — Bible.  "  Pray  for  them  which  despitefully  use  you." — Luke,  vi,  28.  And,  as  to  the 
former  example  here  cited,  some  British  critics,  still  preferring  the  archaism,  have  accused  "  The 
Americans"  of  "poor  criticism,"  in  that  they  "have  changed  ichich  into  who,  as  being  more 
consonant  to  the  rules  of  Grammar."  Falsely  imagining,  that  which,  and  who,  with  the  same 
antecedent,  can  be  of  different  genders,  they  allege,  that,  "  The  use  of  the  neuter  pronoun  carried 
with  it  a  certain  vagueness  and  sublimity,  not  inappropriate  in  reminding  us  that  our  worship  is 
addressed  to  a  Being,  infinite,  and  superior  to  all  distinctions  applicable  to  material  objects." — 
Men  and  Manners  in  America :  quoted  and  endorsed  by  the  REV.  MATT.  HARRISON,  in  his  trea- 
tise on  the  English  Language,  p.  191.  This  is  all  fancy  ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  absurd.  It  is  just 
like  the  religious  prejudice  which  could  discern  "  a  singular  propriety  "  in  "  the  double  superla- 
tive most  highest." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  28.  But  which  may  still  be  applied  to  a  young  child,  if  sex 
and  intelligence  be  disregarded  ;  as,  "  The  child  which  died."  Or  even  to  adults,  when  they  are 
spoken  of  without  regard  to  a  distinct  personality  or  identity  ;  as,  "Which  of  you  will  go  ?  " — 
"  Crabb  knoweth  not  which  is  which,  himself  or  his  parodist." — Leigh  Hunt. 


CHAP.    V.]  SYNTAX.  -  HULK    X.  -  PKONOUN3.  -  NOTES.  533 

OBS.  2.5.  —  A  proper  name  taken  merely  as  a  name,  or  an  appellative  taken  in  any  sense  not 
strictly  personal,  must  be  represented  by  ichich,  and  not  by  «•//<;;  as,  '•  I>rod  —  ichich  is  but  an 
other  name  for  cruelty."  —  (i  In  every  prescription  of  duty,  God  propOM-th  himself  as  a  rewarder  ; 
rr/iich  he  is  only  to  those  that  please"  him."  —  Dr.  ./.  (hem,  Which  would  perhaps  be  more  proper 
than  ir/ti>in,  in  the  following  passage:  "They  did  not  destroy  the  nations,  concerning  whum  the 
"  \i,  34.  Dr.  Blair  has  preferred  it  in  the  following  inst 


Lord  commanded  them."  —  7  '*<////»,  «.-\i,  34.  Dr.  Blair  has  preferred  it  in  the  following  instance: 
41  My  lion  and  my  pillar  are  sufficiently  interpreted  by  the  mention  of  Achilles  and  the  minister, 
vhii-ii  I  join  to  them."  —  /.-•  ftrvt,  p.  1->1.  lie  meant,  •'  tc  I  con»i«  f  with  theirs  ;"  and 

not,  that  he  joined  the  person  of  Achilles  to  a  lion,  or  that  of  a  minister  to  a  pillar. 

O«s.  2(5.  —  When  two  or  more  relative  clauses  pertain  to  the  same  antecedent,  if  they  are 
connected  by  a  conjunction,  the  same  relative  ought  to  be  employed  in  each,  agreeably  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  seventh  note  below;  but  if  no  conjunction  is  expressed  or  understood  between 
them,  the  pronouns  ought  rather  to  be  different  ;  as,  *'  There  are  many  things  (Jiat  you  can  speak  of, 
cannot  be  seem."  —  7?.  I'  f//v///;.p.  11.  This  distinction  is  noticed  in  the  fifth  chapter 

of  Ktymoli  .  ih,  on  the  Classes  of  Pronouns.  Dr.  Priestley  Btys.  "  Whatever  relative 

be  used,  in  a  .series  of  clauses,  relating  to  the  same  antecedent,  the  same  ought  to  be  used  in  them 
ail.  '  It  is  remarkable,  that  Holland,  against  which  the  war  was  undertaken,  and  /hat,  in  the  very 
beginning,  was  reduced  to  the  brink  of  destruction,  lost  nothing.'  —  ////',/>,//  History,  Vol.  '!•'•>,  p. 
117.  It  ought  to  have  been,  <iml  irhic/i  in  the  <•<•/•//  hi-i/inni/t<i."  —  7V/V>//,-_y'.v  Cram.  p.  102.  L. 
Murray,  (as  I  have  shown  in  the  Introduction,  Ch  x,  •  22.  >  ,.>.sumes  all  this,  without  references  ; 
adding  as  a  salvo  the  word  "generally,"  which  merely  impairs  the  certainty  of  the  rule:  —  "the 
same  relative  ought  generally  to  be  used  in  them  all."  —  Octavo  dram.  p.  1-3-3.  And.  of  who  and 
that,  Cobbett  says  :  "Either  may  do  ;  but  both  never  ought  to  be  relatives  of  the  same  antecedent 
in  the  same  sentence."  —  Gram.  1  202.  The  inaccuracy  of  these  rules  is  as  great  as  that  of  tf.c 
phraseology  which  is  corrected  under  them.  In  the  following  sentence,  the  first  relative  only  is 
ud  consequently  the  other  may  be  different  :  "  These  were  the  officers  that  were  cafled 
lloniot'iHoi,  and  ic/to  signalized  themselves  afterwards  so  gloriously  npon  all  occasions."  —  Rollings 
Hist,  ii,  62.  See  also  in  Rev.  x,  Gth,  a  similar  example  without  the  conjunction. 

Oi:s.  27.  —  In  conversation,  the  possessive  pronoun  your  is  sometimes  used  in  a  droll  way,  being 
shortened  into  yur  in  pronunciation,  and  nothing  more  being  meant  by  it,  than  might  be  ex- 
pressed by  the  article  an  or  a  :  as,  "  Rich  honesty  dwells,  like  your  miser,  sir,  in  a  poor  house  ; 
as,  your  pearl  in  your  foul  oyster."  —  Sha!:s]>carc. 

NOTES  TO  RULE  X. 

.  i:  I.  —  A  pronoun  should  not  be  introduced  in  connexion  with  words  that  belong 
more  properly  to  the  antecedent,  or  to  an  other  pronoun  ;  as,   "And  then  there  ia 
good  use  for  Pallas  her  glass."  —  Bacon's  Wisdom,  p.  22.  Say  —  "  for  Pallas'  s  glass." 
••  My  banks  tkty  are  furni.sh'd  with  bees, 

Whose  murmur  invites  one  to  sleep."  —  Shenstone,  p.  284. 

is  lu.-t  instance,  however,  is  only  an  example  of  pleonasm  ;  which  is  allowable  and 
uent  in  animated  discourse,  but  inelegant  in  any  other.      Our  grammarians  have 
ndemned  it  too  positively.     It  occurs  sundry  times  in  the  Bible;  as,  "Know  ye 
at  the  LOUD  he  is  God."  —  Psalms,  < 

.:  II.  —  A  change  of  number  in  the  second  person,  or  even  a  promiscuous  use 
ye  and  yon  in  the  same  case  and  the  same  style,  is  inelegant,  and  ought  to  be 
ided  ;  as,  "Vox  wept,  and  I  for  tltec."  —  "Harry,  said  my  lord,  don't  cry;  I'll 
ive  you  something  towards  thy  loss."  —  Steffi's  Poems,  p  207.  "  Ye  sons  of  sloth, 
y<ni  "If-pring  of  darknos,  awake  from  your  sleep."  —  />Vo//-/r,x-  Mctapliors,  p.  96. 
Our  pools  have  very  often  adopted  the  former  sole'-i-m.  to  accommodate  their  meas- 
ure !  or  to  avoid  the  harshness  of  the  old  verb  in  the  second  person  singular:  as, 

K"Tliy  heart  is  yet  blameless,  0  fly  while  >/<>/'  inny."  —  Queen's  Wake,  p.  -ID. 
"  Oh  !    i  '  ,,  hen  tlmu  f/oest  to  brew, 

•  ynn're  about  to  do."  —  Ki)ig's  Poems,  p.  594. 
':i  that  lov'd  Athenian  1 
>!/•//'</  an  all-eommanding  power, 
Thy  mimic  soul,  ()  nymph  emlear'd  ! 

.11  what  then  it  heard."  —  Collins,  Ode  to  Music. 
NOTK  III.  —  The  relative  who  i.-;  applied  only  to  persons,  and  to  animals  or  tilings 

:1  winch,  to  brute  animals  and  inanimate  things  spoken  of  literally  : 
!"ie  ./'"//A'  :  "  —  "  Tin;  old  crab   ir/io  advi.-i-d   the  young  one  ;  ''  — 

"  The  Imrxt'  ichirlt  ran  away  ;  "  —  "  The  />t>ok  irhirti  was-  given  me." 

NOTK  IV.  —  Xouns  of  multitude,  unless  they  expn-ss  persons  uin-ctly  as  such, 
should  not  i  :ited  by  the  relative  who:  to  say,  "  The  /<//////'/  iclmm  I  visited,  v 

would  hardly  be  proper;  that  would  here  be  better.  When  sneh  nouns  are  strictly 
of  the  neuter  gender,  whi<Jt  may  represent  them  ;  as,  "  The  com  hich  were 


,T  III. 


534  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART 

appointed."  But  where  the  idea  of  rationality  is  predominant,  who  or  whom  seems 
not  to  be  improper;  as,  "  The  conclusion  of  the  Iliad  is  like  the  exit  of  a  great  man 
out  of  company  whom  he  has  entertained  magnificently." — Cowper.  "A  law  is 
only  the  expression  of  the  desire  of  a  multitude  who  have  power  to  punish." — Brown's 
Philosophy  of  the  Mind. 

NOTE  V. — In  general,  the  pronoun  must  so  agree  with  its  antecedent  as  to  present 
the  same  idea,  and  never  in  such  a  manner  as  to  confound  the  name  with  the  thing 
signified,  or  any  two  things  with  each  other.  Examples  :  "Jane  is  in  the  nominative 
case,  because  it  leads  the  sentence." — Infant  School  Gram.  p.  30.  Here  it  repre- 
sents the  word  "Jane,"  and  not  the  person  Jane.  "  What  mark  or  sign  is  put  after 
master  to  show  that  he  is  in  the  possessive  case?  Spell  it." — Ib.  p.  32.  Here  the 
word  "  master  "  is  most  absurdly  confounded  with  the  man  ;  and  that  to  accommodate 
grammar  to  a  child's  comprehension  ! 

NOTE  VI. — The  relative  that  may  be  applied  either  to  persons  or  to  things.  In 
the  following  cases,  it  is  more  appropriate  than  who,  whom,  or  which  ;  and  ought  to 
be  preferred,  unless  it  be  necessary  to  use  a  preposition  before  the  relative: — (1.) 
After  an  adjective  of  the  superlative  degree,  when  the  relative  clause  is  restrictive ;  * 
as,  "He  was  the  first  that  came." — "  He  was  the  fittest  person  that  could  then  bo 
found." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  422.  "The  Greeks  were  the  greatest  reasoncrs  that 
ever  appeared  in  the  world." — BEATTIE  :  Murray's  Gram.  p.  127-  (2.)  After  the 
adjective  same,  when  the  relative  clause  is  restrictive ;  as,  "  He  is  the  same  man  that 
you  saw  before." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  101;  Murray's,  156;  Campbell's  Rhet. 
422.  (3.)  After  the  antecedent  who  ;  as,  "  Who  that  is  a  sincere  friend  to  it,  can 
look  with  indifference  upon  attempts  to  shake  the  foundation  of  the  fabric?  "--—Wash- 
ington. (4.)  After  two  or  more  antecedents  that  demand  a  relative  adapted  both  to 
persons  and  to  things ;  as,  "  He  spoke  largely  of  the  men  and  things  that  he  had 
seen." — "When  some  particular  person  or  thing  is  spoken  of,  that  ought  to  be  more 
distinctly  marked." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  51.  (5.)  After  an  unlimited  antecedent 
which  the  relative  clause  is  designed  to  restrict;  as,  "Thoughts  that  breathe,  and 
words  that  burn." — Gray.  "Music  that  accords  vuth  the  present  tone  of  mind,  is, 
on  that  account,  doubly  agreeable." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  ii,  311.  "  For  Theocritus 
descends  sometimes  into  ideas  that  are  gross  and  mean." — Blair's  Rhet  p.  393. 
(6.)  After  any  antecedent  introduced  by  the  expletive  it  ;  as,  "It  is  you  that  suffer." 
— "It  was  I,  and  not  he,  that  did  it." — ClairchiU's  Gram.  p.  142.  "It  was  not 
he  f  that  they  were  so  angry  with." — Murray's  Exercises,  R.  17.  "It  was  not 
Gavins  alone  that  Verres  meant  to  insult." — Blair's  Rhtt.  p.  325.  (7.)  And,  in 
general,  wherever  the  propriety  of  who  or  which  is  doubtful;  as,  "The  little  child 
that  was  placed  in  the  midst." 

NOTE  VII. — When  two  or  more  relative  clauses  connected  by  a  conjunction  have 
a  similar  dependence  in  respect  to  the  antecedent,  the  same  pronoun  must  be  employed 
in  each;  as,  "0  thou,  who  art,  and  who  wast,  and  who  art  to  come!"-  -"And 
they  shall  spread  them  before  the  sun.  and  the  moon,  and  all  the  host  of  heaven, 
whom  they  have  loved,  and  whom  they  have  served,  and  after  whom  they  have 
walked,  and  whom  they  have  sought,  and  whom  they  have  worshiped." — Jer.  viii,  2. 

NOTE  VIII. — The  relative,  and  the  preposition  governing  it,  should  not  be  omitted, 
when  they  are  necessary  to  the  sense  intended,  or  to  a  proper  connexion  of  the  parts 
of  the  sentence  ;  as,  "  He  is  still  in  the  situation  you  saw  him."  Better  thus  :  "He 
is  still  in  the  situation  in  which  you  saw  him." 

*  This  rule,  in  all  its  parts,  is  to  be  applied  chiefly,  if  not  solely,  to  such  relative  clauses  as  are  taken  in  tbt 
restrictive  sense  ;  for,  in  the  rfsiimptivf  sense  of  the  relative,  who  or  which  may  be  more  proper  than  that:  as, 
"Abraham  solemnly  adjures  his  most  faithful  servant,  whom  he  despatches  to  Charran  on  this  matrimonial  mis- 
sion for  his  son,  to  discharge  his  mission  with  all  fidelity." — Milman's  J.  KS,  i,  21.  See  Etymology,  Chap.  5th, 
Obs.  23d,  21th,  &c.,  on  the  Classes  of  Pronouns. 

T  Murray  imagined  this  sentence  to  be  bad  English.  He  very  strangely  mistook  the  pronoun  he  for  the  object 
of  the  preposition  with  ;  and  accordingly  condemned  the  text,  under  the  rnlf,  '•  Propositions  govern  the  objective 
case."  J<o  of  the  following  :  '  It  is  not"l  he  is  engaged  with."— Murray'*  Escrcisf*,  11.  17.  Better  :  '•  It  is  not  I 
that  he  is  engaged  with."  Here  is  no  violation  of  the  foregoing  rule,  or  of  any  other  ;  and  both  sentences,  with 
even  Murray's  form  of  the  latter,  are  quite  as  good  as  his  proposed  substi'utes  :  "  It  was  not  with  him  that  they 
were  so  angry.''— M  unity's  AV//.  p  51.  "  It  is  not  witk  rue.  he  is  engaged."—  Ib.  In  these  fancied  corrections, 
the  phrases  vrith  him  and  with  me  have  a  very  awkward  and  questionable  position  :  it  seeuia  doubtful,  whether 
they  depend  on  wvs  and  is,  or  on  angry  and  engaged. 


CHAP.    V.]  SYNTAX.  —  RULE    X.  -  PRONOUNS.  -  ERRORS.  535 

NOTE  IX.  —  After  certain  nouns,  of  time,  place,  manner,  or  cause,  the  conjunctive 
adverbs  when,  where,  whither.  l/ow,  and  why,  are  a  sort  of  special  relatives  ; 

but  no  such  adverb  should  be  used  where  a  preposition  and  a  relative  pronoun  would 
better  express  the  relation  of  the  terms  :  as,  'A  cause  where  justice  is  so  much 
concerned."  Say,  "A  cause  in  which."  See  Etymology,  Obs.  Gth,  7th,  and  8th, 
on  the  (.Masses  of  Adverbs. 

NOTE  X.  —  Where  a  pronoun  or  a  pronominal  adjective  will  not  express  the  meaning 
clearly,  the  noun  must  be  repeated,  or  inserted  in  stead  of  it  :  as,  "  We  see  the 
beautiful  variety  of  colour  in  the  rainbow,  and  are  led  to  consider  the  cause  of  it." 
Say,  —  "  the  cause  of  that  variety  ;"  because  the  it  may  mean  the  variety,  the  colour, 
or  the  rainbow. 

NOTE  XL  —  To  prevent  ambiguity  or  obscurity,  the  relative  should,  in  general,  be 
placed  as  near  as  possible  to  the  antecedent.  The  following  sentence  is  therefore 
faulty  :  "  lie  is  like  a  beast  of  prey,  that  is  void  of  compassion."  Better  thus  :  "  He 

-  void  of  compassion,  is  like  a  beast  of  prey." 

NOTE  XII.  —  The  pronoun  what  should  never  be  used  in  stead  of  the  conjunction 
that  ;  as,  "  Think  no  man  so  perfect  but  what  he  may  err."  This  is  a  vulgar  fault. 
Say,  —  "  but  that  he  may  err." 

NOTE  XIII.  —  A  pronoun  should  never  be  used  to  represent  an  adjective,  —  except 
the  pronominal  adjectives,  and  others  taken  substantively  ;  because  a  pronoun  can 
neither  express  a  concrete  quality  as  such,  nor  convert  it  properly  into  an  abstract: 
as,  '-15(3  (iKi.'iiftrr  ;  without  wJiich  you  \vill  learn  nothing."  Better  thus:  "Be 
attentive  ;  for  without  attention  you  will  learn  nothing." 

NOTE  XIV.  —  Though  the  relative  which  may  in  some  instances  stand  for  a  phrase 
or  a  sentence,  it  is  seldom,  if  ever,  a  fit  representative  of  an  indicative  assertion  ;  as, 
"  The  man  opposed  me,  which  was  anticipated."  —  Nixon  s  Parser,  p.  127.  Say,  — 
'•  but  h>&  o/i/)(isifit.m  was  anticipated."  Or:  "The  man  opposed  me,  as  was  antici- 
pated." Or:  —  l<  as  I  expected  he  would."  Again:  *'  The  captain  disobeys  orders, 
'hick  is  puni.>hed."  —  Ib.  p.  1*JS.  This  is  an  other  factitious  sentence,  formed  after 
same  model,  and  too  erroneous  for  correction  :  none  but  a  conceited  grammatist 
M  ever  have  framed  such  a  construction. 

XV.  —  The   possessive    pronouns,   my,  thy,  his,  her,  its,  &c.,    should   be 
sorted  or  repeated  as  often  as  the  sense  or  construction  of  the  sentence  requires 
them  ;  their  omission,  like  that  of  the  articles,  can  scarcely  in  any  instance  constitute 
/.T  ellipsis:  as,  "Of  Princeton  and  vicinity."  —  Say,   "Of  Princeton  and  its 
'•  The  man  and  wife."  —  Say,  "  The  man  and  his  wife."     "  Many  verbs 
•  :ilii.-atinn  and  construction."  —  Adam's  Gram.  p.  170;    Gould's, 
v,  —  "and  their  construction." 

\VL  —  In  the  correcting  of  any  discord  between  the  antecedent  and  its 
noun,  if  the  latter  for  any  sufficient  reason  is  most  proper  as  it  stands,  the  former 
i  to  accord  with  it  :  a  is  discuss  what  relates  to  each  particu- 

r  in  their  order  :  —  iVs  or  I-T."  —  /'/-i-stlry's  Gram.  p.  1  !»:',.      Better  thus  :  "  Let  us 
what  relates  to  the  several  particulars,  in  their  order."     For  the  order  of 
ings  implies  plurality. 

IMPROPRIETIES  I-  Oil  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  X. 

B  r,  —  OF  AGRKEMENT. 

ect  is  to  be  joined  with  hi*  predicate."—  Kv.  WII.KIXS  :  Lotcth's  Gram.  p.  42. 


[FORMi  LE.—  Not   pr  <  f  the  masculine  gender,  and  docs  not  correctly 

;i  ir,  n'titfT.      But,  according  to  Kule    ! 

•   wliKti  j-  re;  -r.  •.-  nf*.  in  person,  number,  and 
i:i-l  wirli  I'M 


Every  one  must  jml^r-  of  tlu-ir  own  feeling."  —  Hymn's  Letters.     "Everyone  in  the 
>uld  know  their  duty."  —  I!  .duoc  its  possessor  into  'that  way 

which  it  should  ^o.'  "  —  Infmtt  -  i.  p.  T.     "  Do  not  they  say,  every  true  believer 

has  the  Spirit  of  God  in  theni  :  "—JLirday's  Worlu,  iii,  388.     "  There  is  none  in  their  natural 


538  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III, 

UNDER  NOTE  VI.— THE  RELATIVE  THAT. 

(1.)  "  This  is  the  most  useful  art  which  men  possess." — Murray's  Key,  Svo,  p.  275.  "The 
earliest  accounts  which  history  gives  us  concerning  all  nations,  bear  testimony  to  these 
facts."— Blairs  Rhet.  p.  379  ;  Jamieson's,  300.  "Mr.  Addison  was  the  first  who  attempted 
a  regular  inquiry"  [into  the  pleasures  of  taste]. — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  28.  "One  of  the  first 
who  introduced  it  was  Montesquieu." — Hurray's  Gram.  p.  125.  "  Massillon  is  perhaps  the 
most  eloquent  writer  of  sermons  which  modern  times  have  produced."— Blair's  Rhet.  p. 
289.  "  The  greatest  barber  who  ever  lived,  is  our  guiding  star  and  prototype." — Hart's 
Figaro,  No.  6. 

(2.)  "  When  prepositions  are  subjoined  to  nouns,  they  are  generally  the  same  which  are 
subjoined  to  the  verbs,  from  which  the  nouns  are  derived." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  157. 
"  The  same  proportions  which  are  agreeable  in  a  model,  are  not  agreeable  in  a  large  build- 
ing."— Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  343.  "The  same  ornaments,  which  we  admire  in  a  private 
apartment,  are  unseemly  in  a  temple." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  128.  "The  same  whom  John 
Ba\v  also  in  the  sun." — Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  iii,  1.  623. 

(3.)  "  Who  can  ever  be  easy,  who  is  reproached  Avith  his  own  ill  conduct?" — Thomas  a 
Kcmpis,  p.  72.  "  Who  is  she  who  comes  clothed  in  a  robe  of  green  ? " — List.  p.  143.  "  Who 
who  has  either  sense  or  civility,  does  not  perceive  the  vileness  of  profanity  r" 

(4.)  "The  second  person  denotes  the  person  or  thing  which  is  spoken  to." — Compendium 
in  Kirkham's  Gram.  "The  third  person  denotes  the  person  or  thing  which  is  spoken  of." 
— Ibid.  "A  passive  verb  denotes  action  received  or  endured  by  the  person  or  thing  which 
is  its  nominative." — Ibid,  and  Gram.  p.  157.  "The  princes  and  states  who  had  neglected 
or  favoured  the  growth  of  this  power." — Bolingbroke,  on  History,  p.  222.  "  The  nominative 
expresses  the  name  of  the  person  or  thing  which  acts,  or  which  is  the  subject  of  discourse." 
— Hiley's  Gram.  p.  19. 

(5.)  "Authors  who  deal  in  long  sentences,  are^cry  apt  to  be  faulty." — Blair's  Rhet.  p. 
108,  "  Writers  who  deal  in  long  sentences,  are  very  apt  to  be  faulty." — Murray's  Gram.  p. 
313.  "  The  neuter  gender  denotes  objects  which  are  neither  male  nor  female." — Merchant's 
Gram.  p.  25.  "The  neuter  gender  denotes  things  which  have  no  sex." — Kirkham's  Com- 
pendium. "  Nouns  which  denote  objects  neither  male  nor  female,  are  of  the  neuter  gender." 
—  Wells'*  Gram.  1st  Ed.  p.  49.  "Objects  and  ideas  which  have  been  long  familiiir,  make 
too  faint  an  impression  to  give  an  agreeable  exercise  to  our  faculties." — Blair  s  Rhct.  p.  50. 
*'  Cases  which  custom  has  left  dubious,  are  certainly  within  the  grammarian's  province." — 
Murray's  Gram.  p.  164.  "  Substantives  which  end  in  ery,  signify  action  or  habit." — Ib.  p. 
132.  "After  all  which  can  be  done  to  render  the  definitions  and  rules  of  grammar  accu.- 
rate,"  £c. — Ib.  p.  36.  "Possibly,  all  which  I  have  said,  is  known  and  taught." — A.  11. 
Johnson  s  Plan  of  a  Diet.  p.  15. 

(6.)  "  It  is  a  strong  and  manly  style  which  should  chiefly  be  studied." — Blair's  Rhet.  ]). 
261.  "  It  is  this  which  chiefly  makes  a  division  appear  neat  and  elegant." — Ib.  p.  313.  "  I 
hope  it  is  not  I  with  whom  he  is  displeased." — Murray's  Key,  li.  17.  "When  it  is  this 
alone  which  renders  the  sentence  obscure." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  242.  "This  sort  of  full 
and  ample  assertion,  « it  is  this  which,'  is  fit  to  be  used  when  a  proposition  of  importance  is 
laid  down." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  197.  "  She  is  the  person  whom  I  understood  it  to  have  been." 
See  Murray's  Gram.  p.  181.  "Was  it  thou,  or  the  wind,  who  shut  the  door?" — lust.  p. 
143.  "  It  was  not  I  who  shut  it."— Ib. 

(7.)  "  He  is  not  the  person  who  it  seemed  he  was." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  181 ;  Inyersoll's, 
147.  "He  is  really  the  person  who  he  appeared  to  be." — Same.  "She  is  not  now  the 
woman  whom  they  represented  her  to  have  been." — Same.  "An  only  child,  is  one  who  has 
neither  brother  nor  sister;  a  child  alone,  is  one  who  is  left  by  itself." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  93 ; 
Jamieson's,  71;  Murray's  Gram.  303. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII. — RELATIVE  CLAUSES  CONNECTED. 

(1.)  "A  Substantive,  or  Noun,  is  the  name  of  a  thing  ;  of  whatever  we  conceive  in  any 
way  to  subsist,  or  of  which  we  have  any  notion." — Loicth's  Gram.  p.  14.  (2.)  "A  Substan- 
tive or  noun  is  the  name  of  any  thing  that  exists,  or  of  which  we  have  any  notion." — 
L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  27  ;  Alyer's,  15  ;  Bacon's,  9  ;  E.  Devis's,  8  ;  A.  Flint's,  10  ;  Folker'st 
5;  Hamlins,  9;  Inyersoll's,  14;  Merchant's,  25;  Pond's,  15;  S.  Putnam's,  10;  Rand's,  9; 
Russell  s,  9;  T.  Smith's,  12;  and  others.  (3.)  "A  substantive  or  noun  is  the  name  of  any 
person,  place,  or  thing  that  exists,  or  of  which  we  can  have  an  idea." — Frost's  El.  of  E. 
Gram.  p.  6.  (4.)  "A  noun  is  the  name  of  anything  that  exists,  or  of  which  we  form  an 
idea." — Hallock's  Gram.  p.  37.  (5.)  "A  Noun  'is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  object,  or 
thing,  that  exists,  or  which  we  may  conceive  to  exist." — D.  C,  Allen's  Grammatic  Guide,  p. 
19.  (6.)  "  The  name  of  every  thing  that  exists,  or  of  which  we  can  form  any  notion,  is  a 
noun." — Fisk's  Murray's  Gram.  p.  56.  (7.)  "An  allegory  is  the  representation  of  some  one 
thing  by  an  other  that  resembles  it,  and  which  is  made  to  stand  for  it." — Murray's  Gram. 
p.  341.  (8.)  "Had  he  exhibited  such  sentences  as  contained  ideas  inapplicable  to  young 
minds,  or  which  were  of  a  trivial  or  injurious  nature." — Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  v.  (9.) 
"  Man  would  have  others  obey  him,  even  his  own  kind ;  but  he  will  not  obey  God,  that  is 


CBAP.  Y.]  SYNTAX.  -  RULE  X.  -  PRONOUNS.  -  ERRORS.  539 

so  much  above  him,  and  who  made  him."—  Penn's  Maxim*.  (10.)  "  But  what  we  may  con- 
sider here,  and  which  tew  Persons  have  taken  Notice  of,  is,"  &e.  —  Brf  if  /Aland's  Gram.  p. 
117.  (11.)  "The  Compiler  has  not  inserted  such  verbs  as  are  irregular  only  in  familiar 
writing  or  disco'irse,  and  which  are  improperly  terminated  by  t,  instead  of  cd."  —  Murray's 
drum.  p.  107;  /Y,.y.v,  81  ;  Hart's,  68  ;  lugcrsoll's,  104  ;  Merchant'  tt  63.  (12.)  "  The  remain- 
ins:  parts  of  si!(  o'-h,  which  art-  called  the  indeclinable  parts,  or  that  admit  of  no  variations, 
will  not  detain  us  long."  —  Blair  a  l\ltct.  p.  81. 

\"III.—  THE  RELATIVE  AND  PIIEPOSITIOX. 

"  In  the  temper  of  mind  he  was  then."  —  Add/  No.  54.      "  To  bring  them  into 

the  condition  I  am  at  present."  —  >>'•>/.  No.  .520.  "In  the  posture  I  lay."  —  Swift's  Gulliver. 
•'In  the  sense  it  is  sometimes  taken."  —  Barclay's  Works,  i,  ~)27.  "Tools  and  utensils  are 
said  to  be  /•/////,  when  they  serve  for  the  uses  they  were  made."  —  ('olli'-r's  Axfnniints,  p.  99. 
"If,  in  the  extreme  danger  I  now  am,  I  do  not  imitate  the  behaviour  of  those,"  &c.  —  Gold- 

.  i,  I1).'!.  "  News  was  brought,  that  Darius  was  but  twenty  miles  from  the 
place  they  then  were."  —  Ib.  ii,  113.  "Alexander,  upon  hearing  this  news,  continued  four 
days  in  the  |>l;i«-e  he  then  was."  —  Ih.  ii,  113.  "To  read,  in  the  best  manner  it  is  now 
taught."  —  /'  '.  p.  '-'in.  "  It  may  be  expedient  to  give  a  few  directions  as  to 

the  manner  it  should  he  studied."  —  Ualloek's  Gram.  p.  9.  "Participles  are  words  derived 
from  verbs,  and  convey  an  idea  of  the  acting  of  an  agent,  or  the  suffering  of  an  objedt,  with, 
the  time  it  •.  .U^/r-/y'.v  Gi-am.  p.  50. 

"  Had  I  but  serv'd  my  God  with  half  the  zeal 
rv'd  my  king,  he  would  not  in  mine  age 

Have  left  me  naked  to  mine  enemies."  —  Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  173. 


NOTE  IX.  —  ADVKUHS  FOU  KKLATIVI:<. 

"In  compositions  where  pronunciation  has  no  place."  —  Blair's  lihet.  p.  101.  "They 
framed  a  protestation,"  where  they  repeated  their  claims."  —  Humes  Hint.  "  Which  have 
reference  to  Substances,  where  Sex  never  had  existence."  —  Harris's  Hermes,  p.  43.  "  Which 
denotr  ere  .sex  never  had  existence."  —  Murray's  Gram.  p.  38;  Fisk's,  57. 

"There  is  n>  rule  given  how  truth  may  be  found  out."  —  Walker's  Particles,  p.  160.      "The 
nature  of  t';  whence  they  are  taken."  —  Blair's  llhet.  p.  105.      "That  darkness  of 

character,  where  we  can  see  no  heirt."  —  M  >/,  8vo,  p.  230.      "The  states  -where 

they  negotiated."  —  Formcy's  Belles-  Lettres,  p.  159.     "Till  the  motives  whence  men  act  be 
known."  —  B  .  n.  '2'\'2.     •'  lie  assigns  the  principles  whence  their  power 

;i  >w>;."  —  B'a/r'fi  li/i.'t.  p.  19.  "  But  I  went  on,  and  so  finished  this  History  in 
that  form  as  it  now  appears."  —  Seicel's  Preface,  p.  v.  "15y  prepositions  \ve  express  the 
cause  why,  the  instrument  by  which,  wherewith,  or  the  manner  how  a  thing  is  done."  — 
Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  l_)v<  ;  .J>lm  Hum's,  1'Jl.  "They  are  not  such  in  the  language 
whence  tii"V  are  derived."  —  Tmni's  Analysis,  p.  13.  "  I  find  it  very  hard  to  persuade  sev- 
eral, that  their  passions  arc  a'l'cctcd  by  words  from  whence  they  have  no  ideas."  —  Burke, 
•'  The  known  end,  then,  why  we  are  placed  in  a  state  of  so  nmch  af- 

fliction, ha/:ird,and  difficulty,  i>  our  improvement  in  virtue  and  piety."  —  Butler  s  Anal.  p.  109. 
"  Vet  such  h:  -recks  unborn  shall  tell, 

And  curse  the  battle  where  their  fathers  fell."  —  Pope,  II.  B.  x,  1.  61. 


NI.TI:   X.  —  Itr.iTAT  THK  N< 

"  Youth  may  be  thoughtful,  but  it  is  not  very  common."  —  Webster's  El.  Spell  ing  -Book,  p. 
85.     "A  proper  n  .  :t  given  to  .mo  person  or  thing."—  Unrllett's  School  Manual,  ii,  27. 

*'A  common  name  is  that  given  to  many  things  of  the  same  sort."  —  Ibid.  "This  rule  is 
often  \  <me  instances  of  which  arc  annexed."  —  Murray's  Gram.  p.  149;  Inr/crsolTs, 

237.     "This  is  altogether  can-less  writing.     It  renders  style  often  obscure,  always  embar- 

/,'/,./.  p.  106.     "Every  inversion  which  is  not  governed  by 

tliis  rule,  will  be  disn-lished  by  every  one  of  taste."  —  7wwv,  /•;/.  of  ('n't.  ii,  62.  "A  proper 
diphth  >n'_r  is  that  in  which  both  the  vowels  are  sounded."  —  Murray's  Gram.  p.  9;  Aider's, 
11  ;  /•  "An  improper  Diphthong  is  one  in 

which  only  one  of  the  two  You  tded."  —  !.•  nine's  Gram.  p.  5.      "Abraham,  Isaac, 

Jacob,  and  his  descendant's  arc  called  Hebrew-;."  —  HVW.v  l)i<-t.     "Every  word  in  our  lan- 
than   one  syllable,  has  one   of  them   distinguished  from  the  rest  in  this 
manner."  —  Murray's  Grant.  "Two  consonants  proper  to  begin  a  word  must  not  be 

separated  ;  as,  i'a-ble,  sti-t!c.  lint  when  they  come  between  two  vowels,  and  are  such  as 
cannot  begin  a  word,  they  must  be  divided;  as,  ut-most,  nn-der."  —  Ih.  p.  21-'.  "Shall  the 
intellect  a1  ,'v,  when  we  allow  them  to  the  grossest  energies 

ol'  appetite  .md  Benaer"  —  Hiwnw'i  //  n.  I'S").     "No  man  hath  a 

propensity  to  vice  as  such  :  on  the  contrary,  a  wicked  deed  di-^usts  him,  and  makes  him 
abhor  the  author."-  ,  •»/  '  Crit.  i,  66.  "The  same  tnat  bclom 


long  to  nouns,  belong 
"What  is  Language? 
communicating  thoughts  from  one  to  another. 


•1  so  to  pronoun*." — Greenleaf*  Gram.  p.  8.      "What  is  Language?      It  is  the  means  of 

:"—().  B.  Prim's  Gram.  p.  15.    "A  simple  word 


540  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART    III. 

is  that  which,  is  not  made  up  of  more  than  one." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  4  ;  Gould's,  p.  4.  "A 
compound  \vord  is  that  which  is  made  up  of  two  or  more  words." — Ib.  "  When  a  conjunc- 
tion is  to  be  supplied,  it  is  called  Asyndeton." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  235. 

UNDER  NOTE  XI. — PLACE  OP  THE  RELATIVE. 

"  It  gives  a  meaning  to  words,  which  they  would  not  have." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  244. 
"  There  are  many  words,  in  the  English  language,  that  are  sometimes  used  as  adjectives, 
and  sometimes  as  adverbs." — Ib.  p.  114.  "  Which  do  not  more  effectually  show  the  varied 
intentions  of  the  mind,  than  the  auxiliaries  do  which  are  used  to  form  the  potential 
mood." — Ib.  p.  67.  "  These  accents  make  different  impressions  on  the  mind,  which  will  be 
the  subject  of  a  following  speculation." — Kames,  EL  of  Crit.  ii,  108.  "And  others  very 
much  differed  from  the  writer's  words,  to  whom  they  were  ascribed." — Pref.  to  Lily's  Gram. 
p.  xii.  "  Where  there  is  nothing  in  the  sense  which  requires  the  last  sound  to  be  elevated, 
an  easy  fall  will  be  proper." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  250;  Bullions 's  E.  Gram.  167.  "There 
is  an  ellipsis  of  the  verb  in  the  last  clause,  which,  when  you  supply,  you  find  it  necessary  to 
use  tho  adverb  not." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  176  ;  Murray's  Gram.  368.  "  Study  is  singular 
number,  because  its  nominative  I  is,  with  which  it  agrees." — Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  22. 
"John  is  the  person,  or,  thou  art  who  is  in  error." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  136.  "  For  he  hath 
made  him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin." — 2  Cor.  v,  21. 

"  Take  that  of  me,  my  friend,  who  have  the  power 
To  seal  the  accuser's  lips." — Beauties  of  Shakspeare,  p.  268. 

UNDER  NOTE  XII.— WHAT  FOR  THAT. 

"I  had  no  idea  but  what  the  story  was  true." — Brown's  lust.  p.  144.  "The  post-boy  is 
not  so  weary  but  what  he  can  whistle." — Ib.  "  He  had  no  intimation  but  what  the  men 
were  honest." — Ib.  "  Neither  Lady  Haversham  nor  Miss  Mildmay  will  ever  believe,  but 
what  I  have  been  entirely  to  blame."  See  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  93.  "I  am  not  satisfied, 
but  what  the  integrity  of  our  friends  is  more  essential  to  our  welfare  than  their  knowledge 
of  the  world." — Ibid.  "There  is,  indeed,  nothing  in  poetry,  so  entertaining  or  descriptive, 
but  what  a  didactic  writer  of  genius  may  be  allowed  to  introduce  in  some  part  of  his 
work." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  401.  "Brasidas,  being  bit  by  a  mouse  he  had  catched,  let  it  slip 
out  of  his  fingers  :  'No  creature,  (says  he,)  is  so  contemptible  but  what  may  provide  for  its 
own.  safety,  if  it  have  courage.'  " — PLUTARCH  :  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  81. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIII. — ADJECTIVES  FOR  ANTECEDENTS. 

"In  narration,  Homer  is,  at  all  times,  remarkably  concise,  which  renders  him  lively  and 
agreeable." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  435.  "It  is  usual  to  talk  of  a  nervous,  a  feeble,  or  a  spirited 
style ;  which  are  plainly  the  characters  of  a  writer's  manner  of  thinking." — Ib.  p.  92.  "  It 
is  too  violent  an  alteration,  if  any  alteration  were  necessary,  which  none  is." — Knight,  on 
the  Greek  Alphabet,  p.  134.  "Some  men  are  too  ignorant  to  be  humble,  without  which, 
there  can  be  no  docility." — Berkley's  Alciphron,  p.  385.  "Judas  declared  him  innocent; 
which  he  could  not  be,  had  he  in  any  respect  deceived  the  disciples." — Portens.  "They 
supposed  him  to  be  innocent,  which  he  certainly  was  not." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  f>0 ; 
Emmons's,  25.  "They  accounted  him  honest,  which  he  certainly  was  not." — Felch's  Com])- 
Gram.  p.  89.  "Be  accurate  in  all  you  say  or  do ;  for  it  is  important  in  all  the  concerns  of 
life."— Brown's  Inst.  p.  145.  "  Every  law  supposes  the  transgressor  to  be  wicked  ;  which 
indeed  he  is,  if  the  law  is  just." — Ib.  "  To  be  pure  in  heart,  pious,  and  benevolent,  which 
all  may  be,  constitutes  human  happiness." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  232.  "  To  be  dexterous  in 
danger,  is  a  virtue ;  but  to  court  danger  to  show  it,  is  weakness." — Penn's  Maxims. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIV. — SENTENCES  FOR  ANTECEDENTS. 

"  This  seems  not  so  allowable  in  prose ;  which  the  following  erroneous  examples  will 
demonstrate." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  175.  "The  accent  is  laid  upon  the  last  syllable  of  a 
word  ;  which  is  favourable  to  the  melody." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  86.  "  Every  line  consists 
of  ten  syllables5,  five  short  and  five  long ;  from  which  there  are  but  two  exceptions,  both  of 
them  rare." — Ib.  ii,  89.  "The  soldiers  refused  obedience,  which  has  been  explained."- 
Nixon's  Parser,  p.  128.  "Caesar  overcame  Pompey,  which  was  lamented." — Ib.  "The 
crowd  hailed  William,  which  was  expected." — Ib.  "The  tribunes  resisted  Scipio,  which 
was  anticipated." — Ib.  "  The  censors  reproved  vice,  which  was  admired." — Ib.  "  The  generals 
neglected  discipline,  Avhich  has  been  proved." — Ib.  "There  would  be  two  nominatives  to 
the  verb  was,  which  is  improper." — Adam's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  205  ;  Gould's,  202.  "His  friend 
bore  the  abuse  very  patiently ;  which  served  to  increase  his  rudeness :  it  produced,  at 
length,  contempt  and  insolence." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  50;  Emmons's,  25.  "Almost  all 
compounded  sentences,  are  more  or  less  elliptical ;  some  examples  of  which  may  be  seen 
under  the  different  parts  of  speech." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  217  ;  Guy's,  90  ;  R.  C.  Smith's,  180 ; 
Ingersoll's,  153;  Fisk's,  144;  J.  M.  Putnam's,  137;  Weld's,  190. 

UNDER  NOTE  XV. — REPEAT  THE  PRONOUN. 

"In  things  of  Nature's  workmanship,  whether  we  regard  their  internal  or  external 
structure,  beauty  and  design  are  equally  conspicuous." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  269.  "  It 


CHAP.  V.]  SYNTAX. RULE    XI. PRONOUNS. OBSERVATIONS.  541 

puz/.lcs  the  reader,  by  making  him  doubt  whether  the  word  ought  to  be  taken  in  its  proper 
or  figurative  sense." — //>.  ii,  2'M.  "Neither  my  obligations  to  the  inures,  nor  expectations 
from  them,  are  so  great. " — ('  "The  Fifth  Annual  Keport  of  the  Anti- 

•  ciety  of  Ferrisburgh  and  vicinity." — Liberator,  ix,  (J9.     "Meaning  taste  in  its 
figurative  as  well  as  proper  sense." — .  ,  • ;/'  ('n't.  ii,  SCO.     "Every  measure  in  which 

either  your  personal  or  political  character  is  concerned." — Junius,  Let.  ix.  "A  jealous, 
righteous  U.vl  has  often  punished  such  in  themselves  or  offspring."—'  ;>.  179. 

"•c  their  civil  and  religious  history  are  inseparable." — MUm-m'*  ,//  r-s,  i,  7.  "  K-au  thus 
carelessly  thrc-.v  away  both  his  civil  and  religious  inheritance." — //>.  i,  21.  "This  intelli- 
gence excited  not  only  our  hopes,  but  fears  likewise." — Jfitntnn'*  Grant,  p.  170.  "In  what 
manner  our  defect  of  principle  and  ruling  manners  have  completed  the  ruin  of  the  national 
spirit  of  union." — !>,-  .  "Considering  her  descent,  her  connexion,  and 

present  intercourse." — U  •./.•?,  p.  85.     "Ills  own  and  wife's  wardrobe  arc  packed 

up  in  a  firkin." — I'arh-r  and  /Vr's  drum.  Part  i,  p.  73. 

I'M';:::.  N«rn:  XVI. — CH\N«;I:  TIM:  ANTKCEDENT. 

"The  sound  of  r  and  o  Icng,  in  their  due  degrees,  will  be  preserved,  and  clearly  di^tin- 

guished." — Murrni/'.'i  .p.  21-.     "  If  a;iy  person  should  be  inclined  to  think,"  &c., 

"the  author  takes  the  liberty  to  suggest  to  them,"  ice. — Ib.  Pn'f.  p.  iv.     "And  he  walked 

in  all  the  ways  of  Asa  his  father;  he  turned  not  aside  from  it." — 1  Kit/f/x,  xxii,  43.     "If 

ye  from  your  hearts  forgive  not  every  one  his  brother  their  trespasses." — Matt,  xviii,  35. 

"Nobody  ever  fuvii-d   they  were  slighted  by  him,  or  had  the  courage  to  think  themselves 

his  betters."  —  Co/tiff's  An'  .  s.     "  And  Rebekah  took  goodly  raiment  of  her  eldest 

son  Esau,  which  were  with  her  in  the  house,  and  put  them  upon  Jacob  her  younger  son." — 

ucvii,   l~>.     "Where  all  the  attention  of  man  is  given  to  their  own  indulgence." — 

s  p.  isi.     "The  idea  of  a  father  is  a  notion  superinduced  to  the  substance, 

or  man — let  man  be  what  it  will." — I^ockcs  Essay,  i,  219.     "Leaving  every  one  to  do  as 

they  list." — U  •  .  4GO.      "Each   body  performed  his    part  handsomely." — 

T>.  1-1.     "This  block  of  marble  rests  on  two  layers  of  stone,  bound  together 

with  lead,  which,  however,  has  not  prevented  the  Arabs  from  forcing  out  several  of  them." — 

Parkt ••/ 

•  every  power  a  double  power, 
»ve  their  functions  and  their  offices." — Shakspcare. 

RULE    XL  — PRONOUNS. 

When  the  antecedent  is  a  collective  noun  conveying  the  idea  of  plurality, 
the  Pronoun  must  agree  with  it  in  the  plural  number :  as,  "  The  council 
were  divided  in  their  sentiments." — "  The  Christian  ivorld  are  beginning  to 
awake  out  of  thdr  slumber." — C.  Simeon.     "Whatever  Adam's  posterity 
lost  through  him,  that  and  more  ihnj  gain  in  Christ." — J.  Ph' 
"To  this,  one  pathway  gently-winding  leads, 
Where  inarch  a  train  with  baskets  on  their  heads." — Pope,  II.  B.  xviii,  1.  657. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XL 

Ons.  1. — The  collective  noun,  or  noun  of  multitude,  being  a  name  that  signifies  many,  may  in 
general  be  taken   in  cither  of  two  :  to  the  intention  of  the  user:  that  is,  either 

with  i .  thing,  i  a  which  sense  it  will  accord  with  the  neuter  pronoun 

it  or  ir/nr/,  ,  or  with  reference  to  the  /-  M>  as  to  accord  with  a  plural  pronoun  they, 

•/'/•/»,  or  tr//o,  masculine,  or  fcminino,  as  the  individuals  of  the  assemblage  may  happen  to 
be.  The  noun  itself,  bring  literally  singular  hoth  in  form  and  in  fact,  has  not  unfrequently  some 
article  or  a  .re  it  that  implies  unity  ;  so  that  the  interpretation  of  it  in  a  plural  sense 

by  the  pronoun  or  verb,  was  perhaps  not  improperly  regarded  by  the  old  grammarians  as  an  exam- 
ple of  the  fij  I  reach  e\  ery  individual  of  a  people,  as  they  all  share 
one  common  nature.  287. 

44  Thus  urg'd  the  chief;  <t  uem-rovx  troop  appears, 

Who  spread  f/n'ir  bucklers  and  /•  spears." — Pope,  Hind,  B.  xi,  1.  720. 

'2. — Many  of  our  grammar:  When  a  noun  of  multitude  is  preceded  by  a  defin- 

itive word,  which  clearly  limits  t!  "egate  witli  an  idea  of  unity,  it  requires  a  verb 

and  proiif  ;  with   it  i;,  ." — Murray's  drum.  p.    1-VJ ;  IngcrtoU't, 

Hut  tliis   principle.    I    apprehend,    c;uuiot  Ite    sustained  by  an 

appeal  to   general    u-  re  not  few,  in  which  hoth  these  senses 

•TI)  dearly  indicated  wiw regard  t  .1  keep  a  journal  of  its 

proceedings,  and  from  time  to  ti:.  \.-epting  such  parts  as  may  in  tin  //'judge- 

ment rcqii'  .   \  "InwantAo/  , 

mankind    tr/<o   an-  known  by  the  name  of  women's  men,  or   beaux." — AiMison,   Sjx-rt.   No.  536. 
'  of  men  ir/io  ar  :iough  in  the  world."— Ibid.     41  It  is  vain  for  <  expect 

to  be  free,  unless  thuj  are  tirst  willing  to  be  virtuous." — Wnylmul'.-    i  .  397.     "For 

this  people's  heart  is   waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes  they  have 


542  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

closed." — Matt,  xiii,  15.     "This  enemy  had  now  enlarged  their  confederacy,  and  made  themselves 
more   formidable  than  before." — Life  of  Antoninus,  p.  62. 
"  Thus  from  the  tents  the  fervent  let/ion  swarms, 

So  loud  their  clamour,  and  so  keen  their  arms." — Pope,  Iliad,  B.  xvi,  1.  320. 
OB^.  3. — Most  collective  nouns  of  the  neuter  gender,  may  take  the  regular  plural  form,  and 
be  represented  by  a  pronoun  in  the  third  person,  plural,  neuter  ;  as,  "  The  nations  will  enforce 
their  laws."  This  construction  comes  under  Rule  10th,  as  does  also  the  singular,  "  The  nation 
will  enforce  its  laws;  "  for,  in  either  case,  the  agreement  is  entirely  literal.  Half  of  Murray's 
Rule  4th  is  therefore  needless.  To  Rule  llth  above,  there  are  properly  no  exceptions  ;  because 
the  number  of  the  pronoun  is  itself  the  index  to  the  sense  in  which  the  antecedent  is  therein 
taken.  It  does  not  follow  however,  but  that  there  may  be  violations  of  the  rule,  or  of  the  notes 
under  it,  by  the  adoption  of  one  number  when  the  other  would  be  more  correct,  or  in  better  taste. 
A  collection  of  things  inanimate,  as  a  fleet,  a  heap,  a  row,  a  tier,  a  bundle,  is  seldom,  if  ever,  taken 
distributive!}',  with  a  plural  pronoun.  For  a  further  elucidation  of  the  construction  of  collective 
nouns,  see  Rule  15th,  and  the  observations  under  it. 

NOTES  TO  RULE  XI. 

NOTE.  I. — A  collective  noun  conveying  the  idea  of  unity,  requires  a  pronoun  in  the 
third  person,  singular,  neuter  ;  as,  "When  a  legislative  body  makes  laws,  it  acts  for 
itself  only ',  but  when  it  makes  grants  or  contracts,  it  acts  as  a  party." — Webster's 
Essays,  p.  40.  "A  civilized  people  has  no  right  to  violate  its  solemn  obligations, 
because  the  other  party  is  uncivilized." — Waylund's  Moral  Science,  p.  314. 

NOTE  II. — When  a  collective  noun  is  followed  by  two  or  more  words  which  must 
each  in  some  sense  agree  with  it,  uniformity  of  number  is  commonly  preferable  to 
diversity,  and  especially  to  such  a  mixture  as  puts  the  singular  both  before  and  after 
the  plural ;  as,  "  That  ingenious  nation  who  have  done  so  much  honour  to  modern 
literature,  possesses,  in  an  eminent  degree,  the  talent  of  narration." — Blairs  Rhct. 
p.  364.  Better  :  "  which  has  done" 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XL 
UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — THE  IDEA  OP  PLURALITY. 
"  The  jury  will  be  confined  till  it  agrees  on  a  verdict." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  145. 

[FORMOLK. — Not  proper,  because  the  pronoun  it  is  of  the  singular  number,  and  does  not  correctly  represent  its 
antecedently,  which  is  a  collective  noun  conveying  rather  the  idt-a  of  plurality.  But,  according  to  liule  1  tk, 
"  When  the  antecedent  is  a  collective  noun  conveying  the  idt-a  of  plurality,  the  pronoun  must  agree  with  i;  in 
the  plural  number."  Therefore,  it  should  be  they  ;  thus,  "  The  jury  will  be  confined  till  tkey  agree  oa  a  verdic;."] 

"And  mankind  directed  its  first  cures  towards  the  needful." — Former's  Belles -Lettres, 
p.  114.  "It  is  difficult  to  deceive  a  free  people  respecting  its  true  interest. — Life  of  Chadea 
XII,  p.  67.  "All  the  virtues  of  mankind  are  to  be  counted  upon  a  few  fingers,  but  his  follies 
and  vices  are  innumerable." — Swift.  "  Every  sect  saith,  '  Give  me  liberty  : '  but  give  it  him, 
and  to  his  power,  he  will  not  yield  it  to  any  body  else." — Oliver  Cromwell.  "  Behold,  the 
people  shall  rise  up  as  a  great  lion,  and  lift  up  himself  as  a  young  lion." — Numbers,  xxiii,  24. 
"For  all  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way  upon  the  earth." — Gen.  vi,  12.  "  There  happened  to 
the  army  a  very  strange  accident,  which  put  it  in  great  consternation." — Goldsmith. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — THE  IDEA  OF  UNITY. 

"  The  meeting  went  on  in  their  business  as  a  united  body." — Foster's  Report,  i,  69. 
"  Every  religious  association  has  an  undoubted  right  to  adopt  a  creed  for  themselves." — 
Gould's  Advocate,  iii,  405.  "It  would  therefore  be  extremely  difficult  to  raise  an  insurrec- 
tion in  that  State  against  their  own  government." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  104.  "The  mode 
in  which  a  Lyceum  can  apply  themselves  in  effecting  a  reform  in  common  schools." — New , 
York  Lyceum.  "  Hathva  nation  changed  their  gods,  which  are  yet  no  gods  r " — Jeremiah,  ii, 
11.  "  In  the  holy  scriptures  each  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  is  often  called  by  the  name 
of  the  patriarch,  from  whom  they  descended." — J.  Q.  Adams's  Rhet.  ii,  331. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — UNIFORMITY  OF  NUMBER. 

"A  nation,  by  the  reparation  of  their  own  wrongs,  achieves  a  triumph  more  glorious  than 
any  field  of  blood  can  ever  give." — J.  Q.  Adams.  "  The  English  nation,  from  which  we 
descended,  have  been  gaining  their  liberties  inch  by  inch." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  45.  "  If 
a  Yearly  Meeting  should  undertake  to  alter  its  fundamental  doctrines,  is  there  any  power 
in  the  society  to  prevent  their  doing  so  ?  " — Foster's  Report,  i,  96.  "  There  is  a  generation 
that  curseth  their  father,  and  doth  not  bless  their  mother." — Proverbs,  xxx,  11.  "There 
is  a  generation  that  are  pure  in  their  own  eyes,  and  yet  is  not  washed  from  their  filthinesa 
— Ib.  xxx,  12.  "  He  hath  not  beheld  iniquity  in  Jacob,  neither  hath  he  seen  porverseness 
in  Israel :  the  Lord  his  God  is  with  him,  and  the  shout  of  a  king  is  among  them."—  Numb 


CIIAP.  V.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XII. PRONOUNS. OBSERVATIONS.  543 

xxiii,  '2\.     "  My  people  hath  forgotten  me,  they  have  burnt  incense  to  vanity." — Jar.  xviii, 
••  When  a  quarterly  mccti'i^  hath  come  to  a  judgment  respecting  any  difference,  rela- 
tive to  any  monthly  meeting  belonging  to  them,"  &c. —  Extract*t  p.  I'.'-J ;  -Y.  /'.  />/«•/;>.  p.  118. 
"The  number  of  such  compo-it:  y  clay  i:ici easing,  and  appear  to  be  limited  only 

by  the  pleasure  or  conveuiuncy  of  the  writer." — Jivoth's  lntr;>i!.  to  Diet.  p.  37.  "  The  church 
of  Christ  hath  the  same  power  now  as  ever,  and  are  led  by  the  same  Spirit  into  the  same 
practices." — Barclay's  Mw/.v,  i,  477.  "The  army,  whom  its  chief  had  thus  abandoned, 
pursued  meanwhile  their  miserable  march." — J^ockharCs  Napoleon,  ii,  165. 

RULE  XII.— PRONOUNS. 

When  a  Pronoun  has  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  and,  it  mu.st 
agree  with  them  jointly  in  the  plural,  because  they  are  taken  together  :  as, 
"Mtnoa   and   Thales    sung  to  the  lyre  the  laws  which  they  composed." — 
STRAUO  :  Blair's  lUiet.  p.  379.     "Sanl  and  Jonathan  were  lovely  and  pleas- 
ant in  their  lives,  arid  in  thtdr  death  tln'ij  were  not  divided." — 2  Sam.  i,  23. 
*•  J!h'.«ui?  and  Jihoduis  then  unite  their  rills, 
Caresus  roaring  down  the  stony  hills." — Pope,  11.  B.  xii,  1.  17. 

EXCEPTION-  FIRST. 

"When  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  and  serve  merely  to  describe  one  person  or 
thing,  they  are  either  in  apposition  or  equivalent  to  one  name,  and  do  not  require  a  plural 
pronoun  ;  as,  "This  great  /./n'^/s'tphar  and  I  ontinued  in  public  life  till  his  eighty- 

second  year." — "The  :<",  li'jht,  and  life,  which  en'l'/It'nt<:(h,  also  sanctih'eth,  and 

there  is  not  an  other." — /'  "'   :   '        'xnfit's  and  rhi/etits  confesseth  me  two  years 

older  when  I  writ  it." — (WiYy'.v  Preface.     "  Kemember  these,  O  Jacob  and  Israel!  for  thou 
ant." — Isaiah,  xliv,  '21.     «•  Jn  that  strength  and  cogency  ichich  renders  eloquence 
powerful." — Blair 's  Rhct.  p. 

EXCEPTION*  SECOND. 

When  two  antecedents  connected  by  and  are  emphatically  distinguished,  they  belong  to 
different  propositions,  and,  if  singular,  do  not  require  a  plural  pronoun;  as,  "Thefotffer, 
and  not  the  hakrr,  was  restored  to  his  office." — "  The  yood  man,  and  the  sinner  too,  shall  have 
his  reward." — ft Truth,  and  truth  on/i/,  is  worth  seeking  for  its  own  sake." — "It  is  the  sense 
in  which  the  word  is  ii>ed,  and  not  tin-  I'-tters  of  which  it  is  composed,  that  determines  what  is 
the  part  of  speech  to  which  it  belongs." — Cobbctt's  dram.  U  130. 

EXCEPTION  THIUD. 

When  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  and  are  preceded  by  the  adjective  each, 
r  ,i»,  they  arc  taken  separately,  and  do  not  require  a  plural  pronoun  ;  as  "Every  plant 
£ind  erery  tree  produces  others  after  its  own  kind." — "  It  is  the  cause  of  every  reproach  and 
o'isirc.'i.'i  which //./ >  \  «ur  government."— Juuius,  Let.  xxxv.     But  if  the  latter  be  a 

collective  noun,  the  pronoun  may  be  plural ;  as,  "Each  minister  and  each  church  act  accord- 
ing to  thi-ir  own  imp:  -Dr.  M'Curtce. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XII. 

Ons.  1.  —  "\Vlicn  the  antecedents  arc  of  different  persons,  the  first  person  is  preferred  to  the  sec- 
mi    the   second    to    the    third;  as.  ././///»,  and   t/iou,  and  /,  arc  attached  to  nnr  country." — 
••'.v\  t/i'iti  are  attached  :  :itry."— "  The  Lord  open  some  light,  and  show  botn  you 

ETK!  me  our  inheritance  !  " — /?'.•/<  /-.  "  Thou  and  thy  sons  with  thee  shall  bear  the  iniquity  of  your 
priesth'  •  —  \unthrrs,  xviii,  1. 

"  For  all  are  friends  in  heaven  ;  all  faithful  friends; 
And  many  friendships  in  t  lime 

Bf>mm.  ar<  i  L  growing  still : 

>»//!<•." — Polloh,  C.  of  T.,  B.  v,  1.  33-5. 

Ons.  2. — The  (j<mdcr  of  pi  -pt   in  the  third  ;ul,ir,  is  distinguished  only 

i  antecedents.     In  rxpit^sin-;  tint  of  a  pronoun  which   Iwis   antecedents  of  different  gen- 
ders, the  masculine  should  i  nine,  and  the  feminine  to  the  neuter.     The 

:. -i^lish  should  remembei,  th  it  this  is  a  principle  of  General  Grammar. 
'].  —  \\"li'-n   tw  >  words  are  tak«  i]  .  !,cy  ought  not  to  he  v.niterl  in 

In  the  following  example,  therefore,  (/inn  should  he  it  :  "  The 

first  has  a  leuis,  and  the  other  an  asper  over  them."— 1'>  inter's  Grain.  \>.  2lG.  Better  thus  :  "  The 
first  has  a  ',  nnd  the  other,  an  asper." 

that  stand  as  nominatives  or   nnteecdents,    are  sometimes  taken   conjointly 
'here  is  no  conjunction  expr  ••Thohist"  ; tor,  the  philosopher,  address 

\r  direct  aim  H,  to  inform,  to  persuade,  to  instruct." 

The  copulative  tin,/  may  here  be  said  to  lie  understood,  because  the  verb 

pronouns  are  plural;  but  it  seems  b<  tl  either  to  introduce  the  connective 

r  to  take  the  nouns  disjunctively:  as,  "Tln-v  ha\e  all  the   copiousness,  the  fervour,  the 

indicating  method,  that  is  allo\yable  and  graceful  in  an  orator;  perhaps  too  much  of  it  for  a 


544  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

writer." — Blair's  Rhct.   p.  343.     To  this,  however,  there  may  be  exceptions, — cases  in  which 
the  plural  form  is  to  be  preferred, — especially  in  poetry  ;   as, 

"  Faith,  justice,  heaven  itself,  now  quit  £/teiYhold, 

When  to  filse  fame  tbe  captive  heart  is  sold." — Brown,  on  Satire. 

OBS.  5. — When  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  and  are  nominally  alike,  one  or  more  of 
them  may  be  understood;  and,  in  such  a  case,  the  pronoun  must  still  be  plural,  as  agreeing  with 
all  the  nouns,  whether  expressed  or  implied:  as,  "  But  intellectual  and  moral  culture  ought  to 
go  hand  in  hand  ;  they  will  greatly  help  each  other." — Dr.  Weeks.  Here  they  stands  for  intellec- 
tual culture  and.  moral  culture.  The  following  example  is  incorrect:  "The  Commanding  and 
Unlimited  mode,  may  be  used  in  an  absolute  sense,  or  without  a  name  or  substitute  on  which 
it  can  depend." — O.  B.  Pierce's  Gram.  p.  80.  Change  it  to  they,  or  and  to  or.  See  Note  6th  to 
Rule  16th. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XII. 
PRONOUNS  WITH  ANTECEDENTS  CONNECTED  BY  AND. 

"Discontent  and  sorrow  manifested  itself  in  his  countenance." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  146. 

[FORMULK. — Not  proper,  because  the  pronoun  itself  is  of  the  singular  number,  and  does  not  correctly  represent 
its  two  antecedents  discontent  and  sorrow,  which  are  connected  by  ar?r/.  aud  taken  conjointly.  But,  according 
to  Rule  12th,  "  When  a  pronoun  has  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  a«<7?  it,  must  agree  with  them  jointly 
in  the  plural,  because  they  are  taken  together."  Therefore,  itself  should  be  themselves;  thus,  "  Discontent  and 
sorrow  manifested  themselves  in  his  countenance."] 

"  Both,  conversation  and  public  speaking  became  more  simple  and  plain,  such,  as  we  now 
find  it." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  59.  "  Idleness  and  ignorance,  it' it  be  suffered  to  proceed,  &c." — 
JOHNSON  :  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  186.  "Avoid  questions  and  strife ;  it  shows  a  busy  and  con- 
tentious disposition." — Wm.  Pcnn.  "  To  receive  the  gifts  and  benefits  of  God  with  thanks- 
giving, and  witness  it  blessed  and  sanctified  to  us  by  the  word  and  prayer,  is  owned  by  us." 
— Barclay's  Works,  i,  213.  "Both  minister  and  magistrate  arc  compelled  to  chose  between 
his  duty  and  his  reputation." — Junius,  p.  9.  "All  the  sincerity,  truth,  and  faithfulness,  or 
disposition  of  heart  or  conscience  to  approve  it,  found  among  rational  creatures,  necessarily 
originate  from  God." — Browns  Divinity,  p.  12.  "  Your  levity  and  heedlessness,  if  it  con- 
tinue, will  prevent  all  substantial  improvement." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  147.  "Poverty  and 
obscurity  will  oppress  him  only  who  esteems  it  oppressive." — Ib.  "  Good  sense  and  refined 
policy  are  obvious  to  few,  because  it  cannot  be  discovered  but  by  a  train  of  reflection."—  Ib. 
"Avoid  haughtiness  of  behaviour,  and  affectation  of  manners :  it  implies  a  want  of  solid  mer  :.t." 
— Ib.  "If  love  and  unity  continue,  it  will  make  you  partakers  of  one  an  other's  joy.'—  Ib. 
"  Suifer  not  jealousy  and  distrust  to  enter  ;  it  will  destroy,  like  a  canker,  every  gerrr  of 
friendship." — Ib.  "  Hatred  and  animosity  are  inconsistent  with  Christian  charity  :  guard, 
therefore,  against  the  slightest  indulgence  of  it." — Ib.  "  Every  man  is  entitled  to  liberty  of 
conscience,  and  freedom  of  opinion,  if  he  does  not  pervert  it  to  the  injury  of  others." — Ib. 
"  With  the  azure  and  vermilion 
Which  is  mix'd  for  my  pavilion." — Byron's  Manfred,  p.  9. 

RULE  XIII.  —  PRONOUNS. 

When  a  Pronoun  has  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  or  or  nor,  it 
must  agree  with  them  singly,  and  not  as  if  taken  together  :  as,  "James 
or  John  will  favour  us  with  his  company." — "  Neither  wealth  nor  honour 
can  secure  the  happiness  of  its  votaries." 

"  What  virtue  or  what  mental  grace, 
But  men  unqualified  and  hase 

Will  boast  it  their  possession  ?  " — Cowper^  on  Friendship. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XIII. 

OBS.  1. — "When  two  or  more  singular  antecedents  are  connected  by  or  or  nor,  the  pronoun  which 
represents  them,  ought  in  general  to  be  singular,  because   or  and  nor  are  disjunctives  ;  and,  to 
form  a  complete  concord,  the  nouns  ought  also  to  be  of  the  same  person  and  gender,  that  the  pro- 
noun may  agree  in  all  respects  with  each  of  them.     But  when  plural  nouns  are  connected  in  this 
manner,  the  pronoun  will  of  course  be  plural,  though  it  still  agrees  with  the  antecedents  singly  ; 
as,  "  Neither  riches  nor  honours  ever  satisfy  their  pursuers."     Sometimes,  when  different  numbers 
•occur  together,  we  find  the  plural  noun  put  last,  and  the  pronoun  made  plural  after  both,  espe- 
cially if  this  noun  is  a  mere  substitute  for  the  other ;  as, 
"  What's  justice  to  a  man,  or  laics, 
That  never  comes  within  their  claws  ?  " — Iludibras. 

OBS.  2. — "When  antecedents  of  different  persons,  numbers,  or  genders,  are  connected  by  or 
or  nor,  they  cannot  very  properly  be  represented  by  any  pronoun  that  is  not  applicable  to  each  of 
them.  The  following  sentences  are  therefore  inaccurate ;  or  at  least  they  contradict  the  teach- 


CI1AP.    V.]  SYNTAX. — RULE  XIII. PRONOUNS. ERRORS.  545 

ings  of  their  own  authors:  "  Either  thou  or  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  in  our  judgment  on  this  sub- 
ject."— Murray's  Key,  p.  181.  "  Your  character,  which  /,  or  any  other  writer,  may  now  value  our- 
selves by  (upon)  drawing." — SWIFT:  Lowth's  Gram.  p.  96.  "  Either  you  or  I  will  be  in  our  place 
in  due  time." — Cooper's  Grant,  p.  127.  .But  different  pronouns  may  be  so  connected  as  to  refer  to 
such  antecedents  taken  separately;  as,  "  By  requiring  greater  labour  from  such  slave  or  slaves, 
than  he  or  site  or  they  arc  able  to  perform." — Prince's  Diyest.  Or,  if  the  gender  only  be  different, 
the  masculiue  may  involve  the  feminine  by  implication  ;  as,  "  If  a  man  smite  the  eye  of  his  ser- 
vant, or  the  eye  of  his  maid,  that  it  perish,  he  shall  let  him  go  free  for  At*  eye's  sake." — Exodus, 
.  2'.}. 

Ons.  3. — It  is  however  very  common  to  resort  to  the  plural  number  in  such  instances  as  the  fore- 
going, because  our  plural  pronouns  are  alike  in  all  the  genders;  as,  "  When  either  man  or  wo/nan 
.shall  separate  tho/ixc/rcs  to  vow  a  vow  of  a  Nazarite." — Numbers,  vi,  2.  "Then  shall  thou  bring 
forth  thn:  /minor  that  irornanunto  thy  gates,  and  shall  stone  themvfith  stones,  till  they  die." — Dcut, 
xvii,  •").  "Nut  on  outward  charms  cuuld  he  or  she  build  their  pretensions  to  please." — Opie,  on 
Lying,  p.  148.  "  Complimenting  either  mnn  or  iro/n/in  on  ii^reeable  qualities  which  they  do  not 
possess,  in  hopes  of  imposing  on  their  credulity." — Jb.  p.  108.  "Avidieit,  or  his  wife,  (no  matter 
which,)  sell  their  presented  partridges  and  fruits." — Pope,  Sat.  ii,  1.  50.  "  Beginning  with  Latin 
or  Greek  hexameter,  which  are  the  same." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  79. 
"  Did  ever  Proteus,  Merlin,  any  *•///•/< , 

Transform  themselves  so  strangely  as  the  rich  ? " — Pope,  Ep.  i,  1.  152. 

OBS.  4.— From  the  observations  and  examples  above,  it  may  be  perceived,  that  whenever  there 
is  a  difference  of  person,  number,  or  gender,  in  antecedents  connected  disjunctively,  there  is  an 
inherent  difficulty  respecting  the  form  of  the  pronoun  personal.  The  best  mode  of  meeting  this 
inconvenience,  or  of  avoiding  it  by  a  change  of  the  phraseology,  may  be  different  on  differ- 
ent occasions.  The  disjunctive  connexion  of  explicit  pronouns  is  the  most  correct,  but  it  savours 
too  much  of  legal  precision  and  wordiness  to  be  always  eligible.  Commonly  an  ingenious  mind 
may  invent  some  better  expression,  and  yet  avoid  any  syntactical  anomaly.  In  Latin,  when  nouns 
are  connected  by  the  conjunctions  which  correspond  to  or  or  nor,  the  pronoun  or  verb  is  so  often 
made  plural,  that  no  such  principle  as  that  of  the  foregoing  Rule,  or  of  Rule  17th,  is  taught  by  the 
common  grammars  of  that  language.  How  such  usage  can  be  logically  right  however,  it  is  difficult 
to  imagine.  Lowth,  Murray,  Webster,  and  most  other  English  grammarians,  teach,  that,  "  The 
conjunction  disjunctive  has  an  effect  conlrary  to  that  of  the  copulative  ;  and,  as  the  verb,  noun, 
or  pronoun,  is  referred  to  the  preceding  terms  taken  separately,  it  must  be  in  the  singular  num- 
ber."— Lowth' s  Gram.  p.  7-"s  L.  Murray's,  151;  ChurchiIVs,  142  ;  W.  Allen's,  133  ;  Lennie's,'S3  ;  and 
many  others.  If  there  is  any  allowable  exception  to  this  principle,  it  is  for  the  adoption  of  the 
plural  when  the  concord  cannot  be  made  by  any  one  pronoun  singular  ;  as,  "  If  I  value  my  friend's 
tcife  or  son  upon  account  of  their  connexion  with  him." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  73.  "  Do  not 
drink  wine  nor  strong  drink,  thou  nor  thy  sons  with  thee,  when  ye  go  into  the  tabernacle  of  the  con- 
gregation."— Lev  it.  x,  8.  These  examples,  though  they  do  not  accord  with  the  preceding  rule,  seem 
not  to  be  susceptible  of  any  change  for  the  better.  There  are  also  some  other  modes  of  expression, 
in  which  nouns  that  are  connected  disjunctively,  may  afterwards  be  represented  together ;  as, 
<J  Foppery  is  a  sort  of  folly  much  more  contagious  THAN  pedantry ;  but  as  they  result  alike  from 
affectation,  they  deserve  alike  to  be  proscribed." — Campbell's  Wiet.  p.  217. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XIII. 
PRONOUNS  WITH  ANTECEDENTS  CONNECTED  BY  OR  OR  NOR, 

"  Neither  prelate  nor  priest  can  give  their  flocks  any  decisive  evidence  that  you  are  law- 
ful pastors." — Dr.  Br<> 

[FoRMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  pronoun  their  is  of  the  plural  number,  and  does  not  correctly  represent  its 
two  antecedents  prelate  and  prie<t,  which  are  connected  by  nor,  and  taken  disjunctively.  But,  according  to  Rule 
13th,  "  \Vh«n  a  pronoun  has  two  or  more  ante<  •  <  r<-il  1>\  or  or  nor,  it  must  agree  with  them  singly,  and 

not  as  if  taken  together."      Therefore,  their  should  be  his  ;  thus,*"  Neither  prelate  nor  priest  can  give  Aw  flocks 
any  decisive  evidence  that  you  are  lawful  pastors  "J 

"And  is  there  a  heart  of  parent  or  of  child,  that  docs  not  beat  and  burn  within  them  ? " — 
s  p.  3t>7.     "  This  is  just   as  if  an  eye  or  a  foot  should  demand  a  salary 
for  their  service  to  the  body." — Colliet's  Antoninus,    p.    178.     "If  thy  hand  or  thy  foot 
offend  thce,  rut  thorn  off,  and  cast  them  from  thee." — Matt,    xviii,   8.     "'  The  same  might 
a-;  well  be  said  of  Virgil,    or   any   great  author,  whose    general  character  will   infallibly 
many    casual    additions    to    their    reputation." — Jape's    Pref*  to    Homer.       "  Either 
James  or  John,  one  of  them,  will  come." — Smith'*   \>'ir    Gram,  p.'  37.     "Even   a   rugged 
rock   or   barren    heath,  though  in    thi-m-  ^rceable,    contribute   by   contrast   to 

the  beauty  of  the  whole."  — A  i,  is.',.     -'That   neither  Count  Hechteren 

nor  Monsieur  Mesnager  had  behaved  themselves  right  in  this  affair." — Sped.  No.  481. 
"  If  an  Aristotle,  a  Pythagoras,  or  a  Galileo,  suffer  for  their  opinions,  they  are  'martyrs.' " 
— Gospel  its  oirn  Witness,  p,  80.  "  If  an  ox  gore  a  man  or  a  woman,  that  they  die  ; 
then  the  ox  shall  be  surely  stoned." — 1-lrodu*,  x\i,  -JS.  "  She  was  calling  out  to  one  or  an 
other,  at  every  step,  that  a  Hahit  was  ensnaring  them." — DR.  JOHNSON  :  Murray's  Sequel,  181. 
"  Here  is  a  Task  put  upon  Children,  th;it  neither  this  Author,  nor  any  other  h;i\ 
undergone  rhomx-lve-*." — .Jnhii^  .  ''Hence,  if  an  adjective  or 

iple  be  subjoined  to  the  verb,   when  of  the  singular  number,  they  will   agree  both 

35 


544:  TIIE    GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

writer." — Blair's  Rhct.   p.  343.     To  this,  however,  there  may  be  exceptions, — cases  in  which 
the  plural  form  is  to  be  preferred, — especially  in  poetry  ;   as, 

"  Faith,  justice,  heaven  itself,  now  quit  theirhuld, 

When  to  f-ilse  fame  the  captive  heart  is  sold." — Brown,  on  Satire. 

OBS.  5. — When  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  and  are  nominally  alike,  one  or  more  of 
them  may  be  understood;  and,  in  such  a  case,  the  pronoun  must  still  be  plural,  as  agreeing  with 
all  the  nouns,  whether  expressed  or  implied:  as,  "  But  intellectual  and  moral  culture  ought  1,0 
go  hand  in  hand  ;  they  will  greatly  help  each  other." — Dr.  Weeks.  Here  they  stands  for  intellec- 
tual culture  and  moral  culture.  The  following  example  is  incorrect:  "The  Commanding  and 
Unlimited  mode,  may  be  used  in  an  absolute  sense,  or  without  a  name  or  substitute  on  which 
it  can  depend." — O.  B.  Pierce 's  Grant,  p.  80.  Change  it  to  they,  or  and  to  or.  See  Note  6th  •  o 
Rule  16th. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XII. 
PRONOUNS  WITH  ANTECEDENTS  CONNECTED  BY  AND. 

"Discontent  and  sorrow  manifested  itself  in  his  countenance." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  146. 
[FORMTJLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  pronoun  itself  is  of  the  singular  number,  and  does  not  correctly  represent 
its  two  antecedents  discontent  and  sorrow,  which  are  connected  by  anrl.  and  taken  conjointly.  But,  according 
to  Rule  12th,  "  When  a  pronoun  has  two  or  more  antecedent  connected  hv  a«c/,  it  must  atjree  with  them  jointly 
in  the  plural,  because  they  are  taken  together."  Therefore,  itself  should  be  themselves;  thus, "  Discontent  and 
sorrow  manifested  themselves  in  his  countenance."] 

"  Both,  conversation  and  public  speaking  became  more  simple  and  p'lain,  such  as  we  now 
find  it." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  59.  "  Idleness  and  ignorance,  if  it  be  suffered  to  proceed,  &c." — 
JOHNSON:  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  186.  "Avoid  questions  and  strife;  it  shows  a  busy  and  con- 
tentious disposition." — Wtn.  Perm.  "  To  receive  the  gifts  and  benefits  of  God  with  thanks- 
giving, and  witness  it  blessed  and  sanctified  to  us  by  the  word  and  prayer,  is  owned  by  us." 
— Barclay's  Works,  i,  213.  "Both  minister  and  magistrate  are  compelled  to  chose  between 
his  duty  and  his  reputation." — Junius,  p.  9.  "All  the  sincerity,  truth,  and  faithfulness,  or 
disposition  of  heart  or  conscience  to  approve  it,  found  among  rational  creatures,  necessarily 
originate  from  God." — Brown's  Divinity,  p.  12.  "  Your  levity  and  heedlessness,  if  it  con- 
tinue, will  prevent  all  substantial  improvement." — Browns  Inst.  p.  147.  "Poverty  and 
obscurity  will  oppress  him  only  who  esteems  it  oppressive." — Ib.  "  Good  sense  and  refined 
policy  are  obvious  to  few,  because  it  cannot  be  discovered  but  by  a  train  of  reflection." — 2b. 
"Avoid  haughtiness  of  behaviour,  and  affectation  of  manners :  it  implies  a  want  of  solid  merit." 
— Ib.  "  If  love  and  unity  continue,  it  will  make  you  partakers  of  one  an  other's  joy.' — Ib. 
"  Suffer  not  jealousy  and  distrust  to  enter  ;  it  will  destroy,  like  n  canker,  every  germ  of 
friendship." — Ib.  "  Hatred  and  animosity  are  inconsistent  with  Christian  charity  :  guard, 
therefore,  against  the  slightest  indulgence  of  it." — Ib.  "  Every  man  is  entitled  to  liberty  if 
conscience,  and  freedom  of  opinion,  if  he  does  not  pervert  it  to  the  injury  of  others." — Ib. 
"  With  the  azure  and  vermilion 
Which  is  mix'd  for  my  pavilion." — Byron's  Manfred,  p.  9. 


RULE  XIII.  —  PRONOUNS. 


\  it 


When  a  Pronoun  has  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  or  or  nor, 
must  agree  with  them  singly,  and  not  as  if  taken  together  :  as,  "James 
or  John  will  favour  us  with  his  company." — "  Neither  ivealth  nor  honour 
can  secure  the  happiness  of  its  votaries." 

"  What  virtue  or  what  mental  grace, 
But  men  unqualified  and  base 

Will  boast  it  their  possession  ?  " — Coivper,  on  Friendship. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XIII. 

OBS.  1. — "When  two  or  more  singular  antecedents  are  connected  by  or  or  nor,  the  pronoun  which 
represents  them,  ought  in  general  to  be  singular,  because   or  and  nor  are  disjunctives  ;  and,  to 
form  a  complete  concord,  the  nouns  ought  also  to  be  of  the  same  person  and  gender,  that  the  pro- 
noun may  agree  in  all  respects  with  each  of  them.     But  when  plural  nouns  are  connected  in  this 
manner,  the  pronoun  will  of  course  be  plural,  though  it  still  agrees  with  the  antecedents  singly  ; 
as,  "  Neither  riches  nor  honours  ever  satisfy  their  pursuers."     Sometimes,  when  different  numbers 
•occur  together,  we  find  the  plural  noun  put  last,  and  the  pronoun  made  plural  after  both,  espe- 
cially if  this  noun  is  a  mere  substitute  for  the  other ;  as, 
"  What's  justice  to  a  man,  or  laws, 
That  never  comes  within  their  claws  ?  " — Hudibras. 

OBS.  2. — When  antecedents  of  different  persons,  numbers,  or  genders,  are  connected  by  or 
or  nor,  they  cannot  very  properly  be  represented  by  any  pronoun  that  is  not  applicable  to  each  of 
them.  The  following  sentences  are  therefore  inaccurate ;  or  at  least  they  contradict  the  teach- 


CHAP.    V.]  SYNTAX. — RULE  XIII. PRONOUNS. ERROR3.  545 

ings  of  their  own  authors:  "  Either  thou  or  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  in  our  judgment  on  this  sub- 
ject."— Murray's  Key,  p.  181.  "  Your  character,  which  /,  or  any  other  writer,  may  now  value  our- 
selves by  (upon)  drawing." — SWIFT:  Lowth' s  Gram.  p.  96.  "  Either  you  or  I  will'be  in  our  place 
in  due  time." — ('upper's  drum,  p.  127.  .But  different  pronouns  may  be  so  connected  as  to  rei'er  to 
such  antecedents  taken  separately;  as,  "By  requiring  greater  labour  from  such  slave  or  slaves, 
than  he  or  she  or  tliry  arc  able  to  perform." — Prince's  Diyest.  Or,  if  the  gender  only  be  different, 
the  masculiue  may  involve  the  feminine  by  implication  ;  as,  li  If  a  man  smite  the  eye  of  his  ser- 
vant, or  the  eye  of  his  maid,  that  it  perish,  he  shall  let  him  go  free  for  his  eye's  sake." — Exodus, 
xxi,  20. 

Or,.s.  3. — It  is  however  very  common  to  resort  to  the  plural  number  in  such  instances  as  the  fore- 
going, because  our  plural  pronouns  are  alikem  all  the  genders;  as,  "  When  either  manor  tcontun 
•sliall  separate  themselves  to  vow  a  vow  of  a  Nazarite." — Numbers,  vi,  2.  "Then  shalt  thou  bring 
forth  thu:  mnn  or  that  troman  unto  thy  gates,  and  shalt  stone  them  with  stones,  till  they  die." — Deut. 
xvii,  •').  "Not  on  outward  charms  could  he  or  she  build  their  pretensions  to  pleu>e." — Opie,  on 
Lyiny,  p.  148.  "  Complimenting  either  /nun  or  troman  on  agreeable  qualities  which  they  do  not 
possess,  in  hopes  of  imposing  on  their  credulity." — Ih.  p.  li)X.  "Avit/ii-n,  or  his  irife,  (no matter 
which,)  sell  their  presented  partridges  and  fruits." — P ope,  Sat.  ii,  1.  oO.  "  Beginning  with  Latin 
or  Greek  hexameter,  which  are  the  same." — Katnes,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  79. 
"  Did  ever  Protnw,  Merlin,  any  tcitch, 
Transform  themselves  so  strangely  as  the  rich  ?  " — Pope,  Ep.  i,  1.  152. 

OBS.  4.— From  the  observations  and  examples  above,  it  may  be  perceived,  that  whenever  there 
is  a  difference  of  person,  number,  or  gender,  in  antecedents  connected  disjunctively,  there  is  an 
inherent  difficulty  respecting  the  form  of  the  pronoun  personal.  The  best  mode  of  meeting  this 
inconvenience,  or  of  avoiding  it  by  a  change  of  the  phraseology,  may  be  different  on  differ- 
ent occasions.  The  disjunctive  connexion  of  explicit  pronouns  is  the  most  correct,  but  it  savours 
too  much  of  legal  precision  and  wordiness  to  be  always  eligible.  Commonly  an  ingenious  mind 
may  invent  some  better  expression,  and  yet  avoid  any  syntactical  anomaly.  In  Latin,  when  nouns 
are  connected  by  the  conjunctions  which  correspond  to  or  or  nor,  the  pronoun  or  verb  is  so  often 
made  plural,  that  no  such  principle  as  that  of  the  foregoing  Rule,  or  of  Rule  17th,  is  taught  by  the 
common  grammars  of  that  language.  How  such  usage  can  be  logically  right  however,  it  is  difficult 
to  imagine.  Lowth,  Murray,  Webster,  and  most  other  English  grammarians,  teach,  that,  "  The 
conjunction  disjunctive  has  an  effect  contrary  to  that  of  the  copulative  ;  and,  as  the  verb,  noun, 
or  pronoun,  is  referred  to  the  preceding  terms  taken  separately,  it  must  be  in  the  singular  num- 
ber."— Lowth' s  Gram.  p.  7-3;  L.  Murray's,  151;  Churrhi/l's,  142  ;  IT.  Allen's,  133  ;  Lennie's,'S3 ;  and 
many  others.  If  there  is  any  allowable  exception  to  this  principle,  it  is  for  the  adoption  of  the 
plural  when  the  concord  cannot  be  made  by  any  one  pronoun  singular  ;  as,  "  If  I  value  my  friend's 
wife  or  son  upon  account  of  their  connexion  with  him." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  73.  "  Do  not 
drink  wine  nor  strong  drink,  thou  nor  thy  sons  with  thee,  when  ye  go  into  the  tabernacle  of  the  con- 
gregation."— Lev  it.  x,  8.  These  examples,  though  they  do  not  accord  with  the  preceding  rule,  seem 
not  to  be  susceptible  of  any  change  for  the  better.  There  are  also  some  other  modes  of  expression, 
in  which  nouns  that  are  connected  disjunctively,  may  afterwards  be  represented  together ;  as, 
*'  Foppery  is  a  sort  of  folly  much  more  contagious  THAN  pedantry ;  but  as  t/iey  result  alike  from 
affectation,  they  deserve  alike  to  be  proscribed." — Campbell's  Wiet.  p.  217. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XIII. 
PRONOUNS  WITH  ANTECEDENTS  CONNECTED  BY  OR  OR  NOR. 

Neither  prelate  nor  priest  can  give  their  flocks  any  decisive  evidence  that  you  are  law- 
il  pastors." — l>r.  Brotcnfre. 

[FoHMCLE.— Not  proper,  because  the  pronoun  their  is  of  the  plural  Dumber,  and  does  not  correctly  represent  its 
'•cdents  prelate  and  print,  which  are  connected  by  nor,  and  taken  disjunctively.  But,  according  to  Rule 
5th,  '•  When  A  pronoun  has  two  or  more  antecedents  «.-<miir< -ml  l>\  or  or  nor,  it  must  agree  with  them  singly,  and 
jt  as  if  taken  together."  Then-fore,  their  should  be  his;  thus,  "  Neither  prelate  nor  priest  can  give  Aw  flocks 
iy  dec:  that  you  are  lawful  pastors  "J 

•And  is  there  a  heart  of  parent  or  of  child,  that  does  not  beat  and  burn  within  them  ? " — 
latnriii '.»  Sermons,  p.  oi>7.  "  This  is  just  as  if  an  eye  or  a  foot  should  demand  a  salary 
>r  their  servk-e  to  the  body."— n>llio's  Ant/minus,*  p.  178.  "If  thy  hand  or  thy  foot 
fend  thee,  cut  thorn  off,  and  cast  them  from  thee." — Matt,  xviii,  8.  *'  The  same  might 
well  be  said  of  Virgil,  or  any  <:piut  author,  whose  general  character  will  infallibly 
lise  many  casual  additions  to"  their  reputation."— Pope's  Pref.  to  Homer.  "  Either 
Fames  or  John,  one  of  thorn,  will  come." — Smith's  \eir  dram.  p.  37.  "Even  a  rugged 
or  barren  heath,  though  in  t).  ,reeable,  contribute  by  contrast  to 

ic  beauty  of  the  whole."  —  A////I,  •,,  /:/.  tf  Grit,  i,  isr,.  "That  neither  Count  Rechteren 
>r  Monsieur  Mesnu^er  had  behaved  themselves  ri^ht  in  this  affair." — Spec/.  No.  481. 
If  an  Aristotle,  a  Pythagoras,  or  a  Galileo,  suffer  for  their  opinions,  they  are  '  martyrs.' " 
-Gospel  its  own  Witness,  p,  80.  "  If  an  ox  gore  a  man  or  a  woman,  that  they  die  ; 
icnthe  ox  shall  be  surely  stoned." — llrodus,  \\.  -lie  was  calling  out  to  one  or  an 

ther,  at  every  step,  that  a  Habit  was  ensnaring  them." — DR.  JOHNSON  :  Murray' 's  Sequel,  181. 
Task  put  upon   Children,  thnt   neither  this  Author,  nor  any  other  have  yet 
ulorirone    themselves." — Jo/in-  "  Hcnco,   if    an  adjective   or 

[>le  be  subjoined  to  tho  verb,   whon  of  the  singular  number,  they  will   agree  both 

35 


546  THE   GKAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GKAMMAES.  [PART   III. 

in  gender  and  number  with  the  collective  noun." — Adam's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  154 ;  Gould's, 
158.  "And  if  you  can  find  a  diphthong,  or  a  triphthong,  be  pleased  to  point  them 
out  too." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram.  p.  16.  "And  if  you  can  find  a  diphthong,  or  a 
triphthong,  a  trissyllable,  or  a  polysyllabic,  point  them  respectively  out." — Ib.  p.  25.  "The 
false  refuges  in  which  the  atheist  or  the  sceptic  have  intrenched  themselves." — Christian 
Spcct.  viii,  185.  "  While  the  man  or  woman  thus  assisted  by  art  expects  their  charms  will 
be  imputed  to  nature  alone." — Opie,  141.  "  "When  you  press  a  watch,  or  pull  a  clock,  they 
answer  your  question  with  precision;  for  they  repeat  exactly  the  hour  of  the  day,  and  tell 
you  neither  more  nor  less  than  you  desire  to  know." — Bolingbroke,  on  History,  p.  102. 
*•  Not  the  Mogul,  or  Czar  of  Muscovy, 

Not  Prester  John,  or  Cham  of  Tartary, 

Are  in  their  houses  Monarch  more  than  I." — KING  :  Brit.  Poets,  Vol.  iii,  p.  613. 


CHAPTER  VI- -VERBS. 

In  this  work,  the  syntax  of  Verbs  is  embraced  in  six  consecutive  rules,  with 
the  necessary  exceptions,  notes,  and  observations,  under  them ;  hence  this 
chapter  extends  from  the  fourteenth  to  the  twentieth  rule  in  the  series. 

RULE  XIV.  —  FINITE  VERBS. 

Every  finite  Verb  must  agree  with  its  subject,  or  nominative,  in  person  and 
number  :  as,  "  I  know  ;  thou  knowst,  or  knowest;  he  knows,  or  knoweth" — 
"  The  bird  flies;  the  birds/?/." 

"  Our  fathers'  fertile  fields  by  slaves  are  tiWd^ 
And  Rome  with  dregs  of  foreign  lands  is  fill' W." 

— Howe's  Lucan,  B.  vii,  1.  600. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XIV. 

OBS.  1. — To  this  general  rule  for  the  verb,  there  are  properly  no  exceptions  ;*  and  all  the  spe- 
cial rules  that  follow,  which  prescribe  the  concord  of  verbs  in  particular  instances,  virtually  accord 
with  it.  Everyjtfttzfe  verb,  (that  is,  every  verb  not  in  the  infinitive  mood,)  must  have  some  noun, 
pronoun,  or  phrase  equivalent,  known  as  the  subject  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion ;  f  and  with 
this  subject,  whether  expressed  or  understood,  the  verb  must  agree  in  person  and  number.  The 
infinitive  mood,  as  it  does  not  unite  with  a  nominative  to  form  an  assertion,  is  of  course  exempt 

*  In  their  speculations  on  the  personal  pronouns,  grammarians  sometimes  contrive,  by  a  sort  of  abstraction,  to 
reduce  all  the  persons  to  the  third;  that  is,  the  author  or  speaker  puts  I,  not  for  himself  in  particular,  but  for  any 
one  who  utters  the  word,  and  thou,  not  for  his  particular  hearer  or  reader,  but  for  any  one  who  is  addressed  ;  and, 
conceiving  of  these  as  persons  merely  spoken  of  by  himself,  he  puts  the  verb  in  the  third  person,  and  not  in  the 
first  or  second :  as,  "  J  is  the  speaker,  thou  [is]  the  hearer,  and  he,  she,  or  it,  is  the  person  or  thing  spoken  of.  AH 
denote  qualities  of  existence,  but  such  qualities  as  make  different  impressions  on  the  mind.  Us  the  being  of  con- 
sciousness, thou  [is  the  being]  of  perception,  and  he  of  memory." — Booth's  Introd.  p.  44.  This  is  such  syntax  as  I 
should  not  choose  to  imitate  ;  nor  is  it  very  proper  to  say,  that  the  three  persons  in  grammar  "  denote  qualities  of 
existence."  But,  supposing  the  phraseology  to  be  correct,  it  is  no  real  exception  to  the  foregoing  rule  of  concord  ; 
for  /and  thou  are  here  made  to  be  pronouns  of  the  third  person,  go  in  the  following  example,  which  I  take  to  be 
bad  English :  "  I,  or  the  person  who  speaks,  is  the  first  person  ;  you,  is  the  second  ;  he,  she,  or  it,  is  the  third 
person  singular."— BarUetfs  Manual,  Part  ii,  p.  70.  Again,  in  the  following ;  which  is  perhaps  a  little  better : 
"  The  person  4J'  is  spoken  of  as  acted  upon." — Bullions,  Prin.  of  E.  Gram.,  2d  Edition,  p.  29.  But  there  is  a 
manifest  absurdity  in  saying,  with  this  learned  "  Professor  of  Languages,"  that  the  pronouns  of  the  different  per- 
sons are  those  persons :  as.  "Its  the  first  person,  and  denotes  the  speaker.  Thou  is  the  second,  and  denotes  the 
person  spoken  to."— Ib.  p.  22. 

t  (1.)  Concerning  the  verb  need,  Dr.  Webster  has  the  following  note :  "  In  the  use  of  this  verb  there  is  another 
irregularity,  which  is  peculiar,  the  verb  being  without  a  nominative,  expressed  or  implied.  '  Whereof  here  needs 
no  account.' — Milt.  P.  L.  4.  235.  There  is  no  evidence  of  the  fact,  and  there  needs  none.  This  is  an  established 
use  of  need." — Philos.  Gram.  p.  178  ;  Improved  Gram.  127;  Greenleafs  Gram.  Simp. -p.  38;  Fowler's  E.  Gram. 
p.  537.  "  Established  use  ?  "  To  be  sure,  it  is  "  an  established  use  ;  "  but  the  learned  Doctor's  comment  is  a  most 
unconscionable  blunder,  —  a  pedantic  violation  of  a  sure  principle  of  Universal  Grammar,  —  a  perversion  worthy 
only  of  the  veriest  ignoramus.  Yet  Greenleaf  profitably  publishes  it,  with  other  plagiarisms,  for  "  Grammar 
Simplified  !  "  Now  the  verb  "  needs,"  like  the  Latin  eget,  signifying  is  necessary,  is  here  not  active,  but  neuter  ; 
and  has  the  nominative  set  after  it,  as  any  verb  must,  when  the  adverb  there  or  here  is  before  it.  The  verbs  lack 
and  want  may  have  the  same  construction,  and  can  have  no  other,  when  the  word  there,  and  not  a  nominative, 
precedes  them ;  as,  "  Peradvenfcure  there  shall  lack  five  of  the  fifty  righteous." — Gen.  xviii,  28.  There  is  therefore 
neither  "  irregularity,"  nor  any  thing  "peculiar,"  in  thus  placing  the  verb  and  its  nominative. 

(2.)  Yet  have  we  other  grammarians,  who,  with  astonishing  facility,  have  allowed  themselves  to  be  misled,  and 
whose  books  are  now  misleading  the  schools,  in  regard  to  this  very  simple  matter.  Thus  Wells :  "  The  transitive 
verbs  need  and  want,  are  sometimes  employed  in  a  general  sense,  without  a  nominative,  expressed  or  implied. 
Examples: — 'There  needed  a  new  dispensation.' — Caleb  Gushing.  'There  needs  no  better  picture.' — Irving. 
'  There  wanted  not  patrons  to  stand  up.' — Sparks.  '  Nor  did  there  want  Cornice,  or  frieze.' — Milton."  Wells' s 
School  Gram.  1st  Ed.  p.  141;  113th  Ed.  p.  154.  In  my  edition  of  Milton,  the  text  is,  "Nor  did  they  want 
Cornice  or  frieze." — P.  L.,  B.  i,  1.  715,  716.  This  reading  makes  want  a  "  transitive  "  verb,  but  the  other  makes  it 
neuter,  with  the  nominative  following  it.  Again,  thus  Weld  :  UA  verb  in  the  imperative  mode,  and  the  transitive 
verbs  need,  want,  and  require,  sometimes  appear  to  be  used  indefinitely,  without  a  nominative ;  as.  let  there  be 


CUAP.  VI.]  SYNTAX. — HULK   XIV. — VERBS. — OBSERVATIONS.  547 

from  any  such  agreement.  These  may  be  considered  principles  of  Universal  Grammar.  The 
Greeks,  "however,  had  a  strange  custom  of  using  a  plural  noun  of  the  neuter  gender,  with  a  verb 
of  the  third  person  singular  ;  and,  in  both  Greek  and  Latin,  the  infinitive  mood  with  an  accusa- 
tive before  it  was  often  equivalent  to  a  finite  verb  with  its  nominative.  In  English,  we  have  nei- 
ther of  these  usages ;  and  plural  nouns,  even  when  they  denote  no  absolute  plurality,  (as  shears, 
••s,  trowsers,  pantaloons,  tongs,)  require  plural  verbs  or  pronouns  :  as,  "  Your  shears  come  too 
late,  to  clip  the  bird's  wings." — SIDNEY  :  Churchill's  Gram.  p.  30. 

OBS.  2. — When  a  book  that 'bears  a  plural  title,  is  spoken  of  as  one  thing,  there  is  sometimes 
presented  an  apparent  exception  to  the  foregoing  rule;  as,  "  The  Pleasures  of  Memory  was  pub - 
fuAat/inthejear  1792,  and  became  at  once  popular." — Allan  Cunningham.  "The  '  Sentiments  of  a 
Chorch-of-England  Man'  is  written  with  great  coolness,  moderation,  ease,  and  perspicuity." — 
Johnson's  Lift  of  Strift.  "  The  '  Pleasures  of  Hope'  is  a  splendid  poem  ;  it  was  written  for  per- 
petuity."— Samuel  L.  Knapp.  In  these  instances,  there  is,  I  apprehend,  an  improper  ellipsis  of 
the  common  noun,  with  which  each  sentence  ought  to  commence  ;  as,  "  The  poem  entitled," — 
'•  The  icork  entitled,"  £c.  But  the  plural  title  sometimes  controls  the  form  of  the  verb;  as, 
"  My  laves  are  reprinting."  —  Dr.  Johnson. 

OBS.  3. — In  the  figurative  use  of  the  present  tense  for  the  past  or  imperfect,  the  vulgar  have  a 
habit  of  putting  the  third  person  singular  with  the  pronoun  /,-  as,  "  Thinks  I  to  myself." — Rev. 
J.  Marriott.  "  O,says  I,  Jacky,  are  you  at  that  work  ?  " — Day's  Sandford  andMerto'n.  "  Huzza  ! 
huzza  !  Sir  Condy  llackrent  forever,  was  the  first  thing  /  hears  in  the  morning." — Edaetcorth's 
Castle  llackrent,  p.  97.  This  vulgarism  is  to  be  avoided,  not  by  a  simple  omission  of  the  termi- 
national  s,  but  rather  by  the  use  of  the  literal  preterit:  as,  "Thought  I  to  myself;" — "  O,said  I ;  " 
— "The  first  thing  I  heard."  The  same  mode  of  correction  is  also  proper,  when,  under  like 
circumstances,  there  occurs  a  disagreement  in  number;  as,  "After  the  election  was  over,  there 
comes  shoal*  of  people  from  all  parts." — Castle  Rackrent,  p.  103.  "  Didn't  ye  hear  it  ?  says  they  that 
were  looking  on." — Ib.  p.  147.  Write,  "  there  came," — "  said  they." 

OHS.  4. — It  has  already  been  noticed,  that  the  article  a,  or  a  singular  adjective,  sometimes  pre- 
cedes an  arithmetical  number  with  a  plural  noun;  as,  "A  thousand  years  in  thy  sight  are  but  as  yes- 
terday."— Psalms,  xc,  4.  So  we  might  say,  "  One  thousand  years  are," — "Each,  thousand  years  are," 
— "Every  thousand  years  are,"  &c.  But  it  would  not  be  proper  to  say,  "A  thousand  years  is"  or, 
"  Every  thousand  years  is ; "  because  the  noun  years  is  plainly  plural,  and  the  anomaly  of  putting  a 
singular  verb  after  it,  is  both  needless  and  unauthorized.  Yet,  to  this  general  rule  for  the  verb,  the 
author  of  a  certain"  English  Grammar  on  the  Producti 'vc  System,"  (a  strange  perversion  of  Murray's 
compilation,  and  a  mere  catch-penny  work,  now  extensively  used  in  New  England,)  is  endeavouring 
to  establish,  by  his  own  bare  word,  the  following  exception  :  "Every  is  sometimes  associated  with  a 
plural  noun,  in  which  case  the  verb  must  be  singular  ;  as,  "  Every  hundred  years  constitutes  a  cen- 
tury."— Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  103.  His  reason  is  this  ;  that  the  phrase  containing  the  nomina- 
tive, "  signifies  a  single  period  of  time,  and  is,  therefore,  in  reality  singular." — Ib.  Cutler  also,  a 
more  recent  writer,  seems  to  have  imbibed  the  same  notion;  for  he  gives  the  following  sentence 
as  an  example  of  "false  construction:  Every  hundred  years  are  called  a  century." — Cutler's 
Grammar  and  Parser,  p.  145.  But,  according  to  this  argument,  no  plural  verb  could  ever  be  used 
with  any  definite  number  of  the  parts  of  time  ;  for  any  three  years,  forty  years,  or  threescore  years 
and  ten,  are  as  single  a  period  of  time,  as  "  every  hundred  years,"  "  every  four  years,"  or  "  every 
twenty-four  hours."  Nor  is  it  true,  that,  "Every  is  sometimes  associated  with  a  plural  noun  ;" 
r  "every  years,"  or  "  every  hours,"  would  be  worse  than  nonsense.  I,  therefore,  acknowledge 
such  exception ;  but,  discarding  the  principle  of  the  note,  put  this  author's  pretended  cor- 
•tions  among  my  quotations  of  Jalse  syntax. 

•~>. — Different    verbs    always  have   different   subjects,  expressed   or  understood;  except 
hen  two  or  more  verbs  are  connected  in  the  same  construction,  or  when  the  same  word  is  repeated 
>r  the  sake  of  emphasis.     But  let  not  the  reader  believe  the  common  doctrine  of  our  grammari- 
ns,  respecting  either  the  ellipsis  of  nominatives  or  the  ellipsis  of  verbs.     In  the  text,  "  The  man 
was  old  and  crafty,"  Murray  sees  no  connexion  of  the  ideas  of  age  and  craftiness,  but  thinks  the 
text  a  compound  sentence,  containing  two  nominatives  and  two  verbs ;  i.  e.  "  The  man  was  old,  and 

light ;  There  required  haste  in  the  business  ;  There  needs  no  argument  for  proving,  &c.      There  wanted  not  men 

who  would,  &c.    The  last  expressions  have  an  active  Jonn  with  a  passive  sense,  and  should  perhaps  rather  be  con- 

'  flliplical  than  u  anting  a  nominative ;  as,  "  haste  is  rtquired,  no  argument  is  needed,  &c.'' — Wtld's  Eng- 

!lish  Grammar  Illustrated,  p.  143.  Is  there  anywhere,  in  print,  viler  pedantry  than  this?  The  only  elliptical 
example,  ~  L't  there  be  light,"  — a  kind  of  sentence  from  which  the  nominative  id  usually  suppressed,— is  here 
absurdly  represented  as  being  full,  yet  without  a  subject  for  its  verb ;  while  other  examples,  which  are  full,  and 
in  which  the  nominative  must/olloic  the  verb,  because  the  adverb  ••  there  "  precedes,  are  tirst  denied  to  have  nom- 
inatives, and  then  most  bungliugly  tortured  with  false  ellipses,  to  prove  that  they  have  them  ! 

(3.)  The  idea  of  a  command  wherein  no  person  or  thing  is  commanded,  seems  to  have  originated  with  Webster, 
by  whom  it  has  been  taughc,  since  ISO",  as  follows  -In  ,-ume  i-;i.<es.  tli<-  imperative  verb  is  used  without  a  definite 
nominative." — Philos.  Gram,  p.  141 ;  Imyr.  Gram.  9o' ;  Rudiments,  60.  See  the  same  words  in  Frazee's  Gram. 
;  Wells  has  something  similar:  "A  v»rb  in  the  imperative  is  sometimes  used  absolutely,  having  no  direct 

reference  to  any  particular  subject  expressed  or  implied  ;  as,  'And  God  said,  Let  there  be  light.'  " — School  Gram. 


p.  111.      But,  when  this  command  was  uttered  to  the  dark  waves  of  primeval  chaos,  it,  must  have  meant,  ".Do  ye 
in  light  be  there."1     Whot  else  could  it  mean?     There  may  frequently  be  difficulty  in  determining  what  or  who  is 
Iressed  by  the  imperative  let.  but  there  seems  to  be  more  in  affirming  that  it  has  no  subject.      Nutting,  puzzled 


light  be  there."1     Whot  else  could  it  mean ' 

drwsed  by  the  imperative  let,  but  there  m« 

with  this  word,  makes  the  following  dubious  and  unsatisfactory  suggestion  :  u  Perhaps  it  may  be,  in  many  cases, 
equivalent  to  may  ;  or  it  may  be  termed  itself  an  imperative  mode  impersonal ;  that  is,  containing  a  command  or 
au  entreaty  addressed  to  no  particular  person." — .\utting's  Practical  Gram.  p.  47. 

(4.)  These  several  errors,  about  the  "  Imperative  used  Absolutely,"  with  '•  no  subject  addressed,"  as  in  "Let 
there  be  light,"  and  the  Indicative  "  verbs  NEKD  and  WAST,  employed  without  a  nominative,  either  expressed  or 
implied,"  are  again  carefully  reiterated  by  the  learned  Professor  Fowler,  in  his  great  text-book  of  philology  "in 
uents  and  Forms,"— called,  rather  extravagantly,  an  "  English  Grammar."  See,  in  his  edition  of  1850, 
>  507,  Note  3  and  Note  7  ;  also  §  520,  Note  2.  Wells:s  authorities  for  "  Imperatives  Absolute,"  are,  "  F  razee,  Allen 
:vnd  Cornwell,  Nutting,  Lynde,  and  Chapin  :  "  and.  with  reference  to  "  NEED  and  WAM,"  he  says,  "  *-r-  \' 
^erley,  and  Ingersoll/'— School  Gram.,  1850,  i  209. 


548  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

the  man  was  crafty."  *  And  all  his  other  instances  of  "  the  ellipsis  of  the  verb,"  are  equally  fan- 
ciful !  See  his  Octavo  Gram.  p.  219  ;  Duodecimo,  175.  In  the  text,  "  God  loves,  protects,  supports, 
and  rewards  the  righteous,"  there  are  four  verbs  in  the  same  construction,  agreeing  with  the  same 
nominative,  and  governing  the  same  object;  but  Buchanan  and  others  expound  it,  "  God  loves, 
and  God  protects,  and  God  supports,  and  God  rewards  the  righteous." — English  Syntax,  p.  76; 
British  Gram.  192.  This  also  is  fanciful  and  inconsistent.  If  the  nominative  is  here  "  elegantly 
understood  to  each  verb,"  so  is  the  objective,  which  they  do  not  repeat.  "  And  again,"  they  imme- 
diately add,  "the  verb  is  often  understood  to  its  noun  or  nouns  ;  as.  He  dreams  of  gibbets,  hal- 
ters, racks,  daggers,  &c.  i.  e.  He  dreams  of  gibbets,  and  he  dreams  of  halters,  &c." — Same  works 
and  places.  In  none  of  these  examples  is  there  any  occasion  to  suppose  an  ellipsis,  if  we  admit 
that  two  or  more  words  can  be  connected  in  the  same  construction  ! 

OBS.  6. — Verbs  in  the  imperative  mood  commonly  agree  with  the  pronoun  thou,  ye,  or  you> 
understood  after  them;  as,  "  Heal  [ye~\  the  sick,  cleanse  [ye}  the  lepers,  raise  [ye]  the  dead,  cast 
[ye]  out  devils." — Matt,  x,  8.  "Trust  God  and  be  doing,  and  leave  the  rest  with  him." — Dr. 
Sibs.  When  the  doer  of  a  thing  must  first  proceed  to  the  place  of  action,  we  sometimes  use  go 
or  come  before  an  other  verb,  without  any  conjunction  between  the  two ;  as,  "  Son,  go  work  to- 
day in  my  vineyard." — Matt,  xxi,  28.  "Come  see  a  man  who  [has]  told  me  all  things  that  ever  I 
did." — John,  iv,  29.  "  Pie  ordered  his  soldiers  to  go  murder  every  child  about  Bethlehem,  or  near 
it." — Wood's  Diet,  of  Bible,  w.  Herod.  "  Take  a  present  in  thine  hand,  and  go  meet  the  man  of 
God."— 2  Kings,  viii,  8.  "  I  will  go  see  if  he  be  at  home."— -Walker's  Particles,  p.  169. 

OBS.  7. — The  place  of  the  verb  has  reference  mainly  to  that  of  the  subject  with  which  it  agrees, 
and  that  of  the  object  which  it  governs  ;  and  as  the  arrangement  of  these,  with  the  instances  in 
which  they  come  before  or  after  the  verb,  has  already  been  noticed,  the  position  of  the  latter 
seems  to  require  no  further  explanation.  See  Obs.  2d  under  Rule  2d,  and  Obs.  2d  under  Rule 
5th. 

OBS.  8.-r-The  infinitive  mood,  a  phrase,  or  a  sentence,  (and,  according  to  some  authors,  the  par- 
ticiple in  ing,  or  a  phrase  beginning  with  this  participle,)  is  sometimes  the  proper  subject  of  a 
verb,  being  equivalent  to  a  nominative  of  the  third  person  singular;  as,  "  To  play  is  pleasant." 
— Lowth's  Gram,  p  80.  "  To  write  well,  is  difficult;  to  speak  eloquently,  is  still  more  difficult." 
— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  81.  "To  take  men  oft  from  prayer,  tends  to  irreligiousness,  is  granted." — 
Barclay's  Works,  i,  214.  "  To  educate  a  child  perfectly,  requires  profounder  thought,  greater  wis- 
dom, than  to  govern  a  state." — Channing's  Self-Culture,  p.  30.  "To  determine  these  points,  be- 
longs to  good  sense." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  321.  "'How  far  the  change  would  contribute  to  his  welfare, 
comes  to  be  considered." — Id.  Sermons.  "  That  too  much  care  does  hurt  in  any  of  our  tasks,  is  a 
doctrine  so  flattering  to  indolence,  that  we  ought  to  receive  it  with  extreme  caution." — Life  of 
Schiller,  p.  148.  "  That  there  is  no  disputing  about  taste,  is  a  saying  so  generally  received  as  to 
have  become  a  proverb." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  360.  "  For  what  purpose  they  embarked,  is  not 
yet  known." — "  To  live  in  sin  and  yet  to  believe  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  is  utterly  impossible." — 
'Dr.  J.  Owen. 

"  There  shallow  draughts  intoxicate  the  brain, 
But  drinking  largely  sobers  us  again." — Pope. 

OBS.  9. — The  same  meaning  will  be  expressed,  if  the  pronoun  it  be  placed  before  the  verb, 
and  the  infinitive,  phrase,  or  sentence,  after  it;  as,  "It  is  pleasant  to  play." — "It  is  difficult  to 
tcrite  well ; "  &c.  The  construction  of  the  following  sentences  is  rendered  defective  by  the  omis- 
sion of  this  pronoun :  "  Why  do  ye  that  which  [it]  is  not  lawful  to  do  on  the  sabbath  days  ?  " — 
Luke,  vi,  2.  "  The  show-bread,  which  [if]  is  not  lawful  to  eat,  but  for  the  priests  only." — Ib.  vi, 
4.  "  We  have  done  that  which  [if]  was  our  duty  to  do." — Ib.  xvii,  10.  Here  the  relative  which 
ought  to  be  in  the  objective  case,  governed  by  the  infinitives ;  but  the  omission  of  the  word  it 
makes  this  relative  the  nominative  to  is  or  was,  and  leaves  to  do  and  to  eat  without  any  regimen. 
This  is  not  ellipsis,  but  error.  It  is  an  accidental  gap  into  which  a  side  piece  falls,  and  leaves  a 
breach  elsewhere.  The  following  is  somewhat  like  it,  though  what  falls  in,  appears  to  leave  no 
chasm:  "From  this  deduction,  [it]  may  be  easily  seen  how  it  comes  to  pass,  that  personification 
makes  so  great  a  figure." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  155.  "  Whether  the  author  had  any  meaning  in  this 
expression,  or  what  it  was,  [it]  is  not  easy  to  determine." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  298.  "That 
warm  climates  should  accelerate  the  growth  of  the  human  body,  and  shorten  its  duration,  [it]  is 
very  reasonable  to  believe." — Ib.  p.  144.  These  also  need  the  pronoun,  though  Murray  thought 
them  complete  without  it. 

OBS.  10. — When  the  infinitive  mood  is  made  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  it  is  most  commonly 
used  to  express  action  or  state  in  the  abstract;  as,  "  To  be  contents  his  natural  desire." — Pope. 
Here  to  be  stands  for  simple  existence  ;  or  if  for  the  existence  of  the  Indian,  of  whom  the  author 
speaks,  that  relation  is  merely  implied.  "To  define  ridicule,  has  puzzled  and  vexed  every  critic." 
— Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i.  300.  Here  "to  define  "  expresses  an  action  quite  as  distinct  from  any  agent, 
as  would  the  participial  noun ;  as,  "  The  defining  of  ridicule,"  &c.  In  connexion  with  the  infin- 
itive, a  concrete  quality  may  also  be  taken  as  an  abstract ;  as,  "  To  be  good  is  to  be  happy."  Here 
good  and  happy  express  the  quality  of  goodness  and  the  state  of  happiness  considered  abstractly  ; 
and  therefore  these  adjectives  do  not  relate  to  any  particular  noun.  So  also  the  passive  infinitive, 
or  a  perfect  participle  taken  in  a  passive  sense  ;  as,  "To  be  satisfied  with  a  little,  is  the  greatest 
wisdom." — "To  appear  discouraged,  is  the  way  to  become  so."  Here  the  satisfaction  and  the  dis- 
couragement are  considered  abstractly,  and  without  reference  to  any  particular  person.  (See 
Obs.  12th  and  13th  on  Rule  6th.)  So  too,  apparently,  the  participles  doing  and  suffering,  as  well 
as  the  adjective  weak,  in  the  following  example  : 

"Fallen  Cherub,  to  be  weak  is  miserable, 
Doing  or  suffering." — Milton's  Paradise  Lost. 

*  This  interpretation,  and  others  like  it,  are  given  not  only  by  Murray,  but  by  many  other  grammarians,  one  of 
whom  at  least  was  earlier  than  he.  See  BickneU's  Gram.  Vol.  1,  p.  123 ;  IngersoWs,  153  ;  Guy-s,  91 ;  Alger's,  73 ; 
Merchant's,  100 ;  Picket's,  211 :  Fish's,  146;  D.  Adams's,  81 ;  JR.  C.  Smiths,  182. 


CHAP.  VI.]       SYNTAX. RULE  XIV. VERBS. — OBSERVATIONS.  549 

OBS.  11. — "When  the  action  or  state  is  to  be  expressly  limited  to  one  class  of  beings,  or  to  a 
particular  person  or  thing,  without  making  the  verb  finite  ;  the  noun  or  pronoun  may  be  intro- 
duced before  the  infinitive  by  the  preposition  for:  as,  "For  men  to  search  their  own  glory,  is  not 
glory." — Prov.  xxv,  27.  "Fora  prince  to  be  reduced  by  villany  to  my  distressful  circumstances,  is 
calamity  enough." — Translation  of  Sallust.  "For  holypersons  to  be  /nnnb/c,  is  as  hard,  as  for  a 
prince  to  s«'.»;j/Miimsclf  to  be  guided  by  tutors." — TAYLOR:  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  132;  Murray's, 
184.  But  such  a  limitation  is  sometimes  implied,  when  the  expression  itself  is  general ;  as,  "A0< 
to  know  me,  argues  thyself  unknown." — Milton.  That  is,  "For  tJiee  not  to  know  me."  The 
phrase  is  put  for,  "  Thy  ignoranc e  of  me ;  "  for  an  other's  ignorance  would  be  no  argument  in 
regard  to  the  individual  addressed.  "I,  to  bear  this,  that  never  knew  but  better,  is  some  burden." 
— Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  327.  Here  the  infinitive  to  bear,  which  is  the  subject  of  the  verb  is,  is  lim- 
ited in  sense  by  the  pronoun  /,  which  is  put  absolute  in  the  nominative,  though  perhaps  improp- 
erly ;  because,  "For  me  to  bear  this"  &c.,  will  convey  the  same  meaning,  in  a  form  much  more 
common,  and  perhaps  more  grammatical.  In  the  following  couplet,  there  is  an  ellipsis  of  the 
infinitive ;  for  the  phrase,  "  fool  with  fool,"  means,  "  for  fool  to  contend  with  fool,"  or,  "  for  one 
fool  to  contend  with  an  other :  " 

"  Blockheads  with  reason  wicked  wits  abhor, 
Rvit  fool  with  fool  is  barb'rous  civil  war." — Pope,  Dunciad,  B.  iii,  1.  175. 

OBS.  12. — The  objective  noun  or  pronoun  thus  introduced  by  for  before  the  infinitive,  was  erro- 
neously called  by  Priestley,  the  sulyect  of  the  affirmation;  "  (Gram.  p.  132  ;)  and  Murray,  Inger- 
soll,  and  others,  have  blindly  copied  the  blunder.  See  Murray's  Gram.  p.  184;  I nyer  soil's,  244.  Again, 
Ini^ersoll  says,  "The  infinitive  mood,  or  part  of  a  sentence,  is  sometimes  the  subject  of  a  verb, 
andis,  therefore,  its  NOMINATIVE." — Conversations  on  English  Gram.  p.  246.  To  this  erroneous 
deduction,  the  phraseology  used  by  Murray  and  others  too  plainly  gives  countenance:  "The 
infinitive  mood,  or  part  of  a  sentence,  is  sometimes  put  as  the  nominative  case  to  the  verb." — 
Murray's  Gram.  p.  144;  Fish's,  123;  Ktrkham's,  188 ;  Lennie's,  99 ;  Bullions's,  89 ;  and  many 
more.  Now  the  objective  before  the  infinitive  may  not  improperly  be  called  the  subject  of  this 
form  of  the  verb,  as  the  nominative  is,  of  the  finite  ;  but  to  call  it  ""the  subject  of  the  affirmation," 
is  plainly  absurd  ;  because  no  infinitive,  in  English,  ever  expresses  an  affirmation.  And  again,  if 
a  whole  phrase  or  sentence  is  made  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  or  of  an  affirmation,  no  one  word 
contained  in  it,  can  singly  claim  this  title.  Nor  can  the  whole,  by  virtue  of  this  relation,  be  said 
to  be  "  in  the  nominative  case ;  "  because,  in  the  nature  of  things,  neither  phrases  nor  sentences 
are  capable  of  being  declined  by  cases. 

OBS.  13. — Any  phrase  or  sentence  which  is  made  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  must  be  taken  in  the 
sense  of  one  thing,  and  be  spoken  of  as  a  whole  ;  so  that  the  verb's  agreement  with  it,  in  the  third 
person  singular,  is  not  an  exception  to  Rule  14th,  but  a  construction  in  which  the  verb  may  be 
parsed  by  that  rule.  For  any  one  thing  merely  spoken  of,  is  of  the  third  person  singular,  what- 
ever may  be  the  nature  of  its  parts.  Not  every  phrase  or  sentence,  however,  is  fit  to  be  made  the 
subject  of  a  verb; — that  is,  if  its  own  import,  and  not  the  mere  expression,  is  the  thing  whereof 
we  affirm.  Thus  Dr.  Ash's  example  for  this  very  construction,  "  a  sentence  made  the  subject  of 
a  verb,"  is,  I  think,  a  palpable  solecism  :  "  The  King  and  Queen  appearing  in  public  was  the  cause 
of  my  going." — Ash's  Gram.  p.  52.  What  is  here  before  the  verb  was,  is  no  "sentence;"  but  a 
mere  phrase,  and  such  a  one  as  we  should  expect  to  see  used  independently,  if  any  regard  were 
had  to  its  own  import.  The  Doctor  would  tell  us  what  "  was  the  cause  of  his  going  :  "  and  here 
he  has  two  nominatives,  which  are  equivalent  to  the  plural  they ;  q.  d.  "They  appearing  in  pub- 
lic was  the  cause."  But  such  a  construction  is  not  English.  It  is  an  other  sample  of  the  false 
illustration  which  grammar  receives  from  those  who  invent  the  proof-texts  which  they  ought  to 
quote. 

Ons.  14. — One  of  Murray's  examples  of  what  he  erroneously  terms  "  nominative  sentences"  i. 
e.,  "  sentences  or  clauses  constituting  the  subject  of  an  affirmation,"  is  the  following  :  "  A  desire 
to  excel  others  in  learning  and  virtue  [,]  is  commendable." — Gram.  8vo,  p.  144.  Here  the  verb  is 
agrees  regularly  with  the  noun  desire,  and  with  that  only ;  the  whole  text  being  merely  a  simple 
sentence,  and  totally  irrelevant  to  the  doctrine  which  it  accompanies.*  But  the  great  "  Compiler  " 
supposes  the  adjuncts  of  this  noun  to  be  parts  of  the  nominative,  and  imagines  the  verb  to  agree 
with  all  that  precedes  it.  Yet,  soon  after,  he  expends  upon  the  ninth  rule  of  Webster's  Philo- 
sophical Grammar  a  whole  page  of  useless  criticism,  to  show  that  the  adjuncts  of  a  noun  are 
not  to  be  taken  as  parts  of  the  nominative;  and  that,  when  objectives  are  thus  subjoined,  "  the 
assertion  grammatically  respects  the  first  nouns  only." — Ib.  p.  148.  I  say  useless,  because  the 

*  The  same  may  be  said  of  Dr.  Webster's  '-'nominative  sentences;'1'1  three  fourths  of  which  are  nothing  but 
phrases  that  include  a  nominative  with  which  the  following  verb  agrees.  And  who  does  not  know,  that  to  call  the 
adjuncts  of  any  thing  ••  :ui  t *v  ntial  part  of  it,"  is  :i  ll.i^  :i!iMir<lif  y  '  An  a/Ijunct  is  '•  something  added  to  another, 
but  not  fssentiallya  part  of  it.v—  '.  But,  says  the  Doctor,  "Attributes  and  other  words  often  make 

<tial  part  of  the  nominative;  [as,]  'Our  IDEAS  of  eternity  CAN  BE  nothing  but  an  infinite  succession  of 
moments  of  duration.' — LOCKE.     '•A  wise  SON  MAKITU  a  glad  father;  but  a  foolish  SON  is  the  heaviness  of  his 
mother.'      Abstract  the  name  from  iU  attribute,  ami  the  proposition  cannot  always  be  true.      '  HE  that  gatheretk 
in  MMMMTU  AtrlMIM.1      Take  away  the  description,  '  that  gathereth  in  snni/ntr.'  and  the  affirmation  ceases 
to  be  true,  or  becomes  inapplicable.     These  sentences  or  clauses  thus  constituting  the  subject  of  a  affirmation, 
termed  nominative  ttntenc's." — Improved  Gram.  p.  05.     This  teaching  reminds  me  of  the  Doctor's  own 
'Mon  :   '•  \\'h;u  stninu''-  w»rk  hn<;  ITOII  ina.lc  with  <  Jnunnrir  I  " — Ib.  p.  94  ;   Philos.  Gram.  133.     In  N 
.  l':ir<in::,  a  book  <li-«i^ne <1  mainly  for  u  a  Key  to  Mm  ,•*  in  Parsing,"  the  following  example  is 

thus  expniin  !«"!  :  '•  The  smooth  stn-im.  flu-  serene  atmosphere,  [and]  the  mild  zephyr,  are  the  proper  emblems  of 
•  temper,  and  a  peaceful  life." — Murray's  Exercises,  p.  8.     "  The  smooth  stream,  the  serene  atmosphere^  the 
is  the  nn»iiii'itit-f-  rase  to  the  verb  '  are.''      Are  is  an  irregular  verb  neu- 
ter, in  the  indicative  mood,  the  present  tense,  the  third  person  plural,  and  agrees  with  the  aforementioned  part  of 
a  sentence,  as  its  nominative  case." — Introduction  to  English   Parsing,  p.  137.      On  this  principle  of  analysis,  all 
•tie  rules  that  speak  of  nominatives  or  antecedents  ronnec-ted  by  conjunctions,  may  be  dispensed  with,  as  useless; 
tii'l  the  doctrine,  that  a  verb  which  has  a  phrase  or  sentence  for  its  subject,  must  be  singular,  Li  palpably 
contradicted,  and  supposed  erroneous  ! 


550  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

truth  of  the  doctrine  is  so  very  plain.   Some,  however,  may  imagine  an  example  like  the  following 
to  be  an  exception  to  it ;  but  I  do  not,  because  I  think  the  true  nominative  suppressed : 
"  By  force  they  could  not  introduce  these  gods  ; 
For  ten  to  one  in  former  days  was  odds." — Dryden's  Poems,  p.  38. 

OBS.  15. — Dr.  Webster's  ninth  rule  is  this  :  "  When  the  nominative  consists  of  several  words, 
and  the  last  of  the  names  is  in  the  plural  number,  the  verb  is  commonly  in  the  plural  also  ;  as, 
'A  part  of  the  exports  consist  of  raw  silk.'  '  The  number  of  oysters  increase.'  GOLDSMITH. 
'  Such  as  the  train  of  our  ideas  have  lodged  in  our  memories.'  LOCKE.  « The  greater  part  of  phil- 
osophers have  acknowledged  the  excellence  of  this  government.'  ANACHARSIS." — Philos.  Gram. 
p.  146 ;  Impr.  Gram.  100.  The  last  of  these  examples  Murray  omits ;  the  second  he  changes 
thus  :  "  A  number  of  men  and  women  were  present."  But  all  of  them  his  reasoning  condemns 
as  ungrammatical.  He  thinks  them  wrong,  upon  the  principle,  that  the  verbs,  being  plural,  do 
not  agree  with  the  first  nouns  only.  Webster,  on  the  contrary,  judges  them  all  to  be  right ;  and, 
upon  this  same  principle,  conceives  that  his  rule  must  be  so  too.  He  did  not  retract  or  alter  the 
doctrine  after  he  saw  the  criticism,  but  republished  it  verbatim,  in  his  "  Improved  Grammar,"  of 
1831.  Both  err,  and  neither  convinces  the  other. 

OBS.  16. — In  this  instance,  as  Webster  and  Murray  both  teach  erroneously,  whoever  follows 
either,  will  be  led  into  many  mistakes.  The  fact  is,  that  some  of  the  foregoing  examples,  though 
perhaps  not  all,  are  perfectly  right ;  and  hundreds  more,  of  a  similar  character,  might  be  quoted, 
which  no  true  grammarian  would  presume  to  condemn.  But  what  have  these  to  do  with  the  mon- 
strous absurdity  of  supposing  objective  adjuncts  to  be  "  parts  of  the  actual  nominative  ?  "  The 
words,  ((part,"  "number,"  "  train,"  and  the  like,  are  collective  nouns  ;  and,  as  such,  they  often 
have  plural  verbs  in  agreement  with  them.  To  say  "A  number  of  men  and  women  were  present," 
is  as  correct  as  to  say,  "A  very  great  number  of  our  words  are  plainly  derived  from  the  Latin." — 
Blair's  Rhet.  p  86.  Murray's  criticism  therefore,  since  it  does  not  exempt  these  examples  from 
the  censure  justly  laid  upon  Webster's  rule,  will  certainly  mislead  the  learner.  And  again  the 
rule,  being  utterly  wrong  in  principle,  will  justify  blunders  like  these  :  "  The  truth  of  the  narra- 
tives have  never  been  disputed;" — "  The  virtue  of  these  men  and  women  are  indeed  exemplary." 
— Murray's  Gram.  p.  148.  In  one  of  his  notes,  Murray  suggests,  that  the  article  an  or  a  before  a 
collective  noun  must  confine  the  verb  to  the  singular  number  ;  as,  "A  great  number  of  men  and 
women  was  collected." — Ib.  p.  153.  But  this  doctrine  he  sometimes  forgot  or  disregarded  ;  as, 
"  But  if  a  number  of  interrogative  or  exclamatory  sentences  are  thrown  into  one  general  group." 
—Ib.  p.  284 ;  Comly,  166 ;  Fish,  160  ;  Ingersoll,  295. 

OBS.  17. — Cobbett,  in  a  long  paragraph,  (the  245th  of  his  English  Grammar,)  stoutly  denies 
that  any  relative  pronoun  can  ever  be  the  nominative  to  a  verb ;  and,  to  maintain  this  absurdity, 
he  will  have  the  relative  and  its  antecedent  to  be  always  alike  in  case,  the  only  thing  in  which 
they  are  always  independent  of  each  other.  To  prove  his  point,  he  first  frames  these  examples  : 
"  The  men  who  are  here,  the  man  who  is  here ;  the  cocks  that  crow,  the  cock  that  crows ;  "  and 
then  asks,  "  Now,  if  the  relative  be  the  nominative,  why  do  the  verbs  change,  seeing  that  here  is 
no  change  in  the  relative  ?  "  He  seems  ignorant  of  the  axiom,  that  two  things  severally  equal  to 
a  third,  are  also  equal  to  each  other :  and  accordingly,  to  answer  his  own  question,  resorts  to  a 
new  principle  :  "  The  verb  is  continually  varying.  Why  does  it  vary  ?  Because  it  disregards  the 
relative  and  goes  and  finds  the  antecedent,  and  accommodates  its  number  to  that." — Ibid.  To 
this  wild  doctrine,  one  erratic  Irishman  yields  a  full  assent ;  and,  in  one  American  grammatist,  we 
find  a  partial  and  unintentional  concurrence  with  it.*  But  the  fact  is,  the  relative  agrees  with 
the  antecedent,  and  the  verb  agrees  with  the  relative:  hence  all  three  of  the  words  are  alike  in 
person  and  number.  But  between  the  case  of  the  relative  and  that  of  the  antecedent,  there  never 
is,  or  can  be,  in  our  language,  any  sort  of  connexion  or  interference.  The  words  belong  to  dif- 
ferent clauses;  and,  if  both  be  nominatives,  they  must  be  the  subjects  of  different  verbs  :  or,  if 
the  noun  be  sometimes  put  absolute  in  the  nominative,  the  pronoun  is  still  left  to  its  own  verb. 
But  Cobbett  concludes  his  observation  thus :  "  You  will  observe,  therefore,  that,  when  I,  in  the  ety- 
mology and  syntax  as  relating  to  relative  pronouns,  speak  of  relatives  as  being  in  the  nominative 
case,  I  mean,  that  they  relate  to  nouns  or  to  personal  pronouns,  which  are  in  tJiat  case.  The  same 
observation  applies  to  the  other  cases." — Ib.  If  245.  This  suggestion  betrays  in  the  critic  an  unac- 
countable ignorance  of  his  subject. 

OBS.  18. — Nothing  is  more  certain,  than  that  the  relatives,  who,  which,  what,  that,  and  as,  are 
often  nominatives,  and  the  only  subjects  of  the  verbs  which  follow  them  :  as,  "  The  Lord  will  show 
who  are  his,  and  ioho  is  holy." — Numbers,  xvi,  5.  "  Hardly  is  there  any  person,  but  who,  on  such 
occasions,  is  disposed  to  be  serious." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  469.  "  Much  of  the  merit  of  Mr.  Addison's 
Cato  depends  upon  that  moral  turn  of  thought  which  disnnguisJies  it." — Ib.  469.  "  Admit  not  a 
single  word  but  what  is  necessary." — Ib.  p.  313.  "The  pleader  must  say  nothing  but  lohat  is 
true;  and,  at  the  same  time,  he  must  avoid  saying  any  thing  that  will  hurt  his  cause." — Ib.  313. 
"  I  proceed  to  mention  such  as  appear  to  me  most  material."— Ib.  p.  125.  After  but  or  than,  there 
is  sometimes  an  ellipsis  of  the  relative,  and  perhaps  also  of  the  antecedent;  an,  "  There  is  no 

*  "  No  Relative  can  become  a  Nominative  to  a  Verb."— Joseph  W.  Wright's  Philosophical  Grammar,  p.  162. 
"A  personal  pronoun  becomes  a  nominative,  though  a  relative  does  not." — Ib.  p.  152.  This  teacher  is  criticised 
by  the  other  as  follows  :  "  Wright  says,  that  '  Personal  pronouns  may  be  in  the  nominative  case,'  and  that '  rela- 
tive pronouns  can  not  be."1  Yet  he  declines  his  relatives  thus  : '  Nominative  case,  ivho ;  possessive,  whose ;  objective, 
whom.""— Oliver  B.  Peirce's  Grammar,  p.  331.  This  latter  author  here  sees  the  palpable  inconsistency  of  the 
former,  and  accordingly  treats  who,  which,  what,  whatever,  &c.,  as  relative  pronouns  of  the  nominative  case  —  or, 
as  he  calls  them,  "connective  substitutes  in  the  subjective  form;"  but  when  what  or  whatever  precedes  its 
noun,  or  when  as  is  preferred  to  who  or  vfhich,  he  refers  both  verbs  to  the  noun  itself,  and  adopts  the  very  prin- 
ciple by  which  Cobbett  and  Wright  erroneously  parse  the  verbs  which  belong  to  the  relatives,  who,  which,  and 
that:  as,  "Whatever  man  will  adhere  to  strict  principles  of  honesty,  will  find  his  reward  in  himself."— Peirct's 
Gram.  p.  55.  Here  Peirce  considers  whatever  to  be  a  mere  adjective,  and  man  the  subject  of  will  adhere  and  will 
find.  "  Such  persons  as  write  grammar,  should,  themselves,  be  grammarians."—/*,  p.  330.  Here  he  declares  as 
to  be  no  pronoun,  but  "  a  modifying  connective,"  i.  e.  conjunction  ;  and  supposes  persons  to  be  the  direct  subject 
pf  write  as  well  as  of  should  be :  as  if  a  conjunction  could  connect  a  verb  and  its  nominative ! 


CHAP.  VI.]  SYNTAX. RULE  XIV. VERBS. NOTES.  651 

heart  but  must  feel  them." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  469.  "  There  is  no  one  but  must  be  sensible  of  the 
extravagance." — Ib.  p.  479.  "  Since  we  may  date  from  it  a  more  general  and  a  more  concerted 
opposition  to  France  than  there  had  been  before." — Bolingbroke,  on  JH-st.  p.  213.  That  is,  "  than 
what  there  had  been  before ;  "—or,  "than  any  opposition  which  there  had  been  before." 
"  John  has  more  fruit  than  can  be  gathered  in  a  week." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  pp.  196  and  331.  I 
suppose  this  sentence  to  mean,  "  John  has  more  fruit  than  what  can.  be  gathered  in  a  week." 
But  the  author  of  it  denies  that  it  is  elliptical,  and  seems  to  suppose  that  can  be  gathered  agrees 
with  John.  Part  of  his  comment  stands  thus  :  "  The  above  sentence — '  John  has  more  fruit  than 
can  be  gathered  in  a  week' — in  every  respect  full  and  perfect — must,  to  be  grammatical !  according 
to  all  the  '  old  theories,'  stand,  John  has  more  fruit  than  that  fruit  is  which,  or  which  fruit  can  be 
gathered  in  a  week  ! ! !  " — Ib.  331.  What  shall  be  done  with  the  headlong  critic  who  thus  mistakes 
exclamation  points  for  arguments,  and  multiplies  his  confidence  in  proportion  to  his  fallacies  and 
errors  ? 

OBS.  19. — In  a  question,  the  nominative  /  or  thou  put  after  the  verb,  controls  the  agreement, 
in  preference  to  the  interrogative  who,  which,  or  what,  put  before  it ;  as,  "  Who  am  I?  What  am 
If  Who  art  thou  *  What  art  thou  1 "  And,  by  analogy,  this  seems  to  be  the  case  with  all  plurals  ; 
as,  "  Who  are  toef  Who  are  you?  Who  are  they  f  What  are  these?"  But  sometimes  the  interroga- 
tive pronoun  is  the  only  nominative  used;  and  then  the  verb,  whether  singular  or  plural,  must 
agree  with  this  nominative,  in  the  third  person,  and  not,  as  Cobbett  avers,  with  an  antecedent 
understood :  as,  "  Who  is  in  the  house  ?  Who  are  in  the  house  ?  Who  strikes  the  iron  ?  Who  strike 
the  iron  ?  Who  was  in  the  street?  Who  were  in  the  street  ?  "—Cobbctt's  Gram,  f  245.  All  the 
interrogative  pronouns  may  be  used  in  cither  number,  but,  in  examples  like  the  following,  I  im- 
agine the  singular  to  be  more  proper  than  the  plural : lt  What  have  become  of  our  previous  customs  :" 
— Hunt's  Byron,  p.  121.  "  And  what  hate  become  of  my  resolutions  to  return  to  God  ?  " — Young 
Christian,  2d  Ed.,  p.  91.  When  two  nominatives  of  different  properties  come  after  the  verb,  the 
first  controls  the  agreement,  and  neither  the  plural  number  nor  the  most  worthy  person  is  always 
preferred  ;  as,  "  7s  it  I?  Is  it  thou  f  Is  it  they  f  " 

OBS.  20. — The  verb  after  a  relative  sometimes  has  the  appearance  of  disagreeing  with  its  nomi- 
native, because  the  writer  and  his  reader  disagree  in  their  conceptions  of  its  mood.  When  a  rel- 
ative clause  is  subjoined  to  what  is  itself  subjunctive  or  conditional,  some  writers  suppose  that  the 
latter  verb  should  be  put  in  the  subjunctive  mood  ;  as,  "  If  there  beany  intrigue  which  stand  sey- 
arate  and  independent." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  457.  "The  man  also  would  be  of  considerable 
use,  who  should  vigilantly  attend  to  every  illegal  practice  that  were  beginning  to  prevail." — Camp- 
bell's Rhct.  p.  171.  But  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  that  relatives,  in  English,  are  not  compatible 
with  the  subjunctive  mood;  and  it  is  certain,  that  no  other  mood  than  the  indicative  or  the  poten- 
tial is  commonly  used  after  them.  Say  therefore,  "  If  there  be  any  intrigue  which  stands,"  &c. 
In  assuming  to  himself  the  other  text,  Murray's  says,  "That  man  also  would  be  of  considerable 
use,  who  should  vigilantly  attend  to  every  illegal  practice  that  was  beginning  to  prevail." — Octavo 
Gram.  p.  366.  But  this  seems  too  positive.  The  potential  imperfect  would  be  better:  viz., 
"  that  miqht  begin  to  prevail." 

OHS.  21. — The  termination  st  or  est,  with  which  the  second  person  singular  of  the  verb  is  formed 
in  the  indicative  present,  and,  for  the  solemn  style,  in  the  imperfect  also  ;  and  the  termination  s 
or  es,  with  which  the  third  person  singular  is  formed  in  the  indicative  present,  and  only  there  ; 
are  signs  of  the  mood  and  tense,  as  well  as  of  the  person  and  number,  of  the  verb.  They  are  not 
applicable  to  a  future  uncertainty,  or  to  any  mere  supposition  in  which  we  would  leave  the  time 
indefinite  and  make  the  action  hypothetical ;  because  they  are  commonly  understood  to  fix  the 
time  of  the  verb  to  the  present  or  the  past,  and  to  assume  the  action  as  either  doing  or  done. 
For  this  reason,  our  best  writers  have  always  omitted  those  terminations,  when  they  intended  to 
represent  the  action  as  being  doubtful  and  contingent  as  well  as  conditional.  And  this  omission 
constitutes  the  whole  formal  difference  between  the  indicative  and  the  subjunctive  mood.  The 
ial  difference  has,  by  almost  all  grammarians,  been  conceived  to  extend  somewhat  further ; 
for,  if  it  were  confined  strictly  within  the  limits  of  the  literal  variation,  the  subjunctive  mood 
would  embrace  only  two  or  three  words  in  the  whole  formation  of  each  verb.  After  the  example 
of  Priestley,  Dr.  Murray,  A.  Murray,  Harrison,  Alexander,  and  others,  I  have  given  to  it  all  the 
persons  of  the  two  simple  tenses,  singular  and  plural ;  and,  for  various  reasons,  I  am  decidedly  of 
the  opinion,  that  these  are  its  most  proper  limits.  The  perfect  and  pluperfect  tenses,  being  past, 
cannot  express  what  is  really  contingent  or  uncertain;  and  since,  in  expressing  conditionally 
what  may  or  may  not  happen,  we  use  the  subjunctive  present  as  embracing  the  future  indefinitely, 
there  is  no  need  of  any  formal  futures  for  this  mood.  The  comprehensive  brevity  of  this  form  of 
the  verb,  is  what  chiefly  commends  it.  It  is  not  an  elliptical  form  of  the  future,  as  some  affirm  it 
to  be  ;  nor  equivalent  to  the  indicative  present,  as  others  will  have  it ;  but  a  true  suhjum-tire, 
though  its  distinctive  parts  are  chiefly  confined  to  the  second  and  third  persons  singular  of  the 
simple  verb  :  as,  "  Though  thou  wash  thee  with  nitre." — Jer.  ii,  22.  "  It  is  just,  O  great  king  ! 
that  a  murderer  perish." — Corneille.  "  This  single  crime,  in  my  judgment,  were  sufficient  to  con- 
demn him." — Duwnn's  Cicero,  p.  82.  "  Beware  that  thou  briny  not  my  son  thither." — BIBLE: 
Ward's  Gram.  p.  128.  "See  [that]  thou  tell  no  man." — Id.  ib.  These  examples  can  hardly  be 
resolved  into  any  thing  else  than  the  subjunctive  mood. 

NOTES  TO  RULE  XIV. 

NOTE  I. — When  the  nominative  is  a  relative  pronoun,  the  verb  must  agree  with  it 
in  person  and  number,  according  to  the  pronoun's  agreement  with  its  true  antecedent 
or  antecedents.  Example  of  error  :  "  The  second  book  [of  the  .EncidJ  is  one  of  the 
greatest  masterpieces  that  ever  was  executed  by  any  hand." — Blair's  J\het.  p.  -J. '!'.». 
Here  the  true  antecedent  is  masterpieces,  and  not  the  word  one;  but  was  executed 


552  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

is  singular,  and  "  by  any  hand  "  implies  but  one  agent.  Either  say,  "  It  is  one  of 
the  greatest  masterpieces  that  ever  were  executed;"  or  else,  "  It  is  the  greatest 
masterpiece  that  ever  was  executed  by  any  hand"  But  these  assertions  differ  much 
in  their  import. 

NOTE  II. — "  The  adjuncts  of  the  nominative  do  not  control  its  agreement  with  the 
verb  ;  as,  Six  months'  interest  was  due.  The  progress  of  his  forces  was  impeded." 
—  W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  131.  "The  ship,  with  all  her  furniture,  was  destroyed." 
— Murray's  Gram.  p.  150.  "All  appearances  of  modesty  are  favourable  and  pre- 
possessing.— Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  308.  "  The  power  of  relishing  natural  enjoyments  is 
soon  gone." — 'Fuller,  on  the  Gospel,  p.  135. 

NOTE  III. — Any  phrase,  sentence,  mere  word,  or  other  sign,  taken  as  one  whole, 
and  made  the  subject  of  an  assertion,  requires  a  verb  in  the  third  person  singular ; 
as,  "  To  lie  is  base." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  154.  "  When,  to  read  and  write,  was  of 
itself  an  honorary  distinction." — HazlitCs  Led.  p.  40.  "  To  admit  a  God  and  then 
refuse  to  worship  him,  is  a  modern  and  inconsistent  practice." — Fuller,  on  the  Gos- 
pel, p.  30.  **  We  is  a  personal  pronoun." — L.  Murray'' s  Gram.  p.  227.  "Th  has 
two  sounds." — Ib.  p.  161.  "  The  's  is  annexed  to  each." — Buckets  Gram.  p.  89. 
"Ld.  stands  for  lord" — Webster's  American  Diet.  8vo. 

NOTE  IV. — The  pronominal  adjectives,  each,  one*  either,  and  neither,  are  always- 
in  the  third  person  singular ;  and,  when  they  are  the  leading  words  in  their  clauses, 
they  require  verbs  and  pronouns  to  agree  with  them  accordingly  :  as,  "JEach  of  you 
is  entitled  to  his  share/' — "  Let  no  one  deceive  himself." 

NOTE  V. — A  neuter  or  a  passive  verb  between  two  nominatives  should  be  made  to- 
agree  with  that  which  precedes  it  ;f  as,  "  Words  are  wind  :  "  except  when  the  terms 
are  transposed,  and  the  proper  subject  is  put  after  the  verb  by  question  or  hyperba- 
ton ;  as,  "His  pavilion  were  dark  waters  and  thick  clouds  of  the  sky." — Bible. 
"  Who  art  thou?  " — Ib.  "  The  wages  of  sift  is  death." — Ib.  Murray,  Comly, 
and  others.  But,  of  this  last  example,  Churchill  says,  "  Wages  are  the  subject,  of 
which  it  is  affirmed,  that  they  are  death."— New  Gram.  p.  314.  If  so,  is  ought  to 
be  are  ;  unless  Dr.  Webster  is  right,  who  imagines  wages  to  be  singular,  and  cites  this 
example  to  prove  it  so.  See  his  Improved  Gram.  p.  21. 

NOTE  VI. — When  the  verb  cannot  well  be  made  singular,  the  nominative  should  be- 
made  plural,  that  they  may  agree  :  or,  if  the  verb  cannot  be  plural,  let  the  nomina- 
tive be  singular.  Example  of  error:  "  For  every  one  of  them  know  their  several 
duties." — Hope  of  Israel,  p.  72.  Say,  "  For  all  of  them  know  their  several  duties." 

NOTE  VII. — When  the  verb  has  different  forms,  that  form  should  be  adopted, 
which  is  the  most  consistent  with  present  and  reputable  usage  in  the  style  employed  r 
thus,  to  say  familiarly,  "  The  clock  hath  stricken  ;  " — "  Thou  laughedst  and  talkedstr 

*  Professor  Fowler  says,  "  One  when  contrasted  with  other,  sometimes  represents  plural  nouns;  as, '  The  reason 
why  the  one  are  ordinarily  taken  for  real  qualities,  and  the  other  for  bare  powers,  seems  to  be.'— LOCKE."— t  owl- 
ets E.  Gram.  8vo,  1850,  p.  242.  This  doctrine  is,  I  think,  erroneous  ;  and  thje  example,  too,  is  defective.  For,, 
if  one  may  be  plural,  we  have  no  distinctive  definition  or  notion  of  either  number.  "  One  "  and  "  other  "  are  not 
here  to  be  regarded  as  the  leading  words  in  their  clauses  ;  they  are  mere  adjectives,  each  referring  to  the  collective 
noun  class  or  species,  understood,  which  should  have  been  expressed  after  the  former.  See  Etym.  Obs.  19,  p.  264. 

t  Dr.  Priestley  says,  "  It  is  a  rule,  I  believe,  in  all  grammars,  that  when  a  verb  comes  between  two  nouns,  either 
of  which  may  be  understood  as  the  subject  of  the  affirmation,  that  it  may  agree  with  either  of  them  ;  but  some 
regard  must  be  had  to  that  which  is  more  naturally  the  subject  of  it,  as  also  to  that  which  stands  next  to  the  verb  ;. 
for  if  no  regard  be  paid  to  these  circumstances,  the  construction  will  be  harsh :  [as,]  Minced  pies  was  regarded  as 
a  profane  and  superstitious  viand  by  the  sectaries.  Hume's  Hist.  A  great  cause  of  the  low  state  of  industry  were 
the  restraints  put  upon  it.  Ib.  By  this  term  was  understood,  such  persons  as  invented,  or  drew  up  rules  for 
themselves  and  the  world."— English  Gram,  rvith  Notes,  p.  189.  The  Doctor  evidently  supposed  all  these  exam- 
ples to  be  bad  English,  or  at  least  harsh  in  their  construction.  And  the  first  two  unquestionably  are  so  ;  while  the 
last,  whether  right  or  wrong,  has  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  his  rule  :  it  has  but  one  nominative,  and  that  appears 
to  be  part  of  a  definition,  and  not  the  true  subject  of  the  verb.  Nor,  indeed,  is  the  first  any  more  relevant ; 
because  Hume's  "  viand  :'  cannot  possibly  be  taken  "as  the  subject  of  the  affirmation."  Lindley  Murray,  who 
literally  copies  Priestley's  note,  (all  but  the  first  line  and  the  last,)  rejects  these  two  examples,  substituting  tor 
the  former,  "  His  meat  was  locusts  and  wild  honey,"  and  for  the  latter,  "  The  wages  of  sin  is  death."  _  He  very 
evidently  supposes  all  three  of  his  examples  to  be  good  English.  In  this,  according  to  Churchill,  he  is  at  fault 
in  two  instances  out  of  the  three  ;  and  still  more  so,  in  regard  to  the  note,  or  rule,  itself.  In  stead  of  being  "  a  rule 
in  all  grammars,"  it  is  (so  far  as  I  know)  found  only  in  these  authors,  and  such  as  have  implicitly  copied  it  from 
Murray.  Among  these  last,  are  Alger,  Ingersoll,  II.  C.  Smith,  Fisk,  and  Merchant.  Churchill,  who  cites  it  only 
as  Murray's,  and  yet  expends  two  pages  of  criticism  upon  it,  very  justly  says :  "  To  make  that  the  nominative 
case,  [or  subject  of  the  affirmation,]  which  happens  to  stand  nearest  to  the  verb,  appears  to  me  to  be  on  a  par  with 
the  blunder  pointed  out  in  note  204th  ;  "  [that  is,  of  making  the  verb  agree  with  an  objective  case  which  happens 
&  ptand  nearer  to  it,  than  its  subject,  or  nominative.]—  Churchill's,  tftw  Gram.  p.  313. 


CHAP.  TI.]  SYNTAX. RULE  XIV. TERBS. ERRORS.  553 

when  thou  oughtest  to  have  been  silent ;  " — "  He  readeth  and  writeth,  but  he  doth  not 
cipher,"  would  be  no  better,  than  to  use  don't,  won't,  can't,  shan't,  and  didn't,  in 
preaching. 

NOTE  VIII. — Every  finite  verb  not  in  the  imperative  mood,  should  have  a  separate 
nominative  expressed  ;  as,  "/came,  /  saw,  I  conquered :  "  except  when  the  verb  is 
repeated  for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  or  connected  to  an  other  in  the  same  construction,  or 
put  after  but  or  than  ;  as,  "  Not  an  eminent  orator  has  lived  but  is  an  example  of  it." 
—  Ware.  "  Where  more  is  meant  than  meets  the  ear." — Milton's  Allegro.  (See 
Obs.  5th  and  Obs.  18th  above.) 

"  They  bud,  blow,  wither,  fall,  and  die." — Watts. 
"That  evermore  his  teeth  they  chatter, 
Chatter,  chatter,  chatter  still." — Wordsworth. 

NOTE  IX. — A  future  contingency  is  best  expressed  by  a  verb  in  the  subjunctive 
present ;  and  a  mere  supposition,  with  indefinite  time,  by  a  verb  in  the  subjunctive  im- 
imperfect ;  but  a  conditional  circumstance  assumed  as  a  fact,  requires  the  indicative 
mood  :*  as,  "  If  thou  forsake  him,  he  will  cast  thee  offforever." — Bible.  "  If  it  were 
not  so,  I  would  have  told  you." — Ib.  "  If  thou  went,  nothing  would  be  gained." — 
"  Though  he  is  poor,  he  is  contented." — "Though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes 
he  became  poor." — 2  Cor.  viii,  9. 

NOTE  X. — In  general,  every  such  use  or  extension  of  the  subjunctive  mood,  as  the 
reader  will  be  likely  to  mistake  for  a  discord  between  the  verb  and  its  nominative, 
ought  to  be  avoided  as  an  impropriety  :  as,  "  We  are  not  sensible  of  disproportion,  till 
the  difference  between  the  quantities  compared  become  the  most  striking  circumstance." 
— Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  ii,  341.  Say  rather,  "  becomes  ;  "  which  is  indicative.  "  Till 
the  general  preference  of  certain  forms  have  been  declared." — Priestley's  Gram. 
Pref.  p.  xvii.  Say,  "  has  been  declared;  "  for  "preference"  is  here  the  nominative, 
and  Dr.  Priestley  himself  recognizes  no  other  subjunctive  tenses  than  the  present  and 
the  imperfect ;  as,  "If  thou  love,  If  thou  loved" — Ib.  p.  16, 


J 


IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XIV. 

UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — YEIIB  AFTER  THE  NOMINATIVE. 
"  Before  you  left  Sicily,  you  was  reconciled  to  Verres." — Duncan's  Cicero,  p.  19. 


ORMPLE. — Not  proper,  bwanse  the  passive  vorb  iras  reconciler)  is  of  the  singular  number,  and  does  not  agree 
i  its  nominative  you,  which  is  of  the  second  person  plural.      But,  according  to  Rule  14th,  "  Every  finite  Terb 

must  agree  with  its  subject,  or  nominative.  In  person  and  number."      Therefore,  was  reconciled  should  be  were 

reconciled;  thua,  "  Before  you  left  Sicily,  you  were  reconciled  to  Verres."] 

•'  Knowing  that  you  was  ray  old  master's  good  friend." — Sped.  No.  517.  "When  the 
judge  dare  not  act,  where  is  the  loser's  remedy?" — Webster's  Essays,  p.  131.  "Which 
extends  it  no  farther  than  the  variation  of  the  verb  extend." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  Vol.  i, 
p.  211.  "  They  presently  dry  without  hurt,  as  myself  hath  often  proved." — Eager  Williams. 
"  Whose  goings  forth  hath  been  from  of  old,  from  everlasting." — Keith's  Evidences.  "You 
was  paid  to  tight  against  Alexander,  not  to  rail  at  him." — Porter's  Analysis,  p.  70. 
"  Whore  more  than  one  part  of  speech  is  almost  always  concerned." — ChurchilF 's  Gram. 
Pref.  p.  viii.  "Nothing  less  than  murders,  rapines,  and  conflagrations,  employ  their 
thoughts." — Dunran's  Cicero,  p.  I7o.  "I  wondered  where  you  was,  my  dear." — Lloyd's 
Poetns,  p.  1 8/5 .  "  When  thou  most  sweetly  sings."— Drummond  of  Haicthorndrn.  "  Who  dare, 
at  the  present  day,  avow  himself  equal  to  the  task?" — Music  of  Nature,  p.  11.  "  Every- 
body are  very  kind  to  her,  and  not  discourteous  to  me." — Byron's  Letters.  "As  to  wha't 
thou  says  respecting  the  diversity  of  opinions." — The  Friend,  Vol.  ix,  p.  1-3.  "  Thy  nature, 
immortality,  who  knowcst  ? " — Ha-rest's  Gram.  p.  38.  "The  natural  distinction  of  sex  in 
animals  gives  rise  to  what,  in  grammar,  is  called  genders." — Ib.  p.  51.  "Some  pains  has 
likewise  been  taken." — Scott's  Pref.  to  Bible.  "And  many  a  steed  in  his  stables  were 

*  "  If  the  excellence  of  Dryden's  works  wax  lessened  by  his  indigence,  their  number  wan  increased." — Dr.  John- 
.ion.  This  is  an  example  of  the  proper  and  necessary  uae  of  the  indicative  mood  after  an  if,  the  matter  of  the 
condition  being  regarded  as  a  fact.  But  Dr.  Webster,  who  prefers  the  indicative  too  often,  has  the  following  note 
upon  it :  "  If  Johnson  had  followed  the  common  grammars,  or  even  his  own,  which  is  prefixed  to  big  Diction- 
ary, he  would  have  written  \i-trf  — 4  If  the  excellence  of  Dryden'g  works  were  lessened  '  —  Fortunatply  this  great 
:nan,  led  by  usage  rather  than  by  books,  wrote  correct  English,  instead  of  grammar.1' — Philosophical  Gram.  p. 
Now  this  is  as  absurd,  as  it  is  characteristic  of  the  grammar  from  which  it  is  taken.  Each  form  IB  right 
sometimes,  and  neither  can  be  used  for  the  other,  without  error. 


THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

seen." — Penwarne's  Poems,  p.  108.  "They  was  forced  to  eat  what  never  was  esteemed 
food." — Josephus's  Jewish  War,  B.  i,  Ch.  i,  §  7.  "  This  that  yourself  hath  spoken,  I  desire 
that  they  may  take  their  oaths  upon." — Hutchinson's  Mass,  ii,  435.  "  By  men  whose  expe- 
rience best  qualify  them  to  judge." — Committee  on  Literature,  N.  Y.  Legislature.  "  He  dare 
venture  to  kill  and  destroy  several  other  kinds  of  fish." — Johnson's  Diet.  w.  Perch.  "If  a 
gudgeon  meet  a  roach,  He  dare  not  venture  to  approach." — SWIFT  :  Ib.  w.  Roach.  "  Which 
thou  endeavours  to  establish  unto  thyself." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  164.  "But  they  pray 
together  much  oftener  than  thou  insinuates." — Ib.  i,  215.  "Of  people  of  all  denomina"- 
tions,  over  whom  thou  presideth." — The  Friend,  Vol.  v,  p.  198.  "  I  can  produce  ladies  and 
gentlemen  whose  progress  have  been  astonishing." — Chazotte,  on  Teaching  Lang.  p.  62. 
"  Which  of  these  two  kinds  of  vice  are  more  criminal  ? " — Broicris  Estimate,  ii,  115.  "  Every 
twenty-four  hours  affords  to  us  the  vicissitudes  of  day  and  night." — Smith's  New  Gram.  p*. 
103.  "Every  four  years  adds  another  day." — Ib.  "Every  error  I  could  find,  Have  my 
busy  muse  employed." — Swift's  Poems,  p.  335.  "A  studious  scholar  deserve  the  approba- 
tion of  his  teacher." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  226.  "  Perfect  submission  to  the  rules  of  a  school 
indicate  good  breeding." — Ib.  p.  37.  "A  comparison  in  which  more  than  two  is  concerned." 
— Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  114.  "  By  the  facilities  which  artificial  language  afford  them." — 0. 
B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  16.  "Now  thyself  hath  lost  both  lop  and  top." — SPENSER:  Joh.  Diet, 
w.  Lop.  "  Glad  tidings  is  brought  to  the  poor." — Campbell's  Gospels:  Luke,  vii,  23.  "Upon 
which,  all  that  is  pleasurable,  or  affecting  in  elocution,  chiefly  depend." — Sheridan's  Elocu- 
tion, p.  129.  "No  pains  has  been  spared  to  render  this  work  complete." — Bullions,  Lai. 
Gram.  Pref.  p.  iv.  "  The  United  States  contains  more  than  a  twentieth  part  of  the  land  of 
this  globe." — DE  WITT  CLINTON:  Cobb's  N.  Amer.  Reader,  p.  173.  "I  am  mindful  that 
myself  is  (or  am)  strong." — Fowler's  E.  Gram.  §  500.  "Myself  is  (not  am)  weak;  thyself 
i*  (not  art)  weak."— Ib.  §  479. 

"  How  pale  each  worshipful  and  reverend  guest 
Rise  from  a  clergy  or  a  city  feast !" — Pope,  Sat.  ii,  1.  75. 

UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — VERB  BEFORE  THE  NOMINATIVE. 

"  Where  was  you  born  ?  In  London." — Buchanan's  Syntax,  p.  133.  "  There  is  frequent 
occasions  for  commas." — Ingersoll's  Gram.  p.  281.  "There  necessarily  follows  from  thence, 
these  plain  and  unquestionable  consequences." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  191.  "And  to  this 
impression  contribute  the  redoubled  effort." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  112.  "Or  if  he  was, 
was  there  no  spiritual  men  then  ? " — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  86.  "  So  by  these  two  also  i* 
signified  their  contrary  principles." — Ib.  iii,  200.  "  In  the  motions  made  with  the  hands, 
consist  the  chief  part  of  gesture  in  speaking." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  336.  "  Dare  he  assume  the 
name  of  a  popular  magistrate?" — Duncan's  Cicero,  p.  140.  "There  was  no  damages  as  in 
England,  and  so  Scott  lost  his  wager." — Byron.  "In  fact  there  exists  such  resemblances." 
— Kames,  EL  of  Crit.  ii,  64.  "To  him  giveth  all  the  prophets  witness." — Crewdson's  Beacon, 
p.  79.  "  That  there  was  so  many  witnesses  and  actors." — Addison's  Evidences,  p.  37.  "  How 
does  this  man's  definitions  stand  affected?" — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  136.  "Whence  come* 
all  the  powers  and  prerogatives  of  rational  beings  ? " — Ib.  p.  144.  "  Nor  does  the  Scriptures 
cited  by  thee  prove  thy  intent." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  155.  "  Nor  do  the  Scripture  cited  by 
thee  prove  the  contrary." — Ib.  i,  211.  "  Why  then  cite  thou  a  Scripture  which  is  so  plain 
and  clear  for  it?" — Ib.  i,  163.  " But  what  saith  the  Scriptures  as  to  respect  of  persons 
among  Christians  ? " — Ib.  i,  404.  "  But  in  the  mind  of  man,  while  in  the  savage  state, 
there  seems  to  be  hardly  any  ideas  but  what  enter  by  the  senses." — Robertson's  America,  i, 
289.  "  What  sounds  have  each  of  the  vowels  ? " — Griscom's  Questions.  "  Out  of  this  has 
grown  up  aristocracies,  monarchies,  despotisms,  tyrannies." — Brownson's  Ehvood,  p.  222. 
"And  there  was  taken  up,  of  fragments  that  remained  to  them,  twelve  baskets." — Luke, 
ix,  17.  "There  seems  to  be  but  two  general  classes." — Day's  Gram.  p.  3.  "Hence  arises 
the  six  forms  of  expressing  time." — Ib.  p.  37.  "There  seems  to  be  no  other  words  re- 
quired."— Chandler's  Gram.  p.  28.  "If  there  is  two,  the  second  increment  is  the  syllable 
next  the  last." — Bullions,  Lat.  Gram.,  12th  Ed.,  p.  281.  "Hence  arises  the  following  ad- 
vantages."— Id.  Analyt.  and  Pract.  Gram.,  1849,  p.  67.  "There  is  no  data  by  which  it  can 
be  estimated." — J.  C.  Calhoun's  Speech,  March  4,  1850.  "  To  this  class  belong  the  Chinese 
[language],  in  which  we  have  nothing  but  naked  roots." — Fowler's  E.  Gram.  8vo,  1850,  p. 
27.  "  There  was  several  other  grotesque  figures  that  presented  themselves." — Sped.  No. 
173.  "In  these  consist  that  sovereign  good  which  ancient  sages  so  much  extol." — Perci- 
val's  Tales,  ii,  221.  "Here  comes  those  I  have  done  good  to  against  my  will." — Shak. 
Shrew.  "  Where  there  is  more  than  one  auxiliary." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  80. 

"  On  me  to  cast  those  eyes  where  shine  nobility." — SIDNEY  :  Joh.  Diet. 

"Here's  half-pence  in  plenty,  for  one  you'll  have  twenty." — Swift's  Poems,  p.  347. 

"Ah,  Jockey,  ill  advises  thou,  I  wis, 
To  think  of  songs  at  such  a  time  as  this," — Churchill,  p.  18. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — THE  RELATIVE  AND  VEKB. 

"Thou  who  loves  us,  wilt  protect  us  still." — Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  67.  "To  use  that 
endearing  language,  Our  Father,  who  is  in  heaven." — Bates' s  Doctrines,  p.  103.  "  Resem- 


CHAP.  VI.]  SYNTAX. RULE  XIV. VERBS. ERRORS.  555 

bling  the  passions  that  produceth  these  actions." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  157.  "Except 
dwarf,  grief,  hoof,  muff,  &c.  which  takes  *  to  make  the  plural." — Ash's  Gram.  p.  19.  "As 
the  cattle  that  goeth  before  me  and  the  children  be  able  to  endure." — Gen.  xxxiii,  14. 
"  Where  is  the  man  who  dare  affirm  that  such  an  action  is  mad?" — Wertcr.  "The  ninth 
book  of  Livy  affords  one  of  the  most  beautiful  exemplifications  of  historical  painting,  that 
is  any  where  to  be  met  with." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  360.  "  In  some  studies  too,  that  relate  to 
taste  and  fine  writing,  which  is  our  object,"  &c. — 76.  p.  349.  "  Of  those  affecting  situations, 
which  makes  man's  heart  feel  for  man." — Ib.  p.  464.  "  We  see  very  plainly,  that  it  is  neither 
Osmyn,  nor  Jane  Shore,  that  speak." — Ib.  p.  468.  "  It  should  assume  that  briskness  and 
ease,  which  is  suited  to  the  freedom  of  dialogue." — Ib.  p.  469.  "  Yet  they  grant,  that  none 
ought  to  be  admitted  into  the  ministry,  but  such  as  is  truly  pious." — Barclay's  Works,  iii, 
147.  "This  letter  is  one  of  the  best  that  has  been  written  about  Lord  Byron." — Hunt's 
Byron,  p.  119.  "Thus,  besides  what  was  sunk,  the  Athenians  took  above  two  hundred 
ships."— Goldsmith's  Greece,  i,  102.  "To  have  made  and  declared  such  orders  as  was 
necessary."— Hutchinson's  Hist,  i,  470.  "The  idea  of  such  a  collection  of  men  as  make  an 
army." — Locke's  Essay,  p.  217.  "I'm  not  the  first  that  have  been  wretched." — Southern's 
In.  Ad.  Act  2.  "And  the  faint  sparks  of  it,  which  is  in  the  angels,  are  concealed  from  our 
view." — Calvin's  Institutes,  B.  i,  Ch.  11.  "  The  subjects  are  of  such  a  nature,  as  allow  room 
for  much  diversity  of  taste  and  sentiment." — Blair  s  Rhet.  Pref.  p.  5.  "It  is  in  order  to 
propose  examples  of  such  perfection,  as  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  real  examples  of  society." 
— Formey's  Belles-Lettres,  p.  16.  "I  do  not  believe  that  he  would  amuse  himself  with  such 
fooleries  as  has  been  attributed  to  him." — Ib.  p.  218.  "That  shepherd,  who  first  taughtst 
the  chosen  seed." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  238.  "With  respect  to  the  vehemence  and 
warmth  which  is  allowed  in  popular  eloquence." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  261.  "Ambition  is  one 
of  those  passions  that  is  never  to  be  satisfied." — Home's  Art  of  Thinking,  p.  36.  "  Thou 
wast  he  that  leddest  out  and  broughtest  in  Israel." — 1  Chron.  xi,  2.  "Art  thou  the  man 
of  God  that  earnest  from  Judah  ? " — 1  Kings,  xiii,  14. 

"How  beauty  is  excell'd  by  manly  grace 
And  wisdom,  which  alone  is  truly  fair." — Miltoti,  B.  iv,  1.  490. 

"  What  art  thou,  speak,  that  on  designs  unknown, 
While  others  sleep,  thus  range  the  camp  alone  ? " — Pope,  U.  x.  90. 

UXDER  NOTE  II. — NOMINATIVE  WITH  ADJUNCTS. 

"The  literal  sense  of  the  words  are,  that  the  action  had  been  done." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist, 
of  Lang,  i,  65.  "  The  rapidity  of  his  movements  were  beyond  example." —  Wells' s  Hist.  p.  161. 
"  Murray's  Grammar,  together  with  his  Exercises  and  Key,  have  nearly  superseded  every 
thing  else  of  the  kind." — EVAN'S  REC.:  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  ii,  305.  "The  mechanism  of 
clocks  and  watches  were  totally  unknown." — HUME  :  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  193.  "  The  it, 
together  with  the  verb  to  be,  express  states  of  being." — Cobbett's  Eng.  Gram.  If  190.  "  Hence 
it  is,  that  the  profuse  variety  of  objects  in  some  natural  landscapes,  neither  breed  confusion 
nor  fatigue." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  266.  "  Such  a  clatter  of  sounds  indicate  rage  and 
ferocity." — Music  of  Nature,  p.  195.  "  One  of  the  fields  make  threescore  square  yards,  and 
the  other  only  fifty-five." — Dancan's  Logic,  p.  8.  "  The  happy  effects  of  this  fable  is  worth 
attending  to." — Bailey's  Ovid,  p.  x.  "  Yet  the  glorious  serenity  of  its  parting  rays  still  lin- 
ger with  us." — Gould's  Advocate.  "  Enough  of  its  form  and  force  are  retained  to  render 
them  uneasy." — Maturin's  Sermons,  p.  261.  "The  works  of  nature,  in  this  respect,  is  ex- 
tremely regular." — Dr.  Pratt' s  Wertcr.  "  No  small  addition  of  exotic  and  foreign  words  and 
phrases  have  been  made  by  commerce." — BicknelFs  Gram.  Part  ii,  p.  10.  "The  dialect  of 
some  nouns  are  taken  notice  of  in  the  notes." — Milnes,  Greek  Gram.  p.  255.  "It  has  been 
said,  that  a  discovery  of  the  full  resources  of  the  arts,  afford  the  means  of  debasement,  or  of 
perversion." — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  xxvii.  "  By  which  means  the  Order  of  the  Words  are 
disturbed."— Holmes  s  Rhet.  B.  i,  p.  57.  "The  twofold  influence  of  these  and  the  others 
require  the  asscrterto  be  in  the  plural  form." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  251.  "And  each  of 
these  afford  employment." — Pcrcival's  Tales,  Vol.  ii,  p.  175.  "  The  pronunciation  01  ulC 
vowels  are  best  explained  under  the  rules  relative  to  the  consonants." — Coar's  Gram.  p.  7. 
"  The  judicial  power  of  these  courts  extend  to  all  cases  in  law  and  equity." — Hall  and  Bakei-'s 
School  Hist.  p.  286.  "  One  of  you  have  stolen  my  money." — Rational  Humorist,  p.  45. 
"  Such  redundancy  of  epithets,  instead  of  pleasing,  produce  satiety  and  disgust." — Kames, 
El  of  Crit.  ii,  25(5.  "  It  has  been  alleged,  that  a  compliance  with  the  rules  of  Rhetoric,  tend 
to  cramp  the  mind."— lliley's  Gram.,  3d  Ed.,  p.  187.  "  Each  of  these  are  presented  to  us  in 
different  relations." — Hendrick's  Gram.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  34.  "The  past  tense  of  these  verbs, 
should,  would,  might,  could,  are  very  indefinite  with  respect  to  time." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.,  2d 
Ed.,  p.  33  ;  5th  Ed.,  p.  31.  "  The  power  of  the  words,  which  are  said  to  govern  this  mood, 
are  distinctly  understood."— Chandler's  Gram.,  Ed.  of  1821,  p.  33. 

"And  now,  at  length,  the  fated  term  of  years 
The  world's  desire  have  brought,  and  lo  !  the  God  appears." 

— Dr.  Lowth,  on  "  the  Genealogy  of  Christ" 

"  Variety  of  Numbers  still  belong 
To  the  soft  Melody  of  Ode  or  Song." — Brightland's  Gram.  p.  170,1 


556  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

UNDER  NOTE  III. — COMPOSITE  OR  CONVERTED  SUBJECTS. 

"  Many  are  the  works  of  human  industry,  which,  to  begin  and  finish  are  hardly  granted 
to  the  same  man." — Johnson,  Adv.  to  Diet.  "  To  lay  down  rules  for  these  are  as  ineffica- 
cious."— Dr.  Pratt's  Werter,  p.  19.  "To  profess  regard,  and  to  act  differently,  discover  a 
base  mind." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  p.  206.  See  also  Bullions' s  E.  Gram.  82  and  112  ;  Lennie's,  58. 
"  To  magnify  to  the  height  of  wonder  things  great,  new,  and  admirable,  extremely  please 
the  mind  of  man." — Fisher's  Gram.  p.  152.  "  In  this  passage,  according  as  are  used  in  a  man- 
ner which  is  very  common." — Webster's  Philosophical  Gram.  p.  183.  "A  cause  de  are  called 
a  preposition  ;  a  cause  que,  a  conjunction." — DR.  WEBSTER:  Knickerbroker,  1836.  "To  these 
are  given  to  speak  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." — The  Friend,  vii,  256.  "  While  wheat  has  no 
plural,  oats  have  seldom  any  singular." — Cobbett's  E.  Gram.  U  41.  "  He  cannot  assert  that  II 
are  inserted  in  fullness  to  denote  the  sound  of  u." — Cobb's  Review  of  Webster,  p.  11.  "  ch 
have  the  power  of  k." — Gould's  Adam's  Gram.  p.  2.  "  ti,  before  a  vowel,  and  unaccented, 
have  the  sound  of  si  or  ci." — Ibid.  "  In  words  derived  from  the  French,  as  chagrin,  chicanery, 
and  chaise,  ch  are  sounded  like  sh." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  10.  "  But  in  the  word  schism,  schis- 
matic, &c.  the  ch  are  silent." — Ibid.  "Ph  are  always  sounded  like  /,  at  the  beginning  of 
words." — Bucke's  Gram.  "PA  have  the  sound  of /as  in  philosophy." — Webster's  El.  Spelling- 
Book,  p.  11.  "Sh  have  one  sound  only  as  in  shall." — Ib.  "Th  have  two  sounds." — Ib.  ((Sc 
have  the  sound  of  sk,  before  a,  o,  u,  and  r." — Ib.  "Aw,  have  the  sound  of  a  in  hall."- 
Bolles's  Spelling -Book,  p.  vi.  "  Ew,  sound  like  u." — Ib.  "  Ow,  when  both  sounded,  have 
the  sound  of  ou." — Ib.  "  Ui,  when  both  pronounced  in  one  syllable  sound  like  wi  in 
languid." — Ib. 

"  Ui  three  several  Sorts  of  Sound  express, 
As  Guile,  rebuild,  Bruise  and  Recruit  confess." — Brightland's  Gram.  p.  34. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV.— EACH,  ONE,  EITHER,  AND  NEITHER. 

"  When  each  of  the  letters  which  compose  this  word,  have  been  learned." — Dr.  Weeks, 
on  Orthog.  p.  22.  "As  neither  of  us  deny  that  both  Homer  and  Virgil  have  great  beauties." 
— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  21.  "  Yet  neither  of  them  are  remarkable  for  precision." — Ib.  p.  95. 
"  How  far  each  of  the  three  great  epic  poets  have  distinguished  themselves." — Ib.  p.  427. 
"Each  of  these  produce  a  separate  agreeable  sensation." — Ib.  p.  48.  "  On  the  Lord's  day 
every  one  of  us  Christians  keep  the  sabbath." — Tr.  of  Irenceus.  "And  each  of  them  bear 
the  image  of  purity  and  holiness." — Hope  of  Israel,  p.  81.  "Were  either  of  these  meet- 
ings ever  acknowledged  or  recognized?" — Foster's  Report,  i,  96.  "Whilst  neither  of  these 
letters  exist  in  the  Eugubian  inscription." — Knight,  on  Greek  Alph.  p.  122.  "And  neither 
of  them  are  properly  termed  indefinite." — Wilson's  Essay  on  Gram.  p.  88.  "As  likewise  of 
the  several  subjects,  which  have  in  effect  each  their  verb." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  120.  "  Some- 
times when  the  word  ends  in  s,  neither  of  the  signs  are  used." — Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  21. 
"And  as  neither  of  these  manners  offend  the  ear." — Walker's  Diet.  Pref.p.  5.  "  Neither  of 
these  two  Tenses  are  confined  to  this  signification  only." — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  339.  "  But 
neither  of  these  circumstances  are  intended  here." — Tooke's  Diversions,  ii,  237.  "So  that 
all  are  indebted  to  each,  and  each  are  dependent  upon  all." — Am.  Bible  Society's  Rep.  1838, 
p.  89.  "And  yet  neither  of  them  express  any  more  action  in  this  case  than  they  did  in  the 
other." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  201.  "Each  of  these  expressions  denote  action." — Hallock's 
Gram.  p.  74.  "  Neither  of  these  moods  seem  to  be  defined  by  distinct  boundaries." — Butler's 
Practical  Gram.  p.  66.  "Neither  of  these  solutions  are  correct." — Bullions,  Lat.  Gram. 
p.  236.  "Neither  bear  any  sign  of  case  at  all."— Fowler's  E.  Gram.  8vo,  1850,  §  217. 

"Each  in  their  turn  likeBanquo's  monarch  stalk." — Byron. 

"And  tell  what  each  of  them  by  th'other  lose." — Shak.  Cori.  iii,  2. 

UNDER  NOTE  V. — VERB  BETWEEN  TWO  NOMINATIVES. 

"  The  quarrels  of  lovers  is  a  renewal  of  love." — Adam's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  156  ;  Alexander's, 
49  ;  Gould's,  159  ;  Bullions' s,  206.  "  Two  dots,  one  placed  above  the  other,  is  called  Sheva." 
— Dr.  Wilson's  Heb.  Gram.  p.  43.  "A  few  centuries,  more  or  less,  is  a  matter  of  small  con- 
sequence."— Ib-  p.  31.  "Pictures  were  the  first  step  towards  the  art  of  writing.  Hiero- 
glyphicks  was  the  second  step." — Parker's  English  Composition,  p.  27.  "The  comeliness  of 
youth  are  modesty  and  frankness ;  of  age,  condescension  and  dignity." — Murray's  Key,  8vo, 
p.  166.  "Merit  and  good  works  is  the  end  of  man's  motion." — Lord  Bacon.  "Divers 
philosophers  hold  that  the  lips  is  parcel  of  the  mind." — Shakspeare.  "  The  clothing  of  the 
natives  were  the  skins  of  wild  beasts." — Indian  Wars,  p.  92.  "  Prepossessions  in  favor  of  our 
nativ  town,  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise." —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  217.  "  Two  shillings  and  six 
pence  is  half  a  crown,  but  not  a  half  crown." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  150  ;  Bicknell's,  ii,  53. 
"  Two  vowels,  pronounced  by  a  single  impulse  of  the  voice,  and  uniting  in  one  sound,  is 
called  a  dipthong." — Cooper' s  PL  and  Pr.  Gram.  p.  1.  "Two  or  more  sentences  united 
together  is  called  a  Compound  Sentence." — P.  E.  Day's  District  School  Gram.  p.  10.  "Two 
or  more  words  rightly  put  together,  but  not  completing  an  entire  proposition,  is  called  a 
Phrase." — Ibid.  "  But  the  common  Number  of  Times  are  five." — The  British  Grammar,  p. 
122.  "Technical  terms,  injudiciously  introduced,  is  another  source  of  darkness  in  com- 


CHAP.  VI.]  SYNTAX. KULE  XIV. VERBS. EKRORS.  557 

position." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  107.  "  The  United  States  is  the  great  middle  division  of 
North  America." — Morse  s  G»>g.  p.  44.  "A  great  cause  of  the  low  state  of  industry  were 
the  restraints  put  upon  it." — HUMK  :  Murray's  Gram.  p.  145  ;  Ingersoll's,  172  ;  Sanfcrrn's,  192  ; 
Smith's,  123  ;  and  others.  "Here  two  tall  ships  becomes  the  victor's  prey." — Howe's  Lucan, 
B.  ii,  1.  1098.  "The  expenses  incident  to  an  outfit  is  surely  no  object." — The  Friend, 
Vol.  iii,  p.  200. 

"  Perhaps  their  loves,  or  else  their  sheep, 
Was  all  that  did  their  silly  thoughts  so  busy  keep." — Milton. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI. — CHANGE  THE  NOMINATIVE. 

"  Much  pains  has  been  taken  to  explain  all  the  kinds  of  words." — Infant  School  Gram.  p. 
128.  "  Not  less  [time]  than  three  years  are  spent  in  attaining  this  faculty." — Music  of  Na- 
ture, p.  28.  "  "Where  this  night  are  met  in  state  Many  a  friend  to  gratulate  His  wish'd  pres- 
ence."— Milton's  Comus,  1.  948.  "Peace  !  my  darling,  here's  no  danger,  Here's  no  oxen 
near  thy  bed." — Watts.  "  But  every  one  of  these  are  mere  conjectures,  and  some  of  them 
very  unhappy  ones." — Coleridge 's  Introduction,  p.  61.  "  The  old  theorists,  calling  the  Inter - 
rogatives  and  Itepliers,  adverbs,  is  only  a  part  of  their  regular  system  of  naming  words." — 
O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  374.  "  Where  a  series  of  sentences  occur,  place  them  in  the  order  in 
which  the  facts  occur." — Ib.  p.  264.  "And  that  the  whole  in  conjunction  make  a  regular 
chain  of  causes  and  effects." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  275.  "The  origin  of  the  Grecian,  and 
Roman  republics,  though  equally  involved  in  the  obscurities  and  uncertainties  of  fabulous 
events,  present  one  remarkable  distinction." — Adams's  Rhet.  i,  95.  "In  these  respects, 
mankind  is  left  by  nature  an  unformed,  unfinished  creature." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  144. 
"  The  scripture  are  the  oracles  of  God  himself." — HOOKER  :  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Oracle.  "And  at 
our  gates  are  all  manner  of  pleasant  fruits." — Solomons  Sony,  vii,  13.  "  The  preterit  of  pluck, 
look,  and  toss  are,  in  speech,  pronounced  pluckt,  lookt,  tosst." — Fowler  s  E.  Gram.  1850,  §  68. 
"  Severe  the  doom  that  length  of  days  impose, 
To  stand  sad  witness  of  unnumber'd  woes  !  " — Melmoth. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII.  —  ADAPT  FORM  TO  STYLE. 
1 .  Forms  not  proper  for  the  Common  or  Familiar  Style. 

"  Was  it  thou  that  buildedst  that  house  ? " — Inst.  p.  151.  "  That  boy  writeth  very  elegant- 
ly."— Ib.  "  Couldest  not  thou  write  without  blotting  thy  book?" — Ib.  "  Thinkest  thou 
not  it  will  rain  to-day  ?  " — Ib.  "  Doth  not  your  cousin  intend  to  visit  you  ? " — Ib.  "  That 
boy  hath  torn  my  book." — Ib.  "Was  it  thou  that  spreadest  the  hay?" — Ib.  "Was  it 
James,  or  thou,  that  didst  let  him  in?" — Ib.  "He  dareth  not  say  a  word." — Ib.  "Thou 
stoodest  in  my  way  and  hinderedst  me." — Ib. 

"  Whom  see  I  ? — Whom  seest  thou  now  ? — Whom  sees  he  ? — Whom  lovest  thou  most  ? — 
What  dost  thou  to-day  ? — What  person  seest  thou  teaching  that  boy  r — He  hath  two  new 
knives. — Which  road  takest  thou  ? — What  child  teaches  he  ? " — Ingersolts  Gram.  p.  66. 
"Thou,  who  makestmy  shoes,  sellest  many  more." — Ib.  p.  67. 

"  The  English  language  hath  been  much  cultivated  during  the  last  two  hundred  years. 
It  hath  been  considerably  polished  and  refined." — Lowth's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  iii.  "  This  stile 
is  ostentatious,  and  doth  not  suit  grave  writing." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  82.  "  But  custom 
hath  now  appropriated  icho  to  persons,  and  which  to  things." — Ib.  p.  97.  "The  indicative 
mood  sheweth  or  declareth ;  as,  Ego  amo,  I  love  :  or  else  asketh  a  question ;  as,  Amos  tu  f 
Dost  thou  love  ?  " — Paul's  Accidence,  Ed.  of  1793,  p.  16.  "Though  thou  canst  not  do  much 
for  the  cause,  thou  mayst  and  shouldst  do  something." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  143.  "The 
support  of  so  many  of  his  relations,  was  a  heavy  tax ;  but  thou  knowest  he  paid  it  cheer- 
fully."— Murrni/'s  fey,  K.  1,  p.  180.  "  It  may,  and  often  doth,  come  short  of  it." — Campbell's 
Rhetoric,  p.  160. 

'*  T\vas  thou,  who,  while  thou  Beem'dst  to  chide, 

To  give  me  all  thy  pittance  tried." — Mitford's  Blanch,  p.  78. 

-.   Forms  not  proper  for  t/ic  Solemn  or  Biblical  Style. 

"  The  Lord  has  prepar'd  his  throne  in  the  heavens  ;  and  his  kingdom  rules  over  all." — 
"  Thou  answer'd  them,  O  Lord  our  God  :  thou  was  a  God  that  forgave  them,  though  thou 
took  vengeance  of  their  inventions." — "Then  thou  spoke  in  vision  to  thy  Holy  One,  and 
said,  I  have  laid  help  upon  one  that  is  mighty." — "So  then,  it  is  not  of  him  that  wills,  nor 
of  him  that  runs,  but  of  God  that  shows  mercy ;  who  dispenses  his  blessings,  whether 
temporal  or  spiritual,  as  seems  good  in  his  sight." 

"  Thou,  the  mean  while,  was  blending  with  my  thought ; 
Yea,  with  my  life,  and  life's  own  secret  joy." — Coleridge. 

UNDER  NOTI-:  VIII.  —  EXPRESS  THE  NOMINATIVE. 

"Who  is  here  so  base,  that  would  bo  a  bondman?" — Beauties  nf  Makspcarc,  p.  249. 
"  Who  is  hero  so  rude,  that  would  not  be  a  Roman  ?" — Ib.  "There  is  not  a  sparrow  falls 
to  the  ground  without  his  notice."— Murray's  Gram.  p.  300.  "  In  order  to  adjust  them  so, 


558  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

as  shall  consist  equally  with  the  perspicuity  and  the  strength  of  the  period." — Ib.  p.  324  ; 
Blair's  Rhet.  118.  "But,  sometimes,  there  is  a  verb  comes  in." — Cobbett's  English  Gram. 
H  248.  "  Mr.  Prince  has  a  genius  would  prompt  him  to  better  things." — Spectator,  No.  466. 
"  It  is  this  removes  that  impenetrable  mist." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  362.  "  By  the  praise  is 
given  him  for  his  courage." — Locke,  on  Education,  p.  214.  "  There  is  no  man  would  be  more 
welcome  here." — Steele,  Spect.  No.  544.  "  Between  an  antecedent  and  a  consequent,  or 
what  goes  before,  and  immediately  follows." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  141.  "And  as  connected  with 
what  goes  before  and  follows." — Ib.  p.  354.  "  There  is  no  man  doth  a  wrong  for  the  wrong's 
sake." — Lord  Bacon.  "All  the  various  miseries  of  life,  which  people  bring  upon  themselves 
by  negligence  and  folly,  and  might  have  been  avoided  by  proper  care,  are  instances  of  this." 
— Butler's  Analogy,  p.  108.  "Ancient  philosophers  have  taught  many  things  in  favour  of 
morality,  so  far  at  least  as  respect  justice  and  goodness  towards  our  fellow-creatures."- 
Gospel  its  own  Witness,  p.  56.  "  Indeed,  if  there  be  any  such,  have  been,  or  appear  to  be  of 
us,  as  suppose,  there  is  not  a  wise  man  among  us  all,  nor  an  honest  man,  that  is  able  to 
judge  betwixt  his  brethren ;  we  shall  not  covet  to  meddle  in  their  matter." — Barclay's 
Works,  i,  504.  "  There  were  that  drew  back ;  there  were  that  made  shipwreck  of  faith  ; 
yea,  there  were  that  brought  in  damnable  heresies." — Ib.  i,  466.  "  The  nature  of  the  case 
rendered  this  plan  altogether  proper,  and  in  similar  situations  is  fit  to  be  imitated." — Blair's 
Rhet.  p.  274.  "  This  is  an  idiom  to  which  our  language  is  strongly  inclined,  and  was 
formerly  very  prevalent." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  150.  "  His  roots  are  wrapped  about  the 
heap,  and  seeth  the  place  of  stones." — Job,  viii,  17. 

"New-York,  Fifthmonth  3d,  1823. 

"Dear  friend,  Am  sorry  to  hear  of  thy  loss;  but  hope  it  maybe  retrieved.  Should  be 
happy  to  render  thee  any  assistance  in  my  power.  Shall  call  to  see  thee  to-morrow 
morning.  Accept  assurances  of  my  regard.  A.  B." 

"New-York,  May  3d,  P,  M.,  1823. 

"  Dear  sir,  Have  just  received  the  kind  note  favoured  me  with  this  morning ;  and  cannot 
forbear  to  express  my  gratitude  to  you.  On  further  information,  find  have  not  lost  so 
much  as  at  first  supposed ;  and  believe  shall  still  be  able  to  meet  all  my  engagements. 
Should,  however,  be  happy  to  see  you.  Accept,  dear  sir,  my  most  cordial  thanks.  C.  D." 
— See  Brown's  Institutes,  p.  151. 

"Will  martial  flames  forever  fire  thy  mind, 
And  never,  never  be  to  Heaven  resign'd  ? " — Pope,Odys.  xii,  145. 

UNDER  NOTE  IX. — APPLICATION  OF  MOODS. 
First  Clause  of  the  Note. — For  the  Subjunctive  Present. 
"He  will  not  be  pardoned,  unless  he  repents." — Browns  Institutes,  p.  191. 

[FOBMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  verb  repents,  which  is  here  used  to  express  a  future  contingency,  is  in  the 
indicative  mood.  But,  according  to  the  first  clause  of  Note  9th  to  Rule  14th,  "A  future  contingency  is  best 
expressed  by  a  rerb  in  the  subjunctive  present."  Therefore,  repents  should  be  repent;  thus,  "  He  will  not  be 
pardoned,  unless  he  repent,"] 

"  If  thou  findest  any  kernelwort  in  this  marshy  meadow,  bring  it  to  me." — Neef's  Method 
of  Teaching,  p.  258.  "If  thou  leavest  the  room,  do  not  forget  to  shut  that  drawer." — Ib. 
p.  246.  "  If  thou  graspest  it  stoutly,  thou  wilt  not  be  hurt." — Ib.  p.  196.  "  On  condition 
that  he  comes,  I  will  consent  to  stay." — Murray's  Exerc.  p.  74.  "  If  he  is  but  discreet,  he 
will  succeed." — hist.  p.  191.  "Take  heed  that  thou  speakest  not  to  Jacob." — Ib.  "If 
thou  castest  me  off,  I  shall  be  miserable." — Ib.  "  Send  them  to  me  if  thou  pleasest." — Ib. 
"Watch  the  door  of  thy  lips,  lest  thou  utterest  folly." — Ib.  "Though  a  liar  speaks  the 
truth,  he  will  hardly  be  believed." — Common  School  Manual,  ii,  124.  "I  will  go  unless  I 
should  be  ill." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  300.  "  If  the  word  or  words  understood  are  supplied, 
the  true  construction  will  be  apparent." — Murray's  Exercises  in  Parsing,  p.  21.  "  Unless 
thou  shalt  see  the  propriety  of  the  measure,  we  shall  not  desire  thy  support." — Murray's 
Key,  p.  209.  "Unless  thou  shouldst  make  a  timely  retreat,  the  danger  will  be  unavoida- 
ble."— Ib.  p.  209.  "We  may  live  happily,  though  our  possessions  are  small." — Ib.  p.  202. 
"If  they  are  carefully  studied,  they  will  enable  the  student  to  parse  all  the  exercises." — 
Ib.,  Note,  p.  165.  "If  the  accent  is  fairly  preserved  on  the  proper  syllable,  this  drawling 
sound  will  never  be  heard." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  242.  "  One  phrase  may,  in  point  of  sense, 
be  equivalent  to  another,  though  its  grammatical  nature  is  essentially  different." — Ib.  p. 
108.  "If  any  man  obeyeth  not  our  word  by  this  epistle,  note  that  man."— Dr.  Webster's 
Bible.  "Thy  skill  will  be  the  greater,  if  thou  hittest  it." — Putnam's  Analytical  Reader,  p. 
204.  "  Thy  skill  will  be  the  greater  if  thou  hit'st  it."— Cobb's  N.  A.  Reader,  p.  321.  "  We 
shall  overtake  him  though  he  should  run."— Priestley's  Gram.  p.  118;  Murray's,  207; 
Smith's,  173.  "We  shall  be  disgusted  if  he  gives  us  too  much." — Blair's  Rhet.  p,  388. 
"  What  is't  to  thee,  if  he  neglect  thy  urn, 
Or  without  spices  lets  thy  body  burn." — DRYDEN  :  Joh.  Diet.  w.  What. 


CHAP.  VI.]          8XNTAX. — BULE  XIV. — VERBS. — ERRORS.  559 

Second  Clause  of  Note  IX. — For  the  Subjunctive  Imperfect. 

"And  so  would  I,  if  I  was  he." — Brown's  Institutes,  p.  191. 

[FoRMCLB. — Not  proper,  because  the  Terb  «•«,  which  is  here  used  to  express  a  mere  supposition,  with  indefinite 
time,  is  in  the  indicative  mood.  But,  according  to  the  second  clause  of  Note  9th  to  Rule  14th,  '-A  mere  supposi- 
tion, with  indefinite  timo,  ia  best  expressed  by  a  Terb  in  the  subjunctive  imperfect."  Therefore,  was  should  be 
were;  thus,  "And  so  would  I,  if  I  were  he."] 

"  If  I  was  a  Greek,  I  should  resist  Turkish  despotism." — Cardelfs  Elements  of  Gram.  p. 
80.  "If  he  was  to  go,  he  would  attend  to  your  business." — Ib.  p.  81.  "If  thou  feltest  as 
I  do,  we  should  soon  decide." — Inst.  p.  191.  "Though  thou  sheddest  thy  blood  in  the 
cause,  it  would  but  prove  thee  sincerely  a  fool." — Ib.  "  If  thou  lovedst  him,  there  would 
be  more  evidence  of  it." — Ib.  "  If  thou  couldst  convince  him,  he  would  not  act  accord- 
ingly."— Murray's  Key,  p.  209.  "  If  there  was  no  liberty,  there  would  be  no  real  crime." — 
L'ormey's  Belles -Lettres,  p.  118.  "If  the  house  was  burnt  down,  the  case  would  be  the 
same." — Foster' s  Report,  i,  89.  "As  if  the  mind  was  not  always  in  action,  when  it  prefers 
any  thing  !  " — West,  on  Agency ',  p.  38.  "  Suppose  I  was  to  say,  '  Light  is  a  body.'  " — Harris's 
lli'rmes,  p.  78.  "  If  either  oxygen  or  azote  was  omitted,  life  would  be  destroyed." — Gurney's 
^es,  p.  155.  "  The  verb  dare  is  sometimes  used  as  if  it  was  an  auxiliary." — Priestley's 
fii-(im.  p.  132.  "A  certain  lady,  whom  I  could  name,  if  it  was  necessary." — Spectator,  No. 
536.  "If  the  e  was  dropped,  c  and  g  would  assume  their  hard  sounds." — Buchanan's 
Syntax,  p.  10.  "He  would  no  more  comprehend  it,  than  if  it  was  the  speech  of  a  Hotten- 
tot."— Necf's  Sketch,  p.  112.  "If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God,"  &c. — John,  iv,  10.  "I 
wish  I  was  at  home." — O.  B.  Pcirce's  Gram.  p.  260.  "  Fact  alone  does  not  constitute  right : 
if  it  does,  general  warrants  were  lawful."— Juniiu,  Let.  xliv,  p.  205.  "Thou  look'st  upon 
thy  boy  as  though  thou  guessest  it." — Putnam's  Analytical  Reader,  p.  202.  "Thou look'st 
upon  thy  boy  as  though  thou  guessedst  it." — Cobb's  N.  A.  Reader,  p.  320.  "  He  fought  as 
if  he  had  contended  for  life." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  92.  "  He  fought  as  if  he  had  been  con- 
tending for  his  life." — Ib.  92. 

"The  dewdrop  glistens  on  thy  leaf,         I  As  if  thou knew'st  my  tale  of  grief, 

As  if  thou  seem'st  to  shed  a  tear ;  Felt  all  my  sufferings  severe." — Alex.  Letham. 

Last  Clause  of  Xote  IX. — For  the  Indicative  Mood. 
"  If  he  know  the  way,  he  does  not  need  a  guide." — Broicn's  Institutes,  p.  191. 

[FoRMULB. — Not  proper,  because  the  verb  Amotc,  which  is  used  to  express  a  conditional  circumstance  assumed 
as  a  fact,  is  in  the  subjunctive  mood.  But,  according  to  the  last  clause  of  Xote  9th  to  Rule  14th,  "A  conditional 
circumstance  assumed  as  a  fact,  requires  the  indicative  mood."  Therefore,  know  should  be  knows;  thus,  "  If  he 
knows  the  way,  he  does  not  need  a  guide."] 

"And  if  there  be  no  difference,  one  of  them  must  be  superfluous,  and  ought  to  be 
rejected." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  149.  "I  cannot  say  that  I  admire  this  construction,  though 
it  be  much  used." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  172.  "  We  are  disappointed,  if  the  verb  do  not 
immediately  follow  it." — Ib.  p.  177.  "  If  it  were  they  who  acted  so  ungratefully,  they  are 
doubly  in  fault." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  223.  "  If  art  become  apparent,  it  disgusts  the 
reader." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  80.  "Though  perspicuity  be  more  properly  a  rhetorical  than 
a  grammatical  quality,  I  thought  it  better  to  include  it  in  this  book." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p. 
238.  "Although  the  efficient  cause  be  obscure,  the  final  cause  of  those  sensations  lies 
open." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  29.  "Although  the  barrenness  of  language,  and  the  want  of  words 
be  doubtless  one  cause  of  the  invention  of  tropes." — Ib.  p.  135.  "Though  it  enforce  not 
its  instructions,  yet  it  furnishes  us  with  a  greater  variety." — Ib.  p.  353.  "In  other  cases, 
though  the  idea  be  one,  the  words  remain  quite  separate." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  140. 

"Though  the  Form  of  our  Language  be  more  simple,  and  has  that  peculiar  Beauty." — 
Biichu  >r,  p.  v.  "  Human  works  are  of  no  significancy  till  they  be  completed." — 

Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  245.  "  Our  disgust  lessens  gradually  till  it  vanish  altogether." — Ib.  i, 
338.  "And  our  relish  improves  by  use,  till  it  arrive  at  perfection." — Ib.  i,  338.  "  So  long 
as  he  keep  himself  in  his  own  proper  element."— CORK  :  76.  i,  233.  "  Whether  this  trans- 
lation  were  ever  published  or  not  I  am  wholly  ignorant." — Sale's  Koran,  i,  13.  "It  is  false 
to  aHirm,  'As  it  is  day,  it  is  light,'  unless  it  actually  be  day." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  246. 
"  But  we  may  at  midnight  affirm,  •  If  it  be  day,  it  is  light.'  "—Ibid.  "  If  the  Bible  be  true, 
it  is  a  volume  of  unspeakable  interest." — Dickinson.  "Though  he  were  a  son,  yet  learned 
he  obedience  by  the  thing*  which  he  suffered." — Heb.  v,  8.  "  If  David  then  call  him 
Lord,  how  is  he  his  son  r  "—Matt,  xxii,  4,5. 

"  Ti>  hard  to  say,  if  greater  want  of  skill 
Appear  in  writing  or  in  judging  ill." — Pope,  Ess. on  Crit. 

UXDER  NOTE  X. — FALSE  SUBJUNCTIVES. 

If  a  man  have  built  a  house,  the  house  is  his."—  \\ 'ay/and's  Morn!  Science,  p.  286. 
[FORMCLK. — Not  proper,  because  the  verb  have  built,  which  extends  the  subjunctive  mood  into  the  perfect 
tout,  h;is  the  appeanmr.-  of  .lisn-n-.-inic  with  iu»  nominative  man.      Hut,  ;wi-orlin^  to  Net*-  Imh   to  Kule  14th. 
Kv.-ry  surli  u<«-  <T  .-xt«-nsion  of  the  subjunctive  mood,  a*  the  rvador  will  be  likely  to  ini.-t;ik.-  tor  ;i  .li.-.-ord  be- 
tween the  verb  and  its  nominative,  outfit  to  he  avoided  as  an  impropriety."     Therefore,  have  built  should  be  has 
'  uilt ;  thus,  "  If  a  man  has  built  a  house,  the  house  is  his."] 

"  If  God  have  required  them  of  him,  as  is  the  fact,  he  has  time."— /5.  p.  351.     "  Unlesa 


560  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III 

a  previous  understanding  to  the  contrary  have  been  had  with  the  Principal." — Berrian', 
Circular,  p.  5.  "  O  if  thou  have  Hid  them  in  some  flowery  cave." — Milton's  Comus,  1.  239 
"  O  if  Jove's  will  Have  link'd  that  amorous  power  to  thy  soft  lay." — Milton,  Sonnet  1 
*«  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD  :  If  thou  love,  If  thou  loved,  If  thou  have  loved,  If  thou  had  loved 
If  thou  shall  or  will  love,  If  thou  shall  or  will  have  loved." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  2d  Ed.  p 
71 ;  Cooper  s  Murray,  58  ;  D.  Adams's  Gram.  48  ;  and  others.  "  Till  religion,  the  pilot  of  the 
soul,  have  lent  thee  her  unfathomable  coil." — Tuppcr's  Thoughts,  p.  170.  "  Whether  nature 
or  art  contribute  most  to  form  an  orator,  is  a  trifling  inquiry." — Blair's  Ehet.  p.  338.  "  Yeai 
after  year  steals  something  from  us ;  till  the  decaying  fabric  totter  of  itself,  and  crumble  ai 
length  into  dust."— Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  225.  "  If  spiritual  pride  have  not  entirely  van- 
quished humility." — West's  Letters,  p.  184.  "  Whether  he  have  gored  a  son,  or  have  gored 
a  daughter." — Exodus,  xxi,  31.  "It  is  doubtful  whether  the  object  introduced  by  way  oJ 
simile,  relate  to  what  goes  before,  or  to  what  follows." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  ii,  45. 
"And  bridle  in  thy  headlong  wave, 
Till  thou  our  summons  answer'd  have." — Milt.  Comus,  1.  887. 

RULE  XV.  — FINITE  VERBS. 

When  the  nominative  is  a  collective  noun  conveying  the  idea  of  plurality, 
the  Verb  must  agree  with  it  in  the  plural  number :  as,  "  The  council  wen 
divided"' — "  The  college  of  cardinals  are  the  electors  of  the  pope." — Murray^ 
Key,  p.  176.  "  Quintus  Curtius  relates,  that  a  number  of  them  were  drownea 
in  the  river  Lycus." — Home's  Art  of  Thinking,  p.  125. 

"  Yon  host  come  learn'd  in  academic  rules." — Howe's  Lucan,  vii,  401. 

"  While  heaven's  high  host  on  hallelujahs  live."— Young's  N.  Th.  iv,  378, 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XV. 

OBS.  1. — To  this  rule  there  are  no  exceptions ;  because,  the  collective  noun  being  a  name  which 
even  in  the  singular  number  "  signifies  many,''  the  verb  which  agrees  with  it,  can  never  properly 
be  singular,  unless  the  collection  be  taken  literally  as  one  aggregate,  and  not  as  "  conveying  the 
idea  of  plurality."  Thus,  the  collective  noun  singular  being  in  general  susceptible  of  two  senses, 
and  consequently  admitting  two  modes  of  concord,  the  form  of  the  verb,  whether  singular  or  p  .u- 
ral,  becomes  the  principal  index  to  the  particular  sense  in  which  the  nominative  is  taken.  Af  tei 
such  a  noun,  we  can  use  either  a  singular  verb,  agreeing  with  it  literally,  strictly,  formally,  accord- 
ing to  Rule  14th ;  or  a  plural  one,  agreeing  with  it  figuratively,  virtually,  ideally,  according  to 
Rule  15th.  So,  when  the  collective  noun  is  an  antecedent,  the  relative  having  in  itself  no  dis- 
tinction of  the  numbers,  its  verb  becomes  the  index  to  the  sense  of  all  three;  as,  "Wherefore 
lift  up  thy  prayer  for  the  remnant  that  is  left." — Isaiah,  xxxvii,  4.  "  Wherefore  lift  up  thy  prayer 
for  the  remnant  that  ARE  left." — 2  Kings,  xix,  4.  Ordinarily  the  word  remnant  conveys  no  idea  ol 
plurality  ;  but,  it  being  here  applied  to  persons,  and  having  a  meaning  to  which  the  mere  singu- 
lar neu 
Greek 
Kings. 
or  remnants,  that  are  found." 

OBS.  2. — Dr.  Adam's  rule  is  this  :  "A  collective  noun  may  be  joined  with  a  verb  either  of  the 
singular  or  of  the  plural  number;  as,  Multitude  stat,  or  stant ;  the  multitude  stands,  or  stand." 

Latin  and  English  Gram.  p.   154.     To  this  doctrine,  Lowth,  Murray,  and  others,  add:  "Yet 

not  without  regard  to  the  import  of  the  word,  as  conveying  unity  or  plurality  of  idea." — Lowth,  p. 
74  ;  Murray,  152.  If  these  latter  authors  mean,  that  collective  nouns  are  permanently  divided  in 
import,  so  that  some  are  invariably  determined  to  the  idea  of  unity,  and  others  to  that  of  plural- 
ity, they  are  wrong  in  principle ;  for,  as  Dr.  Adam  remarks,  "  A  collective  noun,  when  joined 
with  a  verb  singular,  expresses  many  considered  as  one  whole  ;  but  when  joined  with  a  verb  plural, 
it  signifies  many  separately,  or  as  individuals." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  154.  And  if  this  alone  is 
what  their  addition  means,  it  is  entirely  useless ;  and  so,  for  all  the  purposes  of  parsing,  is  the  sin- 
gular half  of  the  rule  itself.  Kir kham  divides  this  rule  into  two,  one  for  "  unity  of  idea,"  and  the 
other  for  "plurality  of  idea,"  shows  how  each  is  to  be  applied  in  parsing,  according  to  his  ",vy.v- 
tematick  order ;  "  and  then,  turning  round  with  a  gallant  tilt  at  his  own  work,  condemns  both,  as 
idle  fabrications,  which  it  were  "  better  to  reject  than  to  retain  ;  "  alleging  that,  "  The  existence  of 
such  a  thing  as  '  unity  or  plurality  of  idea,'  as  applicable  to  nouns  of  this  class,  is  doubtful." — 
Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  59.  How  then  shall  a  plural  verb  or  pronoun  after  a  collective  noun,  be 
parsed,  seeing  it  does  not  agree  with  the  noun  by  the  ordinary  rule  of  agreement  ?  Will  any  one 
say,  that  every  such  construction  is  bad  English?  If  this  cannot  be  maintained,  rules  eleventh 
and' fifteenth  of  this  series  are  necessary.  But  when  the  noun  conveys  the  idea  of  unity  or  takes 
the  plural  form,  the  verb  or  pronoun  has  no  other  than  a  literal  agreement  by  the  common 
rule ;  as, 

"  A  priesthood,  such  as  Baal's  was  of  old, 
A. people,  such  as  never  was  till  now." — Cowper. 

OBS.  3. — Of  the  construction  of  the  verb  and  collective  noun,  a  late  British  author  gives  the 
following  account :  "  Collective  nouns  are  substantives  which  signify  many  in  the  singular  num- 
ber Collective  nouns  are  of  two  sorts  :  1.  Those  which  cannot  become  plural  like  other  substan- 
tives •  as,  nobility,  mankind,  &c.  2.  Those  which  can  be  made  plural  by  the  usual  rules  for  a 


CHAP.    VI.]  SYNTAX. — RULE    XV. YEIU5S. OBSERVATIONS.  561 

substantive  ;  as,  'A  multitude,  multitudes  ;  a  crowd,  crowds  ;  '  &c.    Substantives  which  imply  plu- 
rality in  the  singular  number,  and   consequently  have  no  other  plural,  generally  require  a  plural 
Verb.     They  are  cattle-,  cavalry,  clergy,  commonalty,  gentry,  laity,  mankind,  nobility,  peasantry, 
people,  populace,  public,  rubble,  «Vc.  [;]  as, '  The  public  are  informed.'    Collective  noun's  which  form 
a  regular  plural,  such  as,  number,  numbers ;  multitude,  multitudes  ;  have,  like  all  other  substantives, 
ilar  verb,  when  they  are  in  the  singular  number  ;  and  a  plural  verb,  when  they  are  in  the  plu- 
ral number;  as,  '  A  number  of  people  is  assembled;  Numbers./.  ;.' — «  The  fleet  icax  dis- 
:  a/n/Vof  it   irts  injured;  the  several  p'trtx  arc  now  collected.'" — \>.fnn '.v   Parser,  p. 
I'o  this,  his  main  text,  the  author  appends  a  note,  from  which  the  following  passages  are 
extracted:   "  There  are  few  persons  acquainted  with  Grammar,  who    may  not  have  noticed,  in 
many  authors  as  well  as  speakers,  an  irregularity  in  supposing  collective  nouns  to  have,  at  one 
time",  a  singular  meaning,  and  consequently  to  require  a  singular  verb  ;  and,  at  an  other  time,  to 
.  plural  meaning,  and  therefore  to  require  a  plural  verb.     This  irregularity  appears  to  have 
:'rom   the  want  of  a  clear  idea  of  the  nature  of  a  collective  noun.     This  "defect  the  author 
has  endeavoured  to  supply  ;  and,  upon  his  definition,  he  has  founded  the  two  rules  above.     It  is 
allowed  on  all  sides  that,  hitherto,  no  satisfactory  rules  have  been  produced  to  enable  the  pupil 
to  ascertain,  with  any  degree  of  certainty,  when  a  collective  noun  should  have  a  singular  verb, 
and  when  a  plural  one.     A  rule  that  simply  tells  its  examiner,  that  when  a  collective  noun  in  the 
nominative  case  conveys  the  idea  of  unity,  its  verb  should  be  singular;  and  when  it  implies  plu- 
rality, its  verb  should  be  plural,  is  of  very  little  value  ;  for  such  a  rule  will  prove  the  pupil's  being 
in  t/ic  riijht,  whether  he  should  put  the  verb  in  the  singular  or  the  plural." — Ibid. 

OHS.  4 — The  foregoing  explanation  has  many  faults  ;  and  whoever  trusts  to  it,  or  to  any  thing 
like  it,  will  certainly  be  very  much  misled.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  remarkable  that  an  author  who 
could  suspect  in  others  "  the  want  of  a  clear  idea  of  the  nature  of  a  collective  noun,"  should  have 
hoped  to  supply  the  defect  by  a  definition  so  ambiguous  and  ill-written  as  is  the  one  above.  Sec- 
ondly, his  subdivision  of  this  class  of  nouns  into  two  sorts,  is  both  baseless  and  nugatory  ;  for  that 
plurality  which  has  reference  to  the  individuals  of  an  assemblage,  has  no  manner  of  connexion  or 
affinity  with  that  which  refers  to  more  than  one  such  aggregate  ;  nor  is  there  any  interference  of 
the  one  with  the  other,  or  any  ground  at  all  for  supposing  that  the  absence  of  the  latter  is,  has 
been,  or  ought  to  be,  the  occasion  for  adopting  the  former.  Hence,  thirdly,  his  two  rules,  (though, 
so  far  as  they  go,  they  seem  not  untrue  in  themselves,)  by  their  limitation  under  this  false  division, 
exclude  and  deny  the  true  construction  of  the  verb  with  the  greater  part  of  our  collective  nouns. 
For,  fourthly,  the  first  of  these  rules  rashly  presumes  that  any  collective  noun  which  in  the  sin- 
gular number  implies  a  plurality  of  individuals,  is  consequently  destitute  of  any  other  plural  ; 
and  the  second  accordingly  supposes  that  no  such  nouns  as,  council,  committee,  jury,  meeting, 
society,  assembly,  court,  college,  company,  army,  host,  band,  retinue,  train,  multitude,  number, 
part,  half,  portion,  majority,  minority,  remaind'er,  set,  sort,  kind,  class,  nation,  tribe,  family, 
:id  a  hundred  more,  can  ever  be  properly  used  with  a  plural  verb,  except  when  they  assume 
the  plural  form.  To  prove  the  falsity  of  this  supposition,  is  needless.  And,  finally,  the  objection 
which  this  author  advances  against  the  common  rules,  is  very  far  from  proving  them  useless,  or 
not  greatly  preferable  to  his  own.  If  they  do  not  in  every  instance  enable  the  student  to  ascer- 
tain with  certainty  which  form  of  concord  he  ought  to  prefer,  it  is  only  because  no  rules  can 
possibly  tell  a  man  precisely  when  he  ought  to  entertain  the  idea  of  unity,  and  when  that  of  plural- 
ity. In  some  instances,  these  ideas  are  unavoidably  mixed  or  associated,  so  that  it  is  of  little  or  no 
quence  which  form  of  the  verb  we  prefer;  as,  "Behold,  the  people  is  one,  and  t/iey  have 
all  one  language." — Gen.  xi,  6. 

"  Well,  if  a  king's  a  lion,  at  the  least 
The  people  AKE«  many-headed  beast." — Pope,  Epist.  i,  1.  120. 

OHS. — o.  Lindley  Murray  says,  "  On  many  occasions,  where  a  noun  of  multitude  is  used,  it  is 
very  difficult  to  decide,  whether  the  verb  should  be  in  the  singular,  or  in  the  plural  number  ;  and 
this  difficulty  has  induced  some  grammarians  to  cut  the  knot  at  once,  and  to  assert  that  every 
noun  of  multitude  must  always  be  considered  as  conveying  the  idea  of  unity." — Octavo  Grant,  p. 
NVhat  these  occasions,*  or  who  these  grammarians,  are,  I  know  not ;  but  it  is  certain  that 
the  difficulty  here  imagined  docs  not  concern  the  application  of  such  rules  as  require  the  verb 
and  pronoun  to  conform  to  the  sense  intended ;  and,  where  there  is  no  apparent  impropriety  in 
adopting  cither  number,  there  is  no  occasion  to  raise  a  scruple  as  to  which  is  right.  To  cut  knots 
by  dogmatism,  and  tr>  tie  them  by  sophistry,  are  employments  equally  vain.  It  cannot  be  denied 
that  there  are  in  every  multitude  both  a  unity  and  a  plurality,  one  or  the  other  of  which  must  be 
preferred  as  the  principle  of  concord  for  the  verb  or  the  pronoun,  or  for  both.  Nor  is  the  number 
of  nouns  small,  or  their  use  unfrequent,  which,  according  to  our  best  authors,  admit  of  either 
construction  ;  though  Kirkham  assails  and  repudiates  his  turn  rules,  because,  "  Their  application 
is  quite  limit  p.  -")'.). 

()u^.  i;.  — Murray'*  doctrine  seems  to  be,  not  that  collective  nouns  are  generally  susceptible  of 
two  si !  i-ct  to  number,  but  that  some  naturally  convoy  the  idea  of  unity,  others,  that 

of  plurality,  and  a  few,  either  of  these  senses.  The  last",  which  ar"  probably  ten  times  more  nu- 
merous than  all  the  rest,  he  somehow  merges  or  fn  to  speak  of  tiro  classes  only:  say- 
ing, "  Some  nouns  of  multitude  certain  •  the  mind  an  idua  of  plurality,  others,  that  of 
a  whole  as  one  thing,  and  others  again,  sometimes  that  of  unity,  and  sometimes  that  of  plu- 
rality. On  this  ground,  it  is  warrantable,  and  consistent  with  tlv;  nature  of  things,  to  apply  a 
plural  verb  and  pronoun  tot'  rular  verb  and  pronoun  to  the  nt/n-r.  We  shall 
immediately  perceive  the  impropriety  of  the  following  constructions:  'The  clergy  /inn  withdrawn 
Tom  the  temporal  courts  ; '  •  pinion  ; '  dtc." — <>,  tarn  Grant. 
p.  l'")3.  The  simple  fact  is,  that  r/rryy,  assembly,  and  perhaps  every  other  collective  noun,  may 
sometimes  convey  the  idea  of  unity, 'and  sometimes  that  of  plurality;  but  an  "opinion"  or  a  vol- 
untnrv  "  iritlulr<''-  •<""/  act  or  quality  it  is  hrre  more  consistent  to  adopt 
the  plural  N  ai»nc  "'<•  tnkr>  th^  collodion  ns  individ 

30 


562  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

OBS.  7. — Although  a  uniformity  of  number  is  generally  preferable  to  diversity,  in  the  construc- 
tion of  words  that  refer  to  the  same  collective  noun ;  and  although  many  grammarians  deny  that 
any  departure  from  such  uniformity  is  allowable  ;  yet,  if  the  singular  be  put  first,  a  plural  pronoun 
may  sometimes  follow  without  obvious  impropriety  :  as,  "  So  Judah  was  carried  away  out  of  their 
land." — 2  Kings,  xxv,  21.  "Israel  is  reproved  and  threatened  for  their  impiety  and  idolatry." 
— Friends'  Bible,  Hosea,  x.  "  There  is  the  enemy  who  wait  to  give  us  battle." — Murray's  Intro- 
ductory Reader,  p.  36.  When  the  idea  of  plurality  predominates  in  the  author's  mind,  a  plural 
verb  is  sometimes  used  before  a  collective  noun  that  has  the  singular  article  an  or  a  ;  as,  "  There 
are  a  sort  of  authors,  who  seem  to  take  up  with  appearances." — Addison.  "  Here  are  a  number  of 
facts  or  incidents  leading  to  the  end  in  view." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  296.  "  There  are  a  great 
number  of  exceedingly  good  writers  among  the  French." — Maunder' s  Gram.  p.  11. 
"  There  in  the  forum  swarm  a  numerous  train, 

The  subject  of  debate  a  townsman  slain." — Pope,  Iliad,  B.  xviii,  1.  578. 

OBS.  8. — Collective  nouns,  when  they  are  merely  partitive  of  the  plural,  like  the  words  sort  and 
number  above,  are  usually  connected  with  a  plural  verb,  even  though  they  have  a  singular  defin- 
itive ;  as,  "And  this  sort  of  adverbs  commonly  admit  of  Comparison." — Buchanan's  English 
Syntax,  p.  64.  Here,  perhaps,  it  would  be  better  to  say,  "Adverbs  of  this  sort  commonly  admit  of 
comparison."  "A  part  of  the  exports  consist  of  raw  silk." — Webster's  Improved  Gram.  p.  100. 
This  construction  is  censured  by  Murray,  in  his  octavo  Gram.  p.  148 ;  where  we  are  told,  that  the 
verb  should  agree  with  the  first  noun  only.  Dr.  Webster  alludes  to  this  circumstance,  in  improv- 
ing his  grammar,  and  admits  that,  "A  part  of  the  exports  consists,  seems  to  be  more  correct." — 
Improved  Gram.  p.  100.  Yet  he  retains  his  original  text,  and  obviously  thinks  it  a  light  thing, 
that,  "in  some  cases,"  his  rules  or  examples  "may  not  be  vindicable."  (See  Obs.  14th,  15th, 
and  16th,  on  Rule  14th,  of  this  code.)  It  would,  I  think,  be  better  to  say,  "The  exports  consist 
partly  of  raw  silk."  Again :  "A  multitude  of  Latin  words  have,  of  late,  been  poured  in  upon  us." — 
Blair's  Rhet.  p.  94.  Better,  perhaps  :  "  Latin  words,  in  great  multitude,  have,  of  late,  been  poured 
in  upon  us."  So  :  "  For  the  bulk  of  writers  are  very  apt  to  confound  them  with  each  other." — Ib.  p. 
97.  Better :  "  For  most  writers  are  very  apt  to  confound  them  with  each  other."  In  the  follow- 
ing example,  (here  cited  as  Kames  has  it,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  247,)  either  the  verb  is,  or  the  phrase, 
"There  are  some  moveless  men,"  might  as  well  have  been  used: 
"  There  are  a  sort  of  men,  whose  visages 

Do  cream  and  mantle  like  a  standing  pond." — Shak. 

OBS.  9. — Collections  of  things  are  much  less  frequently  and  less  properly  regarded  as  individu- 
als, or  under  the  idea  of  plurality,  than  collections  of  persons.  This  distinction  may  account  for 
the  difference  of  construction  in  the  two  clauses  of  the  following  example ;  though  I  rather  doubt 
•whether  a  plural  verb  ought  to  be  used  in  the  former :  "  The  number  of  commissioned  officers  in 
the  guards  are  to  the  marching  regiments  as  one  to  eleven  :  the  number  of  regiments  given  to  the 
guards,  compared  with  those  given  to  the  line,  is  about  three  to  one." — Junius,  p.  147.  When- 
ever the  multitude  is  spoken  of  with  reference  to  a  personal  act  or  quality,  the  verb  ought,  as  I 
before  suggested,  to  be  in  the  plural  number  ;  as,  "  The  public  are  informed." — "  The  plaintiff's 
counsel  have  assumed  a  difficult  task." — "The  committee  were  instructed  to  prepare  a  remon- 
strance." "The  English  nation  declare  they  are  grossly  injured  by  their  representatives." — 
Junius,  p.  147.  "  One  particular  class  of  men  are  permitted  to  call  themselves  the  King's  friends." 
— Id.  p.  176.  "The  Ministry  have  realized  the  compendious  ideas  of  Caligula." — Id.  p.  177. 
It  is  in  accordance  with  this  principle,  that  the  following  sentences  have  plural  verbs  and  pro- 


^  le  thus  gathered  have  not  wanted  those  trials." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  460.  The  following 
examples,  among  others,  are  censured  by  Priestley,  Murray,  and  the  copyists  of  the  latter,  with- 
out sufficient  discrimination,  and  for  a  reason  which  I  think  fallacious;  namely,  "because  the 
ideas  they  represent  seem  not  to  be  sufficiently  divided  in  the  mind:" — "  The  court  of  Rome  were 
not  without  solicitude." — Hume.  "  The  house  of  Lords  were  so  much  influenced  by  these  rea- 
sons.''—/^ See  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  188;  Murray's,  152;  R.  C.  Smith's,  129;  Ingersoll's,  248: 
and  others. 

OBS.  10. — In  general,  a  collective  noun,  unless  it  be  made  plural  in  form,  no  more  admits  a  plu- 
ral adjective  before  it,  than  any  other  singular  noun.  Hence  the  impropriety  of  putting  these  or 
those  before  kind  or  sort ;  as,  "These  kind  of  knaves  I  know." — Shakspeare.  Hence,  too,  I  infer 
that  ca^Zeis  not  a  collective  noun,  as  Nixon  would  have  it  to  be,  but  an  irregular  plural  which  has  no 
singular  ;  because  we  can  say  these  cattle  or  those  cattle,  but  neither  a  bullock  nor  a  herd  is  ever 
called  a  cattle,  this  cattle,  or  that  cattle.  And  if  "  cavalry,  clergy,  commonalty,"  &c.,  were  like  this 
word,  they  would  all  be  plurals  also,  and  not  "  substantives  which  imply  plurality  in  the  singular 
number,  and  consequently  have  no  other  plural."  Whence  it  appears,  that  the  writer  who  most 
broadly  charges  others  with  not  understanding  the  nature  of  a  collective  noun,  has  most  of  all  mis- 
conceived it  himself.  If  there  are  not  many  clergies,  it  is  because  the  clergy  is  one  body,  with  one 
Head,  and  not  because  it  is  in  a  particular  sense  many.  And,  since  the  forms  of  words  are  not 
necessarily  confined  to  things  that  exist,  who  shall  say  that  the  plural  word  clergies,  as  I  have 
just  used  it,  is  not  good  English  ? 

OBS.  11. — If  we  say,  "these  people,"  "  these  gentry,"  "these  folk,"  we  make /><?o/>/r ,  (/entry,  and 
folk,  not  only  irregular  plurals,  but  plurals  to  which  there  are  no  correspondent  singulars  ;  for, 
by  these  phrases,  we  must  mean  certain  individuals,  and  not  more  than  one  people,  gentry,  or 
folk.  But  these  names  are  sometimes  collective  nouns  singular  ;  and,  as  such,  they  may  have 
verbs  of  either  number,  according  to  the  sense ;  and  may  also  form  regular  plurals,  as  peoples, 
and  folks  ;  though  we  seldom,  if  ever,  speak  of  gentries  ;  and  folks  is  now  often  irregularly  ap- 
plied to  persons,  as  if  one  person  were  a  folk.  So  troops  is  sometimes  irregularly,  if  not  improp- 
erly, put  for  soldiers,  as  if  a  soldier  were  a  troop;  as,  "While  those  gallant  troops,  by  whom 
every  hazardous,  every  laborious  service  is  performed,  are  left  to  perish." — Ju/riu.-\  p.  147.  In 


CHAP.  \l.]  SISTAX. RULE   XV. VERBS. NOTE. ERRORS. 


Genesis,  xxvii,  29th,  we  read,  "  Let  people  serve  thee,  and  nations  bow  down  to  thee."  But, 
according  to  the  Vulgate,  it  ought  to  be,  "  Let  peoples  serve  thee,  and  nations  bow  down  to  thee;  " 
according  to  the  Scptuagint,  "  Let  nations  serve  thee,  and  rulers  bow  down  to  thee."  Auuiii .; 

their  mouth,"  \c  — (>>  ' 

pie  draw  near  to  me  with  their  mouth. 


;  syntax,"  we  rind  the  text,  "  This  people  draweth  near  to  me  with 
Jram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  4'J.  This  is  corrected  in  his  Key,  thus  :  "T/i  vse  peo- 
?ir  month."  —  Ib.  ii,  185.  The  Bible  has  it:  "  T'his  people  dru 

inc  with  their  mouth."  —  I*<iiu/t.  xxix,  13.  And  again:  "This  people  draircth  ni</h  ^^n(on\e  with 
their  mouth."  —  Matt.  xv,  8.  Dr.  Priestley  thought  it  ought  to  be,  "  This  people  \fnncs  nigh  unto 
me  with  their  months."  —  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  63.  The  second  evangelist  omits  some  words: 
"  This  people  /tonoureth  me  with  their  lips,  but  (heir  lu-art  is  far  from  me."  —  Mark,  vii,  6.  In  my 
opinion,  the  plural  verb  is  here  to  be  preferred  ;  because  the  pronoun  their  is  plural,  and  the  wor- 
ship spoken  of  was  a  personal  rather  than  a  national  act.  Yet  the  adjective  tins  must  be  re- 
tained, if  the  text  specify  the  Jews  as  a  people.  As  to  the  words  month  and  In-art,  they  are  to  be 
understood  figuratively  of  speech  ami  Inn-  ;  and  I  agree  not  with  Priestley,  that  the  plural  num- 
ber must  necessarily  be  used.  See  Note  4th  to  Itule  4th. 

12.  —  In  making  an  assertion  concerning  a  number  or  quantity  with  some  indefinite  excess 
or  allowance,  we  seem  sometimes  to  take  for  the  subject  of  the  verb  what  is  really  the  object  of  a 
preposition  ;  as,  "  In  a  sermon,  there  may  be  from  three  to  five,  or  six  heads."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p. 
313.     "In  those  of  Germany,  there  are  from  eight  to  twelve  professors."  —  Dicight,  Lit.  Court  n- 
tiou,  p.  138.     "About  a  million  and  a  half  was  sriscribfd  in  a  few  days."  —  N.    Y.  Daily  Adverti- 
ser.    "About  one  hundred  feet  of  the  Muncy  dam  has  been,  swept  off."  —  N.  Y.  Observer.     "  Up- 
wards of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  hare  been  appropriated."  —  Xcirspaper.     "  But  I  fear  there 
are  between  twenty  and  thirty  of  them."  —  Tooke's  Diversions,  ii,  441.     "Besides  which,  there 
arc  upwards  of  fifty  smaller  islands."  —  Balbi's    Gcoa.  p.  30.      "  On  board  of  which  embarked 
upwards  of   three  hundred  passengers."  —  Robertsons  Amer.  ii,  419.     The  propriety  of  using 
above  or  upwards  of  for  more  than,  is  questionable,  but  the  practice  is  not  uncommon.    When 
there  is  a  preposition  before  what  seems  at  first  to  be  the  subject  of  the  verb,  as  in  the  foregoing 
instances,  I  imagine  there  is  an  ellipsis  of  the  word  number,  amount,  sum,  or  quantity  ;  the  first 
of  which  words  is  a  collective  noun  and  may  have  a  verb  either  singular  or  plural  :  as,  "  In  a  sermon, 
there  may  be  any  number  from  three  to  five  or  six  heads."     This  is  awkward,  to  be  sure  ;  but 
what  does  the  Doctor's  sentence  mean,  unless  it  is,  that  there  may  be  an  optional  number  of  heads, 
varying  from  three  to  six  ? 

13.  —  Dr.  Webster  says,  "  When  an  aggregate  amount  is  expressed  by  the  plural  names  of 
the  particulars  composing  that  amount,  the  verb  may  be  in  the  singular  number  ;  as,  *  There  was 
more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling.'     Mavor's  Voyages."     To  this  he  adds, 
••  However  repugnant  to  the  principles  of  grammar  this  may  seem  at  first  view,  the  practice  is 

ffirmation  is  not  made  of  the  individual  parts  or  divisions  named,  the  pounds, 
but  of  the  entire  sum  or  amount."  —  Philosophical  Gram.  p.  146;  Improved  Gram.  p.  100.  The 
fact  is,  that  the  Doctor  here,  as  in  some  other  instances,  deduces  a  false  rule  from  a  correct  usage. 
It  is  plain  that  either  the  word  more,  taken  substantively,  or  the  noun  to  which  it  relates  as  an 
adjective,  is  the  only  nominative  to  the  verb  was.  Mavor  does  not  affirm  that  there  were  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  pounds  ;  but  that  there  was  more  —  i.  e.,  more  money  than  so  many  pounds 
are,  or  amount  to.  Oliver  B.  Peirce,  too,  falls  into  a  multitude  of  strange  errors  respecting  the 
nature  of  more  than,  and  the  construction  of  other  words  that  accompany  these.  See  his  "  Ana- 
lytic-id Rules,"  and  the  manner  in  which  he  applies  them,  in  "TAe  Grammar,"  p.  195  et  seq. 

NOTE  TO  RULE  XV. 

A  rnllective  noun  conveying  the  idea  of  unity,  requires  a  verb  in  the  third  person' 
singular  ;  and  generally  admits  also  t'ne  regular  plural  construction  :  as,  "  His  army 

was  defrat'-l."  —  "  His  an,  ties  were  defeated." 

IML'UOITJKTIKS  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  VXDER  RULE  XV. 

.  —  THE  IDEA  OF  PLURALITY. 
The  gentry  is  punctilious  in  their  etiquette." 

.—  Not  proper,  '  .-rh  i*  i<  nf  the  singular  number,  and  does  not  correctly  agree  with  its 


t.irh  is  :i  <-oll.-.-tivc  ii.,  mi  roi.v.-x  in-  ruthcr  the  idea  of  plurality.      But,  according  to  Rule 

;  the  idea  of  plurality,  the  verb  most  agree  with  it  in 
the  plural  numl'tr.'1     Tht-ri-lcr-.  i<  -houM  In-  «r(  ;  thu.i.  "  The  gentry  are  punctilious  in  their  t-ti<|u> 

"  In  France  th  toot,  and  the  middle  sort  makes  use  of  wooden  shoes." 

—  Hv:  -  in  that  which  should  cause  sor- 

row."— Set-  Mit,--  .;>le  is'  foolish,  they  have  not  known  me."  — 

•/"••  n  .  '•')•     "For  the  people  speaks,  but  does'not  write."  —  Philological 

Museum,  i.  that  all  the  people  that  was   in  the  camp,  trembled."  —  Exodus,  xix, 

16.     "  No  company  likes  to  confess  that  they  are   ignorant."  —  Hit  //,   p.    U17. 

44  Far  the  greater  part  of  their  captives  was  anciently  sacrificed."  —  Robertson's  America,  i, 
339.  "Above  one  hilt'  of  them  was  cut  off  brt'.in-  tho'return  ol'  spring."  —  Ib.ii,  419.  "The 
other  class,  termed  Figures  of  Thought,  supposes  the  words  t->  be  used  in  their  proper  and 
literal  meanini:."  —  Wuir's  lth<t.  //».  337.  "A  multitude  of  words  in 

vonches  to  the  Teutonic  form,  and  therefore  afford  excellent  assistance."  — 
Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of  Lang,  i,  118.     "A  great  majority  of  our  authors  is  defective  in  man- 


564  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

ner." — James  Brown's  Grit.  "  The  greater  part  of  these  new-coined  words  has  been  reject- 
ed."— Tooke's  Diversions,  ii,  445.  "  The  greater  part  of  the  words  it  contains  is  subject  to 
certain  modifications  and  inflections." — The  Friend,  ii,  123.  "While  all  our  youth  prefers 
her  to  the  rest." — Waller's  Poems,  p.  17.  "  Mankind  is  appointed  to  live  in  a  future  state." 
— Butler's  Analogy,  p.  57.  "  The  greater  part  of  human  kind  speaks  and  acts  wholly  by 
imitation." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  169.  "  The  greatest  part  of  human  gratifications  approaches 
so  nearly  to  vice." — Ibid. 

"While  still  the  busy  world  is  treading  o'er 
The  paths  they  trod  five  thousand  years  before." — Young. 

UNDER  THE  NOTE. — THE  IDEA  OF  UNITY. 

"In  old  English  this  species  of  words  were  numerous." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of  Lang,  ii,  6. 
"And  a  series  of  exercises  in  false  grammar  are  introduced  towards  the  end." — Frost's  EL  of 
E.  Gram.  p.  iv.  "And  a  jury,  in  conformity  with  the  same  idea,  were  anciently  called  homa- 
gium,  the  homage,  or  manhood." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  296.  "  With  respect  to  the  former, 
there  are  indeed  plenty  of  means." — Kames,  EL  of  Grit,  ii,  319.  "The  number  of  school 
districts  have  increased  since  the  last  year." — Gov.  Throop,  1832.  "The  Yearly  Meeting 
have  purchased  with  its  funds  these  publications." — Foster's  Reports,  i,  76.  "  Have  the 
legislature  power  to  prohibit  assemblies?" — Win.  Sullivan.  "So  that  the  whole  num- 
ber of  the  streets  were  fifty." — Rollin's  Ancient  Hist,  ii,  8.  "  The  number  of  inhabi- 
tants were  not  more  than  four  millions." — SMOLLETT:  see  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  193.  "The 
House  of  Commons  were  of  small  weight." — HUME  :  Ib.  p.  188.  "  The  assembly  of  the 
wicked  have  enclosed  me." — Psal.  xxii,  16  ;  Lowth's  Gram.  p.  75.  "  Every  kind  of  conve- 
nience and  comfort  are  provided." — Com.  School  Journal,  i,  24.  "Amidst  the  great  decrease 
of  the  inhabitants  in  Spain,  the  body  of  the  clergy  have  suffered  no  diminution ;  but  has 
rather  been  gradually  increasing." — Payne's  Geog.  ii,  418.  "  Small  as  the  number  of  in- 
habitants are,  yet  their  poverty  is  extreme." — Ib.  ii,  417.  "  The  number  of  the  names'  were 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty." — Ware's  Gram.  p.  12  :  see  Acts,  i,  15. 

RULE  XVI.  — FINITE  VERBS. 

When  a  Verb  has  two  or  more  nominatives  connected  by  and,  it  must  agree 
with  them  jointly  in  the  plural,  because  they  are  taken  together :  as,  "  True 
rhetoric  and  sound  logic  are  very  nearly  allied." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  11. 
"Aggression  and  injury  in  no  case  justify  retaliation." — Wayland's  Moral 
Science,  p.  406. 

"  Judges  and  senates  have  been  bought  for  gold, 
Esteem  and  love  were  never  to  be  sold." — Pope. 

EXCEPTION  FIRST. 

When  two  nominatives  connected  by  and  serve  merely  to  describe  one  person  or  thing, 
they  are  either  in  apposition  or  equivalent  to  one  name,  and  do  not  require  a  plural  verb ; 
as,  "  Immediately  comes  a  hue  and  cry  after  a  gang  of  theives." — L' Estrange.  "  The  hue  and 
cry  of  the  country  pursues  him." — Jimius,  Letter  xxiii.  "Flesh  and  blood  [i.  e.  man,  or 
man's  nature,]  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee." — Matt,  xvi,  17.  "  Descent  and  fall  to  us  is 
adverse." — Milton,  P.  L.  ii,  76.  "  This  philosopher  and  poet  was  banished  from  his  country." 
— "  Such  a  Saviour  and  Redeemer  is  actually  provided  for  us." — Gurney's  Essays,  p.  386. 
"  Let  us  then  declare  what  great  things  our  God  and  Saviour  has  done  for  us." — Dr.  Scott,  on 
Luke  viii.  "Toll,  tribute,  and  custom,  was  paid  unto  them." — Ezra,  iv,  20. 
"  Whose  icy  current  and  compulsive  course 
Ne'er  feels  retiring  ebb,  but  keeps  due  on." — Shakspeare. 

EXCEPTION  SECOND. 

When  two  nominatives  connected  by  and,  are  emphatically  distinguished,  they  belong  to 
different  propositions,  and,  if  singular,  do  not  require  a  plural  verb  ;  as,  "Ambition,  and  not 
the  safety  of  the  state,  was  concerned." — Goldsmith.  "Consanguinity,  and  not  affinity,  is  the 
ground  of  the  prohibition." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  324.  "But  a  modification,  and  oftentimes 
a  total  change,  takes  place." — Maunder.  "Somewhat,  and,  in  many  circumstances,  a  great  deal 
too,  is  put  upon  us." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  108.  "Disgrace,  and  perhaps  ruin,  was  the  certain 
consequence  of  attempting  the  latter." — Robertson' s  America,  i,  434. 

"Ay,  and  no  too,  was  no  good  divinity." — Shaksjieare. 

"Love,  and  love  only,  is  the  loan  for  love." — Young. 

EXCEPTION  THIRD. 

When  two  or  more  nominatives  connected  by  and  are  preceded  by  the  adjective  each,  every, 
or  no,  they  are  taken  separately,  and  do  not  require  a  plural  verb  ;  as, "  When  no 'part  of  their 
substance,  and  no  one  of  their  properties,  is  the  same."— Bp.  Butler.  "  Every  limb  and  fea- 


CHAP.  VI.]          SYNTAX. — RULE  XVI. VERBS. OBSERVATIONS.  565 

ture  appears  with  its  respective  grace." — Steele.  "  Every  person,  and  every  occurrence,  is 
beheld  in  the  most  favourable  light." — Murray's  Key,  p.  190.  "  Each  worm,  and  each  insect, 
is  a  marvel  of  creative  power." 

"  Whose  every  look  and  gesture  was  a  joke 
To  clapping  theatres  and  shouting  crowds." — Young. 

EXCEPTIOX  FOURTH. 

When  the  verb  separates  its  nominatives,  it  agrees  with  that  which  precedes  it,  and  is 
understood  to  the  rest;  as,  "The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fullness  thereof." — Murray's 
Exercises,  p.  36. 

"Disdain  forbids  me,  and  my  dread  of  shame." — Milton. 

" Forth  in  the  pleasing  spring, 

Thy  beauty  walks,  thy  tenderness,  and  love." — Thomson. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XVI. 

Ons.  1. — According  to  Lindley  Murray,  (who,  in  all  his  compilation,  from  whatever  learned  au- 
thorities, refers  us  to  no  places  in  any  book  but  his  own,)  "  Dr.  Blair  observes,  that  '  two  or  more 
substantives,  joined  by  a  copulative,  must  always  require  the  verb  or  pronoun  to  which  the  yrefer,  to 
fi/ in  the  plural  number :'  and  this,"  continues  the  great  Compiler,  "  is  the  general  sentiment 
of  English  grammarians." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  150.  The  same  thing  is  stated  in  many  other 
grammars  :  thus,  Ingersoll  has  the  very  same  words,  on  the  238th  page  of  his  book  ;  and  R.  C. 
th  says,  "  Dr.  Blair  very  justly  observes,"  &c. — Productive  Gram.  p.  126.  I  therefore  doubt 
not,  the  learned  rhetorician  has  somewhere  made  some  such  remark  ;  though  I  can  neither  sup- 
ply the  reference  which  these  gentlemen  omit,  nor  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  their  quotation. 
But  I  trust  to  make  it  very  clear,  that  so  many  grammarians  as  hold  this  sentiment,  are  no  great 
readers,  to  say  the  least  of  them.  Murray  himself  acknowledges  one  exception  to  this  principle, 
and  unconsciously  furnishes  examples  of  one  or  two  more ;  but,  in  stead  of  placing  the  former  in 
his  Grammar,  and  under  the  rule,  where  the  learner  would  be  likely  to  notice  it,  he  makes  it  an 
obscure  and  almost  unintelligible  note,  in  the  margin  of  his  Key,  referring  by  an  asterisk  to  the 
following  correction  :  "  Every  man  and  every  woman  was  numbered." — Murray'*  Gram.  8vo,  Vol. 
ii,  p.  190.  To  justify  this  phraseology,  he  talks  thus  :  "WTiatmer  nunJier  of  nouns  may  be  con- 
nected l>ij  a  conjunction  tcith  th< •  j,/-<>t/<>/<n  I;VIU<Y,  this  pronoun  is  as  applicable  to  the  whole  mass  of 
them,  as  to  any  one  of  tJm  nouns  ;  and  therefore  the  verb  is  correctly  put  in  the  singular  number, 
and  refers  to  the  whole  separately  and  individually  considered." — Ib.  So  much,  then,  for  "  the  pro- 
noun KVKKY  !  "  But,  without  other  exceptions,  what  shall  be  done  with  the  following  texts  from 
.Murray  himself?  "  The  flock,  and  not  the  fleece,  is,  or  ought  to  be  the  object  of  the  shepherd's 
care."— Ih.  ii,  181.  "  This  prodigy  of  learning,  this  scholar,  critic,  and  antiquary,  was  entirely 
destitute  of  breeding  and  civility." — Ib.  ii,  217.  And,  in  the  following  line,  what  conjunction  ap- 
pears, or  what  is  the  difference  between  "  horror"  and  "  black  despair,"  that  the  verb  should  be 
made  plural  ? 

"  What  black  despair,  what  horror,/// his  mind!"—Ib.  ii,  183. 

"  What  black  despair,  what  horror///.?  his  heart!" — Thomson.* 

Ons.  2. — Besides  the  many  examples  which  mayjustly  come  under  the  four  exceptions  above 
specified,  there  are  several  questionable  but  customary  expressions,  which  have  some  appearance 
of  being  deviations  from  this  rule,  but  which  may  perhaps  be  reasonably  explained  on  the  princi- 
ple of  cl.  "All  work  and  no  play,  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy." — "  Slow  and  steady  often  out- 
trnri  /.\ :  haste." — Dil/in/ti' -.  .  p.  '2'->.  "Little  and  often///*  the  purse." — Treasury  of 
Knowledge,  Part  i,  p.  446.  "Fair  and  softly  goes  far."  These  maxims,  by  universal  custom,  lay 
i-laim  to  a  singular  verb  ;  and,  for  my  part,  1  know  not  how  they  can  well  be  considered  either  real 
•options  to  the  foregoing  rule,  or  real  inaccuracies  under  it;  for,  in  most  of  them,  the  words 
connected  are  not  nouns;  and  those  which  are  so,  may  not  be  nominatives.  And  it  is  clear, 
that  every  exception  must  have  some  specific  character  by  which  it  may  be  distinguished;  else 
it  destroys  the  rule,  in  stead  of  confirming  it,  as  known  exceptions  are  said  to  dp.  Murray  appears 
to  have  thought  the  singular  verb  wrong ;  for,  among  his  examples  for  parsing,  he  has,  "Fair 
and  softly  go  far,"  which  instance  is  no  more  entitled  to  a  plural  verb  than  the  rest.  See  his 
Ot  '  Vol.  ii,  p.  ;1.  Why  not  suppose  them  all  to  be  elliptical  ?  Their  meaning  may  be  as 
follows  :  "To  hare  all  work  and  no  play,  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy." — "  \\'lmt  /N  slow  and  steady,  often 
iititfrurflx  haste." — "7b  put  in  little  and  often,  Jills  the  purse." — "  ]V hat  proceeds  fair  and  softly, 
goes  far."  The  following  lino  from  Shakspt-arr  appears  to  be  still  more  elliptical: 

"  Poor  and  content  is  rich,  and  rich  enough." — Othello. 

This  may  ho  supposed  to  moan,  "Ife  who  is  poor  and  content,"  &c.  In  the  following  sentence 
again,  we  may  suppose  an  ellipsis  of  the  phrase  To  have,  at  the  beginning  ;  though  here,  perhaps, 
to  have  pluralizcd  the  verb,  would  have  been  as  well : 

"  One  eye  on  death  and  one  full  fix'd  on  heaven, 
mcs  a  mortal  and  immortal  man." — Yuung. 

Ons.  3. — The  names  of  two  persons  are  not  unfroquently  used  jointlv  as  the'namc  of  their  story;  in 
which  sense,  they  must  have  a  singular  verb,  if  they  have  any  :  as,  "  1'riur's  Henry  and  Emma  con- 
tains an  other  beautiful  example." — Jamieson's  Wtcturic,  p.  179.  I  somewhat  hesitate  to  call  this 

*  In  his  English  Rrad'r,  (Part  II,  Chap.  5th,  Sec.  7th,)  Murray  has  this  Hnr>  in  its  proper  form,  as  it  hero 
stands  in  the  words  of  Thomson  ;  but,  in  his  (imnnnnr.  he  rorrujitod  it,  first  iu  his  Exercises,  and  then  still  more 
in  his  Key .  Among  his  exam  i  i  rands  thus  : 

"  What.  bl;u-k  despair,  what  horror,. /Z//s  his  mind!  ''—Rrercis'S,  Rule  2. 

So  the  error  is  propagated  in  the  name  of  L,  anting,  and  this  verse  goes  from  grammar  to  grammar,  as  one  that 
must  have  a  "  plural "  verb.  See  IngersoWs  Gram.  p.  242 ;  Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  127  ;  Fisk's  Gram.  p.  120 ; 
Weld's  E.  Gram.  p.  189. 


566  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

an  exception  to  the  foregoing  rule,  because  here' too  the  phraseology  may  be  supposed  elliptical. 
The  meaning  is,  "  Prior's  little  poem,  entitled,  '  Henry  and  Emma,'  contains,"  &c. ; — or,  "  Prior's 
story  of  Henry  and  Emma  contains,"  &c.  And,  if  the  first  expression  is  only  an  abbreviation  of  one 
of  these,  the  construction  of  the  verb  contains  may  be  referred  to  Rule  14th.  See  Exception  1st  to 
Rule  12th,  and  Obs.  2d  on  Rule  14th. 

OBS.  4. — The  conjunction  and,  by  which  alone  we  can  with  propriety  connect  different  words 
to  make  them  joint  nominatives  or  joint  antecedents,  is  sometimes  suppressed  and  under- 
stood; but  then  its  effect  is  the  same,  as  if  it  were  inserted:  though  a  singular  verb  might  some- 
times be  quite  as  proper  in  the  same  sentences,  because  it  would  {merely  imply  a  disjunctive 
conjunction  or  none  at  all :  as,  "  The  high  breach  of  trust,  the  notorious  corruption,  are  stated'm 
the  strongest  terms." — Junius,  Let.  xx.  "  Envy,  self-will,  jealousy,  pride,  often  reign  there." — 
Abbott's  Corner  Stone,  p.  111.  (See  Obs.  4th  on  Rule  12th.) 

"Art,  empire,  earth  itself,  to  change  are  doomed." — Beattie. 
"  Her  heart,  her  mind,  her  love,  is  his  alone." — Cowley. 

In  all  the  foregoing  examples,  a  singular  verb  might  have  been  used  without  impropriety  ;  or  the 
last,  which  is  singular,  might  have  been  plural.     But  the  following  couplet  evidently  requires  a 
plural  verb,  and  is  therefore  correct  as  the  poet  wrote  it ;  both  because  the  latter  noun  is  plural, 
and  because  the  conjunction  and  is  understood  between  the  two.     Yet  a  late  grammarian,  per- 
ceiving no  difference  between  the  joys  of  sense  and  the  pleasure  of  reason,  not  only  changes  "  lie  " 
to    "  lies,"  but  uses  the  perversion  for  a  proof  text,  under  a  rule  which  refers  the  verb  to  the  first 
noun  only,  and  requires  it  to  be  singular.     See  Oliver  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  250. 
"  Reason's  whole  pleasure,  all  the  joys  of  sense, 
Lie  in  three  words — health,  peace,  and  competence." — Pope's  Ess.  Ep.iv,  1.  80. 

OBS.  5. — When  the  speaker  changes  his  nominative  to  take  a  stronger  expression,  he  commonly 
uses  no  conjunction ;  but,  putting  the  verb  in  agreement  with  the  noun  which  is  next  to  it,  he 
leaves  the  other  to  an  implied  concord  with  its  proper  form  of  the  same  verb:  as,  "  The  man 
whose  designs,  whose  whole  conduct,  tends  to  reduce  me  to  subjection,  that  man  is  at  war 
with  me,  though  not  a  blow  has  yet  been  given,  nor  a  sword  drawn." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  265. 
"All  Greece,  all  the  barbarian  ivorld,  is  too  narrow  for  this  man's  ambition." — Ibid.  "  This  self- 
command,  this  exertion  of  reason  in  the  midst  of  passion,  has  a  wonderful  effect  both  to  please 
and  to  persuade." — Ib.  p.  260.  "In  the  mutual  influence  of  body  and  soul,  there  is  a  wisdom, 
a  wonderful  wisdom,  which  we  cannot  fathom." — Murray's  Gram.  "Vol.  i,  p.  150.  If  the  principle 
here  stated  is  just,  Murray  has  written  the  following  models  erroneously  :  "  Virtue,  honour,  ray, 
even  self-interest,  conspire  to  recommened  the  measure." — Ib.  p.  150.  "  Patriotism,  morality, 
every  public  and  private  consideration,  demand  our  submission  to  just  and  lawful  government." — 
Ibid.  In  this  latter  instance,  I  should  prefer  the  singular  verb  demands ;  and  in  the  former,  the 
expression  ought  to  be  otherwise  altered,  thus  :  "  Virtue,  honour,  and  interest,  all  conspire  to  rec- 
ommend the  measure."  Or  thus  :  "  Virtue,  honour — nay,  even  self-interest,  recommends  the  meas- 
ure." On  this  principle,  too,  Thomson  was  right,  and  this  critic  wrong,  in  the  example  cited 
at  the  close  of  the  first  observation  above.  This  construction  is  again  recurred  to  by  Murray,  in 
the  second  chapter  of  his  Exercises  ;  where  he  explicitly  condemns  the  following  sentence  because 
the  verb  is  singular :  "  Prudence,  policy,  nay,  his  own  tme  interest,  strongly  recommends  the 
line  of  conduct  proposed  to  him." — Octavo  Gram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  22. 

OBS.  6. — When  two  or  more  nominatives  are  in  apposition  with  a  preceding  one  which  they 
explain,  the  verb  must  agree  with  the  first  word  only,  because  the  others  are  adjuncts  to  this, 
and  not  joint  subjects  to  the  verb  ;  as,  "  Loudd,  the  ancient  Lydda  and  Diospolis,  appears  like  a 
place  lately  ravaged  by  fire  and  sword." — Keith's  Evidences,  p.  93.  "  Beattie,  James, — a  philoso- 
pher and  poet, — ivas  born  in  Scotland,  in  the  year  1735." — Murray's  Sequel,  p.  306.  "For,  the 
quantity,  the  length,  and  shortness  of  our  syllables,  is  not,  by  any  means,  so  fixed." — Blair's  Rhet. 
p.  124.  This  principle,  like  the  preceding  one,  persuades  me  again  to  dissent  from  Murray,  who  cor- 
rects or  perverts  the  following  sentence,  by  changing  originates  to  originate:  "All  that  makes  a 
figure  on  the  great  theatre  of  the  world  ;  the  employments  of  thebusy,'the  enterprises  of  the  ambi- 
tious, and  the  exploits  of  the  warlike ;  the  virtues  which  form  the  happiness,  and  the  crimes  which 
occasion  the  misery  of  mankind  ;  originates  in  that  silent  and  secret  recess  of  thought,  which  is 
hidden  from  every  human  eye."— See  Murray's  Octavo  Gram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  181 ;  or  his  Duodecimo 
Key,  p.  21.  The  true  subject  of  this  proposition  is  the  noun  all,  which  is  singular  ;  and  the  other 
nominatives  are  subordinate  to  this,  and  merely  explanatory  of  it. 

OBS.  7- — Dr.  Webster  says,  "Enumeration  and  addition  of  numbers  are  usually  expressed  in  the 
singular  number-,  [as,]  two  and  two  is  four ;  seven  and  nine  is  sixteen  ;  that  is,  the  sum  of  seven 
and  nine^  is  sixteen.  But  modern  usage  inclines  to  reject  the  use  of  the  verb  in  the  singular 
number,  in  these  and  similar  phrases." — Improved  Gram.  p.  106.  Among  its  many  faults,  this 
passage  exhibits  a  virtual  contradiction.  For  what  "  modern  usage  inclines  to  reject,"  can  hardly 
be  the  fashion  in  which  any  ideas  "are  usually  expressed."  Besides,  I  may  safely  aver,  that 
this  is  a  kind  of  phraseology  which  all  correct  usage  always  did  reject.  It  is  not  only  a  gross 
vulgarism,  but  a  plain  and  palpable  violation  of  the  foregoing  rule  of  syntax ;  and,  as  such  it 
must  be  reputed,  if  the  rule  has  any  propriety  at  all.  What  "enumeration"  has  to  do  with  it, 
is  more  than  I  can  tell.  But  Dr.  Webster  once  admired  and  commended  this  mode  of  speech,  as 
one  of  the  "  wonderful  proofs  of  ingenuity  in  the  framers  of  language  ;  "  and  laboured  to  defend 
it  as  being  "  correct  upon  principle ;  "  that  is,  upon  the  principle  that  "  the  sum  of"  is  understood 
to  be  the  subject  of  the  affirmation,  when  one  says,  "  Two  andt\vo  is  four,"  in  stead  of,  '•  Two  and 
two  are  four." — See  Webster's  Philosophical  Gram.  p.  153.  This  seems  to  me  a  "  wonderful  proof" 
of  ignorance  in  a  very  learned  man. 

OBS.  8. — In  Greek  and  Latin,  the  verb  frequently  agrees  with  the  nearest  nominative,  and  is 
understood  to  the  rest ;  and  this  construction  is  sometimes  imitated  in  English,  especially  if  the 
nouns  follow  the  verb :  as,  "  Nw/  6e  MENEI  martf,  £/brif,  uyuKr),  ra  rpia  ravra."— "Nunc  vero  manet 
fides,  spes,  charitas ;  tria  ha?c." — "Now  abideth  faith,  hope,  charity;  these  three." — 1  Cor.  xiii, 
13.  "And  now  abideth  confession,  prayer,  and  praise,  these  three;  but  the  greatest  of  these  is 


CIIAP.  VI.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XVI. VERBS. OBSERVATIONS.  567 

praise." — ATTERBUUY:  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  300.  The  propriety  of  this  usage,  so  far  as  our  language 
is  concerned,  I  doubt.  It  seems  to  open  a  door  for  numerous  deviations  from  the  foregoing  rule, 
and  deviations  of  such  a  sort,  that  if  they  are  to  be  considered  exceptions,  one  can  hardly  tell  why. 
The  practice,  however,  is  not  uncommon,  especially  if  there  are  more  nouns  than  two,  and  each 
is  emphatic;  as,  "  Wonderful  was  the  patience,  fortitude,  self-denial,  and  bravery  of  our  ances- 
tors."—  Webster's  Hist,  of  I'.  N.  p.  118.  "It  is  the  very  thing  I  would  have  you  make  out;  for 
therein  consists  the  force,  and  use,  and  nature  of  language." — Berkley'*  Alfiphron,  p.  161.  "  There 
t*  the  proper  noun,  and  the  common  noun.  There  in  the  singular  noun,  and  the  plural  noun." — 
Emmons's  dram.  p.  11.  "From  him  proceeds  power,  sanctification,  truth,  grace,  and  every  other 
blessing  we  can  conceive." — Calriiis  Institutes,  B.  i,  Ch.  13.  "  To  what  purpose  cometh  there  to 
me  incense  from  Sheba,  and  the  sweet  cane  from  a  far  country  ?  " — Ji-r.  vi,  20.  "  For  thine  is  the 
kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  forever." — Matt,  vi,  13.  In  all  these  instances,  the  plural 
verb  might  have  been  used;  and  yet  perhaps  the  singular  may  be  justified,  on  the  ground  that 
there  is  a  distinct  and  emphatic  enumeration  of  the  nouns.  Thus,  it  would  be  proper  to  say, 
"  Thine  arc  the  kingdom,  the  power,  and  the  glory;  "  but  this  construction  seems  less  emphatic 
than  the  preceding,  which  means,  "  For  thine  is  the  kingdom,  thine  is  the  power,  and  thine  is  the 
glory,  forever;  "  and  this  repetition  is  still  more  emphatic,  and  perhaps  more  proper,  than  the 
elliptical  form.  The  repetition  of  the  conjunction  "  and,"  in  the  original  text  as  above,  adds  time 
and  emphasis  to  the  reading,  and  makes  the  singular  verb  more  proper  than  it  would  otherwise 
be ;  for  which  reason,  the  following  form,  in  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bullions  has  set  the  sentence 
down  for  bad  English,  is  in  some  sort  a  perversion  of  the  Scripture:  "Thine  is  the  kingdom, 
the  power,  and  the  glory." — Bullions' 's  E.  dram.  p.  141. 

OHS.  9. — When  the  nominatives  are  of  different  persons,  the  verb  agrees  with  the  first  person  in 
preference  to  the  second,  and  with  the  second  in  preference  to  the  third;  for  thou  and  /,  or  he, 
thon,  and  /,  are  equivalent  to  we;  and  thou  and  he  are  equivalent  to  you:  as,  "Why  speakest 
thou  any  more  of  thy  matters  ?  I  have  said,  thou  and  Ziba  dicidc  the  land." — 2  Sam.  xix,  29. 
That  is,  "divide  ye  the  land."  "And  livi-  thou  and  thy  children  of  the  rest." — 2  Kings,  iv,  7. 
"  That  I  and  thy  /  found  grace  in  thy  sight." — 'Exodus,  xxxiii,  16.  "/and  my  kingdom 

fin-  guiltless. "—2  .Saw.  iii,  2tJ.  "  /,  and  you,  "and  Piso  perhaps  too,  are  in  a  state  of  dissatisfac- 
tion."— Zefiobia,  i,  114. 

"  Then  7,  and  you,  and  all  of  us,  fell  down. 

Whilst  bloody  treason  flourish'!!  over  us." — Shak.,  J.  Ctcsar. 

1". — When  two  or  more  nominatives  connected  by  and  are  of  the  same  form  but  distin- 
guished by  adjectives  or  -;,  one  or  more  of  them  may  be  omitted  by  ellipsis,  but  the  verb 
must  be  plural,  and  agree  with  them  all :  as,  "A  literary,  a  scientific,  a  wealthy,  and  a  poor  man, 
- //  in  one  room." — }'>  .  p.  2>>o.  Here  four  different  men  are  clearly  spoken 
of.  "  Else  the  rising  and  the  falling  emphasis  are  the  same." — Knoicles's  Elocutionist,  p.  33. 
Here  the  noun  emphasis  is  understood  after  risint/.  "  The  singular  and  [the]  plural  form  seem  to 
br  confounded." — Loirth's  Cram.  p.  22.  Here  the  noun  form  is  presented  to  the  mind  twice; 
and  therefore  the  article  should  have  been  repeated.  See  Obs.  loth  on  Rule  1st.  "  My  farm  and 
William's  are  adjacent  to  each  other." — JY/Vrr'.v  Cram.  p.  220.  Here  the  noun  farm  is  understood 


tenee  is  written  wrong,  unless  each  man  had  more  than  one  farm.     "Was  not  Demos- 
...  and  his  muster  Plato's,  perfectly  Attic;  and  yet  none  more  lofty?" — Milnes's 
•ii-itm.  ]>.  2-1 1.      Here  str/le  is   understood  after  Phito's ;  wherefore  was  should  rather  be 
fiould  be  changed  to  as  icfll  as.     But  the  text,  as  it  stands,  is  not  much  unlike 
noticed  above.     "  The  character  of  a  fop,  and  of  a  rough  warrior,  are  no 
-fully  contrasted."— A"  f  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  2o(>.    Here  the  ellipsis  is  not 

TV  proper.     Say,  "  the  character  of  a  fop,  and  that  of  a  rough  warrior,"  &c.     Again  :  "  We  may 
.  that  the  eloquence  of  the  bar,  of  the  legislature,  and  of  public  assemblies,  are  seldom  or 
.ml  united  t>,  lii<;h  jx-rfn-tiun  in  the  same  person." — J.   Q.  A<!.-'ni\'s  Rhet.  Vol.  i,  p.  256. 
ere  the  ellipsis  cannot  so  well  be  avoided  by  means  of  the  pronominal  adjective  that,  and  there- 
re  it  may  be  thought  more  excusable;  but  I  should  prefer  a  repetition  of  the  nominative:  as. 
We  may  observe,  that  the  eloquence  of  the  bar,  the  elot/ueiice  of  the  legislature,  and  the  eloquence 
'public  assemblies,  are  seldom  if  en  r  found  united,  in  an>/  A  ,  in  the  same  person." 

OHS.  11. — The  conjunction  as,  when  it  connects  nominatives  that  are  in  apposition,  or  signifi- 
cant of  the  -  n  or  thing,  is  commonly  placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence,  so  that 
I  .tii   its  proper  nominative  following  the  explanatory  word;  thus,  "As  a  poet,  he 
high  rank." — M  .     "Asa poet,  Addition  <-I,tims  a  high  praise." — Ib.p. 
301.     "Js  a  modi!  of  English  pn»e,  his  ;/•,•  •  the  greatest  praise." — Ib.  p.  305.     But 
when  this  conjunction  denot<                                         •  n  diltcrcnt  persons  or  things  signified  by  two 
noinn:                    :••  must  be  two  verbs  expressed  or  understood,  each  agreeing  with  its  own  sub- 
ject;  as,  "Such'                                /'mre  no  reputation  worth  any  man's  envy."  * 
"  Such  ini-ii  as  ///•  [is]  }>c  never  at  ; 

Whili  id  a  greater  than  themselves." — Shakspcare. 

Oi:s.  12. — When  two  nominath<  they  must  in  fact 

have   two  verbs,  though   in  most   instances  only  one  is  expressed;    as,  "Such  is   the   mutual 
dependence  of  words  in  that  several  --veil  as  [is]  the«////v//r,  ,  ,in-  not  to  be  used 

alone." — If  .mtion  was  to  be  the  one  fundamental  law  of 

the  land,  to  which  all,  as  well  Stat,  .  should  submit." — W.  I.  BOWDITC:,  r,  No. 

A-  well  thosi   \\hidi  history,  as  tho-c  which  experience  offers  to  our  reflection." — Baling- 
broke,  on  History.  the  words  "  offers  to  our  rqfl  understood  after  "  history." 

*  S.  W.  Clark,  by  reckoning  "«.«'•  a  " prtp»<ition,"  perverts  the  construction  of  srntonces  like  this,  an<l  ; 

junction.     See  Clark's  Ptactical  Grammar,  pp.  M  and  178  ;  also  this  Syntax,  Obg.  6 
and  Obs.  18,  on  Conjunctions. 


568  TUB    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

"None  but  He  who  discerns  futurity,  could  have  foretold  and   described   all  these  things." — 
Keith's  Evidences,  p.  62.     "  That  there  urns  in  those  times  no  other  writer,  of  any  degree  of 
eminence,  save  he  himself." — Pope's  Works,  Vol.  iii,  p.  43. 
"  I  do  entreat  you  not  a  man  depart, 
Save  /alone,  till  Antony  have  spoke." — Shak.,  J.  C&sar. 

OBS.  13. — Some  grammarians  say,  that  but  and  save,  when  they  denote  exception,  should  govern 
the  objective  case  as  prepositions.  But  this  idea  is,  without  doubt,  contrary  to  the  current  usage 
of  the  best  authors,  either  ancient  or  modern.  Wherefore  I  think  it  evident  that  these  gram- 
marians err.  The  objective  case  of  nouns  being  like  the  nominative,  the  point  can  be  proved  only 
by  the  pronouns ;  as,  "  There  is  none  but  he  alone." — Perkins's  Theology,  1608.  "There  is  none 
other  but  he." — Mark,  xii,  32.  (This  text  is  good  authority  as  regards  the  case,  though  it  is 
incorrect  in  an  other  respect :  it  should  have  been,  "  There  is  none  but  he,"  or  else,  "  There  is  no 
other  than  he.")  "  No  man  hath  ascended  up  to  heaven,  but  he  that  came  down  from  heaven." — 
John,  iii,  13.  "  Not  that  any  man  hath  seen  the  father,  save  he  which  is  of  God." — John,  vi,  46. 
"  Few  can,  save  he  and  /." — Byron's  Werner.  "  There  is  none  justified,  but  he  that  is  in  measure 
sanctified." — Penningtpn.  Save,  as  a  conjunction,  is  nearly  obsolete. 

OBS.  14. — In  Rev.  ii,  17th,  we  read,  "Which  no  man  knoweth,  saving  he  that  receiveth  it;" 
and  again,  xiii,  17th,  "  That  no  man  might  buy  or  sell,  save  he  that  had  the  mark."  The  follow- 
ing text  is  inaccurate,  but  not  in  the  construction  of  the  nominative  they :  "All  men  cannot 
receive  this  saying,  save  they  to  whom  it  is  given." — Matt,  xix,  11.  The  version  ought  to  have 
been,  "  Not  all  men  can  receive  this  saying,  but  they  only  to  whom  it  is  given  :  "  i.  e.,  "  they  only 
can  receive  it,  to  whom  there  is  aiven  power  to  receive  it"  Of  but  with  a  nominative,  examples 
may  be  multiplied  indefinitely.  The  following  are  as  good  as  any :  "  There  is  no  God  but  He." — 
Sale's  Koran,  p.  27.  "The  former  none  but  He  could  execute." — Maturin's  Sermons,  p.  317. 
"  There  was  nobody  at  home  then  but  I." — Walker's  Particles,  p.  95.  "A  fact,  of  which  as  none 
but  he  could  be  conscious,  [so]  none  but  he  could  be  the  publisher  of  it." — Pope's  Works,  Vol.  iii, 
p.  117.  "  Few  but  they  who  are  involved  in  the  vices,  are  involved  in  the  irreligion  of  the  times." 
— Broicn's  Estimate,  i,  101. 

"I  claim  my  right.     No  Grecian  prince  but  I 

Has  po\ver  this  bow  to  grant,  or  to  deny." — Pope,  Odys.  B.  xxi,  1.  272. 
"  Thus  she,  and  none  but  she,  th'  insulting  rage 

Of  heretics  oppos'd  from  age  to  age." — Dryden's  Poems,  p.  98. 

In  opposition  to  all  these  authorities,  and  many  more  that  might  be  added,  we  have,  with  now 
and  then  a  text  of  false  syntax,  the  absurb  opinion  of  perhaps  a  score  or  two  of  our  grammarians  ; 
one  of  whom  imagines  he  has  found  in  the  following  couplet  from  Swift,  an  example  to  the 
purpose;  but  he  forgets  that  the  verb  let  governs  the  objective  case: 
"  Let  none  but  him  who  rules  the  thunder, 
Attempt  to  part  these  twain  asunder." — Perlcy's  Gram.  p.  62. 

OBS.  L5. — It  is  truly  a  wonder,  that  so  many  professed  critics  should  not  see  the  absurdity  of 
taking  but  and  save  for  "prepositions,"  when  this  can  be  done  only  by  condemning  the  current 
usage  of  nearly  all  good  authors,  as  well  as  the  common  opinion  of  most  grammarians ;  and  the 
greater  is  the  wonder,  because  they  seem  to  do  it  innocently,  or  to  teach  it  childishly,  as  not  know- 
ing that  they  cannot  justify  both  sides,  when  the  question  lies  between  opposite  and  contradictory 
principles.  By  this  sort  of  simplicity,  which  approves  of  errors,  if  much  practised,  and  of  oppo- 
sites,  when  authorities  may  be  found  for  them,  no  work,  perhaps,  is  more  strikingly  characterized, 
than  the  School  Grammar  of  W.  H.  Wells.  This  author  says,  "  The  use  of  but  as  a  preposition  is 
approved  by  J.  E.  Worcester,  John  Walker,  R.  C.  Smith,  Picket,  Hiley,  Angus,  Lynde,  Hull, 
Powers,  Spear,  Farnum,  Fowle,  Goldsbury,  Perley,  Cobb,  Badgloy,  Cooper,  Jones,  Davis,  Beall, 
Hendrick,  Hazen,  and  Goodenow." — School  Gram.,  1850,  p.  178.  But  what  if  all  these  authors  do 
prefer,  "  but  him,"  and  "  save  him,"  where  ten  times  as  many  would  say,  "  but  he,"  "  save  he  ?  " 
Is  it  therefore  difficult  to  determine  which  party  is  right  ?  Or  is  it  proper  for  a  grammarian  to 
name  sundry  authorities  on  both  sides,  excite  doubt  in  the  mind  of  his  reader,  and  leave  the 
matter  unsettled?  "The  use  of  but  as  a  preposition,"  he  also  states,  "is  discountenanced  by  G. 
Brown,  Sanborn,  Murray,  S.  Oliver,  and  several  other  grammarians.  (See  also  an  able  article  in 
the  Mass.  Common  School  Journal,  Vol.  ii,  p.  19.)" — School  Gram.  p.  178. 

OBS.  16. — Wells  passes  no  censure  on  the  use  of  nominatives  after  but  and  save ;  does  not 
intimate  which  case  is  fittest  to  follow  these  words ;  gives  no  false  syntax  under  his  rule  for  the 
regimen  of  prepositions  ;  but  inserts  there  the  following  brief  remarks  and  examples  : 

"  REM.  3. — The  word  save  is  frequently  used  to  perform  the  office  of  a  preposition ;  as, 
'And  all  desisted,  all  save  him  alone.' — Wordsicortli." 

"  REM.  4. — But  is  sometimes  employed  as  a  preposition,  in  the  sense  of  except ;  as, 
'  The  boy  stood  on  the  burning  deck, 
Whence  all  but  him  had  fled.' — He-mans" — Ib.  p.  167. 

Now,  "BUT,"  says  Worcester,  as  well  as  Tooke  and  others,  was  "originally  bot,  contracted 
from  be  out:"  and,  if  this  notion  of  its  etymology  is  just,  it  must  certainly  be  followed  by  the 
nominative  case,  rather  than  by  the  objective;  for  the  imperative  be  or  be  out  governs  no  case, 
admits  no  additional  term  but  a  nominative — an  obvious  and  important  fact,  quite  overlooked  by 


OBS.  17. — Professor  Fowler,  too,  an  other  author  remarkable  for  a  facility  of  embracing  incom- 
patibles,  contraries,  or  dubieties,  not  only  condemns  as  "  false  syntax  "  the  use  of  save  for  an  ex- 
ceptive conjunction,  (5  587,  U  28,)  but  cites  approvingly  from  Latham  the  following  very  strange 
absurdity:  "  One  and  the  same  word,  in  one  and  the  same  sentence,  may  be  a  Conjunction  or 
[a]  Preposition,  as  the  case  may  be  :  [as,]  All  ti.ed.but  John." — Fowler's  E.  Gram.  8vo,  1850,  §  555. 
This  is  equivalent  to  saying,  that  "one  and  the  same  sentence"  may  be  two  different  sentences ; 
jnay,  without  error,  be  understood  in  two  different  senses  ;  may  be  rightly  taken,  resolved,  and 


CHAP.  VI.]        SYNTAX. RULE  XVI. VERBS. OBSERVATIONS.  5G9 

parsed,  in  two  different  ways  !  Nay,  it  is  equivalent  to  a  denial  of  the  old  logical  position,  that, 
"  It  is  impossible  for  a  thing  to  In  "and  not  be  at  the  same  time;  "  for  it  supposes  "•but,"  in  the 
instance  given,  to  be  at  once  both  a  conjunction  and  not  a  conjunction,  both  a  preposition  and 
•nut  a  preposition,  "  a-s  the  n/.s<-  may  be!"  It  is  true,  that  "one  and  the  same  word"  may  some- 
times be  differently  parsed  by  different  grammarians,  and  possibly  even  an  adept  may  doubt  who 
or  what  is  right,  lint  what  ambiguity  of  construction,  or  what  diversity  of  interpretation, 
proceeding  from  the  same  hand,  can  these  admissions  be  supposed  to  warrant  ?  The  foregoing 
citation  is  a  boyish  attempt  to  justify  different  modes  of  parsing  the  same  expression,  on  the 
ground  that  the  expression  itself  is  equivocal.  "All  fled  but  Jo/in,"  is  thought  to  mean  equally 
well,  "All  fled  but  he,"  and,  "All  fled  but  him;  "  while  these  latter  expressions  are  erroneously 
presumed  to  be  alike  good  English,  and  to  have  a  difference  of  meaning  corresponding  to  their 
difference  of  construction.  Now,  what  is  equivocal,  or  ambiguous,  being  therefore  erroneous, 
is  to  be  corr«'t«l,  rather  than  parsed  in  any  way.  But  I  deny  both  the  ambiguity  and  the 
difference  of  meaning  which  these  critics  profess  to  find  among  the  said  phrases.  "  John  fled 
not,  but  all  the  rest  fed,"  is  virtually  what  is  told  us  in  each  of  them ;  but,  in  the  form,  "All  fled 
but  hi/n,"  it  is  told  ungrammatically  ;  in  the  other  two,  correctly. 

OHS.  18. — In  Latin,  cum  with  an'ablative,  sometimes  has,  or  is  supposed  to  have,  the  force  of 
the  conjunction  t-t  with  a  nominative  ;  as,  "Dux  cum  aliquot  principibus  capiuntur." — Livv  :  II". 
Allen's  Grain,  p.  131.  In  imitation  of  this  construction,  some  English  writers  have  substituted  with 
for  and,  and  varied  the  verb  accordingly;  as,  "A  long  course  of  time,  with  a  variety  of  accidents 
and  circumstances,  are  requisite  to  produce  those  revolutions." — HUME:  Allen's  Gram.  p.  131; 
jn//v'.v,  1*2;  yV/r.sY/ey's,  186.  This  phraseology,  though  censured  by  Allen,  was  expressly 
approved  by  Priestley,  who  introduced  the  present  example,  as  his  proof  text  under  the  following 

itiou:  "It  is  "not  necessary  that  the  two  subjects  of  an  ajfirmation  should  stand  in  the 
very  same  construction,  to  require  the  verb  to  be  in  the  plural  number.  If  one  of  them  be  made 
to  depend  upon  the  other  by  a  connecting  particle,  it  may,  in  some  cases,  have  the  same  force,  as  if 
it  were  independent  of  it." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  186.  Lindley  Murray,  on  the  contrary,  con- 
demns this  doctrine,  and  after  citing  the  same  example  with  others,  says  :  "  It  is  however,  proper 
to  observe,  that  these  modes  of  expression  do  not  appear  to  be  warranted  by  the  just  principle*  of 
construction." — Octavo  Gram.  p.  1.50.  He  then  proceeds  to  prove  his  point,  by  alleging  that  the 
preposition  governs  the  objective  case  in  English,  and  the  ablative  in  Latin,  and  that  what  is  so 
govi-rned,  cannot  be  the  nominative,  or  any  part  of  it.  All  this  is  true  enough,  but  still  some 
\  :.o  know  it  perfectly  well,  will  now  and  then  write  as  if  they  did  not  believe  it.  And  so 
of  Latin  and  Greek.  They  sometimes  wrote  bad  syntax  ;  and  the  gram- 
marians have  not  always  seen  and  censured  their  errors  as  they  ought.  Since  the  preposition 
makes  its  object  only  an  adjunct  of  the  preceding  noun,  or  of  something  else,  I  imagine  that  any 
construction  which  thus  assumes  two  different  cases  as  joint  nominatives  or  joint  antecedents", 
must  needs  be  inherently  faulty. 

lit. — Dr.  Adam  simply  remarks,  "  The  plural  is  sometimes  used  after  the  preposition  cum 
put  for  ct ;  >»iritmx  jura  da-hunt,  Yirg." — Latin  and  EnffliM  Gram.  p.  207; 

Gould's  Adam's  Latin  Gram.  p.  2i'i;  If'.  A//<  n's  Kmjlish  Gram.  131.  This  example  is  not  fairly 
cited  ;  though  many  have  adopted  the  perversion,  as  if  they  knew  no  better.  Alexander  has  it  in 
.  still  : ""  Quirinus,  cum  fratre,  jura  dabunt." — 'Latin  Gram.  p.  47.  Virgil's  words  are, 
.  i  BTA,  /•'-  mo  •  '-in  fratre  (juirinus,  Jura  dabunt." — JEneid,  B.  i,  1.  296.  Nor  is 
cu>n  here  "put  for  et,"  unless  we  suppose  also  an  antiptosis  of  Remo  fratre  for  Remus  frater ; 
and  then  what  shall  the  literal  reading  be,  and  how  shall  the  rules  of  syntax  be  accommodated  to 
such  changes  ?  Fair  examples,  that  hear  upon  the  point,  may,  however,  be  adduced  from  good 
authors,  and  in  various  languages;  but  the  question  is,  are  they  correct  in  syntax?  Thus  Dr. 
Robertson:  "The  palace  of  Pizarro,  toi/etJter  irith  the  houses  of  several  of  his  adherents,  were 
pillaged  by  the  soldiers." — ///.v/.  of  Anu-r.  Vol.  ii,  p.  133.  To  me,  this  appears  plainly  ungram- 
matical ;  and,  certainly,  there  are  ways  enough  in  which  it  may  be  corrected.  First,  with  the 
present  connective  retained,  "  irere  "  ought  to  be  was.  Secondly,  if  were  be  retained,  llto(/ct/irr 
tritli  "  ou«jht  to  be  changed  to  and,  or  and  also.  Thirdly,  we  may  well  change  both,  and  say, 
"  The  palace  of  Pi/arro,  «.v  well  as  the  houses  of  several  of  his  adherents,  was  pillaged  by  the 
soldiei  .  in  Mark,  ix,  4th,  we  read  :  "And  there  appeared  unto  them  Elias,  with  Moses; 

and  Mry  were  talking  with  Jesus."     If  this  text  meant  that  the  three  disciples  were  talking  with 

•t  would  be  right  as  it  stands ;  but  St.  Matthew  has  it,  "And,  behold,  there  appeared  unto 
•Ikitui  with  him  ;  "  and  our  version  in  Luke  is,  "And,  behold,  there  talked 

with  him  two  men,  which  w- .  <l   Elias." — Chap,  ix,  30.     By  these  corresponding  texts, 

then,  we  learn,  that  the  pronoun  they,  which  our  translators  inserted,  was  meant  for  "Eiiaswith 

.  "   but  the  Greek  verb  for  "appeared,"  as  used  by  Mark,  is  xint/ular,  and  agrees  only  with 

rff  T<J  'lijoov." — "Et  apparuit  illis 

"im  Mosc,  et  erant  colloquentes  Jcsu." — Mont  a  nu  a.  "Et  risus  cut  eis  Elias  cum  Mose,  qui 
colloquebantur  cum  -Tesu." — lieza.  This  is  as  discrepant  as  our  version,  though  not  so  ambigu- 

I  he  French  P.ible  avoids  the  incongruity  :  "  Ht  ils  virent  paroitrc  Moy.se  et  K,:ie,  (jui 
s'entretcnoient  avec  .It -us."  That  i*,  "And  there  appeared  to  them  Moses  and  FJias,  who  were 
talking  with  Jesut."  IVrhaps  the  closest  and  best  version  of  the  Greek  would  he,  "And  there 
appeared  to  them  Elias,  with  Moses  ;*  and  these  tiro  were  talking  with  Jesus."  There  is,  in  our 
Bible,  an  other  instance  of  the  construction  now  in  question;  but  it  has  no  support  from  the 
^.•jitiiau'int,  the  Vulgate,  or  the  French  :  to  wit,  "The  second  [lot  came  forth]  to  Gedaliah,  who 
with  his  brethren  and  sons  t/v/v  twelve."—!  Chron.  xxv,  9.  Better:  "  and  he,  his  brethren,  and 
his  sons,  were  twelve." 

*  Mir  :hc  following  text  for  fals«  grammar,  under  the.  head  of  Sirens th  :  "And  Elias  with  Mows 

1  to"  them."  -ivcts  thus:    " LsAt fur t  appeared  to  tiun,  Kii.i.s  -\\kh 

-l\-V.  8*0,  p.  286.     H<-  OIIIJN  flu-  comma,  after  A7;nr<.  which  some  copies  of  tin-  liihle  conMin,  and  others 

do  not.       Whether  he  supposed  the  verb  u)>f>rnrr-{  t<>  ho  singular  or  plural,  I   cannot  tvll  :  and  he  did  not  extend, 

lid  quotation  to  the  pronoun  they,  which  immediately  follows,  and  in  which  alone  the  incongruity  lies, 


570  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  in. 


OBS.  20. — Cobbett,  who,  though  he  wrote  several  grammars,  was  but  a  very  superficial  gram- 
marian, seems  never  to  have  doubted  the  propriety  of  putting  with  for  and;  and  yet  he  was 
confessedly  not  a  little  puzzled  to  find  ovit  when  to  use  a  singular,  and  when  a  plural  verb,  after  a 
nominative  with  such  "a  sort  of  addition  made  to  it."  The  246th  paragraph  of  his  English 
Grammar  is  a  long  and  fruitless  attempt  to  fix  a  rule  for  the  guidance  of  the  learner  in  this  matter. 
After  dashing  off  a  culpable  example,  "  Sidmouth,  with  Oliver  the  spye,  have  brought  Bran- 
drethto  the  block  ;"  or,  as  his  late  editions  have  it,  "The  Tyrant,  ivith  the  Spy,  have  brought 
Peter  to  the  block  ;  "  he  adds  :  "  We  hesitate  which  to  employ,  the  singular  or  the  plural  verb  ; 
that  is  to  say,  has  or  have.  The  meaning  must  be  our  guide.  If  we  mean,  that  the  act  has  been 
done  by  the  Tyrant  himself,  and  that  the  spy  has  been  a  mere  involuntary  agent,  then  we  ought  to 
use  the  singular ;  but  if  we  believe,  that  the  spy  has  been  a  co-operator,  an  associate,  an  accom- 
plice, then  we  must  use  the  plural  verb."  Ay,  truly  ;  but  must  we  not  also,  in  the  latter  case, 
use  and,  and  not  with?  After  some  further  illustrations,  he  says:  "When  with  means  along 
with,  together  with,  in  company  with,  and  the  like,  it  is  nearly  the  same  as  and ;  and  then  the 
plural  verb  must  be  used:  [as,]  '  He,  with  his  brothers,  are  able  to  do  much.'  Not,  'is  able  to  do 
much.'  If  the  pronoun  be  used  instead  of  brothers,  it  will  be  in  the  objective  case  :  '  He,  with 
them,  are  able  to  do  much.'  But  this  is  no  impediment  to  the  including  of  the  noun  (represented 
by  them)  in  the  nominative."  I  wonder  what  would  be  an  impediment  to  the  absurdities  of  such 
a  dogmatist !  The  following  is  his  last  example:  "  '  Zeal,  with  discretion,  do  much  ; '  and  not 
'  does  much  ; '  for  we  mean,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  does  nothing.  It  is  the  meaning  that  must 
determine  which  of  the  numbers  we  ought  to  employ."  This  author's  examples  are  all  fictions 
of  his  own,  and  such  of  them  as  here  have  a  plural  verb,  are  wrong.  His  rule  is  also  wrong,  and 
contrary  to  the  best  authority.  St.  Paul  says  to  Timothy,  "  Godliness  with  contentment  is  great 
gain:  " — 1  Tim.  vi,  6.  This  text  is  right;  but  Cobbett's  principle  would  go  to  prove  it  erroneous. 
Is  he  the  only  man  who  has  ever  had  a  right  notion  of  its  meaning  ?  or  is  he  not  rather  at  fault  in 
his  interpretations  ? 

OBS.  21. — There  is  one  other  apparent  exception  to  Rule  16th,  (or  perhaps  a  real  one,)  in  which 
there  is  either  an  ellipsis  of  the  preposition  with,  or  else  the  verb  is  made  singular  because  the  first 
noun  only  is  its  true  subject,  and  the  others  are  explanatory  nominatives  to  which  the  same 
verb  must  be  understood  in  the  plural  number  ;  as,  "A  torch,  snuff  and  all,  goes  out  in  a  moment, 
when  dipped  in  the  vapour." — ADDISON  :  in  Johnson's  Diet.  w.  All.  "  Down  comes  the  tree,  nest, 
eagles,  and  all." — See  All,  ibidem.  Here  goes  and  comes  are  necessarily  made  singular,  the  former 
agreeing  with  torch  and  the  latter  with  tree  ;  and,  if  the  other  nouns,  which  are  like  an  explana- 
tory parenthesis,  are  nominatives,  as  they  appear  to  me  to  be,  they  must  be  subjects  of  go  andcome 
understood.  Cobbett  teaches  us  to  say,  "The  bag,  with  the  guineas  and  dollars  in  it,  were 
stolen,"  and  not,  was  stolen.  "  For,"  says  he,  "if  we  say  was  stolen,  it  is  possible  for  us  to  mean, 
that  the  lag  only  was  stolen." — English  Gram.  IT  246.  And  I  suppose  he  would  say,  "  The  bag, 
guineas,  dollars,  and  all,  were  stolen,"  and  not,  "  was  stolen ;  "  for  here  a  rule  of  syntax  might  be 
urged,  in  addition  to  his  false  argument  from  the  sense.  But  the  meaning  of  the  former  sentence 
is,  "  The  bag  was  stolen,  with  the  guineas  and  dollars  in  it;  "  and  the  meaning  of  the  latter  is, 
"  The  bag  was  stolen,  guineas,  dollars,  and  all."  "  Nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  about  the  meaa- 
ing,  place  the  words  which  way  you  will ;  and  whatever,  in  either  case,  may  be  the  true  construc- 
tion of  the  words  in  the  parenthetical  or  explanatory  phrase,  they  should  not,  I  think,  preve  it 
the  verb  from  agreeing  with  the  first  noun  only.  But  if  the  other  nouns  intervene  without 
affecting  this  concord,  and  without  a  preposition  to  govern  them,  it  may  be  well  to  distinguish 
them  in  the  punctuation;  as,  "  The  bag,  (guineas,  dollars,  and  all,)  was  stolen." 

NOTES  TO  RULE  XVI. 

NOTE  I. — When  the  conjunction  and  between  two  nominatives  appears  to  require 
a  plural  verb,  but  such  form  of  the  verb  is  not  agreeable,  it  is  better  to  reject  or 
change  the  connective,  that  the  verb  may  stand  correctly  in  the  singular  number ;  as, 
"  There  is  a  peculiar  force  and  beauty  in  this  figure." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  ii,  224. 
Better:  "There  is  a  peculiar  force,  as  well  as  a  peculiar  beauty,  in  this  figure." 
"  What  means  this  restless  stir  and  commotion  of  mind?  " — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p. 
242.  Better  :  "  What  means  this  restless  stir,  this  commotion  of  mind?" 

NOTE  II. — When  two  subjects  or  antecedents  are  connected,  one  of  which  is  taken 
affirmatively,  and  the  other  negatively,  they  belong  to  different  propositions ;  and  the 
verb  or  pronoun  must  agree  with  the  affirmative  subject,  and  be  understood  to  the 
other:  as,  "Diligent  industry,  and  not  mean  savings,  produces  honourable  compe- 
tence."— "  Not  a  loud  voice,  but  strong  proofs  bring  conviction." — "My  poverty, 
but  not  my  will,  consents." — Shakspeare. 

NOTE  III. — When  two  subjects  or  antecedents  are  connected  by  as  well  as,  but, 
or  save,  they  belong  to  different  propositions;  and,  (unless  one  of  them  is  preceded 
by  the  adverb  not,)  the  verb  and  pronoun  must  agree  with  the  former  and  be  under- 
stood to  the  latter  :  as,  "  Veracity,  as  well  as  justice,  is  to  be  our  rule  of  life." — 
Butler's  Analogy,  p.  283.  "  The  lowest  mechanic,  as  well  as  the  richest  citizen, 
may  boast  that  thousands  of  his  fellow-creatures  are  employed  for  him." — Percival's 
Tales,  ii,  177.  "These  principles,  as  well  as  every  just  rule  of  criticism,  are 
founded  upon  the  sensitive  part  of  our  nature." — Kames,  EL  of  Grit.  Vol.  i,  p. 


CHAP.  VI.]       SYNTAX. — RULE  XVI. VERBS. — NOTES. ERRORS.  571 

xxvi.     "Nothing,  but  wailings,  was  heard." — "None,  but  thou,  can  aid  us." — "  No 
mortal  man,  save  he,"  &c.,  "had  e'er  survived  to  say  he  saw." — Sir  W.  Scott. 

NOTE  IV. — When  two  or  more  subjects  or  antecedents  are  preceded  by  the  adjective 
each,  every,  or  no,  they  are  taken  separately  ;  and,  (except  no  be  followed  by  a  plural 
noun,)  they  require  the  verb  and  pronoun  to  be  in  the  singular  number:  as,  "No 
rank,  no  honour,  no  fortune,  no  condition  in  life,  makes  the  guilty  mind  happy." — 
'  *  Every  phrase  and  every  figure  which  he  uses,  tends  to  render  the  picture  more  lively 
and  complete." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  179. 

11  And  every  sense,  and  every  heart,  is  joy." — Thomson. 
"Each  beast,  each  insect,  happy  in  its  own." — Pope. 

NOTE  V. — When  any  words  or  terms  are  to  be  taken  conjointly  as  subjects  or 

antecedents,  the  conjunction  and,  (in  preference  to  with,  or,  nor,  or  anything  else,) 

must  connect  them.     The  following  sentence  is  therefore  inaccurate  ;  with  should  bo 

tni'l ;  or  else  were  should  be  was :  "  One  of  them,  [the]  wife  of  Thomas  Cole,  with 

her  husband,  were  shot  down,  the  others  escaped." — Hulchinsori's  Hist.  Vol.  ii,  p. 

So,  in  the  following  couplet,  or  should  be  and,  or  else  engines  should  be  engine : 

"  What  if  the  head,  the  eye,  or  ear,  repined 

To  serve  mere  engines  to  the  ruling  mind?  " — Pope. 

NOTE  VI. — Improper  omissions  must  be  supplied ;  but  when  there  occurs  a  true 
ellipsis  in  the  construction  of  joint  nominatives  or  joint  antecedents,  the  verb  or  pro- 
noun must  agree  with  them  in  the  plural,  just  as  if  all  the  words  were  expressed  :  as, 
"  The  second  and  the  third  Epistle  of  John  are  each  but  one  short  chapter." — "  The 
metaphorical  and  the  literal  meaning  are  improperly  mixed." — Murray's  Gram.  p. 
)J.'5!».  "  The  Doctrine  of  Words,  separately  consider'd,  and  in  a  Sentence,  are  Things 
distinct  enough." — Brightland's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  iv.  Better  perhaps:  "The  doc- 
trine of  words  separately  considered,  and  that  of  words  in  a  sentence,  are  things 
distinct  enough." 

"  The  Carii's  and  the  Camillis  little  feld 

To  vast  extended  territories  yield. " — Rowe's  Lucan,  B.  i,  1.  320. 
NOTE  VII. — Two  or  more  distinct  subject  phrases  connected  by  and,  require  a 
plural  verb,  and  generally  a  plural  noun  too,  if  a  nominative  follow  the  verb ;  as, 
11  To  be  wise  in  our  own  eyes,  to  be  wise  in  the  opinion  of  the  world,  and  to  be  wise 
>'n  the  sif/Jtt  of  our  Creator,  are  three  things  so  very  different,  as  rarely  to  coincide." — 
ninir.     "  '  TkU  picture  of  my  friend?  and  lThis  picture  of  my  friend's,1  suggest 
v(;ry  different  ideas." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  71  ;  Murray's,  i,  178. 
"  Head  of  this  burgess — on  the  stone  appear, 
How  worthy  he  !  how  virtuous  !  and  how  dear  !  " — Crabbe. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  VXDER  RULE  XVI. 
UHOT  .— THE  YKIIH  AFTER  JOINT  XOMINA 

"  So  much  ability  and  merit  is  seldom  found." — Murray's  Key,  12mo,  p.  18;  Merchant's 
School  Gram.  p.  190. 

[FoRMtTLE. — Not  proper,  bccixus*  the  Tcrb  is  is  in  the  8in<rul;ir  number,  ami  does  not  correctly  agree  with  its  two 
nominv  \  mi'l.  and  taken  conjointly.  Hut,  according  to  Rule  16th, 

'•  Whi-n  a  verb  has  two  or  more  noinin  y  an'/,  it  must  ai?ree  with  them  jointly  in  tlie  plural, 

because  they  are  ti  muld  be  are  ;  thus,  "  So  much  ability  and  merit  are  seldom 

found."     Or  :  ••  >••  much  ability  and  .to  much  merit  are  seldom  found."] 

"  The  syntax  and  etymology  of  the  language  i*  thus  spread  before  the  learner." — Dull  ions' s 

n  dram.  'Jd  Edition,  Ki-c.  p.  iii.     "  Dr.  Johnson  tells  us,  that  in  English  poetry  the 

accent  and  the  quantity  of  syllables  is  the  same  thing." — J.  <j.    i  ii,  213.    "  Their 

general  scope  and  tendency,  having  never  been  clearly  apprehended,  is  not  remembered  at 

;ill." — Murray's  drum,  i,  p.   126.     "The  soil   and  sovereignty   was  not  purchased  of  the 

natives." — Knapp's  Lccf.  on  Amer.  Lit.  p.  '>•'>.     "The  boldness,  freedom,  and  variety  of  our 

ilank  verse,  is  infinitely  more  favourable  than  rhyme,  to  all  kinds  of  sublime  poetry." — 

>  Rhct.  p.  40.     "The  vivacity  and  sensibility  of  the  Greeks  sr ems  to  have  been  much 

greater  than  ours." — Ih.  p.  1M3.     "For  sometimes  the  Mood  and  Tense  is  signified  by  the 

Verb,  sometimes  they  are  signified  of  the  Verb  by  something  else." — Johnsons  Gram,  Corn* 


572  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

p.  254.  "  The  Verb  and  the  Noun  making  a  complete  Sense,  which  the  Participle  and  the 
Noun  does  not." — Ib.  p.  255.  "  The  growth  and  decay  of  passions  and  emotions,  traced 
through  all  their  mazes,  is  a  subject  too  extensive  for  an  undertaking  like  the  present." — 
Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  i,  108.  "The  true  meaning  and  etymology  of  some  of  his  words  was 
lost." — Knight,  on  the  Greek  Alph.  p.  37.  "  When  the  force  and  direction  of  personal  satire 
is  no  longer  understood." — Junius,  p.  5.  "  The  frame  and  condition  of  man  admits  of  no 
other  principle." — Brown's  Estimate,  ii,  54.  "  Some  considerable  time  and  care  was  neces- 
sary."— Ib.  ii,  150.  "In  consequence  of  this  idea,  much  ridicule  and  censure  has  been 
thrown  upon  Milton." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  428.  "With  rational  beings,  nature  and  reason  is 
the  same  thing." — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  111.  "And  the  flax  and  the  barley  was  smitten." 
— Exod.  ix,  31.  "The  colon,  and  semicolon,  divides  a  period,  this  with,  and  that  without 
a  connective." — J.  Ware's  Gram.  p.  27.  "  Consequently  wherever  space  and  time  is  found 
there  God  must  also  be." — Sir  Isaac  Newton.  "As  the  past  tense  and  perfect  participle 
of  love  ends  in  ed,  it  is  regular." — Chandler's  Gram.  p.  40 ;  New  Edition,  p.  66.  "But  the 
usual  arrangement  and  nomenclature  prevents  this  from  being  readily  seen." — Butler's 
Practical  Gram.  p.  3.  ".Do  and  did  simply  implies  opposition  or  emphasis." — Alex.  Murray's 
Gram.  p.  41.  "/  and  another  make  we,  plural ;  Thou  and  another  is  as  much  as  ye ;  He,  she, 
or  it  and  another  make  they." — Ib.  p.  124.  "I  and  another,  is  as  much  as  (we)  the  first 
Person  Plural ;  Thou  and  another,  is  as  much  as  (ye)  the  second  Person  Plural ;  He,  she, 
or  it,  and  another,  is  as  much  as  (they)  the  third  Person  Plural." — British  Gram.  p.  193  ; 
Buchanan's  Syntax,  p.  76.  "  God  and  thou  art  two,  and  thou  and  thy  neighbour  are  two." 
—  The  Love  Conquest,  p.  25.  "  Just  as  an  and  a  has  arisen  out  of  the  numeral  one." — Foicler's 
E.  Gram.  8vo,  1850,  §  200.  "The  tone  and  style  of  each  of  them,  particularly  the  first  and 
the  last,  is  very  different." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  246.  "  Even  as  the  roebuck  and  the  hart  is 
eaten." — Deut.  xiii,  22.  "Then  I  may  conclude  that  two  and  three  makes  not  five." — 
Barclay's  Works,  iii,  354.  "  Which  at  sundry  times  thou  and  thy  brethren  hast  received 
from  us." — Ib.  i,  165.  "Two  and  two  is  four,  and  one  is  five." — POPE  :  Lives  of  the  Poets, 
p.  490.  "  Humility  and  knowledge  with  poor  apparel,  excels  pride  and  ignorance  under 
costly  array." — Day's  Gram.  Parsing  Lesson,  p.  100.  "A  page  and  a  half  has  been  added 
to  the  section  on  composition." — Bullions's  E.  Gram.,  5th  Ed.,  Pref.  p.  vii.  "Accuracy  and 
expertness  in  this  exercise  is  an  important  acquisition." — Ib.  p.  71. 
"  Woods  and  groves  are  of  thy  dressing, 
Hill  and  dale  doth  boast  thy  blessing." — Milton's  Poems,  p.  139. 

UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF.  —  THE  VERB  BEFORE  JOINT  NOMINATIVES. 
"There  is  a  good  and  a  bad,  a  right  and  a  wrong  in  taste,  as  in  other  things." — Blai-'s 
Rhet.  p.  21.  "  Whence  has  arisen  much  stiffness  and  affectation." — Ib.  p.  133.  "To  tl.is 
error  is  owing,  in  a  great  measure,  that  intricacy  and  harshness,  in  his  figurative  language, 
which  I  before  remarked." — Ib.  p.  150;  Jamieson's  Rhet.  157.  "Hence,  in  his  Night 
Thoughts,  there  prevails  an  obscurity  and  hardness  in  his  style." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  If  0. 
"There  is,  however,  in  that  work  much  good  sense,  and  excellent  criticism." — Ib.  p.  4(1. 
"There  is  too  much  low  wit  and  scurrility  in  Plautus." — Ib.  p.  481.  "There  is  too  much 
reasoning  and  refinement ;  too  much  pomp  and  studied  beauty  in  them." — Ib.  p.  4(>8. 
"  Hence  arises  the  structure  and  characteristic  expression  of  exclamation." — Rush,  on  the 
Voice,  p.  229.  "And  such  pilots  is  he  and  his  brethren,  according  to  their  own  confession." 
— Barclay's  Works,  iii,  314.  "Of  whom  is  Hymeneus  and  Philetus;  who  concerning  the 
truth  have  erred." — 2  Tim.  ii,  17.  "  Of  whom  is  Hymeneus  and  Alexander ;  whom  I  have 
delivered  unto  Satan." — 1  Tim.  i,  20.  "And  so  was  James  and  John,  the  sons  of  Zebedee." 
— Luke,  v,  10.  "Out  of  the  same  mouth  proceedeth  blessing  and  cursing." — James,  iii,  10. 
"  Out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Most  High  proceedeth  not  evil  and  good." — Lam.  iii,  38.  "In 
which  there  is  most  plainly  a  right  and  a  wrong." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  215.  "  In  this 
sentence  there  is  both  an  actor  and  an  object." — Smith's  Inductive  Gram.  p.  14.  "In  the 
breast-plate  was  placed  the  mysterious  Urim  and  Thummim." — Milman's  Jews,  i,  88. 
"  What  is  the  gender,  number,  and  person  of  those  in  the  first  ? " — Smith's  Productive  Gram. 
p.  19.  "  There  seems  to  be  a  familiarity  and  want  of  dignity  in  it." — Priestley's  Gram.  p. 
150.  "It  has  been  often  asked,  what  is  Latin  and  Greek?" — Literary  Convention,  p.  209. 
"  For  where  does  beauty  and  high  wit  But  in  your  constellation  meet  ? " — Hudibras,  p.  134. 
"Thence  to  the  land  where  flows  Ganges  and  Indus." — Paradise  Lost,  B.  ix,  1.  81.  "  On 
these  foundations  seems  to  rest  the  midnight  riot  and  dissipation  of  modern  assemblies." — 
Browns  Estimate,  ii,  46.  "  But  what  has  disease,  deformity,  and  filth,  upon  which  the 
thoughts  can  be  allured  to  dwell ? " — Johnsons  Life  of  Swift,  p.  492.  " How  is  the  gender 
and  number  of  the  relative  known?  " — Bullions,  Practical  Lessons,  p.  32. 
"  High  rides  the  sun,  thick  rolls  the  dust, 
And  feebler  speeds  the  blow  and  thrust." — Sir  W.  Scott. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — CHANGE  THE  CONNECTIVE. 

"In  every  language,  there  prevails  a  certain  structure  and  analogy  of  parts,  which  is  un- 
derstood to  give  foundation  to  the  most  reputable  usage." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  90.     "There 


CHAP.  VI.]  SYNTAX. — RULE  XVI. — VERBS. — ERRORS.  573 

runs  through  his  whole  manner,  a  stiffness  and  affectation,  -which  renders  him  very  unfit  to 
be  considered  a  general  model." — Ib.  p.  102.  "  But  where  declamation  and  improvement 
in  speech  is  the  sole  aim." — Ib.  p.  257.  "  For  it  is  by  these  chiefly,  that  the  train  of  thought, 
the  course  of  reasoning,  and  the  whole  progress  of  the  mind,  in  continued  discourse  of  all 
kinds,  is  laid  open." — Lotcth's  Gram.  p.  103.  "  In  all  writing  and  discourse,  the  proper 
composition  and  structure  of  sentences  is  of  the  highest  importance." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  101. 
"  Here  the  wishful  look  and  expectation  of  the  beggar  naturally  leads  to  a  vivid  conception 
of  that  which  was  the  object  of  his  thoughts." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  386.  "  Who  say,  that 
the  outward  naming  of  Christ,  and  signing  with  the  cross,  puts  away  devils." — Barclay's 
Works,  i,  146.  "By  which  an  oath  and  penalty  was  to  be  imposed  upon  the  members." — 
Jnnht.i,  p.  6.  "  Light  and  knowledge,  in  what  manner  soever  afforded  us,  is  equally  from 
God." — Butlers  Analogy,  p.  264.  "  For  instance,  sickness  and  untimely  death  is  the  conse- 
quence of  intemperance." — Ib.  p.  78.  "  When  grief,  and  blood  ill-tempered  vexeth  him." — 
s-  nf  S/takspc.arc,  p.  256.  "  Does  continuity  and  connexion  create  sympathy  and 
relation  in  the  parts  of  the  body?" — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  111.  "His  greatest  concern, 
and  highest  enjoyment,  was  to  be  approved  in  the  sight  of  his  Creator." — Murray's  Key,  p. 
'2'2  L  "  Know  ye  not  that  there  is  a  prince  and  a  great  man  fallen  this  day  in  Israel  r " — 2 
•m.  iii,  38.  "  What  is  vice  and  wickedness  ?  No  rarity,  you  may  depend  on  it." — Collier's 
Antoninus,  p.  107.  "There  is  also  the  fear  and  apprehension  of  it." — Butler's  Analogy,  p. 
87.  "  The  apostrophe  and  s,  ('*)  is  an  abbreviation  for  is,  the  termination  of  the  old  Eng- 
lish genitive." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  17.  "Ti,  ce,  and  ci,  when  followed  by  a  vowel,  usually 
has  the  sound  of  sh ;  as  in  partial,  special,  ocean." — Weld's  Gram.  p.  15. 

"Bitter  constraint  and  sad  occasion  dear 
Compels  me  to  disturb  your  season  due." — Milton's  Lycidas. 

"Debauches  and  excess,  though  with  less  noise, 
As  great  a  portion  of  mankind  destroys." — Waller,  p.  55. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — AFFIRMATION  WITH  NEGATION. 

"Wisdom,  and  not  wealth,  procure  esteem." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  156.     "Prudence,  and 
not  pomp,  are  the  basis  of  his  fame." — Ib.     "  Not  fear,  but  labour  have  overcome  him." — 
Ib.     "  The  decency,  and  not  the  abstinence,  make  the  difference." — Ib.     "  Not  her  beauty, 
but  her  talents  attracts  attention." — Ib.     "  It  is  her  talents,  and  not  her  beauty,  that  attracts 
attention."— Ib.     "  It  is  her  beauty,  and  not  her  talents,  that  attract  attention." — Ib. 
"  His  belly,  not  his  brains,  this  impulse  give  : 
He'll  grow  immortal ;  for  he  cannot  live." — Young,  to  Pope. 

UNDER  NOTE  III.— AS  WELL  AS,  BUT,  OR  SAVE. 

"  Common  sense  as  well  as  piety  tell  us  these  are  proper." — Family  Commentary,  p.  64. 
"For  without  it  the  critic,  as  well  as  the  undertaker,  ignorant  of  any  rule,  have  nothing 
left  but  to  abandon  themselves  to  chance." — Kamcs,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  42.  "And  accordingly 
hatred  as  well  as  love  are  extinguished  by  long  absence." — Ib.  i,  113.  "  But  at  every  turn 
the  richest  melody  as  well  as  the  sublimest  sentiments  are  conspicuous." — Ib.  ii,  121.  "  But 
it,  as  well  as  the  lines  immediately  subsequent,  defy  all  translation." — Coleridge's  Introduc- 
fi).  "But  their  religion,  as  well  as  their  customs,  and  manners,  were  strangely 
misrepresented." — BOLINGBROKE  ON  HISTORY,  p.  123:  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  192;  Murray's 
Exercises,  p.  47.  "  But  his  jealous  policy,  as  well  as  the  fatal  antipathy  of  Fonseca,  were 
conspicuous." — Robertson's  America,  i,  191.  "  When  their  extent  as  well  as  their  value 
were,  unknown." — Ib.  ii,  138.  "The  Etymology,  as  well  as  the  Syntax,  of  the  more  diffi- 
cult parts  of  speech  are  reserved  for  his  attention  [at  a  later  period]." — Part;i  r  ami  l',,r's  E. 
m.  Tart  i,  p.  3.  "  What  I  myself  owe  to  him,  no  one  but  myself  know." — See  Wright's 
A':  .  "  Xone,  but  thou,  O  mighty  prince  !  canst  avert  the  blow." — Inst.  p.  156. 

"  Nothing,  but  frivolous  amusements,  please  the  indolent." — Ib. 

"  Nought,  save  the  gurglings  of  the  rill,  were  heard." — G.  B. 

P"A11  songsters,  save  the  hooting  owl,  was  mute." — G.  B. 
V.— EACH,  EVERY,  OR  NO. 

"  ( I  i\  •  urd,  and  every  member,  their  due  weight  and  force." — Blair  s  Rhct.  p.  110. 

'•And  to  one  of  th«  noun,  and  every  third  person  of  every  verb." — Wilson's 

.  p.  74.     "No  i  traint,  no  regulation,  are  required  to  keep  him  in 

bounds." — L<  that  time,  every  window  and  every  door  in 

the  street  were  full  of  heads."— .V.  )".  <  -,.m  ()f  religion,  and 

every  school  of  philosophy,  stand  back  from  this  Held,  and  leave  Jesus  Christ  alone,  the 
solitary  example."  ,  17.     ••  I'.arh  day,  and  eaeh  hour,  bring  their  portion 

of  duty." — Inxt.  p.  I-)'!.     "A;  nc  that  was  in  distress,  and  every  one  that  was  in 

debt,  and  every  one  that  \\a>  discontented,  irathered  themselves  unto  him." — 1  Sam.  x.xii,  2. 
>-ery  private  Christian  ami  member  of  the  church  ought  to  read  and  peruse  the  Scrip- 
-,  that  they  may  know  their  faith  ami  belief  founded  upon  them." — fiorefey'j  Wor;, 
'.     "And  every  mountain  and  island  were  moved  out  of  their  pi  II. 

"No  bandit  tierce,  no  tvrunt  mad  with  pride, 
No  cavern'd  hermit  re.-t  >elf-.-<tti>h'ed." 


574  THE   GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

UNDER  NOTE  V.— WITH,  OR,  &c.  FOR  AND. 

"The  side  A,  with  the  sides  B  and  C,  compose  the  triangle." — Tahiti's  Gram.  p.  48; 
Felch's,  69  ;  Ware's,  12.  "  The  stream,  the  rock,  or  the  tree,  must  each  of  them  stand 
forth,  so  as  to  make  a  figure  in  the  imagination." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  390.  "  While  this,  with 
euphony,  constitute,  finally,  the  whole." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  293.  "  The  bag,  with  the 
guineas  and  dollars  in  it,  were  stolen." — Cobbett's  E.  Gram.  H  246.  "  Sobriety,  with  great 
industry  and  talent,  enable  a  man  to  perform  great  deeds." — Ib.  U  246.  "The  it,  together 
with  the  verb  to  be,  express  states  of  being." — Ib.  IT  190.  "Where  Leonidas  the  Spartan 
king,  with  his  chosen  band,  fighting  for  their  country,  were  cut  off  to  the  last  man." — 
Kames,  El.  of  Grit.  Vol.  i,  p.  203.  "And  Leah  also,  with  her  children,  came  near  and  bowed 
themselves." — Gen.  xxxiii,  7.  "The  First  or  Second  will,  either  of  them,  by  themselves 
coalesce  with  the  Third,  but  not  with  each  other." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  74.  "The  whole 
must  centre  in  the  query,  whether  Tragedy  or  Comedy  are  hurtful  and  dangerous  repre- 
sentations?"— Formey's  Belles -Lettres,  p.  215.  "Grief  as  well  as  joy  are  infectious:  the 
emotions  they  raise  in  the  spectator  resemble  them  perfectly." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  i,  1,57. 
"  But  in  all  other  words  the  Qu  are  both  sounded." — Ensell's  Gram.  p.  16.  "Q,u  (which  are 
always  together)  have  the  sound  of  ku  or  k,  as  in  queen,  opaque." — Goodenow's  Gram.  p.  45. 
"  In  this  selection  the  ai  form  distinct  syllables." — Walker's  Key,  p.  290.  "And  a  consider- 
able village,  with  gardens,  fields,  &c.  extend  around  on  each  side  of  the  square." — Liberator, 
Vol.  ix,  p.  140.  "Affection,  or  interest,  guide  our  notions  and  behaviour  in  the  affairs  of 
life ;  imagination  and  passion  affect  the  sentiments  that  we  entertain  in  matters  of  taste." — 
Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  171.  "  She  heard  none  of  those  intimations  of  her  defects,  which  envy, 
petulance,  or  anger,  produce  among  children." — Rambler,  No.  189.  "The  King,  with  the 
Lords  and  Commons,  constitute  an  excellent  form  of  government." — Crombie's  Treatise,  p. 

242.  "  If   we  say,  « I  am  the  man,  who  commands  you/  the  relative  clause,  with  the 
antecedent  man,  form  the  predicate." — Ib.  p.  266. 

"  The  spacious  firmanent  on  high,  I  And  spangled  heav'ns,  a  shining  frame, 

With  all  the  blue  ethereal  sky,  |  Their  great  Original  proclaim." — ADDISON. 

Murray's  Key,  p.  174  ;  Day's  Gram.  p.  92 ;  Farnum's,  106. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI. — ELLIPTICAL  CONSTRUCTIONS. 

"There  is  a  reputable  and  a  disreputable  practice." — Adams's  Rhet.  Vol.  i,  p.  350.  "  This 
and  this  man  was  born  in  her." — Milton's  Psalms,  Ixxxvii.  "  This  and  that  man  was  born 
in  her." — Psal.  Ixxxvii,  5.  "This  and  that  man  was  born  there." — Hcndrick's  Gram.  p.  34. 
"  Thus  le  in  lego  and  legi  seem  to  be  sounded  equally  long." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  253  ;  Gould's, 

243.  "A  distinct  and  an  accurate  articulation  forms  the  groundwork  of  good  delivery.'  — 
Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  25.     "How  is  vocal  and  written  language  understood?" — C.    W. 
Sanders,  Spelling -Book,  p.  7.     "  The  good,  the  wise,  and  the  learned  man  is  an  ornament  to 
human  society." — Bartlett's  Reader.    "  On  some  points,  the  expression  of  song  and  speed  L  is 
identical." — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  425.     "To  every  room  there  was  an  open  and  secret 
passage." — Johnson's  Rasselas,  p.  13.     "  There  iz  such  a  thing  az  tru  and  false  taste,  andi;he 
latter  az  often  directs  fashion,  az  the  former." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  401.     "There  is  sue1!  a 
thing  as  a  prudent  and  imprudent  institution  of  life,  with  regard  to  our  health  and  our 
affairs." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  210.     "The  lot  of  the  outcasts  of  Israel  and  the  dispersed  of 
Judah,  however  different  in  one  respect,  have  in  another  corresponded  with  wonderful 
exactness." — Hope  of  Israel,  p.  301.     "  On  these  final  syllables  the  radical  and  vanishing 
movement  is  performed." — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  64.     "To  be  young  or  old,  good,  just,  or 
the  contrary,  are  physical  or  moral  events." — SPURZIIEIM  :  Felch's  Gomp.  Gram.  p.  29.    "  The 
eloquence  of  George  Whitfield  and  of  John  Wesley  was  of  a  very  different  character  each 
from  the  other." — Dr.  Sharp.     "  The  affinity  of  m  for  the  series  b,  and  of  n  for  the  series  t, 
give  occasion  for  other  Euphonic  changes." — Foivler's  E.  Gram.  §  77. 

"Pylades'  soul,  and  mad  Orestes',  was 
In  these,  if  we  believe  Pythagoras." — Cowley's  Poems,  p.  3. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII. — DISTINCT  SUBJECT  PHRASES. 

"  To  be  moderate  in  our  views,  and  to  proceed  temperately  in  the  pursuit  of  them,  is  the 
best  way  to  ensure  success." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  206.  "  To  be  of  any  species,  and  to 
have  a  right  to  the  name  of  that  species,  is  all  one." — Locke's  Essay,  p.  300.  "  With  whom 
to  will  and  to  do  is  the  same." — Jamieson's  Sacred  History,  Vol.  ii,  p.  22.  "  To  profess,  and 
to  possess,  is  very  different  things." — Inst.  p.  156.  "To  do  justly,  to  love  mercy,  and  to 
walk  humbly  with  God,  is  duties  of  universal  obligation." — Ib.  "To  be  round  or  square, 
to  be  solid  or  fluid,  to  be  large  or  small,  and  to  be  moved  swiftly  or  slowly,  is  all  equally 
alien  from  the  nature  of  thought." — Ib.  "The  resolving  of  a  sentence  into  its  elements 
or  parts  of  speech  and  stating  the  Accidents  which  belong  to  these,  is  called  PARSING."- 
Bullions,  Pract.  Lessons,  p.  9.  "To  spin  and  to  weave,  to  knit  and  to  sew,  was  once  a  girl's 
employment ;  but  now  to  dress  and  catch  a  beau,  is  all  she  calls  enjoyment." — Lynn 
Vol.  8,  No.  1. 


CIIAP.    VI.]  SYNTAX.  -  RULE  XVII.  -  VERBS.  -  OBSERVATIONS.  575 

RULE  XVII.  —  FINITE  VERBS. 

When  a  Verb  has  two  or  more  nominatives  connected  by  or  or  nor,  it  must 
agree  with  them  singly,  and  not  as  if  taken  together  :  as,  "  Fear  or  jealousy 
affects  him.  —  W.  Alleris  Gyam.  p.  133.  "  Nor  eye,  nor  listening  ear,  an 
object  finds:  creation  sleeps."  —  Young.  "Neither  character  nor  dialogue 
was  yet  understood."  —  L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  151. 

"  The  wife,  where  danger  or  dishonour  lurks, 
Safest  and  seemliest  by  her  husband  stays."  —  Milton,  P.  L.,  ix,  207. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XVII. 

OBS.  1.  —  To  this  rule,  so  far  as  its  application  is  practicable,  there  are  properly  no  excep- 
tions ;  for,  or  and  nor  being  disjunctive  conjunctions,  the  nominatives  are  of  course  to  assume 
the  verb  separately,  and  as  agreeing  with  each.  Such  agreement  seems  to  be  positively  required 
by  the  alternativeness  of  the  expression.  Yet  the  ancient  grammarians  seldom,  if  at  all,  insisted 
on  it.  In  Latin  and  Greek,  a  plural  verb  is  often  employed  with  singular  nominatives  thus  con- 
nected; us, 

"  Tune  nee  mens  mihi,  nee  color 
Certa  sede  manent."  —  HORACE.    See  W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  133. 


"  'Edv  6e  ude'A<j>d?  //  u6&<jn}  yvftvol  VTrupxuai,  Ka^  AttwfyttWX  uai  rfc  kfyrjfjiipov  rpoffic."  —  James, 

ii,  15.    And  the  best  scholars  have  sometimes  improperly  imitated  this  construction  in  English  ; 

M-ither  Virgil  nor  Homer  were  deficient  in  any  of  the  former  beauties."  —  DHYDEN'S  PREF- 

ACE: Brit.  Poets,  Vol.  iii,  p.   168.     "  Neither  Saxon  nor  Roman  have  availed  to  add  any  idea  to 

his  [Plato's]  categories."—  R,  W.  EMERSON:  Liberator,  No.  996. 

comes  —  nor  want  w>r  cold  his  course  delay  : 
Hide,  blushing  Glory  !  hide  Pultowa's  day."  —  Dr.  Johnson. 
"  No  monstrous  height,  or  breadth,  or  length,  appear  ; 

The  whole  at  once  is  bold  and  regular."  —  Pope,  on  Crit.  1.  250. 

OBS.  2.  —  When  two  collective  nouns  of  the  singular  form  are  connected  by  or  or  nor,  the  verb 

:rec  with  them  in  the  plural  number,  because  such  agreement  is  adapted  to  each  of  them, 

according  to  Rule  15th  ;  as,  "  Why  mankind,  or  such  a.  part  of  mankind,  are  placed  in  this  con- 

dition." —  Butler's  Analogy,  p.  213.     "  But  neither  the  Board  of  Control  nor  the  Court  of  Direct- 

(u  -s  /Ktrr  any  scruples  about  sanctioning  the  abuses  of  which  I  have  spoken."  —  Glory  and  Shame 

</!(in<l\  Vol.  ii,  p.  70. 

OBS.  3.  —  When  a  verb  has  nominatives  of  different  persons  or  numbers,  connected  by  or  or  nor, 
an  explicit  concord  with  each  is  impossible;  because  the  verb  cannot  be  of  different  persons  or 
numbers  at  the  same  time  ;  nor  is  it  so,  even  when  its  form  is  made  the  same  in  all  the  persons 
and  numbers:  thus,  "I,  thou,  [or]  he,  /nay  affirm;  we,  ye,  or  they,  may  affirm"  —  Seattle's 
Moral  ty-ifiice,  p.  36.  Respecting  the  proper  management  of  the  verb  when  its  nominatives  thus 
disagree,  the  views  of  our  grammarians  are  not  exactly  coincident.  Few  however  are  ignorant 
enough,  or  rash  enough,  to  deny  that  there  may  be  an  implicit  or  implied  concord  in  such  cases, 
••ii/nid  of  the  verb  in  English,  as  well  as  of  the  verb  or  of  the  adjective  in  Latin  or  Greek.  Of 
this,  the  following  is  a  brief  example  :  "  But  he  nor  I  feel  more."  —  Dr.  Young,  Night  iii,  p.  35. 
And  I  shall  by-and-by  add  others  —  enough,  1  hope,  to  confute  those  false  critics  who  condemn  all 
such  phraseology. 

(Jus.   i.  —  W.  Allen's  rule  is  this  :  "  If  the  nominatives  are  of  different  numbers  or  persons,  the 

verb  agrees  with  the  last  •  as,  he  or  his  brothers  were  there  ;  neither  you  nor  I  am  concerned."— 

A  Cram.  p.  133.     Lindley  Murray,  and  others,  say  :  (1.)  "  When  singular  pronouns,  or  a 

noun  and  pronoun,  of  different  pi-rNontt,  are  disjunctively  connected,  the  verb  must  agree  with  that 

which  is  }>'.  t  to  it  :  as,  '  I  or  thou  art  to  blame  ;  '  '  Thou  or  I  am  in  fault  ;  '  '  I, 

or  thou,  or  he,  is  the  author  of  it  ;  '  '  George  or  I  am  the  person.'     But  it  would  be  better  to  say  ; 

'  Either  I  am  to  blame,  or  thou  art,'  &c.     (2.)  When  a  disjunctive  occurs  between  a  singular 

noun,  or  pronoun,  and  a  plural  one,  the  verb  is  made  to  agree  with  the  plural  noun  and  pronoun  : 

as,  '  Neither  poverty  nor  riches  //v/v  injurious  to  him  ;  '  '  I  or  they  irrrr  offended  by  it.'     But  in 


this  case,  the  plural  noun  or  pronoun,  when  it  can  conveniently  be  done,  should  be  placed  next 
to  the  verb."  —  Murriii/'.'i  drum.  BYO,  p.  !•")!;  Sm  ifh's  AV/r  Gram.  1'JS  ;  A/</<  r's  Cram.  54;  Comhfs, 
7,s  an  .  M>;  J'i<  /.vC'.s-,  17-)  ;  and  many  more.  There  are  other  grammarians  who 

that  the  verb  in,.  ;h  the  nominative  which  is  placed  next  to  it,  whether  this  be 

singular  or  plum'  .  ther  the  servants  nor  the  master  is  respected  ;  "  —  "  Neither  the  mas- 

/r<7//'.s  Cram.  p.  (}'•>.  "But  if  neither  thewri- 

nor  the  author  is  in  existence,  the  Imperfect  should  be  used."  —  SV/xWx'.v  Gram.  p.  107. 

.  o.  —  On  this  point,  a  new  author  has  just  given  us  the  following  precept  and  criticism  : 
••  Ncv.-r  conned  by  or,  or  /mr,  two  or  more  names  or  substitutes  that  have  the  same  asserter  [i.e. 

i'-pending  on  them  t'nr  sense,  if  when  taken  separately,  they  require  different  forms  of  the 
'  Neither  you  nor  I  am  Either  he  or  thou  HV/.V/  there.  Either 


576  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

OBS.  6. — Cobbett  also — while  he  approves  of  such  English  as,  "He,  with  them,  are  able  to  do 
much,"  for,  "He  and  they  are  able  to  do  much" — condemns  expressly  every  possible  example  in 
which  the  verb  has  not  a  full  and  explicit  concord  with  each  of  its  nominatives,  if  they  are  con- 
nected by  or  or  nor.  His  doctrine  is  this  :  "  If  nominatives  o£  different  numbers  present  them- 
selves, we  must  not  give  them  a  verb  which  disagrees  with  either  the  one  or  the  other.  We  mast 
not  say  :  '  Neither  the  halter  nor  the  bayonets  are  sufficient  to  prevent  us  from  obtaining  our 
rights.'  We  must  avoid  this  bad  grammar  by  using  a  different  form  of  words  :  as,  '  We  are  to  be 
prevented  from  obtaining  our  rights  by  neither  the  halter  nor  the  bayonets.'  Arid,  why  should 
we  wish  to  write  bad  grammar,  if  we  can  express  our  meaning  in  good  grammar  ?  " — Cobbett's  E. 
Gram.  H  242.  This  question  would  have  more  force,  if  the  correction  here  offered  did  not  convey 
a  meaning  icidely  different  from  that  of  the  sentence  corrected.  But  he  goes  on:  "  We  cannot 
say,  '  They  or  I  am  in  fault ;  I,  or  they,  or  he,  is  the  author  of  it ;  George  or  I  am  the  person.' 
Mr.  Lindley  Murray  says,  that  we  may  use  these  phrases  ;  and  that  we  have  only  to  take  care 
that  the  verb  agree  with  that  person  which  is  placed  nearest  to  it ;  but,  he  says  also,  that  it  would 
be  better  to  avoid  such  phrases  by  giving  a  different  turn  to  our  words.  I  do  not  like  to  leave  any 
thing  to  chance  or  to  discretion,  when  we  have  a  clear  principle  for  our  guide." — Ib.  U  243.  This 
author's  "  clear  principle  "  is  merely  his  own  confident  assumption,  that  every  form  of  figurative 
or  implied  agreement,  every  thing  which  the  old  grammarians  denominated  zeugma,  is  at  once  to 
be  condemned  as  a  solecism.  He  is  however  supported  by  an  other  late  writer  of  much  greater 
merit.  See  Churchill's  New  Gram.  pp.  142  and  312. 

OBS.  7. — If,  in  lieu  of  their  fictitious  examples,  our  grammarians  would  give  us  actual  quota- 
tions from  reputable  authors,  their  instructions  would  doubtless  gain  something  in  accuracy,  and 
still  more  in  authority.  "lor  they  were  offended  by  it,"  and,  "/,  or  thou,  or  he,  is  the  author  of  it," 
are  expressions  that  I  shall  not  defend.  They  imply  an  egotistical  speaker,  who  either  does  not 
know,  or  will  not  tell,  whether  he  is  offended  or  not, — whether  he  is  the  author  or  not !  Again, 
there  are  expressions  that  are  unobjectionable,  and  yet  not  conformable  to  any  of  the  rules  just 
quoted.  That  nominatives  may  be  correctly  connected  by  or  or  nor  without  an  express  agree- 
ment of  the  verb  with  each  of  them,  is  a  point  which  can  be  proved  to  as  full  certainty  as  almost 
any  other  in  grammar  ;  Churchill,  Cobbett,  and  Peirce  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  But 
with  which  of  the  nominatives  the  verb  shall  expressly  agree,  or  to  which  of  them  it  may  most 
properly  be  understood,  is  a  matter  not  easy  to  be  settled  by  any  sure  general  rule.  Nor  is  the 
lack  of  such  a  rule  a  very  important  defect,  though  the  inculcation  of  a  false  or  imperfect  one 
may  be.  So  judged  at  least  the  ancient  grammarians,  who  noticed  and  named  almost  every  pos- 
sible form  of  the  zeugma,  without  censuring  any  as  being  ungrammatical.  In  the  Institutes  of 
English  Grammar,  I  noted  first  the  usual  form  of  this  concord,  and  then  the  allowable  excep- 
tions ;  but  a  few  late  writers,  we  see,  denounce  every  form  of  it,  exceptions  and  all :  and,  stand- 
ing alone  in  their  notions  of  the  figure,  value  their  own  authority  more  than  that  of  all  other 
critics  together. 

OBS.  8. — In  English,  as  in  other  languages,  when  a  verb  has  discordant  nominatives  connected 
disjunctively,  it  most  commonly  agrees  expressly  with  that  which  is  nearest,  and  only  by  impli- 
cation, with  the  more  remote;  as,  "  When  some  word  or  words  are  dependent  on  the  attribute." 
—  Webster's  Philos.  Gram.  p.  153.  "To  the  first  of  these  qualities,  dulness  or  refinements  are 
dangerous  enemies." — Broicn's  Estimate,  Vol.  ii,  p.  15.  "  He  hazards  his  own  life  with  tha ;  of 
his  enemy,  and  one  or  both  are  very  honorably  murdered." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  235.  "  The  c  )n- 
sequence  is,  that  they  frown  upon  every  one  whose  faults  or  negligence  interrupts  or  retards  tl.eir 
lessons." — W.  C.  Woodbridge:  Lit.  Conv.  p.  114.  "  Good  intentions,  or  at  least  sincerity  of  pur- 
pose, -was  never  denied  her." — West's  Letters,  p.  43.  "  Yet  this  proves  not  that  either  he  orwe  judge 
them  to  be  the  rule." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  1.57.  "  First  clear  yourselves  of  popery  before  you 
or  thou  dost  throw  it  upon  us." — Ib.  i,  169.  "Js  the  gospel  or  glad  tidings  of  this  salvation  brought 
nigh  unto  all?  " — Ib.  i,  362.  "Being  persuaded,  that  either  they,  or  their  cause,  is  naught.  ' — 
Ib.  i,  504.  "  And  the  reader  may  judge  whether  he  or  I  do  most  fully  acknowledge  man's  fall." 
/£.  ii^  332.  "  To  do  justice  to  the  Ministry,  they  have  not  yet  pretended  that  any  one,  or  any 


bacco  nor  hides  loere  imported  from  Caraccas  into  Spain." — Ib.  ii,  507.     "  The  keys  or  seed-ves- 
sel of  the  maple  has  two  large  side-wings." — The  Friend,  vii,  97.     "An  example  or  two  are  suffi- 
cient to  illustrate  the  general  observation." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of  Lang,  i,  58. 
"  Not  thou,  nor  those  thy  factious  arts  engage, 
Shall  reap  that  harvest  of  rebellious  rage." — Dryden,  p.  60. 

OBS.  9. — But  when  the  remoter  nominative  is  the  principal  word,  and  the  nearer  one  is  ex- 
pressed parenthetically,  the  verb  agrees  literally  with  the  former,  and  only  by  implication,  with 
the  latter;  as,  "  One  example,  (or  ten,)  says  nothing  against  it." — Leigh  Hunt.  "And  we,  (or 
future  ages,)  may  possibly  have  a  proof  of  it." — Bp.  Butler.  So,  when  the  alternative  is  merely 
in  the  words,  not  in  the  thought,  the  former  term  is  sometimes  considered  the  principal  one, 
and  is  therefore  allowed  to  control  the  verb;  but  there  is  always  a  harshness  in  this  mixture  of 
different  numbers,  and,  to  render  such  a  construction  tolerable,  it  is  necessary  to  read  the  latter 
term  like  a  parenthesis,  and  make  the  former  emphatic  :  as,  "A.  parenthesis,  or  brackets,  consists  of 
two  angular  strokes,  or  hooks,  enclosing  one  or  more  words." — Whiting's  Reader,  p.  28.  "To 
show  us  that  our  own  schemes,  or  prudence,  have  no  share  in  our  advancements." — Addison. 
"  The  Mexican  figures,  or  picture-writing,  represent  things,  not  words  ;  they  exhibit  images  to  the 
eye,  not  ideas  to  the  understanding." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  243  ;  English  Reader,  p.  xiii.  "At  Tra- 
van'core,  Koprah,  or  dried  cocoa-nut  kernels,  is  monopolized  by  government."— Maunder' s  Gram. 
p.  12.  "  The  Scriptures,  or  Bible,  are  the  only  authentic  source." — Bp.  Tomline's  Evidences. 
"  Nor  foes  nor  fortune  take  this  power  away ; 

And  is  my  Abelard  less  kind  than  they?  "—Pope,  p.  334. 

OBS.  10. — The  English  adjective  being  indeclinable,  we  have  no  examples  of  some  of  the  forms 
of  zeugma  which  occur  in  Latin  and  Greek.     But  adjectives  differing  in  number,  are  sometimes 


CHAP.    VI.]  SYNTAX. — RULE   XVII. VERBS. — OBSERVATIONS.  577 

connected  without  a  repetition  of  the  noun;  and,  in  the  agreement  of  the  verb,  the  noun  which  is 
understood,  is  less  apt  to  be  regarded  than  that  which  is  expressed,  though  the  latter  be  more 
remote;  as,  "There  are  one  or  two  small  irregularities  to  be  noted." — Lotrth's  Gram.  p.  63. 
"  There  are  one  or  two  persons,  and  but  one  or  two." — Hazlitt's  Lectures.  "  There  are  one  or  tiro 
others." — Crombic's  Treatise,  p.  206.  "  There  are  one  or  tiro." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  319.  "There 
are  one  or  more  seminaries  in  every  province." — //.  E.  D<ci/iht :  Lit.  Conv.  p.  133.  "  Whether  owe 
or  more  of  the  clauses  are  to  be  considered  the  nominative  case." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  150. 
"  So  that,  I  believe,  there  is  not  more  than  one  genuine  example  extant." — Kmght,  on  the  Greek 
Alphabet,  p.  10.  "  There  is,  properly,  no  more  than  one  pause  or  rest  in  the  sentence." — Mur- 
ray's Gram,  i,  p.  329;  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  125.  "Sometimes  a  small  letter  or  ttco  is  added  to  the 
capital." — Adam'*  Lot.  dram.  p.  223;  Gould's,  283.  Among  the  examples  in  the  seventh  para- 
graph above,  there  is  one  like  this  last,  but  with  a  plural  verb;  and  if  either  is  objectionable,  is 
should  here  be  are.  The  preceding  example,  too,  is  such  as  I  would  not  imitate.  To  L.  Murray, 
the  following  sentence  seemed  false  syntax,  because  one  does  not  agree  with  persons  :  "  He  saw 
one  or  more  persons  enter  the  garden." — M army's  Exercises,  Rule  8th,  p.  54.  In  his  Key,  he  has 
it  thus  :  "  He  saw  one  person,  or  more  than  one,  enter  the  garden." — Oct.  Gram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  189. 
To  me,  this  stiff  correction, .which  many  later  grammarians  nave  copied,  seems  worse  than  none. 
And  the  effect  of  the  principle  may  be  noticed  in  Murray's  style  elsewhere  ;  as,  "  When  a  semico- 
lon, or  more  than  one,  nave  preceded." — Octavo  Gram,  i,  p.  277 ;  Ingersoll's  Gram.  p.  288.  Here 
a  ready  writer  would  be  very  apt  to  prefer  one  of  the  following  phrases  :  "  When  a  semicolon  or 
two  have  preceded," — "  When  one  or  two  semicolons  have  preceded," — "  When  one  or  more  semico- 
lons have  preceded."  It  is  better  to  write  by  guess,  than  to  become  systematically  awkward  in 
expression. 

OBS.  11. — In  Greek  and  Latin,  the  pronoun  of  the  first  person,  according  to  our  critics,  is  gene- 
rally* placed  first ;  as,  "  'E-u  K.O.L  cv  ra  d'tKOia  TroiqaofiEV.  Xen." — Milnes's  Gr.  Gram.  p.  120.  'That 
,o  ft  tu  justa  /adenitis."     Again  :  "Ego  et  Cicero  valemus.     Cic." — Buchanan's  Pref.  p.  x  ; 
Adamt   dram.  206;  Gould's,  203.     "I  and  Cicero  are  well." — Ib.    But,  in  English,  a  modest 
speaker  usually  gives  toothers  the  precedence,  and  mentions  himself  last;  as,  "He,  orthou,  or  I, 
nm<t  -jo." — "  Thou  and  I  will  do  what  is  right." — "  Cicero  and  I  are  well." — Dr.  Adam.\  Yet,  in 
speaking  of  himself  and  his  dependants,  a  person  most  commonly  takes  rank  before  them  ;  as, 
"  Your  inestimable  letters  supported  myself,  my  wife,  and  children,  in  adversity." — Lucien  Bona- 
<  'iiarli-miiijnf,  p.  v.    "And  I  shall  be  destroyed,  /  and  my  house." — Gen.  xxxiv,  30.     And  in 
acknowledging  a  fault,  misfortune,  or  censure,  any  speaker  may  assume  the  first  place ;  as,  "  Both 
/  and  titan  are  in  the  fault." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  207.    "  Both  /  and  you  are  in  fault." — Buchanan's 
Xynttu:,  p.  ix.     "  Trusty  did  not  do  it ;  I  and  Robert  did  it." — Edgeworth's  Stories. 
"  With  critic  scales,  weighs  out  the  partial  wit, 
What  /,  or  you,  or  he,  or  no  one  writ." — Lloyd's  Poems,  p.  162. 

.  12. — According  to  the  theory  of  this  work,  verbs  themselves  are  not  unfrequently  con- 
nected, one  to  an  other,  by  and,  or,  or  nor ;  so  that  two  or  more  of  them,  being  properly  in  the 
same  construction,  may  be  parsed  as  agreeing  with  the  same  nominative  :  as,  "  So  that  the  blind 
and  dumb  [man]  both  spake  and  saw." — Matt,  xii,  22.  "  That  no  one  might  buy  or  sell" — Rev. 
xiii,  17.  "  Which  see  not,  nor  hear,  nor  know." — Dan.  v,  23.  We  have  certainly  very  many  ex- 
amples like  these,  in  which  it  is  neither  convenient  nor  necessary  to  suppose  an  ellipsis  of  the 
nominative  before  the  latter  verb,  or  before  all  but  the  first,  as  most  of  our  grammarians  do, 
whenever  they  find  two  or  more  finite  verbs  connected  in  this  manner.  It  is  true,  the  nominative 

in  most  instances,  be  repeated  without  injury  to  the  sense  ;  but  this  fact  is  no  proof  of  such 

au  ellipsis  ;  because  many  a  sentence  which  is  not  incomplete,  may  possibly  take  additional  words 

without  change  of  meaning.     But  these  authors,  (as  I  have  already  suggested  under  the  head  of 

conjunctions,)  have  not  been  very  careful  of  their  own  consistency.     If  they  teach,  that,  "  Every 

own  separate  nominative,  either  expressed  or  implied,"  which  idea  Murray 

and  others  seem  to  have  gathered  from  Lowth ;  or  if  they  say,  that,  "  Conjunctions  really  unite 

sentences,  when  they  appear  to  unite  only  words,"  which  notion  they  may  have  acquire'd  from 

;  what  room  is  there  for  that  common  assertion,  that,  "Conjunctions  connect  the  same 

moods  and  tenses  of  verbs,"  which  is  a  part  of  Murray's  eighteenth  rule,  and  found  in  most  of 

our  i^rainniars  ?     For  no  agreement  is  usually  required  between  verbs  that  have  separate  nomina- 

iiid  if  we  supply  a  nominative  wherever  we  do  not  find  one  for  each  verb,  then  in  fact  no 

be  connected  by  any  conjunction. 

OMS.  13. — What  agreement  there  must  be,  between  verbs  that  are  in  the  same  construction,  it 

is  not  easy  to  determine  with  certainty.     Some  of  the  Latin  grammarians  tell  us,   that  certain 

conjunctions  connect   "  sometimes  similar  moods  and  tenses,  and  sometimes  similar  moods  but 

I  Gi-aninmtii-a  l.atinn,  Ottnro,  Part  ii,  p.  lJo.     Kuddiman,  Adam,  and 

.  <>mit  the  concord  of  tenses,  and  enumerate  certain  conjunctions  which  "  couple  like  cases 
and  moods."  Hut  all  of  them  acknowledge  some  exceptions  to  their  rules.  The  instructions  of 
Limlley  Murray  and  others,  on  this  point,  may  be  summed  up  in  the  following  canon:  "When 
verbs  are  connected  by  a  conjunction,  they  must  either  agree  in  mood,  tense,  and  form,  or  have 


*  This  order  of  the  persons,  is  not  i/m'r/r.W/y  maintained  in  those  languages.     The  words  of  Blary  to  her  son, 
"  Thy  father  and  /have  sought  thee  sorrowii,.-  ;v  to  ghe'the  ]*<••  •i-l.-nc.-  to  her  husband  ;  and 

i'ir  iirranirt mi-nt  i;:  <  •••t-k.  :ui'l  in  thi-  I.:itin  v.  rM"i)H.  as  well  as  in  others. 

t  The  hackneyed  example,  "/a  -which  makes  such  a  figure  in  the 

grammars,  both  Latin  and  English,  and  yet  i*  a  . -n>  him-clf.  .rd  of  explanation.     Cieero 

the  orator,  havinir  with  him  his  young  son   MI-  \\  Athens,  while  his  (•••Invrd  daughter  Tullia  TV 

her   mother  in   Italv.  thus  wrote   '  'ilftis;  'A'"?  ft  *•"*'"• 

\;>  FAM.  LU>.  xiv.  Kp.  v.     That  is.  ••  It"  then.  an. I  Tullia.  our  joy.  are  well ;  I,  and  the 
1  Cicero,  are  likewise  well."   This  literal  translation  is  good  KnglUh,  mid  not  to  be  amended  l>y  im> 

1C  'i-xf  and   version  of  I»r. 
Adam  puzzled  me  not  a  little  ;  because  I  could  not  conceive  how  Cirrro  could  ever  have  snid.  ••  /  •;        < 

The  garhled  citation  is  now  much  oftcner  read  than  the  original.     £eu  i:  in  Cmmbies  Treatise,  p.  243  ; 
ATCullock's  Gram.p  153;  and  othere. 

37 


578  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

separate  nominatives  expressed."  This  rule,  (with  a  considerable  exception  to  it,  which  other 
authors  had  not  noticed,)  was  adopted  by  myself  in  the  Institutes  of  English  Grammar,  and  also 
retained  in  the  Brief  Abstract  of  that  work,  entitled,  The  First  Lines  of  English  Grammar.  It 
there  stands  as  the  thirteenth  in  the  series  of  principal  rules  :  but,  as  there  is  no  occasion  to  re- 
fer to  it  in  the  exercise  of  parsing,  I  now  think,  a  less  prominent  place  may  suit  it  as  well  or  bet- 
ter. The  principle  may  be  considered  as  being  less  certain  and  less  important  than  most  of  the 
usual  rules  of  syntax :  I  shall  therefore  both  modify  the  expression  of  it,  and  place  it  among  the 
notes  of  the  present  code.  See  Notes  5th  and  6th  below. 

OBS.  14. — By  the  agreement  of  verbs  with  each  other  in  form,  it  is  meant,  that  the  simple  form 
and  the  compound,  the  familiar  form  and  the  solemn,  the  affirmative  form  and  the  negative,  or  the 
active  form  and  the  passive,  are  not  to  be  connected  without  a  repetition  of  the  nominative.  With 
respect  to  our  language,  this  part  of  the  rule  is  doubtless  as  important,  and  as  true,  as  any  other. 
A  thorough  agreement,  then,  in  mood,  tense,  and  form,  is  generally  required,  when  verbs  are 
connected  by  and,  or,  or  nor  ;  and,  under  each  part  of  this  concord,  there  may  be  cited  certain 
errors  which  ought  to  be  avoided,  as  will  by-and-by  be  shown.  But,  at  the  same  time,  there  seem 
to  be  many  allowable  violations  of  the  rule,  some  or  other  of  which  may  perhaps  form  excep- 
tions to  every  part  of  it.  For  example,  the  tense  may  be  varied,  as  it  often  is  in  Latin :  thus, 
"As  the  general  state  of  religion  hasbeen,  is,  or  shallbe,  affected  by  them." — Butler's  Analogy,  p. 
241.  "  Thou  art  righteous,  O  Lord,  which  art,  and  wast,  and  shalt  be,  because  thou  hast  judged 
thus." — Rev.  xvi,  5.  In  the  former  of  these  examples,  a  repetition  of  the  nominative  would  not 
be  agreeable  ;  in  the  latter,  it  would  perhaps  be  an  improvement:  as,  "  wJio  art,  and  who  wast, 
and  icJio  shalt  be."  (I  here  change  the  pronoun,  because  the  relative  which  is  not  now  applied 
as  above.)  "  This  dedication  may  serve  for  almost  any  book,  that  has  been,  or  shallbe  published." 
— Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  207;  Murray's  Gram.  p.  222.  "It  ought  to  be,  '  has  been,  is,  or  shall  be, 
published.'  " — Crombie's  Treatise,  p.  383.  "  Truth  and  good  sense  are  firm,  and  will  establish 
themselves." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  286.  "  Whereas  Wilton  folloived  a  different  plan,  and  has  given  a 
tragic  conclusion  to  a  poem  otherwise  epic  in  its  form.'" — Ib.  p.  428.  "I  am  certain,  that  such 
are  not,  nor  ever  were,  the  tenets  of  the  church  of  England." — West's  Letters,  p.  148.  "They 
deserve,  and  will  meet  with,  no  regard." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  109. 
"  Whoever  thinks  a  faultless  piece  to  see, 

Thinks  what  ne'er  icas,  nor  is,  nor  e'er  shallbe." — Pope,  on  Crit. 

OBS.  15. — So  verbs  differing  in  mood  or  form  may  sometimes  agree  with  the  same  nominative, 
if  the  simplest  verb  be  placed  first — rarely,  I  think,  if  the  words  stand  in  any  other  order:  as, 
"One  maybehee  from  affectation  and  not  have  merit." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  189.  "There  is,  and 
can  be,  no  other  person." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  224.  "  To  see  what  is,  and  is  allowed  to  be,  the 
plain  natural  rule." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  284.  "  This  great  experiment  has  worked,  and  is  work- 
ing, well,  every  way  well." — BRADBURN:  Liberator,  ix,  162.  "This  edition  of  Mr.  Murray's 
works  on  English  Grammar,  deserves  a  place  in  Libraries,  and  will  not  fail  to  obtain  it." — BRITISH 
CRITIC:  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  ii,  299. 

"  What  nothing  earthly  gives,  or  can  destroy." — Pope. 

"  Some  are,  and  must  be,  greater  than  the  rest." — Id. 

OBS.  16. — Since  most  of  the  tenses  of  an  English  verb  are  composed  of  two  or  more  words,  to 
prevent  a  needless  or  disagreeable  repetition  of  auxiliaries,  participles,  and  principal  verbs,  those 
parts  which  are  common  to  two  or  more  verbs  in  the  same  sentence,  are  generally  expressed  to 
the  first,  and  understood  to  the  rest  ;  or  reserved,  and  put  la^t,  as  the  common  supplement  of 
each:  as,  "  To  which  they  do  or  can  extend." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  77.  "  He  may,  as  any  one 
may,  if  he  will,  incur  an  infamous  execution  from  the  hands  of  civil  justice." — Ib.  p.  82.  "  All 
that  has  usurped  the  name  of  virtue,  and  [has]  deceived  us  by  its  semblance,  must  be  a  mockery 
and  a  delusion." — Dr.  Chalmers.  "  Human  praise,  and  human  eloquence,  may  acknowledge  it, 
but  the  Discerner  of  the  heart  never  will"  [acknowledge  it]. — Id.  "  We  use  thee  not  so  hardly, 
as  prouder  livers  do"  [use  thee}. — Shale.  "Which  they  might  have  foreseen  and  [might  have] 
avoided." — Butler.  "  Every  sincere  endeavour  to  amend,  shall  be  assisted,  [shall  be]  "accepted, 
and  [shall  be]  rewarded." — Carter.  "  Behold,  I  thought,  He  will  surely  corne  out  to  me,  and 
[«*#J  stand  and  [will]  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  his  God,  and  [will]  strike  his  hand  over  the 
place,  and  [will]  recover  the  leper." — 2  Kings,  v,  11.  "  They  mean  to,  and  will,  hear  patiently." 
— Salem  Register.  That  is,  "  They  mean  to  hear  patiently,  and  they  will  hear  patiently." 

"  Virtue  may  be  assail' d,  but  never  hurt, 
Surpris'd  by  unjust  force,  but  not  inthrall'd." — Milton. 

"  Mortals  whose  pleasures  are  their  only  care, 

First  wish  to  be  imposed  on,  and  then  are." — Cowper. 

OBS.  17. — From  the  foregoing  examples,  it  may  be  seen,  that  the  complex  and  divisible  struc- 
ture of  the  English  moods  and  tenses,  produces,  when  verbs  are  connected  together,  a  striking 
peculiarity  of  construction  in  our  language,  as  compared  with  the  nearest  corresponding  con- 
struction in  Latin  or  Greek.  For  we  can  connect  different  auxiliaries,  participles,  or  principal 
verbs,  without  repeating,  and  apparently  without  connecting,  the  other  parts  of  the  mood  or 
tense.  And  although  it  is  commonly  supposed  that  these  parts  are  necessarily  understood  wher- 
ever they  are  not  repeated,  there  are  sentences,  and  those  not  a  few,  in  which  we  cannot  express 
them,  without  inserting  also  an  additional  nominative,  and  producing  distinct  clauses  ;  as, 
' '  Should  it  not  be  taken  up  andpiirsued?  " — Dr.  Chalmers.  "  Where  thieves  do  not  break  through 
nor  steal." — Matt,  vi,  20.  "None  present  could  either  read  or  explain  the  writing." — Wood's 
Diet.  Vol.  i,  p.  159.  Thus  we  sometimes  make  a  single  auxiliary  an  index  to  the  mood  and  tense 
of  more  than  one  verb. 

OBS.  18. — The  verb  do,  which  is  sometimes  an  auxiliary  and  sometimes  a  principal  verb,  is 
thought  by  some  grammarians  to  be  also  fitly  made  a  substitiite  for  other  verbs,  as  a  pronoun  is 
for  nouns  ;  but  this  doctrine  has  not  been  taught  with  accuracy,  and  the  practice  under  it  will  in 
many  instances  be  found  to  involve  a  solecism.  In  this  kind  of  substitution,  there  must  either 
be  a  true  ellipsis  of  the  principal  verb,  so  that  do  is  only  an  auxiliary  ;  or  else  the  verb  do,  with 


CHAP.  VI.]  SYNTAX. BULE  XVII. VEKBS. NOTES.  579 

its  object  or  adverb,  if  it  need  one,  must  exactly  correspond  to  an  action  described  before ;  so  that 


Destroy  the  city,  as  had  been  threatened.     Where  do  is  an  auxiliary,  there  is  no  real  substitution  ; 


and,  in  the  other  instances,  it  is  not  properly  the  verb  do,  that  is  the  substitute,  but  rather  the 
word  that  follows  it — or  perhaps,  both.  For,  since  every  action  consists  in  doimj  something  or  in 
dniiui  somehoic,  this  general  verb  do,  with  this,  that,  it,  thus,  or  so,  to  identify  the  action,  may  as- 
sume the  import  of  many  a  longer  phrase.  But  care  must  be  taken  not  to  substitute  this  verb 
for  any  term  to  which  it  is  not  equivalent ;  as,  "  The  a  is  certainly  to  be  sounded  as  the  English 
do."—\\'d  .  A.  Say,  "  as  the  English  sound  it ;  "  for  do  is  here  absurd,  and  gi 

solecistical.  il  The  duke  had  not  behaved  with  that  loyalty  with  which  he  ought  to  have  done." 
—Lowlh's  Gram.  p.  Ill  ;  Murray's,  i,  212;  Churchill's,  966 \  Fisk's,  137;  InyersolVs,  269.  Say, 
"  with  which  he  ought  to  have  behaved; "  for,  to  have  done  with  loyalty,  is  not  what  was  meant 
— far  from  it.  Clarendon  wrote  the  text  thus:  "The  Duke  had  not  behaved  with  that  loyalty, 
as  he  ought  to  have  done."  This  should  have  been  corrected,  not  by  changing  "as"  to 
ir/iirh,"  but  by  saying — "  with  that  loyalty  which  he  ought  to  have  observed;  "  or,  "  which  would 
'•a /nr  hi/ii. " 

.  19. — It  is  little  to  the  credit  of  our  grammarians,  to  find  so  many  of  them  thus  concur- 
ring in  the  same  obvious  error,  and  even  making  bad  English  worse.  The  very  examples 
which  have  hitherto  been  given  to  prove  that  do  may  be  a  substitute  for  other  verbs,  are  none  of 
tin  in  in  ]>(>int,  and  all  of  them  have  been  constantly  and  shamefully  misinterpreted.  Thus  :  "  They 
[rfo  and  did]  sometimes  also  supply  the  place  of  another  verb,  and  make  the  repetition  of  it,  in 
the  same  or  a  subsequent  sentence,  unnecessary  :  as, '  You  attend  not  to  your  studies  as  he  does ; ' 
(i.  e.  as  he  attends,  &c.)  'I  shall  come  if  I  can ;  but  if  I  do  not,  please  to  excuse  me ; '  (i.  e.  if  I 
not.)" — L.  Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  i,  p.  88;  R.  C.  Smith's,  88;  Ingersoll's,  13o ;  Fisk's,  78; 
A.  Flint's,  41 ;  Hiley's,  30.  This  remark,  but  not  the  examples,  was  taken  from  Loirth's  Gram. 
p.  41.  Churchill  varies  it  thus,  and  retains  Lowth's  example  :  "  It  [i.  e.  do]  is  used  also,  to  sup- 
ply the  place  of  another  verb,  in  order  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  it :  as,  '  He  loves  not  pla 
thou  dost,  Antony.'  SH  LIB." — .\>?r  Gram.  p.  96.  Greenleaf  says,  "To  prevent  the  repetition 
of  on  rbs,  in  the  same,  or  [a]  following  sentence,  we  frequently  make  use  of  do  AND 

.l.ick  learns  the  English  language  as  fast  as  Henry  does ; '  that  is,    'as  fast  as  Henry 
I  shall  come  if  I  can  ;  but  if  I  rfo  not,  please  to  excuse  me;  '  that  is,  '  if  I  come  not.'  " 
••Vrf,  p.  27.     Sanborn  says,  "/>o  is  also  used  instead  of  another  verb,  and  not  un- 
frequontly  instead  of  both  the  verb  and  its  object ;  as,   '  he  loves  trork  as  well  as  you  rfo;  '  that  is, 

i  as  you  Inre  -irnrk." — Anahjt.  Gram.  p.  ll'J.  Now  all  these  interpretations  are  wrong;  the 
word  do,  d'ost,  or  does,  being  simply  an  auxiliary,  after  which  the  principal  verb  (with  its  object 
where  it  has  one)  is  understood.  But  the  first  example  is  bad  English,  and  its  explanation  is  still 

.  i-'ui .  ".  Is  he  attends,  &c.,"  means,  "As  he  attends  to  your  studies  !  "  And  whatgood  sense 
is  there  in  this  :  The  sentence  ought  to  have  been,  "  You  do  not  attend  to  your  studies,  as  he 
does  to  his."  That  is — "as  he  does  attend  to  his  studies."  This  plainly  snows  that  there  is, 
in  the  text,  no  real  substitution  of  does  for  attends.  So  of  all  other  examples  exhibited  in  our 
grammars,  under  this  head:  there  is  nothing  to  the  purpose,  in  any  of  them;  the  common  prin- 
ciple of  ellipsis  resolves  them  all.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  in  the  latest  and  most  learned  of  this  sort 
of  text-books,  we  find  the  same  sham  example,  fictitious  and  solecistical  as  it  is,  still  blindly  re- 

1,  to  show  that  "  does  "  is  not  in  its  own  place,  as  an  auxiliary,  but  "  supplies  the  place  of 
another  verb."— Fowler's  E.  Gram.  8vo,  1850,  p.  265. 

NOTES  TO  RULE  XVII. 

;  H  I. — When  a  verb  has  nominatives  of  different  persons  or  numbers,*  con- 
nected by  or  or  nor,  it  must  agree  with  the  nearest,  (unless  an  other  be  the  principal 
term,)  and   must  be  understood  to  the  rest,    in  the  person  and   number  required ; 
Neither  you  nor  I  am  concerned." —  W.  Allen.    "  That  neither  they  nor  ye  also 
die." — Numb,  xviii,  '.j. 

"  But  neither  god,  nor  shrine,  nor  mystic  rite, 

Their  city,  nor  her  walls,  his  soul  delight." — Rome's  Lucan,  B.  x,  1.  26. 
NOTE  II. — But,  since  all  nominatives  that  require  different  forms  of  the  verb, 
virtually  produce  separate  clauses  or  propositions,  it  is  better  to  complete  the  concord 
whenever  we  conveniently  can,  by  expressing  the  verb  or  its  auxiliary  in  connexion 
with  each  of  them  ;  as,  "  Either  thou  art  to  blame,  or  I  am." — Comfy9 s  Gram.  p. 
7v  '•  Neither  were  their  numbers,  nor  was  their  destination,  known." —  W.  Allen  s 
Grain,  p.  1-U.  So  in  clauses  connected  by  and:  as,  "  But  declamation  it  idle, 
and  murmurs  fruitless." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  82.  Say, — "and  murmurs  are 
fruitless." 

NOTE  III. — In  English,  the  speaker  should  always  mention  himself  last;  unless 

*  Two  singulars  connected  by  and,  when  they  form  a  part  of  such  a  disjunction,  are  still  equivalent  to  a  plu- 
ral :  and  are  to  be  treated  as  such,  in  the  syntax  of  tl  lie  following  construction  appears  to  be 
iniucr.nir*' :  "A  single  consonant  or  a  mute  and  a  liquid  before  an  accented  vowel,  is  joined  to  that  vowel/' — 
Dr.  Bullions,  Lat.  Gram.  p.  li. 


580  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

his  own  superior  dignity,  or  the  confessional  nature  of  the  expression,  warrant  him  in 
taking  the  precedence  :  as,  "Thou  or  I  must  go." — "  He  then  addressed  his  dis- 
course to  my  father  and  me." — "Ellen  and  I  will  seek,  apart,  the  refuge  of  some 
forest  cdl"—Scrtt.  See  Obs.  llth  above. 

NOTE  IV. — Two  or  more  distinct  subject  phrases  connected  by  or  or  nor,  require 
a  singular  verb ;  and,  if  a  nominative  come  after  the  verb,  that  must  be  singular 
also  :  as,  "  That  a  drunkard  should  be  poor,  or  that  a  fop  should  be  ignorant,  is  not 
strange." — "  To  give  an  affront,  or  to  take  one  tamely,  ism  mark  of  a  great  mind." 
So,  when  the  phrases  are  unconnected  :  as,  "  To  spread  suspicion,  to  invent  calumnies, 
to  propagate  scandal,  requires  neither  labour  nor  courage." — Rambler,  No.  183. 

NOTE  V. — In  general,  when  verbs  are  connected  by  and,  or,  or  nor,  they  must 
either  agree  in  mood,  tense,  and  form,  or  the  simplest  in  form  must  be  placed  first ; 
as,  "  So  Sennacherib  king  of  Assyria  departed,  and  went  and  returned,  and  dwelt  at 
Nineveh." — Isaiah,  xxxvii,  37.  "For  if  I  be  an  offender,  or  have  committed  any 
thing  worthy  of  death,  I  refuse  not  to  die." — Acts,  xxv,  11. 

NOTE  VI. — In  stead  of  conjoining  discordant  verbs,  it  is  in  general  better  to  re- 
peat the  nominative  or  insert  a  new  one  ;  as,  "  He  was  greatly  heated,  and  [he~] 
drank  with  avidity." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  201.  "A  person  may  be  great  or  rich 
by  chance  ;  but  cannot  be  wise  or  good,  without  taking  pains  for  it." — Ib.  p.  200. 
Say, — "  but  no  one  can  be  wise  or  good,  without  taking  pains  for  it." 

NOTE  VII. — A  mixture  of  the  forms  of  the  solemn  style  and  the  familiar,  is  inele- 
gant, whether  the  verbs  refer  to  the  same  nominative  or  have  different  ones  expressed ; 
as,  "  What  appears  tottering  and  in  hazard  of  tumbling,  produceth  in  the  spectator 
the  painful  emotion  of  fear." — Kames,  EL  of  Grit,  ii,  356.  "And  the  milkmaid 
sincjeth  blithe,  And  the  mower  whets  his  sithe." — Milton's  Allegro,  1.  65  and  66. 

NOTE  VIII. — To  use  different  moods  under  precisely  the  same  circumstances,  is 
improper,  even  if  the  verbs  have  separate  nominatives  ;  as,  "  Bating  that  one  speak 
and  an  other  answers,  it  is  quite  the  same." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  368.  Say,. — "  that 
one  speaks  ;  "  for  both  the  speaking  and  the  answering  are  assumed  as  facts. 

NOTE  IX. — When  two  terms  are  connected,  which  involve  different  forms  of  the 
same  verb,  such  parts  of  the  compound  tenses  as  are  not  common  to  both  forms,  should 
be  inserted  in  full :  except  sometimes  after  the  auxiliary  do  ;  as,  "And  then  \\efalls, 
as  I  do." — Shak.  That  is,  "as  I  do  fall."  The  fpllowing  sentences  are  therefore 
faulty:  "  I  think  myself  highly  obliged  to  make  his  fortune,  as  he  has  mine." — 
Spect.  No.  474.  Say, — "  as  he  has  made  mine."  "  Every  attempt  to  remove  themr 
has,  and  likely  will  prove  unsuccessful." — Gay's  Prosodical  Gram.  p.  4.  Say, 
— "has  proved,  and  likely  will prove,  unsuccessful." 

NOTE  X. — The  verl>  do  must  never  be  substituted  for  any  term  to  which  its  own 
meaning  is  not  adapted  ;  nor  is  there  any  use  in  putting  it  for  a  preceding  verb  that  is 
equally  short :  as,  "  When  we  see  how  confidently  men  rest  on  groundless  surmises 
in  reference  to  their  own  souls,  we  cannot  wonder  that  they  do  it  in  reference  to 
others." — Simeon.  Better: — "that  they  so  rest  in  reference  to  the  souls  of 
others  ;  "  for  this  repeats  the  idea  with  more  exactness. 

NOTE  XI. — The  preterit  should  not  be  employed  to  form  the  compound  tenses  of  the 
verb  ;  nor  should  the  perfect  participle  be  used  for  the  preterit  or  confounded  with 
the  present.  Thus:  say,  "  To  have  gone,"  not,  "To  have  went;"  and,  "I  did 
so,"  not,  "I  done  so  ;  "  or,  "  He  saw  them,"  not,  "  He  seen  them."  Again  : 
say  not,  "  It  was  lift  or  hoist  up  ;  "  but,  "  It  was  lifted  or  hoisted  up." 

NOTE  XII. — Care  should  be  taken,  to  give  every  verb  or  participle  its  appropiate 
form,  and  not  to  confound  those  which  resemble  each  other;  as,  to  flee  and  to  fly,  to 
lay  and  to  lie,  to  sit  and  to  set,  to  jfa//and  to  fell,  &c.  Thus  :  say,  "  He  lay  by 
the  fire ;  "  not,  "  He  laid  by  the  fire  ;  " — "  He  has  become  rich  ;  "  not,  "  He  is  be- 
come rich  ;  " — "  I  would  rather  stay  ;  "  not,  "  I  had  rather  stay" 

NOTE  XIII. — In  the  syntax  of  words  that  express  time,  whether  they  be  verbs, 
adverbs,  or  nouns,  the  order  and  fitness  of  time  should  be  observed,  that  the  tenses 
may  be  used  according  to  their  import.  Thus :  in  stead  of,"  I  have  seen  him  last  week  ;  " 


CHAP.  VI.]  SXNTAX. RULE  XVII. VERBS. — ERRORS.  581 

say,  "  I  saw  him  last  week  ;  " — and,  in  stead  of,  "I  saw  him  this  week  ;  "  say,  "  I  have 
seen  him  this  week."  So,  instead  of,  "I  told  you  already  ;  ';  or,  ''I  have  told  you 
before  ;  "  say,  "  I  have  told  you  already  ;  " — "  I  told  you  before." 
*  NOTE  XIV. — Verbs  of  commanding,  desiring,  expecting,  hoping,  intending,  per- 
mitting, and  some  others,  in  all  their  tenses,  refer  to  actions  or  events,  relatively  pre- 
sent or  future  :  one  should  therefore  say,  "  I  hoped  you  would  come  ;  "  not,  "  1  hoped 
you  would  have  come  ;" — and,  "  I  intended  to  do  it ;  "  not,  "  I  intended  to  have 
done  it ;" — &c. 

NOTE  XV. — Propositions  that  are  as  true  now  as  they  ever  were  or  will  be, 
should  generally  be  expressed  in  the  present  tense  :  as,  "  He  seemed  hardly  to  know, 
that  two  and  two  make  four;  "  not,  "  made." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  65.  "He  will 
tell  you,  that  whatever  is,  is  right."  Sometimes  the  present  tense  is  improper  with 
the  conjunction  that,  though  it  would  be  quite  proper  without  it ;  as,  "  Others  said, 
That  it  is  Elias.  And  others  said,  That  it  is  a  prophet." — Mark,  vi,  lo.  Here 
That  should  be  omitted,  or  else  is  should  be  was.  The  capital  T  is  also  improper. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XVH. 
UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — NOMINATIVES  CONNECTED  BY  OR. 
*'  We  do  not  know  in  what  either  reason  or  instinct  consist." — Rambler,  No.  41. 

[FoRMCLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  verb  consist  is  of  the  plural  number,  and  does  not  correctly  agree  with  its 
two  nominatives,  reason  and  instinct,  which  are  connected  by  or,  and  taken  disjunctively.  But,  according  to  Rule 
17th,  ••  U'hcn  a  verb  has  two  or  more  nominatives  connected  by  or  or  nor,  it  must  agree  with  them  singly,  and  not 
as  if  taken  together.-'  Therefore,  consist  should  be  consists;  thus,  "  We  do  not  know  in  what  either  reason  or 
instinct  consists."] 

"A  noun  or  a  pronoun  joined  with  a  participle,  constitute  a  nominative  case  absolute." — 
Bicknell's  Gram.  Part  ii,  p.  50.  "  The  relative  will  be  of  that  case,  which  the  verb  or  noun 
following,  or  the  preposition  going  before,  use  to  govern." — Dr.  Adam's  Gram.  p.  203. 
"  Which  the  verb  or  noun  following,  or  the  preposition  going  before,  usually  govern." — 
Gould's  Adam's  Gram.  p.  200.*  "  In  the  different  modes  of  pronunciation  which  habit  or 
caprice  give  rise  to." — Knight,  on  the  Greek  Alphabet,  p.  14.  "  By  which  he,  or  his  deputy, 
were  authorized  to  cut  down  any  trees  in  Whittlebury  forest." — Junius,  p.  251.  "  Wherever 
objects  were  to  be  named,  in  which  sound,  noise,  or  motion  were  concerned,  the  imitation 
bywords  was  abundantly  obvious." — Blairs  Rhet.  p.  55.  "  The  pleasure  or  pain  resulting 
from  a  train  of  perceptions  in  different  circumstances,  are  a  beautiful  contrivance  of  nature 
for  valuable  purposes." — Kames,  EL  of  Grit,  i,  262.  "Because  their  foolish  vanity  or  their 
criminal  ambition  represent  the  principles  by  which  they  are  influenced,  as  absolutely 
perfect." — Life  of  Madam*  1><  stael,  p.  2.  "Hence  naturally  arise  indifference  or  aversion 
between  the  parties." — Brown's  Estimate,  ii,  37.  "A  penitent  unbeliever,  or  an  impenitent 
believer,  arc  characters  no  where  to  be  found." — Tract,  No.  183.  "Copying  whatever  is 
peculiar  in  the  tulk  of  all  those  whose  birth  or  fortune  entitle  them  to  imitation." — Rambler, 
X'o.  191.  "  Where  love,  hatred,  fear,  or  contempt,  arc  often  of  decisive  influence." — Duncan 's 
,  p.  119.  "A  lucky  anecdote  or  an  enlivening  tale  relieve  the  folio  page." — D' Israeli's 
.  Vol.  i,  p.  15.  «  For  outward  matter  or  event,  fashion  not  the  character  within." 
— Book  of  Thoughts,  p.  37.  "  Yet  sometimes  we  have  seen  that  wine,  or  chance,  have  warmed 
cold  bram*."— Dry&n'j  /V/«.v,  p.  76.  "  Motion  is  a  Genus ;  Flight,  a  Species  ;  this  Flight 
or  that  Flight  are  Individuals." — Hurra's  11,  run-,  s,  p.  38.  "When  et,  aut,  vcl,  sivc,  or  nect 
are  joined  to  different  members  of  tl.  uteuce." — Adam's  Lat.  and  Eng.  Gram.  p. 

206  ;  Gould's  Lat.  Gram.  203  ;  Grant's,  260.  "  Wisdom  or  folly  govern  us." — Fisk's  English 
<''nttn.  ]).  St.  ".1  or  an  are  styled  indefinite  articles."—  Folki-Sn  Gram.  p.  4.  "A  rusty  nail, 
or  a  crooked  pin,  shoot  up  intoprodi;/.  ••-.tor,  Xo.  7.  "Are  either  the  subject  or  the 

predicate  in  the  second  si  ntencc  modified: "— / -\nrl> r'.v  I'..  Gram.  Svo,  1850,  p.  578,  §  589. 
"  Praise  from  a  friend,  or  censure  from  a  foe, 
Are  lost  on  hearers  that  our  merits  know." — 1'opc,  Iliad,  B.  x,  1.  293. 

UXDEII   THE    lit  I  .  — XoMIN.YTlVr.S    CoNNIX  I  I.I)    BY    NOR. 

"Neither  he  nor  she  have  spoken  to  him." — Pen-ins  Gram.  p.  237.     "For  want  of  a 

M  of  events,  neither  knowledge  nor  elegance  preserve  the  reader  from  weariness." — 

Jt.ii  NSUN-  :  in  Crabb's  N//;».  p.  51 1.     "  Neither  history  nor  tradition  furnish  such  information." 

<>1.  i,  p.  2.     "Neither  the  form  nor  power  of  the  liquids  have  varied 

materially."— Knight,  on  the  Greek  Alph.  p.   16.     "Where  neither  noise  nor  motion   are 

*  Murray  the  schoolmaster  has  it,  "  usrrf  to  govern.''— En-'h.k    Urum.  p.  CI.      He  puts  the  verb  in  a  wrong 
tense.    Dr.  Bullions  has  it,  "  usually  governs."— Lat.  Gram.  p.  202.    This  is  right.  — G.  B. 


582  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

concerned." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  55.  "Neither  Charles  nor  his  brother  were  qualified  to 
support  such  a  system." — Junius,  p.  250.  "  When,  therefore,  neither  the  liveliness  of 
representation,  nor  the  warmth  of  passion,  serve,  as  it  were,  to  cover  the  trespass,  it  is  not 
safe  to  leave  the  beaten  track." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  381.  "  In  many  countries  called 
Christian,  neither  Christianity,  nor  its  evidence,  are  fairly  laid  before  men." — Butlers 
Analogy,  p.  269.  "  Neither  the  intellect  nor  the  heart  are  capable  of  being  driven." — 
Abbott's  Teacher,  p.  20.  "  Throughout  this  hymn,  neither  Apollo  nor  Diana  are  in  any  way 
connected  with  the  Sun  or  Moon." — Coleridge's  Introd.  p.  199.  "  Of  which,  neither  he, 
nor  this  Grammar,  take  any  notice." — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  346.  "Neither  their 
solicitude  nor  their  foresight  extend  so  far." — Robertson  s  Amer.  Vol.  i,  p.  287.  "Neither 
Gomara,  nor  Oviedo,  nor  Herrera,  consider  Ojeda,  or  his  companion  Vespucci,  as  the  first 
discoverers  of  the  continent  of  America." — Ib.  Vol.  i,  p.  471.  "Neither  the  general  situa- 
tion of  our  colonies,  nor  that  particular  distress  which  forced  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  to 
take  up  arms,  have  been  thought  worthy  of  a  moment's  consideration." — Junius,  p.  174. 

"  Nor  War  nor  Wisdom  yield  our  Jews  delight, 
They  will  not  study,  and  they  dare  not  fight." — Crabbe's  Borough,  p.  50. 

"Nor  time  nor  chance  breed  such  confusions  yet, 
Nor  are  the  mean  so  rais'd,  nor  sunk  the  great." — Route's  Lucan,  B.  iii,  1.  213. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — NOMINATIVES  THAT  DISAGREE. 

"The  definite  article  the,  designates  what  particular  thing  or  things  is  meant." — Mt 
chant's  ScJwol  Gram.  p.  23  and  p.  33.  "  Sometimes  a  word  or  words  necessary  to  complete 
the  grammatical  construction  of  a  sentence,  is  not  expressed,  but  omitted  by  ellipsis." — 
Burr's  Gram.  p.  26.  "Ellipsis,  or  abbreviations,  is  the  wheels  of  language." — Maunder' s 
Gram.  p.  12.  "  The  conditions  or  tenor  of  none  of  them  appear  at  this  day." — Hutchinson's 
Hist,  of  Mass,  Vol.  i,  p.  16.  "Neither  men  nor  money  were  wanting  for  the  service." — 
Ib.  Vol.  i,  p.  279.  "  Either  our  own  feelings,  or  the  representation  of  those  of  others,  require 
frequent  emphatic  distinction." — Barber's  Exercises,  p.  13.  "  Either  Atoms  and  Chance,  or 
Nature  are  uppermost:  now  I  am  for  the  latter  part  of  the  disjunction." — Collier's  Anto- 
ninus, p.  181.  "  Their  riches  or  poverty  are  generally  proportioned  to  their  activity  or 
indolence." — Ross  Cox's  Narrative.  "  Concerning  the  other  part  of  him,  neither  you  nor  he 
seem  to  have  entertained  an  idea." — Bp.  Home.  "  Whose  earnings  or  income  are  so  small." 
— N.  E.  Discipline,  p.  130.  "  Neither  riches  nor  fame  render  a  man  happy." — Day's  Gram. 
p.  71.  "The  references  to  the  pages,  always  point  to  the  first  volume,  unless  the  Exercise* 
or  Key  are  mentioned." — Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  283. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — COMPLETE  THE  CONCORD. 

"  My  lord,  you  wrong  my  father ;  nor  he  nor  I  are  capable  of  harbouring  a  thought 
against  your  peace." — Walpole.  "There  was  no  division  of  acts;  no  pauses  or  interval 
between  them ;  but  the  stage  was  continually  full ;  occupied  either  by  the  actors,  or  the 
chorus." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  463.  "  Every  word  ending  in  B,  P,  F,  as  also  many  in  V,  are  of 
this  order." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of  Lang,  i,  73.  "As  proud  as  we  are  of  human  reason, 
nothing  can  be  more  absurd  than  the  general  system  of  human  life  and  human  knowledge." 
— Bolingbroke,  on  Hist.  p.  347.  "  By  which  the  body  of  sin  and  death  is  done  away,  and  we 
cleansed." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  165.  "And  those  were  already  converted,  and  regeneration 
begun  in  them." — Ib.  iii,  433.  "  For  I  am  an  old  man,  and  my  wife  well  stricken  in  years." 
— Luke,  i,  18.  "  Who  is  my  mother,  or  my  brethren  ?" — Mark,  iii,  33.  "Lebanon  is  not 
sufficient  to  burn,  nor  the  beasts  thereof  sufficient  for  a  burnt-offering."— Isaiah,  xl,  16. 
"  Information  has  been  obtained,  and  some  trials  made." — Society  in  America,  i,  308.  "  It  is 
as  obvious,  and  its  causes  more  easily  understood." —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  84.  "All  languages 
furnish  examples  of  this  kind,  and  the  English  as  many  as  any  other." — Priestley's  Gram. 
p.  157.  "The  winters  are  long,  and  the  cold  intense." — Morse's  Geog.  p.  39.  "How  have 
I  hated  instruction,  and  my  heart  despised  reproof!" — Prov.  v,  12.  "The  vestals  were 
abolished  by  Theodosius  the  Great,  and  the  fire  of  Vesta  extinguished." — Lempriere,  to. 
Vestales.  "Riches  beget  pride;  pride,  impatience." — Bullions' s  Practical  Lessons,  p.  89. 
"  Grammar  is  not  reasoning,  any  more  than  organization  is  thought,  or  letters  sounds."- 
Enclytica,  p.  90.  "  Words  are  implements,  and  grammar  a  machine." — Ib.  p.  91. 

UNDER  NOTE  III. — PLACE  OF  THE  FIRST  PERSON. 

"  I  or  thou  art  the  person  who  must  undertake  the  business  proposed." — Murray's  Key, 
8vo,  p.  184.  "  I  and  he  were  there." — Dr.  Ash's  Gram.  p.  51.  "And  we  dreamed  a  dream 
in  one  night,  I  and  he." — Gen.  xli,  11.  "If  my  views  remain  the  same  as  mine  and  his 
were  in  1833." — GOODELL  :  Liberator,  ix,  148.  "I  and  my  father  were  riding  out." — Inst. 
p.  158.  "  The  premiums  were  given  to  me  and  George." — Ib.  "  I  and  Jane  are  invited." — 
Ib.  "They  ought  to  invite  me  and  my  sister." — Ib.  " I  and  you  intend  going." — Guy's 
Gram.  p.  55.  "I  and  John  are  going  to  Town." — British  Gram.  p.  193.  "I,  and  he  are 
sick.  I,  and  thou  are  well." — James  Brown's  American  Grain.,  Boston  Edition  of  1841,  p. 
123.  "I,  and  he  is.  I,  and  thou  art.  I,  and  he  writes." — Ib.  p.  126.  "  I,  and  they  are 
well.  I,  thou,  and  she  were  walking." — Id.  p.  127. 


CHAP.  VI.]  SYNTAX. KULE   XVII. VERBS. ERRORS.  583 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — DISTINCT  SUBJECT  PHRASES. 

"To  practice  tale-bearing,  or  even  to  countenance  it,  are  great  injustice." — Brown's  lust. 
p.  159.  "  To  reveal  secrets,  or  to  betray  one's  friends,  are  contemptible  perfidy." — Ib.  "  To 
write  all  substantives  with  capital  letters,  or  to  exclude  them  from  adjectives  derived  from 
proper  names,  may  perhaps  be  thought  offences  too  small  for  animadversion ;  but  the  evil 
of  innovation  is  always  something." — Dr.  Barroic's  Essays,  p.  88.  "  To  live  in  such  families, 
or  to  have  such  servants,  are  blessings  from  God." — Family  Commentary,  p.  64.  "How 
they  portioned  out  the  country,  what  revolutions  they  experienced,  or  what  wars  they 
maintained,  are  utterly  unknown." — Goldsmith's  Greece, Vol.  i,  p.  4.  "To  speak  or  to  write 
perspicuously  and  agreeably,  are  attainments  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  all  who  purpose, 
either  by  speech  or  writing*,  to  address  the  public." — Blairs  lihet.  p.  11. 

r.NDKK  NOTE  V. — MAKE  THE  VERBS  AGRKK. 

"  Doth  he  not  leave  the  ninety  and  nine,  and  goeth  into  the  mountains,  and  seeketh  that 
which  is  gone  astray:" — Matt,  xviii,  12.  "Did  he  not  fear  the  Lord,  and  besought  the 
Lord,  and  the  Lord  repented  him  of  the  evil  which  he  had  pronounced:" — Jer.  xxvi,  19. 
"And  dost  thou  open  thine  eyes  upon  such  an  one,  and  bringest  me  into  judgement  with 
thee  :  " — Job,  xiv,  3.  "If  any  man  among  you  seem  to  be  religious,  and  bridleth  not  his 
tongue,  but  deceiveth  his  own  heart,  this  man's  religion  is  vain." — James,  i,  26.  "  If  thou 
sell  aught  unto  thy  neighbour,  or  buyest  aught  of  thy  neighbour's  hand,  ye  shall  not  oppress 
one  an  other." — I^eviticus,  xxv,  14.  "And  if  thy  brother  that  dwelleth  by  thee,  shall  have 
become  poor,  and  be  sold  to  thee,  thou  shalt  not  compel  him  to  serve  as  a  bond  servant." — 
i  ER'S  BIBLE  :  Lev.  xxv,  39.  "  If  thou  bring  thy  gift  to  the  altar,  and  there  remem- 
berest  that  thy  brother  hath  aught  against  thee,"  &c.—  Matt,  v,  23.  "Anthea  was  content 
to  call  a  coach,  and  crossed  the  brook." — Rambler,  No.  34.  "It  is  either  totally  suppressed, 
or  appears  in  its  lowest  and  most  imperfect  form." — Blairs  Rhet.  p.  23.  "But  if  any  man 
be  a  worshiper  of  God,  and  doeth  his  will,  him  he  heareth." — John,  ix,  31.  "  Whereby  his 
righteousness  and  obedience,  death  and  sufferings  without,  become  profitable  unto  us,  and 
is  made  ours." — Barclay  s  Works,  i,  164.  "  Who  ought  to  have  been  here  before  thee,  and 
object,  if  they  had  aught  against  me." — Acts,  xxiv,  19. 

"Yes  !  thy  proud  lords,  unpitied  land,  shall  see 
That  man  hath  yet  a  soul,  and  dare  be  free." — Campbell. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI. — USE  SEPARATE  NOMINATIVES. 

"//  is  only  an  aspiration  or  breathing ;  and  sometimes  at  the  beginning  of  a  word  is  not 
sounded  at  all." — Loicth's  Gram.  p.  4.  "  Man  was  made  for  society,  and  ought  to  extend 
his  good  will  to  all  men." — Ib.  p.  12  ;  Murray's,  i,  170.  "There is,  and  must  be,  a  supreme 
being,  of  infinite  goodness,  power,  and  wisdom,  who  created  and  supports  them." — Seattle's 
Moral  Science,  p.  201.  "  Were  you  not  affrighted,  and  mistook  a  spirit  for  a  body?" — 
<'s  Apology,  p.  122.  "  The  latter  noun  or  pronoun  is  not  governed  by  the  conjunction 
n  or  as,  but  agrees  with  the  verb,  or  is  governed  by  the  verb  or  the  preposition,  expressed 
understood." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  214;  Riisselt's,  103;  Bacons,  51;  Alger's,  71;  R.  C. 
ith's,  179.  "He  had  mistaken  his  true  interests,  and  found  himself  forsaken." — Mur- 
.o,  p.  201.  "The  amputation  was  exceedingly  well  performed,  and  saved  the 
patient's  life." — Ib.  p.  191.  "  The  intentions  of  some  of  these  philosophers,  nay,  of  many  [,] 
might  have  been,  and  probably  were  good." — Ib.  p.  216.  "This  may  be  true,  and  yet  will 
not  justify  the  practice."—  i  1  \.iays,  p.  33.  "  From  the  practice  of  those  who  have 

had  a  liberal  education,  and  are  therefore  presumed  to  be  best  acquainted  with  men  and 
p.  161.     "'For  those  energies  and  bounties  which  created  and 

preserve  the  universe."—./.  <}.  An-nn^.t  H/n-f.  i,  327.     "  I  shall  make  it  once  for  all,  and  hope 
it  will  be  afterwards  remembered." — Blair's  Led.  p.  45.     "This  consequence  is  drawn  too 
abruptly,  and  needed  more  explanation." — Ib.  p.  229.     "They  must  be  used  with  more 
caution,  and  require  more  preparation."— Ib.  p.  153.     "  The  apostrophe  denotes  the  omission 
.  whi.-h  was  formerly  inserted,  and  made  an  addition  of  a  syllable  to  the  word." — 
p.  U7.     "The  succession  may  be  rendered  more  various  or  more  uniform, 
but  in  one  shape  or  an  other  is  unavoidable." — Kamcs,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  253.     "It  excites 
neither  terror  nor  compassion,  nor  is  agreeable  in  any  respect." — Ib.  ii,  277. 
"  Ch.  arts,  whose  narrowness  affords 

No  flight  for  thoughts,  but  poorly  stick  at  words." — Denham. 

VII.— MIXTURE  OF  1 '  STYLES. 

"  Let  us  read  the  living  page,  whose  every  character  delightcth  and  instructs  us." — 
M>t under'*  Cram.  p.  5.  "  For  if  it  be  in  any  decree  obscure,  it  puzzles,  and  doth  not 
please." — Kames,  i  "When  a  speaker  addrosscth  himself  to  the  under- 

standing, lie  proposes  the  instruction  of  his  hearers." — Ctitnj'Mrs  Rhet.  p.  13.     "As  the 
wine  whieh  strengthens  and  refroshcth  the  heart."—//.  A'fama's  I'/"/-,  p.  221.     "This  truth 


he  wrappeth  in  an  allegory,  and  feigns  that  one  of  the  goddesses  had  taken  up  her  abode 
with  the  other."—  Pojtes  Work*,  iii,  40.     "God  sei 


searcheth  and  understands  the  heart." — 


584  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

Thomas  a  Kcmpis.  "  The  grace  of  God,  that  brings  salvation  hath  appeared  to  all  men." — 
Barclay's  Works,  i,  366.  "Also  we  speak  not  in  the  words,  which  man's  wisdom  teaches ; 
but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth." — Ib.  i,  388.  "But  he  hath  an  objection,  which  he 
urgeth,  and  by  which  he  thinks  to  overturn  all." — Ib.  iii,  327.  "In  that  it  gives  them  not 
that  comfort  and  joy  which  it  giveth  unto  them  who  love  it." — Ib.  i,  142.  "Thou  here 
misunderstood  the  place  and  misappliedst  it." — Ib.  iii,  38.  "Like  the  barren  heath  in  the 
desert,  which  knoweth  not  when  good  comes." — Friends'  Extracts,  p.  128  ;  N.  E.  Discip.  p. 
75.  "  It  speaketh  of  the  time  past,  but  shews  that  something  was  then  doing,  but  not 
quite  finished." — E.  Devis's  Gram.  p.  42.  "It  subsists  in  spite  of  them;  it  advanceth 
unobserved." — PASCAL  :  Addison's  Evidences,  p.  17. 

"  But  where  is  he,  the  Pilgrim  of  my  song  ? — 
Methinks  he  cometh  late  and  tarries  long." — Byron,  Cant,  iv,  St.  164. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII. — CONFUSION  OF  MOODS. 

"  If  a  man  have  a  hundred  sheep,  and  one  of  them  is  gone  astray,  &c." — Kirkham's  Gram. 
p.  227  with  197.  "As  a  speaker  advances  in  his  discourse,  especially  if  it  be  somewhat 
impassioned,  and  increases  in  energy  and  earnestness,  a  higher  and  louder  tone  will  natu- 
rally steal  upon  him." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  68.  "If  one  man  esteem  a  day  above 
another,  and  another  esteemeth  every  day  alike  ;  let  every  man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  439.  "  If  there  be  but  one  body  of  legislators,  it  is  no 
better  than  a  tyranny  ;  if  there  are  only  two,  there  will  want  a  casting  voice." — Addison, 
/Spec*.  No.  287.  "  Should  you  come  up  this  way,  and  I  am  still  here,  you  need  not  be 
assured  how  glad  I  shall  be  to  see  you." — Ld.  Byron.  "  If  he  repent  and  becomes  holy,  let 
him  enjoy  God  and  heaven." — Brownson's  Elwood,  p.  248.  "  If  thy  fellow  approach  thee, 
naked  and  destitute,  and  thou  shouldst  say  unto  him,  '  Depart  in  peace  ;  be  you  warmed  and 
filled  ; '  and  yet  shouldst  give  him  not  those  things  that  are  needful  to  him,  what  benevo- 
lence is  there  in  thy  conduct  ? " — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  108. 
"  Get  on  your  nightgown,  lest  occasion  calls  us, 

And  show  us  to  be  watchers." — Beauties  of  Shakspeare,  p.  278. 
"  But  if  it  climb,  with  your  assisting  hands, 
The  Trojan  walls,  and  in  the  city  stands." — Dryden's  Virgil,  ii,  145. 

"  Though  Heaven's  king 

Ride  on  thy  wings,  and  thou  with  thy  compeers, 

TJs'd  to  the  yoke,  draw'st  his  triumphant  wheels." — Milton,  P.  L.  iv,  1.  973. 
"Us'd  to  the  yoke,  draw'dst  his  triumphant  wheels." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  106. 

UNDER  NOTE  IX. — IMPROPER  ELLIPSES. 

"  Indeed  we  have  seriously  wondered  that  Murray  should  leave  some  things  as  he  has." — 
Education  Reporter.  "  Which  they  neither  have  nor  can  do." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  73. 
"  The  Lord  hath,  and  doth,  and  will  reveal  his  will  to  his  people,  and  hath  and  doth  raise 
up  members  of  his  body,"  &c. — Ib.  i,  484.  "  We  see  then,  that  the  Lord  hath,  and  doth 
give  such." — Ib.  i,  484.  "Towards  those  that  have  or  do  declare  themselves  members." — 
Ib.  i,  494.  "  For  which  we  can,  and  have  given  our  sufficient  reasons." — Ib,  i,  507.  "  When 
we  mention  the  several  properties  of  the  different  words  in  sentences,  in  the  same  manner 
as  we  have  those  of  William's,  above,  what  is  the  exercise  called  ?" — Smith's  New  Gram.  p. 
12.  "  It  is,  however  to  be  doubted  whether  this  peculiarity  of  the  Greek  idiom,  ever  has 
or  will  obtain  extensively  in  the  English." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  47.  "  Why  did  not  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  abound  in  auxiliary  words  as  much  as  we  ? " — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  111. 
"  Who  delivers  his  sentiments  in  earnest,  as  they  ought  to  be  in  order  to  move  and  per- 
suade."— Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  151. 

UNDER  NOTE  X. — DO,  USED  AS  A  SUBSTITUTE. 

"And  I  would  avoid  it  altogether, 'if  it  could  be  done." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  i,  36. 
"  Such  a  sentiment  from  a  man  expiring  of  his  wounds,  is  truly  heroic,  and  must  elevate 
the  mind  to  the  greatest  height  that  can  be  done  by  a  single  expression." — Ib.  i,  204. 
"  Successive  images  making  thus  deeper  and  deeper  impressions,  must  elevate  more  than 
any  single  image  can  do." — Ib.  i,  205.  "Besides  making  a  deeper  impression  than  can  be 
done  by  cool  reasoning." — Ib.  ii,  273.  "  Yet  a  poet,  by  the  force  of  genius  alone,  can  rise 
higher  than  a  public  speaker  can  do." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  338.  "And  the  very  same  reason 
that  has  induced  several  grammarians  to  go  so  far  as  they  have  done,  should  have  induced 
them  to  go  farther." — Priestley's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  vii.  "  The  pupil  should  commit  the  first 
section  perfectly,  before  he  does  the  second  part  of  grammar." — Bradley's  Gram.  p.  77. 
"  The  Greek  ch  was  pronounced  hard,  as  we  now  do  in  chord." — Booth's  Introd.  to  Diet.  p.  61. 
"  They  pronounce  the  syllables  in  a  different  manner  from  what  they  do  at  other  times."- 
Murray's  Eng.  Reader,  p.  xi.  "And  give  him  the  formal  cool  reception  that  Simon  had 
done." — Dr.  Scott,  on  Luke  vii.  "  I  do  not  say,  as  some  have  done." — Bolingbrokc,  on  Hist. 
p.  271.  "If  he  suppose  the  first,  he  may  do  the  last." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  406.  "Who 
are  now  despising  Christ  in  his  inward  appearance,  as  the  Jews  of  old  did  him  in  h5s  out- 


CHAP.    VI.]  SYNTAX. — RULE  XVII. — VERBS. — ERRORS.  585 

•ward." — Ib.  i,  506.  "That  text  of  Revelations  must  not  be  understood,  as  he  doth  it." — 
Ib.  iii,  309.  "  Till  the  mode  of  parsing  the  noun  is  so  familiar  to  him,  that  he  can  do  it 
readily." — Smith'*  \>'n-  Gm/n.  p.  13.  "Perhaps  it  is  running  the  same  course  which  Rome 
had  done  before." — Middlcton's  Life  of  Cicero.  "  It  ought  even  on  this  ground  to  be  avoid- 
ed; which  may  easily  be  done  by  a  different  construction." — Churchill's  Gram,  p.  312. 
"  These  two  languages  are  now  pronounced  in  England  as  no  other  nation  in  Europe  does 
besides." — Crcir/hton's  Dirt.  p.  xi.  "  Germany  ran  the  same  risk  that  Italy  had  done." — 
Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  211  :  see  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  196. 

UNDER  NOTE  XI. — PRETERITS  AND  PARTICIPLES. 

"The  Beggars  themselves  will  be  broke  in  a  trice." — Swift's  Poems,  p.  347.  "The  hoop 
is  hoist  above  his  nose." — Ib.  p.  404.  "  My  heart  was  lift  up  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord.  2 
Cuuox." — Joh.  Diet.  w.  Lift.  "Who  sin  so  oft  have  mourned,  Yet  to  temptation  ran." — 
Burns.  "  Who  would  not  have  let  them  appeared." — Stecle.  "  He  would  have  had  you 
sought  for  ease  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Legality." — Pilgrim's  Progress,  p.  31.  "From me  his 
madding  mind  is  start,  And  wooes  the  widow's  daughter  of  the  glen." — SPENSER  :  Joh. 
Diet.  IF.  Gkn.  "The  man  has  spoke,  and  still  speaks." — Ash's  Gram.  p.  54.  "For  you 
have  but  mistook  me  all  this  while." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  114.  "And  will  you  rent  our 
ancient  love  asunder:" — Ib.  p.  52.  "Mr.  Birney  has  plead  the  inexpediency  of  passing 
such  resolutions." — Liberator,  Vol.  xiii,  p.  194.  "  Who  have  wore  out  their  years  in  such  most 
painful  Labours." — Littleton's  Diet.  Pref.  "And  in  the  conclusion  you  were  chose  proba- 
tioner."— Spectator,  No.  32. 

"  How  she  was  lost,  took  captive,  made  a  slave  ; 
And  how  against  him  set  that  should  her  save." — Bunyan. 

UNDER  NOTE  XII. — VERBS  CONFOUNDED. 

"But  Moses  preferred  to  wile  away  his  time." — Parker's  English  Composition,  p.  15. 
"  His  face  shown  with  the  rays  of  the  sun." — Calvin's  Inst.  4to,  p.  76.  "  Whom  they  had 
sat  at  defiance  so  lately." — Bolingbroke,  on  Hist.  p.  320.  "And  when  he  was  set,  his  disciples 
came  unto  him." — Matt,  v,  1.  "  When  he  was  set  down  on  the  judgement-seat." — Ib. 
xxvii,  19.  "And  when  they  had  kindled  a  fire  in  the  midst  of  the  hall,  and  were  set  down 
together,  Peter  sat  down  among  them." — Luke,  xxii,  55.  "  So  after  he  had  washed  their 
feet,  and  had  taken  his  garments,  and  was  set  down  again,  he  said  unto  them,  Know  ye 
what  I  have  done  to  you  ?" — John,  xiii,  12.  "Even  as  I  also  overcame,  and  am  set  down 
with  my  Father  in  his  throne." — Rev.  iii,  21.  "  We  have  such  an  high  priest,  who  is  set  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens." — Heb.  viii,  1.  "And  is  set 
down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God." — Ib.  xii,  2.*  "He  sat  on  foot  a  furious 
persecution." — Payne's  Geog.  ii,  418.  "  There  layeth  an  obligation  upon  the  saints,  to  help 
Huch." — Barclay's  Works  %  i,  389.  "There  let  him  lay." — Byron's  Pilgrimage,  C.  iv,  st.  180. 
"  Nothing  but  moss,  and  shrubs,  and  stinted  trees,  can  grow  upon  it." — Morse's  Geog.  p.  43. 
"  Who  had  lain  out  considerable  sums  purely  to  distinguish  themselves." — Goldsmith's 
,  i,  132.  "Whereunto  the  righteous  fly  and  are  safe." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  146. 
''He  raiseth  from  supper,  and  laid  aside  his  garments." — Ib.  i,  438.  "Whither — Oh! 
whither  shall  I  fly?  "—Murray's  English  Reader,  p.  123.  "Flying  from  an  adopted  mur- 
derer."— Ib.  p.  122.  " To  you  I  fly  for  refuge."— Ib.  p.  124.  "The  sign  that  should  warn 
his  disciples  to  fly  from  approaching  ruin." — Keith's  Evidences,  p.  62.  "  In  one  she  sets  as 
a  prototype  for  exact  imitation."—  AW/,  on  the  I  'aiir,  p.  xxiii.  "  In  which  some  only  bleat, 
bark,  me\v,  winnow,  and  bray,  a  little  better  than  others." — Ib.  p.  90.  "Who  represented 
to  him  the  unreasonableness  of  being  effected  with  such  unmanly  fears." — liollin's  Hist,  ii, 
106.  "Thou  sawedst  every  action." — Guy's  School  Gram.  p.  40.  "I  taught,  thou  taught- 
he  or  she  taught." — Coar's  dram.  p.  79.  "  Valerian  is  taken  by  Sapor  and  Head  alive, 
A.  D.  260." — Lcmpriere's  Chron.  Table,  Di,-t.  p.  xix.  "  What  a  fine  vehicle  is  it  now  become 
for  all  conceptions  of  the  mind  !  " — Blair  s  lihvt.  p.  139.  "  What  are  become  of  so  many 
production  '///?,  p.  8.  "  What  arc  become  of  those  ages  of  abundance  and 

of  life  :  " — AW//  s  p.  107.     "The  Spartan  admiral  was  sailed  to  the  Hellespont." 

—  Guldxmith'a  Greece,  i,  1-50.     "As  soon  as  he  was  lauded,  the  multitude  thronged  about 

*  The  two  verbs  to  sit  and  to  set  are  in  general  quite  different  in  their  meaning ;  but  the  passive  verb  to  be  set 
sometimes  comes  pretty  near  to  the  sen  .:,er,  which  is  for  tin-  most  p;irt  neu-er.  ll.-ure,  we  not  only 

Und  the  Latin  word  \  huge  supper 

II1.':  Ui:.  i:  nutet,  ,*<•..  with  n  t'.-rence  to  the 

,.d  posture  of  sitting.      Thi.«,  in  t  I >r.  Lowth  :m<l  some  nt hers,  is  erroneous.      USM,"  Bays  the 

Doctor,  "can  be  no  part  of  the  verb  to  sit.  If  it  belong  to  the  verb  t,,  .<./.  the  translation  in  thtse  passages  is 
'»rong.  For  to  *,t.  sk'niii.  n>  without  any  >le-i-nation  of  the  posture  of  the  person  placed  :  \vhi.-h  is  ;i 

circumstance  of  inr  •  -<<f'l  l>y  the  / .not/i's  Gram.  p.  63  :    Churchill'.*. 

;iic-n  fii.'  three  of  theso  seven  examples,  and  refer  to  the  other  four  ;  but  they  do  not  tell  u<  how  they  would  amend 
any  of  them  —  except  that .they  prefer  .•-  souring  to  restore  an  old  participle  which  i.>  cer- 

tainly obsolete.      If  any  critic  dislike  my  VTM-.IJ  <.f  tin-  lost,  two  •  .  1  UM.  the   prwenl   tense  for  what 

in  the  Greek  <.<  the  first  aorist :  let  him  notice  that  this  has  been  done  in  both  bv  our  translators,  ami  in  one  by 
Ihose  of  the  Vulgate.      In   the  precedm^  example,  too,  the  same  aorist  is  rendered,  "am  set,"  and  by  Beza, 
"sedeo;-'  thou-h  M.nitunis  and  the  Vulgate  render  it  literally  by  "  jtv/i,"  as  I  do  by  sat.     See  Key  to  False 
I.  Note  xii. 


586  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

him."— Ib.  i,  160.    "  Cyrus  was  arrived  at  Sardis." — Ib.  i,  161.    "  Whose  year  was  expired." — 
Ib.  i,  162.     "It  had  better  have  been,  'that  faction  which.'" — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  1)7. 
"This  people  is  become  a  great  nation." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  153  ;  IngersolVs,  249.     "And 
here  we  are  got  into  the  region  of  ornament." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  181.     "The  ungraceful 
parenthesis  which  follows,  had  far  better  have  been  avoided." — Ib.  p.  215.     "  Who  forced 
him  under  water,  and  there  held  him  until  drounded." — Indian  Wars,  p.  55. 
"  I  had  much  rather  be  myself  the  slave, 
And  wear  the  bonds,  than  fasten  them  on  him." — Cowper. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIII. — WORDS  THAT  EXPRESS  TIME. 

"  I  had  finished  my  letter  before  my  brother  arrived." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  139.  "  I  had 
written  before  I  received  his  letter." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  82.  "  From  what  has  been  formerly 
delivered." — Ib.  p.  182.  "Arts  were  of  late  introduced  among  them." — Ib.  p.  245.  "  I  am  not 
of  opinion  that  such  rules  can  be  of  much  use,  unless  persons  saw  them  exemplified." — Ib.  p. 
336.  "  If  we  use  the  noun  itself,  we  should  say,  «  This  composition  is  John's.'  " — Murray's 
Gram.  p.  174.  "  But  if  the  assertion  referred  to  something,  that  is  not  always  the  same,  or  sup- 
posed to  be  so,  the  past  tense  must  be  applied." — Ib.  p.  191.  "  They  told  him,  that  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  passeth  by." — Luke,  xviii,  37.  "  There  is  no  particular  intimation  but  that  I  con- 
tinued to  work,  even  to  the  present  moment." — R.  W.  Green's  Gram.  p.  39.  "  Generally,  as 
was  observed  already,  it  is  but  hinted  in  a  single  word  or  phrase." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  36. 
"  The  wittiness  of  the  passage  was  already  illustrated." — Ib.  p.  36.  "As  was  observed 
already." — Ib.  p.  56.  "It  was  said  already  in  general." — Ib.  p.  95.  "As  I  hinted 
already." — Ib.  p.  134.  "  What  I  believe  was  hinted  once  already." — Ib.  p.  148.  "  It  is 
obvious,  as  hath  been  hinted  formerly,  that  this  is  but  an  artificial  and  arbitrary  connexion." 
— Ib.  p.  282.  "  They  have  done  anciently  a  great  deal  of  hurt." — Bolinabroke,  on  Hist.  p. 
109.  "  Then  said  Paul,  I  knew  not,  brethren,  that  he  is  the  High  Priest." — Dr.  Webster's 
Bible :  Acts,  xxiii,  5.  "  Most  prepositions  originally  denote  the  relation  of  place,  and  have 
been  thence  transferred  to  denote  by  similitude  other  relations." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  65 ; 
ChurchilFs,  116.  "  His  gift  was  but  a  poor  offering,  when  we  consider  his  estate." — Murray's 
Key,  8vo,  p.  194.  "  If  he  should  succeed,  and  should  obtain  his  end,  he  will  not  be  the  hap- 
pier for  it." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  207.  "These  are  torrents  that  swell  to-day,  and  have 
spent  themselves  by  to-morrow." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  286.  "  Who  have  called  that  wheat  to-day, 
which  they  have  called  tares  to-morrow." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  168.  "  He  thought  it  had 
been  one  of  his  tenants." — Ib.  i,  11.  "  But  if  one  went  unto  them  from  the  dead,  they  will 
repent." — Luke,  xvi,  30.  "  Neither  will  they  be  persuaded,  though  one  rose  from  the  dead ." 
— Ib.  verse  31.  "  But  it  is  while  men  slept,  that  the  archenemy  has  always  sown  his  tares." 
—  The  Friend,  x,  351.  "  Crescens  would  not  fail  to  have  exposed  him." — Addison's 
Evidences,  p.  30. 

"  Bent  was  his  bow,  the  Grecian  hearts  to  wound ; 
Fierce  as  he  mov'd,  his  silver  shafts  resound." — Pope,  Iliad,  B.  i,  1.  64. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIV. — VERBS  OF  COMMANDING,  &c. 

"Had  I  commanded  you  to  have  done  this,  you  would  have  thought  hard  of  it." — G.  B. 
"I  found  him  better  than  I  expected  to  have  found  him." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  126. 
"  There  are  several  smaller  faults,  which  I  at  first  intended  to  have  enumerated." — Webster's 
Essays,  p.  246.  "Antithesis,  therefore,  may,  on  many  occasions,  be  employed  to  advantage, 
in  order  to  strengthen  the  impression  which  we  intend  that  any  object  should  make." — 
Blair's  Rhet.  p.  168.  "  The  girl  said,  if  her  master  would  but  have  let  her  had  money,  she 
might  have  been  well  long  ago." — See  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  127.  "Nor  is  there  the  least 
ground  to  fear,  that  we  should  be  cramped  here  within  too  narrow  limits." — Campbell's  Rhet. 
p.  163  ;  Murray's  Gram,  i,  360.  "  The  Romans,  flushed  with  success,  expected  to  have  re- 
taken it." — Hooke's  Hist.  p.  37.  "  I  would  not  have  let  fallen  an  unseasonable  pleasantry 
in  the  venerable  presence  of  Misery,  to  be  entitled  to  all  the  wit  that  ever  Rabelais  scat- 
tered."— STERNE  :  Enjield's  Speaker,  p.  54.  "  We  expected  that  he  would  have  arrived  last 
night." — hist.  p.  192.  "  Our  friends  intended  to  have  met  us."— Ib.  "  We  hoped  to  have 
seen  you." — Ib.  "  He  would  not  have  been  allowed  to  have  entered." — Ib. 

UNDER  NOTE  XV. — PERMANENT  PROPOSITIONS. 

"  Cicero  maintained  that  whatsoever  was  useful  was  good." — "  I  observed  that  love  con- 
stituted the  whole  moral  chracter  of  God." — Dwight.  "  Thinking  that  one  gained  nothing 
by  being  a  good  man." — Voltaire.  "  I  have  already  told  you  that  I  was  a  gentleman."- 
Fontaine.  "  If  I  should  ask,  whether  ice  and  water  were  two  distinct  species  of  things." — 
Locke.  "A  stranger  to  the  poem  would  not  easily  discover  that  this  was  verse." — Murray's 
Gram,  12mo,  p.  260.  "The  doctor  affirmed,  that  fever  always  produced  thirst." — Inst.  p. 
192.  "  The  ancients  asserted,  that  virtue  was  its  own  reward." — Ib.  "  They  should  not  have 
repeated  the  error,  of  insisting  that  the  infinitive  was  a  mere  noun." — Diversions  of  Purley, 
Vol.  i,  p.  288.  "  It  was  observed  in  Chap.  Ill,  that  the  distinctive  or  had  a  double  use." — 
Churchill's  Gram.  p.  154.  "  Two  young  gentlemen,  who  have  made  a  discovery  that  there 
was  no  God." — Swift. 


CHAP.   VI.]  SYNTAX. — RULE  XYIII. — INFINITIVES. OBSERVATIONS.  587 

RULE  XVIII.— INFINITIVES. 

The  preposition  TO  governs  the  Infinitive  mood,  and  commonly  connects 
it  to  a  finite  verb  :  as,  "  I  desire  TO  learn" — Dr.  Adam.  "  Of  me  the  Ro- 
man people  have  many  pledges,  which  I  must  strive,  with  my  utmost  en- 
deavours, TO  preserve,  TO  defend,  TO  confirm,  and  TO  redeem" — Duncan's 
Cicero,  p.  41. 

"  What  if  the  foot,  ordain' d  the  dust  TO  tread, 
Or  hand  TO  toil,  aspir'd  TO  be  the  head  ?  " — Pope. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XVIII. 

Ons.  1. — No  word  is  more  variously  explained  by  grammarians,  than  this  word  TO,  which  is  put 
before  the  verb  in  the  infinitive  mood.     Johnson,  Walker,  Scott,  Todd,  and  some  other  lexicog- 


says, 

"jectives,  and  express  some  circumstance  or 
,.  Murray,  Webster,  Wilson,  S.  W.  Clark, 

_,  ,  ,          .  ,  ,  Webber,  and  others,  call  it  a  preposition; 

and  some  of  these  ascribe  to  it  the  government  of  the  verb,  while  others  do  not.  Lowth  says, 
"  The  preposition  TO,  placed  before  the  verb,  makes  the  infinitive  mood." — Short  Gram.  p.  42. 
this,"  says  Home  Tooke,  "  is  manifestly  not  so  :  for  TO  placed  before  the  verb  loveth,  will 
not  make  the  infinitive  mood.  He  would  have  said  more  truly,  that  TO  placed  before  some 
nouns,  makes  verbs." — Diversions  of  Purlcy,  Vol.  i,  p.  287. 

-^kinner,  in  his  Canones  Etymologici,  calls  this  TO  "  an  equivocal  article" — Tooke,  ib. 
i,  288.  Nutting,  a  late  American  grammarian,  says:  "  The  sign  TO,  is  no  other  than  the  Greek 
article  to;  as,  to  agapan  [,  to  love]  ;  or,  as  some  say,  it  is  the  Saxon  do" — Practical  Gram.  p.  66. 
Thus,  by  suggesting  two  false  and  inconsistent  derivations,  though  he  uses  not  the  name  equivo- 
cal article,  he  tirst  makes  the  word  an  article,  and  then  equivocal — equivocal  in  etymology,  and  of 
course  in  meaning.*  Nixon,  in  his  English  Parser,  supposes  it  to  be,  unequivocally,  the  Greek 
article  m,  the.  See  the  work,  p.  83.  D.  Booth  says,  "  To  is,  by  us,  applied  to  Verbs  ;  but  it  was 
the  neuter  Article  (the]  among  the  Greeks." — Introd.  to  Analyt.  Diet.  p.  60.  According  to  Home 
Tooke,  "  Minshew  also  distinguishes  between  the  preposition  TO,  and  the  sign  of  the  infinitive 
TO.  Of  the  former  he  is  silent,  and  of  the  latter  he  says :  '  To,  as  to  make,  to  walk,  to  d<3,  a 
Graeco  articulo  re>.'  But  Dr.  Gregory  Sharpe  is  persuaded,  that  our  language  has  taken  it  from 
the  Hebrew.  And  Vossius  derives  the  correspondent  Latin  preposition  AD  from  the  same  source." 
—  Diversions  of  Purley,  Vol.  i,  p.  293. 

OHS.  3. — Tooke  also  says,  "  I  observe,  that  Junius  and  Skinner  and  Johnson,  have  not  chosen 
to  give  the  slightest  hint  concerning  the  derivation  of  TO." — Ibid.  But,  certainly,  of  his  adverb 
TO,  Johnson  gives  this  hint:  "TO,  Saxon;  te,  Dutch."  And  Webster,  who  calls  it  not  an  ad- 
verb, but  a  preposition,  gives  the  same  hint  of  the  source  from  which  it  comes  to  us.  This  is  as 
much  as  to  say,  it  is  etvmologically  the  old  Saxon  preposition  to— which,  truly,  it  is — the  very 
word  that,  for  a  thousand  years  or  more,  has  been  used  before  nouns  and  pronouns  to  gov- 
ern the  objective  case.  Tooke  himself  does  not  deny  this  ;  but,  conceiving  that  almost  all  par- 
whether  English  or  any  other,  can  be  traced  back  to  ancient  verbs  or  nouns,  he  hunts  for 
the  root  of  this,  in  a  remoter  region,  where  he  pretends  to  find  that  to  has  the  same  origin  as  do  ; 
and  though  he  detects  the  former  in  a  Gothic  noun,  he  scruples  not  to  identify  it  with  an  auxil- 
•ittri/  verb  !  Yet  he  elsewhere  expressly  denies,  "  that  any  words  change  their  nature  by  use,  so  as 
to  belon  g  sometimes  to  one  part  of  speech,  and  sometimes  to  another."— Die.  of  ]'ur.  Vol.  i,  p.  68. 

OHS.  4. — From  this,  the  fair  inference  is,  that  he  will  have  both  to  and  do  to  be  "  nouns  sitb- 
sfrutfirc"  still!  "  Do  (the  auxiliary  verb,  as  it  has  been  called)  is  derived  from  the  same  root, 
and  is  indeed  the  same  word  as  TO." — Ib.  Vol.  i,  p.  290.  "  Since  FROM  means  commencement  or  be- 
ij  inning,  TO  must  mean  end  or  termination." — Ib.  i,  283.  "  The  preposition  TO  (in  Dutch  written 

• 

*  Nutting,  I  suppose  did  not  imagine  the  Greek  article,  TO,  the,  and  the  English  or  Saxon  rerb  do,  to  be  equiva- 
lent or  kindred  words.  But  then-  is  no  knowing  what  terms  conjectural  etymology  may  not  contrive  to  identify, 
or  at  least  to  approximate  and  ttlly.  The  in-i  -i.  :,  ,oth,  if  he  does  "not  actually"  identify  do,  with  td,  the, 

has  discovered  synonymes  and  cognates  that  arc  altogether  as  u  nap  parent  to  common  ohservers :  as,  "It  and 
fA«,"  s:t  i<*  is  not  attended  to,  are  tynonymous.      Each  is  expressive  of  Being  in  general,  and 

when  u-^u.l  Verbally,  siirni' .,  ;  vt  we  already  see.       The,  it,  and,  add,  at,  to,  and  do, 

\vnkindredwoTds.    They  mark  that  an  •!  mass  of  existence.     To,  which  literally 

Hignifles  <i<///,(like  «'  :!erent  pronunciation  of  do.    It  expresses  the  junction  of  an 

other  thing,  or  circumstance,  as  appears  more  .  it*  varu-.l  orthography  of  too.1'— Introd.  to  Analyt. 

Diet.  p.  46.     Home  i  persuade  thi*  .is  notion  of  the  derivation  and  meaning 

of  die,  it,  to,  or  do.     ttiu  I.  i,M(IT  tractable.      They  were  icady  to  be 

lout  looking.     ••  IV  which  signify  action,  eflect,"ti-rmi- 

ri:ition.  J      Uh.it  :m  admirable  explanation  is  this!  and  how 

prettilj  :>piler  says  on  the  i..  .  •.  and  [when]  jtroper 

'.imits  :i:  :t<  great  attention  !  ''—Ib.  p.  ulf.s  for  inter- 

pretinc  '."  .-uij  the  •'  relative  pronoun  tcith  a  comma  before  it,"  he 

»u<i  h  i  ••  m  comes  from  S.-ixon  I  ,„,-/.  ami  Unit  tni-  u-ordi  of  th,  - 

'anguagts  "  signify  action,  effect,  termination,  to  act,  &c.i;     The  latter  assertion  te  true  enough  ;  but,  concerning 
.ho  former,  a  man  of  sense  may  demur.      Nor  do  I  see  how  it  is  possible  not  to  de.-|  l>e  the 

>nterpretation  of  the  words  what  it  may.    For,  if  to  means  action  or  to  act,  then  our  little  infinitive  phrase,  to  be. 
mist  mean,  action  be,  or  to  act  be  ;  and  what  is  this,  but  nonsense  ? 


588  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [pART  III. 

TOE  and  TOT,  a  little  nearer  to  the  original)  is  the  Gothic  substantive  Tj\.TlI  or  TjUlhlTS,  i.  e. 
act,  effect,  result,  consummation.  Which  Gothic  substantive  is  indeed  itself  no  other  than  the 
past  participle  of  the  verb  TjV.npi^N,  agcre.  And  Avhat  is  done,  is  terminated,  ended,  finish- 
ed."— lb.  i,  285.  No  wonder  that  Johnson,  Skinner,  and  Junius,  gave  no  hint  of  this  derivation  : 
it  is  not  worth  the  ink  it  takes,  if  it  cannot  be  made  more  sure.  But,  in  showing  its  bearing  en 
the  verb,  the  author  not  unjustly  complains  of  our  grammarians,  that,  "  Of  all  the  points  which 
they  endeavour  to  shuffle  over,  there  is  none  in  which  they  do  it  more  grossly  than  in  this  of  the 
infinitive."— .ft.  i,  287. 

OBS.  5. — Many  are  content  to  call  the  word  TO  a  prefix,  a  particle,  a  little  word,  a  sign  of  the  infin- 
itive, apart  of  the  infinitive,  apart  of  the  verb,  and  the  like,  without  telling  us  whence  it  conies, 
how  it  differs*  from  the  preposition  to,  or  to  what  part  of  speech  it  belongs.  It  certainly  is  not 
what  we  usually  call  a  prefix,  because  we  never  join  it  to  the  verb  ;  yet  there  are  three  instances  in 
which  it  becomes  such,  before  a  noun :  viz.,  to-day,  to-night,  to-morrow.  If  it  is  a  <lparticle,"  so 
is  any  other  preposition,  as  well  as  every  small  and  invariable  word.  If  it  is  a  "  little  word,"  the 
whole  bigness  of  a  preposition  is  unquestionably  found  in  it ;  and  no  "  word^ "  is  so  small  but  that 
it  must  belong  to  some  one  of  the  ten  classes  called  parts  of  speech.  If  it  is  a  "sign  of  the  infini- 
tive," because  it  is  used  before  no  other  mood  ;  so  is  it  a  sign  of  the  objective  case,  or  of  what  in 
Latin  is  called  the  dative,  because  it  precedes  no  other  case.  If  we  suppose  it  to  be  a  "part  of 
the  infinitive,"  or  a  "part  of  the  verb,"  it  is  certainly  no  necessary  part  of  either;  because  there 
is  no  verb  which  may  not,  in  several  different  ways,  be  properly  used  in  the  infinitive  without  it. 
But  if  it  be  a  part  of  the  infinitive,  it  must  be  a  verb,  and  ought  to  be  classed  with  the  auxiliaries. 
Dr.  Ash  accordingly  placed  it  among  the  auxiliaries  ;  but  he  says,  (inaccurately,  however,)  "  The 
auxiliary  sign  seems  to  have  the  nature  of  adverbs." — Grammatical  Institutes,  p.  33.  "  The  auxil- 
iary [signs]  are,  to,  do,  did,  have,  had,  shall,  will,  may,  can,  must,  might,"  &c. — Ib.  p.  31. 

OBS.  6. — It  is  clear,  as  I  have  already  shown,  that  the  word  to  may  be  a  sign  of  the  infinitive, 
and  yet  not  be  apart  of  it.  Dr.  Ash  supposes,  it  may  even  be  a  part  of  the  mood,  and  yet  not  be 
a  part  of  the  verb.  How  this  can  be,  I  see  not,  unless  the  mood  consists  in  something  else  than 
either  the  form  or  the  parts  of  the  verb.  This  grammarian  says,  "  In  parsing,  every  word  should 
be  considered  as  a  distinct  part  of  speech :  for  though  two  or  more  words  may  be  united  to  form  a 
mode,  a  tense,  or  a  comparison ;  yet  it  seems  quite  improper  to  unite  two  or  more  words  to  make 
a  noun,  a  verb,  an  adjective,  &c." — Gram.  Inst.  p.  28.  All  the  auxiliaries,  therefore,  and  the 
particle  to  among  them,  he  parses  separately;  but  he  follows  not  his  own  advice,  to  make  them 
distinct  parts  of  speech;  for  he  calls  them  all  signs  only,  and  signs  are  not  one  of  his  ten 
parts  of  speech.  And  the  participle  too,  which  is  one  of  the  ten,  and  which  he  declares  to  be 
"  no  part  of  the  verb,"  he  parses  separately ;  calling  it  a  verb,  and  not  a  participle,  as  often  as  it 
accompanies  any  of  his  auxiliary  signs.  This  is  certainly  a  greater  impropriety  than  there  can 
be  in  supposing  an  auxiliary  and  a  participle  to  constitute  a  verb  ;  for  the  mood  and  tense  are  the 
properties  of  the  compound,  and  ought  not  to  be  ascribed  to  the  principal  term  only.  Not  so 
with  the  preposition  to  before  the  infinitive,  any  more  than  with  the  conjunction  if  before  the 
subjunctive.  These  may  well  be  parsed  as  separate  parts  of  speech;  for  these  moods  are  some- 
times formed,  and  are  completely  distinguished  in  each  of  their  tenses,  without  the  adding  cf 
these  signs. 

OBS.  7. — After  a  careful  examination  of  what  others  have  taught  respecting  this  disputed  point 
in  grammar,  I  have  given,  in  the  preceding  rule,  that  explanation  which  I  consider  to  be  th  3 
most  correct  and  the  most  simple,  and  also  as  well  authorized  as  any.  Who  first  parsed  the  infin- 
itive in  this  manner,  I  know  not ;  probably  those  who  first  called  the  to  a  preposition ;  among 
whom  were  Lowth  and  the  author  of  the  old  British  Grammar.  The  doctrine  did  not  originata 
with  me,  or  with  Comly,  or  with  any  American  author.  In  Coar's  English  Grammar,  published 
in  London  in  1796,  the  phrase  to  trample  is  parsed  thus  :  "To — A  preposition,  serving  for  a  sign 
of  the  infinitive  mood  to  the  verb  Trample — A  verb  neuter,  infinitive  mood,  present  tense,  gov- 
erned by  the  preposition  TO  before  it.  RULE.  The  preposition  to  before  a  verb,  is  the  sign  of  tha 
infinitive  mood."  See  the  work,  p.  263.  This  was  written  by  a  gentleman  who  speaks  of  his 
"  long  habit  of  teaching  the  Latin  Tongue,"  and  who  was  certainly  partial  enough  to  the  princi- 
ples of  Latin  grammar,  since  he  adopts  in  English  the  whole  detail  of  Latin  cases. 

OBS.  8. — In  Fisher's  English  Grammar,  London,  1800,  (of  which  there  had  been  many  earlier 
editions,)  we  find  the  following  rule  of  syntax :  "  When  two  principal  Verbs  come  together,  the 
latter  of  them  expresses  an  unlimited  Sense,  with  the  Preposition  to  before  it ;  as  he  loved  to  learn  ; 
I  chuseto  dance :  and  is  called  the  infinitive  Verb,  which  may  also  follow  a  Name  or  Quality  ;  as, 
a  Time  to  sing ;  a  Book  delightful  to  read."  That  this  author  supposed  the  infinitive  to  be  governed 


known  or  governed  by  the  Preposition  TO  coming  before  them.     The  Sign  to  is  often  understood  ; 
as,  Bid  Robert  and  his  company  (to)  tarry." — Fisher's  Neio  Gram.  p.  95. 

OBS.  9. — The  forms  of  parsing,  and  also  the  rules,  which  are  given  in  the  early  English  gram- 
mars, are  so  very  defective,  that  it  is  often  impossible  to  say  positively,  what  their  authors  did, 
or  did  not,  intend  to  teach.  Dr.  Lowth's  specimen  of  "  grammatical  resolution  "  contains  four 
infinitives.  In  his  explanation  of  the  first,  the  preposition  and  the  verb  are  parsed  separately,  as 
above  ;  except  that  he  says  nothing  about  government.  In  his  account  of  the  other  three,  the 
two  words  are  taken  together,  and  called  a  "  verb,  in  the  infinitive  mode."  But  as  he  elsewhere 


*  So.  from  the  following  language  of  three  modern  authors,  one  cannot  but  infer,  that  they  would  parse  the 
verb  as  governed  by  the  preposition  ;  but  I  do  not  perceive  that  they  anywhere  expressly  say  so  : 
(1 .)    "  The  Infinitive  is  the  form  of  the  supplemental  verb  that  always  has,  or  admits,  the  preposition  TO  before 


CHAP.    VI.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XVIII. — INFINITIVES. — OBSERVATIONS.  589 

professed  admirers  and  copyists.  Of  these,  Lindley  Murray  is  doubtless  the  most  famous.  But 
Murray's  twelfth  rule  of  syntax,  while  it  expressly'calls  to  before  the  infinitive  a  preposition,  ab- 
surdly takes  away  from  it  this  regimen,  and  leaves  us  a  preposition  that  gorern*  nothing,  and  has 
apparently  nothing  to  do  with  the  relation  of  the  terms  between  which  it  occurs. 

Ons.  10. — Many  later  grammarians,  perceiving  the  absurdity  of  calling  to  before  the  infinitive 
a  preposition  without  supposing  it  to  govern  the  verb,  have  studiously  avoided  this  name  ;  and 
have  either  made  the  "  little  word  "  a  supernumerary  part  of  speech,  or  treated  it  as  no  part  of 
speech  at  all.  Among  these,  if  I  mistake  not,  are  Allen,  Lennie,  Bullions,  Algcr,  Guy,  Church- 
ill, Hiley,  Nutting,  and  Wells.  Except  Comly,  the  numerous  modifiers  of  Murray's  Grammar  are 
none  of  "them  more  consistent,  on  this  point,  "than  was  Murray  himself.  Such  of  them  as  do  not 
follow  him  literally,  either  deny,  or  forbear  to  affirm,  that  to  before  a  verb  is  a  preposition  ;  and 
consequently  cither  tell  us  not  what  it  is,  or  tell  us  falsely ;  some  calling  it  "  a  part  of  the  verb," 
while  they  neither  join  it  to  the  verb  as  a  prefix,  nor  include  it  among  the  auxiliaries.  Thus 
Kirkham":  "  To  is  not  a  preposition  vthen  joined  to  a  verb  in  this  mood ;  thus,  to  ride,  torule  ;  but 
it  should  be  parsed  with  the  verb,  and  as  a  part  of  it." — Gram,  in  Familiar  Leet.  p.  137.  So  R. 
C.  Smith  :  "  This  little  word  to,  when  used  before  verbs  in  this  manner,  is  not  a  preposition,  but 
forms  ajwrt  of  the  verb,  and,  in  parsing,  should  be  so  considered." — Productive  dram.  p.  65. 
How  can  that  be  "  a  part  of  the  verb,"  which  is  a  word  used  before  it  ?  or  how  is  to  "joined  to  the 
verb,"  or  made  a  part  of  it,  in  the  phrase,  "  to  ride  ?  "  But  Smith  does  not  abide  by  his  own  doc- 
trine ;  for,  in  an  other  part  of  his  book,  he  adopts  the  phraseology  of  Murray,  and  makes  to  a 
preposition  :  saying,  "  ThejvemmftON  TO,  though  generally  used  before  the  la'tter  verb,  is  some- 
;>roperly  omitted  ;  as,  '  I  heard  him  say  it ; '  instead  of  '  to  say  it.'  " — Productive  Gram.  p. 
156.  See  Jftmy**  Rule  12th. 

OBS.  11. — Most  English  grammarians  have  considered  the  word  to  as  a  part  of  the  infinitive,  a 
part  of  t/te  verb  ;  and,  like  the  teachers  of  Latin,  have  referred  the  government  of  this  mood  to 
a  preceding  verb.  But  the  rule  which  they  give,  is  partial,  and  often  inapplicable;  and  their  ex- 
ceptions to  it,  or  the  heterogeneous  parts  into  which  some  of  them  divide  it,  are  both  numerous 
and  puzzling.  They  teach  that  at  least  half  of  the  ten  different  parts  of  speech  "frequently  gov- 
ern the  infinitive  :  "  if  so,  there  should  be  a  distinct  rule  for  each  ;  for  why  should  the  government 
of  one  part  of  speech  be  made  an  exception  to  that  of  an  other  ?  and,  if  this  be  done,  with  re- 
spect to  the  infinitive,  why  not  also  with  respect  to  the  objective  case  ?  In  all  instances  to  which 
their  rule  is  applicable,  the  rule  which  I  have  given,  amounts  to  the  same  thing  ;  and  it  obviates  the 
:ty  tor  their  numerous  exceptions,  and  the  embarrassment  arising  from  other  construc- 
tions of  the  infinitive  not  noticed  in  them.  Why  then  is  the  simplest  solution  imaginable  still 
so  frequently  rejected  for  so  much  complexity  and  inconsistency  ?  Or  how  can  the  more  common 
rule  in  question  be  suitable  for  a  child,  if  its  applicability  depends  on  a  relation  between  the  two 
which  the  preposition  to  sometimes  expresses,  nnd  sometimes  does  not? 

1- — All  authors  admit  that  in  some  instances  the  sign  to  is  "  superfluous  and  improper  " 
the  construction  and  government  appearing  complete  without  it;  and  the  "  Rev.  Peter  Bullions, 
1)  I).,  l'rotVs«>r  of  Languages  in  the  Albany  Academy,"  has  recently  published  a  grammar,  in 
which  he  adopts  the  common  rule,  "  One  verb  governs  another  in  the  infinitive  mood  ;  as,  I  desire 
to  learn  ;  "  and  then  remarks,  "  The  infinitive  after  a  verb  is  governed  by  it  only  when  the  attri- 


Now 
the 
_  „  and 

badly  resolved.     The  single  particle  to  is  quite  sufficient,  both  to  govern  the  infinitive,  and  to 
connect  it  to  any  antecedent  term  which  can  make  sense  with  such  an  adjunct.     But,  in  fact,  the 
nd  author  must  have  meant  to  use  the  "  little  word"  but  once ;  and  also  to  deny  that  it  is 
a  preposition  ;  for  he  elsewhere  says  expressly,  though,  beyond  question,  erroneously.  "A  prep- 
osition should   MMT  be  used  before  the  infinitive." — Ib.  p.  92.     And  he  also  says,  "The  Infini- 
"'lin/j  in  a  general  manner,  without  distinction  of  number,  person,  or  time, 

and  commonly  h-i-  cond  Edition,  p.  3o.    Now  if  TO  is  "  before  "  the  mood,  it 

is  certainly  not  apart  of  it.    And  again,  if  this  mood  had  no  distinction  of  "  time,"  our  author's 
»f  it,  and  his  two  special  rules  for  their  application,  would  be  as  absurd  as  is  his  no- 
tion of  its  government.     See  hN  O',.s.  0  ami  7,  ib.  p.  121. 

OBS.  13. — Richard  Ililoy,  too,  a  grammarian  of  perhaps  more  merit,  is  equally  faulty  in  his 
explanation  of  the  infinitive  mood.  In  the  first  place,  he  absurdly  says,  "  TO  before  the  infiiitice 
mood,  is  considered  as  forming  part  of  the  verb  ;  but  in  er,-n/  other  situation  it  is  a  preposition." 
—IH/ei/'x  drum..  Third  Edition,  p.  23.  To  teach  that  a  "part  of  the  verb  "  stands  "  before  the 
mood,"  is  an  absurdity  manifestly  greater,  than  the  very  opposite  notion  of  Dr.  Ash,  that  what  is 
m>t  apart  of  t/u  >•<  rh,  may  yet  be  included  in  the  mood. '  There  is  no  need  of  either  of  these  false 
suppositions;  or  of  the  oth<  r  n,  doubly  false,  that  to,  "  in  every  other  situation!,  is  a 

preposition."     What  does///  Is  to  a  preposition  when  it  is  placed  after  a  verb, 

it ;  as,  to  move.    Its  general  character  is  to  represent  the  action  in  prospect,  or  to  do ;  or  in  retrospect,  as  to  have 
il<  ne.    As  a  v.  »s  to  do  the  action  ;  and  as  object  of  the  proposition  TO,  it  stands  in  the  place  of  a  noun 

for  th>-  :nd  its  prefix  to  are  used  much  like  a  preposition  and  ita  noun  ot>; 

(2.)  '-The  .irtii.il  ->r  othi  n  of  a  v,  rl.  may  be  expressed  in  its  widestand  mog  t  general  sense,  without 

ai  y  limitation  by  a  person  or  a^.-iif.  l-ut  inrrrly  a<  th-  •  ,.  of  som.-  other  action,  state  of  being,  quality, 

or  thing;  it  i.-<,  from  thi>  n  i  1  to  )><>  in  the  Infinitive  j/n"/,  :  :m  I  is  (  \|  r.  - ••••!  1.-.  the  vrrh  with 

i  ue  man  is  not 
fit  to  die;  •  '  It  was  not  ri^ht  for  him  t»  <lo  thus.'  "—Dr.  .V  iram.  p.  35. 

(3.)  "  RULE  3.  A  verl.  in  tin-  Infinitive  Mode,  is  the  object  of  the  preposition.  TO,  expressed  or  understood  "~- 
S.  W.  Clark's  Practical  Gram.  p.  . 


590  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

and  not  a  preposition  when  it  is  placed  before  it  ?  For  example:  "I  rise  to  shut  to  the  door." 
See  Luke,  xiii,  25. 

OBS.  14.  —  In  his  syntax,  this  author  further  says,  "  When  two  verbs  come  together,  the  latter 
must  be  in  the  infinitive  mood,  when  it  denotes  the  object  of  the  former  ;  as,  '  Study  to  improve.'  " 
This  is  his  Rule.  Now  look  at  his  Notes.  "  1.  When  the  latter  verb  does  not  express  the  object, 
but  the  end,  or  something  remote,  the  word/or,  or  the  words  in  order  to,  are  understood;  as,  "  I 
read  to  learn;  '  that  is,  «  I  read^br  to  learn,'  or,  '  in  order  [TO]  to  learn.'  The  wordt/br,  however, 
is  never,  in  such  instances,  expressed  in  good  language.  2.  The  infinitive  infrequently  governed  by 
adjectives,  substantives,  and  participles  ;  but  in  this  instance  also,  a  preposition  is  understood,though 
never  expressed  ;  as,  '  Eager  to  learn  ;  '  that  is,  '  eager  for  to  learn  ;  '  or,  'for  learning  ;  '  'A  desire  to 
improve  ;  '  that  is,  '  for  to  improve.'  "  —  Hiley's  Gram.  p.  89.  Here  we  see  the  origin  of  some  of  Bul- 
lions's  blunders.  To  is  so  small  a  word,  it  slips  through  the  fingers  of  these  gentlemen.  Words 
utterly  needless,  and  worse  than  needless,  they  foist  into  our  language,  in  instances  beyond  num- 
ber, to  explain  infinitives  that  occur  at  almost  every  breath.  Their  students  must  see  that,  "7 
read  to  learn,"  and,  "I  study  to  improve,"  with  countless  other  examples  of  either  sort,  are  very 
different  constructions,  and  not  to  be  parsed  by  the  same  rule  !  And  here  the  only  government  of 
the  infinitive  which  Hiley  affirms,  is  immediately  contradicted  by  the  supposition  of  a  needless 
for  "understood." 

OBS.  15.  —  In  all  such  examples  as,  "Tread  to  learn,"  —  "I  strive  to  learn,"  —  "Some  eat  to 
live,"  —  "  Some  live  to  eat,"  —  "  She  sings  to  cheer  him,"  —  "  I  come  to  aid  you,"  —  "  I  go  to  prepare 
a  place  for  you,"  —  the  action  and  its  purpose  are  connected  by  the  word  to  ;  and  if,  in  the  countless 
instances  of  this  kind,  the  former  verbs  do  not  govern  the  latter,  it  is  not  because  the  phraseology 
is  elliptical,  or  ever  was  elliptical,*  but  because  in  no  case  is  there  any  such  government,  except 
in  the  construction  of  those  verbs  which  take  the  infinitive  after  them  without  the  prepositions. 
Professor  Bullions  will  have  the  infinitive  to  be  governed  by  a  finite  verb,  "  when  the  attribute  ex- 
pressed by  the  infinitive  is  the  subject  of  the  other  verb."  An  infinitive  may  be  made  the  subject  of 
a  finite  verb  ;  but  this  grammarian  has  mistaken  the  established  meaning  of  subject,  as  well  as  of 
attribute,  and  therefore  written  nonsense.  Dr.  Johnson  defines  his  adverb  TO,  "A  particle  coming 
between  two  verbs,  and  noting  the  second  as  the  object  of  the  first."  But  of  all  the  words  which, 
according  to  my  opponents  and  their  oracles,  govern  the  infinitive,  probably  not  more  than  a 
quarter  part  are  such  verbs  as  usually  have  an  object  after  them.  Where  then  is  the  propriety 
of  their  notion  of  infinitive  government  ?  And  what  advantage  has  it,  even  where  it  is  least  ob- 
jectionable ? 

OBS.  16.  —  Take  for  an  example  of  this  contrast  the  terms,  "  Strive  to  enter  in  —  many  will  seek 
to  enter  in."  —  Luke,  xiii,  24.  Why  should  it  be  thought  more  eligible,  to  say,  that  the  verb 
strive  or  will  seek  governs  the  infinitive  verb  to  enter  ;  than  to  say,  that  to  is  a  preposition,  show- 


finite verbs  govern  the  infinitive  ;  or  that,  in  the  French,  the  infinitive  entrer  is  governed  first  by 
one  preposition,  and  then  by  an  other.  "  Contendite  intrare  —  multi  queer  entintr  are"  —  Montanrs. 
"  Efforcez-vous  d?  entrer  —  plusieurs  chercheront  a  y  entrer."  —  French  Bible.  In  my  opinion,  to 
before  a  verb  is  as  fairly  a  preposition,  as  the  French  de  or  a  ;  and  it  is  the  main  design  of  the  se 
observations,  while  they  candidly  show  the  reader  what  others  teach,  to  prove  it  so.  The  only  co  i- 
struction  which  makes  it  any  thing  else,  is  that  which  puts  it  after  a  verb  or  a  participle,  in  the 
sense  of  an  adverbial  supplement  ;  as,  "  The  infernal  idol  is  bowed  down  to."  —  Herald  of  Fne- 
dom.  "Going  to  and  fro."  —  Bible.  "At  length  he  came  to."  —  "Tell  him  to  heave  to."  —  "He 
was  ready  to  set  to."  With  singular  absurdness  of  opinion,  some  grammarians  call  to  a  preposi- 
tion, when  it  thus  follows  a  verb  and  governs  nothing,  who  resolutely  deny  it  that  name,  when  it 
precedes  the  verb,  and  requires  it  to  be  in  the  infinitive  mood,  as  in  the  last  two  examples.  Now,  if 
this  is  not  government,  what  is  ?  And  if  to,  without  government,  is  not  an  adverb,  what  is  ?  See 
Obs.  2d  on  the  List  of  Prepositions. 

OBS.  17.  —  The  infinitive  thus  admits  a  simpler  solution  in  English,  than  in  most  other  lan- 
guages ;  because  we  less  frequently  use  it  without  a  preposition,  and  seldom,  if  ever,  allow  any 
variety  in  this  connecting  and  governing  particle.  And  yet  in  no  other  language  has  its  con- 
struction given  rise  to  a  tenth  part  of  that  variety  of  absurd  opinions,  which  the  defender  of  its 
true  syntax  must  refute  in  ours.  In  French,  the  infinitive,  though  frequently  placed  in  immediate 
dependence  on  an  other  verb,  may  also  be  governed  by  several  different  prepositions,  (as,  a,  de, 
pour,  satis,  aprts,)  according  to  the  sense.f  In  Spanish  and  Italian,  the  construction  is  similar.  In 

*  Jlufus  Nutting,  A.  M.,  a  grammarian  of  some  skill,  supposes  that  in  all  such  sentences  there  was  "anciently  " 
an  ellipsis,  not  of  the  phrase  "  in  order  2o,"  but  of  the  preposition  for.  He  says,  "  Considering  this  mode  as 
merely  a  -verbal  noun,  it  might  be  observed,  that  the  infinitive,  when  it  expresses  the  object,  is  governed  by  a  tran- 
sitive verb  ;  and,  when  it  expresses  the  final  cause,  is  governed  by  an  intransitive  verb,  OR  ANCIENTLY,  BY  A  PREP- 
OSITION UNDERSTOOD.  Of  the  former  kind  —  '  he  learns  to  read.'1  Of  the  latter  —  '  he  reads  to  learn,'1  i  e.  'for  to 
learn.'  "  —  Practical  Gram.  p.  101.  If  for  was  anciently  understood  in  examples  of  this  sort,  it  is  understood  now, 
and  to  a  still  greater  extent;  because  we  do  not  now  insert  the  word  /or,  as  our  ancestors  sometimes  did  ;  and  an 
ellipsis  can  no  otherwise  grow  obsolete,  than  by  a  continual  use  of  what  was  once  occasionally  omitted. 

t  (1.)  "La  preposition,  est  un  mot  indeclinable,  place  devant  les  noms,  les  pronoms,  et  les  verbes,  qu'elle 
regit."  —  "  The  preposition  is  an  indeclinable  word  placed  before  the  nouns,  pronouns,  and  verbs,  which  it  governs." 
—Pen  in'  s  Grammar,  p.  152. 

(2.)  "  Every  verb  placed  immediately  after  an  other  verb,  or  after  a  preposition,  ought  to  be  put  in  the  infin- 
itive; because  it  is  then  the  regimen  of  the  verb  or  preposition  which  precedes."  See  La  Grammaire  des 
Grammaires,  par  G-irault  Du  Vivier,  p.  774. 

(3.)  The  American  translator  of  the  Elements  of  General  Grammar,  by  the  Baron  De  Sacy,  is  naturally  led,  in 
giving  a  version  of  his  author's  method  of  analysis,  to  parse  the  English  infinitive  mood  essentially  as  I  do  ; 
calling  the  word  to  a  preposition,  and  the  exponent,  or  sign,  of  a  relation  between  the  verb  which  follows  it,  and 
some  other  word  which  is  antecedent  to  it.  Thus,  in  the  phrase,  "  commanding  them  to  use  his  power,"  he  says, 
that  "  '  to  '  [is  the]  Exponent  of  a  relation  whose  Antecedent  is  '  commanding,'  and  [whose]  Consequent  [isj  '  «se.'  " 


CHAP.  VI.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XVIII. INFINITIVES. — OBSERVATIONS.  591 

Latin  and  Greek,  the  infinitive  is,  for  the  most  part,  immediately  dependent  on  an  other  verb. 
But,  according  to  the  grammars, it  may  stand  for  a  noun,  in  all  the  six  cases;  and  many  have 
called  it  an  indeclinable,  noun.  See  the  Port-Royal  Latin  and  Greek  grammars;  in  which  several 
peculiar  constructions  of  the  infinitive  are  referred  to  the  government  of  a  preposition — construc- 
tions that  occur  frequently  in  Greek,  and  sometimes  even  in  Latin. 

OBS.  18. — It  is  from  an  improper  extension  of  the  principles  of  these  "  learned  languages"  to  ours, 
that  much  of  the  false  teaching  which  has  so  greatly  and  so  long  embarrassed  this  part  of  English 
grammar,  has  been,  and  continues  to  be,  derived.  A  late  author,  who  supposes  every  infinitive 
to  be  virtually  a  noun,  and  who  thinks  he  finds  in  purs  all  the  cases  of  an  English  noun,  not  except- 
ing the  possessive,  gives  the  following  account  of  its  origin  and  nature  :  "  This  mood,  with  almost 
all  its  properties  and  uses,  has  been  adopted  into  our  language  from  the  ancient  Greek  and  Latin 
tongues.  ******  The  definite  article  TO  [,]  the,  which  they  [the  Greeks]  used  before  the  infinitive, 
to  mark,  in  an  especial  manner,  its  nature  of  a  substantive,  is  evidently  the  same  word  that  we  use 
before  our  infinitive  ;  thus,  '  to  write,'  signifies  the  writing;  that  is,  the  action  of  writing  ; — and 
when  a  verb  governs  an  infinitive,  it  only  governs  it  as  in  the  objective  case." — Nixon's  English 
r,  p.  83.  But  who  will  believe,  that  our  old  Saxon  ancestors  borrowed  from  Greek  or 
Latin  what  is  now  our  construction  of  the  very  root  of  the  English  verb,  when,  in  all  likelihood, 
they  could  not  read  a  word  in  either  of  those  languages,  or  scarcely  knew  the  letters  in  their 
own,  and  while  it  is  plain  that  they  took  not  thence  even  the  inflection  of  a  single  branch  of  any 
verb  whatever  ? 

OBS.  19. — The  particle  to,  being  a  very  common  preposition  in  the  Saxon  tongue,  has  been 
generally  used  before  the  English  infinitive,  ever  since  the  English  language,  or  any  thing  like  it, 
existed.  And  it  has  always  governed  the  verb,  not  indeed  "  as  in  the  objective  case,"  for  no  verb  is 
ever  declined  by  cases,  but  simply  as  the  infinitive  mood.  In  the  Anglo-Saxon  version  of  the 
Is,  which  was  made  as  early  as  the  eleventh  century,  the  infinitive  mood  is  sometimes 
expressed  in  this  manner,  and  sometimes  by  the  termination  an  without  the  preposition.  Dr. 
Johnson's  History  of  the  English  Language,  prefixed  to  his  large  Dictionary,  contains,  of  this 
version,  and  of  Wickliffe's,  the  whole  of  the  first  chapter  of  Luke  ;  except  that  the  latter  omits 
the  first  four  verses,  so  that  the  numbers  for  reference  do  not  correspond.  Putting,  for  con- 
venience, English  characters  for  the  Saxon,  I  shall  cite  here  three  examples  from  each ;  and 
these,  if  he  will,  the  reader  may  compare  with  the  19th,  the  77th,  and  the  79th  verse,  in  our 
common  Bible.  SAXON*  :  "And  ic  eom  asend  with  the  sprecan.  and  the  this  bodian." — 7. 
1'J.  Wn  KLIITE:  "And  Y  am  sent  to  thee  to  spcke  and  to  evangelise  to  thee  these  thingis." — 
Luk,  i,  15.  SAXON:  "To  syllene  his  folce  hsele  gewit  on  hyra  synna  forgyfnesse." — Lttcte, 
i,  77.  B:  "Tb  r/eve  science  of  heelth  to  his  puple  into  remissioun  of  her  synnes." — 

Luk,  i,  73.  SAXON  :  "  Onlyhtan  tham  the  on  thystrum  and  on  deathes  sceade  sittath.  ure  fet  to 
gereccenne  on  sibbe  weg." — Luca;,  i,  79.  WICK.LIFFE  :  "To  geve  light  to  them  that  sitten  in 
derknessis,  and  in  schadowe  of  deeth,  to  dresse  oure  feet  into  the  weye  of  pees." — Luk,  i,  75. 

Oi-.s.  20. — Such,  then,  has  ever  been  the  usual  construction  of  the  English  infinitive  mood ;  and 
a  wilder  interpretation  than  that  which  supposes  to  an  article,  and  says,  "  to  write  signifies 
'///»//,"  cannot  possibly  be  put  upon  it.  On  this  supposition,  "I  am  going  to  write  a 
letter,"  is  a  pure  Grecism ;  meaning,  "I  am  going  the  writing  a  letter,"  which  is  utter  non- 
sense. And  further,  the  infinitive  in  Greek  and  Latin,  as  well  as  in  Saxon  and  English,  is 
always  in  fact  governed  as  a  mood,  rather  than  as  a  case,  notwithstanding  that  the  Greek 
article  in  any  of  its  four  different  cases  may,  in  some  instances,  be  put  before  it ;  for  even 
with  an  article  before  it,  the  Greek  infinitive  usually  retains  its  regimen  as  a  verb,  and  is  there- 
fore not  "  a  substantive,"  or  noun.  I  am  well  aware  that  some  learned  critics,  conceiving  that  the 
•e  of  the  verb  consists  in  predication,  have  plainly  denied  that  the  infinitive  is  a  verb ;  and, 
because  it  may  be  made  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  or  may  be  governed  by  a  verb  or  a  preposition, 
have  chosen  to  call  it  "  a  mere  noun  substantive."  Among  these  is  the  erudite  Richard  Johnson, 
who,  with  so  much  ability  and  lost  labour,  exposed,  in.his  Commentaries,  the  errors  and  defects 
of  Lily's  (irammar  and  others.  This  author  adduces  several  reasons  for  his  opinion;  one  of 
which  is  the  following  :  "  Thirdly,  it  is  found  to  have  a  Preposition  set  before  it,  an  other  sure 

•  a  Substantive  ,•  as,  '•Ilk'  nihil  j/rt<fcr  /oyui,  ct  ijwim  >n(ilcdic<-  ft  ))«tli</H<\  didicit.'  Liv.  1.  45, 
p.  880.     [That  is,  "  He  learned  nothing  but  to  speak,  and  that  slanderously  and  maliciously."]    *At 
,«./  <n<is  sihi  beneficiwn  <lat,  nihil  intrn-xt  inf>-r  dare  <  t  ttccipt  >'< .'    Seneca,  de  Ben.  1.  5,  c.  10."  [That 

i  t'  any  one  bestows  a  benefit  on  himself,  there  is  no  difference  bcttcccn  give  and  take;  "* — or, 
in;/-"] — See  Johnson's  (iranunnticdl  Com.  p.  342.     But  I  deny  that  a 

preposition  is  a  "  sure  si^n  of  a  substantive."  (See  Obs.  2d  on  the  Prepositions,  and  also  Obs.  1st 
on  the  List  of  Prepositions,  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Etymology.)  And  if  we  appeal  to  philological 
authorities,  to  determine  whether  infinitives  are  nouns  or  verbs,  there  will  certainly  be  found  more 
for  the  latter  name,  than  for  the  former  ;  that  is,  more  in  number,  if  not  in  weight ;  though  it  must 

—  Foxtlirk'x  De  Sari/,  p.  131.      In  short,  he  expounds  the  word  to  in  this  relation,  just  as  ho  does  when  it  stands 

vunpk',  in  the  phrase,  '•  btlnn^m^  to  linn  nlum.  :  •  to,'  Kxponent  of  a  re.. 

which  the  Ant'-ced'-r  .<  nt.  •  linn  <ili»ie.'1  "—Ih.  p.  126.    My  solution,  in  either  case, 

differs  from  this  in  scarcely  any  thing  else  than  the  choice  of  if  unit  to  express  it. 

(4.)     It  appear-  that,  in  :  he  north  of  Europe,  the  prc|  <  sition  at  has  been  preferred  for  the 

governing  of  the  inlinitiv.  "f  at  for  to,  as  the  si^n  oj  ti'ie  iui'niiive  mode,  ifl  Norse,  not  Saxon.     It  is 

•  .ilar  prefix  in  Icelandic.  Dani.-h.  Su.-dish,  and  Feruic.     It  i-  also  found  in  the  northern  dialects  of  the  Old 
i.  ami  in  the  particular  ui  niorelaud  at  the  pr.  Fowler,  on  tke  En^lisk  Language. 

I860.  P.  -I". 

f  Here  is  a  literal  version,  in  which  two  infinitives  are  governed  by  the  preposition  bttirrfti;  and,  though  such  a 
construction  i<  uncommon,  I  know  not  why  it  should  be  though:  in  the  one  language  than  in  th« 

:ne  exceptive  phn<  •  |  i  put  the  infinitive  after  some  other  preposition 

than  to;  as.  u  What  can  she  do   !  ,ff>t  ru>L  herself.'  "       l!u: 

iions.  if  allowable,  are  too  uiifre.iucnt  to  be  noticed  in  .-my  u'eneral   Kule  of  -siitax.      In   tli- 

:  retty  evidently  governs  the  infinitive:   ••  Intemperance  rh.ua.  ;eri/cs  our  diacussious,  that  is  calcu- 
lated to  embitter  in  stead  of  conciliate."— CISCINXATI  HZEALD  :  Liberator,  No. 


592  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

be  confessed,  that  many  of  the  old  Latin  grammarians  did,  as  Priscian  tells  us,  consider  the 
infinitive  a  noun,  calling  it  Nomen  Verbi,  the  Name  of  the  Verb.*  If  we  appeal  to  reasons,  there 
are  more  also  of  these ; — or  at  least  as  many,  and  most  of  them  better :  as,  1.  That  the  infinitive 
is  often  transitive ;  2.  That  it  has  tenses  ;  3.  That  it  is  qualified  by  adverbs,  rather  than  by 
adjectives  ;  4.  That  it  is  never  declined  like  a  noun  ;  5.  That  the  action  or  state  expressed  by  it,  is 
not  commonly  abstract,  though  it  may  be  so  sometimes ;  6.  That  in  some  languages  it  is  the 
root  from  which  all  other  parts  of  the  verb  are  derived,  as  it  is  in  English. 

OBS.  21. — So  far  as  I  know,  it  has  not  yet  been  denied,  that  to  before  a.  participle  is  a  preposition, 
or  that  a  preposition  before  a  participle  governs  it;  though  there  are  not  a  few  who  erroneously 
suppose  that  participles,  by  virtue  of  such  government,  are  necessarily  converted  into  nouns. 
Against  this  latter  idea,  there  are  many  sufficient  reasons  ;  but  let  them  now  pass,  because  they 
belong  not  here.  I  am  only  going  to  prove,  in  this  place,  that  to  before  the  infinitive  is  jtist  such 
a  word  as  it  is  before  the  participle ;  and  this  can  be  done,  call  either  of  them  what  you  will.  It 
is  plain,  that  if  the  infinitive  and  the  participle  are  ever  equivalent  to  each  other,  t^ie  same  word  to 
before  them  both  must  needs  be  equivalent  to  itself.  Now  I  imagine  there  are  some  examples  of 
such  equivalence ;  as,  "  When  we  are  habituated  to  doing  [or  to  do]  any  thing  wrong,  we  becorae 
blinded  by  it." — Young  Christian,  p.  326.  "  The  lyre,  or  harp,  was  best  adapted  to  accompanying 
[or  to  accompany}  their  declamations." — Music  of  Nature,  p.  336.  "  The  new  beginner  should  be 


cases  of  constructional  ambiguity,  the  noun  and  the  verb  having  the  same  form,  and  the  to  not 
determining  which  is  meant :  as,  "  He  was  inclined  to  sleep." — "  It  must  be  a  bitter  experience, 
to  be  more  accustomed  to  hate  than  to  love."  Here  are  double  doubts  for  the  discriminators  : 
their  "  sign  of  the  infinitive  "  fails,  or  becomes  uncertain  ;  because  they  do  not  know  it  from  a  prep- 
osition. Cannot  my  opponents  see  in  these  examples  an  argument  against  the  distinction  which 
they  attempt  to  draw,  between  to  and  to  f  An  other  argument  as  good,  is  also  afforded  by  the 
fact,  that  our  ancestors  often  used  the  participle  after  to,  in  the  very  same  texts  in  which  we  have 
since  adopted  the  infinitive  in  its  stead  ;  as,  "And  if  yee  wolen  resceyue,  he  is  Elie  that  is  to 
comynge." — Matt,  xi,  14.  "  Ihesu  that  delyueride  us  fro  wraththe  to  comynge" — 1  Thess.  i,  10. 
These,  and  seventeen  other  examples  of  the  same  kind,  may  be  seen  in  Tooke's  Diversions  of 
Purley,  Vol.  ii,  pp.  457  and  458. 

OHS.  22. — Dr.  James  P.  Wilson,  speaking  of  the  English  infinitive,  says  :  "  But  if  the  appella- 
tion of  mode  be  denied  it,  it  is  then  a  verbal  noun. '  This  is  indeed  its  truest  character,  because  its 
idea  ever  represents  an  object  of  .approach.  To  supplies  the  defect  of  a  termination  characteristic 
of  the  infinitive,  precedes  it,' and  marks  it  either  as  that,  towards  which  the  preceding  verb  is 
directed ;  f  or  it  signifies  act,  and  shows  the  word  to  import  an  action.  When  the  infinitive  is 
the  expression  of  an  immediate  action,  which  it  must  be,  after  the  verbs,  bid,  can,  dare,  do,  fed, 
hear,  let,  make,  may,  must,  need,  see,  shall,  and  icill,  the  preposition  TO  is  omitted." — Essay  en 
Grammar,  p.  129.  That  the  truest  character  of  the  infinitive  is  that  of  a  verbal  noun,  is  not  to 
be  conceded,  in  weak  abandonment  of  all  the  reasons  for  a  contrary  opinion,  until  it  can  be  shown 
that  the  action  or  being  expressed  by  it,  must  needs  assume  a  substantive  character,  in  order  lo 
be  "that  towards  which  the  preceding  verb  is  directed."  But  this  character  is  manifestly  net 
supposable  of  any  of  those  infinitives  which,  according  to  the  foregoing  quotation,  must  folio  *v 
other  verbs  without  the  intervention  of  the  preposition  to:  as,  "Bid  him  come;" — "He  can 
walk."  And  I  see  no  reason  to  suppose  it,  where  the  relation  of  the  infinitive  to  an  other  word 
is  not  "  immediate,"  but  marked  by  the  preposition,  as  above  described.  For  example  :  "And  r  e 
laboured  till  the  going-down  of  the  sun  TO  deliver  him." — Dan.  vi,  14.  Here  deliver  is  governed 
bv  to,  and  connected  by  it  to  the  finite  verb  laboured;  but  to  tell  us,  it  is  to  be  understood .substan- 
tively  rather  than  actively,  is  an  assumption  as  false,  as  it  is  needless. 

*  This  doctrine  has  been  lately  revived  in  English  by  William  B.  Fowle,  -who  quotes  Dr.  Rees,  Beanzee,  Harris, 
Tracy,  and  Crombie,  as  his  authorities  for  it.  He  is  right  in  supposing  the  English  infinitive  to  be  generally 
governed  by  the  preposition  to,  but  wrong  in  calling  it  a  noun,  or  "  the  name  of  the  verb,"  except  this  phrase  be 
used  in  the  sense  in  which  every  verb  may  be  the  name  of  itself.  It  is  an  error  too,  to  suppose  with  Beauzc- 3, 
"  that  the  infinitive  never  in  any  language  refers  to  a  subject  or  nominative  ;  "  or,  as  Harris  has  it,  that  infinitives 
"  have  no  reference  at  all  to  persons  or  substances."  See  Fowlers  True  English  Gram.  Part  ii,  pp.  74  and  75.  For, 
though  the  infinitive  verb  never  agrees  with  a  subject  or  nominative,  like  a  finite  verb,  it  most  commonly  has  a 
very  obious  reference  to  something  which  is  the  subject  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion,  which  it  expresses ;  and 
(his  reference  is  one  of  the  chief  points  of  difference  between  the  infinitive  and  a  noun.  S.  S.  Greene,  in  a  recent 
t,  r,  i  in  mar,  absurdly  parses  infinitives  "as  nouns,"  and  by  the  common  rules  for  nouns,  though  he  begins  with 
calling  them  verbs.  Thus:  "  Our  honor  is  to  be  maintained.  To  be  maintained,  is  a  regular  passive  VERB,  infin- 
itive mode,  present  tense.,  and  is  used  as  a  NOUN  in  the  relation  of  predicate;  according  to  Rule  II.  A  noun  or 
jironoun  used  with  the  copula  to  form  the  predicate,  must  be  in  the  nominative  case." — Greene's  Gram.  1848,  p. 
93.  (See  the  Rule,  ib.  p.  29.)  This  author  admits,  "  The  '  to  '  seems,  like  the  preposition,  to  perform  the  office  of 
:i  niiiiifctivf ;  "  but  then  he  ingeniously  imagines,  "  The  infinitive  differs  from  the  preposition  awl  its  object,  in 
that,  the  '  to  '  is  the  only  preposition  used  with  the  verb,"  And  so  he  concludes,  "  The  two  [or  more]  parts  of  the 
infmitivi!  are  taken  together,  and,  thus  combined,  may  become  a  NOUN  in  any  relation." — Ib.,  1st  Edition,  p.  87. 
S.  S.  Greene  will  also  have  the  infinitive  to  make  the  verb  before  it  transitive ;  for  he  says,  "  The  only  form  [of 
phrase]  used  as  the  dirrct  object  of  a  transitive  verb  is  the  infinitive ;  as,  'We  intend  (YThat?)  to  leave  [town] 
to-day  ;  '  '  They  tried  (What?)  to  conceal  their  fears.'  "—/ft.  p.  99.  One  mi^ht  as  well  find  transitive  verbs  in  these 
equivalents :  "//  /•>'  our  purpose  to  leave  town  to-day." — ''  They  endeavoured  to  conceal  their  fears."  Or  in  this  : 
"  They  blustered  to  conceal  their  fears." 

t  It  is  remarkable  that  the  ingenious  J.  E.  Worcester  could  discern  nothing  of  the  import  of  this  particle 
l.eion-  a  verb,  lie  expounds  it,  with  very  little  consistency,  thus  :  "  To,  or  To,  ad.  A  particle  employed  as  the 
usual  siirn  or  prefix  of  the  infinitive  mood  of  the  verb  ;  and  it  might,  in  such  use,  be  deemed  a  syllable  of  the  verb. 
It  is  and  inrrrli/  a*  n  sign  <>(  the  infinitive,  without  having  any  distinct  or  separate  meaning  ;  as,  'He  loves  to 
iv.-nl.'  " --1'nii-.  an/I  Cnt.  liirt.  Now  is  it  not  plain,  that  the  action  expressed  by  " read  "  is  "  that  towards 
\\  hirh  »  the  alVeetion  signified  by  "  tow  ,s  »  is  directed  >  It  is  only  because  we  can  use  no  other  word  in  lieu  of  this 
to.  that  ittt  meaning  is  iiot  readily  Feen.  For  calling  it  "  a  syllable  of  the  verb,"  there  is,  I  think,  no  reason  or 
analogy  whatever.  Theie  is  absurdity  iu  calling  it  even  "  9. part  of  the  verb." 


CHAP.  VI.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XVIII. INFINITIVES. — OBSERVATIONS.  593 

OBS.  23. — To  deny  to  the  infinitive  the  appellation  of  mood,  no  morn  makes  it  a  verbal  noun, 
than  does  the  Doctor's  solecism  about  what  "  ITS  IDKA  ever  represents."  "  The  infinitive  there- 
fore," as  Home  Tooke  observes,  "appears  plainly  to  be  what  the  Stoics  called  it,  tfu>  rt'nf  rcr't 
if.se/ f,  pure  and  uncompounded." — Diversions  of  Put  Icy,  Vol.  i,  p.  286.  Not  indeed  as  including 
the  particle  to,  or  ;is  it  stands  in  the  English  perfect  tense,  but  as  it  occurs  in  the  simple  root. 
But  I  cited  Dr.  Wilson,  as  above,  not  so  much  with  a  design  of  animadverting  again  on  this 
point,  as  with  reference  to  the  import  of  the  particle  to ;  of  which  he  furnishes  a  twofold  explana- 
tion, leaving  the  reader  to  take  which  part  he  will  of  the  contradiction.  He  at  first  conceives  it 
to  convey  in  general  the  idea  of  "  towards,"  and  to  mark  the  infinitive  as  a  term  "  towards  «•////•/<  " 
something  else  "is  directed."  If  this  interpretation  is  the  true  one,  it  is  plain  that  to  before  a 
verb  is  no  other  than  the  common  preposition  to ;  and  this  idea  is  confirmed  bv  its  ancient  usage, 
and  by  all  that  is  certainly  known  of  its  derivation.  But  if  we  take  the  second  solution,  and  say, 
"  it  signifies  act,"  we  make  it  not  a  preposition,  but  either  a  noun  or  a  verb  ;  and  then  the  ques- 
tion arises,  Wkich  of  t,:<  besides,  what  sense  can  there  be,  in  supposing  to  go  to  mean 
act  f/o,  or  to  be  equivalent  to  do  go  f* 

Ous.  21. — Though  the  infinitive  is  commonly  made  an  adjunct  to  some  finite  verb,  yet  it  may 
be  connected  to  almost  all  the  other  parts  of  speech,  or  even  to  an  other  infinitive.  The  prepo- 
sition to  being  its  only  and  almost  universal  index,  we  seldom  find  any  other  preposition  put 


the  idiom  is  left  to  the  uneducated.     But  it  seems  practicable  to  subjoin  the  infinitive  to  every 
one  of  the  ten  parts  of  speech,  except  the  article:  as, 

1.  To  a  noun ;  as,  "  If  there  is  any  precept  to  obtain  felicity." — Hawkesworth.     "  It  is  high  time 

tit  nir'ii;i-  out  of  sleep." — Ruin.  xiii.  11.     "  To  flee  from  the  icrath  to  come." — Matt.  iii.  7. 

2.  To  an  adjective ;  as,  "lie  seemed  desirous  to  speak,  yet  unwilling  to  offend" — Haickatirorth. 

"  He  who  is  the  slowest  to  pro  mi  si-,  is  the  quickest  to  perform" — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  35. 

3.  To  a  pronoun  ;  as,  "  I  discovered  fil/nto  he  a  scholar." — W.  Allen's  Gram.  166.    "  Is  it  lawful  for 

us  to  yice  tribute  to  Ctcsar  ?  " — Luke,  xx,  2'J.     "  Let  me  desire  you  to  reflect  impartially." — 

*  As  there  is  no  point  of  grammar  on  which  our  philologists  are  more  at  variance,  so  there  seems  to  be  none  on 

which  they  arc  more  at  fault,  tlrm  in  their  treatment  of  the  infinitive  mood,  with  its  usual  sign,  or  governing 

.  to.      For  the  inform. irion  <>f  tin-  reader,  1  wouM  gladly  cite  every  explanation   not  consonant  with  my 

own,  and  show  wherein  i'  is  oLj-.-ri'maMc  ;   nut  so  mum-runs  arc  the  firms  <>f  error  under  this  head,  that  such  as 

.  i>r  an-  nut,  likely  to   l;e  repeated,  must  in  general  be  left  to  run  their  course,  exempt 

i  mill.-.     <»f  these  various  forms  of  error,  however,  I  may  here  add  an  example  or  two. 

(1.)     ••  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  to  ?     Ans.     To  means  act.     NOTE. — As  our  verbs  and  nouns  are  spelled 
•'•;•  >i:.inn-r.  i:  was  formerly  thought  best  to  prefix  the  word  TO,  to  words  u.'lien  used  as  verbs.     For  there  is 
no  difference  he'uven  the  >ou.\.  l<i >•-- :  and  tin;  VERB,  to  hive  :  but  what  is  shown  by  the  prfjix  TO,  which  signifies 
art ;  i.  e.  to  <irt  love."  —  li.  ••i<tfs  in  English  Grammar,  N.  Y.  1829,  p.  52.      Now  all  this, 

is  not  only  fanciful,  but  false,  utterly  false.     To  no  more  "means  ac/,"  than  from 
And  if  it  did,  it  could  not  be  a  si^n  of  the  infinitive,  or  of  a  verb  at  all ;  for,  "  act  love,"  is  imper- 
ative, ami  makes  the  word  %>  lore  ':  a  nnnn  :  and  so,  "  to  act  love,"  (where  "  love"  is  also  a  noun,)  must  mean 
wiiidi  is  tautological   nonsense.     Our  nouns  and  verbs  are  not,  t'n  general,  spelled  alike  ;  nor  are 
••:.  in  iff  «'/•'!/.  preceded  hy  to ;  norcould  a  particle  which  may  govern  either,  have  been  specifically  intended, 
at  lir.st,  to  murk  their  difference.     By  some,  as  we  have  seen,  it  is  argued  from  this  very  sign,  that  the  infinitive  w 

illy  a  noun. 

(2. )     •  'f  is  the  root  or  simple  form  of  the  verb,  used  to  express  an  action  or  state  indefinitely  ; 

a*,  to  heir,  to  : nerally  distinguished  by  the  sign  to.      When  the  particle  to  is  employed  in  forming 

the  inf::  as  a  part  of  t/if.  verb.       In  every  other  cast  it  is  a  preposition," — Wells's  School 

so.      "A  Preposition  is  a  word  which  is  used  to  express  the  relation  of  a  noun  or  pronoun 

•  other  word  in  the  sentence." — Id.  pp.  40  and  IDS.      •'  The  passive  form  of  a  verb  is 

•'.  forming  a  rntnptiu.  rb.   Examples  : — '  He  was  listened 

to  without  a  murmur.' — A.  H.  KVKKKTT.      '  Nor  i>  this  enterprise  to  be  scoffed  a/.' — CHANGING." — Jb.  p.  140.     "A 

verb  iii  ' >i  Tflntff.  to  some  noun  or  pronoun.      Thus,  in  the  sentence.  *  lie  desires  to  improve,' 

to  the  pronoun  he  while  it  is  governed  by  <l>. sires." — Ib.  p.  150.    " '  The  agent  to  a  verb 

'  — NITTIM;."— l'i.  p.  14S.      These  citations  from  Wells,  tho 

. .  by  way  of  authority,  are  in  many  respects  self- contradictory,  and  in  nearly 

all  respects  U7itrue.     l|.,,v  can  tiie  infinitive  I. e  only  "  the  root  or  simple  form  of  the  verb,"  and  yet  consist  "  gen- 

eralls  "  of  tw.i  di-M-  •  f  three,  iotir.  or  five;  as,  "  to  hear,'-' — "to  have  heanl^ — "  to  be  listened 

How  can  to  be  a  in  the  phrase,  "He  was  listened  to,"1  and  not 

so  at  all  in  '•  to  *.t.  i/v  intiniuvc  ••  •  tion  or  state  indefinitely,"  if  it  "  usually 

man  ?  ''     Why  mtt.\t  its  a<;nit  '•  be  in  the  objectn-r  ease, "  if  •'  to  improve  relates  to  the 

proimii'  -'t'r  r,t^f  a  //r>;-."w/K,/i,"  and  not  such  before  a  verb  or  a  participle?    Must  every 

vern  some  "noun  or  pronoun  ?"    And  yet  are  there  some  prepositions  which  govern  nothing,  pre- 
iiing  ! 

CM     ••  The  }-rr),n<it;,,n  TO  before  a  verb  is  the  sizu  of  the  Infinitive.1'— 117 W\«  E.  Gram.  2d  Ed.  p.  74.      "The 

and  show  their  relation." — Ib.  p.  42.  "The  perfect  infin- 
itive i-  ;  .uixiii.iry  HAVT.  i»n-,-,l,,t  \,\  the  prf position  To  " — 1>>.  p.  <Jfj.  ••  Tho 
infinitive  nn>de  fbttoion  '  ••  r>,,  ;.<,,;/i,(,r  a'lj'rln-- ."— lh.  jqi.  7*1  and  166.  "A  verb  in  the  Infinitive  may  follow: 

As  or  than  .  .     6.  Prepositi 

The  Infinittre  is  of  .  :  The  Iti'initi\.  i  in  the  office  of  a  verbal  i> 

•unitn-e  rate  to  the  verb,  and  a*  t  /'    p.  I1'".      These  last 

cwo  counts  are  ubsurdly  in.  follow  :  "  and  is  it  not  rather  queer,  that  this 

rnood  should  In-  f.-uiid  t<>  ••  /•>  Inw  "  every  tiling  else,  :nj,|  nm  -  the  preposition  TO,''  which  comes  "  hrforr  " 
'  >\  which  it  is  "  prer.  .  :' 'Mowing  absurd  and  needless  rule :  "The  Infinitive 

.  :IAT  M  tmiitttd  ;  as,  I  believe  the  sun  to  be  the  centre  of  the 

uolar  system  ;  1  know  him  to  be  a  man  of  veracity."— 76.  p.  s.  loth  on  I; 

iibore.)     •  >'//«  "  is  here  -  ,V,T!     I  !.n><u- :  "  and  "  be,"  in  both  instances,  1 

;--n  TO  :  "  f.»r  this  particle  is'not  n  of  the  liafinitive,''  but  iU  governing  u-ord,  answering  well 

10  the  definition  of  a  prepo-kimi  al.ove  ci'ed  fnun  \\ 

t  "  The  infmi:i\e  i«  siiiii'-:i::n>-  -:  i  >n  ;  as,  '  The  sbipmen  were  about  to  Jlre.'1'1'1 — Wells's  School 

Gram.  l»t  Ed   p   14«J  ;  3d  Ed  p.  158.     WelLi  ha«  altered  this,  and  for  "preposition  "  put  '•  adverb."— Ed.  of  1850, 
]).  163. 

38 


594  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 


come  to  seen  ana  10  save  inat  wnicn  was  lost.  — i^u/ce,  xix,  w. 

5.  To  an  other  infinitive;  as,  "T*o  go  to  enter  into  Egypt." — Jer.  xli,  17.     "  V 

willing  to  wait  to  consider." — J.  Abbott.     "  For  what  had  he  to  do  to  chide 

6.  To  a  participle ;  as,  "  Still  threat' nint/ to  devour  me." — Milton.     "  Or  as  a  thie: 


BLAIR  :  Murray's  Eng.  Reader,  p.  77.     "  Whom  hast  thou  then  or  what  t'  accuse?" — Mil- 
ton, P.  L.  iv,  67. 

4.  To  a  finite  verb ;  as,  "  Then  Peter  began  to  rebuke  him." — Matt,  xvi,  22.     "  The  Son  of  man  is 
come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost." — Luke,  xix,  10. 

We  are  not  often 
at  me  ?  "—Shak. 
thief  bent  to  unhoard 
the  cash  of  some  rich  burgher." — Id. 

7.  To  an  adverb  ;  as,  "  She  is  old  enough  to  go  to  school." — "  I  know  not  how  to  act." — Ntitlinc/'s. 

Gram.  p.  106.     "  Tell  me  when  to  come,  and  where  to  meet  you." — "  He  hath  not  where  to  lay 
his  head." 

8.  To  a  conjunction  ;  as,  "  He  knows  better  than  to  trust  you." — "  It  was  so  hot  as  to  melt  these 

ornaments." — "  Many  who  praise  virtue,  do  no  more  than  praise  it." — Dr.  Johnson. 

9.  To  a  preposition ;  as,  "  1  was  about  to  lorite." — Rev.  x,  4.     "  Not  for  to  hide  it  in  a  hedge." — 

Burns's  Poems,  p.  42.     "Amatum  iri,  To  be  about  to  be  loved." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  95.* 

10.  To  an  interjection;  as,  "O  to  forget  her!  " — Young's  Night  Thoughts. 

OBS.  25. — The  infinitive  is  the  mere  verb,  without  affirmation,  without  person  or  number,  and 
therefore  without  the  agreement  peculiar  to  a  finite  verb.  (See  Obs.  8th  on  Rule  2d.)  But,  in 
most  instances,  it  is  not  without  limitation  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion,  to  some  particular 
person  or  persons,  thing  or  things,  that  are  said,  supposed,  or  denied,  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted 
upon.  Whenever  it  is  not  thus  limited,  it  is  taken  abstractly,  and  has  some  resemblance  to  a 
noun  ;  because  it  then  suggests  the  being,  action,  or  passion  alone  :  though,  even  then,  the  active 
infinitive  may  still  govern  the  objective  case ;  and  it  may  also  be  easy  to  imagine  to  whom  or  to 
what  the  being,  action,  or  passion,  naturally  pertains.  The  uses  of  the  infinitive  are  so  many 
and  various,  that  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  classify  them  accurately.  The  following  are  unquestion- 
ably the  chief  of  the  things  for  which  it  may  stand  : 

1.  For  the  supplement  to  an  other  verb,  to  complete  the  sense  ;  as,  "  Loose  him,  and  let  him 
go" — John,  xi,  44.     "  They  that  go  to  seek  mixed  wine." — Prov.  xxiii,  30.     "His  hands  refuse  to 
"labour." — Ib.  xxi,  25.     "  If  you  choose  to  have  those  terms." — Tooke's  D.  P.,  ii,  374.     "  How  our 
old  translators  first  struggled  to  express  this." — Ib.  ii,  456.     "  To  any  one  who  will  please  to  examine 
our  language."— Ib.  ii,  444.     "  They  are  forced  to  give  up  at  last." — Ib.  ii,  375.     "  Which  ought  to 
be  done." — Ib.  ii,  451.     "  Which  came  to  pass." — Acts,  xi,  28.     "  I  dare  engage  to  make  it  out." — 
Swift. 

2.  For  the  purpose,  or  end,  of  that  to  which  it  is  added;  as,  "  Each  has  employed  his  time  and 
pains  to  establish  a  criterion." — Tooke's  D.  P.,  ii,  374.     "I  shall  not  stop  now,  "to  assist  in  their 
elucidation." — Ib.  ii,  75.     "  Our  purposes  are  not  endowed  with  words  to  make  them  known." — 
Ib.  ii,  74.     [A]  "  TOOL  is  some  instrument  taken  up  to  work  with." — Ib.  ii,  145.     "  Labour  not  to 
be  rich." — Prov.  xxiii,  4.     "  I  flee  unto  thee  to  hide  me." — Ps.  cxliii,  9.     "Evil  shall  hunt  the 
violent  man  to  overthroiv  him." — Ib.  cxl,  11. 

3.  For  the  object  of  an  affection  or  passion  ;  as,  "  He  loves  to  ride." — "  I  desire  to  hear  her  speak 
again." — Shak.     "  If  we  wish  to  avoid  important  error." — Tooke's  D.  P.,  ii,  3.     "  Who  rejoice  to 
do  evil." — Prov.  ii,  14.     "All  agreeing  in  earnestness  to  see  him." — Shak.     "  Our  curiosity  is  raised 
to  know  what  lies  beyond." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  334. 

4.  For  the  cause  of  an  affection  or  passion;  as,  "I  rejoice  to  hear  it." — "  By  which  I  hope  to 
have  laid  a  foundation,"  £c. — Blair's  Ilhet.  p.  34.     "For  he  made  me  mad,  to  see  him  shine  so 
brisk,  and  smell  so  sweet." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  118.     "Thou  didst  eat  strange  flesh,  which 
some  did  die  to  look  on." — Ib.  p.  182.     "They  grieved  to  see  their  best  allies  at  variance." — Rev. 
W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  165. 


to  plague  a  neighbour,  has  in  it  more  of  malice,  than  of  love  to  justice." — Seattle's  Mor.  Sci.  i,  177. 
6.  For  the  predicate  of  a  proposition,  or  the  chief  term  in  such  predicate;  as,  "  To  enjoy  is  to 
obey. ""-Pope.     "The  property  of  rain  is  to  wet,  and  fire,  to  burn." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  15. 

«  Tr>  rMp  is  fn  hf>  f>fi.tt->'sJ>prf.  frnm  rnvsplf  "— 77>    n.  89,.      "  Tbfi  hpst  wnv  is.  f.n  sln.tidpr  V;ilf>nt.inf>  "—  77). 


"  ine  nignway  01  me  uprigni  is  10  aeparc  irom  evu.    — rrov.  xvi,  i/. 

T  a  coming  event,  or  what  will  be ;  as,  "A  mutilated  structure  soon  to  fall." — Cowper. 
jing  dead,  and  I  speedily  to  follow  him." — Tooke's  D.  P.,  ii,  111.  "She  shall  rejoice  in 
come." — Prov.  xxxi,  25.  "  Things  present,  or  things  to  come." — 1  Cor.  iii,  22. 


1  To  die  is  to  be  banished  from  myself." — Ib.  p.  82.     "  The  best  way  is,  to  slander  Valentine." — Ib. 
p.  83.     "  The  highway  of  the  upright  is  to  depart  from  evil." — Prov.  xvi, 

"  He  being 

time  to  come.  .  _    _ 

8.  For  a  necessary  event,  or  what  ought  to  be  ;  as,  "  It  is  to  be  remembered." — "  It  is  never  to  be 
forgotten." — Tooke's  D.  P.,  ii,  2.     "An  oversight  much  to  be  deplored." — Ib.  ii,  460.     "  The  sign  is 

not  to  be  used  by  itself,  or  to  stand  alone  ;  but  is  to  be  joined  to  some  other  term." — Ib.  ii,   372. 
"  The  Lord's  name  is  to  be  praised." — Ps.  cxiii,  3. 

9.  For  what  is  previously  suggested  by  an  other  word  ;  as,  "  I  have^/azYA  to  believe" — "  The  glos- 
sarist  did  well  here  not  to  yield  to  his  inclination." — Tooke's  D.  P.,  ii,  329.     "It  is  a  good  thing  to 
give  thanks  unto  the  Lord." — Ps.  xcii,  1.     "It  is  as  sport  to  a  fool  to  do  mischief." — Prov.  x,  23. 
"  They  have  the  gift  to  know  it." — Shak.     "  We  have  no  remaining  occupation  but  to  take  care  of 
the  public." — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  52. 

10.  For  a  term  of  comparison  or  measure;  as,  "  He  was  so  much  affected  as  to  weep." — "  Who 
could  do  no  less  than  furnish  him."— Tooke's  D.  P.,  ii,  408.     "  I  shall  venture  no  farther  than  to 

*  Some  grammatists,  being  predetermined  that  no  preposition  shall  control  the  infinitive,  avoid  the  conclusion' 
by  absurdly  calling  FOR,  a  conjunction;  ABOUT,  an  adverb;  and  TO  —  no  matter  what  —  but  generally,  nothing. 
Thus  :  "  The  conjunction  FOR,  is  inelegantly  used  before  verbs  in  the  infinitive  mood  ;  as,  '  He  came  for  to  study 
Latin.'" — Greenleafs  Gram.  p.  38.  "  The  infinitive  mood  is  sometimes  governed  by  conjunctions  or  adverbs; 
as,  'An  object  so  high  as  to  be  invisible ;  '  '  The  army  is  about,  to  march.'1  »—Kirkkam>s  Gram.  p.  188.  This  is  a 
note  to  that  extra  rule  which  Kirkham  proposes  for  our  use,  "  if  we  reject  the  idea  of  government,  as  applied  to 
the  verb  in  this  mood  !  "—76. 


CHAP.    VI.]  8YNTAX. — RULE   XVIII. INFINITIVES. OBSERVATIONS.  595 

explain  the  nature  arid  convenience  of  these  abbreviations." — Ib. ii,  439.  "I  have  already  said 
enough  to  shoic  what  sort  of  operation  that  is." — Ib.  ii,  358. 

Oi;s.  26. — After  dismissing  all  the  examples  which  may  fairly  be  referred  to  one  or  other  of  the 
ten  heads  above  enumerated,  an  observant  reader  may  yet  find  other  uses  of  the  infinitive,  and  those 
so  dissimilar  that  they  can  hardly  be  reduced  to  any  one  head  or  rule  ;  except  that  all  are  governed 
by  the  preposition  to,  which  points  towards  or  to  the  verb  :  as,  "A  great  altar  to  see  to." — Joshua, 
xxii,  10.  "  Bufidv  piyav  roil  ititiv." — Scptuagint.  That  is,  "An  altar  yreat  to  behold."  "Altare 
infinita?  magnitudtnis." — Vulgate.  "Un  fort  grand  autel." — French  Bible.  "  Easy  to  be  entreated." 
— Jos.  iii,  17.  "  There  was  none  to  help." — Ps.  cvii,  12.  "  He  had  rained  down  manna  upon  them 
to  eat." — Ps.  Ixxviii,  24.  "  Remember  his  commandments  to  do  them." — Ps.  ciii,  18.  "  Preserve 
thou  those  that  are  appointed  to  die." — Ps.  Ixxix,  11.  "As  coals  to  burning  coals,  and  as  wood  to 
fire  ;  so  is  a  contentious  man  to  kindle  strife." — Prov.  xxvi,  21.  "  These  are  far  beyond  the  reach 
and  power  of  any  kings  to  do  away." — Tooke's  D.  P.,  ii,  126.  "  I  know  not  indeed  what  to  dn  with 
those  words." — Ib.  ii,  441.  "  Thev  will  be  as  little  able  to  justify  their  innovation." — Ib.  ii,  448. 
'*  I  leave  you  to  compare  them." — Ib.  ii,  458.  "  There  is  no  occasion  to  attribute  it." — Ib.  ii,  375. 
"  There  is  no  day  for  me  to  look  upon." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  82.  "  Having  no  external  thing  to 
lose." — Ib.  p.  100.  "  I'll  never  be  a  gosling  to  obey  instinct." — Ib.  p.  200.  "Whereto  serves 
mercy,  but  to  confront  the  visage  of  offence  ?  " — Ib.  p.  233.  "  If  things  do  not  go  to  suit  him." — 
Liberator,  ix,  182.  "And,  to  be  plain,  I  think  there  is  not  half  a  kiss  to  choose,  who  loves  an 
other  best." — Shak.  p.  91.  "  But  to  return  toll.  Johnson's  instance  of  good  man." — Tooke's 
D.  P.,  ii,  370.  Our  common  Bibles  have  this  text:  and  a  certain  woman  cast  a  piece  of  a  mill- 
stone upon  Abimelech's  head,  and  all  to  break  his  skull." — Judges,  ix,  53.  Perhaps  the  interpre- 
tation of  this  may  be,  "and  so  as  completely  to  break  his  skull."  The  octavo  edition  stereotyped 
by  "  the  Bible  Association  of  Friends  in  America,"  has  it,  "and  ail-to  brakehis  scull."  This, 
most  probably,  was  supposed  by  the  editors  to  mean,  "  and  completely  broke  his  skull ;  "  but  ail-to 
is  no  proper  compound  word,  and  therefore  the  change  is  a  perversion.  The  Septuagint,  the 
Vulgate,  and  the  common  French  version,  all  accord  with  the  simple  indicative  construction, 
"  and  broke  his  skull." 

OBS.  27. — According  to  Lindley  Murray,  "  The  infinitive  mood  is  often  made  absolute,  or  used 
independently  on  [say  of]  the  rest  of  the  sentence,  supplying  the  place  of  the  conjunction  that 
with  the  potential  mood  :  as,  'To  confess  the  truth,  I  was  in  fault ;  '  'To  begin  with  the  first ;' 
'To  proceed;'  'To  conclude ;'  that  is.  "'That  I  may  confess,'  &c." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  184; 
-//'A'  Gram.  p.  244.  Some  other  compilers  have  adopted  the  same  doctrine.  But  on  what 
ground  the  .su'ixtitutivn  of  one  mood  for  the  other  is  imagined,  I  see  not.  The  reader  will  observe 
that  this  potential  mood  is  here  just  as  much  "made  absolute,"  as  is  the  infinitive;  for  there  is 
nothing  expressed  to  which  the  conjunction  that  connects  the  one  phrase,  or  the  preposition  to  the 
other.  But  possibly,  in  either  case,  there  may  be  an  ellipsis  of  some  antecedent  term  ;  and  surely, 
if  we  imagine  the  construction  to  be  complete  without  any  such  term,  we  make  the  conjunction 
the  more  anomalous  word  of  the  two.  Confession  of  the  truth,  is  here  the  aim  of  speaking,  but  not 
of  what  is  spoken.  The  whole  sentence  may  be,  "/»  order  to  confess  the  truth,  I  admit  that  I  was 
in  fault."  Or,  "In  order  that  I  may  confess  the  truth,  I  admit  that  I  was  in  fault."  I  do  not  deny, 
that  the  infinitive,  or  a  phrase  of  which  the  infinitive  is  a  part,  is  sometimes  put  absolute;  for,  if  it 
is  not  so  in  any  of  the  foregoing  examples,  it  appears  to  be  so  in  the  following  :  "  For  every  object 
has  several  faces,  so  to  speak,  by  which  it  may  be  presented  to  us." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  41.  "To 
declare  a  thing  shall  be,  long  before  it  is  in'being,  and  then  to  bring  about  the  accomplishment 
of  that  very  thing,  according  to  the  same  declaration;  this,  or  nothing,  is  the  work  of  God." — 
Justin  Martyr. 

"  To  be,  or  not  to  be ; — that  is  the  question." — Shakspeare. 

"  To  die  • — to  sleep  ; — To  sleep  !  perchance,  to  dream  !  " — Id.  Hamlet. 

Ons.  28. — The  infinitive  usually  follows  the  word  on  which  it  depends,  or  to  which  the  particle 
r>cts  it  ;  but  this  order  is  sometimes  reversed:  as,  "To  beg  I  am  ashamed." — Luke,  xvi,  3. 
••  To  keep  them  no  longer  in  suspense,  [1  say  plainly,]  Sir  Roger  de  Coverly  is  dead." — Addison. 
"  To  suffer,  as  to  do,  Our  strength  is  equal." — Mi/ton. 

"  To  catch  your  vivid  scenes,  too  gross  her  hand." — Thomson. 

29. — Though,  in  respect  to  its  syntax,  the  infinitive  is  oftener  connected  with  a  verb,  a  par- 
ticiple, or  an  adjective,  than  with  a  noun  or  a  pronoun,  it  should  never  be  so  placed  that  the 
reader  will  be  liable  to  mistake  the  person  to  whom,  or  the  thing   to  which,  the  being,  action,  or 
•:i,   pertains.    Examples  of  error  :  "  This  system  will  require  along  time  to  be  executed  as  it 
should  be." — Journal ot  \.   '•  A,  1890, p.  91.     It  is  not  the  time,  that  is  to  be  execut- 

ed ;  therefore  say,  "This  system,  to  be  >  j  it  should  be,  will  require  a  longtime."    "lie 

spoke  in  a  mnnn'rr  distinct  enough  to  be  heard  by  the  whole  assembly." — Murray'*  Key,  8vo,  p.  192. 
This  implies  that  the  orator's  nmnnirw.*  hmrd !  But  the  grammarian  interprets  his  own  mean- 
ing, by  the  following  alternative:  "Or — //>•  xpnkc  distinctly  enough  f<>  >>,-  /mini  by  the  whole  as- 
sembly."— Ibid.  This  su<^rsts  that  the  man  himself  was  heard.  "  When  they  hit  upon  a  figure 
that  pleases  them,  they  arc  loth  to  part  with  it,  and  frequently  continue  it  so  long,  as  to  become 
tedious  and  intricate." — Murray's  dram.  p.  341.  Is  it  the  authors,  or  their  foure,  that  becomes 
tedious  and  intricate  ?  If  the  latter,  strike  out,  "  so  long,  as  to  become,"  and  say,  "  till  it  becomes." 
-  are  always  of  the  gr«  -'juence  to  -,  d  during  the  course  of  the  plead- 

ing."—  Blair's  Hint.  j).  27-.  The  rhetorician  here  meant:  "The  facts  stated  in  an  argument, 
are  always  those  parts  of  it,  which  it  is  most  important  that  the  hearers  should  be  made  to 
remember." 

30. — According  to  some  grammarians,  "The  Infinitive  of  the  verb  to  be,  is  often  undtr- 
s'ood;  as,  '  I  considered  it  [to  be]  necessary  to  send  the  dispatches.'  " — W. Allen's  dram.  p.  166.  In 
.  tmple,  as  in  thousands  more,  of  various  forms,  the  verb  to  be  may  be  inserted  without 
affecting  the  sense  ;  but  I  doubt  the  necessity  of  supposing  an  ellipsis  in  such  sentences.  The 
adjective  or  participle  that  follows,  always  relates  to  the  preceding  objective;  and  if  a  noun  is 
used,  it  is  but  an  other  objective  in  apposition  with  the  former :  as,  "  I  considered  it  an  imposition." 


596  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

This  verb  to  be,  with  the  perfect  participle,  forms  the  passive  infinitive ;  and  the  supposition  of 
such  an  ellipsis,  extensively  affects  one's  mode  of  parsing.  Thus,  "  He  considered  himself  in- 
sulted," "  I  will  suppose  the  work  accomplished,"  and  many  similar  sentences,  might  be  supposed 
to  contain  passive  infinitives.  Allen  says,  "  In  the  following  construction,  the  words  in  italics 
are  (elliptically)  passive  infinitives ;  I  saw  the  bird  caught,  and  the  hare  killed ;  we  heard  the  let- 
ters read." — W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  168.  Dr.  Priestley  observes,  "  There  is  aremarkable  ambiguity  in 
the  use  of  the  participle  preterite,  as  the  same  word  may  express  a  thing  either  doing,  or  done  ;  as, 
I  went  to  see  the  child  dressed." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  125.  If  the  Doctor's  participle  is  ambigu- 
ous, I  imagine  that  Allen's  infinitives  are  just  as  much  so.  "  The  participle  which  we  denomi- 
nate past,  often  means  an  action  whilst  performing  :  thus,  I  saw  the  battle  fought,  and  the  standar  d 
lowered." — Wilson's  Essay,  p.  158.  Sometimes,  especially  in  familiar  conversation,  an  infinitive 
verb  is  suppressed,  and  the  sign  of  it  retained  ;  as,  "  They  might  have  aided  us ;  they  ought  to  " 
[have  aided  us]. — Herald  of  Freedom.  "  We  have  tried  to  like  it,  but  it's  hard^o." — Lynn  News. 

OBS.  31. — After  the  verb  make,  some  writers  insert  the  verb  be,  and  suppress  the  preposition  to  ; 
as,  "  He  must  make  every  syllable,  and  even  every  letter,  in  the  word  which  he  pronounces,  be  heard 
distinctly." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  329  ;  Murray's  E.  Reader,  p.  9.  "  You  must  make  yourself  beheard 
with  pleasure  and  attention." — Duncan's  Cicero,  p.  84.  "To  make  himself  be  heard  by  all." — 
Blair's  Rhet.  p.  328.  "  To  make  ourselves  be  heard  by  one." — Ibid.  "  Clear  enough  to  make  me 
be  understood." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  198.  In  my  opinion,  it  would  be  better,  either  to  insert  the  to, 
or  to  use  the  participle  only  ;  as,  "  The  information  which  he  possessed,  made  his  company  to  be 
courted." — Dr.  M'Rie.  "  Which  will  both  show  the  importance  of  this  rule,  and  make  the  appli- 
cation of  it  to  be  understood." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  103.  Or,  as  in  these  brief  forms :  "  To  make  him- 
self heard  by  all." — "  Clear  enough  to  make  me  understood." 

OBS.  32. — In  those  languages  in  which  the  infinitive  is  distinguished  as  such  by  its  termina- 
tion, this  part  of  the  verb  may  be  used  alone  as  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb ;  but  in  English  it  is 
always  necessary  to  retain  the  sign  to  before  an  abstract  infinitive,  because  there  is  nothing  else 
to  distinguish  the  verb  from  a  noun.  Here  we  may  see  a  difference  between  our  language  and 
the  French,  although  it  has  been  shown,  that  in  their  government  of  the  infinitive  they  are  in 
some  degree  analogous  : — "  HAIR  est  un  tourment;  AJMS&estun  besoin  de  1'ame." — M.  de  Segur. 
"  To  hate  is  a  torment ;  to  love  is  a  requisite  of  the  soul."  If  from  this  any  will  argue  that  'to  is 
not  here  a  preposition,  the  same  argument  will  be  as  good,  to  prove  that^br  is  not  a  preposition 
when  it  governs  the  objective  case  ;  because  that  also  may  be  used  without  any  antecedent  term  of 
relation :  as,  "  They  are  by  no  means  points  of  equal  importance,  for  me  to  be  deprived  of  your 
affections,  and.  for  him  to  be'defeatedin  his  prosecution." — Anon,  in  W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  166.  I  said, 
the  sign  to  must  always  be  put  before  an  abstract  infinitive :  but  possibly  a  repetition  of  this  sign 
may  not  always  be  necessary,  when  several  such  infinitives  occur  in  the  same  construction:  as, 
"  But,  to  Jill  a  heart  with  joy,  restore  content  to  the  afflicted,  or  relieve  the  necessitous,  these  fill 
not  within  the  reach  of  their  five  senses." — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  66.  It  may  be  too  much  to  affirm, 
that  this  is  positively  ungrammatical ;  yet  it  would  be  as  well  or  better,  to  express  it  thus  :  "  But 
to  relieve  the  necessitous,  to  restore  content  to  the  afflicted,  and  to  fill  a  heart  with  joy,  these  fill 
not  within  the  reach  of  their  five  senses." 

OBS.  33. — In  the  use  of  the  English  infinitive,  as  well  as  of  the  participle  \ning,  the  distinction 
of  voice  is  often  disregarded ;  the  active  form  being  used  in  what,  with  respect  to  the  noun 
before  it,  is  a  passive  sense:  as,  "There's  no  time  to  ivaste." — W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  82.  "You 
are  to  blame." — Ib.  "Ihe  humming-bird  is  delightful  to  look  upon." — Ib.  "Whatpair.it 
was  to  drown." — Shak.  "  The  thing's  to  do." — Id.  "  When  deed  of  danger  was  to  do." 
— Scott.  "  The  evil  I  bring  upon  myself,  is  the  hardest  to  bear." — Home's  Art  of  Thinki-.ig, 
p.  27-  "Pride  is  worse  to  bear  than  cruelty." — Ib.  p.  37.  These  are  in  fact  active  verbs, 
and  not  passive.  We  may  suggest  agents  for  them,  if  we  please ;  as,  "  There  is  no  time 
for  us  to  waste."  That  the  simple  participle  in  ing  may  be  used  passively,  has  been  proved 


participle,  many  of  our  grammarians  are  obviously  hypercritical.  For  example  :  "  The  active 
voice  should  not  be  used  for  the  passive  ;  as,  I  have  work  to  do  ;  a  house  to  sell,  to  let,  instead  of 
to  be  done,  to  be  sold,  to  be  let." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  220.  "Active  verbs  are  often  used  improp- 
erly with  a  passive  signification,  as  '  the  house  is  building,  lodgings  to  let,  he  has  a  house  to 
sell,  nothing  is  wanting  ;  '  in  stead  of  « the  house  is  being  built,  lodgings  to  be  lett,  he  has  a  house 
to  be  sold,  nothing  is  wanted.'  " — Blair's  Gram.  p.  64.  In  punctuation,  orthography,  and  the  use 
of  capitals,  here  are  more  errors  than  it  is  worth  while  to  particularize.  With  regard  to  such 
phraseology  as,  "  The  house  is  being  built,"  see,  in  Part  II,  sundry  Observations  on  the  Com- 
pound Form  of  Conjugation.  To  say,  "  I  have  work  to  do" — "  He  has  a  house  to  sell," — or,  "  We 
have  lodgings  to  let,"  is  just  as  good  English,  as  to  say,  "  I  have  meat  to  eat." — John,  iv,  32.  And 
who,  but  some  sciolist  in  grammar,  would,  in  all  such  instances,  prefer  the  passive  voice  ? 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XVIII. 

INFINITIVES  DEMANDING  THE  PARTICLE  To. 

"William,  please  hand  me  that  pencil." — Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  12. 

[FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  infinitive  verb  hand  is  not  preceded  by  the  preposition  to.  But,  according 
to  Rule  18th,  "  The  preposition  to  governs  the  infinitive  mood,  and  commonly  connects  it  to  a  finite  verb." 
Therefore,  to  should  be  here  inserted  ;  thus,  "  William,  please  to  hand  me  that  pencil."] 

"  Please  insert  points  so  as  to  make  sense." — Davis' 's  Gram.  p.  123.  "  I  have  known  Lords 
abbreviate  almost  the  half  of  their  words." — Cobbetfs  English  Gram.  H  153.  "  We  shall  find 


CHAP.  VI.]  SYNTAX. RULE    XIX. INFINITIVES. OBSERVATIONS.  597 

the  practice  perfectly  accord  with  the  theory." — Knight,  on  the  Greek  Alphabet,  p.  23.  "  But 
it  would  tend  to  obscure,  rather  than  elucidate  the  subject." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  95. 
"Please  divide  it  for  them  as  it  should  be." — Wilktts's  Arith.  p.  193.  "So  as  neither  to 
embarrass,  nor  weaken  the  sentence." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  11G;  Murray's  Gram.  322.  "Carry 
her  to  his  table,  to  view  his  poor  fare,*  and  hear  his  heavenly  discourse." — SHERLOCK  :  Blair  s 
Rftet.  p.  157  ;  Murray's  Gram.  347.  "  That  we  need  not  be  surprised  to  find  this  hold  in  elo- 
quence."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  174.  "  Where  he  has  no  occasion  either  to  divide  or  explain." — 
Ib.  p.  305.  "And  thcv  will  find  their  pupils  improve  by  hasty  and  pleasant  steps." — Russell's 
.  Pref.  p.  4.  "  'the  teacher  however  will  please  observe,"  &c. — Infant  School  Gram.  p.  8. 
«' Please  attend  to  a  few  rules  in  what  is  called  syntax." — Ib.  p.  128.  "They  may  dispense 
with  the  laws  to  favor  their  friends,  or  secure  their  office." —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  39.  "  To  take 
back  a  gift,  or  break  a  contract,  is  a  wanton  abuse." — Ib.  p.  41.  "  The  legislature  haz  nothing 
to  do,  but  let  it  bear  its  own  price." — Ib.  p.  315.  "  He  is  not  to  form,  but  copy  characters." 
—  /;<///<V/r,  Xo.  122.  "  I  have  known  a  woman  make  use  of  ashoeing-horn." — >};«•/.  No.  536. 
•"Finding  this  experiment  answer,  in  every  respect,  their  wishes." — Sandford  and  Mcrton, 
p.  51.  "In  fine  let  him  cause  his  argument  conclude  in  the  term  of  the  question." — 
Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  iii,  p.  443. 

"  That  he  permitted  not  the  winds  of  heaven 
Visit  her  face  too  roughly." — Shakspcare,  Hamlet. 

RULE  XIX.— INFINITIVES. 

The  active  verbs,  bid,  dare,  feel,  hear,  let,  make,  need,  see,  and   their 
participles,  usually  take  the  Infinitive  after  them  without  the  preposition  to  : 
as,  "  If  he  bade  thee  depart,  how  darest  thou  stay  ?  " — "  I  dare  not  let  my 
mind  be  idle  as  I  walk  in  the  streets." — Cotton  Mather. 
"  Thy  Hector,  wrapt  in  everlasting  sleep, 
Shall  neither  hear  thee  sigh,  nor  see  thee  weep" — Pope's  Homer. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XIX. 

OBS.  1. — Respecting  the  syntax  of  the  infinitive  mood  when  the  particle  to  is  not  expressed 
before  it,  our  grammarians  are  almost  as  much  at  variance,  as  I  have  shown  them  to  be,  when 
they  find  the  particle  employed.  Concerning  verbs  governed  by  verbs,  Lindley  Murray,  and 
some  others,  are  the  most  clear  and  positive,  where  their  doctrine  is  the  most  obviously  wrong  ; 
and,  where  they  might  have  affirmed  with  truth,  that  the  former  verb  governs  the  latter,  they  only 
tell  us  that  "  the  preposition  TO  is  sometimes  properly  omitted," — or  that  such  and  such  verbs 
t>hate  commonly  other  verbs  following  them  without  the  sign  TO." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  183 ;  Alger's, 
63  ;  Allen's,  167  ;  and  others.  If  these  authors  meant,  that  the  preposition  to  is  omitted  by  ellip- 
sis, they  ought  to  have  said  so.  Then  the  many  admirers  and  remodellers  of  Murray's  Grammar 
might  at  least  have  understood  him  alike.  Then,  too,  any  proper  definition  of  ellipsis  must  have 
proved  both  them  and  him  to  be  clearly  wrong  about  this  construction  also.  If  the  word  to  is 
really  "  understood,"  whenever  it  is  omitted  after  bid,  dare,  feel,  &c.,  as  some  authors  affirm,  then 
is  it  h<jre  the  governing  word,  if  anywhere  ;  and  this  nineteenth  rule,  however  common,  is  useless 
to  the  parser.  Then,  too,  does  no  English  verb  ever  govern  the  infinitive  without  governing  also 
a  pri'jiositioH,  "  expressed  or  understood."  Whatever  is  omitted  by  ellipsis,  and  truly  "  under- 
really  belongs  to  the  grammatical  construction  ;  and  therefore,  if  inserted,  it  cannot  be 
actually  i>n/tn>p*'r,  though  it  may  be  unnecessary.  But  all  our  grammarians  admit,  that  to  before 
the  infinitive  is  sometimes  "  superfluous  and  improper." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  183.  I  imagine, 
there  cannot  be  any  proper  ellipsis  of  to  before  the  infinitive,  except  in  some  forms  of  comparison ; 
because,  wherever  else  it  is  necessary,  either  to  the  sense  or  to  the  construction,  it  ought  to  be 
inserted.  And  wherever  the  to  is  rightly  used,  it  is  properly  the  governing  word;  but  where  it 
cannot  be  inserted  without  impropriety,  it  is  absurd  to  say,  that  it  is  "  understood"  The  infini- 
tive that  is  put  after  such  a  verb  or  participle  as  excludes  the  preposition  to,  is  governed  by  this 
verb  or  participle,  if  it  is  governed  by  any  thing  :  as, 

••  '!'•)  make  them  do,  undo,  eat,  drink,  stand,  move, 

,  think,  an  i  he  chose." — Pollok,  p.  69. 

OBS.  2. — Ingersoll,  who  converts:!  Murrav's  Grammar  into  "Conversations,"  says,  "Iwilljust 
remark  to  you,  that  the  verbs  in  the  infinitive  mood,  that  follow  make,  need,  see,  bid,  dare,  feel, 
hear,  let,  aiid  their  participles,  are  always  <JOVKKNEI>  by  them." — Conv.  on  Eng.  Gram.  p.  120. 
Kirkham,  who  pretended  to  turn  the  same  book  into  "Famili/ir  Lectures,"  says,  "To,  the  sign  of 
the  infinitive  mood,  is  often  understood  before  the  verb;  as,  '  Let  me  proceed;'  that  is,  Let  me 
to  proceed." — drntn.  it  p.  137.  The  lecturer,  however,  does  not  suppose  the  infinitive 

to  be  here  governed  by  the  preposition  to.  or  by  the  verb  let,  but  rather  by  the  pronoun  me.  For, 
in  an  other  place,  he  avers,  that  the  infinitive  may  be  governed  by  a  noun  or  a  pronoun  ;  as,  "  Let 
him  (fa  it." — Ib.  p.  187-  Now  if  the  government  of  the  infinitive  is  to  be  referred  to  the  objective 
noun  or  pronoun  that  intervenes,  none  of  those  verbs  that  take  the  infinitive  after  them  without 
the  preposition,  will  usually  be  found  to  govern  it,  except  dare  and  need ;  and  if  need,  in  such  a 

*  After  the  word  "/ore,"  Murray  put  a  semicolon,  which  shows  that  he  misunderstood  the  mood  of  the  verb 
"  hfnr.''1  It  in  not  always  necessary  to  repeat  the  particle  to,  when  two  or  more  infinitives  are  connected  ;  and 
this  fact  Is  an  other  good  argument  against  calling  the  preposition  to  "  a  part  of  the  verb."  But  in  this  example, 
and  some  others  hero  exhibited,  the  repetition  id  requisite. — G.  B. 


598  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

case,  is  an  auxiliary,  no  government  pertains  to  that.  R.  C.  Smith,  an  other  modifier  of  Murray, 
having  the  same  false  notion  of  ellipsis,  says,  "Tb,  the  usual  sign  of  this  mood,  is  sometimes  un- 
derstood ;  as.  '  Let  me  go,'  instead  of,  '  Let  me  to  go.'  " — Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  65.  According  to 
Murray,  whom  these  men  profess  to  follow,  let,  in  all  these  examples,  is  an  auxiliary,  and  the 
verb  that  follows  it,  is  not  in  the  infinitive  mood,  but  in  the  imperative.  So  they  severally  contra- 
dict their  oracle,  and  all  are  wrong,  both  he  and  they  !  The  disciples  pretend  to  correct  thoir 
master,  by  supposing  "Let  me  to  go,"  and  "Let  me  to  proceed,"  good  English  ! 

OBS.  3. — It  is  often  impossible  to  say  by  ichat  the  infinitive  is  governed,  according  to  the  instruc- 
tions of  Murray,  or  according  to  any  author  who  does  not  parse  it  as  I  do.  Nutting  says,  "  Tie 
infinitive  mode  sometimes  follows  the  comparative  conjunctions,  as,  than,  and  how,  WITHOUT 
GOVERNMENT." — Practical  Gram.  p.  106.  Murray's  uncertainty*  may  have  led  to  some  part  of 
this  notion,  but  the  idea  that  how  is  a  "  comparative  conjunction,"  is  a  blunder  entirely  new. 
Kirkham  is  so  puzzled  by  "  the  language  of  that  eminent  philologist,"  that  he  bolts  outright 
from  the  course  of  his  guide,  and  runs  he  knows  not  whither  ;  feigning  that  other  able  writers 
have  well  contended,  "that  this  mood  is  NOT  GOVERNED  by  any  particular  word."  Accordingly 
he  leaves  his  pupils  at  liberty  to  "  reject  the  idea  of  government,  as  applied  to  the  verb  in  this 
mood ;  "  and  even  frames  a  rule  which  refers  it  always  "  to  some  noun  or  pronoun,  as  its  subject 
or  actor." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  188.  Murray  teaches,  that  the  object  of  the  active  verb  some- 
times governs  the  infinitive  that  follows  it ;  as,  "  They  have  a  desire  to  improve." — Octavo  Gram. 
p.  184.  To  what  extent,  in  practice,  he  would  carry  this  doctrine,  nobody  can  tell ;  probably  to 
every  sentence  in  which  this  object  is  the  antecedent  term  to  the  preposition  to,  and  perhaps 
further  :  as,  "  I  have  a  house  to  sell." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  106.  "  I  feel  a  desire  to  excel."  "  I 
felt  my  heart  within  me  die." — Merrick. 

OBS.  4.— rNutting  supposes,  that  the  objective  case  before  the  infinitive  always  governs  it  wher- 
ever it  denotes  the  agent  of  the  infinitive  action ;  as,  "  He  commands  me  to  write  a  letter."— 
Practical  Gram.  p.  96.  Nixon,  on  the  contrary,  contends,  that  the  finite  verb,  in  such  a  sentence, 

objective  case  preced- 
)t  governed  by  the  preceding 
"  In  the  examples,  '  He  is 
endeavouring  to  persuade  them  to  learn,' — 'It  is  pleasant  to  see  the  sun,' — the  pronoun  them,  the 
adjective  pleasant,  and  the  participle  endeavouring,  I  consider  as  governing  the  following  verb  in 
the  infinitive  mode." — Cooper's  Plain  and  Pract.  Gram.  p.  144.  "  Some  erroneously  say  that 
pronouns  govern  the  infinitive  mode  in  such  examples  as  this  :  '  I  expected  him  to  be  present.' 
We  will  change  the  expression  :  '  He  was  expected  to  be  present.'  All  will  admit  that  to  be  is 
governed  by  was  expected.  The  same  verb  that  governs  it  in  the  passive  voice,  governs  it  in  the  ac- 
tive."— Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  144.  So  do  our  professed  grammarians  differ  about  the  government  of 
the  infinitive,  even  in  the  most  common  constructions  of  it !  .Often,  however,  it  makes  but  little 
difference  in  regard  to  the  sense,  which  of  the  two  words  is  considered  the  governing  or  ante- 
cedent term;  but  where  the  preposition  is  excluded,  the  construction  seems  to  imply  some  im- 
mediate influence  of  the  finite  verb  upon  the  infinitive. 

OBS.  5. — The  extent  of  this  influence,  or  of  such  government,  has  never  yet  been  clearly  deter- 
mined. "  This  irregularity"  says  Murray,  "  extends  only  to  active  or  neuter  verbs  :  ['  active  and 
neuter  verbs,'  says  Fisk :]  for  all  the  verbs  above  mentioned,  when  made  passive,  require  the  preposi- 
tion to  before  the  following  verb  :  as,  '  He  was  seen  to  go  ; '  '  He  was  heard  to  speak ; '  '  They  were 
bidden  to  be  upon  their  guard.'  " — Murray's  Gram.  p.  183.  Fisk  adds,  with  no  great  accuracy, 
"  In  the  past  and.  future  tenses  of  the  active  voice  also,  these  verbs  generally  require  the  sign,  to, 
to  be  prefixed  to  the  following  verbs ;  as,  '  You  have  dared  to  proceed  without  authority  ; '  '  They 
will  not  dare  to  attack  you.'  "—Gram.  Simplified,  p.  125.  What  these  gentlemen  here  call  "  neuter 
verbs"  are  only  the  two  words  dare  and  need,  which  are,  in  most  cases,  active,  though  not  always 
transitive ;  unless  the  infinitive  itself  can  make  them  so — an  inconsistent  doctrine  of  theirs 
which  I  have  elsewhere  refuted.  (See  Obs.  3rd  on  Rule  5th.)  These  two  verbs  take  the  infinitive 
after  them  without  the  preposition,  only  when  they  are  intransitive  ;  while  all  the  rest  seem  to 
have  this  power,  only  when  they  are  transitive.  If  there  are  any  exceptions,  they  shall  presently 


relishing  the  latter  example,  changes  it  thus  :  "  I  wish  nothing  more,  than  to  knoic  his  fate."  He  puts  a  comma 
after  more,  and  probably  means,  "  I  wish  nothing  else  than  to  know  his  fate."  So  does  Fisk,  in  the  other  version  ; 
and  probably  means,  "  He  desired  nothing  else  than  to  know  his  own  imperfections."  But  Murray,  Alger,  and 
Weld,  accord  in  punctuation,  and  their  meaning  seems  rather  to  be,  "  He  desired  nothing  more  heartily  than 
[he  desired]  to  know  his  own  imperfections."  And  so  is  this  or  a  similar  text  interpreted  by  both  Ingersoll  and 
Weld,  who  suppose  this  infinitive  to  be  " governed  by  another  verb,  understood :  as,  'He  desired  nothing  more 
than  to  see  his  friends  ; '  that  is,  '  than  he  desired  to  see,'  &c."— IngersoWs  Gram.  p.  244  ;  Weld's,  Abridged,  124. 
But,  obvious  as  is  the  ambiguity  of  this  fictitious  example,  in  all  its  forms,  not  one  of  these  five  critics  perceived 
the  fault  at  all.  Again,  in  their  remark  above  cited,  Ingersoll,  Fisk,  and  Merchant,  put  a  comma  before  the 
preposition  "  after,''1  and  thus  make  the  phrase,  "  after  a  comparison,"  describe  the  place  of  the  infinitive.  Bnt 
Murray  and  Alger  probably  meant  that  this  phrase  should  denote  the  place  of  the  conjunction  u  than."  The 
great  "  Compiler  "  seems  to  me  to  have  misused  the  phrase  "  a  comparison,"  for,  "  an  adjective  or  adverb  of  the 
comparative  degree; "  and  the  rest,  I  suppose,  have  blindly  copied  him,  without  thinking  or  knowing  what  he 
ought  to  have  said,  or  meant  to  say.  Either  this,  or  a  worse  error,  is  here  apparent.  Five  learned  grammarians 
severally  represent  either  "than"  or  "the  infinitive,"  as  being  "AFTER  a  comparison;"  of  which  one  is  the 
copula,  and  the  other  but  the  beginning  of  the  latter  term !  Palpable  as  is  the  absurdity,  no  one  of  the  five 
perceives  it !  And,  besides,  no  one  of  them  says  any  thing  about  the  government  of  this  infinitive,  except 
Ingersoll,  and  he  supplies  a  verb.  "Than  and  as,"  says  Greenleaf,  "sometimes  appear  to  govern  the  infinitive 
mood;  as,  'Nothing  makes  a  man  suspect  much  more,  than  to  know  little  ; '  «  An  object  so  high  as  to  be  invis- 
ible.' " — Gram.  Simp.  p.  38.  Here  is  an  other  fictitious  and  ambiguous  example,  in  which  the  phrase,  "  to  know 
little,"  is  the  subject  of  makes  understood.  Nixon  supposes  the  infinitive  phrase  after  as  to  be  always  the  subject 
of  a  finite  verb  understood  after  it :  as,  "Au  object  so  high  as  to  be  invisible  is,  or  implies."  See  English 
Parser,  p.  100. 


CHAP.    VI.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XIX. — INFINITIVES. — OBSERVATIONS.  599 

be  considered.     A  more  particular  examination  of  the  construction  proper  for  the  infinitive  after 
each  of  these  eight  verbs,  seems  necessary  for  a  right  understanding  of  the  rule. 

OBS.  6. — Of  the  verb  BID.  This  verb,  m  any  of  its  tenses,  when  it  commands  an  action,  usually 
governs  an  object  and  also  an  infinitive,  which  come  together;  as,  "Thou  bid-tit  the  world  adore." 
—Thomson,  "  If  the  prophet  had  bidthee  do  some  great  thing." — 2  Kings,  v,  13.  But  when  it 
means,  to  promise  or  offer,  the  infinitive  that  follows,  must  be  introduced  bv  the  preposition  to  ; 
as,  "  He  bids  fair  to  excel  them  all." — "  Perhaps  no  person  under  heaven  bids  more  unlikely  to  be 
saved." — Br<m-nx  Dirinity,  p.  vii.  "And  each  bade  high  to  win  him." — GRANVILLE:  Joh.  Dirt. 
After  the  compound  forbid,  the  preposition  is  also  necessary  ;  as,  "  Where  honeysuckles  forbid 
the  sun  to  enter." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  57.  In  poetry,  if  the  measure  happens  to  require 'it,  the 
word  to  is  sometimes  allowed  'after  the  simple  verb  bid,  denoting  a  command  ;  as, 
"Jtid  me  to  strike  my  dearest  brother  dead, 
To  bring  my  aged  father's  hoary  head." — Roire's  Lucan,  B.  i,  1.  677. 

Ons.  7- — Of  the  verb  DARE.  This  verb,  when  used  intransitively,  and  its  irregular  preterit 
(hirst,  which  is  never  transitive,  usually  take  the  infinitive  after  them  without  to ;  as,  "  I  dare  do 
all  that  may  become  a  man  :  Who  dares  do  more,  is  none." — Shakspeare.  "  If  he  durst  steal  any 
thing  adventurously." — Id.  "  Who  durst  defy  th' Omnipotent  to  arms." — Milton.  "  Like  one 
who  durst  his  destiny  control." — Dryden.  In  these  examples,  the  former  verbs  have  some  resem- 
blance to  auxiliaries,  and  the  insertion  of  the  preposition  to  would  be  improper.  But  when  we 
take  away  this  resemblance,  by  giving  dare  or  dared  an  objective  case,  the  preposition  is  requisite 
before  the  infinitive  ;  as.  "  Time  !  I  dare  thee  to  discover  Such  a  youth  or  such  a  lover." — Dryden. 
"  He  dares  me  to  enter  the  lists." — Fish's  Gram.  p.  125.  So  when  dare  itself  is  in  the  infinitive 
mood,  or  is  put  after  an  auxiliary,  the  preposition  is  not  improper  ;  as,  "And  let  a  private  man 
dare  to  say  that  it  will." — Brwcris  Estimate,  ii,  147.  "  Would  its  compiler  dare  to  affront  the 
Deity?" — West's  Letters,  p.  151.  "What  pow'r  so  great,  to  dare  to  disobey  f" — Pope's  Homer. 
"SometoowW  even  dare  to  die." — Bible.  "What  would  dare  to  molest  him?" — Dr.  Johnson. 
"Do  you  dare  to  prosecute  such  a  creature  as  Vaughan  ?  " — Jitnius,  Let.  xxxiii.  Perhaps  these  ex- 
amples might  be  considered  good  English,  either  with  or  without  the  to ;  but  the  last  one  would  be 
still  better  thus  :  "Dare  you  prosecute  such  a  creature  as  Vaughan  ?  "  Dr.  Priestley  thinks  the 
following  sentence  would  have  been  better  with  the  preposition  inserted  :  "  Who  have  dared  defy 
the  worst." — HARRIS  :  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  132.  To  is  sometimes  used  after  the  simple  verb,  in 
the  present  tense  ;  as,  "  Those  whose  words  no  one  daresto  repeat." — Opie,  on  Lying,  p.  147. 
"Dare,  I  to  leave  of  humble  prose  the  shore  ?  " — Young,  p.  377. 
"Against  heaven's  endless  mercies  pour'd,  how  dar'st  thou  to  rebel  ?  " — Id.  p.  380. 
"  The  man  who  dares  to  be  a  wretch,  deserves  still  greater  pain." — Id.  p.  381. 

Ous.  8. — Of  the  verb  FEEL.  This  verb,  in  any  of  its  tenses,  mav  govern  the  infinitive  without 
the  sign  to ;  but  it  does  this,  only  when  it  is  used  transitively,  and  that  in  regard  to  a  bodily  per- 
i :  as,  "  I  feel  it  more." — ""  I  frit  something  sting  me.""  If  we  speak  of  feeling  any  mental 
affection,  or  if  we  use  the  verb  intransitively,  the  infinitive  that  follows,  requires  the  preposition; 
as,  "  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty."—"  I  felt  ashamed  to  ask."—"  I  feel  afraid  to  go  alone."—"  I  felt 
about,  ~to  find  the  door."  One  may  say  of  what  is  painful  to  the  body,  "  I  feel  it  to  be  severe.' 

Ons.9. — Of  the  verb  HEAR.  This  verb  is  often  intransitive,  but"  it  is  usually  followed  bv  an 
objective  case  when  it  governs  the  infinitive  ;  as,  "  To  hear  a  bird  sing." — Webster.  •*  You  have 
never  heard  me  say  so."  For  this  reason,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  those  sentences  in  which 
it  appears  to  govern  the  infinitive  alone,  are  elliptical ;  as,  "I  have  heard  tell  of  such  things."— 
"And  I  hare  heard  say  of  thee,  that  thou  canst  understand  a  dream  to  interpret  it." — Gen.  xli,  15. 
Such  examples  may  be  the  same  as,  "  I  have  hear  &  people  tell," — "  I  have  heard  men  say,"  &c. 

.   10. — Of  the  verb  LET.     By  many  grammarians,  this  verb  has  been  erroneously  called  an 

uuj-i/iary  of  the  mood;  or,  as  Dr.  Johnson  terms  it,  "a. sign  of  the  optative  mood;  " 

though  none  deny,  that  it  is  sometimes  also  a  principal  verb.     It  is,  in  fact,  always  a  principal 

•ve  now  apply  it,  it  is  always  transitive.     It  commonlv  governs  an  objective  noun 

or  pronoun,  and  also  an  infinitive  without  the  sign  to  ;  as,  "Rise  up,  let  us  go." — Mark.     "  Thou 

shalt  let  it  rest." — Exodus.     But  sometimes  the  infinitive  coalesces  with  it  more  nearly  than  the 

objective,  so  that  the  latter  is  phu-ed  after  both  verbs  ;  as,  "  The  solution  lets  go  the  mercury." — 

it.     "  One  lets  .slip  out  of  his  account  a  good  part  of  that  duration." — Locke.     "  Back  !  on 

your  lives  ;  ///  !><>,  said  he,  my  prey." — Dryden.     The  phrase,  let  go,  is  sometimes  spoken  for,  let  go 

your  hold;  and  let  be,  for  let  him  "be.  I,  f  ?Ar,  (Vc.     In  such  instances,  therefore,  the  verb  let  is  not 

really  intransitive.     This  verb,  even  in  the  passive  form,  may  have  the  infinitive  after  it  without 

the  preposition  to;  as,  "  Nothing  is  let  slip."— Walker's  English  Particles,  p.  165.     "  They  were 

.  xv,  33.     "The  staire  was  never  empty,  nor  the  curtain  let  fall." — Blair's 

lihit.  p.  15 :).     "  The  pye's  question  wa-  f'tll  without  a  replv." — UEttranoe.     With  re- 


•    let  is  now  obsolete. 

11. — Of  tin-  vc-rl)  MAKE.  This  verb,  like  most  of  the  others,  never  immediately  governs 
nn  infinitive,  unless  it  al<o  uo%'-rns  a  noun  or  a  pronoun  which  is  the  immediate  subject  of  such 
infinitive  ;  as,  "  You  //m/,v  >,>e  >>hislt." — "  This  only  made  the  youngster  laugh." — ' :  'ling- 

Book.  "  Which  soon  made  the  young  chap  hasten  down." — Ib.  'But  in  very  many  instances  it  is 
quite  proper  to  insert  the  preposition  where  this  verb  is  transitive ;  a>,  "  He  waketh  both  the  deaf 
to  hear,  and  the  dumb  tn  speak." — Mark,  vii.  .",7.  "  He  makes  the  excellency  of  a  sentence  to 
consist  in  four  things." — It/air'.?  R/iet.  p.  122;  Jam  the  observ- 

ance of  the  dramatic  unities  to  be  of  consequence." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  464.      "  In  making  some 
of  the  English  verb  to  consist  of  principal  and  auxiliary." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  76.     When 
make  is  intransitive,  it  has  some  qualifying  word  after  it,  besides  the  sign  of  the  infinitive ;  as, 
"  I  think  he  trill  make  out  (o  pay  his  debts."     Formerly,  the  preposition  to  was  almost  always  in- 


PART   III. 


600  THE  GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [ 

serted  to  govern  the  infinitive  after  make  or  made ;  as,  "  Lest  I  make  my  brother  to  offend." — 1  Cor. 
viii,  13.  "  He  made  many  to  fall." — Jer.  xlvi,  16.  Yet,  in  the  following  text,  it  is  omitted,  even 
where  the  verb  is  meant  to  be  passive :  "And  it  was  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  and  made  stand  upon 
the  feet  as  a  man." — Dan.  vii,  4.  This  construction  is  improper,  and  not  free  from  ambiguity  ; 
because  stand  may  be  a  noun,  and  made,  an  active  verb  governing  it.  There  may  also  be  uncer- 
tainty in  the  meaning,  where  the  insertion  of  the  preposition  leaves  none  in  the  construction ; 
for  made  may  signify  either  created  or  compelled,  and  the  infinitive  after  it,  may  denote  either  the 
purpose  of  creation,  or  the  effect  of  any  temporary  compulsion  :  as,  "We  are  made  to  be  servicea- 
ble to  others." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  167.  "  Man  ivas  made  to  mourn." — Burns.  "  Taste  was 
never  made  to  cater  for  vanity." — Blair.  The  primitive  wovd  make  seldom,  if  ever,  produces  a  con- 
struction that  is  thus  equivocal.  The  infinitive  following  it  without  to,  always  denotes  the  effect 
of  the  making,  and  not  the  purpose  of  the  maker.  But  the  same  meaning  may  be  conveyed 
when  the  to  is  used ;  as, 

"  The  fear  of  God  is  freedom,  joy,  and  peace ; 
And  makes  all  ills  that  vex  us  here  to  cease." — Waller,  p.  56. 

OBS.  12. — Of  the  verb  NEED.  I  incline  to  think,  that  the  word  need,  whenever  it  is  rightly  fol- 
lowed by  the  infinitive  without  to,  is,  in  reality,  an  auxiliary  of  the  potential  mood ;  and  that, 
like  may,  can,  and  must,  it  may  properly  be  used,  in  both  the  present  and  the  perfect  tense,  with- 
out personal  inflection  :  as,  "  He  need  not  go,  He  need  not  have  gone ;  "  where,  if  need  is  a  princi- 
pal verb,  and  governs  the  infinitive  without  to,  the  expressions  must  be,  "  He  needs  not  go,  He 
needed  not  go,  or,  He  has  not  needed  go."  But  none  of  these  three  forms  is  agreeable  ;  and  the 
last  two  are  never  used.  Wherefore,  in  stead  of  placing  in  my  code  of  false  syntax  the  numer- 
ous examples  of  the  former  kind,  with  which  the  style  of  our  grammarians  arid  critics  has  fur- 
nished me,  I  have  exhibited  many  of  them,  in  contrast  with  others,  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  ob- 
servations on  the  Conjugation  of  Verbs  ;  in  which  observations,  the  reader  may  see  what  reasons 
there  are  for  supposing  the  word  need  to  be  sometimes  an  auxiliary  and  sometimes  a  principal 
verb.  Because  no  other  author  has  yet  intentionally  recognized  the  propriety  of  this  distinction, 
I  have  gone  no  farther  than  to  show  on  what  grounds,  and  with  what  authority  from  usage,  it 
might  be  acknowledged.  If  we  adopt  this  distinction,  perhaps  it  will  be  found  that  the  regular 
or  principal  verb  need  always  requires,  or,  at  least,  always  admits,  the  preposition  to  before  the  fol- 
lowing infinitive  ;  as,  "They  need  not  to  be  specially  indicated." — Adams's  Rhet.  i,  302.  "We 
need  only  to  remark." — Ib.  ii,  224.  "A  young  man  needed  only  to  ask  himself,"  &c. — Ib.  i,  117. 
"  Nor  is  it  conceivable  to  me,  that  the  lightning  of  a  Demosthenes  could  need  to  be  sped  upon  the 
wings  of  a  semiquaver." — Ib.  ii,  226.  "  But  these  people  need  to  be  informed." — Campbell's  Rhet. 
p.  220.  "  No  man  needed  less  to  be  informed." — Ib.  p.  175.  "  We  need  only  to  mention  the  diffi- 
culty that  arises." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  362.  "CVm  there  need  to  be  argument  to  prove  so  plain 
a  point?" — Graham's  Lect.  "  Moral  instruction  needs  to  have  a  more  prominent  place." — Dr. 
Weeks.  "  Pride,  ambition,  and  selfishness,  need  to  be  restrained." — Id.  "Articles  are  sometimes 
omitted,  where  they  need  to  be  used." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  197.  "  Whose  power  needs  not  to  bj 
dreaded." — Wilson's  Hebrew  Gram.  p.  93.  "A  workman  that  needcth  not  to  be  ashamed." — 2  Tim. 
ii,  15.  "  The  small  boys  may  have  needed  to  be  managed  according  to  the  school  system." — T.  L. 
Woolsey.  "  The  difficulty  of  making  variety  consistent,  needs  not  to  disturb  him." — Rambler, 
No.  122.  "A  more  cogent  proof  needs  not  to  be  introduced." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  66.  "  No  per- 
son needs  to  be  informed,  that  you  is  used  in  addressing  a  single  person." — Wilcox's  Gram.  p.  19. 
"  I  hope  I  need  not  to  advise  you  further."— Shak.,  All's  Well. 
"  Nor  me,  nor  other  god,  thou  needst  to  fear, 
For  thou  to  all  the  heavenly  host  art  dear." — Congreve. 

OBS.  13. — If  need  is  ever  an  auxiliary,  the  essential  difference  between  an  auxiliary  and  a  prin- 
cipal verb,  will  very  well  account  for  the  otherwise  puzzling  facts,  that  good  wi'iters  sometimes 
inflect  this  verb,  and  sometimes  do  not ;  and  that  they  sometimes  use  to,  after  it,  and  sometimes 
do  not.  Nor  do  I  see  in  what  other  way  a  grammarian  can  treat  it,  without  condemning  as  bad 
English  a  great  number  of  very  common  phrases  which  he  cannot  change  for  the  better.  On  this 
principle,  such  examples  as,  "He  need  not  proceed,"  and  "  He  needs  not  to  proceed,"  may  bo 
perfectly  right  in  either  form;  though  Murray,  Crombie,*  Fisk,  Ingersoll.  Smith,  C.  Adams,  and 
many  others,  pronounce  both  these  forms  to  be  wrong;  and  unanimously,  (though  contrary  to 
what  is  perhaps  the  best  usage,)  prefer,  '•  He  needs  not  proceed." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  180. 

OBS.  14. — On  questions  of  grammar,  the  practice  of  authors  ought  to  be  of  more  weight,  than 
the  dogmatism  of  grammarians ;  but  it  is  often  difficult  to  decide  well  by  either;  because  errors 
and  contradictions  abound  in  both.  For  example  :  Dr.  Blair  says,  (in  speaking  of  the  persons 
represented  by  /  and  thou,}  "  Their  sex  needs  not  be  marked." — Rhet.  p.  79.  Jamieson  abridges 
the  work,  and  says,  "needs  not  to  be  marked." — Gram,  of  Rhet.  p.  28.  Dr.  Lowth  also  says, 
"  needs  not  be  marked." — Gram,  p  21.  Churchill  enlarges  the  work,  and  says,  "  needs  not  to  be 
marked." — New  Gram.  p.  72.  Lindley  Murray  copies  Lowth,  and  says,  "needs  not  be  marked." 

*  Dr.  Crombie,  after  copying  the  substance  of  Campbell's  second  Canon,  that,  "  In  doubtful  cases  analogy 
should  be  regarded,"  remarks  :  "  For  the  same  reason,  '•it  needs  '  and  '  he  dares,"*  are  better  than  '  he,  need '  and 
'•he  dare."1" — On  Etym.  and  Synt.  p.  826.  Dr.  Campbell's  language  is  somewhat  stronger:  '-In  the  verbs  to 
dare  and  to  need,  many  say,  in  the  third  person  present  singular,  dare  and  need,  as,  '  he  need  not  go  ;  he  dnre 
not  do  it.'  Others  say,  dares  and  needs.  As  the  first  usage  is  exceedingly  irregular,  hardly  any  thing  less  than 
uniform  practice  could  authorize  it." — Philosophy  of  Rhet.  p.  175.  Dare  for  dares  I  suppose  to  be  wrong  ;  but  if 
need  is  an  auxiliary  of  the  potential  mood,  to  use  it  without  inflection,  is  neither  "irregular,"  nor  at  all  incon- 
sistent with  the  foregoing  canon.  But  the  former  critic  notices  these  verbs  a  second  time,  thus  :  "  '  He  dare 
not,'  '  he  need  not,'  may  be  justly  pronounced  solecisms,  for  'he  dares,'  'he  needs.'1  " — Crombie,  on  Etym.  and 
Synt.  p.  378.  He  also  says,  "The  verbs  bid,  dare,  need,  make,  see,  hear, feel,  let,  are  not  followed  by  the  sign  of 
the  infinitive  :' — Ib.  p.  277.  And  yet  he  writes  thus  :  "  These  are  truths,  of  which,  I  am  persuaded,  the  author, 
to  whom  I  allude,  needs  not  to  be  reminded." — Ib.  p.  123.  So  Dr.  Bullions  declares  against  need  in  the  singular, 
by  putting  down  the  following  example  as  bad  English  :  "  He  need  not  be  in  so  much  haste." — Bullion^s  E. 
Gram.  p.  134.  Yet  he  himself  writes  thus  :  '•  A  name  more  appropriate  than  the  term  neuter,  need  not  be 
desired."— Ib.  p.  196.  A  school-boy  may  see  the  inconsistency  of  this. 


CIIAF.  VI.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XIX. INFINITIVES.— OBSERVATIONS.  601 

—Gram.  12mo,  2d  Ed.,  p.  39;  23d  Ed.,  p.  51;  and  perhaps  all  other  editions.  He  afterwards 
enlarges  his  own  work,  and  says,  "  needs  not  to  be  marked." — Octaro  Gram.  p.  51.  But,  accord- 
ing to  Greenleaf  they  all  express  the  idea  ungrammatically ;  the  only  true  form  being,  "  Their 
sex  need  not  be  marked."  See  Gram.  Simplified,  p.  48.  In  the  two  places  in  which  the  etymology 
and  the  syntax  of  this  verb  are  examined,  I  have  cited  from  proper  sources  more  than  twenty 
examples  in  which  to  is  used  after  it,  and  more  than  twenty  others  in  which  the  verb  is  not 
inflected  in  the  third  person  singular.  In  the  latter,  need  is  treated  as  an  auxiliary  ;  in  the  former, 
it  is  a  principal  verb,  of  the  regular  construction.  If  the  principal  verb  need  can  also  govern  the 
infinitive  without  to,  as  all  our  grammarians  have  supposed,  then  there  is  a  third  form  which  is 
unobjectionable,  and  my  pupils  may  take  their  choice  of  the  three.  But  still  there  is  a  fourth 
form  which  nobody  approves,  though  the  hands  of  some  great  men  have  furnished  us  with  exam- 
ples of  it :  as,  "A  figure  of  thought  need  not  to  detort  the  words  from  their  literal  sense." — /.  Q. 
-'*  Lectures,  Vol.  ii,  p.  254.  "  Which  a  man  need  only  to  appeal  to  his  own  feelings  imme- 
diately to  evince." — Clarkson's  Prize-Essay  on  Slavery,  p.  106. 

OBS.  15. — Webster  and  Greenleaf  seem  inclined  to  justify  the  use  of  dare,  as  well  as  of  need, 
for  the  third  person  singular.  Their  doctrine  is  this :  "  In  popular  practice  it  is  used  in  the  third 
person,  without  the  personal  termination.  Thus,  instead  of  saying,  '  He  dares  not  do  it ; '  WE 
Vy  say,  '  He  dare  not  do  it.'  In  like  manner,  need,  when  an  active  verb,  is  regular  in  its 
inflections ;  as,  'A  man  needs  more  prudence.'  But  when  intransitive,  it  drops  the  personal  termi- 
nations in  the  present  tense,  and  is  followed  by  a  verb  without  the  prefix  to ;  as,  'A  man  need  not 
be  uneasy.'" — Greenleaf ''s  Grammar  Simplified,  p.  38;  Webster's  Philosophical  Gram.  178; 
Improved  Gram.  127.  Each  part  of  this  explanation  appears  to  me  erroneous.  In  popular  prac- 
tice, one  shall  oftener  hear,  "  He  dares  n't  do  it,"  or  even,  "You  dares  n't  doit,"  than,  "Hedarenot 
do  it."  But  it  is  only  in  the  trained  practice  of  the  schools,  that  he  shall  ever  hear,  "  He 
needs  n't  do  it,"  or,  "He  needs  not  do  it."  If  need  is  sometimes  used  without  inflection,  this 
peculiarity,  or  the  disuse  of  to  before  the  subsequent  infinitive,  is  not  a  necessary  result  of  its 
"  intransitive  "  character.  And  as  to  their  latent  nominative,  "  whereof  there  is  no  account,"  or, 
"whereof  there  needs  no  account;"  their  fact,  of  which  "there  is  no  evidence"  or  of  which 
"  there  needs  no  evidence  ;  "  I  judge  it  a  remarkable  phenomenon,  that  authors  of  so  high  preten- 
sions, could  find,  in  these  transpositions,  a  nominative  to  "  is,"  but  none  to  "needs!"  See  a 
marginal  note  under  Rule  14th,  at  p.  546. 

Ous.  16. — Of  the  verb  SEE.  This  verb,  whenever  it  governs  the  infinitive  without  to,  governs 
also  an  objective  noun  or  pronoun;  as,  "See  me  do  it." — "I  sate  him  do  it." — Murray.  When- 
over  it  is  intransitive,  the  following  infinitive  must  be  governed  by  to  ;  as,  "I  will  see  to  have  it 
done." — Comly's  Gram.  p.  98;  Greenleaf 's,  38.  "  How  could  he  see  to  do  them  ?  " — Beauties  of 
Xftak.  p.  43.  In  the  following  text,  see  is  transitive,  and  governs  the  infinitive  ;  but  the  two  verbs 
are  put  so  far  apart,  that  it  requires  some  skill  in  the  reader  to  make  their  relation  apparent: 
"  When  ye  therefore  shall  see  the  abomination  of  desolation,  spoken  of  by  Daniel  the  prophet, 
stand  in  the  holy  place,"  etc. — Matt,  xxiv,  15.  An  other  scripturist  uses  the  participle,  and  says — 
"standing  where  it  ought  not,"  ifcc. — Mark,  xiii,  14.  The  Greek  word  is  the  same  in  both  ;  it  is 
a  participle,  agreeing  with  the  noun  for  abomination.  Sometimes  the  preposition  to  seems  to  be 

1    ittea  on  purpose  to  protract  the  expression:  as, 

"  Tranio,  I  saic  her  coral  lips  to  move, 
And  with  her  breath  she  did  perfume  the  air." — Shak. 

OBS.  17. — A  few  other  verb?,  besides  the  eight  which  are  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  rule  and 
remarks,  sometimes  have  the  infinitive  after  them  without  to.     W.  Allen  teaches,  that,  "  The  sign 
"rally  omitted,"  not  only  after  these  eight,  but  also  after  eight  others  ;  namely,  "Ji-nd,  hare, 
•nteh,  and  the  old  preterit  (/an,  for  began ;  and  sometimes  after  behold 

and  kt«i»-." — I'J.i-mi  ntv  of  Gram.  p.  167.  Perhaps  he  may  have  found  some  instances  of  the  omis- 
sion of  the  preposition  after  all  these,  but  in  my  opinion  his  rule  gives  a  very  unwarrantable 
on  to  this  "  irregularity,"  as  Murray  calls  it.  The  usage  belongs  only  to  particular  verbs, 
and  to  them  not  in  all  their  applications.  Other  verbs  of  the  same  import  do  not  in  general 
admit  the  same  idiom.  But,  by  a  license  for  the  most  part  peculiar  to  the  poets,  the  preposition 
to  is  occasionally  omitted,  especially  after  verbs  equivalent  to  those  which  exclude  it ;  as,  "And 
force  them  sit." — <  ;"/.v/t,  p.  46.  That  is,  "And  make  them  sit."  According  lo  Churchill, 

"  To  use  ouqht  or  cause  in  this  manner,  is  a  Scotticism  :  [as,]  '  Won't  you  cause  them  remove  the 
hares?' — '  You  owjht  not  walk.'     SHAK." — \<v  dram.  p.  317.     The  verbs,  behold,  n 


tnark,  watch,  and  spy,  are  only  other  words  for  see ;  as,  "  There  niiijht  you  behold  one  joy  <  r<ncn 
an  other." — Shak.     "  There  \  y  the  silver  stream  ylidc  silently  towards  the  tempestuous 

sea." — \\~nltun.     "  tan  as  ligh'tning  fall  from  heaven." — Luke,  x,  18. 

4*Thv  flrmvcv  nnra*»  VintVi   a  worn    uVio  A\r\   fVirnn 


v  nurse  hath  sworn  she  did  them  spy 
Come  tripping  to  the  room  where  thou  didst  lie." — Milton. 

"  Nor  with  less  dread  the  loud 

Ethereal  trumpet  from  on  high  'yan  blow." — Id.  P.  L.,  vi,  60. 


18. — Aft«-r  httrc,  help,  and./rW,  the  infinitive  sometimes  occurs  without  the  preposition 
tO(  bat  much  oftener  with   it;  as,    "  Win  n   enumerating   ol.jccts   which  we  wi-li   to  hart- 
distinct." — Kir/./  "  Certainly,  it  is  heaven  upon  earth,  to  hai-,-  a  man's  mind 

.:i  charity,  re*t  in   Providence,  and  turn  upon  the   poles  of  truth." — Ld.  Bacon.     "What 
wilt  thou  hare  me  to  do  ?  " —  !>,'>,  ix,  G.     "He  will  hurt-  us  to  acknowledge  him." — S<-ow/ril,  p. 


then  ?  "  he  would  doubtless  have  said  so.     Kirkham,  by  adding  help  to  Murray's  list,  enun  • 

\hich  he  will  have  to  exclude  the  sign  of  the  infinitive  ;  as,  "/'.  t." — drum. 

.     But  good  writers  sometimes  use  the  particle  to  after  this  verb  ;  as,  "And  Dandy's  mutch- 
less  impudence  helped  to  support  the  knave." — DUYDEX  :  Joh.  Diet.  ic.  IL-'p.     Dr.  Priestley  says, 


602  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 


,  stt's  English 

16.     "We  shall  always  find  this  distinction  obtain." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  245.     Here  the  prep- 


disappc 

time."  "I  "do  not  find  him  reject  his  authority." — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  167.  Here  too  the 
preposition  might  as  well  have  been  inserted.  But,  as  this  use  of  the  infinitive  is  a  sort  of  Latin- 
ism,  some  critics  would  choose  to  say,  "  I  do  not  find  that  he  rejects  his  authority."  "  Cyrus  was 
extremely  glad  to  find  them  have  such  sentiments  of  religion." — Rollin,  ii,  117.  Here  the 
infinitive  may  be  varied  either  by  the  participle  or  by  the  indicative ;  as,  "to  find  them  having," 
or,  "to  find  they  had."  Of  the  three  expressions,  the  last,  I  think,  is  rather  the  best. 

OBS.  19. — Wnen  two  or  more  infinitives  are  connected  in  the  same  construction,  one  preposition, 
sometimes  governs  them  both  or  all ;  a  repetition  of  the  particle  not  being  always  necessary, 
unless  we  mean  to  make  the  terms  severally  emphatical.     This  fact  is  one  evidence  that  to  is  not 
a  necessary  part  of  each  infinitive  verb,  as  some  will  have  it  to  be.     Examples  :  "  Lord,  suffer  me 
first  TO  go  and  bury  my  father." — Matt,  viii,  21.     "  To  shut  the  door,  means,  TO  throw  or  cast  the 
door  to." — Tooke's  D.  P.,  ii,  105.     "  Most  authors  expect  the  printer  TO  spell,  point,  and  digest 
their  copy,  that  it  may  be  intelligible  to  the  reader." — Printer's  Grammar. 
"  I'll  not  be  made  a  soft  and  dull-eyed  fool, 
To  shake  the  head,  relent,  and  sigh,  and  yield." — Shak. 

OBS.  20. — An  infinitive  that  explains  an  other,  may  sometimes  be  introduced  without  the  prep- 
osition to;  because,  the  former  having  it,  the  construction  of  the  latter  is  made  the  same  by  this 
kind  of  apposition  :  as,  "  The  most  accomplished  way  of  using  books  at  present  is,  TO  serve  them 
as  some  do  lords  ;  learn  their  titles,  and  then  brag  of  their  acquaintance." — SWIFT:  Kames,  El. 
of  Crit.  ii,  166. 

OBS.  21. — After  than  or  as,  the  sign  of  the  infinitive  is  sometimes  required,  and  sometimes 
excluded ;  and  in  some  instances  we  can  either  insert  it  or  not,  as  we  please.  The  latter  term  of 
a  comparison  is  almost  always  more  or  less  elliptical ;  and  as  the  nature  of  its  ellipsis  depends  on 


Ib.  p.  45.  "  Men  are  more  likely  to  be  praised  into  virtue,  than  [they  are  likely]  to  be  railed  out 
of  vice." — Ib.  p.  48.  "  It  is  more  tolerable  to  be  always  alone,  than  [it  is  tolerable']  never  to  be 
so." — Ib.  p.  26.  "Nothing  [is]  more  easy  than  to  do  mischief  [is  easy]:  nothing  [is]  more  diffi- 
cult than  to  suffer  without  complaining"  [is  difficult]. — Ib.  p.  46.  Or:  "than  [it  is  easy]  to  do 
mischief  :  "  &c.,  "  than  [it  is  difficult]  to  suffer  "  &c.  "  It  is  more  agreeable  to  the  nature  of  most 
men  to  follow  than  [it  is  agreeable  to  their  nature']  to  lead." — Ib.  p.  55.  In  all  these  examples, 
the  preposition  to  is  very  properly  inserted  ;  but  what  excludes  it  from  the  former  term  of  a  com- 
parison, will  exclud,e  it  from  the  latter,  if  such  governing  verb  be  understood  there :  as,  "  You  no 
more  heard  me  say  those  words,  than  [you  heard  me]  talk  Greek."  It  may  be  equally  proper  to 
say,  "  We  choose  rather  to  lead  than  follow,"  or,  "  We  choose  rather  to  lead  than  to  follow." — 
Art  of  Thinking,  p.  37.  The  meaning  in  either  case  is,  "  We  choose  to  lead  rather  than  ice  choose 
to  follow."  In  the  following  example,  there  is  perhaps  an  ellipsis  of  to  before  cite:  "I  need  do 
nothing  more  than  simply  cite  the  explicit  declarations,"  &c. — Gurney's  Peculiarities,  p.  4.  So 
in  these  :  "  Nature  did  no  more  than  furnish  the  power  and  means." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  147. 
"  To  beg,  than  work,  he  better  understands  ; 

Or  we  perhaps  might  take  him  off  thy  hands." — Pope's  Odyssey,  xvii,  260. 
OBS.  22. — It  has  been  stated,  in  Obs.  16th  on  Rule  17th,  that  good  writers  are  apt  to  shun 
a  repetition  of  any  part  common  to  two  or  more  verbs  in  the  same  sentence ;  and  among  the 
examples  there  cited  is  this  :  "  They  mean  to,  and  will,  hear  patiently." — Salem  Register.  So  one 
might  say,  "  Can  a  man  arrive  at  excellence,  who  has  no  desire  to?  " — "  I  do  not  wish  to  go,  nor 
expect  to." — "  Open  the  door,  if  you  are  going  to."  Answer  :  "  We  want  to,  and  try  to,  but  can't." 
Such  ellipses  of  the  infinitive  after  to,  are  by  no  means  uncommon,  especially  in  conversation ; 
nor  do  they  appear  to  me  to  be  always  reprehensible,  since  they  prevent  repetition,  and  may  con- 
tribute to  brevity  without  obscurity.  But  Dr.  Bullions  has  lately  thought  proper  to  condemn 
them;  for  such  is  presumed  to  have  been  the  design  of  the  following  note :  "7'o,  the  sign  of  the 
infinitive,  should  never  be  used  for  the  infinitive  itself.  Thus,  '  I  have  not  written,  and  I  do  not 
intend  to,'  is  a  colloquial  vulgarism  for,  '  I  have  not  written,  and  I  do  not  intend  to  write.'  " — 


But,  from  the  false  syntax  furnished,  this  appears  to  have  been  the  meaning 


tive  after  to.' 

intended.  The  examples  are  severally  faulty,  but  not  for  the  reason  suggested — not  because 
"  to  "  is  used  for  "  write  "  or  "  live" — not,  indeed,  for  any  one  reason  common  to  the  three — but 
because,  in  the  first,  "  to  write  "  and  "  have  not  written,"  have  nothing  in  common  which  we  can 
omit ;  in  the  second,  the  mood  of  "  tell"  is  doubtful,  and,  without  a  comma  after  "  yourself,"  we 
cannot  precisely  know  the  meaning ;  in  the  third,  the  mood,  the  person,  and  the  number  of 
"  live,"  are  all  unknown.  See  Note  9th  to  Rule  17th,  above ;  and  Note  2d  to  the  General  Rule, 
below. 

OBS.  23. — Of  some  infinitives,  it  is  hard  to  say  whether  they  are  transitive  or  intransitive  ;  as, 
"Well,  then,  let  us  proceed;  we  have  other  forced  marches  to  make;  other  enemies  to  subdue; 
more  laurels  to  acquire  ;  and  more  injuries  to  avenge." — BONAPARTE  :  Columbian  Orator,  p.  136. 
These,  without  ellipsis,  are  intransitive ;  but  relatives  may  be  inserted. 


CHAP.  VII.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XX. PARTICIPLES.  603 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XIX. 
INFINITIVES  AFTER  BID,  DARE,  FEEL,  HEAR,  LET,  &c. 

"  I  dare  not  to  proceed  so  hastily,  lest  I  should  give  offence." — Murray's  Exercises,  p.  63. 
[FORMOLK. — Not  proper,  because  the  preposition  to  is  inserted  before  proceed,  which  follows  the  active  verb 
dare.  But,  according  to  Rule  19th,  "  The  active  Terbs,  bid,  dare,  feel,  hear,  let,  make,  need,  see,  and  their  parti- 
ciples, usually  take  the  infinitive  after  them  without  the  preposition  to  ;  "  and  this  is  an  instance  in  which  the 
finite  verb  should  immediately  govern  the  infinitive.  Therefore,  the  to  should  be  omitted ;  thus,  "  I  dare  not 
proceed  so  hastily,"  &c.] 

"  Their  character  is  formed,  and  made  appear." — Butler's  Anahgy,  p.  115. 
[FoRMULE.— Not  proper,  because   the  preposition  to  is  not  inserted  between  made  and  apjxar.  the  verb  ix  made 
being  passive.     But,  according  to  Obs.  5th  and  10th  on  Rule  19th,  those  verbs  which  in  the  active  form  govern 
the  infinitive  without  to,  do  not  so  govern  it  when  they  are  made  passive,  except  the  verb  let.    Therefore,  to 
should  be  here  inserted  ;  thus,  "  Their  character  is  formed,  and  made  to  appear."] 

"  Let  there  be  but  matter  and  opportunity  offered,  and  you  shall  see  them  quickly  to 
revive  again." — Wisdom  of  the  Ancients,  p.  53.  "  It  has  been  made  appear,  that  there  is  no 
presumption  against  a  revelation." — Butter  s  Analogy,  p.  252.  "  MANIFEST,  v.  t.  To  reveal ; 
to  make  to  appear;  to  show  plainly." — Webster's  American  Diet.  "Let  him  to  reign  like 
unto  good  Aurelius,  or  let  him  to'bleed  like  unto  Socrates." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  169. 
"To  sing  I  could  not;  to  complain  I  durst  not." — S.  Fothergitt.  "If  T.  M.  be  not  so  fre- 
quently heard  pray  by  them." — Barclay  s  Works,  iii,  132.  "  How  many  of  your  own  church 
members  were  never  heard  pray?" — Ib.  iii,  133.  "Yea,  we  are  bidden  pray  one  for 
another."— Ib.  iii,  145.  "  He  was  made  believe  that  neither  the  king's  death,  nor  imprison- 
ment would  help  him." — Sheffield's  Works,  ii,  291.  "  I  felt  a  chilling  sensation  to  creep  over 
me."— hut.  p.  188.  "  I  dare  to  say  he  has  not  got  home  yet."— Ib.  "  We  sometimes  see 
bad  men  to  be  honoured." — Ib.  "  I  saw  him  to  move." — Felch's  CompreJiensice  Gram.  p.  62. 
"For  see  thou,  ah!  see  thou  a  hostile  world  to  raise  its  terrours." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p. 
••  But  that  he  make  him  to  rehearse  so." — Lily's  Gram.  p. xv.  "Let  us  to  rise." — 
Foicte's  Ti  ni.  p.  41. 

:  ipture,  you  know,  exhorts  us  to  it ; 

Bids  us  to  'seek  peace,  and  ensue  it.'" — Swift's  Poems,  p.  336. 
"  Who  bade  the  mud  from  Dives'  wheel 
To  spurn  the  rags  of  Lazarus  r 
Come,  brother,  in  that  dust  we'll  kneel, 
Confessing  Heaven  that  ruled  it  thus." — Christmas  Book. 


CHAPTER  VII.  -PARTICIPLES. 

The  true  or  regular  syntax  of  the  English  Participle,  as  a  part  of  speech 
distinct  from  the  verb,  and  not  converted  into  a  noun  or  an  adjective,  is  two- 
fold ;  being  sometimes  that  of  simple  relation  to  a  noun  or  a  pronoun  that 
precedes  it,  and  sometimes  that  of  government,  or  the  state  of  being  governed 
by  a  preposition.  In  the  former  construction,  the  participle  resembles  an 
adjective  ;  in  the  latter,  it  is  more  like  a  noun,  or  like  the  infinitive  mood  : 
for  the  participle  after  a  preposition  is  governed  as  a  participle,  and  not  as  a 
case*  To  these  two  constructions,  some  add  three  others  less  regular,  using 
the  participle  sometimes  as  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  sometimes  as  the  object 
of  a  transitive  verb,  ami  sometimes  as  a  nominative  after  a  neuter  verb.  Of 
these  five  constructions,  the  first  two,  arc  the  legitimate  uses  of  this  part  of 
speech  ;  the  others  are  occasional,  modern,  and  of  doubtful  propriety. 

RULE  XX.  —  PARTICIPLES. 

Participles  relate  to  nouns  or  pronouns,  or  else  are  governed  by  prepositions  : 
as,  "  Elizabeth's  tutor,  at  one  time  pnyinij  her  a  visit,  found  her  employed  in 


•Some  modern  grammarians  will  hare  it,  that  a  participle  governed  by  a  preposition  is  a  "  ]'nrtirif,i,,l  noun  ; 
runl  \«-r,  when  they  mmi-  toj.ir-i-  :in  .i'lv<r>  "r  an  nlji-ctiTe  fcDowing,  their  >:  n-ntn  "   \»'<-"W*  ;i  '•  /»/  ' 

>n."    To  allow  wor-l-  t'in<  :o  </-.-/.,•>  from  one  class  to  an  other,  is  not  only  unphiloaophical, 

hut  ridiculously  ul.sunl.     Amoni;  those  who  thus  treat  this  construction  of  the  participle,  the  chief  I  think,    re 
Butler,  Hart,  Well*,  and  S.  S.  Greene. 


604  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  in. 


reading  Plato." — Hume.  "  I  have  no  more  pleasure  in  hearing  a  man 
attempting^  wit  and  failing,  than  in  seeing  a  man  trying  to  leap  over  a  ditch 
and  tumbling  into  it." — Dr.  Johnson. 

"Now,  reds' d  on  Tyre's  sad  ruins,  Pharaoh's  pride 
Soar'd  high,  his  legions  threatening  far  and  wide." — Dry  den. 

EXCEPTION  FIRST. 

A  participle  sometimes  relates  to  a  preceding  phrase  or  sentence,  of  which  it  forms  no 
part;  as,  "I  then  quit  the  society;  to  withdraw  and  leave  them  to  themselves,  APPEARING  to 
me  a  duty." — "  It  is  almost  exclusively  on  the  ground  we  have  mentioned,  that  we  have 
heard  his  being  continued  in  office  DEFENDED." — Professors'  Reasons,  p.  23.     (Better,  "  his 
continuance  in  office,"  or,  "the  continuing  of  him  in  office."     See  Obs.  18th  on  Rule  4th.) 
"  But  ever  to  do  ill  our  sole  delight, 
As  being  the  contrary  to  his  high  will." — Milton. 

EXCEPTION  SECOND. 

With  an  infinitive  denoting  being  or  action  in  the  abstract,  a  participle  is  sometimes  also 
taken  abstractly ;  (that  is,  without  reference  to  any  particular  noun,  pronoun,  or  other 
subject;)  as,  "To  seem  compelled,  is  disagreeable." — "To  keep  always  praying  aloud,  is 
plainly  impossible." — "It  must  be  disagreeable  to  be  left  pausing  *  on  a  word  which  does 
not,  by  itself,  produce  any  idea." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  323. 
"  To  praise  him  is  to  serve  him,  and  fulfill, 
Doing  and  suffering,  his  unquestion'd  will." — Coicper,  Vol.  i,  p.  88. 

EXCEPTION  THIRD. 

The  participle  is  often  used  irregularly  in  English,  as  a  substitute  for  the  infinitive  mood, 
to  which  it  is  sometimes  equivalent  without  irregularity ;  as,  "  I  saw  him  enter,  or  entering" 
— Grant's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  230.  "  He  is  afraid  of  trying,  or  to  try." — Ibid.  Examples  irregu- 
lar :  "  Sir,  said  I,  if  the  case  stands  thus,  'tis  dangerous  drinking :  "  i.  e.  to  drink. — Collier's 
Tablet  of  Cebes.  "  It  will  be  but  ill  venturing  thy  soul  upon  that : "  i.  e.  to  venture. — 
Bunyans  Laic  and  Grace,  p.  27.  "Describing  a  past  event  as  present,  has  a  fine  effect  in 
language  :  "  i.  e.  to  describe. — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  93.  "  In  English  likewise  it  deserves 
remarking:"  i.  e.  to  be  remarked. — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  232.  "  Bishop  Atterbury  deserves 
being  particularly  mentioned:"  i.  e.  to  be  particularly  mentioned. — Blair's  lihet.  p.  291. 
"  This,  however,  is  in  effect  no  more  than  enjoying  the  sweet  that  predominates  :  "  i.  e.  tD 
enjoy. — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  43. 

"  Habits  are  soon  assum'd ;  but  when  we  strive 
To  strip  them  off,  tis  being  fiay'd  alive." — Cowper,  Vol.  i,  p.  44. 

EXCEPTION  FOURTH. 

An  other  frequent  irregularity  in  the  construction  of  participles,  is  the  practice  of  treating 
them  essentially  as  nouns,  without  taking  from  them  the  regimen  and  adjuncts  of  partici- 
ples ;  as,  "Your  having  been  well  educated  will  be  a  great  recommendation." —  W.  Allen's  Gram. 
p.  171.  (Better  :  "Your  excellent  education  " — or,  "That  you  have  been  well  educated,  will  be," 
&c.)  "  It  arises  from  sublimity's  expressing  grandeur  in  its  highest  degree." — Blair's  RhcL 
p.  29.  "  Concerning  the  separating  by  a  circumstance,  words  intimately  connected." — Kames, 
El.  of  Crit.  Vol.  ii,  p.  104.  "As  long  as  there  is  any  hope  of  their  keeping  pace  with  them." 
— Literary  Convention,  p.  114.  "Which  could  only  arise  from  his  knowing  the  secrets  of  all 
hearts." — West's  Letters  to  a  Young  Lady,  p.  180.  "But  this  again  is  talking  quite  at  ran- 
dom."— Butler's  Analogy,  p.  146. 

"  My  being  here  it  is,  that  holds  thee  hence." — Shak. 
"  Such,  but  by  foils,  the  clearest  lustre  see, 
And  deem  aspersing  others,  praising  thee." — Savage,  to  Walpole. 

OBSERVATIONS   ON  RULE   XX. 

OBS.  1. — To  this  rule,  I  incline  to  think,  there  are  properly  no  other  exceptions  than  the  first 
two  above;  or,  at  least,  that  we  ought  to  avoid,  when  we  can,  any  additional  anomalies.  Yet, 
not  to  condemn  with  unbecoming  positiveness  what  others  receive  for  good  English,  I  have 
subjoined  two  items  more,  which  include  certain  other  irregularities  now  very  common,  that, 
when  examples  of  a  like  form  occur,  the  reader  may  parse  them  as  exceptions,  if  he  does  not  choose 
to  censure  them  as  errors.  The  mixed  construction  in  which  participles  are  made  to  govern  the 
possessive  case,  has  already  been  largely  considered  in  the  observations  on  Rule  4th.  Murray, 
Allen,  Churchill,  and  many  other  grammarians,  great  and  small,  admit  that  participles  maybe 
made  the  subjects  or  the  objects  of  verbs,  while  they  retain  the  nature,  government,  and  adjuncts, 
of  participles  ;  as,  "  Not  attending  to  this  rule,  is  the  cause  of  a  very  common  error." — Murray's 

*  Dr.  Blair,  to  whom  Murray  ought  to  have  acknowledged  himself  indebted  for  this  sentence,  introduced  a 
norm,  to  which,  in  his  work,  this  infinitive  and  these  participles  refer  :  thus,  "  It  is  disagreeable  for  the  mind  to 
be  left  pausing  on  a  word  which  does  not,  by  itself,  produce  any  idea."— Blair's  Rhetoric,  p.  118.  See  Obs.  10th 
and "llth  on  Rule  14th. 


CHAP.  VII.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XX. PARTICIPLES. OBSERVATIONS.  605 


Key,  8vo,  p.  200 ;  Comly's  Gram.  188 ;  Weld's  Gram.  170.  "Polite  is  employed  to  signify  their 
being  highly  civilized." — Blair's  RJiet.  p.  219.  "  One  abhors  beiny  in  debt." — Ib.  p.  98  ;  Jamiesons 
Rhet.  71;  Murray's  Gram.  114.  '  Who  affected  being  a  fine  gentleman  so  unmercifully." — Spect. 


ify  their 
lamieson's 
•Spect. 

No.  496.  "  The  minister's  beiny  attached  to  the  project,  prolonged  their  debate." — Xixon's 
Parser,  p.  78.  "  It  finds  [i.  e.  the  mind  finds,]  that  acting  thus  would  gratify  one  passion  ;  not 
acting,  or  acting  otherwise,  would  gratify  another." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  109.  "  13 ut  further, 
car  filing  and  objecting  upon  any  subject  is  much  easier  ihamclearing  up  difficulties." — Dp.  Butler's 
Charge  to  the  Clergy  oj  Durham,  \7H\. 

OBS.  2. — W.  Allen  observes,  "The  use  of  the  participle  as  a  nominative,  is  one  of  the  peculiarities 
of  our  language." — Elements  of  (iram.  p.  171.  He  might  have  added,  that  the  use  of  the  participle 
as  an  objective  governed  by  a  verb,  as  a  nominative  after  a  verb  neuter,  or  as  a  word  governing  the 
possessive,  is  also  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  our  language,  or  at  least  an  idiom  adopted  by  no  few 
of  its  recent  writers.  But  whether  any  one  of  these  four  modern  departures  from  General 
Grammar  ought  to  be  countenanced  by  us,  as  an  idiom  that  is  either  elegant  or  advantageous,  I 
very  much  doubt.  They  are  all  however  sufficiently  common  in  the  style  of  reputable  authors  ; 
and,  however  questionable  their  character,  some  of  our  grammarians  seem  mightily  attached  to 
them  all.  It  becomes  me  therefore  to  object  with  submission.  These  mixed  and  irregular  con- 
structions of  the  participle,  ought,  in  my  opinion,  to  be  generally  condemned  as  false  syntax;  and 
for  this  simple  reason,  that  the  ideas  conveyed  by  them  may  generally,  if  not  always,  be  expressed 
more  briefly,  and  more  elegantly,  by  other  phraseology  that  is  in  no  respect  anomalous.  Thus, 
for  the  examples  above  :  "Inattention  to  this  rule,  is  the  cause  of  a  very  common  error." — "Polite 
is  employed  to  signify  a  high  d&irce  of  civilization  ;  "  or,  "  that  they  are  highly  civilized." — "  One 
abhors  debt." — "Who  affected  the  fine  gentleman  so  unmercifully." — "  The  minister's  partiality 
to  the  project,  prolonged  their  debate." — "  It  finds  [i.  c.  th<-  mind  finds,]  that  to  act  thus,  would 
gratify  one  passion ;  and  that  not  to  act,  or  to  act  otherwise,  would  gratify  another." — "  But 
further,  to  cavil  and  object,  upon  any  subject,  is  much  easier  than  to  clear  up  difficulties."  Are 
not  these  expressions  much  better  English  than  the  foregoing  quotations  ?  And  if  so,  have  we 
not  reason  to  conclude  that  the  adoption  of  participles  in  such  instances  is  erroneous  and 
ungrammatical  ? 

3. — In  Obs.  17th  on  Rule  4th,  it  was  suggested,  that  in  English  the  participle,  without 
governing  the  possessive  case,  is  turned  to  a  greater  number  and  variety  of  uses,  than  in  any 
other  language.  This  remark  applies  mainly  to  the  participle  in  ing.  Whether  it  is  expedient 
to  make  so  much  of  one  sort  of  derivative,  and  endeavour  to  justify  every  possible  use  of  it  which 
can  be  plausibly  defended,  is  a  question  well  worthy  of  consideration.  W  e  have  already  converted 
this  participle  to  such  a  multiplicity  of  purposes,  and  into  so  many  different  parts  of  speech,  that 
one  can  well-nigh  write  a  chapter  in  it,  without  any  other  words.  This  practice  may  have  added 
something  to  the  copiousness  and  flexibility  of  the  language,  but  it  certainly  has  a  tendency  to 
impair  its  strength  and  clearness.  Not  every  use  of  participles  is  good,  for  which  there  may  be 
found  precedents  in  good  authors.  One  may  run  to  great  excess  in  the  adoption  of  such  deriva- 
without  becoming  absolutely  unintelligible,  and  without  violating  any  rule  of  our  common 
grammars.  For  example,  I  may  say  of  somebody,  "This  very  superficial  grammatist,  supposing 


language  than  ours,  can  a  string  of  words  anything  like  the  following,  come  so  near  to  a  fair  and 
literal  translation  of  this  long  sentence  ?  "  This  exceeding  trifling  witling,  considering  ranting 
criticising  concerning  adopting  fitting  wording  being  exhibiting  transcending  learning,  \vus 
diipla^Log, notwithstanding  ridiculing,  surpassing  boasting  swelling  reasoning,  respecting  correct- 
::ig  writing,  and  touching  detecting  deceiving  arguing  during  debating."  Here  are  not  all 
the  uses  to  which  our  writers  apply  the  participle  in  ing,  but  there  would  seem  to  be  enough, 
without  adding  others  that  are  less  proper. 

OHS.  4. — The  active  participles,  uil/nitting,  allowing,  considering,  grant  ing,  speaking,  supposing, 
and  the  like,  are  frequently  used  in  discourse  so  independently,  that  they  either  relate  to  nothing, 
or  to  the  pronoun  /  or  tcv  understood ;  as,  "Granting  this  to  be  true,  what  is  to  be  inferred  from 
it  ?  "—  p.  1'J.l.  This  may  be  supposed  to  mean,  "I,  granting  this  to  be  true,  ask 

what  is  to  be  inferred  from  it  ?  "     "The  very  chin  was,  modestly  speaking,  as  long  as  my  whole 


be 


grammariani  --;eh  participles  to  be  ]>ut  absolute  in  themselves,  so  as  to  have  no  reference 

to  any  noun  or  pronoun  ;  others,  among  whom  are  L.  Murray  and  Dr.  James  P.  Wilson,  suppose 
them  to  be  put  absolute  with  a  pronoun  understood.  On  the"  former  supposition,  they  form  an 
other  exception  to  the  foregoing  rule  ;  on  the  latter,  they  do  not:  the  participle  relates  to  the 
-ronoun,  though  both  be  independent  of  the  rest  of  the  sentence.  If  we  supply  the  ellipsis  as 
'love,  there  is  nothing  put  absolute. 

ORS.  •'). — Participles  are  almost  always  placed  after  the  words  on  which  their  construction  de- 
.  and  are  distinguished  from  adjectives  by  this  position  ;  but  when  other  words  depend  on 
the  participle,  or  when  several  participles  have  the  same  construction,  the  whole  phrase  may  come 
before  the  noun  or  pronoun  :  >ny  my  head  upon  my  hand,  /  began  to  figure  to  myself 

AU~  miseries  of  confinement. 

"  I  HI  mur' d  in  cypress  shades,  a  sorcerer  dwells." — Milton. 
"Brib'd,  boutjh't.  >ntd  bound,  they  banish  shame  and  fi 

Tell  you  they're  stanch,  and  have  a  soul  sincere." — ('rabbe. 

OBS.  6. — When  participles  are  compounded  with  something  that  does  not  belong  to  the  verb, 
ey  become  adjectives ;  and,  as  such,  they  cannot  govern  an  object  after  them.     The  following 
construction  is  therefore  inaccurate  :  "  \Vhen  Caius  did  any  thing  unbecoming  his  dignity." — 


606  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 


fi  History,  i,  87.     "  Costly  and  gaudy  attire,  unbecoming  godli 
e  to  be  corrected  by  Note  15th  to  Rule  9th,  or  by  changing 

n r»  (T  //*>  VIIQ   Hio-rnf  v  •  5>   nr      <(  7VTn/  Kor»nmi-n  nr  Vnc   rlirrrntv   " 


Such  errors  are  to  be  corrected  by  Note  15th  to  Rule  9th,  or  by  changing  the  particle  un  to  not : 
as,  "  Unbecoming  to  his  dignity  ;  "  or,  "Not  becoming  his  dignity." 

OBS.  7. — An  imperfect  or  a  preperfect  participle,  preceded  by  an  article,  an  adjective,  or  a  noun 
or  pronoun  of  the  possessive  case,  becomes  a  verbal  or  participial  noun ;  and,  as  such,  it  cannot, 
with  strict  propriety,  govern  an  object  after  it.  A  word  which  maybe  the  object  of  the  participle 
in  its  proper  construction,  requires  the  preposition  of,  to  connect  it  with  the  verbal  noun  ;  as,  1. 
THE  PARTICIPLE:  "Worshiping  idols,  the  Jews  sinned." — "Thus  worshiping  idols, — In  worship- 
ing idols, — or,  By  worshiping  idols,  they  sinned."  2.  THE  VERBAL  NOUN:  "The  worshiping  of  idols, 
— Such  worshiping  of  idols, — or,  Their  worshiping  of  idols,  was  sinful." — "In  the  worshiping  of 
idols,  there  is  sin." 

OBS.  8. — It  is  commonly  supposed  that  these  two  modes  of  expression  are,  in  very  many 
instances,  equivalent  to  each  other  in  meaning,  and  consequently  interchangeable.  How  far  they 
really  are  so,  is  a  question  to  be  considered.  Example :  "  But  if  candour  be  a  confounding  of 
the  distinctions  between  sin  and  holiness,  a  depreciating  of  the  excellence  of  the  latter,  and  at 
the  same  time  a  diminishing  of  the  evil  of  the  former ;  then  it  must  be  something  openly  at  va- 
riance with  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  revelation." — The  Friend,  iv,  108.  Here  the  nouns, 
distinctions,  excellence,  and  evil,  though  governed  by  of,  represent  the  objects  of  the  forenamecl 
actions  ;  and  therefore  they  might  well  be  governed  by  confounding,  depreciating,  and  diminishing, 
if  these  were  participles.  But  if,  to  make  them  such,  we  remove  the  article  and  the  preposition, 
the  construction  forsakes  our  meaning  ;  for  be  confounding,  (be)  depreciating,  and  (be)  diminishing, 
seem  rather  to  be  verbs  of  the  compound  form  ;  and  our  uncertain  nominatives  after  be,  thus 
disappear  in  the  shadow  of  a  false  sense.  But  some  sensible  critics  tell  us,  that  this  preposition 
of  should  refer  rather  to  the  agent  of  the  preceding  action,  than  to  its  passive  object ;  so  that  such 
a  phrase  as,  "the  teaching  of  boys,"  should  signify  rather  the  instruction  which  boys  give,  than 
that  which  they  receive.  If,  for  the  sake  of  this  principle,  or  for  any  other  reason,  we  wish  to 
avoid  the  foregoing  phraseology,  the  meaning  may  be  very  well  expressed  thus  :  "  But  if  your 
candour  confound  the  distinctions  between  sin  and  holiness  ;  if  it  depreciate  the  excellence  of  the 
latter,  and  at  the  same  time  diminish  the  evil  of  the  former ;  then  it  must  be  something  openly  at 
variance  with  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  revelation." 

OBS.  9. — When  the  use  of  the  preposition  produces  ambiguity  or  harshness,  let  a  better  ex- 
pression be  sought.  Thus  the  sentence,  "  He  mentions  Newton's  writing  of  a  commentary,"  is 
not  entirely  free  from  either  of  these  faults.  If  the  preposition  be  omitted,  the  word  writing  will 
have  a  double  construction,  which  is  inadmissible,  or  at  least  objectionable.  Some  would  say, 
"He  mentions  Neioton  writing  a  commentary."  This,  though  not  uncommon,  is  still  more 
objectionable;  because  it  makes  the  leading  word  in  sense  the  adjunct  in  construction.  The 
meaning  may  be  correctly  expressed  thus:  "He  mentions  that  Neioton  wrote  a  commentary." 
"  Mr.  Dryden  makes  a  very  handsome  observation  on  Ovid's  writing  a  letter  from  Dido  to  ^Eneas." 
— Spcct.  No.  62  ;  Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  265  ;  Murray's  Key,  ii,  253.  Here  the  word  writing  is  partly 
a  noun  and  partly  a  participle.  If  we  make  it  wholly  a  noun,  by  saying,  "  on  Ovid's  writing  of 
a  letter,"  or  wholly  a  participle,  by  saying,  "on  Ovid  writing  a  letter;"  it  may  be  doubted, 
whether  we  have  effected  any  improvement.  And  again,  if  we  adopt  Dr.  Lowth's  advice,  "Let 
it  be  either  the  one  or  the  other,  and  abide  by  its  proper  construction  ;  "  we  must  make  some 
change ;  and  therefore  ought  perhaps  to  say,  "  on  Ovid's  conceit  of  writing  a  letter  from  Dido  to 
JEneas."  This  is  apparently  what  Addison  meant,  and  what  Dryden  remarked  upon  :  the  latter 
did  not  speak  of  the  letter  itself,  else  the  former  would  have  said,  "  on  Ovid's  letter  from  Dido 
to  JEneas." 

OBS.  10. — When  a  needless  possessive,  or  a  needless  article,  is  put  before  the  participle,  the 
correction  is  to  be  made,  not  by  inserting  of,  but  by  expunging  the  article,  according  to  Note 
16th  to  Rule  1st,  or  the  possessive,  according  to  Note  5th  to  Rule  4th.  Example:  "By  his 
studying  the  Scriptures  he  became  wise." — Lennie's  Gram.  p.  91.  Here  his  serves  only  to  render 
the  sentence  incorrect;  yet  this  spurious  example  is  presented  by  Lenriie,  to  prove  that  a  parti- 
ciple may  take  the  possessive  case  before  it,  when  the  preposition  of  is  not  admissible  after  it. 
So,  in  stead  of  expunging  one  useless  word,  our  grammarians  often  add  an  other  and  call  the 
twofold  error  a  correction;  as,  "  For  his  avoiding  of  that  precipice,  he  is  indebted  to  his  friend's 
care." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  201.  Or  worse  yet:  "It  was  from  our  misunderstanding  of  the  direc- 
tions, that  we  lost  our  way." — Ibid.  Here,  not  our  and  of  only,  but  four  other  word's,  are  worse 
than  useless.  Again:  "  By  the  exercising  of  our  judgment,  it  is  improved.  Or  thus:  By  exer- 
cising our  judgment,  it  is  improved." — Comly's  Key,  in  his  Gram.  12th  Ed.  p.  188.  Each  of  these 
pretended  corrections  is  wrong  in  more  respects  than  one.  Say,  "  By  exercising  our  judgement, 
ice  improve  it."  Or,  "  Our  judgement  is  improved  by  being  exercised."  Again  :  "The  loving  of  our 
enemies  is  a  divine  command;  Or,  loving  our  enemies  [is  a  divine  command]." — Ibid.  Both  of  these 
are  also  wrong.  Say,  "  'Loveyour  enemies,'  is  a  divine  command."  Or,  "We  are  divinely  com- 
manded to  love  our  enemies."  Some  are  apt  to  jumble  together  the  active  voice  and  the  passive, 
and  thus  to  destroy  the  unity  even  of  a  short  sentence ;  as,  "  By  exercising  our  memories,  they 
are  improved" — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  226  and  195.  "The  error  might  have  been  avoided  by  re- 
peating the  substantive." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  172.  "By  admitting  such  violations  of  established 
grammatical  distinctions,  confusion  would  be  introduced." — Ib.  p.  187.  In  these  instances,  we 
have  an  active  participle  without  an  agent ;  and  this,  by  the  preposition  by,  is  made  an  adjunct  to 
a  passive  verb.  Even  the  participial  noun  of  this  form,  though  it  actually  drops  the  distinction 
of  voice,  is  awkward  and  apparently  incongruous  in  such  a  relation. 

OBS.  11. — When  the  verbal  noun  necessarily  retains  any  adjunct  of  the  verb  or  participle,  it 
seems  proper  that  the  two  words  be  made  a  compound  by  means  of  the  hyphen  ;  as,  "  Their  hope 
shall  be  as  the  giving-up  of  the  ghost." — Job,  xi,  20.  "  For  if  the  casting-away  of  them  be  the 
reconciling  of  the  world." — Rom.  xi,  15.  "And  the  gather  ing -tog  ether  of  the  waters  called  he 
seas." — Gen.  i,  10.  "  If  he  should  offer  to  stop  the  runnings-out  of  his  justice." — Law  and  Grace, 
p.  26.  "  The  stopping-short  before  the  usual  pause  in  the  melody,  aids  the  impression  that  is 


CHAP.  VII.]  SYNTAX.  -  RULE   XX.  -  PARTICIPLES.  -  OBSERVATIONS.  607 

made  by  the  description  of  the  stone's  stopping  -short."  —  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  106.  I  do  not  find 
these  words  united  in  the  places  referred  to,  but  this  is  nevertheless  their  true  figure.  Our 
authors  and  printers  are  lamentably  careless,  as  well  as  ignorant,  respecting  the  figure  of  words  : 
for  which  part  of  grammar,  see  the  whole  of  the  third  chapter  in  Part  First  of  this  work;  also 
observations  on  the  fourth  rule  of  syntax,  from  the  30th  to  the  35th.  As  certain  other  compounds 
may  sometimes  be  broken  by  tmesis,  so  may  some  of  these  ;  as,  "  Not  forsaking  the  assembling  of 
ourselves  together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is."  —  Heb.  x,  25.  Adverbs  may  relate  to  participles, 
but  nouns  require  adjectives.  The  following  phrase  is  therefore  inaccurate:  "  For  the  more  easily 
reading  of  large  numbers."  Yet  if  we  say,  "  For  reading  large  numbers  the  more  easily"  the 
construction  is  different,  and  not  inaccurate.  Some  calculator,  I  think,  has  it,  "  For  the  more 
easily  reading  large  numbers."  But  Hutton  says,  "  For  the  more  easy  reading  of  large  numbers." 
Hutton's  Ari'th.  p.  5  ;  so  Babcock's,  p.  12.  It  would  be  quite  as  well  to  say,  "  For  the  greater  ease 
in  reading  large  numbers." 

Oi-.s.  12.  —  Many  words  of  a  participial  form  are  used  directly  as  nouns,  without  any  article, 
adjective,  or  possessive  case  before  them,  and  without  any  object  or  adjunct  after  them.  Such  is 
commonly  the  construction  of  the  words  spelling,  reading,  writing,  ciphering,  surri-ying,  drawing, 
parsing,  and  many  other  such  names  of  actions  or  exercises.  They  are  rightly  put  by  Johnson 

with  the  parti- 


among "  nouns  derived  from  verbs  ;  "  for,  "  The  [name  of  the]  action  is  the  same  wit 
ciple  present,  as  loving,  frighting,  /?.-///  C////y,  striking."  —  Dr.  Johnson's  Gram.  p.  10.  Thus  :  "  I  like 
u-ritimi."  —  \\~.  Al.'i-n's  (iruri.  p.  171.  "  He  supposed,  with  them,  that  affirming  and  denying  were 
operations  of  the  mind."  —  Tooke's  Diversions,  i,  35.  "  '  Not  rendering,'  said  Polycarp  the  disciple 
of  John,  '  evil  for  evil,  or  railing  for  railing,  or  striking  for  striking,  or  cursing  for  cursing."  "  — 
Dym-md,  tin  ir/ir.  Against  this  practice,  there  is  seldom  any  objection;  the'words  are  wholly 
nouns,  both  in  sense  and  construction.  We  call  them  participial  nouns,  only  because  they  resem- 
ble participles  in  their  derivation  ;  or  if  we  call  them  verbal  nouns,  it  is  because  they  are  derived 
from  verbs.  But  we  too  frequently  find  those  which  retain  the  government  and  the  adjuncts  of 
participles,  used  as  nouns  before  or  after  verbs  ;  or,  more  properly  speaking,  used  as  mongrels 
and  nondescripts,  a  doubtful  species,  for  which  there  is  seldom  any  necessity,  since  the  infinitive, 
the  verbal  or  some  other  noun,  or  a  clause  introduced  by  the  conjunction  that,  will  generally 
express  the  idea  in  a  better  manner  :  as,  *'  Exciting  such  disturbances,  is  unlawful."  Say  rather, 
•ich  disturbances,  —  The  exciting  of  such  disturbances,  —  The  excitation  of  such  disturb- 
ances, —  or,  That  one  should  excite  such  disturbances,  is  unlawful." 

13.  —  Murray  says,  "  The  word  th-e,  before  the  active  participle,  in  the   following  sentence, 
and  in  all  others  of  a  similar  construction,  is  improper,  and  should  be  omitted:  'The  advising,  or 
Me  attempting,  to  excite  such  disturbances,  is  unlawful.'     It  should  be,  *  Advising  or  attempting  to 

—  Octuro  Gram.  p.  !!)•).     But,  by  his  own  showing,  "  the  present  participle, 

with  the  definite  article  the  before  it,  becomes  a  substantive."  —  Ib.  p.  192.  And  substantives,  or 
nouns,  by  an  other  of  his  notes,  can  govern  the  infinitive  mood,  just  as  well  as  participles  ;  or  just 
as  well  as  the  verbs  which  he  thinks  would  be  very  proper  here  ;  namely,  "  To  advise  or  attempt 
to  excite  such  disturbances."  —  Ib.  p.  196.  It  would  be  right  to  say,  "Any  advice,  or  attempt,  to 
excite  such  disturbances,  is  unlawful."  And  I  see  not  that  he  has  improved  the  text  at  all,  by 
expunging  the  article.  Adrinin  /  and  attempting,  being  disjunct  nominatives  to  is,  are  nothing 
but  nouns,  whether  the  article  be  used  or  not  ;  though  they  are  rather  less  obviously  such  without 
it,  and  therefore  the  change  is  for  the  worse. 

14.  —  Lennic  observes,  "  When  a  preposition"  —  (he  should  have  said.  When  an  other  pre- 
position —  )  "  follows  the  participle,  of  is  inadmissible  ;  as,  His  depending  on  promises  proved  his 
ruin.     HM  neglecting  £0  study  when'young,  rendered  him  ignorant  all  his  life."  —  Prin.  of  E. 

">th  Ivl.  p.  r>">  ;  13th  Ed.  91.  Here  on  and  to,  of  course,  exclude  of;  but  the  latter  may  be 
changed  to  of,  which  will  turn  the  infinitive  into  a  noun:  as,  "His  neglecting  of  study,"  &c. 
'lint/  "  and  "  neglecting,"  being  equivalent  to  dependence  and  neglect.  are  participial  nouns, 
and  not  "  participles."  Professor  Bullions,  too,  has  the  same  faulty  remark,  examples  and  all; 
(for  his  book,  of  the  same  title,  is  little  else  than  a  gross  plagiarism  from  Lennie's  ;)  though  he 
here  forgets  his  other  erroneous  doctrines,  that,  "A.frtpont*m  should  never  be  used  before  the 
infinitive,"  and  that,  "Active  verbs  do  not  admit  a  preposition  after  them."  See  Bullions'  s  Prin. 

Gram    pp.  '.)!,  02,  and  107. 

OBS.  15.  —  The  participle  in  ing  is,  on  many  occasions,  equivalent  to  the  infinitive  verb,  so  that 
the  speaker  or  writer  may  adopt  either,  just  as  he  pleases  :  as,  "  So  their  gerunds  are  sometimes 
found  hftn'ntf  [or  to  harr\  an  absolute  or  apparently  neuter  signification."  —  (Grant's  Lat.  Gram.  p. 

>/'/  "  [or  to  floir\  —  Milton.     "  I  would  willingly  have  him 

producing  \prnrturf>,or  to  produce]  his  credentials.'"'  —  Barclay's  Works,  iii,  273.  There  are  also 
instances,  and  according  to  my  notion  not  a  few,  in  which  the  one  is  put  improperly  for  the  other. 
The  participle  however  is  erroneously  used  for  the  infinitive  much  oftener  than  the  infinitive  for 
the  participle.  The  lawful  uses  of  "both  are  exceedingly  numerous;  though  the  syntax  of  the 
participle,  strictly  speaking,  does  not  include  its  various  into  other  parts  of  speech. 

The  principal  instances  of  regular  equivalence  between  infinitives  and  participles,  may  be  reduced 
to  the  following  1  • 

1.  Afr.T  the  rerbl  we,  &  '>•,  and/cW,  the  participle  in  w/;,  relating  to  the  objective,  is  often  equiv- 
alent to  the  infinitive  governed  by  the  verb  ;  as,   '•  I  >a\v  him  running."  —  "  I  heard  it  howling."  — 
W.  Allen.     "  I  feel  the  wind  MotMMf."     Here  the  verbs,  run,  /«>//•/,  and  blow,  mi^ht  be  substituted. 

2.  After   intransitive  ifying  to  begin  or  to  continue,  the  participle  in  ing,  relating 
to   the  nominative,  may  be  used  in  st<M<l  of  the  infinitive  connected  to  the  verb;  as,    "  The  ass 
began  galloping  with  all  his  might."  —  Sand  ford  and  Merton.    "  It  commenced  ruining  very  hard."  — 
Silli/nun.     "  The  steamboats  commenced  riinnhi'/  on  Saturday."  —  Dtii/y  Adrertim-r.     "  It  is  now 
above  three  years  since  he  began  printing."  —  I)r.  Adam's  Prtf.  to  Horn.  Antir/.      "  So  when  they 
continued  askim/  him."  —  J<>hn,\[\\.  w  ipuruvref  a&rdv."     Latin,  "  Cum 
ergo  perseverarent  intcrroganti-s  cum."  —  Vuhjute.     "Cum  autem  preseverarentcum  interrogare." 
—  Beza.     "Then  shall  ye  'continue  following  the  Lord  your  God."  —  1  .Sam.  xii,  14.      "  Eritis 


608  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

sequentes  Dominum  Deum  vestrum." — Vulgate.  "As  she  continued  praying  before  the  Lord." — 
1  Sam.  i,  12.  "  Cum  ilia  multiplicaret  preces  cor  am  Domino." — Vulgate.  "And  they  went  on 
beating  dmcn  one  an  other." — 2  Sam.  xiv,  16.  "  Make  the  members  of  them  go  on  rising  and.  grow- 
ing in  their  importance." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  116.  "  Why  do  you  keep  teasing  me  ?  " 

3.  After  for,  in,  of,  or  to,  and  perhaps  some  other  prepositions,  the  participle  may  in  most  cases 
be  varied  by  the  infinitive,  which  is  governed  by  to  only  ;  as,  "  We  are  better  fitted/or  receiving  the 
tenets  and  obeying  the  precepts  of  that  faith  which  will  make  us  wise  unto  salvation." — West's 


trouble  to  inqui) 

OBS.  16. — One  of  our  best  grammarians  says,  "The  infinitive,  in  the  following  sentences, should 
be  exchanged  for  the  participle:  'I  am  weary  to  bear  them.'  Is.  i,  14.  'Hast  thou,  spirit,  per- 
form'd  to  point  the  tempest?'  Shak." — Allen's  Gram.  p.  172.  This  suggestion  implies,  that  the 
participle  would  be  here  not  only  equivalent  to  the  infinitive  in  sense,  but  better  in  expression. 
It  is  true,  the  preposition  to  does  not  well  express  the  relation  between  weary  and  bear;  and, 
doubtless,  some  regard  should  be  had  to  the  meaning  of  this  particle,  whenever  it  is  any  thing 
more  than  an  index  of  the  mood.  But  the  critic  ought  to  have  told  us  how  he  would  make  these 
corrections.  For  in  neither  case  does  the  participle  alone  appear  to  be  a  fit  substitute  for  the 
infinitive,  either  with  or  without  the  to  ;  and  the  latter  text  will  scarcely  bear  the  participle  at  all, 
unless  we  change  the  former  verb  ;  as,  "  Hast  thou,  spirit,  donepointing  the  tempest  ?  "  The  true 
meaning  of  the  other  example  seems  somewhat  uncertain.  The  Vulgate  has  it,  ''Laboravi  sws- 
tinens,"  "  I  have  laboured  bearing  them  ;"  the  French  Bible,  "Je  suis  las  de  les  souffrir,"  "  I  am  tired 
of  bearing  them  ;"  the  Septuagint,  "  Ou/cm  avqau  rdf  auapria^  vutiv"  "  I  will  no  more  forgive 
your  sins." 

OBS.  17. — In  the  following  text,  the  infinitive  is  used  improperly,  nor  would  the  participle  in 
its  stead  make  pure  English  :  "  I  will  not  reprove  thee  for  thy  sacrifices  or  thy  burnt-offerings,  to 
have  been  continually  before  me." — Ps.  1,  8.  According  to  the  French  version,  "  to  have  been" 
should  be  "which  are;"  but  the  Septuagint  and  the  Vulgate  take  the  preceding  noun  for  the 
nominative,  thus  :  "  I  will  not  reprove  thee  for  thy  sacrifices,  but  thy  burnt -offerings  are  continu- 
ally before  me." 

OBS.  18. — As  the  preposition  to  before  the  infinitive  shows  the  latter  to  be  "  that  towards  which 
the  preceding  verb  is  directed,"  verbs  of  desisting,  omitting ,  jyreventing ,  and  avoiding,  are  generally 
found  to  take  the  participle  after  them,  and  not  the  infinitive  ;  because,  in  such  instances,  the  direc- 
tion of  effort  seems  not  to  be  so  properly  to,  or  towards,  as  from  the  action.*  Where  the  prepo- 
sitionyrom  is  inserted,  (as  it  most  commonly  is,  after  some  of  these  verbs,)  there  is  no  irregularity 
in  the  construction  of  the  participle  ;  but  where  the  participle  immediately  follows  the  verb,  it  is 
perhaps  questionable  whether  it  ought  to  be  considered  the  object  of  a  verb,  or  a  mere  participle 
relating  to  the  nominative  which  precedes.  If  we  suppose  the  latter,  the  participle  may  be 
parsed  by  the  common  rule ;  if  the  former,  it  must  be  referred  to  the  third  exception  above.  Fc  r 
example  : 

1.  After  verbs  of  DESISTING;  as,  "  The  Cryer  used  to  proclaim,  DIXEIUTNT,  i.  e.    They  hare 
done  speaking." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  132.    "A  friend  is  advised  to  put  off  making  love  to  Lalage.  ' 
— Philological  Museum,  i,  446.    "  He  forbore  doing  so,  on  the  ground  of  expediency." — The  Frleni', 
iv,  35.     "And  yet  architects  never  give  over  attempting  to  reconcile  these  two  incompatibles." — 
Kames,  EL  of  Crit.  ii,  338.     "Never  to  give  over  seeking  and  praying  for  it." — N.  Y.  Observer. 
"  Do  not  leave  off  seeking." — President  Edwards.     "  Then  Satan  hath  done  flattering  and  comfort- 
ing."— Baxter.     "  The  princes  refrained  talking." — Job,  xxix,  9.     "  Principes  cessabant  loqui." — 
Vulgate.     Here  it  would  be  better  to  say,  "  The  princes  refrainedy/'om  talking."   But  Murray  say;-, 
"From  seems  to  be  superfluous   after  forbear :  as,  'He  could  not  forbear  from  appointing  the 
pope,'  &c." — Octavo  Gram.  p.  203.     But  "forbear  to  appoint  "  would  be  a  better  correction;  for 
this  verb  is  often  followed  by  the  infinitive:  as,    "Forbear  to  insinuate." — West's  Letters,  p.  62. 
"And   he  forbare  to  go  forth.'" — 1  Sam.  xxiii,  13.      The  reader  will  observe,  that,    "  never  to  give 
over,"  or  "  not  to  leave  off"  is  in  fact  the  same  thing  as  to  continue ;  and  I  have  shown,  by  the  anal- 
ogy of  other   languages,  that  after  verbs  of  continuing  the  participle  is  not  an  object  of  govern- 
ment; though  possibly  it  may  be  so,  in  these  instances,  which  are  somewhat  different. 

2.  After  verbs  of  OMITTING  :  as,  "  He  omits  giving  an  account  of  them." — Tooke's  Diversions  of 
Purley,  i,  251.    I  question  the  propriety  of  this  construction;  and  yet,  "  omits  to  give,"  seems  still 
more  objectionable.     "  Better,  "  He  omits  all  account  of  them."     Or,  "  He  neglects  to  give,  or  for- 
bears to  five,  any  account  of  them."     L.  Murray  twice  speaks  of  apologizing,  "  for  the  use  he  has 
made  oi'  his  predecessors'  labours,  and  for  omitting  to  insert  their  names. "—Octaro  Grain.  Pref. 
p.  vii ;  and  Note,  p.  73.   The  phrase,  "  omitting  to  insert"  appears  to  me  a  downright  solecism  ;  and 
the  pronoun  their  is  ambiguous,  because  there  are  well-known  names  both  for  the  men  and  for 
their  labours,  and  he  ought  not  to  have  omitted  either  species  wholly,  as  he  did.    "  Yet  they  abso- 
lutely refuse  doing  so,  one  with  another." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  264.   Better,  "  refuse  to  do  so."    "  I 
had  as  repeatedly  declined  going." — Leigh  Hunt's  Byron,  p.  15. 

3.  After  verbs  of  PREVENTING  ;  as,  "  Our  sex  are  happily  prevented  from  engaging  in  these  turbu- 
lent scenes." — West's  Letters  to  a  Lady,  p.  74.   "  To  prevent  our  frail  natures  from  deviating  into  bye 
paths  [write  by-paths']  of  error." — Ib.  p.  106.    "  Prudence,  prevents  our  speaking  or  acting  improp- 
erly."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  99;  Murray's  Gram.  p.  303;  Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  72.     This  construction, 

*  The  perfect  contrast  between  from  and  to,  -when  the  former  governs  the  participle  and  the  latter  the  infini- 
tive, is  an  other  proof  that  this  to  is  the  common  preposition  to.  For  example:  "These  are  the  four  spirits  of 
the  heavens,  which  go  forth  from  standins;  before  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth.''— Zech.  vi.  5.  Now,  if  this  were 
rendered,  u  which  go  forth  to  stand,"  &c.,  it  is  plain  that  these  prepositions  would  express  quite  opposite  rela- 
tions. Yet,  probably  from  some  obscurity  in  the  original,  the  Greek  version  has  been  made  to  mean,  "  going 
forth  to  stand ;  "  and  the  Latin,  "  which  go  forth,  that  they  may  stand :  "  while  the  French  text  conveys  nearly 
the  same  sense  as  ours, — "  which  go  forth  from  the  place  where  they  stood.'' 


CHAP.    VII.]  SXNTAX. RULE   XX. PARTICIPLES. OBSERVATIONS.  609 


pronunciation  to  borrow  from  singing." — Kames,  EL  of  Cnt.  ii,  70.  Here  the  infinitive  is  used, 
merely  because  it  does  not  sound  well  to  say,  "from  borroicing  from  singing  ;  "  but  the  expression 
might  very  well  be  changed  thus,  "from  being  indebted  to  singing."  "  '  This  by  no  means  hinders 


p.  281.  "  But  carefully  avoid  being  at  any 
p.  233.  "  Here  I  cannot  avoid  mentioning*  the  assistance  I  have  received." — Churchill's  Gram. 
p.  iv.  "It  is  our  duty  to  avoid  leading  others  into  temptation." — West's  Letters,  p.  33.  "  Nay, 
such  a  garden  should  in  some  measure  avoid  imitating  nature." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  251.  ' 


"  These  would  sometimes  very  narrowly  miss  being  catched  away." — Steele.  "  Carleton  very  nar- 
rowly escaped  being  taken." — Grimshaw's  Hist.  p.  111.  Better,  "  escaped/rom  being  taken ;  " — or, 
•d  capture." 

OBS.  19.— In  sentences  like  the  following,  the  participle  seems  to  be  improperly  made  the  object 
of  the  verb :  "  I  intend  doing  it." — "  I  remember  meeting  him."  Better,  "  I  intend  to  do  it." — "  I 
remember  to  have  met  him."  According  to  my  notion,  it  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  verbs  in 
general  may  govern  participles.  If  there  are  any  proper  instances  of  such  government,  they 
would  seem  to  be  chiefly  among  verbs  of  quitting  or  avoiding.  And  even  here  the  analogy  of 
General  Grammar  gives  countenance  to  a  different  solution;  as,  "  They  leftbeating  of  Paul." — 
Acts,  xxi,  32.  Better,  "They  left  beating  Paul;"— or,  "They  quit  beating  Paul."  Greek, 
" 'EiravaavTO  ruTrrovref  TOV  HavAov."  Latin,  "  Cess&veTunt  percutientes  Paulum." — Montanus. 
"  Cessarunt  ccedere  Paulum." — Beza.  "  Cessaverunt  percutere  Paulum." — Vulgate.  It  is  true, 
the  English  participle  in  ing  differs  in  some  respects  from  that  which  usually  corresponds  to  it  in 
Latin  or  Greek ;  it  has  more  of  a  substantive  character,  and  is  commonly  put  for  the  Latin  gerund. 
If  this  difference  does  not  destroy  the  argument  from  analogy,  the  opinion  is  still  just,  that  lift 
and  quit  are  here  intransitive,  and  that  the  participle  beating  relates  to  the  pronoun  they.  Such 
is  unequivocally  the  construction  of  the  Greek  text,  and  also  of  the  literal  Latin  of  Arias  Monta- 
nus. But,  to  the  mere  English  grammarian,  this  method  of  parsing  will  not  be  apt  to  suggest 
itself ;  because,  at  first  sight,  the  verbs  appear  to  be  transitive,  and  the  participle  in  ing  has 
nothing  to  prove  it  an  adjunct  of  the  nominative,  and  not  the  object  of  the  verb— unless,  indeed, 
the  mere  fact  that  it  is  a  participle,  is  proof  of  this. 

Ons.  20. — Our  great  Compiler,  Murray,  not  understanding  this  construction,  or  not  observing 
what  verbs  admit  of  it,  or  require  it,  has  very  unskillfully  laid  it  down  as  a  rule,  that,  "  The 
participle  with  its  adjuncts,  may  be  considered  as  a  substantive  phrase  in  the  objective  case,  gov- 
erned by  the  preposition  or  verb,  expressed  or  understood :  as,  '  By  promising  much,  and  performing 
but  little,  we  become  despicable.'  '  He  studied  to  avoid  expressing  himself  too  severely.'  " — Octavo 
.  \).  194.f  This  very  popular  author  seems  never  to  have  known  that  participles,  as  such, 
may  he  governed  in  English  by  prepositions.  And  yet  he  knew,  and  said,  that  "  prepositions  do 
not,  lihf  articles  and  pronouns,  convert  the  participle  itself  into  the  nature  of  a  substantive." — 
r>i<l.  This  he  avouches  in  the  same  breath  in  which  he  gives  that  "  nature  "  to  a  participle  and 
its  adverb  !  For,  by  a  false  comma  after  much,  he  cuts  his  first  "  substantive  phrase  "  absurdly  in 
two  ;  and  doubtless  supposes  a  false  ellipsis  of  by  before  the  participle  performing.  Of  his  method 
of  resolving  the  second  example,  some  notice  has  already  been  taken,  in  Observations  4th  and  oth 
on  Rule  5th.  Though  Iu>  pretends  that  the  whole  phrase  is  in  the  objective  case,  "  the  truth  is, 
crtion  grammatically  affects  the  first  word  only;  "  which  in  one  aspect  he  regards  as  a 
noun,  and  in  an  other  as  a  participle :  whereas  he  himself,  on  the  preceding  page,  had  adopted 
from  Lowth  a  different  doctrine,  and  cautioned  the  learner  against  treating  words  in  ing,  "  as  if 
they  were  of  an  amphibious  species,  partly  nouns  and  partly  verbs  ;"  that  is,  "  partly  nouns  and 
partly  participles ;"  for,  according  to  Murray,  Lowth,  and  many  others,  participles  are  verbs. 
The  term,  "substantive  phrase,"  itself  a  solecism,  was  invented  merely  to  cloak  this  otherwise 
bald  inconsistency.  Copying  Lowth  again,  the  great  Compiler  defines  a  phrase  to  be  "  two  or 
more  words  rightly  put  together  ;"  and,  surely,  if  we  have  a  well-digested  system  of  grammar, 
whatsoever  words  are  rightly  put  together,  may  be  regularly  parsed  by  it.  But  how  can  one  indi- 
visible word  be  consistently  made  two  different  parts  of  speech  at  once  ?  And  is  not  this  the 
situation  of  every  transitive  participle  that  is  made  either  the  subject  or  the  object  of  a  verb  ? 
Adjuncts  never  alter  either  the  nature  or  the  construction  of  the  words  on  which  they  depend; 
and  participial  nouns  differ  from  participles  in  both.  The  former  express  actions  as  things ;  the 
latter  generally  attribute  them  to  their  agents  or  recipients. 

OBS.  21. — The  Latin  gerund  is  "  a  kind  of  verbal  noun,  partaking  of  the  nature  of  a  partici- 
ple."—  Webster' s  Diet.  "A  gerund  is  a  participial  noun,  of  the  neuter  gender,  and  singular 
number,  declinable  like  a  substantive,  having  no  vocative,  construed  like  a  substantive,  and 

*  Cannot,  with  a  verb  of  avoiding,  or  with  the  negative  but,  is  equivalent  to  must.  Such  examples  may  there- 
fore be  varied  thus  :  '•  1  cannot  but  tntntion  :  "  i.  e.  ''  I  must  mention.'' — u  I  cannot  help  exhorting  him  to  assume 
courage." — Knox.  That  is,  "  I  cannot  but  exhort  him.1' 

t  See  the  same  thing  in  Kirkham's  (irammar,  p.  189;  in  In^frsoWs,  p.  200;  in  Smith's  Nfw  Grammar,  p. 
i  1  in  other  modifications  find  mutilations  of  Murray's  work.  Kirkham,  in  an  other  place,  adopts  the 
doctrine,  that,  "  Participles  frequently  govern  nouns  and  pronouns  in  the  possessive  case;  as,  '  In  ca£e  of  hi.s 
majesty's  ilytng  without  issue,  &c. ;  Upon  God's  having  rnded  all  his  works,  &c. ;  I  remember  its  being  reckoned 
a  great  exploit ;  At  my  coming  in  he  said,'  &c." — Ktrknam's  Gram.  p.  181.  None  of  these  examples  are  written 
according  to  my  notion  of  elegance,  or  of  accuracy.  Better:  "In  case  his  M'ijtsty  die  without  issue.''— •'  God 
having  ended  all  his  work*."— •'  I  remember  it  was  reckoned  a  great  exploit.'1—"  At  my  entrance,  he  said,"  &c. 

39 


610  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

governing  the  case  of  its  verb." — Grant's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  70.  In  the  Latin  gerund,  thus  defined, 
there  is  an  appearance  of  ancient  classical  authority  for  that  "amphibious  species"  of  words  of 
which  so  much  notice  has  already  been  taken.  Our  participle  in  ing,  -when  governed  by  a  prop- 
osition, undoubtedly  corresponds  very  nearly,  both  in  sense  and  construction,  to  this  Latin 
gerund ;  the  principal  difference  being,  that  the  one  is  declined,  like  a  noun,  and  the  other  is  not. 
The  analogy,  however,  is  but  lamely  maintained,  when  we  come  to  those  irregular  constructions 
in  which  the  participle  is  made  a  half-noun  in  English.  It  is  true,  the  gerund  of  the  nominative 
case  may  be  made  the  subject  of  a  verb  in  Latin  ;  but  we  do  not  translate  it  by  the  English  par- 
ticiple, but  rather  by  the  infinitive,  or  still  oftener  by  the  verb  with  the  auxiliary  must :  as, 
"Vivendum  est  mihi  recte,  I  must  live  well." — Grant's  L.  Gram.  p.  232.  This  is  better  English 
than  the  nearer  version,  "  Living  correctly  is  necessary  for  me  ;  "  and  the  exact  imitation,  "  Liv- 
ing is  to  me  correctly,"  is  nonsense.  Nor  does  the  Latin  gerund  often  govern  the  genitive  like  a 
noun,  or  ever  stand  as  the  direct  object  of  a  transitive  verb,  except  in  some  few  doubtful  instances 
about  which  the  grammarians  dispute.  For,  in  fact,  to  explain  this  species  of  words,  has  puzzled 
the  Latin  grammarians  about  as  much  as  the  English ;  though  the  former  do  not  appear  to  have 
fallen  into  those  palpable  self-contradictions  which  embarrass  the  instructions  of  the  latter. 
OBS.  22. — Dr.  Adam  says,  "  The  gerund  in  English  becomes  a  substantive,  by  prefixing  the 


Lowth,  Priestley,  Murray,  Comly,  Chandler,  and  many  others ;  most  of  whom  extend  the  prin 
ciple  to  all  participles  that  govern  the  possessive  case  ;  and  they  might  as  well  have  added  all 
such  as  are  made  either  the  subjects  or  the  objects  of  verbs,  and  such  as  are  put  for  nominatives 
after  verbs  neuter.  But  Crombie,  Allen,  Churchill,  S.  S.  Greene,  Hiley,  Wells,  Weld,  and  some 
others,  teach  that  participles  may  perform  these  several  offices  of  a  substantive,  without  dropping 
the  regimen  and  adjuncts  of  participles.  This  doctrine,  too,  Murray  and  his  copyists  absurdly 
endeavour  to  reconcile  with  the  other,  by  resorting  to  the  idle  fiction  of  "  substantive  phrases  " 
endued  with  all  these  powers :  as,  "His  being  at  enmity  with  Ccesar  was  the  cause  of  perpetual 
discord." — Crombie's  Treatise,  p.  237;  Churchill's  Gram.  p.  141.  "Another  fault  is  attaining  it  to 
supersede  the  use  of  a  point." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  372.  "To  be  sure  there  is  a  possibility  of 
some  ignorant  reader's  confounding  the  two  vowels,  in  pronunciation." — Ib.  p.  375.  It  is  much 
better  to  avoid  all  such  English  as  this.  Say  rather,  "  His  enmity  with  Ccesar  was  the  cause  of 
perpetual  discord." — "An  other  fault  is  the  allowing  of  it  to  supersede  the  use  of  a  point." — "  To 
be  sure,  there  is  a  possibility  that  some  ignorant  reader  may  confound  the  two  vowels,  in  pronun- 
ciation." 

OBS.  23. — In  French,  the  infinitive  is  governed  by  several  different  prepositions,  and  the 
gerundive  by  one  only,  the  preposition  en, — which,  however,  is  sometimes  suppressed;  as,  "  en 
passant,  en  faisant, — il  alloit  courant." — Traite  des  Participes,  p.  2.  In  English,  the  gerundive  is 
governed  by  several  different  prepositions,  and  the  infinitive  by  one  only,  the  preposition  to, — 
which,  in  like  manner,  is  sometimes  suppressed;  as,  "to  pass,  to  do, — 7  sate  him  run."  Tlie 
difficulties  in  the  syntax  of  the  French  participle  in  ant,  which  corresponds  to  ours  in  ing,  a  -e 
apparently  as  great  in  themselves,  as  those  which  the  syntax  of  the  English  word  presents  ;  but 
they  result  from  entirely  different  causes,  and  chiefly  from  the  liability  there  is  of  confoundirg 
the  participle  with  the  verbal  adjective,  which  is  formed  from  it.  The  confounding  of  it  with  tl  e 
gerundive  is  now,  in  either  language,  of  little  or  no  consequence,  since  in  modern  French,  as  well 
as  in  English,  both  are  indeclinable.  For  this  reason,  I  have  framed  the  syntactical  rule  for 
participles  so  as  to  include  under  that  name  the  gerund,  or  gerundive,  which  is  a  participle  gov- 
erned by  a  preposition.  The  great  difficulty  with  us,  is,  to  determine  whether  the  participle 
ought,  or  ought  not,  to  be  allowed  to  assume  other  characteristics  of  a  noun,  without  dropping- 
those  of  a  participle,  and  without  becoming  wholly  a  noun.  The  liability  of  confounding  the 
English  participle  with  the  verbal  or  participial  adjective,  amounts  to  nothing  more  than  the  occa- 
sional misnaming  of  a  word  in  parsing ;  or  perhaps  an  occasional  ambiguity  in  the  style  of  some 
writer,  as  in  the  following  citation :  "  I  am  resolved,  '  let  the  newspapers  say  what  they  please  of 
canvassing  beauties,  haranguing  toasts,  and  mobbing  demireps,'  not  to  believe  one  syllable." — 
Jane  West's  Letters  to  a  Young  Lady,  p.  74.  From  these  words,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  find  ou% 
even  with  the  help  of  the  context,  whether  these  three  sorts  of  ladies  are  spoken  of  as  the  can- 
vassers, haranguers,  and  mobbers,  or  as  being  canvassed,  harangued,  and  mobbed.  If  the  prolixity 
and  multiplicity  of  these  observations  transcend  the  reader's  patience,  let  him  consider  that  the 
questions  at  issue  cannot  be  settled  by  the  brief  enunciation  of  loose  individual  opinions,  but 
must  be  examined  in  the  light  of  all  the  analogies  and  facts  that  bear  upon  them.  So  considerable 
are  the  difficulties  of  properly  distinguishing  the  participle  from  the  verbal  adjective  in  French, 
that  that  indefatigable  grammarian,  Girault  Du  Vivier,  after  completing  his  Grammaire  des  Gram- 
maires  in  two  large  octavo  volumes,  thought  proper  to  enlarge  his  instructions  on  this  head,  and 
to  publish  them  in  a  separate  book,  (Traite  des  Participes,)  though  we  have  it  on  his  own  author- 
ity, that  the  rule  for  participles  had  already  given  rise  to  a  greater  number  of  dissertations  and 
particular  treatises  than  any  other  point  in  French  grammar. 

OBS.  24. — A  participle  construed  after  the  nominative  or  the  objective  case,  is  not  in  general 
equivalent  to  a  verbal  noun  governing  the  possessive.  There  is  sometimes  a  nice  distinction  to  be 
observed  in  the  application  of  these  two  constructions.  For  the  leading  word  in  sense,  should  not 
be  made  the  adjunct  in  construction.  The  following  sentences  exhibit  a  disregard  to  this  princi- 
ple, and  are  both  inaccurate  :  "  He  felt  his  strength's  declining." — "  He  was  sensible  of  his  strength 

"frit 

e  f ., 0,      „   „ 

declining;  "  i.  e.  "  of  its  decline."  These  two  sentences  state  the  same  fact,  but,  in  construction, 
they  are  very  different ;  nor  does  it  appear,  that  where  there  is  no  difference  of  meaning,  the  two 
constructions  are  properly  interchangeable.  This  point  has  already  been  briefly  noticed  in  Obs.  12th 


CHAP.    VII.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XX. PARTICIPLES. OBSERVATIONS.  611 

and  13th  on  Rule  4th.  But  the  false  and  discordant  instructions  which  our  grammarians  deliver 
respecting  possessives  before  participles;  their  strange  neglect  of  this  plain  principle  of  reason, 
that  the  leading  word  in  sense  ought  to  be  made  the  leading  or  governing  word  in  the  construc- 
tion; and  the  difficulties  which  they  and  other  writers  arc  continually  falling  into,  by  taking 
their  choice  between  two  errors,  in  stead  of  avoiding  both :  these,  as  well  as  their  suggestions  of 
sameness  or  difference  of  import  between  the  participle  and  the  participial  noun,  require  some 
further  extension  of  my  observations  in  this  place. 

OBS.  25. — Upon  the  classification  of  words,  as  parts  of  speech,  distinguished  according  to  their 
natures  and  uses,  depends  the  whole  scheme  of  grammatical  science.  And  it  is  plain,  that  a  bad 
distribution,  or  a  confounding  of  such  things  as  ought  to  be  separated,  must  necessarily  be  attended 
with  inconveniences  to  the  student,  for  which  no  skill  or  learning  in  the  expounder  of  such  a 
system  can  ever  compensate.  The  absurdity  of  supposing  with  Home  Tooke,  that  the  same 
word  can  never  be  used  so  differently  as  to  belong  to  different  parts  of  speech,  I  have  already 
alluded  to  more  than  once.  The  absolute  necessity  of  classing  words,  not  according  to  their 
derivation  merely,  but  rather  according  to  their  sense  and  construction,  is  too  evident  to  require 
any  proof.  Yet,  different  as  are  the  natures  and  the  uses  of  verbs,  participles,  and  nouns,  it  is  no 
uncommon  thing  to  find  these  three  parts  of  speech  confounded  together;  and  that  too  to  a  very 
great  extent,  and  bv  some  of  our  very  best  grammarians,  without  even  an  attempt  on  their  part  to 
distinguish  them,  For  instances  of  this  glaring  fault  and  perplexing  inconsistency,  the  reader  may 
turn  to  the  books  of  W.  Allen  and  T.  O.  Churchill,  two  of  the  best  authors  that  have  ever  written  on 
English  grammar.  Of  the  participle  the  latter  gives  no  formal  definition,  but  he  represents  it  as 
"  a  form,  in  which  the  action  denoted  by  the  verb  is  capable  of  being  joined  to  a  noun  as  it's  quality, 
or  accident." — Churchill's  AV?r  Gram.  p.  85.  Again  he  says,  "That  the  participle  is  a  mere  mode 
of  the  verb  is  manifest,  if  our  definition  of  a  verb  be  admitted." — Ib.  p.  242.  While  he  thus  identi- 
fies the  participle  with  the  verb,  this  author  scruples  not  to  make  what  he  calls  the  imperfect 
participle  perform  all  the  offices  of  a  noun:  saying,  "  Frequently  too  it  is  used  as  a  noun,  admits 
a  preposition  or  article  before  it,  becomes  a  plural  by  taking  s  at  the  end,  and  governs  a  possessive 
case  :  as,  '  He  who  has  the  comings  in  of  a  prince,  maybe  ruined  by  his  own  gaming,  or  his  wife's 
st/uaitderim/.'  " — Ib.  p.  144.  The  plural  here  exhibited,  if  rightly  written,  would  have  the  s,  not  at 
the  end,  but  in  the  middle;  for  cominys-in,  (an  obsolete  expression  for  revenues,)  is  not  two 
words,  but  one.  Nor  wee  gaming  and  tyuemaervtg.  to  be  here  called  participles,  but  nouns.  Yet, 
among  all  his  rules  and  annotations,  I  do  not  find  that  Churchill  any  where  teaches  that  participles 
nvun.i  when  they  are  used  substantively.  The  following  example  he  exhibits  for  the 
express  purpose  of  showing  that  the  nominatives  to  "is"  and  "may  be"  are  not  nouns,  but 
participles:  "  Walking  is  the  best  exercise,  though  riding  may  !>/•  more  pleasant." — Ib.  p.  141. 
And,  what  is  far  worse,  though  his  book  is  professedly  an  amplification  of  Lowth's  brief  grammar, 
he  so  completely  annuls  the  advice  of  Lowth  concerning  the  distinguishing  of  participles  from 
participial  nouns,  that  he  not  only  misnames  the  latter  when  they  are  used  correctly,  but  approves 
and  adopts  well-nigh  all  the  various  forms  of  error,  with  which  the  mixed  and  irregular  construc- 
tion of  participles  has  filled  our  language:  of  these  forms,  there  are,  I  think,  not  fewer  than  a 
dozen. 

()i:s.  26. — Allen's  account  of  the  participle  is  no  better  than  Churchill's — and  no  worse  than 
what  the  reader  may  find  in  many  an  English  Grammar  now  in  use.  This  author's  fault  is 
not  so  much  a  lack  of  learning  or  of  comprehension,  as  of  order  and  discrimination.  We  see  in 
him,  that  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  be  well  acquainted  with  English  authors,  ancient  as  well  as 
modern,  and  to  read  Greek  and  Latin,  French  and  Saxon,  and  yet  to  falter  miserably  in  describing 
the  nature  and  uses  of  the  English  participle.  Like  many  others,  he  does  not  acknowledge  this 
sort  of  words  to  be  one  of  the  parts  of  speech  ;  but  commences  his  account  of  it  by  the  following 
absurdity:  "The  participles  are  adjectives  derived  from  the  verb  ;  as,  pursuing,  pursued,  having 
1  i,ts  <>f  E.  Gram.  p.  62.  This  definition  not  only  confounds  the  participle  witn 
the  participial  adjective,  but  merges  the  whole  of  the  former  species  in  a  part  of  speech  of  which 
lie  had  not  even  recognized  the  latter  as  a  subdivision:  "An  adjective  shows  the  quality  of  a 
thing.  Adjectives  may  be  reduced  to  five  clusses :  1.  Common — 2.  Proper — 3.  Numeral — 4. 
Pronominal — o.  Compound." — Ib.  p.  47.  Now,  if  "participles  are  adjectives,"  to  which  of  these 
five  classes  do  they  belong  ?  But  there  are  participial  or  verbal  adjectives,  very  many ;  a  sixth 
•.vithout  which  this  distribution  is  false  and  incomplete  :  as,  "  a  loving  father  ;  an  approved 
copy."  The  participle  differs  from  these,  as  much  as  it  does  from  a  noun.  But  says  our  author, 
"  Participle*,  as  simple  adjectives,  belong  to  a  noun;  as,  a  loving  father;  an  approved  copy; — 
as  parts  of  the  verb,  they  have  the  same  government  as  their  verbs  have;  as,  his  father,  recalling 
the  pleasures  of  past  years,  joined  their  party." — Ib.  p.  170.  What  confusion  is  this !  a  com- 
plete jumble  of  adjectives,  participles,  and  "parts  of  verbs  !"  Again  :  "  Present  participles  are 
often  construed  as  substantives;  as,  early  rising  is  conducive  to  health;  I  like  writing;  we 
depended  on  s.r//i//  you." — Ib.  p.  171.  Here  rising  and  writing  are  nouns  ;  but  seeing  is  a  partici- 
ple, because  it  is  active  and  governs  you.  Compare  this  'second  jumble  with  the  definition 
above.  Again  he  proceeds:  "To  participles  thus  used,  many  of  our  best  authors  prefix  the 
article  ;  as,  '  The  being  chosen  did  not  prevent  disorderly  behaviour.'  Bp.  Tomline.  '  The  not  know- 
ing haw  to  pass  our  vacant  hours.'  Seed." — Ib.  p.  171.  These  examples  I  take  to  be  bad  English. 
Say  rather,  "  The  stat<  lid  not  prevent  disorderly  behaviour." — "  The  want  of  some  en- 

,'-  rtainmcnt  for  our  vacant  hours."  The  author  again  proceeds  :  "  If  a  noun  limits  the  meaning 
of  a  participle  thus  used,  that  noun  is  put  in  the  genitive  ;  as,  your  father's  coming  was  unex- 
pected."— Ib.  p.  171.  Here  coming  is  a  noun,  and  no  participle  at  all.  But  the  author  has  a  mar- 
ginal note,  "A  possessive  pronoun  is  equivalent  to  a  genitive  ;  "  (ibid.  ,•)  and  he  means  to  approve 
of  possessives  before  active  participles:  as,  "  Some  of  these  irregularities  arise  from  our  having 
d  the  words  through  a  French  medium." — Ib.  p.  116.  This  brings  us  again  to  that  difficult 
and  apparently  unresolvable  problem,  whether  participles  as  such,  by  virtue  of  their  mixed 
gerundive  character,  can,  or  cannot,  govern  the  posessive  case ;  a  question,  about  which,  the 
more  a  man  examines  it,  the  more  he  may  doubt. 


612  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

OBS.  27. — But,  before  we  say  any  thing  more  about  the  government  of  this  case,  let  us  look  at  our 
author's  next  paragraph  on  participles  :  "An  active  participle,  preceded  by  an  article  or  by  a  genitive, 
is  elegantly  followed  by  the  preposition  of,  before  the  substantive  which  follows  it ;  as,  the  compil- 
ing of  that  book  occupied  several  years  ;  "his  quitting  of  the  army  was  unexpected." — Allen's  Gram. 
p.  171.  Here  the  participial  nouns  compiling  and  quitting  are  improperly  called  active  participles, 
from  which  they  are  certainly  as  fairly  distinguished  by  the  construction,  as  they  can  be  by  any 
means  whatever.  And  this  complete  distinction  the  author  considers  at  least  an  elegance,  if  not 
an  absolute  requisite,  in  English  composition.  And  he  immediately  adds  :  "  When  this  construc- 
tion produces  ambiguity,  the  expression  must  be  varied." — Ib.  p.  171.  This  suggestion  is  left  with- 
out illustration  ;  but  it  doubtless  refers  to  one  of  Murray's  remarks,  in  which  it  is  said :  "A  phrase 
in  which  the  article  precedes  the  present  participle  and  the  possessive  preposition  follows  it,  will 
not,  in  every  instance,  convey  the  same  meaning  as  would  be  conveyed  by  the  participle  without 
the  article  and  preposition.  '  He  expressed  the  pleasure  he  had  in  the  hearing  o/'the  philosopher,' 
is  capable  of  a  different  sense  from,  '  He  expressed  the  pleasure  he  hud  in  hearing  the  philosopher.'  " 
— Murray's  Octavo  Gram.  p.  193;  Smith's  Gram.  161;  Ingersoll's,  199;  and  others.  Here  may 
be  seen  a  manifest  difference  between  the  verbal  or  participial  noun,  and  the  participle  or 
gerund  ;  but  Murray,  in  both  instances,  absurdly  calls  the  word  hearing  a  "  present  participle  ;  " 
and,  having  robbed  the  former  sentence  of  a  needful  comma,  still  more  absurdly  supposes  it  am- 


clear.  But  let  us  recur  to  the  mixed  example  from  Allen,  and  compare  it  with  his  own  doctrines. 
To  say,  "  from  our  having  received  o/'the  words  through  a  French  medium,"  would  certainly  be 
no  elegance  ;  and  if  it  be  not  an  ambiguity,  it  is  something  worse.  The  expression,  then,  "  must 
be  varied."  But  varied  how  ?  Is  it  right  without  the  of,  though  contrary  to  the  author's  rule 
for  elegance  ? 

OBS.  28. — The  observations  which  have  been  made  on  this  point,  under  the  rule  for  the  posses- 
sive case,  while  they  show,  to  some  extent,  the  inconsistencies  in  doctrine,  and  the  improprieties 
of  practice,  into  which  the  difficulties  of  the  mixed  participle  have  betrayed  some  of  our  principal 
grammarians,  bring  likewise  the  weight  of  much  authority  and  reason  against  the  custom  of 
blending  without  distinction  the  characteristics  of  nouns  and  participles  in  the  same  word  or 
words  ;  but  still  they  may  not  be  thought  sufficient  to  prove  this  custom  to  be  altogether  wrong  ; 
nor  do  they  pretend  to  have  fully  established  the  dogma,  that  such  a  construction  is  in  no  instance 
admissible.  They  show,  however,  that  possessives  before  participles  are  seldom  to  be  approved; 
and  perhaps,  in  the  present  instance,  the  meaning  might  be  quite  as  well  expressed  by  a  common 
substantive,  or  the  regular  participial  noun:  as,  "Some  of  these  irregularities  arise  from  our 
reception  of  the  words — or  our  receiving  of  the  words — through  a  French  medium."  But  there 
are  some  examples  which  it  is  not  easy  to  amend,  either  in  this  way,  or  in  any  other ;  as,  "  The 
miscarriages  of  youth  have  very  much  proceeded  from  their  being  imprudently  indulged,  or  lej't  to 
themselves." — Friends'  N.  E.  Discipline,  p.  13.  And  there  are  instances  too,  of  a  similar  char- 
acter, in  which  the  possessive  case  cannot  be  used.  For  example:  "  Nobody  will  doubt  of  this 
being  a  sufficient  proof." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  66.  "  But  instead  of  this  being  the  fact  of  the 
case,  &c." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  137.  "  There  is  express  historical  or  traditional  evidence ,  as 
ancient  as  history,  of  the  system  of  religion  being  taught  mankind  by  revelation." — Ibid.  "  From 
things  in  it  appearing  to  men  foolishness." — Ib.  p.  175.  "As  to  the  consistency  of  the  members 
of  our  society  joining  themselves  to  those  called  free-masons." — N.  E.  Discip.  p.  51.  "  In  either 
of  these  cases  happening,  the  person  charging  is  at  liberty  to  bring  the  matter  before  the  church, 
who  are  the  only  judges  now  remaining." — Ib.  p.  36  ;  Extracts,  p.  57.  "  Deriving  its  efficacy  from 
the  power  of  God  fulfilling  his  purpose." — Religious  World,  Vol.  ii,  p.  235.  "  We  have  no  id<a  of 
any  certain  portion  of  time  intervening  between  th£  time  of  the  action  and  the  time  of  speaking  of 
it." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  38 ;  Murray's,  i,  70  ;  Emmons's,  41 ;  and  others.  The  following  example 
therefore,  however  the  participle  may  seem  to  be  the  leading  word  in  sense,  is  unquestionably 
wrong ;  and  that  in  more  respects  than  one  :  "  The  reason  and  time  of  the  Son  of  God's  becoming 
man." — Brown's  Divinity,  p.  xxii.  Many  writers  would  here  be  satisfied  with  merely  omitting  the 
possessive  sign  ;  as  does  Churchill,  in  the  following  example :  "  The  chief  cause  of  this  appears 
to  me  to  lie  in  grammarians  having  considered  them  solely  as  the  signs  of  tense." — New  Gram.  p. 
243.  But  this  sort  of  construction,  too,  whenever  the  noun  before  the  participle  is  not  the  lead- 
ing word  in  sense,  is  ungrammatical.  In  stead,  therefore,  of  stickling  for  choice  between  two 
such  errors,  we  ought  to  adopt  some  better  expression  ;  as,  "  The  reason  and  time  of  the  Saviour's 
incarnation." — "  The  chief  cause  of  this  appears  to  me  to  be,  that  grammarians  have  considered 
them  solely  as  signs  of  tense." 

OBS.  29. — It  is  certain  that  the  noun  or  pronoun  which  "  limits  the  meaning  of  a  participle."  can- 
not always  be  "  put  in  the  genitive  "  or  possessive  case  ;  for  the  sense  intended  sometimes  positively 
forbids  such  a  construction,  and  requires  the  objective:  as,  "A  syllable  consists  of  one  or  more 


letters  forming  one  sound." — Allen's  Gram.  p.  29.  The  word  representing  or  denoting  would  here  be 
better  than  forming,  because  the  letters  do  not,  strictly  speaking,  form  the  sound.  But  chiefly 
let  it  be  noticed,  that  the  word  letters  could  not  with  any  propriety  have  been  put  in  the  possessive 
case.  Nor  is  it  always  necessary  or  proper,  to  prefer  that  case,  where  the  sense  may  be  supposed  to 
admit  it ;  as,  " '  The  example  which  Mr.  Seyer  has  adduced,  of  the  gerund  governing  the  genitive  of 
the  agent.'  Dr.  Crombie." — Grant's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  237.  "  Which  possibly  might  have  been  pre- 
vented by  parents  doing  their  duty." — N.  E.  Discipline,  p.  187.  "As  to  the  seeming  contradiction 
of  One  being  Three,  and  Three  One." — Religious  World,  Vol.  ii,  p.  113.  "  You  have  watched  them 
climbing  from  chair  to  chair." — PIERPONT  :  Liberator,  Vol.  x,  p.  22.  "  Whether  the  world  came 
into  being  as  it  is,  by  an  intelligent  Agent  forming  it  thus,  or  not." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  129.  "  In 
the  farther  supposition  of  necessary  agents  being  thus  rewarded  and  punished." — Ib.  p.  140.  "  He 


CHAP.  Til.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XX. PARTICIPLES. OBSERVATIONS.  G13 

grievously  punished  the  Israelites  murmuring  for  want  of  water." — Leslie,  on  Tythes,  p.  21.  Here 
too  the  words, gerund,  parents,  One,  Three,  them,  Agent,  agents,  and  Israelites,  are  rightly  put  in  the 
objective  case ;  yet  doubtless  some  will  think,  though  I  do  not,  that  they  might  as  well  have  been 
put  in  the  possessive.  Respectable  writers  sometimes  use  the  latter  case,  where  the  former  would 
convey  the  same  meaning,  and  be  more  regular  ;  as,  "Which  is  used,  as  active  verbs  often  are, 
without  its  regimen's  being  expressed." — Grant's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  302.  Omit  the  apostrophe  and  s  ; 
and,  if  you  please,  the  word  being  also.  "  The  daily  instances  of  men's  dying  around  us." — Butler's 
Analogy,  p.  113.  Say  rather, — "  of  men  dying  around  us."  "  To  prevent  our  rashly  engaging  in 
arduous  or  dangerous  enterprises." — Brown's  Divinity,  p.  17.  Say,  "To  prevent  us  from  "  &c. 
The  following  example  is  manifestly  inconsistent  with  itself;  and,  in  my  opinion,  the  three  posses- 
sives  are  all  wrong  :  "  The  kitchen  too  now  begins  to  give  '  dreadful  note  of  preparation  ; '  not  from 
armourers  accomplishing  the  knights,  but  from  the  shop  maid's  chopping/orre  meat,  the  appren- 
tice's cleaning  knives,  and  the  journey man's  receiving  a  practical  lesson  in  the  art  of  waiting  at 
table." — West's  Letters  to  a  Lady,  p.  66.  It  should  be — "  not  from  armorers  accomplishing  the 
knights,  but  from  the  shopmaid  chopping  forcemeat,  the  apprentice  cleaning  knives,  and  the  jonr- 
ji'!/f/t(in  receiving,"  &c.  The  nouns  are  'the  principal  words,  and  the  participles  are  adjuncts. 
They  might  be  separated  by  commas,  if  semicolons  were  put  where  the  commas  now  are. 

OBS.  30. — Our  authors,  good  and  bad,  critics  and  no  critics,  with  few  exceptions,  write  some- 
times the  objective  case  before  the  participle,  and  sometimes  the  possessive,  under  precisely  the 
same  circumstances;  as,  "We  should,  presently,  be  sensible  of  the  melody  suffering." — Blair's 
Hhet.  p.  122.  "  We  should,  presently,  be  sensible  of  the  melody's  suffering." — Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  p.  327.  "  We  shall  presently  be  sensible  of  the  melody  suffering."— Murray's  Exercises,  8vo, 
p.  60.  "  We  shall  presently  be  sensible  of  the  melody's  suffering.'"— Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  195. 
"And  I  explain  what  is  meant  by  the  nominative  case  governing  the  verb,  and  by  the  verb  «</• 
with  its  nominative  case." — Rand's  Gram.  p.  31.  "Take  the  verb  study,  and  speak  of  John's 
studying  his  lesson,  at  different  times." — Ib.  p.  53.  "  The  following  are  examples  of  the  nominative 
ease  being  used  instead  of  the  objective."— J.  M.  Putnam's  Gram.  p.  112.  "The  following  are 
examples  of  an  adverb's  qualifying  a  whole  sentence." — Ib.  p.  128.  "  Where  the  noun  is  the  name 
of  a  person,  the  cases  may  also  be  distinguished  by  the  nominative's  answering  to  WHO,  and  the 
objective  to  WHOM."— Hart's  dram.  p.  46.  "  This  depends  chiefly  on  their  being  more  or  less  em- 
phatic ;  and  on  the  vowel  sound  being  long  or  short." — ChurchiWs  Gram.  p.  182.  "  When  they 


mg  _ r 

p.  55".  "  Between  that  and  the  man  being  on  it."— Ib.  p.  59.  "  The  fact  of  James  placing 
himself." — Ib.  p.166.  "  The  event  of  the  persons'  going." — Ib.  p.  16-5.  Here  persons'  is  carelessly 
put  for  person's,  i.  e.  James's  :  the  author  vr as  parsing  'the  puerile  text,  "  James  went  into  a  store 
and  placed  himself  beside  Horatio." — Ib.  p.  164.  And  I  may  observe,  in  passing,  that  Murray  and 
Blair  are  both  wrong  in  using  commas  with  the  adverb  presently  above. 

OBS.  31.— It  would  be  easy  to  fill  a  page  with  instances  of  these  two  cases,  the  objective  and 
the  possessive,  used,  as  I  may  say,  indiscriminately  ;  nor  is  there  any  other  principle  by  which  we 
can  determine  which  of  them  is  right,  or  which  preferable,  than  that  the  leading  word  in  sense 
ought  not  to  be  made  the  adjunct  in  the  construction,  and  that  the  participle,  if  it  remain  such, 
ought  rather  to  relate  to  its  noun,  as  being  the  adjunct,  than  to  govern  it  in  the  possessive,  as 
being  the  principal  term.  To  what  extent  either  of  these  cases  may  properly  be  used  before  the 
participle,  or  in  what  instances  cither  of  them  may  be  preferable  to  the  other,  it  is  not  very  easy 
to  determine.  Both  are  used  a  great  deal  too  often,  filling  with  blemishes  the  style  of  many 
authors  :  the  possessive,  because  the  participle  is  not  the  name  of  any  thing  that  can  be  possessed ; 
the  objective,  because  no  construction  can  be  right  in  which  the  relation  of  the  terms  is  not 
formed  according  to  the  sense.  The  former  usage  I  have  already  criticised  to  a  great  extent. 
Let  one  example  suffice  here  :  "  There  can  be  no  objection  to  a  syllable's  being  long,  on  the  ground 
of  to  not  being  so  long,  or  so  much  protracted,  #s  some  other  long  syllables  are." — Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  p.  242.  Some  would  here  prefer  syllable  to  syllable's,  but  none  would  be  apt  to  put  it  for  its, 
without  some  other  change.  The  sentence  may  be  amended  thus  :  "  There  can  be  no  objection  to 
a  tyUabh  as  bcinrj  long,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  ,vo  long  as  some  other  syllables." 

!2. — It  should  be  observed,  that  the  use  of  as  between  the  participle  and  the  noun  is  very 
often  better  than  either  the  adoption  of  the  possessive  si^n,  or  the  immediate  connexion  of  the  two 
word-; ;  as    "Another  point  constantly  brought  into   the  investigation  now,  is  that   of  military 
as   forming  a  claim    to  civil   position." — Boston  Daily  Adrertiticr.     Concerning  examples 
like  the  following,  it  may  be  questioned,  whether  the  objective  is  proper  or  not;  whether  the  pos- 
would  be  preferable  or  not;  or  whether   a  better  construction  than  either  may  not  be 
There  is  scarce  an  instance  of  any  one  being  chosen  for  a  pattern." — Kames,  El.  of  ('n't. 
Vol.ji.p.  33       "  Instead  of  its  authenticity  being  shaken,  it  has  been  rendered  more  sure  than  ever." 
—  "  '  p.  i''7.     "  When  there  is  no  longer  a  possibility  of  a  proper  candidate  being  nomi- 

nated by  cither  party."— Liberator,  Vol.  x,  p.  9.  "  On  the  first  'stone  being  thrown,  it  was  returned 
by  a  tire  of  musketry." — Ib.  p.  Ifi.  "  To  raise  a  crv  about  an  innocent  person  being  circumvented 
by  bribery."—  Blair's  Wut.  p.  '270.  "  Whose  principles  forbid  them  taking  part  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  government." —  /  I.  x,  p.  1").  "  It  can  have  no  other  ground  than  some  such 
imagination,  as  that  of  our  ijross  Indies  bring  ourselves." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  150.  "  In  conse- 
quence of  this  rt'i-fhitinn  b,  in-f  made." — Ib.  p.  102.  If  such  relations  between  the  participle 
and  the  objective  be  disapproved,  the  substitution  of  the  possessive  case  is  liable  to  still  stronger 
objections ;  but  both  may  be  avoided,  by  the  use  of  the  nominative,  or  otherwise  :  thus, 

-  ///  /.<  any  one  cr,r  chosen  for  a  pattern." — "/Ay  anthenti-ity,  in  st^ad  of  being  shaken,  has 
l>prn  rendered  more  sure  than  ever." — "  When  there  is  no  longer  a  possibility  that  a  proper  candi- 

///  he  nominated  by  either  \r\'.-i\  "—  ••  \-  toontu  ti,  iras  thrown,  then  wis   r»>. 

tnrned  a  fire  of  musketry." — "To  raise  a  cry,  as  if  an  innorent  person  hadbeen  circumvent 
Bribery." — "  Whose  principles  forbid  them  to  ta'cc  part  in  the  administration  of  the  government." 


614  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

— "  It  can  have  no  other  ground  than  some  such  imagination,  as  that  our  gross  bodies  are  our- 
selves."— "In  consequence  of  this  revelation  whichisma.de." 

OBS.  33. — A  recent  grammarian  quotes  Dr.  Crombie  thus  :  "  Some  late  toriters  have  discarded 
a  phraseology  which  appears  unobjectionable,  and  substituted  one  that  seems  less  correct ;  and 
instead  of  saying,  '  Lady  Macbeth' s  walking  in  her  sleep  is  an  incident  full  of  tragic  horror/ 
would  say,  '  Lady  Macbeth  walking  in  her  sleep  is  an  incident  full  of  tragic  horror.'  This  seems 
to  me  an  idle  affectation  of  the  Latin  idiom,  less  precise  than  the  common  mode  of  expression, 
and  less  consonant  with  the  genius  of  our  language  :  for,  ask  what  was  an  incident  full  of  tragic 
horror,  and,  according  to  this  phraseology,  the  answer  mustbe,  Lady  Macbeth;  whereas  the  meaning 
is,  not  that  Lady  Macbeth,  but  her  walking  in  her  sleep,  is  an  incident  full  of  tragic  horror.  This 
phraseology  also,  in  many  instances,  conveys  not  the  intended  idea;  for,  as  Priestley  remarks, 
if  it  is  said,  «  What  think  you  of  my  horse's  running  to-day  ?  '  it  is  implied  that  the  horse  did  actu- 
ally run.  _  If  it  is  said,  'What  think  you  of  my  horse  running  to-day?'  it  is  intended  to  ask 
whether  it  be  proper  for  my  horse  to  run  to-day.  This  distinction,  though  frequently  neglected, 
deserves  attention  ;  for  it  is  obvious  that  ambiguity  may  arise  from  using  the  latter  only  of 
these  phraseologies  to  express  both  meanings." — Maunder' s  Compendious  Eng .  Gram.  p.  15.  (See 
Crombie' s  Treatise,  p.  288 — 290.)  To  this,  before  any  comment  is  offered,  let  me  add  an  other 
quotation :  "  RULE.  A  noun  before  the  present  participle  is  put  in  the  possessive  case ;  as,  Much 
will  depend  on  the  pupil's  composing  frequently.  Sometimes,  however,  the  sense  forbids  it  to  be 
put  in  the  possessive  case  ;  thus,  What  do  you  think  of  my  horse  running  to-day  ?  means,  Do  you 
think  I  should  let  him  run  ?  but,  What  do  you  think  of  my  horse's  running?  means,  he  Aasrun, 
do  you  think  he  ran  well  ? — Lennie's  Gram.  p.  91 ;  Brace's  Gram.  94.  See  Bullions' s  Gram.  p. 
107;  Hiley's,§±;  Murray's,  Svo,  195;  Ingersoll's,  201 ;  and  many  others. 

OBS.  34. — Any  phraseology  that  conveys  not  the  intended  idea,  or  that  involves  such  an  absurd- 
ity as  that  of  calling  a  lady  an  "incident,"  is  doubtless  sufficiently  reprehensible ;  but,  compared 
with  a  rule  of  grammar  so  ill-devised  as  to  mislead  the  learner  nine  times  in  ten,  an  occasional 
ambiguity  or  solecism  is  a  mere  trifle.  The  word  walking,  preceded  by  a  possessive  and  followed 
by  a  preposition,  as  above,  is  clearly  a  noun,  and  not  a  participle ;  but  these  authors  probably  in- 
tend to  justify  the  use  of  possessives  before  participles,  and  even  to  hold  all  phraseology  of  this 
kind  "  unobjectionable."  If  such  is  not  their  design,  they  write  as  badly  as  they  reason  ;  and  if 
it  is,  their  doctrine  is  both  false  and  inconsistent.  That  a  verbal  noun  may  govern  the  pos- 
sessive case,  is  certainly  no  proof  that  a  participle  may  do  so  too ;  and,  if  these  parts  of  speech 
are  to  be  kept  distinct,  the  latter  position  must  be  disallowed  :  each  must  "  abide  by  its  own  con- 
struction," as  says  Lowth.  But  the  practice  which  these  authors  speak  of,  as  an  innovation 
of  "  some  late  writers,"  and  "  an  idle  affectation  of  the  Latin  idiom,"  is  in  fact  a  practice  as  differ- 
ent from  the  blunder  which  they  quote,  or  feign,  as  their  just  correction  of  that  blunder  is  differ- 
ent from  the  thousand  errors  or  irregularities  which  they  intend  to  shelter  under  it.  To  call  a 
lady  an  "  incident,"  is  just  as  far  from  any  Latin  idiom,  as  it  is  from  good  English  ;  whereas  the 
very  thing  which  they  thus  object  to  at  first,  they  afterwards  approve  in  this  text :  "  What  thi  ik 
you  of  my  horse  running  to-day  ?  "  This  phraseology  corresponds  with  "  the  Latin  idiom ;  "  and 
it  is  this,  that,  in  fact,  they  begin  with  pronouncing  to  be  "  less  correct "  than,  "  What  think  you 
of  my  horse's  running  to-day  ?  " 

OBS.  35. — Between  these  expressions,  too,  they  pretend  to  fix  a  distinction  of  signification  ;  as 
if,  "  the  horse's  running  to-day,"  must  needs  imply  a  past  action,  though,  (they  suppose,)  "  the 
pupil's  composing  frequently,"  or,  "  the  horse  running  to-day,"  signifies  a  future  one.  This  dis- 
tinction of  time  is  altogether  imaginary  ;  and  the  notion,  that  to  prefer  the  possessive  case  before 
participles,  is  merely  to  withstand  an  error  of  "  some  late  ivriters,"  is  altogether  false.  The  in- 
structions above  cited,  therefore,  determine  nothing  rightly,  except  the  inaccuracy  of  one  very 
uncommon  form  of  expression.  For,  according  to  our  best  grammarians,  the  simple  mode  of  cor- 
rection there  adopted  will  scarcely  be  found  applicable  to  any  other  text.  It  will  not  be  right 
where  the  participle  happens  to  be  transitive,  or  even  where  it  is  qualified  by  an  adverb.  From 
their  subsequent  examples,  it  is  plain  that  these  gentlemen  think  otherwise ;  but  still,  who  can 
understand  what  they  mean  by  "  the  common  mode  of  expression?  "  What,  for  instance,  would 
they  substitute  for  the  following  very  inaccurate  expression  from  the  critical  belles-lettres  of  Dr. 
Blair  ?  "A  mother  accusing  her  son,  and  accusing  him  of  such  actions,  a*  having  first  bribed 


of  expression  ?  "  and  if  it  is,  do  they  not  make  "  common  "  what  is  no  better  English  than  the 
Doctor's  ?  If,  to  accuse  a  son,  and  to  accuse  him  greatly,  can  be  considered  different  circum- 
stances of  the  same  prosecution,  the  sentence  may  be  corrected  thus  :  "A  mother's  accusing  of  her 
son,  and  her  charging  upon  him  such  actions,  as  those  o/having  first  bribed  judges  to  condemn 
her  husband,  and  having  afterwards  poisoned  him,  were  circumstances  that  naturally  raised  strong 
prejudices  against  Cicero's  client." 

OBS.  36. — On  several  occasions,  as  in  the  tenth  and  twelfth  observations  on  Rule  4th,  and  in 
certain  parts  of  the  present  series,  some  notice  has  been  taken  of  the  equivalence  or  difference  of 
meaning,  real  or  supposed,  between  the  construction  of  the  possessive,  and  that  of  an  other  case, 
before  the  participle  ;  or  between  the  participial  and  the  substantive  use  of  words  in  ing.  Dr. 
Priestley,  to  whom,  as  well  as  to  Dr.  Lowth,  most  of  our  grammarians  are  indebted  for  some  of 
their  doctrines  respecting  this  sort  of  derivatives,  pretends  to  distinguish  them,  both  as  consti- 
tuting different  parts  of  speech,  and  as  conveying  different  meanings.  In  one  place,  he  says, 
"  When  a  word  ending  in  ing  is  preceded  by  an  article,  it  seems  to  be  used  as  a  noun ;  and  there- 
fore ought  not  to  govern  an  other  word,  without  the  intervention  of  a  preposition." — Priestley's 
Gram.  p.  157.  And  in  an  other :  "  Many  nouns  are  derived  from  verbs,  and  end  in  ing,  like  par- 
ticiples of  the  present  tense.  The  difference  between  these  nouns  and  participles  is  often  over- 
looked, and  the  accurate  distinction  of  the  two  senses  not  attended  to.  If  I  say  .What  think 
you  of  my  horse's  running  to-day,  I  use  the  NOUN  running,  and  suppose  the  horse  to  have  actually 


OIIAP.    VII.]  SYNTAX.  -  RULE   XX.  -  PARTICIPLE9.  —  OBSERVATIONS.  615 

run;  for  it  is  the  same  thing  as  if  I  had  said,  What  think  you  of  ttic  running  of  my  horse.  But 
if  I  say,  What  think  you  of  my  horse  running  to-day,  I  use  the  PARTICIPLE,  and  1  mean  to  ask, 
whether  it  be  proper  that  my  horae  should  run  or  not  ;  which,  therefore,  supposes  that  he  had 
not  then  run."  —  Ib.  p.  122.  "Whatever  our  other  critics  say  about  the  horse  running  or  the  horse's 
running,  they  have  in  general  borrowed  from  Priestley,  with  whom  the  remark  originated,  as  it 
here  stands.  It  appears  that  Crombie,  Murray,  Maunder,  Lennie,  Bullions,  Ingersoll,  Barnard, 
Hilcy,  and  others,  approve  the  doctrine  thus  taught,  or  at  least  some  part  of  it;  though  some  of 
them,  if  not  all,  thereby  contradict  themselves. 

DBS.  37.  —  By  the  two  examples  here  contrasted,  Priestley  designed  to  establish  a  distinction, 
not  for  these  texts  only,  but  for  all  similar  expressions  —  a  distinction  both  of  the  noun  from  the 
participle,  and  of  the  different  senses  which  he  supposed  these  two  constructions  to  exhibit.  In 
all  this,  there  is  a  complete  failure.  Yet  with  what  remarkable  ductility  and  implicitness  do  other 
professed  critics  take  tor  granted  what  this  superficial  philologer  so  hastily  prescribes  !  By  ac- 
knowledging, with  reference  to  such  an  application  of  them,  that  the  two  constructions  above  are 
both  good  English,  our  grammarians  do  but  the  more  puzzle  their  disciples  respecting  the  choice 
between  them;  just  as  Priestley  himself  was  puzzled,  when  he  said,  "  So  we  may  either  say,  I 
remember  it  being  reckoned  a  great  exploit  ;  or,  perhaps  more  elegantly  ,  I  remember  its  being  reck- 
oned, kc."  —  Gram.  p.  70.  Murray  and  others  omit  this  "jMTAqpt,"  and  while  they  allow  both 
forms  to  be  good,  decidedly  prefer  the  latter  ;  but  neither  Priestley,  nor  any  of  there'st,  ever  pre- 
tended to  discern  in  these  a  difference  of  signification,  or  even  of  parts  of  speech.  For  my  part, 
in  stead  of  approving  either  of  these  readings  about  the  "great  exploit,"  I  have  rejected  both, 
for  reasons  which  have  already  been  given  ;  and  now  as  to  the  first  two  forms  of  the  horserace 
question,  so  far  as  they  may  strictly  be  taken  for  models,  I  cannot  but  condemn  them  also,  and 
tor  the  same  reasons  :  to  which  reasons  may  be  joined  the  additional  one,  that  neither  expression. 
is  well  adapted  to  the  sense  which  the  author  himself  gives  to  it  in  his  interpretation.  If  the 
Doctor  designed  to  ask,  "  Do  you  think  my  horse  ran  well  to-day  ?"  or,  "  Do  you  think  it  proper 
for  my  horse  to  run  to-day  ?  "  he  ought  to  have  used  one  or  the  other  of  these  unequivocal  and 
unobjectionable  expressions.  There  is  in  fact,  between  the  others,  no  such  difference  of  meaning 
as  he  imagines;  nor  does  he  well  distinguish  "the  Norx  running"  from  the  PARTICIPLE 
running;  because  he  apparently  allows  the  word,  in  both  instances,  to  be  qualified  by  the  adverb 
to-day* 

OBS.  38.  —  It  is  clear,  that  the  participle  in  ing  partakes  sometimes  the  nature  of  its  verb  and  an 

•'re  ;  so  that  it  relates  to  a  noun,  like  an  adjective,  and  yet  implies  time,  and,  if  transitive, 

•governs  an  object,  like  a  verb:  as,  "  Horses  running  a  race."     Hence,  by  dropping  what  here  dis- 

tinguishes it  as  a  participle,  the  word  may  become  an  adjective,  and  stand  before  its  noun  ;  as, 

'/ling  brook."     So,  too,  this  participle  sometimes  partakes  the  nature  of  its  verb  and  a 

noun  ;  so  that  it  may  be  governed  by  a  preposition,  like  a  noun,  though  in  itself  it  has  no  cases 

or  numbers,  but  is  indeclinable:  as,  "  In  running  a  race."     Hence,  again,  by  dropping  what  dis- 

tinguishes it  as  a  participle,  it  may  become  a  noun  ;  as,  "Running  is  a  safer  sport  than  wrestling." 


thus  give  to  the  participle  a  substantive  character  or  relation,  there  is  reason  to  think,  that  we 
ought,  in  like  manner,  to  take  away  its  regimen,  and  its  adverb  too,  if  it  have  any,  and  be  careful 
also  to  distinguish  this  noun  from  the  participial  adjective;  as,  "The  running  of  a  race,"  —  "No 
racing  of  horses,"  —  "Your  deserving  of  praise,"  —  "A  man's  compromising  of  his  principles." 
With  respect  to  the  articles,  or  any  adjectives,  it  seems  now  to  be  generally  conceded,  that  these 
are  signs  of  substantives  ;  and  that,  if  added  to  participles,  they  must  cause  them  to  be  taken,  in 
\>ect8,8ubstantivcty.  But  with  respect  to  possessives  before  participles,  the  common  prac- 

•  \Vo  have  seen  that  Priestley's  doctrine,  aa  well  as  Lowth's,  is,  that  when  a  participle  is  taken  substantively,  it 

"  ought  not  to  govern  another  word;  "  and,  for  the  same  reason,  it  ought  not  to  have  an  adverb  relating  to  it. 

But  inanv  of  our  modern  grammarians  disregard  there  principles,  and  do  not  restrict  their  li  participial  nouns  " 

i'-tinn  of  nouns,  in  either  of  these  respects.    For  example  :     Because  one  may  say,  t;  To  read  super- 

f\rmll<i.  1'irnard  supposes  it  right  to  say,  ^Reading  superficially  is  useless."    "  But  the  part  triple," 

-will  also  take  the  adjective;  as,  lSupfrfidal  reading  is  useless.'"—  Analytic    Gram.  p.  212.    In  my 

opinion,  this  last  construction  ought  to  be  preferred;  and  the  second,  which  is  both  irregular  and  unnecessary, 

Again,  this  author  sa>H  :   4k  We  have  laid  it  down  as  a  rule,  that  the  possessive  case  belongs,  like  an 

ri'ljuftive.  to  a  noun.     What  shall  be   said  of  the  following?    'Since  the  days  of  Samson,  there  has  been  no 

e  of  a  man's  accomplishing  a  task  so  stupendous.'     The  entire  clause  following  marts,  is  taken  as  a  noun. 

4  Of  a  n  iu  a  task  so  stupendous,'  would  present  no  difficulty.     A  part  of  a  sentence,  or  even  a  single 

participle.  tiivs  oft'»  .roinp  will  depend  on  my"  fathers  giving  his  consent,'  or  'on  my 

A  participle  thus  used  as  a  noun,  may  be  called  a  PARTICIPIAL  NOCN."—  Ib.  p.  131.    I  dislike 

i  n  the  first  example,  man  may  well  be  made  the  leading  word  in  sense  ;  and,  as  such,  it  must 

!*•  in  rh»  <>l>j.-  There  has  been  no  instance  of  a  man  accomplishing  a  task  so  stupendous."    It 

•to  say.  "Mi/  t'oiH-,'   will  depend  on  my  father's  consenting.'-  or,  "  on  my  father's  consent.''     But  an 

action  poMow  4  to  be  transitive.     If,  therefore,  you  make  this  the  leading  idea,  insert 

of;  thu  •  of  a  man's  accomplishing  of  a.  task   ;r>  stupendous.''  —  "  My  going  will 

-n  my  ftith'r'*  i.'i»-i»i»  nfhis  con-  brother's  a>-(/uiring  [of]  the  French  language  will  be  a  useful 

preparation  for  his  travels.''  —  Barnard's  thaw.  p.  227.     If  participial  nouns  retain  the  power  of  participles,  why 

in  it  wrong  to  say,  "A  superficial  reading  books  is  useless  ?  "     Again,  Barnard  approves  of  the  question,  "  What 

<i  •  you  think  of  my  h»rx>'s  ntnn<-  "  and  adds,  "  Between  this   form  of  expression  and  the  following, 

'  What  do  you   think  of  my  kortt   running  to-,  lay  '     it  is  sometimes  said,  th;;t  we  should  make  a  distinction  ; 

because  the  former  implies  that  the  horse  had  actually  run,  and  the  latter,  that  i'  is  in  contemplation  to  have  him 

do  so.     T/ie  •!,  !>ut  ic  would  seem  more  judicious  to  treat  the  latter  as  an 

improper  mode  of  speaking.     What  can  be  more  uncouth  than  to  say,  '  What  do  you  think  of  mr  going  to 

'  '     We  should  B*y  my  going,  notwithstanding  the  ambiguity.  "  We  ought,  therefore,  to  introdtir 
xplanatory  ;  a*.  '  What  do  you  think  of  the  propriety  of  my  going  to  Niagara  ?  '  '-—Analytic  (jram.  p  227. 
I'riety  of  .1  i«a»t  action  is  as  proper  a  subject  of  remark  as  that  of  a  future  one  ;  the  explanatory  phrase 
lii-re  introduced  has  therefore  nothing  to  do  with  1'ri.  --tinn.  or  with  the  alleged  ambiguity.     S 

the  uucouthness  of  an  objective    j,r..iioun  wi'h  the  lea.Hn^  word  in  sense  improperly  taken  as  an  adjunct,  prove 
that  a  participle  may  properly  take  to  itself  a  possessive  adjunct,  and  still  rvtaiu  the  active  nature  of  a  participle. 


616  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

tice  of  our  -writers  very  extensively  indulges  the  mixed  construction  of  which  I  have  said  so  much, 
and  concerning  the  propriety  of  which,  the  opinions  of  our  grammarians  are  so  various,  so  con- 
fused, and  so  self-contradictory. 

OBS.  39. — Though  the  participle  with  a  nominative  or  an  objective  before  it,  is  not  in  general 
equivalent  to  the  verbal  noun  or  the  mixed  participle  with  a  possessive  before  it ;  and  though  the 
significations  of  the  two  phrases  are  often  so  widely  different  as  to  make  it  palpably  absurd  to  put 
either  for  the  other  ;  yet  the  instances  are  not  few  in  which  it  makes  little  or  no  difference  to  the 
sense,  which  of  the  two  forms  we  prefer :  and  therefore,  in  these  instances,  I  would  certainly 
choose  the  more  simple  and  regular  construction;  or,  where  a  better  than  either  can  readily  be 
found,  reject  both.  It  is  also  proper  to  have  some  regard  to  the  structure  of  other  languages, 
and  to  the  analogy  of  General  Grammar.  If  there  be  "  some  late  writers  "  who  are  chargeable 
with  "an  idle  affectation  of  the  Latin  idiom,"  there  are  perhaps  more  who  as  idly  affect  what 


qui  est  ainsi  emue  ?  " — French  Bible.  Liter- 
ally :  "  What  means  this  noise  of  the  city  which  is  so  moved?  "  Better  English :  "  What  means 
this  noise  with  which  the  city  rings?"  In  the  following  example,  there  is  a  seeming  imitation  of 
the  foregoing  Latin  or  Greek  construction ;  but  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  it  would  be  any 
improvement  to  put  the  word  '«  disciples  "  in  the  possessive  case;  nor  is  it  easy  to  find  a  third 
form  which  would  be  better  than  these :  "  Their  difficulties  will  not  be  increased  by  the  intended 
disciples  having  ever  resided  in  a  Christian  country." — West's  Letters,  p.  119. 

OBS.  40. — It  may  be  observed  of  these  different  relations  between  participles  and  other  words, 
that  nouns  are  much  more  apt  to  be  put  in  the  nominative  or  the  objective  case,  than  are  pro- 
nouns. For  example  :  "There  is  no  more  of  moral  principle  in  the  way  of  abolitionists  nomina- 
ting their  own  candidates,  than  in  that  of  their  voting  for  those  nominated  by  others." — GERBJT 
SMITH  :  Liberator,  Vol.  x,  p.  17.  Indeed,  a  pronoun  of  the  nominative  or  the  objective  case  is  hardly 
everused  in  such  a  relation,  unless  it  be  so  obviously  the  leading  word  in  sense,  as  to  preclude 
all  question  about  the  construction.*  And  this  fact  seems  to  make  it  the  more  doubtful,  whether 
it  be  proper  to  use  nouns  in  that  manner.  But  it  may  safely  be  held,  that  if  the  noun  can  well 
be  considered  the  leading  word  in  sense,  we  are  at  least  under  no  necessity  of  subjecting  it  to  the 
government  of  a  mere  participle.  If  it  be  thought  desirable  to  vary  the  foregoing  example,  it 
may  easily  be  done,  thus :  "There  is  no  more  of  moral  principle  topi-event  abolitionists  from 


or  in  opposition  to  each 
men's  combining -tor/ ether,"  or,  "  from  tie 


j  or  their  opposition  to  one 
an  other."  Take  an  other  example :  "  If  illorum  be  governed  here  of  negotii,  it  must  be  in  this 
order,  gratid  negotii  illor.um  videndi ;  and  this  is,  for  the  sake  of  their  business  being  seen,  ani 
not,  for  the  sake  of  them  being  seen." — Johnson's  Grammatical  Commentaries,  p.  352.  Here  the 
learned  critic,  in  disputing  Perizonius's  resolution  of  the  phrase,  "illorum  videndi  gratia,"  has 
written  disputable  English.  But,  had  he  affected  the  Latin  idiom,  a  nearer  imitation  of  it  woul  I 
have  been, — "  for  the  sake  of  their  bminess's  being  seen,  and  not  for  the  sake  of  their  beina  seen." 
Or  nearer  still, — "  for  the  sake  of  seeing  of  their  biisiness,  and  not,  for  the  sake  of  seeing  of  them." 
An  elegant  writer  would  be  apt  to  avoid' all  these  forms,  and  say, — "  for  the  sake  of  seeing  their 
business ; "  and, — "  for  the  sake  of  seeing  them  : "  though  the  former  phrase,  being  but  a  version 
of  bad  Latin,  makes  no  very  good  sense 'in  any  way. 

OBS.  .41. — Idioms,  or  peculiarities  of  expression,  are  never  to  be  approved  or  valued,  but  ac- 
cording to  their  convenience,  utility,  or  elegance.  By  this  rule,  some  phrases  that  are  not  posi- 
tively barbarous,  may  yet  be  ungrammatical ;  and  a  construction  that  is  sometimes  allowable,  may 
yet  be  quite  unworthy  to  be  made  or  reckoned,  "the  common  mode  of  expression."  Thus,  in 
Latin,  the  infinitive  verb  is  occasionally  put  for  a  noun,  and  taken  to  signify  a  property  pos- 
sessed; as,  "  Tuum  scire,  [thy  to  know,]  the  same  as  tua  scientia,  thy  knowledge.  Pers." — 
Adam's  Gram.  p.  153.  So,  in  English,  the  participle  in  ing  is  often  taken  substantively,  when 
it  does  not  actually  become  a  substantive,  or  noun ;  as,  "  Thy  knowing  this," — "  Our  doing  so." 
— West.  Such  forms  of  speech,  because  they  are  idiomatical,  seldom  admit  of  any  literal  trans- 
lation, and  are  never  naturalized  by  any  transfer  from  one  language  or  dialect  into  an  other ; 
nor  is  it  proper  for  grammarians  to  justify  them,  in  vernacular  speech,  except  as  figures  or  anom- 
alies that  ought  not  to  be  generally  imitated.  It  cannot  be  truly  affirmed,  that  the  genius  of  our 
language  ever  requires  that  participles,  as  such,  should  assume  the  relations  of  a  noun,  or  gov- 
ern the  possessive  case ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  can  it  be  truly  denied,  that  very  excellent  and 
learned  writers  do  sometimes  make  use  of  such  phraseology.  Without  disrespect  to  the  many 
users  and  approvers  of  these  anomalies,  I  set  down  forbad  English  every  mixed  construction  of 
the  participle,  for  which  the  language  can  furnish  an  equivalent  expression  that  is  more  simple 
and  more  elegant.  The  extent  to  which  these  comparative  barbarisms  now  abound  in  English 

*  The  following  is  an  example,  but  it  is  not  very  intelligible,  nor  would  it  be  at  all  amended,  if  the  pronoun 
were  put  in  the  possessive  case  ;  "  I  sympathize  with  my  sable  brethren,  when  I  hear  of  them  being  spared  even 
one  lash  of  the  cart- whip."— REV.  Da.  THOMSON:  Garrison,  on  Colonization,  p  89.  And  this  is  an  other,  in 
which  the  possessive  pronoun  would  not  be  better  :  "  But,  if  the  slaves  wish  to  return  to  slavery,  let  them  do  so  ; 
not  an  abolitionist  will  turn  out  to  stop  them  going  bajck.r'—Antislavety  Reporter,  Vol.  IV,  p.  223.  Yet  it  mi-lit 
be  more  accurate  to  say — "  to  stop  them  from  going  back/'  In  the  following  example  from  the  pen  nf  Pric^flcy, 
the  objective  is  correctly  used  with  cw,  where  some  would  be  apt  to  adopt;  the  possessive  :  ;'  It  gives  us  an  idea  of 
Aiwr,  as  being  the  only  person  to  whom  it  can  be  applied." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  151.  Is  not  this  better  English 
than  to  saj, t:  of  his  being  the  only  person  ?  " 


CHAP.  Vn.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XX. PARTICIPLES. OBSERVATIONS.  617 

books,  and  the  ridiculous  fondness  for  them,  which  has  been  shown  by  some  writers  on  English 
grammar,  in  stead  of  amounting  to  any  argument  in  their  favour,  are  in  fact  plain  proofs  of  the 
necessity  of  an  endeavour  to  arrest  so  obvious  and  so  pernicious  an  innovation. 

OBS.  42. — A  late  author  observes  as  follows  :  "  That  the  English  gerund,  participle,  or  verbal 
noun,  in  ing,  has  both  an  active  and  a  passive  signification,  there  can  be  little  doubt.»  Whether 
the  Latin  gerund  has  precisely  a  similar  import,  or  whether  it  is  only  active,  it  may  be  difficult, 
and,  indeed,  after  all,  it  is  not  of  much  moment,  to  ascertain." — Grant's  Latin  'Gram.  p.  234. 
The  gerund  in  Latin  most  commonly  governs  the  case  of  its  own  verb,  as  does  the  active  parti- 
ciple, both  in  Latin  and  English  :  as,  "  Efferor  studio patres  vestros  ridendi.  Cic.  de  sen.  23." — 
Lily's  Gram.  p.  96.  That  is,  "I  am  transported  with  a  desire  of  seeing  your  fathers."  But 
sometimes  we  find  the  gerund  taken  substantively  and  made  to  govern  the  genitive.  Or, — to 
adopt  the  language  of  an  old  grammarian  : — "  Interdum  non  invenustt  additur  gerundiis  in  di 
etiam  genitivus  pluralis  :  ut,  '  Quum  illorum  ridendi  gra.tiiimc  in  forum  contulissem.' — 'Xoi'arum 
[qui]  spectandi  faciunt  copiam.'  Ter.  Heaut.  prol.  29." — Lily's  Gram.  p.  97.  That  is,  "To  ge- 
runds in  di  there  is  sometimes  not  inelegantly  added  a  genitive  plural :  as,  '  When,  for  the  sake 
of  seeing  of  them,  I  went  into  the  forum.' — '  Who  present  an  opportunity  of  attending  of  neio 
ones : '  i.  e.  new  comedies."  Here  the  of  which  is  inserted  after  the  participle  to  mark  the  geni- 
tive case  which  is  added,  forms  rather  an  error  than  an  elegance,  though  some  English  writers  do 
now  and  then  adopt  this  idiom.  The  gerund  thus  governing  the  genitive,  is  not  analogous  to 
our  participle  governing  the  possessive  ;  because  this  genitive  stands,  not  for  the  subject  of  the 
being  or  action,  but  for  what  would  otherwise  be  the  object  of  the  gerund,  or  of  the  participle,  as 
may  be  seen  above.  The  objection  to  the  participle  as  governing  the  possessive,  is,  that  it  retains 
its  object  or  its  adverb  ;  for  when  it  does  not,  it  becomes  fairly  a  noun,  and  the  objection  is  re- 
moved, li.  Johnson,  like  many  others,  erroneously  thinks  it  a  noun,  even  when  it  governs  an 
objective,  and  has  merely  a  preposition  before  it ;  as,  "  For  the  sake  of  seeing  them.  Where  see- 
ing (says  he)  is  a  Substantive." — Gram.  Com.  p.  353. 

OKS.  43. — If  the  Latin  gerund  were  made  to  govern  the  genitive  of  the  agent,  and  allowed  at 
the  same  time  to  retain  its  government  as  a  gerund,  it  would  then  correspond  in  every  thing  but 
declension,  to  the  English  participle  when  made  to  govern  both  the  possessive  case  and  the  ob- 
jective. But  I  have  before  observed  that  no  such  analogy  appears.  The  following  example  has 
been  quoted  by  Sever,  as  a  proof  that  the  gerund  may  govern  the  genitive  of  the  agent :  "Cujus 
>n  (/ici-nd'i  (tli'iuid  reprehensum  est— Cic."— Grant's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  236.  That  is,  (as  I  un- 
derstand it,)  "  But  in  whose  speaking  something  is  reprehended."  This  seems  to  me  a  case  in 
point ;  though  Crombie  and  Grant  will  not  allow  it  to  be  so.  But  a  single  example  is  not  suffi- 
cient. If  the  doctrine  is  true,  there  must  be  others.  In  this  solitary  instance,  it  would  be  easier 


possessive  adjective,  or  genitive  of  a  noun  substantive,  where  the  person  is  not  the  patient,  but 
the  agent ;  as,  direndum  mcum%  cjus  diccndum,  cvjus  diccndum.  [That  is.  my  speaking,  his  speak- 
ing, whose  speakintj.}  In  truth,  these  phraseologies  appear  to  me,  not  only  repugnant  to  the 
idiom  of  the  language,  but  also  unfavourable  to  precision  and  perspicuity.'" — Grant's  Latin 
Gram.  8vo,  p.  236. 

OBS.  44. — Of  that  particular  distinction  between  the  participle  and  the  participial  noun,  which 
depends  on  the  insertion  or  omission  of  the  article  and  the  preposition  of,  a  recent  grammarian 
of  considerable  merit  adopts  the  following  views  :  "  This  double  nature  of  the  participle  has  led 
to  much  irregularity  in  its  use.  Thus  we  find,  « indulging  which,'  'indulging  of  which,'  'the 
indulging  which,'  and  '  the  indulging  of  which,'  used  indiscriminately.  Lowth'  very  properly 
instructs  us,  either  to  use  both  the  article  and  the  preposition  with  the  participle;  as,  *  the  in- 
dulging of  which  : '  or  to  reject  both  ;  as,  '  indulging  which  : '  thus  keeping  the  verbal  and  sub- 
stantive forms  distinct.  But  he  is  wrong,  as  Dr.  Crombie  justly  remarks,  in  considering  these 
two  modes  of  expression  as  perfectly  similar.  Suppose  I  am  told,  '  Bloomfield  spoke  warmly  of 
the  pleasure  he  had  in  hearing  Fawcet : '  I  understand  at  once,  that  the  eloquence  of  Fawcetgave 
Bloomfield  great  pleasure.  But  were  it  said,  •  Bloomfield  spoke  warmly  of  the  pleasure  he  had 
"t: '  I  should  be  led  to  conclude,  merely  that  the  orator  was  within  hear- 
ing, when  the  poet  spoke  of  the  pleasure  he  felt  from  something,  about  which  I  have  no  infor- 
mation. Accordingly  Dr.  Crombie  suggests  as  a  general  rule,  conducive  at  least  to  perspicuity, 
and  perhaps  to  elegance  ;  that,  when  the  noun  connected  with  the  participle  is  active,  or  doing 
.ing,  the  article  should  be  inserted  before  the  participle,  and  the  preposition  after  it:  and, 
when  the  noun  is  passive,  or  represents  the  object  of  an  action,  both  the  article  and  the  preposi- 
tion should  be  omitted  :f  agreeably  to  the  examples  just  adduced.  It  is  true,  that,  when  the 
noun  following  the  participle  denotes  something  incapable  of  the  action  the  participle  expresses, 
no  mistake  can  vise  from  using  either  form  :  as,  '  The  middle  condition  seems  to  be  the  most  ad- 
;couslv  situate  for  the  gaining  of  wisdom.  Poverty  turns  our  thoughts  too  much  upon  the 
supplying  oj  our  wants  ;  and  riches,  upon  enjoying  our  superfluities.'  Addison,  Sped.,  464.  Yet 


*  Sometimes  the  passive  form  is  a.lo;.i«-.l,  when  tln-rv  is  no  rrnl  n 1  of  it,  an<l  when  perhaps  the  i 

te  simpler  ;  a  rtiona  ..f  tin-  pram  mar  are  worth  the  tmiil >f  being  < 

mi'in.Ty."—  Dr.  Barrow' »  &MfB,  p.  10U.     Better,  p<  ••  rth  the  tn.nl>!e  ..f  committing  tt 


active  would 
iiig  cornrnitt'il  to 

pi-rh:ips:--"  worth  the  truil-!-  at  committing  t»  memory:" 

or,—''  worth  the  trouble  of  ronnnitttni;  tktm  to  im-morv/'  A -a in  :  '•  What  N  w,,rrh  >>.  ins:  >m,r,<l  at  all.  is  worth 
bring  spoken  in  a  proper  manner."—  KirkHanCa  Elocution,  p.  OS.  Better,  perhaps  :  "  What  is  worth  uttering  at 
all,  U  worth  uttering  in  n.  proper  manner."— O.  Rnowjr. 

t  "  RULE.— When  the  parti.-ip],-  expres-es  something  of  which  the  noon  following  is  the  POF.U,  it  xhouM  havo 
the  article  an.l  pnpodtioD  ;  a.«,  '  It  was  nai.l  in  the  fit-firm-;  of  the  witness  %  When  it  express  somethinR  of 
which  the  noun  following  ia  not  the  doer,  hut  the  OBJECT,  both  should  he  omitr-.! ;  as,  '  The  court  spent  some  litre 
in  tearing  the  witness.  '  "— BULLIONS,  Prin.  of  E.  Gram,  p  108  :  Analyi  Gram.  181. 


618  THE  GEAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

I  cannot  think  it  by  any  means  a  commendable  practice,  thus  to  jumble  together  different  forms  ; 
and  indeed  it  is  certainly  better,  as  the  two  modes  of  expression  have  different  significations,  to 
confine  each  to  its  distinct  and  proper  use,  agreeably  to  Dr.  Crombie's  r,ule,  even  when  no  mis- 
take could  arise  from  interchanging  them." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  319. 

OBS.  45. — The  two  modes  of  expression  which  these  grammarians  would  thus  apply  constantly 
to  different  uses,  on  the  supposition  that  they  have  always  different  significations,  are  the  same 
that  Lindley  Murray  and  his  copyists  suppose  to  be  generally  equivalent,  and  concerning  which 
it  is  merely  admitted  by  the  latter,  that  they  do  "  not  in  every  instance  convey  the  same  meaning." 
(See  Obs.  27th  above.)  If  Dr.  Lowth  considered  them  "  as  perfectly  similar,"  he  was  undoubt- 
edly very  wrong  in  this  matter ;  though  not  more  so  than  these  gentlemen,  who  resolve  to  inter- 
pret them  as  being  perfectly  and  constantly  dissimilar.  Dr.  Adam  says,  "  There  are,  both  in 
Latin  and  [in]  English,  substantives  derived  from  the  verb,  which  so  much  resemble  the  Gerund 
in  their  signification,  that  frequently  they  maybe  substituted  in  its  place.  They  are  generally 
used,  however,  in  a  more  undetermined  sense  than  the  Gerund,  and  in  English  have  the  article 
always  *  prefixed  to  them.  Thus,  with  the  gerund,  Delector  legendo  Ciceronem,  I  am  delighted 
with  reading  Cicero.  But  with  the  substantive,  Delector  lectione  Ciceronis,  I  am  delighted  with 
the  reading  of  Cicero." — Lat.  andEng.  Gram,  p.  142.  "  Gerunds  are  so  called  because  they,  as  it 

1,  along  with  the  ac- 
Gram.  Com.  p.  353. 


Cicero  is  the,  agent,  as 

Crombie,  Churchill,  and  Hiley,  choose  to  expound  it ;  and,  since  the  gerundive  construction  of 
words  in  ing  ought  to  have  a  definite  reference  to  the  agent  or  subject  of  the  action  or  being,  one 
may  perhaps  amend  even  some  of  their  own  phraseology  above,  by  preferring  the  participial 
noun:  as,  "No  mistake  can  arise  from  the  using  of  either  form." — "And  riches  [turn  our 
thoughts  too  much]  upon  the  enjoying  of  owe  superfluities." — "  Even  when  no  mistake  could  arise 
from  the  interchanging  of  them."  Where  the  agent  of  the  action  plainly  appears,  the  gerundive 
form  is  to  be  preferred  on  account  of  its  brevity ;  as,  "  By  the  observing  of  truth,  you  will  com- 
mand respect;"  or,  "  By  observing  truth,  &c." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  189.  Here  the  latter 
phraseology  is  greatly  preferable,  though  this  author  did  not  perceive  it.  "I  thought  nothing 
was  to  be  done  by  me  before  the  giving  of 'you  thanks." — Walker's  Particles,  p.  69.  Say, — "  before 
giving  you  thanks  ;  "  for  otherwise  the  word  thanks  has  no  proper  construction,  the  pronoun, 
alone  being  governed  by  of—  and  here  again  is  an  error  ;  for  "you"  ought  to  be  the  object  of  to. 

OBS.  46. — In  Hiley's  Treatise,  a  work  far  more  comprehensive  than  the  generality  of  grammars, 
*'  the  established  principles  and  best  usages  of  the  English  "  Participle  are  so  adroitly  summed  up, 
as  to  occupy  only  two  pages,  one  in  Etymology,  and  an  other  in  Syntax.  The  author  shows  how 
the  participle  differs  from  a  verb,  and  how  from  an  adjective  ;  yet  he  neither  makes  it  a  separate 
part  of  speech,  nor  tells  us  with  what  other  it  ought  to  be  included.  In  lieu  of  a  general  rule  for 
the  parsing  of  all  participles,  he  presents  the  remark,  "Active  transitive  participles,  like  their 
verbs,  govern  the  objective  case  ;  as,  '  I  am  desirous  of  hearing  him  ;'  'Having  jwaised  them,  he 
sat  down.'  " — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  93.  This  is  a  rule  by  which  one  may  parse  the  few  objectives  whici 
are  governed  by  participles  ;  but,  for  the  usual  construction  of  participles  themselves,  it  is  no  rub 
at  all ;  neither  does  the  grammar,  full  as  it  is,  contain  any.  "Hearing  "  is  here  governed  by  of, 
and  "Having praised"  relates  to  he  ;  but  this  author  teaches  neither  of  these  facts,  and  the  former 
he  expressly  contradicts  by  his  false  definition  of  a  preposition.  In  his  first  note,  is  exhibited,  i  i 
two  parts,  the  false  and  ill- written  rule  which  Churchill  quotes  from  Crombie.  (1.)  "  When  th2 
noun,  connected  with  the  participle,  is  active  or  doing  something,  the  participle  must  have  an  article 
before  it,  and  the  preposition  of  after  it;  as,  '  In  the  hearing  of  the  philosopher; '  or,  '  In  tha 
philosopher's  hearing ; '  '  By  the  preaching  of  Christ ;  '  or,  '  By  Christ's  preaching.'  "  In  these 
instances,"  says  Hiley,  "  the  words  hearing  and  preaching  are  substantives."  If  so,  he  ought  to 
have  corrected  this  rule,  which  twice  calls  them  participles  ;  but,  in  stead  of  doing  that,  he  blindly 
adds,  by  way  of  alternative,  two  examples  which  expressly  contradict  what  the  rule  asserts.  (2.) 
"  But  when  the  noun  represents  the  object  of  an  action,  the  article  and  the  preposition  of  must  be 
omitted;  as,  '  In  hearing  the  philosopher.'  " — Ib.  p.  94.  If  this  principle  is  right,  my  second  note 
below,  and  most  of  the' corrections  under  it,  are  wrong.  But  I  am  persuaded  that  the  adopters 
of  this  rule  did  not  observe  how  common  is  the  phraseology  which  it  condemns ;  as,  "  For  if  the 
casting-away  of  them  be  the  reconciling  of  the  world,  what  shall  the  receiving  of  them  be,  but  life 
from  the  dead  ?  " — Rom.  xi,  15.  Finally,  this  author  rejects  the  of  which  most  critics  insert 
when  a  possessive  precedes  the  verbal  noun  ;  justifies  and  prefers  the  mixed  or  double  construc- 
tion of  the  participle  ;  and,  consequently,  neither  wishes  nor  attempts  to  distinguish  the  participle 
from  the  verbal  noun.  Yet  he  does  not  fail  to  repeat,  with  some  additional  inaccuracy,  the 
notion,  that,  "  What  do  you  think  of  my  horse's  running?  is  different  to  [say /Vow,]  What  do  you 
think  of  my  horse  running?" — Ib.  p.  94. 

OBS.  47. — That  English  books  in  general,  and  the  style  of  even  our  best  writers,  should  seldom 
be  found  exempt  from  errors  in  the  construction  of  participles,  will  not  be  thought  wonderful, 
when  we  consider  the  multiplicity  of  uses  to  which  words  of  this  sort  are  put,  and  the  strange 
inconsistencies  into  which  all  our  "grammarians  have  fallen  in  treating  this  part  of  syntax.  It  is 
useless,  and  worse  than  useless,  to  teach  for  grammar  any  thing  that  is  not  true  ;  and  no  doctrine 
can  be  true  of  which  one  part  palpably  oversets  an  other.  What  has  been  taught  on  the  present 
topic,  has  led  me  into  a  multitude  of  critical  remarks,  designed  both  for  the  refutation  of  the 
principles  which  I  reject,  and  for  the  elucidation  and  defence  of  those  which  are  presently  to  be 
summed  up  in  notes,  or  special  rules,  for  the  correction  of  false  syntax.  If  my  decisions  do  not 
agree  with  the  teaching  of  our  common  grammarians,  it  is  chiefly  because  these  authors  contra- 
dict themselves.  Of  this  sort  of  teaching  I  shall  here  offer  but  one  example  more,  and  then  bring 
these  strictures  to  a  close :  "When  present  participles  are  preceded  by  an  article,  or  pronoun 
adjective,  they  become  nouns,  and  must  not  be  followed  by  objective  pronouns,  or  nouns  without 

*  This  doctrine  is  far  from  being  true.    See  Obs.  12th,  in  this  series,  above.— U.  13. 


CHAP.  VII.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XX. PABTICIPLES. NOTES.  619 

a  preposition  ;  as,  the  reading  of  many  books  wastes  the  health.  But  such  nouns,  like  all  others, 
may  be  used  without  an  article,  being  sufficiently  discovered  by  the  following  preposition  ;  as,  he 
teas  sent  to  prepare  the  way,  by  preaching  of  repentance.  Also  an  article,  or  pronoun  adjective, 
may  precede  a  clause,  usea  as  a  noun,  and  commencing  with  a  participle  ;  as,  his  teaching  children 
was  necessary." — Dr.  Wilson's  Syllabus  of  English  Gram.  p.  xxx.  Here  the  last  position  of  the 
learned  doctor,  if  it  be  true,  completely  annuls  the  first ;  or,  if  the  first  be  true,  the  last  must 
needs  be  false.  And,  according  to  Lowth,  L.  Murray,  and  many  others,  the  second  is  as  bad  as 
either.  The  bishop  says,  concerning  this  very  example,  that  by  the  use  of  the  preposition  of 
after  the  participle  prewhiny,  "the  phrase  is  rendered  obscure  and  ambiguous :  for  the  obvious 
meaning  of  it,  in  its  present  form,  is,  '  by  preaching  concerning  repentance,  or  on  that  subject ; ' 
whereas  the  sense  intended  is,  '  by  publishing  the  covenant  of  repentance,  and  declaring  repent- 
ance to  be  a  condition  of  acceptance  with  God.'  " — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  82.  "  It  ought  to  be,  '  by 
the  preaching  of  repentance  ; '  or,  by  preaching  repentance." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  193. 

NOTES  TO  RULE  XX. 

NOTE  I. — Active  participles  have  the  same  government  as  the  verbs  from  which 
they  are  derived ;  the  preposition  of,  therefore,  should  never  be  used  after  the  parti- 
ciple, when  the  verb  does  not  require  it.  Thus,  in  phrases  like  the  following,  of  is 
improper  :  "  Keeping  of  one  day  in  seven,"  —  "  By  preaching  of  repentance,"  — 
'They  left  beating  of  Paul." 

NOTE  II. — When  a  transitive  participle  is  converted  into  a  noun,  of  must  be 
inserted  to  govern  the  object  following  ;  as,  "  So  that  there  was  no  withstanding  of 
him." — Walker's  Particles,  p.  252.  "The  cause  of  their  salvation  doth  not  so 
much  arise  from  their  embracing  of  mercy,  as  from  God's  exercising  of  it." — Pen- 
ington's  Works,  Vol.  ii,  p.  91.  u  Faith  is  the  receiving  of  Christ  with  the  whole  soul." 
— Baxter.  "  In  thy  pouring-out  0/thy  fury  upon  Jerusalem." — Ezekiel,  ix,  8. 

NOTE  III. — When  the  insertion  of  the  word  of,  to  complete  the  conversion  of  the 
transitive  participle  into  a  noun,  produces  ambiguity  or  harshness,  some  better  phrase- 
ology must  be  chosen.  Example:  "Because  the  action  took  place  prior  to  the 
taking  place  of  the  other  past  action." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  140.  Here  the  words 
prior  and  place  have  no  regular  construction;  and  if  we  say,  "prior  to  the  taking 
of  place  of  the  other,"  we  make  the  jumble  still  worse.  Say  therefore,  "  Because 

e  action  took  place  before  the  other  past  action ;  "  — or,  "  Because  the  action  took 

ace  previously  to  the  other  past  action." 

NOTE  IV. — When  participles  become  nouns,  their  adverbs  should  either  become 
adjectives,  or  be  taken  as  parts  of  such  nouns,  written  as  compound  words  :  or,  if 
neither  of  these  methods  be  agreeable,  a  greater  change  should  be  made.  Examples 
"  error  :  1.  "Rightly  understanding  a  sentence  depends  very  much  on  a  knowledge  of 
grammatical  construction." — Comly's  Gram.  12th  Ed.  p.  3.  Say,  "The  right 
undefBtanding  of  a  sentence,"  &c.  2.  "  Elopement  is  a  running  away,  or  private  de- 
parture."—  Webster's  El.  Spelling- Book,  p.  102.  Write  "  running-away  "  as  one 
:5.  "If  they  [Milton's  descriptions]  have  any  faults,  it  is  their  alluding  too 
frequently  to  matters  of  learning,  and  to  fables  of  antiquity." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  451. 
Say,  "  If  they  have  any  fault,  it  is,  that  the;/  allude  too  frequently,"  &c. 

N.HK  V. — When  the  participle  is  followed  by  an  adjective,  its  conversion  into  a 
noun  appears  to  be  improper ;  because  the  construction  of  the  adjective  becomes 
anomalous,  and  its  relation  doubtful :  as,  "  When  we  speak  of  '  ambition's  being 
restless,'  or,  'a  disease's  being  deceitful.'" — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  34G  ;  Kirk- 
ham's,  p.  224.  This  ought  to  be,  "  When  we  speak  of  ambition  as  being  restless, 
or  a  i/isftisr  us  b-.-iti^  din-itful ;  "  but  Dr.  Blair,  from  whom  the  text  originally  came, 
appears  to  have  written  it  thus:  "  When  we  speak  of  ambition's  being  restless,  or  a 
disuse  being  deceitful." — LECT.  xvi,  p.  155.  This  is  inconsistent  with  itself;  for 
one  noun  is  possessive,  and  the  other,  objective. 

NOTI:  VI. — When  a  compound  participle  is  converted  into  a  noun,  the  hyphen 
seems  to  be  necessary,  to  prevent  ambiguity ;  but  such  compound  nouns  arc  nover 
elegant,  and  it  is  in  general  better  to  avoid  them,  by  some  change  in  the  expression. 
Example  :  "  Even  as  the  1><  /'»</  healed  of  a  wound,  presuppox'tli  the  plaster  or  salve  : 
but  not,  on  the  contrary  ;  for  the  application  of  the  plaster  prosupposetli  imt  the  heing 
healed." — Barclay s  Worl*,  Vol.  i,  p.  143.  The  phrase,  "  the  being  healed"  ought 


t 


620  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

to  mean  only,  the  creature  healed  ;  and  not,  the  being-healed,  or  the  healing  received, 
which  is  what  the  writer  intended.  But  the  simple  word  healing  might  have  been 
used  in  the  latter  sense ;  for,  in  participial  nouns,  the  distinctions  of  voice  and  of 
tense  are  commonly  disregarded. 

NOTE  VII. — A  participle  should  not  be  used  where  the  infinitive  mood,  the  verbal 
noun,  a  common  substantive,  or  a  phrase  equivalent,  will  better  express  the  meaning. 
Examples  :  1.  "  But  placing  an  accent  on  the  second  syllable  of  these  words,  would 
entirely  derange  them." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  239.  Say  rather,  "But,  to  place 
an  accent  —  But  the  placing  o/an  accent  —  or,  But  an  accent  placed  on  the  second 
syllable  of  these  words,  would  entirely  derange  them."  2.  "To  require  their  being  in 
that  case." — Ib.  ii,  p.  21.  Say,  "  To  require  them  to  be  in  that  case."  3.  "  She 
regrets  not  having  read  it." —  West's  Letters,  p.  216.  Say,  "  She  regrets  that  she 
has  not  read  it."  Or,  "  She  does  not  regret  that  she  has  read  it."  For  the  text 
is  equivocal,  and  admits  either  of  these  senses. 

NOTE  VIII. — A  participle  used  for  a  nominative  after  be,  is,  was,  &c.,  produces  a 
construction  which  is  more  naturally  understood  to  be  a  compound  form  of  the  verb  • 
and  which  is  therefore  not  well  adapted  to  the  sense  intended,  when  one  tells  what 
something  is,  was,  or  may  be.  Examples:  1.  "  Whose  business  is  shoeing  animals." 
—  0.  B  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  365.  Say,  "  Whose  business  it  is,  to  shoe  animals;  " 
— or,  "  Whose  business  is  the  shoeing  of  animals."  2.  "  This  was  in  fact  converting 
the  deposite  to  his  own  use." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  p.  200.  Say  rather,  ''  This  was 
in  fact  a  converting  of  the  deposite  to  his  own  use." — Ib. 

NOTE  IX. — Verbs  of  preventing  should  be  made  to  govern,  not  the  participle  in 
ing,  nor  what  are  called  substantive  phrases,  but  the  objective  case  of  a  noun  or  pro- 
noun ;  and  if  a  participle  follow,  it  ought  to  be  governed  by  the  preposition  from:  as, 
"  But  the  admiration  due  to  so  eminent  a  poet,  must  not  prevent  us  from  remarking 
some  other  particulars  in  which  he  has  failed." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  438.  Examples 
of  error  :  1.  "I  endeavoured  to  prevent  letting  him  escape." — Ingersoll's  Gram.  p. 
150.  Say, — "  to  prevent  his  escape."  2.  "To  prevent  its  being  connected  with  the 
nearest  noun." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  367.  Say,  "  To  prevent  it  from  being  con- 
nected," &c.  3.  "To  prevent  it  bursting  out  with  open  violence." — Robertson's 
America,  Vol.  ii,  p  146.  Say,  "  To  prevent  iifrom  bursting  out,"  &c.  4.  "  To 
prevent  their  injuring  or  murdering  of  others." — Brown's  Divinity,  p.  26.  Say 
rather,  "  To  prevent  them  from  injuring  or  murdering  others." 

NOTE  X. — In  the  use  of  participles  and  of  verbal  nouns,  the  leading  word  in  sense 
should  always  be  made  the  leading  or  governing  word  in  the  construction  ;  and  where 
there  is  reason  to  doubt  whether  the  possessive  case  or  some  other  ought  to  come  before 
the  participle,  it  is  better  to  reject  both,  and  vary  the  expression.  Examples  :  "Any 
person  may  easily  convince  himself  of  the  truth  of  this,  by  listening  to  foreigners 
conversing  in  a  language  [which]  he  does  not  understand." — Churchill's  Gram.  p. 
361.  "It  is  a  relic  of  the  ancient  style  abounding  with  negatives." — Ib.  p.  367. 
These  forms  are  right ;  though  the  latter  might  be  varied,  by  the  insertion  of  "  which 
abounds  "  for  "  abounding."  But  the  celebrated  examples  before  cited,  about  the 
"  lady  holding  up  her  train,"  or  the  "  lady's  holding  up  her  train,"  —  the  "person 
dismissing  his  servant,"  or  the  "person's  dismissing  his  servant,"  —  the  "horse 
running  to-day,"  or  the  "horse's  running  to-day,"  —  and  many  others  which  some 
grammarians  suppose  to  be  interchangeable,  are  equally  bad  in  both  forms. 

NOTE  XI. — Participles,  in  general,  however  construed,  should  have  a  clear  refer- 
ence to  the  proper  subject  of  the  being,  action,  or  passion.  The  following  sentence  is 
therefore  faulty:  "By  establishing  good  laws,  our  peace  is  secured  "  —Russell's 
Gram.  p.  88 ;  Folker's,  27.  Peace  not  being  the  establisher  of  the  laws,  these 
authors  should  have  said,  "  By  establishing  good  laws,  we  secure  our  peace."  "There 
will  be  no  danger  of  spoiling  their  faces,  or  of  gaining  converts." — Murray's  Key, 
ii,  p.  201.  This  sentence  is  to  me  utterly  unintelligible.  If  the  context  were  known, 
there  might  possibly  be  some  sense  in  saying,  "They  will  be  in  no  danger  of  spoiling 
their  faces,"  &c.  "That  law  is  annulled,  in  the  very  act  of  its  being  made"- 


CHAP.    VII.]  SYNTAX. — RULE   XX. PARTICIPLES. — ERRORS.  621 

0.  B.  PeircJs  Gram,  p  267.  "  The  act  of  MAKING  a  law,"  is  a  phrase  intelligible ; 
but,  "the  act  of  its  BEING  M\DE,"  is  a  downright  solecism  —  a  positive  absurdity. 

NOTE  XII. — A  needless  or  indiscriminate  use  of  participles  for  nouns,  or  of  nouns 
for  participles,  is  inelegant,  if  not  improper,  and  ought  therefore  to  be  avoided.  Ex- 
amples :  "Of  denotes  possession  or  belonging" — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  118;  Inger- 
soWs,  71.  "  The  preposition  of,  frequently  implies  possession,  property,  or  belonging 
to" — Cooper's  PL  and  Pr.  Gram.  p.  137.  Say,  "  Of  frequently  denotes  possession, 
or  the  relation  of  property."  "  England  perceives  the  folly  of  the  denying  of  such 
concessions." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  149.  Expunge  the  and  the  last  of,  that  denying 
may  stand  as  a  participle. 

NOTE  XIII. — Perfect  participles  being  variously  formed,  care  should  be  taken  to 
express  them  agreeably  to  the  best  usage,  and  also  to  distinguish  them  from  the  pret- 
erits of  their  verbs,  where  there  is  any  difference  of  form.  Example  :  "  It  would 
be  well,  if  all  writers  who  endeavour  to  be  accurate,  would  be  careful  to  avoid  a 
corruption  at  present  so  prevalent,  of  saying,  it  was  wrote,  for,  it  was  written  ;  he 
was  drove,  for,  he  was  driven  ;  I  have  went,  for,  I  have  gone,  &c.  in  all  which  in- 
stances a  verb  is  absurdly  used  to  supply  the  proper  participle,  without  any  necessity 
from  the  want  of  such  word." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  186. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XX. 
EXAMPLES  UNDER  NOTE  I. — EXPUNGE  OF. 

"  In  forming  of  his  sentences,  he  was  very  exact." — Error  noticed  by  Murray,  i,  p.  194. 
[FoRMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  preposition  of  is  used  after  the  participle  forming,  whose  verb  does  not 
n-ijuire  it.   But,  according  to  Note  1st  under  Rule  20th,  "Active  participles  have  the  same  government  as  the  verbs 
from  which  they  are  derived ;  the  preposition  of,  therefore,  should  not  be  used  after  the  participle,  when  the  verb 
does  not  require  it."      Therefore,  of  should  be  omitted  ;  thus,  "  In  forming  his  sentences,  he  was  very  exact."] 

"For  not  believing  of  which  I  condemn  them." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  354.     "To  prohibit 
his  hearers  from  reading  of  that  book." — Ib.  i,  223.    "  You  will  please  them  exceedingly,  in 
ring  down  of  ordinances." — MITCHELL:  ib.  i,  219.     "The  war-wolf  subsequently  became 
engine  for  casting  of  stones." — Constables  Miscellany,  xxi,  117.     "The  art  of  dressing 
hides  and  working  in  leather  was  practised." — Ib.  xxi,  101.     "In  the  choice  they  had 
made  of  him,  for  restoring  of  order." — Hollins  Hist,  ii,  37.     "  The  Arabians  exercised  them- 
selves by  composing  of  orations  and  poems." — Sale's  Koran,  p.  17.      "Behold,  the  widow- 
>man  was  there  gathering  of  sticks." — \Kings,  xvii,  10.      "  The  priests  were  busied  in 
'ering  of  burnt-offerings." — 2  Chrun.  xxxv,  14.     "  But  Asahel  would  not  turn  aside  from 
lowing  of  him." — 2  Sum.  ii,  21.     "  He  left  off  building  of  Ramah,  and  dwelt  in  Tirzah." 
1  Kinys,  xv,  21.      "Those  who  accuse  us  of  denying  of  it,  belie  us." — Barclay's  Works, 
280.      "And  breaking  of  bread  from  house  to  "house." — Ib.  i,  192.      "Those  that  set 
\it  repairing  of  the  walls." — Ib.  i,  459.      "And  secretly  begetting  of  divisions." — Ib.  i, 
"Whom  he  had  made  use  of  in  gathering  of   his   church." — Ib.  i,  535.      "In 
tining  and  distinguishing  of  the  acceptions  and  uses  of  those  particles." — Walker's  Par- 
p.  12. 

"  In  punishing  of  this,  we  overthrow 
The  laws  of  nations  and  of  nature  too." — Dryden,  p.  92. 

1'xDKu  NOTE  II. — ARTICLES  REQUIRE  OF. 
"The  mixing  them  makes  a  miserable  jumble  of  truth  and  fiction." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit. 
ii.  :}'>7.  "The  same  objection  lies  against  the  employing  statues." — Ib.  ii,  358.  "More 
efficacious  than  the  venting  opulence  upon  the  Fine  Arts." — Ib.  Vol.  i,  p.  viii.  "It  is  the 
giving  different  names  to  the  same  object." — Ib.  ii,  19.  "  When  we  have  in  view  the  erecting 
a  column." — Ib.  ii,  56.  "  The  straining  an  elevated  subject  beyond  due  bounds,  is  a  vice  not 
BO  frequent."— 1>>.  i,  20<>.  "The  cutting  evergreens  in  the  shape  of  animals  is  very  an- 
cient."— Ib.  ii,  327.  "The  keeping  juries,  without  meet,  drink  or  fire,  can  be  accounted 
for  only  on  the  same  idea." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  301.  "The  writing  the  verbs  at  length 
his  slate,  will  be  a  very  useful  exercise."— Beck's  Gram.  p.  20.  "  The  avoiding  them  is 
t  an  object  of  any  moment."—  s/n-riflan's  I^ect.  p.  180.  "  Comparison  is  the  increasing  or 
decreasing  the  Signification  of  a  Word  by  Degrees."— British  dram.  p.  97.  "  Comparison 
is  the  Increasing  or  Decreasing  the  Duality  by  Degrees." — Buchanan's  English  Syntax,  p.  27. 
"  The  placing  a  Circumstance  before  the  Word  with  which  it  is  connected,  is  the  easiest  of 
all  Inversion."— Ib.  p.  140.  "  What  is  emphasis  •  It  is  the  emitting  a  stronger  and  fuller 
sound  of  voice,"  £c.— Bradley  »  Gram.  p.  108.  "  Besides,  the  varying  the  terms  will  render 
the  use  of  them  more  familiar." — Afar.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  25.  "And  yet  the  confining 
themselves  to  this  true  principle,  has  misled  them  !  " — Horne  Tooke's  Diversions,  Vol.  i,  p.  15. 


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THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

"  What  is  here  commanded,  is  merely  the  relieving  his  misery." — Wayland's  Moral  Science, 
p.  417.  "The  accumulating  too  great  a  quantity  of  knowledge  at  random,  overloads  the 
mind  instead  of  adorning  it." — Formey's  Belles -Lettres,  p.  5.  "For  the  compassing  his 
point." — Rollin's  Hist,  ii,  35.  "To  the  introducing  such  an  inverted  order  of  things." — 
Butler's  Analogy,  p.  95.  "  Which  require  only  the  doing  an  external  action." — Ib.  p.  185. 
"  The  imprisoning  my  body  is  to  satisfy  your  wills." — GEO.  Fox :  Seivel's  Hist.  p.  47.  "  Who 
oppose  the  conferring  such  extensive  command  on  one  person." — Duncan's  Cicero,  p.  130. 
"  Luxury  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  enervating  their  forces." — Safe's  Koran,  p.  49.  "  The 
keeping  one  day  of  the  week  for  a  sabbath." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  202.  "  The  doing  a 
thing  is  contrary  to  the  forbearing  of  it." — Ib.  i,  527.  "The  doubling  the  Sigma  is,  how- 
ever, sometimes  regular." — Knight,  on  the  Greek  Alphabet,  p.  29.  "The  inserting  the  com- 
mon aspirate  too,  is  improper." — Ib.  p.  134.  "  But  in  Spenser's  time  the  pronouncing  the 
ed  seems  already  to  have  been  something  of  an  archaism." — Philological  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p. 
656.  "And  to  the  reconciling  the  effect  of  their  verses  on  the  eye." — Ib.  i,  659.  "  When  it 
was  not  in  their  power  to  hinder  the  taking  the  whole." — Brown's  Estimate,  ii,  155.  "  He 
had  indeed  given  the  orders  himself  for  the  shutting  the  gates." — Ibid.  "  So  his  whole  life 
was  a  doing  the  will  of  the  Father." — Penington,  iv,  99.  "  It  signifies  the  suffering  or 
receiving  the  action  expressed." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  37.  "The  pretended  crime  therefore 
was  the  declaring  himself  to  be  the  Son  of  God." — West's  Letters,  p.  210.  "Parsing  is  the 
resolving  a  sentence  into  its  different  parts  of  speech." — Beck's  Gram.  p.  26. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — ADJECTIVES  REQUIRE  OF. 

"  There  is  no  expecting  the  admiration  of  beholders." — Baxter.  "  There  is  no  hiding 
you  in  the  house." — Shakspeare.  "  For  the  better  regulating  government  in  the  province 
of  Massachusetts." — British  Parliament.  "The  precise  marking  the  shadowy  boundaries 
of  a  complex  government." — J.  Q.  Adams's  Rhet.  Vol.  ii,  p.  6.  "  [This  state  of  discipline] 
requires  the  voluntary  foregoing  many  things  which  we  desire,  and  setting  ourselves  to  what 
we  have  no  inclination  to." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  115.  "This  amounts  to  an  active  setting 
themselves  against  religion." — Ib.  p.  264.  "  Which  engaged  our  ancient  friends  to  the 
orderly  establishing  our  Christian  discipline." — N.  E.  Discip.  p.  117.  "  Some  men  are  so 
unjust  that  there  is  no  securing  our  own  property  or  life,  but  by  opposing  force  to  force." 
— Brotvn's  Divinity,  p.  26.  "An  Act  for  the  better  securing  the  Rights  and  Liberties  of  the 
Subject." — Geo.  Ill,  31st.  "  Miraculous  curing  the  sick  is  discontinued." — Barclay's  Works, 
iii,  137.  "It  would  have  been  no  transgressing  the  apostle's  rule." — Ib.  p.  146.  "As  far 
as  consistent  with  the  proper  conducting  the  business  of  the  House." — Elmore,  in  Congress, 
1839.  "  Because  he  would  have  no  quarrelling  at  the  just  condemning  them  at  that  day." 
— Law  and  Grace,  p.  42.  "  That  transferring  this  natural  manner —  will  ensure  propriety." 
Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  372.  "  If  a  man  were  porter  of  hell-gate,  he  should  have  old  turning 
the  key."— Macbeth,  Act  ii,  Sc.  3. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — POSSESSIVES  REQUIRE  OF. 

"  So  very  simple  a  thing  as  a  man's  wounding  himself." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  97  ;  Murray's 
Gram.i,  p.  317.  "Or  with  that  man's  avowing  his  designs." — Blair,  p.  104;  Murray,  p. 
308  ;  Parker  and  Fox,  Part  III,  p.  88.  "  On  his  putting  the  question." — Adams's  Rhet.  Vol.  ii, 
p.  111.  "The  importance  of  teachers'  requiring  their  pupils  to  read  each  section  many 
times  over." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  169.  "Politeness  is  a  kind  of  forgetting  one's  self 
in  order  to  be  agreeable  to  others." — Ramsay's  Cyrus.  "  Much,  therefore,  of  the  merit,  and 
the  agreeableness  of  epistolary  writing,  will  depend  on  its  introducing  us  into  some  acquaint- 
ance with  the  writer." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  370 ;  Mack's  Dissertation  in  his  Gram.  p.  175. 
"Richard's  restoration  to  respectability,  depends  on  his  paying  his  debts." — O.  B.  Peirce's 
Gram.  p.  176.  "  Their  supplying  ellipses  where  none  ever  existed ;  their  parsing  words,  of 
sentences  already  full  and  perfect,  as  though  depending  on  words  understood." — Ib.  p.  375. 
"Her  veiling  herself  and  shedding  tears,"  &c.,  "her  upbraiding  Paris  for  his  cowardice," 
&c. — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  433.  "A  preposition  may  be  known  by  its  admitting  after  it  a  per- 
sonal pronoun,  in  the  objective  case." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  28  ;  Alger's,  14  ;  Bacon  s,  10  ; 
Merchant's,  18  ;  and  others.  "  But  this  forms  no  just  objection  to  its  denoting  time." — 
Murray's  Gram.  p.  65.  "  Of  men's  violating  or  disregarding  the  relations  which  God  has 
placed  them  in  here." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  164.  "Success,  indeed,  no  more  decides  for 
the  right,  than  a  man's  killing  his  antagonist  in  a  duel." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  295.  "His 
reminding  them." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  123.  "This  mistake  was  corrected  by  his  pre- 
ceptor's causing  him  to  plant  some  beans." — Ib.  p.  235.  "Their  neglecting  this  was 
ruinous." — Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  82.  "  That  he  was  serious,  appears  from  his  distin- 
guishing the  others  as  « finite.'  " — Felch's  Gram.  p.  10.  "  His  hearers  are  not  at  all  sensible 
of  his  doing  it." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  119. 

UNDER  NOTE  III. — CHANGE  THE  EXPRESSION. 

"An  allegory  is  the  saying  one  thing,  and  meaning  another ;  a  double-meaning  or  dilogy 
is  the  saying  only  one  thing,  but  having  two  in  view." — Philological  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p.  461. 


CHAP.  VII.]  SYNTAX. HULE   XX. PARTICIPLES. ERRORS.  623 

"A  verb  may  generally  be  distinguished,  by  its  making  sense  with  any  of  the  personal  pro- 
nouns, or  the  word  to  before  it." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  28  ;  Aider's,  13  ;  Bacons,  10;  Comly's, 
and  many  others.  "A  noun  may,  in  general,  be  distinguished  by  its  taking  an  article  before 
it,  or  by  its  making  sense  of  itself." — Merchant's  Gram.  p.  17;  Murray's,  27;  &c.  "An 


seen  in  the  possessive  case,  from  its  denoting  the  possessor  of  something." — Ibid.  "  The 
name  man  is  caused  by  the  adname  whatever  to  be  twofold  subjective  case,  from  its  denot- 
ing, of  itself,  one  person  as  the  subject  of  the  two  remarks." — Ib.  p.  66.  "When,  as  used 
in  the  last  line,  is  a  connective,  from  its  joining  that  line  to  the  other  part  of  the  sentence." 
— Ib.  p.  59.  "  From  their  denoting  reciprocation." — Ib.  p.  64.  "  To  allow  them  the  making 
use  of  that  liberty."— file's  Koran,  p.  116.  "  The  worst  effect  of  it  is,  the  fixing  on  your 
mind  a  habit  of  indecision." — TodtFs  Student's  Manual,  p.  60.  "And  you  groan  the  more 
deeply,  as  you  reflect  that  there  is  no  shaking  it  off." — Ib.  p.  47.  "  I  know  of  nothing  that 
can  justify  the  having  recourse  to  a  Latin  translation  of  a  Greek  writer." — Coleridge  s  Intro- 
duction, p.  16.  "  Humour  is  the  making  others  act  or  talk  absurdly." — Hazlitt's  Lectures. 
"  There  are  remarkable  instances  of  their  not  affecting  each  other." — Butler's  Analogy,  p. 
150.  "  The  leaving  Caesar  out  of  the  commission  was  not  from  any  slight." — Life  of  Cicero, 
p.  44.  "  Of  the  receiving  this  toleration  thankfully  I  shall  say  no  more." — Dryden's  M  'orhs, 
p.  88.  "Henrietta  was  delighted  with  Julia's  working  lace  so  very  well." — O.  B.  Peirce's 
<ir,/in.  p.  255.  "And  it  is  from  their  representing  each  two  different  words  that  the  confu- 
sion has  arisen." — Booth's  Introd.  p.  42.  "JEschylus  died  of  a  fracture  of  his  skull,  caused 
by  an  eagle's  letting  fall  a  tortoise  on  his  head." — Bioa.  Diet.  "He  doubted  their  having 
it." — Fetch's  Comp.  Gram.  p.  81.  "The  making  ourselves  clearly  understood,  is  the  chief 
end  of  speech." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  68.  "  There  is  no  discovering  in  their  counte- 
nances, any  signs  which  are  the  natural  concomitants  of  the  feelings  of  the  heart." — Ib.  p. 
165.  "Nothing  can  be  more  common  or  less  proper  than  to  speak  of  a  river's  emptying 
."  —  Campbeff*  Rhet.  p.  186.  "  Our  not  using  the  former  expression,  is  owing  to  this." 
— Bullions's  E.  Gram.  p.  59. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — DISPOSAL  OF  ADVERBS. 

"  To  this  generally  succeeds  the  division,  or  the  laying  down  the  method  of  the  dis- 
course."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  311.  "To  the  pulling  down  of  strong  holds." — 2  Cor.  x,  4. 
"  Can  a  mere  buckling  on  a  military  weapon  infuse  courage  ? " — Brown's  Estimate,  i,  62. 
"  Living  expensively  and  luxuriously  destroys  health." — Murray's  Gram.  i,  234.  "  By  living 
frugally  and  temperately,  health  is  preserved." — Ibid.  "  By  living  temperately,  our  health 
is  promoted." — Ib.  p.  227.  "By  the  doing  away  of  the  necessity." — The  Friend,  xiii,  157. 
"  He  recommended  to  them,  however,  the  immediately  calling  of  the  whole  community  to 
the  church." — Gregory's  Diet.  ic.  Ventriloquism.  "The  separation  of  large  numbers  in  this 
manner  certainly  facilitates  the  reading  them  rightly." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  303.  "  From 
their  merely  admitting  of  a  twofold  grammatical  construction." — Philol.  Museum,  i,  463. 
"  His  gravely  lecturing  his  friend  about  it." — Ib.  i,  478.  "  For  the  blotting  out  of  sin." — 
(i'.iriirij's  l'.ri,!t',ices,  p.  140.  "From  the  not  using  of  water." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  189. 
•'  By  the  gentle  dropping  in  of  a  pebble." — Sheridan  i  Elocution,  p.  125.  "To  the  carrying 
on  a  great  part  of  that  general  course  of  nature." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  127.  "Then  the 
not  interposing  is  so  far  from  being  a  ground  of  complaint." — Ib.  p.  147.  "The  bare 
omission,  or  rather  the  not  employing  of  what  is  used." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  180  ;  Jamieson's, 
48.  "  Bringing  together  incongruous  adverbs  is  a  very  common  fault." — Churchill's  Gram. 
p.  329.  "This  is  a  presumptive  proof  of  its  not  proceeding  from  them." — Butler's  Analogy, 
p.  186.  "  It  represents  him  in  a  character  to  which  the  acting  unjustly  is  peculiarly  unsuit- 
able."—  CampbelCs  Rh<t.  p.  :>72.  "They  will  aim  at  something  higher  than  merely  the 
dealing  out  of  harmonious  sounds." — Kirkhams  Elocution,  p.  65.  "This  is  intelligible  and 
sufficient ;  and  going  farther  seems  beyond  the  reach  of  our  faculties." — Butler's  Analogy, 
p.  14".  "Apostrophe  is  a  turning  off  from  the  regular  course  of  the  subject." — Murray's 
Gram.  p.  •  >n's  1'Jiit.  lv";.  ••  Kven  Isabella  was  finally  prevailed  upon  to  assent 

to  the  sending  out  a  commission  to  investigate  his  conduct." — Life  of  Columbus.     "For  the 

rg  away  of  the  simple  shall  slay  them."— I'rov.  i,  32. 
"Thick  fingers  always  should  command 
H  Without  the  stretching  out  the  hand." — Kiny's  Poems,  p.  585. 

UNDER  NOTE  V. — PARTICIPLES  WITH  ADJECT  i 

"Is  there  any  Scripture  speaks  of  the  light's  being  inward  :"— Barclay's  Works,  i,  367. 
"  For  I  believe  not  the  being  positive  therein  essential  to  salvation." — Ib.  iii,  330.  "  Our 
not  being  able  to  act  an  uniform  right  part  without  some  thought  and  care." — Butl<-r's 
Analogy,  p.  122.  "Upon  supposition  of  its  being  reconcileable  with  the  constitution  of 
nature." — Ib.  p.  128.  "Upon  account  of  its  not  being  discoverable  by  reason  or  experi- 
ence."— Ib.  p.  170.  "  Upon  account  of  their  being  unlike  the  known  course  of  nature." — 


624  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   111. 

IS.  p.  171.  "  Our  being  able  to  discern  reasons  for  them,  gives  a  positive  credibility  to  the 
history  of  them." — Ib.  p.  174.  "From its  not  being  universal." — Ib.  p.  175.  "That  they 
may  be  turned  into  the  passive  participle  in  dus  is  no  decisive  argument  in  favour  of  their 
being  passive." — Grant's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  233.  "With  the  implied  idea  of  St.  Paul's  being 
then  absent  from  the  Corinthians." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  123.  "  On  account  of  its 
becoming  gradually  weaker,  until  it  finally  dies  away  into  silence." — Ib.  p.  32.  "Not 
without  the  author's  being  fully  aware." — Ib.  p.  84.  "Being  witty  out  of  season,  is  one 
sort  of  folly." — Sheffield's  Works,  ii,  172.  "Its  being  generally  susceptible  of  a  much 
stronger  evidence." — Campbell's  Rhet. p.  102.  "At  least  their  being  such  rarely  enhanceth 
our  opinion,  either  of  their  abilities  or  of  their  virtues." — Ib.  p.  162.  "Which  were  the 
ground  of  our  being  one." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  513.  "  But  they  may  be  distinguished  from 
it  by  their  being  intransitive." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  60.  "  To  distinguish  the  higher  degree 
of  our  persuasion  of  a  thing's  being  possible." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  234. 
"  His  being  idle,  and  dishonest  too, 
Was  that  which  caus'd  his  utter  overthrow." — Tobitt's  Gram.  p.  61. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI. — COMPOUND  VERBAL  NOUNS. 

"  When  it  denotes  being  subjected  to  the  exertion  of  another." — Booth's  Introd.  p.  37. 
" In  a  passive  sense,  it  signifies  being  subjected  to  the  influence  of  the  action." — Fekh's 
Comp.  Gram.  p.  60.  "The  being  abandoned  by  our  friends  is  very  deplorable." — Gold- 
smith's Greece,  i,  181.  "Without  waiting  for  their  being  attacked  by  the  Macedonians." — 
Ib.  ii,  97.  "  In  progress  of  time,  words  were  wanted  to  express  men's  being  connected  with 
certain  conditions  of  fortune." — Blairs  Ehet.  p.  135.  "Our  being  made  acquainted  with 
pain  and  sorrow,  has  a  tendency  to  bring  us  to  a  settled  moderation." — Butler's  Analogy, 
p.  121.  "  The  chancellor's  being  attached  to  the  king  secured  his  crown  ;  The  general's 
having  failed  in  this  enterprise  occasioned  his  disgrace ;  John's  having  been  writing  a  long 
time  had  wearied  him." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  66  ;  Sanborn's,  171 ;  Cooper's,  96 ;  Ingersott's, 
46;  Fish's,  83;  and  others.  "The  sentence  should  be,  'John's  having  been  writing  a  long 
time  has  wearied  him.' " — Wright's  Gram.  p.  186.  "Much  depends  on  this  rule's  being 
observed." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  195.  "  He  mentioned  a  boy's  having  been  corrected  for  his 
faults ;  The  boy's  having  been  corrected  is  shameful  to  him." — Aider's  Gram.  p.  65  ;  Mer- 
chant's, 93.  "  The  greater  the  difficulty  of  remembrance  is,  and  the  more  important  the 
being  remembered  is  to  the  attainment  of  the  ultimate  end." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  90.  "  If 
the  parts  in  the  composition  of  similar  objects  were  always  in  equal  quantity,  their  being 
compounded  would  make  no  odds." — Ib.  p.  65.  "  Circumstances,  not  of  such  importanse 
as  that  the  scope  of  the  relation  is  affected  by  their  being  known." — Ib.  p.  379.  "A passive 
verb  expresses  the  receiving  of  an  action  or  the  being  acted  upon  ;  as,  'John  is  beaten.'  "  — 
Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  16.  "So  our  Language  has  another  great  Advantage,  namely  its 
not  being  diversified  by  Genders." — Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  20.  "The  having  been  slandered 
is  no  fault  of  Peter."  —Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  82.  "  Without  being  Christ's  friends,  there 
is  no  being  justified." — William  Penn.  "Being  accustomed  to  danger,  begets  intrepidity, 
i.  e.  lessens  fear." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  112.  "It  is,  not  being  affected  so  and  so,  but 
acting,  which  forms  those  habits." — Ib.  p.  113.  "In  order  to  our  being  satisfied  of  the 
truth  of  the  apparent  paradox." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  164.  "Tropes  consist  in  a  word's 
being  employed  to  signify  something  that  is  different  from  its  original  and  primitive  mean- 
ing."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  132  ;  Jamieson's,  140  ;  Murray's  Gram.  337  ;  Kirkham's,  222.  "A 
Trope  consists  in  a  word's  being  employed,"  &c. — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  133.  "The  scriptural 
view  of  our  being  saved  from  punishment." — Gurney's  Evidences,  p.  124.  "  To  submit  and 
obey,  is  not  a  renouncing  a  being  led  by  the  Spirit." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  542. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII. — PARTICIPLES  FOR  INFINITIVES,  &c. 

"Teaching  little  children  is  a  pleasant  employment." — Bartlett's  School  Manual,  ii,  68. 
"  Denying  or  compromising  principles  of  truth  is  virtually  denying  their  divine  Author." — 
Reformer,  i,  34.  "A  severe  critic  might  point  out  some  expressions  that  would  bear  being 
retrenched." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  206.  "Never  attempt  prolonging  the  pathetic  too  much."- 
Ib.  p.  323.  "  I  now  recollect  having  mentioned  a  report  of  that  nature." —  Whiting's  Reader, 
p.  132.  "  Nor  of  the  necessity  which  there  is  for  their  being  restrained  in  them." — Butler's 
Analogy,  p.  116.  "  But  doing  what  God  commands,  because  he  commands  it,  is  obedience, 
though  it  proceeds  from  hope  or  fear." — Ib.  p.  124.  "  Simply  closing  the  nostrils  does  not 
so  entirely  prevent  resonance." — Music  of  Nature,  p.  484.  "Yet  they  absolutely  refuse 
doing  so." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  264.  "  But  Artaxerxes  could  not  refuse  pardoning  him."- 
Goldsmith's  Greece,  i,  173.  "  Doing  them  in  the  best  manner  is  signified  by  the  name  of 
these  arts." — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  360.  "  Behaving  well  for  the  time  to  come,  may  be 
insufficient." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  198.  "  The  compiler  proposed  publishing  that  part  by 
itself." — Dr.  Adam,  Rom.  Antiq.  p.  v.  "  To  smile  upon  those  we  should  censure,  is  bringing 
guilt  upon  ourselves." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  108.  "  But  it  would  be  doing  great  injustice 
to  that  illustrious  orator  to  bring  his  genius  down  to  the  same  level." — Ib.  p.  28.  "  Doubt- 
ing things  go  ill,  often  hurts  more  than  to  be  sure  they  do." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  203. 


CHAP.    VII.]  SYNTAX. — RULE   XX. PARTICIPLES. — ERRORS.  625 

"This  is  called  straining  n  metar>hor." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  1-50  ;  Murray's  Gram,  i,  341.  "This 
is  what  Aristotle  calls  giving  manners  to  the  poem." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  427.  "  The  painter's 
being  entirely  confined  to  that  part  of  time  which  he  has  chosen,  deprives  him  of  the 
power  of  exhibiting  various  stages  of  the  same  action." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  195.  "  It 
imports  retrenching  all  superfluities,  and  pruning  the  expression." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  94  ; 
ton's,  64  ;  Murray's  Gram.  p.  301 ;  Kirkham's,  220.  "  The  necessity  for  our  being  thus 
exempted  is  further  apparent." —  West's  Letters,  p.  40.  "  Her  situation  in  life  does  not  allow 
of  her  being  genteel  in  everything." — Ib.  p.  57.  "Provided  you  do  not  dislike  being  dirty 
when  you  are  invisible." — Ib.  p.  58.  "  There  is  now  an  imperious  necessity  for  her  being 
acquainted  with  her  title  to  eternity." — Ib.  p.  120.  "Discarding  the  restraints  of  virtue, 
is  misnamed  ingenuousness." — Ib.  p.  105.  "The  legislature  prohibits  opening  shop  of  a 
Sunday." — lh.  p.  66.  "To  attempt  proving  that  any  thing  is  right." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram. 
p.  256.  "  The  comma  directs  making  a  pause  of  a  second  in  duration,  or  less." — Ib.  p.  280. 
"  The  rule  which  directs  putting  other  words  into  the  place  of  it,  is  wrong." — Ib.  p.  326. 
"  They  direct  calling  the  specifying  adjectives  or  adnames  adjective  pronouns." — Ib.  p.  338. 
"  William  dislikes  attending  court." — Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  82.  "  It  may  perhaps  be 
worth  while  remarking  that  Milton  makes  a  distinction." — Philological  Museum,  i,  659. 
"  Professing  regard,  and  acting  differently,  discover  a  base  mind." — Murray's  Key,  p.  206  ; 
Bullions' s  E.  Gram.  pp.  82  and  112  ;  Lennie's,  58.  "  You  have  proved  beyond  contradiction, 
that  acting  thus  is  the  sure  way  to  procure  such  an  object." — Campbells  Rhet.  p.  92. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII. — PARTICIPLES  AFTER  BE,  IS,  &c. 

"  Irony  is  expressing  ourselves  in  a  manner  contrary  to  our  thoughts." — Murray's  Gram. 
p,  353  ;  Kirkham's,  225 ;  Goldsbury  's,  90.  "  Irony  is  saying  one  thing  and  meaning  the 
reverse  of  what  that  expression  would  represent." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  303.  "An 
Irony  is  dissembling  or  changing  the  proper  signification  of  a  word  or  sentence  to  quite  the 
contrary." — Fishers  Gram.  p.  151.  "Irony  is  expressing  ourselves  contrary  to  what  we 
mean." — Sanborn's  Gram,  p,  286.  "  This  is  in  a  great  Measure  delivering  their  own  Com- 
positions."— Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  xxvi.  "  But  purity  is  using  rightly  the  words  of  the 
language." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  59.  "  But  the  most  important  object  is  settling  the  English 
quantity." — Walkers  Key,  p.  17.  "When  there  is  no  affinity,  the  transition  from  one 
meaning  to  another  is  taking  a  very  wide  step." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  293.  "It  would  be 
losing  time  to  attempt  further  to  illustrate  it." — Ib.  p.  79.  "This  is  leaving  the  sentence 
too  bare,  and  making  it  to  be,  if  not  nonsense,  hardly  sense." — Cobbett's  Gram.  No.  227. 
"  This  is  requiring  more  labours  from  every  private  member." — West's  Letters,  p.  120.  "  Is 
not  this  using  one  measure  for  our  neighbours,  and  another  for  ourselves  ? " — Ib.  p.  200. 
"  Is  it  not  charging  God  foolishly,  when  we  give  these  dark  colourings  to  human  nature ? " 
— Ib.  p.  171.  "This  is  not  enduring  the  cross  as  a  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  snatching 
at  it  like  a  partizan  of  Swift's  Jack."—  Ib.  p.  175.  "  What  is  Spelling?  It  is  combining 
letters  to  form  syllables  and  words." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  18.  "It  is  choosing  such 
letters  to  compose  words,"  Sec.— Ibid.  "  What  is  Parsing  ?  (1.)  It  is  describing  the  nature, 
:id  powers  of  words." — Ib.  pp.  22  and  192.  (2.)  "For  parsing  is  describing  the 
words  of  a  sentence  as  they  are  used." — Ib.  p,  10.  (3.)  "  Parsing  is  only  describing  the 
nature  and  relations  of  words  as  they  are  used."— Ib.  p.  11.  (4.)  "Parsing,  let  the  pupil 
understand  and  remember,  is  describing  facts  concerning  words ;  or  representing  them  in 
their  offices  and  relations  as  they  are." — Ib.  p.  34.  (5.)  "  Parsing  is  resolving  and  explain- 
ed* according  to  the  niles  of  grammar." — Ib.  p.  326.  (6.)  "Parsing  a  word, 
remember,  is  enumerating  and  devribin;.:  its  various  relations  and  qualities,  and  its  gram- 
matical relations  to  other  words  in  the  sentence." — Ib.  p.  325.  (7.)  "For  parsing  a  word 
is  enumerating  and  describing  its  various  properties  and  relations  to  the  sentence." — Ib. 
i  s.i  "Parsing  a  noun  is  tolling  of  what  person,  number,  gender,  and  case  it  is; 
«nd  also  telling  all  its  grammatical  relations  in  a  sentence  with  respect  to  other  words." — 
p.  16.  (9.)  "Parsing  any  part  of  speech  is  tolling  all  its  properties  and 
reliitio:  i  lo.  i  ••  Parsing  is  resolving  a  sentence  into  its  elements." — Foicler's  E. 

Grum.  1850,  $  588.  "  The  highway  of  the  righteous,  is,  departing  from  evil,"— O.  B.  Peirce't 
Gmm.p.  Ids.  ••  L6  lirst  step  towards  exhibiting  truth  should  be  removing  the 

veil  of  error." — Ib.  p.  .'J77.  "  Punctuation  is  dividing  sentences  and  the  words  of  sentences, 
by  pauses."—//*,  p.  Jso.  "Another  fault  is  usin^j  the  preterimperfect  shook  instead  of  the 
participle  shaken." — Churchill's  Gram,  p.  2-V,).  "  Jl^r  employment  is  drawing  maps." — 
Alycr's  Gram.  p.  (j.j.  "  (ioing  to  the  play,  according  to  his  notion,  is  leading  a  sensual  life, 
and  exposing  ones  self  to  the  Sti  .  This  is  b<  gging  the  question,  and 

therefor  requires  no  answer."  —  I-'urm'-y'a  ]>  ,p.  J!7.     "  It  is  overvaluing  ourselves 

to  reduce  every  thing  to  the  narrow  measure  of  our  capacities."— Murray's  Gram,  i,  193  ; 
Ingersotfs,  199.  "  \Vi:  -.\  language?  It  is  speaking;  or  expressing  ideas  by  the 

human  voice." — Sanders,  Spelling -Book. 

r.M)i:u  NOTK   IX.— VKHIIS  u.  NO. 

14  The  annulling  power  of  the  constitution  prevented  that  enactment's  becoming  a  law." 
—  O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.   267.     "  Which  prevents  the  manner's  being  brief." — Ib.  p.  365. 
40 


626  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

"  This  close  prevents  their  bearing  forward  as  nominatives." — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  153. 
"Because  this  prevents  its  growing  drowzy." — Formey's  Belles- Lettres,  p.  5.  "Yet  this 
does  not  prevent  his  being  great." — Ib.  p.  27.  "  To  prevent  its  being  insipid." — Ib.  p.  112. 
"  Or  whose  interruptions  did  not  prevent  its  being  continued." — Ib.  p.  167.  "  This  by 
no  means  prevents  their  being  also  punishments." —  Wayland's  Moral  Science,  p.  123.  "  This 
hinders  not  their  being  also,  in  the  strictest  sense,  punishments." — Ibid.  "  The  noise  made 
by  the  rain  and  wind  prevented  their  being  heard." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  Vol.  i,  p.  1 18.  "  He 
endeavoured  to  prevent  its  taking  effect." — Ib.  \,  128.  "  So  sequestered  as  to  prevent  their 
being  explored." — West's  Letters,  p.  62.  "Who  prevented  her  making  a  more  pleasant 
party." — Ib.  p.  65.  "To  prevent  our  being  tossed  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine." — Ib. 
p.  123.  "After  the  infirmities  of  age  prevented  his  bearing  his  part  of  official  duty." — 
Religious  World,  ii,  193.  "  Understanding  the  literal  sense  would  have  prevented  their  con- 
demning the  guiltless." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  168.  "  To  prevent  splendid  trifles  passing  for 
matters  of  importance." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  i,  310.  "  Which  prevents  his  exerting  himself  to 
any  good  purpose." — Seattle's  Moral  Science,  i,  146.  "The  want  of  the  observance  of  this 
rule,  very  frequently  prevents  our  being  punctual  in  our  duties." — Student's  Manual,  p.  65. 
"Nothing  will  prevent  his  being  a  student,  and  his  possessing  the  means  of  study." — Ib.  p. 
127.  "  Does  the  present  accident  hinder  your  being  honest  and  brave  ? " — Collier's  Antoni- 
nus, p.  61.  "The  e  is  omitted  to  prevent  two  es  coming  together." — Foicle's  Gram.  p.  34, 
"A  pronoun  is  used  for  or  in  place  of  a  noun, — to  prevent  repeating  the  noun." — Sanborn'a 
Gram.  p.  13.  "  Diversity  in  the  style  relieves  the  ear,  and  prevents  it  being  tired  with  the 
too  frequent  recurrence  of  the  rhymes." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  166.  "  Diversity  in  the  style 
relieves  the  ear,  and  prevents  its  being  tired,"  &c. — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  362.  "  Timidity  and 
false  shame  prevent  our  opposing  vicious  customs." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  236  ;  Sanborn's  Gram. 
171  ;  Merchant's,  205.  "To  prevent  their  being  moved  by  such." — Campbells  Rhet.  p.  155. 
"  Some  obstacle  or  impediment,  that  prevents  its  taking  place." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  38. 
"  Which  prevents  our  making  a  progress  towards  perfection." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  4. 
"This  method  of  distinguishing  words,  must  prevent  any  regular  proportion  of  time  being 
settled." — Ib.  p.  67.  "  That  nothing  but  affectation  can  prevent  its  always  taking  place." — 
Ib.  p.  78.  "This  did  not  prevent  John's  being  acknowledged  and  solemnly  inaugurated 
Duke  of  Normandy." — HENRY:  Webster's  Philos.  Gram.  p.  182;  his  Improved  Gram.  130; 
Sanborn's  Gram.  189  ;  Fowler's,  8vo,  1850,  p.  541. 

UNDER  NOTE  X. — THE  LEADING  WORD  IN  SENSE. 

"This  would  preclude  the  possibility  of  a  nouns'  or  any  other  word's  ever  being  in  the 
possessive  case." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  338.  "A  great  part  of  our  pleasure  arises  from 
the  plan  or  story  being  well  conducted." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  18.  "And  we  have  no  reason  to 
wonder  at  this  being  the  case." — Ib.  p.  249.  "  She  objected  only,  as  Cicero  says,  to  Oppia- 
nicus  having  two  sons  by  his  present  wife." — Ib.  p.  274.  "The Britons  being  subdued  by 
the  Saxons,  was  a  necessary  consequence  of  their  having  called  in  these  Saxons,  to  their 
assistance." — Ib.  p.  329.  "  What  he  had  there  said,  concerning  the  Saxons  expelling  the 
Britons,  and  changing  the  customs,  the  religion,  and  the  language  of  the  county,  is  a  clear 
and  good  reason  for  our  present  language  being  Saxon  rather  than  British." — Ib.  p.  230. 
"The  only  material  difference  between  them,  besides  the  one  being  short  and  the  other 
being  prolonged,  is,  that  a  metaphor  always  explains  itself  by  the  words  that  are  connected 
with  it." — Ib.  p.  151;  Murray's  Gram.  p.  342.  "The  description  of  Death's  advancing  to 
meet  Satan,  on  his  arrival." — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  156.  "Is  not  the  bare  fact  of  God  being 
the  witness  of  it,  sufficient  ground  for  its  credibility  to  rest  upon  ? " — Chalmers,  Serm.  p.  286. 
"As  in  the  case  of  one  entering  upon  a  new  study." — Beattie's  Moral  Science,  i,  77.  "  The 
manner  of  these  affecting  the  copula  is  called  the  imperative  mode." — BP.  WILKINS  : 
Lowth's  Gram.  p.  43.  "  We  are  freed  from  the  trouble,  by  our  nouns  having  no  diversity 
of  endings." — Buchanan's  Syntax,  p.  20.  "  The  Verb  is  rather  indicative  of  the  actions 
being  doing,  or  done,  than  the  time  when,  but  indeed  the  ideas  are  undistinguishable." — 
Booth's  Introd.  p.  69.  "  Nobody  would  doubt  of  this  being  a  sufficient  proof." — Campbell's 
Rhet.  p.  66.  "Against  the  doctrine  here  maintained,  of  conscience  being,  as  well  as  reason, 
a  natural  faculty." — Beattie's  M.  Sci.  i,  263.  "It  is  one  cause  of  the  Greek  and  English 
languages  being  much  more  easy  to  learn,  than  the  Latin." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram.  p.  25. 
"I  have  not  been  able  to  make  out  a  solitary  instance  of  such  being  the  fact." — Liberator,  x, 
40.  "An  angel's  forming  the  appearance  of  a  hand,  and  writing  the  king's  condemnation 
on  the  wall,  checked  their  mirth,  and  filled  them  with  terror." — Wood's  Diet.  w.  Belshazzar. 
"The  prisoners'  having  attempted  to  escape,  aroused  the  keepers." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram. 
p.  357.  "  I  doubt  not,  in  the  least,  of  this  having  been  one  cause  of  the  multiplication  of 
divinities  in  the  heathen  world." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  155.  "  From  the  general  rule  he  lays  down, 
of  the  verbs  being  the  parent  word  of  all  language." — Diversions  of  Purley,  Vol.  i,  p.  227. 
"  He  was  accused  of  himself  being  idle." — Felch's  Comp.  Gram.  p.  52.  "  Our  meeting  is 
generally  dissatisfied  with  him  so  removing." — Win.  Edmondson.  "The  spectacle  is  too 
rare  of  men's  deserving  solid  fame  while  not  seeking  it." — Prof.  Bush's  Lecture  on  Swedenborg. 
"  What  further  need  was  there  of  an  other  priest  rising  ?  "  See  Key. 


CHAP.    VII.]  SYNTAX. RULE  XX. PARTICIPLES. ERRORS.  G27 

UNDER  NOTE  XI. — REFERENCE  OF  PARTICIPLES. 

"Viewing  them  separately,  different  emotions  are  produced." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  344. 
"  But  leaving  this  doubtful," another  objection  occurs." — lh,  ii,  358.  "  Proceeding  from  one 
particular  to  another,  the  subject  grew  under  his  hand." — Ib.  i,  27.  "  But  this  is  still  an 
interruption,  and  a  link  of  the  chain  broken."— Ib.  ii,  314.  "After  some  days  hunting,' 
Cyrus  communicated  his  design  to  his  officers." — Rollin,  ii,  66.  "But  it  is  made,  without 
the  appearance  of  making  it  in  form." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  358.  "These  would  have  had  a 
better  effect  disjoined  thus." — Ib.  p.  119  ;  Murray's  Gram,  i,  309.  "An  improper  diphthong 
has  but  one  of  the  vowels  sounded." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  9;  Alger's,  12;  Merchant's,  9; 
Smith's,  118  ;  IngersolFs,  4.  "And  being  led  to  think  of  both  together,  my  view  is  rendered 
unsteady." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  95  ;  Murray's  Gram.  302  ;  Jamiesons  Rhet*  66.  "  By  often  doing 
the  same  thing,  it  becomes  habitual." — Murray's  Key,  p.  257.  "  They  remain  with  us  in  our 
dark  and  solitary  hours,  no  less  than  when  surrounded  with  friends  and  cheerful  society." 
— Ib.  p.  238.  "  Besides  shewing  what  is  right,  the  matter  may  be  further  explained  by 
pointing  out  what  is  wrong." — Lowth's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  viii.  "The  former  teaches  the  true 
pronunciation  of  words,  comprising  accent,  quantity,  emphasis,  pause,  and  tone." — Murray's 
Gram,  i,  p.  235.  "  Persons  may  be  reproved  for  their  negligence,  by  saying  ;  •  You  have 
taken  great  care  indeed.'  " — Ib.  i,  354.  "The  words  preceding  and  following  it,  are  in  appo- 
sition to  each  other." — Ib.  ii,  p.  22.  "  Having  finished  his  speech,  the  assembly  dispersed." 
— Cooper's  Pract.  Gram.  p.  97.  "  Were  the  voice  to  fall  at  the  close  of  the  last  "line,  as  many 
a  reader  is  in  the  habit  of  doing." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  101.  "The  misfortunes  of  hia 
countrymen  were  but  negatively  the  effects  of  his  wrath,  by  depriving  them  of  his  assist- 
ance."— Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  299.  "  Taking  them  as  nouns,  this  construction  may  be 
explained  thus." — Grant's  Latin  Gram.  p.  233.  "These  have  an  active  signification,  those 
which  come  from  neuter  verbs  being  excepted." — Ib.  p,  233.  "  From  the  evidence  of  it 
not  being  universal." — Butler  s  Analogy,  p.  84.  "And  this  faith  will  continually  grow,  by 
acquainting  ourselves  with  our  own  nature." — Channing's  Mf- Culture,  p.  33.  "  Monosylla- 
bles ending  with  any  consonant  but/,  I,  or  s,  and  preceded  by  a  single  vowel,  never  double 
the  final  consonant ;  excepting  add,  ebb,"  &c. — Murray's  Gram.  p.  23  ;  Picket's,  10  ;  Mer- 
chant's, 13;  Ingersott's,  8;  Fisk's,  44;  Blair's,  7.  "The  relation  of  being  the  object  of  the 
action  is  expressed  by  the  change  of  the  Noun  Maria  to  Mariam." — Booth's  Introd.  p.  38. 
"  In  analyzing  a  proposition,  it  is  first  to  be  divided  into  its  logical  subject  and  predicate." 
— Andrews  and  Stoddard's  Latin  Gram.  p.  254.  "In  analyzing  a  simple  sentence,  it  should 
first  be  resolved  into  its  logical  subject  and  logical  predicate." — Wells's  School  Gram.  113th 
Ed.  p,  189. 

UNDER  NOTE  XII. — OF  PARTICIPLES  AND  NOUNS. 

"  The  discovering  passions  instantly  at  their  birth,  is  essential  to  our  well  being." — Kames, 
El.  nf  Crit.  i,  352.  "  I  am  now  to  enter  on  considering  the  sources  of  the  pleasures  of  taste." 
— Itlair's  Rhet.  p.  28.  "The  varieties  in  using  them  are,  indeed  many." — Murray's  Gram. 
319.  "  Changing  times  and  seasons,  removing  and  setting  up  kings,  belong  to  Providence 
one." — Ib.  Key,  ii,  p.  200.  "Adhering  to  the  partitions  seemed  the  cause  of  France,  ac- 
pting  the  will  that  of  the  house  of  Bourbon." — Bolingbrokc,  on  Hist.  p.  246.  "Another 
urce  of  darkness  in  composing  is,  the  injudicious  introduction  of  technical  words  and 
rases."—  Campbells  llhct.  p.  247.  "These  are  the  rules  of  grammar,  by  the  observing  of 
Inch,  you  may  avoid  mistakes," — Murray's  Gram,  i,  192  ;  Merchant's,  93  ;  Fisk's,  135  ;  In- 
(jersolfs,  198.  "By  the  observing  of  the  rules,  you  may  avoid  mistakes." — Alger's  Gram. 
Co.  "  By  the  observing  of  these  rules  he  succeeded." — Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  82.  "  Being 
raised  was  his  ruin." — Ibid.  "Deceiving  is  not  convincing." — Ibid.  "He  never  feared 
sin-;  a  friend." — Ibid  "  Making  books  is  his  amusement." — Alger's  Gram.  p.  65.  "We 
11  it  declining  a  noun." — Ingersolfs  Gram.  p.  22.  "  Washington,  however,  pursued  the 
me  policy  of  neutrality,  and  opposed  firmly,  taking  any  part  in  the  wars  of  Europe." — 
Hull  aud  Baker's  S-AW  ///.s/.  p.  294.  "The  following  is  a  note  of  Interrogation,  or  asking  a 
question  (•)." — Infant  s.  haul  dram.  p.  132.  "The  following  is  a  note  of  Admiration,  or 
expressing  wonder  (!)."— Ib.  "Omitting  or  using  the  article  a  forms  a  nice  distinction  in 
the  sense." — Murray' a  Gram,  ii,  284.  "Placing  the  preposition  before  the  word  it  governs 
more  graceful."—  Churchill's  Gram.  p.  150.  "Assistance  is  absolutely  necessary  to  their 
covery,  and  retrieving  their  affairs." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  197.  "  Which  termination,  [ish,] 
when  added  to  adjectives,  imports  diminution,  or  lessening  the  quality." — Murray's  Gram. 
i,  131  ;  Kirkham's,  172.  "After  what  is  said,  will  it  be  thought  reiining  too  much  to  sug- 
•  hat  the  different  orders  are  qualified  for  different  purposes  ? " — Kames,  El.  of  Crif.  ii, 
114.  "  Who  has  nothing  to  think  of  but  killing  time." — West's  Letters,  p.  58.  "  It  requires 
no  nicety  of  ear,  as  in  the  distinguishing  of  tones,  or  measuring  time." — Sheridan's  Elocution, 
"  The  J'ossrssirc  Case  denotes  possession,  or  belonging  to." — Hairs  Gram.  p.  7. 

T'NOKR  NOTE  XIII.- -Pi  KI  r.  i    PVKTK  in  i  -. 

as  master  of  the  hinirungi-  spoke  by  the  Incas."— Rob>  -  ii,    !•"•<)• 

When  an  interesting  story  is  broke  off  in  the  middle."— Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  244.     "  Speak- 


628  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

ing  of  Hannibal's  elephants  drove  back  by  the  enemy." — Ib.  ii,  32.  "  If  Du  Ryer  had  not 
wrote  for  bread,  he  would  have  equalled  them." — Formey's  Belles-Lettres,  p.  166.  "Pope 
describes  a  rock  broke  off  from  a  mountain,  and  hurling  to  the  plain." — Kames,  ii,  106.  "  I 
have  wrote  or  have  written,  Thou  hast  wrote  or  hast  written,  He  hath  or  has  wrote,  or  hatli 
.or  has  written ;  "  &c. — Dr.  Ash's  Gram.  p.  47  ;  Maltby's,  47.  "  This  was  spoke  by  a  pagan.'r 
—  Webster's  Improved  Gram.  p.  174.  "But  I  have  chose  to  follow  the  common  arrange- 
ment."— Ib.  p.  10.  "  The  language  spoke  in  Bengal." — Ib.  p.  78.  "And  sound  Sleep  thus 
broke  off,  with  sudden  Alarms,  is  apt  enough  to  discompose  any  one." — Locke*  on  Ed.  p.  32. 
"  This  is  not  only  the  Case  of  those  Open  Sinners,  before  spoke  of." — Right  of  Tythes,  p.  26. 
"  Some  Grammarians  have  wrote  a  very  perplexed  and  difficult  doctrine  on  Punctuation." 
— Ensell's  Gram.  p.  340.  "  There  hath  a  pity  arose  in  me  towards  thee." — Seicel's  Hist.fol. 
p.  324.  "Abel  is  the  only  man  that  has  underwent  the  awful  change  of  death." — Juvenile 
Theatre,  p.  4. 

'*  Meantime,  on  Afric's  glowing  sands, 
Smote  with  keen  heat,  the  Trav'ler  stands." — Union  Poems,  p.  88. 


CHAPTER  VIII. -ADVERBS. 

The  syntax  of  an  Adverb  consists  in  its  simple  relation  to  a  verb,  a  par 
ciple,  an  adjective,  or  whatever  else  it  qualifies  ;  just  as  the  syntax  of  an  Eng- 
lish Adjective,  (except  in  a  few  instances,)  consists  in  its  simple  relation  to- 
a  noun  or  a  pronoun. 

KULE  XXI.— ADVERBS. 

Adverbs  relate  to  verbs,  participles,  adjectives,  or  other  adverbs  :  as,  "Any 
passion  that  habitually  discomposes  our  temper,  or  unfits  us  for  properly  dis- 
charging the  duties  of  life,  has  most  certainly  gained  a  very  dangerous  ascen- 
dency."— Blair. 

"How  bless'd  this  happy  hour,  should  he  appear, 
Dear  to  us  all,  to  me  supremely  dear! " — Pope's  Homer. 

EXCEPTION  FIRST. 

The  adverbs  yes,  ay,  and  yea,  expressing  a  simple  affirmation,  and  the  adverbs  no  and  nay, 
expressing  a  simple  negation,  are  always  independent.     They  generally  answer  a  question, 
and  are  equivalent  to  a  whole  sentence.     Is  it  clear,  that  they  ought  to  be  called  adverbs  * 
No.     "  Can  honour  set  to  a  leg  ?  No.    Or  an  arm?  No.    Or  take  away  the  grief  of  a  wound 
No.     Honour  hath  no  skill  in  surgery  then  ?  No." — SHAK.:  First  Part  of  Hen.  IV,  Act.  v 

EXCEPTION  SECOND. 

The  word  amen,  which  is  commonly  called  an  adverb,  is  often  used  independently  at  the 
beginning  or  end  of  a  declaration  or  a  prayer ;  and  is  itself  a  prayer,  meaning,  so  let  it  be  : 
as,  "  Surely,  I  come  quickly.  Amen :  Even  so,  come  Lord  Jesus." — Rev.  xxii,  20.  When  it 
does  not  stand  thus  alone,  it  seems  in  general  to  be  used  substantively  ;  as,  "  The  stranger* 
among  them  stood  on  Gerizim,  and  echoed  amen  to  the  blessings." —  Wood's  Diet.  "  These 
things  saith  the  Amen."— Rev.  iii,  14. 

EXCEPTION  THIRD. 

An  adverb  before  a  preposition  seems  sometimes  to  relate  to  the  latter,  rather  than  to  the 
verb  or  participle  to  which  the  preposition  connects  its  object;  as,  "This  mode  of  pronun- 
ciation runs  considerably  beyond  ordinary  discourse." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  334.     "Yea,  all  along 
the  times  of  the  apostasy,  this  was  the  thing  that  preserved  the  witnesses." — Peningtons 
Works,  Vol.  iv,  p.  12.     [See  Obs.  8th  on  Rule  7th.] 
"Right  against  the  eastern  gate, 
Where  the  great  sun  begins  his  state."— Milton,  L' Allegro. 

EXCEPTION  FOURTH. 

The  words  much,  little,  far,  and  all,  being  originally  adjectives,  are  sometimes  preceded 
by  the  negative  not,  or  (except  the  last)  by  such  an  adverb  as  too,  hoto,  thus,  so,  or  as,  when 
they  are  taken  substantively ;  as,  "Not  all  that  glitters,  is  gold." — "Too  much  should  not  be 
offered  at  once." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  140.  "Thus  far  is  consistent." — Ib.  p.  161.  "Thus 
far  is  right." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  101. 


n, 

! 


CHAP.    VIII.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XXI. ADVERBS. OBSERVATIONS.  029 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XXI. 

Ons.  1. — On  this  rule  of  syntax,  Dr.  Adam  remarks,  "Adverbs  sometimes  likewise  qualify 
substantives ;  "  and  gives  Latin  examples  of  the  following  import :  "  Homer  plainly  an  orator  ;'"' 
— "Truly  Metellus  ;  " — "To-morrow  morning."  But  this  doctrine  is  not  well  proved  by  such 
imperfect  phrases,  nor  can  it  ever  be  very  consistently  admitted,  because  it  destroys  the  charac- 
teristic difference  between  an  adjective  and  an  adverb.  To-morrow  is  here  an  adjective  ;  and  as 
for  truly  and  plainly,  they  are  not  such  words  as  can  make  sense  with  nouns.  I  therefore  imagine 
the  phrases  to  be  elliptical:  "Vert  Metellus,"  may  mean,  "This  is  truly  Metellus ;  "  and  "IIo- 
merus  plan*  orator,"  "  Homer  was  plainly  an  orator."  So,  in  the  example,  "  Behold  an  Israelite 
indeed,"  the  true  construction  seems  to  be,  "  Behold,  here  is  indeed  an  Israelite;"  for,  in  the 
Greek  or  Latin,  the  word  Israelite  is  a  nominative,  thus:  "Ecce  vert  Isratlita." — Beza ;  also 
Montamis.  "  'I6e  aAqduc  'lipa7]/uTT]c,." — Greek  Testament.  Behold  appears  to  be  here  an  in- 
terjection, like  Ecce.  If  we  make  it  a  transitive  verb,  the  reading  should  be,  "  Behold  a  true 
Israelite  ;  "  for  the  text  does  not  mean,  "Behold  indeed  an  Israelite."  At  least,  this  is  not  the 
meaning  in  our  version.  W.  II.  Wells,  citing  as  authorities  for  the  doctrine,  "  Bullions,  Allen 
and  Cornwell,  Brace,  Butler,  and  Webber,"  has  the  following  remark:  "There  are,  however, 
certain  forms  of  expression  in  which  adverbs  bear  a  special  relation  to  nouns  or  pronouns ;  as, 
*  Behold,  I,  even  I,  do  bring  a  flood  of  waters.' — Gen.  6 :  17-  '  For  our  gospel  came  not  unto  you 
in  word  only,  but  also  in  power.' — 1  Thes.  1 :  5." — Wells'*  School  Gram.  1st  Ed.  p.  156  ;  late  Ed. 
168.  And  again,  in  his  Punctuation,  we  find  this  :  "  When,  however,  the  intervening  word  is  an 
adverb,  the  comma  is  more  commonly  omitted . ;  as,  '  It  is  labor  only  which  gives  a  relish  to  pleas- 
ure.' " — Ib.  p.  176.  From  all  this,  the  doctrine  receives  no  better  support  than  from  Adam's 
tion  above  considered.  The  word  "only"  is  often  an  adjective,  and  wherever  its  "special 
relation  "  is  to  a  noun  or  a  pronoun,  it  can  be  nothing  else.  "Even,"  when  it  introduces  a  word 
repeated  with  emphasis,  is  a  conjunction. 

OBS.  2. — When  participles  become  nouns,  their  adverbs  are  not  unfrequently  left  standing  with 
them  in  the  original  relation;  as,  "For  the  fail  and  rising  again  of  many  in  Israel." — Luke,  ii, 
'U.     "  To  denote  the  carrying  foncard  of  the  action." — Barnard's  Gram.  p.  52.     But  in  instances 
like  these,  the  hyphen  seems  to  be  necessary.     This  mark  would  make  the  terms  risintj-again  and 
carry  ing -for  ward  compound  nouns,  and  not  participial  nouns  with  adverbs  relating  to  them. 
"There  is  no  flying  hence,  nor  tarrying  here." — Skak.,  Macbeth. 
"  What !  in  ill  thoughts  again  ?  men  must  endure 
Their  going  hence,  ev'n  as  their  coming  hither." — Id. 

OBS.  3. — Whenever  any  of  those  words  which  are  commonly  used  adverbially,  are  made  to 
relate  directly  to  nouns  or  pronouns,  they  must  be  reckoned  adjectives,  and  parsed  bv  Rule  9th. 
Examples  :  ""The  above  verbs." — Dr.  Adam.  "  To  the  above  remarks." — Campbell's  llhet.  p.  318. 
"  The  abore  instances." — Ib.  p.  442.  "After  the  above  partial  illustration." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist, 
of  Lang,  ii,  62.  "  The  above  explanation." — Cobbett's  Gram.  II  22.  "  For  very  age." — Zech.  viii, 
4.  "  From  its  very  greatness." — Phil.  Museum,  i,  431.  "  In  his  then  situation. "—Johnson's  Life 
of  Goldsmith.  "  This  was  the  then  state  of  Popery." — Id.  Life  of  Dry  den,  p.  185.  "  The  servant 
becomes  the  master  of  his  once  master." — Shilliioe.  "  Time  when  is  put  in  the  ablative,  time  how 
lotuj  is  put  in  the  accusative." — Adam's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  201 ;  Gould's,  198.  "Nouns  signifying 
the  time  irhen  or  how  lung,  may  be  put  in  the  objective  case  without  a  preposition." — Wilbur  and 
. .p.  24.'  "  T  hear  the  far-off  curfew  sound." — Milton.  "Far  on  the  thither 
I'houghts,  p.  08.  "  My'  hither  way." — "Since  my  here  remain  in  England." — 
Xhak.  "  But  'short  and  seldom  truce."-*- Fell.  "An  exceeding  knave." — Pope.  "According  to 
my  so/nrtiint'  promise." — Zt-mAiu,  i,  176.  "  Thine  often  infirmities." — Bible.  "A.  far  country." 
— 'lb.  ".\u  wine" — "Xv  new  thing" — "_Vo  greater  joy." — Ib.  "Nothing  else."— Blair.  "To- 
morrow noon." — Sfott.  "  Calamity  cnow/h." — TV.  Sullust.  "  For  thou  only  art  holy." — Rev.  xv,  4. 

(Mm.  4. — It  is  not  mv  design  to  justify  any  uncouth  substitution  of  adverbs'for  adjectives; 
r.or  do  I  affirm  that  all  the  foregoing  examples  are  indisputably  good  English,  though  most  of 
them  are  so  ;  but  merely,  that  the  words,  when  they  are  thus  used,  are  adjectives,  and  not  adverbs. 
Lindley  Murray,  and  his  copyists,  strongly  condemn  some  of  these  expressions,  and,  by  implica- 
tion, most  or  all  of  them ;  but  both  he  and  they,  as  well  as  others,  have  repeatedly  employed  at 
least  one  of  the  very  models  they  censure.  They  are  too  severe  on  all  those  which  they  specify. 
Their  objections  stand  thus:  "Such  csprcsxions  as  the  following,  though  not  destitute  of  au- 


adjeot  'The  then  administration;'  should  be  avoided."— Bar- 

nard's Gram.  p.  -  N  ami  tht-n  must  not  be  used  for  nouns  and  pronouns  ;  thus,  'Since 

tc/i,'n,'  '  since  then,'  '  the  (hen  ministry,'  ought  to  ho,    '  Since  which  time,'   '  since  that  time,'  'the 
ministry  of  that  period'  " — HI  ley's  Gra>,  >r.  Priestley,  from  whom  Murray  derived  many 

of  his  critical  remarks,  noticed  these  expressions;  and,  (as  1  suppose,)  approvingly  ;  thus,  "Ad'« 
verbs  are  often  put  for  adject  ;t>ly  to  the  idiom  of  the  Greek  tongue  :  [as,]  'The  action 

was  ami**.' — '  The  tht-n  ministry.' — '  The  idea  is  alike  in  both.'  Addison.— -'  The  aAote  discourse.' 
Harris." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  133.  Dr.  Johnson,  as  may  be  seen  above,  thought  it  not  amiss  to 
use  then  as  Priestley  here  cites  it;  and  for  such  a  use  of  a'tarr,  we  may  quote  the  objectors  them- 
selves :  "To  support  the  abore  construction." — Murrm/'s  Gram,  i,  p.  149;  Ingersoirs,  \> 
"  In  all  the  above  inst  .nee*. "—Mm:  p.  2H-J  :  Inn.  2*).  "'To  the  abor-r  r\\\c."—Mur.  p.  270  ;  In,,. 
283.  "  The  same  as  th.  "—  Mvr.  p.  GO  ;  Ing.  40.  "  In  such  instances  as  the  above." — Miir. 

p.  21:    fy.9;   A" •;•/•/« am,  23.» 

*  "  Dr  Webster  eonsMer*  the  u<c  of  tiifn  and  above  as  AQJTOUKS.  [I.  e.  adjectives,]  to  be  '  well  authorized  and  very 
convenient ;'  as,  the  'fkg,'' — fetch's  Comp.  Qram.p.10%.     Dr.  W  ebster's  remark 

ii  iu  the  following  wordrf  :  "  Then  aud  above  are  often  used  ai  ATTRIBUTES  ;  [i.  e.  adjectives  ;  a«,]  tfee  then  miu- 


630  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

OBS.  5. — When  words  of  an  adverbial  character  are  used  after  the  manner  of  nouns,  they  must 
be  parsed  as  nouns,  and  not  as  adverbs ;  as,  "  The  Son  of  God — was  not  yea  and  nay,  but  in  him 
was  yea." — Bible,  "  For  a  great  while  to  come." — Ib.  "  On  this  perhaps,  this  peradventure  infa- 
mous for  lies." — Young.  "From  the  extremest  upward  of  thine  head." — Shak.  "There  are 
upwards  of  fifteen  millions  of  inhabitants." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  266.  "  Information  has  been 
derived  from  upwards  of  two  hundred  volumes." — Worcester's  Hist.  p.  v.  "An  eternal  now  does 
always  last." — Cowley.  "Discourse  requires  an  animated  no." — Cowper.  "Their  hearts  no 
proud  hereafter  swelled." — Sprague.  An  adverb  after  a  preposition  is  used  substantively,  and 
governed  by  the  preposition ;  though  perhaps  it  is  not  necessary  to  call  it  a  common  noun:  as, 
"  For  upwards  of  thirteen  years." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  xvi.  "  That  thou  mayst  curse  me  them  from 
thence." — Numb,  xxiii,  27.  "  Yet  for  once  we'll  try." — Dr.  Franklin.  But  many  take  such  terms 
together,  calling  them  "  adverbial  phrases."  Allen  says,  "  Two  adverbs  sometimes  come  together  ; 
as,  '  Thou  hast  kept  the  good  wine  until  now.'  " — Gram.  p.  174.  But  until  is  here  more  properly 

preposition,  governing  now. 

OBS.  6. — It  is  plain,  that  when  words  of  an  adverbial  form  are  used  either  adjectively  or  sub- 
stantively, they  cannot  be  parsed  by  the  foregoing  rule,  or  explained  as  having  the  ordinary 
relation  of  adverbs ;  and  if  the  unusual  relation  or  character  which  they  thus  assume,  be  not 
thought  sufficient  to  fix  them  in  the  rank  of  adjectives  or  nouns,  the  parser  may  describe  them 
as  adverbs  used  adjectively,  or  substantively,  and  apply  the  rule  which  their  assumed  construction 
requires.  But  let  it  be  remembered,  that  adverbs,  as  such,  neither  relate  to  nouns,  nor  assume 
the  nature  of  cases ;  but  express  the  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner,  of  actions  or  qualities.  In 
some  instances  in  which  their  construction  may  seem  not  to  be  reconcilable  with  the  common 
rule,  there  may  be  supposed  an  ellipsis  of  a  verb  or  a  participle  ;  *  as,  "  From  Monday  to  Satur- 
day Inclusively" — Webster's  Diet.  Here,  the  Doctor  ought  to  have  used  a  comma  after  Saturday  ; 
for  the  adverb  relates,  not  to  that  noun,  but  to  the  word  reckoned,  understood.  "  It  was  well  said 
by  Roscommon,  '  too  faithfully  is  pedantically.'  " — Com.  Sch.  Journal,  i,  167.  This  saying  I  sup- 
pose to  mean,  "To  do  a  thing  too  faithfully,  is,  to  do  it  pedantically."  "And,  [I say]  truly,  if 
they  had  been  mindful  of  that  country  from  whence  they  came  out,  they  might  have  had  oppor- 
tunity to  have  returned." — Heb.  xi,  15. 

OBS.  7. — To  abbreviate  expressions,  and  give  them  vivacity,  verbs  of  self-motion  (such  as  go, 
come,  rise,  get,  &c.)  are  sometimes  suppressed,  being  suggested  to  the  mind  by  an  emphatic 
adverb,  which  seems  to  be  put  for  the  verb,  but  does  in  fact  relate  to  it  understood ;  as, 

"  I'll  hence  to  London,  on  a  serious  matter." — Shak.     Supply  "go." 

"  I'll  in.    I'll  in.    Follow  your  friend's  counsel.     I'll  in." — Id.     Supply  " get." 

"Away,  old  man ;  give  me  thy  hand ;  aioay." — Id.     Supply  "  come." 

"  Love  hath  wings,  and  will  away." — Waller.     Supply  "fly." 

" Up,  up,  Glentarkin  !  rouse  thee,  ho  !  " — Scott.     Supply  "spring." 

"  Henry  the  Fifth  is  crowned;  up,  vanity  !  "     Supply  "stand." 

"Down,  royal  state  !  all  you  sage  counsellors,  hence!  " — Shak.     Supply  "fall,"  and  " get  you. 

"  But  up,  and  enter  now  into  full  bliss." — Milton.     Supply  "rise." 

OBS.  8. — We  have,  on  some  occasions,  a  singular  way  of  expressing  a  transitive  action  impera- 
tively, or  emphatically,  by  adding  the  preposition  with  to  an  adverb  of  direction  ;  as,  up  with  i', 
down  with  it,  in  with  it,  out  with  it,  over  with  it,  away  with  it,  and  the  like  ;  in  which  construction 
the  adverb  seems  to  be  used  elliptically  as  above,  though  the  insertion  of  the  verb  would  totally 
enervate  or  greatly  alter  the  expression.  Examples  :  "  She  up  with  her  fist,  and  took  him  on  the 
face." — Sidney,  in  Joh.  Dictionary.  "Away  with  him!" — Acts,  xxi,  36.  "Away  with  such  a 
fellow  from  the  earth." — Ib.  xxii,  22.  "  The  calling  of  assemblies  I  cannot  away  ivith." — Isaiah, 
i,  13.  "Hence  with  denial  vain,  and  coy  excuse." — Milton's  Comus.  Ingersoll  says,  "  Sometimes 
a  whole  phrase  is  used  as  an  interjection,  and  we  call  such  interjectional  phrases :  as,  out  upon 
him  I — away  with  him  ! — Alas,  what  wonder  !  &c." — Conversations  on  Gram.  p.  79.  This  method 
of  lumping  together  several  different  parts  of  speech  under  the  notion  of  one,  and  calling  the 
whole  an  "  adverbial  phrase,"  a  "  substantive  phrase,"  or  an  "  interjectional  phrase,"  is  but  a 
forced  put,  by  which  some  grammarians  would  dodge  certain  difficulties  which  they  know  not  how 
to  meet.  It  is  directlv  repugnant  to  the  idea  of  parsing  ;  for  the  parser  ever  deals  with  the  parts 
of  speech  as  such,  and  not  with  whole  phrases  in  the  lump.  The  foregoing  adverbs  when  used 
imperatively,  have  some  resemblance  to  interjections  ;  but,  in  some  of  the  examples  above  cited, 
they  certainly  are  not  used  in  this  manner. 

OBS.  9. — A  conjunctive  adverb  usually  relates  to  two  verbs  at  the  same  time,  and  thus  connects 
two  clauses  of  a  compound  sentence  ;  as,  "And  the  rest  will  I  set  in  order  when  I  come." — 1  Cor. 
xi,  34.  Here  when  is  a  conjunctive  adverb  of  time,  and  relates  to  the  two  verbs  will  set  and  come; 
the  meaning  being,  "And  the  rest  will  I  set  in  order  at  the  time  at  which  I  come."  This  adverb 
tohen  is  often  used  erroneously  in  lieu  of  a  nominative  after  is,  to  which  construction  of  the  word, 
such  an  interpretation  as  the  foregoing,  would  not  be  applicable ;  because  the  person  means  to 
tell,  not  when,  but  what,  the  thing  is,  of  which  he  speaks:  as,  "Another  cause  of  obscurity  is 
when  the  structure  of  the  sentence  is  too  much  complicated,  or  too  artificial ;  or  when  the  sense 
is  too  long  suspended  by  parentheses." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  246.  Here  the  conjunction  that 
would  be  much  better  than  when,  but  the  sentence  might  advantageously  spare  them  both  ;  thus, 
"An  other  cause  of  obscurity  is  too  much  complication,  too  artificial  a  structure  of  the  sentence, 
or  too  long  a  suspension  of  the  sense  by  parenthesis." 

istry  ;  the  above  remarks  ;  nor  would  I  proscribe  this  use.  It  is  well  authorized  and  very  convenient." — Philos. 
Gram.  p.  245  ;  Improved  Gram.  p.  176.  Of  this  use  of  then,  Dr.  Crombie  has  expressed  a  very  different  opinion  : 
"  Here  then,"  says  he,  "  the  adverb  equivalent  to  at  that  time,  is  solecistically  employed  as  an  adjective,  agreeing 
with  ministry.  This  error  seems  to  gain  ground;  it  should  therefore  be  vigilantly  opposed,  and  carefully 
avoided."—  On  Etym.  and  Synt.  p.  405. 

*  W.  Allen  supposes,  "  An  adverb  sometimes  qualifies  a  whole  sentence  ;  as,  Unfortunately  for  the  lovers  of  an- 
tiquity, no  remains  of  Grecian  paintings  have  been  preserved." — Elements  of  Eng.  Gram.  p.  173.  But  this 
example  may  be  resolved  thus :  "7*  happens  unfortunately  for  the  lovers  of  antiquity,  that  no  remains  of 
Grecian  paintings  have  been  preeerved." 


go, 

a  tic 

,„, 


CHAP.    VIII.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XXI. ADVERBS. OBSERVATIONS.  631 

OBS.  10. — For  the  placing  of  adverbs,  no  definite  general  rule  can  be  given;  yet  is  there  no 
other  part  of  speech  so  liable  to  be  misplaced.  Those  which  relate  to  adjectives,  or  to  other 
adverbs,  with  very  few  exceptions,  immediately  precede  them ;  and  those  which  belong  to  com- 
pound verbs,  are  commonly  placed  after  the  first  auxiliary;  or.  if  they  be  emphatical,  after  the 
whole  verb.  Those  which  relate  to  simple  verbs,  or  to  simple  participles,  are  placed  sometimes 
before  and  sometimes  after  them.  Examples  are  so  very  common,  I  shall  cite  but  one :  "A  man 
may,  in  respect  to  grammatical  purity,  speak  unexceptionably,  and  yet  speak  obscurely,  or  atnbigu- 
ously ;  and  though  we  cannot  say,  that  a  man  may  speak  properly,  and  at  the  same  time  speak 
•unintelligibly,  yet  this  last  case*  falls  more  naturally  to  be  considered  as  an  offence  against 
perspicuity,  than  us  a  violation  of  propriety." — Campodft  Rhet.  p.  239. 

OBS.  11. — Of  the  infinitive  verb  and  its  preposition  to,  some  grammarians  say,  that  they  must 
never  be  separated  by  an  adverb.  It  is  true,  that  the  adverb  is,  m  general,  more  elegantly  placed 
before  the  preposition  than  after  it;  but,  possibly,  the  latter  position  of  it  may  sometimes  con- 
tribute to  perspicuity,  which  is  more  essential  than  elegance:  as,  "If  any  man  refuse  so  to 
iiiijilorc,  and  to  so  receive  pardon,  let  him  die  the  death." — Fuller,  on  the  Gospel,  p.  209.  The 
latter  word  so,  if  placed  like  the  former,  might  possibly  be  understood  in  a  different  sense  from 
what  it  now  bears.  But  perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  say,  "  If  any  man  refuse  so  to  implore,  and 
on  such  terms  to  receive  pardon,  let  him  die  the  death."  "  Honour  teaches  us  properly  to  respect 
ourselves." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  252.  Here  it  is  not  quite  clear,  to  which  verb  the  adverb  "properly  " 
relates.  Some  change  of  the  expression  is  therefore  needful.  The  right  to  place  an  adverb  some- 
times between  to  and  its  verb,  should,  I  think,  be  conceded  to  the  poets :  as, 

"  Who  dared  to  nobly  stem  tyrannic  pride." — BURNS:   C.  Sat.  N. 

Ons.  12. — The  adverb  no  is  used  independently,  only  when  it  is  equivalent  to  a  whole  sentence. 
This  word  is  sometimes  an  adverb  of  degree ;  and  as  such  it  has  this  peculiarity,  that  it  can  relate 
only  to  comparatives:  as,  "No  more," — "No  better," — "No  greater," — "A'o  sooner."  When  no 
is  set  before  a  noun,  it  is  clearly  an  adjective,  corresponding  to  the  Latin  nul/tts ;  as,  "No  clouds, 
no  vapours  intervene." — Dyer.  Dr.  Johnson,  with  no  great  accuracy,  remarks,  "  It  seems  an 
adjective  in  these  phrases,  no  longer,  no  more,  no  where  ;  though  sometimes  it  may  be  so  commo- 
diously  changed  to  not,  that  it  seems  an  adverb  :  as,  'The  days  are  yet  no  shorter.'  " — Quarto 
And  his  tirst  example  of  what  he  calls  the  "adverb  NO  "is  this  :  "  '  Our  courteous  Antony, 
Whom  ne'er  the  word  of  no  woman  heard  speak.'  SHAKSPEARE." — Ibid.  Dr.  Webster  says, 
"  When  it  precedes  where,  as  in  nowhere,  it  may  be  considered  as  adverbial,  though  originally  an 
adjective." — Octavo  Diet.  The  truth  is,  that  no  is  an  adverb,  whenever  it  relates  to  an  adjective; 
an  adjective,  whenever  it  relates  to  a  noun  ;  and  a  noun,  whenever  it  takes  the  relation  of  a  case. 
Thus,  in  what  Johnson  rites  from  Shakspeare,  it  is  a  noun,  and  not  an  adverb;  for  the  meaning 
is,  that  a  woman  never  heard  Antony  speak  the  word  of  no — that  is,  of  negation.  And  there 
ought  to  be  a  comma  after  this  word,  to  make  the  text  intelligible.  To  read  it  thus,  "the  word 
•»t,nm,"  makes  no  an  adjective.  So,  to  say,  "There  are  no  abler  critics  than  these,"  is 

very  different  thing  from  saying,  "There  are  critics  no  abler  than  these;"  because  tio  is  an 

"jective  in  the  former  sentence,  and  an  adverb  in  the  latter.     Somewhere,  nowhere,  anyichere, 

eirhere.  :uid  ercryirfiere,  are  adverbs  of  place,  each  of  which  is  composed  of  the  noun  where  and 
.  and  it  is  absurd  to  write  a  part  of  them  as  compound  words,  and  the  rest  as  phrases, 

manv  authors  do. 

Ons.  13. — In  some  languages,  the  more  negatives  one  crowds  into  a  sentence,  the  stronger  is 
negation  ;  and  this  appears  to  have  been  formerly  the  case  in  English,  or  in  what  was  anciently 
e  of  Britain  :  as,  "  lie  nen-r  yet  no  vilanie  ne  sayde  in  alle  his  lit'  unto  no  manere 
ht." — Chnwer.  ".\<-  1  ///•  wol  non  reherce,  yef  that  I  may." — Id.  "Give  not  me  counsel; 
nor  let  no  comforter  delight  mine  ear." — Shakspeare.  "  She  cunnnt  love,  nor  take  no  shape  nor 
project  of  aifection." — /,/.  Among  people  of  education,  this  manner  of  expression  has  now 
become  wholly  obsolete;  though  it  still  prevails,  to  some  extent,  in  the  conversation  of  the 
vulgar.  It  is 'to  be  observed,  however,  that  the  repetition  of  an  independent  negative  word  or 
yet  strengthen*  the  negation;  as,  "No,  no,  no." — "No,  never." — "No,  not  for  an  hour." — 
(la/,  ii.  •>.  "  There  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one." — Rom.  in,  10.  But  two  negatives  in  the  same 
clause,  if  they  have  any  bearing  on  each  other,  destroy  the  negation,  and  render  the  meaning 
weakly  afFirmativ.  did  they  not  perceive  their  evil  plight." — Milton.  That  is,  they  did 

pen-eive  it.  "'His  language,  though  inelegant,  is  notitnyranimaticat;'  that  is,  it  is  grammati- 
cal.'1— .Murray's  tiram.  p.  I'.'S.  The  term  not  only,  or  not  merely,  being  a  correspondent  to  but 
or  but  also,  may  be  followed  by  an  other  negative  without  this  effect,  because  the  two  negative 
words  have  no  immediate  bearing  on  each  other;  as,  "  Your  brother  is  not  only  not  present,  and 
not  assisting  in  prosecuting  your  injuries,  !>ut  is  now  actually  with  Verrcs." — Duncan's  Cicero, 
]>.  1H.  "  In  the  latter  v/e  have  not  merely  not/tint/,  to  denote  what  the  point  should  be;  but  no 
indication,  that  any  point  at  all  is  wanting." — ('Inn-chill's  dram.  p.  373.  So  the  word  notliiwj, 
when  taken  poftitirelj  for  nonentity,  or  that  which  does  not  exist,  may  be  followed  by  an  other 
e ;  as, 

"  First,  seat  him  somewhere,  and  derive  his  race, 

Or  else  conclude  that  nothing  has  no  place." — Dryden,  p.  95. 

1 J. — The  common  rule  of  our  grammars,  "  Two  negatives,  in  English,  destroy.each  other, 
or  are  equivalent  to  an  atlirm.it. ve."  i>  far  from  being  true  of  all  possible  examples.  A  sort  of 
informal  exception  to  it,  (which  is  mostly  confined  to  conversation,)  is  made  by  a  familiar  ti 
of  the  word  neither  from  the  beginning  of  the  clause  to  the  end  of  it ;  as,  "  But  here  is  no  notice  taken 
of  that  neither.1' — Joli>i*«n's  dram.  <'»//i.  ]i.  l','.l>\.  That  is,  "  But  neither  is  any  notice  here  taken  of 
that."  Indeed  a  negation  may  be  repeated,  by  the  same  word  or  others,  as  often  as  we  ; 
if  no  two  of  the  terms  in  particular  contradict  each  other ;  as,  "  He  will  never  consent,  not  he.  no, 
.:»•  I  n<  if /,,-,-."  "  lie  will  not  have  time,  no,  nor  capacity  neither." — Bolitujbroke,  on  Hist. 
p.  in.'i.  "  Many  terms  and  idioms  may  be  common,  which,  nevertheless,  have  not  the  general 
sanction,  no,  n'nr  even  the  .-auction  of  those  that  use  them." — Campbell's  Rhit.  p  100;  Murray's 
Uram.  8vo,  p.  358.  And  as  to  the  equivalence  spoken  of  in  the  common  rule,  such  an  expression 


632  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART    III. 

as,  "  He  did  not  say  nothing,"  is  in  fact  only  a  vulgar  solecism,  take  it  as  you  will ;  whether  for, 
*'  He  did  not  say  anything,"  or  for,  "  He  did  say  something."  The  latter  indeed  is  what  the 
contradiction  amounts  to  ;  but  double  negatives  must  be  shunned,  whenever  they  seem  like 
blunders.  The  following  examples  have,  for  this  reason,  been  thought  objectionable ;  though 
Allen  says,  "  Two  negatives  destroy  each  other,  or  elegantly  form  an  affirmation." — Gram.  p.  174. 

"Nor  knew  I  not 

To  be  both  will  and  deed  created  free."— Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  v,  1.  548. 
"Nor  dolh  the  moon  no  nourishment  exhale 
From  her  moist  continent  to  higher  orbs." — Ib.  B.  v,  1.  421. 

OBS.  15. — Under  this  head  of  double  negatives,  there  appears  in  our  grammars  a  dispute  of  some 
importance,  concerning  the  adoption  of  or  or  nor,  when  any  other  negative  than  neither  or  nor 
occurs  in  the  preceding  clause  or  phrase  :  as,  "  We  will  not  serve  thy  gods,  nor  worship  the 
golden  image." — Dan.  iii,  18.  "Ye  have  no  portion,  nor  right,  nor  memorial,  in  Jerusalem." — 
Neh.  ii,  20.  "There  is  no  painsworthy  difficulty  nor  dispute  about  them." — Home  Tooke,  Dii. 
Vol.  i,  p.  43.  "  So  as  not  to  cloud  that  principal  object,  nor  to  bury  it." — Blair's  RJiet.  p.  115 ;  Mur- 
ray's Gram.  p.  322.  "  He  did  not  mention  Leonora,  nor  her  father's  death." — Murray's  Key, 
p.  264.  "  Thou  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  nor  whither  it  goeth." — Ib.  p.  215.  The  form  of 
this  text,  in  John,  iii,  8th,  is — "  But  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth  ; 'r 
which  Murray  inserted  in  his  Exercises  as  bad  English.  I  do  not  see  that  the  copulative  and  is 
here  ungrammatical ;  but  if  we  prefer  a  disjunctive,  ought  it  not  to  be  or,  rather  than  nor}  It 
appears  to  be  the  opinion  of  some,  that  in  all  these  examples,  and  in  similar  instances  innu- 
merable, nor  only  is  proper.  Others  suppose,  that  or  only  is  justifiable;  and  others  again,  that 
either  or  or  nor  is  perfectly  correct.  Thus  grammar,  or  what  should  be  grammar,  differs  in  the 
hands  of  different  men !  "The  principle  to  be  settled  here,  must  determine  the  correctness  or 
incorrectness  of  a  vast  number  of  very  common  expressions.  I  imagine  that  none  of  these  opin- 
ions is  warrantable,  if  taken  in  all  that  extent  to  which  each  of  them  has  been,  or  may  be,  carried. 

OBS.  16. — It  was  observed  by  Priestley,  and  after  him  by  Lindley  Murray,  from  whom  others 
again  have  copied  the  remark:  "Sometimes  the  particles  or  and  nor,  may,  either  of  them,  be 
used  with  nearly  equal  propriety  ;  [as,]  '  The  king,  whose  character  was  not  sufficiently  vigorous, 
nor  decisive,  assented  to  the  measure.'  Hume.  Or  would  perhaps  have  been  better,  but  nor  seems 
to  repeat  the  negation  in  the  former  part  of  the  sentence,  and  therefore  gives  more  emphasis  to 
the  expression." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  138;  Murray's,  i,  212;  Ingersoll's,  268;  R.  C.  Smith's,  177. 
The  conjunction  or  might  doubtless  have  been  used  in  this  sentence,  but  not  loith  the  same  mean- 
ing that  is  now  conveyed ;  for,  if  that  connective  had  been  employed,  the  adjective  decisive  would! 
have  been  qualified  by  the  adverb  sufficiently,  and  would  have  seemed  only  an  alternative  for  the 
former  epithet,  vigorous.  As  the  text  now  stands,  it  not  only  implies  a  distinction  between 
vigour  of  character  and  decision  of  character,  but  denies  the  latter  to  the  king  absolutely,  the 
former,  with  qualification.  If  the  author  had  meant  to  suggest  such  a  distinction,  and  also  tc 
qualify  his  denial  of  both,  he  ought  to  have  said — "  not  sufficiently  vigorous,  nor  sufficiently  deci- 
sive." With  this  meaning,  however,  he  might  have  used  neither  for  not ;  or  with  the  former,  he 
might  have  used  or  for  nor,  had  he  transposed  the  terms — "  was  not  decisive,  or  sufficiently  vigor- 
ous." 

OBS.  17- — In  the  tenth  edition  of  John  Burn's  Practical  Grammar,  published  at  Glasgow  in 
1810,  are  the  following  suggestions:  "It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  the  conjunctions  or  and  nor 
used  indiscriminately  ;  but  if  there  be  any  real  distinction  in  the  proper  application  of  them,  it  is 
to  be  wished  that  it  were  settled.  It  is  attempted  thus  : — Let  the  conjunction  or  be  used  simply 
to  connect  the  members  of  a  sentence,  or  to  mark  distribution,  opposition,  or  choice,  without  any 
preceding  negative  particle ;  and  nor  to  mark  the  subsequent  part  of  a  negative  sentence,  with 
some  negative  particle  in  the  preceding  part  of  it.  Examples  of  ou  :  «  Recreation  of  one  kind  or 
other  is  absolutely  necessary  to  relieve  the  body  or  mind  from  too  constant  attention  to  labour  or 
study.' — 'After  this  life,  succeeds  a  state  of  rewards  or  punishments.' — '  Shall  I  come  to  you 
with  a  rod,  or  in  love  ?  '  Examples  of  NOR  :  '  Let  no  man  be  too  confident,  nor  too  diffident  of  his 
own  abilities.' — '  Never  calumniate  any  man,  nor  give  the  least  encouragement  to  calumniators/ 
— '  There  is  not  a  Christian  duty  to  which  providence  has  not  annexed  a  blessing,  nor  any  affliction 
for  which  a  remedy  is  not  provided.'  If  the  above  distinction  be  just,  the  following  passage  seems 
to  be  faulty : 

*  Seasons  return,  but  not  to  me  returns 
Day,  or  the  sweet  approach  of  ev'n  or  morn, 
Or  sight  of  vernal  bloom,  or  summer's  rose, 
Or  flocks,  or  herds,  or  human  face  divine.' 

Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  iii,  1.  40."— Burn's  Gr.  p.  108. 

OBS.  18. — T.  O.  Churchill,  whose  Grammar  first  appeared  in  London  in  1823,  treats  this  matter 
thus:  "As  or  answers  to  either,  nor,  a  compound  of  not  or  [ne  or]  by  contraction,  answers  to 
neither,  a  similar  compound  of  not  either  [ne  either].  The  latter  however  does  not  constitute  that 
double  use  of  the  negative,  in  which  one,  agreeably  to  the  principles  of  philosophical  grammar, 
destroys  the  other;  for  a  part  of  the  first  word,  neither,  cannot  be  understood  before  the  second, 
nor  :  and  for  the  same  reason  a  part  of  it  could  not  be  understood  before  or,  which  is  sometimes 
improperly  used  in  the  second  clause  ;  while  the  whole  of  it,  neither,  would  be  obviously  improper 
before  or.  On  the  other  hand,  when  not  is  used  in  the  first  clause,  nor  is  improper  in  the  second  ; 
since  it  would  involve  the  impropriety  of  understanding  not  before  a  compound  of  not  [or  ne]  with 
or.  '  I  shall  not  attempt  to  convince,  nor  to  persuade  you. — What  will  you  not  attempt  ? — To  con- 
vinoe,  nor  to  persuade  you.'  The  impropriety  of  nor  in  this  answer  is  clear:  but  the  answer 
should  ccertainly  repeat  the  words  not  heard,  or  not  understood." — Churchill's  New  Gram.  p.  330. 

OBS.  19.— "  It  is  probable,  that  the  use  of  nor  after  not  has  been  introduced,  in  consequence  of 
such  improprieties  as  the  following:  'The  injustice  of  inflicting  death  for  crimes,  when  not  of 
the  most  heinous  nature,  or  attended  with  extenuating  circumstances.'  Here  it  is  obviously  not 
the  intention  of  the  writer,  to  understand  the  negative  in  the  last  clause  :  and,  if  this  were  good 


is 


CHAP.    VIII.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XXI. ADVERBS. — OBSERVATIONS.  633 

English,  it  would  be  not  merely  allowable  to  employ  nor  after  no£,  to  show  the  subsequent  clause 
to  be  negative  as  well  as  the  preceding,  but  it  would  always  be  necessary.  In  fact  however,  the 
sentence  quoted  is  faulty,  in  not  repeating  the  adverb  when  in  the  last  clause  ;  '  or  when  attended  : ' 
which  would  preclude  the  negative  from  being  understood  in  it;  for,  if  an  adverb,  conjunction,  or 
auxiliary  verb,  preceding  a  negative,  be  understood  in  the  succeeding  clause,  the  negative  is 
understood  also  ;  if  it  be  repeated,  the  negative  must  be  repeated  likewise,  or  the  clause  becomes 
affirmative." — Ib.  p.  331. 

OBS.  20. — This  author,  proceeding  with  his  remarks,  suggests  forms  of  correction  for  several 
other  common  modes  of  expression,  which  he  conceives  to  be  erroneous.  For  the  information  of 
the  student,  I  shall  briefly  notice  a  little  further  the  chief  points  of  his  criticism,  though  he  teaches 
some  principles  which  Thave  not  thought  it  necessary  always  to  observe  in  writing.  "  'And 
seemed  not  to  understand  ceremony,  or  to  despise  it.'  Goldsmith.  Here  either  ought  to  be 
inserted  before  not.  '  It  is  not  the  business  of  virtue,  to  extirpate  the  affections  of  the  mind,  but 
to  regulate  them.'  Addison.  The  sentence  ought  to  have  been :  'It  is  the  business  of  virtue, 
not  to  extirpate  the  affections  of  the  mind,  but  to  regulate  them.'  '  I  do  not  think,  that  he  was 
averse  to  the  office  ;  nor  do  I  believe,  that  it  was  unsuited  to  him.'  How  much  better  to  say  :  '  I  do 
not  think,  that  he  was  averse  to  the  office,  or  that  it  was  unsuited  to  him  ! '  For  the  same  reason 
nor  cannot  follow  never,  the  negative  in  the  first  clause  affecting  all  the  rest." — Ib.  p.  332.  "JVor  is 
sometimes  used  improperly  after  no :  [as,]  '  I  humbly  however  trust  in  God,  that  I  have  hazarded  no 
conjecture,  nor  have  given  any  explanation  of  obscure  points,  inconsistent  with  the  general  sense 
of  Scripture,  which  must  be  our  guide  in  all  dubious  passages.'  Gilpin.  It  ought  to  be  :  '  and  have 
given  no  explanation  ; '  or,  'I  have  neither  hazarded  any  conjecture,  nor  given  any  explanation.' 
The  use  of  or  after  neither  is  as  common,  as  that  of  nor  after  no  or  not.*  'Neither  the  pencil  or 
poetry  are  adequate.'  Coxe.  Properly,  'Neither  the  pencil  nor  poetry  is  adequate.'  '  The  vow  of 
poverty  allowed  the  Jesuits  individually,  to  have  no  idea  of  wealth.'  Domford.  We  cannot  allow 
a  nonentity.  It  should  be  :  '  did  not  allow,  to  have  any  idea.'  " — Ib.  p.  333. 

OHS.  21. — Thus  we  see  that  Churchill  wholly  and  positively  condemns  nor  after  not,  no,  or  never  ; 
while  Burn  totally  disapproves  of  or,  under  the  same  circumstances.  Both  of  these  critics  are 
wrong,  because  each  carries  his  point  too  far  ;  and  yet  it  may  not  be  right,  to  suppose  both  parti- 
cles to  be  often  equally  good.  Undoubtedly,  a  negation  may  be  repeated  in  English  without 
impropriety,  and  that  in  several  different  ways;  as,  "There  is  no  living,  none,  if  Bertram  be 
aw;iy." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  3.  "  Great  men  are  not  always  wise,  neither  do  the  aged  [always] 
understand  judgement." — Job,  xxxii,  9.  "  Will  he  esteem  thy  riches  ?  no,  not  gold,  nor  all  the 
forces  of  strength." — Ib.  xxxiv,  19.  Some  sentences,  too,  require  or,  and  others  nor,  even  when  a 
negative  occurs  in  the  preceding  clause  ;  as,  "  There  was  none  of  you  that  convinced  Job,  or  that 
answered  his  words." — Ib.  xxxii,  12.  "How  much  less  to  him  that  accepteth  not  the  persons  of 
princes,  nor  regardeth  the  rich  more  than  the  poor." — Ib.  xxxiv,  19.  "  This  day  is  holy  unto  the 
Lord  your  God;  mourn  not,  nor  weep." — Neh.  viii,  9.  "Men's  behaviour  should  be  like  their 
apparel,  not  too  strait  or  point-de-vise,  but  free  for  exercise." — Ld.  Bacon.  Again,  the  mere  rep- 
etition of  a  simple  negative  is,  on  some  occasions,  more  agreeable  than  the  insertion  of  any 
connective ;  as,  "  There  is  no  darkness,  nor  shadow  of  death,  where  the  workers  of  iniquity  may 
hide  themselves." — Job,  xxxiv,  22.  Better :  "  There  is  no  darkness,  no  shadow  of  death,  wherein 
the  workers  of  iniquity  may  hide  themselves."  "No  place  nor  any  object  appears  to  him  void 
of  beauty." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  2-5.5.  Better:  "A'o  place,  no  object,  appears  to  him  void  of 
beauty."  That  passage  from  Milton  which  Burn  supposes  to  be  faulty,  ami  that  expression  of 
Addison's  which  Churchill  dislikes,  are,  in  my  opinion,  not  incorrect  as  they  stand;  though, 
doubtless,  the  latter  admits  of  the  variation  proposed.  In  the  former,  too,  or  may  twice  be 
changed  to  nor,  where  the  following  nouns  are  nominatives;  but  to  change  it  throughout,  would 
not  be  well,  because  the  other  nouns  are  objectives  governed  by  of: 
"  Seasons  return,  but  not  to  me  returns 
I)  \\,  ni>r  the  sweet  approach  of  ev'n  or  morn, 
•/•  sight  of  vernal  bloom,  or  summer's  rose, 
Or  flocks,  or  herds,  or  human  face  divine." 

OBS.  22. —  Ever  and  never  are  directly  opposite  to  each  other  in  sense,  and  yet  they  are  very 
frequently  confounded  and  misapplied,  and  that  by  highly  respectable  writers  ;  as,  "  Seldom,  or 
neri-r  can'w.  v  c..— Blair's  Lectures,  p.  30,5.  "And  seldom,  or  ever,  did  any  one  rise,"  &c. 

—  Ib.  p.  272.    "Seldom,  or  nn-er,  isf  there  more  than  one  accented  syllable  in  any  English  word." 

—  Ib.  p.  ::•_".»      '•  Which  that  of  the  present  seldom  or  ever  is  understood  to  be." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist. 
of  L'tiu/.  Vol.  ii,  p.  120.       H«-re  m  r<->-  is  riirht.  and  ever  is  wrong.      It  is  time,  that  is  here  spoken 
of;   and  the  affirmative  crrr,  inclining  aliruys,  or  at  any  time,  in  stead  of  being  a  fit  alternative  for 
seldom,  mul  .tcnce,  and  violates  the  rule  respecting  the  order  and  fiti; 
time:  unless  we  change  or  to  if,  and  say,  "seldom,  if  over."       But  in  sentences  like  the  follow- 
ing, tlu-  adverb  appears  to  express,  not  tune,  but  </< •<//•< r  ,•  and  for  the  latter  sense  ever  is  preferable 

the  degree  ought  to  be  possible,  rather  than  impossible  :  "/•><•>•  *o  little  of  the 
spirit  of  martyrdom  is  always  .t  more  favourable  indication  to  civilization,  than  eve)'  so  much  dex- 
terity of  party  nnnagement.  <T  rrer  s<>  turbulent  protestation  of  immaculate  patriotism." — 
Way  land's  Moral  111.  "  Now  let  man  reflect  but  never  no  little  on  himself." — Bnrla- 

.  <>/i  Law,  p.  29.      "  Which  will  not  hearken  to  the  voice  of  charmers,  charming  nercr  so 
wisely." — /'.v.  Iviii.  ~>.      The  phra-  which  ought,  I  think,  to  be  written  as  one  word.}  is 

now  a  very  common  expression  to  signify  inwhatsoti  -rso  little," — "  cwso  much," 

— "  evc.rso  wise," — "  evcrstt  wisely."  And  it  is  manifestly  this,  and  not  time,  that  is  intended  by 
the  fal«e  phraseology  above; — "  a  form  of  speech  handed  down  by  the  best  writers,  but  lately 
accused,  I  think  with  justice,  of  solecism.  »  •  *  It  can  only  be  defended  by  supplying  a  very  harsh 
aud  unprecedented  ellipsis." — Johnson's  Diet.  tc.  _N  • 

•  This  assertion  of  Churchill's  is  very  fur  from  th«  truth.  I  am  confident  that  the  latter  construction  occurs, 
eyen  among  reputable  authors,  ton  times  aa  often  as  the  former  can  In-  found  in  any  Knu'li^h  books.—  0.  KROWN. 

t  Should  not  the  Doctor  have  said,  "arc  then)  more,"  siuco  "  more  tfian  one  "  must  uecdd  b«  plural  ?     >• 
10th  011  Rule  17th. 


con- 
are  the 


634  THE  GRAMMAR   OF  ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

OBS.  23. — Dr.  Lowth  seconds  this  opinion  of  Johnson,  respecting  the  phrase,  "  never  so  wisely," 
and  says,  "  It  should  be,  '  ever  so  wisely  ; '  that  is,  '  how  wisely  soever.'  "  To  which  he  adds  an 
other  example  somewhat  different :  "  '  Besides,  a  slave  would  not  have  been  admitted  into  that 
society,  had  he  had  never  such  opportunities.'  Bentley." — LowttCs  Gram.  p.  109.  This  should  be, 
"  had  he  had  everso  excellent  opportunities."  But  Churchill,  mistaking  the  common  explanation 
of  the  meaning  of  everso  for  the  manner  of  parsing  or  resolving  it,  questions  the  propriety  of  the 
term,  and  thinks  it  easier  to  defend  the  old  phrase  never  so;  in  which  he  supposes  never  to  be  an 
adverb  of  time,  and  not  to  relate  to  so,  which  is  an  adverb  of  degree  :  saying,  "  '  Be  it  never  so 
true,'  is  resolvable  into,  '  Be  it  so  true,  as  never  any  thing  was.'*  '  I  have  had  never  so  rmich 
trouble  on  this  occasion,'  may  be  resolved  into,  '  I  have  never  had  so  much  trouble,  as  on  this 
occasion : '  while,  '  I  have  had  ever  so  much  trouble  on  this  occasion,  cannot  be  resolved,  without 
supplying  some  very  harsh  and  unprecedented  ellipsis  indeed." — New  Gram.  p.  337.  Why  not  ? 
I  see  no  occasion  at  all  for  supposing  any  ellipsis.  Ever  is  here  an  adverb  of  degree,  and  relates 
to  so ;  or,  if  we  take  everso  as  one  word,  this  too  is  an  adverb  of  degree,  and  relates  to  much  : 
because  the  meaning  is  —  "everso  much  trouble."  But  the  other  phraseology,  even  as  it  stands 
in  Churchill's  explanations,  is  a  solecism  still ;  nor  can  any  resolution  which  supposes  never  to 
be  here  an  adverb  of  time,  be  otherwise.  We  cannot  call  that  a  grammatical  resolution,  which 
makes  a  different  sense  from  that  which  the  writer  intended:  as,  "A  slave  would  not  have  been 
admitted  into  that  society,  had  he  never  had  such  opportunities."  This  would  be  Churchill's 
interpretation,  but  it  is  very  unlike  what  Bentley  says  above.  So,  '  I  have  never  had  so  much 
trouble,'  and,  'I  have  had  everso  much  trouble,'  are  very  different  assertions. 

OBS.  24. — On  the  word  never,  Dr.  Johnson  remarks  thus :  "  It  seems  in  some  phrases  to  have 
the  sense  of  an  adjective,  [meaning,]  not  any  •  but  in  reality  it  is  not  ever:  [as,]  '  He  answered 
him  to  never  a  word.'  MATTHEW,  xxvii,  14." — Quarto  Diet.  This  mode  of  expression  was  former- 
ly very  common,  and  a  contracted  form  of  it  is  still  frequently  heard  among  the  vulgar  :  as,  "  Be- 
cause he'd  ne'er  an  other  tub." — Hudibras,  p.  102.  That  is,  "  Because  he  had  no  other  tub." 
"  Letter  nor  line  know  I  never  a  one." — Scott's  Lay  of  L.  M.  p.  27.  This  is  what  the  common 
people  pronounce  "  ne'er  a  one,"  and  use  in  stead  of  neither  or  no  one.  In  like  manner  they 
tract  ever  a  one  into  "e'er  a  one;"  by  which  they  mean  either  or  any  one.  These  phrases  ar 
same  that  somebody — (I  believe  it  is  Smith,  in  his  Inductive  Grammar — )  has  ignorantly  written 
"ary  one"  and  "  nary  one,"  calling  them  vulgarims.f  Under  this  mode  of  spelling,  the  critic 
had  an  undoubted  right  to  think  the  terms  unauthorized  !  In  the  compounds  whoever  or  whoe'er, 
whichever  or  whiche'er,  whatever  or  whate'er,  the  word  ever  or  e'er,  which  formerly  stood  separate, 
appears  to  be  an  adjective,  rather  than  an  adverb;  though,  by  becoming  part  of  the  pronoun, 
it  has  now  technically  ceased  to  be  either. 

OBS.  25. — The  same  may  be  said  of  soever  or  soe'er,  which  is  considered  as  only  a  part  of  an 
other  word  even  when  it  is  written  separately  ;  as,  "  On  which  side  soever  I  cast  my  eyes."  In 
Mark,  iii,  28th,  wherewithsoever  is  commonly  printed  as  two  words  ;  but  Alger,  in  his  Pronoun- 
cing Bible,  more  properly  makes  it  one.  Dr.  Webster,  in  his  grammars,  calls  soever  a  WORD;  but, 
in  his  dictionaries,  he  does  not  define  it  as  such.  "  The  word  soever  may  be  interposed  between 
the  attribute  and  the  name  ;  '  how  clear  soever  this  idea  of  infinity,' — '  how  remote  soever  it  may 
seem.' — LOCKE." — Webster's  Philosophical  Gram.  p.  154;  Improved  Gram.  p.  107.  "  SOEVEII,  so 
and  ever,  found  in  compounds,  as  in  whosoever,  whatsoever,  wheresoever.  See  these  words."  — 
Webster's  Diet.  8vo. 

OBS.  26. — The  word  only,  (i.  e.  onely,  or  onelike,)  when  it  relates  to  a  noun  or  a  pronoun,  is  a 
definitive  adjective,  meaning  single,  alone,  exclusive  of  others  ;  as,  "  The  only  man," — "  The  only 
men," — "  Man  only" — "Men  only," — "  Jleonly," — "  They  only."  When  it  relates  to  a  verb  or  a 
participle,  it  is  an  adverb  of  manner,  and  means  simply,  singly,  merely,  barely  ;  as,  "  We  fancy 
that  we  hate  flattery,  when  we  only  hate  the  manner  of  it." — Art  of  'Ihinking,  p.  38.  "A  disin- 
terested love  of  one's  country  can  only  subsist  in  small  republics." — Ib.  p.  56.  When  it  stands 
at  the  head  of  a  clause,  it  is  commonly  a  connective  word,  equivalent  to  but,  or  except  that ;  in 
which  sense,  it  must  be  called  a  conjunction,  or  at  least  a  conjunctive  adverb,  which  is  nearly  the 
same  thing :  as,  "  Only  they  would  that  we  should  remember  the  poor." — Gal.  ii,  10.  "For 
these  signs  are  prepositions,  only  they  are  of  more  constant  use  than  the  rest." — Ward's  Gram. 
p.  129. 

OBS.  27- — Among  our  grammarians,  the  word  "only  "  often  passes  for  an  adverb,  when  it  is  in 
fact  an  adjective.  Such  a  mistake  in  this  single  word,  has  led  Churchill  to  say  of  the  adverb  in 

*  This  degree  of  truth  is  impossible,  and  therefore  not  justly  supposable.  We  have  also  a  late  American  gram- 
marian, who  gives  a  similar  interpretation  :  "  '  Though  never  so  justly  deserving  of  t'f .'  Comber.  Never  is  here 
an  emphatic  adverb  ;  as  if  it  were  said,  so  justly  as  was  never.  Though  well  authorized,  it  is  disapproved  by 
most  grammarians  of  the  present  day  ;  and  the  word  ever  is  used  instead  of  never.''' — Fetch's  Coinp.  Gram.  p. 
107.  The  text  here  cited  is  not  necessarily  bad  English  as  it  stands  ;  but,  if  the  commenter  has  not  mistaken  its 
meaning,  as  well  as  its  construction,  it  ought  certainly  to  be,  "  Though  everso  justly  deserving  of  it." — "  So  justly 
as  was  never,"  is  a  positive  degree  that  is  not  imaginable  ;  and  what  is  this  but  an  absurdity  1 

t  Since  this  remark  was  written,  I  have  read  an  other  grammar,  (that  of  the  "Rev.  Charles  Adams,")  in 
which  the  author  sets  down  among  "  the  more  frequent  improprieties  committed,  in  conversation,  '•Ary  one  '  for 
either,  and  '  nary  one  '  for  neither.'1'' — Adamses  System  of  Gram.  p.  116.  Eli  Gilbert  too  betrays  the  same  igno- 
rance. Among  his  " Improper  Pronunciations,"  he  puts  down  '•'Nary'1'1  and  "Ary,'1'1  and  for  "Corrections"  of 
them,  gives  "neither"  and  "  either." — Gilbert's  Catechetical  Gram.  p.  128.  But  these  latter  terms,  either  and 
neither,  are  applicable  only  to  one  of  two  things,  and  cannot  be  used  where  many  are  spoken  of;  as, 
"  Stealing  her  soul  with  many  vows  of  faith, 

And  ne'er  a  true  one." — Shakspeare. 

What  sense  would  there  be  in  expounding  this  to  mean,  "And  neither  a  true  one  ?  "  So  some  men  both  write 
and  interpret  their  mother  tongue  erroneously  through  ignorance.  But  these  authors  condemn  the  errors  which 
they  here  falsely  suppose  to  be  common.  What  is  yet  more  strange,  no  less  a  critic  than  Prof.  William  C. 
Fowler,  has  lately  exhibited,  without  disapprobation,  one  of  these  literary  blunders,  with  sundry  localisms,  (often 
descending  to  slang,)  which,  he  says,  are  mentioned  by  "Mr.  Bartlett,  in  his  valuable  dictionary  [Dictionary]  of 
Americanisms."  The  brief  example,  which  may  doubtless  be  understood  to  speak  for  both  phrases  and  both 
authors,  is  this :  "  AuY=eithe»."— Fowler's  E  Gram.  8vo,  N.  Y.  1860,  p.  92. 


e  t  an  aectve    eongng  to  te  pronoun. 

rm  not  but  is  equivalent  to  two  negatives  that  make  an  affirmative;  as,  "Xot 
place."  —  Walker's  Particles,  p.  89.  "Non  quo  non  latus  locus  sit."  —  Cic.  Ac. 
dy  been  stated,  that  cannot  but  is  equal  to  must;  as,  "  It  is  an  affection  which 


CHAP.    VIII.]  SYNTAX.  -  RULE   XXI.  -  ADVERBS.  -  OBSERVATIONS.  635 

general,  "It's  place  is  for  the  most  part  before  adjectives,  after  nouns,  and  after  verbs  ;  "  &c.  — 
ffew  Gram.  p.  147.  But,  properly,  the  placing  of  adverbs  has  nothing  to  do  with  "nouns,"  be- 
cause adverbs  do  not  relate  to  nouns.  In  thi»  author's  example,  "  His  arm  only  was  bare,"  there 
is  no  adverb  ;  and,  where  he  afterwards  speaks  of  the  latitude  allowable  in  the  placing  of  adverbs, 
alleging,  "  It  is  indifferent  whether  we  say,  '  He  bared  his  arm  only  ;  "  or,  '  He  bared  only  his 
arm,'  "  the  wordon/y  is  an  adjective,  in  one  instance,  if  not  in  both.  With  this  writer,  and  some 
others,  the  syntax  of  an  adverb  centres  mainly  in  the  suggestion,  that,  "It's  propriety  and  force 
depend  on  it's  position."  —  Ib.  p.  147.  Illustration:  "  Thus  people  commonly  say  ;  'I  only  spoke 
three  words  :  '  which  properly  implies,  that  /,  and  no  other  person,  spoke  three  words  :  when  the 
intention  of  the  speaker  requires  ;  '  I  spoke  only  three  words  ;  that  is,  no  more  than  three  words.'  " 
—  76.  p.  327.  One  might  just  as  well  say,  "  I  spoke  three  words  only."  But  the  interpretation 
above  is  hypercritical,  and  contrary  to  that  which  the  author  himself  gives  in  his  note  on  the 
other  example,  thus  :  "Any  other  situation  of  the  adverb  would  make  a  difference.  '  He  only 
bared  his  arm;  '  would  imply,  that  he  did  nothing  more  than  bare  his  arm.  'Only  he  bared  his 
arm  ;  '  must  refer  to  a  preceding  part  of  the  sentence,  stating  something,  to  which  the  act  of  baring 
his  arm  was  an  exception;  as,  '  He  did  it  in  the  same  manner,  only  he  bared  his  arm.'  If  only 
were  placed  immediately  before  arm;  as,  'He  bared  his  only  arm;  '  it  would  be  an  adjective,  and 
signify,  that  he  had  but  one  arm."  —  Ib.  p.  328.  Now  are  not,  "/  only  spoke  three  words,"  and, 
"//<  only  band  his  arm"  analogous  expressions  ?  Is  not  the  former  as  good  English  as  the  latter  ? 
Only,  in  both,  is  most  naturally  conceived  to  belong  to  the  verb;  but  either  may  be  read  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  make  it  an  adjective  belonging  to  the  pronoun. 

OBS.  28.  —  The  term 
but  that  it  is  a  wide 
iv,  12.     It  has  alrea 

cannot  but  be  productive  of  some  distress."  —  Blair's  lihet.  p.  461.  It  seems  questionable,  whether 
but  is  not  here  an  adverb,  rather  than  a  conjunction.  However  this  may  be,  by  the  customary 
(but  faulty)  omission  of  the  negative  before  but,  in  some  other  sentences,  that  conjunction  has 
acquired  the  adverbial  sense  of  only  ;  and  it  may,  when  used  with  that  signification,  be  called  an 
uilvcrb.  Thus,  the  text,  "  He  hath  not  grieved  me  but  in  part,  (2  Cor.  ii,  5,)  might  drop  the  neg- 
ative not,  and  still  convey  the  same  meaning  :  "  He  hath  grieved  me  but  in  part  ;  "  i.  e.  "only  in 
part."  In  the  following  examples,  too,  but  appears  to  be  an  adverb,  like  only  :  "Things  but 
slightly  connected  should  not  be  crowded  into  one  sentence."  —  Murray's  Octavo  Gram.,  Index. 
"  The  'assertion,  however,  serves  but  to  show  their  ignorance."  —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  96. 

"  Reason  itself  but  gives  it  edge  and  power."  —  Pope. 

"  Born  but  to  die,  and  reasoning  but  to  err."  —  Id. 

OBS.  29.—  In  some  constructions  of  the  word  but,  there  is  a  remarkable  ambiguity  ;  as,  "  There 
cannot  be  but  one  capital  musical  pause  in  a  line."  —  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  92.  "A  line  admits  but 
•;iital  pause."  —  Ibid.  Thus  does  a  great  critic,  in  the  same  paragraph,  palpably  contradict 
himself,  and  not  perceive  it.  Both  expressions  are  equivocal.  He  ought  rather  to  have  said  : 
"A  line  admits  no  more  than  one  capital  pause."  —  "  There  cannot  be  more  than  one  capital  musical 
pause  in  a  line."  Some  would  say  —  "  admits  only  one  "  —  "  there  can  be  only  one."  But  here, 
too,  is  some  ambiguity  ;  because  only  may  relate  either  to  one,  or  to  the  preceding  verb.  The 
use  of  only  for  but  or  except  that,  is  not  noticed  by  our  lexicographers  ;  nor  is  it,  in  my  opinion, 
a  practice  much  to  be  commended,  though  often  adopted  by  men  that  pretend  to  write  grammat- 
ically :  as,  "  Interrogative  pronouns  are  the  same  as  relative^  ONLY  their  antecedents  cannot  be 
determined  till  the  answer  is  given  to  the  question."  —  Comly's  Gram.  p.  16.  "A  diphthong  is 
always  long;  as,  Aurutn,  Cifxur,  Jtc.  ONLY  prce  in  composition  before  a  vowel  is  commonly 
short."—  Adam's  Gram.  p.  254  ;  Gould's,  246. 

Ons.  3  ').  —  It  is  said  by  some  grammarians,  that,  "  The  adverb  there  is  often  used  as  an  expletive, 
or  as  a  word  that  adds  nothing  to  the  sense;  in  which  case,  it  precedes  the  verb  and  the  nomina- 
tive ;  -  a  person  at  the  door.'  "  —  Murray's  Gram.  p.  197  ;  Int/ersoll's,  205  ;  Greenleaf's, 

33  ;  Xixon's  Parser,  p.  53.  It  is  true,  that  in  our  language  the  word  there  is  thus  used  idiomat- 
ically, aj»  an  introductory  term,  when  we  tell  what  is  taking,  or  has  taken,  place;  but  still  it  is  a 
regular  adverb  of  place,  and  relates  to  the  verb  agreeably  to  the  common  rule  for  adverbs.  In 
some  instances  i't  is  even  repeated  in  the  same  sentence,  because,  in  its  introductory  sense,  it  is 
always  unemphatical  ;  us,  "Because  there  was  pasture  there  for  their  flocks."  —  1  t'hron.  iv,  41. 
"  If  there  be  indistinctness  or  disorder  there,  we  can  have  no  success."  —  Blair's  Rhct.  p.  271. 
•<•,  there  are  schools  adapted  to  every  age."  —  Woodbridye,  Lit.  Conv.  p.  78.  The  import  of 
the  word  is  more  definite,  when  emphasis  is  laid  upon  it;  but  this  is  no  good  reason  for  saying, 
with  Dr.  Webster,  that  it  is  "  without  signification,"  when  it  is  without  emphasis  ;  or,  witli  Dr. 
1'riestley,  that  it  "seems  to  have  no  meaning  whatever,  except  it  be  thought  to  give  a  small 
degree  of  emphasis."  —  Rudiments  of  E.  Gram.  p.  135. 


31. — The  noun  place  itself  is  iust  as  loose  and  variable  in  its  meaning  as  the  adverb  thi-re. 
\ ample:  "There  is  never  any  difference;  "  i.  e.  "  No  difference  ever  takes  p/m-c."  Shall  we 
say  that  "place,"  in  this  sense,  is'not  a  noun  of  place  ?  To  take  j>lace,  is,  to  occur  someicfr 
(iinjirhere;  and  the  unemphatic:  word  there  is  but  as  indefinite  in  respect  to  place,  as  those  other 
adverbs  of  place,  or  as  the  noun  itself.  S.  B.  Goodenow  accounts  it  a  </rmt  error,  to  say  that  t/it  re 
is  an  adverb  of  place,  when  it  is  thus  indefinite  ;  and  he  chooses  to  call  it  an  "  indefinite  jtronoun  :  " 
as,  "  '  What  is  there  here  ? ' — '  There  is  no  peace.' — '  What  need  was  tfn-re  of  it  :  ''"  See  his  Gram. 
p.  3  and  p.  11.  In  treating  of  the  various  classes  of  adverbs,  I  have  admitted  and  shown,  that 
here,  there,  and  irhcrt-.  have  sometimes  the  nature  of  pronouns,  especially  in  such  compound!  as 
hereof,  thereof,  irhcnof;  but,  in  this  instance,  I  see  not  what  advantage  there  is  in  calling  tin  re 
a  ••  pronoun  :  "  we  have  just  as  much  reason  to  call  ///•/•/•  and  ichere  pronouns  — and  that,  perhaps, 
on  all  occasions.  Barnard  says,  "In  the  sentence,  'There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun,'  \e.,  the  ad- 
verb there  qualifies  the  verb  is,  and  seems  to  have  the  force  of  an  affirmation,  like  truly." — Ana- 
lytic Gram.  p.  234.  But  an  adverb  of  the  latter  kind  may  be  used  with  the  word  there,  and 


636  THE    GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

perceive  no  particular  similarity  between  them  :  as,  "Verily  there  is  a  reward  for  the  righteous." 
— Psal.  Iviii,  11.     "Truly  there  is  a  glory  of  the  sun." 

OBS.  32. — There  is  a  vulgar  error  of  substituting  the  adverb  most  for  almost,  as  in  the  phrases, 
"most  all," — "most  anywhere," — "most  everyday,"  which  we  sometimes  hear  for  "almost  all," 
— "almost  anywhere," — "almost  every  day."  The  fault  is  gross,  and  chiefly  colloquial,  but  it  is 
sometimes  met  with  in  books;  as,  "  But  thinking  he  had  replied  most  too  rashly,  he  said,  'I 
won't  answer  your  question.'  " — Wagstaff's  History  of  Friends,  Vol.  1,  p.  207. 

NOTES  TO  KULB  XXI. 

NOTE  I. — Adverbs  must  be  placed  in  that  position  which  will  render  the  sentence 
the  most  perspicuous  and  agreeable.  Example  of  error:  "We  are  in  no  hazard  of 
mistaking  the  sense  of  the  author,  though  every  word  which  he  uses  be  not  precise 
and  exact." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  95;  Jamieson's,  66.  Murray  says, — "  though 
every  word  which  he  uses  is  not  precise  and  exact." — Octavo  Gram.  p.  302. 
Better: — "  though  not  every  word  which  he  uses,  is  precise  and  exact" 

NOTE  II. — Adverbs  should  not  be  needlessly  used  for  adjectives;  nor  should  they 
be  employed  when  quality  is  to  be  expressed,  and  not  manner:  as,  "  That  the  now 
copies  of  the  original  text  are  entire." — S.  Fisher.  Say,  "the  present  copies,"  or, 
"  the  existing  copies."  "  The  arrows  of  calumny  fall  harmlessly  at  the  feet  of  virtue." 
— Murray's  Key,  p.  167  ;  Merchant's  Gram.  186 ;  Ingersoll's,  10  ;  Kirkham's,  24. 
Say,  "  fall  harmless  ;  "  as  in  this  example  :  "  The  impending  black  cloud,  which  is 
regarded  with  so  much  dread,  may  pass  by  harmless." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  262. 

NOTE  III. — With  a  verb  of  motion,  most  grammarians  prefer  hither,  thither,  and 
whither,  to  here,  there,  and  where,  which  are  in  common  use,  and  perhaps  allowable, 
though  not  so  good  ;  as,  "  Come  hither,  Charles," — or,  "  Come  here" 

NOTE  IV. — "  To  the  adverbs  hence,  thence,  and  whence,  the  preposition  from  is 
frequently  (though  not  with  strict  propriety)  prefixed ;  as,  from  hence,  from 
whence." — See  W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  174.  Some  critics,  however,  think  this  con- 
struction allowable,  notwithstanding  the  former  word  is  implied  in  the  latter.  See 
Priestley's  Gram.  p.  134 ;  and  L.  Murray's,  p.  198.  It  is  seldom  elegant  to  use 
any  word  neeedlessly. 

NOTE  V. — The  adverb  how  should  not  be  used  before  the  conjunction  that,  nor  :n 
stead  of  it ;  as,  tl  He  said  how  he  would  go." — "Ye  see  how  that  not  many  wise 
men  are  called."  Expunge  how.  This  is  a  vulgar  error.  Somewhat  similar  is  the 
use  of  how  for  lest  or  that  not;  as,  "Be  cautious  how  you  offend  him,  i.  e.  that 
you  do  not  offend  him." — W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  175. 

NOTE  VI. — The  adverb  when,  luhile,  or  where,  is  not  fit  to  follow  the  verb  is  in 
a  definition,  or  to  introduce  a  clause  taken  substantively  ;  because  it  expresses  identity, 
not  of  being,  but  of  time  or  place:  as,  ''Concord,  is  when  one  word  agrees  with 
another  in  some  accidents." — Adam's  Gram,  p.  151 ;  Gould's,  155.  Say,  "  Con- 
cord is  the  agreement  of  one  word  with  an  other  in  some  accident  or  accidents." 

NOTE  VII. — The  adverb  no  should  not  be  used  with  reference  to  a  verb  or  a 
participle.  Such  expressions  as,  "Tell  me  whether  you  will  go  or  wo, "are  there- 
fore improper:  no  should  here  be  not ;  because  the  verb  go  is  understood  after  it. 
The  meaning  is,  "  Tell  me  whether  you  will  go  or  will  not  go  ;  "  but  nobody  would 
think  of  saying,  u  Whether  you  will  go  or  no  go." 

NOTE  VIII. — A  negation,  in  English,  admits  but  one  negative  word  ;  because  two 
negatives  in  the  same  clause,  usually  contradict  each  other,  and  make  the  meaning 
affirmative.  The  following  example  is  therefore  ungrammatical :  "  For  my  part,  I 
love  him  not,  nor  hate  him  not." — Beauties  of  Shakspeare,  p.  16.  Expunge  the 
last  not,  or  else  change  nor  to  and. 

NOTE  IX. — The  words  ever  and  never  should  be  carefully  distinguished  according 
to  their  sense,  and  not  confounded  with  each  other  in  their  application.  Example  : 
"  The  Lord  reigneth,  be  the  earth  never  so  unquiet." — Experience  of  St.  Paul, 
p.  195.  Here,  I  suppose,  the  sense  to  require  everso,  an  adverb  of  degree  :  "Be 
the  earth  everso  unquiet."  That  is, — "  unquiet  in  whatever  degree." 

NOTE  X. — Adverbs  that  end  in  ly,  are  in  general  preferable  to  those  forms  which, 


CHAP.  VIII.]         SYNTAX. RULE  XXI. ADVERBS. ERRORS.  637 

for  want  of  this  distinction,  may  seem  like  adjectives  misapplied.  Example  :  "  There 
would  be  scarce  any  such  thing  in  nature  as  a  folio." — Addison.  Better : — "scarcely." 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  SYNTAX  UXDER  RULE  XXI. 

EXAMPLES  UXDER  NOTE  I. — THE  PLACING  OF  ADVERBS. 
"All  that  is  favoured  by  good  use,  is  not  proper  to  be  retained." — Murray's  Gram,  ii,  p.  296. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  adverb  not  is  not  put  in  the  most  suitable  place.  But,  according  to  Note 
1st  under  Uule  21st,  "Adverbs  must  be  placed  in  that  position  which  will  render  the  sentence  the  roost  perspic- 
uous and  agreeable."  The  sentence  will  be  improved  by  placing  not  before  ail;  thus,  "Not  all  that  is  favoured  by 
good  use,  is  proper  to  be  retained. "] 

"  Every  thing  favoured  by  good  use,  [is]  not  on  that  account  worthy  to  be  retained." — 
Ib.  i,  369  ;  Campbetfs  Rhet.  p.  179.  •  "  Most  men  dream,  but  all  do  not." — Seattle's  Moral 
Science,  i,  72.  «•  By  hasty  composition,  we  shall  acquire  certainly  a  very  bad  style."— Blair's 
Rhet.  p.  191.  "  The  comparisons  are  short,  touching  on  one  point  only  of  resemblance." — 
Ib.  p.  416.  "  Having  had  once  some  considerable  object  set  before  us." — Ib.  p.  116.  "  The 
positive  seems  improperly  to  be  called  a  degree." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  69 ;  Gould's,  68.  "  In 
some  phrases  the  genitive  is  only  used." — Adam,  159  ;  Gould,  161.  "This  blunder  is  said 
actually  to  have  occurred." — Smith's  Inductive  Gram.  p.  5.  "But  every  man  is  not  called 
James,  nor  every  woman  Mary." — Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  15.  "  Crotchets  are  employed  for 
the  same  purpose  nearly  as  the  parenthesis." — ChurchilFs  Gram.  p.  167.  "  There  is  still  a 
greater  impropriety  in  a  double  comparative." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  78.  "  We  have  often 
occasion«to  speak  of  time." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  39.  "  The  following  sentence  cannot  be 
possibly  understood." — Ib.  p.  104.  "The  words  must  be  generally  separated  from  the  con- 
text."— Comly's  Gram.  p.  155.  "  Words  ending  in  ator  have  the  accent  generally  on  the 
penultimate." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  239.  "  The  learned  languages,  with  respect  to  voices, 
moods,  and  tenses,  are,  in  general,  differently  constructed  from  the  English  tongue." — Ib. 
i,  101.  "Adverbs  seem  originally  to  have  been  contrived  to  express  compendiously  in  one 
word,  what  must  otherwise  have  required  two  or  more." — Ib.  i,  114.  "But  it  is  only  so, 
when  the  expression  can  be  converted  into  the  regular  form  of  the  possessive  case." — Ib.  i, 
171.  "  Enter,  (says  he)  boldly,  for  here  too  there  are  gods." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  8.  "  For 
none  work  for  eve'r  so  little  a  pittance  that  some  cannot  be  found  to  work  for  less." — 
Sedgwick's  Economy,  p.  190.  "  For  sinners  also  lend  to  sinners,  to  receive  as  much  again." 
— Luke,  vi,  34.  "They  must  be  viewed  exactly  in  the  same  light." — Murray's  Gram,  ii,  24. 
"  If  he  does  but  speak  to  display  his  abilities,  he  is  unworthy  of  attention." — Ib.  Key,  ii,  207. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — ADVERBS  FOR  ADJECTIVES. 

"  Motion  upwards  is  commonly  more  agreeable  than  motion  downwards." — Blair's  Rhet. 
p.  48.  "There  are  but  two  ways  possibly  of  justification  before  God." — Dr.  Cox,  on  Qua- 
kerism, p.  413.  "This  construction  sounds  rather  harshly." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  194  ;  Inger- 
soll's,  199.  "A  clear  conception,  in  the  mind  of  the  learner,  of  regularly  and  well-formed 
letters." — Com.  School  Journal,  i,  66.  "  He  was  a  great  hearer  of  *  *  *  Attains,  Sotion, 
I*  ipirius,  Fabianus,  of  whom  he  makes  often  mention." — Seneca's  Morals,  p.  xi.  "  It  is  only 
the  Often  doing  of  a  thing  that  makes  it  a  Custom." — Divine  Right  of  Tythcs,  p.  72.  "  Be- 
cause W.  K.  takes  oft  occasion  to  insinuate  his  jealousies  of  persons  and  things." — Barclay's 
Works,  i,  570.  "  Yet  often  touching  will  wear  gold." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  18.  "  Unedu- 
cated persons  frequently  use  an  adjective,  when  they  ought  to  use  an  adverb:  as,  'The 
country  looks  beautiful-'  instead  of  beautifully."— Buckc's  Gram.  p.  84.  "The  adjective  is 
put  absolutely,  or  without  its  substantive." — Ash's  Gram.  p.  57.  "A  noun  or  pronoun  in 
md  person,  may  be  put  absolutely  in  the  nominative  case." — Harrison's  Gram.  p.  45. 
"A  noun  or  pronoun,  when  put  absolutely  with  a  participle,"  &c. — Ih.  p.  44  ;  Jaudon's  Gram. 
108.  "A  verb  in  the  infinitive  mood  absolute,  stands  independently  of  the  remaining  part 
of  the  sentence." —  Wilhur  an  I  Lirimjstons  dram.  p.  24.  "At  my  return  lately  into  England, 
I  met  a  book  intituled,  'The  Iron  Age.'  " — Cowlcy's  Preface,  p.  v.  "But  he  can  discover 
no  better  foundation  for  any  of  them,  than  the  practice  merely  of  Homer  and  Virgil." — 
Kames,  icism,  Introd.  j).  xxv. 

UM, IK  XOTB  III.— II HUE  fOB  HITHER,  &c. 

"It  is  reported  that  the  govcrnour  will  come  here  to-morrow." — Kirkham's  Cram.  p.  196. 
"  tt  has  been  reported  that  the  governour  will  come  here  to-morrow." — Ib.  Ki-y,  p.  227.  "To 
catch  a  prospect  of  that  lovely  land  where  his  steps  are  tending." — Maturins  Scr/nons,  p. 
21  i.  "  Plautus  makes  one  of  his  characters  ask  another  where  he  is  ^oing  with  that  Vulcan 
shut  up  in  a  horn ;  that  is,  with  a  lanthorn  in  his  hand." — Adams's  Rhet.  ii,  331.  "  When 
we  left  Cambridge,  we  intended  to  return  there  in  a  few  days." — Anonym.  "  Duncan  comes 
here  to-ni-^ht." — Shak.,  .Mac'^'h.  "They  Mlko«l  r.f  returning  here  last  week."—  J.  M.  1yut- 
nam's  Gram.  p.  116. 


638  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV.-FROM  HENCE,  &c. 

"  From  hence  he  concludes  that  no  inference  can  be  drawn  from  the  meaning  of  the 
word,  that  a  constitution  has  a  higher  authority  than  a  law  or  statute." — Webster's  Essays, 
p.  67.  "  From  whence  we  may  likewise  date  the  period  of  this  event." — Murray's  Key,  ii, 
p.  202.  "  From  hence  it  becomes  evident,  that  LANGUAGE,  taken  in  the  most  comprehensive 
view,  implies  certain  Sounds,  having  certain  Meanings." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  315.  "  They 
returned  to  the  city  from  whence  they  came  out.'- — Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  135.  "  Re- 
specting ellipses,  some  grammarians  differ  strangely  in  their  ideas ;  and  from  thence  has 
arisen  a  very  whimsical  diversity  in  their  systems  of  grammar." — Author.  "  What  am  I  und 
from  whence  ?  i.  e.  what  am  I,  and  from  whence  am  I  ?  " — Jaudon's  Gram.  p.  171. 

UNDER  NOTE  V.— THE  ADVERB  HOW. 

"  It  is  strange  how  a  writer,  so  accurate  as  Dean  Swift,  should  have  stumbled  on  so  im- 
proper an  application  of  this  particle." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  112.  "  Ye  know  how  that  a  good 
while  ago  God  made  choice  among  us,"  &c. — Acts,  xv,  7.  "  Let  us  take  care  how  we  sin  ; 
i.  e.  that  we  do  not  sin." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  135.  "  We  see  by  these  instances,  how  prepo- 
sitions may  be  necessary  to  connect  those  words,  which  in  their  signification  are  not  naturally 
connected." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  118.  "  Know  ye  not  your  own  selves,  how  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  in  you,  except  ye  be  reprobates  ? " — 2  Cor.  xiii,  5.  "  That  thou  mayest  know  how 
that  the  earth  is  the  Lord's." — Exod.  ix,  29. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI.— WHEN,  WHILE,  OR  WHERE. 

"  Ellipsis  is  when  one  or  more  words  are  wanting  to  complete  the  sense." — Adam's  Gram. 
p.  235  ;  Gould's,  p.  229  ;  B.  F.  Fisk's  Greek  Gram.  184.  "  Pleonasm  is  when  a  word  more  is 
added  than  is  absolutely  necessary  to  express  the  sense." — Same  works.  "  Hyst6ron  proteron 


foreign  or  strange  word  is  made  use  of." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  242  ;  Gould's,  234.  "A  Solecism 
is  when  the  rules  of  Syntax  are  transgressed." — lidem,  ib.  "An  Idiotism  is  when  the  man- 
ner of  expression  peculiar  to  one  language  is  used  in  another." — lid.  ib.  "  Tautology  is  when 
we  either  uselessly  repeat  the  same  words,  or  repeat  the  same  sense  in  different  words."- 
Adam,  p.  243  ;  Gould,  235.  "  Bombast  is  when  high  sounding  words  are  used  without  mean- 
ing, or  upon  a  trifling  occasion." — lid.  ib.  "Amphibology  is  when,  by  the  ambiguity  of  the 
construction,  the  meaning  may  be  taken  in  two  different  senses." — lid.  ib.  "  Irony  is  w  tien 
one,means  the  contrary  of  what  is  said." — Adam,  p.  247  ;  Gould,  237.  "  The  Periphrasis ,  or 
Circumlocution,  is  when  several  words  are  employed  to  express  what  might  be  expressed 
in  fewer." — lid.  ib.  "Hyperbole  is  when  a  thing  is  magnified  above  the  truth." — Adan>,  p. 
249 ;  Gould,  240.  "Personification  is  when  we  ascribe  life,  sentiments,  or  actions,  to  inani- 
mate beings,  or  to  abstract  qualities." — lid.  ib.  "Apostrophe,  or  Address,  is  when  the 
speaker  breaks  off  from  the  series  of  his  discourse,  and  addresses  himself  to  some  person 
present  or  absent,  living  or  dead,  or  to  inanimate  nature,  as  if  endowed  with  sense  and  rea- 
son."— lid.  ib.  "A  Simile  or  Comparison  is  when  the  resemblance  between  two  objects, 
whether  real  or  imaginary,  is  expressed  in  form." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  223.  "  Simile,  or 
Comparison,  is  when  one  thing  is  illustrated  or  heightened  by  comparing  it  to  another."- 
Adam's  Gram.  p.  250  ;  Gould's,  240.  "Antithesis,  or  Opposition,  is  when  things  contrary  or 
different  are  contrasted,  to  make  them  appear  in  the  more  striking  light." — lid.  ib.  "De- 
scription, or  Imagery,  [is]  when  any  thing  is  painted  in  a  lively  manner,  as  if  done  before  our 
eyes." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  250.  "  Emphasis  is  when  a  particular  stress  is  laid  on  some  word 
in  a  sentence." — Ib.  "  Epanorthosis,  or  Correction,  is  when  the  speaker  either  recalls  or 
corrects  what  he  had  last  said." — Ib.  "  Paralepsis,  or  Omission,  is  when  one  pretends  to 
omit  or  pass  by,  what  he  at  the  same  time  declares." — Ib.  "  Incrementum,  or  Climax  in 
sense,  is  when  one  member  rises  above  another  to  the  highest." — 76.  p.  251.  "A  Metony- 
my is  where  the  cause  is  put  for  the  effect,  or  the  effect  for  the  cause  ;  the  container  for 
the  thing  contained  ;  or  the  sign  for  the  thing  signified." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  223.  "Agree- 
ment is  when  one  word  is  like  another  in  number,  case,  gender,  or  person." — Frost's  Gram. 
p.  43  ;  Greenkafs,  32.  "  Government  is  when  one  word  causes  another  to  be  in  some  par- 
ticular number,  person,  or  case." — Webster's  Imp.  Gram.  p.  89  ;  Greenleaf's,  32  ;  Frost's,  43. 
"  Fusion  is  while  some  solid  substance  is  converted  into  a  fluid  by  heat." — B.  "A  Proper 
Diphthong  is  where  both  the  Vowels  are  sounded  together  ;  as,  oi  in  Voice,  ou  in  House."- 
Fisher's  Gram,  p,  10.  "An  Improper  Diphthong  is  where  the  Sound  of  but  one  of  the  two 
Vowels  is  heard;  as  e  in  People" — Ib.  p.  11. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII.— THE  ADVERB  NO. 

"An  adverb  is  joined  to  a  verb  to  show  how,  or  whether  or  no,  or  when,  or  where  one 
is,  does,  or  suffers." — Buchanan's  Syntax,  p.  62.  "  We  must  be  immortal,  whether  we  will  or 
no." — Maturins  Sermons,  p.  33.  "He  cares  not  whether  the  world  was  made  for  Csesar  or 
no." — American  Quarterly  Review.  "  I  do  not  know  whether  they  are  out  or  no." — Byron's 


CHAP.  IX.]  SYNTAX. — RULE  XXI. — EBRORS. — CONJUNCTIONS.  639 

Letters.      "  Whether  it  can  be  proved  or  no,  is  not  the  thing." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  84. 
"  Whether  or  no  he  makes  use  of  the  means  commanded  by  God." — Ib.  p.  164.     "  Whether 
it  pleases  the  world  or  no,  the  care  is  taken." — L' Estrange' s  Seneca,  p.  5.     "  How  comes  this 
to  be  never  heard  of,  nor  in  the  least  questioned,  whether  the  Law  was  undoubtedly  of 
Moses's  writing  or  no  r  " — Bp.  Tomline's  Evidences,  p.  44.     *'  Whether  he  be  a  sinner  or  no, 
I  know  not." — John,  ix,  25.     "  Can  I  make  men  live,  whether  they  will  or  no?  " — Shak. 
"  Can  hearts,  not  free,  be  try'd  whether  they  serve 
Willing  or  no,  who  will  but  what  they  must  ? " — Milton,  P.  L. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII. — OF  DOUBLE  NEGATIVES. 

"  We  need  not,  nor  do  not,  confine  the  purposes  of  God." — Bentley.  "  I  cannot  by  no 
means  allow  him  that." — Idem.  "  We  must  try  whether  or  no  we  cannot  increase  the  At- 
tention by  the  Help  of  the  Senses." — Brightland's  Gram.  p.  263.  "  There  is  nothing  more  ad- 
mirable nor  more  useful." — Home  Tooke,  Vol.  i,  p.  20.  "And  what  in  no  time  to  come  he  can 
never  be  said  to  have  done,  he  can  never  be  supposed  to  do." — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  345. 
44  No  skill  could  obviate,  nor  no  remedy  dispel,  the  terrible  infection." — Goldsmith's  Greece, 
i,  114.  "  Prudery  cannot  be  an  indication  neither  of  sense  nor  of  taste." — Spurzheim,on 
Education,-^.  21.  "But  thr.t  scripture,  nor  no  other,  speaks  not  of  imperfect  faith." — Bar- 
clay s  Works,  i,  172.  "But  this  scripture,  nor  none  other,  proves  not  that  faith  was  or  is 
always  accompanied  with  doubting." — Ibid.  "  The  light  of  Christ  is  not  nor  cannot  be 
darkness." — Ib.  p.  252.  "  Doth  not  the  Scripture,  which  cannot  lie,  give  none  of  the  saints 
this  testimony  r " — Ib.  p.  379.  "  Which  do  not  continue,  nor  are  not  binding." — Id. Vol.  iii, 
p.  79.  "  It  not  being  perceived  directly  no  more  than  the  air." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  331. 
"  Let's  be  no  Stoics,  nor  no  stocks,  I  pray." — Shak.,  Shrew.  "  Where  there  is  no  marked  nor 
peculiar  character  in  the  style." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  175.  "  There  can  be  no  rules  laid  down, 
nor  no  manner  recommended." — Sheridan's  Lect.  p.  163. 

"Bates.  «  He  hath  not  told  his  thought  to  the  king  ? ' 
K.  Henry.  '  No  ;  nor  it  is  not  meet  he  should.'  " — Shak. 

UNDER  NOTE  IX.— EVER  AND  NEVER. 

"  The  prayer  of  Christ  is  more  than  sufficient  both  to  strengthen  us,  be  we  never  so  weak ; 
and  to  overthrow  all  adversary  power,  be  it  never  so  strong." — Hooker.  "  He  is  like  to 
have  no  share  in  it,  or  to  be  ever  the  better  for  it." — Law  and  Grace,  p.  23.  "  In  some  parts 
of  Chili,  it  seldom  or  ever  rains." — Willetts's  Geog.  "If  Pompey  shall  but  never  so  little 
seem  to  like  it." —  Walker's  Particles,  p.  246.  "  Latin  :  '  Si  Pompeius  paulum  modb<!bsten- 
derit  sibi  placere.'  Cic.  i,  5." — Ib.  "  Though  never  such  a  power  of  dogs  and  hunters  pursue 
him." —  Walker,  ib.  "  Latin  :  'Quamlibet  magna  canum  et  venantium  urgente  vi.'  Plin.  1.  18, 
c.  16." — Ib.  "Though  you  be  never  so  excellent." — Walker,  ib.  "Latin:  'Quantumvia 
licet  excellas.'  Cic.  de  A  mic."—Ib.  "  If  you  do  amiss  never  so  little." —  Walker,  ib.  "  Latin  : 
1  Si  tantiilum  peccassis.'  Plant.  Rud.  4,  4." — Ib.  "If  we  cast  our  eyes  never  so  little  down." 
Walker,  ib.  "  Latin  :  '  Si  tantidum  oculos  dejecerimus.'  Cic.  7.  Ver." — Ib.  "A  wise  man 
Kcorneth  nothing,  be  it  never  so  small  or  homely." — Book  of  Thoughts,  p.  37.  "  Because 
they  have  seldom  or  ever  an  opportunity  of  learning  them  at  all." — Clarkson's  Prize-Essay, 
p.  170.  "  We  seldom  or  ever  see  those  forsaken  who  trust  in  God." — Atterbury. 
"  Where,  playing  with  him  at  bo-peep, 
He  solved  all  problems,  ne'er  so  deep." — Hudibras. 

UNDER  NOTB  X. — OF  THE  FORM  OF  ADVERBS. 

"  One  can  scarce  think  that  Pope  was  capable  of  epic  or  tragic  poetry  ;  but  within  a  cer- 
tain limited  region,  he  has  been  outdone  by  no  poet."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  403.  "  I,  who  now 
read,  have  near  finished  this  chapter." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  82.  "And  yet,  to  refine  our 
taste  with  respect  to  beauties  of  art  or  of  nature,  is  scarcefendeavoured  in  any  seminary  of 
learning." —  l\<imt •<,  Ei.  of  ( 'rit.  Vol.  i,  p.  viii.  "  By  the  Numbers  being  confounded,  and  the 
Possessi  ves  wrong  applied,  the  Passage  is  neither  English  nor  Grammar." — Buchanans  Syn- 
tax, p.  123.  "The  letter  G  is  wrong  named  jce." — Crcightons  Diet.  p.  viii.  "Last;  lie- 
member  that  in  science,  as  in  morals,  authority  cannot  make  right,  what,  in  itself,  is  wrong." 
—  ().  Jt.  I'circe's  Gram.  p.  194.  "They  regulate  our  taste  even  where  we  are  scarce 
sensible  of  them." — K<t»i>'s,  El.  of  frit,  ii,  96.  "  Slow  action,  for  example,  is  imitated  by 
words  pronounced  slow." — Ib.  ii,  257.  "  Sure,  if  it  be  to  profit  withal,  it  must  be  in  order 
to  save." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  366.  "  Which  is  scarce  possible  at  best." — Sheridan's  Elocu- 
tion, p.  67.  "  Our  wealth  being  near  finished." — HARRIS  :  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  80. 

K  CHAPTER  IX.- CONJUNCTIONS. 

he  syntax  of  Conjunctions  consists,  not  (as  L.  Murray  and  others  errone- 
ously  teach,)  in  •'  their  power  of  determining  the  iim.ul  <.{'  \vrh.s,"  or  tho 
41  cases  of  nouns  and  pronouns,"  but  in  the  simple  faci>  that  they  link 


640  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 

together  such  and  such  terras,  and  thus  "  mark  the  connexions  of  human 
thought."-— Beattie. 

RULE  XXIL— CONJUNCTIONS. 

Conjunctions  connect  words,  sentences,  or  parts  of  sentences :  as,  "  Let 
there  be  no  strife,  I  pray  thee,  between  me  and  thee,  and  between  my  herd- 
men  and  thy  herdmen  ;for  we  are  brethren. " — G-en.  xiii,  8. 
"Ah !  if  she  lend  not  arms  as  well  as  rules, 
What  can  she  more  than  tell  us  we  are  fools  ?  "—Pope. 

EXCEPTION  FIRST. 

The  conjunction  that  sometimes  serves  merely  to  introduce  a  sentence  which  is  made  the 
subject  or  the  object  of  a  finite  verb  ;*  as,  "That  mind  is  not  matter,  is  certain." 
"That  you  have  wronged  me,  doth  appear  in  this." — Shak. 
"That  time  is  mine,  O  Mead  !  to  thee,  I  owe." — Young. 

EXCEPTION  SECOND. 

When  two  corresponding  conjunctions  occur,  in  their  usual  order,  the  former  should  be 
parsed  as  referring  to  the  latter,  which  is  more  properly  the  connecting  word  ;  as,  "Neither 
sun  nor  stars  in  many  days  appeared." — Acts,  xxvii,  20.  "Whether  that  evidence  has  been 
afforded  [or  not,]  is  a  matter  of  investigation." — Keith's  Evidences,  p.  18. 

EXCEPTION  THIRD. 

Either,  corresponding  to  or,  and  neither,  corresponding  to  nor  or  not,  are  sometimes  trans- 
posed, so  as  to  repeat  the  disjunction  or  negation  at  the  end  of  the  sentence  ;  as,  "  Where 
then  was  their  capacity  of  standing,  or  his  either?  " — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  359.  "  It  is  not 
dangerous  neither" — Bolingbroke,  on  Hist.  p.  135.  "He  is  very  tall,  but  not  too  tall  neither." 
—Sped.  No.  475. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XXII. 

OBS.  1. — Conjunctions  that  connect  particular  words,  generally  join  similar  parts  of  speech  in 
a  common  dependence  on  some  other  term.  Hence,  if  the  words  connected  be  such  as  have  cases, 
they  will  of  course  be  in  the  same  case;  as,  "For  me  and  thee." — Matt,  xvii,  27.  "  Honour  thy 
father  and  thy  mother." — Ib.  xviii,  19.  Here  the  latter  noun  or  pronoun  is  connected  by  and  to 
the  former,  and  governed  by  the  same  preposition  or  verb.  Conjunctions  themselves  have  no 
government,  unless  the  questionable  phrase  "than  whom"  may  be  reckoned  an  exception.  See 
Obs.  17th  below,  and  others  that  follow  it. 

OBS.  2. — Those  conjunctions  which  connect  sentences  or  clauses,  commonly  unite  one  sentence 
or  clause  to  an  other,  either  as  an  additional  assertion,  or  as  a  condition,  a  cause,  or  an  end,  of 
what  is  asserted.  The  conjunction  is  placed  between  the  terms  which  it  connects,  except  then  is 
a  transposition,  and  then  it  stands  before  the  dependent  term,  and  consequently  at  the  beginning 
of  the  whole  sentence  :  as,  "  He  taketh  away  the  first,  that  he  may  establish  the  second." — Heb. 
x,  9.  "  That  he  may  establish  the  second,  he  taketh  away  the  first." 

OBS.  3. — The  term  that  follows  a  conjunction,  is  in  some  instances  a  phrase  of  several  words, 
yet  not  therefore  a  whole  clause  or  member,  unless  we  suppose  it  elliptical,  and  supply  what  will 
make  it  such :  as,  "And  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  it  heartily,  AS  to  the  Lord,  AND  not  unto  men." — Col. 
iii,  23.  If  we  say,  this  means,  "  as  doing  it  to  the  Lord,  and  not  as  doing  it  unto  men,"  the  terms 
are  still  mere  phrases  ;  but  if  we  say,  the  sense  is,  "  as  if  ye  did  it  to  the  Lord,  and  not  as  if  ye 
did  it  unto  men,"  they  are  clauses,  or  sentences.  Churchill  says,  "  The  office  of  the  conjunction 
is,  to  connect  one  word  with  an  other,  or  one  phrase  with  an  other." — New  Gram.  p.  152.  But 
he  uses  the  term  phrase  in  a  more  extended  sense  than  I  suppose  it  will  strictly  bear :  he  means 
by  it,  a  clause,  or  member ;  that  is,  a  sentence  which  forms  a  part  of  a  greater  sentence. 

OBS.  4. — What  is  the  office  of  this  part  of  speech,  according  to  Lennie,  Bullions,  Brace,  Hart, 
Hiley,  Smith,  M'Culloch,  Webster,  Wells,  and  others,  who  say  that  it  "joins  words  and  sentences 
together,"  (see  Errors  on  p.  415  of  this  work,)  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  conceive.  If  they  imagine 
it  to  connect  "  ivords  "  on  the  one  side,  to  "  sentences  "  on  the  other  ;  this  is  plainly  absurd,  and 
contrary  to  facts.  If  they  suppose  it  to  join  sentence  to  sentence,  by  merely  connecting  word  to 
word,  in  a  joint  relation  ;  this  also  is  absurd,  and  self-contradictory.  Again,  if  they  mean,  that 
the  conjunction  sometimes  connects  word  with  word,  and  sometimes,  sentence  with  sentence ; 
this  sense  they  have  not  expressed,  but  have  severally  puzzled  their  readers  by  an  ungrammatical 
use  of  the  word  "  and."  One  of  the  best  among  them  says,  "  In  the  sentence,  '  He  and  1  must 
go,'  the  word  and  unites  two  sentences,  and  thus  avoids  an  unnecessary  repetition ;  thus  instead 
of  saying,  '  He  must  go,'  4 1  must  go,'  we  connect  the  words  He,  I,  as  the  same  thing  is  affirmed 
of  both,  namely,  must  go." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  53.  Here  is  the  incongruous  suggestion,  that  by 
connecting  words  only,  the  conjunction  in  fact  connects  sentences ;  and  the  stranger  blunder  con- 
cerning those  words,  that  "  the  same  thing  is  affirmed  of  both,  namely,  [that  they}  must  go." 

*  The  conjunction  that ,  at  the  head  of  a  sentence  or  clause,  enables  us  to  assume  the  whole  proposition  as  one 
thing :  as,  "All  arguments  whatever  are  directed  to  prove  one  or  other  of  these  three  things:  that  someihiug  is  true  ; 
that  it  is  morally  right  or  fit ;  or  that  it  is  profitable  and  good." — Blair's  lihet.  p.  318.  Here  each  that  maybe 
parsed  as  connecting  its  own  clause  to  the  first  clause  in  the  sentence  ;  or,  to  the  word  things,  with  which  the  three 
clauses  are  in  a  sort  of  apposition.  If  we  conceive  it  to  have  no  such  connecting  power,  we  must  make  this  too  an 
exception, 


CHAP.  IX.]          SYNTAX.  -  RULE   XXII.  -  CONJUNCTIONS.  -  OBSERVATIONS.  G41 


it  is  plain,  that  nothing  is  affirmed  of  either;  for  "He  and  I  must  go"  only  affirms  of 
him  and  me,  that  "  we  must  go."  And  again  it  is  plain,  that  and  here  connects  nothing  but  the 
two  pronouns;  for  no  one  will  say,  that,  "He  and  I  must  go  together,"  is  a  compound  sentence, 
capable  of  being  resolved  into  two  ;  and  if,  "He  and  I  must  go"  is  compound  because  it  is  equiv- 
alent to,  "  He  must  go,  and  I  must  go  ;  "  so  is,  "  We  must  go"  for  the  same  reason,  though  it  has 
but  one  nominative  and  one  verb.  "He  and  I  were  present,"  is  rightly  given  by  Hiley  as  an  exam- 
ple of  tico  pronouns  connected  together  by  and.  (See  his  Gram.  p.  105.)  But,  of  verbs  connected 
to  each  other,  he  absurdly  supposes  the  following  to  be  examples  :  "  He  spake,  and  it  was  done."  — 
"  I  know  it,  and  I  can  prove  it."  —  "Do  you  say  so,  and  can  you  prove  it  ?  "  —  Ib.  Here  and  con- 
nects sentences,  and  not  particular  words. 

OBS.  5.  —  Two  or  three  conjunctions  sometimes  come  together;  as,  "  What  rests,  but  that  the 
mortal  sentence  pass?"  —  Milton.  "Nor  yet  that  he  should  offer  himself  often."  —  Heb.  ix,  25. 
These  may  be  severally  parsed  as  "  connecting  what  precedes  and  what  follows,"  and  the  observ- 
ant reader  will  not  fail  to  notice,  that  such  combinations  of  connecting  particles  are  sometimes 
required  by  the  sense  ;  but,  since  nothing  that  is  needless,  is  really  proper,  conjunctions  should 
not  be  unnecessarily  accumulated  :  as,  "But  AND  if  that  evil  servant  say  in  his  heart,"  Arc.  — 
Matt,  xxiv,  48.  Greek,  "  'Euv  6c  e'^ry  6  /ea/cdf  dor/lof  e/c«vof,"  &c.  Here  is  no  and.  "But  AXD 
if  she  depart."  —  1  Cor.  vii,  11.  This  is  almost  a  literal  rendering  of  the  Greek,  "'Euv  tie  Kal 
Xupiodff"  —  yet  either  but  or  and  is  certainly  useless.  "In  several  cases,"  says  Priestley,  "we 
content  ourselves,  now,  with  fewer  conjunctive  particles  than  our  ancestors  did  [say  used].  Ex- 
ample: 'So  AS  that  his  doctrines  were  embraced  by  great  numbers.'  Universal  Hist.  Vol.  29, 
p.  601.  So  that  would  have  been  much  easier,  and  better."  —  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  139.  Some  of 
the  poets  have  often  used  the  word  tfiat  as  an  expletive,  to  fill  the  measure  of  their  verse;  as, 
"  When  that  the  poor  have  cried,  Crcsar  hath  wept."  —  Shakspearc. 
"  If  that  he  be  a  dog,  beware  his  fangs."  —  Id. 
"  That  made  him  pine  away  and  moulder, 

As  though  that  he  had  been  no  soldier."  —  Butler's  Poems,  p.  164. 

Ons.  6.  —  W.  Allen  remarks,  that,  "And  is  sometimes  introduced  to  engage  our  attention  to  a 
following  word  or  phrase;  as,  '  Part  pays,  and  justly,  the  deserving  steer."  [Pope.]  '  I  see  thee 
full,  and  by  Achilles'  hand.'  [Id]."  —  Allt-ns  E.  Grain,  p.  184.  The  like  idiom,  he  says,  occurs 
in  these  passages  of  Latin  :  "  '  Forsan  ct  hajc  olim  mcminisse  juvabit.'  Virg.  '  Mors  ct  fugacem 
persequitur  virum.'  Jl<>r."  —  Alh-n's  Cram.  p.  184.  But  it  seems  to  me,  that  and  and  et  are  here 
regular  connectives.  The  former  implies  a  repetition  of  the  preceding  verb  :  as,  "  Part  pays,  and 
justly  pays,  the  deserving  steer."  —  "  I  see  thee  fall,  and  fall  by  Achilles1  hand."  The  latter  refers 
back  to  what  was  said  before  :  thus,  "  Perhaps  it  will  also  hereafter  delight  yon  to  recount  these 
evils."  —  "And  death  pursues  the  man  that  flees."  In  the  following  text,  the  conjunction  is  more 
like  an  expletive  ;  but  even  here  it  suggests  an  extension  of  the  discourse  then  in  progress  : 
"Lord,  and  what  shall  this  man  do?"  —  John,  xxi,  21.  "  Kvpce,  ovro£  6e  rl  ;  "  —  "  Domine,  hie 

/  quid  ?  "  —  Bcza. 

Ui;s.  7.  —  The  conjunction  as  often  unites  words  that  are  in  apposition,  or  in  the  same  case;  as, 
He  offered  himself  AS  a  journeyman."  —  "  I  assume  it  AS  a  fact"  —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  94.     "  In 
;m  other  example  of  the  same  kind,  the  <>nrth,  AS  a  common  mother,  is  animated  to  give  refuge 
it  a  father's  unkindness."—  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  Vol.  ii,  p.  168.     "And  then  to  offer  himself 
•  sacrifice  and  propitiation  for  them."—  Scoitgal,  p.  99.     So,  likewise,  when  an  intransitive 
verb  takes  the  same  case  after  as  before  it,  by  Rule  6th;  as,  "Johnson  soon  after  engaged  AS 
MI  a  school."  —  L.  Murray.     "Hi-  was  employed  AS  usher."     In  all  these  examples,  the  case 
that  follows  a*,  is  determined  by  that  which  precedes.     If  after  the  verb  "engaged"  we  supply 
-.  uxhcr  becomes  objective,  and  is  in  apposition  with  the  pronoun,  and  not  in  agreement 
with  Johnson:  "  He  engaged  himself  as  u.shcr."     One  late  writer,  ignorant  or  regardless  of  the 
analoirv  of  General  Grammar.  imnrrinp>s  this  r-.i^n  tn  h*>  an  ««  "Hiegtiyg  governed  by  the  conjunction 

icn  it  takes  the  meaning  of  for,  or 
•  a  writer  of  prose,  is  highly  distin- 

p.  113.     S.  W.  Clark,  in  his  grammar  published  in  1848,  sets 

in  his  list  of  ;-/  -v  itli  this  example  :  "  '  That  England  can  spare  from  her  service  such 

'iijhnm."—  Clark's  Pra<  ticnl  Grum.  p.  92.    And  again  :  "  When  the  second 
term  of  a  C»i,ij>,i,  N'oun,  or  Pronoun,  the  Preposition  AS  is  commonly  used. 

He  hath  died  to  redeem  such  a  rebel  o,v  MI:.'  —  \V<sl,-y."     Undoubtedly,  Wesley  and 
Brougham  1.  upposcd  the  as  to  connect  words  only,  and  consequently  to  require 

them  to  lie::.  •  .;jly  to  Ons.  1st,  above;  but  a  moment's  reflection  on  the  sense, 

should  convince  any  one,  that  the  construction  requires  the  nominative  forms  he  and  /,  with  the 
verbs  is  and  <un  understood. 

Ons.  S.  —  The  con  junction  <ix  may  also  be  nscd  between  an  adjective  or  a  participle  and  the  noun 
to  which  the  adjective  01  r.-lates  ;  as,  "It  does  not  appear  that  brutes  have  the  least 

reflex  sense  o!  or  that  will  and  design,  which  constitute  the 

very  nature  .it  all  an  object  of  their  perception."—  Butler's  Analogy,  p.  277. 

O»s.  the  force  of  a  relative  pronoun,  and  when  it  evidently  sustains  the 

relation  of  a  case,  it  ought  to  be  called,  and  generally  is  called,  a  pronoun,  rather  than  a  conjunc- 
tion ;  as,  "Avoid  such  as  arc  vicious."  —  Anon.  "  But  as  many  as  rccdrcd  him,"  X'C.  —  John,  i,  12. 
"  We  have  reduced  the  terms  into  as  small  a  number  as  was  consistent  with  perspicuity  and  dis- 
tinction." —  ttrightldiHl'x  d'nnn.  p.  ix.  Here  as  represents  a  noun,  and  while  it  serves  to  connect 
the  two  parts  of  the  sentence,  it  is  also  the  subject  of  a  verb.  These  being  the  true  character^ 
istics  of  a  relative  pronoun,  it  is  proper  to  refer  the  word  to  that  class.  But  when  a  clause  or  a 
sentence  is  the  antecedent,  it  is  better  to  consider  the  as  a  conjunction,  and  to  supply  the  pronoun 
it,  if  the  writer  has  not  used  it  ;  as,  "  He  is  angry,  as  [it]  appears  by  this  letter."  Home  Tooke 
says,  "  The  truth  is,  that  AS  is  also  an  article;  and  (however  and  whenever  used  in  English) 
the  same  as//,  or  That,  or  Which."—  Diversions  of  Pur  ley,  Vol.  i,  p.  223,  But  what 
definition  he  would  give  to  "an  article,"  does  not  appear. 
41 


analogy  of  General  Grammar,  imagines  this  case  to  be  an  "  objective  governed  by  tHe  conjunction 
•  he  following  rule  :  "  The  conjunction  as,  when  it  takes  the  meaning  of  for,  or 
in  the  character  of,  governs  the  objective  case  ;  as,  Addison,  as  a  writer  of  prose,  is  highly  distin- 
guished."— J.  M.  Putt  .  p.  113.     S.  W.  Clark,  iu  his  gramma 


642  THE    GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

OBS.  10. — In  some  examples,  it  seems  questionable  whether  as  ought  to  be  reckoned  a  pro- 
noun, or  ought  rather  to  be  parsed  as  a  conjunction  after  which  a  nominative  is  understood  ;  as, 
"  He  then  read  the  conditions  as  follow." — "The  conditions  are  as  follow." — Nutting's  Gram. 
p.  106.  "  The  principal  evidences  on  which  this  assertion  is  grounded,  are  as  follow." — Gurney's 
Essays,  p.  166.  "  The  Quiescent  verbs  are  as  follow." — Pike's  Heb.  Lex.  p.  184.  "  The  other 
numbers  are  duplications  of  these,  and  proceed  as  follow." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of  Lang.  Vol.  ii, 
p.  35.  "  The  most  eminent  of  the  kennel  are  bloodhounds,  which  lead  the  van,  and  are  as  fol- 
low."—Steele,  Tattler,  No.  62.  "  His  words  are  as  follow."— Sped.  No.  62.  "  The  words  are  at 
follow." — Addison,  Sped.  513.  "The  objections  that  are  raised  against  it  as  a  tragedy,  are  as 
follow." — Gay,  Pref.  to  What  d'ye  call  it.  "The  particulars  are  as  follow." — Buckets  Gram. 
p.  93.  "The  principal  Interjections  in  English  are  as  follow." — Ward's  Gram.  p.  81.  In  all  these 
instances,  one  may  suppose  the  final  clause  to  mean,  "  as  they  here  follow  ;  " — or,  supposing  as  to 
be  a  pronoun,  one  may  conceive  it  to  mean,  "such  as  follow."  But  some  critical  writers,  it 
appears,  prefer  the  singular  verb,  "  as  fallows."  Hear  Campbell :  "  When  a  verb  is  used  imper- 
sonally, it  ought  undoubtedly  to  be  in  the  singular  number,  whether  the  neuter  pronoun  be 
expressed  or  understood ;  and  when  no  nominative  in  the  sentence  can  regularly  be  construed 
with  the  verb,  it  ought  to  be  considered  as  impersonal.  For  this  reason,  analogy  as  well  as  usage 
favour  [say  favours]  this  mode  of  expression,  '  The  conditions  of  the  agreement  were  as  follows  • ' 
and  not  'as  follow.'  A  few  late  writers  have  inconsiderately  adopted  this  last  form  through  a 
mistake  of  the  construction.  For  the  same  reason  we  ought  to  say,  '  I  shall  consider  his  censures 
so  far  only  as  concerns  my  friend's  conduct ; '  and  not  '  so  far  as  concern.'  " — Philosophy  of  llhet. 
p.  229.  It  is  too  much  to  say,  at  least  of  one  of  these  sentences,  that  there  is  no  nominative  with 
which  the  plural  verb  can  be  regularly  construed.  In  the  former,  the  word  as  may  be  said  to  be 
a  plural  nominative  ;  or,  if  we  will  have  this  to  be  a  conjunction,  the  pronoun  they,  representing 
conditions,  may  be  regularly  supplied,  as  above.  In  the  latter,  indeed,  as  is  not  a  pronoun ;  be- 
cause it  refers  to  "  so  far,"  which  is  not  a  noun.  But  the  sentence  is  bad  English;  because  the 
verb  concern  or  concerns  is  improperly  left  without  a  nominative.  Say  therefore,  '  I  shall  consider 
his  censures  so  far  only  as  they  concern  my  friend's  conduct ; ' — or,  '  so  far  only  as  my  friend's 
conduct  is  concerned.'  The  following  is  an  other  example  which  I  conceive  to  be  wrong  ;  because, 


tion." 

OBS.  11. — Lindley  Murray  was  so  much  puzzled  wir.hTooke's  notion  of  as,  and  Campbell's  doc- 
trine of  the  impersonal  verb,  that  he  has  expressly  left  his  pupils  to  hesitate  and  doubt,  like 
himself,  whether  one  ought  to  say  "  as  follows  "  or  "as  follow,"  when  the  preceding  noun  is 
plural ;  or — to  furnish  an  alternative,  (if  they  choose  it,)  he  shows  them  at  last  how  they  may 
dodge  the  question,  by  adopting  some  other  phraseology.  He  begins  thus:  "Grammarians  differ 
in  opinion,  respecting  the  propriety  of  the  following  modes  of  expression :  '  The  arguments 
advanced  were  nearly  as  follows  ;  '  '  the  positions  were,  as  appears,  incontrovertible.'  " — Murray's 
Gram.  8vo,  p.  146.  Then  follows  a  detail  of  suggestions  from  Campbell  and  others,  all  the  ([no- 
tations being  anonymous,  or  at  least  without  definite  references.  Omitting  these,  I  would  lere 
say  of  the  two  examples  given,  that  they  are  not  parallel  instances.  For,  "  as  follows,"  refe/s  to 
what  the  arguments  were, — to  the  things  themselves,  considered  plurally,  and  immediately  to  be 
exhibited;  wherefore  the  expression  ought  rather  to  have  been,  "as  follow,"  or,  "as  they  here 
folloio."  But,  "  as  appears"  means,  "  as  it  appears,"  or,  "  as  the  case  now  appears ;  '*  and  or  e  of 
these  plain  modes  of  expression  would  have  been  much  preferable,  because  the  as  is  here  evidently 
nothing  but  a  conjunction. 

OBS.  12. — "  The  diversity  of  sentiment  on  this  subject,"  says  L.  Murray,  "and  the  respecta- 
bility of  the  different  opponents,  will  naturally  induce  thereaders  to  pause  and  reflect,  before  they 
decide." — Octavo  Gram.  p.  147.  The  equivalent  expressions  by  means  of  which  he  proposes  to 
evade  at  last  the  dilemma,  are  the  following  :  "  The  arguments  advanced  were  nearly  such  as  fol- 
low; " — "  The  arguments  advanced  were  nearly  of  the  following  nature  ;  " — "  The  following  are 
nearly  the  arguments  which  were  advanced  ;  " — "  The  arguments  advanced  were  nearly  those  which 
follow;" — "  These,  or  nearly  these,  were  the  arguments  advanced:" — "The  positions  were  such 
as  appear  incontrovertible  ;" — "  It  appears  that  the  positions  were  incontrovertible  ;  " — "That  the 
positions  were  incontrovertible,  is  apparent ;" — "  The  positions  were  apparently  incontrovertible  ;" 
— "  In  appearance, the  positions  were  incontrovertible." — Ibid.  If  to  shun  the  expression  will  serve 
our  turn,  surely  here  are  ways  enough  !  But  to  those  who  "pause  and  reflect "  with  the  inten- 
tion to  decide,  I  would  commend  the  following  example  :  "  Reconciliation  was  offered,  on  condi- 
tions as  moderate  as  were  consistent  with  a  permanent  union." — Murray's  Key,  under  Rule  1. 
Here  Murray  supposes  "  was"  to  be  wrong,  and  accordingly  changes  it  to  "were"  by  the  Rule, 
"A  verb  must  agree  with  its  nominative  case  in  number  and  person."  But  the  amendment  is  a 
pointed  rejection  of  Campbell's  "  impersonal  verb,"  or  verb  which  "has  no  nominative;"  and  if 
the  singular  is  not  right  here,  the  rhetorician's  respectable  authority  vouches  only  for  a  catalogue 
of  errors.  Again,  if  this  verb  must  be  were  in  order  to  agree  with  its  nominative,  it  is  still  not  clear 
that  as,  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  nominative  ;  because  the  meaning  may  perhaps  be  better  expressed 
thus  : — "  on  conditions  as  moderate  as  any  that  were  consistent  with  a  permanent  union." 

OBS.  13. — A  late  writer  expresses  his  decision  of  the  foregoing  question  thus  :  "  Of  all  the  dif- 
ferent opinions  on  a  grammatical  subject,  which  have  arisen  in  the  literary  world,  there  scarcely 
appears  one  more  indefensible  than  that  of  supposing  as  follows  to  be  an  impersonal  verb,  and  to 
be  correctly  used  in  such  sentences  as  this,  'The  conditions  were  as  follows.'  Nay,  we  are  told 
that,  "A  few  late  writers  have  adopted  this  form,  '  The  conditions  were  as  follow,'  inconsider- 


ately •  "  and,  to  prove  this  charge  of  inconsiderateness,  the  following  sentence  is  brought  forward  : 
shall  consider  his  censure  [censures  is  the  word  used  by  Campbell  and  by  Murray]  so  far  only  as 
concern  my  friend's  conduct,'  which  should  be,  it  is  added,  '  as  concerns,  and  not  as  concern.'      If 


I  shall  consider  his 
•oncern  my  friend's  c 
analogy,  simplicity,  or  syntactical  authority,  is  of  any  value  in  our  resolution  of  the  sentence, 


CHAP.  IX.]     SYNTAX. — RULE  XXII. CONJUNCTIONS. OBSERVATIONS.          643 

4  The  conditions  were  as  follows,'  the  word  as  is  as  evident  a  relative  as  language  can  afford.  It 
is  undoubtedly, equivalent  to  that  or  which,  and  relates  to  its  antecedent  those  or  such  understood, 
and  should  have  been  the  nominative  to  the  verb  follow ;  the  sentence,  in  its  present  form,  being 
inaccurate.  The  second  sentence  is  by  no  means  a  parallel  one.  The  word  as  is  a  conjunction  ; 
and  though  it  has,  as  a  relative,  a  reference  to  its  antecedent  so,  yet  in  its  capacity  of  a  mere  con- 
junction, it  cannot  possibly  be  the  nominative  case  to  any  verb.  It  should  be,  '  itconcerns.' 
Whenever  as  relates  to  an  adverbial  antecedent ;  as  in  the  sentence,  'So  far  as  it  concerns  me,' 
it  is  merely  a  conjunction ;  but  when  it  refers  to  an  adjective  antecedent ;  as  in  the  sentence,  '  The 
business  is  such  as  concerns  me  ; '  it  must  be  a  relative,  and  susceptible  of  case,  whether  its  ante- 
cedent is  expressed  or  understood;  being,  in  fact,  the  nominative  to  the  verb  concerns." — Nixon's 
Parser,  p.  14-5.  It  will  be  perceived  by  the  preceding  remarks,  that  I  do  not  cite  what  is  here 
said,  as  believing  it  to  be  in  all  respects  well  said,  though  it  is  mainly  so.  In  regard  to  the  point 
at  issue,  I  shall  add  but  one  critical  authority  more  :  "  '  The  circumstances  were  &afolloios.'  Sev- 
eral grammarians  and  critics  have  approved  this  phraseology  :  I  am  inclined,  however,  to  concur 
with  those  who  prefer  '  as  follow.'  " — Crombie,  on  Eti/m.  and  Synt.  p.  388. 

,  "It  i 
is,  [thi 
among  us."— Lowth's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  vi.     "  The  Sportsman  believes  [that]  there  fs  Good 


Ous.   14. — The  conjunction  that  is  frequently  understood;  as,  "It  is  seldom  {that]  their  coun- 
sels are  listened  to."— Robertson's  Amer.  i,  316.      "  The  truth  is,  [that] 
neglected  among  us." — Lowth's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  vi.     "  The  Sportsman  belie 


grammar  is  very  much 


in  his  Chace  [chase]."  —  Harris's  Hermes,  p.  296 

"  Thou  warnst  me  [that]  I  have  done  amiss  ; 

I  should  have  earlier  looked  to  this."  —  Scott. 

Ons.  1-5.  —  After  than  or  as,  connecting  the  terms  of  a  comparison,  there  is  usually  an  ellipsis  of 
some  word  or  words.  The  construction  of  the  words  employed  may  be  seen,  when  the  ellipsis  is 
supplied;  as,  "They  are  stronger  than  we"  [are].  —  Numb,  xiii,  31.  "Wisdom  is  better  than 
weapons  of  war  "  [are].  —  Ercl.  ix,  18.  "  He  does  nothing  who  endeavours  to  do  more  than  [what] 
is  allowed  to  humanity."  —  Dr.  Johnson.  "  My  punishment  is  greater  than  [what]  I  can  bear."  — 
.  13.  "  Ralph  gave  him  more  than  /"  [gave  him].—  Churchill's  Gram.  p.  351.  Ralph. 

_____      U:  _      _____      Jl     _  rL     ..  T  ,,  ¥f-t  ,.T>L31..  . 

was  never  intended  for  such  as 
if  they  will."  —  Liberator,  Vol. 
because  the  text  speaks  of  such  as  he  is 
it  as  well  as  me.'      In  both  places  it 
ought  to  be  /:  that  is,  as  I  teas,  as  I  did."  —  Churchill's  Gram.  p.  352. 
"  Rather  let  such  poor  souls  as  you  and  / 

Say  that  the  holidays  are  drawing  nigh."  —  Sic  iff. 

OBS.  16  —  The  doctrine  above  stated,  of  ellipses  after  than  and  as,  proceeds  on  the  supposition, 
that  these  words  arc  conjunctions,  and  that  they  connect,  not  particular  words  merely,  but  sentences, 
or  clauses.  It  is  the  common  doctrine  of  nearly  all  our  grammarians,  and  is  doubtless  liable  to 
fewer  objections  than  any  other  theory  that  ever  has  been,  or  ever  can  be,  devised  in  lieu  of  it. 
Yet  a-*  is  not  always  a  conjunction  ;  nor,  when  it  is  a  conjunction,  does  it  always  connect  sentences  ; 
nor,  when  it  connects  sentences,  is  there  always  an  ellipsis  ;  nor,  when  there  is  an  ellipsis,  is  it 
always  quite  certain,  what  that  ellipsis  is.  All  these  facts  have  been  made  plain,  by  observations 
that  have  already  been  bestowed  on  the  word:  and,  according  to  some  grammarians,  the  same 
things  may  severally  be  affirmed  of  the  word  than.  But  most  authors  consider  than  to  be  always 
i  conjunction,  and  generally,  if  not  always,  to  connect  sentences.  Johnson  and  Webster,  in  their 
dictionaries,  mark  it  for  an  adverb  ;  and  the  latter  says  of  it,  "  This  word  signifies  also  then,  both  in 
ish  and  Dutch."—  H  \rner.  Diet.  8vo,  w.  Than.  But  what  he  means  by  "also,"  I  know 

not  ;  and  surely,  in  no  English  of  this  age,  is  than  equivalent  to  then,  or  then  to  than.  The  ancient 
practice  of  putting  then  for  than,  is  now  entirely  obsolete  ;*  and,  as  we  have  no  other  term  of  the 
same  import,  most  of  our  expositors  merely  explain  than  as  "a  particle  used  in  comparison."  — 
Johnson,  I!  -  ,me  absurdly  define  it  thus  :  "  THAX,  adv.  Placed  in  compari- 

son." —  Walker,  (Rhym.  Diet.)  Jones,  Scott.  According  to  this  definition,  than  should  be  a  parti- 
Hut,  since  un  express  comparison  necessarily  implies  a  connexion  between  different  terms, 
it  cannot  well  be  denied  that  than  is  a  connective  word  ;  wherefore,  not  to  detain  the  reader  with 
;iny  profitless  controversy,  I  shall  take,  it  for  granted  that  this  word  is  always  a  conjunction. 
That  it  always  connect  s,  I  do  not  affirm  ;  because  there  are  instances  in  which  it  is 

difficult  to  suppose  it  to  connect  anything  more  than  particular  words:  as,  "  Less  judgement 
than  \\\t  is  more  sail  than  ballast."—  Fntfl'l  Mnj-fms.  "  With  no  less  eloquence  than  freedom. 
•  1'ari  eloquentii  ar  liberUte.'  Turitu.t."—  ll'aikrr's  J'artirle.s,  p.  200.  "Any  comparison  between 
th^se  two  classes  of  writers,  cannot  be  other  than  vague  and  loose."  —  Blair's  Rhct.  p.  347.  "  Thi* 
far  more  than  compensates  all  those  little  negligences."  —  Ib.  p.  200. 
member  Handel  ?  Who,  that  was  not  born 

i  to  harmony,  forgets, 

Or  can,  the  more  than  Homer  of  his  age  ?  "  —  Coirper. 

Ons.  17.  —  When  any  two  declinable  words  are  connected  by  than  or  as,  they  are  almost  always, 
according  to  the  true  idiom  of  our  language,  to  be  put  in  the  same  case,  whether  we  suppose  an 
ellipsis  in  the  construction  of  the  latter,  or  not;  as,  "My  Father  is  greater  than/,"  —  Bible. 
"  What  do  ye  more  than  oth  '.  v,  47.  "  More  nun  than  women  were  there."—  Murray's 

Gram.  p.  114.      "  Entreat  him  as  a  father,  and  the  youn  •.:•  rcthren."  —  1  Tim.  V,  1.       "I 

would  that  all  mm  wi-n-  ev-n  as  /  "myself."  —  1  Cur.  vii,  7.  "  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou 
me  more  than  these  ?"  —  John,  xxi,  1-5.  This  last  text  is  manifestly  ambiguous  ;  so  that  some 
readers  will  doubt  whether  it  means  —  "more  than  thou  forest  these,"  or  —  "more  than  these  love 
Is  not  this  because  there  is  an  ellipsis  in  the  sentence,  and  sueh  a  one  as  may  be  variously  con- 
oeived  and  supplied  ?  The  original  too  is  ambiguous,  but  not  for  the  same  reason:  "  "Liuuv  'Iwvd, 
irfalov  TOVTUV  ;"  —  And  so  is  the  Latin  of  the  Vulgate  and  of  Montanus  :  "  Simon  Jona| 


>te,  fffjfn  and  than  are  distinct  Pnrticltt.  but  use  hath  made  the  u?ing  of  tken  for  than  after  a  Compar 
:ire  Degree  at  least  passable.    See  Butitr'i  Eng.  Uram.  Index,"-'  \Valktft  Eng.  Particlet,  Tenth  Ed.,  1691,  p.  333. 


644  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

diligis  me  plus  his  ?  "  Wherefore  Beza  expressed  it  differently :  "  Simon  jtfJi  Jonce,  diligis  me  plus 
quamhif"  The  French  Bible  has  it:  "Simon,  fils  de  Jona,  m'aimes-tu  plus  que  ne  font  ceux- 
ci  ?"  And  the  expression  in  English  should  rather  have  been,  "  Lovest  thou  me  more  than  do 
these?" 

OBS.  18. — The  comparative  degree,  in  Greek,  is  said  to  govern  the  genitive  case;  in  Latin,  the 
ablative :  that  is,  the  genitive  or  the  ablative  is  sometimes  put  after  this  degree  without  any  con- 
necting particle  corresponding  to  than,  and  without  producing  a  compound  sentence.  We 
have  examples  in  the  phrases,  "  irhelov  TOVTUV"  and  "plus  his,"  above.  Of  such  a  construction  our 
language  admits  no  real  example  ;  that  is,  no  exact  parallel.  But  we  have  an  imitation  of  it  in 
the  phrase  than  tchom,  as  in  this  hackneyed  example  from  Milton : 
"  Which  when  Beelzebub  perceived,  than  ivhom, 

Satan  except,  none  higher  sat,"  &c. — Paradise  Lost,  B.  ii,  1.  300. 

The  objective,  whom,  is  here  preferred  to  the  nominative,  who,  because  the  Latin  ablative  is  corn- 
moiily  rendered  by  the  former  case,  rather  than  by  the  latter;  but  this  phrase  is  no  more  expli- 
cable according  to  the  usual  principles  of  English  grammar,  than  the  error  of  putting  the  objec- 
tive case  for  a  version  of  the  ablative  absolute.  If  the  imitation  is  to  be  judged  allowable,  it  is  to 
us  a  figure  of  syntax — an  obvious  example  of  Enallage,  and  of  that  form  of  Enallage,  which  is  com- 
monly called  Antiptosis,  or  the  putting  of  one  case  for  an  other. 

OBS.  19. — This  use  of  whom  after  than  has  greatly  puzzled  and  misled  our  grammarians  ;  many 
of  whom  have  thence  concluded  that  than  must  needs  be,  at  least  in  this  instance,  a  preposition;* 
and  some  have  extended  the  principle  beyond  this,  so  as  to  include  than  which,  than  whose  with 
its  following  noun,  and  other  nominatives  which  they  will  have  to  be  objectives  :  as,  "I  should 
seem  guilty  of  ingratitude,  than  ichich  nothing  is  more  shameful."  See  Russell's  Gram.  p.  104. 
"  Washington,  than  whose  fame  naught  earthly  can  be  purer." — Peirce's  Gram.  p.  204.  "  You  have 
given  him  more  than  /.  You  have  sent  her  as  much  as  he." — Buchanan's  Eng.  Syntax,  p.  116. 
These  last  two  sentences  are  erroneously  called  by  their  author,  "false  syntax ;  "  not  indeed  with 
a  notion  that  than  and  as  are  prepositions,  but  on  the  false  supposition  that  the  preposition  to 
must  necessarily  be  understood  between  them  and  the  pronouns,  as  it  is  between  the  preceding 
verbs  and  the  pronouns  him  and  her.  But,  in  fact,  "  You  have  given  him  more  than  I,"  is  per- 
fectly good  English  ;  the  last  clause  of  which  plainly  means — "  more  than  I  have  given  him."  And, 
"  You  have  sent  her  as  much  as  he,"  will  of  course  be  understood  to  mean — "  as  much  as  he  has 
sent  her  ;  "  but  here,  because  the  auxiliary  implied  is  different  from  the  one  expressed,  it  might 
have  been  as  well  to  have  inserted  it :  thus,  "  you  have  sent  her  as  much  as  he  has."  "  She  reviles 
you  as  much  as  he,"  is  also  good  English,  though  found,  with  the  foregoing,  among  Buchanan's 
examples  of  "  false  syntax." 

OBS.  20. — Murray's  twentieth  Rule  of  syntax  avers,  that,  "  When  the  qualities  of  different 
things  are  compared,  the  latter  noun  or  pronoun  is  not  governedby  the  conjunction  than  or  as,  but 
agrees  with  the  verb,"  &c. — Octavo  Gram.  p.  214;  Russell's  Gram.  103;  Bacon's,  51 ;  Alger's,  71  ; 
Smith's,  179;  Fish's,  138.  To  this  rule,  the  great  Compiler  and  most  of  his  followers  say,  that 
than  whom  "  is  an  exception,"  or,  "  seems  to  form  an  exception  ;  "  to  which  they  add,  that,  "  tie 
phrase  is,  however,  avoided  by  the  best  modern  writers." — Murray,  i,  215.  This  latter  assertion 
Russell  conceives  to  be  untrue  :  the  former  he  adopts ;  and,  calling  than  whom  "  an  exception  to 
the  general  rule,"  says  of  it,  (with  no  great  consistency,)  "  Here  the  conjunction  than  has  cer- 
tainly the  force  of  a  preposition,  and  supplies  its  place  by  governing  the  relative." — Russell's 
Abridgement  of  Murray's  Gram.  p.  104.  But  this  is  hardly  an  instance  to  which  one  would  api  ly 
the  maxim  elsewhere  adopted  by  Murray:  "Exceptio  probat  regulam" — Octavo  Gram.  p.  2l>5. 
To  ascribe  to  a  conjunction  the  governing  power  of  a  preposition,  is  a  very  wide  step,  and  quite 
too  much  like  straddling  the  line  which  separates  these  parts  of  speech  one  from  the  other. 

OBS.  21. — Churchill  says,  "  If  there  be  no  ellipsis  to  supply,  as  sometimes  happens  when  a  pro- 
noun relative  occurs  after  than  ;  the  relative  is  to  be  put  in  the  objective  case  absolute  :  as,  'Alfred, 
than  icJiom  a  greater  king  never  reigned,  deserves  to  be  held  up  as  a  model  to  all  future  sovereigns.'  " 
— New  Gram.  p.  153.  Among  his  Notes,  he  has  one  with  reference  to  this  "objective  case  absolute ," 
as  follows :  "  It  is  not  governed  by  the  conjunction,  for  on  no  other  occasion  does  a  conjunction 
govern  any  case:  or  by  any  word  understood,  for  we  can  insert  no  word,  or  words,  that  will  rec- 
oncile the  phrase  with  any  other  rule  of  grammar:  and  if  we  employ  a  pronoun  personal  instead 
of  the  relative,  as  he,  which  will  admit  of  being  resolved  elliptically,  it  must  be  put  in  the  nomi- 
native case." — Ib.  p.  352.  Against  this  gentleman's  doctrine,  one  may  very  well  argue,  as  he 

*  "  When  the  relative  who  follows  the  preposition  than,  it  must  be  used  as  in  the  accusative  case."— Buckets 
Gram.  p.  93.  Dr.  Priestley  seems  to  have  imagined  the  word  than  to  be  always  a  preposition ;  for  he  contends 
against  the  common  doctrine  and  practice  respecting-  the  case  after  it :  "  It  is,  likewise,  said,  that  the  nominative 
case  ought  to  follow  the  preposition  than ;  because  the  verb  to  be  is  understood  after  it ;  As,  You  are  taller  than  he, 
and  not  taller  than  him;  because  at  full  length,  it  would  be,  You  are  taller  than  he  is ;  but  since  it  is  allowed,  that 
the  oblique  case  should  follow  prepositions;  and  since  the  comparative  degree  of  an  adjective,  and  the  particle 
than  have,  certainly,  between  them,  the  force  of  a  preposition,  expressing  the  relation  of  one  word  to  another,  they 
ought  to  require  the  oblique  case  of  the  pronoun  following." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  105.  If  than  were  a  preposition, 
this  reasoning  would  certainly  be  right ;  but  the  Doctor  begs  the  question,  by  assuming  that  it  is  a  preposition. 
William  Ward,  an  other  noted  grammarian  of  the  same  age,  supposes  that,  "  ME  sapientior  es,  may  be  translated, 
Thou  art  wiser  THAN  ME."  He  also,  in  the  same  place,  avers,  that,  "  The  best  English  Writers  have  considered 
than  as  a  Sign  of  an  oblique  Case  ;  as,  '  She  suffers  more  THAN  ME.'  Swift,  i.  e.  more  than  I  suffer. 
'  Thou  art  a  Girl  as  much  brighter  THAN  HER, 
As  he  was  a  Poet  sublimer  THAN  ME.'  Prior. 

i.  e.  Thou  art  a  Girl  as  much  brighter  than  she  was,  as  he  was  a  Poet  sublimer  than  I  am."— Ward's  Practical 
Gram.  p.  112.  These  examples  of  the  objective  case  after  than,  were  justly  regarded  by  Lowth  as  bad  English. 
The  construction,  however,  has  a  modern  advocate  in  S.  W.  Clark,  who  will  have  the  conjunctions  as,  but,  save, 
saving,  and  than,  as  well  as  the  adjectives  like,  unlike,  near,  next,  nigh,  and  opposite,  to  be  prepositions.  "After 
a  Comparative  the  Preposition  than  is  commonly  used.  Example — Grammar  is  more  interesting  than  all  my 
other  studies."  —  Clark's  Practical  Gram.  p.  178.  liAs,  like,  than,  &c.,  indicate  a  relation  of  comparison.  Ex- 
ample—'Thou  hast  been  wiser  all  the  while  than  me.'  Southey's  Letters.'''— Ib.  p.  96.  Here  correct  usage 
undoubtedly  requires  /,  and  not  me.  Such  at  least  is  uiy  opinion. 


Cn.YP.  IX.]    SYNTAX. RULE  XXII. — CONJUNCTIONS. OBSERVATIONS.          645 

himself  does  against  that  of  Murray,  Russell,  and  others;  that  on  no  other  occasion  do  we  speak 
of  putting  "the  objective  case  absolute  ;"  and  if,  agreeably  to  the  analogy  of  our  own  tongue, 
our  distinguished  authors  would  condescend  to  say  than  toko,*  surely  nobody  would  think  of  call- 
ing this  an  instance  of  the  nominative  case  absolute, — except  perhaps  one  swaggering  new  theorist, 
that  most  pedantic  of  all  scoffers,  Oliver  B.  Peirce. 

OBS.  22. — The  sum  of  the  matter  is  this  :  the  phrase,  than  who,  is  a  more  regular  and  more  analo- 
gical expression  than  than  whom  ;  but  both  are  of  questionable  propriety,  and  the  former  is  seldom  if 
ever  found,  except  in  some  few  grammars  ;  while  the  latter,  which  is  in  some  sort  a  Latinism,  may 
he  quoted  from  many  of  our  most  distinguished  writers.  And,  since  that  which  is  irregular  cannot  be 
parsed  bv  rule,  if  out  of  respect  to  authority  we  judge  it  allowable,  it  must  be  set  down  among  the 
figures  of  grammar  ;  which  are,  all  of  them,  intentional  deviations  from  the  ordinary  use  of  words. 
One  late  author  treats  the  point  pretty  well,  in  this  short  hint :  "After  the  conjunction  than,  con- 
trary to  analogy,  trhom  is  used  in  stead  of  who." — \uttina's  Gram.  p.  106.  An  other  gives  his  opin- 
ion in  the  following  note  :  "  When  who  immediately  follows  than,  it  is  used  improperly  in  the  objec- 
tive case  ;  as,  'Alfred,  than  trhom  a  greater  king  never  reigned  ; ' — than  tchomis  not  grammatical. 
It  ought  to  be,  than  who ;  because  tr^o  is  the  nominative  to  iras  understood. —  Than  whom  is  as 
bad  a  phrase  as  '  he  is  taller  than  him.'  It  is  true  that  some  of  our  best  writers  have  used  than 
tchom  ,-  but  it  is  also  true,  that  they  have  used  other  phrases  which  we  have  rejected  as  ungrammat- 
ical ;  then  why  not  reject  this  too  ?  " — Lennic's  Grammar,  Edition  of  1830,  p.  105. 

OBS.  23. — On  this  point,  Bullions  and  Brace,  two  American  copyists  and  plagiarists  of  Lennie, 
adopt  opposite  notions.  The  latter  copies  the  foregoing  note,  without  the  last  sentence ;  that 
is,  without  admitting  that  "  than  trhom"  has  ever  been  used  by  good  writers.  See  Brace's  Gram. 
p.  90.  The  former  says,  "The  relative  usually  follows  than  in  the  objective  case,  even  irhc-n  the 
nominative  (joes  before  ;  as,  'Alfred,  than  whom  a  greater  king  never  reigned.'  This  anomaly  it  is 
difficult  to  explain.  Most  probably,  than,  at  first  had  the  forceof  a  preposition,  which  it  nowretains 
only  when  followed  by  the  relative." — Bullions,  E.  Gram,  of  1843,  p.  112.  Again:  "A  relative 
after  than  is  put  in  the  objective  case  ;  as,  '  Satan,  than  whom  none  higher  sat.'  This  anomaly  has 

_  ..  i-  -  .        __*.•/• A. .1 ..   -li_: 1         T—   Al. ;~_  i-ij.  •  i  •  T-.  «  I,- 


>  one  higher  sat." — Foiclfr's  E.  Gram.  $  482,  Note  2.  Thus,  by  one  single  form  of  antiptosis, 
have  our  grammarians  been  as  much  divided  and  perplexed,  as  were  the  Latin  grammarians  by  a 
vast  number  of  such  changes  ;  and,  since  there  were  some  among  the  latter,  who  insisted  on  a 
total  rejection  of  the  figure,  there  is  no  great  presumption  in  discarding,  if  we  please,  the  very 
little  that  remains  of  it  in  English. 

Oi'.s.  24. — Peirce's  new  theory  of  grammar  rests  mainly  on  the  assumption,  that  no  correct  sen- 
tem-e  ever  is,  or  can  be,  in  any  wise,  elliptical.  This  is  one  of  the  "  TWO  GRAND  PRINCIPLES  "  on 
which  the  author  says  his  "  work  is  based." — The  Grammar,  p.  10.  The  other  is,  that  grammar 
cannot  possibly  be  taught  without  a  thorough  reformation  of  its  nomenclature,  a  reformation  in- 
volving a  change  of  most  of  the  names  and  technical  terms  heretofore  used  for  its  elucidation. 
I  do  not  give  precisely  his  own  words,  for  one  half  of  this  author's  system  is  expressed  in  such 
language  as  needs  to  be  translated  into  English  in  order  to  be  generally  understood  ;  but  this  is 
precisely  his  meaning,  and  in  words  more  intelligible.  In  what  estimation  he  holds  these  two 
positions,  may  be  judged  from  the  following  assertion:  "Without  these  grand  points,  no  work, 
whatever  may  be  its  pretensions,  can  be  A  GRAMMAR  of  the  LANGUAGE." — Ib.  It  follows,  that  no 
man  who  does  not  despise  every  other  book  that  is  called  a  grammar,  can  entertain  any  favourable 
opinion  of  Peirce's.  The  author  however  is  tolerably  consistent.  He  not  only  scorns  to  appeal,  for 
the  confirmation  of  his  own  assertions  and  rules,  to  the  judgement  or  practice  of  any  other  writrr, 
hut  counsels  the  learner  to  "  spurn  the  idea  of  quoting,  either  as  proof  or  for  defence,  the  author- 
ity of  any  man."  See  p.  13.  The  notable  results  of  these  important  premises  are  too  numerous 
for  detail  evrn  in  this  general  pandect.  But  it  is  to  be  mentioned  here,  that,  according  to  this 
the  >ry,  a  nominative  coining  after  than  or  na,  is  in  general  to  be  accounted  a  nomincrtirr  nl>- 
solt'ti  • ;  that  is,  a  nominative  which  is  independent  of  any  verb;  or,  (as  the  ingenious  author  him- 
self e.\ ;  "A  word  in  the  subjective  case  following  another  subjective,  and  immediately 
pre-v-rli'd  by  Hxm,  as,  or  not,  may  be  used  trit/mi/f  un  ASSKKTKR  immediately  depending  on  it  for 
.  p.  19o.  See  also  his  "Grammutirnl  ('hart,  Rule  I,  Part  2." 

(.'us.  2). — "  Lowth,  Priestley,  Murray,  and  most   grammarians   say,  that   hypothetical,  condi- 
tional, concessive,  or  exceptive  conjunctions  ;  as,  if\  /W,  thnwih,  tin!/''.™,  r.n-rpt  ';  require,  or 
the  subjunctive  mood.     But  in  this  thev  are  certainly  wrong:  for,  as  Dr.  Cromtne rightly  obs 
thf  verb  is  put  in  the  subjunctive  mood,  because  this  mood  expresses  contingency,  not  ln<  . 
folhirt  fJic  miijunrfion  :  for  these  writers  themselves  allow,  that  the  same  conjunctions  are  to  be 
followed  by  the  indicative  mood,  when  the  verb  is  not  intended  to  express  a  contingency.     In  the 
Following  sentence  :   '  Thotu/h  he  be  displeased  at  it,  I  will  bolt  my  door  ;  and  let  him  break  it  open, 
tfhe  dire:'  may  we  not  as  well  affirm,  that  and  governs  the  imperative  mood,  as  that  though  and 
[f  K')V<?m  the  subjunctive  ?  " — Ckwrckitft  (tram.  p.  321. 

OBS.  26. — In  the  list  of  correspondent  contained  in  Note  7th  below,  there  are  some  words  which 
ought  not  to  be  called  conttmctioiu,  by  the  parser;  for  the  relation  of  a  word  as  the  proper  corre- 
spondent to  an  other  wora,  does  not  necessarily  determine  its  part  of  speech.     Thus,  smh  is  to  be 
parked  as  an  adjective;  as,  sometimes  as  a  pronoun  ;  .so,  as  a  conjunctive  adverb.      And  only, 
;.  a/so,  and  even,  are  sometimes  conjunctive  adverb-  is  this  only  a  matter  of  con- 

venience to  the  poet,  it  is  a/so  a  source  of  gratification  to  the  reader."— Catnpfti'U'is  R/irt.  p.  166. 
|Arroy*«  Gram,  i,  362.  Professor  Bullions  will  have  it,  that  these  adverbs  may  relate  to  nouns — 
a  doctrine  which  I  disapprove.  "  He  says,  "  Only,  solely,  chiefy,  merely,  too,  oho,  and  perhaps 

»  In  respect  to  the  cos*,  the  phrase  than  who  is  similar  to  than  ht,  than  they,  4c.,  as  has  been  observed  by 
many  grammarians  ;  but,  since  Man  is  a  conjunction,  and  wiio  or  u-kom  is  a  relative,  it  is  doubtful  whether  it 
can  be  strictly  proper  to  set  two  such  connectives  together,  be  the  i-a--  of  UK-  latter  which  it  may.  See  Note  6th, 
in  1 1«  present  chapter,  below. 


646  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

a  few  others,  arc  sometimes  joined  to  substantives  ;  as,  "Not  only  the  men,  but  the  -women  also  were 
present." — English  Gram.  p.  116.  Only  and  also  are  here,  I  think,  conjunctive  adverbs  ;  but  it  is 
not  the  office  of  adverbs  to  qualify  nouns ;  and,  that  these  words  are  adjuncts  to  the  nouns  men 
and  women,  rather  than  to  the  verb  were,  which  is  once  expressed  and  once  understood,  I  see  no 
sufficient  reason  to  suppose.  Some  teachers  imagine,  that  an  adverb  of  this  kind  qualifies  the 
whole  clause  in  which  it  stands.  But  it  would  seem,  that  the  relation  of  such  words  to  verbs, 
participles,  or  adjectives,  according  to  the  common  rule  for  adverbs,  is  in  general  sufficiently 
obvious  :  as,  "  The  perfect  tense  not  only  refers  to  what  is  past,  but  also  conveys  an  allusion  to 
the  present  time." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  70.  Is  there  any  question  about  the  true  mode  of  pars- 
ing "  only  "  and  "  also  "  here  ?  and  have  they  not  in  the  other  sentence,  a  relation  similar  to 
what  is  seen  here  ? 

NOTES  TO  KULE  XXII. 

NOTE  I. — When  two  terms  connected  are  each  to  be  extended  and  completed  in 
sense  by  a  third,  they  must  both  be  such  as  will  make  sense  with  it.  Thus,  in  stead 
of  saying,  "  He  has  made  alterations  and  additions  to  the  work,"  say,  "  He  has  made 
alterations  in  the  work,  and  additions  to  it ;  "  because  the  relation  between  alterations 
and  work  is  not  well  expressed  by  to. 

NOTE  II. — In  general,  any  two  terms  which  we  connect  by  a  conjunction,  should 
be  the  same  in  kind  or  quality,  rather  than  different  or  heterogeneous.  Example : 
"  The  assistance  was  welcome,  and  seasonably  afforded." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p. 
249.  Better  :  "  The  assistance  was  welcome,  and  it  was  seasonably  afforded."  Or  : 
"  The  assistance  was  both  seasonable  and  welcome" 

NOTE  III. — The  conjunctions,  copulative  or  disjunctive,  affirmative  or  negative, 
must  be  used  with  a  due  regard  to  their  own  import,  and  to  the  true  idiom  of  the 
language.  Thus,  say,  "  The  general  bent  or  turn  of  the  language  is  towards  the 
other  form  ;  "  and  not,  with  Lowth  and  Churchill,  "  The  general  bent  and  turn  of  the 
language  is  towards  the  other  form." — Short  Introd.  p.  60;  New  Gram.  p.  113. 
So,  say,  "  I  cannot  deny  that  there  are  perverse  jades;  "  and  not,  with  Addison,  "  I 
cannot  deny  but  there  are  perverse  jades." — Spect.  No.  457.  Again,  say,  "I  feared 
that  I  should  be  deserted  ;  "  not,  "  lest  I  should  be  deserted." 

NOTE  IV. — After  else,  other,*  otherwise,  rather,  and  all  English  comparatives, 
the  latter  term  of  an  exclusive  comparison  should  be  introduced  by  the  conjunct  on 
than  —  a  word  which  is  appropriated  to  this  use  solely  :  as,  '  Style  is  nothing  else  than 
that  sort  of  expression  which  our  thoughts  most  readily  assume." — Blair's  Rhet.  p. 
92.  "  What  we  call  fables  or  parables  are  no  other  than  allegories." — Ib.  p.  151 ; 
^Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  243.  "  We  judge  otherwise  of  them  than  of  ourselves." 
— R.  Ainsworth.  "  The  premeditation  should  be  of  things  rather  than  of  words." 
—Blair's  Rhet.  p.  262.  "  Is  not  the  life  more  than  meat?  "—  Com.  Bible.  "  Is 
not  life  a  greater  gift  than  food  ?  " — Campbell's  Gospels. 

NOTE  V. — Relative  pronouns,  being  themselves  a  species  of  connective  words, 
necessarily  exclude  conjunctions ;  except  there  be  two  or  more  relative  clauses  to  be 
connected  together;  that  is,  one  to  the  other.  Example  of  error:  "The  principal 
and  distinguishing  excellence  of  Yirgil,  and  which,  in  my  opinion,  he  possesses 

*  After  else  or  other,  the  preposition  besides  is  sometimes  used ;  and,  when  it  recalls  an  idea  previously 
suggested,  it  appears  to  be  as  good  as  than,  or  better:  as,  "Other  words,  besides  the  preceding,  may  begin  with 
capitals." — Murray' 'a  Gram.  Vol.  i,  p.  285.  Or  perhaps  this  preposition  may  be  proper,  whenever  else  or  other 
denotes  what  is  additional  to  the  object  of  contrast,  and  not  exclusive  of  it ;  as,  u  When  we  speak  of  any  other 
quantity  besides  bare  numbers."—  Tooke's  Diversions,  Vol.  i,  p.  215.  "Because  he  had  no  other  father  besides 
God." — Milton,  on  Christianity,  p,  109.  Though  we  sometimes  express  an  addition  by  more  than,  the  following 
example  appears  to  me  to  be  bad  English,  and  its  interpretation  still  worse  :  "  '  The  secret  was  communicated  to 
more  men  than  him.'  That  is,  (when  the  ellipsis  is  duly  supplied,)  'The  secret  was  communicated  to  more 


show  me  an  other  popish  rhymester  besides  Aim."  Or  thus  :  "  Now  show  me  any  popish  rhymester  exctpt  him." 
This  too  is  questionable  :  "Now  pain  must  here  be  intended  to  signify  something  else  besides  warning." — Way- 
land's  Moral  Science,  p.  121.  If  "  warning  "  was  here  intended  to  be  included  with  "something  else,"  the 
expression  is  right ;  if  not,  besides  should  be  than.  Again  :  "  There  is  seldom  any  other  cardinal  in  Poland  but 
him."— Life  of  Charles  XII.  Here  "  but  him  "  should  be  either  "  besides  him  "  or  "  than  he  ;  "  for  but  never 
rightly  governs  the  objective  case,  nor  is  it  proper  after  other.  "  Many  more  examples,  besides  the  foregoing, 
might  have  been  adduced."— Nesbifs  English  Parsing,  p.  xv.  Here,  in  fact,  no  comparison  is  expressed;  and 
therefore  it  is  questionable,  whether  the  word  "  more  "  is  allowably  used.  Like  else  and  other,  when  construed 
with  besides.it  signifies  additional;  and,  as  this  idea  is  implied  in  besides,  any  one  of  these  adjectives  going 
before  is  really  pleonastic.  In  the  sense  above  noticed,  the  word  beside  is  sometimes  written  in  stead  of  besides, 
though  not  very  often  ;  as,  "  There  are  other  things  which  pass  in  the  mind  of  rawi  beside  ideas." — Sheridan's 
Elocution,  p.  136. 


CHAP.  IX.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XXII. CONJUNCTIONS. NOTES.  647 

beyond  alt  poets,  is  tenderness." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  439.  Better:  "  The  principal 
and  distinguishing  excellence  of  Virgil,  an  excellence  which,  in  my  opinion,  he  pos- 
sesses beyond  all  other  poets,  is  tenderness." 

NOTE  VI. — The  word  that,  (as  was  shown  in  the  fifth  chapter  of  Etymology,)  is 
often  made  a  pronoun  in  respect  to  what  precedes  it,  and  a  conjunction  in  respect  to 
what  follows  it  —  a  construction  which,  for  its  anomaly,  ought  to  be  rejected.  For 
example  :  "/«  the  mean  time  THAT  the  Muscovites  were  complaining  to  St.  Nicholas, 
Charles  returned  thanks  to  God,  and  prepared  for  new  victories." — Life  of  Charles 
XII.  Better  thus  :  "  While  the  Muscovites  were  thus  complaining  to  St.  Nicholas, 
Charles  returned  thanks  to  God,  and  prepared  for  new  victories." 

NOT*  VII. — The  words  in  each  of  the  following  pairs,  are  the  proper  correspon- 
dents to  each  other ;  and  care  should  be  taken,  to  give  them  their  right  place  in  the 
sentence  : 

1.  To  though,  corresponds  yet;  as,  "Though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live." — 
John,  xi,  25. 

2.  To  whether,  corresponds  or;  as,  "  Whether  it  be  greater  or  less." — Butler's 
Analogy,  p.  77. 

3.  To  either,  corresponds  or ;  as,   "  The  constant  indulgence  of  a  declamatory 
manner,  is  not  favourable  either  to  good  composition,  or  [to]  good  delivery." — 
Blair's  Rhet.  p.  334. 

4.  To  neither,  corresponds  nor  ;  as,  "  John  the  Baptist  came  neither  eating  bread 
nor  drinking  wine." — Luke,  vii,    33.      "Thou  shalt  neither  vex  a  stranger  nor 
oppress  him." — Erod.  xxii,  21. 

.">.  To  both,  corresponds  and;  as,  "  I  am  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the 
Barbarians,  both  to  the  wise  and  to  the  unwise." — Rom.  i,  14. 

0.  To  such,  corresponds  a*  ;  (the  former  being  a  pronominal  adjective,  and  the 
latter  a  relative  pronoun  ;)  as,  "An  assembly  such  as  earth  saw  never." — Cowper. 

7.  To  such,  corresponds  that;  with  a  finite  verb  following,  to  express  a  conse- 
quence :  as,  "  The  difference  is  such  that  all  will  perceive  it." 

8.  To  as,  corresponds  as;  with  an  adjective  or  an  adverb,  to  express  equality  of 
dogree:  as,    "And  he  went  out  from  his  presence  a  leper  as  white  as  snow." — 2 
Kings,  v,  27. 

9.  To  as,  corresponds  so ;  with  two  verbs,  to  express  proportion  or  sameness  :  as, 
"As  two  are  to  four,  so  are  six  to  twelve."— "^4s  the  tree  falls,  so  it  must  lie." 

10.  So  is  used  before  as;  with  an  adjective  or  an  adverb,  to  limit  the  degree  by 
a  comparison  :  as,  "  How  can  you  descend  to  a  thing  so  base  as  falsehood?  " 

11.  So  is  used  before  as;  with  a  negative  preceding,  to  deny  equality  of  degree  : 
ns,  "  No  lamb  was  e'er  so  mild  as  he." — Langhorne.     "  Relatives  are  not  so  useful 
in  language  as  conjunctions." — BEATTIE  :  Murray's  Gram.  p.  126. 

12.  To  so,  corresponds  as;  with  an  infinitive  following,  to  express  a  consequence  : 
\Ve  ought,  certainly,  to  read  blank  verse  so  as  to  make  every  line  sensible  to 

tho  ear."— fair's  Rhet.  p.  832. 

13.  To  so,  corresponds  that;  with  a  finite  verb  following,  to  express  a  conse- 
ouence  :  as,   "  No  man  was  so  poor  that  he  could  not  make  restitution." — Mihuan's 
Jews,  i,  113.     "So  run  that  ye  may  obtain."—!  Cor.  ix,  24. 

14.  To  not  only,  or  not  merely,  corresponds  hut,  but  also,  or  but  even ;  as,  "  In 
heroic  times,  smuggling  and  piracy  were  deemed  not  only  not  infamous,  but  [even] 
absolutely  honourable." — Maunders  Gram.  p.  15.     "These  are  questions,  not  of 
prudence  merely,  but  of  morals  also." — Dymond's  Ess.  p.  82. 

NOTE  VIII. — "  When  correspondent  conjunctions  are  used,  the  verb,  or  phrase, 
that  precedes  the  first,  applies  [also]  to  the  second  ;  but  no  word  following  the  former, 
c;m  [by  virtue  of  this  correspondence,]  be  understood  after  the  latter" — Churchill's 
Gram.  p.  353.  Such  ellipses  as  the  following  ought  therefore  in  general  to  be 
avoided  :  "Tones  are  different  both  from  emphasis  and  \_from~]  pauses." — Murray's 
Gram.  8vo,  i,  250.  "  Though  both  the  intention  and  [the']  purchase  are  now  past." 
—Ib.  ii,  24. 


648  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  Lll. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XXII. 

EXAMPLES  UNDER  NOTE  I. — Two  TERMS  WITH  ONE. 

"  The  first  proposal  was  essentially  different  and  inferior  to  the  second." — Inst.  p.  171. 

[FoRMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  preposition  to  is  used  with  joint  reference  to  the  two  adjectiTea  different 
and  inferior,  which  require  different  prepositions.  But,  according  to  Note  1st  under  Rule  22d,  "  When  two 
terms  connected  are  each  to  be  extended  and  completed  in  sense  by  a  third,  they  must  both  be  such  as  \ull 
make  sense  with  it.:'  The  sentence  may  be  corrected  thus  :  "  The  first  proposal  was  essentially  diSerent  fn>m 
the  second,  and  inferior  to  it."] 

"A  neuter  verb  implies  the  state  a  subject  is  in,  without  acting  upon,  or  being  acted 
upon,  by  another." — Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  30.  "  I  answer,  you  may  and  ought  to  use 
stories  and  anecdotes." — Student's  Manual,  p.  220.  "  ORACLE,  n.  Any  person  or  place  where 
certain  decisions  are  obtained." — Webster's  Diet.  "Forms  of  government  may,  and  must 
be  occasionally,  changed." — Ld.  Lyttelton.  "  I  have,  and  pretend  to  be  a  tolerable  judge." 
— Sped.  No.  555.  "Are  we  not  lazy  in  our  duties,  or  make  a  Christ  of  them?" — Baxter's 
Saints'  Rest.  "  They  may  not  express  that  idea  which  the  author  intends,  but  some  other 
which  only  resembles,  or  is  a-kin  to  it." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  94.  "  We  may,  we  ought  there- 
fore to  read  them  with  a  distinguishing  eye." — Ib.  p.  352.  "  Compare  their  poverty,  with 
what  they  might,  and  ought  to  possess." — Sedgwick's  Econ.  p.  95.  "  He  is  a  much  better 
grammarian  than  they  are." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  211.  "  He  was  more  beloved,  but  not 
so  much  admired  as  Cinthio." — ADDISON,  ON  MEDALS  :  in  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  200.  "  Will 
it  be  urged,  that  the  four  gospels  are  as  old,  or  even  older  than  tradition  ? " — Bolingb.  Phil. 
Es.  iv,  §  19.  "  The  court  of  Chancery  frequently  mitigates,  and  breaks  the  teeth  of  the  com- 
mon law." — Spectator,  No.  564;  Ware's  Gram.  p.  16.  "Antony,  coming  along  side  of  her 
ship,  entered  it  without  seeing  or  being  seen  by  her." — Goldsmith's  Rome,  p.  160.  "  In  can- 
did minds,  truth  finds  an  entrance,  and  a  welcome  too." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  168.  "  In  many 
designs,  we  may  succeed  and  be  miserable." — Ib.  p.  169.  "In many  pursuits,  we  embark 
with  pleasure,  and  land  sorrowfully." — Ib.  p.  170.  "They  are  much  greater  gainers  than 
I  am  by  this  unexpected  event." — Ib.  p.  211. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — HETEROGENEOUS  TERMS. 

"Athens  saw  them  entering  her  gates  and  fill  her  academies." — Chazotte's  Essay,  p.  30. 
"We  have  neither  forgot  his  past,  nor  despair  of  his  future  success." — Duncan's  Cicero,  p. 
121.  "Her  monuments  and  temples  had  long  been  shattered  or  crumbled  into  dust.' 
— Lit.  Conv.  p.  15.  "  Competition  is  excellent,  and  the  vital  principle  in  all  these  things.'' 
— DR.  LIBBER  j  ib.  p.  64.  "  Whether  provision  should  or  not,  be  made  to  meet  this  exi- 
gency."— Ib.  p.  128.  "  That  our  Saviour  was  divinely  inspired,  and  endued  with  supernat- 
ural powers,  are  positions  that  are  here  taken  for  granted."— Murray's  Gram,  i,  206.  "  Ifc 
would  be  much  more  eligible,  to  contract  or  enlarge  their  extent,  by  explanatory  notes  and 
observations,  than  by  sweeping  away  our  ancient  landmarks,  and  setting  up  others." — II. 
i,  p.  30.  "  It  is  certainly  much  better,  to  supply  the  defects  and  abridge  superfluities, 
by  occasional  notes  and  observations,  than  by  disorganizing,  or  altering  a  system  which 
has  been  so  long  established." — Ib.  i,  59.  "  To  have  only  one  tune,  or  measure,  is  not  much 
better  than  having  none  at  all." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  126.  "Facts  too  well  known  and  ob- 
vious to  be  insisted  on." — Ib.  p.  233.  "  In  proportion  as  all  these  circumstances  are  happily 
chosen,  and  of  a  sublime  kind." — Ib.  p.  41.  "If  the  description  be  too  general,  and  di- 
vested of  circumstances." — Ibid.  "  He  gained  nothing  further  than  to  be  commended."- 
Murray's  Key,  ii,  210.  "I  cannot  but  think  its  application  somewhat  strained,  and  out  of 
place." — VETHAK.E:  Lit.  Conv.  p.  29.  "Two  negatives  in  the  same  clause,  or  referring  to 
the  same  thing,  destroy  each  other,  and  leave  the  sense  affirmative." — Maunckr's  Gram. 
p.  15.  "  Slates  are  stones  and  used  to  cover  roofs  of  houses." — Webster's  El.  Spelling- Book, 
p.  47.  "  Every  man  of  taste,  and  possessing  an  elevated  mind,  ought  to  feel  almost  the  ne- 
cessity of  apologizing  for  the  power  he  possesses." — Influence  of  Liter  attire,  Vol.  ii,  p.  122. 
"They  very  seldom  trouble  themselves  with  Enquiries,  or  making  useful  observations  of 
their  own." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  376. 

"  We've  both  the  field  and  honour  won ; 

The  foe  is  profligate,  and  run." — Hudibras,  p.  93. 

UNDER  NOTE  III. — IMPORT  OF  CONJUNCTIONS. 

"The  is  sometimes  used  before  adverbs  in  the  comparative  and  superlative  degree."— />n- 
nie's  Gram.  p.  6  ;  Bullions' s,  8  ;  Brace's,  9.  "  The  definite  article  the  is  frequently  applied  to 
adverbs  in  the  comparative  and  superlative  degree." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  33  ;  Ingersoll's, 
33  ;  Loivth's,  14  ;  Fisk's,  53  ;  Merchant's,  24  ;  and  others.  "  Conjunctions  usually  connect 
verbs  in  the  same  mode  or  tense." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  137.  "  Conjunctions  connect  verbs 
in  the  same  style,  and  usually  in  the  same  mode,  tense,  or  form." — Ib.  "  The  ruins  of 
Greece  and  Rome  are  but  the  monuments  of  her  former  greatness." — Day's  Gram.  p.  88. 
"  In  many  of  these  cases,  it  is  not  improbable,  but  that  the  articles  were  used  originally." 
— Priestley's  Gram.  p.  152.  "I  cannot  doubt  but  that  these  objects  are  really  what  they 


CHAP.  IX.]  SYNTAX. BULB   XXII. CONJUNCTIONS. ERRORS.  649 

appear  to  be." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  85.  "I  question  not  but  my  reader  will  be  as 
much  pleased  with  it." — Sj)t-<-t.  No.  535.  "It  is  ten  to  one  but  my  friend  Peter  is  among 
them." — Ib.  No.  457.  "  I  doubt  not  but  such  objections  as  these  will  be  made." — Locke, 
on  Education,  p.  169.  "  I  doubt  not  but  it  will  appear  in  the  perusal  of  the  following 
sheets." — Buchanan's  Syntajc,  p.  vi.  "  It  is  not  improbable,  but  that,  in  time,  these  different 
constructions  may  be  appropriated  to  different  uses." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  156.  "But to 
forget  or  to  remember  at  pleasure,  are  equally  beyond  the  power  of  man." — Idler,  No.  72. 
"  The  nominative  case  follows  the  verb,  in  interrogative  and  imperative  sentences." — Mur- 
ray's Gram.  Svo,  Vol.  ii,  p.  290.  "  Can  the  fig-tree,  my  brethren,  bear  olive  berries  ?  either 
a  vine,  figs  •  " — James,  iii,  12.  "  Whose  characters  are  too  profligate,  that  the  managing  of 
them  should  be  of  any  consequence." — Swift,  Examiner,  No.  2i.  "You  that  are  a  step 
higher  than  a  philosopher,  a  divine  ;  yet  have  too  much  grace  and  wit  than  to  be  a  bishop." 
— Pope,  to  Swift,  Let.  80.  "The  terms  richer  poor  enter  not  into  their  language." — Rob- 
ertsons America,  Vol.  i,  p.  314.  "This  pause  is  but  seldom  or  ever  sufficiently  dwelt 
upon." — Music  of  Nature,  p.  181.  "There  would  be  no  possibility  of  any  such  thing  as 
human  life  and  human  happiness." — Butler's  Anal.  p.  110.  "  The  multitude  rebuked  them, 
because  they  should  hold  their  peace." — Matt,  xx,  21. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — OF  THE  CONJUNCTION  THAN. 

"A  metaphor  is  nothing  else  but  a  short  comparison." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  243  ;  Gould's,  236. 
"There  being  no  other  dictator  here  but  use." — Campbell's  Rhct.  p.  167.  "  This  Construction  is 
no  otherwise  known  in  English  but  by  supplying  the  first  or  second  Person  Plural." — J'uchan- 
an's  Syntax,  p.  xi.  "  Cyaxares  was  no  sooner  in  the  throne,  but  he  was  engaged  in  a  terrible 
war." — Rollins  Hist,  ii,  62.  "  Those  classics  contain  little  else  but  histories  of  murders." — 
Am.  Museum,  v,  526.  "Ye  shall  not  worship  any  other  except  God." — Sale's  Koran,  p.  15. 
"  Their  relation,  therefore,  is  not  otherwise  to  be  ascertained  but  by  their  place." — Campbell's 
Ji/if-t.  p.  260.  "  For  he  no  sooner  accosted  her,  but  he  gained  his  p'oint."— Burder's  Hist,  i,  6. 
"And  all  the  modern  writers  on  this  subject  have  done  little  else  but  translate  them." — 
Blair's  Rhct.  p.  336.  "  One  who  had  no  other  aim,  but  to  talk  copiously  and  plausibly." — 
Ib.  p.  317.  "We  can  refer  it  to  no  other  cause  but  the  structure  of  the  eye." — Ib.  p.  46.  ""No 
more  is  required  but  singly  an  act  of  vision." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,"  171.  "  We  find  no 
more  in  its  composition,  but  the  particulars  now  mentioned." — Ib.  i,  48.  "  He  pretends  not 
to  say,  that  it  hath  any  other  effect  but  to  raise  surprise." — Ib.  ii,  61.  "  No  sooner  was  the 
princess  dead,  but  he  freed  himself." — Johnson's  Sketch  of  Morin.  "Ought  is  an  imperfect 
verb,  for  it  has  no  other  modification  besides  this  one." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  113.  "  The 
verb  is  palpably  nothing  else  but  the  tie." — Xccfs  Sketch,  p.  66.  "  Does  he  mean  that  theism 
is  capable  of  nothing  else  except  being  opposed  to  polytheism  or  atheism  :  " — Blair's  Rhet. 
p.  104.  "  Is  it  meant  that  theism  is  capable  of  nothing  else  besides  being  opposed  to  poly- 
theism, or  atheism : "  — Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  p.  307.  "  There  is  no  other  method  of  teaching 
that  of  which  any  one  is  ignorant,  but  by  means  of  something  already  known." — Du.  JOHN- 
SON :  Murray's  Gram,  i,  163  ;  Ingersoll's,  214.  "  O  fairest  flower,  no  sooner  blown  but 
blasted  !  " — Milton's  Poems,  p.  132.  "Architecture  and  gardening  cannot  otherwise  enter- 
tain the  mind,  but  by  raising  certain  agreeable  emotions  or  feelings." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit. 
ii,  318.  "  Or,  rather  they  are  nothing  else  but  nouns." — British  Gram.  p.  95. 
"As  if  religion  were  intended 

For  nothing  else  but  to  be  mended." — Hudibras,  p.  11. 
Txnr.ii  NOTI;  V. — RELATIVES  EXCLUDE  COXJCNCTI 

To  prepare  the  Jews  for  the  reception  of  a  prophet  mightier  than  him,  and  whose  shoes 
he  was  not  worthy  to  bear."— Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  214.     "Has  this  word  which  repre- 
sents   an    action    an  object   after   it,  and  on  which  it   terminates?" — (thorn's   AVy,  p.  3. 
"  The  stores  of  literature  lie  before  him,   and   from  which  he  may  collect,  for  use,  many 
!  of  wisdom. — Knnpji'  ;>.  :J1.     "  Many  and  various  great  advantages  of  this 

Grammar,  and  which  are  wanting  in  others,  might  be  enumerated."— i,  .  p.  6. 

"About  the  time  of  Solon,  the  Athenian  legislator,  the  custom  is  said  to  have  been  intro- 
duced, and  which  still  prevails,  of  writing  in  lines  from  left  to  right." — Jamirvm'*  I: 
19.  "  The  fundamental  rule  of  the  construction  of  sentences,  and  into  which  all  others 
might  be  resolved,  undoubtedly  is,  to  communicate,  in  the  clearest  and  most  natural  order, 
the  ideas  which  we  mean  to  transfuse  into  the  minds  of  others." — Blair's  lUn-t.  p.  120  ;  Jamie- 
son's,  102.  "  He  left  a  son  of  a  singular  character,  and  who  behaved  so  ill  that  he  was  put 
in  prison."  —  Murray's  AVy,  Svo,  p.  -J21.  "  He  discovered  some  qualities  in  the  youth,  of  a 
cable  nature,  and  which  to  him  were  wholly  unaccountable." — Ib.  p.  213.  "An 
cinphatieal  pause  is  made,  after  something  has  been  said  of  peculiar  moment,  and  on  which 
we  want  ['desire'  M.]  to  fix  the  hearer's  attention."— IMiir's  Rln-f.  p.  :'.•'>  1  ;  Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  p.  218.  "  Hut  we  have  duplicates  of  each,  agreeing  in  movement,  though  differing'  in 
raeasure,  and  which  make  different  impressions  on  the  ear." — Murray's  dram.  Svo,  \>. 
r\Di:ii  NOTK  VI.— Or  THE  WORD  THAT. 

"  It  will  greatly  facilitate  the  labours  of  the  teacher,  at  the  same  time  that  it  will  relieve 
the  pupil  of  many  difficulties."— Frost's  El.  of  E.  Gram.  p.  4.     "At  the  same  time  that  the 


650  THE    GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   II  f, 

pupil  is  engaged  in  the  exercises  just  mentioned,  it  will  be  a  proper  time  to  study  the  whole 
Grammar  in  course." — Bullions,  Prin.  of  E.  Gram.,  Revised  Ed.,  p.  viii.  "  On  the  same 
ground  that  a  participle  and  auxiliary  are  allowed  to  form  a  tense." — BEATTIE  :  Murray's 
Gram.  8vo,  p.  76.  "  On  the  same  ground  that  the  voices,  moods,  and  tenses,  are  admitted 
into  the  English  tongue." — Ib.  p.  101.  "The  five  examples  last  mentioned,  are  corrected 
on  the  same  principle  that  the  preceding  examples  are  corrected." — Ib.  p.  186  ;  Ingersoll's 
Gram.  254.  "  The  brazen  age  began  at  the  death  of  Trajan,  and  lasted  till  the  time  that 
Home  was  taken  by  the  Goths." — Gould's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  277.  "  The  introduction  to  the  Duo- 
decimo Edition,  is  retained  in  this  volume,  for  the  same  reason  that  the  original  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Grammar,  is  retained  in  the  first  volume." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  Vol.  ii,  p.  iv. 
"  The  verb  must  also  be  of  the  same  person  that  the  nominative  case  is." — Ingersoll's  Gram. 
p.  16.  "The  adjective  pronoun  their,  is  plural  for  the  same  reason  that  who  is." — Ib.  p.  84. 
"  The  Sabellians  could  not  justly  be  called  Patripassians,  in  the  same  sense  that  the  Noe- 
tians  were  so  called." — Religious  World,  Vol.  ii,  p.  122.  "This  is  one  reason  that  we  pass 
over  such  smooth  language,  without  suspecting  that  it  contains  little  or  no  meaning." — 
Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  298.  "  The  first  place  that  both  armies  came  in  sight  of  each  other 
was  on  the  opposite  banks  of  the  river  Apsus." — Goldsmith's  Rome,  p.  118.  "At  the  very  time 
that  the  author  gave  him  the  first  book  for  his  perusal." — Campbell's  Rhetoric,  Preface,  p.  iv. 
"  Peter  will  sup  at  the  time  that  Paul  will  dine." — Fosdick's  De  Sacy,  p.  81.  "  Peter  will 
be  supping  at  the  time  that  Paul  will  enter." — Ibid.  "These,  at  the  same  time  that  they 
may  serve  as  models  to  those  who  may  wish  to  imitate  them,  will  give  me  an  opportunity 
to  cast  more  light  upon  the  principles  of  this  book." — Ib.  p.  115. 
"Time  was,  like  thee,  they  life  possest, 
And  time  shall  be,  that  thou  shaltrest." — PARNELL:  Mur.  Seq.  241. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII. — OF  THE  CORRESPONDENTS. 

"  Our  manners  should  neither  be  gross,  nor  excessively  refined." — Merchant's  Gram.  p.  11. 
"A  neuter  verb  expresses  neither  action  or  passion,  but  being,  or  a  state  of  being." — O.  B. 
Peirce's  Gram.  p.  342.  "  The  old  books  are  neither  English  grammars,  or  grammars,  in  any 
sense  of  the  English  Language." — Ib.  p.  378.  "  The  author  is  apprehensive  that  his  work 
is  not  yet  as  accurate  and  as  much  simplified  as  it  may  be." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  7.  "  The 
writer  could  not  treat  some  topicks  as  extensively  as  was  desirable." — Ib.  p.  10.  "  Which 
would  be  a  matter  of  such  nicety,  as  no  degree  of  human  wisdom  could  regulate." — Murray's 
Gram,  i,  26.  "No  undertaking  is  so  great  or  difficult  which  he  cannot  direct." — Duncan's 
Cic.  p.  126.  "  It  is  a  good  which  neither  depends  on  the  will  of  others,  nor  on  the  affluence 
of  external  fortune." — Harris's  Hermes,  299;  Murray's  Gram,  i,  289.  "  Not  only  his  estate, 
his  reputation  too  has  suffered  by  his  misconduct." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  150  ;  Ingersoll's,  238. 
"  Neither  do  they  extend  as  far  as  might  be  imagined  at  first  view." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  350. 
"  There  is  no  language  so  poor,  but  it  hath  two  or  three  past  tenses." — Ib.  p.  82.  "As  far  as 
this  system  is  founded  in  truth,  language  appears  to  be  not  altogether  arbitrary  in  its  origin." 
— Ib.  p.  56.  "I  have  not  that  command  of  these  convulsions  as  is  necessary." — Spect.  No. 
474.  "  Conversation  with  such  who  know  no  arts  which  polish  life." — Ib.  No.  480.  "And 
which  can  be  neither  very  lively  or  very  forcible." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  78.  "  To  that  de- 
gree as  to'give  proper  names  to  rivers." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of  Lang.  i,  327.  "  In  the  utter 
overthrow  of  such  who  hate  to  be  reformed." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  443.  "  But  still  so  much  of 
it  is  retained,  as  greatly  injures  the  uniformity  of  the  whole." — Priestley's  Gram.  Pref.  p.  vii. 
"  Some  of  them  have  gone  to  that  height  of  extravagance,  as  to  assert,"  &c. — Ib.  p.  91.  "A 
teacher  is  confined — not  more  than  a  merchant,  and  probably  not  as  much." — Abbott's  Teacher, 
p.  27.  "  It  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the  world  to  come." — 
Matt,  xii,  32.  "Which  no  body  presumes,  or  is  so  sanguine  to  hope." — Swift,  Drap.  Let.v. 
"For  the  torrent  of  the  voice,  left  neither  time  or  power  in  the  organs,  to  shape  the  words 
properly." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  118.  "That  he  may  neither  unnecessarily  waste  his 
voice  by  throwing  out  too  much,  or  diminish  his  power  by  using  too  little." — Ib.  p.  123. 
"  I  have  retained  only  such  which  appear  most  agreeable  to  the  Measures  of  Analogy." — 
Littleton's  Diet.  Pref.  "He  is  both  a  prudent  and  industrious  man." — Day's  Gram.  p.  70. 
"  Conjunctions  either  connect  words  or  sentences." — Ib.  pp.  81  and  101. 

"  Such  silly  girls  who  love  to  chat  and  play, 
Deserve  no  care,  their  time  is  thrown  away." — Tobitt's  Gram.  p.  20. 

"  Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien, 
As  to  be  hated  needs  but  to  be  seen." — POPE  :  Mur.  Gr.  ii,  17. 

"  Justice  must  punish  the  rebellious  deed  ; 
Yet  punish  so,  as  pity  shall  exceed." — DRYDEN  :  in  Joh.  Diet. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII. — IMPROPER  ELLIPSES. 

"That,  whose,  and  as  relate  to  either  persons  or  things." — Sanborns  Gram.  p.  93. 
"Which  and  what,  as  adjectives,  relate  either  to  persons  or  things." — Ib.  p.  70.  "Whether 
of  a  public  or  private  nature." — Adams's  Rhet.  i,  43.  "Which  are  included  both  among 
the  public  and  private  wrongs." — Ib.  i,  308.  "  I  might  extract  both  from  the  old  and  new 
testament  numberless  examples  of  induction." — Ib.  ii,  66.  "  Many  verbs  are  used  both  in 


CHAP.  X.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XXIII. — PREPOSITIONS. OBSERVATIONS.  651 

an  active  and  neuter  signification." — Lotcth's  Gram.  p.  30 ;  Aider's,  26  ;  Guy's,  21  ;  Murray's, 
GO.  "  Its  influence  is  likely  to  he  considerable,  both  on  the  morals,  and  taste  of  a  nation." — 
Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  373.  "  The  subject  afforded  a  variety  of  scenes,  both  of  the  awful  and  tender 
kind." — Ib.  p.  439.  "  Restlessness  of  mind  disqualifies  us,  both  for  the  enjoyment  of  peace, 
and  the  performance  of  our  duty." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  166  ;  IngersolTs  Gram.  p.  10.  "Ad- 
jective Pronouns  are  of  a  mixed  nature,  participating  the  properties  both  of  pronouns  and 
adjectives." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  55  ;  Merchant's,  43  ;  Flint's,  22.  "Adjective  Pronouns  have 
the  nature  both  of  the  adjective  and  the  pronoun." — Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  15.  "Pro- 
nominal adjectives  are  akind  of  compound  part  of  speech,  partaking  the  nature  both  of  pro- 
nouns and  adjectives." — Xutting's  Gram.  p.  36.  "  Nouns  are  used  either  in  the  singular  or 
plural  number." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  1 1.  "  The  question  is  not,  whether  the  nominative  or 
accusative  ought  to  follow  the  particles  than  and  as ;  but,  whether  these  particles  are,  in 
such  particular  cases,  to  be  regarded  as  conjunctions  or  prepositions." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p. 
204.  "  In  English  many  verbs  are  used  both  as  transitives  and  intransitives." — Chiirchill's 
dram.  p.  83.  "He  sendeth  rain  both  on  the  just  and  unjust." — Guy's  Gram.  p.  56.  "A 
foot  consists  either  of  two  or  three  syllables." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  118.  "Because  they  par- 
ticipate the  nature  both  of  adverbs  and  conjunctions." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  116.  Surely, 
Romans,  what  I  am  now  about  to  say,  ought  neither  to  be  omitted  nor  pass  without 
notice." — Duncan's  Cicero,  p.  196.  "  Their  language  frequently  amounts,  not  only  to  bad 
sense,  but  non-  sense." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  14.  "Hence  arises  the  necessity  of  asocial 
state  to  man  both  for  the  unfolding,  and  exerting  of  his  nobler  faculties." — Sheridan's  Elo- 
cution, p.  147.  "  Whether  the  subject  be  of  the  real  or  feigned  kind." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  454. 
"  Not  only  was  liberty  entirely  extinguished,  but  arbitrary  power  felt  in  its  heaviest 
and  most  oppressive  weight." — Ib.  p.  249.  "This  rule  is  applicable  also  both  to  verbal 
Critics  and  Grammarians." — Hilcy's  Gram.  p.  144.  "Both  the  rules  and  exceptions  of  a 
language  must  have  obtained  the  sanction  of  good  usage." — Ib.  p.  143. 


CHAPTER  X.- PREPOSITIONS. 

The  syntax  of  Prepositions  consists,  not  solely  or  mainly  in  their  power  of 
governing  the  objective   case,  (though  this  alone  is  the  scope  v.hich  most 
grammarians  have  given  it,)  but  in  their  adaptation  to  the  other  terms  be- 
tween which  they  express  certain  relations,  such  as  appear  by  the  sense  of 
ic  words  uttered. 

RULE  XXIII.— PREPOSITIONS. 

Prepositions  show  the  relations  of  words,  and  of  the  things  or  thoughts  ex- 
ressed  by  them :  as,  "  He  came  from  Rome  to  Paris,  in  the  company  of 
lany  eminent;  men,  and  passed  with  them  through  many  cities." — Analectic 
{ayazine. 

"Ah!  who  can  tell  the  triumphs  of  the  mind, 
By  truth  illumin'd,  and  by  taste  refin'd  ?  " — Rogers. 

EXCEPTION  FIRST. 

The  preposition  to,  before  an  abstract  infinitive,  and  at  the  head  of  a  phrase  which  is  made 
ie  subject  of  a  verb,  has  no  proper  antecedent  term  of  relation  ;  as,  "  To  learn  to  die,  is  the 
jat  business  of  life." — Dillwyn.     "  Nevertheless,  to  abide  in  the  flesh,  is  more  needful  for 
." — ST.  PAUL:  Phil,  i,  24.     "To  be  reduced  to  poverty,  is  a  great  affliction." 
"  Too  much  to  know,  is,  to  know  nought  but  fame ; 
And  every  godfather  can  give  a  name." — Shakspeare. 

EXCEPTION  SE< 

The  preposition  for,  when  it  introduces  its  object  before  an  infinitive,  and  the  whole  phrase 
made  the  subject  of  a  verb,  has  properly  no  antecedent  term  of  relation  ;  as,  "For  us  to 
irn  to  die,  is  the  great  business  of  life." — "Nevertheless,  for  me  to  abide  in  the  flesh, 
more  needful  for  you." — "For  an  old  man  to  be  reduced  to  poverty,  is  a  very  great  af- 
iction." 

"For  man  to  tell  how  human  life  began, 
Is  hard ;  for  who  himself  beginning  knew  •  " — Milton. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XXIII. 
OBS.  1.— In  parsing  a  preposition,  the  learner  should  name  the  two  terms  of  the  relation,  and 
iply  the  foregoing  rule,  after  the  manner  prescribed  in  Praxis  12th  of  this  work.     The  principle 


652  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

is  simple  and  etymological,  being  implied  in  the  very  definition  of  a  preposition,  yet  not  the  lesa 
necessary  to  be  given  as  a  rule  of  syntax.  Among  tolerable  writers,  the  prepositions  exhibit 
more  errors  than  any  other  equal  number  of  words.  This  is  probably  owing  to  the  careless  man- 
ner in  which  they  are  usually  slurred  over  in  parsing.  But  the  parsers,  in  general,  have  at  least 
this  excuse,  that  their  text-books  have  taught  them  no  better ;  they  therefore  call  the  preposition 
a  preposition,  and  leave  its  use  and  meaning  unexplained. 

OBS.  2. — If  the  learner  be  at  any  loss  to  discover  the  two  terms  of  relation,  let  him  ask  and 
answer  tico  questions  :  first,  with  the  interrogative  what  before  the  preposition,  to  find  the  antece- 
dent ;  and  then,  with  the  same  pronoun  after  the  preposition,  to  find  the  subsequent  term.  These 
questions  answered  according  to  the  sense,  will  always  give  the  true  terms.  For  example :  "  They 
dashed  that  rapid  torrent  through." — Scott.  Ques.  What  through  ?  Ans.  "Dashed  through." 
Ques.  Through  what?  Ans.  "Through  that  torrent."  For  the  meaning  is — "They  dashed 
through  that  rapid  torrent."  If  one  term  is  perfectly  obvious,  (as  it  almost  always  is,)  find  the 
other  in  this  way ;  as,  "  Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto  night  showeth  knowl- 
edge."— Psal.  xix,  2.  Ques.  What  unto  day?  Ans.  "Uttereth  unto  day."  Ques.  What  unto 
night  ?  Ans.  "Showeth  unto  night"  For  the  meaning  is — "  Day  uttereth  speech  unto  day,  and 
night  showeth  knowledge  unto  night."  To  parse  rightly,  is,  to  understand  rightly  ;  and  what  is 
well  expressed,  it  is  a  shame  to  misunderstand  or  misinterpret.  But  sometimes  the  position  of 
the  two  terms  is  such,  that  it  may  require  some  reflection  to  find  either ;  as, 
"  Or  that  choice  plant,  so  grateful  to  the  nose, 
"Which  in  I  know  not  what  far  country  grows." — Churchill,  p.  18. 

OBS.  3. — "When  a  preposition  begins  or  ends  a  sentence  or  clause,  the  terms  of  relation,  if  both 
are  given,  are  transposed ;  as,  "  To  a  studious  man,  action  is  a  relief." — Burgh.  That  is,  "Action 
is  a  relief  to  a  studious  man."  "Science  they  [the  ladies]  do  not  pretend  TO." — Id.  That  is, 
"  They  do  not  pretend  to  science."  "  Until  I  have  done  that  which  I  have  spoken  to  thee  OF."— 
Gen.  xxviii,  15.  The  word  governed  by  the  preposition  is  always  the  subsequent  term  of  the 
relation,  however  it  may  be  placed ;  and  if  this  be  a  relative  pronoun,  the  transposition  is  perma- 
nent. The  preposition,  however,  may  be  put  before  any  relative,  except  that  and  as;  and  this  is 
commonly  thought  to  be  its  most  appropriate  place :  as,  "  Until  I  have  done  that  ofwhichl  have 
spoken  to  thee."  Of  the  placing  of  it  last,  Lowth  says,  "This  is  an  idiom  which  our  language 
is  strongly  inclined  to ;  "  Murray  and  others,  "  This  is  an  idiom  to  which  our  language  is  strongly 
inclined:  "  while  they  all  add,  "it prevails  in  common  conversation,  and  suits  very  well  with  the 
familiar  style  in  writing ;  but  the  placing  of  the  preposition  before  the  relative,  is  more  graceful, 
as  well  as  more  perspicuous,  and  agrees  much  better  with  the  solemn  and  elevated  style. "— 
Lowth 's  Gram.  p.  95 ;  Murray's,  8vo,  p.  200 ;  Fish's,  141 ;  R.  C.  Smith's,  167 ;  Inaersoll's,  227 ; 
Churchill's,  150. 

OBS.  4. — The  terms  of  relation  between  which  a  preposition  may  be  used,  are  very  various. 
The  former  or  antecedent  term  may  be  a  noun,  an  adjective,  a  pronoun,  a  verb,  a  participle,  or  an 
adverb :  and,  in  some  instances,  we  find  not  only  one  preposition  put  before  an  other,  but  even  R 
conjunction  or  an  interjection  used  on  this  side;  as,  "Because  OF  offences," — "Alas  FOR  him  !  " 
The  latter  or  subsequent  term,  which  is  the  word  governed  by  the  preposition,  may  be  a  noun,  a 
pronoun,  a  pronominal  adjective,  an  infinitive  verb,  or  an  imperfect  or  preperfect  participle:  and, 
in  some  instances,  prepositions  appear  to  govern  adverbs,  or  even  whole  phrases.  See  the  observa- 
tions in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Etymology. 

OBS.  5. — Both  terms  of  the  relation  are  usually  expressed;  though  either  of  them  may,  in 
some  instances,  be  left  out,  the  other  being  given:  as,  (1.)  THE  FORMER, — "All  shall  know  me, 
[reckoning]  FROM  the  least  to  the  greatest." — Heb.  viii,  11.  [I  say]  "  IN  a  word,  it  would  entirely 
defeat  the  purpose." — Blair.  "  When  I  speak  of  reputation,  I  mean  not  only  [reputation]  IN 
regard  to  knowledge,  but  [reputation']  IN  regard  to  the  talent  of  communicating  knowledge."— 
Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  163;  Murray's  Gram,  i,  360.  (2.)  THE  LATTER — "  Opinions  and  ceremonies 
[which]  they  would  die  FOR." — Locke.  "  IN  [those]  who  obtain  defence,  or  [in  those]  who  de- 
fend."— Pope.  "  Others  are  more  modest  than  [ichat]  this  comes  TO." — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  66. 

OBS.  6. — The  only  proper  exceptions  to  the  foregoing  rule,  are  those  which  are  inserted  above, 
unless  the  abstract  infinitive  used  as  a  predicate  is  also  to  be  excepted ;  as,  "  In  both,  to  reason 
right,  is  to  submit." — Pope.  But  here  most  if  not  all  grammarians  would  say,  the  verb  "is"  is 
the  antecedent  term,  or  what  their  syntax  takes  to  govern  the  infinitive.  The  relation,  however, 
is  not  such  as  when  we  say,  "  He  is  to  submit ;  "  that  is,  "  He  mttst  submit,  or  ought  to  submit :  " 
but,  perhaps,  to  insist  on  a  different  mode  of  parsing  the  more  separable  infinitive  or  its  preposi- 
tion, would  be  a  needless  refinement.  Yet  some  regard  ought  to  be  paid  to  the  different  relations 
which  the  infinitive  may  bear  to  this  finite  verb.  For  want  of  a  due  estimate  of  this  difference, 
the  following  sentence  is,  I  think,  very  faulty :  "  The  great  business  of  this  life  is  to  prepare,  and 
qualify  us,  for  the  enjoyment  of  a  better." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  373.  If  the  author  meant  to 
tell  what  our  great  business  in  this  life  is,  he  should  rather  have  said:  "The  great  business  of 
this  life  is,  to  prepare  and  qualify  ourselves  for  the  enjoyment  of  a  better." 

OBS.  7. — In  relation  to  the  infinitive,  Dr.  Adam  remarks,  that,  "To  in  English  is  often*  taken 
absolutely ;  as,  To  confess  the  truth  ;  To  proceed  ;  To  conclude." — Latin  and  Eng.  Gram.  p.  182. 
But  the  assertion  is  not  entirely  true  ;  nor  are  his  examples  appropriate  :  for  what  he  and  many 
other  grammarians  call  the  infinitive  absolute,  evidently  depends  on  something  understood ;  and 
the  preposition  is,  surely,  in  "no  instance  independent  of  what  follows  it,  and  is  therefore  never 
entirely  absolute.  Prepositions  are  not  to  be  supposed  to  have  no  antecedent  term,  merely  because 
they  stand  at  the  head  of  a  phrase  or  sentence  which  is  made  the  subject  of  a  verb  ;  for  the  phrase 
or  sentence  itself  often  contains  that  term,  as  in  the  following  example  :  "In  what  way  mind  acts 
upon  matter,  is  unknown."  Here  in  shows  the  relation  between  acts  and  way;  because  the 
expression  suggests,  that  mind  acts  IN  some  way  upon  matter. 

OBS.  8. — The  second  exception  above,  wherever  it  is  found  applicable,  cancels  the  first ;  because 
it  introduces  an  antecedent  term  before  the  preposition  to,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  examples  given. 
It  is  questionable  too,  whether  both  of  them  may  not  also  be  cancelled  in  an  other  way ;  that  is, 


CHAP.  X.]  SYNTAX. BULE   XXIII. PREPOSITIONS. OBSERVATIONS.  653 


you,  FOK  me  to  abide  in  the  flesh,;  but  we  may  say,  "It  is,  on  your 
en-count t  more  needful  rou  me  to  abide  in  the  flesh."  If  these,  and  other  similar  examples,  are 
not  to  be  accounted  additional  instances  in  which  to  and  for,  and  also  the  conjunction  that,  are 
without  any  proper  antecedent  terms,  we  must  suppose  these  particles  to  show  the  relation  between 
what  precedes  and  what  follows  them. 

OBS.  9. — The  preposition  (as  its  name  implies)  precedes  the  word  which  it  governs.  Yet  there 
are  some  exceptions.  In  the  familiar  style,  a  preposition  governing  a  relative  or  an  interrogative 
pronoun,  is  often  separated  from  its  object,  and  connectea  with  the  other  term  of  relation ;  as, 
"  Whom  did  he  speak  to/"  But  it  is  more  dignified,  and  in  general  more  graceful,  to  place  the 
preposition  before  the  pronoun;  as,  'To  whom  did  he  speak?"  The  relatives  that  and  as,  if 


of  more  than  one  syllable,  are  sometimes  put  immediately  after  their  objects,  especially  in 
poetry  ;  as,  "  Known  ull  the  icorld  over.'1— Walker's  Particles,  p.  291.  "  The  thing  is  known  all 
Lesbos  over ''—Ibid. 


Lesbos  over." — Ibid. 

"  "Wild  Carron's  lonely  woods  among." — Langhorne. 

"Thy  deep  racineso.iid  dells  along." — Sir  W.  Scott. 

OBS.  10. — Two  prepositions  sometimes  come  together;  as,  "Lambeth  is  over  against  West- 
minster abbey." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  118.  "And  from  before  the  lustre  of  her  face,  White  break 
the  clouds  away." — Thomson.  "And  the  meagre  fiend  Blows  mildew  from  between  his  shrivell'd 
lips." — Cowper.  These,  in  most  instances,  though  they  are  not  usually  written  as  compounds, 
appear  naturally  to  coalesce  in  their  syntax,  as  was  observed  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Etymology, 
and  to  express  a  sort  of  compound  relation  between  the  other  terms  with  which  they  are  con- 
nected. When  such  is  their  character,  they  ought  to  be  taken  together  in  parsing ;  for,  if  we 
parse  them  separately,  we  must  either  call  the  first  an  adverb,  or  suppose  some  very  awkward 
ellipsis.  Some  instances  however  occur,  in  which  an  object  may  easily  be  supplied  to  the  former 


word,  and  perhaps  ought  to  be ;  as,  "  He  is  at  liberty  to  sell  it  at  [a  price]  above  a  fair  remunera- 
tion."—  Wayland's  Moral  Science,  p.  258.  "And  I  wish  they  had  been  at  the  bottom  of  the  ditch 
I  pulled  you  out  of,  instead  of  [being]  itjton  my  back." — Sandfonl  and  Merton,  \).  29.  In  such 


•)f  ft- 

meaning  is — "  Iambic  verse  consists  of  feet  varying  in  number  from  two  to  six  ;  or  (it  consists) 
of  syllables  varying  from  four  to  twelve'." — "  Trochaic  verse  consists  of  feet  varying  from  one  foot 
to  three  feet." 


lence,  and  for,  or  in  favour  of,  all  justice  and  truth."  "For  of  him,  and  through  him,  and  to 
him,  are  all  things." — Bible.  In  fact,  not  only  may  the  relation  be  simple  in  regard  to  all  or  any 
of  the  words,  but  it  may  also  be  complex  in  regard  to  all  or  any  of  them.  Hence  several  different 
prepositions,  whether  they  have  different  antecedent  terms  or  only  one  and  the  same,  may  refer 
cither  jointly  or  severally  to  one  object  or  to  more.  This  follows,  because  not  only  may  either 
dents  or  objects  be  connected  by  conjunctions,  but  prepositions  also  admit  of  this  construc- 
tion, with  or  without  a  connecting  of  their  antecedents.  Examples  :  "  They  are  capable  of,  and 
placed  in,  different  stations  in  the  society  of  mankind." — Butler's  Anal.  p.  Ho.  *«  Our  perception 
of  vice  and  ill  desert  arises  from,  and  is  the  result  of,  a  comparison  of  actions  with  the  nature 
and  capacities  of  the  agent. "—//;.  p.  279.  "And  the  design  of  this  chapter  is,  to  inquire  how  far 
this  is  :.,jw  fur,  over  and  aboce  the  moral  nature  which  God  has  given  us,  anil  our  natu- 

ral notion  of  him,  as  righteous  governor  of  those  his  creatures  to  whom  he  has  given  this  nature  ; 
I  say,  how  •  this,  the  principles  «fld  beginnings  of  a  moral  government  over  the  world 

may  be  discerned,  tlOhmtfatandutg  and  amidst  all  the  confusion  and  disorder  of  it." — lb.  p.  85. 

!-• — The  preposition  into,  expresses  a  relation  produced  by  motion  or  change  ;  and  in,  the 
Same  relation,  without  reference  to  motion  as  having  produced  it:  hence,  "to  walk  into  the  gar- 
den," and,  "to  walk  in  the  garden,"  are  very  different  in  meaning.  "  It  is  disagreeable  to  rind  a 
word  split  into  two  by  uf'Crit.  ii,  «s:{.  This  appears  to  be  right  in  sense, 

but  because  brevity  is  desirable  in  unemphatic  particle,  1  suppose  most  persons  would  say,  "  split 
,'n  two."     In  the   Ji.  tie  ire  have  the  \>:.  nt  ///  tw.tin," — "cut  in  pieces," — "brake  ni 

-  the  rocks," — "brake  all  their  bones  in  pieces," — "brake  them  to  pieces," — "  broken  to 
V— "pulled  in  pieces."     In  all  these,  except  the  first,  to  may  perhaps  be  considered  j 
able  to  in  ;  and  into  would  be  objectionable  only  because  it  is  longer  and  los  simple.     "  Half  of 
them  dare  not  shake  the  snow  from  off  their  cassocks,  lest  they  shake  themselves  to  pieces."— 
SHAK.  :   Kami*,  ii,  240. 

l.'j. — lii-tn-'  in  reference  to  two  things  or  parties  ;  among,  or  amon<;st, 

timid,  or  amidst,  in  reference  to  a  greater  number,  or  to  something  by  which  an  other  may  be 
surrounded:  as,  "Thou  pendulum  bclwijct  a  smile  and  tear." — Jl>//-<>n.'  "The  host  betir. 
mountain  and  the  shore."—/*/.  "  To  nmlit.Uc  amongst  decay,  and  stand  a  ruin  amidst  ruin.-.1  — 
,  .,  In,the  »Uowing  examples,  the  import  of  these  prepositions  is  nut  very  accurately  regarded ; 
"  Ihe  Greeks  wrote  in  capitals,  and  left  no  spaces  between  their  words."—  Wilsons  Essay,  p.  6. 
This  construction  may  perhaps  be  allowed,  because  the  spaces  by  which  words  are  now  divided, 
occur  severally  between  one  word  and  an  other ;  but  the  author  might  as  well  have  said,  "  K&4  left 


654  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

no  spaces  to  distinguish  their  words."  "There  was  a  hunting  match  agreed  upon  betwixt  a  lion, 
an  ass,  and  a  fox." — L' Estrange.  Here  by  or  among  would,  I  think,  be  better  than  betwixt,  because 
the  partners  were  more  than  two.  "Between  two  or  more  authors,  different  readers  will  differ 
exceedingly,  as  to  the  preference  in  point  of  merit." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  162;  Jamicson's,  40; 
Murray's  Gram,  i,  360.  Say,  "Concerning  two  or  more  authors,"  because  between  is  not  consist- 
ent with  the  word  more.  "  Rising  one  among  another  in  the  greatest  confusion  and  disorder." — 
Spect.  No.  476.  Say,  "Rising  promiscuously,"  or,  "Rising  all  at  once;"  for  among  is  not  con- 
sistent with  the  distributive  term  one  another. 

OBS.  14. — Of  two  prepositions  coming  together  between  the  same  terms  of  relation,  and 
sometimes  connected  in  the  same  construction,  I  have  given  several  plain  examples  in  this  chap- 
ter, and  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Etymology,  a  very  great  number,  all  from  sources  sufficiently 
respectable.  But,  in  many  of  our  English  grammars,  there  is  a  stereotyped  remark  on  this  po  nt, 
originally  written  by  Priestley,  which  it  is  proper  here  to  cite,  as  an  other  specimen  of  the  Doc- 
tor's hastiness,  and  of  the  blind  confidence  of  certain  compilers  and  copyists:  "Two  different 


altered  thus :  "  The  combat  between  thirty  French  against  twenty  English." — Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  p.  200 ;  Smith's  New  Gram.  167 ;  Fish's,  142 ;  Ingersoll's,  228.  W.  Allen  has  it  thus  :  "  Two 
different  prepositions  in  the  same  construction  are  improper  ;  as,  a  combat  between  twenty  French 
against  thirty  English." — Elements  of  E.  Gram.  p.  179.  He  gives  the  odds  to  the  latter  party. 
Hiley,  with  no  expense  of  thought,  first  takes  from  Murray,  as  he  from  Priestley,  the  useless 

remark,  "  Different  rplat.inns.  and  rHfffirpnt  sfmsps.  must.  hf»  pvnrpssr>H  hv  rliffiprpnt.  nrpnnsitinns  •  " 

and  then 
the  same 

'  The  combat  between  thirty  French  and  thirty  English.'  " — Hiley's  E.  Gram.  p.  97.  It  is  manifest 
that  the  error  of  this  example  is  not  in  the  use  of  two  prepositions,  nor  is  there  any  truth  or  fitness 
in  the  note  or  notes  made  on  it  by  all  these  critics;  for  had  they  said,  "  The  combat  of  thirty 
French  against  twenty  English,"  there  would  still  be  two  prepositions,  but  where  would  be  the 
impropriety,  or  where  the  sameness  of  construction,  which  they  speak  of  ?  Between  is  incom- 
patible with  against,  only  because  it  requires  two  parties  or  things  for  its  own  regimen  ;  as,  "  The 
combat  between  thirty  Frenchmen  and  twenty  Englishmen."  This  is  what  Smollett  should  have 
written,  to  make  sense  with  the  word  "  between." 

OBS.  15. — With  like  implicitness,  Hiley  excepted,  these  grammarians  and  others  have  adopted 
from  Lowth  an  observation  in  which  the  learned  doctor  has  censured  quite  too  strongly  the  joint 
reference  of  different  prepositions  to  the  same  objective  noun:  to  wit,  "  Some  writers  separate 
the  preposition  from  its  noun,  in  order  to  connect  different  prepositions  with  the  same  noun; 
as,  •  To  suppose  the  zodiac  and  planets  to  be  efficient  of,  and  antecedent  to,  themselves.'  Bent- 
ley,  Serm.  6.  This  [construction],  whether  in  the  familiar  or  the  solemn  style,  is  ahcays  inelegant ; 
and  should  never  be  admitted,  but  in  forms  of  law,  and  the  like  ;  where  fulness  and  exactness  of 
expression  must  take  place  of  every  other  consideration." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  96 ;  Murray's  i, 
200;  Smith's,  167;  Fish's,  141;  Ingersoll's,  228;  Alger's,  67  ;  Picket's,  207.  Churchill  even  gees 
further,  both  strengthening  the  censure,  and  disallowing  the  exception  :  thus,  "  This,  whether  in 
the  solemn  or  in  the  familiar  style,  is  always  inelegant,  and  should  never  be  admitted.  It  is  in 
awkward  shift  for  avoiding  the  repetition  of  a  word,  which  might  be  accomplished  without  it  by  a  ny 
person,  who  has  the  least  command  of  language." — New  Gram.  p.  341.  Yet,  with  all  their  com- 
mand of  language,  not  one  of  these  gentlemen  has  told  us  how  the  foregoing  sentence  from 
Bentley  may  be  amended;  while  many  of  their  number  not  only  venture  to  use  different  preposi- 
tions before  the  same  noun,  but  even  to  add  a  phrase  which  puts  that  noun  in  the  nominative 
case:  as,  "  Thus,  the  time  of  the  infinitive  may  be  before,  after,  or  the  same  as,  the  time  of  the 
governing  verb,  according  as  the  thing  signified  by  the  infinitive  is  supposed  to  be  before,  after,  or 
present  with,  the  thing  denoted  by  the  governing  verb." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  191 ;  Ingersoll's,  260  ; 
R.  C.  Smith's,  159.  ' 

OBS.  16. — The  structure  of  this  example  not  only  contradicts  palpably,  and  twice  over,  the 
doctrine  cited  above,  but  one  may  say  of  the  former  part  of  it,  as  Lowth,  Murray,  and  others  do, 
(in  no  very  accurate  English,)  of  the  text  1  Cor.  ii,  9:  "  There  seems  to  be  an  impropriety  in  this 
sentence,  in  which  the  same  noun  serves  in  a  double  capacity,  performing  at  the  same  time  the 
offices  both  of  the  nominative  and  objective  cases." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  224.  See  also  Lowth' s 
Gram.  p.  73*;  Ingersoll's,  277;  Fisk's,  149;  Smith's,  185.  Two  other  examples,  exactly  like  that 
which  is  so  pointedly  censured  above,  are  placed  by  Murray  under  his  thirteenth  rule  for  the 
comma;  and  these  likewise,  with  all  faithfulness,  are  copied  by  Ingersoll,  Smith,  Alger,  Kirk- 
ham,  Comly,  Russell,  and  I  know  not  how  many  more.  In  short,  not  only  does  this  rule  of 
their  punctuation  include  the  construction  in  question ;  but  the  following  exception  to  it,  which 
is  remarkable  for  its  various  faults,  or  thorough  faultiness,  is  applicable  to  no  other  :  "  Sometimes, 
when  the  word  with  which  the  last  preposition  agrees,  is  single,  it  is  better  to  omit  the  comma 
before  it:  as,  '  Many  states  were  in  alliance  icith,  and  under  the  protection  of  Rome.'" — Mur- 
ray's Gram.  p.  272;  Smith's,  190;  Ingersoll's,  284;  Kirkham's,  215;  Alger's,  79 ;  Alfon's,  149; 
Abel  Flint's,  103;  Russell's,  115.  But  the  blunders  and  contradictions  on  this  point,  end  not 
here.  Dr.  Blair  happened  most  unlearnedly  to  say,  "What  is  called  splitting  of  particles,  or 
separating  a  preposition  from  the  noun  which  it  governs,  is  ahcays  to  be  avoided.  As  if  I  should 
say,  '  Though  virtue  borrows  no  assistance  from,  yet  it  may  often  be  accompanied  by,  the  advan- 
tages of  fortune.'" — Lect.  XII,  p.  112.  This  too,  though  the  author  himself  did  not  always 
respect  the  rule,  has  been  thought  worthy  to  be  copied,  or  stolen,  with  all  its  faults  !  See  Jamie- 
son's  Rhetoric,  p.  93;  and  Murray's  Octavo  Gram.  p.  319. 

OBS.  17. — Dr.  Lowth  says,  "  The  noun  aversion,  (that  is,  a  turning  away,)  as  likewise  the 
adjective  averse,  seems  to  require  the  preposition  from  after  it;  and  not  so  properly  to  admit  of 
to,  or  for,  which  are  often  used  with  it." — Gram.  p.  98.  But  this  doctrine  has  not  been  adopted 


CHAP.   X.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XXIII. PREPOSITIONS. NOTES.  655 

by  the  later  grammarians  :  "  The  words  averse  and  aversion  (says  Dr.  Campbell)  are  more  properly 
construed  with  to  tlian  with  from.  The  examples  in  favour  of  the  latter  preposition,  are  beyond 
comparison  outnumbered  by  those  in  favour  of  the  former." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  201 ;  Fisk's,  142; 
InyersoU's,  229.  This  however  must  be  understood  only  of  mental  aversion.  The  expression  of 
Milton,  "  On  the  coast  averse  from  entrance,"  would  not  be  improved,  if  from  were  changed  to 
to.  So  the  noun  exception,  and  the  verb  to  except,  are  sometimes  followed  by  from,  which  has 
regard  to  the  Latin  particle  ex,  with  which  the  word  commences  ;  but  the  noun  at  least  is  much 
more  frequently,  and  perhaps  more  properly,  followed  by  to.  Examples:  "Objects  of  horror 
must  be  excepted  from  the  foregoing  theory." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii.  268.  "From  which  there 


this  rule  there  are  many  exceptions." — Ib.  i,  240.     "They  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  exceptions 
from,  the  rule."— Campbell's  ll/iet.  p.  363. 

Ous.  18. — After  correcting  the  example,  "  He  knows  nothing  on  [of]  it,"  Churchill  remarks, 
"  There  seems  to  be  a  strange  perverseness  among  the  London  vulgar  in  perpetually  substituting 
on  for  of,  and  of  for  on." — Xcic  Gram.  p.  34-3.  And  among  the  expresssions  which  Campbell 
censures  under  the  name  of  vulgarism,  are  the  following:  "  'Tis  my  humble  request  you  will  be 
particular  in  speaking  to  the  following  points." — Guardian,  No.  57.  "  The  preposition  ought  to 
have  been  on.  Precisely  of  the  same  stamp  is  the  on 't  for  of  it,  so  much  used  by  one  class  of 
writers." — Philosophy  of  Rhct.  p.  217.  So  far  as  I  have  observed,  the  use  of  of  for  on  has  never 
been  frequent;  and  that  of  on  for  of,  or  on't  for  of  it,  though  it  may  never  have  been  a  polite 
custom,  is  now  a  manifest  archaism,  or  imitation  of  ancient  usage.  "And  so  my  young  Master, 
whatever  comes  on't,  must  have  a  Wife  look'd  out  for  him." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  378.  In  Saxon, 
on  was  put  for  more  than  half  a  dozen  of  our  present  prepositions.  The  difference  between  of 
and  on,  or  upon,  appears  in  general  to  be  obvious  enough  ;  and  yet  there  are  some  phrases  in 
which  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  which  of  these  words  ought  to  be  preferred  :  as,  "  Many  things 
they  cannot  lay  hold  on  at  once." — HOOKER:  Joh.  Diet.  "  Uzzah  put  forth  his  hand  to' the  ark 
of  God,  and  took  hold  of  it." — 2  Sam.  ib.  "Rather  thou  shouldst  lay  hold  upon  him." — BEX 
JONSON  :  ib.  "  Let  them  find  courage  to  lay  hold  on  the  occasion." — MILTON  :  ib.  "  The  hand 
is  fitted  to  lay  hold  of  objects." — RAY:  ib.  "  My  soul  took  hold  on  thee." — ADDISON  :  ib.  "  To 
lay  hold  of  this  safe,  this  only  method  of  cure." — ATTERHTRY  :  ib.  "And  yice  fortune  no  more 
hold  of  h'im." — DRY  DEN  :  ib. '  "And  his  laws  take  the  surest  hold  of  us." — TILLOTSON  :  ib.  "  It 
will  then  be  impossible  you  can  have  any  hold  upon  him." — SWIFT:  ib.  "The  court  of  Rome 
gladly  laid  hold  on  all  the  opportunities." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  p.  198.  "  Then  did  the  officer  lay 
hold  of  him  and  execute  him." — Ib.  ii,  219.  "  When  one  can  lay  hold  upon  some  noted  fact." — 
Blair's  Rhct.  p.  311.  "But  when  we  would  lay  firm  hold  of  them." — Ib.  p.  28.  "An  advantage 
which  every  one  is  glad  to  lay  hold  of." — Ib.  p.  7o.  "  To  have  laid  fast  hold  of  it  in  his  mind." — 
Ib  p.  94.  "  I  would  advise  them  to  lay  aside  their  common-places,  and  to  think  closely  of  their 
subject." — Ib.  p.  317.  "  Did  they  not  take  hold  of  your  fathers  ?  " — Zech.  i,  6.  "  Ten  me'n  shall 
take  hold  of  the  skirt  of  one  that  is  a  Jew." — Ib.  viii,  2.1  "  It  is  wrong  to  say,  either  '  to  lay 
hold  of  a  thing,'  or  '  to  take  hold  on  it.'  " — Blair's  Gram.  p.  101.  In  the  following  couplet,  on 
neems  to  have  been  preferred  only  for  a  rhyme : 

"  Yet,  lo  !  in  me  what  authors  have  to  brag  on! 
Reduc'd  at  last  to  hiss  in  my  own  dragon." — Pope. 

Ous.  19. — In  the  allowable  uses  of  prepositions,  there  may  perhaps  be  some  room  for  choice  ; 
f;o  that  what  to  the  mind  of  a  critic  may  not  appear  the  fittest  word,  may  yet  be  judged  not  pos- 
itively ungrammatieal.  In  this  light,  I  incline  to  view  the  following  examples:  "Homer's  plan 
is  still  more  i.etVi-tivi',  upon  another  account." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  'J'.)1.).  Say — "  on  an  other 
account.'1  "It  wus  almost  eight  of  the  clock  before  I  could  leave  that  variety  of  objects." — 
Spectator,  No.  4"> [.  Present  usage  requires — "  eight  o'clock."  "  The  Greek  and  Latin  writers 
had  a  considerable  advantage  above  us." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  114.  "  The  study  of  oratory  has  this 
advantage  above  that  of  poetry."— Ib.  p.  338.  "A  metaphor  has  frequently  an  advantage  above 
u  formal  comparison." — Jatnifton's  Rhct.  p.  150.  This  use  of  above  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  Scotti- 
cism :  an  Englishman,  I  think,  would  say — "  advantage  over  us,"  &c.  "  Hundreds  have  all  these 
crowding  upon  them  from  morning  to  night." — Abbott's  7'm. •//(•/-,  p.  33.  Better — "from  morning 
till  night."  But  Home  Tooke  observes,  "  \W  apply  TO  indifferently  to  ;//mr  or  time ;  but  TILL 
to  tune  only,  and  never  to  pluff.  Thus  \ve  may  say,  '  From  morn  TO  night  th"  eternal  laruin 
rang; '  or,  '  From  mom  TILL  night,'  &c." — Diversions  of  Purlcy,  i,  284. 

NOTES  TO  RULE  XXIII. 

NOTE  I. — Prepositions  must  be  chosen  and  employed  agreeably  to  the  usage  and 
idiom  of  the  language,  so  as  rightly  to  express  the  relations  intended.  Example  of 
error:  "By  which  we  arrive  to  the  last  division." — liichard  W.  Green's  (tram.  p. 
vii.  Say, —  "  arrive  c/." 

NOTE  II. — Those  prepositions  which  are  particularly  adapted  in  meaning  to  two 
objects,  or  to  more,  ought  to  he  confined  strictly  to  the  government  of  such  terms 
only  as  suit  them.  Example  of  error  :  "  What  is  Person  ?  It  is  the  medium  of  dis- 
tinction between  the  speaker,  the  object  addressed  or  spoken  to,  and  the  object  spoken 
of." — 0.  1$.  Pcirci-'s  (,'nitn.  p.  34.  "JJetween  thrte"  is  an  incongruity ;  and  the 
text  here  cited  is  bad  in  several  other  respects. 


656  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

NOTE  III. — An  ellipsis  or  omission  of  the  preposition  is  inelegant,  except  where 
long  and  general  use  has  sanctioned  it,  and  made  the  relation  sufficiently  intelligible. 
In  the  following  sentence,  of  is  needed  :  '*  I  will  not  flatter  you,  that  all  I  see  in  you 
is  worthy  love." — Shakspeare.  The  following  requires  from :  "  Ridicule  is  banished 
France,  and  is  losing  ground  in  England." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  i,  106. 

NOTE  IV. — The  insertion  of  a  preposition  is  also  inelegant,  when  the  particle  is 
needless,  or  when  it  only  robs  a  transitive  verb  of  its  proper  regimen;  as,  "  The 
people  of  England  may  congratulate  to  themselves." — DRYDEN:  Priestley's  Gram. 
p.  163.  "  His  servants  ye  are,  to  whom  ye  obey." — Rom.  vi,  16. 

NOTE  Y. — The  preposition  and  its  object  should  have  that  position  in  respect  to 
other  words,  which  will  render  the  sentence  the  most  perspicuous  and  agreeable. 
Examples  of  error :  "  Gratitude  is  a  forcible  and  active  principle  in  good  and  gener- 
ous minds." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  169.  Better  :  "  In  good  and  generous  minds, 
gratitude  is  a  forcible  and  active  principle."  "  By  a  single  stroke,  he  knows  how  to 
reach  the  heart." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  439.  Better:  "  He  knows  how  to  reach  the 
heart  by  a  single  stroke." 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  RULE  XXIII. 

EXAMPLES  UNDER  NOTE  I. — CHOICE  OF  PREPOSITIONS. 

"  You  have  bestowed  your  favours  to  the  most  deserving  persons." — Sicift,  on  E.  Tongue. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  relation  between  have  bestowed  and  persons  is  not  correctly  expressed  by 
the  preposition  to.  But,  according  to  Note  1st  under  Rule  23d,  "  Prepositions  must  be  chosen  and  employed 
agreeably  to  the  usage  and  idiom  of  the  language,  so  as  rightly  to  express  the  relations  intended."  This  relation 
would  be  better  expressed  by  upon ;  thus,  "  You  have  bestowed  your  favours  upon  the  most  deserving  persons."] 

"  But  to  rise  beyond  that,  and  overtop  the  crowd,  is  given  to  few." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  351. 
"This  also  is  a  good  sentence,  and  gives  occasion  to  no  material  remark." — Ib.  p.  201. 
"  Though  Cicero  endeavours  to  give  some  reputation  of  the  elder  Cato,  and  those  who  were 
his  cotemporaries." — Ib.  p.  245.  "  The  change  that  was  produced  on  eloquence,  is  beau- 
tifully described  in  the  Dialogue." — Ib.  p.  249.  "  Without  carefully  attending  to  the  va  i- 
ation  which  they  make  upon  the  idea." — Ib.  p.  367.  "All  of  a  sudden,  you  are  transported 
into  a  lofty  palace." — Hazlitt's  Lect.  p.  70.  "Alike  independent  on  one  another." — Camp- 
bell's Rhet.  p.  398.  "  You  will  not  think  of  them  as  distinct  processes  going  on  independ- 
ently on  each  other." — Channing's  Self-Culture,  p.  15.  "Though  we  say,  to  depend  t-n, 
dependent  on,  and  independent  on,  we  say,  independently  of." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  348.  "  Inde- 
pendently on  the  rest  of  the  sentence." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  78  ;  Guy's,  88  ;  Murray's,  i,  145 
and  184  ;  IngersoU's,  150  ;  Frost's,  46  ;  Fisk's,  125  ;  Smith's  New  Gram.  156  ;  Gould's  Lat. 
Gram.  209  ;  Nixon's  Parser,  65.  "  Because  they  stand  independent  on  the  rest  of  the  sen- 
tence."— Fisk's  Gram.  p.  111.  "When  a  substantive  is  joined  with  a  participle  in  English 
independently  in  the  rest  of  the  sentence." — Adam's  Lat.  and  Eng.  Gram.,  Boston  Ed.  0/1803, 
p.  213;  Albany  Ed.  of  1820,  p.  166.  "Conjunction,  comes  of  the  two  Latin  words  con, 
together,  andjungo,  to  join." — Merchant's  School  Gram.  p.  19.  "  How  different  to  this  is  the 
lite  of  Fulvia  !  " — Addison,  Sped.  No.  15.  "Loved  is  a  participle  or  adjective,  derived  of  the 
word  love." — Dr.  Ash's  Gram.  p.  27.  "  But  I  would  inquire  at  him,  what  an  office  is  ? " — 
Barclay's  Works,  iu,  463.  " For  the  capacity  is  brought  unto  action." — Ib.  iii,  420.  "In 
this  period,  language  and  taste  arrive  to  purity." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  94.  "And  should 
you  not  aspire  at  distinction  in  the  republick  of  letters  ? " — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  13.  "  Deliv- 
ering you  up  to  the  synagogues,  and  in  prisons." — Keith's  Evidences,  p.  55.  "  One  that  is 
kept  from  falling  in  a  ditch,  is  as  truly  saved,  as  he  that  is  taken  out  of  one." — Barclay's 
Works,  i,  312.  "The  best  on  it  is,  they  are  but  a  sort  of  French  Hugonots." — Addison, 
tipect.  No.  62.  "  These  last  Ten  Examples  are  indeed  of  a  different  Nature  to  the  former." 
— Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  833.  "For  the  initiation  of  students  in  the  principles  of  the 
English  language." — ANNUAL  REVIEW:  Murray's  Gram,  ii,  299.  "Richelieu  profited  of 
every  circumstance  which  the  conjuncture  afforded." — Bolingbroke,  on  Hist.  p.  177.  "  In  the 
names  of  drugs  and  plants,  the  mistake  in  a  word  may  endanger  life." — Murray's  Key,  ii, 
165.  "  In  order  to  the  carrying  on  its  several  parts  into  execution." — Butler's  Analogy,  p. 
192.  "His  abhorrence  to  the  superstitious  figure." — HUME:  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  164. 
"  Thy  prejudice  to  my  cause." — DIIYDEN  :  ib.  p.  164.  "  Which  is  found  among  every  species 
of  liberty." — HUME  :  ib.  p.  169.  "In  a  hilly  region  to  the  north  of  Jericho."— Mil-man's 
Jews,  Vol.  i,  p.  8.  "  Two  or  more  singular  nouns,  coupled  with  AND,  require  a  verb  and  pro- 
noun in  the  plural." — Lennie's  Gram.  p.  83. 

"  Books  should  to  one  of  these  four  ends  conduce, 
For  wisdom,  piety,  delight,  or  use." — Denham,  p.  239. 


CHAP.    X.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XXIII. PREPOSITIONS. — ERRORS.  657 

T'.NDER  NOTE  II. — Two  OBJECTS  OR  MORE. 

"  The  Anglo-Saxons,  however,  soon  quarrelled  between  themselves  for  precedence." — Con- 
stable s  Miscellany,  xx,  p.  59.  "The  distinctions  between  the  principal  parts  of  speech  are 
founded  in  nature." —  Webster'*  Essays,  p.  7.  "  I  think  I  now  understand  the  difference  be- 
tween the  active,  passive,  and  neuter  verbs." — Inyersoll's  Gram.  p.  124.  "Thus  a  figure 
including  a  space  between  three  lines,  is  the  real  as  well  as  nominal  essence  of  a  triangle." 
— Locke's  Essay,  p.  303.  "  We  must  distinguish  between  an  imperfect  phrase,  a  simple 
sentence,  and  a  compound  sentence." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  117  ;  Murray's,  i,  2G7  ;  Inffersoll's, 
280  ;  Guy's,  97.  "  The  Jews  are  strictly  forbidden  by  their  law,  to  exercise  usury  among 
one  another." — Sale's  Koran,  p.  177.  "All  the  writers  have  distinguished  themselves  among 
one  another." — Addison.  "  This  expression  also  better  secures  the  systematic  uniformity 
between  the  three  cases." — Hutting's  Gram.  p.  98.  "  When  a  disjunctive  occurs  between 
two  or  more  Infinitive  Modes,  or  clauses,  the  verb  must  be  singular." — Jaudons  Gram.  p. 
95.  "  Several  nouns  or  pronouns  together  in  the  same  case,  not  united  by  and,  require  a 
comma  between  each." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  115.  "The  difference  between  the  several 
vowels  is  produced  by  opening  the  mouth  differently,  and  placing  the  tongue  in  a  different 
manner  for  each." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  2.  "Thus  feet  composed  of  syllables,  being  pro- 
nounced with  a  sensible  interval  between  each,  make  a  more  lively  impression  than  can  b3 
made  by  a  continued  sound." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit.  Vol.  ii,  p.  32.  "  The  superlative  degree 
implies  a  comparison  between  three  or  more." — Smith's  Productive  Gram.  p.  51.  "They  are 
used  to  mark  a  distinction  between  several  objects." — Lcvizac's  Gram.  p.  85. 

U.VUKU  NOTE  III. — OMISSION  OF  PREPOSITIONS. 

"  This  would  have  been  less  worthy  notice." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  197.  "  But  I  passed 
it,  as  a  thing  unworthy  my  notice."—"  H  V/Wr.  "  Which,  in  compliment  to  me,  perhaps,  you 
may,  one  day,  think  worthy  your  attention." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  81.  "To  think  this  small 
present  worthy  an  introduction  to  the  young  ladies  of  your  very  elegant  establishment." — 
Ib.  p.  iv.  "  There  are  but  a  few  miles  portage." — Jefferson's  Xotes  on  Virginia,  p.  17.  "  It 
is  worthy  notice,  that  our  mountains  are  not  solitary."— Ib.  p.  26.  "  It  is  of  about  one  hun- 
dred feet  diameter." — Ib.  p.  33.  "  Entering  a  hill  a  quarter  or  half  a  mile." — Ib.  p.  47. 
"And  herself  seems  passing  to  that  awful  dissolution,  whose  issue  is  not  given  human  fore- 
sight to  scan." — Ib.  p.  100.  "It  was  of  a  spheroidical  form,  of  about  forty  feet  diameter 
at  the  base,  and  had  been  of  about  twelve  feet  altitude." — Ib.  p.  143.  "  Before  this  it  was 
covered  with  trees  of  twelve  inches  diameter,  and  round  the  base  was  an  excavation  of  five 
feet  depth  and  width." — Ibid.  "  Then  thou  mayest  eat  grapes  thy  fill  at  thine  own  pleasure." 
— !)<•  ut.  xxiii,  24.  "  Then  he  brought  me  back  the  way  of  the  gate  of  the  outward  sanctu- 
ary."—  Kzfkii-l,  xliv,  1.  "They  will  bless  God  that  he  has  peopled  one  half  the  world  with 
a  race  of  freemen." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  94.  "What  use  can  these  words  be,  till  their 
meaning  is  known  :  " — Town's  Analysis,  p.  7.  "  The  tents  of  the  Arabs  now  are  black,  or 
a  very  dark  colour." —  The  Friend,  Vol.  v,  p.  265.  "  They  may  not  be  unworthy  the  attention 
of  young  men." — Kirkhatn's  Elocution,  p.  157.  "The  pronoun  that  is  frequently  applied  to 
persons,  as  well  as  things." — Merchant's  Gram.  p.  87.  "And  who  is  in  the  same  case  that 
man  is." — Sa/iborn's  Gram.  p.  148.  "He  saw  a  flaming  stone,  apparently  about  four  feet 
diameter." — The  Friend,  vii,  409.  "Pliny  informs  us,  that  this  stone  was  the  size  of  a 
cart." — Ibid.  "  Seneca  was  about  twenty  years  of  age  in  the  fifth  year  of  Tiberius,  when 
the  Jews  were;  expelled  Kome." — Seneca's  Morals,  p.  11.  "I  was  prevented*  reading  a 
letter  which  would  have  undeceived  me." — Hawkesicorth,  Adv.  No.  .54.  "If  the  problem 
can  be  solved,  we  may  be  pardoned  the  inaccuracy  of  its  demonstration." — Booth's  Introd. 
p.  25.  "  The  army  must  of  necessity  be  the  school,  not  of  honour,  but  effeminacy." — Brown's 
Estinn-  "Afraid  of  the  virtue  of  a  nation,  in  its  opposing  bad  measures." — Ib.  i,  73. 

"  The  uniting  them  in  various  ways,  so  as  to  form  words,  would  be  easy." — Music  of  A 
p.  34.  "  I  might  be  excused  taking  any  more  notice  of  it." — Watsons  Apology,  p.  65. 
"•  Watch  therefore ;  for  ye  know  not  what  hour  your  Lord  doth  come." — Matt,  xxiv,  42. 
"  Here,  not  even  infants  were  spared  the  sword." — M'Jlcainr's  Lectures,  p.  313.  "To  pre- 
vent men  turning  aside  to  corrupt  modes  of  worship." — Calvin's  Institutes,  B.  I,  Ch.  12,  Sec. 
1.  "  God  expelled  them  the  Garden  of  Eden."— Murder's  Hist.  Vol.  i,  p.  10.  "Nor  could 
he  refrain  expressing  to  the  senate  the  agonies  of  his  mind." — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  123. 
"  Who  now  so  strenuously  opposes  the  granting  him  any  new  powers." — Duncan's  < 
p.  127.  "That  the  laws  of  the  censors  have  banished  him  the  forum."— Ib.  p.  140.  "  We 
read  not  that  he  was  degraded  his  office  any  other  way." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  149.  "To 
all  whom  these  presents  shall  conic,  Greeting." — Hutchinson's  Muss,  i,  459.  "  On  the  1st, 
August,  1834."— British  Act  for  the  Abolition  of  iS/m-ery. 

"  Whether  you  had  not  some  time  in  your  life 
Err'd  in  this  point  which  now  you  censure  him." — Xhuk. 

*  A  few  of  the  examples  under  this  head  might  be  corrected  equally  well  by  some  preceding  note  of  a  more 
ii peciflc  character  ;  for  a  general  not<>  agiiiti-t  thi-  improper  omission  of  prepositions,  of  con i>«>  InelmtM  those 
principles  of  grammar  by  which  any  particular  prepositions  are  to  be  inserted.  So  the  examples  of  error  which 
v  ere  given  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Etymology,  might  nearly  all  of  them  have  been  placed  under  the  first  note  in 

42 


658  THE   GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — OF  NEEDLESS  PREPOSITIONS. 

"And  the  apostles  and  elders  came  together  to  consider  of  this  matter." — Barclay's 
Works,  i,  481.  "And  the  apostles  and  elders  came  together  for  to  consider  of  this  matter." 
— Acts,  xv,  6.  "Adjectives  in  our  Language  have  neither  Case,  Gender,  nor  Number  ;  the 
only  Variation  they  have  is  by  Comparison." — Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  27.  "  '  It  is  to  you,  that 
I  am  indebted  for  this  privilege ; '  that  is,  '  to  you  am  I  indebted ; '  or,  « It  is  to  you  to 
whom  I  am  indebted.'  " — Sanbom's  Gram.  p.  232.  "Books  is  a  noun,  of  the  third  person, 
plural  number,  of  neuter  gender." — Ingersoll's  Gram.  p.  15.  "Brother's  is  a  common  sub- 
stantive, of  the  masculine  gender,  the  third  person,  the  singular  number,  and  in  the 
possessive  case." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  229.  "Virtue's  is  a  common  substantive,  of  the  third 
person,  the  singular  number,  and  in  the  possessive  case." — Ib.  i,  228.  "  When  the  authori- 
ties on  one  side  greatly  preponderate,  it  is  in  vain  to  oppose  the  prevailing  usage." — 
Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  173  ;  Murray's  Gram.i,  367.  "A  captain  of  a  troop  of  banditti,  had  a 
mind  to  be  plundering  of  Home." — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  51.  "And,  notwithstanding  of 
its  Verbal  power,  we  have  added  the  to  and  other  signs  of  exertion." — Booth's  Introd.  p.  2$. 
"  Some  of  these  situations  are  termed  CASES,  and  are  expressed  by  additions  to  the  Noun 
instead  of  by  separate  words." — Ib.  p.  33.  "  Is  it  such  a  fast  that  I  have  chosen,  that  a 
man  should  afflict  his  soul  for  a  day,  and  to  bow  down  his  head  like  a  bulrush  ? " — Bacon's 
Wisdom,  p.  65.  "And  this  first  emotion  comes  at  last  to  be  awakened  by  the  accidental, 
instead  of,  by  the  necessary  antecedent." — Wayland's  Moral  Science,  p.  17.  "At  about  the 
same  time,  the  subjugation  of  the  Moors  was  completed." — Balbi's  Geog.  p.  269.  "  God 
divided  between  the  light  and  between  the  darkness." — Burder's  Hist,  i,  1.  "  Notwith- 
standing of  this,  we  are  not  against  outward  significations  of  honour." — Barclay's  Works, 
i,  242.  "Whether  these  words  and  practices  of  Job's  friends,  be  for  to  be  our  rule." — Ib. 
i,  243.  "  Such  verb  cannot  admit  of  an  objective  case  after  it." — Loivth's  Gram.  p.  73.  "  For 
which  God  is  now  visibly  punishing  of  these  Nations." — Right  of  Tythes,  p.  139.  "  In  this 
respect,  Tasso  yields  to  no  poet,  except  to  Homer." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  444.  "  Notwithstand- 
ing of  the  numerous  panegyrics  on  the  ancient  English  liberty." — HUME  :  Priestley's  Gram. 
p.  161.  "Their  efforts  seemed  to  anticipate  on  the  spirit,  which  became  so  general  after- 
wards."— Id.  ib.  p.  167. 

UNDER  NOTE  V. — THE  PLACING  OF  THE  WORDS. 

"  But  how  short  are  my  expressions  of  its  excellency  !  " — Baxter.  "  There  is  a  remark- 
able union  in  his  style,  of  harmony  with  ease." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  127.  "  It  disposes  in  tho 
most  artificial  manner,  of  the  light  and  shade,  for  viewing  every  thing  to  the  best  advan- 
tage."— Ib.  p.  139.  "Aristotle  too  holds  an  eminent  rank  among  didactic  writers  for  his 
brevity." — Ib.  p.  177.  "In  an  introduction,  correctness  should  be  carefully  studied  in  tho 
expression." — Ib.  p.  308.  "  Precision  is  to  be  studied,  above  all  things  in  laying  down  u 
method." — Ib.  p.  313.  "  Which  shall  make  the  impression  on  the  mind  of  something  tha: 
is  one,  whole  and  entire." — Ib.  p.  353.  "At  the  same  time,  there  are  some  defects  which 
must  be  acknowledged  in  the  Odyssey." — Ib.  p.  437.  "  Beauties,  however,  there  are,  in 
the  concluding  books,  of  the  tragic  kind." — Ib.  p.  452.  "These  forms  of  conversation  by 
degrees  multiplied  and  grew  troublesome." — Spectator,  No.  119.  "When  she  has  mado 
her  own  choice,  for  form's  sake,  she  sends  a  conge-d'-elire  to  her  friends." — Ib.  No.  475. 
"  Let  us  endeavour  to  establish  to  ourselves  an  interest  in  him  who  holds  the  reins  of  the 
whole  creation  in  his  hand."— -Ib.  No.  12.  "  Let  us  endeavour  to  establish  to  ourselves  an 
interest  in  him,  who,  in  his  hand,  holds  the  reins  of  the  whole  creation." — Kames,  EL  of  Crit. 
ii,  53.  "  The  most  frequent  measure  next  to  this  in  English  poetry  is  that  of  eight  syllables." 
— Blair's  Gram.  p.  121.  "  To  introduce  as  great  a  variety  as  possible  of  cadences." — Jamieson's 
Rhet.  p.  80.  "  He  addressed  several  exhortations  to  them  suitable  to  their  circumstances." 
— Murray's  Key,  ii,  p.  191.  "  Habits  must  be  acquired  of  temperance  and  self-denial." — Ib. 
p.  217.  "  In  reducing  the  rules  prescribed  to  practice." — Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  iv.  "  But 
these  parts  must  be  so  closely  bound  together  as  to  make  the  impression  upon  the  mind,  of 
one  object,  not  of  many." — Ib.  Vol.  i,  p.  311 ;  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  106.  "Errors  are  sometimes 
committed  by  the  most  distinguished  writers  with,  respect  to  the  use  of  shall  and  will." — 
Butler's  Pract.  Gram.  p.  106. 


CHAPTER  XL -INTERJECTIONS. 

Interjections,  being  seldom  any  thing  more  than  natural  sounds  or  short 
•yyords  uttered  independently,  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  any  syntax ;  but 
jgince  some  rule  is  necessary  to  show  the  learner  how  to  dispose  of  them  in 
parsing,  a  brief  axiom  for  that  purpose,  is  here  added,  which  completes  our 

jthis  tenth  chapter  of  Syntax.    But  it  was  thought  best  to  illustrate  every  part  of  this  volume,  by  some  examplw 
'of  false  grammar^  out  of  the  infinite  number  and  variety  wiUj  which  our  literature  abounds. 


CHAP.    XI.]  SXNTAX. RULE   XXIY. INTERJECTIONS. OBSERVATIONS.  659 

series  of  rules :  and,  after  several  remarks  on  this  canon,  and  on  the  com- 
mon treatment  of  Interjections,  this  chapter  is  made  to  embrace  Exercises 
upon  all  the  other  parts  of  speech,  that  the  chapters  in  the  Key  may  corre- 
spond to  those  of  the  Grammar. 

RULE  XXIV.— INTERJECTIONS. 

Interjections  have  no  dependent  construction  ;  they  are  put  absolute,  either 
alone,  or  with  other  words:  as,  "O/  let  not  thy  heart  despise  me." — Dr. 
Johnson.  "  0  cruel  thou  !  "—Pope,  Odys.  B.  xii,  1.  333.  "  Ah  wretched  we, 
poets  of  earth  !  " — Cowley,  p.  28. 

"Ah  Dennis  !  Crildon  ah  !  what  ill-starr'd  rage 
Divides  a  friendship  long  confirm'd  by  age  ?  " 

Pope,  Dunciad,  B.  iii,  1,173. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  RULE  XXIV. 

OBS.  1. — To  this  rule,  there  are  properly  no  exceptions.  Though  interjections  are  sometimes 
uttered  in  close  connexion  with  other  words,  yet,  being  mere  signs  of  passion  or  of  feeling,  they 
seem  not  to  have  any  strict  grammatical  relation,  or  dependence  according  to  the  sense.  Being 
destitute  alike  of  relation,  agreement,  and  government,  they  must  be  used  independently,  if  used 
at  all.  Yet  an  emotion  signified  in  this  manner,  not  being  causeless,  may  be  accompanied  by 
some  object,  expressed  either  by  a  nominative  absolute,  or  by  an  objective  after  for  :  as,  "Alas! 

Eoor  Yorick!  " — Shak.      Here  the  grief  denoted  by  alas,  is  certainly  for  Yorick ;  as  much  so,  as 
the  expression  were,  "Alas  for  poor  Yorick  !  "     But,  in  either  case,  alas,  I  think,  has  no  de- 
pendent construction ;  neither'has  Yorick,  in  the  former,  unless  we  suppose  an  ellipsis  of  some 
governing  word. 

OBS.  2. — The  interjection  O  is  common  to  many  languages,  and  is  frequently  uttered,  in  token 
of  earnestness,  before  nouns  or  pronouns  put  absolute  by  direct  address  ;  as,  "Arise,  O  Lord;  O 
God,  lift  up  thine  hand."— Psalms,  x,  12.  "Oye  of  little  faith  !  "—Matt,  vi,  30.  The  Latin  and 
Greek  grammarians,  therefore,  made  this  interjection  the  sign  of  the  vocative  case;  which  case  is 
:ue  as  the  nominative  put  absolute  by  address  in  English.  But  this  particle  is  no  positive 
i:idex  of  the  vocative  ;  because  an  independent  address  may  be  made  without  that  sign,  and  the 
O  may  bo  used  where  there  is  no  address:  as,  "O  scandalous  want!  O  shameful  omission  !  " — 
"  I'ray,  Sir,  don't  be  uneasy." — Burgh's  Speaker,  p.  86. 

3. — Some  grammarians  ascribe  to  two  or  three  of  our  interjections  the  power  of  governing 
sometimes  the  nominative  case,  and  sometimes  the  objective.     First,  NIXON  ;  in  an  exercise  en- 
itled,  "  NOMIXATIVK  »,OYI:UNI;I>  HY  AN  INTERJECTION,"  thus  :  "  The  interjections  O  !  Oh  !  and 
h  !  require  after  them  the  nominative  case  of  a  substantive  in  the  second  person ;  as,  '  O  thou 
— '  O  Alexander  !  thou  hast  slain  thy  friend.'     O  is  an  interjection,  governing  the 

le, 
and 

them  the  objective  case  of  a  substantive  in  the  Jirst  or  third  person;  as,  'Oh  me!'  'Oh  the 
.' '  Oh  is  an  interjection,  governing  the  objective  case  humiliations." — Ib.  p.  63. 
hese  two  rules  are  in  fact  contradictory,  while  each  of  them  absurdly  suggests  that  O,  oh,  and 
used  only  with  nouns.  So  J.  M.  PUTNAM:  "Interjections  sometimes  govern  an  objec- 
ts, -ih  inn!  O  the  tender  ties!  O  the  soft  enmity!  O  me  miserable!  O  wretched 
'  O  cruel  reverse  of  fortune  !  When  an  address  is  made,  the  interjection  does  not  perform 
the  office  of  government." — Putnam's  Gram.  p.  113.  So  KIHKHAM  ;  who,  under  a  rule  quite 
different  from  these,  extends  the  doctrine  of  governmentto  all  interjections:  "According  to  the 
genius  of  the  English  language,  transitive  verbs  and  prepositions  require  the  objective  case  of  a 
noun  or  pronoun  after  them  ;  and  this  requisition  is  all  that  is  meant  by  government,  when  we  say 
that  these  parts  of  speech  govern  the  objective  case.  THE  SAME  PRINCIPLE  APPLIES  TO  THE  ix- 
TIMJJKCTION.  '  Inter]i  ire  the  objective  case  of  a  pronoun  of  the  first  person  after 

them  ;  but  the  nominative  of  a  noun  or  pronoun  of  the  second  or  third  person;  as,  Ah  me!  Oh 
tliou  !  O  my  rniintri/ .'  '     To  say,  then,  that  interjections  require  particular  oases   after  thorn,  is 
synonymous  with  saying,  that  they  govern  those  cases;  and  this  office  of  the  interjection  is  in 
wi'th  that  which  i't  performs  in  the  Latin,  and  many  other   languages." — Kirk- 
Cram,  p.  164.     According  to  this,  every  interjection  has  as  much  need  of  an  object  after  it, 
i  transitive  vorb  or  a  preposition  !     The  rule  has,  certainly,  no  "accordance"  with  what 
occurs  in  Latin,  or  in  any  other  language  ;  it  is  wholly  a  fabrication,  though  found,  in  some  shape 
or  other,  in  well-nigh  all  English  grammars. 

Ous.  1. — I,  M  :;::  \v's  doctrine  on  this  point  is  thus  expressed:  "The  interjections  O!  Oh! 
and  Ah  !  require  the  objective  case  of  a  pronoun  in  the  first  person  after  them  :  as,  '  O  me  !  oh 
me  !  Ah  me  ! '  But  the  nominative  case  in  the  second  person  :  as,  '  O  thou  persecutor ! '  'Oh  ye 
hypocrites  !  '  '  O  thou,  who  dwellest,'  &c."— (>> -f-n-o  dram.  p.  loS.  I  copies  this  most 

f.iulty  note  literally,  adding  these  words  to  its  abrupt  end, — i.  e.  to  its  inexplicable  "&c.,"used 
by  Murray  :  •  rned  by  a  preposition  understood  :  as,  'Ah  for  me  !' 

•  irh'at  trill  become  of  me  !  '  Ike. ;  and  the  second  person  is  in  the  nominative  independent, 
there  being  a  direct  address."— ('  ».  p.  21 1.     So  we  see  that  this  gramma- 

rian and  Kirkham,  both  modifiers  of  Murray,  understand  their  master's  false  verb  "require"  very 
differently.  LI.N.MI:  too,  in  renouncing  a  part  of  Murray's  double  or  threefold  error,  "Oh!  happy 
us!"  for,  "O  happy  tee!"  teaches  thus:  "Interjections  sometimes  require  the  objective  case 


^ominative  case  Alexander." — English  Parser,  p.*61.     Again,  under  the  title,  "  OBJECTIVE  CASE 
VLD  HY  AN  INTERJECTION,"  he  says:  "The  interjections  O  !  Oh  !  and  Ah!  require  after 
tive  case  of  a  substantive  in  the  first  or  third  person;  as,  'Oh  me!'     ' 


660  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

after  them,  bnt  they  never  govern  it.  "  In  the  first  edition  of  this  grammar,"  says  he,  "I  followed 
Mr.  Murray  and  others,  in  leaving  we.  in  the  exercises  to  be  turned  into  us  ;•  but  that  it  should 
be  toe,  and  not  us,  is  obvious  ;  because  it  is  the  nominative  to  are  understood  ;  thus,  Oh  happy 
are  ^ve,  or,  Oh  we  are  happy,  (being)  surrounded  with  so  many  blessings." — Lennie's  Gram.  Fifth 
Edition,  p.  84  ;  Twelfth,  p.  110.  Here  is  an  other  solution  of  the  construction  of  this  pronoun  of 
the  first  person,  contradictory  alike  to  Ingersoll's,  to  Kirkham's,  and  to  Murray's ;  while  all  are 
wrong,  and  this  among  the  rest.  Ihe  word  should  indeed  be  we,  and  not  us  ;  because  we  have 
both  analogy  and  good  authority  for  the  former  case,  and  nothing  but  the  false  conceit  of  sundry 
grammatists  for  the  latter.  But  it  is  a  nominative  absolute,  like  any  other  nominative  which  wo 
use  in  the  same  exclamatory  manner.  For  the  first  person  may  just  as  well  be  put  in  the  nomi- 
native absolute,  by  exclamation,  as  any  other  ;  as,  "  Behold  /  and  the  children  whom  God  hath, 
given  me  !  "-—  Heb.  ii,  13.  "  Ecce  ego  et  ptieriquos  mihi  dedit  Deus  !  " — Beza.  "  O  brave  we  !  " — 
Dr.  Johnson,  often.  So  Horace  :  "  0  ego  laevus,"  &c. — Ep.  ad  Pi.  301. 
"Ah  !  luckless  1 !  who  purge  in  spring  my  spleen — 
Else  sure  the  first  of  bards  had  Horace  been." — Francis's  Hor.  ii,  209. 

OBS.  5. — Whether  Murray's  remark  above,  on  "O/  Oh  !  and  Ah!  "  was  originally  designed  for 
a  rule  of  government  or  not,  it  is  hardly  worth  any  one's  while  to  inquire.  It  is  too  lame  and 
inaccurate  every  way,  to  deserve  any  notice,  but  that  which  should  serve  to  explode  it  forever. 
Yet  no  few,  who  have  since  made  English  grammars,  have  copied  the  text  literally ;  as  they  have,, 
for  the  public  benefit,  stolen  a  thousand  other  errors  from  the  same  quarter.  The  reader  will  find 
it,  with  little  or  no  change,  in  Smith's  New  Grammar,  p.  96  and  134  ;  Alger's,  56  ;  Alden's,  117  ; 
Russell's,  92 ;  Blair's,  100;  Guy's,  89;  Abel  Flint's,  59 ;  A  Teacher's,  43;  Picket's,  210;  Coop- 
er's* Murray,  136  ;  Wilcox's,  95  ;  Bucke's,  87  ;  Emmons's,  77;  and  probably  in  others.  Lennie 
varies  it  indefinitely,  thus:  "  RULE.  The  interjections  Oh!  and  Ah!  &c.  generally  require  the 
objective  case  of  the  first  personal  pronoun,  and  the  nominative  of  the  second';  as,  Ah  me!  O  thou 
fool !  O  ye  hypocrites  !  "-^Lennie's  Gram.  p.  110;  Brace's,  88.  M'Culloch,  after  Crombie,  thus  : 
"  RULE  XX.  Interjections  are  joined  with  the  objective  case  of  the  pronoun  of  the  first  person, 
and  with  the  nominative  of  the  pronoun  of  the  second;  as,  Ah  me  !  O  ye  hypocrites." — Manual1 
of  E.  Gram.  p.  145  ;  and  Orombie's  Treatise,  p.  315 ;  also  Fowler's  E.  Language,  p.  563.  Hiley 
makes  it  a  note,  thus  :  *'  The  interjections,  0  T  Oh  !  Ah  !  are  followed  by  the  objective  case  of  a 
pronoun  of  the  first  person  ;  as,  'Oh  me  !  '  fAh  me  !  '  but  by  the  nominative  case  of  the  pronoun 
in  the  second  person  ;  as,  1O  thou,  who  dwellest.'  " — Hiley' s  Gram.  p.  82..  This  is  what  the  same 
author  elsewhere  calls  "  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  INTERJECTIONS;"  though,  like  some  others,  he 
had  set  it  in  the  "  Syntax  of  PRONOUNS."  See  Ib.  p.  108.  Murray,  in  forming  his  own  little 
"Abridgment,"  omitted  it  altogether.  In  his  other  grammars,  it  is  still  a  mere  note,  standing 
where  he  at  first  absurdly  put  it,  under  his  rule  for  the  agreement  of  pronouns  with  their  antece- 
dents. By  many  of  his  sage  amenders,  it  has  been  placed  in  the  catalogue  of  principal  rules. 
But,  that  it  is  no  adequate  rale  for  interjections,  is  manifest ;  for,  in  its  usual  form,  it  is 
limited  to  three,  and  none  of  these  can  ever,  with  any  propriety,,  be  parsed  by  it.  Murray  himself 
has  not  used  it  in  any  of  his  forms  of  parsing.  He  conceived," (as  I  hinted  before  in  Chapter  1st,) 
that,  "  The  syntax  of  the  Interjection  is  of  so  very  limited  a  nature,  that  it  does  not  require  a  dis- 
tinct, appi'opriaterule." — Octavo  Gram.  i,.  224. 

OBS.  6. — Against  this  remark  of  Murray's,  a  good  argument  may  be  drawn  from  the  ridiculous 
use  which  has  been  made  of  his  own  suggestion,  in  the  other  place.  For,  though  that  suggestion 
never  had  in  it  the  least  shadow  of  truth,,  and  was  never  at  all  applicable  either  to  the  three- 
interjections,  or  to  pronouns,  or  to  cases,  or  to  tine  persons,  or  to  any  thing  else  of  which  it  speaks  ; 
it  has  not  only  been  often  copied  literally,  and  called  a  "  RULE  "  of  syntax,  but  many  have,  yetr 
more  absurdly,  made  it  a.  general  canon  which  imposes  on  all  interjections  a  syntax  that  belong* 
to  none  of  them.  For  example  :  "An  interjection  miist  be  followed  by  the  objective  case  of  a  pro- 
noun in  the  first  person  ;  and  by  a  nominative  of  the  second  person  ;  as — Oh  me  !  ah  me  !  oh  thou! 
AH  hail,  ye  happy  men  !  " — Jaudon's  Gram.  p.  116.  This  is  as  much  as  t&  say,  that  every  inter- 
jection must  have  a  pronoun  or  two  after  it!  Again:  "Interjections  musi  be  folloiced  by  the 
objective  case  of  the  pronoun  in  the  first  person;  as,  O  me !  Ah  me!  and  by  the  nominative  case- 
of  the  second  person  ;  as,  O  thou  persecutor  !  Oh  ye  hypocrites  !  " — Merchant's  Murray,  p.  80  ; 
Merchant's  School  Gram.  p.  99.  I  imagine  there  is  a  difference  between  O  and  oh,-^  and  that  this 
author,  as  well  as  Murray,  in  the  first  and  the  last  of  these  examples,  has  misapplied  them  both. 
Again  :  *l  Interjections  require  the  objective  case  of  a  pronoun  of  the  first  person,  and  the  nomi- 
native case  of  the  second ;  a.s,Ahme!  Othou." — Frost's  El.  of  E.  Gram.  p.  48\  This,  too,  is 
general. 

*  "The  Rev.  Joab  Goldsmith  Cooper,  A.  M.,"  was  the  author  of  two  English  grammars,  as  well  as  of  what  h* 
palled  "A  New  and  Improved  Latin  Grammar,"  with  "An  Edition  of  the  Works  of  Virgil,  &C.,"  aH  published  in 
Philadelphia.  His  first  grammar,  dated  1828,  is  entitled.  uAn  Abridgment  of  Murrayfx  English  Giammar,  and 
Exercises."  But  it  is  no  more  an  abridgement  of  Murray's  work,  than  of  mine  ;  be  having  chosen  to  steal  from, 
the  text  of  my  Institutes,  or  supply  matter  of  Ins  own,  about  as  often  as  to  copy  Murray.  His  second  is  the  Latin 
Grammar.  His  third,  which  is  entitled,  "A  Plain  and  Practical  English  Giammar,"  and  dated  1831,  is  a  book 
Very  different  from  the  first,  but  equally  inaccurate  and  worthless.  In  this  book,  the  syntax  of  iuterjections 
stands  thus  :  "  RULE  21.  The  interjections  O,  oh  and  ah  are  followed  by  the  objective,  rase  of  a  noun  or  pronoun  t 
as :  "  0  me  !  ah  me  !  oh  me  !  In  the  second  person,  they  are  a  mark  or  sign  of  an  address,  made  to  a  person  or 
thing,  as:  0  thou  persecutor!  Oh,  ye  hypocrites!  0  virtue,  how  amiable  thou  art  J  "—Page  167.  The 
inaccuracy  of  all  this  can  scarcely  be  exceeded. 

t  "  Oh  is  used  to  express  the  emotion  of  pain,  sorrow,  or  surprise.  O  is  used  to  express  wishing,  exclamation., 
or  a  direct  address  to  a  person.''— Lennys  Gram,,  12th  Ed.,  p.  110.  Of  this  distinction  our  grammarians  in. 
general  seem  to  have  no  conception  ;  and,  in  fact,  it  is  so  often  disregarded  by  other  authors,  that  the  propriety 
of  it  may  be  disputed.  Since  O  and  oh  are  pronounced  alike,  or  very  nearly  so,  if  there  is  no  difference  in  their 
application,  they  are  only  different  modes  of  writing  the  same  word,  and  one  or  the  other  of  them  is  useless.  If 
there  is  a  real  difference,  as  1  suppose  there  is,  it  ought  to  be  better  observed  ;  and  O  me .'  and  oh  ye .'  which  I 
believe  are  found  only  in  grammars,  should  be  regarded  as  bad  English.  Both  0  and  oh,  as  well  as  ah,  were 
used  in  Latin  by  Terence,  who  was  reckoned  an  elegant  writer  ;  and  his  manner  of  applying  them  favours  this 
distinction  :  and  so  do  our  own  dictionaries,  though  Johnson  and  Walker  do  not  draw  it  clearly,  for  oh  is  as 


CHAP.  XI.]         SYNTAX. RULE   XXIV. INTERJECTIONS. — OBSERVATIONS.  661 

Ons.  7. — Of  nouns,  or  of  the  third  person,  the  three  rules  last  cited  say  nothing;*  though  it 
appears  from  other  evidence,  that  their  authors  supposed  them  applicable  at  least  to  some  nouns 
of  the  second  person.  The  supposition  however  was  quite  needless,  because  each  of  their  gram- 
mars contains  an  other  Rule,  that,  "  When  an  address  is  made,  the  noun  or  pronoun  is  in  the 
nominative  case  independent :  "  which,  by  the  by,  is  far  from  being  universally  true,  either  of  the 
noun  or  of  the  pronoun.  Russell  imagines,  "  The  words  tlt>pcn<l(ny  upon  interjections,  have  so 
near  a  resemblance  to  those  in  a  direct  address,  that  they  may  very  properly  be  classed  under  the 
same  general  head,"  and  be  parsed  as  being  "in  the  nominative  case  MjfajpMMtMf."  See  his 

'••1  array's  Gram."  p.  91.     He   does  not  perceive  that  dtyindnui  and  indi  t 

are  words  that  contradict  each  other.  Into  the  same  inconsistency,  do  nearly  all  those  gentlemen 
fall,  who  ascribe  to  interjections  a  control  over  cases.  Even  Kirk'ham,  who  so  earnestly  contends 
that  what  any  words  require  after  them  they  must  necessarily  govern,  forgets  his  whole  argument, 
or  justly  disbelieves  it,  whenever  he  parses  any  noun  that  is  uttered  with  an  interjection.  In 
short,  he  applies  his  principle  to  nothing  but  the  word  me  in  the  phrases,  "Ah me!  "  "OA  me!  " 
and  "Me  miserable /"  and  even  these  he  parses  falsely.  The  second  person  used  in  the  vocative, 
or  the  nominative  put  absolute  by  direct  address,  whether  an  interjection  be  used  or  not,  he 
rightly  explains  as  being  "  in  the  nominative  case  independent ;  "  as,  "O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem  !  " 
— Kit  kham's  Gram.  p.  130.  "O  maid  of  Inistore  !  " — Ib.  p.  131.  But  he  is  wrong  in  saying  that, 
"  Whenever  a  noun  is  of  the  second  person,  it  is  in  the  nominative  case  independent;  "  (Ib.  p. 
130;)  and  still  more  so,  in  supposing  that,  "The  principle  contained  in  the  note  "  [which  tells 
what  interjections  require,]  "proves  that  every  noun  of  the  second  person  is  in  the  nominative 
— Ib.  p.  164.  A  falsehood  proves  nothing  but  the  ignorance  or  the  wickedness  of  him  who 
utters  it.  He  is  wrong  too,  as  well  as  many  others,  in  supposing  that  this  nominative  independ- 
ent is  not  a  nominative  absolute  ;  for,  "The  vocative  is  [yenerally,  if  not  always,]  absolute." — 
}\~.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  142.  But  that  nouns  of  the  second  person  are  not  always  absolute  or  independ- 
ent, nor  always  in  the  nominative  case,  or  the  vocative,  appears,  I  think,  by  the  following  example  : 
"  This  is  the  stone  which  was  set  at  nought  of  you  builders.'' — Acts,  iv,  11.  See  Obs.  3d  on 
Rule  8th. 

OBS.  8. — The  third  person,  when  uttered  in  exclamation,  with  an  interjection  before  it,  is  parsed 
by  Kirkham,  not  as  being  governed  by  the  interjection,  either  in  the  nominative  case,  according 
to  his  own  argument  and  own  rule  above  cited,  or  in  the  objective,  according  to  Nixon's  notion 
of  the  construction  ;  nor  yet  as  being  put  absolute  in  the  nominative,  as  I  believe  it  generally,  if 
not  always,  is  ;  but  as  being  "  the  nominative  to  a  verb  understood  ;  as,  '  Lo,'  there  is  '  the  poor 
liuii"n!'  'O,  the  pain'  there  is!  'the  bliss'  there  is  'IN  dying!'" — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  129. 
Pope's  text  is,  "OA  the  pain,  the  bliss  of  dying ! "  and,  in  all  that  is  here  changed,  the  gramma- 
rian has  perverted  it,  if  not  in  all  that  he  has  added.  It  is  an  other  principle  of  Kirkham's 
Grammar,  though  a  false  one,  that,  "  Nouns  have  but  two  persons,  the  second  and  [the]  third." — 
P.  37.  So  that,  these  two  being  disposed  of  agreeably  to  his  own  methods  above,  which  appear 
to  include  the  second  and  third  persons  of  pronouns  also,  there  remains  to  him  nothing  but  the 
objective  of  the  pronoun  of  the  first  person  to  which  he  can  suppose  his  other  rule  to  apply  ;  and 
I  have  shown  that  there  is  no  truth  in  it  even  in  regard  to  this.  Yet,  with  the  strongest  pro- 
fessions of  adhering  to  the  principles,  and  even  to  "  the  language,"  of  Lindley  Murray,  this 
gentleman,  by  copying  somebody  else  in  preference  to  "  that  eminent  philologist,"  nas  made  him- 
self one  of  those  by  whom  Murray's  erroneous  remark  on  O,  oh,  and  aht  with  pronouns  of  the 
ilrst  and  second  persons,  is  not  only  stretched  into  a  rule  for  all  interjections,  but  made  to  include 
nouns  of  the  second  person,  and  both  nouns  and  pronouns  of  the  third  person:  as,  "Interjec- 
tions require  the  objective  case  of  a  pronoun  of  the  first  person  after  them,  but  the  nominative 
of  a  noun  or  pronoun  of  the  second  or  third  person  ;  as,  Ah  !  me ;  Oh  !  thou ;  0  !  virtue." — Kirk- 
Gram.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  134;  Stereotype  Ed.,  p.  177-  See  the  same  rule,  with  examples  and 
punctuation  different,  in  his  Stereotype  Edition,  p.  164;  Comly's  Gram.  116;  Greenteaf's,36;  and 
fish's,  114.  All  these  authors,  except  Comly,  who  comes  much  nearest  to  the  thing,  profess  to 
present  to  us  "Murray's  Grammar  Simplified;  "  and  this  is  a  sample  of  their  work  of  simplifica- 
tion ! — an  ignorant  piling  of  errors  on  errors  ! 

"  ()  imitatores  servum  pecus  !  ut  mihi  sirpe 
Uilem,  sa-pe  jocum  vestri  movere  tumultus  !  "— 'Horace. 

OBS.  9. — Since  so  many  of  our  grammarians  conceive  that  interjections  require  or  govern  cases, 
it  may  be  proper  to  cite  some  who  teach  otherwise.  "  Interjections,  in  English,  have  no  govern- 
ment."— Lnicth's  Gr'im.  p.  111.  "  Interjections  have  no  government,  or  admit  of  no  construction." 
— Coar's  Gram.  p.  189.  "  Interjections  have  no  connection  with  other  words." — Fuller's  Gram. 

much  an  "  exclamation  *'  as  O.  In  the  works  of  Virgil,  Ovid,  and  Horace,  we  find  O  or  6  used  frequently,  but 
nowhere  oh.  Yet  this  i-  n<>  -'vi  Icnre  of  their  -sness  of  the  latter;  but  rather  of  their 

iilTeivnoe.  and  of  the  impropriety  of  confounding  them.  O,  oh,  ho,  and  ah.  are  French  words  as  well  as  Eng- 
lish. Hover,  in  his  Quarto  Dictionary,  confounds  thorn  all  :  translating  M  O  !  n  only  hy  ;k  Oh  .'  "  "  OH  !  ou  HO  !  " 
by  "  Ho''  Oli!"  and  "AH  !  "  hy  ••  oh!  alas!  wtll-a  dny  '  oii«h!  A!  ah!  hah!  Ao.'"  He  would  have  done 

•o  have  made  each  one  explain  i:s«lf;   and  especially,  not  to  have  set  down  "  ough!"  and  "A!"  at 
English  words  which  correspond  t<«  tin    Kr-nch  ah  .' 

Ml.-rv-  N  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  Murray's ;  of  whose  work,  mont  of  the  authors  who  have  any  such 
rule,  are  either  piddling  modifiers  <T  M-ml.-  copyists.  And  Murray's  silence  on  these  matters,  is  in  part  attribu- 
table to  the  fact,  that  when  ri-mnrk.  his  system  of  grammar  denied  that  nouns  have  any  first  person, 
->r  any  ohjfctive  case.  Of  course  he  supposed  that  all  nouns  that  were  uttered  after  interjections,  whether  they 
were  of  the  second  person  or  of  the  third,  were  in  the  nominative  case  :  frr  he  pave  to  nouns  two  cases  only, 
tho  nominative  and  the  possessive.  And  when  he  afterwards  admitted  the  objective  case  of  nouns,  he  did  not 
liter  hi*  remurk,  but  left  all  his  pupil*  ignorant  of  the  case  of  any  noun  that  is  used  iu  exclamation  or  invoca- 
tion. In  his  doctrine  of  two  case*,  he  followed  Dr.  Ash;  from  whom  also  he  copied  the  rule  which  I  am  criti- 
cising :  "  The  Interjection*,  O,  Oh,  and  Ah,  require  the  accusative  case  of  a  pronoun  in  the  first  Person  :  as, 
0  ni'.  Oh  me,  Ah  me:  But  tho  Xnminntive  in  the  -  >  :>m,,,  O  y-r—  .I>V«  Gram.  p.  60.  Or  perhaps 
he  had  Bicknell's  book,  which  was  later:  "The  interjections  O,  oh,  and  ah,  require  the  accusative  case  of  a 

:i9.  O,me'     Oh,  me.'     Ah,  me.'    But  the  nominative  case  in  the  *"-ond 

:  as,  O,  thou  that  ntlest .'     O,  ye  rulers  of  th>'$  lin<l  '  '—The  Grammatical  Wreath,  Part  I,  p.  105. 


662  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

p.  71.  "  The  interjection,  in  a  grammatical  sense,  is  totally  unconnected  with  every  other  word 
in  a  sentence.  Its  arrangement,  of  course  is  altogether  arbitrary,  and  cannot  admit  of  any 
theory." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  83.  "Interjections  cannot  properly  have  either  concord  or  gov- 
ernment. They  are  only  mere  sounds  excited  by  passion,  and  have  no  just  connexion  with  any 
other  part  of  a  sentence.  Whatever  case,  therefore,  is  joined  with  them,  must  depend  on  somo 
other  word  understood,  except  the  vocative,  which  is  always  placed  absolutely." — Adam's  Latin 
Gram.  p.  196 ;  Gould's,  193.  If  this  is  true  of  the  Latin  language,  a  slight  variation  will  make 
it  as  true  of  ours.  "Interjections,  and  phrases  resembling  them,  are  taken  absolutely;  as,  Oh, 
world,  thy  slippery  turns  !  But  the  phrases  Oh  me!  and  Ah  me!  frequently  occur." — W.  Allen's 
Gram.  p.  188.  This  passage  is,  in  several  respects,  wrong ;  yet  the  leading  idea  is  true.  The 
author  entitles  it,  "  SYNTAX  OF  INTERJECTIONS,"  yet  absurdly  includes  in  it  I  know  not  what 
phrases !  In  the  phrase,  "  thy  slippery  turns  !"  no  word  is  absolute,  or  "  taken  absolutely,"  but 
the  noun  "turns;"  and  this,  without  the  least  hint  of  its  case,  the  learned  author  will  have  us 
understand  to  be  absolute,  because  the  phrase  resembles  an  interjection  !  But  the  noun  "world," 
which  is  also  absolute,  and  which  still  more  resembles  an  interjection,  he  will  have  to  be  so  for  a 
different  reason — because  it  is  in  what  he  chooses  to  call  the  vocative  case.  But,  according  to 
custom,  he  should  rather  have  put  his  interjection  absolute  with  the  noun,  and  written  it,  "O 
world,"  and  not,  "Oh,  world."  What  he  meant  to  do  with  "Oh  me!  and  Ah  me!"  is  doubtful. 
If  any  phrases  come  fairly  under  his  rule,  these  are  the  very  ones  ;  and  yet  he  seems  to  introduce 
them  as  exceptions  !  Of  these,  it  can  hardly  be  said,  that  they  "frequently  occur."  Lowth 
notices  only  the  latter,  which  he  supposes  elliptical.  The  former  I  do  not  remember  to  have  met 
with  more  than  three  or  four  times  ;  except  in  grammars,  which,  in  this  case,  are  hardly  to  be 
called  authorities :  "Oh!  me,  how  fared  it  with  me  then  ? " — Job  Scott.  "Oh  me!  all  the  horse 
have  got  over  the  river,  what  shall  we  do  ?  " — WALTON  :  Joh.  Diet. 
"  But  when  he  was  first  seen,  oh  me! 
What  shrieking  and  what  misery  !  " — Wordsworth's  Works,  p.  114. 

OBS.  10. — When  a  declinable  word  not  in  the  nominative  absolute,  follows  an  interjection,  as 
part  of  an  imperfect  exclamation,  its  construction  (if  the  phrase  be  good  English)  depends  on 
something  understood;  as,  "Ah  me!" — that  is,  "Ah!  pity  me ;  "  or,  "Ah!  it  grieves  me:"  or, 
as  some  will  have  it,  (because  the  expression  in  Latin  is  "Heimihi!")  "Ah  for  me  !  " — Inger- 
soll.  "Ah!  wo  is  to  me." — Lowth.  "Ah!  sorrow  is  to  me." — Coar.  So  of  "oh  me!"  for,  in 
these  expressions,  if  not  generally,  oh  and  ah  are  exactly  equivalent  the  one  to  the  other.  As 
for  "Ome,"  it  is  now  seldom  met  with,  though  Shakspeare  has  it  a  few  times.  From  these 
examples,  O.  B.  Peirce  erroneously  imagines  the  "independent  case"  of  the  pronoun /to  be  me, 
and  accordingly  parses  the  word  without  supposing  an  ellipsis  ;  but  in  the  plural  he  makes  that 
case  to  be  we,  and  not  us.  So,  having  found  an  example  of  "Ah  Him  !  "  which,  according  to  one 
half  of  our  grammarians,  is  bad  English,  he  conceives  the  independent  case  of  he  to  be  him;  but 
in  the  plural,  and  in  both  numbers  of  the  words  thou  and  she,  he  makes  it  the  nominative,  or  the 
same  in  form  as  the  nominative.  So  builds  he  "  the  temple  of  Grammatical  consistency  !  " — P.  7 
Nixon  and  Cooper  must  of  course  approve  of  "Ah  him  !"  because  they  assume  that  the  interjec- 
tion ah  "requires"  or  "governs"  the  objective  case  of  the  third  person.  Others  must  condemr. 
the  expression,  because  they  teach  that  ah  requires  the  nominative  case  of  this  person.  Thu? 
Greenleaf  sets  down  for  false  syntax,  "  O  !  happy  them,  surrounded  with  so  many  blessings  !  "— 
Gram.  Simplified,  p.  47.  Here,  undoubtedly,  the  word  should  be  they ;  and,  by  analogy,  (I: 
indeed  the  instances  are  analogous,)  it  would  seem  more  proper  to  say,  "Ah  he!"  the  nominative 
being  our  only  case  absolute.  But  if  any  will  insist  that  "Ah  him ! "  is  good  English,  they  must 
suppose  that  him  is  governed  by  something  understood  ;  as,  "Ah  !  I  lament  him  ;  "  or,  "Ah  !  / 
mourn  for  him."  And  possibly,  on  this  principle,  the  example  referred  to  may  be  most  correct 
as  it  stands,  with  the  pronoun  in  the  objective  case  :  "Ah  Him !  the  first  great  martyr  in  thiti 
great  cause!  "— D.  WEBSTER:  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  199. 

OBS.  11. — If  we  turn  to  the  Latin  syntax,  to  determine  by  analogy  what  case  is  used,  or  ought 
to  be  used,  after  our  English  interjections,  in  stead  of  finding  a  "perfect  accordance"  between 
that  syntax  and  the  rule  for  which  such  accordance  has  been  claimed,  we  see  at  once  an  utter 
repugnance,  and  that  the  pretence  of  their  agreement  is  only  a  sample  of  Kirkham's  unconscion- 
able pedantry.  The  rule,  in  all  its  modifications,  is  based  on  the  principle,  that  the  choice  of 
cases  depends  on  the  distinction  of  persons — a  principle  plainly  contrary  to  the  usage  of  the  Latin 
classics,  and  altogether  untrue.  In  Latin,  some  interjections  are  construed  with  the  nominative, 
the  accusative,  or  the  vocative ;  some,  only  with  the  dative  ;  some,  only  with  the  vocative.  But, 
in  English,  these  four  cases  are  all  included  in  two,  the  nominative  and  the  objective  ;  and,  the 
case  independent  or  absolute  being  necessarily  the  nominative,  it  follows  that  the  objective,  if  it 
occur  after  an  interjection,  must  be  the  object  of  something  which  is  capable  of  governing  it.  If 
any  disputant,  by  supposing  ellipses,  will  make  objectives  of  what  I  call  nominatives  absolute, 
so  be  it ;  but  I  insist  that  interjections,  in  fact,  never  "  require  "  or  "  govern  "  one  case  more  than 
an  other.  So  Peirce,  and  Kirkham,  and  Ingersoll,  with  pointed  self-contradiction,  may  continue 
to  make  "the  independent  case,"  whether  vocative  or  merely  exclamatory,  the  subject  of  a  verb, 
expressed  or  understood  ;  but  I  will  content  myself  with  endeavouring  to  establish  a  syntax  not 
liable  to  this  sort  of  objection.  In  doing  this,  it  is  proper  to  look  at  all  the  facts  which  go  to 
show  what  is  right,  or  wrong.  "Lo,  the  poor  Indian!  "  is  in  Latin,  "Ecce  pauper  Indus  I  "  or, 
"Ecce  pauperem  Indum!"  This  use  of  either  the  nominative  or  the  accusative  after  ecce,  if  it 
proves  any  thing  concerning  the  case  of  the  word  Indian,  proves  it  doubtful.  Some,  it  seems, 


Gram.  p.  263,)  and  "Miser  ego  homo  !  O  wretched  man  that  1  am  !  " — (Horn,  vii,  24,)  if  the  word 
that  is  a  relative  pronoun,  as  I  incline  to  think  it  is,  the  case  of  the  nouns  wretch  and  man  does 
not  depend  on  any  other  words,  either  expressed  or  implied.  They  are  therefore  nominatives 
absolute,  according  to  Rule  8th,  though  the  Latin  words  may  be  most  properly  explained  on  the 
principle  of  ellipsis. 


CIIAP.    XI.]        SYNTAX. — RULE   XXIV. INTERJECTIONS. — OBSERVATIONS.  663 

OB«.  12. — Of  some  impenetrable  blockhead,  Horace,  telling  how  himself  was  vexed,  says  :  "O 
te,  Bollane,  cerebri  Fclicem !  aiebam  tacitus." — Lib.  i,  Sut.  i\,  11.  Literally:  "O  thee,  Bollanus, 
happy  of  brain  !  said  I  to  myself."  That  is,  "  O  !  I  envy  thee,"  &c  This  shows  that  O  does  not 
41  require  the  nominative  case  of  the  second  person  "  after  it,  at  least  in  Latin.  Neither  does  oh 
or  ah :  for,  if  a  governing  word  be  suggested,  the  objective  may  be  proper;  as,  "  Whom  did  he 
injure  ?  Ah  !  thee,  my  boy  ?  " — or  even  the  possessive  ;  as,  "  Whose  sobs  do  I  hear  ?  Oh  !  thine, 
my  child  ?  "  Kirkham  tells  us  truly,  (Gram.  p.  126,)  that  the  exclamation  "O  my,"  is  frequently 
heard  in  conversation.  These  last  resemble  Lucan's  use  of  the  genitive,  with  an  ellipsis  of  the 
governing  noun  :  "O  misera;  sortis  !  "  i.  e.  "O  [men]  of  miserable  lot !''  In  short,  all  the  Latin 
.  as  well  as  all  the  English,  may  possibly  occur  after  one  or  other  of  the  interjections.  I  have 
instanced  all  but  the  ablative,  and  the  following  is  literally  an  example  of  that,  though  the  word 
quanta  is  construed  adverbially:  "Ah,  quanta  satius  est !  " — Ter.  Awl.  ii,  1.  "Ah,  how  much 
better  it  is  !  "  I  have  also  shown,  by  good  authorities,  that  the  nominative  of  the  first  person, 
both  in  English  and  in  Latin,  may  be  properly  used  after  those  interjections  which  have  been 
supposed  to  require  or  govern  the  objective.  But  how  far  is  analogy  alone  a  justification  ?  Is 
"O  thee  "  good  English,  because  "Ote"  is  good  Latin  ?  No  :  nor  is  it  bad  for  the  reason  which 
our  grammarians  assign,  but  because  our  best  writers  never  use  it,  and  because  O  is  more  properly 
:n  of  the  vocative.  The  literal  version  above  should  therefore  be  changed  ;  as,  "  O  Bollanus, 
thou  happy  numskull !  said  I  to  myself." 

OBS.  13. — Allen  Fisk,  "  author  of  Adam's  Latin  Grammar  Simplified,"  and  of  "  Murray's  Eng- 
lish Grammar  Simplified,"  sets  down  for  "False  Syntax,"  not  only  that  hackneyed  example, 
"  Oh  !  happy  we,"  &c.,  but,  "  O  !  You,  who  love  iniquity,"  and,  "Ah  !  you,  who  hate  the  light." 
— Fisk's  E.  Gram.  p.  144.  But,  to  imagine  that  either  you  or  we  is  wrong  here,  is  certainly  no 
sign  of  a  great  linguist ;  and  his  punctuation  is  very  inconsistent  both  with  his  own  rule  of  syn- 
tax and  with  common  practice.  An  interjection  set  off  by  a  comma  or  an  exclamation  point,  is 
of  course  put  absolute  singly,  or  by  itself.  If  it  is  to  be  read  as  being  put  absolute  with  some- 
thing else,  the  separation'  is  improper.  One  might  just  as  well  divide  a  preposition  from  its 
object,  as  an  interjection  from  the  case  which  it  is  supposed  to  govern.  Yet  we  find  here  not 
only  such  a  division  as  Murray  sometimes  improperly  adopted,  but  in  one  instance  a  total  sepa- 
ration, with  a  capital  following;  as,  "  O  !  You,  who  love  iniquity,"  for,  "  O  you  who  lore  iniquity  !  " 
or,  "  O  ye,"  £c.  If  a  point  be  here  set  between  the  two  pronouns,  the  speaker  accuses  all  his 
hearers  of  loving  iniquity  ;  if  this  point  be  removed,  he  addresses  only  such  as  do  love  it.  But 
an  interjection  and  a  pronoun,  each  put  absolute  singly,  one  after  the  other,  seem  to  me  not  to 
constitute  a  very  natural  exclamation.  The  last  example  above  should  therefore  be,  "Ah  !  you 
hate  the  light."  The  first  should  be  written,  "O  happy  we !  " 

OBS.  14. — In  other  grammars,  too,  there  are  many  instances  of  some  of  the  errors  here  pointed 
out.  R.  C  Smith  knows  no  difference  between  O  and  oh  ;  takes  "Oh  '  happy  us,"  to  be  accurate 
English;  sees  no  improprietv  in  separating  interjections  from  the  pronouns  which  he  supposes 
them  to  "  govern  ;  "  writes  tfie  same  examples  variously,  even  on  the  same  page ;  inserts  or  omits 
commas  or  exclamation  points  at  random  ;  yet  makes  the  latter  the  means  by  which  interjections 
are  to  be  known  !  See  his  New  Gram.  pp.  40,  96,  and  134.  Kirkham,  who  lays  claim  to  "a  new 
i  of  punctuation,"  and  also  stoutly  asserts  the  governing  power  of  interjections,  writes, 
and  rewrites,  and  finally  stereotypes,  in  one  part  of  his  book,  "Ah  me  !  Oh  thou  !  0  my  country  !  " 
and  in  an  other,  "Ah  !  me  ;  Oh  !  thou  ;  O  !  virtue."  See  Obs.  3d  and  Obs.  8th  above.  From  such 
hands,  any  thing  "  wtr"  should  be  received  with  caution:  this  last  specimen  of  his  scholarship 
has  more  errors  than  words. 

OBS.  lo. — Some  few  of  our  interjections  seem  to  admit  of  a  connexion  with  other  words  by 
means  of  a  preposition  or  the  conjunction  that  •  as,  "  O  to  forget  her!  " — Young.  "  Ofor  that 
warning  voice  !  " — Milton.  "  O  that  thnv  wpre  wise  !  " — Dent,  xxxii.  29.  "  O  flint  mv  r>f>r>r>lo  V,*,} 


warning  voice  !  " — Milton^     "  O  that _they  were  wise  !  " — Deut.  xxxii,  29.     "  O  that  my  people  had 

Id  in  principle 


hearkened  unto  me  !  " — Ps.  Ixxxi,  13.     "Alas/or  Sicily  !  " — Cowper.     "  0 for  a  work 


as  chaste  As  this  is  gross  and  selfish  !  " — Id.  "  Hurrah  for  Jackson  !  " — Newspaper.  "A  bawd, 
sir,  fy  vjnn  him  !  " — SH.VK.  :  Joh.  Diet.  "And  fy  on  fortune,  mine  avowed  foe!  " — SPENCER:  ib. 
This  connexion,  however,  even  if  we  parse  all  the  words  just  as  they  stand,  does  not  give  to  the  in- 
terjection itself  any  dependent  construction.  It  appears  indeed  to  refute  Jamieson's  assertion, 
that,  "  The  interjection  is  totally  WMMMefad  with  every  other  word  in  a  sentence;  "  but  I  did  not 
quote  this  passage,  with  any  averment  of  its  accuracy  ;  and,  certainly,  many  nouns  which  are  put 
absolute  themselves,  have  in  like  manner  a  connexion  with  words  that  are  not  put  absolute :  as, 
"  O  Lord  God  of  hosts,  hear  my  prayer  ;  give  ear,  O  God  of  Jacob.  Selah." — Ps.  Ixxxiv,  8.  But 
if  any  will  suppose,  that  in  the  foregoing  examples  something  else  than  the  interjection  must  be 
the  antecedent  term  to  the  preposition  or  the  conjunction,  they  may  consider  the  expressions 
elliptical  ;  though  it  must  be  confessed,  that  much  of  their  vivacity  will  be  lost,  when  the  sup- 
posed ellipses  are  supplied  :  as,  "  O !  /  desire  to  forget  her." — "  O  !  hoir  I  long  for  that  warning 
voice!" — "O!  how  I  wish  that  they  were  wise!" — "Alas!  /  n-nil  for  Sicily." — "Hurrah!  / 
•ihoiif  for  Jackson." — "  Fy  !  cry  out  upon  him."  Lindley  Murray  has  one  example  of  this  kind, 
and  if  his  punctuation  of  it  is  not  bad  in  all  his  editions,  there  must  be  an  ellipsis  in  the  expres- 
sion:  "0!  for  better  times." — O-(,tro  Gnun.u,  6;  Dund,,-!,,  ,  p.  10.  He  also  writes 
it  thus  :  "  O, ./for  better  times." — (>  f'irn  (,'r/im.  i,  120;  Inyersoll's  Gram.  p.  47.  According  to  com- 
mon usage,  it  should  be,  "  0  for  better  times  !  " 

OBS.  16. — The  interject  ion  may  be  placed  at  the  beginning  or  the<>;ir/of  a  simple  sentence,  and  some- 
times between  its  less  intimate  parts;  but  this  part  of  speech  is  seldom,  if  »vcr,  allowed  to  interrupt 
the  connexion  of  any  words  which  are  closely  united  in  sense.  Murray's  definition  of  an  interjection, 
as  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  is  faulty,  and  directly  contradicted  by  his  example  :  "  O  virtue  !  how 
amiable  thou  art !  " — Octavo  Gram,  i,  2-S  and  128  ;  ii,  2.  This  was  a  favourite  sentence  with  Mur- 
ray, and  he  appears  to  have  written  it  uniformly  in  this  fashion  ;  which,  undoubtedly,  is  alto- 
gether right,  except  that  the  word  "virtue"  should  have  had  a  capital  Vee,  because  the  quality  is 
here  personified. 

Uits.  17. — Misled  by  the  false  notion,  that  the  term  interjection  is  appropriate  only  to  what  is 


664  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

"  thrown  in  between  the  parts  of  a  sentence,"  and  perceiving  that  this  is  in  fact  but  rarely  the 
situation  of  this  part  of  speech,  a  recent  critic,  (to  whom  I  should  owe  some  acknowledgements,  if 
he  were  not 
name  as 

words  called  interjection  should  never  be  so  used- 
amiable  thou  art.'  'Oh  ?  Absalom,  my  son. 
die  of  a  sentence,  where  it  never  belonged;  thus,  '  This  enterprise,  alas!  will  never  compensate  us 
for  the  trouble  and  expense  with  which  it  has  been  attended.'  If  G.  B.  meant  the  enterprize  of 
studying  grammar,  in  the  old  theories,  his  sentiment  is  very  appropriate  ;  but  his  alas  !  he  should 
have  known  enough  to  have  put  into  the  right  place :— before  the  sentence  representing  the  fac  t 
that  excites  the  emotion  expressed  by  alas  !  See  on  the  Chart  part  3,  of  RULE  XVII.  An  exclama- 
tion must  always  precede  the  phrase  or  sentence  describing  the  fact  that  excites  the  emotion  to  be 
expressed  by  the  exclamation ;  as,  Alas  !  I  have  alienated  my  friend  !  Oh  !  Glorious  hope  of  bliss 
secure  !  " — OliverB.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  375.  "O.Glorious  hope  of  bliss  secure  !  " — Ib.  p.  184.  "  O 
glorious  hope  !  " — Ib.  p.  304. 

OBS.  18. — I  see  no  reason  to  believe,  that  the  class  of  words  which  have  always,  and  almost 
universally,  been  called  interjections,  can  ever  be  more  conveniently  explained  under  any  other 
name ;  and,  as  for  the  term  exclamation,  which  is  preferred  also  by  Cutler,  Felton,  and  S.  W. 
Clark,  it  appears  to  me  much  less  suitable  than  the  old  one,  because  it  is  less  specific.  Any  words 
uttered  loudly  in  the  same  breath,  are  an  exclamation.  This  name  therefore  is  too  general ;  it 
includes  other  parts  of  speech  than  interjections  ;  and  it  was  but  a  foolish  whim  in  Dr.  Webster, 
to  prefer  it  in  his  dictionaries.  When  David  "  cried  witha  loud  voice,  Omy  son  Absalom  !  O  Ab- 
salom, my  son,  my  son  !  "*  he  uttered  two  exclamations  ;  but  they  included  all  his  words.  He  did 
not,  like  my  critic  above,  set  off  his  first  word  with  an  interrogation  point,  or  any  other  point. 
But,  says  Peirce,  "  These  words  are  used  in  exclaiming,  and  are  what  all  know  them  to  be,  excla- 
mations ;  as  I  call  them.  May  I  not  call  them  what  they  are?  " — Ibid.  Yes,  truly.  But  to  ex- 
claim is  to  cry  out,  and  consequently  every  outcry  is  an  exclamation  ;  though  there  are  two  chances 
to  one,  that  no  interjection  at  all  be  used  by  the  bawler.  As  good  an  argument,  or  better,  may  be 
framed  against  every  one  of  this  gentleman's  professed  improvements  in  grammar  ;  and  as  for  his 
punctuation  and  orthography,  any  reader  may  be  presumed  capable  of  seeing  that  they  are  not 
fit  to  be  proposed  as  models. 

OBS.  19. — I  like  my  position  of  the  word  "  alas  "  better  than  that  which  Peirce  supposes  to  be  its 
only  right  place;  and,  certainly,  his  rule  for  the  location  of  words  of  this  sort,  as  well  as  his  notion 
that  they  must  always  stand  alone,  is  as  false,  as  it  is  new.  The  obvious  misstatement  of  Lowth 
Adam,  Gould,  Murray,  Churchill,  Alger,  Smith,  Guy,  Ingersoll,  and  others,  that,  "Interjections 
are  words  thrown  in  between  the  parts  of  a  sentence,"  I  had  not  only  excluded  from  my  grammars, 
but  expressly  censured  in  them.  It  was  not,  therefore,  to  prop  any  error  of  the  old  theorists,  that 
I  happened  to  set  one  interjection  "  where,"  according  to  this  new  oracle,  "it  never  belonr/ed.' 
And  if  any  body  but  he  has  been  practically  misled  by  their  mistake,  it  is  not  I,  but  more  proba- 
bly some  of  the  following  authors,  here  cited  for  his  refutation  :  "  I  fear,  alas  !  for  my  life." — Fish's 
Gram.  p.  89.  "I  have  been  occupied,  alas  !  with  trifles." — Murray's  Gr.,  Ex.  for  Parting,  p.  5  ; 

Guy's,  p.  56        "  WP    pnrrprlv  niirsilp    nlenstira    Tint     nlnx  I    w»    nftpn     mistakf    the   road."— Smith's 

New  Gram. 
"Time  flies 

Gram.  p.  21.  "  But  John,  "alas!  he  is  very  idle."— Merchant's  Gram.  p.  22.  "  For  pale  and  wan 
he  was,  alas  the  while  !  " — SPENSER  :  Joh.  Diet.  "  But  yet,  alas !  O  but  yet,  alas !  our  haps  be  but 
hard  haps." — SYDNEY:  ib.  "  Nay,  (what's  incredible,)  alack!  I  hardly  hear  a  woman's  clack." 
— SWIFT  :  ib.  "  Thus  life  is  spent  (phjie  upon't !)  In  being  touch'd.  and  crying — Don't !  " — Cowper, 
i,  231.  "  For  whom,  alas !  dost  thou  prepare  The  sweets  that  I  was  wont  to  share  ?  "—Id.  i,  203. 
"  But  here,  alas !  the  difference  lies." — Id.  i,  100.  "  Their  names,  alas !  in  vain  reproach  an  age," 
&c.—Id.  i,  88.  "  What  nature,  alas!  has  denied,"  &c.—Id.  i,  235.  "A.  Hail  Sternhold,  then  ; 
and  Hopkins,  hail!  B.  Amen." — Id.  i,  25. 

"  These  Fate  reserv'd  to  grace  thy  reign  divine, 
Foreseen  by  me,  but  ah  !  withheld  from  mine  !  " — Pope,  Dun.  iii,  275. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  SYNTAX  PROMISCUOUS. 

O*  [The  following  examples  of  bad  grammar,  being  similar  in  their  character  to  others  already  exhibited, 
are  to  be  corrected,  by  the  pupil,  according  to  formules  previously  given.] 

LESSON  I. — ANY  PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 

"  Such,  an  one  I  believe  yours  will  be  proved  to  be." — PEET  :  Farnums  Gram.  p.  1.  "  Of 
the  distinction  between  the  imperfect  and  the  perfect  tenses,  it  may  be  observed,"  &c.— 
Ainsworth's  Gram.  p.  122.  "The  subject  is  certainly  worthy  consideration." — Ib.  p.  117. 
"By  this  means  all  ambiguity  and  controversy  is  avoided  on  this  point."— Bullions,  Prin- 
ciples of  Eng.  Gram.,  5th  Ed.,  Pref.  p.  vi.  "  The  perfect  participle  in  English  has  both^an 
active  and  passive  signification." — Ib.  p.  58.  "The  old  house  is  at  length  fallen  down."- 
Ib.  p.  78.  "  The  king,  with  the  lords  and  commons,  constitute  the  English  form  of  govern- 
ment."— Ib.  p.  93.  "  The  verb  in  the  singular  agrees  with  the  person  next  it."— Ib.  p.  95. 
"Jane  found  Sethi's  gloves  in  James'  hat." — Felton s  Gram.  p.  15.  "Charles'  task  is  too 
great." — Ibid.  15.  "The  conjugation  of  a  verb  is  the  naming,  in  regular  order,  its  several 
modes  tenses,  numbers  and  persons." — Ib.  p.  24.  "The  long  remembered  beggar  was  his 

*  See  2  Sam.  xix,  4  ;  also  xviii,  33.    Peirce  haa  many  times  misquoted  this  text,  or  some  part  of  it ;  and   what 
is  remarkable,  he  nowhere  agrees  either  with  himself  or  with  the  Bible  !     "  0  !  Absalom  !  my  so 
p.  288.    "  0  Absalom  !  my  son,  my  son  !  would  to  God  I  had  died  for  thee."— Ib.  p.  304. 


i.  "  i  nave  oeen  occupied,  alas  .'  witn  trifles.  — Murray  s  (jr.,  ux.jor  rarsiny,  p.  o  ; 
5.  "We  eagerly  pursue  pleasure,  but,  alas  !  we  often  mistake  the  road." — Smith's 
.  p.  40.  "  To-morrow,  alas!  thou  mayest  be  comfortless  !  " — Wright's  Gram.  p.  35. 
;,  O  !  how  swiftly." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  226.  "My  friend,  alas!  is  dead." — J.  Flint's 


CHAP.    XI.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XXIV. INTERJECTIONS. ERRORS.  665 

guest." — 75.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  65.  "Participles  refer  to  nouns  and  pronouns." — Ib.  p.  81.  "F 
has  an  uniform  sound  in  every  position  except  in  of." — Hallock's  Gram.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  15. 
"  There  are  three  genders  ;  the  masculine,  the  feminine  and  neuter." — Ib.  p.  43.  "  When 
to  that  occur  together,  sometimes  the  particle  so  is  taken  as  an  adverb." — Ib.  p.  124.  "  The 
definition  of  the  articles  show  that  they  modify  the  words  to  which  they  belong." — Ib. 
p.  138.  "The  auxiliaries  shall,  will  or  should  is  implied." — Ib.  p.  192.  "Single  rhyme 
trochaic  omits  the  final  short  syllable." — Ib.  p.  244.  "Agreeable  to  this,  we  read  of  names 
being  blotted  out  of  God's  book." — BUHDER  :  ib.  p.  156  ;  Webster  s  Philos.  Gram.  155  ;  Im- 
proved Gram.  107.  "The  first  person  is  the  person  speaking." — Goldsbury's  Common  School 
Gram.  p.  10.  "Accent  is  the  laying  a  peculiar  stress  of  the  voice  on  a  certain  letter  or 
syllable  in  a  word." — Ib.,  Ed.  of  1842,  p.  75.  "Thomas'  horse  was  caught." — Felton's 
Gram.  p.  64.  "You  was  loved." — Ib.  p.  45.  "The  nominative  and  objective  end  the 
same." — Rev.  T.  Smith's  Gram.  p.  18.  "  The  number  of  pronouns,  like  those  of  substantives, 
are  two,  the  singular  and  the  plural." — Ib.  p.  22.  "/  is  called  the  pronoun  of  the  first  per- 
son, which  is  the  person  speaking." — Frost's  Practical  Gram.  p.  32.  "  The  essential  elements 
of  the  phrase  is  an  intransitive  gerundive  and  an  adjective." — Hazen's  Practical  Gram.  p.  141. 
"Being  rich  is  no  justification  for  such  impudence." — Ib.  p.  141.  "His  having  been  a 
soldier  in  the  revolution  is  not  doubted." — Ib.  p.  143.  "  Catching  fish  is  the  chief  employ- 
ment of  the  inhabitants.  The  chief  employment  of  the  inhabitants  is  catching  fish." — Ib. 
p.  144.  "  The  cold  weather  did  not  prevent  the  work's  being  finished  at  the  time  specified." — 
Ib.  p.  145.  "The  former  viciousness  of  that  man  caused  his  being  suspected  of  this 
crime." — Ib.  p.  145.  "But  person  and  number  applied  to  verbs  means,  certain  termina- 
tions."— Barrett's  Gram.  p.  69.  "  Robert  fell  a  tree."— Ib.  p.  64.  "  Charles  raised  up." — Ib. 
p.  64.  "  It  might  not  be  an  useless  waste  of  time."— Ib.  p.  42.  «•  Neither  will  you  have 
that  implicit  faith  in  the  writings  and  works  of  others  which  characterise  the  vulgar." — Ib. 
p.  5.  "/,  is  the  first  person,  because  it  denotes  the  speaker." — Ib.  p.  46.  "I  would  refer 
the  student  to  Hedges'  or  Watts'  Logic." — Ib.  p.  15.  "Hedge's,  Watt's,  Kirwin's,  and 
Collard's  Logic."— Parker  and  Fox's  Gram.,  Part  III,  p.  116.  "Letters  are  called  vowels 
which  make  a  full  and  perfect  sound  of  themselves." — Cutler's  Gram.  p.  10.  "  It  has  both 
a  singular  and  plural  construction." — Ib.  p.  23.  "  For  he  beholdest  thy  beams  no  more." — 
Ib.  p.  136.  "To  this  sentiment  the  Committee  has  the  candour  to  incline,  as  it  will  appear 
by  their  summing  up." — Macpherson's  O.ssian,  Prelim.  Disc.  p.  xviii.  "This  is  reducing  the 
point  at  issue  to  a  narrow  compass." — Ib.  p.  xxv.  "  Since  the  English  sat  foot  upon  the 
soil." — Exiks  of  \ova  Scotia,  p.  12.  "The  arrangement  of  its  different  parts  are  easily 
retained  by  the  memory." — Hiley's  Gram.,  3d  Ed.,  p.  262.  "The  words  employed  are  the 
most  appropriate  which  could  have  been  selected." — Ib.  p.  182.  "  To  prevent  it  launch- 
ing !  " — Ib.  p.  135.  "  Webster  has  been  followed  in  preference  to  others,  where  it  differs 
from  them." — Frazee's  Gram.  p.  8.  "  Exclamation  and  Interrogation  are  often  mistaken  for 
one  another." — Buchanans  E.  Syntax,  p.  160.  "When  all  nature  is  hushed  in  sleep,  and 
neither  love  nor  guilt  keep  their  vigils." — Felton's  Gram.  p.  96. 
"  When  all  nature's  hushed  asleep, 
Nor  love,  nor  guilt,  their  vigils  keep." — Ib.  p.  95. 

LESSON  II.— ANY  PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 

"A  VERSIFTER  and  POET  are  two  different  Things." — Brightlantfs  Gram.  p.  163.  "  Those 
Qualities  will  arise  from  the  well  expressing  of  the  Subject." — Ib.  p.  165.  "  Therefore  the 
explanation  of  network,  is  taken  no  notice  of  here." — Masons  Supplement,  p.  vii.  "  When 
emphasis  or  pathos  are  necessary  to  be  expressed." — Humphrey's  Punctuation,  p.  38. 
"  Whether  this  mode  of  punctuation  is  correct,  and  whether  it  be  proper  to  close  the  sen- 
tence with  the  mark  of  admiration,  may  be  made  a  question." — Ib.  p.  39.  "  But  not  every 
writer  in  those  days  were  thus  correct." — Ib.  p.  59.  "  The  sounds  of  A,  in  English 
orthoepy,  are  no  less  than  four." — 76.  p.  69.  "  Our  present  code  of  rules  are  thought  to  be 
generally  correct."— Ib.  p.  70.  "  To  prevent  its  running  into  another."— Humphrey's  Pros- 
ody, p.  7.  "Shakespeare,  perhaps,  the  greatest  poetical  genius  which  England  has 
produced." — Ib.  p.  93.  "This  I  will  illustrate  l>y  example;  but  prior  to  which  a  few  pre- 
liminary remarks  may  be  necessary."— Ib.  p.  107.  "All  such  are  entitled  to  two  accents 
each,  and  some  of  which  to  two  accents  nearly  equal." — Ib.  p.  109.  "But  some  cases  of 
the  kind  are  so  plain  that  no  one  need  to  exercise  his  judgment  therein." — Ib.  p.  122.  "  I 
have  forbore  to  use  the  word."— Ib.  p.  127.  "  The  propositions,  «  He  may  study,' «  He  might 
study,'  'He  could  study,'  affirms  an  ability  or  power  to  study." — HaUork's  Gram,  of  1842, 
p.  76.  "The  divisions  of  the  tenses  has  occasioned  grammarians  much  trouble  and  per- 
plexity."— Ib.  p.  77.  "  By  adopting  a  familiar,  inductive  method  of  presenting  this  subject, 
it  may  be  rendered  highly  attractive|to  young  learners."—  II V.V.v'.v  s/>.  (irnm.t  1st  Ed.,  p.  1 ; 
31,  9  ;  113th,  11.  "  The  definitions  and  rules  of  different  grammarians  were  carefully  com- 
pared with  each  other." — Ib.  Preface,  p.  iii.  "  So  as  not  wholly  to  prevent  some  sound* 
if- suing." — Sheridan' a  Elements  of  English,  p.  64.  "Letters  of  the  Alphabet  not  yet  taken 
notice  of." — Ib.  p.  11.  "  IT  is  sad,  IT  is  strange,  &c.  see-ms  to  expret-s  only  that  the  thing  is 
8 id,  strange,  &c." — The  Well-wishers'  Gram.  p.  68.  "Tur.  WINXIM;  is  easier  than  THE  PRE- 
s  ERVINO  a  conquest."— Ib.  p.  65.  "  The  United  States  finds  itself  the  owner  of  a  vast  region 


666  THE   GRAMMAR  OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

of  country  at  the  West." — Horace  Mann  in  Congress,  1848.  "  One  or  more  letters  placed 
before  a  word,  is  a  Prefix." — S.  W.  Clark's  Pract.  Gram.  p.  42.  "  One  or  more  letters  added 
to  a  word,  is  a  Suffix." — Ib.  p.  42.  "Two-thirds  of  my  hair  has  fallen  off." — Ib.  p.  126. 
"'Suspecting'  describes  'we,'  by  expressing,  incidentally,  an  act  of  'we.'" — Ib.  p.  130. 
"  Daniel's  predictions  are  now  being  fulfilled." — Ib.  p.  136.  "  His  being  a  scholar,  entitles 
him  to  respect." — Ib.  p.  141.  "  I  doubted  his  having  been  a  soldier." — Ib.  p.  142.  "  Taking 
a  madman's  sword  to  prevent  his  doing  mischief,  cannot  be  regarded  as  robbing  him." — Ib. 
p.  129.  "  I  thought  it  to  be  him  ;  but  it  was  not  him." — Ib.  p.  149.  "  It  was  not  me  that 
you  saw." — Ib.  p.  149.  "  Not  to  know  what  happened  before  you  was  born,  is  always  to  be 
a  boy." — Ib.  p.  149.  "How  long  was  you  going  ?  Three  days." — Ib.  p.  158.  "  The  qual- 
ifying Adjective  is  placed  next  the  Noun." — Ib.  p.  165.  "All  went  but  me." — Ib.  p.  93. 
"This  is  parsing  their  own  language,  and  not  the  author's." — Wells' s  School  Gram.,  1st  Ed., 
p.  73.  "Nouns  which  denote  males,  are  of  the  masculine  gender." — Ib.  p.  49.  "Noxina 
which  denote  females,  are  of  the  feminine  gender." — Ib.  p.  49.  "  When  a  comparison  is 
expressed  between  more  than  two  objects  of  the  same  class,  the  superlative  degree  is  em- 
ployed."— Ib.  p.  133.  "  Where  d  or  t  go  before,  the  additional  letter  d  or  t,  in  this  contracted 
form,  coalesce  into  one  letter  with  the  radical  d  or  t." — Dr.  Johnson  s  Gram.  p.  9.  "  Write 
words  which  will  show  what  kind  of  a  house  you  live  in — what  kind  of  a  book  you  hold 
in  your  hand — what  kind  of  a  day  it  is." — Weld's  Gram.  p.  7.  "  One  word  or  more  is  often 
joined  to  nouns  or  pronouns  to  modify  their  meaning." — Ib.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  30.  "Good  is  an 
adjective;  it  explains  the  quality  or  character  of  every  person  or  thing  to  which  it  is 
applied." — Ib.  p.  33 ;  Abridg.  32.  "A  great  public  as  well  as  private  advantage  arises  from 
every  one's  devoting  himself  to  that  occupation  which  he  prefers,  and  for  which  he  is 
specially  fitted." — WAYLA.ND  :  Wells's  Gram.  p.  121 ;  Weld's,  180.  "  There  was  a  chance  of 
his  recovering  his  senses.  Not  thus  :  '  There  was  a  chance  of  him  recovering  his  senses.' 
MACAULAY." — See  Wells's  Gram.  1st  Ed.  p.  121  ;  113th,  135.  "This  may  be  known  by  its 
not  having  any  connecting  word  immediately  preceding  it." — Weld's  Gram.,  2d  Edition, 
p.  181.  "  There  are  irregular  expressions  occasionally  to  be  met  with,  which  usage  or  cus- 
tom rather  than  analogy,  sanction." — Ib.  p.  143.  "He  added  an  anecdote  of  Quin's 
relieving  Thomson  from  prison." — Ib.  p.  150.  "The  daily  labor  of  her  hands  procure  for 
her  all  that  is  necessary." — Ib.  p.  182.  "  Its  being  me,  need  make  no  change  in  your  deter- 
mination."— Hart's  Gram.  p.  128.  "The  classification  of  words  into  what  is  called  the 
Parts  of  Speech." — Weld's  Gram.  p.  5.  "Such  licenses  may  be  explained  under  what  is 
usually  termed  Figures." — Ib.  p.  212. 

"Liberal,  not  lavish,  is  kind  nature's  hands." — Ib.  p.  196. 

"They  fall  successive  and  successive  live." — Ib.  p.  213. 

LESSON  III. — ANY  PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 

"A  figure  of  Etymology  is  the  intentional  deviation  in  the  usual  form  of  a  word." — Welt's 
Gram.,  2d  Edition,  p.  213.  "A  figure  of  Syntax  is  the  intentional  deviation  in  the  usual  con- 
struction of  a  word." — Ib.  213.  "  Synecdoche  is  putting  the  name  of  the  whole  of  any- 
thing for  a  part,  or  a  part  for  the  whole." — Ib.  p.  152.  "Apostrophe  is  turning  off  from 
the  regular  course  of  the  subject  to  address  some  person  or  thing." — Ib.  215.  "  Even  young 
pupils  will  perform  such  exercises  with  surprising  interest  and  facility,  and  will  uncon- 
sciously gain,  in  a  little  time,  more  knowledge  of  the  structure  of  Language  than  he  can  ac- 
quire by  a  drilling  of  several  years  in  the  usual  routine  of  parsing." — Ib.  Preface,  p.  iv.  "A 
few  Rules  of  construction  are  employed  in  this  Part,  to  guide  in  the  exercise  of  parsing." — 
Ibidem.  "  The  name  of  every  person,  object,  or  thing,  which  can  be  thought  of,  or  spoken 
of,  is  a  noun." — Ib.  p.  18  ;  Abridged  Ed.  19.  "A  dot,  resembling  our  period,  is  used  between 
every  word,  as  well  as  at  the  close  of  the  verses." —  W.  Day's  Punctuation,  p.  16  :  .London,  1847. 
"  Casting  types  in  matrices  was  invented  by  Peter  Schoeffer,  in  1452." — Ib.  p.  23.  "  On 
perusing  it,  he  said,  that,  so  far  from  it  showing  the  prisoner's  guilt,  it  positively  established 
his  innocence." — Ib.  p.  37.  "  By  printing  the  nominative  and  verb  in  Italic  letters,  the  reader 
will  be  able  to  distinguish  them  at  a  glance." — Ib.  p.  77.  "  It  is  well,  no  doubt,  to  avoid 
using  unnecessary  words." — Ib.  p.  99.  "  Meeting  a  friend  the  other  day,  he  said  to  me, 
'  Where  are  you  going  ? '  " — Ib.  p.  124.  "  John  was  first  denied  apples,  then  he  was  promised 
them,  then  he  was  offered  them." — Lennie's  Gram.,  5th  Ed.,  p.  62.  "He  was  denied  ad- 
mission."—  Wells's  School  Gram.,  1st.  Ed.,  p.  146.  "  They  were  offered  a  pardon." — Pond's 
Murray,  p.  118  ;  Wells,  146.  "  I  was  this  day  shown  a  new  potatoe." — DAUWIN  :  Webster's 
Philos.  Gram.  p.  179 ;  Imp.  Gram.  128  ;  Frazee's  Gram.  153;  Weld's,  153.  "Nouns  or 
pronouns  which  denote  males  are  of  the  masculine  gender." — S.  S.  Greene's  Gram.,  1st 
Ed.,  p.  211.  "There  are  three  degrees  of  comparison, — the  positive,  comparative,  and 
superlative." — Ib.  p.  216  ;  First  Les.  p.  49.  "  The  first  two  refer  to  direction ;  the  third,  to 
locality." — Ib.  Gr.  p.  103.  "  The  following  are  some  of  the  verbs  which  take  a  direct  and 
indirect  object." — Ib.  p.  62.  "I  was  not  aware  of  his  being  the  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court." — Ib.  p.  86.  "An  indirect  question  may  refer  to  either  of  the  five  elements  of  a 
declarative  sentence." — Ib.  p.  123.  "  I  am  not  sure  that  he  will  be  present=of  his  being  pre- 
sent."— Ib.  p.  169.  "  We  left  on  Tuesday." — Ib.  p.  103.  "  He  left,  as  he  told  me,  before 


CHAP.    XI.]  SYNTAX. RULE   XXIV. PARSING. PRAXIS   XIII.  667 

the  arrival  of  the  steamer." — Ib.  p.  143.  "  We  told  him  that  he  must  leave=Vfe  told  him  to 
leave." — Ih.  p.  168.  "Because  he  was  unable  to  persuade  the  multitude,  he  left  in  dis- 
gust."— Ib.  p.  172.  "  He  left,  and  took  his  brother  with  him."— Ib.  p.  254.  "  This  stating,  or 
declaring,  or  denying  any  thing,  is  called  the  indicative  mode,  or  manner  of  speaking." — 
Gram.  p.  72  ;  Abridged  Ed.  59.  "  This  took  place  at  our  friend  Sir  Joshua  Reynold's." 
!'s  Gram.,  2d.  Ed.,  p.  150.  "  The  manner  of  a  young  lady's  employing  herself  usefully 
in  reading  will  be  the  subject  of  another  paper." — Ib.  150.  •'  Very  little  time  is  necessary 
for  Johnson's  concluding  a  treaty  with  the  bookseller." — Ib.  150.  "  My  father  is  not  now 
sick,  but  if  he  teas  your  services  would  be  welcome." — Chandler's  Grammar,  1821,  p.  54. 
"  When  we  begin  to  write  or  speak,  we  ought  previously  to  fix  in  our  minds  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  the  end  to  be  aimed  at." — Blair's  Rhetoric,  p.  193.  "  Length  of  days  are  in  her  right 
hand,  and  in  her  left  hand  riches  and  honor." — Bullions' s  Analytical  and  Practical  Grammar, 
1849,  p.  59.  "The  active  and  passive  present  express  different  ideas." — Ib  p.  235.  "An. 
Improper  Diphthong,  or  Digraph,  is  a  diphthong  in  which  only  one  of  the  vowels  are  sound- 
ed."— Foicler's  E.  Gram.  8vo,  1850,  §  115.  "The  real  origin  of  the  words  are  to  be  sought 
in  the  Latin." — Ib.  §  120.  "What  sort  of  an  alphabet  the  Gothic  languages  possess,  we 
know;  what  sort  of  alphabet  they  require,  we  can  determine." — Ib.  §  127.  "The  Runic 
Alphabet  whether  borrowed  or  invented  by  the  early  Goths,  is  of  greater  antiquity  than, 
either  the  oldest  Teutonic  or  the  Mceso- Gothic  Alphabets." — Ib.  §  129.  "  Common  to 
the  Masculine  and  the  Neuter  Genders."—  Ib.  §  222.  "  In  the  Anglo-Saxon  his  was  common 
to  both  the  Masculine  and  Neuter  Genders." — Ib.  §  222.  "  When  time,  number,  or  dimen- 
sion are  specified,  the  adjective  follows  the  substantive." — Ib.  §  459.  "  Nor  pain,  nor  grief, 
nor  anxious  fear  Invade  thy  bounds." — Ib.  §  563.  "  To  Brighton  the  Pavilion  lends  a  lath 
and  plaster  grace." — Ib.  §  590.  "From  this  consideration  nouns  have  been  given  but  one 
person,  the  THIRD." — D.  C.  Allen's  Grammatic  Guide,  p.  10. 
"  For  it  seems  to  guard  and  cherish 

Even  the  wayward  dreamer — I." — Home  Journal. 

EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 
PRAXIS  XIII.  —  SYNTACTICAL. 

Li  the  following  Lessons,  arc  exemplified  most  of  the  Exceptions,  some  of  the 
Notes,  and  many  of  the  Observations,  under  the  preceding  Rules  of  Syntax  ; 
to  which  Exceptions,  Notes,  or  Observations,  the  learner  may  recur,  for  an 
explanation  of  whatsoever  is  difficult  in  the  parsing,  or  peculiar  in  the  con- 
struction, of  these  examples  or  others. 

LESSON  I. — PROSE. 
"The  higher  a  bird  flies,  the  more  out  of  danger  he  is;  and  the  higher  a  Christian 

hove  the  world,  the  safer  are  his  comforts." — Sparke. 

"7/t  this  point  of  view,  and  with  this  explanation,  it  is  supposed,  by  some  gram- 
marians, that  our  language  contains  a  few  Impersonal  Verbs ;  that  is,  verbs  which 
declare  the  existence  of  some  action  or  state,  but  which  do  not  refer  to  any  animate 
being,  or  any  determinate  particular  subject." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  109. 

••  Thus  in  England  and  France,  a  great  landholder  possesses  a  hundred  times  the 
property  that  is  necessary  for  the  subsistence  of  a  family ;  and  each  landlord  has  per- 
haps a  hundred  families  dependent  on  him  for  subsistence." —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  87. 
''It  is  as  possible  to  become  pedantick  by  fear  of  pedantry,  as  to  be  troublesome 
by  ill-timed  civility." — Johnson's  Itamblrr,  WO.  173. 

"  7'"  commence  author,  is  to  claim  praise  ;  and  no  man  can  justly  aspire  to  honour, 
but  at  the  hazard  of  disgrace." — Ib.  No.  1K5. 

"For  ministers  to  be  silent  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  is  to  renounce  it;  and  to  fly  is 
to  desert  it." — SOUTH:  Crabb's  Xymmymes,  p.  7. 

ich  instances  shew  how  much  the  sublime  depends  upon  a  just  selection  of 
circumstances;  and  with  how  great  care  every  circumstance  must  be  avoided,  which 
by  bordering  in  the  least  upon  the  mean,  or  even  upon  the  gay  or  the  trijling,  alters 
the  tone  of  the  emotion." — lilair's  Rhct.  p.  43. 

"  This  great  poet  and  philosopher,  the  more  he  contemplated  the  nature  of  the 
IX-ity,  fuuii'l  that,  /f  wadrd  but  the  more  out  of  his  depth,  and  that  he  lost  himself 
in  the  thought  inatmd  of  finding  an  end  to  it." — A 

"Odin,  which  in  Anglo-Saxon  was  Woden,  was  the  supremo  god  of  the  Goths, 
answering  to  the  Jupiter  of  the  Greeks." —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  -G'J. 


668  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

"  Because  confidence,  that  charm  and  cement  of  intimacy,  is  wholly  wanting  in  the 
intercourse." — Opie,  on  Lying,  p.  146. 

"  Objects  of  hearing  may  be  compared  together,  as  also  of  taste,  of  smell,  and  of 
touch  :  but  the  chief  fund  of  comparison  are  objects  of  sight." — Kames,  EL  of  Grit. 
Voi.  ii,  p.  136. 

"  The  various  relations  of  the  various  Objects  exhibited  by  this  (I  mean  relations 
of  near  and  distant,  present  and  absent,  same  and  different,  definite  and  indefinite, 
&c.)  made  it  necessary  that  here  there  should  not  be  one,  but  many  Pronouns,  such 
as  He,  This,  That,  Other,  Any,  Some,  &c." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  72. 

"Mr.  Pope's  Ethical  Epistles  deserve  to  be  mentioned  with  signal  honour,  as  a 
model,  next  to  perfect,  of  this  kind  of  poetry." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  402. 

"  The  knowledge  of  why  they  so  exist,  must  be  the  last  act  of  favour  which  time 
and  toil  will  bestow." — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  253. 

ult  is  unbelief,  and  not  faith,  that  sinks  the  sinner  into  despondency. — Chris- 
tianity disowns  such  characters." — Fuller,  on  the  Gospel,  p.  141. 

"  That  God  created  the  universe,  [and]  that  men  are  accountable  for  their  actions, 
are  frequently  mentioned  by  logicians,  as  instances  of  the  mind  judging." 

LESSON  II. — PROSE. 

"To  censure  works,  not  men,  is  the  just  prerogative  of  criticism;  and  accord- 
ingly all  personal  censure  is  here  avoided,  unless  where  necessary  to  illustrate  some 
general  proposition." — Kames,  EL  of  Qrit.,  Introduction,  p.  27. 

"  There  remains  to  show  by  examples  the  manner  of  treating  subjects,  so  as  to  give 
them  a  ridiculous  appearance." — Ib.  Vol.  i,  p.  303. 

"  The  making  of  poetry,  like  any  other  handicraft,  may  be  learned  by  industry." — 
Macph erson's  Preface  to  Ossian,  p.  xlv. 

"  Whatever  is  found  more  strange  or  beautiful  than  was  expected,  is  judged  to  be 
more  strange  or  beautiful  than  it  is  in  reality." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  243. 

'*  Thus  the  body  of  an  animal,  and  of  a  plant,  are  composed  of  certain  groat 
vessels ;  these  [,]  of  smaller  ;  and  these  again  [J  of  still  smaller,  without  end,  as  mr 
as  we  can  discover." — Id.  ib.  p.  270. 

"This  cause  of  beauty,  is  too  extensive  to  be  handled  as  a  branch  of  any  other 
subject :  for  to  ascertain  with  accuracy  even  the  proper  meaning  of  words,  not  to  talk 
of  their  figurative  power,  would  require  a  large  volume ;  an  useful  work  indeed,  but 
not  to  be  attempted  without  a  large  stock  of  time,  study,  and  reflection." — Id.  Vol. 
ii,  p.  16. 

"  0  the  hourly  dangers  that  we  here  walk  in!  Every  sense,  and  member,  is  a 
snare  ;  every  creature,  and  every  duty,  is  a  snare  to  us." — Baxter,  Saints'  Rest. 

"For  a  man  to  give  his  opinion  of  what  he  sees  but  in  part,  is  an  unjustifiable 
piece  of  rashness  and  folly." — Addison. 

"That  the  sentiments  thus  prevalent  among  the  early  Jews  respecting  the  divine 
authority  of  the  Old  Testament  were  correct,  appears  from  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  apostles." — Gurneys  Essays,  p.  69. 

"So  in  Society  we  are  not  our  own,  but  Christ's,  and  the  church's,  to  good  works 
and  services,  yet  all  in  love." — Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  i,  p.  84. 

"He  [Dr.  Johnson}  sat  up  in  his  bed,  clapped  his  hands,  and  cried,  '0  brave 
we! ' — a  peculiar  exclamation  of  his  when  he  rejoices." — BoswelVs  Life  of  John- 
son, Vol.  iii,  p.  56. 

"  Single,  double,  and  treble  emphasis,  are  nothing  but  examples  of  antithesis." — 
Knowles's  Elocutionist,  p.  xxviii. 

"  The  curious  thing,  and  what,  I  would  almost  say,  settles  the  point,  is,  that  we 
do  Horace  no  service,  even  according  to  our  view  of  the  matter,  by  rejecting  the 
scholiast's  explanation.  No  two  eggs  can  be  more  like  each  other  than  Horace's 
Malthinus  and  Seneca's  Mecenas." — Philological  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p.  477. 

"Acting,  conduct,  behaviour,  abstracted  from  all  regard  to  what  is,  in  fact  and 
event,  the  consequence  of  it^  is  itself  the  natural  object  of  this  moral  discernment, 


CHAP.    XI.]  SYNTAX. PARSING. PRAXIS   XIII. PROSE.  669 

as  speculative  truth  and  [say  or]  falsehood  is  of  speculative  reason." — Butler's 
Analogy,  p.  277. 

"To  do  what  is  right,  with  unperverted  faculties,  is  ten  times  easier  than  to  undo 
what  is  wrong." — Porter's  Analysis,  p.  37. 

"  Some  natures  the  more  pains  a  man  takes  to  reclaim  them,  the  worse  they  are." — 
L'EsTRANGE :  Johnson's  Diet.  w.  Pains. 

"  Says  John  JMilton,  in  that  impassioned  speech  for  the  Liberty  of  Unlicensed 
Printing,  where  every  word  leaps  with  intellectual  life,  *  Who  kills  a  man,  kills  a 
reasonable  creature,  God's  image  ;  but  who  destroys  a  good  book,  kills  reason  itself, 
kills  the  image  of  God,  as  it  were,  in  the  eye.  Many  a  man  lives  a  burden  upon  the 
earth ;  but  a  good  book  is  the  precious  life-blood  of  a  master  spirit,  embalmed  and 
treasured  up  on  purpose  for  a  life  beyond  life  ! '  " — Louisville  Examiner,  June,  1850. 

LESSON  III. — PROSE. 

"  The  philosopher,  the  saint,  or  the  hero — the  wise,  the  good,  or  the  great  man — 
Tery  often  lies  hid  and  concealed  in  a  plebeian,  which  a  proper  education  might  have 
disinterred  and  brought  to  light." — Addison. 

"  The  year  before,  he  had  so  used  the  matter,  that  what  by  force,  what  by  policy, 
he  had  taken  from  the  Christians  above  thirty  small  castles." — Knolles. 

"It  is  an  important  truth,  that  religion,  vital  religion,  the  religion  of  the  heart,  is 
the  most  powerful  auxiliary  of  reason,  in  waging  war  with  the  passions,  and  promoting 
that  sweet  composure  which  constitutes  the  peace  of  God." — Murray's  Key,  p.  181. 

"Pray,  sir,  be  pleased  to  take  the  part  of  us  beauties  and  fortunes  into  your  con- 
sideration, and  do  not  let  us  be  flattered  out  of  our  senses.  Tell  people  that  we  fair 
ones  expect  honest  plain  answers,  as  well  as  other  folks." — Spectator,  No.  534. 

"Unhappy  it  would  be  for  us,  did  not  uniformity  prevail  in  morals:  that  uor 
actions  should  uniformly  be  directed  to  what  is  good  and  against  what  is  *'//,  is  the 
greatest  blessing  in  society  ;  and  in  order  to  uniformity  of  action,  uniformity  of  senti- 
ment is  indispensable." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  Vol.  ii,  p.  306. 

"  Thus  the  pleasure  of  all  the  senses  is  the  same  in  all,  high  and  low,  learned  and 
unlearned." — Burke,  on  Taste,  p.  39. 

"Upwards  of  eight  millions  of  acres  have,  I  believe,  been  thus  disposed  of." — 
Society  in  America,  Vol.  i,  p.  333. 

"The  Latin  Grammar  comes  something  nearer,  but  yet  does  not  hit  the  mark 
neither" — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  281. 

"Of  the  like  nature  is  the  following  inaccuracy  of  Dean  Swiff  s" — Blair's  Rhet. 
p.  105.  "  Thus,  Sir,  I  have  given  you  my  own  opinion,  relating  to  this  weighty 
affair,  as  well  as  that  of  a  great  majority  of  both  houses  here." — Ib. 

"A  foot  is  just  twelve  times  as  long  as  an  inch  ;  and  an  hour  is  sixty  times  the 
length  of  a  minute." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  48. 

"  What  can  we  expect,  who  come  a  gleaning,  not  after  the  first  reapers,  but  after 
the  very  beggars  ?  " — Cowley's  Pref.  to  Poems,  p.  x. 

"  In  our  Lord's  being  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  the  chief-priests  and  scribes,  by 
Judas  Iscariot ;  in  his  being  by  them  delivered  to  the  Gentiles ;  in  his  being  mocked, 
scourged,  spitted  on,  [say  spit  upon,]  and  crucified ;  and  in  his  rising  from  the 
dead  after  three  days;  there  was  much  that  was  singular,  complicated,  and  not  to  be 
easily  calculated  on  beforehand.'  — Gurneys  Essays,  p.  40. 

"To  be  morose,  implacabl  ible,  and  revengeful,  is  one  of  the  greatest 

degeneracies  of  human  nature." — Dr.  J.  OK 

**  Now,  says  he,  if  tragedy,  which  is  in  its  nature  grand  and  lofty,  will  not  admit 
of  this,  who  can  forbear  laughing  to  hear  the  historian  Gorgias  Leontinus  styling 
Xerxes,  that  cowardly  Persian  king,  Jupiter  ;  and  vultures,  living  sepulchres  ?  " — 
Holmes'*  Rhetoric,  Part  II,  p.  14. 

"  O  let  thy  all-seeing  eye,  and  not  the  eye  of  the  world,  be  the  star  to  steer  my 
course  by  ;  and  let  thy  blessed  favour,  more  than  the  liking  of  any  sinful  men,  be 
ever  my  study  and  delight." — Jenks"s  Prayers,  p.  150. 


670  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

LESSON  IV.  —  PROSE. 

"  0  the  Hope  of  Israel,  the  Saviour  thereof  'in  time  of  trouble,  why  shouldest  thou 
be  as  a  stranger  in  the  land,  and  as  a  way-faring  man,  that  turneth  aside  to  tarry  for 
anight?" — Jeremiah,  xiv,  8. 

"  When  once  the  long-suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah,  while  the  ark 
was  apreparing,  wherein  few,  that  is,  eight  souls,  were  saved." — 1  Peter,  iii,  20. 

"  Mercy  and  truth  are  met  together;  righteousness  and  peace  have  kissed  each 
other." — Psalms,  Ixxxv,  10. 

"But  in  vain  they  do  worship  me,  teaching  for  doctrines  the  commandments  of 
men." — Matt,  xv,  9. 

"  Knowest  thou  not  this  of  old,  since  man  was  placed  upon  the  earth,  that  the 
triumphing  of  the  wicked  is  short,  and  the  joy  of  the  hypocrite  but  for  a  moment." 
— Job,  xx,  4,  5. 

"  For  now  I  see  through  a  glass  darkly ;  but  then,  face  to  face  :  now  I  know  in 
part ;  but  then  shall  I  know  even  as  also  I  am  known." — 1  Cor.  xiii,  12. 

"For  then  the  king  of  Babylon's  army  besieged  Jerusalem:  and  Jeremiah  the 
Prophet  was  shut  up  in  the  court  of  the  prison  which  was  in  the  king  of  Judah's 
house." — Jer.  xxxii,  2. 

"  For  Herod  had  laid  hold  on  John,  and  bound  him,  and  put  him  in  prison,  for 
Herodias'  sake,  his  brother  Philip's  wife" — Matt,  xiv,  3. 

"And  now  I  have  sent  a  cunning  man,  endued  with  understanding,  of  Huram  my 
father's,  the  son  of  a  woman  of  the  daughters  of  Dan." — 2  Chron.  ii,  13. 

"  Bring  no  more  vain  oblations :  incense  is  an  abomination  unto  me  ;  the  new 
moons  and  sabbaths,  the  calling  of  assemblies,  I  cannot  away  with :  it  is  iniquity 
even  the  solemn  meeting ." — Isaiah,  i,  13. 

"For  I  have  heard  the  voice  of  the  daughter  of  Zion,  that  bewaileth  herself,  that 
spreadeth  her  hands,  saying.  Woe  is  me  now  !  for  my  soul  is  wearied  because  of  mur- 
derers."— Jer.  iv,  31. 

"  She  saw  men  portrayed  upon  the  wall,  the  images  of  the  Chaldeans  portiayed 
with  vermilion,  girded  with  girdles  upon  their  loins,  exceeding  in  dyed  attire  upon 
their  heads,  all  of  them  princes  to  look  to,  after  the  manner  of  the  Babylonians  of 
Chaldea,  the  land  of  their  nativity." — Ezekiel,  xxiii,  15. 

"And  on  them  was  written  according  to  all  the  words  which  the  Lord  spake  with 
you  in  the  mount,  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  in  the  day  of  the  assembly." — Deut. 
ix,  10. 

"And  he  charged  them  that  they  should  tell  no  man  :  but  the  more  he  charged 
them,  so  much  the  more  a  great  deal  they  published  it." — Mark,  vii,  36. 

"  The  results  which  God  has  connected  with  actions,  will  inevitably  occur,  all  the 
created  power  in  the  universe  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding" — Wayland's  Moral 
Science,  p.  5. 

"Am  /not  an  apostle  ?  am  I  not  free  ?  have  I  not  seen  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ? 
are  not  ye  my  work  in  the  Lord  ?  If  I  be  not  an  apostle  unto  others,  yet  doubtless 
I  am  to  you  :  for  the  seal  of  mine  apostleship  are  ye  in  the  Lord." — 1  Cor.  ix,  1,  2. 

"  Not  to  insist  upon  this,  it  is  evident,  that  formality  is  a  term  of  general  import. 
It  implies,  that  in  religious  exercises  of  all  kinds  the  outward  and  [the]  inward  man 
are  at  diametrical  variance." — Chapman's  Sermons  to  Presbyterians,  p.  354. 

LESSON  V. — VERSE. 

"See  the  sole  bliss  Heaven  could  on  all  bestow, 
Which  who  but  feels,  can  taste,  but  thinks,  can  know ; 
Yet,  poor  with  fortune,  and  with  learning  blind, 
The  bad  must  miss,  the  good,  untaught,  will  find." — Pope. 

"  There  are,  who,  deaf  to  mad  Ambition's  call, 
Would  shrink  to  hear  th'  obstrep'rous  trump  of  fame ; 
Supremely  blest,  if  to  their  portion  fall 
Health,  competence,  and  peace." — Beattie. 


CHAP.  XI.]          SYNTAX. PARSING. — PRAXIS  XIII. VERSE.  671 

"  High  stations  tumult,  but  not  bliss,  create  ; 

None  think  the  great  unhappy,  but  the  great. 

Fools  gaze  and  envy :  envy  darts  a  sting, 

Which  makes  a  swain  as  wretched  as  a  king." — Young. 
"  Lo,  earth  receives  him  from  the  bending  skies  ! 

Sink  down,  ye  mountains  ;  and,  ye  valleys,  rise  ; 

With  heads  declin'd,  ye  cedars,  homage  pay  ; 

Be  smooth,  ye  rocks  ;  ye  rapid  floods,  give  way."— Pope. 
"Amid  the  forms  which  this  full  world  presents 

Like  rivals  to  his  choice,  what  human  breast 

E'er  doubts,  before  the  transient  and  minute, 

To  prize  the  vast,  the  stable,  and  sublime?" — Akenside. 
"  Now  fears  in  dire  vicissitude  invade ; 

The  rustling  brake  alarms,  and  quiv'ring  shade : 

Nor  light  nor  darkness  brings  his  pain  relief; 

One  shows  the  plunder,  and  one  hides  the  thief." — Johnson. 
"If  Merab's  choice  could  have  complied  with  mine, 

Merab,  my  elder  comfort,  had  been  thine  : 

And  hers,  at  last,  should  have  with  mine  complied, 

Had  I  not  thine  and  Michael's  heart  descried." — Cowley. 
"  The  people  have  as  much  a  negative  voice 

To  hinder  making  war  without  their  choice, 
As  kings  of  making  laws  in  parliament : 

lNo  money '  is  as  good  as  'No  assent.1  " — Bailer. 
"  Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene 

The  dark  unfathom'd  caves  of  ocean  bear ; 

Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 

And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air." — Gray, 
"Oh fool!  to  think  God  hates  the  worthy  mind, 

The  lover  and  the  love  of  human  kind, 

W/tose  life  is  healthful,  and  whose  conscience  clear, 

Because  he  wants  a  thousand  pounds  a  year." — Pope. 
"0  Freedom!  sovereign  boon  of  Heav'n, 

Great  charter,  with  our  being  given ; 

For  which  the  patriot  and  the  sage 

Have  plann'd,  have  bled  thro'  ev'ry  age  !  " — Mattet. 

LESSON  VI. — VERSE. 
"Am  I  to  set  my  life  upon  a  throw, 

Because  a  bear  is  rude  and  surly?     No" — Cowper. 
"Poor,  guiltless  I!  and  can  I  choose  but  smile, 

When  every  coxcomb  knows  me  by  my  style  ?  " — Pope. 
"Remote  from  man,  with  God  he  pass'd  his  days, 

Prayer  all  his  business,  all  his  pleasure  praise." — Parnell. 
"  These  are  thy  blessings,  Industry !  rough  power; 

Whnm  labour  still  attends,  and  sweat,  and  pain" — Thomson. 
"  What  ho!  thou  genius  of  the  clime,  what  ho  ! 

hirst  thou  aslrrp  beneath  these  hills  of  snow?" — Drydcn. 
"  What!  canst  thou  not  forbear  me  half  an  hour? 

Thence/  thee  gone,  and  dig  my  grave  thyself." — Shak. 
"  Then  palaces  and  lofty  domes  arose  ; 

These  for  devotion,  and  for  pleasure  those" — Blackmore. 
"  'Tis  very  dangerous,  tampering  with  a  muse; 

The  profit's  smnll,  and  you  have  much  to  lc.se." — Roscommon. 
"Lucrrtius  Kit<tlish'd!   'twas  a  work  might  shake 

The  power  of  English  verse  to  undertake." — Otway, 


672  THE    GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

"TJie  best  may  slip,  and  the  most  cautious  fall ; 

He's  more  than  mortal,  that  ne'er  err'd  at  all." — Pomfret. 
"Poets  large  souls  heaven's  noblest  stamps  do  bear, 

Poets,  the  watchful  angels'  darling  care." — Stepney. 
"  Sorrow  breaks  reasons,  and  reposing  hours ; 

Makes  the  night  morning,  and  the  noon-tide  night" — Shak. 
11  Nor  then  the  solemn  nightingale  ceas'd  warbling." — Milton. 
"And  0,  poor  hapless  nightingale,  thought  I, 

How  sweet  thou  singst,  how  near  the  deadly  snare  !  " — Id. 
"  He  calls  for  Famine,  and  the  meagre  fiend 

Blows  mildew  from  between  his  shrivell'd  lips." — Cowper. 
"  If  o'er  their  lives  a  refluent  glance  they  cast, 

Theirs  is  the  present  who  can  praise  the  past ." — Shenstone. 
"  Who  wickedly  is  wise,  or  madly  brave, 

Is  but  the  more  a  fool,  the  more  a  knave." — Pope. 
"  Great  eldest-born  of  Dullness,  blind  and  bold  ! 

Tyrant !  more  cruel  than  Procrustes  old ; 

Who,  to  his  iron  bed,  by  torture,  fits, 

Their  nobler  part,  the  souls  of  suffering  wits." — Mallet. 
"  Parthenia,  rise. — What  voice  alarms  my  ear? 

Away.     Approach  not.    Hah  !  Alexis  there  !  " — Gay. 
"  Nor  is  it  harsh  to  make,  nor  hard  to  find 

A  country  with — ay,  or  without  mankind." — Byron. 
"A.  frame  of  adamant,  a  soul  of  fire, 

No  dangers  fright  him,  and  no  labours  tire." — Johnson. 
"  Now  pall  the  tasteless  meats,  and  joyless  wines, 

And  luxury  with  sighs  her  slave  resigns." — Id. 
"  Seems?  madam;  nay,  it  is :  I  know  not  seems — 

For  I  have  that  within  which  passes  show." — Hamlet. 
"Return  ?  said  Hector,  fir'd  with  stern  disdain  : 

What!  coop  whole  armies  in  our  walls  again  "I  " — Pope. 
"He  whom  the  fortune  of  the  field  shall  cast 
from  forth  his  chariot,  mount  the  next  in  haste." — Id. 
"  Tet  here,  Laertes  ?  aboard,  aboard,  for  shame  !" — Shak. 
"Justice,  most  gracious  Duke  ;   0  grant  me  justice  !" — Id. 
"  But  what  a  vengeance  makes  thee^y 

From  me  too,  as  thine  enemy?  " — Butler. 
"Immortal  Peter!  Jirst  of  monarchs  !    He 

His  stubborn  country  tam'd,  her  rocks,  her  fens, 

Her  floods,  her  seas,  her  ill-submitting  sons." — Thomson. 
lt  0  arrogance  !    Thou  liest,  thou  thread,  thou  thimble, 

Thou  yard,  three-quarters,  half-yard,  quarter,  nail, 

Thou  flea,  thou  nit,  thou  winter-cricket,  thou  : — 

Brav'd  in  mine  own  house  with  a  skein  of  thread  ! 

Away,  thou  rag,  thou  quantity,  thou  remnant ; 

Or  I  shall  so  be-mete  thee  with  thy  yard, 

As  thou  shalt  think  on  prating  whilst  thou  liv'st." 

SHAK.  :   Taming  of  the  Shrew,  Act  IV,  Sc.  3. 


CHAPTER  XII. -REVIEW. 

This  twelfth  chapter  of  Syntax  is  devoted  to  a  series  of  lessons,  method- 
ically digested,  wherein  are  reviewed  and  reapplied,  mostly  in  the  order  of 
the  parts  of  speech,  all  those  syntactical  principles  heretofore  given  which  are 
useful  for  the  correction  of  errors. 


CHAP.  XII.]          SYNTAX. A  GENERAL  REVIEW. ERRORS.  C73 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE   SYNTAX  FOR  A   GENERAL  REVIEW. 

ITT*1  [The  following  examples  of  false  syntax  are  arranged  for  a  General  Review  of  the  doctrines  contained  in 
the  preceding  Rules  and  Notes.  Being  nearly  all  of  them  exact  quotations,  they  are  also  a  sort  of  syllabus  of 
verbal  criticism  on  the  various  works  from  which  they  are  taken.  \Vhat  corrections  they  are  supposed  to  need, 
may  be  seen  by  inspection  of  the  twelfth  chapter  of  the  Key.  It  is  here  exprcted,  that  by  recurring  to  the 
instructions  U-f  >n>  ^iven,  the  learner  who  takes  them  as  an  oral  e.vr<-i.sc,  will  ascertain  for  himself  the  proper, 
form  of  correcting  each  example,  according  to  the  particular  Rule  or  Note  under  which  it  belongs.  \Vhtn  two 
or  more  errors  occur  in  the  same  example,  they  ought  to  be  corrected  successively,  in  their  order.  The 
erroneous  sentence  being  read  alourl  as  it  stands,  the  pupil  should  say.  "First,  Not  proper,  because,"  &c.  And 
when  the  first  error  has  thus  been  duly  corrected  by  a  brief  and  regular  syllogism,  either  the  same  pupil  or  an 
other  should  immediately  proceed,  and  say,  ''Secondly,  Not  proper  again,  because,1'  &c.  And  so  of  the  third 
error,  and  the  fourth,  if  there  be  so  many.  In  this  manner,  a  cla.-s  may  be  taught  to  speak  in  succession  without 
of  time,  and,  after  some  practice,  with  a  near  approach  to  that  PERFKI-T  Arcru\CY  which  is  the  great 
end  of  grammatical  instruction.  \Vhen  time  cannot  be  allowed  for  this  regular  exercise,  these  examples  maj 
still  be  profitably  rehearsed  by  a  more  rapid  process,  one  pupil  reading  aloud  the  quoted  false  grammar,  and  an 
other  responding  to  each  example,  by  reading  the  intended  correction  from  the  Key.J 

LESSON  I.— ARTICLES. 

"And  they  took  stones,  and  made  an  heap."— Com.  Bibles;  Gen.  xxxi,  46.  "And  I  do 
know  a  many  fools,  that  stand  in  better  place." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  44.  "  It  is  a  strong 
antidote  to  the  turbulence  of  passion,  and  violence  of  pursuit." — Kames,  El  of  Crit.  i,  p.  xxiii. 
"  The  word  news  may  admit  of  either  a  singular  or  plural  application." — Wright's  Gram.  p. 
39.  "He  has  gained  a  fair  and  a  honorable  reputation." — Ib.  p.  140.  "  There  are  two 
general  forms,  called  the  solemn  and  familiar  style." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  109.  "Neither 
the  article  nor  preposition  can  be  omitted." — Wright's  Gram,  p.  190.  "A  close  union  is  also 
observable  between  the  Subjunctive  and  Potential  Moods."— Ib,  p.  72.  "  We  should  render 
service,  equally,  to  a  friend,  neighbour,  and  an  enemy." — Ib.  p.  140.  "Till  an  habit  is  ob- 
tained of  aspirating  strongly." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  49.  "  There  is  an  uniform,  steady  use 
of  the  same  signs." — Ib.  p.  163.  "A  traveller  remarks  the  most  objects  he  sees." — Jamieson's 
Ith.'t.  p.  72.  "  What  is  the  name  of  the  river  on  which  London  stands?  The  Thames." — 
•'  "\Ve  sometimes  find  the  last  line  of  a  couplet  or  triplet  stretched  out  to  twelve  syllables." — 
A  flu  ins  Lat,  and  Eny.  Gmm.  p.  2X2.  "  Nouns  which  follow  active  verbs,  are  not  in  the 
nominative  case." — Blair's  Gntm.  p.  14.  "It  is  a  solemn  duty  to  speak  plainly  of  wrongs, 
which  good  n:cn  perpetrate." — Channing's  Emancip,  p.  71.  "  Gathering  of  riches  is  a  pleas- 
ant torment."—  Treasury  of  Knowledge,  Diet.  p.  446.  "It  [the  lamentation  of  Helen  for 
Hector]  is  worth  the  being  quoted." — Coleridge's  Introd.  p.  100.  "Council  is  a  noun  which 
admits  of  a  singular  and  plural  form." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  137.  "To  exhibit  the  connex- 
ion between  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments." — Keith's  Evidences,  p.  25.  "An  apos- 
trophe discovers  the  omission  of  a  letter  or  letters." — Guy's  Gram.  p.  95.  "  He  is  immedi- 
ately ordained,  or  rather  acknowledged  an  hero." — Pope,  Preface  to  the  Dunciad..  "Which 
is  the  same  in  both  the  leading  and  following  State." — Brightland's  Gram.  p.  86.  "  Pronouns, 
as  will  be  seen  hereafter,  have  a  distinct  nominative,  possessive,  and  objective  case." — Blair'* 
Grnm.  p.  15.  "A  word  of  many  syllables  is  called  polysyllable." — Beck's  Outline  of  E.  Gram. 
p.  2.  "Nouns  have  two  numbers,  singular  and  plural." — Ib.  p.  6.  "They  have  three 

rs,  masculine,  feminine,  and  neuter." — Ib.  p.  6.  "They  have  three  cases,  nominative, 
•md  objective." — Ib.  p.  6.  "  Personal  Pronouns  have,  like  Nouns,  two  numbers, 
singular  and  plural.  Three  genders,  masculine,  feminine,  and  neuter.  Two  cases,  nomina- 
tive and  objective." — Ib.  p.  10.  "He  must  be  wise  enough  to  know  the  singular  from 
plural." — Ib.  p.  20.  "  Though  they  may  be  able  to  meet  the  every  reproach  which  any  one 
of  their  fellows  may  prefer." — Chaf/ners,  .Svv?io//.v,  p.  104.  "Yet  for  love's  sake  I  rather 

h  thee,  being  such  an  one  as  Paul  the  aged." — Ep.  to  Philemon,  9.     "Being  such  one 

il  the  aged." — Dr.  Webster's  Bible.  "A  people  that  jeoparded  their  lives  unto  the 
death." — Judges,  v,  18.  "  By  preventing  the  too  great  accumulation  of  seed  within  a  too 
narrow  com]. ass." —  The  Friend,  Vol.  vii,  p.  1)7.  "  Who  tills  up  the  middle  space  between  the 
animal  and  intellectual  nature,  the  visible  and  invisible  world." — Addison,  Sj»'ct.  No.  519. 
"The  Psalms  abound  with  instances  of  an  harmonious  arrangement  of  the  words." — Mur- 

Chram,  i.  p.  :>-'!''-  '•  On  another  table  were  an  ewer  and  vase,  likewise  of  gold." — A".  )'. 
Mtn-'ir,  xi,  .'W7.  "7V»  is  said  to  have  two  sounds  sharp,  and  flat." — Wilson's  Essay  on  Gram. 
j>.  :{:;.  "  Section  (6)  is  used  in  subdividing  of  a  chapter  into  lesser  parts." — Brightfanifi 

.  ]>.  l.rJ.  "  Try  it  in  a  Do<;  or  an  Horse  or  any  other  Creature." — Lockr,  <»i  Ed.  p.  46. 
"  But  particularly  In  lemming  of  I  ,angnnges  there  is  least  occasion  for  poseing  of  Children." — 
Ib.  p.  296.  "  What  kind  of  a  nor.  mdwliyr"  —  Smith's  \-  >/•  Gram,  p.  10.  "  Is  Wil- 

liam't   a  proper   or  common  noun?" — Ib.  p.  12.       ""What  kind  of  an  article,  then,  shall 
we  call  thc'"—Ib.  p.  13. 

h  burns  alike,  who  Can,  or  cannot  write, 
Or  with  a  rival's  or  an  eunuch's  spite." — Pope,  on  Crit.  1.  30. 

LBSSON  II.  -I'X 

•  \ml  then-  i<  -r.ainprd  upon  thfir  Imaginations  Idea's  that,  follow  them  with  Terror  and 
AMYi^htment." — LocAv,  nn  l.d.  p.  ""d  .  "  'I  h.  rr  's  not  a  wrrti-b  that  livrs  nn  common  rharity, 


674  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

but 's  happier  than  me." — VENICE  PRESERVED  :  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  63.  "  But  they  over- 
whelm whomsoever  is  ignorant  of  them." — Common  School  Journal,  i,  115.  "  I  have  received 
a  letter  from  my  cousin,  she  that  was  here  last  week." — Inst.  p.  129.  "  Gentlemens  Houses 
are  seldom  without  Variety  of  Company." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  107.  "  Because  Fortune  has  laid 
them  below  the  level  of  others,  at  their  Masters  feet." — Ib.  p.  221.  "  We  blamed  neither  John 
nor  Mary's  delay." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  1 17.  "  The  book  was  written  by  Luther  the  reformer's 
order." — Ib.  p.  59.  "  I  saw  on  the  table  of  the  saloon  Blair's  Sermons,  and  somebody  else 
(I  forget  who's)  sermons,  and  a  set  of  noisy  children." — Lord  Byron's  Letters.  "  Or  saith  he 
it  altogether  for  our  sakes  ? " — 1  Cor.  ix,  10.  "  He  was  not  aware  of  the  duke's  being  his 
competitor." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  190.  "  It  is  no  condition  of  a  word's  being  an  adjective, 
that  it  must  be  placed  before  a  noun." — FOWLE  :  ib.  p.  190.  "  Though  their  Reason  correct- 
ed the  wrong  Idea's  they  had  taken  in." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  251.  "It  was  him,  who  taught 
me  to  hate  slavery." — Morris,  in  Congress,  1839.  "  It  is  him  and  his  kindred,  who  live  upon 
the  labour  of  others." — Id.  ib.  "Payment  of  Tribute  is  an  Acknowledgment  of  his  being 
King  to  whom  we  think  it  Due." — Right  of  Tythes,  p.  161.  "  When  we  comprehend  what  we 
are  taught." — Ingersoll's  Gram.  p.  14.  "  The  following  words,  and  parts  of  words,  must  be 
taken  notice  of." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  96.  "  Hence  tears  and  commiseration  are  so  often 
made  use  of." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  269.  "  JOHN-A-NOKES.  n.  s.  A  fictitious  name,  made  use 
of  in  law  proceedings." — Chalmers,  Eng.  Diet.  "  The  construction  of  Matter,  and  Part  taken 
hold  of."— B.  F.  Fisk's  Greek  Gram.  p.  x.  "And  such  other  names,  as  carry  with  them 
the  Idea's  of  some  thing  terrible  and  hurtful." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  250.  "Every  learner 
then  would  surely  be  glad  to  be  spared  the  trouble  and  fatigue." — Pike's  Hebrew  Lexicon, 
p.  iv.  "  Tis  not  the  owning  ones  Dissent  from  another,  that  I  speak  against." — Locke,  on  Ed. 
p.  265.  "A  Man  that  cannot  Fence  will  be  more  careful  to  keep  out  of  Bullies  and  Game- 
sters Company,  and  will  not  be  half  so  apt  to  stand  upon  Punctilio's." — Ib.  p.  357.  "  From 
such  Persons  it  is,  one  may  learn  more  in  one  Day,  than  in  a  Years  rambling  from 
one  Inn  to  another." — Ib.  p.  377.  "Along  syllable  is  generally  considered  to  be  twice  the 
length  of  a  short  one." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  117.  "I  is  of  the  first  person,  and  singular  number ; 
Thou  is  second  per.  sing.;  He,  She,  or  It,  is  third  per.  sing. ;  We  is  first  per.  plural ;  Ye  or 
You  is  second  per.  plural;  They  is  third  per.  plural." — Kirkhams  Gram.  p.  46.  "This 
actor,  doer,  or  producer  of  the  action,  is  the  nominative." — Ib.  p.  43.  "  No  Body  can  think  a 
Boy  of  Three  or  Seven  Years  old,  should  be  argued  with,  as  a  grown  Man." — Locke,  on  Ed. 
p.  129.  "  This  was  in  one  of  the  Pharisees'  houses,  not,  in  Simon  the  leper's." — Hammond. 
"  Impossible  !  it  can't  be  me." — Swift.  "Whose  grey  top  shall  tremble,  Him  descending." 
— Dr.  Bentley.  "  What,  gender  is  woman,  and  why?  " — Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  8.  "  Whit 
gender,  then,  is  man,  and  why  ? " — Ibid.  "  Who  is  I;  who  do  you  mean  when  you  say  i!  " 
— R.  W.  Green's  Gram.  p.  19.  "It  [Parnassus]  is  a  pleasant  air,  but  a  barren  soil." — Lode, 
on  Ed.  p.  31 1.  "  You  may,  in  three  days  time,  go  from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem." — Josephus,  Vc  1, 
5,  p.  174.  "And  that  which  is  left  of  the  meat-offering  shall  be  Aaron's  and  his  sons." — 
SCOTT'S  BIBLE,  and  BRUCE'S  :  Lev.  ii,  10.  See  also  ii,  3. 

"  For  none  in  all  the  world,  without  a  lie, 
Can  say  that  this  is  mine,  excepting  I." — Bunyan. 

LESSON  III.— ADJECTIVES. 

"  When  he  can  be  their  Remembrancer  and  Advocate  every  Assises  and  Sessions." — 
Right  of  Tythes,  p.  244.  "  Doing,  denotes  all  manner  of  action ;  as,  to  dance,  to  play,  io 
write,  to  read,  to  teach,  to  fight,  &c." — Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  33.  "  Seven  foot  long,"- 
"  eight  foot  long," — "  fifty  foot  long." — Walker's  Particles,  p.  205.  "Nearly  the  whole  of 
this  twenty-five  millions  of  dollars  is  a  dead  loss  to  the  nation." — Fowler,  on  Tabacco,  p.  16. 
"  Two  negatives  destroy  one  another." — R.  W.  Green's  Gram.  p.  92.  "  We  are  warned 
against  excusing  sin  in  ourselves,  or  in  each  other." — The  Friend,  iv,  108.  "The  Russian 
empire  is  more  extensive  than  any  government  in  the  world." — School  Geog.  "You  will 
always  have  the  Satisfaction  to  think  it  the  Money  of  all  other  the  best  laid  out." — Locke, 
on  Ed.  p.  145.  "There  is  no  one  passion  which  all  mankind  so  naturally  give  into  as 
pride." — Steek,  Sped.  No.  462.  "  O,  throw  away  the  worser  part  of  it." — Beauties  of  Shak. 
p.  237.  "  He  showed  us  a  more  agreeable  and  easier  way." — Inst.  p.  134.  "And  the  four 
last  [are]  to  point  out  those  further  improvements." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  52  ;  Campbell's,  187. 
"  Where  he  has  not  distinct  and  different  clear  Idea's." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  353.  "  Oh,  when 
shall  we  have  such  another  Rector  of  Laracor  !  " — Hazlitt's  Lect.  "  Speech  must  have  been 
absolutely  necessary  previous  to  the  formation  of  society." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  2.  "  Go 
and  tell  them  boys  to  be  still." — Inst.  p.  135.  "Wrongs  are  engraved  on  marble  ;  benefits, 
on  sand  :  these  are  apt  to  be  requited ;  those,  forgot." — B.  "  Neither  of  these  several  inter- 
pretations is  the  true  one." — B.  "  My  friend  indulged  himself  in  some  freaks  unbefitting  the 
gravity  of  a  clergyman." — B.  "And  their  Pardon  is  All  that  either  of  their  Impropriators 
will  have  to  plead." — Right  of  Tythes,  p.  196.  "  But  the  time  usually  chosen  to  send  young 
Men  abroad,  is,  I  think,  of  all  other,  that  which  renders  them  least  capable  of  reaping  those 
Advantages." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  372.  "It  is  a  mere  figment  of  the  human  imagination,  a 
rhapsody  of  the  transcendent  unintelligible."— Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  120.  "It  contains  a 


CHAP.    XII.]  SYNTAX.  -  A    GENERAL   REVIEW.  -  ERRORS.  675 

greater  assemblage  of  sublime  ideas,  of  bold  and  daring  figures,  than  is  perhaps  anywhere 
to  be  met  with."  —  Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  162.  "  The  order  in  which  the  two  last  words  are  placed, 
should  have  been  reversed."  —  Ib.  p,  204.  "  The  orders  in  which  the  two  lust  words  are 
placed,  should  have  been  reversed."  —  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  310.  "In  Demosthenes, 
eloquence  shown  forth  with  higher  splendour,  than  perhaps  in  any  that  ever  bore  the  name 
of  an  orator."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  242.  "  The  circumstance  of  his  being  poor  is  decidedly 
favorable."  —  Student's  Manual,  p.  286.  "  The  temptations  to  dissipation  are  greatly  lessened 
by  his  being  poor."  —  Ib.  p.  287.  "For  with  her  death  that  tidings  came."- 
Shak.p.  257.  "The  next  objection  is,  that  these  sort  of  authors  are  poor."—  r 
"  Presenting  Emma  as  Miss  Castlemain  to  these  acquaintance."  —  Opie's  Temper.  "  I  doubt 
not  but  it  will  please  more  than  the  opera."  —  Sped.  No.  28.  "  The  world  knows  only  two, 
that's  Rome  and  I."  —  Ben  Johnson.  "  I  distinguish  these  two  things  from  one  another."  — 
Blair's  Rhet.  p.  29.  "And  in  this  case,  mankind  reciprocally  claim,  and  allow  indulgence 
to  each  other."  —  Sheridan's  Lect.  p.  29.  "  The  six  last  books  are  said  not  to  have  received 
the  finishing  hand  of  the  author."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  438.  "  The  best  executed  part  of  the 
work,  is  the  first  six  books."  —  Ib.  p.  447. 

"  To  reason  how  can  we  be  said  to  rise  ? 
So  many  cares  attend  the  being  wise."  —  Sheffield. 

LESSON  IV.—  PRONOUNS. 

"  Once  upon  a  time  a  goose  fed  its  young  by  a  pond  side."  —  Goldsmith's  Essays,  p.  175. 
"  If  either  [work]  have  a  sufficient  degree  of  merit  to  recommend  them  to  the  attention  of 
the  public."  —  Walker's  Rhyminy  Diet.  p.  iii.  "  Now  W.  Mitchell  his  deceit  is  very  remark- 
able."— Barclay's  Works,  i,  264.  "  My  brother,  I  did  not  put  the  question  to  thee,  for  that 
I  doubted  of  the  truth  of  your  belief."—  Banyans  P.  P.  p.  158.  "  I  had  two  elder  brothers, 
one  of  which  was  a  lieutenant-colonel."  —  Robinson  Crusoe,  p.  2.  "  Though  James  is  here  the 
object  of  the  action,  yet,  he  is  in  the  nominative  case."  —  Wright's  Gram.  p.  64.  "Here, 
John  is  the  actor  ;  and  is  known  to  be  the  nominative,  by  its  answering  to  the  question, 


o  struck  Richard  •  '"—Ib.  p.  43.  "One  of  the  most  distinguished  privileges  which 
Providence  has  conferred  upon  mankind,  is  the  power  of  communicating  their  thoughts  to 
one  another."—  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  9.  "  With  some  of  the  most  refined  feelings  which  belong 
to  our  frame."  —  Ib.  p.  13.  "And  the  same  instructions  which  assist  others  in  composing, 
will  assist  them  in  judging  of,  and  relishing,  the  beauties  of  composition."  —  Ib.  p.  12.  "  To 
overthrow  all  which  had  been  yielded  in  favour  of  the  army."  —  Mrs.  Macaulay's  Hist,  i,  335. 
"  Let  your  faith  stand  in  the  Lord  God  who  changes  not,  and  that  created  all,  and  gives 
the  increase  of  all."  —  Friend*'  Adi-ires,  1676.  "  For  it  is,  in  truth,  the  sentiment  or  passion, 
which  lies  under  the  figured  expression,  that  gives  it  any  merit."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  133. 
"  Verbs  are  words  which  affirm  the  being,  doing,  or  suffering  of  a  thing,  together  with 
the  time  it  happens."—  AL  Murray's  Gram.  p.  29.  "  The  Byass  will  always  hang  on  that 
side,  that  nature  first  placed  it."  —  Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  177.  "  They  should  be  brought  to  do  the 
things  are  fit  for  them."  —  Ib.  p.  178.  "  Various  sources  whence  the  English  language  is 
derived."  —  Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  286.  "This  attention  to  the  several  cases,  when  it  is 
proper  to  omit  and  when  to  redouble  the  copulative,  is  of  considerable  importance."  —  Blair's 
Rhet.  p.  113.  "  Cicero,  for  instance,  speaking  of  the  cases  where  killing  another  is  lawful 
in  self  defence,  uses  the  following  words."  —  Ib.  p.  156.  "  But  there  is  no  nation,  hardly 
any  person  so  phlegmatic,  as  not  to  accompany  their  words  with  some  actions  and  gesticu- 
lations, on  all  occasions,  when  they  are  much  in  earnest."—  Ib.  p.  335.  "  William's  is  said 
to  be  governed  by  coat,  because  it  follows  William's."—  Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  12.  "There 

my  occasions  in  life,  in  which  silence  and  simplicity  are  true  wisdom."  —  Murray's 
197.     "  In  choosing  umpires,  the  avarice  of  whom  is  excited."  —  Xixon's  J'arser,  p. 

••The  borou-hs  sent  representatives,  which  had  been  enacted."—  Ib.  p.  154.  "No 
man  believes  but  what  there  is  some  order  in  the  universe."—  Anon.  "  The  moon  is  orderly 
in  her  changes,  which  she  could  not  be  by  accident."  —  Id.  "  Of  Sphynx  her  riddles,  they 
an»  generally  two  kinds."—  <rl<>/n,  p.  73.  "They  must  generally  h'nd  cither  their 

Friends  or  Enemies  in  Power."—  Broirns  Estimate,  Vol.  ii,  p.  166.  "  For  of  old,  every  one  took 
upon  them  to  write  what  happened  in  their  own  time."  —  Joscphiis's  Jcrrish  War,  Pref.  p.  4. 
"  The  Almighty  cut  off  the  family  of  Eli  the  high  priest,  for  its  transgressions."—  See  Key. 
"  The  convention  then  resolved  themselves  into  a  committee  of  the  whole."  —  Inst.  p.  146. 
"The  severity  with  which  this  denomination  was  treated,  appeared  rather  to  invite  than  to 
deter  them  from  flocking  to  the  colony."  —  //.  Adams'*  }'ieir,  p.  71.  "  Many  Christians  abuse 
the  Scriptures  and  the  traditions  of  the  apostles,  to  uphold  things  quite  contrary  to  it."  — 
Barclay's  Works,  i,  461.  "  Thus,  a  circle,  a  square,  a  triangle,  or  a  hexagon,  please  the  eye, 
by  their  regularity,  as  beautiful  figures."—  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  46.  "  Elba  is  remarkable  for  "its 
being  the  place  to"  which  Uonuparte  was  banished  in  1814."  —  See  Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  190. 
"  The  editor  has  the  reputation  of  his  being  a  good  linguist  and  critic."—  See  in.  "Tis  a 
Piide  should  be  cherished  in  them."  —  Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  129.  "And  to  restore  us  the  Hopes 
of  Fruits,  to  reward  our  Pains  in  its  season."  —  Ib.  p.  136.  "  Thecomick  representation  of 


676  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

Death's  victim  relating  its  own  tale." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  103.      "As  for  Scioppius  his 
Grammar,  that  doth  wholly  concern  the  Latin  Tongue." — DR.  WILKINS  :  Tooke's  D.  P.  i,  7. 
"And  chiefly  thee,  O  Spirit,  who  dost  prefer 
Before  all  temples  the  upright  heart  and  pure, 
Instruct  me,  for  Thou  knowest." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram.  p.  45. 

LESSON  V.— VERBS. 

"And  there  was  in  the  same  country  shepherds  abiding  in  the  field." — SCOTT'S  BIBLE  : 
Luke,  ii,  8.  "  Whereof  every  one  bear  twins." — COM.  BIBLE  :  Sol.  Song,  iv,  2.  "  Whereof 
every  one  bare  twins." — ALGEK'S  BIBLE  :  ib.  "  Whereof  every  one  beareth  twins." — 
SCOTT'S  BIBLE  :  ib.  "  He  strikes  out  of  his  nature  one  of  the  most  divine  principles,  that 
is  planted  in  it." — Addison,  Sped.  No.  181.  "Genii,  denote  serial  spirits." — Wright's  Gram. 
p.  40.  "  In  proportion  as  the  long  and  large  prevalence  of  such  corruptions  have  been 
obtained  by  force." — BP.  HALIFAX  :  Butler's  Analogy,  p.  xvi.  "  Neither  of  these  are  fix'd 
to  a  Word  of  a  general  Signification,  or  proper  Name." — Brightland's  Gram,  p.  95.  "  Of 
which  a  few  of  the  opening  lines  is  all  I  shall  give." — Moore's  Life  of  Byron.  "  The  riches 
we  had  in  England  was  the  slow  result  of  long  industry  and  wisdom." — DAVENANT  :  Web- 
ster's Imp.  Gram.  p.  21 ;  Phil.  Gram.  29.  "The  following  expression  appears  to  be  correct : 
— '  Much  publick  thanks  is  due.'" — Wright's  Gram.  p.  201.  "He  hath  been  enabled  to 
correct  many  mistakes." — Loivth's  Gram.  p.  x.  "  Which  road  takest  thou  here?" — Inger- 
soll's  Gram.  p.  106.  "  Learnest  thou  thy  lesson  ?  "—Ib.  p.  105.  "  Learned  they  their  pieces 
perfectly  ? " — Ibid.  "  Thou  learnedst  thy  task  well." — Ibid.  "  There  are  some  can't  relish 


p. 

certainly  have  been  masculine." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  176.  "  If  only  one  follow,  there  seems 
to  be  a  defect  in  the  sentence." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  104.  .«•  Sir,  if  thou  have  borne  him 
hence,  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him." — John,  xx,  15.  "  Blessed  is  the  people  that 
know  the  joyful  sound." — Psalms,  Ixxxix,  15.  "Every  auditory  take  in  good  part  those 
marks  of  respect  and  awe,  which  are  paid  to  them  by  one  who  addresses  them." — Blair's 
Rhet.  p.  308.  "Private  causes  were  still  pleaded  [in  the  forum]  ;  but  the  public  was  no 
longer  interested ;  nor  any  general  attention  drawn  to  what  passed  there." — Ib.  p.  241). 
"  Nay,  what  evidence  can  be  brought  to  show,  that  the  Inflection  of  the  Classic  tongues 
were  not  originally  formed  out  of  obsolete  auxiliary  words  '"—Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  II'.!. 
"  If  the  student  reflects,  that  the  principal  and  the  auxiliary  forms  but  one  verb,  he  wi  1 
have  little  or  no  difficulty,  in  the  proper  application  of  the  present  rule." — Ib.  p.  18!'. 
"  For  the  sword  of  the  enemy  and  fear  is  on  every  side." — Jeremiah,  vi,  25.  "Even  the 
Stoics  agree  that  nature  and  certainty  is  very  hard  to  come  at." — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  71 . 
«'  His  politeness  and  obliging  behaviour  was  changed." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  186.  "His 
politeness  and  obliging  behaviour  were  changed." — Hume's  Hist.  Vol.  vi,  p.  14.  "  War  and  its 
honours  was  their  employment  and  ambition." — Goldsmith.  "  Does  a  and  an  mean  the 
same  thing  ?  " — R.  W.  Green's  Gram.  p.  15.  "  When  a  number  of  words  come  in  between  the 
discordant  parts,  the  ear  does  not  detect  the  error." — Cobbett's  Gram.  U  185.  "The  sen- 
tence should  be,  '  When  a  number  of  words  comes  in,'  &c." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  170.  "The 
nature  of  our  language,  the  accent  and  pronunciation  of  it,  inclines  us  to  contract  even  all 
our  regular  Verbs." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  45.  "-The  nature  of  our  language,  together  with 
the  accent  and  pronunciation  of  it,  incline  us  to  contract  even  all  our  Regular  Verbs." — 
Hiley's  Gram.  p.  45.  "  Prompt  aid,  and  not  promises,  are  what  we  ought  to  give." — Author. 
"  The  position  of  the  several  organs  therefore,  as  well  as  their  functions  are  ascertained." — 
Medical  Magazine,  1833,  p.  5.  "Every  private  company,  and  almost  every  public  assembly, 
afford  opportunities  of  remarking  the  difference  between  a  just  and  graceful,  and  a  faulty 
and  unnatural  elocution." — Enfteld's  Speaker,  p.  9.  "  Such  submission,  together  with  the 
active  principle  of  obedience,  make  up  the  temper  and  character  in  us  which  answers  to 
his  sovereignty." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  126.  "  In  happiness,  as  in  other  things,  there  is  a 
false  and  a  true,  an  imaginary  and  a  real." — Fuller,  on  the  Gospel,  p.  134.  "To  confound 
things  that  differ,  and  to  make  a  distinction  where  there  is  no  difference,  is  equally  unphilor- 
aophical." — Author. 

«<  I  know  a  bank  whereon  the  wild  thyme  blow», 
Where  ox-lips  and  the  nodding  violet  grows." — Beaut,  of  Shak.  p.  51. 

LESSON  VI.— VERBS. 

"Whose  business  or  profession  prevent  their  attendance  in  the  morning." — Ogilby.  "And 
no  church  or  officer  have  power  over  one  another."-— LECHFORD  :  in  Ihttchinsons  Hist,  i,  373. 
"  While  neither  reason  nor  experience  are  sufficiently  matured  to  protect  them." — Wood- 
bridge,  "Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  every  syllable,  or  the  far  greatest  number  at 
least,  was  known  to  have  a  fixed  and  determined  quantity."— Blairs  Rhet.  p.  383.  "Among, 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  every  syllable,  qr  at  least  by  far  the  greatest  number  of  syllables, 


CHAP.   XII.]  SYNTAX.  -  A   GENERAL   REVIEW.  -  ERRORS.  677 

was  known  to  have  a  fixed  and  determined  quantity."  —  Jamiesons  Rhet.  p.  303.  "  Their 
vanity  is  awakened  and  their  passions  exalted  by  the  irritation,  which  their  self-love 
receives  from  contradiction."  —  Influence  of  Literature,  Vol.  ii,  p.  218.  "  I  and  he  was  neither  of 
us  any  great  swimmer."  —  Anon.  "  Virtue,  honour,  nay,  even  self-interest,  conspire  to  recom- 
mend the  measure."  —  Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  150.  "A  correct  plainness,  and  elegant  simpli- 
city, is  the  proper  character  of  an  introduction."  —  Blair's  llhet.  p.  308.  "  In  syntax  there 
is  what  grammarians  call  concord  or  agreement,  and  government."  —  Infant  School  Gram. 
p.  128.  "  People  find  themselves  able  without  much  study  to  write  and  speak  the  English 
intelligibly,  and  thus  have  been  led  to  think  rules  of  no  utility."  —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  6. 
"  But  the  writer  must  be  one  who  has  studied  to  inform  himself  well,  who  has  pondered 
his  subject  with  care,  and  addresses  himself  to  our  judgment,  rather  than  to  our  imagina- 
tion." —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  353.  "But  practice  hath  determined  it  otherwise  ;  and  has,  in  all 
the  languages  with  which  we  are  much  acquainted,  supplied  the  place  of  an  interrogative 
mode,  either  by  particles  of  interrogation,  or  by  a  peculiar  order  of  the  words  in  the  sen- 
tence." —  Lowth's  Gram.  p.  84.  "  If  the  Lord  have  stirred  thee  up  against  me,  let  him  accept 
an  offering."  —  1  Sam.  xxvi,  19.  "  But  if  the  priest's  daughter  be  a  widow,  or  divorced,  and 
have  no  child,  and  is  returned  unto  her  father's  house,  as  in  her  youth,  she  shall  eat  of  her 
father's  meat."  —  Levit.  xxii,  13.  "  Since  we  never  have,  nor  ever  shall  study  your  sublime 
productions."  —  Xeefs  Sketch,  p.  62.  "  Enabling  us  to  form  more  distinct  images  of  objects, 
than  can  be  done  with  the  utmost  attention  where  these  particulars  are  not  found."—  J\ 
El.  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  174.  "  I  hope  you  will  consider  what  is  spoke  comes  from  my  love."  — 
Shak.,  Otht-Uo.  "  We  will  then  perceive  how  the  designs  of  emphasis  may  be  marred."  — 
Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  406.  "  I  knew  it  was  Crab,  and  goes  me  to  the  fellow  that  whips 
the  dogs."  —  SHAK.  :  Joh.  Diet.  w.  ALE.  "  The  youth  was  being  consumed  by  a  slow  malady." 
—  ll'ri'/ht'fi  (irani.  p.  192.  "  If  all  men  thought,  spoke,  and  wrote  alike,  something  resembling 
a  perfect  adjustment  of  these  points  may  be  accomplished."  —  Ib.  p.  240.  "If  you  will  re- 
place what  has  been  long  since  expunged  from  the  language."  —  Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  167  ; 
Murray's  Gram.  i,  '•',*'•  \.  "As  in  all  those  faulty  instances,  I  have  now  been  giving."  —  Blair  s 
Rln-i.  p.  149.  "  This  mood  has  also  been  improperly  used  in  the  following  places."  —  Murray's 
Gram,  i,  1H4.  "  lie  [Milton]  seems  to  have  been  well  acquainted  with  his  own  genius,  and  to 
know  what  it  was  that  nature  had  bestowed  upon  him."  —  Johnson's  Life  of  Milton.  "  Of  which 
I  already  gave  one  instance,  the  worst,  indeed,  that  occurs  in  all  the  poem."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p. 
395.  "  It  is  strange  he  never  commanded  you  to  have  done  it."  —  Anon.  "  History  painters 
would  have  found  it  difficult,  to  have  invented  such  a  species  of  beings."  —  ADDISOX  :  see 
Loicth's  Gram.  p.  87.  "  Universal  Grammar  cannot  be  taught  abstractedly,  it  must  be  done 
with  reference  to  some  language  already  known."  —  Lowth's  Preface,  p.  viii.  "And  we 
might  imagine,  that  if  verbs  had  been  so  contrived,  as  simply  to  express  these,  no  more  was 
needful."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  82.  "  To  a  writer  of  such  a  genius  as  Dean  Swift,  the  plain  style 
was  most  admirably  fitted."  —  Ib.  p.  181.  "  Please  excuse  my  son's  absence."  —  Inst.  p.  188. 
"  Bid  the  boys  to  come  in  immediately."  —  Ib. 

"Gives  us  the  secrets  of  his  Pagan  hell, 

Where  ghost  with  ghost  in  sad  communion  dwell."  —  Crabbe'a  Bor.  p.  306. 
"Alas  !  nor  faith  nor  valour  now  remain  ; 

are  but  wind,  and  I  must  bear  my  chain."  —  Walpole's  Catal.  p.  11. 


LESSON  VII.—  PARTICIPLES. 

"  Of  which  the  Author  considers  himself,  in  compiling  the  present  work,  as  merely 
laying  of  the  foundation-stone."  —  Blair's  Cram.  p.  ix.  "On  the  raiding  such  lively  and 
distinct  images  as  are  here  described."  —  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  89.  "  They  are  necessary  to 
the  avoiding  Ambiguities."  —  MjpAtfMNf*  Gram.  p.  95.  "There  is  no  neglecting  it  without 
falling  into  a  dangerous  error."  —  Burlama'/ui,  on  Lair,  p.  41.  "The  contest  resembles  Don 
Quixote's  fighting  windmills."  —  Webster's  Essays,  p.  67.  "That  these  verbs  associate  with 
verbs  in  all  the  tenses.  i<  no  proof  of  their  having  no  particular  time  of  their  own."  —  Mur- 
ray's Gram,  i,  190.  "  To  justify  my  not  following  the  tract  of  the  ancient  rhetoricians."  — 
Blair's  Rhet.  p.  122.  "The  putting  letters  together,  so  as  to  make  words,  is  called  spell- 
ing." —  Infant  S'-li»nl  Gram.  p.  11.  "What  is  the  putting  vowels  and  consonants  together 
called."—  Ib.  p.  12.  ••  Nobody  knows  of  their  being  charitable  but  themselves."—  / 
on  the  Gospel,  p.  29.  "Payment  was  at  length  made,  but  no  reason  assigned  for  its  having 
been  so  long  postponed."  —  Murray's  Gram.i,  1st;  ;  Kirkham'x,  l'J4  ;  I/n/ersoU's,254.  "  Which 
will  bear  being  brought  into  comparison  with  any  composition  of  the  kind."  —  Blair  s  R/ut. 
p.  396.  "To  render  vice  ridiculous,  Ls  doing  real  service  to  the  world."  —  Ib.  p.  476.  "It 
is  copying  directly  from  nature;  giving  a  plain  rehearsal  of  what  passed,  or  was  sup] 
to  pass,  in  conversation."  —  Ib.  p.  433.  "  Propriety  of  pronunciation  is  giving  to  every  word 
that  sound,  which  the  most  polite  usage  of  the  language  appropriates  to  it."  —  Murray's 
Key,  8vo,  p.  200.  "  To  occupy  the  mind,  and  prevent  onr  regretting  the  insipidity  of  an 
uniform  plain."  —  AW  There  are  a  hundred  ways  of  any  thing 

happening."  —  Steele.     "Tell  me,  signor,  what  was  the  cause  of  Antonio's  sending  Claudio 
to  Venice,  yesterday."  —  Buck's  Gram.  p.  90.     "Looking  about  for  an  outlet,  some  rich 


678  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

prospect  unexpectedly  opens  to  view." — Kames,  EL  of  Crit.  ii,  334.  "A  hundred  volumes 
of  modern  novels  may  be  read,  without  acquiring  a  new  idea." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  29. 
«« Poetry  admits  of  greater  latitude  than  prose,  with  respect  to  coining,  or,  at  least,  new 
compounding  words." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  93.  "  When  laws  were  wrote  on  brazen  tablets 
inforced  by  the  sword." — Notes  to  the  Dunciad.  "A  pronoun,  which  saves  the  naming  a 
person  or  thing  a  second  time,  ought  to  be  placed  as  near  as  possible  to  the  name  of  that 
person  or  thing." — Kames,  EL  of  Crit.  ii,  49.  "The  using  a  preposition  in  this  case,  is  not 
always  a  matter  of  choice." — Ib.  ii,  37.  "To  save  multiplying  words,  I  would  be  under- 
stood to  comprehend  both  circumstances." — Ib.  i,  219.  "Immoderate  grief  is  mute :  com- 
plaining is  struggling  for  consolation." — Ib.  i,  398.  "  On  the  other  hand,  the  accelerating 
or  retarding  the  natural  course,  excites  a  pain." — Ib.  i,  259.  "  Human  affairs  require  the 
distributing  our  attention." — Ib.  i,  264.  "By  neglecting  this  circumstance,  the  following 
example  is  defective  in  neatness." — Ib.  ii,  29.  "And  therefore  the  suppressing  copulatives 
must  animate  a  description." — Ib.  ii,  32.  "If  the  laying  aside  copulatives  give  force  and 
liveliness,  a  redundancy  of  them  must  render  the  period  languid." — Ib.  ii,  33.  "It  skills 
not  asking  my  leave,  said  Richard." — Scott's  Crusaders.  "  To  redeem  his  credit,  he  pro- 
posed being  sent  once  more  to  Sparta." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  i,  129.  "Dumas  relates  his 
having  given  drink  to  a  dog." — Dr.  Stone,  on  the  Stomach,  p.  24.  "Both  are,  in  a  like  way, 
instruments  of  our  receiving  such  ideas  from  external  objects." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  66. 
"  In  order  to  your  proper  handling  such  a  subject." — Spectator,  No.  533.  "  For  I  do  not 
recollect  its  being  preceded  by  an  open  vowel." — Knight,  on  the  Greek  Alphabet,  p.  56.  "  Such 
is  setting  up  the  form  above  the  power  of  godliness." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  72.  "  I  remem- 
ber walking  once  with  my  young  acquaintance." — Hunt's  Byron,  p.  27.  "  He  [Lord  Byron] 
did  not  like  paying  a  debt." — Ib.  p.  74.  "  I  do  not  remember  seeing  Coleridge  when  I  was 
a  child." — Ib.  p.  318.  "In  consequence  of  the  dry  rot's  having  been  discovered,  the  man- 
sion has  undergone  a  thorough  repair." — Maunder' s  Gram.  p.  17.  "I  would  not  advise  the 
following  entirely  the  German  system." — DR.  LIBBER:  Lit.  Conv.  p.  66.  "Would  it  not 
be  making  the  students  judges  of  the  professors  ?  "  —  Id.  ib.  p.  64.  "  Little  time  should 
intervene  between  their  being  proposed  and  decided  upon." — PROP.  VETHAKE  :  ib.  p.  39. 
"It  would  be  nothing  less  than  finding  fault  with  the  Creator." — Ib.  p.  116.  "Having 
once  been  friends  is  a  powerful  reason,  both  of  prudence  and  conscience,  to  restrain  us  from 
ever  becoming  enemies." — Seeker.  "  By  using  the  word  as  a  conjunction,  the  ambiguity  is 
prevented." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  216. 

"  He  forms  his  schemes  the  flood  of  vice  to  stem, 
But  preaching  Jesus  is  not  one  of  them." — J.  Taylor. 

LESSON  VIII.— ADVERBS. 

"Auxiliaries  cannot  only  be  inserted,  but  are  really  understood." — Wright's  Gram.  p. 
"  He  was  since  a  hired  Scribbler  in  the  Daily  Courant." — Notes  to  the  Dunciad,  ii,  299.  "  In 
gardening,  luckily,  relative  beauty  need  never  stand  in  opposition  to  intrinsic  beauty." — 
Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  330.  "  I  doubt  much  of  the  propriety  df  the  following  examples." — 
Lowth's  Gram.  p.  44.  "And  [we  see]  how  far  they  have  spread  one  of  the  worst  Languages 
possibly  in  this  part  of  the  world." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  341.  "And  in  this  manner  to  merely 
place  him  on  a  level  with  the  beast  of  the  forest." — Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  5.  "  Where,  ah  ! 
where,  has  my  darling  fled?" — Anon.  "As  for  this  fellow,  we  know  not  from  whence  he 
is." — John,  ix,  29.  "  Ye  see  then  how  that  by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and  not  by  faith 
only." — James,  ii,  24.  "  The  Mixt  kind  is  where  the  poet  sometimes  speaks  in  his  own  per- 
son, and  sometimes  makes  other  characters  to  speak." — Adam's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  276  ;  Gould's, 
267.  "  Interrogation  is,  when  the  writer  or  orator  raises  questions  and  returns  answers." — 
Fisher's  Gram.  p.  154.  "Prevention  is,  when  an  author  starts  an  objection  which  he  fore- 
sees may  be  made,  and  gives  an  answer  to  it." — Ib.  p.  154.  "Will  you  let  me  alone,  or 
no  ? " —  Walker's  Particles,  p.  184.  "  Neither  man  nor  woman  cannot  resist  an  engaging 
exterior." — Chesterfield,  Let.  lix.  "Though  the  Cup  be  never  so  clean." — Locke,  on  Ed. 
p.  65.  "  Seldom,  or  ever,  did  any  one  rise  to  eminence,  by  being  a  witty  lawyer." — Blair's 
Rhet.  p.  272.  "The  second  rule,  which  I  give,  respects  the  choice  of  objects,  from  whence 
metaphors,  and  other  figures,  are  to  be  drawn." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  144.  "  In  the  figures 
which  it  uses,  it  sets  mirrors  before  us,  where  we  may  behold  objects,  a  second  time,  in  their 
likeness." — Ib.  p.  139.  "  Whose  Business  is  to  seek  the  true  measures  of  Right  and 
Wrong,  and  not  the  Arts  how  to  avoid  doing  the  one,  and  secure  himself  in  doing  the 
other." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  331.  "The  occasions  when  you  ought  to  personify  things,  and 
when  you  ought  not,  cannot  be  stated  in  any  precise  rule." — Cobbett's  Eng.  Gram.  H  182. 
"  They  reflect  that  they  have  been  much  diverted,  but  scarce  can  say  about  what."— Kames, 
El.  of  Crit.  i,  151.  "The  eyebrows  and  shoulders  should  seldom  or  ever  be  remarked  by 
any  perceptible  motion." — Adams's  Rhet.  ii,  389.  "And  the  left  hand  or  arm  should  seldom 
or  never  attempt  any  motion  by  itself." — Ib.  ii,  391.  "  Every  speaker  does  not  propose  to 
please  the  imagination." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  104.  "And,  like  Gallio,  they  care  little  for 
none  of  these  things." — The  Friend,  Vol.  x,  p.  351.  "  They  may  inadvertently  be  imitated, 
in  cases  where  the  meaning  would  be  obscure." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  172.  "  Nor  a  man 
Cannot  make  hjm  laugh." — Shak.  "The  Athenians,  in  their  present  distress,  scarce  knew 


,. 


CHAP.    XII.]  SYNTAX. A   GENERAL   REVIEW. ERRORS.  679 

where  to  turn." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  i,  156.  "  I  do  not  remember  where  ever  God  delivered 
his  oracles  by  the  multitude." — Locke.  "The  object  of  this  government  is  twofold,  out- 
wards and  inwards." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  553.  "  In  order  to  rightly  understand  what  we 
read." — Johnsons  Gram.  Com.  p.  313.  "  That  a  design  had  been  formed,  to  forcibly  abduct 
or  kidnap  Morgan." — Stone,  on  Masonry,  p.  410.  "But  such  imposture  can  never  maintain 
its  ground  long." — Blairs  Rhet.  p.  10.  "But  sure  it  is  equally  possible  to  apply  the  prin- 
ciples of  reason  and  good  sense  to  this  art,  as  to  any  other  that  is  cultivated  among  men." — 
Ibid.  "It  would  have  been  better  for  you,  to  have  remained  illiterate,  and  to  have  been 
even  hewers  of  wood." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  374.  "Dissyllables  that  have  two  vowels, 
•which  are  separated  in  the  pronunciation,  have  always  the  accent  on  the  first  syllable." — 
Ib.  i,  238.  "And  they  all  turned  their  backs  without  almost  drawing  a  sword."— Kantcs, 
El.  of  Crit.  i,  224.  "The  principle  of  duty  takes  naturally  place  of  every  other." — Ib.  i, 
342.  "All  that  glitters  is  not  gold." — Maunder  s  Gram.  p.  13.  "Whether  now  or  never  so 
many  myriads  of  ages  hence." — Pres.  Edwards. 

"  England  never  did,  nor  never  shall, 
Lie  at  the  proud  foot  of  a  conqueror." — Beaut,  of  Shak.  p.  109. 

LESSON  IX.— CONJUNCTIONS. 

"  He  readily  comprehends  the  rules  of  Syntax,  and  their  use  and  applicability  in  the 
examples  before  him." — Greenleaf's  Gram.  p.  6.  "The  works  of  yEschylus  have  suffered 
more  by  time,  than  any  of  the  ancient  tragedians."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  470.  "There  is  much 
more  story,  more  bustle,  and  action,  than  on  the  French  theatre." — Ib.  p.  478.  "  Such  an 


intend  any  other,  but  such  as  is  suited  to  the  Child's  Capacity." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  129. 
"  Pronouns  have  no  other  use  in  language,  but  to  represent  nouns." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  83. 
"  The  speculative  relied  no  farther  on  their  own  judgment  but  to  choose  a  leader,  whom 
they  implicitly  followed." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  xxv.  "  Unaccommodated  man  is  no 
more  but  such  a  poor,  bare,  forked  animal  as  thou  art." — Beaut,  of  Shak.  p.  266.  "A  Paren- 
thesis is  a  clause  introduced  into  the  body  of  a  sentence  obliquely,  and  which  may  be 
omitted  without  injuring  the  grammatical  construction."— Murray's  Gram,  i,  280 ;  Inyersoll's, 
292;  Smith's,  192;  Alden's,  162;  A.  Flint's,  114;  Fisk's,  158;  Cooper's,  187;  Comly's,  163. 
"A  Caret,  marked  thus  A  is  placed  where  some  word  happens  to  be  left  out  in  writing,  and 
which  is  inserted  over  the  line." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  282;  Ingersoll's,  293;  and  others.  "At 
the  time  that  I  visit  them  they  shall  be  cast  down." — Jer.  vi,  15.  "  Neither  our  virtues  or 
vices  are  all  our  own." — DR.  JOHXSOX  :  Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  167.  "  I  could  not  give  him  an 
answer  as  early  as  he  had  desired." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  200.  "He  is  not  as  tall  as 
his  brother." — yixon's  Parser,  p.  124.  "  It  is  difficult  to  judge  when  Lord  Byron  is  serious 
or  not."— Lady  Blessington.  "  Some  nouns  are  both  of  the  second  and  third  declension." — 
Gould's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  48.  "  He  was  discouraged  neither  by  danger  or  misfortune." —  Wells' s 
Wst.  p.  161.  "  This  is  consistent  neither  with  logic  nor  history." — The  Dial,  i,  62.  "  Parts 
of  Sentences  are  simple  and  compound." — Blairs  Gram.  p.  114.  "English  verse  is  regu- 
lated rather  by  the  number  of  syllables  than  of  feet." — Ib.  p.  120.  "I  know  not  what  more 
he  can  do,  but  pray  foi  him." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  140.  "  Whilst  they  are  learning,  and  apply 
themselves  with  Attention,  they  are  to  be  kept  in  good  Humour." — Ib.  p.  295.  "A  Man 
cannot  have  too  much  of  it,  nor  too  perfectly." — Ib.  p.  322.  "  That  you  may  so  run,  as  you 
m;iy  obtain;  and  so  fight,  as  you  may  overcome."— I  I'm.  Pcnn.  ""it  is  the  case  of  some, 
to  contrive  false  periods  of  business,  because  they  may  seem  men  of  despatch." — Lord 
Bacon.  "  'A  tall  man  and  a  woman.'  In  this  sentence  there  is  no  ellipsis  ;  the  adjective  or 
quality  respect  only  the  man." — Dr.  Ash's  Gram.  p.  95.  "An  abandonment  of  the  policy  is 
neither  to  be  expected  or  desired."— Pres.  Jackson's  M>ssayet  1830.  "Which  can  be  ac- 
quired by  no  other  means  but  frequent  exercise  in  speaking." — It/air's  UJu-t.  p.  344.  "The 
chief  and  fundamental  rules  of  syntax  are  common  to  the  English  as  well  as  the  Latin 
tongue."— Ib.  p.  90.  "Then  I  exclaim,  that  my  antagonist  either  is  void  of  all  taste,  or 
that  his  taste  is  corrupted  in  a  miserable  degree." — Ib.  p.  21.  "I  cannot  pity  any  one  who 
is  under  no  distress  of  body  nor  of  mind." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i.  11.  V  There  WU  much 
genius  in  the  world,  before  there  were  learning  or  arts  to  refine  it."— /Hair's  Rhet.  p.  391. 
"  Such  a  Writer  can  have  little  else  to  do,  but  to  new  model  the  Paradoxes  of  ancient 
Scepticism." — /;••  i,  102.  "Our  ideas  of  them  being  nothing  else  but  a  col- 

lection of  the  ordinary  qualities  observed  in  them." — Dtni'-nn's  /.<><//<•,  p.  •_'•">.     "A  non-ens  or 
a  negative  can   neither  give  pleasure  nor  pain."— AVr/m>«,  7.7.  nf Crit.  i,  M.     "  So  as  they 
shall  not  jostle  ami  embarrass  one  another/'— Blair's  /.r,y///v.«,  p.  318.     "He  firmly  r, 
to  make  use  of  any  other  voice  but  his  own." — Goldsmith'*  <!n  ,;•> ,  i,  1!)0.     ••  Your  marching 
regiments.  Sir,  will  not  make  the  guards  their  example,  either  us  soldiers  or  subjc-f 
./'•niti*,  I.  ?.  :<•>.     "  C'oiiM •quently,  they  had  neither  meaning,  or   Ix-.-iufy,  to  :mv  hut  the 
njitives  of  each  country." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  Ifil. 

"The  man  of  worth,  and  has  not  left  his  peer, 
I>  in  his  narrow  house  for  ever  darkly  laid."—  / 


680  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III, 

LESSON  X.— PREPOSITIONS. 

"These  maybe  carried  on  progressively  above  any  assignable  limits." — Kames,  EL  of 
Crit.  i,  296.  "To  crowd  in  a  single  member  of  a  period  different  subjects,  is  still  worse 
than  to  crowd  them  into  one  period." — Ib.  ii,  27.  "Nor  do  we  rigidly  insist  for  melodious 
prose." — Ib.  ii,  76.  "  The  aversion  we  have  at  those  who  differ  from  us." — Ib.  ii,  365.  "  For 
we  cannot  bear  his  shifting  the  scene  every  line." — LD.  HALIFAX  :  ib.  ii,  213.  "  We  shall  find 
that  we  come  by  it  the  same  way." — Locke.  "  To  this  he  has  no  better  defense  than  that." 
— Barnes's  Red  Book,  p.  347.  "  Searching  the  person  whom  he  suspects  for  having  stolen  his 
casket." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  479.  "  Who  are  elected  as  vacancies  occur  by  the  whole  Board." 
— Lit.  Convention,  p.  81.  "Almost  the  only  field  of  ambition  of  a  German,  is  science." — DR. 


LIBBER  :  ib.  p.  66.     "  The  plan  of  education  is  very  different  to  the  one  pursued  in  the  sister 

r." — DR.  COLEY  :  ib.  p. 
tives relate  to,  and  modify  the  action  of  verbs." — Wilcox's  Gram.  p.  61.     "They  are  there- 


country." — DR.  COLEY  :  ib.  p.  197.     "  Some  writers  on  grammar  have  contended  that  adjec- 


fore  of  a  mixed  nature,  participating  of  the  properties  both  of  pronouns  and  adjectives." — 
Ingersolts  Gram.  p.  57.  "For  there  is  no  authority  which  can  justify  the  inserting  the  as- 
pirate or  doubling  the  vowel." — Knight,  on  Greek  Alph.  p.  52.  "The  distinction  and  arrange- 
ment between  active,  passive,  and  neuter  verbs." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  176.  "And  see  thoii  a 
hostile  world  to  spread  its  delusive  snares." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  167.  "  He  may  be  precau- 
tion'd,  and  be  made  see,  how  those  joyn  in  the  Contempt." — Locke, on  Ed.  p.  155.  "The 
contenting  themselves  now  in  the  want  of  what  they  wish'd  for,  is  a  vertue." — Ib.  p. 
185.  "If  the  Complaint  be  of  something  really  worthy  your  notice." — Ib.  p.  190. 
"  True  Fortitude  I  take  to  be  the  quiet  Possession  of  a  Man's  self,  and  an  undisturb'd 
doing  his  Duty." — Ib.  p.  204.  "  For  the  custom  of  tormenting  and  killing  of  Beasts  will, 
by  degrees,  harden  their  Minds  even  towards  Men." — Ib.  p.  216.  "  Children  are  whip'd  to  it 
and  made  spend  many  Hours  of  their  precious  time  uneasily  in  Latin." — Ib.  p.  289.  "  The 
ancient  rhetoricians  have  entered  into  a  very  minute  and  particular  detail  of  this  subject ; 
more  particular,  indeed,  than  into  any  other  that  regards  language." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p. 
123.  "But  the  one  should  not  be  omitted  without  the  other." — Bullions 's  Eng.  Gram.  p. 
108.  "In  some  of  the  common  forms  of  speech,  the  relative  pronoun  is  usually  omitted." 
— Murray' s  Gram.  \,  218;  Weld's,  191.  "There  are  a  great  variety  of  causes,  which  dis- 
qualify a  witness  from  being  received  to  testify  in  particular  cases." — J.  Q.  Adams's  Rhet. 
ii,  75.  "Aside  of  all  regard  to  interest,  we  should  expect  that,"  &c. —  Webster's  Essays,  p. 
92.  "  My  opinion  was  given  on  a  rather  cursory  perusal  of  the  book." — Murray's  Key,  ii, 
202.  "And  the  next  day,  he  was  put  on  board  his  ship." — Ib.  ii,  201.  "Having  tie 
command  of  no  emotions  but  of  what  are  raised  by  sight." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  318. 
"Did  these  moral  attributes  exist  in  some  other  being  beside  himself." — Waylan^'s 
Moral  Science,  p.  161.  "  He  did  not  behave  in  that  manner  out  of  pride  or  contempt  of  the 
tribunal." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  i,  190.  "These  prosecutions  of  William  seem  to  have  been 
the  most  iniquitous  measures  pursued  by  the  court." — Murray's  Key,  i,  199  ;  Priestley's 
Gram.  126.  "To  restore  myself  into  the  good  graces  of  my  fair  critics." — Drydoi. 
"Objects  denominated  beautiful,  please  not  in  virtue  of  any  one  quality  common  to  them 
all." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  46.  "  This  would  have  been  less  worthy  notice,  had  not  a  writer  or 
two  of  high  rank  lately  adopted  it." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  197. 
"A  Grecian  youth,  with  talents  rare, 
Whom  Plato's  philosophic  care,"  &c, — Felton's  Gram.  p.  145. 

LESSON  XL— PROMISCUOUS. 

"  To  excel,  is  become  a  much  less  considerable  object." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  351.  "  My  robe, 
and  my  integrity  to  heaven,  is  all  I  now  dare  call  mine  own." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  173. 
"  So  thou  the  garland  wear' st  successively." — Ib.  p.  134.  "For  thou  the  garland  wears 
successively." — Enfield's  Speaker,  p.  341.  "  If  that  thou  need'st  a  Roman's,  take  it  forth." 
—Ib.  p.  357.  "  If  that  thou  be'st  a  Roman,  take  it  forth." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  256.  "  If 
thou  provest  this  to  be  real,  thou  must  be  a  smart  lad,  indeed." — Neefs  Method  of  Teaching,  p. 
210.  "And  another  Bridge  of  four  hundred  Foot  in  Length." — Briyhtland 's  Gram.  p.  242. 
"Metonymy  is  putting  one  name  for  another  on  account  of  the  near  relation  there  is  be- 
tween them." — Fisher's  Gram.  p.  151.  "An  Antonomasia  is  putting  an  appellative  or  com- 
mon name  for  a  proper  name." — Ib.  p.  153.  "  Its  being  me  needs  make  no  difference  in 
your  determination." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  82.  "The  first  and  second  page  are  torn."- 
Jb.  p.  145.  "John's  being  from  home  occasioned  the  delay." — Ib.  p.  81.  "His  having 
neglected  opportunities  of  improvement,  was  the  cause  of  his  disgrace." — Ib.  p.  81.  "He 
will  regret  his  having  neglected  opportunities  of  improvement  when  it  may  be  too  late." 
— Ib.  p.  81.  "  His  being  an  expert  dancer  does  not  entitle  him  to  our  regard." — Ib.  p.  82.* 

*  Of  this  example,  Professor  Bullions  says,  "  This  will  be  allowed  to  be  a  correct  English  sentence,  complete  in 
itself,  and  requiring  nothing  to  be  supplied.  The  phrase,  ''being  an  expert  dancer,'  is  the  subject  of  the  verb 
'  does  entitle ,  '  but  the  word  '  danctr  '  in  that  phrase  is  neither  the  subject  of  any  verb,  nor  is  governed  by  any 
•word  in  the  sentence."— En?.  Gram.  p.  82.  It  is  because  this  word  cannot  have  any  regular  construction  after 
tlic  participle  when  the  possessive  case  precedes,  that  I  deny  his  first  proposition,  and  declare  the  sentence  not 
'-  to  be.  correct  English."  But  the  Professor  at  length  reasons  himself  into  the  notion,  that  this  indeterminate 
"predicate,"  as  he  erroneously  calls  it,  «'is  properly  in  the  objective  case,  and  in  parsing,  may  correctly  be 


CHAP.  XII.]  SYNTAX.  -  A   GENERAL    REVIEW.  -  ERRORS.  681 

«'  Caesar  went  back  to  Rome  to  take  possession  of  the  public  treasure,  which  his  opponent, 
by  a  most  unaccountable  oversight,  had  neglected  taking  with  him."  —  Goldsmith's  Rome,  p. 
116.  "And  Caesar  took  out  of  the  treasury,  to  the  amount  of  three  thousand  pound  weight 
of  gold,  besides  an  immense  quantity  of  silver."  —  Ibid.  "  Rules  and  definitions,  which 
should  always  be  clear  and  intelligible  as  possible,  are  thus  rendered  obscure."  —  Circenleafs 
Gram.  p.  5.  "  So  much  both  of  ability  and  merit  is  seldom  found."  —  Murray's  Key,  ii,  179. 
"If  such  maxims,  and  such  practices  prevail,  what  is  become  of  decency  and  virtue  :  "  —  Ib. 
ii,  196.  "  If  such  maxims  and  practices  prevail,  what  is  become  of  decency  and  virtue  •  " 
—  Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  78.  "  Especially  if  the  subject  require  not  so  much  pomp."  —  Blair's 
Rhet.  p.  117.  "  However,  the  proper  mixture  of  light  and  shade,  in  such  compositions  ;  the 
exact  adjustment  of  all  the  figurative  circumstances  with  the  literal  sense  ;  have  ever  been 
considered  as  points  of  great  nicety."  —  Murray's  Gram,  i,  343.  "And  adding  to  that  hissing 
in  our  language,  which  is  taken  so  much  notice  of  by  foreigners."  —  ADDISOX  :  Da.  COOTE  : 
ib.  i,  90.  "  Speaking  impatiently  to  servants,  or  any  thing  that  betrays  unkindness  or  ill- 
humour,  is  certainly  criminal."  —  Murray's  Key,  ii,  183  ;  Merchant's,  190.  "  There  is  here  a 
fulness  and  grandeur  of  expression  well  suited  to  the  subject."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  218.  "  I 
single  Strada  out  among  the  moderns,  because  he  had  the  foolish  presumption  to  censure 
Tacitus."  —  Murray's  Key,  ii,  262.  "I  single  him  out  among  the  moderns,  because,"  &c.  — 
Bolinybroke,  on  Hist.  p.  116.  "  This  is  a  rule  not  always  observed,  even  by  good  writers,  as 
strictly  as  it  ought  to  be."  —  Blairs  Rhet.  p.  103.  "  But  this  gravity  and  assurance,  which 
is  beyond  boyhood,  being  neither  wisdom  nor  knowledge,  do  never  reach  to  manhood."  — 
Notes  to  the  Dunciad.  "  The  regularity  and  polish  even  of  a  turnpike-road  has  some  influ- 
ence upon  the  low  people  in  the  neighbourhood."  —  Katnes,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  358.  "They  be- 
come fond  of  regularity  and  neatness  ;  which  is  displayed,  first  upon  their  yards  and  little 
enclosures,  and  next  within  doors."  —  Ibid.  "The  phrase,  it  is  impossible  to  exist,  gives  us 
the  idea  of  it's  being  impossible  for  men,  or  any  body  to  exist."  —  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  85. 
44  I'll  give  a  thousand  pound  to  look  upon  him."  —  Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  151.  "The  reader's 
knowledge,  as  Dr.  Campbell  observes,  may  prevent  his  mistaking  it."  —  Murray's  Gram,  i, 
1  7  '1  ;  Crombie's,  253.  "  When  two  words  are  set  in  contrast,  or  in  opposition  to  one  another, 
they  are  both  emphatic."  —  Murray's  Gram,  i,  243.  "The  number  of  persons,  men,  women, 
and  children,  who  were  lost  in  the  sea,  was  very  great."  —  Ib.  ii,  20.  "  Nor  is  the  resem- 
blance between  the  primary  and  resembling  object  pointed  out."  —  Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  179. 
"  I  think  it  the  best  book  of  the  kind  which  I  have  met  with."  —  DH.  MATHEWS  :  Greenleafs 
Gram.  p.  2. 

"  Why  should  not  we  their  ancient  rites  restore, 
And  be  what  Home  or  Athens  were  before  :  "  —  Roscommon,  p.  22. 

LESSON  XII.—  TWO  ERRORS. 

"  It  is  labour  only  which  gives  the  relish  to  pleasure."  —  Murray's  Key,  ii,  234.  "  Groves 
are  never  so  agreeable  as  in  the  opening  of  the  spring."  —  Ib.  p.  216.  "His  'Philoso- 
phical Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  our  Ideas  on  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful  '  soon  made  him 
known  to  the  literati."  —  Bioy.  Diet.  n.  Burke.  "An  awful  precipice  or  tower  whence  we  look 
down  on  the  objects  which  lie  below."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  30.  "This  passage,  though  very 
poetical,  is,  however,  harsh  and  obscure  ;  owing  to  no  other  cause  but  this,  that  three  dis- 
tinct metaphors  are  crowded  together."  —  Ib.  p.  149.  "I  propose  making  some  observa- 
tions." —  Ib.  p.  280.  "  I  shall  follow  the  same  method  here  which  I  have  all  along  pursued." 
—  76.  p.  34fi.  "  Mankind  never  resemble  each  other  so  much  as  they  do  in  the  beginnings 
of  society."  —  Ib.  p.  380.  "  But  no  ear  is  sensible  of  the  termination  of  each  foot,  in  reading 
an  hexameter  line."—  Ib.  p.  383.  "  The  first  thing,  says  he,  which  either  a  writer  of  fables, 
or  of  heroic  poems,  does,  is,  to  choose  some  maxim  or  p'oint  of  morality."  —  Ib.  p.  421.  "  The 
fourth  book  has  been  always  most  justly  admired,  and  abounds  with  beauties  of  the  highest 
kind."  —  Ib.  p.  439.  "  Tin-re  i^  no  attempt  towards  painting  characters  in  the  poem."  —  Ib. 
p.  4  M>.  "  Hut  the  artificial  contrasting  of  characters,  and  the  introducing  them  always  in 
pnirs,  and  by  opposites,  gives  too  theatrical  and  affected  an  air  to  the  piece."  —  Ib.  p.  479. 
"  Neither  of  them  are  arbitrary  nor  local."  —  K/nncs,  F.I.  of  Crit.  p.  xxi.  "  If  crowding  figures 
bo  bad,  it  is  still  worse  to  graft  one  figure  upon  another."—  Ib.  ii,  236.  "The  crowding 
withal  so  many  objects  together,  lessens  the  pleasure."  —  Ib.  ii,  324.  *This  therefore  lies 
not  in  the  putting  off  the  Hat,  nor  making  of  Compliments."  —  Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  149.  "  But 
the  Samaritan  Vau  may  have  been  used,  as  the  Jews  did  the  Chaldaic,  both  fora  vowel  and 
consonant."  —  Wilson's  Essay,  p.  19.  "  But  if  a  solemn  and  familiar  pronunciation  really 
exists  in  our  language,  is  it  not  the  business  of  a  grammarian  to  mark  both?"  —  Walker  s 
Pref.  p.  4.  "  By  making  sounds  follow  each  other  agreeable  to  certain  laws."  —  Music 


«alled  the  objective  indefinite  ;  "  of  which  case,  he  nays,  "The  following  are  also  examples:  {He  had  tht 
hcnour  of  being  a  director  for  life.'  'By  being  a  diligent  student,  he  soon  acquired  eminence  in  his  profes- 
«i<.n  '  •'—  Ib.  p.  83.  But  "  director  "  and  "  student  "  are  here  manifestly  in  the  nominative  case  ;  each  agreeing 
with  the  pronoun  he.  which  denotes  the  same  person.  In  the  latter  sentence,  there  is  a  Tery  obvioud  transport* 
tic  n  of  the  first  fiy«  words. 

44 


682  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

of  Nature,  p.  406.  "If  there  was  no  drinking  intoxicating  draughts,  there  could  be  no 
drunkards." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  178.  "  Socrates  knew  his  own  defects,  and  if  he  was 
proud  of  any  thing,  it  was  in  the  being  thought  to  have  none." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  i,  188. 
"  Lysander  having  brought  his  army  to  Ephesus,  erected  an  arsenal  for  building  of  gallies." 
— Ib.  i,  161.  "  The  use  of  these  signs  are  worthy  remark." — Brightland's  Gram.  p.  94.  "  He 
received  me  in  the  same  manner  that  I  would  you." — Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  113.  "Con- 
sisting both  of  the  direct  and  collateral  evidence." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  224.  "If  any  man 
or  woman  that  believeth  have  widows,  let  them  relieve  them,  and  let  not  the  church  be 
charged." — 1  Tim.  v,  16.  "For  mens  sakes  are  beasts  bred."—  Walker's  Particles,  p.  131. 
"  From  three  a  clock  there  was  drinking  and  gaming." — Ib.  p.  141.  "  Is  this  he  that  I  am 
seeking  of,  or  no  ? " — Ib.  p.  248.  "And  for  the  upholding  every  one  his  own  opinion,  there 
is  so  much  ado." — Sewel's  Hist.  p.  809.  "  Some  of  them  however  will  be  necessarily  taken 
notice  of." — Sale's  Koran,  p.  71.  "  The  boys  conducted  themselves  exceedingly  indiscreet." — 
Merchant's  Key,  p.  195.  "Their  example,  their  influence,  their  fortune,  every  talent  they 
possess,  dispense  blessings  on  all  around  them." — Ib.  p.  197  ;  Murray's  Key,  ii,  219.  "The 
two  Reynolds  reciprocally  converted  one  another." — Johnson's  Lives,  p.  185.  "  The  destroying 
the  two  last  Tacitus  calls  an  attack  upon  virtue  itself." — Goldsmith's  Rome,  p.  194.  "  Monies 
is  your  suit." — Beauties  o/Shak.  p.  38.  "Ch,  is  commonly  sounded  like  tch ;  as  in  church  : 
but  in  words  derived  from  the  Greek,  has  the  sound  of  k." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  11.  "  When 
one  is  obliged  to  make  some  utensil  supply  purposes  to  which  they  were  not  originally  des- 
tined."—  Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  222.  "But  that  a  being  baptized  with  water,  is  a  washing 
away  of  sin,  thou  canst  not  from  hence  prove." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  190.  "  Being  but  spoke 
to  one,  it  infers  no  universal  command." — Ibid.  "  For  if  the  laying  aside  Copulatives  gives 
Force  and  Liveliness,  a  Redundancy  of  them  must  render  the  Period  languid." — Buchanans 
Syntax,  p.  134.  "  James  used  to  compare  him  to  a  cat,  who  always  fell  upon  her  legs." — 
ADAM'S  HIST.  OF  ENGLAND  :  Crombie,  p.  384. 

"  From  the  low  earth  aspiring  genius  springs, 
And  sails  triumphant  born  on  eagles  wings." — Lloyd,  p.  162. 

LESSON  XIII.— TWO  ERRORS. 

"An  ostentatious,  a  feeble,  a  harsh,  or  an  obscure  style,  for  instance,  are  always  faults.'' 
— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  190.  "  Yet  in  this  we  find  the  English  pronounce  perfectly  agreeable  to 
rule." — Walker's  Diet.  p.  2.  "But  neither  the  perception  of  ideas,  nor  knowledge  of  any 
sort,  are  habits,  though  absolutely  necessary  to  the  forming  of  them." — Butler's  Analogy, 
p.  111.  "They  were  cast:  and  an  heavy  fine  imposed  upon  them." — Goldsmith's  Greece, 
ii,  30.  "  Without  making  this  reflection,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  spirit,  nor  relish  the 
composition  of  the  author." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  450.  "  The  scholar  should  be  instructed 
relative  to  finding  his  words." — Osborn's  Key,  p.  4.  "And  therefore  they  could  neither  have 
forged,  or  reversified  them." — Knight,  on  the  Greek  Alph.  p.  30.  "A  dispensary  is  the  pla3e 
where  medicines  are  dispensed." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  172.  "  Both  the  connexion  and  nuri- 
ber  of  words  is  determined  by  general  laws." — Neef's  Sketch,  p.  73.  "An  Anapaest  has  the 
two  first  syllables  unaccented,  and  the  last  accented  :  as,  '  Contravene,  acquiesce.'  " — Mur- 
ray's Gram,  i,  254.  "An  explicative  sentence  is,  when  a  thing  is  said  to  be  or  not  to  be,  to 
do  or  not  to  do,  to  suffer  or  not  to  suffer,  in  a  direct  manner." — Ib,  i,  141  ;  Lowth's,  84. 
"  BUT  is  a  conjunction,  in  all  cases  when  it  is  neither  an  adverb  nor  preposition." — Smith's 
New  Gram.  p.  109.  "  He  wrote  in  the  king  Ahasuerus'  name,  and  sealed  it  with  the  king's 
ring." — Esther,  viii,  10.  "  Camm  and  Audland  were  departed  the  town  before  this  time." 
— Sewel's  Hist.  p.  100.  "  Previous  to  their  relinquishing  the  practice,  they  must  be  con- 
viced." — Dr.  Webster,  on  Slavery,  p.  5.  "Which  he  had  thrown  up  previous  to  his  setting 
out." — 'Grimshaw's  Hist.  U.  S.  p.  84.  "  He  left  him  to  the  value  of  an  hundred  drachmas 
in  Persian  money." — Sped.  No.  535.  "All  which  the  mind  can  ever  contemplate  concern- 
ing them,  must  be  divided  between  the  three." — Cardell's  Philad.  Gram.  p.  80.  "Tom 
Puzzle  is  one  of  the  most  eminent  immethodical  disputants  of  any  that  has  fallen  under 
my  observation." — Sped.  No  476.  "When  you  have  once  got  him  to  think  himself  made 
amends  for  his  suffering,  by  the  praise  is  given  him  for  his  courage." — Locke,  on  Ed.  §  115. 
"  In  all  matters  where  simple  reason,  and  mere  speculation  is  concerned." — Sheridan's  Elo- 
cution; p.  136.  "And  therefore  he  should  be  spared  the  trouble  of  attending  to  any  thing 
else,  but  his  meaning." — Ib.  p.  105.  "  It  is  this  kind  of  phraseology  which  is  distinguished 
by  the  epithet  idiomatical,  and  hath  been  originally  the  spawn,  partly  of  ignorance,  and 
partly  of  affectation." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  185.  Murray  has  it — "  and  which  has  been  origi- 
nally," &c. —  Octavo  Gram,  i,  370.  "  That  neither  the  letters  nor  inflection  are  such  as  could 
have  been  employed  by  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Latium." — Knight,  Gr.  Alph.  p.  13.  "  In 
cases  where  the  verb  is  intended  to  be  applied  to  any  one  of  the  terms." — Murray's  Gram. 
i,  150.  "But  this  people  which  know  not  the  law,  are  accursed." — John,  vii,  49.  "And 
the  magnitude  of  the  chorusses  have  weight  and  sublimity." — Music  of  Nature,  p.  428. 
"Dare  he  deny  but  there  are  some  of  his  fraternity  guilty?" — Barclay's  Works,  i,  327. 
"  Giving  an  account  of  most,  if  not  all  the  papers  had  passed  betwixt  them." — Ib.  i,  235. 


CHAP.    XII.]  SYNTAX. A    GENERAL    REVIEW. ERRORS.  683 

"In  this  manner,  both  as  to  parsing  and  correcting,  all  the  rules  of  syntax  should  be 
treated,  proceeding  regularly  according  to  their  order." — Murray's  Exercises,  12rao,  p.  x. 
"  Ovando  was  allowed  a  brilliant  retinue  and  a  body  guard." — Sketch  of  Columbus.  "  Is  it 
I  or  he  whom  you  requested  to  go  ? " — Kirkham's  Gram.,  Key,  p.  226.  "  Let  thou  and  I  go 
on." — Banyan's  P.  P.  p.  158.  "This  I  no-where  affirmed;  and  do  wholly  deny." — Barc- 
lay's Works,  iii,  454.  "But  that  I  deny;  and  remains  for  him  to  prove." — Ibid.  "Our 
country  sinks  beneath  the  yoke  ;  It  weeps,  it  bleeds,  and  each  new  day  a  gash  Is  added  to 
her  wounds." — SHAKSPEARE  :  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Beneath.  "  Thou  art  the  Lord  who  didst  choose 
Abraham,  and  broughtest  him  forth  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  189. 
"He  is  the  exhaustless  fountain,  from  which  emanates  all  these  attributes,  that  exists 
throughout  this  wide  creation." — Wayland's  Moral  Science,  1st  Ed.  p.  155.  "I  am  he  who 
have  communed  with  the  son  of  Neocles ;  I  am  he  who  have  entered  the  gardens  of  pleas- 
ure."—  Wright's  Athens,  p.  66. 

"  Such  was  in  ancient  times  the  tales  received, 
Such  by  our  good  forefathers  was  believed." — Howe's  Lucan,  B.  ix,  1.  605. 

LESSOX  XIV.— TWO  ERRORS. 

"The  noun  or  pronoun  that  stand  before  the  active  verb,  may  be  called  the  agent." — 
Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  121.  "  Such  seems  to  be  the  musings  of  our  hero  of  the  grammar- 
quill,  when  he  penned  the  first  part  of  his  grammar." — Merchant's  Criticisms.  "Two  dots, 
the  one  placed  above  the  other  [:],  is  called  Sheva,  and  represents  a  very  short  e." — Wil- 
son's Hebrew  Gram.  p.  43.  "  Great  has  been,  and  is,  the  obscurity  and  difficulty,  in  the 
nature  and  application  of  them." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  184.  "As  two  is  to  four,  so  is  four  to 
eight."— Everest's  Gram.  p.  231.  "The  invention  and  use  of  it  [arithmetic]  reaches  back  to 
a  period  so  remote  as  is  beyond  the  knowledge  of  history." — Robertson's  America,  i,  288. 
"  What  it  presents  as  objects  of  contemplation  or  enjoyment,  fills  and  satisfies  his  mind." 
— Ib.  i,  377.  "  If  he  dare  not  say  they  are,  as  I  know  he  dare  not,  how  must  I  then  dis- 
tinguish ?  "—Barclay 's  Works,  iii,  311.  "He  was  now  grown  so  fond  of  solitude  that  all 
company  was  become  uneasy  to  him." — Life  of  Cicero,  p.  32.  "  Violence  and  spoil  is  heard 
in  her  ;  before  me  continually  is  grief  and  wounds."— Jeremiah,  vi,  7.  "  Bayle's  Intelli- 
gence from  the  Republic  of  Letters,  which  make  eleven  volumes  in  duodecimo,  are  truly  a 
model  in  this  kind.'" — Formey's  Belles- Lettres,  p.  168.  "  To  render  pauses  pleasing  and 
expressive,  they  must  not  only  be  made  in  the  right  place,  but  also  accompanied  with  a  proper 
tone  of  voice." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  249.  "The  opposing  the  opinions,  and  rectifying  the 
mistakes  of  others,  is  what  truth  and  sincerity  sometimes  require  of  us." — Locke,  on  Ed. 
p.  211.  "  It  is  very  probable  that  this  assembly  was  called,  to  clear  some  doubt  which  the 
king  had,  about  the  lawfulness  of  the  Hollanders'  throwing  off  the  monarchy  of  Spain,  and 
withdrawing,  entirely,  their  allegiance  to  that  crown."— Murray's  Key,  ii,  195.  "Naming 
the  cases  and  numbers  of  a  noun  in  their  order  is  called  declining  it." — Frost's  El.  of  Gram. 
p.  10.  "  The  embodying  them  is,  therefore,  only  collecting  such  component  parts  of  words." 

—  Town's  Analysis,  p.  4.     "  The   one  is  the  voice   heard  at  Christ's  being  baptized  ;  the 
other,  at  his  being   transfigured." — Barclay's   Works,  i,  267.     "Understanding  the  literal 
sense  would  not  have  prevented  their  condemning  the  guiltless." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  168. 
"As  if  this  were  taking  the  execution  of  justice  out  of  the  hands  of  God,  and  giving  it  to 
nature." — Ib.  p.  194.     "They  will  say,  you  must  conceal  this  good  opinion  of  yourself; 
which  yet  is  allowing  the  thing,  though  not  the  showing  it." — Sheffield's  Works,  ii,  244.  "  So 
as  to  signify  not  only  the  doing  an  action,  but  the  causing  it  to  be  done." — Pike's  Hebrew 
Lexicon,  p.  180.     "This,  certainly,  was  both  dividing  the  unity  of  God,  and  limiting  his 
immensity." — Calvin's  Institutes,  B.  i,  Ch.  13.     "  Tones  being  infinite  in  number,  and  vary- 
ing in  almost  every  individual,  the  arranging  them  under  distinct  heads,  and  reducing 
them  to  any  fixed  and  permanent  rules,  may  be  considered  as  the  last  refinement  in  lan- 
guage."— Knight,  on  dr.  Alph.  p.  1<>.     "  The  fierce  anger  of  the  Lord  shall  not  return,  until 
h<;  h;ive  done  it,  and  until  he  have  performed  the  intents  of  his  heart." — Jeremiah,  xxx,  24. 
"  \V<>  seek  for  more  heroic  and  illustrious  deeds,  for  more  diversified  and  surprising  events." 

—  Bl'iir's  Rhet.  p.  373.     "  We  distinguish  the  Genders,  or  Male  and  Female  Sex,  four  differ- 
ent Ways." — Buchanans  Gram.  p.  20.     "Thus,  ch  and  g,  are  ever  hard.     It  is  therefore 
proper  to  retain  these  sounds  in  Hebrew  names,  which  have  not  been  modernized,  or 
changed  by  public  use." — Wilson's  Ksxayun  drum.  p.  24.     "  The  Substantive  or  noun  is  the 
name  of  any  thing  conceived  to  subsist,  or  of  which  we  have  any  notion." — Lindley  Murray's 
Gram.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  26.    "The  Si  CM  \VHVE,  or  NOUN;  being  the  name  of  any  thing  conceived 
to  subsist,  or  of  which  we  have  any  notion." — Dr.  Loirfh's   Gram.  p.  6.     ""The  Xonn  is  the 
name  of  any  thing  that  exists,  or  of  which  we  have,  or  can  form,  an  idea." — Maunder' s  Gram. 
p.  1.     "A  noun  is  the  name  of  any  thing  in  exi.-irm't.:,  or  of  which  we  can  form  an  idea." 
— Ib.  p.  1.  (See  False  Syntax  under  Note  7th  to  Rule  10th.)     "  The  next  thing  to  be  taken 
Cire  of,  is  to  keep  him  exactly  to  speaking  of  Truth." — Locke,  on  I'.d.  p.  254.     "  The  mate- 
ri  il,  vegetable,  and  animal  world,  receivr  this  intluence  according  to  their  several  capaci- 
ties."— The  Dial,  i,  59.     "And  yet,  it  is  fairly  defensible  on  the  principles  of  the  school- 


684  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

men ;  if  that  can  be  called  principles  which  consists  merely  in  words." — Campbell's  Rhet. 
p.  274. 

"Art  thou  so  bare  and  full  of  wretchedness, 

And  fears  to  die  ?  famine  is  in  thy  cheeks, 

Need  and  oppression  starveth  in  thy  eyes." — Beaut,  of  Shak.  p.  317. 

LESSON  XV.— THREE  ERRORS. 
"The  silver  age  is  reckoned  to  have  commenced  on  the  death  of  Augustus,  and  continued 
to  the  end  of  Trajan's  reign." — Gould's  Lot.  Gram.  p.  277.  "  Language  is  become,  in  modern 
times,  more  correct,  indeed,  and  accurate." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  65.  "It  is  evident,  that  words 
are  most  agreeable  to  the  ear  which  are  composed  of  smooth  and  liquid  sounds,  where 
there  is  a  proper  intermixture  of  vowels  and  consonants." — Ib.  p.  121.  See  Murray's 
Gram,  i,  325.  "It  would  have  had  no  other  effect,  but  to  add  a  word  unnecessarily  to  the 
sentence." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  194.  "  But  as  rumours  arose  of  the  judges  having  been  cor- 
rupted by  money  in  this  cause,  these  gave  occasions  to  much  popular  clamour,  and  had 
thrown  a  heavy  odium  on  Cluentius." — Ib.  p.  273.  "A  Participle  is  derived  of  a  verb,  and 
partakes  of  the  nature  both  of  the  verb  and  the  adjective." — Dr.  Ash's  Gram.  p.  39;  E. 
Devis's,  9.  "I  will  have  learned  my  grammar  before  you  learn  your's." — Wilbur  and  Liv. 
Gram.  p.  14.  "  There  is  no  earthly  object  capable  of  making  such  various  and  such  forcible 
impressions  upon  the  human  mind  as  a  complete  speaker." — Perry's  Diet.,  Pref.  "  It  was 
not  the  carrying  the  bag  which  made  Judas  a  thief  and  an  hireling." — South.  "As  the  rea- 
sonable soul  and  flesh  is  one  man,  so  God  and  man  is  one  Christ." — Athanasian  Creed.  "And 
I  will  say  to  them  which  were  not  my  people,  Thou  art  my  people ;  and  they  shall  say, 
Thou  art  my  God." — Hosea,  ii,  23.  "  Where  there  is  nothing  in  the  sense  which  requires 
the  last  sound  to  be  elevated  or  emphatical,  an  easy  fall,  sufficient  to  show  that  the  sense  is 
finished,  will  be  proper." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  250.  "  Each  party  produces  words  where  the 
letter  a  is  sounded  in  the  manner  they  contend  for." — Walker  s  Diet.  p.  1.  "To  counte- 
nance persons  who  are  guilty  of  bad  actions,  is  scarcely  one  remove  from  actually  com- 
mitting them." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  233.  "  '  To  countenance  persons  who  are  guilty  of  bad 
actions,'  is  part  of  a  sentence,  which  is  the  nominative  case  to  the  verb  « is.'  " — Ibid.  "  What 
is  called  splitting  of  particles,  or  separating  a  preposition  from  the  noun  which  it  governs, 
is  always  to  be  avoided." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  112;  Jamieson's,  93.  See  Murray's  Gram,  i,  319. 
"There  is,  properly,  no  more  than  one  pause  or  rest  in  the  sentence,  falling  betwixt  the 
two  members  into  which  it  is  divided." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  125  ;  Jamieson's,  126  ;  Murray's 
Gram,  i,  329.  "  Going  barefoot  does  not  at  all  help  on  the  way  to  heaven." — Steelc,  $pe:t. 
No.  497.  "There  is  no  Body  but  condemns  this  in  others,  though  they  overlook  it  In 
themselves." — Locke,  on  Ed.  §  145.  "In  the  same  sentence,  be  careful  not  to  use  the  sari 
word  too  frequently,  nor  in  different  senses." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  296.  "Nothing  could 
have  made  her  so  unhappy,  as  marrying  a  man  who  possessed  such  principles." — Murray's 
Key,  ii,  200.  "  A  warlike,  various,  and  a  tragical  age  is  best  to  write  of,  but  worst  to  write 
in." — Coivley's  Pref.  p.  vi.  "  When  thou  instances  Peter  his  baptizing  Cornelius." — Barc- 
lay's Works,  i,  188.  "To  introduce  two  or  more  leading  thoughts  or  agents,  which  have  no 
natural  relation  to,  or  dependence  on  one  another." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  313.  "Animals, 
again,  are  fitted  to  one  another,  and  to  the  elements  where  they  live,  and  to  which  they 
are  as  appendices." — Ibid.  "This  melody,  or  varying  the  sound  of  each  word  so  often,  is  a 
proof  of  nothing,  however,  but  of  the  fine  ear  of  that  people." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  5. 
"  They  can  each  in  their  turns  be  made  use  of  upon  occasion." — Duncan's  Logic,  p.  191.  "  In 
this  reign  lived  the  poet  Chaucer,  who,  with  Gower,  are  the  first  authors,  who  can  properly 
be  said  to  have  written  English." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  144.  "  In  the  translating  these  kind 
of  expressions,  consider  the  IT  is,  as  if  it  were  they,  or  they  are." — Walker's  Particles,  p.  179. 
"  The  chin  has  an  important  office  to  perform ;  for  upon  its  activity  we  either  disclose  a 
polite  or  vulgar  pronunciation." — Music  of  Nature,  p.  27.  "  For  no  other  reason,  but  his 
being  found  in  bad  company." — Webster's  Amer.  Spelling- Book,  p.  96.  "  It  is  usual  to  com- 
pare them  in  the  same  manner  as  Polisyllables." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  77.  "The  infini- 
tive mood  is  recognised  easier  than  any  others,  because  the  preposition  to  precedes  it." — 
Bucke's  Gram.  p.  95.  "  Prepositions,  you  recollect,  connect  words  as  well  as  conjunctions  : 
how,  then,  can  you  tell  the  one  from  the  other  ? " — Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  38. 
"  No  kind  of  work  requires  so  nice  a  touch, 
And  if  well  finish'd,  nothing  shines  so  much." — Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buck. 

LESSON  XVI.  — THREE  ERRORS. 

"  It  is  the  final  pause  which  alone,  on  many  occasions,  marks  the  difference  between 
prose  and  verse  :  which  will  be  evident  from  the  following  arrangement  of  a  few  poetical 
lines." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  260.  "  I  shall  do  all  I  can  to  persuade  others  to  take  the  same 
measures  for  their  cure  which  I  have." — GUARDIAN  :  see  Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  207.  "  I  shall 
do  all  I  can,  to  persuade  others  to  take  the  same  measures  for  their  cure  which  I  have 
taken." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  215.  "It  is  the  nature  of  extreme  self-lovers,  as  they  will  set 
an  house  on  fire,  and  [or  an]  it  were  but  to  roast  their  eggs." — Ld.  Bacon.  "  Did  ever 


CHAP.   XII.]  SYNTAX. A    GENERAL   REVIEW. ERRORS.  685 

man  struggle  more  earnestly  in  a  cause  where  both  his  honour  and  life  are  concerned  ?  " — 
Duncan's  Cicero,  p.  15.  '•  So  the  rests  and  pauses,  between  sentences  and  their  parts,  are 
marked  by  points." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  114.  "  Yet  the  case  and  mode  is  not  influenced  by 
them,  but  determined  by  the  nature  of  the  sentence." — Ib.  p.  113.  "By  not  attending  to 
this  rule,  many  errors  have  been  committed :  a  number  of  which  is  subjoined,  as  a  further 
caution  and  direction  to  the  learner." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  214.  "Though  thou  clothest 
thyself  with  crimson,  though  thou  deckest  thee  with  ornaments  of  gold,  though  thou  rentest 
thy  face  with  painting,  in  vain  shalt  thou  make  thyself  fair." — Jeremiah,  iv,  30.  "  But  that 
the  doing  good  to  others  will  make  us  happy,  is  not  so  evident ;  feeding  the  hungry,  for 
example,  or  clothing  the  naked." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  161.  "There  is  no  other  God  but 
him,  no  other  light  but  his." —  William  Pcnn.  "  How  little  reason  to  wonder,  that  a  perfect 
and  accomplished  orator,  should  be  one  of  the  characters  that  is  most  rarely  found  :  " — 
Blair's  Rhct.  p.  337.  "  Because  they  neither  express  doing  nor  receiving  an  action." — 
Infant  School  Gram.  p.  53.  "To  find  the  answers,  will  require  an  effort  of  mind,  and  when 
given,  will  be  the  result  of  reflection,  showing  that  the  subject  is  understood." — Ib.  p.  vii. 
"  To  say,  that  *  the  sun  rises,'  is  trite  and  common ;  but  it  becomes  a  magnificent  image 
when  expressed  as  Mr.  Thomson  has  done." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  137.  "  The  declining  a  word 
is  the  giving  it  differing  endings." — Ware's  Gram.  p.  7.  "And  so  much  are  they  for  every 
ones  following  their  own  mind." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  462.  "  More  than  one  overture  for  a 
peace  was  made,  but  Cleon  prevented  their  taking  effect." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  i,  121. 
"  Neither  in  English  or  in  any  other  language  is  this  word,  and  that  which  corresponds  to 
it  in  other  languages,  any  more  an  article,  than  too,  three,  four." — DR.  WEBSTER:  Knicker- 
bocker of  1836.  "  But  the  most  irksome  conversation  of  all  others  I  have  met  within  the 
neighbourhood,  has  been  among  two  or  three  of  your  travellers." — Spect.  No.  474.  "  Set 
down  the  two  first  terms  of  supposition  under  each  other  in  the  first  place." — Smiley's 
Arithmetic,  p.  79.  "  It  is  an  useful  rule  too,  to  fix  our  eye  on  some  of  the  most  distant  per- 
sons in  the  assembly." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  328.  "  He  will  generally  please  most,  when  pleasing 
is  not  his  sole  nor  chief  aim." — 76.  p.  336.  "At  length,  the  consuls  return  to  the  camp,  and 
inform  them  they  could  receive  no  other  terms  but  that  of  surrendering  their  arms,  and 
passing  under  the  yoke." — Ib.  p.  360.  "  Xor  is  mankind  so  much  to  blame,  in  his  choice 
thus  determining  him." — SWIFT  :  Crombie's  Treatise,  p.  360.  "  These  forms  are  what  is 
called  Number." — Fosdick's  De  Sacy,  p.  62.  "  In  languages  which  admit  but  two  Genders, 
all  Nouns  are  either  Masculine  or  Feminine,  even  though  they  designate  beings  which  are 
neither  male  or  female." — Ib.  p.  66.  "  It  is  called  a  Verb  or  Word  by  way  of  eminence, 
because  it  is  the  most  essential  word  in  a  sentence,  without  which  the  other  parts  of 
speech  can  form  no  complete  sense." — Gould's  Adam's  Gram.  p.  76.  "  The  sentence  will 
consist  of  two  members,  which  are  commonly  separated  from  one  another  by  a  comma." — 
J.iuiitson's  Rhet.  p.  7.  "  Loud  and  soft  in  speaking,  is  like  the  forte  and  piano  in  music,  it 
only  refers  to  the  different  degrees  of  force  used  in  the  same  key ;  whereas  high  and  low 
imply  a  change  of  key." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  116.  "They  are  chiefly  three  :  the  acqui- 
sition of  knowledge ;  the  assisting  the  memory  to  treasure  up  this  knowledge ;  or  the 
communicating  it  to  others." — Ib.  p.  11. 

"  These  kind  of  knaves  I  know,  which  in  this  plainness 
Harbour  more  craft,  and  more  corrupter  ends, 
Than  twenty  silly  ducking  observants." — Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  261. 

LESSON  XVII.  — MANY  ERRORS. 

"A  man  will  be  forgiven,  even  great  errors,  in  a  foreign  language ;  but  in  his  own,  even 
the  least  slips  are  justly  laid  hold  of,  and  ridiculed." — American  Chesterfield,  p.  83.  "Let 
does  not  only  express  permission ;  but  praying,  exhorting,  commanding." — Lowth's  Gram. 
p.  41.  "Let,  not  only  expresses  permission,  but  entreating,  exhorting,  commanding." — 
Murray's  Gram.  p.  8S  ;  Jnyt'r.snli's,  13.5.  "That  death  which  is  our  leaving  this  world,  is 
nothing  else  but  putting  off  these  bodies." — S/ierlock.  "  They  differ  from  the  saints  recorded 
both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments." — \etrt, >n.  "The  nature  therefore  of  relation  con- 
in  the  referring  or  comparing  two  things  one  to  another;  from  which  comparison,  one 
or  both  comes  to  be  denominated." — Locke's  tesay,  i,  220.  "  It  is  not  credible,  that  there 
hath  been  any  one  who  through  the  whole  course  of  their  lives  will  say,  that  they  have 
kept  themselves  undefilcd  with  the  least  spot  or  stain  of  sin." —  Witsivs.  "  If  acting  conform- 
ably to  the  will  of  our  Creator ; — if  promoting  the  welfare  of  mankind  around  us ; — if 
securing  our  own  happiness ; — are  objects  of  the  highest  moment : — then  we  are  loudly 
called  upon  to  cultivate  and  extend  the  great  interests  of  religion  and  virtue." — Murray's 
Cram,  i,  278  ;  Comly's,  163  ;  IngersolFs,  2'Jl.  "  By  the  verb  being  in  the  plural  number,  it 
\A  supposed  that  it  has  a  plural  nominative,  which  is  not  the  case.  The  only  nominative  to 
the  verb,  is,  the  ojfin-r  :  the  expression  his  guard,  are  in  the  objective  case,  governed  by  the 
preposition  with ;  and  they  cannot  consequently  form  the  nominative,  or  any  part  of  it. 
The  prominent  subject,  and  the  true  nominative  of  the  verb,  and  to  which  the  verb  pecu- 
liarly refers,  is  the  officer." — Murray's  Parsimj,  Gr.  8vo,  ii,  22.  "  This  is  another  use,  that, 
i:i  my  opinion,  contributes  rather  to  make  a  man  learned  than  wise;  and  is  neither  capable 


686  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

of  pleasing  the  understanding,  or  imagination." — ADDISON  :  Churchill's  Gram.  p.  353.  "  The 
work  is  a  dull  performance  ;  and  is  capable  of  pleasing  neither  the  understanding,  nor 
the  imagination." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  210.  "  I  would  recommend  the  Elements  of  English 
Grammar,  by  Mr.  Frost.  Its  plan  is  after  Murray,  but  his  definitions  and  language  is  sim- 
plified as  far  as  the  nature  of  the  subject  will  admit,  to  meet  the  understanding  of  children. 
It  also  embraces  more  copious  examples  and  exercises  in  Parsing,  than  is  usual  in  element- 
ary treatises." — Hairs  Lectures  on  School- Keeping,  1st  Ed.,  p.  37.  •«  More  rain  falls  in  the 
first  two  summer  months,  than  in  the  first  two  winter  ones  :  but  it  makes  a  much  greater 
show  upon  the  earth,  in  these  than  in  those;  because  there  is  a  much  slower  evaporation." 
— Murray's  Key,  ii,  189.  See  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  90.  "  They  often  contribute  also  to  the 
rendering  some  persons  prosperous  though  wicked ;  and,  which  is  still  worse,  to  the  re- 
warding some  actions  though  vicious,  and  punishing  other  actions  though  virtuous." — 
Butler's  Analogy,  p.  92.  ««  From  hence,  to  such  a  man,  arises  naturally  a  secret  satisfaction 
and  sense  of  security,  and  implicit  hope  of  somewhat  further." — Ib.  p.  93.  "  So  much 
for  the  third  and  last  cause  of  illusion  that  was  taken  notice  of,  arising  from  the  abuse  of 
very  general  and  abstract  terms,  which  is  the  principal  source  of  all  the  nonsense  that 
hath  been  vented  by  metaphysicians,  mystagogues,  and  theologians." — Campbell's  Rhet. 
p.  297.  "As  to  those  animals  whose  use  is  less  common,  or  who  on  account  of  the  places 
which  they  inhabit,  fall  less  under  our  observation,  as  fishes  and  birds,  or  whom  their 
diminutive  size  removes  still  further  from  our  observation,  we  generally,  in  English,  employ 
a  single  Noun  to  designate  both  Genders,  Masculine  and  Feminine." — Fosdick's  De  Sacy,  p. 
67.  "Adjectives  may  always  be  distinguished,  by  their  being  the  word,  or  words,  made 
use  of  to  describe  the  quality,  or  condition,  of  whatever  is  mentioned." — Emmons's  Gram. 
p.  20.  "Adverb  signifies  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  participle,  adjective,  or  other  adverb,  to 
describe  or  qualify  their  qualities." — Ib.  p.  64.  "The  joining  together  two  such  grand 
objects,  and  the  representing  them  both  as  subject,  at  one  moment,  to  the  command  of  God, 
produces  a  noble  effect." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  37.  "  Twisted  columns,  for  instance,  are 
undoubtedly  ornamental ;  but  as  they  have  an  appearance  of  weakness,  they  always  dis- 
please when  they  are  made  use  of  to  support  any  part  of  a  building  that  is  massy,  and  that 
seems  to  require  a  more  substantial  prop." — Ib.  p.  49.  "  Upon  a  vast  number  of  inscriptions, 
some  upon  rocks,  some  upon  stones  of  a  defined  shape,  is  found  an  Alphabet  different  from 
the  Greeks,  Latins,  and  Hebrews,  and  also  unlike  that  of  any  modern  nation." — Fowler's 
E.  Gram.  8vo,  1850,  p.  176. 

LESSON  XVIII.— MANY  ERRORS. 

"  '  The  empire  of  Blefuscu  is  an  island  situated  to  the  northeast  side  of  Lilliput,  from 
whence  it  is  parted  only  by  a  channel  of  800  yards  wide.'  Gulliver's  Travels.  The  ambi- 
guity may  be  removed  thus  : — '  from  whence  it  is  parted  by  a  channel  of  800  yards  wic  e 
only.'  "—Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  ii,  44.  "  The  nominative  case  is  usually  the  agent  or  doer, 
and  always  the  subject  of  the  verb." — Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  47.  "  There  is  an  originality, 
richness,  and  variety  in  his  [Spenser's]  allegorical  personages,  which  almost  vies  with  the 
splendor  of  the  ancient  mythology." — Hazlitt's  Lect.  p.  68.  "As  neither  the  Jewish  nor 
Christian  revelation  have  been  universal,  and  as  they  have  been  afforded  to  a  greater  or 
less  part  of  the  world  at  different  times ;  so  likewise,  at  different  times,  both  revelations 
have  had  different  degrees  of  evidence." — Butler's  Analogy,^.  210.  "Thus  we  see,  thut 
killing  a  man  with  a  sword  or  a  hatchet,  are  looked  upon  as  no  distinct  species  of  action :  but 
if  the  point  of  the  sword  first  enter  the  body,  it  passes  for  a  distinct  species,  called  stab- 
bing."— Locke's  Essay,  p.  314.  "If  a  soul  sin,  and  commit  a  trespass  against  the  Lord,  and 
lie  unto  his  neighbour  in  that  which  was  delivered  him  to  keep,  or  hath  deceived  his  neigh- 
bour, or  have  found  that  which  was  lost,  and  lieth  concerning  it,  and  sweareth  falsely ;  in 
any  of  all  these  that  a  man  doeth,  sinning  therein,  then  it  shall  be,"  &c. — Lev.  vi,  2.  "As 
the  doing  and  teaching  the  commandments  of  God  is  the  great  proof  of  virtue,  so  the  break- 
ing them,  and  the  teaching  others  to  break  them,  is  the  great  proof  of  vice." — Wayland's 
Moral  Science,  p.  281.  "  In  Pope's  terrific  maltreatment  of  the  latter  simile,  it  is  neither 
true  to  mind  or  eye." — Coleridge's  Introd.  p.  14.  "And  the  two  brothers  were  seen,  trans- 
ported with  rage  and  fury,  endeavouring  like  Eteocles  and  Polynices  to  plunge  their  swords 
into  each  others'  hearts,  and  to  assure  themselves  of  the  throne  by  the  death  of  their  rival." 
— Goldsmith's  Greece,  i,  176.  "  Is  it  not  plain,  therefore,  that  neither  the  castle,  the  planet, 
nor  the  cloud,  which  you  see  here,  are  those  real  ones,  which  you  suppose  exist  at  a 
distance?" — Berkley's  Alciphron,  p.  166.  "I  have  often  wondered  how  it  comes  to  pass, 
that  every  Body  should  love  themselves  best,  and  yet  value  their  neighbours  Opinion 
about  themselves  more  than  their  own." — Collier's  Antoninus,  p.  226.  "  VIRTUE  ('Apery, 
Virtus}  as  well  as  most  of  its  Species,  are  all  Feminine,  perhaps  from  their  Beauty  and  amia- 
ble Appearance." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  55.  "  Virtue,  with  most  of  its  Species,  are  all  Femi- 
nine, from  their  Beauty  and  amiable  Appearance ;  and  so  Vice  becomes  Feminine  of  Course, 
as  being  Virtue's  natural  opposite." — British  Gram.  p.  97.  "Virtue,  with  most  of  its  Spe- 
cies, is  Feminine,  and  so  is  Vice,  for  being  Virtue's  opposite." — Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  22. 
"  From  this  deduction,  may  be  easily  seen  how  it  comes  to  pass,  that  personification  makes 


CHAP.  Xin.]  SYNTAX. — ERRORS. GENERAL   BUU. 

BO  great  a  figure  in  all  compositions,  where  imagination  or  passion  have  any  concern." — 
Bkiir's  Rhet.  p.  155.  "An  Article  is  a  word  prefixed  to  a  substantive  to  point  them  out, 
and  to  show  how  far  their  signification  extends." — Folker's  Gram.  p.  4.  '  All  men  have 
certain  natural,  essential,  and  inherent  rights — among  which  are,  the  enjoying  and  defend- 
ing life  and  liberty ;  acquiring,  possessing,  and  protecting  property  ;  and,  in  a  word,  of 
seeking  and  obtaining  happiness." — Constitution  of  New  Hampshire.  "  From  Grammarians 
who  form  their  ideas,  and  make  their  decisions,  respecting  this  part  of  English  Grammar, 
on  the  principles  and  construction  of  languages,  which,  in  these  points,  do  not  suit  the 
peculiar  nature  of  our  own,  but  differ  considerably  from  it,  we  may  naturally  expect  gram- 
matical schemes  that  are  not  very  perspicuous,  nor  perfectly  consistent,  and  which  will 
tend  more  to  perplex  than  inform  the  learner." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  68  ;  Hall's,  15. 
«« There  are,  indeed,  but  very  few  who  know  how  to  be  idle  and  innocent,  or  have  a  relish 
of  any  pleasures  that  are  not  criminal ;  every  diversion  they  take,  is  at  the  expense  of  some 
one  virtue  or  another,  and  their  very  first  step  out  of  business  is  into  vice  or  folly." — ADDI- 
SON  :  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  201.* 

"  Hail,  holy  love  !  thou  word  that  sums  all  bliss  ! 

Gives  and  receives  all  bliss  ;  fullest  when  most 

Thou  givest ;  spring-head  of  all  felicity  !  " — Pollok,  C.  of  T.,  B.  v,  1.  193. 


CHAPTER  XIII- GENERAL  RULE. 

The  following  comprehensive  canon  for  the  correction  of  all  sorts  of  non- 
descript errors  in  syntax,  and  the  several  critical  or  general  notes  under  it, 
eeem  necessary  for  the  completion  of  my  design  ;  which  is,  to  furnish  a 
thorough  exposition  of  the  various  faults  against  which  the  student  of  English 
grammar  has  occasion  to  be  put  upon  his  guard. 

GENERAL  RULE  OF  SYNTAX. 

In  the  formation  of  sentences,  the  consistency  and  adaptation  of  all  the 
words  should  be  carefully  observed  ;  and  a  regular,  clear,  and  correspondent 
construction  should  be  preserved  throughout. 

CRITICAL  NOTES  TO  THE  GENERAL  RULE. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  I. — OF  THE  PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 

Words  that  may  constitute  different  parts  of  speech,  must  not  be  left  doubtful  as 
to  their  classification,  or  to  what  part  of  speech  they  belong. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  II. — OP  DOUBTFUL  REFERENCE. 

The  reference  of  words  to  other  words,  or  their  syntactical  relation  according  to  the 
sense,  should  never  be  left  doubtful,  by  any  one  who  means  to  be  understood. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  III. — OF  DEFINITIONS. 

A  definition,  in  order  to  be  perfect,  must  include  the  whole  thing  or  class  of  things 
which  it  pretends  to  define,  and  exclude  every  thing  which  comes  not  under  the  name. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  IV. — OF  COMPARISONS. 

A  comparison  is  a  form  of  speech  which  requires  some  similarity  or  common  prop- 
erty in  the  things  compared  ;  without  which,  it  becomes  a  solecism. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  V. — OF  FALSITIES. 

Sentences  that  convey  a  meaning  manifestly  false,  should  be  changed,  rejected,  or 
contradicted  ;  because  they  distort  language  from  its  chief  end,  or  only  worthy  use ; 
which  is,  to  state  facts,  and  to  tell  the  truth. 

•  Faulty  as  this  example  is,  Dr.  Blair  says  of  it :  "  Nothing  can  be  more  elegant,  or  more  finely  turned,  than 
thia  sentence.  It  i-  i,«  ,t,  elf.ar,  and  musical.  We  could  hardly  alter  one  word,  or  disarrange  one  member,  with- 
out tpoiling  it.  Few  sentences  are  to  be  found,  more  finished,  or  more  happy." — Lecture  XX,  p.  2<jl.  See  the 
*i.:  corrections  suggested  in  my  Key ,  and  judge  whether  or  not  they  spoil  the  sentence.— 0.  B. 


688  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  VI. — OP  ABSURDITIES. 

Absurdities,  of  every  kind,  are  contrary  to  grammar,  because  they  are  contrary  to 
reason,  or  good  sense,  which  is  the  foundation  of  grammar. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  VII. — OP  SELF-CONTRADICTION. 

Every  writer  or  speaker  should  be  careful  not  to  contradict  himself;  for  what  is 
self-contradictory,  is  both  null  in  argument,  and  bad  in  style. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  VIII. — OF  SENSELESS  JUMBLING. 

To  jumble  together  words  without  care  for  the  sense,  is  an  unpardonable  negligence, 
and  an  abuse  of  the  human  understanding. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  IX. — OP  WORDS  NEEDLESS. 

Words  that  are  entirely  needless,  and  especially  such  as  injure  or  encumber  the 
expression,  ought  in  general  to  be  omitted. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  X. — OP  IMPROPER  OMISSIONS. 

Words  necessary  to  the  sense,  or  even  to  the  melody  or  beauty  of  a  sentence,  ought 
seldom,  if  ever,  to  be  omitted. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  XL — OF  LITERARY  BLUNDERS. 

Grave  blunders  made  in  the  name  of  learning,  are  the  strongest  of  all  certificates 
against  the  books  which  contain  them  unreproved. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  XII. — OF  PERVERSIONS. 

Proof-texts  in  grammar,  if  not  in  all  argument,  should  be  quoted  literally ;  and 
even  that  which  needs  to  be  corrected,  must  never  be  perverted. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  XIII. — OF  AWKWARDNESS. 

Awkwardness,  or  inelegance  of  expression,  is  a  reprehensible  defect  in  style, 
whether  it  violate  any  of  the  common  rules  of  syntax  or  not. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  XIV. — OF  IGNORANCE. 

Any  use  of  words  that  implies  ignorance  of  their  meaning,  or  of  their  proper  orthog- 
raphy, is  particularly  unscholarlike  ;  and,  in  proportion  to  the  author's  pretensions  to 
learning,  disgraceful. 

,  CRITICAL  NOTE  XV. — OP  SILLINESS. 

Silly  remarks  and  idle  truisms  are  traits  of  a  feeble  style,  and,  when  their  weakness 
is  positive,  or  inherent,  they  ought  to  be  entirely  omitted. 

CRITICAL  NOTE  XVI. — OF  THE  INCORRIGIBLE. 

Passages  too  erroneous  for  correction,  may  be  criticised,  orally  or  otherwise,  and 
then  passed  over  without  any  attempt  to  amend  them.* 

*  This  Note,  as  well  as  all  the  others,  will  by-and-by  be  amply  illustrated  by  citations  from  authors  of  suffi- 
cient repute  to  give  it  some  value  as  a  grammatical  principle ;  but  one  cannot  hope  such  language  as  is,  in 
reality,  incorrigibly  bad,  will  always  appear  so  to  the  generality  of  readers.  Tastes,  habits,  principles,  judge- 
ments, differ ;  and,  where  confidence  is  gained,  many  utterances  are  well  received,  that  are  neither  well 
considered  nor  well  understood.  When  a  professed  critic  utters  what  is  incorrect  beyond  amendment,  the  fault 
is  the  more  noteworthy,  as  his  professions  are  louder,  or  his  standing  is  more  eminent.  In  a  recent  preface, 
deliberately  composed  for  a  very  comprehensive  work  on  "  English  Grammar,"  and  designed  to  allure  both 
young  and  old  to  "a  thorough  and  extensive  acquaintance  with  their  mother  tongue," — in  the  studied  preface  of 
a  learned  writer,  who  has  aimed  "  to  furnish  not  only  a  text-book  for  the  higher  institutions,  but  also  a  reference- 
book  for  teachers,  which  may  give  breadth  and  exactness  to  their  views,"— I  find  a  paragraph  of  which  the 
following  is  a  part :  "  Unless  men,  at  least  occasionally,  bestow  their  attention  upon  the  science  and  the  laws 
of  the  language,  they  are  in  some  danger,  amid  the  excitements  of  professional  life,  of  losing  the  delicacy  of 
their  taste  and  giving  sanction  to  vulgarisms,  or  to  what  is  worse.  On  this  point,  listen  to  the  recent  declara- 
tions of  two  leading  men  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  both  of  whom  understand  the  use  of  the  English 
language  in  its  power  :  '  In  truth,  I  must  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  vernacular  tongue  of  the  country  has 
become  greatly  vitiated,  depraved,  and  corrupted  by  the  style  of  our  Congressional  debates.'  And  the  other, 
in  courteous  response  remarked,  '  There  is  such  a  thing  as  an  English  and  a  parliamentary  vocabulary,  and  I 
have  never  heard  a  worse,  when  circumstances  called  it  out.  on  this  side  [of]  Billingsgate  !  " — Fowler's  E. 
Gram.  8vo,  1850,  Pref  p.  iv. 

Now,  of  these  "  two  leading  men,"  the  former  was  Daniel  Webster,  who,  !n  a  senatorial  speech,  in  the  spring 
of  1850,  made  such  a  remark  concerning  the  style  of  oratory  used  in  Congress.  But  who  replied,  or  what  idea 
the  "  courteous  response,"  as  here  given,  cau  be  said  to  convey,  I  do  not  know.  The  language  seems  to  me  both 
unintelligible  and  solecisdcal  ;  and,  therefore,  but  a  fair  sample  of  the  Incorrigible.  Some  intelligent  persons, 


CHAP.  XIII.]  SYNTAX. GENERAL   RULE. OBSERVATIONS.  689 

GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS  OX  THE  SYNTAX. 

OBS.  1. — In  the  foregoing  code  of  syntax,  the  author  has  taken  the  parts  of  speech  in  their 
order,  and  comprised  all  the  general  principles  of  relation,  agreement,  and  government,  in  twenty- 
four  leading  Rules.  Of  these  rules,  eight — (namely,  the  1st,  of  Articles  ;  the  4th,  of  Possessives  ; 
the  9th,  of  Adjectives;  the  20th,  of  Participles  ;  the  21st,  of  Adverbs ;  the  22d,  of  Conjunctions  ; 
the  23d,  of  Pre]x>sitions  ;  and  the  24th,  of  Interjections — )  are  used  only  in  parsing.  The  remaining 
sixteen,  because  they  embrace  principles  that  are  sometimes  violated  in  practice,  answer  the 
double  purpose  of  parsing  and  correcting.  The  Exceptions,  of  which  there  are  thirty-two,  (all 
occasionally  applicable  in  parsing,)  belong  to  nine  different  rules,  and  refer  to  all  the  parts  of 
speech,  except  nouns  and  interjections.  The  Notes,  of  which  there  are  one  hundred  and  fifty-two, 
are  subordinate  rules  of  syntax,  not  designed  to  be  used  in  parsing,  but  formed  for  the  exposition 
and  correction  of  so  many  different  forms  of  false  grammar.  The  Observations,  of  which  there 
are,  in  this  part  of  the  work,  without  the  present  series,  four  hundred  andninety-seven,  are  designed 
not  only  to  defend  and  confirm  the  doctrines  adopted  by  the  author,  but  to  explain  the  arrangement 
of  words,  and  whatever  is  difficult  or  peculiar  in  construction. 

OBS.  2. — The  rules  in  a  system  of  syntax  may  be  more  or  less  comprehensive,  as  well  as  mt>re 
or  less  simple  or  complex  ;  consequently  they  may,  without  deficiency  or  redundance,  be  more  or 
less  numerous.  But  either  complexity  or  vagueness,  as  well  as  redundance  or  deficiency,  is  a 
fault ;  and,  when  all  these  faults  are  properly  avoided,  and  the  two  great  ends  of  methodical 
syntax,  parsiny  and  correcting,  are  duly  answered,  perhaps  the  requisite  number  of  syntactical 
rules,  or  grammatic  canons,  will  no  longer  appear  very  indeterminate.  In  the  preceding  chapters, 
the  essential  principles  of  English  syntax  are  supposed  to  be  pretty  fully  developed  ;  but  there 
are  yet  to  be  exhibited  some  forms  of  error,  which  must  be  corrected  under  other  heads  or  maxims, 
and  for  the  treatment  of  which  the  several  dogmas  of  this  chapter  are  added.  Completeness  in 
the  system,  however,  does  not  imply  that  it  must  have  shown  the  pupil  how  to  correct  every  form 
of  language  that  is  amiss ;  for  there  may  be  in  composition  many  errors  of  such  a  nature  that  no 
rule  of  grammar  can  show,  either  what  should  be  substituted  for  the  faulty  expression,  or  what 
fashion  of  amendment  may  be  the  most  eligible.  The  inaccuracy  may  be  gross  and  obvious,  but 
the  correction  difficult  or  impossible.  Because  the  sentence  may  require  a  change  throughout; 
and  a  total  change  is  not  properly  a  correction;  it  is  a  substitution  of  something  new,  for  what 
was,  perhaps,  in  itself  incorrigible. 

OBS.  3. — The  notes  which  are  above  denominated  Critical  or  General,  are  not  all  of  them  obvi- 
ously different  in  kind  from  the  other  notes;  but  they  all  are  such  as  could  not  well  have  been 
placed  in  any  of  the  earlier  chapters  of  the  book.  The  General  Rule  of  Syntax,  since  it  is  not  a 
canon  to  be  used  in  parsing,  but  one  that  is  to  be  applied  only  in  the  correcting  of  false  syntax, 
might  seern  perhaps  to  belong  rather  to  this  order  of  notes;  but  I  have  chosen  to  treat  it  with 
some  peculiar  distinction,  because  it  is  not  only  more  comprehensive  than  any  other  rule  or 
note,  but  is  in  one  respect  more  important;  it  is  the  rule  which  will  be  cited  for  the  correction  of 
the  greatest  number  and  variety  of  errors.  Being  designed  to  meet  every  possible  form  of  inac- 
curacy in  the  mere  construction  of  sentences, — or,  at  least,  every  corrigible  solecism  by  which 
any  principle  of  syntax  can  be  violated, — it  necessarily  includes  almost  all  the  other  rules  and 
notes.  It  is  too  broad  to  convey  very  definite  instruction,  and  therefore  ought  not  in  general  to 
be  applied  where  a  more  particular  rule  or  note  is  clearly  applicable.  A  few  examples,  not  prop- 
erly coming  under  any  other  head,  will  serve  to  show  its  use  and  application :  such  examples 
are  given,  in  great  abundance,  in  the  false  syntax  below.  If,  in  some  of  the  instances  selected, 
this  rule  is  applied  to  faults  that  might  as  well  have  been  corrected  by  some  other,  the  choice,  in 
such  cases,  is  deemed  of  little  or  no  importance. 

Ons.  4. — The  imperfection  of  ancient  writing,  especially  in  regard  to  division  and  punctuation, 
has  left  the  syntactical  relation  of  words,  and  also  the  sense  of  passages,  in  no  few  instances, 
uncertain  ;  and  has  consequently  made,  where  the  text  has  been  thought  worthy  of  it,  an  abun- 
dance of  difficult  work  for  translators,  critics,  and  commentators.  Rules  of  grammar,  now  made 
and  observed,  as  they  ought  to  be,  may  free  the  compositions  of  this,  or  a  future  age,  from  simi- 
lar embarrassments  ;  and  it  is  both  just  and  useful,  to  test  our  authors  by  them,  criticising  or 
correcting  their  known  blunders  according  to  the  present  rules  of  accurate  writing.  But  the 
readers  and  expounders  of  what  has  come  to  us  from  remote  time,  can  be  rightly  guided  only  by 
such  principles  and  facts  as  have  the  stamp  of  creditable  antiquity.  Hence  there  are,  undoubt- 
edly, in  books,  some  errors  and  defects  which  have  outlived  the  time  in  tr/u'ch,  and  the  authority 
hi/  irhifh,  they  might  have  been  corrected.  As  we  have  no  right  to  make  a  man  say  that  which 
he  himself  never  Raid  or  intended  to  say,  so  we  have  in  fact  none  to  fix  a  positive  meaning  upon 
hi*  language,  without  knowing  for  a  certainty  what  he  meant  by  it.  Reason,  or  good  sense, 
which,  as  I  have  suggested,  is  the  foundation  of  grnnimnr  and  of  all  good  writing,  is  indeed  a  per- 
petual as  well  as  a  "universal  principle  ;  but,  since  the  exercises  of  our  reason  must,  from  the  very 

whom  T  have  asked  to  interpret  it.  think,  as  U>h*u>r  had  around  our  Congress  of  corrupting  the  English  language, 
the  respondent  meant  to  accuse  ;h<-  British  Parliament  "f  doing  the  -arne  ttiini:  hi  _ree.-  <>f  descending 

yet  lower  into  tli<>  vileness  of  slang.     But  this   is  hardly  a  pr»'  r.         \\.-hster  might  be  right  in 

acknowledging  a  very  depraving  abuse  of  the  tongue  itt  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  ;  but  could  it  be  "  cour- 
r  |ir(ip«T.  f»r  the  answerer  to  jump  the  Atlantic,  and  pounce  upon  the  Ei.glish  Lords  and  Commons,  as 
a  ffl  of  worse  rorrui  I 

The  gentleman  betfns  with  sayin*,  "There  is  such  a  thing  "— as  if  he  meant  to  describe  some  one  thing; 
and  proceeds  with  paying,  "  as  an  English  ami  a  parliamentary  vocabulary,"  in  which  phra.se,  by  repeating  th« 
ar.irlf,  he  .-peaks  of  "—  two  vocabularies ;  then  goes  on,  "  and  I  have  never  heard  a  worsr  \ 

wcree  what  7  Does  he  mean  "  a  worse  vocabulary?  ''  If  so,  what  sense  has  "  rocabuliry  ?  "  And,  again,  "  a 
wrrse"  than  what?  Where  and  what  is  this  "thing"1  which  is  so  bad  that  the  leading  Senator  has  '•  never  heard  a 
worse?"  Is  it  some  "  vocabulary,"1  both  "English  and  parliamentary'"  It"  <>,  who.-e?  If  not,  what  else 
is  it  ?  Lest  the  wisdom  of  this  oraculous  "  declaration  "  be  lost  to  the  public  through  the  defects  of  its  syntax,— 
more  than  one  rhetorical  critic  seem  hereby  "in  some  danger"  of  ''PM.IL;  s»nrti<ni  to"  nomense. — it 
rouy  be  well  for  Professor  Fowler,  in  his  next  edition,  to  present  some  elucidation  of  this  short  but  remarkable 
passage,  which  he  values  so  highly  ' 

45 


690  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

nature  of  the  faculty,  be  limited  to  what  we  know  and  understand,  we  are  not  competent  to  the 
positive  correction,  or  to  the  sure  translation,  of  what  is  obscure  and  disputable  in  the  standard 
books  of  antiquity. 

OBS  5. — Let  me  cite  an  example:  "For  all  this  I  considered  in  my  heart,  even  to  declare  all 
this,  that  the  righteous,  and  the  wise,  and  their  Avorks,  are  in  the  hand  of  God  :  no  man  knoweth 
either  love  or  hatred  by  all  that  is  before  them.  All  things  pome  alike  to  all." — Ecclesiastes,  ix ,  1. 
Here  is,  doubtless,  one  error  which  any  English  scholar  may  point  out  or  correct.  The  pronoun 
"  them"  should  be  him,  because  its  intended  antecedent  appears  to  be  "  man"  and  not  "  the 
righteous  and  the  wise,"  going  before.  But  are  there  not  other  faults  in  the  version  ?  The  com- 
mon French  Bible,  in  this  place,  has  the  following  import :  "  Surely  I  have  applied  my  heart  to  all 
that,  and  to  unfold  all  this  ;  to  wit,  that  the  righteous  and  the  wise,  and  their  actions,  are  in  the 
hand  of  God  and  love  and  hatred  ;  and  that  men  know  nothing  of  all  that  ichich  is  before  them. 
All  happens  equally  to  all."  The  Latin  Vulgate  gives  this  sense:  "All  these  things  have  I  con- 
sidered in  my  heart,  that  I  might  understand  them  accurately  :  the  righteous  and  the  wise,  and 
their  works,  are  in  the  hand  of  God ;  and  yet  man  doth  not  know,  whether  by  love  or  by  hatred 
he  may  be  worthy  :  but  all  things  in  the  future  are  kept  uncertain,  so  that  all  may  happen  alike 
to  the  righteous  man  and  to  the  wicked."  In  the  Greek  of  the  Septuagint,  the  introductory  mem- 
bers of  this  passage  are  left  at  the  end  of  the  preceding  chapter,  and  are  literally  thus  :  "  that  all 
this  I  received  into  my  heart,  and  my  heart  understood  all  this."  The  rest,  commencing  a  new 
chapter,  is  as  follows :  "  For  the  righteous  and  the  wise  and  their  works  are  in  the  hand  of  God, 
and  indeed  both  love  and  hatred  man  knoweth  not :  all  things  before  their  face  are  vanity  to  all." 
Now,  which  of  these  several  readings  is  the  nearest  to  what  Solomon  meant  by  the  original  text, 
or  which  is  the  farthest  from  it,  and  therefore  the  most  faulty,  I  leave  it  to  men  more  learned  than 
myself  to  decide;  but,  certainly,  there  is  no  inspired  authority  in  any  of  them,  but  in  so  far  as 
they  convey  the  sense  which  he  really  intended.  And  if  his  meaning  had  not  been,  by  some  imper- 
fection in  the  oldest  expression  we  have  of  it,  obscured  and  partly  lost,  there  could  be  neither 
cause  nor  excuse  for  these  discrepancies.  I  say  this  with  no  willingness  to  depreciate  the  general 
authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  are  for  the  most  part  clear  in  their  import,  and  very  ably 
translated  into  English,  as  well  as  into  other  languages. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  THE  GENERAL  RULE. 

LESSON  I.— ARTICLES. 

(1.)  "An  article  is  a  part  of  speech  placed  before  nouns." — Comly's  Gram.  p.  11. 
[FoRMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  article  an  is  here  inconsistent  with  the  term  '•'•part  of  speech:"  for  the 
text  declares  one  thing  of  a  kind  to  be  the  whole  kind.  But,  according  to  the  General  Kule  of  Syntax,  "  In  the 
formation  of  sentences,  the  consistency  and  adaptation  of  all  the  words  should  be  carefully  observed:  an  da 
regular,  clear,  and  correspondent  construction  should  be  preserved  throughout.''  The  sentence  may  be  cor- 
rected in  two  ways,  thus:  "The.  article  is  a  part  of  speech  placed  before  nouns  ;" — or  better.  "An  article  s  a 
word  placed  before  nouns."*] 

(2.)  "An  article  is  a  part  of  speech  used  to  limit  nouns." — Gilbert's  Gram.  p.  ]9. 
(3.)  "An  article  is  a  part  of  speech  set  before  nouns  to  fix  their  vague  Signification."  — 
Ash's  Gram.  p.  18.  (4.)  "An  adjective  is  a  part  of  speech  used  to  describe  a  noun." — Gil- 
bert's Gram.  p.  19.  (5.)  "A  pronoun  is  a  part  of  speech  used  instead  of  a  noun." — Ibid. ; 
and  Weld's^  Gram.  pp.  30  and  50  ;  Abridg.  pp.  29  and  46.  (6.)  "A  Pronoun  is  a  Part  of 
Speech  which  is  often  used  instead  of  a  Noun  Substantive  common,  and  supplies  the  Want 
of  a  Noun  proper." — British  Gram.  p.  102  ;  Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  29.  (7.)  "A  verb  is  a 
part  of  speech,  which  signifies  to  be,  to  do,  or  to  be  acted  upon." — Merchant's  School  Gram. 
p.  17.  (8.)  "A  verb  is  a  part  of  speech,  which  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  receive  an  action" 
— Comly's  Gram.  p.  11.  (9.)  "A  verb  is  a  part  of  speech  by  which  any  thing  is  asserted." — 
Weld's  Gram.  p.  50  ;  Abridg.  40  and  58.  (10.)  "A  verb  is  a  part  of  speech  which  expresses 
action,  or  existence,  in  a  direct  manner." — Gilbert's  Gram.  p.  20.  (11.)  "A  participle  is  a 
part  of  speech  derived  from  a  verb,  and  expresses  action  or  existence  in  an  indirect  man- 
ner."— Ibid.  (12.)  "A  Participle  is  a  Part  of  Speech  derived  from  a  Verb,  and  denotes 
being,  doing,  or  suffering,  and  implies  Time,  as  a  Verb  does." — British  Gram.  p.  139  ;  Bu- 
chanan's, p.  46.  (13.)  "An  adverb  is  a  part  of  speech  used  to  add  to  the  meaning  of  verbs, 
adjectives,  and  participles."— Gilbert's  Gram.  p.  20.  (14.)  "An  adverb  is  an  indeclinable 
part  of  speech,  added  to  a  verb,  adjective,  or  other  adverb,  to  express  some  circumstance, 
quality,  or  manner  of  their  signification." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  142;  Gould's,  147.  (15.)  "An 
Adverb  is  a  part  of  speech  joined  to  a  verb,  an  Adjective,  a  Participle,  and  sometimes  to 
another  Adverb,  to  express  the  quality  or  circumstance  of  it." — Ash's  Gram  p.  47.  (16.) 
"An  Adverb  is  a  part  of  speech  joined  to  a  Verb,  Adjective,  Participle,  and  sometimes  to 
another  Adverb,  to  express  some  circumstances  respecting  it."— Beck's  Gram.  p.  23.  (17. \ 
"An  Adverb  is  a  Part  of  Speech  which  is  joined  to  a  Verb,  Adjective,  Participle,  or  to  an- 
other Adverb  to  express  some  Modification,  or  Circumstance,  Quality,  or  Manner  of  their  Sig- 

*  As  a  mere  assertion,  this  example  is  here  sufficiently  corrected  ;  but,  as  a  definition,  (for  which  the  author 
probably  intended  it,)  it  is  deficient ;  and  consequently,  in  that  sense,  is  still  inaccurate.  1  would  also  observe, 
that  most  of  the  subsequent  examples  under  the  present  head,  contain  other  errors  than  that  for  which  they  are 
here  introduced;  and,  of  some  of  them,  the  faults  are,  in  my  opinion,  very  ninny:  for  example,  the  scvcrnl 
definitions  of  an  adverb,  cited  below.  Llndley  Murray's  definition  of  this  part  of  Speech  i>  not,  in.-ci-N-d  among 
these,  because  I  had  elsewhere  criticised  that.  So  too  of  his  faulty  definition  of  a  c.onjmirtion.  See  the  Intro- 
duction, Chap.  X,  paragraphs  26  and  28.  See  also  Corrections  in  the  Key,  under  Note  10th  to  Kule  1st. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  SYNTAX. GENERAL   RULE. ERRORS.  691 

nification." — Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  61.  (18.)  "An  Adverb  is  a  part  of  speech  added  to  a 
Verb  (whence  the  name),  and  sometimes  even  to  another  word." — Buckf's  Gram,  p.  70. 
(19.)  "A  conjunction  is  a  part  of  speech  used  to  connect  words  and  sentences." — Gilbert's 
Gram.  p.  20  ;  Weld's,  51.  (20.)  "A  Conjunction  is  a  part  of  speech  that  joins  words  or 
sentences  together." — Ash's  Gram.  p.  48.  (21.)  "A  Conjunction  is  that  part  of  speech 
which  connect  sentences,  or  parts  of  sentences,  or  single  words." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  41. 
"A  Conjunction  is  a  part  of  speech,  that  is  used  principally  to  connect  sentences,  so 
as,  out  of  two,  three,  or  more,  sentences,  to  make  one." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  28.  (23.)  "A 
Conjunction  is  a  part  of  speech  that  is  chiefly  used  to  connect  sentences,  joining  two  or  more 
simple  sentences  into  one  compound  sentence  :  it  sometimes  connects  only  words." — Kirk- 
ham's  Gram.  p.  118.  (24.)  "A  Conjunction  is  a  Part  of  Speech  which  joins  Sentences 
together,  and  shews  the  Manner  of  their  Dependance  upon  one  another." — British  Gram. 
p.  163  ;  Buchanan's,  p.  64;  E.  Devis's,  103.  (25.)  "A  preposition  is  a  part  of  Speech  used  to 
show  the  relation  between  other  words." — Gilbert's  Gram.  p.  20.  (26.)  "A  Preposition  is 
a  part  of  speech  which  serves  to  connect  words  and  show  the  relation  between  them." — 
Kl.  of  Grain,  p.  42.  (27.)  "A.  preposition  is  a  part  of  speech  used  to  connect  words 
and  show  their  relation." — Weld's  Gram.  p.  51  ;  Abridg.  47.  (28.)  "A  preposition  is  that 
part  of  speech  which  shows  the  position  of  persons  or  things,  or  the  relation  that  one  noun 
or  pronoun  bears  toward  another." — Blair  s  Gram.  p.  40.  (29.)  "A  Preposition  is  a  Part  of 
Speech,  which  being  added  to  any  other  Parts  of  Speech  serves  to  shew  their  State,  Relation 
or  Reference  to  each  other." — British  Gram.  p.  165  ;  Buchanan's,  p.  65.  (30.)  "An  interjection 
is  apart  of  speech  used  to  express  sudden  passion  or  emotion." — Gilbert's  Gram.  p.  20.  (31.) 
"An  interjection  is  a  part  of  speech  used  in  giving  utterance  to  some  sudden  feeling  or  emo- 
tion."— I i't-ld'is  Gram.  pp.  4'J  and  51 ;  Abridg.  44  and  47.  (32.)  "An  Interjection  is  that  part  of 
speech  which  denotes  any  sudden  affection  or  emotion  of  the  mind." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  42. 
(33.)  "An  Interjection  is  a  Part  of  Speech  thrown  into  Discourse,  and  denotes  some  sud- 
den Passion  or  Emotion  of  the  Soul." — British  Gram.  p.  172;  Buchanan's,  p.  67. 
(34.)  "A  scene  might  tempt  some  peaceful  sage 

To  rear  him  a  lone  hermitage." — Union  Poems,  p.  89. 
(35.)  "  Not  all  the  storms  that  shake  the  pole 
Can  e'er  disturb  thy  halcyon  soul, 
And  smooth  th'  unaltered  brow." — Day's  Gram.  p.  78  ;  E.  Reader,  230. 

LESSON  II.— NOUNS. 
"  The  thrones  of  every  monarchy  felt  the  shock." — Frelinghuysen. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  plural  noun  thrones  has  not  a  clear  and  regular  construction,  adapted  to 
.ior's   meaning.     But,  according  to  the   General  Rule  of  Syntax,  "In  the   formation  of  sentences,  the 
ticy  and  adaptation  of  all  the  words  should   be  carefully  observed;   and  a  regular,  clear,  and  corre- 
spondent construction  should  be  preseryed  throughout."     The  sentence  may  be  corrected  thus  :  "  The  throne  of 
cvf.-y  monarchy  felt  the  shock."] 

"These  principles  ought  to  be  deeply  impressed  upon  the  minds  of  every  American." — 
r's  Essays,  p.  44.  "  The  word  church  and  shire  are  radically  the  same." — Ib.  p.  256. 
"  They  may  not,  in  their  present  form,  be  readily  accommodated  to  every  circumstance  be- 
lon^ini;  to  the  possessive  cases  of  nouns." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  p.  53.  "Will,  in  the 
i.  and  third  person,  only  foretels." — Ib.  p.  88.  "  Which  seem  to  form  the  true  distinc- 
tion between  the  subjunctive  and  the  indicative  moods." — Jb.  p.  208.  "  The  very  general 
approbation,  which  this  performance  of  Walker  has  received  from  the  public." — Ib.  p.  241. 
"  Lest  she  carry  her  improvements  this  way  too  far." — CAMPHKLL  :  ib.  p.  371.  "  Charles 
was  extravagant,  and  by  this  means  became  poor  and  despicable." — Murray's  Key,  Svo,  p.  189. 
"  We  should  entertain  no  prejudices  against  simple  and  rustic  persons." — Ib.  p.  205. 
"  These  are  indeed  the  foundations  of  all  solid  merit." — Blair's  lUiet.  p.  175.  "And  his 
embellishment,  by  means  of  musical  cadence,  Inures  or  other  parts  of  speech." — //;.  p.  17o. 
"  If  he  U  at  no  pains  ;  us  by  the  employment  of  figures,  musical  arrangement,  or 

any  other  art  of  writing."— Ib.  p.  181.  "The  most  eminent  of  the  sacred  poets  are,  the 
Author  of  the  book  of  Job,  David  and  Isaiah.'! — Ib.  p.  418.  "Nothing,  in  any  poet,  is 
more  beautifully  described  than  the  death  of  old  Priam." — Ib.  p.  439.  ••  When  two  A 
meet  together,  and  are  sounded  at  one  breath,  they  are  called  diphthongs." — Infant  School 
Gr.un.  p.  10.  "How  many  ss  would  goodness  then  end  with?  Three." — Ib.  p.  33.  "Birds 
is  u  noun,  the  name  of  a  thing  or  creature." — Kirkhum's  Gram.  p.  53.  "Adam  gave  names 
to  every  living  creature." — Bit-knell's  Gram.,  Part  ii,  p.  5.  "The  steps  of  a  stair  ought  to 
be  accommodated  to  the  human  figure."  —  A..//m.v,  7.7.  at'Crif.  Vol.  ii,p.  337.  "  Nor  ought  an 
emblem  more  than  a  .simile  to  be  founded  on  low  or  familiar  objects." — Ib.  Vol.  ii,  p.  357. 
"  Whatever  the  Latin  has  not  from  the  Greek,  it  has  from  the  Goth." — Tookc's  Dircminns,  Vol. 
ii,  p.  450.  "  The  mint  and  secretary  of  state's  offices  are  neat  buildings." —  The  l-'rii-ml.  Vol.  iv, 
p.  2»)(>.  "  The  scenes  of  dead  and  still  life  are  apt  to  pall  upon  us." — Blair  s  Ithet.  p.  407.  "And 
Th  amas  Aquinas  and  Duns  Seotus,  the  angelical  and  the  subtle  doctors,  are  the  brightest  stars 
in  the  scholastic  constellation." — Literary  Hint.  p.  244.  "The  English  language  has  three 
methods  of  distinguishing  the  sex." — Murray's  dram.  p.  ;$S  ;  Inyersoll's,  27  ;  Aider's,  16  ; 
Banns,  13;  Fish's,  58;  Gr,-<-n!>-afs,  21.  "The  English  language  has  three  methods  of  dis- 
tinguishing sex." — Smith's  Xew  'Gram.  p.  44.  "  In  English  there  are  the  three  following 


692  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

methods   of   distinguishing  sex." — Jaudon's  Gram.  p.  26.      "There    are    three   ways   of 
distinguishing  the  sex." — Lennie's  Gram.  p.  10;  Picket's,  26;  Bullions' s,  10.      "There  are 
three  ways   of  distinguishing   sex." — Merchant's    School  Gram.  p.  26.      "Gender  is  distin- 
guished in  three  ways." — Maunder 's  Gram.  p.  2.     "  Neither  discourse  in  general,  nor  poetry 
in  particular,  can  be  called  altogether  imitative  arts." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  51. 
"  Do  we  for  this  the  gods  and  conscience  brave, 
That  one  may  rule  and  make  the  rest  a  slave  ? " — Rotce's  Lucan,  B.  ii,  1.  96. 

LESSON  III.— ADJECTIVES. 
"There  is  a  deal  of  more   heads,  than  either  heart  or  horns." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  234. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  adjective  more  has  not  a  clear  and  regular  construction,  adapted  to  the 
author's  meaning.  But,  according  to  the  General  Rule  of  Syntax,  "  In  the  formation  of  sentences,  the  con- 
sistency and  adaptation  of  all  the  words  should  be  carefully  observed  ;  and  a  regular,  clear,  and  correspondent 
construction  should  be  preserved  throughout/'  The  sentence  maybe  corrected  thus:  "  There  is  a  deal  more 
of  heads,  than  of  either  heart  or  horns."] 

"  For,  of  all  villains,  I  think  he  has  the  wrong  name." — Bunyan's  P.  P.  p.  86.  "  Of  all 
the  men  that  I  met  in  my  pilgrimage,  he,  I  think  bears  the  wrong  name." — Ib.  p.  84.  "  I 
am  surprized  to  see  so  much  of  the  distribution,  and  technical  terms  of  the  Latin  grammar, 
retained  in  the  grammar  of  our  tongue." — Priestley's  Gram.,  Pref.,  p.  vi.  "Nor  did  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  bring  him  the  smallest  assistance." — HUME:  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  178. 
"  Else  he  will  find  it  difficult  to  make  one  obstinate  believe  him." — Brightland's  Gram.  p. 
243.  "Are  there  any  adjectives  which  form  the  degrees  of  comparison  peculiar  to  them- 
selves ?" — Infant  School  Gram.  p.  46.  "Yet  the  verbs  are  all  of  the  indicative  mood." — 
Loioth's  Gram.  p.  33.  "The  word  candidate  is  in  the  absolute  case." — L.Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  p.  155.  "An  Iambus  has  the  first  syllable  unaccented,  and  the  latter  accented." — 
Russell's  Gram.  p.  108  ;  Smith's  New  Gram.  188.  "A  Dactyl  has  the  first  syllable  accented, 
and  the  two  latter  unaccented." — L.  Murray,  p.  253  ;  Bullions' s  E.  Gram.  170  ;  Smith's,  188  ; 
Kirkham's,  219;  Guy's,  120;  Blair's,  118;  Merchant's,  167;  Russell's,  109.  "It  is  proper 
to  begin  with  a  capital  the  first  word  of  every  book,  chapter,  letter,  note,  or  any  other  piece 
of  writing." — L.  Murray,  p.  284;  R.  C.  Smith's  New  Gram.  192;  Ingersoll's,  295;  Comly's, 
166  ;  Merchant's,  14  ;  Greenleafs,  42  ;  D.  C.  Allen's,  85  ;  Fish's,  159  ;  Bullions's,  158  ;  Kirk- 
ham's,  219  ;  Hiley's,  119  ;  Weld's  Abridged,  16  ;  Bullions's  Analyt.  and  Pract.,  16  ;  Fowler  s  E. 
Gr.t  674.  "  Five  and  seven  make  twelve,  and  one  makes  thirteen." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p. 
227.  "I  wish  to  cultivate  a  farther  acquaintance  with  you." — Ib.  p.  272.  "Let  us  ecu- 
aider  the  proper  means  to  effect  our  purpose." — Ib.  p.  276.  "Yet  they  are  of  such  a  simi- 
lar nature,  as  readily  to  mix  and  blend." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  48.  "  The  Latin  is  formed  on 
the  same  model,  but  more  imperfect." — Ib.  p.  83.  "I  know  very  well  how  much  pains 
have  been  taken." — Sir  W.  Temple.  "The  mananagement  of  the  breath  requires  a  good 
deal  of  care." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  331.  "  Because  the  mind,  during  such  a  momentary  stupe- 
faction, is  in  a  good  measure,  if  not  totally,  insensible." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit.  Vol.  i,  p.  21:2. 
"  Motives  alone  of  reason  and  interest  are  not  sufficient." — Ib.  Vol.  i,  p.  232.  "  To  renc.er 
the  composition  distinct  in  its  parts,  and  striking  on  the  whole." — Ib.  Vol.  ii,  p.  333.  "A 
and  an  are  named  indefinite  because  they  denote  some  one  thing  of  a  kind." — Maunder' s  Gram. 
p.  1.  "The  is  named  definite,  because  it  points  out  some  particular  thing." — Ibid.  "  So 
much  depends  upon  the  proper  construction  of  sentences,  that,  in  every  sort  of  composition, 
we  cannot  be  too  strict  in  our  attention  to  it." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  103.  "All  sort  of  declamation 
and  public  speaking,  was  carried  on  by  them."—  Ib.  p.  123.  "The  first  has  on  many  occa- 
sions, a  sublimity  to  which  the  latter  never  attains." — Ib.  p.  440.  "  When  the  words  there- 
fore,  consequently,  accordingly,  and  the  like  are  used  in  connexion  with  other  conjunctions, 
they  are  adverbs." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  88.  "Kude  nations  make  little  or  no  allusions  to 
the  productions  of  the  arts." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  10.  "While  two  of  her  maids  knelt  on 
either  side  of  her." — Mirror,  xi,  307.  "  The  third  personal  pronouns  differ  from  each  other 
in  meaning  and  use,  as  follows." — Bullions,  Lat.  Gram.  p.  65.  "  It  was  happy  for  the  state, 
that  Fabius  continued  in  the  command  with  Minucius :  the  former's  phlegm  was  a  check  upon 
the  latter's  vivacity." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  57.  "  If  it  should  be  objected  that  the 
words  must  and  ought,  in  the  preceding  sentences,  are  all  in  the  present  tense." — Ib.  p.  108. 
"  But  it  will  be  well  if  you  turn  to  them,  every  now  and  then." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram.  p. 
6.  "  That  every  part  should  have  a  dependence  on,  and  mutually  contribute  to  support 
each  other." — Rollins  Hist,  ii,  115.  "  The  phrase,  (Good,  my  Lord,'  is  not  common,  and  low." 
— Priestley's  Gram.  p.  110. 

"That  brother  should  not  war  with  brother, 
And  worry  and  devour  each  other." — Cowper. 

LESSON  IV.— PRONOUNS. 

"If  I  can  contribute  to  your  and  my  country's  glory." — Goldsmith. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  pronoun  your  has  not  a  clear  and  regular  construction,  adapted  to  the 
author's  meaning.  But,  according  to  the  General  Rule  of  Syntax,  "  In  the  formation  of  sentences,  the  con- 
sistency and  adaptation  of  all  the  words  should  be  carefully  observed  ;  and  a  regular,  clear,  and  correspondent 
construction  should  be  preserved  throughout."  The  sentence,  having  a  doubtful  or  double  meaning,  may  be 
corrected  in  two  ways,  thus  :  "  If  I  can  contribute  to  our  country's  glory  ;  "—or,  "If  I  can  contribute ' to  your 
glory  and  that  of  my  country."] 


CIIAP.    XIII.]  SXNTAX. GENERAL   RULE. — ERRORS.  693 

"As  likewise  of  the  several  subjects,  which  have  in  effect  each  their  verb." — Lowth't 
Gram.p.  120.  "He  is  likewise  required  to  make  examples  himself." — J.  Flint's  Gram.  p. 
3.  "  If  the  emphasis  be  placed  wrong,  we  shall  pervert  and  confound  the  meaning 
•wholly." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  242.  "If  the  empahsis  be  placed  wrong,  we  perveit 
and  confound  the  meaning  wholly." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  330.  "  It  was  this  that  char- 
acterized the  great  men  of  antiquity ;  it  is  this,  which  must  distinguish  the  moderns 
who  would  tread  in  their  steps." — Ib.  p.  341.  "I  am  a  great  enemy  to  implicit  faith, 
as  well  the  Popish,  as  Presbyterian,  who  in  that  are  much  what  alike." — Barclay's 
Works,  iii,  280.  "  Will  he  thence  dare  to  say  the  apostle  held  another  Christ  than 
he  that  died  :" — 76.  iii,  414.  "What  need  you  be  anxious  about  this  event?  " — Collier  s 
Antoninus,  p.  188.  "  If  a  substantive  can  be  placed  after  the  verb,  it  is  active." — 
Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  31.  "When  we  see  bad  nen  honoured  and  prosperous  in 
the  world,  it  is  some  discouragement  to  virtue." — L.  Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  224.  "  It  is 
a  happiness  to  young  persons,  when  they  are  preserved  from  the  snares  of  the  world,  as 
in  a  garden  enclosed." — Ib.  p.  171.  "The  court  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  which  was  but  an- 
other name  for  prudence  and  economy." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  24.  "  It  is  no  wonder  if 
such  a  man  did  not  shine  at  the  court  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  \cho  was  but  another  name  for 
prudence  and  economy.  Here  which  ought  to  be  used,  and  not  who." — Priestley's  Gram. 
p.  99  ;  Fowler's,  §  488.  "  Better  thus ;  Whose  name  was  but  another  word  for  prudence,  &c." 
— Murray's  Gram.  p.  157;  Fisk's,  115;  Ingersoll's,  221  ;  Smith's,  133  ;  and  others.  "A  De- 
fective verb  is  one  that  wants  some  of  its  parts.  They  are  chiefly  the  Auxiliary  and  Impersonal 
verbs." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.p.  31;  Old  Editions,  32.  "  Some  writers  have  given  our  moods 
a  much  greater  extent  than  we  have  assigned  to  them." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  67.  "The 
Personal  Pronouns  give  information  which  no  other  words  are  capable  of  conveying." — 
M'Ctilloch's  Gfum.  p.  37.  "When  the  article  a,  an,  or  the  precedes  the  participle,  it  also 
becomes  a  noun." — Merchant's  School  Gram.  p.  93.  "There  is  a  preference  to  be  given  to 
some  of  these,  which  custom  and  judgment  must  determine." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  107. 
"  Many  writers  affect  to  subjoin  to  any  word  the  preposition  with  which  it  is  compounded, 
or  the  idea  of  which  it  implies." — Ib.  p.  200  ;  Priestley's  Gram.  157. 
"  Say,  dost  thouknow  Vectidius? — Who,  the  wretch 
Whose  lands  beyond  the  Sabines  largely  stretch  ? " — Dryden's  IV  Sat.  of  Pert. 

LESSOX  V.— VERBS. 

"  We  would  naturally  expect,  that  the  word  depend,  would  require  from  after  it." — Mur- 
ray's Gram.  8vo,  p.  201.  "A  dish  which  they  pretend  to  be  made  of  emerald." — Murray's 
Ki-y,  8vo,  p.  198.  "For  the  very  nature  of  a  sentence  implies  one  proposition  to  be  ex- 
pressed."— Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  106.  "  Without  a  careful  attention  to  the  sense,  we  would  be 
naturally  led,  by  the  rules  of  syntax,  to  refer  it  to  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun." — Ib. 
p.  105.  "  For  any  rules  that  can  be  given,  on  this  subject,  are  very  general." — Ib.  p.  125. 
"  He  is  in  the  right,  if  eloquence  were  what  he  conceives  it  to  be." — Ib.  p.  234.  "There  I 
would  prefer  a  more  free  and  diffuse  manner." — Ib.  p.  178.  "  Yet  that  they  also  agreed 
and  resembled  one  another,  in  certain  qualities." — Ib.  p.  73.  "But  since  he  must  restore 
her,  he  insists  to  have  another  in  her  place." — Ib.  p.  431.  "But  these  are  far  from  being 
so  frequent  or  so  common  as  lias  been  supposed." — Ib.  p.  445.  "  We  are  not  misled  to 
assign  a  wrong  place  to  the  pleasant  or  painful  feelings." — Kamcs,  El.  of  C'rit.,  Introd., 
p.  xviii.  "  Which  are  of  greater  importance  than  is  commonly  thought." — Ib.  Vol.  ii,  p.  92. 
"  Since  these  qualities  are  both  coarse  and  common,  lets  find  out  the  mark  of  a  man  of 
probity." — (.'ollii-r's  Antoninus,  p.  40.  "  Cicero  did  what  no  man  had  ever  done  before  him, 
draw  up  a  treatise  of  consolation  for  himself." — Life  of  Cicero.  "Then  there  can  be  no 
other  Doubt  remain  of  the  Truth." — Briy/ttland's  Gram.  p.  245.  "I  have  observed  some 
satirists  use  the  term." — Bullion*'*  1'rtn.  of  E.  dram.  p.  79.  "Such  men  are  ready  to 
despond,  or  commence  enemies." —  If  'coster's  Essays,  p.  83.  "  Common  nouns  express  names 
common  to  many  things." — Infant  N-/iW  drum.  p.  18.  "To  make  ourselves  be  heard  by 
one  to  whom  we  address  ourselves." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  328.  "That,  in  reading  poetry,  he 
maybe  the  better  able  to  judge  of  its  correctness,  and  relish  its  beauties." — Murray's  Gram. 
1.  "On  the  stretch  to  comprehend,  and  keep  pace  with  the  author." — Blair's  Rhet. 
p.  150.  "  For  it  might  have  been  sold  for  more  than  three  hundred  pence,  and  have  been 
given  to  the  poor." — Murk,  xiv,  5.  "  He  is  a  beam  that  is  departed,  and  left  no  streak  of 
light  behind."— OSSIAN  :  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  2G2.  "  Xo  part  of  this  incident  ought  to 
have  been  represented,  but  reserved  for  a  narrative." — Kamcs,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  294.  "The 
rulers  and  people  debauching  themselves,  brings  ruin  on  a  country." — ]l'ur<-'s  (irn/n.  p.  9. 
"  When  Doctor,  Miss,  Master,  &c.  is  prefixed  to  a  name,  the  last  of  the  two  words  is  com- 
monly made  plural;  as,  the  Doctor  Xettletons — the  two  Miss  Hudsons." — Alex.  Murray's 
Gram.  p.  106.  "  Wherefore  that  field  was  called,  The  field  of  blood,  unto  this  day." — 
Mitt,  xxvii,  8.  "To  comprehend  the  situations  of  other  countries,  which  perhaps  may  be 
necessary  for  him  to  explore." — Brown's  Estimate,  ii,  111.  "We  content  ourselves,  now, 
•with  fewer  conjunctive  particles  than  our  ancestors  did." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  139.  "And 
who  will  be  chiefly  liable  to  make  mistakes  where  others  have  been  mistaken,  before  them," 


694  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

— Ib.  p.  156.     "The  voice  of  nature  and  revelation  unites." — Wayland's  Moral  Science,  3d 
Ed.,  p.  307. 

"  This  adjective  you  see  we  can't  admit, 
But  chang'd  to  worse,  will  make  it  just  and  fit." — Tobitt's  Gram.  p.  63. 

LESSON  VI.— PARTICIPLES. 

"  Its  application  is  not  arbitrary,  depending  on  the  caprice  of  readers." — Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  Vol.  i,  p.  246.  "  This  is  the  more  expedient,  from  the  work's  being  designed  for  the 
benefit  of  private  learners." — Ib.  Vol.  ii,  p.  161.  "A  man,  he  tells  us,  ordered  by  his  will, 
to  have  erected  for  him  a  statue." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  106.  "  From  some  likeness  too  remote, 
and  laying  too  far  out  of  the  road  of  ordinary  thought." — Ib.  p.  146.  "  Money  is  a  fluid 
in  the  commercial  world,  rolling  from  hand  to  hand." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  123.  "He  pays 
much  attention  to  learning  and  singing  songs." — Ib.  p.  246.  "I  would  not  be  understood 
to  consider  singing  songs  as  criminal." — Ibid.  "It  is  a  decided  case  by  the  Great  Master 
of  writing." — Preface  to  Waller,  p.  5.  "  Did  they  ever  bear  a  testimony  against  writing 
books  ? " — Bates' s  Misc.  Repository.  "  Exclamations  are  sometimes  mistaking  for  interroga- 
tions."— Hist,  of  Printing,  1770.  "  Which  cannot  fail  proving  of  service." — Smith's  Printer  s 
Gram.  "  Hewn  into  such  figures  as  would  make  them  easily  and  firmly  incorporated." — 
BEATTIE  :  Murray's  Gram,  i,  126.  "  Following  the  rule  and  example  are  practical  inductive 
questions." — /.  Flint's  Gram.  p.  3.  "  I  think  there  will  be  an  advantage  in  my  having 
collected  examples  from  modern  writings." — Priestley's  Gram.,  Pref.,  p.  xi.  "  He  was  eager 
of  recommending  it  to  his  fellow-citizens." — HUME:  ib.  p.  160.  "The  good  lady  was 
careful  of  serving  me  of  every  thing." — Ibid.  "  No  revelation  would  have  been  given,  had 
the  light  of  nature  been  sufficient  in  such  a  sense,  as  to  render  one  not  wanting  and  use- 
less."— Butlers  Analogy,  p.  loo.  "Description,  again  is  the  raising  in  the  mind  the 
conception  of  an  object  by  means  of  some  arbitrary  or  instituted  symbols." — Blair's  Rhet. 
p.  52.  "  Disappointing  the  expectation  of  the  hearers,  when  they  look  for  our  being  done." 
— Ib.  p.  326.  "  There  is  a  distinction  which,  in  the  use  of  them,  is  deserving  of  atten- 
tion."— Maunder  s  Gram.  p.  15.  "A  model  has  been  contrived,  which  is  not  very  expensive, 
and  easily  managed." — Education  Reporter.  "  The  conspiracy  was  the  more  easily  discov- 
ered, from  its  being  known  to  many." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  191.  "  That  celebrated  work  had 
been  nearly  ten  years  published,  before  its  importance  was  at  all  understood." — Ib.  p.  220. 
"  The  sceptre's  being  ostensibly  grasped  by  a  female  hand,  does  not  reverse  the  general 
order  of  government." — West's  Letters  to  a  Lady,  p.  43.  "I  have  hesitated  signing  the 
Declaration  of  Sentiments." — Liberator,  x,  16.  "  The  prolonging  of  men's  lives  when  the 
world  needed  to  be  peopled,  and  now  shortening  them  when  that  necessity  hath  ceased  to 
exist." — Brown's  Divinity,  p.  7.  "  Before  the  performance  commences,  we  have  display  3d 
the  insipid  formalities  of  the  prelusive  scene." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  23.  "It  forbale 
the  lending  of  money,  or  sending  goods,  or  in  any  way  embarking  capital  in  transactions 
connected  with  that  foreign  traffic." — LORD  BKOUGHAM  :  B.  and  F.  Anti-Slavery  Reporter, 
Vol.  ii,  p.  218.  "  Even  abstract  ideas  have  sometimes  conferred  upon  them  the  same  important 
prerogative." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  171.  "Like  other  terminations,  ment  changes  y  into  i, 
when  preceded  by  a  consonant." —  Walker's  Rhyming  Diet.  p.  xiii ;  Murray's  Gram.  p.  24  ; 
IngersolFs,  11.  "The  term  proper  is  from  being  proper,  that  is,  peculiar  to  the  individual 
bearing  the  name.  The  term  common  is  from  being  common  to  every  individual  comprised 
in  the  class." — Foicler's  E.  Gram.  8vo,  1850,  §  139. 

"  Thus  oft  by  mariners  are  shown  (Unless  the  men  of  Kent  are  liars) 
Earl  Godwin's  castles  overflown,  And  palace-roofs,  and  steeple-spires." — Swift,  p.  313. 

LESSON  VII.— ADVERBS. 

"He  spoke  to  every  man  and  woman  there."— Murray's  Gram.  p.  220;  Fisk's,  147. 
"Thought  and  language  act  and  react  upon  each  other  mutually." — Blairs  Rhet.  p.  120; 
Murray's  Exercises,  133.  "Thought  and  expression  act  upon  each  other  mutually." — See 
Murray's  Key,  p.  '261.  "  They  have  neither  the  leisure  nor  the  means  of  attaining  scarcely 
any  knowledge,  except  what  lies  within  the  contracted  circle  of  their  several  professions."- 
Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  359.  "Before  they  are  capable  of  understanding  but  little,  or 
indeed  any  thing  of  many  other  branches  of  education." — Olney's  Introd.  to  Geog.  p.  5. 
"There  is  not  more  beauty  in  one  of  them  than  in  another." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  275. 
"  Which  appear  not  constructed  according  to  any  certain  rule." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  47.  "  The 
vehement  manner  of  speaking  became  not  so  universal." — Ib.  p.  61.  "All  languages,  how- 
ever, do  not  agree  in  this  mode  of  expression." — Ib.  p.  77.  "The  great  occasion  of  setting 
aside  this  particular  day." — ATTEKBUKY  :  ib.  p.  294.  "  He  is  much  more  promising  now 
than  formerly." — Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  ii,  p.  4.  "  They  are  placed  before  a  participle,  inde- 
pendently on  the  rest  of  the  sentence." — Ib.  Vol.  ii,  p.  21.  "This  opinion  appears  to  be 
not  well  considered." — Ib.  Vol.  i,  p.  153  ;  Ingersoll's,  249.  "  Precision  in  language  merits  a 
full  explication ;  and  the  more,  because  distinct  ideas  are,  perhaps,  not  commonly  formed 
about  it." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  94.  "  In  the  more  sublime  parts  of  poetry,  he  [Pope]  is  not  so 
distinguished." — Ib.  p.  403.  "How  far  the  author  was  altogether  happy  in  the  choice  of 


CHAP.    XIII.]  SYNTAX. — GENERAL   RULE. — ERRORS.  695 

his  subject,  may  be  questioned." — Ib.  p.  450.  "  But  here  also  there  s  a  great  error  in  the 
common  practice." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  7.  "This  order  is  the  very  order  of  the  human 
mind,  which  makes  things  we  are  sensible  of,  a  means  to  come  at  those  that  are  not  so." — 
Furmr-i/'s  Belles- Lcttrcs,  Foreman's  Version,  p.  113.  "Now,  Who  is  not  Discouraged,  and 
Fears  Want,  when  he  has  no  Money?" — Divine  Right  of  Tythcs,  p.  23.  "  Which  the  Au- 
thors of  this  work,  consider  of  but  little  or  no  use." — Wilbur  and  Livingston' a  Gram.  p.  6. 
"And  here  indeed  the  distinction  between  these  two  classes  begins  not  to  be  clear." — Blair's 
Rhet.  p.  152.  "But  this  is  a  manner  which  deserves  not  to  be  imitated." — Ib.  p.  180. 
"And  in  this  department  a  person  never  effects  so  little,  as  when  he  attempts  too  much." — 
Cttniphcll's  Rhct.  p.  173;  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  367.  "The  verb  that  signifies  merely 
being,  is  neuter." — Dr.  As/is  Gram.  p.  27.  "  I  hope  not  much  to  tire  those  whom  I  shall 
not  happen  to  please." — Rambler,  No.  1.  "Who  were  utterly  unable  to  pronounce  some 
letters,  and  others  very  indistinctly." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  32.  "  The  learner  may  point 
out  the  active,  passive,  and  neuter  verbs  in  the  following  examples,  and  state  the  reasons 
why."— r.  Adams  s  Gram.  p.  27.  "These  words  are  most  always  conjunctions." — S.  Bar- 
)•(•<(' s  l{<.'ri*cd  Gram.  p.  73. 

"  How  fluent  nonsense  trickles  from  his  tongue  ! 
How  sweet  the  periods,  neither  said,  nor  sung  !  " — Dunciad. 

LESSON  Vin.— CONJUNCTIONS. 

"  Who  at  least  either  knew  not,  nor  loved  to  make,  a  distinction." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of 
.  Lantj.  i,  322.  "It  is  childish  in  the  last  degree,  if  this  become  the  ground  of 
estranged  affection. " — />.  Murray's  Key,  ii,  228.  "  When  the  regular  or  the  irregular  verb  is 
to  be  preferred,  p.  107." — Murray's  Index,  Gram,  ii,  296.  "The  books  were  to  have  been 
sold,  as  this  day." — Priestley's  E.  Gram.  p.  138.  "  Do,  an  if  you  will." — Beauties  of  Shak. 
p.  105.  "If  a  man  had  a  positive  idea  of  infinite,  either  duration  or  space,  he  could  add 
two  infinites  together." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  17 1.  "None  shall  more  willingly  agree 
and  advance  the  same  nor  I." — EAKL  OF  MOKTOX  :  Robertson  s  Scotland,  ii,  428.  "'That  it 
cannot  be  but  hurtful  to  continue  it." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  192.  "A  conjunction  joins 
words  and  sentences." — Beck's  Gram.  pp.  4  and  25.  "The  copulative  conjunction  connects 
words  and  sentences  together  and  continues  the  sense." — Frost's  El. of  Gram.  p.  42.  "The 
Conjunction  Copulative  serves  to  connector  continue  a  sentence,  by  expressing  an  addition, 
a  supposition,  a  cause,  &c." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  i,  123.  "All  Construction  is  either  true 
or  apparent ;  or  in  other  Words  just  and  figurative." — Buchanan  s  Syntax,  p.  130  ;  British 
Gram.  2.'M.  "  But  the  divine  character  is  such  that  none  but  a  divine  hand  could  draw." 

—  Tin-  Friend,  Vol.  v,  p.  72.     "  '  Who  is  so  mad,  that,  on  inspecting  the  heavens,  is  insensi- 
ble of  a  God  r ' — CICERO  :  " — Dr.  Gibbons.     "  It  is  now  submitted  to  an  enlightened  public, 
with  little  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Author,  than  its  general  utility." — Town's  Analysis,  9th 
Ed.,  p.  5.     "  This  will  sufficiently  explain  the  reason  that  so  many  provincials  have  grown 
old  in  the  capital,  without  making  any  change  in  their  original  dialect." — Sheridan's  Elocu- 
tion, \i.  51.     "  Of  these  they  had  chiefly  three  in  general  use,  which  were  denominated 
accents,  and  the  term  used  in  the  plural  number." — Ib.  p.   50.     "And  this  is  one  of  the 
chief  reason*,  that  dramatic  representations  have  ever  held  the  first  rank  amongst  the  diver- 
sions of  mankind." — Ib.  p.  95.     "  Which  is  the  chief  reason  that  public  reading  is  in  general 
so  disgusting." — Ib.  p.  96.     "At  the  same  time  that  they  learn  to  read." — Ib.  p.  96.     "  He 

•  pronounce  his  words  exactly  with  the  same  accent  that  he  speaks  them." — 76. 
"  Iu  order  to  know  what  another  knows,  and  in  the  same  manner  that  he  knows  it." 

—  lh.  p.  136.     "  For  the  same  reason  that  it  is  in  a  more  limited  state  assigned  to  the  several 
tribes  of  animals." — Ib.  p.  115.     "Were  there  masters  to  teach  this,  in  the  same  manner  as 
other  arts  arc  taught." — If>.  p.  169. 

"  Whose  own  example  strengthens  all  his  laws  ; 
And  is  himself  that  great  Sublime  he  draws." — Pope,  on  Crit.  1.  680. 

LESSON  IX.  — PREPOSITIONS. 

"  The  word  so  has,  sometimes,  the  same  meaning  with  also,  fikririsr,  the  same." — 1'n'estley's 
.  p.  137.     "The  verb  use  relates  not  to  pleasures  of  the  imagination,  but  to  the  terms 
of  fancy  and  imagination,  which  he  was  to   employ  as    synonymous." — Blair's  Ithct.  p.  197. 
"It,  never  can  view,  clearly  and  distinctly,  above  one  object  at  a  time."—//),  p.  <»1.     "This 
ii'jure  |  Kuphemism]  is  often  the  same  with  the  Periphrasis." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  217  ;  Gould's, 
••All  the  1), 'tween  time  of  youth  and  old  age"."—  Walker's   1'articl™,   p.  83.     "When 
one  thing  is  said  to  act  upon,  or  do  something  to  another." — Istirth's  Gram.  p.  70.     " 
a  composition  has  as  much  of  meaning  in  it,  as  a  mummy  has  lite."— Journal  of  Lit.   Con- 
rcitfion,  p.  91.     "  That  young  men  of  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  were  not  the  best  ju 

—  Ib.  p.  130.     "This  day  is  a  day  of  trouble,  and  of  rebuke,   and  blasphemy." — 2   A/Y/y.v, 
xi  v.  :!.      "Blank  verse  has  the  same  pauses  and  accents  with  rhyme."—  I\am>  •*,  FJ.   oj 

ii,  119.     "  In  prosody,  long  syllables  arc  distinguished  by  ("),  and   short  ones  by  what  is 

called  Oram.  p.  22.     "Sometimes  both  articles  arc  left  out,  especially 

in  poetry." — Ib.  p.  2<>.     "  In  the  following  example,  the  pronoun  and  participle  are  omitted  : 

imt]  '  Conscious  of  his  own  weight  ;Uid  importance,  the  aid  of  others  was  not   solicit- 


696  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  PART  III. 

ed.'  " — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  221.  "He  was  an  excellent  person;  a  mirror  of  ancient 
faith  in  early  youth." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  172.  "  The  carrying  on  its  several  parts  into 
execution." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  192.  "  Concord,  is  the  agreement  which  one  word  has 
over  another,  in  gender,  number,  case  and  person." — Folker's  Gram.  p.  3.  "  It  might  per- 
haps have  given  me  a  greater  taste  of  its  antiquities." — ADBISON  :  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  160. 
"  To  call  of  a  person,  and  to  wait  of  him." — Priestley,  ib.  p.  161.  "  The  great  difficulty  they 
found  of  fixing  just  sentiments." — HUMK  :  ib.  p.  161.  "  Developing  the  difference  between 
the  three." — James  Brown  s  first  American  Gram.  p.  12.  "  When  the  substantive  singular 
ends  in  x,  ch  soft,  sh,  ss,  or  s,  we  add  es  in  the  plural." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  40.  "  We  shall 
present  him  with  a  list  or  specimen  of  them." — Ib.  p.  132.  "It  is  very  common  to  hear  of 
the  evils  of  pernicious  reading,  of  how  it  enervates  the  mind,  or  how  it  depraves  the  prin- 
ciples."— Dymond's  Essays,  p.  168.  "  In  this  example,  the  verb  '  arises  '  is  understood  before 
'  curiosity  '  and  '  knowledge.'  "  —  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  274  ;  Ingersoll's,  286  ;  Comic's, 
155;  and  others.  "  The  connective  is  frequently  omitted  between  several  words." — Wil- 
cox's  Gram.  p.  81.  "  He  shall  expel  them  from  before  you,  and  drive  them  from  out  of 
your  sight." — Joshua,  xxiii,  5.  "Who  makes  his  sun  shine  and  his  rain  to  descend  upon 
the  just  and  the  unjust." — M'llvaine's  Lectures,  p.  411. 

LESSON  X.— MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"  This  sentence  violates  the  rules  of  grammar." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  Vol.  ii,  pp.  19  and  21. 
"The  words  thou  and  shalt,  are  again  reduced  to  short  quantities." — Ib.  Vol.  i,  p.  246. 
"Have  the  greater  men  always  been  the  most  popular?  By  no  means." — DR.  LIEUER: 
Lit.  Conv.  p.  64.  "  St.  Paul  positively  stated  that,  '  he  who  loves  one  another  has  fulfilled 
the  law.'  " — Spurzheim,  on  Education,  p.  248.  "  More  than  one  organ  is  concerned  in  the 
utterance  of  almost  every  consonant." — MCulloch's  Gram.  p.  18.  "  If  the  reader  will  par- 
don my  descending  so  low." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  20.  "To  adjust  them  so,  as  shall  consist 
equally  with  the  perspicuity  and  the  grace  of  the  period." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  118  ;  Murray's 
Gram.  8vo,  p.  324.  "  This  class  exhibits  a  lamentable  want  of  simplicity  and  inefficiency." 
— Gardiner's  Music  of  Nature,  p.  481.  "Whose  style  flows  always  like  a  limpid  stream, 
where  we  see  to  the  very  bottom." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  93.  "  Whose  style  flows  always 
like  a  limpid  stream,  through  which  we  see  to  the  very  bottom." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo. 
p.  293.  "  We  make  use  of  the  ellipsis."*— Ib.  p.  217.  "  The  ellipsis  of  the  article  is  thus 
used." — Ib.  p.  217.  "  Sometimes  the  ellipsis  is  improperly  applied  to  nouns  of  different  num- 
bers :  as,  'A  magnificent  house  and  gardens.'" — Ib.  p.  218.  " In  some  very  emphatical 
expressions,  the  ellipsis  should  not  be  used." — Ib.  218.  "The  ellipsis  of  the  adjective  is 
used  in  the  following  manner." — Ib.  218.  "  The  following  is  the  ellipsis  of  the  pronoun." 
— Ib.  218.  "The  ellipsis  of  the  verb  is  used  in  the  following  instances." — Ib.  p.  219. 
"The  ellipsis  of  the  adverb  is  used  in  the  following  manner." — Ib.  219.  "The  following 
instances,  though  short,  contain  much  of  the  ellipsis." — Ib.  220.  "  If  no  emphasis  be  plac  ed 
on  any  words,  not  only  will  discourse  be  rendered  heavy  and  lifeless,  but  the  meaning  often 
less  ambiguous." — Ib.  p.  242.  See  Hart's  Gram.  p.  172.  "  If  no  emphasis  be  placed  on  any 
words,  not  only  is  discourse,  rendered  heavy  and  lifeless,  but  the  meaning  left  often  ambigu- 
ous."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  330  ;  Murray's  Eng.  Reader,  p.  xi.  "  He  regards  his  word,  but  thou 
dost  not  regard  it." — Bullions's  E.  Gram.  p.  129  ;  his  Analytical  and  Practical  Gram.  p.  196. 
"  He  regards  his  word,  but  thou  dost  not:  i.  e.  dost  not  regard  it." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo, 
p.  219  ;  Parker  and  Fox's,  p.  96  ;  Weld's,  192.  "  I  have  learned  my  task,  but  you  have  not ; 
i.  e.  have  not  learned." — Ib.  Mur.  219;  &c.  "When  the  omission  of  words  would  obscure 
the  sentence,  weaken  its  force,  or  be  attended  with  an  impropriety,  they  must  be  expressed." 
— Ib.  p.  217  ;  Weld's  Gram.  190.  "And  therefore  the  verb  is  correctly  put  in  the  singular 
number,  and  refers  to  the  whole  separately  and  individually  considered." — Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  ii,  24  and  190.  "I  understood  him  the  best  of  all  who  spoke  on  the  subject." — Mur- 
ray's Key,  8vo,  p.  192.  "  I  understood  him  better  than  any  other  who  spoke  on  the  subject." 
— Ibid.  "The  roughness  found  on  our  entrance  into  the  paths  of  virtue  and  learning,  grow 
smoother  as  we  advance." — Ib.  p.  171.  "  The  roughnesses,"  &c. — Murray's  Key,  12mo,  p.  8. 
"  Nothing  promotes  knowledge  more  than  steady  application,  and  a  habit  of  observation." — 
Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  265.  "  Virtue  confers  supreme  dignity  on  man :  and  should  be  his 
chief  desire." — Ib.  p.  192 ;  and  Merchant's,  192.  "  The  Supreme  author  of  our  being  has  so 
formed  the  soul  of  man,  that  nothing  but  himself  can  be  its  last,  adequate,  and  proper  hap- 
piness."— Addison,  Sped.  No.  413  ;  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  213.  The  inhabitants  of  China  laugh  at 
the  plantations  of  our  Europeans  ;  because,  they  say,  any  one  may  place  trees  in  equal  rows 
and  uniform  figures." — Ad.  Spect.  No.  414 ;  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  222.  "  The  divine  laws  are 

#In  his  explanation  of  Ellipsis,  Lindley  Murray  continually  calls  it  "  the  ellipsis,"  and  speaks  of  it  as  eome- 
thing  that  is  "  used," — "made  use  of," — "applied," — "contained  in"  the  examples;  which  expressions, 
referring,  as  they  there  do,  to  the  mere  'absence  of  something,  appear  to  me  solecistical.  The  notion  too,  which 
this  author  and  others  have  entertained  of  the  figure  itself,  is  in  many  respects  erroneous  ;  and  nearly  all  their 
examples  for  its  illustration  are  either  questionable  as  to  such  an  application,  or  obviously  inappropriate.  The 
absence  of  what  is  needless  or  unsuggtsted,  is  no  ellipsis,  though  some  grave  men  have  not  discerned  this 
obvious  fact  The  nine  solecisms  here  quoted  concerning  "the  ellipsis,"  are  all  found  in  many  other  grammar*. 
See  FisVi  E.  Gram.  p.  144 ;  Guy'*,  91 ;  IngersoWs,  153;  J.  M.  Putnam1.",  137  ;  R.  C.  Smith's,  180 ;  Weld's,  190. 


CHAP.  XIH.]  SYNTAX. GENERAL   BULE. ERRORS.  G97 

not  reversible  by  those  of  men." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  167.     "  In  both  of  these  examples,  the 
relative  and  the  verb  which  teas,  are  understood." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  273  ;   Comly's,  152  ; 
IngersolFs,  285.     "  The  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  though,  for  many  reasons,  they  cannot 
be  called  dialects  of  one  another,  are  nevertheless  closely  connected." — Dr.  Murray's  Hist. 
of  European  Lang.  Vol.  ii,  p.  5 1.     "To  ascertain  and  settle  which,  of  a  white  rose  or  a  red  rose, 
breathes  the  sweetest  fragrance." — J.  Q.  Adams,  Orat.  1831.     "To  which  he  can  afford  to 
devote  much  less  of  his  time  and  labour." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  254. 
"Avoid  extremes ;  and  shun  the  fault  of  such, 
Who  still  are  plcas'd  too  little  or  too  much."— Pope,  on  Crit.  1.  384. 

LESSON  XL— BAD  PHRASES. 

"  He  had  as  good  leave  his  vessel  to  the  direction  of  the  winds." — SOUTH  :  in  Joh.  Diet. 
*'  Without  good  nature  and  gratitude,  men  had  as  good  live  in  a  wilderness  as  in  society." 
— L'EsTRAXGE :  ib.  "And  for  this  reason  such  lines  almost  never  occur  together." — Blair's 
Rhet.  p.  385.  "His  being  a  great  man  did  not  make  him  a  happy  man." — Crombie's 
Treatise,  p.  288.  "  Let  that  which  tends  to  the  making  cold  your  love  be  judged  in  all." 
— N.  Crisp.  "It  is  worthy  the  observing,  that  there  is  no  passion  in  the  mind  of  man  so 
weak  but  it  mates  and  masters  the  fear  of  death." — Bacon's  Essays,  p.  4.  "Accent  dignifies 
the  syllable  on  which  it  is  laid,  and  makes  it  more  distinguished  by  the  ear  than  the  rest." 
— Sheridan's  Lect.  p.  80  ;  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  244.  "  Before  he  proceeds  to  argue  either 
on  one  side  or  other." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  313.  "The  change  in  general  of  manners  through- 
out all  Europe." — Ib.  p.  375.  "  The  sweetness  and  beauty  of  Virgil's  numbers,  throughout 
his  whole  works." — Ib.  p.  440.  "  The  French  writers  of  sermons  study  neatness  and  ele- 
gance in  laying  down  their  heads." — Ib.  p.  313.  "  This  almost  never  fails  to  prove  a  refrige- 
rant to  passion." — Ib.  p.  321.  "At  least  their  fathers,  brothers,  and  uncles,  cannot,  as  good 
relations  and  good  citizens,  dispense  with  their  not  standing  forth  to  demand  vengeance." 
— Goldsmith's  Greece,  Vol.  i,  p.  191.  "Alleging,  that  their  crying  down  the  church  of 
Home,  was  a  joining  hand  with  the  Turks." — Barclay's  Works,  i,  239.  "To  which  is  added 
the  Assembly  of  Divines  Catechism." — New-England  Primer,  p.  1.  "  This  treachery  was 
always  present  in  both  their  thoughts." — Dr.  Robertson.  "Thus  far  both  their  words 
agree."  ("Conrcniunt  adhuc  vtriusque  verba.  Plaut.") — Walker's  Particles,  p.  125.  "Aparith- 
mesis,  or  Enumeration,  is  the  branching  out  into  several  parts  of  what  might  be  expressed 
in  fewer  words." — Gould's  Gram.  p.  241.  "Aparithmesis,  or  Enumeration,  is  when  what 
miijht  be  expressed  in  a  few  words,  is  branched  out  into  several  parts." — Adam's  Gram, 
p.  '_'")!.  "Which  may  sit  from  time  to  time  where  you  dwell  or  in  the  neighbouring 
vicinity." — Taylor's  District  School,  1st  Ed.,  p.  281.  "Place  together  a  large  and  a  small 
si/ed  animal  of  the  same  species." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  235.  "The  weight  of  the  swim- 
ming body  is  equal  to  that  of  the  weight,  of  the  quantity  of  fluid  displaced  by  it." — Perci- 
vaTs  Tales,  ii.  213.  "The  Subjunctive  mood,  in  all  its  tenses,  is  similar  to  that  of  the  Opta- 
tive." Gwilt's  Saxon  Gram.  p.  27.  "No  other  feeling  of  obligation  remains,  except  that 
of  fidelity."—  Wayland's  Moral  Science,  1st  Ed.,  p.  82.  "Who  asked  him,  'What  could  be 
the  reason,  that  whole  audiences  should  be  moved  to  tears,  at  the  representation  of  some 
fit>ry  on  the  stage.'  " — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  175.  "Art  not  thou  and  you  ashamed  to 
afKrm,  that  the  best  works  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  his  saints  are  as  filthy  rags?" — 
Barclay's  Works,  i,  174.  "A  neuter  verb  becomes  active,  when  followed  by  a  noun  of  the 
same  signification  with  its  own." — Sanbom's  Gram.  p.  127.  "  But  he  has  judged  better,  in 
omitting  to  repeat  the  article  the." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  194.  "  Many  objects  please  us  as 
highly  beautiful,  which  have  almost  no  variety  at  all." — Ib.  p.  46.  "  Yet  notwithstand- 
ing, they  sometimes  follow  them." — Emmnns's  Gram.  p.  21.  "  For  I  know  of  nothing  more 
material  in  all  the  whole  Subject,  than  this  doctrine  of  Mood  and  Tense." — Johnson's  Gram. 
Com.  p.  292.  "  It  is  by  no  means  impossible  for  an  errour  to  be  got  rid  of  or  supprest." — 
Philological  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p.  642.  "  These  are  things  of  the  highest  importance  to  the 
growing  age." — Murray's  AV.y,  8vo,  p.  2  ~>0.  "  He  had  better  have  omitted  the  word  many." 
— Blair's  Rhrt.  p.  'Jo.").  "  Which  had  better  have  been  separated." — Ib.  p.  225.  "Figures 
and  metaphors,  therefore,  should,  on  no  occasion  be  stuck  on  too  profusely." — Ib.  p.  144  ; 
Ji'inii  inn's  Uhft.  1.50.  "  Metaphors,  as  well  as  other  figures,  should  on  no  occasion,  be 
stuck  on  too  profusely." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  338;  Russell's,  136.  "Something  like  this 
hus  been  reproached  to  Tacitus." — BOUNGHUOKE  ;  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  164. 
••  O  thou,  whom  all  mankind  in  vain  withstand, 
Each  of  whose  blood  must  one  day  stain  thy  hand!  "—Sheffield's  Temple  of  Death. 

LESSON  XII.— TWO  ERRORS.  * 

"Pronouns  are  sometimes  made  to  precede  the  things  which  they  represent." — Murray's 
Gram.  p.  160.  "  Most  prepositions  originally  denote  the  relation  of  place." — Lotcth's  Gram, 

*  Some  of  these  examples  do,  in  fact,  contain  more  than  two  errors  ;  for  mistakes  in  punctuation,  or  in  the  use 
of  capital*,  are  not  here  reckoned.  This  romark  may  also  be  applicable  to  some  of  the  other  lessons.  The 
re  uler  may  likewise  perceire,  that  where  two,  three,  or  more  improprieties  occur  in  one  sentence,  some  one  w 

46 


698  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

p.  65.  "Which  is  applied  to  inferior  animals  and  things  without  life." — Bullions,  E.  Gram. 
p.  24  ;  Pract.  Lessons,  30.  "  What  noun  do  they  describe  or  tell  the  kind  ?  "—Infant  School 
Gram.  p.  41.  "Iron  cannon,  as  well  as  brass,  is  now  universally  cast  solid." — Jamieson's 
Diet.  "We  have  philosophers,  eminent  and  conspicuous,  perhaps,  beyond  any  nation." — 
Blair's  Bhet.  p.  251.  "This  is  a  question  about  words  alone,  and  which  common  sense 
easily  determines." — Ib.  p.  320.  "The  low  [pitch  of  the  voice]  is,  when  he  approaches  to  a 
whisper." — Ib.  p.  328.  "  Which,  as  to  the  effect,  is  just  the  same  with  using  no  suchdis- 
tinctions  at  all." — Ib.  p.  33.  "These  two  systems,  therefore,  differ  in  reality  very  little  from  one 
another." — Ib. p.  23.  "It  were  needless  to  give  many  instances,  as  they  occur  so  often." — 
Ib.  p.  109.  "  There  are  many  occasions  when  this  is  neither  requisite  nor  would  be  proper." 
— Ib.  p.  311.  "  Dramatic  poetry  divides  itself  into  the  two  forms,  of  comedy  or  tragedy." — 
Ib.  p.  452.  "No  man  ever  rhymed  truer  and  evener  than  he." — Pref.  to  Waller,  p.  5. 
"  The  Doctor  did  not  reap  a  profit  from  his  poetical  labours  equal  to  those  of  his  prose." — 
Johnson's  Life  of  Goldsmith.  "We  will  follow  that  which  we  found  our  father's  practice." 
— Sale's  Koran,  i,  28.  "And!  would  deeply  regret  having  published  them." — Infant  School 
Gram.  p.  vii.  "  Figures  exhibit  ideas  in  a  manner  more  vivid  and  impressive,  than  could  be 
done  by  plain  language." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  222.  "The  allegory  is  finely  drawn,  only 
the  heads  various." — Sped.  No.  540.  "  I  should  not  have  thought  it  worthy  a  place  here." — 
Crombie's  Treatise,  p.  219.  "  In  this  style,  Tacitus  excels  all  writers,  ancient  and  modern." 
— Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  ii,  261.  "  No  author,  ancient  or  modern,  possesses  the  art  of  dialogue 
equal  to  Shakspeare." — Ib.  ii,  294.  "  The  names  of  every  thing  we  hear,  see,  smell,  taste, 
and  feel,  are  nouns." — Infant  School  Gram.  p.  16.  "What  number  are  these  boys?  these 
pictures?  &c." — Ib.  p.  23.  "This  sentence  is  faulty,  somewhat  in  the  same  manner  with 
the  last." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  230.  "  Besides  perspicuity,  he  pursues  propriety,  purity,  and 
precision,  in  his  language  ;  which  forms  one  degree,  and  no  inconsiderable  one,  of  beauty." 
— Ib.  p.  181.  "Many  critical  terms  have  unfortunately  been  employed  in  a  sense  too  loose 
and  vague ;  none  more  so,  than  that  of  the  sublime." — Ib.  p.  35.  "  Hence,  no  word  in  the 
language  is  used  in  a  more  vague  signification  than  beauty." — Ib.  p.  45.  "  But,  still,  he 
made  use  only  of  general  terms  in  speech." — Ib.  p.  73.  "  These  give  life,  body,  and  colour- 
ing to  the  recital  of  facts,  and  enable  us  to  behold  them  as  present,  and  passing  before  our 
eyes." — Ib.  p.  360.  "Which  carried  an  ideal  chivalry  to  a  still  more  extravagant  height 
than  it  had  risen  in  fact." — Ib.  p.  374.  "  We  write  much  more  supinely,  and  at  o-ur  ease, 
than  the  ancients.": — Ib.  p.  351.  "This  appears  indeed  to  form  the  characteristical  differ- 
ence between  the  ancient  poets,  orators,  and  historians,  compared  with  the  modern." — /&. 
p.  350.  "  To  violate  this  rule,  as  is  too  often  done  by  the  English,  shews  great  incorrect- 
ness."— Ib.  p.  463.  "  It  is  impossible,  by  means  of  any  study  to  avoid  their  appearing  stiff 
and  forced." — Ib.  p.  335.  "  Besides  its  giving  the  speaker  the  disagreeable  appearance  of 
one  who  endeavours  to  compel  assent." — Ib.  p.  328.  "And,  on  occasions  where  a  light  or 
ludicrous  anecdote  is  proper  to  be  recorded,  it  is  generally  better  to  throw  it  into  a  no  ;e, 
than  to  hazard  becoming  too  familiar." — Ib.  p.  359.  "  The  great  business  of  this  life  is  to  pi  e- 
pare,  and  qualify  us,  for  the  enjoyment  of  a  better." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.373.  "  In 
some  dictionaries,  accordingly,  it  was  omitted  ;  and  in  others  stigmatized  as  a  barbarisrr.." 
—  Crombie's  Treatise,  p.  322.  "  You  cannot  see,  or  think  of,  a  thing,  unless  it  be  a  noun." — 
Mack's  Gram.  p.  65.  "  The  fleet  are  all  arrived  and  moored  in  safety." — Murray's  Key,  ii,  185. 

LESSON  XIII.— TWO  ERRORS. 

"  They  have  each  their  distinct  and  exactly-limited  relation  to  gravity." — Hasler's 
Astronomy,  p.  219.  "  But  in  cases  which  would  give  too  much  of  the  hissing  sound,  the 
omission  takes  place  even  in  prose." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  175.  "After  o  it  [the  w]  is 
sometimes  not  sounded  at  all ;  sometimes  like  a  single  w." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  3.  "It  is 
situation  chiefly  which  decides  of  the  fortunes  and  characters  of  men." — HUME  :  Priestley's 
Gram.  p.  159.  "  It  is  situation  chiefly  which  decides  the  fortune  (or,  concerning  the  for- 
tune) and  characters  of  men." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  201.  "  The  vice  of  covetousness 
is  what  enters  deeper  into  the  soul  than  any  other." — Ib.  p.  167  ;  IngersoWs,  193  ;  Fish's, 
103  ;  Campbell's  Rhet.  205.  "  Covetousness,  of  all  vices,  enters  the  deepest  into  the  soul." — 
Murray,  167  ;  and  others.  "  Covetousness  is  what  of  all  vices  enters  the  deepest  into  the  soul." 
— Campbells  Rhet.  p.  205.  "  The  vice  of  covetousness  is  what  enters  deepest  into  the  soul 
of  any  other." — Guardian,  No.  19.  "Would  primarily  denotes  inclination  of  will;  and 
should,  obligation  :  but  they  both  vary  their  import,  and  are  often  used  to  express  simple 
event." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  43  ;  Murray's,  89  ;  Fisk's,  78  ;  Greanleafs,  27.  "  But  they  both 
vary  their  import,  and  are  often  used  to  express  simple  events." — Comly's  Gram.  p. 
39  ;  IngersoWs,  137.  "  But  they  vary  their  import,  and  are  often  used  to  express  simple 
event." — Abel  Flint's  Gram.  p.  42.  "A  double  conjunctive,  in  two  correspondent  clauses  of 

more  of  them  may  happen  to  be  such,  as  he  can,  if  he  choose,  correct  by  some  rule  or  note  belonging  to  a 
previous  chapter.  Great  labour  has  been  bestowed  on  the  selection  and  arrangement  of  these  syntactical 
exercises ;  but  to  give  to  so  great  a  variety  of  literary  faults,  a  distribution  perfectly  distinct,  and  perfectly 
adapted  to  all  the  heads  assumed  in  this  digest,  is  a  work  not  only  of  great  labour,  but  of  great  difficulty.  I 
have  come  as  near  to  these  two  points  of  perfection  in  the  arrangement,  as  I  well  could. — G.  BROWM. 


CHAP.    XIII.]  SYNTAX. GENERAL    RULE. ERRORS.  G99 

a  sentence,  is  sometimes  made  use  of:  as,  'Had  he  done  this,  he  had  escaped.'  " — Murray's 
Gram.  8vo,  p.  213  ;  Ingersotfs,  269.  "The  pleasures  of  the  understanding  are  preferable  to 
those  of  the  imagination,  or  of  sense." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  191.  "  Claudian,  in  a  fragment 
upon  the  wars  of  the  giants,  has  contrived  to  render  this  idea  of  their  throwing  the  moun- 
tains, which  is  in  itself  so  grand,  burlesque,  and  ridiculous." — Blairs  Rhet.  p.  42.  "To 
which  not  only  no  other  writings  are  to  be  preferred,  but  even  in  divers  respects  not  com- 
parable."— Barclay's  Works,  i,  53.  "To  distinguish  them  in  the  understanding,  and  treat  of 
their  several  natures,  in  the  same  cool  manner  as  we  do  with  regard  to  other  ideas." — 
S/wid'tn's  Elocution,  p.  137.  "For  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  parsing  or  analyzing  lan- 
guage."— Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  19.  Or:  "For  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  parsing,  or  analyz- 
ing, language." — Id.  Second  Edition,  p.  16.  "Neither  was  that  language  [the  Latin]  ever 
so  vulgar  in  Britain." — SWIFT  :  see  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  228.  "All  that  I  propose  is  to  give  some 
openings  into  the  pleasures  of  taste." — Ib.  p.  28.  "  But  it  would  have  been  better  omitted  in 
the  following  sentences." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  210.  "But  I  think  it  had  better  be 
omitted  in  the  following  sentence." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  162.  "  They  appear,  in  this  case, 
like  excrescences  jutting  out  from  the  body,  which  had  better  have  been  wanted." — Blair's 

And  therefore,  the  fable  of  the  Harpies,  in  the  third  book  of  the  yEncid,  and 
the  allegory  of  Sin  and  Death,  in  the  second  book  of  Paradise  Lost,  had  been  better  omitted 
in  these  celebrated  poems." — Ib.  p.  430.  "  Ellipsis  is  an  elegant  Suppression  (or  the  leav- 
ing out)  of  a  Word,  or  Words  in  a  Sentence." — British  Gram.  p.  234;  Buchanan's,  p.  131. 
"The  article  a  or  an  had  better  be  omitted  in  this  construction." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  67. 
"  Now  suppose  the  articles  had  not  been  left  out  in  these  passages." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  27. 
"To  give  separate  names  to  every  one  of  those  trees,  would  have  been  an  endless  and 
impracticable  undertaking." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  72.  "AY,  in  general,  sounds  the  same  as  long 
and  slender  a." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  12.  "  When  a  conjunction  is  used  apparently  redundant 
it  is  called  Polysyndeton." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  236  ;  Gould's,  229.  "Each,  every,  either,  neither, 
denote  the  persons  or  things  which  make  up  a  number,  as  taken  separately  or  distribu- 
tively." — M'Culloch's  Gram.  p.  31.  "  The  Principal  Sentence  must  be  expressed  by  verbs  in 
the  Indicative,  Imperative,  or  Potential  Modes."—  f 'lark's  Pract.  Gram.  p.  133.  ""Hence  he 
is  diffuse,  where  he  ought  to  have  been  pressing." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  246.  "All  manner  of 
subjects  admit  of  explaining  comparisons." — Ib.  p.  164;  Jam icson's  Rhet.  161.  "The  pres- 
ent or  imperfect  participle  denotes  action  or  being  continued,  but  not  perfected." — Kirk- 
ham's  Gram.  p.  78.  "  What  are  verbs  ?  Those  words  which  express  what  the  nouns  do." — 
Fawlc's  True-  Enr/.  Gram.  p.  29. 

"  Of  all  those  arts  in  which  the  wise  excel, 

Nature's  chief  masterpiece  is  writing  well." — J.  Sheffield,  Duke  of  Buck. 
"  Such  was  that  muse  whose  rules  and  practice  tell 

Nature's  chief  masterpiece  is  writing  well." — Pope,  on  Criticism. 

LESSON  XIV.—  THREE  ERRORS. 

"  In  some  words  the  metaphorical  sense  has  justled  out  the  original  sense  altogether,  so 
that  in  respect  of  it  they  are  become  obsolete." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  323.     "  Sure  never  any 
in  >rtal  was  so  overwhelmed  with  grief  as  I  am  at  this  present." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  138. 
"All  languages  differ  from  each  other  in  their  mode  of  inflexion. — Bullions,  E.  Gram.,  Pref., 
]).  v.       "  Nouns  and  verbs  are  the  only  indispensable  parts  of  speech — the  one  to  express 
th  •  subject  spoken  of,  and  the  other  the  predicate  or  what  is  affirmed  of  it." — M*Cuttoch's 
Gram.  p.  30.     "  The  words  in  italics  of  the  three  latter  examples,  perform  the  office  of  sub- 
stantives."—  L.  Mtirrni/'s  Gram.  Hvo,  p.  66.     "Such  a  structure  of  a  sentence  is  always  the 
mark  of  careless  writing." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  231.     "  Nothing  is  frequently  more  hurtful  to 
the  grace  or  vivacity  of  a  period,  than  superliuous  dragging  words  at  the  conclusion." — Ib. 
"  When  its  substantive  is  not  joined  to  it,  but  referred  to,  or  understood." — Loirth's 
• .     "  Yet  they  have  always  some  substantive  belonging  to  them,  either  referred 
to,  or  understood." — Ib.    24.      "  Because  they  define  and  limit  the  extent  of  the  common 
name,  or  general  term,  to  which  they  either  refer,  or  are  joined." — Ib.  24.     "Every  new 
object  surprises,  terrifies,  and   makes  a  strong  impression  on  their  mind." — Blair's   Rhet.  p. 
•    II:-  argument  required  to  have  been  more  fully  unfolded,  in  order  to  make  it  be  dis- 
tinctly apprehended,   and   to  give  it  its  due   force." — Ib.  p.  230.       "  Participles  which  are 
derived  from  active  verbs,  will  govern  the  objective  case,  the  same  as  the  verbs  from  which 
they  are  derived." — Em  mo  us' a   Gram.  p.  61.     "  Where,   contrary  to  the  rule,  the  nomina- 
tive /  precedes,  and  the  obi'  -rhnm  follows  the  verb." — Murray**  Gram.  8vo,  p.  181. 
"  The  same  conjunction  governing  both  the  indicative  and  the  subjunctive  moods,  in  the  same 
sentence,  and  in  the  same  >  to  be  a  great  impropriety." — Ib.  p.  207; 
Smith's  Xar  Gram.  173  :   see  Is>irth's  Gram.  p.  10o  ;  Fink's,  1'JS  ;  and  'linji-rsoll's,  2W5.    "A  nice 
di-cernment,  and  accurate  attention  to   th>  .  to  direct  us,  on  the>c 
-Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  p.  170.      "The  <  J  reeks  ami  lu.iu.i  -.s,  the  1'ormer  especially, 
in  truth,  much  more  musieal  nations  than  we;  their  genius  \  as  more  turned  to  de- 
light in  the  melody  of  speech." — Blair's   IHut.  j>.    1.1:'.     •»  When  the   sens.-   admits  it,  the 
is  introduced,  the  better,  that  the  more  important  and  significant 


700  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

words  may  possess  the  last  place,  quite  disencumbered." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  i,  p.  309  ; 
Parker  and  Fox's,  Part.  Ill,  p.  88.  "  When  the  sense  admits  it,  the  sooner  they  are  de- 
spatched, generally  speaking,  the  better  ;  that  the  more  important  and  significant  words  may 
possess  the  last  place,  quite  disencumbered."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  118.  See  also  Jamieson's  Ehet. 
p.  101.  "  Thus  we  find  it,  both  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  tongues." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  74.  "A 
train  of  sentences,  constructed  in  the  same  manner,  and  with  the  same  number  of  members, 
should  never  be  allowed  to  succeed  one  another." — Ib.  p.  102  ;  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  Vol.  i, 
p.  306  ;  Parker  and  Fox's  Gram.,  Part  III,  p.  86.  "  I  proceed  to  lay  down  the  rules  to  be 
observed  in  the  conduct  of  metaphors ;  and  which  are  much  the  same  for  tropes  of  every 
kind." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  143.  "  By  a  proper  choice  of  words,  we  may  produce  a  resemblance 
of  other  sounds  which  we  mean  to  describe." — Ib.  p.  129  ;  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  Vol.  i,  p. 
331.  "  The  disguise  can  almost  never  be  so  perfect,  but  it  is  discovered." — Blair's  Rhet.  p. 
259.  "  The  sense  admits  of  no  other  pause  than  after  the  second  syllable  '  sit,'  which  there- 
fore must  be  the  only  pause  made  in  the  reading." — Ib.  p.  333.  "  Not  that  I  believe  North 
America  to  be  peopled  so  late  as  the  twelfth  century,  the  period  of  Madoc's  migration." — 
Webster's  Essays,  p.  212.  "Money  and  commodities  wil  always  now  to  that  country,  where 
they  are  most  wanted  and  wil  command  the  moat  profit." — Ib.  p.  308.  "That  it  contains 
no  visible  marks,  of  articles,  which  are  the  most  important  of  all  others,  to  a  just  delivery." 
— Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  13.  "And  of  virtue,  from  its  beauty,  we  call  it  a  fair  and  favourite 
maid." — Mack's  Gram.  p.  66.  "  The  definite  article  may  agree  with  nouns  in  the  singular 
and  plural  number." — Infant  School  Gram.  p.  130. 

LESSON  XV.  —  MANY  ERRORS. 

(1.)  "A  compound  word  is  included  under  the  head  of  derivative  words." — Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  p.  23.  (2.)  "An  Apostrophe,  marked  thus  '  is  used  to  abbreviate  or  shorten  a  word. 
Its  chief  use  is  to  show  the  genitive  case  of  nouns." — Ib.  p.  281.*  (3.)  "A  Hyphen,  marked 
thus  -  is  employed  in  connecting  compounded  words.  It  is  also  used  when  a  word  is  di- 
vided."— Ib.  p.  282.  (4.)  "The  Acute  Accent,  marked  thus ':  as, 'Fancy.'  The  Grave 
thus  \  as,  'Favour.'  " — Ib.  282.  (5.)  "  The  stress  is  laid  on  long  and  short  syllables  indis- 
criminately. In  order  to  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other,  some  writers  of  dictionaries 
have  placed  the  grave  on  the  former,  and  the  acute  on  the  latter." — Ib.  282.  (6.)  "A 
Diseresis,  thus  marked",  consists  of  two  points  placed  over  one  of  the  two  vowels  that 
would  otherwise  make  a  diphthong,  and  parts  them  into  syllables."— Ib.  282.  (7.)  "A 
Section,  marked  thus  §,  is  the  division  of  a  discourse,  or  chapter,  into  less  parts  or  portions." 
— Ib.  282.  (8.)  "A  Paragraph  H  denotes  the  beginning  of  a  new  subject,  or  a  sentence  not 
connected  with  the  foregoing.  This  character  is  chiefly  used  in  the  Old  and  in  the  Now 
Testaments." — Ib.  282.  (9.)  "A  Quotation  "  ".  Two  inverted  commas  are  generally 
placed  at  the  beginning  of  a  phrase  or  a  passage,  which  is  quoted  or  transcribed  from  1  he 
speaker  or  author  in  his  own  words ;  and  two  commas  in  their  direct  position,  are  placed 
at  the  conclusion." — Ib.  282.  (10.)  "A  Brace  is  used  in  poetry  at  the  end  of  a  triplet  or 
three  lines,  which  have  the  same  rhyme.  Braces  are  also  used  to  connect  a  number  of 
words  with  one  common  term,  and  are  introduced  to  prevent  a  repetition  in  writing  or 
printing." — Ib.  p.  283.  (11.)  "Two  or  three  asterisks  generally  denote  the  omission  of 
some  letters  in  a  word,  or  ot  some  bold  or  indelicate  expression,  or  some  defect  in  uhe 

manuscript."—  Ib.  283.  (12.)  "An  Ellipsis is  also  used,  when  some  letters  in  a  word,  or 

some  words  in  a  verse,  are  omitted." — Ib.  283.  (13.)  "An  Obelisk,  which  is  marked  thus  f, 
and  Parallels  thus  ||,  together  with  the  letters  of  the  Alphabet,  and  figures,  are  used  as 
references  to  the  margin,  or  bottom  of  the  page." — Ib.  283.  (14.)  "A  note  of  interrogation 
should  not  be  employed,  in  cases  where  it  is  only  said  a  question  has  been  asked,  and  where 
the  words  are  not  used  as  a  question.  '  The  Cyprians  asked  me  why  I  wept.'  " — Ib.  p.  279  ; 
Comly,  163;  Inaersoll,  291;  Fiskt  157;  Flint,  113.  (15.)  "A  point  of  interrogation  is  im- 
proper after  sentences  which  are  not  questions,  but  only  expressions  of  admiration,  or  of 
some  other  emotion." — Same  authors  and  places.  (16.)  "The  parenthesis  incloses  in  the 


*  In  Murray's  sixth  chapter  of  Punctuation,  from  which  this  example,  and  eleven  others  that  follow  it,  are 
taken,  there  is  scarcely  a  single  sentence  that  does  not  contain  many  errors ;  and  yet  the  whole  is  literally  copied 
in  IngersoWs  Grammar,  p.  293  ;  in  Fisk's,  p.  159  ;  in  Abel  Flint's,  116  ;  and  probably  in  some  others.  I  have 
not  always  been  careful  to  subjoin  the  great  number  of  references  which  might  be  given  for  blunders  selected 
from  this  hackneyed  literature  of  the  schools.  For  corrections,  or  improvements,  see  the  Key. 

t  This  example,  or  L.Murray's  miserable  modification  of  it,  traced  through  the  grammars  of  Alden,  Alger, 
Bullions,  Comly,  Cooper,  Flint,  Ililey,  Ingersoll,  Jaudon,  Merchant,  Russell,  Smith,  and  others,  will  be  found  to 
have  a  dozen  different  forms — all  of  them  no  less  faulty  than  the  original — all  of  them  obscure,  untrue,  incon- 
sistent, and  almost  incorrigible.  It  is  plain,  that  "  a  comma,"  or  one  comma,  cannot  divide  more  than  two 
"  simple  members  ;  "  and  these,  surely,  cannot  be  connected  by  more  than  one  relative,  or  by  more  than  one 
"comparative;  "  if  it  be  allowable  to  call  than,  as,  or  so,  by  this  questionable  name.  Of  the  multitude  of 
errors  into  which  these  pretended  critics  have  BO  blindly  fallen,  I  shall  have  space  and  time  to  point  out  only 
a  very  small  part :  this  text,  too  justly,  may  be  taken  as  a  pretty  fair  sample  of  their  scholarship  ! 


CI1AP.    XIII.]  SYNTAX.— GENERAL   BULE. ERRORS.  701 

part,  distinguished  by  a  comma." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  272;  Alden's,  148;  Ingersolfs, 
284.  See  the  same  words  without  the  last  two  commas,  in  Comly'a  Gram.  p.  149  ;  Aider's, 
79  ;  Merchant's  Murray,  143  : — and  this  again,  with  a  different  sense,  made  by  a  comma  before 
"connected"  in  Smith's  AVic  Gram.  190;  Abel  Flint's,  102.  (19.)  "  Simple  members  of  sen- 
tences connected  by  comparatives,  are  for  the  most  part  distinguished  by  the  comma." — 
Russell's  Gram.  p.  115.  (20.)  "Simple  members  of  sentences,  connected  by  comparatives, 
should  generally  be  distinguished  by  a  comma." — Merchant's  School  Gram.  p.  150.  (21.) 
"  Simple  members  of  sentences  connected  by  than  or  so,  or  that  express  contrast  or  com- 
parison, should,  generally,  be  divided  by  a  comma." — Jaudon's  Gram.  p.  185.  (22.)  "  Sim- 
ple members  of  sentences,  connected  by  comparatives,  if  they  be  long,  are  separated  by  a 
comma." — Cooper's  New  Gram.  p.  195.  See  the  same  without  the  first  comma,  in  Cooper's 
Murray,  p.  1813.  (23.)  "  Simple  members  of  sentences  connected  by  comparatives,  and 
phrases  placed  in  opposition  to,  or  in  contrast  with,  each  other,  are  separated  by  commas." 
— Bullions,  p.  153  ;  Hiley,  113.  (24.)  "  On  which  ever  word  we  lay  the  emphasis,  whether 
on  the  first,  second,  third,  or  fourth,  it  strikes  out  a  different  sense." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo, 
p.  243.  (25.)  "To  inform  those  who  do  not  understand  sea  phrases,  that,  «  VVe  tacked  to 
the  larboard,  and  stood  off  to  sea,'  would  be  expressing  ourselves  very  obscurely." — Ib.  p. 
296;  and  Hiley' s  Gram.  p.  151.  (26.)  "Of  dissyllables,  which  are  at  once  nouns  and  verbs, 

the  verb  has  commonly  the  accent  on  the  latter,  and  the  noun,  on  the  former  syllable." 

Murray,  ib.  p.  237.  (27.)  "And  this  gives  our  language  a  superior  advantage  to  most 
others,  in  the  poetical  and  rhetorical  style." — Id.  ib.  p.  38  ;  Ingersoll,  27  ;  Fiskt  57.  (28.) 
"And  this  gives  the  English  an  advantage  above  most  other  languages  in  the  poetical  and 
rhetorical  style." — Loicth's  Gram.  p.  19.  (29.)  "  The  second  and  third  scholar  may  read 
the  same  sentence  ;  and  as  many,  as  it  is  necessary  to  learn  it  perfectly  to  the  whole." — 
Osborn's  Key,  p.  4. 

(30.)  "  Bliss  is  the  name  in  subject  as  a  king, 

In  who  obtain  defence,  or  who  defend." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  178. 

LESSON  XVI.  — MANY  ERRORS. 

"  The  Japanese,  the  Tonquinese,  and  the  Coraoans,  speak  different  languages  from  one 
another,  and  from  the  inhabitants  of  China,  but  use,  with  these  last  people,  the  same  writ- 
ten characters ;  a  proof  that  the  Chinese  characters  are  like  hieroglyphics,  independent  of 
language." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  18.  "  The  Japanese,  the  Tonquinese,  and  the  Corceans, 
who  speak  different  languages  from  one  another,  and  from  the  inhabitants  of  China,  use, 
however,  the  same  written  characters  with  them  ;  and  by  this  means  correspond  intelligibly 
with  each  other  in  writing,  though  ignorant  of  the  language  spoken  in  their  several  coun- 
tries ;  a  plain  proof,"  &c. — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  67.  "  The  curved  line  is  made  square  instead  of 
round,  for  the  reason  beforementioned." — Knight,  on  the  Greek  Alphabet,  p.  6.  "Every  one 
should  content  himself  with  the  use  of  those  tones  only  that  he  is  habituated  to  in  speech, 
and  to  give  none  other  to  emphasis,  but  what  he  would  do  to  the  same  words  in  discourse. 
Thus  whatever  he  utters  will  be  done  with  ease,  and  appear  natural."—  Sheridan's  Elocution, 
p.  103.  "  Stops,  or  pauses,  are  a  total  cessation  of  sound  during  a  perceptible,  and  in  numerous 
compositions,  a  measurable  space  of  time." — Ib.  p.  104.  "Pauses  or  rests,  in  speaking  and 


iinimitict!  Xouns ;  as,  lambkin,  hillock,  satchel,  gosling,  from  lamb,  hill,  sack,  goose." Bul- 
lions, 1-1.  Gram.,  1837,  p.  9.  "  What  is  the  cause  that  nonsense  so  often  escapes  being  detected, 
both  by  the  writer  and  by  the  reader  • " — Campbell's  Rhtt.  p.  xi,  and  280.  "An  Interjection  is 
a  word  used  to  express  sudden  emotion.  They  are  so  called,  because  they  are  generally 
thrown  in  between  the  parts  of  a  sentence  without  reference  to  the  structure  of  the  other 
parts  of  it." — M'Culloch's  drum,  p.  36.  "Ought  (in  duty  bound)  oughtcst,  oughtcdst,  are  it's 
only  inflections." — Mackintosh's  Gram.  p.  165.  "But  the  arrangment,  government,  agree- 
ment, and  dependence  of  one  word  upon  another,  are  referred  to  our  reason." — Osborn's  Key, 
J '/•>'/.  p.  ;>.  ".l/f  is  a  personal  pronoun,  first  person  singular,  and  the  accusative  case." — 
(iui/'.'i  drum.  p.  20.  "  The  substantive  self  is  added  to  a  pronoun  ;  as,  herself,  himself,  &c. ; 
and  when  thus  united,  is  called  a  reciprocal  pronoun." — Ib.  p.  18.  "One  cannot  avoid 
thinking  that  our  author  had  done  better  to  have  begun  the  first  of  these  three  sentences, 
•with  saying,  it  is  nocelty  ic/iich  bestows  charms  on  a  monster,  &e." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  207.  "The 
idea  which  they  present  to  us  of  nature's  resembling  art,  of  art's  being  considered  as  an 
original,  and  nature  as  a  copy,*  seems  not  very  distinct  nor  well  brought  out,  nor  indeed 
very  material  to  our  author's  purpose." — Ib.  p.  220.  "The  present  construction  of  the 

•  The  "  idea  "  which  is  here  spoken  of,  Dr.  Blair  discovers  in  a  passage  of  Addison's  Spectator.  It  in,  in  fact, 
aji  here  "  brought  out "  by  the  critic,  a  bald  and  downright  absurdity.  Dr.  Campbell  baa  criticised,  under  the 
n  line  of  marvellous  notisentf,  a  different  display  of  the  same  "  id'a,"  cited  from  De  J'iles's  Principles  of 
I'&inting.  The  passage  ends  thus:  "  In  thw  sense  it  may  be  asserted,  that  iu  Hubeus'  pieces,  Art  is  above 
Nature,  ;ind  Nature  ouly  a  copy  of  that  great  master's  work.s.';  Of  this  the  critic  says  :  "  When  the  expression 
i«  itrt/it  of  the  absurd  meaning,  there  remains  nothing  but  balderdash.'' — Philosoj'hy  of  Rhet.  p.  278. 


702  TUB  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

sentence,  has  plainly  been  owing  to  hasty  and  careless  writing." — Ib.  p.  220.  "Adverbs 
serve  to  modify,  or  to  denote  some  circumstance  of  an  action,  or  of  a  quality,  relative  to  its 
time,  place,  order,  degree,  and  the  other  properties  of  it,  which  we  have  occasion  to  specify." 
— Ib.  p.  84.  "  The  more  that  any  nation  is  improved  by  science,  and  the  more  perfect  their 
language  becomes,  we  may  naturally  expect  that  it  will  abound  more  with  connective  parti- 
cles."— Ib.  p.  85.  "  Mr.  Greenleaf  s  book  is  by  far  the  best  adapted  for  learners  of  any  that 
has  yet  appeared  on  the  subject." — DR.  FELTUS  andBp.  ONDERDONK  :  Greenleaf  s  Gram.  p. 
2.  "  Punctuation  is  the  art  of  marking  in  writing  the  several  pauses,  or  rests,  between 
sentences,  and  the  parts  of  sentences,  according  to  their  proper  quantity  or  proportion,  as 
they  are  expressed  in  a  just  and  accurate  pronunciation." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  114.  "A 
compound  sentence  must  be  resolved  into  simple  ones,  and  separated  by  commas." — Green- 
leaf's  Gram.  p.  41;  Allen  Fish's,  155.*  "  Simple  sentences  should  be  separated  from  each 
other  by  commas,  unless  such  sentences  are  connected  by  a  conjunction  :  as,  '  Youth  is 
passing  away,  age  is  approaching  and  death  is  near.'  " — Hall's  Gram.  p.  36.  "Fhas  the 
sound  of  flat/,  and  bears  the  same  relation  to  it,  as  b  does  to  p,  d  to  t,  hard  g  to  k,  and  z  to 
s.  It  has  also  one  uniform  sound." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  17  ;  Fish's,  42.  "Fis  flat  /,  and 
bears  the  same  relation  to  it  as  b  does  to  p,  d  to  t,  hard  g  to  k,  and  z  to  s.  It  is  never  irreg- 
ular."—  Walker's  Diet.  p.  52.  "F  has  the  sound  of  flat/;  and  bears  the  same  relation  to  it 
as  z  does  to  s.  It  has  one  uniform  sound." — Greenleaf  s  Gram.  p.  20.  "The  author  is 
explaining  the  distinction,  between  the  powers  of  sense  and  imagination  in  the  human 
mind." — Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  Vol.  i,  p.  343.  [The  author  is  endeavouring]  "to  explain  a 
very  abstract  point,  the  distinction  between  the  powers  of  sense  and  imagination  in  the 
human  mind." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  164.  "  HE  (Anglo-Saxon  he}  is  a  Personal  pronoun,  of  the 
Third  Person,  Masculine  Gender  (Decline  he),  of  the  singular  number,  in  the  nominative 
case."—  Fowlers  E.  Gram.  Svo,  1850,  §  589. 

FALSE  SYNTAX  UNDER  THE  CRITICAL  NOTES. 
UNDER.  CRITICAL  NOTE  I.  —  OF  THE  PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 

"The  passive  voice  denotes  a  being  acted  upon." — Maunder' s  Gram.  p.  6. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  term  "  being  acted  upon,"  as  here  used,  suggests  a  doubt  concerning  its 
classification  in  parsing.  But,  according  to  Critical  Note  1st,  ''  Words  that  may  constitute  different  parts  of 
speech,  must  not  be  left  doubtful  as  to  their  classification,  or  to  what  part  of  speech  they  belong."  Therefore, 
the  phraseology  should  be  altered;  thus,  "The  passive  voice  denotes  an  action  received."  Or:  "The  passive 
voice  denotes  t/u  receiving  of  an  action"] 

"Milton,  in  some  of  his  prose  works,  has  very  finely  turned  periods." — Blair's  Rhet.  p. 
127  ;  Jamieson's,  129.  "  These  will  be  found  to  be  all,  or  chiefly,  of  that  class." — Blai.-'s 
Rhet.  p.  32.  "All  appearances  of  an  author's  affecting  harmony,  are  disagreeable." — Jb. 
p.  127  ;  Jamieson,  128.  "  Some  nouns  have  a  double  increase,  that  is,  increase  by  more 
syllables  than  one  ;  as,  iter,  itineris." — Adam 's  Gram.  p.  255;  Gould's,  247.  "The  powers 
of  man  are  enlarged  by  advancing  cultivation." — Gurney's  Essays,  p.  62.  "  It  is  always 
important  to  begin  well ;  to  make  a  favourable  impression  at  first  setting  out." — Blairs 
Rhet.  p.  307.  "  For  if  one  take  a  wrong  method  at  first  setting  out,  it  will  lead  him  astray 
in  all  that  follows." — Ib.  p.  313.  "His  mind  is  full  of  his  subject,  and  his  words  are  all 
expressive." — Ib.  p.  179.  "  How  exquisitely  is  this  all  performed  in  Greek  !  " — Harris's 
Hermes,  p.  422.  "  How  little  is  all  this  to  satisfy  the  ambition  of  an  immortal  soul !  "- 
Murray's  Key,  Svo,  p.  253.  "  So  as  to  exhibit  the  object  in  its  full  and  most  striking  point 
of  view." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  41.  "And  that  the  author  know  how  to  descend  with  propriety 
to  the  plain,  as  well  as  how  to  rise  to  the  bold  and  figured  style." — Ib.  p.  401.  "  The  heart 
can  only  answer  to  the  heart." — Ib.  p.  259.  "  Upon  its  first  being  perceived." — Harris's 
Hermes,  p.  229.  "  Call  for  Samson,  that  he  may  make  xis  sport." — Judges,  xvi,  25.  "And 
he  made  them  sport." — Ibid.  "  The  term  suffer  in  this  definition  is  used  in  a  technical 
sense,  and  means  simply  the  receiving  of  an  action,  or  the  being  acted  upon." — Bullions, 
p.  29.  "The  Text  is  what  is  only  meant  to  be  taught  in  Schools." — Brightland,  Pref.  p.  ix. 
"  The  perfect  participle  denotes  action  or  being  perfected  or  finished."— Kirkham's  Gram. 
p.  78.  "  From  the  intricacy  and  confusion  which  are  produced  by  their  being  blended 


[the  pronoun        _ 

cerning  us,  as  being  every  where  evil  spoken  of." — Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  ii,  p.  vi.  Every 
thing  beside  was  buried  in  a  profound  silence." — Steele.  "  They  raise  more  full  conviction 
than  any  reasonings  produce." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  367.  "It  appears  to  me  no  more  than  a 
fanciful  refinement." — Ib.  p.  436.  "  The  regular  resolution  throughout  of  a  complete 
passage." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  vii.  "The  infinitive  is  known  by  its  being  immediately 
preceded  by  the  word  to." — Maunder  s  Gram.  p.  6.  "  It  will  not  be  gaining  much  ground 
to  urge  that  the  basket,  or  vase,  is  understood  to  be  the  capital." — Kames,  EL  of  Grit.  Vol. 
ii,  p.  356.  "  The  disgust  one  has  to  drink  ink  in  reality,  is  not  to  the  purpose  where  the 

*  All  his  rules  for  the  comma,  Fisk  appears  to  have  taken  unjustly  from  Greenleaf.     It  is  a  double  slminr,  for 
a  grammarian  to  stial  what  is  BO  badly  ivritten  .'— G.  BROWN. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  SYNTAX. — GENERAL  RULE. ERRORS.  703 

subject  is  drinking  ink  figuratively." — Ib.  ii,  231.  "That  we  run  not  into  the  extreme  of 
pruning  so  very  close." — Blairs  Rhet.  p.  111.  "Being  obliged  to  rest  for  a  little  on  the 
preposition  by  itself." — Ib.  p.  112  ;  Jamiesons  Rhet.  93.  "  Being  obliged  to  rest  a  little  on 
the  preposition  by  itself." — Murray'*  Gram.  p.  319.  "  Our  days  on  the  earth  are  as  a 
shadow,  and  there  is  none  abiding." — 1  Chron.  xxix,  15.  "  There  may  be  a  more  particular 
expression  attempted,  of  certain  objects,  by  means  of  resembling  sounds." — Blair's  Rhet. 
p.  129  ;  Jamiesons,  130;  Murray's  Gram.  331.  "The  right  disposition  of  the  shade,  makes 
the  light  and  colouring  strike  the  more." — Blair's  Rhet.  144.  "  I  observed  that  a  diifuse 
style  inclines  most  to  long  periods." — Ib.  p.  178.  "  Their  poor  Arguments,  which  they  only 
Pickt  up  and  down  the  Highway." — Divine  Right  of  Tythes,  p.  iii.  "  "Which  must  be  little, 
but  a  transcribing  out  of  their  writings." — Barclay's  Works,  iii,  353.  "  That  single  impulse 
is  a  forcing  out  of  almost  all  the  breath." — Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  254.  "  Picini  compares 
modulation  to  the  turning  off  from  a  road." — Gardiner's  Music  of  Nature,  p.  406.  "  So  much 
has  been  written,  on  and  off,  of  almost  every  subject." — The  Friend,  ii,  117.  "  By  reading 
books  written  by  the  best  authors,  his  mind  became  highly  improved. "—Murray  s  Key,  8vo, 
p.  201.  "  For  I  never  made  the  being  richly  provided  a  token  of  a  spiritual  ministry." — 
Barclay's  Works,  iii,  470. 

UXDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  II.  —  OF  DOUBTFUL  REFERENCE. 
"  However  disagreeable,  we  must  resolutely  perform  our  duty." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  171. 

[FORMCLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  adjective  disagreeable  appears  to  relate  to  the  pronoun  we,  though  such 
a  relation  was  probably  not  intended  by  the  author.  But,  according  to  Critical  Note  2d,  "  The  reference  of 
words  to  other  words,  or  their  syntactical  relation  according  to  the  sense,  should  never  be  left  doubtful,  by  any 
one  who  means  to  be  understood/'  The  sentence  may  be  amended  thus  :  "  However  disagreeable  the  task-,  we 
must  resolutely  perform  our  duty."] 

"The  formation  of  verbs  in  English,  both  regular  and  irregular,  is  derived  from  the 
Saxon." — Loicth's  Gram.  p.  47.  "Time  and  chance  have  an  influence  on  all  things  human, 
and  on  nothing  more  remarkably  than  on  language." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  180.  "  Time  and 
chance  have  an  influence  on  all  things  human,  and  on  nothing  more  remarkable  than  on 
language." — Jamiesons  Rhet.  p.  47.  "Archytases  being  a  virtuous  man,  who  happened  to 
perish  once  upon  a  time,  is  with  him  a  sufficient  ground,"  &c. — Philological  Museum,  i,  466. 
"  He  will  be  the  better  qualified  to  understand,  with  accuracy,  the  meaning  of  a  numerous 
class  of  words,  in  which  they  form  a  material  part." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  120.  "We 
should  continually  have  the  goal  in  view,  which  would  direct  us  in  the  race." — Murray's 
Key,  8vo,  p.  172.  "  But  [Addison's  figures]  seem  to  rise  of  their  own  accord  from  the  sub- 
ject, and  constantly  embellish  it." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  150  ;  Jamiesons,  157.  "As  far  as  persons 
and  other  animals  and  things  that  we  can  see  go,  it  is  very  easy  to  distinguish  Nouns." — 
Cobbett's  Gram,  f  14.  "  Dissyllables  ending  in  y,  e  mute,  or  accented  on  the  last  syllable, 
may  be  sometimes  compared  like  monosyllables." — Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  12.  "Admitting 
the" above  objection,  it  will  not  overrule  the  design."— Rush,  on  the  Voice,  p.  140.  "These 
philosophical  innovators  forget,  that  objects  are  like  men,  known  only  by  their  actions." — 
Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of  Lang,  i,  326.  "The  connexion  between  words  and  ideas  is  arbitrary 
and  conventional,  owing  to  the  agreement  of  men  among  themselves." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p. 
1.  "The  connexion  between  words  and  ideas  may,  in  general,  be  considered  as  arbitrary 
and  conventional,  owing  to  the  agreement  of  men  among  themselves." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  53. 
"A  man  whose  inclinations  led  him  to  be  corrupt,  and  had  great  abilities  to  manage  and 
multiply  and  defend  his  corruptions." — Swift.  "  They  have  no  more  control  over  him  than 
any  other  men." — Wayland's  Mural  Science,  1st  Ed.,  p.  372.  "His  old  words  are  all  true 
English,  and  numbers  exquisite." — Sjj.-rtutur,  No.  540.  "It  has  been  said,  that  not  only 
Jesuits  can  equivocate." — Murray's  Exercises,  8vo,  p.  121.  "It  has  been  said,  that  Jeusits 
can  not  only  equivocate." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  253.  "The  nominative  of  the  first  and 
second  person  in  Latin  is  seldom  expressed." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  154  ;  Gould's,  157.  "  Some 
words  are  the  same  in  both  numbers." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  40  ;  Inyersoll's,  18  ;  Fisk's, 
69  ;  Kirkh'.-  ,  42  J  «7  al.  "  Some  nouns  are  the  same  in  both  numbers." 

—  Mi-rchant's  Gram.  p.  29  ;  Smith's,  45  ;  et  al.      "  Others  are  the  same  in  both  numbers  ;  as, 
deer,  i  —Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  8.     "The  following  list  denotes  the  sounds  of  the 

consonants,  being  in  number  twenty-two." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  0  ;  Fisk's,  36.  "And  is  the 
ignorance  of  these  peasants  a  reason  for  others  to  remain  ignorant ;  or  to  render  the  subject 
a  less  becoming  inquiry  •  " — Harris  Hi-run-.*,  p.  'J'J3  ;  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  288.  "He  is 
one  of  the  most  correct,  and  perhaps  the  best,  of  our  prose  writers." — Loicth's  Gran.. 
p.  iv.  "  The  motions  of  a  vortex  and  a  whirlwind  are  perfectly  similar." — Jamieson's  lUn-t, 
p.  131.  "What  I  have  been  saying  throws  light  upon  one  important  verse  in  thp  Bible, 
which  I  should  like  to  have  read." — Abbott's  Teacher,  p.  182.  "  When  there  are  any  cir- 
cumstances of  time,  place,  or  other  limitations,  which  the  principal  object  of  our  sentence 
ro  pares  to  have  connected  with  it." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  115;  Jamieson's  Rhet.  9>S  ;  Murray's 
Gram,  i,  32'J.  "  Interjections  are  words  used  to  express  emotion,  affection,  or  passion,  and 
in  ply  suddenness." — Buckc's  Gram.  p.  77.  "  Hut  the  genitive  is  only  used  to  express  the 
m  Misure  of  things  in  the  plural  number." — Adam's  Gram.  p.  200:  Gould's,  198.  "  The 
buildings  of  the  institution  have  been  enlarged ;  the  expense  of  which,  added  to  the  in- 


704  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

creased  price  of  provisions,  renders  it  necessary  to  advance  the  terms  of  admission." — 
Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  183.  "  These  sentences  are  far  less  difficult  than  complex." — S.  S. 
Greene's  Analysis,  or  Grammar,  1st  Ed.,  p.  179. 

"  Far  from  the  madding  crowd's  ignoble  strife, 
Their  sober  wishes  never  learn' d  to  stray." — Gray's  Elegy. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  III.  —  OF  DEFINITIONS. 

(1.)  "Definition  is  such  a  description  of  things  as  exactly  describes  the  thing  and  that 
thing  only." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  135. 

[FoRMULE.— Not  proper,  because  this  definition  of  a  definition  is  not  accurately  adapted  to  the  thing.  Hut, 
according  to  Critical  Note  3d,  "A  definition,  in  order  to  be  perfect,  must  include  the  whole  thing  or  class  of 
things  which  it  pretends  to  define,  and  exclude  every  thing  which  comes  not  under  the  name."*  The  example 
may  be  amended  thus  :  "A  definition  is  a  short  and  lucid  description  of  a  thing,  or  species,  according  to  its 
nature  and  properties.'''] 

(2.)  "  Language,  in  general,  signifies  the  expression  of  our  ideas  by  certain  articulate 
sounds,  which  are  used  as  the  signs  of  those  ideas." — Blairs  Rhet.  p.  53.  (3.)  "A  WORD 
is  an  articulate  sound  used  by  common  consent  as  the  sign  of  an  idea." — Bullions,  Analyt.  and 
Pract.  Gr.  p.  17.  (4.)  "A  word  is  a  sound,  or  combination  of  sounds,  which  is  used  in  the 
expression  of  thought." — Hazen's  Gram.  p.  12.  (5.)  "Words  are  articulate  sounds,  used  as 
signs  to  convey  our  ideas." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  5.  (6.)  "A.ioord  is  a  number  of  letters  used 
together  to  represent  some  idea." — Hart's  E.  Gram.  p.  28.  (7.)  "A  Word  is  a  combination 
of  letters,  used  as  the  sign  of  an  idea." — S.  W.  Clark's  Practical  Gram.  p.  9.  (8.)  "A  word 
is  a  letter  or  a  combination  of  letters,  used  as  the  sign  of  an  idea." — Wells' s  School  Gram.  p. 
41.  (9.)  "  Words  are  articulate  sounds,  by  which  ideas  are  communicated." — Wright's 
Gram.  p.  28.  (10.)  "  Words  are  certain  articulate  sounds  used  by  common  consent  assigns 
of  our  ideas." — Bullions,  Principles  of  E.  Gram.  p.  6  ;  Lot.  Gram.  6  :  see  Lowth,  Murray,  Smith, 
et  al.  (11.)  "  Words  are  sounds  used  assigns  of  our  ideas." — W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  30. 
(12.)  "Orthography  means  word-making,  or  spelling." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  19;  Smith's 
New  Gram.  p.  41.  (13.)  "A  vowel  is  a  letter,  the  name  of  which  constitutes  a  full,  open 
sound." — Hazen's  Gram.  p.  10;  Lennie's,  5  ;  Brace's,  7.  (14.)  "  Spelling  is  the  art  of  read- 
ing by  naming  the  letters  singly,  and  rightly  dividing  words  into  their  syllables.  Or,  in 
writing,  it  is  the  expressing  of  a  word  by  its  proper  letters." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  5  ;  Church- 
ill's, 20.  (15.)  "  Spelling  is  the  art  of  rightly  dividing  words  into  their  syllables,  or  of 
expressing  a  word  by  its  proper  letters." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  21 ;  Ingersoll's,  6  ;  Merchant's, 
10;  Alger's,l2;  Greenleafs,  20  ;  and  others.  (16.)  "  Spelling  is  the  art  of  expressing  woi  ds 
by  their  proper  letters;  or  of  rightly  dividing  words  into  syllables." — Comly's  Gram.  p.  8. 
(17.)  "Spelling  is  the  art  of  expressing  a  word  by  its  proper  letters,  and  rightly  dividiag 
it  into  syllables." — Bullions' s  Prin.  of  E.  Gram.  p.  2.  (18.)  "  Spelling'is  the  art  of  express- 
ing a  word  by  its  proper  letters." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  23;  Sanborn's,p.  259.  (19.)  'A 
Syllable  is  a  sound  either  simple  or  compounded,  pronounced  by  a  single  impulse  of  the 
voice,  and  constituting  a  word  or  part  of  a  word." — Lowth,  p.  5  ;  Murray,  21  ;  Ingersoll,  5  ; 
Fisk,  11  ;  Greenleaf,  20;  Merchant,  9;  Alger,  12;  Bucke,  15;  Smith,  118;  et  al.  (20.)  "A 
Syllable  is  a  complete  Sound  uttered  in  one  Breath." — British  Gram.  p.  32  ;  Buchanan's,  5. 
(21.)  "A  syllable  is  a  distinct  sound,  uttered  by  a  single  impulse  of  the  voice." — Kirkham's 
Gram.  p.  20.  (22.)  "A  Syllable  is  a  distinct  sound  forming  the  whole  of  a  word,  or  so  much 
of  it  as  can  be  sounded  at  once." — Bullions,  E.  Gr.  p.  2.  (23.)  "A  syllable  is  a  word,  or  part 
of  a  word,  or  as  much  as  can  be  sounded  at  once." — Picket's  Gram.  p.  10.  (24. )  "A  diph- 
thong is  the  union  of  two  Vowels,  both  of  which  are  pronounced  as  one  :  as  in  Bear  and  beat." 
— Bucke' s  Gram.  p.  15.  (25.)  "A  diphthong  consists  of  two  vowels,  forming  one  syllable  ;  as, 
ea,  in  beat." — Guy's  Gram.  p.  2.  (26.)  "A  triphthong  consists  of  three  vowels  forming  one 
syllable  ;  as,  eau  in  beauty." — Ib.  (27.)  "  But  the  Triphthong  is  the  union  of  three  Vowels, 
pronounced  as  one." — Bucke' s  Gram.  p.  15.  (28.)  "  What  is  a  Noun  Substantive  ?  A  Noun 
Substantive  is  the  thing  itself;  as.  a  Man,  a  Boy." — British  Gram.  p.  85  ;  Buchanan's,  26. 
(29.)  "An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  nouns  to  describe  them." — Maunder' s  Gram.  p.  1. 
(30.)  "An  adjective  is  a  word  joined  to  a  noun,  to  describe  or  define  it." — Smith's  New 
Gram.  p.  51.  (31.)  "An  adjective  is  a  word  used  to  describe  or  define  a  noun." — Wilcox's 
Gram.  p.  2.  (32.)  "The  adjective  is  added  to  the  noun,  to  express  the  quality  of  it."- 
Murray's  Gram.  12mo,  2d  Ed.,  p.  27  ;  Lowth,  p.  6.  (33.)  "An  Adjective  expresses  the  quality 

*  Bad  definitions  may  have  other  faults  than  to  include  or  exclude  what  they  should  not,  but  this  is  their 
great  and  peculiar  vice.  For  example  :  "Person  is  that  property  of  nouns  and  pronouns  which  distinguishes  the 
speaker,  the  person  or  thing  addressed,  and  the  person  or  thing  spoken  of." — Wells's  School  Gram.  1st  Ed.  p. 
61 ;  113th  Ed.  p.  57.  See  nearly  the  same  words,  in  Weld's  English  Gram.  p.  67 ;  and  in  his  Abridgement, 
p.  49.  The  three  persons  of  verbs  are  all  improperly  excluded  from  this  definition  ;  which  absurdly  takes 
"  person  "  to  be  one  property  that  has  all  the  effect  of  all  the  persons ;  so  that  each  person,  in  its  turn,  since  each 
cannot  have  all  this  effect,  is  seen  to  be  excluded  also  :  that  is,  it  is  not  such  a  property  as  is  described  !  Again  : 
"An  intransitive  verb  is  a  verb  which  does  not  have  a  noun  or  pronoun  for  its  object." — Wells,  1st  Ed.  p.  76. 
According  to  Dr.  Johnson,  "does  not  have,"  is  not  a  scholarly  phrase  ;  but  the  adoption  of  a  puerile  expression 
is  a  trifling  fault,  compared  with  that  of  including  here  all  passive  verbs,  and  some  transitives,  which  the  author 
meant  to  exclude  ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  inconsistency  of  excluding  here  the  two  classes  of  verbs  which  he 
absurdly  callg  "  intransitive,"  though  he  finds  them  "  followed  by  objectives  depending  upon  them  !  "— Id.  p. 
145.  Weld  imitates  these  erors  too,  on  pp.  70  and  153. 


CHAT.  XIII.]  SYNTAX. GENERAL   RULE. ERRORS.  705 

of  the  noun  to  which  it  is  applied ;  and  may  generally  be  known  by  its  making  sense  in 
connection  with  it ;  as,  «A  good  man,'  «A  genteel  woman. T — Wright's  Gram.  p.  34.  (34.) 
"An  adverb  is  a  word  used  to  modify  the  sense  of  other  words." — Wilcox's  Gram.  p.  2. 
(3o.)  "An  Adverb  is  a  word  joined  to  a  verb,  an  adjective,  or  another  adverb,  to  modify  or 
denote  some  circumstance  respecting  it." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  66  ;  I^it.  dram.  185.  (36.) 
«'A  Substantive  or  Noun  is  a  name  given  to  every  object  which  the  senses  can  per- 
ceive; the  understanding  comprehend  ;  or  the  imagination  entertain." — Wright's  Gram.  p. 
34.  (37.)  "  GKNDEU  means  the  distinction  of  nouns  with  regard  to  sex." — Bullions,  Prin. 
'.  Gram.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  9.  (38.)  "  Gender  is  a  distinction  of  nouns  with  regard  to  sex."- 
Frost's  Gram.  p.  7.  (39.)  "  Gender  is  a  distinction  of  nouns  in  regard  to  sex." — Perky  3 
Gram.  p.  10.  (40.)  "  Gender  is  the  distinction  of  nouns,  in  regard  to  sex." — Cooper's  Mur- 
ray, 24  ;  Practical  Gram.  21.  (41.)  "  Gender  is  the  distinction  of  nouns  with  regard  to  sex." 

—  Murray's  Gram.  p.  37  ;  Alger's,  16  ;  Bacons,  12  ;  E.G.  Greenes,  16  ;  Bullions,  Prin.,  5th  Ed.,  9  ; 

*  Gr.  22  ;  Fish's,  19  ;  Huffs,  9  ;  IngcrsolCs,  15.  (42.)  "  Gender  is  the  distinction  of 
sex." — Alden's  Gram.  9  ;  Comly's,  20  ;  Daltoji's,  11  ;  Davenport's,  15  ;  J.  Flints,  28 ;  A.  Flint's, 

11  ;  Greenleafs,  21 ;  Guy's,  4  ;  Hart's,  36  ;  Hiley's,  12;  Kirkham's,  34  ;  Lennie's,  11 ;  Picket's, 
25;  Smith's,  43;  Sanborn's,  25;   Wilcox's,  8.      (43.)    "Gender  is  the  Distinction  of  Sex, 
or  the  Difference  betwixt  Male  and  Female." — British  Gram.  p.  94  ;  Buchanan's,  18.     (44.) 
"  Why  are  nouns  divided  into  genders?  To  distinguish  their  sexes." — Fowle's    True  Eng. 
drain,  p.  10.     (45.)  "  What  is  meant  by  Gender  ?  The  different  sexes." — Burn's  Gram.  p.  34. 
(40.)  •«  Gender,  in  grammar,  is  a  difference  of  termination,  to  express  distinction  of  sex." 

—  Webster's  Philos.  Gram.  p.  30  ;  Improved  Gram.  22.     (47.)  "  Gender  signifies  a  distinction 
of  nouns,  according  to  the  different  sexes  of  things  they  denote." — Coar's  Gram.  p.  32. 
(48.)  "  Gender  is  the  distinction  occasioned  by  sex.    Though  there  are  but  two  sexes,  still 
nouns  necessarily  admit  of  four  distinctions*  of  gender." — Hall's  Gram.  p.  6.     (49.)  "  Gen- 
der is  a  term  which  is  employed  for  the  distinction  of  nouns  with  regard  to  sex  and  species." 

—  Wriyh?*Gram.p.4l  .(50.)  "  Gender  is  a  Distinction  of  Sex." — Fisher's  Gram. p.  53.  (51.) 
"  (TKNUEH  marks  the  distinction  of  Sex." — W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  37.  (52.)  "Gender  means  the 
kind,  or  sex.     There  are  four  genders."— ParA-er  and  Fox's  Part  I,  p.  7.     (53.)  "  Gender  is 
a  property  of  the  noun  which  distinguishes  sex." — Weld's  Gram.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  57.     (54.) 
"  Gender  is  a  property  of  the  noun  or  pronoun  by  which  it  distinguishes  sex." — Weld's 
a  rum  mar  Abridyed,  p.  49.     (55.)  "  Case  is  the  state  or  condition  of  a  noun  with  respect  to 
the  other  words  in  a  sentence." — Bullions' 's  E.  Gram.  p.  16  ;  his  Analyt.  and  Pract.  Gram.  p. 
31.     (56.)  "Case  means  the  different  state  or  situation  of  nouns  with  regard  to  other  words." 

—  Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  55.     (57.)  "The  cases  of  substantives  signify  their  different  termina- 
tions, which  serve  to  express  the  relations  of  one  thing  to  another." — L.  Murray's  Gram. 

12  ran,  2d  Ed.,  p.  35.    (58.)  "  Government  is  the  power  which  one  part  of  speech  has  over  an- 
other, when  it  causes  it  or  requires  it  to  be  of  some  particular  person,  number,  gender,  case, 
style,  or  mode." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  126:  see  Murray's  Gram.   142;  Smith's,   119;  Ponds, 
88  ;  et  al.      (59.)  "A  simple  sentence  is  a  sentence  which  contains  only  one  nominative  case 
and  one  verb  to  agree  with  it." — Sanborn,  ib. :  see  Murray's  Gram,  et  al.      (60.)  "  Declension 
means  putting  a  noun  through  the  different  cases." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  58.     (61.)  "  Zeug- 
ma is  when  two  or  more  substantives  have  a  verb  in  common  which  is  applicable  only  to 
one  of  them." — B.  F.  Fisk's  Greek  Gram.  p.  185.     (62.)  "An  Irregular  Verb  is  that  which 
has  its  parsed  tense  and  perfect  participle  terminating  differently  ;  as,  smite,  smote,  smitten." 

—  Wright's  Grum.p.  92.     (63.)  "Personal  pronouns  are  employed  as  substitutes  for  nouns 
that  denote  persons." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  23. 

r.\i)i:a  CRITICAL  NOTE  IV. — OF  COMPARISONS. 

"  We  abound  more  in  vowel  and  diphthong  sounds,  than  most  languages." — Blair's  Rhet. 
p.  89. 

[FoRMrtB. — Not  proper,  because  the  term*  toe  and  languages,  which  are  here  used  to  form  a  comparison, 
oxpn-Mi  things  which  are  totally  unlike.  Hut,  according  to  Critical  Note  4th,  "  A  comparison  is  a  form  of  speech 
which  requires  some  similarity  or  common  property  in  the  things  compared  ;  without  which,  it  becomes  a 
"  Therefore,  the  expression  ought  to  be  changed  :  thus,  '-Our  language  abounds  more  in  rowel  and 
diphthong  sounds,  than  most  other  tongue*."  Or:  "  We  abound  more  in  vowel  aud  diphthongal  sounds,  than 
most  nations.''] 

"\  line  thus  accented,  has  a  more  spirited  air,  than  when  the  accent  is  placed  on  any 
other  syllable ." — Kames,  El.  of  C'rit.  Vol.  ii,  p.  86.     "  Homer  introduceth  his  deities  with  no 

*  S.  R.  Hall  think*  it  necessary  to  recognize  "/our  distinctions"  of  "  the  distinction  occasioned  by  sex.'1    In 

general,  tin-  other  authors  here  quoted,  suppose  that  we  have  only  "  three  ilistinclions  "  of  ki  the  distinction  of 
sex."  And,  aa  no  philosopher  has  vet  discovered  more  than  two  sexes,  some  hare  thence  stoutly  argued,  thnt  it 
i.eak  of  more  than  two  genders.  Lily  makes  it  out,  that  in  Latin  there  are  seven:  yet,  with  no 
great  consistency,  be  will  have  a  gmder  to  be  a  or  the  distinction  of  sex.  "  OEMJM  est  sexus  discretio.  Kt  sunt 
get  era  numero  septem.'1—  Lilii  dram,  p.  10.  That  is,  "  CKNDKII  is  the  distinction  of  sex.  And  the  gen 

i  number."  Ruddiman  says,  ''  GKNCS  est,  Jiscriinen  nominit  secundum  sexum,  vel  eius  in  structure 
grammaticii  imitatio.  (Jenera  nominum  sunt  tr<a."  —  Hu>lilhr,anni  Gram.  p.  4.  That  la,  ''GENDER  is  the 
diversity  of  the  noun  according  to  <.-\,  or  [it  is]  the  imitation  of  it  in  grammatical  structure.  The  genders  of 
nouns  are  th"  Millions  are  no  better  than  the  newer  ones  cited  above.  All  of  them  are 

<•  f.iiiur.--!.  full  of  f.mks  an. I  al.Mirditics.  Hoth  the  nature  and  the  cause  of  their  defects  are  in  some 
de-ree  explained  near  the  close  of  the  tenth  chapter  of  my  Introduction.  Their  most  prominent  errors  are 

47 


706  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

greater  ceremony  than  as  mortals  ;  and  Yirgil  has  still  less  moderation." — Ib.  Vol.  ii,  p.  237. 
"  Which  the  more  refined  taste  of  later  writers,  who  had  far  inferior  genius  to  them, 
would  have  taught  them  to  avoid." — Blair's  Ehet.  p.  28.  "The  poetry,  however,  of  the 
Book  of  Job,  is  not  only  equal  to  that  of  any  other  of  the  sacred  writings,  but  is  superior  to 
them  all,  except  those  of  Isaiah  alone."— Ib.  p.  419.  "On  the  whole,  Paradise  Lost  is  a 
poem  that  abounds  with  beauties  of  every  kind,  and  that  justly  entitles,  its  author  to  a 
degree  of  fame  not  inferior  to  any  poet." — Ib.  p.  452.  "Most  of  the  French  writers  com- 
pose in  short  sentences ;  though  their  style  in  general,  is  not  eonsise ;  commonly  less  so 
than  the  bulk  of  English  writers,  whose  sentences  are  much  longer." — Ib.  p.  178.  "  The' 
principles  of  the  lleformation  were  deeper  in  the  prince's  mind  than  to  be  easily  eradi- 
cated."— HUME  :  Cobbett's  E.  Gram.  If  217.  "  Whether  they  do  not  create  jealousy  and 
animosity  more  hurtful  than  the  benefit  derived  from  them." — DR.  J.  LEO  WOLF  :  Lit.  Conv. 
p.  250.  "  The  Scotch  have  preserved  the  ancient  character  of  their  music  more  entire  than 
any  other  country." — Music  of  Nature,  p.  461.  "  When  the  time  or  quantity  of  one  sylla- 
ble exceeds  the  rest,  that  syllable  readily  receives  the  accent." — Rush,  on  the  Voice* 
p.  277.  "  What  then  can  be  more  obviously  true  than  that  it  should  be  made  as 
just  as  we  can  ? " — Dymond's  Essays,  p.  198.  "  It  was  not  likely  that  they  would  criminate 
themselves  more  than  they  could  avoid." — Clarkson's  Hist.  Abridged,  p.  76.  "Their 
understandings  were  the  most  acute  of  any  people  who  have  ever  lived." — Knapp's  Lectures, 
p.  32.  "The  patentees  have  printed  it  with  neat  types,  and  upon  better  paper  than 
was  done  formerly." — Lily's  Gram.,  Pref.,  p.  xiii.  "In  reality,  its  relative  use  is  not 
exactly  like  any  other  word." — Felch's  Comprehensive  Gram.  p.  62.  "  Thus,  instead  of 
two  books,  which  are  required,  (the  grammar  and  the  exercises,)  the  learner  finds  both 
in  one,  fora  price  at  least  not  greater  than  the  others." — Bullions' s  E.  Gram.,  Hecom.,  p.  iii; 
New  Ed.,  Recom.,  p.  6.  "  They  are  not  improperly  regarded  as  pronouns,  though  in  a 
sense  less  strict  than  the  others." — Ib.  p.  199.  "  We  have  had  the  opportunity,  as  will 
readily  be  believed,  of  becoming  conversant  with  the  case  much  more  particularly,  than  the 
generality  of  our  readers  can  be  supposed  to  have  had." — The  British  Friend,  llmo.  29th, 
1845. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  V. — OF  FALSITIES. 

"  The  long  sound  of  i  is  compounded  of  the  sound  of  a,  as  heard  in  ball,  and  that  of  e,  as 
heard  in  be." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  3. 

[FoRMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  sentence  falsely  teaches,  that  the  long  sound  of  i  is  that  of  the  diphthong 
heard  in  oil  or  boy.  But,  according  to  Critical  Note  5th,  "  Sentences  that  convey  a  meaning  manifestly  fs  lsey 
should  be  changed,  rejected,  or  contradicted  ;  because  they  distort  language  from  its  chief  end.  or  c  nly 
worthy  use;  which  is,  to  state  facts,  and  to  tell  the  truth."  The  error  may  be  corrected  thus:  "The  bng 
sound  of  i  is  like  a  very  quick  union  of  the  sound  cf  a,  as  heard  in  bar,  and  that  of  e,  as  heard  in  fce."] 

"  The  omission  of  a  word  necessary  to  grammatical  propriety,  is  called  ELLIPSIS.'  ' — 
Priestley's  Gram.  p.  45.  "Every  substantive  is  of  the  third  person." — Alexander  Murrey's 
Gram.  p.  91.  "A  noun,  when  the  subject  is  spoken  to,  is  in  the  second  person  ;  and  when 
spoken  of,  it  is  in  the  third  person  ;  but  never  in  the  first." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  17.  "  With 
us,  no  substantive  nouns  have  gender,  or  are  masculine  and  feminine,  except  the  proper 
names  of  male  and  female  creatures." — Blair's  Ehet.  p.  156.  "Apostrophe  is  a  little  mark 
signifying  that  something  is  shortened ;  as,  for  William  his  hat,  we  say,  William's  hat."- 
Infant  School  Gram.  p.  30.  "  When  a  word  beginning  with  a  vowel  is  coupled  with  one- 
beginning  with  a  consonant,  the  indefinite  article  must  be  repeated ;  thus,  'Sir  Matthew 
Hale  was  a  noble  and  an  impartial  judge  ; '  « Pope  was  an  elegant  and  a  nervous  writer.'  " 
— Maunder' s  Gram.  p.  11.  "  IF  and  y  are  consonants,  when  they  begin  a  word  or  syllable; 
but  in  every  other  situation  they  are  vowels." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  7 :  Bacon,  Comlyy 
Cooper,  Fisk,  Ingersoll,  Kirkham,  Smith,  et  al.  "The  is  used  before  all  adjectives  and  sub- 
stantives, let  them  begin  as  they  will." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  26.  "  Prepositions  are  also  pre- 
fixed to  words  in  such  manner,  as  to  coalesce  with  them,  and  to  become  a  part  of  them." — 
Loivth's  Gram.  p.  66.  "  But  h  is  entirely  silent  at  the  beginning  of  syllables  not  accented, 
as  historian." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  5.  "Any  word  that  will  make  sense  with  to  before  it,  is  a 
verb." — Kirkham' s  Gram.  p.  44.  "  Verbs  do  not,  in  reality,  express,  actions ;  but  they  are 
intrinsically  the  mere  names  of  actions." — Ib.  p.  37.  "The  nominative  is  the  actor  or  sub- 
ject, and  the  active  verb  is  the  action  performed  by  the  nominative." — J6.p.  45.  "If, 
therefore,  only  one  creature  or  thing  acts,  only  one  action,  at  the  same  instant,  can  be  done  ; 
as,  the  girl  writes." — Ib.  45.  "  The  verb  writes  denotes  but  one  action,  which  the  girl  per- 
forms ;  therefore  the  verb  writes  is  of  the  singular  number." — Ib.  45.  "And  when  I  say, 

these  :  1.  They  all  assume,  that  gender,  taken  as  one  thing,  is  in  fact  two,  three,  or  more,  genders.  2.  Nearly 
all  of  them  seem  to  say  or  imply,  that  ivotds  differ  from  one  an  other  in  sex,  like  animals.  3.  Many  of  them 
expressly  confine  gender,  or  the  genders,  to  nouns  only.  4.  Many  of  them  confessedly  exclude  the  neuter  gendert 
though  their  authors  afterwards  admit  this  gender.  5.  That  of  Dr.  Webster  supposes,  that  words  differing  in 
gender  never  have  the  same  "  termination."  The  absurdity  of  this  may  be  shown  by  a  multitude  of  examples  ; 
as,  man  and  woman,  male  and  female,  father  and  mother,  brother  and  sister.  In  his  Dictionary,  the  Doctor  calls 
GENDER,  "In  grammar,  a  difference  jn  u-ords  to  express  distinction  of  sex."  This  is  better,  but  still  not  free 
from  some  other  faults  which  I  have  mentioned.  For  the  correction  of  all  this  great  batch  of  errors,  I 
shall  simply  substitute  in  the  Key  one  short  definition,  whjch  appears  to  me  to  be  exempt  from  each  of  these 
^accuracies. 


CHAP.    XIII.]  SYNTAX. GENERAL   RULE. — ERRORS.  707 

Two  men  ica?k,  is  it  not  equally  apparent,  that  walk  is  plural,  because  it  expresses  tiro 
actions?" — Ib.  p.  47.  "The  subjunctive  mood  is  formed  by  adding  a  conjunction  to  the 
indicative  mood." — Beck's  dram.  p.  16.  "The  possessive  case  should  always  be  distin- 
guished by  the  apostrophe." — Frost's  EL  of  dram.,  Kule  44th,  p.  4'.».  "  'At  these  proceed- 
ings of  the  commons,' — Here  of  is  the  sign  of  the  genitive  or  possessive  case,  and  commons 
is  of  that  case,  governed  of  proceedings." — Ali-.r.  Murray's  (1m HI.  p.  '.»•>.  '-Here  let  it  be 
observed  again  that,  strictly  speaking,  no  verbs  have  numbers  nor  persons,  neither  have 
nouns  nor  pronouns  persons,  when  they  refer  to  irrational  creatures  and  inanimate  tiling." 
— N.  Barrett's  dram.  p.  130.  "The  noun  or  pronoun  denoting  the  person  or  thing 
addressed  or  spoken  to,  is  in  the  nominative  case  independent." — Frost's  El.  <->/'  (Irani.,  Rule 
8th,  p.  41.  "Every  noun,  when  addressed,  becomes  of  the  second  person,  and  is  in  the 
nominative  case  absolute ;  as — 'Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself.'" — ,J<m,l,,i's  Cram.,  Kule 
19th,  p.  108.  "  Does  the  Conjunction  join  Words  together?  No  ;  only  Sentences." — Brit- 
ish Cram.  p.  103.  "No;  the  Conjunction  only  joins  Sentences  together." — Bur-Jinn/m's 
Gram.  p.  01.  "Every  Genitive  has  a  Noun  to  govern  it,  expressed  or  understood  ; 
James's,  ]\i!  ire  is  understood;  therefore  one  Genitive  cannot  govern  another." — Ih.  p.  111. 
*'  Every  adjective,  and  every  adjective  pronoun,  belongs  to  a  substantive,  expressed  or  under- 
stood."—  Murray1 1  Gram.  p.  161;  Bacon's,  48  ;  Alycr's,  67;  ct  al.  "  Every  adjective  quali- 
fies a  substantive  expressed  or  understood." — Bullions,  E.  dram.  p.  97.  "  Every  adjective  be- 
longs to  some  noun,  expressed  or  understood." — Imjersoll's  Gram.  p.  30.  « 'Adjectives  belong 
to  the  nouns  which  they  describe." — Smith's  Xew  Gram.  p.  137.  "Adjectives  must  agree 
with  the  nouns,  which  they  qualify." — Fish's  Murray,  p.  101.  "The  Adjective  must  agree 
with  its  Substantive  in  Number." — Buchanan  s  Gram.  p.  94.  "  Every  adjective  and  par- 
ticiple belongs  to  some  noun  or  pronoun  expressed  or  understood." — Frost's  El.  of  Gram. 
p.  41.  "  Every  Verb  of  the  Infinitive  Mood,  supposes  a  Verb  before  it  expressed  or  under- 
stood." —Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  94.  "  Every  Adverb  has  its  Verb  expressed  or  understood." 
— Ib.  p.  94.  "  Conjunctions  which  connect  Sentence  to  Sentence,  are  always  placed  betwixt 
the  two  1'ropositions  or  Sentences  which  they  unite." — Ib.  p.  88.  "  The  words  for  all  tint, 
seem  to  be  too  low." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  213.  "  For  all  Unit  seems  to  be  too  low  and  vul- 
gar."— 7V<Vv,V< 'if'.s  drum.  p.  139.  "The  reader,  or  hearer,  then,  understands  from  and,  that 
he  is  to  add  something." — J.  Brown's  En<j.  Si/nfa.r,  p.  121.  "  But  and  never,  never  connects 
one  thing  with  another  thing,  nor  one  word  with  another  word." — Ib.  p.  122.  "  '  Six,  and  six 
are  twelve.'  Here  it  is  affirmed  that,  st>  is  t>r<  /<-,• ; " — Ib.  p.  120.  "  '  John,  and  his  wife  have 
six  children.'  This  is  an  instance  of  gross  catachrcsis.  It  is  here  affirmed  that  John  has  six 
children,  and  that  his  wife  has  six  children." — Ib.  p.  122.  "Nothing  which  is  not  right 
can  be  great."— Murray's  Escrcises,  8vo,  p.  146:  see  Rambler,  No.  185.  "Nothing  can  be 
great  which  is  not  right." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  277.  "  The  highest  degree  of  reverence 
should  be  paid  to  youth." — Ib.  p.  278.  "  There  is,  in  many  minds,  neither  knowledge 
nor  understanding." — Murray's  dram.  8vo,  p.  151;  liusselTs,  84;  Algers,  54;  Bacon's,  47  ;  etal. 
"Formerly,  what  we  call  the  objective  cases  of  our  pronouns,  were  employed  in  the  same 
manner  as  our  present  nominatives  are." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  164.  "As  it  respects  a  choice 
of  words  and  expressions,  no  rules  of  grammar  can  materially  aid  the  learner." — S.  S. 
',n.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  202.  "Whatever  exists,  or  is  conceived  to  exist,  is  a  Noun." 
/•'.v  /.'.  dram.  8vo,  1850,  §  137.  "As  all  men  arc  not  brave,  brave  is  itself  compara- 
tive."—^. $  190. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  VI. — OF  ABSURDITIES. 
(1.)  "And  sometimes  two  unaccented  syllables  follow  each  other." — Blair's  Rhtt.  p.  384. 

(FoRMVLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  phrase.  "  i-  li-Tf  an  nK-unlity  ;   it  bvin<j  impossible  for 

tu  i  tiling  tn  "tV.llow  each  other,"  except  they  alternate,  or  whirl  rouml.  Hut.  aci-unlini:  to  Critii  al  Note  6th, 
"Absii!  ry  k'm<l.  arv  C"ii:rary  t<>  trraiiiinar  ;  ln-rauM-  they  an-  contrary  to  reason,  or  good  sense, 

which  is  the  foutnlatinn  of  grammar."1  Therefore,  a  <liM»Tviit  expression  should  here  be  chosen  ;  thus:  "And 
smiietirnes  twu  unaccented  syllables  come  together."  Or:  "  And  sometimes  one  unaccented  syllable  follows  an 
other."] 

(2.)  "What   nouns   frequently  succeed   each   other r" — Sanborn's   Gram.  p.   65.      (3.) 
"  Words  are  derived  from  one  another  in  various  ways." — Ib.  p.  '-nut's  d'rum.78; 

nVA/'.v,  2.1  Edition,  222.  (4.)  "Prepositions  are  derived  from  the  two  Latin  words  pros 
and  jiomt,  which  signify  before  and  place." — M  (5.)  "He  was  sadly 

laughed  at  for  such  conduct." — Bullion*,  /;.  drum.  p.  7!>.  (0.)  "  Kvery  adjective  pronoun 
belongs  to  some  noun  or  pronoun  e  r  understood." — /,/.;, /-W/'.s  dram.  p.  'l\'l. 

1  If  he  [Addison]  fails  in  anything,  it  is  in  want  of  strength  and  precision,  which 
ra  his  manner  7iot  altogether  a  proper  model." — Blair's  Rht-t.  p.  187.  (8.)  "Indeed, 
if  Horace  be  deficient  in  any  thing,  it  is  in  this,  of  not  being  sufficiently  attentive  to  junc- 
ture and  connexion  of  parts." — Ib.  p.  401.  (9.)  "  The  pupil  is  now  supposed  to  be  acquainted 
with  the  nine  sorts  of  speech,  and  their  most  usual  modifications." — Taylor'*  !>• 
p.  '201.  (10.)  "  I  could  see,  hear,  taste,  and  smell  the  rose." — Saiib»t-n's  dram.  p.  156.  (11.) 
"The  triphthong  inn  is  sometimes  pronounced  distinctly  in  two  syllables;  as  in  bilious, 
v;  rious  ah-teiuious."— L.  Mm-r<t>/'s  dram.  p.  l.'J;  I!  '.,  1'rin.  292,  p.  ."7.  (12.") 

"  The  diphthong  aa  generally  sounds  like  a  short  in  proper  names ;  as  in  Balaam,  Canaan, 


708  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

Isaac;  but  not  in  Baal,  Gaal." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  10.  (13.)  "Participles  are  sometimes 
governed  by  the  article ;  for  the  present  participle,  with  the  definite  article  the  before  it, 
becomes  a  substantive." — Ib.  p.  192.  (14.)  "  Words  ending  with  y,  preceded  by  a  conso- 
nant, form  the  plurals  of  nouns,  the  persons  of  verbs,  verbal  nouns,  past  participles, 
comparatives,  and  superlatives,  by  changing  y  into  i." — WaUcer's  Rhyming  Diet.  p.  viii; 
Murray's  Gram.  23;  Merchant's  Murray,  13;  Fish's,  44;  Kirkhams,  23;  Greenleaf's,  20; 
Wright's  Gram.  28  ;  et  al.  (15.)  "  But  y  preceded  by  a  vowel,  in  such  instances  as  the  above, 
is  not  changed ;  as,  boy,  boys." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  24  ;  Merchant's,  Fish's,  Kirkhavtt's, 
Greenleaf's,  et  al.  (16.)  "But  when  y  is  preceded  by  a  vowel,  it  is  very  rarely*  changed 
in  the  additional  syllable :  as,  coy,  coyly." — Murray's  Gram,  again,  p.  24;  Merchant's,  14; 
Fish's,  45  ;  Greenleaf's,  20 ;  Wright's,  29  ;  et  al.  (17.)  "  But  wheny  is  preceded  by  a  vowel, 
in  such  instances,  it  is  very  rarely  changed  to  i ;  as,  coy,  COYLESS." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  24. 
(18.)  "  Sentences  are  of  a  twofold  nature  :  Simple  and  Compound." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  123. 
(19.)  "The  neuter  pronoun  it  is  applied  to  all  nouns  and  pronouns :  as,  It  is  he  ;  it  is  she; 
it  is  they ;  it  is  the  land." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  92.  (20.)  "It  is  and  it  tvas,  are  often  used  in  a 
plural  construction  ;  as,  'It  was  the  heretics  who  first  began  to  rail.'  " — Merchant's  Gram. 
p.  87.  (21.)  "It  is,  and  it  was,  are  often,  after  the  manner  of  the  French,  used  in  a  plural 
construction,  and  by  some  of  our  best  writers :  as,  'It  ^cas  the  heretics  that  first  began  to 
rail.'  Smollett." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  190;  Murray's,  158;  Smith's,  134;  IngersolVs,  210; 
Fish's,  115  ;  etal.  (22.)  "  wand  y,  as  consonants,  have  one  sound." — Toicn's  Spelling -Book, 
p.  9.  (23.)  "The  conjunction  as  is  frequently  used  as  a  relative." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  93. 
(24.)  "  When  several  clauses  succeed  each  other,  the  conjunction  may  be  omitted  with 
propriety." — Merchant's  Gram.  p.  97.  (25.)  "  If,  however,  the  members  succeeding  each 
other,  are  very  closely  connected,  the  comma  is  unnecessary :  as,  '  Revelation  tells  us  how 
we  may  attain  happiness.'  " — Murray's  Gram.  p.  273  ;  Merchant's,  151 ;  Russell's,  115  ;  Com- 
ly's,  152  ;  Alger's,  80  ;  Smith's,  190  ;  ct  al.  (26.)  "  The  mind  has  difficulty  in  passing  readily 
through  so  many  different  views  given  it,  in  quick  succession,  of  the  same  object." — Blair's 
lihct.p.  149.  (27.)  "The  mind  has  difficulty  in  passing  readily  through  many  different 
views  of  the  same  object,  presented  in  quick  succession." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  341. 
(^28.)  "Adjective  Pronouns  are  a  kind  of  adjectives  which  point  out  nouns  by  some  distinct 
specification." — Kirkham's  Gram.,  the  Compend,  or  Table.  (29.)  "A  noun  of  multitude  con- 
veying plurality  of  idea,f  must  have  a  verb  or  pronoun  agreeing  with  it  in  the  plural.' !- 
Ib.  pp.  59  and  181 :  see  also  Loicth's  Gram.  p.  74  ;  L.  Murray's,  152  ;  Comly's,  80 ;  Lennies, 
87;  Alger's,  54;  Jaudon's,  96;  Alden's,  81;  Parker  and  Fox's,  I,  76;  II,  26;  and  others. 
(30.)  "A  noun  or  pronoun,  signifying  possession,  is  governed  by  the  noun  it  possesses." — 
Greenleaf's  Gram.  p.  35.  (31.)  "A  noun  signifying  possession  is  governed  by  the  noun 
which  it  possesses." — Wilbur  and  Livingston's  Gram.  p.  24.  (32.)  "A  noun  or  pronoun  in 
the  possessive  case,  is  governed  by  the  noun  it  possesses." — Golclsbury's  Gram.  p.  68.  (3  J.) 
"The  possessive  case  is  governed  by  the  person  or  thing  possessed ;  as,  '  this  is  his  book.'  " 
— P.  E.  Day's  Gram.  p.  81.  (34.)  "A  noun  or  pronoun  in  the  possessive  case,  is  governed 
by  the  noun  which  it  possesses." — Kirkham's  Gram.,  Rule  12th,  pp.  52  and  181 ;  Frazce's 
Gram.,  1844,  p.  25  ;  F.  H.  Miller's,  21.  (35.)  "  Here  the  boy  is  represented  as  acting.  He 
is,  therefore,  in  the  nominative  case." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  41.  (36.)  "  Some  of  the  aux- 
iliaries are  themselves  principal  verbs,  as:  have,  do,ioill,  and  am,  or  be." — Cooper's  Grams, 
both,  p.  50.  (37.)  "  Nouns  of  the  male  kind  are  masculine.  Those  of  the  female  kind  are 
feminine." — Beck's  Gram.  p.  6.  (38.)  "  'To-day's  lesson  is  longer  than  yesterday's:'  here 
to-day  and  yesterday  are  substantives." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  114;  Ingersoll's,  50  ;  etal.  (39.) 
"In  this  example,  to-day  and  yesterday  are  nouns  in  the  possessive  case." — Kirkhams  Gram. 
p.  88.  (40.)  "An  Indian  in  Britain  would  be  much  surprised  to  stumble  upon  an  elephant 
feeding  at  large  in  the  open  fields." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit.  Vol.  i,  p.  219.  (41.)  "  If  we  were  to 
contrive  a  new  language,  we  might  make  any  articulate  sound  the  sign  of  any  idea  :  there 
would  be  no  impropriety  in  calling  oxen  men,  or  rational  beings  by  the  name  of  oxen." — 

*  Walker  states  this  differently,  and  even  repeats  his  remark,  thus  :  "  But  y  preceded  by  a  vowel  is  never 
changed  ;  as  coy,  coyly,  gay,  gayly." — Walker's  Rhyming  Diet.  p.  x.  "  Y  preceded  by  a  vowel  is  never  changed, 
as  boy,  boys,  I  cloy,  he  cloys,  &c." — Ib.  p.  viii.  Walker's  twelve  "  Orthographical  Aphorisms,"  which  Murray 
and  others  republish  as  their  "  Rules  for  Spelling,"  and  which  in  stead  of  amending  they  merely  corrupt,  hap- 
pened through  some  carelessness  to  contain  two  which  should  have  been  condensed  into  one.  For  "  words 
ending  with  y  preceded  by  a  consonant,"  he  has  not  only  the  absurd  rule  or  assertion  above  recited,  but  an 
other  which  is  better,  with  an  exception  or  remark  under  each,  respecting  "  y  preceded  by  a  vowel."  The  gram- 
marians follow  him  in  his  errors,  and  add  to  their  number  :  hence  the  repetition,  or  similarity,  in  the  absurdities 
here  quoted.  By  the  term  '•'•verbal  nouns,"  Walker  meant  nouns  denoting  agents,  as  carrier  from  carry;  bub 
Kirkham  understood  him  to  mean  tl  participial  nouns,"  as  the  carrying.  Or  rather,  he  so  mistook  "that  able 
philologist"  Murray;  for  he  probably  knew  nothing  of  Walker  iu  the  matter;  and  accordingly  changed  the 
word  "verbal  "  to  "participial;  "  thus  teaching,  through  all  his  hundred  editions,  except  a  few  of  the  first,  that 
participial  nouns  from  verbs  ending  in  y  preceded  by  a  consonant,  are  formed  by  merely  "  changing  the  y  into 
i."  But  he  seems  to  have  known,  that  this  is  not  the  way  to  form  the  participle  ;  though  he  did  not  know,  that 
"  coyless  "  is  not  a  proper  English  word. 

t  The  idea  of  plurality  is  not  "  plurality  of  idea,'1'1  any  more  than  the  idea  of  wickedness,  or  the  idea  of 
absurdity,  is  absurdity  or  wickedness  of  idea  ;  yet,  behold,  how  our  grammarians  copy  the  blunder,  which 
Lowth  (perhaps)  first  fell  into,  of  putting  the  one  phrase  for  the  other !  Even  Professor  Fowler,  (as  well  as 
Murray,  Kirkham,  and  others,)  talks  of  having  regard  "  to  unity  or  plurality  of  idea !  "—Fowler's  E.  Gram. 
8vo,  1850,  §  513.— G.  BROWN. 


CHAP.    XIII.]  SYNTAX. GENERAL   RULE. — ERRORS.  709 

•</'*  Gram.  p.  139.     "All  the  parts  of  a  sentence  should  correspond  to  each  other." — 
Ib.  p.  222  ;  Kirkham's,  193;  Infers  ill's,  275  ;  Goldsbury's,  74  ;  Hiley's,  110;   Weld's,  193  ;  Al- 
(jtr's,  71 ;  Fish's,  148  ;  &  Putnam's,  95  ;  Merchant's,  101 ;  Merchant's  Murray,  95. 
"  Full  through  his  neck  the  weighty  falchion  sped, 
Along  the  pavement  roll'd  the  mutt'ring  head." — Odyssey,  xxii,  365. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  VIL  —  OF  SELF- CONTRADICTION. 

*  (1.)  "Though  the  construction  will  not  admit  of  &  plural  verb,  the  sentence  would  cer- 
tainly stand  better  thus  :  '  The  king,  the  lords,  and  the  commons,  form  an  excellent  consti- 
tution.' " — Murray's  Gram.  p.  151 ;  InaersolTs,  239. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  first  clause  here  quoted  is  contradicted  by  the  last.  But,  according  to 
Critical  Note  7th,  "  Every  writer  or  speaker  should  be  careful  not  to  contradict  himself;  for  what  is  self- 
contni'lictory,  is  both  null  in  argument,  and  bad  in  style."  The  following  change  may  remove  the  discrepance  : 
'•  Though  '  the  king  with,  the  lords  and  commons,'  must  have  a  singular  rather  than  a  plural  verb,  the  sentence 
would  certainly  stand  better  thus :  '  The  king,  the  lords,  and  the  commons,  form  an  excellent  constitution.'  "] 

(2.)  IIL  has  always  a  soft  liquid  sound ;  as  in  love,  billow,  quarrel.  It  is  sometimes  mute  ; 
as  in  half,  talk,  psalm." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  14  ;  Fisk's,  40.  (3.)  "Z/has  always  a  soft  liquid 
sound;  as  in  love,  billow.  It  is  often  silent ;  as  in  half,  talk,  almond." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p. 
22.  (4.)  "The  words  means  and  amends,  though  formerly  used  in  the  singular,  as  well  as 
in  the  plural  number,  are  now,  by  polite  writers,  restricted  to  the  latter.  Our  most  dis- 
tinguished modern  authors  say,  ' by  this  means,'  as  well  as,  'by  these  means.'" — Wright's 
.  p.  150.  (5.)  "  'A  friend  exaggerates  a  man's  virtues  :  an  enemy  inflames  his  crimes.' 
Better  thus  :  'A  friend  exaggerates  a  man's  virtues  :  an  enemy  his  crimes.'  " — Murray's 
Gram,  i,  p.  325.  "A  friend  exaggerates  a  man's  virtues,  an  enemy  inflames  his  crimes." — 
Ib.  Key,  ii,  p.  173.  (6.)  "  The  auxiliary  have,  in  the  perfect  tense  of  the  subjunctive  mood, 
should  be  avoided." — Merchant's  Gram.  p.  97.  "  Subjunctive  Mood,  Perfect  Tense,  If  I 
have  loved,  If  thou  hast  loved,"  &c. — Ib.  p.  51.  (7.)  "  There  is  also  an  impropriety  in  gov- 
erning both  the  indicative  and  subjunctive  moods,  with  the  same  conjunction;  as,  '//"a 
man  have  a  hundred  sheep,  and  if  one  of  them  be  gone  astray,'  &c.  It  should  be,  and  one 
of  them  is  gone  astray,  &c." — Ib.  p.  97.  (8.)  "  The  rising  series  of  contrasts  convey  inex- 
pressible dignity  and  energy  to  the  conclusion." — Jamieson's  Rhct.  p.  79.  (9.)  "A  groan 
or  a  shriek  is  instantly  understood,  as  a  language  extorted  by  distress,  a  language  which  no 
art  can  counterfeit,  and  which  conveys  a  meaning  that  words  are  utterly  inadequate  to 
express." — Porter's  Analysis,  p.  127.  "A  groan  or  shriek  speaks  to  the  ear,  as  the  language 
of  distress,  with  far  more  thrilling  effect  than  words.  Yet  these  may  be  counterfeited  by 
art." — Ib.  p.  147.  (10.)  "  These  words  [book  and  pen]  cannot  be  put  together  in  such  a  way 
as  will  constitute  plurality." — James  Brown's  English  Syntax,  p.  125.  (11.)  "Nor  can  the 
real  pen,  and  the  real  book  be  expressed  in  two  words  in  such  a  manner  as  will  constitute 
plurality  in  grammar." — Ibid.  (12.)  "Our  is  an  adjective  pronoun  of  the  possessive  kind. 
Decline  it." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  227.  (13.)  "This  and  that,  and  likewise  their  Plurals,  are 
always  opposed  to  each  other  in  a  Sentence." — Buchanan's  Syntax,  p.  103.  "When  this  or 
that  is  used  alone,  i.  e.  not  opposed  to  each  other,  this  is  written  or  spoken  of  Persons  or 
Things  immediately  present,  and  as  it  were  before  our  Eyes,  or  nearest  with  relation  to 
or  Time.  That  is  spoken  or  written  of  Persons  or  Things  passed,  absent  and  distant 
in  relation  to  Time  and  Place." — Ibid.  (14.)  "Active  and  neuter  verbs  may  be  conjugated 
by  adding  their  present  participle  to  the  auxiliary  verb  to  be,  through  all  its  variations." — 
Kirkhnm'.t  Gr>tm.  p.  Io9.  "Be  is  an  auxiliary  whenever  it  is  placed  before  the  perfect  par- 
ticiple of  another  verb,  but  in  every  other  situation,  it  is  &  principal  verb." — Ib.  p.  155. 
(  l.'i.  i  "A  verb  in  the  imperative  mood,  is  always  of  the  second  person." — Kirkham's  Gram. 
p.  136.  "The  verbs,  according  to  an  idiom  of  our  language,  or  the  poet's  license,  arc  used 
in  the  imjiiratire,  agreeing  with  a  nominative  of  the  first  or  third  person." — Ib.  p.  164. 
(16.)  "  Personal  Pronouns  are  distinguished  from  the  relative,  by  their  denoting  the 
of  the  nouns  for  which  they  stand." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  97.  "  Pronouns  of  the  rirst  person, 
do  not  agree  in  person  with  the  nouns  they  represent." — Ib.  p.  98.  (17.)  "  Nouns  have  three 
cases,  nominative,  possessive,  and  objective."— Beck's  Gram.  p.  6.  "Personal  pronouns 
have,  like  nouns,  two  cases,  nominative  and  objective." — Ib.  p.  10.  (18.)  "In  some  in- 
stances the  preposition  sutlers  11°  >  ehange,  but  becomes  an  adverb  merely  by  its  application  :  as, 

•  He  was  m-nr  falling.'  "—Murray's  Grutn.  p.  116.     (19.)  "  Some  nouns  are  used  only  in  the 
plural  :   as  Offc  s  lif,,-<tti,  minnfitr,  SHEEP,  DKKU." —  Wnir's  Gram.  p.  43.       "Some  nouns  arc 
the  same  in  both  numbers,  as  alms,  couple,  DEER,  series,  spt-cir.*,  pair,  SUKKT." — Ibid.     "Among 
the  inferior  parts  of  speech  there  are  some  pairs  or  couples." — Ib.  p.  94.     (20.)  "  Concerning 
the  pronominal  adji:cfi>'i's,  that  can  and  can  not,  may  ami  may  not,  represents  its  noun." — O. 
Ji.  J'firce'n   Gram.  p.  336.     (21.)  "The  article  a  is  in  a  few  instances  employed  in  the  sense 
oi!  «  pr>-p<'xition;  as,  Simon  Peter  said  I  go  a  [to]  fishing." — H'dd's  Grant.',  2d  Kcl.,  p.  177  ; 
Abridg.  128.     "  'To  go  a  fishing  ;  '  i.  e.  to  go  on  a  fishing  voyage  or  business."—  H 
Gnim.  p.  !!»-'.     t  •-!•_'.)  "  So  also  verbs,  really  transitive,  are  used  intransitively,  when  they 
have  no  object." — liiilUunx,  Anufyt.  and  Pract.  Gram.  p.  60. 

\ 2:J.)  "  When  first  young  Maro,  in  his  boundless  mind, 

A  work  t'outlast  immortal  Rome  design'd."— Pope,  on  Crit.  1.  130. 


710  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  VIII. — OF  SENSELESS  JUMBLING. 

"Number  distinguishes  them,  [viz.,  nouns],  as  one,  or  many,  of  the  same  kind,  called  the 
singular  and  plural." — Dr.  Blair's  Lectures  on  Rhetoric,  p.  74. 

[FORM0LE.— Not  proper,  because  the  words  of  this  text  appear  to  be  so  carelessly  put  together,  as  to  make 
nothing  but  jargon,  or  a  sort  of  scholastic  balderdash.  But,  according  to  Critical  Note  8th,  "  To  jumble  together 
words  without  care  for  the  sense,  is  an  unpardonable  negligence,  and  an  abuse  of  the  human  understanding." 
I  think  the  learned  author  should  rather  have  said  :  '•'•There  are  two  numbers,  called  the  singular  and  the  plural, 
which  distinguish  nouns  as  signifying  either  one  thing,  or  many  of  the  same  kind."] 

"  Here  the  noun  James  Munroe  is  addressed,  he  is  spoken  to,  it  is  here  a  noun  of  the 
second  person." — Mack's  Gram.  p.  66.  "The  number  and  case  of  a  verb  can  never  be  as- 
certained until  its  nominative  is  known." — Emmons's  Gram.  p.  36.  "A  noun  of  multitude, 
or  signifying  many,  may  have  the  verb  and  pronoun  agreeing  with  it  either  in  the 
singular  or  plural  number ;  yet  not  without  regard  to  the  import  of  the  word,  as  conveying 
unity  or  plurality  of  idea." — Loicth's  Gram.  p.  75  ;  Murray's,  152  ;  Aider's,  54  ;  Russell's,  55  ; 
Ingersoll's,  248  ;  et  al.  "To  express  the  present  and  past  imperfect  of  the  active  and  neuter 
verb,  the  auxiliary  do  is  sometimes  used :  I  do  (now)  love  ;  I  did  (then)  love." — Lowth's 
Gram.  p.  40.  "  If  these  are  perfectly  committed,  they  will  be  able  to  take  twenty  lines  for 
a  lesson  on  the  second  day  ;  and  may  be  increased  each  day." — Osborn's  Key,  p.  4.  "  When 
c  is  joined  with  h  (ch),  they  are  generally  sounded  in  the  same  manner :  as  in  Charles, 
church,  cheerfulness,  and  cheese.  But  foreign  words  (except  in  those  derived  from  the 
French,  as  chagrin,  chicanery,  and  chaise,  in  which  cli  are  sounded  like  sli)  are  pronounced 
like  k :  as  in  Chaos,  character,  chorus,  and  chimera." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram.  p.  10.  "  Some 
substantives,  naturally  neuter,  are,  by  a  figure  of  speech,  converted  into  the  masculine  or 
feminine  gender." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  37  ;  Comly's,  20  ;  Bacon's,  13 ;  A  Teacher's,  8  ;  Alger's, 
16  ;  Lennie's,  11 ;  Fisk's,  56  ;  Merchant's,  27  ;  Kirkham's,  35  ;  et  al.  "  Words  in  the  English 
language  may  be  classified  under  ten  general  heads,  the  names  of  which  classes  are  usually 
termed  the  ten  parts  of  speech." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  14.  "  '  Mercy  is  the  true  badge  of 
nobility.'  Nobility  is  a  noun  of  multitude,  mas.  and  fern,  gender,  third  person,  sing,  and  in  the 
obj.  case,  and  governed  by  « of :'  RULE  31." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  161.  "  gh,  are  either  silent, 
or  have  the  sound  off,  as  in  laugh." — Town's  Spelling- Book,  p.  10.  "As  many  people  as 
were  destroyed,  were  as  many  languages  or  dialects  lost  and  blotted  out  from  the  general 
catalogue." — Chazotte's  Essay,  p.  25.  "The  grammars  of  some  languages  contain  a  greater 
number  of  the  moods,  than  others,  and  exhibit  them  in  different  forms." — Murray's  Gram.  8  vo, 
i,  p.  95.  "A  COMPARISON  or  SIMILE,  is,  when  the  resemblance  between  two  objects  is  express- 
ed in  form,  and  generally  pursued  more  fully  than  the  nature  of  a  metaphor  admits." — Ib.  p. 
343.  "  In  some  dialects,  the  word  what  is  improperly  used  for  that,  and  sometimes  we  find 
it  in  this  sense  in  writing." — Ib.  p.  156  ;  Priestley's  Gram.  93  ;  Smith's,  132  ;  Merchant's,  £7  ; 
Fisk's,  114;  Ingersoll's,  220 ;  et  al.  "Brown  makes  great  ado  concerning  the  adna:ne 
principles  of  preceding  works,  in  relation  to  the  gender  of  pronouns." — O.  B.  Feme's 
Gram.  p.  323.  "  The  nominative  precedes  and  performs  the  action  of  the  verb.' - 
Beck's  Gram.  p.  8.  "  The  Primitive  are  those  which  cannot  receive  more  simple  forms  than 
those  which  they  already  possess." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  28.  "The  long  sound  [of  i]  is 
always  marked  by  the  e  final  in  monosyllables  ;  as,  thin,  thine ;  except  give,  live." — Mur- 
ray's Gram.  p.  13 ;  Fisk's,  39  ;  et  al.  "  But  the  third  person  or  thing  spoken  of,  being  absent, 
and  in  many  respects  unknown,  it  is  necessary  that  it  should  be  marked  by  a  distinction  of 
gender." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  21 ;  L.  Murray's,  51 ;  et  al.  "  Each  of  the  diphthongal  letters  was, 
doubtless,  originally  heard  in  pronouncing  the  words  which  contain  them.  Though  this  is  not 
the  case  at  present,  with  respect  to  many  of  them,  these  combinations  still  retain  the  name 
of  diphthongs ;  but,  to  distinguish  them,  they  are  marked  by  the  term  improper." — L.  Mur- 
ray's Gram.  p.  9  ;  Fisk's,  37  ;  et  al.  "A  Mode  is  the  form  of,  or  manner  of  using  a  verb,  by 
which  the  being,  action,  or  passion  is  expressed." — Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  32.  "  The  word 
that  is  a  demonstrative  pronoun  when  it  is  followed  immediately  by  a  substantive,  to  which 
it  is  either  joined,  or  refers,  and  which  it  limits  or  qualifies." — Lindley  Murray's  Gram.]}.  54. 
"  The  guiltless  woe  of  being  past, 

Is  future  glory's  deathless  heir." — Sumner  L.  Fairfield. 
UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  IX. — OF  WORDS  NEEDLESS. 

"A  knowledge  of  grammar  enables  us  to  express  ourselves  better  in  conversation  and  in 
writing  composition." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  7. 

[FoRMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  word  composition  is  here  needless.  But,  according  to  Critical  Note  9th. 
"  Words  that  are  entirely  needless,  and  especially  such  as  injure  or  encumber  the  expression,  ought  in  general 
to  be  omitted."  The  sentence  would  be  better  without  this  word,  thus  :  ''A  knowledge  of  grammar  enables 
us  to  express  ourselves  better  in  conversation,  and  in  writing."] 

"And  hence  we  infer,  that  there  is  no  other  dictator  here  but  use." — Jamieson's  Rhet. 
p.  42.  "Whence  little  else  is  gained,  except  correct  spelling  and  pronunciation." — Town's 
Spelling -Book,  p.  5.  "  The  man  who  is  faithfully  attached  to  religion,  may  be  relied  on, 
with  humble  confidence." — Merchant's  School  Gram.  p.  76.  "  Shalt  thou  build  me  an  house 
for  me  to  dwell  in  ?  " — 2  Sam.  vii,  5.  "  The  house  was  deemed  polluted  which  was  entered 
into  by  so  abandoned  a  woman." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  279.  "  The  farther  that  he  searches,  the 


CIIAP.  XIII.]  SYNTAX. — GENERAL    RULE. ERRORS.  7 11 

firmer  will  be  his  belief." — Keith's  Evidences,  p.  4.  "I  deny  not,  but  that  religion  consists 
in  these  things." — Barclay's  IFor.^,  i,  321.  "Except  the  king  delighted  in  her,  and  that 
she  were  called  by  name." — Esther,  ii,  14.  "  The  proper  method  of  reading  these  lines,  is 
to  read  them  according  as  the  sense  dictates." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  386.  "  "When  any  words 
become  obsolete,  or  at  least  are  never  used,  except  as  constituting  part  of  particular  phrases, 
it  is  better  to  dispense  with  their  service  entirely,  and  give  up  the  phrases." — Campbell's 
Rh<-t.\\.  LS5 ;  Ma  milt's  drum,  p.  370.  "Those  savage  people  seemed  to  have  no  element 
but  that  of  war." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  211.  "Man  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  per- 
son, singular  number,  masculine  gender,  and  in  the  nominative  case." — J.  Flint's  Gram. 
p.  33.  "The  orator,  according  as  circumstances  require,  will  employ  them  all." — Blair's 
Ji/n'f.  p.  247.  "By  deferring  our  repentance,  we  accumulate  our  sorrows." — Murray's  Key, 
ii,  p.  166.  "  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  public  speaking  became  early  an  engine  of  govern- 
ment."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  245.  "  The  different  meaning  of  these  two  first  words  may  not  at 
first  occur." — Ib.  p.  225.  "  The  sentiment  is  well  expressed  by  Plato,  but  much  better  by 
Solomon  than  him." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  214  ;  Ingersolfs,  251  ;  Smith's,  179  ;  et  al.  "They 
have  had  a  greater  privilege  than  we  have  had." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  211.  "  Every  thing 
should  be  so  arranged,  as  that  what  goes  before  may  give  light  and  force  to  what  follows." 
— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  311.  "So  as  that  his  doctrines  were  embraced  by  great  numbers." — 
UNIV.  HIST.  :  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  139.  "They  have  taken  another  and  a  shorter  cut." — 
SOT  TII  :  Joh.  Diet.  "  The  Imperfect  Tense  of  a  regular  verb  is  formed  from  the  present  by 
adding  d  or  ed  to  the  present ;  as,  '  I  lorcd.'  " — Frost's  El.  of  Gram.  p.  32.  "  The  pronoun  their 
does  not  agree  in  gender  or  number  with  the  noun  '  man,'  for  which  it  stands." — Kirk  hunt's 
dram,  p.  182.  "This  mark  denotes  any  thing  of  wonder,  surprise,  joy,  grief,  or  sudden 
emotion." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  19.  "We  are  all  accountable  creatures,  each  for  himself." — 
Murray's  Key,  p.  204  ;  Merchant's,  195.  "  If  he  has  commanded  it,  then  I  must  obey." — 
Smith's  y>'ic  dram.  pp.  110  and  112.  "I  now  present  him  with  a  form  of  the  diatonic 
scale." — Dr.  John  Barber's  Elocution,  p.  xi.  "One  after  another  of  their  favourite  rivers 
have  been  reluctantly  abandoned." — Hodgson's  Tour.  "Particular  and  peculiar  are  words 
of  different  import  from  each  other." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  196.  "  Some  adverbs  admit  rules  of 
comparison:  as,  Soon,  sooner,  soonest." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  76.  "From  having  exposed 
himself  too  freely  in  different  climates,  he  entirely  lost  his  health." — Murray's  Key,  p.  200. 
"  The  Verb  must  agree  with  its  Nominative  before  it  in  Number  and  Person." — Buchanan's 
Syntax,  p.  93.  "Write  twenty  short  sentences  containing  only  adjectives." — Abbott's 
Trar/tcr,  p.  102.  "  This  general  inclination  and  tendency  of  the  language  seems  to  have 
given  occasion  to  the  introducing  of  a  very  great  corruption." — Loicth's  Gram.  p.  60.  "  The 
second  requisite  of  a  perfect  sentence,  is  its  Unity." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  311.  "  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  apologize  for  omitting  to  insert  their  names." — Ib.  p.  vii.  "The  letters  of  the 
English  language,  called  the  English  Alphabet,  are  twenty-six  in  number." — Ib.  p.  2;  T. 
Smith's,  5;  Fi'sk's,  10;  Aider's,  9;  et  al.  "A  writer  who  employs  antiquated  or  novel 
phraseology,  must  do  it  with  design  :  he  cannot  err  from  inadvertence  as  he  may  do  it  with 
respect  to  provincial  or  vulgar  expressions." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  56.  "  The  Vocative  case, 
in  some  Grammars,  is  wholly  omitted  ;  why,  if  we  must  have  cases,  I  could  never  under- 
stand the  propriety  of." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram.  p.  45.  "Active  verbs  are  conjugated  with 
the  auxiliary  verb  /  have  ;  passive  verbs  are  conjugated  with  the  auxiliary  verb  I  am." — Ib. 
p.  57.  "  What  word,  then,  may  and  be  called  ?  A  Conjunction." — Smith's  New  Gram. 
p.  37.  "  Have  they  ascertained  the  person  who  gave  the  information  ? " — Bullions' s  E. 
drum.  p.  81. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  X. — OF  IMPROPER  OMISSIONS. 

"All  qualities  of  things  are  called  adnouns,  or  adjectives." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  10. 

[FoRMULE.— Not  proper,  because  this  expression  lacks  two  or  three  words  which  are  necessary  to  the  srn«> 
invn.li-<i.  Hut  Hcmr-liuc  to  Critical  Not.-  Kith.  "  Words  necessary  to  the  sense,  or  even  to  the  melody  or  Ix-nuty 
of  s  sentence,  ought  seldom,  if  ever,  to  be  omitted."  The  sentence  may  be  amended  thus  :  ''All  words  signi- 
fying concrde  equalities  of  things,  are  called  adnouns,  or  adjectives."] 

"The  -  signifies  the  long  or  accented  syllable,  and  the  breve   indicates  a  short  or  unac- 
cented syllable." — Blair's  drum.  p.  US.     "Whose  duty  is  to  help  young  ministers." — X. 
//';,//-,  ]>.  78.     "The  passage  is  closely  connected  with  what  precedes  and  follows." 
— VhiUtloijiml  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p.  2.55.     "The  work  is  not  completed,  but  soon  will  be."- 
Sniit/i's  ]'r<>(lnrtir<-  dram.  p.  113.     "Of  whom  hast  thou  been  afraid  or  feared?" — / 
Ivii,  11.     "There  is  a   (iod  who  made  and  governs  the  world." — Butlers  Anuh'jy,  1 
"  It  was  this  made  them  so  haughty."— Goldsmith's  Greece,  Vol.  ii,  p.  102.     "How  far  the 
whole  charge  ulfeeted  him  is  not  easy  to  determine." — Ib.  i,  p.  189.     "They  saw,  and  wor- 
shipped the  (rod,  that  made  them." — Bucket  dram.  p.  157.     "The  errors  frequent  in  the 
use  of  hyperboles,  arise  either  from  overstraining,  or  introducing  them  on  unsuitable  occa- 
si  ms." — Murray's    Gram.    Svo,  p.    256.       "The    preposition  in    is    set   before    countries, 
,  ;uul  large  towns  :  as,   «  He  lives  in  France,  in  London,  or  in  Birmingham.'     But 
before  vill  ;  al  cities  which  arc  in  distant  countries,  at  is  used :  as,  '  He 

it  ILiekuey.'  ''—Ib.  p.  204  ;    Dr.  Ash's  dram.  GO  ;  Inyersoll's,  232  ;   Smith's,  170  ;  Fisk's, 
1-3  ;  vt  al.     "Aud,  in  such  recollection,  the  thing  is  not  figured  as  in  our  view,  nor  any 


712  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

image  formed." — Kames,  EL  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  86.  "  Intrinsic  and  relative  beauty  must  be 
handled  separately." — Ib.  Vol.  ii,  p.  336..  "  He  should  be  on  his  guard  not  to  do  them 
injustice,  by  disguising,  or  placing  them  in  a  false  light." — Blair's  Rhet.-p.  272.  "In  that 
work,  we  are  frequently  interrupted  by  unnatural  thoughts." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  275. 
"To  this  point  have  tended  all  the  rules  I  have  given." — Blair's  Ehet.  p.  120.  "  To  these 
points  have  tended  all  the  rules  which  have  been  given." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  356. 
"  Language,  as  written,  or  oral,  is  addressed  to  the  eye,  or  to  the  ear." — Lit.  Conv.  p.  184. 
"  He  will  learn,  Sir,  that  to  accuse  and  prove  are  very  different." — Walpole.  "  They  crowded 
around  the  door  so  as  to  prevent  others  going  out." — Abbott's  Teacher,  p.  17.  "  One  person 
or  thing  is  singular  number ;  more  than  one  person  or  thing  is  plural  number." — John 
Flint's  Gram.  p.  27.  "According  to  the  sense  or  relation  in  which  nouns  are  used,  they  are 
in  the  NOMINATIVE  or  POSSESSIVE  CASE,  thus,  nom.  man  ;  poss.  man's." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  11. 
"  Nouns  or  pronouns  in  the  possessive  case  are  placed  before  the  nouns  which  govern  them, 
to  which  they  belong." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  130.  "A  teacher  is  explaining  the  difference 
between  a  noun  and  verb." — Abbott's  Teacher,  p.  72.  "And  therefore  the  two  ends,  or 
extremities,  must  directly  answer  to  the  north  and  south  pole." — HARRIS  :  Joh.  Diet.  w. 
Gnomon.  "  Walks  or  walketh,  rides  or  rideth,  stands  or  standeth,  are  of  the  third  person  singu- 
lar."— Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  47.  "  I  grew  immediately  roguish  and  pleasant  to  a  degree,  in 
the  same  strain." — SWIFT  :  Tattler,  31.  "An  Anapaest  has  the  first  syllables  unaccented,  and 
the  last  accented." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  119.  "An  Anapaest  has  the  first  two  syllables  unac- 
cented, and  the  last  accented." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  219  ;  Bullions' s  Principles,  170.  "An 
Anapaest  has  the  two  first  syllables  unaccented,  and  the  last  accented." — L.  Murray's  Gram. 
p.  254 ;  Jamieson's  Rhet.  305 ;  Smith's  New  Gram.  188 ;  Guy's  Gram.  120 ;  Merchant's,  167 ; 
Russell's,  109  ;  Picket's,  226.  "  But  hearing  and  vision  differ  not  more  than  words  spoken 
and  written." — Wilson's  Essay  on  Gram.  p.  21.  "They  are  considered  by  some  preposi- 
tions."— Cooper's  PL  and  Pr.  Gram.  p.  102.  "When  those  powers  have  been  deluded  and 
gone  astray." — Philological  Museum,  i,  642.  "  They  will  soon  understand  this,  and  like  it." 
— Abbott's  Teacher,  p.  92.  "  They  had  been  expelled  their  native  country  Romagna."- 
Leigh  Hunt,  on  Byron,  p.  18.  "  Future  time  is  expressed  two  different  ways." — Adam's 
Gram.  p.  80 ;  Gould's,  78.  "  Such  as  the  borrowing  from  history  some  noted  event." — 
Kames,  EL  of  Crit.  Vol.  ii,  p.  280.  "  Every  Verb  must  agree  with  its  Nominative  in  Number 
and  Person." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  94.  "  We  are  struck,  we  know  not  how,  with  the  sym- 
metry of  any  thing  we  see." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  268.  "Under  this  head,  I  shall  con- 
sider every  thing  necessary  to  a  good  delivery." — Sheridan's  Lect.  p.  26.  "A  good  ear  is  "he 
gift  of  nature ;  it  may  be  much  improved,  but  not  acquired  by  art." — Murray's  Grim. 
p.  298.  "'Truth,'  A  noun,  neuter,  singular,  the  nominative." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  73. 
"•Possess,'  A  verb  transitive,  present,  indicative  active, — third  person,  plural." — Ibid.  73. 
"Fear  is  a  noun,  neuter,  singular,  and  is  the  nominative  to  (or  subject  of)  is." — Id.  ib. 
p.  133.  "Is  is  a  verb,  intrans.,  irregular — am,  was,  been;  it  is  in  the  present,  indicative, 
third  person  singular,  and  agrees  with  its  nominative  fear.  Rule  i.  «A  verb  agrees,' 
&c."—Ibid.  133.  "Ae  in  Gaelic,  has  the  sound  of  long  a."— Wells' s  School  Gram.t  1st.  Ed., 
p.  29. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  XI. — OF  LITERARY  BLUNDERS. 

"  Repeat  some  [adverbs]  that  are  composed  of  the  article  a  and  nouns." — Kirkham's 
Gram.  p.  89. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  grammatist  here  mistakes  for  the  article  a,  the  prefix  or  preposition  a;  as 
in  "  aside,  ashore,  afoot,  astray,'"  &c.  But,  according  to  Critical  Note  llth,  "  Grave  blunders  made  in  the  name 
of  learning,  are  the  strongest  of  all  certificates  against  the  books  which  contain  them  unreproved.';  The  error 
should  be  corrected  thus  :  "  Repeat  some  adverbs  that  are  composed  of  the  prefix  o,  or  preposition  a,  and 
nouns."] 

"  Participles  are  so  called,  because  derived  from  the  Latin  word  participium,  which  sig- 
nifies to  partake." — Merchant's  School  Gram.  p.  18.  "  The  possessive  follows  another  noun, 
and  is  known  by  the  sign  's  or  of." — Beck's  Gram.  p.  8.  "  Reciprocal  pronouns  are  formed 
by  adding  self  or  selves  to  the  possessive  ;  as,  myself,  yoursefoes." — Ib.  p.  10.  "  The  word 
self,  and  its  plural  selves,  must  be  considered  nouns,  as  they  occupy  the  places  of  nouns, 
and  stand  for  the  names  of  them." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  61.  "The  Dactyl,  rolls  round, 
expresses  beautifully  the  majesty  of  the  sun  in  his  course." — Webster's  Philos.  Gram.  p.  231 ; 
Webster's  Imp.  Gram.  p.  165  ;  Frazee's  Imp.  Gram.  p.  192.  "  Prepositions  govern  the  objec- 
tive case  ;  as,  John  learned  his  lesson." — Frazee's  Gram.  p.  153.  "  Prosody  primarily  sig- 
nified punctuation  ;  and  as  the  name  implies,  related  to  stopping  by  the  way." — Hendrick's 
Gram.  p.  103.  "  On  such  a  principle  of  forming  modes,  there  would  be  as  many  modes  as 
verbs  ;  and  instead  of  four  modes,  we  should  have  forty- three  thousand,  which  is  the  num- 
ber of  verbs  in  the  English  language,  according  to  Lowth." — Hallock's  Gram.  p.  76.  "  The 
following  phrases  are  elliptical :  « To  let  out  blood.'  '  To  go  a  hunting ; '  that  is,  « To  go  on 
a  hunting  excursion.' " — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  129.  "  In  Rhyme,  the  last  syllable  of  every 
two  lines  has  the  same  sound." — Id.  Practical  Lessons,  p.  129.  "  The  possessive  case  plural, 
ending  in  es,  has  the  apostrophe,  but  omits  the  s ;  as,  Eagles'  wings." — Weld's  Gram.  p.  62  ; 
Abridg.  p.  54.  "  Horses  (plural)  -mane,  [should  be  written]  horses'  mane." — Weld,  ib.  pp.  62 


CHAP.    XIII.]       SYNTAX. GENERAL   RULE. CRITICAL   NOTES. — ERRORS.  713 

and  54.  "W  takes  its  written  form  from  the  union  of  two  t-'s,  this  being  the  form  of  the  Roman 
capital  letter  which  we  call  I'." — /-Wfr/.v  /.'.  dr.nn.,  1850,  p.  157.  "  In  the  sentence, '  I  saw  the 
lady  who  sings,'  what  irtnl  do  I  say  sings?" — J.Flint's  Gram.  p.  12.  "In  the  sentence, 
'  this  is  the  pen  which  John  made,'  what  word  do  I  say  John  made  : " — Ibid.  "  '  That  we 
fall  into  no  sin  : '  no,  an  adverb  used  idiomatically,  instead  of  we  do  not  fall  into  any  sin." 
— Blairs  Gram.  p.  54.  "  « That  all  our  doings  may  be  ordered  by  thy  governance  : '  all,  a 
pronoun  used  for  the  whole." — Ibid.  "  « Let  him  be  made  to  study.'  What  causes  the  sign  to 
to  be  expressed  before  study  f  Its  being  used  in  the  passive  voice  after  be  made." — Su,-. 
drum.  p.  145.  "The  following  Verbs  have  neither  Preter-Tense  nor  Passive-Participle, 

ast,  cut,  cost,  shut,  let,  bid,  shed,   hurt,  hit,  put,   &c." — Buchanan's  Gram.  p.   (50. 
"The  agreement,  which  every  word  has  with  the  others  in  person,  gender,  and  case,  Is  called 

:;D  ;  and  that  power,  which  one  person  of  speech  has  over  another,  in  respect  to  ruling 
its  case,  mood,  or  tense,  is  called  GOVERNMENT." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram.  p.  83.  "  The  word 
ticks  tells  what  the  noun  watch  does." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  15.  "Breve  (")  marks  a  short 
vowel  or  syllable,  and  the  dash  ( — )  a  long." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  157;  Lennie,  137. 
•'  *  Charles,  you,  by  your  diligence,  make  easy  work  of  the  task  given  you  by  your  precep- 
tor.' The  first  you  is  used  in  the  nom.  poss.  andobj.  case." — Kirk/nan's  dram.  p.  103.  "O//y 
in  bony  is  a  proper  tripthong.  Eau  in  flambeau  is  an  improper  tripthong." — Sanbnm's 
drum.  p.  2">.5.  "  '  While  I  of  things  to  come,  As  past  rehearsing,  sing.'  POLLOK.  That  is, 
4  While  I  sing  of  things  which  are  to  come,  as  one  sings  of  things  which  are  past  rehears- 
ing.' " — Kh-kham's  dram.  p.  169.  "A  simple  sentence  has  in  it  but  one  nominative,  and  one 
neuter  verb." — Folkers  Gram.  p.  14.  "An  Irregular  Verb  is  that  which  has  its  ] 
tense  and  perfect  participle  terminating  differently;  as,  smite,  smote,  smitten." — Wright's 
(rram.  p.  92.  "Hut  when  the  antecedent  is  used  in  a  general  sense,  a  comma  is  properly 
inserted  before  the  relative  ;  as,  'There  is  no  charm  in  the  female  sex,  which  can  supply  the 
place  of  virtue.'  " — Kirk/tarn's  dram.  p.  213.  "Two  capitals  in  this  way  denote  the  plural 
number;  as,  L.  D.  Leg  is  Doctor ;  LL.  I).  Leyutn  Doctor." — Gould's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  274. 
"  Was  any  person  besides  the  mercer  present  ?  Yes,  both  he  and  his  clerk." — Murray's 
"Aditou/i,  or  Ai/jt'ctife,  comes  from  the  Latin,  ad  and  jicio,  to  add  to." — 
Kirkham's  drum.  p.  69.  "Another  figure  of  speech,  proper  only  to  animated  and  warm 
composition,  is  what  some  critical  writers  call  vision  ;  when,  in  place  of  relating  some  thlmj 
',  we  use  the  present  tense,  and  describe  it  as  actually  passing  before  our  eyes. 
Thus  Cicero,  in  his  fourth  oration  against  Cataline :  'I  seem  to  myself  to  behold  this  city, 
the  ornament  of  the  earth,  and  the  capital  of  all  nations,  suddenly  involved  in  one  confla- 
gration. I  see  before  me  the  slaughtered  heaps  of  citizens  lying  unburied  in  the  midst  of 
their  ruined  country.  The  furious  countenance  of  Cethegus  rises  to  my  view,  while  with  a 
joy  he  is  triumphing  in  your  miseries.'  " — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  171.  "  Vision  is  another 
figure  of  speech,  which  is  proper  only  in  animated  and  warm  composition.  It  is  produced 
when,  instead  of  relating  something  that  is  past,  we  use  the  present  tense,"  &c. — Murray's 

.  ^vo,  ]>.  :;.?_>.     "  When  sort-mi  verbs  follow  one  another^  having  the  same  nominative, 
the  auxiliary  is  frequently  omitted  after  the  Jirst  through  an  ellipsis,   and  understood  to  the 
rest :  as,  •  He  has  gone  and  left  me ; '  that  is,  '  He  has  gone,  and  has  left  me.'  " — ComJy's 
p.  91.     "  When  I  use  the  word,  pillar  as  supporting  an  edifice,  I  employ  it  literally." 
— llilt-y's  drum.,  3d  Ed.,  p.  133.     "The  conjunction  nor  is  often  used  for  neither;  as, 
'  Simois  nor  Xanthus  shall  be  wanting  there.'  " — Ib.  p.  129. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  XII.  —  OF  PERVERSIONS. 

"  In  the  beginning,  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth." — Murray's  Gram,  Svo,  Vol. 
i,   ji.  :;:;();    /  -am.  p.  170;   Mt'!moth,on  Scripture,  p.  16. 

[FoRMULE. — Not  proper,  l'v'c:iu>e  this   r -inling  i<  false  in  relation  to  the  word  "  heat-ens  ;  "  nor  is  It  usual  to 

niin.-i  after  t!  I'ut,  according  to  Critical  Note  12th,  "Proof-texts  in  graniin.-ir.  if 

not  in  all  argument.  shouM  Vie  (pioti-d  literally:   ami  even  that  which   needs  to  be  corrected,  must  never  ln,> 

i  he  authorized  text  is  this  :  "  In  the  beginning  (Jod  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth." — Gen.  i.  l.J 

44  Canst  thou,  by  searching,  find  out  the  Lord  •  " — Murray's  dram.  p.  335.     "  Great  is  the 

Loid.  just  and  true  are  thy  ways,  thou  king  of  saints."— /'/•/*>*//<•//'.•>•  dram.  p.  171  ;  L.  Mur- 

.  '.)(>";  /,'.  ('.  Smith's,  14")  ;  ///•/« roll's,  194;  Enst-ll's,  330;  Fitsk's,  104  ;  d 

a!.  ••  Kvery  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Ixird,  Lord,  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

.  Murray's  (.'ram.  p.  137.     "  Though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  he  became  poor." — 

m.   ]).    211:  'N,    111    and    113;   Ea Text's,   230;   Smith's,  177;  ct   al. 

"  Whose  foundation  was  overflown  with  a  flood." — FRIENDS'  BIHLK  :  Job,  xxii,  16.    "  Take  my 

yoke  upon  yo,  for  my  yoke  is  easy." —  Thr  I-'ric/nl,  Vol.  iv,  p.  150.     "  I  will  to  prepare  a  ])lacn 

for  you." — IIV/'/'.s  1 '..dram.,  2d  Kd.,p.  (57.  "  Yo  who  are  dead  hath  he  quickened." — Ib.  \ 

dee  thee  away  into  the  land  of  Judea." — Hart's  dram.  p.  115.     "Hitherto  shalt  thou 

come,  and  no  father." — Murray's  Kry,  Svo,  p.   222.     "Thine  is  the  day  and  night." — 

'•  Faith  worketh  patience  ;  and  patience,  experience  ;  and  ex- 

pcr.ence,  hope." — ().  />'.  /'  //<-',  dram.  p.  2S2.     "  Soon  shall  the  dust  return  to  dust,  and 
the  soul,  to  (iod  who  gave  it.     Him.K."— Ib.  p.  166.     "For,  in  the  end,  it  biteth  like 
pent,  and  stingeth  like  an  adder.     It  will  lead  thee  into  destruction,  and  cause  thee  to  utter 
per/ersu  things.     Thou  wilt  be  like  him  who  lieth  down  in  the  midst  of  the  sea.     1! 
48 


714  THE   GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

— Ib.  p.  167.  "The  memory  of  the  just  shall  be  honored:  but  the  name  of  the  wicked 
shall  rot.  BIBLE." — 16.  p.  168.  "  He  that  is  slow  in  anger,  is  better  than  the  mighty.  He 
that  ruleth  his  spirit,  is  better  than  he  that  taketh  a  city.  BIBLE." — Ib.  p.  72.  "  The  Lord 
loveth  whomsoever  he  correcteth ;  as  the  father  correcteth  the  son  in  whom  he  delighteth. 
BIBLE." — Ib.  p.  72.  "  The  first  future  tense  represents  what  is  to  take  place  hereafter.  G. 
B." — Ib.  p.  366.  "Teach  me  to  feel  another's  wo  ;  [and]  To  hide  what  faults  I  see." — Ib. 
p.  197.  "  Thy  speech  bewrayeth  thee  ;  for  thou  art  a  Gallilean." — Murray's  Ex.  ii,  p.  118. 
"Thy  speech  betrays  thee  ;  for  thou  art  a  Gallilean." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  250..  "  Strait 
is  the  gate,  and  narrow  the  way,  that  lead  to  life  eternal." — Ib.  Key,  p.  172.  "  Straight  is 
the  gate,"  &c. — Ib.  Ex.  p.  36.  "  «  Thou  buildest  the  wall,  that  thou  mayst  be  their  king.' 
Neh.  vi.  6." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  210.  "  « There  is  forgiveness  with  thee,  that  thou  mayst 
be  feared.'  Psalms  cxxx.  4." — Ib.  p.  210.  "  But  yesterday  the  word,  Cesar,  might  Have 
stood  against  the  world." — Kirkham' s  Elocution,  p.  316.  "The  north-east  spends  its  rage. 
THOMSON."—  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Effusive.  •'  Tells  how  the  drudging  goblet  swet.  MILTON." — 
Churchill's  Gram.  p.  263.  "And  to  his  faithful  servant  hath  in  place  Bore  witness  gloriously. 
SAM.  AGON." — Ib.  p.  266.  "  Then,  if  thou  fallest,  O,  Cromwell,  Thou  fallest  a  blessed  mar- 
tyr."— Kirkham  s  Elocution,  p.  190.  "I  seethe  dagger-crest  of  Mar,  I  seethe  Moray's  silver 
star,  Waves  o'er  the  cloud  of  Saxon  war,  That  up  the  lake  came  winding  far  ! — SCOTT."- 
Merchant's  School  Gram.  p.  143.  "  Each  bird,  and  each  insect,  is  happy  in  its  kind." — Ib.  p. 
85.  "They  icho  are  learning  to  compose  and  arrange  their  sentences  with  accuracy  and  order, 
are  learning,  at  the  same  time,  to  think  with  accuracy  and  order.  BLAIR." — Ib.  p.  176  ;  L. 
Murray's  Gram.,  Title-page,  8vo  and  12mo.  "  We,  then,  as  workers  together  with  you, 
beseech  you  also,  that  ye  receive  not  the  grace  of  God  in  vain." — James  Brown's  Eng.  Syn- 
tax, p.  129.  "And  on  the  bounty  of  thy  goodness  calls." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  246. 
"Knowledge  dwells  In  heads  replete  with  thoughts  of  other  men;  Wisdom,  in  minds 
retentive  to  their  own.  COWPER." — Merchant's  School  Gram.  p.  172.  "Oh!  let  me  listen  to 
the  icord  of  life.  THOMSON." — Ib.  p.  155.  "  Save  that  from  yonder  ivy-mantled  boicer,  &c. 
GRAY'S  ELEGY." — Tooke's  Div.  of  Purley,  Vol.  i,  p.  116.  "  Weigh  the  mens  wits  against  the 
ladies  hairs.  POPE." — Dr.  Johnson's  Gram.  p.  6.  "  Weigh  the  men's  wits  against  the  women's 
hairs.  POPE." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  214.  "Prior  to  the  publication  of  Lowth's  excellent 
little  grammar,  the  grammatical  study  of  our  own  language,  formed  no  part  of  the  ordinary 
method  of  instruction.  HILEY'S  PREFACE." — Dr.  Bullions's  E.  Gram.,  1843,  p.  189.  "Let 
there  be  no  strife  betwixt  me  and  thee." — Weld's  Gram.  p.  143. 

"  What !  canst  thou  not  bear  with  me  half  an  hour  ? — SHARP." — Ib.  p.  185. 

"  Till  then  who  knew  the  force  of  those  dire  dreams. — MILTON."— Ib.  p.  186. 
"  In  words,  as  fashions,  the  rule  will  hold, 

Alike  fantastic,  if  too  new  or  old  : " — Murray's  Gram.  p.  136. 
"  Be  not  the  first,  by  whom  the  new  is  tried, 
Nor  yet  the  last,  to  lay  the  old  aside." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  104. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  XIII. — OF  AWKWARDNESS. 
"They  slew  Varus,  who  was  he  that  I  mentioned  before." — Murray  s  Key,  8vo,  p.  19-:t. 
[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  phrase,  "  who  was  he  that,"  is  here  prolix  and  awkward.    But,  according 
to  Critical  Note  13th,  "Awkwardness,  or  inelegance  of  expression,  is  a  reprehensible  defect  in  style,  whether  it 
violate  any  of  the  common  rules  of  syntax  or  not."     This  example  may  be  improved  thus  :    "  They  slew  VtTus, 
whom  I  mentioned  before."] 

"  Maria  rejected  Valerius,  who  was  he  that  she  had  rejected  before." — Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  p.  174.  "  The  English  in  its  substantives  has  but  two  different  terminations  for  cases." 
— Lowth's  Gram.  p.  18.  "  Socrates  and  Plato  were  wise  ;  they  were  the  most  eminent  philos- 
ophers of  Greece." — Ib.  p.  175  ;  Murray's  Gram.  149  ;  et  al.  "  Whether  one  person  or  more 
than  one,  were  concerned  in  the  business,  does  not  yet  appear." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  184. 
"And  that,  consequently,  the  verb  and  pronoun  agreeing  with  it,  cannot  with  propriety,  be 
ever  used  in  the  plural  number." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  153  ;  Ingersoll's,  249  ;  et  al.  "A 
second  help  may  be  the  conversing  frequently  and  freely  with  those  of  your  own  sex  who 
are  like  minded." — John  Wesley.  "Four  of  the  semi-  vowels,  namely,  I,  m,  n,  r,  are  also 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  liquids,  from  their  readily  uniting  with  other  consonants,  and 
flowing  as  it  were  into  their  sounds." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  8  ;  Churchill's,  5  ;  Alger's,  11 ;  et  al. 
"  Some  conjunctions  have  their  correspondent  conjunctions  belonging  to  them ;  so  that,  mthe 
subsequent  member  of  the  sentence  the  latter  ansioers  to  the  former." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  109  ; 
Adam's,  209  ;  Gould's,  205  ;  L.  Murray's,  211  ;  Ingersoll's,  268  ;  Fisk's,  137  ;  Churchill's,  153  ; 
Fowler's,  562  ;  et  al.  "  The  mutes  are  those  consonants,  whose  sounds  cannot  be  protracted. 
The  semi-voivels,  such  ichose  sounds  can  be  continued  at  pleasure,  partaking  of  the  nature  of 
vowels,  from  ichich  they  derive  their  name." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  9  ;  et  al.  The  pronoun 
of  the  third  person,  of  the  masculine  and  feminine  gender,  is  sometimes  used  as  a  noun,  and 
regularly  declined  :  as,  '  The  hes  in  birds.'  BACON.  •  The  shea  of  Italy.'  SHAK." — Churchill's 
Gram.  p.  73.  "  The  following  examples  also  of  separation  of  a  preposition  from  the  word 
which  it  governs,  is  improper  in  common  icritings." — C.  Adams's  Gram.  p.  103.  "The  word 
whose  begins  likewise  to  be  restricted  to  persons,  but  it  is  not  done  so  generally  but  that 
good  writers,  and  even  in  prose,  use  it  when  speaking  of  things." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  99  ; 


CHAP.    XIII.]        SYNTAX. — GENERAL   RULE. CRITICAL    NOTES. ERRORS.  715 

L.  Murray's,  157  ;  Fish's,  115;  et  al.  "There  are  new  and  surpassing  wonders  present 
themselves  to  our  views." — Sherhck.  "  Inaccuracies  are  often  found  in  the  way  •wherein 
the  decrees  of  comparison  arc  applied  and  construed." — Campbells  Ifhcf.  p.  >02.  "  Inaccu- 
racies are  often  found  in  the  way  in  which  the  degrees  of  comparison  are  applied  and  con- 
strued."— Murray'* dram.  p.  167;  Smith'*,  1  -14  ;  Infftrtofft,  193;  ct  al.  "The  connecting 
circumstance  is  placed  too  remotely,  to  be  either  perspicuous  or  agreeable." — Murray's  Cram. 
p.  177.  "  Those  tenses  arc  called  simple  tenses,  which  are  formed  of  the  principal  without 
an  auxiliary  verb." — Ib.  p.  91.  "The  nearer  that  men  approach  to  each  other,  the  more 
numerous  are  their  points  of  contact  and  the  greater  Avill  be  their  pleasures  or  their  pains." — 
Mttrruif's  AVy,  Svo,  p.  275.  "  This  is  the  machine  that  he  is  the  inventor  of." — Xi.rnn's  1  Vr.wr, 
p.  124.  "  To  give  this  sentence  the  interrogative  form,  it  should  be  expressed  thus." — 
Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  p.  279.  "  Never  employ  those  words  which  may  be  susceptible  of  a 

'afferent  from  the  sense  you  intend  to  be  conveyed." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  152.  "  Sixty 
pa-^es  are  occupied  in  explaining  what  would  not  require  more  than  ten  or  twelve  to  be 
explained  according  to  the  ordinary  method." — 75.,  Pnf.t  p.  ix.  "  The  present  participle  in 
-in;/  always  expresses  an  action,  or  the  suffering  of  an  action,  or  the  being,  state,  or  condi- 
tion of  a  thing  as  cvntiiminy  and  proyrns.fice." — ttnllions,  E.  Gram.  p.  57.  "The  7' 

••/e  of  all  active  verbs*  has  an  active  signification  ;  as,  James  is  buihlimj  the  house. 
.  however,  it  has  also  a  passive  siijn(f  cation  ;  as,  the  house  iras  buildhirj  vJ/en 

'!  fell." — LI.  ib.,  2d  or  4th  Ed.,  p.  57.  "Previous  to  parsing  this  sentence,  it  may  be 
analyzed  to  the  young  pupil  by  such  questions  as  the  following,  viz." — Id.  ib.  p.  73.  "  Sub- 
sequent to  that  period,  however,  attention  has  been  paid  to  this  important  subject." — Ib., 
New  Ed.,  p.  189  ;  IHL-y's  Pri-face,  p.  vi.  "A  definition  of  a  word  is  an  explanation  in  what 
sense  the  word  is  used,  or  what  idea  or  object  we  mean  by  it,  and  which  may  be  expressed 
by  any  one  or  more  of  the  properties,  effects,  or  circumstances  of  that  object,  so  as  suffi- 
ciently to  distinguish  it  from  other  objects." — Hilcy's  Gram.  p.  245. 

UNDKI:  CKITICAL  NOTE  XIV. — OF  IGNORANCE. 

"  What  is  an  Asserter  ?     It  is  the  part  of  speech  which  asserts." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  20. 

[FORMUI.K.— Not  proper,  localise  the  t<>rm  "Awrtfr.--  which  is  here  put  for  Verb,  is  both  ignorantly  misspelled, 

and  whimsically  misapplied.     But,  according  to  Critical  Note  14th,  "Any  use  of  words  that  implies   ignorance 

of  their  inwu.iW.   or  of  their  proper  orthography,  is   particularly   unsYholarlike  ;  and,  in  proportion  to  the 

author's  pretensions  t<>  learning  disgraceful.''     The  errors  here  committed  might  have  been  avoided  thus  : 

"  What  is  a  verb?    It  is  n  wnnl  which  signifies  to  br,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon.'1'1     Or  thus:     "What  is  an 

''     Ans.  •  One  who  tiffin;;  m  affirmer,  supporter,  or  vindicator.' — Webster's  Dict.r] 

"  Virgil  wrote  the  JEnead." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  56.  "  Which,  to  a  supercilious  or  in- 
considerate Japaner,  would  seem  very  idle  and  impertinent." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  225.  "  Will 
not  a  look  of  disdain  cast  upon  you,  throw  you  into  a  foment  ? " — Life  of  Th.  Say,  p.  146. 
"  It  may  be  of  use  to  the  scholar,  to  remark  in  this  place,  that  though  only  the  conjunction 
f'A'is  affixed  to  the  verb,  any  other  conjunction  proper  for  the  subjunctive  mood,  may,  with 
equal  propriety,  be  occasionally  annexed." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  93.  "When  proper 
have  an  article  annexed  to  them,  they  are  used  as  common  names." — Ib.  p.  36 ;  In- 
//n-W/X  25  ;  ft  al.  "  When  a  proper  noun  has  an  article  annexed  to  it,  it  is  used  as  a  com- 
mon noun." — Merrh'ntf's  Gram.  p.  25.  "Seeming  to  disenthral  the  death -field  of  its  ter- 
rors."— Ib.  p.  109.  "For  the  same  reason,  we  might,  without  any  disparagement  to  the 
language,  dispense  with  the  terminations  of  our  verbs  in  the  singular." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p. 
50.  "  It  diminishes  all  possibility  of  being  misunderstood." — Abbott's  Teacher,  p.  175.  "Ap- 
proximation to  excellence  is  all  that  we  can  expect." — Ib.  p.  42.  "I  have  often  joined  in 
sinking  with  musu-ianists  at  Norwich." — Muxir  of  Xa  litre,  p.  274.  "  When  not  standing  in 
regular  prosic  order." — o.  //.  P  -•/«.  p/281.  "  Disregardlcss  of  the  dogmas  and 

of  the  philosophical  umpire." — Kirkham's  (tram.  p.  75.     "  Others  begin  to  talk  before 
their  mouths  are  open,  affixing  the  mouth-closing  M  to  most  of  their  words — as  M-yes  for 
\'u/nri',  p.  28.     "  That  noted  close  of  his,  esse  videatur,  exposed  him  to  cen- 
sure ainonLC  his  cotemporari  r*t  Rfc  '.  p.  127.     "  OWN.  Formerly,  a  man's  oicn  was 
what  he  ir-trb-l  f,,r.  mm  bring  a  past  participle  of  a  verb  signifying  to  work." — Kirkham's 
Grnm.  p.  71.     "As  [requires]  so:  expressing  a  comparison  of  quality  :  as,  Ms  the  one  dieth, 
so  dicth  the  other.'  " — .If  «>•/•./;/.•>•  '//•,///<.  p.  212  ;   /.'.  ('.  Smith's,   177;  d/i>l  muni/ others.     "To 
>ur  parents   i     a  solemn  duty." — /'<//•/.•<  r  <///</  !-'<>.r's  Gram.,  Tart  I,  p.  67.       "Most   all 
the  political  papers  of  the  kingdom  have  touched  upon  these  things." — II.  ('.  WKIOIIT  : 
Liiti-i-utnr,  Vol.  xiv,  p.  _'J.     "  I  ^hall  take  leave  to  make  a  few  observations  on  the  subject." 
,'.s  G/-<im.  p.  iii.     "  His  los>  L  have  endeavoured  to  supply,  a*  far  as  additional  vigi- 
lance and  industry  would  allow." — Ib.  p.  xi.     "That  they  should  make  vegetation  so  ex- 
huberant  as  to  anticipate  every  want." — Frazec's  Gram.  p.  43.      "The  quotors  ""  which 

•  In   the  Doctor's  »  Xi-w  Edition.  Revised  and   Torn  cf«-d."  tl.o   text  stands  thus:  "The   Prettnt  participle  ot 

-:_'iiifi.-:irion:    as.  .laim-s  \*btiil<linz  the   IIOUM-.      !•'   many  of  tfttst,  hou 

ban,"  &c.     linn-  the  first  sentence  is  but  an  idle  trui-m  ;   and  the  phrase,  (>7n  in-iny  of  t/tetc,'1  for  Iwk  of  an 

is  utt-T  iKins.-nse.     \\hat  i«  in  "  .light  of  ccur.-e  t..  1-e  nrm-f  in  ••  si.'iiili- 

in  this  author's  present  scliemo  of  the  verb,  vre  find  "  the  active  voice."  in  direct  violation  of  his 

own  d-iini'ion  ,,f  it.  as.-rihed  not  only  to  verbs  and  participles  either  neuter  or  intransitive,  but  also,  as  it  \vtmld 

Bcem  by  this  passage,  to  "  many  "  that  are  passive  .'— G.  Bi 


716  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMAES.  [PART   III. 

denote  that  one  or  more  words  are  extracted  from  another  author." — Day's  District  School 
Gram.  p.  112.  "  Ninevah  and  Assyria  were  two  of  the  most  noted  cities  of  ancient  history." 
— Ib.  p.  32  and  p.  88.  "  Ninevah,  the  capital  of  Assyria,  is  a  celebrated  ancient  city."- 
Ib.  p.  88.  "It  may,  however,  be  rendered  definite  by  introducing  some  definition 
of  time ;  as,  yesterday,  last  week,  &c." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  40.  "  The  last  is  called 
heroic  measure,  and  is  the  same  that  is  used  by  Milton,  Young,  Thompson,  Pollock,  &c."- 
Id.,  Practical  Lessons,  p.  129.  "  Perrenial  ones  must  be  sought  in  the  delightful  regions 
above." — Hallock's  Gram.  p.  194.  "  Intransitive  verbs  are  those  which  are  inseperable  from 
the  effect  produced." — Cutler  s  Gram.  p.  31.  "  Femenine  gender,  belongs  to  women,  and 
animals  of  the  female  kind." — Ib.  p.  15.  "Woe  !  unto  you  scribes  and  pharasees." — Day's 
Gram.  p.  74.  "A  pyrrick,  which  has  both  its  syllables  short." — Ib.  p.  114.  "  What  kind 
of  Jesamine  ?  a  Jesamine  in  flower,  or  a  flowery  Jesamine." — Barrett's  Gram.,  10th  Ed.,  p. 
53.  "Language,  derived  from  '  lingua,''  the  tongue,  is  the  faculty  of  communicating  our 
thoughts  to  each  other,  by  proper  words,  used  by  common  consent,  as  signs  of  our  ideas." — 
Ib.  p.  9.  "  Say  none  not  nara." — Stamford's  Gram.  p.  81.  "Any  ONE,  for  either." — Pond's 
Larger  Gram.  p.  194.  (See  Obs.  24th,  oil  the  Syntax  of  Adverbs,  and  the  Note  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  page.) 

"  Earth  loses  thy  patron  for  ever  and  aye ; 
O  sailor  boy  !  sailor  boy  !  peace  to  thy  soul." — S.  Barrett's  Gram.,  1837,  p.  116. 

"  His  brow  was  sad,  his  eye  beneath, 
Flashed  like  a  halcyon  from  its  sheath." — Liberator,  Vol.  xii,  p.  24. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  XV.  —  OF  SILLINESS  AND  TRUISMS. 
"  Such  is  the  state  of  man,  that  he  is  never  at  rest." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  57. 

[FORMULE.— This  is  a  remark  of  no  wisdom  or  force,  because  it  would  be  nearer  the  truth,  to  say,  "  Such  is  the 
state  of  man,  that  he  must  often  rest."  But,  according  to  Critical  Note  15th,  u  billy  remarks  and  idle  truisms 
are  traits  of  a  feeble  style,  and  when  their  weakness  is  positive,  or  inherent,  they  ought  to  be  entirely  omitted." 
It  is  useless  to  attempt  a  correction  of  this  example,  for  it  is  not  susceptible  of  any  form  worth  preserving.] 

"Participles  belong  to  the  nouns  or  pronouns  to  which  they  relate." — Wells' s  Gram.,  1st 
Ed.,  p.  153.  "Though  the  measure  is  mysterious,  it  is  worthy  of  attention." — Murray's 
Key,  8vo,  p.  221.  "  Though  the  measure  is  mysterious,  it  is  not  unworthy  your  attention." 
- — Kirkham's  Gram.  pp.  197  and  227.  "  The  inquietude  of  his  mind  made  his  station  and 
wealth  far  from  being  enviable." — Murray's  Key,  Svo,  p.  250.  "  By  rules  so  general  snd 
comprehensive  as  these  are  [,]  the  clearest  ideas  are  conveyed." — Ib.  p.  273.  "  The  mind  of 
man  cannot  be  long  without  some  food  to  nourish  the  activity  of  its  thoughts." — Ib.  p.  1S5. 
"  Not  having  known,  or  not  having  considered,  the  measures  proposed,  he  tailed  of  success" 
— Ib.  p.  202.  "Not having  known  or  considered  the  subject,  he  made  a  crude  decision.'  - 
Ib.  p.  275.  "  Not  to  exasperate  him,  I  spoke  only  a  very  few  words." — Ib.  p.  257.  "Those 
are  points  too  trivial,  to  be  noticed.  They  are  objects  with  which  I  am  totally  unacquaint- 
ed."— Ib.  p.  275.  "Before  we  close  this  section,  it  may  afford  instruction  to  the  learners, 
to  be  informed,  more  particularly  than  they  have  been." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  110.  "Ihe 
articles  are  often  properly  omitted  :  when  used,  they  should  be  justly  applied,  according  to 
their  distinct  nature." — Ib.  p.  170  ;  Alger's,  60.  "Any  thing,  which  is  done  now,  is  sup- 
posed to  be  done  at  the  present  time." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  34.  "Any  thing  which  was 
done  yesterday  is  supposed  to  be  done  in  past  time." — Ib.  34.  "Any  thing  which  may  be 
done  hereafter,  is  supposed  to  be  done  in  future  time." — Ib.  34.  "  When  the  mind  coin- 
pares  two  things  in  reference  to  each  other,  it  performs  the  operation  of  comparing." — Ib. 
p.  244.  "  The  persons,  with  whom  you  dispute,  are  not  of  your  opinion." — Cooper's  PL  and 
Pr.  Gram.  p.  124.  "  But  the  preposition  at  is  always  used  when  itfolloios  the  neuter  Verb  in 
the  same  Case  :  as,  « I  have  been  at  London.'  " — Dr.  Ash's  Gram.  p.  60.  "  But  the  preposition 
at  is  generally  used  after  the  neuter  verb  to  be :  as,  « I  have  been  at  London.'  " — L.  Murray's 
Gram.  p.  203  ;  Ingcrsoll's,  231 ;  Fisk's,  143  ;  et  al.  "  The  article  the  has  sometimes  a  differ- 
ent effect,  in  distinguishing  a  person  by  an  epithet." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  172.  "  The  article 
the  has,  sometimes,  ajine  effect,  in  distinguishing  a  person  by  an  epithet." — Priestley's  Gram. 
p.  151.  "  Some  nouns  have  plurals  belonging  only  to  themselves." — Infant  School  Gram. 
p.  26.  "  Sentences  are  either  simple  or  compounded." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  68.  "All  sen- 
tences are  either  simple  or  compound." — Gould's  Adam's  Gram.  p.  155.  "The  definite 
article  the  belongs  to  nouns  in  the  singular  or  plural  number." — Kirkham's  Gram.,  llule  2d, 
p.  176.  "  Where  a  riddle  is  not  intended,  it  is  always  a  fault  in  allegory  to  be  too  dark."- 
Blair's  Rhet.  p.  151  ;  Murray's  Gram.  343.  "  There  may  be  an  excess  in  too  many  short  sen- 
tences also ;  by  which  the  sense  is  split  and  broken." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  101.  "Are  there  any 
nouns  you  cannot  see,  hear,  or  feel,  but  only  think  of?  Name  such 'a  noun." — Infant  School 
Gram.  p.  17.  "Flock  is  of  the  singular  number,  it  denotes  but  one  flock — and  in  the  nomi- 
native case,  it  is  the  active  agent  of  the  verb." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  58.  "  The  article  THE 
agrees  with  nouns  of  the  singular  or  plural  number." — Parker  and  Fox's  Gram.  p.  8.  "The 
admiral  bombarded  Algiers,  which  has  been  continued." — Nixon's  Parser,  p.  128.  "The 
world  demanded  freedom,  which  might  have  been  expected." — Ibid.  "  The  past  tense  rep- 
resents an  action  as  past  and  finished,  either  with  or  without  respect  to  the  time  when."- 
Feltons  Gram.  p.  22.  "  That  boy  rode  the  wicked  horse." — Butler's  Practical  Gram.  p.  42. 


CHAP.  XIII.]       SYNTAX.  -  GENERAL   RULE.  -  CRITICAL   NOTES.  —  ERRORS.  717 

"  The  snake  swallowed  itself."  —  Ib.  p.  57.  "Do  is  sometimes  used  when  shall  or  should  is 
omitted;  as,  'Ifthourfo  repent.'"  —  Ib.  p.  85.  "SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD.  This  mood  has  the 
tenses  of  the  indicatir,>:'—fl>.  p.  87.  "As  nouns  never  speak,  they  are  never  in  the  first  person.'  ' 

Ys  Practical  dram.  p.  148.  "  Nearly  all  parts  of  speech  are  used  more  or  less  in  an 
elliptical  sense."  —  Day's  District  School  Gram.  p.  80.  "  RULE.  No  word  in  a  period  can  have 
any  greater  extension  than  the  other  words  or  sections  in  the  same  sentence  will  give  it."  — 
'  ,'rnm.  p.  38  and  p.  43.  "  Words  used  exclusively  as  Adverbs,  should  not  be 
used  as  Adjectives."  —  Clark's  Practical  Gram.  p.  166.  "Adjectives  used  in  Predication, 
should  not  take  the  Adverbial  form."  —  Ib.  pp.  167  and  173. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  XVI.  —  OF  THE  INCORRIGIBLE. 

"And  this  state  of  things  belonging  to  the  painter  governs  it  iu  the  possessive  case."  — 
Murray's  dram.  p.  195  ;  Ingersotfs,  201  ;  et  al. 

[FoRMULE.—  This  composition  is  incorrigibly  bad.     The  participle  "  belonging,"  which  seems  to  relate  to 

i»  improperly  meant  to  qualify  "state."    And  the  "  state  of  things,"  (which  state  really  belongs 

only  to  th>  thins;!!,)  is  absurdly  supposed  to  belong  to  a  person—  i.  e.,  "  to  the  painter."    Then  this  man,  to  whom 

tte  <>f  tiling"  is  said  to  belong,  is  forthwith  called  "if,"  and  nonsensically  declared  to  be  "in  the 
possess!  re  case.7'  But,  according  to  Critical  Note  16th,  "  Passages  too  erroneous  for  correction,  may  be  criti«-i>«.-.l, 
orally  or  otherwise,  and  then  passed  over  without  any  attempt  to  amend  them."  Therefore,  no  correction  is 
attempted  here.] 

"  Nouns  or  pronouns,  following  the  verb  to  be  ;  or  the  words  than,  but,  as  ;  or  that  answer 
the  question  who?  have  the  same  case  after  as  preceded  them."  —  Beck's  Gram.  p.  29.  "  The 
common  gender  is  when  the  noun  may  be  either  masculine  or  feminine."  —  Frost's  Gram.  p.  8. 
"The  possessive  is  generally  pronounced  the  same  as  if  the  s  were  added."  —  Alden's  Gram. 
p.  11.  "  For,  assuredly,  as  soon  as  men  had  got  beyond  simple  interjections,  and  began  to 
communicate  t/temselves  by  discourse,  they  would  be  under  a  necessity  of  assigning  names  to 
the  objects  they  saw  around  them,  which  in  grammatical  language,  is  called  the  invention  of 
substantive  nouns."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  72.  "  Young  children  will  learn  to  form  letters  as 
soon,  if  not  readier,  than  they  will  when  older."  —  Taylor's  District  School,  p.  159.  "This 
comparing  words  with  one  another,  constitutes  what  is  called  the  degrees  of  comparison."  — 
Sanborn's  drum.  p.  29.  "  Whenever  a  noun  is  immediately  annexed  to  a,  preceding  neuter  verb, 
it  f.rpn-fsxi:s  either  the  same  notion  with  the  verb,  or  denotes  only  the  circumstance  of  the 
."  —  Istwth's  dram.  p.  73.  "Two  or  more  nouns  or  pronouns  joined  singular  together 
by  the  conjunction  and,  must  have  verbs  agreeing  with  them  in  the  plural  number."  —  Infant 
Sc/iool  Gram.  p.  129.  "Possessive  and  demonstrative  pronouns  agree  with  their  nouns  in 
number  and  case  ;  as,  '  my  brother,'  '  this  slate,'  «  these  slates.'  "  —  Ib.  p.  130.  "  Participles 
which  have  no  relation  to  time  are  used  either  as  adjectives  or  as  substantives."  —  Maunder'  s 
f  ;/•<///!.  p.  1.  "They  are  in  use  only  in  some  of  their  times  and  modes  ;  and  in  some  of 
thorn  are  a  composition  of  times  of  several  defective  verbs,  having  the  same  signification." 

'/>'s  dram.  p.  59.  "When  words  of  the  possessive  case  that  are  in  apposition,  follow 
oiu-  another  in  quick  succession,  the  possessive  sign  should  be  annexed  to  the  last  only,  and 

t»od  to  the  rest;  as,  '  For  David,  my  servant's  sake.'  "  —  Comly's   Gram.  p.   92.     "% 

this  order,  the  first  nine  rules  accord  with  those  which  respect  the  rules  of  concord  ;  and  the 

ndude,  though  they  extend  beyond  the  rules  of  government."  —  Murray's  drum. 

p.  1  1:>.     l*  (>«-,/  and  self  in  the  plural  selves,  are  joined  to  the  possessives,  my,  our,  thy,  your, 

/-,  their  ;  as,  my  own  hand,  myself,  yourselves  ;  both  of  them  expressing  emphasis  or 

ition,  as,  '  I  did  it  my  own  self,'  that  is,  and  no  one  else  ;  the  latter  also  forming  the 
reciprocal  pronoun,  as,  «  he  hurt  himself.'  "  —  Lowfh's  drum.  p.  iM.  "A/iW/V/  copious  style, 
therefore,  is  required  in  all  public  speakers  ;  guarding,  at  the  same  ff/ne,  against  such  a  de- 
gree  of  dijfu.vion,  as  renders  them  languid  and  tiresome;  which  will  always  prove  the  case, 
when  they  inculcate  too  much,  and  present  the  same  thought  under  too  mam/  difi'erent  view.s."  — 

i  Rhet.  p.  177.  "As  sentences  should  be  cleared  of  redundant  words,  so  also  of  re- 
dundant members.  As  every  word  ought  to  present  a  new  idea,  so  every  member  ought 
to  -ontain  a  new  thought.  Opposed  to  this,  stands  the  fault  we  sometimes  meet  with,  of 
uber  of  a  period  //•//<'/  no  other  than  the  echo  of  the  former,  or  the  repetition  of 
it  in  somewhat  a  different  form."*  —  Ib.  p.  1  1  1.  "  \Vhieh  always  r'eier>  grammatically  to  the 
substantive  imm>-lnit,!</  />/•<  -enling  :  [as,]  '  It  is  folly  to  pretend,  by  heaping  up  treasures,  to 
arm  ourscl'  .  "-hirh  nothing  can  protect  us  again>t,  but  the 


good  providence  of  our  heavenly  Father.'"  —  Murray's  Gram.   p.    311;   Maunders,  p.  18; 
'.  p.  105.     "The  English  <  .  ...iving  but  a  very  limited  syntax,  is  classed 

with  its  kindred  artic'.;  th.  /;,  under  the  eighth  rule."—/,.   'Murray's  dram. 

8vo,  p.  143.     "  When  a  substantive  is  put  tibwlntely,  and  does  nnt  agree  with   the  'following 
verb,  it  remains  i  ">i  the  participle,  and  is  called  the  case  absolute,  or  the 

absolute."  —  Ib.  p.  l'J5.      "  It  will,  dou  ,  happen,  that,  on  this  occasion,  as  well 

as  on  many  other  occasions,  a  strict  adherence  to  grammatical  rules,  would  render  the  lai: 
stiff  and  formal  :  but  when  cases  of  this  sort  occur,  it  is  better  to  give  the  cxpre- 

*  One  objection  to  these  passages  Is,  that  they  are  examplts  of  the  very  construction  which  thoy  describe  as  a 
fault.  The  first  and  second  sentences  ought  to  have  been  separated  only  by  a  semicolon.  This  would  have 
made  them  '•  members  "  of  one  and  the  same  sentence.  Can  it  be  supposed  that  one  "  thought  "  is  sufficient  for 
two  periods,  or  for  what  one  chooses  to  point  as  such,  but  not  fur  two  members  of  the  same  period  ?—  Q.  Duu\v  N. 


718  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

different  turn,  than  to  violate  grammar  for  the  sake  of  ease,  or  even  of  elegance" — Ib.  p.  208. 
"  Number,  which,  distinguishes  objects  as  singly  or  collectively,  must  have  been  coeval  with 
the  very  infancy  of  language." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  25.  "  The  article  a  or  an  agrees  with 
nouns  in  the  singular  number  only,  individually  or  collectively." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  170  ; 
and  others.  "  No  language  is  perfect  because  it  is  a  human  invention." — Parker  and  Fox's 
Grammar,  Part  III,  p.  112.  "The  participles,  or  as  they  may  properly  be  termed,  forms  of 
the  verb  in  the  second  infinitive,  usually  precedes  another  verb,  and  states  some  fact,  or  event, 
from  which  an  inference  is  drawn  by  that  verb  ;  as,  "  the  sun  having  arisen,  they  departed." 
— Day's  Grammar,  2nd  Ed.,  p.  36.  "They  must  describe  ichat  has  happened  as  having  done 
so  in  the  past  or  the  present  time,  or  as  likely  to  occur  in  the  future." — The  Well-to  i&hcrs' 
Grammar,  Introd.,  p.  5.  "Nouns  are  either  male,  female,  or  neither." — Foicle's  Common 
School  Grammar,  Part  Second,  p.  12.  "  Possessive  Adjectives  express  possession,  and  distin- 
guish nouns  from  each  other  by  showing  to  what  they  belong  ;  as,  my  hat,  John's  hat." — 
Ib.  p.  31. 

PROMISCUOUS  EXAMPLES  OF  FALSE  SYNTAX. 

LESSON  I.— VARIOUS  RULES. 

"  What  is  the  reason  that  our  language  is  less  refined  than  that  of  Italy,  Spain,  or 
France  ?  " — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  185.  "  What  is  the  reason  that  our  language  is  less  re- 
fined than  that  of  France  ? " — Ingersoll's  Gram.  p.  152.  "  '  I  believe  your  Lordship  will  agree 
with  me,  in  the  reason  why  our  language  is  less  refined  than  those  of  Italy,  Spain,  or 
France.'  DEAN  SWIFT.  Even  in  this  short  sentence,  we  may  discern  an  inaccuracy — «  why 
our  language  is  less  refined  than  those  of  Italy,  Spain,  or  France  ;'  putting  the  pronoun  those 
in  the  plural,  when  the  antecedent  substantive  to  which  it  refers  is  in  the  singular,  our  lan- 
guage."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  228.  "  The  sentence  might  have  been  made  to  run  much  better 
in  this  way ;  «  why  our  language  is  less  refined  than  the  Italian,  Spanish,  or  French.'  " — Ibid. 
"  But  when  arranged  in  an  entire  sentence,  which  they  must  be  to  make  a  complete  sense, 
they  show  it  still  more  evidently." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  65.  "  This  is  a  more  artificial 
and  refined  construction  than  that,  in  which  the  common  connective  is  simply  made  use  of." 
— Ib.  p.  127.  "  We  shall  present  the  reader  with  a  list  of  Prepositions,  which  are  derived 
from  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages." — Ib.  p.  120.  "  Relatives  comprehend  the  meaning  of 
a  pronoun  and  conjunction  copulative." — Ib.  p.  126.  "  Personal  pronouns  being  used  to  sup- 
ply the  place  of  the  noun,  are  not  employed  in  the  same  part  of  the  sentence  as  the  noun 
which  they  represent." — Ib.  p.  155  ;  R.  C.  Smith's  Gram.  131.  "There  is  very  seldom  any 
occasion  for  a  substitute  in  the  same  part  where  the  principal  word  is  present." — Murray's 
Gram.  p.  155.  "  We  hardly  consider  little  children  as  persons,  because  that  term  gives  as 
the  idea  of  reason  and  reflection." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  98  ;  Murray's,  157  ;  Smith's,  13  5 ; 
and  others.  "The  occasion  of  exerting  each  of  these  qualities  is  different." — Blair's  Rh;t. 
p.  95  ;  Murray's  Gram.  302  ;  Jamieson's  Rhet.  66.  "  I'll  tell  you  who  time  ambles  with  il, 
who  time  trots  withal,  who  time  gallops  withal,  and  who  he  stands  still  withal.  I  pray  thee, 
who  doth  he  trot  withal  ?  " — Shakspeare.  "  By  greatness,  I  do  not  only  mean  the  bulk  of  any 
single  object,  but  the  largeness  of  a  whole  view." — Addison.  "  The  question  may  then 
be  put,  What  does  he  more  than  mean?" — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  103.  "The  question  might  be 
put,  what  more  does  he  than  only  mean  ? " — Ib.  p.  204.  "  He  is  surprised  to  find  himself 
got  to  so  great  a  distance,  from  the  object  with  which  he  at  first  set  out." — Ib.  p.  108.  "  He 
is  surprised  to  find  himself  at  so  great  a  distance  from  the  object  with  which  he  sets  out." — 
Murray's  Gram.  p.  313.  "  Few  precise  rules  can  be  given,  which  will  hold  without  excep- 
tion in  all  cases." — Ib.  p.  267  ;  Lowth's  Gram.  p.  115.  "  Versification  is  the  arrangement  of 
a  certain  number  of  syllables  according  to  certain  laws." — Dr.  Johnson's  Gram.  p.  13.  "  Ver- 
sification is  the  arrangement  of  a  certain  number  and  variety  of  syllables,  according  to  cer- 
tain laws." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  252  ;  R.  C.  Smith's,  187  ;  and  others.  "  Charlotte,  the 
friend  of  Amelia,  to  whom  no  one  imputed  blame,  was  too  prompt  in  her  own  vindica- 
ton." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  273.  "Mr.  Pitt,  joining  the  war  party  in  1793,  the  most 
striking  and  the  most  fatal  instance  of  this  offence,  is  the  one  which  at  once  presents 
itself." — Brougham  s  Sketches,  Vol.  i,  p.  57.  "  To  the  framing  such  a  sound  constitution  of 
mind." — The  American  Lady,  p.  132.  "'Iboseech  you,' said  St.  Paul  to  his  Ephesian 
converts,  '  that  ye  walk  worthy  the  vocation  wherewith  ye  are  called.'  " — Ib.  p.  208.  "  So 
as  to  prevent  its  being  equal  to  that." — Booth's  Introd.  p.  88.  "  When  speaking  of  an  ac- 
tion's being  performed." — Ib.  p.  89.  "And,  in  all  questions  of  an  action's  being  so  per- 
formed, cst  is  added  to  the  second  person." — Ib.  p.  72.  "  No  account  can  be  given  of  this, 
than  that  custom  has  blinded  their  eyes." — Dymond's  Essays,  p.  269. 
"  Design,  or  chance,  make  others  wive ; 
But  nature  did  this  match  contrive." — Waller,  p.  24. 

LESSON  II.— VARIOUS  RULES. 

"  I  suppose  each  of  you  think  it  is  your  own  nail." — Abbott" s  Teacher,  p.  58.     "They  are 
useless,  from  their  being  apparently  based  upon  this  supposition." — Ib.  p.  71.     "  The  form 


CHAP.    XITI.]          SYNTAX. — VARIOUS    RULES. PROMISCUOUS    ERRORS.  719 

and  manner,  in  which  this  plan  may  be  adopted,  is  various." — Ib.  p.  83.  "  Making  intellectual 
effort,  and  acquiring  knowledge,  are  always  pleasant  to  the  human  mind." — Ib.  p.  85. 
"  This  will  do  more  than  the  best  lecture  which  ever  was  delivered." — Ib.  p.  90.  "  Doing 
easy  things  is  generally  dull  work." — Ib.  p.  92.  "  Such  is  the  tone  and  manner  of  some 
teachers." — Ib.  p.  118."  "Well,  the  fault  is,  being  disorderly  at  prayer  time."— Ib.  p.  153. 
"  Do  you  remember  speaking  on  this  subject  in  school  ?  " — //;.  p.  154*.  "  The  course  above 
recommended,  is  not  trying  lax  and  inefficient  measures." — Ib.  p.  1.56.  "  Our  community 
is  agreed  that  there  is  a  God." — Ib.  p.  163.  "It  prevents  their  being  interested  in  what  is 
said." — Ib.  p.  175.  "  We  will  also  suppose  that  I  call  another  boy  to  me,  who  I  have  reason 
to  believe  to  be  a  sincere  Christian." — Ib.  p.  180.  "  Five  minutes  notice  is  given  by  the 
bell." — Ib.  p.  211.  "  The  Annals  of  Education  gives  notice  of  it."— Ib.  p.  240.  "  Teacher's 
meetings  will  be  interesting  and  useful." — Ib.  p.  243.  •«  She  thought  an  half  hour's  study 
would  conquer  all  the  difficulties." — Ib.  p.  257.  *«  The  difference  between  an  honest  and 
an  hypocritical  confession." — Ib.  p.  263.  "  There  is  no  point  of  attainment  where  we  must 
stop." — Ib.  p.  267.  "Now  six  hours  is  as  much  as  is  expected  of  teachers." — Ib.  p.  268. 
"  How  much  is  seven  times  nine  ?  " — Ib.  p.  292.  "  Then  the  reckoning  proceeds  till  it  come 
to  ten  hundred." — Frost's  Practical  Gram.  p.  170.  "Your  success  will  depend  on  vour  own 
exertions  ;  see,  then,  that  you  are  diligent." — Ib.  p.  142.  "  Subjunctive  Mood,  Present 
Tense  :  If  I  am  known,  If  thou  art  known,  If  he  is  known  ;  "  &c. — Ib.  p.  91.  "  If  I  be  loved, 
If  thou  be  loved,  If  he  be  loved;  "  &c. — Ib.  p.  85.  "An  Interjection  is  a  word  used  to 
express  sudden  emotion.  They  are  so  called,  because  they  are  generally  thrown  in  between 
the  parts  of  a  sentence  without  any  reference  to  the  structure  of  the  other  parts  of  it." — 
Ib.  p.  35.  "  The  Cardinals  are  those  which  simplify  or  denote  number ;  as  one,  two,  three." 

—  U>.  p.  31.     "  More  than  one  organ  is  concerned  in  the  utterance  of  almost  every  conso- 
nant."— Ib.  p.  21.     "To  extract  from  them  all  the  Terms  we  make  use  in  our  Divisions 
and  Subdivisions  of  the  Art." — Holmes's  Rhetoric,  Pref.     "And  there  was  written  therein 
lamentations,  and  mourning,  and  woe." — Ezekiel,  ii,  10.     "  If  I  were  to  be  judged  as  to  my 
behaviour,  compared  with  that  of  John's." — Josepfiiis,  Vol.  5,  p.  172.     "  When  the  preposi- 
tion to  signifies  in  order  to,  it  used  to  be  preceded  by  for,  which  is  now  almost  obsolete ; 
What  went  ye  out  for  to  see." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  132.     "This  makes  the  proper  perfect 
ton  si-,  which,  in  English,  is  always  expressed  by  the  help  of  the  auxiliary  verb,  « I  have 
written.'  " — Ii/<u'r's  Rhct.  p.  82.     "Indeed,  in  the  formation  of  character,  personal  exertion 
is  the  first,  the  second,  and  the  third  virtues." — Sanders,  Spelling -Book,  p.  93.     "The  re- 
ducing them  to  the  condition  of  the  beasts  that  perish." — Dymond's  Essays,  p.  67.     "  Yet  this 
affords  no  reason  to  deny  that  the  nature  of  the  gift  is  not  the  same,  or  that  both  are  not 
divine."— In.  p.  68.     "If  God  have  made  known  his  will." — Ib.  p.  98.     "If  Christ  have 
prohibited  them,  [i.  e.,  oaths,]  nothing  else  can  prove  them  right." — Ib.  p.  150.    "That  the 
taking  thorn  is  wrong,  every  man  who  simply  consults  his  own  heart,  will  know." — Ib.  p. 

vils  would  be  spared  the  world,  if  one  did  not  write." — Ib.  p.  168.  "  It  is 
in  a  great  degree  our  own  faults." — Ib.  p.  200.  "  It  is  worthy  observation  that  lesson- 
leuniing  is  nearly  excluded."— Ib.  p.  212.  "Who  spares  the  aggressor's  life  even  to  the 
endangering  his  own." — Ib.  p.  227.  "Who  advocates  the  taking  the  life  of  an  aggressor." 

—  It),  p.  229.     "And  thence  up  to  the  intentionally  and  voluntary  fraudulent." — Ib.  p.  318. 
"  'And  the  contention  was  so  great  among  them,  that  they  departed  asunder,  one  from  an- 
other.'— Acts  xv.  39." — !{<•>•.  Muff.  Harrison's  English  Lang.  p.  235.     "  Here  the  man  is  John, 
and  John  is  the  man  ;  so  the  words  are  the  imagination  and  the  fancy,  and  tJir  imagination  and 
the  fancy  are  the  words." — Harrison's  E.  Lang.  p.  227.     "The  article,  which  is  here  so  em- 
phatic in  the  Greek,  is  lost  sight  of  in  our  translation." — Ib.  p.  223.     "  We  have  no  less 
than  thirty  pronouns." — Ib.  p.  166.     "  It  will  admit  of  a  pronoun  being  joined  to  it." — Ib.  p. 
137.     "  From  intercourse  and  from  conquest,  all  the  languages  of  Europe  participate  with 
earh  other." — //;.  p.  104.     "  It  is  not  always  necessity,  therefore,  that  has  been  the  cause 
of  our  introducing  terms  derived  from  the  classical  languages." — Ib.  p.  100.     "The  man  of 
genius  stamps  upon  it  any  impression  that  he  pleases." — Ib.  p.   90.     "The  proportion  of 
names  ending  in  ami  preponderate  greatly  among  the  Dano-Saxon  population  of  the  North." 

—  Ih.  p.  43.     "As  a  proof  of  the  strong  similarity   between  the  English  and  the  Danish 
languages. "—!'».  p.  .'',7.     "A  century  from  the  time  that  Hengist  and  Horsa  landed  on  the 
Isle  ofThanet."— Ib.  p.  27. 

"  I  saw  the  colours  waving  in  the  wind, 
And  they  within,  to  mischief  how  combin'd." — Bunyun. 

LESSON  III.— VARIOUS  RULES. 

"A  ship  exceptcd  :  of  whom  we    say,  she,  sails  well." — Ben   Jonson's  Gram.  Chnp   10. 
"Honesty  is  reckoned  little  worth."— Paul's  A<,  .     .  :,S.     "Learn  to  esteem  li; 

ought."—  Economy  of  Human  /.iff,  p.  118.  "As  the  soundest  health  is  less  perceived  than 
the  lightest  malady,  so  the  highest  joy  toucheth  us  less  dee])  than  the  smallest  sorrow." — Ib. 
]>.  •")_'.  "  Being  young  is  no  apology  for  being  frivolous." — Whiting's  EU-nn-ntary  7iYW<r, 
p.  17.  "  The  porch  was  the  same  width  with  the  temple." — Mi/ma.-.'  oL  i,  p.  208. 

"  The  other  tribes  neither  contributed  to  his  rise  or  downfall." — Ib.  i,  p.  165.     "  His  whole 


720  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [FART  III. 

laws  and  religion  would  have  been  shaken  to  its  foundation." — Ib.  i,  p.  109.  "  The  Eng- 
lish has  most  commonly  been  neglected,  and  children  taught  only  the  Latin  syntax." — 
Lily's  Gram.,  Pref.,  p.  xi.  "  They  are  not  taken  notice  of  in  the  notes." — Ib.  p.  x.  "  lie 
walks  in  righteousness,  doing  what  he  would  be  done  to." — S.  Fisher's  Works,  p.  14.  "  They 
stand  independently  on  the  rest  of  the  sentence." — Ingersoll's  Gram.  p.  151.  "My  uncle, 
with  his  son,  were  in  town  yesterday." — Lennie's  Gram.  p.  142.  "  She  with  her  sisters  are 
well." — Ib.  p.  143.  "His  purse,  with  its  contents,  were  abstracted  from  his  pocket." — Ib. 
143.  "  The  great  constitutional  feature  of  this  institution  being,  that  directly  the  acrimony 
of  the  last  election  is  over,  the  acrimony  of  the  next  begins." — Dickens' s  Notes,  p.  27. 
"  His  disregarding  his  parents'  advice  has  brought  him  into  disgrace." — Farnum's  Praot. 
Gram.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  19.  "  Error :  Can  you  tell  me  the  reason  of  his  father  making  that 
remark  ? — Ib.  p.  93.  Cor. :  Can  you  tell  me  the  reason  of  his  father's  making  that  remark  r  " 
— See  Farnum's  Gram.,  Rule  12th,  p.  76.  "  Error :  What  is  the  reason  of  our  teacher  detain- 
ing us  so  long  ? — Ib.  p.  76.  Cor.  :  What  is  the  reason  of  our  teacher's  detaining  us  so  long  r " 
— See  Ib.  "  Error  :  I  am  certain  of  the  boy  having  said  so.  Correction :  I  am  certain  of  the 
boy's  having  said  so." — Exercises  in  Farnum's  Gram.  p.  76.  "Which  means  any  thing  or 
things  before  named  ;  and  that  may  represent  any  person  or  persons,  thing  or  things,  which 
have  been  speaking,  spoken  to  or  spoken  of." — Dr.  Perley's  Gram.  p.  9.  "A  certain  num- 
ber of  syllables  connected,  form  a  loot.  They  are  called  feet,  because  it  is  by  their  aid  that 
the  voice,  as  it  were,  steps  along." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  252  ;  C.  Adams's,  121.  "Ask- 
ing questions  with  a  principal  verb — as,  Teach  If  Burns  he,  &c.  are  barbarisms,  and  care- 
fully to  be  avoided."— Alex.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  122.  "  Tell  whether  the  18th,  19th,  20th, 
21st,  22d,  or  23d  Kules  are  to  be  used,  and  repeat  the  Rule." — Parker  and  Fox's  Gram., 
Part  I,  p.  4.  "  The  resolution  was  adopted  without  much  deliberation,  which  caused  great 
dissatisfaction." — Ib.  p.  71.  "  The  man  is  now  taken  much  notice  of  by  the  people  there- 
abouts."— Edward's  First  Lessons  in  Gram.  p.  42.  "  The  sand  prevents  their  sticking  to  one 
another." — Ib.  p.  84.  "  Defective  Verbs  are  those  which  are  used  only  in  some  of  their 
moods  and  tenses." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  108  ;  Guy's,  42  ;  Riissell's,  46  ;  Bacon 's,  42  ;  Frost's,  40; 
A  Iyer's,  47  ;  S.  Putnam's,  47  ;  Goldsbury's,  54  ;  Felton's,  59;  and  others.  "  Defective  verbs 
are  those  which  want  some  of  their  moods  and  tenses." — Lennie's  Gram.  p.  47  ;  Bullions,  E. 
Gram.  65  ;  Practical  Lessons,  75.  "  Defective  Verbs  want  some  of  their  parts." — Bullions, 
Lot.  Gram.  p.  78.  "A  Defective  verb  is  one  that  wants  some  of  its  parts." — Bullions,  Anal.tt. 
and  Pract.  Gram.,  1849,  p.  101.  "To  the  irregular  verbs  are  to  be  added  the  defective  ; 
which  are  not  only  for  the  most  part  irregular,  but  also  wanting  in  some  of  their  parts."- 
Lowtlis  Gram.  p.  59.  "  To  the  irregular  verbs  are  to  be  added  the  defective  ;  which  are  not 
only  wanting  in  some  of  their  parts,  but  are,  when  inflected,  irregular." — Churchill's  Gran. 
p.  112.  "  When  two  or  more  nouns  succeed  each  other  in  the  possessive  case." — Farmings 
Gram.,  2d  Ed.,  pp.  20  and  63.  "  When  several  short  sentences  succeed  each  other." — Ib. 
p.  113.  "  Words  are  divided  into  ten  Classes,  and  are  called  PARTS  OF  SPEECH." — Aim- 
worth's  Gram.  p.  8.  "A Passive  Verb  has  its  agent  or  doer  always  in  the  objective  case,  ard 
is  governed  by  a  preposition." — Ib.  p.  40.  "  I  am  surprised  at  your  negligent  attention." — 
Ib.  p.  43.  "  SINGULAR  :  Thou  lovest  or  you  love.  You  has  always  a  plural  verb." — Bullions, 
E.  Gram.  p.  43.  "  How  do  you  know  that  love  is  the  first  person  ?  Ans.  Because  we  is  the 
first  personal  pronoun." — Id.  ib.  p.  47 ;  Lennie's  Gram.  p.  26.  "  The  lowing  herd  wind 
slowly  round  the  lea." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  96.  "Iambic  verses  have  every  second, 
fourth,  and  other  even  syllables  accented." — Ib.  p.  170.  "  Contractions  are  often  made  in 
poetry,  which  are  not  allowable  in  prose." — Ib.  p.  179.  "  Yet  to  their  general's  voice  they 
all  obeyed." — Ib.  p.  179.  "  It  never  presents  to  his  mind  but  one  new  subject  at  the  same 
time." — Felton's  Gram.,  1st  Edition,  p.  6.  "  When  the  name  of  a  quality  is  abstracted,  that 
is  separated  from  its  substance,  it  is  called  an  abstract  noun." — Ib.  p.  9.  "  Nouns  are  in  the 
first  person  when  speaking."— Ib.  p.  9.  "  Which  of  the  two  brothers  are  graduates  r  "- 
Hallock's  Gram.  p.  59.  "  I  am  a  linen  draper  bold,  as  you  and  all  the  world  doth  know."- 
Ib.  p.  60.  "  O  the  bliss,  the  pain  of  dying  !  " — Ib.  p.  127.  "This  do;  take  you  censers, 
Korah,  and  all  his  company." — Numbers,  xvi,  6.  "  There  are  two  participles, — the  present 
and  perfect ;  as,  reading,  having  read.  Transitive  verbs  have  an  active  and  passive  participle. 
Examples:  ACTIVE,  Present,  Loving;  Perfect,  Having  loved:  PASSIVE,  Present,  Loved  or 
being  loved  ;  Perfect,  Having  been  loved." — S.  S.  Greene's  Analysis,  1st  Ed.,  p.  225. 

"  O  hcav'n,  in  my  connubial  hour  decree 
This  man  my  spouse,  or  such  a  spouse  as  he." — Pope. 

LESSON  IV.— VARIOUS  RULES. 

"  The  Past  Tenses  represent  a  conditional  past  fact  or  event,  and  of  which  the  speaker  is 
uncertain." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  89.  "  Care  also  should  be  taken  that  they  are  not  introduced 
too  abundantly." — Ib.  p.  134.  "Till  they  are  become  familiar  to  the  mind."-— Ib.,  Pref., 
p.  v.  "  When  once  a  particular  arrangement  and  phraseology  are  become  familiar  to  the 
mind." — Ib.  p.  vii.  "  I  have  furnished  the  student  with  the  plainest  and  most  practical 
directions  which  I  could  devise." — Ib.  p.  xiv.  "When  you  are  become  conversant  with 


CHAP.    XIII.]  SYNTAX. VARIOUS    RULES. PROMISCUOUS    ERRORS.  7'Jl 

the  Rules  of  Grammar,  you  will  then  be  qualified  to  commence  the  study  of  Style." — Ib. 
p.  xxii.  "6' has  a  soft  sound  like  s  before  e,  i,  and  y,  generally." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  10. 
"(/  before  e,  i,  and  y,  is  soft;  as  in  genius,  ginger,  Egypt." — Ih.  p.  12.  "6*  before  c,  i,  and 
I/,  generally  sounds  soft  likes." — Hiky's  Gram.  p.  4.  "G  is  soft  before  e,  i,  and  y,  as  in 
genius,  ginger,  Egypt." — Ib.  p.  4.  "As  a  perfect  Alphabet  must  always  contain  as  many 
as  there  are  elementary  sounds  in  the  language,  the  English  Alphabet  is  therefore 
both  defective  and  redundant." — Hiky's  Gram.  p.  5.  "  Common  Nouns  are  the  names 
j,'t\  en  to  a  whole  class  or  species,  and  are  applicable  to  every  individual  of  that  class."— Ib. 
p.  11.  "Thus  an  adjective  has  always  a  noun  either  expressed  or  understood." — Ib. 
]>.  20.  "First,  let  us  consider  emphasis;  by  (his,  is  meant  a  stronger  and  fu/kr  sound  of 
voice,  by  which  we  distinguish  the  accented  syllable  of  some  word,  on  which  we  desian  to  lay 
particular  stress,  and  to  shew  how  it  effects  the  rest  of  the  sentence." — Blair  s  Rhct.  p.  330. 
••  I5v  e:u;>ha*i.-  is  meant  a  stronger  and  fuller  sound  of  voice,  by  which  we  distinguish  some 
word  or  words  on  which  we  design  to  lay  particular  stress,  mnd  to  shoic  how  thnj  affect  the 
rest  of  the  sentence." — Murray's  Gra/n.  p.  242.  "  Such  a  simple  question  as  this  :  '  Do  you 
ride  to  town  to-day,'  is  capable  of  no  fewer  than  four  different  acceptations,  according  as  the 
emphasis  is  differently  placed  on  the  tcords." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  330  ;  Murray's  Grant,  p.  242. 
"  Thus,  bravely,  or  '  in  a  brave  manner,'  is  derived  from  brave-like." — Hiky's  Gram.  p.  51. 
"  In  the  same  manner,  the  different  parts  of  speech  are  formed  from  each  other  generally  by 
means  of  some  affix." — Ib.  p.  60.  "  Words  derived  from  each  other,  are  always,  more  or 
less,  allied  in  signification." — Ib.  p.  60.  "  When  a  noun  of  multitude  conveys  unity  of 
idea  the  verb  and  pronoun  should  be  singular.  But  when  it  conveys  plurality  of  idea,  the 
verb  and  pronoun  must  be  plural." — Hiky's  Gram.  p.  71.  "They  have  spent  their  whole 
time  to  make  the  sacred  chronology  agree  with  that  of  the  profane." — Ib.  p.  87.  "  'I  have 
studied  my  lesson,  but  you  have  not ; '  that  is,  '  but  you  have  not  studied  it.'  " — Ib.  p.  109. 
'•  When  words  follow  each  other  in  pairs,  there  is  a  comma  between  each  pair." — Ib.  p.  112  ; 
Bullions,  102  ;  L>  /mi/-,  132.  "  When  words  follow  each  other  in  pairs,  the  pairs  should 
be  marked  by  the  comma." — Farn  urn's  Gram.  p.  111.  "His  'Studies  of  Nature,' is 

i-dly  a  popular  work." — Univ.  Biog.  Diet.  n.  St.  J'krre.  "  '  Here  lies  his  head,  a  youth 
to  fortune  and  to  fame  unknown.'  '  Youth,'  here  is  in  the  possessive  (the  sign  being  omitted), 
and  is  in  aj>j>»*iti;jn  with  'his.'  The  meaning  is  'the  head  of  him,  a  youth,'  &c." — Hart's 

at.  p.  124.  "The  pronoun  I,  and  the  interjection  C),  should  be  written  with  a  capi- 
tal."—  M 'eld's  /•;.  G'rtim.,  '2d  Ed.,  p.  16.  "The  pronoun  /  always  should  be  written  with  a 
capital  letter." — Ib.  p.  68.  "He  went  from  England  to  York." — Ib.  p.  41.  "An  adverb  is 
a  part  of  speech  joined  to  verbs,  adjectives  and  other  adverbs,  to  modify  their  meaning." — Ib. 
p.  51 ;  "Abridged  Ed."  46.  "Singular,  signifies  '  one  person  or  thing.'  Plural,  (Latin  plus,) 
Dignifies  '  more  than  one.'  " —  Weld's  Gr.  p.  55.  "  When  the  present  ends  in  e,  d  only  is  added 
to  form  the  Imperfect  and  Perfect  participle." — Ib.  p.  82.  »«  SYN.KUKSIS  is  the  contraction 
of  two  syllables  into  one ;  as,  Seest  for  see-est,  drowned  for  drotcn-ed." — Ib.  p.  213.  "  Words 
ending  in  n-  drop  the  final  c  on  receiving  an  additional  syllable  beginning  with  e ;  as,  see, 
i." — Ib.  p.  227.  "  Monosyllables  in  /,  I.  or  s.  preceded  by  a  single  vowel 
are  doubled  ;  as,  staff,  grass,  mill." — Ib.  p.  226.  "  Words  ending  ie  drop  the  e  and  take  y  ; 
a.s  die,  dying." — Ib.  p.  226.  "  One  number  may  be  used  for  another;  as,  we  for  /,  you  for 
t/ion." — N.  >'.  Grri'.'n'.s  drum.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  198.  "  STKOH'ILE,  n.  A  pericarp  made  up  of  scales 
that  lie  over  each  other.  SMART." — Worcester's  I'nir.  and  (.'rit.  Diet. 
••  Yet  ever  from  the  clearest  source  have  ran 
Some  gross  allay,  some  tincture  of  the  man." — Dr.  Lowth. 

LESSON  Y.— VARIOUS  RULES. 

"  The  possessive  case  is  always  followed  by  the  noun  which  is  the  name  of  the  thing  pos- 
•  l  or  understood." — /  •///.   p.  C>1  ;    Ii> -i-i.^'d  Edition,  pp.  64  and  86. 

"  Hadiner  <if  Agi:>tei:i  was  as  pious,  devout,  and  praying  a  Christian,  as  were  Nelson, 
Washington,  or  Jefferson;  or  as  are  Wellington,  Tyler,  Clay,  or  Polk." — H.  C.  WRIGHT: 
Lihi'i-nd-r,  Vol.  xv,  p.  21.  "A  word  in  the  possessive  case  is  not  an  independent  noun,  and 
cannot  stand  by  its  .self." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  1  .'><).  "  Mary  is  not  handsome,  but  she  is  good- 
natured,  which  is  better  than  beauty." — St.  (iimifin'.i  Gram.  p.  9.  "After  the  practice  of 
joining  words  together  had  oetfl  of  distinction  wen.  placed  at  the  end  of  every 

word."—  Murra //'*  Gntm.  p.  2U7  ;  Il<i//<i,-k'.i,  l!2J.  "  Neither  Henry  nor  Charles  dissipate  his 
time." — //  "•  He  had  taken  from  the  Christians'  abode  thirty  small 

-." — 1>>.  ]>.  HI.     "  In  :uracter  lUitler  was  admitted,  is  unknown." 

:>.  (VI.     "  How  is  the  agent  of  a  passive,  and  the  object  of  an  active  verb  often  left?" 
— In.  p.  SS.     «« J5y  snf>j,rt  is  meant  the  word  of  which  something  is  declared  of  its  object." 
—  C/iandkr's  Gram.,  1S21,  p.  lO-'i.     "  Care  should  also  be  taken  that  an  intransitive  verb  is 
•  it' a  transitive  :   as  I  lay,  (the  bricks)  for,  I  lie   down  ;   I  raise  the   house, 
I  u,  I  MM;   1  sit  down,  lor.  I  >et  the  chair  down,  Xc." — Ib.  p.  114.      "  On  them  depend  the 
duration  of  our  Constitution  and  our  country." — ./.  < '.  dilhonn  tit  M<-mj>/n'fi.     «' In  the  present 
sentence  neither  the  sense  nor  the  measure  require  what." — C/iundkr's  Gram.,  1821,  p.  1(54. 
'•The  Irish  thought  themselves  oppress'd  by  the  Law  that  forbid  them  to  draw  with  their 
49 


-. 


722  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

Horses  Tails." — Brightland's  Gram.,  Pref.,  p.  iii.  "So  willingly  are  adverbs,  qualifying  de- 
ceives."— Cutler's  Gram.  p.  90.  "Epicurus  for  experiment  sake  confined  himself  to  a 
narrower  diet  than  that  of  the  severest  prisons." — Ib.  p.  116.  "  Derivative  words  are  such 
as  are  compounded  of  other  words,  as  common- wealth,  good-ness,  false-hood." — Ib.  p.  12. 
"The  distinction  here  insisted  on  is  as  old  as  Aristotle,  and  should  not  be  lost  sight  of." — 
Hart's  Gram.  p.  61.  "  The  Tenses  of  the  Subjunctive  and  the  Potential  Moods." — Ib.  p.  80. 
"A  triphthong  is  a  union  of  three  vowels  uttered  in  like  manner  :  as,  WOT/ in  buoy." — P.  Da- 
vis's  Practical  Gram.  p.  xvi.  "  Common  nouns  are  the  names  of  a  species  or  kind." — Ib.  p. 
8.  "  The  superlative  degree  is  a  comparison  between  three  or  more." — Ib.  p.  14.  "An 
adverb  is  a  word  or  phrase  serving  to  give  an  additional  idea  of  a  verb,  and  adjective,  arti- 
cle, or  another  adverb." — Ib.  p.  36.  "  When  several  nouns  in  the  possessive  case  succeed 
each  other,  each  showing  possession  of  the  same  noun,  it  is  only  necessary  to  add  the  sign 
of  the  possessive  to  the  last :  as,  He  sells  men,  women,  and  children's  shoes.  Dog,  cat,  and 
tiger  s  feet  are  digitated." — Ib.  p.  72.  "A  rail-road  is  making  should  be  A  rail-road  is  being 
made.  A.  school-house  is  building,  should  be  A  school-house  is  being  built." — Ib.  p.  113. 
"Auxiliaries  are  not  of  themselves  verbs ;  they  resemble  in  their  character  and  use  those 
terminational  or  other  inflections  in  other  languages,  which  we  are  obliged  to  use  in  ours  to 
express  the  action  in  the  mode,  tense,  &c.,  desired." — Ib.  p.  158.  "  Please  hold  my  horse 
while  I  speak  to  my  friend." — Ib.  p.  159.  "  If  I  say,  '  Give  me  the  book,'  I  ask  for  some  par- 
ticular book." — Butler's  Practical  Gram.  p.  39.  "There  are  five  men  here." — Ib.  p.  134.  "In 
the  active  the  object  may  be  omitted ;  in  the  passive  the  name  of  the  agent  may  be  omit- 
ted."— 76.  p.  63.  "  The  Progressive  and  the  Emphatic  forms  give  in  each  case  a  different 
shade  of  meaning  to  the  verb." — Hart's  Gram.  p.  80.  "That  is  a  Kind  of  a  Kedditive  Con- 
junction, when  it  answers  to  so  and  such." — W.  Ward's  Gram.  p.  152.  "  He  attributes  to 
negligence  your  failing  to  succeed  in  that  business." — Smart's  Accidence,  p.  36.  "  Does 
will  and  go  express  but  our  action  ?  " — S.  Barrett's  Revised  Gram.  p.  58.  "  Language  is  the 
principle  vehicle  of  thought.  G.  BROWN." — James  Brown's  English  Syntax,  p.  3.  "Much  is 
applied  to  things  weighed  or  measured ;  many,  to  those  that  are  numbered.  Elder  and 
eldest,  to  persons  only;  older  and  oldest,  either  to  persons  or  things." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p. 
20  ;  Pract.  Les.  25.  "  If  there  are  any  old  maids  still  extant,  while  mysogonists  are  so  rare, 
the  fault  must  be  attributable  to  themselves." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  286.  "  The  second 
method  used  by  the  Greeks,  has  never  been  the  practice  of  any  part  of  Europe." — Sheri- 
dan's Elocution,  p.  64.  "  Neither  consonant,  nor  vowel,  are  to  be  dwelt  upon  beyond  their 
common  quantity,  when  they  close  a  sentence." — Sheridan's  Rhetorical  Gram.  p.  64. 
"  IRONY  is  a  mode  of  speech  expressing  a  sense  contrary  to  that  which  the  speaker  or  writer 
intends  to  convey." — Wells's  School  Gram.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  196  ;  113th  Ed.,  p.  212.  "  IRONY  is 
the  intentional  use  of  words  in  a  sense  contrary  to  that  which  the  writer  or  speaker  intends  tc 
convey." — Weld's  Gram.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  215.  "  The  persons  speaking,  or  spoken  to,  are  sup- 
posed to  be  present." — Wells,  p.  68.  "  The  persons  speaking  and  spoken  to  are  supposed  to 
be  present." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  51.  "A  Noun  is  a  word  used  to  express  the  name  of  ar 
object." — Wells's  School  Gram.  pp.  46  and  47.  "A  syllable  is  a  word,  or  such  a  part  of  a  word 
as  is  uttered  by  one  articulation." — Weld's  English  Gram.  p.  15  ;  "Abridged  Ed."  p.  16. 

"Thus  wondrous  fair;  thyself  how  wondrous  then  ! 
Unspeakable,  who  sits  above  these  heavens." — Cutler's  Gram.  p.  131. 

"And  feel  thy  sovereign  vital  lamp ;  but  thou 
Revisitest  not  these  eyes,  that  roll  in  vain." — Felton's  Gram.  p.  133. 

"  Before  all  temples  the  upright  and  pure." — Butler's  Gram.  p.  195. 

"In  forest  wild,  in  thicket,  break  or  den." — Cutler's  Gram.  p.  130. 

"  The  rogue  and  fool  by  fits  is  fair  and  wise  ; 
And  e'en  the  best,  by  fits,  what  they  despise." — Pope's  Ess.  iii,  233. 


CHAPTER  XIV.-  QUESTIONS. 

ORDER  OF  REHEARSAL,  AND  METHOD  OF  EXAMINATION. 
PART  THIRD,  SYNTAX. 

[£?"•  [The  following  questions,  which  embrace  nearly  all  the  important  particulars  of  the  foregoing  code  of 
Syntax,  are  designed  not  only  to  direct  and  facilitate  class  rehearsals,  but  also  to  develop  the  acquirements  of 
those  who  may  answer  them  at  examinations  more  public.] 

LESSON  I.  —  DEFINITIONS. 

1.  Of  what  does  Syntax  treat?  2.  What  is  the  relation  of  words  ?  3.  What  is  the  agree- 
ment of  words  ?  4.  What  is  the  government  of  words  ?  5.  What  is  the  arrangement  of 
words  ?  6.  What  is  a  sentence  ?  7.  How  many  and  what  are  the  principal  parts  of  a  sen- 
tence ?  8.  What  are  the  other  parts  called  ?  9.  How  many  kinds  of  sentences  are  there  ? 
10.  What  is  a  simple  sentence  ?  11.  What  is  a  compound  sentence  ?  12.  What  is  a  clause,  or 
member?  13.  What  is  a  phrase  ?  14.  What  words  must  be  supplied  in  parsing  ?  15.  How 


CHAP.  XIV.]  SYNTAX. QUESTIONS.  723 

are  the  leading  principles  of  syntax  presented  ?     16.  In  what  order  are  the  rules  of  syntax 
arranged  in  this  work  ? 

LESSON  II.  —  THE  Rn.r.s. 

1.  To  what  do  articles  relate  ?  2.  What  case  is  employed  as  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb  ? 
3.  What  agreement  is  required  between  words  in  apposition :  4.  By  what  is  the  possessive 
case  governed  :  o.  What  case  does  an  active-transitive  verb  or  participle  govern  ?  6.  What 
case  is  put  after  a  verb  or  participle  not  transitive  ?  7.  What  case  do  prepositions  govern  ? 
8.  When,  and  in  what  case,  is  a  noun  or  pronoun  put  absolute  in  English  ?  9.  To  what  do 
adjectives  relate  ?  10.  How  does  a  pronoun  agree  with  its  antecedent  ?  11.  How  does  a 
pronoun  agree  with  a  collective  noun?  12.  How  does  a  pronoun  agree  with  joint  antece- 
dents ?  13.  How  does  a  pronoun  agree  with  disjunct  antecedents  ? 

LESSON  III.  —  THE  RULES. 

14.  How  does  a  finite  verb  agree  with  its  subject,  or  nominative  ?  15.  How  does  a 
verb  agree  with  a  collective  noun  ?  16.  How  does  a  verb  agree  with  joint  nominatives  ? 
17.  How  does  a  verb  agree  with  disjunct  nominatives?  18.  What  governs  the  infinitive 
mood?  19.  What  verbs  take  the  infinitive  after  them  without  the  preposition  to ?  20. 
What  is  the  regular  construction  of  participles,  as  such?  21.  To  what  do  adverbs  relate  ? 
2i».  What  do  conjunctions  connect  ?  23.  What  is  the  use  of  prepositions?  24.  What  is 
the  syntax  of  interjections  ? 

LESSON  IV.  — THE  RULES. 

1.  What  are  the  several  titles,  or  subjects,  of  the  twenty-four  rules  of  syntax  ?  2.  What 
says  Rule  1st  of  Articles?  3.  What  says  Rule  2d  of  Nominatives  ?  4.  What  says  Rule  3d 
of  Apposition?  5.  What  says  Rule  4th  of  Possessives  ?  6.  What  says  Rule  5th  of  Objectives  ? 
1.  What  says  Rule  6th  of  Same  Cases?  8.  What  says  Rule  7th  of  Objectives?  9.  What 
says  Rule  8th  of  the  \ominative  Absolute?  10.  What  says  Rule  9th  of  Adjectives?  11. 
"What  says  Rule  10th  of  Pronouns?  12.  What  says  Rule*  llth  of  Pronouns?  13.  What 
s:iy>  Rule  12th  of  Pronouns?  14.  What  says  Rule"l3th  of  Pronouns  ?  15.  What  says  Rule 
14th  of  Finitr  Verbs  !  1G.  What  says  Rule'  loth  of  Finite  Verbs  ?  17.  What  says  Rule  16th 
of  Finite  Verbs?  18.  What  says  Rule  17th  of  Finite  Verbs?  19.  What  says  Rule  18th  of 
Infinitives?  20.  What  says  Rule  19th  of  Infinitives?  21.  What  says  Rule*  20th  of  Partici- 
What  says  Rule  21st  of  Adverbs?*  23.  What  says  Rule  22d  of  Conjunctions  f  24. 
What  says  Rule  23d  of  Prepositions?  25.  What  says  Rule  24th  of  Interjections  ? 

LESSOX  V.  —  THE  ANALYZING  OF  SENTENCES. 

1 .  What  is  it,  "  to  analyze  a  sentence :"  2.  What  are  the  component  parts  of  a  sentence  ? 
3.  Can  all  sentences  be  divided  into  clauses  ?  4.  Are  there  different  methods  of  analysis, 
which  may  be  useful?  5.  What  is  the  first  method  of  analysis,  according  to  this  code  of 
syntax  ?  "<i.  How  is  the  following  example  analyzed  by  this  method  r  "  Even  the  Atheist, 
who  tells  us  that  the  universe  is  self-existent  and  indestructible — even  he,  who,  instead  of 
peeing  ihe  traces  of  a  manifold  wisdom  in  its  manifold  varieties,  sees  nothing  in  them  all 
but  the  exquisite  structures  and  the  lofty  dimensions  of  materialism — even  he,  who  would 
despoil  creation  of  its  God,  cannot  look  upon  its  golden  suns,  and  their  accompanying  sys- 
without  the  solemn  impression  of  a  magnificence  that  fixes  and  overpowers  him." 
7.  What  is  the  second  method  of  analysis  r  8.  How  is  the  following  example  analyzed  by 
this  method  r  "  Fear  naturally  quickens  the  flight  of  guilt.  Rasselas  could  not  catch 
the  fugitive,  with  his  utmost  efforts  ;  but,  resolving  to  weary,  by  perseverance,  him  whom 
he  could  not  surpass  in  speed,  he  pressed  on  till  the  foot  of  the  mountain  stopped  his 
course."  9.  What  is  the  third  method  of  analysis?  10.  How  is  the  following  example 
analyzed  by  this  method  r  ••  Such  is  the  emptiness  of  human  enjoyment,  that  we  are 
always  impatient  of  the  present.  Attainment  is  followed  by  neglect,  and  possession,  by 
it.  Few  moments  are  more  pleasing  than  those  in  which  the  mind  is  concerting 
;res  for  a  new  undertaking.  From  the  first  hint  that  wakens  the  fancy,  to  the  hour 
of  actual  execution,  all  is  improvement  and  progress,  triumph  and  felicity."  11.  What  is 
the  fourth  method  of  analysis?  12.  How  are  the  following  sentences  analyzed  by  this 
method  •  ( 1. )  "  Swift  would  say,  '  The  thing  has  not  life  enough  in  it  to  keep  it  sweet ; ' 
Johnson,  'The  creature  possesses  not  vitality  sullicicnt  to  preserve  it  from  putrefaction.'  " 
T-'.)  "There  is  one  Being  to  whom  we  can  look  with  a  perfect  conviction  of  finding  that 
security,  which  nothing  about  us  can  give,  and  which  nothing  about  us  can  take  away." 
13.  What  is  said  of  the  fifth  method  of  analysis  r 

[Now,  if  tho  teacher  choose  to  make  use  of  any  other  method  of  analysis  than  full  syntactical  parsing,  he  may 
diviM-t  his  pupil?  to  turn  to  the  next  selection  of  examples,  or  to  any  other  accurate  sentences,  and  analyze  them 
ac<  cnling  to  the  method  chosen.] 

LESSON  VI.  —  OF  PARSING. 

1.  Why  is  it  necessary  to  observe  the  sense,  or  meaning,  of  what  we  parse  ?  2.  What  is 
required  of  the  pupil  in  syntactical  pursing  ?  3.  How  is  the  following  long  example  parked 
in  Praxis  XII  r  "A  young  man  studious  to  know  his  duty,  and  honestly  bent  on  doing  it, 


724  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

will  find  himself  led  away  from  the  sin  or  folly  in  which  the  multitude  thoughtlessly  in- 
dulge themselves  ;  but,  ah  !  poor  fallen  human  nature  !  what  conflicts  are  thy  portion, 
when  inclination  and  habit  —  a  rebel  and  a  traitor  —  exert  their  sway  against  our  only 
saving  principle !  " 

[Now  parse,  in  like  manner,  and  with  no  needless  deviations  from  the  prescribed  forms,  the  ten  lessons  of  the 
Twelfth  Praxis;  or  such  parts  of  those  lessond  as  the  teacher  may  choose.] 

LESSON  VII.  —  THE  RULES. 

1.  In  what  chapter  are  the  rules  of  syntax  first  presented  ?  2.  In  what  praxis  are  these 
rules  first  applied  in  parsing  ?  3.  Which  of  the  ten  parts  of  speech  is  left  without  any 
rule  of  syntax  ?  4.  How  many  and  which  of  the  ten  have  but  one  rule  apiece  ?  5.  Then, 
of  the  twenty-four  rules,  how  many  remain  for  the  other  three  parts, — nouns,  pronouns,  and 
verbs  ?  6.  How  many  of  these  seventeen  speak  of  cases,  and  therefore  apply  equally  to 
nouns  and  pronouns  ?  7.  Which  are  these  seven  ?  8.  How  many  rules  are  there  for  the 
agreement  of  pronouns  with  their  antecedents,  and  which  are  they  ?  9.  How  many  rules 
are  there  for  finite  verbs,  and  which  are  they  ?  10.  How  many  are  there  for  infinitives,  and 
which  are  they?  11.  What  ten  chapters  of  the  foregoing  code  of  syntax  treat  of  the  ten 
parts  of  speech  in  their  order?  12.  Besides  the  rules  and  their  examples,  what  sorts  of 
matters  are  introduced  into  these  chapters  ?  13.  How  many  of  the  twenty-four  rules  of 
syntax  are  used  both  in  parsing  and  in  correcting  ?  14.  Of  what  use  are  those  rules  which 
cannot  be  violated  in  practice  ?  15.  How  many  such  rules  are  there  among  the  twenty- 
four  ?  16.  How  many  and  what  parts  of  speech  are  usually  parsed  by  such  rules  only  ? 
LESSON  VIII. —THE  NOTES. 

1.  What  is  the  essential  character  of  the  Notes  which  are  placed  under  the  rules  of  syn- 
tax ?  2.  Are  the  different  forms  of  false  construction  as  numerous  as  these  notes  ?  3.  Which 
exercise  brings  into  use  the  greater  number  of  grammatical  principles,  parsing  or  correcting  ? 
4.  Are  the  principles  or  doctrines  which  are  applied  in  these  different  exercises  usually  the 
same,  or  are  they  different  ?  5.  In  etymological  parsing,  we  use  about  seventy  definitions  ; 
can  these  be  used  also  in  the  correcting  of  errors  ?  6.  For  the  correcting  of  false  syntax, 
we  have  a  hundred  and  fifty-two  notes ;  can  these  be  used  also  in  parsing  ?  7.  How  many  of 
the  rules  have  no  such  notes  under  them  ?  8.  What  order  is  observed  in  the  placing  of  these 
notes,  if  some  rules  have  many,  and  others  few  or  none  ?  9.  How  many  of  them  are  undor 
the  rule  for  articles  ?  10.  How  many  of  them  refer  to  the  construction  of  nouns  ?  11.  How 
many  of  them  belong  to  the  syntax  of  adjectives  f  12.  How  many  of  them  treat  of  pronouns  ? 
13.  How  many  of  them  regard  the  use  of  verbs?  14.  How  many  of  them  pertain  to  the 
syntax  of  participles?  15.  How  many  of  them  relate  to  the  construction  of  adverbs?  l(i. 
How  many  of  them  show  the  application  of  conjunctions'!  17.  How  many  of  them  expose 
errors  in  the  use  of  prepositions?  18.  How  many  of  them  speak  of  interjections? 

[Now  correct  orally  the  examples  of  False  Syntax  placed  under  the  several  Rules  and  Notes ;  or  so  mar  y 
texts  under  each  head  as  the  teacher  may  think  sufficient.] 

LESSON  IX.  —  THE  EXCEPTIONS. 

1.  In  what  exercise  can  there  be  occasion  to  cite  and  apply  the  Exceptions  to  the  rules  of 
syntax  ?  2.  Are  there  exceptions  to  all  the  rules,  or  to  how  many  ?  3.  Are  there  excep- 
tions in  reference  to  all  the  parts  of  speech,  or  to  how  many  of  the  ten  ?  4.  Do  articles 
always  relate  to  nouns?  5.  Can  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb  be  in  any  other  case  than  the 
nominative  ?  6.  Are  words  in  apposition  always  supposed  to  be  in  the  same  case  ?  7.  Is 
the  possessive  case  always  governed  by  the  name  of  the  thing  possessed  ?  8.  Can  an  actives- 
transitive  verb  govern  any  other  case  than  the  objective  ?  9.  Can  a  verb  or  participle  not 
transitive  take  any  other  case  after  it  than  that  which  precedes  it?  10.  Can  a  preposi- 
tion, in  English,  govern  any  other  case  than  the  objective  ?  11.  Can  "  the  case  absolute," 
in  English,  be  any  other  than  the  nominative  ?  12.  Does  every  adjective  "  belong  to  a 
substantive,  expressed  or  understood,"  as  Murray  avers?  13.  Can  an  adjective  ever  relate 
to  any  thing  else  than  a  noun  or  pronoun  ?  14.  Can  an  adjective  ever  be  used  without 
relation  to  any  noun,  pronoun,  or  other  subject  ?  15.  Can  an  adjective  ever  be  substituted 
for  its  kindred  abstract  noun  ?  16.  Are  the  person,  number,  and  gender  of  a  pronoun 
always  determined  by  an  antecedent  ?  17.  What  pronoun  is  sometimes  applied  to  animals 
so  as  not  to  distinguish  their  sex  ?  18.  What  pronoun  is  sometimes  an  expletive,  and  some- 
times used  with  reference  to  an  infinitive  following  it? 

LESSON  X. — THE  EXCEPTIONS. 

19.  Does  a  singular  antecedent  ever  admit  of  a  plural  pronoun  ?  20.  Can  a  pronoun 
agree  with  its  antecedent  in  one  sense  and  not  in  an  other  ?  21.  If  the  antecedent  is  a 
collective  noun  conveying  the  idea  of  plurality,  must  the  pronoun  always  be  plural  ?  22. 
If  there  are  two  or  more  antecedents  connected  by  and,  must  the  pronoun  always  be  plural  ? 
23.  If  there  are  antecedents  connected  by  or  or  nor,  is  the  pronoun  always  to  take  them 
separately  ?  24.  Must  a  finite  verb  always  agree  with  its  nominative  in  number  and  per- 
son ?  25.  If  the  nominative  is  a  collective  noun  conveying  the  idea  of  plurality,  must  the 
verb  always  be  plural  ?  26.  If  there  are  two  or  more  nominatives  connected  by  and,  must 


CHAP.  XIY.]  SYNTAX. QUESTIONS.  725 

the  verb  always  be  plural  ?  27.  If  there  are  nominatives  connected  by  or  or  nor,  is  the  verb 
always  to  refer  to  them  separately  r  28.  Does  the  preposition  to  before  the  infinitive  always 
:  :i  the  verb?  29.  Can  the  preposition  to  govern  or  precede  any  other  mood  than  the 
infinitive  :  30.  Is  the  preposition  to  "  understood"  after  bid,  dare,  feel,  and  so  forth,  where 
it  is  "  superfluous  and  improper-"  31.  How  many  and  what  exceptions  are  there  to  rule 
20th,  concerning  participles  ?  32.  How  many  and  what  exceptions  are  there  to  the  rule  for 
adverbs  ?  33.  How  many  and  what  exceptions  are  there  to  the  rule  for  conjunctions  ?  34. 
How  many  and  what  exceptions  are  there  to  the  rule  for  prepositions  ?  35.  Is  there  any 
exception  to  the  24th  rule,  concerning  interjections  ? 

\  I.  —  THE  OBSERVATIONS. 

1.  How  many  of  the  ten  parts  of  speech  in  English  are  in  general  incapable  of  any  agree- 
ment ?  '2.  (Jan  there  be  a  syntactical  relation  of  words  without  either  agreement  or 
government  ?  3.  Is  there  ever  any  needful  agreement  between  unrelated  words  ?  4.  la 
the  mere  relation  of  words  according  to  the  sense  an  element  of  much  importance  in  Eng- 
lish syntax  ':  .">.  What  parts  of  speech  have  no  other  syntactical  property  than  that  of  simple 
relation  r  0.  What  rules  of  relation  are  commonly  found  in  grammars  ?  7.  Of  what  parts 
is  syntax  commonly  said  to  consist  ?  8.  Is  it  common  to  find  in  grammars,  the  rules  of  syn- 
tax well  adapted  to  their  purpose  ?  9.  Can  you  specify  some  that  appear  to  be  faulty  ?  10. 
Wherein  co7i<>ists  the  truth  of  grammatical  doctrine,  and  how  can  one  judge  of  what  others 
teach?  11.  Do  those  who  speak  of  syntax  as  being  divided  into  two  parts,  Concord  and 
Government,  commonly  adhere  to  such  division?  12.  What  false  concords  and  false  gov- 
ernments are  cited  in  Obs.  7th  of  the  first  chapter  ?  18.  Is  it  often  expedient  to  join  in  the 
same  rule  such  principles  as  must  always  be  applied  separately?  14.  When  one  can  con- 
dense several  different  principles  into  one  rule,  is  it  not  expedient  to  do  so  ?  15.  Is  it 
ever  convenient  to  have  one  and  the  same  rule  applicable  to  different  parts  of  speech  ?  16. 
Is  it  ever  convenient  to  have  rules  divided  into  parts,  so  as  to  be  double  or  triple  in  their 
form?  17.  What  instance  of  extravagant  innovation  is  given  in  Obs.  12th  of  the  first 
chapter  ? 

LKSSOX  XII.  —  THE  OBSERVATIONS. 

IS.  Can  a  uniform  series  of  good  grammars,  Latin,  Greek,  English,  &c.,  be  produced  by 
a  mere  revising  of  one  defective  book  for  each  language  ?  19.  Whose  are  "  The  Principles 
of  English  Grammar"  which  Dr.  Bullions  has  republished  with  alterations,  "on  the  plan 
of  Murray's  Grammar  ?  "  20.  Can  praise  and  success  entitle  to  critical  notice  works  in 
themselves  unworthy  of  it?  21.  Do  the  Latin  grammarians  agree  in  their  enumeration  of 
the  concords  in  Latin?  22.  What  is  said  in  Obs.  16th,  of  the  plan  of  mixing  syntax  with 
etymology  ?  23.  Do  not  the  principles  of  etymology  affect  those  of  syntax  ?  24.  Can  any 
won  Is  agree,  or  disagree,  except  in  something  that  belongs  to  each  of  them  ?  25.  How 
many  and  what  parts  of  speech  are  concerned  in  government  ?  26.  Are  rules  of  government 
to-be  applied  to  the  governing  words,  or  to  the  governed  ?  27.  What  are  gerundives  ?  28. 
How  many  and  what  are  the  principles  of  syntax  which  belong  to  the  head  of  simple  rela- 
tion ?  29.  How  many  agreements,  or  concords,  are  there  in  English  syntax?  30.  How 
many  rules  of  government  are  there  in  the  best  Latin  grammars  ?  31.  Wrhat  fault  is  there 
in  the  usual  distribution  of  these  rules  ?  32.  How  many  and  what  are  the  governments  in 
English  s\  •  Can  the  parsing  of  words  be  varied  by  any  transposition  which  does 

not  change  their  import?     34.  Can  the  parsing  of  words  be  affected  by  the  parser's  notion 
of  what  constitutes  a  simple  sentence?     35.  What  explanation  of  simple  and  compound 
sentences  is  cited  from  Dr.  Wilson,  in  Obs.  2.1  ?     30.  What  notion  had  Dr.  Adam  of  simple 
>mpound  sentences  ?    37.  Is  this  doctrine  consistent  either  with  itself  or  with  Wilson's  ? 
8$.    How  can  one's  notion  of  ellipsis  affect  his  mode  of  parsing,  and  his  distinction  of  sen- 
>  as  simple  or  compound  ? 

-sox  XIII.  —  ARTICLES. 

1 .  Can  one  noun  have  more  than  one  article  ?  2.  Can  one  article  relate  to  more  than  one 
noun?  3.  Why  cannot  the  omission  of  an  article  constitute  a  proper  ellipsis  r  4.  What  is 
the  position  of  the  article  with  respect  to  its  noun  ?  5.  What  is  the  usual  position  of  the 
article  with  respect  to  an  adjective  and  a  noun  ?  6.  Can  the  relative  position  of  the  article 
and  adjective  be  a  matter  of  indifference  r  7.  What  adjectives  exclude,  or  supersede,  the 
article?  s.  What  adjectives  precede  the  article  ?  9.  What  four  adverbs  affect  the  position 
of  th<?  article  and  adjective  :  10.  Do  other  adverbs  come  between  the  article  and  the  ad- 
jective ?  11.  Can  any  of  the  definitives  which  preclude  an  or  a,  be  used  with  the  adjective 
onet  12.  When  the  adjective  follows  its  noun,  where  stands  the  article?  13.  Can  the 
article,  in  English,  ever  be  placed  after  its  noun  ?  14.  What  is  the  effect  of  the  word  the 
before  comparatives  and  superlatives  ?  15.  What  article  may  sometimes  be  used  in  lieu  of 
pronoun  ?  16.  Is  the  article  an  or  a  always  supposed  to  imply  unity  ?  17.  lie- 
spec'  ini;  tin  or  a,  how  does  present  usage  differ  from  the  usage  of  ancient  writers  ?  1«.  ( 'an 
the  insertion  or  omission  of  an  article  greatly  affect  the  import  of  a  sentence  r  19.  By  a  r 
tion  of  the  article  before  two  or  more  adjectives,  what  other  repetition  is  implied  ?  20.  How 


726  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

do  we  sometimes  avoid  such  repetition  ?    21.  Can  there  ever  be  an  implied  repetition  of  the 
noun  when  no  article  is  used  ? 

LESSON  XIV.  —  NOUNS,  OR  CASES. 

1.  In  how  many  different  ways  can  the  nominative  case  be  used  ?  2.  What  is  the  usual 
position  of  the  nominative  and  verb,  and  when  is  it  varied  ?  3.  With  what  nominatives  of 
the  second  person,  does  the  imperative  verb  agree  ?  4.  Why  is  it  thought  improper  to  put 
a  noun  in  two  cases  at  once  ?  5.  What  case  in  Latin  and  Greek  is  reckoned  the  subject  of 
the  infinitive  mood  ?  6.  Can  this,  in  general,  be  literally  imitated  in  English  ?  7.  Do  any 
English  authors  adopt  the  Latin  doctrine  of  the  accusative  (or  objective)  before  the  inlini- 
tive  ?  8.  Is  the  objective,  when  it  occurs  before  the  infinitive  in  English,  usually  governed 
by  some  verb,  participle,  or  preposition  ?  9.  What  is  our  nearest  approach  to  the  Latin 
construction  of  the  accusative  before  the  infinitive  ?  10.  What  is  apposition,  and  from  whom 
did  it  receive  this  name  ?  11.  Is  there  a  construction  of  like  cases,  that  is  not  apposition? 
12.  To  which  of  the  apposite  terms  is  the  rule  for  apposition  to  be  applied  ?  13.  Are  words 
in  apposition  always  to  be  parsed  separately  ?  14.  Wherein  are  the  common  rule  and  defi- 
nition of  apposition  faulty  ?  15.  Can  the  explanatory  word  ever  be  placed  first  ?  16.  Is  it 
ever  indifferent,  which  word  be  called  the  principal,  and  which  the  explanatory,  term  ? 
17.  Why  cannot  two  nouns,  each  having  the  possessive  sign,  be  put  in  apposition  with  each 
other?  18.  Where  must  the  sign  of  possession  be  put,  when  two  or  more  possessives  are 
in  apposition  ?  19.  Is  it  compatible  with  apposition  to  supply  between  the  words  a  relative 
and  a  verb;  as,  "At  Mr.  Smith's  [who  is]  the  bookseller?"  20.  How  can  a  noun  be,  or 
seem  to  be,  in  apposition  with  a  possessive  pronoun?  21.  What  construction  is  produced 
by  the  repetition  of  a  noun  or  pronoun  ?  22.  What  is  the  construction  of  a  noun,  when  it 
emphatically  repeats  the  idea  suggested  by  a  preceding  sentence  ? 

LESSON  XV.  —  NOUNS,  OR  CASES. 

23.  Can  words  differing  in  number  be  in  apposition  with  each  other?  24.  What  is  the 
usual  construction  of  each  other  and  one  an  other?  25.  Is  there  any  argument  from  analogy 
for  taking  each  other  and  one  an  other  as  compounds  ?  26.  Do  we  often  put  proper  nouns  in 
apposition  with  appellatives  ?  27.  What  preposition  is  often  put  between  nouns  that  signify 
the  same  thing  ?  28.  When  is  an  active  verb  followed  by  two  words  in  apposition  ?  29. 
Does  apposition  require  any  other  agreement  than  that  of  case  ?  30.  What  three  modes  of 
construction  appear  like  exceptions  to  liule  4th  ?  31.  In  the  phrase,  "For  David  my  ser- 
vant's sake,"  which  word  is  governed  by  sake,  and  which  is  to  be  parsed  by  the  rulo  of 
apposition?  32.  In  the  sentence,  "It  is  man's  to  err,"  what  is  supposed  to  govern  ma.isf 
33.  Does  the  possessive  case  admit  of  any  abstract  sense  or  construction?  34.  Why  is  it 
reasonable  to  limit  the  government  of  the  possessive  to  nouns  only,  or  to  words  ta  cen 
substantively  ?  35.  Does  the  possessive  case  before  a  real  participle  denote  the  possessor 
of  something  ?  36.  What  two  great  authors  differ  in  regard  to  the  correctness  of  the 
phrases,  "  upon  the  rule's  being  observed"  and  "  of  its  being  neglected?  "  37.  Is  either  of  them 
right  in  his  argument  ?  38.  Is  the  distinction  between  the  participial  noun  and  the  parti- 
ciple well  preserved  by  Murray  and  his  amenders  ?  39.  Who  invented  the  doctrine,  that  a 
participle  and  its  adjuncts  may  be  used  as  "  one  name"  and  in  that  capacity  govern  the 
possessive?  40.  Have  any  popular  authors  adopted  this  doctrine  ?  41.  Is  the  doctrine  well 
sustained  by  its  adopters,  or  is  it  consistent  with  the  analogy  of  general  grammar  ?  42. 
When  one  doubts  whether  a  participle  ought  to  be  the  governing  word  or  the  adjunct, — 
that  is,  whether  he  ought  to  use  the  possessive  case  before  it  or  the  objective, —  what  shall 
he  do  ?  43.  What  is  objected  to  the  sentences  in  which  participles  govern  the  possessive 
case,  and  particularly  to  the  examples  given  by  Priestley,  Murray,  and  others,  to  prove 
such  a  construction  right?  44.  Do  the  teachers  of  this  doctrine  agree  among  themselves  ? 
45.  How  does  the  author  of  this  work  generally  dispose  of  such  government  ?  46.  Does 
he  positively  determine,  that  the  participle  should  never  be  allowed  to  govern  the  possessive 
case  ? 

LESSON  XVI.  —  NOUNS,  OR  CASES. 

47.  Are  the  distinctions  of  voice  and  of  time  as  much  regarded  in  participial  nouns  as  in 
participles  ?  48.  Why  cannot  an  omission  of  the  possessive  sign  be  accounted  a  true  ellip- 
sis ?  49.  What  is  the  usual  position  of  the  possessive  case,  and  what  exceptions  are  there  ? 
50.  In  what  other  form  can  the  meaning  of  the  possessive  case  be  expressed?  51.  Is  the 
possessive  often  governed  by  what  is  not  expressed  ?  52.  Does  every  possessive  sign  imply 
a  separate  governing  noun  ?  53.  How  do  compounds  take  the  sign  of  possession?  54.  Do 
we  put  the  sign  of  possession  always  and  only  where  the  two  terms  of  the  possessive  rela- 
tion meet  ?  55.  Can  the  possessive  sign  ever  be  rightly  added  to  a  separate  adjective  ? 
56.  What  is  said  of  the  omission  of  s  from  the  possessive  singular  on  account  of  its  hissing 
sound  ?  57.  What  errors  do  Kirkham,  Smith,  and  others,  teach  concerning  the  possessive 
singular  ?  58.  Why  is  Murray's  rule  for  the  possessive  case  objectionable  ?  59.  Do  com- 
pounds embracing  the  possessive  case  appear  to  be  written  with  sufficient  uniformity  ? 
60.  What  rules  for  nouns  coming  together  are  inserted  in  Obs.  31st  on  Rule  4th  ?  61.  Does 


CHAP.    XIV.]  SYNTAX. QUESTIONS.  727 

the  compounding  of  words  necessarily  preclude  their  separate  use  ?  62.  Is  there  a  differ- 
ence worth  notice,  between  such  terms  or  things  as  heart-ease  and  heart' s-ease ;  a  harelip  and 
share's  lip;  a  headman  and  a  headsman;  a  lady' s-slippcr  and  a  lady's  slipper f  63.  Where 
is  utterly  unsettled,  -what  guidance  should  be  sought  ?  64.  What  peculiarities  are 
noticed  in  regard  to  the  noun  side?  65.  What  peculiarities  has  the  possessive  case  in 
regard  to  correlatives  ?  66.  What  is  remarked  of  the  possessive  relation  between  time  and 
action  ?  67.  What  is  observed  of  nouns  of  weight,  measure,  or  time,  coming  immediately 
together  ? 

LESSON  XVII. — NOUNS,  OK  CASKS. 

68.  Are  there  any  exceptions  or  objections  to  the  old  rule,  "Active  verbs  govern  the  ob- 
jective case  ?  "  69.  Of  how  many  different  constructions  is  the  objective  case  susceptible  ? 
70.  What  is  the  usual  position  of  the  objective  case,  and  what  exceptions  are  there  :  71. 
Can  any  thing  but  the  governing  of  an  objective  noun  or  pronoun  make  an  active  verb 
transitive  r  7'2.  In  the  sentence,  "  What  have  I  to  do  with  thee  ? "  how  are  have  and  do  to 
be  parsed  r  73.  Can  infinitives,  participles,  phrases,  sentences,  and  parts  of  sentences,  be 
really  "  in  the  objective  case  ?  "  74.  In  the  sentence,  "I  knmo  why  she  blushed,"  how  is 
know  to  be  parsed  ?  75.  In  the  sentence,  "  I  know  that  Messias  cometh,"  how  are  know  and 
that  to  be  parsed  ?  76.  In  the  sentence,  "And  Simon  he  surnamed  Peter,"  how  are  Simon 
and  Peter  to  be  parsed  ?  77.  In  such  sentences  as,  "I  paid  him  the  money" — "He  asked 
them  the  question"  how  are  the  two  objectives  to  be  parsed  ?  78.  Does  any  verb  in  English 
ever  govern  two  objectives  that  are  not  coupled  ?  79.  Are  there  any  of  our  passive  verbs 
that  can  properly  govern  the  objective  case  ?  80.  Is  not  our  language  like  the  Latin,  in 
respect  to  verbs  governing  two  cases,  and  passives  retaining  the  latter  ?  81.  How  do  our 
grammarians  now  dispose  of  what  remains  to  us  of  the  old  Saxon  dative  case  ?  82.  Do  any 
reputable  writers  allow  passive  verbs  to  govern  the  objective  case  ?  83.  What  says  Lindley 
Murray  about  this  passive  government?  84.  Why  is  the  position,  "Active  verbs  govern 
the  objective  case,"  of  no  use  to  the  composer  ?  85.  On  what  is  the  construction  of  same 
cases  founded  ?  86.  Does  this  construction  admit  of  any  variety  in  the  position  of  the 
words  ?  87.  Does  an  ellipsis  of  the  verb  or  participle  change  this  construction  into  appo- 
sition ?  88.  Is  it  ever  right  to  put  both  terms  before  the  verb  ?  89.  What  kinds  of  words 
can  take  different  cases  after  them  ?  90.  Can  a  participle  which  is  governed  by  a  preposi- 
tion, have  a  case  after  it  which  is  governed  by  neither  ?  91.  How  is  the  word  man  to  be 
parsed  in  the  following  example  ?  "  The  atrocious  crime  of  being  a  young  man,  I  shall  neither 
attempt  to  palliate,  nor  deny." 

LESSON  XVIII. — NOUNS,  OR  CASES. 

92.  In  what  kinds  of  examples  do  we  meet  with  a  doubtful  case  after  a  participle  ?  93. 
Is  the  case  after  the  verb  reckoned  doubtful,  when  the  subject  going  before  is  a  sentence,  or 
some-thing  not  declinable  by  cases  ?  94.  In  the  sentence,  "  It  is  certainly  as  easy  to  be  a 
scholar,  as  a  gamester"  what  is  the  case  of  scholar  and  gamester,  and  why?  95.  Are  there 
any  verbs  that  sometimes  connect  like  cases,  and  sometimes  govern  the  objective?  96. 
What  faults  are  there  in  the  rules  given  by  Lowth,  Murray,  Smith,  and  others,  for  the  con- 
struction of  like  cases?  97.  Can  a  preposition  ever  govern  any  thing  else  than  a  noun  or  a 
pronoun  ?  98.  Is  every  thing  that  a  preposition  governs,  necessarily  supposed  to  have  cases, 
and  to  be  in  the  objective  ?  91).  Why  or  wherein  is  the  common  rule,  "  Prepositions  govern 
the  objective  case,"  defective  or  insufficient  ?  100.  In  such  phrases  as  in  vain,  at  first,  in 
particular,  how  is  the  adjective  to  be  parsed  ?  101.  In  such  expressions  as,  "I  give  it  up 
for  lost," — "  I  take  it  for  grunti-d,"  how  is  the  participle  to  be  parsed  ?  102.  In  such  phrases 
as,  at  once,  from  thence,  till  nntr,  how  is  the  latter  word  to  be  parsed  ?  103.  What  peculiarity 
is  there  in  the  construction  of  nouns  of  time,  measure,  distance,  or  value?  104.  What  is 
observed  of  the  words  ///•/•,  m>ar,  and  ni>jh  f  105.  What  is  observed  of  the  word  worth? 
\ '-cording  to  Johnson  and  Tooke,  what  is  worth,  in  such  phrases  as,  "  Wo  worth  the 
day  r  "  107.  After  verbs  ot '//'"'».'/,  pnyin-'j,  and  the  like,  what  ellipsis  is  apt  to  occur? 
108.  What  is  observed  of  the  nouns  used  in  dates  ?  109.  What  defect  is  observable  in  the 
common  rules  for  "the  case  absolute,"  or  "the  nominative  independent  r "  110.  In 
how  many  ways  is  the  nominative  case  put  absolute  ?  111.  Wrhat  participle  is  often  under- 
stood after  nouns  put  absolute?  112.  In  how  many  ways  can  nouns  of  the  second  person 
be  employed  :  113.  What  is  said  of  nouns  used  in  exclamations,  or  in  mottoes  and  abbre- 
viated sayings  ?  111.  What  is  observed  of  such  phrases  as,  "hand  to  hand,"— "  face  to 
il5.  What  authors  deny  the  existence  of  "  the  case  absolute  :  " 
LESSON  XIX.  —  ADJECTIVES. 

1.  Docs  the  adjective  frequently  relate  to  what  is  not  uttered  with  it?  2.  What  is  ob- 
served of  those  rules  which  suppose  every  adjective  to  relate  to  some  noun  ?  3.  To  what 
does  the  adjective  usually  relate,  when  it  stands  alone  after  a  finite  verb  r  4.  Where  is  the 
noun  or  pronoun,  when  an  adjective  follows  an  infinitive  or  a  participle?  5.  What  is  ob- 
served of  adjectives  preceded  by  the  and  used  elliptically  ?  (>.  What  is  said  of  the  position 
of  tho  adjective?  7.  In  what  instances  is  the  adjective  placed  after  its  noun  ?  8.  In  what 


728  THE    GRAMMAR    OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

instances  may  the  adjective  either  precede  or  follow  the  noun  ?  9.  What  are  the  construc- 
tion and  import  of  the  phrases,  in  particular,  in  general,  and  the  like  ?  10.  What  is  said  of 
adjectives  as  agreeing  or  disagreeing  with  their  nouns  in  number?  11.  What  is  observed 
of  this  and  that  as  referring  to  two  nouns  connected  ?  12.  What  is  remarked  of  the  use  of 
adjectives  for  adverbs?  13.  How  can  one  determine  whether  an  adjective  or  an  adverb  is 
required  ?  14.  What  is  remarked  of  the  placing  of  two  or  more  adjectives  before  one 
noun  ?  15.  How  can  one  avoid  the  ambiguity  which  Dr.  Priestley  notices  in  the  use  of  the 
adjective  no  f 

LESSON  XX.  —  PRONOUNS. 

1 .  Can  such  pronouns  as  stand  for  things  not  named,  be  said  to  agree  with  the  nouns  for 
which  they  are  substituted  ?  2.  Is  the  pronoun  we  singular  when  it  is  used  in  lieu  of  // 
3.  Is  the  pronoun  you  singular  when  used  in  lieu  ofthou  or  thee  ?  4.  What  is  there  remark- 
able in  the  construction  of  our  self  and  yourself?  5.  Of  what  person,  number,  and  gender, 
is  the  relative,  when  put  after  such  terms  of  address  as,  your  Majesty,  your  Highness,  your 
Lordship,  your  Honour  ?  6.  How  does  the  English  fashion  of  putting  you  for  thou,  compare 
with  the  usage  of  the  French,  and  of  other  nations  ?  7.  Do  any  imagine  these  fashionable 
substitutions  to  be  morally  objectionable  ?  8.  What  figures  of  rhetoric  are  liable  to  affect 
the  agreement  of  pronouns  with  their  antecedents  ?  9.  How  does  the  pronoun  agree  with 
its  noun  in  cases  of  personification  ?  10.  How  does  the  pronoun  agree  with  its  noun  in 
cases  of  metaphor  ?  11.  How  does  the  pronoun  agree  with  its  noun  in  cases  of  metonymy  ? 
12.  How  does  the  pronoun  agree  with  its  noun  in  cases  of  synecdoche?  13.  What  is  the 
usual  position  of  pronouns,  and  what  exceptions  are  there  ?  14.  When  a  pronoun  represents 
a  phrase  or  sentence,  of  what  person,  number,  and  gender  is  it?  15.  Under  what  circum- 
stances can  a  pronoun  agree  with  either  of  two  antecedents?  16.  With  what  does  the 
relative  agree  when  an  other  word  is  introduced  by  the  pronoun  it?  17.  In  the  sentence, 
"It  is  useless  to  complain,"  what  does  it  represent  ?  18.  How  are  relative  and  interrogative 
pronouns  placed?  19.  What  are  the  chief  constructional  peculiarities  of  the  relative  pro- 
nouns ?  20.  Why  does  the  author  discard  the  two  special  rules  commonly  given  for  the 
construction  of  relatives  ? 

LESSON  XXI.  —  PRONOUNS. 

21.  To  what  part  of  speech  is  the  greatest  number  of  rules  applied  in  parsing?  22.  Of 
the  twenty-four  rules  in  this  work,  how  many  are  applicable  to  pronouns  ?  23.  Of  the 
seven  rules  for  cases,  how  many  are  applicable  to  relatives  and  interrogatives  ?  24.  What 
is  remarked  of  the  ellipsis  or  omission  of  the  relative  ?  25.  What  is  said  of  the  suppression 
of  the  antecedent  ?  26.  What  is  noted  of  the  word  which,  as  applied  to  persons  ?  27. 
What  relative  is  applied  to  a  proper  noun  taken  merely  as  a  name  ?  28.  When  do  wt  em- 
ploy the  same  relative  in  successive  clauses  ?  29.  What  odd  use  is  sometimes  made  o :  the 
pronoun  your?  30.  Under  what^ywre  of  syntax  did  the  old  grammarians  rank  the  plural 
construction  of  a  noun  of  multitude  ?  31.  Does  a  collective  noun  with  a  singular  definitive 
before  it  ever  admit  of  a  plural  verb  or  pronoun  ?  32.  Do  collective  nouns  generally  admit 
of  being  made  literally  plural  ?  33.  When  joint  antecedents  are  of  different  persons,  with 
which  person  does  the  pronoun  agree  ?  34.  When  joint  antecedents  differ  in  gender,  of 
what  gender  is  the  pronoun  ?  35.  Why  is  it  wrong  to  say,  "  The  first  has  a  lenis,  and  the 
other  an  asper  over  them  ?  "  36.  Can  nouns  without  and  be  taken  jointly,  as  if  they  had  it  ? 
37.  Can  singular  antecedents  be  so  suggested  as  to  require  a  plural  pronoun,  when  only  one 
of  them  is  uttered  ?  38.  Why  do  singular  antecedents  connected  by  or  or  nor  appear  to 
require  a  singular  pronoun  ?  39.  Can  differing  antecedents  connected  by  or  be  accurately 
represented  by  differing  pronouns  connected  in  the  same  way  ?  40.  Why  are  we  apt  to  use 
a  plural  pronoun  after  antecedents  of  different  genders  ?  41.  Do  the  Latin  grammars  teach 
the  same  doctrine  as  the  English,  concerning  nominatives  or  antecedents  connected  dis- 
junctively ? 

LESSON  XXII.  — VERBS. 

1.  What  is  necessary  to  every  finite  verb?  2.  What  is  remarked  of  such  examples  as 
this:  "The  Pleasures  of  Memory  was  published  in  1792?"  3.  What  is  to  be  done  with 
" Thinks  I  to  myself,"  and  the  like  ?  4.  Is  it  right  to  say  with  Smith,  "Every  hundred 
years  constitutes  a  century  ? "  5.  What  needless  ellipses  both  of  nominatives  and  of  verbs 
are  commonly  supposed  by  our  grammarians  ?  6.  What  actual  ellipsis  usually  occurs  with 
the  imperative  mood  ?  7.  What  is  observed  concerning  the  place  of  the  verb  ?  8.  What 
besides  a  noun  or  a  pronoun  may  be  made  the  subject  of  a  verb  ?  9.  What  is  remarked  of 
the  faulty  omission  of  the  pronoun  it  before  the  verb?  10.  When  an  infinitive  phrase  is 
made  the  subject  of  a  verb,  do  the  words  remain  adjuncts,  or  are  they  abstract?  11.  How- 
can  we  introduce  a  noun  or  pronoun  before  the  infinitive,  and  still  make  the  whole  phrase 
the  subject  of  a  finite  verb  ?  12.  Can  an  objective  before  the  infinitive  become  "the  sub- 
ject of  the  affirmation  ? "  13.  In  making  a  phrase  the  subject  of  a  verb,  do  we  produce  an 
exception  to  Rule  14th  ?  14.  Why  is  it  wrong  to  say,  with  Dr.  Ash,  "  The  king  and  queen 
appearing  in  public  was  the  cause  of  my  going  ?  "  15.  What  inconsistency  is  found  in 


CHAP.  XIV.]  SYNTAX. QUESTIONS.  729 

Murray,  with  reference  to  his  "  nominative  sentences  f"  16.  What  is  Dr.  Webster's  ninth 
rule  of  syntax  ?  17.  Why  did  Murray  think  all  Webster's  examples  under  this  rule  bad 
English:  18.  Why  are  both  parties  wrong  in  this  instance?  19.  What  strange  error  is 
taught  by  Cobbett/and  by  Wright,  in  regard  to  the  relative  and  its  verb  ?  20.  Is  it  demon- 
strable that  verbs  often  agree  with  relatives  ?  21.  What  is  observed  of  the  agreement  of 
verbs  in  interrogative  sentences  ?  22.  Do  we  ever  find  the  subjunctive  mood  put  after  a 
relative  pronoun  ?  23.  What  is  remarked  of  the  difference  between  the  indicative  and  the 
subjunctive  mood,  and  of  the  limits  of  the  latter  ? 

LESSOX  XXIII.  —  YERBS. 

24.  In  respect  to  collective  nouns,  how  is  it  generally  determined,  whether  they  convey 
the  idea  of  plurality  or  not ?  25.  Wkat  is  stated  of  the  rules  of  Adam,  Lowth,  Murray,  and 
Kirkham,  concerning  collective  nouns  ?  26.  What  is  Nixon's  notion  of  the  construction  of 
the  verb  and  collective  noun  ?  27.  Does  this  author  appear  to  have  gained  "  a  clear  idea  of 
the  nature  of  a  collective  noun  r "  28.  What  great  difficulty  does  Murray  acknowledge 
concerning  "  nouns  of  multitude  ? "  29.  Does  Murray's  notion,  that  collective  nouns  are 
of  different  sorts,  appear  to  be  consistent  or  warrantable  ?  30.  Can  words  that  agree  with 
the  same  collective  noun,  be  of  different  numbers  ?  31.  What  is  observed  of  collective 
nouns  used  partitively  ?  .32.  Which  are  the  most  apt  to  be  taken  plurally,  collections  of 
persons,  or  collections  of  things  ?  33.  Can  a  collective  noun,  as  such,  take  a  plural  ad- 
jective before  it?  34.  What  is  observed  of  the  expressions,  these  people,  these  gentry,  these 
folk  /  35.  What  is  observed  of  sentences  like  the  following,  in  which  there  seems  to  be  no 
nominative  :  "  There  are  from  eight  to  twelve  professors  ? "  36.  What  rule  does  Dr.  Web- 
ster give  for  such  examples  as  the  following  :  "There  was  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  pounds  :  "  37.  What  grammarians  teach,  that  two  or  more  nouns  connected  by 
•  always  require  the  verb  or  pronoun  to  which  they  refer,  to  be  in  the  plural  number  r  " 
38.  Does  Murray  acknowledge  or  furnish  any  exceptions  to  this  doctrine  ?  39.  On  what 
principle  can  one  justify  such  an  example  as  this  :  "All  work  and  no  play,  makes  Jack  a  dull 
40.  What  is  remarked  of  instances  like  the  following  :  "  Prior's  Henry  and  Emma 
contains  an  other  beautiful  example  r "  41.  What  is  said  of  the  suppression  of  the  con- 
junction and  '  42.  When  the  speaker  changes  his  nominative,  to  take  a  stronger  one,  what 
concord  has  the  verb  ?  43.  When  two  or  more  nominatives  connected  by  and  explain  a 
preceding  one,  what  agreement  has  the  verb  r  44.  What  grammarian  approves  of  such 
exprettionau,  "Two  and  two  is  four  ?  "  45.  What  is  observed  of  verbs  that  agree  with 
the  nearest  nominative,  and  are  understood  to  the  rest  ?  46.  When  the  nominatives  con- 
nected are  of  different  persons,  of  what  person  is  the  verb  ? 

LESSON  XXIV. —VERBS. 

47.  What  is  the  syntax  of  the  verb,  when  one  of  its  nominatives  is  expressed,  and  an 

other  or  others  implied  ?     48.  What  is  the  syntax  of  the  verb,  when  there  are  nominatives 

connected  by  asf    49.  What  is  the  construction  when  two  nominatives  are  connected  by 

«.*,  but,  or  sure  f     50.  Can  words  connected  by  with  be  properly  used  as  joint  nomina- 

•r>  1 .  Does  the  analogy  of  other  languages  with  ours  prove  any  thing  on  this  point  ? 

52.  What  does  Cobbett  say  about  with  put  for  and?     53.  What  is  the  construction  of  such 

^sions  as  this  :  "A  torch,  snujf  and  all,  goes  out  in  a  moment  ? "     54.  Does  our  rule  for 

the  verb  and  disjunct  nominatives  derive  confirmation  from  the  Latin  and  Greek  syntax? 

55.  Why  do  collective  nouns  singular,  when  connected  by  or  or  nor,  admit  of  a  plural  verb  ? 

•~>'i.   Jn  the  expression,  "/,  thou,  or  hi',  may  ajfinn,"  of  what  person  and  number  is  the  verb  ? 

.07.   Win-*  s;iys,  "the  verb  agrees  withtfti  last  nominatii-f?"     58.  What  authors  prefer  "  the 

'»,"  and  "  thr  plural  number  f  "     59.  What  authors  prefer  "  the  nearest  nominative, 

whether  singular  or  plural :  "     60.   What  author  declares  it  improper  ever  to  connect  by  or 

any  nominatives  that  require  different  forms  of  the  verb?     61.  What  is  Cobbett's 

on  this  h  (^an  a  zeugma  of  the  verb  be  proved  to  be  right,  in 

spite  of  these  authorities  :     »;n.  When  a  verb  has  nominatives  of  different  persons  or  num- 

onnected  by  or  or  nor,  with  which  of  them  docs  it  commonly  agree?     64.  When  does 

it  a_rrce  with  the  remoter  nominative-     65.   When  a  noun  is  implied  in  an  adjective  of  a 

different  number,   which  word  is  regarded  in  the  formation  of  the  verb  ?     66.  What  is 

remarked  concerning  the  place  of  the  pronoun  of  the  first  person  singular  ?     67.  When  verbs 

are  connected  by  ami,  or,  or  nor,  do  they  necessarily  agree  with  the  same  nominative  ?     68. 

Why  is  the  thirteenth  rule  of  the  author's  Institutes  and  First  Lines  not  retained  as  a  rule 

in  this  work  ?     69.  Are  verbs  often  connected  without  agreeing  in  mood,  tense,  and  form  ? 

KM    XXV.— VKKHS. 

70.  What  particular  convenience  do  we  find  in  having  most  of  our  tenses  composed  of 
separable  words':  71.  Is  the  connecting  of  verbs  elliptic-ally,  or  by  parts,  any  thing  pecu- 
our  language:  72.  What  faults  appear  in  the  teaching  of  our  grammarians  con- 
cerning fin  used  as  a  "  substitute  for  other  verbs  ?  "  73.  What  notions  have  been  entertained 
concerning  the  word  to  as  used  before  the  infinitive  verb  ?  74.  How  does  Dr.  Ash  parse  to 
before  the  infinitive  ?  75.  What  grammarians  have  taught  that  the  preposition  to  governs 
50 


730  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

the  infinitive  mood?  76.  Does  Lowth  agree  with  Murray  in  the  anomaly  of  supposing 
to  a  preposition  that  governs  nothing  ?  77.  Why  do  those  teach  just  as  inconsistently,  -who 
forbear  to  call  the  to  a  preposition  ?  78.  What  objections  are  there  to  the  rule,  with  its  ex- 
ceptions, "  One  verb  governs  an  other  in  the  infinitive  mood  ?  "  79.  What  large  exception 
to  this  rule  has  been  recently  discovered  by  Dr.  Bullions  ?  80.  Are  the  countless  examples 
of  this  exception  truly  elliptical?  81.  Is  the  infinitive  ever  governed  by  a  preposition  in 
French,  Spanish,  or  Italian  ?  82.  What  whimsical  account  of  the  English  infinitive  is 
given  by  Nixon  ?  83.  How  was  the  infinitive  expressed  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  of  the  eleventh 
century  ?  84.  What  does  Richard  Johnson  infer  from  the  fact  that  the  Latin  infinitive  is 
sometimes  governed  by  a  preposition  ?  85.  What  reasons  can  be  adduced  to  show  that  the 
infinitive  is  not  a  noun  ?  86.  How  can  it  be  proved  that  to  before  the  infinitive  is  a 
preposition  ?  87.  What  does  Dr.  Wilson  say  of  the  character  and  import  of  the  infinitive  ? 
88.  To  what  other  terms  can  the  infinitive  be  connected  ?  89.  What  is  the  infinitive,  and 
for  what  things  may  it  stand  ?  90.  Do  these  ten  heads  embrace  all  the  uses  of  the  infini- 
tive ?  91.  What  is  observed  of  Murray's  "  infinitive  made  absolute  ?"  92.  What  is  said  of 
the  position  of  the  infinitive  ?  93.  Is  the  infinitive  ever  liable  to  be  misplaced  ? 

LESSON  XXVI.— 


94.  What  is  observed  of  the  frequent  ellipses  of  the  verb  to  be,  supposed  by  Allen  and 
others  ?  95.  What  is  said  of  the  suppression  of  to  and  the  insertion  of  be;  as,  "To  make 
himself  be  heard  ?  "  96.  Why  is  it  necessary  to  use  the  sign  to  before  an  abstract  infinitive, 
where  it  shows  no  relation  ?  97.  What  is  observed  concerning  the  distinction  of  voice  in  the 
simple  infinitive  and  the  first  participle  ?  98.  What  do  our  grammarians  teach  concerning 
the  omission  of  to  before  the  infinitive,  after  bid,  dare,  feel,  &c.  ?  99.  How  do  Ingersoll,  Kirk- 
ham,  and  Smith,  agree  with  their  master  Murray,  concerning  such  examples  as,  "Let  me 
go?"  100.  What  is  affirmed  of  the  difficulties  of  parsing  the  infinitive  according  to  the 
code  of  Murray  ?  101.  How  do  Nutting,  Kirkham,  Nixon,  Cooper,  and  Sanborn,  agree  with 
Murray,  or  with  one  an  other,  in  pointing  out  what  governs  the  infinitive  ?  102.  What  do 
Murray  and  others  mean  by  "  neuter  verbs"  when  they  tell  us  that  the  taking  of  the  infinitive 
without  to  "  extends  only  to  active  and  neuter  verbs  ?"  103.  How  is  the  infinitive  used 
after  bid?  104.  How,  after  dare?  105.  How,  after  feel?  106.  How,  after  hear?  107.  How, 
after  let?  108.  How,  after  make  ?  109.  How,  after  need?  110.  Is  need  ever  an  auxiliary? 
111.  What  errors  are  taught  by  Grealeaf  concerning  dare  and  need  or  needs  ?  112.  What  is  said 
of  see,  as  governing  the  infinitive?  113.  Do  any  other  verbs,  besides  these  eight,  take  the 
infinitive  after  them  without  to  ?  114.  How  is  the  infinitive  used  after  hare,  help,  and///jrf  / 
115.  When  two  or  more  infinitives  occur  in  the  same  construction,  must  to  be  used  with 
each?  116.  What  is  said  of  the  sign  to  after  than  or  as? 

LESSON  XXVII.  —  PARTICIPLES. 

1.  What  questionable  uses  of  participles  are  commonly  admitted  by  grammarians?  2. 
Why  does  the  author  incline  to  condemn  these  peculiarities  ?  3.  What  is  observed  of  the  Mul- 
tiplicity of  uses  to  which  the  participle  in  ing  may  be  turned  ?  4.  What  is  said  of  the  par- 
ticiples which  some  suppose  to  be  put  absolute  ?  5.  How  are  participles  placed  ?  6.  What 
is  said  of  the  transitive  use  of  such  words  as  unbecoming?  7.  What  distinction,  in  respect 
to  government,  is  to  be  observed  between  a  participle  and  a  participial  noun  ?  8.  What  shall 
we  do  when  of  after  the  participial  noun  is  objectionable  ?  9.  What  is  said  of  the  correction 
of  those  examples  in  which  a  needless  article  or  possessive  is  put  before  the  participle  ?  10. 
What  is  stated  of  the  retaining  of  adverbs  with  participial  nouns  ?  11.  Can  words  having 
the  form  of  the  first  participle  be  nouns,  and  clearly  known  to  be  such,  when  they  have  no 
adjuncts  ?  12.  What  strictures  are  made  on  Murray,  Lennie,  and  Bullions,  with  reference 
to  examples  in  which  an  infinitive  follows  the  participial  noun  ?  13.  In  what  instances  is 
the  first  participle  equivalent  to  the  infinitive  ?  14.  What  is  said  of  certain  infinitives  sup- 
posed to  be  erroneously  put  for  participles  ?  15.  What  verbs  take  the  participle  after 
them,  and  not  the  infinitive  ?  16.  What  is  said  of  those  examples  in  which  participles  seem 
to  be  made  the  objects  of  verbs?  17.  What  is  said  of  the  teaching  of  Murray  and  others, 
that,  "  The  participle  with  its  adjuncts  may  be  considered  as  a  substantive  phrase  /  "  18.  How 
does  the  English  participle  compare  with  the  Latin  gerund  ?  19.  How  do  Dr.  Adam  and 
others  suppose  "the  gerund  in  English"  to  become  a  "  substantive,"  or  noun  ?  20.  How 
does  the  French  construction  of  participles  and  infinitives  compare  with  the  English  ? 
LESSON  XXVIII.  —  PARTICIPLES. 

21.  What  difference  does  it  make,  whether  we  use  the  possessive  case  before  words  in 
ing,  or  not  ?  22.  What  is  said  of  the  distinguishing  or  confounding  of  different  parts  of 
speech,  such  as  verbs,  participles,  and  nouns  ?  23.  With  how  many  other  parts  of  speech 
does  W.  Allen  confound  the  participle  ?  24.  How  is  the  distinguishing  of  the  participle  from 
the  verbal  noun  inculcated  by  Allen,  and  their  difference  of  meaning  by  Murray  ?  25.  Is 
it  pretended  that  the  authorities  and  reasons  which  oppose  the  mixed  construction  of  par- 
ticiples, are  sufficient  to  prove  such  usage  altogether  inadmissible  ?  26.  Is  it  proper  to 
teach,  in  general  terms,  that  the  noun  or  pronoun  which  limits  the  meaning  of  a  participle 


CHAP.  XIV.]  SYNTAX. QUESTIONS.  731 

should  be  put  in  the  possessive  case  r  27.  What  is  remarked  of  different  cases  used  indis- 
criminately before  the  participle  or  verbal  noun  r  28.  "What  say  Crombie  and  others  about 
this  disputable  phraseology  ?  29.  What  says  Brown  of  this  their  teaching  r  30.  How  do 
Priestley  and  others  pretend  to  distingxiish  between  the  participial  and  the  substantive  use 
of  verbals  in  //<///  31.  What  does  Brown  say  of  this  doctrine  ?  32.  If  when  a  participle  be- 
comes an  adjective  it  drops  its  regimen,  should  it  not  also  drop  it  on  becoming  a  noun  ? 
33.  Where  the  sense  admits  of  a  choice  of  construction  in  respect  to  the  participle,  is  not 
attention  due  to  the  analogy  of  general  grammar  ?  34.  Does  it  appear  that  nouns  before 
participles  are  less  frequently  subjected  to  their  government  than  pronouns  ?  3.3.  Why  must 
a  gramnwri-m  discriminate  between  idioms,  or  peculiarities,  and  the  common  mode  of  expres- 
sion ?  30.  Is  the  Latin  gerund,  like  the  verbal  in  in<j,  sometimes  active,  sometimes  pas- 
sive ;  and  when  the  former  governs  the  genitive,  do  we  imitate  the  idiom  in  English  ? 
37.  Is  it  agreed  amonir  grammarians,  that  the  Latin  gerund  may  govern  the  genitive  of  the 
agent  ?  :iS.  What  distinction  between  the  participial  and  the  substantive  xise  of  verbals  in 
C 'rumbie  and  others  propose  to  make  ?  39.  How  does  this  accord  with  the  views  of 
Murray,  Lowth,  Adam,  and  Brown?  40.  How  does  Hiley  treat  the  English  participle? 
41.  What  further  is  remarked  concerning  false  teaching  in  relation  to  participles? 

LKSSON    XXIX.— ADVERBS. 

1.  What  is  replied  to  Dr.  Adam's  suggestion,  that,  "Adverbs  sometimes  qualify  substan- 
tives •  "  2.  Do  not  adverbs  sometimes  relate  to  participial  nouns?  3.  If  an  adverbial  word 
relates  directly  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  does  not  that  fact  constitute  it  an  adjective  ?  4.  Are 
such  expressions  as,  "  the  then  ministry,"  "  the  above  discourse,"  good  English,  or  bad — well 
authorized,  or  not?  5.  When  words  commonly  used  as  adverbs  assume  the  construction  of 
nouns,  how  are  they  to  be  parsed  ?  6.  Must  not  the  parser  be  careful  to  distinguish 
abverbs  used  substantively  or  adjectivcly,  from  such  as  may  be  better  resolved  by  the  suppos- 
ing of  an  ellipsis?  7.  How  is  an  adverb  to  be  parsed,  when  it  seems  to  be  put  for  a  verb? 
s.  ll.iw  are  adverbs  to  be  parsed  in  such  expressions  as,  f(A>r/iy  icith  him?"  9.  What  is 
observed  of  the  relation  of  conjunctive  adverbs,  and  of  the  misuse  of  10.  What  is 

fcaid  in  regard  to  the  placing  of  adverbs?  11.  What  suggestions  are  made  concerning  the 
word  no/  12.  What  is  remarked  of  two  or  more  negatives  in  the  same  sentence?  13.  Is 
that  a  correct  rule  which  says,  "  Two  negatives,  in  English,  destroy  each  other,  or  are  equiv- 
alent to  an  affirmative  ?"  Yi.  What  is  the  dispute  among  grammarians  concerning  the 
adoption  of  or  or  nor  after  not  or  no  /  15.  "What  fault  is  found  with  the  opinion  of  Priestley, 
Murray,  Ingersoll,  and  Smith,  that  "  either  of  them  may  be  used  with  nearly  equal  pro- 
:"  li}.  How  does  John  Burn  propose  to  settle  this  dispute?  17.  How  does  Churchill 
treat  the  matter  ?  18.  What  does  he  say  of  the  manner  in  which  "  the  use  of  nor  after  not 
has  been  introduced  r "  19.  What  other  common  modes  of  expression  are  censured  by  this 
author  under  the  same  head  ?  20.  How  does  Brown  review  these  criticisms,  and  attempt 
to  settle  the  question  ?  21.  What  critical  remark  is  made  on  the  misuse  of  ever  and  never  ? 
22.  How  does  Churchill  differ  from  Lowth  respecting  the  phrase,  "  ever  so  wisely"  or  "  never 
.  What  is  observed  of  ncrrr  aiidercr  as  seeming  to  be  adjectives,  and  being 
liable  to  contraction  ?  24.  What  strictures  are  made  on  the  classification  and  placing  of  the 
word  nnlij  '  2-~>.  What  is  observed  of  the  term  not  but,  and  of  the  adverbial  use  of  but  ?  26. 
"What  is  noted  of  the  ambiguous  use  of  but  or  only?  27.  What  notions  arc  inculcated  by 
different  grammarians  about  the  introductory  word  ti 

V    XXX.  —  C'OXJ TNCTIONS. 

1.  When  two  declinable  words  are  connected  by  a  conjunction,  why  arc  they  of  the  same 

•J.   What  is  the  power,  and  what  the  position,  of  a  conjunction  that  connects  sentences 

or  »il-iuses  ?     '.\.  What  further  is  added  concerning  the  terms  which  conjunctions  connect  ? 

1.   What  is  remarked  of  two  or  more  conjunctions  coming  together?     5.  What  is  said  of 

!   to  call  attention?     r..   What  relation  of  case  occurs  between 

norms  connected  by  of  f     7.  Between  what  other  related  tetmi  can.  as  be  employed?    8. 
made  the  subject  <»r  the  object  of  a  verb?     9.  AVhat  questions  are 

raised  amont;  grammarians,  about  the  construction  of  ax  follntr  or  n*  fof/oirs,  and  other 
similar  phrases  ?  10.  What  is  said  of  Murray's  mode  of  treating  this  subject  ?  11.  Has 
Murray  written  any  tiling  which  »\v  whether  o.v  <'  be  right  or  not,  when 

the  preceding  iumn  is  plural?  12.  What  is  the  opinion  of  Nixon,  and  of  Crombie?  13. 
What  conjunction  is  frequently  understood  ?  1  I.  What  is  said  of  ellipsis  after  than  or  as  f 
\~).  What  i-  1  concerning  tin-  character  and  import  of  than  \r\dasf  16.  Does  than 

a<  well  as  «.v  usually  take  the  same  case  after  it  that  occurs  before  it  ?  17.  Is  the  Greek  or 
Latin  construction  of  the  latter  term  in  a  comparison  usually  su  h  as  ours  ?  18.  "VMiat 
infcrrnecs  have  <>nr  grammarians  made  from  the  phrase  than  irhomf  19.  Is  than  supposed 
by  Murray  to  be  capa  Miing  any  other  objective  than  -  "•  What  gram- 

marian supposes  irlinni  after  (linn  to  be    "in   the    objective   <  -1-    Hbw^doeS 

the  author  of  this  work  dispose  of  the  example  '-.  22.  What  notice  is  taken  of  O.  B.  Pcircc's 
( Grammar,  with  reference  to  his  manner  of  parsing  words  after  '  xV' 

<  hurehill  about  the  notion  that  certain  conjunctions  govern  the  subjunctive  mood 
What  is  said  of  the  different  parts  of  speech  contained  in  the  list  of  correspondents  ? 


732  THE    GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

LESSON  XXXI.  —  PREPOSITIONS. 

1.  What  is  said  of  the  parsing  of  a  preposition  ?  2.  How  can  the  terms  of  relation  which 
pertain  to  the  preposition  be  ascertained?  3.  What  is  said  of  the  transposition  of  the  two 
terms  ?  4.  Between  -what  parts  of  speech,  as  terms  of  the  relation,  can  a  preposition  be  used  ? 
5.  What  is  said  of  the  ellipsis  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  terms  ?  6.  Is  to  before  the  infinitive 
to  be  parsed  just  as  any  other  preposition  ?  7.  What  is  said  of  Dr.  Adam's  "To  taken  abso- 
lutely ?  "  8.  What  is  observed  in  relation  to  the  exceptions  to  Rule  23d  ?  9.  What  is  said 
of  the  placing  of  prepositions  ?  10.  What  is  told  of  two  prepositions  coming  together  ? 

11.  In  how  many  and  what  ways  does  the  relation  of  prepositions  admit  of  complexity  ? 

12.  What  is  the  difference  between  in  and  into?     13.  What  notice  is  taken  of  the  applica- 
tion of  between,  betwixt,  among,  amongst,  amid)  amidst?     14.  What  erroneous  remark  have 
Priestley,  Murray,  and  others,  about  two  prepositions  "in  the  same  construction ?"     15. 
What  false  doctrine  have  Lowth,  Murray,  and  others,  about  the  separating  of  the  preposi- 
tion from  its  noun  ?     16.  What  is  said  of  the  prepositions  which  follow  averse  and  aversion, 
except  and  exception*      17.  What  is  remarked  concerning  the  use  of  of,  to,  on,  and  upon? 
18.  Can  there  be  an  inelegant  use  of  prepositions  which  is  not  positively  un grammatical  ? 

LESSON  XXXII.  —  INTERJECTIONS. 

1.  Are  all  interjections  to  be  parsed  as  being  put  absolute?  2.  What  is  said  of  O  and 
the  vocative  case  ?  3.  What  do  Nixon  and  Ivirkham  erroneously  teach  about  cases  governed 
by  interjections  ?  4.  What  say  Murray,  Ingersoll,  and  Lennie,  about  interjections  and 
cases  ?  5.  What  is  shown  of  the  later  teaching  to  which  Murray's  erroneous  and  unori- 
ginal remark  about  "O,oh,  and  ah,"  has  given  rise?  6.  What  notice  is  taken  of  the 
application  of  the  rule  for  "O,  oh,  and  ah,"  to  nouns  of  the  second  person?  7.  What  is 
observed  concerning  the  further  extension  of  this  rule  to  nouns  and  pronouns  of  the  third 
person  ?  8.  What  authors  teach  that  interjections  are  put  absolute,  and  have  no  govern- 
ment ?  9.  What  is  the  construction  of  the  pronoun  in  "Ah  me!"  "Ah  him!"  or  any 
similar  exclamation  ?  10.  Is  the  common  rule  for  interjections,  as  requiring  certain  cases 
after  them,  sustained  by  any  analogy  from  the  Latin  syntax?  11.  Can  it  be  shown,  on 
good  authority,  that  O  in  Latin  may  be  followed  by  the  nominative  of  the  first  person  or  the 
accusative  of  the  second?  12.  What  errors  in  the  construction  and  punctuation  of  inter- 
jectional  phrases  are  quoted  from  Fisk,  Smith,  and  Kirkham?  13.  What  is  said  of  those 
sentences  in  which  an  interjection  is  followed  by  a  preposition  or  the  conjunction  that? 
14.  What  is  said  of  the  place  of  the  interjection  ?  15.  What  says  O.  B.  Peirce  about  the 
name  and  place  of  the  interjection  ?  16.  What  is  oifered  in  refutation  of  Peirce's  doctrine  ? 

[Now  parse  the  six  lessons  of  the  Thirteenth  Praxis;  taking,  if  the  teacher  please,  the  Italic  or  difficult  woris 
only  ;  and  referring  to  the  exceptions  or  observations  under  the  rules,  as  often  as  there  is  occasion.  Then  proce  ?d 
to  the  correction  of  the  eighteen  lessons  of  False  Syntax  contained  in  Chapter  Twelfth,  or  the  General  Review '.] 

LESSON  XXXIII.  —  GENERAL  RULE. 

1.  Why  were  the  general  rule  and  the  general  or  critical  notes  added  to  the  foregoirg 
code  of  syntax  ?  2.  What  is  the  general  rule  ?  3.  How  many  are  there  of  the  general  or 
critical  notes  ?  4.  What  says  Critical  Note  1st  of  the  parts  of  speech  ?  5.  What  says  Note 
2d  of  the  doubtful  reference  of  words  ?  6.  What  says  Note  3d  of  definitions  ?  7.  What  says 
Note  4th  of  comparisons?  8.  What  says  Note  5th  of  falsities/  9.  What  says  Note  6th  'of 
absurdities?  10.  What  says  Note  7th  of.  self-contradiction?  11.  What  says  Note  8th  of 
senseless  jumbling  ?  12.  What  says  Note  9th  of  icords  needless  ?  13.  What  says  Note  10th. 
of  improper  omissions?  14.  What  says  Note  llth  of  literary  blunders  ?  15.  What  says  Note 
12th  of  literary  perversions?  16.  What  says  Note  13th  of  literary  awkwardness ?  17.  What 
says  Note  14th  of  literary  ignorance?  18.  What  says  Note  15th  of  literary  silliness?  19. 
What  says  Note  16th  of  errors  incorrigible  ?  20.  In  what  place  are  the  rules,  exceptions, 
notes,  and  observations,  in  the  foregoing  system  of  syntax,  enumerated  and  described  ? 
21.  What  suggestions  are  made  in  relation  to  the  number  of  rules  or  notes,  and  the  com- 
pleteness of  the  system  ?  22.  What  is  remarked  on  the  place  and  character  of  the  critical 
notes  and  the  general  rule  ?  23.  What  is  noted  in  relation  to  the  unamendable  imperfec- 
tions sometimes  found  in  ancient  writings  ? 

[Now  eorrecfc — (or  at  least  read,  and  compare  with  the  Key — )  the  sixteen  lessons  of  False  Syntax,  arranged 
under  appropriate  heads,  for  the  application  of  the  General  Rule ;  the  sixteen  others  adapted  to  the  Critical 
Notes  ;  and  the  five  concluding  ones,  for  which  the  rules  are  various.] 


CHAPTER  XV. -FOR  WRITING. 

EXERCISES  IN  SYNTAX. 

By  [When  the  pupil  has  been  sufficiently  exercised  in  syntactical  parsing,  and  has  corrected  orally,  according 
to  the  formules  given,  all  the  examples  of  false  syntax  designed  for  oral  exercises,  or  so  many  of  them  as  may  be 
deemed  sufficient ;  he  should  write  out  the  following  exercises,  correcting  them  according  to  tho  principles  of 
syntax  given  in  the  rules,  notes,  and  observations,  contained  in  the  preceding  chapters  ;  but  omitting  or  varying 
the  references,  because  hia  corrections  cannot  be  ascribed  to  the  books  which  contain  these  errors.] 

EXERCISE  I.  — ARTICLES. 
"  They  are  institutions  not  merely  of  an  useless,  but  of  an  hurtful  nature." — Blair's  Rhet. 


CHAP.    XV.]  SYNTAX. EXERCISES   FOR   WRITING.  733 

p.  ,344.  "  Quintilian  prefers  the  full,  the  copious,  and  the  amplifying  style."— Ib.  p.  247. 
"  The  proper  application  of  rules  respecting  style,  will  always  be  best  learned  by  the  means 
of  the  illustration  which  examples  afford." — Ib.  p.  224.  "He  was  even  tempted  to  wish 
that  he  had  such  an  one." — Infant  School  Gram.  p.  41.  "  Every  limb  of  the  human  body 
has  an  agreeable  and  disagreeable  motion." — Kames,  El.  of  ('n't.  i,  217.  "To  produce  an 
uniformity  of  opinion  in  all  men." — Ib.  ii,  365.  "A  writer  that  is  really  an  humourist  in 
character,  does  this  without  design." — Ib.  i,  303.  "Addison  was  not  an  humourist  in  char- 
acter."— Ib.  i,  303.  "  It  merits  not  indeed  the  title  of  an  universal  language." — Ib.  i,  353. 
"  It  is  unpleasant  to  find  even  a  negative  and  affirmative  proposition  connected." — Ib.  ii,  25. 
"The  sense  is  left  doubtful  by  wrong  arrangement  of  members." — Ib.  ii,  44.  "As,  for  ex- 
ample, between  the  adjective  and  following  substantive." — Ib.  ii,  104.  "  Witness  the 
following  hyperbole,  too  bold  even  for  an  Hotspur." — Ib.  ii,  193.  "It  is  disposed  to  carry 
along  the  good  and  bad  properties  of  one  to  another." — Ib.  ii,  197.  "  What  a  kind  of  a  man 
such  an  one  is  likely  to  prove,  is  easy  to  foresee." — Locke,  on  Education,  p.  47.  "  In  pro- 
priety there  cannot  be  such  a  thing  as  an  universal  grammar,  unless  there  were  such  a  thing 
as  an  universal  language." — Campbell's  Rhct.  p.  47.  "  The  very  same  process  by  which  he 
gets  at  the  meaning  of  any  ancient  author,  carries  him  to  a  fair  and  a  faithful  rendering  of 
the  scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament." — Chalmers,  Sermons,  p.  16.  "But  still  a 
predominancy  of  one  or  other  quality  in  the  minister  is  often  visible." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  19. 
"Among  the  ancient  critics,  Longinus  possessed  most  delicacy ;  Aristotle,  most  correctness." 
— Ib.  p.  20.  "  He  then  proceeded  to  describe  an  hexameter  and  pentameter  verse." —  Ward's 
Pnface  to  Lily,  p.  vi.  "And  Alfred,  who  was  no  less  able  a  negotiator  than  courageous  a 
warrior,  was  unanimously  chosen  King." — Pinnock's  Gcog.  p.  271.  "An  useless  incident 
weakens  the  interest  which  we  take  in  the  action." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  460.  "This  will  lead 
into  some  detail ;  but  I  hope  an  useful  one." — Ib.  p.  234.  "  When  they  understand  how 
to  write  English  with  due  Connexion,  Propriety,  and  Order,  and  are  pretty  well  Masters  of 
a  tolerable  Narrative  Stile,  they  may  be  advanced  to  writing  of  Letters." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p. 
"The  Senate  is  divided  Into  the  Select  and  Great  Senate." — Howitt's  Student- Life  in 
•ny,  p.  28.  "  We  see  a  remains  of  this  ceremonial  yet  in  the  public  solemnities  of  the 
universities." — Ib.  p.  46. 

"  Where  an  huge  pollard  on  the  winter  fire, 
At  an  huge  distance  made  them  all  retire." — Crabbe,  Borough,  p.  209. 

EXERCISE  II.— NOUNS,  OR  CASES. 

"  Childrens  Minds  are  narrow,  and  weak,  and  usually  susceptible  but  of  one  Thought  at 
once." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  297.  "  Rather  for  Example  sake,  than  thatther  is  any  Great  Mat- 
ter in  it." — Right  of  TytJies,  p.  xvii.  "  The  more  that  any  mans  worth  is,  the  greater  envy 
shall  he  be  liable  to."—  Walker's  Particles,  p.  461.  "  He  who  works  only  for  the  common 
welfare  is  the  most  noble,  and  no  one,  but  him,  deserves  the  name." — Spitrzhcim,  on  Ed.,  p. 
182.  "He  then  got  into  the  carriage,  to  sit  with  the  man,  whom  he  had  been  told  was 
:i." — Stonr,  on  Masonry,  p.  480.  "  But,  for  such  footmen  as  thee  and  I  are,  let  us  never 
desire  to  meet  with  an  enemy." — Bunyan's  P.  P.,  p.  153.  "  One  of  them  finds  out  that  she  is 
Tibulluses  Nemesis." — Philological  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p.  446.  "  He  may  be  employed  in  reading 
such  easy  books  as  Corderius,  and  some  of  Erasmus'  Colloques,  with  an  English  translation." 
— Burgh's  Dignity,  Vol.  i,  p.  150.  "  For  my  preface  was  to  show  the  method  of  the  priests 
of  Aberdeen's  procedure  against  the  Quakers." — Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  i,  p.  235.  "They 
signify  no  more  against  us,  than  Cochlacus'  lies  against  Luther." — Ib.  i,  236.  "To  justify 
-  his  doing  obeisance  to  his  father  in  law." — Ib.  i,  241.  "  Which  sort  of  clauses  are  gen- 
erally included  between  two  comma's." — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  306.  "  Between  you  and 
I,  she  is  but  a  cutler's  wife." — Goldsmith's  Essays,  p.  187.  "In  Edward  the  third,  King  of 
England's  time." — Jaudons  Gram.  p.  104.  "The  nominative  case  is  the  agent  or  doer." — 
Snt.'f/,'  ,1.  p.  11.  "Dog is  in  the  nominative  case,  because  it  is  the  agent,  actor,  or 


doer." — Ib.     "  The  actor  or  doer  is  considered  the  naming  or  leading  noun." — Ib.     "The 
of  the  principal  verb  is  made  use  of." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  24.     "Tl 

•     i   ^    ^       i        A     i  *  •  /*  i  •  -«•      i      1 1 


have  the  same  right  to  be  taken  notice  of  by  grammarians." — Ib.  p.  30.     "  I  shall  not  quar- 
rel withthe  friend  of  twelve  years  standing." — Liberator,  ix,   39.     "If  there  were  none 
living  but  him,  John  would  be  against  Lilburne,  and  Lilburne  against  John." — Bing.   />/>/. 
nrni:     "  When  n  personal  pronoun  is  made  use  of  to  relate  to  them." — Cobbett' 

"The  town  was  taken  in  a  few  hours  time."— Goldsmith's  Rome,  p.  120. 
"  You  must  not  employ  such  considerations  merely  as  those  upon  which  the  author  here 
rests,  taken  from  gratitude's  being  the  law  of  my"  nature."— Blair's  Rhct.  p.  296.  "Our 
aut  lor's  second  illustration,  is  taken  from  praise  being  the  most  disinterested  act  of  homage." 
— / '>.  p.  301.  "  The  first  subdivision  concerning  praise  being  the  most  pleasant  part  of  devo- 
tioi;,  is  very  just  and  well  expressed." — Ib.  "It  was  a  cold  thought  to  dwell  upon  its 
disburdening  the  mind  of  debt."— Ib.  "  The  thought  which  runs  through  all  this  passage, 
of  man's  being  the  priest  of  nature,  and  of  his  existence  being  calculated  chiefly  for  thi.s 
end,  that  he  might  oflcr  up  the  praises  of  the  mute  part  of  the  creation,  in  an  ingenious 


734  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 


•e  s 


thought  and  well  expressed."  —  Ib.  p.  297.     "The  mayor  of  Newyork's  portrait."  —  Ware's 
English  Grammar,  p.  9. 

"  Calm  Temperance,  whose  blessings  those  partake 
Who  hunger,  and  who  thirst,  for  scribbling  sake."  —  Pope,  Dunciad,  i,  50. 

EXERCISE  III.—  ADJECTIVES. 

"Plumb  down  he  drops  ten  thousand  fathom  deep."  —  Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  ii,  1.  933.  "In 
his  Night  Thoughts,  there  is  much  energy  of  expression  :  in  the  three  first,  there  are  sev- 
eral pathetic  passages."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  403.  "  Learn  to  pray,  to  pray  greatly  and  strong." 

—  The  Dial,  Vol.  ii,  p.  215.     "  The  good  and  the  bad  genius  are  struggling  with  one  an- 
other." —  Philological  Museum,  i,  490.  "  The  definitions  of  the  parts  of  speech,  and  application 
of  syntax,  should  be  given  almost  simultaneous."  —  Wilbur  and  Livingston's  Gram.  p.  6. 
"  I  had  studied  grammar  previous  to  his  instructing  me."  —  Ib.  p.  13.     "  So  difficult  it  is  to 
separate  these  two  things  from  one  another."  —  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  92.     "New  words  should 
never  be  ventured  upon,  except  by  such  whose  established  reputation  gives  them  some 
degree  of  dictatorial  power  over  language."  —  Ib.  p.  94.     "  The  verses  necessarily  succeed 
each  other."  —  O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  142.     "They  saw  that  it  would  be  practicable  to 
express,  in  writing,  the  whole  combinations  of  sounds  which  our  words  require."  —  Blair's 
Rhet.  p.  68.     "  There  are  some  Events,  the  Truth  of  which  cannot  appear  to  any,  but  such 
whose  Minds  are  first  qualify'd  by  some  certain  Knowledge."  —  Brightland's  Gram.  p.  242. 
"  These  Sort  of  Feet  are  in  Latin  called  Iambics."  —  Fisher's   Gram.  p.   134.     "And  the 
Words  are  mostly  so  disposed,  that  the  Accents  may  fall  on  every  2d,  4th,  6th,  8th,  and 
10th  Syllables."  —  Ib.  p.  135.     "  If  the  verse  does  not  sound  well  and  harmonious  to  the  ear." 

—  Ib.  p.  136.     "  I  gat  me  men-singers  and  women-singers,  and  the  delights  of  the  sons  of 
men,  as  musical  instruments,  and  that  of  all  sorts."  —  Ecclesiastes,  ii,  8.     "  No  people  have 
so  studiously  avoided  the  collision  of  consonants  as  the  Italians."  —  Campbells  Rhet.  p.  183. 
"And  these  two  subjects  must  destroy  one  another."  —  Ib.  p.  42.     "  Duration  and  space  are 
two  things  in  some  respects  the  most  like,  and  in  some  respects  the  most  unlike  to  one 
another."  —  Ib.  p.  103.     "  Nothing  ever  affected  him  so  much,  as  this  misconduct  of  his 
friend."  —  Sanborns  Gram.  p.  155.     "  To  see  the  bearing  of  the  several  parts  of  speech  on 
each  other."  —  Greenleaf's  Gram.  p.  2.     "  Two  or  more  adjectives  following  each  other,  either 
with  or  without  a  conjunction,  qualify  the  same  word."  —  Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  75.     "The 
two  chapters  which  now  remain,  are  by  far  the  most  important  of  any."  —  Student's  Manual, 
p.  293.     "  That  has  been  the  subject  of  no  less  than  six  negotiations."  —  Pres.  Jackson's 
Message,  1830.     "His  gravity  makes  him  work  cautious."  —  Steele,  Sped.  No.  534.     "  Gran- 
deur, being  an  extreme  vivid  emotion,  is  not  readily  produced  in  perfection  but  by  reiterated 
impressions."  —  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  203.     "Every  object  appears  less  than  when  viewed 
separately  and  independent  of  the  series."  —  Ib.  ii,  14.     "An  Organ  is  the  best  of  all  ot'ier 
musical  instruments."  —  Dilworth's  English  Tongue,  p.  94. 

"  Let  such  teach  others  who  themselves  excel, 
And  censure  freely  who  have  written  well."  —  Pope,  on  Crit.  1.  15. 

EXERCISE  IV.  —  PRONOUNS. 

"  You  had  musty  victuals,  and  he  hath  holp  to  eat  it."  —  SHAK.  :  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Victu 
"  Sometime  am  I  all  wound  with  adders,  who,  with  cloven  tongues,  do  hiss  me  into  mad- 
ness." —  Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  68.  "  When  a  letter  or  syllable  is  transposed,  it  is  called 
METATHESIS."  —  Adam's  Lai.  Gram.  p.  275.  "  When  a  letter  or  syllable  is  added  to  the  be- 
ginning of  a  word,  it  is  called  PROSTHESIS."  —  Ib.  "  If  a  letter  or  syllable  be  taken  from  the 
beginning  of  a  word,  it  is  called  APH^ERESIS."  —  Ib.  "  We  can  examine  few,  or  rather  no 
Substances,  so  far,  as  to  assure  ourselves  that  we  have  a  certain  Knowledge  of  most  of  its 
Properties."  —  Brightland's  Gram.  p.  244.  "Who  do  you  dine  with?"  —  Fisher's  Gram.  p. 
99.  "  Who  do  you  speak  to  ?  "  —  Shakspeare.  "All  the  objects  of  prayer  are  calculated  to 
excite  the  most  active  and  vivid  sentiments,  which  can  arise  in  the  heart  of  man."  —  Adams  s 
Rhet.  i,  328.  "  It  has  been  my  endeavour  to  furnish  you  with  the  most  useful  materials, 
which  contribute  to  the  purposes  of  eloquence."  —  Ib.  ii,  28.  "All  paraphrases  are  vicious  : 
it  is  not  translating,  it  is  commenting."  —  Formey's  Belles  -Lettres,  p.  163.  "  Did  you  never 
bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbour  ?  "  —  SIR  W.  DRAPER  :  Junius,  p.  40.  "And  they 
shall  eat  up  thine  harvest  and  thy  bread  :  they  shall  eat  up  thy  flocks  and  thine  herds.  "- 
Jer.  v,  17.  "  He  was  the  spiritual  rock  who  miraculously  supplied  the  wants  of  the  Israel- 
ites." —  Gurney's  Evidences,  p.  53.  "  To  cull  from  the  mass  of  mankind  those  individuals 
upon  which  the  attention  ought  to  be  most  employed."  —  Rambler,  No.  4.  "His  speech 
contains  one  of  the  grossest  and  most  infamous  calumnies  which  ever  was  uttered."  —  Mer- 
chant's Gram.,  Key,  p.  198.  "  STROMBUS,  i.  m.  A  shell-fish  of  the  sea,  that  has  a  leader 
whom  they  follow  as  their  king.  Plin."  —  Ainsworth's  Diet.  4to.  "  Whomsoever  will,  let 
him  come."  —  MORNING  STAR  :  Lib.  xi,  13.  "  Thy  own  words  have  convinced  me  (stand  a 
little  more  out  of  the  sun  if  you  please)  that  thou  hast  not  the  least  notion  of  true  honour." 

—  Fielding.    "  Whither  art  going,  pretty  Annette  ?  Your  little  feet  you'll  surely  wet."—/,.  J/. 

etellus,  who  conquered  Macedon,  was  carried  to  the  funeral  pile 


'ier 


Metellus,  who  conquered  Macedon,  was  carried  to  the  funeral  pile  by  his  four 
sons,  one  of  which  was  the  praetor."—  Kcnnett's  Roman  Ant.  p.  332.     "  That  not  a  soldier 


CHAP.    XV.]  SYNTAX. EXERCISES   FOR   WRITING.  735 

•which  they  did  not  know,  should  mingle  himself  among  them." — Josephus,  Vol.  v,  p.  170. 
"  The  Neuter  Gender  denotes  objects   which  are  neither  males  nor  females." — Mnrrni/'x 
drum.  8vo,  p.  37.     "And  hence  it  is,  that  the  most  important  precept,  which  a  rhetorical 
teacher  can  inculcate  respecting  this  part  of  discourse,  is  negative." — Adams' I  lUirt.  ii,  97. 
"  The  meanest  and  most  contemptible  person  whom  we  behold,  is  the  offspring  of  heaven, 
one  of  the  children  of  the  Most  High."— .Vo^/,  ]>•  102.     "He  shall  sit  next  to  Darius, 
because  of  his  wisdom,  and  shall  be  called  Darius  his  cousin." — 1  KWyv/.v,  iii,  7.     "  In  1757, 
he  published  his  «  Fleece; '  but  he  did  not  long  survive  it." — L.  Murray,  Sey.  p.  252. 
"  The  sun  upon  the  calmest  sea 
Appears  not  half  so  bright  as  thee." — Prior. 

EXERCISE  V.  —  VERBS. 

"  The  want  of  connexion  here,  as  well  as  in  the  description  of  the  prodigies  that  accom- 
panied the  death  of  Caesar,  are  scarce  pardonable." — Kamcs,  El.  of  Crit.  Vol.  i,  p.  38.  "  The 
causes  of  the  original  beauty  of  language,  considered  as  significant,  which  is  a  branch  of  the 
present  subject,  will  be  explained  in  their  order." — Ib.  Vol.  ii,  p.  6.  "  Neither  of  these  two 
Definitions  do  rightly  adjust  the  Genuine  signification  of  this  Tense." — Johnson's  drum. 
Com.  p.  280.  "  In  the  earnest  hope  that  they  may  prove  as  beneficial  to  other  teachers  as 
they  have  to  the  author." — John  Flint's  Gram.  p.  3.  "And  then  an  example  is  given  show- 
ing the  manner  in  which  the  pupil  should  be  required  to  classify." — Ib.  p.  3.  "(lu  in 
English  words  are  equivalent  to  kw." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  258.  UQ*  has  the  power  of  kir, 
therefore  quit  doubles  the  final  consonant  in  forming  its  preterite." — Ib.  p.  103.  "The 
word  pronoun  or  substantive  can  be  substituted,  should  any  teacher  prefer  to  do  it." — Ib. 
p.  132.  "  The  three  angles  of  a  right-angled  triangle  were  equal  to  two  right  angles  in  the 
days  of  Moses,  as  well  as  now." — GOODELL  :  Liberator,  Vol.  xi,  p.  4.  "  But  now  two  paces 
of  the  vilc.st  earth  is  room  enough." — Beaut,  of  Shak.  p.  12G.  "Latin  and  French,  as  the 
"World  now  goes,  is  by  every  one  acknowledged  to  be  necessary." — I^ockc,  on  Ed.  p.  351. 
"These  things,  that  he  will  thus  learn  by  sight,  and  have  by  roat  in  his  Memory,  is  not  all, 
I  confess,  that  he  is  to  learn  upon  the  Globes." — Ib.  p.  321.  "  Henry :  if  John  shall  meet 
me,  I  will  hand  him  your  note." — O.  B.  JY//V/.V  Cram.  p.  261.  "They  pronounce  the  syl- 
lables in  a  different  manner  from  what  they  do  at  other  times." — Blair  s  Rhct.  p.  329. 
*'  Cato  reminded  him  of  many  warnings  he  had  gave  him." — Goldsmith's  Rome,  i,  114. 
"The  AVa^cs  i- small.  The  Compasses  is  broken." — Fishers  Cram.  p.  95.  "Prepare  thy 
heart  for  prayer,  lest  thou  temptest  God." — Life  of  Luther,  p.  83.  "That  a  soldier  should 
tiy  is  a  shameful  thing." — Adams  Lat.  Gram.  p.  155.  "  When  there  is  two  verbs  which 
are  together." — Woodn-orth's  Gram.  p.  27.  "  Interjections  are  words  used  to  express  some 

u  of  the  mind;  and  is  followed  by  a  note  of  admiration!  " — Infant  School  Gram.  p. 

"And  the  king  said,  If  he  be  alone,  there  is  tidings  in  his  mouth." — 2  Samuel,  xviii, 
2.").  "  The  opinions  of  the  few  must  be  overruled,  and  submit  to  the  opinions  of  the  many." 
—  \\'<h*t<-rx  Exxays,  p.  56.  "One  of  the  principal  difficulties  which  here  occurs,  has  been 
already  hinted." — Blair  s  Rhet.  p.  391.  "  With  milky  blood  the  heart  is  overflown." — 
Thomson,  (\istk  of  Ind.  "  No  man  dare  solicit  for  the  votes  of  hiz  nabors." — Webster's  Es- 

.  :!  Ii.  "  Yet  they  cannot,  and  they  have  no  right  to  exercise  it." — Ib.  p.  56.  "  In 
order  to  make  it  be  heard  over  their  vast  theatres." — Blair  s  Rhct.  p.  471.  "  Sometimes, 
however,  the  relative  and  its  clause  is  placed  before  the  antecedent  and  its  clause." — Bul- 
lions, Lat.  Crnm.  p.  200. 

"  Here  thou,  great  Anna  !  whom  three  realms  obey, 
Does  sometimes  counsel  take — and  sometimes  tea." — Kamcs,  EL  of  Crit.  i,  321. 

EXERCISE  VI.  — PARTICIPLES. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  degrading  or  vilifying  an  object,  is  done  successfully  by  ranking 
it  with  one  that  is  really  low."— Kum-.i,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  50.  "  The  magnifying  or' diminishing 
object-  -  of  comparison,  proceeds  from  the  same  cause."  —  J'>.  i,  i_':'.!i.  "  Gratifying 

the  affection  will  also  contribute  to  my  own  happiness." — Ib.  i,  53.  "The  pronouncing 
syllables  in  a  high  or  a  low  tone."—//;.'  ii,  77.  "The  crowding  into  one  period  or  thought 

-  faulty  than  crowding  metaphors  in   that  manner." — 
"  To  approve  is  ackno\\l.  .light  to  do  a  tiling;  and  to  condemn  isown- 

6  ought  not  to  do  it." — Bur'am  YJ.      "To  be  provoked  that  God  suffers 

men  to  act  thus,  is  claiming  to  govern  the  word  in  his  stead." — .sVr/.vr.  "  Let  every  subject 
bo  well  u:.  ng  on  to  another." — Infant  »•//••.,;/  Cram.  p.  18.  "  Doubling 

the  t  in  biyottcd  is  apt  to  lead  to  an  erroneous  accentuation  of  the  word  or  the  second  sylla- 
b  e." — ( '/ntrc/nit' *  Criint.  p.  L'-J.  "  Their  compelling  the  man  to  serve  was  an  act  of  tyranny." 
t —  II  -  ;/s,  p.  64.  "One  of  the  greatest  misfortunes  of  the  French  tragedy  is,  its  being 

always  written  in  rhyme." — Ii/'  .     "  Horace  entitles  his  satire  '  Sermones,' 

not  to  have  intended  rising  much  higher  than  prose  put  into  numbers." — Ib.  p. 
402.     "  Feeding  the  hungry,  clothing  the  naked,  comforting  the  afilicted,  yield  more  pleas- 
ure than  we  receive  from  those  actions  which  respect  only  ourselves."  —  Murrni/'.s   AVy,  8vo, 
^.     "But  when  we  attempt  to  go  a  step  beyond  this"  and  inquire  what  is  the  cause  of 
regularity  and  variety  producing  in  our  niinds  the  sensation  of  beauty,  any  reason  we  can 


736  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   III. 

assign  is  extremely  imperfect." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  29.  "In  an  author's  writing  with  pro- 
priety, his  being  free  of  the  two  former  faults  seems  implied." — Ib.  p.  94.  "  To  prevent 
our  being  carried  away  by  that  torrent  of  false  and  frivolous  taste." — Ib.  p.  12.  "  When 
we  are  unable  to  assign  the  reasons  of  our  being  pleased." — Ib.  p.  15.  "An  adjective  will 
not  make  good  sense  without  joining  it  to  a  noun." — Sanborns  Gram.  p.  12.  "What  is 
said  respecting  sentences  being  inverted?" — Ib.  p.  71.  "Though  he  admits  of  all  the  other 
cases,  made  use  of  by  the  Latins." — BicknelVs  Gram.  p.  viii.  "This  indeed,  is  accounting 
but  feebly  for  its  use  in  this  instance." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  148.  "  The  Knowledge  of  what 
passes  in  the  Mind  is  necessary  for  the  understanding  the  Principles  of  Grammar." — Bright- 
land's  Gram.  p.  73.  "  By  than's  being  used  instead  of  as,  it  is  not  asserted  that  the  former 
has  as  much  fruit  as  the  latter." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  207.  "  Thus  much  for  the  Settling 
your  Authority  over  your  Children." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  58. 

EXERCISE  VII.  —  ADVERBS. 

"  There  can  scarce  be  a  greater  Defect  in  a  Gentleman,  than  not  to  express  himself  well 
either  in  Writing  or  Speaking." — Locke,  on  Ed.  p.  335.  "  She  seldom  or  ever  wore  a  thing 
twice  in  the  same  way." — Castle  Rackrent,  p.  84.  "  So  can  I  give  no  reason,  nor  I  will  not." 
— Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  45.  "Nor  I  know  not  where  I  did  lodge  last  night." — Ib.  p.  270. 
"  It  is  to  be  presumed  they  would  become  soonest  proficient  in  Latin." — Burn's  Gram.  p. 
xi.  "  The  difficulty  of  which  has  not  been  a  little  increased  by  that  variety." — Ward's 
Pref.  to  Lily's  Gram.  p.  xi.  "That  full  endeavours  be  used  in  every  monthly  meeting  to 
seasonably  end  all  business  or  cases  that  come  before  them." — N.  E.  Discipline,  p.  44.  "  In 
minds  where  they  had  scarce  any  footing  before." — Spectator,  No.  566.  "  The  negative 
form  is  when  the  adverb  not  is  used." — Sanborns  Gram.  p.  61.  "The  interrogative  form  is 
when  a  question  is  asked." — Ibid.  "  The  finding  out  the  Truth  ought  to  be  his  whole  Aim." 
— Brightland's  Gram.  p.  239.  "Mention  the  first  instance  when  that  is  used  in  preference 
to  who,  whom,  or  ichich." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  96.  "  The  plot  was  always  exceeding  simple. 
It  admitted  of  few  incidents." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  470.  "Their  best  tragedies  make  not  a 
deep  enough  impression  on  the  heart." — Ib.  p.  472.  "The  greatest  genius  on  earth,  not 
even  a  Bacon,  can  be  a  perfect  master  of  every  branch." — Webster's  Essays,  p.  13.  "  The 
verb  OUGHT  is  only  used  in  the  indicative  [and  subjunctive  moods]." — Dr.  Ash's  Gram.  p.  70. 
"  It  is  still  a  greater  deviation  from  congruity,  to  affect  not  only  variety  in  the  words,  but 
also  in  the  construction." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  28.  "It  has  besides  been  found  that, 
generally,  students  attend  those  lectures  more  carefully  for  which  they  pay." — Dr.  Lieber, 
Lit.  Conv.  p.  65.  "This  book  I  obtained  through  a  friend,  it  being  not  exposed  for  sale;." 
—  Woolsey,  ib.  p.  76.  "Here  there  is  no  manner  of  resemblance  but  in  the  word  drown."  — 
Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  163.  "  We  have  had  often  occasion  to  inculcate,  that  the  mind  pass- 
eth  easily  and  sweetly  along  a  train  of  connected  objects." — Ib.  ii,  197.  "Observe  the 
periods  when  the  most  illustrious  persons  flourished." — Worcester's  Hist.  p.  iv.  "  For  every 
horse  is  not  called  Bucephalus,  nor  every  dog  Turk." — Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  15.  "  One  can 
scarce  avoid  smiling  at  the  blindness  of  a  certain  critic." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  ii,  2o7. 
"  Provided  always,  that  we  run  not  into  the  extreme  of  pruning  so  very  close,  so  as  to  give 
a  hardness  and  dryness  to  style." — Jamiesons  Rhet.  p.  92;  Blair's,  111.  "Agreement  is 
when  one  word  is  like  another  in  number,  case  gender  or  person." — Frost's  Gram.  p.  4-3. 
"  Government  is  when  one  word  causes  another  to  be  in  some  particular  number,  person  or 
case." — Ibid.  "  It  seems  to  be  nothing  more  than  the  simple  form  of  the  adjective,  and  to 
imply  not  either  comparison  or  degree." — Murray's  Gram.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  47. 
EXERCISE  VIII.  —  CONJUNCTIONS. 

"The  Indians  had  neither  cows,  horses,  oxen,  or  sheep." — Olney's  Introd.  to  Geog.  p.  46. 
"  Who  have  no  other  object  in  view,  but,  to  make  a  shew  of  their  supposed  talents." — 
Blair's  Rhet.  p.  344.  "No  other  but  these,  could  draw  the  attention  of  men  in  their  rude 
uncivilized  state." — Ib.  p.  379.  "  That  he  shall  stick  at  nothing,  nor  nothing  stick  with 
him." — Pope.  "  To  enliven  it  into  a  passion,  no  more  is  required  but  the  real  or  ideal 
presence  of  the  object." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  110.  "  I  see  no  more  to  be  made  of  it  but  to 
rest  upon  the  final  cause  first  mentioned." — Ib.  i,  175.  "  No  quality  nor  circumstance  con- 
tributes more  to  grandeur  than  force."— Ib.  i,  215.  "  It  being  a  quotation,  not  from  a  poet 
nor  orator,  but  from  a  grave  author,  writing  an  institute  of  law." — Ib.  i,  233.  "And  our 


former  serves  for  no  other  purpose  but  to  make  harmony." — Ib.  ii.  231.  "But  the  plan 
was  not  perhaps  as  new  as  some  might  think  it." — Literary  Conv.  p.  85.  "  The  impression 
received  would  probably  be  neither  confirmed  or  corrected." — Ib.  p.  183.  "  Right  is  nothing* 
else  but  what  reason  acknowledges." — Burlamaqui,  on  Law,  p.  32.  "  Though  it  should  be 
of  no  other  use  but  this."— BP.  WILKINS  :  Tooke's  D.  P.,  ii,  27.  "  One  hope  no  sooner  dies 
in  us  but  another  rises  up." — Sped.  No.  535.  "This  rule  implies  nothing  else  but  the 
agreement  of  an  adjective  with  a  substantive." — Adam's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  156  ;  Gould's,  159. 
"  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  the  plan  of  exercise  pointed  out  at  page  132,  is  the  best  that 


CHAP.  XV.]  SYNTAX. EXERCISES    FOR    WRITING.  737 

can  be  adopted." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  viii.  "  The  exertions  of  this  gentleman  have  done  more 
than  any  other  writer  on  the  subject." — DR.  ABERCHOMBIE  :  liec.  in  Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  ii, 
p.  306.  "  No  accidental  nor  unaccountable  event  ought  to  be  admitted." — Kames,  El.  of 
Crit.  ii,  273.  "  Wherever  there  was  much  fire  and  vivacity  in  the  genius  of  nations." — 
Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  5.  "I  am  at  nothing  else  but  your  safety." — Walker  s  Particles,  p.  90. 
"  There  are  pains  inflicted  upon  man  for  other  purposes  except  warning." — Waylanrl'n  Mora! 
Sci.  p.  122.  "  Of  whom  we  have  no  more  but  a  single  letter  remaining." — Campbell^ 
to  Matthew.  "  The  publisher  meant  no  more  but  that  W.  Ames  was  the  author." — S<  >/•<  /'.s 
History,  Preface,  p.  xii.  "  Be  neether  bashful,  nor  discuver  uncommon  solicitude." —  Wih- 
stcr's  Euays,  p.  403.  "  They  put  Minos  to  death,  by  detaining  him  so  long  in  a  bath,  till 
he  fainted." — Lempricres  Diet.  "  For  who  could  be  so  hard-hearted  to  be  severe." — ( 
"  He  must  neither  be  a  panegyrist  nor  a  satirist." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  353.  "  Xo  man  unbias- 
sed by  philosophical  opinions,  thinks  that  life,  air,  or  motion,  are  precisely  the  same  things." 
—  Dr.  Murray's  Hist,  of  Lang,  i,  426.  "  Which  I  had  no  sooner  drank,  but  I  found  a  pimple 
rising  in  my  forehead." — ADDISOX  :  Sanborns  Gram.  p.  182.  "  This  I  view  very  important, 
and  ought  to  be  well  understood." — Osborn's  Key,  p.  5.  "  So  that  neither  emphases,  tones, 
or  cadences  should  be  the  same." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  5. 

"  You  said  no  more  but  that  yourselves  must  be 
The  judges  of  the  scripture  sense,  not  we." — Dryden,  p.  96. 

EXERCISE  IX.— PREPOSITIONS. 

"  To  be  entirely  devoid  of  relish  for  eloquence,  poetry,  or  any  of  the  fine  arts,  is  justly 
construed  to  be  an  unpromising  symptom  of  youth." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  14.  "Well  met, 
George,  for  I  was  looking  of  you." — Walker  s  Particles,  p.  441.  "There  is  another  fact 
worthy  attention." — (Manning's  Emancip.  p.  49.  "They  did  not  gather  of  a  Lord's-day,  in 
costly  temples." — The  Dial,  Xo.  ii,  p.  209.  "But  certain  ideas  have,  by  convention  be- 
tween those  who  speak  the  same  language,  been  agreed  to  be  represented  by  certain  artic- 
ulate sounds." — Adams  s  Rhct.  ii,  271.  "A  careful  study  of  the  language  is  previously 
requisite,  in  all  who  aim  at  writing  it  properly." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  91.  "He  received  his 
reward  in  a  small  place,  which  he  enjoyed  to  his  death." — Notes  to  theDunciad,  B.  ii,  1.  283. 
"  Gaddi,  the  pupil  of  Cimabue,  was  not  unworthy  his  master." — Literary  History,  p.  268. 
"  It  is  a  new,  and  picturesque,  and  glowing  image,  altogether  worthy  the  talents  of  the 
great  poet  who  conceived  it." — Kirkham's  Elocution,  p.  100.  "If  the  right  does  exist,  it  is 
paramount  his  title." — Angell,  on  Tide  Waters,  p.  237.  "  The  most  appropriate  adjective 
should  be  placed  nearest  the  noun." — Sanborns  Gram.  p.  194.  "  Is  not  Mr.  Murray's 
octavo  grammar  more  worthy  the  dignified  title  of  a  'Philosophical  Grammar?'" — Kirk- 
hem's  Gram.  p.  39.  "If  it  shall  be  found  unworthy  the  approbation  and  patronage  of  the 
literary  public." — Perley's  Gram.  p.  3.  "  When  the  relative  is  preceded  by  two  words 
referring  to  the  same  thing,  its  proper  antecedent  is  the  one  next  it." — Bullions's  E.  Gram. 
p.  101.  "The  magistrates  commanded  them  to  depart  the  city." — SeweFs  Hist.  p.  97. 
"  Mankind  act  oftener  from  caprice  than  reason." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  272.  "  It  can  never 
view,  dearly  and  distinctly,  above  one  object  at  a  time." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  65.  "The 
theory  of  speech,  or  systematic  grammar,  was  never  regularly  treated  as  a  science  till 
under  the  Macedonian  kings." — Knight,  on  Greek  Alph.  p.  106.  "  I  have  been  at  London  a 
year,  and  I  saw  the  king  last  summer." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  198.  "  This  is  a  crucifying 
of  Christ,  and  a  rebelling  of  Christ." — WaldenfieJd.  "  There  is  another  advantage  worthy 
our  observation." — Bolingbrokc,  on  Hist.  p.  26.  "  Certain  conjunctions  also  require  the  sub- 
junctive mood  after  them,  independently  on  the  sense." — Grant's  Lot.  Gram.  p.  77.  "If  the 
critical  reader  will  think  proper  to  admit  of  it  at  all." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  191.  "  It  is  the 
business  of  an  epic  poet  to  copy  after  nature." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  427.  "  Good  as  the  cause  is, 
it  is  one  from  which  numbers  have  deserted." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  222.  "  In  respect  of  the 
-  it  will  receive  from  matter." — Spectator,  No.  413.  "Instead  of  following  on  to 
whither  morality  would  conduct  it." — Dymond's  Essayv,  p.  85.  "A  variety  of  questions 
upon  subjects  on  which  their  feelings,  and  wishes,  and  interests,  are  involved." — Ib.  p.  147. 
"  In  the  Greek,  Latin,  Saxon,  and  (Jerman  tongxies,  some  of  these  situations  are  termed 
(  \-i>,  and  are  expressed  by  additions  to  the  Xoun  instead  of  by  separate  words  and 
phrases." — Booth's  Introd.  p.  33.  "  Every  teacher  is  bound  during  three  times  each  week, 
to  deliver  a  public  lecture,  gratis." — Hmritt's  Student-Life  of  Germany,  p.  35.  "But  the 
professors  of  every  political  as  well  as  religious  creed  move  amongst  each  other  in  manifold 
circles."— Ib.  p.  113. 

EXERCISE    X.— PROMISCUOUS. 

"  The  inseparable  Prepositions  making  no  Sense  alone,  they  arc  used  only  in  Composi- 
tion."— Buchanan's  dram.  p.  (>(>.  "The  English  Scholar  learns  little  from  the  two  last 
It-iles."— lh.  ]>nf.  p.  xi.  "To  prevent  the  body  being  stolen  by  the  disciples."—  Watsons 
Ajmlof/y,  p.  123.  "  To  prevent  the  Jews  rejoicing  at  his  death." —  H'wid's  Diet.  p.  oS  1 .  "Alter 
he  had  wrote  the  chronicles  of  the  priesthood  of  John  Hyrcanus." — Whiston's  Joscplius,  v, 
195.  "  Such  words  are  sometimes  parsed  as  a  direct  address,  than  which,  nothing  could  be 
farther  from  the  truth."  —  Goodenow's  Gram.  p.  89.  "The  signs  of  the  tenses  in  these 

61 


738  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

modes  are  as  follows." — C.  Adams's  Gram.  p.  33.     "  The  signs  of  the  tenses  in  the  Potential 
mode  are  as  follows." — Ibid.      "And,  if  more  promiscuous  examples   be  found  necessary, 


both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments." — Nesbit's  Parsing,  p.  207.  "A  Compound  Subject 
is  a  union  of  several  Subjects  to  all  which  belong  the  same  Attribute." — Fosdick's  De  Sa<nj, 
on  General  Gram.  p.  22.  "  There  are  other  languages  in  which  the  Conjunctive  does  rot 
prevent  our  expressing  the  subject  of  the  Conjunctive  Proposition  by  a  Pronoun." — Ib.  p. 
58.  "  This  distinction  must  necessarily  be  expressed  by  language,  but  there  are  several 
different  modes  of  doing  it." — Ib.  p.  64.  "  This  action  may  be  considered  with  reference  to 
the  person  or  thing  upon  whom  the  action  falls." — Ib.  p.  97.  "  There  is  nothing  in  the 
nature  of  things  to  prevent  our  coining  suitable  words." — Barnard's  Gram.  p.  41.  "  What 
kind  of  a  book  is  this  ?  " — Ib.  p.  43.  "  Whence  all  but  him  had  fled." — Ib.  p.  58.  "  Per- 
son is  a  distinction  between  individuals,  as  speaking,  spoken  to,  or  spoken  of." — Ib.  p.  114. 
"  He  repented  his  having  neglected  his  studies  at  college." — Emmons's  Gram.  p.  19.  "  What 
avails  the  taking  so  much  medicine,  when  you  are  so  careless  about  taking  cold  ? " — Ib.  p. 
29.  "Active  transitive  verbs  are  those  where  the  action  passes  from  the  agent  to  the  object." 
— Ib.  p.  33.  "Active  intransitive  verbs,  are  those  where  the  action  is  wholly  confined  to 
the  agent  or  actor." — Ibid.  "Passive  verbs  express  the  receiving,  or  suffering,  the  action." 
— Ib.  p.  34.  "  The  pluperfect  tense  expresses  an  action  or  event  that  passed  prior  or  before 
some  other  period  of  time  specified  in  the  sentence." — Ib.  p.  42.  "  There  is  no  doubt  of  his 
being  a  great  statesman." — Ib.  p.  64.  "  Herschell  is  the  fartherest  from  the  sun  of  any  of  the 
planets." — Fullers  Gram.  p.  66.  "  There  has  not  been  introduced  into  the  foregoing  pages 
any  reasons  for  the  classifications  therein  adopted." — Ib.  p.  80.  "  There  must  be  a  comma 
before  the  verb,  as  well  as  between  each  nominative  case." — Ib.  p.  98.  "Yon,  with  former 
and  latter,  are  also  adjectives." — Brace's  Gram.  p.  17.  "  You  was." — Ib.  p.  32.  "If  you 
was."—  Ib.  p.  39.  "Two  words  which  end  in  ly  succeeding  each  other  are  indeed  a  little 
offensive  to  the  ear." — Ib.  p.  85  ;  Lennie's  Gram.  p.  102. 

"  Is  endless  life  and  happiness  despis'd  ? 
Or  both  wish'd  here,  where  neither  can  be  found  ? " — Young,  p.  124. 

EXERCISE  XI.— PROMISCUOUS. 

"Because  any  one  of  them  is  placed  before  a  noun  or  pronoun,  as  you  observe  I  have 
done  in  every  sentence." — Rand's  Gram.  p.  74.  "Might  accompany  is  a  transitive  verb,  be- 
cause it  expresses  an  action  which  effects  the  object  me." — Gilbert's  Gram.  p.  94.  "Inte-id 
is  an  intransitive  verb  because  it  expresses  an  action  which  does  not  effect  any  objec',." 
— Ib.  p.  93.  "  Charles  and  Eliza  were  jealous  of  one  another." — J.  M.  Putnam's  Gram.  p. 
44.  "  Thus  one  another  include  both  nouns." — Ibid.  "  When  the  antecedent  is  a  child,  tl  at 
is  elegantly  used  in  preference  to  who,  whom,  or  which." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  94.  "He  can 
do  no  more  in  words,  but  make  out  the  expression  of  his  will." — Bp.  Wilkins.  "  The  form 
of  the  first  person  plural  of  the  imperative,  love  ice,  is  grown  obsolete." — Lowth's  Gram.  p. 
38.  "  Excluding  those  verbs  which  are  become  obsolete." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  47.  "  lie 
who  sighs  for  pleasure,  the  voice  of  wisdom  can  never  reach,  nor  the  power  of  virtue  touch." 
—  Wright's  Athens,  p.  64.  "  The  other  branch  of  wit  in  the  thought,  is  that  only  which  is 
taken  notice  of  by  Addison." — Kames,  El.  of  Grit,  i,  312.  "When  any  measure  of  the 
Chancellor  was  found  fault  with." — Professors'  Reasons,  p.  14.  "  Whether  was  formerly  made 
use  of  to  signify  interrogation." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  54.  "  Under  the  article  of  Pronouns 
the  following  words  must  be  taken  notice  of." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  95.  "  In  a  word,  we 
are  afforded  much  pleasure,  to  be  enabled  to  bestow  our  most  unqualified  approbation  on  this 
excellent  work." — Wright's  Gram.,  Rec.,  p.  4.  "  For  Recreation  is  not  being  Idle,  as  every 
one  may  observe." — Loc/ie,  on  Ed.  p.  365.  "  In  the  easier  valuing  and  expressing  that  sum." 
— Dilworth's  Arith.  p.  3.  "Addition  is  the  putting  together  of  two  or  more  numbers."- 
Alexanders  Arith.  p.  8.  "  The  reigns  of  some  of  our  British  Queens  may  fairly  be  urged  in 
proof  of  woman  being  capable  of  discharging  the  most  arduous  and  complicated  duties  of 
government." — West's  Letters  to  Y.  L.,  p.  43.  "  What  is  the  import  of  that  command  to  love 
such  an  one  as  ourselves  ?  " — Wayland's  Moral  Science,  p.  206.  "  It  should  seem  then* the 
grand  question  was,  What  is  good  ? " — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  297.  "  The  rectifying  bad  habits 
depends  upon  our  consciousness  of  them." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  32.  "  To  prevent  our 
being  misled  by  a  mere  name."— Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  168.  "I  was  refused  an  opportunity 
of  replying  in  the  latter  review." — Fowle's  True  English  Gram.  p.  10.  "  But  how  rare  is  such 
generosity  and  excellence  as  Howard  displayed  !  " — MCulloch's  Gram.  p.  39.  "  The  noun  is 
in  the  Nominative  case  when  it  is  the  name  of  the  person  or  thing  which  acts  or  is  spoken 
of." — Ib.  p.  54.  "  The  noun  is  in  the  Objective  case  when  it  is  the  name  of  the  person  or 
thing  which  is  the  object  or  end  of  an  action  or  movement." — Ib.  p.  54.  "  To  prevent  their 
being  erased  from  your  memory." — Mack's  Gram.  p.  17.  "  Pleonasm,  is  when  a  superfluous 
word  is  introduced  abruptly." — Ib.  p.  69. 

•'  Man  feels  his  weakness,  and  to  numbers  run, 
Himself  to  strengthen,  or  himself  to  shun." — Crabbe,  Borough,  p.  137. 


CHAP.    XV.]  SYNTAX. EXERCISES    FOR    WRITING.  739 

EXERCISE  XII.  —  TWO  ERRORS. 

"  Independent  on  the  conjunction,  the  sense  requires  the  subjunctive  mood." — Grant's 
< it-am,  p.  77.  "A  Verb  in  past  time  -without  a  sign  is  Imperfect  tense." — C.  Adams's 
drum.  p.  33.  "  New  modelling  your  household  and  personal  ornaments  is,  I  grant,  an  in- 
dispensable duty." — West's  Letters  to  Y.  L.,  p.  58.  "For  grown  ladies  and  gentlemen 
learning  to  dance,  sing,  draw,  or  even  walk,  is  now  too  frequent  to  excite  ridicule." — lb.  p. 
123.  "  It  is  recorded  that  a  physician  let  his  horse  blood  on  one  of  the  evil  days,  and  it 
soon  lay  dead." — Constable's  Miscellany,  xxi,  99.  "As  to  the  apostrophe,  it  was  seldom  used 
to  distinguish  the  genitive  case  till  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  then 
seems  to  have  been  introduced  by  mistake." — Dr.  Ash's  Gram.  p.  23.  "  One  of  the  relatives 
only  is  varied  to  express  the  three  cases." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  24.  "  What !  does  every  body 
take  their  mornings  draught  of  this  liquor?" — Collier's  Cubes.  "Here,  all  things  comes 
round,  and  bring  the  same  appearances  a  long  with  them." — Colliers  Antoninus,  p.  103. 
"  Mo.>t  commonly  both  the  relative  and  verb  are  elegantly  left  out  in  the  second  member." 
— Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  ix.  "A  fair  receipt  of  water,  of  some  thirty  or  forty  foot  square." — 
v  fasays,  p.  127.  "  The  old  know  more  indirect  ways  of  outwiting  others,  than  the 
young." — Buryh's  Diynity,  i,  60.  "  The  pronoun  singular  of  the  third  person  hath  three 
genders." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  21.  "The  preposition  to  is  made  use  of  before  nouns  of  place, 
when  they  follow  verbs  and  participles  of  motion." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  203.  "It  is  called, 
understanding  human  nature,  knowing  the  weak  sides  of  men,  &c." — Wayland's  Moral  Sci- 
ence, p.  234.  "  Neither  of  which  are  taken  notice  of  by  this  Grammar." — Johnsons  Gram. 
Com.  p.  279.  "  But  certainly  no  invention  is  entitled  to  such  degree  of  admiration  as  that 
of  language." — Blair's  Rhct.  p.  54.  "  The  Indians,  the  Persians,  and  Arabians,  were  all 
famous  for  their  tales." — Ib.  p.  374.  "  Such  a  leading  word  is  the  preposition  and  the  con- 
junction."— Fetch's  Comp.  Gram.  p.  21.  "This,  of  all  others,  is  the  njost  encouraging 
circumstance  in  these  times." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  37.  "  The  putting  any  constraint  on. 
the  organs  of  speech,  or  urging  them  to  a  more  rapid  action  than  they  can  easily  perform, 
in  their  tender  state,  must  be  productive  of  indistinctness  in  utterance." — Ib.  p.  35.  "  Good 
articulation  is  the  foundation  of  a  good  delivery,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  sounding  the 
simple  notes  in  music,  is  the  foundation  of  good  singing." — Ib.  p.  33.  "  The  offering  praise 
and  thanks  to  God,  implies  our  having  a  lively  and  devout  sense  of  his  excellencies  and  of 
his  benefits." — ATTERIH-HY  :  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  295.  "  The  pause  should  not  be  made  till  the 
fourth  or  sixth  syllable." — Blair,  ib.  p.  333.  "  Shenstone's  pastoral  ballad,  in  four  parts, 
may  justly  be  reckoned  one  of  the  most  elegant  poems  of  this  kind,  which  we  have  in 
English." — Ib.  p.  394.  "  What  need  Christ  to  have  died,  if  heaven  could  have  contained 
imperfect  souls  :  " — Baxter.  "  Every  person  is  not  a  man  of  genius,  nor  is  it  necessary  that 
ho  should." — Beattie's  Moral  ^-icnce,  i,  69.  "They  were  alarmed  from  a  quarter  where  they 
least  expected." — Goldsmith's  Greece,  ii,  6. 

"If  thou  more  murmur'st,  I  will  rend  an  oak, 
And  peg  thee  in  his  knotty  intrails." — SHAK.  :   White's  Verb,  p.  94. 

EXERCISE  XIII.— TWO  ERRORS. 

"  In  consequence  of  this,  much  time  and  labor  are  unprofitably  expended,  and  a  confu- 
sion of  ideas  introduced  into  the  mind,  which,  by  never  so  wise  a  method  of  subsequent 
instruction,  it  is  very  difficult  completely  to  remove." — Grenrille's.  Gram.  p.  3.  "So  that 
the  restoring  a  natural  manner  of  delivery,  would  be  bringing  about  an  entire  revolution, 
in  its  n  tud. parts." — >'//•  ,  p.  170.  "'  Thou  who  loves  us,  wilt  pro- 

tect us  still : '  here   v  with  thou,  and  is  nominative  to  the  verb  loves." — Alex. 

Murray's  Gram.  p.  67.  "  The  Active  voice  signifies  action;  the  Passive,  suffering,  or  being 
the  object  of  an  action." —  :  <  Gram. p.  80;  Guide's,  77.  "They  sudden  set  upon 

him,  tearing  no  such  thing." —  \\~<t!  •;<•)•'*  1'articlfs,  p.  252.  t'That  may  be  used  as  a  pronoun, 
an  adjective,  mid  a  conjunction,  depending  on  the  office  which  it  performs  in  the  sentence." 
— Kir  MB.  p.  110.  "  This  is  the  distinguishing  property  of  the  church  of  Christ 

fr  )iu  all  olher  nntichristian  assemblies  or  churches." — Bare/ay's  Works,  i,  533.  "My 
lords,  the  course  which  the  legislature  formerly  took  with  respect  to  the  slave-trade,  appears 
to  iu<:  to  be  well  deserving  the  attention  both  of  the  government  and  your  lordships." — 

.  Vol.  ii,  p.  218.  "  We  speak  that  we  do  know,  and  testify- 
that  we  have  seen."  —  John,  iii,  11.  "This  is  a  consequence  I  deny,  and  remains  for  him 
to  prove." — Burd. i;i's  II. >;•/,-.<.-,  iii,  'M'.).  "To  back  this,  He  brings  in  the  Authority  of 
Accursius,  and  Consensius  Romanus,  to  the  latter  of  which,  he  confesses  himself  beholding 
for  thi  .-.I  in.  Com.  p.  343.  "The  compound  tenses  of  the  second 

order,  or  those  in  which  the  participle  present  is  made  use  of." — I'riesth'y's  Gram.  p.  24. 
"To  lay  the  accent  always  on  the  same  syllable,  and  the  same  letter  of  the  syllable,  which 
tliey  do  in  common  ditoouno." — 8faruJMl'4  I'Jocution,  p.  78.  " Though  the  converting  the 
to  into  a  r  is  not  so  common  as  the  changing  the  r  into  a  w." — Ib.  p.  46.  "  Nor  is  this  all ; 
for  by  means  of  accent,  the  times  of  ]>  •  ire  rendered  quicker,  and  their  proportions 

more  easily  to  be  adjusted  and  observed." — Ib.  p.  72.  "  By  mouthing,  is  meant,  dwelling 
upon  syllables  that  have  no  accent;  or  prolonging  the  sounds  of  the  accented  syllables, 


740  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  III. 

beyond  their  due  proportion  of  time."— Ib.  p.  76.     "  Taunt  him  with  the  licence  of  ink  ;  if 
thou  thou'st  him  some  thrice,  it  shall  not  be  amiss." — SHAK.  :  Joh.  Diet.  w.   Thou.     "  The 
eye  that  mocketh  at  his  father,  and  despiseth  to  obey  his  mother,  the  ravens  of  the  valley 
shall  pick  it  out,  and  the  young  eagles  shall  eat  it." — Prov.  xxx,  17.     "  Copying,  or  merely 
imitating  others,  is  the  death  of  arts  and  sciences." — Spurzheim,  on  Ed.  p.  170.     "  He  is 
arrived  at  that  degree  of  perfection,  as  to  surprise  all  his  acquaintance." — Ensell's  Gram.  p. 
296.     "  Neither  the  King  nor  Queen  are  gone." — Buchanans  E.  Syntax,  p.  155.      " Many  is 
pronounced  as  if  it  were  wrote  manny." — Dr.  Johnson's  Gram,  with  Diet.  p.  2. 
"And  as  the  music  on  the  waters  float, 
Some  bolder  shore  returns  the  soften'd  note." — Crabbe,  Borough,  p.  118. 

EXERCISE  XIV.  — THREE  ERRORS. 

"  It  appears  that  the  Temple  was  then  a  building,  because  these  Tiles  must  be  supposed 
to  be  for  the  covering  it." — Johnson's  Gram.  Com.  p.  281.  "  It  was  common  for  sheriffs  to 
omit  or  excuse  the  not  making  returns  for  several  of  the  boroughs  within  their  counties." — 
Brown's  Estimate,  Vol.  ii,  p.  132.  "  The  conjunction  as  when  it  is  connected  with  the  pro- 
noun, such,  many,  or  same,  is  sometimes  called  a  relative  pronoun." — Kirkham's  Gram.,  the 
Compend.  "  Mr.  Addison  has  also  much  harmony  in  his  style  ;  more  easy  and  smooth,  but  less 
varied  than  Lord  Shaftesbury." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  127  ;  Jamiesons,  129.  "A  number  of 


are  used  in  both  numbers." — Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  107.  "A  compound  word  is  made  up  of 
two  or  more  words,  usually  joined  by  an  hyphen,  as  summer-house,  spirit-less,  school- 
master."— Blair's  Gram.  p.  7.  "  There  is  an  inconvenience  in  introducing  new  words  by 
composition  which  nearly  resembles  others  in  use  before  ;  as,  disserve,  which  is  too  much 
like  deserve." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  145.  "  For  even  in  that  case,  the  transgressing  the  limits 
in  the  least,  will  scarce  be  pardoned." — Sheridan's  Lect.  p.  119.  "What  other  are  the 
foregoing  instances  but  describing  the  passion  another  feels." — Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  i,  388. 
"  '  Two  and  three  are  five.'  If  each  substantive  is  to  be  taken  separately  as  a  subject,  then 
*  two  is  five,'  and  '  three  is  five.'  " — Goodenow's  Gram.  p.  87.  "The  article  a  joined  to  the 
simple  pronoun  other  makes  it  the  compound  another." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  96.  "  The  word 
another  is  composed  of  the  indefinite  article  prefixed  to  the  ^cord  other." — Murray's  Gram.  p. 
57  ;  et  al.  "In  relating  things  that  were  formerly  expressed  by  another  person,  we  oftan 
meet  with  modes  of  expression  similar  to  the  following." — Ib.  p.  191.  "Dropping  one  1 
prevents  the  recurrence  of  three  very  near  each  other." — ChurchilFs  Gram.  p.  202.  "  Some- 
times two  or  more  genitive  cases  succeed  each  other ;  as,  •  John's  wife's  father.'  " — Daltov's 
Gram.  p.  14.  "  Sometimes,  though  rarely,  two  nouns  in  the  possessive  case  immediately 
succeed  each  other,  in  the  following  form  :  «  My  friend's  wife's  sister.'  "—Murray's  Gran. 
p.  45. 

EXERCISE  XV.  — MANY  ERRORS. 

"  Number  is  of  a  two  fold  nature, — Singular  and  Plural :  and  comprehends,  accordingly 
to  its  application,  the  distinction  between  them." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  37.  "The  formor, 
Figures  of  Words,  are  commonly  called  Tropes,  and  consists  in  a  word's  being  employed  to 
signify  something,  which  is  different  from  its  original  and  primitive  meaning."— Murray's 
Gram.  8vo,  p.  337.  "  The  former,  figures  of  words,  are  commonly  called  tropes,  and  consist 
in  a  word's  being  employed  to  signify  something  that  is  different  from  its  original  and 
primitive  meaning."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  132.  "A  particular  number  of  connected  syllables 
are  called  feet,  or  measured  paces." — Blair's  Gram.  p.  118.  "Many  poems,  and  especially 
songs,  are  written  in  the  dactyl  or  anapaestic  measure,  some  consisting  of  eleven  or  twelve 
syllables,  and  some  of  less." — Ib.  p.  121.  "A  Diphthong  makes  always  a  long  Syllable,  unless 
one  of  the  Vowels  be  droped." — British  Gram.  p.  34.  "An  Adverb  is  generally  employed 
as  an  attributive,  to  denote  some  peculiarity  or  manner  of  action,  with  respect  to  the  time, 
place,  or  order,  of  the  noun  or  circumstance  to  which  it  is  connected." — Wright's  Definitions, 
Philos.  Gram.  pp.  35  and  114.  "A  Verb  expresses  the  action,  the  suffering  or  enduring,  or 
the  existence  or  condition  of  a  noun." — Ib.  pp.  35  and  64.  "These  three  adjectives shoxild 
be  written  our's,  your's,  their's." — Fowle's  True  Eng.  Gram.  p.  22.  "  Never  was  man  so 
teized,  or  suffered  half  the  uneasiness  as  I  have  done  this  evening." — Tattler,  No.  160: 
Priestley's  Gram.  p.  200  ;  Murray's,  i,  223.  "  There  may  be  reckoned  in  English  four  dif- 
ferent cases,  or  relations  of  a  substantive,  called  the  subjective,  the  possessive,  the  objective, 
and  the  absolute  cases." — Goodenow's  Gram.  p.  31.  "  To  avoid  the  too  often  repeating  the 
Names  of  other  Persons  or  Things  of  which  we  discourse,  the  words  he,  she,  it,  who,  what,  were 
invented." — Brightland's  Gram.  p.  85.  "  Names  which  denote  a  number  of  the  same  things, 
are  called  nouns  of  multitude."—  Infant  School  Gram,  p.  21.  "But  lest  he  should  think, 
this  were  too  slightly  a  passing  over  his  matter,  I  will  propose  to  him  to  be  considered  these 
things  following." — Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  iii,  p.  472.  "  In  the  pronunciation  of  the  letters 
of  the  Hebrew  proper  names,  we  find  nearly  the  same  rules  prevail  as  in  those  of  Greek 
and  Latin." — Walker's  Key,  p.  223.  "The  distributive  pronominal  adjectives  each,  every, 


CHAP.    XV.]  SYNTAX. EXERCISES   FOR   WRITING.  741 

either,  agree  with  the  nouns,  pronouns,  and  verbs  of  the  singular  number  only." — Loioth's 
Gram.  p.  89.  "Having  treated  of  the  diiferent  sorts  of  toords,  and  their  various  modifications, 
which  is  the  first  part  of  Etymology,  it  is  now  proper  to  explain  the  methods  by  which  one 
word  is  derived  from  another." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  130. 

EXERCISE  XVI.  — MANY  ERRORS. 

"A  Noun  with  its  Adjectives  (or  any  governing  Word  with  its  Attendants)  is  as  one  com- 
pound Word,  whence  the  Noun  and  Adjectives  so  joined,  do  often  admit  another  Adjective, 
and  sometimes  a  third,  and  so  on ;  as,  a  Man,  an  old  Man,  a  very  good  old  Man,  a  very  learned, 
judicious,  sober  Man." — Britix/t  dram.  p.  195 ;  Buchanan 's,  79.  "A  substantive  with  its 
adjective  is  reckoned  as  one  compounded  word ;  whence  they  often  take  another  adjective,  and 
sometimes  a  third,  and  so  on  :  as,  'An  old  man ;  a  good  old  man  ;  a  very  learned,  judicious, 
good  old  man.'  " — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  169;  Ingersoll's,  195;  and  others.  "But  though 
this  elliptical  style  be  intelligible,  and  is  allowable  in  conversation  and  epistolary  irrifiiii/, 
yet  in  all  writings  of  a  serious  or  dignified  kind,  is  ungraceful." — Blair'*  lifict.  p.  112. 
"  There  is  no  talent  so  useful  towards  rising  in  the  world,  or  which  puts  men  more  out  of  the 
reach  of  fortune,  than  that  quality  generally  possessed  by  the  dullest  sort  of  people,  and  is, 
in  common  language,  called  discretion." — SWIFT  :  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  113.  "  Which  to  allow, 
is  just  as  reasonable  as  to  own,  that  'tis  the  greatest  ill  of  a  body  to  be  in  the  utmost  mu ti- 
tter maimed  or  distorted  ;  but  that  to  lose  the  use  only  of  one  limb,  or  to  be  impaired  in  some 
single  organ  or  member,  is  no  ill  worthy  the  least  notice." — SHAFTESBURY:  ib.  p.  115  ;  Mur- 
ray's Gram.  p.  322.  "If  the  singular  nouns  and  pronouns,  which  are  joined  together  by  a 
copulative  conjunction,  be  of  several  persons,  in  making  the  plural  pronoun  agree  with  them 
in  person,  the  second  person  takes  place  of  the  third,  and  the  first  of  both." — Murray's 
Gram.  p.  151 ;  et al.  '"The  painter  *  *  *  cannot  exhibit  various  stages  of  the  same  ac- 
tion.' In  this  sentence  we  see  that  the  painter  governs,  or  agrees  with,  the  verb  can,  as  its 
nominative  case." — Ib.  p.  195.  "  It  expresses  also  facts  which  exist  generally,  at  all  tinn-n, 
general  truths,  attributes  which  are  permanent,  habits,  customary  actions,  and  the  like, 
without  the  reference  to  a  specific  time." — Ib.  p.  73  ;  Webster's  Philos.  Gram.  p.  71.  "The 
different  species  of  animals  may  therefore  be  considered,  as  so  many  different  nations  speak- 
ing different  languages,  that  have  no  commerce  with  each  other  ;  each  of  which  consequently 
understands  none  but  their  own." — Sheridan's  Elocution,  p.  142.  "  It  is  also  important  to 
unib-rstand  and  apply  the  principles  of  grammar  in  our  common  conversation  ;  not  only  be- 
cause it  enables  us  to  make  our  language  understood  by  educated  persons,  but  because  it 
furnishes  the  readiest  evidence  of  our  having  received  a  good  education  ourselves." — Frost's 
Practical  Gram.  p.  16. 

EXERCISE  XVIL  —  MANY  ERRORS. 

41  This  faulty  Tumour  in  Stile  is  like  an  huge  unpleasant  Rock  in  a  Champion  Country, 
that's  difficult  to  be  transcended." — Holmes's  Rhet.,  Book  ii,  p.  16.     "  For  there  are  no 
Pelops's,  nor  Cadmus's,  nor  Danaus's  dwell  among  us." — Ib.  p.  51.  "  None  of  these,  except 
-  ever  used  as  a  principal  verb,  but  as  an  auxiliary  to  some  principal,  either  expressed 
or  understood." — Ingersotfs  Gram.  p.  134.     "  Nouns  which  signify  either  the  male  or  female 
are  common  gender." — Perley's  Gram.  p.  11.     "An  Adjective  expresses  the  kind,  number, 
or  quality  of  a  noun." — Parker  and  Fox's  Gram.,  Part  I,  p.  9.     "There  are  six  tenses  ;  the 
Present,  the  Imperfect,  the  Perfect,  the  Pluperfect,  the  Future,   and  the  Future  Perfect 
I," — Ib.  p.  18.     "My  refers  to  the  first  person  singular,  either  gender.     Our  refers  to 
the  first  person  plural,   cither  gender.     Thy  refers  to  the  second  person  singular,  either 
gender.      Y<ntr  refers  to  the  second  person  plural,  cither  gender.     Their  refers  to  the  third 
person  plural,  either  gender." — Parker  and  Fox's  Gram.,  Part  II,  p.  14.     "  Good  use,  which 
for  brevity's  sake,  shall  hereafter  include  reputable,  national,  and  present  use,  is  not  always 
uniform  in  her  decisions." — Jamirson's  1ih<>t.  p.  44.     "Nouns  which  denote  but  one  object 
•.-idcri"!  in  the  singular  number." — Fdu-ard's  First  Lessons  in  Gram.  p.  35.  "  If,  there- 
fore, the  example  of  Jesus  should  be  plead  to  authorize  accepting  an  invitation  to  dine  on 
'thath,  it  should  be  plead  just  as  it  was." — /;  »;  on  Luke,  xiv,  1.     "The 

teacher  will  readily  dictate  what  part  may  be  omitted,  the  first  time  going  through  it." — 
rth' a  Gram.  p.  4.  "  The  contents  of  the  following  pages  have  been  drawn  chiefly, 
with  various  modification,  from  the  same  source  which  has  supplied  most  modern  writers 
on  this  subject,  vi/.  LT\HI,KY  MrKu.\Y'->  (H:\MM.\I:." — /•', /'o/*'.v  Gram.  p.  3.  "  The  term  , 
in  grammar  distinguishes  between  the  speaker,  the  person  or  thing  spoken  to,  and  the  person 
or  thing  spoken  of." — Ib.  p.  9.  "In  my  father's  garden  grow  the  Maiden's  Blush  and  the 
Prince'  Feather." — Fc't  »>,  ib.  p.  }.'>.  "A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  with 
one  another,  and  show  the  relation  between  them.  They  generally  stand  before  nouns  and 
pronouns." — Ib.  p.  00.  "  Nouns  or  pronouns  addressed  arc  always  either  in  the  second 
person,  singular  or  plural." — //»//'•  »•/.•'*  Gram,  p.  154.  "The  plural  MI.N  not  ending  in  s,  is 
the  reason  tor  adding  the  apostrophie's." — T.  Smith's  Gram.  p.  19.  "Pennies  denote  real 
coin  ;  pence,  their  value  in  computation." — Hazen's  Gram.  p.  -Jt.  "We  commence,  first, 
with  /-ffrrs,  which  is  termed  Orthography ;  secondly,  with  words,  denominated  Etymology  ; 
thirdly,  with  sentences,  styled  Syntax ;  fourthly,  with  orations  and  p<»  m.i,  called  J'rosody." — 


742  THE    GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART    IV. 

Barrett's  Gram.  p.  22.  "  Care  must  be  taken,  that  sentences  of  proper  construction  and 
obvious  import  be  not  rendered  obscure  by  the  too  free  use  of  the  ellipsis." — Felton's  Gram- 
mar, Stereotype  Edition,  p.  80. 

EXERCISE  XVIII.  —  PROMISCUOUS. 

"  Tropes  and  metaphors  so  closely  resemble  each  other  that  it  is  not  always  easy,  nor  is 
it  important  to  be  able  to  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other." — Parker  and  Fox,  Part  III,  p.  66. 
"  With  regard  to  relatives,  it  may  be  further  observed,  that  obscurity  often  arises  from  the 
too  frequent  repetition  of  them,  particularly  of  the  pronouns  WHO,  and  THEY,  and  THEM, 
and  THEIRS.  When  we  find  these  personal  pronouns  crowding  too  fast  upon  us,  we  have 
often  no  method  left,  but  to  throw  the  whole  sentence  into  some  other  form." — Ib.  p.  90  ; 
Murray's  Gram.  p.  311;  Blairs  Rhet.  p.  106.  "Do  scholars  acquire  any  valuable  knowl- 
edge, by  learning  to  repeat  long  strings  of  words,  without  any  definite  ideas,  or  several 
jumbled  together  like  rubbish  in  a  corner,  and  apparently  with  no  application,  either  for  the 
improvement  of  mind  or  of  language  ?  " — Cutler  s  Gram.,  Pref.,  p.  5.  "  The  being  officiously 
good  natured  and  civil  are  things  so  uncommon  in  the  world,  that  one  cannot  hear  a  man 
make  professions  of  them  without  being  surprised,  or  at  least,  suspecting  the  disinterested- 
ness of  his  intentions." — FABLES  :  Cutler  s  Gram.  p.  125.  "  Irony  is  the  intentional  use  of 
words  to  express  a  sense  contrary  to  that  which  the  speaker  or  writer  means  to  convey." — 
Parker  and  Fox's  Gram.,  Part  III,  p.  68.  "  The  term  Substantive  is  derived  from  substare,  to 
stand,  to  distinguish  itivom.  an  adjective,  which  cannot,  like  the  noun,  stand  alone." — Hiky's 
Gram.  p.  11.  "  They  have  two  numbers,  like  nouns,  the  singular  and  plural;  and  three  per- 
sons in  each  number,  namely,  /,  the  first  person,  represents  the  speaker.  Thou,  the  second 
person,  represents  the  person  spoken  to.  He,  she,  it,  the  third  person,  represents  the  person 
or  thing  spoken  of." — Ib.  p.  23.  "He,  She,  It,  is  the  Third  Person  singular;  but  he  with 
others,  she  icith  others,  or  it  with  others,  make  each  of  them  they,  which  is  the  Third  Person 
plural." — White,  on  the  English  Verb,  p.  97.  "  The  words  had  I  been,  that  is,  the  Third  Past 
Tense  of  the  Verb,  marks  the  Supposition,  as  referring  itself,  not  to  the  Present,  but  to 
some  former  period  of  time." — Ib.  p.  88.  "A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  instead  of  a  noun,  to 
avoid  a  too  frequent  repetition  of  the  same  word." — Frazee 's  Improved  Gram.  p.  122. 
"  That  which  he  cannot  use,  and  dare  not  show, 
And  will  not  give — why  longer  should  he  owe  ? " — Crabbe. 


PART   IV. 

PROSODY. 

Prosody  treats  of  punctuation,  utterance,  figures,  and  versification. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  word  prosody,  (from  the  Greek  Trpdf,  to,  and  w^A  song,)  is,  with  regard  to  its 
derivation,  exactly  equivalent  to  accent,  or  the  Latin  accentus,  which  is  formed  from  ad,  to,  and 
cantus,  song  :  both,  terms,  perhaps,  originally  signifying  a  singinqwith,  or  sounding  to,  some  instru- 
ment or  voice.  PKOSODIA,  as  a  Latin  word,  is  denned  by  Littleton,  "  Pars  Grammaticse  qure 
docet  accentus,  h.  c.  rationem  attollendi  et  depremendi  syllabas,  turn  quantitatem  earundein." 
And  in  English,  "The  art  of  ACCENTING,  or  the  rule  of  pronouncing  syllables  truly,  LONG  or 
SHORT." — Litt.  Diet.  4to.  This  is  a  little  varied  by  Ainsworth  thus  :  "The  rule  of  ACCENTING,  or 
pronouncing  syllables  truly,  whether  LONG  or  SHORT." — Ains.  Diet.  4to.  Accent,  in  English,  belongs 
as  much  to  prose  as  to  poetry;  but  some  deny  that  in  Latin  it  belongs  to  either.  There  is  also 
much  difficulty  about  the  import  of  the  word;  since  some  prosodists  identify  accent  with  tone ; 
some  take  it  for  the  inflections  of  voice  ;  and  some,  like  the  authors  just  cited,  seem  to  confound 
it  with  quantity, — "  LONG  or  SHORT."* 

*(1.)  "Accent  is  the  tone  of  the  voice  with  which  a  syllable  is  pronounced." — Dr.  Adam's  Latin  and  English, 
Gram.  p.  266. 

(2.)  "Accent  is  a  peculiar  stress  of  the  voice  on  some  syllable  in  a  word  to  distinguish  it  from  the  others."— 
Gould's  Adam's  Lat.  Gram.  p.  243. 

(3.)  ';  The  tone  by  which  one  syllable  is  distinguished  from  another  is  the  accent ;  which  is  a  greater  stress  and 
elevation  of  voice  on  that  particular  syllable."— RickneWs  Eng.  Gram.,  Part  II,  p.  111. 

(4.)  "Quantity  is  the  Length  or  Shortness  of  Syllables;  and  the  Proportion,  generally  speaking,  betwixt  a 
long  and  [a]  short  Syllable,  is  two  to  one  ;  as  in  Music,  two  Quavers  to  one  Crotchet.— Accent  is  the  rising  and 
falling  of  the  Voice,  above  or  under  its  usual  Tone,  but  an  Art  of  which  we  have  little  Use,  and  know  less,  in 
the  English  Tongue  ;  nor  are  we  like  to  improve  our  Knowledge  in  this  Particular,  unless  the  Art  of  Delivery  or 
Utterance  were  a  little  more  study'd."— Brightland-s  Gram.  p.  156. 

(5.)  "ACCENT,  s.  m.  (inflexion  de  la  voix.)  Accent,  tone,  pronunciation." — Nouveau  Dictionnaire  Universel, 
4to,  Tome  Premier,  sous  le  mot  Accent. 

"ACCENT,  subst.  (tone  or  inflection  of  the  voice.)  Accent,  ton  ou  inflexion  de  voix." — Same  Work,  Garner's 
New  Universal  Dictionary,  4to,  under  the  word  Accent. 

(6.)  "The  word  accent  is  derived  from  the  Latin  language  and  signifies  the  tone  of  the  voice." — Parker  and 
Fox's  English  Gram.,  Part  III,  p.  32. 

(7.)  "  The  unity  of  the  word  consists  in  the  tone  or  accent,  which  binds  together  the  two  parts  of  the  com- 
position."— Fowlers  E.  Gram.  §  360. 

(8.)  "The  accent  of  the  ancients  is  the  opprobrium  of  modern  criticism.    Nothing  can  show  more  evidently 


CHAP.    I.]  PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. REMARKS.  743 

OBS.  2. — "Prosody,"  says  a  late  writer,  "  strictly  denotes  only  that  musical  tone  or  melody  -which 
acc^pnpanies  speech.  But  the  usage  of  modern  grammarians  justifies  an  extremely  general  appli- 
cation of  the  term." — Frost's  Practical  Grammar,  p.  160.  This  remark  is  a  note  upon  the  follow- 
ing definition :  "PROSODY  is  that  part  of  grammar  which  treats  of  the  structure  of  Poetical  Compo- 
sition."— Ibid.  Agreeably  to  this  definition,  Frost's  Prosody,  with  all  the  generality  the  author 
claims  for  it,  embraces  only  a  brief  account  of  Versification,  with  a  few  remarks  on  "  Poetical 
License."  Of  Pronunciation  and  the  Figures  of  Speech,  he  takes  no  notice  ;  and  Punctuation, 
which  some  place  with  Orthography,  and  others  distinguish  as  one  of  the  chief  parts  of  grammar, 
he  exhibits  as  a  portion  of  Syntax.  Not  more  comprehensive  is  this  part  of  grammar,  as  exhibit- 
ed in  the  works  of  several  other  authors;  but,  by  Lindley  Murray,  R.  C.  Smith,  and  some  others, 
both  Punctuation  and  Pronunciation  are  placed  here  ;  though  no  mention  is  made  of  the  former 
in  their  subdivision  of  Prosody,  which,  they  not  very  aptly  say,  "  consists  of  tiro  parts,  Pronunci- 
ation and  Versification."  Dr.  Bullions,  no'less  deficient  in  method,  begins  with  saying,  "  PROSODY 
consists  of  two  parts  ;  Elocution  and  Versification ;  "  (Principles  of  E.  Gram.  p.  163 ;)  and  then 
absurdly  proceeds  to  treat  of  it  under  the  following  six  principal  heads  :  viz..  Elocution,  Versifica- 
tion, Figures  of  Speech,  Poetic  License,  Hints  for  Correct  and  Elegant  Writing,  and  Composition. 

OBS.  3. — If,  in  regard  to  the  subjects  which  may  be  treated  under  the  name  of  Prosody,  "  the 
usage  of  modern  grammarians  justifies  an  extremely  general  application  of  the  term,"  such  an 
application  is  certainly  not  less  warranted  by  the  usage  of  old  authors.  But,  by  the  practice  of 
neither,  can  it  be  easily  determined  how  many  and  what  things  ought  to  be  embraced  under  this 
head.  Of  the  different  kinds  of  verse,  or  "  the  structure  of  Poetical  Composition,"  some  of  the 
old  prosodists  took  little  or  no  notice  ;  because  they  thought  it  their  chief  business,  to  treat  of 
syllables,  and  determine  the  othoCpy  of  words.  The  Prosody  of  Smetius,  dated  1599,  (my  edi- 
tion of  which  was  published  in  Germany  in  1691,)  is  in  fact  a.  pronouncing  dictionary  of  the  Latin 
language.  After  a  brief  abstract  of  the  old  rules  of  George  Fabricius  concerning  quantity  and 
accent,  it  exhibits,  in  alphabetic  order,  and  with  all  their  syllables  marked,  about  twenty-eight  thou- 
sand words,  with  a  poetic  line  quoted'against  each,  to  prove  the  pronunciation  just.  The  Prosody 
of  John  Genuensis,  an  other  immense  work,  concluded  by  its  author  in  1286,  improved  by  Badius 
in  1-306,  and  printed  at  Lyons  in  1514,  is  also  mainly  a  Latin  dictionary,  with  derivations  and  defi- 
nitions as  in  other  dictionaries.  It  is  a  folio  volume  of  seven  hundred  and  thirty  closely-printed 
;  six  hundred  of  which  are  devoted  to  the  vocabulary,  the  rest  to  orthography,  accent,  ety- 
mology, syntax,  figures,  points — almost  everything  but  versification.  Yetthis  vast  sum  of  gram- 
mar has  been  entitled  Prosody — "Prosodia  scu  Catholicon" — " Catholicon  seu  Universale  Vocabit- 
luriuni  (ic  Sitmtna  Grammatices." — See  pp.  1  and 5. 

CHAPTER  I. -PUNCTUATION. 

Punctuation  is  the  art  of  dividing  literary  composition,  by  points,  or  stops, 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  more  clearly  the  sense  and  relation  of  the  words, 
and  of  noting  the  different  pauses  and  inflections  required  in  reading. 

The  following  are  the  principal  points,  or  marks ;  namely,  the  Comma  [,], 
the  Semicolon  [;],  the  Colon  [:],  the  Period  [.],  the  Dash  [ — ],  the  Eroteme, 
or  Note  of  Interrogation  [?] ,  theEcphoneme,  or  Note  of  Exclamation  [!] ,  and 
the  Curves,  or  Parenthesis,  [()]. 

The  Comma  denotes  the  shortest  pause ;  the  Semicolon,  a  pause  double 
that  of  the  comma  ;  the  Colon,  a  pause  double  that  of  the  semicolon  ;  and  the 
Period,  or  Full  Stop,  a  pause  double  that  of  the  colon.  The  pauses  required 
by  the  other  four,  vary  according  to  the  structure  of  the  sentence,  and  their 
place  in  it.  They  may  be  equal  to  any  of  the  foregoing. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

ORS.  1. — The  pauses  that  are  made  in  the  natural  flow  of  speech,  have,  in  reality,  no  definite 
and  invariable  proportions.  Children  are  often  told  to  pause  at  a  comma  while  they  might  count 
one;  at  a  semicolon,  nne,tic<> ;  at  a  colon,  one,  tiro,  three ;  at  a  period,  one,  tiro,  three,  four.  This 
may  be  of  some  use,  ab  teaching  them  to  observe  the  necessary  stops,  that  they  may  catch  the 
sense;  but  the  standard  itself  is  variable,  and  so  are  the  times  which  good  sense  g'ives  to  the 
points.  As  a  liiuil  stop,  the  period  is  immeasurable  ;  and  so  may  be  the  pause  after  a  question  or 
tarnation. 

'-. — The  first   four  points  take  their  names  from  the  parts  of  discourse,  or  of  a  sentence, 

which  arc  distinguished  by  them.     The  Perind,  or  rimiit,  is  a  complete  round  of  wor<l<,  ot'ti-u 

or  members,  and  always  bringing  out  full  sense  at  the  close.      The 

.  is  the  greatest  division  or  limb  of  a  period,  and  is  the  chief  constructive  part  of 

a  compound  sentence.     The   >  /,  or  half  limb,  is  the  greatest  division  of  a 

colon,  and  is  properly  a  smaller  constructive  part  of  a  compound  sentence.     The  Comma,  or  seg- 

the  fallibility  of  the  human  faculties,  than  tho  total  iznoranrf  we  arc  in  at  present  of  the  nature  of  the  Latin 

and  Creek  accent."— H,;//Ur'A   1'rinn/    • 

It  is  not  surprising,  that  the  accent  and  quantity  of  the  ancients  should  be  so  obscure  and  mysterious, 
whri,  two  such  learned  men  of  our  own  nation  as  Mr.  Vorsti-r  and  I>r.  Gaily,  differ  about  the  Terv  existence  of 
qua  uity  in  our  own  language/'—  Walker 't  Ob.irn-ntifn*  tin  Accmt,  &c.  ;  Key,  p.  311. 


(1).)  "  What  these  accents  are  has  puz/.led  the  learned  so  much  that  they  seeia  neither  to  understand  each 
other  nor  themselv«*.v—  W 'alkt r'5  Octavo  Diet.  w.  Barytone. 


744  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   IV. 

ment,  is  a  small  part  or  clause  cut  off",  and  is  properly  the  least  constructive  part  of  a  compound 
sentence.     A  simple  sentence  is  sometimes  a  whole  period,  sometimes  a  chief  member,  sometimes 
a  half  member,  sometimes  a  segment,  and  sometimes  perhaps  even  less.     Hence  it  may  require 
the  period,  the  colon,  the  semicolon,  the  comma,  or  even  no  point,  according  to  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  used.    A  sentence  whose  relatives  and  adjuncts  are  all  taken  in  a  restrictive  sense,  may 
be  considerably  complex,  and  yet  require  no  division  by  points ;  as, 
"  Thank  him  who  puts  me  loath  to  this  revenge 
On  you  who  wrong  me  not  for  him  who  wrong'd." — Milton. 

OBS.  3. — The  system  of  punctuation  now  used  in  English,  is,  in  its  main  features,  common 
to  very  many  languages.  It  is  used  in  Latin,  French,  Spanish,  Italian,  Portuguese,  Dutch,  Ger- 
man, and  perhaps  most  of  the  tongues  in  which  books  are  now  written  or  printed.  The  Germans, 
however,  make  less  frequent  use  of  the  comma  than  we ;  and  the  Spaniards  usually  mark  a  ques- 
tion or  an  exclamation  doubly,  inverting  the  point  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence.  In  Greek, 
the  difference  is  greater  :  the  colon,  expressed  by  the  upper  dot  alone,  is  the  only  point  between 
the  comma  and  the  period ;  the  ecphoneme,  or  note  of  exclamation,  is  hardly  recognized,  though 
some  printers  of  the  classics  have  occasionally  introduced  it ;  and  the  eroteme,  or  note  of  inter- 
rogation, retains  in  that  language  its  pristine  form,  which  is  that  of  our  semicolon.  In  Hebrew, 
a  full  stop  is  denoted  by  a  heavy  colon,  or  something  like  it ;  and  this  is  the  only  pointing  adopted, 
when  the  vowel  points  and  the  accents  are  not  used. 

OBS.  4. — Though  the  points  in  use,  and  the  principles  on  which  they  ought  to  be  applied,  are  in 
general  well  fixed,  and  common  to  almost  all  sorts  of  books ;  yet,  through  the  negligence  of 
editors,  the  imperfections  of  copy,  the  carelessness  of  printers,  or  some  other  means,  it  happens, 
that  different  editions  and  different  versions  of  the  same  book  are  often  found  pointed  very  vari- 
ously. This  circumstance,  provided  the  sense  is  still  preserved,  is  commonly  thought  to  bo  of 
little  moment.  But  all  writers  will  do  well  to  remember,  that  they  owe  it  to  their  readers,  to  show 
them  at  once  how  they  mean  to  be  read ;  and,  since  the  punctuation  of  the  early  printers  was  un- 
questionably very  defective,  the  republishers  of  ancient  books  should  not  be  over  scrupulous  about 
an  exact  imitation  of  it :  they  may,  with  proper  caution,  correct  obvious  faults. 

OBS.  5. — The  precise  origin  of  the  points,  it  is  not  easy  to  trace  in  the  depth  of  antiquity.  It 
appears  probable,  from  ancient  manuscripts  and  inscriptions,  that  the  period  is  the  oldest  of  them  ; 
and  it  is  said  by  some,  that  the  first  system  of  punctuation  consisted  in  the  different  positions  of 
this  dot  alone.  But  after  the  adoption  of  the  small  letters,  which  improvement  is  referred  to  the 
ninth  century,  both  the  comma  and  the  colon  came  into  use,  and  also  the  Greek  note  of  interro- 
gation. In  old  books,  however,  the  comma  is  often  found,  not  in  its  present  form,  but  in  that  of 
a  straight  stroke,  drawn  up  and  down,  obliquely  between  the  words.  Though  the  colon  is  of 
Greek  origin,  the  practice  of  writing  it  with  two  dots  we  owe  to  the  Latin  authors,  or  perhaps  to 
the  early  printers  of  Latin  books.  The  semicolon  was  first  used  in  Italy,  and  was  not  adoptee,  in 
England  till  about  the  year  1600.  Our  marks  for  questions  and  exclamations  were  also  derived 
from  the  same  source,  probably  at  a  date  somewhat  earlier.  The  curves  of  the  parenthesis  have 
likewise  been  in  use  for  several  centuries.  But  the  dash  is  a  more  recent  invention  :  Lowth,  Ash, 
and  Ward, — Buchanan,  Bicknell,  and  Burn, — though  they  name  all  the  rest,  make  no  mentio:iof 
this  mark  ;  but  it  appears  by  their  books,  that  they  all  occasionally  used  it. 

OBS.  6. — Of  the  colon  it  may  be  observed,  that  it  is  now  much  less  frequently  used  than  it  vas 
formerly ;  its  place  being  usurped,  sometimes  by  the  semicolon,  and  sometimes  by  the  per  od. 
For  this  ill  reason,  some  late  grammarians  have  discarded  it  altogether.  Thus  Felton  :  "  The  Co  :,ON 
is  now  so  seldom  used  by  good  writers,  that  rules  for  its  use  are  unnecessary." — Concise  Manual 
of  English  Gram.  p.  140.  So  Nutting :  "  It  will  be  noticed,  that  the  colon  is  omitted  in  this  system  ; 
because  it  is  omitted  by  the  majority  of  the  writers  of  the  present  age  ;  three  points,  with  the  dash, 
being  considered  sufficient  to  mark  the  different  lengths  of  the  pauses." — Practical  Grammar,  p. 
120.  These  critics,  whenever  they  have  occasion  to  copy  such  authors  as  Milton  and  Pope,  do  not 
scruple  to  mutilate  their  punctuation  by  putting  semicolons  or  periods  for  all  the  colons  they 
find.  But  who  cannot  perceive,  that  without  the  colon,  the  semicolon  becomes  an  absurdity  ?  It 
can  no  longer  be  a  semicolon,  unless  the  half  can  remain  when  the  whole  is  taken  away  !  The 
colon,  being  the  older  point  of  the  two,  and  once  very  fashionable,  is  doubtless  on  record 
in  more  instances  than  the  semicolon  ;  and,  if  now,  after  both  have  been  in  common  use  for 
some  hundreds  of  years,  it  be  found  out  that  only  one  is  needed,  perhaps  it  would  be  more  rea- 
sonable to  prefer  the  former.  Should  public  opinion  ever  be  found  to  coincide  with  the  suggestions 
of  the  two  authors  last  quoted,  there  will  be  reason  to  regret  that  Caxton,  the  old  English  typog- 
rapher of  the  fifteenth  century,  who  for  a  while  successfully  withstood,  in  his  own  country,  the 
introduction  of  the  semicolon,  had  not  the  power  to  prevent  it  forever.  In  short,  to  leave  no  literary 
extravagance  unbroached,  the  latter  point  also  has  not  lacked  a  modern  impugner.  "  One  of  the 
greatest  improvements  in  punctuation,"  says  Justin  Brenan,  "  is  the  rejection  of  the  eternal 
semicolons  of  our  ancestors.  In  latter  times,  the  semicolon  has  been  gradually  disappearing,  not 
only  from  the  newspapers,  but  from  books." — Brenan' s  "  Composition  and  Punctuation  familiarly 
Explained,"  p.  100;  London,  1830.  The  colon  and  the  semicolon  are  both  useful,  and,  not  unfre- 
quently,  necessary  ;  and  all  correct  writers  will,  I  doubt  not,  continue  to  use  both. 

OBS.  7. — Since  Dr.  Blair  published  his  emphatic  caution  against  too  frequent  a  use  of  paren- 
theses, there  has  been,  if  not  an  abatement  of  the  kind  of  error  which  he  intended  to  censure,  at 
least  a  diminution  in  the  use  of  the  curves,  the  sign  of  a  parenthesis.  These,  too,  some  incon- 
siderate grammarians  now  pronounce  to  be  out  of  vogue.  "  The  parenthesis  is  now  generally  ex- 
ploded as  a  deformity." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  362.  "The  Parenthesis,  ()  has  become  nearly 
obsolete,  except  in  mere  references,  and  the  like  ;  its  place,  by  modern  writers,  being  usually  sup- 
plied by  the  use  of  the  comma,  and  the  dash." — Nutting's  Practical  Grammar,  p.  126;  Frazee's 
Improved  Grammar,  p.  187.  More  use  may  have  been  made  of  the  curves  than  was  necessary, 
and  more  of  the  parenthesis  itself  than  was  agreeable  to  good  taste ;  but,  the  sign  being  well 
adapted  to  the  construction,  and  the  construction  being  sometimes  sprightly  and  elegant,  there 
are  no  good  reasons  for  wishing  to  discard  either  of  them  ;  nor  is  it  true,  that  the  former  "has 
become  nearly  obsolete." 


CHAP.    I.]  PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. REMARKS.  745 

OBS.  8. — The  name  parenthesis,  which  literally  means  a  putting -in-between,  is  usually  applied 
both  to  the  curves,  and  to  the  incidental  clause  which  they  enclose.  This  twofold  application  of  the 
term  involves  some  inconvenience,  if  not  impropriety.  According  to  Dr.  Johnson,  the  enclosed 
"sentence"  alone  is  the  parenthesis ;  but  Worcester,  agreeably  to  common  usage,  defines  the 
word  as  meaning  also  "  the  mark  thus  ( )."  But,  as  this  sign  consists  of  two  distinct  parts,  two 
corresponding  curves,  it  seems  more  natural  to  use  a  plural  name  :  hence  L.  Murray,  when  he 
would  designate  the  sign  only,  adopted  a  plural  expression;  as,  "  the  parenthetical  characters," — 
"  the  parenthetical  marks."  So,  in  another  case,'which  is  similar  :  "the  hooks  in  which  words  are 
included,"  are  commonly  called  crotchets  or  brackets;  though  Bucke,  in  his  Classical  Grammar,  I 
know  not  why,  calls  the  two  "[  ]  a  Crotchet;  "  (p.  23;)  and  Webster,  in  his  octavo  Dictionary, 
defines  a  "Bracket,  in  printing,  as  Johnson  does  a  "Crotchet, "by  a  plural  noun  :  "hooks;  thus, 

y  Again,  in  his  grammars,  Dr.  Webster  rather  confusedly  says  :  "  The  parenthesis  (  )  and 
oks  [  ]  include  a  remark  or  clause,  not  essential  to  the  sentence  in  construction." — Philosophical 
Gram.  p.  219  ;  Improved  Gram.  p.  1.54.  But,  in  his  Dictionary,  he  forgets  both  the  hooks  and 
the  parenthesis  that  are  here  spoken  of;  and,  with  still  worse  confusion  or  inaccuracy, 
"  The  parenthesis  is  usually  included  in  hooks  or  curved  lines,  thus,  (  )."  Here  he  either  improp- 
erly calls  these  regular  little  curves  "hooks,"  or  erroneously  suggests  that  both  the  hooks  and  the 
curves  are  usual  and  appropriate  signs  of  "  the  parenthesis'."  In  Garner's  quarto  Dictionary,  the 
French  word  Crochet,  as  used  by  printers,  is  translated,  "A  brace,  a  crotchet,  a  parenthesis ;"  and 
the  English  word  Crotchet  is  defined,  "The  mark  of  a  parenthesis,  in  printing,  thus  []."  But 
Webster  defines  Crotchet,  "  In  printing,  a  hook  including  words,  a  sentence  or  a  passage  distin- 
guished from  the  rest,  thus  []."  This  again  is  both  ambiguous  and  otherwise  inaccurate.  It 
conveys  no  clear  idea  of  what  a  crotchet  is.  One  hook  includes  nothing.  Therefore  Johnson 
said  :  "Hooks  in  which  words  are  included  [thus]."  But  if  each  of  the  hooks  is  a  crotchet,  as 
Webster  suggests,  and  almost  every  body  supposes,  then  both  lexicographers  are  wrong  in  not 
making  the  whole  expression  plural :  thus,  "Crotchets,  in  printing,  are  angular  hooks  usually  includ- 
ing some  explanatory  words."  But  is  this  all  that  Webster  meant  ?  I  cannot  tell.  He  may  be 
understood  as  saying  also,  that  a  Crotchet  is  "  a  sentence  or  a  passage  distinguished  from  the  rest, 
thus  []  ; "  and  doubtless  it  would  be  much  better  to  call  a  hint  thus  marked,  a  crotchet,  than  to 
call  it  &  parenthesis,  as  some  have  done.  In  Parker  and  Fox's  Grammar,  and  also  in  Parker's 
Aids  to  English  Composition,  the  term  Brackets  only  is  applied  to  these  angular  hooks  ;  and, 
contrary  to  all  usage  of  other  authors,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  name  of  Crotchets  is  there  given  to 
the  Curves.  And  then,  as  if  this  application  of  the  word  were  general,  and  its  propriety  indispu- 
table, the  pupil  is  simply  told:  "The  curved  lines  between  which  a  parenthesis  is  enclosed  are 
called  Crotrhi-f*." — Cram.,  Part  III.  p.  30  ;  Aids,  p.  40.  "  Called  Crotchets  "  by  whom  ?  That 
not  even  Mr.  Parker  himself  knows  them  by  that  name,  the  following  most  inaccurate  passage  is 
a  proof:  "  The  note  of  admiration  and  interrogation,  as  also  the  parenthesis,  the  bracket,  and"  the 
reference  marks,  [are  noted  in  the  margin]  in  the  same  manner  as  the  apostrophe." — Aids,  p.  314. 


m  >re  so,  to  call  each  of  them  by  that  name,  or  both  "the  parentheses."      And  since  Murray's 
ijoth  entirely  too  long  for  common  use,  what  better  name  can  be  given  them   than 

<'ry  simple  one,  the  Curves? 

!'• — The  words  eroti-me  and  ecphoneme,  which,  like  aposteme  and  philosopheme,  are  orderly 

derivatives  from  Greek  roots,*  I  have  ventured  to  suggest   as  fitter  names  for  the  two  marks  to 

which    they  are  applied  above,  than  are  any  of  the  long  catalogue  which  other  grammarians,  each 

r   himself,  have  presented.     These  marks  have  not  unfrequently  been  called  "  the  in- 

V/wiand  th.-  .11 ;  "  which  names  are  not  very  suitable,  because  they  have  other  uses 

in  uramnnr.  According  to  Dr.  Blair,  as  well  as  L.  Murray  and  others,  interrogation  and  excla- 
mation are  "  passionate  Jiynres  "  of  rhetoric,  and  oftentimes  also  plain  "  unfigured  "  expressions. 
The  former  however  are  frequently  and  more  fitly  called  by  their  Greek  names  erotesis  and  ecpho- 

rerms  to  which  those  above  have  a  happy  correspondence.  By  Dr.  Webster  and  some 
others,  all  int<  ri--i-ti,,ns  are  called  "  exclamations  ';  "  and,  as  each  of  these  is  usually  followed  by  the 
mark  of  emotion,  it  cannot  but  be  inconvenient  to  call  both  by  the  same  name. 

!"• — l''«r  things  so  common  as  the  marks  of  asking  and  exclaiming,  it  is  desirable  to  have 
simple  and  appro;  .t  least  some  settled  mode  of  denomination  ;  but,  it  is  remark- 

able, that  Limlley  Murray,  in  mentioning  those  characters  six  times,  u<os  ^ix  different  mode-  of 

jeion,  and  all  of  them  complex:  (1.)  "Note*  of  Interrogation  and  Exclamation."    (2.)  "The 
point  of  Interrogation,  ?  "— "  The  point  of  Exclamation, !  "      (3.)  "  The  Interrogatory  Point."— 
.atnry  Point."    (4.)  "A  note  of  interrogation,"— "  The  note  of  exclamation."    (5.) 
"  The  interrogation  and  exclamation  po;  ••  The  points  of  Interrogation  and  Exclama- 

tion."— Murray,  1  •  }\  much  better  taste,  some  writers  denote  them 

uniformly  thus:    (7.)    "  The  Note  of  Interrogation,"— "  The  Note  of    Exclamation."— On 
111  y.    In  addition  to  th  ill  of  which  are  too  long,  there  may  bo  cited  many  others,  thouuju 

Bone  that  are  unobjectionabl  The  Inter;  ;,;•_<>  The  Exclamatory  sign."— 

.  II>i;>-n.  (9.)  "  The  Mark  of  Interrogation,"—41  The  Mark  of  Exclamutioi.'  —  !»«>,/,  l>\-!ton, 


"  The  Interrogation  point  (?)," — "  The  A'l- 


.'ii   point  (!)."—  l',rfri/.      (17.)  "An  interrogation  (?),"— "An  exclamation   (!)."— C 

•The   interrogator  ?  "—"The  ex'-laimor  !  "—  //.  p.  112.      [The  putting  of  "  ex- 

Eroiema,   Accentum    qunqne  transfert  ;    ut,  Ter.      Siccine    ait  Parmen^ 
Butenbr."— Prat's  Latin  Grammar,  8vo,  Part  II,  p.  190. 


52 


746  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

claimor"  for  exclaimer,  like  this  author's  changing  of  quoters  to  "quotors,"  as  a  name  for  the 
guillemets,  is  probably  a  mere  sample  of  ignorance.]  (19.)  "  Question  point," — "Exclamation 
point." — Sanborn,  p.  272. 

SECTION  L— THE  COMMA. 

The  Comma  is  used  to  separate  those  parts  of  a  sentence,  which  are  so 
nearly  connected  in  sense,  as  to  be  only  one  degree  removed  from  that  close 
connexion  which  admits  no  point. 

RULE  I.  —  SIMPLE  SENTENCES. 

A  simple  sentence  does  not,  in  general,  admit  the  comma ;  as,  "  The  weakest  reason- 
ers  are  the  most  positive." — W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  202.     "  Theology  has  not  hesi- 
tated to  make  or  support  a  doctrine  by  the  position  of  a  comma." — Tract  on  Tone,  p.  4. 
"  Then  pain  compels  the  impatient  soul  to  seize 
On  promis'd  hopes  of  instantaneous  ease." — Orabbe. 

EXCEPTION. — LONG  SIMPLE  SENTENCES. 

When  the  nominative  in  a  long  simple  sentence  is  accompanied  by  inseparable  adjuncts, 
or  when  several  words  together  are  used  in  stead  of  a  nominative,  a  comma  should  be  placed 
immediately  before  the  verb ;  as,  "  Confession  of  sin  without  amendment,  obtains  no  par- 
don."— Dillwyn's  Reflections,  p.  6.  "  To  be  totally  indifferent  to  praise  or  censure,  is  a  real 
defect  in  character." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  268. 

"  O  that  the  tenor  of  my  just  complaint,* 
Were  sculpt  with  steel  in  rocks  of  adamant !  " — Sandys. 

RULE  II.  —  SIMPLE  MEMBERS. 

The  simple  members  of  a  compound  sentence,  whether  successive  or  involved,  ellip- 
tical or  complete,  are  generally  divided  by  the  comma ;  as, 

1.  "  Here  stand  we  both,  and  aim  we  at  the  best." — Shak. 

2.  "  I,  that  did  never  weep,  now  melt  in  woe." — Id. 

3.  "  Tide  life,  tide  death,  I  come  without  delay." — Id. 

4.  "  I  am  their  mother,  who  shall  bar  me  from  them  ?  " — Id. 

5.  "  How  wretched,  were  I  mortal,  were  my  state  !  " — Pope. 

6.  "  Go  ;  while  thou  mayst,  avoid  the  dreadful  fate." — Id. 

7.  "  Grief  aids  disease,  remember'd  folly  stings, 

And  his  last  sighs  reproach  the  faith  of  kings." — Johnson. 

EXCEPTION  I. — RESTRICTIVE  RELATIVES. 

When  a  relative  immediately  follows  its  antecedent,  and  is  taken  in  a  restrictive  sense, 
the  comma  should  not  be  introduced  before  it ;  as,  "  For  the  things  which  are  seen,  are  tem- 
poral ;  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen,  are  eternal." — 2  Cor.  iv,  18.  "A  letter  is  a  character 
that  expresses  a  sound  without  any  meaning." — St.  Quentin's  General  Gram.  p.  3. 

EXCEPTION  II. — SHOUT  TERMS  CLOSELY  CONNECTED. 

When  the  simple  members  are  short,  and  closely  connected  by  a  conjunction  or  a  con- 
junctive adverb,  the  comma  is  generally  omitted  ;  as,  "  Honest  poverty  is  better  than 
wealthy  fraud." — Dillwyn's  Ref.  p.  11.  "Let  him  tell  me  whether  the  number  of  the  stars 
be  even  or  odd." — TAYLOR  :  Joh.  Diet.  w.  Even.  "  It  is  impossible  that  our  knowledge  of 
words  should  outstrip  our  knowledge  of  things." — CAMPBELL  :  Murray's  Gram.  p.  359. 

EXCEPTION  III. — ELLIPTICAL  MEMBERS  UNITED. 

When  two  simple  members  are  immediately  united,  through  ellipsis  of  the  relative,  the 
antecedent,  or  the  conjunction  that,  the  comma  is  not  inserted ;  as,  "  Make  an  experiment 
on  the  first  man  you  meet." — Berkley's  Alciphron,  p.  125.  "  Our  philosophers  do  infinitely 
despise  and  pity  whoever  shall  propose  or  accept  any  other  motive  to  virtue." — Ib.  p.  126. 
"It  is  certain  we  imagine  before  we  reflect." — Ib.  p. "359. 

"  The  same  good  sense  that  makes  a  man  excel, 
Still  makes  him  doubt  he  ne'er  has  written  well." — Young. 

*In  regard  to  the  admission  of  a  comma  before  the  verb,  by  the  foregoing  exception,  neither  the  practice  of 
authors  nor  the  doctrine  of  punctuators  is  entirely  uniform  ;  but,  where  a  considerable  pause  is,  and  must  be, 
made  in  the  reading,  I  judge  it  not  only  allowable,  but  necessary,  to  mark  it  in  writing.  In  W.  Day's  "  Punctu- 
ation Reduced  to  a  System,"  a  work  of  no  inconsiderable  merit,  this  principle  is  disallowed  ;  and  even  when  the 
adjunct  of  the  nominative  is  a  relative  clause,  which,  by  Rule  2d  below  and  its  first  exception,  requires  a  comma 
after  it  but  none  before  it,  this  author  excludes  both,  putting  no  comma  before  the  principal  verb.  The  follow- 
ing is  an  example  :  "  But  it  frequently  happens,  that  punctuation  is  not  made  a  prominent  exercise  in  schools  ; 
and  the  brief  manner  in  which  the  subject  is  there  dismissed  has  proved  insufficient  to  impress  upon  the  minds 
of  youth  a  due  sense  of  its  importance." — Day's  Punctuation,  p.  32.  A  pupil  of  mine  would  here  have  put  a 
comma  after  the  word  dismissed.  So,  in  the  following  examples,  after  sake,  and  after  dispenses:  "  The  vanity 
that  would  accept  power  for  its  own  sake  is  the  pettiest  of  human  passions." — Ib.  p.  75.  "  The  generous 
delight  of  beholding  the  happiness  he  dispenses  is  the  highest  enjoyment  of  man."— Ib.  p.  100. 


CHAP.  I.]          PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. COMMA. — RULES.  747 

RULE  III.  —  MORE  THAN  Two  WORDS. 

When  more  than  two  words  or  terms  are  connected  in  the  same  construction,  or  in 
a  joint  dependence  on  some  other  term,  by  conjunctions  expressed  or  understood,  the 
comma  should  be  inserted  after  every  one  of  them  but  the  last ;  and,  if  they  are 
nominatives  before  a  verb,  the  comma  should  follow  the  last  also  :*  as, 

1.  "  Who,  to  the  enraptur'd  heart,  and  ear,  and  eye, 

Teach  beauty,  virtue,  truth,  and  love,  and  melody." — Seattle. 

2.  "  Ah  !  what  avails     ********* 

All  that  art,  fortune,  enterprise,  can  bring, 

If  envy,  scorn,  remorse,  or  pride,  the  bosom  wring?  " — Id. 

3.  "  Women  are  soft,  mild,  pitiful,  and  flexible ; 

Thou,  stern,  obdurate,  flinty,  rough,  remorseless." — Shak. 

4.  "She  plans,  provides,  expatiates,  triumphs  there." — Young. 
5. "  oo  eagerly  the  Fiend 

O'er  bog,  or  steep,  through  strait,  rough,  dense,  or  rare, 

With  head,  hands,  wings,  or  feet,  pursues  his  way, 

And  swims,  or  sinks,  or  wades,  or  creeps,  or  flies." — Milton. 

RULE  IV.  —  ONLY  Two  WORDS. 

When  only  two  words  or  terms  are  connected  by  a  conjunction,  they  should  not  be 
separated  by  the  comma ;  as,  "  It  is  a  stupid  and  barbarous  way  to  extend  dominion 
by  arms  ;  for  true  power  is  to  be  got  by  arts  and  industry" — Spectator,  No.  2. 
"Despair  and  anguish  fled  the  struggling  soul." — Goldsmith. 

EXCEPTION  I. — Two  WORDS  WITH  ADJUNCTS. 

When  the  two  words  connected  have  several  adjuncts,  or  when  one  of  them  has  an 
adjunct  that  relates  not  to  both,  the  comma  is  inserted ;  as,  "  I  shall  spare  no  pains  to  make 
their  instruction  agreeable,  and  their  diversion  useful." — Spectator,  No.  10.  "  Who  is  applied 
to  persons,  or  things  personified." — Bullions. 

"  With  listless  eyes  the  dotard  views  the  store, 
He  views,  and  wonders  that  they  please  no  more." — Johnson. 

EXCEPTION  II. — Two  TERMS  CONTRASTED. 

When  two  connected  words  or  phrases  are  contrasted,  or  emphatically  distinguished, 
the  comma  is  inserted;  as,  "The  vain  are  easily  obliged,  and  easily  disobliged." — Kames. 
"Liberal,  not  lavish,  is  kind  Nature's  hand." — Beattie. 
"  'T  is  certain  he  could  write,  and  cipher  too." — "Goldsmith. 

EXCEPTION  III. — ALTERNATIVE  OF  WORDS. 

When  there  is  merely  an  alternative  of  names,  or  an  explanatory  change  of  terms,  the 
comma  is  usually  inserted  ;  as,  "We  saw  a  large  opening,  or  inlet." — W.  Allen.  "Have 
we  not  power  to  lead  about  a  sister,  a  wife,  as  well  as  other  apostles  ? " — 1  Cor.  ix,  5. 

Exci:i'Ti<>N  IV. — CONJUNCTION  UNDERSTOOD. 

When  the  conjunction  is  understood,  the  comma  is  inserted ;  and,  if  two  separated  words 
or  terms  refer  alike  to  a  third  term,  the  second  requires  a  second  comma  :  as,  "  Reason,  vir- 
tue, answer  one  great  aim." — L.  Murray,  (»'/•<///>.  p.  2G9. 

"  To  him  the  church,  the  realm,  their  pow'rs  consign." — Johnson. 
"  She  thought  the  isle  that  gave  her  birth, 
The  sweetest,  wildest  land  on  earth." — Hogg. 

RULE  V.  —  WORDS  IN  PAIRS. 

When  successive  words  are  joined  in  pairs  by  conjunctions,  they  should  be  separated 
in  pairs  by  the  comma ;  as,  "  Interest  and  ambition,  honour  and  shame,  friendship 
and  enmity,  gratitude  and  revenge,  arc  the  prime  movers  in  public  transactions." — 
W.  Allen.  "  But,  whether  ingenious  or  dull,  learned  or  ignorant,  clownish  or  polite, 

*  When  several  nominatives  are  connected,  some  authors  and  printers  put  the  comma  only  where  the  con- 
jun-tinii  is  oniitrc  1.  \\'.  I>ay  sep-iratos  them  all,  one  from  an  other;  but  after  the  last,  when  this  ia  singular 
beft  re  a  plural  verb,  he  inserts  no  point.  Kxamj>l<: :  "  Imagination  is  one  of  the-  principal  ingredients  which 
enfcT  into  the  complex  idea  of  genius;  but  ju't^mmt.  inrnwry,  unrterstamlim;*  'iit/insiasm^&nd  sensibility  are 
also  included." — Day's  Punrtutttnut.  \>.  .VJ.  If  th«-  }« <ints  an-  to  be  jmt  where  the  pauses  naturally  occur,  here 
eho'iM  be  a  comma  if  I.  if  I  mistake  not.  ir  wnnld  be  more  eonsmi.mt  with  cunvi 

ono  :hcr«'.    .lolin  U'lUnn.  Iriw.'V.T.  in  a  I:I'<T  work,  which  ii  for  tho  most  part  a  very  good  one,  prefers  the  doctrine 
of  I>ay,  as  in  the  following  inst.n  depend  greatly  on  the  choice  of  corn- 

pan  0114." —  Wilson's   Treatise  on  Punctuation,  p.  30. 


748  THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

every  innocent  man,  without  exception,  has  as  good  a  right  to  liberty  as  to  life." — 
Seattle's  Moral  Science,  p.  313. 

"  Then  say  how  hope  and  fear,  desire  and  hate, 
O'erspread  with  snares  the  crowded  maze  of  fate." — Dr.  Johnson. 

RULE  VI.  —  WORDS  PUT  ABSOLUTE. 

Nouns  or  pronouns  put  absolute,  should,  with  their  adjuncts,  be  set  off  by  the 
comma;  as,  "  The  prince,  his  father  being  dead,  succeeded." — "This  done,  we 
parted." — "Zaccheus,  make  haste  and  come  down." — "His  prcetorship  in  Sicily, 
what  did  it  produce  ?  " — Cicero. 

"  Wing'd  with  his  fears,  on  foot  he  strove  to  fly, 
His  steeds  too  distant,  and  the  foe  toonigJi" — Pope,  Iliad,  xi,  440. 

RULE  VII. — WORDS  IN  APPOSITION. 

Words  in  apposition,  (especially  if  they  have  adjuncts,)  are  generally  set  off  by 
the  comma;  as,  "He  that  now  calls  upon  thee,  is  Theodore,  the  hermit  of  Tene- 
rife." — Johnson.     "  LOWTH,  Dr.  Robert,  bishop  of  London,  born  in  1710,  died 
in  1787."— .5%.  Diet.  "  HOME,  Henry,  lord  Kames."—lb. 
"What next  I  bring  shall  please  thee,  be  assur'd,* 
Thy  likeness,  thy  fit  help,  thy  other  self, 

Thy  wish  exactly  to  thy  heart's  desire." — Milton,  P.  L.,  viii,  450. 
"And  he,  their  prince,  shall  rank  among  my  peers." — Byron. 

EXCEPTION  I. — COMPLEX  NAMES. 

When  several  words,  in  their  common  order,  are  used  as  one  compound  name,  the 
comma  is  not  inserted  ;  as,  "  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson," — "  Publius  Gavius  Cosanus." 

EXCEPTION  II. — CLOSE  APPOSITION. 

When  a  common  and  a  proper  name  are  closely  united,  the  comma  is  not  inserted  ;  as, 
"The  brook  Kidron,"— « The  river  Don,"— "The  empress  Catharine,"— " Paul  the 
Apostle." 

EXCEPTION  III. — PRONOUN  "WITHOUT  PAUSE. 

When  a  pronoun  is  added  to  an  other  word  merely  for  emphasis  and  distinction,  :he 
comma  is  not  inserted;  as,  "Ye  men  of  Athens," — "I  myself," — "Thou  naming  min- 
ister,"— "  You  princes." 

EXCEPTION  IV. — NAMES  ACQUIRED. 

When  a  name  acquired  by  some  action  or  relation,  is  put  in  apposition  with  a  preceding 
noun  or  pronoun,  the  comma  is  not  inserted:  as,  "I  made  the  ground  my  bed;" — "To 
make  him  king ;  " — "  Whom  they  revered  as  God;  " — "  With  modesty  thy  guide." — Pope. 

RULE  VIII. — ADJECTIVES. 

Adjectives,  when  something  depends  on  them,  or  when  they  have  the  import 
of  a  dependent  clause,  should,  with  their  adjuncts,  be  set  off  by  the  comma ;  as, 

1. "Among  the  roots 

Of  hazel,  pendent  o'er  the  plaintive  stream, 

They  frame  the  first  foundation  of  their  domes." — Thomson. 

2. "  Up  springs  the  lark, 

Shrill-voiced  and  loud,  the  messenger  of  morn." — Id. 

EXCEPTION. — ADJECTIVES  .RESTRICTIVE. 

When  an  adjective  immediately  follows  its  noun,  and  is  taken  in  a  restrictive  sense,  the 
comma  should  not  be  used  before  it ;  as, 

"And  on  the  coast  averse 

From  entrance  or  cherubic  watch." — Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  ix,  1.  68. 

RULE  IX.— FINITE  VERBS. 

Where  a  finite  verb  is  understood,  a  comma  is  generally  required  :  as,  "  From  law 
arises  security;  from  security,  curiosity;  from  curiosity,  knowledge." — Murray. 
Else  all  my  prose  and  verse  were  much  the  same ; 
This,  prose  on  stilts;  that,  poetry  fallen  lame." — Pope. 

EXCEPTION.— VERY  SLIGHT  PAUSE. 

As  the  semicolon  must  separate  the  clauses  when  the  comma  is  inserted  by  this  rule,  if 
the  pause  for  the  omitted  verb  be  very  slight,  it  may  be  left  unmarked,  and  the  comma 


CHAP.    I.]  PROSODY. — PUNCTUATION. — COMMA. — RULES.  749 

be  usod  for  the  clauses  ;  as,  "  When  the  profligate  speaks  of  piety,  the  miser  of  generosity, 
the  coward  of  valour,  and  the  corrupt  of  integrity,  they  are  only  the  more  despised  by 
those  who  know  them." — Comstock's  Elocution,  p.  132. 

RULE  X. — INFINITIVES. 

The  infinitive  mood,  when  it  follows  a  verb  from  which  it  must  be  separated,  or 
when  it  depends  on  something  remote  or  understood,  is  generally,  with  its  adjuncts, 
set  off  by  the  comma;  as,  "  One  of  the  greatest  secrets  in  composition  is,  to  know 
when  to  be  simple." — Jamieson's  Rhet.  p.  151.  "To  confess  the  truth,  I  was 
much  in  fault." — Murray1  s  Gram.  p.  271. 

"  The  Governor  of  all — has  interposed, 
Not  seldom,  his  avenging  arm,  to  smite 
The  injurious  trampler  upon  nature's  law." — Cowper. 

RULE  XI. — PARTICIPLES. 

Participles,  when  something  depends  on  them,  when  they  have  the  import  of 
a  dependent  clause,  or  when  they  relate  to  something  understood,  should,  with  their 
adjuncts,  be  set  off  by  the  comma;  as,  1.  "  Law  is  a  rule  of  civil  conduct,  pre- 
scribed by  the  supreme  power  in  a  state,  commanding  what  is  right,  and  prohibiting 
what  is  wrong." — BLACKSTONE:  Seattle's  Moral  Science,  p.  346. 

2.  "Young  Edwin,  lighted  by  the  evening  star, 

Lingering  and  listning,  wander'd  down  the  vale." — Beattie. 

3.  "  United,  we  stand  ;  divided,  we  fall."— Motto. 

4.  " Properly  speaking,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  chance." 

EXCEPTION. — PARTICIPLES  RESTRICTIVE. 

When  a  participle  immediately  follows  its  noun,  and  is  taken  in  a  restrictive  sense,  the 
comma  should  not  be  used  before  it ;  as, 

"A  man  renown  d  for  repartee, 
Will  seldom  scruple  to  make  free 
With  friendship's  finest  feeling." — Cotrper. 

RULE  XII. — ADVERBS. 

Adverbs,  when  they  break  the  connexion  of  a  simple  sentence,  or  when  they  have 
not  a  close  dependence  on  some  particular  word  in  the  context,  should,  with  their 
adjuncts,  be  set  off  by  the  comma  ;  as,  "  We  must  not,  however,  confound  this  gen- 
tleness with  the   artificial  courtesy  of  the  world." — "Besides,  the  mind  must   be 
employed." — Giljrin.      "Most  unquestionably,  no  fraud  was  equal  to  all  this." — 
Lyttelton.     "  But,  unfortunately  for  us,  the  tide  was  ebbing  already." 
"  When  buttress  and  buttress,  alternately, 
Seem  framed  of  ebon  and  ivory." — Scott's  Lay,  p.  33. 

RULE  XIII. — CONJUNCTIONS. 

Conjunctions,  when  they  are  separated  from  the  principal  clauses  that  depend  on 
them,  or  when  they  introduce  examples,  are  generally  pet  off  by  the  comma ;  as, 
'•JJut,  by  a  timely  call  upon  Religion,  the  force  of  Habit  was  eluded." — Johnson. 
"  They  know  the  neck  that  joins  the  shore  and  sea, 

Or,  ah  !  how  chang'd  that  fearless  laugh  would  be." — Crabbe. 

RULE  XIV. — PREPOSITIONS. 

Prepositions  and  their  objects,  when  they  break  the  connexion  of  a  simple  sen- 
tence, or  when  they  do  not  closely  follow  the  words  on  which  they  depend,  are  gen- 
erally set  off  by  the  comma ;  as,  "  Fashion  is,  for  the  most  part,  nothing  but  the  osten- 
tation of  riches." — "  J>y  raiding,  we  add  the  experience  of  others  to  our  own." 
"In  vain  the  sage,  with  retrospective  eye, 
Would  from  th'  apparent  What  conclude  the  Why." — Pope. 

RULE  XV. — INTERJECTIONS. 

Interjections  that  require  a  pause,  though  more  commonly  emphatic  and  followed 
by  the  ecphoneme,  are  sometimes  .set  off  by  the  comma;  as,  "  For,  lo,  I  will  call  all 

•he  families  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  north." — Jeremiah,  i,  1 5.    "O,  'twas  about  some- 


750  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

thing  you  would  not  understand." — Columbian  Orator,  p.  221.  "Ha,  haf  you 
were  finely  taken  in,  then!" — Aikin.  l(Ha,ha,  ha!  A  facetious  gentleman 
truly!"— Id. 

"  Oh,  when  shall  Britain,  conscious  of  her  claim, 
Stand  emulous  of  Greek  and  Roman  fame  ?  " — Pope. 

RULE  XVI. — WORDS  REPEATED. 

A  word  emphatically  repeated,  is  generally  set  off  by  the  comma  ;  as,  "  Happy, 
happy,  happy  pair  !  " — Dryden.  "Ay,  ay,  there  is  some  comfort  in  that." — Shak. 
"Ah  !  no,  no,  no." — Id. 

"  The  old  oaken  bucket,  the  iron-bound  bucket, 
The  moss-covered  bucket,  which  hung  in  the  well !  " —  Woodworth. 

RULE  XVII. — DEPENDENT  QUOTATIONS. 

A  quotation,  observation,  or  description,  when  it  is  introduced  in  close  dependence 
on  a  verb,  (as,  shy,  reply,  cry,  or  the  like,)  is  generally  separated  from  the  rest  of 
the  sentence  by  the  comma ;  as,  "  '  The  book  of  nature,'  said  he,  *  is  before  thee.'  " — 
Hawkesworth.  "  I  say  unto  all,  Watch." — Mark.  "  '  The  boy  has  become  a  man,' 
means,  '  he  has  grown  to  be  a  man.'  '  Such  conduct  becomes  a  man,'  means,  '  such 
conduct  bejits  him.'  " — Hart's  Gram.  p.  116. 

"  While  man  exclaims,  '  See  all  things  for  my  use  ! ' 

*  See  man  for  mine  ! '  replies  a  pamper'd  goose." — Pope. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  PUNCTUATION.— ERRORS  CONCERNING  THE  COMMA. 

UNDER  RULE  I. — OF  SIMPLE  SENTENCES. 

"  Short,  simple  sentences  should  not  be  separated  by  a  comma." — Felton's  Gram.,  1st  Ed., 
p.  135;  3d  Ed.,  Stereotyped,  p.  137. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  a  needless  comma  is  put  after  short,  the  sentence  being  simple.  But,  accord- 
ing to  Rule  1st  for  the  Comma,  "  A  simple  sentence  does  not,  in  general,  admit  the  comma."  Therefore,  tl  is 
comma  should  be  omitted;  thus,  "Short  simple  sentences  should  not  be  separated  by  a  comma."  Or,  much 
better  :  "A  short  simple  sentence  should  rarely  be  divided  by  the  comma."  For  such  sentences,  combined  to 
form  a  period,  should  generally  be  separated;  and  even  a  single  one  may  have  some  phrase  that  must  be  set  off.] 

"A  regular  and  virtuous  education,  is  an  inestimable  blessing." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  ;:>. 
174.  "  Such  equivocal  expressions,  mark  an  intention  to  deceive." — Ib.  p.  256.  "  Tht  y 
are,  This  and  that,  with  their  plurals  these  and  those." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  26  ;  Practical 
Lessons,  p.  33.  "A  nominative  case  and  a  verb,  sometimes  make  a  complete  sentence  ;  as, 
He  sleeps." — Felton's  Gram.  p.  78.  "Tense,  expresses  the  action  connected  with  certain 
relations  of  time ;  mood,  represents  it  as  farther  modified  by  circumstances  of  contingency, 
conditionality,  &c." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  37.  "The  word  Noun,  means  name." — Inger- 
soll's  Gram.  p.  14.  "  The  present,  or  active  participle,  I  explained  then." — Ib.  p.  97.  "Are 
some  verbs  used,  both  transitively  and  intransitively  ?  " — Cooper's  PI.  and  Pract.  Gram.  p. 
54.  "  Blank  verse,  is  verse  without  rhyme." — Hallock's  Gram.  p.  242.  "A  distributive 
adjective,  denotes  each  one  of  a  number  considered  separately." — Ib.  p.  51. 
"And  may  at  last  my  weary  age, 
Find  out  the  peaceful  hermitage." — Murray's  Gr.,  12mo,  p.  205  ;  8vo,  255. 

UNDER  THE  EXCEPTION  CONCERNING  SIMPLE  SENTENCES. 

"A  noun  without  an  Article  to  limit  it  is  taken  in  its  widest  sense." — Bullions,  E.  Gram. 
p.  8;  Practical  Lessons,  p.  10. 

[FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  no  comma  is  here  set  before  the  verb  is  taken.  But,  according  to  the  Excep- 
tion to  Rule  1st  for  the  Comma,  "  When  the  nominative  in  a  long  simple  sentence  is  accompanied  by  inseparable 
adjuncts,  or  when  several  words  together  are  used  in  stead  of  a  nominative,  a  comma  should  be  placed  immedi- 
ately before  the  verb."  Therefore,  a  comma  should  be  here  inserted ;  thus,  "  A  noun  without  an  article  to  limit 
it,  is  taken  in  its  widest  sense." — Lennie's  Gram.  p.  6.] 

"To  maintain  a  steady  course  amid  all  the  adversities  of  life  marks  a  great  mind." — Day's 
District  School  Gram.  p.  84.  "  To  love  our  Maker  supremely  and  our  neighbor  as  our- 
selves comprehends  the  whole  moral  law." — Ibid.  "  To  be  afraid  to  do  wrong  is  true 
courage." — Ib.  p.  85.  "A  great  fortune  in  the  hands  of  a  fool  is  a  great  misfortune." — 
Bullions,  Practical  Lessons,  p.  89.  "  That  he  should  make  such  a  remark  is  indeed  strange." 
— Farnum,  Practical  Gram.  p.  30.  "  To  walk  in  the  fields  and  groves  is  delightful." — Id. 
ib.  "That  he  committed  the  fault  is  most  certain." — Id.  ib.  "Names  common  to  all 
things  of  the  same  sort  or  class  are  called  Common  nouns  :  as,  man,  woman,  day." — Bullions, 
Pract.  Les.  p.  12.  "  That  it  is  our  duty  to  be  pious  admits  not  of  any  doubt." — Id.  E.  Gram. 
p.  118.  "  To  endure  misfortune  with  resignation  is  the  characteristic  of  a  great  mind."— 


CHAP.    I.]  PKOSODY. — PUNCTUATION. — COMMA. — ERKOBS.  751 

Id.  ib.  p.  81.  "The  assisting  of  a  friend  in  such  circumstances  was  certainly  a  duty." — 
Id.  ib.  81.  "That  a  life  of  virtue  is  the  safest  is  certain." — Ilallock's  Gram.  p.  169.  "A 
collective  noun  denoting  the  idea  of  unity  should  be  represented  by  a  pronoun  of  the  sin- 
gular number." — Ib.  p.  167. 

UNDER  RULE  II. — OF  SIMPLE  MEMBERS. 

"  When  the  sun  had  arisen  the  enemy  retreated." — Day's  District  School  Gram.  p.  85. 

[FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  no  comma  here  separates  the  two  simple  members  which  compose  the 
sentence.  But,  according  to  Rule  2d,  "  The  simple  members  of  a  compound  sentence,  whether  successive  or 
involved,  elliptical  or  complete,  are  generally  divided  by  the  comma."  Therefore,  a  comma  should  be  inserted 
after  arisen;  thus,  "AVhen  the  sun  had  arisen,  the  enemy  retreated."] 

"If  he  become  rich  he  may  be  less  industrious." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  118.  "The  more 
I  study  grammar  the  better  I  like  it." — Id.  ib.  p.  127.  "There  is  much  truth  in  the  old 
adage  that  fire  is  a  better  servant  than  master." — Id.  ib.  p.  128.  "  The  verb  do,  when  used 
as  an  auxiliary  gives  force  or  emphasis  to  the  expression." — Day's  Gram. p.  39.  "What- 
soever it  is  incumbent  upon  a  man  to  do  it  is  surely  expedient  to  do  well." — J.  Q.  Adams's 
RJietoric,  Vol.  i,  p.  46.  "  The  soul  which  our  philosophy  divides  into  various  capacities,  is 
still  one  essence." — Channiny,  on  Sclf-Ctilture,p.  15.  "Put  the  following  words  in  the 
plural  and  give  the  rule  for  forming  it." — Bullions,  Practical  Lessons,  p.  19.  "  We  will  do  it  if 
you  wish."— Id.  ib.  p.  29.  "He  who  docs  well  will  be  rewarded." — Id.  ib.  29.  "That  which 
is  always  true  is  expressed  in  the  present  tense." — Id.  ib.  p.  119.  "An  observation  which 
is  always  true  must  be  expressed  in  the  present  tense." — Id.  Prin.  of  E.  Gram.  p.  123. 
"  That  part  of  orthography  which  treats  of  combining  letters  to  form  syllables  and  words  is 
called  SPELLING." — Day's  Gram.  p.  8.  "A  noun  can  never  be  of  the  first  person  except  it 
is  in  apposition  with  a  pronoun  of  that  person." — Ib.  p.  14.  "  When  two  or  more  singular 
nouns  or  pronouns  refer  to  the  same  object  they  require  a  singular  verb  and  pronoun." — 
Ib.  p.  89.  "  James  has  gone  but  he  will  return  in  a  few  days." — Ib.  89.  "A  pronoun 
should  have  the  same  person,  number,  and  gender  as  the  noun  for  which  it  stands." — Ib. 
89  and  80.  "Though  he  is  out  of  danger  he  is  still  afraid." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  80. 
"  She  is  his  inferior  in  sense  but  his  equal  in  prudence." — Ib.  p.  81.  "  The  man  who  has 
no  sense  of  religion  is  little  to  be  trusted." — Ib.  81.  "  He  who  does  the  most  good  has  the 
most  pleasure." — Ib.  81.  "They  were  not  in  the  most  prosperous  circumstances  when  we 
last  saw  them." — Ib.  81.  "If  the  day  continue  pleasant  I  shall  return." — Felton's  Gram. 

i.,  p.  22  ;  Ster.  Ed.,  24.  •«  The  days  that  are  past  are  gone  forever." — Ib.  pp.  89  and 
()•_'.  "As  many  as  are  friendly  to  the  cause  will  sustain  it." — Ib.  89  and  92.  "  Such  as 
desire  aid  will  receive  it." — Ib.  89  and  92.  "  Who  gave  you  that  book  which  you  prize  so 
much?"  —  Hul/ion-s,  Pract.  Lessons,  p.  32.  "  He  who  made  it  now  preserves  and  governs  it." 
—  Bullions,  E.  drum.  p.  83. 

"  Shall  he  alone,  whom  rational  we  call, 

Be  pleased  with  nothing  if  not  blessed  with  all  ?  " — Feltons  Gram.  p.  126. 
T'NDER  THE  EXCEPTIONS  CONCERNING  SIMPLE  MEMBERS. 

ewcastle  is  the  town,  in  which  Akenside  was  born." — Bucke's  Classical  Gram.  p.  54. 

— Not  proj>er,  because  a  needless  comma  here  separates  the  restrictive  relative  which  from  its 
arrt'f.-.l. nt  tmrn.  Itir.  ;L< -i-nplin^  u>  Exception  1st  to  Rule  2d,  "  When  a  relative  immediately  follows  its  antece- 
dent, and  is  taken  in  a  restrictive  sense,  the  comma  should  not  be  introduced  before  it."  Therefore,  this  comma 
should  be  omitted  ;  thus,  "  Newcastle  is  tiie  town  in  which  Akenside  was  born."] 

"  The  remorse,  which  issues  in  reformation,  is  true  repentance." — Campbell's  Philos.  of 
Rin-t.  p.  2o.-3.  "  Men,  who  are  intemperate,  are  destructive  members  of  community." — 
Alexait  .  p.  (>'•'>.  "An  active-transitive  verb  expresses  an  action,  which  extends 

to  an  object." — Feltons  Gram.  pp.  16  and  22.  "They,  to  whom  much  is  given,  will  have 
much  to  answer  for." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  188.  "  The  prospect,  which  we  have,  is 
charming." — ('<><>;><  r's  /'/.  and  /'/-.  (/'/•<////.  p.  143.  "He  is  the  person,  who  informed  me  of 
the  matter." — Ib.  p.  liU  ;  '  •/•«//,  120.  "These  are  the  trees,  that  produce  no 

fruit."—/';.  i:U  ;  and  120.  "  This  is  the  book,  which  treats  of  the  subject." — Ib.  134;  and 
120.  "The  proposal  was  such,  as  pk-a^ed  me." — Coopt-r,  7V.  and  /'/-.  Gram.  p.  134.  "  Those. 
that  sow  in  tears,  shall  reap  in  joy." — Id.  ib.  pp.  118  and  121  ;  and  Cooper* »  Mnri\i>t,  p.  141. 
"The  pen,  with  which  1  write,  makes  too  large  a  mark." — InyersoU's  Grain,  p.  71. 
"  Modesty  makes  large  amends  for  the  pain,  it  gives  the  persons,  who  labour  under  it,  by 
the  prejudice,  it  affords  every  worthy  person  in  their  favour." — //;.  p.  SO.  "  Irony  is  a 
figure,  whereby  we  plainly  intend  something  very  different  from  what  our  words  express." — 

w.  p.  103.     "Catach:  :ure,  whereby  an  improper  word  is  use  1  i-. 

of  a  proper  one."— Ib.  p.  109.     "  The  man,  whom  you  met  at  the  party,  is  u  Frenchman."- 
Frost's  Practical  Gram.  p. 

IH,        0        MOKK    THAN    TWO    WoHDS. 

;<  John,  James  and  Thomas  are  here  :  that  is,  John  and  James,  &c." — Cooper's  Plain  and 
Piacticnl  (iru/tt/niir,  p.  153. 

[PORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  no  comma  is  bore  u.=e  1  after  James,  or  after  Tiutinns,  or  aprain  after  John,  in 

. -. •:  the  three  nouns  liein-  -  •  •  in  the  lame  construction,  and  all  of  them  nt>imi. 

the  verb  are.    But,  according  to  Uule  3d  for  the  Comma,  "  When  more  than  two  words  or  terms  are  connected  in 


752  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

the  game  construction,  or  in  a  joint  dependence  on  some  other  term,  by  conjunctions  expressed  or  understood, 
the  comma  should  be  inserted  after  every  one  of  them  but  the  last  ;  and,  if  they  are  nominatives  before  a  verb 
the  comma  should  follow  the  last  also."  Therefore,  the  comma  should  be  inserted  after  each;  thus,  "John, 
James,  and  Thomas,  ar«  here  :  that  is,  John,  and  James,  and  Thomas,  are  here."]  * 

"Adverbs  modify  verbs  adjectives  and  other  adverbs." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  97.  "  To 
Nouns  belong  Person,  Gender,  Number  and  Case." — Id.  Practical  Lessons,  p.  12.  "Wheat, 
corn,  rye,  and  oats  are  extensively  cultivated." — Id.  ib.  p.  13.  "  In  many,  the  definitions, 
rules  and  leading  facts  are  prolix,  inaccurate  and  confused." — Finch's  Report  on  Gram.  p.  3. 
"Most  people  consider  it  mysterious,  difficult  and  useless." — Ib.  p.  3.  "His  father  and 
mother,  and  uncle  reside  at  Rome." — Farnum's  Gram.  p.  11.  "  The  relative  pronouns  are 
who,  which  and  that." — Bullions,  Practical  Lessons,  p.  29.  "That  is  sometimes  a  demostra- 
tive,  sometimes  a  relative  and  sometimes  a  conjunction." — Id.  ib.  p.  33.  "  Our  reputation, 
virtue,  and  happiness  greatly  depend  on  the  choice  of  our  companions." — Day's  Gram.  p.  92. 
"The  spirit  of  true  religion  is  social,  kind  and  cheerful." — Felton's  Gram.  p.  81.  "Do,  be, 
have  and  will  are  sometimes  principal  verbs." — Ib.  p.  26.  "  John  and  Thomas  and  Peter 
reside  at  Oxford." — Webster,  Philos.  Gram.  p.  142  ;  Improved  Gram.  p.  96.  "The  most  in- 
nocent pleasures  are  the  most  rational,  the  most  delightful  and  the  most  durable." — Id. 
pp.  215  and  151.  "  Love,  joy,  peace  and  blessedness  are  reserved  for  the  good." — Id.  ib. 
215  and  151.  "The  husband,  wife  and  children,  suffered  extremely." — Murray's  Gram., 
4th  Am.  Ed.,  8vo,  p.  269.  "  The  husband,  wife,  and  children  suffer  extremely." — Sanborn's 
Analytical  Gram.  p.  268.  "He,  you,  and  I  have  our  parts  assigned  us." — Ibid. 
"  He  moaned,  lamented,  tugged  and  tried, 
Repented,  promised,  wept  and  sighed." — Felton's  Gr.  p.  108. 


UNDER  RULE  IV.— OF  ONLY  Two  WORDS. 

"Disappointments  derange,  and  overcome,  vulgar  minds." — Murray's  Exercises,  p.  15. 

[FoRMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  two  verbs  here  connected  by  and,  are  needlessly  separated  from  each 
other,  and  from  their  object  following.  But,  according  to  Rule  4th,  "  When  only  two  words  or  terms  are 
connected  by  a  conjunction,  they  should  not  be  separated  by  the  comma."  Therefore,  these  two  commas  should 
be  omitted  ;  thus,  "  Disappointments  derange  and  overcome  vulgar  minds."] 

"  The  hive  of  a  city,  or  kingdom,  is  in  the  best  condition,  when  there  is  the  least  noise 
or  buzz  in  it." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  171.  "  When  a  direct  address  is  made,  the  noun,  or 
pronoun,  is  in  the  nominative  case  independent." — IngersolVs  Gram.  p.  88.  "The  verbs 
love  and  teach,  make  loved,  and  taught,  in  the  imperfect  and  participle." — Ib.  p.  97.  "  Neither 
poverty,  nor  riches  were  injurious  to  him." — Cooper's  PI.  and  Pr.  Gram.  p.  133.  "Thou, 
or  I  am  in  fault." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  136.  "A  verb  is  a  word  that  expresses  action,  or  be- 
ing."— Day's  District  School  Gram.  pp.  11  and  61.  "The  Objective  Case  denotes  the  object 
of  a  verb,  or  a  preposition." — Ib.  pp.  17  and  19.  "Verbs  of  the  second  conjugation  n  ay 
be  either  transitive,  or  intransitive." — Ib.  p.  41.  "  Verbs  of  the  fourth  conjugation  may  be 
either  transitive,  or  intransitive." — Ib.  41.  "  If  a  verb  does  not  form  its  past  indicative  by 
adding  d,  or  ed  to  the  indicative  present,  it  is  said  to  be  irregular." — Ib.  41.  "  The  yoi  ng 
lady  is  studying  rhetoric,  and  logic." — Cooper's  PI.  and  Pr.  Gram.  p.  143.  "  He  writes,  and 
speaks  the  language  very  correctly." — Ib.  p.  148.  "  Man's  happiness,  or  misery,  is,  in  a 
great  measure,  put  into  his  own  hands." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  183.  "  This  accident,  or 
characteristic  of  nouns,  is  called  their  Gender." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.,  1843,  p.  195. 
"  Grant  that  the  powerful  still  the  weak  controul ; 
Be  Man  the  Wit,  and  Tyrant  of  the  whole." — POPE  :  Brit.  Poets,  vi,  375. 

UNDER  EXCEPTION  I.  —  Two  WORDS  WITH  ADJUNCTS. 

"  Franklin  is  justly  considered  the  ornament  of  the  new  world  and  the  pride  of  modern 
philosophy." — Day's  District  School  Gram.  p.  88. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  words  ornament  and  pride,  each  of  which  has  adjuncts,  are  here  con- 
nected by  and  without  a  comma  before  it.  But,  according  to  Exception  1st  to  Rule  4th,  u  When  the  two  words 
connected  have  several  adjuncts,  or  when  one  of  them  has  an  adjunct  that  relates  not  to  both,  the  comma  is 
inserted.'^  Therefore,  a  comma  should  be  set  before  and;  thus,  "  Franklin  is  justly  considered  the  ornament  of 
the  New  World,  and  the  pride  of  modern  philosophy."] 

"  Levity  and  attachment  to  wordly  pleasures,  destroy  the  sense  of  gratitude  to  him." — 
Murray's  Kay,  8vo,  p.  183.  "In  the  following  Exercise,  point  out  the  adjectives  and  the 
substantives  which  they  qualify." — Bullions,  Practical  Lessons,  p.  100.  "  When  a  noun  or 

*  Some  printers,  and  likewise  some  authors,  suppose  a  series  of  words  to  require  the  comma,  only  where  the 
coojunction  is  suppressed.  This  is  certainly  a  great  error.  It  gives  us  such  punctuation  as  comports  neither 
with  the  smse  of  three  or  more  words  in  the  same  construction,  nor  with  the  pauses  which  they  require  in 
reading.  "John,  James  arid  Thomas  are  here,"  is  a  sentence  which  plainly  tells  John  that  James  and  Thomas 
are  here ;  and  which,  if  read  according  to  this  pointing,  cannot  possibly  have  any  other  meaning.  Yet  this  is 
the  way  in  which  the  rules  of  Cooper,  Felton,  Frost,  Webster,  and  perhaps  others,  teach  us  to  point  it,  when  we 
mean  to  tell  somebody  else  that  all  three  are  here  !  In  his  pretended  "Abridgment  of  Murray's  English  Gram- 
mar," (a  work  abounding  in  small  thefts  from  Brown's  Institutes,)  Cooper  has  the  following  example:  "John, 
James  or  Joseph  intends  to  accompany  me." — Page  120.  Here,  John  being  addressed,  the  punctuation  is  right ; 
but,  to  make  this  noun  a  nominative  to  the  verb,  a  comma  must  be  put  after  each,  of  the  others.  In  Cooper's 
"  Plain  and  Practical  Grammar,"  the  passage  is  found  in  this  form:  "John,  James,  or  Joseph  intends  to  accom- 
pany us." — Page  132.  This  pointing  is  doubly  wrong ;  because  it  is  adapted  to  neither  sense.  If  the  three 
nouns  have  the  same  construction,  the  principal  pause  will  be  immediately  before  the  verb  ;  and  surely  a  comma 
is  as  much  required  by  that  pause,  as  by  the  second.  See  the  Note  on  Rule  3d,  above. 


CHAP.    I.]  PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. — COMMA. — ERRORS.  753 

pronoun  is  used  to  explain  or  give  emphasis  to  a  preceding  noun  or  pronoun." — Day's 
Gram.  p.  87.  "  Superior  talents  and  briliancy  of  intellect  do  not  always  constitute  a  great 
man." — Ib.  p.  92.  "A  word  that  makes  sense  after  an  article  or  the  phrase  speak  of,  is  a 
noun." — Bullions,  Practical  Lessons,  p.  12.  "All  feet  used  in  poetry,  are  reducible  to  ci^ht 
kinds  ;  four  of  two  syllables  and  four  of  three." — lliley's  Gram.  p.  123.  "  lie  would  not  do 
it  himself  nor  let  me  do  it." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  113.*  "The  old  writers  give  examples 
of  the  subjunctive  mode  and  give  other  modes  to  explain  what  is  meant  by  the  words  in 
the  subjunctive." — O.  B.  Peirces  Gram.  p.  352. 

UNDER  EXCEPTION  II. — Two  TERMS  CONTRASTED. 

"  We  often  commend  as  well  as  censure  imprudently." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  214.  "  It 
is  as  truly  a  violation  of  the  right  of  property,  to  take  little  as  to  take  much  ;  to  purloin  a 
book,  or  a  penknife,  as  to  steal  money ;  to  steal  fruit  as  to  steal  a  horse ;  to  defraud  the 
revenue  as  to  rob  my  neighbour ;  to  overcharge  the  public  as  to  overcharge  my  brother  ; 
to  cheat  the  postoffice  as  to  cheat  my  friend." — Wai/land's  Moral  Science,  1st  Edition,  p.  °2~>  1. 
"The  classification  of  verbs  has  been  and  still  is  a  vexed  question." — Bullions,  E.  Grammar, 
Revised  Edition,  p.  200.  "  Names  applied  only  to  individuals  of  a  sort  or  class  and  not 
common  to  all,  are  called  Proper  nouns." — Id.  Practical  Lessons,  p.  12.  "A  hero  would 
desire  to  be  loved  as  well  as  to  be  reverenced." —Day'*  Gram.  p.  108.  "Death or  some 
worse  misfortune  now  divides  them." — Cooper's  PI.  and  Pr.  Gram.  p.  133.  "Alexander 
replied,  '  The  world  will  not  permit  two  suns  nor  two  sovereigns.'" — Goldsmith's  Greece, 
Vol.  ii,  p.  113. 

"  From  nature's  chain,  whatever  link  you  strike, 
Tenth  or  ten  thousandth,  breaks  the  chain  alike." — Felton's  Gram.  p.  131. 

UNDER  EXCEPTION  III. — ALTERNATIVE  OF  WORDS. 

"Mi'frr  or  Measure  is  the  number  of  poetical  feet  which  a  verse  contains." — lliley's  Gram. 
p.  123.  "The  Cttsura  or  division,  is  the  pause  which  takes  place  in  a  verse,  and  which 
divides  it  into  two  parts." — Ib.  123.  "It  is  six  feet  or  one  fathom  deep." — Bullions,  /,'. 
Gram.  p.  113.  "A  BRACE  is  used  in  poetry  at  the  end  of  a  triplet  or  three  lines  which 
rhyme  together." — Felton's  Gram.  p.  142.  "  There  are  four  principal  kinds  of  English  verse 
or  poetical  feet." — Ib.  p.  143.  "The  period  or  full  stop  denotes  the  end  of  a  complete  sen- 
tence."— Sanbont's  Analytical  Gram.  p.  271.  "The  scholar  is  to  receive  as  many  jetons  or 
counters  as  there  are  word.s  in  the  sentence." — St.  (lucntin's  drum.  p.  16.  "That  [thing] 
or  the  thinrj  which  purities,  fortifies  also  the  heart." — Peirces  Gram.  p.  74.  "That  thing  or 
the  thing  which  would  induce  a  laxity  in  public  or  private  morals,  or  indifference  to  guilt 
and  wretchedness,  should  be  regarded  as  the  deadly  Sirocco." — Ib.  74.  "What  is  ellipti- 
cally  what  thing  or  that  thing  which." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  99.  "Demonstrate  means  shoic  or 
point  out  pn-cisely." — Ib.  p.  139.  "The  man  or  that  man,  who  endures  to  the  end,  shall  be 
saved." — lliley's  Gram.  p.  73. 

UNDER  EXCEPTION  IV. — A  SECOND  COMMA. 

"  Reason,  passion  answer  one  great  end." — Bullions' s  E,  Gram.  p.  152;  Hiley's,  p.  112. 
"  Reason,  virtue  answer  one  great  aim." — Cooper's  PI.  and  Pract.  Gram.  p.  194  ;  Butler's, 
204.  "  Every  good  gift,  and  every  perfect  gift  is  from  above." — Felton's  Gram.  p.  90. 
•  v  plant,  and  every  tree  produces  others  after  its  kind." — Day's  Gram.  p.  91.  "  James, 
and  not  John  was  paid  for  his  services." — Ib.  91.  "  The  single  dagger,  or  obelisk  f  is  the 
second." — Ib.  p.  113.  "It  was  I,  not  he  that  did  it."— St.  Quentin's  Gram.  p.  152.  "Each 
aunt,  (and)  each  cousin  hath  her  speculation." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  139.  "'I  shall  see 
you  when  you  come,'  is  equivalent  to  '  I  shall  see  you  then,  or  at  that  time  when  you  come.'  " 
— Butler's  Pract.  Gram.  p.  121. 

"  Let  wealth,  let  honour  wait  the  wedded  dame, 
August  her  deed,  and  sacred  be  her  fame." — Pope,  p.  334. 

r.\j)i-:u  RULE  V. — OF  WORDS  IN  PAIRS. 

"My  hopes  and  fears,  joys  and  sorrows  centre  in  you."— B.  GREENLEAP:  Sanborn's 
Gram.  p.  268. 

— Not  proper,  because  no  comma  here  separates  the  second  pair  of  nominatives  from  the  verb.    Put, 
ng  to  Rule  5th,  "•  When  successive  words  an-  j-.int-d  in  pairs  by  conjunctions,  they  should  be  separated  in 
lira  by  the  comma."    Then-f<>n-,  an  other  comma  should  be  inserted  after  sorrows,  thus,  "  My  hopes  and  fears, 
ys  and  sorrows,  centre  in  you.''] 

"  This  mood  implies  possibility,  or  liberty,  will,  or  obligation."— Inacrso/r.s  Gram.  p.  11:;. 
•'  Substance  is  divided  into  Body,  and  Spirit  into  Extended  and  Thinking." — Brighton  nl'.^ 
Gram.  p.  2-53.  "These  consonants,  [d  and  t,]  like  p,  and  b,f,  and  v,  k,  and  hard^,  and  ,v, 
and  z,  arc  letters  of  the  same  organ."—  Walker's  Diet.  p.  41 ;  'Principles,  No.  358.  "  Neither 
fig  nor  twist  pigtail  nor  cavendish  have  passed  my  lips  since,  nor  ever  shall  they  again." — 
<-ator,  Vol.  vii,  p.  36.  "The  words  WHOEVER,  or  wn«>-oi:vi-:K,  WHICHI:VI-:R,  or 

*  In  punctuation,  the  grammar  hero  cited  is  unaccountably  defective.     This  is  the  more  strange,  because  many 
of  its  errors  are  mere  perversions  of  what  was  accurately  pointed  by  an  other  hand.    On  the  page  above  n-fi'ired 
Ur.  llullions.  in  copying  from   Ix-nnie's  syntactical  exercises  a  dozen  consecutive  lines,  has   omitted   n 
which  Lennie  had  been  careful  to  insert ! 

53 


Uram.  p. 

[FORXULE 

wcording  t* 

piiirs  by  thi 

joys  and  soi 

«  TV,;,, 


3  parlia- 


754  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

WHICHSOEVER,  and  WHATEVER,  or  WHATSOEVER  are  called  COMPOUND  RELATIVE  PRONOUNS." 
— Day's  Gram.  p.  23.  "Adjectives  signifying  profit  or  disprofit,  likeness  or  unlikeness  govern 
the  dative." — Bullions,  Lat.  Gram.,  12th  Ed.,  215. 

UNDER  RULE  VI. — OF  WORDS  ABSOLUTE. 

"  Thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  135. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  no  comma  is  here  set  after  staff,  which,  with  the  noun  rod,  is  put  absolute 
by  pleonasm.  But,  according  to  Rule  6th,  "  Nouns  or  pronouns  put  absolute,  should,  with  their  adjuncts,  be  set 
off  by  the  comma."  Therefore,  a  comma  should  be  here  inserted  ;  thus,  "  Thy  rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort 
me." — Psalm  xxiii,  4.] 

"Depart  ye  wicked." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  70.  "  He  saith  to  his  mother,  Woman  behold 
thy  son." — Gurney's  Portable  Evidences,  p.  44.  "  Thou  God  seest  me." — Bullions,  E.  Gram. 
p.  9  ;  Practical  Lessons,  p.  13.  "Thou,  God  seest  me." — Id.  E.  Gram.,  Revised  Ed.,  p.  195. 
"  John  write  me  a  letter.  Henry  go  home." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  356.  "  John ;  write 
a  letter.  Henry  ;  go  home." — Ib.  p.  317.  "  Now,  G.  Brown;  let  us  reason  together." — 
Ib.  p.  326.  "  Smith  :  You  say  on  page  11,  the  objective  case  denotes  the  object." — Ib.  p. 
344.  "  Gentlemen :  will  you  always  speak  as  you  mean  ? " — Ib.  p.  352.  "  John  :  I  sold 
my  books  to  William  for  his  brothers." — Ib.  p.  47.  "  Walter  and  Seth :  I  will  take  my 
things,  and  leave  yours." — Ib.  p.  69.  "  Henry  :  Julia  and  Jane  left  their  umbrella,  and  took 
yours." — Ib.  p.  73.  "  John ;  harness  the  horses  and  go  to  the  mine  for  some  coal.  William  ; 
run  to  the  store  for  a  few  pounds  of  tea." — Ib.  p.  160.  "  The  king  being  dead  the  parlia- 
ment was  dissolved." — Chandler's  Gram.  p.  119. 

"  Cease  fond  nature,  cease  thy  strife, 
And  let  me  languish  into  life." — Bullions's  E.  Gram.  p.  173. 

"  Forbear  great  man,  in  arms  renown'd,  forbear." — 16.  p.  174. 

"Eternal  sunshine  of  the  spotless  mind, 
Each  prayer  accepted  and  each  wish  resign' d." — Hilcy's  Gr.  p.  123. 

UNDEB  RULE  VII. — WORDS  IN  APPOSITION. 

"  We  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish 
justice,"  &c. — Hallock's  Gram.  p.  200. 

[FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  no  comma  is  here  set  after  the  pronoun  We,  with  which  the  word  people, 
which  has  adjuncts,  is  in  apposition.  But,  according  to  Rule  7th,  "  Words  in  apposition,  (especially  if  they  have 
adjuncts,)  are  generally  set  off  by  the  comma."  Therefore,  an  other  comma  should  be  here  inserted  ;  thu^, 
"  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,"  &c.] 

"The  Lord,  the  covenant  God  of  his  people  requires  it." — Anti-Slavery  Magazine,  Vol.  i, 
p.  73.  "  He  as  a  patriot  deserves  praise." — Hallock's  Gram.  p.  124.  "  Thomson  the  watch- 
maker and  jeweller  from  London,  was  of  the  party." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  128.  "  Every- 
body knows  that  the  person  here  spoken  of  by  the  name  of  the  conqueror,  is  Williai  a 
duke  of  Normandy." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  33.  "  The  words  myself,  thyself,  himself, 
herself,  and  their  plurals  ourselves,  yourselves,  and  themselves  are  called  Compound  Personjd 
Pronouns." — Days  Gram.  p.  22. 

"  For  who  to  dumb  forgetfulness  a  prey, 
This  pleasing  anxious  being  e'er  resign'd, 
Left  the  warm  precincts  of  the  cheerful  day, 
Nor  cast  one  longing,  ling'ring  look  behind  ? " —  U.  Poems,  p.  68. 

UNDER  EXCEPTIONS  CONCERNING  APPOSITION. 

"  Smith  and  Williams'  store  ;  Nicholas,  the  emperor's  army." — Day's  Gram.  p.  17.  "  He 
was  named  William,  the  conquerer." — Ib.  p.  80.  "  John,  the  Baptist,  was  beheaded."- 
Ib.  p.  87.  "Alexander,  the  coppersmith,  did  me  great  harm." — Hart's  Gram.  p.  126.  "A 
nominative  in  immediate  apposition  ;  as  '  The  boy,  Henry,  speaks.'  " — Smart's  Accidence,  p. 
29.  "A  noun  objective  can  be  in  apposition  with  some  other ;  as,  'I  teach  the  boy, 
Henry:  "—Ib.  p.  30. 

UNDER  RULE  VIII. — OF  ADJECTIVES. 

"  But  he  found  me,  not  singing  at  my  work  ruddy  with  health  vivid  with  cheerfulness  ; 
but  pale  and  dejected,  sitting  on  the  ground,  and  chewing  opium." 

[FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  phrases,  "  ruddy  with  health,"  and  "  vivid  with  cheerfulness,"  which 
begin  with  adjectives,  are  not  h«rt  commaed.  But,  according  to  Rule  8th,  "Adjectives,  when  something  depends 
on  them,  or  when  they  have  the  import  of  a  dependent  clause,  should,  with  their  adjuncts,  be  set  off  by  the 
comma."  Therefore,  two  other  commas  should  be  here  inserted  ;  thus,  "  But  he  found  me,  not  singing  at  my 
•work,  ruddy  with  health,  vivid  with  cheerfulness ;  but  pale,"  &c. — Dr.  Johnson.] 

"  I  looked  up,  and  beheld  an  inclosure  beautiful  as  the  gardens  of  paradise,  but  of  a 
small  extent." — See  Key.  "A  is  an  article,  indefinite  and  belongs  to  'book.'" — Bullions, 
Practical  Lessons,  p.  10.  "  The  first  expresses  the  rapid  movement  of  a  troop  of  horse  over 
the  plain  eager  for  the  combat." — Id.  Lat.  Gram.  p.  296.  "  He  [,  the  Indian  chieftain,  King 
Philip,]  was  a  patriot,  attached  to  his  native  soil ;  a  prince  true  to  his  subjects  and  indig- 
ant  of  their  wrongs ;  a  soldier  daring  in  battle  firm  in  adversity  patient  of  fatigue,  of  hunger, 


CHAP.    I.]  PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. COMMA. ERRORS.  755 

of  every  variety  of  bodily  suffering  and  ready  to  perish  in  the  cause  he  had  espoused." 
—See  Key. 

"  For  thee,  who  mindful  of  th'  unhonour'd  dead 

Dost  in  these  lines  their  artless  tale  relate." — Union  Poems,  p.  68. 
*'  Some  mute  inglorious  Milton  here  may  rest : 

Some  Cromwell  guiltless  of  his  country's  blood." — Day's  Gram.  p.  117. 
"  Idle  after  dinner  in  his  chair 
Sat  a  farmer  ruddy,  fat,  and  fair." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  125. 

UNDER  THE  EXCEPTION'  CONCERNING  ADJECTIVES. 

"  When  an  attribute  becomes  a  title,  or  is  emphatically  applied  to  a  name,  it  follows  it ; 
as  Charles,  the  Great;  Henry,  the  First ;  Lewis,  the  Gross." — Webster's  Philos.  Gram.  p. 
153  ;  Improved  Gram.  p.  107.  "  Feed  me  with  food,  convenient  forme." — Cooper's  Practical 
Gram.  p.  118.  "  The  words  and  phrases,  necessary  to  exemplify  every  principle  pro- 
gressively laid  down,  will  be  found  strictly  and  exclusively  adapted  to  the  illustration  of 
the  principles  to  which  they  are  referred." — Ingersolfs  Gram.,  Pref.,  p.  x.  "The  Injinitire 
Mode  is  that  form  of  the  verb  which  expresses  action  or  being,  unlimited  by  person,  or 
number." — Day's  Gram.  p.  35.  "A  man,  diligent  in  his  business,  prospers." — Frost's 
Practical  Gram.  p.  113. 

"  O  wretched  state  !  oh  bosom,  black  as  death  !  " — HaUock's  Gram.  p.  118. 

"  O,  wretched  state  !  O,  bosom,  black  as  death  !  " — Singer's  Shak.  Vol.  ii,  p.  494. 

UNDER  RULE  IX. — OF  FINITE  VERBS. 

"The  Singular  denotes  one ;  the  Plural  more  than  one." — Bullions,  E.  Gram,  p.  12  ;  Pract. 
Lessons,  p.  16  ;  Lcnnie's  Gram.  p.  7. 

[FoRMCLE. — Not  proper,  because  no  comma  is  here  set  after  Plural,  where  the  Terb  denotes  is  understood.  But, 
n'T..r.ling  to  Rule  9th,  "  Where  a  finite  verb  is  understood,  a  comma  is  generally  required."  Therefore,  a  comma 
should  bo  inserted  at  the  place  mentioned  ;  thus,  "  The  Singular  denotes  one  ;  the  Plural,  more  than  one."] 

"  The  comma  represents  the  shortest  pause ;  the  semicolon  a  pause  longer  than  the  comma  ; 
the  colon  longer  than  the  semicolon  ;  and  the  period  longer  than  the  colon." — Hiley's  Gram. 
p.  111.  "  The  comma  represents  the  shortest  pause ;  the  semicolon  a  pause  double  that  of 
the  comma  ;  the  colon,  double  that  of  the  semicolon ;  and  the  period,  double  that  of  the 
colon." — Hull  ions,  /;.  Gram.  p.  151  ;  Pract.  Lessons,  p.  127.  "Who  is  applied  only  to  per- 
sons ;  which  to  animals  and  things ;  what  to  things  only ;  and  that  to  persons,  animals, 
and  things." — Day's  Gram.  p.  23.  "A  or  an  is  used  before  the  singular  number  only  ;  the 
before  either  singular  or  plural." — Bullions,  Practical  Lessons,  p.  10.  "Homer  was  the 
greater  genius ;  Virgil  the  better  artist." — Day's  Gram.  p.  96.  "  Homer  was  the  greater 
genius,  Virgil  the  better  artist." — POPE'S  PREFACE  :  British  Poets,  Vol.  vi,  p.  viii.  "  Words 
are  formed  of  syllables  ;  syllables  of  letters." — St.  Quentin's  General  Gram.  p.  2.  "  The 
Conjugation  of  an  active  verb  is  styled  the  ACTIVE  VOICE  ;  and  that  of  a  passive  verb  the 
•  v.  VOICK." — Frost's  El.  of  E.  Gram.  p.  19.  "The  CONJUGATION  of  an  active  verb  is 
styled  the  ACTIVE  VOICK,  and  that  of  a  passive  verb  the  PASSIVE  VOICE."— Smith's  $Tew  Gram. 
p."  71.  "  The  possessive  is  sometimes  called  the  genitive  case  ;  and  the  objective  the  accu- 
sative."— L.  Murray's  Grain.  12mo,  p.  44.  "Benevolence  is  allied  to  few  vices;  selfishness 
to  fewer  virtues." — Kamcs,  Art  of  Thinking,  p.  40.  "  Orthography  treats  of  Letters,  Ety- 
mology of  Words,  Syntax  of  Sentences,  and  Prosody  of  Versification." — Hart's  English 
drain,  p.  21. 

"  Earth  praises  conquerors  for  shedding  blood  ; 
Heaven  those  that  love  their  foes,  and  do  them  good." — See  Key. 

UNDER  RULE  X. — OF  INFINIT; 
"  His  business  is  to  observe  the  agreement  or  disagreement  of  words."— Bullions,  E.  Gram- 
mar, Revised  Edition,  p.  189. 

[FORMULS. — Not  proper,  IxM-ause  no  comma  here  divides  to  obsfrve  from  the  preceding  verb.  But,  according  to 
Rule  10th,  "  The  iufinitivu  mood,  when  it  follows  a  verb  from  which  it  must  be  separated,  or  when  it  depends  on 
Fouiething  remote  or  understood,  is  generally,  with  its  adjuncts,  set  off  by  the  comma."  Therefore,  a  comma 
thould  be-  inserted  after  is :  thus,  "  His  business  is,  to  observe  the  agreement  or  disagreement  of  words."] 

"  It  is  a  mark  of  distinction  to  be  made  a  member  of  this  society." — Farnum's  Gram.,  1st 
Ed.,  p.  25  ;  2d  Ed.,  p.  23.  "To  distinguish  the  conjugations  let  the  pupil  observe  the  fol- 
lowing rules." — Day's  />.  N.  dram.  p.  40.  "He  was  now  sent  for  to  preach  before  the 
Parliament." — Life  of  Dr.  J.  Oiren,  p.  18.  "It  is  incumbent  on  the  young  to  love  and 
honour  their  parents." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  83.  "  It  is  the  business  of  every  man  to  pre- 
pare for  death." — Id.  ib.  83.  "It  argued  the  sincerest  candor  to  make  such  an  acknowl- 
edgement."— Id.  ib.  p.  115.  "The  proper  way  is  to  complete  the  construction  of  the  first 
member,  and  leave  that  of  the  second  understood." — Ib.  ib.  p.  125.  "  ENEMY  is  a  name.  It 
is  a  term  of  distinction  given  to  a  certain  person  to  show  the  character  in  which  he  is  rep- 
resented."—  O.  11.  Pi-inv's  Gram.  p.  23.  "The  object  of  this  is  to  preserve  the  soft  sound 
of  c  and  a." — Hart's  Gram.  p.  21.).  "  The  design  of  grammar  is  to  facilitate  the  reading, 
writing,  and  speaking  of  a  language." — Bam  if  s  Gm/n.,  10th  Ed.,  Prcf.,  p.  iii.  "Four  kinds 
of  type  are  used  in  the  following  pages  to  indicate  the  portions  that  are  considered  more 
or  less  elementary." — Hart's  Gram.  p.  3. 


756  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 

UNDER  RULE  XI. — OF  PARTICIPLES. 

"  The  chancellor  being  attached  to  the  king  secured  his  crown." — Wright's  Gram.  p.  114. 
[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  phrase,  "  being  attached  to  the  king,"  is  not  command.  But,  according  to 
Rule  llth,  >'  Participles,  when  something  depends  on  them,  when  they  have  the  import  of  a  dependent  clause, 
or  when  they  relate  to  something  understood,  should,  with  their  adjuncts,  be  set  off  by  the  comma."  There- 
fore, two  commas  should  be  here  inserted  ;  thus,  "  The  chancellor,  being  attached  to  the  king,  secured  his 
crown." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  66.] 

"  The  officer  having  received  his  orders,  proceeded  to  execute  them." — Day's  Gram.  p. 
108.  "  Thus  used  it  is  in  the  present  tense." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.,  Revised  Ed.,  p.  33.  "The 
Imperfect  tense  has  three  distinct  forms  corresponding  to  those  of  the  present  tense." — Id. 
ib.  p.  40.  "  Every  possessive  case  is  governed  by  some  noun  denoting  the  thing  possessed." 
— Id.  ib.  p.  87.  "The  word  that  used  as  a  conjunction  is  preceded  by  a  comma." — Id.  ib. 
p.  154.  "  His  narrative  being  composed  upon  such  good  authority,  deserves  credit." — 
Cooper's  PL  and  Pr.  Gram.  p.  97.  "The  hen  being  in  her  nest,  was  killed  and  eaten  there 
by  the  eagle." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  252.  "  Pronouns  being  used  instead  of  nouns  are 
subject  to  the  same  modifications." — Sanborns  Gram.  p.  92.  "  When  placed  at  th*e  begin- 
ning of  words  they  are  consonants."— Hallock's  Gram.  p.  14.  "  Man  starting  from  his  coucl 
shall  sleep  no  more." — Ib.  p.  222.  "His  and  her  followed  by  a  noun  are  possessive  pronouns 
not  followed  by  a  noun  they  are  personal  pronouns." — Bullions,  Practical  Lessons,  p.  33. 
"  He  with  viny  crown  advancing, 

First  to  the  lively  pipe  his  hand  addressed." — Id.  E.  Gram.  p.  83. 
UNDER  THE  EXCEPTION  CONCERNING  PARTICIPLES. 

"  But  when  they  convey  the  idea  of  many,  acting  individually,  or  separately,  they  are  of 
the  plural  number." — Day's  Gram.  p.  15.     "Two  or  more  singular  antecedents,  connected 
by  and  require  verbs  and  pronouns  of  the  plural  number." — Ib.  pp.  80  and  91.     "  Words 
ending  in  y,  preceded  by  a  consonant,  change  y  into  i  when  a  termination  is  added."- 
Butler's  Gram.  p.  11.     "A  noun,  used  without  an  article  to  limit  it,  is  generally  taken  in  its 
•widest  sense." — Ingersoll's  Gram.  p.  30.     "  Two  nouns,  meaning  the  same  person  or  thing, 
frequently  come  together." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  89.     "  Each  one  must  give  an  account  to 
God  for  the  use,  or  the  abuse  of  the  talents,  committed  to  him.'' — Cooper's  PI.  and  Pract. 
Gram.  p.  133.     "Two  vowels,  united  in  one  sound,  form  a  diphthong." — Frost's  El.  of  E 
Gram.  p.  6.     "Three  vowels,  united  in  one  sound,  form  a  triphthong." — Ib.     "Any  word, 
joined  to  an  adverb,  is  a  secondary  adverb." — Barrett's  Revised  Gram.  p.  68.     "  The  person 
spoken  to,  is  put  in  the  Second  person.     The  person,  spoken  of,  in  the  Third  person."- 
Cutler's  Gram.  p.  14.     "A  man,  devoted  to  his  business,  prospers." — Frost's  Pr.  Gram.  p.  131 
UNDER  RULE  XII. — OF  ADVERBS. 

"  So  in  indirect  questions  ;  as,  <  Tell  me  when  he  will  come.'  " — Butler's  Gram.  p.  121. 

[FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  adverb  So  is  not  set  off  by  the  comma.  But,  according  to  Rule  12th,  "Ad  • 
verbs,  when  they  break  the  connexion  of  a  simple  sentence,  or  when  they  have  not  a  close  dependence  on  some 
particular  word  in  the  context,  should,  with  their  adjuncts,  be  set  off  by  the  comma."  Therefore,  a  comma 
should  be  inserted  after  So  ;  thus,  "  So,  in  indirect  questions  ;  aa,"  &c.] 

"  Now  when  the  verb  tells  what  one  person  or  thing  does  to  another,  the  verb  is  transi- 
tive."— Bullions,  Pract.  Les.  p.  37.  "Agreeably  to  your  request  I  send  this  letter." — Id.  E. 
Gram.  p.  141.  "  There  seems  therefore,  to  be  no  good  reason  for  giving  them  a  different 
classification." — Id.  E.  Gram.  p.  199.  "Again  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  mer- 
chantman, seeking  goodly  pearls." — ALGER'S  BIBLE  :  Matt,  xiii,  45.  "Again  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  net,  that  was  cast  into  the  sea." — Ib.  ib.  verse  47.  "Cease  how- 
ever, is  used  as  a  transitive  verb  by  our  best  writers." — Webster's  Philos.  Gram.  p.  171. 
"  Time  admits  of  three  natural  divisions,  namely  :  Present,  Past,  and  Future."— Pay'.? 
Gram.  p.  37.  "  There  are  three  kinds  of  comparison,  namely :  regular,  irregular,  and 
adverbial." — Ib.  p.  31.  "There  are  five  Personal  Pronouns  namely:  /,  thou,  he,  she,  and 
it." — Ib.  p.  22.  "  Nouns  have  three  cases,  viz.  the  Nominative,  Possessive,  and  Objective." 
— Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  16  ;  P.  Lessons,  p.  19.  "Hence  in  studying  Grammar,  we  have  to 
study  words." — Frazee's  Gram.  p.  18.  "Participles  like  Verbs  relate  to  Nouns  and  Pro- 
nouns."— Miller's  Ready  Grammarian,  p.  23.  "The  time  of  the  participle  like  that  of  the 
infinitive  is  estimated  from  the  time  of  the  leading  verb." — Bullions,  Lat.  Gram.  p.  97. 
"  The  dumb  shall  sing  the  lame  his  crutch  forego, 
And  leap  exulting  like  the  bounding  roe."—Hiley's  Gram.  p.  123. 

UNDER  RULE  XIII.— OF  CONJUNCTIONS. 

"  But  he  said,  Nay  ;  lest  while  ye  gather  up  the  tares,  ye  root  up  also  the  wheat  with 
them." — FRIENDS'  BIBLE,  and  SMITH'S  :  Matt,  xiii,  29. 

[FORMULZ.— Not  proper,  because  no  comma  is  inserted  after  lest.  But,  according  to  Rule  13th,  "  Conjunctions, 
when  they  are  separated  from  the  principal  clauses  that  depend  on  them,  or  when  they  introduce  examples,  are 
generally  set  off  by  the  comma."  Therefore,  a  comma  should  be  put  after  the  word  lest ;  thus,  "  But  he  said, 
Nay  ;  lest,  while  ye  gather  up  the  tares,  ye  root  up  also  the  wheat  with  them."— SCOTT'S  BIBLE,  ALGER'S,  BRUCE'S  ] 

"  Their  intentions  were  good ;  but  wanting  prudence,  they  missed  the  mark  at  which 
they  aimed." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  Vol.  ii,  p.  221.  "  The  verb  be  often  separates  the  name 
from  its  attribute  ;  as  war  is  expensive." — Webster's  Philos.  Gram.  p.  153.  "Either  and  or 
denote  an  alternative ;  as*  I  will  take  either  road  at  your  pleasure.'" — Ib.  p.  63;  Imp. 


CHAP.    I.]  PROSODY.  -  PUNCTUATION.  —  COMMA.  —  ERRORS.  757 

Gram.  4o.     "Either  is  also  a  substitute  for  a  name  ;  as  'Either  of  the  roads  is  good.'  "  — 

/-,  Imtfi  <>'ram.<i.  63  and  lo.     "  But  alas  !  I  fear  the  consequence."  —  Day's  Gram.  p.  74. 

"  Or  if  he  ask  a  fish,  will  he  for  a  tish  give  him  a  serpent-"  —  Scott's  Bible,  and  Smith's 

"  Or  it'  ho  shall  ask  an  egs,  will  he  offer  him  a  scorpion  :  "  —  Smith's  Bible.     "  The  infinitive 

sometimes  performs  the  office  of  a  nominative  case,   as  'To  enjoy  is  to  obey.'  —  POPE."  — 

'ii.  p.  ''>_'.     "  The  plural  is  commonly  formed  by  adding  s  to  the  singular,  as  book, 

books."  —  Bullions,  E.Gram.  p.  12.    "A*  '  I  were  to  blame,  if  I  did  it.'  "  —  Sm-irt'a  .  l-r/./.v/r,-,  p.  16. 

"  Or  if  it  be  thy  will  and  pleasure 

Direct  my  plough  to  find  a  treasure."  —  Hiley's  Gram.  p.  124. 
"  Or  if  it  be  thy  will  and  pleasure, 
Direct  my  plough  to  find  a  treasure."  —  Hart's  Gram.  p.  185. 

TJxDF.u  RULE  XIV.  —  OF  PREPOSITIONS. 
"  Pronouns  agree  with  the  nouns  for  which  they  stand  in  gender,  number,  and  person." 

I'm,  fi'^i!  Cram,  pp.  141  and  148  ;   Bullions's  Anulyt.  and  J'ract,  Gram.  p.  150. 

;.—  Not  proper,  because  the  preposition  in  has  not  the  comma  before  it,  as  the  text  requires.  But, 
n<-i-nnliiig  to  Rule  14th,  "  Prepositions  and  their  objects,  when  they  break  the  connexion  of  a  simple  pent<-in-c, 
<>r  when  they  do  not  closely  follow  the  words  on  which  they  depend,  are  generally  set  off  by  the  comma." 
Therefore,  a  comma  should  be  here  inserted  ;  thus,  "  Pronouns  agree  with  the  nouns  for  which  they  stand,  in 
gender,  number,  and  person."  Or  the  words  may  be  transposed,  and  the  comma  set  before  with;  thus,  "Pro- 
nouns agree  in  gender,  number,  and  person,  witk  the  nouns  for  which  they  stand.''] 

"  In  the  first  two  examples  the  antecedent  is  person,  or  something  equivalent  ;  in  the  last 
it  is  thing."  —  Butler,  ib.  p.  53.  "  In  what  character  he  was  admitted  is  unknown."  —  Ib.  p.  55. 
"  To  what  place  he  was  going  is  not  known."  —  Ib.  p.  55.  "In  the  preceding  examples 
John,  Cimar,  and  James  are  the  subjects."  —  Ib.  p.  59.  "Yes  is  generally  used  to  denote 

in  the  answer  to  a  question."  —  Ib.  p.  120.  "That  in  its  origin  is  the  passive  participle 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  verb  thean,  to  take."  —  Ib.  p.  127.  "  But  in  all  these  sentences  as  and«o 
are  adrcrbn."  —  Ib.  p.  127.  "After  an  interjection  or  exclamatory  sentence  is  placed  the 
mark  of  exclamation."  —  Blair's  Gram.  p.  116.  "  Intransitive  verbs  from  their  nature  can 
have  no  distinction  of  voice."  —  Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  30.  "To  the  inflection  of  verbs  belong 

,  Moods,  Tenses,  Numbers,  and  Persons."  —  Id.  ib.  p.  33  ;  Pract.  Lessons,  p.  41.  "As 
and  so  in  the  antecedent  member  of  a  comparison  are  properly  adverbs."  —  Id.  E.  Gram.  p. 
li:>.  "  In  the  following  Exercise  point  out  the  words  in  apposition."  —  Id.  P.  Lessons,  p. 
1  M.'J.  "  In  the  following  Exercise  point  out  the  noun  or  pronoun  denoting  the  possessor."  — 
hi.  ib.  p.  lOo.  "Its  is  not  found  in  the  Bible  except  by  misprint."  —  IlaUock's  Gram.  p.  68. 
"  No  one's  interest  is  concerned  except  mine."  —  Ib.  p.  70.  "In  most  of  the  modern  lan- 
-  there  are  four  concords."  —  St.  Quentin's  Gen.  Gram.  p.  143.  "  In  illustration  of  these 
remarks  let  us  suppose  a  case."  —  Hart's  Gram.  p.  101.  "On  the  right  management  of  the 
emphasis  depends  the  life  of  pronunciation."  —  Ib.  p.  172  ;  Murray's,  8vo,  p.  242. 

UNDER  RULE  XV.  —  OF  LVTERJECTIONS. 
"  Behold  he  is  in  the  desert."  —  SCOTT'S  BIBLE  :  Matt,  xxiv,  26. 

[FOBMULE.  —  Not  proper,  because  the  interjection  Behold,  which  has  usually  a  comma  after  it  in  Scripture,  has 
here  no  point.  But,  according  to  Rule  15th,  "  Interjections  that  require  a  pause,  though  more  commonly 
emphatic  and  followed  by  the  ecphoneme,  are  sometimes  set  off  by  the  comma."  In  this  instance,  a  comma 
should  be  used  ;  thus,  "  Behold,  he  is  in  the  desert.''  —  Common  Bible.] 

"And  Lot  said  unto  them,  Oh  not  so  my  Lord."  —  SCOTT'S  BIBLE  :  Gen.  xix,  18.  "  Oh 
let  me  escape  thither,  (is  it  not  a  little  one  r  )  and  my  soul  shall  live."  —  SCOTT  :  Gen.  xix, 
20.  "Behold!  I  come  quickly.  —  Bnu.r,."  —  Day's  Gram.  p.  74.  "  Lo  !  lam  with  you 
always."  —  Day's  drum.  pp.  10  and  73.  "And  lo  !  I  am  with  you  always."  —  Ib.  pp.  78  and 


110.  "Audio,!  am  with  you  alway."  —  bmii's  Bir.u--.,  and  Burn-.'s  :  Maft.  xxviii,  20. 
••Ha1,  ha!  ha!  how  laughable  that  in."—  Bullions,  Pract.  Lea.  p.  83.  "Interjections  of 
Laii>//iter,—Il-JL\  he!  hi!  ho  !  "—  l\'ri;//it's  Gram.  p.  121. 

IB  Kn.r.  XVI.  —  OF  "Woups   Kr.rK.vrED. 

"  Lend  lend  your  wings  !  I  mount  !  I  fly  !  "  —  Example  varied. 

[KoRMii-E.—  Not  proper,  because  the  repeated  word  lend  has  here  no  comma.     But,  according  to  Rule  16th, 
I  emphatically  related.  is  gi-nerally  set  off  by  the  comma."    In  this  instance,  a  comma  is  required  after 
the  former  Inul,  but  n<>t  after  the  latter  ;  thus, 

'•Lend,  lend  your  \\incrs  !     1  mount!     I  fly  !  "  —  Pope's  Poems,  p.  317.] 

"To  bed  to  bed  to  bed.     There  is  a  knocking  at  the  gate.     Come  come  come.     "What  is 
done  cannot  be  undone.     To  bed  to  bed  to  bed."—  Sec  Bnr:ili\  Sj>,  aker,  p.  130.  "  I  will  roar, 
that  the  duke  .shall  cry,  Encore  encore  let  him  roar  let  him  roar  once  more  once  more."— 
».  p.  i:>ij. 

"  Vital  spark  of  heav'nly  flame, 

<  Juit  oil  quit  this  mortal  frame  !  "—Hifry's  Gram.  p.  126. 
"  Vital  spark  of  heav'nly  flame, 

Quit,  oh  quit,  this  mortal  frame  !  "  —  Bullions,  E.  Gr.  p.  172. 
"()  the  pleasing  pleaM;^  Anguish, 

When  we  love,  and  when  we  languish."  —  M  '<//•</'.«  Gram.  p.  161. 
«*  Praise  to  God  immortal  praise 
For  the  love  that  crowns  \uiir  das  !  "—Hiky's  Gram.  p.  124. 


758  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART   IV. 

UNDER  RULE  XVII. — OF  DEPENDENT  QUOTATIONS. 

"  Thus,  of  an  infant,  we  say  (It  is  a  lovely  creature.'  " — Bullions,  Prin.  of  E.  Gram.  p.  12. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  no  comma  is  here  inserted  between  say  and  the  citation  which  follows.  But, 
according  to  Rule  17th,  "A  quotation,  observation,  or  description,  when  it  is  introduced  in  close  dependence  on 
a  verb,  (as,  say,  reply,  cry,  or  the  like,)  is  generally  separated  frcm  the  rest  of  the  sentence  by  the  comma." 
Therefore,  a  comma  should  be  put  after  say ;  as,  "  Thus,  of  an  infant,  we  say,  'It  is  a  lovely  creature.'"] 

"  No  being  can  state  a  falsehood  in  saying  /  am ;  for  no  one  can  utter  it,  if  it  is  not  true." 
— Cardell's  Gram.  18mo,  p.  118.  "I  know  they  will  cry  out  against  this  and  say  '  should  he 
pay,  means  if  he  should  pay.'  " — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  352.  "  For  instance,  when  we  say 
'  the  house  is  building,'  the  advocates  of  the  new  theory  ask,  «  building  what? '  We  might  ask 
in  turn,  when  you  say  « the  field  ploughs  well,'  ploughs  what?  '  Wheat  sells  well,'  sells 
what  ?  If  usage  allows  us  to  say  «  wheat  sells  at  a  dollar '  in  a  sense  that  is  not  active,  why 
may  it  not  also  allow  us  to  say  '  wheat  is  selling  at  a  dollar '  in  a  sense  that  is  not  active  ? " — 
Hart's  English  Gram.  p.  76.  "Man  is  accountable,  equals  mankind  are  accountable." — S. 
Barrett's  Revised  Gram.  p.  37.  "  Thus,  when  we  say  '  He  may  be  reading,'  may  is  the  real 
verb  ;  the  other  parts  are  verbs  by  name  only."- — Smart's  English  Accidence,  p.  8.  "  Thus 
we  say  an  apple,  an  hour,  that  two  vowel  sounds  may  not  come  together." — Ib.  p.  27.  "  It 
would  be  as  improper  to  say  anunit,  as  to  say  an  youth ;  to  say  an  one,  as  to  say  an  wonder." 
— Ib.  p.  27.  "  When  we  say  « He  died  for  the  truth,'  for  is  a  preposition." — Ib.  p.  28.  "  We 
do  not  say  « I  might  go  yesterday,'  but « I  might  have  gone  yesterday.'  " — Ib.  p.  11.  "  By 
student,  we  understand  one  who  has  by  matriculation  accquired  the  rights  of  academical 
citizenship  ;  but,  by  bursche,  we  understand  one  who  has  already  spent  a  certain  time  at  the 
university." — Howitt's  Student-Life  of  Germany,  p.  27. 

SECTION  II.  — THE  SEMICOLON. 

The  Semicolon  is  used  to  separate  those  parts  of  a  compound  sentence, 
which  are  neither  so  closely  connected  as  those  which  are  distinguished  by 
the  comma,  nor  so  little  dependent  as  those  which  require  the  colon. 

RULE  I. — COMPLEX  MEMBERS. 

When  two  or  more  complex  members,  or  such  clauses  as  require  the  comma  in 
themselves,  are  constructed  into  a  period,  they  are  generally  separated  by  the  semi- 
colon :  as,  "  In  the  regions  inhabited  by  angelic  natures,  unmingled  felicity  forever 
blooms ;  joy  flows  there  with  a  perpetual  and  abundant  stream,  nor  needs  any  mound 
to  check  its  course." — Garter.  "When  the  voice  rises,  the  gesture  naturally 
ascends ;  and  when  the  voice  makes  the  falling  inflection,  or  lowers  its  pitch,  the 
gesture  follows  it  by  a  corresponding  descent;  and,  in  the  level  and  monotonous 
pronunciation  of  the  voice,  the  gesture  seems  to  observe  a  similar  limitation,  by  moving 
rather  in  the  horizontal  direction,  without  much  varying  its  elevation." — Comstock's 
Elocution,  p.  107. 

"  The  wide,  the  unbounded  prospect  lies  before  me  ; 
But  shadows,  clouds,  and  darkness,  rest  upon  it." — Addison. 

RULE  II. — SIMPLE  MEMBERS. 

When  two  or  more  simple  members,  or  such  clauses  as  complete  their  sense  without 
subdivision,  are  constructed  into  a  period ;  if  they  require  a  pause  greater  than  that 
of  the  comma,  they  are  usually  separated  by  the  semicolon :  as,  "  Straws  swim  upon 
the  surface;  but  pearls  lie  at  the  bottom." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  276.  "Every 
thing  grows  old ;  every  thing  passes  away  ;  every  thing  disappears." — Hiley's  Gram. 
p.  115.  "Alexander  asked  them  the  distance  of  the  Persian  capital;  what  forces 
the  king  of  Persia  could  bring  into  the  field ;  what  the  Persian  government  was ; 
what  was  the  character  of  the  king ;  how  he  treated  his  enemies ;  what  were  the  most 
direct  ways  into  Persia." — Whelpley's  Lectures,  p.  175. 

"A  longer  care  man's  helpless  kind  demands  ; 
That  longer  care  contracts  more  lasting  bands." — Pope. 

RULE  III. — OF  APPOSITION,  &c. 

Words  in  apposition,  in  disjunct  pairs,  or  in  any  other  construction,  if  they  require 
a  pause  greater  than  that  of  the  comma,  and  less  than  that  of  the  colon,  may  be 
separated  by  the  semicolon:  as,  "Pronouns  have  three  cases;  the  nominative,  the 
possessive,  and  the  objective." — Murray's  Grain,  p.  51.  "Judge,  judgement; 


CIIAP.  I.]  PROSODY. - PUNCTUATION. - SEMICOLON. - ERRORS.  759 

lodge,  lodgement ;  acknowledge,  acknowledgement." — Butler's  Gram.  p.  11.  "  Do 
not  the  eyes  discover  humility,  pride  ;  cruelty,  compassion  ;  reflection,  dissipation  ; 
kindness,  resentment?  " — Sheridan's  /locution,  p.  150.  "  This  rule  forbids  parents 
to  lie  to  children,  and  children  to  parents ;  instructors  to  pupils,  and  pupils  to  in- 
structors ;  the  old  to  the  youug,  and  the  young  to  the  old ;  attorneys  to  jurors,  and 
jurors  to  attorneys;  buyers  to  sellers,  and  sellers  to  buyers." — WuyluuCs  Moral 
Science,  p.  804. 

'vJ/^/v>,  made ;  have,  had ;  pay,  paid ;  say,  said;  leave,  left ; 

Dream,  dreamt ;  mean,  meant ;  reave  and  bereave  have  reft." —  Ward's  Gr.  p.   GO. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  PUNCTUATION.— ERRORS  CONCERNING  THE  SEMICOLON. 

UNDER  RULE  I. — OF  COMPLEX  MKMBERS. 

"The  buds  spread  into  leaves,  and  the  blossoms  swell  to  fruit,  but  they  know  not  how 
they  grow,  nor  who  causes  them  to  spring  up  from  the  bosom  of  the  earth."— Days  Gr.  p.  72. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  two  chief  members  which  compose  this  period,  are  separated  only  by  the 
comma  after  '•'•fruit."1  But,  according  to  Rule  1st  for  the  Semicolon,  "  When  two  or  more  complex  members,  or 
BUCQ  clauses  as  require  the  comma  in  themselves,  are  constructed  into  a  period,  they  are  generally  separated 
by  the  semicolon."  Therefore,  the  pause  after  "fruit "  should  be  marked  by  a  semicolon.] 

"  But  he  used  his  eloquence  chiefly  against  Philip,  king  of  Macedon,  and,  in  several  ora- 
tions, he  stirred  up  the  Athenians  to  make  war  against  him." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  84. 
"  For  the  sake  of  euphony,  the  n  is  dropped  before  a  consonant,  and  because  most  words 
begin  with  a  consonant,  this  of  course  is  its  more  common  form ." — Ib.  p.  192.  "  But  if  I  say 
4  Will  a  man  be  able  to  carry  this  burden  ? '  it  is  manifest  the  idea  is  entirely  changed,  the 
reference  is  not  to  number,  but  to  the  species,  and  the  answer  might  be  '  No  ;  but  a  horse 
will.'  " — Ib.  p.  193.  "  Indirect  discourse,  a  noun  used  by  a  speaker  or  writer  to  designate 
himself,  is  said  to  be  of  ihcfrsf  person — used  to  designate  the  person  addressed,  it  is  said  to 
be  of  the  second  person,  and  when  used  to  designate  a  person  or  thing  spoken  of,  it  is  said 
to  be  of  the  third  person." — Ib.  p.  195.  "  Vice  stings  us,  even  in  our  pleasures,  but  virtue 
consoles  us,  even  in  our  pains." — Day's  Gram.  p.  84.  "  Vice  is  infamous  though  in  a  prince, 
and  virtue  honorable  though  in  a  peasant." — Ib.  p.  72.  "Every  word  that  is  the  name 
of  a  person  or  thing,  is  a  Noun,  because  'A  noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing." 
—Bullions,  Pract.  Les.  p.  83. 

"  This  is  the  sword,  with  which  he  did  the  deed, 

And  that  the  shield  by  which  he  was  defended." — Buckcs  Gram.  p.  66. 
UNDER  RULE  II. — OP  SIMPLE  MEMBERS. 

"A  deathlike  paleness  was  diffused  over  his  countenance,  a  chilling  terror  convulsed  his 
frame  ;  his  voice  burst  out  atxintervals  into  broken  accents." — Principles  of  Eloquence,  p.  73. 

[ FORMULE.— Not  proper,  because  the  first  pause  in  this  sentence  is  not  marked  by  a  suitable  point.    But, 

ro  Hule  2<1  for  the  Semicolon,  "  When  two  or  more  simple  members,  or  such  clauses  as  complete  their 

sense  without  subdivision,  are  constructed  into  a  period  ;  if  they  require  a  pause  greater  than  that  of  the  comma. 

they  are  usually  separated  by  the  semicolon."     Therefore,  the  comma  after  "  countenance  "  should  be  changed 

to  a  semicolon.] 

"The  Lacedemonians  never  traded — they  knew  no  luxury — they  lived  in  houses  built  of 
rough  materials — they  lived  at  public  tables — fed  on  black  broth,  and  despised  every  thing 
effeminate  or  luxurious." — W/telplt -i/'s  lectures,  p.  167.  "  Government  is  the  agent,  Society 
is  the  principal." —  WaylaiuFs  Mnrtil  Mvnce,  1st  Ed.,  p.  377.  "  The  essentials  of  speech  were 
anciently  supposed  to  be  sufficiently  designated  by  the  Noun  and  the  Verb,  to  which  was 
Subsequently  added,  the  Conjunction." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  191.  "The  first  faint  gleam- 
in^s  of  thought  in  its  mind  are  but  the  reflections  from  the  parents'  own  intellect, — the  first 
manifestations  of  temperament  are  from  the  contagious  parental  fountain, — the  first  as- 
pirations of  soul  arc  but  the  warmings  and  promptings  of  the  parental  spirit."— Jocelyn's 
/'/•/./•  /.'way,  p.  4.  "Older  and  oldest  refer  to  maturity  of  n  nd  eldest  to  priority  of 

rii;ht  by  birth.     Father  and  furthest  denote  place  or  distance  :   Further  nndfurt/iesf,  quantity 

I  or  addition." — Bullion*,  E.  (inun.  p.  1  IS.      Let  the  divisions  be  furfural,  such  as  obviously 
*t   themselves  to  the  mind,  and  as  may  aid  your  main  design,  and   be  easily   re- 
membered."—  Goltljttniry's  Man  mil  of  ( ,>«//».  p.  91. 
"  Gently  make  haste,  of  labour  not  afraid  : 
A  hundred  times  consider  what  you've  said." — Drydcns  Art  of  Poetry. 
UNDI-.R  KI-LI;  III.— OF  APPOSITION',  &c. 
(1.)  "Adjectives  arc  divided  into  two  classes:  Adject  ices  denoting  quality,  and  Ad.: 
d>nntin'j  number." — Frost's  Practical  Grain,  p.  .'11. 
[FoRMCLK.— Not  proper,  bocause  the  colon  after  the  word  "  claws,"  is  not  the  most  suitable  fSgn  of  the  pause 
r.  quired.     Rut.  according  to  Rule  3d  for  the  Semicolon.  ••  Wor.N  in  apposition,  in  disjunct  pairs,  or  in  any  other 
construction,  if  they  require  a  pause  greater  than  that  of  the  comma,  and  1«  -  Mian  that  of  the  colon,  may  be 
i  t.y  t'm  iH.Mni<-(.|,.n.'-     In  thi-  m*>.  the  ^mirolon  should  have  been  preferred  to  the  colon.] 


760  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART 

(2.)  "There  are  two  classes  of  adjectives — qualifying  adjectives,  and  limiting  adjectives." 
— Butler's  Practical  Gram.  p.  33.  (3.)  "  There  are  three  Genders,  the  Masculine,  the  Femi- 
nine, and  the  Neuter." — Frost's  Pract.  Gram.  p.  51 ;  Hiley's  Gram.  p.  12  ;  Aider's,  16  ;  &  Put- 
nam's, 14 ;  Murray's,  8vo,  37  ;  and  others.  (4.)  "  There  are  three  genders  :  the  MASCULINE, 
the  FEMININE,  and  the  NEUTER." — Murray's  Gram.  12mo,  p.  39  ;  Jaudon's,25.  (5.)  "There 
are  three  Genders  :  The  Masculine,  the  Feminine,  and  the  Neuter" — Hendrick's  Gram.  p.  15. 
(6.)  "  The  Singular  denotes  ONE,  and  the  Plural  MORE  THAN  ONE." — Hart's  Gram.  p.  40.  (7.) 
"  There  are  three  Cases  viz.  the  Nominative,  the  Possessive,  and  the  Objective" — Hendrick's 
Gram.  p.  7.  (8.)  "  Nouns  have  three  cases,  the  nominative,  the  possessive,  and  the  objective." 
— Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  41.  (9.)  "  In  English,  nouns  have  three  cases — the  nominative,  the 
possessive,  and  the  objective." — R.  C.  Smith's  New  Gram.  p.  47.  (10.)  "  Grammar  is  divided 
into  four  parts,  namely,  ORTHOGRAPHY,  ETYMOLOGY,  SYNTAX,  PROSODY." — Ib.  p.  41.  (11.)  "  It 
is  divided  into  four  parts,  viz.  ORTHOGRAPHY,  ETYMOLOGY,  SYNTAX,  and  PROSODY." — L.  Mur- 
ray's Grammars  all ;  T.  Smith's  Gram.  p.  5.  (12.)  "  It  is  divided  into  four  parts  :  viz.  Orthog- 
raphy— Etymology — Syntax — Prosody." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  3.  (13.)  "  It  is  divided  into  four 
parts,  namely:  Orthography,  Etymology,  Syntax  and  Prosody." — Day's  Gram.p.5.  (14.) 
"  It  is  divided  into  four  parts  :  viz.  Orthography,  Etymology,  Syntax,  and  Prosody." — Hendrick's 
Gram.  p.  11.  (15.)  "  Grammar  is  divided  into  four  parts  :  viz.  Orthography,  Etymology, 
Syntax  and  Prosody." — Chandler's  Gram.  p.  13.  (16.)  "  It  is  divided  into  four  parts  :  Orthog- 
raphy, Etymology,  Syntax,  and  Prosody." — Cooper's  PI.  and  Pract.  Gram.  p.  1  ;  Frost's 
Pract.  Gram.  19.  (17.)  "  English  grammar  has  been  usually  divided  into  four  parts,  viz  : 
Orthography,  Etymology,  Syntax  and  Prosody." — Nutting's  Gram.  p.  13.  (18.)  "Tem- 
perance leads  to  happiness,  intemperance  to  misery." — Hiley's  Gram. -p.  137;  Hart's,  180. 
(19.)  "A  friend  exaggerates  a  man's  virtues,  an  enemy  his  crimes." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  137. 
(20.)  "A  friend  exaggerates  a  man's  virtues  :  an  enemy  his  crimes." — Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  p. 
325.  (21.)  "Many  writers  use  a. plural  noun  after  the  second  of  two  numeral  adjectives, 
thus,  <  The  first  and  second  pages  are  torn.'  " — Bullions,  E.  Gram.,  5th  Ed.,  p.  145.  (22.) 
"  Of  these,  the  Latin  has  six,  the  Greek,  five,  the  German,  four,  the  Saxon,  six,  the  French, 
three,  &c." — Id.  ib.  p.  196. 

"  In  (ing}  it  ends,  when  doing  is  express'd, 
In  d,  t,  n,  when  suffering's  confess'd." — Brightland's  Gram.  p.  93. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  OF  ERROR. 

"  In  old  books  i  is  often  used  forj,  v  for  u,  vv  for  to,  and  ii  or  ij  for  y." — Hart's  E.  Gram. 
p.  22.  "  The  forming  of  letters  into  words  and  syllables  is  also  called  Spelling." — Ib.  p.  21. 
"Labials  are  formed  chiefiy  by  the  lips,  dentals  by  the  teeth,  palatals  by  the  palate,  gut- 
turals by  the  throat,  nasals  by  the  nose,  and  linguals  by  the  tongue." — Ib.  p.  25.  "  The 
labials  are  p,  b,f,  v ;  the  dentals  t,  d,s,  z;  the  palatals  g  soft  andj;  the  gutturals  k,  q,  and 
c  and  g  hard ;  the  nasals  m  and  n ;  and  the  linguals  I  and  r." — Ib.  p.  25.  "  Thus,  « the  man 
having  finished  his  letter,  will  carry  it  to  the  post  office.'  " — Ib.  p.  75.  "Thus,  in  the  sen- 
tence '  he  had  a  dagger  concealed  under  his  cloak,'  concealed  is  passive,  signifying  being  con- 
cealed ;  but  in  the  former  combination,  it  goes  to  make  up  a  form,  the  force  of  which  is 
active." — Ib.  p.  75.  "Thus,  in  Latin,  'he  had  concealed  the  dagger'  would  be  ' pugionem 
abdiderat;'  but  « he  had  the  dagger  concealed'  would  be  l  pugionem  abditum  habebat.'" 
— Ib.  p.  75.  "Here,  for  instance,  means  ' in  this  place,'  now,  '  at  this  time,'  &c." — Ib.  p.  90. 
"  Here  when  both  declares  the  time  of  the  action,  and  so  is  an  adverb,  and  also  connects 
the  two  verbs,  and  so  is  a  conjunction." — Ib.  p.  91.  "  These  words  were  all  no  doubt  origi- 
nally other  parts  of  speech,  viz.:  verbs,  nouns,  and  adjectives." — Ib.  p.  92.  "The  principal 
parts  of  a  sentence  are  the  subject,  the  attribute,  and  the  object,  in  other  words  the  nomi- 
native, the  verb,  and  the  objective." — Ib.  p.  104.  "Thus,  the  adjective  is  connected  with 
the  noun,  the  adverb  with  the  verb  or  adjective,  pronouns  with  their  antecedents,  &c." — 
Ib.  p.  104.  "Between  refers  to  two,  among  to  more  than  two." — Ib.  p.  120.  "At  is  used  after 
a  verb  of  rest,  to  after  a  verb  of  motion." — Ib.  p.  120.  "Verbs  are  of  three  kinds,  Active,  Pas- 
sive, and  Neuter." — Lennie's  Gram.  p.  19  ;  Bullions,  Prin.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  29.  "  Verbs  are  divid- 
ed into  two  classes:  Transitive  and  Intransitive." — Hendrick's  Gram.  p.  28.  "The  Parts 
of  Speech  in  the  English  language  are  nine,  viz.  The  Article,  Noun,  Adjective,  Pro- 
noun, Verb,  Adverb,  Preposition,  Interjection  and  Conjunction." — Bullions,  Prin.  of  E. 
Gram.  p.  7.  "  Of  these  the  Noun,  Pronoun,  and  Verb  are  declined,  the  rest  are  indeclin- 
able."— Id.  ib.  p.  7  ;  Practical  Lessons,  p.  9.  "The  first  expression  is  called  the 'Active 
form.'  The  second  the  'Passive  form.'  " — Weld's  Gram.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  83 ;  Abridged,  p.  66. 
"  O  'tis  a  godlike  privilege  to  save, 
And  he  that  scorns  it  is  himself  a  slave." — Cowpcr,  Vol.  i,  p.  123. 

SECTION  III.  — THE  COLON. 

The  Colon  is  used  to  separate  those  parts  of  a  compound  sentence,  which 
are  neither  so  closely  connected  as  those  which  are  distinguished  by  the  semi- 
colon, nor  so  little  dependent  as  those  which  require  the  period. 


CHAP.  I.]  PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. COLON. RULES. ERRORS.  761 

RULE  I. — ADDITIONAL  REMARKS. 

When  the  preceding  clause  is  complete  in  itself,  but  is  followed  by  some  additional 
remark  or  illustration,  especially  if  no  conjunction  is  used,  the  colon  is  generally  and 
properly  inserted  :  as,  "Avoid  evil  doers  :  in  such  society,  an  honest  man  may  become 
ashamed  of  himself." — "  See  that  moth  fluttering  incessantly  round  the  candle  :  man 
of  pleasure,  behold  thy  image  !  " — Art  of  Thinking,  p.  94.  "  Some  things  we  can, 
and  others  we  cannot  do :  we  can  walk,  but  we  cannot  fly." — Beattie's  Moral 
Science,  p  ll'J. 

"  Remember  Heav'n  has  an  avenging  rod  : 
To  smite  the  poor  is  treason  against  God." — Cowper. 

RULE  II. — GREATER  PAUSES. 

When  the  semicolon  has  been  introduced,  or  when  it  must  be  used  in  a  subsequent 
member,  and  a  still  greater  pause  is  required  within  the  period,  the  colon  should  be 
employed:  as,  "  Princes  have  courtiers,  and  merchants  have  partners;  the  voluptu- 
ous have  companions,  and  the  wicked  have  accomplices :  none  but  the  virtuous  can 
have  friends." — "  Unless  the  truth  of  our  religion  be  granted,  a  Christian  must  be 
the  greatest  monster  in  nature  :  he  must  at  the  same  time  be  eminently  wise,  and 
notoriously  foolish  ;  a  wise  man  in  his  practice,  and  a  fool  in  his  belief  :  his  reasoning 
powers  must  be  deranged  by  a  constant  delirium,  while  his  conduct  never  swerves 
from  the  path  of  propriety." — Principles  of  Eloquence,  p.  80. 
"A  decent  competence  we  fully  taste; 
It  strikes  our  sense,  and  gives  a  constant  feast : 
More  we  perceive  by  dint  of  thought  alone ; 
The  rich  must  labour  to  possess  their  own." — Young. 

RULE  III. — INDEPENDENT  QUOTATIONS. 

A  quotation  introduced  without  a  close  dependence  on  a  verb  or  a  conjunction,  is 
generally  preceded  by  the  colon  ;  as,  "  In  his  last  moments,  he  uttered  these  words : 
'I  fall  a  sacrifice  to  sloth  and  luxury'  " — "At  this  the  king  hastily  retorted  :  •  No 
put-offs,  my  lord;  answer  me  presently.'" — GhurchilVs  Gram.  p.  367.  "The 
father  addressed  himself  to  them  to  this  effect :  *  0  my  sons,  behold  the  power  of 
unity  J '  " — Rippingham'' s  Art  of  Speaking,  p.  85. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  PUNCTUATION.— ERRORS  CONCERNING  THE  COLON. 

UNDER  RULE  I.  —  ADDITIONAL  REMARKS. 
"'>/'  is  a  preposition,  it  expresses  the  relation  between  fear  and  Lord." — Bullions,  E. 

(lr  mi.  p.  133. 

[FoKMt'LE. — Not  proper,  because  the  additional  remark  in  this  sentence  is  not  sufficiently  separated  from  the 
main  clause,  by  the  comma  after  the  word  proposition.     But,  according  to  Rule  1st  for  the  Colon,  ;'  When  the 
-i_'  clause  is  complete  in  itself,  but  is  followed  by  some  additional  remark  or  illustration,  especially  if  no 
conjunction  is  used,  the  colon  is  generally  and  properly  inserted."    Therefore,  the  colon  should  here  be  substi- 
tuted for  the  comma.] 

"  Wealth  and  poverty  are  both  temptations  to  man  ;  that  tends  to  excite  pride,  this  dis- 
contentment."—  Id.  if),  p.  OS  :  sec  als<  .  p.  Si  ;  Murray's,  of>  ;  Inycrsoll's,  61; 
Al-n-rs.  -") ;  Mi  rrhinit'.t,  -H  ;  Hurt's,  137;  ft  at.  "Religion  raises  men  above  themselves, 
irr  li<_pion  sinks  them  beneath  the  brutes ;  this  binds  them  down  to  a  poor  pitiable  speck  of 
perishable  earth,  that  opens  for  them  a  prospect  to  the  skies." — Bullions,  E.  (iram.  p.  98  ; 
\  (!nt»i.  p.  81.  "Love  not  idleness,  it  destroys  many." — Ingcrsott's  Gram.  p.  71. 
"Children,  obey  your  parents ;  honor  thy  father  and  "mother,  is  the  first  commandment 
whh  promise." — /JH///O//.V,  j  >*,  p.  8S.  "  Thou  art  my  hiding  place,  and  ray  shield. 
I  hope  in  thy  promises." — o.  /;.  nn.  p.  of>.  "The  sun  shall  not  smite  me  by 
<lay  nor  the  "moon  by  niu'bt.  The  Lord  will  preserve  from  evil.  He  will  save  my  soul — 
." — 1'>.  p.  '>!.  "  Here  (rreece  is  assigned  the  highest  place  in  the  class  of  objects 
WmongwMebuu  is  numbered — the  nations  of  antiquity — she  is  one  of  them." — Lcnnius 
Gram.  p.  79. 

"From  short  (as  usual)  and  disturb'd  repose 
I  wake;  ho\v  happy  they  who  wake  no  more  !  " — llallork's  Gram.  p.  21G. 

r.vnr.u  RI-I.K  II.— GHI:\TI:U   IV 
"A  taste  of  a  thing,  implies  actual  enjoyment  of  it ;  but  a  taste  for  it,  implies  only  capacity 


762  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

for  enjoyment ;  as,  « When  we  have  had  a  true  taste  of  the  pleasures  of  virtue,  we  can 
have  no  relish  for  those  of  vice.'  " — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  147. 

[FoBMCLE.— Not  proper,  because  the  pause  after  enjoyment  is  marked  only  by  a  semicolon.  But.  according  to 
Rule  2d  for  the  Colon,  "  When  the  semicolon  has  been  introduced,  or  when  it  must  be  used  in  a  subsequent 
member,  and  a  still  greater  pause  is  required  within  the  period,  the  colon  should  be  employed."  Therefore,  the 
second  semicolon,  here  should  be  changed  to  a  colon.] 

"  The  Indicative  mood  simply  declares  a  thing  ;  as,  He  loves ;  He  is  loved ;  Or,  it  asks  a 
question ;  as,  Lovest  thou  me  ? " — Id.  ib.  p.  35  ;  Pract.  Lessons,  p.  43  ;  Lennie's  Gr.  p.  20. 
"  The  Indicative  Mood  simply  indicates  or  declares  a  thing  :  as,  '  He  loves,  he  is  loved  : ' 
or  it  asks  a  question  :  as,  'Does  he  love  ? '  '  Is  he  loved  ? '  " — L.  Murray's  Gram.  8v<>,  p. 
63  ;  12mo,  p.  63.  "The  Imperfect  (or  Past)  tense  represents  an  action  or  event  indefinitely 
as  past ;  as,  Csesar  came,  and  saw,  and  conquered ;  or  it  represents  the  action  definitely  as 
unfinished  and  continuing  at  a  certain  time,  now  entirely  past ;  as,  My  father  was  cominy 
home  when  I  met  him." — Bullions,  P.  L.  p.  45 ;  E.  Gr.  39.  "  Some  nouns  have  no  plural ; 
as,  gold,  silver,  wisdom,  health ;  others  have  no  singular ;  as,  ashes,  shears,  tongs ;  others  are 
alike  in  both  numbers  :  as,  sheep,  deer,  means,  news." — Day's  School  Gram.  p.  15.  "  The 
same  verb  may  be  transitive  in  one  sense,  and  intransitive  in  another  ;  thus,  in  the  sentence, 
'  He  believes  my  story,'  believes  is  transitive  ;  but  in  this  phrase,  '  He  believes  in  God,'  it  is 
intransitive." — Butler's  Gram.  p.  61.  "  Let  the  divisions  be  distinct ;  one  part  should  not 
include  another,  but  each  should  have  its  proper  place,  and  be  of  importance  in  that 
place,  and  all  the  parts  well  fitted  together  and  united,  should  present  a  whole." — Golds- 
bury' s  C.  S.  Gram.  p.  91.  "In  the  use  of  the  transitive  verb  there  are  always  three  things 
implied, — the  actor,  the  act,  and  the  object  acted  upon.  In  the  use  of  the  intransitive  there 
are  only  two — the  subject  or  thing  spoken  of,  and  the  state,  or  action  attributed  to  it." — 
Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  30. 

"  Why  labours  reason?  instinct  were  as  well ; 
Instinct  far  better ;  what  can  choose,  can  err." — Brit.  Poets,  Vol.  viii,  p.  326. 

UNDER  RULE  III. — INDEPENDENT  QUOTATIONS. 

"  The  sentence  may  run  thus ;  « He  is  related  to  the  same  person,  and  is  governed  by 
him.'  " — Hart's  Gram.  p.  118. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  semicolon  is  here  inserted,  in  an  unusual  manner,  before  a  quotation  not 
closely  dependent.  But,  according  to  Rule  3d  for  the  Colon,  "  A  quotation  introduced  without  a  close  depend- 
ence on  a  verb  or  a  conjunction,  is  generally  preceded  by  the  colon."  Therefore,  the  colon  should  be  here 
preferred.] 

"Always  remember  this  ancient  proverb,  « Know  thyself. '  " — Hallock's  Gram,  p  26. 
"  Consider  this  sentence.  The  boy  runs  swiftly." — Frazees  Gram.,  Stereotype  Ed.,  p.  107  ; 
1st  Ed.,  110.  "  The  comparative  is  used  thus  ;  «  Greece  was  more  polished  than  any  rther 
nation  of  antiquity.'  The  same  idea  is  expressed  by  the  superlative  when  the  word  other 
is  left  out.  Thus.  « Greece  was  the  most  polished  nation  of  antiquity.'  " — Bullions,  E.  Gram. 
p.  114  :  see  Lennie's  Gram.  p.  78.  "Burke,  in  his  speech  on  the  Carnatic  war,  makes  the 
following  allusion  to  the  well  known  fable  of  Cadmus's  sowing  dragon's  teeth ; — '  Every 
day  you  are  fatigued  and  disgusted  with  this  cant,  the  Carnatic  is  a  country  that  will  soon 
recover,  and  become  instantly  as  prosperous  as  ever.  They  think  they  are  talking  to  inno- 
cents, who  believe  that  by  the  sowing  of  dragon's  teeth,  men  may  come  up  ready  grown 
and  ready  made.'  "—Hiley's  Gram.  p.  137  :  see  also  Hart's,  180. 

"  For  sects  he  car'd  not,  '  they  are  not  of  us, 
Nor  need  we,  brethren,  their  concerns  discuss.'  " — Crabbe. 

"  Habit  with  him  was  all  the  test  of  truth, 

'  It  must  be  right :  I've  done  it  from  my  youth.' 
Questions  he  answer 'd  in  as  brief  a  way, 

'  It  must  be  wrong — it  was  of  yesterday.'  " — Id.  Borough,  p.  33. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  OF  ERROR. 

"  This  would  seem  to  say,  '  I  doubt  nothing  save  one  thing,  namely,  that  he  will  fulfil 
his  promise  ; '  whereas,  that  is  the  very  thing  not  doubted." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  147. 
"  The  common  use  of  language  requires  that  a  distinction  be  made  between  morals  and 
manners,  the  former  depend  upon  internal  dispositions,  the  latter  on  outward  and  visible 
accomplishments." — Seattle's  Moral  Science,  p.  233.  "  Though  I  detest  war  in  each  partic- 
ular fibre  of  my  heart  yet  I  honor  the  Heroes  among  our  fathers  who  fought  with  bloody 
hand  :  Peacemakers  in  a  savage  way  they  were  faithful  to  their  light ;  the  most  inspired 
can  be  no  more,  and  we,  with  greater  light,  do,  it  may  be,  far  less." — Parker's  Idea  of  a 
Church,  p.  21.  "The  Article  the,  like  a,  must  have  a  substantive  joined  with  it,  whereas 
that,  like  one,  may  have  it  understood ;  thus,  speaking  of  books,  I  may  select  one,  and  say, 
'  give  me  that ; '  but  not,  '  give  me  the ; '  '  give  me  one ; '  but  not  '  give  me  a.'  " — Bullions' s 
E.  Gram.  p.  194.  "  The  Present  tense  has  three  distinct  forms — the  simple ;  as,  I  read  ;  the 
emphatic;  as,  I  do  read  ;  and  the progressiv e ;  as,  I  am  reading." — Ib.  p.  39.  "The  tenses 
in  English  are  usually  reckoned  six.  The  Present,  the  Imperfect,  the  Perfect,  the  Pluperfect, 
the  Future,  and  the  Future  Perfect." — Ib.  p.  38.  "  There  are  three  participles,  the  Present 
or  Active,  the  Perfect  or  Passive,  and  the  Compound  Perfect  ;  as,  '  loving,  loved,  having 


CI1AP.    I.]  PROSODY.  -  PUNCTUATION.  -  PERIOD.  -  RULES.  763 

loved.'  "—  /,.  Murray's  Gram.,  2d  Edition,  p.  52  ;  Alger's,  28  ;  Fisk's,  82  ;  Bacon's,  24.  "  The 
Participles  are  three,  the  Present,  the  Perfect,  and  the  Compound  Perfect  ;  as,  loving,  loved, 
hai-inij  loccd."  —  Hart's  dram.  p.  74.  "  I  Vill  is  conjugated  regularly,  when  it  is  a  principal 

"  ' 


verb,  as,  present,  I  will,  past,  I  willed,  &c."—  Frazec's  Gram.,  Ster.  Ed.,  p.  42  ;  Old  Ed.,  p.  40. 
"And  both  sounds  of  x  are  compound,  one  is  that  of  yz,  and  the  other,  that  of  ks."  —  Ib. 
Ster.  Ed.,  p.  16.  "  The  man  is  happy  :  he  is  benevolent  :  he  is  useful."  —  Cooper's  Murray, 
p.  18  ;  PI.  and  Pract.  Gr.  33.  "The  Pronoun  stands  instead  of  the  noun;  as,  The  man  is 
happy  ;  he  is  benevolent  ;  he  is  useful."  —  L.  Murray's  Gram.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  27.  "A  Pronoun  is 
a  word  used  instead  of  a  noun,  to  avoid  the  too  frequent  repetition  of  the  same  word  :  as, 
«Thc  man  is  happy,'  'he  is  benevolent,'  '  he  is  useful.'  "  —  Ib.  p.  37.  "A  pronoun  is  a  word, 
used  in  the  room  of  a  noun,  or  as  a  substitute  for  one  or  more  words,  as  :  the  man  is  happy  ; 
he  is  benevolent;  he  is  useful."  —  Cooper's  PL  and  Pr.  Gram.  p.  14  ;  his  Abridy.  of  Mur.  34. 
"A  common  noun  is  the  name  of  a  sort,  kind,  or  class  of  beings,  or  things,  as  :  animal  ;  tree  ; 
insect;  fish;  fowl."  —  Cooper's  PL  and  Pr.  Gram.  p.  17.  "Nouns  have  three  persons:  the 
lirst  ;  the  second;  and  the  third."  —  Ib.  17. 

"  (Eve)  so  saying,  her  rash  hand  in  evil  hour 

Forth  reaching  to  the  fruit  ;  she  pluck'  d,  she  ate  ! 

Earth  felt  the  wound  :  and  nature  from  her  seat, 

Sighing  through  all  her  works,  gave  signs  of  wo, 

That  all  was  lost."  —  Cooper's  PI.  and  Pr.  Gram.  p.  175. 

SECTION  IV.  —  THE  PERIOD. 

The  Period,  or  Full  Stop,  is  used  to  mark  an  entire  and  independent  sen- 
tence, whether  simple  or  compound.  » 

RULE  I.  —  DISTINCT  SENTENCES. 

When  a  sentence,  whether  long  or  short,  is  complete  in  respect  to  sense,  and 
independent  in  respect  to  construction,  it  should  be  marked  with  the  period  :  as, 
"  Every  deviation  from  truth  is  criminal.  Abhor  a  falsehood.  Let  your  words  be 
ingenuous.  Sincerity  possesses  the  most  powerful  charm."  —  "The  force  of  a  true 
individual  is  felt  through  every  clause  and  part  of  a  right  book  ;  the  commas  and 
dashes  are  alive  with  it."  —  R.  W.  Emerson. 

"  By  frequent  trying,  TROY  was  won. 
All  things,  by  trying,  may  be  done."  —  Lloyd,  p.  183. 

RULE  II.  —  ALLIED  SENTENCES. 

The  period  is  often  employed  between  two  sentences  which  have  a  general  con- 
nexion, expressed  by  a  personal  pronoun,  a  conjunction,  or  a  conjunctive  adverb:  as, 
"  The  selfish  man  languishes  in  his  narrow  circle  of  pleasures.  They  are  confined  to 
what  affects  his  own  interests.  He  is  obliged  to  repeat  the  same  gratifications,  till 
they  become  insipid.  But  the  man  of  virtuous  sensibility  moves  in  a  wider  sphere  of 
felicity."—  Blair. 

"And  whether  we  shall  meet  again,  I  know  not. 
Therefore  our  everlasting  farewell  take."  —  Shah.,  J.  C. 

RULE  III.  —  ABBREVIATIONS. 

The  period  is  generally  used  after  abbreviations,  and  very  often  to  the  exclusion  of 
other  points  ;  but,  as  in  this  case  it  is  not  a  constant  sign  of  pnuse,  other  points  may 
properly  follow  it,  if  the  words  written  in  full  would  demand  them  :  as,  A.  D.  for 
Domini;  Pro  tem.  for  pro  tempore  ;  Ult.  for  ultimo  ;  i.  e.  foridest,  that  is; 
Add.,  Spect,  No.  *J.s5  ;  —  i.  e.,  Addison,  in  the  Spectator,  Number  2S5th. 
"  Consult  the  statute  ;  '  quart.'  I  think,  it  is, 
'Edwardi  sext.,'  or  'prim,  et  quint.  KHz.'  "—Pope,  p.  399. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

Ona.  1.  —  It  seems  to  be  commonly  supposed,  whether  correctly  or  not,  that  short  sentences 
which  are  in  themselves  distinct,  and  which  in  their  stated  use  must  be  separated  by  the  period, 
may  sometimes  be  rehearsed  as  examples,  in  so  close  succession  aa  not  to  require  this  point:  as, 
But  if  thou  wilt,  enter  into  life,  keep  the  commandments.  lie  saith  unto  him,  Which  ?  Jesus 
said,  Thou  shalt  do  no  murder,  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery,  Thou  shalt  not  steal,  Thou 
sha't  not  bear  false  witness,  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother:  and,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bour as  thyself."  —  SCOTT,  ALOER,  AX  >  OTKBBI  \,  17.  18,  19.  "  The  following  sentences 

exemplify"  the  possessive  pronouns:  —  '.Vy  lesson  is  finished;  Thy  books  are  defaced  ;  Heloves 
his  studies  ;  She  performs  her  Jutv  ;  We  own  our  faults  ;  Your  situation  is  distressing  ;  I  Admire 


764  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [pART  IV. 

their  virtues.' " — L.  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  55.  "What  mode  of  pointing  is  best  adapted  to 
examples  like  these,  is  made  a  very  difficult  question  by  the  great  diversity  of  practice  in  such 
cases.  The  semicolon,  with  guillemets,  or  the  semicolon  and  a  dash,  with  the  quotation  marks, 
may  sometimes  be  sufficient;  but  I  see  no  good  reason  why  the  j?en'oe£  should  not  in  general  be 
preferred  to  the  comma,  the  semicolon,  or  the  colon,  where  full  and  distinct  sentences  are  thus 
recited.  The  foregoing  passage  ot  Scripture  I  have  examined  in  five  different  languages,  ten 
different  translations,  and  seventeen  different  editions,  which  happened  to  be  at  hand.  In  these, 
it  is  found  pointed  in  twelve  different  ways.  In  Leusden's,  Griesbach's,  and  Aitton's  Greek,  it 
has  nine  colons  ;  in  Leusden's  Latin  from  Montanus,  eight;  in  the  common  French  version,  six  ; 
in  the  old  Dutch,  five ;  in  our  Bibles,  usually  one,  but  not  always.  In  some  books,  these  com- 
mandments are  mostly  or  wholly  divided  by  periods  ;  in  others,  by  colons  ;  in  others,  by  semico- 
lons ;  in  others,  as  above,  by  commas.  The  first  four  are  negative,  or  prohibitory ;  the  other  two, 
positive,  or  mandatory.  Hence  some  make  a  greater  pause  after  the  fourth,  than  elsewhere 
between  any  two.  This  greater  pause  is  variously  marked  by  the  semicolon,  the  colon,  or  the 
period;  and  the  others,  at  the  same  time,  as  variously,  by  the  comma,  the  semicolon,  or  the 
colon.  Dr.  Campbell,  in  his  Four  Gospels,  renders  and  points  the  latter  part  of  this  passage  thus  : 
''Jesus  answered,  '  Thou  shalt  not  commit  murder.  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery.  Thou 
shalt  not  steal.  Thou  shalt  not  give  false  testimony.  Honour  thy  father  and  mother  ;  and  love 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself.'  "  But  the  corresponding  passage  in  Luke,  xviii,  20,  he  exhibits  thus  : 
"  Thou  knowest  the  commandments.  Do  not  commit  adultery  ;  do  not  commit  murder ;  do  not 
steal ;  do  not  give  false  testimony  ;  honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother."  This  is  here  given  as 
present  advice,  referring  to  the  commandments,  but  not  actually  quoting  them ;  and,  in  this  view 
of  the  matter,  semicolons,  not  followed  by  capitals,  may  be  right.  See  the  common  reading 
under  Rule  XIV  for  Capitals,  on  page  155. 

OBS.  2. — Letters  written  for  numbers,  after  the  manner  of  the  Romans,  though  read  as  words, 
are  never  words  in  themselves  ;  nor  are  they,  except  perhaps  in  one  or  two  instances,  abbreviations 
of  words.  C,  a  hundred,  comes  probably  from  Centum;  and  M,  a  thousand,  is  the  first  letter  of 
Mille ;  but  the  others,  I,  V,  X,  L,  D,  and  the  various  combinations  of  them  all,  are  direct 
numerical  signs,  as  are  the  Arabic  figures.  Hence  it  is  not  really  necessary  that  the  period  should 
be  set  after  them,  except  at  the  end  of  a  sentence,  or  where  it  is  suitable  as  a  sign  of  pause.  It 
is,  however,  and  always  has  been,  a  prevalent  custom,  to  mark  mimbers  of  this  kind  with  a  period, 
as  if  they  were  abbreviations;  as,  "While  pope  Sixtus  V.  who  succeeded  Gregory  XIII.  fulmi- 
nated the  thunder  of  the  church  against  the  king  of  Navarre." — Smollett's  Eng.  iii,  82.  The 
period  is  here  inserted  where  the  reading  requires  only  the  comma  ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  the  latter 
point  should  have  been  preferred.  Sometimes,  of  late,  we  find  other  points  set  after  this  period  ; 
as,  "  Otho  II.,  surnamed  the  Bloody,  was  son  and  successor  of  Otho  I. ;  he  died  in  983." — Univ. 
Bioff.  Diet.  This  may  be  an  improvement  on  the  former  practice,  but  double  points  are  not  yet 
generally  used,  even  where  they  are  proper ;  and,  if  the  period  is  not  indispensable,  a  simple 
change  of  the  point  would  perhaps  sooner  gain  the  sanction  of  general  usage. 

OBS.  3. — Some  writers,  judging  the  period  to  be  wrong  or  needless  in  such  cases,  omit  it,  and 
insert  only  such  points  as  the  reading  requires  ;  as,  "  For  want  of  doing  this,  Judge  Blacks  ;one 
has,  in  Book  IV,  Chap.  17,  committed  some  most  ludicrous  errors." — Cobbett's  Gram.,  Let.  X  IX, 
II  251.  To  insert  points  needlessly,  is  as  bad  a  fault  as  to  omit  them  when  they  are  requisite. 
In  Wm.  Day's  "  Punctuation  Reduced  to  a  System,"  (London,  1847,)  we  have  the  following  ob- 
scure and  questionable  RULE  :  "Besides  denoting  a  grammatical  pause,  the  full  point  is  use  I  to 
mark  contractions,  and  is  requisite  after  every  abbreviated  toord,  as  well  as  after  numeral  letttrs." 
— Page  102.  This  seems  to  suggest  that  both  a  pause  and  a  contraction  may  be  denoted  by  the 
same  point.  But  what  are  properly  called  "contractions,"  are  marked,  not  by  the  period,  but  by 
the  apostrophe,  which  is  no  sign  of  pause  ;  and  the  confounding  of  these  with  words  "  abbreviated," 
makes  this  rule  utterly  absurd.  As  for  the  period  "  after  numeral  letters,"  if  they  really  needed 
it  at  all,  they  would  need  it  severally,  as  do  the  abbreviations  ;  but  there  are  none  of  them,  which 
do  not  uniformly  dispense  with  it,  when  not  final  to  the  number;  and  they  may  as  well  dispense 
with  it,  in  like  manner,  whenever  they  are  not  final  to  the  sentence. 

OBS.  4. — Of  these  letters,  Day  gives  this  account:  "M.  denotes  mille,  1,000;  D.,  dimidium 
mille,  half  a  thousand,  or  500;  C.  centum,  100;  L,  represents  the  luwer  half  of  C.,  and  expresses 
50;  X.  resembles  V.  V.,  the  one  upright,  the  other  inverted,  and  signifies  10;  V.  stands  for  5, 
because  its  sister  letter  U  is  the  fifth  vowel ;  and  /.  signifies  1,  probably  because  it  is  theplainest 
and  simplest  character  in  the  alphabet." — Day's  Punctuation,  p.  103.  There  is  some  fancy  in 
this.  Dr.  Adam  says,  "  The  Letters  employed  for  this  purpose  [i.  e.  to  express  numbers,]  were  C. 
I.  L.  V.  X."— Latin  and  Eng.  Gram.  p.  288.  And  again  :  "A  thousand  is  marked  thus  CIO.  which 
in  later  times  was  contracted  into  M.  Five  hundred  is  marked  thus,  IQ,  or  by  contraction,  D." — 
lb.  Day  inserts  periods  thus  :  "IV.  means  4;  IX.,  9  ;  XL.,  40;  XC.,90;  CD.,  400  ;  CM. ,900." 
— Page  103.  And  again:  "  4to.  quarto,  the  fourth  of  a  sheet  of  paper;  8vo.,  octavo,  the  eighth 
of  a  sheet  of  paper  ;  12mo.,  duodecimo,  the  twelfth  of  a  sheet  of  paper ;  N.  L.,  8°.,  9'.,  10".,  North 
latitude,  eight  degrees,  nine  minutes,  ten  seconds." — Page  104.  But  IV  may  mean  4,  without 
the  period ;  4to  or  8vo  has  no  more  need  of  it  than  4th  or  8th  ;  and  N.  L.  8°  9'  10"  is  an  expres- 
sion little  to  be  mended  by  commas,  and  not  at  all  by  additional  periods. 

OBS.  5. — To  allow  the  period  of  abbreviation  to  supersede  all  other  points  wherever  it  occurs, 
as  authors  generally  have  done,  is  sometimes  plainly  objectionable  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  to 
suppose  double  points  to  be  always  necessary  wherever  abbreviations  or  Roman  numbers  have 
pauses  less  than  final,  would  sometimes  seem  more  nice  than  wise,  as  in  the  case  of  Biblical  and 
other  references.  A  concordance  or  a  reference  Bible  pointed  on  this  principle,  would  differ 


perish,  Prov.  xxix.  18.  Acts  iv.  12.  Rom.  x.  14." — Brown's   Catechism,  p.   104.     "  What  I  urge 

Pref.1 


-  ,      . 

from  1.  Pet.  3.  21.  in  my  Apology."— Barclay's  Works,  iii,  498.     "  I.  Kings— II.  Kings."— Acer's 
Bible,  p.  iv.     "  Compare  iii.  45.  with  1.  Cor.  iv.  13."— Scott's  Bible,  Pref.  to  Lam.  Jer.     " 


CRAP.  I.]  PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. PERIOD. — ERRORS.  765 

A.  4.  Sc.  5."— Butter's  Gram.  p.  41.  "  See  Rule  iii.  Rem.  10."— Ib.  p.  162.  Some  set  a  colon 
between  the  number  of  the  chapter  and  that  of  the  verse  ;  which  mark  serves  well  for  distinction, 
•where  both  numbers  are  in  Arabic  figures  :  as,  "  '  He  that  formed  the  eye,  shall  he  not  see  ?  ' — 
Ps.  94 :  9."—  Welly's  Gram.  p.  126.  "  He  had  only  a  lease-hold  title  to  his  service.  Lev.  25  :  39, 
Exod.  21:  2." — True  Amer.  i,  29.  Others  adopt  the  following  method,  which  seems  preferable 
to  any  of  the  foregoing:  "Isa.  lv,  3;  Ezek.  xviii,  20;  Mic.  vi,  7." — Gumey's  Essays,  p.  133. 
Churchill,  who  is  uncommonly  nice  about  his  punctuation,  writes  as  follows  :  "Luke,  vi,  41,  42. 
See  also  Chap,  xv,  8;  and  Phil.,  iii,  12."— New  Gram.  p.  353. 

Ons.  6. — Arabic  figures  tised  as  ordinals,  or  used  for  the  .numeral  adverbs,  first,  or  firstly,  sec- 
ondly, thirdly,  Arc.,  are  very  commonly  pointed  with  the  period,  even  where  the  pause  required 
after  them  is  less  than  a  full  stop  ;  as,  "  We  shall  consider  these  words,  1.  as  expressing  resolution  • 
and  2.  as  expressing  futurity." — Butler's  Gram.  p.  106.  But  the  period  thus  followed  by  a  small 
letter,  has  not  an  agreeable  appearance,  and  some  would  here  prefer  the  comma,  which  is,  un- 
doubtedly, better  suited  to  the  pause.  A  fitter  practice,  however,  would  be,  to  change  the 
i-xpressioii  thus:  "  We  shall  consider  these  words,  1st,  as  expressing  resolution;  and,  2dly,  as 
expres>ing  futurity." 

Ons.  7.— Names  vulgarly  shortened,  then  written  as  they  are  spoken,  are  not  commonly  marked 
with  a  period;  as,  Ben  for  Benjamin:  "  O  RARE  BEX  JOHNSON  !  " — Biog.  Diet. 
"  From  whence  the  inference  is  plain , 
Your  friend  MAT  PHIOE  wrote  with  pain." — LLOYD:  B.  P.,  Vol.  viii,  p.  188. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

FALSE  PUNCTUATION.  —  ERRORS  CONCERNING  THE  PERIOD. 
UNDER  RULE  I. — DISTINCT  SENTENCES. 

"The  third  person  is  the  position  of  the  name  spoken  of ;  as,  Paul  and  Silas  were  im- 
prisoned, the  earth  thirsts,  the  sun  shines." — Frazee's  Gram.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  21;  Ster.  Ed.,  p.  23. 

[FuRMULE. — Not  proper,  because  three  totally  distinct  sentences  are  here  thrown  together  as  examples,  with 
no  other  distinction  th:m  what  is  made  by  two  commas.  But,  according  to  Rule  1st  for  the  Period,  "  When  a 
sentence,  whether  long  or  short,  is  complete  in  respect  to  sense,  and  independent  in  respect  to  construction,  it 
should  be  marked  with  the  period."  Therefore,  these  commas  should  be  periods;  and,  of  course,  the  first 
letter  of  each  example  must  be  a  capital.] 

"Two  and  three  and  four  make  nine  ;  if  he  were  here,  he  would  assist  his  father  and 
mother,  for  lie  is  a  dutiful  son  ;  they  live  together,  and  are  happy,  because  they  enjoy  each 
other's  society  ;  they  went  to  Roxbury,  and  tarried  all  night,  and  came  back  the  next  day." 

—  Goldtburt^t  7'a/-.v///r/  Lrxwns  in  his  Manual  of  E.  Gram,  p.  64. 

"  We  often  resolve,  but  seldom  perform  ;  she  is  wiser  than  her  sister  ;  though  he  is  often 
advised,  yet  he  does  not  reform  ;  reproof  either  softens  or  hardens  its  object ;  he  is  as  old 
as  his  classmates,  but  not  so  learned  ;  neither  prosperity,  nor  adversity,  has  improved  him  ; 
let  him  that  standeth,  take  heed  lest  he  fall ;  he  can  acquire  no  virtue,  unless  he  make 
some  sacrifices." — Ibid. 

"Down  from  his  neck,  with  blazing  gems  array'd, 
Thy  image,  lovely  Anna  !  hung  portray 'd, 
Th '  unconscious  figure,  smiling  all  serene, 
Suspended  in  a  golden  chain  was  seen." — S.  Barrett's  E.  Gr.  p.  92. 

UNDER  KULE  II. — ALLIED  SENTENCES. 

"  This  life  is  a  mere  prelude  to  another,  which  has  no  limits,  it  is  a  little  portion  of  du- 
ration. As  death  leaves  us,  so  the  day  of  judgment  will  find  us." — Merchant's  School 
G  rn  m.  p.  76. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  pause  after  limits,  which  is  sufficient  for  the  period,  is  marked  only  by  the 
comma.  But.  according  to  Kule  2d,  "  The  period  is  often  employed  between  two  sentences  which  have  a  general 
connexion,  expressed  by  a  personal  pronoun,  a  conjunction,  or  a  conjunctive  adverb.''  It  would  improve  the 
passage,  to  omit  the  lirst  comma,  change  the  second  to  a  period,  and  write  the  pronoun  it  with  a  capital.  Judg- 
ment also  might  be  bettered  with  an  e,  and  another  is  properly  two  words.] 

"  He  went  from  Boston  to  New  York  ;  he  went  from  Boston  ;  he  went  to  New  York ;  in 
walkii*  .e  floor,  he  stumbled  over  a  chair." — Gnldslntry' s  Manual  of  E.  dram.  p.  62. 

"I  saw  him  on  the  spot,  going  along  the  road,  looking  towards  the  house;  during  the 
heai;  of  the  day,  he  sat  on  the  ground,  under  the  shade  of  a  tree." — Id.  i!>. 

>rge  came  homo,  I  saw  him  yesterday,  here ;  the  word  him,  can  extend  only  to  the 
individual  George."  —  >'.  llari-ctt\\  E.  Cram.,  10th  Ed.,  p.  -lo. 

"  Commas  are  often  used  now,  where  parentheses  were  formerly  ;  I  cannot,  however, 
in  this  an  improvement." — See  the  A 

"Thou,  like  a  sleeping,  faithless  sentinel 
Didst  let  them  pass  unnoticed,  unimproved, 
And  know,  for  that  thou  slumb'rest  on  the  guard, 
Thou  shalt  be  made  to  answer  at  the  bar 
For  every  fugitive."— Hallock's  Gram.  p.  222  ;   Knfii-lifs  fy.  p.  380. 

III. — OF  AitMUKvi.vi, 
11  The  term  pronoun  (Lat  pronomen}  strictly  means  a  word  used  for,  or  instead  of  a  noun." 

—  liullinnx,  E.  G,-um.  p.  198. 

[K"i;MU.E.— Not  proper,  because  tho  syllable  here  put  for  the  word  T.ntin.  is  not  marked  with  a  period.  l!uf, 
accoiding  to  Kule  3d,  "  The  period  is  generally  used  after  abbreviations,  and  very  often  to  the  exclusion  of  other 


766  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

points  ;  but,  as  in  this  case  ifc  is  not  a  constant  sign  of  pause,  other  points  may  properly  follow  it,  if  the  words 
written  in  full  would  demand  them."  In  this  instance,  a  period  should  mark  the  abbreviation,  and  a  comma 
be  set  after  of.  ,  By  analogy,  in  stead  is  also  more  properly  two  words  than  one.] 

"  The  period  is  also  used  after  abbreviations ;  as,  A.  D.  P.  S.  G.  W.  Johnson." — Butler's 
Pract.  Gram.  p.  211.  "On  this  principle  of  classification,  the  later  Greek  grammarians 
divided  words  into  eight  classes  or  parts  of  speech,  viz  :  the  Article,  Noun,  Pronoun,  Verb, 
Participle,  Adverb,  Preposition,  and  Conjunction." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  191. 

"  'Metre  is  not  confined  to  verse :  there  is  a  tune  in  all  good  prose ;  and  Shakspeare's  was 
a  sweet  one.' — Epea  Pter,  II,  61.  Mr.  H.  Tooke's  idea  was  probably  just,  agreeing  with 
Aristotle's  ;  but  not  accurately  expressed." — Churchill's  New  Gram.  p.  385. 

"  Mr.  J.  H.  Tooke  was  educated  at  Eton  and  at  Cambridge,  in  which  latter  college  he  took 
the  degree  of  A.  M ;  being  intended  for  the  established  church  of  England,  he  entered  into 
holy  orders  when  young,  and  obtained  the  living  of  Brentford,  near  London,  which  he  held 
ten  or  twelve  years." — Div.  of  Purley,  1st  Amer.  Edition,  Vol.  i,  p.  60. 
"  I,  nor  your  plan,  nor  book  condemn, 
But  why  your  name,  and  why  A.  M  !  " — Lloyd. 
MIXED  EXAMPLES  OF  EHROR. 

"  'If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot  from  the  sabbath,  &c.  Isaiah.  Iviii.  7." — Butler's  Gram.  p. 
67.  "  ' He  that  hath  eeris  of  herynge,  here  he.  Wiclif.  Matt  xi." — Butlers  Gram.  p.  76. 
"  See  General'Rules  for  Spelling,  iii.,  v.,  and  vii." — Butler's  Gram.  p.  81.  "  '  False  witnessses 
did  rise  up.'  Ps.  xxxv.  ii." — Butler's  Gram.  p.  105. 

"An  explicative  sentence  is  used  for  explaining.  An  interrogative  sentence  for  enquiring. 
An  imperative  sentence  for  commanding." — S.  Barrett's  Prin.  of  Language,  p.  87.  "  In 
October,  corn  is  gathered  in  the  field  by  men,  who  go  from  hill  to  hill  with  baskets,  into 
which  they  put  the  ears ;  Susan  labors  with  her  needle  for  a  livelihood ;  notwithstand- 
ing his  poverty,  he  is  a  man  of  integrity." — Goldsbury's  Parsing,  Manual  of  E.  Gram.  p.  62. 

"A  word  of  one  syllable,  is  called  a  monosyllable.  A  word  of  two  syllables  ;  a  dissyllable. 
A  word  of  three  syllables  ;  a  trissyllable.  A  word  of  four  or  more  syllables  ;  a  polysyllable." 
— Frazee's  Improved  Gram.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  15.  "A  word  of  one  syllable,  is  called  a  monosylla- 
ble. A  word  of  two  syllables,  a  dissyllable.  A  word  of  three  syllables,  a  trissyllable.  A 
word  of  four  or  more  syllables,  a  polysyllable." — Frazee's  Improved  Gram.,  Ster.  Ed.,  p.  17. 

"  If  I  say,  « if  it  did  not  rain,  I  would  take  a  walk ; '  I  convey  the  idea  that  it  does 
rain,  at  the  time  of  speaking,  If  it  rained,  or  did  it  rain,  in  the  present  time,  implic  s,  it 
does  not  rain ;  if  it  did  not  rain,  or  did  it  not  rain,  in  present  time,  implies  that  it  does 
rain;  thus  in  this  peculiarity,  an  affirmative  sentence  always  implies  a  negation,  and  a  nega- 
tive sentence  an  affirmation." — Frazee's  Gram.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  61  ;  Ster.  Ed.,  62.  "If  I  were  l^ved, 
and,  were  I  loved,  imply,  I  am  not  loved ;  if  I  were  not  loved,  and,  were  I  not  loved,  imply,  I',  am 
loved  ;  a  negative  sentence  implies  an  affirmation  ;  and  an  affirmative  sentence  impli  es  a 
negation,  in  these  forms  of  the  subjunctive." — Ib.,  Old  Ed.,  p.  73  ;  Ster.  Ed.,  72. 

"What  is  Rule  III.  ?  "—Hart's  Gram.  p.  114.      "  How  is  Rule  III.  violated  ?  "—Ib.  p. 
115.     "  How  do  you  parse  « letter '  in  the  sentence,  '  James  writes  a  letter  '  ?     Ans. — '  Letter 
is  a  noun  com.,  of  the  MASC.  gend.,  in  the  3d  p.,  sing,  num.,  and  objective  case,  and  is  governed 
by  the  verb  'writes,'  according  to  Rule  III.,  which  says.  'A  transitive  verb,'  &c."—Ib.  p.  114.* 
«'  Creation  sleeps.     'T  is  as  the  general  pulse 
Of  life  stood  still,  and  nature  made  a  pause  ; 
An  awful  pause  !  prophetic  of  her  end, 
And  let  her  prophecy  be  soon  fulfilled  ; 
Fate  drop  the  curtain  ;  I  can  lose  no  more." — Hallock's  Gram.  p.  216. 

SECTION  V.  — THE  DASH. 

The  Dash  is  mostly  used  to  denote  an  unexpected  or  emphatic  pause,  of 
variable  length ;  but  sometimes  it  is  a  sign  of  faltering,  or  of  the  irregular 
stops  of  one  who  hesitates  in  speaking  :  as,  "  Then,  after  many  pauses,  and 
inarticulate  sounds,  he  said  :  i  He  was  very  sorry  for  it,  was  extremely  con- 
cerned it  should  happen  so  —  but  —  a  —  it  was  necessary  —  a  — '  Here  lord 

E stopped  him  short,  and  bluntly  demanded,  if  his  post  were  destined  for 

an  other." — See  OhurcUIVs  G-ram.  p.  170. 

RULE  I. — ABRUPT  PAUSES. 

A  sudden  interruption,  break,  or  transition,  should  be  marked  with  the  dash ;  as, 
1.   "  '  I  must  inquire  into  the  affair ;  and  if — 'And  iff  '  interrupted  the  farmer." 

2.  "  Whom  I— But  first 't  is  fit  the  billows  to  restrain." — Dryd.  Virg. 

3.  "  HERE  LIES  THE  GREAT — False  marble  !  where  ? 

Nothing  but  sordid  dust  lies  here." — Young. 

*  Needless  abbreviations,  like  most  that  occur  in  this  example,  are  in  bad  taste,  and  ought  to  be  avoided.  The 
great  faultiness  of  this  text  as  a  model  for  learners,  compels  me  to  vary  the  words  considerably  in  suggesting  the 
correction.  See  the  Key.— Q.  B. 


CHAP.  I.]  PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. THE   DASH. ERRORS.  767 

RULE  II. — EMPHATIC  PAUSES. 

To  mark  a  considerable  pause,  greater  than  the  structure  of  the  sentence  or  the 
points  inserted  would  seem  to  require,  the  dash  may  be  employed ;  as,  1.  "I  pause 
for  a  reply. — None  ? — Then  none  have  I  offended. — I  have  done  no  more  to  Caesar, 
than  you  should  do  to  Brutus." — SHAKSPEARE  :  Enfield's  Speaker,  p.  182. 

2.  "  Tarry  a  little.     There  is  something  else. — 

This  bond — doth  give  thee  here — no  jot  of  blood." — ID.  Burgh's  Sp.  p.  1G7. 

3.  "  It  thunders; — but  it  thunders  to  preserve." — Young. 

4.  "  Behold  the  picture  ! — Is  it  like  ? — Like  whom?  " — Oowper. 

RULE  III. — FAULTY  DASHES. 

Dashes  needlessly  inserted,  or  substituted  for  other  stops  more  definite,  are  in  gen- 
eral to  be  treated  as  errors  in  punctuation ;  as,  "  Here  Greece  stands  by  itself  as 
opposed  to  the  other  nations  of  antiquity — She  was  none  of  the  other  nations — She 
was  more  polished  than  they." — Lennie's  Gram.  p.  78.  "Here  Greece  stands  by 
herself,  as  opposed  to  the  other  nations  of  antiquity.  She  was  none  of  the  other 
nations:  She  was  more  polished  than  they." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  114.  If  this 
colon  is  sufficient,  the  capital  after  it  is  needless  :  a  period  would,  perhaps,  be  better. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS  1. — The  dash  does  not  appear  to  be  always  a  rhetorical  stop,  or  always  intended  to  lengthen 
the  pause  signified  by  an  other  mark  before  it.  As  one  instance  of  a  different  design,  we  may  notice, 
that  it  is  now  very  often  employed  between  a  text  and  a  reference ; — i.  e.,  between  a  quotation  and 
the  name  of  the  author  or  of  the  book  quoted ; — in  which  case,  as  Wm.  Day  suggests,  "  it  serves 
as  a  connecting  mark  for  the  two." — Day's  Punctuation,  p.  131.  But  this  usage,  being  compara- 
tively recent, *is,  perhaps,  not  so  general  or  so  necessary,  that  a  neglect  of  it  may  properly  be 
censured  as  false  punctuation. 

OBS.  2. — An  other  peculiar  use  of  the  dash,  is  its  application  to  side-titles,  to  set  them  off  from 
other  words  in  the  same  line,  as  is  seen  often  in  this  Grammar  as  well  as  in  other  works.  Day 
says  of  this,  "  When  the  substance  of  a  paragraph  is  given  as  a  side-head,  a  dash  is  necessary  to 
t  it  with  its  relative  matter." — Ibid.  Wilson  also  approves  of  this  usage,  as  well  as  of  the 
others  here  named  ;  saying,  "  The  dash  should  be  inserted  between  a  title  and  the  subject-matter, 
and  also  between  the  subject-matter,  and  the  authority  from  which  it  is  taken,  when  they  occur 
in  the  same  paragraph." — Wilson's  Punctuation,  Ed.  of  1850,  p.  139. 

OHS.  3. — The  dash  is  often  used  to  signify  the  omission  of  something;  and,  when  set  between 
the  two  extremes  of  a  series  of  numbers,  it  may  represent  all  the  intermediate  ones  ;  as,  "  Page 
10—15 ;  "  i.  e.  "  Page  10,  11, 12,  &c.  to  15."—"  Matt,  vi,  9—14." 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  PUNCTUATION.— ERRORS  CONCERNING  THE  DASH. 

UNDEB  RULE  I. — ABRUPT  PAUSES. 

"And  there  is  something  in  your  very  strange  story,  that  resembles  .  .  .  Does  Mr.  Bevil 
know  your  history  particularly  :  " — See  Key. 

[FoRMCLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  abrupt  pause  after  resembles  is  here  marked  by  three  periods.  But, 
according  to  Rule  1st  for  the  Dash,  "  A  sudden  interruption,  break,  or  transition,  should  be  marked  with  the 
dash."  Therefore,  the  dash  should  be  preferred  to  these  points.] 

"  Sir,  Mr.  Myrtle,  Gentlemen  !     You  are  friends  ;  lam  but  a  servant.    But." — See  Key. 
"Another  man  now  would  have  given  plump  into  this  foolish  story  ;  but  I  ?    No,  no,  your 
humble  servant  for  that." — Sec 

"  Do  not  plunge  thyself  too  far  in  anger,  lest  thou  hasten  thy  trial ;  which  if  Lord  have 
mercy  on  thee  for  a  hen  !  " — Sec 

"  But  ere  they  came,  O,  let  me  say  no  more  ! 
Gather  the  sequel  by  that  went  before." — See  Key. 

UNDER  RULE  II. — EMPHATIC  PAUSES. 

".V,  Malvolio  ;  .V,  why,  that  begins  my  name." 

[FORMCLE.— Not  proper,  because  the  pauses  after  M  and  Malt-olio  seem  not  to  be  sufficiently  indicated  here. 
Bat,  according  to  Rule  1M  for  the  Dash,  "  To  mark  a  considerable  pause,  greater  than  the  structure  of  the 
•enU-nce  or  the  points  inserted  would  seem  to  require,  the  dash  may  be  employed. "  Therefore,  a  dash  may  be 
Mt  after  the  commas  and  the  semicolon,  in  this  sentence.] 

"  Thus,  by  the  creative  influence  of  the  Eternal  Spirit,  -were  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
finished  in  the  space  of  six  days,  so  admirably  finished,  an  unformed  chaos  changed 
into  a  system  of  perfect  order  and  beauty,  that  the  adorable  Architect  himself  pronounced 
it  very  good,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy." — Se< 

41  If  I  were  an  American,  as  I  am  an  Englishman,  while  a  foreign  troop  remained  in  my 


768  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

country,   I  NEVER  would  lay  down  my  arms;  NEVER,  NEVER  NEVER."— Co 
bian  Orator,  p.  265. 

"Madam,  yourself  are  not  exempt  in  this, 
Nor  your  son  Dorset,  Buckingham,  nor  you." — See  Key. 

UNDER  RULE  III. — FAULTY  DASHES. 
" —  You  shall  go  home  directly,  Le  Fevre,  said  my  uncle  Toby,  to  my  house, — and  we'll 
send  for  a  doctor  to  see  what's  the  matter, — and  we'll  have  an  apothecary, — and  the  cor- 
poral shall   be  your  nurse ; — and  I'll  be  your  servant,  Le  Fevre." — STERNE  :    Enfold' s 
Speaker,  p.  306. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  all  the  dashes  here  quoted,  except  perhaps  the  last,  are  useless,  or  obviously 
substituted  for  more  definite  marks.  But,  according  to  Rule  3d,  "  Dashes  needlessly  inserted,  or  substituted  for 
other  stops  more  definite,  are  in  general  to  be  treated  as  errors  in  punctuation  "  Therefore,  the  first  of  these 
should  be  simply  expunged  ;  the  second,  third,  and  fourth,  with  their  commas,  should  be  changed  to  semi- 
colons ;  and  the  last,  with  its  semicolon,  may  well  be  made  a  colon.] 

"  He  continued — Inferior  artists  may  be  at  a  stand,  because  they  want  materials." — 
HARRIS:  Enfield's  Speaker,  p.  191.  "Thus,  then,  continued  he — The  end  in  other  arts  is 
ever  distant  and  removed." — Id.  ib. 

"  The  nouns  must  be  coupled  with  and,  and  when  a  pronoun  is  used  it  must  be  plural,  as 
in  the  example — When  the  nouns  are  disjoined  the  pronoun  must  be  singular." — Lennie's 
Grammar,  5th  Ed.,  p.  57. 

"Opinion  is  a  noun  or  substantive  common, — of  the  singular  number, — neuter  gender, — 
nominative  case, — and  third  person." — Wright's  Philos.  Gram.  p.  228. 
"  The  mountain — thy  pall  and  thy  prison — may  keep  thee ; 
I  shall  see  thee  no  more ;  but  till  death  I  will  weep  thee." — Felton's  Gram.  p.  146. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  OF  ERROR. 

"  If  to  accommodate  man  and  beast,  heaven  and  earth  ;  if  this  be  beyond  me,  'tis  not  pos- 
sible.— What  consequence  then  follows  ?  or  can  there  be  any  other  than  this — If  I  seek  an 
interest  of  my  own,  detached  from  that  of  others;  I  seek  an  interest  which  is  chimeri- 
cal, and  can  never  have  existence." — HARRIS  :  Enfield's  Speaker,  p.  139. 

"Again — I  must  have  food  and  clothing — Without  a  proper  genial  warmth,  I  instantly 
perish — Am  I  not  related,  in  this  view,  to  the  very  earth  itself?  To  the  distant  sun,  from 
whose  beams  I  derive  vigour?" — Id.  ib.  p.  140. 

"  Nature  instantly  ebb'd  again — the  film  returned  to  its  place — the  pulse  flutter'd — stopp'd 
— went  on — throbb'd — stopp'd  again — mov'd — stopp'd — shall  I  go  on? — No." — STERXE: 
ib.  p.  307. 

"  Write  ten  nouns  of  the  masculine  gender.  Ten  of  the  feminine.  Ten  of  the  neuter. 
Ten  indefinite  in  gender." — Pardon  Davis's  Gram.  p.  9. 

"The  Infinitive  Mode  has  two  tenses — the  Indicative,  six — the  Potential,  two — the  Sub- 
junctive, six,  and  the  Imperative,  one." — Frazee's  Gram.,  Ster.  Ed.,  p.  39  ;  1st  Ed.,  37.  "  Now 
notice  the  following  sentences.  John  runs, — boys  run — thou  runnest." — Ib.,  Ster.  Ed.,  p. 
50;  1st  Ed.,  p.  48. 

"The  Pronoun  sometimes  stands  for  a  name — sometimes  for  an  adjective — a  sentence — 
a  part  of  a  sentence — and,  sometimes  for  a  whole  series  of  propositions." — O.  B.  Pierce' s 
Gram.,  1st  Ed.,  12mo,  p.  321. 

"  The  self- applauding  bird,  the  peacock,  see — 

"  Mark  what  a  sumptuous  pharisee  is  he  !  " — Cowper,  i,  49. 


SECTION  VI.  — THE  EROTEME. 

The  Eroteme,  or  Note  of  Interrogation,  is  used  to  designate  a  question. 

RULE  I. — QUESTIONS  DIRECT. 

Questions  expressed  directly  as  such,  if  finished,  should  always  be  followed  by  the 
note  of  interrogation  ;  as,  "  \Vas  it  possible  that  virtue  so  exalted  should  be  erected 
upon  injustice  ?  that  the  proudest  and  the  most  ambitious  of  mankind  should  be  the 
great  master  and  accomplished  pattern  of  humility?  that  a  doctrine  so  pure  as  the 
Gospel  should  be  the  work  of  an  uncommissioned  pretender  ?  that  so  perfect  a  system 
of  morals  should  be  established  on  blasphemy?  " — Jerningham 's  Essay,  p.  81. 
"  In  life,  can  love  be  bought  with  gold  ? 
Are  friendship's  pleasures  to  be  sold  ?  " — Johnson. 

RULE  II. — QUESTIONS  UNITED. 

When  two  or  more  questions  are  united  in  one  compound  sentence,  the  comma, 
semicolon,  or  dash,  is  sometimes  used  to  separate  them,  and  the  eroteme  occurs  after 
the  last  only;  as,  1.  "When — under  what  administration — under  what  exigencies 


CHAP.  I.]          PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. THE    EROTEME. OBSERVATIONS.  769 

of  war  or  peace — did  the  Senate  ever  before  deal  with  such  a  measure  in  such  a  man- 
ner?    Never,  sir,  never." — D.  Webster,  in  Congress,  1846. 

-.   "  Canst  thou,  and  honour'd  with  a  Christian  name, 
Buy  what  is  woman-born,  and  feel  no  shame  ; 
Trade  in  the  blood  of  innocence,  and  plead 
Expedience  as  a  warrant  for  the  deed  V  " — Cowper. 
3.   "  Truths  would  you  teach,  or  save  a  sinking  land? 

All  fear,  none  aid  you,  and  few  understand." — Pope. 

RULE  III. — QUESTIONS  INDIRECT. 

When  a  question  is  mentioned,  but  not  put  directly  as  a  question,  it  loses  both  the 
quality  and  the  sign  of  interrogation;  as,  "  The  Cyprians  asked  me  why  I  wept" — 

Murray. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

Ous.  1. — The  value  of  the  croteme  as  a  sign  of  pause,  is  stated  very  differently  by  different 
grammarians ;  while  many  of  the  vast  multitude,  by  a  strange  oversight,  say  nothing  about  it. 
It  is  unquestionably  raridblr,  like  that  of  the  dash,  or  of  the  ecphoneme.  W.  H.  Wells  says, 
"  Thjt*  comma  requires  a  momentary  pause;  the  semicolon,  a  pause  somewhat  longer  than  the 
comma ;  the  colon,  a  pause  somewhat  longer  than  the  semicolon ;  and  the  period,  a  full  stop. 
The  note  of  interrogation,  or  the  note  of  exclamation,  may  take  the  place  of  EITHER  of  these,  and 
accordingly  requires  a  pause  of  the  same  length  as  the  point  for  which  it  is  substituted." — Wells's 
School  Grant,  p.  175.  This  appears  to  be  accurate  in  idea,  though  perhaps  hardly  so  in  language. 
Lindley  Murray  has  stated  it  thus  :  "  The  interrogation  and  exclamation  points  are  indeterminate 
as  to  their  quantity  or  time,  and  may  be  equivalent  in  that  respect  to  a  semicolon,  a  colon,  or  a 
period,  as  the  sense  may  require."— Octavo  Gram.  p.  280.  ButSanborn,  in  regard  to  his  "Ques- 
t/mi Point,"  awkwardly  savs  :  "This  patise  is  generally  some  longer  than  that  of  a  period." — 
Analytical  Gram.  p.  271.  Buchanan,  as  long  ago  as  1767,  taught  as  follows:  "The  Pause  after 
the  two  Points  of  Interrogation  and  Admiration  ought  to  be  equal  to  that  of  the  Period,  or  a  Colon 
•'/  Si/nt/r.r,  p.  160.  And  J.  S.  Hart  avers,  that,  "A  question  is  reckoned  as  equal 
to  a  complete  sentence,  and  the  mark  of  interrogation  as  equal  to  a  period." — Hart's  English 
Gram.  p.  166.  He  says  also,  that,  "  the  first  word  after  a  note  of  interrogation  should  begin  with 
a  capital." — Ib.  p.  162.  In  some  instances,  however,  he,  like  others,  has  not  adhered  to  these 
exceptionable  principles,  as  may  be  sesn  by  the  false  grammar  cited  below. 

Ous.  2. — Sometimes  a  series  of  questions  may  be  severally  complete  in  sense,  so  that  each 
may  require  the  interrogative  sign,  though  some  or  all  of  them  may  be  so  united  in  construction, 
as  not  to  admit  either  a  long  intermediate  pause  or  an  initial  capital ;  as,  "  Is  there  no  honor  in 
generosity  ?  nor  in  preferring  the  lessons  of  conscience  to  the  impulses  of  passion  ?  nor  in  main- 
taining the  supremacy  of  moral  principle,  and  in  paying  reverence  to  Christian  truth  ?  " — Gannett. 
"  True  honour  is  manifested  in  a  steady,  uniform  train  of  actions,  attended  by  justice,  and  directed 
by  prudence.  Is  this  the  conduct  of  the  duellist  ?  will  justice  support  him  in  robbing  the  com- 
munity of  an  able  and  useful  member  ?  and  in  depriving  the  poor  of  a  benefactor  ?  will  it  support 
him  in  preparing  affliction  for  the  widow's  heart?  in  filling  the  orphan's  eyes  with  tears  ?" — 
Jcrnifiiihiim's  Katun/,  p.  113.  But.  in  this  latter  example,  perhaps,  commas  might  be  substituted 
for  the  second  and  fourth  erotemes  ;  and  the  word  will  might,  in  both  instances,  begin  with  a 
capital. 

()if>.  3. — When  a  question  is  mentioned  in  its  due  form,  it  commonly  retains  the  sign  of  inter- 
rogation, though  not  actually  asked  by  the  writer ;  and,  except  perhaps  when  it  consists  of  some 
little  interrogative  word  or  phrase,  requires  the  initial  capital :  as,  "  To  know  when  this  point 
ought  to  be  used,  do  not  say  :  [,]  '  Is  a  question  asked  ?  '  but,  '  Does  the  sentence  ask  a  question  ?  '  " 
—  ('Inn-charts  Gram.  p.  3(>8.  "  They  put  their  huge  inarticulate  question,  '  What  do  you  mean  to 
do  with  us  ? '  in  a  manner  audible  to  every  reflective  soul  in  this  kingdom." — Carlyfe's  Past  and 
if,  p.  16.  "An  Adverb  may  be  generally  known,  by  its  answering  to  the  question,  How? 
hew  much  ?  when?  or  where  ?  as',  in  the  phrase,  '  He  reads  correctly,'  the  answer  to  the  question, 
II  >\v  does  he  read  ?  is  oorrn  '-'y." — /-.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  28.  This  passage,  which,  without  ever 
arriving  at  ^rcat  accuracy,  h;is  Won  altered  by  Murray  and  others  in  ways  innumerable,  is  every- 
where exhibited  with  five  interrogation  points.  But,  as  to  capitals  and"  commas,  as  well  as  the 
construction  of  words,  it  would  seem  no  easy  matter  to  determine  what  impression  of  it  is  nearest 
right.  In  Flint's  Murray,  it  stands  thus:  "An  adverb  may  generally  be  known  by  its  answering 
the  question,  How?  How  much  ?  When?  or  Where  ?  As  in  the  phrase,  'He  reads  con 
The  answer  to  the  question,  '  How  does  he  read  ?'  is,  '  correctly.'  "  Such  questions,  when  the 
pause  is  slight,  do  not  however,  in  all  rases,  require  capitals :  as, 

"  H'lxti/.     Which  of  the  visors  was  it,  that  you  wore  ? 
Ilirun.     Where?  when?  what  visor  ?  why  demand  you  this  ?" 

SAofejpMMV,  Love's  Labour  Lost,  Act  V,  Sc.  2. 

OBS.  4. — A  question  is  sometimes  put  in  the  form  of  a  mere  declaration ;  its  interrogate 
character  depending  solely  on  the  erotcme,  and  the  tone,  or  inflection  of  voice,  adopted  in  the 
ut:erance  :  as,  "  I  suppose,  Sir,  you  are  his  apothecary  ?  " — SWIFT  :  Burgh's  Speaker,  p.  8-5.  "  I 
hope,  you  have,  upon  no  account,  promoted  sternutation  by  hellebore  ?  " — Id.  ib.  "  This  priest 
has  no"  pride  in  him  ?  "— SINGEH'S  SH.VK.,  Henry  VIII,  ii,  L'. 

54 


770  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  PUNCTUATION.— ERRORS  CONCERNING  THE  EROTEME. 

UNDER  RULE  I. — QUESTIONS  DIRECT. 
"  When  -will  his  ear  delight  in  the  sound  of  arms." — O.  B.  Peirces  Gram.  12mo,  p.  59. 
[FoRMUt.E. — Not  proper,  because  here  is  a  finished  question  with  a  period  set  after  it.     But,  according  to  Rule 
1st  for  the  Eroteme,  "  Questions  expressed  directly  as  such,  if  finished,  should  always  be  followed  by  the  note  of 
interrogation."    Therefore,  the  eroteme,  or  note  of  interrogation,  should  here  be  substituted  for  the  period.] 

"  When  shall  I,  like  Oscar,  travel  in  the  light  of  my  steel." — Ib.  p.  59.  "  Will  Henry 
call  on  me  while  he  shall  be  journeying  South."— Peirce,  ib.  p.  133. 

"An  Interrogative  Pronoun  is  one  that  is  used  in  asking  a  question  ;  as,  '  u-ho  is  he,  and 
ichat  does  he  want  ? '  " — Day's  School  Gram.  p.  21.  "Who is  generally  used  when  we  would 
inquire  for  some  unknown  person  or  persons ;  as,  who  is  that  man." — Ib.  p.  24.  "  Our 
fathers,  where  are  they,  and  the  prophets,  do  they  live  forever?  " — Ib.  p.  109. 

"  It  is  true,  that  some  of  our  lest  writers  have  used  than  ivhom ;  but  it  is  also  true,  that 
they  have  used  other  phrases  which  we  have  rejected  as  ungrammatical :  then  why  not  reject 
this  too. — The  sentences  in  the  Exercises  [with  than  who]  are  correct  as  they  stand." — Lennies 
Gram.,  5th  Ed.,  1819,  p.  79. 

"When  the  perfect  participle  of  an  active-intransitive  verb  is  annexed  to  the  neuter  verb 
to  be  ?  What  does  the  combination  form  ?  " — Hallock's  Gram.  p.  88.  "  Those  adverbs  which 
answer  to  the  question  where,  whither  or  whence,  are  called  adverbs  of  place.1' — Ib.  p.  116. 

"  Canst  thou,  by  searching,  find  out  God ;  Canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  to  perfec- 
tion ;  It  is  high  as  heaven,  what  canst  thou  do  ?  deeper  than  hell,  what  canst  thou  know  r " 
—Blairs  met.  p.  132. 

"  Where,  where,  for  shelter  shall  the  guilty  fly, 
When  consternation  turns  the  good  man  pale." — Ib.  p.  222. 

UNDER  RULE  II. — QUESTIONS  UNITED. 

"  Who  knows  what  resources  are  in  store  ?  and  what  the  power  of  God  may  do  for  thee  r  " 
[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  an  eroteme  is  set  after  store,  where  a  comma  would  be  sufficient.    But,  accord- 
ing to  Rule  2d  for  the  Eroteme,  "  When  two  or  more  questions  are  united  in  one  compound  sentence,  the  comma, 
semicolon,  or  dash,  is  sometimes  used  to  separate  them,  and  the  eroteme  occurs  after  the  last  only."    Therefore, 
the  comma  should  here  be  preferred,  as  the  author  probably  wrote  the  text.    See  Key.] 

"  The  Lord  is  not  a  man  that  he  should  lie,  neither  the  son  of  man  that  he  should  reper.t. 
Hath  he  said  it  ?  and  shall  he  not  do  it  ?  Hath  he  spoken  it  ?  and  shall  he  not  make  it 
good  ? "— Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  353;  12mo,  277;  Hiley's,  139;  Hart's,  181.  "Hath  t'w 
Lord  said  it?  and  shall  he  not  do  it  ?  Hath  he  spoken  it  f  and  shall  he  not  make  it  good?"-— 
Lennie's  Gram.  p.  113  ;  Bullions's,  176. 

"Who  calls  the  council,  states  the  certain  day? 

Who  forms  the  phalanx,  and  who  points  the  way." — Brit.  Poets,  vi,  376. 

UNDER  RULE  III. — QUESTIONS  INDIRECT. 
"  To  be,  or  not  to  be  ? — that  is  the  question." — Enfield's  Sp.  p.  367  ;  Kirkham's  Eloc.  123.* 

[FoRMDLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  note  of  interrogation  is  here  set  after  an  expression  which  has  neither  the 
form  nor  the  nature  of  a  direct  question.  But.  according  to  Rule  3d  for  the  Eroteme,  "When  a  question  is 
mentioned,  but  not  put  directly  as  a  question,  it  loses  both  the  quality  and  the  sign  of  interrogation."  There- 
fore, the  semicolon,  which  seems  adapted  to  the  pause,  should  here  be  preferred.] 

"  If  it  be  asked,  why  a  pause  should  any  more  be  necessary  to  emphasis  than  to  an  ac- 
cent ?  or  why  an  emphasis  alone,  will  not  sufficiently  distinguish  the  members  of  sentences 
from  each  other,  without  pauses,  as  accent  does  words  ?  the  answer  is  obvious ;  that  we 
are  pre- acquainted  with  the  sound  of  words,  and  cannot  mistake  them  when  distinctly  pro- 
nounced, however  rapidly  ;  but  we  are  not  pre-acquainted  with  the  meaning  of  sentences, 
which  must  be  pointed  out  to  us  by  the  reader  or  speaker." — Sheridan's  Rhet.  Gram.  p.  Ivi. 
"  Cry,  By  your  Priesthood  tell  me  what  you  are  ?  " — 

POPE  :  British  Poets,  London,  1800,  Yol.  vi,  p.  411. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  OF  ERROR. 

"  Who  else  can  he  be.  Where  else  can  he  go."— S.  Barrett's  Gram.,  1845,  p.  71.  "In 
familiar  language  here,  there  and  where  are  used  for  hither,  thither  and  whither." — N.  Butler's 
Gram.  p.  183.  "Take,  for  instance,  this  sentence,  'Indolence  undermines  the  foundation 
of  virtue.'  " — Hart's  Gram.  p.  106.  "Take,  for  instance,  the  sentence  before  quoted.  'In- 
dolence undermines  the  foundation  of  virtue.'  "— Ib.  p.  110.  "  Under  the  same  head  are  con- 
sidered such  sentences  as  these,  '  he  that  heareth,  let  him  hear,'  «  Gad,  a  troop  shall  overcome 
him.'&c."— Ib.p.  108. 

"  TENSES  are  certain  modifications  of  the  verb  which  point  out  the  distinctions  of  time." 
— Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  38  ;  Pract.  Les.  p.  44.  "  Calm  was  the  day  and  the  scene  delight- 

*!:  To  be,  or  not  tol)e  ? — HiafV  ihc  question."-  •  7iWV?r£'A  Crcm.  p.  2£0.  "To  be,  or  not  to  lc.  that  is  tim 
question:"— iV/'ngw'j  ,v/i//A-.  ii  4'^.  "  'MI  !••<•.  i»i  i:n.  !<>  u>  ;  tli.tt  H  the  <.£:.«  -:i"ii  "•  -  Kurd's  (i/a/t,.  p.  1UU.  4-'io 
be,  CT  i.ot  to  I.e.  iliar  is  th<-  Qvu.vi'.'ii  ;''—.&  iglihritia's  G,  <<//.-.  i  .  '_ 


CHAP.    I.]  PROSODY.  —  PUNCTUATION.  —  THE   ECPHOXEME.  —  RULES.  771 

ful."—  Id.  E.  Gr.  p.  80.  "  The  capital  letters  used  by  the  Romans  to  denote  numbers,  were 
C.  I.  L.  V.  X.  which  are  therefore  called  Numeral  Letters.  I,  denotes  one  ;  \,five;  X,  ten; 
L,  fifty  ;  and  C,  a  hundred."  —  Id.  Lut.  (Irian,  p.  06.  "'I  shall  have  written;'  viz,  at  or 
before  some  future  time  or  event."  —  Id.  ib.  p.  89.  "In  Latin  words  the  liquids  are  I  and  r 
only.  In  Greek  words  /,  r,  m,  n."  —  Id.  ib.  p.  277.  "  Each  legion  was  divided  into  ten 
cohorts,  each  cohort  into  three  maniples,  and  each  maniple  into  two  centuries."  —  Id.  ib. 
p.  309.  "  Of  the  Koman  literature  previous  to  A.  U.  514  scarcely  a  vestige  remains."  —  Id. 
ib.p.  312. 

"And  that,  which  He  delights  in  must  be  happy. 

But  when  !  —  or  where  !  —  This  world  was  made  for  Caesar."  —  Burgh's  Sp.  p.  122. 
"And  that  which  he  delights  in  must  be  happy. 

But  when,  or  where  r  This  world  was  made  for  Caesar."  —  EnfielcCs  Sp.  p.  321. 
"  Look  next  on  greatness.     Say,  where  greatness  lies  ? 

Where  but  among  the  heroes  and  the  wise."  —  Burgh's  Sp.  p.  91. 
"  Look  next  on  greatness  !  say  where  greatness  lies. 

Where,  but  among  the  heroes  and  the  wise  ?  "  —  Essay  on  Man,  p.  51. 
'«  Look  next  on  Greatness  ;  say  where  Greatness  lies  : 
Where,  but  among  the  Heroes  and  the  Wise  r  "  —  Brit.  Poets,  vi,  380. 

SECTION  VII.—  THE  ECPHONEME. 

The  Ecphoneme,  or  Note  of  Exclamation,  is  used  to  denote  a  pause  with 
some  strong  emotion  of  admiration,  joy,  grief,  or  other  feeling;  and,  as  a  sign 
of  great  wonder,  it  is  sometimes,  though  not  very  elegantly,  repeated  :  as, 
"  Grammatical  consistency  !  !  !  What  a  gem  !  "  —  Pence's  Gram.  p.  352. 

RULE  I.  —  INTERJECTIONS,  &c. 

Emphatic  interjections,  and  other  expressions  of  great  emotion,  are  generally  follow- 
ed by  the  note  of  exclamation  ;  as,  "  Hold  !  hold  !  Is  the  devil  in  you  ?  Oh  !  I  am 
bruised  all  over."  —  MOLIERE  :  Burr/h's  Sp.  p.  '250. 

"And  0  !  till  earth,  and  seas,  and  heav'n,  decay, 
Ne'er  may  that  fair  creation  fade  away  !  "  —  Dr.  Lowth. 

RULE  II.  —  INVOCATIONS. 

After  an  earnest  address  or  solemn  invocation,  the  note  of  exclamation  is  now  gen- 
erally preferred  to  any  other  point  ;  as,    "  Whereupon,  0  king  Agrippa  !  I  was   not 
disobedient  unto  the  heavenly  vision."  —  Acts,  xxvi,  19. 
"  Be  witness  thou,  immortal  Lord  of  all  ! 
Whose  thunder  shakes  the  dark  aerial  hall."  —  Pope. 

RULE  III.  —  EXCLAMATORY    QUESTIONS. 

Words  uttered  with  vehemence  in  the  form  of  a  question,  but  without  reference  to 
an  answer,  should  be  followed  by  the  note  of  exclamation  ;  as,  "  How  madly  have  I 
talked!"—  Young. 

"An  Author  !  'Tis  a  venerable  name  ! 
How  few  deserve  it,  and  what  numbers  claim  !  "  —  Id.  Br.  Po.  viii,  401. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 

PUXCTfATIOX.  —  ERRORS  CONCERNING  THE  ECPHONEME. 

:    LI:  I.  —  OF  IXTK.I:.;I:<  IIONS,  &c. 
(  1.  )  "  O  that  he  were  wise."—  /*/////'»«,  /-,".  GnNft.  p.  111. 

[FORMULA  —Not  proper,  1  -.ush.  introduced  by  "O,"  is  merely  marked  with  a  period.     Exit, 

acconli'  piiatic  Interjection*,  and  other  expressions  of  great  emotion,  arc 


.   the  note  of  exclamation."     Tii'Tcion-.  the  p:uis«  after  this  sentence,  should  be  marked 
with  the  laUi  r  sign  ;  and,  if  the  "  0  "  be  read  with  a  paur.-.  tin-  >ame  >inn  may  be  there  also.] 

(2.)  '«  O  th:it  his  heart  was  tender."—  i:.r,-r,  vV.v,  ib.  p.  111.     (3.)  "()/i,  what  a  sight  is 

here!"—/.  IS.     (1.)  "Oh!   what  a  si^ht  is  here."—  /**////«>/<*,  I'.   Gram,  p, 

71;  (Obs.  2;)P  .83.     (5.)  "  O  virtue  !  How  amiable  thou  art."—  Id.  ib.  p.  71; 

p.  82.     (6.)   ••  ()/•//•/«<•/  how  amiable  thou  art."  —  Day's  drain,  p.  109.     (7.)  "  O, 

virv.ue  !  how  amiable  thou  art."—  N.  rutnutn's  dram.  p.  53.     (8.)  "Oh!  virtue,  how  amiabte 

:  ".     p.)  "O  virtue  :  h  th.m 

1  1  had  been  more  dili^f  nt."—  fl 

',  M7.     .11.)   •  TowhL'h\:  I  u§."  —  Far 

.  .      ,  }lc  werc   niorc  jnuclent."  — 


772  THE   GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   IV. 

Gram.  p.  81.     (13.)  "Ah!  me." — P.  Davis's  Gram.  p.  79.     (14.)     "Ah  me  !  " — Ib.  p.  122. 
(15.)  "  Lately  alas  I  knew  a  gentle  boy,"  &c. —  The  Dial,  Vol.  i,  p.  71. 

(16.)  "  Wo  is  me  Alhama." — Wells' s  School  Gram.  1st  Ed.  p.  190. 

(17.)  "Wo  is  me,  Alhama."— Ibid.,  "  113th  Thousand,"  p.  206. 


UNDER  RULE  II. — OF  INVOCATIONS. 


"  Weep  on  the  rocks  of  roaring  winds,  O  maid  of  Inistore." — Kirkhams  Gram.  p.  131 ; 
Cooper's,  158. 

[FoRMCLE.— Not  proper,  because  the  emphatic  address  in  this  sentence,  is  marked  with  a  period  after  it.  But, 
according  to  Rule  2d  for  the  Ecphoneme,  "After  an  earnest  address  or  solemn  invocation,  the  note  of  exclama- 
tion is  now  generally  preferred  to  any  other  point."  Therefore,  this  period  should  be  changed  to  the  latter 
sign.] 

"  Cease  a  little  while,  O  wind  ;  stream,  be  thou  silent  a  while  ;  let  my  voice  be  heard 
around.     Let  my  wanderer  hear  me.     Salgar,  it  is  Colma  who  calls.     Here  is  the  tree,  and 
the  rock.     Salgar,  my  love,  I  am  here.     Why  delayest  thou  thy  coming  ?     Lo,  the  calm 
moon  comes  forth.     The  flood  is  bright  in  the  vale." — See  Key. 
"Ah,  stay  not,  stay  not,  guardless  and  alone  ; 
Hector,  my  lov'd,  my  dearest,  bravest  sou." — See  Key. 


.  113. 


UNDER  RULE  III.— EXCLAMATORY  QUESTIONS. 
"How  much  better  is  \visdom  than  gold." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  153  ;  Hiley,  p. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  this  exclamatory  sentence  is  pointed  with  a  period  at  the  end.  But,  accord- 
ing to  Rule  3d  for  the  Ecphoneme,  "Words  uttered  with  vehemence  in  the  form  of  a  question,  but  without 
reference  to  an  answer,  should  be  followed  by  the  note  of  exclamation."  Therefore,  this  period  should  be 
changed  to  the  latter  sign.] 

"  O  virtue  !  how  amiable  art  thou." — Flint's  Murray,  p.  51.  "At  that  hour,  O  how  vain 
was  all  sublunary  happiness." — Day's  Gram.  p.  74.  "Alas  !  how  few  and  transitory  are  the 
joys  which  this  world  affords  to  man." — Ib.  p.  12.  "  Oh  !  how  vain  and  transitory  are  all 
things  here  below." — Ib.  p.  110. 

"And  oh  !  what  change  of  state,  what  change  of  rank, 
In  that  assembly  everywhere  was  seen." — Day's  Gram.  p.  12. 
"And  O  !  what  change  of  state  !  what  change  of  rank  ! 
In  that  assembly  every  where  was  seen  !  "—Pollok,  B.  ix,  1.  781. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  OF  ERROR. 

"  O  shame  !  where  is  thy  blush." — S.  Barrett's  Principles  of  Language,  p.  86.  "  O  shawe, 
where  is  thy  blush ;  John,  give  me  my  hat." — Ib.  p.  98.  "What!  is  Moscow  in  flames." 
•< — Ib.  p.  86.  "Ah  !  what  happiness  awaits  the  virtuous." — Ib.  86. 

"Ah  welladay, — do  what  we  can  for  him,  said  Trim,  maintaining  his  point, — the  poor 
soul  will  die." — STERNE  :  Bitfield's  Speaker,  p.  306.  "A  well  o'day  !  do  what  we  can  for 
him,  said  Trim,  maintaining  his  point :  the  poor  soul  will  die." — Kirkhams  Elocution,  p.  340. 

"  Will  John  return  to-morrow."— S.  Barrett's  Gram.,  Tenth  Ed.,  p.  55.  "Will  not  John 
return  to-morrow." — Ib.  55.  "John!  return  to-morrow;  Soldiers!  stand  firm." — Ib.  55. 
"  If  mea  which  means  my  is  an  adjective  in  Latin,  why  may  not  my  be  so  called  in  English, 
and  if  my  is  an  adjective,  why  not  Barrett's  " — Ib.  p.  50. 

"Oh?  Absalom,  my  son." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  375.  "Oh!  STAR-EYED  SCIENCE!! 
whither  hast  thou  fled  ? " — Ib.  p.  366.  "  Why  do  you  tolerate  your  own  inconsistency,  by 
calling  it  the  present  tense  !" — Ib.  p.  360.  "Thus  the  declarative  mode  may  be  used  in 
asking  a  question  ;  as,  what  man  is  frail." — Ib.  p.  358.  "  What  connexion  has  motive  wish, 
or  supposition,  with  the  term  subjunctive!" — Ib.  p.  348.  "A  grand  reason,  truly  !  for 
calling  it  a  golden  key." — Ib.  p.  347.  "  What  '  suffering  '  !  the  man  who  can  say  this,  must 
be '  enduring.'  " — Ib.  p.  345.  "  What  is  Brown's  Rule  !  in  relation  to  this  matter  ? " — Ib.  p.  334. 

" Alas!  how  short  is  life."  "Thomas,  study  your  book." — Day's  District  School  Gram.  p. 
109.  "As,  «  alas  !  how  short  is  life  ;  Thomas,  study  your  book.'  " — Ib.  p.  82.  "  Who  can  tell 
us  who  they  are." — Sanborn's  Gram.  p.  178.  "  Lord  have  mercy  on  my  son ;  for  he  is  a 
lunatic,  etc."— Feftow'a  Gram.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  138  ;  Ster.  Ed.,  140.  "  0,  ye  wild  groves,  O,  where 
is  now  your  bloom  !  " — Ib.  p.  88  ;  Ster.  Ed.,  91. 

"  O  who  of  man  the  story  will  unfold  !  " — Farnum's  Gr.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  104. 
"  Methought  I  heard  Horatio  say  to-morrow. 

Go  to  I  will  not  hear  of  it — to-morrow."— Hallock's  Gr.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  221. 
"  How  his  eyes  languish  ?  how  his  thoughts  adore 
That  painted  coat  which  Joseph  never  wore  ?  " — Love  of  Fame,  p.  66. 

SECTION  VIII.  —  THE  CURVES. 

The  Curves,  or  Marks  of  Parenthesis,  are  used  to  distinguish  a  clause  or 
hint  that  is  hastily  thrown  in  between  the  parts  of  a  sentence  to  which  it  does 


CHAP.    I.]         PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. THE    CURVES. RULES. ERRORS.  773 

not  properly  belong ;  as,  "  Their  enemies  (and  enemies  they  will   always 
have)  would  have  a  handle  for  exposing  their  measures." — Walpole. 
"  To  others  do  (the  law  is  not  severe) 
What  to  thyself  thou  wishest  to  be  done." — Beattie. 

OBS. — The  incidental  clause  should  be  uttered  in  a  lower  tone,  and  faster,  than  the  principal 
sentence.  It  always  requires  a  pause  as  great  as  that  of  a  comma,  or  greater. 

RULE  I. — THE  PARENTHESIS. 

A  clause  that  breaks  the  unity  of  a  sentence  or  passage  too  much  to  be  incorporated 
with  it,  and  only  such,  should  be  enclosed  within  curves,  as  a  parenthesis;  as,  "  For 
I  know  that  in  me,  (that  is,  in  my  flesh,)  dwelleth  no  good  thing." — Rom.  vii,  18. 
"  Know  then  this  truth,  (enough  for  man  to  know,) 
Virtue  alone  is  happiness  below." — Pope. 

RULE  II. — INCLUDED  POINTS. 

The  curves  do  not  supersede  other  stops  ;  and,  as  the  parenthesis  terminates  with  a 
pause  equal  to  that  which  precedes  it,  the  same  point  should  be  included,  except  when 
the  sentences  differ  in  form  :  as,  1.  **  Now,  for  a  recompense  in  the  same,  (I  speak 
as  unto  my  children,)  be  ye  also  enlarged." — 2  Cor.  vi,  13. 

2.  "  Man's  thirst  of  happiness  declares  it  is  : 

(For  nature  never  gravitates  to  nought :) 

That  thirst  unquench'd,  declares  it  is  not  here." — Young. 

3.  "  Night  visions  may  befriend  :   (as  sung  above  :) 

Our  waking  dreams  are  fatal.  How  I  dreamt 
( )f  things  impossible  !  (could  sleep  do  more  V) 
Of  joys  perpetual  in  perpetual  change  !  " — Young. 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  PUNCTUATION.— ERRORS  CONCERNING  THE  CURVES. 

UMH.H  RULE  I. — OF  THE  PARENTHESIS. 

"Another  is  composed  of  the  indefinite  article  an,  which  etymologic  ally  means  one  and 
ot/i-r,  and  denotes  one  other" — Hallock's  Gram.  p.  63. 

[!•'..' RMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  parenthetic  expression,  "  which  etymologically  means  on?,"  is  not suffi- 

"1  from  the  rest  of  the  passage.     But,  according  to  Rule  1st  for  the   Curves,   '•  A  clause  that 

ii«-  unity  of  a  sentence  or  passage  too  much  to  be  incorporated  with  it,  and  only  such,  should  be  enclosed 

within  curves,  as  a  p-inMithi?sis.v     Therefore,  the  curves  should  be  here  inserted;   and  also,  by  llule  2d,  a 

comma  at  the  word  one.] 

"Each  mood  has  its  peculiar  Tense,  Tenses  (or  Times)." — Bucke's  Gram.  p.  58. 

[FORMULE. — Not  proper,  because  the  expression.  "  or  Times,"  which  has  not  the  nature  of  a  parenthesis,  is 
hen;  marked  with  curves.  But,  according  to  Rule  1st  for  the  Curves,  UA  clause  that  breaks  the  unity  of  a 
sentence  or  passage  too  much  to  be  incorporated  with  it,  and  only  such,  should  be  enclosed  within  curves,  as  a 
parenthesis."  Therefore,  these  marks  should  be  omitted  ;  and  a  comma  should  be  set  after  the  word  "  2\nses," 
by  llule  3d.] 

"  In  some  very  ancient  languages,  as  the  Hebrew,  which  have  been  employed  chiefly  for 
plain  sentiments  in  the  plainest  manner,  without  aiming  at  any  elaborate  length 
or  harmony  of  periods,  this  pronoun  [the  relative]  occurs  not  so  often." — L.  Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  p.  127. 

'•  Before  I  shall  say  those  Things,  (O  conscript  Fathers)  about  the  Public  Affairs,  which 
')(•  spoken  at  this  Time  ;   I  shall  lay  before  you,  in  few  Words,   the  Motives  of  the 
Journey,  and  the  Return." — BrigAiltl&f*  (Innn.  p.  149. 

"  Of  well-chose  Words  some  take  not  care  enough, 

And  think  they  sliou'd  be  (like  the  Subject)  rough." — Ib.  p.  173. 
"Then,  having  shewed  his  wounds,  he  d  sit  (him)  down." — Bullions,  E.  Gr.  p.  32. 

I'XDKII  Rn.K  II.— Or  IXCLUDKD  POINTS. 

"  Then  Jael  smote  the  Nail  into  his  Temples,  and  fastened  it  to  the  Ground :  (for  he  was 
fast  asleep,  and  weary)  so  he  died.  OLD  TKST." — W~<ini'.s  (ira/n.  p.  17. 

[FoRMfLE.— Not  proper,  l.«»-:mse  this  pnroi,  marked  as  terminating  with  a  pause  equal  to  that 

which  prece  !••  .  <  Mr.lin^  to  link-  1M  ;ilmve.  -The  curves  do  not  supersede  other  stops;  and,  as  the 

parenthesis  terminates  with  a  pause  equal  to  that  which  precedes  it,  the  same  point  should  be  included,  except 
whe  i  the  sentences  differ  in  form."  Therefore,  a  colon  shonll  he  inserted  within  the  curve  after  weary.] 

"  Every  thing  in  the  Iliad  has  manners  (as  Aristotle  expresses  it)  that  is,  every  thing  is 
acted  or  spoken." — Pope,  Pref.  to  //<//mr,  p.  vi. 

"Those  nouns,  that  end  in/,  orfe  (except  some  few  I  shall  mention  presently),  form 
plu:-als  by  changing  those  letters  into  ves  :  as,  thief,  thieves ;  wife,  wiccs." — Bucke'sGram.  p.  35. 


774  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

"As,  requires  as;  (expressing  equality)  Mine  is  as  good  as  yours.     As, so  ;  (express- 
ing equality)  As  the  stars,  so  shall  thy  seed  be.     So, as;  (with  a  negative  expressing 

inequality)  He  is  not  so  wise  as  his  brother.     So, that ;  (expressing  consequence)  I  am 

so  weak  that  I  cannot  walk." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  113  ;  Pract.  Les.  p.  112. 
"A  captious  question,  sir  (and  yours  is  one,) 
Deserves  an  answer  similar,  or  none." — Coicper,  ii,  228. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  OF  ERROR. 

"  Whatever  words  the  verb  TO  BE  serves  to  unite  referring  to  the  same  thing,  must  be  of 
the  same  case ;  §  61,  as,  Alexander  is  a  student." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  75.  "When  the 
objective  is  a  relative  or  interrogative,  it  comes  before  the  verb  that  governs  it.  §  40,  R.  9. 
(Murray's  6th  rule  is  unnecessary.)" — Id.  ib.  p.  90.  "It  is  generally  improper  (except  in 
poetry,)  to  omit  the  antecedent  to  a  relative ;  and  always  to  omit  a  relative  when  of  the 
nominative  case." — Id.  ib.  p.  130.  "  In  every  sentence  there  must  be  a  verb  and  a  nomina- 
tire  (or  subject)  expressed  or  understood." — Id.ib.p.87;  Pract.  Lessons,  p.  91.  "Nouns 
and  pronouns,  and  especially  words  denoting  time,  are  often  governed  by  prepositions  un- 
derstood ;  or  are  used  to  restrict  verbs  or  adjectives  without  a  governing  word,  §  50.  Rem. 
6  and  Rule  ;  as,  He  gave  (to)  me  a  full  account  of  the  whole  affair." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p. 
80.  "  When  should  is  used  instead  of  ought,  to  express  present  duty,  §  20,  4,  it  maybe  fol- 
lowed by  the  present ;  as,  "  You  should  study  that  you  may  become  learned." — Id.  ib.  p. 
123.  "  The  indicative  present  is  frequently  used  after  the  words,  ivhen,  till,  before,  as  toon 
as,  after,  to  express  the  relative  time  of  a  future  action ;  (§  24,  I,  4,)  as,  «  When  he  comes, 
lie  will  be  welcome.'  " — Id.  ib.  p.  124.  "  The  relative  is  parsed  by  stating  its  gender,  num- 
ber, case,  and  antecedent,  (the  gender  and  number  being  always  the  same  as  those  of  the 
antecedent)  thus,  'The  boy  who.'  'TFAo'  is  a  relative  pronoun,  masculine,  singular,  the 
nominative,  and  refers  to  '  boy  '  as  its  antecedent." — Bullions,  Pract.  Les.  p.  31. 
"  Now,  now  I  seize,  I  clasp  thy  charms, 

And  now  you  burst ;  ah  !  cruel  from  my  arms. 

Here  is  an  unnecessary  change  from  the  second  person  singular  to  the  second  plural.     It 
would  have  been  better,  thus, 

Now,  now  I  seize,  I  clasp  your  charms, 

And  now  you  burst ;  ah  !  cruel  from  my  arms." — J.  Burn's  Gram.  p.  193. 

SECTION  IX.  — THE  OTHER  MARKS. 

There  are  also  several  other  marks,  which  are  occasionally  used  for  various 
purposes,  as  follow  : — 

I.  [']  The  APOSTROPHE  usually  denotes  either  the  possessive  case  of  a  noun,  or  the 
elision  of  one  or  more  letters  of  a  word  :  as,   "  The  girl's  regard  to  her  parents'  ad- 
vice ;  " — 'gan,  lov'd,  e'en,  thro';   for  began,  loved,  even,  through.     It  is  sometimes 
used  in  pluralizing  a  mere  letter  or  sign ;  as,  Two  a's — three  6Y* 

II.  [-]  The  HYPHEN  connects  the  parts  of  many  compound  words,  especially  such 
as  have  two  accents ;  as,  ever-living.      It  is  also  frequently  inserted  where  a  word  is 
divided  into  syllables ;  as,  con-tem-plate.     Placed  at  the  end  of  a  line,  it  shows  that 
one  or  more  syllables  of  a  word  are  carried  forward  to  the  next  line. 

III.  ["]  The  DIJBRESIS,  or  DIALYSIS,  placed  over  either  of  two  contiguous  vowels, 
shows  that  they  are  not  a  diphthong ;  as,  Danae,  aerial. 

IV.  [']  The  ACUTE  ACCENT  marks  the  syllable  which  requires  the  principal  stress 
in  pronunciation  ;  as,  e'qual,  equality.     It  is  sometimes  used  in  opposition  to  the  grave 
accent,  to  distinguish  a  close  or  short  vowel ;  as,   "-Fancy:  "  (Murray :)  or  to  de- 
note the  rising  inflection  of  the  voice  ;  as,  "  Is  it  he  ?  " 

V.  [v]  The  GRAVE  ACCENT  is  used  in  opposition  to  the  acute,  to  distinguish  an 
open  or  long  vowel ;  as,   "Favour:  "  (Murray :)  or  to  denote  the  falling  inflection 
of  the  voice  ;  as,  "  Yes;  it  is  he"     It  is  sometimes  placed  over  a  vowel  to  show  that 
it  is  not  to  be  suppressed  in  pronunciation  ;  as, 

"  Let  me,  though  in  humble  speech, 
Thy  refined  maxims  teach." — Amer.  Review,  May,  1848. 

*  In  the  -works  of  some  of  our  older  poets,  the  apostrophe  is  sometimes  irregularly  inserted,  and  perhaps 
needlessly,  to  mark  a  prosodial  synaeresis.  or  synalepha,  where  no  letter  is  cut  off  or  left  out ;  as, 
"  Retire,  or  taste  thy  folhj',  and  learn  by  proof, 

Hell-born,  not  to  contend  with  spirits  of  Heaven."— Milton,  P.  L.,  ii,  686. 

In  the  following  example,  it  seems  to  denote  nothing  more  than  the  open  or  long  sound  of  the  preceding 
TOwel  e : 

"  That  sleep  and  feeding  may  prorogue  his  honour, 
Even  till  a  letke^d  dulness." — Singer's  Shakspeare,  ii,  p.  280. 


CHAP.    I.]  PROSODY.  -  PUNCTUATION.  -  OTJIKR    MARKS.  775 

VI.  [A]  The  CIRCUMFLEX  generally  denotes  either  the  broad  sound  of  a  or  an 
unusual  sound  given  to  some  other  vowel  ;  as  in  nil,  ht-ir,  tmtrh'tne.  Some  use  it  to 
mark  a  peculiar  wave  of  the  voice,  and  when  occasion  requires,  reverse  it;  as,  "  If 
you  said  so,  then  I  said  so." 

\\l.  [~j  The  BREVE,  or  STENOTONE,  is  used  to  denote  either  the  close,  short,  shut 
sound  of  a  vowel,  or  a  syllable  of  short  quantity  ;  as,  live,  to  have  life  —  ruv'en,  to 
devour*  —  calamus,  a  reed. 

VIII.  [~]  The  MACRON,  or  MACEOtOHK.f  is,  used  to  denote  either  the  open,  long, 
primal  sound  of  a  vowel,  or  a  syllable  of  long  quantity  ;  as,  live,  having  life  —  ra'ven, 
a  bird  —  ?'(/n7ne,  of  a  horse 

IX.  [  -  ]  or  [*  *  *  *]  or  [.  .  .  .]  The  ELLIPSIS,  or  SUPPRESSION,  denotes  the 
omis'ion  of  some  letters  or  words  :  as,  K  —  //,  for  King  ;  c****d,  for  coward;  d....d, 
for  fJmnneil. 

X.  [A]  The  CARET,  used  only  in  writing,  shows  where  to  insert  words  or  letters 
that  have  been  accidentally  omitted. 

XL   [,^-^^s]  The  BRACE  serves  to  unite  a  triplet  ;  or,  more  frequently,  to  connect 
il  terms  with  something  to  which  they  are  all  related. 

XII.  [§]  The  SECTION  marks  the  smaller  divisions  of  a  book  or  chapter;  and, 
with  the  help  of  numbers,  serves  to  abridge  references. 

XIII.  [1f]  The  PARAGRAPH  (chiefly  used  in  the  Bible)  denotes  the  commencement 
of  a  new  subject.     The  parts  of  discourse  which  are  called  paragraphs,  are,  in  general, 
sufficiently   distinguished    by  beginning   a   new    line,  and   carrying   the   first  word 
a  little  forwards  or  backwards.     The  paragraphs  of  books  being  in  some  instances 
numbered,  this  character  may  occasionally  be  used,  in  lieu  of  the  word  paragraph,  to 
shorten  referei: 

XIV.  ["  "]  The  GUILLEMKTS  or  QUOTATION  POINTS,  distinguish  words  that  are 
exhibited  as  those  of  an  other  author  or  speaker.       A  quotation  within  a  quotation  is 
usually  marked  with  single  points;  which,  when  both  are  employed,  are  placed  within 
the  others  :  as,  "And  again  he  saith,    *  Rejoice,  ye   Gentiles,  with  his  people.'  "  — 
Rom.  xv,  10. 

X  V  ".   [  []  ]  The  CROTCHETS,  or  BRACKETS,  generally  inclose  some  correction  or  ex- 
planation, but  sometimes  the  sign  or  subject  to  be  explained  ;  as,  "  He  [Mr.  Maurice] 
•fa,  different  opinion."  —  Allen  's  Gram.  p.  213. 

XVI.  [giT]  The  INDEX,  or  HAND,  points  out  something  remarkable,  or  what  the 
reader  should  particularly  observe. 

XVII.  [*]  The  ASTERISK,  or  STAR,  [t]  the  ORKLTSK,  or  DAGGER,  [j]  the  DIESIS,  or 
Docuu:  I>A-:I;EU,  and  [||]  the  PARALLELS,  refer  to  marginal  notes.      The  SECTION  also 
[§J,  and  the  PARAGRAPH  [1i],  are  often  used  for  marks  of  reference,  the  former  being 
usually  applied  to  the  fourth,  and  the  latter  to  the  sixth  note  on  a  page  ;  for,  by  the  usage 

*  The  breve   is  properly  a  mark  of  short  quantity,  only  when  it  is  set  over  an  unaccented  syllable  or  an 
nnemph  me  \-  i<  it  often  i*  in  the  seannine  of  vcrs«-s.     In  tin-  examples  above.  ir  marks  the  close  or 
short  power  of  fh««"roir»/.«:  but,  \mntr  the  arrmt.  ev.-n  thi<  power  may  be<  .....  le  part  of  a  lotig  .\yllabfe;  as  it  does 
in  the  word  r  '>-''n.  where  the  s\  liable  nn-.  having  twice  'lie  I'-ii-th  of  that  which  follows,  must  be  reckoned  long. 
In  poetry,  r.  r-m  and  r  \-vei\  ;ire  both  trt>rfi'<x,  the  former  ^liable  in  each  beiiii;  loiiu'-  and  the  latter  short. 

*  1.  The  signs  of  long  and  ibori  !lv  of  the  former,  have  been  singularly  slow  in  acquiring 
apoio/r                          T  HTIV  app''l!.viv.->  -uir.-d  to  their  nature,  or  Midi  ;is  rouM  obtain  the  sanction  of 

u.-e.     T:.e  i  i  the  French  '/.-/I-',  (which  latter  \v..r  1  came.  ti.ouhti.s-.  originally  from  the  neuter  of 

th<    Latin  adj  ihorL)il  nou  •!!>•  applied  to  the  one;  and  the  Greek  term  macron,  long, 

(tL-K)  Originally  :i  neu>r  adjcc-jvc.)  is  perhaps  as  common  ;is  any  name  for  the  other.     15  ut  these  are  not  quite 
•O  well  adapted  to  each  othi-r,  find  to  the  things  naine.l.  a.s  ar^  tin-  -  led  above. 

'-'.  'I  i  .me  I  in  our  L'rammars  under  various  name-*,  and  often  very  unfit  ones,  to  pay  the 

lea^t;  and.  in  nianv  inst,in  L  in  >ome  way,  awkwardh   «;  '.'el.  without  any  attempt  to  name  them, 

or  more  than  one.  if  either.     The  Kev.  T.  Smi  iM'j  Mi'mn/,  p.  72. 

('hurcliill  calls  them  ••  l  he  !"»^  '   and  the  *li»rt  \~(\.     (Jould  calls  them    '-a  horizontal 

lii]"".uil   ••  a  curved  line."—  (ioul'i's  A>/"t>i\i  (irnn.p.'.i.     Cnar  >;»\  •=.  '•  Qiianiitv  i-.  distinguished  by  the  char- 

j,  lie  calls  them,  ^A  long 
'  "  ' 


syl'abl'  '  ."  in.  I  "A  short  tyUable  ."-  •  ills  them  "  the  ton*  fmnul.1'  and 

"  tbe  brn-f  or  s/iort  touri'/."  —  (irnrn.  p.  I'"i7.  W.  Allen  sax  s,  ••  Thr  l<»ix  u,l/nf./,-  mark.  ("  )  and  the  br,\-(,  or  short- 

mark.  ('  )  deiiote  Mie  qur  j.-ally  employ  \-<{."  —Grnm.   p    'Jl/i.     Some  call  them,  "the 

.in  I  "the   >  'l!ii-  iian.in^  >•  ems  to  coi,  found  accent 

with  :{  -  .......  ,  the   Mirrnn  MM,  p.  137;  by  £ullions, 

p.  l.'T  ;  bv    lli'.,,.]>    rj:;:  by    Kail'  r.  p.  'Jl  .*.      S.  n:e  call   it  "a  small  dash:"  ns  d-  .  -  Hilry, 

•    is   ab-urdly  named  ••  If:  >  :,>  n  ;  "  as  bv  n>irltnnnn.  p.  \>'-'l;  by  A  Idrn,  p.  1'^:   by   C/imirtlfr, 

18P  ;  by  Pn'ker  un/l  F<>r.'\\\,'3>\;  by  ./  -  ;  n   enlls  it  "the   Intjik-n.  or   inncron  "—  Analyl.  Gr. 

Manv,  \\lio  n.ime  i:  Dot,  introduce  ir  to  their  r.  or  "Mm-;"  as  do  Alger,  Elair, 

Dr  Adam  ,  Comly,  Cooper,  Ingersoll,  L.  Murray,  Sanders,  Wright',  and  others  ! 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IT. 

of  printers,  these  signs  are  now  commonly  introduced  in  the  following  order  :  1  *,  2  f , 
3  I,  4  §,  5  ||,  6  IT,  7  **,  8  |t»  &c-  Where  many  references  are  to  be  made,  the 
small  letters  of  the  alphabet,  or  the  numerical  figures ,  in  their  order,  may  be  conve- 
niently used  for  the  same  purpose. 

XVIII.  [%*]  The  ASTERISM,  or  THE  THKEE  STARS,  a  sign  not  very  often  used,  is 
placed  before  a  long  note,  without  a  particular  reference. 

XIX.  [  t~\  The  CEDILLA  is  a  mark  borrowed  from  the  French,  by  whom  it  is  placed 
under  the  letter  c,  to  give  it  the  sound  of  s  before  a  or  o  ;  as  in  the  words,  "  facade, " 
"Alencon."      In  Worcester's  Dictionary,  it  is  attached  to  three  other  letters,  to  de- 
note their  soft  sounds  :  viz.,  "  (^  as  J;  §  as  Z  ;  x  as  gz." 

KIT5"  [Oral  exercises  in  punctuation  should  not  be  confined  to  the  correction  of  errors.  An  application  of  its 
principles  to  points  rightly  inserted,  is  as  easy  a  process  as  that  of  ordinary  syntactical  parsing,  and  perhaps  as 
useful.  For  this  purpose,  the  teacher  may  select  a  portion  of  this  grammar,  or  of  any  well-pointed  book,  to 
which  the  foregoing  rules  and  explanations  may  be  applied  by  the  pupil,  as  reasons  for  the  points  that  occur.] 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION. 
FALSE  PUNCTUATION.  — MIXED  EXAMPLES  OF  ERROR. 

"  The  principal  stops  are  the  following  : — 

The  Comma  (,)  the  semicolon  (;)  the  colon  (:)  the  period,  or  full  stop  (.)  the  note  of  in- 
terrogation (?)  the  note  of  exclamation  (!)  the  parenthesis  ()  and  the  dash  ( — )  [.]  " — 
Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  151 ;  Pract.  Les.  p.  127.  "The  modern  punctuation  in  Latin  is  the 
same  as  in  English.  The  marks  employed,  are  the  Comma  (,)  ;  Semicolon  (;)  ;  Colon  (:); 
Period  (.)  ;  Interrogation  (?)  ;  Exclamation  (!)." — Bullions,  Lat.  Gram.  p.  3. 

"  Plato  reproving  a  young  man  for  playing  at  some  childish  game ;  you  chide  me,  says 
the  youth,  for  a  trifling  fault.  Custom,  replied  the  philosopher,  is  no  trifle.  And,  adds 
Montagnie,  he  was  in  the  right;  for  our  vices  begin  in  infancy." — Home's  Art  of  Thinking, 
(N.  Y.  1818,)  p.  54. 

"A  merchant  at  sea  asked  the  skipper  what  death  his  father  died  ?  '  My  father,'  says  the 
skipper,  my  grandfather,  and  my  great-grandfather,  were  all  drowned.  '  Well,'  replies  tlie 
merchant,  and  are  not  you  afraid  of  being  drowned  too  ? '  " — Ib.  p.  135. 

"  The  use  of  inverted  comma's  derives  from  France,  where  one  Guillemot  was  the  author 
of  them;  [and]  as  an  acknowledgement  for  the  improvement  his  countrymen  call  them 
after  his  name  GUILLEMETS." — History  of  Printing,  (London,  1770,)  p.  266. 

"  This,  however,  is  seldom  if  ever  done  unless  the  word  following  the  possessive  begins 
with  s  •  thus  we  do  not  say,  '  the  prince'  feather,'  but,  '  the  prince's  feather.'  " — Bullions, 
E.  Gram.  p.  17.  "And  this  phrase  must  mean  the  feather  of  the  prince  but  princesfeati',er 
written  as  one  word  is  the  name  of  a  plant :  a  species  of  amaranth." — See  Key. 

"  Boethius  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of  obtaining  the  highest  honour  his  country  could 
bestow." — Ingersoll's  Gram.  12mo,  p.  279.  "Boethius  soon  had,"  &c. — Murray's  Gram. 
8vo,  Vol.  ii,  p.  83. 

"  When  an  example,  a  quotation,  or  a  speech  is  inti-oduced,  it  is  separated  from  the  rest 
of  the  sentence  either  by  a  semicolon  or  a  colon  ;  as,  '  The  scriptures  give  us  an  amiable  repre- 
sentation of  the  Deity,  in  these  words;  God  is  love.'  " — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  116.  "Either  the 
colon  or  semicolon  may  be  used  when  an  example,  a  quotation,  or  a  speech  is  introduced ; 
as,  'Always  remember  this  ancient  maxim;  Know  thyself.'  'The  scriptures  give  us  an 
amiable  representation  of  the  Deity,  in  these  words  :  God  is  love. '  " — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  155. 

"The  first  word  of  a  quotation,  introduced  after  a  colon  [,  must  begin  with  a  capital]  ; 
as,  always  remember  this  ancient  maxim  :  'Know  thyself.'  " — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  159  ; 
Lennies  Gram.  p.  106.  [Lennie  has  "Always"  with  a  capital.]  "The  first  word  of  a 
quotation,  introduced  after  a  colon,  or  when  it  is  in  a  direct  form  :  as,  'Always  remember  this 
ancient  maxim  :  Know  thyself.'  '  Our  great  lawgiver  says,  Take  up  thy  cross  daily,  and 
follow  me.'  " — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  284.  "  8.  The  first  word  of  a  quotation,  introduced 
after  a  colon,  or  when  it  is  in  a  direct  form.  EXAMPLES. — 'Always  remember  this  ancient 
maxim, '  Know  thyself.' '  '  Our  great  Lawgiver  says,  Take  up  thy  cross  daily,  and  follow 
me. '  " — Weld's  Gram.  Abridged,  p.  17. 

"  Tell  me  in  whose  house  do  you  live." — N.  Butter's  Gram.  p.  55.  "  He,  that  acts  wisely, 
deserves  praise." — Ib.  p.  50.  "He,  who  steals  my  purse,  steals  trash." — Ib  p.  51.  "  The 
antecedent  is  sometimes  omitted,  as,  '  Who  steals  my  purse,  steals  trash ; '  that  is,  he  who, 
or  the  person  who." — Ib.  p.  51.  "  Thus,  '  Whoever  steals  my  purse  steals  trash  ; '  '  Who- 
ever does  no  good  docs  harm.'" — Ib.  p.  53.  "Thus,  'Whoever  sins  will  suffer.'  This 
means  that  any  one  without  exception  who  sins  will  suffer." — Ib.  53. 

"  Letters  form  syllables,  syllables  words,  words  sentences,  and  sentences,  combined  and 
connected  form  discourse." — Cooper  s  Plain  and  Practical  Gram.  p.  1.  "A  letter,  which 
forms  a  perfect  sound,  when  uttered  by  itself,  is  called  a  vowel,  as  :  a,  e,  i." — Ib.  p.  1.  "A 
proper  noun  is  the  name  of  an  individual,  as  :  John ;  Boston  :  Hudson  ;  America." — Ib.  p.  17. 

"  Many  men  have  been  capable  of  doing  a  wise  thing,  more  a  cunning  thing,  but  very  few 


CHAP.  I.]  PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. ERROR8. BAD    ENGLISH.  777 

a  generous  thing." — P.  Darin' a  Gram.  p.  96.  "  In  the  place  of  an  ellipsis  of  the  verb  a 
comma  must  be  inserted." — Ib.  p.  121.  "A  common  noun  unlimited  by  an  article  is  some- 
times understood  in  its  broadest  acceptation  :  thus,  'Fishes  swim'  is  undersood  to  mean  all 
fishes.  '3/an  is  mortal,'  all  men." — Ib.  p.  13. 

"  Thus  those  sounds  formed  principally  by  the  throat  are  called  gutturals.  Those  formed 
principally  by  the  palate  are  called  palatals.  Those  formed  by  the  teeth,  denials — those  by 
the  lips,  labials — those  by  the  nose,  nasals,  &c." — P.  Dai- in' s  Gram.  p.  13.  "  Some  adjectives 
are  compared  irregularly  ;  as,  Good,  better,  best.  Bad,  worse,  worst.  Little,  less,  least." — Pel- 
ton's  Gram.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  63  ;  Ster.  Ed.,  p.  66. 

"  Under  the  fourth  head  of  grammar,  therefore,  four  topics  will  be  considered,  viz.  PUNC- 
TUATION, ORTHOEPY,  FIGURES,  and  VERSIFICATION-." — Hart's  Gram.  p.  161. 
«'  Direct  her  onward  to  that  peaceful  shore, 
Where  peril,  pain  and  death  are  felt  no  more  !  " 

Falconer's  Poems,  p.  136  :  Barrett's  New  Gram.  94. 

BAD  ENGLISH  BADLY  POINTED. 
LESSON  I.— UNDER  VARIOUS  RULES. 

"  Discoveries  of  such  a  character  are  sometimes  made  in  grammar  also,  and  such,  too,  is 
often  their  origin  and  their  end." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  191. 

"Trarerse,  (to  cross.)  To  deny  what  the  opposite  party  has  alleged.  To  traverse  an 
indictment,  &c.  is  to  deny  it." — Id.  ib.  p.  216. 

"  The  Ordinal  [numerals]  denote  the  order  or  succession  in  which  any  number  of  persons 
or  things  is  mentioned,  as  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  £c." — Hilcy's  Gram.  p.  22. 

"  Nouns  have  three  persons,  FIRST,  SECOND,  and  THIRD.  The  First  person  is  the  speaker, 
the  Second  is  the  one  spoken  to,  the  Third  is  the  one  spoken  of"— Hart's  Gram.  p.  1  f. 

"  Nouns  have  three  cases,  NOMINATIVE,  PI»SK>SIVK,  and  OBJECTIVE.  The  relation  indi- 
cated by  the  case  of  a  noun  includes  three  ideas,  viz :  those  of  subject,  object,  and  ownership." 
— //;.  p.  45. 

"  In  speaking  of  animals  that  are  of  inferior  size,  or  whose  sex  is  not  known  or  not 
regarded,  they  are  often  considered  as  without  sex  :  thus,  we  say  of  a  cat  'it  is  treacherous/ 
of  :m  infant  '  //  is  beautiful,'  of  a  dw  '  it  was  killed.'  " — Ib.  p.  3*9. 

"  When  this  or  these,  that  or  those,  refers  to  a  preceding  sentence  ;  this,  or  these,  refers  to 
the  latter  member  or  term ;  that,  or  those,  to  the  former." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  136;  see 
Loicth's  Gram.  p.  102. 

"  The  roaring  of  them  [i.  e.  of  plants]  became  his  first  care,  their  fruit  his  first  food,  and 
marking  their  kinds  his  first  knowledge." — N.  Butler's  Gram.  p.  44. 

"After  the  period  used  with  abbreviations  we  should  employ  other  points,  if  the  con- 
struction demands  it ;  thus,  after  Esq.  in  the  last  example,  there  should  be,  besides  a  period, 
a  comma." — Ib.  p.  LMJ. 

"  In  the  plural,  the  verb  is  the  same  in  all  the  persons  ;  and  hence  the  principle  in  Rem. 
5,  under  Kule  iii.  [that  the  first  or  second  person  takes  precedence,]  is  not  applicable  to 
verbs." — Ib.  p.  158. 

"  Hex  and  Tyrannus  are  of  very  different  characters.  The  one  rules  his  people  by  laws 
to  which  they  consent;  the  other,  by  his  absolute  will  and  power:  that  is  called  freedom, 
<///*,  tyranny." — Murr  -  vo,  p.  190. 

noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  which  can  be  known,  or  mentioned, 
as:  (Jeorgo;  London ;  America  ;  goodness;  charity."—  Coi>jn-rx  Plain  A  1'nni.  Gram.  p.  17. 

"Etymology  treats  of  the  classification  of  words  ;  their  various  modifications  andderiva- 
— Day's  School  Gram.  p.  9. 

"  To  punctuate  correctly  implies  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  meaning  of  words 

and  phrases,  as  well  as  of  all  their  corresponding  connexions." —  IT.  Day's  Puix-tnufi  >n,  p.  31. 

hieh  belong  to  neither  the  male  nor  female  kind  are  called  neuter." — Weld's 

..  _d  I-M.,  ]>.  .07.     "All  objects,  which  belong  to  neither  the  male  nor  female  kind,  are 

said  to  be  of  the  neuter  gender." — If'«7//'.v  Gram.  p.  51. 

"The  Analysis  of  the.  Sounds  in  the  English  language  presented  in  the  preceding  state- 
ments are  suHiciently  exact  for  the  purpose  in  hand.     Those  who  wish  to  pursue  it  further 
can  consult  Dr.  Rush's   admirable  work,  'The  Philosophy  of  the  Human  Voice.'" — Fow- 
,i.  ls.">o,  \  <;.).     «« Nobody  confounds  the  name  of  w  or  y  with  their  sound  or 
phonetic  import." — H>. 

•'  Order  is  Heaven's  first  law  ;  and  this  confest. 
Some  are  and  must  be  greater  than  the  rest." — Ib.  p.  96. 

LESSON-  II.— I'M. i  u  V.vuiors  Ki  LES. 

"  In  adjectives  of  one  syllable,  the  Comparative  is  formed  by  adding — cr  to  the  positive; 
and  the  Superlative  by  adding — cst ;  as,  sweet,  sicectcr,  sirectcst." — Bullions,  Prin  of  E. 

:>.  19. 

"  In  monosyllables  the  comparative  is  formed  by  adding  er  or  r  to  the  positive,  and  the 
superlative  by  adding  est  or  st ;  as,  tall,  taller,  tallest ;  wise,  wiser,  icisest." — Id.  Pract.  Les.  p.  1M. 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [FART  IV. 

"  By  this  method  the  confusion  and  unnecessary  labor  occasioned  by  studying  grammars, 
in  these  languages,  constructed  on  different  principles  is  avoided,  the  study  of  one  is  ren- 
dered a  profitable  introduction  to  the  study  of  another,  and  an  opportunity  is  furnished  to 
the  enquiring  student  of  comparing  the  languages  in  their  grammatical  structure,  and  see- 
ing at  once  wherein  they  agree,  and  wherein  they  differ." — Bullions,  Prin.  of  E.  Gram., 
Pref.  to  oth  Ed.,  p.  vii. 

"  No  larger  portion  should  be  assigned  for  each  recitation  than  the  class  can  easily  mas- 
ter, and  till  this  is  done,  a  new  portion  should  not  be  given  out." — Id.  ib.  p.  viii.  "  The 
acquisitions  made  in  every  new  lesson  should  be  rivetted  and  secured  by  repeated  revisais." 
— Id.  ib.  p.  viii. 

"The  personal  pronouns  may  be  parsed  briefly  thus  ;  I,  the  first  personal  pronoun,  mas- 
culine (or  feminine),  singular,  the  nominative.  His,  the  third  personal  pronoun,  masculine, 
singular,  the  possessive,  &c." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  23  ;  Pract.  Les.  p.  28. 

"  When  the  male  and  female  are  expressed  by  distinct  terms  ;  as,  shepherd,  shepherdess, 
the  masculine  term  has  also  a  general  meaning,  expressing  both  male  and  female,  and  is 
always  to  be  used  when  the  office,  occupation,  profession,  &c.,  and  not  the  sex  of  the  indi- 
vidual, is  chiefly  to  be  expressed.  The  feminine  term  is  used  only  when  the  discrimination 
of  sex  is  indispensably  necessary.  Thus,  when  it  is  said  '  the  Poets  of  this  country  are 
distinguished  by  correctness  of  taste,'  the  term  'Poet'  clearly  includes  both  male  and  fe- 
male-writers of  poetry." — Id.  E.  Gram.  p.  12;  his  Analijt.  and  Pract.  Gram.  24. 

"  Nouns  and  pronouns,  connected  by  conjunctions,  must  be  in  the  same  cases." — Inyer- 
soll's  Gram.  p.  78.  "Verbs,  connected  by  conjunctions,  must  be  in  the  same  moods  and 
tenses,  and,  when  in  the  subjunctive  present,  they  must  be  in  the  same  form." — Ib.  p.  112. 

"This  will  habituate  him  to  reflection — exercise  his  judgment  on  the  meaning  of  the  au- 
thor, and  without  any  great  effort  on  his  part,  impress  indelibly  on  his  memory,  the  rules 
which  he  is  required  to  give.     After  the  exercises  under  the  rule  have  been  gone  through 
as  directed  in  the  note  page  96,  they  may  be  read  over  again  in  a  corrected  state  the  pupil 
making  an  emphasis  on  the  correction  made,  or  they  may  be  presented  in  writing  at  the 
next  recitation." — Bullions,  Prin.  of  E.  Gram.,  2d  Ed.  Revised  and  Cor.,  p.  viii. 
"  Man,  but  for  that,  no  action  could  attend 
And  but  for  this,  be  thouyhtful  to  no  end." — O.  B.  Peirces  Gram.,  Pref.,  p.  5. 

LESSON  III. — UNDER  VARIOUS  RULES. 

"  '  Johnson  the  bookseller  and  stationer,'  indicates  that  the  bookseller  and  the  static  ler 
are  epithets  belonging  to  the  same  person  ;  '  the  bookseller  and  the  stationer  '  would  indi- 
cate that  they  belong  to  different  persons." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  127. 

"Past  is  an  adjective ;  passed,  the  past  tonse  or  perfect  participle  of  the  verb,  and  they 
ought  not,  as  is  frequently  done,  to  be  confounded  with  each  other." — Id.  ib.  p.  148. 

"  Not  only  the  nature  of  the  thoughts  and  sentiments,  but  the  very  selection  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  words,  gives  English  poetry  a  character,  which  separates  it  widely  from  com- 
mon prose." — Id.  ib.  p.  178. 

"  Men  of  sound,  discriminating,  and  philosophical  minds — men  prepared  for  the  work  by 
long  study,  patient  investigation,  and  extensive  acquirements,  have  labored  for  ages  to  im- 
prove and  perfect  it,  and  nothing  is  hazarded  in  asserting,  that  should  it  be  umvisely  aban- 
doned, it  will  be  long  before  another  equal  in  beauty,  stability  and  usefulness,  be  produced 
in  its  stead."— Id.  ib.  p.  191. 

"  The  Article  The,  on  the  other  hand  is  used  to  restrict,  and  is  therefore  termed  Definite. 
Its  proper  office  is  to  call  the  attention  to  a  particular  individual  or  class,  or  to  any  number 
of  such,  and  is  used  with  nouns  in  either  the  singular  or  plural  number." — Id.  ib.  p.  193. 

"  Hence  also  the  infinitive  mood,  a  participle,  a  member  of  a  sentence,  or  a  proposition, 
forming  together  the  subject  of  discourse,  or  the  object  of  a  verb  or  preposition,  and  being 
the  name  of  an  act  or  circumstance,  are  in  construction,  regarded  as  nouns,  and  are  usually 
called  '  substantive  phrases  ; '  as  '  To  play  is  pleasant,'  'His  being  an  expert  dancer  is  no  rec- 
ommendation,' «  Let  your  motto  be  Honesty  is  the  best  policy.'  " — Id.  ib.  p.  194. 

"  In  accordance  with  his  definition,  Murray  has  divided  verbs  into  three  classes,  Active, 
Passive,  and  Neuter,  and  includes  in  the  first  class  transitive  verbs  only,  and  in  the  last  all 
verbs  used  intransitively." — Id.  ib.  p.  200. 

"  Moreover,  as  the  name  of  the  speaker  or  the  person  spoken  to  is  seldom  expressed,  (the 
pronouns  /  and  thou  being  used  in  its  stead,)  a  noun  is  very  seldom  in  the  first  person,  not 
often  in  the  second,  and  almost  never  in  either,  unless  it  be  a  proper  noun,  or  a  common 
noun  personified." — Bullions,  Pract.  Lcs.  p.  13. 

"  In  using  the  above  exercises  it  will  save  much  time,  which  is  all  important,  if  the  pupil 
be  taught  to  say  every  thing  belonging  to  the  nouns  in  the  fewest  words  possible,  and  to  say 
them  always  in' the  same  order  as  above."— Id.  ib.  p.  21. 

"  In  any  phrase  or  sentence  the  adjectives  qualifying  a  noun  may  generally  be  found  by 
prefixing  the  phrase  '  What  kind  of,'  to  the  noun  in  the  form  of  a  question  ;  as,  What 
kind  of  a  horse  ?  What  kind  of  a  stone  ?  What  kind  of  a  way  ?  The  word  containing  the 
answer  to  the  question  is  an  adjective." — Id.  ib.  p.  22. 


CHAP.    II.]  PROSODY. UTTERANCE. SECTION  I. ARTICULATION.  779 

"  In  the  following  exercise  let  the  pupil  first  point  out  the  nouns,  and  then  the  adjectives  ; 
and  tell  how  he  knows  them  to  be  so." — Id.  ib.  p.  23. 

"In  the  following  sentences  point  out  the  improper  ellipsis.  Show  why  it  is  improper, 
and  correct  it." — ///.  ib.  p.  12k 

"SlXtifl.AH    PuoNOt'N<.  Pl.rilAL    PllON 

1.  I — am  l)L-in<;  smitten.  1.  We— are  being  smitten. 

2.  Thou — art  beiny;  smitten.  2.  Ye  or  you — are  being  smitten. 

3.  lie — is  being  smitten.  3.  They — are  being  smitten." 

\VriyhCs  Phihs.  Gram.  p.  98. 


CHAPTER  II.  -  UTTERANCE. 

Utterance  is  the  art  or  act  of  vocal  expression.  It  includes  the  principles 
of  articulation,  of  pronunciation,  and  of  elocution. 

SECTION  I.  — OF  ARTICULATIOX. 

lieulation  is  the  forming  of  words,  by  the  voice,  with  reference  to  their 
component  letters  and  sounds. 

ARTICLE  I.— OF  THE  DEFINITION. 

Articulation  differs  from  pronunciation,  in  having  more  particular  regard  to  the 

elements  of  words,  and  in  nut  embracing  accent.*     A  recent  author  defines  it  thus  : 

"ARTICULATION  is  the  act  of  forming,  with  the  organs  of  speech,  the  elements  of  vocal 

lang:i:i:r'J." — Comstoch's  /^/ucitfiun,  p.  16.      And  a  train  :   "A  good  articulation  is  the 

rant;  •  of  the  elements  of  vocal  language.'  — 

An  Mthi-r  doscnhi-s  it  more  elaborately  thus:  ••AHTICULATIOX,  in  language,  is  the 
forming  of  the  human  voice,  accompanied  by  the  breath,  in  some  few  consonants,  into 
the  .-iin pit;  and  compound  sounds,  called  vowels,  consonants  and  diphthongs,  by  the 
a-si>tance  of  the  organs  of  speech;  and  the  uniting  of  those  vowels,  consonants,  and 
diphthongs,  together,  so  as  to  form  syllables  and  words,  and  constitute  spoken  lan- 
guage."— Ballet's  Diet.,  I/if  rod.,  p.  7. 

ARTICLE  II.  — OF  GOOD  ARTICULATIOX. 

Correctness  in  articulation  is  of  such  importance,  that  without  it  speech  or  reading 
becomes  not  only  inelegant,  but  often  absolutely  unintelligible.  The  opposite  faults 
are  mumbling,  muttering,  mincing,  lisping,  slurring,  mouthing,  drawling,  hesitating, 
stammering,  misreading,  and  the  like. 

"A  good  articulation  consists  in  giving  every  letter  in  a  syllable  its  due  proportion 
of  sound,  according  to  the  most  approved  custom  of  pronouncing  it;  and  in  making 
a  distinction  between  the  syllables  of  which  words  are  composed,  that  the  ear 
fthaU  without  difficulty  acknowledge  their  ntttnber ;  and  perceive,  at  once,  to  which 
syllable  each  letter  belongs.  Whore  these  points  are  not  observed,  the  articulation  is 
JH'OportionaWy  defective." — Sheridan1  s  Rhetorical  ('ranunar,  p.  50. 

iuctncss  of  articulation   depends,  primarily,  upon  the  ability  to  form  the  sim- 
ple e'.  :•  sounds  of  letters,  by  the  organs  of  speech,  in  the  manner  which  the 
M  of  the  language  demands;  and,  in  the  next  place,  upon  the  avoidance  of  that 
precipitancy  of  utterance,  which  is  greater  than  the  full  and  accurate  play   of  the  or- 
will  allow.      If  time  bo  not  given  for  the  full  enunciation  of  any  word  which  we 
attempt  to  speak,  some  of  the  syllables  will  of  course  be   either  lost  by  elision  or 

Sounded  confilsrdly. 

Jost  articulation  gives  eren  t«>  a  feeble  voice  greater  power  and  reach  than  the 
loudest  vociferation  can  attain  without  it.  It  delivers  words  from  the  lips,  not  muti- 
l.-itftl,  distorted,  or  corrupted,  but  as  the  acknowledged  sterling  currency  of  thought; 
— "  a<  beautiful  coins  newly  issued  from  the  mint,  deeply  and  accurately  impr 
perfectly  finished,  neatly  struck  by  the  proper  organs,  distinct,  sharp,  in  due  succes- 
iii  1  <-f  duo  weight." — Austins  Cnironomfa.  p.  38. 

* '•  As  soon   n-;  l:ui_-n  i_'<-  jirocoods.  from  more  nrtiriiLitinn,  to  coherency,  ami  connection,  arcrnt  becomes  the 
guide  •:  unlr-l  ni">n  •  •••rrrpttnn  of  syniiMntrv.  ami  proportion,  between  the  differ- 

ent sounds  that  are  uttered.''— NotMen's  Grammar  of  tkt  German  Language,  p.  06. 


780  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  I 

OBS. — The  principles  of  articulation  constitute  the  chief  exercise  of  all  those  who  are 
learning  either  to  speak  or  to  read.  So  far  as  they  are  specifically  taught  in  this  work, 
they  will  be  found  in  those  sections  which  treat  of  the  powers  of  the  letters. 

SECTION  II.  —  OF  PRONUNCIATION. 

Pronunciation,  as  distinguished  from  elocution,  or  delivery,  is  the  utterance 
of  words  taken  separately.  The  correct  pronunciation  of  words,  or  that  part 
of  grammar  which  teaches  it,  is  frequently  called  Orthoepy. 

Pronunciation,  or  orthoepy,  requires  a  knowledge  of  the  just  powers  of  the 
letters  in  all  their  combinations  ;  of  the  distinction  of  quantity  in  vowels  and 
syllables  ;  and  of  the  force  and  seat  of  the  accent. 

ARTICLE  I.  —  OF  THE  POWERS  OF  LETTERS. 

The  JUST  POWERS  of  the  letters,  are  those  sounds  which  are  given  to  them  by  the 
best  readers.  These  are  to  be  learned,  as  reading  is  learned,  partly  from  example, 
and  partly  from  such  books  as  show  or  aid  the  pronunciation  of  words. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  considerable  variety,  even  in  the  powers  of  the 
letters,  is  produced  by  the  character  and  occasion  of  what  is  uttered.  It  is  noticed 
by  Walker,  that,  "  Some  of  the  vowels,  when  neither  under  the  accent,  nor  closed  by 
a  consonant,  have  a  longer  or  a  shorter,  an  opener  or  a  closer  sound,  according  to  the 
solemnity  or  familiarity,  the  deliberation  or  rapidity  of  our  delivery." — Pronouncing 
Diet.,  Preface,  p.  4.  In  cursory  speech,  or  in  such  reading  as  imitates  it,  even  the 
best  scholars  utter  many  letters  with  quicker  and  obscurer  sounds  than  ought  ever  to 
be  given  them  in  solemn  discourse.  "In  public  speaking,"  says  Rippinghmn, 
"  every  word  should  be  uttered,  as  though  it  were  spoken  singly.  The  solemnity  of 
an  oration  justifies  and  demands  such  scrupulous  distinctness.  That  careful  pronun- 
ciation which  would  be  ridiculously  pedantic  in  colloquial  intercourse,  is  an  essential 
requisite  of  good  elocution." — Art  of  Public  Speaking,  p.  xxxvii. 

ARTICLE  II.  —  OF  QUANTITY. 

QUANTITY,  or  TIME,  in  pronunciation,  is  the  measure  of  sounds  or  syllables  in  re- 
gard to  their  duration  ;  and,  by  way  of  distinction,  is  supposed  ever  to  determine  them 
to  be  either  long  or  short* 

The  absolute  time  in  which  syllables  are  uttered,  is  very  variable,  and  must  be 
different  to  suit  different  subjects,  passions,  and  occasions ;  but  their  relative  length 
or  shortness  may  nevertheless  be  preserved,  and  generally  must  be,  especially  in  re- 
citing poetry. 

Our  long  syllables  are  chiefly  those  which,  having  sounds  naturally  capable  of 
being  lengthened  at  pleasure,  are  made  long  by  falling  under  some  stress  either  of 
accent  or  of  emphasis.  Our  short  syllables  are  the  weaker  sounds,  which,  being  the 
less  significant  words,  or  parts  of  words,  are  uttered  without  peculiar  stress. 

Ons. — As  quantity  is  chiefly  to  be  regarded  in  the  utterance  of  poetical  compositions,  this 
subject  will  be  further  considered  under  the  head  of  Versification. 

*  According  to  Johnson,  Walker,  Webster,  Worcester,  and  perhaps  all  other  lexicographers,  Quantity,  in 
grammar,  is — "  The  measure  of  time  in  pronouncing  a  syllable."  And,  to  this  main  idea,  are  conformed,  so  far 
as  I  know,  all  the  different  definitions  ever  given  of  it  by  grammarians  and  critics,  except  that  which  appeared 
in  Asa  Humphrey's  English  Prosody,  published  in  1847.  In  this  work— the  most  elaborate  and  the  most  com- 
prehensive, though  not  the  most  accurate  or  consistent  treatise  we  have  on  the  subject — Time  and  Quantity  are 
explained  separately,  as  being  "  two  distinct  tilings  ;  "  and  the  latter  is  supposed  not  to  have  regard  to  duration, 
but  solely  to  the  amount  of  sound  given  to  each  syllable. 

This  is  not  only  a  fanciful  distinction,  but  a  radical  innovation— and  one  which,  in  any  view,  has  little  to  rec- 
ommend it.  The  author's  explanations  of  both  time  and  quantity — of  their  characteristics,  differences,  and 
subdivisions — of  their  relations  to  each  other,  to  poetic  numbers,  to  emphasis  and  cadence,  or  to  accent  and  non- 
accent — as  well  as  his  derivation  and  history  of  "  these  technical  terms,  time  and  quantity  " — are  hardly  just  or 
clear  enough  to  be  satisfactory.  According  to  his  theory,  "  Poetic  numbers  are  composed  of  long  and  short  sylla- 
bles alternately  ;"  (page  5;)  but  the  difference  or  proportion  bet-ween  the  times  of  these  classes  of  syllables  he 
holds  to  be  indeterminable,  "because  their  lengths  are  various ."  He  began  with  destroying  the  proper  distinction 
of  quantity,  or  time,  as  being  eith.fr  long  or  short,,  by  the  useless  recognition  of  an  indefinite  number  of"  interme- 
diate  lengths;  "  saying  of  our  syllables  at  largo,  "  some  are  LONG,  some  SHORT,  and  some  are  of  INTERMEDIATE 
LENGTHS  ;  as,  mat,  not.  con,  &c.  are  short  sounds  ;  mate,  nnte,  cone,  and  grave  are  long.  Some  of  our  diphthongal 
sounds  are  LONGER  STILL  ;  as,  voice,  noise,  sound,  bound,  &c.  OTHERS  are  seen  to  be  of  INTERMEDIATE  lengths."— 
Humphrey's  Prosody,  p.  4. 

On  a  scheme  like  this,  it  must  evidently  be  impossible  to  determine,  with  any  certainty,  either  what  syllables 
are  ions:  and  what  short,  or  what  is  the  difference  or  ratio  between  any  two  of  the  innumerable  "  lengths  "  of  that 
time,  or  quantity,  which  is  long,  short,  variously  intermediate,  or  longtr  still,  and  again  variously  intermediate! 
No  marvel  then  that  the  ingenious  author  scans  some  lines  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  himself. 


CIIAl'.    II.]  PROSODY. UTTERANCE. SECTION  II. PRONUNCIATION.  781 

ARTICLE  III.  — OF  ACCENT. 

ACCENT,  as  commonly  understood,  is  the  peculiar  stress  which  we  lay  upon  some 
particular  syllable  of  a  word,  whereby  that  syllable  is  distinguished  from  and  above 
the  re^t  ;  as,  f/r<nn  -nmr,  <jr(ini-n«i  -n-nn. 

KV.TV  word  of  more  than  one  syllable,  has  one  of  its  syllables  accented  ;  and  some- 
times a  compound  word  has  two  accents,  nearly  equal  in  force;  as,  e'v en-hand' ed, 
home1 -department.  * 

\\  --ides  the  chief  or  prfnmry  accent,  when  the  word  is  long,  for  the  sake  of  har- 
mony or  distinctness,  we  often  give  a  secondary  or  less  forcible  accent  to  an  other 
syllable  ;  as,  to  the  last  of  tern '-jwr-a-tttre',  and  to  the  second  of  in  dem'-ni-ji-ca'-tion. 

"A. -rent  seems  to  be  regulated,  in  a  great  measure,  by  etymology.  In  words  from 
the  Saxon,  the  accent  is  generally  on  the  root;  in  words  from  the  learned  languages, 
it  is  generally  on  the  termination  ;  and  if  to  these  we  add  the  different  accent  we  lay 
on  SOUK-  words,  to  distinguish  them  from  others,  we  seem  to  have  the  three  great  prin- 
ciples of  accentuation  ;  namely,  the  radical,  the  terminational,  and  the  distinctive." — 
Waller's  Principles,  No.  491  ;  L.  Murray's  Grammar,  8vo,  p.  236. 

A  full  and  open  pronunciation  of  the  long  vowel  sounds,  a  clear  articulation  of  the 
consonants,  a  forcible  and  well-placed  accent,  and  a  distinct  utterance  of  the  unaccent- 
ed syllables,  distinguish  the  elegant  speaker. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

.  1. — The  pronunciation  of  the  English  language  is  confessedly  very  difficult  to  be 
•:••(!.  Its  rules  and  their  exceptions  are  so  numerous,  that  few  become  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  any  general  system  of  them.  Xor,  among  the  different  systems  which 
have,  been  published,  is  there  any  which  is  worthy  in  all  respects  to  be  accounted  a  STAND- 
ARD. And,  if  we  appeal  to  custom,  the  custom  even  of  the  best  speakers  is  far  from  an 
entire  uniformity.  Perhaps  the  most  popular  directory  on  this  subject  is  Walker's  Critical 
Pronouncing  Dictionary.  The  "  Principles  of  English  Pronunciation,"  which  this  author  has 
furnished,  occupy  fifty-six  closely-printed  octavo  pages,  and  are  still  insufficient  for  the 
purpose  of  teaching  our  orthoepy  by  rule.  They  are,  however,  highly  valuable,  and  ought 
to  be  consulted  by  every  one  who  wishes  to  be  master  of  this  subject.  In  its  vocabulary,  or 
stock  of  words,  this  Dictionary  is  likewise  deficient.  Other  lexicographers  have  produced 
several  later  works,  of  high  value  to  the  student ;  and,  though  no  one  has  treated  the  sub- 
ject of  pronunciation  so  elaborately  as  did  Walker,  some  may  have  given  the  results  of  their 
diligence  in  a  form  more  useful  to  the  generality  of  their  consulters.  Among  the  good  ones, 
is  the  Universal  and  Critical  Dictionary  of  Joseph  E.  Worcester. 

Or.-.  2. — Our  modern  accentuation  of  Greek  or  Latin  words  is  regulated  almost  wholly 
by  the  noted  rule  of  Sanctins,  which  Walker  has  copied  and  Englished  in  the  Introduction 
to  his  Key,  and  of  which  the  following  is  a  new  version  or  paraphrase,  never  before  printed : 

I.E  FOR  THE  ACCENTING  OF  LATIX. 
One  syllable  has  stress  of  course, 
And  words  of  tiro  the  first  enforce 
In  l'>tii/ri-  words  the  penult  guides, 
Its  quantity  the  point  decides  ; 
If  Inti;/,  'tis  there  the  accent's  due, 
It'  slnn-t,  accent  the  A/\/  lint  tiro; 

•it,  in  a  Latin  word, 
Should  ne'er  go  higher  than  the  third. 
This  rule,  or  the  substance  of  it,  has  berome  very  important  by  long  and  extensive  use  ;  but 
it  should  be  observed,  that  stress  on  monosyllables  is  more  properly  emphasis  than  a 
an  1  that,  in  English,  the  accent  governs  quantity,  rather  than  quantity  the  accent. 

.  IK  the  ilex-trine  of  Sheri  !  in,  and  perhaps  of  our  old  lexicographers  in  £e.nera1,  that  no  English  word  can 
have  iinMV  than  inn-  full  <f ->->tt ;   but,  in  smiie  modern  dictimiarie-'.  ,-id    U  investor's,  man v   w.>rds  ;ire 

;—  as  bavin;  rhr.-e.     Sheridan    erroneously  atlirmed,   that 

/•r/'/  h-i»  an  :i  "all  moiinsy llablt-s,  the  panicles  alone  exempted. "  ••••'«,  pp. 

71.     And  ax'ain.  \.-t  uinn- •  >v\fnrr  of  Kn^lish  word-;  con-i -tin;;  in   accent,   as  that  of 

-;  in  articulation  :   we  know  that  there  are  as  ninny  syllaMei  tit  w  hear  articulat?  s.iitnil*,  and   ax  many 

iid  sai  1  ln-fi.iv,  in  tin-  same  leeMire  :   ''The  ]<>II<:.T  polysyllables, 

lUi-ntly  tiro  accent*.  }>\\'  0  other,  us  to  shew  that  it  is  but  one  wiuxl  ;  and 

the  inferior  accent,  is  always  less  ton  il>lc.  than  any  ace.- nt  th.it  is  flic  >in::le.  one  in  a    word." — Ib.    p.    61.      Wells 

.'•s  of  a  word  ;  but,  in  his  example,  he  p!  in-s  it  on  no  more  than 

on.   :  "'Accent  is  the  stri'si  which  is  laid  <>n  mif  nr  mare  syllables  of  a  word,  in  pronunriatimi  :  as.  r.'/-'/-lieratc,  un- 
derfai-*?."—  \\'etls's  School  dram.  nlinp;  to  this  loose  definition,  he  nii.^lH  : :is    w.dl    hav 

least  one  other  syllable  in  <-acli  of  these  exainp.  .  certainly,  to  be  some  little  stress  on  ate  and 

un.     For  sundry  other  definitions  of  accent,  see  Chap.  IV,  Section  2d,  of  Versification  ;  and  the  marginal  note 
to  Oba.  1st  on  Prosody. 


PART  IV. 


782  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [l 

SECTION  III.  — OF  ELOCUTION. 

Elocution  is  the  graceful  utterance  of  words  that  are  arranged  into  sen- 
tences, and  form  discourse. 

Elocution  requires  a  knowledge,  and  right  application,  of  emphasis,  pauses, 
inflections,  and  tones. 

ARTICLE  I.  —  OF  EMPHASIS. 

EMPHASIS  is  the  peculiar  stress  of  voice  winch  we  lay  upon  some  particular  word 
or  words  in  a  sentence,  which  are  thereby  distinguished  from  the  rest  as  being  more 
especially  significant.* 

As  accent  enforces  a  syllable,  and  gives  character  to  a  word  ;  so  emphasis  distin- 
guishes a  word,  and  often  determines  the  import  of  a  sentence.  The  right  placing  of 
accent,  in  the  utterance  of  words,  is  therefore  not  more  important,  than  the  right 
placing  of  emphasis,  in  the  utterance  of  sentences.  If  no  emphasis  be  used,  discourse 
becomes  vapid  and  inane  ;  if  no  accent,  words  can  hardly  be  recognized  as  English. 

"  Emphasis,  besides  its  other  offices,  is  the  great  regulator  of  quantity.  Though 
the  quantity  of  our  syllables  is  fixed,  in  words  separately  pronounced,  yet  it  is  muta- 
ble, when  [the]  words  are  [ar]ranged  in[to]  sentences ;  the  long  being  changed  into 
short,  the  short  into  long,  according  to  the  importance  of  the  words  with  regard  to 
meaning  :  and,  as  it  is  by  emphasis  only,  that  the  meaning  can  be  pointed  out,  empha- 
sis must  be  the  regulator  of  the  quantity." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  246. t 

"  Emphasis  changes,  not  only  the  quantity  of  words  and  syllables,  but  also,  in 
particular  cases,  the  seat  of  the  accent.  This  is  demonstrable  from  the  following  exam- 
ples :  'He  shall  mcrease,  but  I  shall  decrease/  'There  is  a  difference  between 
giving  and  /brgiving.'  'In  this  species  of  composition,  jo/awsibility  is  much  more 
essential  than  probability.'  In  these  examples,  the  emphasis  requires  the  accent  to 
be  placed  on  syllables  to  which  it  does  not  commonly  belong." — Ib.  p.  247. 

In  order  to  know  what  words  are  to  be  made  emphatic,  the  speaker  or  reader  must 
give  constant  heed  to  the  sense  of  what  he  utters ;  his  only  sure  guide,  in  this  mattor, 
being  a  just  conception  of  the  force  and  spirit  of  the  sentiments  which  he  is  about  to 
pronounce.  He  must  also  guard  against  the  error  of  multiplying  emphatic  words  too 
much;  for,  to  overdo  in  this  way,  defeats  the  very  purpose  for  which  emphasis  is  used. 
To  manage  this  stress  with  exact  propriety,  is  therefore  one  of  the  surest  evidences 
both  of  a  quick  understanding,  and  of  a  delicate  and  just  taste. 

ARTICLE  II.  —  OF  PAUSES. 

PAUSES  are  cessations  in  utterance,  which  serve  equally  to  relieve  the  speaker,  an 
to  render  language  intelligible  and  pleasing. 

Pauses  are  of  three  kinds  :  first,  distinctive  or  sentential  pauses, — such  as  form  the 
divisions  required  by  the  sense  ;  secondly,  emphatic  or  rhetorical  pauses, — such  as 

*  According  to  Dr.  Rush,  Emphasis  Is — "  a  stress  of  voice  on  one  or  more  words  of  a  sentence,  distinguishing 
them  by  intensity  or  peculiarity  of  meaning." — Philosophy  of  the  Voice,  p.  282.  Again,  he  defines  thus:  "Accent 
is  the  fixed  but  inexpressive  distinction  of  syllables  by  quantity  and  stress :  alike  both  in  place  and  nature,  whether 
the  words  are  pronounced  singly  from  the  columns  of  a  vocabulary,  or  connectedly  in  the  series  of  discourse. 
Emphasis  may  be  defined  to  be  the  expressive  but  occasional  distinction  of  a  syllable,  and  consequently  of  the 
•whole  word,  by  one  or  more  of  the  specific  modes  of  time,  quality,  force,  or  pitch." — Ibid. 

t  1.  This  doctrine,  though  true  in  its  main  intent,  and  especially  applicable  to  the  poetic  quantity  of  monosyl- 
lables,(the  class  of  words  most  frequently  used  in  English  poetry,)  is,  perhaps,  rather  too  strongly  stated  by 
Murray  ;  because  it  agrees  not  with  other  statements  of  his,  concerning  the  power  of  accent  over  quantity  ;  and 
because  the  effect  of  accent,  as  a  "  regulator  of  quantity,"  may,  on  the  whole,  be  as  great  as  that  of  emphasis. 
Sheridan  contradicts  himself  yet  more  pointedly  on  this  subject;  and  his  discrepancies  may  have  been  the  effi- 
cients of  Murray's.  '•  The  quantity  of  our  syllables  is  perpetually  varying  with  the  sense,  and  is  for  the  most 
part  regulated  by  EMPHASIS." — Sheridan^s  Rhetorical  Gram.  p.  65.  Again  :  "  It  is  by  the  ACCENT  chiefly  that  the 
quantity  of  our  syllables  is  regulated." — Sheridan's  Lectures  on  Elocution,  p.  57.  See  Chap.  IV,  Sec!  2d,  Obs  1  ; 
and  marginal  note  on  Obs.  8. 

2.  Some  writers  erroneously  confound  emphasis  with  accent  ;  especially  those  who  make  accent,  and  not  quan- 
tity, the  foundation  of  verse.  Contrary  to  common  usage,  and  to  his  own  definition  of  accent,  Wells  takes  it 
upon  him  to  say,  "  The  term  accent  is  also  applied,  in  poetry,  to  the  stress  laid  on  monosyllabic  words  ;  as, 

'  Content  is  wraith,  the  riches  of  the  mind.'1 — Dryden." — Wells' s  School  Grammar,  p.  185. 

It  does  not  appear  that  stress  laid  on  monosyllables  is  any  more  fitly  termed  accent,  when  it  occurs  in  the  reading 
rf  y>op'ry.  tlim  Tv'-^n  :n  tV  r."rrnnrp  rf  nroc-o.  r'-airc'iiil.  \vho  nij.la-'-;  no  sucli  i!^'in.-l;on.  "  r,«i>r>- 

ml  alike  to  (Mr'ilmsis  ;rnl  'u  rhc  miaijiry  <u  a  I.IH--  vn>v(>;.  :,nd  \  <-f.  ;\s  ivi.';n-.is  IH->-M,>\  ll-diic*.  ilcj.ci'iicn1-  <  n  "lnTi 
both  '  His  \vonls  ;iiv  rlii-.-v:  "  M»ti".«  1 1;U>|.'~  ;irv  .-o,..,"  i'nps  **'Venfc»<l. -«omK»fn«'J»  not.  Tiii<  ilr-poii-l"  o'ii«-rlv  on 
iiir>r  bciiig  tnorr  or  Irs*  mn»tntir  ;  an -I  on  the  vo.vci  smm  I  '<"[•<  >  lan<*  »•  >  i>i*t.  U'"  ••  i  mo'  I'ivi-  -  T/'t'-'iiii*  lo  ;i:iy 
word,  or  i;'.<  [//*]  propt-r  uiii'rtriou  :o  ii  /..>//;,'  '•<>  ••  •/.  ,<,<//£  i  ."—Cutrc/i  'V'.v  .V  i<-  Grru'H.  ;>.  1^2. 


CHAP.  II.]  PROSODY. UTTERANCE. SECTION  III. ELOCUTION.  783 

particularly  call  the  hearer's  attention  to  something  which  has  been,  or  is  about  to  be, 
uttered  ;  and  lastly,  poetical  or  harmonic  pauses, — such  as  are  peculiar  to  the  utter- 
ance of  metrical  compositions. 

The  duration  of  the  distinctive  pauses  should  be  proportionate  to  the  degree  of  con- 
nexion between  the  parts  of  the  discourse.  The  shortest  are  long  enough  for  the 
taking  of  some  breath  ;  and  it  is  proper,  thus  to  relieve  the  voice  at  every  stop,  if 
needful.  This  we  may  do,  slightly  at  a  comma,  more  leisurely  at  a  semicolon,  still 
more  so  at  a  colon,  and  completely  at  a  period. 

Pauses,  whether  in  reading  or  in  public  discourse,  ought  always  to  be  formed  after 
the  manner  in  which  we  naturally  form  them  in  ordinary,  sensible  conversation ;  and 
not  after  the  stiff,  artificial  manner  which  many  acquire  at  school,  by  a  mere  mechani- 
cal attention  to  the  common  punctuation. 

Forced,  unintentional  pauses,  which  accidentally  divide  words  that  ought  to  be 
Fpoken  in  close  connexion,  are  always  disagreeable;  and,  whether  they  arise  from 
exhaustion  of  breath,  from  a  habit  of  faltering,  or  from  unacquaintance  with  the  text, 
they  are  errors  of  a  kind  utterly  incompatible  with  graceful  elocution. 

Emphatic  or  rhetorical  pauses,  the  kind  least  frequently  used,  may  be  made  imme- 
diately before,  or  immediately  after,  something  which  the  speaker  thinks  particularly 
important,  and  on  which  he  would  fix  the  attention  of  his  audience.  Their  effect  is 
similar  to  that  of  a  strong  emphasis;  and,  like  this,  they  must  not  be  employed  too 
often. 

The  harmonic  pauses,  or  those  which  are  peculiar  to  poetry,  are  of  three  kinds  :  the 
final  pause,  which  marks  the  end  of  each  line  ;  the  caesura!  or  divisional  pause, 
which  commonly  divides  the  line  near  the  middle  ;  and  the  minor  rests,  or  demi- 
cccsuras,  which  often  divide  it  still  further. 

In  the  reading  of  poetry,  these  pauses  ought  to  be  observed,  as  well  as  those  which 
have  reference  to  the  sense  ;  for,  to  read  verse  exactly  as  if  it  were  prose,  will  often 
rob  it  of  what  chiefly  distinguishes  it  from  prose.  Yet,  at  the  same  time,  all  appear- 
ance of  singsong,  or  affected  tone,  ought  to  be  carefully  guarded  against. 

ARTICLE  III.  — OF  INFLECTIONS. 

INFLECTIONS  are  those  peculiar  variations  of  the  human  voice,  by  which  a  continu- 
ous sound  is  made  to  pass  from  one  note,  key,  or  pitch,  into  an  other.  The  passage 
of  the  voice  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  or  shriller  note,  is  called  the  rising  or  upward 
inflection.  The  passage  of  the  voice  from  a  higher  to  a  lower  or  graver  note,  is  called 
^falling  or  doii-nii-nrd  inflection.  These  two  opposite  inflections  may  be  heard  in 
the  following  examples :  1.  The  rising,  "Do  you  mean  to  go  ?"  2.  The  falling, 
VWhcn  will  you  .'/'V'1 

In  general,  questions  that  may  be  answered  by  yes  cr  720,  require  the  rising  inflec- 
tion ;  while  those  which  demand  any  other  answer,  must  be  uttered  with  the  falling 
inflection.  These  slides  of  the  voice  are  not  commonly  marked  in  writing,  or  in  our 
printed  books;  but,  when  there  is  occasion  to  note  them,  we  apply  the  acute  accent  to 
the  former,  and  the  grave  accent  to  the  latter.* 

A  union  of  these  two  inflections  upon  the  same  syllable,  is  called  a  circumflex,  a 
wave,  or  a  "  circumflex  inflection"  When  the  slide  is  first  downward  and  then 

only  arc  these  inflections  denoted  occasionally  by  the  accentual  marks,  but  they  are  sometimes  expressly 

tA  accent*,  bd  Mat  man.-.    Into  prMtke,  however,  i*  plainly  objectionable.  It  confounds 

••>  bo  ditlVrfi  ;;V  lead  to  the  suppoMM«n.  that  tu 

i:1.  i<  t<>  inl''  ;  my  ci'i.ccniii:'.:  the  nature 

s,  hut  of  the  I  •    tin-  common  i  tea  i.-.  that  if  i<  only  a  greater  li'ivc  distin- 

i .f  a  word  fin  •  \Valker,  however,  in  tin-  in  ID'S 

,-an  )>y  !:i-  nr,,,,t  an>t  </nantiti/  of  our  own  language,"   charges  this  current  opinion   with 

I'iSheiidan  and  Nares,  who  held  it ;  and,  ha-..  ..  that,  "in  .-pcakMiir,  ihc  \ 

Continually  s/;dm£  upwards  or  d  •   him.-elf  thus  :  "As  liL'h  and  l..w.  :•  ud  and 

&oft,  forcible  and  ffeble,  are  comparative  terms,  words  of  oi;r  nounccd  al<>ne.  and  without  relation  to 

<  unfit  Le  sai<l  '  The  «nl\   dislii  i-tion  to  which  such  word- arc  liable, 

is  an  tlevntir.n  or  d> j  n  we  compare  the  beginning  with  the  end  of  the  word  or  syllable.    Thus 

a  monosyllable,  considered  sindv,  ri>;e<»  frorn  a  lo«er  fo  n  l' ;  •  »,«»  ,,,.»>sM,,n   \- '  n-l'irh   n^v  r>> 

•  :i   •   -I 

• 


784  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART    IV. 

upward,  it  is  called  the  rising  circumflex,  or  "  the  gravo-acute  circumflex;  "  when 
first  upward  and  then  downward,  it  is  denominated  the  falling  circumflex,  or  "  the 
acuto-grave  circumflex"  Of  these  complex  inflections  of  the  voice,  the  emphatic 
words  in  the  following  sentences  may  be  uttered  as  examples  :  "And  it  shall  go  hard 
but  T  will  use  the  information." — "  O!  but  he  paused  upon  the  brink." 

When  a  passage  is  read  without  any  inflection,  the  words  are  uttered  in  what  is 
called  a  monotone  ;  the  voice  being  commonly  pitched  at  a  grura  note,  and  made  to 
move  for  the  time,  slowly  and  gravely,  on  a  perfect  level. 

<l  Rising  inflections  are  far  more  numerous  than  falling  inflections  :  the  former  con- 
stitute the  main  body  of  oral  language,  while  the  latter  are  employed  for  the  purposes 
of  emphasis,  and  in  the  formation  of  cadences.  Rising  inflections  are  often  emphatic  ; 
but  their  emphasis  is  weaker  than  that  of  falling  inflections." — Comstoclts  Elocu- 
tion, p.  50. 

"  Writers  on  Elocution  have  given  numerous  rules  for  the  regulation  of  inflections  ; 
but  most  of  these  rules  are  better  calculated  to  make  bad  readers  than  good  ones. 
Those  founded  on  the  construction  of  sentences  might,  perhaps,  do  credit  to  a  me- 
chanic, but  they  certainly  do  none  to  an  elocutionist." — Ib.  p.  51. 

"  The  reader  should  bear  in  mind  that  a  falling  inflection  gives  more  importance  to 
a  word  than  a  rising  inflection.  Hence  it  should  never  be  employed  merely  for  the 
sake  of  variety  ;  but  for  emphasis  and  cadences.  Neither  should  a  rising  inflection 
be  used  for  the  sake  of  mere  '  harmony,'  where  a  falling  inflection  would  better  ex- 
press the  meaning  of  the  author.  The  sense  should,  in  all  cases,  determine  the  direc- 
tion of  inflections." — Ib. 

Cadence  is  a  fall  of  the  voice,  which  has  reference  not  so  much  to  pitch  as  to  force, 
though  it  may  depress  both ;  for  it  seems  to  be  generally  contrasted  with  emphasis,* 
and  by  some  is  reprehended  as  a  fault.  "  Support  your  voice  steadily  and  firmly," 
says  Rippingham,  "  and  pronounce  the  concluding  words  of  the  sentence  with  force 
and  vivacity,  rather  than  with  a  languid  cadence." — Art  of  Speaking ,  p.  17. 

The  pauses  which  L.  Murray  denominates  the  suspending  and  the  closing  pause, 
he  seems  to  have  discriminated  chiefly  by  the  inflections  preceding  them,  if  he  can  be 
said  to  have  distinguished  them  at  all.  For  he  not  only  teaches  that  the  former  :nay 
sometimes  be  used  at  the  close  of  a  sentence,  and  the  latter  sometimes  where  '  the 
sense  is  not  completed;"  but,  treating  cadence  mainly  as  a  defect,  adds  the  fol- 
lowing caution  :  "  The  closing  pause  must  not  be  confounded  wilh  that  fall  of  the 
voice,  or  cadence,  with  which  many  readers  uniformly  finish  a  sentence.  Nothing  is 
more  destructive  of  propriety  and  energy  than  this  habit.  The  tones  and  inflections 
of  the  voice  at  the  close  of  a  sentence,  ought  to  be  diversified,  according  to  the  general 
nature  of  the  discourse,  and  the  particular  construction  and  meaning  of  the  sentence." 
—Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  p.  250 ;  12mo,  p.  200. 

ARTICLE  IV.  — OF  TONES. 

TONES  are  those  modulations  of  the  voice,  which  depend  upon  the  feelings  of  the 
speaker.  They  are  what  Sheridan  denominates  "  the  language  of  emotions."  And 
it  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  that  they  be  natural,  unaffected,  and  rightly  adapted  to 
the  subject  and  to  the  occasion  ;  for  upon  them,  in  a  great  measure,  depends  all  that 
is  pleasing  or  interesting  in  elocution. 

"  How  much  of  the  propriety,  the  force,  and  [the]  grace  of  discourse,  must  depend 
on  these,  will  appear  from  this  single  consideration ;  that  to  almost  every  sentiment 
we  utter,  more  especially  to  every  strong  emotion,  nature  has  adapted  some  peculiar 
tone  of  voice ;  insomuch,  that  he  who  should  tell  another  that  he  was  very  angry,  or 

*  In  Humphrey's  English  Prosody,  cadence  is  taken  for  the  reverse  of  accent,  and  is  obviously  identified  or 
confounded  with  ihort  quantity,  or  what  the  author  inclines  to  call  "  small  quantity."  He  defines  it  as  follows  : 
"  Cadence  is  the  reverse  or  counterpart  to  accent ;  a  falling  or  depression  of  voice  on  syllables  unaccented:  and 
by  which  the  sound  is  shortened  and  depressed." — P.  3.  This  is  not  exactly  what  is  generally  understood  by  the 
•word  cadence.  Lord  Kames  also  contrasts  cadence  with  accent  ;  but,  by  the  latter  term,  he  seems  to  have  meant 
something  different  from  our  ordinary  accent.  "  Sometimes  to  humour  the  sense,''  says  he,  "  and  sometimes  the 
melodv,  a  particular  syllable  is  sounded  in  a  higher  tone;  and  this  is  termed  accenting  a  syllable,  or  gracing  it 
with  an  accent.  Opposed  to  the  accent,  is  the  cadence,  which  I  have  not  mentioned  as  one  of  the  requisites  of 
verse,  because  it  is  entirely  regulated  by  the  sense,  and  hath  no  peculiar  relation  to  verse." — Elements  of  Criticism, 
Vol.  ii,  p.  78. 


CHAP.    III.]  PROSODY. FIGURES. SECTION    1. EXPLANATIONS.  785 

much  grieved,  in  a  tone  which  did  not  suit  such  emotions,  instead  of  being  believed, 
would  be  laughed  at." — J3lair's  Rhet.  p.  ;}:);). 

•'  The  different  passions  of  the  mind  must  be  expressed  by  different  tones  of  the  voice. 
Love,  by  a  soft,  smooth,  languishing  voice ;  anger,  by  a  strong,  vehement,  and  ele- 
vated voice  ;  joy,  by  a  quick,  sweet,  and  clear  voice ;  sorrow,  by  a  low,  flexible,  in- 
terrupted voice  ;  fear,  by  a  dejected,  tremulous,  hesitating  voice  ;  courage,  by  a  full, 
bold,  and  loud  voice  ;  and  perplexity,  by  a  grave  and  earnest  voice  In  exordiums, 
the  voice  should  be  low,  yet  clear ;  in  narrations,  distinct ;  in  reasoning,  slow  ;  in 
persuasions,  strong:  it  should  thunder  in  anyer,  soften  in  sorrow,  tremble  in  fear, 
and  melt  in  love" — If  Hey*  s  Gram.  p.  llil. 

OBS.— Walker  observes,  in  his  remarks  on  the  nature  of  Accent  and  Quantity,  "As  to 
the  tones  of  the  passions,  which  are  so  many  and  various,  these,  in  the  opinion  of  "one  of  the 
best  judges  in  the  kingdom,  are  qualities  of  sound,  occasioned  by  certain  vibrations  of  the 
organs  of  speech,  independent  on  [say  of]  high,  low,  loud,  soft,  quick,  slow,  forcible,  or 
feeble:  which  last  may  not  improperly  be  called  different  quantities  of  sound." — Walker' » 
Key,  p.  305. 


CHAPTER  III. -FIGURES. 

A  Figure,  in  grammar,  is  an  intentional  deviation  from  the  ordinary  spel- 
ling, formation,  construction,  or  application,  of  words.  There  are,  accord- 
ingly, figures  of  Orthography,  figures  of  Etymology,  figures  of  Syntax,  and 
figures  of  Rhetoric.  When  figures  are  judiciously  employed,  they  both 
strengthen  and  adorn  expression.  They  occur  more  frequently  in  poetry 
than  in  prose  ;  and  several  of  them  are  merely  poetic  licenses. 

SECTION  I.  — FIGURES   OF   ORTHOGRAPHY, 

A  Figure  of  Orthography  is  an  intentional  deviation  from  the  ordinary  or 
true  spelling  of  a  word.  The  principal  figures  of  Orthography  are  two ; 
namely,  Mi-me'-sis  and  Ar'-cha-ism. 

EXPLANATIONS. 

I.  Mimesis  is  a  ludicrous  imitation  of  some  mistake  or  mispronunciation  of  a  word, 
in  which  the  error  is  mimicked  by  a  false  spelling;  as,  "Maister,  says  he,  have  you 
any  wery  good  weal  in  your  vallet  ?  " — Columbian  Orator,  p.  292.     "Ay,  he  was 
porn  at  Monmouth,  captain  Gower." — Shak. 

"Perdigious!  I  can  hardly  stand." — LLOYD  :  Brit.  Poets,  Vol.  viii,  p.  184. 

II.  An  Archaism  is  a  word  or  phrase  expressed  according  to  ancient  usage,  and 
not  according  to  our  modern  orthography;  as,   "Newe  grene  chese  of  smalle  dam- 
mynes  comfortethe  a  hotte  stomake" — T.  PAYNEL:    Tooke's  Diversions,  ii,  132. — 
"  lie  hath  holpen  his  servant  Israel." — Luke,  i,  54. 

"  With  him  was  rev'rend  Contemplation  pight, 

Bow-bent  with  eld,  his  beard  of  snowy  hue." — Beattie. 

OBS. — Among  the  figures  of  this  section,  perhaps  -we  might  include  the  foreign  words  or 
phrases  which  individual  authors  now  and  then  adopt  in  writing  English ;  namely,  the 
*ms,  the  (fallicisms,  the  Latinisms,  the  Grecisms,  and  the  like,  with  which  they  too 
often  garnish  their  English  style.  But  these,  except  they  stand  as  foreign  quotations,  in 
•which  case  they  are  exempt  from  our  rules,  are  in  general  offences  against  the  purity  of  our 
language  ;  and  it  may  therefore  be  sufficient,  just  to  mention  them  here,  without  expressly 
putting  any  of  them  into  the  category  of  grammatical  figures. 

SECTION  II.  — FIGURES  OF  ETYMOLOGY. 

A  Figure  of  Etymology  is  an  intentional  deviation  from  the  ordinary  forma- 
tion of  a  word.  The  principal  figures  of  Etymology  are  eight ;  namely, 
A-photfe-siS)  Pros' -the-sis,  Syri-coye,  A-poc'-o-pe,  Par-a-go'-ge^  Dicer'-e-sis, 

W,  and  Tmef-sis. 
55 


786  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  IT. 

EXPLANATIONS. 

I.  Aphceresis  is  the  elision  of  some  of  the  initial  letters  of  a  word  :  as,  'gainst,  for 
against ;  'gan,  for  began  ;  'neath,  for  beneath;  'thout,  for  without. 

II.  Prosthesis  is  the  prefixing   of  an  expletive  syllable  to  a  word  :  as,  adown, 
for  down;  oppaid,  foipaid;  fostrown,  for  strown;  evanished,  for  vanished;  yclad, 
for  clad. 

III.  Syn'cope  is  the  elision  of  some  of  the  middle  letters  of  a  word  ;  as,  med'cine, 
for  medicine  ;  e'en,  for  even  ;  o'er,  for  over  ;  conq'ring,  for  conquering  ;  se'nnight, 
for  sevennight. 

IV.  Apoc'ope  is  the  elision  of  some  of  the  final  letters  of  a  word  :  as,  tho',  for 
though;  th',  for  the  ;  t'other,  for  the  other  ;  thro',  for  through. 

V.  Parago'ge  is  the  annexing  of  an  expletive  syllable  to  a  word  :  as,  Johnny,  for 
John;  deary,  for  dear  ;  withouten,  for  without. 

VI.  Diceresis  is  the  separating  of  two  vowels  that  might  be  supposed  to  form 
a  diphthong :  as,  cooperate,  not  cooperate  ;   aeronaut,  not  ceronaut ;  or'thoepy,  not 
orthoepy. 

VII.  Synceresis  is  the  sinking  of  two  syllables  into  one  :  as,  seest,  for  seest ;  tacked, 
for  tack-ed  ;  drowned,  for  drown-ed  ;  spok'st,  for  spok-est  ;  show  dst,  for  show-edst  ; 
'tis,  for  it  is  ;  I'll,  for  I  will. 

VIII.  Tmesis  is  the  inserting  of  a  word  between  the  parts  of  a  compound,  or  be- 
tween two  words  which  should  be  united  if  they  stood  together :  as,    "  On  which 
side  soever. ' ' — Eolla.     "  To  us  ward  ;  ' ' — ' '  To  God  ward. ' ' — Bible.     ' '  The  assem- 
bling of  ourselves  together." — Id.     "  With  what  charms  soe'er  she  will." — Cowper. 
"  So  new  a  fashion' d  robe." — Shak.     "  Lament  the  live  day  long." — Burns. 

OBS. — In  all  our  pronunciation,  except  that  of  the  solemn  style,  such  verbal  or  participial 
terminations  as  can  be  so  uttered,  are  usually  sunk  by  synaresis  into  mere  modifications  of 
preceding  syllables.  The  terminational  consonants,  if  not  uttered  with  one  vowel,  m  ast 
be  uttered  with  an  other.  When,  therefore,  a  vowel  is  entirely  suppressed  in  pronuncia- 
tion, (whether  retained  in  writing  or  not,)  the  consonants  connected  with  it,  necessaiily 
fall  into  an  other  syllable :  thus,  tried,  tricst,  sued,  suest,  loved,  lovest,  mov'd,  mov'st,  are  mono- 
syllables ;  and  stiidied,  studiest,  studi'dst,  argued,  arguest,  argu'dst,  are  dissyllables ;  except  in 
solemn  discourse,  in  which  the  e  is  generally  retained  and  made  vocal. 

SECTION  III.  — FIGURES  OF  SYNTAX. 

A  Figure  of  Syntax  is  an  intentional  deviation  from  the  ordinary  construc- 
tion of  words.  The  principal  figures  of  syntax  are  five  ;  namely,  El-lip'-xis, 
Ple'-o-nasm,  Syl-lep'-sis,  En-al'-la-ge,  and  Hy-per'-ba-ton. 

EXPLANATIONS. 

I.  Ellipsis  is  the  omission  of  some  word  or  words  which  are  necessary  to  complete 
the  construction,  but  not  necessary  to  convey  the  meaning.  Such  words  are  said,  in 
technical  phrase,  to  be  understood  ;*  because  they  are  received  as  belonging  to  the 
sentence,  though  they  are  not  uttered. 

Of  compound  sentences,  a  vast  many  are  more  or  less  elliptical ;  and  sometimes,  for 
brevity's  sake,  even  the  most  essential  parts  of  a  simple  sentence,  are  suppressed  :f 
as,  "  But  more  of  this  hereafter." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  77.  This  means,  "  But  / 
shall  say  more  of  this  hereafter."  "  Pry thee,  peace." — Shak.  That  is,  "I  pray 
thee,  hold  thou  thy  peace." 

There  may  be  an  omission  of  any  of  the  parts  of  speech,  or  even  of  a  whole  clause, 
when  this  repeats  what  precedes ;  but  the  omission  of  mere  articles  or  interjections  can 
scarcely  constitute  a  proper  ellipsis,  because  these  parts  of  speech,  wherever  they  are 
really  necessary  to  be  recognized,  ought  to  be  expressed. 

EXAMPLES  OF  ELLIPSIS  SUPPLIED. 

1.  Of  the  ARTICLE  : —  "A  man  and  [a]  woman." — "  The  day,  [the]  month,    and 


*  The  Latin  term,  (made  plural  to  agree  with  vtrba,  words,)  is  subaud'ita,  underheard — the  perfect  participle  of 
subaudio,  to  underhear.  Hence  the  noun,  subauditio,  subaudition,  the  recognition  of  ellipses. 

t  "  Thus,  in  the  Proverbs  of  all  Languages,  many  Words  are  usually  left  to  be  supplied  from  the  trite  obvious 
Nature  of  what  they  express;  as,  out  of  Sight  out  of  Mind;  the  more  the  merrier,  &c." — W.  Ward's  Pract. 
Gram.  p.  147. 


CHAP.  III.]  PROSODY.  -  FIGURES.  -  SECTION    III.  -  EXPLANATIONS.  787 

year."  —  "She   gave  me   an  appple  and  [a]  pear,  for  a  fig  and   [aw]  orange."  —  Ja-udon's 
>.  p.  170. 

2.  Of  the  Xorx  :  —  "  The  common  [law]  and  the  statute  law."  —  "  The  twelve  [apostles]" 
—  "The  same  [man]  is  he."  —  "One  [book]  of  my  books."  —  "A  do/en  [bottU-s]  of  wine."  — 
"Conscience,  I  say;  not  thine  own  [conscience],  but  [•  •>•]  of  the  other."  —  1  Cor.  x, 
29.     "  Every  moment  subtracts  from  [our  lie  ex]  what  it  adds  to  our  lives."  —  Dillwyns  Ref. 
p.  8.     "  Bad  actions  mostly  lead  to  worse  "  [actions].  —  lh.  p.  ;>. 

3.  Of  the  ADJECTIVE  :—  "  There  are  subjects  proper  for  the  one,  and  not  [proper]  for  the 

eight  and  [a  just]  balance  are  the  Lord's."  —  Prov.  xvi,  11.   True 


other."  —  Kani'-i.     "A  just  wei 

ellipses  of  the  adjective  alone,  are  but  seldom  met  with. 

4.  Of  the   PRONOUN  :—  "Leave   [thou]  there  thy  gift  before  the  altar,  and  go  [thou]  thy 
way  ;  first  be  [thou]  reconciled  to  thy  brother,  and  then  come  [thou]  and  offer  [thou]  thy  gift."" 
—  .\L.t(t.  v,  24.     "  Love  [ye]  your  enemies,  bless  [yc]  them  that  curse  you,  do  [ye]  good  to  them 
that  hate  you."  —  Ib.  v,  44.      "  Chastisement  does  not  always  immediately  follow  error,  but 
[it]  sometimes  comes  when  [it  is]  least  expected."  —  Dilhcyn,  Ref.  p.  31.      "Men  generally 
put  a  greater  value  upon  the  favours  [which]  they  bestow,  than  upon  those  [which]  they  re- 
ceive." —  Art  of  Thinking,  p.  48.      "Wisdom  and  worth  jfere  all  [that]  he  had."—  A'lU-it's 
Gram.  p.  294. 

5.  Of  the   VERB  :  —  "  The  world  is  crucified  unto  me,   and  I  [am  crucified]   unto  the 
world."  —  Gal.  vi,  14.     "  Hearts  should  not  [differ],  though  heads  may,  differ."  —  Dillwyn,  p. 
11.      "Are  ye  not  much  better  than  they"  [are]  ?  —  M.-itf.  vi,  26.      "Tribulation  worketh 
patience  ;  and  patience  [worketh]  experience  ;  and  experience  [icorketh]  hope."  —  Rom.  v,  4. 
"  Wrongs  are  engraved  on  marble  ;  benefits  [are  engraved]  on  sand."  —  Art  of  Thinking,  p.  41. 
"  To  whom  thus  Eve,  yet  sinless  "  [spoke].  —  Milton. 

6.  Of  the  PARTICIPLE  :  —  "  That  [beinn]  o'er,  they  part."  —  "Animals  of  various  natures, 
some  adapted  to  the  wood,  and  some  [adapted]  to  the  wave."  —  Mi-lmoth,  on  Scripture,  p.  13. 

"  His  knowledge  [being]  measured  to  his  state  and  place, 
His  time  [being]  a  moment,  and  a  point  [being]  his  space."  —  Pope. 

7.  Of  the  ADVERB  :  —  "  He  can  do  this  independently  of  me,  if  not  [indejjendentty]  of  you." 

"  She  shows  a  body  rather  than  a  life  ; 
A  statue,  [rather]  than  a  breather."  —  Shak.,Ant.  and  Cleop.,  iii,  3. 

8.  Of  the  CONJUNCTION:  —  "But  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  [and]  joy,  [and]   peace, 
[and]  long-suffering,  [and]  gentleness,  [and]  goodness,  [and]  faith,  [and]  meekness,  [and] 
temperance."  —  Gal.  v,  22.      The  repetition  of  the  conjunction  is  called  Polysyndeton  ;  and 
the  omission  of  it,  Asyndeton. 

9.  Of  the   Pi'Epo.sinoN  :  —  "It  shall  be  done  [on]  this  very  day."  —  "We  shall  set  off 
[at]  some  time  [in]  next  month."  —  "  He  departed   [from]  this  life."  —  "  He  gave  [to]  me  a 
book."  —  "  We  walked  [through]  a  mile."  —  "He  was  banished  [from]  the  kingdom."  —  W. 
Alien.     "He  lived  like  [to]  a  prince."  —  Well-s. 

10.  Of  the  INTEIUKCTIOX:—  "Oh!  the  frailty,  [oh!]  the  wickedness  of  men."  —  "Alas 
for  Mexico  !  and  [alas]  for  many  of  her  invaders  !  " 

11.  Of  PHUASI:S  or  Ci.u>!>:  —  "  The  active  commonly  do  more  than  they  are  bound  to 
do;  the  indolent  [commonly  do]  less  "    [than  they  are  bound  to  do].  —  "Young  men,  angry, 
mean  le.ss  than  they  say  ;  old  men,  [ani/ry,  mean]  more"  [than  they  say].  —  "  It  is  the  duty 
of  justice,  not  to  injure  men  ;  [it  is  the  duty]  of  modesty,  not  to  offend  them."  —  W.  Allen. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1.  —  Grammarians  in  general  treat  of  ellipsis  without  defining  it;  and  exhibit  such 
rides  and  examples  as  suppose  our  language  to  be  a  hundred-fold  more  elliptical  than  it  really 
is.*  This  is  a  great  error,  and  only  paralleled  by  that  of  a  certain  writer  elsewhere  noticed, 
who  denies  the  existence  of  all  ellipsis  whatever.  (See  Syntax,  Obs.  24th  on  Rule  22d.) 
Some  have  defined  this  figure  in  a  way  that  betrays  a  very  inaccurate  notion  of  what  it  is  : 
aa,  "  ELLIPSIS  is  when  one  or  more  words  are  wanting  to  complete  the  sense."  —  Adam's  Lat. 

"  Eu.irsis,  is  the  omission  of  one  or  more  words 

complete  the  sense."  —  Bullions,  Lat.  Gram.  p.  265.  These  definitions  are  decid- 
edly worse  than  none  ;  because,  if  they  have  any  effect,  they  can  only  mislead.  They 
absurdly  suggest  that  every  elliptical  sentence  lacks  a  part  of  its  own  meaning  !  Ellipsis 
is,  in  fact,  the  mere  omission  or  absence  of  certai  words  ;  or  of  words  that  may  be 

spared  from  utterance,  id?  .      There  never  can  be  an  ellipsis  of  any 

thing  which  is  either  unnecessary  to  the  construction  or  necessary  to  the  sense  ;  for  to  say 
what  we  mean  and  nothing  more,  never  can  constitute  a  deviation  from  the  ordinary  gram- 
matical construction  of  words.  As  a  figure  of  syntax,  therefore,  the  ellipsis  can  only  be  of 
such  words  as  are  so  evidently  suggested  to  the  reader,  that  the  writer  is  as  fully  answer- 
able for  them  as  if  he  had  written  them. 

.  2.  —  To  suppose  an  ellipsis  where  there  is  none,  or  to  overlook  one  where  it  really 

Limlley  Murray  an>l  some  others  aay,  "An  the  ellipsis  occurs  in  almont  ewry  stntfnce  in  the  English  language, 

Disk's.  117.  They  could,  without 


ofitjmigbtbegiTro."—  ACu 

di  ubt,  have  exhibits!  iiinuy  tru.-  si-cnni-iis  of  Kr.ip.-is  ;  but  most  of  those  which  they  li:iv«-  given,  are  only  fanci- 
ful aud  false  ones  ;  and  tlu-ir  n»ti"ii  nt'th"  fn.'<iuL'u<*y  of  the  figure,  id  monstrously  hyperbolical. 


788  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

occurs,  is  to  pervert  or  mutilate  the  text,  in  order  to  accommodate  it  to  the  parser's  or  reader's 
ignorance  of  the  principles  of  syntax.  There  never  can  be  either  a  general  uniformity  or 
a  self- consistency  in  our  methods  of  parsing,  or  in  our  notions  of  grammar,  till  the  true  na- 
ture of  an  ellipsis  is  clearly  ascertained  ;  so  that  the  writer  shall  distinguish  it  from  a  blun- 
dering omission  that  impairs  the  sense,  and  the  reader  or  parser  be  barred  from  an  arbitrary 
insertion  of  what  would  be  cumbrous  and  useless.  By  adopting  loose  and  extravagant 
ideas  of  the  nature  of  this  figure,  some  pretenders  to  learning  and  philosophy  have  been 
led  into  the  most  whimsical  and  opposite  notions  concerning  the  grammatical  construction 
of  language.  Thus,  with  equal  absurdity,  Cardel  and  Sherman,  in  their  Philosophic  Gram- 
mars, attempt  to  confute  the  doctrines  of  their  predecessors,  by  supposing  ellipses  at  pleasure. 
And  while  the  former  teaches,  that  prepositions  do  not  govern  the  objective  case,  but  that 
every  verb  is  transitive,  and  governs  at  least  two  objects,  expressed  or  understood,  its  own 
and  that  of  a  preposition ;  the  latter,  with  just  as  good  an  argument,  contends  that  no  verb 
is  transitive,  but  that  every  objective  case  is  governed  by  a  preposition  expressed  or  under- 
stood. A  world  of  nonsense  for  lack  of  a  definition ! 

II.  PLEONASM  is  the  introduction  of  superfluous  words;  as,  "  But  of  the  tree  of 
the  knowledge  of  good  and  evit,  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it." — Gen.  ii,  17.     This  figure 
is  allowable  only,  when,  in  animated  discourse,  it  abruptly  introduces  an  emphatic 
word,  or  repeats  an  idea  to  impress  it  more  strongly  ;  as,  "He  that  hath  ears  to  hear, 
let  him  hear." — Bible.     "All  ye  inhabitants  of  the  world,  and  dwellers  on  the  earth.''1 
— Id.      "  There  shall  not  be  left  one  stone  upon  an  other  that  shall  not  he  thrown 
down." — Id.     ' '  I  know  thee  who  thou  art. " — Id.     A  Pleonasm,  as  perhaps  in  these 
instances,  is  sometimes  impressive  and  elegant ;  but  an  unemphatic  repetition  of  the 
same  idea,  is  one  of  the  worst  faults  of  bad  writing. 

OBS. — Strong  passion  is  not  always  satisfied  with  saying  a  thing  once,  and  in  the  fewest 
words  possible  ;  nor  is  it  natural  that  it  should  be.  Hence  repetitions  indicative  of  intense 
feeling  may  constitute  a  beauty  of  the  highest  kind,  when,  if  the  feeling  were  wanting,  or 
supposed  to  be  so,  they  would  be  reckoned  intolerable  tautologies.  The  following  is  an  ex- 
ample, which  the  reader  may  appreciate  the  better,  if  he  remembers  the  context :  "At  her 
feet  he  bowed,  he  fell,  he  lay  down ;  at  her  feet  he  bowed,  he  fell ;  where  he  bowed,  there 
he  fell  down  dead." — Judges,  v,  27. 

III.  SYLLEPSIS  is  agreement  formed  according  to  the  figurative  sense  of  a  word,  3r 
the  mental  conception  of  the  thing  spoken  of,  and  not  acccording  to  the  literal  or  com- 
mon use  of  the  term  ;  it  is  therefore  in  general  connected  with  some  figure  of  rhetoric; : 
as,  "  The   Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  amongst  us,  and  we  beheld  his  glory." — 
John,  i,  14.     "  Then  Philip  went  down  to  the  city  of  Samaria,  and  preached  Christ 
unto  them" — Acts,  viii,  5.      "  The  city  of  London  have  expressed  their  sentimerts 
with  freedom  and  firmness." — Junius,  p.  159.     "And  I  said  [to  backsliding  Israel,] 
after  she  had  done  all  these  things,  Turn  thou  unto  me  ;  but  she  returned  not :  and 
her   treacherous  sister   Judah  saw  it." — Jer.  iii,  7.      "And   he  surnamed   them 
Boanerges,  which  is,  The  sons  of  thunder." — Mark,  iii,  17. 

"  While  Evening  draws  her  crimson  curtains  round." — Thomson,  p.  63. 
"The  Tftunder  raises  his  tremendous  voice." — Id.  p.  113. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — To  the  parser,  some  explanation  of  that  agreement  which  is  controlled  by  tropes, 
is  often  absolutely  necessary  ;  yet,  of  our  modern  grammarians,  none  appear  to  have  noticed 
it ;  and,  of  the  older  writers,  few,  if  any,  have  given  it  the  rank  which  it  deserves  among 
the  figures  of  syntax.  The  term  Syllepsis  literally  signifies  conception,  comprehension,  or  tak- 
ing-together. Under  this  name,  have  been  arranged,  by  the  grammarians  and  rhetoricians, 
many  different  forms  of  unusual  or  irregular  agreement ;  some  of  which  are  quite  too  unlike 
to  be  embraced  in  the  same  class,  and  not  a  few,  perhaps,  too  unimportant  or  too  ordinary 
to  deserve  any  classification  as  figures.  I  therefore  omit  some  forms  of  expression  which 
others  have  treated  as  examples  of  Syllepsis,  arid  define  the  term  with  reference  to  such  as 
seem  more  worthy  to  be  noticed  as  deviations  from  the  ordinary  construction  of  words. 
Dr.  "Webster,  allowing  the  word  two  meanings,  explains  it  thus :  "  SYLLEPSIS,  n.  [Gr. 
avhArjijjtc,.]  1.  In  grammar,  a  figure  by  which  we  conceive  the  sense  of  words  otherwise  than 
the  words  import,  and  construe  them  according  to  the  intention  of  the  author  ;  otherwise 
called  substitution.*  2.  The  agreement  of  a  verb  or  adjective,  not  with  the  word  next  to  it, 
but  with  the  most  worthy  in  the  sentence." — American  Diet. 

*  Who  besides  Webster  has  called  syllepsis  "  substitution,"  I  do  not  know.  Substitution  and.  conception  are 
terms  of  quit*  different  import,  and  many  authors  have  explained  syllepsis  by  the  latter  word.  Dr.  Webster  gives 
to  "  SUBSTITDTIOK  "  two  meaning?,  thus  :  "  1.  The  act  of  putting  one  person  or  thing  in  the  place  of  another  to 


CHAP.    III.]  PROSODY.  -  FIGURES.  —  SECTION    III.  —  EXPLANATIONS.  789 

OBS.  2.  —  In  short,  Si/Heps  is  is  &  conception  of  which  grammarians  have  conceived  so  vari- 
ously, that  it  has  become  doubtful,  what  definition  or  what  application  of  the  term  is  now 
the  most  appropriate.  Dr.  Prat,  in  defining  it,  cites  one  notion  from  Sanctius,  and  adds 
an  other  of  his  own,  thus  :  "  SYI.I.KI-SIS,  id  est,  Conceptio,  estquoties  Generibus,  autNumeris 
videntur  voces  discrepare.  Sanct.  1.  4.  c.  10.  Vel  sit  Comprehensio  indignioris  sub  dig- 
niore."  —  Prat's  Lat.  Gram.,  Part  ii,  p.  164.  John  Grant  ranks  it  as  a  mere  form  or  species  of 
Ellipsis,  and  expounds  it  thus  :  "SijUcpxi*  is  \rhen  the  adjective  or  verb,  joined  to  different 
substantives,  agrees  with  the  more  worthy."  —  Institutes  of  Lat,  Gram.  p.  321.  Dr.  Littleton 
describes  it  thus  :  "  SYLLEPSIS,  —  A  Grammatical  figure  ic  here  two  Nominative  Cases  singular 
of  different  persons  are  joined  to  a  Verb  plural."  —  Latin  Diet.  4to.  By  Dr.  Morell  it  is  ex- 
plained as  follows  :  "  SYLLEPSIS,—  A  grammatical  figure,  where  one  is  put  for  many,  and  many 
for  one,  Lat.  Conceptio."  —  Morels  Aiiisworth'  s  Diet.  4to,  Idex  Vitand. 

IV.  Enallage  is  the  use  of  one  part  of  speech,  or  of  one  modification,  for  an  other. 
This  figure  borders  closely  upon  solecism  ;  and,  for  the  stability  of  the  language,  it 
should  be  sparingly  indulged.  There  are,  however,  several  forms  of  it  which  can  ap- 
peal to  good  authority  :  as, 

1.  "Youknow  that  you  are  Brutus,  that  say  this."  —  Shak. 

2.  "  They  fall  successively'],  and  successively]  rise."  —  Pope. 

3.  "  Than  whom  [who]  a  fiend  more  fell  is  nowhere  found."  —  Thomson. 

4.  "  Sure  some  disaster  has  befell"  [befallen].  —  Gay. 

5.  "So  furious  was  that  onset's  shock, 

Destruction's  gates  at  once  unlock  "  [unlocked].  —  Hogg. 
OBSERVATIONS. 


OBS.  1.  —  Enallage  is  a  Greek  word,  signifying  commutation,  change,  or  exchange. 
lage,  in  a  general  sense,  is  the  change  of  words,  or  of  their  accidents,  one  for  another."  — 
Grant's  Latin  Gram.  p.  322.  The  word  Antimeria,  which  literally  expresses  change  of  parts, 
was  often  used  by  the  old  grammarians  as  synonymous  with  Enallage  ;  though,  sometimes, 
the  former  was  taken  only  for  the  substitution  of  one  part  of  speech  for  an  other,  and  the 
latter,  only,  or  more  particularly,  for  a  change  of  modification  —  as  of  mood  for  mood,  tense 
for  tense,  or  number  for  number.  The  putting  of  one  case  for  an  other,  has  also  been 
thought  worthy  of  a  particular  name,  and  been  called  Antiptosis.  But  Enallage,  the  most 
comprehensive  of  these  terms,  having  been  often  of  old  applied  to  all  such  changes,  re- 
ducing them  to  one  head,  may  well  be  now  defined  as  above,  and  still  applied,  in  this  way, 
to  nil  that  we  need  recognize  as  figures.  The  word  Enallaxis,  preferred  by  some,  is  of  the 
same  import.  "  EXALLAXIS,  so  called  by  Longinns,  or  ENALLAGE,  is  an  Exchange  of  Cases, 
Tenses,  Persons,  Numbers,  or  Genders."  —  Holmes'  s  Rhet.  Book  i,  p.  57. 
"An  ANALLAXIS  changes,  when  it  pleases, 

Tenses,  or  Persons,  Genders,  Numbers,  Cases."  —  Ib.  B.  ii,  p.  50. 
.  2.  —  Our  most  common  form  of  Enallage  is  that  by  which  a  single  person  is  addressed 
in  the  plural  number.  This  is  so  fashionable  in  our  civil  intercourse,  that  some  very  polite 
grammarians  improperly  dispute  its  claims  to  be  called  a.  figure  ;  and  represent  it  as  being 
more  ordinary,  and  even  more  literal,  than  the  regular  phraseology  ;  which  a  few  of  them, 
as  we  have  seen,  would  place  among  archaisms.  The  next  in  frequency,  (if  indeed  it  can 
be  called  a  different  form,)  is  the  practice  of  putting  ice  for  /,  or  the  plural  for  the 
singular  in^he^?r^  person.  This  has  never  yet  been  claimed  as  literal  and  regular  syntax, 
though,  the  usages  differ  in  nothing  but  commonness  ;  both  being  honourably  authorized, 
both  still  improper  on  some  occasions,  and,  in  both,  the  Enallage  being  alike  obvious.  Other 
varieties  of  this  figure,  not  uncommon  in  English,  are  the  putting  of  adjectives  for  adverbs, 
of  adverbs  for  nouns,  of  the  present  tense  for  the  preterit,  and  of  the  preterit  for  the  perfect 
participle.  But,  in  the  use  of  such  liberties,  elegance  and  error  sometimes  approximate  so 
nearly,  there  is  scarcely  an  obvious  line  betwixt  them,  and  grammarians  consequently  dis- 
agroe  in  making  the  distinction. 

OBS.  3.  —  Deviations  of  this  kind  are,  in  nmcral,  to  be  considered  solecisms  ;  otherwise, 
the  rules  of  grammar  would  be  of  no  use  or  authority.  Despauter,  an  ancient  Latin  gram- 
marian, gave  an  improper  latitude  to  this  figure,  or  to  a  species  of  it,  under  the  name  of 
Antiptosis;  and  Behourt  and  others  extended  it  still  further.  But  Sn  net  ins  says,  ltAntiptosi 
grainmaticonim  nihil  imprritins,  <y  <  n\  si  i-.i.set  rrrnm,  frnsfra  t/utrreretur,  qucm  casum 

terba  regerent."  And  the  Messieurs  De  Port  lto>/al  reject  the  figure  altogether.  There  are, 
how  ever,  some  changes  of  this  kind,  which  the  grammarian  is  not  competent  to  condemn, 
though  they  do  not  accord  with  the  ordinary  principles  of  construction. 

V.  Hyperbaton  is  the  transposition  of  words  ;  as,  "He  wanders  earth  around." 
—  Oowper.  "Rings  the  world  with  the  vain  stir."  —  Id.  "  Whom  therefore  ye  igno- 

mpp  y  [his  or]  its  place.—  2.  In  grammar,  syllepsis,  or  the  use  of  one  word  for  another."—  Amrriean  Diet.  STO. 
Thi?  explanation  seems  to  me  inaccurate;  because  It  confounds  both  substitution  and  syllepsis  with  tnallage. 
It  hzis  rignfl  of  carelessness  throughout  ;  the  former  sentence  being  both  tautological  and  UD  grammatical  —  G  B 


790  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

rantly  worship,  him  declare  /unto  you." — Acts,  xvii,  23.  "  'Happy,'  says  Mon- 
tesquieu, '  is  that  nation  whose  annals  are  tiresome.'  " — Corwin,  in  Congress,  1847. 
This  figure  is  much  employed  in  poetry.  A  judicious  use  of  it  confers  harmony, 
variety,  strength,  and  vivacity  upon  composition.  But  care  should  be  taken  lest  it 
produce  ambiguity  or  obscurity,  absurdity  or  solecism. 

OBS. — A  confused  and  intricate  arrangement  of  words,  received  from  some  of  the  ancients 
the  name  of  Syn'chysis,  and  was  reckoned  by  them  among  the  figures  of  grammar.  By  some 
authors,  this  has  been  improperly  identified  with  Hyper' baton,  or  elegant  inversion ;  as  may 
be  seen  under  the  word  Synchysis  in  Littleton's  Dictionary,  or  in  Holmes' s  Rhetoric,  at  page 
58th.  Synchysis  literally  means  confusion,  or  commixtion ;  and,  in  grammar,  is  significant 
only  of  some  poetical  jumble  of  words,  some  verbal  kink  or  snarl,  which  cannot  be  gram- 
matically resolved  or  disentangled  :  as, 

"Is  piety  thus  and  pure  devotion  paid  ? " — Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  xi,  1.  452. 
"An  ass  will  with  his  long  ears  fray 
The  flies  that  tickle  him,  away  ; 
But  man  delights  to  have  his  ears 
Blown  maggots  in  by  flatterers." — Butler's  Poems,  p.  161. 


SECTION  IV.  — FIGURES  OF  RHETORIC. 

A  Figure  of  Rhetoric  is  an  intentional  deviation  from  the  ordinary  appli 
tion  of  words.  Several  of  this  kind  of  figures  are  commonly  called  Tropes, 
i.  e.,  turns  ;  because  certain  words  are  turned  from  their  original  significa- 
tion to  an  other.* 

Numerous  departures  from  perfect  simplicity  of  diction,  occur  in  almost 
every  kind  of  composition.  They  are  mostly  founded  on  some  similitude  or 
relation  of  things,  which,  by  the  power  of  imagination,  is  rendered  conducive 
to  ornament  or  illustration. 

The  principal  figures  of  Rhetoric  are  sixteen  ;  namely,  Sim'-i-le,  Met'-a- 
phor,  Al'-le-yor-y,  Me-tori-y-my,  Syn-ec'-do-che,  Hy-per'-bo-le,  Vis'-ion,  A-ws'- 
tro-phe,  Per-son'-i-fi-ca'-tion,  Er-o-te'sis,  Ec-pho-ne'-sis,  An-titti-e-sis,  Cli'-nax, 
1-ro-ny,  A-poph'-a-sis,  and  On-o-ma-to-poe'-ia. 

EXPLANATIONS. 

1.  A  Simile  is  a  simple  and  express  comparison  ;  and  is  generally  introduced  by 
like,  as,  or  so :  as,  "  Such  a  passion  is  like  fatting  in  love  with  a  sparrow  flying  over 
your  head  ;  you  have  but  one  glimpse  of  her,  and  she  is  out  of  sight." — Collier* 's 
Antoninus,  p.  89.  "  Therefore  they  shall  be  as  the  morning  cloud,  and  as  the  ear- 
ly dew  that  passeth  away ;  as  the  chaff  that  is  driven  with  the  whirlwind  out  of  the 
floor,  and  as  the  smoke  out  of  the  chimney." — Hosea,  xiii,  3. 
"At  first,  like  thunder's  distant  tone, 

The  rattling  din  came  rolling  on." — Hogg.  • 

"  Man,  like  the  generous  vine,  supported  lives ; 
The  strength  he  gains,  is  from  th'  embrace  he  gives." — Pope. 

Ons. Comparisons  are  sometimes  made  in  a  manner  sufficiently  intelligible,  without  any 

express  term  to  point  them  out.  In  the  following  passage,  we  have  a  triple  example  of 
what  seems  the  Simile,  without  the  usual  sign — without  like,  as,  or  so :  "Away  with  all 
tampering  with  such  a  question  !  Away  with  all  trifling  with  the  man  in  fetters  !  Give 
a  hungry  man  a  stone,  and  tell  what  beautiful  houses  are  made  of  it ;  —  give  ice  to  a  freezing  man, 

*  Between  Tropes  and  Figures,  some  writers  attempt  a  full  distinction  ;  but  this,  if  practicable,  Is  of  little  use. 
According  to  Holmes,  "  TROPES  affect  only  single  Words  ;  but  FIGURES,  whole  Sentences.''''— Rhetoric.  B.  i,  p.  28. 
"  The  CHIEF  TROPES  in  Language,"  says  this  author,  "  are  seven  ;  a  Metaphor,  an  Allegory,  a  Metonymy,  a 
Synecdoche,  an  Irony,  an  Hyperbole,  and  a  Cntachresis." — 76.  p.  30.  The  term  Figure  or  Figuresis  more  compre- 
hensive than  Trope  or  Tropes ;  I  have  therefore  not  thought  it  expedient  to  make  much  use  of  the  latter,  in  either 
the  singular  or  the  plural  form.  Ilolmes's  seven  tropes  are  all  of  them  denned  in  the  main  text  of  this  section, 
except  Cat.arhresis,  which  Is  commonly  explained  to  be  u  an  abuse  of  a  trope."  According  to  this  sense,  it  seems 
in  general  to  differ  but  little  from  impropriety.  At  best,  a  Catachresis  is  a  forced  expression,  though  some- 
times perhaps,  to  be  indulged  where  there  is  great  excitement.  It  is  a  sort  of  figure  by  which  a  word  is  used  in 
a  sense  different  from,  yet  connected  with,  or  analogous  to,  its  own  ;  as, 
"And  pity,  like  a  naked  new-born  babe, 

Striding  the  blast,  as  heaven's  cherubim 

Horsed  upon  the  sightless  couriers  of  the  air, 

Shall  blow  the  horrid  deed  in  every  eye, 

That  tears  shall  drown  tho  wind."— Shak.,  Macbeth,  Act  i,  Sc.  7. 


CHAP.    III.]  PROSODY. FIGURES. SECTION    IV. EXPLANATIONS.  791 

and  tell  him  of  its  good  propi  /  ircather ;  —  throw  a  droiniitx/  man  a  dollar,  as  a  mark  of 

your  good  icill ;  — but  do  not  mock  the  bondman  in  his  misery,  by  giving  him  a  Bible  when 
he  cannot  read  it." — FUKDKUICK  Dori.i.\»  :   Liberty  Bell,  1848. 

II.  A  Metaphor  is  a   figure  that  expresses  or  the  resemblance  of  two 
objects  by  applying  either  the  name,  or  some  attribute,  adjunct,  or  action,  of  the  one, 
directly  to  the  other  ;  M, 

1.  "  The  LORD  is  my  rock,  and  my  fortress." — PsuL  xviii,  J. 

'2.  "His  eye  was  morning1  s  brightest  ray" — Hogg. 

3.  "  An  angler  in  the  tides  of  fame." — Id.,  Q.    W.t  p.  30. 

4.  "  Beside  him  sleeps  the  warrior's  bow." — Laiujhome. 

5.  "  Wild  fancies  in  his  moody  brain 

Gambol*  d  nnfirit/h'f/  and  unbound." — Hogg,  Q.   W.,  p.  90. 
G.     "  Speechless,  and  fix'd  in  all  the  death  of  wo." — Thomson. 

-  commonly  understood  to  be  only  the  tropical  use  of  some  single  word 

or  short  phrase  ;  but  there  seem  to  be  occasional  instances  of  one  sentence,  or  action,  being 
used  metaphorically  to  represent  an  other.  The  following  extract  from  the  London  Ex- 
aminer has  several  "figurative  expressions,  which  perhaps  belong  to  this  head :  «« In  the 
present  age,  nearly  all  people  are  critics,  even  to  the  pen,  and  treat  the  gravest  writers  with 
a  sort  of  taproom  familiarity.  If  they  are  dissatisfied,  they  throw  a  short  and  spent  r/wr  in  the 
face  of  the  ojfcndLf :  if  they  are  pleased,  they  lift  the  candidate  njf  hit  Irys,  and  send  him  away 
hearty  slap  on  the  shoulder.  Some  of  the  shorter,  when  they  are  bent  to  mischief,  dip 
in  tin'  gufti-r,  (ind  dray  it  across  our  polished  boots :  on  the  contrary,  when  they  are  in- 
clined to  be  gentle  and  generous,  the;/  msly  upon  our  knees,  and  kiss  us  with  bread- 
and-butter  in  their  mouths." — WALTEK  SAVAGI:  LAXDOK. 

III.  An  Alh'f/ory  is  a  continued  narration   of  fictitious  events,  designed  to  repre- 
sent and  illustrate  important  realities.     Thus  the  Psalmist  represents  the  Jewish  na- 
tion under  the  symbol  of  a  vine:  "  Thou  hast  brought  a  vine  out  of  Egypt :  thou 
hast  cast  out  the  heathen,  and  planted  it.     Thou  preparedst  room  before  it,  and  didst 
cause  it  to  take  deep  root,  and  it  filled  the  land.     The  hills  were  covered  with  the 
shadow  of  it,  and  the  bought  thereof  were  like  the  goodly  cedars." — Psalms,  Ixxx, 
8—10. 

. — The  Attegory,  agreeably  to  the  foregoing  definition  of  it,  includes  most  of  those  simil- 
itudes which  in  the  Scriptures  are  called  parables ;  it  includes  also  the  better  sort  of  fables. 
The  term  a!'  mietimes  applied  to  a  true  history  in  which  something  else  is  intended, 

than  is  contained  in  the  words  literally  taken.  See  an  instance  in  Galatians,  iv,  24.  In  the 
Scripture.^  the  term  fable  denotes  an  idle  and  groundless  story:  as  in  1  Timothy,  iv,  7  ;  and 
i  i>  now  commonly  used  in  a  better  sense.  "  A  fable  may  be  defined  to  be 
an  analogical  narrative,  intended  to  convey  some  moral  lesson,  in  which  irrational  animals 
or  objects  are  introduced  as  speaking." — Philological  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p.  280. 

IV.  A  .Urfmiyniy  is  a  change  of  names  between  things  related.      It  is  founded, 
not  on  resemblance,  but.  on  some  such  relation  as  that  of  cawseand  effect,  of  progeni- 
tor and  posterity,  of  subject  and  (nf/nnrt,  of  place  and  inhabitant,  of  container  and 
////////  contained,  <>r  <>f  y/yw  and  ///;  1.)  "God  is  our  salvation;'1 

11  Hear,  0  Israel ;"  i.  e.,  0  ye  descendants  of  Israel.  (3.) 
"  1 1  ••  was  tli.-  siyh  of  her  secret  soul ;  "  i.  e.,  the  youth  she  loved.  (4.)  "  They  smote 
the  city  ;  "  i.  e.,  the  -  (5. )  "  My  son,  give  me  thy  heart  ;  "  i.  e.,  affection. 

(C.)  "  The  srrpfrc  shall  not  depart  from  Judah  ;  "  i.  e.,  kimjly  power.  (7.)  "  They 
have  J/'w.v  mill  f/ic  firnphets  ;"  i.  c.,  their  u-ritiiiys.  See  Luke,  xvi,  29. 

V '.  SyHcrtlni'I.r,  (that  is,  Cbifipr«feiilf0il,)  is  the  naming  of  a  part  for  the  whole, 
as  of  the  whole  for  a  part ;  as,  (1.)  "  This  roof  [i.  e.,  house]  protects  you."  (  _. ) 
"  \i>w  tin1  ynir  [i.  «..  summer]  is  beautiful."  (3.)  "A  sail  [i.  e.,  a  ship  or  vessel] 
,  at  a  distance."  (4.)  "  (live  us  this  day  our  daily  bread;"  i.  e.,  food.  (5.) 
"  Because  they  have  taken  away  />///  Lord,  [i.  e.,  the  body  of  Jesus,]  and  I  know  not 
where  they  have  laid  him." — John.  ((>.)  "  The  same  day  there  were  added  unto  them 
about  three  thousand  souls  /"i.e.,  persons. — Acts.  (7.)  "  There  went  out  a  decree 
fr<  m  ( '.T-ar  Augustus,  that  all  the  world  [i.  e.,  the  Roman  empire]  should  be  taxed." 
—  L"L-< .  ii.  1. 

VI.  Hyperbole  is  extravagant  exaggeration,  in  which  the  imagination  is  indulged 
beyond  the  sobriety  of  truth  ;  as,  "  My  little  finger  shall  be  thicker  than  my  father's 


792  THE    GRAMMAH    OP    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART    IV. 

loins." — 2    Chron.  x,  10.     "When   I  washed  my  steps   with  butter,  and  the  rock 
poured  me  out  rivers  of  oil." — Job,  xxix,  6. 

' '  The  sky  shrunk  upward  with  unusual  dread, 
And  trembling  Tiber  div'd  beneath  his  bed." — Dryden. 

VII.  Vision,  or  Imagery,  is  a  figure  by  which  the  speaker  represents  the  objects 
of  his  imagination,  as  actually  before  his  eyes,  and  present  to  his  senses;  as, 

u  I  see  the  dagger-crest  of  Mar ! 
I  see  the  Moray's  silver  star 
Wave  o'er  the  cloud  of  Saxon  war, 
That  up  the  lake  comes  winding  far  !  " — Scott  t  L.  L.,  vi,  15. 

VIII.  Apostrophe  is  a  turning  from  the  regular  course  of  the  subject,  into  an  ani- 
mated address;  as,  "  Death  is  swallowed  up  in   victory.     0  Death  !    where  is  thy 
sting?  0  Grave  !  where  is  thy  victory?  " — 1  Cor.  xv,  55. 

IX.  Personification  is  a  figure  by  which,  in  imagination,  we  ascribe  intelligence 
and  personality  to  unintelligent  beings  or  abstract  qualities ;  as, 

1.  "  The  Worm,  aware  of  his  intent, 

Harangued  him  thus,  right  eloquent." — Cowper. 

2.  "  Lo,  steel-clad  War  his  gorgeous  standard  rears  !  " — Rogers. 

3.  "  Hark  !  Truth  proclaims,  thy  triumphs  cease  !  " — Idem. 

X.  Erotesis  is  a  figure  in  which  the  speaker  adopts  the  form  of  interrogation,  not 
to  express  a  doubt,  but,  in  general,  confidently  to  assert  the  reverse  of  what  is  asked ; 
as,    "  Hast  thou  an  arm  like  God?  or  canst  thou  thunder  with  a  voice  like  him  ?  "• 
Job.  xl,  9.     "He  that  planted  the  ear,  shall  he  not  hear  ?  he  that  formed  the  eye,  shall 
he  not  see?  " — Psalms,  xciv,  9. 

XI.  Ecphonesis  is  a  pathetic  exclamation,  denoting  some  violent  emotion  of  the 
mind  ;  as,  "0  liberty  ! — 0  sound  once  delightful  to  every  Roman  ear  ! — 0  sacred 
privilege  of  Roman  citizenship  ! — once  sacred — now  trampled  upon." —  Cicero.   "And 
I  said,  O  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove  !  for  then  would  I  fly  away,  and  be  atrest."- 
Psalms,  Iv,  6. 

XII.  Antithesis  is  a  placing  of  things  in  opposition,  to  heighten  their  effect  by 
contrast;  as,   "I  will  talk  of  things  heavenly,  or  things  earthly ;  things  moral,  or 
things  evangelical ;  things  sacred,  or  things  profane  ;  things  past,  or  things  to  come  ; 
things  foreign,  or  things  at  home  ;  things  more  essential,  or  things  circumstantial; 
provided  that  all  be  done  to  our  profit." — Bunyan,  P.  P.,  p.  90. 

"  Contrasted  faults  through  all  his  manners  reign  ; 
Though  poor,  luxurious  ;  though  submissive,  vain ; 
Though  grave,  yet  trijling  ;  zealous,  yet  untrue  ; 
And  e'en  in  penance,  planning  sins  anew." — Goldsmith. 

XIII.  Climax  is  a  figure  in  which  the  sense  is  made  to  advance  by  success! 
steps,  to  rise  gradually  to  what  is  more  and  more  important  and  interesting,  or  to 
descend  to  what  is  more  and  more  minute  and  particular ;  as,  "And  besides  this, 
giving  all  diligence,  add  to  your  faith,  virtue ;  and  to  virtue,  knowledge ;  and  to 
knowledge,  temperance;  and  to  temperance,  patience;  and  to  patience,  godliness; 
and   to   godliness,    brotherly  kindness;  and   to   brotherly   kindness,   charity." — 2 
Peter,  \,  5. 

XIV.  Irony  is  a  figure  in  which  the  speaker  sneeringly  utters  the  direct  reverse  of 
what  he  intends  shall  be  understood  ;  as,  "  We  have,  to  be  sure,  great  reason  to  be- 
lieve the  modest  man  would  not  ask  him  for  a  debt,  when  he  pursues  his  life."- 
Cicero.     "  No  doubt  but  ye  are  the  people,  and  wisdom  shall  die  with  you." — Job,  xii, 
2.     "  They  must  esteem  learning  very  much,  when  they  see  its  professors  used  with 
such  little  ceremony  !  " — Goldsmith's  Essays,  p.  150. 

XV.  Apophasis,  or  Paralipsis*  is  a  figure  in  which  the  speaker  or  writer  pretends 
to  omit  what  at  the  same  time  he  really  mentions ;  as,  "I  Paul  have  written  it  with 

*  Holmes,  in  his  Art  of  Rhetoric,  writes  this  word  " Paraleipsis,"  retaining  the  Greek  orthography.  So  does 
Fowler  in  his  recent  "  English  Grammar,"  §  646.  Webster,  Adam,  and  some  others,  write  it  "Paraltpsis."  I 
write  it  as  above  on  the  authority  of  Littleton,  Ainsworth,  and  some  others  ;  and  this  is  according  to  the  analogy 
of  the  kindred  word  ellipsis,  which  we  never  write  either  ellipsis,  or,  as  the  Greek,  ellripsis. 


ive 


CHAP.  III.]     PROSODY. FIGURES. EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. PRAXIS  XIV.  793 

mine  own  hand,  I  will  repay  it ;  albeit  /  do  not  say  to  thee,  bow  thou  owest  unto 
me  even  thine  own  self  besides." — Philemon,  19. 

XVI.  Onomatopoeia  is  the  use  of  a  word,  phrase,  or  sentence,  the  pound  of  which 
:iblcs,  or  intentionally  imitates,  the  sound  of  the  thing  .signified  or  spoken  of:  as, 
"  Of  a  knocking  at  the  duor,  Rat.  «  tut  fat." — Fowler's  Gram.  p.  331.  "Ding-dung  / 
ding-dinnj!  Merry,  merry,  go  the  bells,  Ding-dong!  ding-dong!11 — ILK.  White. 
"  Bowwow,  /*.  The  loud  bark  of  a  dog.  Booth." —  Worcester's  Diet.  This  is  often 
written  separately;  as,  "Bow  wow." — Fowler's  Gram.  p.  334.  The  imitation  is 
better  with  three  sounds:  "Bow  wow  wow'1  The  following  verses  have  been  said 
to  exhibit  this  figure  : — 

"  But  when  loud  surges  lash  the  sounding  shore, 

The  hoarse  rough  verse  should  like  the  torrent  roar." — Pope,  on  Grit.  1.  3C9. 
Or.s. — The  whole  number  of  figures,  which  I  have  thought  it  needful  to  define  and  illus- 
trate in  this  work,  is  only  about  thirty.      These  are  the  chief  si  what  have  sometimes  been 
made  a  very  long  and  minute  catalogue.     In  the  hands  of  some  authors,  Rhetoric  is  scarcely 
anything  else  than  a  detail  of  figures  ;  the  number  of  which,  being  made  to  include  almost 
hie  form  of  expression,  is,  according  to  these  authors,  not  less  than  two  hundred 
and  forty.     Of  their  nam»*,  John  Holmes  gives,  in  his  index,  two  hundred  and  fifty-three-; 
and  he  has  not  all  that  might  be  quoted,  though  he  has  more  than  there  are  of  the  forms 
named,  or  the  figures  themselves.      To  find  a  learned  name  for  every  particular  mode  of 
expression,  is  not  i:rcvs-arily  conducive  to  the  right  use  of  language.     It  is  easy  to  see  the 
inutility  of  such  pedantry  ;  and  Butler  has  made  it  sufficiently  ridiculous  by  this  caricature : 
"  For  all  a  rhetorician's  rules 
Teach  nothing  but  to  name  his  tools." — Hudibras,  P.  i,  C.  i,l.  90. 

SECTION  V.  — EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. 
PRAXIS  XIV.  —  PROSODICAL. 

In  the  Fourteenth  Praxis,  are  exemplified  the  several  Figures  of  Orthography,  of 
tt'i/innlogij,  of  Syr  '  f]f  Rhetoric,  which  the  parser  may  name  and  define  ; 

and  l>i/  it  ////>  ]>  >'/i//  in -I  i/  also  be  exercised  in  relation  to  the  principles  of  Pune- 
t nation,  Utterance,  Analysis,  or  whatever  else  of  Grammar  the  examples  contain. 

LESSON  I. — FIGURES  OF  ORTHOGRAPHY. 

MIMT.SIS    AM)    ARCHAISM. 

"  I  ax'd  you  what  you  had  to  sell.     I  am  fitting  out  a  wessel  for  Wenice,  loading 
her  with  wurio*  ..f  prowisions,  and  wittualUng  her  for  a  long  woyage  ;  and 

I  want  several  undred  weight  of  weal,  wenison,  &c.,  with  plenty  of  inyons  and  wit* 
e;/"r,  for  the  preserwation  of  caltlt." — Oofambfan  Orator,  p.  1^92 

"  (.!  you,  and  lie  still  quiet  (says  T)  a  bit  longer,  for  my  shister's  afraid  of 

ghosts,  and  would  die  on  the  spot  with  the  fright,  was  she  to  see  you  come  to  life  all 
on  a  sudden  this  way  without  the  least  preparation." — Edgeicorth's  Castle  Rack- 
rent,  p.  14-;. 

"  None  [else  are]  so  desperately  evill,  as  they  that  may  Ice  good  and  will  not:  or 
have  beene  good  and  are  not." — AVr.  John  /  .:"  V  Carpenter  finds  his 

work  as  her  left  it,  but  a  minister  shall  find  his  sett  back.  You  need  preach  con- 
tinually."—  Id. 

••  1 1 -re  icltilnm  H'j'jd  \\\    K-opus  of  his  age, 

But  call'd  by  l'\um»,  in  soul  yp  ricked  deep." — Thomson. 
"If  v,   i  a  fountain  of  NYpenthu  rare, 
Whence,  as  Dan  Homer  sings,  huge  pleasaunce  grew." — Id. 

'V  II. — FIGURES  OF  KTYMOLOGY. 

APH^ERESIS,    PROSTHESIS,    8YXCOPE,    APOCOPE,    PARAGOGE,     DLEIIESIS,  SYN.llUESIS,    AND 

11  Bend  'gainst  the  steepy  hill  thy  brr 

Burst  down  like  torrent  from  its  crest." — Scott. 
*' '  Tis  mine  to  teach  tIC  inactive  hand  to  reap 

Kind  nature's  bounties,  o'er  the  globe  diffused" — Dyer. 


794  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART    H 

"Alas  !  alas  !  how  im potently  true 

Tti  aerial  pencil  forms  the  scene  anew." — Cawihorne. 
"  Here  a  deformed  monster  joy'd  to  won, 

Which  on  fell  rancour  ever  was  ybent." — Lloyd. 
"  Withouten  trump  was  proclamation  made." — Thomson. 
"  The  gentle  knight,  who  saw  their  rueful  case, 

Let  fall  adown  his  silver  beard  some  tears. 

'  Certes,'  quoth  he,  *  it  is  not  e'en  in  grace, 

T'  undo  tho  past  and  eke  your  broken  years." — Id. 
"  Vain  tampering  has  loutfoster'd  his  disease  ; 

'  Tis  desperate,  and  he  sleeps  the  sleep  of  death." — Cowper. 
"  '  I  have  a  pain  upon  my  forehead  here  ' — 

'  Why  that's  with  watching  ;  'twill  away  again.'  " — Shakspeare. 
"  I'll  to  the  woods,  among  the  happier  brutes; 

Come,  let's  away;  hark  !  the  shrill  horn  resounds." — Smith. 
"  What  prayer  and  supplication  soever  be  made." — Bible.     "  By  the  grace  of  God, 
we  have  had  our  conversation  in  the  world,  and  more  abundantly  to  you  ward." — Ib. 

LESSON  III. — FIGURES  OF  SYNTAX. 

FIGURE    I. — ELLIPSIS. 

"And  now  he  faintly  kens  the  bounding  fawn, 

And  [ — ]  villager  [ — ]  abroad  at  early  toil." — Beattie. 
"  The  cottage  curs  at  [ — ]  early  pilgrim  bark." — Id. 
"  'Tis  granted,  and  no  plainer  truth  appears, 

Our  most  important  [ — ]  are  our  earliest  years." — Cowper. 
"  To  earn  her  aid,  with  fix'd  and  anxious  eye, 

He  looks  on  nature's  [ — ]  and  on  fortune's  course." — Akenside. 
"  For  longer  in  that  paradise  to  dwell, 

The  law  [ — ]  I  gave  to  nature  him  forbids." — Milton. 
"  So  little  mercy  shows  [ — ]  who  needs  so  much." — Cowper. 
"  Bliss  is  the  same  [ — ]  in  subject,  as  [ — ]  in  king ; 

In  [ — ]  who  obtain  defence,  and  [ — ]  who  defend." — Pope. 
11  Man  made  for  kings  !  those  optics  are  but  dim 

That  tell  you  so — say  rather,  they  [ — ]  for  him." — Cowper. 
"  Man  may  dismiss  compassion  from  his  heart, 

But  God  will  never  [ ]."— Id. 

"  Vigour  [ — ]  from  toil,  from  trouble  patience  grows." — Beattie. 
"  Where  now  the  rill  melodious,  [ — ]  pure,  and  cool, 

And  meads,  with  life,  and  mirth,  and  beauty  crown'd?" — Id. 
"  How  dead  the  vegetable  kingdom  lies ! 

How  dumb  the  tuneful  [ ]  !  " — Thomson. 

"  Self-love  and  Keason  to  one  end  aspire, 

Pain  [ — ]  their  aversion,  pleasure  [ — ]  their  desire ; 

But  greedy  that  its  object  would  devour, 

This  [ — ]  taste  the  honey,  and  not  wound  the  flower." — Pope. 

LESSON  IV. — FIGURES  OF  SYNTAX. 


FIGURE     II. — PLEONASM. 


"According  to  their  deeds,  accordingly  he  will  repay,  fury  to  his  adversaries,  rec- 
ompense to  his  enemies;  to  the  islands  he  will  repay  recompense." — Isaiah,  lix,  18. 
"  Open  to  me,  my  sister,  my  love,  my  dove,  my  undefiled  :  for  my  head  is  filled  with 
dew,  and  my  locks  with  the  drops  of  the  night." — Song  of  Sol.  v,  2.  "  Thou  hast 
chastised  me,  and  I  was  chastised,  as  a  bullock  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke  :  turn  thou 
me,  and  I  shall  be  turned,-  for  thou  art  the  Lord  my  God." — Jer.  xxx,  18.  "  Con- 
sider the  lilies  of  the  field  how  they  grow." — Matt,  vi,  28.  "He  that  glorieth,  let 
him  glory  in  the  Lord." — 2  Cor.  x,  17. 

"He  too  is  witness,  noblest  of  the  train 
That  wait  on  man,  the  flight-performing  horse." — Cowper. 


CHAP.    III.]    PROSODY. — FIGURES. — EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. — PRAXIS  XIV.  795 

FIGURE     III. — SYLLEPSIS. 

"  '  Thou  art  Simon  the  son  of  Jona  :  thou  shall  be  called  Cephas  ; '  which  is,  by 
interpretation,  a  stone." — John,  i,  42.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  '  Behold,  I 
will  break  the  bow  vt  Elam,  the  chief  of  their  might.'  " — Jer.  xlix,  35.  "  Behold,  I 
lay  in  Sion  a  stumbling-stone  and  rock  of  offence  :  and  whosoever  believeth  on  him 
shall  not  be  ashamed/' — Rom.  ix,  33. 

"  Thus  Conscience  pleads  her  cause  within  the  breast, 

Though  long  rebell'd  against,  not  yet  suppress'd." — Cowper. 
"Knowledge  is  proud  that  he  has  learn'd  so  much  ; 
Wisdom  is  humble  that  he  knows  no  more." — Id. 
"  For  those  the  race  of  Israel  oft  forsook 
Their  living  strength,  and  unfrequented  left 
His  righteous  altar,  bowing  lowly  down 
To  bestial  gods." — Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  B.  i,  1.  432. 

LESSON  V. — FIGURES  OF  SYNTAX. 

FIGURE    IV. — ENALLAGE. 

"  Let  me  tell  you,  Cassius,  you  yourself 

Are  much  condemned  to  have  an  itching  palm, 

To  sell  and  mart  your  offices  for  gold." — Shakspeare. 
"  Come,  Philomelus;  let  us  instant  go, 

O'erturn  his  bow'rs,  and  lay  his  castle  low." — Thomson. 
"  Then  palaces  shall  rise  ;  the  joyful  son 

Shall  finish  what  the  short-liv'd  sire  begun" — Pope. 
"  Such  was  that  temple  built  by  Solomon, 

Than  whom  none  richer  reign'd  o'er  Israel." — Author. 
"  He  spoke  :  with  fatal  eagerness  we  burn, 

And  quit  the  shores,  undestin'd  to  return." — Day. 
"  Still  as  he  pass'd,  the  nations  he  sublimes." — Thomson. 
"  Sometimes,  with  early  morn,  he  mounted  gay." — Id. 
"  '  I've  lost  a  day  ' — the  prince  who  nobly  cried, 

Had  been  an  emperor  without  his  crown." — Young. 

FIGURE   V. — HYPERBATON. 

"  Such  resting  found  the  sole  of  unblest  feet." — Milton. 
"  Yet,  though  successless,  will  the  toil  delight." — Thomson. 
"  Where,  'midst  the  changeful  scen'ry  ever  new, 

Fancy  a  thousand  wondrous  forms  descries." — Beattie. 
"  Yet  so  much  bounty  is  in  God,  such  grace, 

That  who  advance  his  glory,  not  their  own, 

Them  he  himself  to  glory  will  advance." — Milton. 
"  No  quick  reply  to  dubious  questions  make ; 

Suspense  and  caution  still  prevent  mistake. " — Denham. 

>x  \\. — FIGURES  OF  RHETORIC. 

FIGURE    I. — SIMILE. 

11  Human  greatness  is  short  and  transitory,  as  the  odour  of  incense  in  the  fire." — 
Dr.  Johnson.  "  Terrestrial  happiness  is  of  short  continuance  :  the  brightness  of  the 
flame  is  wasting  its  fuel,  the  fragrant  flower  is  passing  away  in  its  own  odours" — 
//.  "  Thy  nod  is  as  the  earthquake  that  shakes  the  mountains  ;  and  thy  smile,  at 
}e  dawn  of  the  vernal  day." — Id. 

" Plants  rais'dwitlt  tenderness  are  seldom  strong  ; 
Man's  coltish  disposition  asks  the  thong ; 
And,  without  discipline,  the  fav'rite  child, 
Likra  neglected  forester ,  runs  wild." — Cowper. 
"As  turns  a  flock  of  geese,  and,  on  the  green, 
Poke  out  their  foolish  necks  in  awkward  spleen, 
(Ridiculous  in  rage  !)  to  hiss,  not  bite, 
So  war  their  auills.  when  eons  of  dulness  write." — Younq. 


THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. 

"  Who  can  un  pitying  see  the  flowery  race, 
Shed  by  the  morn,  their  new-flush 'd  bloom  resign, 
Before  th  '  unbating  beam  ?     So  fade  the  fair, 
When  fevers  revel  through  their  azure  veins." — Thomson. 


[PART 


I 


FIGURE    II. — METAPHOR. 


"  Cathmon,  thy  name  is  a  pleasant  gale" — Ossian.  "Rolled  into  himself  be 
flew,  wide  on  the  bosom  of  winds.  The  old  oak  felt  his  departure,  and  shook  its 
whistling  head.'" — Id.  "  Carazan  gradually  lost  the  inclination  to  do  good,  as  lie 
acquired  the  power ;  as  the  hand  of  time  scattered  snow  upon  his  head,  the  freezing 
influence  extended  to  his  bosom." — Hawkesworth.  "  The  sun  grew  weary  of  gild- 
ing the  palaces  of  Morad  ;  the  clouds  of  sorrow  gathered  round  his  head  ;  and  the 
tempest  of  hatred  roared  about  his  dwelling." — Dr.  Johnson. 

LESSON  VII. — FIGURES  OF  RHETORIC. 


FIGURE    III. — ALLEGORY. 


"  But  what  think  ye  ?  A  certain  man  had  two  sons ;  and  he  came  to  the  first,  and 
said,  '  Son,  go  work  to-day  in  my  vineyard.'  He  answered  and  said,  '  I  will  not;  ' 
but  afterward  he  repented,  and  went.  And  he  came  to  the  second,  and  said  likewise. 
And  he  answered  and  said,  '  I  go,  sir  ; '  and  went  not.  Whether  of  them  twain  did 
the  will  of  his  father?  They  say  unto  him,  '  The  first. '  "—Matt,  xxi,  28—31. 


FIGURE    IV. — METONYMY. 


"  Swifter  than  a  whirlwind,  flies  the  leaden  death.'" — Hervey.     "  '  Be  all  the  dead 
forgot,'  said  Foldath's  bursting  wrath.     '  Did  not  I  fail  in  the  field  ? '  " — Ossian. 
11  Their  furrow  oft  the  stubborn  glebe  has  broke." — Gray. 
"  Firm  in  his  love,  resistless  in  his  hate, 

His  arm  is  conquest,  and  his  frown  is /ate." — Day. 
"At  length  the  world,  renew'd  by  calm  repose, 

Was  strong  for  toil ;  the  dappled  morn  arose." — ParnelL 
"  What  modes  of  sight  betwixt  each  wide  extreme, 

The  mole's  dim  curtain  and  the  lynx's  beam  ! 

Of  hearing,  from  the  life  that  fills  the  flood, 

To  that  which  warbles  through  the  vernal  wood  !  " — Pope. 


FIGURE    V. — SYNECDOCHE. 

"  'Twas  then  his  threshold  first  receiv'd  a  guest." — ParnelL 

"  For  yet  by  swains  alone  the  world  he  knew, 
Whose  feet  came  wand'ring  o'er  the  nightly  dew." — Id. 

"  Flush'd  by  the  spirit  of  the  genial  year, 
Now  from  the  virgin's  cheek  a  fresher  bloom 
Shoots,  less  and  less,  the  live  carnation  round." — Thomson. 

LESSON  VIII. — FIGURES  OF  RHETORIC. 

FIGURE    VI. — HYPERBOLE. 


"I  saw  their  chief,  tall  as  a  rock  of  ice  ;  his  spear,  the  blasted  fir;  his  shield  the 
rising  moon  ;  he  sat  on  the  shore,  like  a  cloud  of  mist  on  the  hill." — Ossian. 
"At  which  the  universal  host  up  sent 
A  shout,  that  tore  Hell's  concave,  and  beyond 
Frighted  the  reign  of  Chaos  and  old  Night." — Milton. 
"  Will  all  great  Neptune's  ocean  wash  this  blood 
Clean  from  my  hand  ?  No  ;  this  my  hand  will  rather 
The  multitudinous  seas  incarnadine, 
Making  the  green  one  red  !  " — Shakspeare. 


FIGURE   VII. — VISION. 


11  How  mighty  is  their  defence  who  reverently  trust  in  the  arm  of  God  !  How  pow- 
erfully do  they  contend  who  fight  with  lawful  weapons !  Hark !  'Tis  the  voice  of 
eloquence,  pouring  forth  the  living  energies  of  the  soul ;  pleading,  with  generous 
indignation  and  holy  emotion,  the  cause  of  injured  humanity  against  lawless  might, 


CHAP.  III.]      PROSODY. FIGURES. EXAMPLES  FOR  PARSING. PRAXIS  XIV.  797 

and  reading  the  awful  destiny  that  awaits  the  oppressor ! — I  see  the  stern  countenance 
of  despotism  overawed  !  I  see  the  eye  fallen,  that  kindled  the  elements  of  war  !  I  see 
the  brow  relaxed,  that  scowled  defiance  at  hostile  thousand*  !  I  see  the  knees  trem- 
ble, that  trod  with  firmness  the  embattled  field  !  Fear  has  entered  that  heart  which 
ambition  had  betrayed  into  violence  !  The  tyrant  feels  himself  a  man,  and  subject  to 
the  weakness  of  humanity  ! — Behold  !  and  tell  me,  is  that  power  contemptible  which 
can  thus  find  access  to  the  sternest  hearts?  " — Author \ 

ricrui:   vin. — APOSTROPHE. 

"  Yet  still  thev  breathe  destruction,  still  go  on, 
Inhumanly  ingenious  to  find  out 
New  pains  for  life,  new  terrors  for  the  grave  ; 
Artificers  of  death  !  Still  monarchs  dream 
Of  universal  empire  growing  up 
From  universal  ruin.     Blast  the  design, 
Great  God  of  Hosts!  nor  let  thy  creatures  fall 
L'npitif'd  rirfu/is  at  Ambition's  shrine" — Porteus. 

LESSON  IX. — FIGUKKS  OF  RHETORIC. 

FIGURE    IX. — PERSONIFICATION. 

"  Hail,  sacred  Polity,  by  Freedom  rear'd  ! 

Hail,  sacred  Freedom,  when  by  Law  restrain'd  ! 

Without  you,  what  were  man?    A  grov'ling  herd, 

Tn  darkness,  wretchedness,  and  want,  enchain'd." — Beattie. 
"  Let  cheerful  J/r///Yy,  from  her  purest  cells, 
1  forth  a  goo'lly  train  of    Virtues  fair, 

Cherish  M  in  early  youth,  now  paying  buck 

With  tenfold  usury  the  pious  care." — Porteus. 

FIGURE    X. — EROTESIS. 

"  He  that  chastiscth  the  heathen,  shall  not  he  correct?  He  that  tcacheth  man 
knowledge,  shall  not  he  know?" — Psal.  xciv,  10.  '*  Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his 
skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots?  then  may  ye  also  do  good,  that  are  accustomed  to  do 
evil." — Jeremiah,  xiii,  tio. 

FIGURE    XI. — ECPHOXESIS. 

"  0  that  my  head  were  waters,  and  mine  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  I  might 
weep  day  and  ni^lit  for  the  slain  of  the  daughter  of  my  people  !  0  that  I  had  in  the 
wilderness  :i  lodging  place  of  way-faring  men,  that  I  might  leave  my  people,  and  go 
from  them  !  " — Jeremiah,  ix,  1. 

FIGURE    XII. ANTIT1U>I-:. 

"  On  this  side,  modesty  is  engaged;  on  that,  impudence:  on  this,   chastity;  on 
that,  lewdnoss  :  on  this,  integrity  ;  on  that,  fraud  :  on  this,  piety  ;  on   that,  profane- 
:   on  this.  r<>M.-ra.nry  ;  on  that,  fickleness  :  on  this,  honour;  on  that,  baseness  :  on 
this,  moderation;  on  that,  unbridled  p-is>i«in." — Cicero. 

"  She,  from  the  rending  earth,  and  bursting  skies, 

de-ceiid,  and  finid>  infernal  rise; 
Here  fix'd  the  dreadful,  there  the  blest  abodes; 

r  made  her  devils,  and  weak  hope  her  gods." — Pope. 

OF  RHETORIC. 

\III.-CUMAX. 

"  Virtuous  actions  are  neccssui! .  !  by  the  awakened  conscience  ;  and  when 

they  are  approved,  they  are  commended   to   practice;   and   when   they  are    practised, 
they  hecnnie  easy  ;   and  when  they  lin-miie  c-asy,  they  afY>rd  pleasure;  and   when   they 
aiFord  plea-ure,  they  are  done  frequently;  and  when  they  are  done  frequently,  they 
are  confirmed  by  habit  :  and  confirmed  habit  is  a  kind  of  second  nature." — Inst.  p.  246. 
'•\Veep  all  of  every  name  :   be^in  the  wo, 
Ye  woods,  and  tell  it  to  the  doleful  winds; 


798  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   IV. 

And  doleful  winds,  wail  to  the  howling  hills ; 

And  howling  hills,  mourn  to  the  dismal  vales ; 

And  dismal  vales,  sigh  to  the  sorrowing  brooks  ; 

And  sorrowing  brooks,  weep  to  the  weeping  stream  ; 

And  weeping  stream,  awake  the  groaning  deep  ; 

And  let  the  instrument  take  up  the  song, 

Responsive  to  the  voice — harmonious  wo  ! " — Pollok,  B.  vi,  1.  115. 

FIGURE    XFV. — IRONY. 

"And  it  came  to  pass  at  noon,  that  Elijah  mocked  them,  and  said,  '  Cry  aloud  ;  for 
he  is  a  god  :  either  he  is  talking,  or  he  is  pursuing,  or  he  is  in  \_on~\  a  journey,  or 
perad venture  he  sleepeth,  and  must  be  awaked  ! '  " — 1  Kings,  xviii,  27. 

"After  the  number  of  the  days  in  which  ye  searched  the  land,  even  forty  days,  each 
day  for  a  year,  shall  ye  bear  your  iniquities,  even  forty  years  ;  and  ye  shall  know  my 
breach  of  promise." — Numbers,  xiv,  34. 

"  Some  lead  a  life  unblamable  and  just, 
Their  own  dear  virtue  their  unshaken  trust; 
They  never  sin — or  if  (as  all  offend) 
Some  trivial  slips  their  daily  walk  attend, 
The  poor  are  near  at  hand,  the  charge  is  small, 
A  slight  gratuity  atones  for  all." — Cowper. 

FIGURE    XV. — APOPHASIS,    OR   PARALIPSIS. 

I  say  nothing  of  the  notorious  profligacy  of  his  character  ;  nothing  of  the  reckless 
extravagance  with  which  he  has  wasted  an  ample  fortune  ;  nothing  of  the  disgusting 
intemperance  which  has  sometimes  caused  him  to  reel  in  our  streets  ; — but  I  aver  that 
he  has  not  been  faithful  to  our  interests, — has  not  exhibited  either  probity  or  ability  in 
the  important  office  which  he  holds. 

FIGURE    XVI. — ONOMATOP(EIA. 
HCr~  [The  following  lines,  from  Swift's  Poems,  satirically  mimick  the  imitative  music  of  a  violin.] 


Now  slowly  move  your  fiddle-stick  ; 
Now,  tantan,  tantantivi,  quick  ; 
Now  trembling,  shivering,  quivering, 

quaking, 
Set  hoping  hearts  of  Lovers  aching." 


"  Now  sweep,  sweep  the  deep. 
See  Celia,  Celia  dies, 
While  true  Lovers'  eyes 
Weeping  sleep,  Sleeping  weep, 
Weeping  sleep,  Bo-peep,  bo-peep." 


CHAPTER  IV. -VERSIFICATION. 

Versification  is  the  forming  of  that  species  of  literary  composition  •which  is 
called  verse  ;  that  is,  poetry*  or  poetic  numbers. 

SECTION  L  — OF  VERSE. 

Verse,  in  opposition  to  prose,  is  language  arranged  into  metrical  lines  of 
some  determinate  length  and  rhythm — language  so  ordered  as  to  produce 
harmony,  by  a  due  succession  of  poetic  feet,  or  of  syllables  differing  in  quan- 
tity or  stress. 

DEFINITIONS  AND  PRINCIPLES. 

The  rhythm  of  verse  is  its  relation  of  quantities  ;  the  modulation  of  its  numbers ; 
or,  the  kind  of  metre,  measure,  or  movement,  of  which  it  consists,  or  by  which  it  is 
particularly  distinguished. 

The  quantity  of  a  syllable,  as  commonly  explained,  is  the  relative  portion  of  time 
occupied  in  uttering  it.  In  poetry,  every  syllable  is  considered  to  be  either  long  or 
short.  A  long  syllable  is  usually  reckoned  to  be  equal  to  two  short  ones. 

In  the  construction  of  English  verse,  long  quantity  coincides  always  with  the  pri- 
mary accent,  generally  also  with  the  secondary,  as  well  as  with  emphasis ;  and  short 


CHAP.  IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. PRINCIPLES.  799 

quantity,  as  reckoned  by  the  poets,  is  found  only  in  unaccented  syllables,  and  unem- 
phatical  monosyllabic  words.* 

The  quantity  of  a  syllable,  whether  long  or  short,  does  not  depend  on  what  is  called 
the  long  or  the  short  sound  of  a  vowel  or  diphthong,  or  on  l  supposed  distinction  of 
accent  as  affecting  vowels  in  sonic;  cases  and  consonants  in  others,  but  principally  on 
the  degree  of  energy  or  loudries.s  with  which  the  syllable  is  uttered,  whereby  a  greater 
or  less  portion  of  time  is  employed. 

The  open  vowel  sounds,  which  are  commonly  but  not  very  accurately  termed  long, 
are  those  which  are  the  most  easily  protracted,  yet  they  often  occur  in  the  shortest  and 
feeblest  syllables ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  no  vowel  sound,  that  occurs  under  the 
usual  stress  of  accent  or  of  emphasis,  is  either  so  short  in  its  own  nature,  or  is  so 
*'  quickly  joined  to  the  succeeding  letter,"  that  the  syllable  is  not  one  of  long  quantity. 

.Most  monosyllables,  in  English,  are  variable  in  quantity,  and  may  be  made  either 
long  or  short,  as  strong  or  weak  sounds  suit  the  sense  and  rhythm  ;  but  words  of 
greater  length  are,  for  the  most  part,  fixed,  their  accented  syllables  being  always  long, 
and  a  syllable  immediately  before  or  after  the  accent  almost  always  short. 

One  of  the  most  obvious  distinctions  in  poetry,  is  that  of  rhyme  and  blank  verse. 
lilt y me.  is  a  similarity  of  sound,  combined  with  a  difference  ;  occurring  usually  between 
the  last  syllables  of  different  lines,  but  sometimes  at  other  intervals  ;  and  so  ordered 
that  the  rhyming  syllables  begin  differently  and  end  alike.  Blank  verse  is  verse 
without  rhyme. 

The  principal  rhyming  syllables  are  almost  always  long.     Double  rhyme  adds  one 
short  syllable  :  triple  rhyme,  two.     Such  syllables  are  redundant  in  iambic  and  ana- 
verses  ;  in  lines  of  any  other  sort,  they  are  generally,  if  not  always,  included  in 
the  measure. 

A  Stanza  is  a  combination  of  several  verses,  or  lines,  which,  taken  together,  make 
a  regular  division  of  a  poem.     It  is  the  common  practice  of  good  versifiers,  to  form  all 
is  of  the  same  poem  after  one  model.     The  possible  variety  of  stanzas  is  infinite  j 
and  the  actual  variety  met  with  in  print  is  far  too  great  for  detail. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. —  Terse,  in  the  broadest  acceptation  of  the  term,  is  poetry,  or  metrical  language, 

in  general.     This,  to  the  eye,  is  usually  distinguished  from  prose  by  the  manner  in  which 

i  itten  and  printed.     For,  in  very  many  instances,  if  this  were  not  the  case,  the  reader 

would  be  puzzled  to  discern  the  difference.     The  division  of  poetry  into  its  peculiar  lines, 

is  therefore  not  a  mere  accident.     The  word  verse,  from  the  Latin  versus,  literally  signifies  a 

T.  ich  full  line  of  metre  is  accordingly  called  a  verse;  because,  when  its  measure 

is  complete,  the  writer  turns  to  place  an  other  under  it.     A  verse,  then,  in  the  primary  sense 

of  the  word  with  us.  is.  "A  ////>•  consisting  of  a  certain  succession  of  sounds,  and  number  of 

syllables." — Johnson,  ll'atkcr,  To<M,  lL>llcs,  and  others.     Or,  according  to  Webster,  it  is,  "A 

poetic  line,  con>isting  of  a  certain  number  of  long  and  short  syllables,  disposed  according 

to  the  rules  of  the  species  of  poetry  which  the  author  intends  to  compose." — See  American 

Svo. 

_. — If  to  settle  the  theory  of  English  verse  on  true  and  consistent  principles,  is  as 

difficult  a  matter,  as  the  manifold  contrarieties  of  doctrine  among  our  prosodists  would  in- 

it  hope  of  any  scheme  entirely  satisfactory  to  the  intelligent 

examiner.     The  very  elements  of  the  -  much  perplexed  by  the  incompatible  dog- 

:  authors  deemed  skilful  to  elucidate  it.     It  will  scarcely  be  thought  a  hard  ma' 
distinguish  true  ver-e  from  is  it  n<»t  well  agreed  wherein  the  difference  consists  : 

•what  the  generality  regard  as  th  -nts  or  characteristics  of  the  former, 

some  respectable  authors  dismiss  entirely  from  their  definitions  of  both  verse  and  versification. 

\istencc  of  quantity  in  our  lan^ua^e  ;  the  dependence  of  our  rhythms  on  the  dr. 
of  syllable's  into  long  and  short;  the  concurrence  of  our  accent,  (except  in  some  rare  and 
questionable  instance-;,  i  with  I'-ni;  quantity  only  ;  the  constant  effect  of  emphasis  to  lengthen 
quantity  ;  the  limitation  of  quantity  to  mere  duration  of  sound  ;  the  doctrine  that  quantity 

*  To  this  princijil.'  then-  ;..w  and  then  an  exception,  as  when  a  weak  dissyllable  begins  a  foot  in  an 

auapestic  line,  as  in  the  follow  in 

"  I  think  .•::,n>, 

:!iifli:un  then1.'1 — f-fig/i  Hunt. 
"An.i  Tli'Mii-nii,  th'.u.'h  t.,-st  in  his  in<|. ,,«•!:• 
Either  st'fil  hi  MP  U:i-r.-l  hi-  wi  *."—M. 

If  we  reckon  the  fWt  in  cji;.  >s  with  both  parts  short.     But  some, 

n  •(•curing  '•  n^n  "  on  the  U"er  syllable.  ..n   t]\t.  former,  will  <  :t!l  "  Offl  nnw  "abacchy,  and  "Either 

$  tpt  "  an  amphimac  :  because  thty  make  thtm  such  by  their  manner  of  rending.— G.  B. 


800  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [FART  IT. 

pertains  to  all  syllables  as  such,  and  not  merely  to  vowel  sounds  ;  the  recognition  of  the  same 
general  principles  ot  syllabication  in  poetry  as  in  prose ;  the  supposition  that  accent  per- 
tains, not  to  certain  letters  in  particular,  but  to  certain  syllables  as  such ;  the  limitation  of 
accent  to  stress,  or  percussion,  only  ;  the  conversion  of  short  syllables  into  long,  and  long 
ihto  short,  by  a  change  of  accent ;  our  frequent  formation  of  long  syllables  with  what  are 
called  shoit  vowels  ;  our  more  frequent  formation  of  short  syllables  with  what  are  called 
long  <>r  open  vowels;  the  necessity  of  some  order  in  the  succession  of  feet  or  syllables,  to 
form  rhythm  ;  the  need  of  framing  each  line  to  correspond  with  some  other  line  or  lines  ia 
length  ;  the  propriety  of  always  making  each  line  susceptible  of  scansion  by  itself:  all  these 
points,  so  essential  to  a  true  explanation  of  the  nature  of  English  verse,  though,  for  the 
most  part,  well  maintained  by  some  prosodists,  are  nevertheless  denied  by  some,  so  that 
opposite  opinions  may  be  cited  concerning  them  all.  I  would  not  suggest  that  all  or  any  of 
the-e  points  are  thereby  made  doubtful ;  for  there  may  be  opposite  judgements  in  a  dozen 
cases  and  yet  com-urrencc  enough  (if  concurrence  erm  do  it)  to  establish  them  every  one. 

OHS.  3. — An  ingeniou-*  poet  and  prosodist  now  living,*  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  (to  whom  I 
owe  a  worn  or  two  of  reply.)  in  his  ".Notes  upon  English  Verse,"  with  great  self-compla- 
cency, represents,  that,  "  While  much  has  been  written  upon  the  structure  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  rnythms,  comparatively  nothing  has  been  done  as  regards  the  English;"  that, 
"  It  may  be  said,  indeed,  we  arc  ivithout  a  treatise  upon  our  own  versification  ;  "  that,  "  The 
very  best"  definition  of  versificationf  to  be  found  in  any  of  "our  ordinary  treatises  on  the 
topic,"  has  "  not  a  single  point  which  does  not  involve  an  error;  "  that,  "A  leading  defect  in 
eoch  of  these  treatises  is  the  confining  of  the  subject  to  mere  versification,  while  metre,  or 
rhythm,  in  general,  is  th?  real  que>tion  at  issue;  "  that,  "Versification  is  not  the  art,  but 
the  act,"  of  making  verses  ;  that,  "A  correspondence  in  the  length  of  lines  is  by  no  means 
essential;"  thar,  «  Harmony,"  produced  "  by  the  regular  alternation  of  syllables  differing 
in  quantity,"  does  not  include  "melody ;  "  that,  "A  regular  alternation,  as  described,  forms 
no  part  of  the  principle  of  metre;  "  that,  "There  is  no  necessity  of  any  regularity  in  the 
succession  of  feet; ''  that,  "  By  consequence,"  he  ventur.  s  to  "dispute  the  essentiality  of 
any  alternation,  regular  or  irregular,  of  syllables  long  and  short;"  that,  "For  anything 
more  intelligible  or  more  satisfactory  than  this  definition,  [i.  e.,  Brown's  former  definition  of 
Versification,]  we  shall  look  in  vain  in  any  published  treatise  upon  the  subject;"  that,  "So 
general  and  so  total  a  failure  can  be  referred  only  to  some  radical  misconception  ;  "  that, 
"  The  word  verse  is  derived  (through  versus}  from  the  Latin  verto,  I  turn,  and  *  *  *  *  it  c;  n 
be  nothing  but  this  derivation,  which  has  led  to  the  error  of  our  writers  upon  prosody  ;  "  that, 
"It  is  this  whii-.h  has  seduced  them  into  regarding  the  line  itself — the  versus,  or  turning — as  ;  n 
essential,  or  principle  of  metre  ;  "  that,  "  Hence  the  term  versification  has  been  employed  as 
Sufficiently  general,  or  inclusive,  for  treatises  upon  rhythm  in  general;"  that,  "Henc?, 
also,  [comes]  the  precise  catalogue  of  a  few  varieties  of  English  lines,  when  these  vari.'ti <M 
are,  in  fact,  almost  without  limit;  "  that,  "/,"  the  atoresaid  Edgar  Allan  Poe,"  shall  dismiss 
entirely,  from  the  consideration  of  the  principle  of  rhythm,  the  idea  of  versification,  or  the 
Construction  of  verse ;  "  that,  "  In  so  doing,  we  shall  avoid  a  world  of  confusion  ;  "  that,  "  Verse 
is,  indeed,  an  afterthought  oi~  an  embellishment,  or  an  improvement,  rather  than  an  element  of 
rhythm  ;  "  that,  "This  fact  has  induced  the  easy  admission,  into  the  realms  of  Poesy,  of  su.-h 
works  as  the  '  Tele'inaque  '  of  Fenelon  ;  "  because,  forsooth,  "In  the  elaborate  modulation 
Of  their  sentences,  THEY  FULFIL  THK  IDEA  OF  METRE." — The  Pioneer,  a  Literary  and  Critical 
M-igazine,  (Bo-ton,  March,  1843,)  Vol.  I,  p.  102  to  105. 

OBS.  4. — '•  Holding  these  thing  in  view,"  continues  this  sharp  connoisseur,  "the  proso- 
dist  who  rightly  examines  that  which  constitutes  the  external,  or  most  immediately  recog- 
nisable, form  of  Poetry,  will  commence  with  the  definition  of  Rhythm.  Now  rhythm,  from 
the  Greek  </pitifj.oc.,  number,  is  a  term  which,  in  its  present  application,  very  nearly  conveys 
fts  oion  idea.  No  more  proper  word  could  he  employed  to  present  the  conception  intended ;  for 
rhythm,  in  prosody,  is,  in  its  last  analysis,  identical  with  time  in  music.  For  this  reason," 
says  he,  "  I  have  used,  throughout  this  article,  as  synonymous  with  rhythm,  the  word  metre 
from  /zerpw,  measure.  Either  the  one  or  the  other  may  be  defined  as  the  arrangement  of 
toofils  into  tioo  or  more  consecutive,  equal,  pulsations  of  time.  These  pulsations  are  feet.  Two 
feer,  at  least,  are  requisite  to  constitute  a,  rhythm;  just  as,  in  mathematics,  two  units  are 
necessary  to  form  [a]  number.^.  The  syllables  of  which  the  foot  consists,  when  the  foot  is 

*  ''  Edgar  A.  Poe.  the  author,  died  at  Baltimore  on  Sunday  "  [the  7th].— Daily  Evening  Travilltr,  Boston,  Oct. 
8,  1849.  This  was  right  or  ten  months  afrer  the;  writii.g  of  these  observations.—  »i  1!. 

t  "  Versification  is  the  art  of  arranging  words  into  lines  of  correspondent  length,  go  as  to  produce  harmony  by 
the  re pillar  alternation  of  s\  liable*  diff.-nntr  in  quant'ty/' — JI/-I-ICH  >  ln*titnitf,  of  E  Groin,  p.  £35. 

J  This  appears  to  h»-  an  error  ;  fur,  according  to  Dil  worth,  and  other  itvichn.etioians.  %'a  vmt  is  a  nvmbfr;" 
and  so  is  it  expounded  by  Johnson,  Walker,  Wt-bs'er.  and  Worcester.  See.  in  the  Intro  .vctimi,  a  note  at  the  foot 
Of  p.  101.  Some  prosodists  have  taught  the  absurdity,  that  two  feet  are  necessary  to  constitute  n  »/>tr>-,  and  have 
accordingly  applied  the  terms,  mninnntli-r.  rlutn-ti-r.  trimtlrr,  tetrani'ter,  pmt/im>trr,  ;tnd  h>xtnnfier, — or  so  many 
Of  them  as  they  cr.itld  »o  >nis'i/>/>/y, — in  a  sense  vnry  different  from  the  usuil  acc.ept;itiun.  The  proper  principle  M. 
that,  '•  One  f>ot  constitutes  a  metre."— Dr.  P  HV/.s-,»t\v  (irfk  Pro-oily,  p  53.  And  verst-s  are  to  be  denominated 
MunoiHttrr,  Dhiiftrr,  Tiiittftfr.  &c.,  according  to  '-THE  NUMIJEK,  OF  FC.KT." — See  ib.  p.  6.  Hut.  Worcester's  Univer- 
sal and  Oiiical  Dictionary  has  the  following  not  very  coi. si-tent  explana  ions :  '•  MONOMETER,  it  One  metre. 
Eei-lc.  DiMr.TKR,  n  A  poetic  measure  of  fmir  feet ;  a  serie*  of  two  metres.  Beck  TRIMETER,  n.  Consisting  of 
dree  poetical  measures,  forming  an  iambic  of  six  feet.  Tyrwkitt.  TETKAMETEK,  n.  A  Latin  or  Greek  verse  con- 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ACCENT  AND  QUANTITY.  801 

not  a  syllable  in  itself,  are  subdivisions  of  the  pulsations.  Xo  equality  is  demandcl  in  these 
subdivisions.  It  is  only  reqnired  that,  so  far  as  ivir  I'-'ds  two  consecutive  feet  at  least,  the 
sum  of  the  times  of  the  syllables  in  one,  shall  be  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  times  of  the  sylla- 
bles in  the  other.  I'eyond  two  pulsations  there  is  no  necessity  for  equality  of  time.  All 
beyond  is  arbitrary  or  conventional.  A  third  and  fourth  pulsation  may  emb  >dy  half,  or 
d'Hiblf,  or  any  proportion  of  the  time  occupied  in  the  two  first.  Rhythm  being  thus  under- 
stjod.  the  pro-o.-U-t  ^hould  proceed  to  deli;.  ion  as  Me  / 

as  the  arbitrary  or  •  of  rhythm*  int)  masses  of  ." — Ib. 

p.  10-). 

.  o. — Xo  marvel  that  all  usual  conceptions  and  definitions  of  rhythm,  of  versifica- 
tion, and  of  verse,  should  be  found  dissati<factory  to  the  critic  whose  icle;i  of  //>  -fr,  is  ful- 
filled by  the  pompous  ;?nwe  of   Fenelon's  Te'lemaque.  or  real  examination  of  this 
matter  can  ever  make  the  most  immediately  rco-jnizabh.  form  of  poetry  to  be  any  thin.:  eUe 
than  the  form  of  verse — the  form  of  writing  in  sp-'djic  ////'>>,  ordered  by  number  and  chime  of 
syllables,  and  not  squared  by  ^a-je  of  th"  composing-stick.      And  as  to  the  de.iva'ion  and 
primitive  signification  of  rhythm,  it  i.s  plain  that  in  the  extract  above,  both  are  misrepi 
ed.    The  etymology  there  given  is  a  gross  error;  for.  "  the  Greek  uptti/ior,  \\-ould 
make,  in  English,  not  rhythm,  but  arithm,  as  in  nritlimtfir.     Between  trie  two  combin  r 
there  is  the  palpable  difference  of  three  or  four  letters  in  either  six  ;  for  neither  of  these  firms 
can  be  varied  to  the  other,  but  by  dropping  one  letter,  and  adding  an  other,  and  chan 
third,  and  moving  a  fourth.       Rhythm  \*  d  rived,  not  thence,  but  from  the  Greek  'pi          ; 
which,  according  to  the  lexicons,  is  a  primitive  word,  and  means,  rhythmits,  rhythm,  con 

.-,  d  ('me,  or  •  •'•,  a:id  //  >t  "  number." 

()i:s.  6. — Rhythm,  of  course,  like  every  other  word  nut  misapplied,  "  conveys  its  oicn  idea ; " 
and    that,    not   qu-iliriedly,   or  "  /,"  but  exac'ly.      That  this   idea,  however,  was 

originally  that  of  arithmet!  .  .  ly  so  now,  is  about  as  fanciful  a  notion,  as 

the  h  added  above,  that  rhythm  in  lieu  ofarithm  or  n  .    -  • 

Words,  ieoouM   "  rhvthm  in  pro-  in  music  !"      With  iut  dispute.it  is  important 

to  the  .  and  also  to  the  poet  or  versifier,  to  have  a-<  accurate  an  idea  as  possible  of 

the  import  of  this  common  term,  though  it  is  observabl-  that  many  of  our  grammarians  make 
little  or  no  use  of  it.  That  ic  h-is  -i.nie  relation  t<»  numbers,  i.s  undeniable.  Hut  what  is  it  ? 

numbers,  and  numbers  in  arithmetic,  and  numbers  in  grammar,  aie  three  totally  dif- 
ferent sorts  of  things,      lihythm  is  related  only  to  the  iir>t.      '  irication  of  this  word, 
ft  recent  expositor  gives  the  following  brief  explanation;  "RHYTHM,  //.  Metre;  verse;  nmn- 
•  rtion   applied  to   anv  motion    whatever." — Bolh-s's   Dictionary,  Svo.      To  this 
definition,    Woreesfr  prefixes  the  following:  "The  consonance  of  inea>ur  •  and  time  in 
poi-t.ry.                                    .                         .  —also  in  dancing." — rnici-rsal    and  CriH.-ti!  l)i,-f.       In 
verse,  the  proportion  which  forms  rliythm — that  is,  the  chime  of  quantities — is  applied  to 
:  -ylla'ile*.     S  »unds.  however,  may  be  considered  as  a  species  of  motion,  especially 
those  which  are  rhythmical  or  musical.*      It  seems  more  strictly  correct,  to  regard  rhythm 
•/  of  poetic  numbers,  than  to  identify  it  with  them.      Jt  is  their  proportion  or 
modulation,  rather  than  the   numbers  them^elvi  s.     According  to  Dr.  Webster,  "  RHYTHM, 
or  RniTHMUS,  n                               :itty    in    tl:e   movement  as  to  quickness   or  slowm 
length  and  shortness  of  the  not'                      /•  the  proportion  which  the  parts  of  the  motion 
hare  to  each  other.** —                             The"//                  "  of  rhythm  can  be  nothing  else 
than  the  reduction  of  it  ti»  .                                       if,  in  this  reduction,  it  is  "identical  with 
ic  is  here  the  s*me  thing  as  '/nin'lhi,  whether  prosodical  or  musical;   lor,  "The 
;  a  note,  <•;                                           ***&#•      I ''(•  time  t.f  a  /v.\/  is  aUo  called  quantity  ;  be- 
itituent  of  rhythm." — ('linstock's  Moruf/mi,  p.  6t,    Hut 
rhythm  is.  in  fai-t,  neither  time  nor  rpnnti'y  ;  for  the  analysis  which  would  make  it  such, 

s  the  relation  in  which  the  thing  consists. 

Hoy  II.  — OF  ACCENT  AND  QUANTITY. 

ccent  ami  Quantity  have   already  IHMMI   l»ricil,-  explaine<l   in   the  second 
.  as  item-?  coming  under  the  head  cf  Pronunciation.     What 
we  have  to  say  of  them  here,  will  be  thrown  into  the  form  of  critical  obxerva- 

^foHrfe>l::\  r  metres.     THUVMETF.R,  a.  Il.-ivincr  /oiirniftrirnl  frrt.     Tyrn-lilit.  PKNTAMF.TER, 

li  aiiiL'  fn-f  nintrieal  /"/.    \\'nrinn. 

e  hcrnir.   iilnl    n:o»t.  iinpor- 

U   .n,i    |;,,;,,:i'i-:—  .1    rli vt  niii.-al    s.-ii,-<   ,,f  MX    II,.TI,>       II    KAMREB,  O.      II. n 
.  f'tt.     Itr     \\',iri<>,,.  niv  I.TC  .i-  1'L-trainvier ;  and  Tri- 

*   It  i>  i-riiiiiii.iii.  ;r  :sn>  r.rr.  t<T  i  -  jn-ak  of  •'  th««  m-i-nt  tn'  of  the  vnirr."    as  .In  Shpi  i  l.m,    Murray, 

Humphrey,  .nrl  K\. 
no  rtxi-,ni,'(i  r^  of  «uuiid  to  uiodun.  nor  of  nouod  ru   -  l>    to      riiis 

i  >Wf  v»-r.  i-  a  lini  t«-.|  I.*   tiic  ori'ic.  :in<|  <  i  -.1  to  >lii>\v  h  '-I  i"<v  ni^'V  produce 

Ib.  \\.G4.   •'  I'.v  :i  huinlicr  «r>>  ll.ibl.-s  in  snrri».»i(,n.  a.   ciu«  i-n  •-  KM  wt\  <-\i\r\y 

r   i-«-  1  I'.   HI  ii  :    which  Ill;iV  b«-  t-vi  Init cv»-ii  t«i  tiin.M-  \v,n.  :in-  ili-t.  .  .  ,    frum 

the  loiiowint;  fact,  that  the  u-rui  tin, <•.,„,  ,i>  \n  all  languages  b  equally  applii-d  to  both  ''—  ti.  H 


802  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


tions  ;  in  the  progress  of  which,  many  quotations  from  other  writers  on  these 
subjects,  will  be  presented,  showing  what  has  been  most  popularly  taught. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — Accent  and  quantity  are  distinct  things;*  the  former  being  the  stress,  force, 
loudness,  or  percussion  of  voice,  that  distinguishes  certain  syllables  from  others ;  and  the 
latter,  the  time,  distinguished  as  long  or  short,  in  which  a  syllable  is  uttered.  Eut,  as  the 
great  sounds  which  we  utter,  naturally  take  more  time  than  the  small  ones,  there  is  a  neces- 
sary connexion  between  quantity  and  accent  in  English, — a  connexion  which  is  sometimes 
expounded  as  being  the  mere  relation  of  cause  and  effect ;  nor  is  it  in  fact  much  different 
from  that.  "As  no  utterance  can  be  agreeable  to  the  ear,  which  is  void  of  proportion ;  and 
as  all  quantity,  or  proportion  of  time  in  utterance,  depends  upon  a  due  observation  of  the 
accent ;  it  is  a  matter  of  absolute  necessity  to  all,  who  would  arrive  at  a  good  and  grace- 
ful delivery,  to  be  master  of  that  point.  Nor  is  the  use  of  accent  in  our  language  confined  to 
guantity  alone  ;  but  it  is  also  the  chief  mark  by  which  words  are  distinguished  from  mere 
syllables.  Or  rather  1  may  say,  it  is  the  very  essence  of  words,  which  without  that,  would 
be  only  so  many  collections  of  syllables." — Sheridan's  Lectures  on  Elocution,  p.  61.  "As  no 
utterance  which  is  void  of  proportion,  can  be  agreeable  to  the  ear  ;  and  as  quantity,  or  propor- 
tion of  time  in  utterance,  greatly  depends  on  a  due  attention  to  the  accent ;  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  every  person,  who  would  attain  a  just  KoA.  pleasing  delivery,  to  be  master  of  that 
point."— Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  241;  12mo,  194. 

OBS.  2. — In  the  first  observation  on  Prosody,  at  page  742,  and  in  its  marginal  notes, 
was  reference  made  to  the  fact,  that  the  nature  and  principles  of  accent  and  quantity  are  in- 
volved in  difficulty,  by  reason  of  the  different  views  of  authors  concerning  them.  To  this 
source  of  embarrassment,  it  seems  necessary  here  again  to  advert ;  because  it  is  upon  the 
distinction  of  syllables  in  respect  to  quantity,  or  accent,  or  both,  that  every  system  of  versi- 
fication, except  his  who  merely  counts,  is  based.  And  further,  it  is  not  only  requisite  that 
the  principle  of  distinction  which  we  adopt  should  be>clearly  made  known,  but  also  proper  to 
consider  which  of  these  three  modes  is  the  best  or  most  popular  foundation  for  a  theory  of  ver- 
sification. Whether  or  wherein  the  accent  and  quantity  of  the  ancient  languages,  Latin  and 
Greek,  differed  from  those  of  our  present  English,  we  need  not  now  inquire.  From  the  defini- 
tions which  the  learned  lexicographers  Littleton  and  Ainsworth  give  to  prosodia,  prosody,  it 
would  seem  that,  with  them,  "  the  art  of  accenting  "  was  noth/.ng  else  than  the  art  of  giving 
to  syllables  their  right  quantity,  "  whether  long  or  short."  And  some  have  charged  it  as  a 
glaring  error,  long  prevalent  among  English  grammarians,  and  still  a  fruitful  source  of  c.is- 
putes,  to  confound  accent  with  quantity  in  our  language. f  This  charge,  however,  thero  is 
reason  to  believe,  is  sometimes,  if  not  in  most  cases,  made  on  grounds  rather  fanciful  than 
real ;  for  some  have  evidently  mistaken  the  notion  of  concurrence  or  coincidence  for  that  of 
identity.  But,  to  affirm  that  the  stress  which  we  call  accent,  coincides  always  and  only  \\  ith 
long  quantity,  does  not  necessarily  make  accent  and  quantity  to  be  one  and  the  same  thing. 
The  greater  force  or  loudness  which  causes  the  accented  syllable  to  occupy  more  time  than 
any  other,  is  in  itself  something  different  from  time.  Besides,  quantity  is  divisible, — being 
either  long  or  short :  these  two  species  of  it  are  acknowleged  on  all  sides,  and  some  few 

*  '•  From  what  has  been  said  of  accent  and  quantity  in  our  own  language,  we  may  conclude  them  to  be  essen- 
tially distinct  and  perfectly  separable  :  nor  is  ic  to  be  doubted  that  they  were  equally  separable  in  the  learned  lan- 
guages."—  Walker's  Observations  on  Gr.  and  Lat.  Accent  und  Quantity,  §  20  ;  Key,  p.  326.  In  the  speculutive 
essay  here  cited.  Walker  meant  by  accent  the  rising  or  the  falling  inflection, — an  upward  or  a  downward  slide  of 
the  voice  ;  and  by  quantity,  nothing  but  the  open  or  close  sound  of  some  vowel ;  as  of"  the  a  in  scatter  "  and  in 
"  skater."  the  initial  syllables  of  which  words  he  supposed  to  differ  in  quantity  as  much  as  any  two  syllables  can  ! 
—  Ib.  §  24;  Key,  p.  331.  With  these  views  of  th»  things,  it  is  perhaps  the  less  to  be  wondered  at,  that  Walker, 
who  appears  to  have  b  en  a  candid  and  cou-teous  writer,  charges  "  that  excellent  scholar  Mr.  Forster— with  a  tola'. 
ignorance  of  the  accent  and  quantity  of  his  own  language;  "  (Ib.  Note,  on  §  8  ;  Key,  p.  317  ;)  and,  in  regard  to 
accent,  ancient  or  modern,  elsewhere  confesses  his  own  ignorance,  and  that  of  every  body  else,  to  be  as  "  total.'1'1 
See  marginal  note  on  Obs  4th  below. 

t  (1.)  "  We  shall  now  take  a  view  of  sounds  when  united  into  syllables.  Here  a  beautiful  variation  of  quantity 
presents  itself  as  the  next  object  of  our  attention.  The  knosvledge  of  longsmd  short  syllables,  is  the  most  excellent 
and  most  neglected  quality  in  the  whole  art  of  pronunciation. 

The  disputes  of  our  modern  writers  on  this  subject,  have  arisen  chiefly  from  an  absurd  notion  that  has  long 
prevailed  ;  viz.  that  there  is  no  difference  between  the  accent  and  the  quantity,  in  the  English  language  ;  that  the 
accented  syllables  are  always  long ,  and  the  unaccented  always  short. 

An  absurdity  so  glaring,  does  not  need  refutation  Pronounce  any  one  line  from  Milton,  and  the  ear  will  deter- 
mine whether  or  not  the  accent  and  quantity  always  coincide.  Very  seldom  they  do." — UERRIES  :  BickneiVs 
Gram.,  Partii,  p.  308. 

(2  )  "  Some  of  our  Moderns  (especially  Mr.  Bisht,  in  his  Art  of  Poetry)  and  lately  Mr.  Mattaire,  in  what  he  calls, 
The  English  Grammar,  erroneously  use  Accent  for  Quantity,  one  signif\  ing  the  Length  or  Shortness  of  a  ^3  liable, 
the  other  the  raising  or  falling  of  the  Voice  in  Discourse. r—Bri%htland''s  Gram.,  London,  1746,  p.  156. 

(3.)  "  Tempus  cum  accentu  a  nonnullis  malt- confuLditur  ;  quasi  idem  sit  acui  et  produci.  Cum  brevis  .intern 
eyllaba  acuitur,  elevatur  quidem  vox  in  ea  proferenda,  sod  tern  pus  non  augetur.  Sic  in  voce  homiiiibu.*  acuitur 
77i/ ;  at  ni  qua;  sequitur,  aequam  in  efferendo  moram  postulat.-' — Lily's  Gram.  p.  125.  Version  :  "  15y  some  per- 
sons, titnf  is  improperly  confounded  with  accent  ;  as  if  to  acute  and  to  lengthen  were  the  same.  Hut  when  a 
short  syllable  is  acuted,  the  voice  indeed  is  raised  in  pronouncing  it,  but  the  time  is  not  increased.  Thus,  in  the 
word  korninibu*,  mi  has  the  acute  accent ;  but  ni,  which  follows,  demands  equal  slowness  in  the  pronunciation." 
To  English  ears,  this  can  hardly  seem  a  correct  representation  ;  for,  in  pronouncing  hominibus,  it  is  not  mi,  but 
min.  that  we  accent ;  and  this  syllable  is  manifestly  as  much  longer  than  the  rest,  as  it  is  louder. 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ACCENT  AND  QUANTITY.  803 

prosndists  will  have  a  third,  which  they  call  "common."*  But,  of  our  English  accent,  the 
word  beino;  taken  in  its  usual  acceptation,  no  such  division  is  ever,  with  any  propriety, 
made;  for  even  the  stress  which  we  call  secondary  awnf,  pertains  to  hug  syllables  rather 
than  to  short  ones ;  and  the  mere  absence  of  stress,  which  produces  short  quantity,  we  do 

not  Call  (trcfiit. 

()i;>.  ?,. — The  impropriety  of  affirming  quantity  to  be  the  same  as  accent,  when  its  most 
frequent  species  occurs  only  in  the  absence  of  accent,  must  be  obvious  to  every  body  ;  and 
those  writers  who  anywhere  suggest  this  identity,  must  either  have  written  absurdly,  or 
have  taken  in-<;-,if  in  some  sense  which  includes  the  sounds  of  our  unaccented  syllables.  The 
word  sometimes  means,  "The  modulation  of  the  voice  in  speaking." — Wora-sti-r's  Diet.  to. 
In  this  sense,  the  lighter  as  well  as  the  more  impressive  sounds  are  included;  but 
still,  whether  both  together,  considered  as  accents,  can  be  reckoned  the  same  as  lon^  and 
short  quantities,  is  questionable.  Some  say,  they  cannot;  and  insist  that  they  a 
as  diil'i-rent.  as  the  variable  tones  of  a  trumpet,  which  swell  and  fall,  are  different  from  the 
merely  loud  and  soft  notes  of  the  monotonous  drum.  This  illustration  of  the  "  easy  Distinc- 
tion betwixt  (jiKintify  and  Accent"  is  cited,  with  commendation,  in  Brightland's  Grammar, 
on  pa^e  l-'nth  ;f  the  author  of  which  grammar,  scons  to  have  understood  Accent,  or  J< 
to  be  the  -ami'  as  Intl.-rtittim — though  these  are  still  unlike  to  quantities,  if  he  did  so.  (See 
an  explanation  of  Inflections  in  Chap  II,  Sec.  iii,  Art.  3,  above.)  His  exposition  is  this: 
"I  /is  the  rixin;/  and.  falling  of  the  Voice,  above  or  under  its  usual  Tone.  There  are  three 
•  i  Accents,  an  Acute,  a  Grave,  and  an  Inftex,  which  is  also  call'd  a  Circumflex.  The  Acute, 
or  S/mrjj,  naturally  raises  the  Voice;  and  the  Grave,  or  Base,  as  naturally  falls  it.  The 
is  a  kind  of  I'ndulation,  or  Waving  of  the  Voice." — Brightland's  Gram.,  Seventh 
Ed.  Lond.  174(5,  p.  156. 

()i:s.  4. — Dr.  Johnson,  whose  great  authority  could  not  fail  to  carry  some  others  with 
him,  too  evidently  identifies  accent  with  quantity,  at  the  commencement  of  his   Prosody. 
"  PUONV.NCI.VTION  is  just,"  says  he,  "  when  every  letter  has  its  proper  sound,  and  when  every 
has  its  proper  accent,  or  which  in  English  versification  is  the  same,  its  proper  quan- 
tity."— Johnsons  Gram,  before  Diet.  4to,  p.  13;  John  Burns  Gram.  p.  240  ;  Jones's  Prosodial 
.  before  Diet.  p.  10.     Now  our  most  common  notion  of  accent — the  sole  notion  with 
many — and  that  which  the  accentuation  of  Johnson  himself  everywhere  inculcates — is,  that 
it  belongs  not  to  "every  syllable,"  but  only  to  some  particular  syllables,  being  either  "  a  stress 
on  a  certain  syllable,"  or  a  small  mark  to  denote  such  stress. — See   Scott's  Diet,  or 
II'  .     But  Dr.  Johnson,  in  the  passage  above,  must  have  understood  the  word  ui-crnt 

;'>ly  to  his  own  imperfect  definition  of  it;  to  wit,  as   "  the  sound  given  to  the  syllable 
." — .Joh.  Dirt.     An  unaccented  syllable  must  have  been  to  him  a  syllable  unpro- 
In  short  he  does  not  appear  to  have  recognized  any  syllables  as  being  unaccented. 
The  wui-d  in,,r>;;-tifcd  had  no  place  in  his  lexicography,  nor  could  have  any  without  incon- 
..     It  was  unaptly  added  to  his  text,  after  sixty  years,  by  one  of  his  amenders,  Todd 
or  ( 'halmers  ;  who  still  blindly  neglected  to  mend  his  definition  of  accent.     In  these  particu- 
lar-,  \\'n!ki-r's  dictionaries  exhibit  the  same  deficiencies  as  Johnson's;  and  yet  no  author 
re  frequently  used  the  words  accent  and  unaccented,  than  did  Walker.  J     Mason's  Sup- 

*  (1.)  "  Syllables,  with  respect  to  their  '/tinntiti/,  are  either  long,  short,  or  common." — Gould's  Adam's  Lat. 

Gram,  p.  243.     "  Some  syllables  are  common;  that  is,  sometimes  long,  and  sometimes  short." — Adam1*  Lat.  and 

En^.   i  hen-  put  for  vnrinbh.  or  not  i»ruinn>  ntly  si  ttlni  in  rtspect  to  quantity:  in  this 

mi  which  no  third  species  ought  to  be  inferred,  our  language  is,  perhaps,  more  extensively  "  common  " 

than  an.  "tlier. 

('2.)  ••  Mo--  i.f  our  Monosyllables  ,  i'li.-r  take  this  Strew  or  not,  according  as  they  are  more  or  less  emphatical; 

i  Words  i-t  '"in-  S\  liable  may  he  considered  as  common  ;  i.  e  either  as  long  or  short  in  certain 

Dfl  art-  i-hii -11,  determined  by  the  Pause,  or  Cesure,  of  the  Verse,  and  this  Pause  by  the 

abounds  in  MonosyllubleH,  t'.erc  is  probably  no  Language  in  which   the  Quantity  of 

Syll.ihles  is  more-  regulal.  <l  l>v  tin-  SCUM-  than  in  Knjilish." —  II".   Wmrf*  (irnm  ,  Kd.  of  1765,  p.  166. 

•  ry  of  ijiL-m-iry,  fur  \\hieli  In-  r«-ler-  f»  Herrie-,  is  tliis  :   •'  The  Kn^lis  i  '/nantity  is  divided  into 
Ion?.  >  MI/I.  Theli'i  !  >s  llaliles  are  thi'se  that  end  in  a  vowel,  and  are  under  the  accent  ; 

'•.     \\licnaiiiniio-\lhihle.wliich  is  unemphatic,   ends  in  a  vowel,  it  la 

u\\\  i .  -    •  -I  •  :  I. at  \vhen  r.  !<lnci  d  upon  it,  it  is  always  long,     ^hmt  syllables  are  such  as  end  in  any 

:x  mu'es  :  as  eu/,  sro;<.  r.i,  ,»rk.     In  nil  siirh  ty'lnhl*!.  the   sound  cannot   he    lengthened  :   they 

are  nec«---arily  and  invariably  */i<>'t.     It  another  coii-onan'  ;  -ween  the  vowel  and  mute,  as  rvnd,  toft, 

fla»£  the  »\  ll-ihle  is  rendered  tomnrhnt  l->nz>r.  The  <>tlier  i«i»wics  of  syllables  called  ro»nnon*  are  such  as  termi- 
nate in  a  Salt"  V..W-1  (ir  a.-|iirate.  KIT  n\«-.i'  ce,  in  the  words  ru/i.  s\vi»i.  rru«/i.  pur/,  the  concluding  sound  can  be 
continue  I  ..r  ;~  a  I. hi.  ••  i>  fumnled  on  factaud  e\i"  ; 

l!ir  i- i'  not  a  furl,  that  -urh  words   as  fHltf.it,  .itn))t<ins.  rajnil,  ruyxfif,  are 
I  what  becomes  of  syllables  that  end  with  vowels  or  1  quids 

»Uil  ate  ll'it  aei-el:'. 

illustrate  the  difference  between  the  accent  of  theancit-nts  and  that 
of  <>//  N  "  [our  f.in^i:,  -'lers.  to  have    ••  ii"  reference   to  inflections  of 

'••*  on  Klnriit-i>i,.  p   .',-;  ;    H'-j/Avr's  K'y.  p.  313. 

J  (1.  us.  fooliM-rve  that  Walker,  in  his  lexicography, 

filing  bur  pronunciation.     On  this  latter  snlj.-ct    his  own  authority  is  perhaps 

r.     And  here  1  am  I-'<1  to  in'ro  lucr  a  n-inark  or  two  touching   tk*   <ir.,m  nn-l 

vhich  he  wa-  ehi.'lh  ••'. !•<•,. rued  ;  though  the  suggestions  may  have  no  immediate  connexion  with 

t'ouinlinj:  th. 

(•J  )  Vv*alker, io  his  theorj  •  •  intl'ftium  'f'h-  voi<-e  as  pi-r'aininp:  to  accent,  and  as  affording  a  patis- 

fcc  ory  tolu  i  -it  ofthi  In  which  flii-  ••-n  involve. I ;  but,  as  an  Knilish  ortho"pist.  he  treats 

t  in  no  other  sense,  than  as  stress  laid  on  a  particular  syllable  of  a  word — a  sense  implying  contrast,  and 


804  THE    GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART    IV. 

plement,  first  published  in  1801,  must  have  suggested  to  the  revisers  of  Johnson  the  addition 
of  tho  latter  term,  as  appears  by  the  authority  cited  for  it :  "  UNA'CCENTED,  adj.  Not 
accented.  'It  being  enough  to  make  a  syllable  long,  if  it  be  accented;  and  short,  if  it  be 
unaccented.'  Harris's  Philological  Inquiries." — Mason's  Sup. 

OHS  5. — This  doctrine  of  Harris's,  that  long  quantity  accompanies  the  accent,  and  unac- 
cented syllables  are  short,  is  far  from  confounding  or  identifying  accent  with  quantity,  as 
has  already  been  shown;  and,  though  it  plainly  contradicts  some  of  the  elementary  teaching 
of  Johnson,  Sheridan,  Walker,  Murray,  Webster,  Fowler,  and  others,  in  regard  to  the 
length  or  shortness  of  certain  syllables,  it  has  been  clearly  maintained  by  many  excellent 
authors,  so  that  no  opposite  theory  is  better  supported  by  authority.  On  this  point,  cur 
language  stands  not  alone;  for  the  accent  controls  quantity  in  some  others.*  G  II.  Noeh- 
den,  a  writer  of  uncommon  ability,  in  his  German  Grammar  for  Englishmen,  defines  accent 
to  be,  as  we  see  it  is  in  English,  ''that stress  which  marks  a  particular  syllable  in  speaking  ;  " 
and  recognizing,  as  we  also  do,  both  a  full  accent  and  a  partial  one,  or  "demi-accent,"  pre- 
sents the  syllables  of  his  language  as  being  of  three  conditions  :  the  "  accented,"  which 
"cannot  be  used  otherwise  than  as  lonf/;"  the  "half-accented,"  which  "must  be  regarded 
as  ambiguous,  or  common  ;  "  and  the  "  accetitle.ss"  which  "  are  in  their  nature  short" — See 
Noehden's  Gram.  p.  87.  His  middle  class,  however,  our  prosodists  in  general  very  properly 
dispense  with.  In  Fiske's  History  of  Greek  Literature,  which  is  among  the  additions  to  the 
Manual  of  ( lassical  Literature  from  the  German  of  E-chenburg,  are  the  following  passages  : 
"  The  tone  [i.  e.  accent]  in  Greek  is  placed  upon  short  syllables  as  well  as  long ;  in  German, 
it  accompanies  regularly  only  long  syllables." — •<  In  giving  an  accent  to  a  syllable  in  an 
English  word  we  thereby  render  it  a  long  syllable,  whatever  may  be  the  sound  given  to  its 
vowel,  and  in  whatever  way  the  syllable  may  be  composed ;  so  that  as  above  slated  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Gorman,  an  English  accent,  or  stress  in  pronunciation,  accompanies  only  a  long 
syllable." — Manual  of  Class.  Lit.  p.  437.  With  these  extracts,  accords  the  doctrine  of  some 
of  the  ablest  of  our  English  grammarians.  "In  the  English  Pronunciation,''  says  William 
Ward,  "  there  is  a  certain  Stress  of  the  Voice  laid  on  some  one  Syllable  at  least,  of  every 
Word  of  two  or  more  Syllables  ;  and  that  Syllable  on  which  the  Stress  is  laid  may  be  con- 
sidered long.  Our  Grammarians  have  agreed  to  consider  this  Stress  of  the  Voice  as  the 
Accent  in  English  ;  and  therefore  the  Accent  and  long  Quantity  coincide  in  our  Langu  <ge." 

necessarily  dividing  all  syllables  into  accented  and  unaccented,  except  monosyll  bles  Having  acknowledged  our 
"  total  iffiior-nir.f  of  the  nature  of  the  Latin  and  'ireek  accent."  he  a-'ds:  "  The  accent  of  the  Knglish  laniruage, 
which  is  constantly  sounding  in  our  ears,  and  every  moment  open  to  investigation,  seems  us  muck  a  myvf-ry  as 
that  accent  which  is  removed  almost  two  thousand  ye.'irs  from  our  view  obscurity,  perplexry.  and  confusion, 
run  through  every  trea  ise  on  the  subject,  and  nothing  could  be  so  hopeless  as  an  attempt  to  explain  it,  did  not  a 
circumstance  pre  ent  itself,  which  at  once  accounts  lor  the  confusion,  and  affords  a  clew  to  lead  us  our  of  it.  !\'ot 
one  writer  on  accent  has  given  such  a  definition  of  the  voice  as  acquaints  us  with  its  essential  properties  *  *  * 
But  let,  us  once  divide  tlie  voice  into  its  rising  and  falling  inflections,  the  obscurity  vanishes,  and  accent  becoiies 
as  intelligible  as  any  other  part  of  language.  *  *  *  0<i  the  present  occasion  it  will  lie  sufficient  to  ol'Sei  ve.  mat 
the  .\ti'f.S'  ic>-  call  nr.rt-nt  is  as  well  understood  as  is  nece-s-irv  for  the  pronunciation  of  single  words,  which  is  the 
object  of  this  treatise."—  Wnlkfr's  D<ct.  p.  53,  Prindp.  4S6.  487.  488. 

(3.)  Afterwards,  on  introducing  qn-mtity.  as  an  orthoepical  topic,  he  has  the  following  remark:  "In  treating 
this  part  of  pronunciation,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  emer  into  the  nature  of  //////  quantity  which  constitutes  j><»  try  ; 
the  quantity  here  considered  will  be  fhar  which  relates  to  words  taken  singly  :  and  this  is  not/tiny;  mar?  i/ian  the 
le.nyi.li  or  short n-s*  of  th~  rowfls.  either  as  the.y  stand  alone,  or  as  they  are  differently  combined  with  the  vov  els 
or  consonants." — Ib.  p.  62.  Pfinrip.  5-9.  Here  is  suggested  a  distinction  which  has  not  been  so  well  observe,  i  by 
grammar!  ms  and  prosodists,  or  even  by  U'alker  himself,  as  it  ought  to  have  been.  So  long  as  the  practice  con- 
tinues of  denominating  certain  mere  roivt.l  sminii*  the  lony.  and  the  shmt,  it  will  be  verv  necessary  to  notice  that 
tiles-  are  not  the  same  as  the  sytl'tbie  quanlitin,  long  and  short.  whi>-h  coiisfinre  English  verse. 

*  (1.)  In  the  Latin  and  Gieek  languages  this  is  not  commonly  supposed  to  be  the  case;  but,  on  the  contrr.ry, 
thequan'ity  of  s\llal>les  is  professedly  adjusted  by  i'sown  rules  independently  of  what  we  call  accent;  ai  d,  in 
our  Knglish  pronumiaMon  of  these  languages  the  accentuation  of  all  long  words  is  regulated  by  the  quantify  of 
the  last  s\  liable  but  one  Walker,  in  the  introduction  to  his  Key,  speaks  of  '•  The  Knglish  pronni  ( iat,;<>n  of 
Greek  and  Latin  [as]  i  Jurious  to  quantify."  And  no  one  can  deny,  that  we  often  accent  what  are  called  short 
sy  11  ibles.  and  perhaps  ot'tener  leave  uniH'.cet  ted  such  as  are  called  long ;  but,  after  all.  were  the  quantity  of  Latin 
and  Greek  s>  1  abie.s  always  judsred  of  by  their  actual  time,  and  not.  with  reference  to  the  vowel  sounds  calle  I  long 
and  short,  the-e  our  violations  of  the  ol  I  quantifies  would  be  found  much  fewer  than  some  suppose  they  are. 

(2  )  Dr.  Adam's  view  of  the  accents,  acute  and  grave,  appears  to  be  peculiar;  arid  of  a  nature  which  may  per- 
haps come  nearer  to  an  actual  identity  \\i<h  the  quantities,  long  and  short,  than  any  other.  He  sa\s, 

ki  1.  The  a-ut'Or  *katp  accent  raises  the  voice  in  pronunciation,  and  is  thus  marked  [/];  pnftrc,  pr'fer.  [The 
Eni;li>h  word  is  wri'ten.  not  thus,  bur,  with  two  KTs  proffer. — (Jr.  B.] 

"  2  The  grn-e.  or  ba-f  accent  depresses  the  voice,  or  keeps  it  in  is  natural  tone  ;  and  is  thus  marked  ['  ] ;  as, 
doct'.  y^r"  This  nrcfnt  pioptrly  hr-loiins  to  nil  *y'l<ib'fs  iclurli  liar--  no  nth-r. 

11  The  accent*  are  hardly  ever  m  irked  in  Krgli-h  books  except  in  dictionaries,  grammar*,  spelling-books,  or 
the  like,  where  the  acute  accent,  only  is  used  The  accents  are  likewi-e  seldom  marked  in  Latin  books,  unless 
for  the  sake  of  dis:inction  ;  as  in  these  adverbs,  aliquu,  continue,  c/octL,  urn,  &c," — Adam's  Latin  and  English, 
Grnmmnr.  p  266. 

(3.)  As  stress  natural!  v  lengthens  the  syllables  on  which  it  falls,  if  we  suppose  the  grave  accent  to  be  the  opposite 
of  this,  and  to  belong  to  all  s\  1  tables  which  have  no  peculiar  SM-OSH. — are  not  enforced,  not  acuted,  not  <  ircumtlr<  ted, 
nor.  emph  isized  ;  then  sh  ill  we  truly  hive  an  accent  wi  h  which  our  short  quantity  may  fairly  coincide,  i  ut  I 
have  said,  ••  the  mere  absence  of  stress,  which  produces  short  quantity.  \w  do  not  call  arc/tit;"  and  it  may  be 
observed,  that  the  learned  improver  of  !)r.  Adam's  Grammar.  B  A  Gould,  has  totilly  rejected  all  tiny  hi-  pre- 
decessor 'augh'  concerning  <>r.rp,n.  and  has  given  an  entirely  different,  definition  of  the  thing  .vee  inan/i  M)  notes 
on  pagw  742.  above.  Dr.  Johnson  also  cites  from  llol'ler  a  very  different  explanation  of  it.  as  follows:  ".-In-nit, 
as  in  the  Greek  names  and  usage,  seems  to  have  reg-ir.led  the  tune  of  the  voice  ;  the  acute  accent,  r ,-ii  iejr  the 
voice  in  some  certain  syllables,  to  a  higher.  (/.  e.  more  acute)  pitch  or  tone  ;  and  the  grave,  depressing  it  lower  ; 
D^y2"  and  both,  having  some  tmjfkntis^  i.  e.  more  vigorous  pronunciation.  HOLDER." — Johnson's  Quarto  Diet.  w. 
Accent. 


CHAP.  IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ACCENT   AND    QUANTITY.  805 

—  jr-r  "v  7V  .'S.-'il  Gram.  p.  155.  As  to  the  vowel  sounds,  with  the  quantity  of  which 
many  prosodies  have  greatly  puzzled  both  themselves  and  their  readers,  this  writer  says, 
"they  may  be  made  as  long,  or  as  short,  as  the  Speaker  pleases." — 76.  p.  4. 

On-:,  o. — From  the  absurd  and  contradictory  nature  of  many  of  the  principles  usually  laid 
dotcn  by  our  grammarians,  for  the  discrimination  of  long  quantity  and  short,  it  is  quite 
apparent,  that  but  very  few  of  them  have  well  understood  either  the  distinction  itself  or 
their  own  rules  concerning  it.  Take  Fisher  for  an  example.  In  Fisher's  Practical  Gram- 
mar, first  published  in  London  in  17o3, — a  work  not  unsuccessful,  since  Wei's  quotes  the 
>;i  "  as  appearing  in  1795,  and  this  was  not  the  last, — we  find,  in  the  first  place, 
the  vowel  sounds  distinguished  as  long  or  short  thus  :  "Q.  How  many  Sounds  has  a  Vowel  ? 
A.  Two  in  general,  viz.  1.  A  LONG  Sorxn,  When  the  Syllable  ends  with  a  Vowel,  either 
in  Monosyllables,  or  in  Words  of  more  Syllables;  as,  take,  ict,  I,  go,  nu ;  or, 
Nero,  '  -.  A  SHORT  SOUND,  When  the  Syllable  ends  with  a  Conso- 

nant, either  in  Monosyllables,  or  others ;  as  Hat,  her,  bit,  rob,  Tun;  or,  as  Barber,  bitten, 
."—See  p.  5.     To  this  rule,  the  author  makes  needless  exceptions  of  all  such  words 
as  balance  and  banish,  wherein  a  single  consonant  between  two  vowels  goes  to  the  former  ; 
because,  like  Johnson,  Murray,  and  most  of  our  old  grammarians,  he  divides  on  the  vowel; 
calls  the  accented  syllable  short ;  and  imagines  the  consonant  to  be  heard  twice,  or 
to  have  "  a  -it."  On  page  35th,  he  tells  us  that,  "Long  and  short  Towels,  and  long  and 

short  ^  .      v  synonimous  [ — synonymous,  from  cvvuwuof — ]  Terms  ;  "  and  so  indeed  have 

they  been  most  erroneously  considered  by  sundry  subsequent  writers  ;  and  the  consequence 
is,  that  all  who  judge  by  their  criteria,  mistake  the  poetic  quantity,  or  prosodical  value,  of 
perhaps  one  halt' the  syllables  in  the  language.     Let  each  syllable  be  reckoned  long  that 
-  with  a  Vowel,"  and  each  short  that  "ends  with  a  Consonant,"  and  the  decision  will 
probably  be  oftener  wrong  than  right ;  for  more  syllables  end  with  consonants  than  with 
vowels,  and  of  the  latter  class  a  majority  are  without  stress  and  therefore  short.     Thus  the 
•:;ig  principle,  contrary  to  the  universal  practice  of  the  poets,  determines  many  a 
'.'•s  to  be  "  short ;  "  as  the  first  in  "  barber,  bitten,  button,  balance,  banish  „•  — "  and  many 
Mnes  to  be    "  long ;  "  as  the  last  in  sofa,  specie,  noble,  metre,  sorroic,  daisy,  r<t!l<ij, 
T  the  first  in  around,  before,  delay,  divide,  remove,  seclude,  obey,  cocoon, presume, 
.  and  other  words  innumerable. 

.  7. — Fisher's  conceptions  of  accent  and  quantity,  as  constituting  prosody,  were  much 
truer  to  the  original  and  etymological  sense  of  the  words,  than  to  any  just  or  useful  view  of 
English  versification  :  in  short,  this  latter  subject  was  not  even  mentioned  by  him ;  for 
prosody,  in  his  scheme,  was  nothing  but  the  right  pronunciation  of  words,  or  what  we  now 
call  orthoepy.  This  part  of  his  Grammar  commences  with  the  following  questions  and 
fcnfiwi 

"^.  Whit  is  the  Meaning  of  the  Word  PROSODY?      A.  It  is  a  Word  borrowed  from  the 
Greek ;  which,  in  Latin,  is  rendered  Acccntus,  and  in  English  Accent. 

"^.   Wliit  do  you  mean  by  Accent?      A.  Accent  originally  signified  a  Modulation  of 

the  Voice,  or  chanting  to  a  musical  Instrument ;  but  is  now  generally  used  to  signify  Due 

.  P.  the  pronouncing  [of]  a  syllable  according  to  its  Quantity,  (whether  it  be 

long  or  short,)  with  a  stronger  Force  or  Stress  of  Voice  than  the  other  Syllables  in  the 

same  '  .  &c. 

"•'^.  W!.  'iff    A.  Quantity  is  the  different  Measure  of  Time  in  pronouncing 

Syllables,  from  whence  they  are  called  long  or  short. 

"fj.  What  is  the  Projxjrtion  between  a  long  and  a  short  Syllable?     A.  Two  to  one  ;  that 
is,  a  long  Syllable  is  twice  as  long  in  pronouncing  as  a  short  one  ;  as,  /  This  mark 

(")  set  over  a  Syllable,  shows  that  it  is  long,  and  this  (")  that  it  is  short ;  as,  rtcvrd,  rtcord. 
"(j.  How  do  you  /mow  long  and  short  Syllables?     A.  A  Syllable  is  long  or  short  accord- 
ing to  the  Situation  of  the   Vowel,  i.  e.  it  is  generally  long  when  it  ends  with  a  Vowel, 
i  >rt  when  with  a  Consonant;  as,  Fa-  in  Facuur,  and  Man-  in  Manntr." — lasher's 

'/a.  p.  3-1. 

Now  one  urr  md  mistake  of  this  is,  that  it  supposes  syllabication  to  fix  the  quantity,  and 
quantity  to  determine  the  accent ;  whereas  it  is  plain,  that  accent  controls  quantity,  so  far 
t  that,  in  the  construction  of  verse,  a  syllable  fully  accented  cannot  be  reckoned  short. 
An  1  this  mistake  is  practical ;  lor  we  see,  that,  in  three  of  his  examples,  out  of  the  four 
above,  the  author  hi;  'he  quantity,  because  he  disregards  the  accent:  the 

verb  re-curd',  being  accented  on  the  second  syllable,  is  an  iambus  ;  and  the  nouns  ;•• 

ut'-ner,  being  accented  on  the  lirst,  tmtroekttt ;  and  just  as  plainly  so,  as  is  the  word 
still  greater  blunder  hereob-  .  that,  as  a  "  due  pronunciation  "  neces- 

includes  the  utterance  of  every  syllable,  the  explanation  above  stolidly  suppn- 
om  syllables  to  1  .  each  "according  to  its  Quantity,  (whether  it  be  long  or  short,)" 

"-ith  a  stro,  •>•  Stress  of  Voice,  than  the  other  Syllables  !  "    Absurdity  akin 

to  this,  and  still  more  worthy  to  be  criticised,  has  since  been  propagated  by  Sheridan,  by 
r,  and  by  Lindley  Murray,   with  a  host  of  followers,  as  Alger,  D.   Blair,   Oomly, 
Cooper,  Cutler,  Davenport,  Felton,  Fowler,  Frost,  Guy,  Jaudon,  Parker  and  Fox,  Picket, 
Pond,  Putnam,  Kusscll,  Smith,  and  others. 


806  THE    GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   IV. 

OBS.  8. — Sheridan  was  an  able  and  practical  teacher  of  English  pronunciation,  and  one 
who  appears  to  have  gained  reputation  by  all  he  undertook,  whether  as  an  actor,  as  an 
elocutionist,  or  as  a  lexicographer.  His  publications  that  refer  to  that  subject,  though  now 
mostly  superseded  by  others  of  later  date,  are  still  worthy  to  be  consulted.  The  chief  of 
them  are,  his  Lectures  on  Elocution,  his  Lectures  on  the  Art  of  Reading,  his  Rhetorical 
Grammar,  his  Elements  of  English,  and  his  English  Dictionary.  His  third  lecture  on  Elo- 
cution, and  many  pages  of  the  Rhetorical  Grammar,  are  devoted  to  accent  and  quantity — 
subjects  which  he  conceived  to  have  been  greatly  misrepresented  by  other  writers  up  to 
his  time.*  To  this  author,  as  it  would  seem,  we  owe  the  invention  of  that  absurd  doctrine, 
since  copied  into  a  great  multitude  of  our  English  grammars,  that  the  accent  on  a  syllable 
of  two  or  more  letters,  belongs,  not  to  the  whole  of  it,  but  only  to  some  ONE  LETTER  ;  and  that 
according  to  the  character  of  this  letter,  as  vowel  or  consonant,  the  same  stress  serves  to 
lengthen  or  shorten  the  syllable's  quantity  !  Of  this  matter,  he  speaks  thus  :  "The  great 
distinction  of  our  accent  depends  upon  its  seat ;  which  may  be  either  upon  a  vowel  or  a  con- 
sonant. Upon  a  vowel,  as  in  the  words,  glory,  father,  holy.  Upon  a  consonant,  as  in  the 
words,  hab'it,  bor'row,  bat' tie.  When  the  accent  is  on  the  vowel,  the  syllable  is  long ; 
because  the  accent  is  made  by  dwelling  upon  the  vowel.  When  it  is  on  the  consonant,  the 
syllable  is  short  ;f  because  the  accent  is  made  by  passing  rapidly  over  the  vowel,  and  giving  a 
smart  stroke  of  the  voice  to  the  following  consonant.  Obvious  as  this  point  is,  it  has  wholly 
escaped  the  observation  of  all  our  grammarians  and  compilers  of  dictionaries ;  who,  instead  of 
examining  the  peculiar  genius  of  our  tongue,  implicitly  and  pedantically  have  followed  the 
Greek  method,  of  always  placing  the  accentual  mark  over  a  vowel." — Sheridan's  Rhetorical 
Gram.  p.  51.  The  author's  reprehension  of  the  old  mode  of  accentuation,  is  not  without 
reason ;  but  his  "  great  distinction  "  of  short  and  long  syllables  is  only  fit  to  puzzle  or  mis- 
lead the  reader.  For  it  is  plain,  that  the  first  syllables  of  hab'it,  bor'row,  and  bat'tle,  are 
twice  as  long  as  the  last ;  and,  in  poetry,  these  words  are  trochees,  as  well  as  the  other 
three,  glo'ry,  fa'ther,  and  ho'ly. 

OBS.  9. — The  only  important  distinction  in  our  accent,  is  that  of  the  primary  and  the 
secondary,  the  latter  species  occurring  when  it  is  necessary  to  enforce  more  syllables  of  a  word 
than  one  ;  but  Sheridan,  as  we  see  above,  after  rejecting  all  the  old  distinctions  of  rising  and 
falling,  raising  and  depressing,  acute  and  grave,  sharp  and  base,  long  and  short,  contrived  a  new 
one  still  more  vain,  which  he  founded  on  that  of  vowels  and  consonants,  but "  referred  to  time, 
or  quantity."  He  recognized,  in  fact,  a  vowel  accent  and  a  consonant  accent ;  or,  in  reference  to 
quantity,  a  lengthening  accent  and  a  shortening  accent.  The  discrimination  of  these  was  with 
him  "THE  GREAT  DISTINCTION  of  our  accent."  He  has  accordingly  mentioned  it  in  several 
different  places  of  his  works,  and  not  always  with  that  regard  to  consistency  which  becomes  a 
precise  theorist.  It  led  him  to  new  and  variant  ways  of  defining  accent ;  some  of  which  se3m 
to  imply  a  division  of  consonants  from  their  vowels  in  utterance,  or  to  suggest  that  syllables 
are  not  the  least  parts  of  spoken  words.  And  no  sooner  has  he  told  us  that  our  accent  is  but 
one  single  mode  of  distinguishing  a  syllable,  than  he  proceeds  to  declare  it  two.  Compare 
the  following  citations  :  "As  the  pronunciation  of  English  words  is  chiefly  regulated  by  ac- 
cent, it  will  be  necessary  in  the  first  place  to  have  a  precise  idea  of  that  term.  Accent  with 
us  means  no  more  than  a  certain  stress  of  the  voice  upon  one  letter  of  a  syllable,  which  dis- 
tinguishes it  from  all  the  other  letters  in  a  word." — Sheridan's  Rhetorical  Gram.  p.  39.  Again  : 
"Accent,  in  the  English  language,  means  a  certain  stress  of  the  voice  upon  a  particular  letter 
of  a  syllable  which  distinguishes  it  from  the  rest,  and,  at  the  same  time,  distinguishes  the 
syllable  itself  to  which  it  belongs  from  the  others  which  compose  the  word." — Same  work,  p. 
50.  Again  :  "  But  as  our  accent  consists  in  stress  only,  it  can  just  as  well  be  placed  on  a  con- 
sonant as  [on]  a  vowel." — Same,  p.  51.  Again  :  "  By  the  word  accent,  is  meant  the  stress  of 
the  voice  on  one  letter  in  a  syllable." — Sheridan's  Elements  of  English,  p.  55.  Again  :  "  The 

*  (1.)  "Amongst  them  [the  ancients,]  we  know  that  accents  were  marked  by  certain  inflexions  [inflections]  of 
the  voice  like  musical  notes  ;  and  the  grammarians  to  this  day,  with  great  formality  inform  their  pupils,  that  the 
acute  accent,  is  the  raising  [of]  the  Toice  on  a  certain  syllable;  the  grave,  a  depression  of  it;  and  the  circumflex,  a 
raising  and  depression  both,  in  one  and  the  same  syllable.  This  jargon  they  constantly  preserve,  though  they 
have  no  sort  of  ideas  annexed  to  these  words  ;  for  if  they  are  asked  to  shew  how  this  is  to  be  done,  they  cannot 
tell,  and  their  practice  always  belies  their  precept."—  Sheridan's  Lectures  on  Eloc.  p.  54. 

(2.)  "  It  is  by  the  accent  chiefly  that  the  quantity  of  our  syllables  is  regulated  ;  but  not  according  to  the  mis- 
taken rule  laid  down  by  all  who  have  written  on  the  subject,  that  the  accent  always  makes  the  syllable  long;  than 
which  there  cannot  bt  any  thing  more  false.'''1 — Ib.  p.  57. 

(3.)  "And  here  I  cannot  help  taking  notice  of  a  circumstance,  which  shews  in  the  strongest  light,  the  amazing 
deficiency  of  those,  who  have  hitherto  employed  their  labours  on  that  subject,  [accent,  or  pronunciation,]  in  point 
of  knowledge  of  the  true  genius  and  constitution  of  our  tongue.  Several  of  the  compilers  of  dictionaries,  vocabu- 
laries, and  spelling  books,  have  undertaken  to  mark  the  accents  of  our  words  ;  but  so  little  acquainted  were  they 
with  the  nature  of  our  accent,  that  they  thought  it  necessary  only  to  mark  the  syllable  on  which  the  stress  is  to 
be  laid,  without  marking  the  particular  Utter  of  the  syllable  to  which  the  accent  belongs."— Ib.  p.  59. 

(4.)  "  The  mind  thus  taking  a  bias  under  the  prejudice  of  false  rules,  never  arrives  at  a  knowledge  of  the  true 
nature  of  quantity  :  and  accordingly  we  find  that  all  attempts  hitherto  to  settle  the  prosody  of  our  language,  have 
been  vain  and  fruitless." — Sheridan's  Rhetorical  Gram.  p.  52. 

1  In  the  following  extract,  this  matter  is  stated  somewhat  differently :  "  The  quantity  depends  upon  the  seat  of 
the  accent,  whether  it  be  on  the  vowel  or  [on  the]  consonant ;  if  on  the  vowel,  the  syllable  is  necessarily  long ;  as 
it  makes  the  vowel  long  ;  if  on  the  consonant,  it  may  be  either  long  or  short,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  conso- 
nant, or  the  time  taken  up  in  dwelling  upon  it." — Sheridan's  Lectures  on  Eloc.  p.  57.  This  last  clause  shows  the 
"  distinction  "  to  be  a  very  weak  one.— G.  BBOWN. 


CIIU>.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ACCENT  AND  QUANTITY.  807 

tenn  [accent]  with  us  has  no  reference  to  inflexion*  of  the  voice,  or  musical  notes,  but  only 
means  n  ^••cufiar  ni-utni  r  nf  iH^timntishiny  one  syllable  of  a   irord  front  the  rest,  denominated  by 
"lit;  and  the  term*  for  that  reason  [is]  used  by  us  in  the  singular  number. — This  dis- 
tinction is  made  by  us  in  i>  ither  by  dto  r  up  ,n  <>n<:  x>/U,ib!e  than  the  re-t ; 
or  by  i/iri/i'/  if  a                                'i  of  the  voice  in  utterance.     Of  the  first  of  these,  we  have 
i  the  words,  i/'ory,  fatht-r,  holy ;  of  the  last,  in  hat' tie,  hub' it,  bor'roir.     So  that  ac- 
cent, with  us.  is  not  referred  to  tune,  but  to  time  ;  to  quantify,  not  quality  ;  to  the  mor- 
ble  or  pf'-t -ipitate  motion  ot'the  voice,  not  to  the  variation  of  notes  or  inflexions." — Sheridan's 

••it.  p.  85. 

.   10. — How  "  precise  "  was  Sheridan's  idea  of  accent,  the  reader  may  well  judge  from 
the  foregoing  quotations  ;  in  four  of  which,  he  describes  it  as  "  a  certain  .sV/v\\,"  •• 
and  "  !  ."  which  enforces  some  while,  in  the  other,  it  is  whimsically  made 

-i>t  in  two  different  modes  of  pronouncing  "syllables" — namely,  with  equability,  and 
with  j  — with  "dicellintf  lomjcr"  and  with  "  smarter  percussion  " — which  terms  the 

author  very  improperly  supposes  to  be  opposites  :  saying,  "  For  the  two  ways  of  distinguish- 
. ••cent,  as  mentioned  before,  are  directly  opposite,  and  produce  quid-  contrary 
the  one.  -  on  the  syllable,  necessarily  makes  it  long;  the  other,  by  the 

of  the  voice,  as  necessarily  makes  it  short" — Ib.  p.  57.  Now  it  is  all  a  mis- 
take, however  common,  to  suppose  that  our  accent,  consisting  as  it  does,  in  stress,  enforce- 
ment, or  "percussion  of  voice,"  can  ever  shorten  the  syllable  on  which  it  is  laid  ;  because 
what:  10  quantum  of  a  vocal  sound,  cannot  diminish  its  length  ;  and  a  syllable 

accented  will  always  be  found  Imyt-r  as  well  as  louder,  than  any  unaccented  one  immediately 
before  or  after  it.  Though  weak  sounds  may  possibly  be  protracted,  and  shorter  ones 
be  exploded  loudly,  it  is  not  the  custom  of  our  speech," so  to  deal  with  the  sounds  of  syl- 
lable-.' 

( );:-.   11. — Sheridan  admitted  that  some  syllables  are  naturally  and  necessarily  short,  but 

•  that  any  arc  naturally  and  necessarily  long.       In  this,   since  syllabic  length  and 
shortness  are  relative  to  each  other,  and  to  the  cause  of  each,  he  was,  perhaps,  hardly  con- 

.  lie  might  have  done  better,  to  have  denied  both,  or  neither.  Bating  his  new 
division  of  a-cent  to  subject  it  sometimes  to  short  quantity,  he  recognized  very  fully  the 
dependence  of  quantity,  long  or  short,  whether  in  syllables  or  only  in  vowels,  upon  the 
ace  of  accent  or  emphasis.  In  this  he  differed  considerably  from  most 
of  the  grammarians  of  his  day  ;  and  many  since  have  continued  to  uphold  other  views.  He 
/•(iff  in  our  tongue  that  no  vowel  ever  has  along  sound  in  an  unac- 
cented syllable."-  ',p.  60.  Again  :"  In  treating  of  the  simple  elements 
or  letters,  I  have  shown  that  some,  both  vowels  and  consonants,  are  naturally  short ;  that  is, 
whose  sounds  cannot  possibly  be  prolonged ;  and  these  are  the  [short  or  shut]  sounds  of  6, 
T,  a  ul  ft,  of  vocal  sounds  ;  and  three  pure  mutes,  k,  p.  t,  of  the  consonant;  as  in  the  words 
'.  I  have  shown  also,  that  the  sounds  of  all  the  other  vowels,  and  of  the  con- 
sonant ty  be  prolonged  to  what  degree  we  please  ;  but  at  the  same  time  it  is 
to  be  observed,  that  all  thu  BO  be  reduced  to  a  short  quantity,  and  are  capable  of 
being  uttered  in  as  short  a  space  of  time  as  those  which  are  naturally  short.  So  that  they 
who  -;  -  as  absolutely  in  their  own  nature  lonz,  the  common  cant  of  prosodians, 
speak  of  a  nonentity:  for  though,  as  I  have  shown  above,  there  are  syllables  absolutely 
short,  which  cannot  possibly  be  prolonged  by  any  effort  of  the  speaker,  yet  it  is  in  his 
power  to  shorten  or  prolong  the  others  to  what  degree  he  pleases." — Sheridan's  Rhetorical 
dram.  p.  •";  J.  And  again  :  "  I  have  already  mentioned  that  when  the  accent  is  on  the  vowel, 
it  of  course  makes  the  syllable  l-my  ;  and  when  the  accent  is  on  the  consonant,  the  syllable 
may  be  either  long  or  short,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  consonant,  or  trill  of  the 

s\  And  as  all  ntKicrmfeil  syllables  fire  short,  the  quantity  of  our  syllables  is  ad- 
justed by  the  easiest  and  simplest  rule  in  the  world,  and  in  the  exactest  proportion." — 
/.  .-i,  p.  G6. 

.  li'. — This  praise  of  our  rule  for  the  adjustment  of  quantity,  would  have  been  much 
more  appropriate,  had  not  the  rule  itself  been  greatly  mistaken,  perplexed,  and  misrcprc- 

by  the  author.     Ifi;  n,  that  "beck,  lip,  eat,"  and  the  like  sylla- 

re  twice  as  long  when  under  the  accent,  as  they  are  when  not  accented,  so  that,  with 

•  syllable  annexed  or  a  long  one  prefixed,  tbey  may  form  tr:>ch<-cs ;  then  is  it  n> 

that   such  syllables  are  either  aV  and    inh'-rently  short,  or  always,  "by  the 

smart  percussion  of  the  vo.  >rt;"  both  of  which  inconsistent  ideas 

.tlirmcd  of  them.     They  may  not  be  so  long  as  some  other  long  syllables  ;  but,  if 

they  are  twice  as    lo:  «.  t  ones,  they  are  not  short.     And,  if  not 

sho  -t,  then  that  remarkable  distinction  in  accent,  which  assumes  that  they  arc  so,  is  as 

,rd    and  perplexing.      Now  let  the  words,  beck' on,   lip'pinn,  cut'ter,  be 

pro -irrly  pronounced,  and  their  syllables  be  compared  with  each  other,  or  with  those  of 
•;,jil'lip,  Dra'cnf ;  and  it  cannot  but  be  perceived,  that  for/i,  lip,  and  cut,  like  other  syl- 
lables in  general,  are  by  the  accent,  and  shortened  only  in  its  absence  ;  so  that 
all  these  words  are  manifestly  trochees,  as  all  similar  words  are  found  to  be,  in  our  versifi- 
cation. To  suppose  "  as  many  words  as  we  hear  accents,"  or  that  "  it  is  the  laying  of  an 


808  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART    IV. 

accent  on  one  syllable,  which  constitutes  a  word"  and  then  say,  that  "no  unaccented  sylla- 
ble or  vowel  is  ever  to  be  accounted  long,"  as  this  enthusiastic  author  does  in  fact,  is  to 
make  strange  scansion  of  a  very  large  portion  of  the  trissyllables  and  polysyllables  which 
occur  in  verse.  An  other  great  error  in  Sheridan's  doctrine  of  quantity,  is  his  notion  that 
all  monosyllables,  except  a  few  small  particles,  are  accented ;  and  that  their  quantity  is  de- 
termined to  be  long  or  short  by  the  seat  or  the  mode  of  the  accent,  as  before  stated.  Now, 
as  our  poetry  abounds  with  monosyllables,  ihe  relative  time  of  which  is  adjusted  by 
emphasis  and  cadence,  according  to  the  nature  and  importance  of  the  terms,  and  according 
to  the  requirements  of  rhythm,  with  no  reference  to  this  factitious  principle,  no  conformity 
thereto  but  what  is  accidental,  it  cann<>t  but  be  a  puzzling  exercise,  when  these  difficulties 
come  to  be  summed  up,  to  attempt  the  application  of  a  doctrine  so  vainly  conceived  to  be 
"  the  Busiest  and  simplest  rule  in  the  world !  " 

OKS.  13. — Lindley  Murray's  principles  of  accent  and  quantity,  which  later  grammarians 
have  so  extensively  copied,  were  mostly  extracted  from  Sheridan's  ;  and,  as  the  compiler 
appears  to  have  been  aware  of  but  few,  if  any,  of  his  predecessor's  errors,  he  has  adopted 
and  greatly  spread  well-nigh  all  that  have  just  been  pointed  out ;  while,  in  regard  to  some 
points,  he  has  considerably  increased  the  number.  His  scheme,  as  he  at  last  fixed  it, 
appears  to  consist  essentially  of  propositions  already  refuted,  or  objected  to,  above  ;  as  any 
reader  may  see,  who  will  turn  to  his  definition  of  accent,  and  his  rules  for  the  determina- 
tion of  quantity.  In  opposition  to  Sheridan,  who  not  very  consistently  says,  that,  "All 
unaccented  syllables  are  short,"  this  author  appears  to  have  adopted  the  greater  error  of 
Fisher,  who  supposed  that  the  vowel  sounds  called  long  and  short,  are  just  the  same  as  the 
long  and  short  syllabic  quantities.  By  this  rule,  thousands  of  syllables  will  be  called  long, 
which  are  in  fact  short,  being  always  so  uttered  in  both  prose  and  poetry ;  and,  by  the 
other,  some  will  occasionally  be  called  short,  which  are  in  fact  long,  being  made  so  by  the 
poet,  under  a  slight  secondary  accent,  or  perhaps  none.  Again,  in  supposing  our  numer- 
ous monosyllables  to  be  accented,  and  their  quantity  to  be  thereby  fixed,  without  excepting 
"  the  particles,  such  as  a,  the,  to,  in,  &c.,"  which  were  excepted  by  Sheridan,  Murray  has 
much  augmented  the  multitude  of  errors  which  necessarily  flow  from  the  original  rule. 
This  principle,  indeed,  he  adopted  timidly ;  saying,  as  though  he  hardly  believed  the 
assertion  true  :  "And  some  writers  assert,  that  every  monosyllable  of  two  or  more  lettsrs, 
has  one  of  its  letters  thus  distinguished." —  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  236  ;  12mo,  189.  But 
still  he  adopted  it,  and  adopted  it  fully,  in  his  section  on  Quantity  ;  for,  of  his  twelve  woi'ds, 
exemplifying  syllabic  time  so  regulated,  no  fewer  than  nine  are  monosyllables.  I ,  is 
observable,  however,  that,  in  some  instances,  it  is  not  one  letter,  but  two,  that  he  marks  ; 
as  in  the  words,  "  mood,  house." — Ib.  p.  239  ;  12mo,  192.  And  again,  it  should  be  observed, 
that  generally,  wherever  he  marks  accent,  he  follows  the  old  mode,  which  Sheridan  md 
Webster  so  justly  condemn  ;  so  that,  even  when  he  is  speaking  of  "  the  accent  on  the 
consonant"  the  sign  of  stress,  as  that  of  time,  is  set  over  a  vowel',  as,  "  Sadly,  robber." — Ib. 
8vo,  240  ;  12mo,  193.  So  in  his  Spelling-Book,  where  words  are  often  falsely  divided  :  as, 
"  Ve  nice,"  for  Ven'-ice  ;  "Ha  no  ver,"  for  Han'o-ver  ;  &c. — See  p.  101. 

Ous.  14. — In  consideration  of  the  great  authority  of  this  grammarian,  now  backed  by  a 
a  score  or  two  of  copyists  and  modifiers,  it  may  be  expedient  to  be  yet  more  explicit.  Of 
accent  Murray  published  about  as  many  different  definitions,  as  did  Sheridan  ;  which,  as 
they  show  what  notions  he  had  at  different  times,  it  may  not  be  amiss  for  some,  who  hold 
him  always  in  the  right,  to  compare.  In  one,  he  describes  it  thus  :  "Accent  signifies  that 
stress  of  the  voice,  which  is  laid  on  one  si/liable,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  rest." — Murray's 
Spelling- Book,  p.  138.  He  should  here  have  said,  (as  by  his  examples  it  would  appear  that 
he  meant,)  "  on  one  syllable  of  a  word;"  for,  as  the  phrase  now  stands,  it  may  include 
stress  on  a  monosyllable  in  a  sentence ;  and  it  is  a  matter  of  dispute,  whether  this  can  properly 
be  called  accent.  Walker  and  Webster  say,  it  is  emphasis,  and  not  accent.  Again,  in 
an  other  definition,  which  was  written  before  he  adopted  the  notion  of  accent  on  consonants, 
of  accent  on  monosyllables,  or  of  accent  for  quantity  in  the  formation  of  verse,  he  used 
these  words:  "Accent  is  the  laying  of  a  peculiar  stress  of  the  voice  on  a  certain  vowel  or 
syllable  in  a  word,  that  it  may  be  better  heard  than  the  rest,  or  distinguished  from  them  ; 
as,  in  the  word  presume,  the  stress  of  the  voice  must  be  on  the  second  syllable,  sume,  which 
takes  the  accent." — Murray's  Gram.,  Second  Edition,  12mo,  p.  161.  In  this  edition,  which 
was  published  at  York,  in  1796,  his  chief  rules  of  quantity  say  nothing  about  accent,  but 
are  thus  expressed  :  [1.]  "A  vo^oel  or  syllable  is  long,  when  the  vowel  or  vowels  contained  in  it 
are  slowly  joined  in  pronunciation  with  the  following  letters  ;  as,  «  Fall,  bale,  mood,  house, 
feature.'  [2.]  A  syllable  is  short,  when  the  vowel  is  quickly  joined  to  the  succeeding  letter ; 
as,  '  art,  bonnet,  hunger.'" — Ib.  p.  166.  Besides  the  absurdity  of  representing  "a  vowel" 
as  having  "  vowels  contained  in  it,"  these  rules  are  made  up  of  great  faults.  They  confound 
syllabic  quantities  with  vowel  sounds.  They  suppose  quantity  to  be,  not  the  time  of  a 
whole  syllable,  but  the  quick  or  slow  junction  of  some  of  its  parts.  They  apply  to  no  sylla- 
ble that  ends  with  a  vowel  sound.  The  former  applies  to  none  that  e*nds  with  one  conso- 
nant only  ;  as,  "mood"  or  the  first  of  "feat-ure."  In  fact,  it  does  not  apply  to  any  of  the 
examples  given  ;  the  final  letter  in  each  of  the  other  words  being  silent.  The  latter  rule  is 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. — VERSIFICATION. — ACCENT  AND  QUANTITY.  809 

worse  yet:  it  misrepresents  the  examples;  for  "bonnet"  and  "  hunger"  are  trochees,  and 
"art,"  with  any  stress  on  it,  is  long. 

Ons.  15. — In  all  late  editions  of  L.  Murray's  Grammar,  and  many  modifications  of  it,  accent 
is  defined  thus  :  "  Accent  is  the  laying  of  o.  peculiar  stress  of  the  voice,  on  a  certain  letter  OK 
syllable  in  a  word,  that  it  may  be  better  heard  than  the  rest,  or  distinguished  from  them  :  as, 
in  the  word  presume,  the  stress  of  the  voice  must  be  on  the  letter  u,  AND  [the]  second  syllable, 
which  take  the  accent." — Murray's  Gram.  Svo,  p.  235  ;  12mo,  188  ;  18mo,  57  ;  Alger's, 
'.'icon's,  52;  Comly's,  168;  Coopers,  176;  Davenport's,  121;  Felton's,  134;  Frost's  El. 
60;  Fisk's,  32  ;  Merchant's,  145  ;  Parker  and  Fox' a,  iii,  44  ;  Pond's,  197  ;  Putnam's,  96  ;  Rus- 
selfs,  106  ;  R.  C.  Smith's,  186.  Here  we  see  a  curious  jumble  of  the  common  idea  of  accent, 
as  "stress  laid  on  some  particular  syllable  of  a  word,"  with  Sheridan's  doctrine  of  accenting 
always  "a  particular  luftfr  of  a  syllabic," — an  idle  doctrine,  contrived  solely  for  the  accom- 
modation of  short  quantity  with  long,  under  the  accent.  When  this  definition  was  adopted, 
Murray's  scheme  of  quantity  was  also  revised,  and  materially  altered.  The  principles  of 
his  main  text,  to  which  his  copiers  all  confine  themselves,  then  took  the  following  form  : 

"  The  quantity  of  a  syllable,  is  that  time  which  is  occupied  in  pronouncing  it.  It  is  con- 
sidered as  LONG  or  SHORT. 

"A  vowel  or  syllable  is  long,  when  the  accent  is  on  the  vowel;  which  occasions  it  to  be 
slowly  joined  in  pronunciation  with  the  following  letters :  as,  '  Fall,  bale,  mood,  house, 
feature.' 

"A  syllable  is  short,  when  the  accent  is  on  the  consonant ;  which  occasions  the  vowel  to 
be  quickly  joined  to  the  succeeding  letter  :  as,  '  ant,  bonnSt,  hunger.' 

"A  long  syllable  generally  requires  double  the  time  of  a  short  one  in  pronouncing  it : 
thus,  '  Mate  '  and  '  Note '  should  be  pronounced  as  slowly  again  as  '  Mat'  and  «Not.'  " — 
Murray's  dram.  8vo,  p.  239  ;  12mo,  192  ;  18mo,  57  ;  Alger's,  72  ;  D.  C.  Allen's,  86  ;  Bacons, 
.52;  ('omft/'s,  168;  Cooper's,  176;  Cutler's,  165;  Davenport's,  121;  Felton's,  134  ;  Frost's  El. 
50;  Fisk's,  32;  Maltby's,  115;  Parker  and  Fox's,  iii,  47;  Pond's,  198;  £  Putnam's,  96;  R.  C. 
Smifh's,  187 ;  Rev.  T.  Smith's,  68. 

Here  we  see  a  revival  and  an  abundant  propagation  of  Sheridan's  erroneous  doctrine,  that 
our  accent  produces  both  short  quantity  and  long,  according  to  its  seat ;  and  since  none  of 
all  these  grammars,  but  the  first  two  of  Murray's,  give  any  other  rules  for  the  discrimination 
of  quantities,  we  must  infer,  that  these  were  judged  sufficient.  Now,  of  all  the  principles 
on  which  any  have  ever  pretended  to  determine  the  quantity  of  syllables,  none,  so  far  as  I 
know,  arc  more  defective  or  fallacious  than  these.  They  are  liable  to  more  objections  than 
it  is  worth  while  to  specify.  Suffice  it  to  observe,  that  they  divide  certain  accented  syllables 
into  long  and  short,  and  say  nothing  of  the  unaccented ;  whereas  it  is  plain,  and  acknowl- 
edged even  by  Murray  and  Sheridan  themselves,  that  in  "  ant,  bonnet,  hunger,"  and  the  like, 
the  unaccented  syllables  are  the  only  short  ones :  the  rest  can  be,  and  here  are,  lengthened.* 

OMS.  16. — The  foregoing  principles,  differently  expressed,  and  perchance  in  some  instances 
more  fitly,  are  found  in  many  other  grammars,  and  in  some  of  the  very  latest ;  but  they 
are  everywhere  a  mere  dead  letter,  a  record  which,  if  it  is  not  always  untrue,  is  seldom 
understood,  and  never  applied  in  any  way  to  practice.  The  following  are  some  examples : 

(1.)  "  In  a  long  syllable,  the  vowel  is  accented  ;  in  a  short  syllable  [,]  the  consonant ; 
as  [,]  roll,  pnU  •  tn/>,  t'iit"—Ri-r.  W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  222. 

(2. )  "A  syllable  or  word  is  long,  when  the  accent  is  on  the  vowel :  as  no,  line,  Iii,  me ;  and 
short,  when  on  the  consonant :  as  not,  lln,  Latin,  mCt." — »S.  Barrett's  Grammar,  ("Principles 
of  Language,")  p.  112. 

(3.)  "A  syllabic  is  long  when  the  accent  is  on  the  vowel,  as,  Pall,  sale,  mouse,  creature. 
A  syllable  is  short  when  the  accent  i.s  placed  on  the  consonant ;  as  great',  let'ter,  mas'ter." 
—  /,'•/•.  It.  Wair's  Practical  Grnm.  p.  117. 

(4.)  "  When  the  stress  is  on  the  rowel,  the  measure  of  quantity  is  long :  as,  Mate,  fate, 
com  plain,  playful,  un  der  mine.  When  the  stress  is  on  a  consonant,  the  quantity  is  short :  as. 
Mat',  fat',  com  pel',  prog'ress,  dis  man'tle." — 7V  '.?  Practical  Gram.  p.  125. 

(.5. )  "  The  quantity  of  a  syllable  is  considered  as  long  or  short.  It  is  long  when  the  accent 
is  on  the  vowel ;  as,  Fall,  bale,  moorl,  house,  frature.  It  is  short  when  the  accent  is  placed 
on  the  consonant;  as,  Mas'ter,  let'ter." — Guy's  School  Gram.  p.  118;  Picket's  Analytical 
School  Gram.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  22  1. 

(6.)  "  A  syllable  is  h»i<j  when  the  accent  is  on  the  vowel ;  and  short,  when  the  accent  is 
on  the  consonant.  A  long  syllable  requires  twice  the  time  in  pronouncing  it  that  a  short 
one  does.  Long  syllables  are  marked  thus-  ;  as,  tube  ;  short  syllables,  thus  M  ;  as,  man." — 
Hilej's  English  (tram.  p.  120. 

(7.)  "  When  the  accent  is  on  a  vowel,  the  syllable  is  generally  long;  as  alehouse,  amuse- 
ment, fiaturcs.  But  when  the  accent  is  on  a  consonant,  the  syllable  is  mostly  short ;  as, 

•  '  If  the  consonant  be  in  its  nature  a  short  one,  the  syllable  is  necessarily  short.  If  it  be  a  long  one.  that  i«, 
one  w  hose  sound  is  capable  of  being  lengthened,  it  may  be  long  or  short  at  the  will  of  the  speaker.  By  a  short  con- 
sonat  t  I  mean  one  whose  sound  cannot  be  continued  after  a  vowel,  such  as  c  or  k  p  t,  as  ac,  ap.  at — whil-t  that 
Of  long  consonants  can.  as,  el  em  en  er  ey,  &c." — Sheridan's  Lectures  on  Elocution,  p.  58.  Sheridan  here  forget* 
that  ••  bar 'row  is  one  of  his  examples  of  short  quantity. 

Murray  admits  that  "  accent  on  a  semi  vowel  "  may  make  the  syllable  long  ;  and  his  scmivoweli  are  tk«M  : 
"/»  '»  m»  »)  r,  « ,  *  z,  x,  and  c  and  g  soft."  See  his  Octavo  Gram.  p.  240  and  p.  8. 

57 


810  THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISII   GRAMMARS.  [PART   IV 

hcip'py,  man'ner.  A  long  syllable  requires  twice  as  much  time  in  the  pronunciation,  as  s 
short  one;  as,  hate,  hat;  note,  not ;  cane,  can  ;  fine,  fin." — Jaudons  Union  Gram.  p.  173. 

(8.)  "  It'  the  syllable  be  long,  the  accent  is  on  the  vowel ;  as,  in  bale,  mood,  education. ;  &c. 
If  short,  the  accent  is  on  the  consonant ;  as,  in  ant,  bonnet,  hunger,  &c." — Merchant's  Ameri- 
can School  Gram.  p.  145. 

The  quantity  of  our  unaccented  syllables,  none  of  these  authors,  except  Allen,  thoughl 
it  worth  his  while  to  notice.  But  among  their  accented  syllables,  they  all  include  ivc.rds  oj 
one  syllable,  though  most  of  them  thereby  pointedly  contradict  their  own  definitions  oj 
accent.  To  find  in  our  language  no  short  syllables  but  such  as  are  accented,  is  certainly  £ 
very  strange  and  very  great  oversight.  Frazee  says,  "  The  pronunciation  of  an  accented 
syllable  requires  double  the  time  of  that  of  an  unaccented  one." — Frazee's  Improved  Gram,  p 
180.  If  so,  our  poetical  quantities  are  greatly  misrepresented  by  the  rules  above  cited 
Allen  truly  says,  "  Unaccented  syllables  are  generally  short;  as,  return,  turner." — Element* 
of  E.  Gram,  p.  222,  But  how  it  was  ever  found  out,  that  in  these  words  we  accent  only  th( 
vowel  u,  and  in  such  as  hunter  and  bluntly,  some  one  of  the  consonants  only,  he  does  no' 
inform  us. 

OBS.  17. — As  might  be  expected,  it  is  not  well  agreed  among  those  who  accent  single  con 
sonants  and  vowels,  lohat  particular  letter  should  receive  the  stress  and  the  mark.  Th< 
word  or  syllable  "ant,"  for  example,  is  marked  "  an't "  by  Alger,  Bacon,  and  others,  t( 
enforce  the  n ;  "  ant' "  by  Frost,  Putnam,  and  others,  to  enforce  the  t ;  "  ant "  by  Murray 
Russell,  and  others,  to  show,  as  they  say,  "  the  accent  on  the  consonant !  "  But,  in  "  A'NTLER,' 
Dr.  Johnson  accented  the  a ;  and,  to  mark  the  same  pronunciation,  Worcester  now  writes 
"ANT'LEII  ;  "  while  almost  any  prosodist,  in  scanning,  would  mark  this  word  "  antler,"  am 
call  it  a  trochee.*  Churchill,  who  is  in  general  a  judicious  observer,  writes  thus:  "Th< 
leading  feature  in  the  English  language,  on  which  it's  melody  both  in  prose  and  verse  chiefl\ 
depends,  is  it's  accent.  Every  word  in  it  of  more  than  one  syllable  has  one  of  it's  syllables  dis 
tinguished  by  this  from  the  rest ;  the  accent  being  in  some  cases  on  the  vowel,  in  others  on  th 
consonant  that  closes  the  syllable  :  on  the  vowel,  when  it  has  it's  long  sound  ;  on  the  consonant 
when  the  vowel  is  short." — Churchill's  New  Gram.  p.  181.  But  to  this,  as  a  rule  of  accentua 
tion,  no  attention  is  in  fact  paid  nowadays.  Syllables  that  have  long  vowels  not  final 
very  properly  take  the  sign  of  stress  on  or  after  a  consonant  or  a  mute  vowel ;  as,  an'gel 
cham'ber,  slay'er,  bead'rol',  slea'zy,  sleep'er,  sleeve'less,  live'ly,  mmd'iul,  slight'y,  slii'ing 
bold'ncss,  gross'ly,  whol'ly,  use'less." — See  Worcester's  Diet. 

OBS.  18. — It  has  been  seen,  that  Murray's  principles  of  quantity  were  greatly  alter ?d  b; 
himself,  after  the  first  appearance  of  his  grammar.  To  have  a  full  and  correct  view  of  :hem 
it  is  necessary  to  notice  something  more  than  his  main  text,  as  revised,  with  which  nil  hi 
amenders  content  themselves,  and  which  he  himself  thought  sufficient  for  his  Abridgement 
The  following  positions,  which,  in  some  of  his  revisals,  he  added  to  the  large  grammar,  are 
therefore  cited  : — 

(1.)  "  Unaccented  syllables  are  generally  short :  as,  '  admire,  boldnCss,  sinner.'  lut  t 
this  rule  there  are  many  exceptions  :  as,  '  also,  exile,  gangrene,  umpire,  foretaste,'  &c. 

(2.)  "  When  the  accent  is  on  the  consonant,  the  syllable  is  often  more  or  less  short,  as  i 
ends  with  a  single  consonant,  or  with  more  thano/ie:  as,  «  Sadly,  robber;  persist,  matchless. 

(3.)  "  When  the  accent  is  on  a  semi-vowel,  the  time  of  the  syllable  may  be  protracted,  b; 
dwelling  upon  the  semi-vowel :  as,  *  Cur',  can',  fulfil'  : '  but  when  the  accent  falls  on  a  mute 
the  syllable  cannot  be  lengthened  in  the  same  manner :  as,  « Bubble,  captain,  totter.'  " — L.  Mur 
ray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  240  ;  12mo,  193. 

(4.)  "In  this  work,  and  in  the  author's  Spelling-book,  the  vowels  e  and  o,  in  the  firs 
syllable  of  such  words  as,  behave,  prejudge,  domain,  propose ;  and  in  the  second  syllabi 
of  such  as  pulley,  turkey,  borrow,  follow  ;  are  considered  as  long  vowels.  The  secom 
syllables  in  such  words  as,  baby,  spicy,  holv,  fury,  are  also  considered  as  long  syllables. "- 
fb.  8vo,  p.  241. 

(5.)  "  In  the  words  scarecrow,  wherefore,  both  the  syllables  are  unquestionably  long,  bu 
not  of  equal  length.  We  presume  therefore,  that  the  syllables  under  consideration,  [i.  e, 
those  which  end  with  the  sound  of  e  or  o  without  accent,]  may  also  be  properly  style 
long  syllables,  though  their  length  is  not  equal  to  that  of  some  others." — Murray's  Octav 
Gram.  p.  241. 

OBS.  19.— Sheridan's  "  infallible  rule,  that  no  vowel  ever  has  a  long  sound  in  an  unaccent 
ed  syllable,"  is  in  striking  contrast  with  three  of  these  positions,  and  the  exact  truth  of  th 
matter  is  with  neither  author.  But,  for  the  accuracy  of  his  doctrine,  Murray  appeals  t 
"the  authority  of  the  judicious  Walker,"  which  he  seems  to  think  sufficient  to  prove  an; 
syllable  long  whose  vowel  is  called  so;  while  the  important  distinction  suggested  b; 

*  On  account  of  the  different  use*  made  of  the  breve,  the  macron,  and  the  accents,  one  grammarian  has  pr< 
posed  a  new  mode  of  marking  poetic  quantities.  Something  of  the  kind  might  be  useful ;  but  there  seems  to  be 
reversal  of  order  in  this  scheme,  the  macrctone  beint;  here  made  light,  and  the  stenotone  dark  and  heavy. 

41  Long  and  short  syllables  have  sometimes  been  designated  by  the  same  marks  u-hich  are  used  for  accent,  tone 
and  the  quality  of  the  vowels  ;  but  ic  will  be  better  [,]  to  prevent  confusion  [,]  to  use  different  marks.  This  mark 
may  represent  a  long  syllable,  and  this  •  a  short  syllable  ;  as, 

'At  the  close  of  the  day  when  the  hamfet'is  still.'  "—Perky's  Gram.  p.  73. 


CHAP.  IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ACCENT  AN7D  QUANTITY.  811 

Walker,  in  his  Principles,  Xo.  .529,  between  "the  length  or  shortness  of  the  vowels,"  and 
"  that  quantity  which  constitutes  poetry,"  is  entirely  overlooked.  It  is  safe  to  affirm,  that  all 
the  accented  syllables  occurring  in  the  examples  above,  are  long ;  and  all  the  unaccented 
one-*,  short;  for  Murray's  long  syllables  vary  in  length,  and  his  short  ones  in  shortnos,  till 
not  only  the  just  proportion,  but  the  actual  relation,  of  long  and  short,  is  evidently  lost 
with  some  of  them.  Does  not  match  in  "  mafch'lcss,"  sad  in  "sad'ly"  or  bub  in  "bubrblet" 
require  more  time,  than  so  in  "  at'so"  key  in  "  tur'key"  or  ///  in  '•  ho'ly  "  f  If  so,  four  of  the 
preceding  positions  are  very  faulty.  And  so,  indeed,  is  the  remaining  one ;  for  where  is 
the  sense  of  saying,  that  "  when  the  accent  falls  on  a  mate,  the  syllable  cannot  be  lengthened 

•fi/if/  np»i  tin-  \  '  This  is  an  apparent  truism,  and  yet  not  true.  For  a 

semivowel  in  the  middle  or  at  the  beginning  of  a  syllable,  may  lengthen  it  as  much  as  it'  it 
stood  at  the  end.  "Cur"  and  "can,"  here  given  as  protracted  syllables,  are  certainly  no 
longer  by  usage,  and  no  more  susceptible  of  protraction,  than  "mat"  and  "  n»f,"  "art"  and 
"a/if,"  which  are  among  the  author's  examples  of  short  quantity.  And  if  a  semivowel 
ac/cuted  will  make  the  syllabic  long,  was  it  not  both  an  error  and  a  self-contradiction,  to 
give  "bonnet  "  and  "hun'/t-r"  a>  examples  of  quantity  shortened  by  the  accent?  The 
syllable  man  has  two  semivowels  ;  and  the  letter/,  as  in  "fulfil1,"  is  the  most  sonorous  of 
consonants  ;  yet,  as  we  see  above,  among  their  false  examples  of  short  syllables  accented,  dif- 
ferent authors  have  given  the  words  "  mcin  "  and  "  man'ner,"  "dis-man'-tle  "  and  "  coin-pel1," 
"mas'tcr"  iind  "  lct'ti-r,"  with  sundry  other  sounds  which  may  easily  be  lengthened.  San- 
-  ivs,  "  The  breve  distinguishes  a  short  syllable  ;  as,  manner." — Analytical  Gram.  p.  273. 
Parker  and  Fox  say,  "The  Breve  (  thus  ")  is  placed  over  a  vowel  to  indicate  its  short  sound; 
as,  St.  Helena." — EnglUh  Gram.  Part  iii,  p.  31.  Both  explanations  of  this  sign  are  defec- 
tive ;  and  neither  has  a  suitable  example.  The  name  "Si.  Helt'na,"  as  pronounced  by  Wor- 
cester, and  as  commonly  heard,  is  two  trochees;  but  "Hel'ena,"  for  Helen,  having  the  penult 
short,  takes  the  accent  on  the  first  syllable,  which  is  thereby  made  long,  though  the  vowel 
sound  is  called  short.  Even  Dr.  Webster,  who  expressly  notes  the  difference  betwen  "long 
and  short  voiced"  and  "long  and  short  syllables"  allows  himself,  on  the  very  same  page, 
to  confound  them  :  so  that,  of  his  three  examples  of  a  sJiort  syllable, — "  that,  not',  melon," — 
all  are  erroneous  ;  two  being  monosyllables,  which  any  emphasis  must  lengthen;  and  the 
third, — the  won:  —with  the  first  syllable  marked  short,  and  not  the  last !  See 

•'s  Improved  Gram.  p.  Io7. 

.  20. — Among  the  latest  of  our  English  grammars,  is  Chandler's  new  one  of  1847. 
The  Prosody  of  this  work  is  fresh  from  the  mint ;  the  author's  old  grammar  of  1821,  which 
is  the  nucleus  of  this,  being  "  confined  to  Etymology  and  Syntax."  If  from  any  body  the 
public  has  a  right  to  expect  correctness  in  the  details  of  grammar,  it  is  from  one  who  has 
had  the  subject  so  long  and  so  habitually  before  him.  "Accent,"  says  this  author,  "  is  the 

on  a  syllable,  or  letter" — Chandler  s  Common  School  Gram.  p.  188.  Now,  if  our  less 
prominent  words  and  syllables  require  any  force  at  all,  a  definition  so  loose  as  this,  may 
give  accent  to  some  words,  or  to  all ;  to  some  syllables,  or  to  all ;  to  some  letters,  or  to  all — 
except  those  which  are  silent!  And,  indeed,  whether  the  stress  which  distinguishes  some 
-yllables  from  others,  is  supposed  by  the  writer  to  be  accent,  or  emphasis,  or  both,  it 
is  scarcely  possible  to  ascertain  from  his  elucidations.  "  The  term,  emphasis,''  says  he,  "  is 
used  to  denote  a  fuller  sound  of  voice  after  certain  words  that  come  in  antithesis  ;  that  is, 
contrast.  •  He  can  write,  but  he  cannot  read.'  Here,  read  and  write  are  antithetical  (that  is, 
in  contrast),  and  are  awntud,  or  emphasized." — P.  189.  The  word  "after"  here  may 
possibly  be  a  misprint  for  upon  ;  but  no  preposition  really  suits  the  connexion  :  the  participle 
\vouldbe  better.  Of  (/nautili/,  this  work  gives  the  following  account : 

"The  r/uanfif</  of  a  syllable  is  that  time  which  is  required  to  pronounce  it.     A  syllable  may 

be  t  >ii'i  or  ah  >rt.     Iluti-  is  long,  as  the  vowel  a  is  elongated  by  the  final  e ;  hat  is  short,  and 

requires  about  half  the  time  for  pronunciation  which  is  used  in  pronouncing  hate.     So  of 

.     Though  unaccented  syllables  are  usually  short,  yet  many  of 

which  arc  accented  are  short  also.  The  following  are  short :  ur/vent,  sin'ner,  sup'per. 
In  the  following,  the  unaccented  syllables  are  long  :  aUo,  exile,  gangrene,  umpire.  It  may 
be  remarked,  that  the  quantity  of  a  syllable  is  short  when  the  accent  is  on  the  consonant ; 
as,  art',  bon'net,  hun'gi-r.  The  hyphen  (- ),  placed  over  a  syllabic,  denotes  that  it  is  long: 
nii'ture.  The  breve  (  "  )  over  a  syllable,  denotes  that  it  is  short ;  as,  detract." — Chandler'* 
( 'omn  p.  I.V.).  This  ^-heme  of  quantity  is  truly  remarkable  for  its  absurdity 

and  confusion.  What  becomes  of  the  elongating  power  of  e,  without  accent  or  emphasis, 
s&injun'ci;  '•?  Who  docs  not  know  that  such  syllables  as  "  at,  bat,  and 

cur,"  are  often  long  in  po.  try?  What  more  absurd,  than  to  suppose  both  syllables  short  in 

:ul  then  give  "  sermon,  filter,  spirit,  gathCr,"  and 

tho  like,  for  regular  trochees,  with  "  the  lir*t  syllable  long,  and  the  second  short,"  as  does 
th  s  author  ?  What  more  contradictory  and  confused,  than  to  pretend  that  the  primal 
sound  of  a  vowel  lengthen-  syll.ible,  and  accent  on  the  consonant  shortens 

an  accented  one,  as  if  in  "  dt'xu  "  the  first  syllable  must  be  short  and  the  second  long,  and 
then  be  compelled,  by  the  evidence  of  one's  senses  to  mark  "echo"  as  a  trochee,  and 
"detract"  as  an  iambus  ?  What  less  pardonable  misnomer,  than  for  a  great  critic  to  call 
thi;  sign  of  long  quantity  a  "  hyphen  "  f 


812  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

OBS.  21. — The  following  suggestions  found  in  two  of  Dr.  Webster's  grammars,  are  not 
far  from  the  truth  :  "  Most  prosodians  who  have  treated  particularly  of  this  subject,  have 
been  guilty  of  a  fundamental  error,  in  considering  the  movement  of  English  verse  as  de- 
pending on  long  and  short  syllables,  formed  by  long  and  short  vowels.  This  hypothesis  has 
led  them  into  capital  mistakes.  The  truth  is,  many  of  those  syllables  which  are  considered 
as  long  in  verse,  are  formed  by  the  shortest  vowels  in  the  language  ;  as,  strength,  health, 
grand.  The  doctrine,  that  long  vowels  are  necessary  to  form  long  syllables  in  poetry  is 
at  length  exploded,  and  the  principles  which  regulate  the  movement  of  our  verse,  are 
explained ;  viz.  accent  and  emphasis.  Every  emphatical  word,  and  every  accented  sylla- 
ble, will  form  what  is  called  in  verse,  a  long  syllable.  The  unaccented  syllables,  and 
unemphatical  monosyllabic  words,  are  considered  as  short  syllables." — Webster's  Philosophical 
Gram.  p.  222 ;  Improved  Gram.  158.  Is  it  not  remarkable,  that,  on  the  same  page  with 
this  passage,  the  author  should  have  given  the  first  syllable  of  "melon"  as  an  example  of 
short  quantity  ? 

OBS.  22. — If  the  principle  is  true,  which  every  body  now  takes  for  granted,  that  the  foun- 
dation of  versifying  is  some  distinction  pertaining  to  syllables ;  it  is  plain,  that  nothing  can 
be  done  towards  teaching  the  Art  of  Measuring  Verses,  till  it  be  known  upon  ichat  distinction 
in  syllables  our  scheme  of  versification  is  based,  and  by  what  rule  or  rules  the  discrimina- 
tion is,  or  ought  to  be,  made.  Errors  here  are  central,  radical,  fundamental.  Hence  the 
necessity  of  these  present  disquisitions.  Without  some  effectual  criticism  on  their  many 
false  positions,  prosodists  may  continue  to  theorize,  dogmatize,  plagiarize,  and  blunder 
on,  as  they  have  done,  indefinitely,  and  knowledge  of  the  rhythmic  art  be  in  no  degree 
advanced  by  their  productions,  new  or  old.  For  the  supposition  is,  that  in  general  the 
consulters  of  these  various  oracles  are  persons  more  fallible  still,  and  therefore  likely  to  be 
misled  by  any  errors  that  are  not  expressly  pointed  out  to  them.  In  this  work,  it  is  as- 
sumed, that  quantity,  not  laboriously  ascertained  by  "  a  great  variety  of  rules  applied  from 
the  Greek  and  Latin  prosody,"  but  discriminated  on  principles  of  our  own — quantity,  de- 
pendent in  some  degree  on  the  nature  and  number  of  the  letters  in  a  syllable,  but  still 
more  on  the  presence  or  absence  of  stress — is  the  true  foundation  of  our  metre.  It  has 
already  been  stated,  and  perhaps  proved,  that  this  theory  is  as  well  supported  by  authority 
as  any  ;  but,  since  Lindley  Murray,  persuaded  wrong  by  the  positiveness  of  Sheridan,  ex- 
changed his  scheme  of  feet  formed  by  quantities,  for  a  new  one  of  "  feet  formed  by  accents  " 
— or,  rather,  for  an  impracticable  mixture  of  both,  a  scheme  of  supposed  "  duplicates  of 
each  foot" — it  has  been  becoming  more  and  more  common  for  grammarians  to  represent 
the  basis  of  English  versification  to  be,  not  the  distinction  of  long  and  short  quantities, 
but  the  recurrence  of  accent  at  certain  intervals.  Such  is  the  doctrine  of  Butler,  Fclton, 
Fowler,  S.  S.  Greene,  Hart,  Hiley,  R.  C.  Smith,  Weld,  Wells,  and  perhaps  others.  B  it,  in 
this,  all  these  writers  contradict  themselves;  disregard  their  own  definitions  of  accent; 
count  monosyllables  to  be  accented  or  unaccented  ;  displace  emphasis  from  the  rank  which 
Murray  and  others  give  it,  as  "  the  great  regulator  of  quantity  ;  "  and  suppose  the  length  or 
shortness  of  syllables  not  to  depend  on  the  presence  or  absence  of  either  accent  or  empha- 
sis ;  and  not  to  be  of  much  account  in  the  construction  of  English  verse.  As  these  strictures 
are  running  to  a  great  length,  it  may  be  well  now  to  introduce  the  poetic  feet,  and  to 
reserve,  for  notes  under  that  head,  any  further  examination  of  opinions  as  to  what  constitutes 
the  foundation  of  verse. 

SECTION  III.  — OF  POETIC  FEET. 

A  verse,  or  line  of  poetry,  consists  of  successive  combinations  of  syllables, 
called  feet.  A  poetic  foot,  in  English,  consists  either  of  two  or  of  three 
syllables,  as  in  the  following  examples  : 

1.  "  Can  ty  |  -rants  but  |  by  ty  |  -rants  con  I  -quered  be  ?  "—Byron. 

2.  "  Holy,  |  holy,  |  holy !  |  all  the  |  saints  a  |  -dore  thee."— Heber. 

3.  "  And  the  breath  |  of  the  De  |  -ity  cir  |  -cled  the  room."— Hunt. 

4.  "Hail  t<5  the  |  chief  wh3  in  |  triumph  ad  |  -Vance's !  "— Scott. 

EXPLANATIONS  AND  DEFINITIONS. 

Poetic  feet  being  arbitrary  combinations,  contrived  merely  for  the  measuring  of 
verses,  and  the  ready  ascertainment  of  the  syllables  that  suit  each  rhythm,  there  is 
among  prosodists  a  perplexing  diversity  of  opinion,  as  to  the  number  which  we  ought 
to  recognize  in  our  language.  Some  will  have  only  two  or  three  ;  others,  four  ;  others, 
eight ;  and  others,  twelve.  The  dozen  are  all  that  can  be  made  of  two  syllables  and 
of  three.  Latinists  sometimes  make  feet  of  four  syllables,  and  admit  sixteen  more  of 
these,  acknowledging  and  naming  twenty-eight  in  all.  The  principal  English  feet 
are  the  Iambus,  the  Trochee,  the  Anapest,  and  the  Dactyl. 


CHAP.  IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. — POETIC  FEET.  "  13 

I .  The  Iambus,  or  lam b,  is  a  poetic  foot  consisting  of  a  short  syllable  and  a  long 
one ;  as,  betray,  confess,  demand,  intent,  degree. 

*J.  The  Trochee,  or  Choree,  is  a  poetic  foot  consisting  of  a  long  syllable  and  a 
short  one;  as,  hateful,  pettfsh,  legal,  measure,  holy. 

3.  The  Anapest  is  a  poetic  foot  consisting  of  two  short  syllables  and  one  long  one  ; 
as,  contravene,  acquiesce,  importune. 

4.  The  Dactyl  is  a  poetic  foot  consisting  of  one  long  syllable  and  two  short  ones ; 
as,  labourer,  possible,  wonderful. 

These  are  our  principal  feet,  not  only  because  they  are  oftenest  used,  but  because 
each  kind,  with  little  or  no  mixture,  forms  a  distinct  order  of  numbers,  having  a 
peculiar  rhythm.  Of  verse,  or  poetic  measure,  we  have,  accordingly,  four  principal 
kinds,  or  orders;  namely,  lam bic,  Trochaic,  Anapestic,  and  Dactylic ;  as  in  the 
four  lines  cited  above. 

The  more  pure  these  several  kinds  are  preserved,  the  more  exact  and  complete  is 
the  chime  of  the  verse.  But,  exactness  being  difficult,  and  its  sameness  sometimes 
irksome,  the  poets  generally  indulge  some  variety ;  not  so  much,  however,  as  to 
confound  the  drift  of  the  rhythmical  pulsations  :  or,  if  ever  these  be  not  made  obvious 
to  the  reader,  there  is  a  grave  fault  in  the  versification. 

The  secondary  feet,  if  admitted  at  all,  are  to  be  admitted  only,  or  chiefly,  as 
occasional  diversifications.  Of  this  class  of  feet,  many  grammarians  adopt  four  ;  but 
they  lack  agreement  about  the  selection.  Brightland  took  the  Spondee,  the  Pyrrhic, 
the  Moloss,  and  the  Tribrach.  To  these,  some  now  add  the  other  four;  namely,  the 
Amphibrach,  the  Amphimac,  the  Bacchy,  and  the  Antibacchy. 

Few,  if  any,  of  these  feet  are  really  necessary  to  a  sufficient  explanation  of  English 
verse  ;  and  the  adopting  of  so  many  is  liable  to  the  great  objection,  that  we  thereby 
produce  different  modes  of  measuring  the  same  lines.  But,  by  naming  them  all,  we 
avoid  the  difficulty  of  selecting  the  most  important ;  and  it  is  proper  that  the  student 
should  know  the  import  of  all  these  prosodical  terms. 

5.  A  Spondee  is   a  poetic  foot   consisting  of  two  long  syllables ;  as,  cold  night, 
poor  souls,  amen,  sltrovetide. 

ii.  A  Pyrrhic  is  a  poetic  foot  consisting  of  two  short  syllables  ;  as,  presumpt-  |  uous, 
pcrpet-  |  ual,  unhap-  |  pfly,  inglo-  |  rious. 

7.  A  Moloss  is  a  poetic  foot  consisting  of  three  long  syllables  ;  as,  Death's  pale 
k$rt>e, — great  iv  1  ilte  throne, — deep  damp  vault. 

8.  A  Tribrach  is  a  poetic  foot  consisting  of  three  short  syllables ;  as,  prohib-  |  itory, 
unnat-  |  uriilly,  author-  |  itative,  innum-  |  eruble. 

9.  An  Amphibrach  is  a  poetic  foot  of  three  syllables,  having  both  sides  short,  the 
middle  long  ;  as,  imprudent,  consider,  transported. 

10.  An  Amphimac,  Amphimacer,  or  Cretic,  is  a  poetic  foot  of  three  syllables, 
having  both  sides  long,  the  middle  short ;  as,  ulnduigsheet,  life-estate,  soul-diseased. 

II.  A  Bacehy  is  a  poetic  foot  consisting  of  one  short  syllable  and  two  long  ones; 
'he  whole  world, — a  gredt  vase, — of  pure  gold. 

12.  An  Antibacchy,  or  Hypobacchy.  is  a  poetic  foot  consisting  of  two  long  syllables 
and  a  short  one  ;  as,  tnight-tervXce,  globe-daisy,  grape-flower,  gold-beater. 

Among  the  variegations  of  verse,  one  emphatic  syllable  is  sometimes  counted  for  a 
foot.     "  When  a  single  syllable  is  [thus]   taken  by  itself,  it  is  called  a   Casura, 
which  is  commonly  a  long  syllable."* 
FOR  EXAMPLE  : — "  Keeping  |  time,  \  time,  \  time, 

In  a  |  sort  of  |  Runic  |  rhyme, 

To  the  |  tintin  |  -nabu  |  -lation  |  that  so  I  musi  |  -cally  |  wells 

From  the  |  bells,  \  bells,  \  bells,  \  bells, 

Bells,  |  bells.  \  bells" — EDGAR  A.  POE  :    Union  Magazine,  for 
Nov.  1849 ;  Literary  World,  No.  11:). 

•  Dr.  Afffim^s  Gram.  p.  2p>7  ;  E.  A.  GnuM'x,25~.  The  Latin  won!  ffrturri  signifies  "  i  cutting,  or  division." 
This  iKiiiK-  is  sometimes  Anglicized,  and  written  "  C«ure.''  See  Brighlland's  Gram.  p.  1G1  ;  or  "Worcester's  Diet. 

>ure. 


814  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IY 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — In  defining  our  poetic  feet,  many  late  grammarians  substitute  the  terms  accent- 
ed and  unaccented  for  long  and  short,  as  did  Murray,  after  some  of  the  earlier  editions  of  his 
grammar ;  the  only  feet  recognized  in  his  second  edition  being  the  Iambus,  the  Trochee,  the 
Dactyl,  and  the  Anapest,  and  all  these  being  formed  by  quantities  only.  This  change  has 
been  made  on  the  supposition,  that  accent  and  long  quantity,  as  well  as  their  opposites, 
nonaccent  and  short  quantity,  may  oppose  each  other  ;  and  that  the  basis  of  English  verse 
is  not,  like  that  of  Latin  or  Greek  poetry,  a  distinction  in  the  time  of  syllables,  not  a  differ- 
ence in  quantity,  but  such  a  successive  accenting  and  mmaccenting  as  overrides  all  relations 
of  this  sort,  and  makes  both  length  and  shortness  compatible  alike  with  stress  or  no  stress. 
Such  a  theory,  I  am  persuaded,  is  untenable.  Great  authority,  however,  may  be  quoted  for  it, 
or  for  its  principal  features.  Besides  the  several  later  grammarians  who  give  it  countenance, 
even  "  the  judicious  Walker,"  who,  in  his  Pronouncing  Dictionary,  as  before  cited,  very 
properly  suggests  a  difference  between  "  that  quantity  which  constitutes  poetry,"  and  the  mere 
•*  length  or  shortness  ofvoicels,"  when  he  comes  to  explain  our  English  accent  and  quantity, 
in  his  "Observations  on  the  Greek  and  Latin  Accent  and  Quantity,"  finds  "  accent  perfectly 
compatible  with  either  long  or  short  quantity  ;  "  {Key,  p.  312  ;)  repudiates  that  vulgar  accent 
of  Sheridan  and  others,  which  "  is  only  a  greater  force  upon  one  syllable  than  another ;  " 
(Key,  p.  313  ;)  prefers  the  doctrine  which  "  makes  the  elevation  or  depression  of  the  voice 
inseparable  from  accent ;"  (Key,  p.  314  ;)  holds  that,  "  unaccented  vowels  are  frequently 
pronounced  long  when  the  accented  vowels  are  short ;  "  (Key,  p.  312  ;)  takes  long  or  short 
vowels  and  long  or  short  syllables  to  be  things  everywhere  tantamount ;  saying,  "  We  have 
no  conception  of  quantity  arising  from  any  thing  but  the  nature  of  the  vowels,  as  they  are 
pronounced  long  or  short ;  "  (ibid. ;)  and  again  :  "  Such  long  quantity  "  as  consonants  may 
produce  with  a  close  or  short  vowel,  "  an  English  ear  has  not  the  least  idsa  of.  Unless  the 
sound  of  the  vowel  be  altered,  we  have  not  any  conception  of  a  long  or  short  syllable." — 
Walkers  Key,  p.  322;  and  Worcester's  Octavo  Diet.  p.  935. 

OBS.  2. — In  the  opinion  of  Murray,  Walker's  authority  should  be  thought  sufficient  to 
settle  any  question  of  prosodial  quantities.  "But,"  it  is  added,  "there  are  some  critical 
writers,  who  dispute  the  propriety  of  his  arrangement.'' — Murray's  Octavo  Gram.  p.  24 1. 
And  well  there  may  be  ;  not  only  by  reason  of  the  obvious  incorrectness  of  the  foregoing 
positions,  but  because  the  great  orthoepist  is  not  entirely  consistent  with  himself.  In  his 
"Preparatory  Observations,"  which  introduce  the  very  essay  above  cited,  he  avers  that,  "  the 
different  states  of  the  voice,"  which  are  indicated  by  the  comparative  terms  high  and  'ow, 
loud  and  soft,  quick  and  sloio,  forcible  and  feeble,  "may  not  improperly  be  called  quant 'ties 
of  sound." — Walkers  Key,  p.  305.  Whoever  thinks  this,  certainly  conceives  of  quantity  as 
arising  from  several  other  things  than  "the  nature  of  the  vowels."  Even  Humphrey,  vith 
•whom,  "  Quantity  differs  materially  from  time,"  and  who  defines  it,  "  the  weight,  or  aggre- 
gate quantum  of  sounds,"  may  find  his  questionable  and  unusual  "conception"  of  it 
included  among  these. 

OBS.  3. — Walker  must  have  seen,  as  have  the  generality  of  prosodists  since,  that  such  a 
distinction  as  he  makes  between  long  syllables  and  short,  could  not  possibly  be  the  bas^s  of 
English  versification,  or  determine  the  elements  of  English  feet ;  yet,  without  the  analogy 
of  any  known  usage,  and  contrary  to  our  customary  mode  of  reading  the  languages, 
he  proposes  it  as  applicable — and  as  the  only  doctrine  conceived  to  be  applicable — to 
Greek  or  Latin  verse.  Ignoring  all  long  or  short  quantity  not  formed  by  what  are 
called  long  or  short  vowels,*  he  suggests,  "  as  a  last  refuge,"  (§  25,)  the  very  doubtful 
scheme  of  reading  Latin  and  Greek  poetry  with  the  vowels  conformed,  agreeably  to  this 
English  sense  of  long  and  short  vowel  sounds,  to  the  ancient  rules  of  quantity.  Of 
such  words  as  fallo  and  ambo,  pronounced  as  we  usually  utter  them,  he  says,  "  nothing 
can  be  more  evident  than  the  long  quantity  of  the  final  vowel  though  without  the  accent, 
and  the  short  quantity  of  the  initial  and  accented  syllable." — Obs.  on  Greek  and  Lat.  Accent, 
§  23  ;  Key,  p.  331.  Now  the  very  reverse  of  this  appears  to  me  to  be  "evident."  The  a, 
indeed,  may  be  close  or  short,  while  the  o,  having  its  primal  or  name  sound,  is  called  long; 
but  the  first  syllable,  if  fully  accented,  will  have  twice  the  time  of  the  second ;  nor  can  this 
proportion  be  reversed  but  by  changing  the  accent,  and  misplacing  it  on  the  latter  syllable. 
"Were  the  principle  true,  which  the  learned  author  pronounces  so  "evident,"  these,  and  all 
similar  words,  would  constitute  iambic  feet ;  whereas  it  is  plain,  that  in  English  they  are 
trochees;  and  in  Latin, — where  "o  final  is  common" — either  trochees  or  spondees.  The 
word  ambo,  as  every  accurate  scholar  knows,  is  always  a  trochee,  whether  it  be  the  Latin 
adjective  for  "both,"  or  the  English  noun  for  '-a  reading  desk,  or  pulpit ." 

*  t;  As  to  the  long  quantity  arising  from  the  succession  of  two  consonants,  which  the  ancients  are  uniform  in 
asserting,  if  it  did  not  mean  that  the  preceding  vowel  was  to  lengthen  its  sound,  asu-e  should  do  hy  pronouncing 
the  a  in  scatter  as  we  do  in  flcattr,  (one  who  skates.)  1  hrn-e  n  >  conrtption  of  what  it  meant ;  for  if  it  meant  that 
only  the  time  of  the  sylliMe  was  prolonged,  the  vowel  retaining  the  same  sou  id,  I  must  confess  as  utter  an  inabil- 
ity of  comprehending  this  sourn-  of  quantity  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  as  in  English." — Wtilkfr  on  Gr.  and  L.  Ac- 
ctnt,  §  24  ;  Key,  p.  881.  This  distinguished  author  st-ems  unwilling  to  admit,  that  the  consonants  occupy  time  in 
their  utterance,  or  tliat  othrr  vowel  sounds  than  those  which  mime  the  vowels,  can  he  protracted  and  become 
long;  but  these  are  truths,  nevertheless ;  and.  since  every  letter  adds  xometning  to  the  syllable  in  which  it  is 
BtUsred,  it  is  by  conteciuence  a  u  source  of  quantity,"  whether  the  syllable  be  long  or  short. 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. OBSERVATIONS.  815 

Ons.  4. — The  names  of  our  poetic  feet  are  all  of  them  derived,  by  change  of  endings,  from 
similar  names  used  in  Greek,  and  thence  also  in  Latin;  and,  of  course,  English  words 
and  Greek  or  Latin,  so  re'ated,  are  presumed  to  stand  for  tilings  somewhat  similar.  This 
reasonable  presumption  is  an  argument,  too  often  disregarded  by  late  grammarian;*,  for  con- 
sidering our  poetic  feet  to  be  quantitative,  as  were  the  ancient, — not  accentual  only,  as  some 
will  have  them, — nor  separately  both,  as  some  others  absurdly  teach.  But,  whatever  may 
be  the  difference  or  the  coincidence  between  English  verse  and  Greek  or  Latin,  it  is  certain, 
that,  in  our  poetic  division  of  syllables,  strength  and  length  must  always  concur,  and 
any  scheme  which  so  contrasts  accent  with  long  quantitv,  as  to  confound  the  different 
species  of  feet,  or  give  contradictory  names  to  the  same  foot,  must  be  radically  and  Crossly 
defective.  In  the  preceding  section  it  has  been  shown,  that  the  principles  of  quantity 
adopted  by  Sheridan,  Murray,  and  others,  being  so  erroneous  as  to  be  wholly  nugatory,  wire 
as  unfit  to  be  the  basis  of  English  verse,  as  are  Walker's,  which  have  just  be.  n  spoken  of.  But 
the  puzzled  authors,  in  stead  of  reforming  these  their  elementary  principles,  so  as  to  a- 1  apt 
them  to  the  quantities  and  rhythms  actually  found  in  our  English  verse,  have  all  chosen  to 
assume,  that  our  poetical  feet  in  general  differ  radically  from  those  which  the  ancients  called 
by  the  same  names  ;  and  yet  the  <  I'.umd — the  "exact  sameness  of  nature  "  acknowl- 

edged—  is  sagely  said  by  some  of  them  to  duplicate  each  foot  into  tic  >  distinct  ,v/>Y.v  for  our  special 
adrantduc ;  while  the  difference,  which  they  presume  to  exist,  or  wl  ich  their  false  prii  ciplcs 
of  a  -cent  and  quantity  would  create,  between  feet  quantitative  and  feet  accentual,  (both  of 
which  are  allowed  to  us,)  would  implicate  different  names,  and  convert  foot  into  foot — iambs, 
trochees,  spondees,  pyrrhics,  each  species  into  some  other — till  all  were  confusion  ! 

OK.S.  ;3. — In  Lindley  Murray's  revise  1  scheme  of  feet,  we  have  first  a  paragraph  from  Sheri- 
dan's Rhetorical  Grammar,  suggesting  that  the  ancient  poetic  measures  were  formed  of  sylla- 
bles divided  "  into  I»KJ  and  .short,"  and  affirming,  what  is  rot  very  true,  that,  for  the  forming 
of  ours,  "  In  English,  syllables  are  divided  into  accented  and  unaccented." — Ehet.  Gram.  p.  6-4  ; 
Murray's  drain.  8vo,  2-3  i ;  Hart's  Gram.  182;  and  others.  Now  some  syllables  are  accented, 
and  others  are  unaccented  ;  but  syllables  singly  significant,  i.  e.  monosyllables,  which  are 
very  numerous,  belong  to  neither  of  these  classes.  The  contrast  is  also  comparatively  new  : 
our  language  had  much  good  poetry,  long  before  accented  and  unaccented  were  ever  thus  misap- 
plied in  it.  Murray  proi  eeds  thus  :  ••  When  the  feet  are  formed  by  accent  on  -coiri-lis,  they  are 
exactly  ofthesame  nature  as  the  ancient  fee',  and  have  the  same  just  quantity  in  their  syllables* 
So  that,  in  this  resp  .  ;.',its  had,  and  something  which  they  had 

not.  We  have  in  fact  duplicates  of  each  foot,  yet  with  such  a.  difference,  as  to  tit  them  for  dif- 
ferent purposes,  to  be  applied  at  our  pleasure." — Ib.  p.  2-33.  Again:  "  \\'e  have  observed, 
that  Eii'jlisk  verse  is  composed  of  feet  formed  by  accent;  and  that  when  the  accent  falls  on 
.  the  feet  are  equivalent  to  those  formed  by  quantity." — //;.  p.  2,38.  And  again  : 
"  From  the  preceding  view  of  English  versification,  we  may  sec  what  a  copious  stock  of  mate- 
rials it  pos.-r~.-e-:.  Tor  ice  arc  not  only  allowed  the  use  of  all  the  ancient  poetic  feet,  in  our  heroic 
.•<',  but  we  have,  as  before  observed,  duplicates  of  each,  agreeing  in  movement,  though 
differing  in  measure,*  and  which  make  different  impressions  on  the  ear;  an  opulence  peculiar 
to  our  language,  and  which  may  be  the  source  of  a  boundless  variety." — Ib.  p.  2-39. 

OHS.  G. — II  it  were  not  dullness  to  overlook  the  many  errors  and"  inconsistencies  of  this 
scheme,  there  should  be  thought  a  rare  ingenuity  in  thus  turning  them  all  to  the  great 
advantage  and  peculiar  riches  of  the  English  tongue !  Besides  several  grammatical  faults, 
elsewhere  noticed,  these  extracts  exhibit,  first,  the  inconsistent  notion— of  "  dupli^itcx  with 
.  "  or,  as  Churchill  e  .  .  of"  ///•;  distiir-t  species  ofeachfoot;"  (\/-ir  Gram. 

p.  IS'J;)  and  here  we  arc  gravely  assured  withal,  that  these  different  sorts,  which  have  no 


•t  I,"  of  poetic  feet,  and  "  diip'icates  of  each,"    "  which  tJicy  had  n->t"  we  arc 
with  an  enormous  surplus;  for,  of  the  twenty-eight  Latin  fect.f  mentioned  by 


"   ML  Movement  and  measure  an>  thu<  dUringm'shed.     Mn-nnrnt 

A-.ik.  from  Itin^to  sh»rt,  or  vice  versa.    M">xt<re 
roportion  of  time,  both  in  rounds  o*4  pawjf*.1  —  O'tnm  <;m>n.\>  '!.','.).    This  di-'inetion  i"  neither 

It  Humphrey  adopt*  it,   wi-li   -i;.:!it  van  i-.i,  us      Without  .- 
Iambic,  Trochaic,  Ai  y  Ik,  or  some  <  lenn  benonfutarmovnnefU.no  ••  pr». 

Me.iMi:-..  1-  tv  L!  to  movement  r<>  1...  in  COO)  And  tli-  un.v.-mi-nt  "  from 

to  t«'4&.  from  Jong  U>  xforf  ,''  !•  but  one  and  tat  MUM,  a   tir.chaic   movement  ;  it."  reverse,  the  movement, 

•  if  cdur-e.   it          •  meiMire.     Hut  Murray's 

d02trine  is,  that  strong  and  Inny.  n-fuk  .1  IM.,v  he  x/mr'.  and  U 

•O  tha'  ..:  tVoui  u--uk  to  *t>»n^  mas   lie  t'p>m  i,,,,^  to  s/tnrt,  and  »•/•  r  tr  .vli.iir   ii.i.vement 

"in  innbic  me;i-ure.  ami  an  i  imt>i<-  movement  from  t  Thi-  :ih-u:di  \  comefl  <  f'atreiii])t- 

••'•[  tb&t  quantity,  ami  not 

tiinns  the  nif'iturf.  whi<*h  "  .-i^nifies  th*  /irn/:o,!ion  or  inn?.''     'i'lie  idea  tlia"  /  '    intiisure,  la 

un  H:|,,T  radical  error  ot  the  I  /!n-n-  are  mere  p  mses  in  poetrv  tiian  in  im>..«,  1m:  ip.neoi  them  are 

propvrlv  ••/  -     Humphrey  mys  trujj,  "fVtl  are  the  eon«<<(Kf*<j  '—English  Prwdy, 

Hue  L   Murra;.  m-l   i>'n<*->  •    Ver.-e."-  Ortnro  Grnm    \\.  2.7J.     Here 

(bias.     Inr..  -  pe.-nli.irlv    l...d.>i^ini:   to    It,"  the   "CrT.iuml" 

r'."tht--  rhetorician  liad  improperly  said,  ••  Xhe  conatitueDt./xutj  Diverse  are,  feet,  and  pauses." 

—  Skrriitun'i  Riittonnil  (Snitn.  ji.'ij 

t  "  Hut  as  many  \Vaj>a<  liiiaiiti'ie-!  may  bn  varied  by  Composition  and  Trrxnsposi'.ion,  so  many  dim-rent    Feet 
the  Grttk  1'oets  coatriv'd,  and  that  under  distinct  Names,  from  two  to  ^x  Syllables,  to  the  Number  of  124. 


816  THE   GRAMMAR   OF  ENGLISH   GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

Dr.  Adam  and  others,  Murray  never  gave  the  names  of  more  than  eight,  and  his  early 
editions  acknowledged  but  four,  and  these  single,  not  "  duplicates" — unigenous,  not  severally 
of  "  tico  species"  Fourthly,  to  suppose  a  multiplicity  of  feet  to  be  "  a  copious  stock  of  mate- 
rials "  for  versification,  is  as  absurd  as  to  imagine,  in  any  other  case,  a  variety  of  measures 
to  be  materials  for  producing  the  thing  measured.  Fifthly,  "  our  heroic  measure  "  is  iambic 
pentameter,  as  Murray  himself  shows  ;  and,  to  give  to  this,  "  all  the  ancient  poetic  feet,"  is  to 
bestow  most  of  them  where  they  are  least  needed.  Sixthly,  "  feet  differing  in  measure,"  so 
as  to  "make  different  impressions  on  the  ear,"  cannot  well  be  said  to  "agree  in  movement"  or 
to  be  "  exactly  of  the  same  nature ! " 

OBS.  7. — Of  the  foundation  of  metre,  Wells  has  the  following  account  :  "  The  quantity  of 
a  syllable  is  the  relative  time  occupied  in  its  pronunciation.  A  syllable  may  be  long  in 
quantity,  as  fate;  or  short,  as  let.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  based  their  poetry  on  the 
quantity  of  syllables  ;  but  modern  versification  depends  chiefly  upon  accent,  the  quantity 
of  syllables  being  almost  wholly  disregarded." — School  Gram.,  1st  Ed.,  p.  185.  Again : 
"Versification  is  a  measured  arrangement  of  words  [,]  in  which  the  accent  is  made  to 
recur  at  certain  regular  intervals.  This  definition  applies  only  to  modern  verse.  In 
Greek  and  Latin  poetry,  it  is  the  regular  recurrence  of  long  syllables,  according  to  settled 
laws,  which  constitutes  verse." — Ib.  p.  186.  The  contrasting  of  ancient  and  modern  versifi- 
cation, since  Sheridan  and  Murray  each  contrived  an  example  of  it,  has  become  very  com- 
mon in  our  grammars,  though  not  in  principle  very  uniform ;  and,  however  needless  where 
a  correct  theory  prevails,  it  is,  to  such  views  of  accent  and  quantity  as  were  adopted  by 
these  authors,  and  by  Walker,  or  their  followers,  but  a  necessary  counterpart.  The  notion, 
however,  that  English  verse  has  less  regard  to  quantity  than  had  that  of  the  old  Greeks  or 
Romans,  is  a  mere  assumption,  originating  in  a  false  idea  of  what  quantity  is  ;  and,  that 
Greek  or  Latin  verse  was  less  accentual  than  is  ours,  is  another  assumption,  left  proofless 
too,  of  what  many  authors  disbelieve  and  contradict.  Wells's  definition  of  quantity  is 
similar  to  mine,  and  perhaps  unexceptionable  ;  and  yet  his  idea  of  the  thing,  as  he  gives  us 
reason  to  think,  was  very  different,  and  very  erroneous.  His  examples  imply,  that,  like 
Walker,  he  had  "no  conception  of  quantity  arising  from  any  thing  but  the  nature  of  the 
vowels," — no  conception  of  a  long  or  a  short  syllable  without  what  is  called  a  long  or  a  short 
vowel  sound.  That  "the  Greeks  and  Romans  based  their  poetry  on  quantity"  of  that 
restricted  sort, — on  such  "  quantity"  as  "fate  "  and  "  let"  may  serve  to  discriminate, — is  by 
no  means  probable  ;  nor  would  it  be  more  so,  were  a  hundred  great  modern  masters  to 
declare  themselves  ignorant  of  any  other.  The  words  do  not  distinguish  at  all  the  long 
and  short  quantities  even  of  our  own  language ;  much  less  can  we  rely  on  them  for  an  ic  ea 
of  what  is  long  or  short  in  other  tongues.  Being  monosyllables,  both  are  long  with  emphaf  is, 
both  short  without  it ;  and,  could  they  be  accented,  accent  too  would  lengthen,  as  its  absence 
would  shorten,  both.  In  the  words  phosphate  and  streamlet,  we  have  the  same  sounds,  both, 
short ;  in  lettuce  and  fateful,  the  same,  both  long.  This  cannot  be  disproved.  And,  in  the 
scansion  of  the  following  stanza  from  Byron,  the  word  "  Let,"  twice  used,  is  to  be  reckoned 
a  long  syllable,  and  not  (as  Wells  would  have  it)  a  short  one : 
"  Cavalier  !  and  man  of  worth  ! 
Let  these  words  of  mine  go  forth ; 
Let  the  Moorish  Monarch  know, 
That  to  him  I  nothing  owe  : 

Wo  is  me,  Alhama !" 

OBS.  8. — In  the  English  grammars  of  Allen  H.  Weld,  works  remarkable  for  their  egre- 
gious inaccuracy  and  worthlessness,  yet  honoured  by  the  Boston  school  committee  of  1848 
and  '9,  the  author  is  careful  to  say,  "Accent  should  not  be  confounded  with  emphasis. 
Emphasis  is  a  stress  of  voice  on  a  word  in  a  sentence,  to  mark  its  importance.  Accent  is  a 
stress  of  voice  on  a  syllable  in  a  word."  Yet,  within  seven  lines  of  this,  we  are  told,  that, 
"A  verse  consists  of  a  certain  number  of  accented  and  unaccented  syllables,  arranged  according 
to  certain  rules." — Weld's  English  Grammar,  2d  Edition,  p.  207  ;  "Abridged  Edition,"  p. 
137.  A  doctrine  cannot  be  contrived,  which  will  more  evidently  or  more  extensively  con- 
found accent  with  emphasis,  than  does  this  !  In  English  verse,  on  an  average,  about  three 
quarters  of  the  words  are  monosyllables,  which,  according  to  Walker,  "  have  no  accent," 
certainly  none  distinguishable  from  emphasis ;  hence,  in  fact,  our  syllables  are  no  more 
"  divided  into  accented  and  unaccented,"  as  Sheridan  and  Murray  would  have  them,  than 
into  emphasized  and  unemphasized,  as  some  others  have  thought  to  class  them.  Nor  is  this 
confounding  of  accent  with  emphasis  at  all  lessened  or  palliated  by  teaching  with  Wells, 
in  its  justification,  that,  "The  term  accent  is  also  applied,  in  poetry,  to  the  stress  laid  on 
monosyllabic  words." — Wells's  School  Gram.  p.  185  ;  113th  Ed.,  §  273.  What  better  is  this, 
than  to  apply  the  term  emphasis  to  the  accenting  of  syllables  in  poetry,  or  to  all  the  stress 
in  question,  as  is  virtually  done  in  the  following  citation  ?  "  In  English,  verse  is  regulated 
by  the  emphasis,  as  there  should  be  one  emphatick  syllable  in  ever)'  foot ;  for  it  is  by  the 
interchange  of  emphatick  and  non-emphatick  syllables,  that  verse  grateful  to  the  ear  is  formed." 
—  Thomas  Coar's  E.  Gram.  p.  196.  In  Latin  poetry,  the  longer  words  predominate,  so  that, 

But  it  is  the  Opinion  of  some  Learned  Men  in  this  Way,  that  Poetic  Numbers  may  be  sufficiently  explain'd  by  those 
of  two  or  three  Syllables,  into  which  the  rest  are  to  be  resolv'd."— Erightland'S  Grammar,  7th  Ed.,  p.  101. 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. OBSERVATIONS.  817 

in  Virgil's  verse,  not  one  word  in  five  is  a  monosyllable  ;  hence  accent,  if  our  use  of  it  were 
adjusted  to  the  Latin  quantities,  might  have  much  more  to  do  with  Latin  verse  than  with 
English.  With  the  following  lines  of  Shakspeare,  for  example,  accent  has,  properly  speak- 
ing, no  connexion  : 

"  Good  friend,  thou  hast  no  cause  to  say  so  yet : 
But  thou  shalt  have  ;  and  creep  time  ne'er  so  slow, 
Yet  it  shall  come,  for  me  to  do  thee  good. 
I  had  a  thing  to  say, — But  let  it  go." — Khig  John,  Act  iii,  Sc.  3. 

OBS.  9. — T.  O.  Churchill,  after  stating  that  the  Greek  and  Latin  rhythms  are  composed 
of  syllables  long  and  short,  sets  ours  in  contrast  with  them  thus  :  "These  terms  are  com- 
monly employed  also  in  speaking  of  English  verse,  though  it  is  marked,  not  by  long  and 
short,  but  by  accented  and  unaccented  syllables  ;  the  accented  syllables  being  accounted 
long  ;  the  unaccented,  short." — Churchill's  Sew  Gram.  p.  183.  This,  though  far  from  being 
right,  is  very  different  from  the  doctrine  of  Murray  or  Sheridan  ;  because,  in  practice,  or 
the  scansion  of  verses,  it  comes  to  the  same  results  as  to  suppose  all  our  feet  to  be  "formed 
by  quantity."  To  account  syllables  long  or  short  and  not  believe  them  to  be  so,  is  a  ridicu- 
lous inconsistency :  it  is  a  shuffle  in  the  name  of  science. 

OB.S.  10. — Churchill,  though  not  apt  to  be  misled  by  others'  errors,  and  though  his  own 
scanning  has  no  regard  to  the  principle,  could  not  rid  himself  of  the  notion,  that  the  quan- 
tity of  a  syllable  must  depend  on  the  "  vowel  sound."  Accordingly  he  says,  "  Mr.  Murray 
justly  observes,  that  our  accented  syllables,  or  those  reckoned  long,  may  have  either  a  long  or 
[a]  short  roicel  sound,  so  that  we  have  tico  distinct  species  of  each  foot." — Neic  Gram.  p.  189. 
The  obvious  impossibility  of  "  two  distinct  species"  in  one, — or,  as  Murray  has  it,  of  "  du- 
plicates fitted  for  different  purposes," — should  have  prevented  the  teaching  and  repeat- 
ing of  this  nonsense,  propound  it  who  might.  The  commender  himself  had  not  such  faith 
in  it  as  is  here  implied.  In  a  note,  too  plainly  incompatible  with  this  praise,  he  comments 
thus  :  "  Mr.  Murray  adds,  that  this  is  'an  opulence  peculiar  to  our  language,  and  which 
may  be  the  source  of  a  boundless  variety : '  a  point,  on  which,  I  confess,  /  hare  long  entertained 
doubts.  I  am  inclined  to  suspect,  that  the  English  mode  of  reading  verse  is  analogous  to  that 
of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans.  Dion.  Hal.,  de  Comp.  Verb.,  $  xi,  speaks  of  the  rhythm 
of  versa  ilijfcrimj  from  the  proper  measure  of  the  syllables,  and  often  reversing  it :  does  not 
this  imply,  that  the  ancients,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  the  learned  author  of  Metronariston, 
rend  verse  as  we  do?  " — Churchill' a  Xeic  drain,  p.  393,  note  329. 

OHS.  11. — The  nature,  chief  sources,  and  true  distinction  of  quantity,  at  least  as  it  pertains 
to  our  language,  I  have  set  forth  with  clearness,  first  in  the  short  chapter  on  Utterance, 
anil  again,  more  fully,  in  this,  which  treats  of  Versification ;  but  that  the  syllables,  long 
and  short,  of  the  old  Greek  and  Latin  poets,  or  the  feet  they  made  of  them,  are  to  be 
expounded  on  precisely  the  same  principles  that  apply  to  ours,  I  have  not  deemed  it 
necessary  to  affirm  or  to  deny.  So  far  as  the  same  laws  are  applicable,  let  them  be  applied. 
This  important  property  of  syllables, — their  quantity,  or  relative  time, — which  is  the  basis 
of  all  rhythm,  is,  as  my  readers  have  seen,  very  variously  treated,  and  in  general  but  ill 
appreciated,  by  our  English  prosodists,  who  ought,  at  least  in  this  their  own  province,  to 
understand  it  alike,  and  as  it  is  ;  and  so  common  among  the  erudite  is  the  confession  of 
Walker,  that  "  the  accent  and  quantity  of  the  ancients  "  are,  to  modern  readers,  "  obscure 
and  mysterious,"  that  it  will  be  taken  as  a  sign  of  arrogance  and  superficiality,  to  pretend 
to  a  very  certain  knowledge  of  them.  Nor  i>  the  difHculty  confined  to  Latin  and  Greek 
:  the  poetry  of  our  own  ancestors,  from  any  remote  period,  is  not  easy  of  scansion.  Dr. 
Johnson,  in  his  History  of  the  English  Language,  gave  examples,  with  this  remark:  "Of 
the  Xason  poetry  some  specimen  is  ;  t hough  our  ignorance  of  the  laws  of  their 

metre  and  the  quantities  of  their  syllables,  irhich  it  icoit/d  be  renj  dijficult,  per/taps  impossible, 
•  xeludes  us  from  that  pleasure  which  the  old   bards  undoubtedly  gave  to  their 
contcmpor:.. 

( )n>.  1'J. — The  imperfect  measures  of  "  the  father  of  English  poetry,"  are  said  by  Dryden 
to  have  been  adapted  t»  the  cam  of  the  rude  age  which  produced  them.  "The  verse  of 
Chau  '.io,  •'  I  confess,  is  not  harmonious  to  us  ;  but  it  is  like  the  eloquence  of  one 

whom  Tacitus  commends,  it  was  »  unnhns  i.<,tinx  ?•  .',ita  : '  they  who  lived  with 

him,  and  sometime  after  him,  thought  it  musical ;  and  it  continues  so  even  in  our  judgment, 
if  compared  with  the  numbers  of  Lidgate  and  Gower,  his  contemporaries  :  there  is  the  rude 
la  Scotch  tune  in  it,  which  is  natural  and  pleasing,  though  not  perfect.     It  is 
I  cannot  go  so  far  as  lie  who  published  the  last  edition  of  him  ;   for  he  would  make  us 
believe  the  fault  is  in  our  cars,  and  that  there  were  really  ten  syllables  in  a  ver>e  where  we 
fii.d  but  nine  :  but  this  opinion  is  not  worth  confuting  ;  it  is  so'gross  and  obvious  an  error, 
that  common  sense  (which  is  a  rule  in   every  thing  but  matters  of  faith  and  revelation) 
uivince  the  reader  that  equality  of  numbers  in  every  verse,  which  we  call  Heroic, 
w;is  either  not  known,  or  not  always  practised  in  Chaucer's  a'gc.     It  were  an  easy  matter  to 
praduce  some  thousands  of  his  vn^es,  which   are  lame  for  want  of  half  a  foot,  and  some- 
tines  a  whole  one,  and  which  no   pronunciation  can  make  otherwise.     We  can  only  say, 
thit  he  lived  in  the  infancy  of  our  poetry,  and  that  nothing  is  brought  to  perfection  at  the 
firnt."— British  Poets,  Vol.  iii,  p.  171. 


818  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

OBS.  13.— Dryden  appears  to  have  had  more  faith  in  the  cars  of  his  own  age  than  in 
those  of  an  earlier  one  ;  but  Poe,  of  our  time,  himself  an  ingenious  versifier,  in  his  Notes 
upon  English  Verse,  conveys  the  idea  that  all  ears  are  alike  competent  to  appreciate  tho 
elements  of  metre.  "  Quantity,"  according  to  his  dogmatism,  "  is  a  point  in  the  investiga- 
tion of  which  the  lumber  of  mere  learning  may  be  dispensed  with,  if  ever  in  any.  Its 
appreciation"  says  he,  "  is  universal.  It  appertains  to  no  region,  nor  race,  nor  era  in 
especial.  To  melody  and  to  harmony  the  Greeks  hearkened  with  ears  precisely  similar 
to  those  which  we  employ,  for  similar  purposes,  at  present ;  and  a  pendulum  at  Athens 
would  have  vibrated  much  after  the  same  fashion  as  does  a  pendulum  in  the  city  of  Penn." 
—  The  Pioneer,  Vol.  i,  p.  103.  Supposing  here  not  even  the  oscillations  of  the  samo 
pendulum  to  be  more  uniform  than  are  the  nature  and  just  estimation  of  quantity  the  world 
over,  this  author  soon  after  expounds  his  idea  of  the  thing  as  follows  :  "  I  have  already 
said  that  all  syllables,  in  metre,  are  either  long  or  short.  Our  usual  prosodies  maintain 
that  a  long  syllable  is  equal,  in  its  time,  to  two  short  ones  ;  this,  however,  is  but  an 
approach  to  the  truth.  It  should  be  here  observed  that  the  quantity  of  an  English  syllable 
has  no  dependence  upon  the  sound  of  its  vowel  or  dipthortg  [diphthong],  but  [depends] 
chiefly  upon  accentuation.  Monosyllables  are  exceedingly  variable,  and,  for  the  most  part, 
may  be  either  long  or  short,  to  suit  the  demand  of  the  rhythm.  In  polysyllables,  the 
accented  ones  [say,  syllables']  are  always  long,  while  those  which  immediately  precede  or 
succeed  them,  are  always  short.  Emphasis  will  render  any  short  syllable  long." — Ibid.  p. 
105.  In  penning  the  last  four  sentences,  the  writer  must  have  had  Brown's  Institutes  of 
English  Grammar  before  him,  and  open  at  page  235. 

OBS.  14. — Sheridan,  in  his  Rhetorical  Grammar,  written  about  1780,  after  asserting  that 
a  distinction  of  accent,  and  not  of  quantity,  marks  the  movement  of  English  verse,  proceeds 
as  follows :  "  From  not  having  examined  the  peculiar  genius  of  our  tongue,  our  Prosodians 
have  fallen  into  a  variety  of  errors  :  some  having  adopted  the  rules  of  our  neighbours,  the 
French ;  and  others  having  had  recourse  to  those  of  the  ancients ;  though  neither  of  them, 
in  reality,  would  square  with  our  tongue,  on  account  of  an  essential  difference  between  them. 
[He  means,  "  betioeen  each  language  and  ours,"  and  should  have  said  so.]  With  regard  to 
the  French,  they  measured  verses  by  the  number  of  syllables  whereof  they  were  composed, 
on  account  of  a  constitutional  defect  in  their  tongue,  which  rendered  it  incapable  of  num- 
bers formed  by  poetic  feet.  For  it  has  neither  accent  nor  quantity  suited  to  the  purpose  ; 
the  syllables  of  their  words  being  for  the  most  part  equally  accented  ;  and  the  number  of 
long  syllables  being  out  of  all  proportion  greater  than  that  of  the  short.  Hence  for  along 
time  it  wras  supposed,  as  it  is  by  most  people  at  present,  that  our  verses  were  composed,  not  of 
feet,  but  syllables ;  and  accordingly  they  are  denominated  verses  of  ten,  eight,  six,  or  four 
syllables,  even  to  this  day.  Thus  have  we  lost  sight  of  the  great  advantage  which  our  lan- 
guage has  given  us  over  the  French,  in  point  of  poetic  numbers,  by  its  being  capable  of  a 
geometrical  proportion,  on  which  the  harmony  of  versification  depends;  and  blindly  re- 
duced ourselves  to  that  of  the  arithmetical  kind  which  contains  no  natural  power  of  pleasing 
the  ear.  And  hence,  like  the  French,  our  chief  pleasure  in  verse  arises  from  the  poor  orna- 
ment of  rhyme." — Sheridan's  Rhetorical  Gram.  p.  64. 

OBS.  15. — In  a  recent  work  on  this  subject,  Sheridan  is  particularly  excepted,  and  he 
alone,  where  Hallam,  Johnson,  Lord  Kames,  and  other  "Prosodians"  in  general,  are 
charged  with  "  astonishing  ignorance  of  the  first  principles  of  our  verse  ;  "  and,  at  the  same 
time,  he  is  as  particularly  commended  for  having  "  especially  insisted  on  the  subject  of 
Quantity." — Everett's  English  Versification,  Preface,  p.  6.  That  the  rhetorician  was  but  slen- 
derly entitled  to  these  compliments,  may  plainly  appear  from  the  next  paragraph  of  his 
Grammar,  just  cited ;  for  therein  he  mistakingly  represents  it  as  a  central  error,  to  regard 
our  poetic  feet  as  being  "  formed  by  quantity  "  at  all.  "  Some  few  of  our  Prosodians," 
says  he,  "  finding  this  to  be  an  error,  and  that  our  verses  were  really  compo-ed  of  feet,  not 
syllables,  without  farther  examination,  boldly  applied  all  the  rules  of  the  Latin  prosody  to 
our  versification  ;  though  scarce  any  of  them  answered  exactly,  and  some  of  them  were 
utterly  incompatible  with  the  genius  of  our  tongue.  Thus  because  the  Roman  feet  were  formed 
by  quantity,  they  asserted  the  same  of  oars,  denominating  all  the  accented  syllables  long  ;  whereas 
I  have  for  merit/  shewn,  that  the  accent,  in  some  cases,  as  certainly  makes  the  syllable  on  which  it  is 
laid,  short,  as  in  others  it  makes  it  long.  And  their  whole  theory  of  quantity,  borrowed  from 
the  Roman,  in  which  they  endeavour  to  establish  the  proportion  of  long  and  short,  as  immu- 
tably fixed  to  the  syllables  of  words  constructed  in  a  certain  way,  at  once  falls  to  the  ground  ; 
when  it  is  shewn,  that  the  quantity  of  our  syllables  is  perpetually  varying  with  the  sense,  and 
isybr  the  most  part  regulated  by  EMPHASIS  :  which  has  been  fully  proved  in  the  course  of  Lec- 
tures on  the  Art  of  reading  Verse;  where  it  has  been  also  shewn,  that  this  very  circumstance 
has  given  us  an  amazing  advantage  over  the  ancients  in  the  point  of  poetic  numbers." — Sheri- 
dan's Rhct.  Gram.  p.  61. 

OBS.  16. — The  lexicographer  here  claims  to  have  "  shewn"  or  "proved,"  what  he  had  only 
affirmed,  or  asserted.  Erroneously  taking  the  quality  of  the  vowel  for  the  quantity  of  the 
syllable,  he  had  suggested,  in  his  confident  way,  that  short  quantity  springs  from  the  accent- 
ing of  consonants,  and  long  quantity,  from  the  accenting  of  voicels — a  doctrine  which  has 
been  amply  noticed  and  refuted  in  a  preceding  section  of  the  present  chapter.  Nor  is  he, 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. OBSERVATION'S.  819 

in  what  is  here  cited,  consistent  with  himself.  For,  in  the  first  place,  nothing  comes  nearer 
than  this  doctrince  of  his,  to  an  ''endeavour  to  establish  the  proportion  of  Ion-;  and  short, 
as  immutably  fixed  to  the  syllables  of  words  constructed  iu  a  certain  way"  !  Next,  al- 
though lie  elsewhere  contrasts  accent  and  emphasis  and  supposes  them  different,  he  either 
confounds  them  in  reference  to  verse,  or  contradicts  himself  by  ascribing  to  each  the  chief 
control  over  quantity.  And,  lastly,  if  our  poetic  feet  are  not  quantitative,  not  formed  of 
syllables  long  and  short,  as  were  the  Koman,  what  "  advantage  over  the  ancients,"  can  we 
derive  from  the  fact,  that  quantity  is  regulated  by  stress  whether  accent  or  emp'.. 

-.  17. — We  have,  I  think,  "no  prosodial  treatise  of  higher  pretensions  than  Erastus 
Everett's  "  System  of  English  Versification,"  first  published  in  1848.  This  gentleman  pro- 
-  to  have  borrowed  no  idea  but  what  he  has  regularly  quoted.  "  lie  men: inns  this, 
that  it  may  not  be  supposed  that  this  work  is  a  compilation.  It  will  be  seen,"  says  he, 
" )xo w  great  a share*of  it  is  original;  and  the  author,  having  deduced  his  rules  from  the 
usage  of  the  great  poets,  has  the  best  reason  for  being  confident  of  their  correctness." — /'/•>;/'- 
ace,  p.  .;.  Of  the  place  to  be  rilled  by  this  System,  he  has  the  following  conception  :  "  It 
is  thought  to  supply  an  important  desideratum.  It  is  a  matter  of  surprise  to  the  i 
student,  who  attempts  the  study  of  English  poetry  and  the  structure  of  its  verse,  to  find 
that  to  •>!'!;  on  which  he  can  rely  as  authority  on  this  subject.  In  the  other  modern 

languages,  the  most  learned  philologers  have  treated  of  the  subject  of  versification,  in  all 
its  parts.  In  English  alone,  in  a  language  which  possesses  a  body  of  poetical  literature  more 
extensive,  as  well  as  more  valuable  than  any  other  modern  language,  not  excepting  the 
Italian,  <'//••  s'n  l,>,it  h-ta  no  rules  to  (juide  him,  but  a  few  meagre  and  incorrect  outlines  append- 
ed to  elementary  text-books."  Then  follows  this  singularly  inconsistent  exception  :  "  \Ve 
mu>t  except  from  this  remark  two  works,  published  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
t'lry.  But  as  they  were  written  before  the  poetical  language  of  the  English  tongue  was 
fix"d,  and  as  the  rules  of  verse  were  not  then  settled,  these  works  can  be  of  little  practical 
utility." — J  1.  The  works  thus  exceptcd  as  of  reliable  authority  without  practical 

.are  "  a  short  tract  b\-  ,"  doubtle-  .tie's*  Notes  of  Instruction 

ruing  the  making  of  Verse  or  Rhyme  in  English,'   published  in  L'37-3,  and  "Webbe's 

•urse  of  E;  .  y,'  dated  1-583,  neither  of  which  does  the  kind  exceptor  appear 

.  !  Mention  is  next  made,  successively,  of  Dr.  Carey,  of  Drydcn,  of  Dr. 
Johnson,  of  Blair,  and  of  Lord  Kames.  "  To  these  guides"  or  at  least  to  the  last  two,  "  the 
author  is  indebted  for  many  valuable  hints  ;  "  yet  he  scruples  not  to  say,  "  Blair  betrays  a 
paucity  of  knowledge  on  this  subject;" — "Lord  Kames  has  slurred  over  the  subject  of 
Quantity,"  and  "shown  an  unpardonable  ignorance  of  the  first  principles  of  Quantity  in 
our  verso  ;  " — and,  "  Even  Dr.  Johnson  speaks  of  syllables  in  such  a  manner  as  would  lead 
us  to  suppose  that  he  was  in  the  same  error  as  Kames.  These  inaccuracies,"  it  is  added, 

he  accounted  for  only  from  the  fact  that  Prosodians  have  not  thought  Quantity  of 
sufficient  importance  to  merit  their  attention." — See  Preface,  p.  4 — 6. 

Oi;>.  IS. — Everett's  Versification  consists  of  seventeen  chapters,  numbered  consecutively, 
but  divided  into  two  parts,  under  the  two  titles  Quantity  and  Construction.  Its  specimens 
of  verse  are  numerous,  various,  and  beautiful.  Its  modes  of  scansion — the  things  chiefly  to  be 

•  —though  perhaps  generally  correct,  arc  sometimes  questionable,  and  not  always  con- 
sonant with  the  writer's  own  rules  of  quantity.     From  the  citations  above,  one  might  expect 
from  this  author  such  an  exposition  of  quantity,  as  nobody  could  either  mistake  or  gain-ay  ; 
but,  as  the  following  platform  will  show,  his  treatment  of  this  point  is  singularly  curt  and 
incomplete.     lie  is  so  sparing  of  words  as  not  even  to  have  given  a  definition  of  quantity. 
.  ject  thus  :  "  Vr.usiric  YTIOX  is  the  proper  arrangement  m.  words  in  a  line  ac- 
c.irding  to  thi-ir  ijuantittj,  and  the  disposition  of  r/.v.sr  lines  in  couplets,  stanzas,  or  in  blank 
,  in  such  order,  and  according  to  such  rules,  as  are  sanctioned  by  usage. — A  FOOT  i-  a 
combination  of  two  or  more  syllables,  whether  long  or  short. — A  LINK  is  one  foot,  or  more 
than  one. — The  QUANTITY  of  e;i  ..ends  on  its  u,-r  ,it.     In  words  of  more  tli-m  one 

syllable,  all  accented  syllables  are  long,  and  all  unaccented  syllables  are  short.     Monosylla- 
-hort.  according  to  the  following  K  il^  :—  1st.  All  Nouns,  Adjectives,  Verbs 
and  Participles  are  long. — '2nd.  The  article-;  nre  always  short. — 3rd.  The  Pronouns  are  long 
or  short,  according  t"  . — Hh.  In;-  :hs  are  generally  tony,  but 

soincti  M. — ">th.  Prepositions  and  Conjunctions  are  almost  always 

!>ut  someti  :  ." — AV///y/j    ]\>rsification,  p.    13.     None  of  these 

,:)les  of  quantity  are  r.  •  follows  them  implicitly,  will  often 

differ  not  only  from  what  is  right,  but  from  their  author  himself,  in  the  analysis  of  v 
Nor  are  they  free  from  important  nnta^oni-m>.      "  Emphasis,"  as  here  spoken  of,  not  only 
clashes  with   "accent,"  but  contra  ,its   it-elf,  by  making  some  syllables   long   and  some 
siort;  and,  what  is  more  r  »urd,  the  author  says,  "Infrequently  /iaj>;>r».tihfit 

syllables  long  &;/ QUANTITY   become  short  by  KMIMIASIS." — /  1st  Ed.,  p. 

99.  Of  this,  he  takes  the  first  syllable  of  the  following  line,  namely,  "the  word  bids," 
to  be  an  example  : 

"Bids  me1  live  bat  to  hope  for  posterity's  prfuse." 
>BS.  19.— In  the  American  Review,  for  May,  1818,  Everett's  System  of  Versification  is 


„, 


820  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 


named  as  "  an  apology  and  occasion" — not  for  a  critical  examination  of  this  or  any  other 
scheme  of  prosody — but  for  the  promulgation  of  a  new  one,  a  rival  theory  of  English  metres, 
"  the  principles  and  laws  "  of  which  the  writer  promises,  "  at  an  other  time  "  more  fully  "  to 
develop."  The  article  referred  to  is  entitled,  "The  Art  of  Measuring  Verses."  The  writer, 
being  designated  by  his  initials,  "  J.  D.  W.,"  is  understood  to  be  James  D.  Whelpley,  editor 
of  the  Review.  Believing  Everett's  principal  doctrines  to  be  radically  erroneous,  this  critic 
nevertheless  excuses  them,  because  he  thinks  we  have  nothing  better  !  "  The  views  supported 
in  the  work  itself,"  says  his  closing  paragraph,  "  are  not,  indeed,  such  as  we  ivould  subscribe  to, 
nor  can  we  admit  the  numerous  analyses  of  English  metres  ichich  it  contains  to  be  correct ;  yet,  as  it 
is  as  complete  in  design  and  execution  as  anything  that  has  yet  appeared  on  the  subject, 
and  well  calculated  to  excite  the  attention,  and  direct  the  inquiries,  of  English  scholars,  to 
the  study  of  our  own  metres,  we  shall  even  pass  it  by  without  a  word  of  criticism." — 
American  Revieio,  New  Series,  Vol.  I,  p.  492. 

OBS.  20.— Everett,  although,  as  we  have  seen,  he  thought  proper  to  deny  that  the  student 
of  English  versification  had  any  well  authorized  "  rules  to  guide  him,"  still  argues  that, 
"The  laws  of  our  verse  are  just  as  fixed,  and  may  be  as  clearly  laid  down,  if  we  but  at- 
tend to  the  usage  of  the  great  Poets,  as  are  the  laws  of  our  syntax." — Preface,  p.  7.  But  this 
critic,  of  the  American  Review,  ingenious  though  he  is  in  many  of  his  remarks,  flippantly 
denies  that  our  English  prosody  has  either  authorities  or  principles  which  one  ought  to  re- 
spect ;  and  accordingly  cares  so  little  whom  he  contradicts,  that  he  is  often  inconsistent  with 
himself.  Here  is  a  sample :  "  As  there  are  no  established  authorities  in  this  art,  and,  indeed,  no 
acknowledged  principles — every  rhymester  being  permitted  to  invent  his  own  method,  and  write 
by  instinct  or  imitation — the  critic  feels  quite  at  liberty  to  say  just  what  he  pleases,  and  offer  his 
private  observations  as  though  these  were  really  of  some  moment." — Am.  Rev.  Vol.  i,  p.  484. 
In  respect  to  writing,  "  to  invent,"  and  to  "  imitate"  are  repugnant  ideas  ;  and  so  are,  after  a 
"  method,"  and,  "  by  instinct."  Again,  what  sense  is  there  in  making  the  "  liberty  "  of  pub- 
lishing one's  "private  observations"  to  depend  on  the  presumed  absence  of  rivals?  That 
the  author  did  not  lack  confidence  in  the  general  applicability  of  his  speculations,  sub- 
versive though  they  are  of  the  best  and  most  popular  teaching  on  this  subject,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  following  sentence  :  "  We  intend,  also,  that  if  these  principles,  with  the 
others  previously  expressed,  are  true  in  the  given  instances,  they  are  equally  true  for  all  lan- 
guages and  all  varieties  of  metre,  even  to  the  denial  that  any  poetic  metres,  founded  on  other 
principles,  can  properly  exist." — Ib.  p.  491. 

OBS.  21. — J.  D.  W.  is  not  one  of  those  who  discard  quantity  and  supply  accent  in  ex- 
pounding the  nature  of  metre  ;  and  yet  he  does  not  coincide  very  nearly  writh  any  of  those 
who  have  heretofore  made  quantity  the  basis  of  poetic  numbers.  His  views  of  the  ryth- 
mical  elements  being  in  several  respects  peculiar,  I  purpose  briefly  to  notice  them  here, 
though  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  this  new  "Art  of  Measuring  Verses,"  should  rather  bo 
quoted  under  the  head  of  Scanning,  to  which  they  more  properly  belong.  "  Of  every 
species  of  beauty,"  says  this  author,  "and  more  especially  of  the  beauty  of  sounds,  contin- 
uousness  is  the  first  element ;  a  succession  of  pulses  of  sound  becomes  agreeable,  only  when  the 
breaks,  or  intervals,  cease  to  be  heard."  Again  :  "  Quantity,  or  the  division  into  measured 
of  time,  is  a  second  element  of  verse ;  each  line  must  be  stuffed  out  with  sounds,  to  a  certain 
fullness  and  plumpness,  that  will  sustain  the  voice,  and  force  it  to  dwell  upon  the  sounds." 
— Rev.  p.  485.  The  first  of  these  positions  is  subsequently  contradicted,  or  very  largely 
qualified,  by  the  following  :  "  So,  the  line  of  significant  sounds,  in  a  verse,  is  also  marked 
by  accents,  or  pulses,  and  divided  into  portions  called  feet.  These  are  necessary  and  natu- 
ral for  the  very  simple  reason  that  continuity  by  itself  is  tedious  ;  and  the  greatest  pleasure 
arises  from  the  union  of  continuity  with  variety.  [That  is,  with  "  interruption,"  as  he  else- 
where calls  it !]  In  the  line, 

'  Full  many  a  tale  their  music  tells,' 

there  are  at  least  four  accents  or  stresses  of  the  voice,  with  faint  pauses  after  them,  just 
enough  to  separate  the  continuous  stream  of  sound  into  these  four  parts,  to  be  read  thus  : 

Pullman — y  ataleth — eirmus — ictells,  * 

by  which,  new  combinations  of  sound  are  produced,  of  a  singularly  musical  character.  It 
is  evident  from  the  inspection  of  the  above  line,  that  the  division  of  the  feet  by  the  accents 
is  quite  independent  of  the  division  of  words  by  the  sense.  The  sounds  are  melted  into 
continuity,  and  re-divided  again  in  a  manner  agreeable  to  the  musical  ear." — Ib.  p.  486. 
Undoubtedly,  the  due  formation  of  our  poetic  feet  occasions  both  a  blending  of  some 
words  and  a  dividing  of  others,  in  a  manner  unknown  to  prose ;  but  still  we  have  the 
authority  of  this  writer,  as  well  as  of  earlier  ones,  for  saying,  «•  Good  verse  requires  to  be 
read  with  the  natural  quantities  of  the  syllables,"  (p.  487,)  a  doctrine  with  which  that  of  the 

*    "THE  BELLS  OF  ST.  PETERSBURGH." 
"  Those  ev'ning  bells,  those  ev'ning  bells, 

How  many  a  tale  their  music  tells  ! '' — Moore's  Melodies,  p.  263. 

This  couplet,  like  all  the  resc  of  the  piece  from  which  it  is  taken,  is  iambic  verse,  and  to  be  divided  into  feet 
thus  :— 

"  Those  ev'  |  -ning  bells,   |  those  ev'  |  -ningj  bells, 
How  man  |  -y  a  tale  |  their  mu  |  -tic  tells !  " 


CHAP.  IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. — OBSERVATIONS.  821 

redivision  appears  to  clash.      If  the    example  given  be  read  with  any  regard  to  the  ccesural 
pause,  as  undoubtedly  it  should  be,  the  th  of  their  cannot  be  joined,  as  above,  to  the  word 

nor  do  I  see  any  propriety  in  joining  the  *  of  music  to  the  third  foot  rather  than  to  the 
fourth.  Can  a  theory  which  turns  topsyturvy  the  whole  plan  of  syllabication,  fail  to  affect 
"  the  natural  r/uuntities  of  syllables  ?" 

( )n>.  -J-J.— Different  modes  of  reading  verse,  may,  without  doubt,  change  the  quantities  of 
very  many  syllables.  Hence  a  correct  mode  of  reading,  as  well  as  a  just  theory  of  meas- 
ure, is  essential  to  correct  scansion,  or  a  just  discrimination  of  the  poetic  feet.  It  is  a  very 
common  opinion,  that  English  verse  has  but  few  spondees  ;  and  the  doctrine  of  Brightland 
has  been  rarely  disputed,  that,  "Heroic  Verses  consist  of  five  short,  and  five  long  Syllables 
intermixt,  but  not  so  very  strictly  as  never  to  alter  that  order." — (fram.,  7th  Ed.,  p.  160.* 
J.  D.  W.,  being  a  heavy  reader,  will  have  each  line  so  "stuffed  out  with  sounds,"  and  the 
consonants  so  syllabled  after  the  vowels,  as  to  give  to  our  heroics  three  spondees  for  every 
two  iambuses  ;  and  lines  like  the  following,  which,  with  the  elisions,  I  should  resolve  into 
four  iambuses,  and  without  them,  into  three  iambuses  and  one  anapest,  he  supposes  to 
consist  severally  of  four  spondees  : 

"  '  When  coldness  wraps  this  suffering  clay, 
Ah  !  whither  strays  the  immortal  mind  ? ' 
[These  are]  to  be  read,"  according  to  this  prosodian, 

"  Whencoldn — esswrapsth — issuff'r — ingclay, 

Ah  !  whith — erstraysth' — immort — almind  :  " 

"The  verse,"  he  contends,  "is  perceived  to  consist  of  six  [probably  he  meant  to  say  eight] 
heavy  syllables,  each  composed  of  a  vowel  followed  by  a  group  of  consonantal  sounds,  the 
whole  measured  into  four  equal  feet.  The  movement  is  what  is  called  spondaic,  a  spondee 
being  a  foot  of  two  heavy  sounds.  The  absence  of  short  syllables  gives  the  line  a  peculiar 
weight  and  solemnity  suited  to  the  sentiment,  and  doubtless  prompted  by  it." — Am. 
Vol.  i,  p.  487.  Of  his  theory,  he  subsequently  says  :  "It  maintains  that  good  English 
verse  is  as  thoroughly  quantitative  as  the  Greek,  though  it  be  much  more  heavy  and  spon- 
daic."— Ib.  p.  491.T 

•_':;. — For  the  determining  of  quantities  and  feet,  this  author  borrows  from  some  old 
Latin  grammar  three  or  four  rules,  commonly  thought  inapplicable  to  our  tongue,  and, 
mixing  them  up  with  other  speculations,  satisfies  himself  with  stating  that  the  "  Art  of 
Measuring  Verses"  requires  yet  the  production  of  many  more  such!  But,  these  things 
being  the  essence  of  his  principles,  it  is  proper  to  state  them  in  his  own  words :  "  A  short 
vowel  sound  followed  by  a  double  consonantal  sound,  usually  makes  a  long  quantity  ;J  so 
also  does  a  long  vowel  like  y  in  beauty,  before  a  consonant.  The  metrical  accents,  which 
often  differ  from  the  prosaic,  mostly  fall  upon  the  heavy  sounds  ;  which  must  also  be  prolonged 

ling,  and  never  slurred  or  lightened,  unless  to  help  out  a  bad  verse.  In  our  language 
the  groupings  of  the  consonants  furnish  a  great  number  of  spondaic  feet,  and  give  the  language, 
especially  its  more  ancient  forms,  as  in  the  verse  of  Milton  and  the  prose  of  Lord  Bacon,  a 
grand  and  solemn  character.  One  vowel  followed  by  another,  unless  the  first  be  naturally 
made  long  in  the  reading,  makes  a  short  quantity,  as  in  the  old.  So,  also,  a  short  vowel 
followed  by  a  single  short  consonant,  gives  a  short  time  or  quantity,  as  in  to  give.  GF"  A 
great  variety  of  rules  for  the  detection  of  long  and  short  quantities  have  yet  to  be  invented, 
or  applied  from  the  Greek  and  Latin  prosody.  In  all  languages  they  are  of  course  the  same, 
making  due  allowance  for  difference  of  organization  ;  but  it  is  as  absurd  to  suppose  that 
the  Greeks  should  have  a  system  of  prosody  differing  in  principle  from  our  own,  as  that 
their  rules  of  musical  harmony  should  be  different  from  the  modern.  Both  result  from  the 
nature  of  the  ear  and  of  the  organ  of  speech,  and  are  consequently  the  same  in  all  ages  and 
nations." — Am.  Her.  Vol.  i,  p.  488. 

OHS.  24.— (Jt-ANTiTY  is  here  represented  as  "  time  "  only.  In  this  author's  first  mention 
of  it,  it  is  called,  rather  less  accurately,  "  the  division  into  measures  of  time."  With  too  little 
regard  for  either  of  these  conceptions,  he  next  speaks  of  it  as  including  both  "  time  and 

."     But  I  have  already  shown   that  ^accents  or  stresses"  cannot  pertain  to  short 

syllables,  and  therefore  cannot  be  ingredients  of  qiiantity.     The  whole  article  lacks  that 

«  which  is  a  prime  requisite  of  a  sound  theory.     Take  all  of  the  writer's  next 

paragraph  as  an  example  of  this  defect :    "The  two  elements  of  musical  metre,  time  and 

,   both  together  constituting  quantify,  are  equally  elements  of  the  metre  of  verse. 

Each  iam')ie  foot  or  metre,  is  marked   by  a  swell  of  the  voice,  concluding  abruptly  in  an 

;  it  ion,  on  the  lust  sound  of  the  foot ;  or,  [omit  this   'or: '  it  is  improper,]  in 

metres  of  the  trochaic  order,  in  such  words  as  dandy,  handy,  bottle,  favor,  labor,  it  [the  foot] 

*  Lord  Kames.  t..o.  speaking  of  u  Ku-li.-li  Il.-n.ie  v  livery  line  consist*  often  syllables,  five  short 

I  Jive  lun^  ;  from  which   [rule]  there  are  but   two  exceptions,  both  of  them   rare."' — Elements  of  Criticism, 

T  ••  Ih-  Ijitin  is  a  f.ir  more  stately  tongue  than  our  own.  It  is  essentially  spondaic ;  the  English  is  as  essentially 
\r.tylie.  The  /OH- syllable  is  the  spirit  of  the  Roman  (and  Greek)  verse";  the  short  syllable  is  the  essence  of 
ire." — Poe's  Notes  upon  A';I-'M/I  VTS*  ;  Pioneer.  Vol.  i,  p.  110.  ''  We  must  inarch  for  spondaic  words,  which, 
Kn-lish,  are  rare  indeed."— 7'..  p.  111. 

a  rule,  in  l,atin  prosody,  that  a  vowel  before  two  consonants  is  long.     We  moderns  have  not  only 
no  such  rule,  but  profess  inability  to  comprehend  its  rationale." — Poe's  Notes  ;  Pioneer,  p.  112. 


2 


822  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

begins  with  a  heavy  accented  sound,  and  declines  to  a  faint  or  light  one  at  the  close.  The 
line  is  thus  composed  of  a  series  of  swells  or  waves  of  sound,  concluding  and  beginning  alike. 
The  accents,  or  points  at  which  the  voice  is  most  forcibly  exerted  in  the  feet,  being  the 
divisions  of  time,  by  which  a  part  of  its  musical  character  is  given  to  the  verse,  are  iisually 
made  to  coincide,  in  our  language,  with  the  accents  of  the  words  as  they  are  spoken  ;  which 
[coincidence]  diminishes  the  musical  character  of  our  verse.  In  Greek  hexameters  and 
Latin  hexameters,  on  the  contrary,  this  coincidence  is  avoided,  as  tending  to  monotony 
and  a  prosaic  character." — Ibid. 

OBS.  25. — The  passage  just  cited  represents  "accent"  or  "  accents "  not  only  as  partly 
constituting  quantity,  but  as  being,  in  its  or  their  turn,  "  the  divisions  of  time  ;  " — as  being  also 
stops,  pauses,  or  "  interruptions"  of  sound  else  continuous; — as  being  of  two  sorts,  "  metri- 
cal "  and  "prosaic,"  which  '•  usually  coincide,"  though  it  is  said,  they  "  often  differ,"  and 
their  "  interference  "  is  "  very  frequent ;  " — as  being  "  the  points  "  of  stress  "  in  the  feet," 
but  not  always  such  in  "  the  words"  of  verse; — as  striking  different  feet  differently,  "  each 
iambic  foot"  on  the  latter  syllable  and  every  trochee  on  the  formet,  yet  causing,  in  each  line, 
only  such  waves  of  sound  as  conclude  and  begin  "alike;" — as  coinciding  with  the  long 
quantities  and  "  the  prosaic  accents,"  in  iambics  and  trochaics,  yet  not  coinciding  with  these 
always  ; — as  giving  to  verse  "  a  part  of  its  musical  character,"  yet  diminishing  that  charac- 
ter, by  their  usual  coincidence  with  "  the  prose  accents ;  " — as  being  kept  distinct  in  Latin 
and  Greek,  "the  metrical"  from  "the  prosaic"  and  their  "coincidence  avoided,"  to  make 
poetry  more  poetical, — though  the  old  prosodists,  in  all  they  say  of  accents,  acute,  grave, 
and  circumflex,  give  no  hint  of  this  primary  distinction  !  In  all  this  elementary  teaching, 
there  seems  to  be  a  want  of  a  clear,  steady,  and  consistent  notion  of  the  things  spoken  of. 
The  author's  theory  led  him  to  several  strange  combinations  of  words,  some  of  which  it  is 
not  easy,  even  with  his  whole  explanation  before  us,  to  regard  as  other  than  absurd.  With 
a  few  examples  of  his  new  phraseology,  Italicized  by  myself,  I  dismiss  the  subject:  "It 
frequently  happens  that  word  and  verse  accent  fall  differently." — P.  489.  "  The  verse  syllables, 
like  the  verse  feet,  differ  in  the  prosaic  and  [the]  metrical  reading  of  the  line." — Ib.  "If  we 
read  it  by  the  prosaic  syllabication,  there  will  be  no  possibility  of  measuring  the  quantities." 
— Ib.  "The  metrical  are  perfectly  distinct  from,  the  prosaic  properties  of  verse." — Ib.  "It 
may  be  called  an  iambic  dactyl,  formed  by  the  substitution  of  two  short  for  one  long  time 
in  the  last  portion  of  the  foot.  Iambic  spondees  and  dactyls  are  to  be  distinguished  by  the 
metrical  accent  falling  on  the  last  syllable." — p.  491. 

SECTION  IV. —  THE  KINDS  OF  VERSE. 

The  principal  kinds  of  verse,  or  orders  of  poetic  numbers,  as  has  already 
been  stated,  are  four ;  namely,  Iambic,  Trochaic,  Anapestic,  and  Dactylic. 
Besides  these,  which  are  sometimes  called  "  the  simple  orders"  being  u  > 
mixed,  or  nearly  so,  some  recognize  several  "Composite  orders"  or  (with  a 
better  view  of  the  matter)  several  kinds  of  mixed  verse,  which  are  said  to 
constitute  "  the  Composite  order"  In  these,  one  of  the  four  principal  kinds 
of  feet  must  still  be  used  as  the  basis,  some  other  species  being  inserted 
therewith,  in  each  line  or  stanza,  with  more  or  less  regularity. 

PRINCIPLES  AND  NAMES. 

The  diversification  of  any  species  of  metre,  by  tho  occasional  change  of  a  foot,  or, 
in  certain  cases,  by  the  addition  or  omission  of  a  short  syllable,  is  not  usually  regarded 
as  sufficient  to  change  the  denomination,  or  stated  order,  of  the  verse ;  and  many 
critics  suppose  some  variety  of  feet,  as  well  as  a  studied  diversity  in  the  position  of 
the  cassural  pause,  essential  to  the  highest  excellence  of  poetic  composition. 

The  dividing  of  verses  into  the  feet  which  compose  them,  is  called  Scanning,  or 
Scansion.  In  this,  according  to  the  technical  language  of  the  old  prosodists,  when 
a  syllable  is  wanting,  the  verse  is  said  to  be  catalectic  ;  when  the  measure  is  exact, 
the  line  is  acatalectic  ;  when  there  is  a  redundant  syllable,  it  forms  hypermeter. 

Since  the  equal  recognition  of  so  many  feet  as  twelve,  or  even  as  eight,  will  often 
produce  different  modes  of  measuring  the  same  lines  ;  and  since  it  is  desirable  to 
measure  verses  with  uniformity,  ami  always  by  the  simplest  process  that  will  well 
answer  the  purpose ;  we  usually  scan  by  the  principal  feet,  in  preference  to  the 
secondary,  where  the  syllables  give  us  a  choice  of  measures,  or  may  be  divided  in 
different  ways. 

A  single  foot,  especially  a  foot  of  only  two  syllables,  can  hardly  be  said  to  constitute 
a  line,  or  to  have  rhythm  in  itself;  yet  we  sometimes  see  a  foot  so  placed,  and 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ORDER    I. IAMBICS.  823 

rhyming  as  a  line.  Lines  of  two,  three,  four,  five,  six,  or  seven  feet,  are  common  ; 
and  these  have  received  the  technical  denominations  of  dim'eler,  trim'eter,  tetram'eter, 
pentnm'eter,  hexam'cter,  and  heptam'eter.  On  a  wide  page,  iambics  and  trochaics 
may  possibly  he  written  in  oc.tom'eter ;  but  lines  of  this  measure,  being  very  long,  are 
mostly  abandoned  for  alternate  tetrameters. 

ORDER  I.  —  IAMBIC  VERSE. 

In  Iambic  verse,  the  stress  is  laid  on  the  even  syllables,  and  the  odd  ones  are  short. 
Any  short  syllable  added  to  a  line  of  this  order,  is  supernumerary  ;  iambic  lines,  which 
are  naturally  single,  being  made  double  by  one,  and  triple  by  two.  But  the  adding  of 
one  short  syllable,  which  is  much  practised  in  dramatic  poetry,  may  be  reckoned  to 
convert  the  last  foot  into  an  amphibrach,  though  the  adding  of  two  cannot.  Iam- 
bics consist  of  the  following  measures  : 

MEASURE  I.— IAMBIC  OF  EIGHT  FEET,  OR  OCTOMETER. 

Psalm  XL  VII,  1  and  2. 

"  O  all  |  \&  peo  |  -pl£,  clap  |  your  hands,  |  and  with  |  trlum  |  -phant  voic  |  -e>  -Ini: ;  "" 
No  force  |  the  might  |  -y  po'wer  |  withstands  |  of  God,  |  then  |  -nivers  |  -alKing." 

See  the  "Psalms  of  David,  in  Metre,"  p.  54. 

Each  couplet  of  this  verse  is  now  commonly  reduced  to,  or  exchanged  for,  a  simple  stanza 
of  four  tetrameter  lines,  rhyming  alternately,  and  each  commencing  with  a  capital ;  but, 
sometimes,  the  second  line  and  the  fourth  are  still  commenced  with  a  small  letter  :  as, 
"  Your  ut  |  -most  skill  |  in  praise  |  be  shown, 

for  Him  |  who  all  |  the  world  |  commands, 
Who  sits  |  upon  |  his  right  |  -eous  throne, 

and  spreads  |  his  sway  |  o'er  heath  |  -en  lands." 
Ib.,  verses  7  and  8  ;  Edition  bound  with  Com.  Prayer,  N.  Y.  1819. 

An  other  Example. 
"The  hour  |  is  come  |  — the  cher  |  -ish'd  hour, 

When  from  |  the  bus  |  -y  world  |  set  free, 
I  seek  |  at  length  |  my  lone  |  -ly  bower, 

And  muse  |  in  si  |  -lent  thought  |  on  thec." 

THEODORE  HOOK'S  jEtXMAnrfl :   The  Examiner,  No.  82. 

MEASURE  II.— IAMBIC  OF  SEVEN  FEET,  OR  HEPTAMETER. 

Example  I. —  Hal-Brims. 

"  It's  odd  |  how  hats  |  expand  |  their  brims  |  as  youth  |  begins  |  to  fade, 
As  if  |  when  life  |  had  reached  |  its  noon,  |  it  want  |  -eel  them  |  for  shade." 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES  :  From  a  Newspaper. 
Example  II.— Psalm  XLII,  1 . 

"As  pants  |  the  hart  |  for  cool  |  -ing  streams,  |  when  heat  |  -ed  in  |  the  chase  ; 
So  longs  |  my  soul,  |  O  God,  |  for  thee,  |  and  thy  |  refresh  |  -ing  grace." 

Ei-iMMi-AL   I'SAI.M-BOOI;:    The  Rev.  W.  Allen's  Eny.  Gram.  p.  227. 
Example  III. —  The  Shepherd's  Hymn. 

"Oh,  when  |  I  rove  |  the  des  |  -crt  waste,  |  and  'neath  |  the  hot  |  sun  pant, 
The  Lord  |  shall  be  |  my  Shep  |  -herd  then,  |  he  will  |  not  let  |  me  want ; 
He'll  lead  |  me  where  |  the  past  |  -urcs  are  |  of  soft  |  and  shad  |  -y  green, 
And  where  |  the  gen  |  -tic  wa  |  -ters  rove,  |  the  qui  |  -et  hills  |  between. 
And  when  |  the  sav  |  -age  shall  |  pursue,  |  and  in  |  his  grasp  |  I  sink, 
He  will  |  prepare  |  the  feast  |  for  me,  |  and  bring  |  the  cool  |  -ing  drink. 
And  save  |  me  harm  |  -less  from  |  his  hands,  |  and  strength  |  -en  me  |  in  toil, 
And  bless  |  my  home  |  and  cot  |  -tage  lands,  |  and  crown  |  my  head  |  with  oil. 
With  such  |  a  Shep  |  -herd  to  |  protect,  |  to  guide  |  and  guard  |  me  still, 
And  bless  |  my  heart  |  with  ev  I,  |  and  keep  |  from  cv  |  -'ryill, 

Xurcti/  |  I  shall  |  not  turn  |  aside,  |  and  scorn  |  his  kind  |  -ly  care, 
But  keep  |  the  path  |  he  points  |  ire  out,  |  and  dwell  |  for  cv  |  -er  there." 

W.  (JiLMoui:  SIMMS  :  \,,rth  American  Reader,  p.  376. 

Example  IV. — "77/e  Far,  Far  East" — First  six  Lines. 
1  It  was  |  a  dream  |  of  earl  |  -y  years,  |  the  long  |  -est  and  |  the  last, 
And  still  |  it  ling  |  -ers  bright  |  and  lone  |  amid  |  the  drear  |  -y  past; 
When  I  |  was  sick  |  and  sad  |  at  heart  |  and  faint  |  with  grief]  and  care, 
It  threw  |  its  ra  |  -diant  smile  |  athwart  |  the  shad  |  -ows  of  |  despair : 


824 


THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


And  still  |  when  falls  |  the  hour  |  of  gloom  |  upon  |  this  way  |  -ward  breast, 
Unto  |  THE  FAR,  |  FAR  EAST  |  I  turn  |  for  sol  |  -ace  and  |  for  rest." 

Edinburgh  Journal ;  and  The  Examiner. 

Example  V. — "Lament  of  the  Slave" —  Eight  Lines  from  thirty-four. 
"  Behold  |  the  sun  |  which  gilds  |  yon  heaven,  \  how  love  |  -ly  it  |  appears ! 
And  must  |  it  shine  |  to  light  |  a  world  |  of  war  |  -fare  and  |  of  tears  ? 
Shall  hu  |  -man  pas  |  -sion  ev  |  -er  sway  |  this  glo  |  -rious  world  \  of  God, 
And  beau  |  -ty,  wis  |  -dom,  hap  |  -piness,  |  sleep  with  |  the  tram  |  -pled  sod  ? 
Shall  peace  |  ne'er  lift  |  her  ban  |  -ner  up,  |  shall  truth  |  and  rea  |  -son  cry, 
And  men  |  oppress  |  them  down  |  with  worse  |  than  an  |  -cient  tyr  |  -anny  ? 
Shall  all  |  the  les  |  -sons  time  |  has  taught,  |  be  so  |  long  taught  |  in  vain ; 
And  earth  |  be  steeped  |  in  hu  |  -man  tears,  |  and  groan  |  with  hu  |  -man  pain? " 

ALONZO  LEWIS:  Freedom's  Amulet,  Dec.  6,  1848. 

Example  VI. — " Greek  Funeral  Chant" —  First  four  of  sixty-four  Lines. 
"A  wail  |  was  heard  |  around  |  the  bed,  |  the  death  |  -bed  of  |  the  young ; 
Amidst  |  her  tears,  |  the  Fu  |  -neral  Chant  \  a  mourn  |  -ful  moth  |  -er  sung. 
•I-an  |  -this  !  dost  |  thou  sleep  ? —  |  Thou  sleepst ! —  |  but  this  |  is  not  |  the  rest, 
The  breath  |  -ing,  warm,  |  and  ros  |  -y  calm,  |  I'vepil  |  -low'don  |  my  breast ! " 

FELICIA  HEMANS  :  Poetical  Works,  Vol.  ii,  p.  37. 

Everett  observes,  "The  Iliad  was  translated  into  this  measure  by  CHAPMAN,  and  the 
JEneid  by  PHAER." — Eng.  Versif.  p.  68.  Prior,  who  has  a  ballad  of  one  hundred  and  eighty 
such  lines,  intimates  in  a  note  the  great  antiquity  of  the  verse.  Measures  of  this  length, 
though  not  very  uncommon,  are  much  less  frequently  used  than  shorter  ones  A  practice 
has  long  prevailed  of  dividing  this  kind  of  verse  into  alternate  lines  of  four  and  of  three 
feet,  thus : — 

"  To  such  |  as  fear  |  thy  ho  |  -ly  name, 

myself  |  I  close  |  -ly  join  ; 
To  all  |  who  their  |  obe  |  -dient  wills 
to  thy  |  commands  |  resign." 

Psalms  with  Com.  Prayer :  Psalm  cxix,  63. 

This,  according  to  the  critics,  is  the  most  soft  and  pleasing  of  our  lyric  measures.  With 
the  slight  change  of  setting  a  capital  at  the  head  of  each  line,  it  becomes  the  regular  ballac.- 
metre  of  our  language.  Being  also  adapted  to  hymns,  as  well  as  to  lighter  songs,  and, 
more  particularly,  to  quaint  details  of  no  great  length,  this  stanza,  or  a  similar  one  more 
ornamented  with  rhymes,  is  found  in  many  choice  pieces  of  English  poetry.  The  following 
are  a  few  popular  examples  : — 


"  When  all  |  thy  mer  |  -cies,  O  |  my  God  ! 

My  ris  |  -ing  soul  j  surveys, 
Transport  |  -ed  with  |  the  view  |  I'm  lost 
In  won  |  -der,  love,  |  and  praise." 

Addisons  Hymn  of  Gratitude. 
n  John  Gil  |  -pin  was  |  a  cit  j  -izen 
Of  cred  I  -it  and  I  renown, 


A  train  |  -band  cap  |  -tain  eke  |  was  he 
Of  fam  |  -ous  Lon  |  -don  town." 

Cowper's  Poems,  Vol.  i,  p.  275. 


'  God  pros  |  -per  long  |  our  no  |  -ble  king, 

Our  lives  |  and  safe  |  -ties  all ; 
A  wo  |  -ful  hunt  |  -ing  once  |  there  did 
In  Chev  |  -y  Chase  |  befall." 

Later  Reading  of  Chevy  Chase. 
'  Turn,  An  |  -geli  |  -na,  ev  |  -er  dear, 

My  charm  j  -er,  turn  |  to  see 
Thy  own,  |  thy  long  |  -lost  Ed  |  -win  here, 
Restored  |  to  love  |  andthee." 

Goldsmith's  Poems ,  p.  67. 

"'Come  back !  |  come  back  !'  |  he  cried  |  in  grief, 

Across  |  this  storm  |  -y  wafer: 
'  And  I'll  |  forgive  |  your  High  |  -land  chief, 

My  daugh  |  -ter  ! — oh  |  my  daughter  / ' 
'Twas  vain  :  |  the  loud  |  waves  lashed  |  the  shore, 

Return  |  or  aid  |  preventing .- — 
The  wa  |  -ters  wild  |  went  o'er  |  his  child, — 

And  he  |  was  left  |   lamentm*?." — Campbell 's  Poems,  p.  110. 

The  rhyming  of  this  last  stanza  is  irregular  and  remarkable,  yet  not  unpleasant.  It 
is  contrary  to  rule,  to  omit  any  rhyme  which  the  current  of  the  verse  leads  the  reader  to  ex- 
pect. Yet  here  the  word  "shore,"  ending  the  first  line,  has  no  correspondent  sound,  where 
twelve  examples  of ^ such  correspondence  had  just  preceded;  while  the  third  line,  without 
previous  example,  is  so  rhymed  within  itself  that  one  scarcely  perceives  the  omission. 
Double  rhymes  are  said  by  some  to  unfit  this  metre  for  serious  subjects,  and  to  adapt  it  only 
to  what  is  meant  to  be  burlesque,  humorous,  or  satiric.  The  example  above  does  not  con- 
firm this  opinion,  yet  the  rule,  as  a  general  one,  may  still  be  just.  Ballad  verse  may  in  some 
degree  imitate  the  language  of  a  simpleton,  and  become  popular  by  clownishness,  more  than 
by  elegance :  as, 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ORDER    I. IAMBICS.  825 


Father  |  and  I  |  went  down  |  to  the  camp 
Along  |  with  cap  |  -tain  Goodwin, 

And  there  |  we  saw  |  the  men  |  and  boys 
As  thick  |  as  hast  |  -y  pudding  ; 


And  there  |  we  saw  |  athun  |  -de  ring  gun, — 

It  took  |  a  horn  |  of  powder, — 
It  made  |  a  noise  |  like  fa  |  -ther's  gun, 

Only  |  a  na  |  -tion  louder." 


Original  Sony  of  Yankee  Doodle. 
Even  the  line  of  seven  feet  may  still  be  lengthened  a  little  by  a  double  rhyme  :  as, 
How  gay  |  -ly,  o  |  -ver  fell  |  and  fen,  |  yon  sports  |  -man  light  |  is  dnnhinfj ! 
And  gay  |  -ly,  in  |  the  sun  |  -beams  bright,  |  the  mow  |  -er's  blade  |  i*  flashing ! 
Of  this  length,  T.  O.  Churchill  reckons  the  following  couplet ;  but,  by  the  general  usage 
of  the  day,  the  final  ed  is  not  made  a  separate  syllable  : — 

"  With  hie  |  and  ha-c,  \  as  Pris  |  -cian  tells,  |  sacer  \  -dos  was  |  dec//  |  -ntd; 
Hut  now  |  its  gen  |  -dcr  by  |  the  pope  |  far  bet  |  -ter  is  |  de/i  |  -ned." 

Churchill's  New  Grammar)  p.  188. 

MEASURE  III.— IAMBIC  OF  SIX  FEET,  OR  HEXAMETER. 

Example  I. —  A   Couplet. 

"So  va  |  -rjfinrj  still  \  thCir  moods,  |  observ  |  -ing  yet  |  in  iill 
Their  quan  |  -titles,  |  their  rests,  |  their  cen  |  -sures  met  |  -rical." 

MICHAEL  DR.VYTOX  :  Johnsons  Quarto  Diet.  w.  Quantity. 

Example  If. —  From  a  Description  of  a  Stay-Hunt. 
"And  through  |  the  cumb  |  -rous  thicks,  |  as  fear  |  -fully  |  he  makes, 
He  with  |  his  branch  |  -ed  head  |  the  ten  |  -der  sap  |  -lings  shakes, 
That  sprink  |  -ling  their  |  moist  pearl  |  do  seem  |  for  him  |  to  weep; 
When  aft  |  -er  goes  |  the  cry,  |  with  yell  |  -ings  loud  |  and  deep, 
That  all  |  the  for  |  -est  rings,  |  and  ev  |  -ery  neigh  |  -bouring  place  : 
And  there  |  is  not  |  a  hound  |  but  fall  |  -eth  to  |  the  chase." 

DU.VYTOX  :    Three  Couplets  from  twenty -three  in  Everett's  Vcrsif.  p.  66. 

Example  HI. — An  Extract  from  Shakzpearc.      , 
"  If  love  |  make  me  |  forsworn,  |  how  shall  |  I  swear  |  to  love  ? 
O,  nev  |  -er  faith  |  could  hold,  |  if  not  |  to  beau  j  -ty  vow'd  : 
Though  to  |  myself  |  forsworn,  |  to  thee  |  I'll  con  |  -stant  prove ; 
Those  thoughts,  |  to  me  |  like  oaks,  [  to  thee  |  like  o  |  -siers  bow'd. 

/  |  his  bi  |  •  as  leaves,  |  and  makes  |  his  book  |  thine  eyes, 
Where  all  |  those  pleas  |  -ures  live,  |  that  art  |  can  com  |  -prehend. 
If  knowl  |  -edge  be  |  the  mark,  |  to  know  |  thee  shall  |  suffice  ; 
Well  learn  |  -ed  is  |  that  tongue  |  that  well  |  can  thee  j  commend  ; 
All  ig  |  -norant  |  that  soul  |  that  sees  |  thee  with'  |  -out  wonder ; 
Which  is  |  to  me  |  some  praise,  |  that  I  |  thy  parts  |  admire  : 
Thine  eye  |  Jove's  light  |  -ning  seems,  |  thy  voice  |  his  dread  |  -ful  thunder  t 
Which  (not  |  to  an  |  -ger  bent)  |  is  mu  |  -sic  and  |  sweet  fire. 
Celes  |  -tial  as  |  thou  art,  |  O,  do  |  not  love  |  that  wrong, 
To  sing  |  the  heav  |  -ens'  praise  |  with  such  |  an  earth  |  -ly  tongue." 

The  Passionate  Piltjrim,  Stanza  IX  ;  SINGER'S  SHAK.,  Vol.  ii,  p.  594. 

Example  IV. —  The  Ten  Commandments   Versified. 
"  Adore  |  no  God  |  besides  |  me,  to  |  provoke  |  mine  eyes ; 
Nor  wor  |  -ship  me  |  in  shapes  |  and  forms  |  that  men  |  devise ; 
With  rev  |  'rence  use  |  my  name,  |  nor  turn  |  my  words  |  to  jest ; 
Observe  |  my  sab  |  -bath  well,  |  nor  dare  |  profane  |  my  rest ; 
Honor  |  and  due  |  obe  |  -dience  to  |  thy  pa  |  -rents  give  ; 
Nor  spill  |  the  guilt  |  -less  blood,  |  nor  let  |  the  guilt  |  -y  live ;  * 

;  ve  |  thy  bod  |  -y  chaste,  |  and  flee  |  th'  unlaw  |  -ful  bed; 
Nor  steal  |  thy  neigh  |  -bor's  gold,  |  his  gar  |  -mcnt,  or  |  his  bread; 
Forbear  |  to  blast  |  his  name  |  with  false  |  -hood  or  |  deceit ; 
Nor  let  |  thy  wish  |  -es  loose  |  upon  |  his  large  |  estate." 

Du.  ISAAC  WATTS  :  Lyric  Poems,  p.  46. 

verse,  consisting,  when  entirely  regular,  of  twelve  syllables  in  six  iambs,  is  the 
Alexandrine  ;  said  to  have  been  so  named  because  it  was  "  first  used  in  a  poem  called  Alex- 
jmacr." — Worcester's  Diet.  Such  metre  has  sometimes  been  written,  with  little  diversity, 
though  an  entire  English  poem,  as  in  Drayton's  Polyolbion ;  but,  couplets  of  this 
length  being  generally  esteemed  too  clumsy  for  our  language,  the  Alexandrine  has  been 
litt  e  used  by  EnglMi  versifiers,  except  to  complete  certain  stanzas  beginning  with  shorter 
iair.bics,  or,  occasionally,  to  close  a  period  in  heroic  rhyme.  French  heroics  are  similar  to 
this  ;  and  if,  as  some  assert,  we  have  obtained  it  thence,  the  original  poem  was  doubtless  a 

•  '.'he  opponents  of  capital  punishment  will  hardly  take  this  for  a  fair  version  of  the  sixth  commandment.—  G.  B. 

58 


826     •  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

French  one,  detailing  the  exploits  of  the  hero  "Alexandre."  The  phrase,  "  an  Alexandrine 
verse,"  is,  in  French,  "unvers  Alexandrin."  Dr.  Gregory,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  copies  Johnson's  Quarto  Dictionary,  which  says,  "ALEXANDRINE,  a  kind  of  verse 
borrowed  from  the  French,  first  used  in  a  poem  called  Alexander.  They  [Alexandrines] 
consist,  among  the  French,  of  twelve  and  thirteen  syllables,  in  alternate  couplets  ;  and,  among 
us,  of  twelve."  Dr.  Webster,  in  his  American  Dictionary,  improperly  (as  I  think)  gives  to  the 
name  two  forms,  and  seems  also  to  acknowledge  two  sorts  of  the  English  verse  ;  "ALEX- 
AN'DBINE,  or  ALEX  AN 'DEI  AN,  71.  A  kind  of  verse,  consisting  of  twelve  syllables,  or  of 
twelve  and  thirteen  alternately."  "The  Pet-Lamb,"  a  modern  pastoral,  by  Wordsworth, 
has  sixty-eight  lines,  all  probably  meant  for  Alexandrines  ;  most  of  which  have  twelve  sylla- 
bles, though  some  have  thirteen,  and  others,  fourteen.  But  it  were  a  great  pity,  that  versifi- 
cation so  faulty  and  unsuitable  should  ever  be  imitated.  About  half  of  the  said  lines,  as  they 
appear  in  the  poet's  royal  octavo,  or  "the  First  Complete  American,  from  the  Last  London 
Edition,"  are  as  sheer  prose  as  can  be  written,  it  being  quite  impossible  to  read  them  into 
any  proper  rhythm.  The  poem  being  designed  for  children,  the  measure  should  have  been 
reduced  to  iambic  trimeter,  and  made  exact  at  that.  The  story  commences  thus  : — 
"  The  dew  |  was  fall  |  -ing  fast,  |  the  stars  |  began  j  to  blink ; 
I  heard  |  a  voice ;  |  it  said,  |  «  Drink,  pret  |  -ty  crea  |  -ture,  drink  ! ' 
And,  look  |  -ing  o'er  |  the  hedge,  |  before  |  me  I  |  espied 
A  snow  |  -white  moun  |  -tain  Lamb  |  with  a  Maid  \  -en  at  |  its  side." 
All  this  is  regular,  with  the  exception  of  one  foot ;  but  who  can  make  anything  but  prose 
of  the  following  ? 

"  Thy  limbs  will  shortly  be  twice  as  stout  as  they  are  now, 
Then  I'll  yoke  thee  to  my  cart  like  a  pony  in  the  plough." 
"  Here  thou  needest  not  dread  the  raven  in  the  sky ; 
Night  and  day  thou  art  safe, — our  cottage  is  hard  by." 

WORDSWORTH'S  Poems,  New-Haven  Ed.,  1836,  p.  4. 

In  some  very  ancient  English  poetry,  we  find  lines  of  twelve  syllables  combined  in  coup- 
lets with  others  of  fourteen  ;  that  is,  six  iambic  feet  are  alternated  with  seven,  in  lines  that 
rhyme.     The  following  is  an  example,  taken  from  a  piece  of  fifty  lines,  which  Dr.  Johnson 
ascribes  to  the  Earl  of  Surry,  one  of  the  wits  that  nourished  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII : — 
"  Such  way  |  -ward  wayes  |  hath  Love,  |  that  most  |  part  in  |  discord, 
Our  willes  |  do  stand,  |  whereby  |  our  hartes  |  but  sel  |  -dom  do  |  accord : 
Decyte  |  is  hys  |  delighte,  |  and  to  |  begyle  |  and  mocke, 

Thesim  |  -pie  hartes  |  which  he  |  doth  strike  |  with  fro  |  -ward  di  |  -versstrok3. 
He  caus  |  -eth  th'  one  |  to  rage  j  with  gold  |  -en  burn  |  -ing  darte, 
And  doth  |  alay  |  with  lead  |  -en  cold,  |  again  |  the  oth  |  -er'sharte  : 
Whose  gleames  |  of  burn  |  -ing  fyre  |  and  eas  |  -y  sparkes  |  of  flame, 
In  bal  |  -ance  of  |  fine  |  -qual  weyght  |  he  pon  |  -dereth  |  by  ame." 

See  Johnson's  Quarto  Diet.,  History  oftheEng.  Lang.  p.  43. 

MEASURE  IV.— IAMBIC  OF  FIVE  FEET,  OR  PENTAMETER. 

Example  I. —  Hector  to  Andromache. 
"Androm  |  -ache  !  |  my  soul's  |  far  bet  |  -te'r  part, 
Why  icith  |  untime  |  -ly  sor  |  -rows  heaves  |  thy  heart  r 
No  hos  |  -tile  hand  |  can  an  |  -tedate  |  my  doom, 
Till  fate  |  condemns  |  me  to  j  the  si  |  -lent  tomb. 
Fix'd  is  |  the  term  |  to  all  |  the  race  |  of  earth ; 
And  such  |  the  hard  |  conditi  |  -on  of  |  our  birth, 
No  force  |  can  then  |  resist,  |  no  flight  |  can  save  ; 
All  sink  |  alike,  \  the  fear  j  -ful  and  |  the  brave." 

POPE'S  HOMER  :  Iliad,  B.  vi,  1.  624—632. 

Example  II. —  Angels*   Worship. 

"  No  soon  |  -er  had  |  th'  Almight  |  -y  ceas'd  |  but  all 
The  mul  |  -titude  |  of  an  |  -gels  with  |    a  shout 
Loud  as  |  from  num  |  -bers  with'  |  -out  num  |  -ber,  sweet 
As  from  |  blest  voi  |  -ces  ut  |  -teringjdy,  \  heav'n  rung 
With  ju  |  -bilee,  |  and  loud  |  hosan  |  -nas  fill'd 
Th'  eter  |  -nal  |  re  |  -gions  :  low  |  -ly  rev  |  -erent 
Tow'rds  ei  |  -ther  throne  |  they  boAV,  |  and  to  |  the  ground 
With  sol  |  -emn  ad  |  -ora  |  -tion  down  |  they  cast 
Their  crowns  |  inwove  |  with  am  |  -arant  |  and  gold." 

MILTON  :  Paradise  Lost,  B.  iii,  1.  344. 
Example  TIL — Deceptive  Glosses. 

"The  world  |  is  still  |  deceiv'd  |  with  or  |  -nament. 
In  law,  |  what  plea  |  so  taint  |  -ed  and  |  corrupt, 
But,  be  |  -ing  sea  |  -son'd  with  |  a  gra  |  -cious  voice, 


CHAP.  IV.]  PROSODY.  -  VERSIFICATION.  -  ORDER  I.  -  IAMBICS. 


Obscures  |  the  show  |  of  e  |  -vil  r     In 
What  dam  |  -ne"d  er  |  -ror,  but  |  some  so  |  -berbrow 
Will  bless  |  it,  and  |  approve  |  it  with  |  a  text, 
Hiding  |  the  gross  |  -ness  with  |  fair  or  |  -namentr" 

SuA.KsrE.vui:  :  Mcn-h.  of  Venice,  Act  iii,  Sc,  2. 

Example  IV.  —  Praise  God, 

"  Ye  head  |  -long  tor  |  -rents,  rap  |  -id,  and  |  profound; 
Ye  soft  |  -er  floods,  |  that  lead  |  the  hu  |  -mid  maze 
Along  |  the  vale  ;  |  and  thou,  |  males  |  -tic  main, 
A  se  |  -cret  world  |  of  won  |  -ders  in  |  thyself, 
Sound  His  |  -stupen  |  -rdous  |  praise;  |  whose  great  |  -er  voice 
Or  bids  |  you  roar,  |  or  bids  |  your  roar  |  -ings  fall." 

THOMSON  :  Hymn  to  the  Seasons. 

Example   V.  —  The  Christian  Spirit. 
"  Like  him  |  the  soul,  |  thus  kin  |  -died  from  |  above, 
Spreads  wide  |  her  arms  |  of  u  |  -niver  |  -sal  love  ; 
And,  still  |  enlarg'd  |  as  she  |  receives  |  the  grace, 
Includes  j  crCa  |  -tion  in  |  her  close  |  embrace. 
Behold  |  a  Chris  |  -tian  !  and  |  without  |  the  fires 
The  found  |  -er  of  \  that  name  |  alone  |  inspires, 
Though  all  |  accbm  |  -plishment,  |  all  knowl  |  -edge  meet, 
To  make  |  the  shin  |  -ing  prod  |  -igy  |  complete, 
Whoev  |  -er  boasts  |  that  name  —  |  behold  |  a  cheat  !  " 

COWPER  :   Charity;  Poems,  Vol.  i,  p.  135. 

Example  VI.  —  To  London. 

"  Ten  right  |  -eous  would  |  have  sav'd  |  a  cit  |  -y  once, 
And  thou  |  hast  man  |  -y  right  |  -eous.  —  Well  |  for  thee  — 
That  salt  |  preserves  |  thee  ;  more  |  corrupt  |  -ed  else,  » 

And  there  |  -fore  more  |  obnox  |  -ious,  at  |  this  hour, 
Than  Sod  |  -om  in  |  her  day  |  had  pow'r  |  to  be, 
For  whom  |  God  heard  |  his  Abr'  |  -ham  plead  |  in  vain." 

IDEM  :   The  Task,  Book  iii,  at  the  end. 

This  verse,  the  iambic  pentameter,  is  the  regular  English  heroic  —  a  stately  species,  and 
th.it  in  which  most  of  our  great  poems  are  composed,  whether  epic,  dramatic,  or  descriptive. 
It  is  well  adapted  to  rhyme,  to  the  composition  of  sonnets,  to  the  formation  of  stanzas  of 
several  sorts  ;  and  yet  is,  perhaps,  the  only  measure  suitable  for  blank  verse  —  which  latter 
form  always  demands  a  subject  of  some  dignity  or  sublimity. 

The  '/--«,  or  the  form  of  verse  most  commonly  used  by  elegists,  consists  of  four 

heroics  rhyming  alternately 

"  Thou  knowst  |  how  trans  |  -port  thrills  |  the  ten  |  -der  breast, 

Where  love  |  and  fan  |  -cy  fix  |  their  ope  |  -ning  reign  ; 
How  na  |  -ture  shines  |  -in  live  |  -lier  col  |  -ours  dress'd, 
To  bless  |  their  un  |  -ion,  and  |  to  grace  |  their  train." 

-TOM::   liriiish  Poets,  Vol.  vii,  p.  106. 

Iambic  verse  is  seldom  continued  perfectly  pure  through  a  long  succession  of  lines. 
Among  its  most  frequent  diversifications,  are  the  following  ;  and  others  may  perhaps  be 
noticed  hereafter  :  — 

(  1.)  The  first  foot  is  often  varied  by  a  substitution  al  trochee  ;  as, 
"  /f-rv'/i/v,  I  that  first  |  from  out  |  the  pur  |  -pie  grape 

P'd  thf  \  sweet  poi  |  -son  of  |  mis-iis  |  -e"d  wine, 
••••/•  |  the  Tus  |  -can  mar  |  -iners  |  transform'd, 
•ing  I  the  Tyr  I  -.hone  shore,  |  us  the  |  winds  listed, 
On  Cir  j  -ce's  isl  j  -and  fell.  |       Who  knows  |  not  Circe, 
The  daugh  |  -ter  of  |  the  sun  ?  |  whose  charm  |  -Cd  cup 
Whoev  |  -er  tast  |  -ed,  lost  |  his  up  |  -right  shape, 
^H  And  down  |  -ward  fell  |  Intn  \  a  grov  |  -elling  swine." 

Mi  i/i  ON  :   c.,linls;  British  Poets,  Vol.  ii,  p.  147. 

i  _'.  )  By  a  >vn;ntMs  of  the  two  short  syllables,  an  anapest  may  sometimes  be  employed 
for  an  iambus  ;  or  a  dactyl,  for  a  trochee.  This  occurs  chiefly  where  one  unaccented  vowel 
precedes  an  other  in  what  we  usually  regard  as  separate  syllables,  and  both  are  clearly 
ho;  rd,  though  uttered  perhaps  in  so  quick  succession  that  both  syllables  may  occupy  only 
half  the  time  of  a  long  one.  Some  prosodists,  however,  choose  to  regard  these  substitutions 
as  instances  of  trissyllabic  feet  mixed  with  the  others  ;  and,  doubtless,  it  is  in  general 
easy  to  make  them  such,  by  an  utterance  that  avoids,  rather  than  favours,  the  coalescence. 
Th2  following  are  examples:  — 


•Illi:    <ii;  \.M.MAK    01-     I/. '.  1. 1     II     UK  \\IMAKH. 


|  I'AI 


1.  (.58. 


,   ...   I  Oil. 


;   I  hiom'h   man    |      //  ,i  ,l,i,-/.    \   and  dir  ,,    | 
They   pa  .     d,   |   and   man   |      ,/  n  /-,-   \     J.MOII  do)   j 

,11,111.  |      //  ii.J'i-n   |     /•  n,  man    |     //  "./'•    \     ''"I  -I//'-"       Mn/io:,  :     /'.    /..,   \\.  ii,  I.  U.' 
"   Keioi.-,.    |    \  ,.  na    |      |,oii  i,   vni    |      du-ale    I    ' 

<  )i  d  im'd    |    tor  emu    |      mon    hap    |      pine  .    .    |        \\  eh-,   • 
Th'-  globe    |     terra    |     i/nrnin,  Itl   \    Uril.tn    |      /////  />,>m 
The  fruits   |  of  plen   |      t.yfrom    |   her  eo   |     ptOMt  hofn"       I' 
"  M>i,  / ./-/.    j  d     onl  .   |   I  hat  I  m-w    |  our  pa    |     n-nl,  mold, 
S'-r   sa. I    |      ly  HOV   |      ei'd    hy    |    l,he  laws    |  of  chance! 
!    m    turn'..    I    prim    I      ,/,„/    /,..'/    I    enroll'd, 

.•    |    lo.liairo-   |    une    |    han    |      .-.//•///  i/lnnrr  '  " 

Sill.:.   .  I    .      i          /.'/  fa  ./'    I'".  /  .,    \  Ol 
,      dr  101  IptiOT    ,   I  he   I  i  .1    loot.  <,!     an  iaml.ir   |. 

varnd    01     lollowed     hy     an     additional    short.    Hyllahle;    a  ml,    :  omel  im.  ol    tiiplr 

r\t\  me,   (.here  i  i  an     addition     ol     two    shoil.    syllahlei,    all.i-i     the    piim-ioal     i  h  \  in  inj-.  .'.y  I  liihle. 
Momr   pio  ,od  i  .'  ;  rail  the  vai  i  an  I    fool.,  in  I  In-  !<n  im-i   m  .tance,  an  n  ,n/, /,//,,  <i,-/i ,  and  would  proh 

uhi . ,  m  i  he  lai  i.  either  an  n'liii/mnni  i»/i  >  inr,  or  an  amphibrach  wit.h  .-.t  HI  a  :.m-ni.in 

itifllii/,/,-  ,     hut.  ot  hi-i      M-an,   in   I  In  I  he   landm  i  only,   calling    u  hal.  remiiiic.  itflei    t  IK 

last  Ion;;  .sylhihle  //y/-  ///,./.,.     and   tin.   is,    I    I  h  in  L  ,   I  h  e  I  /el  I .  i         .  I  1 1  r  |ol  lo  u  i  n;^  e  \  a  niples 

nhovv  thtlMO  ttlld  Horn.-  ot  .hei    \  anal  i-m  :  horn   p  u  i  e  i  a  m  hie  me,: 

I '.,  u  infill-    I.        <,'rii-/'. 

I,     ,nh  |    sisncr  ol    |   „  ;M,,-|    I    hal.h    l.wen    |      I 
Which  hllUVV    |    lll.e   j'l  M-l    |    it.  ie If,    I    Iml    air    I    not,  HO  : 
I     I]      or   I      rOW't  Oyt,    |   gltatfd    |   wil.hhliml   |     in;;  leiiri, 
l)ivid<-H   |  one  Ihin;^   |  cut  in-   |   to  man    |     y  oh/, 
I.il.epn    |     sprcl.ives,       whi'di,  n;'hl    |      ly  ;-a/'d  |    upon, 
Show  not.h    |     in!1;  hut.      ronlu   |     -uon  ;    ey'd       awry, 
Diftin    |      |ttl  -li    loi  m  :         ,o   your    |       wed    m  ,| 

i  awry    |   ii|,on   |    yonr    Imd'.-i   |  dep.n  i 
find  ,  shapes   |  01  grief,   |   mm  e  than   |    him   ell,    |   lo   v 
\Vhich,   looL'd   |    on  a  .   |    il    i  .,    |    i  '.  nou;-ht.   |    Iml     .had- 

ii  \KI.  :    Hir/K/i'it   //,  Act,  ii, 

«//;/r      //.          ,1        Wi.ll     In      I'! 

"  O,  that,  |    I  had    |   I  he  art.   |  of  ea  ,  |      y    in  i/n,<i 

\Vha. I.  I'.hould    |    he  ea  i   |      y   read    I      m;^  !    could    |    I   scale 

I'ai  Ml    |       MIS,    when-    |    l.he    Mil   .    I       If  fit    I    \\\ililillil 

piet,   I     t.y   po   |     ems  m-v   |      er  known    |   t.o  fail, 
How  i|UicL    |      ly    uonld    |      I    piint    |   (l.he   woi  Id    |   (\clii/litin<j) 

A  (ire   |     cian,  Syr  |      tan,  or   |    A  ,:.\  i  tan   lah-  ; 
And  v.ell    j   yon,  nn\'d    |   with    we  ,1.  |      n  n  m    |     \.\,ii,-n/,i/i  .111, 
Some  sain  j  -plcn  of  |   tin-  lin  |     6ft  O   |  - 1  \,-nf,, ' 

I.OKI.  BYHON  :   7J«?»»o,  Stanxa  XLVIII. 


MEASI;IM<;  V.    IAMIIIC  or 


FI:I;T.  01;  TI:TI;.\MI:TI;I;. 


li  .1.  Mtand. 


Example  L 

I  he  loll.  |     y 


/'  •/'!»•  United  Slain  of  America, 


| 


Thai  m.         1,1.-.  :Mcal,   |    immor    |      lal  one  ; 
The  eld       -er  Ad   |      ams  next,  |   \v 
And  Jet          lei   ,on    |   come  t  num    |      hei   I  hree 
Then     Mad    |      i  .on    |    i      loin  I  li,    |    >,  <m    I.  no\\ 
Tin-  fifth    I  one  on   |    the  li  .1,  |    Monior  , 
|  an   Ad 


And  .lark   |   -son,  HCV   |  -mth  in   |    (In 
\  an    I'.u    |      irn,   n/hth    |    ujioii    |    I  he   line  ; 
A  ml  I  In    |      i  i  ,on    |   count  i  num    |      IM-I  nine 
The  tenth    |    r;  Ty    |      h-r,   in    |    his    t  m  n  ; 
And    I'olk,    |   eh-v    |      eiil.h,  as  |    \\  e   h-arn  ; 
The    twelfth    |      is  Tiiy    |       h.r,    pro    |       p|. 
The   ne\l    |    we  h-ai  n    |   some  In    |      I  in. 
ANONVMOCH:    /•'/•«<»/     VflM/MJfMr,    L84I 

Bard. 


Etompi*  II.    Tin- 

"  The  hard    |  on    Mtt.  |     rick's  moiin    |      I 

I  n    Na    |     t  m  e'l  ho  |        OH!   i"ii  .'-d    I   had  heen, 
And  oft.  |   had   nun  Led   |   in   lor  |    -est.  lone 
I  I  •  i    lira  1 1    |      t  ie  ,  on    |    her  moil  n    |      lain   I  hi  one  ; 
Had  leen    |   hn    deck    |  the  wild    |    -wood  lice, 
And  uliir   |   with  snow   |  -y  ^OIIIM  |  HP 

I  n   love    |     /-,  ,/  ,  n!  |      om  t  paint    |    l.he   (ilain, 
A  ml  sow   |    the  moot    |    with   pur  |      pie  ;-rain  ; 

•  Id    |      en    m.ad    |   and   monn    |      lam  sheer, 

II  id    viewed    |    (In-    Kit    |      lick    wav    |   -in^  rh-lir, 

\\helrshad     |       nil  lt  Jh,,-l.<i     \    of   pill'    |      CHt.SnOW 

rftl  |      in-   in    |   a  woi  Id    |    helow." 

J  \MI     .      llooo    i       V//,      I},,    r,,';      |l   „/,,-, 


>.  7<1. 


\ftlt  1 1 1       I  ,1  I,,  I/,,    I '.II 1 1- 1,  .'•/,<  /'/•'  III. 


].  I    I.I  1. 1  • 

\VI,.,    |WI  II    I    thl 
tin 


'  /,  ,/ 

II 1 1 1     w  1 1  V     I    >  > ,  I  n  I .  I   1 1  1 1 


I  :.•     '.MI     |  01     '  • 

ii     in         ,  •  ,  |    i Ion  i"  I  * >• 
irji  |  i 

1.1 . 

- , ,, ,/ 1,,  ill,  < 

Ul    /-  -  /  '/"•/    /  / 


iniil  li'i   |      l\   ill  I.I   . 

ill.' 


\\  ,     pit)     |    ii    l.ii'li 

\\  In  i,    I    i  ..    | 

\  '  i     |      I  I,  \  .       II.  .HI    |      ,,  ' 

'   II     |    nil    \\.l-l     I    I"! 
Wlt.K-r   ('I..    |       /  ll)tU    i<"//.  \Y  I.,   i,    ;    mill   ;    \ 

\V  i)fl, 

in..  ,  i  !>•  i.  mil.  i'  I'll  ..I...  1  1  niritt)  0110,  witli  i 

.  .1,  ii.,i  ||  in  .  ||  i 

IIM'I       HI 
.    Mll|.l< 

'I  lii        !  • 

ll.llHH 

IIIJlll 

;,.,!      |       ril| 
<  M    IHII     '  <    I  ri     |       lull    .  In,  tin 

|.i    I  |H   I     |        Mill   full 

.1  |  on  0v 

\v,ii,  M,I  i    I,,  i.  i    rial  i  < 

h,  /  i 

Tin  i    h  vtt  fott, 

tl     loill      VMll,    ll\   | 
•  •  '  I  i  .  ft/ier, 

\\  I.  .11  |    .!•  i   / 

"III    ma]|  i     |    I  In  HI    •  .  i  \  .     |    l-.i    |.i  i    |      pi  ii,  /i,  ,,/,, 
,  (I 
01     i  mi;    i  i  1.1,  OH  TKIMK'J  i  i 
f'n  l'ii  /,//,,/ 
.11  |    ,  H'I| 

/     I/,//,*/ 


: 


\W», 


1      I      I.IIMj,:.        I 

A  iliuu  |     |  .l«l, 

III    .1.1     |       '  1,1 1 1     >l>  >    ill'  'I     |    «l  .  •    in. 
.I'l 

'II,'    ,.,„!   |     |,     ,   II,   .   |     . 


I 

' '  •  i»kj 

I  .-I, ..II  III. 
I 

,  .1,1/1,,  It,, 

I'!  I'ltn/il,     II  I    <  ,'iilnl,  ,i 

I  ...I  I    1 .111,1.  III.  - 

..|    I. nil, 

' 

.,|     I        till     I        IN      ll.Hl'l 

I    lln     I.  I    : 

.  -I    |    II,.  in    l,k.      |     . 


I 

nil    |    I..  I 


830 


THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


Example  IV. —  Lyric  Stanzas. 


Descend,  |  celes  |  -tialfire, 
And  sei/e  |  me  from  |  above, 

Melt  me  |  in  flames  |  of  pure  |  desire, 
A  sac  |  -rifice  |  to  love. 


Let  joy  |  and  wor  |  -ship  spend 
The  rem  |  -nant  of  |  my  days, 
And  to  |  my  God,  |  my  soul  |  ascend, 

In  sweet  |  perfumes  |  of  praise." 
WATTS  :  Poems  sacred  to  Devotion,  p.  50. 

Example  V. — Lyric  Stanzas. 


"I  would  |  begin  |  themu  |  -sic  here, 

And  so  |  my  soul  |  should  rise : 
Ofov  |  someheav'n  |  -ly  notes    |  to  bear 
My  spir  |  -it  to  |  the  skies  ! 

Example  VI.— 

"The  hur  |  -ricane  |  hath  might 
Along  |  the  In  |  -dian  shore, 
.And  far,  |  by  Gan  |  -ges'  banks  |  at  night, 
Is  heard  |  the  ti  |  -ger's  roar. 


There,  ye  |  that  love  |  my   sav  |  -iour,  sit, 
There  I  |  would  fain  |  have  place 

Amongst  |  your  thrones,  |  or  at  |  your  feet, 

So  I  |  might  see  |  his  face." 
WATTS  :  Same  icork,  "Iloree  Lyricce,"  p.  71. 
England's  Dead. 

But  let  |  the  sound  |  roll  on  ! 
It  hath  |  no  tone  |  of  dread 

For  those  |  that  from  |  their  toils  |  are  gone; 

—  There  slum  |  -ber  Eng  |  -land's  dead." 


HEMANS  :  Poetical  Works,  Vol.  ii,  p.  61. 
The  following  examples  have  some  of  the  common  diversifications  already  noticed  under 
the  longer  measures : — 

Example  I. — "Languedocian  Air" 


'Love  is  |  a  hunt  |  -er  boy, 

Who  makes  |  young  hearts  |  his  prey ; 
And  in  \  his  nets  |  of  joy 

Ensnares  |  them  night  |  and  day. 


In  vain  |  conceaFd  |  they  lie, 

Love  tracks  |  them  ev'  |  -ry  where ; 


In  vain  |  aloft 
Love  shoots 


they  fly, 

them  fly  |  -ing  there. 


But  'tis  |  his  joy  |  most  sweet, 
At  earl  |  -y  dawn  |  to  trace 

The  print  j  of  Beau  |  -ty's  feet, 
And  give  |  the  trem  |  -bier  chase. 


;  Flow  on,  |  thou  shin  |  -ing  river, 
But  ere  |  thou  reach  |  the  sea, 

Seek  El  |  -la's  bower,  |  and  give  her 
The  wreaths  |  I  fling  |  o'er  thee. 


And  most  |  he  loves  |  through  snow 

To  track  |  those  foot  |  -steps  fair, 
For  then  |  the  boy  |  doth  know, 

None  track' d  |  before  |  him  there." 
MOORE'S  Melodies  and  National  Airs,  p.  274 

Example  II. — From  a  "Portuguese  Air." 

But,  if  |  in  wand'  |  -ring  thither, 

Thou  find  |  she  mocks  |  my  pray'r, 
Then  leave  |  those  wreaths  |  to  icither 
Upon  |  the  cold  |  bank  there." 

MOOBE  :  Same  Volume,  p.  261. 
Example  III. — Resignation. 


•'  O  Res  |  -igna  |  -tion  !  yet  |  unsung, 
Untouch'd  |  by  for  |  -mer  strains  ; 
Though    claim  |  -ing     ev  |  -ery    mu  \  -se's 
And  ev  |  -erypo  \  -et's  pains  !      [smile, 


All  oth  |  -er  du  |  -ties  cres  |  -cents  are 
Of  vir  |  -tue  faint  |  -ly  bright ; 

The  glo  |  -rious  con  \  -summa  |  -tion,  thou, 
Which  fills  |  her  orb  |  with  light !  " 
YOUNG  :  British  Poets,  Vol.  viii,  p.  377. 


MEASURE  VII.— IAMBIC  OF  TWO  FEET,  OR  DIMETER. 
Example. — A  Scolding  Wife. 


1. 

"There  was  |  a  man 
Whose  name  |  was  Dan, 


Who  sel 
His  part 


-dom  spoke ; 
-ner  sweet 


He  thus  |  did  greet, 
Without  |  a  joke  : 

2. 

My  love  |  -ly  wife, 
Thou  art  |  the  life 
Of  all  |  my  joys; 
Without  f  thee,  I 
Should  sure  |  -ly  die 
For  want  |  of  noise. 


O,  prec  |  -ious  one, 
Let  thy  |  tongue  run 
In  a  |  sweet  fret ; 
And  this  |  will  give 
A  chance  |  to  live, 
Along  |  time  yet. 

4. 

When  thou  |  dost  scold 
So  loud  |  and  bold, 
I'm  kept  |  awake  ; 
But  if  |  thou  leave, 
It  will  |  me  grieve, 


5. 

Then  said  |  his  wife, 
I'll  have  |  no  strife 
With  you,  |  sweet  Dan ; 
As  'tis  |  your  mind, 
I'll  let  |  you  find 
I  am  |  your  man. 

6. 

And  fret  |  I  will, 
To  keep  |  you  still 
Enjoy  |  -ing  life  ; 
So  you  |  may  be 
Content  |  with  me, 
A  scold  |  -ing  wife." 


Till  life  |  forsake. 

ANONYMOUS  :  Cincinnati  Herald,  1844. 
Iambic  dimeter,  like  the  metre  of  three  iambs,  is  much  less  frequently  used  alone  than  in 
stanzas  with  longer  lines ;  but  the  preceding  example  is  a  refutation  of  the  idea,  that  no 
piece  is  ever  composed  wholly  of  this  measure,  or  that  the  two  feet  cannot  constitute  aline. 
In  Humphrey's  English  Prosody,  on  page  16th,  is  the  following  paragraph  ;  which  is  not 
only  defective  in  style,  but  erroneous  in  all  its  averments  : — 


CHAP.   IV. J 


PROSODY. VERSIFICATION  — ORDER  I. IA3IBICS. 


831 


"  Poems  are  never  composed  of  lines  of  two  [-]  feet  metre,  in  succession  :  they  [combina- 
tions of  two  feet]  are  only  used  occasionally  in  poems,  hymns,  odes,  &c.  to  diversify  the 
metre;  and  are,  in  no  case,  lines  of  poetry,  or  verses ;  but  hemistics,  [hcmistichs,]  or  half 
lines.  The  shortest  metre  of  which  iambic  verse  is  composed,  in  lines  successively,  is  that 
of  three  feet ;  and  this  is  the  shortest  metre  which  can  be  denominated  lines,  or  verses ;  and 

this  i- 

In  ballads,  ditties,  hymns,  and  versified  psalms,  scarcely  any  line  is  more  common  than  the 
iambic  trimeter,  here  denied  to  be  "  frequently  used  ;  "  of  which  species,  there  are  about 
seventy  lines  among  the  examples  above.  Dr.  Young's  poem  entitled  "Resignation,"  hag 
eight  hundred  and  twenty  such  lines,  and  as  many  more  of  iambic  tetrameter.  His 
41  Ocean  "  has  one  hundred  and  forty-five  of  the  latter,  and  two  hundred  and  ninety-two  of 
the  species  now  under  consideration  ;  i.  e.,  iambic  dimeter.  But  how  can  the  metre  which 
predominates  by  two  to  one,  be  called,  in  such  a  case,  an  occasional  diversification  of  that 
which  is  less  frequent  r 

Lines  of  two  iambs  are  not  very  uncommon,  even  in  psalmody  ;  and,  since  we  have  some 
lines  I/at  shorter,  and  the  lengths  of  all  are  determined  only  by  the  act  of  measuring,  there 
is,  surely,  no  propriety  in  calling  dimeters  "  hemistichs,"  merely  because  they  are  short.  The 
following  are  some  examples  of  this  measure  combined  with  longer  ones : — 

Example  I.— From  Psalm  CXLVIIL 


1,  2. 

Ye  bound  |  -less  realms  |  of  joy, 
Exalt  |  your  Ma  |  -ker's  fame  ; 
His  praise  |  your  songs  |  employ 
Above  |  the  star  |  -ry   frame  :* 

Yourvoi  |  -ces  raise, 
Ye  Cher  |  -ubim, 
And  Ser  |  -aphim, 
To  sing  |  his  praise. 


3,  4. 

Thou  moon,  |  that  rul'st  |  the  night, 
And  sun,  |  that  guid'st  |  the  day, 
Ye  clitt'  |  -ring  stars  I  of  light, 
To  him  |  your  horn  |  -age  pay  : 

His  praise  |  declare, 
Yre  heavens  |  above, 
And  clouds  j  that  move 

In  liq  |  -uid  air." 
The  Book  of  Psalms  in  Metre,  (with  Com.  Prayer,)  1819. 

Example  HI. —  Gloria  Patri. 
To  God  |  the  Fa  |  -ther,  Son, 

And  Spir  |  -it  ev  |  -er  bless'd, 
Eter  |  -nal  Three  |  in  One, 
All  wor  |  -ship  be  |  address' d  ; 

As  here  |  -tofore 
It  was,  |  is  now, 
And  shall  |  be  so 

For  ev  |  -ermore." — Ib.  p.  179. 


[O] 


Example  IL—From  Psalm   r.YA'.YlV. 
"  To  God  |  the  might  |  -y  Lord, 

your  joy  |  -ful  thanks  |  repeat ; 
To  him  |  due  praise  |  afford, 

»as  good  |  as  he  |  is  great  : 
r  God  |  does  prove 
Our  con  |  -stant  friend, 
His  bound  |  -less  love 
^^H      Shall  nev  |  -er  end."— Ib.  p.  164. 

Example  IV.— Part  of  Psalm  III. 
Lord,  |  how  man  |  -y  are  |  my  foes !     jButthou,  |  Lord,  art  |  my  shield  |  my  glory  ; 

How  man  |  -y  those  Thee,  through  |  my  story, 

That  [now]  |  in  arms  |  against  |  me  rise  !         Th'  exalt  |  -er  of  |  my  head  |  I  count ; 

Mini;/  |  are  they  Aloud  |  I  cried 

That  of  |  my  lite  |  distrust  |  -fully  |  thus  say  :  Unto  |  Jeho  |  -vah,  he  |  full  soon  |  replied, 
'  No  help  |  for  him  |  in  God  |  there  lies.'          And  heard  |  me  from  |  his  ho  |  -ly  mount." 

MII.TOX:  -  -.sifted  ;  British  Poets,  Vol.  ii,  p.  161. 

I  Example  V.—Six  Lines  of  an  "Air." 

"As  when  f  the  dove  When  he  |  returns, 

Laments  |  her  love  No  more  |  she  mourns, 

All  on  |  the  na  |  -kcd  spray  ;  But  loves  |  the  live  |  -long  day." 

JOHN  GAY  :  British  Poets,  Vol.  vii,  p.  377. 
Example  VI.— Four  Stanzas  of  an  Ode. 


XXVIII. 

Gold  pleas  |  -ure  buys  ; 
But  pleas  |  -ure  dies, 
Too  soon  |  the  gross  |  fruiti  |  -on  cloys  : 
Though  rapt  |  -ures  court, 
The  sense  |  is  short ; 
But  vir  |  -tuc  kin  |  -dies  liv  |  -ing  joys 

xxtx. 

Joys  felt  |  alone  ! 
Joys  ask'd  |  of  none!  [miss; 


Which  Time's  |  and  For  |  -tune's  ar  |  -rows  Xor  civ  |  -il  rage,  |  nor  ty  |  -rant's  frown, 


Joys  that  |  subsist, 
Though  fates  |  resist, 
An  un  |  -preca  |  -rious,  end  |  -less  bliss ! 


x\x. 

The  soul  |  refin' d 

Is  most  |  inclin'd 
To  cv  |  -try  mdr  \  -al  ex  |  -celicnce  ; 

All  vice  |  is  dull, 

A  knave's  |  a  fool ; 
And  Vir  |  -tue  is  |  the  child  |  of  Sense. 

XXXI. 

The  vir  |  -t units  mind 
Nor  wave,  |  nor  wind, 


The  sliuk  |  -en  ball, 

Nor  plan  |  -ets'  fall, 

From  its  |  firm  ba  |  -sis  can  |  dethrone." 


YOUNG'S  "  OCEAN  :  "British  Poets,  Vol.  viii,  p.  277. 


832 


THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. 


[FART  iv. 


There  is  a  line  of  five  syllables  and  double  rhyme,  which  is  commonly  regarded  as  iambic 
dimeter  with  a  supernumerary  short  syllable ;  and  which,  though  it  is  susceptible  of  two 
other  divisions  into  two  feet,  we  prefer  to  scan  in  this  manner,  because  it  usually  alternates 
with  pure  iambics.  Twelve  such  lines  occur  in  the  following  extract : — 

LOVE  TRANSITORY. 


'  Could  Love  |  for  ever 
Run  like  |  a  river, 
And  Time's  |  endeavcwr 

Be  tried  |  in  vain, — 
No  oth  |  -ci' pleasure 
With  this  j  could  measure  ; 
And  like  |  a  treaszire 

We'd  hug  |  the  chain. 


But  since  |  our  sighing 
Ends  not  j  in  dym<7» 
And,  formed  |  for  flym<7, 

Love  plumes  |  his  wing  ; 
Then  for  |  this  reason 
Let's  love  |  aseascw; 
But  let  |  that  season 

Be  on  |  -ly  spring." 


LORD  BYRON  :     See  Everett's  Versification,  p.  19  ;  Fowler  s  E,  Gram.  p.  650. 
MEASURE  VIII.-IAMBIC  OF  ONE  FOOT,  OR  MONOMETER. 

"The  shortest  form  of  the  English  Iambic,"  says  Lindley  Murray,  "consists  of  an  Iam- 
bus, with  an  additional  short  syllable  :  as, 


Disdaining, 
Complaining, 


Consenting, 
Repenting. 


We  have  no  poem  of  this  measure,  but  it  may  be  met  with  in  stanzas.  The  Iambus,  -with 
this  addition,  coincides  with  the  Amphibrach." — Murray's  Gram.  12mo,  p.  204  ;  8vo,  p.  254. 
This,  or  the  substance  of  it,  has  been  repeated  by  many  other  authors.  Everett  varies  the 
language  and  illustration,  but  teaches  the  same  doctrine.  See  E.  Versif.  p.  15. 

Now  there  are  sundry  examples  which  may  be  cited  to  show,  that  the  iambus,  without 
any  additional  syllable,  and  without  the  liability  of  being  confounded  with  an  other  foot, 
may,  and  sometimes  does,  stand  as  a  line,  and  sustain  a  regular  rhyme.  The  following 
pieces  contain  instances  of  this  sort : — 

Example  L—"How  to  Keep  Lent." 


' Is  this  |  a  Fast,  |  to  keep 
The  lard  |  -er  lean 

And  clean 
From  fat  |  of  neats  |  and  sheep  ? 

Is  it  |  to  quit  |  the  dish 
Of  flesh,  |  yet  still 

To  fill" 
The  plat  |  -ter  high  |  with  fish  ? 


Is  it  |  to  fast  |  an  hour, 
Or  ragg'd  |  to  go, 

Or  show 
A  down  |  -cast  look  |  and  sour  ? 


No  :— 'Tis  |  a  Fast  |  to  dole 
Thy  sheaf  |  of  wheat, 

And  meat, 
Unto  |  the  hun  |  -gry  soul. 

It  is  |  to  fast  |  from  strife, 
From  old  |  debate, 

And  hate  ; 
To  cir  |  -cumcise  |  thy  life  ; 


To  show  |  a  heart  \  grief-rent ; 
To  starve  |  thy  sin, 

Not  bin  : 

Ay,  that's  |  to  keep  |  thy  Lent." 
ROBERT  HERRICK  :   Clapps  Pioneer,  p.  48. 

Example  IL—  "To  Mary  Ann." 

[This  singular  arrangement  of  seventy-two  separate  iambic  feet,  I  find  without  intermediate 
points,  and  leave  it  so.     It  seems  intended  to  be  read  in  three  or  more  different  ways,  and 
the  punctuation  required  by  one  mode  of  reading  would  not  wholly  suit  an  other.] 
"  Your  face  Your  tongue  Your  wit 

So  fair  So  sweet  So  sharp 

First  bent  Then  drew  Then  hit 

Mine  eye  Mine  ear  Mine  heart 

Mine  eye  Mine  ear  Mine  heart 

To  like  To  learn  To  love 

Your  face  Your  tongue  Your  wit 

Doth  lead  Doth  teach  Doth  move 


Your  face 

With  beams 
Doth  blind 

Mine  eye 
Mine  eye 

With  life 
Your  face 

Doth  feed 


Your  tongue 

With  sound 
Doth  charm 

Mine  ear 
Mine  ear 

With  hope 
Your  tongue 

Doth  feast 


Your  wit 

With  art 
Doth  rule 

Mine  heart 
Mine  heart 

With  skill 
Your  wit 

Doth  fill 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. — VERSIFICATION. ORDER  II. — TROCIIAICS. 


833 


Ofaee 

With  frowns 
Wrong  not 

Mine  eye 
This  eye 

Shall  joy 
Your  face 

To  serve 


O  tongue 

With  check 
Vex  not 

Mine  ear 
This  ear 

Shall  bend 
Your  tongue 

To  trust 


O  wit 

With  smart 
Wound  not 

Mine  heart 
This  heart 

Shall  swear 
Your  wit 

To  fear." 


ANONYMOUS!   Sundry  American  Xcicspapers,  in  1849. 
Example  III. —  Umbrellas. 

"The  late  George  Canning,  of  whom  Byron  said  that  '  it  was  his  happiness  to  be  at  once 
a  wit,  poet,  orator,  and  statesman,  and  excellent  in  all,'  is  the  author  of  the  following  clever 
jeu  d' esprit :  "  [except  three  lines  here  added  in  brackets  :] 


"  I  saw  |  a  man  |  with  two  |  umbrellas, 
(One  of  |  the  Ion  |  -gest  kind  |  of  fellows,) 
When  it  rained, 
Meet  a  |  Ifidy 
On  the  |  shady 
Side  of  |  thirty  |  -three, 
Minus  |  one  of  |  these  rain  |  -dispcllers. 
'I  see,' 
Says  she, 
'Your  qua!  |  -ity  |  ofmer  |  -cyis  |  not  strain- 


ed.' 


[Not  slow  |  to  comprehend  |  an  inkling, 
His  eye  |  with  wag  |  -gish  hu  |  -mour 
twinkling,] 

Replied  |  he,  'Ma'am, 

Be  calm ; 
This  one  |  under  |  my  arm 

Is  rotten, 
[And  can  |  -not  save  |  you  from  |  a    sprink- 

Besides,  |  to  keep  |  you  dry, 
'Tis  plain  |  that  you  |  as  well  |  as  I, 
« Can  lift  I  vour  cotton. '  " 


your  cotton. 

See   The  Essex  County  Freeman,  Vol.  i,  Xo.  1. 
Example  IV. — Shreds  of  a  Song. 


2.  WINTER. 

When  blood  |  isnipp'd,  |  and  ways  |  befoul, 
Then  night  |  -ly  sings  |  the  star  |  -ing  owl, 

To-who ; 

To-whit,  |  to-who,  |  a  mer  |  -ry  note, 
While  greas  |  -y  Joan  |  doth  keel  |  the  pot." 
SHAKSPEAHE  :  Loves  Labour's  Lost,  Act  v,  Sc.  2. 
Example  V. — Puck's  Charm. 
When  he  has  uttered  the  fifth  line,  he  squeezes  a  juice  on  Lysanders  eyes.] 


I.    SPRING. 

1  The  cuck  |  -oo  then,  |  on  ev  |  -ery  tree, 
Mocks  mar  |  -ried  men,  |  for  thus  "|  sings  he, 

Cuckoo'; 

Cuckoo',  |  cuckoo', —  |  O  word  |  of  fear, 
Unpleas  |  -ing  to  |  a  mar  |  -ried  ear  !  " 


"  On  the  ground, 

i)  sound : 
I'll  apply 
To  your  eye, 
Gentle  |  lover,  f  remedy. 


When  thou  wak'st, 

Thou  tak'st 
True  delight 
In  the  sight 

Of  thy  |  former  |  lady's  eye."* 
IDEM  :  Midntmmer-NigAf*  Dream,  Act  iii,  Sc.  2. 

ORDER  IT.  — TROCHAIC  VERSE. 

In  Trochaic  verse,  the  stress  is  laid  on  the  odd  syllables,  and  the  even  ones  are  short. 
Single-rhymed  trochaic  omits  the  final  short  syllable,  that  it  may  end  with  along  one  ; 
for  the  common  doctrine  of  Murray,  Chandler,  Churchill,  Bullions,  Butler,  Everett, 
Fowler,  Weld,  Wells,  and  others,  that  thi.s  chief  rhyming  syllable  is  "additional "  to  the 
real  number  of  feet  in  the  line,  is  manifestly  incorrect.  One  long  syllabic  is,  in  some 
instance,  u-i-d  as  afoot ;  but  it  is  one  or  more  short  syllables  only,  that  we  can  pro- 
perly admit  as  hypermcter.  Iambics  and  trochaics  often  occur  in  the  same  poem  ; 
but,  in  cither  order,  written  with  exactness,  the  number  of  feet  is  always  the  number  of 
the  long  syllables.. 

Examples  from  Gray* 


J.  U 

s 


ao 

'Ruin    |  seize  thcc,  |  ruthless  |  king! 
Confu  |  -sion  on  |  thy  ban  |  -ners  wait, 
Though,  fann'd  |  by  Con  |  -quest's  crim  | 

-son  wing, 

cy  mock  |  the  air  |  with  i  |  -die  state. 
'<  !ni,  nor  |  hduhi-rk's  |  tirittrtl  |  mail, 
Nor  e'en  |  thyvir  |  -tues,  ty  |  -rant,  shall  | 
avail." 


(2.) 

•'I',  the  |  warp,  and  \  iceavethe  |  woof, 
The     wind  |  -ing-sheet  |  of     Ed  |  -ward's 
race. 

;im  |  -pie  room,  |  and  verge  |  enough, 
The  char  |  -acters  |  of  hell  |  to  trace. 
^fark  thr  |  V'">'»  aiifl  |  mark  the  |  niyht, 
When  Sev'|  -crn  shall  |  re-ech  |  -o  with  ( 
affright." 


"The  Bard,  a  Pindaric  Ode  : "  British  Poets,  Vol.  vii,  p.  231  and  282. 


*'  These  versicles,  except  the  two  which  arc  Italicized,  are  not  iambic.  The  others  are  partly  trochaic  :  and.  ac- 
cotding  to  many  of  our  prosodisW,  wLolly  so;  but  it  is  questionable  whether  they  are  not  as  properly  ampblma- 
cri;,  or  Cretic. 


834  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART 

OBSERVATIONS. 

Ons.  1. — Trochaic  verse  without  the  final  short  syllable,  is  the  same  as  iambic  would  be  with- 
out the  initial  short  syllable  ; — it  being  quite  plain,  that  iambic,  so  changed,  becomes  trochaic,  and 
is  iambic  no  longer.  But  trochaic,  retrenched  of  its  last  short  syllable,  is  trochaic  still ;  and  can 
no  otherwise  be  made  iambic,  than  by  the  prefixing  of  a  short  syllable  to  the  line.  Feet,  and  the 
orders  of  verse,  are  distinguished  one  from  an  other  by  two  things,  and  in  general  by  two  only  ;  the 
number  of  syllables  taken  as  a  foot,  and  the  order  of  their  quantities.  Trochaic  verse  is  always  as 
distinguishable  from  iambic,  as  iambic  is  from  any  other.  Yet  have  we  several  grammarians  and 
prosodists  who  contrive  to  confound  them — or  who,  at  least,  mistake  catalectic  trochaic  for cata- 
lectic iambic;  and  that  too,  where  the  syllable  wanting  affects  only  the  last  foot,  and  makes  it 
perhaps  but  a  common  and  needful  caesura. 

OBS.  2. — To  suppose  that  iambic  verse  may  drop  its  initial  short  syllable,  and  still  be  iambic, 
still  be  measured  as  before,  is  not  only  to  take  a  single  long  syllable  for  a  foot,  not  only  to  recognize 
a  pedal  caesura  at  the  beginning  of  each  line,  but  utterly  to  destroy  the  only  principles  on  which 
iambics  and  trochaics  can  be  discriminated.  Yet  Hiley,  of  Leeds,  and  Wells,  of  Andover,  while 


they  are  careful  to  treat  separately  of  these  two  orders  of  verse,  not  only  teach  that  any  order  may 
take  at  the  end  "  an  additional  syllable,"  but  also  suggest  that  the  iambic  ma;/  drop  a  syllable  "  from 

(in  treating  of  iam- 


ttllY^db    »UV  OU4«  C4HaVAU.lt    UHCH    3^  licl.  LJ1C,         UUt*Vl.?U    DU£gCO*    t  IKL  I,    I,  U  t    llllll  U1U  //M<  y    I*' 

the  first  foot,"  without  diminishing  the  number  of  feet. — without  changing  the  succession  of  quan- 
tities,— without  disturbing  the  mode  of  scansion  !      "Sometimes,"  say  they, 


bics,)  "a  syllable  is  cut  off'  from  the  first  foot ;  as, 

Praise  |  to  God,  |  immor  |  -tal  praise, 
For  |  the  love  |  that  crowns  |  our  days."[ — BARBAULD.] 
Hlley's  E.  Gram.,  Third  Edition,  London,  p.  124;    Wells' s,  Third  Edition,  p.  198. 

OBS.  3. — Now  this  couplet  is  the  precise  exemplar,  riot  only  of  the  thirty-six  lines  of  which  it  is 
a  part,  but  also  of  the  most  common  of  our  trochaic  metres  ;  and  if  this  may  be  thus  scunned  into 
iambic  verse,  so  may  all  other  trochaic  lines  in  existence  :  distinction  between  the  two  orders  must 
then  be  worse  than  useless.  But  I  reject  the  doctrine,  and  trust  that  most  readers  will  easily  see 
its  absurdity.  A  prosodist  might  just  as  well  scan  all  iambics  into  trochaics,  by  pronouncing 
each  initial  short  syllable  to  be  hypermeter.  For,  surely,  if  deficiency  may  be  discovered  at  the 
beginning  of  measurement,  so  may  redundance.  But  if  neither  is  to  be  looked  for  before  the  meas- 
urement ends,  (which  supposition  is  certainly  more  reasonable,)  then  is  the  distinction  already 
vindicated,  and  the  scansion  above-cited  is  shown  to  be  erroneous. 

OBS.  4. — But  there  are  yet  other  objections  to  this  doctrine,  other  errors  and  inconsistencies  in 
the  teaching  of  it.     Exactly  the  same  kind  of  verse  as  this,  which  is  said  to  consist  of  "four  iam- 
buses," from  one  of  which  ''a  syllable  is  cut  off,"  is  subsequently  scanned  by  the  same  authors  ts 
being  composed  of  "  three  trochees  and  an  additional  syllable  ;  as, 
'  Haste  thee,  |  Nymph,  and  |  bring  with  |  thee 
Jest  and  |  youthful  |  Jolli  |  -ty.' — MILTON." 

Wells' s  School  Grammar,  p.  200. 
"  Vital  |  spark  6f  |  heav'nly  |  fame, 
Quit  oh  |  quit  this  |  mortal  \frdme."*[— POPE.] 

Hiley' 's  English  Grammar,  p.  126. 

There  is,  in  the  works  here  cited,  not  only  the  inconsistency  of  teaching  two  very  different  modes 
of  scanning  the  same  species  of  verse,  but  in  each  instance  the  scansion  is  wrong  ;  for  all  the  lines 
in  question  are  trochaic  of  four  feet, — single-rhymed,  and,  of  course,  catalectic,  and  ending  with  a 
caesura,  or  elision.  In  no  metre  that  lacks  but  one  syllable,  can  this  sort  of  foot  occur  at  the 
beginning  of  a  line  ;  yet,  as  we  see,  it  is  sometimes  imagined  to  be  there,  by  those  who  have  never 
been  able  to  find  it  at  the  end,  where  it  oftenest  exists  ! 

OBS.  5. — I  have  hinted,  in  the  main  paragraph  above,  that  it  is  a  common  error  of  our  prosodists, 
to  underrate,  by  one  foot,  the  measure  of  all  trochaic  lines,  when  they  terminate  with  single  rhyme  ; 
an  error  into  which  they  are  led  by  an  other  as  gross,  that  of  taking  for  hypermeter,  or  mere  sur- 
plus, the  whole  rhyme  itself,  the  sound  or  syllable  most  indispensable  to  the  verse. 
"  (For  rhyme  the  rudder  is  of  verses, 

With  which,  like  ships,  they  steer  their  courses.)" — Iludibras. 

Iambics  and  trochaics,  of  corresponding  metres,  and  exact  in  them,  agree  of  course  in  both  the 
number  of  feet  and  the  number  of  syllables  ;  but  as  the  former  are  slightly  redundant  with  double 
rhyme,  so  the  latter  are  deficient  as  much,  with  single  rhyme;  yet,  the  number  of  feet  may,  and 
should,  in  these  cases,  be  reckoned  the  same.  An  estimable  author  now  living  says,  "Trochaic 
verse,  with  an  additional  long  syllable,  is  the  same  as  iambic  verse,  without  the  initial  short  sylla- 
ble."— N.  Butler's  Practical  Gram.  p.  193.  This  instruction  is  not  quite  accurate.  Nor  would  it 
be  so,  even  if  there  could  be  "  iambic  verse  without  the  initial  short  syllable,"  and  if  it  were  uni- 
versally true,  that,  "  Trochaic  verse  may  take  an  additional  long  syllable."— Ibid.  Forjthe  addi- 
tion and  subtraction  here  suggested,  will  inevitably  make  the  'difference  of  a  foot,  between  the 
measures  or  verses  said  to  be  the  same  ! 

OBS.  6. — "I  doubt,"  says  T.  O.  Churchill,  "whether  the  trochaic  can  be  considered  as  a  legiti- 
mate English  measure.  All  the  examples  of  it  given  by  Johnson  have  an  additional  long  syllable 
at  the  end :  but  these  are  iambics,  if  we  look  upon  the  additional  syllable  to  be  at  the  beginning, 
which  is  much  more  agreeable  to  the  aiialogy  of  music." — Churchill's  New  Gram.  p.  390.  This  doubt, 
ridiculous  as  must  be  all  reasoning  in  support  of  it,  the  author  seriously  endeavours  to  raise  into 
a  general  conviction  that  we  have  no  trochaic  order  of  verse  !  It  can  hardly  be  worth  while  to  notice 
here  all  his  remarks.  "An  additional  long  si/llablc"  Johnson  never  dreamed  of — "  at  the  end  " — 
"  at  the  beginning  " — or  anywhere  else.  For  he  discriminated  metres,  not  by  the  number  of  feet, 
as  he  ought  to  have  done,  but  by  the  number  of  syllables  he  found  in  each  line.  His  doctrine  is 
this:  "Our  iambick  measure  comprises  verses — Of  four  syllables, — Of  six, — Of  eight, — Often. 
Our  trochaick  measures  are — Of  three  syllables, — Of  five, — Of  seven.  These  are  the  measures  which 
are  now  in  use,  and  above  the  rest  those  of  seven,  eight  and  ten  syllables.  Our  ancient  poets 
wrote  verses  sometimes  of  twelve  syllables,  as  Drayton's  Polyolbion  ;  and  of  fourteen,  as  Chapman's 

*  See  exercises  in  Punctuation,  on  page  757,  of  this  work. — G.  B. 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ORDER  II. TROCIIAICS.  835 

Homer."  "  We  have  another  measure  very  quick  and  lively,  and  therefore  much  used  in  songs, 
which  may  be  called  the  ana  peptic1;. 

•  May  I  govern  my  passion  with  absolute  sway. 

Anil  grow  wiser  and  better  as  life  wears  away.'/)/-.  Pope. 
44  In  this  measure  a  syllable  is  often  retrenched  from  the  first  foot,  [;]  as  [,] 
'  When  present  we  love,  and  when  ab-ent  agree, 

I  think  not  of  I'ris  [,]  nor  I'ris  of  me.'     Dnjden. 

44  These  measures  are  varied  by  many  combinations,  and  sometimes  by  double  endings,  either  with 
or  A'ithout  rhyme,  as  in  the  heroirk  measure. 

'  'Tis  the  divinity  that  stirs  idthin  us, 

'Tis  heaven  itself  that  points  out  an  hereafter.''     Addison. 
"  So  in  that  of  eight  syllables, 

4  They  neither  added  nor  confounded, 
They  neither  wanted  nor  abounded.'     Prior. 
44  In  that  of  seven, 

4  For  resistance  I  could  fear  none, 

But  with  twenty  ships  had  done, 
What  thou,  brave  and  happy  I'crnon, 

Hast  achieved  with  six  alone.'     Glover. 

4*  To  these  measures  and  their  laws,  may  be  reduced  every  species  of  English  verse." — Dr.  John- 
son's  Grammar  of  the  Enylixh  Tonyue,  p.  14.  See  his  Q'/'irfo  l>t<-f.  Here,  except  a  few  less 
important  remarks,  and  sundry  examples  of  the  metres  named,  is  Johnson's  whole  scheme  of 

-in'cation. 

OHS.  7. — How,  when  a  prosodist  judges  certain  examples  to  "have  an  additional  long  syllable 
at  the  end,"  he  can  "  look  upon  the  additional  syllable  to  be  at  the  beginning,"  is  a  matter  of 
marvel;  yet,  to  abolish  trochaics,  Churchill  not  onlv  does  and  advises  this,  but  imagines  short 
syllables  removed  sometimes  from  the  beginning  of  lines  ;  while  sometimes  he  couples  final  short 
syllables  with  initial  long  ones,  to  make  iambs,  and  yet  does  not  always  count  these  as  feet  in  the 
when  he  has  done  so  !  Johnson's  instructions  are  both  misund< Tstood  and  misrepresented 
by  this  grammarian.  I  have  therefore  cited  them  the  more  fully.  The  first  syllable  being  re- 
trenched from  an  anapest,  there  remains  an  iambus.  But  what  countenance  has  Johnson  lent  to 
the  gross  error  of  reckoning  such  a  foot  an  anapest  still  ? — or  to  that  of  commencing  the  meas- 
urement of  a  line  by  including  a  syllable  not  used  by  the  poet  ?  The  preceding  stanxafrom  Glover, 
is  trochaic  of  four  fi-et ;  the  odd  lines  full,  and  of'course  making  double  rhyme ;  the  even  lines 
catalectic,  and  of  course  ending  with  a  long  syllable  counted  as  a  foot.  Johnson  cited  it  merely  as 
an  example  of  "double  ending*,"  imagining  in  it  no  "  additional  syllable,"  except  perhaps  the  two 
which  terminate  the  two  trochees,  ''  fear  none  "  and  4<  Vernon."  These,  it  may  be  inferred,  he 
improperly  conceived  to  be  additional  to  the  regular  measure  ;  because  he  reckoned  measures  by 
the  number  of  syllables,  and  probably  supposed  single  rhyme  to  be  the  normal  form  of  all  rhyming 
Terse. 

OBS.  8. — There  is  false  scansion  in  many  a  school  grammar,  but  perhaps  none  more  uncouthly 
false,  than  Churchill's  pretended  amendment*  of  Johnson's.  The  second  of  these — wherein  "  the 
old  seven[-]foot  iambic  "  is  professedly  found  in  two  lines  of  Glover's  trochaic  tetrameter — I  shall 
quote : — 

44  In  the  anapa?stic  measure,  Johnson  himself  allows,  that  a  syllable  is  often  retrenched  from  the 
first  foot;  yet  he  gives  «.v  an  example  of  trochaics  with  an  additional  syllable  at  the  end  oj 'the  even 
liiteft  a  stanza,  which,  by  adopting  the  9amejprinciplet  would  be  in  the  iambic  measure: 
For  |  re<j^-  |  tanca  I  |  could  fear  I  none, 
But  I  with  twen  |  ty  ships  |  had  done, 
What  |  thou,  brave  |  and  hap  |  py  V«"r-  |  n6n, 

Hast  |  achiev'd  |  with  six  |  alone. 

In  fact,  the  second  and  fourth  lines  here  stamp  the  character  of  themeasure  ;  [Cj^J  which  is  theold 
seven  [-]  foot  iambic  broken  into  four  and  three,  WITH  AX  ADDITIONAL  SYLLABLE  AT  THE  BEGIN- 

Hiiro.  — CVhtre/WTj  X<  ir  Qram.  p.  391. 

After  these  observations  and  criticisms  concerning  the  trochaic  order  of  verse,  Ipro- 
to  say,  trochaics  consist  of  the  following  measures,  or  metres :  — 

MEASURE  I.—  TROCHAIC  OF  KKJI1T  FEET,  OR  OCTOMETER. 
•mjtlc  L—^Thc  Rm-cn"— First  Tim  ,,nt  <>f  Kiyhteen  Stanzas. 

1. 

nee  up  |  -on  a  |  midnight  |  dreary,  |  while  I  |  pondered,  |  weak  and  |  weary, 
Over  |  tnanij  a  \  quaint  and  |  curious  |  volume  |  of  for  |  -gotten  |  lore, 
"While  I  |  nodded,  |  nearly  |  napping,  |  sudden  |  -ly  there  |  came  a  |  tapping, 
As  of  |  some  one  |  gently  rapping,  |  rapping  |  at  my  |  chamber  |  door. 
1  'Tis  some  |  visit  |  -or,'  I  |  muttered,  |  'tapping  |  at  my  |  chamber  |  door — 
Only  |  this,  and  |  nothing  |  more.' 

Ah  !  dis  |  -tinctly  |  I  re  |  -member  |  it  was  |  in  the  |  bleak  De  |  -ccmber, 
And  each  |  separate  \  dying  |  ember  |  wrought  its  |  ghost  up  |  -on  the  |  floor  ; 

:   |  -ly  I  |  wished  the  |  morrow  ;—  |  vainly  |  had  I  |  tried  to  |  borrow 
From  my  |  books  sur  |  -cease  of  |  sorrow —  |  sorrow  |  for  the  |  lost  Le  |  -nore — 
For  the  |  rare  and  |  radiant  \  maiden,  |  whom  the  |  angels  |  name  Le  |  -nore — 
Nameless  |  here  for  |  ever  |  -more." 

EDOAU  A.  POE  :  American  Review  for  February,  1845. 


836 


TUB  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


Double  rhymes  being  less  common  than  single  ones,  in  the  same  proportion,  is  this  long 
verse  less  frequently  terminated  with  a  full  trochee,  than  with  a  single  long  syllable  counted 
as  a  foot.  The  species  of  measure  is,  however,  to  be  reckoned  the  same,  though  catalectic. 
By  Lindley  Murray,  and  a  number  who  implicitly  re-utter  wrhat  he  teaches,  the  verse  of 
six  trochees,  in  which  are  twelve  syllables  only,  is  said  "  to  be  the  longest  Trochaic  line  that  our 
language  admits." — Murray's  Octavo  Gram.  p.  257  ;  Weld's  E.  Gram.  p.  211.  The  examples 
produced  here  will  sufficiently  show  the  inaccuracy  of  their  assertion. 

Example  II. —  "The  Shadow  of  the  Obelisk" — Last  two  IStanzas. 

8. 

"  Herds  are  |  feeding  |  in  the  |  Forum,  |  as  in  |  old  E  |  -vander's  |  time : 
Tumbled  |  from  the  j  steep  Tar  |  -peian  \  every  \  pile  that  |  sprang  sub  |  -lime. 
Strange  !  that  |  what  seemed  |  most  in  |  -constant  |  should  the  |  most  a  |  -biding  |  prove; 
Strange  !  that  |  what  is  |  hourly  |  moving  |  no  mu  |  -tation  |  can  re  |  -move : 
Ruined  |  lie.s  the  |  cirque  !  the  |  chariots,  \  long  a  |  -go,  have  |  ceased  to  |  roll — 
E'en  the  |  Obe  |  -lisk  is  |  broken  |  — but  the  |  shadow  |  still  is  |  whole. 

9. 

Out  a  |  -las !  if  |  mightiest  \  empires  |  leave  so  |  little  |  mark  be  |  -hind, 
How  much  |  less  must  |  heroes  |  hope  for,  |  in  the  |  wreck  of  |  human  |  kind  ! 
Less  than  |  e'en  this  |  darksome  |  picture,  |  which  I  |  tread  be  |  -neath  my  |  feet, 
Copied  |  by  a  |  lifeless  |  moonbeam  |  on  the  |  pebbles  |  of  the  |  street ; 
Since  if  |  Caesar's  |  best  am  |  -bition,  |  living,  j  was,  to  |  be  re  j  -nowned, 
What  shall  |  Cscsar  |  leave  be  |  -hind  him,  |  save  the  |  shadow  |  of  a  |  sound? " 

T.  W.  PARSONS  :  Lowell  and  Carters  "Pioneer,"  Vol.  i,  p.  120. 

Example  III. — "The  Slaves  of  Martinique ." — Nine  Couplets  out  of  Thirty-six. 
"Beams  of  |  noon,  like  |  burning  |  lances,  |  through  the  |  tree-tops  |  flash  and  |  glisten, 
As  she  |  stands  be  |  -fore  her  |  lover,  |  with  raised  |  face  to  |  look  and  |  listen. 

Dark,  but  |  comely,  |  like  the  |  maiden  |  in  the  |  ancient  |  Jewish  |  song, 
Scarcely  |  has  the  |  toil  of  |  task-fields  |  done  her  |  graceful  |  beauty  |  wrong. 

He,  the  |  strong  one,  |  and  the  |  manly,  |  with  the  |  vassal's  |  garb  and  |  hue, 
Holding  |  still  his  |  spirit's  |  birthright,  |  to  his  |  higher  |  nature  |  true  ; 

Hiding  |  deep  the  |  strengthening  \  purpose  |  of  a  |  freeman  |  in  his  |  heart, 

As  the  |  Grecgree  |  holds  his  |  Fetish  |  from  the  |  white  man's  |  gaze  a  |  -part. 

Ever  |  foremost  |  of  the  |  toilers,  |  when  the  |  driver's  |  morning  |  horn 
Calls  a  |  -way  to  |  stifling  |  millhouse,  |  or  to  |  fields  of  |  cane  and  |  corn  ; 

Fall  the  |  keen  and  |  burning  |  lashes  |  never  |  on  his  |  back  or  |  limb ; 
Scarce  with  |  look  or  |  word  of  |  censure,  |  turns  the  |  driver  |  unto  |  him. 

Yet  his  |  brow  is  |  always  |  thoughtful,  |  and  his  |  eye  is  |  hard  and  |  stern ; 
Slavery's  \  last  and  |  humblest  |  lesson  j  he  has  |  never  |  deigned  to  |  learn." 

"And,  at  |  evening  |  when  his  |  comrades  |  dance  be  |  -fore  their  |  master's  |  door, 
Folding  |  arms  and  |  knitting  |  forehead,  |  stands  he  |  silent  |  ever  |  -more. 

God  be  |  praised  for  |  every  \  instinct  |  which  re  |  -bels  a  |  -gainst  a  |  lot 

Where  the  |  brute  sur  |  -vives  the  |  human,  |  and  man's  |  upright  |  form  is  |  not !  " 

J.  G.  WHITTIER  :  National  Era,  and  other  Neicspapers,  Jan.  1848. 

Example  IV. — "The  Present  Crisis" — Two  Stanzas  out  of  sixteen. 
"  Once  to  |  every  \  man  and  |  nation  |  comes  the  |  moment  |  to  de  |  -cidc, 
In  the  |  strife  of  |  Truth  with  |  Falsehood,  |  for  the  |  good  or  |  evil  |  side  ; 
Some  great  |  cause,  God's  |  new  Mes  |  -siah,  j  offering  \  each  the  |  bloom  or  |  blight, 
Parts  the  |  goats  up  |  -on  the  |  left  hand,  |  and  the  |  sheep  up  |  -on  the  |  right, 
And  the  |  choice  goes  |  by  for  |  -ever  |  'twixt  that  |  darkness  |  and  that  |  light. 

Have  ye  |  chosen,  |  O  my  |  people,  |  on  whose  |  party  |  ye  shall  |  stand, 
Ere  the  |  Doom  from  |  its  worn  |  sandals  |  shakes  the  |  dust  a  |  -gainst  our  |  land  ? 
Though  the  |  cause  ot  |  evil  |  prosper,  |  yet  the  |  Truth  a  |  -lone  is  |  strong, 
And,  al  |  -beit  she  \  wander  |  outcast  |  now,  I  |  see  a  |  -round  her  |  throng 
Troops  of  |  beauti  |  -ful  tall  |  angels  |  toon  |  -shield  her  |  from  all  |  wrong." 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL  :  Liberator,  September  4th,  1846. 

Example  V. —  The  Season  of  Love. — A  short  Extract. 

"  In  the  |  Spring,  a  |  fuller  |  crimson  |  comes  up  |  -on  the  |  robin's  |  breast ; 
In  the     Spring,  the  |  wanton  |  lapwing  |  gets  him  |  -self  an  |  other  |  crest ; 
In  the     Spring,  a  |  livelier  \  iris  |  changes  |  on  the  |  burnished  |  dove ; 
In  the     Spring,  a  |  young  man's  |  fancy  |  lightly  |  turns  to  |  thoughts  of  |  love. 


CIIAP. 


IT.] 


PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ORDER  II. TROCUAICS. 


837 


Then  her  |  cheek  was  |  pale,  and  |  thinner  |  than  should  |  be  for  |  one  so  |  young ; 
And  her  |  eyes  on  |  all  my  |  motions,  |  with  a  |  mute  ob  |  -servance,  |  hung. 
And  I  |  said,  'My  |  cousin  |  Amy,  |  speak,  and  |  speak  the  |  truth  to  |  me; 
Trust  me,  |  cousin,  |  all  the  |  current  |  of  my  |  being  |  sets  to  |  thce.'  " 

Poems  by  ALFRKD  TKNNY.SO.V,  Vol.  ii,  p.  35. 

Trochaic  of  eight  feet,  as  these  sundry  examples  -will  suggest,  is  much  oftener  met  with 
than  iambic  of  the  same  number  ;  and  yet  it  is  not  a  form  very  frequently  adopted.  The 
reader  will  observe  that  it  requires  a  considerable  pause  after  the  fourth  foot ;  at  which 
place,  one  might  divide  it,  and  so  reduce  each  couplet  to  a  stanza  of  four  lines,  similar  to  the 
following  examples: — 

PART  OF  A  SONG,  IN  DIALOGUE. 

SYLVIA.  SYLVIA. 

"  Corin,  |  cease  this  |  idle  |  teasing  ;  "  Cupid  |  ne'er  shall  |  mnke  me  |  languish, 

Love  that's  |  forc'd  is  |  harsh  and  |  sour  :l       I  was  |  born  a  |  -verse  to  |  love; 
If  the  |  lover  |  be  dis  |  -pleasing,  Lovers'  |  sighs,  and  |  tears,  and  |  anguish, 


To  per  |  -sist  dis  |  -gusts  the  |  more." 

COR  i.v. 
'  'Tis  in  |  vain,  in  |  vain  to  |  fly  me, 

Xi/lcia,  |  I  will  |  still  pur  |  -sue  ; 
Twenty     thousand  |  times  de  |  -ny  me, 

I  will  |  kneel  and  |  weep  a  |  -new." 


"  Lord  of  |  life,  all  |  praise  ex  |  -celling, 
thou,  in  |  glory  |  uncon  |  -rin'd, 


Deign'st  to  |  make  thy  |  humble  |  dwelling 
with  the  |  poor  of  |  humble  |  mind. 
2. 

As  thy  |  love,  through  |  all  ere  I  -ation, 
beams  like  |  thy  dif  |  -fusive  |  light ; 

So  the  |  scorn'd  and  |  humble  |  station 
shrinks  be  |  -fore  thine  |  equal  |  sight. 


Mirth  and  |  pastime  |  tome  |  prove." 

CORI.V. 
Still  I  |  vow  with  |  patient  |  duty 

Thus  to  |  meet  your  |  proudest  |  scorn ; 
You  for  |  unre  |  -lenting  |  beauty, 

I  for  |  constant  |  love  was  |  born." 
Poems  bij  ANNA  L.KHTIA  BAKIJAULD,  p.  56. 
PART  OF  A  CHARITY  HYMN. 

3. 
Thus  thy  |  care,  for  |  all  pro  |  -viding, 

warm'd  thy  |  faithful  |  prophet's  |  tongue  ; 


Who,  the  |  lot  of  |  all  de  |  -ciding 


to  thy  |  chos  en  |  Israel  \  sung : 

4. 
1  When  thine  |  harvest  |  yields  thee  |  pleas- 

thou  the  |  golden  sheaf "shalt  |  bind  ;    [ure, 
To  fhe  |  poor  be  |  -longs  the  |  treasure 

of  the  |  scatter'd  |  ears  be  |  -hind.' " 


Psalms  and  Hymns  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  Hymn  LV. 
A  still  more  common  form  is  that  which  reduces  all  these  tetrameters  to  single  rhymes, 
preserving  their  alternate  succession.     In  such  metre  and  stanza,  is   Montgomery's  "Wan- 
derer of  Switzerland,  a  Poem,  in  Six  Parts,"  and  with  an  aggregate  of  eight  hundred  and 
forty-four  lines.     Example  : — 


1. 

"  in'anrl«rrr,  \  whither  |  wouldst  thou  |  roam- 
To  what  |  region  |  far  a  |  -way, 
Bend  thy  |  steps  to  |  find  a  |  home, 
In  the  |  twilight  j  of  thy  |  day  : ' 

2. 

'  In  the  |  twilight  |  of  my  |  day, 
I  am  |  hastening  |  to  the  |  w 
There  my  |  weary  |  limbs  to  |  lay, 
Where  the  |  sun  re  |  -tires  to  |  rest. 

3. 

Far  be  |  -yond  the  At  |  -lantic  |  floods, 
Stretched  be  |  -neath  the  |  evening  |  sky, 


Realms  of  |  mountains,  |  dark  with  |  woods, 
In  Co     -lumbia's     bosom     lie. 


4. 
There,  in  |  glens  and  |  caverns  |  rude, 

Silent  |  since  the  |  world  be  |  -gan, 
Dwells  the  |  virgin  |  Soli  |  -tude, 

Unbe  |  -trayed  by  |  faithless  |  man : 

5. 
Where  a  |  tyrant  |  never  |  trod, 

Where  a  |  slave  was  |  never  |  known, 
But  where  |  nature  |  worships  |  God 

In  the  |  wilder  |  -ness  a  |  -lone. 


Thither,  |  thither  |  would  I  |  roam  ; 

There  my  |  children  |  may  be  |  free : 
I  for  |  them  will  |  find  a  |  home ; 

They  shall  |  find  a  |  grave  for  |  me.' " 
First  six  stanzas  of  Part  17,  pp.  71  and  72. 

MEASURE  II.— TROCHAIC  OF  SEVEN  FEET,  OR  HEPTAMETER. 
.///''. — r.«ilm  LXX,*  Versijied. 

•i,  |  Lord,  to  |  rescue  |  me,  and  |  set  me  |  safe  from  |  trouble; 
Shame  thou  |  those  who  |  seek  my  |  soul,  re  |  -ward  their  |  mischief  j  double. 
Turn  the  |  taunting  |  scorners  |  back,  who  |  cry,  'A  |  -ha  !  '  so  |  loudly  ; 
Backward  |  in  con  |  -fusion  |  hurl  the  |  foe  that  |  mocks  me  |  proudly. 
Then  in  |  thee  let  |  those  re  |  -joice,  who  |  seek  thee,  |  self-de  |  -nying; 
All  who  |  thy  s;il  |  -vation  |  love,  thy  |  name  be  |  glory  |  -fyinir. 
So  let  |  (Jod  be  |  magni  |  -tied.     But  |  I  am  |  poor  and  |  IK •• 

a,  |  Lord,  who  |  art  my  |  Helper;  |  let  thine  |  aid  be  |  speedy. 

*  The  Seventieth  Psalm  is  the  same  as  the  last  fire  verses  of  the  Fortieth,  except  a  few  unimportant  differences 
of  words  or  points. 


838  '   THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

This  verse,  like  all  other  that  is  written  in  very  long  lines,  requires  a  cacsural  pause  of 
proportionate  length;  and  it  would  scarcely  differ  at  all  to  the  ear,  if  it  were  cut  in  two  at 
the  place  of  this  pause — provided  the  place  were  never  varied.  Such  metre  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  at  any  time  much  used,  though  there  seems  to  be  no  positive  reason  why  it 
might  not  have  a  share  of  popularity.  To  commend  our  versification  for  its  '«  boundless  varie- 
ty," and  at  the  same  time  exclude  from  it  forms  either  unobjectionable  or  well  authorized,  as 
some  have  done,  is  plainly  inconsistent.  Full  trochaics  have  some  inconvenience,  because 
all  their  rhymes  must  be  double ;  and,  as  this  inconvenience  becomes  twice  as  much  when 
any  long  line  of  this  sort  is  reduced  to  two  short  ones,  there  may  be  a  reason  why  a  stanza 
precisely  corresponding  to  the  foregoing  couplets  is  seldom  seen.  If  such  lines  be  divided 
and  rhymed  at  the  middle  of  the  fourth  foot,  where  the  csesural  pause  is  apt  to  fall,  the  first 
part  of  each  will  be  a  trochaic  line  of  four  feet,  single-rhymed  and  catalectic,  while  the  rest 
of  it  will  become  an  imabic  line  of  three  feet,  with  double  rhyme  and  hypermeter.  Such 
are  the  prosodial  characteristics  of  the  following  lines  ;  which,  if  two  were  written  as  one, 
would  make  exactly  our  full  trochaic  of  seven  feet,  the  metre  exhibited  above  : — 
"  Whisp'ring,  |  heard  by  |  wakeful  |  maids, 

To  whom  |  the  night  |  stars  guide  \  us, 
Stolen  |  walk,  through  |  moonlight  |  shades, 

With  those  |  we  love  |  beside  \  us." — Moore's  Melodies,  p.  276. 

But  trochaic  of  seven  feet  may  also  terminate  with  single  rhyme,  as  in  the  following  coup- 
let, which  is  given  anonymously,  and,  after  a  false  custom,  erroneously,  in  N.  Butler's  re- 
cent Grammar,  as  "  trochaic  of  six  feet,  with  an  additional  long  syllable  : " — 
"  Night  and  |  morning  |  were  at  |  meeting  |  over  |  Water  |  -loo ; 

Cocks  had  |  sung  their  |  earliest  \  greeting  ;  |  faint  and  |  low  they  |  crew."* 
In  Fra/ee's  Grammar,  a  separate  line  or  two,  similar  in  metre  to  these,  are  rightly  reck- 
oned to  have  seven  feet,  and  many  lines,  (including  those  above  from  Tennyson,  which  W. 
C.  Fowler  erroneously  gives  for  Heptameter,~)  being  a  foot  longer,  are  presented  as  trochaics 
of  eight  feet ;  but  Everett,  the  surest  of  our  prosodists,  remaining,  like  most  others,  a  total 
stranger  to  our  octometers,  and  too  little  acquainted  with  trochaic  heptameters  to  believe 
the  species  genuine,  on  rinding  a  couple  of  stanzas  in  which  two  such  lines  are  set  with 
shorter  ones  of  different  sorts,  and  with  some  which  are  defective  in  metre,  sagely  concludes 
that  all  lines  of  more  than  "six  trochees  "  must  necessarily  be  condemned  as  prosodial  anori- 
alies.  It  may  be  worth  while  to  repeat  the  said  stanzas  here,  adding  such  corrections  and 
marks  as  may  suggest  their  proper  form  and  scansion.  But  since  they  commence  with  the 
shorter  metre  of  six  trochees  only,  and  are  already  placed  under  that  head,  I  too  may  take 
them  in  the  like  connexion,  by  now  introducing  my  third  species  of  trochaics,  which  is 
Everett's  tenth. 

MEASURE  III.— TROCHAIC  OF  SIX  FEET,  OR  HEXAMETER. 

Example. — Health. 
"  Up  the  |  dewy  |  mountain,  |  Health  is  |  bounding  |  lightly ; 

On  her  |  brows  a  |  garland,  |  twin'd  with  |  richest  |  posies  : 
Gay  is  |  she,  e  |  -late  with  |  hope,  and  |  smiling  |  sprightly ; 
Redder  |  is  her  |  cheek,  and  |  sweeter  |  than  the  |  rose  is." 

G.  BROWN  :  The  Institutes  of  English  Grammar,  p. 
This  metre  appears  to  be  no  less  rare  than  the  preceding  ;  though,  as  in  that  case,  I  know 
no  good  reason  why  it  may  not  be  brought  into  vogue.  Professor  John  S.  Hart  says  of  it : 
41  This  is  the  longest  Trochaic  verse  that  seems  to  have  been  cultivated." — ILirt's  English  Gram. 
p.  187.  The  seeming  of  its  cultivation  he  doubtless  found  only  in  sundry  modern  gram- 
mars. Johnson,  Bicknell,  Burn,  Coar,  Ward,  Adam, — old  grammarians,  who  vainly  profess 
to  have  illustrated  "  every  species  of  English  verse," — make  no  mention  of  it ;  and,  with  all 
the  grammarians  who  notice  it,  one  anonymous  couplet,  passing  from  hand  to  hand,  has 
everywhere  served  to  exemplify  it. 

Of  this,  "the  line  of  six  Trochees,"  Everett  says:  "This  measure  is  languishing,  and 
rarely  used.  The  following  example  is  often  cited  : — 

'  On  a  |  mountain,  |  stretched  be  |  -neath  a  |  hoary  |  willow, 
Lay  a  |  shepherd  |  swain,  and  |  view'd  the  |  rolling  |  billow.'  "f 
Again  :  "  We  have  the  following  from  BISHOP  HKBEH  : — 

'Holy,  |  holy,  |  holy  !  ]  fill  the  |  saints  ft  |  -dore  thee, 

Casting  |  down  their  |  golden  |  crowns  a  |  -round  thC  |  glassy  |  sea; 
Cheru  |  -blm  and  |  sera  |  -phlm  [are]  \  falling  |  down  be  |  -fore  thee, 
Which  wert,  |  and  art,  |  and  ev  |  -ermore  |  shalt  be  ! 

*  It  is  obvious,  that  these  two  lines  may  easily  be  reduced  to  an  agreeable  stanza,  by  simply  dividing  each  after 
the  fourth  foot.— G .  B. 

t  In  Sunborn's  Analytical  Grammar,  on  pape  279th,  this  couplet  is  ascribed  to  "Pope  ;  "  but  I  have  sought  in 
vain  for  this  quotation,  or  any  example  of  similar  verse,  in  the  works  of  that  poet.  The  lines,  one  or  both  of  them, 
appear,  without  reference,  in  L.  Murray's  (rnnnnnn,  Strond  Edition,  1796.  p.  176,  and  in  subsequent  editions  J  in 
W.  Allen's,  p.  225  ;  Bullions'*,  178  ;  N.BHtlfT's,W2;  Chunriln's  Nno,  196 ; '  Clark's,  201 ;  r/nirrhill't.  187  ;  Cooper's 
Practicable;  Davis's,  137  ;  Famnm's.  106 :  Felton'.t,  142;  Frazfe's,  184;  Frost'*,  164;  S.  S.  Greene's,  250  ; 
Hallock's,  244 ;  flirt'*,  187;  Hiley's,  127  ;  Humphrey'*  Protoriy,  17;  Parker  and  Fox's  Gram.,  Part  iii,  p.  60; 
Wdd's,  211 ;  Ditto  Abridged,  138 ;  Wdls's,  200  ;  Fowltr's,  658  ;  and  doubtless  in  many  other  such  books. 


p.  258. 


CIIAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. YEKSIFICATION. ORDER  II. — TROCHAICS.  839 

Holy,  |  holy,  |  holy !  |  though  the  |  darkness  |  hide  thee, 

Though  the  |  eye  of  |  sinful  |  man  thy  |  glory  |  may  not  |  see, 
Only  |  thou,  [O  \  God,]  art  |  holy  ;  |  the're  is  |  none  be  |  -side  thee, 

Perfect  |  Iu  jinw'r,  |  In  love,  |  and  pu  |  -rlty.' 

Only  the  first  and  tJu-  third  lines  of  these  stanzas  are  to  our  purpose,"  remarks  the  prosodist. 
That  is,  only  these  he  conceived  to  be  "  lines  of  six  Trochees."  But  it  is  plain,  that  the  third 
line  of  the  first  stan/a,  having  seven  long  syllables,  must  have  seven  feet,  and  cannot  be  a 
trochaic  hexameter ;  and,  since  the  third  below  should  be  like  it  in  metre,  one  can  hardly 
forbear  to  think  the  words  which  I  have  inserted  in  brackets,  were  accidentally  omitted. 

Further:  "It  is  worthy  of  remark,"  says  he,  "that  the  second  line  of  each  of  these 
stanzas  is  composed  of  six  Trochees  and  an  additional  long  syllable.  As  its  corresponding  line 
is  an  Iambic,  and  as  the  piece  has  some  licenses  in  its  construction,  it  is  far  safer  to  con- 
clude that  this  line  is  an  anomaly  than  that  it  forms  a  distinct  species  of  verse.  We  must 
therefore  conclude  that  the  tenth  [the  metre  of  six  trochees]  is  the  longest  species  of  Tro- 
chaic line  known  to  English  verse." — Everett's  ]'erfi(fication,  pp.  95  and  96. 

This,  in  view  of  the  examples  above,  of  our  longer  trochaics,  may  serve  as  a  comment  on 
the  author's  boast,  that,  "  having  deduced  his  rules  from  the  usage  of  the  great  poets,  he  has 
the  best  reason  for  being  confident  of  their  correctness." — Ibid.  Pref.  p.  5. 

Trochaic  hexameter,  too,  may  easily  be  written  with  single  rhyme ;  perhaps  more  easily 
than  a  specimen  suited  to  the  purpose  can  be  cited  from  any  thing  already  written.  Let 
me  try : — 

Example  I. — The  Sorcerer. 

Lonely  |  in  the  |  forest,  |  subtle  |  from  his  |  birth, 
Lived  a  |  necro  |  -mancer,  |  wondrous  I  son  of  |  earth. 
More  of  |  him  in  |  -quire  not,  |  than  I  |  choose  to  |  say : 
Nymph  or  |  dryad  |  bore  him —  |  else  'twas  |  witch  or  |  fay: 
Ask  you  |  who  his  |  father : —  |  haply  |  he  might  |  be 
"Wood-god  |  satyr,  |  sylvan  :  |  — such  his  |  pedi  |  -gree. 
Reared  mid  |  fauns  and  |  faries,  |  knew  he  |  no  com  |  -peers ; 
Neither  |  cared  he  |  for  them,  |  saving  |  ghostly  |  seers. 
Mistress  |  of  the  |  black-art,  |  "  wizard  |  gaunt  and  |  grim," 
Nightly  |  on  the  |  hill-top,  |  "  read  the  |  stars  to  |  him." 
These  were  |  welcome  |  teachers;  |  drank  he  |  in  their  |  lore; 
"Witchcraft  |  so  en  |  -ticed  him,  |  still  to  |  thirst  for  |  more. 
Spectres  |  he  would  |  play  with,  |  phantoms  |  raise  or  |  quell ; 
Gnomes  from  |  earth's  deep  |  centre  |  knew  his  |  potent  |  spell. 
Augur  |  or  a  |  -ruspex  |  had  not  |  half  his  I  art; 
Master  |  deep  of  |  magic,  |  spirits  |  played  his  |  part : 
Demons,  |  imps  in  |  -fernal,  |  conjured  |  from  be  |  -low, 
Shaped  his  |  grand  en  |  -chantments  |  with  im  |  -posing  |  show. 

]•'.. cample  II. — An  Example  of  Hart's,  Corrected. 

"  Where  the  |  wood  is  |  waving,  |  shady,  \  green,  and  |  high, 
Fauns  and  |  dryads,  |  « ///A .'///,  \  watch  the  |  starry  |  sky." 

bee  Hart's  1'.  Cram,  p.  187  ;  or  the  citation  thence  below. 

iplet  of  this  sort  might  easily  be  reduced  to  a  pleasant  little  stanza,  by  severing  each 
line  after  the  third  foot,  thus  : — 

Hearken  !  |  hearken  !  |  hear  ye  ;  Friends  !  "  So  |  -ho  !  "  they're  |  shouting. — 

Voices  |  meet  my  |  ear.  "IIo  !  so  |  -ho,  a  |  -hoy  !  " — 

Listen,  |  never  |  fc'ar  ye  ;  no  |  Indian,  |  scouting. 

Friends — or  |  foes — are  |  near.  j         Cry,  so  \  -ho !  with  |  joy. 

But  a  similar  succession  of  eleven  syllables,  six  long  and  five  short,  divided  after  the 
seventh,  leaving  two  iambs  to  form  the  second  or  shorter  line, — (since  such  a  division  pro- 
duces different  orders  and  metres  both, — )  will,  I  think,  retain  but  little  resemblance  in 
rhythm  to  the  foregoing,  though  the  actual  sequence  of  quantities  long  and  short  is  the  same. 
If  this  be  so,  the  particular  measure  or  correspondent  length  of  lines  is  more  essential  to  the 
character  of  a  poetic  strain  than  some  have  supposed.  The  first  four  lines  of  the  following 
extract  are  an  example  relevant  to  this  point : — 

.  \  rial's  Song. 
"  Come  ttn  |  -t<Vthe-c  |  yellmv  |  sands, 

Afid  then  |  take  hands  : 
Court'sied  |  when  you  |  have  and  |  kiss'd, 

(The  wild  |  waves  whist. ) 
Foot  it  |  featly  |  here  and  |  there ; 
And,  sweet  |  sprites,  the  |  burden  |  bear." 

SIXGEU'S  SHAKMM.AUE  :   Tempest,  Act  i,  Sc.  2. 


840  TOE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 


vo. 


MEASURE  IV.— TROCHAIC  OF  FIVE  FEET,  OR  PENTAMETER. 

Example  1. — Double  Rhymes  and  Single^  Alternated. 

"  Mountain  |  winds  !    oh!  |  whither  |  do  ye  |  call  me? 

Vainly,  |  vainly,  |  would  my  |  steps  pur  |  -sue  : 
Chains  of  |  care  to  |  lower  |  earth  en  |  -thrall  me, 
Wherefore  |  thus  my  |  weary  |  spirit  |  woo  ? 

Oh !  the  |  strife  of  |  this  di  |  -vided  |  being  ! 

Is  there  |  peace  where  |  ye  are  |  borne,  on  |  high  ? 

Could  wre  |  soar  to  |  your  proud  |  eyries  j  fleeing, 
In  our  |  hearts, would  |  haunting  |  memories  \  die?" 
FELICIA  HEMANS :  "To  the  Mountain  Winds:"  Everett's  Vcrsif.  p.  95. 

Example  II. — Rhymes  Otherwise  Arranged. 
"Then,  me  |  -thought,  I  |  heard  a  |  hollow  |  sound, 
Ga.the.nng  \  up  from  |  all  the  |  lower  |  ground : 
Narrowing  \  in  to  |  where  they  |  sat  as  |  -sembled, 
Low  vo  |  -luptuous  \  music,  |  winding,  |  trembled." 

ALFRED  TENNYSON:  Frazee's  Improved  Gram.  p.  184  ;  Fowler's,  657. 

This  measure,  whether  with  the  final  short  syllable  or  without  it,  is  said,  by  Murray, 
Everett,  and  others,  to  be  ''very  uncommon."  Dr.  Johnson,  and  the  other  old  prosodists 
named  with  him  above,  knew  nothing  of  it.  Two  couplets,  exemplifying  it,  now  to  be 
found  in  sundry  grammars,  and  erroneously  reckoned  to  differ  as  to  the  number  of  their  feet, 
were  either  selected  or  composed  by  Murray,  for  his  Grammar,  at  its  origin — or,  if  not  then, 
at  its  first  reprint,  in  1796.  They  are  these  : — 

"All  that  |  wralk  on  |  foot  or  |  ride  in  |  chariots, 

All  that  |  dwell  in  |  pala  |  -ces  or  |  garrets." 

L.  Murray's  Gram.,  12mo,  175  ;  8vo,  257  ;  Chandlers,  196  ;  Churchill's,  187  ;  Hiley's,  126 ;  etal. 
"  Idle  |  after  j  dinner,  |  in  his  |  chair, 

Sat  a  |  farmer,  |  ruddy,  |  fat,  and  |  fair." 

Murray,  same  places ;  N.  Butler's  Gr.  p.  193  ;  Hallock's,  244  ;  Hart's,  187  ;  Weld's,  211 ;  et  al. 
Richard  Hiley  most  absurdly  scans  this  last  couplet,  and  all  verse  like  it,  into  "  the  Heroic 
measure,"  or  a  form  of  our  iambic  pentameter ;  saying,  "Sometimes  a  syllable  is  cut  offfiom 
the  first  foot;  as, 

I  |  dig  af  |  -t6r  din  |  -nSr  in  |  his  chair  [,] 
Sat  |  a  far  |  -mgr  [,]  rfid  |  -dy,  fat,  |  find  fair." 

Hiley's  English  Grammar,  Third  Edition,  p.  12'i. 

J.  S.  Hart,  who,  like  many  others,  has  mistaken  the  metre  of  this  last  example  for  "Tro- 
chaic Tetrameter,"  with  a  surplus  "syllable,"  after  repeating  the  current  though  rather 
questionable  assertion,  that  "  this  measure  is  very  uncommon,"  proceeds  with  our  "  Tro- 
chaic Pentameter"  thus:  "This  species  is  likewise  uncommon.  It  is  composed  of  five 
trochees;  as, 


In  thS  |  dark  and  |  green  and  |  gloomy  |  valley, 

lull] 
ted  ^ 

Where  the"  |  wood  is  |  waving  |  green  and  |  high, 


Satyrs  |  by  the  |  brGoklet  |  love  to  |  dally 


Satyrs  |  by  the  |  brooklet  |  love  to  |  dully." 

And  again  :    [13T]  "The  SAME  with  an  ADDITIONAL  accented  syllable;  as, 
Where  thS  |  wood  is  |  waving  |  green  and  |  high 
Fauns  and  |  Dryads  |  watch  the  |  starry  |  sky." 

Hart's  English  Grammar,  First  Edition,  p.  187. 

These  examples  appear  to  have  been  made  for  the  occasion  ;  and  the  latter,  together  with 
its  introduction,  made  unskillfully.  The  lines  are  of  five  feet,  and  so  are  those  about  the 
ruddy  farmer;  but  there  is  nothing  "additional,"  in  either  case;  for,  as  pentameter,  they 
are  all  catalectic,  the  final  short  syllable  being  dispensed  with,  and  a  caesura  preferred,  for 
the  sake  of  single  rhyme,  otherwise  not  attainable.  "  Five  trochees  "  and  a  rhyming 
"  syllable  "  will  make  trochaic  hexameter,  a  measure  perhaps  more  pleasant  than  this.  See 
examples  above. 

MEASURE  V.— TROCHAIC  OF  FOUR  FEET,  OR  TETRAMETER. 
Example  L — A  Mournful  Song. 


1. 

"Raving  |  winds  a  |  -round her  |  blowing, 
Yellow  |  leaves  the  |  woodlands  |  strewing, 
By  a  |  river  |  hoarsely  |  roaring, 
Isa  |  -bella  |  strayed  de  |  -ploring. 
'  Farewell  |  hours  that  |  late  did  |  measure 
Sunshine  |  days  of  |  joy  and  |  pleasure ; 
Hail,  thou  |  gloomy  |  night  of  |  sorrow, 


Cheerless  |  night  that  |  knows  no  |  morrow. 


2. 

O'er  the  |  past  too  |  fondly  |  wandering, 
On  the  |  hopeless  |  future  |  pondering, 
Chilly  |  grief  my  |  life-blood  |  freezes, 
Fell  de  |  -spair  my  |  fancy  |  seizes. 
Life,  thou  |  soul  of  j  every  \  blessing, 
Load  to  |  misery  \  most  dis  |  -tressing, 
O  how  |  gladly  |  I'd  re  |  -sign  thee, 
And  to  |  dark  ob  |  -livion  \  join  thee  !  ' ' 


BOUEKT  BURNS  :  Select  Works,  Vol.  ii,  p.  131, 


CHAT.  IV.]  PROSODY. VKHSIFICATION. ORDER  II. TROCHAICS. 


841 


It  II. — 

re  |  -Icstial,  |  whose  pro  |  -tection 

Kver  |  guards  the  |  rirtuons  \  lair, 
While  in  |  distant  |  climes  I  |  wander, 

Let  my  |  Mary  |  he-  your  |  rare  : 
Lot  her  f  form  so  |  lair  and  j  faultless, 

Fair  and  |  faultiest  |  as  your  |  own  ; 
Let  my  |  Mary's  |  kindred  |  spirit 

Draw  your  |  choicest  |  influence  \  down 


A  Sony  Petitionary. 

the  |  gales  you  |  waft  a  |  -round  her 
|     Soft  and  j  peaceful  |  as  her  |  br 
Breathing  |  in  the  |  bree/e  that  |  fans  her, 
j     Soothe  her  |  bosom  |  into  |  rest : 
(iixtrdni/i  |  angels,  |  ()  pro  |  -teet  her, 
When  in  |  distant  |  lands  I  |  roam  ; 
\To  realms  \  unknown  \  vltilt:  fate  \  exiles  me, 
Make  her  |  bosom  |  still  my  |  home." 

"s  Sox(is,   Sa/itc  I  'ulunie,  p.  1G5. 


ij>le  III. — Sony  of  Juno  and  Ceres. 


Ju.  "Honour,  (riches,   marriage  |  -blessing,1 
Long  con  |  -tinmnur,  \  and  in  |  -creas- 

Hourly  |  joys  be  |  still  up  |  -on  you  ! 
Juno  f  sings  her  |  blessings  |  on  you." 
"  Earth's     in  |  -crease,      and  |  foison  | 

plenty ; 
Barns  and"  |  garners  |  never  |  empty ; 


Cer. 


Vines   with  |  clust'ring  |  bunches  |  groov- 
ing ; 

Plants  with  |  goodly  |  burden  |  bcTwing ; 

Spring     come  |  to     you,  |  at    the   |  far- 
thest, 

In  the  |  very  |  end  of  |  harvest ! 

Scarci  |  -ty  and  |  want  shall  |  shun  you : 

Ceres'  |  blessing  |  so  is  |  on  you." 
SHAKSPEARK  :   Tempest,  Act  iv,  Sc.  1. 


Example  IV.—  On  the  Vowels. 


1  We  are  |  little  |  airy  |  creatures, 
All  of  |  (lilt* rent  |  voice  and  |  features : 
One  of  I  us  in  |  glass  is  j  set, 
One  of  I  us  you'll  |  find  in  |  jet ; 


T'  other  |  you  may  |  see  in  |  tin, 
And  the  |  fourth  a  |  box  with  |  -in ; 
If  the  |  fifth  you  |  should  pur  |  -sue, 
It  can  |  never  |  fly  from  |  you." 
SWIFT  :  Johnsons  British  Poets,  Vol.  v,  p.  343. 


V.—  Use  Time  for  Good. 


Lif'.1  is  |  short,  and  |  time  is 
ses  |  fade,  and  |  shadows 


swift ; 
shift ; 


ut  the  |  ocean  |  and  the  |  river 
isc  and  |  fall  and  |  ilow  for  |  ever  : 


Bard  !  not  |  vainly  |  heaves  the  |  ocean  ; 
Bard!  not  |  vainly  |  Hows  the  |  river; 
Be  thy  |  song,  then,  |  like  their  |  motion, 
Bles>ing  |  now,  and  |  blessing  |  ever." 
EUEXKZEU  ELLIOT  :  From  a  Newspaper. 


Example  VL—"The  Turkish  Lady."— First  Four  Stanzas. 


"'Twas  the  |  hour  when  |  rites  un  |  -holy 

Called  each  |  Paynim  |  voice  to  |  pray'r, 
And  the  |  star  that  |  faded  |  slowly, 
Left  to  |  dews  the  |  freshened  |  air. 

•  ^ 

.er  |  sultry  |  fires  had  |  wasted, 
:i  and  |  swert  the  |  moonlight  |  rose 
|  captive's  |  spirit  |  t 
'ob  |  -livion  |  of  his  |  woes. 


3. 
Then  'twas  |  from  an  |  Emir's  |  palace 

Came  an  |  eastern  |  lady  |  bright ; 
She,  in  |  spite  of  |  tyrants  |  jealous, 

•Saw  and  |  loved  an  |  English  |  knight. 

4. 
4  Tell  me,  |  captive,  |  why  in  |  anguish 

have  |  dragged  thee  |  hereto  |  dwell, 
W la-re  poor  |  Christians,  |  as  they  |  languish, 

Hear  no  |  sound  of  |  sabbath  |  bell? '  ' 
THOMAS  C'AMi'KKi.L  :   1'ui-ficul  II  o;7>v,  p.  115. 


I7/. —  The  Pal,  ////  Hymn. 


led  |  be  thy  |  name  for  |  i 
•i'  |  life  the  |  guard  and  |  giver  ! 
Tl;ou  rav.st  i  guard  thy  |  creatures  |  sleeping, 
the  '  " 


I  have  |  seen  thy  |  wondrous  |  might 
Through  the  |  shadows  |  of  this  |  night  ! 
Thou,  who  |  slumbcr'st  |  not,  nor 


|     ;-,-•»<*  1/41.^       |     vi  vii  bit  L  \    Q      [     .^,»    v    pui,,,      i    UAJU)      fV  UVP     I     O1U.II1UW1    O  b     I     111' ty      U\S*      |     •JA^W-^ 

heart  long  |  broke  with  |  wet-pir. .  re  |  they  thoti  |  kindly  |  kcepcst ! 


Kide  the     -  will 

ii ilnnt  |  tlic  hill, 

\     -I'!/    \U'>     |     - 

- 

I  |  well  I  | 'know  it  ! 
Tl.ou  hast  |  done,  and  |  Thou  wilt  |  do  it  ! 

>f  |  stillness  |  and  of  |  motion  ! 
Ol  the  |  rainbow  |  and  the  |  ocean  ! 
Ot  the  |  mountain,  |  rock,  and  |  river  ! 
Blessed  |  be  Thy  |  name  for  |  ever  ! 


59 


Spirits,  |  from  the  |  ocean  |  under, 
Liquid  |  flame,  and  |  levell'd  |  thunder, 
Need  not  |  waken  |  nor  a  |  -larm  them — 
All  com  |  -bincd,  they  |  cannot  |  harm  them. 
God  of  |  evening's  |  yellow  |  ray, 
God  of  |  yonder  |  dawning  |  day, 
Thine  the  |  flaming  |  sphere  of  |  light ! 
Thine  the  |  darkness  |  of  the  |  night  ! 
Thine  are  |  all  the  |  gems  of  |  even, 
God  of  |  angels  !  |  God  of  |  heaven  !  " 
HOGG  :   Mat/or  of  the  Moor,  Poems,  p.  206. 


842 


THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


Example  VIIL—A  Short  Song,  of  Two  Stanzas. 


1. 

1  Stay,  my  |  charmer,  |  can  you  |  leave  me  ? 
Cruel,  |  cruel,  |  to  de  |  -ceive  me  !  [me  : 
Well  you  |  know  how  |  much  you  |  grieve 


Cruel 
Cruel 


charmer, 
charmer, 


1. 


can  you 
can  you 


go? 


Example  IX.- 


Never  |  wedding,  |  ever  |  wooing, 
Still  a  |  lovelorn  |  heart  pur  |  -suing, 
Read  you  |  not  the  |  wrong  you're  |  doing, 

In  my  |  cheek's  pale  |  hue  ? 
All  my.  |  life  with  |  sorrow  |  strewing, 

Wed,  or  |  cease  to  |  woo. 


2. 

By  my  |  love,  so  |  ill  re  |  -quited ; 
By  the  |  faith  you  |  fondly  |  plighted  ; 
By  the  |  pangs  of  |  lovers  |  slighted ; 

Do  not,  |  do  not  |  leave  me  |  so  ! 

Do  not,  j  do  not  |  leave  me  |  so  !  " 
ROBERT  BURNS  :  Select  Works,  Vol.  ii,  p.  129. 

Lingering  Courtship. 

Now  half  |  quench'd  ap  |  -pears, 
Damp' d,  and  |  wavering,  \  and  be  |  -nighted 
Midst  my  |  sighs  and  |  tears. 


2. 

Rivals  |  banish'd,  |  bosoms  |  plighted, 
Still  our  |  days  are  |  disu  |  -nited ; 
Now  the  |  lamp  of  |  hope  is  |  lighted, 


Charms  you  |  call  your  |  dearest  |  blessing, 
Lips  that  |  thrill  at  |  your  ca  |  -ressing, 
Eyes  a  |  mutual  \  soul  con  |  -fessing, 

Soon  you'll  |  make  them  |  grow 
Dim,  and  |  worthless  |  your  pos  |  -sessing, 

Not  with  |  age,  but  j  woe  !  " 
CAMPBELL:  Everett's  System  of  Versification,  p.  91. 

Example  X. — "Boadicea." — Four  Stanzas  from  Eleven. 

Princess  !  |  if  our  |  aged  |  eyes 

Weep  up  |  -on  thy  |  matchless  |  wrongs, 

'Tis  be  |  -cause  re  |  -sentment  |  ties 
All  the  |  terrors  |  of  our  |  tongues. 


When  the  |  British  |  warrior  |  queen, 
Bleeding  |  from  the  |  Roman  |  rods, 

Sought,  with  |  an  in  |  -dignant  |  mienj 
Counsel  |  of  her  |  country's  |  gods, 


2. 
Sage  be  |  -neath  the  |  spreading  |  oak, 

Sat  the  |  Druid,  |  hoary  |  chief; 
Every  \  burning  |  word  he  |  spoke 

Full  of  |  rage,  and  |  full  of  |  grief. 


4. 


Example  XL- 


ROME  SHALL  |  PERISH —  |  write  that  |  word 
In  the  |  blood  that  |  she  hath  |  spilt ; 

Perish,  |  hopeless  |  and  ab  |  -horr'd, 
Deep  in  |  ruin  |  as  in  |  guilt." 

WILLIAM  COWPER  :  Poems,  Vol.  ii,  p.  241. 
"The  Thunder  Storm"— Two  Stanzas  from  Ten. 


'  Now  in  |  deep  and  |  dreadful  |  gloom, 
Clouds  on  |  clouds  por  |  -tentous  |  spread, 

Black  as  |  if  the  |  day  of  |  doom 

Hung  o'er  |  Nature's  |  shrinking  |  head : 

Lo !  the  |  lightning  |  breaks  from  |  high, 

God  is  |  coming  !  |  — God  is  |  nigh  ! 


Hear  ye  |  not  his  |  chariot  \  wheels, 

As  the  |  mighty  |  thunder  |  rolls  ? 
Nature,  |  startled  |  Nature  |  reels, 

From  the  |  centre  |  to  the  |  poles  : 
Tremble  !  |  —Ocean,  |  Earth,  and  |  Sky  ! 
Tremble  !  |  — God  is  |  passing  |  by  !  " 

J.  MONTGOMERY  :   Wanderer  of  Switzerland,  and  other  Poems,  p.  130. 
Example  XII.—11  The  Triumphs  of  Owen,"  King  of  North  Wales* 


•  Owen's  |  praise  de  |  -mands  my  song, 
Owen  |  swift  and  |  Owen  |  strong ; 
Fairest  |  flow'r  of  |  Roderics  \  stem, 
Gwyneth's  |  shield,  and  |  Britain's  |  gem. 
He  nor  |  heaps  his  |  brooded  |  stores, 
Nor  the  |  whole  pro  |  -fusely  |  pours ; 
Lord  of  |  every  \  regal  |  art, 
Liberal  \  hand  and  |  open  |  heart. 

Big  with  |  hosts  of  |  mighty  |  name, 
Squadrons  |  three  a  |  -gainst  him  |  came 
This  the  |  force  of  |  Eirin  |  hiding, 
Side  by  |  side  as  |  proudly  |  riding, 
On  her  |  shadow  |  long  and  |  gay, 
Lochlin  |  ploughs  the  |  watery  \  way : 
There  the  |  Norman  |  sails  a  |  -far 
Catch  the  |  winds,  and  |  join  the  |  war ; 
Black  and  |  huge,  a  |  -long  they  |  sweep, 
Burthens  |  of  the  |  angry  |  deep. 


Dauntless  |  on  his  |  native  |  sands, 
The  Drag  \  -on-son  \  of  Mo  \  -na  stands  ;f 
In  glit  |  -tering  arms  \  and  glo  \  -ry  drest, 
High  he  |  rears  his  |  ruby  |  crest. 
There  the  |  thundering  \  strokes  be  [  -gin, 
There  the  |  press,  and  |  there  the  |  din ; 
Taly  |  -malfra's  |  rocky  |  shore 
Echoing  \  to  the  |  battle's  |  roar ; 
Where  his  |  glowing  |  eyeballs  |  turn, 
Thousand  |  banners  |  round  him  |  burn. 
Where  he  |  points  his  |  purple  |  spear, 
Hasty,  |  hasty  |  rout  is  |  there, 
Marking  |  with  in  |  -dignant  |  eye 
Fear  to  |  stop,  and  |  shame  to  |  fly. 
There  Con  |  -fusion,  |  Terror's  |  child, 
Conflict  |  fierce,  and  |  Ruin  |  wild, 
Ago  |  -ny,  that  |  pants  for  |  breath, 
Despair,  \  and  HON  |  -OURA  I  -BLE  DEATH." 


THOMAS  GRAY  :  Johnson's  British  Poets,  Vol.  vii,  p.  285. 

*  "  Owen  succeeded  his  father  Griffin  in  the  principality  of  North  Wales,  A.  D.  1120.  This  battle  was  fought  near 
forty  years  afterwards .  North  Wales  is  called,  in  the  fourth  line,  'Gwyneth;'  and  lLochlinJ  in  the  four- 
teenth, is  Denmark." —  Gray. 

t  "The  red  dragon  is  the  device  of  Cadwallader,  which  all  his  descendants  bore  on  their  banners.5'— Gray, 


CHAP.  IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. — ORDER  II. TROCIIAICS. 


843 


Example  XIIL— -"  Grongar  Hill"— First  Twenty-six  Lines. 


'  Silent  |  Nymph,  with  |  curious  \  eye, 
Who,  the  |  purple  |  eve,  dost  |  lie 
On  the  |  mountain's  |  lonely  |  van, 
Beyond  \  the  noise  \  of  bus  \  -y  man  ; 
Painting  |  fair  the  |  form  of  |  things, 
While  the  |  yellow  |  linnet  |  sings ; 
Or  the  |  tuneful  |  nightin  |  -gale 
Charms  the  |  forest  |  with  her  |  tale ; 
Come,  with  j  all  thy  |  various  \  hues, 
Come,  and  |  aid  thy  |  sister  |  Muse. 
Now,  while  |  Phoebus,  |  riding  |  high, 
Gives  las  I  -tre  to  \  the  land  \  and  sky, 
Grongar  j  Hill  in  |  -vites  my  |  sonj£ 


Draw  the  |  landscape  |  bright  and  |  strong  ; 
Grongar,  |  in  whose  |  mossy  |  cells, 
Sweetly  |  -musing  |  Quiet  |  dwells  ; 
Grongar,  |  in  whose  |  silent  |  shade, 
For  the  |  modest  |  Muses  |  made, 


So  oft  \  I  have,  \  the  eve     -ning  still, 
At  the  |  fountain  |  of  a    rill, 
Sat  up  j  -on  a  |  flowery     bed, 
With  my  |  hand  be  |  -neath  my  |  head, 
While  stray'd  \  my  eyes  \  o'er  Tow  \  -y's  flood, 
Over  |  mead  and  |  over  |  wood, 
From  house  \  to  house,  \fromhill  \  to  hill, 
Till  Con  |  -templa  \  -tion  had  \  her  fill." 
JOHN  DYER  :  Johnson's  British  Poets,  Vol.  vii,  p.  65. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — This  is  the  most  common  of  our  trochaic  measures  ;  and  it  seems  to  be  equally  popu- 
lar, whether  written  with  single  rhyme,  or  with  double  ;  in  stanzas,  or  in  couplets ;  alone,  or  with 
some  intentional  intermixture.  By  a  careful  choice  of  words  and  style,  it  may  be  adapted  to  all 
sorts  of  subjects,  grave,  or  gay ;  quaint,  or  pathetic;  as  may  the  corresponding  iambic  metre, 
with  which  it  is  often  more  or  less  mingled,  as  we  see  in  some  of  the  examples  above.  Milton's 
JL' Allegro,  or  Gay  Mood,  has  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  lines  ;  ninety-eight  of  which  are  iambics  ; 
fifty-four,  trochaic  tetrameters  ;  a  very  few  of  each  order  having  double  rhymes.  These  orders 
the  poet  has  not — "very  ingeniously  alternated"  as  Everett  avers;  but  has  simply  interspersed, 
or  commingled,  with  little  or  no  regard  to  alternation.  His  II  Penseroso,  or  Grave  Mood,  has 
twenty-seven  trochaic  tetrameters,  mixed  irregularly  with  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  iambics. 

OBS.  2. — Everett,  who  divides  our  trochaic  tetrameters  into  two  species  of  metre,  imagines  that 
the  catalectic  form,  or  that  which  is  single-rhymed,  "has  a  solemn  effect," — "imparts  to  all  pieces 
more  dignity  than  any  of  the  other  short  measures," — "  that  no  trivial  or  humorous  subject  should 


— "  remarkably  well  adapted  to  lively  subjects," — and  "  peculiarly  expressive  of  the  eagerness  and 
fickleness  of  the  passion  of  love." — Ib.  p.  90.  These  pretended  metrical  characteristics  seem 
scarcely  more  worthy  of  reliance,  than  astrological  predictions,  or  the  oracular  guessings  of  our 
modern  craniologists. 

OBS.  3. — Dr.  Campbell  repeats  a  suggestion  of  the  older  critics,  that  gayety  belongs  naturally 
to  all  trochaics.  as  such,  and  gravity  or  grandeur,  as  naturally,  to  iambics  ;  and  he  attempts  to 
find  a  reason  for  the  fact;  while,  perhaps,  even  here — more  plausible  though  the  supposition  is — 
the  fact  may  be  at  least  half  imaginary.  "  The  iambus,"  says  he,  "is  expressive  of  dignity  and 
grandeur;  the  trochee,  on  the  contrary,  according  to  Aristotle,  (Rhet.  Lib.  Ill,)  is  frolicsome  and 
my.  It  were  difficult  to  assign  a  reason  of  this  difference  that  would  be  satisfactory ;  but  of  the 
thing  itself,  I  imagine,  most  people  will  be  sensible  on  comparing  the  two  kinds  together.  I  know 
not  whether  it  will  be  admitted  as  a  sufficient  reason,  that  the  distinction  into  metrical  feet  hath 
a  much  greater  influence  in  poetry  on  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  voice,  than  the  distinction  into 
words  ;  and  if  so,  when  the  cadences  happen  mostly  after  the  long  syllables,  the  verse  will  natu- 
rally have  an  air  of  greater  gravity  than  when  they  happen  mostly  after  the  short." — Campbell's 
Philosophy  of  Rhetoric,  p.  &3  1. 

MEASURE  VI.— TROCHAIC  OF  THREE  FEET,  OR  TRIMETER. 

Example  I. —  Youth  and  Age  Contrasted. 


"  Crabbed  |  age  and  |  youth 
Cannot  |  live  to  |  -gether ; 

Youth  is  j  full  of  j  pleasance, 
Age  is  I  full  of  j  care : 

Youth,  like  |  summer  |  mom, 
Age,  like  |  winter  |  weather ; 

Youth,  like  |  summer,  |  brave ; 


Age,  like  |  winter,  |  bare. 

Youth  is  |  full  of  |  sport, 

Age's  |  breath  is  |  short, 
Youth  is  |  nimble,  |  age  is  |  lame ; 

Youth  is  |  hot  and  |  bold, 

Age  is  I  weak  and  |  cold ; 
Youth  is  I  wild,  and  |  age  is  |  tame." 


3. 


The  Passionate  Pilgrim ;  SINGER'S  SHAKSPEARE,  Vol.  ii,  p.  594. 
Example  II. — Common  Sense  and  Genius. 


"  While  I  |  touch  the  |  string, 
Wreathe  my  |  brows  with  |  laurel ; 
For  the  |  tale  I  |  sing, 
Has,  for  [  once,  a  |  moral ! 


4. 


Common  |  Sense  went  |  on, 
Many  |  wise  things  |  saying ; 
While  the  |  light  that  |  shone,1; 
Soon  set  |  Genius  |  straying. 


5. 

One  his  |  eye  ne'er  I  rais'd 
From  the  |  path  be  |  -fore  him ; 
T*  other  |  idly  |  gaz'd 
On  each  |  night-cloud  |  o'er  him. 

6. 

While  I  |  touch  the  |  string, 
Wreathe  my  |  brows  with  |  laurel ; 
For  the  |  tale  I  |  sing, 
Has,  for  |  once,  a  |  moral ! 


844 


TIIE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


7. 

So  they  |  came,  at  |  last, 
To  a  |  shady  |  river ; 
Common  |  Sense  soon  |  pass'd 
Safe, — as  |  he  doth  |  ever. 


8. 

While  the  |  boy  whose  |  look 
Was  in  |  heav'n  that  |  minute, 
Never  |  saw  the  |  brook, — 
But  turn  |  -bled  head  \  -long  in  it !  " 


Six  Stanzas  from  Twelve. — MOORE'S  MELODIES,  p.  271. 

This  short  measure  is  much  oftener  used  in  stanzas,  than  in  couplets.     It  is,   in  many 
instances,  combined  with  some  different  order  or  metre  of  verse,  as  in  the  following  : — 

Example  III. — Part  of  a  Song. 


"  Go  where  |  glory  |  waits  thee, 
But  while  j  fame  e  |  -lates  thee, 

Oh!  still  |  remain  \  -ber  me. 
When  the  |  praise  thou  |  meetest, 
To  thine  |  ear  is  |  sweetest, 

Oh !  then  \  remem  \  -bcr  me. 
Other  |  arms  may  |  press  thee, 
Dearer  |  friends  ca  |  -ress  thee, 
All  the  |  joys  that  |  bless  thee, 

Sweeter  |  far  may  |  be  : 
But  when  |  friends  are  |  nearest, 
And  when  j  joys  are  |  dearest, 

Oh!  then  \  remem  \  -ber  me. 


Example  IV. 
'  On  thy  |  shady  | 
Care  its  |  load  dis 
Is  lulTd  |  to  gen 


When,  at  |  eve,  thou  |  rovest, 
By  the  |  star  thou  |  lovest, 

Oh !  then  \  remem  \  -ber  me. 
Think  when  |  home  re  |  -turning, 
Bright  we've  |  seen  it  |  burning ; 

Oh  !  thus  |  remem  \  -ber  me. 
Oft  as  |  summer  |  closes, 
When  thine  |  eye  re  |  -poses 
On  its  |  ling'ring  |  roses, 

Once  so  |  loved  by  |  thee, 
Think  of  |  her  who  |  wove  them, 
Her  who  |  made  thee  |  love  them ; 

Oh!  then  \  remem  \  -ber  me." 
MOORE'S  Melodies,  Songs,  and  Airs,  p.  107. 

•From  an  Ode  to  the  Thames. 

Britain  |  thus  dis  |  -arming, 
Nothing  |  her  a  |  -larming, 

Shall  sleep  \  on  Cce  \  -sar's  breast." 
,  Vol.  iv, 


margin, 
-charging, 
-tie  rest : 

See  HOWE'S  POEMS  :  Johnson's  British  Poets 


p.  58. 


Example  V.—"The  True  Poet."— First  Two  of  Nine  Stanzas. 


1. 
"  Poet  |  of  the  |  heart, 

Delving  |  in  its  |  mine, 
From  man  |  -kind  a  |  -part, 

Yet  where  |  jewels  |  shine  ; 
Heaving  |  upward  |  to  the  |  light, 
Precious  |  wealth  that  |  charms  the  |  sight  ; 


2. 


Toil  thou  |  still,  deep  |  down, 

For  earth's  |  hidden  |  gems  ; 
They  shall  |  deck  a  |  crown, 

Blaze  in  |  dia  |  -dems  ; 
And  when  \  thy  hand  \  shall  fall  \  to  rest, 
Brightly  |  jewel  |  beauty's  |  breast." 


JANE  E.  LOCKE  :  N.  Y.  Evening  Post ;   The  Examiner,  No. 


Example  VI.  —  "Summer  Longim 

1. 
"Ah  !  my  |  heart  is  |  ever  |  waiting, 

Waiting  |  for  the  |  May,  — 
Waiting  |  for  the  |  pleasant  |  rambles, 
Where  the  |  fragrant  |  hawthorn  |  brambles, 
With  the  |  woodbine  |  alter  |  -nating, 

Scent  the  |  dewy  |  way. 
Ah.  !  my  |  heart  is  |  weary  |  waiting, 
Waiting  |  for  the  |  May. 


i."—  First  Two  of  Five  Stanzas. 

2. 
Ah  !  my  |  heart  is  |  sick  with  |  longing, 

Longing  |  for  the  |  May,  — 
Longing  |  to  e  |  -scape  from  |  study, 
To  the  |  young  face  |  fair  and  |  ruddy, 
And  the  |  thousand  |  charms  be  |  -longing 

To  the  |  Summer's  |  day. 
Ah  !  my  |  heart  is  |  sick  with  |  longing, 
Longing  |  for  the  |  May." 


D.  F.  M.  C.  :"  Dublin  University  Magazine  ;  Liberator,  No.  952. 
MEASURE  VIL— TROCHAIC  OF  TWO  FEET,  OR  DIMETER. 


1. 

"My  flocks  |  feed  not, 
My  ewes  |  breed  not, 
My  rams  |  speed  not, 

All  is  |  amiss  ; 

Love's  de  |  -nying, 

Faith's  de  J  -fying, 

Heart's  re  |  -nying, 

Causer  |  of  this." 


Example  I. — Tliree  Short  Excerpts. 

2. 

"  In  black  |  mourn  I, 
All  fears  |  scorn  I, 
Love  hath  |  lorn  me, 
Living  |  in  thrall ; 
Heart  is  |  bleeding, 
All  help  |  needing, 
(Cruel  |  speeding,) 
Fraughted  |  with  gall." 


3. 

Clear  wells 
Sweet  birds 


spring  not, 
sing  not, 


Loud  bells  |  ring  not 

Cheerfully  ; 
Herd"-  stand  |  weeping, 
Flocks  all  |  sleeping, 
Nymphs   back  |  creeping 

Fearfully:' 


SIIAK.SPEARE  :   The  Passionate  Pilgrim.   See  Sec.  xv. 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY.  -  VERSIFICATION.  -  ORDER  II.  -  TROCHAIC?. 


845 


Example  If.  —  Xprcimen  irith  Xi/n/lc  I  tin/me. 
"To  Quinbtts  r/csfrin,  the  Man-  Mountain." 


"  In  a  |  -iv. 

i "h  thy  |  si/e  r 
M.iv  my 

S\vell  with  |  praise, 
Worthy  |  thee, 
"\Vorthy  | 
Muse,  in  |  -spire 
All  thy  |  lire  ! 
Bards  of  |  old 
Of  him  |  told, 
"When  they  |  said 

Propp'd  the  |  skies  : 
See  !      and  |  />. 
cyct ! 


i/our 


\  LII.Ul'UTIAN    ODE. 
II. 

See  him  |  stride 
Valleys  |  wide : 
Over  |  woods, 
|  Hoods, 

"When,  he  |  treads, 
Mountains'  |  heads 
Groan  and  |  shake  : 
Armies  |  quake, 
Lest  his  |  spurn 
Over  |  -turn 
Man  and  |  steed  : 
Troops,  take  |  heed  ! 
Left  and  |  ri^ht 
Speed  your  (flight! 
Lest  an  |  host 
Beneath  \  his  foot  |  be  lost 


III. 

'Turn'd  a  |  -side 
From  his  |  hide, 
Safe  from  |  wound, 
Darts  re  |  -bound. 
From  his  |  nose, 
Clouds  he  |  blows ; 
When  he  |  speaks, 
Thunder  |  breaks  ! 
"When  he  )  • 
Famine  |  threats ! 
When  he  |  drinks, 
Xeptune  |  shrinks  ! 
Nigh  thy  |  ear, 
In  mid  |  air, 
On  thy  |  hand, 
Let  me  |  stand. 
So  shall  |  I 


[sky." 

(Lofty  |  poet !)  touch  the 
Joux  GAY  :  Johnson's  British  Poets,  Vol.  vii,  p.  376. 


Example  II L — Two  Feet  with  Four. 

"  Oh,  the  |  pleasing,  |  pleasing  |  anguish,      I  Charms  trans  |  -porting  ! 

When  we  f  love,  and  |  when  we  |  languish!  Fancy  |  viewing 


-  ]  rising  : 
Thoughts  sur  |  -pi 
ire  |  court: 


Joys  en  |  -suing  ! 
Oh,  the  |  pleasing,  |  pleasing  |  anguish  ! 
ADDISON'S  Rosamond,  Act  i,  Scene  G. 


-•  of  Three  Syllables  with  Longer  Metres. 


1.  WITH  TKOCHAICS. 
"  Or  we  |  sometimes  |  pass  an  |  hour 

Under  |  a  green  |  willow, 
That  de  |  -fends  us  |  from  the  |  shower, 
Making  |  earth  our  |  pillow ; 
Where  we  |  may 
:ik  and  |  pray, 
•re  |  death  ' 
>  our  |  breath : 
Other  |  : 

And  to  |  be  la  |  -mented."* 


2.  WITH  IAMBICS. 
"  What  sounds  |  were  heard, 
What  scenes  |  appear' d, 
O'er  all  |  the  drear  |  -y  coasts  ! 
Dreadful  |  gleams, 
Dismal  |  screams, 
Fires  that  |  glow, 
Shrieks  of  |  wo, 
Sullen  |  moan-, 
Hollow  |  groans, 

And  cries  |  of  tor  |  -tur'd  ghosts  ! " 
POPK  :  s  Vol.  vi,  p.  315. 


]'<snmp!<>.   V. — '"The  Shower" — In  Four  U<  ijnlar 


1. 
"  In  a  |  valley  |  that  I  |  know — 

py  |  scone  ! 

There  are  !  sloping  |  low, 

There  the  |  fairest  |  iiowers  |  blow, 
And  the  |  brightest  ]  waters  |  ilo\v, 

All  sc  |  -: •. 

But  the  |  sweetest  |  thing  to  |  sec, 
It'  you  |  ask  the  |  dripping 
Or" the  |  harvest  |  -hoping  |  swain, 
Is  tlie  |  Rain. 

Ah,  the  |  dwellers  |  of  the  |  town, 

Il-.w  the  y  I  sigh, — 
How  \m  |  -grateful  |  -ly  they  |  frown, 


When    the  |  cloud-king  |  shakes  'his  | 
crown, 

And  the  |  pearls  come  |  pouring  |  down 

From  the  |  sky  ! 

They  de  |  -sery  no  |  eh'arm  at  |  all 
Where  the  |  sparkling  (jewels  |  fall, 
And  each  |  moment  |  of  the  |  shower, 
;ns  an  |  hour ! 

3. 

Yet  there's  |  something  |  very  |  sweet 

In  the  |  si^ht, 

When  the  |  crystal  |  currents  |  meet 
In  the  |  dry  and  |  dusty  |  street, 
And  they  f  wrestle  |  with  the  |  heat, 

In  their  |  might ! 


*  This  passage,  or  imple.  in  mai  F.verelfc 

• 

also  hare  b« 
:nell,  lUirii.  I'luirri.; 

an  1  r.uiri  Irive  "Stop,"  KI  the  •  L-htli  line,  win  ^  has,  for  the  ninth  line,  "Others' 

jojs,";n  ;vc  tlicrest.— G.  B. 


846 


THE   GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


While  they  |  seem  to  |  hold  a  |  talk 
With  the  |  stones  a  |  -long  the  |  walk, 
And  re  |  -mind  them  |  of  the  |  rule, 
To  « keep  |  cool ! ' 

4. 
Ay,  but  |  in  that  |  quiet  |  dell, 

Ever  |  fair, 

Still  the  |  Lord  doth  |  all  things  |  well, 
Rev.  RALPH 


When     his  |  clouds     with  |  blessings  | 

swell, 
And  they  |  break  a  |  brimming  |  shell 

On  the  |  air  ; 

There  the  |  shower  |  hath  its  |  charms, 
Sweet  and  |  welcome  |  to  the  |  farms 
As  they  |  listen  |  to  its  |  voice, 
And  re  |  -joice  !  " 


[OYT'S  Poems  :   The  Examiner,  Nov.  6,   1847. 


Example  VL—"A  Good  Name" — Two  Beautiful  Little  Stanzas. 


1. 
"  Children,  |  choose  it, 

Don't  re  |  -fuse  it, 
'Tis  a  |  precious  |  dia  |  -dem ; 
Highly  |  prize  it, 
Don't  de  |  -spise  it, 
You  will  |  need  it  |  when  you're  |  men 


2. 

Love  and  |  cherish, 

Keep  and  |  nourish, 
'Tis  more  |  precious  |  far  than 

Watch  and  |  guard  it, 

Don't  dis  |  -card  it, 
You  will  |  need  it  |  when  you' re  |  old." 


The  Family  Christian  Almanac  for  1850,  p.  20. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — Trochaics  of  two  feet,  like  those  of  three,  are,  more  frequently  than  otherwise,  found 
in  connexion  with  longer  lines,  as  in  some  of  the  examples  above  cited.  The  trochaic  line  of  three 
syllables,  which  our  prosodists  in  general  describe  as  consisting,  not  of  two  feet,  but  "of  one 
Trochee  and  a  long  syllable,"  may,  when  it  stands  alone,  be  supposed  to  consist  of  one  amphimac; 
but,  since  this  species  of  foot  is  not  admitted  by  all,  and  is  reckoned  a  secondary  one  by  those  who 
do  admit  it,  the  better  practice  is,  to  divide  even  the  three  syllables  into  two  feet,  as  above. 

OBS.  2. — Murray,  Hart,  Weld,  and  many  others,  erroneously  affirm,  that,  "  The  shortest  Tro- 
«haio  verse  in  our  language,  consists  of  one  Trochee  and  a  long  syllable." — Murray's  Gram.  p. 
256 ;  Hart's,  First  Edition,  p.  186  ;  Weld's,  Second  Edition,  p.  210.  The  error  of  this  will  be 
shown  by  examples  below — examples  of  true  "Trochaic  Manometer,"  and  not  of  Dimeter  mistaken 
for  it.  like  Weld's,  Hart's,  or  Murray's. 


pression  of  love,  or  of  its  disappointment,  is  "  any  very  serious  purpose"  or  not,  I  leave  to  vhe 
decision  of  the  reader.  What  lack  of  dignity  or  seriousness  there  is,  in  several  of  the  foregoing 
examples,  especially  the  last  two,  I  think  it  not  easy  to  discover 

MEASURE  VIII.— TROCHAIC  OF  ONE  FOOT,  OR  MONOMETER. 


Examples  with 

1.  WITH  IAMBICS. 

"  From     walk  |  to     walk,  |  from    shade  |  to 
shade,  [vey'd, 

From  stream  |  to  purl  |  -ing  stream  |  con- 
Through  all  |  the  ma  |  -zes  of  |  the  grove, 
Through    all  |  the   ming  |  -ling   tracks  |  I 
Turning,  [rove, 

Burning, 
Changing, 
Ranging, 
Full  of  |  grief  and  |  full  of  |  love." 

ADDISON'S  Rosamond,  Act  I,  Sc.  4  : 

Everett's  Versification,  p.  81. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — The  metres  acknowledged  in  our  ordinary  schemes  of  prosody,  scarcely  amount,  with 
all  their  "  boundless  variety,"  to  more  than  one  half,  or  three  quarters,  of  what  may  be  found  in  ac- 
tual use  somewhere.  Among  the  foregoing  examples,  are  some  which  are  longer,  and  some  which 


Longer  Metres. 

2.     WITH  ANAPESTICS,  &c. 
"  To  love  and  to  languish, 

To  sigh  |  and  complain, 
How  cruel' s  the"  anguish  ! 
How  torment  |  -ing  thd  pain  ! 
Suing, 
Pursuing, 
Flying, 
Denying, 

O  the  curse  |  of  disdain  ! 
How  torment  |  -ing's  the  pain  !  " 
GEO.  GRANVILLE  :  Br.  Poets,  Vol.  v,  p.  31. 


examples  of  it  in  their  prosodies. 

OBS.  2.—"  Trochaic  of  One  foot,"  as  well  as  "  Iambic  of  One  foot,"  was,  I  believe,  first  recog- 
nized, prosodically ,  in  Brown's  Institutes  of  English  Grammar,  a  work  first  published  in  1823.  Since 
that  time,  both  have  obtained  acknowledgement  in  sundry  schemes  of  versification,  contained  in 
the  new  grammars;  as  in  Farnum's,  and  Hallock's,  of  1842;  in  Pardon  Davis's,  of  1845  ;  in  S.  W. 
Clark's,  and  S.  S.  Greene's,  of  1848 ;  in  Professor  Fowler's,  of  1850.  Wells,  in  his  School  Gram- 
mar, of  1846,  and  D.  C.  Allen,  in  an  other,  of  1847,  give  to  the  length  of  lines  a  laxity  positively 
absurd  :  "Rhymed  verses,"  say  they,  "  may  consist  of  any  number  of  syllables." — Wells,  1st  Ed., 
p.  187  ;  late  Ed.,  204  ;  Allen,  p.  88.  Everett  has  recognized  "  The  line  of  a  single  Trochee,"  though 
he  repudiates  some  long  measures  that  are  much  more  extensively  authorized. 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. — ORDER  III. ANAPESTICS.  847 

ORDER    III.  — ANAPESTIC  VERSE. 

In  full  Anapestic  verse,  the  stress  is  laid  on  every  third  syllable,  the  first  two  sylla- 
bles of  each  foot  being  short.  The  first  foot  of  an  anapestic  line,  may  be  an  iambus. 
This  is  the  most  frequent  diversification  of  the  order.  But,  as  a  diversification,  it  is, 
of  course,  not  regular  or  uniform.  The  stated  or  uniform  adoption  of  the  iambus  for 
a  part  of  each  line,  and  of  the  anapest  for  the  residue  of  it,  produces  verse  of  the  Com- 
posite Order.  As  the  anapest  ends  with  a  long  syllable,  its  rhymes  are  naturally 
single  ;  and  a  short  syllable  after  this,  producing  double  rhyme,  is,  of  course,  super- 
numerary :  so  are  the  two,  when  the  rhyme  is  triple.  Some  prosodists  suppose,  a  sur- 
plus at  the  end  of  a  line  may  compensate  for  a  deficiency  at  the  beginning  of  the  next 
line ;  but  this  I  judge  to  be  an  error,  or  at  least  the  indulgence  of  a  questionable 
license.  The  following  passage  has  two  examples  of  what  may  have  been  meant  for 
such  compensation,  the  author  having  used  a  dash  where  I  have  inserted  what  seems 
to  be  a  necessary  word  : — 

"  Apol  |  -lo  smil'd  shrewd  |  -ly,  and  bade  |  him  sit  down, 

With  '  Well,  |  Mr.  Scott,  |  you  have  man  |  -aged  the  town ; 

Now  pray,  |  copy  less —  |  have  a  lit  |  -tie  temer  |  -ity — 

[And]  Try  |  if  you  can't  I  also  man  |  -age  poster  |  -ity. 

[For]  All  |  you  add  now  |  only  les  |  -sens  your  cred  |  -it ; 

And  how  |  could  you  think,  |  too,  of  tak  |  -ing  to  ed  |  -ite  ?  ' : 

LEIGH  HUNT'S  Feast  of  the  Poets,  page  20. 

The  anapestic  measures  are  few ;  because  their  feet  are  long,  and  no  poet  has  chosen 
to  set  a  great  many  in  a  line.  Possibly  lines  of  five  anapests,  or  of  four  and  an  initial 
iambus,  might  be  written  ;  for  these  would  scarcely  equal  in  length  some  of  the  iambics 
and  trochaics  already  exhibited.  But  I  do  not  find  any  examples  of  such  metre.  The 
longest  anapestics  that  have  gained  my  notice,  are  of  fourteen  syllables,  being  tetram- 
eters with  triple  rhyme,  or  lines  of  four  anapests  and  two  short  surplus  syllables. 
This  order  consists  therefore  of  measures  reducible  to  the  following  heads  : — 

MEASURE  I.— ANAPESTIC  OF  FOUR  FEET,  OR  TETRAMETER. 

Example  I. — A  "Postscript" — An  Example  with  Hypermeter. 
"  Lean  Tom,  |  when  I  saw  |  him,  last  week,  |  on  his  horse  \  awry, 
Threaten' d  loud  |  -ly  to  turn  |  me  to  stone  |  with  his  sor  \  -eery. 
But,  I  think,  |  little  Dan,  |  that,  in  spite  I  of  what  our  \foe  says, 
He  will  find  |  I  read  Ov  |  -id  and  his  |  Metamor  |  -phases. 
For,  omit  |  -ting  the  first,  |  (where  I  make  |  a  compar  \  -ison, 
With  a  sort  |  of  allu  |  -sion  to  Put  |  -land  or  Har  \  -mow,) 
Yet,  by  |  my  descrip  |  -tion,  you'll  find  |  he  in  short  \  is 
A  pack  |  and  a  gar  |  -ran,  a  top  |  and  a  tor  \  -toise. 
So  I  hope  |  from  hencefor  |  -ward  you  ne'er  |  will  ask,  can  \  I  maul 
Tins  teas  |  -ing,  conceit  |  -ed,  rude,  in  |  -solent  an  \  -imalf 
And,  if  |  this  rebuke  |  might  be  turn'd  |  to  his  ben  \  -efit, 
(For  I  pit  |  -y  the  man,)  |  I  should  |  be  glad  then  \  of  it." 

SWIFT'S  POEMS  :  Johnsons  British  Poets,  Vol.  v,  p.  324. 
Example  II.— " The  Feast  of  the  Poets" — First  Twelve  Lines. 
"  Tf  other  day,  |  as  Apol  |  -lo  sat  pitch  |  -ing  his  darts 
Through  the  clouds  |  of  Xovem  |  -ber,  by  fits  |  and  by  starts, 
He  began  |  to  consid  |  -er  how  long  |  it  had  been 
Since  the  bards  |  of  Old  Eng  |  -land  had  all  |  been  rung  in. 
'  I  think,'  |  said  the  god,  |  recollect  |  -ing,  (and  then 
He  fell  twid  |  -dling  a  sun  |  -beam  as  I  |  may  my  |  pen,) 
•  I  think—  |  let  me  see —  |  yes,  it  is,  |  I  declare, 
As  long  |  ago  now  |  as  that  Buck  |  -ingham  there  : 
And  yet  [  I  can't  see  I  why  I've  been  |  so  remiss, 
Unless  |  it  may  be —  |  and  it  cer  |  -tainly  is, 
That  since  Dry  I  -den's  fine  ver  |  -ses  and  Mil  |  -ton's  sublime, 
I  have  fair  |  -ly  been  sick  |  of  their  sing  |  -song  and  rhyme.'  " 

LEIGH  Hr.vr  :  Poems,  New-York  Edition,  of  1814. 

Example  HI. — The  Crowning  of  Four  Favourites. 
"  Then,  '  Come,'  |  cried  the  god  |  in  his  el  |  -egant  mirth, 
\Let  us  make  |  us  a  heav'n  |  of  our  own  |  upon  earth, 


848 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


And  wake,  |  with,  the  lips  |  that  we  dip  |  in  our  bowls, 

That  divin  |  -est  of  mu  |  -sic — conge  |  -nial  souls.' 

So  say  |  -ing,  he  led  |  through  the  din  |  -ing-room  door, 

And,  seat  |  -ing  the  po  |  -ets,  cried,  '  Lau  J  -rels  for  four ! ' 

No  soon  |  -er  demand  |  -ed,  than,  lo  !  |  they  were  there, 

And  each  |  of  the  bards  |  had  a  wreath  |  in  his  hair. 

Tom  Camp  |  -bell's  with  wil  |  -low  and  pop  |  -lar  was  twin'd, 

And  South  |  -ey's,  with  moun  |  -tain-ash,  pluck'd  |  in  the  wind ; 

And  Scott's,  |  with  a  heath  |  from  his  old  |  garden  stores, 

And,  with  vine  |  -leaves  and  jump  |  -up-and-kiss  |  -me,  Tom  Moore's." 

LEIGH  HUNT  :  ib.  from  line  330  to  line  342. 

Example  IV.—11  Glenara"— First  Two  of  Eight  Stanzas. 
"  O  heard  |  ye  yon  pi  |  -broch  sound  sad  |  in  the  gale, 
Where  a  band  |  cometh  slow  |  -ly  with  weep  |  -ing  and  wail ! 
'Tis  the  chief  |  of  Glena  |  -ra  laments  |  for  his  dear  ; 
And  her  sire,  |  and  the  peo  |  -pie,  are  called  |  to  her  bier. 
Glena  |  -ra  came  first  |  with  the  mourn  |  -ers  and  shroud  ; 
Her  kins  [  -men,  they  fol  |  -lowed,  but  mourned  |  not  aloud : 
Their  plaids  |  all  their  bo  |  -soms  were  fold  |  -ed  around : 
They  marched  |  all  in  si  |  -lence — they  looked  |  on  the  ground." 

T.  CAMPBELL'S  Poetical  Works,  p.  105. 

Example  V. — "Lochiers  Warning" — Ten  Lines  from  Eighty-six. 
"'Tis  the  sun  |  -set  of  life  |  gives  me  mys  |  -tical  lore, 
And  com  |  -ing  events  |  cast  their  shad  |  -ows  before. 
I  tell  |  thee,  Cullo  |  -den's  dread  ech  |  -oes  shall  ring 
With  the  blood  |  -hounds  that  bark  |  for  thy  fu  |  -gitive  king. 
Lo  !  anoint  |  -ed  by  Heav'n  |  with  the  vi  |  -als  of  wrath, 
Behold,  |  where  he  flies  |  on  his  des  |  -olate  path  ! 
Now,  in  dark  |  -ness  and  bil  |  -lows  he  sweeps  |  from  my  sight : 
Rise  !  rise  !  |  ye  wild  tern  |  -pests,  and  cov  |  -er  his  flight ! 
'Tis  fin  |  -ished.     Their  thun  |  -ders  are  hushed  |  on  the  moors  ; 
Cullo  |  -den  is  lost,  |  and  my  coun  |  -try  deplores." — Ib.  p.  89. 

Example  VL—"The  Exile  of  Erin."— The  First  of  Five  Stanzas. 
"There  came  |  to  the  beach  |  a  poor  Ex  |  -ile  of  E  |  -rin, 
The  dew  |  on  his  thin  |  robe  was  heav  |  -y  and  chill : 
For  his  coun  |  -try  he  sighed,  |  when  at  twi  |  -light  repair  |  -ing 

To  wan  |  -der  alone  |  by  the  wind  |  -beaten  hill. 
But  the  day  |  -star  attract  |  -ed  his  eye's  |  sad  devo  |  -tion, 
For  it  rose  |  o'er  his  own  |  native  isle  |  of  the  o  |  -cean, 
Where  once,  |  in  the  fire  |  of  his  youth  |  -ful  emo  |  -tion, 

He  sang  j  the  bold  an  |  -them  of  E  |  -rin  go  bragh." — Ib.  p.  116. 

Example  VIL—"The  Poplar  Field." 
"The  pop  |  -lars  are  fell'd,  \farewell  \  to  the  shade, 
And  the  whis  |  -pering  sound  |  of  the  cool  |  colonnade  ; 
The  winds  \  play  no  Ion  |  -ger  and  sing  |  in  the  leaves, 
Nor  Ouse  \  on  his  bo  |  -som  their  im  |  -age  receives. 
Twelve  years  \  have  elaps'd,  |  since  I  last  |  took  a  view 
Of  my  fa  |  -vourite  field,  |  and  the  bank  |  where  they  grew  ; 
And  now  \  in  the  grass  |  behold  \  they  are  laid, 
And  the  tree  |  is  my  seat  |  that  once  lent  |  me  a  shade. 
The  black  \  -bird  has  fled  |  to  anoth  |  -er  retreat, 
Where  the  ha  |  -zels  afford  |  him  a  screen  |  from  the  heat, 
And  the  scene,  |  where  his  mel  |  -ody  charm'd  |  me  before, 
Resounds  \  with  his  sweet  |  -flowing  dit  |  -ty  no  more. 
My  fu  \  -gitive  years  |  are  all  hast  |  -ing  away, 
And  I  |  must  ere  long  |  lie  as  low  |  -ly  as  they, 
With  a  turf  |  on  my  breast,  |  and  a  stone  |  at  my  head, 
Ere  anoth  |  -er  such  grove  |  shall  arise  |  in  its  stead. 
'Tis  a  sight  |  to  engage  |  me,  if  an  |  -y  thing  can, 
To  muse  \  on  the  per  |  -ishing  pleas  |  -ures  of  man  ; 
Though  his  life  |  be  a  dream,  j  his  enjoy  |  -ments,  I  see, 
Have  a  be  |  -ing  less  dur  |  -able  e  |  -ven  than  he." 

COWPER'S  Poems,  Vol.  i,  p.  257. 
OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — Everett  avers,  that,  "  The  purely  Anapestic  measure  is  more  easily  constructed  than 
the  Trochee,  [Trochaic,]  and  of  much  more  frequent  occurrence." — English  Versification,  p.  97. 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ORDER  III. — AXAI'ESTICS. 


849 


Both  parts  of  this  assertion  are  at  least  very  questionable  ;  and  so  are  this  author's  other  sug- 
gestions, that,  "  The  Anapest  is  [necessarily]  the  vehicle  /;"  thai,  ""Whenever 
this  measure  is  employed  in  the  iff  that,  "Whoever 
should  attempt  to  write  an  elegy  in  th  -  .  wuuld  l>r  'hat,  "The  words 
might  ief,  but  the  measure  toou  "  that,  "The  Auapi-st  should  never  be 
employed  throughout  a  .  "  because  "  buoyancy  of  spirits  can  never  be  siippox-d  to  l,i-t,' ' 
i  T  joy  remains  but  for  a  moment;  "  and,  again,  because,  "  the  mea- 
sure pp.  97  and 

.-try.  so  far  as  I  know,  is  in  pieces  of  no  great  length  ;  but    ; 

Hunt's  "  Feast  of  the  :  iiriee  cited  above,  though  not  a  long;;'  rtuinly 

he  regarded  as  "«  lonu  j/icce,"  since  it  extends  through  fifteen  pages,  and  contains  four  hundred 
and  thirty-one  lines,  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  anape>tie  tetrameti  .  >\y,  no  poet  had  ever 

more  need  of  a  metre  well  suited  to  his  purpose,  than  he.  who,  intending  a  "critical  as  well  as  a 
descriptive  poem,  has  found  so  much  fault  with  the  versification  of  others.  Pope,  as  a  versifier, 
was  regarded  by  this  author,  "not  only  as  no  master  «f  his  :.rt,  but  as  a  very  indifferent  practUer." 

nf  numbers,  with 

that  of  Darwin,  Goldsmith*  Johnson,  Haley,  and  others  of  the  same  "school,"  is  alleged  to  have 
::t  a  general  corruption  of  taste  in  respect  to  versification — a  fashion  that  has  prevailed,  not 
temporarily, 

"It/  Pope  Kjwird  tin-  en,-*  of  tli-    • 

•'(  his  cwkuo-soncj  verses,  Jinlf  -up' and  half  down." — Ib. 

•motony  is  thus  charged  by  one  cutic  upon  all  verse  of  "the  purely  An- 

apotic  measure;"  and,  by  an  other,  the  same  fault  is  alleged  in  general  terms  against  all  the 
poi-try  "  o:  the  s  diool  of  Pope,"  well-nigh  the  whole  of  which  is  iambic.  '1  he  defect  is  probably, 
in  either  ease,  at  least  half  imaginary:  and,  as  for  the  inherent  joyousness  of  anapesties,  that  is 
perhaps  rot  LeM  ideal.  Father  Humph*  .ud  amphibrachic  verse,  being  sim- 

ilar in  measure  and  movement,  are  pleasing  to  the  ear,  and  well  adapted  to  cheerful  and  humourous 
comp.  ,  »sitions,  and  subjects  important  and  solemn." — 

Hump/!  !i  I'rosurhj,  p.  1". 

1. — The  anapest,  the  dactyl,  and  the  amphibrach,  have,  this  in  common, — that  each,  with 
one  long  syllable,  takes  two  short  ones.  Hence  there  is  a  degree  of  similarity  in  their  rhythms, 
or  in  their  several  effects  upon  the  ear;  and  consequently  lines  of  ea.-h  order,"  (or  of  any 'two,  if 
the  amphibrachic  be  accounted  a  separate  order,)  are  sometimes  commingle  1.  But  the  propriety 
of  acknowledging  an  order  o  '  ;  umphrey,  is  more  than  doubtful; 

because,  by  ,;/e  the  amphibrach  as  one  of  the  principal  feet,  but  make 

number  of  li  .:•  scmn^ion.     For  our  Amphibrachic  order   will   be  made 

up  of  lines  that  are  common'..  .s  anapc-.-fii.  •<— such  anapesties  as  are  diversified  by  an 

iambus  at  the  beginning,  and  sometimes  also  by  a  surplus  short  syllable  at  the  end;  as  in  the 
following  \  in  the  sixth  example  above: — 

"Tin  re  came  to  |  thr  beach  a  |  poor  Exile  |  of  Erin, 
I  his  thin  robe  |  was  heavy  |  and  chill : 


dew  on  | 

coim  |    try  he  sighed,"  |  wh<";n  ut'twi  |  -light  n  pair  | 
To  wander  |  alone  by  |  the  wind-beat  |  -en  hill." 


MKAsrilI-   II.— AXAPESTIC  OF  THREE  FEET,  OR  TRIMETER. 
Example  J. — "Akxander  Selkirk" — First  Two  $t<, 

1.  I  II. 

I  am  mon  |  -arch  of  all  |  I  survey, 
My  right  |  there  is  none  |  to  dispute  ; 

in  the  ccn  |  -tre  all  round  |  to  the  son, 
I  am  lord  |  of  the  fowl  |  and  the  brute. 
Sol  |  -itude  !  where  |  are  tho  charms 
That  -a  |  -•„"  MI  |  in  thy 

ter  dwell  j  in  the  midst  |  of  ah; 
Than  reign  |  in  this  hor  |  -rible  place. 


//. — "  Calharina." — 
IV. 
lough,  the  pious  |  -urcsof  Lon  |  -don  « 

In  num  |  -her  tho  days  |  of  the  year, 
ithari  |  -na.  did  noth  |  -ing  impede, 
"Would  t'cel   |  herself  hap  |  - 
>r  tho  cl«>-e     -w-)v»  n  arch  |  -es  of  limes 
Ou  the  banks  |  of  ourriv  |  -er,  I  know, 

'   |  -er  to  her  |  many  times 
Than  anght  |  that  the  cit  j  -y  can  show. 

Examj,','  ///.—"!    . 

'«  Xot  a  pine  |  in  my  grove  |  is  there  seen, 
But    with  ten  j  -drils  of  wood  |  -bine  is 
bound  ; 


I  am  out  |  of  human  |  -ity's  reach, 

I  must  ftn  |  -ish  my  jour  |  -ney  alone, 
Xovor  hear  |  the  sweet  mu  |  -sic  of  speech, 

irt  |  at  the  sound  |  of  my  own. 
Tho  boasts  |  that  roam  o  |  -ver  the  plain, 

My  form  |  with  indif  |  ference  sec; 
They  are  so  |  unae'[uaint  |  -ed  with  man, 
Their  tame  |  -ness  is  shock  |  -ing  to  me." 
I'wnmt  Vol.  i,  p.  199. 

•n  Seren. 

V. 
So  it  is,  |  when  the  mind  |  is  endued 

With  a  well     -jutl^ing  tasto  |  from  above; 


Th«-n,  whoth  |  -eretnbel  |  -lish'd  or  rude, 
'Tis  na  |  -ture  alone  |  that  wo  i 

•hieve  |  -ments  of  art  |  may  amuse, 
May  e  |  -von  our  won-  |  dor  oxcito. 
But  groves,  |  hills,  and  \  al  |  -leys,  diffuse 
ist  |  -ing.   a  >:i  |  -end  (U-i' 

i.  ii,  p.  232. 

•fin. 
X'ot  a  luech  |  's  more  beau  |  -tiful  green, 

Butaswoot  |  -briar  twines  |  it  around. 
Xot  my  fields  |  in  the  prime  |  of  the   year 

More  charms  |  than  my  cat  |  -tie  unfold  ; 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


PART   IV. 


Not  a  brook  |  that  is  lim  |  -pid  and  clear, 
But  it  glit  I  -ters  with  fish  I  -es  of  gold. 
(9.) 

One  would  think  |  she  might  like  |  to  retire 
To  the  bow'r  |  I  have  la  |  -bour'd  to  rear  ; 

Not  a  shrub  |  that  I  heard  |  her  admire, 


But  I  hast  |  -ed  and  plant  |  -ed  it  there. 
O  howsud  |  -denthejes  |  -samine  strove 

With  the  li  |  -lac  to  ren  |  -der  it  gay  ! 
Alread  |  -y  it  calls  |  for  my  love, 

To  prune  |  the  wild  branch  |  -es  away." 
SHENSTONE  :  British  Poets,  Vol.  vii,  p.  139. 


Anapestic  lines  of  four  feet  and  of  three  are  sometimes  alternated  in  a  stanza,  as  in  the 
following  instance  : — 

Example  IV. — "The  Rose." 

"  The  rose  |  had  been  wash'd,  |  just  wash'd  |  in  a  show'r, 

Which  Ma  |  -ryto  An  |  -na  convey'd; 
The  plen  |  -tiful  moist  |  -ure  encum  |  -ber'd  the  flow'r, 
And  weigh' d  |  down  its  beau  |  -tiful  head. 

The  cup  |  was  all  fill'd,  |  and  the  leaves  |  were  all  wet, 

And  it  seem'd  |  to  a  fan  |  -ciful  view, 
To  weep  |  for  the  buds  |  it  had  left,  |  with  regret, 

On  the  flour  |  -ishing  bush  |  where  it  grew. 

I  hast  |  -ily  seized  |  it,  unfit  |  as  it  was 

For  a  nose  |  -gay,  so  drip  |  -ping  and  drown'd, 
And,  swing  |  -ing  it  rude  |  -ly,  too  rude  |  -ly,  alas ! 

I  snapp'd  |  it, — it  fell  |  to  the  ground. 

And  such,  |  I  exclaim' d,  |  is  the  pit  |  -iless  part 

Some  act  |  by  the  del  |  -icate  mind, 
Regard  |  -less  of  wring  |  -ing  and  break  |  -ing  a  heart 

Alread  |  -y  to  sor  |  -row  resign'd. 

This  el  |  -egant  rose,  |  had  I  shak  |  -en  it  less, 

Might  have  bloom'd  |  with  its  own  |  -er  a  while; 
And  the  tear  |  that  is  wip'd  |  with  a  lit  |  -tie  address, 

May  be  fol  |  low'd  perhaps  |  by  a  smile." 

•    COWPER  :  Poems,  Vol.  i,  p.  216  ;  English  Reader,  p.  212. 


MEASURE  III.— ANAPESTIC  OF  TWO  FEET,  OR  DIMETER. 

Example  I. — Lines  with  Hypermeter  and  Double  Rhyme. 

"  CORONACH,"   OR  FUNERAL  SONG. 


1. 


"  He  is  gone  |  on  the  moun  |  -tain 

He  is  lost  |  to  the  for  |  -Sst 
Like  a  sum  |  -mer-dried  foun  |  -tain 

When  our  need  |  was  the  sor  |  -6st. 
The  font,  |  reappear  |  -ing, 

From  the  rain  |  -drops  shall  bor  |  -row, 
But  to  us  |  comes  no  cheer  |  -ing, 

To  Dun  |  -can  no  mor  |  -row  ! 


2. 


The  hand  |  of  the  reap  |  -6r 

Takes  the  ears  |  that  are  hoar  |  -y, 
But  the  voice  |  of  the  weep  |  -Cr 

Wails  man  |  -hood  in  glo  |  -ry  ; 
The  au  |  -tumn  winds  rush  |  -Ing, 

Waft  the  leaves  |  that  are  sear  |  -8st, 
But  our  flow'r  |  was  in  flush  |  -ing, 

When  blight  |  -ing  was  near  |  -e"st." 
WALTER  SCOTT:  Lady  of  the  Lake,  Canto  iii,  St.  16. 

Example  II. — Exact  Lines  of  Two  Anapests. 


1  Prithee,  Cu  |  -pid,  no  more 
Hurl  thy  darts  |  at  threescore  ; 
To  thy  girls  |  and  thy  boys, 


Give  thy  pains  |  and  thy  joys  ; 
Let  Sir  Trust  |  -y  and  me 
From  thy  frol  j  -ics  be  free." 


ADDISON  :  Rosamond,  Act  ii,  Scene  2 ;  Ev.  Versif.  p.  100. 


Example  III. — An  Ode,  from 
•  This  An  |  -na  so  fair, 

So  talk'd  |  of  by  fame, 
Why  dont  |  she  appear  ? 

Indeed,  |  she's  to  blame ! 
Lewis  sighs  |  for  the  sake 

Of  her  charms,  |  as  they  say ; 
What  excuse  |  can  she  make 

For  not  com  |  -ing  away  ? 
If  he  does  |  not  possess, 

He  dies  |  with  despair  ; 
Let's  give  |  him  redress, 

And  go  find  |  out  the  fair." 

WILLIAM  KING,  LL.  D. 


the  French  of  Malherbe. 
"  Cette  Anne  si  belle, 

Qu'on  vante  si  fort, 
Pourquoi  ne  vient  elle  ? 
Vraiment,  elle  a  tort ! 
Son  Louis  soupire 
Apres  ses  appas ; 
Que  veut  elle  dire, 

Qu'elle  ne  vient  pas  ? 
S'il  ne  la  possede, 

II  s'en  va  mourir  ; 
Donnons  y  remede, 
Allons  la  querir." 
:  Johnson's  British  Poets,  Vol.  iii,  p.  590. 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. — ORDER  III. — ANAPESTICS. 


851 


Example  IV. — 'Tis  the  Last  Rose  of  Summer. 


1. 
"  'Tis  the  last  |  rose  of  sum  |  -mer 

Left  bloom  |  -ing  alone ; 
All  her  love  |  -ly  compan  |  -lo/w 

Are  fad  |  -ed  and  gone ; 
No  flow'r  |  of  her  kin  |  -drtd, 

No  rose  |  -bud  is  nigh, 
To  reflect  |  back  her  blush  |  -es, 
Or  give  |  sigh  for  sigh. 

2. 
I'll  not  leave  |  thee,  thou  lone 

To  pine  |  on  the  stem  ! 
Since  the  love  |  -ly  are  sleep  | 


on*  ! 


Go,  sleep  |  thou  with  them ; 


ing, 


Thus  kind  |  -ly  I  scat  |  -ter 
Thy  leaves  |  o'er  thy  bed, 

Where  thy  mates  |  of  the  gar  |  -den 
Lie  scent  |  -less  and  dead. 

3. 
So,  soon  |  may  I  fol  |  -loir, 

When  friend  |  -ships  decay, 
And,  from  love's  |  shining  cir  |  -de, 

The  gems  |  drop  away  ; 
When  true  |  hearts  lie  with  |  -er'd, 

And  fond  |  ones  are  flown, 
Oh !  who  |  would  inhab  |  -it 

This  bleak  |  world  alone  ?  " 
T.  MOORE  :  Melodies,  Songs,  and  Airs,  p.  171. 


Example  V. — Nemesis  Calling  up  the  Dead  Astarte. 


1  Shadow  !  |  or  spir  |  -it ! 

Whatev  |  -er  thou  art, 
Which  still  |  doth  inhcr  |  -it 

The  whole  |  or  a  part 
Of  the  form  |  of  thy  birth, 

Of  the  mould  |  of  thy  clay, 
Which  return' d  |  to  the  earth, 


Re-appear  |  to  the  day  ! 
Bear  what  |  thou  bor  |  -est, 

The  heart  |  and  the  form, 
And  the  as  |  -pect  thou  wor  |  -est 

Redeem  |  from  the  worm  ! 
Appear  ! — Appear  ! — Appear  !  " 
LOUD  BYRON  :  Manfred,  Act  ii,  Sc.  4. 


Example  VI. — Anapestic  Dimeter  with  Trimeter. 


FIRST   VOICE. 
Make  room  |  for  the  com  |  -bat,  make  room; 

Sound  the  trum  |  -pet  and  drum  ; 
A  fair  |  -er  than  Ve  |  -nus  prepares 
To  encoun  |  -ter  a  great  |  -er  than  Mars. 
Make  room  |  for  the  com  |  -bat,  make  room; 

Sound  the  trum  |  -pet  and  drum." 


SECOND  VOICE. 
"  Give  the  word  I  to  begin, 
Let  the  com  |  -batants  in, 
The  chal  |  -lenger  en  |  -ters  all  glo  \  -rwiis ; 
But  Love  |  has  decreed, 
Though  Beau  |  -ty  may  bleed, 
Yet  Beau  |  -ty  shall  still  |  bevicfo  |  -rious." 
GEORGE  GRANVILLE  :  Johnson's  British  Poets,  Vol.  v,  p.  58. 
Example  VII. — Anapestic  Dimeter  with  Tetrameter. 

AIR. 

"  Let  the  pipe's  |  merry  notes  |  aid  the  skill  |  of  the  voice ; 
For  our  wish  |  -es  are  crown'd,  |  and  our  hearts  |  shall  rejoice. 
Rejoice,  |  and  be  glad  ; 
For,  sure,  |  he  is  mad, 

Who,  where  mirth,  |  and  good  hu  |  -mour,  andhar  |  -mony's  found, 
Never  catch  |  -es  the  smile,  |  nor  lets  pleas  |  -ure  go  round. 
Let  the  stu  |  -pid  be  grave, 
'Tis  the  vice  |  of  the  slave ; 
But  can  nev  j  -er  agree 
With  a  maid  |  -en  like  me, 
Who  is  born  |  in  a  coun  |  -try  that's  hap  |  -py  and  free." 

LLOYD:   Johnson's  British  Poets,  Vol.  viii,  p.  178. 

MEASURE  IV.— AXAPESTIC  OF  ONE  FOOT,  OR  MONOMETER. 
This  measure  is  rarely  if  ever  used  except  in  connexion  with  longer  lines.      The  follow- 
ing example  has  six  anapestics  of  two  feet,  and  two  of  one ;  but  the  latter,  being  verses  of 
double  rhyme,  have  each  a  suplus  short  syllable  ;  and  four  of  the  former  commence  with 
the  iambus  : — 

Example  I. — A  Song  in  a  Drama. 


'  Now,  mor  |  -tal,  prepare, 

For  thy  fate  |  is  at  hand  ; 
Now,  mor  |  -tal,  prepare, 
And  sflrren  |  -d.-r. 


For  Love  |  shall  arise, 

Whom  no  pow'r  |  can  withstand, 
Who  rules  |  from  the  skies 
To  th6  cen  I  -treV' 


(iuvxvii.i.r.  VUOOVKI  L  VN^HOWXI-:  :  Joh.Brit.  Poets,  Vol.  v,  p.  49. 
The  following  extract,  (which  is  most  properly  to  be  scanned  as  anapestic,  though  con- 
siderably diversified,)  has  two  lines,  each  of  which  is  pretty  evidently  composed  of  a  single 
anapest : — 

unple  II. — A  Chorus  in  the  Same. 
"  Let  trum  |  •  pets  and  tym  |  -bals,  And  let  lutes 

Let  ata  |  -bals  and  cym  |  -bals,  Our  pas  |  -sions  excite 

Let  drums  |  andlethaut  |  -boys  give  o  |  -vCr;         To  gent  |  -ler  delight, 

But  let  flutes,  And  ev  |  -ery  Mars  |  be  a  lov  |  -Cr."— 75.  p  56. 


852 


THE    GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — That  a  single  anapest,  a  single  foot  of  any  kind,  or  even  a  single  long  syllable,  may 
be,  and  sometimes  is,  in  certain  rather  uncommon  instances,  set  as  a  line,  is  not  to  be  denied. 
"  Dr.  Caustic,"  or  T.  G.  Fessenden,  in  his  satirical  "Directions  for  Doing  Poetry,"  uses  in  this 
manner  the  monosyllables,  "Wliew,"  "Say,"  and  "Dress,"  and  also  the  iambs,  "The  (jay ,"  and, 
"All  such,"  rhyming  them  with  something  less  isolated. 

OBS.  2. — Many  of  our  grammarians  give  anonymous  examples  of  what  they  conceive  to  ">e 
"Anapestic  Manometer,"  or  "  the  line  of  one  anapest,"  while  others — (as  Allen,  Bullions,  Churchill, 
and  Hiley — )  will  have  the  length  of  two  anapcsts  to  be  the  shortest  measure  of  this  order. 
Prof.  Hart  say§,  "  The  shortest  anapaestic  verse  is  a  single  anapaest ;  as, 

<  In  a  sweet  All  Jtheir  feet  All  the  night 

Resonance,  In  the  dunce  Tmklrd  light.' 

This  measure,"  it  is  added,  "  is,  however,  ambiguous  ;  for  by  laying  an  accent  on  the  first,  as  well 
as  the  third  syllable,  we  may  generally  make  it  a  trochaic." — Hart's  English  Gram.  p.  188.  The 
same  six  versicles  are  used  as  an  example  by  Prof.  Fowler,  who,  without  admitting  anv  ambiguity 
in  the  measure,  introduces  them,  rather  solecistically,  thus  :  "Each  of  the  following  lines  consist 
of  a  single  Anapest." — Folder's  E.  Gram.  8vo,  1850,  §  694. 

OBS.  3. — Verses  of  three  syllables,  with  the  second  short,  the  last  long,  and  the  first  common,  or 
variable,  are,  it  would  seem,  doubly  doubtful  in  scansion  ;  for,  while  the  first  syllable,  if  made 
short,  gives  us  an  anapest,  to  make  it  long,  gives  either  an  amphimac  or  wh;it  is  virtually  two 
trochees.  For  reasons  of  choice  in  the  latter  case,  see  Observation  1st  oil  Trochaic  Dimeter.  For 
the  fixing  of  variable  quantities,  since  the  case  admits  no  other  rule,  regard  should  be  had  to  the 
analogy  of 'the  verse,  and  also  to  the  common  principles  of  accentuation.  It  is  doubtless  possible 
to  read  the  six  short  lines  above,  into  the  measure  of  so  many  anapests ;  but,  since  the  two  mono- 
syllables "In"  and  "All"  are  as  easily  made  long  as  short,  whoever  considers  the  common  pro- 
nunciation of  the  longer  words,  "Resonance"  and  "Tinkled"  may  well  doubt  whether  the 
learned  professors  have,  in  this  instance,  hit  upon  the  right  mode  of  scansion.  The  example  may 
quite  as  well  be  regarded  either  as  Trochaic  Dimeter,  catalectic,  or  as  Amphimacric  Monometer, 
acatalectic.  But  the  word  resonance,  being  accented  usually  on  the  first  syllable  only,  is  naturally 
a  dactyl ;  and,  since  the  other  five  little  verses  end  severally  with  a  monosyllable,  which  can  be 
varied  in  quantity,  it  is  possible  to  read  them  all  as  being  dactylics  ;  and  so  the  whole  may  be 
regarded  as  trebly  doubtful  with  respect  to  the  measure. 

OBS.  4. — L.  Murray  says,  "The  shortest  anapcestic  verse  must  be  a  single  anapaest :  a?, 

But  in  vain, 
They  complain." 

And  then  he  adds,  "This  measure  is,  however,  ambiguous  ;  for,  by  laying  the  stress  of  the  voice 
on  the  first  and  third  syllables,  we  might  make  a  trochaic.  And  therefore  the  first  and  simplest 
form  of  our  genuine  Anapaestic  verse,  is  made  up  of  two  Ana.p&sts'." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p. 
257  ;  12mo,  p.  207.  This  conclusion  is  utterly  absurd,  as  well  as  completely  contradictory  to  his 
first  assertion.  The  genuineness  of  this  small  metre  depends  not  at  all  on  what  may  be  made  of 
the  same  words  by  other  pronunciation  ;  nor  can  it  be  a  very  natural  reading  of  this  passage,  tl  at 
gives  to  "But "  and  "They"  such  emphasis  as  will  make  them  long. 

OBS.  5. — Yet  Chandler,  in  his  improved  grammar  of  1817,  has  not  failed  to  repeat  the  substance 
of  all  this  absurdity  and  self-contradiction,  carefully  dressing  it  up  in  other  language  thus : 
"  Verses  composed  of  single  Anapa?sts  arc  frequently  found  in  stanzas  of  songs  ;  and  the  same  is 
true  of  several  of  the  other  kinds  of  feet;  but  we  may  consider  the  first  [i.  e.,  shortest]  form  of 
anapaestic  verse  as  consisting  of  two  Anapaests." — Chandler's  Common  School  Gram.  p.  196. 

OBS.  6. — Everett,  speaking  of  anapestic  lines,  says,  "  The  first  and  shortest  of  these  is  com- 
posed of  a  single  Anapest  following  an  Iambus." — English  Versification,  p.  99.  This  not  only  denies 
the  existence  of  Anapestic  Monometer,  but  improperly  takes  for  Anapestic  verse  what  is,  by  the 
statement  itself,  half  Iambic,  and  therefore  of  the  Composite  Order.  But  the  false  assertion  is 
plainly  refuted  even  by  the  author  himself,  and  on  the  same  page.  For,  at  the  bottom  of  the  page, 
he  has  this  contradictory  note :  "It  has  been  remarked  (§  15)  that  though  the  Iambus  with  an 
additional  short  syllable  -is  the  shortest  line  that  is  known  to  Iambic  verse,  there  are  isolated  instances 
of  a  single  Iambus,  and  even  of  a  single  long  syllable.  There  are  examples  of  lines  made  up  of  a 
single  Anapest,  as  the  following  example  will  show  : — 


Jove  in  his  chair, 
Of  the  sky  lord  mayor, 
With  his  nods 
Men  and  gods 

Keeps  in  awe  ; 
When  he  winks, 
Heaven  shrinks  ; 
#        #        *         # 


Cock  of  the  school, 
He  bears  despotic  rule  ; 

His  word, 

Though  absurd, 

Must  be  law. 

Even  Fate, 

Though  so   great, 

Must  not  prate  ; 


His  bald  pate 
Jove  would  cuff, 
He's  so  bluff, 

For  a  straw. 
Cowed  deities, 
Like  mice  in  cheese, 
To  stir  must  cease 

Or  gnaw.' 


O'HAKA:— Midas,  Act  i,  Sc.  1."— Everett's  Versification,  p.  99. 


ORDER  IV.  — DACTYLIC  VERSE. 

In  pure  Dactylic  verse,  the  stress  is  laid  on  the  first  syllable  of  each  successive 
three  ;  that  is,  on  the  first,  the  fourth,  the  seventh,  and  the  tenth  syllable  of  each  line  of 
four  feet.  Full  dactylic  generally  forms  triple  rhyme.  When  one  of  the  final  short 
syllables  is  omitted,  the  rhyme  is  double  ;  when  both,  single.  These  omissions  are 
here  essential  to  the  formation  of  such  rhymes.  Dactylic  with  double  rhyme,  ends 
virtually  with  a  trochee  ;  dactylic  with  single  rhyme,  commonly  ends  with  a  ccesura  ; 
that  is,  with  a  long  syllable  taken  for  a  foot.  Dactylic  with  single  rhyme  is  the  same 


CH\P.  IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ORDER  IV. DACTYLICS.  853 

as  anapestic  would  be  without  its  initial  short  syllables.     Dactylic  verse  is  rather  un- 
common ;  and,  when  employed,  is  seldom  perfectly  pure  and  regular. 

MEASURE  I.— DACTYLIC  OF  EIGHT  FEET,  OR  OCTOMETER. 

aplf. — Siinrod. 
Ximrod  the  |  hunter  was  |  mighty  in  |  hunting,  and  |  famed  as  the  |  ruler  of  j  cities  of  | 

yore ; 

Babel,   and  |  Erech,   and  |  Accad,    and  |  Calneh,  from  |  Shinar's   fair  |  region  his  |  name 
afar  |  bore. 
MEASURE  II.— DACTYLIC  OF  SEYEX  FEET,  OR  HEPTAMETEU. 

Example. —  ChrlsCs  Kinr/dum. 

Out  of  the  |  kingdom  of  |  Christ  shall  be  |  gathered,  by  |  angels  o'er  |  Satan  vie  |  -torious, 
AH  that  of  |  -fendeth,  that  |  lieth,  that  |  faileth  to  |  honour  his  |  name  ever  |  glorious. 

MEASURE  III.— DACTYLIC  OF  SIX  FEET,  OR  HEXAMETER. 

Example  I. —  Time  in  Motion. 

Time,  thou  art  |  ever  in  |  motion,  on  |  wheels  of  the  |  days,  years,  and  |  ages ; 
Restless  as  |  waves  of  the  |  ocean,  when  |  Eurus  or  |  Boreas  |  rages. 

Example  IL— Where  is  Grand-Pre'? 

"  This  is  the  |  forest  pri  |  -meval ;  but  |  where  are  the  |  hearts  that  be  |  -neath  it 
Loap'd  like  the  |  roe,  when  he  j  hears  in  the  |  woodland  the  |  voice  of  the  |  huntsman? 
Where  is  the  |  thatch-roofed  |  village,  the  |  home  of  A  |  -cadian  |  farmers  • " 

H.  W.  LONGFELLOW  :  Evangeline,  Part  i,  1.  7 — 9. 

MEASURE  IV.  —  DACTYLIC  OF  FIYE  FEET,  OR  PENTAMETER. 

Example. — Salutation  to  America. 

"Land  of  the  |  beautiful,  |  beautiful,  |  land  of  the  |  free, 
Land  of  the  j  negro-slave,  |  negro-slave,  |  land  of  the  |  chivalry, 
Often  my  |  heart  had  turned,  |  heart  had  turned,  |  longing  to  |  thee ; 
Often  had  |  mountain-side,  |  mountain-side,  |  broad  lake,  and  |  stream, 

lined  on  my  |  waking  thought,  |  waking  thought,  |  crowded  my  |  dream. 
Xow  thou  dost  |  welcome  me,  |  welcome  me,  |  from  the  dark  |  sea, 
Land  of  the  |  beautiful,  |  beautiful,  |  land  of  the  |  free, 
Land  of  the  |  negro-slave,  |  negro-slave,  |  land  of  the  |  chivalry." 

MEASURE  Y.— DACTYLIC  OF  FOUR  FEET,  OR  TETRAMETER. 

Example  L—The  Soldier's  Wife. 

"Weary  way  |  -wanderer,  |  languid  and  |  sick  at  heart, 
Travelling  |  painfully  |  over  the  |  rugged  road, 
Wild-visagcd  |  Wanderer  !  |  God  help  thee,  |  wretched  one  ! 

:>-  thy  |  little  one  |  drags  by  thee  |  barefooted; 
Cold  is  the  |  baby  that  |  hungs  at  thy  |  bending  back, 

•^rc,  and  |  livid,  and  |  screaming  for  [  misery. 
"NYoe-begone  |  mother,  half  |  anger,  half  |  agony. 
Over  thy  |  shoulder  thou  |  lookest  to  |  hush  the  babe, 
Bleakly  the  |  blinding  snow  |  beats  in  thy  |  haggard  face. 

Xe'er  will  thy  |  husband  re  |  -turn  from  the  |  war  again, 

Cold  is  thy  |  heart,  and  as  |  fro/en  as  |  Charity  ! 

Cold  are  thy  |  children. — Xow  |  God  be  thy  |  comforter !  " 

.  Philad.  1813,  p.  250. 

I^.i-iimji-c  II. — I}v;i*. — A   Jhicfylic  S(<nt~a. 
"  Boys  will  an  |  -ticipate,  |  lavish,  and  |  dissipate 
All  that  your  |  busy  pate  |  hoarded  with  |  care  ; 
1.  in  their  |  foolishness,  |  passion,  and  |  mulishness, 

>;i  with  |  churlishness,  J  spurning  your  pray'r." 
///.—"/.ufimir" — 7  Stanzas.       * 

"  Pause  not  to  |  dream  of  the  |  future  be  |  -fore  us  ; 

not  to  |  weep  the  wild  |  cares  that  come  |  o'er  us  : 
JIark,  how  (.'re  |  -ation's  deep,  |  musical  |  chorus, 

Unintcr  |  -mittiiu',  -ors  |  up  into  |  Heaven  ! 
Xever  the  j  ocean-wave  |  falters  in  |  flowing; 

r  the  j  little  seed  |  stops  in  its  |  gr<v.\ 
More  and  more  |  richly  the  |  rose-heart  keeps  |  glowing, 
Till  from  its  |  nourishing  |  stem  it  is  |  riven." 

FRANCES  S.  OSGOOD  :  Clapp's  Pioneer,  p.  94. 


854 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


Example  IV. — "Boat  Song" — First  Stanza  of  Four. 
"  Hail  to  the  |  chief  who  in  |  triumph  ad  |  -vances  ! 

Honour' d  and  |  bless'd  be  the  |  ever-green  |  pine ! 
Long  may  the  |  tree  in  his  |  banner  that  |  glances, 
Flourish  the  |  shetler  and  |  grace  of  our  |  line ! 
Heaven  send  it  happy  dew, 
Earth  lend  it  sap  anew, 

Gayly  to  |  bourgeon,  and  |  broadly  to  |  grow, 
While  ev'ry  |  Highland  glen 
Sends  our  shout  |  back  agen, 
'  Roderigh  Yich  Alpine  Dhu,  ho  !  ieroe  ! ' ' 

WALTER  SCOTT  :  Lady  of  the  Lake,  C.  ii,  St.  19. 

MEASURE  VI.— DACTYLIC  OF  THREE  FEET,  OR  TRIMETER. 
Example. — To  the  Catydid. 


"  Ca-ty-did,  |  Ca-ty-did,  |  sweetly  sing, — 
Sing  to  thy  |  loving  mates  |  near  to  thee  ; 

Summer  is  |  come,  and  the  |  trees  are  green, — 
Summer's  glad  |  season  so  |  dear  to  thee. 


Cheerily,  |  cheerily,  |  insect,  sing ; 

Blithe  be  thy  |  notes  in  the  |  hickory : 
Every  |  bough  shall  an  |  answer  ring, 

Sweeter  than  |  trumpet  of  |  victory." 


MEASURE  VII.— DACTYLIC  OF  TWO  FEET,  OR  DIMETER. 

Example  I. —  The  Bachelor. — Four  Lines  from  Many. 
"  Free  from  sa  |  -tiety, 

Care,  and  anx  |  -iety, 

Charms  in  va  |  -riety, 

Fall  to  his  |  share." — ANON.  :  Newspaper. 
Example  II. — The  Pibroch. — Sixteen  Lines  from  Forty. 


"  Pibroch  of  |  Donuil  Dhu, 

Pibroch  of  |  Donuil, 
Wake  thy  wild  |  voice  anew, 

Summon  Clan  |  -Conuil. 
Come  away,  |  come  away  ! 

Hark  to  the  |  summons  ! 
Come  in  your  |  war-array, 

Gentles  and  |  commons  ! 


Come  as  the  |  winds  come,  when 

Forests  are  |  rended ; 
Come  as  the  j  waves  come,  when 

Navies  are  |  stranded  : 
Faster  come,  |  faster  come, 

Faster  and  |  faster  ! 
Chief,  vassal,  |  page,  and  groom, 

Tenant  and  I  master." — W.  SCOTT. 


Example  III.— "My  Boy." 
1 There  is  even  a  happiness  that  makes  the  heart  afraid.' — HOOD. 


1. 
One  more  new  |  claimant  for 

Human  fra  |  -ternity, 
Swelling  the  |  flood  that  sweeps 

On  to  e  |  -ternity  ! 
I  who  have  |  filled*  the  cup, 

Tremble  to  |  think  of  it ; 
For,  be  it  |  what  it  may, 

I  must  yet  |  drink  of  it. 

2. 
Room  for  him  |  into  the 

Ranks  of  hu  |  -manity; 
Give  him  a  |  place  in  your 

Kingdom  of  |  vanity  ! 
Welcome  the  |  stranger  with 

Kindly  af  |  -fection ; 
Hopefully,  |  trustfully, 

Not  with  de  |  -jection. 

3. 
See,  in  his  |  waywardness, 

How  his  fist  |  doubles  ; 
Thus  pugi  |  -listical, 

Daring  life's  |  troubles  : 
Strange  that  the  |  neophyte 

Enters  ex  |  -istence 
In  such  an  |  attitude, 

Feigning  re  |  -sistance. 


4. 
Could  he  but  |  have  a  glimpse 

Into  fu  |  -turity, 
Well  might  he  |  fight  against 

Farther  ma  |  -turity  ; 
Yet  does  it  |  seem  to  me 

As  if  his  |  purity 
Were  against  |  sinfulness 

Ample  se  |  -curity. 

5. 
Incompre  |  -hensible, 

Budding  im  |  -mortal, 
Thrust  all  a  |  -mazedly 

Under  life's  |  portal ; 
Born  to  a  |  destiny 

Clouded  in  |  mystery, 
Wisdom  it  |  -self  cannot 

Guess  at  its  |  history. 

6. 
Something  too  |  much  of  this 

Timon-Hke  |  croaking ; 
See  his  face  |  wrinkle  now, 

Laughter  pro  |  -voking. 
Now  he  cries  |  lustily — 

Bravo,  my  |  hearty  one  ! 
Lungs  like  an  |  orator 

Cheering  his  |  party  on. 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ORDER  IV. — DACTYLICS. 


855 


7. 
Look  how  his  I  merry  eyes 

Turn  to  me  j  pleadingly  ! 
Can  we  help  |  loving  him — 

Loving  ex  |  -ceedingly  ? 
Partly  with  |  hopefulness, 

Partly  with  |  fears, 
Mine,  as  I  |  look  at  him, 

Moisten  with  |  tears. 

8. 
Now  then  to  |  find  a  name;  — 

Where  shall  we  |  search  for  it : 
Turn  to  his  |  ancestry, 

Or  to  the  |  church  for  it  ? 

ANONYMOUS 


Shall  we  en  |  -dow  him  with 

Title  he  |  -roic, 
After  some  |  warrior, 

Poet,  or  |  stoic  ? 

9. 
One  aunty  |  says  he  will 

Soon  '  lisp  in  |  numbers/ 
Turning  his  |  thoughts  to  rhyme, 

E'en  in  his  I  slumbers  ; 
Watts  rhymed  in  |  babyhood, 

No  blemish  |  spots  his  fame — 
Christen  him  |  even  so  : 
•Young  Mr.  |  Watts  his  name."J 
Knickerbocker,  and  Newspapers,  1849. 


MEASURE  Yin.— DACTYLIC  OF  ONE  FOOT,  OR  MONOMETER. 
"  Fearfully, 
Tearfully." 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1. — A  single  dactyl,  set  as  a  line,  can  scarcely  be  used  otherwise  than  as  part  of  a  stanza, 
and  in  connexion  with  longer  verses.  The  initial  accent  and  triple  rhyme  make  it  necessary  to 
have  something  else  with  it.  Hence  this  short  measure  is  much  less  common  than  the  others, 
which  are  accented  differently.  Besides,  the  line  of  three  syllables,  as  was  noticed  in  the  obser- 
vations on  Anapestic  Monometer,  is  often  peculiarly  uncertain  in  regard  to  the  measure  which  it 
should  make.  A  little  difference  in  the  laying  of  emphasis  or  accent  may,  in  many  instances, 
change  it  from  one  species  of  verse  to  an  other.  Even  what  seems  to  be  dactylic  of  two  feet, 
if  the  last  syllable  be  sufficiently  lengthened  to  admit  of  single  rhyme  with  the  full  metre,  becomes 
somewhat  doubtful  in  its  scansion  ;  because,  in  such  case,  the  last  foot  may  be  reckoned  anamphi- 
mav,  or  amphimacer.  Of  this,  the  following  stanzas  from  Barton's  lines  "  to  the  Gallic  Eagle,"  (or 
to  Bonaparte  on  St.  Helena,)  though  different  from  all  the  rest  of  the  piece,  may  serve  as  a 
specimen  : — 

"  Far  from  the  |  battle's  shock, 

Fate  hath  fast  |  bound  thee ; 
Chain'd  to  the  |  rugged  rock, 

Waves  warring  |  round  thee. 
OBS.  2. — This  may  be  regarded  as  verse  of  the  Composite  Order  ;  and,  perhaps,  more  properly 
so,  than  as  Dactylic  with  mere  incidental  variations.  Lines  like  those  in  which  the  questionable 
foot  is  here  Italicized,  may  be  united  with  longer  dactylics,  and  thus  produce  a  stanza  of  great 
be\uty  and  harmonv.  The  following  is  a  specimen.  It  is  a  song,  written  by  I  know  not  whom, 
but  set  to  music  by  Dempster.  The  twelfth  line  is  varied  to  a  different  measure. 

"ADDRESS  TO  THE  SKYLARK." 


[Now,  for]  the  |  trumpet's  sound, 
Sea-birds  are  |  shrieking  ; 

Hoarse  on  thy  |  rampart's  bound, 
Billows  are  |  breaking." 


"  Bird  of  the  |  wilderness, 
Blithesome  and  |  cumberless, 

Light  be  thy  I  matin  o'er  |  moorland  and  |  lea; 
Emblem  of  |  happiness, 
Blest  is  thy  |  dwelling-place  ; 

0  !  to  a  |  -bide  in  the  |  desert  with  |  thee ! 


_ 


Wild  is  thy  |  lay,  and  loud, 
Far  on  the  |  downy  cloud ; 
e  gives  it  |  energy,  |  love  gave  it  [  birth 
Where,  on  thy  |  dewy  wing, 
Where  art  thou  |  journeying  ? 


Thy  lay  |  is  in  heav  |  -en,  thy  love  |  is  on  earth. 


"  O'er  moor  and  |  mountain  green, 
O'er  fell  and  |  fountain  sheen, 

O'er  the  red  |  streamer  that  j  heralds  the  |  day ; 
Over  the  I  cloudlet  dim, 
Over  the  |  rainbow's  rim, 

Musical  |  cherub,  hie,  |  hie  thee  a  |  -way. 

"Then,  when  the  |  gloamin comes, 
Low  in  the  |  heather  blooms, 

Sweet  will  thy  |  welcome  and  |  bed  of  love  |  be. 
Emblem  of  |  happiness, 
Blest  is  thy  |  dwelling-place  ; 

O  !  to  a  |  -bide  in  the  |  desert  with  |  thee  ! " 


OBS.  3.— It  is  observed  by  Churchill,  (New  Gram.  p.  387,)  that,  Shakspeare  has  used  the   dac- 
ipropriate  to  mournful  occasions."  The  chief  example  which  he  cites,  is  the  following  : — 


tyl,  as  appro 

"  Midnight,  as  |  -sist  our  moan, 

Help  us  to  |  si^h  and  groan 

Heavily,  |  heavily. 


Graves,  yawn  and  |  yield  your  dead, 
Till  death  be  I  uttered 

Heavily,  |  heavily."— Much  Ado,  V,  3. 


OBS.  4.— These  six  lines  of  Dactylic  (or  Composite)  Dimeter  are  subjoined  by  the  poet  to  four  of 
Trochaic  Tetrameter.  There  does  not  appear  to  me  to  be  any  particular  adaptation  of  either 
measure  to  mournful  subjects,  more  than  to  others  ;  but  later  instances  of  this  metre  maybe  cited, 
in  which  such  is  the  character  of  the  topic  treated.  The  following  long  example  consists  of  lineg 
of  two  feet,  most  of  them  dactylic  only  ;  but,  of  the  seventy-six,  there  are  twelve  which  may  be 
otherwise  divided,  and  as  many  more  which  must  be,  because  they  commence  with  a  short 
syll  able. 

"  THE  BRIDGE  OF  SIGHS."— BY  THOMAS  HOOD. 


"  Cne  more  un  |  -fortunate, 

Weary  of  |  breath, 
Rashly  im  J  -portunate, 
Gone  to  her  |  death  ! 


Take  her  up  I  tenderly, 
Lift  her  with  |  care ; 

Fashioned  so  |  slenderly, 
Young,  and  so  |  fair ! 


Look  at  her  |  garments 
Clinging  like  |  cerements, 
Whilst  the  wave  |  constantly 
Drips  from  her  |  clothing  ; 


856 

Take  her  up  |  instantly, 
Loving,  not  |  loathing. 

Touch  her  not  |  scornfully  ; 
Think  of  her  |  mournfully, 

Gently,  and  |  humanly ; 
Not  of  the  |  stains  of  her : 
All  that  re  |  -mains  of  her 

Now,  is  pure  |  womanly. 

Make  no  deep  |  scrutiny 
Into  her  |  mutiny, 

Rash  and  un  |  -dutiful ; 
Past  all  dis  |  -honour, 
Death  has  left  |  on  her 

Only  the  |  beautiful. 

Still,  for  all  |  slips  of  hers,— 
One  of  Eve's  |  family, — 

Wipe  those  poor  |  lips  of  hers, 
Oozing  so  |  clammily. 

Loop  up  her  |  tresses, 

Escaped  from  the  comb, — 

Her  fair  auburn  tresses  ; 


THE    GRAMMAR    OP    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


Whilst  wonderment  guesses, 
Where  was  her  |  home  ? 

Who  was  her  |  father  ? 

Who  was  her  |  mother  ? 
Had  she  a  |  sister  ? 

Had  she  a  I  brother  ? 
Was  there  a  f  dearer  one 

Yet,  than  all  |  other  ? 

Alas,  for  the  rarity 
Of  Christian  charity 

Under  the  |  sun  ! 
0,  it  was  |  pitiful ! 
Near  a  whole  |  city  full, 

Home  she  had  |  none. 

Sisterly,  |  brotherly, 
Fatherly,  |  motherly 

Feelings  had  |  changed  : 
Love,  by  harsh  |  evidence, 
Thrown  from  its  |  eminence 
Even  God's  |  providence 

Seeming  e  |  -stranged. 


Where  the  lamps  |  qxiiver 
So  far  in  the  river, 

With  many  a  |  light, 
From  window  and  casement, 
From  garret  to  basement, 
She  stood,  with  amazement, 

Houseless,  by  |  night. 

The  bleak  wind  of  March 

Made  her  tremble  and  shiver 
But  not  tbe  dark  arch, 

Or  the  black-flowing  river  : 
Mad  from  life's  I  history, 
Glad  to  death's  j  mystery, 

Swift  to  be  |  hurled, — 
Anywhere,  |  anywhere, 

Out  of  the  |  world  ! 

In  she  plung'd  |  boldly, — 
No  matter  how  coldly 

The  rough  |  river  ran, — 
Over  the  |  brink  of  it : 
Picture  it,  |  think  of  it, 

Dissolute  |  man  !  " 


Clapp's  Pioneer,  p.  54. 

OBS.  5. — As  each  of  our  principal  feet, — the  Iambus,  the  Trochee,  the  Anapest,  and  the  Dactyl, 
— has  always  one,  and  only  one  long  syllable;  it  should  follow,  that,  in  each  of  our  principal  or- 
ders of  verse, — the  Iambic,  the  Trochaic,  the  Anapestic,  and  the  Dactylic, — any  line,  not  diversi- 
fied by  a  secondary  foot,  must  be  reckoned  to  contain  just  as  many  feet  as  long  syllables.  So,  too, 
of  the  Amphibrach,  and  any  line  reckoned  Amphibrachic.  But  it  happens,  that  the  common  error 
by  which  single-rhymed  Trochaics  have  so  often  been  counted  a  foot  shorter  than  they  are,  is  also 
extended  by  some  writers  to  single-rhymed  Dactylics — the  rhyming  syllable,  if  long,  being  es- 
teemed  supernumerary  !  For  example,  three  dactylic  stanzas,  in  each  of  which  a  pentameter  couplet 
is  followed  by  a  hexameter  line,  and  this  again  by  a  heptameter,  are  introduced  by  Prof.  Hart 
thus:  "Th&' Dactylic  Tetrameter,  Pentameter,  and. Hexameter,  with  the  additional  or  hypertmter 
syllable,  are  all  found  combined  in  the  following  extraordinary  specimen  of  versification.  * 
This  is  the  only  specimen  of  Dactylic  hexameter  or  even  pentameter  verse  that  the  author  recollects 
to  have  seen." 

LAMENT  or  ADAM. 

"  Glad  was  our  |  meeting :  thy  |  glittering  |  bosom  I  |  heard, 
Beating  on  |  mine,  like  the  |  heart  of  a  |  timorous  |  bird ; 

Bright  were  thine  |  eyes  as  the  |  stars,  and  their  |  glances  were  |  radiant  as  j  glean  >.s 
Falling  from  |  eyes  of  the  |  angels,  when  |  singing  by  |  Eden's  pur  |  -pureal  [  streams. 
"  Happy  as  |  seraphs  were  |  we,  for  we  |  wander'd  a  |  -lone, 
Trembling  with  |  passionate  |  thrills,  when  the  |  twilight  had  \fiown : 
Even  the  |  echo  was  |  silent:  our  I  kisses  and  I  whispers  of  |  love 
Languish'd    un  j  -heard  and  un  j  -known,    like  the  |  breath  of  the  |  blossoming  | 

buds  of  the  |  grove. 

"  Life  hath  its  |  pleasures,  but  J  fading  are  |  they  as  the  \flowers: 
Sin  hath  its  |  sorrows,  and  |  sadly  we  |  turn'd  from  thos'e  |  bowers : 
Bright  were  the  |  angels  be  |  -hind  with  their  |  falchions  of  |  heavenly  \flame! 
Dark  was  the  |  desolate  |  describe  |  -fore  us,  and  |  darker  the  |  depth  of  our  |  shame  I'1 

HENRY  B.  HIHST:  Hart's  English  Grammar,  p.  190. 

OBS.  6. — Of  Dactylic  verse,  our  prosodists  and  grammarians  in  general  have  taken  but  very 
little  notice ;  a  majority  of  them  appearing  by  their  silence,  to  have  been  utterly  ignorant  of  the 
whole  species.  By  many,  the  dactyl  is  expressly  set  down  as  an  inferior  foot,  which  they  imagine 
is  used  only  for  the  occasional  diversification  of  an  iambic,  trochaic,  or  anapestic  line.  Thus 
Everett:  "  It  is  never  -used  except  as  a,  secondary  foot,  and  then  in  the  first  place  of  the  line." — 
English  Versification,  p.  122.  On  this  order  of  verse,  Lindley  Murray  bestowed  only  the  following 
words  :  "  The  DACTYLIC  measure  being  very  uncommon,  we  shall  give  only  one  example  of  one 
species  of  it: — 

From  th;;  low  pleasures  of  this  fallen  nature, 
Rise  we  to  higher,  £c." — Gram.  12mo,  p.  207;  8vo,  p.  2-37. 

Read  this  example  with  "  irt-  r/Ni:  "  for  "Itixe  we,"  and  all  the  poetry  of  it  is  gone  !  Humphrey 
says,  "Dactyle  verse  is  seldom  used,  as  remarked  heretofore;  but  is  used  occasionally,  and  has 
three  metres  ;  viz.  of  2,  3,  and  4  feet.  Specimens  follow.  2  feet.  Free  from  anxiety.  3  feet. 
Singing  most  sweetly  and  merrily.  4  feet.  Dactylic  measures  are  wanting  in  energy." — English 
Prosody,  p.  18.  Here  the  prosodist has  made  his  own  examples;  and  the  last  one,  which  unjustly 
impeaches  all  dactylics,  he  has  made  very  badly — very  prosaically  ;  for  the  word  "Dactylic,' 
though  it  has  three  syllables,  is  properly  no  dactyl,  but  rather  an  amphibrach. 

Oils.  7- — By  the  Rev.  David  Blair,  this  order  of  poetic  numbers  is  utterly  misconceived  and 
misrepresented.  He  says  of  it,  "  DACTYLIC  verse  consists  of  a  short  syllable,  with  one,  two,  or 
three  i'eet,  and  a  long  si/Uahi. 

'  Distracted  with  woe, 

« I'll  rfish  on  tin-  foe.'     ADDISOX."— Blair's  Pract.  Gram.  p.  119. 
"  «  Ye  shepherds  so  cheerful  and  gay, 
'  Whose  llocks  nrvrr  cfirelrsslv  roam  ; 
'  Should  Corydon's  happrn  to  "stray, 
'  Oh  !  call  the  poor  wanderers  home.'     SHENSTONE."— Ib.  p.  120. 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ORDER  V. COMPOSITES.  857 

It  is  manifest,  that  these  lines  are  not  dactylic  at  all.  There  is  not  a  dactyl  in  them.  They  are 
composed  of  iambs  and  anapests.  The  order  of  the  versification  is  Anapestic  ;  but  it  is  here 
varied  by  the  very  common  diversification  of  dropping  the  first  short  syllable.  The  longer  exam- 
ple is  from  a  ballad  of  216  lines,  of  which  99  are  thus  varied,  and  117  are  full  anapestics. 

OBS.  8. — The  makers  of  school-books  are  quite  as  apt  to  copy  blunders,  as  to  originate  them  ; 
and,  when  an  error  is  once  started  in  a  grammar,  as  it  passes  with  the  user  for  good  learning,  no 
one  can  guess  where  it  will  stop.  It  seems  worthwhile,  therefore,  in  a  work  of  this  nature,  to  be 
liberal  in  the  citation  of  such  faults  as  have  linked  themselves,  from  time  to  time,  with  the  several 
topics  of  our  great  subject.  It  is  not  probable,  that  the  false  scansion  just  criticised  originated 
with  Blair ;  for  the  Comprehensive  Grammar,  a  British  work,  republished,  in  its  third  edition,  by 
Dobson.  of  Philadelphia,  in  1789,  teaches  the  same  doctrine,  thus  :  "  Dactylic  measure  may  con- 
sist of  one,  two,  or  three  Dactyls,  introduced  by  a  feeble  syllable,  and  terminated  by  a  strong 
one  ;  as, 

My  |  df-ar  Irish  |  folks,  S6  |  fair  and  s6  |  bright, 

C6me  |  If-ave  off  y&ur  |  jokes,  They'll  |  give  y6u  de  |  -light : 

And  |  buy  up  my  |  halfpence  s6  |  fine;        Ob  |  -serve'h6w  they  |  glister  and  |  shine.  SWIFT 

A  I  cubirr  there  |  was  and  he  |  liv'd  In  a  |  stall, 

\Vhrch  |  serv'd  him  for  |  kitchen  f6r  |  parl6ur  and  |  hall; 

\<>  |  coin  In  his  |  pocket,  no  |  care  In  his  |  pate; 

Tn  |  -bitlon  he  I  had,  and  n6  |  duns  at  his  |  gfite." — Comp.  Gram.  p.  150. 

To  this,  the  author  adds,  "  Dactylic  measure  becomes  Anapestic  by  setting  off  an  Iambic  foot  in 
the  beginning  of  the  line." — 76.  These  verses,  all  but  the  last  one,  unquestionably  have  an  iam- 
bic foot  at  the  beginning ;  and,  for  that  reason,  they  are  not,  and  by  no  measurement  can  be, 
dactylics.  The  last  one  is  purely  anapestic.  All  the  divisional  bars,  in  either  example,  are 
placed  wrong. 

ORDER  V.  —  COMPOSITE  VERSE. 

Composite  verse  is  that  which  consists  of  various  metres,  or  different  feet,  combined, — 
not  accidentally,  or  promiscuously,  but  by  design,  and  with  some  regularity.  In  Com- 
posite verse,  of  any  form,  the  stress  must  be  laid  rhythmically,  as  in  the  simple  orders, 
else  the  composition  will  be  nothing  better  than  unnatural  prose.  The  possible  variety 
of  combinations  in  this  sort  of  numbers  is  unlimited ;  but,  the  pure  and  simple  kinds 
being  generally  preferred,  any  stated  mixture  of  feet  is  comparatively  uncommon. 
Certain  forms  which  may  be  scanned  by  other  methods,  are  susceptible  also  of  division 
as  Composites.  Hence  there  cannot  be  an  exact  enumeration  of  the  measures  of  this 
order,  but  instances,  as  they  occur,  may  be  cited  to  exemplify  it. 

Example  I. — From  Swift's  Irish  Feast. 
1  O'Rourk's  |  noble  fare  |  will  ne'er  |  be  forgot, 
By  those  |  who  were  there,  |  or  those  |  who  were  not. 
His  rev  |  -els  to  keep,  |  we  sup  |  and  we  dine 
On  sev  |  -en  score  sheep,  |  fat  bul  |  -locks,  and  swine. 
Usquebaugh  |  to  our  feast  |  in  pails  |  was  brought  up, 
An  hun  |  -dred  at  least,  |  and  a  mad  |  -der  our  cup. 
O  there  |  is  the  sport !  |  we  rise  |  with  the  light, 
In  disor  |  -derly  sort,  |  from  snor  |  -ing  all  night. 
O  how  |  was  I  trick'd  !  |  my  pipe  |  it  was  broke, 
My  pock  |  -etwas  pick'd,  |  I  lost  |  my  new  cloak. 
I'm  ri  |  -fled,  quoth  Nell,  |  of  man  |  -tie  and  kerch  |  -er : 
Why  then  |  fare  them  well,  |  the  de'il  |  take  the  search  |  -er." 

Johnsons  Works  of  the  Poets ,  Vol.  v,  p.  310. 

[ere  the  measure  is  tetrameter  ;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  the  design  of  the  poet,  that 
jh  hemistich  should  consist  of  one  iamb  and  one  anapest.     Such,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
is  the  arrangement  throughout  the  peice ;  but  the  hemistichs  which  have  double  rhyme, 
.'.•h  be  divided  into  two  amphibrachs.     In  Everett's  Versification,  at  p.  100,  the  first 
six  lines  of  this  example  are  broken  into  twelve,  and  set  in  three  stan/as,  being  given  to 
exemplify  "The  Line  of  a  .v  !>>/an  Iambus,"  or  what  he  improperly  calls 

14  The  first  and  shortest  species  of  Anapestic  lines."     Ills  other  instance  of  the  same  metre  is 
rather  than  Anapestic,  even  by  his  own  showing.     "  In  the  following 
example,"  says  he,  "  we  have  this  measure  alternating  with  Amphibrachic  lines  :  " 
nple  II. — From  Byron's  Manfred. 


The  Captive  Usurper, 


Huti'd  down  |  from  the  throne, 
Lay  buried  in  torpor, 
Forgotten  and  lone  ; 


I  broke  through  his  slumbers, 


I  shiv  I  -cr'd  his  chain, 
I  leagued  him  with  numbers- 
He's  Ty  |  -rant  again  ! 


I  "With  the  blood  |  of  a  mill  |  -ion  he'll  an  |  -swer  niy  care, 

With  a  na  |  -tion's  destruc  |  -tion— his  flight  |  and  despair." — Actii,  Sc.  3. 
ere  the  last  two  lines,  which  are  not  cited  by  Everett,  are  pure  anapestic  tetrameters ; 
and  it  may  be  observed,  that,  if  each  two  of  the  short  lines  were  printed  as  one,  the  eight, 

60 


858 


THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


which  are  here  scanned  otherwise,  would  become  four  of  the  same  sort,  except  that  these 
would  each  begin  with  an  iambus.  Hence  the  specimen  sounds  essentially  as  anapestic 
Terse. 

Example  III. —  Woman  on  the  Field  of  Battle. 


1  Gentle  and  |  lovely  form, 
What  didst  |  thou  here, 

"When  the  fierce  |  battle  storm 
Bore  down  |  the  spear  ? 

Banner  and  |  shiver'd  crest, 

Beside  |  thee  strown, 
Tell,  that  a  |  -midst  the  best 

Thy  work  |  was  done  ! 

Low  lies  the  |  stately  head, 
Earth-bound  |  the  free  : 

How  gave  those  |  haughty  dead 
A  place  |  to  thee  ? 

Slumb'rer  !  thine  |  early  bier 
Friends  should  |  havecrown'd, 

Many  a  |  flow'r  and  tear 
Shedding  |  around. 

Soft  voices,  |  dear  and  young, 
Mingling  |  their  swell, 

Should  o'er  thy  |  dust  have  sung 
Earth's  last  |  farewell. 


Sisters  a  |  -bove  the  grave 

Of  thy  |  repose 
Should  have  bid  |  vi'lets  wave 

With  the  |  white  rose. 

Now  must  the  |  trumpet's  note, 

Savage  |  and  shrill, 
For  requi'm  |  o'er  thee  float, 

Thou  fair  I  and  still ! 


And  the  swift  |  charger  sweep, 

In  full  |  career, 
Trampling  thy  |  place  of  sleep — 

Why  cam'st  |  thou  here  ? 

Why  ? — Ask  the  |  true  heart  why 

Woman  |  hath  been 
Ever,  where  |  brave  men  die, 

Unshrink  |  -ing  seen. 

Unto  this  |  harvest  ground, 
Proud  reap  |  -ers  came, 

Some  for  that  |  stirring  sound, 
A  warr  |  -ior's  name  : 

Some  for  the  |  stormy  play, 

And  joy  |  of  strife, 
And  some  to  |  fling  away 

A  wea  |  -ry  life. 

But  thou,  pale  |  sleeper,  thou, 
With  the  |  slight  frame, 

And  the  rich  |  locks,  whose  glow 
Death  can  |  -not  tame ; 


Only  one  |  thought,  one  pow'r, 
Thee  could  |  have  led, 

So  through  the  |  tempest's  hour 
To  lift  |  thy  head! 

Only  the  |  true,  the  strong, 

The  love  |  whose  trust 
Woman's  deep  |  soul  too  long 

Pours  on  |  the  dust." 
HEMANS  :  Poetical  Works,  Vol.  ii,  p.  157. 
Here  are  fourteen  stanzas  of  composite  dimeter,  each  having  two  sorts  of  lines  ;  the  first 
sort  consisting,  with  a  few  exceptions,  of  a  dactyl  and  an  amphimac  ;  the  second,  mostly,  of 
two  iambs ;  but,  in  some  instances,  of  a  trochee  and  an  iamb  ; — the  latter  being,  in  such  a 
connexion,  much  the  more  harmonious  and  agreeable  combination  of  quantities. 
Example  IV. — Airs  from  a  " Serenata." 


Am  1. 
Love  sounds  |  the  alarm, 

And  fear  |  is  a  fly  |  -ing  : 
When  beau  |  -ty's  the  prize, 

What  mor  |  -tal  fears  dy  j  -ing  ? 
In  defence  |  of  my  treas  |  -ure, 

I'd  bleed  |  at  each  vein  : 
Without  |  her  no  pleas  |  -tire ; 

For  life  |  is  a  pain." 


AIR  2. 
Consid  |  -er,  fond  shep  |  -herd, 

How  fleet  |  -ing's  the  pleas  |  -ure, 
That  flat  |  -tcrs  our  hopes 

In  pursuit  |  of  the  fair  : 
The  joys  |  that  attend  |  it, 

By  mo  |  -ments  we  meas  |  -ure  ; 
But  life  |  is  too  lit  |  -tie 

To  meas  I  -ure  our  care." 


GAY'S  POEMS  :  Johnson's  Works  of  the  Poets,  Vol.  vii,  p.  378. 
These  verses  are  essentially  either  anapestic  or  amphibrachic.     The  anapest  divides  two 
of  them  in  the  middle  ;  the  amphibrach  will  so  divide  eight.     But  either  division  will  give 
many  iambs.     By  the  present  scansion,  ihejirstfoot  is  an  iamb  in  all  of  them  but  the  two 
anapestics. 

Example  V.—"The  Last  Leaf." 

"  I  saw  |  him  once  |  before 
As  he  pass  |  -ed  by  |  the  door, 

And  again 
The  pave  |  -ment  stones  |  resound 


As  he  tot  |  -ters  o'er  |  the  ground 

With  his  cane. 

2. 

They  say  |  that  in  |  his  prime, 
Ere  the  prun  |  -ing -knife  |  of  Time 

Cut  him  down, 


Not  a  bet  |  -ter  man  |  was  found 
By  the  cri  |  -er  on  |  his  round 
Through  the  town. 


3. 

But  now  |  he  walks  |  the  streets, 
And  he  looks  |  at  all  |  he  meets 

So  forlorn ; 

And  he  shakes  |  his  fee  |  -ble  head, 
That  it  seems  |  as  if  |  he  said, 

They  are  gone. 


CHAP.  IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ORDER  V. — COMPOSITES. 


859 


4. 

The  mos  |  -sy  mar  |  -bles  rest 
On  the  lips  |  that  he  |  has  press'd 

In  their  bloom ; 

And  the  names  |  he  lov'd  |  to  hear 
Have  been  carv'd  J  for  man  |  -y  a  year 

On  the  tomb. 

5. 

My  grand  |  -mamma  |  has  said, — 
Poor  old  La  |  -dy  !  she  |  is  dead 

Long  ago,— 

That  he  had  |  a  Ho  |  -man  nose, 
And  his  cheek  |  was  like  |  a  rose 

In  the  snow. 


6. 

But  now  |  his  nose  |  is  thin, 
And  it  rests  |  upon  |  his  chin 
Like  a  staff; 


And  a  crook  |  is  in  |  his  back, 

And  a  mel  |  -anchol  |  -y  crack 

In  his  laugh. 

7. 

I  know  |  it  is  |  a  sin 
For  me  [thus]  |  to  sit  |  and  grin 

At  him  here ; 

But  the  old  |  three-cor  |  -ner'd  hat, 
And  the  breech  |  -es,  and  |  all  that, 

Are  so  queer ! 

8. 

And  if  I  |  should  live  |  to  be 
the  tree 


The  last  leaf  |  upon  |  the  tree 

In  the  spring, — 

Let  them  smile,  |  as  I  |  do  now, 
At  the  old  |  forsak  |  -en  bough 

AVhere  I  cling." 
OLIVER  "NV.  HOLMES  :   The  Pioneer,  1813,  p.  108. 

OBSERVATIONS. 


Om.  1.— Composite  verse,  especially  if  the  lines  be  short,  is  peculiarly  liable  to  uncertainty, 
and  diversity  of  scansion ;  and  that  which  does  not  always  abide  by  one  chosen  order  of  quantities, 
can  scarcely  be  found  agreeable  :  it  must  be  more  apt  to  puzzle  than  to  please  the  reader.  The 
eight  stanzas  of  this  last  example,  have  eight  lines  of  iambic  trimeter ;  and,  since,  seven  times  in 
eight,  this  metre  holds  the  first  place  in  the  stanza,  it  is  a  double  fault,  that  one  such  line  seems 
strayed  from  its  proper  position.  It  would  be  better  to  prefix  the  word  Now  to  the  fourth  line, 
and  "to  mend  the  forty-third  thus  :  — 

"  And  should  |  I  live  |  to  be  "— 

The  trissyllabic  feet  of  this  piece,  as  I  scan  it,  are  numerous ;  being  the  sixteen  short  lines  of 
monometer,  and  the  twenty-four  initial  feet  of  the  lines  of  seven  syllables.  Every  one  of  the  forty 
— (except  the  thirty-sixth,  "The  last  leaf" — )  begins  with  a  monosyllable  which  may  be  varied 
in  quantity  ;  so  that,  with  stress  laid  on  this  monosyllable,  the  foot  becomes  an  amphimac ;  with- 
out such  stress,  an  anapest. 

Oits.  2. — I  incline  to  read  this  piece  as  composed  of  iambs  and  anapests  ;  but  E.  A.  Foe,  who 
has  commended  "  the  effective  harmony  of  these  lines,"  and  called  the  example  "  an  excellently 
well  conceived  and  well  managed  specimen  of  versification,"  counts  many  syllables  long,  which 
such  a  reading  makes  short,  and  he  also  divides  all  but  the  iambics  in  a  way  quite  different  from 
e,  thus  :  "  Let  us  scan  the  first  stanza. 


The  pave-  |  ment  stones  I  resound 


As  he  I  totters  |  o'er  the  I  grOund 
With  his  I  cane.' 


I  saw    |  him  once  |  before 
As  he  |  passed  |  by  the  |  door, 

And  a-  |  gain 

This,"  savs  he,  "  is  the  general  scansion  of  the  poem.  "We  have  first  three  iambuses.  The  sec- 
ond line  shifts  the  rhythm  into  the  trochaic,  giving  us  three  trochees,  with  a  caesura  equivalent,  in 
this  case,  to  a  trochee.  The  third  line  is  a  trochee  and  equivalent  cresura." — FOE'S  NOTES 
UPON  K\t;usu  VKU-  .  p.  109.  These  quantities  are  the  same  as  those  by  which  the 

whole  piece  is  made  to  consist  of  iambs  and  amphiinacs. 

Ons.  :;. —  In  its  rltijt/,  upon  the  ear,  a  supernumerary  short  syllable  at  the  end  of  a 

line,  may  sometimes,  perhaps, 'i-o:npensate  for  the  want  of  such  a  syllable  at  the  beginning  of  the 
next  line,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  fourth  example  above  ;  but  still  it  is  unusual,  and  seems  im- 
proper, to  suppose  such  syllable  to  belong  to  the  scansion  of  the  subsequent  line  ;  for  the  division  of 
with  their  harmonic  pauses,  is  ^renter  than  the  division  of  feet,  and  implies  that  no  foot  can 
tually  be  split  by  it.  Foe  has  suggested  that  the  division  into  lines  may  be  disregarded  in 
scanning,  and  sometimes  must  be.  II.-  rites  for  an  example  the  beginning  of  Byron's  "  Bride  of 
Abydos," — a  passage  which  has  been  admired  tor  its  easy  How,  and  which,  he  says,  has  greatly 
puzzled  those  who  have  attempted  to  scan  it.  Regarding  it  as  essentially  anapestic  tetrame- 
ter, yet  as  having  some  initial  iambs,  and  tin-  first 'and  fifth  lines  dactylic,  I  shall  here  divide  it 
accordingly,  thus : — 

"  Know  ye  the  I  If.nd  where  the  |  ,,\  \  myrtle 

Are  rin  |  -tilt  ins  <>f  de.-ds  I  that"  are  done  |  in  t'heir  clime — 
Where  the  ra^e  |  of  the  vul  f  -turc,  the  love  |  of  the  tur  |  -tie, 

I  Now  melt  |  into  soft  |    ness,  now  mad  |  -den  to  crime  ? 

Know  ye  the  |  l;md  of  the  |  cedar  and  I  vine, 
Where  the  rlow'rs  |  ever  bios  |  -som,  trie  beams  |  ever  shine, 
And  the  light  |  wings  of  Zeph  |  -yr,  oppress'd  |  with  perfume, 
W.i\  faint  |  o'er  the  <_;ar  |  -dens  of  Gul  |  in  her  bloom? 


-ron  and  ol  |  -ivc  are  fair  |  -est  of  fruit, 

of  the  nit;ht  I  -ingale  ncv  I  -er  is  mute  ? 

.•    I  .1        , 


Where,  the  cit 

And  the  voice 

Where  the  vir     -gins  are  soft  |  as  the  ros  |  -es  they  twine 

And  all,  |  save  the  spir  |  -it  of  man,  |  is  divine  ? 

'Tis  the  land  I  of  the  East —  |  't  is  the  dime  I  of  the  Sun — 

Can  he  smile  |  on  such  deeds  I  as  his  chil  |  -dren  have  done  ? 

Oh,  wild  |  as  the  ac  |  -cents  or  lov  |  -ers'  farewell, 

Are  the  hearts  |  that  they  bear,  |  and  the  tales  |  that  they  tell." 


RT  IV. 

)eether 


860  THE    GRAMMAR    OP    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART 

OBS.  4. — These  lines  this  ingenious  prosodist  divides  not  thus,  but,  throwing  them  together 
like  prose  unpunctuated,  finds  in  them  "  a  regular  succession  of  dactylic  rhythms,  varied  only  at 
three  points  by  equivalent  spondees,  and  separated  into  two  distinct  divisions  by  equivalent  ter- 
minating caesuras."  He  imagines  that,  "  By  all  who  have  ears — not  over  long — this  will  be  ac- 
knowledged as  the  true  and  the  sole  true  scansion." — E.  A,  Poe,  Pioneer,  p.  107.  So  it  may,  for 
aught  I  know ;  but,  having  dared  to  show  there  is  an  other  way  quite  as  simple  and  plain,  and  less 
objectionable,  I  submit  both  to  the  judgement  of  the  reader  : — 

''  Know  ye  the  |  land  where  the  |  cypress  and  |  myrtle  are  |  emblems  of  |  deeds  that  are  J  done 
in  their  J  clime  where  the  j  rage  of  the  |  vulture  the  ]  love  of  the  |  turtle  now  |  melt  into  |  softness 
now  |  madden  to  |  crime.  Know  ye  the  |  land  of  the  j  cedar  and  |  vine  where  the  |  flow'rs  ever 
|  blossom  the  |  beams  ever  |  shine  where  the  |  light  wings  of  |  zephyr  op-  |  press'd  with  per-  I 
fume  wax  \  faint  o'er  the  |  gardens  of  |  Gul  in  her  |  bloom  where  the  |  citron  and  |  olive  are  | 
fairest  of  |  fruit  and  the  |  voice  6f  the  |  nightingale  |  never  is  |  mute  where  the  |  virgins  are  |  soft 
as  the  |  roses  they  |  twine  and  \  all  save  the  |  spirit  of  man  is  di-  |  vine  'tis  the  |  land  of  the 


East  'tis  the  |  clime  of  th5  |  Sun  can  he  |  smile  on  such  |  deeds  as  his  |  children  have  I  done  oh  \ 
wild  as  the  |  accents  of  |  lovers'  fare-  I  well  are  the  |  hearts  that  they  |  bear  and  the  tales  that 
they  |  tell."-Ib. 

OBS.  5. — In  the  sum  and  proportion  of  their  quantities,  the  anapest,  the  dactyl,  and  the  amphi- 
brach, are  equal,  each  having  two  syllables  short  to  one  long ;  and,  with  two  short  quantities 
between  two  long  ones,  lines  may  be  tolerably  accordant  in  rhythm,  though  the  order,  at  the  com- 
mencement, be  varied,  and  their  number  of  syllables  be  not  equal.  Of  the  following  sixteen  lines, 
nine  are  pure  anapestic  tetrameters  ;  one  may  be  reckoned  dactylic,  but  it  may  quite  as  well  be 
said  to  have  a  trochee,  an  iambus,  and  two  anapests  or  two  amphimacs  ;  one  is  a  spondee  and 
three  anapests  ;  and  the  rest  may  be  scanned  as  amphibrachics  ending  with  an  iambus,  but  are 
more  properly  anapestics  commencing  with  an  iambus.  Like  the  preceding  example  from  Byron, 
they  lack  the  uniformity  of  proper  composites,  and  are  rather  to  be  regarded  as  anapestics  irregu- 
larly diversified. 

THE  ALBATROSS. 

"  ;Tis  said  the  Albatross  never  rests." — Euffon. 
"  Where  the  fath  |  -omless  waves  |  in  magnif  |  -icence  toss. 
Homeless  |  and  high  |  soars  the  wild  |  Albatross; 
Unwea  |  ried,  undaunt  |  -ed,  unshrink  |  -ing,  alone, 
The  o  |  -cean  his  em  |  -pire,  the  tern  |  -pest  his  throne. 
When  the  ter  |  -rible  whirl  |  -wind  raves  wild  |  o'er  the  surge, 
And  the  hur  |  -ricane  howls  j  out  the  mar  |  -iner's  dirge, 
In  thy  glo  |  -ry  thou  spurn  [  -est  the  dark  |  -heaving  sea, 
Proud  bird  |  of  the  o  |  -cean-world,  home  |  -less  and  free. 
When  the  winds  |  are  at  rest,  |  and  the  sun  |  in  his  glow, 
And  the  glit  j  -tering  tide  |  sleeps  in  beau  |  -ty  below, 
In  the  pride  f  of  thy  pow  |  -er  trium  |  -phant  above, 
With  thy  mate  |  thou  art  hold  |  -ing  thy  rev  |  -els  of  love. 
Untir  |  -ed,  unfet  |  -tered,  unwatched,  |  unconfmed, 
Be  my  spir  |  -it  like  thee,  |  in  the  world  |  of  the  mind ; 
No  lean  |  -ing  for  earth,  |  e'er  to  wea  |  -ry  its  flight, 
And  fresh  |  as  thy  pin  |  -ions  in  re  |  -gions  of  light." 

SAMUEL  DALY  LANGTREE:  North  American  Reader,  p.  443. 

Ous.  6. — It  appears  that  the  most  noted  measures  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  poets  were  not  of  any 
simple  order,  but  either  composites,  or  mixtures  too  various  to  be  called  composites.  It  is  not  to 
be  denied,  that  we  have  much  difficulty  in  reading  them  rhythmically,  according  to  their  stated 
feet  and  scansion  ;  and  so  we  should  have,  in  reading  our  own  language  rhythmically,  in  any 
similar  succession  of  feet.  Noticing  this  in  respect  to  the  Latin  Hexameter,  or  Heroic  verse, 
Poe  says,  "  Now  the  discrepancy  in  question  is  not  observable  in  English  metres ;  where  the 
scansion  coincides  with  the  reading,  so  far  as  the  rhythm  is  concerned — that  is  to  say,  if  we  pay  no 
attention  to  the  sense  of  the  passage.  'But  these  facts  indicate  a  radical  difference  in  the  genius 
of  the  two  languages,  as  regards  their  capacity  for  modulation.  In  truth,  *  *  *  the  Latin  is  a 
far  more  stately  tongue  than  oxir  own.  It  is  essentially  spondaic  ;  the  English  is  as  essentially 
dactylic." — Pioneer,  p.  110.  (See  the  marginal  note  in  Section  3d,  atObs.  22d,  above.)  Notwith- 
standing this  difference,  discrepance,  or  difficulty,  whatever  it  may  be,  some  of  our  poets  have,  in 
a  few  instances,  attempted  imitations  of  certain  Latin  metres  ;  which  imitations  it  may  be  proper 
briefly  to  notice  under  the  present  head.  The  Greek  or  Latin  Hexameter  line  has,  of  course,  six 
feet,  or  pulsations.  According  to  the  Prosodies,  the  first  four  of  these  may  be  either  dactyls  or 
spondees  ;  the  fifth  is  always,  or  nearly  always,  a  dactyl ;  and  the  sixth,  or  last,  is  always  a 
spondee :  as, 

"  Ludere  |  qua?  vel  I  -U'm  cala  |  -mo  per  |  -mlsit  a  |  -gresti." — Virg. 
"  Infan-  |  dum.  He  f  -gina,  ju  |  -bes  rent)  |  -vare  do  |  -lorem." — Id'. 
Of  this  sort  of  verse,  in  English,  somebody  has  framed  the  following  very  fair  example  : — 

,  ""  Man  is  a  ]  complex,  |  compound  |  compost,  |  yet  is  he  |  God-born." 
OBS.  7. — Of  this  species  of  versification,  which  may  be  called  Mixed  or  Composite  Hexameter, 
the  most  considerable  specimen  that  I  have  seen  in  English,  is  Longfellow's  Evangeline,  a  poem 
of  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-two  of  these  long  lines,  or  verses.  This  work  has  found 
admirers,  and  not  a  few;  for,  of  these,  nothing  written  by  so  distinguished  a  scholar  could  fail : 
but,  surely,  not  many  of  the  verses  in  question  exhibit  truly  the  feet  of  the  ancient  Hexameters  ; 
or, if  they  do,  the  ancients  contented  themselves  with  very  imperfect  rhythms,  even  in  their  no- 
blest heroics.  In  short,  I  incline  to  the  opinion  of  Poe,  that,  "  Nothing"  less  than  the  deservedly 
high  reputation  of  Professor  Longfellow,  could  have  sufficed  to  give  currency  to  his  lines  as  to 
Greek  Hexameters.  In  general,  they  are  neither  one  thing  nor  another.  Some  few  of  them  are 
dactylic  verses. — English  dactylics.  But  do  away  with  the  division  into  lines,  and  the  most  astute 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ORDER  V. COMPOSITES.  861 

critic  would  never  have  suspected  them  of  any  thing  more  than  prose.*'— Pioneer,  p.  111.  The 
following  are  the  last  ten  lines  of  the  volume,  with  such  a  division  into  feet  as  the  poet  is  pre- 
sumed to  have  contemplated  : — 

44  Still  stands  the  |  forest  pri  |  -meval ;  but  |  under  the  |  shade  of  its  |  branches 
Dwells  an  |  -other  I  race,  with  |  other  |  customs  and  |  language. 
Only  a  |  -long  the  [  shore  of  the  |  mournful  and  |  misty  At  I  -lantic 
Linger  a  I  few  A  |  -cadian  |  peasants,  whose  |  fathers  from  |  exile 
Wanderea  |  back  to  their  |  native  |  land  to  |  die  in  its  |  bosom. 
In  the  |  fisherman's  |  cot  the  |  wheel  and  the  I  loom  are  still  |  busy; 
Maidens  still  |  wear  their  |  Norman  |  caps  and  their  |  kirtles  of  |  homespun, 
And  by  the  |  evening  |  fire  re  |  -peat  E  |  -vangelme's  |  story, 
While  from  its  |  rocky  |  caverns  the  |  deep-voiced,  |  neighbouring  |  ocean 
Speaks,  and  in  |  accents  dis  |  -consolate  |  answers  the  |  wail  of  the  I  forest." 

IIi.NUY   \V.   LOM.I-KI.LOW  :  Lcangelinc,  p.  162. 

OBS.  8. — An  other  form  of  verse,  common  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  which  has  sometimes 
been  imitated — or,  rather,  which  some  writers  have  attempted  to  imitate — in  English,  is  the  line 
or  stanxa  called  Sapphic,  fiom  the  inventress,  Sappho,  a  Greek  poetess.  The  Sapphic  verse,  ac- 
cording to  Fabricius,  Smetitis,  and  all  good  authorities,  has  eleven  syllables,  making  "  five  feet — 
the  first  a  trochee,  the  second  a  spondee,  the  third  a  dactyl,  and  the  fourth  and  filth  trochees." 
The  Sapphic  stanza,  or  what  is  sometimes  so  c  tiled,  consists  of  three  Sapphic  lines  and  an  Ado- 
nian,  or  Adonic, — this  last  being  a  short  line  composed  of  "  a  dactyl  and  a  spondee."  Example 
from  Horace  : — 

"  Into  |  -g«"r  vi  |  -tic,  scMf1  |  -risque  |  purus 
Non  e  |  -get  Mau  |  -ri  jacu  |  -lis  ne  f-qu'  arcu, 
Nee  ven  |  -ena  |  -tis  gravi  |  -da  sa  |  -gittis, 
Fusee,  pha  |  -retra." 

OBS.  9. — To  arrange  eleven  syllables  in  a  line,  and  have  half  or  more  of  them  to  form  trochees, 
is  no  difficult  matter  ;  but,  to  find  rhythm  in  the  succession  of  "  a  trochee,  a  spondee,  and  a  dac- 
tyl," as  we  read  words,  seems  hardly  practicable.  Hence  few  are  the  English  Sapphics,  if  there 
be  any,  which  abide  by  the  foregoing  formule  of  quantities  and  feet.  Those  which  I  have  seen, 
are  generally,  if  not  in  every  instance,  susceptible  of  a  more  natural  scansion  as  being  composed 
of  trochees,  with  a  dactyl,  or  some  other  foot  of  three  syllables,  at  the  beginning  of  each  line. 
The  ca?sural  pause  falls  sometimes  after  the  fourth  syllable,  but  more  generally,  and  much  more 
agreeably,  after  the  fifth.  Let  the  reader  inspect  the  following  example,  and  see  if  he  do  not 
agree  with  me  in  laying  the  accent  on  only  the  first  syllable  of  each  foot,  as  the  feet  are  here 
divided.  The  accent,  too,  must  be  carefully  laid.  Without  considerable  care  in  the  reading, 
sarer  will  not  suppose  the  composition  to  be  any  thing  but  prose : — 
"Tin:  WIDOW." — (Ix  "SAPPHICS.") 


"  Cold  was  the  |  night-wind,  |  drifting  |  fast  the  I  snow  fell, 
Wide  were  the  |  downs,  and  |  shelter  I  -less  and  |  naked, 
When  a  poor  |  Wanderer  |  struggled  ]  on  her  |  journey, 

Weary  and  |  way-sore. 

Drear  were  the  |  downs,  more  |  dreary  |  her  re  |  -flections  ; 
Cold  was  the  |  night-wind,  |  colder  |  was  her  |  bosom  ; 
She  had  no  |  home,  the  |  world  w,is  |  all  be  |  -fore  her; 

She  had  no  |  shelter. 

Fast  o'er  the  |  heath  a  |  chariot  |  rattled  |  by  her; 
1  IMty  me  ! '  |  feebly  |  cried  the  j  lonely  |  wanderer; 
'  Pity  me,  |  strangers  !  |  lest,  with  |  cold  and  |  hunger, 

Here  I  should  |  perish. 

'  Once  I  had  I  friends, — though  |  now  by  |  all  for  |  -saken  ! 
4  Once  I  had  |  parents,  |  — they  are  |  now  in  |  heaven  ! 
4 1  had  a  |  home  once,  |  — I  had  |  once  a  |  husband — 

Pity  me,  |  strangers  ! 

'  I  had  a  |  home  once,  |  — I  had  |  once  a  |  husband — 
4 1  am  a  |  widow,  |  poor  and  |  broken  |  -hearted!  ' 
Loud  blew  the  j  wind;  un  |  -heard  was  |  her  com  |  -plaining; 

On  drove  the  |  chariot. 

Then  on  the  |  snow  she  J  laid  her  |  down  to  |  rest  her; 
She  heard  a  |  horseman  ;  |  '  Pity  |  me  ! '  she  |  groan'd  out; 
Loud  was  the  |  wind  ;  un  |  -heard  was  |  her  com  |  -plaining; 

On  went  the  |  horseman. 

Wnrn  out  with  |  anguish,  |  toil,  and  j  cold,  and  |  hunger, 
Down  sunk  the  |  Wanderer ;  I  sleep  had  |  seized  her  |  senses; 
There  did  the  |  traveller  |  fina  her  |  in  the  |  morning ; 
God  had  re  j  -leased  her." 

KUHEKT  SOI-THKY  :  I'oems,  Philad.  1843,  p.  2-jl. 
OBS.  10. — Among  the  lyric  poems  of  Dr.  Watts,  is  one,  entitled,  "  Tun  DAY  OF  JUDGEMENT  ; 
m  Ode,  attempted  in  Kwjlish  Sapjihic."     It  is  perhaps  as  good  an  example  as  we  have  of  the  spe- 
cies.    It  consists  of  nine  stanzas,  of  which  I  shall  here  cite  the  first  three,  dividing  them  into  feet 
as  above  : — 

14  When  the  fierce  |  North  Wind,  |  with  his  |  airy  |  forces, 
Rears  up  the  |  Baltic  |  to  a  |  foaming  |  fury  ; 
And  the  red  |  lightning  |  with  a  |  storm  of  |  hail  comes 
Rushing  a  |  -main  down  ; 


862  THE    GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS.  [PART   IV, 

How  the  poor  |  sailors  |  stand  a  |  -maz'd  and  |  tremble ! 
While  the  hoarse  |  thunder,  |  like  a  |  bloody  |  trumpet, 
Roars  a  loud  |  onset  J  to  the  |  gaping  |  waters, 

Quick  to  de  |  -your  them. 

Such  shall  the  |  noise  be,  j  and  the  |  wild  dis  |  -order, 
(If  things  e  |  -ternal  |  may  be  I  like  these  |  earthly,) 
Such  the  dire  |  terror,  |  when  the  |  great  Arch  |  -angel 

Shakes   the  ere  |  -ation." — Horce  Lyrica,   p.   67- 

OBS.  11. — "  These  lines,"  says  Humphrey,  who  had  cited  the  first  four,  "  are  good  English 
Sapphics,  and  contain  the  essential  traits  of  the  original  as  nearly  as  the  two  languages,  Greek 
and  English,  correspond  to  each  other.  This  stanza,  together  with  the  poem,  from  which  this 
was  taken,  may  stand  for  a  model,  in  our  English  compositions." — Humphrey's  E.  Prosody,  p.  19. 
This  author  erroneously  supposed,  that  the  trissyllabic  foot,  in  any  line  of  the  Sapphic  stanza, 
must  occupy  the  second  place  :  and,  judging  of  the  ancient  feet  and  quantities  by  what  he  found, 
or  supposed  he  found,  m  the  English  imitations,  and  not  by  what  the  ancient  prosodists  say  of 
them,  yet  knowing  that  the  ancient  and  the  modern  Sapphics  are  in  several  respects  unlike,  he 
presented  forms  of  scansion  for  both,  which  are  not  only  peculiar  to  himself,  but  not  well  adapted 
to  either.  ''We  have,"  says  he,  "  no  established  rule  for  this  kind  of  verse,  in  our  English  com- 
positions, which  has  been  uniformly  adhered  to.  The  rule  for  which,  in  Greek  and  Latin  verse, 
as  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  was  this:  -  w  |  -  "|w"|"w|""a  trochee,  a  moloss,  zpyrrhic,  a  tro- 
chee, and  [a]  spondee;  and  sometimes,  occasionally,  a  trochee,  instead  of  a  spondee,  at  the  end. 
But  as  our  language  is  not  favourable  to  the  use  of  the  spondee  and  moloss,  the  moloss  is  seldom 
or  never  used  in  our  English  Sapphics  ;  but,  instead  of  which,  some  other  trissyllable  foot  is  used. 
Also,  instead  of  the  spondee,  a  trochee  is  commonly  used  ;  and  sometimes  a  trochee  instead  of  the 
pyrrhic,  in  the  third  place.  As  some  prescribed  rule,  or  model  for  imitation,  may  be  necessary, 
in  this  case,  I  will  cite  a  stanza  from  one  of  our  best  English  poets,  which  may  serve  for  a  model. 
'  When  the  |  fierce  north-wind,  |  with  his  |  airy  |  forces  [,] 
Rears  up  |  the  Baltic  |  to  a  |  foaming  |  fury ; 
And  the  |  red  lightning  |  with  a  I  storm  of  |  hail  c6mes 

Rushing  |  amain  down.'— Watts."— Ib.  p.  19. 

OBS.  12.— In  "  the  Works  of  George  Canning,"  a'small  book  published  in  1829,  there  is  a  poet- 
ical dialogue  of  nine  stanzas,  entitled,  "The  Friend  of  Humanity  and  the  Knife-Grinder,"  said 
to  be  "a  burlesque  on  Mr.  Southey's  Sapphics."    The  metre  appears  to  be  near  enough  like  to 
the  foregoing.     But  these  verses  I  divide,  as  I  have  divided  the  others,  into  trochees  with  initial 
dactyls.    At  the  commencement,  the  luckier  party  salutes  the  other  thus : — 
'« 'Needy  knife  |  -grinder!  |  whither  j  are  you  |  going  ? 
Rough  is  the  |  road,  your  |  wheel  is  I  out  of  |  order — 
Bleak  blows  the  |  blast ; — your  |  hat  has  |  got  a  |  hole  in't, 

So  have  your  I  breeches  ! 

'  Weary  knife  |  -grinder !  |  little  |  think  the  |  proud  ones 
Who  in  their  |  coaches  |  roll  a  |  -long  the  I  turnpike- 
Road,  what  hard  |  work  'tis,  |  crying  |  all  day,  |  '  Knives  and 
Scissors  to  |  grind  O !  '  "—P.  44. 
OBS.  13. — Among  the  humorous  poems  of  Thomas  Green  Fessenden,   published  under  the 
sobriquet  of  Dr.  Caustic,  or  "  Christopher  Caustic,  M.  D.,"  maybe  seen  another  comical  example 
of  Sapphics,  which  extends   to  eleven  stanzas.     It  describes  a  contra-dance,  and  is  entitled, 
"  Horace  Surpassed."     The -conclusion  is  as  follows  : — 

"  Willy  Wagnimble  dancing  with  Flirtilla, 
Almost  as  light  as  air-balloon  inflated, 
Rigadoons  around  her,  'till  the  lady's  heart  is 

Forced  to  surrender. 

Benny  Bamboozle  cuts  the  drollest  capers, 
Just  like  a  camel,  or  a  hippopot'mus  ; 
Jolly  Jack  Jumble  makes  as  big  a  rout  as 
Forty  Dutch  horses. 

See  Angelina  lead  the  mazy  dance  down  ; 

Never  did  fairy  trip  it  so  fantastic ; 

How  my  heart  flutters,  while  my  tongue  pronounces, 

'  Sweet  little  seraph  ! ' 

Such  are  the  joys  that  flow  from  contra-dancing, 
Pure  as  the  primal  happiness  of  Eden, 
Love,  mirth,  and  music,  kindle  in  accordance 

Raptures  extatic." — Poems,  p.  208. 

SECTION  V.  — ORAL  EXERCISES. 

IMPROPRIETIES    FOR    CORRECTION. 

FALSE  PROSODY,  OR  ERRORS  OF  METRE. 

LESSON  I. — RESTORE  THE  RHYTHM. 

"The  lion  is  laid  down  in  his  lair." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  134. 

[FORMDLE. — Not  proper,  because  the  word  "  //on,"  here  put  for  Cowper's  word  "  beast,"  destroys  the  metre,  and 
changes  the  line  to  prose.     But,  according  to  the  definition  given  on  p.  798,  "  Verse,  in  opposition  to  prose,  is  Ian- 


CHAP.    IV.]  PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ERRORS  OF  METRE.  863 

guage  arranged  into  metrical  lines  of  some  determinate  length  and  rhythm— language  so  ordered  as  to  produce 
harmony,  by  a  due  succession  of  poetic  feet."  This  line  was  composed  of  one  iamb  and  two  anapests  ;  and,  to 
euch  form,  it  should  be  restored,  thus :  "  The  beast  is  laid  down  in  his  lair."—  Covoptrs  Poems,  Vol.  i,  p.  201.] 

"  Where  is  thy  true  treasure  ?  Gold  says,  not  in  me."— Hallock's  Gram.,  1842,  p.  66. 

44  Canst  thou  grow  sad,  thou  sayest,  as  earth  grows  bright  r  " — Frazcc's  Gram.,  1845,  p.  140. 

"It  must  be  so,  Plato,  thou  reasonest  well." —  ll'ctls's  Gram.,  1846,  p.  122. 

"Slow  rises  merit,  when  by  poverty  depressed." — Ib.  p.  195  ;  Hiley,  132  ;  Hart,  179. 

44  Rapt  in  future  times,  the  bard  begun." — ll'cll-s's  Gram.,  1846,  p.  153. 

"  Is  there  not  rain  enough  in  the  sweet  heavens 

To  wash  it  white  as  snow  ?     Whereunto  serves  mercy, 

But  to  confront  the  visage  of  offence  !  " — Hallock's  Gram.,  1842,  p.  118. 
44  Look  !  in  this  place  ran  Cassius's  dagger  through." — Kamcs,  El.  of  Cr.,  Vol.  i,  p.  74. 
44 When  they  list  their  lean  and  flashy  songs, 

Harsh  grate  on  their  scrannel  pipes  of  wretched  straw." — Jamicson's  Rhet.  p.  135. 
44  Did  not  great  Julius  bleed  for  justice's  sake  r  " — Dodd's  Beauties  of  Shak.  p.  253. 
44  Did  not  great  Julius  bleed  for  justice  sake?" — Singer's  Shakspeare,  Vol.  ii,  p.  266. 
"  May  I,  unblam'd,  express  thee  r     Since  God  is  light." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  290. 
44  Or  hearest  thou,  rather,  pure  ethereal  stream  !  " — 2d  Perversion,  ib. 
44  Republics  ;  kingdoms ;  empires,  may  decay ; 

Princes,  heroes,  sages,  sink  to  nought." — 0.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  287. 
44  Thou  bringest,  gay  creature  as  thou  art, 

A  solemn  image  to  my  heart." — E.  J.  Hallock's  Gram.  p.  197. 
41  Know  thyself,  presume  not  God  to  scan  ; 

The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  Man." — O.  B.  Peirce's  Gram.  p.  285. 
41  Raised  on  a  hundred  pilasters  of  gold." — Charlemagne,  C.  i,  St.  40. 
44  Love  in  Adalgise's  breast  has  fixed  his  sting." — Ib.  C.  i,  St.  30. 

44  Thirty  days  hath  September,  February  twenty-eight  alone, 

April,  June,  and  November,  All  the  rest  thirty  and  one." 

Colet's  Grammar,  or  Paul's  Accidence,  Lond.  1793,  p.  75. 

LESSOX  II. — RESTORE  THE  RHYTHM. 
14  'Twas  not  the  fame  of  what  he  once  had  been, 

Or  tales  in  old  records  and  annals  seen." — Rowe's  Lucan,  B,  i,  1.  274. 
"And  Asia  now  and  Afric  are  explor'd, 

For  high-priced  dainties,  and  citron  board." — Eng.  Poets :  ib.  B.  i,  1.  311. 
44  Who  knows  not,  how  the  trembling  judge  beheld 

The  peaceful  court  with  arm'd  legions  fill'd  ?  " — Eng.  Poets :  ib.  B.  i,  1.  578. 
14  With  thee  the  Scythian  wilds  we'll  wander  o'er, 

With  thee  burning  Libyan  sands  explore." — Eng.  Poets;  ib.  B.  i,  1.  661. 
and  headlong  different  paths  they  tread, 

As  blind  impulse  and  wild  distraction  lead." — Eng.  Poets  :  ib.  B.  i,  1.  858. 
44  But  Fate  reserv'd  to  perform  its  doom, 

And  be  the  minister  of  wrath  to  Rome." — Eng.  Poets  :  ib.  B.  ii,  1.  136. 
44  Thus  spoke  the  youth.     When  Cato  thus  exprest 

The  sacred  counsels  of  his  most  inmost  breast." — Eng.  Poets  :  ib.  B.  ii,  1.  435. 
44  These  were  the  strict  manners  of  the  man, 

And  this  the  stubborn  course  in  which  they  ran ; 

The  golden  mean  unchanging  to  pursue, 

Constant  to  keep  the  proposed  end  in  view." — Eng.  Poets ;  ib.  B.  ii,  1.  686. 
44  What  greater  grief  can  a  Roman  seize, 

Than  to  be  forc'd  to  live  on  terms  like  these  !  " — Eng.  Poets  :  ib.  B.  ii,  1.  782. 
41  He  views  the  naked  town  with  joyful  e\ 

While  from  his  rage  an  arm'd  people  flies." — Eng.  Poets :  ib.  B.  ii,  1.  880. 
44  For  planks  and  beams  he  ravages  the  wood, 

And  the  tough  bottom  extends  across  the  flood." — Eng.  Poets ;  ib.  B.  ii,  1.  1040. 
44  A  narrow  pass  the  horned  mole  divides, 

Narrow  as  that  where  Euripus'  strong  tides 

:t  on  Eubo?an  Chalcis'  rocky  sides." — Eng.  Poets  :  ib.  B.  ii,  1.  1095. 
i'orce,  no  fears  their  hands  unarm'd  bear, 

But  looks  of  peace  and  gentleness  they  wear." — Eng.  Poets,  ib.  B.  iii,  1.  112. 
44  The  ready  warriors  all  aboard  them  ride, 

And  wait  the  return  of  the  retiring  tide." — Enq.  Poets ;  ib.  B.  iv,  1.  716. 
44  He  saw  those  troops  that  long  had  faithful  stood, 

Friends  to  his  cause,  and  enemies  to  good, 

Grown  weary  of  their  chief,  and  satiated  with  blood." — Eng.  Poets  :  ib.  B.  y,  1.  337. 


\jrru  » 11  v 


864  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

CHAPTER  V.- QUESTIONS. 

ORDER  OF  REHEARSAL,  AND  METHOD  OF  EXAMINATION. 
PART  FOURTH,  PROSODY. 

0s-  [The  following  questions  call  the  attention  of  the  student  to  the  main  doctrines  in  the  foregoing  code  of 
Prosody,  and  embrace  or  demand  those  facts  which  it  is  most  important  for  him  to  fix  in  his  memory  ;  they  may, 
therefore,  serve  not  only  to  aid  the  teacher  in  the  process  of  examining  his  classes,  but  also  to  direct  the  learner 
in  his  manner  of  preparation  for  recital.] 

LESSON  I. — OF  PUNCTUATION. 

1.  Of  what  does  Prosody  treat  ?  2.  What  is  Punctuation?  3.  What  are  the  principal 
points,  or  marks  ?  4.  What  pauses  are  denoted  by  the  first  four  points  ?  5.  What  pauses 
are  required  by  the  other  four  ?  6.  What  is  the  general  use  of  the  Comma  ?  7.  How  many 
rules  for  the  Comma  are  there,  and  what  are  their  heads  ?  8.  What  says  Rule  1st  of  Sim- 
ple Sentences?  9.  What  says  Rule  2d  of  Simple  Members?  10.  What  says- Rule  3d  of  More 
than  Two  Words?  11.  What  says  Rule  4th  of  Only  Two  Words  ?  12.  What  says  Rule  5th 
of  Words  in  Pairs?  13.  What  says  Rule  6th  of  Words  put  Absolute?  14.  What  says  Rule 
7th  of  Words  in  Apposition?  15.  What  says  Rule  8th  of  Adjectives?  16.  What  says  Rule 
9th  of  Finite  Verbs?  17.  What  says  Rule  10th  of  Infinitives?  18.  What  says  Rule  llth  of 
Participles?  19.  What  says  Rule  12th  of  Adverbs?  20.  What  says  Rule  13th  of  Conjunc- 
tions ?  21.  What  says  Rule  14th  of  Prepositions  ?  22.  What  says  Rule  15th  of  Interjections  ? 
23.  What  says  Rule  16th  of  Words  Repeated?  24.  What  says  Rule  17th  of  Dependent 
Quotations  ? 

LESSON  II. — OF  THE  COMMA. 

1.  How  many  exceptions,  or  forms  of  exception,  are  there  to  Rule  1st  for  the  comma? 
2.— to  Rule  2d  ?  3.— to  Rule  3d  ?  4.— to  Rule  4th  ?  5.— to  Rule  5th  ?  6.— to  Rule  6th  ? 
7 — to  Rule  7th  ?  8 — to  Rule  8th  ?  9.— to  Rule  9th  ?  10.— to  Rule  10th  ?  11.— to  Rule 
llth?  12.— to  Rule  12th?  13.— to  Rule  13th?  14.— to  Rule  14th  ?  15.— to  Rule  15th  ? 
16.— to  Rule  16th  ?  17.— to  Rule  17th  ?'  18.  What  says  the  Exception  to  Rule  1st  of  a 
Long  Simple  Sentence?  19.  What  says  Exception  1st  to  Rule  2d  of  Restrictive  Relatives? 
20.  What  says  Exception  2d  to  Rule  2d  of  Short  Terms  closely  Connected?  21.  What  sajs 
Exception  3d  to  Rule  2d  of  Elliptical  Members  United  ?  22.  What  says  Exception  1st  to  Ru]e 
4th  of  Two  Words  with  Adjuncts  ?  23.  What  says  Exception  2d  to  Rule  4th  of  Two  Tern  s 
Contrasted?  24.  What  says  Exception  3d  to  Rule  4th  of  a  mere  Alternative  of  Words?  2i>. 
What  says  Exception  4th  to  Rule  4th  of  Conjunctions  Understood? 
LESSON  III. — OF  THE  COMMA. 

1.  What  rule  speaks  of  the  separation  of  Words  in  Apposition  ?  2.  What  says  Exception 
1st  to  Rule  7th  of  Complex  Names  ?  3.  What  says  Exception  2d  to  Rule  7th  of  Close  Appo- 
sition? 4.  What  says  Exception  3d  to  Rule  7th  of  a  Pronoun  without  a  Pause?  5.  What 
says  Exception  4th  to  Rule  7th  of  Names  Acquired  ?  6.  What  says  the  Exception  to  Rule  8th 
of  Adjectives  Restrictive  ?  7.  What  is  the  rule  which  speaks  of  a  finite  Verb  Understood?  8. 
What  says  the  Exception  to  Rule  9th  of  a  Very  Slight  Pause?  9.  What  is  the  Rute  for  the 
pointing  of  Participles  ?  10.  What  says  the  Exception  to  Rule  1 1th  of  Participles  Restrictive  ? 
[Now,  if  you  please,  you  may  correct  orally,  according  to  the  formules  given,  some  or  all  of  the  various  exam- 
ples of  False  Punctuation,  which  are  arranged  under  the  rules  for  the  Comma  in  Section  First.] 

LESSON  IV. — OF  THE  SEMICOLON. 

1.  What  is  the  general  use  of  the  Semicolon?  2.  How  many  rules  are  there  for  the 
Semicolon?  3.  What  are  their  heads ?  4.  What  says  Rule  1st  of  Complex  Members?  5. 
What  says  Rule  2d  of  Simple  Members  ?  6.  What  says  Rule  3d  of  Apposition,  §-c.  ? 

[Now,  if  you  please,  you  may  correct  orally,  according  to  the  formules  given,  some  or  all  of  the  various  exam- 
ples of  False  Punctuation,  which  are  arranged  under  the  rules  for  the  Semicolon  in  Section  Second.] 

LESSON  Y. — OF  THE  COLON. 

1.  What  is  the  general  use  of  the  Colon  ?  2.  How  many  rules  are  there  for  the  Colon  ? 
3.  What  are  their  heads  ?  4.  What  says  Rule  1st  of  Additional  Remarks?  5.  What  says 
Rule  2d  of  Greater  Pauses?  6.  What  says  Rule  3d  of  Independent  Quotations? 

[Now,  if  you  please,  you  may  correct  orally,  according  to  the  formules  given,  some  or  all  of  the  various  exam- 
ples of  False  Punctuation,  which  are  arranged  under  the  rules  for  the  Colon  in  Section  Third.] 

LESSON  VI. — OF  THE  PERIOD. 

1.  What  is  the  general  use  of  the  Period  ?  2.  How  many  rules  are  there  for  the  Period  ? 
3.  What  are  their  heads?  4.  What  says  Rule  1st  of  Distinct  Sentences?  5.  What  says 
Rule  2d  of  Allied  Sentences?  6.  What  says  Rule  3d  of  Abbreviations  ? 

[Now,  if  you  please,  you  may  correct  orally,  according  to  the  formules  given,  some  or  all  of  the  various  exam- 
ples of  False  Punctuation,  which  are  arranged  under  the  rules  for  the  Period  in  Section  Fourth.] 

LESSON  VII.— OF  THE  DASH. 
1.  What  is  the  general  use  of  the  Dash ?     2.  How  many  rules  are  there  for  the  Dash? 


CIIAP.   V.]  PROSODY. QUESTIONS. PUNCTUATION. UTTERANCE.  865 

3.  What  are  their  heads?  4.  What  says  Rule  1st  of  Ahmpt  7 '</?/.<« -.'  5.  AVhat  says  Rule 
2d  of  Emphatic  Pauses  '  6.  What  says  Rule  3d  of  7-Wty  Dashes? 

[Now.  if  you  please,  you  may  correct  orally,  according  to  th«»  formules  given,  some  or  all  of  the  various  exam- 
ples of  False  Punctuation,  which  are  arranged  under  the  rules  for  the  Da.-h  in  Section  Filch. J 

-ox  VIII. — Or  THK  EUOTI 

1.  What  is  the  use  of  the  Eroteme,  or  Note  of  Interrogation?  2.  How  many  rules 
are  there  for  this  mark ?  3.  What  are  their  heads?  4.  What  says  Rule  1st  of  ^ 

'     o.  What  says  Rule  2d  of  Questions   United?     G.  AVhat  says  Rule  3d  of  Questions 
Indirect  ' 

[Now,  if  you  please,  you  may  correct  orally,  according  to  the  formules  given,  some  or  all  of  the  various  exam- 
ples of  False  Punctuation,  which  are  arranged  under  the  rules  for  the  Eroteme  in  Section  Sixth  ] 

••).v  IX. — OF  THE  ECPHONEME. 

1.  What  is  the  u?e  of  the  Ecphoneme,  or  Note  of  Exclamation  ?     2.  How  many  rules  are 
there  for  this  mark  ?    3.  What  arc  their  heads  ?     4.  What  says  Rule  1st  of  litti-rji-rti>-. 
What  says  Rule  2d  of  Invocations.'     G.   What  says  Rule  3d  of  llsclamatory  Quest  i- 

[Now,  if  you  please:  you  may  correct  orally,  according  to  the  formules  given,  some  or  all  of  the  various  exam- 
ples of  False  Punctuation,  which  are  arranged  under  the  rules  for  the  Ecphoneme  in  Section  Seventh.] 

LESSON  X. — OF  Tin 

1 .  What  is  the  use  of  the  Curves,  or  Marks  of  Parenthesis  ?  2.  How  many  rules  are 
there  for  the  Curves  ?  3.  What  are  their  titles,  or  heads  ?  4.  AVhat  says  Rule*  1st  of  the 

.  What  says  Rule  2d  of  Included  Points! 

[Now,  if  you  please,  you  may  correct  orally,  according  to  the  formules  given,  some  or  all  of  the  various  exam- 
ples of  False  Punctuation,  which  are  arranged  under  the  rules  for  the  Curves  in  Section  Eighth.] 

X.I. — OF  THK  OT;II:U  MARKS. 

1.  What  is  the  use  of  the  Apostrophe?  2.  What  is  the  use  of  the  Hyphen  ?  3.  AVhat 
is  the  use  of  the  Din-resis,  or  Di  -ilysis  ?  1.  AVhat  is  the  use  of  the  Acute  Accent?  5.  AVhat 
use  of  the  Grave  Accent  ?  G.  AVhat  is  the  use  of  the  Circumflex  :  7.  AVhat  is  the  use 
of  the  Breve,  or  Stcnotone  ?  8.  AVhat  is  the  use  of  the  Macron  or  Macrotone?  9.  AVhat 
is  the  use  of  the  Ellij»is,  or  Suppression  ?  10.  What  is  the  use  of  the  Caret  ?  11.  AVhat  is 
the  use  of  the  Brace  •  12.  AVhat  is  the  use  of  the  Section?  13.  AVhat  is  the  use  of  the 
Paragraph?  14.  AVhat  is  the  use  of  the  Guillemots,  or  Quotation  Points  ?  15.  How  do 
we  mark  a  quotation  within  a  quotation?  16.  AVhat  is  the  use  of  the  Crotchets,  or  Brack- 
ets ?  17.  What  is  the  use  of  the  Index,  or  Hand  ?  18.  AVhat  are  the  six  Marks  of  Refer- 
ence, in  their  usual  order?  19.  How  can  references  be  otherwise  made?  20.  AVhat  is  the 
use  of  the  Asterism,  or  the  Three  Stars  ?  21.  AVhat  is  the  use  of  the  Cedilla? 

|[-m!!,-  COR  etiy  answered  the  foregoing  questions,  the  pupil  should  be  taught  to  apply  the  principles  of  punc- 
tuation ;  and,  for  this  purpose,  h<>  may  he  required  to  read  a  portion  of  some  accurately  pointed  book, — ormay  be 
directed  to  turn  to  th  i  Praxis,  beginning  on  p.  7U3, — and  to  assign  a  reason  for  every  mark  he  finds.] 

•  \  XII.— OF  UTTERANCE. 

1.  AVhat  is  T  _'.   What  does  it  include?     3.  AVhat  is  articulation?     4.  How 

does  articulation  differ  from  pronunciation  ?  ~>.  How  does  Comstock  define  it  ?  6.  AVhat, 
in  his  view,  is  a  good  articulation  ?  7.  How  docs  Bolles  define  articulation  ?  8.  Is  a  good 
articulation  important ?  9.  AVhat  are  the  faults  opposite  to  it?  10.  AVhat  says  Sheridan, 
of  a  good  articulation  ?  11.  Upon  what  does  distinctness  depend  ?  12.  AVhy  is  just  articu- 
lation better  than  mere  loudness  ?  1 3.  Do  we  learn  to  articulate  in  learning  to  speak  or  read  ? 

•  N  XIII. — OF  PRONUNCIATION. 

1.  AVhat  is  pronunciation?  2.  AVhat  is  it  that  is  called  Orthoepy*  3.  AVhat  knowledge 
does  pronunciation  require  ?  4.  AVhat  are  the  just  powers  of  the  letters  ?  5.  How  are  these 
learned  ?  6.  Are  the  just  powers  of  the  letters  in  any  degree  variable  •  7.  What  is  quan- 
tity ?  8.  Are  all  long  syllables  equally  long,  and  all  short  ones  equally  short?  9.  What 
:  voice  to  do  with  quantity  ?  10.  What  is  accent  ?  11 .  Is  every  word  accentf  d  ? 
12.  l)n  we  ever  lay  two  equal  accents  on  one  word  ?  13.  Have  we  more  than  one  sort  of 
accent :  H.  Can  any  word  have  the  secondary  accent,  and  not  the  primary?  15.  Can 
monosyllables  have  either  ?  1G.  AVhat  regulates  accent  ?  17.  AVhat  four  things  distinguish 
the  elegant  speaker  ? 

IV.— OF  ELOCUTION-. 

1.  AVhat  is  elocution?  2.  AVhat  does  elocution  require  ?  3.  AVhat  is  emphasis?  4. 
AVhat  comparative  view  is  taken  of  accent  and  emphasis  ?  5.  How  does  L.  Murray  connect 
enrphasis  with  quantity  :  .  s  ever  affect  accent :  7.  AVhat  is  the  guide  to  a 

right  emphasis  ?  8.  Can  one  read  with  too  many  emphases  ?  9.  What  are  pauses?  10.  How 
many  and  what  kinds  of  pauses  are  there  :  1 1".  Wli.it  is  said  of  the  duration  of  pauses,  and 
thu  faking  of  brcatli  ?  12.  After  what  manner  should  pauses  be  made  ?  13.  AVhat  pauses 
arc-  particularly  ungraceful  ?  11.  AVhat  is  said  of  rhetorical  pauses  ?  15.  How  are  the  har- 
monic pauses  divided  ?  16.  Are  such  pauses  essential  to  verse  ? 


866  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 

LESSON  XV. — OF  ELOCUTION. 

17.  What  are  inflections?  18.  What  is  called  the  rising  or  upward  inflection?  19. 
What  is  called  the  falling  or  downward  inflection  ?  20.  How  are  these  inflections  exempli- 
fied? 21.  How  are  they  used  in  asking  questions  ?  22.  What  is  said  of  the  notation  of 
them?  23.  What  constitutes  a  circumflex  ?  24.  What  constitutes  the  rising,  and  what  the 
falling,  circumflex  ?  25.  Can  you  give  examples  ?  26.  What  constitutes  a  monotone,  in 
elocution  ?  27.  Which  kind  of  inflection  is  said  to  be  most  common  ?  28.  Which  is  best 
adapted  to  strong  emphasis?  29.  What  says  Comstock  of  rules  for  inflections  ?  30.  Is  the 
voice  to  be  varied  for  variety's  sake  ?  31.  What  should  regulate  the  inflections  ?  32.  What 
is  cadence  ?  33.  What  says  Rippingham  about  it  ?  34.  What  says  Murray  ?  35.  What 
are  tones?  36.  Why  do  they  deserve  particular  attention?  37.  What  says  Blair  about 
tones  ?  38.  What  says  Hiley  ? 

LESSON  XVI. — OF  FIGURES. 

1.  What  is  a  Figure  in  grammar  ?  2.  How  many  kinds  of  figures  are  there  ?  3.  What 
is  a  figure  of  orthography  ?  4.  What  are  the  principal  figures  of  orthography  ?  5.  What 
is  Mimesis  ?  6>  What  is  an  Archaism  ?  7.  What  is  a  fig  are  of  etymology  ?  8.  How  many 
and  what  are  the  figures  of  etymology  ?  9.  What  is  Aphseresis  ?  10.  What  is  Prosthesis  ? 
11.  What  is  Syncope?  12.  What  is  Apocope?  13.  What  isParagoge?  14.  What  is 
Diuresis?  15.  What  is  Synseresis  ?  16.  What  is  Tmesis  ?  17.  What  is  a  figure  of  syntax  ? 
18.  How  many  and  what  are  the  figures  of  syntax?  19.  What  is  Ellipsis,  in  grammar? 
20.  Are  sentences  often  elliptical  ?  21.  What  parts  of  speech  can  be  omitted,  by  ellipsis  ? 
22.  What  is  Pleonasm  ?  23.  When  is  this  figure  aUowable  ?  24.  What  is  Syllepsis  ?  25. 
What  is  Enallage  ?  26.  What  is  Hyperbaton  ?  27.  What  is  said  of  this  figure  ? 

LESSON  XVII.— OF  FIGURES. 

28.  What  is  a  figure  of  rhetoric  ?  29.  What  peculiar  name  have  some  of  these  ?  30.  Do 
figures  of  rhetoric  often  occur  ?  31.  On  what  are  they  founded  ?  32.  How  many  and  what 
are  the  principal  figures  of  rhetoric  ?  33.  What  is  a  Simile  ?  34.  What  is  a  Metaphor  ? 
35.  Whart  is  an  Allegory  ?  36.  What  is  a  Metonymy  ?  37.  What  is  Synecdoche  ?  38. 
What  is  Hyperbole  ?  39.  What  is  Vision  ?  40.  What  is  Apostrophe  ?  41.  What  is  Per- 
sonification ?  42.  What  is  Erotesis  ?  43.  What  is  Ecphonesis  ?  44.  What  is  Antithesis  ? 
45.  What  is  Climax  ?  46.  What  is  Irony  ?  47.  What  is  Apophasis,  or  Paralipsis  ?  48. 
What  is  Onomatopoeia  ? 

[Now,  if  you  please,  you  may  examine  the  quotations  adopted  for  the  Fourteenth  Praxis,  and  may  name  and 
define  the  various  figures  of  grammar  which  are  contained  therein.] 

LESSON  XVIII. — OF  VERSIFICATION. 

1.  What  is  Versification?  2.  What  is  verse,  as  distinguished  from  prose?  3.  Wha";  is 
the  rhythm  of  verse  ?  4.  What  is  the  quantity  of  a  syllable  ?  5.  How  are  the  poetic  quan- 
tities denominated  ?  6.  How  are  they  proportioned?  7.  What  quantity  coincides  with 
accent  or  emphasis  ?  8.  On  what  but  the  vowel  sound  does  quantity  depend  ?  9.  Does 
syllabic  quantity  always  follow  the  quality  of  the  vowels  ?  10.  Where  is  quantity  variable, 
and  where  fixed,  in  English  ?  11.  What  is  rhyme  ?  12.  What  is  blank  verse  ?  13.  What 
is  remarked  concerning  the  rhyming  syllables  ?  14.  What  is  a  stanza  ?  15.  What  uniform- 
ity have  stanzas  ?  16.  What  variety  have  they  ? 

LESSON  XIX. — OF  VERSIFICATION. 

17.  Of  what  does  averse  consist?  18.  Of  what  does  a  poetic  foot  consist?  19.  How 
many  feet  do  prosodists  recognize  ?  20.  What  are  the  principal  feet  in  English  ?  21.  WThat 
is  an  Iambus  ?  22.  What  is  a  Trochee  ?  23.  What  is  an  Anapest  ?  24.  What  is  a  Dactyl  ? 
25.  Why  are  these  feet  principal  ?  26.  What  orders  of  verse  arise  from  these  ?  27.  Are 
these  kinds  to  be  kept  separate  ?  28.  What  is  said  of  the  secondary  feet  ?  29.  How  many 
and  what  secondary  feet  are  explained  in  this  code  ?  30.  What  is  a  Spondee?  31.  What 
is  a  Pyrrhic  ?  32.  What  is  a  Moloss  ?  33.  What  is  a  Tribrach  ?  34.  What  is  an  Amphi- 
brach? 35.  What  is  an  Amphimac  ?  36.  What  isaBacchy  ?  37.  What  is  an  Antibacchy  ? 
38.  What  is  a  Caesura  ? 

LESSON  XX. — OF  VERSIFICATION. 

39.  What  are  the  principal  kinds,  or  orders,  of  verse  ?  40.  What  other  orders  are  there  ? 
41.  Does  the  composite  order  demand  any  uniformity  ?  42.  Do  the  simple  orders  admit  any 
diversity  ?  43.  What  is  meant  by  scanning  or  scansion  f  44.  What  mean  the  technical  words, 
catalectic,  acatalectic,  and  hypertneterf  45.  In  scansion,  why  are  the  principal  feet  to  be 
preferred  to  the  secondary  ?  46.  Can  a  single  foot  be  a  line  ?  47.  WThat  are  the  several 
combinations  that  form  dimeter,  trimeter,  tetrameter,  pentameter,  hexameter,  heptameter, 
and  octometer?  48.  What  syllables  have  stress  in  a  pure  iambic  line?  49.  What  are  the 
several  measures  of  iambic  verse  ?  50.  What  syllables  have  stress  in  a  pure  trochaic  line  ? 
51.  Can  it  be  right,  to  regard  as  hypermeter  the  long  rhyming  syllable  of  a  line?  52.  la 
the  number  of  feet  in  a  line  to  be  generally  counted  by  that  of  the  long  syllables  ?  53.  What 
are  the  several  measures  of  trochaic  verse  ? 


CIIAP.    VI.]  PROSODY. EXERCISES  FOR  WRITING.  867 

Li>v(,x   XXI. — Or  VERSIFICATION*. 

54.  What  syllables  have  stress  in  a  pure  anapestic  line  ?  55.  What  variation  may  occur 
in  the  first  foot  ?  56.  Is  this  frequent  r  57.  Is  it  ever  uniform  ?  58.  What  is  the  result  of  a 
uniform  mixture  ?  59.  Is  the  anapest  adapted  to  single  rhyme  ?  60.  May  a  surplus  ever 
make  up  for  a  deficiency  ?  61.  Why  are  the  anapestic  measures  few  r  62.  How  many  syl- 
lables are  found  in  the  longest  ?  63.  What  are  the  several  measures  of  anapestic  verse  ? 
64.  What  syllables  have  stress  in  a  pure  dactylic  line  r  65.  With  what  does  single-rhymed 
dactylic  end  ?  66.  Is  dactylic  verse  very  common  r  67.  What  are  the  several  measures  of 
dactylic  verse  r  68.  What  is  composite  verse  r  69.  Must  composites  have  rhythm:  70. 
Are  the  kinds  of  composite  verse  numerous?  71.  Why  have  we  no  exact  enumeration  of 
the  measures  of  this  order :  72.  Does  this  work  contain  specimens  of  different  kinds  of 
composite  verse  r 

[It  may  now  be  required  of  the  pupil  to  determine,  by  reading  and  scansion,  the  metrical  elements  of  any  good 
English  poetry  which  may  be  selected  for  the  purpose — the  feet  being  marked  by  pauses,  and  the  long  syllables 
-  of  voice,    lie  may  also  correct  orally  the  few  Errors  of  Metre  which  are  given  in  the  Fifth  Section  of 
Chapter  IV.] 


CHAPTER  VI. -FOR  WRITING. 

EXERCISES  IN  PROSODY.  ' 

O*  [When  the  pupil  can  readily  answer  all  the  questions  on  Prosody,  and  apply  the  rules  of  punctuation  to  any 
composition  in  which  the  points  are  rightly  inserted,  he  should  writt  out  the  following  exercises,  supplying  what 
ia  required,  and  correcting  what  is  amiss.  Or,  if  any  teacher  choose  to  exercise  his  classes  orally,  by  means  of  these 
examples,  he  can  Tery  well  do  it ;  because,  to  read  words,  is  always  easier  than  to  write  them,  and  even  points  or 
poetic  feet  may  be  quite  as  readily  named  as  written.] 

EXERCISE  I.  — PUNCTUATION. 

Copy  the  following  sentences,  and  insert  the  COMMA  where  it  is  requisite. 

EXAMPLES  UNDER  RULE  I. — OF  SIMPLE  SENTENCES. 

"  The  dogmatist's  assurance  is  paramount  to  argument."  "  The  whole  course  of  his 
argumentation  comes  to  nothing."  "The  fieldmouse  builds  her  garner  under  ground." 

— "  The  first  principles  of  almost  all  sciences  are  few."     "  What  he  gave  me  to  publish 
was  but  a  small  part."     "To  remain  insensible  to  such  provocation  is  apathy."     "Minds 
ashamed  of  poverty  would  be  proud  of  affluence."     "  To  be  totally  indifferent  to  praise  or 
censure  is  a  real  defect  in  character." — Wilson's  Punctuation,  p.  38. 
UNDER  RULE  II. — OF  SIMPLE  MEMBERS. 

"I  was  eyes  to  the  blind  and  feet  was  I  to  the  lame."  "They  are  gone  but  the  remem- 
brance of  them  is  sweet."  "  He  has  passed  it  is  likely  through  varieties  of  fortune."  "  The 
mind  though  free  has  a  governor  within  itself."  "  They  I  doubt  not  oppose  the  bill  on  pub- 
lic principles."  "  Be  silent  be  grateful  and  adore."  "  He  is  an  adept  in  language  who  always 
speaks  the  truth."  "  The  race  is  not  to  the  swift  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong." 

Exc.  I. — "  He  that  has  far  to  go  should  not  hurry."  "  Hobbes  believed  the  eternal  truths 
which  he  opposed."  "Feeble  are  all  pleasures  in  which  the  heart  has  no  share."  "The 
love  which  survives  the  tomb  is  one  of  the  noblest  attributes  of  the  soul." — Wilson's  Punc- 
tuation, p.  38. 

Exr.  II. — "A  good  name  is  better  than  precious  ointment."  "Thinkst  thou  that  duty 
shall  have  dread  to  speak  r "  "  The  spleen  is  seldom  felt  where  Flora  reigns." 

UNDER  RULE  III. — OF  MORE  THAN   Two  WORDS. 

"  The  city  army  court  espouse  my  cause."  "  Wars  pestilences  and  diseases  are  terrible 
instructors."  "  Walk  daily  in  a  pleasant  airy  and  umbrageous  garden."  Wit  spirits  facul- 
ties but  make  it  worse."  "  Men  wives  and  children  stare  cry  out  and  run."  "Industry, 
honesty,  and  temperance  are  essential  to  happiness." —  U  Y/.VO//.V  Punctuation,  p.  29.  "  Honor, 
affluer.ee,  and  pleasure  seduce  the  heart." — Ib.  p.  31. 

UNDER  RULE  IV. — OF  Two  TERMS  CONNECTED. 

"  Hope  and  fear  are  essentials  in  religion."  "  Praise  and  adoration  are  perfective  of 
our  souls."  "  We  know  bodies  and  their  properties  most  perfectly."  "  Satisfy  yourselves 
with  what  is  rational  and  attainable."  "  Slowly  and  sadly  we  laid  him  down." 

.  I. — "  God  will  rather  look  to  the  inward  motions  of  the  mind  than  to  the  outward 
form  of  the  body."     "  Gentleness  is  unn^uminu'  in  opinion  and  temperate  in  zeal." 

.  II. — "  Ho  has  experienced  prosperity  and  adversity."     "All  sin  essentially  is   and 
»o  mortal."     "  Reprove  vice  but  pity  the  offender." 

.III. — "  One  person  h  hairman  or  moderator."     "  Duration  or  time  is  meas- 

ured by  motion."     "The  governor  or  viceroy  is  chosen  annually." 

IV. — "  Reflection  reason  still  the  tics  improve."     "  His  neat  plain  parlour  wants  our 
modern  style."     "  We  are  fearfully  wonderfully  made." 

I'NDI:U  RULE  V.— OK  WORDS  IN  PAIRS. 

"  I  inquired  and  rejected  consulted  and  deliberated."  "  Seed-time  and  harvest  cold  and 
he;.t  summer  and  winter  day  and  night  shall  not  cease." 


868  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART  IV. 

EXERCISE  II.  —  PUNCTUATION. 

Copy  the  following  sentences,  and  insert  the  COMMA  where  it  is  requisite. 

EXAMPLES  UNDER  RULE  VI. — OP  WORDS  PUT  ABSOLUTE. 
"The  night  being  dark  they  did  not  proceed."  "  There  being  no  other  coach  we  had 
no  alternative."  "Remember  my  son  that  human  life  is  the  journey  of  a  day."  "All  cir- 
cumstances considered  it  seems  right."  "  He  that  overcometh  to  him  will  I  give  power." 
"  Your  land  strangers  devour  it  in  your  presence."  "Ah  sinful  nation  a  people  laden  with 
iniquity !  " 

"With  heads  declin'd  ye  cedars  homage  pay; 
Be  smooth  ye  rocks  ye  rapid  floods  give  way  !  '* 

UNDER  RULE  VII. — OF  WORDS  IN  APPOSITION. 

"  Now  Philomel  sweet  songstress  charms  the  night."  "'Tis  chanticleer  the  shepherd's 
clock  announcing  day."  "The  evening  star  love's  harbinger  appears."  "  The  queen  of 
night  fair  Dian  smiles  serene."  "There  is  yet  one  man  Micaiah  the  son  of  Imlah." 
"  Our  whole  company  man  by  man  ventured  down."  "As  a  work  of  wit  the  Dunciad  has 
few  equals." 

"  In  the  same  temple  the  resounding  wood 

All  vocal  beings  hymned  their  equal  God." 

Exc.  I. — "  The  last  king  of  Rome  was  Tarquinius  Superbus."  "  Bossuet  highly  eulogizes 
Maria  Theresa  of  Austria."  "  No  emperor  has  been  more  praised  than  Marcus  Aurelius, 
Antoninus." 

Exc.  II. — "  For  h.3  went  and  dwelt  by  the  brook  Cherith."  "  Remember  the  example  of 
the  patriarch  Joseph."  "  The  poet,  Milton,  excelled  in  prose  as  well  as  in  verse." 

Exc.  III. — "I  wisdom  dwell  with  prudence."  "Ye  fools  be  ye  of  an  understanding 
heart."  "  I  tell  you  that  which  you  yourselves  do  know." 

Exc.  IV. — "I  crown  thee  king  of  intimate  delights."     "  I  count  the  world  a  stranger  for 
thy  sake."     "And  this  makes  friends  such  miracles  below."     "  God  has  pronounced  it 
death  to  taste  that  tree."     "  Grace  makes  the  slave  a  freeman." 
UNDER  RULE  VIII: — OF  ADJECTIVES. 

"  Deaf  with  the  noise  I  took  my  hasty  flight."     "  Him  piteous  of  his  youth  soft  disen- 
gage."    "  I  played  a  while  obedient  to  the  fair."     "  Love  free  as  air  spreads  his  light  wings 
and  flies."     "  Physical  science  separate  from  morals  parts  with  its  chief  dignity." 
"  Then  active  still  and  unconfined  his  mind 

Explores  the  vast  extent  of  ages  past." 
"  But  there  is  yet  a  liberty  unsung 

By  poets  and  by  senators  unpraised." 

Exc. — "  I  will  marry  a  wife  beautiful  as  the  Houries."  "  He  was  a  man  able  to  speak 
upon  doubtful  questions."  "  These  are  the  persons,  anxious  for  the  change."  "Are  they 
men  worthy  of  confidence  and  support  ?  "  "A  man,  charitable  beyond  his  means,  is  scarcely 
honest." 

UNDER  RULE  IX. — OF  FINITE  VERBS. 

"  Poverty  wants  some  things — avarice  all  things."  "  Honesty  has  one  face — flattery  two." 
"  One  king  is  too  soft  and  easy — an  other  too  fiery." 

"  Mankind's  esteem  they  court— and  he  his  own  : 
Theirs  the  wild  chase  of  false  felicities  ; 
His  the  compos'd  possession  of  the  true." 

EXERCISE  III.  —  PUNCTUATION. 

Copy  the  following  sentences,  and  insert  the  COMMA  where  it  is  requisite. 

EXAMPLES  UNDER  RULE  X. — OF  INFINITIVES. 

"  My  desire  is  to  live  in  peace."  "  The  great  difficulty  was  to  compel  them  to  pay  their 
debts."  "To  strengthen  our  virtue  God  bids  us  trust  in  him."  "  I  made  no  bargain 
with  you  to  live  always  drudging."  "  To  sum  up  all  her  tongue  confessed  the  shrew." 
"  To  proceed  my  own  adventure  was  still  more  laughable." 

"  We  come  not  with  design  of  wasteful  prey 
To  drive  the  country  force  the  swains  away." 

UNDER  RULE  XI. — OF  PARTICIPLES. 

"  Having  given  this  answer  he  departed."  "  Some  sunk  to  beasts  find  pleasure  end  in 
pain."  "Eased  of  her  load  subjection  grows  more  light."  "Death  still  draws  nearer 
never  seeming  near."  "  He  lies  full  low  gored  with  wounds  and  weltering  in  his  blood." 
"  Kind  is  fell  Lucifer  compared  to  thee."  "  Man  considered  in  himself  is  helpless  and 
wretched."  "  Like  scattered  down  by  howling  Eurus  blown."  "  He  with  wide  nostrils 
snorting  skims  the  wave."  "  Youth  is  properly  speaking  introductory  to  manhood." 

Exc. — "He  kept  his  eye  fixed  on  the  country  before  him."  "They  have  their  part 
assigned  them  to  act."  "  Years  will  not  repair  the  injuries,  done  by  him." 


:il.\l>.   VI.]  PROSODY. EXERCISES  FOR  WRITING.  869 

UNDER  RULE  XII. — OF  ADVI:RI;>. 

"Yes  we  both  were  philosophers."     " However  Providence  saw  fit  to  cross  our  design." 
'  Besides  I  know  that  the  eye  of  the  public  is  upon  me."     "  The  fact  certainly  is  much 
Jtherwise."     "  For  nothing  surely  can  be  more  inconsistent." 
UNDEII  RULE  XIII. — OP  CONJUNCTI 

"For  in  such  retirement  the  soul  is  strengthened."  "It  engages  our  desires ;  and  in 
some  degree  satisfies  them  also."  "  But  of  every  Christian  virtue  piety  is  an  essential 
mrt."  "  The  English  verb  is  variable  ;  as  love  lovcst  loves." 

UNDER  RULE  XIV. — OF  PREPOSITIONS. 

"  In  a  word  charity  is  the  soul  of  social  life."  "  By  the  bowstring  I  can  repress  violence 
md  fraud."  "  Some  by  being  too  artful  forfeit  the  reputation  of  probity."  "  With  regard 
;o  morality  I  was  not  indifferent."  "  Of  all  our  senses  sight  is  the  most  perfect  and  de- 
ightful."  " 

UNDER  RULE  XV. — OF  INTERJECTIONS. 

"  Behold  I  am  against  thee  O  inhabitant  of  the  valley  !  "     "  O  it  is  more  like  a  dream 
;han  a  reality."     "  Some  wine  ho  !"     "  Ha  ha  ha ;  some  wine  eh  ?  " 
"  When  lo  the  dying  breeze  begins  to  fail, 
And  flutters  on  the  mast  the  flagging  sail." 
UNDER  RULE  XVI. — OF  WORDS  REPEATED. 

"  I  would  never  consent  never  never  never."  "  His  teeth  did  chatter  chatter  chatter 
(till."  "  Come  come  come  come — to  bed  to  bed  to  bed." 

UNDER  RULE  XVII. — OF  DEPENDENT  QUOTATIONS. 

"  He  cried  «  Cause  every  man  to  go  out  from  me.'  "  "  'Almet '  said  he  «  remember  what 
;hou  hast  seen.'  "  "  1  answered  « Mock  not  thy  servant  who  is  but  a  worm  before  thee.'  " 

EXERCISE  IV.  —  PUNCTUATION. 

I.  THE  SEMICOLON. — Copy  the  following  sentences,  and  insert  the  Comma  and  the  SEMICOLON 
where  they  are  requisite. 

u  RULE  I. — OF  COMPOUND  MEMBERS. 

"  '  Man  is  weak'  answered  his  companion  '  knowledge  is  more  than  equivalent  to  force.'" 
« To  judge  rightly  of  the  present  we  must  oppose  it  to  the  past  for  all  judgement  is  compar- 
itivo  and  of  the  future  nothing  can  be  known."  "  '  Content  is  natural  wealth'  says  Socrates 
jo  which  I  shall  add  'luxury 'is  artificial  poverty.'  " 

"  Converse  and  love  mankind  might  strongly  draw 
When  love  was  liberty  and  nature  law." 

U.vDru  RULE  II. — OF  SIMPLE  MEMBERS. 

"  Be  wise  to-day  'tis  ma  Iness  to  defer."  "The  present  all  their  care  the  future  his." 
•Wit  makrs  an  enterpriser  sense  a  man."  "Ask  thought  for  joy  grow  rich  and  hoard 
within."  "  Song  soothes  our  pains  and  age  has  pains  to  soothe."  "  Here  an  enemy  en- 
xmnters  there  a  rival  supplants  him."  "  Our  answer  to  their  reasons  is « No'  to  their  scoffs 
nothing." 

"  Here  subterranean  works  and  cities  see 
There  towns  aerial  on  the  waving  tree." 

UND;  !  II. — OF  APPOSITION. 

"  In  Latin  there  are  six  cases  namely  the  nominative  the  genitive  the  dative  the  ac- 
cusntive  the  vocative  and  the  ablative."  "Most  English  nouns  form  the  plural  by  taking 

'ifi>/  brri/a."     "  Bodies  are  such  as  are  endued  with  a 
;>le  soul  as  plants  a  sensitive  soul  as  animals  or  a  rational  soul  as  the  body  of  man." 

II.  THK<  ;>>/  the  following  sentences,  ami  ///\<  rt  the   Conuna,   the  Semicolon,,  and  the 
COLON. 

'       '  '       '     :>ITIONAL  REMARKS. 

"  Indulge  not  desire  at  the  expense  of  the  slightest  article  of  virtue  pass  once  its  limits 
and  you  fall  headlong  into  vice."  "  Death  wounds  to  cure  we  fall  we  rise  we  reign.''  "  Be- 
ware of  usurpat:  -  the  judge  of  all." 

"  Bliss  ! — there  is  none  but  unprecarious  bliss 
That  is  the  gem  sell  all  and  purchase  that." 

I'M'-  rsES. 

"  I  have  the  world  here  before  me  I  will  review  it  at  leisure  surely  happiness  is  some- 
whe-e  to  be  foun.l  "  "A  melancholy  enthusiast  courts  persecution  and  when  he  cannot 
obta.n  it  afflicts  himself  with  absurd  penances  but  the  holiness  of  St.  Paul  consisted  in  the 
simj  licity  of  a  pious  life." 

"  Observe  his  awful  portrait  and  admire 
Nor  stop  at  wonder  imitate  and  live." 


870  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS.  [PART 


UNDER  RULE  III. — OF  INDEPENDENT  QUOTATIONS. 
"  Such  is  our  Lord's  injunction  '  Watch  and  pray.'  "     "  He  died  praying  for  his  perse- 
cutors  'Father  forgive  them  they  know  not  what  they  do."     "  On  the  old  gentleman's 
cane  was  inscribed  this  motto  'Festina  lente.'  " 

III.  THE  PERIOD. —  Copy  the  folloicing  sentences,  and  insert  the  Comma,  the  Semicolon,  the 
Colon,  and  the  PERIOD,  where  they  are  requisite. 

UNDER  RULE  I. — OP  DISTINCT  SENTENCES. 

"  Then  appeared  the  sea  and  the  dry  land  the  mountains  rose  and  the  rivers  flowed  the 
sun  and  moon  began  their  course  in  the  skies  herbs  and  plants  clothed  the  ground  the  air 
the  earth  and  the  waters  were  stored  with  their  respective  inhabitants  at  last  man  was  made 
in  the  image  of  God  " 

"  In  general  those  parents  have  most  reverence  who  most  deserve  it  for  he  that  lives  well 
cannot  be  despised" 

UNDER  RULE  II. — OF  ALLIED  SENTENCES. 

"  Civil  accomplishments  frequently  give  rise  to  fame  but  a  distinction  is  to  be  made  be- 
tween fame  and  true  honour  the  statesman  the  orator  or  the  poet  may  be  famous  while  yet 
the  man  himself  is  far  from  being  honoured  " 

UNDER  RULE  III. — OF  ABBREVIATIONS. 

"  Glass  was  invented  in  England  by  Benalt  a  monk  A  D  664  "  "  The  Roman  era  U  C 
commenced  A  C  1753  years  "  "  Here  is  the  Literary  Life  of  S  T  Coleridge  Esq  "  "  PLATO 
a  most  illustrious  philosopher  of  antiquity  died  at  Athens  348  B  C  aged  81  his  writings  are 
very  valuable  his  language  beautiful  and  correct  and  his  philosophy  sublime  " — See  Univ 
Biog  Diet 

EXERCISE  V.  —  PUNCTUATION. 

I.  THE  DASH. — Copy  the  following  sentences,  and  insert,  in  their  proper  places,  the  DASH, 
and  such  other  points  as  are  necessary. 

EXAMPLES  UNDER  RULE  I. — OF  ABRUPT  PAUSES. 

"  You  say  famous  very  often  and  I  don't  know  exactly  what  it  means  a  famous  uniform 
famous  doings  What  does  famous  mean  " 

"  O  why  famous  means  Now  don't  you  know  what  famous  means  It  means  It  is  a  \vord 
that  people  say  It  is  the  fashion  to  say  it  It  means  it  means  famous  " 

UNDER  RULE  II. — OF  EMPHATIC  PAUSES. 

"  But  this  life  is  not  all  there  is  there  is  full  surely  an  other  state  abiding  us  And  if  tliere 
is  what  is  thy  prospect  O  remorseless  obdurate  Thou  shalt  hear  it  would  be  thy  wisdom  to 
think  thou  now  hearest  the  sound  of  that  trumpet  which  shall  awake  the  dead  Return 
O  yet  return  to  the  Father  of  mercies  and  live  " 

"The  future  pleases  Why  The  present  pains 
But  that's  a  secret  yes  which  all  men  know  " 

II.  THE  EROTEME. — Copy  the  following  sentences,  and  insert  rightly  the  EROTEME,  or  NOTE 
OF  INTERROGATION,  and  such  other  points  as  are  necessary. 

UNDER  RULE  I. — OF  QUESTIONS  DIRECT. 

"  Does  Nature  bear  a  tyrant's  breast  |  Wears  she  the  despot's  purple  vest 
Is  she  the  friend  of  stern  control     |  Or  fetters  she  the  freeborn  soul  " 
"  Why  should  a  man  whose  blood  is  warm  within 

Sit  like  his  grandsire  cut  in  alabaster  " 
"  Who  art  thou  courteous  stranger  and  from  whence 
Why  roam  thy  steps  to  this  abandon'd  dale  " 

UNDER  RULE  II. — OF  QUESTIONS  UNITED. 
"  Who  bid  the  stork  Columbus-like  explore 
Heav'ns  not  his  own  and  worlds  unknown  before 
Who  calls  the  council  states  the  certain  day 
Who  forms  the  phalanx  and  who  points  the  way  " 

UNDER  RULE  III. — OF  QUESTIONS  INDIRECT. 

"  They  asked  me  who  I  was  and  whither  I  was  going."     "  St.  Paul  asked  king  Agrippa 
if  he  believed  the  prophets  ?     But  he  did  not  wait  for  an  answer." 
"  Ask  of  thy  mother  Earth  why  oaks  are  made 
Taller  and  stronger  than  the  weeds  they  shade  " 

III.  THE  ECPHONEME. — Copy  the  following  sentences,  and  insert  rightly  the  ECPHONEME,  or 
NOTE  OF  EXCLAMATION,  and  such  other  points  as  are  necessary. 

UNDER  RULE  I. — OF  INTERJECTIONS. 
"  Oh  talk  of  hypocrisy  after  this  Most  consummate  of  all  hypocrites    After  instructing 


ClIAP.  VI.]  FKOSODY. — EXERCISES  FOR  WRITING.  871 

your  chosen  official  advocate  to  stand  forward  with  such  a  defence  such  an  exposition  of 
your  motives  to  dare  utter  the  word  hypocrisy  and  complain  of  those  who  charged  you 
with  it "  Brougham 

"Alas  how  is  that  rugged  heart  forlorn" 

"  Behold  the  victor  vanquish' d  by  the  worm  " 

"  Bliss  sublunary  Bliss  proud  word  and  vain  " 

UNDER  RULE  II.— OF  INVOCATIONS. 
"  O  Popular  Applause  what  heart  of  man 

Is  proof  against  thy  sweet  seducing  charms" 
"  More  than  thy  balm  O  Gilead  heals  the  wound  " 
I'.vDKu  RULE  III. — OF  EXCLAMATORY  QUESTIONS. 

"  With  what  transports  of  joy  shall  I  be  received  In  what  honour  in  what  delightful  re- 
pose shall  I  pass  the  remain Jer'of  my  life  What  immortal  glory  shall  I  have  acquired" 
Hooke's  Roman  History 

"  How  often  have  I  loiter' d  o'er  thy  green 

Where  humble  happiness  endear'd  each  scene  " 

IV.  THE  CUUVES. — Copy  the  following  sentences,  and  insert  rightly  the  CURVES,  or  MARKS 
OF  PARENTHESIS,  and  such  other  points  as  are  necessary. 

UNDER  RULE  I. — OF  THE  PARENTHESIS. 
"And  all  the  question  wrangle  e'er  so  long 
Is  only  this  If  God  has  plac'd  him  wrong  " 
"And  who  what  God  foretells  who  speaks  in  things 
Still  louder  than  in  words  shall  dare  deny  " 

UNDER  RULE  II. — OF  INCLUDED  POINTS. 
"  Say  was  it  virtue  more  though  Heav'n  ne'er  gave 

Lamented  Digby  sunk  thee  to  the  grave  " 
"  Where  is  that  thrift  that  avarice  of  time 

O  glorious  avarice  thought  of  death  inspires  " 
"And  oh  the  last  last  what  can  words  express 
Thought  reach  the  last  last  silence  of  a  friend  " 

1  ;XERCISE  VI.  —  PUNCTUATION. 

Copy  the  following  MIXED  EXAMPLES,  and  insert  the  points  which  they  require. 

••As  one  of  them  opened  his  sack  he  espied  his  money"  "They  cried  out  the  more 
exceedingly  Crucify  him  "  "  The  soldiers'  counsel  was  to  kill  the  prisoners  "  "  Great  in- 
jury those  vermin  mice  and  rats  do  in  the  field"  "  It  is  my  son's  coat  an  evil  beast  hath 
devoured  him  "  "  Peace  of  all  worldly  blessings  is  the  most  valuable  "  "  By  this  time  the 
very  foundation  was  removed  "  "  The  only  words  he  uttered  were  I  am  a  Roman  citizen  " 
"  Some  distress  either  felt  or  feared  gnaws  like  a  worm  "  "  How  then  must  I  determine 
Have  I  no  interest  If  I  have  not  I  am  stationed  here  to  no  purpose  "  Harris  "  In  the  fire 
the  destruction  was  so  swift  sudden  vast  and  miserable  as  to  have  no  parallel  in  story  " 
"  Dionysius  the  tyrant  of  Si.-ily  was  far  from  being  happy  "  "  I  ask  now  Torres  what  thou 
hast  to  advance  "  "  Excess  began  and  sloth  sustains  the  trade  "  "  Fame  can  never  recon- 
cile a  man  to  a  death  bed"  ••They  that  sail  on  the  sea  tell  of  the  danger"  "Be  doers 
of  the  word  and  not  hearers  only"  '•  The  storms  of  wintry  time  will  quickly  pass" 
41  Here  Hope  that  smiling  angel  stands"  "  Disguise  I  see  thou  art  a  wickedness  "  "There 
are  no  tricks  in  plain  and  simple  faith"  "True  love  strikes  root  in  reason  passion's  foe" 
"  Two  gods  divide  them  all  Pleasure  and  Gain"  "I  am  satisfied  My  son  has  done  his 
duly"  "  Remember  Almet  the  vision  which  thou  hast  seen"  "  I  beheld  an  enclosure 
beautiful  as  the  gardens  of  paradise"  "The  knowledge  which  I  have  received  I  will  com- 
municate "  "  Hut  I  am  not  yet  happy  and  therefore  I  despair"  Wretched  mortals  said  I 
to  what  purpose  are  you  busy  "  "  Bad  as  the  world  is  respect  is  always  paid  to  virtue  " 
"In  a  word  he  views  men  in  the  clear  sunshine  of  charity"  "This  being  the  case  I  am 
astonished  and  amazed  "  "  These  men  approached  him  and  saluted  him  king  "  "  Excel- 
lent and  obliging  sages  these  undoubtedly  "  "  Yet  at  the  same  time  the  man  himself  un- 
dergoes a  change"  "  One  constant  effect  of  idleness  is  to  nourish  the  passions"  "  You 
heroes  regard  nothing  but  glory"  "Take  care  lest  while  you  strive  to  reach  the  top  you 
fall  "  "  Proud  and  presumptuous  they  can  brook  no  opposition  "  "  Nay  some  awe  of  rcli- 
gio  i  may  still  subsist"  "Then  said  lie  Lo  I  come  to  do  thy  will  O  God"  Bible  "As  for 
me  behold  1  am  in  your  hand  "  lb.  "  Can  any  hide  himself  in  secret  places  that  I  shall  not 
see  him  saith  the  Lord"  Jcr  xxiii  24  "  Now  I  Paul  myself  beseech  you"  "  Now  for  a 
recompense  in  the  same  I  speak  as  unto  my  children  be  ye  also  enlarged"  2  Cor  vi  13 
"  lie  who  lives  always  in  public  cannot  live  to  his  own  soul  whereas  he  who  retires  remains 
calm"  "  Therefore  behold  I  even  I  will  utterly  forget  you"  "  This  text  speaks  only  of 
tho*e  to  whom  it  speaks  "  "  Y'ea  he  warmeth  himself  and  saith  Aha  I  am  warm  "  "  King 
Agrippa  believest  thou  the  prophets" 


872 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


EXERCISE  VII.  —  PUNCTUATION. 

Copy  the  following  MIXED  EXAMPLES,  and  insert  the  points  which  they  require. 
To  whom  can  riches  give  repute  or  trust 
Content  or  pleasure  but  the  good  and  just  Pope 
To  him  no  high  no  low  no  great  no  small 
He  fills  he  bounds  connects  and  equals  all  Id 
Reasons  whole  pleasure  all  the  joys  of  sense 
Lie  in  three  words  health  peace  and  competence  Id 
Not  so  for  once  indulgd  they  sweep  the  main 
Deaf  to  the  call  or  hearing  hear  in  vain  Anon 
Say  will  the  falcon  stooping  from  above 
Smit  with  her  varying  plumage  spare  the  dove  Pope 
Throw  Egypts  by  and  offer  in  its  stead 
Offer  the  crown  on  Berenices  head  Id 
Falsely  luxurious  will  not  man  awake 
And  springing  from  the  bed  of  sloth  enjoy 
The  cool  the  fragrant  and  the  silent  hour   Thomson 
Yet  thus  it  is  nor  otherwise  can  be 
So  far  from  aught  romantic  what  I  sing  Young 
Thyself  first  know  then  love  a  self  there  is 
Of  virtue  fond  that  kindles  at  her  charms  Id 
How  far  that  little  candle  throws  his  beams 
So  shines  a  good  deed  in  a  naughty  world  Shakspeare 
You  have  too  much  respect  upon  the  world 
They  lose  it  that  do  buy  it  with  much  care  Id 
How  many  things  by  season  seasond  are 
To  their  right  praise  and  true  perfection  Id 
Canst  thou  descend  from  converse  with  the  skies 
And  seize  thy  brothers  throat  For  what  a  clod  Young 
In  two  short  precepts  all  your  business  lies 
Would  you  be  great  be  virtuous  and  be  wise  Denham 
But  sometimes  virtue  starves  while  vice  is  fed 
"What  then  is  the  reward  of  virtue  bread  Pope 
A  life  all  turbulence  and  noise  may  seem 
To  him  that  leads  it  wise  and  to  be  praisd 
But  wisdom  is  a  pearl  with  most  success 
Sought  in  still  waters  and  beneath  clear  skies  Cowper 
All  but  the  swellings  of  the  softend  heart 
That  waken  not  disturb  the  tranquil  mind  Thomson 
Inspiring  God  who  boundless  spirit  all 
And  unremitting  energy  pervades 
Adjusts  sustains  and  agitates  the  whole  Id 
Ye  ladies  for  indifferent  in  your  cause 
I  should  deserve  to  forfeit  all  applause 
Whatever  shocks  or  gives  the  least  offence 
To  virtue  delicacy  truth  or  sense 
Try  the  criterion  tis  a  faithful  guide 
Nor  has  nor  can  have  Scripture  on  its  side.   Coicper 

EXERCISE  VIII.  —  SCANNING. 
Divide  the  following  VERSES  into  the  feet  which  compose  them,  and  distinguish  by  marks  the  lon^ 
and  the  short  syllables. 

Example  L—"Our  Daily  Paths.1'— By  F.  Remans. 
"  There's  Beauty  all  around  our  paths,  if  but  our  watchful  eyes 
Can  trace  it  'midst  familiar  things,  and  through  their  lowly  guise  ; 
We  may  find  it  where  a  hedgerow  showers  its  blossoms  o'er  our  way, 
Or  a  cottage-window  sparkles  forth  in  the  last  red  light  of  clay." 

Example  II. — "Fetching  Water" — Anonymous. 
"  Early  on  a  sunny  morning,  while  the  lark  was  singing  sweet, 
Came,  beyond  the  ancient  farmhouse,  sounds  of  lightly-tripping  feet. 
'Twas  a  lowly  cottage  maiden,  going, — why,  let  young  hearts  tell, — 
With  her  homely  pitcher  laden,  fetching  water  from  the  well." 

Example  III. — Deity. 

Alone  thou  sitst  above  the  everlasting  hills, 
And  all  immensity  of  space  thy  presence  fills  : 
For  thou  alone  art  God  ; — as  God  thy  saints  adore  thee; 
Jehovah  is  thy  name  ; — they  have  no  gods  before  thee. — G.  Brown. 


CHAP.   VI.]  PROSODY. EXERCISES  FOR  WRITING.  873 

Example  IV. — Impenitence. 
The  impenitent  sinner  whom  mercy  empowers, 

Dishonours  that  goodness  which  seeks  to  restore ; 
As  the  sands  of  the  desert  are  water'd  by  showers, 
Yet  barren  and  fruitless  remain  as  before. —  G.  Brown. 

Example   V.— Piety. 
Holy  and  pure  are  the  pleasures  of  piety, 

Drawn  from  the  fountain  of  mercy  and  love  ; 
Endless,  exhaustless,  exempt  from  satiety, 
Rising  unearthly,  and  soaring  above. —  G.  Brown. 

Example   VL—A  Simile. 
The  bolt  that  strikes  the  tow'ring  cedar  dead, 
Oft  passes  harmless  o'er  the  hazel's  head. —  G.  Brotcn. 

Example  VIL—A  Simile. 
"  Yet  to  their  general's  voice  they  soon  obey'd 
Innumerable.     As  when  the  potent  rod 
Of  Amram's  son,  in  Egypt's  evil  day, 
Wav'd  round  the  coast,  up  call'd  a  pitchy  cloud 
Of  locusts,  warping  on  the  eastern  wind, 
That  o'er  the  realm  of  impiout  Pharaoh  hung 
Like  night,  and  darken'd  all  the  land  of  Nile." — Milton. 

Example   VIII. — Elegiac  Stanzi. 
Thy  name  is  dear — 'tis  virtue  balm'd  in  love  ; 

Yet  e'en  thy  name  a  pensive  sadness  brings. 
Ah  !  wo  the  day,  our  hearts  were  doom'd  to  prove, 

That  fondest  love  but  points  affliction's  stings  ! — G.  Brown. 

Example  IX.— Cupid. 
Zephyrs,  moving  bland,  and  breathing  fragrant 

With  the  sweetest  odours  of  the  spring, 
O'er  the  winged  boy,  a  thoughtless  vagrant, 

Slumb'ring  in  the  grove,  their  perfumes  fling. — G.  Brown. 

Example  X. — Divine  Power. 
When  the  winds  o'er  Gennesaret  roar'd, 

And  the  billows  tremendously  rose, 
The  Saviour  but  utter' d  the  word, 

They  were  hush'd  to  the  calmest  repose. — G.  Broicn. 

Example  XL — Invitation. 
Come  from  the  mount  of  the  leopard,  spouse, 

Come  from  the  den  of  the  lion  ; 
Come  to  the  tent  of  thy  shepherd,  spouse, 

Come  to  the  mountain  of  Zion. — G.  Brown. 

Example  XII. — Admonition. 
In  the  days  of  thy  youth,         I  O  !  forsake  not  his  truth, 

Remember  thy  God  :  Incur  not  his  rod. — G.  Brown. 

Example   XIII. — Commendation. 

Constant  and  duteous,          I         How  art  thou  beauteous, 
Meek  as  the  dove,  Daughter  of  love  ! — G.  Broom. 

I AERCISE  IX.  — SCANNING. 

Mark  the  feet  and  tyllablcs  which  compose  the  following  lines — or  mark  a  sample  of  each  metre . 

Edwin,  an  Ode. 

I.    8TUOPHE. 

Led  by  the  pow'r  of  song,  and  nature's  love, 
Which  raise  the  soul  all  vulgar  themes  above, 
The  mountain  grove 
Would  Edwin  rove 
In  pensive  mood,  alone ; 
And  seek  the  woody  dell, 
Where  noontide  shadows  fell, 
Cheering, 
Veering, 

Mov'd  by  the  zephyr's  swell. 
Here  nurs'd  he  thoughts  to  genius  only  known 
61 


874 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


[PART  iv. 


When  nought  was  heard  around 
But  sooth' d  the  rest  profound 
Of  rural  beauty  on  her  mountain  throne. 

Nor  less  he  lov'd  (rude  nature's  child) 
The  elemental  conflict  wild  ; 
When,  fold  on  fold,  above  was  pil'd 
The  watery  swathe,  careering  on  the  wind. 
Such  scenes  he  saw 
With  solemn  awe, 

As  in  the  presence  of  the  Eternal  Mind. 
Fix'd  he  gaz'd, 
Tranc'd  and  rais'd, 
Sublimely  rapt  in  awful  pleasure  undefin'd, 

II.    ANTISTROPHE. 

Ileckless  of  dainty  joys,  he  finds  delight 
Where  feebler  souls  but  tremble  with  affright. 
Lo  !  now,  within  the  deep  ravine, 
A  black  impending  cloud 
Infolds  him  in  its  shroud, 
And  dark  and  darker  glooms  the  scene. 
Through  the  thicket  streaming, 
Lightnings  now  are  gleaming; 
Thunders  rolling  dread, 
Shake  the  mountain's  head ; 
Nature's  war 
Echoes  far, 
O'er  ether  borne. 
That  flash 
The  ash 

Has  scath'd  and  torn  ! 
Now  it  rages ; 
Oaks  of  ages, 

Writhing  in  the  furious  blast, 
Wide  their  leafy  honours  cast ; 
Their  gnarled  arms  do  force  to  force  oppose : 
Deep  rooted  in  the  crevic'd  rock, 
The  sturdy  trunk  sustains  the  shock, 
Like  dauntless  hero  firm  against  assailing  foes. 

III.    EPODE. 

4  O  Thou  who  sitst  above  these  vapours  dense, 
And  rul'st  the  storm  by  thine  omnipotence  ! 
Making  the  collied  cloud  thy  car, 
Coursing  the  winds,  thou  rid'st  afar, 

Thy  blessings  to  dispense. 
The  early  and  the  latter  rain, 
Which  fertilize  the  dusty  plain, 

Thy  bounteous  goodness  pours. 
Dumb  be  the  atheist  tongue  abhorr'd  ! 
All  nature  owns  thee,  sovereign  Lord  ! 

And  works  thy  gracious  will ; 
At  thy  command  the  tempest  roars, 

At  thy  command  is  still. 
Thy  mercy  o'er  this  scene  sublime  presides  ; 
'Tis  mercy  forms  the  veil  that  hides 

The  ardent  solar  beam  ; 
While,  from  the  volley'd  breast  of  heaven, 
Transient  gleams  of  dazzling  light, 
Flashing  on  the  balls  of  sight, 

Make  darkness  darker  seem. 
Thou  mov'st  the  quick  and  sulph'rous  leven — 
The  tempest-driven 

Cloud  is  riven ; 

And  the  thirsty  mountain-side 
Drinks  gladly  of  the  gushing  tide.' 
So  breath' d  young  Edwin,  when  the  summer  shower, 
From  out  that  dark  o'erchamb'ring  cloud, 
With  lightning  flash  and  thunder  loud, 
Burst  in  wild  grandeur  o'er  his  solitary  bower. — G.  Brown. 

THE   END   OF   PART   FOURTH. 


KEY 

TO    THE 

IMPROPRIETIES  FOR  CORRECTION, 

CONTAINED      IX 

THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS, 

AH  D 

DESIGNED  FOR  ORAL  EXERCISES 

UNDER 

ALL  THE  RULES  AND  NOTES   OF  THE  WORK. 


OT7"  [The  various  examples  of  error  which  are  exhibited  for  oral  correction,  in  the  Grammar  of  English  Gram- 
mars, are  all  here  explained,  in  their  order,  by  full  amended  readings,  sometimes  with  authorities  specified,  and 
generally  with  references  of  some  sort.  They  are  intended  to  be  corrected  orally  by  the  pupil,  according  to  the 
fbrmules  given  under  corresponding  heads  in  the  Grammar.  Some  portion,  at  least,  under  each  rule  or  note, 
should  be  u:-ed  in  this  way  ;  and  the  rest,  perhaps,  may  be  read  and  compared  more  simply.] 


THE  KEY -PART  I -ORTHOGRAPHY. 

CHAPTER  I.  —  OF  LETTERS. 


CORRECTIONS  RESPECTING  CAPITALS. 

UNDER  RULE  I. — OF  BOOKS. 

lany  a  reader  of  the  Bible  knows  not  who  wrote  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles." — G.  B.  "  The 
sons  of  Levi,  the  chief  of  the  fathers,  were  written  in  the  book  of  the  Chronicles." — ALGER'S 
HIHLF. :  Neh.  xii,  23.  "  Are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  Acts  of  Solomon  ?  " — FRIENDS' 
BIBT.K  :  1  Kings,  xi,  41.  "  Are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Is- 
rael •  "— AI.CKU  rouui:cTKi>  :  1  Kinos,  xxii,  39.  "  Are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  Chron- 
icles of  the  Kings  of  Judah." — See  ALGER:  ib.ver.  45.  "  Which  were  written  in  the  law  of  Moses, 
and  in  the  prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms." — ALGER,  ET  AL.  :  Luke,  xxiv,  44.  "  The  narrative  of  which 
may  he  seen  in  Josephus's  History  of  the  Jewish  IVar." — Dr.  Scottcor.  [OBS. — The  word  in  Jose- 
phus  is  "  \Vart"  not  "Wars." — (/.  Brown.]  "  This  History  of  the  Jewish  War  was  Josephus's 
iirst  work,  and  published  about  A.  D.  75." — Whiston  cor.  •''!  have  read,'  says  Photius.  'the 
('/ir<mi>lo(/y  of  Justus  of  Tiberias.'  " — Id.  "A  Philosophical  (iratnmar,  written  by  James  Harris, 
Esquire."— Murray  cor.  "  The  reader  is  referred  to  Stroud's  Sketch  of  the  Slave  Laws." — A.  S. 
Ma,/,  car.  "  But  God  has  so  made  the  Bible  that  it  interprets  itself."— Idem.  "  In  1562,  with  the 
help  of  Hopkins,  he  completed  the  Psalter." — Gardiner  cor.  "  Gardiner  says  this  of  Sternhold ; 
of  whom  the  t'/n'r<-r\<il  Bioaraphical  Dictionary  and  the  American  Encyclopedia  affirm,  that  he 
lied  in  1")4'.)." — G.  It.  "  The  title  of  a  book,  to  wit :  '  English  Grammar  in  Familiar  Lectures,'  " 
\-c. — Kirkham  ror.  "  We  had  not,  at  that  time,  seen  Mr.  Kirkhaia's  '  Grammar  in  Familiar  Lec- 
.'ttri'x.'  " — Id.  "  Wlien  you  parse,  you  may  spread  the  Compendium  before  you." — Id.*  "  When- 
ever you  par  c,  you  may  spread  the  CoinpeiuKttm  before  you." — Id.  "Adelung  was  the  author  of 
.1  Grammatical  and  Cr&ietU  Du-twnary  of  the  German  Language,  and  other  works." — Biog.  Diet. 
ror.  "  Alley,  William,  author  of  'The  Poor  Alan's  Library.'  and  a  translation  of  the  Pentateuch, 
•lied  in  1.570."— /,/. 

UNDER  RULE  II.— OF  FIRST  "WORDS. 

"  Depart  instantly  ;  " — "Improve  your  time  ;  " — "Forgive  us  our  sins." — Murray  corrected.  Ex- 
vMi-i.r.s: — "(iold  is  Corrupting  ;" — "The  sea  is  green;" — "A  lion  is  bold." — Mur.  et  al.  cor. 
A^ain  :  "  It  may  vain  ;  " — "7/emay  go  or  stay  ;  " — "He  would  walk  ;  " — "They  should  learn." — 
lidem.  Again  :  "  Oh  !  I  have  alienated  my  friend  ;  " — "Alas!  I  fear  for  life." — lidem.  See  Al- 
•/<•/•'.%•  drum.  p.  oO.  Again:  "He  went  from  London  to  York;" — "She  is  above  disguise;" 
•'They  are  supported  by  industry." — lidem.  "  On  the  foregoing  examples,  I  have  a  word  to  say. 
y/iry'are  better  than  a  fair  specimen  of  their  kind.  Our  grammars  abound  with  worse  illustra- 

*  OBS. — Of  this,  and  of  every  other  example  which  requires  no  amendment,  lot  the  learner  simply  say,  after 
•eading  the  passage,  "  This  sentence  is  correct  as  it  stands."— G.  BROWN. 


876  GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    ORTHOGRAPHY.          [PART    I. 

tions.  Their  models  of  English  are  generally  spurious  quotations.  Few  of  their  proof-texts  have 
any  just  parentage.  Goose-eyes  are  abundant,  but  names  scarce.  Who  fathers  the  foundlings? 
Nobody.  Then  let  their  merit  be  nobody's,  and  their  defects  his  who  could  write  no  better." — 
Author.  "Goose-eyes!"  says  a  b.ight  boy  ;  "  pray,  what  are  they  ?  Does  this  Mr.  Author  make 
new  words  when  he  pleases  ?  Dead-eyes  are  in  a  ship.  They  are  blocks,  with  holes  in  them.  But 
what  are  goose-eyes  in  grammar  ?  "  ANSWER:  "Goose-eyes  are  quotation  points.  Some  of  the 
Germans  gave  them  this  name,  making  a  jest  of  their  form.  The  French  call  them  guillemets, 
from  the  name  of  their  inventor." — Author.  "It  is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  third  person  sin 
gular." — Comly  cor.  "Ourselves  is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  first  person  plural." — Id.  "Thee 
is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  second  person  singular." — Id.  " Contentment  is  a  common  noun,  of 
the  third  person  singular." — Id.  "  Were  is  a  neuter  verb,  of  the  indicative  mood,  imperfect 
tense." — Id. 

UNDER  RULE  III. — OF  DEITY. 

"  O  thou  Dispenser  of  life  !  thy  mercies  are  boundless." — Allen  cor.  "  Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all 
the  earth  do  right  ?  " — ALGER,  FRIENDS,  ET  AL.  :  Gen.  xviii,  25.  "And  the  Spirit  of  God  moved 
upon  the  face  of  the  waters." — SCOTT,  ALGER,  FRIENDS,  ET  AL.  :  Gen.  i,  2.  "It  is  the  gift  of 
Him,  who  is  the  great  Author  of  good,  and  the  Father  of  mercies." — Murray  cor.  "  This  is  thy 
God  that  brought  thee  up  out  of  Egypt." — FRIENDS'  BIBLE  :  Neh.  ix,  18.  "  For  the  LORD  is  our 
defence  ;  and  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  is  our  King." — Psal.  Ixxxix,  18.  "  By  making  him  the  re- 
sponsible steward  of  Heaven's  bounties." — A.  S.  Mag.  cor.  "  Which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge, 
shall  give  me  at  that  day." — ALGER  :  2  Tim.  iv,  8.  "  The  cries  of  them  *  *  *  entered  into  the  ears 
of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth." — ALGER,  FRIENDS  :  James,  v,  4.  "  In  Horeb,  the  Deity  revealed  himself 
to  Moses,  as  the  Eternal  'I  AM,'  the  Self-existent  One ;  and,  after  the  first  discouraging  inter- 
view of  his  messengers  with  Pharaoh,  he  renewed  his  promise  to  them,  by  the  awful  name,  JE- 
HOVAH— a  name  till  then  unknown,  and  one  which  the  Jews  always  held  it  a  fearful  profanation 
to  pronounce." — G.  Brown.  "And  God  spake  unto  Moses,  and  said  unto  him,  I  am  the  LORD  : 
and  I  appeared  unto  Abraham,  unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob,  by  the  name  of  God  Almighty  ;  but 
by  my  name  JEHOVAH  was  I  not  known  to  them." — SCOTT,  ALGER,  FRIENDS:  Exod.  vi,  2. 
"Thus  saith  the  LORD*  the  King  of  Israel,  and  his  Redeemer  the  LORD  of  hosts  ;  I  am  the  First, 
and  I  am  the  Last ;  and  besides  me  there  is  no  God." — See  Isa.  xliv,  6. 
"  His  impious  race  their  blasphemy  renew'd, 
And  nature's  King,  through  nature's  optics  view'd." — Drydencor. 

UNDER  RULE  IV.— OF  PROPER  NAMES. 
"  Islamism  prescribes  fasting  during  the  month  Ramadan." — Balbicor.  "  Near  Mecca,  in  Arabia, 
is  Jebel  Nor,  or  the  Mountain  of  Light,  on  the  top  of  which  the  Mussulmans  erected  a  mosque, 
that  they  might  perform  their  devotions  where,  according  to  their  belief,  Mohammed  received  from 
:the  angel  Gabriel  the  first  chapter  of  the  Koran."— G.  Brown.  "  In  the  Kaaba  at  Mecca  there  is 
•a  celebrated  block  of  volcanic  basalt,  which  the  Mohammedans  venerate  as  the  gift  of  Gabriel  to 
Abraham,  but  their  ancestors  once  held  it  to  be  an  image  of  Remphan,  or  Saturn  ;  so  '  the  ima<;  e 
which  fell  down  from  Jupiter,1  to  share  with  Diana  the  homage  of  the  Ephesians,  was  probably 
nothing  more  than  a  meteoric  stone." — Id.  "  When  the  Lycaonians  at  Lystra  took  Paid  and 
Barnabas  to  be  gods,  they  called  the  former  Mercury,  on  account  of  his  eloquence,  and  the  lattt  r 
Jupiter,  for  the  greater  dignity  of  his  appearance." — Id.  "  Of  the  writings  of  the  apostolical  fathers 
of  the  first  century,  but  few  have  come  down  to  us ;  yet  we  have  in  those  of  Barnabas,  Clement  of 
Rome,  Hermas,  Ignatius,  and  Polycarp,  very  certain  evidence  of  the  authenticity  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, and  the ' New  Testament  is  a  voucher  for  the  Old." — Id.  "It  is  said  by  Tatian,  thut 
Theagenes  of  Rhegium,  in  the  time  of  Carnbyses,  Stesimbrotus  the  Thracian.  Antimachus  the  Co- 
lophonian,  Herodotus  of  Halicarnassus,  Dionysius  the  Olynthian,  Ephorus  of  Cuma,  Philochorus 
the  Athenian,  Metaclides  and  Chamceleon  the  Peripatetics,  and  Zenodotus,  Aristophanes,  Cat- 
limachus,  Crates,  Eratosthenes,  Aristarchus,  and  Apollodorus,  the  grammarians,  all  wrote  concern- 
ing the  poetry,  the  birth,  and  the  age  of  Homer." — See  Coleridge's  Introd.  p.  57.  "  Yet.  for  aught 
that  now  appears,  the  life  of  Homer  is  as  fabulous  as  that  of  Hercules ;  and  some  have  even  sus- 
pected, that,  as  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Alcmena  has  fathered  the  deeds  of  forty  other  Herculese.i, 
so  this  unfathered  son  of  Critheis,  Themisto,  or  whatever  dame — this  Melesigenes,  Meconides,  Ho- 
mer— the  blind  schoolmaster,  and  poet,  of  Smyrna,  Chios,  Colophon,  Salamis,  Rhodes,  Argos, 
Athens,  or  whatever  place — has,  by  the  help  of  Lycurgus,  Solon,  Pisistratus,  and  other  learned 
ancients,  been  made  up  of  many  poets  or  Homers,  and  set  so  far  aloft  and  aloof  on  old  Parnassus, 
as  to  become  a  god  in  the  eyes  of  all  Greece,  a  wonder  in  those  of  all  Christendom." — G.  Brown. 
"  Why  so  sagacious  in  your  guesses  ? 
Your  Effs,  and  Tees,  and  Ars,  and  Esses?  " — Swift  corrected. 

UNDER  RULE  V. — OF  TITLES. 

"The  king  has  conferred  on  him  the  title  of  Duke." — Murray  cor.  "At  the  court  of  Queen 
Elizabeth."— Priestley's  E.  Gram.  p.  99 ;  see  Bullions's,  p.  24.  "  The  laws  of  nature  are,  truly, 
what  Lord  Bacon  styles  his  aphorisms,  laws  of  laws." — Murray  cor.  "  Sixtus  the  Fourth  was,  if 
I  mistake  not,  a  great  collector  of  books." — Id.  "  Who  at  that  time  made  up  the  court  of  King. 
Charles  the  Second." — Id.  "  In  case  of  his  Majesty's  dying  without  issue." — Kirkham  cor. 
"  King  Charles  the  First  was  beheaded  in  1649." — W.  Allen  cor.  "  He  can  no  more  impart,  or 
(to  use  Lord  Bacon's  word)  transmit  convictions." — Kirkham  cor.  "  I  reside  at  Lord  Stormont's, 
my  old  patron  and  benefactor."  Better :  "  I  reside  with  Lord  Stormont,  my  old  patron  and  bene- 

*  OBSERVATION.— In  our  Bible,  the  word  LORD,  whenever  it  stands  for  the  Hebrew  name  JEHOVAH,  not  only 
commences  with  a  full  capital,  but  has  small  or  half  capitals  for  the  other  letters  ;  and  I  have  thought  proper  to 
print  both  words  in  that  manner  here.  In  correcting  the  last  example,  I  follow  Dr.  Scott's  Bible,  except  in  the 
word  "  God,"  which  he  writes  with  a  small  g.  Several  other  copies  have  "first  "  and  "  last  "  with  small  initials, 
which  I  think  not  so  correct ;  and  some  distinguish  the  word  u  hosts  "  with  a  capital,  which  seems  to  be  needless. 
The  sentence  here  has  eleven  capitals :  in  the  Latin  Vulgate,  it  has  but  six,  and  one  of  them  is  for  the  last  word, 
"Detw,"  God.— G.  B. 


CHAP.    I.]  KEY    TO    FALSE   ORTHOGRAPHY. CAPITAL    LETTERS.  877 

factor." — Murray  cor.  "We  staid  a  month  at  Lord  Lyttelton's,  the  ornament  of  his  country." 
Much  better  :  "  We  stayed  a  month  at  the  scat  of  Lord  Lyttelton,  who  is  the  ornament  of  his  coun- 
try."— Id.  "  Whose  prerogative  is  it  ?  It  is  the  A7«/7-of-Great-Britain's  ;  *  "— "  That  is  the  Duke 
of-Bridgewater's  canal ;"—"  The  fltsAop-of-LandafF  s  excellent  book  ;"—"  The  Lord  Mayor-oi- 
London's  authority." — Id.  (See  Murray's  Note  4th  on  his  Rule  10th.)  "  Why  call  ye  me,  Lord, 
Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  say  ?  " — Luke,  vi,  46.  "And  of  them  he  chose  twelve,  whom 
also  he  named  Apostles." — ALGER,  FRIENDS,  KT  AL.  :  Luke,  vi,  13.  "And  forthwith  he  came  to 
Jesus,  and  said,  Hail,  Master ;  and  kissed  him." — Matt,  xxvi,  49.  "And  he  said,  Nay,  Father 
Abraham  :  but  if  one  went  unto  them  from  the  dead,  they  would  repent." — Bible  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  VI.— OF  ONE  CAPITAL. 

"Falln'rrr,  a  village  in  Massachusetts,  population  fin  1830)  3,431." — Williams  cor.  "  Dr.  An- 
derson died  at  \Vcstham,  in  Essex,  in  1808." — Biog.  Diet.  cor.  "Madriver,  the  name  of  two 
towns  in  Clark  and  Champaign  counties,  Ohio." — Williams  cor.  "  Whitecreek,  a  town  of  Wash- 
ington county,  New  York." — Id.  "Saltcreek,  the  name  of  four  towns  in  different  parts  of  Ohio." 
—Id.  "Saltlick,  a  town  of  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania."— Id.  "  YeUowcreek,  a  town  of  Co- 
lumbiana  county,  Ohio." — Id.  "  Whiteclay,  a  hundred  of  Newcastle  county,  Delaware." — Id.  "New- 
castle, a  town' and  half-shire  of  Newcastle  county,  Delaware." — Id.  "Singsing,  a  village  of 
\Vestchester  county,  New  York,  situated  in  the  town  of  Mountpleasant." — Id.  "Westchester,  a 
county  of  New  York  :  East  Chester  and  West  Chester  are  towns  in  Westchester  county." — Id. 
"  \\'cs'ttown,  a  village  of  Orange  county,  New  York." — Id.  "Whitewater,  a  town  of  Hamilton 
county,  Ohio." — Worcester's  Gaz.  "Whitewater  River,  a  considerable  stream  that  rises  in  Indi- 
ana, and  flowing  southeasterly  unites  with  the  Miami  in  Ohio." — See  ib.  "Blackwater,  a  village 
of  Hampshire,  in  England,  and  a  town  in  Ireland." — See  ib.  "Blackwater,  the  name  of  seven 
different  rivers,  in  England,  Ireland,  and  the  United  States." — See  ib.  "Redhook,  a  town  of 
Dutchess  county,  New  York,  on  the  Hudson." — Williams  cor.  "  Kinderhook,  a  town  of  Colum- 
bia county,  New  York,  on  the  Hudson." —  Williams  right.  "  Neicfane,  a  town  of  Niagara  county. 
New  York." — Williams  cor.  "Lakeport,  a  town  of  Chicot  county,  Arkansas." — Id.  "Moosehead 
Lake,  the  chief  source  of  the  Kennebeck,  in  Maine." — Id.  (See  Worcester's  Gaz.)  "  Macdon- 
ough,  a  county  of  Illinois,  population  (in  1830)2,959." — Williams' s  Univ.  Gaz.  p.  408.  "Macdon- 
oiiffh,  a  county  of  Illinois,  with  a  court-house  at  Macomb." — Williams  cor.  "Half moon,  the  name 
of  two  towns,  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania;  also  of  two  bays  in  the  West  Indies." — S.  Wil- 
liams's  Unit.  Gaz.  "Lebceuf,  a  town  of  Erie  county,  Pennsylvania,  near  a  small  lake  of  the  same 
name." — See  ib.  "Charlescity,  Jamescity,  Elizabethcity,  names  of  counties  in  Virginia,  not 
cities,  nor  towns." — See  Univ.  Gaz.  p.  404.f  "  The  superior  qualities  of  the  waters  of  the  Frome, 
her?  called  Stroudwater." — Balbi  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  VII.— OF  Two  CAPITALS. 

"The  Forth  rises  on  the  north  side  of  Ben  Lomond,  and  runs  easterly." — Glasgow  Geog.  8vo, 
corrected.  "  The  red  granite  of  Ben  Nevis  is  said  to  be  the  finest  in  the  world." — Id.  "Ben 
More,  in  Perthshire,  is  3,915  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea."— Id.  "  The  height  of  Ben  Cleugh 
is  2,420  feet."— Id.  "  In  Sutherland  and  Caithness,  are  Ben  Ormod,  Ben  Clibeg,  Ben  Grin,  Ben 
Hope,  and  Ben  Lugal."—G/o«.  Geog.  right.  "Ben  Vracky  is  2,756  feet  high;  Ben  Ledi,  3,009; 
and  Ben  Voirlich,  3,300." — Glas.  Geog.  cor.  "The  river  Dochart  gives  the  name  of  Glen  Dochart 
to  the  vale  through  which  it  runs." — Id.  "  About  ten  miles  from  its  source,  it  [the  Tay]  dif- 
fuses itself  into  Loch  Dochart." — Glasgow  Geog.  Vol.  ii,  p.  314.  LAKES  : — "Lock  Ard,  Loch 
At^hray,  Loch  Con,  Loch  Doine,  Loch  Katrine,  Loch  Lomond,  Loch  Voil." — Scott  corrected. 
:—"*;//•/»  Finlas,  Glen  Fruin,  Glen  Luss,  Ross  Dhu,  Leven  Glen,  Strath  Endrick,  Strath 
Gartnev,  Strath  Ire." — Id.  MOUNTAINS  : — "Ben  An,  Ben  Harrow,  Ben  Ledi,  Ben  Lomond,  Ben 
Voirlic/i,  lien  l'enue,or,  (as  some  spell  it,)  Ben  Icencw." — /d.J  "Fenelon  died  in  1715,  deeply 
lamented  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Low  Countries." — Murray  cor.  "And  Pharaoh  Necho§ 
made  Eliakim.  the  son  of  Josiah,  king." — See  ALCJER:  2  Kinf/n,  xxiii,  34.  "  Those  who  seem  so 
merry  and  well  pleased,  call  her  Good  fortune;  but  the  others,  who  weep  and  wring  their  hands, 
Bad  Fortune." — Collier  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  VIII. — OF  COMPOUNDS. 

"When  Joab  returned,  and  smote  Edom  in  thr  Valley  of  Salt." — FRIENDS'  BIBLE  :  Ps.lx,  title. 
"  Then  Paul  stood  in  the  midst  of  Mars  Hill,  and  said,"  &c. — Scott  ror.  "And  at  night  he  went 
out,  and  abode  in  the  mount  that  is  called  the  Mount  of  Olives." — Bible  cor.  "  Abgillus,  son  of 
thi>  kinsj  of  the  Frisii,  surnamed  Prester  John,  was  in  the  Holy  Land  with  Charlemagne." — U. 
Di.-f.  r<>r.  ••  Cape  Palmas,  in  Africa,  divides  the  (irain  Coast  from  the  Ivory  Coast." — Diet, 
of  (r/'o.f.  ror.  "•  The  North  Esk,  flowing  from  Loch  Let,  falls  into  the  sea  three  miles  north  of  Mon- 
trose." — Id. 
both  coasts 
Laurel  Ridge, 
United  States  of  America. 

«  OBS.— This  construction  I  dislike.  Without  hyphens,  it  is  improper  :  and  with  them  it  is  not  to  be  com- 
mended. See  Syntax,  Obs.  24th  on  Rule  IV.— O.  B. 

t  On  the  pag;j  here  referred  to,  the  author  of  the  Gazetteer  has  written  "Charles  city,"  &c.  Analogy  requires 
that  the  words  be  compounded,  because  they  constitute  three  names  which  are  applied  to  counties,  and  not  to 

•MM. 

I  OBB.— The  following  word*,  ax  names  of  ton-nx.  come  under  Rule  6th,  and  are  commonly  found  correctly 
compounded  in  the  book*  of  Scotch  geography  and  statistics  :  "Strathaven,  Stonehaven,  Strathdcn,  Qlenluce, 
Grtenlaw.  Coldstream,  Lochwinnooh,  Lochcarron,  Locbmaber,  Prestonpans,  Prestonkirk,  Peterhead,  Queenbferrv, 
NewmilU,"  and  many  more  like  them. 

$  OBS.— Thi.*  name,  in  lx>th  the  Vulgate  and  the  Septuajrint.  is  Pharao  Nechao.  with  two  captitals  and  no  hy- 
phen. Walker  RITCS  the  two  words  separately  in  his  Key,  and  spells  the  latter  Kecfio,  and  not  Nechok.  See  the 
same  orthography  in  Jer.  xlvi,  2.  In  our  common  Bibles.  \\\-\\\\  such  names  are  needlessly,  if  not  improperly, 
compounded:  sometimes  with  one  capital,  and  sometimes  with  two.  The  proper  manner  of  writing  Scripture 
names,  is  too  little  regarded  even  by  good  men  and  biblical  critics. 


878         GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  ORTHOGRAPHY.     [PART  I. 

Columbia,  population  (in  1830)  18,826." — Williams  cor.  "  The  loftiest  peak  of  the  White  Moun- 
tains, in  New  Hampshire,  is  called  Mount  Washington." — G.  Brown.  "  Mount's  Bay,  in  the 
west  of  England,  UPS  between  the  Land's  End  and  Lizard  Point." — Id.  "  Salamis,  an  island  of 
the  Egean  Sea,  off  the  southern  coast  of  the  ancient  Attica." — Diet,  of  Geoa.  "  Rhodes,  an  isl- 
and of  the  Egean  Sea,  the  largest  and  most  easterly  of  the  Cyclades." — Id.  cor.  "  But  he  over- 
threw Pharaoh  and  his  host  in  the  Red  Sea." — SCOTT:  Ps.  cxxxvi,  15.  "  But  they  provoked  him 
at  the  sea,  even  at  the  Red  Sea." — ALGER,  FRIENDS  :  Ps.  cvi,  7 

UNDER  RULE  IX. — OF  APPOSITION. 

"At  that  time,  Herod  the  tetrarch  heard  of  the  fame  of  Jesus." — SCOTT,  FRIENDS,  ETAL.  : 
Matt,  xiv,  1.  "  Who  has  been  more  detested  than  Jxidas  the  traitor?  " — G.  Brown.  "  St.  Luke 
the  evangelist  was  a  physician  of  Antioch,  and  one  of  the  converts  of  St.  Paul." — Id.  "  Luther, 
the  reformer,  began  his  bold  career  by  preaching  against  papal  indulgences." — Id.  "  The  poet 
Lydg'ate  was  a  disciple  and  admirer  of  Chaucer:  he  died  in  1440." — Id.  •'  The  grammarian  Varro, 
*  the  most  learned  of  the  Romans,*  wrote  three  books  when  he  was  eighty  years  old." — Id. 
(i  John  Despauter,  the  great  grammarian  of  Flanders,  whose  works  are  still  valued,  died  in  1520." 
— Id.  "  Nero,  the  emperor  and  tyrant  of  Rome,  slew  himself  to  avoid  a  worse  death." — Id. 
"Cicero  the  orator,  '  the  Father  of  his  Country,'  was  assassinated  at  the  age  of  64." — Id.  "  Eurip- 
ides, the  Greek  tragedian,  was  born  in  the  island  of  Salamis,  B.  C.  476." — Id.  "I  will  say  unto 
God  my  rock,  Why  hast  thou  forgotten  me  ?  " — ALGER,  ET  AL.  :  Ps.  xlii,  9.  "  Staten  Island,  an 
island  of  New  York,  nine  miles  below  New  York  city." — Williams  cor.  "When  the  son  of 
Atreus,  king  of  men,  and  the  noble  Achilles  first  separated." — Coleridge  cor. 
"  Hermes,  his  patron-god,  those  gifts  bestow'd, 
Whose  shrine  with  weanling  lambs  he  wont  to  load." — Pope  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  X. — OF  PERSONIFICATIONS. 

"  But  Wisdom  is  justified  of  all  her  children." — FRIENDS'  BIBLE  :  Luke,  vii,  35.     "  Fortune 

when  personified."     "  Go  to 
Sherlock.     "O  Death! 
55 ;  Merchant's  Gram. 
172.     "  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon." — Matt,  vi,  21.     "  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  Mam- 


Religion.     I  am  the  offspring  of  Truth  and  Love,  and  the  parent  of  Benevolence,  Hope,  and  Joy. 
That  monster,  from  whose  power  I  have  freed  you,  is  called  Superstition :  she  is  called  the  child 
of  Discontent,  and  her  followers  are  Fear  and  Sorrow.' " — E.  Carter.      "  Neither  Hope  nor  Fear 
could  enter  the  retreats  ;  and  Habit  had  so  absolute  a  power,  that  even  Conscience,  if  Relicion 
had  employed  her  in  their  favour,  would  not  have  been  able  to  force  an  entrance." — Dr.  John  <on. 
"  In  colleges  and  halls  in  ancient  days, 
There  dwelt  a  sage  called  Discipline" — Cowper. 

UNDER  RULE  XL— OF  DERIVATIVES. 

"  In  English,  I  would  have  Gallicisms  avoided." — Felton.  "  Sallust  was  born  in  Italy,  85  years 
before  the  Christian  era." — Murray  cor.  "  Dr.  Doddridge  was  not  only  a  great  man,  but  one  of 
the  most  excellent  and  useful  Christians,  and  Christian  ministers." — Id.  "  They  corrupt  tieir 
style  with  untutored  Anglicisms." — Milton.  "Albert  of  Stade,  author  of  a  chronicle  from  the 
creation  to  1286,  a  Benedictine  of  the  13th  century." — Biog.  Diet.  cor.  "  Graffio,  a  Jesuit  of  Cap- 
ua in  the  16th  century,  author  of  two  volumes  on  moral  subjects." — Id.  "  They  Frenchify  and 
Italianize  words  whenever  they  can." — Buckets  Gram.  p.  86.  "  He  who  sells  a  Christian,  sells 
the  grace  of  God." — Mag.  cor.  "  The  first  persecution  against  the  Christians,  under  Nero,  began 
A.  D.  64." — Gregory  cor.  "  P.  Rapin,  the  Jesuit,  uniformly  decides  in  favour  of  the  Roman  writ- 
ers."— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  248.  "  The  Roman  poet  and  Epicurean  philosopher  Lucretius  has  said," 
&c. — Cohen  cor.  Spell  "Calvinistic,  Atticism,  Gothicism,  Epicurism,  Jesuitism,  Sabianism,  Socin- 
ianism,  Anglican,  Anglicism,  Anglicize,  Vandalism,  Gallicism,  and  Romanize" — Webster  cor. 
"  The  large  Ternate  bat." — Id.  and  Bolles  cor. 

"  Church-ladders  are  not  always  mounted  best 

By  learned  clerks,  and  Latinists  profess'd." — Cowper  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  XII.— OF  I  AND  O. 

"  Fall  back,  fall  back  ;  /  have  not  room  : — O  !  methinks  I  see  a  couple  whom  /  should  know." 
— Lucian.  "  Nay,  /live  as  I  did,  /think  as  /did,  /love  you  as  /  did  ;  but  all  these  are  to  no 
purpose  ;  the  world  will  not  live,  think,  or  love,  as  /  do." — Swift  to  Pope.  "  Whither,  O!  whith- 
er shall  /  fly  ?  O  wretched  prince  !  O  cruel  reverse  of  fortune  !  O  father  Micipsa  !  is  this  tho 
consequence  of  thy  generosity  ?" — Tr.  of  Sallust.  "  When  /was  a  child,  /  spake  as  a  child,  / 
understood  as  a  child,  /  thought  as  a  child;  but  when  /  became  a  man,  /  put  away  childish 
things." — 1  Cor.  xiii,  11.  "And  /  heard,  but  /  understood  not:  then  said  /,  O  my  Lord,  what 
shall  be  the  end  of  these  things  ?  " — Dan.  xii,  8.  "  Here  am/;  /  think  /  am  very  good,  and  / 
am  quite  sure  /  am  very  happy,  yet  /  never  wrote  a  treatise  in  my  life." — Feio  Days  in  Athens, 
p.  127.  "  Singular,  Vocative,  O  master !  Plural,  Vocative,  O  masters  !  " — Bicknell  cor. 
"  I,  /  am  he  ;  O  father  !  rise,  behold 
Thy  son,  with  twenty  winters  now  grown  old  !  " — Pope's  Odyssey,  B.  24, 1.  375. 

UNDER  RULE  XIII.— OF  POETRY. 
"Reason's  whole  pleasure,  all  the  joys  of  sense, 
Lie  in  three  words— health,  peace,  and  competence  ; 
But  health  consists  with  temperance  alone, 
And  peace,  O  Virtue  !  peace  is  all  thy  own." — Pope. 

*  "  Marcus]  Terentius  Varro,  vir  Romanorum  eruditissimus."— QUINTILUN.    Lib.  x,  Cap.  1. 


CHAP.   I.J  KEY    TO    FALSE    ORTHOGRAPHY. CAPITAL    LETTERS.  879 

"  Observe  the  language  well  in  all  you  write, 

And  swerve  not  from  it  in  your  loftiest  flight. 

The  smoothest  verse  and  the  exactest  sense 

Di.ip/rasc  us,  if  ill  English  give  offence: 

A  barbarous  phrase  no  reader  can  approve ; 

Nor  bombast,  noise,  or  affectation  love. 

In  short,  without  pure  language,  what  you  write 

("an  never  yield  us  profit  or  delight. 

Take  time  for  thinking  ;  never  work  in  haste  ; 

And  value  not  yourself  for  writing  fast." — Dryden. 

UNDER  RULE  XIV. — OF  EXAMPLES. 

"  The  word  rather  is  very  properly  used  to  express  a  small  degree  or  excess  of  a  quality ;  as, 
'She  is  rather  profuse  in  her  expenses.'  " — Murray  cor.  "Neither  imports  not  cither  ;  that  is,  not 
one  nor  the  other  :  as,  'Xeithrr  of  my  friends  was  there.'  " — Id.  "  When  we  say,  'He  is  a  tall 
man,' — 'This  is  a  fair  day,'  we  make  some  reference  to  the  ordinary  size  of  men,  and  to  different 
weather." — Id.  "  We  more  readily  say,  '  A  million  of  men,'  than,  '.1  thousand  of  men.'  " — Id. 
"  So  in  the  instances,  'Two  and  two  are  four; ' — 'The  fifth  and  sixth  volumes  will  complete  the 
set  of  books.'  " — /(/.  "  The  adjective  may  frequently  either  precede  or  follow  the  verb  :  as,  '•The 
man  is  happy  • '  or,  'Happy  is  the  man  ; ' — '  The  interview  was  delightful ; '  or,  'Delightful  was  the 
interview.'  " — Id.  "  If  we  say,  'He  writes  a  pen  ; ' — 'They  ran  the  river  ; ' — 'The  tower  fell  the 
Greeks  ; ' — '  Lambeth  is  Westminster  Abbey  ; ' — [we  speak  absurdly  ;]  and,  it  is  evident,  there  is 
a  vacancy  which  must  be  filled  up  by  some  connecting  word  :  as  thus,  '  He  writes  with  a  pen  ;  ' — 
'They  mil  towards  the  river;' — 'The  tower  fell  upon  the  Greeks;' — '  Lambeth  is  over  against 
Westminister  Abbey.'  " — Id.  "  Let  me  repeat  it ; — He  only  is  great,  who  has  the  habits  of  great- 
ness."— Id.  "  I  say  not  unto  thee,  Until  seven  times  ;  but,  Until  seventy  times  seven." — Matt. 
xviii,  2'2. 

"  The  Panther  smil'd  at  this  ;  and,  '  When,'  said  she, 
'  Were  those  first  councils  disallow'd  by  me  ? '  " — Dryd.  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  XV.— OF  CHIEF  WORDS. 

"  The  supreme  council  of  the  nation  is  called  the  Divan." — Balbi  cor.  "  The  British  Parlia- 
ment is  composed  of  King,  Lords,  and  Commons." — Com/y's  Gram.  129  ;  and  Jaudon's,  127.  "A 
popular  orator  in  the  House  of  Commons  has  a  sort  of  patent  for  coining  as  many  new  terms  as 
lie  pleases." — See  Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  169  ;  Murray's  dram.  364.  "  They  may  all  be  taken  togeth- 
er, us  one  name  ;  as,  •  Tin-  llouxe  of  ( \»nmons.'  " — Merchant  cor.  "  Intrusted  to  persons  in  whom 
the  Parliament  could  confide." — Murray  cor.  "For  'The  Lords'  House,' it  were  certainly  better 
to  say,  '  The  House  of  Lords ; '  and,  in  stead  of  'The  Commons'  vote,'  to  say,  'The  vote  of  the 
Commons.'  " — Id.  and  Priestley  cor.  "  The  House  of  Lords  were  so  much  influenced  by  these  rea- 
sons."— lidetn.  "  Rhetoricians  commonly  divide  them  into  two  great  classes  ;  Figures  of  Words, 
and  Figures  of  Thought.  The  former,  Figures  of  Words,  are  commonly  called  Tropes." — Murray's 
Gram.  p.  337.  "  Perhaps,  Figures  of  Imagination,  and  Figures  of  Passion,  might  be  a  more  use- 
ful distribution." — Ib.  "  Hitherto  we  have  considered  sentences,  under  the  heads  of  Perspicuity, 
Unity,  and  Strength." — See  Murray's  Gram.  p.  356. 

"  The  word  is  then  depos'd  ;  and,  in  this  view, 
You  rule  the  Scripture,  not  the  Scripture  you." — Dryd.  cor. 
UNDER  RULE  XVI.— OF  NEEDLESS  CAPITALS. 

"Be  of  good  cheer;  it  is  I ;  be  not  afraid." — FRIENDS'  BIBLE,  AND  SCOTT'S:  Matt,  xiv,  27. 
"  Between  passion  and  lying,  there  is  not  a.  finger's  breadth." — Mur.  cor.  "  Can  our  solicitude 
alter  the  course,  or  unravel  the  intricacy,  of  human  events  ?" — Id.  "  The  last  edition  was  care- 
fully compared  with  the  original  manuscript." — Id.  "  And  the  governor  asked  him,  saying,  Art 
thou  the  king  of  the  Jews  ?  " — SCOTT  :  Matt,  xxvii,  11.  "  Let  them  be  turned  back  for  a  reward 
of  their  shame,  that  say,  Aha,  aha!" — SCOTT  ET  AL.  :  Ps.  Ixx,  3.  ''Let  them  be  desolate  for  a 
reward  of  their  shame,  that  say  unto  me,  Aha,  aha!" — IIDEM  :  Ps.  xl,  15.  "What  think  ye 
of  Christ  ?  whose  son  is  he  ?  They  say  unto  him,  The  son  of  David.  He  saith  unto  them,  How 
then  doth  David  in  spirit  call  him  Lord?" — AM;KK:  Matt  xxii,  42,  43.  "Among  all  things  in 
the  universe,  direct  your  worship  to  the  greatest.  And  which  is  that  ?  It  is  that  Being  who  manages 
and  govern*  all  the  rest." — Collier's  Antoninus  cor,  "As  for  /nodcxty  and  r/ood  faith,  truth  and  justice, 
thev  have  left  this  wicked  world  and  retired  to  heaven :  and  now  what  is  it  that  can  keep  you 
here  ? "— 7de;/i. 

"  If  pulse  of  verse  a  nation's  temper  shows, 
In  keen  iambics  English  metre  flows." — lirightland  cor. 

PROMISCUOUS  CORRECTIONS  RESPECTING  CAPITALS. 

<N  I. — MIXED  EXAMTI.EN. 
"  Come,  gentle  Spring,  i-thtmd  mildness,  come." — '/'// union's  Seasons,  p.  29.     As,   "  He  is  the 
Cicero  of  his  age  ;  " — "//'  is  reading  the  Lives  of  the  Tw  i ;  " — or,  if  no  particular  book 

is  meant,—"  the  lives  of  the  t>.  :  s  ;  "  (as  it  is  in  /•V.v/.'.s  (inimmar,  p.  57  ;)  for  the  sentence, 

as  it  stands  in  Murray,  is  ambiguous.  "  In  the  History  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  by  Father  Daniel, 
we  are  surprised  at  no't  finding  him  the  great  in  in." — Smollett's  1'oltairc,  Vol.  v,  p.  82.  "  Do  not 
those  same  poor  peasant*  u>e  tin-  /rrt-r,  and  the  ir<-dgc,  and  many  other  instruments  ?" — Harris 
a,id  Mur.  (or.  ••  Arithmetic  is  excellent  for  the  gauging  of  liquors ;  geometry,  fur  the  measuring 
o:'  estates  i  astronomy,  for  the  making  <>'  .  and  <ir<trn mar,  perhaps,  for  the  drawing  of 

btnds  and  conveyances." — See  Murray's  dram.  p.  288.  "  The  [History  of  the]  Wars  of  Flanders, 
written  in  Latin  by  Famianus  Strada,  is  a  book  of  some  note." — Blair  cor.  "  William  is  a  noun. 
Why?  Was  is  a  verb.  Why?  A  is  an  article.  Why?  Very  is  an  adverb.  Why?"  &c.— 
Merchant  cor.  "In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  that  Word  was  with  God,  and  God  was 


880        GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS, — KEY  TO  ORTHOGRAPHY.     [PART 

that  Word."— See  Gospel  of  John,  i,  1.  "  The  Greeks  are  numerous  in  Thessaly,  Macedonia, 
Romelia,  and  Albania." — Balbi's  Geog.  p.  360.  "  He  [the  Grand  Seignior]  is  styled  by  the  Turks, 
Sultan,  Mighty,  or  Padishah,  Lord." — Balbicor.  "  1  will  ransom  them  from  the  power  of  the 
grave  ;  I  will  redeem  them  from  death.  O  Death  !  I  will  be  thy  plague  ;  O  Grave!  I  will  be  thy 
destruction." — Bible  cor.  "  Silver  and  gold  have  I  none  ;  but  such  as  1  have,  give  I  [unto]  thee." — 
See  Acts,  iii,  6.  "  Return,  we  beseech' thee,  O  God  of  hosts  !  look  down  from  heaven,  and  behold, 
and  visit  this  vine." — See  Pslam,  Ixxx,  14.  "  In  the  Attic  commonwealth,  it  was  the  privilege  of 
every  citizen  to  rail  in  public." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  p.  316.  "  They  assert,  that  in  the  phrases, 
'  GIVE  me  that,' — 'This  is  John's,' — and,  'Such  were  some  of  you,' — the  words  in  Italics  are  pro- 
nouns ;  but  that,  in  the  following  phrases,  they  are  not  pronouns  :  '  This  book  is  instructive ;  : — 
'Some  boys  are  ingenious;' — 'My  health  is  declining  ;' — 'Our  hearts  are  deceitful.'" — Murray 
partly  corrected.*  "And  the  coast  bends  again  to  the  northwest,  as  far  as  Farout  Head." — Geog. 
cor.  "  Dr.  Webster,  and  other  makers  of  spelling-books,  very  improperly  write  Sunday,  Monday, 
Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday,  Friday,  and  Saturday,  without  capitals." — G.  Brown.  "  The 
commander  in  chief  of  the  Turkish  navy  is  styled  the  Capitan  Pacha."— Balbi  cor.  "  Shall  we 
not  much  rather  be  in  subjection  unto  the  Father  of  spirits,  and  live  ?  " — ALGER'S  BIBLE  :  Heb. 
xii,  9.  "  He  [Dr.  Beattie]  was  more  anxious  to  attain  the  character  of  a  Christian  hero." — Mur- 
ray cor.  "Beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth,  is  Mount  Zion." — W.  Allen's  Gram.  p. 
393.  The  Lord  is  my  helper,  and  I  will  not  fear  what  man  shall  do  unto  me." — ALGER,  FRIENDS, 
ET  AL.  :  Heb.  xiii,  6.  "  Make  haste  to  help  me,  O  LORD  my  salvation." — IIDEM  :  Psalms,  xxxviii,  22. 
"  The  city  which  thou  seest,  no  other  deem 
Than  great  and  glorious  Rome,  queen  of  the  earth." — Paradise  Regained,  B.  iv. 

LESSON  II. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"  That  range  of  hills,  known  under  the  general  name  of  Mount  Jura." — Account  of  Geneva. 
"  He  rebuked  the  Red  Sea  also,  and  it  was  dried  up." — FRIENDS'  BIBLE  :  Ps.  cvi,  9.  "Jesus  went 
unto  the  Mount  of  Olives." — Bible  cor.  "  Milton's  book  in  reply  to  the  Defence  of  the  King,  by 
Salmasius,  gained  him  a  thousand  pounds  from  the  Parliament,  and  killed  his  antagonist  with 
vexation." — G.  B.  "  Mandeville,  Sir  John,  an  Englishman  famous  for  his  travels,  born  about 
1300,  died  in  1372."— B.  Diet.  cor.  "  Ettrick  Pen,  a  mountain  in  Selkirkshire,  Scotland,  height 
2,200  feet." — G.  Geog.  cor.  "  The  coast  bends  from  Dungsby  Head,  in  a  northwest  direction^  to 
the  promontory  of  Dunnet  Head." — Id.  "General  Gaines  ordered  a  detachment  of  nearly  300 
men,  under  the  command  of  Major  Twiggs,  to  surround  and  take  an  Indian  village  called  Fowl- 
town,  about  fourteen  miles 'from  Fort  Scott." — Cohen  cor.  "And  he  took  the  damsel  by  the 
hand,  and  said  unto  her,  '  Talitha,  cumi.'  " — Bible  Editors  cor.  "  On  religious  subjects,  a  frequont 
adoption  of  Scripture  language  is  attended  with  peculiar  force." — Murray  cor.  "  Contemplated 


formed  you  that  Etymology  treats,  thirdly,  of  derivation." — Kirkham  cor.  "This  Sth  Lecture  is 
a  very  important  one." — Id.  "  Now  read  the  \\th  and  12th  lectures,  four  or  five  times  over." — 
Id.  "  In  1752,  he  [Henry  Home]  was  advanced  to  the  bench,  under  the  title  of  Lord  Kames." — 
Murray  cor.  "  One  of  his  maxims  was,  '  Know  thyself.'  " — Lempriere  cor.  "  Good  Master,  wiat 
good  thing  shall  I  do,  that  I  may  have  eternal  life  ?  " — FRIENDS'  BIBLE  :  Matt,  xix,  16.  "  His  best 
known  works,  however,  [John  Almon's]  are,  'Anecdotes  of  the  Life  of  the  Earl  of  Chatham,'  2 
vol*.  4to,  3  vols.  8vo  ;  and  'Biographical,  Literary,  and  Political  Anecdotes  of  several  of  the  Most 
Eminent  Persons  of  the  Present  Age  ;  never  before  printed,'  3  vols.  8vo,  1797." — Biog.  Diet.  cor. 
"  O  gentle  Sleep,  Nature's  soft  nurse,  how  have  I  frighted  thee  ?  " — SHAK.  :  Kames,  El.  of  Crit.  Yol. 
ii,  p.  175.  "And. peace,  O  Virtue!  peace  is  all  thy  own." — Pope  et  al.  cor. 

LESSON  III. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"Fenelon  united  the  characters  of  a  nobleman  and  a  Christian  pastor.  His  book  entitled,  'An 
Explication  of  the  Maxims  of  the  Saints,  concerning  the  Interior  Life,'  gave  considerable  offence 
to  the  guardians  of  orthodoxy." — Murray  cor.  "  When  Natural  Religion,  who  before  was 
only  a  spectator,  is  introduced  as  speaking  by  the  Centurion's  voice." — Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  i,  p. 
347.  "  You  cannot  deny,  that  the  great  Mover  and  Author  of  nature  constantly  explaineth  himself 
to  the  eyes  of  men,  by  the  sensible  intervention  of  arbitrary  signs,  which  have  no  similitude  to,  or 
connexion  with,  the  things  signified." — Berkley  cor.  "  The  name  of  this  letter  is  Double-u,  its 
form,  that  of  a  double  V." — Dr.  Wilson  cor.  "Murray,  in  his  Spelling-Book,  wrote  Charlestown 
with  a  hyphen  and  two  capitals." — G.  Brown.  "  He  also  wrote  European  without  a  capital." — Id. 
"  They  profess  themselves  to  be  Pharisees,  who  are  to  be  heard  and  not  imitated." — Calvin  cor. 
"Dr.  Webster  wrote  both  Newhaven  and  New  York  with  single  capitals." — G.  Brown.  "Gay 
Head,  the  west  point  of  Martha's  Vineyard." — Williams  cor.  "Write  Crab  Orchard,  Egg  Har- 
bour, Long  Island,  Perth  Amboy,  West  Hampton,  Little  Compton,  New  Paltz,  Crown  Point,  Fell's 
Point,  Sandy  Hook,  Port  Penn,  Port  Royal,  Porto  Bello,  and  Porto  Rico." — G.  Brown.  "  Write 
the  names  of  the  months  :  January,  February,  March,  April,  May,  June,  July,  August,  September, 
October,  November,  December." — Id.  "  Write  the  following  names  and  words  properly  :  Tuesday, 
Wednesday.  Thursday,  Friday,  Saturday,  Saturn; — Christ,  Christian,  Christmas,  Christendom, 
Michaelmas,  Indian,  Bacchanals ; — East  Hampton,  Omega,  Johannes,  Aonian,  Levitical,  Deuter- 
nomy,  European." — Id. 

"  Eight  letters  in  some  syllables  we  find, 
And  no  more  syllables  in  words  are  join'd." — Brightland  cor. 


*  NOTE. — By  this  amendment,  we  remove  a  multitude  of  errors,  but  the  passage  is  still  very  faulty.  What 
Murray  here  calls  "  phrasts,"  are  properly  sentences ;  and,  in  his  second  clause,  he  deserts  the  terms  of  the  first 
to  bring  in  "  my,"  "  our,"  and  also  "  £c.,"  which  seem  to  be  out  of  place  there.— G.  BROWS. 


CIIAP.  III.]       KF.Y    TO    FALSE    ORTHOGRAPHi'. — SYLLABICATION. WORDS.  881 

CHAPTER  II.  — OF  SYLLABLES. 

CORRECTIONS  OF  FALSE  SYLLABICATION. 

LESSON  I. — CONSONANTS. 

1.  Correction  of  Murray,  in  words  of  two  syllables  :  civ-il,  col-our,  cop-y,  dam-ask,  doz-en,  ev- 
er, feath-er,  gath-er,  heav-en,  heav-y,  hon-ey,  lem-on,  lin-cn,  mead-ow,  mon-ey,  nev-er,  ol-ive, 
or-ange,  oth-cr,  pheas-ant,  pleas-ant,  pun-ish,  rath-er,  read-y,  riv-er,  rob-in,  schol-ar,  shov-el, 
stom-ach,  tim-id,  whith-er. 

2.  Correction  of  Murray,  in  words  of  three  syllables  :  ben-e-fit,  cab-i-net,  can-is-ter,  cat-a-logue, 
char-ac-ter,  char-i-ty,  cov-et-ous,  dil-i-gence,   dim-i-ty,  el-e-phant,  ev-i-dent,  ev-er-green,  friv-o- 
lous,  gath-er-ing,   gen-er-ous,  gov-ern-ess,  gov-ern-or,  hon  est-y.  kal-en-dar,  lav-en-der,  lev-er- 
et,  lib  er-al,  mem-or-y,  min-is-ter,  mod-est-ly.  nov-el-ty,  no-bod-y,  par-a-dise,  pov-er-ty,  pres-ent- 
ly,  prnv-i-dence,  prop-er-ly,  pris-on-er,  rav-en-ous,  sat-is-fy,  sev-er-al,  sep-ar-ate,  trav-el-ler,  vag- 
a-bond  ; — con-sid-er,  con-tin-ue,  de-liv-er,  dis-cov-er,  dis-fig-ure,  dis-hon-est,  dis-trib-ute,  in-hab- 
it,  me-chan-ic,  what-ev-er  ; — rec-om-mend,  ref-u-gee,  rep-ri-mand. 

3.  Correction  of  Murray,  in  words  of  four  syllables :  cat-er-pil-lar,  char-i-ta-ble,  dil-i-gent-ly, 
mis-er-a-ble,prof-it-a-ble,  tol-er-a-ble ; — be-nev-o-lent,  con-sid-er-ate,  di-min-u-tive,  ex-per-i-ment, 
ex-trav-a-gant,  in-hab-i-tant,  no-bil-i-ty,  par-tic-u-lar,  pros-per-i-ty,  ri-dic-u-lous,  sin-cer-i-ty ; — 
dern-on-stra-tion,   ed-u-ca-tion,  em-u-la-tion,  ep-i-dem-ic,  mal-e-fac-tor,  man-u-fac-ture,  mem-o- 
ran-dum,  mod-er-a-tor,  par-a-lyt-ic,  pen-i-ten-tial,  res-ig-na-tion,  sat-is-fac-tion,  sem-i-co-lon. 

4.  Correction  of  Murray,  in  words  of  five  syllables  :  a-bom-i-na-ble,  a-poth-e-ca-ry,  con-sid-er- 
a-ble,  ex  plan-a-to-ry,  pre-par-a-to-ry; — ac-a-dem-i-cal,  cu-ri-os-i-ty,  ge-o-graph-i-cal,  man-u-fac- 
tor-y,    sat-is-fac-tor-y,    mer-i-to  ri-ous ; — char-ac-ter-is-tic,    ep-i-gram-mat-ic,    ex-per-i-ment-al, 
pol-y-syl  la-ble,  con-sid-er-a-tion. 

5.  Correction  of  Murray,  in  the  division  of  proper  names :  Hel-en,  Leon-ard,  Phil-ip,  Rob-ert, 
Hor-ace,  Thom-as  ;— Car-o-line,  Cath-a-rine,  Dan-i-el,  Deb-o-rah,  Dor-o-thy,  Fred-er-ick,  Is-a- 
bel,  Jon-a-than,  Lyd-i-a,  Nich-o-las,  Ol-i-ver,  Sam-u-el,  Sim-e-on,  Sol-o-mon,  Tim-o-thy,  Val-en- 
tine; — A-mer-i-ca,  Bar-thol-o-mew,  E-liz-a-beth,  Na-than-i-el,  Pe-nel-o-pe,  The-oph-i-lus. 

LESSON  II. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

1.  Correction  of  Webster,  by  Rule  1st- — ca-price,  e-steem,  dis-e-steem,  o-blige ; — a-zure,  ma- 
tron, pa-tron,  pha-lanx,  si-reri,  trai-tor,  tren-cher,  bar-ber,  bur-nish,   gar-nish,  tar-nish,  var-nish, 
mar-kct,  mus-ket,  pam-phlet ; — bra-ver-y,  kna-ver-y,  sla-ver-y,  e-ven-ing,  sce-ner  y,  bri-ber-y,  ni- 
ce-ty,  chi-ca-ner-y,  ma-chin-er-y,  im-a-ger-y  ; — a-sy-lum,  ho-ri-zon, — fin-an-cier,  her-o-ism, — sar- 
do-nyx,  scur-ri-lous, — co-me-di-an,  pos-te-ri-or. 

2.  Correction  of   Webster,  by  Rule  2d :  o-yer,  fo-li-o,  ge-ni-al,  ge-ni-us,  ju-ni-or,  sa-ti-ate,  vi-ti- 
ate  ; — am-bro-si-a,  cha-me-/e-6n,  par-he-li-on,  con-ve-ni-ent,  in-ge-ni-ous,  om-nis-ci-ence,  pe-cu-li- 
ar,  so-ci-a-ble,  par-ti  al-i-ty,  pe-cu-ni-a-ry  ; — an-nun-ci-ate,  e-nun-ci-ate,  ap-pre-ci-ate,  as-so-ci-ate, 
ex-pa-ti  ate,  in  gra-ti-ate,  in-i-ti-ate,  li-cen-ti-ate,  ne-go-ti-ate,  no-vi-ti-ate,  of-fi-ci-ate,  pro-pi-ti- 
ate,  sub-stan-ti-ate. 

3.  Correction  of  Cobb  and  Webster,  by  each  other,  under  Rule  3d:  "  dress-er,  hast-y,  past-ry, 
seiz-ure,  roll-er,  jest-er,  weav-er,  vamp-er,  hand-y,  dross-y,  gloss-y,  mov-er,  mov-ing,  ooz-y,  full- 
er, trust-y,  weight-y,  nois-y,  drows-y,  swarth-y." — Webster.    Again:  "  east-ern,  ful-ly,  pul-let, 
ril-let,  scant-y,  need-y." — Cobb. 

4.  Correction  of  H  V;.y;v  /•  and  Cobb,  under  Rule  4th  :  a-wry,  a-thwart',  pro-spect'-ive,  pa-ren'-the- 
sis,  re-sist-i-bil'-i-ty,  hem-i-spher'-ic,  mon'-o-stich,  hem'-i-stich,  to'-wards. 

5.  Correction  of  the  words  under  Rule  5th :  Eng-land,  an  oth-er,*  Beth-es'-da,  Beth-ab'-a-ra. 

LESSON  III. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

1.  Correction  of  Cobb,  by  Rule  3d  :  bend-er,  bless-ing,  brass-y,  chaff-y,  chant-er,  clasp-er,  craft-y, 
curcl-y,  fend-er,  film-y,  fust-y,  glass-y,  graft-er,  grass-y,  gust-y,  hand-ed,  mass-y,  musk-y,  rust-y, 
swell-ing,  tell-er,  test  ed,  thrift-y,  vcst-ure. 

2.  Correction^  of    MV//.vCr/-,  mostly  by  Rule  1st:  bar-ber,  bur-nish,  bris-ket,  can-ker,  char-ter, 
cuc-koo,  fur-nish,  gar-nish,  guilt-y",   han-ker,   lus-ty,  por-tal,  tar-nish,  tes-tate,  tes-ty,  trai-tor, 
trca-ty,  var-nish,   ves-tal,    di-ur-nal,    e-ter-nal,    in-fer-nal,    in-ter-nal,    ma-ter-nal,   noc-tur-nal, 
pa-ter-nal. 

3.  Corrections  of  Webster,  mostly  by  Rule  1st :  ar-mor-y,  ar-ter-y,  butch-er-y,  cook-er-y,  eb-on-y 
em-er-y,  cv-cr-y,  fcl-on-y,  fop-per-y,  frip-per-y,  gal-ler-y,  his-tor-y,  liv-er-y,  lot-ter-y,  mock-er-y,« 
niys-ter-i/,-\-  nun-ner-y,  or-rer-y,  pil-lor-y,  (iiiack-or-y,  sor-cer-y,  witch-er-y. 

4.  Corrections  of  Cobb,  mostly  by  Rule  1st:  an-kle,  bas-ket,  blan-ket,  buc-kle,  cac-kle,  cran-kle, 
crin-klr,  Ba»-ter,  tir-klr,  I'n-c-kle, "knuc-klc,  mar-ket,  mon-key,  por-tress,  pic-kle,  poul-tice,  pun- 
cheon, quad-rant,  quad-mtc,  squad-ron,  ran-kle,  shac-kle,  sprin-kle,  tin-kle,  twin-klc,  wrin-kle. 

5.  Corrections  of  l-lm<-r»uit,  by  Rules  1st  and  3d:  as-cribe,  blan-dish,  branch-y,  cloud-y,  dust-y, 
drear-y,   e-ven-ing,  fault-y,  filth-y,  frost-y,  gaud-y,  gloom-y,  health-y,  heark-en,  heart-y,  hoar-y, 
lcak-y,  loun-ger.  marsh-y,  iniaht-y,  milk-y,   naught-y,  pass-ing,  pitch-er,  read-y,  rock-y,  speed-y, 
stead-y,  storm-y,  thirst-y,  thorn-y,  tmst-y,  vest-ry,  west-ern,  wealth-y. 


CHAPTER  III.  —  OF  WORDS. 

CORRECTIONS  RESPECTING  THE  FIGURE,  OR  FORM,  OF  WORDS. 

RTLK  I. — COMPOUNDS. 

"  Professing  to  imitate  Timon,  the  manhater." — Goldsmith  corrected.     "Men  load  hay  with  a 
P'tchfurk." — I f'< ftxtcr  cor.     "A  pcartree  grows  from  the  seed  of  a  pear." — Id.     "A  toothbrush  is 

•  An  other  is  a  phrase  of  two  words,  which  ought  to  be  written  separately.    The  transferring  of  the  n  to  the 
latter  word,  is  a  pross  vulgarism.     Separate  the  words,  and  it  will  be  avoided, 
t  Mys-ter-y,  according  to  Scott  and  Cobb  ;  mys-tt-ry,  according  to  Walker  and  Worcester. 


882         GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  ORTHOGRAPHY.     [PART  I. 

good  to  brush  your  teeth."-— Ttf.  "  The  mail  is  opened  at  the  post-office. "—Id.  "  The  error  seems 
to  me  twofold." — Sanborn  cor.  "To  pre?ngage  means  to  engage  beforehand." — Webster  cor. 
"  It  is  a  mean  act  to  deface  the  figures  on  a  milestone." — Id.  "A  grange  is  a  farm,  with  its  farm- 
hotise." — Id.  "  It  is  no  more  right  to  steal  apples  or  watermelons,  than  [to  steal]  money.'' — Id. 
"The  awl  is  a  tool  used  by  shoemakers  and  harness -makers." — Id.  "Twenty-five  cents  are  equal 
to  one  quarter  of  a  dollar." — Id.  "  The  blowing-tip  of  the  Fulton  at  New  York,  was  a  terrible 
disaster." — Id.  "  The  elders  also,  and  the  bringers-up  of  the  children,  sent  to  Jehu." — ALGKR, 
FRIENDS,  ET  AL.:  2  Kinys,  x,  5.  "  Not  with  eyeservice,  as  menpleasers." — Col.  iii,  22.  "  A  good- 
natured  and  equitable  construction  of  cases/' — Ash  cor.  "And  purify  your  hearts,  ye  double- 
minded."— James,  iv,  8.  "  It  is  a  mean-spirited  action  to  steal;  i.  e.,  To  steal  is  a  mean-spirited 
action." — A.  Murray  cor.  "  There  is,  indeed,  one  form  of  orthography  which  is  akin  to  the  sub- 
junctive mood  of  the  Latin  tongue." — Booth  cor.  "  To  bring  him  into  nearer  connexion  with  real 
and  everyday  life." — Philological  Museum,  Vol.  i,  p.  459.  "  The  commonplace,  stale  declamation 
of  its  revilers  would  be  silenced." — Id  cor.  "  She  [Cleopatra]  formed  a  very  singular  and  un- 
heard-of project." — Goldsmith  cor.  "  He  [William  Penn]  had  many  vigilant,  though  feeble- 
talented  and  mean-spirited  enemies." — R.  Vaux  cor.  "  These  old-fashioned  people  would  level  our 
psalmody,"  &c. — Gardiner  cor.  "This  sloiv-shifting  scenery  iii  the  theatre  of  harmony." — Id. 
"So  we  are  assured  from  Scripture  itself." — Harris  cor.  "  The  mind,  being  disheartened,  then 
betakes  itself  to  trifling." — R.  Johnson  cor.  "Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto 
them." — Bible  cor.  "  Tarry  we  ourselves  how  we  will." — W.  Walker  cor.  "  Manage  your  credit 


May  the  ploughshare  shine." — White  cor.     "  Whichever  way  we  consider  it." — Locke  cor. 
"  Where'er  the  silent  e  a.  place  obtains, 
The  voice  foregoing,  length  and  softness  gains." — Brightland  cor. 

RULE  II. — SIMPLES. 

"  It  qualifies  any  of  the  four  parts  of  speech  above  named." — Kirkham  cor.  "After  a  while 
they  put  us  out  among  the  rude  multitude." — Fox  cor.  "It  would  be  a  shame,  if  your  mind 
should  falter  and  give  in." — Collier  cor.  "  They  stared  a  ichile  in  silence  one  upon  an  other." — 
Johnson  cor.  "  After  passion  has  for  a  while-  exercised  its  tyrannical  sway." — Murray  cor. 
"  Though  set  within  the  same  general  frame  of  intonation." — Rush  cor.  "Which  do  not  carry 
any  of  the  natural  vocal  signs  of  expression." — Id.  "The  measurable  constructive  powers  of  a 
few  associable  constituents." — Id.  "  Before  each  accented  syllable  or  emphatic  monosyllabic 
word." — Id.  "  One  should  not  think  tjo  favourably  of  one's  self." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  1 54. 
"  Know  ye  not  your  own  selves,  how  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  you  ?  " — 2  Cor.  xiii,  5.  "  I  judge  not 
my  own  self,  for  I  know  nothing  of  my  own  self." — See  1  Cor.  iv,  3.  "  Though  they  were  in  such 
a  rage,  I  desired  them  to  tarry  a  while." — Josephus  cor.  "A,  in  stead  of  an,  is  now  used  before 
words  beginning  with  u  long." — Murray  cor.  "John  will  have  earned  his  wages  by  next  n?w 
year's  day." — Id.  "  A  new  year's  gift  is  a  present  made  on  the  first  day  of  the  year." — Johmon 
et  al.  cor.  "  When  he  sat  on  the  throne,  distributing  new  year's  gifts." — Id.  "  St.  Paul  admon- 
ishes Timothy  to  refuse  old  wives'  fables." — See  1  Tim.  iv,  7.  "  The  world,  take  it  all  together, 
is  but  one." — Collier  cor.  "  In  writings  of  this  stamp,  we  must  accept  of  sound  in  stead  of 
sense." — Murray  cor.  "A  male  child,  -a.  female  child  ;  male  descendants,  female  descendants." — 
Goldsbury  et  al.  cor.  "Male  servants,  female  servants  ;  male  relations,  female  relations." — Fel- 
ton  cor. 

"  Reserved  and  cautious,  with  no  partial  aim, 
My  muse  e'er  sought  to  blast  an  other's  fame." — Lloyd  cor. 

RULE  III.— THE  SENSE. 

"  Our  discriminations  of  this  matter  have  been  but  four-footed  instincts." — Rush  cor.  "  He  is 
in  the  right,  (says  Clytus,)  not  to  bear  free-born  men  at  his  table." — Goldsmith  cor.  "To  the 
short-seeing  eye  of  man,  the  progress  may  appear  little." — The  Friend  cor.  "  Knowledge  and 
virtue  are,  emphatically,  the  stepping-stones  to  individual  distinction." — Town  cor.  "A  tin-peddler 
will  sell  tin  vessels  as  he  travels." — Webster  cor.  "The  beams  of  a  wooden  house  are  held  up  by 
the  posts  and  joists." — Id.  "  What  you  mean  by  future-tense  adjective,  I  can  easily  under- 
stand."— Tooke  cor.  "The  town  has  been  for  several  days  very  ID  ell-behaved." — Spectator  cor. 
"A  rounce  is  the  handle  of  a  printing-press." — Webster  cor.  "The  phraseology  [which]  we 
call  thee-and-thouing  [or,  better,  thoutheeing,}  is  not  in  so  common  use  with  us,  as  the  tutoyant 
among  the  French." — Walker  cor.  "  Hunting  and  other  outdoor  sports,  are  generally  pursued." 
— Balbi  cor.  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy-laden." — Scott  et  al.  cor.  "  God 
so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only-begotten  Son  to  save  it." — See  ALGEK'S  BIBLE,  and 
FRIENDS'  :  John,  iii,  16.  "Jehovah  is  a.  prayer- hearing  God:  Nineveh  repented,  and  was  spared." 
— Observer  cor.  "These  are  well-pleasing  to  God,  in  all  ranks  and  relations." — Barclay  cor. 
"Whosoever  cometh  anything  near  unto  the  tabernacle." — Bible  cor.  "The  words  coalesce, 
when  they  have  a  long-established  association." — Mur.  cor.  "  Open  to  me  the  gates  of  right- 
eousness:  I  Avill  go  into  them." — MODERN  BIBLE:  Ps.  cxviii,  19.  "He  saw  an  angel  of  God, 
coming  in  to  him." — Acts,  x,  3.  "  The  consequences  of  any  action  are  to  be  considered  in  atwo- 
fold  light." — Way  land  cor.  "  We  commonly  write  twofold,  threefold,  fourfold,  and  so  on  up  to  ten- 
fold, without  a  hyphen  ;  and,  after  that.we  use  one." — G.  Brown.' "  When  the  first  mark  is  going  off, 
he  cries,  Turn  !  the  glass  holder  answers,  Done  !  " — Bowditch  cor.  "  It  is  a  kind  of  familiar  shak- 
ing-hands (or  shaking  of  hands)  with  all  the  vices." — Maturin  cor.  "  She  is  a  good-natured 
woman  ;  " — "  James  is  self-opinionated  ;  " — "  He  is  broken-hearted." — Wright  cor.  "'These  three 
examples  apply  to  the  present-tense  construction  only." — Id.  "  So  that  it  was  like  a  game  of  hide- 
and-go-seek." — Gram.  cor. 

"  That  lowliness  is  young  ambition's  ladder, 
Whereto  the  climber-upward  turns  his  face." — Shak. 


CHAT.  III.]  KEY    TO    FALSK  ORTHOGRAPHY.  -  FIGURE    OF    WORDS.  883 


IV.  —  ELLIPSES. 

"  This  building  serves  yet  for  a  schoolhoitse  and  a  meeting-house."  —  <>.  ISr>  n-n.  "  Schoolmas- 
ters and  schoolmistresses,  if  honest  friends,  are  to  be  encouraged."  —  Discip.  cor.  "  We  never  as- 
sumed to  ourselves  a.  faith-making  or  a  worship-making  power."  —  Barclay  cor.  "  Potash  and 
pearlosh  are  made  from  common  ashes."  —  Webster  cor.  «•  Both  the  ten  tyliable  and  the  eif/ht-s-yl- 
lable  verses  are  iambics."  —  Blair  cor.  "  I  say  to  myself,  thou  sai/st  to  thyself,  he  says  to  /> 
&c."  —  Dr.  Murray  cor.  "  Or  those  who  have  esteemed  themselves  skillful,  have  'tried  for  the 
mastery  in  tiro-horse  or  four-horse  chariots."  —  Ware  cor.  "I  remember  him  barefooted  and 
bareheaded,  running  through  the  streets."  —  Edyncorth  cor.  "  Friends  have  the  entire  control  of 
ihescJioo/Jiouse  and  dwelling-house."  Or  :  —  "of  the  school  houses  and  dirtll  ing-houses."  Or:  —  "of 
the  scfioolhouse  and  the  direlling-houses."  Or  :  —  "  of  the  scJioolJiomes  and  the  dtn-Uing-Jiottse."  Or  :  — 
"  of  \\\e  school,  undo  ft/it-  dice!  ling-houses."  [For  the  sentence  here  to  be  corrected  is  eo  ambiguous, 
that  any  of  these  may  have  been  the  meaning  intended  by  it.]  —  The  Friend  cor.  "  The  meeting 
in  held  at  the  Jirst-mentioned  place  in  Firstmonth  ;  at  the  lust-mentioned,  in  Second/nonth  ;  and  so 
on."  —  Id.  "  Meetings  for  worship  arc  held,  at  the  same  hour,  on  Firstday  and  Fourth  day."  Or  :  — 
"on  First  day  a  and  Fourthdays."  —  Id.  "  Every  part  of  it,  inside  and  outside,  is  covered  with  gold 
leaf."  —  Id.  "  The  Kastern  Quarterly  Meeting  is  held  on  the  last  Seventh  day  in  Second  month, 
FifthmoiitJi.  Eitihlhmonth,  and  Elt'.rcnthmonth."  —  Id.  '•  Trenton  Preparative  Meeting  is  held  on 
the  third  Fifthday  in  each  month,  at  ten  o'clock  ;  meetings  for  worship  [are  held,]  at  the  same 
hour,  on  Firs/days  and  Fifthdnys"  —  Id.  "  Ketch,  a  vessel  with  two  ma>ts,  a  mainmast  and  a 
nii-zen/nmif  "  —  \\\''istcr  cor.  "  I  only  mean  to  susgest  a  doubt,  whether  nature  has  enlisted  her- 
self [either]  as  a  Cis-  Atlantic  or  [as  a]  Trans-Atlantic  partisan."  —  Jefferson  cor.  "  Bv  large 
hammers,  like  those  used  for  paper-mills  and  fulling-mills,  they  beat  their  hemp."  —  Johnson  cor. 
•'ANT-HILL,  or  ANT-HILLOCK,  ».  A  sm&\\  protuberance  of  earth,  formed  by  ants,  for  their  habitat  ion." 
—  Id.  "  It  became  necessary  to  substitute  simple  indicative  terms  ctliedjMtmamal  or  pronouns." 
"  Obscur'd,  where  highest  woods,  impenetrable 
To  light  of  star  or  sun.,  their  umbrage  spread."  —  Milton  cor. 


V.—  THE  IlYiMtr.x. 

"  Er  il-th  inking  ;  a  noun,  compounded  of  the  noun  evil  and  the  imperfect  participle   thinking; 

singular  number  ;"  \'c.  —  Churchill  cor.      "  Evil-speaking  ;  a  noun,  compounded  of  the  noun   i-cil 

and  the  imperfect  participle  speaking."  —  Id.     "I  am  a  tall,   broad-shouldered,   impudent,  black 

fellow."  —  Sj,cet.  or  Joh.  cor.     "  Ingratitude  !  thou  marble-hearted  fiend."  —  Shak.  or  Joh.  cor.     "  A 

popular  //  i//sc  is  indeed  the  many-headed  tyranny."  —  Sidney  or  Joh.  cor.     "He  from  the  many- 

/  city  flies."  —  S  mdy.v  m  Joh.  cor.      "He  matty*l*nffltaged  nations  has  surveyed."  —  Pope 

or  Joh.  cor      "  The  hor-  is  the  large  green  cucumber,  and  the  best  for  the   tablt>."  — 

Mart,  or  Joh.  cor.    "  The  bird  of  night  did  sit,  even  at  noon-day,  upon  the  market-place.1'  —  Shak. 

or  Joh.  cor.       "  These  make  a  general  gaol-delivery  of  souls  not  for  punishment  "  —  South  or  Joh. 

cor.     "  Thy  air,  thou  other  gold-bound  brow,  is  like  the   first."  —  Shak.   or  Joh.  cor     "  His  person 

formed  to  the  highest  degree;  flat-nosed  and  blobber-lipped."  —  L'Estr.   or  Joh.  cor.     "He 

that  defraudeth  the  labourer  of  his  hire,  is  a  blood-shedder."  —  Ecc/ns.  xxxiv,  22.  "Bloody-minded, 

udj.,  from  bloody  and  mind;  Cruel,  inclined  to  bloodshed."  —  Johnson  cor.      "Blunt-witted  lord,  ig- 

noble in  demeanour."  —  Shak.  or  Joh.  cor.    "A  young  fellow,  with  a  bob-wig  and  a  black  silken  bag 

tied  to  it."  —  S/>cr(.  or  Joh.  cor.     "  I  have  seen  enough  to  confute  all  the  bold-faced  atheists  of  this 

age."  —  BrctmaaU  or  Joh.  cor.    "Before  milk-white,  now  purple  with  love's  wound."  —  Joh.  Diet. 

"  For  what  dse  is  a  red-hot  iron  than  fire  ?  and  what  else  is  a  burning  coal  than  red-hot 

wood  ?  "  —  \'  trton  or  Joh.  cor.    "/  V/-<  -r//is  a  large  swelling,  inflammation,  or  imposthume,  in  the 

horse's  poll,  or  nape  of  the  neck,  just  between  the  ears."  —  Far.  or  Joh.  cor. 

"  Quick-witted,  brazen-far'  d,  with  fluent  tongues, 

Patient  of  labours,  and  dissembling  wrongs."  —  Dryden  cor. 

RULE  VI.  —  No  HYPHEN. 

"  From  his  fond  parent's  eye  a  teardrop  fell."  —  Snellint/  cor.     "  How  great,  poorjackdaw,  would 

thy  sutieriiu's  he  !  "  —  Id.     "  Placed,  like  a  s'-nrerrou-  in  a  field  of  corn."  —  Id.     "  Soup  for  the  alms- 

.  t  a  i  ,  nt  a  quart."  —  Id.     "  Up  into  the  ica(c/>toirer  get,  and  see  all  things  despoiled  of  fal- 

lacieN."  —  l)»ii,ie  oi  Joh.  cor.     "  In  the  dai/time  she  [Fame]  sitteth  in  a  iratchtoicer,  and  flietb  most 

by  night."  —  ]in<-o/i  or  Juh.  cur.     "  The  moral  is  the  first  business  of  the  poet,  as  being  the  ground' 

:  his  instruction."  —  Dryd.  or  Joh   cor.     "  Madam's  own  haiM  the  mousetrap  baited."  —  Prior 

or  Jn/i   mi-.     "  By  the  sinking  of  the  airshaft,  the  air  has  liberty  to  circulate."  —  Riiy  or  Joh.  cor. 

"  Tin-  multiform  and  ama/inir  operations  of  the  airpump  and  the  loadstone."  —  Watts  or  Joh.  cor. 

'•  Many  of  the  ///•'  •!•//•/,;.•,  are  i:am»  d  from  animals."  —  Jnfinsun  cur.     ••  You  might  have  trussed   him 

and  all  his  apparel  into  an  cr/.tkin."  —  Shak.  or  Joh.   tor.     ••  They   may   serve   as   landmarks,  to 

show  what  lies  in  the  direct  way  of  truth."  —  L<><-k>-  or  Juh  cor.     "A  packhorse  is  driven  constant- 

ly in  a  narrow  lar.e  and  dirty  road."  —  Locke  or  Juh.  ><»-.     "A  ///  ///horse,   still  bound  to  go   in    one 

circle."  —  Sidney  or  Joh.  cor.     "  Of  singing  birds,  they  have  linnets,  qohlfinches,  ruddocks,  Canary 

birds,  hl'idihirilx,  thrushes,  and  divers  oth«  0  or  Joh.  cor.     "Cartridge,  a  case  of  paper  or 

parchment  filled  with  <fnnjifnrd>  r  .-  [or,  rather,  containing  the  tntire  charge  of  a  gun]."  —  Joh  cor. 

"  Deep  i.i^tit,  dark  night,  tlie  silent  of  thtf  night, 

The  time  of  night  when  Troy  was  set  on  fire, 

The  time  when  .v  ry,  and  bandogs  howl." 

\  Ksi-K.vur.  :  in  Johnson's  Diet.  w.  Screechoicl. 

PROMISCUOUS  CORRECTIONS  IX  THE  FIGURE  OF  \VORDS. 

>\     I.  —  MlXK!)    EX.VMI'IJS. 

"  They  that  live  in  glass  houses,  should  not  throw  stones."  —  Adage.  "  If  a  man  profess  Chris- 
tianity in  any  manner  or  form  irh<it*ocrt-r."  —  Watts  cor.  "For  Cassiusis  aweary  of  the  world." 
Better  :  ••  l-'o'r  C'.issius  is  trcury  of  the  world."  —  Shak.  cor.  "  By  the  coming  -together  of  more,  the 
chains  were  fastened  on."  —  W.  Walker  cor.  "  Unto  the  carryiny-aicay  of  Jerusalem  captive  ia 


884  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. KEY   TO   ORTHOGRAPHY.  [PART   I. 


of  all  that  corruption." — Owen  cor,  "A.  falling -off  at  the  end,  is  always  injurious." — Jamieson 
cor.  "  As  all  holdings-forth  were  courteously  supposed  to  be  trains  of  reasoning." — Dr.  Murray 
cor.  "  Whose  goings-forth  have  been  from  of  old,  from  everlasting." — Bible  cor.  "  Sometimes  the 
adjective  becomes  a  substantive." — Bradley  cor.  "  It  is  very  plain,  that  I  consider  man  as  visited 
anew." — Barclay  cor.  "  Nor  do  I  anywhere  say,  as  he  falsely  insinuates." — Id.  "Everywhere, 
anywhere,  elsewhere,  somewhere,  nowhere.'" — L.  Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  i,  p.  115.  "  The  world  hurries 
off  apace,  and  time  is  like  a  rapid  river." — Collier  cor.  "But  to  new-model  the  paradoxes  of 
ancient  skepticism." — Dr.  Brown  cor.  "  The  southeast  winds  from  the  ocean  invariably  produce 
rain." — Webster  cor.  "  Northwest  winds  from  the  highlands  produce  cold  clear  weather." — Id. 
"  The  greatest  part  of  such  tables  would  be  of  little  use  to  Englishmen." — Priestley  cor.  "The 
ground-floor  of  the  east  wing  of  Mulberry-street  meeting-house  was  filled." — The  Friend  cor.  "  Prince 
Rupert's  Drop.  This  singular  production  is  made  at  the  glasshouses." — Barnes  cor. 
"  The  lights  and  shades,  whose  well-accorded  strife 
Gives  all  the  strength  and  colour  of  our  life." — Pope. 

LESSON  II. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"  In  the  twenty -seventh  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah,  did  Zimri  reign  seven  days  in  Tirzah." — Bible 
cor.  "  In  the  thirty-first  year  of  Asa  king  of  Judah,  began  Omri  to  reign  over  Israel." — Id.  "  He 
cannot  so  deceive  himself  as  to  fancy  that  he  is  able  to  do  arule-of-three  sum."  Better — "  a  sum  in 
the  rule  of  three." — Qr.  Rev.  cor.  "  The  best  cod  are  those  known  under  the  name  of  Isle-of-  Shoals 
dun-fish.'" — Babli  cor.  "The  soldiers,  with  downcast  eyes,  seemed  to  beg  for  mercy." — Goldsmith 
cor.  "  His  head  was  covered  with  a  coarse,  wornout  piece  of  cloth." — Id.  "  Though  had  lately 
received  a  reinforcement  of  a  thousand  heavy-armed  Spartans." — Id.  "  But  he  laid  them  by  un- 
opened ;  and,  with  a  smile,  said,  '  Business  to-morrow.'  " — Id.  "  Chester  Monthly  Meeting  is  held 
at  Moorestown,  on  the  Thirdday  following  the  second  Secondday." — The  Friend  cor.  "  Eggharbour 
Monthly  Meeting  is  held  on  the  first  Secondday." — Id.  "Little- Eggharbour  Monthly  Meeting  is  held 
at  Tuckerton  on  the  second  Fifthday  in  each  month." — Id.  "  At  three  o'clock,  on  Firstday  morn- 
ing, the  24th  of  Eleventhmonth,  1834,"  &c. — Id.  "  In  less  than  one  fourth  part  of  the  time  usual- 
ly devoted." — Kirkham  cor.  "  The  pupil  will  not  have  occasion  to  use  it  one  tenth  part  so  much." 
—Id.  "  The  painter  dips  his  paintbrush  in  paint,  to  paint  the  carriage." — Id.  "  In  an  ancient 
English  version  of  the  Neio  Testament." — Id.  "The  little  boy  was  bareheaded." — Red  Book  cor. 
"  The  man,  being  a  little  short-sighted,  did  not  immediately  know  him." — Id.  "Picture-frames 
are  gilt  with  gold  "—Id.  "  The  parkkeeper  killed  one  of  the  deer."— Id.  "  The  fox  was  killed 
near  the  brickkiln." — Id.  "  Here  comes  Esther,  with  her  milkpail." — Id.  "The  cabinet-maker 
would  not  tell  us." — Id.  "A  fine  thorn-hedge  extended  along  the  edge  of  the  hill." — Id.  "If 
their  private  interests  should  be  everso  little  affected." — Id.  "  Unios  avefresh-icater  shells,  vul- 
garly called  fresh-ioater  clams." — Id. 

11  Did  not  each  poet  mourn  his  luckless  doom, 
Jostled  by  pedants  out  of  elbow-room." — Lloyd  cor. 

LESSON  III. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"  The  captive  hovers  a  while  upon  the  sad  remains." — Johnson  cor.  "  Constantia  saw  that  the 
hand-writing  agreed  with  the  contents  of  the  letter." — Id.  "  They  have  put  me  in  a  silk  night- 
gown, and  a  gaudy  foolscap." — Id.  "  Have  you  no  more  manners  than  to  rail  at  Hocus,  that  has 
saved  that  clod-pated,  numb-skulled  ninny-hammer  of  yours  from  ruin,  and  all  his  family  ?  " — Id. 
"A  noble,  (that  is,  six  shillings  and  eight  pence,)  is  [paid],  and  usually  hath  been  paid." — Id. 
"  The  king  of  birds,  thick-feathered,  and  with  full-summed  wings,  faste'ned  his  talons  east  and 
west." — Id.  "  To-morrow.  This — supposing  morrow  to  mean  morning,  as  it  did  originally — is 
an  idiom  of  the  same  kind  as  to-night,  to-day." — Johnson  cor.  "  To-day  goes  away,  and  to-morrow 
comes." — Id.  "  Young  children,  who  are  trie?l  in  gocarts,  to  keep  their  steps  from  sliding." — Id. 
11  Which,  followed  well,  would  demonstrate  them  but  goers-backward." — Id.  "  Heaven's  golden- 
winged  herald  late  he  saw,  to  a  poor  Galilean  virgin  sent." — Id.  "  My  pent-house  eyebroivs  and 
my  shaggy  beard  offend  your  sight." — Id.  "  The  hungry  lion  would  fain  have  been  dealing 
with  good  horseflesh." — Id.  "  A  broad-brimmed  hat  ensconced  each  careful  head." — Snclling  cor. 
"  With  harsh  vibrations  of  his  three-stringed  lute." — Id.  "They  magnify  a  hundred-fold  an 
author's  merit." — Id.  "  I'll  nail  them  fast  to  some  oft-opened  door." — Id.  Glossed  over  only  with 
saintlike  show,  still  thou  art  bound  to  vice." — Johnson's  Diet.  10.  Saintlike.  "  Take  of  aqua-fortis 
two  ounces,  of  quicksilver  two  drachms." — Id.  cor.  "This  rainbow  never  appears  but  when  it 
rains  in  the  sunshine." — Id.  cor. 

"  Not  but  there  are,  who  merit  other  palms  ; 
Hopkins  and  Sternlwld  glad  the  heart  with  psalms." — Pope. 


CHAPTER  IV.  —  OF  SPELLING. 

CORRECTIONS    OF    FALSE    SPELLING. 

RULE  I.— FINAL  F,  L,  OK  S. 

"  He  will  observe  the  moral  law,  in  his  conduct." — Webster  corrected.  "A  cliff  is  a  steep  bank, 
or  a  precipitous  rock." — Walker  cor.  "  A  needy  man's  budget  is  full  of  schemes." — Maxim  cor. 
4  Few  large  publications,  in  this  country,  will  pay  a  printer." — N.  Webster  cor.  "I  shall,  with 
cheerfulness,  resign  my  other  papers  to  oblivion." — Id.  "The  proposition  was  suspended  till 
the  next  session  of  the  legislature." — Id.  "  Tenants  for  life  will  make  the  most  of  lands  for 
themselves." — Id.  "  While  every  thing  is  left  to  lazy  negroes,  a  state  will  never  be  well  culti- 
vated."— Id.  "  The  heirs  of  the  original  proprietors  still  hold  the  soil." — Id.  "  Say  my  annual 


CilAP.    IV.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    ORTHOGRAPHY.  —  SPELLING.  885 

profit  on  money  loaned  shall  be  six  per  cent."  —  Id.  "  No  man  would  submit  to  the  drudgery  of 
business,  if  he  could  make  money  as  fast  by  lying  stilt."  —  /(/.  "  A  man  may  as  well  feed  himself 
with  a  bodkin,  as  with  a  knife  of  the  present  fashion."  —  Id.  "  The  clothes  will  be  ill  washed,  the 
food  trill  be  badly  cooked;  you  will  be  ashamed  of  your  wife,  if  she  is  not  ashamed  of  herself." 
—  Id.  "  He  tcill  submit  to  the  laws  of  the  state  while  he  /•>•  a  member  of  it."  —  Id.  "  But  will  our 
sage  writers  on  law  forever  think  by  tradition  ?  "  —  Id.  "  Some  still  retain  a  sovereign  power  in 
their  territories."  —  Id.  "  They  yell  images,  prayers,  the  sound  of  bells,  remission  of  sins,  &e."  — 
Perkins  cor.  "  And  the  law  had  sacrifices  offered  every  day,  for  the  sins  of  all  the  people."  —  Id. 
"  Then  it  may  please  the  Lord,  they  shall  find  it  to  be  a  restorative."  —  Id.  "  Perdition  is  repent- 
ance put  off  till  a  future  day."  —  Maxim  cor.  "  The  angels  of  God,  who  tcill  good  and  cannot 
will  evil,  have  nevertheless  perfect  liberty  of  will"  —  Perkins  cor.  "  Secondly,  this  doctrine 
cuts  off  the  excuse  of  all  sin."  —  Id.  "Knell,  the  sound  of  a  bell  rung  at  a  funeral."  —  Diet.  cor. 
"  If  gold  with  dross  or  grain  with  c/ntjf  you  find, 
Select  —  and  leave  the  chaff  and  dross  behind."  —  G.  Brown. 

RULE  II.—  OTHER  FINALS. 

"  The  mob  hath  many  heads,  but  no  brains."  —  Maxim  cor.  "Clam  ;  to  clog  with  any  glutinous 
or  viscous  matter."  —  See  Webster's  Diet.  "W/ntr;  to  pronounce  the  letter  r  with  too  much 
force."  —  Sec  ih.  "Flip;  a  mixed  liquor,  consisting  of  beer  and  spirit  sweetened."  —  See  ib.  "Glyn; 
a  hollow  between  two  mountains,  a  glen."  —  See  Walker's  Diet.  "Lam,  or  belam  ;  to  beat  soundly 
with  a  cudgel  or  bludgeon."  —  See  Red  Book.  "Bun;  a  small  cake,  a  simnel,  a  kind  of  sweet 
bread."  —  S,-i-  IIVW/v'.v  l)i,-t.  "Brunei,  or  Brunette;  a  woman  with  a  brown  complexion."  —  See 
ib.  and  Butt's  Diet.  "  Wad  set  ;  an  ancient  tenure  or  lease  of  land  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland." 


To  dod  sheep,  is  to  cut  the  wool  away  about  their  tails."  —  Id.  "In  aliquem 
arietare.  Cic.  To  run  full  butt  at  one."  —  W.  Walker  cor.  "Neither  your  policy  nor  your  tem- 
per would  permit  you  to  kill  me."  —  Phil.  Mu.  cor.  "  And  admit  none  but  his  own  offspring  to 
fulfill  them."  —  Id.  "The  sum  of  all  this  dispute  is,  that  some  make  them  Participles."—/?. 
Johnson  cor.  "  As,  the  ichittliny  of  winds,  ttie  buzz  and  hum  of  insects,  the  hiss  of  serpents, 
the  crash  of  falling  timber."  —  Murray's  Gram.  p.  331.  "  Van  ;  to  winnow,  or  a  fan  for  winnow- 
ing." —  See.  So//.  "  Creatures  that  buzz,  are  very  commonly  such  as  will  sting."  —  G.  Brown. 
"ll<':/.  buy,  or  borrow;  but  beware  how  you  find."  —  Id.  "  It  is  better  to  have  a  house  to  let,  than 
a  house  to  yet."  —  Id.  "Let  not  your  tongue  cut  your  throat."  —  Preceptcor.  "A  little  wit  will 
save  a  fortunate  rnan."  —  Adage  cor.  "  There  is  many  a  slip  'twixt  the  cup  and  the  lip."  —  Id. 
"  Mothers'  darlings  make  but  milksop  heroes."  —  Id.  "  One  eye-witness  is  worth  ten  hearsays." 
"  The  judge  shall  job,  the  bishop  bite  the  town, 
And  mighty  dukes  pack  cards  for  half  a  crown." 

POPE:  in  Johnson's  Diet.  10.  Job. 

RULE  III.—  DOUBLING. 

"  Friz,  to  curl  ;  frizzed,  curled  ;  frizzing,  curling."  —  Webster  cor.  "  The  commercial  interests 
served  to  foster  the  principles  of  Whiyyism."  —  Payne  cor.  "Their  extreme  indolence  shunned 
every  species  of  labour."  —  Robertson  cor  "  In  poverty  and  stripped-ness,  they  attend  their  little 
meetings."  —  The  Friend  cor.  "  In  guiding  and  controlling  the  power  you  have  thus  obtained." 
—  Abbott  cor.  "1  began,  Thou  beyannest  or  beyanst,  He  began,  &c."  —  A.  Murray  COT.  "Why 
docs  began  change  its  ending  ;  as,  I  began,  Thou  beyannest  or  buyanst  f  "  —  Id.  "  Truth  and  con- 
science' cannot  be  controlled  by  any  methods  of  coercion."  —  Hints  cor.  "Dr.  Webster  nodded, 


water." — See  Johnson's  Diet.  "  Pottager ;  (from  pottage  ;)  a  porringer,  a  small  vessel  for  chil- 
dren's food." — See  ib.  "  Coinpromit,  compromised,  c o m/>rom itting  ;  manumit,  manumitted,  manu- 
mitting."—  Webster  cor.  "Inftrnbic  ,  that  may  be  inferred  or  deduced  from  premises." — Walker. 
"  Acids  are  either  solid,  liquid,  or  gasseous." — Gregory  cor.  "The  spark  will  pass  through  the 
interrupted  space  between  the  two  wires,  and  explode  the  y asses." — Id.  "  Do  we  sound  yasses  and 
/v  like  cases  and  caseotis?  No:  they  are  more  like  glasses  and  osseous." — G.  Broion.  "I 
shall  not  need  here  to  mention  Sirimming,  when  he  is  of  an  age  able  to  learn." — Locke  cor. 
"  Why  do  lexicographers  spell  thinnish  and  mannish  with  two  Ens,  and  dimmish  and  rammish 
with  one  Em,  each  ?  " — C.  liroiot.  "Gas  forms  the  plural  regularly,  yasses." — Peirce  cor.  "  Sin- 
gular, gas;  Plural,  yasses." — Clark  cor.  "These  are  contractions  from  shed  ded,  burst  cd." — //»'- 
It-It  < or.  "  The  Present  Tense  denotes  what  is  occurring  at  the  present  time." — Day  cor.  "  The 
verb  ending  in  i-th  is  of  the  solemn  or  antiquated  style;  as,  He  loveth,  He  walketh,  He  run- 
neth."— Davis  cor. 

"  Thro'  Freedom's  sons  no  more  remonstrance  rings, 
Degrading  nobles  and  controlling  kings." — Johnson. 

Rn.E  IV. — No  DOUHLIXO. 

"A  bigoted  and  tyrannical  clergy  will  be  feared." — See  Johnson,  Walker,  &c.     "  Jacob  worshiped 

his  Creator,  leaning  on  the  top  of  his  staff." — Murray's  Key.  8vo,  p.  16-3.     "  For  it  is  all  inurcel- 

/.v/y  destitute  of  interest." — See  Johnson,  Walker,  and    Worcester.     "As,  box,  boxes  ;  church, 


"Wvrship  makes  worshiped,  worshiper,  worshipiny\;  gossip,  gossiped,  //o.s.v ipcr,  gossiping  ;  Jillip, 
jWijKd,jilliper,ffillipiny." — Web.  Diet.  "  I  became  as  J'd;;ety  as  a  rly  in  a  milk-jug.— See  ib.  "  That 
eno  -mous  error'seems'to  be  riveted  in  popular  opinion." — See  ib.  "  Whose  mind  is  not  biased  by 
personal  attachments  to  a  sovereign." — See  ib.  "  Laws  against  usury  originated  in  a  biyotid 


88G         GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  ORTHOGRAPHY.    [PART  I. 

prejudice  against  the  Jews." — Webster  cor.  "  The  most  critical  period  of  life  is  usually  between 
thirteen  and  seventeen." — Id.  "Generalissimo,  the  chief  commander  of  an  army  or  military 
force." — Every  Diet.  "Tranquilize,  to  quiet,  to  make  calm  and  peaceful." — Webster's  Diet. 
"Pommelled,  beaten,  bruised;  having  pommels,  as  a  sword-hilt." — Webster  et  al.  cor.  "From 
what  a  height  does  the  jeweller  look  down  upon  his  shoemaker!" — Red  Book  cor.  "  You  will 
have  a  verbal  account  from  my  friend  and  fellow-traveller." — Id.  "  I  observe  that  you  have  writ- 
ten the  word  counselled  with  one  I  only." — Ib.  "  They  were  offended  at  such  as  combated  these 
notions." — Robertson  cor.  "From  libel,  come  libelled,  libeller,  libelling,  libellous;  from  grovel, 
yrovelled,  groveller,  grovelling ;  from  gravel,  gravelled  and  gravelling." — Webster  cor.  "  Woolliness, 
the  state  of  being  woolly." — Worcester's  Diet.  "  Yet  he  has  spelled  chapelling,  bordeller,  medal- 
ist, metaline,  metalist,  metalize,  clavellated,  &c.,  with  II,  contrary  to  his  rule." — Webster  cor. 
"Again,  he  has  spelled  cancellation  and  snivelly  with  single  I,  and  cupellation,  pannellation,  wit- 
tolly,  with  II." — Id.  "Oily,  fatty,  greasy,  containing  oil,  glib." — Walker  cor.  "Medalist,  one 
curious  in  medals;  Metalist,  one  skilled  in  metals." — Walker's  Rhym.  Diet.  "  He  is  benefited" 
— Webster.  "  They  travelled  for  pleasure." — Clark  cor. 

"  Without  you,  what  were  man  ?     A  grovelling  herd, 
In  darkness,  wretchedness,  and  want  enchain'd." — Beattie  cor. 

RULE  V.— FINAL  CK. 

"  He  hopes,  therefore,  to  be  pardoned  by  the  critic." — Kirkham  corrected.  "  The  leading  object 
of  every  public  speaker  should  be,  to  persuade." — Id.  "  May  not  four  feet  be  as  poetic  as  five  ;  or 
fifteen  feet,  as  poetic  as  fifty  ?  " — Id.  "Avoid  all  theatrical  trick  and  mimicry,  and  especially  all 
scholastic  stiffness." — Id.  "No  one  thinks  of  becoming  skilled  in  dancing,  or  in  music,  or  in 
mathematics,  or  in  logic,  without  long  and  close  application  to  the  subject." — Id.  "Caspar's 
sense  of  feeling,  and  susceptibility  of  metallic  and  magnetic  excitement,  were  also  very  extraordi- 
nary."— Id.  "Authorship  has  become  a  mania,  or,  perhaps  I  should  say,  an  epidemic." — Id. 
"What  can  prevent  this  republic  from  soon  raising  a  literary  standard?" — Id.  "Courteous 
reader,  you  may  think  me  garrulous  upon  topics  quite  foreign  to  the  subject  before  me." — Id. 
11  Of  the  Tonic,  Subtonic,  and  Atonic  elements." — Id.  "  The  subtonic  elements  are  inferior  to  the 
tonics,  in  all  the  emphatic  and  elegant  purposes  of  speech." — Id.  "  The  nine  atonies  and  the  three 
abrupt  subtonics  cause  an  interruption  to  the  continuity  of  the  syllabic  impulse."* — Id.  "  On 
scientific  principles,  conjunctions  and  prepositions  are  [not]  one  [and  the  same]  part  of 
speech." — Id.  "That  some  inferior  animals  should  be  able  to  mimick  human  articulation,  will 
not  seem  wonderful." — L.  Murray  cor. 

"  When  young,  you  led  a  life  monastic, 

And  wore  a  vest  ecclesiastic  ; 

Now,  in  your  age,  you  grow  fantastic." — Denham's  Poems,  p.  235. 

RULE  VI. — RETAINING. 

"Fearlessness ;  exemption  from  fear,  intrepidity." — Johnson  cor.  "Dreadlcssness ;  fearlessness ,  in- 
trepidity, undauntedness.'' — Id.  "  Regardlessly ,  without  heed  ;  Rcgardlessness,  heedlessness." — Id. 
"Blamelessly,  innocently;  Blamelessness,  innocence." — Id.  "That  is  better  than  to  be  flattered 
into  pride  and  carelessness." — Id.  "  Good  fortunes  began  to  breed  a  proud  recklessness  in  th<  m." 
— Id.  "  See  whether  he  lazily  and  listlessly  dreams  away  his  time." — Id.  "  It  may  be,  the  p;  late 
of  the  soul  is  indisposed  by  listlessness  or  sorrow." — Id.  "Pitilessly,  without  mercy  ;  Pitiless  ness, 
unmercifulness." — Id.  "  What  say  you  to  such  as  these  ?  abominable,  accordable,  agreeable,  £c." 
— Tooke  cor.  "Artlessly;  naturally,  sincerely,  without  craft." — Johnson  cor.  "A  chillness,  or 
shivering  of  the  body,  generally  precedes  a  fever." — See  Webster.  "  Smallncss;  littleness,  mir.ute- 
ness,  weakness." — Walker's  Diet,  ct  al.  "Galless,  adj.  Free  from  gall  or  bitterness." — Webster 
cor.  "Tallness ;  height  of  stature,  upright  length  with  comparative  slenderness" — Webster's  Diet. 
"Willful;  stubborn,  contumacious,  perverse,  inflexible." — See  ib.  "  He  guided  them  by  the  skill- 
fiMtess  of  his  hands." — See  ib.  "The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fullness  thereof." — FRIENDS' 
BIBLE:  Ps.  xxiv,  1.  "  What  is  now,  is  but  an  amassment  of  imaginary  conceptions." — Glanville 
cor.  "Embarrassment ;  perplexity,  entanglement." — Walker.  "  The  second  is  slothfulness,  where- 
by they  are  performed  slackly  and  carelessly." — Perkins  cor.  "Installment ;  induction  into  office, 
part  of  a  large  sum  of  money,  to  be  paid  at  a  particular  time." — See  Webster's  Diet.  "Inthrall- 
ment ;  servitude,  slavery,  bondage." — Ib. 

"  1,  who  at  some  times  spend,  at  others  spare, 
Divided  between  carelessness  and  care." — Pope  cor. 

RULE  VII. — RETAINING. 


"Shall,  on  the  contrary,  in  the  first  person,  simply  foretells." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  41; 
38;  Cooper's,  51 ;  Lennie's,26.  "  There  are  a  few  compound  irregular  verbs,  as  befall,  bt-tijj 
— Ash  cor.  "  That  we  might  frequently  recall  it  to  our  memory." — Calvin  cor.  "  The  a 


Comly's, 
i-spcak,  Sec." 

-Ash  cor.  "  That  we  might  frequently  recall  it  to  our  memory." — Calvin  cor.  "  The  angels  ex- 
ercise a  constant  solicitude  that  no  evil  befall  us." — Id.  "Inthrall;  to  enslave,  to  shackle,  to  re- 
duce to  servitude." — Johnson.  "He  makes  resolutions,  o.r\^.  fulfills  them  by  new  ones." — See 
Webster.  "  To  enroll  my  humble  name  upon  the  list  of  authors  on  Elocution." — See  Webster. 
" Forestall ;  to  anticipate,  to  take  up  beforehand." — Johnson.  "Miscall;  to  call  wrong,  to  name 
improperly." — Webster.  "Beth-rail;  to  enslave,  to  reduce  to  bondage." — Id.  "Befall;  to  hap- 
pen to,  to  come  to  pass." — Walker's  Diet.  "  Unroll ;  to  open  what  is  rolled  or  convolved." — Web- 
ster's Diet.  "Counterroll ;  to  keep  copies  of  accounts  to  prevent  frauds." — See  ib.  "As  Sisyphus 
tiprolls  a  rock,  which  constantly  overpowers  him  at  the  summit." — G.  Brown.  "Unwell;  not 
well,  indisposed,  not  in  good  health." — Webster.  "Undersell ;  to  defeat  by  selling  for  less,  to  sell 
cheaper  than  an  other." — Johnson.  "Inwall;  to  enclose  or  fortify  with  a  wall." — Id.  "Twibill; 
an  instrument  with  two  bills,  or  with  a  point  and  a  blade ;  a  pickaxe,  a  mattock,  a  halberd,  a 
battleaxe." — Diet.  cor.  "  What  you  miscall  their  folly,  is  their  care." — Dry  den  cor.  "My  heart 

*  Kirkham  borrowed  this  doctrine  of  "  Tonics,  Subtonics.  and  Atonies,"  from  Rush  ;  and  dresged  it  up  in  his 
own  worse  bombast.  See  Obs.  13  and  14,  on  the  Powers  of  the  Letters. — G.  B. 


CHAP.    IV.  J  KEY    TO    FALSE    ORTHOGRAPHY.  -  SPELLING.  887 

will  sigh  when  I  miscall  it  so."  —  SJtak.  cor.     "  But  if  the  arrangement  recalls  one  set  of  ideas 
more  readily  than  an  other."  —  Murray's  Gram.    Vol.  i,  p.  334. 

"  "Tis  done  ;  ana  since  'tis  done,  'tis  past  recall  ; 
And  since  'tis  past  recall,  must  be  forgotten."  —  Dryden  cor. 

RI-LE  VIII.—  FINAL  LL. 

"The  righteous  is  taken  away   from   the  evil  to  come."  —  Isaiah,  Ivii,    1.     "Patrol;  to  go  the 
rounds  in  a  camp  or  garrison,  to  march  about  and  observe  what  passes."  —  See  Joh.   Dirt.  "  Mar- 


shal ;  the  chief  officer  of  arms,  one  who  regulates  rank  and  order."  —  See  ib.  "HWr//,-  a  de- 
structive grub  that  gets  among  corn."  —  See  ib.  "  It  much  excels  all  other  studies  and  arts."  —  }V. 
Walker  cor.  "  It  is  essential  to  all  magnitudes,  to  be  in  one  place."  —  Perkins  cor.  "  By  nature 
I  was  thy  vassal,  but  Christ  hath  redeemed  me."  —  Id.  "  Some,  being  in  want,  pray  for  'temporal 
blessings."  —  Id.  "  And  this  the  Lord  doth,  either  in  temporal  or  in  spiritual  benefits."  —  Id.  "  He 
makes  an  idol  of  them,  by  setting  his  heart  on  them."  —  Id.  "  This  trial  by  desertion  serveth 
for  two  purposes."  —  Id.  "  Moreover,  this  destruction  is  both  perpetual  and  terrible."  —  Id.  "  Giv- 
ing to  several  men  several  gifts,  according  to  his  good  pleasure."  —  /(/.  "Until;  to  some  time, 
pl.u-e,  or  degree,  mentioned."  —  See  Diet.  "Annul;  to  make  void,  to  nullify,  to  abrogate,  to 
abolish."  —  See  Diet.  "  Nitric  acid  combined  with  argil,  forms  the  nitrate  of  argil."  —  Gregory  cor. 
"  Let  modest  Foster,  if  he  will,  excel 
Ten  metropolitans  in  preaching  well."  —  Pope  cor. 

RULE  IX.—  FINAL  E. 

"  Adjectives  ending  in  able  signify  capacity  ;  as,  comfortable,  tenable,  improvable."  —  Priestley  cor. 
"  Their  mildness  and  hospitality  are  ascribablc  to  a  general  administration  of  religious  ordinances." 

—  Webster  cor.     "  Retrench  as   much  as  possible  without  obscuring  the  sense."  —  J.  Brown  cor. 
"Changeable,  subject  to  change;   Unchangeable,  immutable."  —  Walker  cor.     "Tamable,   suscep- 
tive of  taming;   Untamable,  not  to  be  tamed."  —  Id.     "Reconcilable,   Unreconcilable,  Reconcilable- 
ness  ;  Irreconcilable,   Irreconcilably,   Irreconcilableness."  —  Johnson  cor.     "  We  have  thought  it 
most  advisable   to    pay  him  some  little    attention."  —  Merchant  cor.     "Provable,   that  may  be 
proved  ;  Ileprovable,  blamable,  worthy  of  reprehension."  —  Walker  cor.     "Movable  and  Immovable, 
Morably  and  Immovably,  Movables  and  Removal,  Movablcness  and  Improvableness,    Unremovable 
and  Unimprovable,    Unremovably  and  Removable,  Provable   and  Approvable,  Irrcprovable   and 
Reprovable,   Unreprovable  and   Improvable,    Unimprovablcncss  and   Improvably."  —  Johnson  cor. 
"  And  with  this  cruelty  you  are  chargeable  in  some  measure  yourself."  —  Collier  cor.     "  Mothers 
would  certainly  resent   it,  zsjitdying  it  proceeded  from  a  low  opinion  of  the  genius  of  their  sex." 

—  Brit.  Gram.  cor.     "Tithable,  subject   to  the  payment  of  tithes  ;  Salable,  vendible,   fit  for  sale  ; 
Losable,  possible  to  be  lost;  Sizable,  of  reasonable  bulk  or  size."  —  See  Webster's  Diet.     "When 
he  began  this  custom,  he  VISA  puling  and  very  tender."  —  Locke  cor. 

"  The  plate,  coin,  revenues,  and  movables, 
Whereof  our  uncle  Gaunt  did  stand  possess'd."  —  Shak.  cor. 

RULE  X.—  FINAL  E. 

"Diversely;  indifferent  ways,  differently,  variously."  —  See  Walker's  Diet.  "  The  event  thereof 
contains  a  wholesome  instruction."  —  Bacon  cor.  "  Whence  Scaliger  falsely  concluded  that  Arti- 
cles were  useless."  —  Briyhtland  cor.  "  The  child  that  we  have  just  seen,  is  wholesomely  fed."  — 
Murray  cor.  "  Indeed,  falsehood  and  legerdemain  sink  the  character  of  a  prince."  —  Collier  cor* 
"  In  earnest,  at  this  rate*  of  management,  thou  usest  thyself  very  coarsely."  —  Id.  "  To  give  them 
an  arrant/ement  and  a  diversity,  as  agreeable  as  the  nature  of  the  subject  would  admit.  "'—Murray 
cor.  "Alger's  (  Jrummar  is  only  a  trifling  enlargement  of  Murray's  little  Abridgement."  —  G.  Brown. 
"  You  ask  whether  you  are  to  retain  or  to  omit  the  mute  e  in  the  words,  judgement,  abridgement, 
acknowledge/in  '/it,  lodgement,  adjndt/r/m  nt,  and  prejudgement  ."  —  tied  Book  cor.  "  Fertileness, 
fruitfulness  ;  fertilely,  fruitfully,  abundantly."  —  Johnson  cor.  "Chastely,  purely,  without  con- 
tamination; Chastencss,  chastity,  purity."—  Id.  "Rhymester,  n.  One  who  makes  rhymes  ;  a  ver- 
sifier ;  a  mean  poet."  —  Walker  t  Chalmers,  Maunder,  Worcester.  "It  is  therefore  a  heroical 
•  mrnt  to  dispossess  this  imaginary  monarch."  —  Berkley  cor.  "Whereby  is  not  meant  the 
present  time,  as  h  .  'nut  the  time  past."  —  R.  Johnson  cor.  "  So  far  is  this  word  from  af- 

fecting the  noun,  in  regard  to  its  <!•  •  :i:it  its  own  character  of  dejiniteness  or  indcjinitcncss, 

depends  upon  the  name  to  which  it  is  prefixed."  —  Webster  cor. 
Sttire,  by  wholesome  lessons,  would  reclaim, 
And  heal  their  vices  to  secure  their  fame."  —  Briyhtland  cor. 

KI  i.r.  XI.—  FINAL  Y. 

"  Solon  's  the  veriest  fool  in  all  the  play."  —  Dryden  <-or.  "  Our  author  prides  himself  upon  his 
great  sliness  and  shrewdness."  —  Mtrtt/MMfetr.  "This  tense,  then,  implies  also  the  signification 
of  dt-hi'o."  —  It.  Johnson  cor.  "  That  may  be  applied  to  a  subject,  with  respect  to  something  acci- 
dental." —  Id.  "  This  latter  author  mocomptmim  his  note  with  a  distinction."  —  Id.  "  This  rule  is 
defective,  and  none  of  the  annotators  have  sufficiently  supplied  its  deficiencies."  —  Id.  "Though 
the  fancied  supplement  of  Sanrtius,  Scioppin-.  ...ml  Mariangelus,  may  take  place."  —  Ib. 

"  Yet,  as  to  the  commntableness  of  these  two  tenses,  which  is  doiiid  likewise,  they  [the  foregoing 
examples]  are  all  one  [;  i.  e  .,  r.r>t<-t/y  rt/uiralrnt."]  —  Id.  "  Both  these  tenses  may  represent  a  fu- 
turity, implied  by  the  dependence  of  the  elans--."  —  /,/.  «  Cry,  cries,  crying,  cried,  crier,  decrial  ; 
Shy,  shirr,  shiest,  shi/ij,  .v/r/w.v.v  ,•  Fly,  Hies,  flying,  flier,  high-flier  ;  Sly.'.sVar,  sliest,  slily,  sliness  ; 
Spy,  spies,  spying,  Ipied.  espial  ;  Dry,  drier,  driest,  drily,  driness."  —  Cobb,  l\'<  ltst>-r,  «>id  Chalmers 
cor.  "  I  would  sooner  listen  to  the  thrumming  of  a  dandizrtti-  at  her  piano."  —  Kirkham  cor. 
"Send  her  away:  for  she  crieth  after  us."  —  Matt,  xv,  23.  "  IVIKD,  a.  overgrown  with  ivy."  — 
Ct>bb's  Diet.,  and  Mtn<nd<r's. 

"  Some  drily  plain,  without  invention's  aid, 
Write  dull  receipts  how  poems  may  be  made."  —  Pope  cor. 

RULE  XII.—  FINAL  Y. 
"The<7ayetyof  youth  should  be  tempered  by  the  precepts  of  age."  —  Murray  cor.    "In  the 


888         GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  ORTHOGRAPHY.     [PART  I. 

storm  of  1703,  two  thousand  stacks  of  chimneys  were  blown  down,  in  and  about  London." — Red 
Book  cor.  "And  the  vexation  was  not  abated  by  the  hackneyed  plea  of  haste." — Id.  "  The  fourth 
sin  of  our  days,  is  Jukewarmness." — Perkinscor.  '-God  hates  the  workers  of  iniquity,  and  destroys 
them  that  speak  lies." — Id.  "  For,  when  he  lays  his  hand  upon  us,  we  may  not  fret." — Id. 
"  Care  not  for  it;  but  if  thou  mayst  be  free,  choose  it  rather." — Id.  "Alexander  Severus  saith, 
'  He  that  buyeth,  must  sell :  I  will  not  suffer  buyers  and  sellers  of  offices.'  " — Id.  "  With  these 
measures ,  fell  in  all  moneyed  men." — See  Johnson's  Diet.  "  But  rattling  nonsense  in  full  volleys 
breaks." — Murray's  Reader,  q.  Pope.  "  Valleys  are  the  intervals  betwixt  mountains." —  Woodward 
cor.  •'  The  Hebrews  had  fifty-two  journeys,  or  marches." — Wood  cor.  "  It  was  not  possible  to 
manage  or  steer  the  galleys  thus  fastened  together." — Goldsmith  cor.  "Turkeys  were  not  known 
to  naturalists  till  after  the  discovery  of  America." — Gregory  cor.  "  I  would  not  have  given 
it  for  a  wilderness  of  monkeys." — SHAK.  :  in  Johnson's  Diet.  "Men  worked  at  embroidery,  es- 
pecially in  abbeys." — Constable  cor.  "  By  which  all  purchasers  or  mortgagees  may  be  secured  of 
all  moneys  they  lay  out." — Temple  cor.  "  He  would  fly  to  the  mines  or  the  galleys,  for  his  recrea- 
tion."— South  cor.  "  Here  pulleys  make  the  pon'drous  oak  ascend." — Gay  cor. 

"  You  need  my  help,  and  you  say, 

Shylock,  we  would  have  moneys." — Shak.  cor. 

RULE  XIII.— IZE  AND  ISE. 

11  Will  any  able  writer  authorize  other  men  to  revise  his  works  ?  " — G.  B.  "It  can  be  made  as 
strong  and expressive  as  this  Latinized  English." — Murray  cor.  "Governed  by  the  success  or 
failure  of  an  enterprise." — Id.  "  Who  have  patronized  the  cause  of  justice  against  powerful  op- 
pressors."— Id.  et  al.  "  Yet  custom  authorizes  this  use  of  it." — Priestley  cor.  "  They  surprise 
myself,****  ;  and  I  even  think  the  writers  themselves  will  be  surprised."— Id.  "  Let  the  interest 
rise  to  any  sum  which  can  be  obtained." — Webster  cor.  "To  determine  what  interest  shall  arise 
on  the  use  of  money." — Id.  "  To  direct  the  popular  councils  and  check  any  rising  opposition." 
— Id.  "  Five  were  appointed  to  the  immediate  exercise  of  the  office." — Id,  "  No  man  ever  offers 
himself  as  a  candidate  by  advertising." — Id.  "  They  are  honest  and  economical,  but  indolent,  and 
destitute  of  enterprise." — Id.  "I  would,  however,  advise  you  to  be  cautious." — Id.  "We  are 
accountable  for  what  -we  patronize  in  others." — Murray  cor.  "After  he  was  baptized,  and  was  sol- 
emnly admitted  into  the  office." — Perkins  cor.  "  He  will  find  all,  or  most,  of  them,  comprised  in 
the  Exercises." — Brit.  Gram.  cor.  "A  quick  and  ready  habit  of  methodizing  and  regulating  their 
thoughts." — Id.  "  To  tyrannize  over  the  time  and  patience  of  his  reader." — Kirkham  cor. 
"  Writers  of  dull  books,  however,  if  patronized  at  all,  are  rewarded  beyond  their  deserts." — Id. 
"A  little  reflection  will  show  the  reader  the  reason  for  emphasizing  the  words  marked." — Id. 
"  The  English  Chronicle  contains  an  account  of  a  surprising  cure." — Red  Book  cor.  "Dogmatize, 
to  assert  positively;  Dogmatizer,  an  assertor,  a  magisterial  teacher." — Chalmers  cor.  "And 
their  inflections  might  now  have  been  easily  analyzed." — Murray  cor.  "Authorize,  disauthori.-e, 
and  unauthorized ;  Temporize,  contemporize,  and  extemporize." — Walker  cor.  "  Legalize,  equalise, 
methodize,  sluggardize,  womanize,  humanize,  patronize,  cantonize,  ghittonize,  epitomize,  anatomis  e, 
phlebotomize,  sanctuarize,  characterize,  synonymize,  recognize,  detonize,  colonize." — Id.  cor. 
"  This  beauty  sweetness  always  must  comprise, 
Which  from  the  subject,  well  express'd,  will  rise." — Brightland  cor. 

RULE  XIV. — COMPOUNDS. 

"  The  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  thy  rear-ward." — SCOTT,  ALGER  :  Isa.  Iviii.  8.  "A  mere  van- 
courier  to  announce  the  coming  of  his  master." — Tookecor.  "  Ihe party-coloured  shutter  appeared 
to  come  close  up  before  him." — Kirkham  cor.  "  When  the  day  broke  upon  this  handful  of  for- 
lorn but  dauntless  spirits." — Id.  "If,  upon  a  plumtree,  peaches  and  apricots  are  ingrafted, 
nobody  will  say  they  are  the  natural  growth  of  the  phimtree." — Berkley  cor.  "The  channel  be- 
tween Newfoundland  and  Labrador  is  called  the  Straits  of  Belleisle." — Worcester  cor.  "There 
being  nothing  that  more  exposes  to  the  headache:" — or,  (perhaps  more  accurately,)  "  headake." — 
Locke  cor.  "And,  by  a  sleep,  to  say  we  end  the  heartache:  " — or,  "  heartake." — Shak.  cor.  "  He 
that  sleeps,  feels  not  the  toothache :  " — or,  "  toothake." — Id.  "  That  the  shoe  must  fit  him,  because 
it  fitted  his  father  and  grandfather." — Phil.  Museum  cor.  "A  single  word,  misspelled  [or  misspelt] 
in  a  letter,  is  sufficient  to  show  that  you  have  received  a  defective  education." — C.  Bucke  cor. 
"Which  misstatement  the  committee  attributed  to  a  failure  of  memory." — Professors  cor.  "  Then  he 
went  through  the  Banqueting -House  to  the  scaffold." — Smollet  cor.  "  For  the  purpose  of  maintaining 
a  clergyman  and  a  schoolmaster." —  Webster  cor.  "  They  however  knew  that  the  lands  were  claimed 
by  Pennsylvania." — Id.  "  But  if  you  ask  a  reason,  they  immediately  bidfarewell  to  argument." — 
Barnes  cor.  "  Whom  resist,  steadfast  in  the  faith." — Alger's  Bible."  "And  they  continued  stead- 
fastly in  the  apostles'  doctrine." — Ib.  "  Beware  lest  ye  also  fall  from  yout  own  steadfastness." — 
Ib.  "Galiot,  or  Galliot,  a  Dutch  vessel  carrying  a  main-masc  and  a  mizzen-mast." — Webster  cor. 
"  Infinitive,  to  overflow  ;  Preterit,  overflowed;  Participle,  overflowed." — Cobbett  cor.  "After  they 
have  misspend  so  much  precious  time." — Brit.  Gram.  cor.  "Some  say,  'two  handsful;'  some, 
two  handfuls ; '  and  others,  '  two  handful.'  The  second  expression  is  right." — G.  Brown.  "Lap~ 


ruin,  calamity,  fall  from  rank  or  state." — Johnson  cor.  "  The  whole  legislature  likewise  acts  as  a 
court." — Webster  cor.  "  It  were  better,  a  millstone  were  hanged  about  his  neck." — Perkins  cor. 
"Plumtree,  a  tree  that  produces  plums  ;  Hogplumtree,  a  tree." — Webster  cor.  "Trissyllables  end- 
ing in  re  or  le,  accent  the  first  syllable." — Murray  cor. 

"  It  happen'd  on  a  summer's  holyday, 
That  to  the  greenwood  shade  he  took  his  way." — Dryden. 

RULE  XV.— USAGE. 

"  Nor  are  the  moods  of  the  Greek  tongue  more  uniform." — Murray  cor.     "  If  we  analyze  a  con- 
junctive preterit,  the  rule  will  not  appear  to  hold." — Priestley  cor.     "No  landholder  would  have 


CHAP.    IV.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    ORTUOGRAPIIY. SPELLING.  889 

been  at  that  expense." — Id.  "  I  went  to  see  the  child  whilst  they  were  putting  on  its  clothes." — 
Id.  "  This  sti/le  is  ostentatious,  and  does  not  suit  grave  writing." — Id.  "The  king  of  Israel, 
and  Jchoshaphat  the  king  of  Judah,  sat  each  on  his  throne." — 1  Kin;/*,  xxii.  10 ;  2  Chron.  xviii,  9. 
"Lysias,  speaking  of  his  friends,  promised  to  his  father,  never  to  abandon  them." — Murray  cor. 
"  Some,  to  avoid  thui  error,  run  into  its  opposite." — Churchill  cor.  "Hope  the  balm  of  life 


"  Every  person  w  indulged  in  worshiping  n.v  he  pleases." — Id.  "Most  or  all  teachers  are  ex- 
cluded from  genteel  company." — hi.  "  The  Christian  religion,  in  its  purity,  is  the  best  institu- 
tion on  earth." — Id.  "Neither  clergymen  nor  human  laws  have  the  least  authority  over  the  con- 
science."— Id.  "A  ffuild  is  a  society,  fraternity,  or  corporation." — Barnes  cor.  "  Phillis  was 
not  able  to  untie  the'knot,  and  so  she  cut  it." — fa.  "An  acre  of  land  is  the  quantity  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  perches." — Id.  "Ochre  is  a  fossil  earth  combined  with  the  oxyd  of  some  metal." — 
Id.  ''Genii,  when  denoting  adrial  spirits  ;  geniuses,  when  signifying  persons  of  genius." — Mur- 
ray cor.  ;  also  Frost;  z\so  Nutting.  "Acrisius.  king  of  Argos.  had  a  beautiful  daughter,  whose 
name  was  Dtrnfir." — Classic  Tales  cor.  "Phaeton  was  the  son  of  Apollo  and  Clymene." — Id. 
"  But,  after  all.  I  may  not  have  reached  the  intended  goal." — Buchanan  cor.  "  MVtami  was  of- 
fered a  large  sum.'  Better  :  'To  Pittacns  was  offered  a  large  sum.'  " — Kirkham  cor.  "  King  Mi- 
cipsa  charged  his  sons  to  respect  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome." — Id.  "  For  example:  '  Gal- 
ileo greatly  improved  the  telescope.'  " — Id.  "  Cathmor's  warriors  sleep  in  death." — Macpher- 
son's  Ossian.  "For  parsing  will  enable  you  to  detect  and  correct  errors  in  composition." — Kirk- 
ham  cor. 

"  O'er  barren  mountains,  o'er  the  flow'ry  plain, 
Extends  thy  uncontroll'd  and  boundless  reign." — Dryden  cor. 

PROMISCUOUS  CORRECTIONS  OF  FALSE  SPELLING. 

LESSON  I. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"A  bad  author  deserves  better  usage  than  a  bad  critic." — Pope  (or  Johnson)  cor.  "Produce  a 
single  passage,  superior  to  the  speech  of  Logan,  a  Mingo  chief,  to  Lord  Dunmore,  governor  of 
this  state." — Jefferson's  Xotcs,  p.  94.  "  We  have  none  synonymous  to  su{ 
son  cor.  "  There  is  a  probability  that  the  effect  will  be  accelerated." — It 
sound  has  controlled  the  public  choice." — Id.  "Though  learnt  [better,  learned]  from  the  unin- 


sage,  mfvrtvr  lu  me  speeuu  01  i^ogaii,  a  Aiiugo  cuiei,  10  J_<oru  .uuiimore,  governor  01 
' — Jefferson's  \otes,  p.  94.  "  We  have  none  synonymous  to  supply  its  place." — Jamie- 
There  is  a  probability  that  the  effect  will  be  accelerated." — Id.  "  Nay,  a  regard  to 
controlled  the  public  choice." — Id.  "  Though  learnt  [better,  learned]  from  the  unin- 
terrupted use  of  guttural  sounds." — Id.  "  It  is  by  carefully  filing  off  all  roughness  and  all  in- 
equalities, that  languages,  like  metals,  must  be  polished." — Id.  "That  I  have  not  misspent  my 
time  in  the  service  of  the  community." — Buchanan  cor.  "The  leaves  of  maize  are  also  called 
blades."—  Webster  cor.  "  Who  boast  that  they  know  what  is  past,  and  can  foretell  what  is  to 

rnmp  " — Itnhrrtxnn  cur.       "  Its  t.isfplpss  rf>/}f»f>.<ss  i«  intprrnnt.prl     hv  nnt.hinff  but    its    np.rnlpvit.ipR  " 


come." — Robertson  <-»r.     "  Its  tasteless  dullness  is  interrupted  by  nothing  but  its  perplexities. 


leading  characteristic  consists 
of  this  opening  fullness  and  feebler  vanish." — Id.  cor.  "  Who,  in  the  fullness  of  unequalled 
power,  would  not  believe  himself  the  favourite  of  Heaven  ?  " — Id.  right.  "  They  mar  one  an  other, 
and  distract  him." — Philol.  Mas.  cor.  "  Let  a  deaf  worshiper  of  antiquity  and  an  English  proso- 
dist  settle  this." — Rush  cor.  "This  Philippic  gave  rise  to  my  satirical  reply  in  self-defence." — 
Merchant  cor.  "  We  here  saw  no  innuendoes,  no  new  sophistry,  no  falsehoods." — Id.  "A  witty 
and  humorous  vein  has  often  produced  enemies." — Murray  cor.  "Cry  hollo!  to  thy  tongue,  I 
praythee:*  it  curvets  unseasonably." — Shak.  cor.  "  I  said,  in  my  sliest  manner,'!  our  health, 
sir.'  " — lit'trkicood  cor.  "And  attorneys  also  travel  the  circuit  in  pursuit  of  business." — Barnes 


P- 

Murray  cor. 

"To  epithets  allots  emphatic  state, 
While  principals,  uugrac'd,  like  lacki  >/s  wait." — T.  O.  ChurchiWs  Gram.  p.  326. 

>\  II.— Mixrn  K  \\MI-LES. 


of  the  rolls  ;   (  '.mnfr/  -rulhnent,  a  counter  account."  —  Id.     ".Millennium,  [from  mille  and  annus,]  the 

nd."  —  .See  Johnson  s  Dirt.     "Millennial,  [[ikesep- 


thousand  years  during  which  Satan  shall  be  bound. 

lt  &c.,]  pertaining  to  the  millennium,  or  to  a  thousand   years."  —  See    M  '"/ 


distinguishec 

••  What  should  be  repeated,  is  left  to  their  discretion." — Id.  "  Because  they  are  abstracted  or  sep- 
arated from  material  substances." — Id.  "  All  motion  is  in  time,  and  therefore,  icherercr  it  exists, 
implies  time  as  its  concomitant." — Harris's  Hermes,  p.  9-5.  "And  illiterate  grown  persons  are 
guilty  of  blamable  spelling." — Brit.  Gram.  cor.  "  They  will  always  be  ignorant,  ana  of  rough, 

•  There  is,  in  most  English  dictionaries,  a  contracted  form  of  this  phrase,  written  prithee,  or  I  prithee  ;  but  Dr. 
Johnson  censures  it  as  ••  a  familiar  corruption,  which  some  writers  have  injudiciously  used  ;  "  and,  as  the  abbrevia- 
tion amounted  to  nothing  but  the  slurring  of  one  vowel  sound  into  an  other,  it  baa  now,  I  think,  Ttry  deservedly 
bt coine  obsolete. — Q.  BROWN. 

62 


890  GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. — KEY    TO   ETIMOLOGY.  [PART  II. 

uncivil  manners." — Webster  cor.  "  This  fact  will  hardly  be  believed  in  the  northern  states." — Id. 
"  The  province,  however,  was  harassed  with  disputes." — Id.  "  So  little  concern  has  the  legislature 
for  the  interests  of  learning.'1 — Id.  "  The  gentlemen  will  not  admit  that  a  schoolmaster  can  be  a 
gentleman." — Id.  "  Such  absurd  quid-pro-quoes  cannot  be  too  strenuously  avoided." — Churchill 
cor.  "  When  we  say  of  a  man,  '  He  looks  slily  ; '  we  signify,  that  he  takes  a  sly  glance  or  peep  at 
something." — Id.  "Peep;  to  look  through  a  crevice  ;  to  look  narrowly,  closely,  or  slili/." — Web- 
ster cor.  "  Hence  the  confession  has  become  a  hackneyed  proverb." — Waylandcor.  "  Not  to  men- 
tion the  more  ornamental  parts  of  gilding,  varnish,  &c." — Tooke  cor.  "After  this  system  of  self- 
interest  had  been  riveted." — Dr.  Broinn  cor.  "  Prejudice  might  have  prevented  the  cordial  ap- 
probation of  a  bigoted  Jew." — Dr.  Scott  cor. 

"  All  twinkling  with  the  dewdrop  sheen, 
The  brier-rose  fell  in  streamers  green." — Sir  W.  Scott  cor. 

LESSON  III. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 
;  The  infinitive  mood  has,  commonly,  the  sign  to  before  it." — Harrison  cor.     "  Thus,  it  is  advisa- 


lengths,  intermixed,  forma  Pindaric  poem.''  —  Priestley  cor.  "  He'll  surprise  you."  —  Frost  cor. 
"  Unequalled  archer  !  why  was  this  concealed?"  —  Knowles.  "So  gayly  curl  the  waves  before 
each  dashing  prow."  —  Byron  cor.  "  When  is  a  diphthong  called  a  proper  diphthong  ?"  —  Inf.  S.  Gram. 
cor.  "  How  many  .Esses  would  the  word  then  end  with  ?  Three  ;  for  it  would  be  goodnesses."  —  Id. 
"Qu.  What  is  a  triphthong?  Ans.  A  triphthong  is  a  coalition  of  three  vowels  in  one  syllable."  — 
Bacon  cor.  "  The  verb,  noun,  or  pronoun,  is  referred  to  the  preceding  terms  taken  separately  ."  — 
Murray.  "  The  cubic  foot  of  matter  which  occupies  the  centre  of  the  globe."  —  Cardellcor.  "  The 
wine  imbibes  oxygen,  or  the  acidifying  principle,  from  the  air.''  —  Id.  "Charcoal,  sulphur,  and 
nitre,  make  gunpowder,"  —  Id.  "  It  would  be  readily  understood,  that  the  thing  so  labelled  was  a 
bottle  of  Madeira  wine."  —  Id.  "  They  went  their  ways,  one  to  his  farm,  an  other  to  his  merchan- 
dise." —  Matt,  xxii,  o.  "A  diphthong  is  the  union  of  two  vowels,  both  in  one  syllable."  —  Russell  cor. 
"  The  professors  of  the  Mohammedan  religion  are  called  Mussulmans."  —  Maltby  cor.  "  This 
shows  that  let  is  not  a  mere  sign  of  the  imperative  mood,  but  a  real  verb."  —  Id.  "  Those  preterits 
and  participles  which  are  firstTmentioned  in  the  list,  seem  to  be  the  most  eligible."  —  Murray's 
Gram.  107;  Fish's,  81  ;  Ingersoll's,  103.  "Monosyllables,  for  the  most  part,  are  compared  by  c,r 
and  cst  ;  and  dissyllables,  by  more  and  most."  —  Murray's  Gram.  p.  47.  "  This  termination,  added 
to  a  noun  or  an  adjective,  changes  it  into  a  verb  :  as,  modern,  to  modernize  ;  a  symbol,  to  symbol- 
ize." —  Churchill  cor.  "An  Abridgement  of  Murray's  Grammar,  with  additions  from  Webster, 


Ash,  Tooke,  and  others."  —  Maltby's  Gram.  p.  2.     "For  the  sake  of  occupying  the  room 
vantageously,  the  subject  of  Orthography  is  merely   glanced  at."  —  Nutting  cor.     "  So  contend- 
ed the  accusers  of  Galileo."  —  O.  B.  Peirce  cor.     Murray  says,  "  They  were  travelling  post  when/ie 
met  them."  —  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  69.     "  They  fulfill  the  only  purposes  for  which  they  we  ' 
"  ' 


designed." — Peirce  cor. — See  Webster's  Diet.     "  On  the  fulfillment  of  the  event." — Peirce,  rir/J.t. 
"Fullness  consists  in  expressing  every  idea." — Id.     "  Consistently  with  fullness  and  perspicuity  " 
— Peirce  cor.     "  The  word  veriest  is  a  regular  adjective;  as,  'He  is  the  veriest  fool  on  ear**1  '' 
— Wright  cor.     "  The  sound  will  recall  the  idea  of  the  object." — Ililey  cor.     "  Formed  for  gre; 
tcrprises." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  113.     "  The  most  important  rules  and  definitions  are  printed  in 
type,  Italicized." — Hart  cor.     "HA/MLETED,  a.,  accustomed  to  a  hamlet,  countrified." — We* 


— Peirce  cor.     "  The  word  veriest  is  a  regular  adjective;  as,  '  He  is  the  veriest  fool  on  earth.' 

Formed  for  great  en- 
large 
•Webster, 

and  Worcester.      "Singular,    spoonful,  cupful,   coach fill,  handful ;     plural,   spoonfuls,   cupful  st 
coachfuls,  handfuls." — Worcester's  Universal  and  Critical  Diet. 
"Between  superlatives  and  following  names, 

Of,  by  grammatic  right,  a  station  claims." — Brightland  cor. 


THE  KEY. -PART  II.  -  ETYMOLOGY. 

CHAPTER  I.  —  PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 


The  first  chapter  of  Etymology,  as  it  exhibits  only  the  distribution  of  words  into  the  ten 
Parts  of  Speech,  contains  no  false  grammar  for  correction.  And  it  may  be  here  observed, 
that  as  mistakes  concerning  the  forms,  classes,  or  modifications  of  words,  are  chiefly  to  be 
found  in  sentences,  rather  than  in  any  separate  exhibition  of  the  terms  ;  the  quotations  of  this 
kind,  with  which  I  have  illustrated  the  principles  of  etymology,  are  many  of  them  such,  as 
might  perhaps  with,  more  propriety  be  denominated  false  syntax.  But,  having  examples 
enough  at  hand  to  show  the  ignorance  and  carelessness  of  authors  in  every  part  of  gram- 
mar, I  have  thought  it  most  advisable,  so  to  distribute  them  as  to  leave  no  part  destitute 
of  this  most  impressive  kind  of  illustration.  The  examples  exhibited  as  false  etymology,^  are 
as  distinct  from  those  which  are  called  false  syntax,  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit. 


CHAPTER  II.  — ARTICLES. 

CORRECTIONS  RESPECTING  A,  AN,  AND  THE. 

LESSON  I. — ARTICLES  ADAPTED. 

"Honour  is  a  useful  distinction  in  life." — Milnes  cor.  "No  writer,  therefore,  ought  to 
foment  a  humour  of  innovation." — Jamiesoncor.  "  Conjunctions  [generally]  require  a  situation 
between  the  things  of  which  they  form  a  union."— Id  "Nothing  is  more  easy  than  to  mistake  a  u 


CHAP.   II.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    ETYMOLOGY. ARTICLES.  891 

for  an  a." — Tooke  cor.  "  From  making  so  ill  a  use  of  our  innocent  expressions." — Penn  cor. 
'•  To  grant  thee  a  heavenly  and  incorruptible  c  own  of  glory." — Setrel  cor.  "  It  in  no  wise 
follows,  that  such  a  one  was  able  to  predict." — Id.  "  With  a  harmless  patience,  they  have 
borne  most  heavy  oppressions." — Id.  "  My  attendance  was  to  make  me  a  happier  man." — S/»  rt. 
f»r.  "  On  the  wonderful  nature  of  a  human  mind." — Id.  "  I  have  got  a  hussy  of  a  maid, 
who  is  most  craftily  given  to  this." — Id.  "Argus  is  said  to  have  had  a  hundred  eyes,  some  of 
which  were  always  awake." — Stories  cor.  "  Centiped,  having  a  hundred  feet;  centennial,  con- 
siting  of  a  hundred  years." — Town  cor.  "No  good  man,  he  thought,  could  be  a  heretic."— 
tiilpin  cor.  "As,  a  Christian,  an  infidel,  a  heathen." — Ash  cor.  "Of  two  or  more  words, 
usually  joined  by  a  hyphen." — Blair  cor.  "  We  may  consider  the  whole  space  of  a  hundred 
years  as  time  present." — InaersoU's  Gram.  p.  138.  "In  guarding  against  such  a  use  of  meats 
and  drinks." — Ash  cor.  "  Worship  is  a  homage  due  from  man  to  his  Creator." — Monitor  cor. 
"Then  «  eulogium  on  the  deceased  was  pronounced." — (irimshaic  cor.  "But  for  Adam  there 
•  I  found  a  help  meet  for  him." — Bible  cor.  "My  days  are  consumed  like  smoke,  and  my 
bones  are  burned  as  a  hearth." — Id.  "A  foreigner  and  a  hired  servant  shall  not  eat  thereof." — 
Id.  "The  hill  of  God  is  as  the  hill  of  Bashan;  a  high  hill,  as  the  hill  of  Bashan."— M  "  But  I  do 
declare  it  to  have  been  a  holy  offering,  and  such  a  one  too  as  was  to  be  once  for  all." — Penn  cor. 
'•  1  hope  that  does  not  make  ashamed  those  that  have  it." — Barclay  cor.  "  Where  there  is  not 
a  unity,  we  may  exercise  true  charity." — Id.  "  Tell  me,  if  in  any  of  these  such  a  union  can  be 
found  ?  " — Dr.  Brown  cor. 

"  Such  holy  drops  her  tresses  steeped, 
Though  'twas  a  hero's  eye  that  weeped." — Sir  W.  Scott  cor. 

LESSON  II.— ARTICLES  INSERTED. 

"  This  veil  of  flesh  parts  the  visible  and  the  invisible  world." — Sherlock  cor.     "The  copulative 
and  the  disjunctive  conjunctions  operate  differently  on  the  verb." — L.  Murray  cor.    "  Every  com- 
bination of  a  preposition  and  an  article  with  the  noun." — Id.     "Either  signifies,  'the  one  or  the 
other:'  neither  import*,  'not  either;'  that  is,  'not  Me  one  nor  the  other.'" — Id.     "A  noun  of 
multitude  may  have  a  pronoun  or  a  verb  agreeing  with  it.  either  of  the  singular  number  or  of  the 
plural." — Bucks  COT.     "The  principal  copulative  conjunctions  are,  and,  as,  both,  because,  for,   if, 
that,  then,  since." — Id.     "  The  two  real  genders  are  the  masculine  and  the  feminine." — Id.     "  In 
which  a  mute  and  a  liquid  are  represented  by  the  same  character,  th." — Gardiner  cor.     "They 
said,  John  tftc  Baptist  hath  sent  us  unto  thee." — Bible  cor.     "  They  indeed  remember  the  names 
of  an  abundance  of  places." — S>,ect.  cor.     "  Which  created  a  great  dispute  between  the  young 
and  the  old  men." — Coldsmith  cor.     •'  Then  shall  be  read  the  Apostles'  or  the  Nicene  Creed." — 
Com.  I'm  I/IT  <•<»•.     "  The  rules  concerning  the  perfect  tenses  and  the  supines  of  verbs  are  Lily's." 
—  A".  Banry*4  Gr.  cor.     "  It  was  read  by  the  high  and  the  low,  the  learned  and  the  illiterate." — 
Dr.  Johnson  eor.     "  Most  commonly,  both  the  pronoun  and  tJtf  verb  are  understood." — Buchanan 
-ignify  the   thick  and  the  slender  enunciation  of  tone." — Knight  cor.     "  The  difference 
between  a  palatial  and  a  guttural  aspirate  is  very  small."— I'?-     "  Leaving  it  to  waver  between 
the  figurative  and  the  literal  sense." — Jamiesnn  <'-<>r.     "  Whatever  verb  will  not  admit  of  both  an 
-ive  signification." — Ale.r.  Mn,-,-<m  cor.     "  Hie  is  often  set  before  adverbs    in  the 
comparative,  or  the  superlative  degree." — Id.  and  Kirkham  cor.     "  Lest  any  should  fear  the  effect 
of  such  a  change,  upon  the  present  or  the  succeeding  age  of  writers." — Fowle  cor.     "  In  all  these 
UTM,  the  accents  are  to  be  placed  on  the  even  syllables  ;  and  every  line  is,  in  general,  the 
more  melodious,  as  this  rule  is  the  more  strictly  observed."— A,.  Murray  et  al.  cor.     "  How  many 
numbers  do   nouns   appear  to   haver     Two:  the    singular  and   the  plural." — R.    C.  Smith  cor. 
How  many  persons  ?    Three  ;  the  first,  the  second,  iimlthr  third."— Id.     "  How  many  cases  ? 
'  ree;  the  nominative,  the  possessive,  and  the  objective." — Id. 

"  Ah  !  what  avails  it  me,  the  flocks  to  keep, 
Who  lost  my  heart  while  I  preserv'd  the  sheep:  " — or,  "my  sheep." 

,»N  III. — ARTICLES  OMITTED. 

"  The  negroes  are  all  descendants  of  Africans." — Morse  cor.      "Sybarite  was  applied  as  a  term 
of  reproach  to  a  man  of  dissolute  manners." — la'.  "  The  original  signification  of  knave  was  /;oy." 
11  The  meaning  of  these  will  be  explained,  for  greater  clearness  and  precision." — 
"  What  sort  -of  //""/'   is  man  f  A  noun  substantive,  common." — Buchanan  cor.  "  Is 
ever  used  as  three  kinds  of  ^ronoan  '  "—Kirkhnm's  (jnextion  eor.  [Answer :  "  No  ;  as  a  pro- 
noun, it  is  either  relatire  or  interrogative."— G.  Brown.]     "  They  delighted  in  ha  rim/  done  it,  as 
well  as  in  the  doing  of  it."—  II.  Johnson  cor.     "Both  parts  of  this  rule  are  exemplified  in  the  fol- 
lowing sentences." — Murray  cor.     "  He  has  tauaht  them  to  hope  for  an  other  and  better  world." 
-  itself  only  preparatory  to  a  future,  better,  and  perfect  revelation."—  K>  1th 

r.    "A'.v  then  makes  an  other  and  distinct  syllable." — Brii/htland  eor.     "  The  eternal  clamours  of 
•us  people." — Dr.  Broicn  eor.     "To  tho.se  whose  taste  in  elocution  is  but  tittle 
cultivated." — Kirkham  eor.     "  They  considered  they  had  but  a  sort  of  gourd  to  rejoice  in." — Ii,  n- 
.     ••  Now  there  was  but  one  sm-h  bough,  in  a  spacious  and  shady  grove." — Bacon  cor.  "  Now 
the  Absurdity  of  this  latter  supposition  will  go  a  great  way  tairnrdx  making  a  man  easy." — Collier 
eor.     "This  is  true  of  mathematics,  irith  which  taste  has  but  little  to  do."—  Todd  cor.    "To  stand 
prompter  to  a  pausing  yet  ready  comprehension." — Rush  eor.     "  Such  an  obedience  as  the 
and  tortured  negro  is  compelled  to  yield  to  the  whip  of  the  overseer." — Chalmers  cor.     "For 
the  gratification  of  a  moment, in/  ami  unholy  desire." — ]\'ayland  eor.     "  The  body  is  slenderly  put 
together  ;  the  mind,  a  rambling  sort  of  thin;/." — Collier  eo'r.     "  The  only  nominative  to  the  verb, 


nui 

, 


E' 


/-." — Murray  cor.  "And  though  in  ijeneral  it  ought  to  be  admitted,  &c." — Blair  cor. 
"  Philosophical  writing  admits  of  a  polished,  neat,  and  elegant  style." — Id.  "  But  notwithstand- 
ing this  defect,  Thomson  is  a  stronc  and  be,mtifn!  describer." — Id.  "  So  should  he  be  sure  to  be 
ransomed,  and  many  poor  men's  lives  should  he  saved." — Shak.  cor. 

"  Who  felt  the  wrong,  or  feared  it,  took  alarm, 
Appealed  to  law.  and  Justice  lent  her  arm." — Pope  cor. 


892  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO    ETYMOLOGY.  [PART   II. 

LESSON  IV. — ARTICLES  CHANGED. 

"  To  enable  us  to  avoid  too  frequent  a  repetition  of  the  same  word." — Bucke  cor.  t(  The  for- 
mer is  commonly  acquired  in  a  third  part  of  the  time." — Burn  cor.  "  Sometimes  an  adjective  be- 
comes a  substantive  ;  and,  like  other  substantives,  it  may  have  an  adjective  relating  to  it :  as,  '  The 
chief  good.'  " — L.  Murray  cor.  "An  articulate  sound  is  a  sound  of  the  human  voice,  formed  by 
the  organs  of  speech." — Id,  "A  tense  is  a  distinction  of  time  :  there  are  six  tenses." — Maunder 
cor.  "  In  this  case,  an  ellipsis  of  the  last  article  would  be  improper." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  Con- 
trast always  has  the  effect  to  make  each  of  the  contrasted  objects  appear  in  a  stronger  light." — 
Id.  et  al.  "  These  remarks  may  serve  to  show  the  great  importance  of  «  proper  use  of  the  arti- 
cles."— Lowth  et  al.  cor.  "  'Archbishop  Tillotson,'  says  the  author  of  a  history  of  England, 
«  died  in  this  year.'  " — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  Pronouns  are  used  in  stead  of  substantives,  to  prevent 
too  frequent  a  repetition  of  them." — A.  Murray  cor.  "  THAT,  as  a  relative,  seems  to  be  introduced 
to  prevent  too  frequent  a  repetition  of  WHO  and  WHICH." — Id.  "A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  in 
stead  of  a  noun,  to  prevent  too  frequent  a  repetition  of  it." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  THAT  is  often 
used  as  a  relative,  to  prevent  too  frequent  a  repetition  of  WHO  and  WHICH." — Id.  et  al.  cor, 
"  His  knees  smote  one  against  the  other." — Logan  cor.  "  They  stand  now  on  one  foot,  then  on 
the  other." — IV.  Walker  cor.  "The  Lord  watch  between  thee  and  me,  when  we  are  absent  one 
from  the  other." — Bible  cor.  "  Some  have  enumerated  ten  parts  of  speech,  making  the  participle 
a  distinct  part." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  Nemesis  rides  upon  a  hart  because  the  hart  is  a  most  lively 
creature." — Bacon  cor.  "  The  transition  of  the  voice  from  one  vowel  of  the  diphthong  to  the 
other." — Dr.  Wilson  cor.  "  So  difficult  it  is,  to  separate  these  two  things  one  from  the  other." — 
Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  Without  a  material  breach  of  any  rule." — Id.  "  The  great  source  of  looseness 
of  style,  in  opposition  to  precision,  is  an  injudicious  use  of  ivhat  are  termed  synonymous  u-ords." 
— Blair  cor. ;  also  Murray.  "  Sometimes  one  article  is  improperly  used  for  the  other." — Sanborn 
cor. 

"  Satire  of  sense,  alas  !  can  Sporus  feel  ? 
Who  breaks  a  butterfly  upon  the  wheel  ? " — Pope  cor. 
LESSON  V. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"  He  hath  no  delight  in  the  strength  of  a  horse." — Maturin  cor.  "  The  head  of  it  would  be  a 
universal  monarch." — Butler  cor.  "  Here  they  confound  the  material  and  the  formal  object  of 
faith."— Barclay  cor.  "  The  Irish  [Celtic]  and  the  Scottish  Celtic  are  one  language  ;  the  Welsh, 
the  Cornish,  and  the  Armorican,  are  an  other." — Dr.  Murray  cor.  "  In  a  uniform  and  perspicu- 
ous manner." — Id.  "  SCRIPTURE,  n.  Appropriately,  and  by  way  of  distinction,  the  books  of  the 
Old  and  the  New  Testament ;  the  Bible." — Webster  cor.  "In  two  separate  volumes,  entitled, 


igi 

regenerate?  No." — Hopkins  cor.  "Some  grammarians  subdivide  the  vowels  into  simple  and 
compound." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  Emphasis  has  been  divided  into  the  weaker  and  the  stronger  em- 
phasis."— Id.  "  Emphasis  has  also  been  divided  into  the  superior  and  the  inferior  emphasis." — Id. 
""Pronouns  must  agree  with  their  antecedents,  or  the  nouns  which  they  represent,  in  gender, 
number,  and  person." — Merchant  cor.  "  The  adverb  where  is  often  used  improperly,  for  a  rela- 
tive pronoun  and  a  preposition  "  :  as,  "  Words  where  [in  which]  the  h  is  not  silent."— Murray,  p. 
31.  "  The  termination  ish  imports  diminution,  or  a  lessening  of  the  quality."— Merchant  cor. 
"  In  this  train,  all  their  verses  proceed :  one  half  of  a  line  always  answering  to  the  other."— Dr. 
Blair  cor.  "  To  a  height  of  prosperity  and  glory,  unknown  to  any  former  age."— L.  Murray  cor. 
"Hwilc,  who,  which,  such  as,  such  a  one,  is  declined  as  follows." — Gwilt  cor.  "When  a  vowel 
precedes  the  y,  s  only  is  required  to  form  the  plural-  as,  day,  days."— Bucke  cor.  "  He  is  asked 
what  sort  of  word  each  is  ;  whether  a  primitive,  a  derivative,  or  a  compound." — British  Gram, 
cor.  "  It  is  obvious,  that  neither  the  second,  the  third,  nor  the  fourth  chapter  of  Matthew,  is  the 
first ;  consequently,  there  are  not  'four  first  chapters.'  "—Churchill  cor.  "  Some  thought,  which  a 
writer  wants  the  art  to  introduce  in  its  proper  place." — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  Groves  and  meadows  are 
the  most  pleasing  in  the  spring."— Id.  "  The  conflict  between  the  carnal  and  the  spiritual  mind, 
is  often  long."—  Gurney  cor.  "A  Philosophical  Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  our  Ideas  of  the  Sub- 
lime and  the  Beautiful." — Burke  cor. 

"  Silence,  my  muse  !  make  not  these  jewels  cheap, 
Exposing  to  the  world  too  large  a  heap." — Waller  cor. 


CHAPTER  III.  —  NOUNS. 

CORRECTIONS  IN  THE  MODIFICATIONS  OF  NOUNS. 

LESSON  I.— NUMBERS. 

"  All  the  ablest  of  the  Jewish  rabbies  acknowledge  it." — Wilson  cor.  "Who  has  thoroughly 
imbibed  the  system  of  one  or  other  of  our  Christian  rabbies." — Campbell  cor.  "  The  seeming  sin- 
gularities of  reason  soon  wear  off." — Collier  cor.  "  The  chiefs  and  arikics,  or  priests,  have  the 
power  of  declaring  a  place  or  object  taboo." — Balbi  cor.  "Among  the  various  tribes  of  this  fam- 
ily, are  the  Pottawatomies,  the  Sauks  and  Foxes,  or  Saukies  and  Ottogamies." — Id.  "  The 
Shawnees.  Kickapoos,  Menom'onies,  Miamies,  and  Delawares,  are  of  the  same  region." — Id.  "  The 
Mohegans  and  Abenaquies  belonged  also  to  this  family." — Id.  "  One  tribe  of  this  family,  the 
Winnebagoes,  formerly  resided  near  lake  Michigan." — Id.  "The  other  tribes  are  the  loways, 
the  Ottoes,  the  Missouries,  the  Quapaws."— Id.  "  The  great  Mexican  family  comprises  the  Az- 
tecs, the  Toltecs,  and  the  Tarascoes." — Id.  "  The  Mulattoes  are  born  of  negro  and  white  pa- 
rents; the  Zamboes,  of  Indians  and  Negroes." — Id.  "To  have  a  place  among  the  Alexanders, 
the  Caesars,  the  Louises,  or  the  Charleses, — the  scourges  and  butchers  of  their  fellow-creatures." 
— Burgh  cor.  "  Which  was  the  notion  of  the  Platonic  philosophers  and  the  Jewish  rabbies." — Id. 


CUAP.  III.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    ETYMOLOGY. NOUNS.  893 

"  That  they  should  relate  to  the  whole  body  of  virtuosoes." — Cobbett  cor.  "  What  thanks  have  ye  ? 
for  sinners  also  love  those  that  love  them." — Bible  cor.  "  There  are  five  ranks  of  nobility  ;  dukes, 
marquises,  earls,  viscounts,  and  barons." — Balbi  cor.  "Acts  which  were  so  well  known  to  the  two 
Charleses." — Payne  cor.  "Courts-martial  are  held  in  all  parts,  for  the  trial  of  the  blacks." — Ob- 
sen-i-reor.  "  It  becomes  a  common  noun,  and  may  have  the  plural  number;  as,  the  two  Davids, 
the  ttvo  Sripiox,  the  two  Po/npeys." — Stamford  cor.  "  The  food  of  the  rattlesnake  is  birds, 
squirrels,  hares,  rats,  and  reptiles." — Bal.bi  cor.  "And  lei  fowls  multiply  in  the  earth." — Bible  cor. 
"  Then  we  reached  the  hillside,  where  eight  buffaloes  were  grazing." — Martineau  cor.  "  CORSET, 
n.  a  bodire  for  a  woman." — Worcester  cor.  "As,  the  Bees,  the  Cees,  the  Double-ues." — Peirce  cor. 
"  Simplicity  is  the  mean  between  ostentation  and  rusticity." — Pope  cor.  "  You  have  disguised 
yourselves  like  tipstajfs." — Gil  Bias  cor.  "But  who,  that  ^a*  any  taste,  can  endure  the  inces- 
sant quick  returns  of' the  atsoes,  and  the  likcicises,  and  the  moreovers,  and  the  howevers,  and  the 
notwithstandings  f  " — Campbell  cor. 

"Sometimes,  in  mutual  sly  disguise, 
Let  ays  seem  noes,  and  noes  seem  ays." — Gay  cor. 

LESSON  II. — CASES. 

"  For  whose  name's  sake,  I  have  been  made  willing." — Penncor.  "  Be  governed  by  your  conscience, 
and  never  ask  any  body's  leave  to  be  honest." — Collier  cor.  "  To  overlook  nobody's  merit  or  mis- 
behaviour."— Id.  "And  Hector  at  last  fights  his  way  to  the  stern  of  Ajax's  ship." — Coleridge  cor. 
"  Nothing  is  lazier,  than  to  keep  one's  eye  upon  words  without  heeding  their  meaning." — Museum 
cor.  "  Sir  William  Jones's  division  of  the  day." — Id.  "  I  need  only  refer  here  to  Voss's  excellent 
account  of  it." — Id.  "  The  beginning  of  Stesichorus's  palinode  has  been  preserved." — Id. 
"Though  we  have  Tibullus's  elegies,  there  is  not  a  word  in  them  about  Glycera." — Id.  "  That 
Horace  was  at  TJialiarchus's  country-house." — Id.  "  That  Sisyphus'*  foot-tub  should  have  been 
still  in  existence." — Id.  "  How  everything  went  on  in  Horace's  closet,  and  in  Mecenas's  ante- 
chamber."— Id.  "  Who,  for  elegant  brevity's  sake,  put  a  participle  for  a  verb." — W.  Walker  cor. 
"  The  country's  liberty  being  oppressed,  we  have  no  more  to  hope." — Id.  "A  brief  but  true  account 
of  this  people's  principles." — Barclay  cor.  "As,  The  Church's  peace,  or,  The  peace  of  the  Church  ; 
Virgil's  ^Eneid,  or,  The  ^Eneid  of  Virgil." — Brit.  Gram.  cor.  "  Which,  with  Hubner's  Com- 
pend,  and  Wells's  Geographia  Classica,  will  be  sufficient." — Burgh  cor.  "  Witness  Homer's 
speaking  horses,  scolding  goddesses,  and  Jupiter  enchanted  with  Venus's  girdle." — Id.  Dr. 
Watts' s  Logic  may  with  success  be  read  to  them  and  commented  on." — Id.  "  Potter's  Greek,  and 
Kennel's  Roman  Antiquities,  Straw-huts' a  and  Hehicus's  Chronology." — Id.  "  SING.  Alice's 
friends,  Felix's  property  ;  PLUR.  The  Alices'  friends,  The  Felixes'  property." — Peirce  cor.  "  Such  as 
Hurfhiis's  company — at  Bacchus' a  festivals." — Ainsicorth  cor.  "Burns's  inimitable  Tarn  o'  Shanter 
turns  entirely  upon  such  a  circumstance." — Scott  cor.  "  Nominative,  men  ;  Genitive,  [or  Posses- 
sive,] men's  ;  Objective,  men." — Cutler  cor.  "Men's  happiness  or  misery  is  mostly  of  their 
own  making." — Locke  cor.  "  That  your  son's  clothes  be  never  made  strait,  especially  about  the 
breast." — Id.  "Children's  minds  are  narrow  and  weak." — Id.  "  I  would  not  have  little  children 
much  tormented  about  punctilios,  or  niceties  of  breeding." — Id.  "  To  fill  his  head  with  suitable 

'    s." — Id.     "  The  Bun/usdisciitses  and  the  Scheiblers  did  not  swarm  in  those  days,  as  they  do 
." — Id.     "  To  see  the  various  ways  of  dressing — a  calf's  head  !  " — Shenstone  cor. 
"  He  puts  it  on,  and  for  decorum's  sake 
Can  wear  it  e'en  as  gracefully  as  she." — Cowper  cor. 

LESSON  III. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 
"  Simon  the  wizard  was  of  this  religion  too." — Bunyan  cor.     "M.VMMODIES,  n.  Coarse,  plain, 
India  muslins." —  Wt  'i*t<  >•  ,-or.     "  Go  on  from  single  persons  to  families,  that  of  the  Pompeys  for  in- 
stance."— Collier  cor.     "  By  which  the  ancients  were  not  able  to  account  for  phenomena." — Bailey 
cor.     "After  this  I  married  a  woman  who  had  lived  at  Crete,  but  a  Jeiccss  by  birth." — Josephus 
cor.     "  The  very  he>ithen*  arc  inexcusable  for  not   worshiping  him." — Todd  cor.     "Such   poems 
Citniocns'x    Lusiad,  Voltaire's  Henriade,  &c." — Dr.  Blair  cor.    "  My  learned  correspondent 
ites  a  word  in  defence  of  large  scarfs." — Spect.  cor.     "  The  forerunners  of  an  apoplexy  are  dull- 
ss,  vertigoes,  tremblings." — Arbutlniof  cor.     "  I'ertiao,  £in  Latin,]  changes  the  o  into  vies,  mak- 
g  the  plural  rertit/'n-'ft :  "  [not  so.  in  English.] — Churchill  cor.     "Noctambulo,  [in  Latin,]  changes 
,e  o  into  «"//j»'.v,  making  the  plural  noetatitkuldnit :  "  [not  so,  in  English.] — Id.     "  What  shall  we 
say  of  noctambiifoesf     It  is  the  regular  English  plural." — G.  Brown.     "In  the  curious  fretwork 
of  rocks  undf/ rot  toes." — Blair  cor.    "  Wharf  makes  the  plural  tcharfs,  according  to  the  best  usage." 
—  a.  llrown.     "A  few  cents'  worth  of  macaroni  supplies  all  their  wants." — Balbi  cor.     "C  sounds 
hard,  like  k,  at  the  end  of  a  word  or  si/liable." — Blair  cor.     "  By  which  the  virtuosoes  try  The 
magnitude  of  every  lie." — Butler  cor.    "Quartoes,  octaroes,  shape  the  lessening   pyre." — Pope  cor. 
hing  within  square  royal  roofs." — Sidney  cor.     "Similes  should,  even  in  poetry.be  used  with 
moderation." — Dr.  Bl-iir  cor.  "Si'miles  should  never  betaken  from  low  or  mean  objects." — Id.  "  It 
were  certiinly  bi-ttrr  to  s.-iy,  '  Tin  //o//.v  O^Lonfe/thaa.  '  The  Lords'  House.' " — Murray  cor.  "  Read 
your  answers.     r///V.v'   figure?     'Five.'"     Tens' f    'Six.'       Hundreds'?    'Seven.'" — Abbott  cor. 
''Alexander  conquered  Darius's  army." — Kirkham  cor.     "  Three  days'  time  was  requisite,  to  pre- 
pare matters." — Dr.    Brown   eor.     "So  w<-  say,  that  Cicero's  style  and  Sallust's  were  not  one  ; 
iior    Ctrsar's   and    Liry's ;    nor   Homer's  and  UeriotFli    nor  Herodotits's  and  Thttcydides's ;  nor 
Euripides' s  and  Aristophanes's  ;  nor    /•.'/•< /v///r/.s'.s  and    Jiudtvus's." — Pnttcnham   cor.     "  LEX  (i.  e. 
''tw,)  is  no  other  than  our  ancestors'  past  participle  /«•//.  laid  down." — Tookecor.     "Achaia'g 
•  Ilium  slain  for  the  Atridte's  sake." — Cowper  cor.     "The  corpses  of  her  senate  manure  the 
lields  of  Thessaly." — Addison  cor. 

"Poisoning,  without  regard  of  fame  or  fear  : 
And  spotted  corpses  load  the  frequent  bier." — Dryden  cor. 


much 

* 


894  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO    ETYMOLOGY.  [PART   II. 


CHAPTER  IV.  —ADJECTIVES. 

CORRECTIONS  IN  THE  FORMS  OF  COMPARISON,  &c. 
LESSOX  I. — DEGREES. 


"  I  have  the  real  excuse  of  the  most  honest  sort  of  bankrupts." — Cowley  corrected.  "  The  most 
honourable  part  of  talk,  is,  to  give  the  occasion." — Bacon  cor.  "  To  give  him  one  of  the  most  modest 
of  his  own  proverbs." — Barclay  cor.  "  Our  language  is  now,  certainly,  more  proper  and  more 
natural,  than  it  was  formerly." — Burnet  cor.  "  Which  will  be  of  the  greatest  and  most  frequent 
use  to  him  in  the  world." — Locke  cor.  "  The  same  is  notified  in  the  'most  considerable  places  in 
the  diocese." — Whitgift  cor.  "  But  it  was  the  most  dreacljul  sight  that  ever  I  saw." — Bunyan  cor. 
"  Four  of  the  oldest,  soberest,  and  discreetest  of  the  brethren,  chosen  for  the  occasion,  shall  regu- 
late it." — Locke  cor.  "  Nor  can  there  be  any  clear  understanding  of  any  Roman  author,  especially 
of  more  ancient  time,  without  this  skill." — W.  Walker  cor.  "  Far  the  most  learned  of  the  Greeks." 
— Id.  "  The  more  learned  thou  art,  the  humbler  be  thou." — Id.  "  He  is  none  of  the  best,  or 
most  honest." — Id.  "The  most  proper  methods  of  communicating  it  to  others." — Burn  cor. 
"  What  heaven's  great  King  hath  mightiest  to  send  against  vs."-~MMon  cor.  "  Benedict  is  not 
the  most  unhopeful  husband  that  I  know." — Shakspeare  cor.  "  That  he  should  immediately  do 
all  the  meanest  and  most  trifling  things^himself." — Ray  cor.  "  I  shall  be  named  among  the  most 
renotvn'd  of  women." — Milton  cor.  "Those  have  the  most  inventive  heads  for  ail  purposes." — 
Ascham  cor.  "  The  more  icretched  are  the  contemners  of  all  helps." — B.  Johnson  cor.  "  I  will 
now  deliver  a  few  of  the  most  proper  and  most  natural  considerations  that  belong  to  this  piece." — 
Wotton  cor.  "The  most  mortal  poisons  practised  by  the  West  Indians,  have  some  mixture  of 
the  blood,  fat,  or  flesh  of  man." — Bacon  cor.  "  He  so  won  upon  him,  that  he  rendered  him  one 
of  the  most  faithful  and  most  affectionate  allies  the  Medes  ever  had." — Rollin  cor.  "  '  You  see 
before  you,'  says  he  to  him,  '  the  most  devoted  servant,  and  the  most  faithful  ally,  you  ever  had.'  " 
— Id.  "  I  chose  the  most  flourishing  tree  in  all  the  park." — Cowley  cor.  "  Which  he  placed,  I 
think,  some  centuries  earlier  than  did  Julius  Africanus  afterwards." — Bolingbroke  cor.  "The 
Tiber,  the  most  noted  river  of  Italy." — Littleton  cor. 

"  To  farthest  shores  th'  ambrosial  spirit  flies." — Pope. 

"That  what  she  wills  to  do  or  say, 

Seems  wisest,  worthiest,  discreetest,  best." — Milton  cor. 

LESSOX  II. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"  During  ihejirst  three  or  four  years  of  its  existence." — Taylor  cor.  "  To  the  first  of  these 
divisions,  my  last  ten  lectures  have  been  devoted." — Adams  cor.  "There  are,  in  the  twenty-four 
states,  not  fewer  than  sixty  thousand  common  schools." — J.  O.  Taylor  cor.  "  I  know  of  nothn  g 
which  gives  teachers  more  trouble,  than  this  want  of  firmness." — Id.  "  I  know  of  nothing  else  that 
throws  such  darkness  over  the  line  which  separates  right  from  wrong." — Id.  "  None  need  this 
purity  and  this  simplicity  of  language  and  thought,  more  than  does  the  instructor  of  a  common 
school." — Id.  "  I  know  of  no  other  periodical  that  is  so  valuable  to  the  teacher,  as  the  Annals  of 
Education." — Id.  "Are  not  these  schools  of  the  highest  importance?  Should  not  every  indi- 
vidual feel  a  deep  interest  in  their  character  and  condition  ?  " — Id.  "  If  instruction  were  made 
a  liberal  profession,  teachers  would  feel  more  sympathy  for  one  an  other." — Id.  "  Nothing  is 
more  interesting  to  children,  than  novelty,  or  change." — Id.  "I  know  of  no  other  labour  which 
affords  so  much  happiness  as  the  teacher's." — Id.  "  Their  school  exercises  are  the  most  pleasant 
and  agreeable  duties,  that  they  engage  in." — Id.  "  I  know  of  no  exercise  more  beneficial  to  the 
pupil  than  that  of  drawing  maps." — Id.  "I  know  of  nothing  in  which  our  district  schools  are 

' '  T  know  of  no  other  branch 
school  exercise  for  which 
:  There  is  nothing  belonging 
to  our  fellow-men,  which  we  should  respect"?nore  sacredly  than  their  good  name." — Id.  "Surely, 
never  any  other  creature  was  so  unbred  as  that  odious  man." — Congreve  cor.  "  In  the  dialogue  be- 
tween the  mariner  and  the  shade  of  the  deceased." — Phil.  Museum  cor.  "  These  master-works 
would  still  be  less  excellent  and  finished." — Id.  "  Every  attempt  to  staylace  the  language  of 
polished  conversation,  renders  our  phraseology  inelegant  and  clumsy." — Id.  "  Here  are  a  few  of 
the  most  unpleasant  words  that  ever  blotted  paper." — Shakspeare  cor.  "  With  the  most  easy  and 
obliging  transitions." — Broome  cor.  "Fear  is,  of  all  affections,  the  least  apt  to  admit  any  con- 
ference with  reason." — Hooker  cor.  "  Most  chymists  think  glass  a  body  less  destructible  than 
gold  itself." — Boyle  cor.  "  To  part  with  unhacked  edges,  and  bear  back  our  barge  undinted." — 
Shak.  cor.  "  Erasmus,  who  was  an  unbigoted  Roman  Catholic,  was  transported  with  this  passage." 
— Addison  cor.  "There  are  no  fewer  than  five  words,  with  any  of  which  the  sentence  might 
have  terminated." — Campbell  cor.  "  The  ones  preach  Christ  of  contention  ;  but  the  others,  of  love." 
Or,  "  The  one  party  preach,"  £c. — Bible  cor.  "  Hence  we  find  less  discontent  and  fewer  heart- 
burnings, than  where  the  subjects  are  unequally  burdened." — H.  Home,  Ld.  Kames,  cor. 

"The  serpent,  subtlest  beast  of  all  the  field."— Milton, P.  L.,  B.  ix,  1.  86. 

"  Thee,  Serpent,  subtlest  beast  of  all  the  field, 
I  knew,  but  not  with  human  voice  indued."— 7d.  P.  L.,  B.  ix,  1.  560. 

"  How  much  more  grievous  would  our  lives  appear, 
To  reach  th'  eir/ht-hundreth,  than  the  eightieth  year  !  " — Denham  cor. 

LESSOX  III.— MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"  Brutus  engaged  with  Aruns  ;  and  so  fierce  was  the  attack,  that  they  pierced  each  other  at  the 
same  time." — Lempriere  cor.  "  Her  two  brothers  were,  one  after  the  other,  turned  into  stone." — 
Kamcs  cor.  "  Nouns  are  often  used  as  adjectives  ;  as,  A  gold  ring,  a  silver  cup." — Lenniecor.  "  Fire 
and  water  destroy  each  other." — Wanostrocht  cor.  "  Two  negatives,  in  English,  destroy  each  other, 
or  are  equivalent  to  an  affirmative." — Lowth,  Murray,  et  al.  cor.  "  Two  negatives  destroy  each 
other,  and  are  generally  equivalent  to  an  affirmative." — Kirkhamand  Feltoncor.  "  Two  negatives 


CHAP.    V.]  KliV    TO    FALSE    ETYMOLOGY. PRONOUNS.  895 

destroy  each  other,  and  make  an  affirmative." — Flint  cor.  "Two  negatives  destroy  each  other, 
being  equivalent  to  an  affirmative." — 7-Vo.v/  cor.  "  Two  objects,  resembling  each  other,  are  presented 
to  the  imagination." — Parker  cor.  "  Mankind,  in  order  to  hold  converse  with  one  an  other,  found 
it  necessary  to  give  names  to  objects." — Kirkliam  cur.  "  I), •/-, 'mf /',-/•  words  are  formed  from  their 
primitives  in  various  ways." — ("HUJH  r  cor.  "  There  are  many  dijf'ercnt  ways  of  deriving  words  one 
from  an  of  her." — Murray  cor.  "  When  several  \erbs  !mrr  n  joint  construction  in  a  sentence,  the 
auxiliary  is  usually  expressed  with  the  first  on'y." — Frost  cor.  "  Two  or  more  verbs,  having  the 
same  nominative  case,  and  comiix/  in  immediate  succession,  are  also  separated  by  the  comma." — 
Murray  ct  a/,  cor.  "  Two  or  more  adverbs,  cominij  in  immediate  .succession,  must  be  separated  by 
nma" — lidem.  "  If,  however,  the  two  members  are  very  closely  connected,  the  comma  is 
ii/inecex*nri/." — lidem.  "  Gratitude,  when  exerted  towards  others,  naturally  produces  a  very  pleas- 
ing sensation  in  the  mind  of  a  oent  r<>»s  man." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  Several  verbs  in  the  infinitive 
mood,  comint/  in  succession,  anil  having  a  common  dependence,  are  also  divided  by  commas." — 
Comly  cor.  "  The  several  words  of  which  it  consists,  have  so  near  a  relation  one  to  an  othi  r." — 
Murray  if  a/,  cor.  "  When  two  or  more  verbs,  or  two  or  more  adverbs,*  i><  •>///•  in  immediate  succession, 
and  have  a  common  dependence,  they  must  be  separated  by  the  comma." — Comly  cor.  "One  noun 
frequently  follows  another,  both  meaning  the  same  thing." — Sanbomcor.  "And  these  two  tenses 
may  thus  answer  each  other." — R.  Johnson  cor.  "  Or  some  other  relation  which  two  objects  bear  to 
'her." — Jamieson  cor.  "  That  the  heathens  tolerated  oneanother,  is  allowed." — A.  Fuller  cor. 
"And  yet  these  two  persons  love  each  oilier  tenderly." — E.  Reader  cor.  "  In  the  six  hundred  and 
first  year." —  Bible  cor.  "  Xor  is  this  arguing  of  his,  any  tJiinn  but  a  reiterated  clamour." — Bardny 
•  nil  of  them  the  inward  life  of  Christianity  is  to  be  found." — Id.  "  Though  Alvarez,  Des- 
p-iuti r,  and  others,  do  not  allow  it  to  be  plural." — R.  Johnson  cor.  "  Even  the  most  dusipated  and 
shameless  blushed  at  the  sight." — Lempriere  cor.  "  We  feel  a  hiijher  satisfaction  in  surveying  the 
life  of  animals,  than  [in  contcmjilatituj}  that  of  vegetables." — Jamieson  cor.  "  But  this  man  is  so 
full-fraught  with  malice." — Barclay  cor.  "That  I  suggest  some  things  concerning  the  most 
proper  means." — Dr.  Blair  cor. 

"  So,  hand  in  hand,  they  passed,  the  loveliest  pair 

That  ever  yet  in  love's  embraces  met." — Milton  cor. 
"Aim  at  s upremacy ;  without  such  height, 
"NVill  be  for  thee  no  sitting,  or  not  long." — Id.  cor. 


«m 


CHAPTER  V.  — PRONOUNS. 

CORRECTIONS  IN  THE  FORMS  AND  USES  OF  PRONOUNS. 

LESSON  I.— RELATIVES. 

He  we  attend  to  this  pause,  every  appearance  of  sinasonr/  must  be  carefully  avoided." — 
Murray  cor.  "For  thou  shalt  go  to  all  to  whom  I  shall  send  thee." — Bible  cor.  "Ah  !  how  happy 
would  it  have  been  for  me,  had  I  spent  in  retirement  these  twenty-three  years  dnriny  which  'I 
have  possessed  my  kingdom." — Smi>>orn  cor.  "  In  the  same  manner  in  tcJiich  relative  pronouns 
and  their  antecedents  are  usually  parsed." — Id.  "  Parse  or  explain  all  the  other  nouns  contained 
in  the  examples,  after  the  rery  manner  o/"the  word  which  is  parsed  for  you." — Id.  "  The  passive 
verb  will  always  h'ace  the  person  and  number  that  beloiuj  to  the  verb  be,  of  which  it  is  in  part  com- 
posed."— Id.  '  "You  have  been  taught  that  a  verb  must  always  aarcc  in  person  and  number  with 
I  its  subject  or  nominative." — Id.  "A  relative  pronoun,  also,  must  always  in/ret-  in  person,  in  num- 
ber, and  even  ///gender,  with  its  antecedent." — Id.  "  The  answer  always  ayrees  in  case  with  the 
'ii  which  asks  the  question." — Id.  "One  sometimes  represents  an  antecedent  noun,  in  the 
definite  manner  of  a  personal  pronoun."  f — Id.  "  The  mind,  beine  carried  forward  to  the  time  at 
which  the  event  is  to  happen,  easily  conceives  it  to  be  present.'' — Id.  "  SAVE  and  SAVING  are  [sel- 
diun  fo  l>e]  parsed  in  the  manner  ///  irliich  r.xrr.PT  ami  r.xcr.iTiNG  are  [commonly  explained].  — 
Id.  "Adverbs  qualify  verbs,  or  modify  their  meaning,  as  adjectives  yuu/ifi/  nouns  [and  describe 
things.]" — Id.  "  The  third  person  singular  of  verbs,  terminates  in  .s  ores,  like  the  plural  number 
of  nouns." — Id.  "  He  saith  further  :  that,  '  The  apostles  did  not  bapti/e  anew  such  persons  as  had 
been  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  John.'  " — Barclay  <•(•>-.  "  For  wi>  irho  live," — or,  "  For  we  that 
arealire,  are  always  delivered  unto  death  for  Jesus'  sake." — Bible  cor.  "  For  they  who  believe  in 
(iod,  must  be  careful  to  maintain  good  works." — Bard,ty,-or.  "  Nor  yet  of  those  who  teach  things 
that  they  onuht  not,  for  filthy  lucre's  sake." — Id  "  So  as  to  hold  such  bound  in  heaven  as  they 
bind  on'carth,  and  such  loosed  in  heaven  "s  they  loose  on  earth." — Id.  "Now,  if  it  be  an  evil, 
to  do  any  thing  out  of  strife ;  then  such  things  a  M  to  be  done,  are  they  not  to  be 

I   avoided  "and    forsaken?" — Id.     "All    such    as   do    not    satisfy    themselves    with    the  superficies 
of    religion." — Id.       "And    lie    is    the    same    in  subs'ance,    that    lie  was  upon   earth, — th- 
in   spirit,   soul,  and  body." — Id.     "And   those  that   d  >  not   thus,  are   such,  as  the  Church  of 
ran  have  no  charity  for."     Or:   "And  tln.-e  that  do  not  thus,  are  pi  -rsons  toward  whom 
the   Church    of  Rome    can"  have   no    charity." — Id.     "  Before    his    book,  he   ji/accx  a  great    list 
of  what   he    accounts  the    blasphemous  assertions  of  the    Quakers." — Id.     "And   this  is  what 
he    should   have   proved." — /</.     "Three   of  whom   were   at   that  time  actual   students  of  phi- 
losophy in  the  university."— Id.      "  Therefore   it  is   not   lawful   for  any    w/iomsoecer  *  *  *  to 
the  consciences  of  others." — Id.     "  \Vlnj  were  the  former  days  better  than  these  ?  " — Bible 
cur.     "  In  the  same  manner  in  which  " — or,  better,  ".///.«•/  ^\ — the  ti-rm  my  depends  on  the  name 
•    e  term  iior>i:  depends  on  the  [preposition  to,  understood  after 
the  adjective}  NKAH." — /''.     ".I.imcs  died  i-n  the  day  on  which  Henry  returned." — Id. 

*Tli;  ;ne  of  Murray,  and  his  hun<in-<l  cnpyisrs  ;  hut  it  is  by  no  means  generally  true.     It  is  true  of 

nilvi'rlis.  only  when  they  are  connected  by  conjunct i  two  words,  unless  the  conjunction 

which  may  he  said  to  connect  them.  '•  •'•(>(!. — G.  UROWN. 

mple  :  ••  Imperfect  articulation  ecnu-s  not  so  much  from  h:ol  <irx<m*,  as  from  the  abuse  of  good  onts."  — 
Porter's  Analysis,    llere  ones  represents  organs,  and  prevents  unpleasant  repetition. — O.  BROWX. 


896  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    ETYMOLOGY.  [PART  II. 

LESSON  II. — DECLENSIONS. 

"OTHER  makes  the  plural  OTHERS,  when  it  is  found  without  its  substantive." — Priestley  cor. 
"But  his, hers,  ours,  yours,  and  theirs,  have  evidently  the  form  of  the  possessive  case." — Lowth 
cor.  "To  the  Saxon  possessive  cases,  hire,  ure,  cower,  hira,  (that  is,  hers,  ours, yours,  theirs,) 
we  have  added  the  s,  the  characteristic  of  the  possessive  case  of  nouns." — Id.  "  Upon  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  both  theirs  and  ours." — Friends  cor.  "In  this  place,  His  is  clearly 


r.  "  rirsc  person:  oing.  i,  my  or  mine,  me;  riur.  we,  our  or  ours,  us.' — Wilbur  ana  Livings- 
ton cor.  "  Second  person  :  Sing.  tho\i,thi/or  thine,  thee;  Plur.  ye  or  you,  your  or  yours,  you." — lid. 
"  Third  person  :  Sing,  she,  her  or  hers,  her ;  Plur.  they,  their  or  theirs,  them." — lid.  "  So  shall  ye 
serve  strangers  in  a  land  that  is  not  yours." — ALGER,  BRUCE,  ET  AL.  :  Jer.  v,  19.  "  Second  person, 
Singular  :  Nom.  thou,  Poss.  thy  or  thine,  Obj.  thee." — Frost  cor.  "  Second  person,  Dual :  Nom.  Gyt, 
ye  two  ;  Gen.  Incer,  of  you  two  ;  Dat.  Inc,  incrum,  to  you  two  ;  Ace.  Inc.  you  two  ;  Voc.  Eala  inc,  O 
ye  two;  Abl.  Inc,  incrum,  from  you  two." — Gioilt  cor.  "Second  person,  Plural:  Nom.  Ge,  ye  ; 
Gen.  Eower,  of  you;  Dat.  Eow,  to  you;  Ace.  Eow,  you;  Voc.  Eala  ge,  O  ye;  Abl.  Eow,  from 
you." — Id.  "  These  words  are,  mine,  thine,  his,  hers,  ours,  yours,  theirs,  and  whose." — Cardellcor. 
"  This  house  is  ours,  and  that  is  yours.  Theirs  is  very  commodious." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  55. 
"And  they  shall  eat  up  thy  harvest,  and  thy  bread  :  they  shall  eat  up  thy  flocks  and  thy  herds." — 
Bible  cor.  "Whoever  and  Whichever  are  thus  declined:  Sing.  Nom.  whoever,  Poss.  tvhosever, 
Obj.  whomever;  Plur.  Nom.  whoever,  Poss.  whosever,  Obj.  whomever.  Sing.  Nom.  whichever, 
Poss.  (wanting,}  Obj.  whichever ;  Plur.  Nom.  whichever,  Poss.  (rvanting,)  Obj.  whichever." — 
Cooper  cor.  "  The  'compound  personal  pronouns  are  thus  declined:  Sing.  Nom.  myself,  Poss. 
(wanting,)  Obj.  myself;  Plur.  Nom.  ourselves,  Poss.  (wanting,)  Obj.  ourselves.  Sing.  Nom. 
thyself  or  yourself,  Poss.  (wanting,)  Obj.  thyself,  &c." — Perley  cor.  "Every  one  of  us,  each  for 
himself,  laboured  to  recover  him." — Sidney  cor.  "  Unless  when  ideas  of  their  opposites  manifestly 
suggest  themselves." — Wright  cor.  "It  not  only  exists  in  time,  but  is  itself  time." — Id.  "A  posi- 
tion which  the  action  itself 'will  palpably  confute." — Id.  "A  difficulty  sometimes  presents  itself." — 
Id.  "  They  are  sometimes  explanations  in  themselves." — Id.  "Ours,  Yours,  Theirs,  Hers,  Its." — 
Barrett  cor. 

"Theirs,  the  wild  chase  of  false  felicities  ; 
His,  the  composed  possession  of  the  true." — Young,  N.  Th.,  N.  viii,  1.  1100. 

LESSON  III. — MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"  It  is  the  boast  of  Americans,  without  distinction  of  parties,  that  their  government  is  the 
most  free  and  perfect  that  exists  on  the  earth." — Dr.  Allen  cor.  "  Children  that  are  dutiful  to 
their  parents,  enjoy  great  prosperity." — Sanborn  cor.  "  The  scholar  that  improves  his  time,  sets 
an  example  worthy  of  imitation." — Id.  "Nouns  and  pronouns  that  signify  the  same  person, 
place,  or  thing,  agree  in  case." — Cooper  cor.  "  An  interrogative  sentence  is  one  that  asks  a 
question." — Id.  "  In  the  use  of  words  and  phrases  that  in  point  of  time  relate  to  each  other,  the 
order  of  time  should  be  duly  regarded." — Id.  "  The  same  observations  that  show  the  effect  of  the 
article  upon  the  participle,  appear  to  be  applicable  [also]  to  the  pronoun  and  participle." — Murray 
cor.  "  The  reason  why  they  have  not  the  same  use  of  them  in  reading,  may  be  traced  to  the  very 
defective  and  erroneous  method  in  which  the  art  of  reading  is  taught." — Id.  "Ever  since  reason 
began  to  exert  her  powers,  thought,  during  our  waking  hours,  has  been  active  in  every  breast, 
without  a  moment's  suspension  or  pause." — Id.  ct  al.  cor.  "In  speaking  of  such  as  greatly 
delight  in  the  same." — Pope  cor.  "  Except  him  to  whom  the  king  shall  hold  out  the  golden 
sceptre,  that  he  may  live." — Bible  cor.  "But  the  same  day  on  which  Lot  went  out  of 
Sodom,  it  rained  fire  and  brimstone  from  heaven,  and  destroyed  them  all." — Bible  cor. 
"  In  the  next  place,  I  will  explain  several  constructions  of  nouns  and  pronouns,  that  have 
not  yet  come  under  our  notice." — Kirkham  cor.  "Three  natural  distinctions  of  time  are  all 
that  can  exist." — Hall  cor.  "  We  have  exhibited  such  only  as  are  obviously  distinct ;  and  these 
seem  to  be  sufficient,  and  not  more  than  sufficient." — Murray  et  al.  cor.  "The  parenthesis 
encloses  a.  phrase  or  clause  that  may  be  omitted  without  materially  injuring  the  connexion  of  the 
other  members." — Hall  cor.  "  Consonants  are  letters  that  cannot  be  sounded  without  the  aid  of 
a  vowel." — Bucke  cor.  "  Words  are  not  mere  sounds,  but  sounds  that  convey  a  meaning  to  the 
mind." — Id.  "  Nature's  postures  are  always  easy  ;  and,  what  is  more,  nothing  but  your  own  will 
can  put  you  out  of  them." — Collier  cor.  "Therefore  ought  we  to  examine  our  oicn  selves,  and 
prove  our  ownselves." — Barclay  cor.  "  Certainly,  it  had  been  much  more  natural,  to  have  divided 
Active  verbs  into  Immanent,  or  those  whose  action  is  terminated  within  itself,  and  Transient,  or 
those  whose  action  is  terminated  in  something  without  itself." — R.  Johnson  cor.  "This  is  such  an 
advantage  as  no  other  lexicon  will  afford." — Dr.  Taylor  cor.  "  For  these  reasons,  such  liberties 
are  taken  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  with  those  words  which  are  of  the  most  general  and  frequent 
use." — Pike  cor.  "  While  we  object  to  the  laws  ichich  the  antiquarian  in  language  would  impose 
on  us,  we  must  also  enter  our  protest  against  those  authors  who  are  too  fond  of  innovations." — 
L.  Murray  cor. 


CHAPTER  VI. —  VERBS. 

CORRECTIONS  IN  THE  FORMS  OF  VERBS. 

LESSON  I.— PRETERITS. 

"  In  speaking  on  a  matter  which  touched  their  hearts." — Phil.  Museum  cor.  "  Though  Horace 
published  it  some  time  after." — Id.  "  The  best  subjects  with  which  the  Greek  models  furnished 
him." — Id.  "  Since  he  attacked  no  thought  to  it." — Id.  "  By  what  slow  steps  the  Greek  alpha- 
bet reached  its  perfection." — Id.  "  Because  Goethe  wished  to  erect  an  affectionate  memorial." — Id. 
"  But  the  Saxon  forms  soon  dropped  away." — Id.  "  It  speaks  of  all  the  towns  that perishcdin.  the 


CHAP.  VI.]  KEY    TO    FALSE   ETYMOLOGY. VERBS.  897 


me  to  the  skin  ;  My  skin  lie  fayed,  my  hair  he  cropped;  At  head  and  foot  my  body  lopjx-d."1 
— III.  "  I  see  the  greatest  owls'  in  you,"  That  ever  .screeched  or  ever  flew." — Id.  "  I  sat  with  de- 
light, From  morning  till  night." — Id.  "  Dick  nimbly  skipped  the  gutter." — Id.  "  In  at  the  pan- 
trv  door  this  morn  I  flipped." — Id.  "  Nobody  tiring  ever  touched  me,  but  you." — W.  Walker  cor. 
at.  I  ship  ;  1'reti-rit,  I  shipped;  Perf.  l\trtirip!e,  shipped." — A.  Murray  cor.  "Then  the 
kin?  arose,  and  tore  his  garments." — Bible  cor.  "  When  he  lifted  up  his  foot,  he  knew  not  where 
he  should  set  it  next." — Bunyancor.  "  He  lifted  up  his  spear  against  eight  hundred,  whom  he 
slew  at  one  time." — Bible  cor.  "  Upon  this  chaos  rode  the  distressed  ark." — Burnet  cor.  "  On 
whose  foolish  honesty,  my  practices  rode  easy." — Shakspeart  cor.  "  That  form  of  the  first  or 
primogenial  Earth,  which  rose  immediately  out  of  chaos." — Burnet  cor.  li  Sir,  how  came  it,  you 
have  helped  to  make  this  rescue  ?  " — Shak.  cor.  "  He  swore  he  would  rather  lose  all  his  father's 
image's,  than  that  table." — Peachum  cor .  "  When  our  language  dropped  its  ancient  terminations." 
— Dr.  Murray  cor.  "  When  themselves  they  vilified." — Milton  cor.  "  But  I  chose  rather  to  do 
thus." — Barclay  cor.  "  When  he  pleaded  (or  pled)  against  the  parsons." — Hist.  cor.  "And  he 
that  saw  it,  bore  record."  Or  :  "  And  he  that  saw  it,  bare  record." — John,  xix,  3o.  "  An  irregu- 
lar verb  has  one  more  variation  ;  as,  drive,  drivest,  [driveth,']  drives,  drove,  drovest,  driving,  driven." 
— Mutt.  ILirriyon  cor.  "  Beside  that  village,  Hannibal  pitched  his  camp." — W.  Walker  cor.  "He 
fetched  it  from  Tmolus." — Id.  "  He  supped  with  his  morning-gown  on." — Id.  "  There  stamped 
her  sacred  name." — Barloio  cor. 

"Fix'd*  on  the  view  the  great  discoverer  stood, 
And  thus  addressed  the  messenger  of  good."— Barlow  cor. 

LESSON  II.— MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"  Three  freemen  were  on  trial  " — or,  "  were  receiving  their  trial — at  the  date  of  our  last  infor- 
mation."— Editor  cor.  "  While  the  house  was  building,  many  of  the  tribe  arrived." — Cox  cor. 
"  But  a  foundation  has  been  laid  in  Zion,  and  the  church  is  built — (or,  continues  to  be  built — ) 
upon  it." — The  Friend  cor.  "  And  one  fourth  of  the  people  are  receiving  education." — E.  I.  Mag. 
cor.  "The  present  [tense,]  or  that  [form  of  the  verb}  which  [expresses  what]  is  novr  doing." — Beck 
cor.  lf  A  new  church,  called  the  Pantheon,  is  about  being  completed,  in  an  expensive  style." — 
Thompson  cor.  "  When  I  last  saw  him,  he  had  grown  considerably." — Murray  cor.  "I  know 
what  a  rugged  and  dangerous  path  I  Aare  got  into." — Duncan  cor.  "'You  might  as  well  preach  ease 
to  one  on  the  rack." — Locke  cor.  "  Thou  hast  heard  me,  and  hast  become  my  salvation." — Bible 
cor.  "  While  the  Elementary  Spelling-Book  wot  preparing  (or,  was  in  progress  of  preparation)  for 
the  press." — Cohh  cor.  "  Language  has  become,  in  modern  times,  more  correct." — Jamieson cor. 
"  If  the  plan  has  been  executed  in  any  measure  answerable  to  the  author's  wishes." — Bobbins  cor. 
"  The  vial  of  wrath  is  s\\\\  pouring  out  on  the  seat  of  the  beast." — Christian  Ex.  cor.  "  Christianity 
had  become  the  generally-adopted  and  established  religion  of  the  whole  Roman  Empire." — GUT- 
IK  >j  ">r.  "  Who  wrote  before  the  first  century  had  elapsed." — Id.  "  The  original  and  analogical 
form  has  grown  quite  obsolete." — Lowth  cor.  "  Their  love,  and  their  hatred,  and  their  envy,  have 
perished." — Murray  cor.  "  The  poems  had  got  abroad,  and  were  in  a  great  many  hands." — 
cor.  "  It  is  more  harmonious,  as  well  as  more  correct,  to  say,  'The  bubble  is  ready  to 
" — Co'i'/i'tt  cur.  "  I  drove  my  suitor  from  his  mad  humour  of  love." — SJiak.  cor.  "  Se  viri- 
liter  expedivit. — ('</-.  He  Ac/.v  played  the  man." — Walker  cor.  "  Wilt  thou  kill  me,  as  thou  didst 
the  Kijvptian  yesterday  ?  " — Bible  cor.  "  And  we,  methought,  [or  thought  /,]  looked  up  to  him  from 
our  hill." — Cotcley  cor.  "  I  fear  thou  dost  not  think  so  much  of  the  best  things  as  thou  ought." — 
Mi-t/iotrcor.  "  When  this  work  was  commenced." — Wright  cor.  "  Exercises  and  a  Key  to  this 
work  are  about  being  prepared." — Id.  "  James  is  loved  by  John." — Id.  "  Or  that  which  is  ex- 
hibited."— Id.  "  He  was  smitten." — Id.  "  In  the  passive  voice  we  say,  '  I  am  loved.'  " — Id. 
"  Subjunctive  Mood  :  If  I  be  smitten,  If  thou  be  smitten,  If  he  be  smitten." — Id.  "  I  sJiall  not  be 
able  to  convince  you  how  superficial  the  reformation  is." — Chalmers  cor.  "  I  said  to  myself,  I 
shall  lio  obliged  to  expose  the  folly." — ('hazottc  cor.  "  When  Clodius,  had  he  meant  to  return 
that  day  to  Rome,  must  have  arrived." — ./.  Q.  Adams  cor.  "  That  the  fact  has  been  done,  is 
do/',/  /,  or  will  be  done." — /'<  in  •  ror.  "  Am  I  to  be  instructed  ?  " — Wright  cor.  "  I  choose  him." 
— Id.  "  John,  who  respected  his  father,  was  obedient  to  his  commands." — Barrett  cor. 

"  The  region  echoes  to  the  clash  of  arms." — Bcattie  cor. 

"  And  sitst  on  high,  and  mak'st  creation's  top 

Thy  footstool ;  and  bcholdst  below  thee— all."— Pollok  cor. 

"  And  see  if  thou  can*t  puni-sh  sin  and  let 

Mankind  go  free.     Thou  faitst — be  not  surprised." — Idem. 

N    II  I. — Mixr.n  K\AMI>I.!;S. 

"  "What  follows,  might  /»ttcr  hare  been  wanting  altogether." — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  This  member  of 
the  sentence  might  much  better  have  been  omitted  altogether." — Id.  "  One  or  the  other  of  them, 
therefore,  might  bolter  have  beon  omitted." — Id.  "  The  whole  of  this  last  member  of  the  sen- 
tence might  better  have  been  dropped." — Id.  "  In  this  cas...  tli«-\-  ,,i!nht  much  better  be  omitted." 
— Id.  "•  lie  //»/v/*^  better  have  said  '  the  prn,lu  -timis.'  " — Id.  "The'Greeks  ascribed  the  origin 
of  poetry  to  Orpheus,  Linus,  and  Mu-a-us." — Id.  "It  teas  noticed  long  ago,  that  all  these 
fictitious  names  liuve  the  same  number  of  syllables." — Phil.  Must-um  mr.  "  When  I  found  that 
he  hid  committed  nothing  worthy  of  death,  I  il-t,  r/nineil  to  send  him." — Bible  cor.  "I  would 
rather  be  a  door-keeper  in  the  house  of  my  God." — Id.  "  As  for  such,  I  wish  the  Lord  would  open 

*  From  the  force  of  habit,  or  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  a  false  pronunciation,  these  ocular  contractions  are 
still  c  unetimes  carefully  maJe  in  printing  poetry  ;  but  they  are  not  very  important,  aii'l  -nine  m-item  authors,  or 
their  printers,  dbrvgard  them  altn^cthfr.  In  correcting  short  poetical  examples.  I  shall  in  general  take  no  partic- 
ular jains  to  ilisriiiKiiish  them  from  prose.  All  needful  contractions  however  will  be  preserved,  and  sometimes 
aJso  a  capital  letter,  to  show  where  the  author  commenced  a  line. 


GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  ETYMOLOGY.     [PART  II. 

their  eyes."  Or,  better  :  "May  the  Lord  open  (or,  I  pray  the  Lord  to  open)  their  eyes." — Bar- 
clay cor.  "  It  would  have  made  our  passage  over  the  river  very  difficult." — W alley  cor.  "We 
should  not  have  been  able  to  carry  our  great  guns." — Id.  "  Others  would  have  questioned  our 

Srudence.  if  we  had." — Id.  "  Beware  thou  be  not  BECJESARED;  i.e.,  Beware  that  thou  do  apt 
windle — or,  lest  thou  dwindle — into  a  mere  Cocsar." — Harris  cor.  "Thou  raisedst  (or,  famil- 
iarly, thou  raised)  thy  voice  to  record  the  stratagems  of  needy  heroes." — Arbuthnot  cor. 
"  Life  hurries  off  apace  ;  thine  is  almost  gone  already." — Collier  cor.  "  '  How  unfortunate  has 
this  accident  made  me  ! '  cries  such  a  one." — Id.  "  The  muse  that  soft  and  sickly  woos  the  ear." 
— Pollokcor.  "  A  man  might  better  relate  himself  to  a  statue." — Bacon  cor.  "  I  heard  thee  say  but 
now,  thou  liked  not  that." — Shak.  cor.  "  In  my  whole  course  of  wooing,  thoucriedst.  (or,  familiarly, 
thou  cried,)  Indeed!" — Id.  "But  our  ears  have  grown  familiar  with  '/  have  ivrote,'  *I  have 
drank,'  &c.,  which  are  altogether  as  ungrammatical." — Lowth  et  al.  cor.  "The  court  was  in 
session  before  Sir  Roger  came." — Addition  cor.  "  She  needs — (or,  if  you  please,  need — )  be  no  more 
with  the  jaundice  possessed." — Swift  cor.  "  Besides,  you  found  fault  with  our  victuals  one  day 
when  you  were  here." — Id.  "  If  spirit  of  other  sort,  So  minded,  hath  (or  has)  o'erleaped  these 
earthy  bounds." — Milton  cor.  "  It  would  have  been  more  rational  to  have  forborne  this." — Bar- 
clay cor.  "A  student  is  not  master  of  it  till  he  has  seen  all  these." — Dr.  Murray  cor.  "  The 
said  justice  shall  summon  the  party." — Brevard  cor.  "Now  what  has  become  of  thy  former  wit 
and  humour  ?  " — Spect.  cor.  "Young  stranger,  whither  wanderst  thou  ?  " — Burns  cor.  "  SVBJ. 
Pres.  If  I  love,  If  thou  love,  If  he  love.  Imp.  If  I  loved,  If  thou  loved,  If  he  loved." — Merchant 
cor.  "  SUBJ.  If  I  do  not  love,  If  thou  do  not  love,  If  he  do  not  love." — Id.  '•  If  he  has  committed 
sins,  they  shall  be  forgiven  him." — Bible  cor.  "  Subjunctive  Mood  of  the  verb  to  call,  second  per- 
son singular:  If  thou  call,  (rarely,  If  thou  do  call,)  If  thou  called." — Ililey  cor.  "Subjunctive 
Mood  of  the  verb  to  love,  second  person  singular  :  If  thou  love,  (rarely,  If  thou  do  love,)  If  thou 
loved," — Bullions  cor.  "I  was;  thou  wast;  he,  she,  or  it,  was:  We,  you  or  ye,  they,  were." — 
White  cor.  "I  taught,  thou  taur/htest,  (familiarly,  thou  taught,)  he  taught." — Ooar  cof.  "We 
say,  'If  it  rain,'  'Suppose  it  rain,'  ' Lest  it  rain,'  '  Unless  it  rain.'  This  manner  of  speaking  is 
called  the  SUBJUNCTIVE  MOOD." — Weld  cor.  "  He  has  arrived  at  what  is  deemed  the  age  of 
manhood." — Priestley  cor.  "  He  might  much  better  have  let  it  alone." — Tooke  cor.  "  He  were 
better  without  it.  Or:  He  would  be  better  without  it." — Locke  cor.  "Hadst  thou  not  been  by. 
Or  :  //'  thou  hadst  not  been  by.  Or,  in  the  familiar  style  :  Had  not  thou  been  by." — Shak.  cor. 
"I  learned  geography.  Thou  learned  arithmetic.  He  learned  grammar." — Fuller  cor.  "Till 
the  sound  has  ceased." — Sheridan  cor.  "  Present,  die  ;  Preterit,  died;  Perf.  Participle  died" — 
Six  English  Grammars  corrected. 

"  Thou  bow'dst  thy  glorious  head  to  none,  fear'dst  none."     Or  : — 

"Thou  bowed  thy  glorious  head  to  none,  feared  none." — Pollok  cor. 

"  Thou  lookst  upon  thy  boy  as  though  thou  guess'd  it." — Knowles  cor. 

"  As  once  thou  slept,  while  she  to  life  was  formed." — Milton  cor. 

"  Who  finds  the  partridge  in  the  puttock's  nest, 
But  may  imagine  how  the  bird  was  killed?" — Shak.  cor. 

"  Which  might  have  well  become  the  best  of  men." — Idem  cor. 


CHAPTER  VII.  —  PARTICIPLES. 

CORRECTIONS  IN  THE  FORMS  OF  PARTICIPLES. 

LESSON  I. — IRREGULARS. 
"Many  of  your  readers  have  mistaken  that  passage." — Steele  cor.  "Had  not  my  dog  of  a 
steward  run  away." — Addison  cor.  "  None  should  be  admitted,  except  he  had  broken  his  collar-bone 
thrice." — Id.  "  We  could  not  know  what  was  written  at  twenty," — Waller  cor.  "  I  have  written, 
thou  hast  written,  he  has  written  ;  we  have  written,  you  have  written,  they  have  writtcti." — Ash  cor. 
"As  if  God  had  spoken  his  last  words  there  to  his  people."— Barclay  cor.  "  I  had  like  to  have  come 
in  that  ship  myself."— Observer  cor.  "  Our  ships  and  vessels  being  driven  out  of  the  harbour  by 
a  storm." — Hutchinsoncor.  "  He  will  endeavour  to  write  as  the  ancient  author  would  have  written, 
had  he  written  in  the  same  language." — Bolingbroke  cor.  "  When  his  doctrines  grew  too  strong 
to  be  shaken  by  his  enemies." — Atterbury  cor.  "  The  immortal  mind  that  hath  forsaken  her  man- 
sion."— Milton  cor.  "  Grease  that's  sweated  (or  siveat)  from  the  murderer's  gibbet,  throw  into 
the  flame." — Shak.  cor.  "  The  court  also  was  chidden,  (or  chid)  for  allowing  such  questions  to  be 
put." — Stone  cor.  "  He  would  have  spoken." — Milton  cor.  "  Words  interwoven  (or  interweaved) 
with  sighs  found  out  their  way." — Id.  "  Those  kings  and  potentates  who  have  st rived  (or  striven.)" 
— Id.  "  That  even  Silence  was  taken." — Id.  "And  envious  Darkness,  ere  they  could  return, 
had  stolen  them  from  me." — Id.  "  I  have  chosen  this  perfect  man." — Id.  "  I  shall  scarcely  think 
you  have  sicuin  in  a  gondola." — Shak.  cor.  "  The  fragrant  brier  was  woven  (orwea-ved)  between." 
— Dryden  cor.  "  Then  finish  what  you  have  bcc/un." — Id.  "  But  now  the  years  a  numerous  train 
have  run." — Pope  cor.  "  Repeats  your  verses  written  (or  writ)  on  glasses." — Prior  cor.  "  Who  by 
turns  have  risen." — Id.  "  Which  from  great  authors  I  have  taken." — Id.  "  Even  there  he  should 
have  fallen. " — Id. 

"The  sun  has  ris'n,  and  gone  to  bed, 

Just  as  if  Partridge  were  not  dead." — Swift  cor. 
"And,  though  no  marriage  words  are  spoken. 
They  part  not  till  the  ring  is  broken."— Swift  cor. 

LESSON  II. — REGULARS. 

"  When  the  word  is  stripped  of  all  the  terminations."— Dr.  Murray  cor.     "  Forgive  him,  Tom  ; 

his  head  is  cracked." — Swift  cor.     "  For  'tis  the  sport,  to  have  the  engineer  hoiscd  (or  hoisted)  with 

his  own  petar." — Shak.  cor.     "As  great  as  they  are,  I  was  nursed  by  their  mother." — Swift  cor. 

"  If  he  should  now  be  cried  down   since  his  change." — Id.     "Dipped  over  head  and  ears — in 


CHAP.    VIII.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    ETYMOLOGY.  -  ADVERBS.  899 


debt."  —  Id.    "  We  see  the  nation's  credit  crac  ked."  —  Id.    "  Because  they  find  their  pockets  picked." 

—  Id.     "  O  what  ;i  pleasure  ;/»/.m/with  pain!"  —  Id.     "And  only  with  her  brother  /inked."  —  Id. 
"  Because  he  ne'er  a  thought  allowed,  That  might  not  be  conf&sed"  —  Id.      "  My  love  to  Sheelah 
is  more  firmly  fi.red."  —  Id.      "  The  observations  anncj-ctl   to  them   will  be  intelligible."  —  /'////. 
MHS,  a  m  cor.      "Those  eyes  are  always  Jixed  on  the  general  principles."  —  Id.      "  Laborious  con- 
jectures will  be  banished  from  our  commentaries."  —  I/I.     "  Tiridates  was  dethroned,  and  Phraates 
was  rtestabUahedi  in  his  stead."  —  Id.      "A  Roman  who  was  attached   to  Augustus."  —  Id.     "  Xor 
should  I  have  spoken  of  it,  unless  Baxter  had  talked  about  two  such."  —  Id.     "And  ttie  reformers 
of  language  have  generally  rushed  on."  —  Id.     "  Three  centuries  and  a  half  had  then  elapsed  since 
the  date."  —  Ih.     "  Of  such  criteria,  as  has  been  re  marked  alreadv,  there  is  an  abundance."  —  Id. 
"  The  English  have  surpassed  every  other  nation  in  their  services."  —  Id.     "  The  party  addressed  is 
next  in  dignity  to  *he  speaker."  —  Harris  cor.     "  To  which  we  are  many  times  helped.'"  —  W.  ll'alk- 

"But   for   him,  I  should  have  looked  well  enough   to   myself."  —  Id.      "Why  are  you 
ve.red,  Lady  ?  why  do    frown  ?  "  —  Milton  cor.     "Obtruding  false  rules  pranked  in  reason's  garb." 

—  Id.      "  But,  like  David  equipped  in  Saul's  armour,  it  is  encumbered  and  oppressed."  —  Camp- 
bell eor. 

"And  when  their  merchants  are  blown  up,  and.  cracked, 
Whole  towns  are  cast  away  in  storms,  and  wrecked."  —  Butler  cor. 

LESSON  III.  —  MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"  The  lands  are  held  in  free  and  common  soccage."  —  Tnnnbnll  cor.     "A  stroke  is  draicn  under 
such  words.  "—CMett's  dr.,  1st  Ed.  "  It  is  struck  even,  with  a  strickle.  "—IF.  Walker  cor.  "Whilst 

•  '•andcrina,  without  any  care,  beyond  my  bounds."  —  Id.  "  When  one  would  do  something, 
unless  hindered  by  something  present"."  —  7?.  'Johnson  cor.  •'  It  is  used  potentially,  but  not  so  as 
to  be  rendered  by  these  signs."  —  Id.  "  Now  who  would  dote  upon  things  Jtnrried  down  the  stream 
thus  fast  ?  "  —  Collier  cor.  "  Heaven  hath  timely  tried  their  growth."  —  Milton  eor.  "  O  !  ye  mis- 
took, ye  should  have  snatched  his  wand."  —  Id.  "  Of  true  virgin  here  distressed."  —  Id.  "  So  that 
they  have  at  last  come  to  be  substituted  in  the  stead  of  it."  —  Barclay  cor.  "  Though  ye  have  lain 
among  the  pots."  —  Bible  cor.  "And,  lo,  in  her  mouth  was  an  olive  leaf  plucked  oft'."  —  Scott's 

<:»<!  Alder's.     "  Brutus  and  Cassius  Hare  ridden,  (or  rode,)  like  madmen,  through  the  gates 


they  had  descried. 

Betfroppcd  with  blood  of  Gorgon." — Id'  "And  in  a  trotibled  sea  of  passion  tossed." — Id.  "  The 
>las  !  is  quickly  auesscd." — Sait'f  cor.  "  The  kettle  to  the  top  was  hoised,  or  hoisted." — Id. 
"  In  chains  thy  syllables  are  linker/."— Id.  "  Rather  than  thus  be  overtopped,  Would  you  not  wish 
their  laurels  ernp/iedf " — Id.  "  The  HYPHEN,  or  COXJOINEH,  is  a  little  line  drawn  to  connect 
WD!  (Is.  or  parts  of  words." — Cobbett  cor.  "  In  the  other  manners  of  dependence,  this  general  rule 
is  sometimes  broken." — R.  Johnson  cor.  "  Some  intransitive  verbs  may  be  rendered  transitive  by 
means  of  a  preposition  /ircfi.red  to  them." — Grant  cor.  "Whoever  now  should  place  the  accent 
on  the  first  syllable  of  Vale'rius,  would _  set  every  body  a  laughing." — /.  Walker  cor.  "Being 
mocked,  scourged ,  *////  upon,  and  crucified." — (Jit met/  cor. 

"  For  rhyme  in  Greece  or  Rome  was  never  known, 

Till  barb'rous  /ion/is  those  sfn/is  Jntd  ovcrtJirown." — Roscommon  cor. 
"  In  my  own  Thames  may  I  be  droirncd, 

1  stoop  beneath  'the  crowned."     Or  thus: — 
"  In  my  own  Thames  may  I  be  drau-n'd  dead, 
If  e'er  I  stoop  beneath  a  crown'd  head." — Swiff  cor. 


CHAPTER  VIII.  —ADVERBS. 

CORRECTIONS  RESPECTING  THE  FORMS   OF  ADVERBS. 

"  AVc  can  much  more  easily  form  the  conception  of  a  fierce  combat." — Blair  corrected.    "  When 
he  was  restored  ayreeably  to  the  treaty,  be  was  a  perfect  savage." — Webster  eor.     "  How  I  shall 
acquit  myself  suitably  to  the  importanee  of  the  trial." — Dn/n-an  cor.     "Can  any  thing  show  your 
llolini'ss'hnw   iniiroi'thily  you   treat  mankind  ?" — S/iect.  cor.     "In  what  other,  consist  t nt/y  with 
:  and  comnr  .n   you  LTO  ai.out  to  explain  it  to  him  ?  " — Loicth  cor.     "AynetMyto 

this  rule,  the  short  vowel  Sh.  .  haraete:s." — Il/An//  cor.     "  We  shall  give  a  remarkably 

line  example  of  this  figure." — See  Blair's  I'lu-t.  p.  lo(>.  "All  of  which  is  most  abominably  false  " 
— B'trc/aif  enr.  "  He  heaped  up  great  riches,  but  passed  his  timo  tnisen/b/y." — Murray  cor.  "  He 
is  HP\-  \!tb  i-xpn^sing  any  thing  clearly  and  simply." — Dr.  Blaircor.  "Attentive  only  to 

exhibit  his  ideas  clearly  and  csaff/y,  lie  appear*  dr\  " — /'/.  "  Such  words  as  have  the  most  liquids 
and  vowels,  <_rlide  the  most  softly."  Or  :  "  Where  liquids  and  vowels  most  abound,  the  utterance 


'/slow  pare." — I\-r/i;r\  i  or.  •/••'•/// to  yive  an  appearance  of 

'•  That  concord  between  sound  and  sense,  which  is  perceived  in  some  expressions,  independently 
of  artful  pronunciation." — Id.  "  Cornaro  had  become  very  corpulent,  prei-iomly  to  the  adoption 
of  his  temperate  habits." — Hitchcock  cor.  "  Bread,  which  is  a  solid,  and  tolerably  hard,  sub- 
stance."—  Da  if  cor.  "To  command  every  body  that  was  not  dressed  as  finely  as  himself." — Id. 
4  Many  of  them  have  sen  reel  >/  outlived  thoir  authors." — J.  Ward  eor.  "Their  labour,  indeed,  did 
not  penetrate  very  deeply." — Wilson  cor.  "The  people  are  miserably  poor,  and  subsist  on  fish." 
— Hume  cor.  "A  scale,  which  I  took  great  pains,  some  years  ago,\.o  make." — Bitcke  cor.  "  There 


900  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY    TO    ETYMOLOGY.  [PART  II. 

is  no  truth  on  earth  better  established  than  the  truth  of  the  Bible." — Taylor  cor.     "  I  know  of  no 

work  more  wanted  than  the  one  which  Mr.  Taylor  has  now  furnished." — Dr.  Nott  cor.     "And 

therefore  their  requests  are  unfrequent  and  reasonable." — Taylor  cor.     "  Questions  are  more  easily 

proposed,  than  answered  rightly." — Dilhoyn  cor.     "  Often  reflect  on  the  advantages  you  possess, 

and  on  the  source  from  which  they  are  all  derived." — Murray  cor.     "  If  there  be  no  special  rule 

which  requires  it  to  be  put  further  fonvard." — Milnes  cor.     "  The  masculine  and  the  neuter  have 

the  same  dialect  in  all  the  numbers,  especially  when  they  end  alike." — Id. 

"And  children  are  more  busy  in  their  play 

Than  those  that  wiseliest  pass  their  time  away." — Butler  cor. 


CHAPTER  IX.  — CONJUNCTIONS. 

CORRECTIONS  IN  THE  USE  OF  CONJUNCTIONS. 

"A  Verb  is  so  called  from  the  Latin  verbum,  a  word." — Bucke  cor.  "  References  are  of  ton 
marked  by  letters  or  figures." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  (1.)  "A  Conjunction  is  a  word  which  joins 
words  or  sentences  together." — Lennie,  Bullions,  and  Brace,  cor.  (2.)  "A  Conjunction  is  used  to 
connect  words  or  sentences  together." — R.  C.  Smith  cor.  (3.)  "A  Conjunction  is  used  to  con- 
nect words  or  sentences." — Maunder  cor.  (4.)  "  Conjunctions  are  words  used  to  join  words  or  sen- 
tences."— Wilcox  cor.  (5.)  "A  Conjunction  is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences." — 
M'Culloch,  Hart,  and  Day,  cor.  (6.)  "A  Conjunction  joins  words  or  sentences  together." — Mac- 
intosh and  Hiley  cor.  (7-)  "The  Conjunction  joins  words  or  sentences  together." — L.  Murray 
cor.  (8.)  "  Conjunctions  connect  words  or  sentences  to  each  other." — Wright  cor.  (9.)  "  Conjunc- 
tions connect  words  or  sentences." — Wells  and  Wilcox  cor.  (10.)  "  The  conjunction  is  a  part  of 
speech,  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences." — Weld  cor.  (11.)  "A  conjunction  is  a  word  used  to 
connect  words  or  sentences  together." — Fowler  cor.  (12.)  "  Connectives  are  particles  that  unite 
•words  or  sentences  in  construction." — Webster  cor.  "  English  Grammar  is  miserably  taught  in 
our  district  schools;  the  teachers  know  little  or  nothing  about  it." — J.  O.  Taylor  cor.  "Lest, 
in  stead  of  preventing  diseases,  you  draw  them  on." — Locke  cor.  "  The  definite  article  the  is  fre- 
quently applied  to  adverbs  in  the  comparative  or  the  superlative  degree." — Murray  et  al.  cor. 
"  When  nouns  naturally  neuter  are  assumed  to  be  masculine  or  feminine." — Murray  cor.  "  This 
form  of  the  perfect  tense  represents  an  action  as  completely  past,  though  often  as  done  at  no  great 
distance  of  time,  or  at  a  time  not  specified." — Id.  "  The  Copulative  Conjunction  serves  to  connect 
words  or  clauses,  so  as  to  continue  a  sentence,  by  expressing  an  addition,  a  supposition,  a  cause, 
or  a  consequence." — Id.  "  The  Disjunctive  Conjunction  serves,  not  only  to  continue  a  sentence  »y 
connecting  its  parts,  but  also  to  express  opposition  of  meaning,  either  real  or  nominal." — Id.  If 
we  open  the  volumes  of  our  divines,  philosophers,  historians,  or  artists,  we  shall  find  that  thi'y 
abound  with  all  the  terms  necessary  to  communicate  the  observations  and  discoveries  of  their  a  i- 
thors." — Id.  "  When  a  disjunctive  conjunction  occurs  between  a  singular  noun  or  pronoun  and  a 
plural  one,  the  verb  is  made  to  agree  with  the  plural  noun  or  pronoun." — Murray  et  al.  cor. 
"  Pronouns  must  always  agree  with  their  antecedents,  or  the  nouns  for  which  they  stand,  in  gei- 
der  and  number." — Murray  cor.  "  Neuter  verbs  do  not  express  action,  and  consequently  do  not 
govern  nouns  or  pronouns." — Id.  "And  the  auxiliary  of  the  past  imperfect  as  well  as  of  the  pres- 
ent tense." — Id.  "  If  this  rule  should  not  appear  to  apply  to  every  example  that  has  been  pro- 
duced, or  to  others  which  might  be  cited." — Id.  "An  emphatical  pause  is  made,  after  something 
of  peculiar  moment  has  been  said,  on  which  we  desire  to  fix  the  hearer's  attention." — Murray  and 
Hart  cor.  "An  imperfect*  phrase  contains  no  assertion,  and  does  not  amount  to  a  proposition, 
or  sentence." — Murray  cor.  "  The  word  was  in  the  mouth  of  every  one,  yet  its  meaning  may  still 
be  a  secret." — Id.  "  This  word  was  in  the  mouth  of  every  one,  and  yet,  as  to  its  precise  and  defi- 
nite idea,  this  may  still  be  a  secret." — Harris  cor.  "  It  cannot  be  otherwise,  because  the  French 
prosody  differs  from  that  of  every  other  European  language." — Smollett  cor.  "  So  gradually  that 
it  may  be  engrafted  on  a  subtonic." — Rush  cor.  "  Where  the  Chelsea  and  Maiden  bridges  now 
are."  Or  better :  "  Where  the  Chelsea  or  the  Maiden  bridge  now  is." — Judge  Parker  cor.  "Adverbs 
are  words  added  to  verbs,  to  participles,  to  adjectives,  or  to  other  adverbs." — R.  C.  Smith  cor.  "  I 
could  not  have  told  you  who  the  hermit  was,  or  on  what  mountain  he  lived." — Bucke  cor.  "AM 
and  BE  (for  they  are  the  same  verb}  naturally,  or  in  themselves,  signify  being." — Brightland  cor. 
"  Words  ure  signs,  either  oral  or  written,  by  which  we  express  our  thoughts,  or  ideas." — Mrs.  Bet  /nine 
cor.  "  His  fears  will  detect  him,  that  he  shall  not  escape." — Comly  cor.  "  Whose  is  equally  ap- 
plicable to  persons  and  to  things." — Webster  cor.  "  One  negative  destroys  an  other,  so  that  two 
are  equivalent  to  an  affirmative." — Bullions  cor. 

"No  sooner  does  he  peep  into  the  world, 
Than  he  has  done  his  do." — Hudibrascor. 


CHAPTER  X.  —  PREPOSITIONS. 

CORRECTIONS  IN  THE  USE  OF  PREPOSITIONS. 

"  Nouns  are  often  formed  /rom  participles." — L.  Murray  corrected  "  What  tenses  are  formed 
from  the  perfect  participle  ?  " — Ingersoll  cor.  "  Which  tense  is  formed/rom  the  present,  or  root  of 
'the  verb  ?  " — Id.  "  When  a  noun  or  a  pronoun  is  placed  before  a  participle,  independently  of  the 
rest  of  the  sentence." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  348.  "  If  the  addition  consists  o/'two  or  more  words." 
— Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "The  infinitive  mood  is  often  made  absolute,  or  used  independently  of  the 
rest  of  the  sentence." — Lowth's  Gram.  80;  Churchill's,  143;  Bitcke's,  96;  Merchant's,  92.  "  For 

*  The  word  "  imperfect  "  is  not  really  necessary  here  ;  for  the  declaration  is  true  of  any  phrase,  as  this  name  is 
commonly  applied.  — G.  BROWN. 


CHAP.     XI.]  KEY   TO    FALSE    ETYMOLOGY. INTERJECTIONS.  901 

the  great  satisfaction  of  the  reader,  we  shall  present  a  variety  of  false  constructions." — Murray 
cor.  "  For  your  satisfaction,  I  shall  present  you  a  variety  of  false  constructions." — Inijersoll  cor. 
"  I  shall  here  present  [to]  you  a  scale  of  derivation." — Bucke  cor.  "  These  two  manners  of  repre- 
sentation in  respect  to  number." — Loicth  and  Churchill  cor.  "  There  are  certain  adjectives  which 
seem  to  be  derived  from  verbs,  without  any  variation." — Loicth  cor.  "  Or  disqualify  us  lor  receiving 
instruction  or  reproof  from  others." — Murray  cor.  "  For  being  more  studious  than  any  other  pupil 
in  the  school." — Id.  '"  Misunderstanding  the  directions,  we  lost  our  way." — Id.  "  These  people 
reduced  the  greater  part  of  the  island  under  their  own  power." — Id.  "  The  principal  accent  dis- 
tinguishes one  syllable  of  a.  word  from  the  rest." — Id.  "  Just  numbers  are  in  unison  with  the  hu- 
man mind." — Id.  "  We'  must  accept  of  sound  in  stead  of  sense." — Id.  "Also,  in  stead  of  consulta- 
tion, he  uses  consult." — Priestley  cor.  "This  ablative  seems  to  be  governed  by  a  preposition 
understood." — }V.  Walker  cor.  "Lest  my  father  hearof  it,  by  some  means  or  other." — Id.  "And, 
besides,  my  wife  would  hear  of  it  by  some  means." — Id.  "  For  insisting  on  a  requisition  so  odious 
to  them." — Robertson  cor.  "  Based  on  the  great  self-evident  truths  of  liberty  and  equality." — 
Mfi/inul  cor.  "  Very  little  knowledge  of  their  nature  is  acquired^/row  the  spelling-book." — Mur- 
ray cor.  "  They  do  not  cut  it  otf :  except  from  a  few  words  ;  as,  due,  duly,  £c." — Id.  "  Whether 
.  j;  at  such  time,  or  then  finished." — Loioth  cor.  "It  hath  disgusted  hundreds  with  that  con- 
fession."—  Barclay  cor.  "  But  they  have  egregiously  fallen  into  that  incpnveniency." — Id.  "  For 
is  not  this,  to  set  nature  at  work  ?  " — Id.  "And,  surely,  that  which  should  set  all  its  springs  ctfwork, 
' — Attcrbnry  cor.  "  He  could  not  end  his  treatise  without  a  panegyric  on  modern  learning." 
— '!',  mp/ecor.  "  These  are  entirely  independent  of  the  modulation  of  the  voice." — J.  Walker  cor. 
"  It  is  dear  at  a  penny.  It  is  cheap  at  twenty  pounds." — W.  Walker  cor.  "  It  will  be  despatched, 
on  most  occasions,  without  resting." — Locke  cor.  "Oh  the  pain,  the  bliss  of  dying!" — Pope. 
"  When  the  objects  or  the  facts  are  presented  to  him." — R.  C.  Smith  cor.  "  I  will  now  present  you 
a  synopsis." — Id.  "  The  disjunctive  conjunction  connects  words  or  sentences,  and  suggests  an  oppo- 
sition of  meaning,  more  or  less  direct." — Id.  "  I  shall  now  present  to  you  a  few  lines." — Bucks 
cor.  "  Common  names,  or  substantives,  are  those  which  stand  for  things  assorted." — Id.  "Ad- 
jectives, in  the  English  language,  are  not  varied  by  genders,  numbers,  or  cases ;  their  only  inflection 
is  for  the  degrees  of  comparison." — Id.  "  Participles  are  [little  more  than]  adjectives  formed 
from  verbs." — Id.  "  I  do  love  to  walk  out  on  a  fine  summer  evening." — Id.  "Ellipsis,  when 
applied  to  grammar,  is  the  elegant  omission  of  one  or  more  words  of  a  sentence." — Merchant 
cor.  "  The  preposition  to  is  generally  required  before  verbs  in  the  infinitive  mood,  but  after  the 
following  verbs  it  is  properly  omitted;  name-ly,  bid,  dire,  feel,  need,  let,  make,  hear,  see:  as, 
'  He  bid  me  do  it ; '  not,  '  He  bid  me  to  do  it.'  " — Id.  "  The  infinitive  sometimes  follows  than,  for 
the  lutft-r  term  of  a  comparison  ;  as,  ['  Murray  should  have  known  better  than  to  write,  and  Mer- 
chant, f>:-f'"r  th  in  to  copy,  the  text  here  corrected,  or  the  ambiguous  example  they  appended  to 
it.']" — Id.  "  Or,  by  prefixing  the  adverb  more  or  less,  for  the  comparative,  and  most  or  least,  for 
the  superlative." — Id.  "A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun." — Id.  "Prom  monosyl- 
lables, the  comparative  is  regularly  formed  by  adding  r  or  er." — Perley  cor.  "  He  has  particu- 
larly named  these,  in  distinction  from  others." — Harris  cor.  "To  revive  the  decaying  taste  for 
ancient  literature." — Id.  "  He  found  the  greatest  difficulty  in  writing." — Hume  cor. 
"And  the  tear,  that  is  wiped  with  a  little  address, 

May  be  followed  perhaps  by  a  smile." — Cowper,  i,  216. 


CHAPTER  XI.  —  INTERJECTIONS. 

CORRECTIONS  IN  THE  USE   OF  INTERJECTIONS. 

"  Of  chance  or  change,  O  let  not  man  complain."  —  Seattle's  Minstrel,  B.  ii,  1.1.  "  O  thou  p«>r- 
Rccutor  !  O  ye  hypocrites!"  —  Russell's  Gram.  p.  92.  "O  thou  my  voice  inspire,  Who  touch'  d 
Isaiah's  hallo'w'd  lips  with  fire  !  "  —  Pope's  Messiah.  "O  happy  we!  surrounded  by  so  many  bless- 
ing !  "  —  Mi-i-ch'int  cor.  "•()  thou  irho  art  so  unmindful  of  thy  duty  !  "  —  Id.  "  If  I  am  wrong,  O 

' 


teach  my  heart  To  find  that  better  way."  —  Murray's  Ilendir,  p.  248.  "  Hcus  !  evocate  hue 
Davum.  '  —  Ter.  "Ho!  call  Davus  out  hither."  —  II.  Walker  cor.  "  It  was  represented  by  an 
analogy  (O  how  inadequate!)  which  was  borrowed  from  the  ceremonies  of  paganism."  —  Murray 
cor.  "O  that  Ishmael  might  live  before  thee  !  "  —  Friends'  Bible;  and  Scott's.  "And  he  said 
unto  him,  ()  let  not  the  Lord  be  angry,  and  I  will  speak."  —  Ah/er's  Bible  ;  and  Scott's.  "And  he 
said  O  let  not  the  Lord  be  angry."  —  A/<jer  ,-  (Jen.  xviii,  32.  "O  my  Lord,  let  thy  servant,  I  pray 
thrc,  speak  a  word."  —  Scott's  Bible.  "O  Virtue!  how  amiable  thou  art!"  —  Murray's  (Irani,  p. 
128.  "Alas  .'  I  fear  for  life."  —  See  Ib.  "Ah  me  !  they  little  know  How  dearly  I  abide  that  boast 
so  vain!"  —  Sr<»  Bn>-/;r's  Cram.  p.  87.  "^  that  1  had  digged  myself  a  cave!"  —  Fletchi-r  <•<»•. 
"Oh,  my  good  lord  !  thy  comfort  comes  too  late."  —  Shak.  ear.  "  The  vocative  takes  no  article  ; 
it  is  distinguished  thus  :  O  Pedro  !  O  Peter  !  ()  Dios  !  O  God  !  "  —  Bucke  cor.  "Oho  !  But,  the  rel- 
ativ'.-  is  always  the  same."  —  f'oWx-tt  cor.  "All-hail,  ye  happy  men  !"  —  Jaudon  cor.  "O  that  I 
had  wings  like  a  dove!"  —  Scott's  Bible.  "O  ylorious  hope*!  O  hless'd  abode!  "  —  O.  J>.  /' 
(tram.  p.  304.  "  Welcome,  friends  !  how  joyous  is  your  presence  !  "  —  T.  Smith  cor.  "O  blissful 
days  !  —  but,  ah  !  how  soon  yc  p  i>^  '  "  —  Ptarm  /  anil  /'<>.. 

"O  golden  days  !  O  bright  unvalued  hours  !  — 
What  bliss,  did  ye  but  know  that  bliss,  were  yours  !  "  —  Barbauld  cor. 

"J/i  me  !  what  perils  do  environ 
The  man  that  meddles  with  cold  iron  !  "  —  Hudibras  cor. 


902  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  SYNTAX.      [PART  III. 

THE  KEY.  -  PART  III.  -  SYNTAX. 

CHAPTER  I.  —  SENTENCES.  I 

The  first  chapter  of  Syntax,  being  appropriated  to  general  views  of  this  part  of  grammar,  to  an 
exhibition  of  its  leading  doctrines,  and  to  the  several  forms  of  sentential  analysis,  with  an  appli- 
cation of  the  principal  rules  in  parsing,  contains  no  false  grammar  for  correction ;  and  has,  of 
course,  nothing  to  correspond  to  it,  in  this  Key,  except  the  title,  which  is  here  inserted  for  form's 
sake. 


I 


CHAPTER  II.  —  ARTICLES. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  THE  NOTES  TO   RULE  I. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — AN  OR  A. 

"  I  have  seen  a  horrible  thing  in  the  house  of  Israel." — Bible  cor.  "  There  is  a  harshness  in 
the  following  sentences." — Murray's  Gram.,  8vo,  p.  152.  "  Indeed,  such  a  one  is  not  to  be  looked 
for." — Dr.  Blair  cor,  "  If  each  of  you  will  be  disposed  to  approve  himself  a  useful  citizen." — 
Id.  "  Land  with  them  had  acquired  almost  a  European  value." — Webster  cor.  "  He  endeavoured 
to  find  out  a  wholesome  remedy." — Neef  cor.  "At  no  time  have  we  attended  a  yearly  meeting  more 
to  our  own  satisfaction." — The  Friend  cor.  "Addison  was  not  a  humorist  in  character." — Kames 
cor.  "Ah  me  !  what  a  one  was  he  !  " — Lily  cor.  "  He  was  such  a  one  as  I  never  saw  before.''  — 
Id.  "  No  man  can  be  a  good  preacher,  who  is  not  a  useful  one." — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "A  usage 
which  is  too  frequent  with  Mr.  Addison." — Id.  "  Nobody  joins  the  voice  of  a  sheep  with  the 
shape  of  a  horse." — Locke  cor.  "A  universality  seems  to  be  aimed  at  by  the  omission  of  the 
article." — Priestley  cor.  "Architecture  is  a  useful  as  well  as  a  fine  art." — Kames  cor.  "  Because 
the  same  individual  conjunctions  do  not  preserve  a  uniform  signification." — Nutting  cor.  "  Such  a 
work  required  the  patience  and  assiduity  of  a  hermit." — Johnson  cor.  "  Resentment  is  a  union  of 
sorrow  with  malignity." — Id.  "  His  bravery,  we  know,  was  a  high  courage  of  blasphemy." — Pope 
cor.  "  HYSSOP  ;  an  herb  of  bitter  taste." — Pike  cor. 

"  On  each  enervate  string  they  taught  the  note 
To  pant,  or  tremble  through  a  eunuch's  throat." — Pope  cor. 
UNDER  NOTE  II. — AN  OR  A  WITH  PLURALS. 


"At  a  session  of  the  court,  in  March,  it  was  moved."  &c. — Ilutchinson  cor.  "  I  shall 
conversations,  of  which  I  kept  memoranda." — D.  D'Ab.  cor.  "  I  took  an  other  dictionary,  and 
with  a.  pair  of  scissors  cut  out,  for  instance,  the  word  ABACUS." — A.  B.  Johnson  cor.  "A  person 
very  meet  seemed  he  for  the  purpose,  and  about  forty-five  years  old." — Gardiner  cor.  "Ant  it 
came  to  pass,  about  eight  days  after  these  sayings."— Bible  cor.  "  There  were  slain  of  them  about 
three  thousand  men." — 1  Mace.  cor.  "  Until  I  had  gained  the  top  of  these  white  mountains,  which 
seemed  other  Alps  of  snow." — Addison  cor.  "To  make  them  satisfactory  amends  for  all  ;he 
losses  they  had  sustained." — Goldsmith  cor.  "As  9,  fast-fruit  of  many  that  shall  be  gathered." — 
Barclay  cor.  "  It  makes  indeed  a  little  amend,  (or  some  amends,)  by  inciting  us  to  oblige  people." 
— Sheffield  cor.  "A  large  and  lightsome  back  stairway  (or  flight  of  backstairs)  leads  up  to  an 
entry  above." — Id.  "  Peace  of  mind  is  an  abundant  recompense  for' any  sacrifices  of  interest." — 
Murray  et  al.  cor.  "With  such  a  spirit,  and  such  sentiments,  were  hostilities  carried  on/' — 
Robertson  cor.  "  In  the  midst  of  a  thick  ivood,  he  had  long  lived  a  voluntary  recluse." — G.  B. 
"  The  flats  look  almost  like  a  young  forest." — Chronicle  cor.  "As  we  went  on,  the  country  for  a 
little  way  improved,  but  scantily." — Freeman  cor.  "  Whereby  the  Jews  were  permitted  to  return 
into  their  own  country,  after  a  captivity  of  seventy  years  at  Babylon." — Rollincor.  "  He  did  not 
go  a  great  way  into  the  country." — Gilbert  cor. 

"A  large  amend  by  fortune's  hand  is  made, 
And  the  lost  Punic  blood  is  well  repay'd." — Rowe  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  III. — NOUNS  CONNECTED. 
"As  where  a  landscape  is  conjoined  with  the  music  of  birds,  and  the  odour  of  flowers." — Kames 
cor.  "  The  last  order  resembles  the  second  in  the  'mildness  of  its  accent,  and  the  softness  of  its 
pause." — Id.  "  Before  the  use  of  the  loadstone,  or  the  knowledge  of  the  compass." — Drydcn  cor. 
"  The  perfect  participle  and  the  imperfect  tense  ought  not  to  be  confounded."—  Murray  cor.  "  In 
proportion  as  the  taste  of  a  poet  or  an  orator  becomes  more  refined." — Blair  cor.  "A  situation 
can  never  be  intricate,  so  long  as  there  is  an  angel,  a  devil,  or  a  musician,  to  lend  a  helping 
hand." — Kames  cor.  "Avoid  rude  sports  :  an  eye  is  soon  lost,  or  a  bone  broken." — Inst.  p.  262. 
"  Not  a  word  was  uttered,  nor  a  sign  given." — Ib.  "  I  despise  not  the  doer,  but  the  deed." — Ib. 
"  For  the  sake  of  an  easier  pronunciation  and  a  more  agreeable  sound." — Lowth  cor.  "The 
levity  as  well  as  the  loquacity  of  the  Greeks  made  them  incapable  of  keeping  up  the  true  standard 
of  history." — Bolingbroke  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — ADJECTIVES  CONNECTED. 
"  It  is  proper  that  the  vowels  be  a  long  and  a  short  one." — Murray  cor.  "  Whether  the  person 
mentioned  was  seen  by  the  speaker  a  long  or  a  short  time  before." — Id.  et  al.  "  There  are  three 
genders  ;  the  masculine,  the  feminine,  and  the  neuter." — Adam  cor.  "  The  numbers  are  two  ;  the 
singular  and  the  plural." — Id.  et  al.  "  The  persons  are  three  ;  the  first,  the  second,  and  the  third." 
— lidem.  "  Nouns  and  pronouns  have  three  cases  ;  the  nominative,  the  possessive,  and  the  objec- 
tive."— Comly  and  Ing.  cor.  "Verbs  have  five  moods;  namely,  the  infinitive,  the  indicative, 
the  potential,  the  subjunctive,  and  the  imperative." — Bullions  et  al.  cor.  "How  many  numbers 
have  pronouns  ?  Two,  the  singular  and  the  plural." — Bradley  cor.  "  To  distinguish  between  an 


CHAP.    II.]  KEY   TO    FALSE   SYNTAX. — ARTICLES.  903 

interrogative  and  an  exclamatory  sentence." — Murray  ct  al.  cor.  "  The  first  and^e  last  of  which 
are  compound  members." — Loicth  cor.  "  In  the  last  lecture,  I  treated  of  the  concise  and  the  diffuse, 
the  nervous  and  the  feeble  manner." — Blair  cor.  "  The  passive  and  the  neuter  verbs  I  shall  re- 
serve for  some  future  conversation." — Ingersoll  cor.  "  There  are  two  voices  ;  the  active  and  the 
passive." — Adam  ct  al.  cor.  "  WHOSE  is'rather  the  poetical  than  the  regular  genitive  of  WHICH." 
— Johnson  cor.  "  To  feel  the  force  of  a  compound  or  a  derivative  word." — Town  cor.  "  To  pre- 
serve the  distinctive  uses  of  the  copulative  and  the  disjunctive  conjunctions." — Murray  et  al.  cor. 
"  E  has  a  long  and  a  short  sound,  in  most  languages." — Bicknell  cor.  "  When  the  figurative  and 
tlie  literal  sense  are  mixed  and  jumbled  together." — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  The  Hebrew,  with  which 
the  Canaanitish  and  the  Phoenician  stand  in  connexion." — Conant  and  Fowler  cor.  "Thejan- 
guages  of  Scandinavia  proper,  the  Norwegian  and  the  Swedish." — Fowler  cor. 
UNDER  NOTE  V. — ADJECTIVES  CONNECTED. 

"  The  path  of  truth  is  a  plain  and  safe  path." — Murray  cor.  "  Directions  for  acquiring  a  just 
and  happy  elocution." — Kirkham  cor.  "  Its  leading  object  is,  to  adopt  a  correct  and  easy 
method."— Id.  "  How  can  it  choose  but  wither  in  a  long  and  sharp  winter  ?  " — Cowley  cor.  "  Into 
a  dark  and  distant  unknown." — Dr.  Chalmers  cor.  "  When  the  bold  and  strong  enslaved  his 
fellow  man." — Chazotte  cor.  "  We  now  proceed  to  consider  the  things  most  essential  to  an  ac- 
curate and  perfect  sentence." — Murray  cor.  "And  hence  arises  a  second  and  very  considerable 
source  of  the  improvement  of  taste." — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  Novelty  produces  in  the  mind  a  vivid  and 
agreeable  emotion." — Id.  "The  deepest  and  bitterest  feeling  still  is  that  of  the  separation." — 
Dr.  M'Rie  cor.  "A  great  and  good  man  looks  beyond  time." — See  Brown's  Inst.  p.  263.  "  They 
made  but  a  weak  and  ineffectual  resistance." — Ib.  "  The  light  and  worthless  kernels  will  float." 
— Ib.  "  I  rejoice  that  there  is  an  other  and  better  world." — Ib.  "  For  he  is  determined  to  revise 
his  work,  and  present  to  thejmblic  an  other  and  better  edition." — Kirkham  cor.  "  He  hoped  that 
this  title  would  secure  to  him  an  ample  and  independent  authority." — L.  Murray  cor.  etal.  "  There 
is,  however,  an  other  and  more  limited  sense." — J.  Q.  Adams  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI. — ARTICLES  OR  PLURALS. 

"  This  distinction  forms  what  are  called  the  diffuse  style  and  the  concise." — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  Two 
different  modes  of  speaking,  distinguished  at  first  by  the  denominations  of  the  Attic  manner  and 
the  Asiatic." — Adams  cor.  "  But  the  great  design  of  uniting  the  Spanish  and  French  monarchies 
under  the  former,  was  laid." — Botingbroke  cor.  "  In  the  solemn  and  poetic  styles,  it  [do  or  did]  is 
often  rejected." — Allen  cor.  "  They  cannot  be,  at  the  same  time,  in  both  the  objective  case  and 
the  nominative."  Or  :  "  They  cannot  be,  at  the  same  time,  in  both  the  objective  and  the  nomina- 
tive case."  Or  :  "  They  cannot  be,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  nominative  case,  and  also  in  the  objec- 
tive." Or:  "  They  cannot  be,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  nominative  and  objective  cases." — Mur- 
ray's Gram.  8vo,  p.  148.  Or,  better:  "They  cannot  be,  at  the  same  time,  in  both  cases,  the 
nominative  and  the  objective." — Murray  et  al.  cor.  "  They  are  named  the  positive,  comparative, 
and  superlative  degrees." — Smart  cor.  "Certain  adverbs  are  capable  of  taking  an  inflection; 
namely,  that  of  the  comparative  and  superlative  degrees." — Foicler  cor.  "  In  the  subjunctive 
mood,  the  present  and  imperfect  tenses  often  carry  with  them  a  future  sense." — Murray  et  al.  cor. 
"  The  imperfect,  the  perfect,  the  pluperfect,  and  the  first- future  tense,  of  this  mood,  are  conjugat- 
ed like  the  same  tenses  of  the  indicative." — Kirkham  bettered.  "  What  rules  apply  in  parsing 
personal  pronouns  of  the  second  and  third  persons  ?  " — Id.  "  Nouns  are  sometimes  in  the  nomi- 
native' or  the  objective  case  after  the  neuter  verb  be,  or  after  an  active-intransitive  or  a  passive 
verb." — Id.  "  The  verb  varies  its  endinf/  in  the  singular,  in  order  to  agree  with  its  nominative, 
in  the  first,  second,  and  third  person*." — Id.  "  They  are  identical  in  effect,  with  the  radical  and 
the  vanishing  stress." — Rush  cor.  "  In  a  sonnet,  the  first,  the  fourth,  the  fifth,  and  the  eighth  line, 
usually  rhyme  to  one  an  other  :  so  do  the  second,  third,  sixth,  and  seventh  lines  ;  the  ninth, eleventh, 
and  thirteenth  lines;  and  the  tenth,  twelfth,  and  fourteenth  lines." — Churchill  cor.  "The 
iron  and  golden  ages  are  run  ;  youth  and  manhood  are  departed." — Wright  cor.  "  If,  as  you  say, 
the  iron  and  the  golden  ai/c  are  past,  the  youth  and  the  manhood  of  the  world." — Id.  "An  Ex- 
position of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments." — Henry  cor.  "  The  names  and  order  of  the  books  of 
the  Old  and  the  New  Testament." — Bible  cor.  "  In  the  second  and  third  persons  of  that  tense." 
— Murray  cor.  "And  who  still  unites  in  himself  the  human  and  the  divine  nature." — Gurney  cor. 
"Among  whom  arose  the  Italian,  Spanish,  French,  and  English  languages." — Murray  cor. 
11  Whence  arise  these  two  numbers,  the  singular  and  the  plural." — Burn  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII. — CORRESPONDENT  TERM». 

"  Neither  the  definitions  nor  the  examples  are  entirely  the  same  as  his." — Wardcor.  "  Because 
it  makes  a  discordance  between  the  thought  and  the  expression." — Kamcs  cor.  "  Between  the 
adjective  ami  fhr  following  substantive." — Id.  "  Thus  Athens  became  both  the  repository  and  tlic 
nursery  of  learning." — Chazoltc  cor.  "  But  the  French  pilfered  from  both  the  Greek  and  the  Latin." 
— Id.  "  He  shows  that  Christ  is  both  the  power  and  the  wisdom  of  God." — The  Friend  cor. 
"  That  he  might  be  Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  of  the  living." — Bible  cor.  "  This  is  neither  the 
obvious  nor  the  grammatical  meaning  of  his  words." — Blair  cor.  "  Sometimes  both  the  accusative 
ar  d  the  infinitive  are  understood." — Adam  and  (iouldcor.  "  In  some  cases,  we  can  use  either  the 
nominative  or  the  accusative,  promiscuously." — I  idem.  "  Both  the  former  and  the  latter  substan- 
tive are  sometimes  to  be  understood." — li'dcm.  "  Many  of  which  have  escaped  both  the  com- 
m  ?ntator  and  the  poet  himself." — Pope  cor.  "  The  verbs  MUST  and  OUGHT,  have  both  a  present  and 
a  past  signification." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  How  shall  we  distinguish  between  the  friends  and  the 
er.emics  of  the  government  ?  " — Dr.  \Vebster  cor.  "  Both  the  ecclesiastical  and  the  secular  powers 
concurred  in  those  measures." — Dr.  Campbell  cor.  "As  the  period  has  a  beginning  and  an  end 
within  itself,  it  implies  an  inflection." — J.  Q.  Adams  cor.  "  Such  as  ought  to  subsist  between  a 
principal  and  an  accessory."— Ld.  Kames  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII.— CORRESPONDENCE  PECULIAR. 

"  When  both  the  upward  and  the  downward  slide  occur  in  the  sound  of  one  syllable,  they  are  called 


904  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY    TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

a  CIRCUMFLEX,  or  WAVE." — Kirkham  cor.  "  The  word  THAT  is  used  both  in  the  nominative  and  in 
the  objective  case." — Sanborn  cor.  "  But,  in  all  the  other  moods  and  tenses,  both  of  the  active  and 
of  the  passive  voice,  [the  verbs]  are  conjugated  at  large." — Murray  cor.  "  Some  writers  on  gram- 
mar, admitting  the  second-future  tense  into  the  indicative  mood,  reject  it  from  the  subjunctive." — 
Id.  "After  the  same  conjunction,  to  use  both  the  indicative  and  the  subjunctive  mood  in  the 
same  sentence,  and  under  the  same  circumstances,  seems  to  be  a  great  impropriety." — Id.  "  The 
true  distinction  between  the  subjunctive  and  the  indicative  mood  in  this  tense." — Id.  "  I  doubt 
of  his  capacity  to  teach  either  the  French  or  the  English  language." — Chazotte  cor.  "It  is  as 
necessary  to  make  a  distinction  between  the  active-transitive  and  the  active-intransitive  verb,  as  be- 
tween the  active  and  the  passive." — Nixon  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IX. — A  SERIES  OF  TERMS. 

"As  comprehending  the  terms  uttered  by  the  artist,  the  mechanic,  and  the  husbandman." — 
Chazotte  cor.  "  They  may  be  divided  into  four  classes  ;  the  Humanists,  the  Philanthropists,  the 
Pestalozzians  and  the  Productives." — Smith  cor.  "  Verbs  have  six  tenses  ;  the  present,  the  im- 
perfect, the  perfect,  the  pluperfect,  the  first-future,  and  the  second-future." — Murray  et  al.  cor. 
"  Is  is  an  irregular  neuter  verb,  [from  be,' was,  being,  been;  found  in]  'the  indicative  mood,  present 
tense,  third  person,  and  singular  number." — Murray  cor.  "  SHOULD  GIVE  is  an  irregular  active- 
transitive  verb,  [from  give,  gave,  giving,  given  ;  found]  in  the  potential  mood,  imperfect  tense,  first 
person,  and  plural  number." — Id.  "  Us  is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  first  person,  plural  number, 
masculine  gender,  and  objective  case." — Id.  "  THEM  is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  third  person, 
plural  number,  masculine  gender,  and  objective  case." — Id.  "It  is  surprising  that  the  Jewish, 
critics,  with  all  their  skill  in  dots,  points,  and  accents,  never  had  the  ingenuity  to  invent  a  point 
of  interrogation,  a  point  of  admiration,  or  a  parenthesis." — Dr.  Wilson  cor.  "The  fifth,  sixth, 
seventh,  and  eighth  verses."  Or  :  "  The  fifth,  the  sixth,  the  seventh,  and  the  eighth  verse." — O. 
B.  Peirce  cor.  "  Substitutes  have  three  persons  ;  the  First,  the  Second,  and  the  Third." — Id. 
"  JOHN'S  is  a  proper  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  masculine  gender,  and  posses- 
sive case:  and  is  governed  by  'WIFE,'  according  to  Rule"  [4th,  which  says,  &c.] — Smith  cor. 
"  Nouns,  in  the  English  language,  have  three  cases  ;  the  nominative,  the  possessive,  and  the  ob- 
jective."— Bar.  and  Alex.  cor.  "  The  potential  mood  has  four  tenses  ;  viz.,  the  present,  the  im- 
perfect, the  perfect,  and  the  pluperfect." — Ingersoll  cor. 

"  Where  Science,  Law,  and  Liberty  depend, 
And  own  the  patron,  patriot,  and  friend." — Savage  cor. 
UNDER  NOTE  X.— SPECIES  AND  GENUS. 

"The  pronoun  is  apart  of  speech*  put  for  the  noun." — Paul's  Ac.  cor.  "The  verb  is  a  part  of 
speech  declined  with  mood  and  tense." — Id.  "The  participle  is  a  part  of  speech  derived  fn<m 
the  verb." — Id.  "The  adverb  is  a  part  of  speech  joined  to  verbs,  [participles,  adjectives,  or 
other  adverbs,]  to  declare  their  signification." — Id.  "The  conjunction  is  a  part  of  speech  that 
joins  words  or  sentences  together." — Id.  '•''The  preposition  is  apart  of  speech  most  commonly 
set  before  other  parts." — Id.  "The  interjection  is  a  part  of  speech  which  betokens  a  suddm 
emotion  or  passion  of  the  mind." — Id.  "  The  enigma,  or  riddle,  is  also  a  species  of  allegory." 
— Blair  and  Murray  cor.  "  We  may  take  from  the  Scriptures  a  very  fine  example  of  the  ;il- 
legory." — lidem.  "And  thus  have  you  exhibited  a  sort  of  sketch  of  art." — Harris  cor.  "  We 
may  '  imagine  a  subtle  kind  of  reasoning,'  as  Mr.  Harris  acutely  observes." — Churchill  cor.  "  But, 


upon  a  word ;  as,  the  whole  put  for  a  part,  or  a  part  for  the  whole  ;  a  species  for  the  genus,  or  the 
genus  for  a  species." — Id.     "  It  shows  what  kind  of  apple  it  is  of  which  we  are  speaking." — Kirk- 
ham  cor.     "  Cleon  was  an  other  sort  of  man." — Goldsmith  cor.     "  To  keep  off  his  right  wing,  as  a 
kind  of  reserved  body." — Id.     "  This  part  of  speech  is  called  the  verb." — Mack  cor.     "What   sort 
of  thing  is  it  ?  " — Hiley  cor.     "  What  sort  of  charm  do  they  possess  ?  " — Bullions  cor. 
"Dear  Welsted,  mark,  in  dirty  hole, 
That  painful  animal,  the  mole." — Dunciad  cor. 
UNDER  NOTE  XI. — ARTICLES  NOT  REQUISITE. 

"  Either  thou  or  the  boys  were  in  fault." — Comly  cor.  "  It  may,  at  first  view,  appear  to  be  too 
general." — Murray  et  al.  cor.  "  When  the  verb  has  reference  to  future  time." — lidem.  "No; 
they  are  the  language  of  imagination,  rather  than  of  passion." — Blair  cor.  "  The  dislike  of  Eng- 
lish Grammar,  which  has  so  generally  prevailed,  can  be  attributed  only  to  the  intricacy  of  [our] 
syntax." — Russell  cor.  "  Is  that  ornament  in  good  taste  ?  " — Kames  cor.  "  There  are  not  many 
fountains  in  good  taste."  Or:  "  Not  many  fountains  are  [ornamented]  in  good  taste." — Id.  "And 
I  persecuted  this  way  unto  death." — Bible  cor.  "  The  sense  of  feeling  can,  indeed,  give  us  a  no- 
tion of  extension." — Addison,  Sped.  No.  411.  "The  distributive  adjectives,  each,  every,  either, 
agree  with  nouns,  pronouns,  or  verbs,  of  the  singular  number  only." — Murray  cor.  "  Expressing 
by  one  word,  what  might,  by  a  circumlocution,  be  resolved  into  two  or  more  words  belonging  to 
other  parts  of  speech." — Blair  cor.  "By  certain  muscles  which  operate  [in  harmony,  and]  all  at 
the  same  time." — Murray  cor.  "  It  is  sufficient  here  to  have  observed  thus  much  in  general  con- 
cerning them." — Campbell  cor.  "  Nothing  disgusts  us  sooner  than  empty  pomp  of  language." 
— Murray  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XII.— TITLES  AND  NAMES. 

"  He  is  entitled  to  the  appellation  of  gentleman." — G.  Brown.     "  Cromwell  assumed  the  title  of 

*  A  part  of  speech  \a  a  sort,  of  words,  and  not  one  word  only.  We  cannot  say,  that  every  pronoun,  or  every  verb, 
is  a  part  of  speech,  because  the  parts  of  speech  are  only  ten.  But  every  pronoun,  verb,  or  other  word,  is  a  word  ; 
and,  if  we  will  refer  to  this  genus,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  defining  all  the  parts  of  speech  in  the  singular,  with  an  or 
a  :  as,  "-A  pronoun  is  a  word  put  for  a  noun."  Murray  and  others  say,  "An  Adverb  is  a  part  of  speech,"  &c.,  "A 
Conjunction  is  a  part  of  speech,"  &c.,  which  is  the  same  as  to  say,  "  One  adverb  is  a  sort  of  words^'  &c.  This  is 
a  palpable  absurdity.— G.  BBOWN. 


CHAP.  II.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. ARTICLES.  905 

Protector" — Id.  "  Her  father  is  honoured  with  the  title  of  Earl." — Id.  "  The  chief  magistrate  is 
styled  President." — Id.  "  The  highest  title  in  the  state  is  that  of  Governor." — Id.  "  That  boy  is 
known  by  the  name  of  Idler." — Murray  cor.  "  The  one  styled  Mufti,  is  the  head  of  the  ministers 
of  law  and  religion." — Balbi  cor.  "  Ranging  all  that  possessed  them  under  one  class,  he  called 
that  whole  class  tree." — Blair  cor.  "  For  oa/c,  pine,  and  ash,  were  names  of  whole  classes  of  ob- 
jects."— Id.  "  It  is  of  little  importance  whether  we  give  to  some  particular  mode  of  expression 
the  name  of  trope,  or  offgure" — Id.  "  The  collision  of  a  vowel  with  itself  is  the  most  ungracious 
of  all  combinations,  and  has  been  doomed  to  peculiar  reprobation  under  the  name  of  hiatus." — 
Adams  cor.  "  We  hesitate  to  determine,  whether  Tyrant  alone  is  the  nominative,  or  whether  the 
nominative  includes  the  word  Spy." — Cobbitt  cor.  "  Hence  originated  the  customary  abbrevia- 
tion of  twelve  months  into  twelvemonth;  of  seven  nights  into  sennight ;  of  fourteen  nights  into  fort- 
night."—  Webster  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIII.— COMPARISONS  AND  ALTERNATIVES. 

"  He  is  a  better  writer  than  reader." — Allen.  "  He  was  an  abler  mathematician  than  linguist.'' 
— Id.  "  I  should  rather  have  an  orange  than  an  apple." — G.  Brown.  "  He  was  no  less  able  as 
a  negotiator,  than  courageous  as  a  warrior."— Smollett  cor.  '•  In  an  epic  poem,  we  pardon  many 
negligences  that  would  not  be  permitted  in  a  sonnet  or  an  epigram." — Kames  cor.  "  That  figure 
is  a  sphere,  globe,  or  ball." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  357. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIV. — ANTECEDENTS  TO  WHO  OR  WHICH. 

"The  carriages  which  were  formerly  in  use,  were  very  clumsy."—"  The  place  is  not  mentioned 
by  the  geographers  who  wrote  at  that  time." — "Those  questions  which  a  person  puts  to  himself 
in  contemplation,  ought  to  be  terminated  with  points  of  interrogation." — Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "  The 
work  is  deisgned  for  the  use  of  those  persons  who  may  think  it  merits  a  place  in  their  libraries." 
— Mur.  cor.  "  That  those  who  think  confusedly,  should  express  themselves  obscurely,  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at." — Id.  "Those  grammarians  who  limit  the  number  to  two,  or  three,  do  not  reflect." 
—Id.  "The  substantives  which  end  in  ian,  are  those  that  signify  profession."  Or:  "Those  sub- 
stantives which  end  in  ian,  are  such  as  signify  profession." — Id.  "  To  these  may  be  added  those 
verbs  which,  among  the  poets,  usually  govern  the  dative." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "The  conso- 
nants are  those  letters  which  cannot  be  sounded  without  the  aid  of  a  vowel." — Bucke  cor.  "  To 
employ  the  curiosity  of  persons  skilled  in  grammar  :  " — "  of  those  who  are  skilled  in  grammar  :  " — 
"  of  persons  that  are  skilled  in  grammar  :  " — "  of  such  persons  as  are  skilled  in  grammar  :  "  or — 
"  of  those  persons  who  are  skilled  in  grammar." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  This  rule  refers  only  to  those 
nouns  and  pronouns  which  have  the  same  bearing,  or  relation." — Id.  "  So  that  the  things  which 
are  seen,  were  not  made  of  things  that  do  appear." — Bible  cor.  "Man  is  an  imitative  creature  ; 
he  may  utter  the  sounds  which  he  has  heard." — Dr.  Wilson  cor.  "  But  those  men  whose  business 
is  wholly  domestic,  have  little  or  no  use  for  any  language  but  their  own." — Dr.  Webster  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XV. — PARTICIPIAL  NOUNS. 

"  Great  benefit  may  be  reaped  from  the  reading  of  histories." — Sewel  cor.  "And  some  at- 
tempts were  made  towards  the  writing  of  history." — Bolingbroke  cor.  "  It  is  an  invading  of  the 
priest's  office,  for  any  other  to  offer  it." — Lesliecor.  "  And  thus  far  of  the  forming  of  verbs." — 
W.  H 'n Ikcr  cor.  "And  without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission." — Bible  cor.  "For 
the  making  of  measures,  we  have  the  best  method  here  in  England." — Printer's  Gram.  cor.  "  This 
is  really  both  an  admitting  and  a  denying  at  once." — Butler  cor.  "  And  hence  the  origin  of  the 
making  of  parliaments." — Dr.  Brown  cor.  "  Next  thou  objectest,  that  the  having  of  saving  light 
and  grace  presupposes  conversion.  But  that  I  deny  :  for,  on  the  contrary,  conversion pi'esupposes 
tht-  having  of  light  and  grace." — Barclay  cor.  "  They  cried  down  the  wearing  of  rings  and  other 
superfluities,  as  we  do." — Id.  "  Whose  adorning,  let  it  not  be  that  outward  adorning,  of^eplait- 
ing  of  the  hair,  and  of  the  wearing  of  gold,  or  of  the  putting-on  of  apparel." — Bible  cor.  "  In  the 
spelling  of  derivative  words,  the  primitives  must  be  kept  whole." — Brit.  Gr.  and  Buchanan's  cor. 
"  And  the  princes  offered  for  the  dedicating  of  the  altar."— Numb.  cor.  "  Boasting  is  not  only  a 
telling  of  lies,  but  also  of  many  unseemly  truths." — Sheffield  cor.  "We  freely  confess  that  the 
forbearing  of  prayer  in  the  wicked  is  sinful." — Barclay  cor.  "  For  the  revealing  of  a  secret,  there 
is  no  remedy." — G.  Brown.  "He  turned  all  his  thoughts  to  the  composing  of  laws  for  the 
good  of  the  State." — Rollin  cor. 

UNDER  NOTK  XVI. — PARTICIPLES,  NOT  NOUNS. 


tidings  appears  only  an  idle  tale,  and  not  worth  attending  to." — Say  cor.     "  To  be  the  deliverer  of 


the  captive  Jews,  by  ordering  their  temple  to  be  rebuilt,"  &c. — Soitin  cor.     "And  for  preserving 
them  from  being  defiled." — l)iscip.  cor.     "A  wise  man  will  forbear  to  show  any  excellence  in 
trifles." — Kamcscor.     "  Ilirsutus  had  no  other  reason  for  valuing  a  book." — Johman,  and  Wright, 
cor.     "Tobeinsr  heard  with   satisfaction,  it  is  necessary  that  the  speaker  should  deliver  himself 
with  ease."     Perhaps  better  :  "  To  be  heard,  &c."     Or  :  '"In  order  to  be  heard,  <*tc." — Sheridan  cor. 
"And,  to  the  end  of  'being  well  heard  and  clearly  understood,  a  good  and  distinct  articulation  con- 
tributes more,  than  can  even  the  greatest  power  of  voice." — Id. 
"  Potential  purports,  having  power  or  will ; 
As,  If  you  would  improve  you  should  be  still." — Tobitt  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XVII. — VARIOUS  ERRORS. 

"For  the  same  reason,  a  neuter  verb  cannot  become  passive." — Lowth  cor.  "A  period  is  a 
whole  sentence  complete  in  itself." — Id.  "A  colon,  or  member,  is  a  chief  constructive  part,  or  the 
greatest  division,  of  la  sentence." — Id.  "A  semicolon,  or  half-member,  is  a  smaller  constructive 

63 


906  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY    TO    SYNTAX.  [PART    III. 

part,  or  a  subdivision,  of  a  sentence  or  of  a  member." — Id.  "A  sentence  or  a  member  is  again 
subdivided  into  commas,  or  segments."— Id.  "  The  first  error  that  I  would  mention,  is,  too  gen- 
eral an  attention  to  the  dead  languages,  with  a  neglect  of  our  own  tongue." — Webster  cor.  "  One 
third  of  the  importations  would  supply  the  demands  of  the  people." — Id.  "And  especially  in  a 
grave  style." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  178.  "  By  too  eager  a  pursuit,  he  ran  a  great  risk  of  being  dis- 
appointed."— Murray  cor.  "The  letters  are  divided  into  vowels  and  consonants." — Mur.etal. 
cor.  "The  consonants  are  divided  into  mutes  and  semivowels." — lidem.  "The  first  of 
these  forms  is  the  most  agreeable  to  the  English  idiom." — Murray  cor.  "  If  they  gain,  it  is  at  too 
dear  a  rate." — Barclay  cor.  "A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun,  to  prevent  too  fre- 
quent a  repetition  of  it." — Maunder  cor.  "  This  vulgar  error  might  perhaps  arise  from  too  partial 
a  fondness  for  the  Latin." — Ash  cor.  "  The  groans  which  too  heavy  a  load  extorts  from  her."— 
Hitchcock  cor.  "  The  numbers  of  a  verb  are,  of  course,  the  singular  and  the  plural." — Bucke  cor. 
"  To  brook  no  meanness,  and  to  stoop  to  no  dissimulation,  are  indications  of  a  great  mind." — Mur- 
ray cor.  "  This  mode  of  expression  rather  suits  the  familiar  than  the  grave  style." — Id.  "  This 
use  of  the  word  best  suits  a  familiar  and  low  style." — Priestley  cor.  "According  to  the  nature  of 
the  composition,  the  one  or  the  other  may  be  predominant." — Blair  cor.  "  Yet  the  commonness 
of  such  sentences  prevents  in  a  great  measure  too  early  an  expectation  of  the  end." — Campbell 
cor.  "A  eulogy  or  a  philippic  may  be  pronounced  by  an  individual  of  one  nation  upon  a  subject  of 
an  other." — J.  Q.  Adams  cor.  "A  French  sermon  is,  for  the  most  part,  a  warm  animated  exhor- 
tation."— Blair  cor.  "  I  do  not  envy  those  who  think  slavery  no  very  pitiable  lot." — Channing 
cor.  "  The  auxiliary  and  the  principal  united  constitute  a  tense." — Murray  cor.  "  There  are 
some  verbs  which  are  defective  with  respeet  to  the  persons." — Id.  "  In  youth,  habits  of  industry 
•urc  the  most  easily  acquired." — Id.  "The  apostrophe  (')  is  used  in  place  of  a  letter  left  out."— 
Bullions  cor. 


CHAPTER  III.  — CASES,  OR  NOUNS. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  II;    OF  NOMINATIVES. 

"  The  whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick." — Bunyan  cor.  "  He  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out  whosoever  cometh  unto  him."  Better  :  "  He  will  in  no  wise  cast  out  any  that  come  unto 
him." — Hall  cor.  "  He  feared  the  enemy  might  fall  upon  his  men,  who,  he  saw,  were  off  their 
guard." — Hutchinson  cor.  "Whosoever  shall  compel  thee  to  go  a  mile,  go  with  him  twain."— 
Matt.  \,  41.  "  The  ideas  of  the  author  have  been  conversant  with  the  faults  of  other  writers." — 
Swift  cor.  ' '  You  are  a  much  greater  loser  than  I,  by  his  death."  Or :  "  Thou  art  a  much  greater 
loser  by  his  death  than  I." — Id.  "Such  peccadilloes  pass  with  him  for  pious  frauds." — Barclcy 
cor.  "  In  whom  I  am  nearly  concerned,  and  who,  I  know,  would  be  very  apt  to  justify  my  whole 
procedure." — Id.  "Do  not  think  such  a  man  as  I  contemptible  for  my  garb." — Addison  cor. 
"  His  wealth  and  he  bid  adieu  to  each  other." — Priestley  cor.  "So  that,  '  He  is  greater  than  /,' 
will  be  more  grammatical  than,  '  He  is  greater  than  me.'  " — Id.  "  The  Jesuits  had  more  interests 
at  court  than  he." — Id.  and  Smollett  cor.  "  Tell  the  Cardinal  that  I  understand  poetry  better  thc.n 
he." — lid.  "An  inhabitant  of  Crim  Tartary  was  far  more  happy  than  he." — lid.  "  My  father  and 
he  have  been  very  intimate  since." — Fair  Am.  cor.  "  Who  was  the  agent,  and  who,  the  object 
struck  or  kissed  ?" — Mrs.  Bethune  cor.  "To  find  the  person  who,  he  imagined,  was  concealed 
there." — Kirkham  cor.  "  He  offered  a  great  recompense  to  whosoever  would  help  him."  Better : 
"  He  offered  a  great  recompense  to  any  one  icho  would  help  him." — Hume  and  Pr.  cor.  "  They 
would  be  under  the  dominion,  absolute  and  unlimited,  of  whosoever  (or  any  one  who)  might  exer- 
cise the  right  of  judgement." — Haynes  cor.  "  They  had  promised  to  accept  ichosoever  (or  any  one 
who)  should  be  born  in  Wales." — Croker  cor.  "  We  sorrow  not  as  they  that  have  no  hope." — Mat- 
urincor.  "If  he  suffers,  he  suffers  as  they  that  have  no  hope." — Id.  "We  acknowledge  that 
he,  and  he  only,  hath  been  our  peacemaker." — Gratton  cor.  "And  what  can  be  better  than  he 
that  made  it  ?  " — Jenks  cor.  "  None  of  his  school-fellows  is  more  beloved  than  he." — Cooper  cor. 
"  Solomon,  who  was  wiser  than  they  all  " — Watson  cor.  "  Those  who  the  Jews  thought  were  the 
last  to  be  saved,  first  entered  the  kingdom  of  God." — Tract  cor.  "A  stone  is  heavy,  and  the  sand 
weighty  ;  but  a  fool's  wrath  is  heavier  than  both." — Bible  cor.  "A  man  of  business,  in  good  com- 
pany, is  hardly  more  insupportable,  thansAe  whom  they  call  a  notable  woman." — Stcele  cor.  "  The 
king  of  the  Sarmatians,  who  we  may  imagine  was  no  small  prince,  restored  to  him  a  hundred 
thousand  Roman  prisoners." — Life  of  Anton,  cor.  "  Such  notions  would  be  avowed  at  this  time 
by  none  but  rosicrucians,  and  fanatics  as  mad  as  they." — Campbell's  lihet.  p.  203.  "  Unless,  as 
I  said,  Messieurs,  you  are  the  masters,  and  not  /." — Hall  cor.  "  We  had  drawn  up  against  peace- 
able travellers,  who  must  hive  been  as  glad  as  we  to  escape." — Burnes  cor.  "  Stimulated,  in  turn, 
by  their  approbation  and  that  of  better  judges  than  they,  she  turned  to  their  literature  with  re- 
doubled energy." — Quarterly  Rev.  cor.  "  I  know  not  who  else  are  expected." — Scott  cor.  "  He  is 
great,  but  truth  is  greater  than  we  all."  Or :  "  He  is  great,  but  truth  is  greater  than  any  of  us." 
— H.  Mann  cor.  "He  I  accuse  has  entered."  Or,  by  ellipsis  of  the  antecedent,  thus  :  "  Whom  I  ac- 
cuse has  entered." — Fowler  cor. ;  also  Shakspeare. 

« Scotland  and  thou  did  each  in  other  live." — Dry  den  cor. 

1  We  are  alone  ;  here's  none  but  thou  and  I." — Shak.  cor. 

1  /rather  wotild,  my  heart  might  feel  your  love, 

Than  my  unpleas'd  eye  see  your  courtesy." — Shak.  cor. 

1  Tell  me,  in  sadness,  who  is  she  you  love  ?  " — Shak.  cor. 

1  Better  leave  undone,  than  by  our  deeds  acquire 
Too  high  a  fame,  when  he  we  serve  's  away." — Shak.  cor. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  III ;  OF  APPOSITION. 

"  Now,  therefore,  come  thou,  let  us  make  a  covenant,  thee  and  me." — Bible  cor.  "  Now,  there- 
fore, come  thou,  we  will  make  a  covenant,  thou  and  /." — Variation  corrected.  "  The  word  came 


CHAP.  III.]  KEY    TO    FALSE   SYNTAX. POSSESSIVES.  907 

not  to  Esau,  the  hunter,  that  stayed  not  at  home ;  but  to  Jacob,  the  plain  man,  him  that  dwelt 
in  tents." — Perm  for.  "  Not  to  every  man,  bat  to  the  man  of  God,  (i.  e.,)  him  that  is  led  by  the 
spirit  of  God." — Barclay  cor.  "  For,  admitting  God  to  be  a  creditor,  or  him  to  whom  the  debt 
should  be  paid,  and  Christ  him  that  satisfies  or  pays  it  on  behalf  of  man  the  debtor,  this  question 
will  arise,  whether  he  paid  that  debt  as  God,  or  man,  or  both  ?  " — Penn  cor.  "  This  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  heavenly  Man,  the  Emmanuel,  God  with  us,  we  own  and  believe  in:  Aim  whom  the 
high  priests  raged  against,"  &c. — fox  cor.  "  Christ,  and  He  crucified,  was  the  Alpha  and  Omega 
of  all  his  addresses,  the  fountain  and  foundation  of  his  hope  ai.d  trust." — Exp.  cor.  "  Christ, 
and  He  crucified,  is  the  head,  and  the  only  head,  of  the  church." — Denison  cor.  "  But  if  Christ, 
and  He  crucified,  is  the  burden  of  the  ministry,  such  disastrous  results  are  all  avoided." — Id.  "  He 
never  let  fall  the  least  intimation,  that  himself,  or  any  other  person  whosoever,  was  the  object  of 
worship." — View  cor.  "  Let  the  elders  that  rule  well,  be  counted  worthy  of  double  honour,  espe- 
cially them  who  labour  in  the  word  and  doctrine." — Bible  cor.  "Our  Shepherd,  he  who  is  styled 
King  of  saints,  will  assuredly  give  his  saints  the  victory." — Sermon  cor.  "  It  may  seem  odd,  to 
talk  of  us  subscribers." — Folcle  cor.  "And  they  shall  have  none  to  bury  them  ;  they,  their  wives, 
nor  their  sons,  nor*  their  dnughters ;  for  I  will  pour  their  wickedness  upon  them." — Bible  cor. 
"  Yet  I  supposed  it  necessary  to  send  to  you  Epaphroditus.  my  brother,  and  companion  in  labour, 
and  fellow-soldier,  but  your  messenger,  and  him  that  ministered  to  my  wants." — Bible  cor. 
"Amidst  the  tumult  of  the  routed  train, 

The  sons  of  false  Antimachus  were  slain  ; 

Him  who  for  bribes  his  faithless  counsels  sold, 

And  voted  Helen's  stay  for  Paris'  gold." — Pope  cor. 
"  See  the  vile  King  his  iron  sceptre  bear — 

His  only  praise  attends  the  pious  heir ; 

//////  in  whose  soul  the  virtues  all  conspire, 

The  best  good  son,  from  the  worst  wicked  sire." — Lowth  cor. 
"Then  from  thy  lips  poured  forth  a  joyful  song 

To  thy  Redeemer ! — yea,  it  poured  along 

In  most  melodious  energy  of  praise, 

To  God,  the  Saviour,  him  of  ancient  days." — Arm  Chair  cor. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  IV;  OF  POSSESSIVES. 

UNDER  NOTE  I.— THE  POSSESSIVE  FORM. 

"Man's  chief  good  is  an  upright  mind." — "  The  translator  of  Mallet's  History  has  the  follow- 
ing note." — Webster  cor.  "  The  act,  while  it  gave  five  years'  full  pay  to  the  officers,  allowed  but 
one  year's  pay  to  the  privates." — Id.  "For  the  study  of  English  is  preceded  by  several  years' 
attention  to  Latin  and  Greek." — Id.  "  The  first,  the  Court-Baron,  is  the  freeholders'  or  freemen's 
court." — Coke  cor.  "  I  affirm,  that  Vaugelas's  definition  labours  under  an  essential  defect." — 
Ctimjtbell  cor.;  and  also  Murray.  "  There  is  a  chorus  in  Aristophanes' s  plays." — Blair  cor.  "It 
denotes  the  same  perception  in  my  mind  as  in  theirs." — Duncan  cor.  "  This  afterwards  enabled 
him  to  read  Hickes's  Saxon  Grammar." — Life  of  Dr.  Mur.  cor.  "  I  will  not  do  it  for  ten's  sake." 
— Ash  cor.  Or  :  "I  will  not  destroy  it  for  ten's  sake." — Gen.  xviii,  32.  "  I  arose,  and  asked  if  those 
charming  infants  were  hers." — Werter  cor.  "They  divide  their  time  between  milliners'  shops 
and  the  taverns." — Dr.  Brown  cor.  "  The  angels'  adoring  of  Adam  is  also  mentioned  in  the  Tal- 
mud."— Sale  cor.  "  Quarrels  arose  from  the  winners'  insulting  of  those  who  lost." — Id.  "  The  va- 
cancy occasioned  by  Mr.  Adams's  resignation." — Adv.  to  Adams's  Rhet.  cor.  "  Read,  for  in- 
stance, Junius's  address,  commonly  called  his  Letter  to  the  King." — Adams  cor.  "A  perpetual 
struggle  against  the  tide  of  Hortensius's  influence." — Id.  "  Which,  for  distinction's  sake,  I  shall 
put  down  severally." — R.  Johnson  cor.  "  The  fifth  case  is  in  a  clause  signifying  the  matter  of 
one's  fear." — Id.  "And  they  took  counsel,  and  bought  with  them  the  potter's  field." — Alger  cor. 
"Arise  for  thy  servants'  help,  and  redeem  them  for  thy  mercy's  sake." — Jenkt  cor.  "Shall  not 
their  cattle,  their  substance,  and  every  beast  of  theirs,  be  ours?" — COM.  BIPLE :  Gen.  xxxiv,  23. 
"7/s  regular  plural,  bul  laces,  is  used  by  Bacon." — Churchill  cor.  "  Mordecai  walked  every  day  be- 
fore the  court  of  the  tmntrn's  house." — Scott  cor.  "  Behold,  they  that  wear  soft  clothing,  are  in 
A-uif/s'  houses." — Aider's  Bible.  "Then  Jethro,  Moses's  father-in-law,  took  Zipporah,  Moses's  wife, 
and  her  two  sons :  and  Jethro,  Moses's  father-in-law,  came,  with  his  sons  and  his  wife,  unto 
Moses." — .Vott'.v  Bible.  "  King  James's  translators  merely  revised  former  translations." — F 'razee 
cor.  "  May  they  be  like  corn  on  houses'  tops." — White  cor. 

"And  for  his  Maker's  image'  sake  exempt.'' — Milton  cor. 

"  By  all  the  fame  acquired  in  ten  years'  war." — Rowe  cor. 

"  Nor  glad  vile  poets  with  true  critics'  gore." — Pope  cor. 

m  only  of  a  softer  mold  is  made, 
Not  for  his  fellows'  ruin,  but  their  aid." — Dryden  cor. 

UNDKR  NOTE  II.—  POSSESSIVHS  CONNECTED. 

"  It  was  necessary  to  have  both  the  physician's  and  the  surgeon's  advice." — L.  Murray's  False 
S./ntas,  lit  I.K  \.  "This  oitixidr  fastuonableness  of  the  tailor's  or  the  tirewoman's  making." — 
L<»'ki'  cor.  "  Some  pretending  to  be  of  Paul's  party,  others  of  Apollos's,  others  of  Cephas's,  and 
others,  (pretending  yet  higher.)  to  be  of  Christ's." — Wood  cor.  "Nor  is  it  less  certain,  that 
>•  and  Mi/tim's  spelling  agrees  better  with  our  pronunciation." — Phil.  Museum  cor.  "  Law's. 
K'/icfirds's,  and  Watts's  Survey  of  the  Divine  Dispensations."  Or  thus :  ''Law,  Edwards,  ana 
Watts's,  Surveys  of  the  Divine  Dispensations." — Burgh  cor.  "And  who  was  Enoch's  Saviour, 
and  the  prophets'  f  " — Bayly  cor.  "  Without  any  impediment  but  his  own,  his  parents',  or  his 
guardian's  will." — Journal  corrected.  "  James  relieves  neither  the  boy's  nor  the  girl's  distress." 

*  The  propriety  of  this  conjunction,  "nor,"  is  questionable  :  the  reading  in  both  the  Yulgate  and  the  Septuagint 
is—l%  they,  and  their  wires,  and  their  sons,  and  their  daughters." 


908  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  SYNTAX.      [PART  III. 

— Nixon  cor.  tl  John  regards  neither  the  master's  nor  the  pupil's  advantage." — Id.  "You  re- 
ward neither  the  man's  nor  the  woman's  labours." — Id.  "  She  examines  neither  James's  nor 
John's  conduct." — Id.  "  Thou  pitiest  neither  the  servant's  nor  the  master's  injuries." — Id.  "  We 
promote  England's  or  Ireland's  happiness." — Id.  "  Were  Cain's  and  Abel's  occupation  the 
same  ?  " — G.  Brown.  "  Were  Cain  and  Abel's  occupations  the  same  ?  " — Id.  if  What  was  Simon 
and  Andrew's  employment  ? " — Id.  "  Till  he  can  read  for  himself  Sanctius's  Minerva  with  Sciop- 
pius's  and  Perizonius's  Notes." — Locke  cor. 

"And  love  and  friendship's  finely-pointed  dart 
Falls  blunted  from  each  indurated  heart."  Or  : — 

"And  love's  and  friendship's  finely-pointed  dart 
Fall  blunted  from  each  indurated  heart." — Goldsmith  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  III. — CHOICE  OF  FORMS. 

"  But  some  degree  of  trouble  is  the  portion  of  all  men." — Murray  et  al.  cor.  "  With  the  names 
of  his  father  and  mother  upon  the  blank  leaf."— Abbott  cor.  "The  general,  in  the  name  of  the 
army,  published  a  declaration." — Hume  cor.  "  The  vote  of  the  Commons." — Id.  "  The  House  of 
Lords." — Id.  "A  collection  of  the  faults  of  writers;" — or,  "A  collection  of  literary  faults."— 
Swift  cor.  "After  ten  years  of  wars." — Id.  "  Professing  his  detestation  of  such  practices  as 
those  of  his  predecessors." — Pope  cor.  "  By  that  time  I  shall  have  ended  my  year  of  office." — 
W.  Walker  cor.  "  For  the  sake  of  Herodias,  the  wife  of  his  brother  Philip." — Bible  and  Mur.  cor. 
"  I  endure  all  things  for  the  sake  of  the  elect,  that  they  may  also  obtain  salvation." — Bibles  cor. 
"  He  was  heir  to  the  son  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth." — W.  Allen.  "  The  throne  we  honour  is  the  peo- 
ple's choice." — Rolla.  "An  account  of  the  proceedings  of  Alexander's  court." — "An  excellent  tutor 
for  the  child  of  a  person  of  fashion!  " — Gil  Bias  cor.  "  It  is  curious  enough,  that  this  sentence  of 
the  Bishop's  is,  itself,  ungrammatical." — Cobbett  cor.  "  The  troops  broke  into  the  palace  of  the 
Emperor  Leopold." — Nixon  cor.  "  The  meeting  was  called  by  desire  of  Eldon  the  judge." — Id. 
"The  occupation  of  Peter,  John,  and  Andrew,  was  that  of  fishermen." — Murray s  Key,  R.  10. 
"The  debility  of  the  venerable  president  of  the  Royal  Academy,  has  lately  increased." — Maunder 
cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — NOUNS  WITH  POSSESSIVES  PLURAL. 

"  God  hath  not  given  us  our  reason  to  no  purpose." — Barclay  cor.  "  For  our  sake,  no  doubt, 
this  is  written." — Bible  cor.  "Are  not  health  and  strength  of  body  desirable  for  their  own  sake  ?  " 
— Harris  and  Murray  cor.  "  Some  sailors  who  were  boiling  their  dinner  upon  the  shore." — Day 
cor.  "And  they,  in  their  turn,  were  subdued  by  others." — Pinnock  cor.  "  Industry  on  our  pa>~t 
is  not  superseded  by  God's  grace." — Arrowsmith  cor.  "Their  health  perhaps  may  be  pretty  well 
secured." — Locke  cor.  "  Though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sake  he  became  poor." — See  2  Cor.  viii, 
9.  ," It  were  to  be  wished,  his  correctors  had  been  as  wise  on  their  part." — Harris  cor.  "The 
Arabs  are  commended  by  the  ancients  for  being  most  exact  to  their  ivord,  and  respectful  to  the  r 
kindred." — Sale  cor.  "  That  is,  as  a  reward  of  some  exertion  on  our  part." — Gurney  cor.  "So 
that  it  went  ill  with  Moses  for  their  sake." — Ps.  cor.  "All  liars  shall  have  their  part  in  the  burn- 
ing lake." — Watts  cor.  "  For  our  own  sake  as  well  as  for  thine." — Pref.  to  Waller  cor.  "Ey 
discovering  their  ability  to  detect  and  amend  errors." — L.  Murray  cor. 
"  This  world  I  do  renounce ;  and,  in  your  sight, 

Shake  patiently  my  great  affliction  off." — Shak.  cor. 
"  If  your  relenting  anger  yield  to  treat, 

Pompey  and  thou,  in  safety,  here  may  meet." — Howe  cor. 


"And  the 


UNDER  NOTE  V.— POSSESSIVES  WITH  PARTICIPLES. 

"  This  will  encourage  him  to  proceed  without  acquiring  the  prejudice." — Smith  cor. 
notice  which  they  give  of  an  action  as  being  completed  or  not  completed." — Mur.  et  al.  cor. 
"  Some  obstacle,  or  impediment,  that  prevents  it  from  taking  place." — Priestley  and  A.  Mur.  cor. 
"  They  have  apostolical  authority  for  so  frequently  urging  the  seeking  of  the  Spirit." — The  Friend 
cor.  "  Here  then  is  a  wide  field  for  reason  to  exert  its  powers  in  relation  to  the  objects  of  taste." 
— Blair  cor.  "  Now  this  tlvey  derive  altogether  from  their  greater  capacity  of  imitation  and  de- 
scription."— Id.  "This  is  one  clear  reason  why  they  paid  a  greater  attention  to  that  construc- 
tion."— Id.  "  The  dialogue  part  had  also  a  modulation  of  its  own,  which  was  capable  of  being 
set  to  notes." — Id.  "Why  are  we  so  often  frigid  and  unpersuasive  in  public  discourse?" — Id. 
"  Which  is  only  a  preparation  for  leading  his  forces  directly  upon  us." — Id.  "  The  nonsense  about 
which,  as  relating  to  things  only,  and  having  no  declension,  needs  no  refutation." — Fowle  cor. 
"Who,  upon  breaking  it  open,  found  nothing  but  the  following  inscription."— Rollin  cor.  "A 
prince  will  quickly  have  reason  to  repent  of  having  exalted  one  person  so  high."— Id.  "  Not- 
withstanding it  is  the  immediate  subject  of  his  discourse."— Churchill  cor.  "  With  our  definition 
of  it,  as  being  synonymous  with  time." — Booth  cor.  "  It  will  considerably  increase  our  danger  of 
being  deceived." — Campbell  cor.  "  His  beauties  can  never  be  mentioned  without  suggesting  his 
blemishes  also." — Blair  cor.  "  No  example  has  ever  been  adduced,  of  a  man  conscientiously  ap- 
proving an  action,  because  of  its  badness."  Or: — "of  a  man  who  conscientiously  approved  of  an 
action  because  of  its  badness." — Gurney  cor.  "  The  last  episode,  of  the  angel  showing  to  Adam 
the  fate  of  his  posterity,  is  happily  imagined." — Blair  cor.  "  And  the  news  came  to  my  son,  that 
he  and  the  bride  were  in  Dublin." — M.  Edgeworth  cor.  "  There  is  no  room  for  the  mind  to  exert 
any  great  effort." — Blair  cor.  "  One  would  imagine,  that  these  critics  never  so  much  as  heard 
that  Homer  wrote  first."— Pope  cor.  "  Condemn  the  book,  for  not  being  a  geography  :  "  or, — "  be- 
cause it  is  not  a  geography." — Peirce  cor.  "  There  will  be  in  many  words  a  transition  from  being 
the  figurative  to  being  the  proper  signs  of  certain  ideas." — Campbell  cor.  "  The  doctrine  that 
the  Pope  is  the  only  source  of  ecclesiastical  power." — Rel.  W.  cor.  "  This  was  the  more  expe- 
dient, because  the  work  was  designed  for  the  benefit  of  private  learners." — L.Murray  cor.  "  This 
was  done,  because  the  Grammar,  being  already  in  type,  did  not  admit  of  enlargement." — Id. 


CHAP.    III.]  KEY   TO    FALSB   SYNTAX. — OBJECTIVES.  909 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  V ;  OF  OBJECTIVES. 

UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF.— THE  OBJECTIVE  FORM. 

"  Whom  should  I  meet  the  other  day  but  my  old  friend!  " — Spect.  cor.  "  Let  not  him  boast 
that  puts  on  his  armour,  but  him  that  takes  it  off." — Barclay  cor.  "  Let  none  touch  it,  but  them 
who  are  clean." — Sale  cor.  "  Let  the  sea  roar,  and  the  fullness  thereof;  the  world,  and  them 
that  dwell  therein." — Ps.  cor.  "  Pray  be  private,  and  careful  whom  you  trust." — Mrs.  Gojfe  cor. 
"  How  shall  the  people  know  whom  to  entrust  with  their  property  and  their  liberties  ?  " — J.  O. 
Taylor  cor.  "  The  chaplain  entreated  my  comrade  and  me  to  dress  as  well  as  possible." — World 
cor.  "  And  him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." — John,  vi,  37.  "Whom,  during 
this  preparation,  they  constantly  and  solemnly  invoke." — Hope  of  Is.  cor.  "  Whoever  or  what- 
ever owes  us,  is  Debtor ;  and  whomever  or  whatever  we  owe,  is  Creditor." — Marsh  cor.  "  De- 
claring the  curricle  was  his,  and  he  should  have  in  it  whom  he  chose." — A.  Ross  cor.  "  The 
fact  is.  Burke  is  the  only  one  of  all  the  host  of  brilliant  contemporaries,  whom  we  can  rank  as  a 
first-rate  orator." — Knickerb.  cor.  "  Thus  you  see,  how  naturally  the  Fribbles  and  the  Daffodils 
have  produced  the  Messalinas  of  our  time." — Dr.  Brown  cor.  "  They  would  find  in  the  Roman 
list  both  the  Scipios." — Id.  "  He  found  his  wife's  clothes  on  fire,  and  her  just  expiring." — Ob- 
server cor.  "  To  present  you  holy,  and  unblamable,  and  unreprovable  in  his  sight." — Colossians,  i, 
22.  "  Let  the  distributer  do  his  duty  with  simplicity;  the  superintendent,  with  diligence;  him 
who  performs  offices  of  compassion,  with  cheerfulness." — Stuart  cor.  "  If  the  crew  rail  at  the 
master  of  the  vessel,  ichom  will  they  mind?" — Collier  cor.  "He  having  none  but  them,  they 
having  none  but  him." — Drayton  cor. 

"  Thee,  Nature,  partial  Nature,  I  arraign  ; 
Of  thy  caprice  maternal  I  complain." — Burns  cor. 

"Nor  weens  he  who  it  is,  whose  charms  consume 
His  longing  soul,  but  loves  he  knows  not  whom." — Addison  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — OF  VERBS  TRANSITIVE. 

"  When  it  gives  that  sense,  and  also  connects  sentences,  it  is  a  conjunction." — L.  Murray  cor. 
"  Though  thou  wilt  not  acknowledge  thyself  to  be  guilty,  thou  canst  not  deny  the  fact  stated." — 
Id.  "  They  specify  some  object,  like  many  other  adjectives,  and  also  connect  sentences." — Kirk- 
Jiam  cor.  "A  violation  of  this  rule  tends  so  much  to  perplex  the  reader  and  obscure  the  sense,  that 
it  is  safer  to  err  by  using  too  many  short  sentences." — L.  Murray  cor.  "A  few  exercises  are  sub- 
joined to  each  important  definition,  for  him  [the  pupil]  to  practise  upon  as  he  proceeds  in  com- 
mitting the  i/rammar  to  memory." — Nutting  cor.  "A  verb  signifying  an  action  directly  transitive, 
governs  the'  accusative." — Adam  et  al.  cor.  "  Or,  any  word  that  can  be  conjugated,  is  a  verb." — 
Kirkham  cor.  "  In  these  two  concluding  sentences,  the  author,  hastening  to  a  close,  appears  to 
write  rather  carelessly."— Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  He  simply  reasons  on  one  side  of  the  question,  and 


in  learning  the  conjugations,  you  must  pay  particular  attention  to  the  manner  in  which  these  signs 
are  applied." — Kirk)iam  cor.  "  He  said  Virginia  would  have  emancipated  her  slaves  long  ago." — 
Lib.  cor.  "And  having  a  readiness  " — or,  "And  holding  ourselves  in  readiness  'Jy-or,  "And.  being  in 
readiness — to  revenge  all  disobedience." — Bible  cor.  "  However,  in  these  cases,  custom  generally 
determines  what  is  right." — Wriyht  cor.  "  In  proof,  let  the  following  cases  be  taken" — Id.  "  We 
must  ni'irci-l  that  he  should  so  speedily  have  forgotten  his  first  principles." — Id.  "  How  should 
we  icondcr  at  the  expression,  '  This  is  a  soft  question  ! '  " — Id.  "And  such  as  prefer  this  course, 
can  p;irse  it  as  a  possessive  adjective." — Goodenow  cor.  "  To  assign  all  the  reasons  that  induced 
the  author  to  deviate  from  other  grammarians,  would  lead  to  a  needless  prolixity." — Alexander  cor. 
"The  Indicative  Mood  simply  indicates  or  declares  a  thing. "^L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  63. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — OF  VERBS  INTRANSITIVE. 

"  In  his  seventh  chapter  he  expatiates  at  great  length." — Barclay  cor.  "  He  quarrels  with  me 
for  adjuring  some  ancient  testimonies  agreeing  with  what  I  say." — Id.  "  Repenting  of  his  de- 
sign."— Hume  cor.  "  Henry  knew,  that  an  excommunication  could  not  fail  to  produce  the  most 
dangerous  effects." — Id.  "'The  popular  lords  did  not  fail  to  enlarge  on  the  subject." — .U/.s.  Mu- 
ccnilmf  <•(»'.  "  He  is  uhvnvs  master  of  his  subject,  and  seems  to  play  with  it:  "  or, — "  seems  to 
sjiort  himwlf  with  it." — Blair  cor.  "  But  as  soon  as  it  amounts  to  real  disease,  all  his  secret  infirm- 
ities show  "themselves." — Id.  "No  man  repented  of  his  wickedness." — Bible  cor.  "Go  one 
w.iy  <>r  other,  either  on  the  right  hand,  or  on  the  left." — Id.  "  He  lies  down  by  the  river's  edge." 
Or  :  "  He  lays  himself  down  on  the  r/tvr'.v  brink." — If".  Walker  cor.  "  For  some  years  past,  l)iate 
hcrl  an  (ii-(l<-nf  /ri.<ih  to  retire  to  some  of  our  American  plantations." — Coicley  cor.  "I  fear  thou 
wilt  shrink  from  the  payment  of  it." — Ware  cor.  "  AVe  never  retain  an  idea,  without  acquiring 
some  combination." — Ripjn'ngham  cor. 

"  Yet  more  ;  the  stroke  of  death  he  must  abide, 
Then  lies  he  meekly  down,  fast  by  his  brethren's  side." — Milton  cor. 

I.'XDER  NOTE  III.— OF  VERBS  MISAPPLIED. 

"The  parliament  confiscated  the  property  of  all  those  who  had  borne  arms  against  the  king." — 
H>ime  cor.  "  The  practice  of  confiscating  ships  that  had  been  wrecked." — Id.  "  The  nearer  his 
m  litary  successes  brought  him  to  the  throne."  Or  :  "  The  nearer,  through  his  military  successes, 
he  approached  the  throne." — Id.  "  In  the  next  example,  'you  '  represents  '  ladies ;'  therefore  it  is 
pi  iral." — Kirkham  cor.  "  The  firs>t '  its'  stands  for  '  vale ; '  the  second  '  its '  represents  '  stream.'  " 
—  Id.  "  Pronouns  do  not  always  prevent  the  repetition  of  nouns." — Id.  "Very  is  an  adverb  of  de- 
the  adjective  voorf." — Id.  "  You  will  please  to  commit  to  memory  the  following 
paragraph." — Id.  "  Even  the  Greek  and  Latin  passive  verbs  form  some  of  their  tenses  by  means 


910  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  SYNTAX.      [PART  III. 

of  auxiliaries" — Mur.  cor.  "  The  deponent  verbs  in  Latin  also  employ  auxiliaries  to  form  sev- 
eral of  their  tenses." — Id.  "  I  have  no  doubt  he  made  as  wise  and  true  proverbs,  as  any  body  h;vs 
made  since." — Id.  "Monotonous  delivery  assumes  as  many  set  forms,  as  ever  Proteus  did  of  flatt- 
ing shapes." — Kirkhamcor  "  When  words  in  apposition  are  uttered  in  quick  succession." — Nix- 
mi  cor.  "  Where  many  such  sentences  occur  in  succession." — L.  Mur.  cor.  "  Wisdom  leads  us  to 
speak  and  do  what  is  most  proper." — Blair  and  Mur.  cor. 

"Jul.  Art  thou  not  Romeo,  and  a  Montague  ? 
Rom.  Neither,  fair  saint,  if  either  thee  displease."  Or  : — 

"  Neither,  fair  saint,  if  either  thou  dislike." — Shak.  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV.— OP  PASSIVE  VERBS. 

"To  us,  too,  must  be  allowed  the  privilege  of  forming  our  own  laws."  Or:  "We  too  must 
have  the  privilege,"  &e. — Murray  cor.  tf  For  not  only  is  the  use  of  all  the  ancient  poetic  feet 
allowed  [to]  us,"  &c. — Id.  et  al.  "  By  what  code  of  morals  is  the  right  or  privilege  denied  me  ?  " — 
Bartlett  cor.  "  To  the  children  of  Israel  alone,  has  the  possession  of  it  been  denied." — Keith 
cor.  "At  York,  all  quarter  loas  refused  to  fifteen  hundred  Jews." — Id.  "  He  would  teach  the  French 
language  in  three  lessons,  provided  there  were  paid  him  fifty-five  dollars  in  advance." — Prof. 
Chazotte  cor.  "And  when  it  was  demanded  of  him  by  the  Pharisees,  when  the  kingdom  of  God 
should  come."  Or  :  "And  when  the  Pharisees  demanded  of  him,"  &c. — Bible  cor.  "A  book  has 
been  shown  me." — Dr.  Campbell  cor.  "To  John  Home  Tooke  admission  was  refused,  only  because 
he  had  been  in  holy  orders." — "  Mr.  Home  Tooke  having  taken  orders,  admission  to  the  bar  was 
refused  him." — Churchill  cor.  "  Its  reference  to  place  is  disregarded." — Dr.  Bidlions  cor.  "  What 
striking  lesson  is  taught  by  the  tenor  of  this  history  ?  " — Bush  cor.  "  No  less  a  sum  than  eighty 
thousand  pounds  had  been  left  him  by  a  friend."— Dr.  Priestley  cor.  "  Where  there  are  many 
things  to  be  done,  there  must  be  allowed  to  each  its  share  of  time  and  labour." — Dr.  Johnson  cor. 
"Presenting  the  subject  in  a  far  more  practical  form,  than  has  heretofore  been  given  it" — Kirkham 
cor.  "  If  to  a  being  of  entire  impartiality  should  be  shown  the  'two  companies." — Dr.  Scott 
cor.  "The  command  of  the  British  army  was  offered  to  him" — Grimshaw  cor.  "  To  whom 
a  considerable  sum  had  been  unexpectedly  left." — Johnson  cor.  "Whether  such  a  privilege 
may  be  granted  to  a  maid  or  a  widow." — Spect.  cor.  "  Happily,  to  all  these  affected  terms, 
the  public  suffrage  has  been  denied." — Campbell  cor.  "  Let  the  parsing  table  next  be  shown  him." 
— Nutting  cor.  "Th'en  the  use  of  the  analyzing  table  may  be  explained  to  him." — Id.  "To  Pittacus 
there  was  offered  a  great  sum  of  money." — Sanborn  cor.  "  More  time  for  study  had  been  allowed 
him." — Id.  "  If  a  little  care  were  bestowed  on  the  ioalks  that  lie  between  them." — Blair's  Rhet  p. 
222.  "  Suppose  an  office  or  a  bribe  be  offered  me." — Pierpont  cor. 
"Is  then  one  chaste,  one  last  embrace  denied? 
Shall  I  not  lay  me  by  his  clay-cold  side  ?  " — Rowe  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  V.— OF  PASSIVE  VERBS  TRANSITIVE. 

"  The  preposition  TO  is  used  before  nouns  of  place,  when  they  follow  verbs  or  participles  of  mo- 
tion."— Murray  et  al.  cor.  "  They  were  not  allowed  to  enter  the  house." — Mur.  cor.  "  Their  se'ia- 
rate  signification  has  been  overlooked." — Tooke  cor.  "  But,  whenever  YE  is  used,  it  must  be  in  the 
nominative  case,  and  not  in  the  objective." — Cobbett  cor.  "  It  is  said,  that  more  persons  than  one 
recede  handsome  salaries,  to  see  that  acts  of  parliament  are  properly  worded." — Churchill  cor. 
"  The  following  Rudiments  of  English  Grammar  have  been  used  in  the  University  of  Pennsylva- 
nia."— Dr.  Rogers  cor.  "  It  never  should  be  forgotten." — Newman  cor.  "A  very  curious  fact  has 
been  noticed  by  those  expert  metaphysicians."' — Campbell  cor.  "  The  archbishop  interfered,  that 
Michelet's  lectures  might  be  stopped." — The  Friend  cor.  "  The  disturbances  in  Gottengen  have 
been  entirely  quelled." — Daily  Adv.  cor.  "  Besides  those  which  are  noticed  in  these  exceptions." 
— Priestley  cor.  "As  one,  two,  or  three  auxiliary  verbs  are  employed."— 'Id.  "  The  arguments  which 
have  been  used." — Addison  cor.  "The  circumstance  is  properly  noticed  by  the  author." — Blair 
cor.  "  Patagonia  has  never  been  taken  into  possession  by  any  European  nation." — Gumming  cor. 
"  He  will  be  censured  no  more." — Walker  cor.  "  The  thing  was  to  be  terminated  somehow  " — 
Hunt  cor.  "  In  1798,  the  Papal  Territory  was  seized  by  the  French." — Pinnock  cor.  "  The  idea 
has  not  for  a  moment  escaped  the  attention  o/the  Board." — C.  S.  Journal  cor.  "  I  shall  easily  be 
excused/row  the  labour  of  more  transcription." — Johnson  cor.  "  If  I  may  be  allowed  to  use  that 
expression." — Campbell  cor.  "  If  without  offence  I  may  make  the  observation." — Id.  "  There  are 
other  characters,  which  are  frequently  usedin  composition."— Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "  Such  unaccount- 
able infirmities  might  be  overcome,  in  many  cases,  and  perhaps  in  most." — Beattie  cor.  "  Which 
ought  never  to  be  employed,  or  resm-ted  to."— Id.  "  That  care  may  be  taken  of  the  widows."  Or  : 
"  That  the  widows  may  be  provided  for."— Barclay  cor.  "  Other  cavils  will  yet  be  noticed."— Pope 
cor.  "  Which  implies,  that  to  all  Christians  is  eternal  salvation  offered" — West  cor.  "  Yet  even 
the  dogs  are  allowed  to  eat  the  crumbs  which  fall  from  their  master's  table." — Campbell  cor. 
"  For  we  say,  the  light  within  must  be  heeded." — Barclay  cor.  "This  sound  of  a  is  noticed  in 
Steele's  Grammar." — J.  Walker  cor.  "  One  came  to  receive  ten  guineas  for  a  pair  of  silver 
buckles." — M.  Edgeworth cor.  "Let  therefore  the  application  of  the  several  questions  in  the 
table  be  carefully  shown  [to]  him." — Nutting  cor.  "After  a  few  times,  it  is  no  longer  noticed  by 
the  hearers." — Sheridan  cor.  "  It  will  not  admit  of  the  same  excuse,  nor  receive  the  same  indul- 
gence, from  people  of  any  discernment." — Id.  "  Of  inanimate  things,  property  may  be  made." 
Or  :  "  Inanimate  things  may  be  made  property ;  "  i.  e.,  "  may  become  property." — Beattie  cor. 
"And,  when  some  rival  bids  a  higher  price, 
Will  not  be  sluggish  in  the  work,  or  nice."— Butler  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI.— OF  PERFECT  PARTICIPLES. 

"All  the  words  employed  to  denote  spiritual  or  intellectual  things,  are  in  their  origin  metaphors." 
— Dr.  Campbell  cor.  "A  reply  to  an  argument  commonly  brought  forward  by  unbelievers." — Dr. 
Blair  cor.  "  It  was  once  the  only  form  used  in  the  past  tenses." — Dr.  Ash  cor.  "  Of  the  points 


CHAP.    III.]  KEY   TO    FALSE   SYNTAX — SAME    CASES.  911 

and  other  characters  used  in  writing."— Id.  "  If  THY  be  the  personal  pronoun  adopted."— 
Walker  cor.  "The  Conjunction  is  award  used  to  connect  [words  or]  sentences." — Burn  cor. 
"The  points  tchich  answer  these  purposes,  are  the  four  following." — Harrison  cor.  "  IXCBXSB 
signifies  perfume  exhaled  by  fire,  and  u.ted  in  religious  ceremonies." — L.  Mur.  cor.  "  In  most  of 
his  orations,  there  is  too  much  art  ;  he  carries  it  even  to  ostentation." — Blair  cor.  "  To  illustrate 
the  great  truth,  so  often  overlooked  in  our  times." — ('.  N.  Journal  cor.  "  The  principal  figures  cal- 
culated to  affect  the  heart,  are  Exclamation,  Confession,  Deprecation,  Commination,  and  Impre- 
cation."— Formey  cor.  "  Disgusted  at  the  odious  artifices  employed  by  the  judge." — Juniu.s  cor. 
"All  the  reasons  for  which  there  MV/.V  allotted  to  m  a  condition  out  of  which  so  much  wickedness 
and  misery  would  in  fact  arise." — Bp.  Butler  cor.  "  Some  characteristical  circumstance  being 
generally  invented  or  seized  upon" — Ld.  Kames  cor. 

"And  BY  is  likewise  used  with  names  that  shew 
The  method  or  the  means  of  what  ice  do." —  Ward  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII. — OF  CONSTRUCTIONS  AMBIGUOUS. 

"  Many  adverbs  admit  of  degrees  of  comparison,  as  do  adjectives." — Priestley  cor.  "  But  the 
author  who,  by  the  number  and  reputation  of  his  works,  did  more  than  any  one  else,  to  briny  our 
language  iuto'its  present  state,  teas  Dryden." — Blair  cor.  "  In  some  states,  courts  of  admiralty 
have  no  juries,  nor  do  courts  of  chancery  employ  any  at  all." — Webster  cor.  "  I  feel  grateful  to 
my  friend." — Murray  cor.  "  This  requires  a  writer  to  have  in  his  own  mind  a  very  clear  appre- 
hension of  the  object  which  he  means  to  present  to  us." — Blair  cor.  "  Sense  has  its  own  har- 
mony, which  naturally  contributes  something  to  the  harmony  of  sound." — Id.  "The  apostrophe 
denotes  the  omission  of  an  i,  which  was  formerly  inserted,  and  which  gave  to  the  word  an  additional 
syllable." — Priestley  cor.  "  There  are  few  to  whom  I  can  refer  with  more  advantage  than  to  Mr. 
Addison." — Blair  cor.  "  DEATH,  (in  theolot/y,)  is  a  perpetual  separation  from  God,  a  state  of  eter- 
nal torments." — Webster  cor.  "  That  could  inform  the  traveller  as  well  as  could  the  old  man  him- 
self !  "—  O.  B.  Peirce  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII.— OF  YE  AND  YOU  IN  SCRIPTURE. 

"Ye  daughters  of  Kabbah,  gird  you  with  sackcloth." — SCOTT,  FRIENDS,  and  the  COMPREHEN- 
SIVE BIBLE:  Jer.  xlix,  3.  "Wash  you,  make  you  clean." — SCOTT,  ALGER,  FRIENDS,  ET  AL.  : 
Isaiah,  i,  16.  "Strip  you,  and  make  you  bare,  and  gird  sackcloth  upon  your  loins." — SCOTT, 
FRIENDS,  KT  AL.  :  Isaiah,  xxxii,  11.  "  Ye  are  not  ashamed  that  ye  make  yourselves  strange  to 
me." — SCOTT,  BRUCE,  and  BLAYXEY  :  Job,  xix,  3.  "  If  ye  knew  the  gift  of  God."  Or :  "  If  thou 
knew  the  gift  of  God." — See  John,  iv,  10.  "  Depart  from  me.  ye  workers  of  iniquity  ;  I  know  you 
not." — Pent ny ton  cor. 

CORRECTIONS  UXDER  RULE  VI ;  OF  SAME  CASES. 
UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF.— OF  PROPER  IDENTITY. 

"Who  would  not  say,  '  If  it  be  /,' rather  than,  '  If  it  be  me?'  " — Priestley  cor.  "Who  is  there? 
It  is  /." — Id.  "  It  is  he." — Id.  "Are  these  the  houses  you  were  speaking  of?  Yes  ;  they  are 
the  ti'tmi.:" — fd.  "It  is  not  I,  that  you  are  in  love  with." — Addison  cor.  "It  cannot  be  7." — 
Sir  iff  cor.  "  To  that  which  once  was  thou." — Prior  cor.  "  There  is  but  oneman  that  she  can  have, 
and  that  man  is  myself." — Priestley  cor.  "  We  enter,  as  it  were,  into  his  body,  and  become  in 
some  measure  he."  Or,  better: — "and  become  in  some  measure  identified'  with  him." — A. 
Smith  und  Pr.  cor.  "Art  thou  proud  yet  ?  Ay,  that  I  am  not  thou." — Shak.  cor.  "  He  knew 
not  who  they  were." — Milnes  cor.  "Whom  do  you  think  me  to  be?" — Dr.  Lowth's  Gram. 
p.  77.  "  Who  do  men  say  that  I,  the  Son  of  man,  am  ?  " — Bible  cor.  "  But  who  say  ye  that  I 
am?" — Id.  "Who  think  ye  that  I  am  ?  I  am  not  he." — Id.  "No;  I  am  in  error;  I  per- 
ceive it  is  not  the  person  that  I  supposed  it  was." — Winter  in  London  cor.  "And  while  it  is 
llctlint  I  servo,  life  is  not  without  value." — Ware  cor.  "Without  ever  dreaming  it  was  he." 
—  C/ur, •/>••<<  XII  ••<»•.  "  Or  he  was  not  the  illiterate  personage  that  he  affected  to  be." — Montyom. 
cor.  "  Yet  was  he  the  man  who  w,is  to  be  the  greatest  apostle  of  the  Gentiles." — Barclay  cor. 
"Sweet  was  the  thrilling  ecstasy  ;  1  know  not  if 'twas  love,  or  thou." — J.  lloqg  cor.  "  Time  was, 
when  none  would  cry,  that  oaf  was  /." — Dri/dcu  cor.  "  Xo  matter  where  the  vanquished  be,  or 
who." — Row*  -No;  I  little  thought  it  had  been  he." — Crattoncor.  "  That  reverence,  thai 

godly  fear  which  is  cvi-r  due  to  '  Him  who  can  destroy  both  boclv  and  soul  in  hell.'  " — Mnturin  cor. 
"It  is  we  that  they  seek  to  please,  or  rather  to  astonish." — ./.  Went  cor.  "  Let  the  same  be  her  that 
thou  hast  appointed  for  thy  servant  Isaa<-." — Bih'r  cor.  "Although  I  knew  it  to  be  him." — 
"  Dear  gentle  youth,  is  't  none  but  thou?" — Dorset  ,-or.  "  Who  do  they  say  it  is  ?  " 
t\>ick-r  cor. 

"  These  are  her  garb,  not  she  ;  they  but  express 
Her  form,  her  semblance,  her  appropriate  dress." — More  cor. 

UNDKH  NOTE  I. — Or  THE  CASE  DOUBTFUL. 

"  I  had  no  knowledge  of  any  connexion  between  them." — Col.  Stonecor.  "  To  promote  iniquity 
in  others,  is  nearly  the  same  thin;/,  as  to  be  the  actors  of  it  ourselves."  (That  is,  "For  ?«  to  pro- 
mote iniquity  in  others,  is  nearly'  the  same  thintj  as  for  us  to  be  the  actors  of  it  ourselves.") — Mur- 
ray cor.  "  It  must  arise  from  ttUidlt  feting  M  ourselves." — Blair  and  Murray  cor.  "Because 
there  has  not  been  exercised  a  competent  physical  power  for  their  enforcement." — Mass.  Legisl. 
cor.  "  PUPILAGE,  n.  The  state  of  &  pupil,  or  scholar." — l)ictionari>  \  «>r.  "  Then  the  other  jxirt, 
being  the  definition,  tcould  itvlnde  all  verbs,  of  every  description." — Peirce  cor.  "  Johr.'s  friend- 
ship f-i  me  from  inconvenience." — Id.  "  William's  jud-ifship" — or,  "  William's  appoint- 
ment tn  tin- attic  o/"judget" — changed  his  whole  demeanour." — Id.  "  William's  pra<f  ical  acquaint- 
ance trith  ti-nc/iht'/,  was  the  cause  of  the  interest  he  felt." — Id.  "To  be  but  one  among  many, 
stifleth  the  eludings  of  conscience." — Tapper  cor.  "As  for  the  opinion  that  it  is  a  close  transla- 
tion, I  doubt  not  many  have  been  led  into  that  error  by  the  shortness  of  it." — Pope  cor.  "All 


912  GRAMMAR    OP    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY    TO    SYNTAX.  [PART  III. 

presumption  that  death  is  the  destruction  of  living  bodies,  must  go  upon  the  supposition  that  they 
are  compounded,  and  therefore  discerptible." — Butler  cor.  "This  argues  rather  that  they  art 
proper  names." — Churchill  cor.  "  But  may  it  not  be  retorted,  that  this  gratification  itself,  is  that 
which  excites  our  resentment  ?  " — Campbell  cor.  "  Under  the  common  notion,  that  it  is  a  system 
of  the  whole  poetical  art." — Blair  cor.  "  Whose  want  q/'time,  or  whose  other  circumstances,  for- 
bid them  to  become  classical  scholars." — Lit.  Journal  cor.  "  It  would  prove  him  not  to  have  been  a 
mere  fictitious  personage."  Or  :  "  It  would  preclude  the  notion  that  he  was  merely  a  fictitious 
personage." — Phil.  Mu.  cor.  "  For  heresy,  or  under  pretence  that  they  are  heretics  or  infidels." 
— Oath  cor.  "  We  may  here  add  Dr.  Home's  sermon  on  Christ,  as  being  the  Object  of  religious 
adoration." — Rel.  World  cor.  "  To  say  nothing  of  Dr.  Priestley,  as  being  a  strenuous  advocate," 
&c. — Id.  "Through  the  agency  of  Adam,  as  being  their  public  head."  Or  :  "Because  Adam  was 
their  public  head." — Id.  "  Objections  against  the  existence  of  any  such  moral  plan  as  this." — 
Butler  cor.  "  A  greater  instance  of  a  man  being  a  blockhead." — Sped.  cor.  "  We  may  insure  or 
promote  what  will  make  it  a  happy  state  of  existence  to  ourselves." — Gurney  cor.  "Since  it 
often  undergoes  the  same  kind  of  unnatural  treatment." — Kirkham  cor.  "  Their  apparent  foolish- 


tioi 

liability 

that  loorshiped  God." — Acts  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — OF  FALSE  IDENTIFICATION. 

"  But  popular,  he  observes,  is  an  ambiguous  word." — Blair  cor.  "  The  infinitive  mood,  a  phrase, 
or  a  sentence,  is  often  made  the  subject  of  a.  verb." — Murray  cor.  "  When  any  person,  in  speaking, 
introduces  his  name  after  the  pronoun  I,  it  is  of  the  first  person  ;  as,  '  I,  James,  of  the  city  of  Bos- 


which  denotes  the  speaker  or  writer." — G.  BROWN  :  for  the  correction  of  Parker  and  Fox,  Hiley,  and 
Sanborn.  "  The  second  person  is  that  ichich  denotes  the  hearer,  or  the  person  addressed." — Id. :  for 
the  same.  "The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely  spoken  of." — Id.  : 


ject  or  nominative  always  represents  ivhat  is  acted  upon,  and  the  object  of  a  verb  must  needs  be  in 
the  objective  case." — Id.  "  When  a  noun  is  the  nominative  to  an  active  verb,  it  denotes  the 
actor." — Kirkham  cor.  "And  the  pronoun  THOU  or  YE,  standing  for  the  name  of  the  person  or  persons 
commanded,  is  its  nominative." — Ingersoll  cor.  "  The  first  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  speaker." 
— Brown's  Institutes,  p.  32.  "  The  conjugation  of  a  verb  is  a  regular  arrangement  of  its  different  va- 
riations or  inflections  throughout  the  moods  and  lenses." — Wright  cor.  "  The  first  person  is  that 
*  ei- or  writer." — G.  BROWN:  for  the  correction  of  Parker  ai 
I  person  is  that  ichich  denotes  the  hearer,  or  the  person  add 
person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely  spoke 

"  —Mur.  et 
ilural." — 

The 

subject  of  the  verb." — Kirkham  cor.  "  John  is  the 
actor,  therefore  the  noun  JOHN  is  in  the  nominative  case." — Id.  "The  actor  is  always  expressed 
by  the  nominative  case,  unless  the  verb  be  passive." — Smith  cor.  "The  nominative  case  does  not 
always  denote  an  agent  or  actor." — Mack  cor.  "In  mentioning  each  name,  tell  the  part  of 
speech." — Flint  cor.  "O/what  number  is  boy  ?  Why  ?  " — Id.  "0/"what  number  is  pens'/  Why  ?  " 
— Id.  "  The  speaker  is  denoted  by  the  first  person  ;  the  person  spoken  to  is  denoted  by  the  seo 
ond  person  ;  and  the  person  or  thing  spoken  of  is  denoted  by  the  third  person." — Id.  "What 
nouns  are  of  the  masculine  gender  ?  The  names  of  'all  males  are  of  the  masculine  gender." — Id. 
"  An  interjection  is  a  word  that  is  uttered  merely  to  indicate  some  strong  or  sudden  emotion  of  the 
mind." — G.  Brown's  Grammars. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  VII  ;    OF  OBJECTIVES. 
UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — OF  THE  OBJECTIVE  IN  FORM. 

"  But  I  do  not  remember  ichom  they  were  for." — Abbott  cor.  "  But  if  you  can't  help  it,  whom 
do  you  complain  of  ?  " — Collier  cor.  '"  Whom  was  it  from  ?  and  what  was  it  about  ?  " — M.  Edge- 
worth  cor.  "  I  have  plenty  of  victuals,  and,  between  you  and  me,  something  in  a  corner." — Day 
cor.  "  The  upper  one,  whom  I  am  now  about  to  speak  of." — Leigh  Hunt  cor.  "And  to  poor  us, 
thy  enmity  is  most  capital." — Shak.  cor.  "  Which,  thou  dost  confess,  'twere  fit  for  thee  to  use, 
as  them  to  claim."  That  is, — "  as  for  them  to  claim." — Id.  "  To  beg  of  thee,  it  is  my  more  dis- 
honour, than  thee  of  them."  That  is, — "  than/or  thee  to  beg  of  them." — Id.  "  There  are  still  a  few, 
who,  like  thee  and  me,  drink  nothing  but  water."— Gil  Bias  cor.  "Thus,  'I  shall  fall,'— 
'Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour,' — '  lie  shall  be  rewarded,' — express  no  resolution  on  the  part  of 
me,  thee,  or  him."  Or  better  : — "  on  the  part  of  the  persons  signified  by  the  nominatives,  I,  Thou, 
He." — Lennie  and  Bullions  cor.  "So  saucy  with  the  hand  of  her  here — what's  her  name ?" — 
Shak.  cor.  "All  debts  are  cleared  between  you  and  me." — Id.  "  Her  price  is  paid,  and  she  is 
sold  like  thee." — HARRISON'S  E.  Lang.  p.  172.  "  Search  through  all  the  most  flourishing  eras  of 
Greece." — Dr.  Brown  cor.  "The  family  of  the  Rudolphs  had  been  long  distinguished." — The 
Friend  cor.  "  It  will  do  well  enough  for  you  and  me." — Edgeworth  cor.  "  The  public  will  soon 
discriminate  between  him  who  is  the  sycophant,  and  him  who  is  the  teacher." — Chazotte  cor. 
"  We  are  still  much  at  a  loss  to  determine  whom  civil  power  belongs  to." — Locke  cor.  "  What  do 
you  call  it  ?  and  to  whom  does  it  belong  ?  " — Collier  cor.  "  He  had  received  no  lessons  from  the 
Socrateses,  the  Platoes,  and  the  Confuciuses  of  the  age." — Haller  cor.  "  I  cannot  tell  whom  to  com- 
pare them  to." — Bunyancor.  "  1  see  there  was  some  resemblance  betwixt  this  good  man  and  me." 
—Id.  "They,  by  those  means,  have  brought  themselves  into  the  hands  and. house  of  I  do  not 
know  ichom." — Id.  "  But  at  length  she  said,  there  was  a  great  deal  of  difference  between  Mr. 
Cotton  and  us." — Hutch.  Hist.  cor.  "  So  you  must  ride  on  horseback  after  us." — Mrs.  Gilpin  cor. 
"A  separation  must  soon  take  place  between  our  minister  and  me." — Werter  cor.  "When  she 


CHAP.  IV.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX.  -  ADJECTIVES.  913 

exclaimed  on  Hastings,  you,  and  me."—  Shak.  cor.     "  To  whom  f  to  thce  ?    What  art  thou  ?  "—  Id. 
"  That  they  should  always  bear  the  certain  marks  of  him  from  whom  they  came."  —  Bp.  Butler  cor. 
"  ;i'his  life  has  joys  for  you  and  me, 
And  joys  that  riches  ne'er  could  buy."  —  Burns  cor. 


THE  NOTE.  —  OF  TIME  OH  MEASURE. 
"  Such  as  almost  every  child,  ten  years  old,  knows."  —  Town  cor.  "Four  months'  schooling  will 
carry  any  industrious  scholar,  of  ten  or  twelve  years  of  aye,  completely  through  this  book."  —  Id. 
"A  boy  of  six  years  of  age  may  be  taught  to  speak  as  correctly,  as  Cicero  did  before  the  Roman 
senate."  —  Webster  cor.  "A  lad  about  twelve  years  old,  who  was  taken  captive  by  the  Indians."  — 
Id.  "  Of  nothing  else  than  that  individual  white  figure  of  five  inches  in  length,  which  is  before 
him."  —  Campbell  cor.  "  Where  lies  the  fault,  that  boys  of  eight  or  ten  years  of  aye  are  with  great 
difficulty  made  to  understand  any  of  its  principles  ?  "  —  Guy  cor.  "  Where  language  three  cen- 
turies o'ld  is  employed."  —  Booth  cor.  "Let  a  gallows  be  made,  of  fifty  cubits  in  krigkt"  Or: 
"Let  a  gallows  fifty  cubits  hi<jh  be  made."  —  Bible  cor.  "  I  say  to  this  child,  nine  years  old, 
'  Bring  me  that  hat.'  He  hastens,  and  brings  it  me."  —  Osborn  cor.  "  '  He  laid  a  floor,  twelve  feet 
long,  and  nine  feet  wide  :  '  that  is,  the  floor  was  long  to  the  extent  of  twelve  feet,  and  wide  to  the 
extent  of  nine  feet."  —  Merchant  cor.  "The  Goulah  people  are  a  tribe  of  about  fifty  thousand  in 
strength."  Or:  "  The  Gouiah  people  are  a  tribe  about  fifty  thousand  strong."  —  Examiner  cor. 

CORRECTIONS   UNDER  RULE  VIII;  NOM.  ABSOLUTE. 

"77<?  having  ended  his  discourse,  the  assembly  dispersed."  —  Inst.  of  E.  G.  p.  190.  "7  being 
young,  they  deceived  me."  —  Id.  p.  279.  "They  refusing  to  comply,  I  withdrew."  —  Ib.  "Thou 
being  present,  he  would  not  tell  what  he  knew."  —  Ib.  "  The  child  is  lost  ;  and  7,  whither  shall 
I  go  ?  "  —  Ib.  "()  happy  we!  surrounded  with  so  many  blessings."  —  Ib.  "'Thmitool  Brutus,  my 
son  !  '  cried  Caesar,  overcome."—  76.  "Thou  !  Maria!  and  so  late  !  and  who  is  thy  companion  ?  " 
—  Mirror  cor.  "  How  swiftly  our  time  passes  away  !  and  ah  !  tee,  how  little  concerned  to  im- 
prove it  !  "  —  Greenleaf's  False  Syntax,  Gram.  p.  47. 

"  There  all  thy  gifts  and  graces  we  display, 

Thou,  only  thou,  directing  all  our  way."  —  Pope,  Dunciad. 


CHAPTER  IV.  — ADJECTIVES. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  THE  NOTES  TO  RULE  IX. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — OF  AGREEMENT. 

"  I  am  not  recommending  this  kind  of  sufferings  to  your  liking." — Sherlock  cor.  "  I  have  not 
been  to  London  these  five  years." — Webster  cor.  "Verbs  of  this  kind  are  more  expressive  than 
their  radicals." — Dr.  Murray  cor.  "  Few  of  us  would  be'  less  corrupted  than  kings  are,  were  we, 
like  them,  beset  with  flatterers,  and  poisoned  with  those  vermin." — Kames  cor.  "  But  it  seems 
these  literati  had  been  very  ill  rewarded  for  their  ingenious  labours. "—R.  Random  cor.  "If  I  had 
not  left  off  troubling  myself  about  things  of  that  kind." — Swift  cor.  "  For  things  of  this  sort  are 
usuallv  joined  to  the  most  noted  fortune." — Bacon  cor.  "The  nature  of  those  riches  and  that 
long-suffering,  is,  to  lead  to  repentance." — Barclay  cor.  "  I  fancy  it  is  this  kind  of  gods,/Aa<  Hor- 
ace mentions." — Addison  tor.  "  During  those  eight  days,  they  are  prohibited  from  touching  the 
skin." — Hi ,  .  "  Besides,  he  had  but  a  small  quantity  of  provisions  left  for  his  army." — 

GotdsmitA  <  <>r.  "Are  you  not  ashamed  to  have  no  other  thoughts  than  those  of  amassing  wealth, 
and  of  acquiring  glory,  credit,  and  dignities  ?  " — Murray's  Sequel,  p.  115.  "  It  distinguishes  still 
more  remarkably  the  feelings  of  the  former  from  those  of  the  latter." — Kames  cor.  "And  these 
good  tidings  of  the  reign  shall  be  published  through  all  the  world." — Campbell  cor.  "These twenty 
years  h;ive  I  been  with  thee." — Gen.  cor.  "  In  this  kind  of  expressions,  some  words  seem  to  be 
understood." — IT.  Walker  mr.  "  He  thought  this  kind  of  excesses  indicative  of  greatness." — 
Hunt  cor.  "  This  sort  of  fellows  is  very  numerous."  Or  thus  :  "Fellows  of  this  sort  are  very  nu- 
merous."— Speet.eor.  "Whereas  men  of  this  ,\<>rt  cannot  give  account  of  their  faith."  Or: 
"  Whereas  these  >nen  cannot  give  account  of  their  faith." — 1  tare  fay  cor.  "But  the  question  is, 
whether  those  are  the  words." — Id.  "  So  that  expressions  of  this  sort  are  not  properly  optative." 
— It.  Johnson  i-ii,-.  "  Many  things  are  not  such  as  they  appear  to  be." — Sanbwn  cor.  "  So  that 
all  possible  means  are  UM •<!." — I'onnt  ><• 

"  We  have  strict  statutes,  and  most  biting  laws, 

Which,  for  these  nineteen  years,  we  have  let  sleep." — Shak.  cor. 

"  They  could  not  speak  ;  and  so  I  left  them  both. 
To  bear  these  tidings  to  the  bloody  king." — Shak.  cor. 

II.— OK  Fixr.D  NCMUKRS. 

"Why,  I  think  she  cannot  be  above  six  feet  two  inches  high." — Spe-f.  cor.  "The  world  is 
pretty  regular  for  about  forty  aid  ten  west." — I<L  ••  The  standard  being  more  than  two 

tore  it." — Bacon  cor'.  "Supposing,  among  other  things,  that  he  saw  two  suns,  and  two 
'  Hie'texts." — hi.  "  On  the  right  hand  we  go  into  a  parlour  thirty-three  feet  by  fh //•///-/////«•." — Shef- 
jieldeor.  "  Three  ]x>unds  of  gold  went  to  one  shield." — 1  Kinns  cor.  "Such  an  assemblage  of  men 
us  there  appears  to  have  been  at  that  Mwibft." — The  yrioul  cor.  "And,  truly,  he  has  saved  me 
from  this  labour." — Barclay  cor.  "  Within  these  three  miles  may  you  see  it  coming." — Sh" 

-t  of  the  churches,  not  all,  had  one  rulint/  elder  or  more."— 'Hutch .  cor.  "  While  a  Minute 
Philosopher,  not  six  /«7high,  attempts  to  dethrone  the  Monarch  of  the  universe." — Berkley  cor. 
"  The  wall  is  ten  feet  high." — Harrison  cor.  "The  stalls  must  be  ten  feet  broad." — Walker  cor. 
"A  close  prisoner  in  a  room  twenty  feet  square,  being  at  the  north  side  of  his  chamber,  is  at  lib- 
erty to  walk  twenty  feet  southward,  not  to  walk  twenty  feet  northward." — Locke  cor.  "  Nor,  after 


914  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  SYNTAX.      [PART  II [. 

all  this  care  and  industry,  did  they  think  themselves  qualified." — C.  Orator  cor.  "  No  fewer 
than  thirteen  Gypsies  were  condemned  at  one  Suffolk  assize,  and  executed." — Webster  cor.  '"  The 
king  was  petitioned  to  appoint  one  person  or  more." — Mrs.  Macaulay  cor.  "  He  carries  weight. ! 
he  rides  a  race  !  Tis  for  a  thousand  pounds." — Cowper  cor.  "  They  carry  three  tiers  of  guns  at 
the  head,  and  at  the  stern,  two  tiers." — Joh.  Diet.  cor.  "The  verses  consist  of  two  sorts  of 
rhymes." — Formey  cor.  "A  present  of  forty  camel-loads  of  the  most  precious  things  of  Syria." 
—  Wood's  Diet.  cor.  "A  large  grammar,  that  shall  extend  to  every  minutia." — S.  Barrett  cor. 

"  So  many  spots,  like  naeves  on  Venus'  soil, 
One  gem  set  off  with  many  a  glittering  foil." — Dryden  cor. 

"  For,  off  the  end,  a  double  handful 
It  had  devour'd,  it  was  so  manful." — Butler  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  III.— OP  RECIPROCALS. 

"  That  shall  and  will  might  be  substituted  one  for  the  other." — Priestley  cor.  "  We  use  not 
shall  and  loill  promiscuously  the  one  for  the  other." — Brightland  cor.  "  But  I  wish  to  distinguish 
the  three  high  ones  from  one  an  other  also." — Fowle  cor.  "  Or  on  some  other  relation  which  two 
objects  bear  to  each  other." — Blair  cor.  "  Yet  the  two  words  lie  so  near  to  each  other  in  meaning, 
that,  in  the  present  case,  perhaps  either  of  them  would  have  been  sufficient." — Id.  "  Both  orators 
use  great  liberties  in  their  treatment  of  each  other." — Id.  "  That  greater  separation  of  the  two 
sexes  from  each  other." — Id.  "Most  of  whom  live  remote  from  one  an  other." — Webster  cor. 
"  Teachers  like  to  see  their  pupils  polite  to  one  an  other." — Id.  "  In  a  little  time,  he  and  I  must 
keep  company  with  each  other  only." — Sped.  cor.  "Thoughts  and  circumstances  crowd  upon 
one  an  other." — Kames  cor.  "  They  cannot  perceive  how  the  ancient  Greeks  could  understand 
one  an  other." — Lit.  Conv.  cor.  "  The  poet,  the  patriot,  and  the  prophet,  vied  with  one  an  other 
in  his  breast." — Hazlitt  cor.  "Athamas  and  Ino  loved  each  other." — C.  Tales  cor.  "  Where  two 
things  are  compared  or  contrasted  one  loith  the  other."  Or:  "Where  two  things  are  com- 
pared or  contrasted  with  each  other." — Blair  and  Mur.  cor.  "  In.  the  classification  of  words, 
almost  all  writers  differ  from  one  an  other." — Bullions  cor. 

"  I  will  not  trouble  thee,  my  child.    Farewell; 
We'll  no  more  meet ;  we'll  no  more  see  each  other." — Shak.  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — OF  COMPARATIVES. 

"Errors  in  education  should  be  less  indulged  than  any  others." — Locke  cor.  "  This  was  less  his 
case  than  any  otJier  man's  that  ever  wrote." — Pref.  to  Waller  cor.  "This  trade  enriched  some 
other  people,  more  than  it  enriched  them." — Mur.  cor.  "The  Chaldee  alphabet,  in  which  the 
Old  Testament  has  reached  us,  is  more  beautiful  than  any  other  ancient  character  known." — 
Wilson  cor.  "  The  Christian  religion  gives  amove  lovely  character  of  God,  than  any  other  re- 
ligion ever  did." — Murray  cor.  "  The  temple  of  Cholula  was  deemed  more  holy  than  any  other  in. 
New  Spain." — Robertson  cor.  "  Cibber  grants  it  to  be  a  better  poem  of  its  kind,  than  any  other 
that  ever  was  written." — Pope  cor.  "  Shakspeare  is  more  faithful  to  the  true  language  of  nature, 
than  any  other  writer." — Blair  cor.  "One  son  I  had — one,  more  than  all  my  other  sons,  the 
strength  of  Troy."  Or  :  "  One  son  I  had — one,  the  most  of  all  my  sons,  the  strength  of  Troy." — 
Cowper  cor.  "  Now  Israel  loved  Joseph  more  than  all  his  other  children,  because  he  was  the  son 
of  his  old  age." — Bible  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  V. — OF  SUPERLATIVES. 

"  Of  all  simpletons,  he  was  the  greatest." — Nutting  cor.  "  Of  all  beings,  man  has  certainly  the 
greatest  reason  for  gratitude." — Id.  "  This  lady  is  jirettier  than  any  of  her  sisters." — Peyton  cor. 
"  The  relation  which,  of  all  the  class,  is  by  far  the  most  fruitful  of  tropes,  I  have  not  yet  men- 
tioned."— Blair  cor.  "  He  studied  Greek  the  most  of  all  noblemen." — W.  Walker  cor.  "  Andin- 
deed  that  was  the  qualification  which  was  most  wanted  at  that  time." — Goldsmith  cor.  "  Yet  we 
deny  that  the  knowledge  of  him  as  outwardly  crucified,  is  the  best  of  all  knowledge  of  him." — 
Barclay  cor.  "  Our  ideas  of  numbers  are,  of  all  our  conceptions,  the  most  accurate  and  distinct." 
— Duncan  cor.  "  This  indeed  is,  of  all  cases,  the  one  in  which  it  is  least  necessary  to  name  the 
agent." — J.  Q.  Adams  cor.  "  The  period  to  which  you  have  arrived,  is  perhaps  the  most  critical 
and  important  moment  of  your  lives." — Id.  "  Perry's  royal  octavo  is  esteemed  the  best  of  all  the 
pronouncing  dictionaries  yet  known." — D.  H.  Barnes  cor,  "This  is  the  tenth  persecution,  and, 
of  all  the  ten,  the  most  bloody." — Sammes  cor.  "  The  English  tongue  is  the  most  susceptible  of 
sublime  imagery,  of  all  the  languages  in  the  world." — Buckecor.  "  Of  all  writers  whatever,  Homer 
is  universally  allowed  to  have  had  the  greatest  Invention." — Pope  cor.  "  In  a  version  of  this  par- 
ticular work,  which,  more  than  any  other,  seems  to  require  a  venerable  antique  cast." — Id.  "  Be- 
cause I  think  him  the  best-informed  naturalist  that  has  ever  written." — Jefferson  cor.  "  Man  is 
capable  of  being  the  most  social  of  all  animals." — Sheridan  cor.  "  It  is,  of  all  signs  (or  expres- 
sions) that  which  most  moves  us." — Id.  "  Which,  of  all  articles,  is  the  most  necessary." — Id. 
"  Quoth  he,  «  This  gambol  thou  advisest, 
Is,  of  &\\  projects,  the  unwisest.'  " — S.  Butler  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI.— OF  INCLUSIVE  TERMS. 

"  Noah  and  his  family  icere  the  only  antediluvians  who  survived  the  flood." — Webster  cor.  "  I 
think  it  superior  to  any  other  grammar  that  we  have  yet  had." — Blair  cor.  "We  have  had  no 
other  grammarian  who  has  employed  so  much  labour  a,ndjud(/cment  upon  our  native  language,  as 
has  the  author  of  these  volumes." — British  Critic  cor.  "Those  persons  feel  most  for  the  dis- 
tresses of  others,  who  have  experienced  distress  themselves." — L.  Murray  cor.  "Never  was  any 
other  people  so  much  infatuated  as  the  Jewish  nation." — Id.  et  al.  "  No  other  tongue  is  so  full 
of  connective  particles  as  the  Greek." — Blair  cor.  "  Never  was  sovereign  so  much  beloved  by  the 
people."  Or  :  "Never  was  any  other  sovereign  so  much  beloved  by  his  people." — L.  Murray  cor. 
"  Nothing  else  ever  affected  her  so  much  as  this  misconduct  of  her  child." — Id.  et  al.  "  Of  all  the 
figures  of  speech,  no  other  comes  so  near  to  painting  as  does  metaphor." — Blair  et  al.  cor.  "  I 


CHAP.    IV.]  KKY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. ADJECTIVES.  915 

know  no  other  writer  so  happy  in  his  metaphors  as  is  Mr.  Addison." — IH'iircor.  "  Of  all  the  English 
authors,  none  is  more  happy  in  his  metaphors  than  Addison." — Jamie^on  cor.  "  Perhaps  no  other 
writer  in  the  world  was  ever  so  frugal  of  his  words  as  Aristotle." — Blair  and  Jumiexon  < or.  "  Never 
was  any  other  writer  so  happy,  in  that  concise  and  spirited  style,  us  Mr.  Pope." — Blair  cor. 
"  In  the  harmonious  structure  and  disposition  of  his  periods,  no  otht-r  writer  whatever,  ancient 
or  modern,  equals  Cicero." — Blair  and  Jamifson  cor.  "  Nothing  ehe  delights  me  so  much  as 
the  works  of  nature." — Mur.  cor.  "No  person  was  ever  more  perplexed  than  he  has  been  to- 
day."— Id.  "  In  no  other  case  are  writers  so  apt  to  err,  as  in  the  position  of  the  word  only." — 
Maunder  cor.  "  For  nothing  is  more  tiresome  than  perpetual  uniformity." — Blair  cor. 
"\aity/it  else  sublimes  the  spirit,  sets  it  free, 
Like  sacred  and  soul-moving  poesy." — Sheffield  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII. — EXTRA.  COMPARISONS. 

"  How  much  better  arc  ye  than  the  fowls  !  " — Bible  cor.  "  Do  not  thou  hasten  above  the  Most 
77/7/j."  — A'.V//Y/\  cor.  "  This  word,  PEER,  is  principally  used  for  the  nobility  of  the  realm." — Cow- 
ell  cor.  "  Because  the  same  is  not  only  most  genera Uy  received,  &c." — Barclay  cor.  "  This  is,  I 
say,  not  the  best  and  most  important  evidence'." — Id.  "  Otter  unto  God  thanksgiving,  and  pay 
thy  vows  unto  the  Most  Iliyh  " — The  Psalter  cor.  "  The  holy  place  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  Most 
Iliyh." — I//.  "As  boys  should  be  educated  with  temperance,  so  the  first  great  lesson  that  should 
be  taught  them,  is,  to  admire  frugality." — Goldsmith  cor.  "  More  yenerdl  terms  are  put  for  such 
as  are  more  restricted." — Rev.  J.  Brown  cor.  "  This,  this  was  the  unkindest  cut  of  all." — En- 
jield's  Speaker,  p.  3-)3.  "  To  take  the  basest  and  most  squalid  shape." — Shak.  cor.  "  I'll  forbear  : 
1  h  !>•>•  fallen  out  with  my  more  heady  will." — Id.  "  The  power  of  the  Most  Iliyh  guard  thee  from 
sin." — Percival  cor.  "  Which  title  had  been  more  true,  if  the  dictionary  had  been  in  Latin  and 
ffV/v//." — I'ersteaan  cor.  "  The  waters  are  frozen  sooner  and  harder,  than  further  upward,  within 
the  inlands." — Id.  "  At  every  descent,  the  worst  may  become  more  depraved." — Mann  cor. 
"  Or  as  a  moat  defensive  to  a  house 

Against  the  envy  of  les<  happy  lands." — Shak.  cor. 
"  A  dreadful  quiet  felt,  and  worse  by  far 
Than  arms,  a  sullen  interval  of  war." — Diyden  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII. — ADJECTIVES  CONNECTED. 

"  It  breaks  forth  in  its  hiyheit,  most  energetic,  and  most  imjtriNsittned  strain." — Kirkhamcor.  "  He 
has  fallen  into  the  ri/est  and  grossest  sort  of  railing." — Man-lay  cor.  "  To  receive  that  hiyher  and 
more  yent-ru'  instruction  which  the  public  affords." — J.  O  Taylor  cor.  "  If  the  best  thin'g.s  have 
•  <t,<,i  tno.^f  pt-rfert  operations. " — Hooker  cor.  "  It  became  the  plainest  and  most  elegant, 
the  richi-st  and  most  splendid,  of  all  languages." — Bucke  cor.  "  But  ihe  princi/xil  and  most  fre- 
quent use  of  pauses,  is,  to  mark  the  divisions  of  the  sense." — Blair  cor.  "  That  every  thing  be- 
longing to  oursi  Ives  is  the  btxt  and  the  moat  perfect." — Cfarkson  cor.  "  And  to  instruct  their  pupils 
in  the  best  and  most  thorough  manner." — School  Committee  cor. 

UNMKR  NOTE   IX. — ADJECTIVES   SUPEHADDED. 

•'  The  Father  is  figured  out  as  a  venerable  old  man." — Brownhe  cor.  "  There  never  was  exhib- 
ited an  othi-r  xtn-h  masterpiece  of  ghostly  assurance." — Id.  "After  t\\ejirst  three  sentences,  the 
question  is  entiiely  lost." — Sptct.  cor.  "  The  last  four  parts  of  speech  are  commonly  called  par- 
ticles."— Al.  Mni ray  tor.  "The  last  two  chapters  will  not  be  found  deficient,  in  this  respect." — 
Ttidd  for.  "  Write  ujxm  your  slates  a  list  of  the  first  ten  noun-*." — ./.  Abbott  cor.  "  We  have  a 
few  remains  of  (wo  other  Greek  poets  in  the  pastoral  style,  Moschus  and  Bion." — Blair  cor. 
"  The  Jirst  nine  chapters  of  the  book  of  Proverbs  are  highly  poetical." — Id.  "  For,  of  these  five 
heads,  only  the  ffirxt  tiro  have  any  particular  relation  to  the  sublime." — Id.  "  The  resembling 
sounds  of  ti.  vllables,  give  a  ludicrous  air  to  the  whole." — Kames  cor.  "  The  last  three 

are  arbitrary." — Id.     "  But  in  the  M-ntcnce,  '  She  hangs  the  curtains,'  hangs  is  an  active-transitive 
verb." — f'omly  cor.     "  If  our  definition  of  a  verb,  and  the  arrangement  ofactire-transitice,  actire- 
intntiifiifii-t-,  passive,  and  neuter  verbs,  are  properly  understood." — Id.     "  These  last  tiro  lines  have 
an  i-mbarra>sing   ronstnu-tion." — Rush  cor.     "  God  was  provoked  to  drown  them  all,  but  Noah 
:sons." — H'wid  cor.     "  The  frst  six  books  of  the  ^Eneid  are  extremely  beauti- 
ful."—  I-'tJi-fiii-i/  tor.     "Only   a  few  instances  more  can   here   be   given." — Murray  cor.     "A   few 
years  more  wi'll  obliterate  every  vestige  of  a  subjunctive  form." — Xitttinf/  cor.     "  Some  define  them 
to  be  verbs  devoid  of  thejirst  tn-  >  persons." — Crombie  cor.     "  In  an  other  such  Kssay-tractas  this." 
—  M'hiti-  cor.     "  But  we  fear  that  not  an  other  swh  man  is  to  be  found." — Ed.  Irciny  cor.     "Ofor 
an  other  mn-h  sleep,  that  I  might  see  <m  ot/itr  MH-/I  man  !  "     Or,  to  preserve  poetic  measure. 
"O  fur  siirh  sleep  aifttin,  that  I  miglit  see 
An  othir  sin  ft  man,  thomjh  but  in  a  dream  .'" — Shak.  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  X. — ADJECTIVES  FOR  ADVERBS. 

"  The  is  an  article,  relating  to  the  noun  baton,  agrtfabfy  to  Rule  llth." — Comfy  cor.  "Wise  is 
an  adjective,  relating  to  the  noun  man's,  ix/ro-r,',/  to  Rule  llth." — Id.  "To  whom  I  observed, 
that  the  beer  wax  „-');)<!  " — Coldsmifh  COT.  "  He  writes  very elmmffy."  Or  :  "  He  writes 

icith  remarkable  elegan  < ." — <>    H    /  "John  behaves  verycivtUy  Tor,  irith  true  di-ility) 

to  all  men." — A/.  '"All  the  sorts  of  words  hitherto  considered,  have  each  of  them  some  meaning, 
even  when  taken  neparat-  '//." — //<'','/-,  or.  "He  behaved  himself  conformably  to  that  blessed 
example." — Sprat  •  or.  "Marrclhmsht  graceful." — C/arrndon  cor.  "  rl'he  Queen  having  changed 
her  ministry,  suitably  to  her  wisdom." — Sicift  cor.  "  The  assertions  of  this  author  are  more  easily 
detected."— Id.  "  The  characteristic  of  his  sect  allowed  him  to  affirm  no  more  strona/y  than 
that." — Bentley  cor.  "If  one  author  had  spoken  more  nobly  and  iftily  than  an  other.'" — Id. 
"  Xenophon  says  expressly." — Id.  "  I  can  never  think  so  very  meanly  of  him." — Id.  "To  con- 
vince all  that  are  ungodly  among  them,  of  all  their  ungodly  deeds,  which  they  have  impiously 
committed." — Bible  cor.  "  I  think  it  very  ably  written."  Or:  "I  think  it  written  in  a  very  mas- 


916  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  SYNTAX.      [PART  III. 

terly  manner."— Swift  cor.  "  The  whole  design  must  refer  to  the  golden  age,  which  it  represents 
in  a  lively  manner." — Addison  cor.  "Agreeably  to  this,  we  read  of  names  being  blotted  out  of 
God's  book."— Burder  et  al.  cor.  "Agreeably  to  the  law  of  nature,  children  are  bound  to  support 
their  indigent  parents." — Paley.  "Words  taken  independently  of  their  meaning,  are  parsed  as 
nouns  of  the  neuter  gender." — Maltby  cor. 

"  Conceit  in  weakest  bodies  strongliest  works." — Shak.  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XI.— THEM  FOR  THOSE. 

"  Though  he  was  not  known  by  those  letters,  or  the  name  CHRIST." — Bayly  cor.  "  In  a  gi«r,  or 
some  of  those  things."  Better:  "In  a  gig,  or  some  such  vehicle." — M.  Edgeworth  cor.  "  wnen 
cross-examined  by  those  lawyers." — Same.  "As  the  custom  in  those  cases  is." — Same.  "  If  you 
had  listened  to  tlwse  slanders." — Same.  "The  old  people  were  telling  stories  about  those  fairies  ; 
but,  to  the  best  of  my  judgement,  there  is  nothing  in  them" — Same.  "And  is  it  not  a  pity  that 
the  Quakers  have  no  better  authority  to  substantiate  their  principles,  than  the  testimony  of  those 
old  Pharisees  ?  " — Hibbard  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XII.— THIS  AND  THAT. 

"  Hope  is  as  strong  an  incentive  to  action,  as  fear :  that  is  the  anticipation  of  good,  this  of 
evil." — List.  p.  265.  "  The  poor  want  some  advantages  which  the  rich  enjoy ;  but  we  should  not 
therefore  account  these  happy,  and  those  miserable." — Inst.  p.  266. 

"  Ellen  and  Margaret,  fearfully,  I      Then  turned  their  ghastly  look  each  one, 

Sought  comfort  in  each  other's  eye ;  That  to  her  sire,  this  to  her  son." — Scott  cor. 

"  Six  youthful  sons,  as  many  blooming  maids, 
In  one  sad  day  beheld  the  Stygian  shades  ; 
Those  by  Apollo's  silver  bow  were  slain, 

These  Cynthia's  arrows  stretch'd  upon  the  plain." — Pope  cor. 
"Memory  and  forecast  just  returns  engage, 
That  pointing  back  to  youth,  this  on  to  age." — Pope,  on  Man. 


UNDER  NOTE  XIII.— EITHER  AND  NEITHER. 


duty' 


"These  make  the  three  great  subjects  of  discussion  among  mankind;  namely,  truth, 
and  interest:  but  the  arguments  directed  towards  any  of  them  are  generally  distinct." — Dr. 
Blair  cor.  "A  thousand  other  deviations  may  be  made,  and  still  any  of  the  accounts  may  be  cor- 
rect in  principle ;  for  all  these  divisions,  and  their  technical  terms,  are  arbitrary." — Green  cor. 
"  Thus  it  appears,  that  our  alphabet  is  deficient;  as  it  has  but  seven  vowels  to  represent  thirteen 
different  sounds  ;  and  has  no  letter  to  represent  any  of  five  simple  consonant  sounds." — Churchill 
cor.  "  Then  none  of  these  five  verbs  can  be  neuter." — Peirce  cor.  "And  the  assertor*  is  in  none 
of  the  four  already  mentioned." — Id.  "As  it  is  not  in  any  of  these  four." — Id.  "  See  whether 
or  not  the  word  comes  within  the  definition  of  any  of  the  other  three  simple  cases." — Id.  "No 
one  of  the  ten  was  there." — Frazee  cor.  "  Here  are  ten  oranges,  take  any  one  of  them." — Id. 
"  There  are  three  modes,  by  any  of  which  recollection  will  generally  be  supplied  ;  inclination, 

Eractice,  and  association." — Rippingham  cor.     "  Words  not  reducible  to  any  of  the  three  preced- 
ig  heads." — Fowler  cor.     "  Now  a  sentence  maybe  analyzed  in  reference  to  any  of  these  four 
classes." — Id. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIV.— WHOLE,  LESS,  MORE,  AND  MOST. 

"  Does  not  all  proceed  from  the  law.  which  regulates  all  the  departments  of  the  state  ?  " — Blair 
cor.  "A  messenger  relates  to  Theseus  all  the  particulars." — Ld.  Kames  cor.  "There  are  no 
feicer  than  twenty-mne  diphthongs  in  the  English  language." — Ash  cor.  "  The  Redcross  Knight 
runs  through  all  the  steps  of  the  Christian  life." — Sped.  cor.  "  There  were  not  fewer  than  fifty 
or  sixty  persons  present." — Mills  and  Merchant  cor.  "  Greater  experience,  and  a  more  cultivated 
state  of  society,  abate  the  warmth  of  imagination,  and  chasten  the  manner  of  expression." — Blair 
and  Murray  cor.  "  By  which  means,  knowledge,  rather  than  oratory,  has  become  the  principal 
requisite." — Blair  cor.  "  No  fewer  than  seven  illustrious  cities  disputed  the  right  of  having 
given  birth  to  the  greatest  of  poets." — Lempriere  cor.  "Temperance,  rather  than  medicines,  is 
the  proper  means  of  curing  many  diseases." — Murray  cor.  "  I  do  not  suppose,  that  we  Britons 
are  more  deficient  in  genius  than  our  neighbours." — Id.  "In  which,  he  says,  he  has  found  no 
fewer  than  twelve  untruths." — Barclay  cor.  "The  several  places  of  rendezvous  were  concerted, 
and  all  the  operations  were  fixed." — Hume  cor.  "In  these  ligid  opinions,  all  the  sectaries 
concurred." — Id.  "  Out  of  whose  modifications  have  been  made  nearly  all  complex  modes." — 
Locke  cor.  "The  Chinese  vary  each  of  their  words  on  no  fewer  than  five  different  tones."— 
Blair  cor.  "  These  people,  though  they  possess  brighter  qualities,  are  not  so  proud  as  he  is, 
nor  so  vain  as  she." — Murray  cor.  "It  is  certain,  that  we  believe  our  own  judgements  more 
jirmly,  after  we  have  made  a  thorough  inquiry  into  the  things." — Brightland  cor.  "As  well  as 
the  whole  course  and  all  the  reasons  of  the  operation." — Id.  "  Those  rules  and  principles  which 
are  of  the  (/reatest  practical  advantage." — Newman  cor.  "And  all  curse  shall  be  no  more." — 
Rev.  cor. — (See  the  Greek.)  "And  death  shall  be  no  more." — Id.  "But,  in  recompense,  we  have 
pleasanter  pictures  of  ancient  manners." — Blair  cor.  "Our  language  has  suffered  a  greater 
number  of  injurious  changes  in  America,  since  the  British  army  landed  on  our  shores,  than  it 
had  suffered  before,  in  the  period  of  three  centuries." — Webster  cor.  "All  the  conveniences  of 
life  are  derived  from  mutual  aid  and  support  in  society." — Ld.  Kames  cor. 

*  All  our  lexicographers,  and  all  accurate  authors,  spell  this  word  with  an  o  ;  but  the  gentleman  who  has  fur- 
nished us  with  the  last  set  of  new  terms  for  the  science  of  grammar,  writes  it  with  an  e,  and  applies  ifc  to  the  verb 
and  the  participle.  With  him,  every  verb  or  participle  is  an  "  assrrter ;  "  except  when  he  forgets  his  creed,  as  he 
did  in  writing  the  preceding  example  about  certain  "  verbs."  As  he  changes  the  names  of  all  the  parts  of  speech, 
and  denounces  the  entire  technology  of  grammar,  perhaps  his  innovation  would  have  been  sufficiently  broad,  had 
he  for  TILE  VERB,  the  most  important  class  of  all,  adopted  some  name  which  he  knew  how  to  spell.— G.  B. 


CHAP.  V.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. PRONOUNS.  917 

UNDER  NOTE  XV. — PARTICIPIAL  ADJECTIVES. 

"To  such  as  think  the  nature  of  it  deserving  of  their  attention." — Butler  cor.  "  In  all  points, 
more  deserving  of  the  approbation  of  their  readers." — Keepsake  cor.  "  But  to  give  way  to  childish 
sensations,  was  unbecoming  to  our  nature." — Lempriere  cor.  "  The  following  extracts  are 
deftcrring  of  the  serious  perusal  of  all." — The  Friend  cor.  "  Xo  inquiry  into  wisdom,  however 
superficial,  is  undeserving  of  attention." — Buiwer  cor.  "  The  opinions  of  illustrious  men  are  de~ 
i  of  great  consideration." — Porter  cor.  "And  resolutely  keep  its  laws,  Uncaring  for  conse- 
quences!" Or: — "\ut  //eeding  consequences." — Burns  cor.  "This  is  an  item  that  is  deserving 
of  more  attention." — Goodell  c or. 

"  Leave  then  thy  joys,  tauviting  to  such  age :  " — Or, 
"  Leave  then  thy  joys  not  suiting  such  an  age, 
To  a  fresh  comer,  and  resign  the  stage." — Dryden  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XVI. — FIGURE  OF  ADJECTIVES. 

"  The  tall  dark  mountains  and  the  deep-to?ied  seas." — "Dana.  "  O  !  learn  from  him  To  sta- 
tion quick-eyed  Prudence  at  the  helm." — Frost  cor.  "  He  went  in  a  one-horse  chaise." — Dr.  Blair 
cor.  "It  ought  to  be,  'in  a  one-horse  chaise.'  " — Crombiecor.  "  These  are  marked  with  the  above- 
mentioned  letters." — Folker  cor.  "A.  many -headed  faction." — Ware  cor.  "  Lest  there  should  be 
no  authority  in  any  popular  grammar,  for  the  perhaps  heaven-inspired  effort. " — Foicle  cor.  "Com- 
mon-metre stanzas  consist  of  four  iambic  lines  ;  one  of  eight,  and  the  next  of  six  syllables.  They 
were  formerly  written  in  two  fourtcen-syllable  lines." — Goodenow  cor.  "Short-metre  stanzas  con- 
sist of  four  iambic  lines ;  the  third  of  eight,  the  rest  of  six  syllables." — Id.  "Particular-me- 
tre stan/as  consist  of  six  iambic  lines  ;  the  third  and  sixth  of  six  syllables,  the  rest  of  eight." — Id. 
'ii'itli-mctre  stanzas  consist  of  six  iambic  lines  ;  the  last  two  of  eight  syllables,  and  the  rest  of 
six." — Id.  "Long-metre  stanzas  are  merely  the  union  of  four  iambic  lines,  of  ten  syllables  each." 
— Id.  "A  majesty  more  commanding  than  is  to  be  found  among  the  rest  of  the 'Old- Testament 
poets." — Blair  cor. 

"  You,  sulphurous  and  thought-executed  fires, 
\'aunt-couriers  to  oak-cleaving  thunderbolts, 
Singe  my  white  head!     And  thou,  all-shaking  thunder, 
Strike  flat  the  thick  rotundity  o'  th'  world  !  " — Lear,  Act  iii,  Sc.  2. 


CHAPTER  V.  —  PRONOUNS. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  X  AND  ITS  NOTES. 

UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — OF  AGREEMENT. 

"  The  subject  is  to  be  joined  with  its  predicate." — Wilkins  cor.  "  Every  one  must  judge  of  his 
own  feelings." — Byron  cor.  "  Every  one  in  the  family  should  know  his  or  her  duty." — Penn 
cor.  "To  introduce  its  possessor  into  that  way  in  which  he  should  go." — Inf.  S.  Gram.  cor. 
11  Do  not  they  say,  that  every  true  believer  has  the  Spirit  of  God  in  Am?" — Barclay  cor.  "  There 
is  none  in  his  natural  state  righteous  ;  no,  not  one." — Wood  cor.  "  If  ye  were  of  the  world,  the 
world  would  love  its  own." — Bible  cor.  "  His  form  had  not  yet  lost  all  its  original  brightness." — 
Milton  cor.  "  No  one  will  answer  as  if  I  were  his  friend  or  companion." — Steele  cor.  "  But,  in 


systems,  so  far  from  having  any  tendency  to  make  men  better,  have  a  manifest  tendency  to  make 
them  worse." — Waykmdcor.  "And  nobody  else  would  make  that  city  his  refuge  anymore." — 
Joseph  us  cor.  "What  is  quantity,  as  it  respects  syllables  or  words  ?  It  is  the  time  which  a 
speaker  occupies  in  pronouncing  them." — Bradley  cor.  "  In  such  expressions,  the  adjective  so 
much  resembles  an  adverb  in  its  meaning,  that  it  is  usually  parsed  as  such." — Bullions  cor. 
"  The  tongue  is  like  a  racehorse  ;  which  runs  the  faster,  the  less  weight  he  carries."  Or  thus  : 
"The  tongue  is  like  a  racehorse;  the  less  weight  it  carries,  the  faster  'it  runs." — Addison,  Mur- 
ray, et  al.  cor.  "As  two  thoughtless  boys  were  trying  to  see  which  could  lift  the  greatest  weight 
with  his  jaws,  one  of  them  had  several  of  his  firm-set  teeth  wrenched  from  their  sockets." — News- 
>»,-.  "  Kvery  body  nowadays  publishes  memoirs;  every  body  has  recollections  whicli  he 
thinks  worthy  of  recording." — Duchess  D'Ab.  cor.  "  Every  body  trembled,  for  himself,  or  for  his 
friends." — Goldsmith  cor. 

"A  steed  comes  at  morning  :  no  rider  is  there  ; 
But  his  bridle  is  red  with  the  sign  of  despair." — Campbell  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE,  I.— PRONOUNS  WRONG  OR  NEEDLESS. 

"  Charles  loves  to  study  ;  but  John,  alas  !  is  very  idle." — Merchant  cor.  "  Or  whatman  is  there 
of  you,  irho,  if  his  son  ask  bread,  will  give  him  a  stone  ?  " — Bible  cor.  "  Who,  in  stead  of  going 
about  doing  good,  are  perpetually  intent  upon  doing  mischief." — Tillotson  cor.  "  Whom  ye  de- 
livered up,  and  denied  in  the  presence  of  Pontius  Pil;ite." — Hibft  cor.  "  Whom,  when  they  had 
washed  her,  they  laid  in  an  upper  chamber." — Id.  "  Then  Manasseh  knew  that  the  Lord  was 
God." — 1<1.  "  Whatever  a  man  conceives  clearly,  he  may,  if  he  will  be  at  the  trouble,  put  into 
distinct  propositions,  and  express  clearly  to  others." — Sot-  Iflnir's  Rhet.  p.  93.  "  But  the  painter, 
being  entirely  confined  to  that  part  of  time  which  he  has  chosen,  cannot  exhibit  various  stages 
of  the  same  action." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  103.  "  What  he  subjoins,  is  without  any  proof  at  all." 
— Barclay  cor.  "  George  Fox's  Testimony  concerning  Robert  Barclay." — Title  cor.  "According 
to  the  advice  of  the  author  of  the  Postcript."— Barclay  cor.  "  These  things  seem  as  ugly  to  the 
2ye  of  their  meditations,  as  those  Ethiopians  that  were  pictured  on  Nemesis's  pitcher." — Bacon 
<x>r.  "  Moreover,  there  is  always  a  twofold  condition  propounded  with  the  Sphynx's  enigmas." 


918  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY    TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

— Id.      "  Whoever  believeth  not  therein,  shall  perish." — Koran  cor.      "  When,  at  Sestius's  en- 
treaty, I  had  been  at  his  house." — W.  Walker  cor. 

"  There  high  on  Sipylus's  shaggy  brow, 
She  stands,  her  own  sad  monument  of  wo." — Pope  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — CHANGE  OF  NUMBER. 
"  So  will  I  send  upon  you  famine,  and  evil  beasts,  and  they  shall  bereave  you." — Bible  cor. 
"  Why  do  you  plead  so  much  for  it  ?  why  do  you  preach  it  up  ?  "  Or  :  "  Why  do  ye  plead  so  much 
for  it  ?  why  do  ye  preach  it  up  ?  " — Barclay  cor.  "  Since  thou  hast  decreed  that  I  shall  bear 
man,  thy  darling." — Edicard's  Gram.  cor.  "You  have  my  book,  and  I  have  yours ;  i.  e.,  your 
book."  Or  thus:  "Thou  hast  my  book,  and  I  have  thine;  i.  e.,  thy  book." — Chandler  cor. 
"  Neither  art  thou  such  a  one  as  to  be  ignorant  of  what  thou  art." — Bullions  cor.  "Return, 
thou  backsliding  Israel,  saith  the  Lord,  and  I  will  not  cause  mine  anger  to  fall  upon  thee." 
— Bible  cor.  "The  Almighty,  unwilling  to  cut  thee  off  in  the  fullness  of  iniquity,  has  sent  me 
to  give  thee  warning." — Ld.  Kames  cor.  "Wast  thou  born  only  for  pleasure  ?  wast  thou  never  to 
do  any  thing  ?  " — Collier  cor.  "  Thou  shalt  be  required  to  go  to  God,  to  die,  and  to  give  up  thy  ac- 
count."— Barnes  cor.  "And  canst  thou  expect  to  behold  the  resplendent  glory  of  the  Creator  ? 
would  not  such  a  sight  annihilate  thee  ?  " — Milton  cor.  "  If  the  prophet  had  commanded  thee  to 
do  some  great  thing,  wouldst  thou  have  refused  ?  " — C.  S.  Journal  cor.  "Art  thou  a  penitent : 
evince  thy  sincerity,  by  bringing  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance." — Vade-Mecum  cor.  "  I  will 
call  thee  my  dear  son:  I  remember  all  thy  tenderness." — C.  Tales  cor.  "  So  do  thou, my  son  : 
open  thy  ears,  and  thy  eyes." — Wright  cor.  "  I  promise  you,  this  was  enough  to  discourage  you." 
— Bunyan  cor.  "  Ere  you  remark  an  other's  sin,  Bid  your  own  conscience  look  within." — Gay  cor. 
"  Permit  that  I  share  in  thy  wo,  The  privilege  canst  thou  refuse  ?  " — Perfect  cor.  "Ah !  Strephon, 
how  canst  thou  despise  Her  who,  without  thy  pity,  dies?  " — Swift  cor. 
"  Thy  verses,  friend,  are  Kidderminster  stuff; 

And  I  must  own,  thou'st  measured  out  enough." — Shenst.  cor. 
"  This  day,  dear  Bee,  is  thy  nativity  ; 
Had  Fate  a  luckier  one,  she'd  give  it  thee." — Swift  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  III.— WHO  AND  WHICH. 

" Exactly  like  so  many  puppets,  which  are  moved  by  wires." — Blair  cor.  "They  are  my  ser- 
vants, whom  I  brought  forth*  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt." — Leviticus,  xxv,  55.  "  Behold,  I  and  the; 
children  whom  God  hath  given  me." — See  Isaiah,  viii,  18.  "And  he  sent  Eliakim,  who  was 
over  the  household,  and  Shebna  the  scribe." — Isaiah,  xxxvii,  2.  "  In  a  short  time  the  streets 
were  cleared  of  the  corpses  which  rilled  them." — M'llvaine  cor.  "They  are  not  of  those  who 
teach  things  that  they  ought  not,  for  filthy  lucre's  sake." — Barclay  cor.  "As  a  lion  among  the 
beasts  of  the  forest,  as  a  young  lion  among  the  flocks  of  sheep  ;  ichich,  if  he  go  through,  both 
treadeth  down  and  teareth  in  pieces." — Bible  cor.  "Frequented  by  every  fowl  which  nature  has 
taught  to  dip  the  wing  in  water." — Johnson  cor.  "  He  had  two  sons,  one  of  whom  was  adoptee, 
by  the  family  of  Maximus." — Lempriere  cor.  "And  the  ants,  which  are  collected  by  the  smell, 
are  burned  with  fire." — The  Friend  cor.  "They  being  the  agents  to  whom  this  thing  was  trust- 
ed."— Nixon  cor.  "  A  packhorse  which  is  driven  constantly  one  way  and  the  other,  to  and  from 
market." — Locke  cor.  "By  instructing  children,  whose  affection  will  be  increased." — Nixon  cor. 
14  He  had  a  comely  young  woman,  who  travelled  with  him." — Hutchinson  cor.  "A  butterfly,  who 
thought  himself  an  accomplished  traveller,  happened  to  light  upon  a  beehive." — Inst.  p.  267.  "  It 
is  an  enormous  elephant  of  stone,  which  disgorges  from  his  uplifted  trunk  a  vast  but  graceful 
shower." — Ware  cor.  "  He  was  met  by  a  dolphin,  which  sometimes  swam  before  him,  and  some- 
times behind  him." — Edward's  Gram.  cor. 

"  That  Caesar's  horse,  which,  as  fame  goes,  I  Was  not  by  half  so  tender-hoof'd, 
Had  corns  upon  his  feet  and  toes,  |  Nor  trod  upon  the  ground  so  soft." — Butler  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — NOUNS  OF  MULTITUDE. 

"  He  instructed  and  fed  the  crowds  that  surrounded  him." — Murray's  Key.  "  The  court,  which 
gives  currency  to  manners,  ought  to  be  exemplary." — Ib.  p.  187.  "  Nor  does  he  describe  classes 
of  sinners  that  do  not  exist." — Mag.  cor.  "  Because  the  nations  among  which  they  took  their 
rise,  were  not  savage." — Murray  cor.  "Among  nations  that  are  in  the  first  and  rude  periods  of 

•       A_-     »  T~>7        '—     _  it    TM .      .  ^ —.i.'       1 ••*._!?*.  I .   ^  *• .    .  7     •      7       Al  f  11 


may  say,  'the  crowd  which  was  going  up  the  street.'  " — Cobbett's  E.  Gram.  H  204.  "  Such  mem- 
bers of  the  Convention  which  formed  this  Lyceum,  as  have  subscribed  this  Constitution." — N.  Y. 
Lyceum  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  V. — CONFUSION  OF  SENSES. 

"The  name  of  the  possessor  shall  take  a  particular  form  to  show  its  case." — Kirkham  cor. 
"  Of  which  reasons,  the  principal  one  is,  that  no  noun,  properly  so  called,  implies  the  presence  of 
the  thina  named." — Harris  cor.  "Boston  is  a  proper  noun,  which  distinguishes  the  city  of  Boston 
from  other  cities." — Sanborn  cor.  "The  icord  CONJUNCTION  means  union,  or  the  act  of  joining 
together.  Conjunctions  are  used  to  join  or  connect  either  words  or  sentences." — Id.  "'The  word 
INTERJECTION  means  the  act  of  throwing  beticeen.  Interjections  are  interspersed  among  other 
words,  to  express  strong  or  sudden  emotion." — Id.  "Indeed  is  composed  of  in  and  deed.  The 
words  may  better  be  written  separately,  as  they  formerly  were." — Cardell  cor.  "Alexander,  on  the 
contrary,  is  a  particular  name  ;  and  is  employed  to  distinguish  an  individual  only." — Jamiesoncor. 
"  As  an  indication  that  nature  itself  had  changed  its  course."  Or  : — "  that  Nature  herself  had 
changed  her  course." — History  cor.  "  Of  removing  from  the  United  States  and  their  territories 

*  It  -would  be  better  to  omit  the  word  "/br*A,"  or  else  to  say—"  whom  I  brought  forth  from  the  land  of  Egypt." 
The  phrase,  "/ortA  out  off  is  neither  a  very  common  nor  a  very  terse  one. — O.  BBOWIC. 


CHAP.  V.]  KEY   TO    FALSE   SYNTAX. — PRONOUNS.  919 

the  free  people  of  colour." — Jenifer  cor.  "  So  that  gh  may  be  said  not  to  have  its  proper  sound." 
Or  thus  :  "  So  that  the  letters,  a  and  h,  may  be  said  'not  to  have  their  proper  sounds." — Webster 
cor.  "Are  we  to  welcome  the  loathsome  harlot,  and  introduce  her  to  our  children  ?  " — Maturin 
cor.  "The  first  question  is  this:  '  Is  reputable,  national,  and  present  use,  which,  for  brevity's 
sake,  I  shall  hereafter  simply  denominate  good  use,  always  uniform,  [i.  e.,  undivided,  and  unequiv- 
ocal,] in  its  decisions  ? '  " — Campbell  cor.  "  In  personifications,  Time  is  always  masculine,  on  ac- 
count of  his  mighty  efficacy;  Virtue,  feminine,  by  reason  of  her  beauty  and.  loveliness." — Murray, 
Blair,  ct  <il.  cor.  "  When  you  speak  to  a  person  or  thing,  the  noun  or  pronoun  is  in  tt.e  second 
person." — Bartlett  cor.  "  You  now  know  the  noun;  for  noun  means  name." — Id.  "T.  What 
do  you  see  ?  P.  A  book.  T.  Spell  book."—R.  W.  Green  cor.  "T.  What  do  you  see  now  ?  P. 
Two  books.  T.  Spell  books." — Id.  "  If  the  United  States  lose  their  rights  as  a  nation." — Lib- 
erator cor.  "  When  a  person  or  thing  is  addressed  or  spoken  to,  the  noun  or  pronoun  is  in  the 
second  person." — Frost  cor.  "  When  a  person  or  thing  is  merely  spoken  of,  the  noun  or  pronoun 
is  in  the  third  person." — Id.  "  The  word  ox  also,  taking  the  same  plural  termination,  makes 
OXEN." — Bucke  cor. 

"  Hail,  happy  States  !  yours  is  the  blissful  seat 
Where  nature's  gifts  and  art's  improvements  meet." — Everett  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI.— THE  RELATIVE  THAT. 
(1.)  "  This  is  the  most  useful  art  that  men  possess." — L.  Murray  cor.     "  The  earliest  accounts 


haps  the  most  eloquent  sermonizer  that  modern  times  have  produced." — Blair  cor 


barber  that  ever  lived,  is  our  guiding  star  and  prototype." — Hart  cor. 
(2.)  "  When  prepositions  are  subjoined  to  nouns,  they  a 


are  generally  the  same  that  are  subjoined 

to  the  verbs  from  which  the  nouns  are  derived." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  200.  Better  thus:  "The 
prepositions  which  are  subjoined  to  nouns,  are  generally  the  same  that"  &c. — Priestley  cor.  "  The 
same  proportions  that  are  agreeable  in  a  model,  are  not  agreeable  in  a  large  building." — Kames 
cor.  "  The  same  ornaments  that  we  admire  in  a  private  apartment,  are  unseemly  in  a  temple." 
— Murray  cor.  "The  same  that  John  saw  also  in  the  sun." — Milton  cor. 

(3.)  "  Who  can  ever  be  easy,  that  is  reproached  with  his  own  ill  conduct  ? " — T.  a  Kcmpis  cor. 
11  Who  is  she  that  comes  clothed  in  a  robe  of  green  ?  " — Inst.  p.  267.  "  Who  that  has  either  sense 
or  civility,  does  not  perceive  the  vileness  of  profanity  ?  " — G.  Brown. 

(4.)  "The  second  person  denotes  the  person  or  thing  that  is  spoken  to." — Kirkham  cor.  "  The 
third  person  denotes  the  person  or  thing  that  is  spoken  of." — Id.  "A  passive  verb  denotes  ac- 
tion received  or  endured  by  the  person  or  thing  that  is  signified  by  its  nominative." — Id.  "  The 
princes  and  states  that  had  neglected  or  favoured  the  growth  of  this  power." — Bolingbroke  cor. 
"  The  nominative  expresses  the  name  of  the  person  or  thing  that  acts,  or  that  is  the  subject  of 
discourse." — Ililey  cor. 

(5.)  "Authors  that  deal  in  long  sentences,  are  very  apt  to  be  faulty." — Blair  cor.  "  Writers 
that  deal,"  &c. — Murray  cor.  "  The  neuter  gender  denotes  objects  that  are  neither  male  nor 
female." — Merchant  cor.  "  The  neuter  gender  denotes  things  that  have  no  sex." — Kirkham  cor. 
"  Nouns  that  denote  objects  neither  male  nor  female,  are  of  the  neuter  gender." — Wells' s  Gram. 
of  late,  p.  55.  Better  thus:  "Those  nouns  which  denote  objects  that  are  neither  male  nor 
female,  are  of  the  neuter  gender." — Wells  cor.  "  Objects  and  ideas  that  have  been  long  familiar, 
make  too  faint  an  impression  to  give  an  agreeable  exercise  to  our  faculties." — Blair  cor.  "  Cases 
that  custom  has  left  dubious,  are  certainly  within  the  grammarian's  province." — L.  Murray  cor. 
"  Substantives  that  end  in  ery,  signify  action  or  habit." — Id.  "After  all  that  can  be  done  to 
render  the  definitions  and  rules  of  grammar  accurate." — Id.  "  Possibly,  all  that  1  have  said,  is 
known  and  taught." — A.  B.  Johnson  cor. 

(6.)  "  It  is  a  strong  and  manly  style  that  should  chiefly  be  studied." — Blair  cor.  "  It  is  this 
[viz.,  precision]  that  chiefly  makes  a  division  appear  neat  and  elegant." — Id.  "  I  hope  it  is  not  I 
that  he  is  displeased  with." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  When  it  is  this  alone  that  renders  the  sentence 
obscure." — (.\tmjihell  cor.  "This  sort  of  full  and  ample  assertion,  'It  is  this  that,'  is  tit  to  be 
used  when  a  proposition  of  importance  is  laid  down." — Blair  cor.  "  She  is  the  person  that  I  un- 
derstood it  to  have  been." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  Was  it  thou,  or  the  wind,  that  shut  the  door  ?  "— 
Inst.  p.  267.  "  It  was  not  I  that  shut  it."— Ib. 

(7.)  "  He  is  not  the  person  that  he  seemed  to  be." — Murray  and  Ingersoll  cor.  "  He  is  really 
the  person  that  he  appeared  to  be." — lid.  "  She  is  not  now  the  woman  that  they  represented  her 
to  have  been." — lid.  "An  only  child  is  one  that  has  neither  brother  nor  sister  ;  a  child  alone  is 
one  that  is  left  by  itself,  or  unaccompanied." — Blair,  Jam.  and  Mur.  cor. 


UNDER  NOTE  VII.— RELATIVE  CLAUSES  CONNECTED. 

whatever  we  conceive  to  sub- 
Substantive,  or  Noun,  is  the  name 
any  thing  which  exists,  o'r  of  which  we  have  any  notion." — Murray  ct  a/,  cor.     (3.)  "A  Sub- 


(1.)  "A  Substantive,  or  Noun,  is  the  name  of  a  thing;  (i.  e.,)  of 
Hist,  or  of  whatever  we  merely  imagine." — Lotcth  cor.  (2.)  "A  Sub? 
of  any  thing  which  exists,  or  of  which  we  have  any  notion." — Mu 

t  tantive,  or  Noun,  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  exists,  or  that  we  can  have 
i.n  idea  of." — Fro.\t  <cr.     (4.)  "A  Noun  is  the  name  of  any  thing  which  exists,  or  of  which  we 
form  an  idea."—  Hallock  cor.     (5.)  "A  Noun   is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  object,  or  thing, 
that  exists,  or  that  we  may  conceive  to  exist." — D.  C.  Allen  cor.     (6.)  "The  name  of 
thing  which  exists,  or  of  which  we  can  form  any  notion,  is  a  noun." — Fisk  cor.     (7.)  "Ai 


any  person, 

of  every 
An  alle- 

Kory~is  the  representation  of  some  one  thing  by  an  other  that  resembles  it,  and  that  is  made  to 
s-tand  for  it." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  150.  (8.)  "  Had  he  exhibited  such  sentences  as  contained  ideas 
inapplicable  to  young  minds,  or  such  as  were  of  a  trivial  or  injurious  nature." — L.  Murray  cor. 
(9.)  "  Man  would  have  others  obey  him,  even  his  own  kind;  but  he  will  not  obey  God,  who  is 
so  much  above  him,  and  who  made  him." — Pcnn  cor.  (10.)  "  But  what  we  may  consider  here, 


920  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY    TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

and  what  few  persons  have  noticed,  is,"  &c. — Brightland  cor.  (11.)  "  The  compiler  has  not 
inserted  those  verbs  which  are  irregular  only  in  familiar  writing  or  discourse,  and  which  are  im- 
properly terminated  by  t  in  stead  of  ed." — Murray,  Fisk,  Hart,  Ingersoll,  et  al.  cor.  (12.)  "  The  re- 
maining parts  of  speech,  which  are  called  the  indeclinable  parts,  and  w/tzV7i  admit  of  no  variations, 
(or,  being  words  that  admit  of  no  variations,)  will  not  detain  us  long." — Dr.  Blair  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII. — THE  RELATIVE  AND  PREPOSITION. 

"  In  the  temper  of  mind  in  which  he  was  then." — Lowth's  Gram.  p.  102.  "  To  bring  them  into 
the  condition  in  which  I  am  at  present." — Add.  cor.  "  In  the  posture  in  which  I  lay." — Lowth's 
Gram.  p.  102.  "  In  the  sense  in  which  it  is  sometimes  taken." — Barclay  cor.  "  Tools  and  uten- 
sils are  said  to  be  right,  when  they  answer  well  the  uses  for  ichich  they  were  made." — Collier  cor. 
"  If,  in  the  extreme'danger  in  which  I  now  am,"  &c.  Or  :  "  If,  in  my  present  extreme  danger," 
&c. — Murray's  Sequel,  p.  116.  "News  was  brought,  that  Darius  was  but  twenty  miles  from  the 
place  in  which  they  then  were." — Goldsmith  cor.  "Alexander,  upon  hearing  this  news,  contin- 
ued four  days  where  he  then  was :  "  or — "  in  the  place  in  which  he  then  was." — Id.  "  To  read  in 
the  best  manner  in  which  reading  is  now  taught." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  It  may  be  expedient  to 
give  a  few  directions  as  to  the  manner  in  which  it  should  be  studied." — Hallock  cor.  "  Participles 
are  words  derived  from  verbs,  and  convey  an  idea  of  the  acting  of  an  agent,  or  the  suffering  of  an 
object,  with  the  time  at  which  it  happens."* — A.  Murray  cor. 

"  Had  I  but  serv'd  my  God  with  half  the  zeal 
With  ichich  I  serv'd  my  king,  he  would  not  thus, 
In  age,  have  left  me  naked  to  my  foes.'1 — Shak.  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IX. — ADVERBS  FOR  RELATIVES. 

"  In  compositions  that  are  not  designed  to  be  delivered  in  public.'' — Blair  cor.  "  They  framed  a 
protestation  in  which  they  repeated  their  claims." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  133 ;  Murray's,  197. 
"  Which  have  reference  to  inanimate  substances,  in  which  sex  has  no  existence." — Harris  cor. 

Which  denote  substances  in  ichich  sex  never  had  existence." — Ingersoll's  Gram.  p.  26.  "  There 


which]  they  negotiated. 

— Beattie  cor.  "'He  assigns  the  principles  from  ichich  their  pow'er  of  pleasing  flows." — Blair  cor. 
"  But  I  went  on,  and  so  finished  this  History,  in  that  form  in  which  it  now  appears." — Sewel  cor. 
"  By  prepositions  we  express  the  cause/or  ichich,  the  instrument  by  which,  and  the  manner  in 
which,  a  thing  is  done." — A.  Murray  cor.  "  They  are  not  such  in  the  language/rom  which  thoy 
are  derived." — Town  cor.  "  I  find  it  very  hard  to  persuade  several,  that  their  passions  are  afFec  t- 
ed  by  words  from  which  they  have  no  ideas." — Burke  cor.  "  The  known  end,  then,  for  which  ve 
are  placed  in  a  state  of  so  much  affliction,  hazard,  and  difficulty,  is  our  improvement  in  virt  le 
and  piety."— Bp.  Butler  cor. 

(i  Yet  such  his  acts  as  Greeks  unborn  shall  tell, 
And  curse  the  strife  in  which  their  fathers  fell." — Pope  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  X. — REPEAT  THE  NOUN. 

"  Youth  may  be  thoughtful,  but  thoughtfulness  in  the  young  is  not  very  common." — Webster  cor. 
"A  proper  name  is  a  name  given  to  one  person  or  thing." — Bartlett  cor.  "A  common  name  is  a 
name  given  to  many  things  of  the  same  sort." — Id.  "  This  rule  is  often  violated  ;  some  instances 

cor.     "  This  is  altogether  careless  writing.    Such 


vowels  is  sounded." — Ib.  "Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and  the  descendants  of  Jacob,  are  called 
Hebrews." — Wood  cor.  "In  our  language,  every  word  of  more  than  one  syllable,  has  one  of  its 
syllables  distinguished  from  the  rest  in  this  manner." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  Two  consonants  proper 
to  begin  a  word,  must  not  be  separated ;  as,  fa-ble,  sti-fle.  But  when  two  consonants  come  be- 
tween two  vowels,  and  are  such  as  cannot  begin  a  word,  they  must  be  divided;  as,  ut-most,  un- 
der."— Id.  "  Shall  the  intellect  alone  feel  no  pleasures  in  its  energy,  when  we  allow  pleasures 
to  the  grossest  energies  of  appetite  and  sense  ?  " — Harris  and  Murray  cor.  "  No  man  has  a  pro- 
pensity to  vice  as  such  :  on  the  contrary,  a  wicked  deed  disgusts  every  one,  and  makes  him 
abhor  the  author." — Ld.Kames  cor.  "  The  same  grammatical  properties  that  belong  to  nouns, 
belong  also  to  pronouns." — Greenleaf  cor.  "  What  is  language  ?  It  is  the  means  of  commu- 
nicating thoughts  from  one  person  to  an  other." — Peirce  cor.  "A  simple  word  is  a  word  which  is 
not  made  up  of  other  words." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "A  compound  word  is  a  word  which  is 
made  up  of  two  or  more  words." — lid.  "  When  a  conjunction  is  to  be  supplied,  the  ellipsis  is 
called  Asyndeton." — Adam  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XI. — PLACE  OF  THE  RELATIVE. 

"  It  gives  to  words  a  meaning  which  they  would  not  have." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  There  are  in 
the  English  language  many  words,  that  are  sometimes  used  as  adjectives,  and  sometimes  as  ad- 
verbs. "•—Id.  "  Which  do  not  more  effectually  show  the  varied  intentions  of  the  mind,  than  do 
the  auxiliaries  which  are  used  to  form  the  potential  mood." — Id.  "  These  accents,  which  will  be 
the  subject  of  a  following  speculation,  make  different  impressions  on  the  mind." — Ld.  Kames  cor. 
"And  others  differed  very  much  from  the  words  of  the  writers  to  whom  they  were  ascribed." — 
John  Ward  cor.  "  Where  there  is  in  the  sense  nothing  which  requires  the  last  sound  to  be  elevated, 
an  easy  fall  will  be  proper." — Murray  and  Bullions  cor.  "In  the  last  clause,  there  is  an  ellipsis 

*  This  doctrine,  that  participles  di?ide  and  specify  time,  I  have  elsewhere  shown  to  be  erroneous.— G.  BROWN. 


CHAP.    V.]  KEY   TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. — PRONOUNS. — RULE   X.  921 

of  the  verb ;  and,  when  you  supply  it,  you  find  it  necessary  to  use  the  adverb  not  in  lieu  of  no." 

—  Campbell  and  Mar.  cor.     "Study  is  of  the  singular  number,   because  the  nominative  /,    with 
which  it  agrees,  in  singular." — It.  (\  Smith  cor.     "  John  is  the  person  who  is  in  error,  or  thouart." 

—  Wright  cor.     "For  he  hath  made  him,  who  knew  no  sin,  to  be  sin  for  us." — Harrison's   E. 
Lang.  p.  197- 

"  My  friend,  take  that  of  me,  who  have  the  power 
To  seal  th'  accuser's  lips." — Shakspeare  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XII.— WHAT  FOR  THAT. 

"  I  had  no  idea  but  that  the  storv  was  true." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  268.  "  The  postboy  is  not  so 
weary  but  that  he  can  whistle." — Ib.  "  He  had  no  intimation  but  that  the  men  were  honest." — 
Ib.  "  Neither  Lady  Haversrnm  nor  Miss  Mildmay  will  ever  believe  but  tluit  I  have  been  entirely 
to  blame." — Priestley  cor.  "  I  am  not  satisfied  but  that  the  integrity  of  our  friends  is  more  es- 
sential to  our  welfare- than  their  knowledge  of  the  world." — Id.  "Indeed,  there  is  in  poetry 
nothing  so  entertaining  or  descriptive,  but  that  an  ingenious  didactic  writer  may  introduce  it  in  some 
part  of  his  work." — Blair  cor.  "  Brasidas,  being  bit  by  a  mouse  he  had  catched,  let  it  slip  out  of 
his  fingers  :  '  No  creature,'  says  he,  '  is  so  contemptible  but  that  it  may  provide  for  its  own  safety, 
if  it  have  courage.'  " — Ld.  Ka*mes  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIII. — ADJECTIVES  FOR  ANTECEDENTS. 

"In  narration,  Homer  is,  at  all  times,  remarkably  concise,  and  therefore  lively  and  agreeable." 
— Blair  cor.  "  It  is  usual  to  talk  of  a  nervous,  a  feeble,  or  a  spirited  style ;  which  epithets  plainly 
indicate  the  writer's  manner  of  thinking." — Id.  "  It  is  too  violent  an  alteration,  if  any  altera- 
tion were  necessary,  wfiereas  none  is." — Knight  cor.  "  Some  men  are  too  ignorant  to  be  humble; 
and  without  humility  there  can  be  no  docility." — Berkley  cor.  "  Judas  declared  him  innocent; 
nut  innocent  he  could  not  be,  had  he  in  any  respect  deceived  the  disciples." — Port  ens  cor.  "  They 
supposed  him  to  be  innocent,  but  he  certainly  was  not  so." — Murray  rl  al.  cor.  "  They  accounted 
him  honest,  but.  he  certainly  was  not  so." — Felch  cor.  "  Be  accurate  in  all  you  say  or  do  ;  for  ac- 
curacy is  important  in  all  the  concerns  of  life." — Broicn's  Inst.  p.  268.  "  Every  law  supposes 
the  transgressor  to  be  wicked;  and  indeed  he  is  so,  if  the  law  is  just." — 76.  "  To  be  pure  in 
heart,  pious,  and  benevolent,  (and  all  may  be  so,)  constitutes  human  happiness." — Murray  cor. 
41  To  be  dexterous  in  danger,  is  a  virtue  ;  but  to  court  danger  to  show  our  dexterity,  is  a  weakness." 
— Penn  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIV.— SENTENCES  FOR  ANTECEDENTS. 

"This  seems  not  so  allowable  in  prose  ;  which  fact  the  following  erroneous  examples  will  de- 
monstrate."— L.  Murray  cor.  "The  accent  is  laid  upon  the  last  syllable  of  a  word;  which  cir- 
cunistance.  is  favourable  to  the  melody."— Kames  cor.  "  Every  line  consists  of  ten  syllables,  five 
short  and  five  long;  from  which  rule  "there  are  but  two  exceptions,  both  of  them  rare." — Id.  "The 
soldier*  refused  obedience,  as  has  been  explained." — Nixon  cor.  "  Coesar  overcame  Pompey — a 
circumstance  which  was  lamented." — Id.  "  The  crowd  hailed  William,  agreeably  to  the  expectations 
of  his  friends."— Id.  "  The  tribunes  resisted  Scipio,  who  knew  their  malevolence  towards  him." — 
Id.  "  The  censors  reproved  vice,  and  were  held  in  great  honour." — Id.  "  The  generals  neglected 
discipline,  which  fact  has  been  proved." — Id.  "  There  would  be  two  nominatives  to  the  verb  was, 
find  .<> urh  a.  construction,  is  improper." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "  His  friend  bore  the  abuse  very 
patiently  ;  tchosc  forbearance,  however,  served  only  to  increase  his  rudeness  :  it  produced,  at  length, 
contempt  and  insolence." — Murray  and  Emmons  cor.  "  Almost  all  compound  sentences  are  more 
or  less  elliptical ;  and  some  examples  of  ellipsis  may  be  found,  under  nearly  all  the  different  parts 
of  speech."— .Murray,  Guy,  Smith,  be.  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XV. — REPEAT  THE  PRONOUN. 

"  In  things  of  Nature's  workmanship,  whether  we  regard  their  internal  or  their  external  struc- 
ture, beauty  and  design  are  equally  conspicuous." — Kames  cor.  "  It  puzzles  the  reader,  by  making 
him  doubt  whether  the  word  ought  to  be  taken  in  its  proper,  or  in  its  figurative  sense." — Id. 
ior  my  obligations  to  the  muses,  nor  my  expectations  from  them,  are  so  great." — Cowlty 
cor.  "The  Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  A»tisl<iv»-y  Society  of  Ferrisburgh  and  its  vicinity." — 
Title  cor.  "  Meaning  taste  in  its  figurative  as  well  as  its  proper  sense."— Kames  cor.  "  Every 
measure  in  which  either  your  personal  or  i/our  political  character  is  concerned." — JIM i us  cor.  "A 
jualous  and  righteous  God  has  often  punished  such  in  themselves  or  in  their  offspring. " — Extr. 
cor.  "  Hence  their  civil  and  their  religious  history  are  inseparable." — Milmancor.  "  Esau  thus 
carelessly  threw  away  both  his  civil  and  his  religious  inheritance." — Id.  "  This  intelligence  ex- 
cited not  only  our  hopes,  but  our  fears  likewise." — Jaudon  cor.  "In  what  way  our  defect  of 
principle,  and  our  ruling  manners,  have  completed  the  ruin  of  the  national  spirit  of  union." — Dr. 
Brown  cor.  "  Considering  her  descent,  her  connexion,  and  her  present  intercourse."—  Webster 
cor.  "  His  own  and  his  wife's  wardrobe  are  packed  up  in  a  firkin."— Parser  and  Fox  cor. 

UNDER  NOTK  XVI. — CHAN<;I:  THI:  ANTECEDENT. 
"  The  sounds  of  e  and  o  long,  in  their  due  degrees,  will  be  preserved,  and  clearly  distinguished." 

—  /-.  Murray  cor.     "  If   any  persons  should  be  inclined  to  think,"  &c.,  "  the  author  takes  the  lib- 
erty to  suggest  to  them,"  &c.—Id.    "  And  he  walked  in  all  the  way  of  Asa  his  father  ;    he  turned 
not  aside  from  it." — Bible  cor.     "  If  ye  from  your  hearts  forgive  not  every  one  his  brethren  their 
trespasses." — Id.      "None  ever  fancied  they  were   slighted  by  him,  or  had  the  courage  to  think 
t/MMMeJPM  his  betters." — Collier  cor.      "And.  Rebecca  took  some  very  good  clothes  of  her  eldest  son 
Fsau's,  which  were  with  her  in  the  house,  and  put  Mem  upon  Jacob  her  younger  son." — Gen.  cor. 
"  Where  all  the  attention  of  men  is  given  to  their  own  indulgence." — Matunn  cor.      "  The  idea 
of  a  father  is  a  notion  superinduced  to  that  of  the  substance,  or  man— let  one's   idea  of  man  be 
vhat  it  will." — iMcke  cor.     "  Leaving  all  to  a  >  as  they  list." — Barclay  cor.      «'  Each  person  per- 
formed his  part  handsomely." — Flint  cor.     "  This  block  of  marble  rests  on  two  layers  of  stones, 

64 


GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  SYNTAX.       [PART  III. 

bound  together  with  lead,  which,  however,  has  not  prevented  the  Arabs  from  forcing  out  several 
of  them." — Parker  and  Fox  cor. 

"  Love  gives  to  all  our  powers  a  double  power, 

Above  their  functions  and  their  offices. "  Or: — 
"  Love  gives  to  every  power  a  double  power, 
Exalts  all  functions  and  all  offices." — Shak.  cor. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  XI ;  OF  PRONOUNS. 

UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — THE  IDEA  OF  PLURALITY. 

"  The  jury  will  be  confined  till  they  agree  on  a  verdict." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  145.  "And  mankind 
directed  their  first  cares  towards  the  needful." — Formey  cor.  "  It  is  difficult  to  deceive  a  free 
people  respecting  their  true  interest." — Life  of  Charles  XII  cor.  "All  the  virtues  of  mankind 
are  to  be  counted  upon  a  few  fingers,  but  their  follies  and  vices  are  innumerable." — Swift  cor. 
"  Every  sect  saith,  '  Give  us  liberty  : '  but  give  it  them,  and  to  their  power,  and  they  will  not  yield 
it  to  any  body  else." — Cromicell  cor.  "  Behold,  the  people  shall  rise  up  as  a  great  lion,  and  lift 
up  themselves  as  a  young  lion." — Bible  cor.  "For  all  flesh  had  corrupted  their  way  upon  the 
earth." — Id.  "  There  happened  to  the  army  a  very  strange  accident,  which  put  them  in  great  con- 
sternation."— Goldsmith  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — THE  IDEA  OF  UNITY. 

"  The  meeting  went  on  with  its  business  as  a  united  body." — Foster  cor.  "Every  religious 
association  has  an  undoubted  right  to  adopt  a  creed  for  itself." — Gould  cor.  "  It  would  therefore 
be  extremely  difficult  to  raise  an  insurrection  in  that  state  against  its  own  government." — Dr. 
Webster  cor.  "  The  mode  in  which  a  lyceum  can  apply  itself'  in  effecting  a  reform  in  common 
schools." — N.  Y.  Lye.  cor.  "  Hath  a  nation  changed  its  gods,  which  yet  are  no  gods  ? " — Jer.  cor. 
"  In  the  holy  Scriptures,  each  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  is  often  called  by  the  name  of  the 
patriarch  from  whom  it  descended."  Or  better  :— "  from  whom  the  tribe  descended." — Adams  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — UNIFORMITY  OF  NUMBER. 

"A  nation,  by  the  reparation  of  the  wrongs  which  it  has  done,  achieves  a  triumph  more  glorious 
than  any  field  of  blood  can  ever  give." — Adams  cor.  "  The  English  nation,  from  whom  we  de- 
scended, have  been  gaining  their  liberties  inch  by  inch." — Webster  cor.  "If  a  Yearly  Meeting 


Pure  ^^_ 

and  yet  are  not  washed  from  their  filthiness." — Id.  "He  hath  not  beheld  iniquity  in  Ja<ob, 
neither  hath  he  seen  perverseness  in  Israel :  the  Lord  their  God  is  with  them,  and  the  shout  )f  a 
king  is  among  them." — Id.  "My  people  have  forgotten  me,  they  have  burnt  incense  to 
vanity." — Id.  "  "When  a  quarterly  meeting  has  come  to  a  judgement  respecting  any  difference, 
relative  to  any  monthly  meeting  belonging  to  it,"  &c. — Discip.  cor.  "  The  number  of  such  com- 
positions is  every  day  increasing,  and  it  appears  to  be  limited  only  by  the  pleasure  or  the  conve- 
nience of  writers." — Booth  cor.  "  The  Church  of  Christ  has  the  same  power  now  as  ever,  and  is  led 
by  the  same  Spirit  into  the  same  practices." — Barclay  cor.  "  The  army,  whom  their  chief  had 
thus  abandoned,  pursued  meanwhile  their  miserable  march."  Or  thus  :  "  The  army,  which  its 
chief  had  thus  abandoned,  pursued  meanwhile  its  miserable  march." — Lockhart  cor. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  XII;  OF  PRONOUNS. 
ANTECEDENTS  CONNECTED  BY  AND. 

"Discontent  and  sorrow  manifested  themselves  in  his  countenance." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  146. 
"  Both  conversation  and  public  speaking  became  more  simple  and  plain,  such  as  we  now  find 
them." — Blair  cor.  "  Idleness  and  ignorance,  if  they  be  suffered  to  proceed,  &c." — Johnson  and 
Priestley  cor.  "Avoid  questions  and  strife :  they  show  a  busy  and  contentious  disposition." — Penn 
cor.  "  To  receive  the  gifts  and  benefits  of  God  with  thanksgiving,  and  witness  them  blessed  and 
sanctified  to  us  by  the  word  and  prayer,  is  owned  by  us." — Barclay  cor.  "Both  minister  and 
magistrate  are  compelled  to  choose  between  their  duty  and  their  reputation." — Junius  cor.  "All 
the  sincerity,  truth,  and  faithfulness,  or  disposition  of  heart  or  conscience  to  approve  them, 
found  among  rational  creatures,  necessarily  originate  from  God." — Rev.  J.  Brown  cor.  "  Your 
levity  and  heedlessness,  if  they  continue,  will  prevent  all  substantial  improvement." — Brozcn's 
Inst.  p.  269.  "Poverty  and  obscurity  will  oppress  him  only  who  esteems  them  oppressive." — Ib. 


charity  :  guard,  therefore,  against  the  slightest  indulgence  of  them." — Ib.  "  Every  man  is  entitled 
to  liberty  of  conscience,  and  freedom  of  opinion,  if  he  does  not  pervert  them  to  the  injury  of 
others." — Ib. 

"  With  the  azure  and  vermilion 
Which  are  mix'd  for  my  pavilion." — Byron  cor. 

*  Perhaps  it  would  be  as  well  or  better,  in  correcting  these  two  examples,  to  say,  "  There  are  a  generation." 
But  the  article  a,  as  well  as  the  literal  form  of  the  uoun,  is  a  sign  of  unity  ;  and  a  complete  uniformity  of  number 
If  not  hero  practicable." 


CriAP.   VI.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. VERBS. RULE    XIV.  923 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  XIII ;  OF  PRONOUNS. 

ANTECEDENTS  CONNECTED  BY  OR  OR  XOR. 

"  Neither  prelate  nor  priest  can  give  his  [flock  or]  flocks  any  decisive  evidence  that  you  are 
lawful  pastors." — llr<>ir,t/*,*  <>>r.  "And  is  there  a  heart  of  parent  or  of  child,  that  does  not  beat 
and  burn  within  him  ?  " — Maturin  cor.  "  This  is  just  as  if  an  eye  or  a  foot  should  demand  a  salary 
for  its  service  to  the  body." — Collier  cor.  "  If  thy  hand  or  thy  foot  offend  thee,  cut  it  off,  and  cast 
it  from  thce." — Bible  cor.  "  The  same  might  as  well  be  said  of  Virgil,  or  any  great  author  ;  whose 
general  character  will  infallibly  raise  many  casual  additions  to  his  reputation." — Pope  cor.  "  Either 
James  or  John, — one  or  the  other, — will  come." — Smith  cor.  "  Even  a  rugged  rock  or  a  barren 
heath,  though  in  itself  disagreeable,  contributes,  by  contrast,  to  the  beauty  of  the  whole." — Kames 
cor.  "  That  neither  Count  Rechteren  nor  Monsieur  Mesnager  had  behaved  himself  right  in  this 
affair."— Spect.  cor.  "  If  an  Aristotle,  a  Pythagoras,  or  a  Galileo,  suffers  for  his  opinions,  he  is  a 
'  martyr.'  "—Fuller  cor.  "  If  an  ox  gore  a  man  or  a  woman,  that  he  or  she  die  ;  then  the  ox  shall 
•urely  be  stoned." — Exod.cor.  "She  was  calling  out  to  one  or  an  other,  at  every  step,  that  a 
Habit  was  ensnaring  him."— Johnson  cor.  "  Here  is  a  task  put  upon  children,  which  neither  thig 
author  himself,  nor  any  other,  has  yet  undergone."— R.  Johnson  cor.  "  Hence,  if  an  adjective  or 
a  participle  be  subjoined  to  the  verb  when  the  construction  is  singular,  it  will  agree  both  in 
gender  and  in  number  with  the  collective  noun." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "And  if  you  can  find  a 
diphthong  or  a  triphthong,  be  pleased  to  point  that  out  too."— Bucke  cor.  "And  if  you  can  find 
a  trisyllable  or  a  polysyllable,  point  it  out."— Id.  "  The  false  refuges  in  which  the  atheist  or  the 
sceptic  has  intrenched  himself." — Chr.  Spect.  cor.  "While  the  man  or  woman  thus  assisted  by 
art,  expects  his  charms  or  hers  will  be  imputed  to  nature  alone." — Opie  cor.  "  When  you  press  a 
watch,  or  pull  a  clock,  it  answers  your  question  with  precision ;  for  it  repeats  exactly  the  hour  of 
the  day,  and  tells  you  neither  more  nor  less  than  you  desire  to  know." — Bolingbroke  cor. 
"  Not  the  Mogul,  or  Czar  of  Muscovy, 
Not  Prester  John,  or  Cham  of  Tartary, 
7*  in  his  mansion  monarch  more  than  I." — King  cor. 


CHAPTER  VI.  — VERBS. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  XIV  AND  ITS  NOTES. 

UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — VERB  AFTER  THE  NOMINATIVE. 

"  Before  you  left  Sicily,  you  icere  reconciled  to  Verres." — Duncan  cor.  "  Knowing  that  you  were 
my  old  master's  good  friend." — Spect.  cor.  "  When  the  judge  dares  not  act,  where  is  the  loser's 
remedy  ?  " — HV/.v//-/-  ro/\  "  Which  extends  it  no  farther  than  the  variation  of  the  verb  extends." 
— Mur.  cor.  '•  They  presently  dry  without  hurt,  as  myself  have  often  proved." — R.  Williams  cor. 

Whose  goings-forth  have  been  from  of  old,  from  everlasting." — Micah,  v,  2.      "  You  were  paid 


courteous  to  me." — Byron  cor.  "As  to  what  thou  sayst  respecting  the  diversity  of  opinions." — 
M.  II.  cor.  "  Thy  nature,  Immortality,  who  knows?  " — /•>,  >;  st  cor.  "  The  natural  distinction  of 
sex  in  animals,  gives  rise  to  what,  in  grammar,  are  called  genders." — Id.  "  Some  pains  have 
likewise  been  taken." — S  -ntt  <•<>,-.  "And  many  a  steed  in  his  stables  was  seen." — I'enwarne  cor. 
"  They  were  forced  to  eat  what  never  was  esteemed  food." — Josephus  cor.  "  This  that  you  your- 
self have  spoken,  I  desire  that  they  may  take  their  oaths  upon." — Hutchinson  cor.  "By  men 
whose  experience  best  qualifies  them  to  judge." — Committee  cor.  "  He  dares  venture  to  kill  and 
destroy  several  other  kinds  of  fish." — Walton  cor.  "  If  a  gudgeon  meet  a  roach,  He  ne'er  will 


preside**." — .V.  Wain  cor.    "  I  can  produce  ladies  and  gentlemen  whose  progress 
/tflwbeenastonishi:  .•<((<  •<•<>,•.    "  Which  of  these  two  kinds  of  vice  isthe  more  criminal  ?" — 

Dr.  liroirn  cor.  "Every  twenty-four  hours  afford  to  us  the  vicissitudes  of  day  and  night." — 
Smith' a  False  Syntax,  Xctc  Gram.  p.  103.  Or  thus  :  "  Every  period  of  twenty-four  hours  affords  to  us 
the  vicissitudes  of  day  and  night." — Smith  mr.  "  Every  four  years  add  an  other  day." — Smith's 
"ii.  p.  in:1,.  Better  thus  :  ••  EverjfovrtA  war  adds  an  other  day."— Smith  cor. 
"  Every  error  I  could  find,  Has  my  busy  muse  employe-l." — Stoiftcor  "A_studious  scholar  deserves 
the  approbation  of  his  teacher." — San'torn  cor.  "Perfect  submission  "to  the  rules  of  a  school 
indicates  good  breeding." — Id.  "A  comparison  in  which  more  than  two  are  concerned." — Len- 
nie's  Gram.  p.  78.  "  By  the  facilities  which  artificial  language  affords  them." — O.  B.  Peirce  cor. 
"  Now  thyself  ^a,^  lost  both  lop  and  top.  r-or.  "  Glad  tidings  are  brought  to  the  poor." 

—  Ctimpb.  cor.  "  Upon  which,  all  that  is  pleasurable  or  affecting  in  elocution,  chiefly  depends." 
— S/n-r.  cor.  "  Xo  pains  hare  been  spared  to  render  this  work  complete." — Bullions  cor.  "  The 
United  States  contain  more  than  a  twentieth  part  of  the  land  of  this  globe." — Clinton  cor.  "  I 
urn  mindful  that  myself  am  strong." — Fowler  cor.  "  Myself  am  (not  is)  weak  ;  " — "Thyself 
tirt  (not  is)  weak."— Id. 

"  How  pale  each  worshipful  and  reverend  guest 
Rises  from  clerical  or  city  feast !  "—Pop*  cor, 


924  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — VERB  BEFORE  THE  NOMINATIVE. 

"  Where  were  you  born  ?  In  London." — Buchanan  cor.  "There  are  frequent  occasions  for 
commas." — Ingersoll  cor.  "  There  necessarily  folloiv  from  thence  these  plain  and  unquestionable 
consequences." — Priestley  cor.  "And  to  this  impression  contributes  the  redoubled  effort." — 
Kames  cor.  "  Or,  if  he  was,  were  there  no  spiritual  men  then  ?  " — Barclay  cor.  "  So,  by  these 
two  also,  are  signified  their  contrary  principles." — Id.  "  In  the  motions  made  with  the  hands,  con- 
sists the  chief  part  of  gesture  in  speaking." — Blair  cor.  "Dares  he  assume  the  name  of  a  popular 
magistrate?" — Duncan  cor.  "There  were  no  damages  as  in  England,  and  so  Scott  lost  his 
wager." — Byron  cor.  "  In  fact,  there  exist  such  resemblances." — Kames  cor.  "To  him  give  all 
the  prophets  witness." — Acts,  x,  43.  "  That  there  were  so  many  witnesses  and  actors."— Addison 
cor.  "  How  do  this  man's  definitions  stand  affected?" — Collier  cor.  "Whence  come  all  the 
powers  and  prerogatives  of  rational  beings  ?  " — Id.  "  Nor  do  the  scriptures  cited  by  thee  prove  thy 
intent." — Barclay  cor.  "  Nor  does  the  scripture  cited  by  thee  prove  the  contrary." — Id.  "  Why 
then  citest  thou  a  scripture  which  is  so  plain  and  clear  for  it  ?  " — Id.  "  But  what  say  the  Scrip- 
tures as  to  respect  of  persons  among  Christians  ?  " — Id.  "  But  in  the  mind  of  man,  while  in  the 
savage  state,  there  seem  to  be  hardly  any  ideas  but  what  enter  by  the  senses." — Robertson  cor. 
"  What  sounds  has  each  of  the  vowels  ?  " — Griscom  cor.  "  Out  of  this  have  grown  up  aristrocra- 
cies,  monarchies,  despotisms,  tyrannies." — Broivnson  cor.  "And  there  were  taken  up,  of  frag- 
ments that  remained  to  them,  twelve  baskets." — Bible  cor.  "  There  seem  to  be  but  two  general 
classes." — Day  cor.  "  Hence  arise  the  six  forms  of  expressing  time." — Id.  "  There  seem  to 
be  no  other  words  required." — Chandler  cor.  "  If  there  are  two,  the  second  increment  is  the  syl- 
lable next  to  the  last." — Bullions  cor.  "  Hence  arise  the  following  advantages." — Id.  "There 
are  no  data  by  which  it  can  be  estimated." — Calhoun  cor.  "  To  this  class,  belongs  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage, in  which  we  have  nothing  but  naked pi'imitives." — Fowler  cor.  [t^p"  "  Nothing  but  naked 
roots,"  is  faulty  ;  because  no  word  is  a  root,  except  some  derivative  spring  from  it. — G.  B.]  "  There 
were  several  other  grotesque  figures  that  presented  themselves." — Spect.  cor.  "  In  these  consists 
that  sovereign  good  which  ancient  sages  so  much  extol." — Perci val  cor.  "  Here  come  those  I 
have  done  good  to  against  my  will." — Shak.  cor.  "  Where  there  are  more  than  one  auxiliary." 
Or  :  "  Where  there  are  more  auxiliaries  than  one." — O.  B.  Peirce  cor. 

"  On  me  to  cast  those  eyes  where  shines  nobility." — Sidney  cor. 
"  Here  are  half-pence  in  plenty,  for  one  you'll  have  twenty." — Swift  cor. 
"Ah,  Jockey,  ill  advisest  thou,  I  wis, 
To  think  of  songs  at  such  a  time  as  this." — Churchill  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — THE  RELATIVE  AND  YERB. 

"  Thou,  who  lovest  us,  wilt  protect  us  still." — A.  Murray  cor.  "  To  use  that  endearing  language, 
*  Our  Father,  who  art  in  heaven.'  " — Bates  cor.  "  Resembling  the  passions  that  produce  these 
actions." — Kames  cor.  "  Except  dwarf,  grief,  hoof,  muff,  &c.,  which  take  s  to  make  the  plurf  1." 
— Ash  cor.  "As  the  cattle  that  go  before  me,  and  the  children,  be  able  to  endure." — Gen.  tor. 
"  Where  is  the  man  who  dares  affirm  that  such  an  action  is  mad  ?  " — Dr.  Pratt  cor.  "  The  ninth 
book  of  Livy  affords  one  of  the  most  beautiful  exemplifications  of  historical  painting,  that  are  any- 
where to  be  met  with." — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  In  some  studies,  too,  that  relate  to  taste  and  line 
writing,  which  are  our  object,"  &c. — Id.  "  Of  those  affecting  situations  which  make  man's  heart 
feel  for  man." — Id.  "  We  see  very  plainly,  that  it  is  neither  Osmyn  nor  Jane  Shore  that  speaks." 
— Id.  "  It  should  assume  that  briskness  and  ease  which  are  suited  to  the  freedom  of  dialogue." — Id. 
"Yet  they  grant,  that  none  ought  to  be  admitted  into  the  ministry,  but  such  as  are  truly  pious." 
— Barclay  cor.  "  This  letter  is  one  of  the  best  that  have  been  written  about  Lord  Byron." — Hunt 
cor.  "  1'hus,  besides  what  were  sunk,  the  Athenians  took  above  two  hundred  ships." — Goldsmith 
cor.  "  To  have  made  and  declared  such  orders  as  were  necessary." — Hutchitison  cor.  "  The  idea 
of  such  a  collection  of  men  as  makes  an  army." — Locke  cor.  "  I'm  not  the  first  that  has  been 
wretched." — Southern  cor.  "And  the  faint  sparks  of  it  which  are  in  the  angels,  are  concealed 
from  our  view." — Calvin  cor.  "  The  subjects  are  of  such  a  nature,  as  alloics  room  (or,  as  to  allow 
room)  for  much  diversity  of  taste  and  sentiment." — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  It  is  in  order  to  propose  ex- 
amples of  such  perfection,  as  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  real  examples  of  society  " — Formey  cor. 
"  I  do  not  believe  that  he  would  amuse  himself  with  such  fooleries  as  have  been  attributed  to  him." 
— Id.  "That  shepherd,  who  first  taught  the  chosen  seed." — Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  i,  1.  8.  "  With 
respect  to  the  vehemence  and  warmth  which  are  allowed  in  popular  eloquence." — Dr.  Blair  cor. 
"Ambition  is  one  of  those  passions  that  are  never  to  be  satisfied." — Home  cor.  "  Thou  wast  he 
that  led  out  and  brought  in  Israel." — Bible  cor.  "Art  thou  the  man  of  God,  that  came  from 
Judah?"— Id. 

"  How  beauty  is  excell'd  by  manly  grace 
And  wisdom,  Avhich  alone  are  truly  fair." — Milton  cor. 

"What  art  thou,  speak,  that  on  designs  unknown, 
While  others  sleep,  thus  roamst  the  camp  alone  ?  " — Pope  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — NOMINATIVE  WITH  ADJUNCTS. 

"  The  literal  sense  of  the  words  is,  that  the  action  had  been  done."— Dr.  Murray  cor.  "  The 
rapidity  of  his  movements  was  beyond  example." — Wells  cor.  "  Murray's  Grammar,  together  with 


riety  of  objects  in  some  natural  landscapes,  occasions  neither  confusion  nor  fatigue." — Kames  cor. 
"  Such  a  clatter  of  sounds  indicates  rage  and  ferocity." — Gardiner  cor.  "  One  of  the  fields  makes 
threescore  square  yards,  and  the  other,  only  fifty  five." — Duncan  cor.  "  The  happy  effects  of  this 
fable  are  worth  attending  to." — Bailey  cor.  "  Yet  the  glorious  serenity  of  its  parting  rays,  still 
lingers  with  us." — Gould  cor.  "  Enough  of  its  form  and  force  is  retained  to  render  them  uneasy." 
—Maturin  cor.  "  The  works  of  nature,  in  this  respect,  are  extremely  regular."— Pratt  cor.  "  No 


CHAP.  VI.]          KEY  TO  FALSE  SYNTAX. VERBS. RULE  XIV.  925 

small  addition  of  exotic  and  foreign  words  and  phrases,  has  been  made  by  commerce." — Bicknell 
cor.  "  The  dialect  of  some  nouns  is  noticed  in  the  notes." — Mi/nes  cor.  "  It  has  been  said,  that 
a  discovery  of  the  full  resources  of  the  arts,  affords  the  means  of  debasement,  or  of  perversion." 
—  Rush  cor.  "  By  which  means,  the  order  of  the  words  is  disturbed." — Holmes  cor.  "The  two- 
fold influence  of  these  and  the  others,  requires  the  verb  to  be  in  the  plural  form." — Peircc  cor. 
"And  each  of  these  ajfords  employment."— Percival  cor.  "  The  pronunciation  of  the  vowels  t* 
best  explained  under  the  rules  relative  to  the  consonants." — Cuar  cor.  "The  judicial  power  of 
these  courts  extends  to  all  cases  in  law  and  equity." — Hall  and  Baker  cor.  "  One  of  you  has  stolen 
my  money." — Humorist  cor.  "  Such  redundancy  of  epithets,  in  stead  of  pleasing,  pro-luces  sa- 
tiety and  disgust." — Kum.es  cor.  "  It  has  been  alleged,  that  a  compliance  with  the  rules  of  Rhet- 
oric, tends  to  cramp  the  mind." — Hi  ley  cor.  "  Each  of  these  is  presented  to  us  in  different  rela- 
tions."— Ucndi ick  cor.  "  The  past  tense  of  these  verbs,  (should,  would,  might,  could,)  is  very 
indefinite  with  respect  to  time." — Bullions  cor.  "  The  power  of.  the  words  which  are  said  to  gov- 
ern this  mood,  is  distinctly  understood." — Chandler  cor. 

"And  now,  at  length,  the  fated  term  of  years 
The  world's  desire  hath  brought,  and  lo  !  the  God  appears." — Lowth  cor. 

"  Variety  of  numbers  still  belongs 
To  the  soft  melody  of  odes,  or  songs." — Brightland  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  III. — COMPOSITE  on  CONVERTED  SUBJECTS. 

"  Many  are  the  works  of  human  industry,  which  to  begin  and  finish,  is  hardly  granted  to  th« 
same  ma'n." — Johnson  cor.  "  To  lay  down  rules  for  these,  is  inefficacious." — Pratt  cor.  "  To  pro- 
fess regard  and  act  injuriously,  discovers  a  base  mind." — L.  Murray  et  al.  cor.  "  To  magnify  to  the 
height  of  wonder  things  great,  new,  and  admirable,  extremely  pleases  the  mind  of  man." — Fisher 
cor.  "  In  this  passage,  '  according  as  '  is  used  in  a  manner  which  is  very  common." — Webster  cor. 
"A  CAUSE  DK,  is  called  a  preposition;  A  c.vrsE  QUE,  a  conjunction." — Webster  cor.  "To  these 
it  is  given  to  speak  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." — The  Friend  cor.  "  While  wheat  has  no  plural, 
oats  has  seldom  any  singular." — Cobbett  cor.  "  He  cannot  assert  that  II  (i.  e-.,  double  Ell)  is  in- 
serted in  fullness  to  denote  the  sound  of  u." — Cobb  cor.  "Ch,  in  Latin,  has  the  power  of  k."— 
Gould  cor.  "7Y,  before  a  vowel,  and  unaccented,  has  the  sound  of  si  or  ci." — Id.  "  In  words  de- 
rived from  French,  as  chagrin,  chicanery,  and  chaise,  ch  is  sounded  like  sh." — Bucke  cor.  "  But,  in 
the  words  schism,  schismatic,  &c.,  the  ch  is  silent." —  Id.  tiPh,  at  the  beginning  of  words,  is  always 
sounded  like  /." — Bucke  cor.  "Ph  has  the  sound  of  /,  as  in  philosophy." — Webster  cor.  "Sh 
has  one  sound  only,  as  in  shall." — Id.  "Th  has  two  sounds." — Id.  ",Sc,  before  a,  o,  u,  or  r,  has 
the  sound  of  sk."—Id.  "Aw  has  the  sound  of  a  in  hall." — Bolles  cor.  "Ew  sounds  like  u." — Id. 
"Ow,  when  both  rowels  are  sounded,  has  the  power  of  ou  in  thou." — Id.  "Vi,  when  both  vowels 
are  pronounced  in  one  syllable,  sounds  like  iri  short,  as  in  languid." — Id. 
"Ui  three  other  sounds  at  least  expresses, 
As  who  hears  GUILE,  REBUILD,  and  BKUISE,  confesses." — Brightland  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV.— EACH,  ONE,  EITHER,  AND  NEITHER. 

"  When  each  of  the  letters  which  compose  this  word,  7ms  been  learned." — Dr.  Weeks  cor.  "As 
neither  of  us  denies  that  both  Homer  and  Virgil  have  great  beauties." — Dr.  Blair  cor.  t(  Yet 
neither  of  them  is  remarkable  for  precision." — Id.  "  How  far  each  of  the  three  great  epic  poets 
-tinguished  himself." — Id.  "  Each  of  these  produces  a  separate,  agreeable  sensation." — Id. 
"  On  the  Lord's  day,  every  one  of  us  Christians  keeps  the  sabbath." — Tr.  of  Iron.  cor.  "And  each 
of  them  bears  the  image  of  purity  and  holiness." — Hope  of  Is.  cor.  "  Was  either  of  these  meet- 


or,  —  "  each  of  which  has  in  effect  its  un-n  verb."  —  Lowth  cor.  "  Sometimes,  when  the  word  ends 
in  s,  neither  of  the  signs  is  used."  —  A.  Mur.  cor.  "And  as  neither  of  these  manners  offends  the 
cur."  —  J.  Wiilkrr,-<,r.  "  Neither  of  these  two  tenses  is  confined  to  this  signification  only."  —  R.  John- 
son cor.  "  But  neither  of  these  circumstances  is  intended  here."  —  Too/te  cor.  "  So  that  all  are 
indebted  to  each,  and  each  is  dependent  upon  all."  —  Bible  Rep.  cor.  "And  yet  neither  of  them  ex- 
presses any  more  action  in  this  case,  than  it  did  in  the  other."  —  Bullions  cor.  "  Each  of  these  ex- 
pressions denotes  action."  —  llu!l»  A  <-f>/-.  "  Neither  of  these  moods  seems  to  be  defined  by  distinct 
boundaries."  —  Butler  cor.  "Neither  of  these  solutions  is  correct."  —  Bullions  cor.  "Neither 
bears  any  sign  of  case  at  all."  —  F»ici<-r  cor. 

"  Each  in  his  turn,  like  Banquo's  monarchs,  stalks."     Or  :  — 
"All  in  their  turn,  like  Banquo's  monarchs,  stalk."  —  Byron  cor. 
"And  tell  what  each  doth  by  the  other  lose."  —  Shak.  cor. 

r.vnr.u  NOTE   V.  —  VEUB   BETWEEN  TWO  NOMINATIVES. 

"  The  quarrels  of  lovers  are  but  a  renewal  of  love."  —  Adam  et  al.  cor.     "  Two  dots,  one  placed 
above  the  other,  are  called  a  *//>•>•<!."—  Wilson  cor.     "A  few  centuries  more  or  less  are  a  matter  of 


small  consequence."  —  Id.     "  Pictures  were  the  first  sti-p  towards  the  art  of  writing  ;  hieroglyph- 

re  the  second  step."  —  Parker  cor.     "  The  comeliness  of  youth  is  modesty  and  frankness  ; 

of  age,  condescension  and  dignity."     Or.  much  better  :    "  The  great  ornaments  of  youth  are,"  &c. 

—  Murray  cor.     "Merit   and  good  works  <i/r  the  end  of  man's  motion."  —  Bacon  cor.     "Divers 

philosophers  hold,  that  the  lips  arc  parcel  of  the  mind."  —  Shak.  cor.     "  The  clothing  of  the  na- 

tives was  the  skins  of  wild  beasts."     Or  thus:  "The  clothes  of  the  natives  were  skins  of  wild 

"  —  Hist.  cor.     "  Prepossessions  in  favour  of  our  native  town,  are  not  a  matter  of  surprise." 

sYrr  cor.     "  Two   shillines  and  sixpence  are  half  a  crown,  but  not  a  half  crown."  —  Priestley 

and  Bicknell  cor.     "  Two  vowels,  pronounced  by  a  single  impulse  of  the  voice,  and  uniting  in  one 

sound,  are  called  a  diphthong."  —  Cooper  cor.     "  Two  or  more  sentences  united  together  are  called 

a  Compound  Sentence."  —  Day  cor.     "  Two  or  more  words  rightly  put  together,  but  not  com- 


92(5  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  SYNTAX.      [PART  III. 

pleting  an  entire  proposition,  are  called  a  Phrase." — Id.     "  But  the  common  number  of  times  if 

five."     Or,  to  state  the  matter  truly  :  "  But  the  common  number  of  tenses  is  six." — Brit.  Gram. 

cor.     "Technical  terms,  injudiciously  introduced,  are  an  other  source  of  darkness  in  composition." 

— Jamieson  cor.     "  The  United  States  are  the  great  middle  division  of  North  America." — Morse 

cor.     "A  great   cause  of  the  low  state  of  industry,  was  the  restraints  put  upon  it." — Priestley's 

Gram.  p.  ^190 ;   Churchill's,  314.     "  Here   two  tall  ships  become  the  victor's  prey." — Rowe  cor. 

"  The  expenses  incident  to  an  outfit  are  surely  no  object." — The  Friend  cor. 

"  Perhaps  their  loves,  or  else  their  sheep, 

Were  all  that  did  their  silly  thoughts  so  busy  keep." — Milt.  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI. — CHANGE  OF  THE  NOMINATIVE. 

"Much,  care  has  been  taken,  to  explain  all  the  kinds  of  words." — Inf.  S.  Gr.  cor.  "Not  fewer 
[years]  than  three  year*,  are  spent  in  attaining  this  faculty."  Or,  perhaps  better:  "Not  less 
than  three  years'  time,  is  spent  in  attaining  this  faculty."  Or  thus  :  ^"Not  loss  time  than  three 
vears,  is  spent,"  &c. — Gardiner  cor.  "  Where  this  night  are  met  in  state  Many  friends  to 
gratulate  His  wish'd  presence." — Milton  cor.  "  Peace  !  my  darling,  here's  no  danger,  Here's  no 
ox  anear  thy  bed." — Watts  cor.  "  But  all  of  these  are  mere  conjectures,  and  some  of  them  very 
unhappy  ones." — Coleridge  cor.  "The  old  theorists'  practice  of  calling  the  Interrogatives  and 
Repliers  ADVERBS,  is  only  a  part  of  their  regular  system  of  naming  words." — Peircecor.  "  Where 
several  sentences  occur,  place  them  in  the  order  of  the  facts." — Id.  "And  that  all  the  events  in 
conjunction  make  a  regular  chain  of  causes  and  effects." — Kames  cor.  "In  regard  to  their  origin, 
the  Grecian  and  Roman  republics,  though  equally  involved  in  the  obscurities  and  uncertainties  of 
fabulous  events,  present  one  remarkable  distinction." — Adams  cor.  "In  these  respects,  man  is 
left  by  nature  an  unformed,  unfinished  creature." — Bp.  Butler  cor.  "  The  Scriptures  are  the  ora- 
cles of  God  himself." — Hooker  cor.  "And  at  our  gates  are  all  kinds  of  pleasant  fruits." — S.  Song 
cor.  "  The  preterits  of  pluck,  look,  and  toss,  are,  in  speech,  pronounced  pluckt,  lookt,  tosst."-* 
Fowler  corrected. 

"  Severe  the  doom  that  days  prolonged  impose, 
To  stand  sad  witness  of  unnumbered  woes  !  " — Melmoth  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII. — FORMS  ADAPTED  TO  DIFFERENT  STYLES. 
1.  Forms  adapted  to  the  Common  or  Familiar  Style. 

"Was  it  thou*  that  built  that  house  ?  " — Brown's  Institutes,  Key,  p.  270.  "  That  boy  writes 
very  elegantly." — Ib.  "Could  not  thou  write  without  blotting  thy  book  ?  " — Ib.  "Dost  not  thou 
think — or,  Don't  thou  think,  it  will  rain  to-day  ?  " — Ib.  "Does  not — or,  Don't  your  cousin  intend  to 
visit  you  ?" — Ib.  "That  boy  has  torn  my  book." — Ib.  "Was  it  thou  that  spread  the  hay  ?' 
—Ib.  "  Was  it  James,  or  thou,  that  let  him  in  ?  "— Ib.  "  He  dares  not  say  a  word."— Ib. 
"  Thou  stood  in  my  way  and  hindered  me." — Ib. 

"  Whom  do  I  see? — Whom  dost  thou  see  now  ? — Whom  does  he  see? — Whom  dost  thou  love  most  ? 
— What  art  thou  doing  to-day  ? — What  person  dost  thou  see  teaching  that  boy  ? — He  has  two  ne.v 
knives. — Which  road  dost  thou  take? — What  child  is  he  teaching?" — Ingersoll  cor.  "  Thou,  who 
mak'st  my  shoes,  sellst  many  more."  Or  thus  :  "You,  who  make  my  shoes,  sell  many  more." — Id. 

"  The  English  language  has  been  much  cultivated  during  the  last  two  hundred  years.     It  has 
been  considerably  polished  and  refined." — Lowth  cor.     "  This  style  is  ostentatious,  and  does  not 
suit  grave  writing." — Priestley  cor.     "  But  custom  has  now  appropriated  who  to  persons,  and 
which  to  things  "  [and  brute  animals.] — Id.     "  The  indicative  mood  shows  or  declares  something  ; 
as.  Ego  amo,  I  love:  or  else  asks  a  question  ;  as,  Amas  tu?  Dost  thou  love  ?  " — Paul's  Ac.  cor. 
"  Though  thou  cannot  do  much  for  the  cause,  thou  may  and  should  do  something." — Murray  cor. 
"  The  support  of  so  many  of  his  relations,  was  a  heavy  tax  ;  but  thou  knowst  (or.  you  knoio}  lie 
paid  it  cheerfully." — Id.     "  It  may,  and  often  does,  come  short  of  it." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  359. 
"  'Twas  thou,  who,  while  thou  seem'd  to  chide, 
To  give  me  all  thy  pittance  tried." — Mitford  cor. 

2.  Forms  adapted  to  the  Solemn  or  Biblical  Style. 

"  The  Lord  hath  prepared  his  throne  in  the  heavens ;  and  his  kingdom  ruleth  over  all." — 
Psalms,  ciii,  19.  "Thou  answeredst  them.  O  Lord  our  God:  thou  wast  a  God  that  forgavef 
them,  though  thou  tookest  vengeance  of  their  inventions." — See  Psalms,  xcix,  8.  "Then  thou 
spakest  in  vision  to  thy  Holy  One,  and  saidst,  I  have  laid  help  upon  one  that  is  mighty." — Ib. 
Ixxxix,  19.  "  '  So  then,  it  is  not  of  him  that  willeth,  nor  of  him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that 
shoiceth  mercy  ; '  who  dispenseth  his  blessings,  whether  temporal  or  spiritual,  as  seemeth  good  iu 
his  sight."—  Christian  Experience  of  St.  Paul,*p.  344  ;  see  Rom.  ix,  16. 

"  Thou,  the  mean  while,  wast  blending  with  my  thought ; 
Yea,  with  my  life,  and  life's  own  secret  joy." — Coleridge  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII. — EXPRESS  THE  NOMINATIVE. 

"  Who  is  here  so  base,  that  he  would  be  a  bondman  ?  " — Shak.  cor.  "  Who  is  here  so  rude,  he 
would  not  be  a  Roman?  " — Id.  "  There  is  not  a  sparrow  which  falls  to  the  ground  without  his 
notice."  Or,  better:  "Not  a  sparroio  falls  to  the  ground,  without  his  notice." — Murray  cor.  "  In 
order  to  adjust  them  in  such  a  manner  as  shall  consist  equally  with  the  perspicuity  and  the 
strength  of  the  period." — Id.  and  Blair  cor.  "  But  sometimes  there  is  a  verb  which  comes  in." 
Better:  "  But  sometimes  there  is  a  verb  introduced." — Cobbett  cor.  "Mr.  Prince  has  a  genius 

*  Though  the  pronoun  thou  is  not  much  used  in  common  discourse,  it  is  as  proper  for  the  grammarian  to  consider 
and  show,  what  form  of  the  verb  belongs  to  it  wk-n  it  is  so  used,  as  it  is  for  him  to  determine  what  form  is  adapted 
to  any  other  pronoun,  when  a  difference  of  style  affects  the  question. 

t  "Forgaw-st,"  as  the  reading  is  in  our  common  Hible,  appears  to  be  wrong  ;  because  the  relative  that  and  its 
antecvdant  God  are  of  the  third  person,  and  not  of  the  second. 


CIIAP.  VI.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SIKTAX. VERBS. RULE    XIV.  927 

which  would  prompt  him  to  better  things." — Sped.  cor.  "  It  is  this  that  removes  that  impenetra- 
ble mist." — Harris  cor.  "  By  the  praise  ichich  is  given  him  for  his  courage." — Locke  cor.  "  There 
is  no  man  who  would  be  more  welcome  here." — Steele  cor.  "  Between  un  antecedent  and  a  con- 
sequent, or  what  goes  before,  and  what  immediately  follows." — Jilair  cor.  "And  as  connected 
with  what  goes  before  and  ichat  follows." — Id.  "  No  man  doth  a  wrong  for  the  wrong's  sake." — 
JBdcon  cor.  "All  the  various  miseries  of  life,  which  people  bring  upon  themselves  by  negligence 
or  folly,  and  ichich  might  have  been  avoided  by  proper  care,  are  instances  of  this."" — Dp.  But- 
ler cor.  "Ancient  philosophers  have  taught  many  things  in  favour  of  morality,  so  far  at  least  as 
it  respects  justice  and  goodness  towards  our  fellow-creatures."—  Fuller  cor.  "  Indeed,  if  there 
be  any  such,  who  have  been,  or  icho  appear  to  be  of  us,  as  suppose  there  is  not  a  wise  man  among 
us  all,  nor  an  honest  man,  that  is  able  to  judge  betwixt  his  brethren  ;  we  shall  not  covet  to  med- 
dle in  their  matters." — Barclay  cor.  "There  were  some  that  drew  back  ;  there  were  some  that 
made  shipwreck  of  faith;  yea,  there  were  some  that  brought  in  damnable  heresies." — Id.  "The 
nature  of  the  cause  rendered  this  plan  altogether  proper;  and,  under  similar  circumstances,  the 
orator's  method  is  fit  to  be  imitated." — Blair  cor.  "  This  is  an  idiom  to  which  our  language  is 
strongly  inclined,  and  which  was  formerly  very  prevalent." — Churchill  cor.  "  His  roots  are 
wrapped  about  the  heap,  and.  he  seeth  the  place  of  stones." — Bible  cor. 

"  New  York,  Fifthmonth  3d,  1823. 
Dear  friend, 

/  am  sorry  to  hear  of  thy  loss  ;  but  /  hope  it  may  be  retrieved.  I  should  be  happy  to  render 
thee  any  assistance  in  my  power.  /  shall  call  to  see  thee  to-morrow  morning.  Accept  assurances 
of  my  regard.  A.  B." 

"New  York,  May  3d,  P.  M.,  1823. 
Dear  sir, 

/  have  just  received  the  kind  note  you  favoured  me  with  this  morning ;  and  /  cannot  forbear  to 
express  my  gratitude  to  you.  On  further  information,  /find/  have  not  lost  so  much  as /at 
first  supposed  ;  and  /  believe  /  shall  still  be  able  to  meet  all  my  engagements.  /  should,  however, 
be  happy  to  see  you.  Accept,  dear  sir,  my  most  cordial  thanks.  C.  D." 

See  Brown  s  Institutes,  p.  271. 

"  Will  martial  flames  forever  fire  thy  mind, 
And  wilt  thou  never  be  to  Heaven  resign'd  ?  " — Pope  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IX. — APPLICATION  OF  MOODS. 
First  Clause  of  the  Note.— The  Subjunctive  Present. 

"  He  will  not  be  pardoned  unless  he  repent." — List.  p.  191.  "  If  thou  find  any  kernelwort  in 
this  marshy  meadow,  bring  it  to  me." — Neef  cor.  "  If  thou  Late  the  room,  do  not  forget  to  shut 
that  drawer." — Id.  "If  thou  grasp  it  stoutly,  thou  wilt  not  be  hurt:  "  or,  (familiarly,) — "  thou 
will  not  be  hurt." — Id.  "  On  condition  that  he  come,  1  will  consent  to  stay." — Murray's  Key,  p. 
238.  "  If  he  be  but  discreet,  he  will  succeed."— Inst.  p.  280.  "  Take  heed  that  thou  speak  not 
to  Jacob  "—Gen.  xxxi,  24.  "  If  thou  cast  me  off,  1  shall  be  miserable."— Inst.  p.  289.  "  Send 
them  to  me,  if  thou  please."— Ib.  "  Watch  the  door  of  thy  lips,  lest  thou  utter  folly."— Ib. 
"  Though  a  liar  speak  the  truth,  he  will  hardly  be  believed." — Bartlett  cor.  "  I  will  go,  unless  I 
be  ill." — L.  Murray  cor.  "If  thewoid  or  words  understood  be  supplied,  the  true  construction 
will  be  apparent." — Id.  "  Unless  thou  see  the  propriety  of  the  measure,  we  shall  not  desire  thy 
support." — Id.  "  Unless  thou  make  a  timely  retreat,  the  danger  will  be  unavoidable." — Id. 
"  We  may  live  happily,  though  our  possessions  be  small." — Id.  "  If  they  be  carefully  studied, 
they  will  enable  the  student  to  parse  all  the  exercises." — Id.  "  If  the  accent  be  fairly  preserved 
on  the  proper  syllable,  this  drawling  sound  will  never  be  heard." — Id.  "  One  phrase  may,  in 
point  of  sense,  be  equivalent  to  another,  though  its  grammatical  nature  be  essentially  different." 
— Id. 
skill 
though  h< 

Or  without  spices'  let  thy  body  burn  ? "— Dryden  cor. 
Second  Clause  of  Note  IX.— The  Subjunctive  Imperfect* 

"  And  so  would  I,  if  I  were  }\e."—Inst.  p.  191.  "  If  I  were  a  Greek,  I  should  resist  Turkish 
despotism." — Cardell  cor.  "  If  he  were  to  go,  he  would  attend  to  your  business."—  Id.  "If 
thou  felt  as  I  do,  we  should  soon  decide." — Inst.  p.  280.  "Though  thou  shed  thy  blood  in  the 
rausp|  it  would  but  prove  thee  sincerely  a  fool." — Ib.  "  If  thou  loved  him,  there  would  be  more 
evidence  of  it." — Ib.  "  If  thou  conriii>-ut  him,  lie  would  not  act  accordingly." — Murray  cor.  "  If 
there  were  no  liberty,  there  would  be  no  real  crime."— Formcy  cor.  "  If  the  house  were  burnt 
down,  the  case  would  be  the  same." — Foster  cor.  "As  if  the  mind  were  not  always  in  action, 
when  it  prefers  any  thing." — West  cor.  "  Suppose  I  were  to  say,  '  Light  is  a  body.'" — Harris 
cor.  "If  either  ox'ygen  or  azote  were  omitted, ,  life  would  be  destroyed." — Gurncy  cor.  "The 
verb  dare  is  sometimes  used  as  if  it  were  an  auxiliary." — Prietttey  cor.  "  A  certain  lady,  whom  I 
could  name,  if  it  were  necessary." — Sjwt.  r0r.  "  If  the  e  were  dropped,  c  and  g  would  assume 
their  hard  sounds." — Ilwhnnnn <•<»-.  "He  would  no  more  comprehend  it,  than  if  it  were  the 
speech  of  a  Hottentot." — .Y<  -  /'.--,/-.  "  If  thou  knew  the  gift  of  God,"  &c. — Bible  cor.  "  I  wish  I 
were  at  home." — O.  />'.  ''.  "Fact  alone  does  not  constitute  right:  if  it  did,  general 

warrants  were  lawful." — Juniun  mr.     "Thou  loofot  upon  thy  boy,  as  though  thou  guessed  it." — 

*  All  the  corrections  under  this  head  are  directly  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  William  S.  Cardell,  Oliver  B. 
Peirce,  and  perhaps  some  other  such  writers  on  ^rarnmar;  and  some  of  them  are  contrary  also  to  Murray's  late 
editions.  But  1  am  confident  that  these  authors  teach  erroneously  ;  that  their  use  of  indicative  forms  for  mere 
suppositions  that  are  contrary  to  the  fact-,  is  positively  unxriimmatical ;  and  that  the  potential  imperfect  is  less 
elegant,  io  euch  injoincw,  than  the  simple  subjunctive,  which  they  r^»:t  or  dirtort. 


928  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

Putnam,  Cobb,  or  Knoioles  cor.    "  He  fought  as  if  he  contended  for  life." — Hiley  cor.     "  He  fought 
as  if  he  were  contending  for  his  life." — Id. 

"The  dewdrop  glistens  on  thy  leaf,  I  As  if  thou  knew  my  tale  of  grief, 
As  if  thou  shed  for  me  a  tear  ;  |  Felt  all  my  sufferings  severe." — Letham  cor. 

Last  Clause  of  Note  IX. — The  Indicative  Mood. 

"If  he  knoics  the  way,  he  does  not  need  a  guide." — Inst.  p.  191.  "  And  if  there  is  no  differ- 
ence, one  of  them  must  be  superfluous,  and  ought  to  be  rejected." — Murray  cor.  "  I  cannot  say 
that  I  admire  this  construction,  though  it  is  much  used." — Priestley  cor.  "  We  are  disappointed, 
if  the  verb  does  not  immediately  follow  it." — Id.  "  If  it  was  they,  that  acted  so  ungratefully,  they 
are  doubly  in  fault." — Murray  cor.  "If  art  becomes  apparent,  it  disgusts  the  reader." — Jamieson 
cor.  "  Though  perspicuity  is  more  properly  a  rhetorical  than  a  grammatical  quality,  I  thought 
it  better  to  include  it  in  this  book." — Campbell  cor.  "Although  the  efficient  cause  is  obscure,  the 
final  cause  of  those  sensations  lies  open." — 'Blair  cor.  "Although  the  barrenness  of  language, 
or  the  want  of  words,  is  doubtless  one  cause  of  the  invention  of  tropes." — Id.  "Though  it  en- 
forces not  its  instructions,  yet  it  furnishes  a  greater  variety." — Id.  "In  other  cases,  though  the 
idea  is  one,  the  words  remain  quite  separate." — Priestley  cor.  "  Though  the  form  of  our  language 
is  more  simple,  and  has  that  peculiar  beauty." — Buchanan  cor.  "  Human  works  are  of  no  sig- 
nificancy  till  they  are  completed." — Kames  cor.  "  Our  disgust  lessens  gradually  till  it  vanishes 
altogether." — Id.  "  And  our  relish  improves  by  use,  till  it  arrives  at  perfection." — Id.  "  So  long 
as  he  keeps  himself  in  his  own  proper  element." — Coke  cor.  "  Whether  this  translation  was  ever 
published  or  not,  I  am  wholly  ignorant." — Sale  cor.  "  It  is  false  to  affirm,  'As  it  is  day,  it  is 
light,'  unless  it  actually  is  day." — Harris  cor.  "  But  we  may  at  midnight  affirm,  '  If  it  is  day,  it 
is  light.'  " — Id.  "  If  the  Bible  is  true,  it  is  a  volume  of  unspeakable  interest." — Dickinson  cor. 
"  Though  he  was  a  son,  yet  learned  he  obedience  by  the  things  which  he  suffered."— Bible  cor. 
"  If  David  then  calleth  (or  calls)  him  Lord,  how  is  he  his  son  ?  " — Id. 
"  "Pis  hard  to  say,  if  greater  want  of  skill 
Appears  in  writing,  or  in  judging,  ill." — Pope  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  X. — FALSE  SUBJUNCTIVES. 

"  If  a  man  has  built  a  house,  the  house  is  his." — Wayland  cor.  "  If  God  has  required  them  of 
him,  as  is  the  fact,  he  has  time." — Id.  "  Unless  a  previous  understanding  to  the  contrary  has 
been  had  with  the  principal." — Berrian  cor.  "  O !  if  thou  hast  hid  them  in  some  flowery  cave." — 
Milton  cor.  "  O  !  if  Jove's  will  has  'linked  that  amorous  power  to  thy  soft  lay." — Id.  "  SUB- 
JUNCTIVE MOOD:  If  thou  love,  If  thou  loved." — Dr.  Priestley,  Dr.  Murray,  John  Burn,  David 
Blair,  Harrison,  and  others.  "Till  religion,  the  pilot  of  the  soul,  hath  lent  thee  her  unfathom- 


quished  humility." — West  cor.  "  Whether  he  has  gored  a  son,  or  has  gored  a  daughter." — Bib'e 
cor.  "  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  object  introduced  by  way  of  simile,  relates  to  what  goes  befoie 
or  to  what  follows." — Kames  cor. 

"And  bridle  in  thy  headlong  wave,  I  "And  bridle  in  thy  headlong  wave, 

Till  thou  our  summons  answer'd  Aos£."  Or: — |     Till  thou  hast  granted  what  we  crave." — Milt.  cor. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  XV  AND  ITS  NOTE. 

UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — THE  IDEA  OF  PLURALITY. 

"  The  gentry  are  punctilious  in  their  etiquette." — G.  B.  "  In  France,  the  peasantry  #0  bare- 
foot, and  the  middle  sort  make  use  of  wooden  shoes." — Harvey  cor.  "The  people  rejoice  in  that 
which  should  cause  sorrow."— "Murray  varied.  "  My  people  are  foolish,  they  have  not  known 
me." — Bible  and  Lowth  cor.  "For  the  people  speak,  but  do  not  write." — Phil.  Mu.cor.  "  So  that 
all  the  people  that  were  in  the  camp,  trembled." — Bible  cor.  "  No  company  like  to  confess  that  they 
are  ignorant." — Todd  cor.  "  Far  the  greater  part  of  their  captives  were  anciently  sacrificed." 
— Robertson  cor.  f'More than  one  half  of  them  were  cut  off  before  the  return  of  spring." — Id. 
"The  other  class,  termed  Figures  of  Thought,  suppose  the  words  to  be  used  in  their  proper  and 
literal  meaning." — Blair  and  Mur.  cor.  "  A  multitude  of  words  in  their  dialect  approach  to  the 
Teutonic  form,  and  therefore  afford  excellent  assistance." — Dr.  Murray  cor.  "A  great  majority 
of  our  authors  are  defective  in  manner." — /.  Brown  cor.  "  The  greater  part  of  these  new-coined 
words  have  been  rejected." — Tooke  cor.  "  The  greater  part  of  the  words  it  contains,  are  subject 
to  certain  modifications  or  inflections." — The  Friend  cor.  "  While  all  our  youth  prefer  her  to  the 
rest." — Waller  cor.  "  Mankind  are  appointed  to  live  in  a  future  state." — Butler  cor.  '"  The  greater 
part  of  human  kind  speak  and  act  wholly  by  imitation." — Rambler,  No.  146.  "The  greatest  part 
of  human  gratifications  approach  so  nearly  to  vice." — Ib.  No.  160. 
"  While  still  the  busy  world  are  treading  o'er 
The  paths  they  trod  five  thousand  years  before." — Young  cor. 

UNDER  THE  NOTE. — THE  IDEA  OF  UNITY. 

"In  old  English,  this  species  of  words  was  numerous." — Dr.  Murray  cor.  "And  a  series  of 
exercises  in  false  grammar  is  introduced  towards  the  end." — Frost  cor.  "And  a  jury,  in  conform- 
ity with  the  same  idea,  was  anciently  called  homagium,  the  homage,  or  manhood." — Webster  cor. 
"  With  respect  to  the  former,  there  is  indeed  a  plenty  of  means. "-^Kames  cor.  "  The  number  of 
school  districts  has  increased  since  the  last  year." — fhroop  cor.  "  The  Yearly  Meeting  has  pur- 
chased with  its  funds  these  publications." — Foster  cor.  "Has  the  legislature  power  to  prohibit 
assemblies  ?  " — Sullivan  cor.  "  So  that  the  whole  number  of  the  streets  was  fifty." — Rollin  cor. 
"The  number  of  inhabitants  was  not  more  than  four  millions." — Smollett  cor.  "The  house 
of  Commons  loas  of  small  weight." — Hume  cor.  "The  assembly  of  the  wicked  hath  (or  has) 


CHAP.   VI.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX.  -  VERBS.  -  RULE    XVI.  929 

inclosed  me."  —  Psal.  cor.  "Every  kind  of  convenience  and  comfort  is  provided."  —  C,  S.  Journal 
cor.  "Amidst  the  great  decrease  of  the  inhabitants  in  Spain,  the  body  of  the  clergy  has  suffered 
no  diminution  ;  but  it  has  rather  been  gradually  increasing."  —  Payne  cor.  "  Small  as  the  num- 
ber of  inhabitants  is,  yet  their  poverty  is  extreme."  —  Id.  "The  number  of  the  names  was  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty."  —  Ware  and  Acts  cor. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  XVI  AND  ITS  NOTES. 

UNDER  THE  RULE  ITS  EM'.  —  THK,  VEKH  AITEU  JOINT  NOMINATIVES. 

"  So  much  ability  and  [so  much]  merit  arc  seldom  found."  —  Mur.  eta/,  cor.  "  The  etymology  and 
/nt'i.r  of  the  language  are  thus  spread  before  the  learner."  —  Bullions  cor.    "  Dr.  Johnson  tells  us, 


that,  in  Knirlish  poetry,  the  accent  and  the  quantity  of  syllables  are  the  same  thing."  —  Adams 
cor.  "  Their  general  scope  and  tendency,  having  never  been  clearly  apprehended,  arc  not  remem- 
bered at  all."  —  /,.  Murray  cor.  "  The  soil  and  sovereignty  were  not  purchased  of  the  natives." 

—  Kiiupp  c»r.  "  The  bnldnesfl,  freedom,  and  variety,  of  our"  blank  verse,  arc  infinitely  more  favour- 
able to  sublimity  of  style,  than  [are  the  constraint'and  uniformity  of]  rhyme."  —  Blair  cor.     "  The 
vivacity  and  sensi'bility  of  the  Greeks  seem  to  have  been  much  greater  than  ours."  —  Id.      "  For 
sometimes  the  m<>od  and  tense  are  signified  by  the  verb,  sometimes  they  are  signified  of  the  verb  by 
something  else."  —  R.  Johnson  cor.  "  The  verb  and  the  noun  making  a  complete  sense,  whereas  the 
participle  and  the  noun  do  not."  —  Id.     "  The  growth  and  decay  of  passions  and  emotions,  traced 
through  ail  their  mazes,  are  a  subject  too  extensive  tor  an  undertaking  like  the  present."  —  Kames 
cor.     "  The  true  meaning  and  etymology  of  some  of  his  words  were  lost."  —  Knit/fit  cor.     "  When 
the  force  and  direction  of  personal  satire  are  no  longer  understood."  —  Junius  cor.      "  The  frame 
and  condition  of  man  admit  of  no  other  principle."  —  Dr.  Broicn  cor.      "Some  considerable  time 
and  care  were  necessary."  —  Id.     "  In  consequence  of  this  idea,  much  ridicule  and  censure  have 
been  thrown  upon  Milton."  —  Blair  cor.      "  With  rational  beings,  nature  and  reason  are  the  same 
thing."  —  ('oilier  cor.     "And  the  flax  and  the  barley  were  smitten."  —  Bible  cor.     "The  colon  and 
semicolon  divide  a  period  ;  this  with,  and  that  without,  a  connective."  —  Ware  cor.  "  Consequently, 
wherever  space  and  time  are  found,  there  God  must  also  be."  —  Newton  cor.     "As   the  past  tense 
and  perfect  participle  of  LOVE  end  in  ED,  it  is  regular."  —  Chandler  cor.     "  But  the  usual  arrange- 
ment and  nomenclature  prevent  this  from  being  readily  seen."  —  Butler  cor.     "Z)o  and  did  simply 
imply  opposition  or  emphasis."  —  .1.  Murray  cor.    "/  and  an  other  make  the  plural  WE  ;  thou  and 
an  other  are  equivalent  to  YE  ;  he,  she,  or  it,  and  an  other,  make   THEY."  —  Id.     "/and  an  other  or 
others  are  the  same  as  WE,  the  first  person  plural  ;  thou  and  an  other  or  others  are  the  same  as  YE, 
the    second  person  plural  ;    he,  she,  or  it.  and  an  other  or  others,  are'the  same  as  THEY,  the  third 
person    plural."  —  Buchanan   and  Brit.   Gram.  cor.      "  God   and  thou  are  two,  and  thou  and  thy 
neighbour  are  two."  —  Love  Conquest  cor.  "  Just  as  AN  and  A  have  arisen  out  of  the  numeral  ONE." 

—  l-'nirlercor.     "  The  tone  and  style  of  all  of  them,  particularly  of  the  first  and  the  last,  are  very 
different."  —  Blair  cor.     "  Even  as  the  roebuck  and  the  hart  are  eaten."  —  Bible  cor.  "  Then  I  may 
conclude  that  two  and  three  do  not  make  five."  —  Barclay  cor.      "  Which,   at  sundry  times,  thou 
and  thy  brethren  have  received  from  us."  —  Id.      "  Two  and  two  are  four,  and  one  is  five  :  "  i.  e., 
"  and  one,  added  to  four,  is  Jive."  —  Pope  cor.     "  Humility  and  knowledge  with  poor  apparel,  excel 
pnde  and  ignorance  under  costly  array."  —  See  Murray's  Key,  Rule  2d.     "A  page  and  a  half  have 
been  added  to  the  section  on  composition."  —  Bullions  cor.     "Accuracy  and  expertness  in  this  ex- 
ercise are  an  important  acquisition."  —  Id. 

"  Woods  and  groves  are  of  thy  dressing, 

Hill  and  dale  proclaim  thy  blessing."  Or  thus  •  — 
"  Hill  and  valley  boast  thy  blessing."  —  Milton  cor. 

UNDER  THE  RILE  ITSELF.  —  THE  VERB  BEFORE  JOINT  NOMINATIVES. 

"  There  are  a  good  and  a  bad,  a  right  and  a  wrong,  in  taste,  as  in  other  things."  —  Blair  cor. 
"  Whence  have  arisen  much  stiffness  and  affectation."  —  /(/.  "  To  this  error,  are  owing,  in  a  great 
measure,  that  intricacy  and  [that]  harshness,  in  his  figurative  language,  which  I  before  noticed.'' 

—  Blair  and  Jamie.son  cor.      "  Hence,  in  his  Night  Thoughts,  there  prevail  an  obscurity  and  a 
hardness  of  style."  —  Blair  cor.    See  Jam  it-son's  Hint.  p.  l.">7.     "  There  are,  however,  in  that  work, 
much  good  sense  and  excellent  criticism."  —  Blair  cor.      "  There  are  too  much  low  wit  and  scur- 
rility in  Plautus."    Or  :   "  There  i,i,  in  riautus,  too  much  of  low  wit  and  scurrility."  —  Id.    "  There 
arc   too  much  reasoning  and  refinement,  too  much  pomp  and  studied  beauty,  in  them."     Or: 
"  There  is  too  much  of  reasoning  and  refinement,  too  much  q/'pomp  and  studied  beauty,  in  them." 

—  Id.      "  Hence  arise  the  structure  and  characteristic  expression  of  exclamation."  —  Rush  cor. 
''And  such   pilots  are  he  and  his  brethren,  according  to  their  own  confession."  —  Barclay  cor. 
••  Of  whom  are  Ilymeneus  and  Philetus  ;  who  concerning  the  truth  have  erred."  —  Bible  cor.    "  Of 
whom  arc  Mvmeui'us  and  Alexander  ;  whom  I  have  delivered   unto  Satan."  —  Id.     "And  so  were 
James  and  John,  the  sons  of  Zebedee."  —  Id.    "  Out  of  the  same  mouth,  proceed  blessing  and  curs- 
ing." —  /,/.     "  Out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Most  High,  pro:-  red  not  evil  and  good."  —  Id.     "  In  which 
there  are  most  plainly  a  right  and  a  wrong."  —  It/>.  Butler  cor.     "  In  this  sentence,  there  are  both 
an  actor  and  an   object."  —  R.  C.  Smith  cor.      "  In  the  breastplate,  were  placed  the  mysterious 
Urim  and  Thummim."  —  Milntancor.     "  What  are  the  gender,  number,  and  person,  of  the  pronoun* 
in  the  first  c.ram/>le  '  "  —  R.  ('.  Smith  cor.     "  There  seem  to  be  a  familiarity  and  a  want  of  dignity 
in  it."  —  Priestley  cor.     "  It  has  been  often  asked,  what  arc  Latin  and  Greek  ?  "  —  Lit.  Journal  cor. 
"  For  where  do  beauty  and  high  wit,    liutin  your  constellation,  meet  :  "  —  Butler  cor.      "  Thence 
to  the  land  where  Jloic  Ganges  and  Indus."  —  Milfoncor.     "  On  these  foundations,  seem  to  rc.st  the 
midnight  riot  and  dissipation  of  modern  assemblies."  —  Dr.  Brown  cor.     "  But  what  have  disease, 

*  This  is  what  Smith  must  have  meant  by  the  inaccurate  phra?c.  "  those  in  the  first."  For  his  first  example  is, 
"  IIu  went  to  school  ;  "  which  contains  only  the  one  pronoun  "  lie."  —  See  Smiths  Ntw  Cram.  p.  19. 

05 


930  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY    TO    SYNTAX.  [PART  III. 

deformity,  and  filth,  upon  which  the  thoughts  can  be  allured  to  dwell  ? " — Dr.  Johnson  cor. 
"  How  are  the  gender  and  number  of  the  relative  known  ?  " — Bullions  cor. 
"  High  rides  the  sun,  thick  rolls  the  dust, 
And  feebler  speed  the  blow  and  thrust." — Scott  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — CHANGE  THE  CONNECTIVE. 

"  In  every  language,  there  prevails  a  certain  structure,  or  analogy  of  parts,  which  is  understood 
to  give  foundation  to  the  most  reputable  usage." — Blair  cor.  "There  runs  through  his  whole 
manner  a  stiffness,  an  affectation,  which  renders  him  [Shaftsbury]  very  unfit  to  be  considered  a 
general  model." — Id.  "  But  where  declamation  for  improvement  in  speech  is  the  sole  aim." — Id. 
"  For  it  is  by  these,  chiefly,  that  the  train  of  thought,  the  course  of  reasoning,  the  whole  progress 
of  the  mind,  in  continued  discourse  of  any  kind,  is  laid  open." — Lowth  cor.  "  In  all  writing  and 
discourse,  the  proper  composition  or  structure  of  sentences  is  of  the  highest  importance." — Blair 
cor.  "  Here  the  wishful  and  expectant  look  of  the  beggar  naturally  leads  to  a  vivid  conception  of 
that  which  was  the  object  of  his  thoughts." — Campbell  cor.  "  Who  say,  that  the  outward  naming 
of  Christ,  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  puts  away  devils." — Barclay  cor.  "  By  which  an  oath  with  a 
penalty  was  to  be  imposed  on  the  members." — Juniuscor.  "  Light,  or  knowledge,  in  what  man- 
ner soever  afforded  us,  is  equally  from  God." — Bp.  Butler  cor.  "  For  instance,  sickness  or  un- 
timely death  is  the  consequence  of  intemperance." — Id.  "  When  grief  or  blood  ill-tempered  vexeth 
him."  Or  :  "  When  grief,  with  blood  ill-tempered,  vexes  him." — Shak.  cor.  "  Does  continuity, 
or  connexion,  create  sympathy  and  relation  in  the  parts  of  the  body?" — Collier  cor.  "His 
greatest  concern,  his  highest  enjoyment,  was,  to  be  approved  in  the  sight  of  his  Creator." — Mur- 
ray cor.  "Know  ye  not  that  there  is*  a  prince,  a  great  man,  fallen  this  day  in  Israel  ?" — Bible 
cor.  "  What  is  vice,  or  wickedness  ?  No  rarity,  you  may  depend  on  it." — Collier  cor.  _  "  There 
is  also  the  fear  or  apprehension  of  it." — Bp.  Butler  cor.  "  The  apostrophe  with  s  ('s)  is  an  ab- 
breviation for  is,  the  termination  of  the  old  English  genitive." — Bullions  cor.  "  Ti,  ce,  OK  ci, 
when  followed  by  a  vowel,  usually  has  the  sound  of  sh  ;  as  in  partial,  ocean,  special." — Weld  cor. 
"  Bitter  constraint  o/"sad  occasion  dear 

Compels  me  to  disturb  your  season  due." — Milton  cor. 
"Debauchery,  or  excess,  though  with  less  noise, 
As  great  a  portion  of  mankind  destroys." — Waller  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — AFFIRMATION  WITH  NEGATION. 

"  Wisfdom,  and  not  wealth,  procures  esteem."— Key,  Inst.  p.  272.      "  Prudence,  and  not  pornp, 
is  the  basis  of  his  fame." — Ib.     "  Not  fear,  but  labour  has  overcome  him." — Ib.     "  The  decency, 
and  not  the  abstinence,  makes  the  difference." — Ib.     "  Not  her  beauty,  but  her  talents  attract  at- 
tention."— Ib.     "  It  is  her  talents,  and  not  her  beauty,  that  attract  attention." — Ib.     "It  is  h 
beauty,  and  not  her  talents,  that  attracts  attention."— Ib. 

"  His  belly,  not  his  brains,  this  impulse  gives  : 

He'll  grow  immortal ;  for  he  cannot  live."     Or  thus  : — 
"  His  bowels,  not  his  brains,  this  impulse  give  : 
He'll  grow  immortal ;  for  he  cannot  live." — Young  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  III.— AS  WELL  AS,  BUT,  OR  SAVE. 

"  Common  sense,  as  well  as  piety,  tells  us  these  are  proper." — Fam.  Com.  cor.  "  For  without  it 
the  critic,  as  well  as  the  undertaker,  ignorant  of  any  rule,  has  nothing  left  but  to  abandon  him- 
self to  chance." — Kames  cor.  "  And  accordingly  hatred,  as  well  as  love,  is  extinguished  by  long 
absence." — Id.  "  But  at  every  turn  the  richest  melody,  as  well  as  the  sublimest  sentiments,  is 


at- 


•well  as  the  fatal  antipathy  of  Fonseca,  was  conspicuous." — Robertson  cor.  "  When  their  extent, 
as  well  as  their  value,  teas  unknown." — Id.  "  The  etymology,  as  well  as  the  syntax,  of  the  more 
difficult  parts  of  speech,  is  reserved  for  his  attention  at  a  later  period." — Parker  and  Fox  cor. 
"What!  myself  owe  to  him.no  one  but  myself  knows."— Wright  cor.  "None,  but  thou,  O 
mighty  prince  !  can  avert  the  blow." — Inst.  Key,  p.  272.  "  Nothing,  but  frivolous  amusements, 
pleases  the  indolent."— Ib. 

"  Nought,  save  the  gurglings  of  the  rill,  was  heard." — G.  B. 

"  All  songsters,  save  the  hooting  owl,  were  mute." — G.  B. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV.— EACH,  EVERY,  OR  NO. 

"Give  every  word,  and  every  member,  its  due  weight  and  force." — Murray's  Gram.  Vol.  i,  p. 
316.  "  And  to  one  of  these  belongs  every  noun,  and  every  third  person  of  every  verb." — Dr  Wil- 
son cojr.  "  No  law,  no  restraint,  no  regulation,  is  required  to  keep  him  within  bounds." — Lit. 
Journal  cor.  "  By  that  time,  every  window  and  every  door  in  the  street  was  full  of  heads." — 


pie." — Abbott  cor.  "Each  day,  and  each  hour,  brings  its  portion  of  duty." — Inst.  Key,  p.  272. 
"And  every  one  that  was  in  distress,  and  every  one  that  was  in  debt,  and  every  one  that  was  dis- 
contented, resorted  unto  him." — Bible  cor.  "Every  private  Christian,  every  member  of  the 
church,  ought  to  read  and  peruse  the  Scriptures,  that  he  may  know  his  faith  and  belief  to  be 
founded  upon  them." — Barclay  cor.  "And  every  mountain  and  every  island  was  moved  out  of 
its  place." — Bible  cor. 

"  No  bandit  fierce,  no  tyrant  mad  with  pride, 
No  cavern'd  hermit  rests  self-satisfied." — Pope. 

*  According  to  modern  usage,  has  would  here  be  better  than  is,— though  isfaUen  is  still  allowable.— G.  BROWN. 


CHAP.  VI.]  KEY   TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. VERBS. RULE   XVII.  931 

UNDER  NOTE  V.— WITH,  OR,  &c.,  FOR  AND. 

"  The  sides,  A,'  B,  and  C,  compose  the  triangle."—  Tobitt,  Felch,  and  Ware  cor.  "  The  stream, 
the  rock,  and  the  tree,  must  each  of  them  stand  forth,  so  as  to  make  a  figure  in  the  imagination." — 
Blair  ror.  "  While  this,  with  euphony,  constitutes,  finally,  the  whole." — O.  B.  Pet  roe  cor.  "  The 
bag,  with  the  guineas  and  dollars  in  i't,  was  stolen." — Cobbed  cor.  "Sobriety,  with  great  indus- 
try and  talent,  enables  a  man  to  perform  great  deeds."  Or:  "Sobriety,  industry,  and  talent, 
enable  a  man  to  perform  great  deeds." — Id.  "  The  it,  together  with  the  verb,  expresses  a  state  of 
being." — Id.  "  Where  Leonidas  the  Spartan  king,  and  his  chosen  band,  fighting  for  their  coun- 
try, were  cut  off  to  the  last  man." — Kames  cor.  "And  Leah  also,  and  her  children,  came  near 
and  bowed  themselves." — Bible  cor.  "The  First  and  the  Second  will  either  of  them,  by  itself, 
coalesce  with  the  Third,  but  they  do  not  coalesce  with  each  other." — Harris  cor.  "  The  whole 
must  centre  in  the  query,  whether  Tragedy  and  Comedy  are  hurtful  and  dangerous  representa- 
tions."— Formey  cor.  "Both  grief  and  joy  are  infectious  :  the  emotions  ichicfy  they  raise  in  the 
spectator,  resemble  them  perfectly." — Kames  cor.  "  But,  in  all  other  words,  the  q  and  u  are 
both  sounded." — Ensell  cor.  "Q  and  u  (which  are  always  together)  have  the  sound  of  AM?,  as  in 
queen;  or  of k  only,  as  in  opaque."  Or,  better:  "Q  has  always  the  sound  of  A:;  and  the  u  which 
follows  it,  that  of  ic ;  except  in  French  words,  in  which  the"  «  is  silent." — Goodenow  cor.  "In 
this  selection,  the  a  and  i  form  distinct  syllables." — Walker  cor.  "And  a  considerable  village, 
with  gardens,  fields,  &c.,  extends  around  on  each  side  of  the  square." — Lib.  cor.  "Affection  and 
interest  guide  our  notions  and  behaviour  in  the  affairs  of  life ;  imagination  and  passion  affect  the 
sentiments  that  we  entertain  in  matters  of  taste." — Jamieson  cor.  "  She  heard  none  of  those 
intimations  of  her  defects,  which  envy,  petulance,  and  anger,  produce  among  children." — John- 
son cor.  "The  King,  Lords,  and  Commons,  constitute  an  excellent  form  of  government." — 
(trombie  et  al.  cor.  "  If  we  say,  '  I  am  the  man  who  commands  you,'  the  relative  clause,  with 
the  antecedent  man,  forms  the  predicate." — Crombie  cor. 

"The  spacious  firmament  on  high,  I  And  spangled  heav'ns,  a  shining  frame. 
The  blue  ethereal  vault  of  sky,     |  Their  great  Original  proclaim." — Addison  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI. — ELLIPTICAL  CONSTRUCTIONS. 

"  There  are  a  reputable  and  a  disreputable  practice."  Or  :  "  There  is  a  reputable,  and  there  is 
a  disreputable  practice  " — Adams  cor.  "This  man  and  this  were  born  in  her." — Milton  cor. 
"  This  man  and  that  were  born  in  her." — Bible  cor.  "This  and  that  man  were  born  there." — 
Hcndrick  cor.  "  Thus  le  in  l?go,  and  le  in  leai,  seem  to  be  sounded  equally  long." — Adam  and 
Gould  cor.  "A  distinct  and  an  accurate  articulation  form  the  groundwork  of  good  delivery." 
Or:  "A  distinct  and  accurate  articulation  forms  the  groundwork  of  good  delivery." — KirkJiam 
cor.  "  How  arc  vocal  and  written  language  understood  ?  " — Sanders  cor.  "  The  good,  the  wise, 
and  the  learned  man,  are  ornaments  to  human  society."  Or  :  "  The  good,  wise,  and  learned  man 
is  an  ornament  to  human  society." — Bartlett  cor.  "In  some  points,  the  expression  of  song  and 
that  o/'speech  are  identical." — Rush  cor.  "  To  every  room,  there  were  an  open  and  a  secret  pass- 
age."— Johnson  cor.  "  There  are  such  things  as  a  true  and  a  false  taste  ;  and  the  latter  as  often 
directs  fashion,  as  the  former." — Webster  cor.  "  There  are  such  things  as  a  prudent  and  an  impru- 
dent institution  of  life,  with  regard  to  our  health  and  our  affairs." — Bp.  Butler  cor.  "The  lot  of 
the  outcasts  of  Israel,  and  that  of  the  dispersed  of  Judah,  however  different  in  one  respect,  have 
in  an  other  corresponded  with  wonderful  exactness." — Hope  of  Israel  cor.  "  On  these  final  sylla- 
bles, the  radical  and  the  vanishing  movement  are  performed." — Rush  cor.  "  To  be  young  or  old, 
and  to  be  good,  just,  or  the  contrary,  are  physical  or  moral  events." — Spurzheim  cor.,  and  Felch. 
"  The  eloquence  of  George  Whitfield  and  that  of  John  Wesley  were  very  different  in  charade/ 
each  from  the  other." — Dr.  Sharp  cor.  "  The  affinity  of  m  for  the  series  beginning  with  b,  and 
that  of  n  for  the  series  beginning  with  t,  give  occasion  for  other  euphonic  changes." — Fowler  cor. 

"  Pylades'  soul,  and  mad  Orestes',  were 
In  these,  if  right  the  Greek  philosopher."     Or  thus  : — 

"  Pylades'  and  Orestes'  soul  did  pass 

To  these,  if  we  believe  Pythagoras."     Or,  without  ellipsis  : — 

"  Pylades  and  Orestes'  soul-s  did  pass 
To  these,  if  we  believe  Pythagoras." — Cowley  corrected. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII. — DISTINCT  SUBJECT  PHRASES. 

"  To  be  moderate  in  our  views,  and  to  proceed  temperately  in  the  pursuit  of  them,  are  the 
best  ways  to  ensure  success." — Murray  cor.  "  To  be  of  any  species,  and  to  have  a  right  to  the 
name  of  that  species,  are  both  one." — Locke  cor.  "  With  whom,  to  will,  and  to  do,  are  the  same." 
— Dr.  Jamieson  cor.  "  To  profess,  and  to  possess,  are  very  different  things." — Inst.  Key.  p.  272. 
"  To  do  justly,  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  God,  are  duties  of  universal  obligation." 
— Ih.  "  To  be  round  or  square,  to  be  solid  or  fluid,  to  be  large  or  small,  and  to  be  moved 
swiftly  or  .slowly,  are  all  equally  alien  from  the  nature  of  thought." — Dr.  Johnson.  "  The  resolv- 
ing of  a  sentence  into  its  elements,  or  parts  of  speech,  and  [u]  stating  [o/"]  the  accidents  which 
belong  to  these,  are  culled  PARSING."  Or,  according  to  Note  1st  above":  "The  resolving  of  a 
sentence  into  its  elements,  or  parts  of  speech,  with  [a]  stating  [of]  the  accidents  which  belong  to 
these,  is  called  PARSING." — Bullions  cor.  "  To  spin  and  to  weave,  to  knit  and  to  sew,  were  once 
a  girl's  employments;  but  now,  to  dress,  and  to  catch  a  beau,  are  all  she  calls  enjoyments." — 
Kimball  cor. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  XVII  AND  ITS  NOTES. 
UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — NOMINATIVES  CONNECTED  BY  OR. 

"  We  do  not  know  in  what  either  reason  or  instinct  consists." — Johnson  corrected.  «'A  noun  or 
a  pronoun  joined  with  a  participle,  constitutes  a  nominative  case  absolute." — Bicknell  cor.  "  The 
relative  will  be  of  that  case  which  the  verb  or  noun  following,  or  the  preposition  going  before, 
uses  to  govern  :  "  or,—"  usually  governs."-*- Adam,  Gould,  et  al,  cor.  "  In  the  different  modes  of 


932  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY    TO    SYIvTAX.  [PART    I  [I. 

pronunciation,  which  habit  or  caprice  gives  rise  to." — Knight  cor.  "  By  which  he.  or  his  deputy, 
was  authorized  to  cut  down  any  trees  in  Whittlebury  forest." — Junius  cor.  "  Wherever  objects  were 
named,  in  which  sound,  noise,  or  motion,  icas  concerned,  the  imitation  by  words  was  abundantly 
obvious." — Blair  cor.  "  The  pleasure  or  pain  resulting  from  a  train  of  perceptions  in  different 
circumstances,  is  a  beautiful  contrivance  of  nature  for  valuable  purposes." — Kames  cor.  "  Be- 
cause their  foolish  vanity,  or  their  criminal  ambition,  represents  the  principles  by  which  they  are 
influenced,  as  absolutely  perfect." — I).  Boilcau  cor.  "  Hence  naturally  arises  indifference  or 
aversion  between  the  parties." — Dr.  Brown  cor.  "A  penitent  unbeliever,  or  an  impenitent  be- 
liever, is  a  character  nowhere  to  be  found." — Tract  cor.  "  Copying  whatever  is  peculiar  in  the  talk 
of  all  those  whose  birth  or  fortune  entitles  them  to  imitation." — Johnson  cor.  "Where  love, 
hatred,  fear,  or  contempt,  is  often  of  decisive  influence." — Duncan  cor.  "A  lucky  anecdote,  or 
an  enlivening  tale,  relieves  the  folio  page." — Z)' Israeli  cor.  "  For  outward  matter  or  event  fashions 
not  the  character  within."  Or:  (according  to  the  antique  style  of  this  modern  book  of  proverbs  :) 
— ' ' fashioneth  not  the  character  within." — Tapper  cor.  "  Yet  sometimes  we  have  seen  that  wine, 
or  chance,  has  warmed  cold  brains." — Dry  den  cor.  "  Motion  is  a  genus;  flight,  a  species;  this 
flight  or  that  flight  is  an  individual." — Harris  cor.  "  When  et,  ant,  vel,  sive,  or  nee,  is  repeated  before 
different  members  of  the  same  sentence." — Adam,  Gould,  and  Grant  cor.  "  Wisdom  or  folly 
governs  us." — Fisk  cor.  "A  or  an  is  styled  the  indefinite  article." — Folker  cor.  "A  rusty  nail,  or 
a  crooked  pin,  shoots  up  into  a  prodigy?' — Sped.  cor.  "Is  either  the  subject  or  the  predicate  in 
the  second  sentence  modified  ?  " — Prof.  Fowler  cor. 

"  Praise  from  a  friend,  or  censure  from  a  foe, 
Is  lost  on  hearers  that  our  merits  know." — Pope  cor. 

UNDER  THE  RULE  ITSELF. — NOMINATIVES  CONNECTED  BY  NOR. 

"  Neither  he  nor  she  has  spoken  to  him." — Perrin  cor.  "  For  want  of  a  process  of  events, 
neither  knowledge  nor  elegance  preserves  the  reader  from  weariness." — Johnson  cor.  "Neither 
history  nor  tradition  furnishes  such  information." — Robertson  cor.  "Neither  the  form  nor  the 
power  of  the  liquids  has  varied  materially." — Knight  cor.  "  Where  neither  noise  nor  motion  is 
concerned." — Blair  cor.  "  Neither  Charles  nor  h'is  brother  was  qualified  to  support  such  a  sys- 
tem."— Junius  cor.  "  When,  therefore,  neither  the  liveliness  of  representation,  nor  the  warmth 
of  passion,  serves,  as  it  were,  to  cover  the  trespass,  it  is  not  safe  to  leave  the  beaten  track." — 
Campbell  cor.  "  In  many  countries  called  Christian,  neither  Christianity,  nor  its  evidence,  is  fairly 
laid  before  men." — Butler  cor.  "  Neither  the  intellect  nor  the  heart  is  capable  of  being  driven." 
— Abbott  cor.  "  Throughout  this  hymn,  neither  Apollo  nor  Diana  is  in  any  way  connected  with 
the  Sun  or  Moon." — Coleridge  cor.  "  Of  which,  neither  he,  nor  this  grammar,  takes  any  notice." 
—  R.  Johnson  cor.  "Neither  their  solicitude  nor  their  foresight  extends  so  far." — Robertson  ccr. 
"  Neither  Gomara,  nor  Oviedo,  nor  Herrera,  considers  Ojeda,  or  his  companion  Vespucci,  as  the 
first  discoverer  of  the  continent  of  America." — Id.  "  Neither  the  general  situation  of  our  colonies, 
nor  that  particular  distress  which  forced  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  to  take  up  arms,  has  be<  n 
thought  worthy  of  a  moment's  consideration." — Junius  cor. 

"  Nor  Avar  nor  wisdom  yields  our  Jews  delight, 
They  will  not  study,  and  they  dare  not  fight." — Crabbe  cor. 

"  Nor  time  nor  chance  breeds  such  confusions  yet, 
Nor  are  the  mean  so  rais'd,  nor  sunk  the  great." — Rowe  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — NOMINATIVES  THAT  DISAGREE. 
"  The  definite  article,  the,  designates  what  particular  thing  or  things  are  meant." — Merchant 
cor.  "  Sometimes  a  word,  or  several  words,  necessary  to  complete  the  grammatical  construction 
of  a  sentence,  are  not  expressed,  but  are  omitted  by  ellipsis." — Burr  cor.  "  Ellipsis,  (better,  El- 
lipses,') or  abbreviations,  are  the  wheels  of  language." — Maunder  cor.  "  The  conditions  or  tenor 
of  none  of  them  appears  at  this  day."  Or  :  "  The  tenor  or  conditions  of  none  of  them  appear  at 
this  day." — Hutchinson  cor.  "Neither  men  nor  money  was  wanting  for  the  service."  Or: 
"  Neither  money  nor  men  were  wanting  for  the  service." — Id.  "  Either  our  own  feelings,  or  the 
representation  of  those  of  others,  requires  emphatic  distinction  to  be  frequent." — Dr.  Barber  cor. 
"  Either  Atoms  and  Chance,  or  Nature,  is  uppermost :  now  I  am  for  the  latter  part  of  the  dis- 
junction."— Collier  cor.  "  Their  riches  or  poverty  is  generally  proportioned  to  their  activity  or 
indolence." — Cox  cor.  "  Concerning  the  other  part  of  him,  neither  he  nor  you  seem  to  have  enter- 
tained an  idea." — Home  cor.  "  Whose  earnings  or  income  is  so  small." — Discip.  cor.  "  Neither 
riches  nor  fame  renders  a  man  happy." — Day  cor.  "  The  references  to  the  pages  always  point  to 
the  first  volume,  unless  the  Exercises  or  Key  is  mentioned."  Or,  better: — "unless  mention  is 
made  of  the  Exercises  or  Key."  Or  : — "  unless  the  Exercises  or  Key  be  named." — L.  Murray  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — COMPLETE  THE  CONCORD. 

"  My  lord,  you  wrong  my  father ;  neither  is  he,  nor  am  I,  capable  of  harbouring  a  thought  against 
your  peace." — Walpole  cor.  "  There  was  no  division  of  acts  ;  tJiere  were  no  pauses,  or  intervals,  in 
the  performance  ;  but  the  stage  was  continually  full ;  occupied  either  by  the  actors,  or  by  the 
chorus." — Blair  cor.  "  Every  word  ending  in  b,  p,  or/,  is  of  this  order,  as  also  are  many  that  end 
in  v." — Dr.  Murray  cor.  "  Proud  as  we  are  of  human  reason,  nothing  can  be  more  absurd  than 
is  the  general  system  of  human  life  and  human  knowledge." — Bolingbroke  cor.  "  By  which  the 
body  of  sin  and  death  is  done  away,  and  we  are  cleansed." — Barclay  cor.  "And  those  were  already 
converted,  and  regeneration  was  begun  in  them." — Id.  "  For  I  am  an  old  man,  and  my  wife  is 
well  advanced  in  years." — Bible  cor.  "Who  is  my  mother  ?  or  who  are  my  brethren  ?" — See 
Matt,  xii,  48.  "  Lebanon  is  not  sufficient  to  burn,  nor  are  the  beasts  thereof  sufficient  for  a 
burnt-offering." — Bible  cor.  "  Information  has  been  obtained,  and  some  trials  have  been  made." 
"-Martineau  cor.  "  It  is  as  obvious,  and  its  causes  are  more  easily  understood." — Webster  cor. 
"All  languages  furnish  examples  of  this  kind,  and  the  English  contains  as  many  as  any  other." 
— Priestley  cor.  "  The  winters  are  long,  and  the  cold  is  intense." — Morse  cor.  "  How  have  I 
hated  instruction,  and  how  hath  my  heart  despised  reproof!" — Prov.  cor.  "The  vestals  were 


/ma    ue>  ii 


CHAP.  VI.]         KEY  TO  FALSE  SYNTAX. VERBS. RULE  XVII.  933 

abolished  by  Theodosius  the  Great,  and  the  fire  of  Vesta  teas  extinguished." — Lempricre  cor. 
"  Riches  beget  pride  ;  pride  begets  impatience." — Bullions  cor.  "  Grammar  is  not  reasoning,  any 
more  than  organization  is  thought,  or  letters  are  sounds." — Enclytica  cor.  "  Words  are  imple- 
ments, and  grammar  is  a  machine." — Id. 

UNDER  NOTE   III. — PLACE  OF  THE  FIRST  PERSON. 

"Thou  or  /must  undertake  the  business." — L.  Murray  cor.  "He  and  I  were  there." — Ash  cor. 
"And  we  dreamed  a  dream  in  one  night,  he  and  I." — Bible  car.  "  If  mv  views  remain  the  same 
as  his  and  mine  were  in  1833." — Good  ell  cor.  "  My  father  and  I  wore  riding  out." — Inxt.  I 
273.  "The  premiums  were  given  to  George  and'  me." — Ik.  "Jane  and  I  are  invited."— Ib. 
"  They  ought  to  invite  my  sister  and  me." — Ih.  "  You  and  I  intend  to  no." — Guy  cor.  "John  and 
I  are  going  to  town." — Brit.  Gram.  cor.  "lie  and  I  are  sick." — James  Brown  cor.  "  Thou  and  I 
are  well." — Id.  "He  and  I  are."— Id.  "Thou  and  I  are." — Id.  "He  and  I  write >." — Id.  "They 
and  I  are  well." — Id.  "She,  and  thou,  and  /,  were  walking." — Id. 

UNDKU  NOTE  IV.— DISTINCT  SUBJECT  PHRASES. 

"To  practise  tale-bearing,  or  even  to  countenance  it,  is  great  injustice." — Inst.  Key,  p.  273. 
"  To  reveal  secrets,  or  to  betray  one's  friends,  is  contemptible  perfidy." — Ib.  "  To  write  all  sub- 
stantives  with  capital  letters,  or  to  exclude  capitals  from  adjectives  derived  from  proper  names, 
may  perhaps  be  thought  an  offence  too  small  for  animadversion  ;  but  the  evil  of  innovation  is 
always  something." — Dr.  Barroic  cor.  "To  live  in  such  families,  or  to  have  such  servants,  ts  a 
i  from  God." — Fam.  Com.  cor.  "  How  they  portioned  out  the  country,  what  revolutions 
the  y  experienced,  or  what  wars  they  maintained,"/*  utterly  unknown."  Or:  "How  they  por- 
tioned out  the  country,  what  revolutions  they  experienced,"  and  what  wars  they  maintained,  are 
things  utterly  unknown." — Goldsmith  cor.  "  To  speak  or  to  write  perspicuously  and  agreeably,  is 
an  attainment  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  all  who  purpose,  either  by  speech  or  by  writing,  to 
address  the  public." — Dr.  Blair  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  V. — MAKE  THE  VERBS  AGREE. 

"  Doth  he  not  leave  the  ninety  and  nine,  and  go  into  the  mountains,  andsrafr  that  which  is  gone 
astray  ?  " — Bible  cor.  "  Did  he  not  fear  the  Lord,  and  beseech  the  Lord,  and  did  not  the  Lord  re- 
pent of  the  evil  which  he  had  pronounced?  " — Id.  "And  dost  thou  open  thine  eyes  upon  such  a 
one,  and  briny  me  into  judgement  with  thee  ?  " — Id.  "  If  any  man  among  you  seemeth  to  be  reli- 
gious, and  bridleth  not  his  tongue,  but  deceiveth  his  own  heart,  this  man's  religion  is  vain." — Id. 
"  If  thou  sell  aught  unto  thy  neighbour,  or  &t<y  aught  of  thy  neighbour's  hand,  ye  shall  not  oppress 
one  an  other." — Id.  "And  if  thy  brother  that  dwelleth  by  thee,  become  poor,  and  be  sold  to  thee, 
thou  shalt  not  compel  him  to  serve  as  a  bond-servant." — Id.  "  If  thou  bring  thy  gift  to  the  altar, 
and  there  remember  that  thy  brother  hath  aught  against  thee,"  dtc. — Id.  "Anthea  was  content 
to  call  a  coach,  and  so  to  cross  the  brook."  Or: — "and//»  tfiat  she  crossed  the  brook." — Johnson 
cor.  "  It  is  either  totally  suppressed,  or  manifested  only  in  its  lowest  and  most  imperfect  form." 
—  Blair  cor.  "  But  if  any  man  is  a  worshiper  of  God,  and  doeth  his  will,  him  he  heareth."  Or  : 
"  If  any  man  be  a  worshiper  of  God.  and  do  his  will,  him  will  he  hear." — Bible  cor.  "  Whereby 
his  righteousness  and  obedience,  death  and  sufferings  without,  become  profitable  unto  us,  and  are 
made  ours." — Barclay  cor.  "  Who  ought  to  have  been  here  before  thee,  and  to  have  objected,  if 
they  hud  any  thing  against  me." — Bible  cor. 

"  Yes  !  thy  proud  lords,  unpitied  land,  shall  see, 
That  man  has  yet  a  soul,  and  dares  be  free." — Campbell  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI. — USE  SEPARATE  NOMINATI\ 

"//is  only  an  aspiration,  or  breathing  ;  and  sometimes,  at  the  beginning  of  a  word,  it  is  not 
sounded  at  all." — Loirth  cor.  "  Man  was  made  for  society,  and  he  ought  to  extend  his  good  will 
to  all  men." — Id.  "  There  is,  and  must  be,  a  Supreme  Being,  of  infinite  goodness,  power,  and 
•wisdom,  who  created,  and  who  supports  them." — Beat  tie  cor.  "  Were  you  not  affrighted,  and  did 
i/on  not  mistake  a  spirit  for  a  body  ?  " — /?/*.  Watson  cor.  "  The  latter  noun  orpronoun  is  nol  gov- 
erned by  the  conjunction  than  or  as,  but  it  either  agrees  with  the  verb,  or  is  governed  by  the  verb 
or  the  preposition,  expressed  or  understood." — Mtir.  i-t  at.  cor.  "  He  had  mistaken  his  true  inter- 
est, and  he  found  himself  forsaken." — Murray  cor.  "  The  amputation  was  exceedingly  well  per- 
formed, and  it  saved  the  patient's  life." — Id.  "  The  intentions  of  some  of  these  philosophers, 
nay,  of  many,  might  have  been,  and  probably  they  were,  good." — Id.  "  This  may  be  true,  and 
vet  it  will  not  justify  tbe  practice." —  WtbtUrCQT.  "  From  the  practice  of  those  who  have  had  a 
liberal  education,  arid  ict o  are  therefore  presumed  to  be  best  acquainted  with  men  and  things." — 
Campbell  cor.  "For  those  energies  and  bounties  which  created,  and  ichich  presei  ve,  the  uni- 
verse."— J.  Q.  Adams  cnr.  "  I  shall  make  it  once  for  all,  and  /  hope  it  will  be  remembered." 
— Blair  cor.  "This  consequence  is  drawn  too  abruptly.  The  argument  needed  more  explana- 
tion." Or:  "This  consequence  is  drawn  too  abruptly,  "and  without  sufficient  explanation." — Id. 
"  They  must  be  used  with  more  caution,  and  they  require  more  preparation." — Id.  "  The  apos- 
trophe denotes  the  omission  of  an  i,  which  was  formerly  inserted,  and  ichi<-h  made  an  addition  of 
a  syllable  to  the  word  " — Priestley  cor.  "  The  succession  may  be  rendered  more  various  or  more 
uniform,  but,  in  one  shape  or  an  other,  //  is  unavoidable." — Kumcs  cor.  "  It  excites  neither  terror 
nor  compassion ;  nor  is  it  agreeable  in  any  respect." — Id. 

"Cheap  vulgar  arts,  whose  narrowness  affords 
No  flight  for  thoughts, — they  poorly  stick  at  words." — Denham  cor. 

i:  NOTE  VII. — MIXTURE  OF  DIFFERENT  Si 

"  Let  us  read  the  living  page,  whose  every  character  delights  and  instructs  us." — Maunder  cor. 
"  For  if  it  is  in  any  degree  obscure,  it  puzzles,  and  does  riot  please."— K-imes  cor.  "  When  a 
speaker  addresses  himself  to  the  understanding,  he  proposes  the  instruction  of  his  hearers." — 


934  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY    TO    SYNTAX.  [PART  III. 

Campbell  cor.  "As  the  wine  which  strengthens  and  refreshes  the  heart." — If.  Adams  cor.  "  This 
truth  he  wraps  in  an  allegory,  and  feigns  that  one  of  the  goddesses  had  taken  np  her  abode  with 
the  other." — Pope  cor.  "  God  searcheth  and  understandeth  the  heart."  Or:  "God  searches  and 


jov  which  it  glees  to  them  who  love  it." — Id.     "  Thou   here  misunderstood 

the  place  and  misapplied  it."  Or  : '"  Thou  here  mi  sunder  stoodst  the  place  and  misappliedst  it." 
Or  :  (as  many  of  our  grammarians  will  have  it :)  "  Thou  here  misunderstoodest  the  place  and  mis- 
appliedst  it." — Id.  "  Like  the  barren  heath  in  the  desert,  which  knoweth  not  when  goodcome^A." 
— See  Jer.  xvii,  6.  "  It  speaks  of  the  time  past,  and  shows  that  something  was  then  doing,  but 
not  quite  finished." — Devis  cor.  "  It  subsists  in  spite  of  them  ;  it  advances  unobserved." — Pas- 
cal cor. 

"  But  where  is  he,  the  Pilgrim  of  my  song  ? — 
Methinks  he  lingers  late  and  tarries  long." — Byron  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII. — CONFUSION  OF  MOODS. 

"  If  aman7^atv?ahundred  sheep,  and  one  of  them  go  (or  be  gone)  astray,"  &c. — Matt,  xviii,  12.  Or  : 
"  If  a  man  has  a  hundred  sheep,  and  one  of  them  goes  (or  is  gone)  astray,"  &c.  Or  :  "  If  a  man  hath 
a  hundred  sheep,  and  one  of  them  goeth  (or  is  gone)  astray,""  £c. — Kirkham  cor.  "As  a  speaker 
advances  in  his  discourse,  and  increases  in  energy  and  earnestness,  a  higher  and  louder  tone  will 
naturally  steal  upon  him." — Id.  "  If  one  man  esteem  one  day  above  an  other,  and  an  other  es- 
teem every  day  alike  ;  let  every  man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind." — Barclay  cor.  See  Rom. 
xiv,  5.  "  If  there  be  but  one  body  of  legislators,  it  will  be  no  better  than  a  tyranny;  if  there  be 
only  two,  there  will  want  a  casting  voice." — Addison  cor.  "  Should  you  come  up  this  way,  and  I 
be  still  here,  you  need  not  be  assured  how  glad  I  should  be  to  see  you." — Byron  cor.  "  If  he  re- 
pent and  become  holy,  let  him  enjoy  God  and  heaven." — Brownson  cor.  "  If  thy  fellow  approach 
thee,  naked  and  destitute,  and  thou  say  unto  him,  '  Depart  in  peace,  be  warmed  and  filled,  and  yet 
thou  gice  him  not  those  things  which  are  needful  to  him,  what  benevolence  is  there  in  thy  con- 
duct ?  " — Kirkham  cor. 

"  Get  on  your  nightgown,  lest  occasion  call  us, 

And  show  us  to  be  watchers." — Singer's  Shakspeare. 
"  But  if  it  climb,  with  your  assisting  hand, 

The  Trojan  walls,  and  in  the  city  stand." — Dryden  cor. 

'•  Though  Heaven's  King 

Ride  on  thy  wings,  and  thou  with  thy  compeers, 

Used  to  the  yoke,  draw  his  triumphant  wheels." — Milton  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IX. — IMPROPER  ELLIPSES. 
"  Indeed  we  have  seriously  wondered  that  Murray  should  leave  some  things  as  he  has  lift 
them." — Reporter  cor.  "  Which  they  neither  have  done  nor  can  do." — Barclay  cor.  "The  Lord 
hath  revealed,  and  doth  and  will  reveal,  his  will  to  his  people  ;  and  hath  raised  up,  and  doth  raise 
up,  members  of  his  body,"  &c. — Id.  "  We  see,  then,  that  the  Lord  hath  given,  and  doth  give, 
such." — Id.  "  Towards  those  that  have  declared,  or  do  declare,  themselves  members." — Id. 
"  For  which  we  can  give,  nnd  have  given,  our  sufficient  reasons." — Id.  "  When  we  mention  the 
several  properties  of  the  different  words  in  sentences,  as  we  have  mentioned  those  of  the  word 
William's  above,  what  is  the  exercise  called  ?" — R.  C.  Smith  cor.  "  It  is  however  to  be  doubted, 
whether  this  Greek  idiorn  ever  has  obtained,  or  ever  will  obtain,  extensively,  in  English." — Nut- 
ting cor.  "  Why  did  not  the  Greeks  and  Romans  abound  in  auxiliary  words  as  much  as  we  do?  " 
— Murray  cor.  "  Who  delivers  his  sentiments  in  earnest,  as  they  ought  to  be  delivered  in  order 
to  move  and  persuade." — Kirkham  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  X. — DO,  USED  AS  A  SUBSTITUTE. 

"And  I  would  avoid  it  altogether,  if  it  could  be  avoided."  Or  :  "I  would  avoid  it  altogether, 
if  to  avoid  it  were  practicable." — Kames  cor.  "Such  a  sentiment  from  a  man  expiring  of  his 
wounds,  is  truly  heroic  ;  and  it  must  elevate  the  mind  to  the  greatest  height  to  which  it  can  be 
raised  by  a  single  expression." — Id.  "Successive  images,  thus  making  deeper  and  deeper  im- 
pressions, must  elevate  the  mind  more  than  any  single  image  can." — Id.  "  Besides  making  a 
deeper  impression  than  can  be  made  by  cool  reasoning." — Id.  "  Yet  a  poet,  by  the  force  of 
genius  alone,  may  rise  higher  than  a  public  speaker  can."  Or : — "  than  can  a  public  speaker." — 
Blair  cor.  ''And  the  very  same  reason  that  has  induced  several  grammarians  to  go  so  far  as  they 
have  gone,  should  have  induced  them  to  go  farther." — Priestley  cor.  "  The  pupil  should  commit 
the  first  section  to  memory  perfectly,  before  he  attempts  (or  enters  upon)  the  second  part  of  gram- 
mar."—  Bradley  cor.  "  The  Greek  ch  was  pronounced  hard,  as  we  now  pronounce  it  in  chord." — 


have  said." — Bolingbroke  cor.  "  If  he  suppose  the  first,  he  may  the  last." — Barclay  cor.  "  Who 
are  now  despising  Christ  in  his  inward  appearance,  as  the  Jews  of  old  despised  him  in  his  out- 
ward [advent]." — Id.  "  That  text  of  Revelations  must  not  be  understood  as  he  understand*  it." — 
Id.  "  Till  the  mode  of  parsing  the  noun  is  so  familiar  to  him  thathe  can  parse  it  readily. " — R.  C. 
Smith  cor.  "  Perhaps  it  is  running  the  same  course  that  Rome  had  run  before." — Middleton  cor. 
"  It  ought  even  on  this  ground  to  be  avoided ;  and  it  easily  may  be,  by  a  different  construction." 
— Churchill  cor.  "These  two  languages  are  now  pronounced  in  England  as  no  other  nation  in 
Europe  pronounces  them." — Creiyhton  cor.  "  Germany  ran  the  same  risk  that  Italy  had  run." — 
Bolingbroke,  Murray,  et  al.  cor. 


CI1AP.    VI.]  KEY   TO    FAL3E    SYNTAX. VERBS. RULE    XVII.  935 

UNDER  NOTE  XI. — PRETERITS  AND  PAUTICIPI.I.S. 

"  The  beggars  themselves  will  be  broken  in  a  trice." — Sir/ft  cor.  "  The  hoop  is  hoisted  above 
his  nose." — Id.  "And  his  heart  was  lifted  up  in  the  ways  of 'the  Lord." — 2  Chron.  xvii,  6.  "Who 
sin  so  oft  have  mourned,  Yet  to  temptation  run." — Burns  cor.  "  Who  would  not  have  let  them 
appear."— Steele  cor.  "  He  would  have  had  you  seek  for  ease  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Legality." — 
Bunyan  cor.  "  From  me  his  madding  mind  is  turned;  He.  woos  the  widow's  daughter,  of  the 
glen." — -Sj>t  n*rr  cor.  "  The  man  has  spoken,  and  he  still  speaks." — Ash  cor.  "  For  you  have  Init 
mistaken  me  all  this  while." — Shak.  cor.  "And  will  you  rend  our  ancient  love  asunder  ?  " — Id. 
"  Mr.  Birney  has  pled  (or  pleaded)  the  inexpediency  of  passing  such  resolutions." — Liberator  cor. 
"  Who  have  worn  out  their  years  in  such  most  painful  labours." — Littleton  cor.  "And  in  the  con- 
clusion you  were  chosen  probationer." — Spectator  cor. 

"  How  she  was  lost,  ta'en  captive,  made  a  slave  ; 
And  how  against  him  set  that  should  her  save." — Bunyan  cor. 

UNKI.II  NOTE  XII. — OF  VERHS  CONFOUNDED. 

"  But  Moses  preferred  to  while  away  his  time." — Parker  cor.  "  His  face  shone  with  the  rays  of 
the  sun."— S/O^H  Allen  cor.  "  Whom  they  had  set  at  defiance  so  lately." — Bolingbroke  cor.  "And 
when  he  had  sat  down,  his  disciples  came  unto  him." — Bible  cor.  "  When  he  had  sat  down  on 
the  judgement-seat."  Or:  "While  he  was  Kitting  on  the  judgement-seat." — Id.  "And,  they 
having  kindled  a  fire  in  the  midst  of  the  hall,  and  sat  down  together,  Peter  sat  down  among 
them'." — Id.  "So  after  he  h;i<l  washed  their  feet,  and  had  taken  his  garments,  and  had 
sat  down  again,  [or,  literally,  'sitting  down  again,']  he  said  to  them,  Do  ye  know  what  I  have 
done  to  you  ? " — Id.  "  Even  as  I  also  overcame,  and  sat  down  with  my  Father  in  his  throne." — 
Id.  Or  :  (rather  less  literally  :)  "  Even  as  I  have  overcome,  and  am  sitting  with  my  Father  on  his 
throne."— Id.  "  We  have  such  a  high  priest,  who  sittcth  on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  the 
Majesty  in  the  heavens." — Id.  "And  is  now  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God." — Id. 
"  lie  set  on  foot  a  furious  persecution." — Payne  cor.  "  There  lieth  (or  lies)  an  obligation  upon 
the  saints  to  help  such." — Bare/ay  cor.  "  There  let  him  lie." — Bi/ron  cor.  "  Nothing  but  moss, 

Who  had  laid  out  considerable 
and  are 
iper,  and  laid  aside  his  garments." — Id.     "  Whither — oh  ! 


and  shrubs,  and  stunted  trees,  can  grow  upon  it." — Morse  cor.  "  Who  had  laid  out  consi 
sums  purely  to  distinguish  themselves." — Goldsmith  cor.  "  Whereunto  the  righteous  flee, 
safe." — Barclay  cor.  "  He  rose  from  supper,  and  laid  aside  his  garments." — Id.  "  W"hith< 
whither — shall  I  flee?  " — Murray  cor.  "Fleeing  from  an  adopted  murderer." — Id.  "  To  you  I  Ate 
for  refuge." — Id.  "  The  sign  that  should  warn  his  disciples  to  flee  from  the  approaching  ruin.  — 
Keith  cor.  "  In  one  she  sits  as  a  prototype  for  exact  imitation." — Rush  cor.  "  In  which  some  only 
bleat,  bark,  mew,  whinny,  and  bray,  a  httle  better  than  others." — Id.  "  Who  represented  to  him 
the  unreasonableness  of  being  affected  with  such  unmanly  fears." — Rollin  cor.  "  Thou  saicest  every 
action."  Or.  familiarly :  "  Thou  saw  every  action." — Guy  cor.  "  I  taught,  thou  taughtest  or  taught, 
he  or  she  taught." — Coar  cor.  "  Valerian  was  taken  by  Sapor  and  flayed  alive,  A.'D.  260." — Lem- 
priere  cor.  "  What  a  fine  vehicle  has  it  now  become,  for  all  conceptions  of  the  mind!  " — Blair  cor. 
"  What  has  become  of  so  many  productions  ?  " — Volney  cor.  "  What  /ias  become  of  those  ages  of 
abundance  and  of  life  ?  " — Keith  cor.  "  The  Spartan  admiral  had  sailed  to  the  Hellespont." — Gold- 
smith cor.  "As  soon  n«  he  landed,  the  multitude  thronged  about  him." — Id.  "  Cyrus  had  arrived 
at  Sardis."—  Id.  "  Whose  year  had  expired." — Id.  "  It  might  better  have  been,  '  that  faction 
which.'  "  Or :  "  '  That  faction  which,'  would  have  been  better."— Murray's  Gram.  p.  157.  "  This 
people  has  become  a  great  nation." — Murray  and  Ingcrsoll  cor.  "And  here  we  enter  the  region  of 
ornament." — Blair  cor.  "  The  ungraceful  parenthesis  which  follows,  might  far  better  have  been 
avoided." — Id.  "  Who  forced  him  under  water,  and  there  held  him  until  he  teas  drowned." — 
Hist.  cor. 

"  I  would  much  rather  be  myself  the  slave, 
And  wear  the  bonds,  than  fasten  them  on  him." — Cowper  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIII. — WORDS  THAT  EXPRESS  TIME. 

"Ifnishedmy  letter  before  my  brother  arrived."  Or :  "I  had  finished  my  letter  when  my  brother 
arrived" — Kirkham  cor.  "I  wrote  before  I  received  his  letter." — Blnir  cor.  "  From  what  was 
formerly  delivered." — Id.  "Arts  were  nt  length  introduced  among  them."  Or:  "Arts  have  been 
"of  late  introduced  among  them." — Id.  [But  the  latter  reading  suits  not  the  Doctor's  context.] 
"  I  am  not  of  opinion,  that  such  rules  ran  be  of  much  u«e,  unless  persons  see  them  exemplified. 
Or: — "could  be"  and  "saw." — Id.  "  If  we  use  the  noun  itself,  we  say,  (or  must  say,)  '  This  com- 
position is  John's.'  "  Or  :  "  If  we  used  the  noun  itself,  we  should  say,"  Jtc. — Murray  cor.  "  But 
if  the  assertion  refer  to  something  that  icas  transient,  or  to  somcthiin/  that  is  not  supposed  to  he 
always  the  same,  the  past  tense  mu«t  be  preferred  :  "  [as,]  "  They  told  him,  that  Jesus  of  Na/areth 
was  passing  by." — Murray  cor.  "  There  is  no  particular  intimation  but  that  I  hare  continued  to 
work,  even  to  the  present  moment." — (ireen  <-or.  "  Generally,  as  has  been  observed  already,  it 
is  but  hinted  in  a  single  word  or  phrase." — Campbell  cor.  "  The  wittiness  of  the  passage  has 
hern  already  illustrated." — Id.  "As  was  observed  before."  Or:  "  As  has  been  observed  already." 
— Id.  "  It  h't.s  l>eeu  said  already  in  general  terms." — Id.  "As  I  hinted  before."  Or:  "As  I  hare, 
iiinti  il  already." — Id.  "  What,  I  belirve,  was  hinted  once  before." — Id.  "  It  is  obvious,  as  iras 
hinted  formerly,  that  this  is  but  an  artificial  and  arbitrary  connexion." — Id.  "They  did  anciently 
;i  great  deal  of  hurt." — Boliltfbrotu  cor.  "Then  said  Paul,  I  knew  not,  brethren,  that  he  trr/.v 
t.he  high  priest.'' — See  Aftx,  : xxiii,  •">  :  Webster  cor.  "  Mo.-t  prepositions  oiiginaliy  denoted  the 
relations  of  plioo  ;  and/row  these  they  were  transferred,  to  denote,  by  similitude,  other  relations." 
— Lowth  and  C/i.  <w.  "  His  gift  was  but  a  poor  offering,  in  comparison  with  his  great  estate." — 
L.  Murray  cor.  "  If  he  should  succeed,  and  obtain  his  end,  he  would  not  be  the  happier  fur  it." 
Or,  hetter  :  "  If  he  succeed,  and  fully  attain  his  end,  he  will  not  be  the  happier  for  it." — Id. 
"  These  are  torrents  that  swell  to-day,  and  that  will  have  spent  themselves  by  to-morrow." — 
jilair  cor.  "  Who  have  called  that  wheat  on  one  dau,  which  they  have  called  tares  on  the  next." 
— Barclay  cor.  "He  thought  it  was  one  of  his  tenants." — Id.  "  But  if  one  went  unto  them 
from  the  dead,  they  tcntifJ  rt-p'cnt." — Bible  cor.  "  Neither  uiould  they  be  persuaded,  though  One 


936  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. — KEY  TO  SYNTAX,      [PART  1IT. 

rose  from  the  dead." — Id.     "But  it  is  while  men  sleep,  that  the  archenemy  always  soios  his  tares." 
—  The  Friend  cor.     "  Crescens  would  not  have  failed  to  expose  him." — Addison  cor. 
"  Bent  is  his  bow,  the  Grecian  hearts  to  wound; 
Fierce  as  he  moves,  his  silver  shafts  resound." — Pope  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIV. — VERBS  OF  COMMANDING,  &c. 

"Had  I  commanded  you  to  do  this,  you  would  have  thought  hard  of  it."— G.  B.  "I  found 
him  better  than  I  expected  to  find  him." — Murray's  Gram,  i,  187.  "  There  are  several  smaller 
faults,  which  I  at  first  intended  to  enumerate." — Webster  cor.  "Antithesis,  therefore,  may,  on 
many  occasions,  be  employed  to  advantage,  in  order  to  strengthen  the  impression  which  we  in- 
tend that  any  object  shall  make." — Blair  cor.  "  The  girl  said,  if  her  master  would  but  have  let 
her  have  money,  she  might  have  been  well  long  ago." — Priestley  ct  al.  cor.  "  Nor  is  there  the 
least  ground  to  fear  that  we  shall  here  be  cramped  within  too  narrow  limits." — Campbell  cor. 
"The  Romans,  flushed  with  success,  expected  to  retake  it." — Hooka  cor.  "  I  would  not  have  let 
fall  an  unseasonable  pleasantry  in  the  venerable  presence  of  Misery,  to  be  entitled  to  all  the  wit 
that  ever  Rabelais  scattered." — Sterne  cor.  "We  expected  that  he  would  arrive  last  night." — 
Brown's  Inst.  p.  282.  "  Our  friends  intended  to  meet  us." — <Ib.  "  We  hoped  to  see  you." — Ib. 
"  He  would  not  have  been  allowed  to  enter.'' — Ib. 

UNDER  NOTE  XV. — PERMANENT  PROPOSITIONS. 

"  Cicero  maintained,  that  whatsoever  is  useful  is  good." — "  I  observed,  that  love  constitutes  the 
whole  moral  character  of  God." — Dwight  cor.  "Thinking  that  one  gains  nothing  by  being  a 
good  man." — Voltaire  cor.  "I  have  already  told  you,  that  I  am  a  gentleman." — Fontaine  cor. 
"  If  I  should  ask,  whether  ice  and  water  are  two  distinct  species  of  things." — Locke  cor.  "A 
stranger  to  the  poem  would  not  easily  discover  that  this  is  verse." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  i,  260. 
"  The  doctor  affirmed,  that  fever  always  produces  thirst." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  282.  "  The  ancients 
asserted,  that  virtue  is  its  own  reward." — Ib.  "  They  should  not  have  repeated  the  error,  of  in- 
sisting that  the  infinitive  is  a  mere  noun." — Tooke  cor.  "  It  was  observed  in  Chap.  Ill,  that  the 
distinctive  OR  has  a  double  use." — Churchill  cor.  "Two  young  gentlemen,  who  have  made  a 
discovery  that  there  is  no  God." — Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  206. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  XVIII ;  OF  INFINITIVES. 

INSTANCES  DEMANDING  THE  PARTICLE  To. 

" William,  please  to  hand  me  that  pencil." — Smith  cor.  "Please  to  insert  points  so  as  to 
make  sense." — P.  Davis  cor.  "  I  have  known  lords  to  abbreviate  almost  half  of  their  words." — 
Cobbett  cor.  "We  shall  find  the  practice  perfectly  to  accord  with  the  theory." — Knight  cor 
"  But  it  would  tend  to  obscure,  rather  than  to  elucidate,  the  subject." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  Please 
to  divide  it  for  them,  as  it  should  be  divided." — /.  Willetts  cor.  "  So  as  neither  to  embarrass 
nor  to  weaken  the  sentence." — Blair  and  Mur.  cor.  "  Carry  her  to  his  table,  to  view  his  poor 
fare,  and  to  hear  his  heavenly  discourse." — Same.  "  That  we  need  not  be  surprised  to  find  this 
to  hold  [i.  e.,  to  find  the  same  to  be  true,  or  to  find  it  so]  in  eloquence." — Blair  cor.  "  Where  ht 
has  no  occasion  either  to  divide  or  to  explain  "  [the  topic  in  debate.] — Id.  "And  they  will  fine, 
their  pupils  to  improve  by  hasty  and  pleasant  steps." — Russell  cor.  "The  teacher  however  will 
please  to  observe,"  &c. — Inf.  S.  Gr.  cor.  "  Please  to  attend  to  a  few  rules  in  what  is  called 
syntax." — Id.  "  They  may  dispense  with  the  laws,  to  favour  their  friends,  or  to  secure  their 
office." — Webster  cor.  "  To  take  back  a  gift,  or  to  break  a  contract,  is  a  wanton  abuse." — Id. 
"  The  legislature  has  nothing  to  do,  but  to  let  it  bear  its  own  price." — Id.  "  He  is  not  to  form, 
but  to  copy  characters." — Rambler  cor.  "I  have  known  a  woman  to  make  use  of  a  shoeing- 
horn." — Spect.  cor.  "  Finding  this  experiment  to  answer,  in  every  respect,  their  wishes." — Day 
cor.  "  In  fine,  let  him  cause  his  argument  to  conclude  in  the  term  of  the  question." — Barcla}/ 
corrected. 

"  That  he  permitted  not  the  winds  of  heaven 

To  visit  her  too  roughly."     [Omit  "face,"  to  keep  the  measure  :  or  say,] 
"  That  he  did  never  let  the  winds  of  heaven 
Visit  her  face  too  roughly." — Shak.  cor. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  XIX ;  OF  INFINITIVES. 
INSTANCES  AFTER  BID,  DARE,  FEEL,  HEAR,  LET,  MAKE,  NEED,  SEE. 

"I  dare  not  proceed  so  hastily,  lest  I  give  ofFence." — See  Murray's  Key,  Rule  xii.  "Their 
character  is  formed,  and  made  to  appear." — Butler  cor.  "Let  there  be  but  matter  and  oppor- 
tunity offered,  and  you  shall  see  them  quickly  revive  again." — Bacon  cor.  "  I:  has  been  made  to 
appear,  that  there  is  no  presumption  against"  a  revelation." — Butler  cor.  ('  MANIFEST,  v.  t.  To 
reveal;  to  make  appear  ;  to  show  plainly." — Webster  cor.  "  Let  him  reign,  like  good  Aurelius, 
or  let  him  bleed,  like  Seneca  :  "  [Socrates  did  not  bleed,  he  was  poisoned.] — Kirkham's  transposi- 
tion of  Pope  cor.  "  Sing  I  could  not ;  complain  I  durst  not." — Fothergill  cor.  "  If  T.  M.  be  not 
so  frequently  heard  to  pray  by  them." — Barclay  cor.  "  How  many  of  your  own  church  members 
were  never  heard  to  pray  ?" — Id.  "  Yea,  we  are  bidden  to  pray  one  for  an  other." — Id.  "He 
was  made  to  believe  that  neither  the  king's  death  nor  his  imprisonment  would  help  him." — Shef- 
field cor.  "  I  felt  a  chilling  sensation  creep  over  me." — Inst.  p  279.  "  I  dare  say  he  has  not  got 
home  yet." — Ib.  "  We  sometimes  see  bad  men  honoured." — Ib.  "  I  saw  him  move." — Felchcor. 
"  For  see  thou,  ah!  see  thou,  a  hostile  world  its  terrors  raise." — Kirkham  cor.  "  But  that  he 
make  him  rehearse  so." — Lily  cor.  "  Let  us  rise." — Fowle  cor. 
"  Scripture,  you  know,  exhorts  us  to  it ; 

It  bids  us  '  seek  peace,  and  ensue  it.'  " — Swift  cor. 
"  Who  bade  the  mud  from  Dives'  wheel 
Bedash  the  rags  of  Lazarus  ? 
Come,  brother,  in  that  dust  we'll  kneel, 
Confessing  Heaven  that  ruled  it  thus."—  Christmas  Book  cor. 


cn\p.  TIL]  KEY  TO  FALSE  SYNTAX. — PARTICIPLES. — RULE  xx.  937 


CHAPTER  VII.  —  PARTICIPLES. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  THE  NOTES  TO  RULE  XX. 

UM>KH  NOTE  I. — EXPUNGE  OF. 

"  In  forming  his  sentences,  he  was  very  exact." — L.  Murray.  "  For  not  believing  which,  I  con- 
demn them." — Han-lay  cor.  "  To  prohibit  his  hearers  from  reading  that  book." — Id.  "  You  will 
please  them  exceedingly  in  crying  down  ordinances." — Mitchell  cor.  "  The  warwolf  subsequent- 
ly became  an  engine  for  casting  stones."  Or: — "for  the  casting  of  stones." — Cons.  Misc.  cor. 
"  The  art  of  dressing  hides  and  working  in  leather  was  practised." — Id.  «•  In  the  choice  they  had 
made  of  him  for  restoring  order." — Rollin  cor.  "  The  Arabians  exercised  themselves  by  compos- 
ing orations  and  poems." — Sale  cor.  "  Behold,  the  widow-woman  was  there,  gathering  sticks.'' 
—  Hible cor.  "The  priests  were  busied  in  offering  burnt-offerings." — Id.  "  But  Asahel  would 
not  turn  aside  from  following  him." — Id.  "  lie  left  off  building  Itamah,  and  dwelt  in  Tirzah." — Id. 
"  Those  who  accuse  us  of  denying  it,  belie  us." — Barclay  cor.  "And  breaking  bread  from  house  to 
house." — Acts,  iv,  46.  "  Those  that  set  about  repairing  the  walls." — Barclay  cor.  "And  secretly 
begetting  divisions." — Id.  "Whom  he  had  made  use  of  in  gathering  his  church." — Id.  "  In 
defining  and  distinguishing  the  acceptations  and  uses  of  those  particles." — W.  Walker  cor. 
"  In  making  this  a  crime,  we  overthrow 
The  laws  of  nations  and  of  nature  too." — Dnjden  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — ARTICLES  REQUIRE  OF. 


"  When  we  have  in  view  the  erecting  of  a.  column." — Id.  "  The  straining  o/'an  elevated  subject 
beyond  due  bounds,  is  a  vice  not  so  frequent." — Id.  "  The  cutting  of  evergreens  in  the  shape  of 
animal*,  is  very  ancient." — /(/.  "  The  keeping  of  juries  without  meat,  drink,  or  fire,  can  be  ac- 
counted for  only  on  the  same  idea." — Webster  cor.  "  The  writing  of  the  verbs  at  length  on  his 
slate,  will  be  a  very  useful  exercise." — Beck  cor.  "  The  avoiding  of  them  is  not  an  object  of  any 
moment." — Sheridan  cor.  "Comparison  is  the  increasing  or  decreasing  of  the  signification  of  a 
word  by  degrees." — Brit.  Gram. cor.  "  Comparison  is  the  increasing  or  decreasing  of  the  quality  by 
degrees ." — ltur/i>i»un  cor.  "The  placing  of  a.  circumstance  before  the  word  with  which  it  is  con- 
nected is  the  easiest  of  all  inversion." — Id.  "  "  What  is  emphasis  ?  It  is  the  emitting  of  a.  stronger 
and  fuller  sound  of  voice,"  &c  — Bradley  cor.  "  Besides,  the  varying  o/the  terms  will  render  the 
use  of  them  more  familiar." — A.  Mitr. '.cor.  "And  yet  the  confining  of  themselves  to  this  true 
principle,  has  misled  them." — Tooke  cor.  "  What  is" here  commanded,  is  merely  the  relieving  of 
his  misery." — Way  land  cor.  "The  accumulating  of  too  great  a  quantity  of  knowledge  at  ran- 
dom, overloads  the  mind  in  stead  of  adorning  it." — Formey  cor.  "  For  the  compassing  of  his 
point." — Rollin  cor.  "  To  the  introducing  of  such  an  inverted  order  of  things." — Butler  cor. 
"  Which  require  only  the  doing  o/'an  external  action. "—Id.  "  The  imprisoning  o/my  body  is  to 
satisfy  your  wills." — Fox  cor.  "Who  oppose  the  conferring  of  such  extensive  command  on  one 
person." — Daman  cor.  "  Luxury  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  enervating  of  their  forces." — Sale 
cor.  "  The  keeping  of  one  day  of  the  week  for  a  sabbath." — Barclay  cor.  "  The  doing  of  a.  thing 
is  contrary  to  the  forbearing  of  it." — Id.  "  The  doubling  of  the  Sigma  is,  however,  sometimes 
."—Kniyht  cor.  "  The  inserting  of  the  common  aspirate  too,  is  improper." — Id.  "  But  in 


indeed  given  the  orders  himself  for  the  shutting  of  the  gates." — Id.     "  So 

his  whole  life  was  a  doing  of  the  will  of  the  Father." — Piminyton  cor.  "*It  signifies  the  suffering 
or  receiving  of  the  action  expressed." — 1'riestlry  cor.  "  The  pretended  crime  therefore  was  the  de- 
claring of  himself  to  be  the  Son  of  God." — West  cor.  "  Parsing  is  the  resolving  of  a.  sentence  into 
its  different  parts  of  speech." — Beck  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — AI>JI:<TIVKS  Ri:m  IUK  OF. 

"There  is  no  expecting  of  the  admiration  of  beholders." — Baxter  cor.  "There  is  no  hiding  o/ 
you  in  the  house." — Shnk  'cor.  "  For  the  better  regulating  of  government  in  the  province  of 
husetts." — Hrit.  I'arl.  cor.  "  The  precise  marking  of  the  shadowy  boundaries  of  a  com- 
plex government." — Ada  ma  cor.  "  This  state  of  discipline  requires  the  voluntary  foregoing  of 
many  things  which  we  desire,  and  the  setting  of  ourselves  to  what  we  have  no  inclination  to." 
—  Butler  ror.  "  This  amounts  to  an  active  setting  of  themselves  against  religion." — Id.  "  Which 
engaged  our  ancient  friends  to  the  orderly  establishing  of  our  Christian  discipline." — rFrieiidscor. 
"  Some  men  are  so  unjust  that  there  is  no  securing  of  our  own  property  or  life,  but  by  opposing 
force  to  force." — R<-r.  John  Broicn  cor.  "An  Act  for  the  better  securing  of  the  Rights  and  Lib- 
erties of  the  Subject." — Geo.  Ill  cor.  "  Miraculous  curing  of  the  sick  is  discontinued." — Barclay 
cor.  "  It  would  have  been  no  transgressing  of  the  apostle's  rule." — Id.  "As  far  as  consistent 
with  the  proper  conducting  of  the  business  of  the  House." — E/morc  cor.  "  Because  he  would 
have  no  quarrelling  at  the  just  condemning  of  them  at  that  day."  Or  : — "  at  their  jtist  condemna- 
tion at  that  day." — Btuiyan  cor.  "  That  transferring  of  this  natural  manner  will  insure  propri- 
ety."— Rush  cor.  "  If  a  man  were  porter  of  hell-gate,  he  should  have  old  [i.  e.,  frequent]  turning 
of  the  key." — Singer's  Shakspeare. 

UNDI.R  NOTE  II. — POSSESSIVES  REQUIRE  OF. 

"  So  very  simple  a  thing  as  a  man's  wounding  of  himself. "—Dr.  Blair  cor.,  and  Murray.     "  Or 
with  that  man's  avowing  of  his  designs." — Blair',  Mur.,  et  al.  cor.     "•  On  his  putting  of  the  ques- 

66 


938  GRAMMAR    OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. — KEY    TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

tion." — Adams  cor.  "  The  importance  of  teachers'  requiring  of  their  pupils  to  read  each  section 
many  times  over." — Kirkham  cor.  "  Politeness  is  a  kind  of  forgetting  of  one's  self,  in  order  to 
be  agreeable  to  others." — Ramsay  cor.  "Much,  therefore,  of  the  merit  a'nd  the  agreeableness  of 
epistolary  writing,  will  depend  on  its  introducing  of  us  into  some  acquaintance  with  the  writer." 
— Blair  and  Mack  cor.  "llichard's  restoration  to  respectability  depends  on  his  paying  of  his 
debts." — O.  B.  Peirce  cor.  "  Their  supplying  of  ellipses  where  none  ever  existed  ;  their  parsing 
of  the  words  of  sentences  already  full  and  perfect,  as  though  depending  on  words  understood." — 
Id.  "  Her  veiling  of  herself,  and  shedding  of  tears,  &c.,  her  upbraiding  of  Paris  for  his  coward- 
ice," &c. — Blair  cor.  "A  preposition  may  "be'  made  known  by  its  admitting  of  a.  personal  pronoun 
after  it,  in  the  objective  case." — Murray  et  al.  cor.  "  But  this  fcrms  no  just  objection  to  its  de- 
noting of  time." — Mur.  cor.  "  Of  men's  violating  or  disregarding  of  the  relations  in  which  God 
has  here  placed  them." — Butler  cor.  "  Success,  indeed,  no  more  decides  for  the  right,  than  a 
man's  killing  q/'his  antagonist  in  a  duel." — Campbell  cor,  "  His  reminding  q/'them." — Kirkham, 
cor.  "  This  mistake  was  corrected  by  his  preceptor's  causing  of  him  to  plant  some  beans." — Id. 
"Their  neglecting  of  this  was  ruinous." — Frost  cor.  "That  he  was  serious,  appears  from  his 
distinguishing  of  the  others  as  '  finite.'  " — Felch  cor.  "  His  hearers  are  not  at  all  sensible  of  his 
doing  of  it."  O'r : — "  that  he  does  it." — Sheridan  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  III. — CHANGE  THE  EXPRESSION. 

"An  allegory  is  a  fictitious  story  the  meaning  of  ichich  is  ^figurative,  not  literal ;  a  double  mean- 
ing, or  dilogy,  is  the  saying  of  only  one  thing,  when  we  have  two  in  view." — Phil.  Mu.  cor.  "A 
verb  may  generally  be  distinguished  by  the  sense  which  it  makes  with  any  of  the  personal  pro- 
nouns, or  with  the  word  TO,  before  it." — Murray  et  al.  cor.  "A  noun  may  in  general  be  distin- 
guished by  the  article  which  comes  before  it,  or  by  the  sense  which  it  makes  of  itself." — Merchant 
etal.  cor.  "An  adjective  may  usually  be  known  by  the  sense  which  it  makes  with  the  word  thing  ; 
as,  a  good  thing,  a.  bad  thing." — lid.  "  It  is  seen  to  be  in  the  objective  case,  because  it  denotes  the 
object  affected'by  the  act  of  leaving." — Peirce  cor.  "  It  is  seen  to  be  in  the  possessive  case,  be- 
cause it  denotes  the  possessor  of  something." — Id.  "  The  noun  MAN  is  caused  by  the  adjective 
WHATEVER  to  seem  like  a  twofold  nominative,  as  if  it  denoted,  of  itself,  one  person  as  the  subject 
of  the  two  remarks." — Id.  "WHEN,  as  used  in  the  last  line,  is  a  connective,  because  it  joins  that 
line  to  the  other  part  of  the  sentence." — Id.  "Because  they  denote  reciprocation." — Id.  "  To  allow 
them  to  make  use  of  that  liberty  ;  " — "  To  allow  them  to  use  that  liberty ;  " — or,  "  To  allow  them 
that  liberty." — Sale  cor.  "  The  worst  effect  of  it  is,  that  it  fixes  on  your  mind  a  habit  of  inde- 
cision."—  Todd  cor.  "And  you  groan  the  more  deeply,  as  you  reflect  th:it  you  have  not  power  to 
shake  it  off." — Id.  "  I  know  of  nothing  that  can  justify  the  student  in  having  recourse  to  a  Latin 
translation  of  a  Greek  writer." — Coleridge  cor.  "Humour  is  the  conceit  of  making  others  act 
or  talk  absurdly." — Hazlitt  cor.  "  There  are  remarkable  instances  in  which  they  do  not  affect  eaclx 
other." — Butler  cor.  "  That  Caesar  was  left  out  of  the  commission,  was  not  from  any  slight." — 
Life  cor.  "  Of  the  thankful  reception  of  this  toleration,  I  shall  say  no  more,"  Or  :  "  Of  the  pro- 
priety of  receiving  this  toleration  thankfully,  I  shall  say  no  more." — Drydtn  cor.  "  Henrietta 
was  delighted  with  Julia's  skill  in  working  lace." — Peirce  cor.  "And  it  is  because  each  of  then*- 
represents  two  different  words,  that  the  confusion  has  arisen." — Booth  cor.  "JEschylus  died  of  :i 
fracture  of  his  skull,  caused  by  an  eagle's  dropping  of  a  tortoise  on  his  head."  Or : — "  caused  by 
a  tortoise  which  an  eagle  let  fall  on  his  head." — Biog.  Diet.  cor.  "  He  doubted  whether  they  had 
it." — Felch  cor.  "To  make  ourselves  clearly  understood,  is  the  chief  end  of  speech." — Sheridan 
cor.  "One  cannot  discover  in  their  countenances  any  signs  which  are  the  natural  concomitants 
of  the  feelings  of  the  heart." — Id.  "  Nothing  can  be  more  common  or  less  proper,  than  to  speak 
of  a  river  as  emptying  itself." — Campbell  cor.  "  Our  non-use  of  the  former  expression,  is  owing 
to  this." — Bullions  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — DISPOSAL  OF  ADVERBS. 

"  To  this  generally  succeeds  the  division,  or  the  laying-down  of  the  method  of  the  discourse." — 
Blair  cor.  "  To  the pulling-down  of  strong  holds." — Bible  cor.  "  Can  a  mere  buckling-on  of  a. 
military  weapon  infuse  courage  ?" — Dr.  Brown  cor.  "Expensive  and  luxurious  living  destroys 
health." — Murray  cor.  "  By  frugal  and  temperate  living,  health  is  preserved."  Or  :  "  By  living 
frugally  and  temperately,  we  preserve  our  health." — Id.  '•  By  the  doing-away  of  the  necessity." 
— The  Friend  cor.  "  He  recommended  to  them,  however,  the  immediate  calling  of — (or,  imme- 
diately to  call — )  the  whole  community  to  the  church." — Gregory  cor.  "  The  separation  of  large 
numbers  in  this  manner,  certainly  facilitates  the  right  reading  of  them." — Churchill  cor.  "  From 
their  mere  admitting  of  a  twofold  grammatical  construction."— Phil,  Mu.  cor.  "  His  grave  lec- 
turing of  his  friend  about  it." — Id.  "  For  the  blotting-out  of  sin." — Gurneycor.  "  From  the  not- 
using  of  water." — Barclay  cor.  "  By  the  gentle  dropping-in  of  a  pebble." — Sheridan  cor.  "To 
the  carrying-on  of  a  great  part  of  that  general  course  of  nature." — Butler  cor.  "  Then  the  not- 
interposing  is  so  far  from  being  a  ground  of  complaint." — Id.  "  The  bare  omissicn,  (or  rather,  the 
not-employing,)  of  what  is  used." — Campbell  cor.  "The  bringing -tog  ether  of  incongruous  adverbs 
is  a  very  common  fault." — Churchill  cor.  "  This  is  a  presumptive  proof  that  it  does  not  proceed 
from  them." — Butler  cor.  "  It  represents  him  in  a  character  to  which  any  injustice  is  peculiarly 
unsuitable." — Campbell  cor.  "They  will  aim  at  something  higher  than  a  mere  dealing-out  of 
harmonious  sounds." — Kirkham  cor.  "  This  is  intelligible  and  sufficient;  and  any  further  ac- 
count of  the  matter  seems  beyond  the  reach  of  our  faculties." — Butler  cor.  "Apostrophe  is  a 
turning-off  from  the  regular  course  of  the  subject." — Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "Even  Isabella  was  finally 
prevailediipon  to  assent  to  the  sending-out  of  a  commission  to  investigate  his  conduct." — Life  of 
Col.  cor.  "  For  the  turning-away  of  the  simple  shall  slay  them." — Bible  cor. 
"Thick  fingers  always  should  command 

Without  extension  of  the  hand." — King  cor. 
UNDER  NOTE  V.— OF  PARTICIPLES  WITH  ADJECTIVES. 

"  Is  there  any  Scripture  which  speaks  of  the  light  as  being  inward  ?  " — Barclay  cor.  "  For  I  be- 
lieve not positiveness  therein  essential  to  salration." — Id.  "Our  inability  to  act  a  uniformly 


CHAP.  VII.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. PARTICIPLES. RULE    XX.  939 

ris;ht  part  without  some  thought  and  care  " — Butler  car.  "On  the  supposition  that  it.  is  rcconcil- 
able  with  the  constitution  of  nature." — Id.  "On  the  i/round  that  it  is  not  discoverable  by  reason 
or  experience." — Id.  "On  the  (/round  that  they  are  unlike  the  known  course  of  nature." — Id. 
"  Our  pmrer  to  discern  reasons'  for  them,  gives  a  positive  credibility  to  the  history  of  them." — 
Id.  "  From  its  lack  of  ttnirersa/ity." — Id.  "  That  they  may  be  turned  into  passive  participles  in 
dun,  is  no  decisive  argument  to  prove  them  passive." — Grant  cor.  "  With  the  implied  idea  that 
St.  ly'iul  imi  then  absent  from  the  Corinthians." — Kirk  ham  cor.  "Because  if  becomes  gradually 
weaker,  until  it  finally  dies  away  into  silence." — I<l '.  "  Xot  without  the  author's  full  knowledge." 
— Id.  "\\rit  out  of  season  is  one  sort  of  folly." — Sheffield  cor.  "  Its  </cneral  sux-'eptihility  of  a 
much  stronger  evidence." — (Campbell  cor.  "At  least,  that  thei/  are  such,  rarely  enhances  our  opin- 
ion, either  of  their  abilities  or  of  their  virtues." — Id.  "  Which  were  the  ground  of  our  unity." 

—  Barclay  cor.     "  But  they  may  be  distinguished  from  it  by  their  intranxitireiic?;*." — Murr- 

"To  distinguish  the  higlier  degree  of  our  persuasion   of  a  thing's    possibility." — Churchill  cor. 
"That  he  was  idle,  and  dishonest  too, 
"Was  that  which  caus'd  his  utter  overthrow." — Tobitt  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI. — OF  COMPOUND  VKRRAL  NOUNS. 

"  When  it  denotes  subjection  to  the  exertion  of  an  other." — Booth  cor.  "In  a  passive  sense,  it 
signifies  <v  subjection,  to  the  influence  of  the  action." — Fetch  cor.  "To  he  abandoned  by  our  friends, 
is  very  deplorable." — Goldsmith  cor.  "  Without  waiting  to  be  attacked  by  the  Macedonians." — 
Id.  "  In  progress  of  time,  words  were  wanted  to  express  men's  connexion' with  certain  conditions 
of  fortune." — Blair  cor.  "  Our  acquaintance  with  pain  and  sorrow  has  a  tendency  to  bring  us  to 
a  settled  moderation." — Butter  cor.  "The  chancellor's  attachment  to  the  king,  secured  to  the 
monarch  his  crown." — L.  Murray  et  al.  cor.  "The  general's  failure  in  this  enterprise  occasioned 
his  disgrace." — lid-.  "  John's  lontj  application  to  writintj  had  wearied  him." — lid.  "The  sen- 
tence may  be,  'John's  low;  application  to  writing  has  wearied  him." — Wright  cor.  "Much  de- 
pends on  the  observance  of  this  rule." — Murray  cor.  "He  mentioned  that  a  boy  had  been  cor- 
rected for  his  faults." — Alfjer  and  Merchant  cor.  "The  boy's  punishment  is  shameful  to  him." 

—  lid.      "  The  greater  the  difficulty  of  remembrance  is,  and  the  more  important  the  being-remem- 
bered is  to  the  attainment  of  the  ultimate   end." — Campbell  cor.      "  If  the  parts  in  the  composi- 
tion of  similar  objects  were  always  in  equal  quantity,  their  being-compounded  (or  their  compound- 
in^))  would  make  no  odds." — Id.     "  Circumstances,  not  of  such  importance  as  that  the  scope  of 
the  relation  is  affected  by  their  being-known" — or,  "by  the  mention  of  them." — Id.      "A  passive 
verb  expresses  the  receiving  of  an  action,  or  represents  its  subject  a-s  being  acted  upon  ;  as,  '  John 
is  beaten.'  " — Frost  cor.      "  So  our  language  has  an  other  great  advantage  ;  namely,  that  it  is  lit- 
t!e  diversified  bv  genders." — Buchanan  cor.     "  The  slander  concerning  Peter  is  no  fault  of  his." — 
Frost  cor.     "  Without  faith  in  Christ,  there  is  no  justification." — Penn  cor.  "Habituation  to  dan- 
ger begets  intrepidity  ;  i.  e.,  lessens  fear." — Butter  cor.     "  It  is  not  affection  of  any  kind,  but  ac- 


cor. ;  also  Ililey.  "  The  scriptural  view  of  our  safrat ion  from  punishment." — Gurneycor.  "  To  sub- 
mit and  obey,  is  not  renouncing  of  the  Spirit's  leading." — Barclay  cor. 

UN  PER  NOTE  VII.—  PARTICIPLES  FOR  INFINITIVES,  &c. 

"To  teach  little  children,  is  a  pleasant  employment."  Or-  "The  teaching  of  little  children," 
£o  — Barttett  cor.  "  To  deny  or  compromise  the  principles  of  truth,  is  virtually  'to  deny  their  divine 
Author." — Reformer  cor.  "A  severe  critic  might  point  out  some  expressions  that  would  bear 
'lint/  " — "  refrcn''hment  " — or,  "  to  be  retrenched." — Blair  cor.  "  Never  attempt  to  prolong 
the  pathetic  too  mu<'h." — Id.  "  I  now  recollect  to  have  mentioned — (or,  that  I  mentioned — )  a 
report  of  that  nature." — Whiting  cor.  "  Nor  of  the  necessity  which  there  is,  for  their  restraint — 
for,  for  them  to  be  restrained — )  in  thorn." — Butler  cor.  "But,  to  do  what  God  commands  because 
he  commands  it,  is  obedience,  though  it  proceeds  from  hope  or  fear." — Id.  "  Simply  to  close  the 
nostrils,  does  not  so  entirely  prevent  resonance." — Gardiner  cor.  "  Yet  they  absolutely  refuse  to 
do  so." — Ilni-rix  <  or.  "  But  Artaxerxes  could  not  refuse  to  pardon  him." — Goldsmith  cor.  "The 
d-ung  o/'them  in  the  best  manner,  is  signified  by  the  name*  of  these  arts." — Rush  cor.  "To  bc- 
M'll  for  the  time  to  come,  may  be  insufficient." — liutlcr  cor.  "The  compiler  proposed  to 
publish  that  part  by  itself." — Adam  cor.  "  To  smile  on  those  whom  we  should  censure,  is,  to 
brimt  guilt  upon  ourselves." — Kir/Jnim  cor.  "  But  it  would  be  great  injustice  to  that  illustrious 
orator,  to  bring  his  genius  down  to  the  same  level." — Id.  "  The  dnubt  that  things  go  ill,  often  hurts 
more,  than  to  he  sure  they  do." — Shut;,  cur.  "  This  is  called  the  straining  of -A  metaphor." — Blair 
ma!  Murray  cor.  "  This  is  what  Aristotle  calls  the  giving  of  manners  to  the  poem." — Blair  cor. 
"  The  painter's  entire  confinement  to  that  part  of  time  which  he  lias  chosen,  deprives  him  of  the 
power  of  exhibiting  various  stages  of  the  same  action." — Mur.  cor.  "  It  imports  t/ic  retrenchment 
of  \\\\  superfluities,  and  a  pruning  o/'the  expression." — HIair  et  al.  cor.  "The  necessity  for  us  to 
/>c  thus  exempted,  is  further  apparent." — ././//<  II "/.\/  cur.  "  Her  situation  in  life  does  not  allow 
her  to  be  genteel  in  everv  thing." — Same.  "  Provided  you  do  not  dislike  to  be  dirty  when  you  are 
invisible." — s  ••  1  here  is  nowan  imperious  necessity  for  her  to  Ac  acquainted  with  her  title  to 

eternity." — Same.  "Disregard  to  the  restraints  of  virtue,  is  misnamed  ingenuousness." — Same. 
"  The  legislature  prohibits  the  opening  of  shops  on  Sunday." — Same.  "  To  attempt  to  prove  that 
any  thins*  is  right." — <).  11  1',  !>•<•<•  ,-n,-.  '"  The  comma  directs  ?/.v  f<>  make  a  pause  of  a  second  in 
duration,  or  less." — Id.  "  The  rule  which  directs  ;/.v  to  put  other  words  into  the  place  of  it,  is  wrong." 
— Id.  "  They  direct  us  to  call  the  specifying  adjectives,  or  adnames,  adjective  pronouns." — Id. 
"  William  dis'likes  to  attend  court." — Frost  cor.  "  It  may  perhaps  be  worth  while  to  remark,  that 
Milton  makes  a  distinction." — Phil.  M".  cor.  "Tbpntfa*  regard  and  m-t  ityurioiuty,  discovers 
a  base  mind." — Murray  <•(  al .  cor.  "  You  have  proved  beyond  contradiction,  that  this  course  of 
action  is  the  sure  way  to  procure  such  an  object." — Campbell  cor. 


940  GRAMMAR    OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII.— PARTICIPLES  AFTER  BE,  IS,  &c. 


of  their  own  compositions."- — Buchanan  cor.  "  But  puritj 
guage."- — Jamieson  cor.  "  But  the  most  important  object  is  the  settling  of  the  English 
quantity."— Walker  cor.  "  When  there  is  no  affinity,  the  transition  from  one  meaning  to  an 
other  is  a  very  wide  step  taken." — Campbell  cor.  "  It  would  be  a  loss  of  time,  to  attempt  further 
to  illustrate  it."— Id.  "  This  leaves  the  sentence  too  bare,  and  makes  it  to  be,  if  not  nonsense, 
hardly  sense." — Cobbett  cor.  "  This  is  a  requiring  of  more  labours  from  every  private  member." 
— J.  West  cor.  "  Is  not  this,  to  use  one  measure  for  our  neighbours  and  an  other  for  our- 
selves ? " — Same.  "Do  we  not  charge  God  foolishly,  when  we  give  these  dark  colourings 
to  human  nature  ?  " — Same.  "  This  is  not,  to  endure  the  cross,  as  a  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ ;  but, 
to  snatch  at  it,  like  a. partisan  of  Swift's  Jack." — Same.  "  What  is  spelling  ?  It  is  the  combin- 
ing of  letters  to  form  syllables  and  words."' — O.  B.  Peirce  cor.  "  It  is  the  choosing  o/\such  letters 
to  compose  words,"  &c. — Id.  "  What  is  Parsing  r  (1.)  It  is  a  describing  of  the  nature,  use,  and 
powers  of  words." — Id.  (2.)  "  For  Parsing  is  a  describing  of  the  words  of  a  sentence  as  they  are 
used." — Id.  (3.)  "  Parsing  is  only  a  describing  of  the  nature  and  relations  of  words  as  they  are 
used." — Id.  (4.)  "  Parsing,  let  the  pupil  understand  and  remember,  is  a  statement  o/' facts  con- 
cerning words  ;  or  a  describing  of  words  in  their  offices  and  relations,  as  they  are." — Id.  (5.) 


and  describing  of  its  various  qualities,  and  its  grammatical  relations  to  other  words  in  the  sen- 
tence."— Peirce  cor.  (7.)  "  For  the  parsing  of  a  word  is  an  enumerating  and  describing  of  its 
various  properties,  and  [its~\  relations  to  [other  words  in]  the  sentence." — Id.  (8.)  "The  parsing 
of  a,  noun  is  an  explanation  of  its  person,  number,  gender,  and  case  ;  and  also  of  its  grammatical 
relation  in  a  sentence,  with  respect  to  some  other  u'ord  or  Avoids." — Ingersoll  cor.  (9.)  "The 
parsing  of  any  part  of  speech  is  an  explanation  of  all  its  properties  and  relations." — Id.  (10.) 
"  Parsing  is  the  resolving  of  a.  sentence  into  its  elements." — Fowler  cor.  "  The  highway  of  the 
upright  is,  to  depart  from  evil." — Prov.  xvi,  17.  "  Besides,  the  first  step  towards  exhibiting  the 
truth,  should  be,  to  remove  the  veil  of  error." — Peirce  cor.  "  Punctuation  is  the  dividing  of  sen- 
tences, and  the  words  of  sentences,  by  points  for  pauses." — Id.  "An  other  fault  is  the  using  of 
the  imperfect  tense  SHOOK  in  stead  of  the  participle  SHAKEN." — Churchill  cor.  "  Her  employ- 
ment is  the  drawing  of  maps." — Alger  cor.  "To  go  to  the  play,  according  to  his  notion,  is,  «'o 
lead  a  sensual  life,  and  to  expose  one's  self  to  the  strongest  temptations.  This  is  a  begging  of  the 
question,  and  therefore  requires  no  answer."— Formey  cor.  "  It  is  an  overvaluing  q/"ourselves,  1.0 
reduce  every  thing  to  the  narrow  measure  of  our  capacities." — Comly's  Key,  in  his  Gram.  >. 
188  ;  Fish's  Gram.  p.  135.  "  What  is  vocal  language  ?  It  is  speech,  or  the  expressing  of  idei  a 
by  the  human  voice." — C.  W.  Sanders  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IX. — VERBS  OF  PREVENTING. 

"  The  annulling  power  of  the  constitution  prevented  that  enactment  from  becoming  a  law."— 
O.  B.  Peirce  cor.  '  "  Which  prevents  the  manner  from  being  brief." — Id.  "  This  close  prevents 
them  from  bearing  forward  as  nominatives." — Rush  cor.  "  Because  this  prevents  it  from  growing 
drowsy." — Formey  cor.  "  Yet  this  does  not  prevent  him  from  being  great." — Id.  "  To  prevent 
it  from  being  insipid." — Id.  "  Or  whose  interruptions  did  not  prevent  its  continuance."  Or 
thus  :  "  Whose  interruptions  did  not  prevent  it  from  being  continued." — Id.  "  This  by  no  means 
prevents  them  from  being  also  punishments." — Wayland  cor.  "  This  hinders  them  not/row  being 
also,  in  the  strictest  sense,  punishments." — Id.  "  The  noise  made  by  the  rain  and  wind,  pre- 
vented them  from  being  heard." — Goldsmith  cor.  "He  endeavoured  to  prevent  it  from  taking 
effect." — Id.  "  So  sequestered  as  to  prevent  them  from  being  explored." — Jane  West  cor.  "Who 
prevented  her  from  making  a  more  pleasant  party." — Same.  "  To  prevent  us  from  being  tossed 
about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine." — Same.  "After  the  infirmities  of  age  prevented  htm  from 
bearing  his  part  of  official  duty." — R.  Adam  cor.  "An  understanding  of  the  literal  sense  '  — or, 
"To  have  understood  the  literal  sense,  would  not  have  prevented  them  from  condemning  the 
guiltless." — Butler  cor.  "  To  prevent  splendid  trifles  /rom  passing  for  matters  of  importance." 
— Kames  cor.  "  Which  prevents  him  from  exerting  h'imself  to  any  good  purpose." — Beattie  cor. 
"  The  nonobservance  of  this  rule  very  frequently  prevents  us  from  being  punctual  in  the  perform- 
ance of  our  duties." — Todd  cor.  "  Nothing  will  prevent  him  from  being  a  student,  and  possess- 
ing the  means  of  study." — Id.  "  Does  the  present  accident  hinder  you  from  being  honest  and 
brave  ?" — Collier  cor.  "  The  e  is  omitted,  to  prevent  two  Ees  from  coming  together." — Fowle 
cor.  "A  pronoun  is  used  for,  or  in  place  of,  a  noun, — to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  noun." — San- 
born  cor.  "  Diversity  in  the  style  relieves  the  ear,  and  prevents  it  from  being  tired  with  the  fre- 
quent recurrence  of  the  rhymes." — Campbell  cor. ;  also  Murray.  "  Timidity  and  false  shame  pre- 
vent us  from  opposing  vicious  customs." — Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "  To  prevent  them  from  being  moved 
by  such." — Campbell  cor.  "  Some  obstacle,  or  impediment,  that  prevents  it  from  taking  place." 
— Priestley  cor.  "  Which  prevents  us  from  making  a  progress  towards  perfection." — Sheridan 
cor.  "  This  method  of  distinguishing  words,  must  prevent  any  regular  proportion  of  time  from 
being  settled." — Id.  "That  nothing  but  affectation  can  prevent  it  from  always  taking  place." 
— Id.  "This  did  not  prevent  John  from  being  acknowledged  and  solemnly  inaugurated  Duke 
of  Normandy."  Or  :  "Notwithstanding  this,  John  was  acknowledged  and  solemnly  inaugurated 
Duke  of  Normandy." — Henry,  Webster,  Sanborn,  and  Fowler  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  X. — THE  LEADING  WORD  IN  SENSE. 

"  This  would  make  it  impossible  for  a  noun,  or  any  other  word,  e\erto  be  in  the  possessive  case." 
— O.  B.  Peirce  cor.     "A  great  part  of  our  pleasure  arises  from  finding  the  plan  or  story  well  con- 


C1IAP.    VII.]  KEY   TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. PARTICIPLES. RULE   XX.  941 

ducted." — Blair  cor.  "And  we  have  no  reason  to  wonder  that  this  was  the  case." — Id.  "  She 
objected  only,  (as  Cicero  says,)  to  Oppianicus  as  having  two  sons  by  his  present  wife." — Id. 
"The  subjugation  q/"the  Britons  by  the  Saxons,  was  a  necessary  consequence  of  their  calling  of 
these  Saxons  to  their  assistance."— Id.  "  What  he  had  there  said  concerning  the  Saxons,  that 
they  expelled  the  Britons,  and  changed  the  customs,  the  religion,  and  the  language  of  the  coun- 
try, is  a  clear  and  good  reason  why  our  present  language  is  Saxon,  rather  than  British." — Id. 
"The  only  material  difference  between  them,  except  that  the  one  is  short  and  the  other  more 
prolonged,  is,  that  a  metaphor  is  always  explained  by  the  words  that  are  connected  with  it." — 
Id.  et  Mur.  cor.  "  The  description  of  Death,  advancing  to  meet  Satan  on  his  arrival." — Rushcor. 
"  Is  not  the  bare  fact,  that  God  is  the  witness  of  it,  sufficient  ground  for  its  credibility  to  rest 
upon  ?  " — Chalmers  cor.  "As  in  the  case  of  one  who  is  entering  upon  a  new  study." — Beattiecor. 
'•  The  manner  in  which  these  ajf'fct  the  copula,  is  called  the  imperative  mood." — Wilkins  cor. 
"  ~\\V  are  freed  from  the  trouble,  because  our  nouns  hart-  .scarcely  any  diversity  of  endings." — 
Buchanan  cor.  "  The  verb  is  rather  indicative  of  the  action  as  being  doing,  or  done,  than  o/'the 
time  of  the  event;  but  indeed  the  ideas  are  undistinguishable." — Booth  cor.  "Nobody  would 
doubt  that  this  is  a  sufficient  proof." — Campbell  cor.  "Against  the  doctrine  here  maintained, 
that  conscience,  as  well  as  reason,  is  a  natural  faculty." — Beattie  cor.  "  It  is  one  cause  why  the 
Greek  and  English  languages  are  much  more  easy  to  learn,  than  the  Latin." — Bucke  cor.  "I 
have  not  been  able  to  make  out  a  solitary  instance  in  which  such  has  been  the  fact." — Lib.  cor. 
"A:i  an-n'h  forming  the  appearance  of  a  hand,  and  writing  the  king's  condemnation  on  the  wall, 
checked  their  mirth,  and  filled  them  with  terror." — Wood  cor.  "  The  prisoners,  in  attempting  to 
escape,  aroused  the  keepers." — Peircecor.  "  I  doubt  not,  in  the  least,  that  this  /uis  been  one 
cause  of  the  multiplication  of  divinities  in  the  heathen  world." — Blair  cor.  "  From  the  general 
rule  he  lays  down,  that  f he  verb  is  the  parent  word  of  all  language." — Tooke  cor.  "  He  was  ac- 
cused of  being  idle."  Or  :  "  He  was  accused  of  idleness" — Fetch  cor.  "  Our  meeting  is  generally 
dissatisfied  with  him  for  so  removing."  Or: — "with  the  circumstances  of  his  removal." — Edmond- 
son  cor.  "  The  spectacle  is  too  rare,  of  men  deserving  solid  fame  while  not  seeking  it." — Bush 
cor.  "  What  further  need  was  there  that  an  other  priest  should  risef  " — Heb.  vii,  11. 

UNDEK  NOTE  XI. — REFERENCE  OF  PARTICIPLES. 


"  Viewing  them  separately,  we  experience  different  emotions."  Or:  "Viewed  separately,  they 
produce  different  emotions." — Kames  cor.  "  But,  this  beinf/  left  doubtful,  an  other  objection, 
occurs." — Id.  "As  he  proceeded  from  one  particular  to  an  other,  the  subject  grew  under  his 
hand." — Id.  "  But  this  is  still  an  interruption,  and  a  link  of  the  chain  is  broken." — Id.  "After 
some  days'  hunting, — (or,  After  some  days  spent  in  hunting, — )  Cyrus  communicated  his  design 
to  his  officers." — Rollin  cor.  "  But  it  is  made,  without  the- appearance  of  being  made  in  form." — 
Blair  cor.  "  These  would  have  had  a  better  effect,  had  they  been  disjoined,  thus." — Blair  and 
cor.  "In  an  improper  diphthong,  but  one  of  the  vowels  is  sounded." — Murray,  Alaer,  et 
"And  /  being  led  to  think  of  both  together,  my  view  is  rendered  unsteady." — Blair,  Mur. 
i.  cor.  "  By  often  doing  the  same  thing,  we  make  t/ie  action  habitual.'  Or  :  "  ]\'hat  is 
ne,  becomes  habitual." — Murray  cor.  "They  remain  with  us  in  our  dark  and  solitary 


Murray  cor.     "In  an  improper  diphthong,  but  one  of  the  vowels  is  sounded." — Murray,  Alaer,  et 

and  Jam. 

often  done,  becomes  habitual." — Murray  cor.  "They  remain  with  us  in  our  dark  and  solitary 
hours,  no  less  than  when  we  are  surrounded  with  friends  and  cheerful  society." — Id.  '•  Besides 
showing  what  is  right,  one  may  further  explain  the  matter  by  pointing  out  what  is  wrong." — Lowth 
cor.  "  The  former  teaches  the  true  pronunciation  of  words,  and  comprises  accent,  quantity,  em- 
phasis, ptiuses,  and  tones." — Murray  cor.  "A  person  may  reprove  others  for  their  negligence,  by  say- 
ing, '  You  have  taken  great  care  indeed.'  " — Id.  "  The  word  preceding  and  the  word  following 
it,  are  in  apposition  to  each  other." — Id.  "He  having  finished  his  speech,  the  assembly  dispersed." 
(•/•  cor.  "  Were  the  voice  to  fall  at  the  close  of  the  last  line,  as  many  a  reader  is  in  tne  habit 
of  allowing  tt  to  do." — Kirkham  cor.  "  The  misfortunes  of  his  countrymen  were  but  negatively 
the  effects  of  his  wrath,  which  only  deprived  them  of  his  assistance." — Kames  cor.  "  Taking  them 


as  nouns,  we  may  explain  this  construction  thus."  —  Grant  cor.  "  These  have  an  active  significa- 
tion, except  those  which  come  from  neuter  verbs."  —  Id.  "  From  its  evidence  not  being  universal." 
Or:  "  From  the/«r£  that  its  evidence  is  not  universal."  —  Butler  cor.  "And  this  faith  will  con- 
tinually grow,  as  we  acquaint  ourselves  with  our  own  nature."  —  Channing  cor.  "  Monosyllables 
ending  with  any  consonant  but  /",  /,  or  *,  never  double  the  final  consonant,  when  it  is  preceded  by 
a  sinule  vowel  ;  except  add,  ebb,"  £c.  —  Kirkham's  Gram.  p.  23.  Or  :  "  Words  ending  with  any  con- 
sonant except  f,  I,  or  *,  do  not  double  the  final  letter.  Exceptions.  Add,  ebb,  &c."  —  Bullions's 
E,  Gram.  p.  3.  (See  my  2d  Rule  for  Spelling,  of  which  this  is  a  partial  copy.)  "  The  relation  of 
Maria  as  being  the  object  of  the  action,  is  expressed  bv  the  change  of  the  noun  Maria  to  Mariam  :  " 
[i.  e.,  in  the  Latin  language.]  —  Booth  cor.  "  In  analyzing  a  proposition,  one  mutt  first  diridc  it 
into  its  logical  subject  and  predicate."  —  Andrars  ami  Stoddard  car.  "  In  analyzing  a  simple  sen- 
tence, one  should  first  resolve  it  into  its  logical  subject  and  logical  predicate."  —  Wells  cor. 


U.NDKU    N()TK    XII.  —  Or    P.VUTK  Il'LKS    .\M» 

"  The  instant  discovery  of  passions  at  their  birth,  is  essential  to  our  well-being."  —  Kames  cor. 
"  I  am  now  to  enter  on  a  consideration  of  the  sources  of  the  pleasures  of  taste."  —  BUiir  cor. 
"  The  varieties  in  the  use  o/'tlium  are  indeed  many."  —  Murray  cor.  "  '/'///•  changing  o/"tiin«'s  and 
seasons,  the  removing  and  the  sett  in;/  up  of  kings,  belong  to  Providence  alone."  —  id.  "Adhtr- 
to  the  partitions,  seemed  the  cause  of  France;  art  •i-ptmi'-c  of  the  will,  that  of  the  house  of 


may 

oraise  bestowed  on  him  was  his  ruin."  —  Id.  "Deception  is  not  convinrcnunt."  —  Id.  "He  never 
feared  the  loss  of  a.  friend."  —  Id.  "  The  making  of  books  is  his  amusement."  —  A/yer  cur.  "  WL- 
^all  it  the  declining  —  (or,  tlie  declension  —  )  of  a  noun."  —  Ingersoll  cor.  "  Washington,  however, 
[Hirsued  the  same  policy  of  neutrality,  and'opposed  firmly  th-c  taking  of  any  part  in  the  wars  of 


942  GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY    TO    SYNTAX. 

Europe." — Hall  and  Baker  cor.  "  The  following  is  a  note  of  Interrogation,  or  of  a  question  :  (?)." 
— Inf.  S.  Gram.  cor.  "  The  following  is  a  note  of  Admiration,  or  of  wonder :  (!)."—  Id.  "The 
use  'or  omission  of  the  article  A  forms  a  nice  distinction  in  the  sense." — Murray  cor.  "The 
placing  of  the  preposition  before  the  word  which  it  governs,  is  more  graceful." — Churchill  cor. 
(See  Loicth's  Gram.  p.  96;  Murray's,  i,  200  ;  Fisk's,  141;  Smith's,  1670  "Assistance  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  their  recovery,  and  the  retrieving  of  their  affairs." — Butler  cor.  "  Which  ter- 
mination, [ish,]  when  added  to  adjectives,  imports  diminution,  or  a  lessening  of  the  quality." — 
Mur.  and  Kirkham  cor.  "After  what  has  been  said,  will  it  be  thought  an  excess  of  refinement*  to 
suggest  that  the  different  orders  are  qualified  for  different  purposes  ?  " — Kames  cor.  "  Who  has 
nothing  to  think  of,  but  the  killing  of  time." — West  cor.  "  It  requires  no  nicety  of  ear,  as  in  the 
distinguishing  of  tones,  or  the  measuring  of  time." — Sheridan  cor.  "  The  possessive  case  [is  that 
form  or  state  of  a  noun  or  pronoun,  which"]  denotes  possession,  or  the  relation  of  property."— $. 
R.  Hall  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  XIII.— PERFECT  PARTICIPLES. 

"  Garcilasso  was  master  of  the  language  spoken  by  the  Incas." — Robertson  cor.  "  When  an  inter- 
esting story  is  broken  off  in  the  middle." — Kames  cor.  "  Speaking  of  Hannibal's  elephants  driven 
back  by  the  enemy." — Id.  "  If  Du  Ryer  had  not  written  for  bread,  he  would  have  equalled  them." 
— Formey  cor.  "  Pope  describes  a  rock  broken  off  from  a  mountain,  and  hurling  to  the  plain." — 
Kames  cor.  "  I  have  written,  Thou  hast  written,  He  hath  or  has  written  ;  £c." — Ashand  Maltb;/ 
cor.  "This  was  spoken  by  a  pagan." — Webster  cor.  '•  But  I  have  chosen  to  follow  the  common 
arrangement." — Id.  "  The  language  spoken  in  Bengal." — Id.  "And  sound  sleep  thus  broken  olf 
with  sudden  alarms,  is  apt  enough  to  discompose  any  one." — Locke  cor.  "  This  is  not  only  the 
case  of  those  open  sinners  before  spoken  of." — Leslie  cor.  "  Some  grammarians  have  written  a 
very  perplexed  and  difficult  doctrine  on  Punctuation." — Ensell  cor.  "  There  hath  a  pity  arisen  in 
me  towards  thee." — G.  Fox  Jun.  cor.  "Abel  is  the  only  man  that  has  underyonc  the  awful  change 
of  death."— De  Genlis,  Death  of  Adam. 

"  Meantime,  on  Afric's  glowing  sands, 
Smit  with  keen  heat,  the  traveller  stands." — Ode  cor. 


CHAPTER  VIII.  —  ADVERBS. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  THE  NOTES  TO  RULE  XXI. 
UNDER  NOTE  I. — THE  PLACING  OF  ADVERBS. 


— Id.  "  Having  once  had  some  considerable  object  set  before  us." — Id.  "  The  positive  seems 
to  be  improperly  called  a  degree."* — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "  In  some  phrases,  the  genitive  onty 
is  used." — lid.  "  This  blunder  is  said  to  have  actually  occurred." — Smith  cor.  "  But  not  every 
man  is  called  James,  nor  every  woman,  Mary." — Buchanan  cor.  "Crotchets  are  employed  for 
nearly  the  same  purpose  as  the  parenthesis." — Churchill  cor.  "  There  is  a  still  greater  impropriety 
in  a  double  comparative." — Priestley  cor.  "We  often  have  occasion  to  speak  of  time." — Lowth 
cor.  l"  The  following  sentence  cannot  possibly  be 'understood." — Id.  "The  words  must  generally 
be  separated  from  the  context." — Comly  cor.  "  Words  ending  in  ator,  generally  have  th'e  accent 
on  the  penultimate." — L.  Mur.  cor.  "  The  learned  languages,  with  respect  to  voices,  moods,  and 
tenses,  are,  in  general,  constructed  differently  from  the  English  tongue." — Id.  "Adverbs  seem  to 
have  been  originally  contrived  to  express  compendiously,  in  one  word,  what  must  otherwise  have 
required  two  or  more." — Id.  "  But  it  is  so,  only  when  the  expression  can  be  converted  into  the 
regular  form  of  the  possessive  case." — Id.  "''Enter  boldly,' says  he,  'for  here  too  there  are 
gods.'  " — Harris  cor.  "  For  none  ever  work  for  so  little  a  pittance  that  some  cannot  be  found  to 
work  for  less." — Sedywick  cor.  "  For  sinners  also  lend  to  sinners,  to  receive  again  as  much." — 
Bible  cor.  Or,  as  Campbell  has  it  in  his  version  : — "  that  they  may  receive  as  much  in  return." — 
Luke,  vi,  34.  "  They  must  be  viewed  in  exactly  the  same  light." — Murray  cor.  "  If  he  speaks  but 
to  display  his  abilities,  he  is  unworthy  of  attention." — Id. 

UNDER  NOTE  II. — ADVERBS  FOR  ADJECTIVES. 

"Upward  motion  is  commonly  more  agreeable  than  motion  downward." — Blair  cor.  "There 
are  but  two  possible  ways  of  justification  before  God." — Cox  cor.  "This  construction  sounds 
rather  harsh." — Mur.  cor.  "A  clear  conception,  in  the  mind  of  the  learner,  of  regular  and  well- 
formed  letters." — C.  S.  Jour.  cor.  "  He  was  a  great  hearer  of  *  *  *  Attains,  Sotion,  Papirius,  Fabi- 
anus,  of  whom  he  makes  frequent  mention." — L' Estrange  cor.  "  It  is  only  the  frequent  doing  of 
a  thing,  that  makes  it  a  custom." — Leslie  cor.  "  Because  W.  R.  takes  frequeiit  occasion  to  in- 
sinuate his  jealousies  of  persons  and  things." — Barclay  cor.  "Yet frequent  touching  will  wear 


gold." — Shak.  cor.  "  Uneducated  persons  frequently  use  an  adverb,  when  they  ought  to  us 
adjective:  as,  '  The  country  looks  beautifully ;'  in  stead  of  beautiful."^ — Bucke  cor.  "Th 
iective  is  put  absolute,  or  without  its  substantive." — Ash  cor.  "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  i) 


use  an 
'The  ad- 
jective is  put   absolute,  or  without  its   substantive." — Ash  cor.     "  A  noun  or  a  pronoun  in  the 
second  person,  may  he  put  absolute  in  the  nominative  case." — Harrison  cor.     "A  noun  or  a  pro- 

*  From  this  opinion,  I  dissent.  See  Obs.  1st  on  the  Degrees  of  Comparison,  and  Obs.  4th  on  Regular  Com- 
parison, in  the  Etymology  of  this  work,  at  pp.  266  and  272.— G.  BROWN. 

t  "  The  country  looks  beautiful;  "  that  is,  appears  beautiful — is  beautiful.  This  is  right,  and  therefore  the  use 
which  Bucke  makes  of  it,  may  be  fairly  reversed.  But  the  example  was  ill  chosen  ;  and  I  incline  to  think,  it  may 
also  be  right  to  say,  "  The  country  looks  beautifully:  »  for  the  quality  expressed  by  beautiful,  is  nothing  else  than 
the  manner  in  which  the  thing  shows  to  the  eye.  See  Obs.  llth  on  Uule  Uth. — G.  BROWN. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. ADVERBS. RULE    XXI.  943 

noun,  when  put  absolute  with  a  participle,"  &c. — Id.  and  Jaudon  cor.  "A  verb  in  the  infinitive 
mood  absolute,  stands  independent  ot'  the  remaining  part  of  the  sentence." — Wilbur  and  Lir.  cor. 
'•At  my  late  return  into  England,  I  met  a  book  entitled,  '  The  Iron  Age.'  " — CowUycor.  "  But  he 
can  discover  no  better  foundation  for  any  of  them,  than  the  mere  practice  of  Homer  and  Virgil." 
— Ku/ncs  co/\ 

UNDER  NOTE   III.— HERE   FOR  HITHER,  &c. 

"  It  is  reported,  that  the  governor  will  come  hither  to-morrow." — Kirkham  cor.  "  It  has  been 
reported  that  the  governor  will  come  hither  to-morrow." — Id.  "To  catch  a  prospect  of  that 
lovely  land  whither  his  steps  are  tending  " — Maturin  cor.  "  Plautus  mak^s  one  of  his  characters 
ask  an  other,  whither  he  is  going  with  that  Vulcan  shut  up  in  a  horn  ;  that  is,  with  a  lantern  in 
his  hand." — Adam*  cor.  "  When  we  left  Cambridge,  we  intended  to  return  thither  in  »  few 
— Anon.  cor.  "  Duncan  comes  hither  to-night." — ('hurt-hilt's  Gram.  p.  323.  "  They  talked 
of  returning  hither  last  week." — See  J.  M.  Putnam's  Gram.  p.  129. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV.— FROM  HENCE,  &c. 

"Hence  he  concludes,  that  no  inference  can  be  drawn  from  the  meaning  of  the  word,  that  a 
constitution  has  a  higher  authority  than  a  law  or  statute." — Webster  cor.  "  Whence  we  may  like- 
wise date  the  period  of  this  event." — Murray  cor.  "  Hence  it  becomes  evident,  that  LANGUAGE, 
taken  in  the  most  comprehensive  view,  implies  certain  sounds,  [or  certain  written  signs,]  having 
certain  meanings." — Hum's  car.  "  They  returned  to  the  city  whence  they  came  out." — A.  Mur- 
ray cor.  "  Respecting  ellipses,  some  grammarians  differ  strangely  in  their  ideas  ;  and  thence 
lias  arisen  a  very  whimsical  diversity  in  their  systems  of  grammar." — G.  Brown.  "What  am  I, 
and  whence  ?  That  is,  What  am  I,  and  whence  am  If  " — Jaudon  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  V.— THE  ADVERB   HOW. 

"  It  is  strange,  that  a  writer  so  accurate  as  Dean  Swift,  should  have  stumbled  on  so  improper 
an  application  of  this  particle." — Blair  cor.  "  Ye  know  that  a  good  while  ago  God  made  choice 
among  us,"  &c. — Bible  cor.  "  Let  us  take  care  lest  we  sin  ;  i.  e. — that  we  do  not  sin." — Priestley 
cor.  "  We  see  by  these  instances,  that  prepositions  may  be  necessary,  to  connect  such  words  as 
are  not  naturally  connected  by  their  own  signification." — L.  Murray  coi:  "  Know  ye  not  your 
own  selves,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  you,  except  ye  be  reprobates  ?  " — Bible  car.  "  That  thou  muyst 
know  t/iat  the  earth  is  the  Lord's." — Id. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI.— WHEN,   WHILE,   OR  WHERE. 

"  ELLIPSIS  is  the  omission  of  some  word  or  words  which  are  necessary  to  complete  the  construc- 
tion, but  not  wanting  to  complete  the  sense." — G.  B.  "  PLEONASM  is  the  insertion  of  some  word  or 
words  more  than  are  absolutely  necessary,  either  to  complete  the  construction,  or  to  express  the 
sense." — G.  B.  "  HYSTERON-PROTERON  is  a.f<jure  in  which  that  is  put  in  the  former  part  of  the 
sentence,  which,  according  to  the  sense,  should  be  in  the  latter." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  '•  HYS- 
TERON-PROTEKON  is  a  rhetorical  figure  in  which  that  is  said  last,  which  was  done  first." — Webster 


/•or.  "A  BARBARISM  is  a  foreign  or  strange  word,  an  expression  contrary  to  the  pure  idiom  of  the 
tunf.'itage." — G.  B.  "A  SOLECISM  is  an  impropriety  in  respect  to  syntax,  an  absurdity  or  incon- 
gruity 'm  speech." — G.  B.  "An  IDIOTISM  is  a  manner  of  expression  peculiar  to  one  language 
'childishly  transferred  to  an  other." — G.  B.  "TAUTOLOGY  is  a  disagreeable  repetition,  either  of 
the  same  words,  or  o/the  same  sense  in  different  words." — G.  B.  "  BOMBAST,  or  FUSTIAN,  is  an 
inflated  or  ambitious  style,  in  which  high-sounding  words  are  used,  with  little  or  no  meaning,  or 
upon  a  trifling  occasion." — G.  B.  "AMPHIBOLOGY  is  ambiguity  of  construction,  phraseology 
it'hich  may  betaken  in  two  different  senses." — G.  B.  '•  IRONY  is  a  Jigure  in  which  one  means 
the  contrary  of  what  is  said." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "  PERIPHRASIS,  or  CIRCUMLOCUTION,  is 
the  use  o/'several  words,  to  express  what  might  be  said  in  fewer." — lid.  "  HYPERBOLE  is  a  Jigure 
in  which  a  thing  is  magnified  above  the  truth." — lid.  "  PERSONIFICATION  is  a  fuure  tchi'ch  as- 
cribes human  life,  sentiments,  or  actions,  to  inanimate  beings,  or  to  abstract  qualities." — G.  B. 
"APOSTROPHE  is  a  turning  from  the  tenor  of  one's  discourse,  into  an  animated  address  to  some 


i:s  actually  before  one's  eyes,  and  jiresettt  to  the  senses." — (i.  Ii.  "  F.MPHASts  is  a  particular 
stress  of  voice  laid  on  some  word  in  a  sentence." — Gould's  Adam's  Gram.  p.  241.  "EpANou- 
'i  HOSIS"  or  CORRECTION,  is  the  recalling  or  correcting  by  the  sjteuker,  of  what  he  last  said." — Ibid. 
"  PARAI.IPSIS,  or  '  tl  the  jiretending  to  omit  or  pass  by,  what  one  at  the  same  time  de- 

clares."— Ibid.  "  IN<  KKMKNTI  M,  or  CLIMAX  in  sense,  is  the  rising  of  one  member  above  an  other 
to  the  highest." — Ibid.  "  Mi:  ION^  MY  is  a  change  of  names  :  as  when  the  cause  is  mentioned  for 
the  effect,  or  the  effect  for  the  cause  ;  the  container  for  the  thing  contained,  or  the  sign  for  the 
thing  signified." — Kirkham  cor.  "The  Agreement  of  words  is  their  similarity  in  person,  number, 
gender,  <-:^P,  mood,  tense,  or  form." — Brown's  Just,  p  1(14.  "7V/»;  Government  of  words  is  that 
j.oin-r  n-hich  one  word  has  ,,,-',  r  an  other,  to  muse  it  to  assume  some  jHirtim/ar  ii-odification." — Ib. 
4  Fusion  is  the  converting  of  some  solid  substance  into  a  fluid  by  heat." — G.  B.  "A  proper 
diphthong  is  a  diphthong '  in  which  both  the  vowels  are  sounded  together  ;  as,  oi  in  voice,  nu  in 
house." — -fither  cor.  "An  improper  diphthong  is  a  diphthong  in  which  the  sound  of  but  one  of 
tie  two  vowels  is  heard  ;  as,  eo  in  people." — Id. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII.— THE  ADVEBB  NO  FOR  NOT. 

"An  adverb  is  added  to  a  verb  to  show  how,  or  when,  or  where,  or  whether  or  not,  one  is,  does, 
or  suffers." — Buchanan  cor.  "  We  must  be  immortal,  whether  we  will  or  not." — Maturin  cor. 
"  He  cares  not  whether  the  world  was  made  for  Ca?sar  or  not." — A.  Q.  Rev.  cor.  "  I  do  not  know 
whether  they  are  out  or  not." — Byron  cor.  "  Whether  it  can  be  proved  or  no*,  is  not  the  thing." — 


944  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS KEY  TO  SYNTAX.      [PART  III. 

Butler  cor.  "  Whether  he  makes  use  of  the  means  commanded  by  God,  or  not" — Id.  "  Whether 
it  pleases  the  world  or  not,  the  care  is  taken." — L' Estrange  cor.  "  How  comes  this  to  be  never 
heard  of,  nor  in  the  least  questioned,  whether  the  Law  was  undoubtedly  of  Moses's  writing  or 
not?" — Tomline  cor.  "Whether  he  be  a  sinner  or  not,  I  do  not  know."  Or,  as  the  text  is  more 
literally  translated  by  Campbell :  "Whether  he  be  a  sinner,  I  know  not." — Bible  cor.  "Can  I 
make  men  live,  whether  they  will  or  not?  " — Shak.  cor. 

"Can  hearts  not  free,  be  tried  whether  they  serve 
Willing  or  not,  who  will  but  what  they  must  r  " — Milton  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII  — OF  DOUBLE  NEGATIVES. 

"  We  need  not,  nor  do  we,  confine  the  purposes  of  God."  Or  :  "  We  need  not,  and  do  not,  con- 
fine," &c. — Bcntley  cor.  "  I  cannot  by  any  means  allow  him  that." — Id.  "  We  must  try  whether 
or  not  we  can  increase  the  attention  by  the  help  of  the  senses." — Brightland  cor.  "  There  is 
nothing  more  admirable  or  more  useful." — Tooke  cor.  "And  what  in  time  to  come  he  can  never  be 
said  to  have  done,  he  can  never  be  supposed  to  do." — R.  Johnson  cor.  "  No  skill  could  obviate, 
no  remedy  dispel,  the  terrible  infection." — Goldsmith  cor.  "  Prudery  cannot  be  an  indication 
either  of  sense  or  of  taste." — Spurzheim  cor.  "  But  neither  that  scripture,  nor  any  other,  speaks 
of  imperfect  faith." — Barclay  cor.  "  But  neither  this  scripture,  nor  any  other,  proves  that  faith 
was  or  is  .always  accompanied  with  doubting." — Id.  "The  light  of  Christ  is  not,  and  cannot  bo, 
darkness." — Id.  "Doth  not  the  Scripture,  which  cannot  lie,  give  some  of  the  saints  this  tes- 
timony ?  " — Id.  "  Which  do  not  continue,  and  are  not  binding." — Id.  "  It  not  being  perceived 
directly,  any  more  than  the  air." — Campbell  cor.  "  Let  us  be  no  Stoics,  and  no  stocks,  I  pray." 
— Shak.  cor.  "  Where  there  is  no  marked  or  peculiar  character  in  the  style." — Blair  cor.  "  There 
can  be  no  rules  laid  down,  nor  any  manner  recommended." — Sheridan  cor. 
'•'•Bates.  '  He  hath  not  told  his  thought  to  the  king  ? ' 
K.  Henry.  'No;  and  it  is  not  meet  he  should.'  " 
Or  thus  :  "  '  No  ;  nor  is  it  meet  he  should.'  " — Shak.  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IX.— EVER  AND  NEVER. 

"  The  prayer  of  Christ  is  more  than  sufficient  both  to  strengthen  us,  be  we  everso  weak  ;  and  to 
overthrow  all  adversary  power,  be  it  everso  strong." — Hooker  cor.  "  He  is  like  to  have  no  share  in 
it,  or  to  be  never  the  better  for  it."  Or  :  "  He  is  not  likely  to  have  any  share  in  it,  or  to  be  ever  the 
better  for  it." — Bunyan  cor.  "  In  some  parts  of  Chili,  it  seldom  or  never  rains." — Willetts  cor. 
"  If  Pompey  shall  but  everso  little  seem  to  like  it." — W.  Walker  cor.  "Though  everso  great  a 
posse  of  dogs  and  hunters  pursue  him." — Id.  "  Though  you  be  everso  excellent." — Id.  "  If  you 
do  amiss  everso  little." — Id.  "  If  we  cast  our  eyes  everso  little  down." — Id.  "A  wise  rm.n 
scorneth  nothing,  be  it  everso  small  or  homely." — M.  F.  Tapper  cor.  "  Because  they  have  seldom 
if  ever  an  opportunity  of  learning  them  at  all." — Clarkson  cor.  "  We  seldom  or  never  see  tho  ;e 
forsaken  who  trust  in  God." — Atterbury  cor. 

"  Where,  playing  with  him  at  bo-peep, 
He  solved  all  problems,  e'erso  deep." — Butler  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  X. — OF  THE  FORM  OF  ADVERBS. 

"  One  can  scarcely  think  that  Pope  was  capable  of  epic  or  tragic  poetry  ;  but,  within  a  certain 
limited  region,  he  has  been  outdone  by  no  poet." — Blair  cor.  "  I,  who"  now  read,  have  nearly 
finished  this  chapter." — Harris  cor.  "And  yet,  to  refine  our  taste  with  respect  to  beauties  of  art 
or  of  nature,  is  scarcely  endeavoured  in  any  seminary  of  learning." — Kames  cor.  "  The  numbers 
being  confounded,  and  the  possessives  wrongly  applied,  the  passage  is  neither  English  nor  gram- 
mar."— Buchanan  cor.  "  The  letter  G  is  wrongly  named  Jee." — Creighton  cor.  "Lastly,  remem- 
ber that  in  science,  as  in  morals,  authority  cannot  make  right  what  in  itself  is  wrong." — Peirce 
cor. 
action, 
withal, 
dan  cor.  "  Our  wealth  being  nearly  finished." — Harris  cor. 


CHAPTER  IX.  —  CONJUNCTIONS. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  THE  NOTES  TO  RULE  XXII. 

UNDER  NOTE  I.— OF  Two  TERMS  WITH  ONE. 

"  The  first  proposal  was  essentially  different  from  the  second,  and  inferior  to  it." — "A  neuter 
verb  expresses  the  state  which  a  subject  is  in,  without  acting  upon  any  other  thing,  or  being  acted 
upon  by  an  other." — A.  Murray  cor.  "  I  answer,  You  may  use  stories  and  anecdotes,  and  ought  to 
do  so." — Todd  cor.  "ORACLE,  n.  Any  person  from  whom,  or  place  at  which,  certain  decisions 
are  obtained." — Webster  cor.  "  Forms  of  government  may,  and  occasionally  must,  be  changed." 
— Lyttelton  cor.  "  I  have  been,  and  I  still  pretend  to  be,  a  tolerable  judge." — Sped.  cor.  "Are 
we  not  lazy  in  our  duties,  or  do  we  not  make  a  Christ  of  them  ?  " — Baxter  cor.  "  They  may  not 
express  that  idea  which  the  author  intends,  but  some  other  which  only  resembles  it,  or.  is  akin  to 
it." — Bl-air  cor.  "  We  may  therefore  read  them,  we  ought  to  read  them,  with  a  distinguishing 
eye." — Id.  "  Compare  their  poverty  with  what  they  might  possess,  and  ought  to  possess." — 
Sedf/wick  cor.  "  He  is  much  better  acquainted  with  grammar  than  they  are." — L.  Murray  cor. 
"  He  was  more  beloved  than  Cinthio,  but  [he  was]  not  so  much  admired." — Murray's  Gram,  i, 
222.  "  Will  it  be  urged,  that  the  four  gospels  are  as  old  as  tradition,  and  even  older  ?  " — Campbell's 
Rhet.  p.  207.  "  The  court  of  chancery  frequently  mitigates  and  disarms  the  common  law." — 
Spect.  and  Ware  cor.  "Antony,  coming  along  side  of  her  ship,  entered  it  without  seeing  her,  or 
being  seen  by  her." — Goldsmith  cor.  "Into  candid  minds,  truth  enters  as  a  welcome  guest." — 


CHAP.    IX.]  KEY   TO    FALSE    SYNTAX.— CONJUNCTIONS. BULK  XXH.  945 

L.  Murray  cor,  "There  are  many  designs  in  which  we  may  succeed,  to  our  ultimate  ruin." — Id. 
"From  many  pursuits  in  which  we  embark  with  pleasure,  we  are  destined  to  land  sorrowfully." — 
Id.  "  They  gain  much  more  than  I,  by  this  unexpected  event." — Id. 

U.VDEII  NOTE  II. — OF  HETEROGENEOUS  TERMS. 

"Athens  saw  them  entering  her  gates  and  filling  her  academies." — Chazotte  cor.  "Neither 
have  we  forgot  his  past  ac/u0t*MMftte,  nor  do  we  despair  of  his  future  success." — Duncan  cor. 
"  Her  monuments  and  temples  had  long  been  shattered,  or  had  crumbled  into  dust." — Journal 
cor.  "  Competition  is  excellent ;  it  is  the  vital  principle  in  all  these  things." — Id.  "  Whether 
provision  should,  or  should  not,  be  made,  in  order  to  meet  this  exigency." — Id.  "  That  our  Sa- 
viour was  divinely  inspired,  and  that  he  was  endued  with  supernatural  powers,  are  positions  that 
are  here  taken  for  granted." — L.  Mur.  cor.  "  It  would  be  much  more  eligible,  to  contract  or 
enlarge  their  extent  by  explanatory  notes  and  observations,  than  to  sweep  away  our  ancient  land- 
marks and  set  up  others." — Id.  "  It  is  certainly  much  better  to  supply  defects  and  abridge  su- 
perfluities by  occasional  notes  and  observations,  than  to  disorganize  or  greatly  alter  a.  system  which 
has  been  so  long  established." — Id.  "To  have  only  one  tune,  or  measuie,  is  not  much  better 
than  to  have  none  at  all." — Blair  cor.  "Facts  too  well  known  and  too  obvious  to  be  insisted 
on." — Id.  "  In  proportion  as  all  these  circumstances  are  happily  chosen,  and  are  of  a  sublime 
kind." — Id.  "  If  the  description  be  too  general,  and  be  divested  of  circumstances." — Id.  "  He 
gained  nothing  but  commendation." — L.  Mw.  cor.  "  I  cannot  but  think  its  application  somewhat 
strained  and  misplaced." — Vtthake  cor.  "  Two  negatives  standing  in  the  same  clause,  orreferring 
to  the  same  thing,  destroy  each  other,  and  leave  the  sense  affirmative." — Maunder  cor.  "  Slates 
are  thin  plates  of  stone,  and  are  often  used  to  cover  the  roofs  of  houses." — \Vebster  cor.  "  Every 
man  of  taste,  and  of  an  elevated  mind,  ought  to  feel  almost  the  necessity  of  apologizing  for  the 
power  he  possesses'." — Translator  of  De  Stael  cor.  "  They  very  seldom  trouble  themselves  with. 
inquiries,  or  make  any  useful  observations  of  their  own." — Locke  cor. 
"  We've  both  the  field  and  honour  won  ; 

Our  foes  are  profligate,  and  run." — Butler  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  III — IMPORT  OF  CONJUNCTIONS. 

"TiiE  is  sometimes  used  before  adverbs  in  the  comparative  or  the  superlative  degree." — Lennie, 
Bullions,  and  Brace  cor.  "  The  definite  article  THE  is  frequently  applied  to  adverbs  in  the  compara- 
tive or  the  superlative  degree." — Lowth,  Murray,  etal.  cor.  "Conjunctions  usually  connect  verbs 
in  the  same  mood  and  tense."  Or,  more  truly  :  "  Verbs  connected  by  a  conjunction,  are  usually 
in  the  same  mood  and  tense." — Sanborn  cor.  "  Conjunctions  connect  verbs  in  the  same  style,  and 
usually  in  the  same  mood,  tense,  and  form."  Or  better:  "  Verbs  connected  by  a  conjunction,  are 
usually  o/"the  same  mood,  tense,  and  form,  as  well  as  style." — Id.  "  The  ruins  of  Greece  or  Rome 
are  but  the  monuments  of  her  former  greatness." — P.  E  Day  cor.  "It  is  not  improbable,  that  in 
miny  of  these  cases  the  articles  were  used  originally." — Priestley  cor.  "  I  cannot  doubt  that  these 
objects  are  really  what  they  appear  to  be." — Kames  cor.  "I  question  not  that  my  reader  will  be 
as  much  pleased  with  it." — Spect.  cor.  "  It  is  ten  to  one  that  my  friend  Peter  is  among  them." 
— /</.  "  I  doubt  not  that  such  objections  as  these  will  be  made." — -Locke  cor.  "  I  doubt  not  that 
it  will  appear  in  the  perusal  of  the  following  sheets." — Buchanan  cor.  "It  is  not  improbable, 
that  in  time  these  different  constructions  may  be  appropriated  to  different  uses. "—Priestley  cor. 
"  But  to  forget  and  to  remember  at  pleasure,  are  equally  beyond  the  power  of  man." — Idler  cor. 
"  The  nominative  case  follows  the  verb,  in  interrogative  or  imperative  sentences."— -L.  Mur.  cor. 
"  Can  the  fig-tree,  my  brethren,  bear  olive  berries  ?  or  a  vine,  figs  ?  " — Bible  cor.  "  Whose  char- 
acters are  too  profligate  for  the  managing  of  them  to  be  of  any  consequence."— -Swift  cor.  "  You, 
that  are  a  step  higher  than  a  philosopher,  a  divine,  yet  have  too  much  grace  and  wit  to  be  a 
bishop." — Pope  cor.  "The  terms  rich  and  poor  enter  not  into  their  language." — Robertson  cor. 
"  This  pause  is  but  seldom,  if  ever,  sufficiently  dwelt  upon."  Or:  "Th;s  pause  is  seldom  orn«?er 
sufficiently  dwelt  upon." — Gardiner  cor.  "  There  would  be  no  possibility  of  any  such  thing  as 
human  Hie  or  human  happiness." — Butler  cor.  "  The  multitude  rebuked  them,  that  they  should 
hold  their  peace." — Bible  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  IV.— THE  CONJUNCTION  THAN. 

"A  metaphor  is  nothing  else  than  a  short  comparison."  Or:  "A  metaphor  is  nothing  but  a 
short  comparison." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "There  being  no  other  dictator  here  than  use." — 
Murray's  Gram,  i,  364.  "  This  construction  is  no  otherwise  known  in  English,  than  by  supply- 
ing the  first  or  the  second  person  plural." — Buchanan  cor.  "  Cyaxares  was  no  sooner  cm  the 
throne,  than  he  was  engaged  in  a  terrible  war." — Rollin  cur.  "  Those  classics  contain  little  else 
than  histories  of  murders." — .-1m.  Mu.  cor.  "  Ye  shall  not  worship  any  other  than  God." — S<iic 
cor.  "  Their  relation,  therefore,  is  not  otherwise  to  be  ascertained,  than  by  their  place." — Campbell 
cor.  "  For  he  no  sooner  accosted  her,  than  he  gained  his  point." — Burder  cor.  "And  all  the 
modern  writers  on  this  subject,  have  done  little  else  than  translate  them." — Blair  cor.  "  One  who 
had  no  other  aim  than  to  talk  copiously  and  plausibly." — Id.  "  We  can  refer  it  to  no  other  cause 
than  the  structure  of  the  rye." — Id.  "  No  more  is  required  than  singly  an  act  of  vision." — Kames 
cor.  "  We  find  no  more  in  its  composition,  than  the  particulars  now  mentioned." — Id.  "  He  does 
not  pretend  to  say,  that  it  has  any  other  effect  than  to  raise  surprise." — Id.  "  No  sooner  was 
the  princess  dead,  than  he  freed  himself" — Johnson  cor.  "  OUGHT  is  an  imperfect  verb,  for  it 
has  no  modification  besides  this  one." — Priestley  cor.  "  The  verb  is  palpably  nothing  else  than 
the  tie." — \eefcor.  "Does  he  mean  that  theism  is  capable  of  nothing  else  than  of  being  op- 
posed to  pol\  theism  or  atheism  ?  " — Blair  cor.  "  Is  it  meant  that  theism  is  capable  of  nothing 
else  than  of  being  opposed  to  polytheism  or  atheism?" — L.  Murray  cor.  "  There  is  no  other 
method  of  teaching  that  of  which  any  one  is  ignorant,  Man  by  means  of  something  already 
known." — Itiyersoll's  Grammar,  TitU-pnge.  "  O  fairest  flower,  no  sooner  blown  than  blasted  !  " — 
"Architecture  and  gardening  cannot  otherwise  entertain  the  mind,  than  by  raising 

67 


946  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. — KEY  TO  SYNTAX.      [PART  III. 

certain  agreeable  emotions  or  feelings." — Kames  cor.      "  Or,  rather,  they  are  nothing  else  thaw 
nouns." — Brit.  Gram.  cor. 

"As  if  religion  were  intended 
For  nothing  else  than  to  be  mended." — Butler  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  V. —RELATIVES  EXCLUDE  CONJUNCTIONS, 

"  To  prepare  the  Jews  for  the  reception  of  a  prophet  mightier  than  himself,  a  teacher  whoser 
shoes  he  was  not  worthy  to  bear." — Anon,  or  Mur.  cor.  "  Has  this  word,  which  represents  an 
action,  an  object  after  it,  on  which  the  action  terminates  ? " — Osborne  cor.  "  The  stores  of  literature 
lie  before  him,  from  which  he  may  collect  for  use  many  lessons  of  wisdom." — Knapp  cor.  "  Many 
and  various  great  advantages  of  this  grammar  over  others,  might  be  enumerated." — Greenleaf 
cor.  "  The  custom  which  still  prevails,  of  writing  in  lines  from  left  to  right,  is  said  to  have  been 
introduced  about  the  time  of  Solon,  the  Athenian  legislator." — Jamieson  cor.  "  The  fundamental 
rule^br  the  construction  of  sentences,  the  rule  into  \\hich  all  others  might  be  resolved,  undoubt- 
edly is,  to  communicate,  in  the  clearest  and  most  natural  order,  the  ideas  which  we  mean  to  ex- 
press."— Blair  and  Jamieson  cor.  "  He  left  a  son  of  a  singular  character,  who  behaved  so  ill  that 
he  was  put  in  prison." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  He  discovered  in  the  youth  some  disagreeable  quali- 
ties which  to  him  were  wholly  unaccountable." — Id.  "An  emphatical  pause  is  made  after  some- 
thing of  peculiar  moment  has  been  said,  on  which  we  wish  to  fix  the  hearer's  attention."  Or: 
"An  emphatical  pause  is  made  after  something  has  been  said,  which  is  of  peculiar  moment,  and  on 
which  we  wish  to  fix  the  hearer's  attention. " — Blair  and  Murray  cor.  "  But  we  have  duplicates 
of  each,  agreeing  in  movement,  though  differing  in  measure,  and  making  different  impressions  ons 
the  ear." — Murray  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VI.— OF  THE  WORD  THAT. 

"  It  will  greatly  facilitate  the  labours  of  the  teacher,  and,  at  the  same  time,  it  will  relieve  the 
pupil  from  many  difficulties." — Frost  cor.  "While  the  pupil  is  engaged  in  the  exercises  just 
mentioned,  it  will  be  proper  for  him  to  study  the  whole  grammar  in  course." — Bullions  cor.  "On 
the  same  ground  on  which  a  participle  and  an  auxiliary  are  allowed  to  form  a  tense." — Beattie  and 
Murray  cor.  "  On  the  same  ground  on  which  the  voices,  moods,  and  tenses,  are  admitted  into 
the  English  tongue." — Murray  cor.  "  The  five  examples  last  mentioned,  are  corrected  on  the 
same  principle  that  is  applied  to  the  errors  preceding  them." — Murray  and  Ingersoll  cor.  "  The 
brazen  age  began  at  the  death  of  Trajan,  and  lasted  till  Rome  was  taken  by  the  Goths." — Gould 
cor.  "  The  introduction  to  the  duodecimo  edition  is  retained  in  this  volume,  for  the  same  reason 
for  which  the  original  introduction  to  the  Grammar  is  retained  in  the  first  volume." — L.  Murray 
cor.  "  The  verb  must  also  agree  in  person  with  its  subject  or  nominative." — Ingersoll  cor.  "  The 
personal  pronoun  '  THEIR'  is  plural  for  the  same  reason  for  which  'WHO  '  is  plural." — Id.  "  The 
Sabellians  could  not  justly  be  called  Patripassians,  in  the  same  sense  in  which  the  NoCtians  we.-e 
so  called." — R.  Adam  cor.  "  This  is  one  reason  why  we  pass  over  such  smooth  language  without 
suspecting  that  it  contains  little  or  no  meaning." — Murray  cor.  "  The  first  place  at  which  t,ie 
two  armies  caine  within  sight  of  each  other,  was  on  the  opposite  banks  of  the  river  Apsus." — 
Goldsmith  cor.  "At  the  very  time  at  which  the  author  gave  him  the  first  book  for  his  perusal." — 
Campbell  cor.  "  Peter  will  sup  at  the  time  at  which  Paul  will  dine." — Fosdick  cor.  "  Peter  w  .11 
be  supping  when  Paul  will  enter." — Id.  "  These,  while  they  may  serve  as  models  to  those  who 
may  wish  to  imitate  them,  will  give  me  an  opportunity  to  cast  more  light  upon  the  principles  of 
this  book."— Id. 

"  Time  was,  like  thee,  they  life  possessed, 
And  time  shall  be,  when  thou  shalt  rest." — Parnell  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VII.— OF  THE  CORRESPONDENTS. 

"  Our  manners  should  be  neither  gross  nor  excessively  refined."— Murray's  Key,  ii,  165.  "A 
neuter  verb  expresses  neither  action  nor  passion,  but  being,  or  a  state  of  being." — Peirce  cor. 
"  The  old  books  are  neither  English  grammars,  nor  in  any  sense  grammars  of  the  English  lan- 
guage."— Id.  "  The  author  is  apprehensive  that  his  work  is  not  yet  so  accurate  and  so  much  sim- 
plified as  it  may  be." — Kirkham  cor.  "  The  writer  could  not  treat  some  topics  so  extensively  as 
[it]  was  desirable  [to  treat  them]." — Id.  "Which  would  be  a  matter  of  such  nicety,  that  no 
degree  of  human  wisdom  could  regulate  it." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  No  undertaking  is  so  great  or 
difficult,  that  he  cannot  direct  it." — Duncan  cor.  "  It  is  a  good  which  depends  neither  on  the  will 
of  others,  nor  on  the  affluence  of  external  fortune." — Harris  cor.  "  Not  only  his  estate,  but  his 
reputation  too,  has  suffered  by  his  misconduct." — Murray  and  Ingersoll  cor.  "Neither  do  they 
extend  so  far  as  might  be  imagined  at  first  view." — Blair  cor.  "  There  is  no  language  so  poor, 
but  that  it  has  (or,  a*  not  to  have)  two  or  three  past  tenses."— Id.  "So  far  as  this  system  is  found- 
ed in  truth,  language  appears  to  be  not  altogether  arbitrary  in  its  origin." — Id.  "  i  have  not  such 
command  of  these  convulsions  as  is  necessary."  Or :  "I  have  not  that  command  of  these  con- 
vulsions which  is  necessary." — Sped.  cor.  ««  Conversation  with  such  as  (or,  those  who)  know  no 
arts  that  polish  life." — Id.  "And  which  cannot  be  either  very  lively  or  very  forcible." — Jamieson 
cor.  "  To  such  a  degree  as  to  give  proper  names  to  rivers." — Dr.  Murray  cor.  "  In  the  utter 
overthrow  of  such  as  hate  to  be  reformed." — Barclay  cor.  "  But  still  so  much  of  it  is  retained, 
that  it  greatly  injures  the  uniformity  of  the  whole." — Priestley  cor.  "  Some  of  them  have  gone 
to  such  a  height  of  extravagance,  as  to  assert,"  &c. — Id.  "A  teacher  is  confined,  not  more  than 
a  merchant,  and  probably  not  so  much." — Abbott  cor.  "  It  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in 
this  world,  nor  in  the  world  to  come."  Or  :  "  It  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  either  in  this  world, 
or  in  the  world  to  come." — Bible  cor.  "  Which  nobody  presumes,  or  is  so  sanguine  as  to  hope." — 
Swift  cor.  "  For  the  torrent  of  the  voice  left  neither  time,  nor  power  in  the  organs,  to  shape  the 
words  properly." — Sheridan  cor.  "  That  he  may  neither  unnecessarily  waste  his  voice  by  throw- 
ing out  too  much,  nor  diminish  his  power  by  using  too  little." — Id.  "  I  have  retained  only  such 
<u  appear  most  agreeable  to  the  measures  of  analogy."— Littleton  cor.  "  He  is  a  man  both 


CHAP.  X.]  KEY   TO    FALSE   SYNTAX. PREPOSITIONS. RULE  XXIII.  947 

prudent  and  industrious." — Day  cor.      "Conjunctions  connect  either  words  or  sentences." — 
Brown's  Inst.  p.  169. 

41  Such  silly  girls  as  love  to  chat  and  play, 

Deserve  no  care  ;  their  time  is  thrown  away." — Tobitt  cor. 
"  Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien, 

That  to  be  hated  she  but  needs  be  seen." — Pope  cor. 
"Justice  must  punish  the  rebellious  deed  ; 
Yet  punish  so  that  pity  shall  exceed." — Dryden  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  VIII.— IMPROPER  ELLIPSES. 

"  THAT,  WHOSE,  and  AS,  relate  either  to  persons  or  to  things."  Or  better  : — "  relate  as  well  to 
persons  as  to  things." — Sanborn  cor.  "  WHICH  and  WHAT,  as  adjectives,  relate  either  to  persons 
or  to  things."  Or  better  : — "  relate  to  persons  as  well  as  to  things." — Id.  "  Whether  of  a  public 
or  of  a  private  nature." — Adams  cor.  "  Which  are  included  among  both  the  public  and  the  private 
wrongs." — Id.  "  I  might  extract,  both  from  the  Old  midfrom  the  New  Testament,  numberless 
examples  of  induction." — Id.  "  Many  verbs  are  used  both  in  an  active  and  in  a  neuter  significa- 
tion." Or  thus:  "  Many  verbs  are  used  in  both  an  active  and  a  neuter  signification." — Lowth, 
Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "  Its  influence  is  likely  to  be  considerable,  both  on  the  morals  and  on  the  taste 
of  a  nation." — Blair  cor.  "  The  subject  afforded  a  variety  of  scenes,  both  of  the  awful  and  of  the 
tender  kind." — Id.  "  Restlessness  of  mind  disqualifies  us,  both  for  the  enjoyment  of  peace,  and 
for  the  performance  of  our  duty." — Mur.  and  Ing.  cor.  "Pronominal  adjectives  are  of  a  mixed 
nature,  participating  the  properties  both  of  pronouns  and  of  adjectives." — Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "Pro- 
nominal  adjectives  have  the  nature  both  of  the  adjective  and  of  the  pronoun." — Frost  cor.  Or: 

[Pronominal  adjectives]  partake  of  the  properties  of  both  adjectives  and  pronouns." — Buckets 


Gram.  p.  5-5.  "  Pronominal  adjectives  are  a  kind  of  compound  part  of  speech,  partaking  the 
nature  both  of  pronouns  and  of  adjectives." — Nutting  cor.  "  Nouns  are  used  either  in  the  singu- 
lar or  in  the  plural  number."  Or  perhaps  better  :  "  Nouns  are  used  in  either  the  singular  or  the 
plural  number." — D.  Blair  cor.  "  The  question  is  not,  whether  the  nominative  or  the  accusative 
ought  to  follow  the  particles  THAN  and  AS  ;  but,  whether  these  particles  are,  in  such  particular 
cases,  to  be  regarded  as  conjunctions  or  as  prepositions." — Campbell  cor.  "  In  English,  many 
verbs  are  used  both  as  transitives  and  as  intransitives." — Churchill  cor.  "  He  sendeth  rain  both 
on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust." — See  Matt,  v,  45.  "A  foot  consists  either  of  two  or  of  three  sylla- 
bles " — D.  Blair  cor.  "Because  they  participate  the  nature  both  of  adverbs  and  of  conjunc- 
tions."— L.  Murray  cor.  "  Surely,  Romans,  what  I  am  now  about  to  say,  ought  neither  to  be 
omitted,  nor  to  pass  without  notice." — Duncan  cor.  "  Their  language  frequently  amounts,  not 


only  to  bad  sense,  but  to  nonsense." — Kirkham  cor.  "  Hence  arises  the  necessity  of  a  social 
state  to  man,  both  for  the  unfolding,  and^for  the  exerting,  of  his  nobler  faculties." — Sheridan 
cor.  "  Whether  the  subject  be  of  the  real  or  of  the  feigned  kind." — Blair  cor.  "  Not  only  was 
liberty  entirely  extinguished,  but  arbitrary  power  was  felt  in  its  heaviest  and  most  oppressive 
weight." — Id.  "  This  rule  is  also  applicable  both  to  verbal  Critics  and  to  Grammarians." — Hiley 
cor.  "  Both  the  rules  and  the  exceptions  of  a  language  must  have  obtained  the  sanction  of  good 
usage." — Id. 


CHAPTER  X.  — PREPOSITIONS. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  THE  NOTES  TO  RULE  XXIII. 

UNDER  NOTE  I. — CHOICE  OF  PREPOSITIONS. 

"  You  have  bestowed  your  favours  upon  the  most  deserving  persons." — Swift  corrected.  "  But, 
to  rise  above  that,  and  overtop  the  crowd,  is  given  to  few." — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "This  [also  is  a 
good]  sentence  [,  and]  gives  occasion^/-  no  material  remark." — Blair's  Rhet.  p.  203.  "  Though 
Cicero  endeavours  to  give  some  reputation  to  the  elder  Cato,  and  those  who  were  his  contempo- 
raries." Or  : — "  to  give  some  favourable  account  of  the  elder  Cato,"  &c. — Blair  cor.  "  The  change 
that  was  produced  in  eloquence,  is  beautifully  described  in  the  dialogue." — Id.  "  Without  care- 
fully attending  to  the  variation  which  they  make  in  the  idea." — Id.  "All  on  a  sudden,  you  are 
transported  into  a  lofty  palace." — IlazUtt  cor.  "Alike  independent  of  one  an  other."  Or  :  "Alike 
independent  one  of  ait  other." — Campbell  cor.  "  You  will  not  think  of  them  as  distinct  processes 
going  on  independently  of  each  other." — Channing  cor.  "  Though  we  say  to  dependon,  dependent 
en,  ami  dependence  on,  wo  say,  indi-prndcitt  of.  and  independently  of." — Churchill  cor.  "  Independ- 
ently of  the  rest  of  the  sentence."— Lntrth's  Gram.  p.  80;  B'uc/ianan's,  83;  Bullions'*,  110; 
•'////'.v,  348.*  "Because  they  stand  independent  of  the  rest  of  the  sentence." — Fisk  cor. 
"When  a  substantive  is  joined  with  a  participle,  in  English,  independently  of  the  rest  of  the 
sentence.  "—Dr.  ,\<l  i,n  cor.  "  ('<>vn  N<  TION  c^m^fntm  the  two  Latin  words  con,  together,  and 
jungo,  to  join." — Mi-rr/mnt  >•<»•.  "  How  different  f/v;w  this  is  the  life  of  Fulvia!  " — Addison  cor. 
"  LOVED  is  a  participle  or  adjective,  derived  from  the  word  lore." — Ash  cor.  "But  I  would 
inquire  of  him,  what  an  office  is." — 11  MfeJby  cnr.  "  For  the  capacity  is  brought  into  action." — Id. 
"  In  this  period,  language  and  taste  arrive  'at  purity." — Webster  cor.  "And,  should  you  not  aspire 
to  (or  after)  distinction  in  the  republic  of  letters.'" — Kirkham  cnr.  "Delivering  you  up  to  the 
synagogues,  and  into  prisons." — Luke,  xxi,  12.  "//ie  that  is  kept  from  falling  into  a  ditch,  is  as 

*  Many  example"  and  authorities  may  be  cited  in  favour  of  these  corrections  ;  as,  "  He  acted  independently  of 
foreii?n  assistance. "-Muirny's  Kn/,  ii,  p.  U£l  "  Iii-k-peiidcntly  of  any  necessary  relation."—  Murray's  Gram,  i, 
p.  225.  "  Independently  q/"this  peculiar  mode  of  con<:ru>"i  >n."  —  Blair's  Rhft.  p  413.  "Independent  of  the 
will  of  the  people/'—  \Vtbstfr°s  Essayi,  p.  13.  "  Independent  one  of  an  other."—  Barclay's  Works,  i,  84.  "  The 
infinitive  is  often  independent  of  the  rest  of  the  sentence."— Lennie's  Gram  p.  86.  "  Some  sentences  are  inde- 
pendent of  each  other.'1— Murray's  Gram,  i,  277.  "As  if  it  were  independent  o/it."— Priettley's  Gram.  p.  186. 
"  Independent  of  appearance  and  «how.:'— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  13. 


948          GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  SYNTAX.      [PART  III. 

truly  saved,  as  he  that  is  taken  out  of  one." — Barclay  cor.  "  The  best  of  it  is,  they  are  hut  a  sort 
of  French  Hugonots." — Addison  cor.  "  These  last  ten  examples  are  indeed  of  a  different  nature 
from  the  former." — R.  Johnson  cor.  "  For  the  initiation  ot  students  into  the  principles  of  the 
English  language." — Ann.  Rev.  cor.  "  Richelieu  profited  by  every  circumstance  which  the  con- 
juncture afforded." — Bolingbroke  cor.  "In  the  names  of  drugs  and  plants,  the  mistake  of  a 
word  may  endanger  life." — Merchant's  Key,  p.  18-5.  Or  better:  "In  naming  drugs  or  plants,  to 
mistake  a  word,  may  endanger  life." — Murray  cor.  "  In  order  to  the  carrying  of  its  several  parts 
into  execution." — Butler  cor.  "His  abhorrence  of  the  superstitious  figure."— Priestley.  "Thy 
prejudice  against  my  cause." — Id.  "Which  is  found  in  every  species  of  liberty." — Hume  cor. 
"  In  a  hilly  region  on  the  north  of  Jericho." — Milman  cor.  "  Two  or  more  singular  nouns  coupled 
by  AND  require  a  verb  or  pronoun  in  the  plural." — Lennie  cor. 

"  Books  should  to  one  of  these  four  ends  conduce, 
To  wisdom,  piety,  delight,  or  use." — Denham  cor. 

UXDER  NOTE  II. — Two  OBJECTS  OK  MORE. 

"  The  Anglo-Saxons,  however,  soon  quarrelled  among  themselves  for  precedence." — Const. 
Mi  so.  cor.  "  The  distinctions  among  the  principal  parts  of  speech  are  founded  in  nature." — 
Webster  cor.  "  I  think  I  now  understand  the  difference  between  the  active  verbs  and  those 
which  are  passive  or  neuter." — Inyersoll  cor.  "  Thus  a  figure  including  a  space  within  three  lines,  is 
the  real  as  well  as  nominal  essence  of  a  triangle." — Locke  cor.  "We  must  distinguish  between 
an  imperfect  phrase  and  a  simple  sentence,  and  between  a  simple  sentence  and  a  compound  sen- 
tence."— Lowth,  Mu>ray,  et  al.  cor.  "The  Jews  are  strictly  forbidden  by  their  law,  to  exercise 
usury  towards  one  an  other." — Sale  cor.  "All  the  writers  have  distinguished  themselves  among 
themselves." — Addison  cor.  "  This  expression  also  better  secures  the  systematic  uniformity  of 
the  three  cases." — Nutting  cor.  "  When  two  or  more  infinitives  or  clauses  are  connected  disjunct- 
ively as  the  subjects  of  an  affirmation,  the  verb  must  be  singular." — Jaudon  cor.  "Several  nouns 
or  pronouns  together  in  the  same  case,  require  a  comma  after  each  ;  [except  the  last,  which  must 
sometimes  be  followed  by  a  greater  point.]" — D.  Blair  cor.  "The  difference, between  one  vowel 
and  an  other  is  produced  by  opening  the  mouth  differently,  and  placing  the  tongue  in  a  different 
manner  for  each." — Churchill  cor.  "  Thus  feet  composed  of  syllables,  being  pronounced  with  a 
sensible  interval  between  one  foot  and  an  other,  make  a  more  lively  impression  than  can  be  made 
by  a  continued  sound." — Kames  cor.  "The  superlative  degree  implies  a  comparison,  sometimes 
between  two,  but  generally  among  three  or  more." — Smith  cor.  "  They  are  used  to  mark  a  dis- 
tinction among  several  objects." — Levizac  cor. 

UNDER  NOTE  III. — OMISSION  OF  PREPOSITIONS. 

"This  would  have  been  less  worthy  q/'notice." — Churchill  cor.  "  But  I  passed  it,  as  a  thing 
unworthy  of  my  notice." — Werter  cor.  "  Which,  in  compliment  to  me,  perhaps  you  may  ore 
day  think  worthy  q/"your  attention." — Bucke  cor.  "  To  think  this  small  present  worthy  of  an 
introduction  to  the  young  ladies  of  your  very  elegant  establishment." — Id.  "There  are  but  a 
few  miles  o/"portage." — Jefferson  cor.  "  It  is  worthy  o/'notice,  that  our  mountains  are  not  soli- 
tary."— Id.  "  It  is  about  one  hundred  feet  in  diameter."* — Id.  "  Entering  a  hill  a  quarter  or 
half  of  &  mile." — Id.  "And  herself  seems  passing  to  an  awful  dissolution,  whose  issue  it  is  not 
given  to  human  foresight  to  scan." — Id.  "  It  was  of  a  spheroidical  form,  about  forty  feet  in  di- 
ameter at  the  base,  and  had  been  about  twelve  feet  in  altitude." — Id.  "  Before  this,  it  was  covered 
with  trees  of  twelve  inches  in  diameter;  and,  round  the  base,  there  was  an  excavation  of  five  feet 
in  depth  and^?#e  in  width." — Id.  "  Then  ihoumayate&i  grapes  to  thy  fill,  at  thine  own  pleasure." 
— Bible  cor.  "  Then  he  brought  me  back  by  the  way  of  the  gate  of  the  outward  sanctuary." — Id. 
"  They  will  bless  God,  that  he  has  peopled  onehalfo/ the  world  with  a  race  of  freemen." — Webster 
cor.  "Of  what  use  can  these  words  be,  till  their  meaning  is  known  ?  " — Town  cor.  "  The  tents 
of  the  Arabs  now  are  black,  or  of  a.  very  dark  colour." — The  Friend  cor.  "  They  may  not  be  un- 
worthy of  the  attention  of  young  men." — Kirkham  cor.  "  The  pronoun  THAT  is  frequently  ap- 
plied to  persons  as  well  as  to  things." — Merchant  cor.  "And  '  who  '  is  in  the  same  case  that 
'  man '  is  in." — Sanborn  cor.  "  He  saw  a  flaming  stone,  apparently  about  four  feet  in  diameter." — 
The  Friend  cor.  "Pliny  informs  us,  that  this  stone  was  of  the  size  of  a  cart." — Id.  "  Seneca 
was  about  twenty  years  of  age  in  the  fifth  year  of  Tiberius,  when  the  Jews  were  expelled  from 
Rome." — L' Estrange  cor.  "  I  was  prevented  from  reading  a  letter  which  would  have  undeceived 
me." — Hawkesworth  cor.  "  If  the  problem  can  be  solved,  we  may  be  pardoned  for  the  inaccuracy 
of  its  demonstration." — Booth  cor.  "  The  army  must  of  necessity  be  the  school,  not  of  honour, 
but  of  effeminacy." — Dr.  Brown  cor.  "  Afraid  of  the  virtue  of  a  nation  in  its  opposing  of  bad 
measures:"  or, — "  in  its  opposition  to  bad  measures." — Id.  "The  uniting  of  them  in  various 
ways,  so  as  to  form  words,  would  be  easy."^ Gar diner  cor.  "  I  might  be  excused  from  taking 
any  more  notice  of  it." — Watson  cor.  "  Watch  therefore  ;  for  ye  know  not  at  what  hour  your 
Lord  will  come." — Bible  cor.  "  Here,  not  even  infants  were  spared  from  the  sword." — M'llvaine 
cor.  "  To  prevent  men  from  turning  aside  to  false  modes  of  worship." — John  Allen  cor.  "  God 
expelled  them  from  the  garden  of  Eden."-»-».B«nfer  cor.  "  Nor  could  he  refrain  from  expressing 
to  the  senate  the  agonies  of  his  mind." — Home  cor.  "  Who  now  so  strenuously  opposes  the 
granting  to  him  o/any  new  powers." — Duncan  cor.  "  That  the  laws  of  the  censors  have  banished 
him/Vow  the  forum." — Id.  "  We  read  not  that  he  was  degraded  from  his  office  in  any  other 
way." — Barclay  cor.  "  To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  greeting." — Hutchinson  cor. 
"  On  the  1st  of  August,  1834."— Brit.  Parl.  cor. 

"  Whether  you  had  not  some  time  in  your  life 
Err'd  in  this  point  on  which  you  censure  him." — Shak.  cor. 

*  The  preposition  of  which  Jefferson  uses  before  about,  appears  to  me  to  be  useless.  It  does  not  govern  the  noun 
diameter,  and  is  therefore  no  substitute  for  the  in  which  I  suppose  to  be  wanting  ;  and,  as  the  preposition  about 
seems  to  be  sufficient  betwwen  is  and  feet,  I  omit  the  of.  So  in  other  justanpes  belpw, — G.  BROWN. 


CHAP.    XI.]  KEY   TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. — PROMISCUOUS    EXERCISES.  949 

UNDER  NOTE  IV. — OF  NEEDLESS  PREPOSITIONS. 

"And  the  apostles  and  elders  came  together  to  consider  this  matter" — Barclay  cor.;  also 
Acts.  "Adjectives,  in  our  language,  have  neither  case,  nor  gender,  nor  number  ;  the  only  varia- 
tion they  have,  is  comparison  " — Buchanan  cor.  "  '  It  is  to  you  that  I  am  indebted  lor  this  priv- 
ilege ; '  that  is,  '  To  you  am  I  indebted  ; '  or,  '  It  is  you  to  whom  I  am  indebted.'  " — Snnbor/i  cor. 
"  BOOKS  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  plural  number,  and  neuter  gender." — Inyersoll 
cor.  "  BROTHER'S  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  thiid  person,  singular  number,  masculine  gender, 
and  possessive  case." — Murray  cor.  "  VIRTUE'S  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular 
number,  [neuter  gender,]  and  possessive  case." — Id.  "  When  the  authorities  on  one  side  greatly 
preponderate,  it  is  vain  to  oppose  the  prevailing  usage." — Campbell  and  Murray  cor.  "A  captain 
of  a  troop  of  banditti,  had  a  mind  to  be  plundering  Rome." — Collier  cor.  "And,  notwithstanding 
its  verbal  power,  we  have  added  the  TO  and  other  signs  of  exertion." — Booth  cor.  "Some  of  these 
situations  are  termed  CASES,  and  are  expressed  by  additions  to  the  noun,  in  stead  of  separate 
woids  :  "  or, — "  and  not  by  separate  words." — Id.  "  Is  it  such  a  fast  that  I  have  chost  n,  that  a 
man  should  afflict  his  soul  for  a  day,  and  bow  down  his  head  like  a  bulru>h  ?  " — Bacon  cor.  Com- 
pare Isa.  Iviii,  5.  "And  this  first  emotion  comes  at  last  to  be  awakened  by  the  accidental  in 
stead  of  the  necessary  antecedent." — \Vaylundcor.  "About  the  same  time,  the  subjugation  of 
the  Moors  was  completed." — Balbi  cor.  '•  God  divided  between  the  light  and  the  darkness" — 
Burder  cor.  "  Notwithstanding  this,  we  are  not  against  outward  significations  of  honour." — 
Barclay  cor.  "  Whether  these  words  and  practices  of  Job's  friends,  ought  to  be  our  rule." — Id. 
"  Such  verb  cannot  admit  an  objective  case  after  it." — Loicthcor.  "  For  which,  God  is  now  visibly 
punishing  these  nations." — C.  Leslie  cor.  "  In  this  respect,  Tassp  yields  to  no  poet,  except 
Homer  "—Blair  cor.  "  Notwithstanding  the  numerous  panegyrics  on  the  ancient  English 
liberty."— Hume  cor.  "  Their  effoits  seemed  to  anticipate  the  spirit  which  became  so  general 
afterwards." — Id. 

UNDER  NOTE  V. — THE  PLACING  OP  THE  WORDS. 

"  But  how  short  of  its  excellency  are  my  expressions  !  " — Baxter  cor.  "In  his  style,  there  is  a 
remarkable  union  of' harmony  with  ease." — Blair  cor.  "  It  disposes  q/"the  light  and  shade  mthe 

..•/••i _       j  i  __.i__          _     J.L  : L  -      —  • I     »  .  _      l "         -  J         .  tt         T-I  .«»•*._ 


Odyssey  some  defects  which  must  be  acknowledged."  Or:  "  At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  ac- 
knowledged that  there  are  some  defects  in  the  Odyssey." — Id.  "//t  the  concluding  books,  how- 
ever, there  are  beauties  of  the  tragic  kind." — Id.  "These  forms  of  conversation  multiplied  by 
degrees,  and  grtw  troublesome." — Kames,  EL  of  ( 'rit.  ii.  44.  "When  she  has  made  her  own. 
choice,  she  se\\m,Jor  form's  sake,  a  conge-d'-elire  to  her  friends." — Ib.  ii,  46.  "  Let  us  endeavour 
to  establish  to  ourselves  an  interest  in  him  who  holds  in  his  hand  the  reins  of  the  whole  creation." 
— Spectator  cur  ;  also  Kanics.  "  Next  to  this,  the  measure  most  frequent  in  English  poetry,  is 
th:it  of  eight  syllables." — Blair  cor.  "  To  introduce  as  great  a  variety  o/'cadences  as  possible." 
— Jnmicson  cor.  "  He  addressed  to  them  several  exhortations,  suitable  to  their  circumstances." 
— Murray  cur.  "  Habits  of  temperance  and  self-denial  must  be  acquired." — Id.  "In  reducing 
to  practice  the  rules  prescribed." — Id.  "  But  these  parts  must  be  so  closely  bound  together,  as 
to  make  upon  the  mind  the  impression  ofoneobject,  notof  many." — Blair  and  Mur.  cor.  "Errors 
with  resnect  to  the  use  of  shall  and  will,  are  sometimes  committed  by  the  most  distinguished 
writers." — N.  Butler  cor. 


CHAPTER  XL  — PROMISCUOUS  EXERCISES. 

CORRECTIONS  OF  THE  PROMISCUOUS  EXAMPI.ES. 

LESSON  I.— ANY  PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 
"  Such  a  one,  I  believe,  yours  will  be  proved  to  be." — Peet  and  Farnum  cor.  "  Of  the  distinction 
between  the  imperfect  and  the  perfect  tense,  it  may  be  observed,"  &c. — L.  Ainsworth  cor.  "  The 
subject  is  certainly  worthy  </f  consideration." — Id.  "  By  this  means,  all  ambiguity  and  contro- 
versy on  t  his  point  are  avoided." — Bullions  cor.  "The  perfect  participle,  in  English,  has  both 
an  active  and  a  passive  signification."  Better:  "The  perfect  participle,  in  English,  has  some- 
times an  active,  and  soimtnnts  a  passive,  signification." — Id.  "The  old  house  has  at  length 
fallen  down." — Id.  "  The  kinir,  the  lords,  and  tin-  commons,  constitute  the  English  form  of  gov- 
ernment."— Id.  "The  verb  in  the  siimul.ir  atjrees  with  the  person  next  to  it."  Better:  "  The 
verb  agrees  in  person  with  that  whii-h  /.v  next  to  it." — Id.  "  Jane  found  Seth's  gloves  in  James's 
hat."— O.  C  Felton  cor.  " T/m ;•/»•.-, \v  task  i>  too  great." — Id.  "The  conjugation  of  a  vtrb  is 
the  naming  of  its  several  moods,  tenses,  numbers,  and  persons,  in  rei/ular  order." — Id.  "  The 
long-remembered  beggar  was  his  guest." — hi.  "Participles  refer  to  nouns  or  pronouns." — Id. 
"  F  has  (i  uniform  sound,  in  every  position,  except  in  OF."  Better:  "  F  has  one  unvaried  sound, 
in  every  position,  except  in  OF." — I'..  J .  ll«l!<>,  1;  >•<  / •.  "  There  are  three  genders  ;  the  masculine,  the 
feminine,  and  the  neuter." — Id.  "  When  so  and  THAT  occur  together,  sometimes  the  particle  SO 
is  taken  as  an  adverb." — Id.  "  The  definition  of  the  articles  shows  that  they  modify  [the  import 
of]  the  word •«  to  which  they  belong." — Id.  "The  auxiliary,  su  U.L.  WILL,  or  SHOULD  is  implied." 
— Id.  "Sinyle-rln/med  trochaic  omits  the  final  shoit  syllable" — liroirn's  Innt.  p.  237.  "Auree- 
ably  to  this,  we  read  of  names  being  blotted  out  of  God's  book." — Burder,  Unllock,  and  Webster 
cor.  "The  first  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  speaker.'' — In>>t.  p.  32.  ''Accent  is  the  laying  of 
a  peculiar  stress  of  the  voice,  on  a  certain  letter  or  syllable  in  a  word." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p. 
235  ;  Felton's,  134.  "  Thomas's  horse  was  caught." — Felton  cor.  "  You  were  loved." — Id.  •'  The 


950  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

nominative  and  the  objective  end  alike." — T.  Smith  cor.  "  The  numbers  of  pronouns,  like  those 
of  substantives,  are  two,  the  singular  and  the  plural." — Id.  "I  is  called  the  pronoun  of  the 
first  person,  because  it  represents  the  person  speaking." — Frost  cor.  "The  essential  elements  of 
the  phrase  are  an  intransitive  gerundive  and  an  adjective." — Hazen  cor.  "Wealth  is  no  justifica- 
tion for  such  impudence." — Id.  "That  he  was  a  soldier  in  the  revolution,  is  not  doubted." — Id. 
"Fishing  is  the  chief  employment  of  the  inhabitants." — Id.  "  The  chief  employment  of  the  in- 
habitants, is  the  catching  of  fish." — Id.  "  The  cold  weather  did  not  prevent  the  work  from  being 
finished  at  the  time  specified." — Id.  "  The  man's  former  viciousness  caused  him  to  be  suspected 
of  this  crime." — Id.  "  But  person  and  number,  applied  to  verbs,  mean  certain  terminations." — 
Barrett  cor.  "  Robert  felled  a  tree." — Id.  "  Charles  raised  himself  up." — Id.  "  It  might  not 
be  a  useless  waste  of  time." — Id.  "  Neither  will  you  have  that  implicit  faith  in  the  writings  and 
works  of  others,  which  characterizes  the  vulgar." — Id.  "/iso/the  first  person,  because  it  de- 
notes the  speaker." — Id.  "I  would  refer  the  student  to  Hedge' s  or  Watts's  Logic." — Id.  "  Hedge's, 
Watts's,  Kirwin's,  and  Collard's  Logic." — Parker  and  Fox  cor.  "  Letters  that  make  a  full  and 
perfect  sound  of  themselves,  are  called  vowels."  Or:  "The  letters  which  make,"  &c — Cutler 
cor.  "  It  has  both  a  singular  and  a  plural  construction." — Id.  "For  he  beholds  (or  beholdeth) 
thy  beams  no  more." — Id.  Carthon.  "  To  this  sentiment  the  Committee  have  the  candour  to  in- 
cline, as  it  will  appear  by  their  summing-up." — Macpherson  cor.  "This  reduces  the  point  at 
issue  to  a  narrow  compass." — Id.  "  Since  the  English  set  foot  upon  the  soil." — Exiles  cor.  "  The 
arrangement  of  its  different  parts  is  easily  retained  by  the  memory." — Hiley  cor.  "  The  words 
employed  are  the  most  appropriate  that  could  have  been  selected." — Id.  "  To  prevent  it  from 
launching  !  " — Id.  "  Webster  has  been  followed  in  preference  to  others,  where  he  differs  from 
them."  Or  :  "  Webster's  Grammar  has  been  followed  in  preference  to  others,  where  it  differs  from 
them." — Frazee  cor.  "  Exclamation  and  interrogation  are  often  mistaken  the  one  for  the  other." 
— Buchanan  cor.  "  When  all  nature  is  hushed  in  sleep,  and  neither  love  nor  guilt  k'eeps  its  vigils." 
— Felton  cor.  Or  thus  : — 

"  When  all  nature  's  hush'd  asleep, 
Nor  love,  nor  guilt,  doth  vigils  keep." 

LESSON  II.— ANY  PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 

"A  Versifier  and  a  Poet  are  two  different  things." — Brightland  cor.  "  Those  qualities  will 
arise  from  the  well-expressing  of  the  subject." — Id.  "  Therefore  the  explanation  of  NETWORK,  is 
not  noticed  here." — Mason  cor.  "  When  emphasis  or  pathos  is  necessary  to  be  expressed." — Hum- 
phrey cor.  "  Whether  this  mode  of  punctuation  is  correct,  or  whether  it  is  proper  to  close  the 
sentence  with  the  mark  of  admiration,  may  be  made  a  question." — Id.  "But  not  every  writer 
in  those  days  was  thus  correct." — Id.  "The  sounds  of  A,  in  English  orthoepy,  are  no  fewer 
than  four." — Id.  "  Our  present  code  of  rules  is  thought  to  be  generally  correct."  Or :  "The  rules 
in  our  present  code  are  thought  to  be  generally  correct." — Id.  "To  prevent  It  from  running 
into  an  other." — Id.  "Shakspeare,  perhaps,  the  greatest  poetical  genius  that  England  has  pro- 
duced."— Id.  "  This  I  will  illustrate  by  example  ;  but,  before  doing  so,  a  few  preliminary  remarks 
may  be  necessary." — Id.  "All  such  are  entitled  to  two  accents  each,  and  some  of  them  to  two 
accents  nearly  equal." — Id.  "  But  some  cases  of  the  kind  are  so  plain,  that  no  one  needs  to  ex- 
ercise (or,  need  exercise)  his  judgement  therein." — Id.  "I  have  forborne  to  use  the  word."— 
Id.  "  The  propositions,  '  He  may  study,'  '  He  might  study,'  '  He  could  study,'  affirm  an  ability 
or  power  to  study." — E.  J.  Hallock  cor.  "  The  divisions  of  the  tenses  have  occasioned  gramma- 
rians much  trouble  and  perplexity." — Id.  "  By  adopting  a  familiar,  inductive  method  of  pre- 
senting this  subject,  one  may  render  it  highly  attractive  to  young  learners." — Wells  cor.  "  The 
definitions  and  rules  of  different  grammarians  were  carefully  compared  with  one  an  other:  "  or — 
"  one  with  an  other." — Id.  "  So  as  not  wholly  to  prevent  some  sound  from  issuing." — Sheridan 
cor.  "  Letters  of  the  Alphabet,  not  yet  noticed." — Id.  "  '  IT  is  sad,'  '  IT  is  strange,'  &c.,  seem  to 
express  only  that  the  thing  is  sad,  strange,  &c." — Well-wishers  cor.  "  The  winning  is  easier  than 
the  preserving  of  a  conquest." — Same.  "  The  United  States  find  themselves  the  owners  of  a  vast 
region  of  country  at  the  west."— -H.  Mann  cor.  "  One  or  more  letters  placed  before  a  word  are  a 
prefix  " — S.  W.  Clark  cor.  "One  or  more  letters  added  to  a  word,  are  a  Suffix." — Id.  "Two 
thirds  of  my  hair  have  fallen  off."  Or:  "  My  hair  has,  two  thirds  of  it,  fallen  off." — Id.  "  '  Sus- 
pecting' describes  us,  the  speakers,  by  expressing,  incidentally,  an  act  of  otirs." — Id.  "  Daniel's 
predictions  are  now  about  being  fulfilled."  Or  thus  :  "  Daniel's  predictions  are  now  receiving  their 
fulfillment." — Id.  "  His  scholarship  entitles  him  to  respect." — Id.  "  I  doubted  whether  he  had  been 
a  soldier." — Id.  "The  taking  of  a  madman's  sword  to  prevent  him  from  doing  mischief,  cannot 
be  regarded  as  a  robbery." — Id.  "  I  thought  it  to  be  him ;  but  it  was  not  he." — Id.  "  It  was  not 
/that  you  saw." — Id.  "  Not  to  know  what  happened  before  you  were  born,  is  always  to  be  a 
boy." — Id.  "  How  long  were  you  going  ?  Three  days." — Id.  "  The  qualifying  adjective  is 
placed  next  to  the  noun." — Id.  "AM  went  but  /." — Id.  "  This  is  a  parsing  of  their  own  lan- 
guage, and  not  of  the  author's." — Wells  cor.  "Those  nouns  which  denote  males',  are  of  the  mas- 
culine gender."  'Or  :  "  Nouns  that  denote  males,  are  of  the  masculine  gender." — Wells,  late  Ed. 
"Those  nouns  which  denote  females,  are  of  the  feminine  gender."  Or:  "Nouns  that  denote  fe- 
males, are  of  the  feminine  gender." — Wells,  late  Ed.  "  When  a  comparison  among  more  than 
two  objects  of  the  same  class  is  expressed,  the  superlative  degree  is  employed." — Wells  cor. 
"  Where  d  or  t  goes  before,  the  additional  letter  d  or  t,  in  this  contracted  form,  coalesces  into  one 
letter  with  the  radical  d  or  t." — Dr.  Johnson  cor.  "Write  words  which  will  show  what  kind  of  house 


you  live  in — what  kind  of  book  you  hold  in  your  hand — what  kind  of  day  it  is." — Weldcor.  "  One 
word  or  more  are  often  joined  to  nouns  or  pronouns  to  modify  their  meaning." — Id.  "Good  is  an 
adjective;  it  explains  the  quality  or  character  of  every  person  to  whom,  or  thing  to  which,  it  is 
applied."  Or  : — -'of  every  person  or  thing  that  it  is  applied  to." — Id.  "A  great  public  as  well  as 
private  advantage  arises  from  every  one's  devoting  of  himself  to  that  occupation  which  he  pre- 
fers, and  for  which  he  is  specially  fitted."—  Wayland,  Wells,  and  Weldcor.  "  There  was  a  chance 
for  him  to  recover_his  senses."  Or :  "  There  was  a  chance  that  he  might  recover  his  senses." — 


CHAP.  XII.]  KEY   TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. — GENERAL  REVIEW.  951 

Wells  and  Marautay  cor.  "  This  may  be  known  by  the  absence  of  any  connecting  word  immediately 
preceding  it." — Weld  cor.  "There  are  irregular  expressions  occaMonally  to  be  met  with,  which 
usage,  or  custom,  rather  than  analogy,  sanctions." — Id.  "  He  added  an  anecdote  of  Quin  relieving 
Thomson  from  prison."  Or:  "He  added  an  anecdote  of  Quin  as  relieving  Thomson  from 
prison."  Or  :  "  He  added  an  anecdote  of  Quin's  relieving  of  Thomson  from  prison."  Or  better: 
"  He  also  told  how  Quin  relieved  Thomson  from  prison." — Id.  "  The  daily  labour  of  her  hands 
procures  for  her  all  that  is  necessary." — Id.  "That  it  is  I,  should  make  no  change  in  your  deter- 
mination."— Hart  cor.  "  The  classification  of  words  into  what  are  called  the  Parts  of  Speech." 
—  Weld  cor.  "Such  licenses  may  be  explained  among  what  are  usually  termed  Figures." — Id. 
"  Liberal,  not  lavish,  is  kind  Nature's  hand." — Beattie. 
"  They  fall  successive,  and  successive  rise." — Pope. 

LESSON  III. — ANY  PARTS  or  SPEECH. 

"A  Figure  of  Etymology  is  an  intentional  deviation  from  the  usual  form  of  a  word." — See 
Brown's  Institutes,  p.  221).  "A  Figure  of  Syntax  is  an  intentional  deviation/rom  the  usual  con- 
struction of  a  word." — See  Brown's  Inst.  p.  "230.  "  Synecdoche  is  the  naming  of  the  whole  of  any 
thing  for  a  part,  or  a  part  for  the  whole." — Weld  cor.  "Apostrophe  is  a  turning-ojf*  from  the 
regular  course  of  the  subject,  to  address  some  person  or  thing." — Id.  "  Even  younif  pupils  will 
perform  such  exercises  with  surprising  interest  and  facility,  and  will  unconsciously  gain,  in  a 
litle  time,  more  knowledge  of  the  structure  of  language,  than  they  can  acquire  by  a  drilling  of 
several  years  in  the  usual  routine  of  parsing." — Id.  ''A.  fe\v  rules  of  construction  are  employed 
in  this  part,  to  guide  the  pupil  in  the  exercise  of  parsing." — Id.  "The  name  of  any  person, 
object,  or  thing,  that  can  be  thought  of,  or  spoken  of,  is  a  noun." — Id.  "A  dot,  resembling  our 
period,  is  used  between  every  two  words,  as  well  as  at  the  close  of  each  rerse." — W.  Day  cor. 
"The  casting  of  types  in  matrices  was  invented  by  Peter  Schoeffer,  in  1452." — Id.  "  On  perus- 
ing'it,  he  said,  that,  so  far  [was  it]  from  showing  the  prisoner's  guilt,  [that]  it  positively  estab- 
lisned  his  innocence." — Id.  "  By  printing  the  nominative  and  verb  in  Italic  letters,  we  »hall 
enable  the  reader  to  distinguish  them  at  a  glance." — Id.  "  It  is  well,  no  doubt,  to  avoid  unneces- 
sary words." — Id.  "/  meeting  a  friend  the  other  day,  he  said  to  me,  '  Where  are  you  going  ?  '  " 
— Id.  "  To  John,  apples  were  first  denied;  then  they  were  promised  to  him;  then  they  were 
offered  to  him." — Lennie  cor.  "Admission  was  denied  him." — Wells  cor.  "A  pardon  was  offered 
to  them." — L.  Murray's  Grammar,  8vo,p.  183.  " A  ne\vpotato  was  this  day  shown  me." — Darwin, 
Webster,  Frazee,  and  Weld,  cor.  "Those  nouns  or  pronouns  which  denote  males,  are  of  the  mas- 
culine gender." — S.  S.  Greene  cor.  "  There  are  three  degrees  of  comparison;  the  positive,  the 
comparative,  and  the  superlative." — Id.  "  The  first  two  refer  to  direction  ;  the  third  refers  to 
locality." — Id.  "  The  following  are  some  of  the  verbs  which  take  a  direct  and  an  indirect  object." 
— Id.  "  I  was  not  aware  that  he  was  the  judge  of  the  supreme  court." — Id.  "An  indirect  ques- 
tion may  refer  to  any  of  the  five  elements  of  a  declarative  sentence." — Id.  "  I  am  not  sure  that  he 
will  be  present." — Id.  "  We  left  New  York  on  Tuesday." — Id.  "  He  left  the  city,  as  he  told  me, 
before  the  arrival  of  the  steamer." — Id.  "  We  told  him  that  he  must  leave  us  ;  "="  We  told  him 
to  leave  us." — Id.  "  Because  he  was  unable  to  persuade  the  multitude,  he  left  the  place,  in  disgust." 
—Id.  "  He  left  the  company,  and  took  his  brother  with  him." — Id.  "  This  stating,  or  declaring, 
or  denying  q/'any  thing,  is  called  the  indicative  mood,  or  manner  of  speaking." — Weldcor.  "  This 
alace  at  our  f 


took  place  at  our  friend  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's." — Id.  "  The  manner  in  which  a  young  lady  may 
employ  herself  usefully  in  reading,  will  be  the  subject  of  an  other  paper." — Id.  "  Very  little  time 
is  necessary  for  Johnson  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  the  bookseller." — Id.  "  My  father  is  not  now 
sick  ;  but  if  he  were,  your  services  would  be  welcome." — Chandler's  Common  School  Gram.,  Ed. 
of  1847,  p.  79.  "Before  we  begin  to  write  or  speak,  we  ought  to  fix  in  our  minds  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  the  end  to  be  aimed  at." — Blair  cor.  "  Length  of  days  is  in  her  right  hand  ;  and,  in  her 
left  hand,  are  riches  and  honour." — See  Proverbs,  iii,  16.  "  The  active  and  the  passive  present  ex- 
press different  ideas." — Bullions  cor.  "An  Improper  Diphthona,  (sometimes  called  a  Digraph.)  is 
a  diphthong  in  which  only  one  of  the  vowels  ts  sounded." — bowler  cor.  (See  G.  Brown's  defi- 
nition.) "The  real  origin  of  the  words  is  to  be  sought  in  the  Latin." — Fowler  cor.  "  What  sort 
of  alphabet  the  Gothic  languages  possess,  we  know;  what  sort  of  alphabet  they  require,  we  can 
determine." — Id.  "  The  Kunic  alphabet,  whether  borrowed  or  invented  by  the  early  Goths,  is  of 
greater  antiquity  than  either  the  oldest  Teutonic  or  the  Moeso-Gothic  alphabet." — Id.  "  Com- 
mon to  the  Masculine  and  Neuter  Genders." — Id.  "  In  the  Anglo-Saxon,  HIS  was  common  to 
both  the  Masculine  and  the  Neuter  Gender." — Id.  "  When  time,  number,  or  dimension,  is  speci- 
fied, the  adjective  follows  the  substantive." — Id.  "  Nor  pain,  nor  grief,  nor  anxious  frar,  In- 
vades thy  bounds." — Id.  "  To  Brighton,  the  Pavilion  lends  a  lath-and-plaster  grace  " — Fowler 
cor.  "From  this  consideration,  /  naotgive*  to  nouns  but  one  person,  the  THIRD." — D.  C.  Allencor. 
"  For  it  seems  to  guard  and  cherish 
.E'en  the  wayward  dreamer — me." — Anon.  cor. 


CHAPTER  XII.  —  GENERAL  REVIEW. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  ALL  THE  PRECEDING  RULES  AND  NOTES. 

LESSON  I.— ARTICLES. 

"And  they  took  stones,  and  made  a  heap." — ALGER'S  BIBLE:  Gen.  xxxi,  46.  "And  I  do  know 
many  fools,  that  stand  in  better  place." — Shak.  cor.  "It  is  a  strong  antidote  to  the  turbulence 
of  passion,  and  Me  violence  of  pursuit." — Kames  cor.  "  The  word  NEWS  may  admit  of  either  a 
singular  or  a  plural  application." — Wright  cor.  "  He  has  gained  a  fair  and  honourable  reputa- 

*  Murray,  Jamieson,  and  others,  have  this  definition  with  the  article  "a,"  and  the  comma,  but  without  the 
hyphen  :  "APOSTROPHE  is  a  turning  off  from  the  regular  course,"  &c.  See  errors  under  Note  4th  to  Kuie  20th. 


952  GRAMMAR   OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

tion." — Id.  "  There  are  two  general  forms,  called  the  solemn  and  the  familiar  style."  Or  :— 
"  called  the  solemn  and  familiar  styles." — S.inborn  cor.  "Neither  the  article  nor  the  preposition 
can  be  omitted." — Wright  cor.  "A  close  union  is  also  observable  between  the  subjunctive  and 
the  potential  mood." — Id.  "  Should  we  render  service  equally  to  a  friend,  a  neighbour,  and  an 
enemy  ?  " — Id.  "  Till  a  habit  is  obtained,  of  aspirating  strongly." — Sheridan  cor.  "  There  is 
a  uniform,  steady  use  of  the  same  signs." — Id.  "A  traveller  remarks  most  of  the  objects  which 
he  sees." — Jamieson  cor.  "  What  is  the  name  of  the  river  on  which  London  stands  ?  Thames." 
— G.  B.  "  We  sometimes  find  the  last  line  of  a  couplet  or  a  triplet  stretched  out  to  twelve 
syllables." — Adam  cor.  "The  nouns  which  follow  active  verbs,  are  not  in  the  nominative  case." 

—  Blair  cor.     "It  is  a  solemn  duty  to  speak  plainly  of  the  wrongs  which  good  men  perpetrate." 

—  Channing  cor.     "The  gathering  of  riches  is  a  pleasant  torment." — L.  Cobb  cor.     "  It  is    worth 
being  quoted."     Or  better  :  "  It  is  worth  quoting." — Coleridge  cor.     "  COUNCIL  is  a  noun  which 
admits  of  a  singular  and  a  plural  form." — Wright  cor.     "  To  exhibit  the  connexion  between  the 
Old  Testament  and  the  New." — Keith  cor.     "An  apostrophe  discovers  the  omission  of  a  letter  or 
q/'letters." — Guy  cor.     "He  is  immediately  ordained,  or  rather  acknowledged,    a  hero." — Pope 
cor.     "  Which  is  the  same  in  both  the  leading  and  the  following  state." — Brightland  cor.     "  Pro- 
nouns, as  will  be  seen  hereafter,  have  three  distinct  cases;  the  nominative,  the  possessive,  and 
the  objective." — D.  Blair  cor.     "A  word  of  many  syllables  is  called  a  polysyllable." — Beck  cor. 
"  Nouns  have  two  numbers  ;  the  singular  and  tha  plural." — Id.     "  They  have  three  ganders  ; 
the  masculine,  the  feminine,  and  the  neuter." — Id.     "  They  have  three  cases ;  the  nominative, 
the  possessive,  and  the  objective." — Id.     "  Personal  pronouns   have,   like  nouns,    two  numbers  ; 
the  singular  nnd  the  plural ; — three  genders  ;  the  masculine,  the  feminine,  and  the  neuter  ; — three 
cases;  the  nominative,  the  possessive,  and  the  objective." — Id.     "He  must  be   wise   enough  to 
know  the  singular  from  the  plural." — Id.     "Though  they  may  he  able  to  meet  every  reproach 
which  any  one  of  their  fellows  may  prefer." — Chalmers  cor.     "  Yet  for  love's  sake  I  rather  be- 
seech thee,  being  such  a  one  as  Paul  the  aged." — Biblecor.;  also  Webster.     "A  people  that  jeop- 
arded their  lives  unto  death." — Bible  cor.     "  By  preventing  too  great  an  accumulation  of  seed 
within  too  narrow  a  compass." — The  Friend  cor.     "Who  fills  up  the  middle  space  between  the 
animal  and  the  intellectual  nature,  the  visible  and  the  invisible  world." — Addison  cor.     "  The 
Psalms  abound  with  instances  of  the  harmonious  arrangement  of  words." — Murray  cor.     "On 
an  other  table,  were  a  ewer  and  a  vase,  likewise  of  gold." — Mirror  cor.     "  TH   is  said  to   have 
two  sounds,  a  sharp  and  a  flat." —  Wilson  cor.     "The  SECTION  (§)  is  sometimes  used  in  the  subdi- 
viding of  a  chapter  into  lesser  parts." — Brightland  cor.     "  Try   it  in  a  dog,  or  a  horse,  or   any 
other  creature." — Locke  cor.     "  But  particularly  in  the  learning  of  language^,  there   is  the   leas  i 
occasion  to  pose  children." — Id.     "O/'what  kind  is  the  noun  RIVER,  and  why  ?" — R.  C.  Smith  cor. 
"  Is  WILLIAM'S  a  proper  or  a  common  noun  ?" — Id.     What  kind  of  article,  then,  shall  we   call 
the?"     Or  better  :   "  What  then  shall  we  call  the  article  the?" — Id. 

"  Each  burns  alike,  who  can,  or  cannot  write, 
Or  with  a  rival's,  or  a  eunuch's  spite." — Pope  cor. 

LESSON  II.— NOUNS,  OR  CASES. 

"And  there  are  stamped  upon  their  imaginations  ideas  that  follow  them  with  terror  and  affright.'" 
— Locke  cor.  "  There's  not  a  wretch  that  lives  on  common  charity,  but's  happier  than  /." — Ven. 
Pres.  cor.  "  But  they  overwhelm  every  one  who  is  ignorant  of  them." — //.  Mann  cor.  "  I  have 
received  a  letter  from  my  cousin,  her  that  was  here  last  week." — Inst.  p.  129.  " Gentlemen'* 
houses  are  seldom  without  variety  of  company." — Locke  cor.  "  Because  Fortune  has  laid  them 
below  the  level  of  others,  at  their  masters'  feet." — Id.  "  We  blamed  neither  John's  nor  Mary's 
delay." — Nixon  cor.  "  The  book  was  written  by  order  of  Luther  the  reformer." — Id.  "  I  saw  on 
the  table  of  the  saloon  Blair's  Sermons,  and  somebody's  else,  (I  forget  whose,)  and  [about  the 
rooni]  a  set  of  noisy  children." — Byron  cor.  "  Or  saitn  he  it  altogether  for  our  sake?" — Bibli 
cor.  "  He  was  not  aware  that  the  Dukeioas  his  competitor." — Sanborn  cor.  "  It  is  no  condition 
of  an  adjective,  that  the  word  must  be  placed  before  a  noun."  Or:  "It  i"  no  condition  on 
which  a  word  becomes  an  adjective,  that  it  must  be  placed  before  a  noun." — Id.  and  Fowle  cor. 
"Though  their  reason  corrected  the  wrong  ideas  which  they  had  taken  in." — Locke  cor.  "It 
•was  he  that  taught  me  to  hate  slavery." — Morris  cor.  "  It  is  he  and  his  kindred,  who  live  upon 
the  labour  of  others." — Id.  "  Payment  of  tribute  is  an  acknowledgement  of  him  as  being  King 
— (of  him  as  King — or,  that  he  is  King — )  to  whom  we  think  it  due." — C.  Leslie  cor.  "  When  we 
.comprehend  what  is  taught  us." — Ingersoll  cor.  "The  following  words,  and  parts  of  words, 
must  be  noticed." — Priestley  cor.  "  Hence  tears  and  commiseration  are  so  often  employed" — 
Blair  cor.  "  JOHN-A,  NOKKS,  n.  A  fictitious  name  used  in  law  proceedings." — A.  Chalmers  cor. 
"  The  construction  of  icords  denoting  matter,  and  the  part  grasped" — Fisk  cor.  "And  such  other 
names  as  carry  with  them  the  idea  of  something  terrible  and  hurtful." — Locke  cor.  •'  Every  learner 
then  would  surely  be  glad  to  be  spared  from  the  trouble  and  fatigue." — Pike  cor.  "It  is  not  the 
owning  of  one's  dissent  from  an  other,\ha,t  I  speak  against." — Locke  cor.  "A  man  that  cannot 
fence,  will  be  more  careful  to  keep  out  of  bullies  and  gamesters'  company,  and  will  not  be  half  so 
apt  to  stand  upon  punctilios." — Id.  "From  such  persons  it  is,  that  one  may  learn  more  in  one 
day.  than  in  a  year's  rambling  from  one  inn  to  an  other." — Id.  "Along  syllable  is  generally 
considered  to  be  twice  as  long  as  a  short  one." — D.  Blair  cor.  "  I  is  of  the  first  person,  and  the 
singular  number.  THOU  is  of  the  second  person  singular.  HE,  SHE,  or  IT,  is  of  the  third  person 
singular.  WE  is  of  the  first  person  plural.  YE  or  You  is  of  the  second  person  plural.  THEY  is 
of  the  third  person  plural." — Kirkham  cor.  "This  actor,  doer,  or  producer  of  the  action,  is 
denoted  by  some  word  in  the  nominative  case." — Id.  "  Nobody  can  think,  that  a  boy  of  three  or 
seven  years  of  age  should  be  argued  with  as  a  grown  man." — Locke  cor.  "  This  was  in  the  house 
o/one  of  the  Pharisees,  not  in  Simon  the  leper's." — Hammond  cor.  "Impossible  !  it  can't  be  /." 
— Swift  cor.  "Whose  grey  top  shall  tremble,  He  descending  " — Milton,  P.  L.,  xii,  227.  "Of 
Mhat  gender  is  woman,  and  why  ?  " — R.  C.  Smith  cor.  "O/'what  gender,  then,  is  man,  and  why  ?'" 
— Id.  '«  Who  is  t/us  I ;  whom  do  you  mean,  when  you  say  /?" — Green  cor.  "  It  has  a  pleasant 


CHAP.  XII.]  KEY   TO    FALSE   SYNTAX. — GENERAL   REVIEW.  953 

air,  but  the  soil  is  barren." — Locke  cor.  "  You  may,  in  three  days'  time,  go  from  Galilee  to  Jeru- 
salem."—  W.  Whiston  cor.  "And  that  which  is  left  of  the  meat-offering,  shall  be  Aaron's  and 
his  sons'." — FRIENDS'  BIHLE. 

"  For  none  in  all  the  world,  without  a  lie. 
Can  say  o/this,  "Tis  mine,'  but  Bunyan,  I." — Bunt/an  cor. 

LESSON  III.— ADJECTIVES. 

"  When  he  can  be  their  remembrancer  and  advocate  at  all  assizes  and  sessions." — Leslie  cor. 
"Doixo  denotes  every  manner  of  action;  as,  to  dance,  to  play,  to  write,  &c." — Buchanan  cor. 
"  Seven  feet  long," — "  eight  feet  long," — "  fifty  feet  long." — W.  Walker  cor.  "  Nearly  the  whole 
of  these  twenty-five  millions'of  dollars  is  a  dead  loss  to  the  nation." — Fotcler  cor.  "Two  nega- 
tives destroy  each  other." — Green  cor.  "  We  are  warned  against  excusing  sin  in  ourselves,  or  in 
one  an  other." — Friend  cor.  "  The  Russian  empire  is  more  extensive  than  any  other  government 
in  the  world." — Inst.  p.  26-5.  "  You  will  always  have  the  satisfaction  to  think  it,  of  all  your 
expenses,  the  money  best  laid  out." — Locke  cor.  "  There  is  no  other  passion  which  all  mankind 
so  naturally  indulge,  as  pride." — Stecle  cor.  "  O,  throw  away  the  viler  part  of  it." — Shak.  cor. 
"  He  showed  us  an  easier  and  more  agreeable  way." — Inst.  p.  265.  "And  the  last  Jour  are  to  point 
out  those  further  improvements." — Jamiesonand  Campbell  cor.  "  Where  he  has  not  clear  ideas, 
distinct  and  different." — Locke  cor.  "  Oh,  when  shall  we  have  an  other  such  Rector  of  Laracor !  " 
— Hazlitt  cor.  "Speech  must  have  been  absolutely  necessary  previously  to  the  formation  of  socie- 
ty." Or  better  thus :  "  Speech  must  have  been  absolutely  necessary  to  the  formation  of  society." — 
<on  cor.  "  Go  and  tell  those  boys  to  be  still." — Inst.  p.  265.  "  Wrongs  are  engraved  on 
marble  ;  benefits,  on  sand  :  those  are  apt  to  be  requited  ;  these,  forgot." — G.  B.  "None  of  these 
several  interpretations  is  the  true  one." — G.  B.  "  My  friend  indulged  himself  in  some  freaks  not 
bHitting  the  gravity  of  a  clergyman." — G.  B.  "And  their  pardon  is  all  that  any  of  their  impro- 
pfiators  will  have  to  plead." — Leslie  cor.  "But  the  time  usually  chosen  to  send  young  men 
abroad,  is,  I  think,  of  all  periods,  that  at  which  they  are  least  capable  of  reaping  those  advantages." 
— Locke  cor.  "  It  is  a  mere  figment  of  the  human  imagination,  a  rhapsody  of  the  transcendent ly 
unintelligible." — Jamiesoncor.  "  It  contains  a  greater  assemblage  of  sublime  ideas,  of  bold  and 
daring  figures,  than  is  perhaps  anywhere  el-se  to  be  met  with." — Blair  cor.  "  The  order  in  which 
the  last  two  words  are  placed,  should  have  been  reversed." — Blair  cor. ;  also  Murray.  "  In 
Demosthenes,  eloquence  shone  forth  with  higher  splendour,  than  perhaps  in  any  other  that  ever 
bore  the  name  of  orator." — Id.  "  The  circumstance  of  his  poverty  (or,  that  he  is  poor)  is  decidedly 
favourable." — Toddcor.  "  The  temptations  to  dissipation  are  greatly  lessened  by  hi&povcrty." 
— Id.  "  For,  with  her  death,  those  tidings  came." — Shak.  cor.  "  The  next  objection  is.  that 
authors  of  this  sort  are  poor." — Cleland  cor.  "  Presenting  Emma,  as  Miss  Castlemain,  to  these 
MmMMMteMM  : "  or, — "  to  these  persons  of  her  acquaintance." — Opie  cor.  "  I  doubt  not  that  it 
will  please  more  persons  than  the  opera:  '*  or, — "that  it  will  be  more  pleasing  than  the  opera." — 
Spct-t.  cor.  "  The  world  knows  only  two  ;  these  are,  Rome  and  I." — Ben  Johnson  cor.  "I  distin- 
guish these  two  things  from  each  other." — Blair  cor.  "And,  in  this  case,  mankind  reciprocally 
claim  and  allow  indulgence  to  one  an  other." — Sheridan  cor.  "  The  last  six  books  are  said  not 
to  have  received  the  finishing  hand  of  the  author." — Blair  cor.  "The  best-executed  part  of  the 
work,  is  the  first  six  books." — Id. 

"  To  reason  how  can  we  be  said  to  rise  ? 
So  hard  the  task  for  mortals  to  be  wise  !  " — Sliejfield  cor. 

LESSON  IV.— PRONOUNS. 

"  Once  upon  a  time,  a  goose  fed  her  young  by  a.  pond's  side :  "  or — "  by  a.  pondside." — Goldsmith 
ror.  (See  Ons.  33d  on  Rule  4th.)  "  If  either  has  a  sufficient  degree  of  merit  to  recommend  it  to 
the  attention  of  the  public." — J.  Walker  cor.  "  Now  W.  Mitchell's  deceit  is  very  remarkable." — 
Barclay  cor.  "  My  brother,  I  did  not  put  the  question  to  thee,  for  that  I  doubted  of  the  truth  of 
thy  belief." — Bnnyun  cor.  "  I  had  two  elder  brothers,  one  of  whom  was  a  lieutenant-colonel.''-—? 
De  Foe  cor.  "  Though  James  is  here  the  object  of  the  action,  yet  the  word  James  is  in  the  nomina- 
tive case." —  Wright  cor.  "  Here  John  is  the  actor;  and  the  word  John  is  known  to  hem  the 
nominative,  by  its  answering  to  the  question,  'IFAo  struck  Richard  ? '  " — Id.  "  One  of  the  most 
distinguished  privileges  that  Providence  has  conferred  upon  mankind,  is  the  power  of  communi- 
cating their  thoughts  to  one  an  other" — Blair  cor.  "  With  some  of  the  most  refined  feelings  that 
belong  to  our  frame." — Id.  "And  the  same  instructions  that  assist  others  in  composing  works  of 
elegance,  will  assist  them  in  judging  of,  and  relishing,  the  beauties  of  composition." — Id.  "To 
overthrow  all  that  had  been  yielded  in  favour  of  the  army." — Mdcaulay  cor.  "  Let  your  faith  stand 
in  the  Lord  God,  who  changes  not,  who  created  all,  and  icho  gives  the  increase  of  all." — Friends  cor. 
••  For  it  is  in  truth,  the  sentiment  or  passion  which  lies  under  the  figured  expression,  that  gives  it 
alt  its  merit." — Itlair  cur.  "  Verbs  arc  words  that  affirm  the  being,  doing,  orsufferiug  of  a  thing, 
together  with  the  time  at  which  it  happens." — .-1.  Murray  nir.  "  The  bias  will  always  hang  on 
thnt  side  on  which  nature  first  placed  it." — Locke  cor.  "  They  should  be  brought  to  do  the  things 
trhirh  are  fit  for  them." — Id.  "The  various  sources  from  which  the  English  language  is 
derived." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  This  attention  to  the  several  cases  in  which  it  is  proper  to  omit  or 
to  redouble  the  copulative,  is  of  considerable  importance." — Blair  cor.  "  Cicero,  for  instance, 
speaking  of  the  cases  in  which  it  is  lawful  to  kill  an  other  in  self-defence,  uses  the  following 
words." — Id.  "  But  there  is  no  nation,  hardly  are  there  any  persons,  so  phlegmatic,  as  not  to  ac- 
company their  words  with  some  actions,  or  gesticulations,  whenever  they  are  much  in  earnest." — 
Itl.  "  William's  is  said  to  be  governed  by  coat,  because  coat  follows  William's."  Ot  better  : — 
"  because  coat  is  the  n:ime  of  the  thing  possessed  by  William." — Stnit/i  cor.  "  In  life,  there  are 
many  occasions  on  irhic/i  silence  and  simplicity  are  marks  of  true  wisdom." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  In 
chosing  umpires  whose  avarice  is  excited." — \i.n>n  cor.  "  The  boroughs  sent  representatives,  ac- 
-ordint;  to  laic." — /'/.  "  No  man  bi-lit-ves  but  that  there  is  some  order  in  the  universe." — G.  B. 
•  The  noon  is  orderly  in  her  changes,  and  she  could  not  be  so  by  accident." — Id.  "The  riddles  of 
t'heSphynx(oT,Thc  Sphynx's  riddles)  are  generally  of  two  kinds/''— Bacon  cor.  "They  must  gene- 
68 


954  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 


then  resoved  Utelfinto  a  committee  of  the  whole. 


The  severity  with  which  persons 


uphold  things  qui 

square,  a  triangle,  or  a  hexagon,  pleases  the  eye  by  its  regularity,  and  is  a  beautiful  _ 
Blair  cor.  "  Elba  is  remarkable  for  being  the  place  to  which  Bonaparte  was  banished  in  1814." — 
Olney's  Geoff.  "  The  editor  has  the  reputation  of  being  a  good  linguist  and  critic." — ReL  Herald. 
"  It  is  a  pride  which  should  be  cherished  in  them." — Locke  cor.  "And  to  restore  to  us  the  hope  of 
fruits,  to  reward  our  pains  in  their  season." — Id.  "  The  comic  representation  of  death's  victim 
relating  his  own  tale." — Wright  cor.  "As  for  Scioppius's  Grammar,  that  wholly  concerns  the  Latin 
tongue." — Wilkins  cor. 

"And  chiefly  Thou,  O  Spirit,  that  dost  prefer 
Before  all  temples  th'  upright  heart  and  pure, 
Instruct  me,  for  Thou  knowst."— Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  i,  1.  17. 

LESSON  V.— VERBS. 

"And  there  were  in  the  same  country  shepherds  abiding  in  the  field." — Friends'  Bible ;  also 
Bruce"  s,  andAlger's.  "Whereof  every  one  bears  [or  beareth]  twins." — BIBLE  COR.  :  Song,  vi,  6. 
"  He  strikes  out  of  his  nature  one  of  the  most  divine  principles  that  are  planted  in  it." — Ad- 
dison  cor.  "  GENII  [i.  e.,  the  word  GENII]  denotes  aerial  spirits." — Wright  cor.  "  In  proportion 


opening 

wealth  we  had  in  England,  was  the  slow  result  of  long  industry  and  wisdom."  Or:  "  The  riches 
we  had  in  England  were,"  &c. — Davenant  cor.  "  The  following  expression  appears  to  be  correct : 
'  Much  public  gratitude  is  due.'  "  Or  this  :  "  '  Great  public  thanks  are  due.'  " — Wright  cor.  "  He  has 
been  enabled  to  correct  many  mistakes." — Lowth  cor.  "  Which  road  dost  thou  take  here  ?  " — In- 
gersollcor.  "Dost  thou  learn  thy  lesson  ?  " — Id.  "Did  they  learn  their  pieces  perfectly  ?  " — Id. 
'"  Thou  learned  thy  task  well." — Id.  "  There  are  some  who  can't  relish  the  town,  and  others  can't 
bear  with  the  country." — Sir  Wilful  cor.  "  If  thou  meet  them,  thou  must  put  on  an  intrepid 
mien." — Neefcor.  "  Struck  with  terror,  as  if  Philip  were  something  more  than  human." — Blair 
cor.  "  If  the  personification  of  the  form  of  Satan  were  admissible,  the  pronoun  should  certainly 
have  been  masculine." — Jamiesoncor.  "  If  only  onefolloivs,  there  seems  to  be  a  defect  in  the  sen- 
tence."— Priestley  cor.  "  Sir,  if  thou  hast  borne  him  hence,  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid  him." — 
Bible  cor.  "  Blessed  are  the  people  that  know  the  joyful  sound." — Id.  "  Every  auditory  takes  in 
good  part  those  marks  of  respect  and  awe  icith  which  a  modest  speaker  naturally  commences  a pu  )- 
lie  discourse." — Blair  cor.  "  Private  causes  were  still  pleaded  in  the  forum  ;  but  the  public  we.'e 
no  longer  interested,  nor  was  any  general  attention  drawn  to  what  passed  there." — Id.  "Nay, 
what  evidence  can  be  brought  to  show,  that  the  inflections  of  the  classic  tongues  were  not  original  y 
formed  out  of  obsolete  auxiliary  words  ?  " — L.  Murray  cor.  "  If  the  student  observe  that  the  princi- 
pal and  the  auxiliary  form  but  one  verb,  he  will  have  little  or  no  difficulty  in  the  proper  application 
of  the  present  rule." — Id.  "  For  the  sword  of  the  enemy,  and  fear,  are  on  every  side." — Bible 
cor.  "  Even  the  Stoics  agree  that  nature,  or  certainty,  is  very  hard  to  come  at." — Collier  cor.  "  His 
politeness,  his  obliging  behaviour,  was  changed."  Or  thus  :  "  His  polite  and  obliging  behaviour 
was  changed." — Priestley  and  Hume  cor.  "  War  and  its  honours  were  their  employment  and 
ambition."  Or  thus  :  "War  was  their  employment ;  its  honours  were  their  ambition." — Goldsmith 
cor.  "Do  A  and  AN  mean  the  same  thing  ?  " — Green  cor.  "  When  several  words  come  in  between 
the  discordant  parts,  the  ear  does  not  detect  the  error." — Cobbett  cor.  "  The  sentence  should  be, 
'  When  several  words  come  in,'  &c." — Wright  cor.  "  The  nature  of  our  language,  the  accent  and 
pronunciation  of  it,  incline  us  to  contract  even  all  our  regular  verbs." — Churchill's  New  Gram.  p. 
104.  Or  thus  :  "  The  nature  of  our  language, — (that  is,  the  accent  and  pronunciation  of  it, — )  in- 
clines us  to  contract  even  all  our  regular^  verbs." — Lowth  cor.  "The  nature  of  our  language, 
together  with  the  accent  and  pronunciation  of  it,  inclines  us  to  contract  even  all  our  regular 
verbs." — Hiley  cor.  "  Prompt  aid,  and  not  promises,  is  what  we  ought  to  give." — G.  B.  "  The 
position  of  the  several  organs,  therefore,  as  well  as  their  functions,  is  ascertained." — Med.  Mag. 
cor.  "  Every  private  company,  and  almost  every  public  assembly,  affords  opportunities  of  re- 
marking the  difference  between  a  just  and  graceful,  and  a  faulty  and  unnatural  elocution." — En- 
fitld  cor.  "  Such  submission,  together  with  the  active  principle  of  obedience,  makes  up  in  us  the 
temper  or  character  which  answers  to  his  sovereignty." — Butler  cor.  "  In  happiness,  as  in  other 
things,  there  are  a  false  and  a  true,  an  imaginary  and  a  real." — A.  Fuller  cor.  "  To  confound 
things  that  differ,  and  to  make  a  distinction  where  there  is  no  difference,  are  equally  unphilo- 
sophical." — G.  Brown. 

"  I  know  a  bank  whereon  doth  wild  thyme  blow, 
Where  oxlips  and  the  nodding  violet  grow." — Shak.  cor. 

LESSON  VI.— VERBS. 

"Whose  business  or  profession  prevents  their  attendance  in  the  morning." — Ogilby  cor.  "And 
no  church  or  officer  has  power  over  another." — Lcchfordcor.  "  While  neither  reason  nor  experience 
is  sufficiently  matured  to  protect  them." — Woodbridge  cor.  "Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
almost  every  syllable  was  known  to  have  a  fixed  and  determined  quantity."  Or  thus  :  "Among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  all  syllables,  (or  at  least  the  far  greater  number,)  were  known  to  have 
severally  a  fixed  and  determined  quantity." — Blair  and  Jamieson  cor.  "Their  vanity  is 
awakened,  and  their  passions  are  exalted,  by  the  irritation  which  their  self-love  receives  from 
contradiction." — Tr.  of  Mad.  De  Staelcor.  "He  and  I  were  neither  of  us  any  great  swimmer." — 
Anon.  "Virtue,  honour — nay,  even  self-interest  recommends  the  measure." — Murray  cor.  (See 


CHAP.    XII.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. GENERAL    REVIEW.  955 

Obs.  5th  on  Rule  16th.)  "A  correct  plainness,  an  elegant  simplicity,  is  the  proper  character  of 
an  introduction." — If  fair  cor.  "  In  syntax,  them  is  %vhat  grammarians  call  concord,  or  agree- 
ment, and  there  is  government." — Inf.  N  a  mm.  cor.  "  People  find  themselves  able,  without  much 
study,  to  write  and  speak  Knplish  intelligibly,  and  thus  arc  led  to  think  that  rules  are  of  no 
utility." — Webster  cor.  "  But  the  writer  must  be  one  who  has  studied  to  inform  himself  well,  who 
has  pondered  his  subject  with  care,  and  who  addresses  himself  to  our  judgement,  rather  than  to 
our  imagination." — Blair  cor.  "  But  practice  has  determined  it  otherwise  ;  and  has,  in  all  the  Ian- 


priest's  daughter  be  a  widow,  or  divorced,  and  have  no  child,  and  she  return  unto  her  father's  house, 
as  in  her  youth,  she  shall  eat  of  her  father's  meat." — Id.  "  Since  we  never  have  studied,  and  never 
shall  study,  your  sublime  productions." — Neef  cor.  "  Enabling  us  to  form  distincter  images  of 
objects,  than  can  be  formed,  with  the  utmost  attention,  where  these  particulars  are  not  found." — 
Kdmes  cor.  "  I  hope  you  will  consider  that  what  is  spoken  comes  from  my  love." — Shak.  cor. 
"  We  shall  then  perceive  how  the  designs  of  emphasis  may  be  marred." — lluah  cor.  "I  knew 
it  was  Crab,  and  went  to  the  fellow  that  whips  the  dogs." — Shak.  cor.  "  The  youth  teas  consum- 
ing by  a  slow  malady." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  64 ;  Ingersoll's,  4o  ;  Fisk's,  82.  "  If  all  men  thought, 
spoke,  and  wrote  alike,  something  resembling  a  perfect  adjustment  of  these  points  might  be  ac- 
complished."—  \Vriyht  cor.  "  If  you  will  replace  what  has  been,  for  a  long  time,  expunged  from 
the  language."  Or:  "  If  you  will  replace  what  was  long  dyo  expunged  from  the  language."— 
Campbell  cor.  "As  in  all  those  faulty  instances  which  I  havejmf  been  giving." — Blair  cor.  "  Thi* 
mood  is  also  used  improperly  in  the  following  places." — Murray  cor.  "  He  seems  to  have  been 
well  acquainted  with  his  own  genius,  and  to  have  known  what  it  was  that  nature  had  bestowed 
upon  him." — Johnson  cor.  "  Of  which  I  have  already  given  one  instance,  the  worst  indeed  that 
occurs  in  the  poem." — Blair  cor.  "  It  is  strange  he  never  commanded  you  to  do  it." — Anon. 
"  History  painters  would  have  found  it  difficult,  to  invent  such  a  species  of  beings." — Addisoncor. 
"  Universal  Grammar  cannot  be  taught  abstractedly  ;  it  must  be  explained  with  reference  to  some 
language  already  known." — Lowth  cor.  "And  we  might  imagine,  that  if  verbs  had  been  so  con- 
trived as  simply  to  express  these,  no  other  tenses  would  have  been  needful." — Blair  cor.  "  To  a 
writer  of  such  a  genius  as  Dean  Swift's,  the  plain  style  is  most  admirably  fitted." — Id.  '*  Please 
to  excuse  my  son's  absence." — InsL  p.  279.  "  Bid  the  boys  come  in  immediately." — Ib. 

"  Gives  us  the  secrets  of  his  pagan  hell, 
"Where  restless  ghosts  in  sad  communion  dwell." — Crabbe  cor. 

"Alas  !  nor  faith  nor  valour  now  remains  ; 
Sighs  are  but  wind,  and  I  must  bear  my  chains." — Walpole  cor. 

LESSON  VII.— PARTICIPLES. 

"  Of  which  the  author  considers  himself,  in  compiling  the  present  work,  as  merely  laying  the 
foundation-stone." — D.  Blair  cor.  "  On  the  raising  qfsuch  lively  and  distinct  images  as  are  here 
described." — Kames  cor.  "  They  are  necessary  to  the  avoiding  of  ambiguities." — Brightfandcor. 
"  There  is  no  neglecting  of  it  without  falling  into  a  dangerous  error."  Or  better:  "None  can 
neglect  it  without  falling,"  &c. — Burlamagui  cor.  "The  contest  resembles  Don  Quixote's  fight- 
ing of  (or  with)  windmills." — Webster  cor.  "  That  these  verbs  associate  with  other  verbs  in  all 
the  tenses,  is  no  proof  that  they  have  no  particular  time  of  their  own." — Murray  cor.  "  To  justify 
mi/xf/f'in  not  following  the  track  of  the  ancient  rhetoricians." — Blair  cor.  "  'trie putting-together 
of  letters,  so  as  to  make  words,  is  called  Spelling." — Inf.  S.  Gram.  cor.  "  What  is  the  putting- 
r  of  vowels  and  consonants  called  ? " — la.  "  Nobody  knows  of  their  charitableness,  but 
themselves."  Or  :  "  Nobody  knows  that  they  are  charitable,  but  themselves." — Fuller  cor.  "  Pay- 
ment was  at  length  made,  but  no  reason  was  assigned  for  so  long  a  postponement  of  it." — Murray 
ct  a/,  cor.  "  Which  will  bear  to  be  brought  into  comparison  with  any  composition  of  the  kind. 
— Ji/air  cor.  "  To  render  vice  ridiculous,  is  to  do  real  service  to  the  world." — Id.  "  It  is  a  direct 
copying  from  nature,  a  plain  rehearsal  of  what  passed,  or  was  supposed  to  pass,  in  conversation." 
— Id.  "  Propriety  of  pronunciation  catisixf.*  hi  giving  to  every  word  that  sound  which  the  most 
polite  usage  of  the  language  appropriates  to  it." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  200 ;  and  again,  p.  219. 
"  To  occupy  the  mind,  and  prevent  us  from  regretting  the  insipidity  of  a  uniform  plain." — Kames 
cor.  "  There  are  a  hundred  ways  in  which  any  thing  tuny  happen.  — Steelecor.  "  Tell  me,  seign- 
ior, for  what  cause  (or  why)  Antonio  sent  Claudio  to  Venice  yesterday." — Bucke  cor.  "As  you 
an-  looking  about  for  an  outlet,  some  rich  prospect  unexpectedly  opens  to  view." — Kames  cor. 
"A  hundred  volumes  of  modern  novels  may  be  read  without  communicating  a  new  idea."  Or 
thus  :  "A  person  may  read  a  hundred  volumes  of  modern  novels  without  acquiring  a  new  idea." — 
r  cur.  "  Poetry  admits  of  greater  latitude  than  prose,  with  respect  to  the  coining,  or  at 
least  the  new  compounding,  of  words." — Blair  cor.  "  When  laws  were  written  on  brazen  tablets, 
(in<{  enforced  by  the  sword." — Pope  cor.  "A  pronoun,  which  saves  the  naming  of  a  person  or 


jildint  is  a  struggle  for  consolation 


hand,  the  accelerating  or  the  retarding  of  the  natural  course,  excites  a  pain." — Id.  "  Human 
affairs  require  the  distributing  of  our  attention." — Id.  "  By  neglecting  this  circumstance,  the 
onfhorofthe  following  example  /m.v  made  it  defective  in  neatness." — Id.  "And  therefore  the 
suppressing  of  copulatives  must  animate  a  description." — Id  "If  the  omission  of  copulatives 
gives  force  and  liveliness,  a  redundancy  of  them  must  render  the  period  languid." — Id.  "  It  skills 
not,  to  ask  inv  leave,  said  Richard." — Sr-ott  <ur.  "  To  redeem  his  credit,  he  proposed  to  be  sent 
once  more  to  Sparta." — Goldsmith  cor.  "  Dumas  relates  that  he  gave  drink  to  a  dog." — Stonecor. 
"  Both  are,  in  a  like  way,  instruments  of  our  reception  q/'such  ideas  from  external  objects."— 
Butler  cor.  "  In  order  to  your  proper  handling  o/  such  a  subject." — Kjiect.  cor.  "  For  I  do  not 
•ecollect  it  preceded  by  an  open  vowel." — Knight  cor.  "  Such  is  the  setting-up  of  the  form  above 


GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 


mansion  has  undergone  a  thorough  repair." — Maunder  cor.  "  I  would  not  advise  the  following 
o/the  German  system  in  all  its  parts." — Lieber  cor.  "  Would  it  not  be,  to  make  the  students 
judges  of  the  professors?" — Id.  "  Little  time  should  intervene  between  the  proposing  of  them 
and  the  deciding  upon  them." — Vethake  cor.  "  It  would  be  nothing  less  than  to  find  fault  with 
the  Creator." — Lit.  Journal  cor.  "That  we  were  once  friends,  is  a  powerful  reason,  both  of  pru- 
dence and  of  conscience,  to  restrain  us  from  ever  becoming  enemies." — Seeker  cor.  "  By  using 
the  word  as  a  conjunction,  we  prevent  the  ambiguity." — Murray  cor. 

"  He  forms  his  schemes  the  flood  of  vice  to  stem,  ^ 

But  faith  in  Jesus  has  no  part  in  them." — J.  Taylor  cor. 

LESSON  VIII.— ADVERBS. 

"Auxiliaries  not  only  can  be  inserted,  but  are  really  understood." — Wright  cor.  "He  was 
afterwards  a  hired  scribbler  in  the  Daily  Courant." — Pope's  Annotator  cor.  "  In  gardening,  luckily., 
relative  beauty  never  need  stand  (or,  perhaps  better,  never  needs  to  stand)  in  opposition  to  relative 
beauty." — Kames  cor.  "I  much  doubt  the  propriety  of  the  following  examples." — Lowthcor. 
"And  [we  see]  how  far  they  have  spread,  in  this  part  of  the  world,  one  of  the  worst  languages 
possible" — Locke  cor.  "And,  in  this  manner,  merely  to  place  him  on  a  level  with  the  beast  of  the 
forest." — Smith  cor.  "Whither,  ah  !  whither,  has  my  darling  fled." — Anon.  "As  for  this  fellow, 
we  know  not  whence  he  is." — Bible  cor.  "  Ye  see  then,  that  by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and  not 
by  faith  only." — Id.  "  The  Mixed  kind  is  that  in  which  the  poet  sometimes  speaks  in  his  own 
person,  and  sometimes  makes  other  characters  speak." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "  Interrogation 
is  a  rhetorical  figure  in  which  the  writer  or  orator  raises  questions,  and,  if  he  pleases,  returns 
answers." — Fisher  cor.  "  Prevention  is  a  figure  in  which  an  author  starts  an  objection  which  he 
foresees  may  be  made,  and  gives  an  answer  to  it." — Id.  "  Will  you  let  me  alone,  or  not  ?  " — W. 
Walker  cor.  "  Neither  man  nor  woman  can  resist  an  engaging  exterior." — Chesterfield  cor. 
"  Though  the  cup  be  everso  clean." — Locke  cor.  "  Seldom,  or  never,  did  any  one  rise  to  eminence, 
by  being  a  witty  lawyer."  Or  thus  :  "Seldom,  if  ever,  has  any  one  risen  to  eminence,  by  being  a 
witty  lawyer." — Blair  cor.  "  The  second  rule  which  I  give,  respects  the  choice  of  the  objects 
from  ivhich  metaphors,  and  other  figures,  are  to  be  drawn." — Id.  "  In  the  figures  which  it  uses, 
it  sets  mirrors  before  us,  in  which  we  may  behold  objects  reflected  in  their  likeness." — Id.  "  Whose 
business  it  is,  to  seek  the  true  measures  of  right  and  wrong,  and  not  the  arts  by  which  he  may 
avoid  doing  the  one,  and  secure  himself  in  doing  the  other." — Locke -cor.  "  The  occasions  on 
^ch^ch  you  ought  to  personify  things,  and  those  on  which  you  ought  not,  cannot  be  stated  in  any 
precise  rule." — Cobbett  cor.  "  They  reflect  that  they  have  been  much  diverted,  but  scarcely  caii 
they  say  about  what." — Kames  cor.  "  The  eyebrows  and  shoulders  should  seldom  or  never  bo 
remarked  by  any  perceptible  motion." — J.  Q.  Adams  cor.  "And  the  left  hand  or  arm  should  sel 
dom  or  never  attempt  any  motion  by  itself." — Id.  right.  "Not  every  speaker  purposes  to  pleasi; 
the  imagination. '* — Jamieson  cor.  "And,  like  Gallic,  they  care  for  none  of  these  things."  Or  : 
"And,  like  Gallic,  they  care  little  for  any  of  these  things." — S.  cor.  "They  may  inadvertently 
be  used  where  their  meaning  would  be  obscure." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  Nor  can  a  man  make  him 
laugh." — Shak.  cor.  "  The  Athenians,  in  their  present  distress,  scarcely  knew  whither  to  turn." — 
Goldsmith  cor.  "  I  do  not  remember  where  God  ever  delivered  his  oracles  by  the  multitude." — 
Locke  cor.  "  The  object  of  this  government  is  twofold,  outward  and  inward." — Barclay  cor. 
"In  order  rightly  to  understand  what  we  read." — R.  Johnson  cor.  "That  a  design  had  been 
formed,  to  kidnap  or  forcibly  abduct  Morgan." — Col.  Stone  cor.  "  But  such  imposture  can  never 
long  maintain  its  ground." — Blair  cor.  "  But  surely  it  is  as  possible  to  apply  the  principles  of 
reason  and  good  sense  to  this  art,  as  to  any  other  that  is  cultivated  among  men." — Id.  "  It 
would  have  been  better  for  you,  to  have  remained  illiterate,  and  even  to  have  been  hewers  of 
wood." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  Dissyllables  that  have  two  vowels  which  are  separated  in  the  pronun- 
ciation, always  have  the  accent  on  the  first  syllable." — Id.  "And  they  all  turned  their  backs, 
almost  without  drawing  a  sword."  Or  :  "And  they  all  turned  their  backs,  scarcely  venturing  to 
draw  a  sword." — Kames  cor.  "  The  principle  of  duty  naturally  takes  precedence  of  every  other." 
— Id.  "Not  all  that  glitters,  is  gold." — Maunder  cor.  "Whether  now,  or  everso  many  myriads 
of  ages  hence."— Edwards  cor. 

"  England  never  did,  nor  ever  shall, 
Lie  at  the  proud  foot  of  a  conqueror." — Shak  cor. 

LESSON  IX.— CONJUNCTIONS. 

"  He  readily  comprehends  the  rules  of  syntax,  their  use  in  the  constructing  of  sentences,  and 
their  applicability  to  the  examples  before  him." — Greenleaf  cor.  "  The  works  of  JEschylus  have 
suffered  more  by  time,  than  those  of  any-  other  ancient  tragedian." — Blair  cor.  "  There  is  much 
more  story,  more  bustle,  and  more  action,  than  on  the  French  theatre." — Id.  (See  Obs.  8th  on 


than  such  as  is  suited  to  the  child's  capacity 
language,  than  to  represent  nouns." — Jamieson  cor.  "  The  speculative  relied  no  farther  on  their 
own  judgement,  than  to  choose  a  leader,  whom  they  implicitly  followed." — Kames  cor.  "  Unac- 
commodated man  is  no  more  than  such  a  poor,  bare,  forked  animal  as  thou  art." — Shak.  cor. 
"A  Parenthesis  is  a  suggestion  which  is  introduced  into  the  body  of  a  sentence  obliquely,  and 
which  may  be  omitted  without  injuring  the  grammatical  construction." — Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "The 
Caret  (marked  thus  A)  is  placed  where  something  that  happened  to  be  left  out,  is  to  be  put  into  the 
line>" — fid,  " When  I  visit  them,  they  shall  be  cast  down." — Bible  cor.  "Neither  our  virtues 
nor  our  vices  are  all  our  own." — Johnson  and  Sanborn  cor.  "  I  could  not  give  him  so  early  an 
answer  as  he  had  desired." — Peirce  cor.  "  He  is  not  so  tall  as  his  brother." — Nixon  cor.  "  It  is 


CHAP.    XII.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. GENERAL    REVIEW.  957 

difficult  to  judge  whether  Lord  Byron  is  serious  or  not." — L.  Blessington  cor.  "  Some  nouns  are 
of  both  the  second  and  the  third  declension." — Gould  cor.  "  He  was  discouraged  neither  by  dan- 
ger nor  by  misfortune." — Wells  cor.  "  This  is  consistent  neither  with  logic  nor  with  history." — 
Dial  cor.  "  Parts  of  sentences  are  either  simple  or  compound." — I).  Blair  cor.  "  English  verse 
is  regulated  rather  by  the  number  of  syllables,  than  by  feet :"  or, — "  than  by  the  number  of  feet." 
— Id.  "  I  know  not  what  more  he  can  do,  than  pray  for  him." — Locke  cor.  "  Whilst  they  are 
learning,  and  are  applying  themselves  with  attention,  they  are  to  be  kept  in  good  humour." — Id. 
"A  man  cannot  have  too  much  of  it,  nor  have  it  too  perfectly." — Id.  "  That  you  may  so  run,  as 
to  obtain  ;  and  so  fight,  as  to  overcome."  Or  thus  :  "  That  you  may  so  run,  that  you  may  obtain  ; 
and  so  fight,  that  you  may  overcome." — Penn  cor.  "  It  is  the  artifice  of  some,  to  contrive  false 
periods  of  business,  that  they  may  seem  men  of  despatch." — Bacon  cor.  "'A  tall  man  and  a 
woman.'  In  this  phrase,  there  is  no  ellipsis  ;  the  adjective  belongs  only  to  the  former  noun  ;  the 
quality  respects  only  the  man." — Ash  cor.  "  An  abandonment  of  the  policy  is  neither  to  be  ex- 
pected nor  to  be  desired." — Jackson  cor.  "  Which  can  be  acquired  by  no  other  means  than  by 
frequent  exercise  in  speaking." — Blair  cor.  "  The  chief  or  fundamental  rules  of  syntax  are  com- 
mon to  the  English  and  the  Latin  tongue."  Or: — "are  applicable  to  the  English  as  well  as  to 
the  Latin  tongue." — Id.  "  Then  I  exclaim,  cither  that  my  antagonist  is  void  of  all  taste,  or  that 
his  taste  is  corrupted  in  a  miserable  degree."  Or  thus  :  "Then  I  exclaim,  that  my  antagonist  is 
either  void  of  all  taste,  or  has  a  taste  that  is  miserably  corrupted." — Id.  "  I  cannot  pity  any  one 
who  is  under  no  distress  either  of  body  or  of  mind." — Kames  cor.  "  There  was  much  genius  in 
the  world,  before  there  were  learning  and  arts  to  refine  it." — Blair  cor.  "  Such  a  writer  can  have 
little  else  to  do,  than  to  new-model  the  paradoxes  of  ancient  scepticism." — Dr.  Broicn  cor. 
11  Our  ideas  of  them  being  nothing  else  than  collections  of  the  ordinary  qualities  observed  in 
them." — Duncan  cor.  "A  non-ens,  or  negative,  can  give  neither  pleasure  nor  pain."— -rKames  cor. 
"  So  that  they  shall  not  justle  and  embarrass  one  an  other." — Blair  cor.  "  He  firmly  refused  to 
make  use  of  any  other  voice  titan  his  own." — Murray's  Sequel,  p.  113.  "  Your  marching  regi- 
ments, sir,  will  not  make  the  guards  their  example,  either  as  soldiers  or  as  subjects." — Junius 
cor.  "Consequently  they  had  neither  meaning  nor  beauty,  to  any  but  the  natives  of  each 
country." — Sheridan  cor. 

"  The  man  of  worth,  who  has  not  left  his  peer, 
Is  in  his  narrow  house  forever  darkly  laid." — Burns  cor. 

LESSON  X.— PREPOSITIONS. 

"These  may  be  carried  on  progressively  beyond  any  assignable  limits." — Kames  cor.  "To 
crowd  different  subjects  into  a  single  member  of  a  period,  is  still  worse  than  to  crowd  them  into 
one  period." — /•/.  "  Nor  do  we  rigidly  insist  on  having  melodious  prose." — Id.  "  The  aversion 
we  have  to  those  who  differ  from  us." — Id.  "  For  we  'cannot  bear  his  shifting  of  the  scene  at 
every  line." — Halifax  cor.  "We  shall  find  that  we  come  by  it  in  the  same  way." — Locke  cor. 
"Against  this  he  nas  no  better  defence  than  that." — Barnes  cor.  "  Searching  the  person  whom 
he  suspects  of  having  stolen  his  casket." — Blair  cor.  "  Who,  as  vacancies  occur,  are  elected  by 
the  whole  Board." — Lit.  Journal  cor.  "Almost  the  only  field  of  ambition  for  a  German,  is  sci- 
ence."— Lieber  cor.  "  The  plan  of  education  is  very  different  from  the  one  pursued  in  the  sister 
country." — Coley  cor.  "Some  writers  on  grammar  have  contended,  that  adjectives  sometimes 
relate  to  verbs,  and  modify  their  action." — Wilcox  tor.  "They  are  therefore  of  a  mixed  nature, 
participating  the  properties  both  of  pronouns  and  of  adjectives." — Ingersoll  cor.  "For  there  is 
no  authority  which  can  justify  the  inserting  of  the  aspirate  or  the  doubling  of  the  vowel." — 
Knight  cor.  "The  distinction  and  arrangement  of  active,  passive,  and  neuter  verbs." — Wright 
cor.  "And  see  thou  a  hostile  world  spread  its  delusive  snares." — Kirkham  cor.  "  He  may  be 
prt'cnutioned,  and  be  made  to  see  how  thosejom  in  the  contempt." — Locke  cor.  "  The  contending 
of  themselves  in  the  present  want  of  what  they  wished  for,  is  a  virtue." — Id.  "  If  the  complaint  be 
about  something  really  worthy  of  your  notice." — Id.  "  True  fortitude  I  take  to  be  the  quiet  pos- 
session of  a  man's  self,  and  an  undisturbed  doing  o/'his  duty." — Id.  "  For  the  custom  ot  torment- 
ing and  killing  beasts,  will,  by  degrees,  harden  their  minds  even  towards  men." — Id.  "Children 
are  whipped  to  it,  and  made  to  spend  many  hours  of  their  precious  time  uneasily  at  Latin." — Id. 
"On  this  subject,  [the  Harmony  of  Periods,]  the  ancient  rhetoricians  have  entered  into  a  very 
minute  and  particular  detail;  more  particular,  indeed,  than  on  any  other  head  that  regards  lan- 
guage."— See  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  122.  "  But  the  one  should  not  be  omitted,  and  the  other  retained." 
Or:  "  But  the  one  should  not  be  used  without  the  other." — Bullions  cor.  "From  some  common 
forms  of  speech,  the  relative  pronoun  is  usually  omitted." — Murray  and  Weld  cor.  "There  are 
rt-ry  many  causes  which  disqualify  a  witness  for  being  received  to  testify  in  particular  cases." — 
.[(in/us  «>r.  "Aside  from  all  regard  to  intt  -hould  expect  that,"  \c. —  MW>.s7rr  ror. 

"  My  opinion  was  given  after  ;i  rather  cursory  perusal  of  the  book." — Murray  cor.  "And,  [on] 
the  next  day,  he  was  put  on  board  of  his  ship  "  Or  thus:  "And,  the  next  day,  he  was  put 
(thoard  his  ship." — Id.  "  Having  the  command  ot  no  emotions,  but  what  are  raised  by  sight." — 
K'/nii  .v  i-or.  "  Did  these  moral  attributes  exist  ii.  some  other  being  besides  himself."  Or. — "in 
some  other  being  than  himself." — \\'ayland  «>r.  ••  He  did  not  behave  in  that  manner  from  pride, 
or  f  from]  contempt  of  the  tribunal." — Murray's  .Vyw/,  p.  113.  "These  prosecutions  a</aini>t 
William  seem  to  have  been  the  most  iniquitous  measures  pursued  by  the  court." — Mnrnn/  and 
Pm  stli-i/  cur.  "  To  rfstorc-  myself  to  the  good  graces  of  my  fair  critics." — Dri/dm  for.  "  Objects 
denominated  beautiful,  please  not  by  virtue  of  any  one  quality  common  to  them  all." — Blair  car. 
"This  would  have  been  less  worthy  of  notice,  had  not  a  writer  or  two  of  high  rank  lately  adopted 
it." — Churchill  cor. 

"A  Grecian  youth,  o/*  talents  rare, 
Whom  Plato's  philosophic  care,"  £c. — WHITEHEAD  :  E.  R.  p.  196. 

LESSON  XL— PROMISCUOUS. 

"  To  excel  has  become  a  much  less  considerable  object." — Blair  cor.  "  My  robe,  and  my  in- 
tegrity to  Hcav'n,  are  all  I  dare  now  call  my  wn."—'En/ield'*  fycafcr,  p.  347.  "/or  thou  the 


958  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART    III. 

garland  wearst  successively." — Shak.  cor. ;  also  Enfield.  "If  then  thou  art  a  Roman,  take  it 
forth." — lid.  "  If  thou  prove  this  to  be  real,  thou  inust  be  a  smart  lad  indeed." — Neefcor.  "And 
an  other  bridge  of  four  hundred  /ee£  in  length." — Brightland  cor.  "  METONYMY  is  the  putting  of 
one  name  for  an  other,  on  account  of  the  near  relation  ichich  there  is  between  them." — Fisher 
cor.  "ANTONOMA.SIA  is  the  putting  o/"an  appellative  or  common  name  for  a  proper  name." — Id. 
"That  it  is  I,  should  make  no  difference  in  your  determination." — Bullions  cor.  "  The  first  and 
second  pages  are  torn."  Or:  "  The  first  and  the  second  page  are  torn."  Or:  "The  first  pay? 
and  the  second  are  torn." — Id.  "  John's  absence  from  home  occasioned  the  delay." — Id.  "  His 
neglect  of  opportunities  for  improvement,  was  the  cause  of  his  disgrace." — Id.  "He  will  regret 
his  neglect  o/'A/s-opportunities/or  improvement,  when  it  is  too  late." — Id.  "His  expertness  at 
dancing  does  not  entitle  him  to  bur  regard." — Id.  "  Ceesar  went  back  to  Rome,  to  take  possession  of 
the  public  treasure,  which  his  opponent,  by  a  most  unaccountable  oversight,  had  neglected  to  carry 
away  with  him." — Goldsmith  cor.  "And  Caesar  took  out  of  the  treasury,  gold  to  the  amount  of 
three  thousand  pounds'  weight,  besides  an  immense  quantity  of  silver."* — Id.  "  Rules  and  defi- 
nitions, which  should  always  be  as  clear  and  intelligible  as  possible,  are  thus  rendered  obscure." 
— Greenleaf  cor.  "  So  much  both  of  ability  and  o/'merit  is  seldom  found."  Or  thus  :  "  So  much 
of  both  ability  and  merit  is  seldom  found. "f — Murray  cor.  "  If  such  maxims,  and  such  practices 
prevail,  what  has  become  of  decency  and  virtue  ?  "j — Murray's  False  Syntax,  ii,  62.  Or:  "If 
such  maxims  and  practices  prevail,  what  will  become  of  decency  and  virtue?" — Murray  and 
Bullions  cor.  "  Especially  if  the  subject  does  not  require  so  much  pomp." — Blair  cor.  "How- 
ever, the  proper  mixture  of  light  arid  shade  in  such  compositions, — the  exact  adjustment  of  all 
the  figurative  circumstances  with  the  literal  sense, — has  ever  been  found  an  affair  of  great  nicety." 
— Blair's  Rhet.  p.  L51.  "And  adding  to  that  hissing  in  our  language,  which  is  so  much  noticed 
by  foreigners." — Addison,  Coote,  and  Murray  cor.  "  To  speak  impatiently  to  servants,  or  to  do 
any  thing  that  betrays  unkindness  or  ill-humour,  is  certainly  criminal."  Or  better :  "  Impatience, 
unkindness,  or  ill-humour,  is  certainly  criminal." — Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "Here  are  a  fullness  and 
grandeur  of  expression,  well  suited  to  the  subject." — Blair  cor.  "  I  single  out  Strada/rom  among 
the  moderns,  because  he  had  the  foolish  presumption  to  censure  Tacitus." — Murray  cor.  "  I 
single  him  outfrom  among  the  moderns,  because,"  &c. — Bolingbroke  cor.  "  This  rule  is  not  al- 
ways observed,  even  by  good  writers,  so  strictly  as  it  oughttobe." — Blair  cor.  "  But  this  gravity 
and  assurance,  which  are  beyond  boyhood,  being  neither  wisdom  nor  knowledge,  do  never  reach 
to  manhood." — Pope  cor.  "The  regularity  and  polish  even  of  a  turnpike-road,  have  some  in- 
fluence upon  the  low  people  in  the  neighbourhood." — Kames  cor.  "They  become  fond  of  regu- 
larity and  neatness  ;  and  this  improvement  of  their  taste  is  displayed,  first  upon  their  yards  and 
little  enclosures,  and  next  within  doors." — Id.  "  The  phrase,  '  it  is  impossible  to  exist,'  gives  ue. 
the  idea,  that  it  is  impossible  for  men,  or  any  body,  to  exist." — Priestley  cor.  "  I'll  give  a  thou- 


ber  of  the  persons — men,  women,  and  children — who  were  lost  in  the  sea,  was  very  great."     O:1 

thus:  "The  number  of  persons — men,  women,  and  children — that  were  lost  in  the  sea,  was   very 

great." — Id.     "  Nor  is  the  resemblance  between  the  primary  and  the  resembling   object  pointed 

out." — Jamieson  cor.  "  I  think  it  the  best  book  of  the  kind,  that  I  have  met  with." — Mathews  cor. 

"  Why  should  not  we  their  ancient  rites  restore, 

And  be  what  Rome  or  Athens  was  before  ?  " — Roscommon  cor. 

LESSON  XII.— TWO  ERRORS. 

"  It  is  labour  only  that  gives  relish  to  pleasure." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  Groves  are  never  more 
agreeable  than  in  the  opening  of  spring." — Id.  "  His  Philosophical  Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of 
our  Ideas  of  the  Sublime  and  the  Beautiful,  soon  made  him  known  to  the  literati." — See  Blair's 
Lect.  pp.  34  and  45.  "An  awful  precipice  or  tower  from  which  we  look  down  on  the  objects  which 
are  below." — Blair  cor.  "  This  passage,  though  very  poetical,  is,  however,  harsh  and  obscure  ; 
and  for  no  other  cause  than  this,  that  three  distinct  metaphors  are  crowded  together." — Id.  "I 
purpose  to  make  some  observations." — Id.  "  I  shall  here  follow  the  same  method  that  I  have  all 

alnnor  rmrsiied."'^7r/.      "  Mankind  fit  no  other  trrn.p.  rpspmhlp  nna  n.n.  nt.hpr  so  rminVi    as  thnv    dr»    in 


poems  does,  is,  to  cnoose  some  maxim  or  point  01  morality. 
always  been  most  justly  admired,  and  indeed  it  abounds  with  beauties  of  the  highest  kind." — Id. 
"  There  is  in  the  poem  no  attempt  towards  the  p  vinting  of  characters." — Id.  "  But  the  artificial 
contrasting  of  characters,  and  the  constant  introducing  o/'them  in  pairs  and  by  opposites,  give 
too  theatrical  and  affected  an  air  to  the  piece." — Id.  "  Neither  of  them  is  arbitrary  or  local." — 
Kames  cor.  "  If  the  crowding  of  figures  is  bad,  it  is  still  worse  to  graft  one  figure  upon  an  other." 
— Id.  "  The  crowding-together  of  so  many  objects  lessens  the  pleasure." — Id.  "  This  therefore 
lies  not  in  the  putt  ing -off  of  the  hat,  nor  in  the  making  of  compliments." — Locke  cor.  "  But  the 
Samaritan  Van  may  have  been  used,  as  the  Jews  used  the  Chaldaic,  both  for  a  vowel  and  for  a 
consonant." — Wilson  cor.  "  But  if  a  solemn  and  a  familiar  pronunciation  really  exist  in  our  lan- 
guage, is  it  not  the  business  of  a  grammarian  to  mark  both?" — J.  Walker  cor.  "By  making 

*  This  sentence  may  be  written  correctly  in  a  dozen  different  ways,  with  precisely  the  same  meaning,  and  very 
nearly  the  same  words.  I  have  here  made  the  noun  gohl  the  object  of  the  verb  took,  which  in  the  original  appears 
to  govern  the  noun  treasure,  or  money,  understood.  The  noun  amount  might  about  as  well  be  made  its  object,  by 
a  suppression  of  the  preposition  to.  And  again,  for  "pounds'1  weight,"  we  may  say,  "  pounds  in  weight."  The 
words  will  also  admit  of  many  different  positions.— G.  BROWN. 

t  See  a  different  reading  of  this  example,  cited  as  the  first  item  of  false  syntax  under  Rule  16th  above,  and  there 
corrected  differently.  The  words  "  both  of,"  which  make  the  difference,  were  probably  added  by  L.  Murray  in 
some  of  his  revivals ;  and  yet  it  does  not  appear  that  this  popular  critic  ever  got  the  sentence  right. — G.  BROWX. 

t  "  If  such  maxims,  and  such  practices  prevail,  what  has  become  of  national  liberty  ?  " — Hume's  History,  Vol. 
Tl,  p.  254  ;  Priestley's  Gram.  p.  128. 


CHAP.  III.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. GENERAL    REVIEW.  959 

sounds  follow  one  an  other  agreeably  to  certain  laws." — Gardiner  cor.  "  If  there  were  no  drink- 
ing o/"intoxicating  draughts,  there  could  be  no  drunkards." — Ptirce  cor.  "  Socrates  knew  his 
own  defects,  and  if  he  was  proud  of  any  thing,  it  was  of  being  thought  to  have  none." — Goldsmith 
ror.  "  Lysander,  having  brought  his  army  to  Ephesus,  erected  an  arsenal  for  the  building  of  gal- 
leys"— Id.  "  The  use  of  these  signs  is  worthy  of  remark." — Briqhtland  cor.  "  He  received  ~me 
in  the  same  manner  in  which  I  would  receive  you."  Or  thus  :  "  He  received  me  as  I  would  re- 
ceive you." — R.  C.  Smith  cor.  "  Consisting  of  both  the  direct  and  the  collateral  evidence." — But- 
ler cor.  "  If  any  man  or  woman  that  believetfe  hath  widows,  let  him  or  her  relieve  them,  and  let 
not  the  church  be  charged." — Bible  cor.  "  For  men's  sake  are  beasts  bred." — W.  Walker  cor. 
"  From  three  o'clock,  there  were  drinking  and  gaming." — Id.  "Is  this  he  that  I  am  seeking, 
or  not."  " — Id.  "And  for  the  upholding  of  every  one's  own  opinion,  there  is  so  much  ado." — Scin-.l 
cor.  "  Some  of  them,  however,  will  necessarily  be  noticed." — Sale  cor.  "The  boys  conducted 
themselves  very  indiscreetly." — Merchant  cor.  "Their  example,  their  influence,  their  fortune, — 
every  talent  they  possess,— -dispenses  blessings  on  a\\  persons  around  them." — Id.  and  Murray  cor. 
"  The  two  Reynoldses  reciprocally  converted  each  other."'— Johnson  cor.  "  The  destroying  of  the 
last  two,  Tacitus  calls  an  attack  upon  virtue  itself." — Goldsmith  cor.  "Moneys  are  your  suit." — 
Shak.  cor.  "Ch  is  commonly  sounded  like  tcht  as  in  church  ;  but,  in  words  derived  from  Gre^k, 
it  has  the  sound  of  k." — Murray  cor.  "  When  one  is  obliged  to  make  some  utensil  serve  for  pur- 
poses to  which  it  was  not  originally  destined." — Campbell  cor.  "  But  that  a  baptism  with  water 
is  a  washing-away  of  sin,  thou  canst  not  hence  prove. "-^Barclay  cor.  "  Being  spoken  to  but  one, 
it  infers  no  universal  command." — Id.  "  For  if  the  laying-aside  of  copulatives  gives  force  and 
liveliness,  a  redundancy  of  them  must  render  the  period  languid."— Btu'hanan  cor.  "  James  used 
to  compare  him  to  a  cat,  which  always  falls  upon  her  legs.1' — Adam  oar, 
"  From  the  low  earth  aspiring  genius  springs, 
And  sails  triumphant,  borne  on  eagle's  wings."— '•Lloyd  cor. 

LESSON  XIII.  — TWO  ERRORS. 

"An  ostentatious,  a  feeble,  a  harsh,  or  an  obscure  style,  for  instance,  is  always  faulty." — Blair 
cor.  "  Yet  in  this  we  find  that  the  English  pronounce  quite  agreeably  to  rule."  Or  thus:  "  Yet  in 
this  we  find  the  English  pronunciation  perfectly  agreeable  to  rule."  Or  thus  :  "  Yet  in  this  we  find 
that  the  English  pronounce  in  a  manner  perfectly  agreeable  to  rule."-^J.  Walker  cor.  "  But 
neither  the  perception  of  ideas,  nor  knowledge  of  any  sort,  is  a  habit,  though  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  the  forming  of  habits." — Butler  cor.  "They  were  cast;  and  a  heavy  fine  teas  'imposed 
upon  them." — Goldsmith  cor.  "  Without  making  this  reflection,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  spirit 
of  the  author,  or  relish  the  composition. "—#/«*>  cor  "The  scholar  should  be  instructed  in 
relation  to  the  finding  of  his  words."  Or  thus  :  "  The  scholar  should  be  told  how  to  find  his 
words." — Osborn  cor.  "And  therefore  they  could  neither  have  forged,  nor  have  reversified  them." 
— Knight  cor.  "A  dispensary  is  a  place  at  which  medicines  are  dispensed  to  the  poor." — Mur  cor. 
"  Both  the  connexion  and  the  number  of  words  are  determined  by  general  laws." — Xeefcor.  "An 
Anapest  has  the  first  two  syllables  unaccented,  and  the  last  one  accented  ;  as,  c6ntravene,  acqui- 
— Mur.  cor.  "An  explicative  sentence  is  one  in  which  a  thing  is  said,  in  a  direct  manner, 

I  to  be  or  not  to  be,  to  do  or  not  to  do,  to  suffer  or  not  to  suffer." — Lowth  and  Mur.  cor  "  BUT 
is  a  conjunction  whenever  it  is  neither  an  adverb  nor  a  preposition."* — Smith  cor.  "  He  wrote 
in  the  name  of  king  Ahasuerus,  and  sealed  the  writing  with  the  king's  ring." — Bible  cor. 
"  Camm  and  Andland  had  departed  from  the  town  before  this  time." — Sewel  cor.  "Be- 
fore  they  will  relinquish  the  practice,'  they  must  be  convinced." — Webster  cor.  "Which  he 
"had  thrown  up  before  he  set  out."— Gri'wsAato  cor.  "  He  left  to  him  the  value  of  a  hundred 
drachmas  in  Pcrs'ian  money." — Spect.  cor.  "All  that  the  mind  can  contemplate  concerning  them, 
must  be  divided  among  the  three." — Cardell  cor.  "  Tom  Puzzle  is  one  of  the  most  eminent  im- 
methodical  disputants,  of  all  that  hare  fallen  under  my  observation." — Sped.  cor.  "  When  you 
have  once  got  him  to  think  himself  compensated  for  his  suffering,  by  the  praise  which  is  given 
him  for  his  courage." — Locke  cor.  "  In  all  matters  in  which  simple  reason,  or  mere  speculation, 
is  concerned." — Sheridan  cor.  "And  therefore  he  should  be  spared  from  the  trouble  of  attend- 
ing to  any  thing  else  than  his  meaning."— Id.  "It  is  this  kind  of  phraseology  that  is  distin- 
guished by  the  epithet  idiomatical  ;  a  species  that  was  originally  the  spawn,  partly  of  ignorance, 
and  partly  of  affectation." — Campbell  and  Murray  cor.  "  That  neither  the  inflection  nor  tin-  let- 
ters are  such  as  could  have  been  employed  by  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Latium."— Kniuht  cor. 
"  In  those  cases  in  which  the  verb  is  intended  to  be  applied  to  any  one  of  the  terms."— 'Murniy 
cor.  "  But  these  people  who  know  not  the  law,  are  accursed." — 'liible  cor.  "And  the  magni- 
tude of  the  c/u>ruses  has  weight  and  sublimity." — Gardiner  cor.  "Dares  he  deny  that  there  are 
some  of  his  fraternity  guilty  ?  " — Barclay  cor.  "(jiving  an  account  of  most,  if  not  all,  of  the 
papers  which,  had  passed  betwixt  them." — Id.  "In  this  manner,  as  to  both  parsing  and  correct- 
ing, should  all  the  rules  of  syntax  be  treated,  being  tti ken  «;>  regularly  according  to  their  order." 
—  Murray  cor.  "7t>  Ovando  were  allowed  a  brilliant  retinue  and  a  bodyguard." — Sketch  cor. 
*  it  I  or  he.  that  you  requested  to  go  :  " — Kirkham  cor.  "  Let  thee  and  me  go  on." — Bunyan 
cor.  "  This  I  nowhere  affirmed  ;  and  /  do  wholly  deny  it." — Barclay  cor.  "  But  that  I  deny  ; 
and  it  remains  for  him  to  prove  it." — Id.  "  Our  country  sinks  beneath  the  yoke  ;  She.  weeps,  she 
bleeds,  and  each  new  day  a  gash  Is  added  to  her  wounds." — Shak.  cur.  "  Thou  art  the  Lord  who 
chose  Abraham,  and  brouglU  him  forth  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees." — liible  and  Mur.  cur.  "  He 
is  the  exhaustless  fountain,  from  which  emanate  all  these  attributes  that  exist  throughout  this 
wide  creation." — Wayland  cor.  "  I  am  he  who  has  communed  with  the  son  of  Neodes  ;  I  am  he 
who  has  entered  the  gardens  of  pleasure." — Wright  cur. 

h  were  in  ancient  times  the  tales  received, 
Such  by  our  good  forefati.  lieved." — Howe  cor. 

LESSON  XIV.  — TWO  ERRORS. 

"  The  noun  or  pronoun  that  stands  before  the  active  verb,  usually  represents  the  agent." — .4 
Murray  cor.     "  Such  seem  to  have  been  the  musings  of  our  hero  of  the  grammar-quill,  when  he 

*  According  to  my  notion,  but  is  never  a  preposition  ;  but  there  are  some  who  think  otherwise. — G.  BROWN. 


960  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  SYNTAX.       [PART  III. 

penned  the  first  part  of  his  grammar."— Merchant  cor.  "  Two  dots,  the  one  placed  above  the 
other  [:]  are  c'alled  Sheva,  and  are  used  to  represent  a  very  short  e," — Wilson  cor.  "  Great  have 
been,  and  are,  the  obscurity  and  difficulty,  in  the  nature  and  application  of  them"  [ :  i.  e. — of  nat- 
ural remedies]. — Butler  cor.  "  As  ,two  are  to  four,  so  are  four  to  eight." — Everest  cor.  "The 


then  distinguish  ?  "  —  Barclay  cor.  "  He  had  now  grown  so  fond  of  solitude,  that  all  company  hail 
become  uneasy  to  him."  —  Life  of  Cic.  cor.  "Violence  and  spoil  are  heard  in  her;  before 
me  continually  are  grief  and  wounds."  —  Bible  cor.  "  Bayle's  Intelligence  from  the  Republic 
of  Letters,  which  makes  eleven  volumes  in  duodecimo,  is  truly  a  model  in  this  kind."  — 
Formey  cor.  "  Pauses,  to  be  rendered  pleasing  and  expressive,  must  not  only  be  made 
in  the  right  place,  but  also  be  accompanied  with  a  proper  tone  of  voice."  —  Murray  cor. 
"  To  oppose  the  opinions  and  rectify  the  mistakes  of  others,  is  what  truth  and  sincerity  some- 
times require  of  us."  —  Locke  cor.  "  It  is  very  probable,  that  this  assembly  was  called,  to 
clear  some  doubt  which  the  king  had,  whether  it  were  lawful  for  the  Hollanders  to  throw  off*  the 
monarchy  of  Spain,  and  withdraw  entirely  their  allegiance  to  that  crown."  Or  :  —  "  about  the  law- 
fulness of  the  Hollanders'  rejection  of  the  monarchy  of  Spain,  and  entire  withdrawment  of  their 
allegiance  to  that  crown."  —  Murray  cor.  "A  naming  of  the  numbers  and  cases  of  a  noun  in  their 
order,  is  called  the  declining  of  it,  or  its  declension."  —  Frost  cor.  "  The  embodying  of  them  is, 
therefore,  only  a  collecting  of  such  component  parts  of  words."  —  Town  cor.  "The  one  is  the 
voice  heard  when  Christ  was  baptized;  the  other,  when  he  was  transfigured."  —  Barclay  cor.  "An 
understanding  of  the  literal  sense"  —  or,  "To  have  understood  the  literal  sense,  would  not  have 
prevented  them  from  condemning  the  guiltless."  —  Butler  cor.  "As  if  this  were,  to  take  the  exe- 
cution of  justice  out  of  the  hands  of  God,  and  to  give  it  to  nature."  —  Id.  "They  will  say, 
you  must  conceal  this  good  opinion  of  yourself;  which  yet  is  an  allowing  of  the  thing,  though 
not  of  the  showing  of  it."  Or:  —  "which  yet  is,  to  allow  the  thing,  though  not  the  showing  of 

' 


the  arranging  of  them  under  distinct  heads,  and  the  reducing  of  them  to  any  fixed  and  permanent 
rules,  may  be  considered  as  the  last  refinement  in  language."  —  Knight  cor.  "  The  fierce  anger  of  the 
Lord  shall  not  return,  until  he  hath  done  it,  and  until  he  hath  performed  the  intents  of  his  heart." 

—  Bible  cor.    "  We  seek  for  deeds  more  illustrious  and  heroic,  for  events  more  diversified  and  sur- 
prising." —  Blair  cor.     "  We  distinguish  the  genders,  or  the  male  and  the  female  sex,  in  four  dif- 
ferent ways."  —  Buchanan  cor.     "  Thus,  ch  and  g  are  ever  hard.     It  is  therefore  proper  to  retain 
these  sounds  in  those  Hebrew  names  which  have  not  been  modernized,  or  changed  by  public  use.  ' 

—  Dr.  Wilson  cor.     "A  Substantive,  or  Noun,  is  the  name  of  any  thing  which  is  conceived  to 
subsist,  or  of  which  we  have  any  notion."  —  Murray  and  Lowth  cor.     "A  Noun  is  the  name  of 
any  thing  which  exists,  or  of  which  we  have,  or  can  form,  an  idea."  —  Maunder  cor.     "A  Noun  i; 
the  name  of  any  thing  in  existence,  or  of  any  thing  of  which  we  can  form  an  idea."  —  Id.     "  Th? 
next  thing  to  be  attended  to,  is,  to  keep  him  exactly  to  the  speaking  of  truth."  —  Locke  cor.    "  Th3 
material,  the  vegetable,  and  the  animal  world,  receive  this  influence  according  to  their  several  ca- 
pacities." —  Dial  cor.    "And  yet  it  is  fairly  defensible  on  the  principles  of  the  schoolmen  ;  if  those 
things  can  be  called  principles,  which  consist  merely  in  words."  —  Campbell  cor. 

"Art  thou  so  bare,  and  full  of  wretchedness, 
And  fearst  to  die  ?     Famine  is  in  thy  cheeks, 
Need  and  oppression  starve  in  thy  sunk  eyes."  —  Shak.  cor. 

LESSON  XV.—  THREE  ERRORS. 

"  The  silver  age  is  reckoned  to  have  commenced  at  the  death  of  Augustus,  and  to  have  contin- 
ued till  the  end  of  Trajan's  reign."  —  Gould  cor.  "  Language  has  indeed  become,  in  modern  times, 
more  correct,  and  more  determinate."  —  Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  It  is  evident,  that  those  words  are  the 
most  agreeable  to  the  ear,  which  are  composed  of  smooth  and  liquid  sounds,  and  in  which  there 
is  a  proper  intermixture  of  vowels  and  consonants."  —  Id.  "  It  would  have  had  no  other  effect, 
than  to  add  to  the  sentence  an  unnecessary  word."  —  Id.  "  But  as  rumours  arose,  that  the  judges 
had  been  corrupted  by  money  in  this  cause,  these  gave  occasion  to  much  popular  clamour,  and 
threw  a  heavy  odium  on  Cluentius."  —  Id.  "A  Participle  is  derived/row  a  verb,  and  partakes  of 
the  nature  both  of  the  verb  and  of  an  adjective."  —  Ash  and  Dems  cor.  "  I  shall  have  learned  my 
grammar  before  you  will  have  learned  yours."  —  Wilbur  and  Livingston  cor.  "  There  is  no  other 
earthly  object  capable  of  making  so  various  and  so  forcible  impressions  upon  the  human  mind,  as  a 
complete  speaker."  —  Perry  cor.  "  It  was  not  the  carrying  of  the  bag,  that  made  Judas  a  thief 
and  a  hireling."  —  South  cor.  "As  the  reasonable  soul  and  the  flesh  are  one  man,  so  God  and  man 
are  one  Christ."  —  Creed  cor.  "And  I  will  say  to  them  who  were  not  my  people.  Ye  are  my  peo- 
ple ;  and  they  shall  say,  Thou  art  our  God."  —  Bible  cor.  "  Where  there  is  in  the  sense  nothing 
that  requires  the  last  sound  to  be  elevated  or  suspended,  an  easy  fall,  sufficient  to  show  that  the 
sense  is  finished,  will  be  proper."  —  L.  Mur.  cor.  "  Each  party  produce  words  in  which  the  letter 
a  is  sounded  in  the  manner  for  which  they  contend."  —  J.  Walker  cor.  "  To  countenance  persons 
that  are  guilty  of  bad  actions,  is  scarcely  one  remove  from  an  actual  commission  of  the  same 
crimes."  —  L.  Mur.  cor.  "  '  To  countenance  persons  that  are  guilty  of  bad  actions,'  is  a  phrase  or 
clause  which  is  made  the  subject  of  the  verb  'is.'"  —  Id.  "  What  is  called  the  splitting  of  parti- 
cles, —  that  is,  the  separating  of  a  preposition  from  the  noun  which  it  governs,  —  is  always  to  be 
avoided."  —  Blair  et  al.  cor.  (See  Obs.  loth  on  Rule  23d.)  "  There  is  properly  but  one  pause,  or 
rest,  in  the  sentence  ;  and  this  falls  betwixt  the  two  members  into  which  the  sentence  is  divided." 

—  lid.     "To  go  barefoot   does   not   at   all  help  a  man  on,  in  the  way  to   heaven."  —  Steele  cor. 
"  There  is  nobody  who  docs  not  condemn  this  in  others,  though  many  overlook  it  in  themselves."  — 
Locke  cor.     "  Be  careful  not  to  use  the   same  word  in  the  same  sentence  either  too  frequently  or 
in  different  senses."  —  Murray  cor.     "  Nothing  could  have  made  her  more  unhappy,  than  to  have 


CHAP.    XII.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. GENERAL    REVIEW.  961 


natural  affinity  or  mutual  dependence.  — Murray  cor.  "Animals,  again,  are  nttei 
other,  and  to  the  elements  or  regions  in  which  they  live,  and  to  which  they  are  as  ap 
Id.  "  This  melody,  however,  or  so  frequent  varying  of  the  sound  of  each  word,  is  a  p 
ing,  but  of  the  fine  ear  of  that  people." — Jamieson  cor.  "  They  can,  each  in  its  turn, 


married  a  man  of  such  principles." — Id.  "A  warlike,  various,  and  tragical  age  is  the  best  to 
write  of,  but  the  worst  to  write  in." — Cow  ley  cor.  "  When  thou  instancest  Peter's  baptizing  of  Cor- 
nelius."—  Barclay  cor.  "To  introduce  two  or  more  leading  thoughts  or  topics,  which  have  no 
natural  affinity  or  mutual  dependence." — Murray  cor.  "Animals,  again,  are  fitted  to  one  an 

are  as  appendices."— 
proof  of  noth- 
be  used  upon 

occasion." — Duncan  cor.  "  In  this  reign,  lived  the  poets  Gower  and  Chaucer,  who  are  the  first 
authors  that  can  properly  be  said  to  have  written  English." — Bucke  cor.  "  In  translating  ex- 
pressions of  this  kind,  consider  the  [phrase]  '  it  is,'  as  if  it  were  they  are." — W.  Walker  cor.  "  The 
chin  has  an  important  office  to  perform ;  for,  by  the  degree  of  its  activity,  we  disclose  either  a  polite 
or  a  vulgar  pronunciation." — Gardiner  cor.  "For  no  other  reason,  than  that  he  was  found  in 
bad  company." — Webster  cor.  "  It  is  usual  to  compare  them  after  the  manner  of  polysyllables."— 
Priestley  cor.  "  The  infinitive  mood  is  recognized  more  easily  than  any  other,  because  the  preposi- 
tion TO  precedes  it." — Bucke  cor.  "Prepositions,  you  recollect,  connect  words,  and  so  do  con- 
junctions :  how,  then,  can  you  tell  a  conjunction  from  a  preposition  f  "  Or  : — "  how,  then,  can  you 
distinguish  the  former  from  the  latter  *  " — R.  C.  Smith  cor. 
"  No  kind  of  work  requires  a  nicer  touch, 
And,  this  well  finish'd.  none  else  shines  so  much." — Sheffield  cor. 

LESSON  XVI.— THREE  ERRORS. 

"On  many  occasions,  it  is  the  final  pause  alone,  that  marks  the  difference  between  prose  and 
verse:  this  will  be  evident  from  the  following  arrangement  of  a  few  poetical  lines." — L.Murray 
cor.  "  I  shall  do  all  I  can  to  persuade  others  to  take^or  their  cure  the  same  measures  that  I  have 
taken  for  mine." — Guardian  cor.  ;  also  Murray.  "  It  is  the  nature  of  extreme  self-lovers,  that 
they  will  set  a  house  on  fire,  as  it  were,  but  to  roast  their  eggs." — Bacon  cor.  "  Did  ever  man 
struggle  more  earnestly  in  a  cause  in  which  both  his  honour  and  his  life  were  concerned  ?  " — Dun- 
can cor.  "  So  the  rests,  or  pauses,  which  separate  sentences  or  their  parts,  are  marked  by  points." 
— Lowth  cor.  "Yet  the  case  and  mood  are  not  influenced  by  them,  but  are  determined  by  the 
nature  of  the  sentence." — Id.  "Through  inattention  to  this  rule,  many  errors  have  been  com- 
mitted :  several  of  which  are  here  subjoined,  as  a  further  caution  and  direction  to  the  learner." — 
Murray  cor.  "  Though  thou  clothe  thyself  with  crimson,  though  thou  deck  thee  with  ornaments 
of  gold,  though  thou  polish  thy  face  with  painting,  in  vain  shalt  thou  make  thyself  fair."* — 
Bible  cor.  "  But  that  the  doing  of  good  to  others  will  make  us  happy,  is  not  so  evident ; 
the  feeding  of  the  hungry,  for  example,  or  the  clothing  of  the  naked."  Or:  "But  that,  to 
do  good  to  others,  will  make  us  happy,  is  not  so  evident;  to  feed  the  hungry,  for  example,  or  to 
clothe  the  naked." — Kames  cor.  "  There  is  no  other  God  than  he,  no  other  light  than  his."  Or  : 
"  There  is  no  God  but  he,  no  light  but  his." — Penn  cor.  "  How  little  reason  w  there  to  wonder, 
that  a  poiccrful  and  accomplished  orator  should  be  one  of  the  characters  that  are  most  rarely 
found  !  " — Blair  cor.  "  Because  they  express  neither  the  doing  nor  the  receiving  of  am.  action." — 
Inf.  N.  Gram.  cor.  "  To  find  the  answers,  will  require  an  effort  of  mind ;  and,  when  rig  Jit  answers 
en,  tht-ij  will  be  the  result  of  reflection,  and  show  that  the  subject  is  understood." — Id. 
"  '  The  sun  rises,'  is  an  express  ion  trite  and  common ;  but  the  same  idea  becomes  a  magnificent  im- 
age, when  expressed  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Thomson." — Blair  cor.  "  The  declining  of  a  word  is  the 
giving  of  its  different  endings."  Or :  "  To  decline  a  word,  is,  to  give  it  different  endings."— Ware 
c.or.  "And  so  much  are  they  for  allowing  every  one  to  follow  his  own  mind." — Barclay  cor. 
•'  More  than  one  overture  for  peace  were  made,  but  Cleon  prevented  thjem  from  taking  effect." — 
iit/i  cor.  "  Neither  in  English,  nor  in  any  other  language,  is  this  word,  or  that  which  cor- 
responds to  it  in  meaning,  any  more  an  article,  than  TWO,  THREE,  or  FOUR." — Webster  cor.  "But 
the  most  irksome  conversation  of  all  that  1  have  met  with  in  the  neighbourhood,  has  been  with 
two  or  three  of  your  travellers." — Sped.  cor.  "Set  down  the  first  two  terms  of  the  supposition, 
one  under  the  other,  in  the  first  place." — Smiley  cor.  "  It  is  a  useful  practice  too,  to  fix  one's  eye 
on  some  of  the  most  distant  persons  in  the  assembly." — Blair  cor.  "  He  will  generally  please  nit 
hearers  most,  when  to  please  them  is  not  his  sole  or  his  chief  aim." — Id.  "At  length,  the  consuls 
return  to  the  camp,  and  inform  the  soldiers,  that  they  could  obtain  for  them  no  other  terms  than 
(hose  of  surrendering  their  arms  and  passing  under  the  yoke." — Id.  "  Nor  are  mankind  so  much 
to  blame,  in  their  choice  thus  determining  them." — Swift  cor.  "These  forms  are  what  are  called 
the  Numbers."  Or:  "These  forms  are  called  Numbers." — Fosdick  cor.  "In  those  language* 
which  admit  but  two  genders,  all  nouns  are  either  masculine  or  feminine,  even  though  they  ae- 
sinuate  beings  that  are  neither  male  nor  female." — Id.  "  It  is  called  Verb  or  Wordby  way  of 
eminence,  because  it  is  the  most  essential  word  in  a  sentence,  and  one  without  which  the  other 
p;irts  of  speech  cannot  form  any  complete  sense." — Gould  cor.  "  The  sentence  will  consist  of  two 
members,  and  these  will  commonly  be  separated  from  each  other  by  a  comma." — Jamieson  cor. 
"  Loud  and  soft  in  speaking  are  like  thefortt  and  piano  in  music  ;  they  only  refer  to  the  different 
degrees  of  force  used  in  the  same  key  :  whereas  high  and  low  imply  a  change  of  key." — Sheridan 
cor.  "  They  are  chiefly  three :  the  acquisition  of  knowledge;  the  assisting  of  the  memory  to 
treasure  up  this  knowledge  ;  and  the  communicating  of  it  to  others." — Id. 
'•  Thin  kind  of  knaves  I  know,  icho  in  this  plainness 
Harbour  more  craft,  and  hide  corrupter  ends, 
Than  twenty  silly  ducking  observants." — Shak.  cor. 

LESSON  XVII.— MANY  ERRORS. 
"A  man  will  be  forgiven,  even/or  great  errors,  committed  in  a  foreign  language ;  but,  in  the  use 

*  "  Cum  vestieria  te  coccino,  cum  ornata  fueris  monili  aureo,  et  pinxeris  stibio  oculos  tuos,  frustra  compounds." — 
Vulgate  "'Euv  TrFpi/Ju?^  KVKKIVOV,  KOI  Koourjoy  KOOUCJ  xpvcu'  iuv  £•)  \picri  orifii  roi'f  o<j>$aAuoi'f  oov 
eif  uuTOlov  upaicuoc,  aav."—Sfptua^int.  "  Quoique  tu  te  reviles  de  pourpre,  que  tu  te  pares  d'ornemens  d'or, 
et  que  tu  te  peignes  les  yeux  avec  du  fartl,  tu  t'smbellis  en  vain." — French  Bible. 

69 


962  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 


ting-off  of  these  bodies." — Sherlock.  "  They  differ  from  the  saints  recorded  in  either  the  Old 
or  the  New  Testament." — Newton  cor.  "  The  nature  of  relation,  therefore,  consists  in  the  refer- 
ring or  comparing  of  two  things  to  each  other  ;  from  which  comparison,  one  or  both  come  to  be 
denominated." — Locke  cor.  "  It  is  not  credible,  that  there  is  any  one  who  will  say,  that  through 
the  whole  course  of  his  life  he  has  kept  himself  entirely  undefiled,  without  the  least  spot  or  stain  of 
sin." — Witsius  cor.  "  If  to  act  conformably  to  the  will  of  our  Creator. — if  to  promote  the  welfare 
of  mankind  around  us, — if  to  secure  our  own  happiness,  is  an  object  of  the  highest  moment ;  then 
are  we  loudly  called  upon  to  cultivate  and  extend  the  great  interests  of  religion  and  virtue."  Or  : 
"  If,  to  act  conformably  to  the  will  of  our  Creator,  to  promote  the  welfare  of  mankind  around  us, 
and  to  secure  our  own  happiness,  are  objects  of  the  highest  moment ;  then,"  &c. — Murray  et  al. 
cor.  "  The  verb  being  in  the  plural  number,  it  is  supposed,  that  the  officer  and  his  guard  are  joint 
agents.  But  this  is  not  the  case  :  the  only  nominative  to  the  verb  is  '  officer.'  In  the  expression, 
'  with  his  gtiard,'  the  noun1  guard'  is  in  the  objective  case,  being  governed  by  the  preposition 
with;  and  consequently  it  cannot  form  the  nominative,  or  any  part  of  it.  The  prominent  sub- 
ject^br  the  agreement,  the  true  nominative  to  the  verb,  or  the  term  to  which  the  verb  peculiarly  re- 
fers, is  the  word  '  officer.'  " — L.  Murray  cor.  "  This  is  an  other  use,  that,  in  my  opinion,  contributes 
to  make  a  man  learned  rather  than  wise  ;  and  is  incapable  of  pleasing  either  the  understanding  or 
the  imagination." — Addison  cor.  "  The  work  is  a  dull  performance  ;  and  is  incapable  of  pleasing 
either  the  understanding  or  the  imagination." — Murray  cor.  "I  would  recommend  the  'Ele- 
ments of  English  Grammar,'  by  Mr.  Frost.  The  plan  of  this  little  icork  is  similar  to  that  of  Mr.  L. 
Murray's  smallest  Grammar;  but,  in  order  to  meet  the  understanding  of  children,  its  definitions 
and  language  are  simplified,  so  far  as  the  nature  of  the  subject  will  admit.  It  also  embraces 
more  examples  jfor  Parsing,  than  are  usual  in  elementary  treatises." — S.  It.  Hall  cor.  "  More 
rain  falls  in  the  first  two  summer  months,  than  in  the  first  two  months  of  winter  ;  but  ivhat  falls, 
makes  a  much  greater  show  upon  the  earth,  in  winter  than  in  summer,  'because  there  is  a  much 
slower  evaporation." — Murray  cor.  "  They  often  contribute  also  to  render  some  persons  prosper- 
ous, though  wicked  ;  and,  ^ohat  is  still  worse,  to  reward  some  actions,  though  vicious  ;  and  pun- 
ish other  actions,  though  virtuous." — Butler  cor.  "  Hence,  to  such  a  man,  arise  naturally  a  se- 
cret satisfaction,  a  sense  of  security,  and  an  implicit  hope  of  somewhat  further." — Id.  "  So 
much  for  the  third  and  last  cause  of  illusion,  that  was  noticed  above ;  which  arises  from  the  abuse 
of  very  general  and  abstract  terms  ;  and  which  is  the  principal  source  of  the  abundant  nonsense 
that  has  been  vented  by  metaphysicians,  mystagogues,  and  theologians." — Campbell  cor.  "As 
to  those  animals  which  are  less  common,  or  which,  on  account  of  the  places  they  inhabit,  fall  le^  s 
under  our  observation,  as  fishes  and  birds,  or  which  their  diminutive  size  removes  still  further 
from  our  observation,  we  generally,  in  English,  employ  a  single  noun  to  designate  both  gender;, 
the  masculine  and  the  feminine." — Fosdick  cor.  "Adjectives  may  always  be  distinguished  ly 
their  relation  to  other  words  :  they  express  the  quality,  condition  or  number,  of  whatever  things  are 
mentioned." — Emmons  cor.  "An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or 
an  other  adverb  ;  and  generally  expresses  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner." — Broivris  Inst.  p.  2). 
"  The  joining -together  of  two  objects  so  grand,  and  the  representing  o/'them  both,  as  subject  at 
one  moment  to  the  command  of  God,  produce  a  noble  effect." — Blair  cor.  "  Twisted  columns, 
for  instance,  are  undoubtedly  ornamental ;  but,  as  they  have  the  appearance  of  weakness,  thoy 
displease  the  eye,  whenever  they  are  used  to  support  any  massy  part  of  a  building,  or  what  seems 
to  require  a  more  substantial  prop." — Id.  "In  a  vast  number  of  inscriptions,  some  upon  rocks, 
some  upon  stones  of  a  defined  shape,  is  found  an  Alphabet  different  from  the  Greeks',  the  Latins' t 
and  the  Hebrews',  and  also  unlike  that  of  any  modern  nation." — W.  C.  Fowler  cor. 

LESSON  XVIII.— MANY  ERRORS. 

"  The  empire  of  Blefuscu  is  an  island,  situated  on  the  northeast  side  of  Lilliput,  from  which  it  is 
parted  by  a  channel  of  only  800  yards  in  width." — Swift  and  Kames  cor.  "  The  nominative  case 
usually  denotes  the  agent  or  doer ;  and  any  noun  or  pronoun  which  is  the  subject  of  a  finite  verb,  is 
always  in  this  case." — Smith  cor.  "  There  are,  in  his  allegorical  personages,  an  originality,  a  rich- 
ness, and  a  variety,  which  almost  vie  with  the  splendours  of  the  ancient  mythology." — Hazlittcor. 
"As  neither  the  Jewish  nor  the  Christian  revelation  has  been  universal,  and  as  each  lias  been  afforded 
to  a  greater  or  a  less  part  of  the  world  at  different  times  ;  so  likewise,  at  different  times,  both  reve- 
lations have  had  different  degrees  of  evidence." — Butler  cor.  "  Thus  we  see,  that,  to  kill  a.  man  with 
a  sword,  and  to  kill  one  with  a  hatchet,  are  looked  upon  as  no  distinct  species  of  action  ;  but,  if  the 
point  of  the  sword  first  enter  the  body,  the  action  passes  for  a  distinct  species,  called  stabbing." — 
Locke  cor.  "  If  a  soul  sin,  and  commit  a  trespass  against  the  Lord,  and  lie  unto  his  neighbour  con- 
cerning that  which  was  delivered  him  to  keep,  or  deceivehis  neighbour,  or  find  that  which  was  lost, 
and  lie  concerning  it,  and swear  falsely;  in  any  of  all  these  that  a  man  doeth,  sinning  therein, 
then  it  shall  be,"  &c. — Bible  cor.  "As,  to  do  and  teach  the  commandments  of  God,  is  the  great 
proof  of  virtue  ;  so,  to  break  them,  and  to  teach  others  to  break  them,  are  the  great  proofs  of  vice." 
— Way  land  cor.  "  The  latter  simile,  in  Pope's  terrific  maltreatment  of  it,  is  true  neither  to  the 
mind  nor  to  the  eye." — Coleridge  cor.  "And  the  two  brothers  were  seen,  transported  with  rage  and 
fury,  like  Eteocles  and  Polynices,  each  endeavouring  to  plunge  his  sword  into  the  other's  heart,  and 
to  assure  himself  of  the  throne  by  the  death  of  his  rival." — Goldsmith  cor.  "  Is  it  not  plaiu, 
therefore,  that  neither  the  castle,  nor  the  planet,  nor  the  cloud,  which  you  here  see,  is  that  real 
one  which  you  suppose  to  exist  at  a  distance  ?  " — Berkley  cor.  "  I  have  often  wondered,  how  it 
comes  to  pass,  that  every  body  should  love  himself  best,  and  yet  value  his  neighbours'  opinion 
about  himself  more  than  his  own." — Collier  cor.  "  Virtue,  ('Aptr^,  Virtus,}  as  well  as  most  of  its 
species,  when  sex  is  figuratively  ascribed  to  it,  is  made  feminine,  perhaps  from  its  beauty  and  amia- 
ble appearance." — Harris  cor.  "  Virtue,  with  most  of  its  species,  is  made  feminine  who n personi~ 
ned ;  and  so  is  Vice,  perhaps  for  being  Virtue's  opposite." — Brit.  Gram.  cor. ;  also  Buchanan. 
"  From  this  deduction,  it  may  easily  be  seen,  how  it  comes  to  pass,  that  personification  makes  so 


CIIAP.    XIII.  J  KEY    TD    FALSE    SYNTAX. GENERAL    RULE.  963 

great  a  figure  in  all  compositions  in  which  imagination  or  passion  has  any  concern." — Blair  cor. 
"An  Article  is  a  word  placed  before  a  noun,  to  point  it  out  as  such,  and  to  show  how  far  its  signifi- 
cation extends." — Folker  cor.  '  "All  men  have  certain  natural,  essential,  and  inherent  rights; — 
among  which  are  the  rights  of  enjoying  and  defending  life  and  liberty  ;  qfacquiring,  possessing, 
and  protecting  property;  and,  in  "a  word,  of  seeking  and  obtaining  happiness." — N.  If.  cor. 
"  From  those  grammarians  who  form  their  ideas  and  make  their  decisions,  respecting  this  part  of 
English  grammar,  from  the  principles  and  construction  of  other  languages, — of  languages  which 
do  not  in  these  points  accord  with  our  own,  but  which  differ  considerably  from  i't, — we  may  natur- 
ally expect  grammatical  schemes  that  will  be  neither  perspicuous  nor  consistent,  and  that  will  tend 
rather  to  perplex  than  to  inform  the  learner." — Murray  and  Hill  <-or.  "Jmh-i-d  there  are  but  very 
few  who  know  how  to  be  idle  and  innocent,  or  who  have  a  relish  for  any  pleasures  that  are  not 
criminal ;  every  diversion  which  the  majority  take,  is  at  the  expense  of  some  one  virtue  or  other,  and 
their  very  first  step  out  of  business  is  into  vice  or  folly." — Addison  cor. 
"  Hail,  holy  Love  !  thou  bliss  that  sumst  all  bliss  ! 
(lir'st  and  receiv'st  all  bliss  ;  fullest  when  most 
Thou  giv'st;  spring-head  of  all  felicity  !  " — Pollok  cor. 


CHAPTER  XIII.  —  GENERAL  RULE. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  THE  GENERAL  RULE. 

LESSON  I.—  ARTICLES. 

(1.)  "  The  article  is  a  part  of  speech  placed  before  nouns."  Or  thus  :  "An  article  is  a  word  placed 
before  nouns."  —  Comfy  cor.  (2.)  "The  article  is  a  part  of  speech  used  to  limit  nouns."  —  Gilbert 
cor.  (3.)  "An  article  is  a  word  set  before  nouns  to  fix  their  vague  signification."  —  Ash  cor.  (4.) 
"The  adjective  is  a  part  of  speech  used  to  describe  something  named  by  a  noun."  —  Gilbert  cor. 
(5.)  "A  pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun."  —  Id.  and  Weld  cor.  :  Inst.  p.  45.  (6.)  "The 
pronoun  is  a  part  of  speech  which  is  often  used  in  stead  of  a  noun."  —  Brit.  Gram,  and  Buchanan 
cor.  (7.)  "A  verb  is  a  word  which  signifies  to  be,  to  do,  or  to  be  acted  upon."  —  Merchant  cor.  (8.) 
"The  verb  is  a  part  of  speech  which  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  receive  an  action."  —  Comly  cor. 
(9.)  "The  verb  is  the  part  of  speech  by  which  any  thing  is  asserted."—  Weld  cor.  (10.)  "The  verb 
is  a  part  of  speech,  which  expresses  action  or  existence  in  a  direct  manner."  —  Gilbert  cor.  (11.) 
"A  participle  is  a  word  derived  from  a  verb,  and  expresses  action  or  existence  in  an  indirect  man- 
ner." —  Id.  (12.)  "The  participle  is  a  part  of  speech  derived  from  the  verb,  and  denotes  being, 
doing,  or  suffering,  and  implies  time,  as  a  verb  does."  —  Brit.  Gram,  and  Buchanan  cor.  (13.) 
"The  adverb  is  a  part  of  speech  used  to  add  some  modification  to  the  meaning  of  verbs,  adjectives, 
and  participles."  —  Gilbert  cor.  (14.)  "An  adverb  is  an  indeclinable  word  added  to  a  verb,  [apar- 
ticiplr,}  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb,  to  express  some  circumstance,  accident,  or  manner  of  its 
signification."  —  Adam  and  Gould  cor.  (15.)  "An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  an  adjective, 
a  participle,  or  an  other  adverb,  to  express  the  circumstance  of  time,  place,  degree,  or  manner."  — 
Dr.  Ash  cor.  (16.)  "An  adverb  is  a  word  added  to  a  verb,  an  adjective,  a  participle,  or,  sometimes, 
an  other  adverb,  to  express  some  circumstance  respecting  the  sense."  —  Beck  cor.  (17.)  "  The  adverb 
is  a  part  of  speech,  which  is  added  to  verbs,  adjectives,  participles,  or  to  other  adverbs,  to  express 
some  modification  or  circumstance,  quality  or  manner,  of  their  signification."  —  Buchanan  cor. 
(18.)  "The  adverb  is  a  part  of  speech  whichwe  add  to  the  verb,  (whence  the  name,)  to  the  adjective 
or  participle  likewise,  and  sometimes  even  to  an  other  adverb."  —  Bucke  cor.  (19.)  "A  conjunction 
is  a  word  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences."  —  Gilbert  and  Weld  cor.  (20.)  "  The  conjunction  is  a 
part  of  speech  that  joins  words  or  sentences  together."  —  Ash  cor.  (21.)  "  The  conjunction  is  that 
part  of  speech  which  connects  sentences,  or  parts  of  sentences,  or  single  words."  —  D.  Blair  cor. 
(22.)  "The  conjunction  is  a  part  of  speech  that  is  used  principally  to  connect  sentences,  so  as,  out 
of  two,  three,  or  more  sentences,  to  make  one."  —  Bucke  cor.  (23.)  "The  conjunction  is  a  part  of 
speech  that  is  used  to  connect  words  or  sentences  together  ;  but,  chiefly,  to  join  simple  sentences 
into  such  as  are  compound."  —  Kirkham  cor.  (24.)  "A  conjunction  is  a  word  which  joins  words  or 
sentences  together,  and  shows  the  manner  o 
drum,  et  al.  cor.  (25.)  "A  preposition  is  a 
and  govern  the  subseauent  term."  —  Gilbert  c 
serves  to  connect  other  words,  and  to  show 


.  .          . 

sentences  together,  and  shows  the  manner  of  their  dependence,  as  they  stand  in  connexion."  —  Brit. 
drum,  et  al.  cor.     (25.)  "A  preposition  is  a  word  used  to  show  the  relation  between  other  words, 


and  govern  the  subseauent  term."  —  Gilbert  cor.      (26.)  "A  preposition  is  a  governing  word  which 

w  the  relation  between  them."  —  Frost  cor.      (27.)  "A 


preposition  is  a  part  of  speech,  which,  being  added  to  certain  other  parts  of  speech,  serves  to  show 
their  state  of  relation,  or  their  reference  to  each  other." — Brit.  Gram,  and  Buchanan  cor.  (30.) 
"  T/K'  interjection  is  a  part  of  speech  used  to  express  sudden  passion  or  strong  emotion." — Gilbert 
cor.  (31.)  "An  interjection  is  an  unrt»in<'rtr<l  irurd  used  in  giving  utterance  to  some  sudden  feel- 
ing or  strong  emotion." —  Weld  cor.  (32.)  "  The  interjection  is  that  part  of  speech  which  denotes 
any  sudden  affection  or  strong  emotion  of  the  mind." — Blair  cor.  (33.)  "An  interjection  is  on 
inih-jn-ndent  word  or  sound  thrown  into  discourse,  and  denotes  some  sudden  passion  or  strong  emo- 
tion of  the  soul." — Brit.  Gram,  and  Bu<J,<in.-. 

(34.)  "The  scene  might  tempt  some  peaceful  sage 

To  rear  a  lonely  hermitage." — Gent,  of  Aberdeen  cor. 
(3-3.)  "  Not  all  the  storms  that  shake  the  pole, 
Can  e'er  disturb  thy  halcyon  soul, 

And  smooth' unaltered  brovrS'—Barbauld's  Poems,  p.  42. 

LESSON  II.— NOUNS. 

"The  throne  of  every  monarchy  felt  tho  shock." — FnKtwhvyifH  <"<•>'.     "These  principles  ought 
to  be  deeply  impressed,  upon  the  mind  of  every  American." — Dr.   N.    Webster  cor.     "  Th«  words 


964  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

CHURCH  and  SHIRE  are  radically  the  same." — Id.  "They  may  not,  in  their  present  form,  be 
readily  accommodated  to  every  circumstance  belonging  to  the  possessive  case  of  nouns." — L. 
Murray  cor.  "  Will,  in  the  second  and  third  persons,  only  foretells." — Id.  :  Lowth's  Gram.  p. 
41.  "  Which  seem  to  form  the  true  distinction  between  the  subjunctive  and  the  indicative  mood." 
—Murray  cor.  "  The  very  general  approbation  which  this  performance  of  Walker's  has  received 
from  the  public." — Id.  "  Lest  she  carry  her  improvements  of  this  kind  too  far."  Or  thus  :  "  Lest 
she  carry  her  improvements  in  this  way  too  far." — Id.  and  Campbell  cor.  "  Charles  was  extrav- 
agant, and  by  his  prodigality  became  poor  and  despicable." — Murray  cor.  "  We  should  entertain 
no  prejudice  against  simple  and  rustic  persons."— Id.  "  These  are  indeed  ihefoundation  of  all  solid 
merit."— Dr.  Blair  cor.  "And  his  embellishment,  by  means  of  figures,  musical  cadences,  or  other 
ornaments  of  speech." — Id.  "  If  he  is  at  no  pains  to  engage  us  by  the  employment  of  figures, 
musical  arrangement,  or  any  other  ornament  of  style."— Id.  "  The  most  eminent  of  the  sacred 
poets,  are,  David,  Isaiah,  and  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Job."— Id.  "  Nothing,  in  any  poem,  is 
more  beautifully  described  than  the  death  of  old  Priam."— Id.  "  When  two  vowels  meet  to- 
gether, and  are  joined  in  one  syllable,  they  are  called  a  diphthong." — Inf.  S.  Gram.  cor.  "  How  many 
Esses  would  goodness'  then  end  with  ?  Three;  us  goodness' s." — Id.  "Birds  is  a  noun;  it  is  the 
common  name  of  feathered  animals." — Kirkham  cor.  "Adam  gave  names  to  all  living  creatures." 
Or  thus  :  "Adam  gave  a  name  to  every  living  creature." — Bicknell  cor.  "  The  steps  of  a  flight  of 
stairs  ought  to  be  accommodated  to  the  human  figure."  Or  thus  :  "Stairs  ought  to  be  accom- 
modated to  the  ease  of  the  users." — Kames  cor.  "  Nor  ought  an  emblem,  more  than  a  simile,  to 
be  founded  on  a  low  or  familiar  object." — Id.  "Whatever  the  Latin  has  not  from  the  Greek,  it 
has  from  the  Gothic." — Tooke  cor.  "  The  mint,  and  the  office  of  the  seci-ctary  of  state,  are  neat 
buildings." — The  Friend  cor.  "  The  scenes  of  dead  and  still  existence  are  apt  to  fall  upon  us." — 


the  three  following  methods  of  distinguishing  the  sexes. " — Jaudon  cor.  "  There  are  three  ways  of 
distinguishing  the  sexes." — Lennie  et  al.  cor.;  also  Merchant.  "The  sexes  are  distinguished  in 
three  ways." — Maunder  cor.  "  Neither  discourse  in  general,  nor  poetry  in  particular,  can  be  called 
altogether  an  imitative  art." — Blair  cor. 

"Do  we  for  this  the  gods  and  conscience  brave, 
That  one  may  rule  and  all  the  rest  enslave?  " — Roice  cor. 

LESSON  III.— ADJECTIVES. 

cor.  "  For,  of  all 
men  that  I  met  in 
am  surprised  to  see  so  much  of 
the  distribution,  and  so  many  of  the  technical  terms,  of  the  Latin  grammar,  retained  in  the  gram 
mar  of  our  tongue." — Priestley  cor.  "  Nor  did  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  bring  him  any  assistance.' 
— Hume  and  Priestley  cor.  "  Else  he  will  find  it  difficult  to  make  an  obstinate  person  believe 
him." — Brightland  cor.  "Are  there  any  adjectives  which  form  the  degrees  of  comparison  in  c 
manner  peculiar  to  themselves  ?  " — Inf.  S.  Gram.  cor.  "  Yet  all  the  verbs  are  of  the  indicative 
mood." — Lowth  cor.  "  The  word  candidate  is  absolute,  in  the  nominative  case." — Murray  cor 
"An  Iambus  has  the  first  syllable  unaccented,  and  the  last  accented." — L.  Murray,  D.  Blair, 
Jamieson,  Kirkham,  Bullions,  Guy,  Merchant,  and  others.  "A  Dactyl  has  the  first  syllable  ac- 
cented, and  the  last  two  [syllables]  unaccented." — Murray  et  al.  cor.  "  It  is  proper  to  begin  with 
a  capital  the  first  word  of  every  book,  chapter,  letter,  note,  or*  other  piece  of  writing." — Jaudon's 
Gram.  p.  195  ;  John  Flint's,  105.  "Five  and  seven  make  twelve,  and  one  more  makes  thirteen." 
— Murray  cor.  "  I  wish  to  cultivate  a  nearer  acquaintance  with  you." — Id.  "Let  us  consider 
the  means  which  are  proper  to  effect  our  purpose."  Or  thus  :  "  Let  us  consider  what  means  are 
proper  to  effect  our  purpose." — Id.  "  Yet  they  are  of  so  similar  a  nature  as  readily  to  mix  and 
blend." — Blair  cor.  "  The  Latin  is  formed  on  the  same  model,  but  is  more  imperfect." — Id.  "  I 
know  very  well  hovr  great  pains  have  been  taken."  Or  thus  :  "  I  know  very  well  how  much  care 
has  been  taken." — Temple  cor.  "  The  management  of  the  breath  requires  a  great  deal  of  care." 
— Blair  cor.  "Because  the  mind,  during  such  a  momentary  stupefaction,  is,  in  a. great  measure, 
if  not  totally,  insensible." — Kames  cor.  "  Motives  of  reason  and  interest  alone  are  not  sufficient." 
— Id.  "  To  render  the  composition  distinct  in  its  parts,  and  on  the  whole  impressive." — Id.  "A 
and  an  are  named  the  Indefinite  article,  because  they  denote  indifferently  any  one  thing  of  a  kind." 
—Maunder  cor.  "  The  is  named  the  Definite  article,  because  it  points  out  some  particular  thing 
or  things." — Id.  "  So  much  depends  upon  the  proper  construction  of  sentences,  that,  in  any  sort 
of  composition,  we  cannot  be  too  strict  in  our  attention  to  it."  Or  :— "  that,  in  every  sort  of  com- 
position, we  ought  to  be  very  strict  in  our  attention  to  it."  Or :— "  that,  in  no  sort  of  composition, 
can  we  be  too  strict,"  &c. — Blair  cor.  "Every  sort  of  declamation  and  public  speaking,  was  car- 
ried on  by  them."  Or  thus:  "All  sorts  of  declamation  and  public  speaking,  were  carried  on  by 
them." — Id.  "  The  former  has,  on  many  occasions,  a  sublimity  to  which  the  latter  never  attains." 
— Id.  "  When  the  words,  therefore,  consequently,  accordingly,  and  the  like  are  used  in  connexion 
with  conjunctions,  they  are  adverbs." — Kirkham  cor.  "  itude  nations  make  jfew  or  no  allusions 
to  the  productions  of  the  arts." — Jamieson  cor.  "  While  two  of  her  maids  knelt  on  each  side  of 
her."  Or,  if  there  were  only  two  maids  kneeling,  and  not  four  :  "  While  two  of  her  maids  knelt, 
one  on  each  side  of  her." — Mirror  cor.  "  The  personal  pronouns  of  the  thirdperson,  differ  from  one  an 
other  in  meaning  and  use,  as  follows." — Biillions  cor.  "  It  was  happy  for  the  state,  that  Fabius  con- 


*  The  word  "  any  "  is  here  omitted,  not  merely  because  it  is  unnecessary,  but  because  "  every  any  other  piece," 
— with  which  a  score  of  our  grammarians  have  pleased  themselves, — is  not  good  English.  The  impropriety  might 
perhaps  be  avoided,  though  less  elegantly,  by  repeating  the  preposition,  and  saying,—"  or  of  any  other  piece  of 
writing."— G.  BROWN. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  KEY   TO    FALSE  SYNTAX. GENERAL   RULE.  965 

objected,  that  in  all  the  preceding  sentences  the  words  must  and  ought  are  in  the  present  tense." 
— Murray  cor.  "  But  it  will  be  well,  if  you  turn  to  them  now  and  then."  Or: — "  if  you  turn  to 
them  occasionally." — Bucke  cor.  "  That  every  part  should  have  a  dependence  on,  and  mutually 
contribute  to  support,  every  other." — Rollin  cor.  "The  phrase,  'Good,  my  lord,'  is  not  common, 
and  is  low."  Or  : — "  is  uncommon,  and  low." — Priestley  cor. 

"  That  brother  should  not  war  with  brother, 
And  one  devour  or  vex  an  other." — Cowper  cor. 

LESSON  IV.— PRONOUNS. 

"  If  I  can  contribute  to  our  country's  glory."  Or  : — "  to  your  glory  and  that  of  my  country" — 
Goldsmith  cor.  "As  likewise  of  the  several  subjects,  which  have  in  effect  each  tteverb." — Lowth 
cor.  "  He  is  likewise  required  to  make  examples  for  himself."  Or:  "  He  himself  is  likewise  re- 
quired to  make  examples." — J.  Flint  cor.  "  If  the  emphasis  be  placed  wrong,  it  will  pervert  and 
confound  the  meaning  wholly."  Or :  "  If  the  emphasis  be  placed  wrong,  the  meaning  will  be  per- 
verted  and  confounded  wholly."  Or  :  "  If  we  place  the  emphasis  wrong,  we  pervert  and  confound 
the  meaning  wholly." — Blair  cor. ;  also  Murray.  "  It  was  this,  that  characterized  the  great  men 
of  antiquity ;  it  is  this,  that  must  distinguish  the  moderns  who  would  tread  in  their  steps." — Id. 
"  I  am  a  great  enemy  to  implicit  faith,  as  well  the  Popish  as  the  Presbyterian  ;  for,  in  that,  the 
Papists  and  the  Presbyterians  are  very  much  alike." — Barclay  cor.  "  Will  he  thence  dare  to  say, 
the  apostle  held  an  other  Christ  than  him  that  died  ?  " — Id.  "  Why  need  you  be  anxious  about 
this  event  ?"  Or:  "  What  need  have  you  to  be  anxious  about  this  event." — Collier  cor.  "If  a 
substantive  can  be  placed  after  the  verb,  the  latter  is  active." — A.  Murray  cor.  "To  see  bad  men 
honoured  and .prosperous  in  the  world,  is  some  discouragement  to  virtue."  Or:  "It  is  some  discour- 
agement to  virtue,  to  see  bad  men,"  &c. — L.  Murray  cor.  "  It  is  a  happiness  to  young  persons, 
to  be  preserved  from  the  snares  of  the  world,  as  in  a  garden  enclosed." — Id.  "At  the  court  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  where  all  was  prudence  and  economy." — Bullions  cor.  "It  is  no  wonder,  if 
such  a  man  did  not  shine  at  the  court  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  was  so  remarkable  for  her  prudence 
and  economy." — Priestley,  Murray,  et  al.  cor.  "A  defective  verb  is  a  verb  that  wants  some  parts. 
The  defective  verbs  are  chiefly  the  auxiliaries  and  the  impersonal  verbs." — Bullions  cor.  "  Some 


a  noun." — Merchant  cor.     "  To  some  of  these,  there  is  a  preference  to  be  given,  which  custom 
and  judgement  must  determine." — L.  Murray  cor.     "  Manv  writers  affect  to  subjoin  to  any  word 
the  preposition  with  which  it  is  compounded,  or  that  of  which  it  literally  implies  the  idea." — Id. 
"  Say,  dost  thou  know  Vectidius  ?     Whom,  the  wretch 
Whose  lands  beyond  the  Sabines  largely  stretch  ?  " — Dryden  cor. 

LESSON  V.— VERBS. 

"We  should  naturally  expect,  that  the  word  depend  would  require  from  after  it." — Priestley's 
Gram.  p.  158.  "A  dish  which  they  pretend  is  made  of  emerald." — Murray  cor.  "  For  the  very 
nature  of  a  sentence  implies  that  one  proposition  is  expressed." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  311. 
"Without  a  careful  attention  to  the  sense,  we  should  be  naturally  led,  by  the  rules  of  syntax,  to 
refer  it  to  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun." — Blair  cor.  "  For  any  rules  that  can  be  given,  on 
this  subject,  must  be  very  general." — Id.  "  He  wotild  be  in  the  right,  if  eloquence  were  what  he 
conceives  it  to  be." — Id.  "  There  I  should  prefer  a  more  free  and  diffuse  manner." — Id.  "  Yet 
that  they  also  resembled  one  an  other,  and  agreed  in  certain  qualities." — Id.  "  But,  since  he  must 
restore  her,  he  insists  on  having  an  other  in  her  place." — Id.  "  But  these  are  far  from  being  so 
frequent,  or  so  common,  as  they  have  been  supposed  to  be." — Id.  "We  are  not  led  to  assign  a 
wrong  place  to  the  pleasant  or  the  painful  feelings." — Kames  cor.  "  Which  are  of  greater  im- 
portance than  they  are  commonly  thought." — Id.  "  Since  these  qualities  are  both  coarse  and 
common,  let  us  find  out  the  mark  of  a  man  of  probity." — Collier  cor.  "  Cicero  did  what  no 
man  had  ever  done  before  him  ;  he  drew  up  a  treatise  of  consolation  for  himself." — Biographer 
cor.  "  Then  there  can  remain  no  other  doubt  of  the  truth." — Brightland  cor.  "  I  have  observed 
that  some  satirists  use  the  term."  Or  :  "I  have  observed  some  satirists  to  use  the  term." — Bul- 
lions cor.  "  Such  men  are  ready  to  despond,  or  to  become  enemies." — Webster  cor.  "Common 
nouns  are  names  common  to  many  things." — Inf.  S.  Gram.  cor.  "To  make  ourselves  heard  by 
one  to  whom  we  address  ourselves." — Blair  cor.  "  That,  in  reading  poetry,  he  may  be  the  better 
able  to  judge  of  its  correctness,  and  may  relish  its  beauties."  Or  : — "and  to  relish  its  beauties." 
—  Murrai/  t  or.  "  On  the  stretch  to  keep  pace  with  the  author,  and  comprehend  his  meaning." — 
niair  cor.  "  For  it  might  have  been  sold  for  more  than  three  hundred  pence,  and  the  money 
have  been  given  to  the  poor." — Bible  cor.  "  He  is  a  beam  that  has  departed,  and  has  left  no 


streak  of  light  behind." — Ossian  cor.     "  No  part  of  this  incident  ought  to  have  been  represented. 
••  ;/• hole  should  have  been  reserved  for  a  narrative." — Kames  cor.     "  The  rulers   and   people 


but  the  irhole 


debauching  themselves,  a  country  is  brought  to  ruin."  Or:  "When  the  rulerg  and  people  de- 
hauch  themselves,  they  bring  ruin  on  a  country." — Ware  cor.  "When  a  title,  fas  Doctor,  Miss, 
r,  &c.,)  is  prefixed  to  a  name,  the  latter  only,  of  the  two  words,  is  commonly  varied  to  form 
the  plural ;  as,  •  The  Doctor  \rt tit-tons,'— '  The  two  Miss  Iludsons.'  "—A.  Murray  cor.  ••  Where- 
fore that  field  has  been  called,  'The  Field  of  Blood,'  unto  this  day."— Bible  cor.  "  To  compre- 
hend the  situations  of  other  countries,  which  perhaps  it  may  be  necessary  for  him  to  explore." — 
Dr.  liroirn  cor.  "  We  content  ourselves  now  with  fewer  conjunctive  particles  than  our  ancestors 
used." — Priestley  cor.  "And  who  will  be  chiefly  liable  to  make  mistakes  where  others  have  erred 
before  them." — Id.  "The  voice  of  nature  and  that  of  revelation  unite."  Or:  "Revelation  and 
the  voice  of  nature  unite."  Or  :  "  The  voice  of  nature  unites  with  revelation."  Or  :  "  The  voice 
of  nature  unites  with  that  of  revelation." — Wayland  cor. 

"  This  adj'ective,  you  see,  we  can't  admit ; 
But,  changed  to  •  WORSE,'  the  word  is  just  and  fit." — Tobitt  cor. 


966  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

LESSON  VI.— PARTICIPLES. 

"  Its  application  is  not  arbitrary,  or  dependent  on  the  caprice  of  readers." — Murray  cor.  "  This 
is  the  more  expedient,  because  the  work  is  designed  for  the  benefit  of  private  learners." — Id.  "  A 
man,  he  tells  us,  ordered  by  his  will,  to  have  a  statue  erected  for  him." — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  From 
some  likeness  too  remote,  and  lying  too  far  out  of  the  road  of  ordinary  thought." — Id.  "  In  the 
commercial  world,  money  is  a  fluid,  running  from  hand  to  hand." — Dr.  Webster  cor.  "  He  pays. 

understood  to  con- 
great  master  of 

?-___„  __,  ..  ,  ..0 1  the  writing  of 
" — Bates's  Rep.  cor.  "  Exclamations  are  sometimes  mistaken  for  interrogations." — Hist, 
of  Print,  cor.  "  Which  cannot  fail  to  prove  of  service." — Smith  cor.  "  Hewn  into  such  figures  as 
would  make  them  incorporate  easily  and  firmly." — Beat,  or  Mur.  cor.  "After  the  rule  and  exam- 
ple, there  are  practical  inductive  questions." — J.  Flint  cor.  "  I  think  it  will  be  an  advantage, 
that  I  have  collected  my  examples  from  modern  writings." — Priestley  cor.  "  He  was  eager  to 
recommend  it  to  his  fellow-citizens."— Id.  and  Hume  cor.  "  The  good  lady  was  careful  to  serve 
me  with  every  thing." — Id.  "  No  revelation  would  have  been  given,  had  the  light  of  nature  been 
sufficient,  in  such  a  sense  as  to  render  one  superfluous  and  useless." — Butler  cor.  "  Description, 
again,  is  a  representation  which  raises  in  the  mind  the  conception  of  an  object,  by  means  of  some 
arbitrary  or  instituted  symbols." — Blair  cor.  "  Disappointing  the  expectation  of  the  hearers, 
when  they  look  for  an  end."  Or  : — "  for  the  termination  of  our  discourse." — Id.  "  There  is  a 
distinction,  which,  in  the  use  of  them,  is  worthy  of  attention." — Maunder  cor.  "A  model  has  been 
contrived,  which  is  not  very  expensive,  and  which  is  easily  managed." — Ed.  Reporter  cor.  "  The 
conspiracy  was  the  more  easily  discovered,  because  the  conspirators  were  many." — Murray  cor. 
Nearly  ten  years  had  that  celebrated  work  been  published,  before  its  importance  was  at  all  un- 


and  the  subsequent  shortening  of  them  when  that  necessity  had  ceased." — Brown  cor.  "  Before 
the  performance  commences,  we  see  displayed  the  insipid  formalities  of  the  prelusive  scene." — 
Kirkham  cor.  "It  forbade  the  lending  of  money,  or  the  sending  of  goods,  or  the  embarking  of 
capital  in  any  way,  in  transactions  connected  with  that  foreign  traffic." — Brougham  cor.  "  Even 
abstract  ideas  have  sometimes  the  same  important  prerogative  conferred  upon  them." — Jamieson 
cor.  "Ment,  like  other  terminations,  changes  y  into  *',  when  they  is  preceded  by  a  consonant." — 
Kirkham 's  Gram.  p.  25.  "  The  term  PROPER  is  from  the  French propre,  own,  or  the  Latin  proprius  ; 
and  a  Proper  noun  is  so  called,  because  it  is  peculiar  to  the  individual  or  family  bearing  the  name. 
The  term  COMMON  is  from  the  Latin  communis,  pertaining  equally  to  several  or  many ;  and  z 
Common  noun  is  so  called,  because  it  is  common  to  every  individual  comprised  in  the  class." — 
Fowler  cor. 

"  Thus  oft  by  mariners  are  showed  (Unless  the  men  of  Kent  are  liars) 
Earl  Godwin's  castles  overflowed,  And  palace-roofs,  and  steeple-spires." — Swift  cor. 

LESSON  VII.— ADVERBS. 

"  He  spoke  to  every  man  and  woman  who  was  there." — Murray  cor.  "  Thought  and  language 
act  and  react  upon  each  other." — Murray1  s  Key,  p.  264.  "  Thought  and  expression  act  and  react 
upon  each  other." — Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  356.  "  They  have  neither  the  leisure  nor  the  means 
of  attaining  any  knowledge,  except  what  lies  within  the  contracted  circle  of  their  several  pro- 
fessions."— Campbell's  Rhet.  p.  160.  "  Before  they  are  capable  of  understanding  much,  or  in- 
deed any  thing,  of  most  other  branches  of  education." — Olney  cor.  "  There  is  no  more  beauty  in 
one  of  them,  than  in  an  other." — Murray  cor.  "Which  appear  to  be  constructed  according 
to  no  certain  rule." — Blair  cor.  "The  vehement  manner  of  speaking  became  less  universal." 
Or  better : — "  less  general." — Id.  "Not  all  languages,  however,  agree  in  this  mode  of  expression." 
Or:  "  This  mode  of  expression,  however,  is  not  common  to  all  languages." — Id.  "  The  great  oc- 
casion of  setting  apart  this  particular  day." — Atterbury  cor.  "He  is  much  more  promising  now, 
than  Ae  was  formerly." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  They  are  placed  before  a  participle,  without  dependence 
on  the  rest  of  the  sentence." — Id.  "This  opinion  does  not  appear  to  have  been  well  considered." 
Or :  "  This  opinion  appears  to  have  been  formed  without  due  consideration." — Id.  "  Pre- 


the  author  was  altogether  happy  in  the  choice  of  his  subject,  may  be  questioned." — Id.  "  But, 
with  regard  to  this  matter  also,  there  is  a  great  error  in  the  common  practice." — Webster  cor. 
"  This  order  is  the  very  order  of  the  human  mind,  which  makes  things  we  are  sensible  of,  a  means 
to  come  at  those  that  are  not  known."  Or: — "which  makes  things  that  are  already  known,  its 
means  of  finding  out  those  that  are  not  so." — Foreman  cor.  "  Now,  who  is  not  discouraged,  and 
does  not  fear  want,  when  he  has  no  money  ?  " — C.  Leslie  cor.  "  Which  the  authors  of  this  work 
consider  of  little  or  no  use." — Wilbur  and  Liv.  cor.  "And  here  indeed  the  distinction  between 
these  two  classes  begins  to  be  obscure." — Blair  cor.  "  But  this  is  a  manner  which  deserves  to  be 
avoided"  Or  : — "  which  does  not  deserve  to  be  imitated." — Id.  "And,  in  this  department,  a  per- 
son effects  very  little,  icheneverhe  attempts  too  much." — Campbell  and  Murray  cor.  "  The  verb 
that  signifies  mere  being,  is  neuter." — Ash  cor.  "  I  hope  to  tire  but  little  those  whom  I  shall  not 
happen  to  please." — Rambler  cor.  "  Who  were  utterly  unable  to  pronounce  some  letters,  and 
who  pronounced  others  very  indistinctly." — Sheridan  cor.  "  The  learner  may  point  out  the  active, 
passive,  and  neuter  verbs  in  the  following  examples,  and  state  the  reasons/or  thus  distinguishing 
them."  Or  :  "  The  learner  may  point  out  the  active,  the  passive,  and  the  neuter  verbs  in  the  fol- 
lowing examples,  and  state  the  reasons  for  calling  them  so." — C.  Adams  cor.  "  These  words 
are  almost  always  conjunctions." — Barrett  cor. 

"How  glibly  nonsense  trickles  from  his  tongue  ! 
How  sweet  the  periods,  neither  said  nor  sung  !  " — Pope  cor. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. — GENERAL   RULE.  967 

LESSON  VIII.— CONJUNCTIONS. 

"  Who,  at  least,  either  knew  not,  or  did  not  love  to  make,  a  distinction."  Or  better  thus  : 
"  Who,  at  least,  either  knew  no  distinction,  or  did  not  like  to  make  any." — Dr.  Murray  cor.  "  It 
is  childish  in  the  last  degree,  to  let  this  become  the  ground  of  estranged  affection." — L.  Murray 
cor.  "  When  the  regular,  and  when  the  irregular  verb,  is  to  be  preferred,  p.  107." — Id.  "  The 


shall  more  willingly  agree  to  and  advance  the  same  than  I." — Morton  cor.  "  That  it  cannot  but  be 

hurtful  to  continue  it." — Barclay  cor.     "A  conjunction  joins  words  or  sentences." — Beck  cor. 

The  copulative  conjunction  connects  words  or  sentences  together,  and  continues  the  sense." — 


Cram,  cor.  "  But  the  divine  character  is  such  as  none  but  a  divine  hand  could  draw."  Or  :  "  But 
the  divine  character  is  such,  that  none  but  a  divine  hand  could  draw  it." — A.  Keith  cor.  "  Who 
is  so  mad,  that,  on  inspecting  the  heavens,  he  is  insensible  of  a  God  ?  " — Gibbons  cor.  "  It  is  now 
submitted  to  an  enlightened  public,  with  little  further  desire  on  the  part  of  the  author,  than  for 
its  general  utility." — Toirn  cor.  "  This  will  sufficiently  explain  why  so  many  provincials  have 
grown  old  in  the  capital  without  making  any  change  in  their  original  dialect." — Sheridan  cor. 
"  Of  these,  they  had  chiefly  three  in  general  use,  which  were  denominated  ACCENTS,  the  term 
being  used  in  the  plural  number." — Id.  "And  this  is  one  of  the  chief  reasons  why  dramatic  rep- 
resentations have  ever  held  the  first  rank  amongst  the  diversions  of  mankind." — Id.  "  Which 
is  the  chief  reason  why  public  reading  is  in  general  so  disgusting." — Id.  "At  the  same  time  in 
which  they  learn  to  read."  Or:  "  While  they  learn  to >  read." — Id.  "  He  is  always  to  pronounce 
his  words  with  exactly  the  same  accent  that  he  uses  in  speaking." — Id.  "  In  order  to  know  what 
an  other  knows,  and  in  the  same  manner  in  which  he  knows  it." — Id.  "  For  the  same  reason/or 
which  it  is,  in  a  more  limited  state,  assigned  to  the  several  tribes  of  animals." — Id.  "  Were  there 
masters  to  teach  this,  in  the  same  manner  in  which  other  arts  are  taught."  Or:  "Were  there 
masters  to  teach  this,  as  other  arts  are  taught." — Id. 

"  Whose  own  example  strengthens  all  his  laws  ; 
Who  is  himself  that  great  sublime  he  draws." — Pope  cor. 

LESSON  IX.  —  PREPOSITIONS. 

"  The  word  so  has  sometimes  the  same  meaning  as  ALSO,  LIKEWISE,  or  THE  SAME." — Priestley 
cor.  "  The  verb  use  relates  not  to  '  pleasures  of  the  imagination;'  but  to  the  terms  fancy  and 
imagination,  which  he  was  to  employ  as  synonymous." — Blair  cor.  "  It  never  can  view,  clearly 
and  distinctly,  more  than  one  object  at  a  time." — Id.  "  This  figure  [Euphemism]  is  often  the  same 
as  the  Periphrasis." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "All  the  intermediate  time  between  youth  and  old 
age." — W.  Walker  cor.  "  When  one  thing  is  said  to  act  upon  an  other,  or  do  something  to  it." 
— Lowth  cor.  "  Such  a  composition  has  as  much  of  meaning  in  it,  as  a  mummy  has  of  life." 
Or:  "  Such  a  composition  has  as  much  meaning  in  it,  as  a  mummy  has  life." — Lit.  Conv.  cor. 
"  That  young  men,  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  years  of  age,  were  not  the  best  judges." — Id. 
"This  day  is  a  day  of  trouble,  and  of  rebuke,  and  of  blasphemy." — Isaiah,  xxxvii,  3.  "  Blank 
verse  has  the  same  pauses  and  accents  that  occur  in  rhyme." — Kames  cor.  "  In  prosody,  long 
syllables  are  distinguished  by  the  macron  (");  and  short  ones,  by  what  is  called  the  breve  (")." 
—  liucke  cor.  "  Sometimes  both  articles  are  left  out,  especially  from,  poetry." — Id.  "From  the 
following  example,  the  pronoun  and  participle  are  omitted."  Or:  "In  the  following  example, 
the  pronoun  and  participle  are  not  expressed." — Murray  cor.  [But  the  example  was  faulty. 
Say,]  "  Conscious  of  his  weight  and  importance,"— or,  "Being  conscious  of  his  own  weight  and 
importance,  he  did  not  solicit  the  aid  of  others." — Id.  "  He  was  an  excellent  person  ;  even  in  his 
early  youth,  a  mirror  of  the  ancient  faith." — Id.  "  The  carrying  of  its  several  parts  into  execu- 
tion."— Butler  cor.  "  Concord  is  the  agreement  which  one  word  has  with  an  other,  in  gender, 
number,  case  or  person." — L.  Murray's  Gram.  p.  142.  "  It  might  perhaps  have  given  me  a 
greater  taste  for  its  antiquities." — Addison  cor.  "  To  call  on  a  person,  and  to  wait  on  him."— 
— Priestley  cor.  "  The  great  difficulty  they  found  «'»  fixing  just  sentiments." — Id.  and  Hume  cor. 
"  Developing  the  differences  of  the  three." — J.  lirotrn  cor.  "  When  the  singular  ends  in  x,  ch 
soft,  sh,  ss,  or  s,  we  add  es  to  form  the  plural." — Murray  cor.  "  We  shall  present  him  a  list  or 
specimen  of  them." — Id.  "  ft  is  very  common  to  hear  of  the  evils  of  pernicious  reading,  how  it 
enervates  the  mind,  or  how  it  depraves  the  principles." — Dymond  cor.  "In  this  example,  the 
verb  arises  is  understood  before  '  curiosity  '  and  before  '  knowledge.'  " — Murray  it  <tl.  cor.  "  The 
connective  is  frequently  omitted,  when  several  words  have  the  same  construction." — \\~ilcox  cor. 
"  He  shall  expel  them  from  before  you.  and  drive  them  out  from  your  sight." — Bible  cor. 
"Who  makes  his  sun  to  shine,  and  his  rain  to  descend,  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust."  Or 
thus :  "  Who  makes  his  sun  shine,  and  his  rain  descend,  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust." — M'll- 
raine  cor. 

LESSON  X.- MIXED  EXAMPLES. 

"  This  sentence  violates  an  established  ride  of  grammar." — Murray  cor.  "  The  words  thou  and 
ihalt  are  again  reduced  to  syllables  of  short  quantity." — Id.  "  Have  the  greatest  men  always  been 
the  most  popular  ?  By  no  means." — /.  i,-h,  >  •,  -or.  "St.  Paul  positively  stated,  that,  '  He  that 
lnreth  <m  <itti,r,  hath  fulfilled  the  law.'  " — Horn,  xiii,  8.  "  More  organs  than  one  are  concerned  in 
the  utterance  of  almost  every  consonant." — M'Culloch  cor.  "  If  the  reader  will  pardon  me  for 
descending  so  low." — Campbell  cor.  "  To  adjust  them  in  such  a  manner  as  shall  consist  equally 
with  the  perspicuity  and  the  grace  of  the  period."  Or  :  "  To  adjust  them  so,  that  they  shall  con- 
sist  equally,"  \-e.— #/</<>  and  Mur.  cor.  "  This  class  exhibits  a  lamentable  inefficiency,  and  a 
great  want  of  simplicity." — Gardiner  cor.  "  Whose  style,  in  all  its  course,  flows  like  a  limpid 


968  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

stream,  through  ichich  we  see  to  the  very  bottom." — Blair  cor. ;  also  Murray.  "  We  admit  va- 
rious ellipses."  Or  thus  :  "An  ellipsis,  or  omission,  of  some  words,  is  frequently  admitted." — Len- 
nie's  Gram.  p.  116.  "  The  ellipsis  of  articles  may  occur  thus." — Murray  cor.  "  Sometimes  the 
article  a  is  improperly  applied  to  nouns  of  different  numbers  ;  as,  'A  magnificent  house  and  gar- 
dens.' " — Id.  "  In  some  very  emphatical  expressions,  no  ellipsis  should  be  alloiced." — Id.  "Ellip- 
ses of  the  adjective  may  happen  in  the  following  manner." — Id.  "  The  following  examples  shoio 
that  there  may  be  an  ellipsis  of  the  pronoun." — Id.  "Ellipses  of  the  verb  occur  in  the  following 
instances." — Id.  "Ellipses  of  the  adverb  may  occur  in  the  following  manner." — Id.  "  The  fol- 
lowing brief  expressions  are  all  of  them  elliptical."* — Id.  "If  no  emphasis  be  placed  on  any  words, 
not  only  will  discourse  be  rendered  heavy  and  lifeless,  but  the  meaning  will  often  be  left  ambiguous." 
— Id. ;  also  Hart  and  Blair  cor.  "  He  regards  his  word,  but  thou  dost  not  regard  thine." — Bul- 
lions, Murray  et  al.  cor.  "  I  have  learned  my  task,  but  you  have  not  learned  yours." — lid. 
"  When  the  omission  of  words  would  obscure  the  sense,  weaken  the  expression,  or  be  attended 
with  impropriety,  no  ellipsis  must  be  indulged." — Murray  and  Weld  cor.  "And  therefore  the 
verb  is  correctly  put  in  the  singular  number,  and  refers  to  them  all,  separately  and  individually 
considered." — Murray  cor.  "He  was  to  me  the  most  intelligible  of  all  who  spoke  on  the  sub- 
ject."— Id.  "  1  understood  him  better  than  /  did  any  other  who  spoke  on  the  subject." — Id. 
"  The  roughness  found  on  our  entrance  into  the  paths  of  virtue  and  learning,  decreases  as  we  ad- 
vance." Or:  "  The  roughnesses  encountered  in  the  paths  of  virtue  and  learning  diminish  as  we 
advance." — Id.  "There  is  nothing  which  more  promotes  knowledge,  than  do  steady  application 
and  habitual  observation." — Id.  "  Virtue  confers  on  man  the  highest  dignity  of  which  he  is  ca- 
pable;  it  should  therefore  be  the  chief  object  of  his  desire." — Id.  and  Merchant  cor.  "The  su- 
preme Author  of  our' being  has  so  formed  the' human  soul,  that  nothing  but  himself  can  be  its 
last,  adequate,  and  proper  happiness." — Addison  and  Blair  cor.  "  The  inhabitants  of  China 
laugh  at  the  plantations  of  our  Europeans  :  '  Because,'  say  they,  'any  one  may  place  trees  in 
equal  rows  and  uniform  figures.' " — lid.  "  The  divine  laws  are  not  to  be  reversed  by  those  of 
men." — Murray  cor.  "  In  both  of  these  examples,  the  relative  which  and  the  verb  icas  are  un- 
derstood."— Id.  et  al.  cor.  "  The  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  though  for  many  reasons  they  can- 
not be  called  dialects  of  one  and  the  same  tongue,  are  nevertheless  closely  connected." — Dr.  Mur- 
ray cor.  "  To  ascertain  and  settle  whether  a  white  rose  or  a  red  breathes  the  sweetest  fragrance." 
Or  thus  :  "  To  ascertain  and  settle  which  of  the  two  breathes  the  sweeter  fragrance,  a  white 
rose  or  a  red  one." — J.  Q.  Adams  cor.  "  To  which  he  can  afford  to  devote  but  little  of  his  time 
and  labour." — Blair  cor. 

"Avoid  extremes  ;  and  shun  the  fault  of  such 
As  still  are  pleased  too  little  or  too  much." — Pope  cor. 

LESSON  XL  — OF  BAD  PHRASES. 

"  He  might  as  weZHeave  his  vessel  to  the  direction  of  the  winds." — South  cor.  "Without 
good-nature  and  gratitude,  men  might  as  well  live  in  a  wilderness  as  in  society." — UEstranyc 
cor.  "And,  for  this  reason,  such  lines  very  seldom  occur  together." — Blair  cor.  "  His  greatness 
did  not  make  him  happy." — Crombie  cor.  "  Let  that  which  tends  to  cool  your  love,  be  judged  in 
all." — Crisp  cor.  "  It  is  worth  observing,  that  there  is  no  passion  in  the  mind  of  man  so  weak 
but  it  mates  and  masters  the  fear  of  death." — Bacon  cor.  "Accent  dignifies  the  syllable  on  which 
it  is  laid,  and  makes  it  more  audible  than  the  rest." — Sheridan  and  Murray  cor.  "  Before  he 
proceeds  to  argue  on  either  side." — Blair  cor.  "  The  general  change  of  manners,  throughout 
Europe." — Id.  "  The  sweetness  and  beauty  of  Virgil's  numbers,  through  all  his  works." — Id. 
"  The  French  writers  of  sermons,  study  neatness  and  elegance  in  the  division  of  their  discourses ." 
— Id.  "This  seldom  fails  to  prove  a  refrigerant  to  passion." — Id.  "But  their  fathers,  brothers, 
and  uncles,  cannot,  as  good  relations  and  good  citizens,  excuse  themselves  for  not  standing  forth 
to  demand  vengeance." — Murray's  Sequel,  p.  114.  "Alleging,  that  their  decrial  of  the  church 
of  Rome,  was  a  uniting  with  the  Turks." — Barclay  cor.  "  To  which  is  added  the  Catechism  by 
the  Assembly'of  Divines." — N.  E.  Prim.  cor.  "  This  treachery  was  always  present  in  the  thoughts 
of  both  of  them." — Robertson  cor.  "  Thus  far  their  words  agree."  Or :  "  Thus  far  the  words  of  both 
agree." — W.  Walker  cor.  "Aparithmesis  is  an  enumeration  of  the  several  parts  of  what,  as  a 
whole,  might  be  expressed  in  few  words." — Gould  cor.  "Aparithmesis,  or  Enumeration,  is  a 
figure  in  which  what  might  be  expressed  in  a  few  words,  is  branched  out  into  several  parts." — 
Dr.  Adam  cor.  "  Which  may  sit  from  time  to  time,  where  you  dwell,  or  in  the  vicinity." — J.  O. 
Taylor  cor.  "  Place  together  a  large-sized  animal  and  a  small  one,  of  the  same  species."  Or  : 
"  Place  together  a  large  and  a  small  animal  of  the  same  species." — Kames  cor.  "  The  weight  of 
the  swimming  body  is  equal  to  that  of  the  quantity  of  fluid  displaced  by  it." — Percival  cor. 
"  The  Subjunctive  mood,  in  all  its  tenses,  is  similar  to  the  Optative." — Givilt  cor.  "No  feeling 
of  obligation  remains,  except  that  of  an  obligation  to  fidelity." — Waylandcor.  "  Who  asked  him, 
why  whole  audiences  should  be  moved  to  tears  at  the  representation  of  some  story  on  the  stage." 
— Sheridan  cor.  "Are  you  not  ashamed  to  affirm,  that  the  best  works  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in 
his  saints,  are  as  filthy  rags  ? " — Barclay  cor.  "A  neuter  verb  becomes  active,  when  followed  by  a 
noun  of  kindred  signification." — Sanborn  cor.  "  But  he  has  judged  better,  in  forbearing  to 
repeat  the  article  the." — Blair  cor.  "  Many  objects  please  us,  and  are  thought  highly  beautiful, 
which  have  scarcely  any  variety  at  all." — Id.  "  Yet  they  sometimes  follow  them." — Emmons  cor. 
"  For  I  know  of  nothing  more  important  in  the  whole  subject,  than  this  doctrine  of  mood  and 
tense." — R.  Johnson  cor.  "  It  is  by  no  means  impossible  for  an  error  to  be  avoided  or  suppressed." 
— Philol.  Museum  cor.  "  These  are  things  of  the  highest  importance  to  children  and  youth." — 
Murray  cor.  "  He  ought  to  have  omitted  the  word  many."  Or  :  "  He  might  better  have  omitted 
the  word  many." — Blair  cor.  "  Which  might  better  have  been  separated.'"  Or  :  "  Which  ought 
rather  to  have  been  separated." — Id.  "  Figures  and  metaphors,  therefore,  should  never  be  used 

*This  correction,  &s  well  as  the  others  which  relate  to  what  Murray  says  of  the  several  forms  of  ellipsis,  doubt- 
less conveys  the  sense  which  he  intended  to  express ;  but,  as  an  assertion,  it  is  by  no  means  true  of  all  the  exam- 
ples which  he  subjoins,  neither  indeed  are  the  rest.  But  that  is  a  fault  of  his  which  I  cannot  correct.— G.  BEOWN. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. GENERAL    RULE.  969 

profusely." — Id.  and  Jam.  cor.  "  Metaphors,  or  other  figures,  should  never  be  used  in  too  areat 
abundnncr." — Murray  and  Russell  cor.  ''  Something  like  this  has  been  alleged  against  Tacitus." 
— Bolinybroke  cor. 

"  O  thou,  whom  all  mankind  in  vain  withstand, 

]\'ho  with  the  blood  of  each  must  one  day  stain  thy  hand  !  " — Sheffield  cor. 

LESSON  XII.— OF  TWO  ERRORS. 

"  Pronouns  sometimes  precede  the  terms  which  they  represent." — L.  Murray  cor.  "  Most  prepo- 
sitions originally  denoted  relations  of  place." — Lowth  cor.  "  WHICH  is  applied  to  brute  animals,  and 
to  things  without  life." — Bullions  cor.  "  What  thing  do  they  describe,  or  of  what  do  they  tell  the 
kind  ?  " — Inf.  N.  dram.  cor.  "  Iron  cannons,  as  well  as  brass,  are  now  universally  cast  solid." — 
Jamieson  cor.  "  We  have  philosophers,  more  eminent  perhaps  than  those  of  any  other  nation." — 
Blair  cor.  "  This  is  a  question  about  words  only,  and  one  which  common  sense  easily  determines." 
— Id.  "  The  low  pitch  of  the  voice,  is  that  which  approaches  to  a  whisper." — Id.  "  Which,  as  to 
the  effect,  is  just  the  same  as  to  use  no  such  distinctions  at  all." — Id.  "  These  two  systems, 
therefore,  really  dilfer  from  each  other  but  very  little." — Id.  "  It  is  needless  to  give  many 
instances,  as  examples  occur  so  often." — Id.  "  There  are  many  occasions  on  which  this  is  neither 
requisite  nor  proper." — Id.  "  Dramatic  poetry  divides  itself  into  the  two  forms,  comedy  and 
tragedy." — Id.  "  No  man  ever  rhymed  with  more  exactness  than  he."  [I.  e.,  than  Roscommon.] 
— Editor  of  Waller  cor.  "  The  Doctor  did  not  reap  from  his  poetical  labours  &  profit  equal  to  that 
of  his  prose." — Johnson  cor.  "  We  will  follow  that  which  we  find  our  fathers  practised."  Or  : 
"  We  will  follow  that  which  we  find  to  hare  been  our  fathers'  practice." — Sale  cor.  "And  I  should 
deeply  regret  that  I  had  published  them." — Inf.  S.  Gram.  cor.  "Figures  exhibit  ideas  with  more 
ricidncas  and  power,  than  could  be  given  them  by  plain  language." — KirkJiam  cor.  "  The  allegory 
is  finely  drawn,  though  the  heads  are  various." — Sped,  cor.  "  I  should  not  have  thought  it  worthy 
of  this  place."  Or:  "  I  should  not  have  thought  it  worthy  of  being  placed  here." — Crombie  cor. 
"  In  this  style,  Tacitus  excels  all  other  writers,  ancient  or  modern." — Kames  cor.  "  No  other 
author,  ancient  or  modern,  possesses  the  art  of  dialogue  socow/;/^fy«sSh.akspeare." — Id.  "  The 
names  of  all  the  things  we  see,  hear,  smell,  taste,  or  feel,  are  nouns." — Inf.  S.  Gram.  cor.  "Of 
what  number  are  the  expressions,  '  these  boys,'  « these  pictures,'  &c.  ?  " — Id.  "  This  sentence  has 
faults  somewhat  like  those  of  the  last." — Blair  cor.  "  Besides  perspicuity,  he  pursues  propriety, 
purity,  and  precision,  in  his  language  ;  which  qualities  form  one  degree,  and  no  inconsiderable  one, 
of  beauty." — Id.  "  Many  critical  terms  have  unfortunately  been  employed  in  a  sense  too  loose 
and  vague  ;  none  with  less  precision,  than  the  word  sublime." — Id.  "  Hence  no  word  in  the  lan- 
guage is  used  with  a  more  vague  signification,  than  the  word  beauty." — Id.  "  But  still,  in  speech, 
he  made  use  of  general  terms  on ly." — Id.  "These  give  life,  body,  and  colouring,  to  the  facts 

I  recited ;  and  enable  us  to  conceive  of  them  as  present,  and  passing  before  our  eyes." — Id.  "  Which 
carried  an  ideal  chivalry  to  a  still  more  extravagant  height,  than  the  adventurous  spirit  of  knight- 
hood had  crcr  attaim-d  in  fact." — Id.  "  We  write  much  more  supinely,  and  with  far  less  labour, 
than  did  the  ancients." — Id.  "  This  appears  indeed  to  form  the  characteristical  difference  between 
the  ancient  poets,  orators,  and  historians,  and  the  modern." — Id.  "  To  violate  this  rule,  as  the 
English  too  often  do,  shows  great  incorrectness." — Id.  "  It  is  impossible,  by  means  of  &ny  train- 
ing, to  prevent  tin  m  from  appearing  stiff  and  forced." — Id.  "And  it  also  gives  to  the  speaker  the 
disagreeable  semblance  of  one  who  endeavours  to  compel  assent." — Id.  "And,  whenever  a  light  or 
ludicrous  anecdote  is  proper  to  be  recorded,  it  is  generally  better  to  throw  it  into  a  note,  than  to 
run  the  hazard  of  becoming  too  familiar." — Id.  "It  is  the  great  business  of  this  life,  to  prepare 
and  qualify  ourselrcs  for  the  enjoyment  of  a  better." — Murray  cor.  "Prom  some  dictionaries, 
accordingly,  it  was  omitted;  and  in  others  it  is  stigmatized  as  a  barbarism." — Crombiecor.  'You 
cannot  see  a  thing,  or  think  of  one,  the  name  of  wJiirh  is  not  a  noun." — Mack  cor.  "All  the  fleet 
have  arrived,  and  are  moored  in  safety."  Or  better  :  "  The  whole  fleet  has  arrived,  and  is  moored 
in  safety." — Murray  cor. 

LESSON  XIII.— OF  TWO  ERRORS. 

"  They  have  srrrrally  their  distinct  and  exactly-limited  relations  to  gravity." — Hosier  cor.  "  But 
where  the  additiomil  s  would  give  too  much  of  the  hissing  sound,  the  omission  takes  place  even  in 
prose." — Murray  cor.  "After  o,  it  [the  w]  is  sometimes  not  sounded  at  all ;  and  sometimes  it  is 
sounded  like  a  single  it." — Lowth  cor.  "It  is  situation  chiefly,  that  decides  the  fortunes  &nd  charac- 
ters of  men." — Ilium  <•<>/•. ,  also  Murray.  "The  vice  of  covetousness  is  that  [vice]  which  enters 
more  deeply  into  the  soul  than  any  other." — Murray  et  al.cor.  "Of  all  rices,  covetousness  enters 
the  most  deeply  into  the  soul." — lid.  "Of  all  rices,  covetousnes's  is  that  which  enters  the  most 
deeply  into  the  soul." — Campbril  cor.  "  The  vice  of  covetousness  is  a  fault  which  enters  more' 
deeply  into  the  soul  than  any  other." — (iuardian  cur.  "  WOULD  primarily  denotes  inclination  of 
will;  and  SHOULD,  obligation:  but  they  vary  their  import,  and  are  often  used  to  express  simple 
Or  : — "  but  both  of  them  vary  their  import,"  ttc.  Or  : — "  but  both  vary  their  import,  and 
are  used  to  express  aimpie  «MHfe," — Loirth,  Murray,  ct  a!,  cor.  "A  double  condition,  in  two  corre- 
spondent clauses  of  a  sentence,  is  sometimes  made  by  tin-  word  n.vn  ;  as,  'Had  he  done  this,  he  had 
-lied.'  " — Murray  et  a/,  cor.  "The  pleasures  of  the  understanding  are  preferable  to  those  of 
the  imagination,  as  well  as  to  those  of  sense." — Murray  cor.  "Claudian,  in  a  fragment  upon  the 
wars  of  the  giants,  has  contrived  to  render  this  idea  of  their  throwing  of  the  mountains,  which  in 
itself  ha*  :-o  nutch  grandeur,  burlesque  and  ridiculous." — Blair  cor.  "  To  which  not  only  no  other 
writings  are  to  be  preferred,  but  (o  which,  even  in  divers  respects,  none  are  comparable." — Barclay 
cor.  "  To  distinguisli  them  in  the  understanding,  and  treat  of  their  several  natures,  in  the  same 
cool  manner  that  we  use  with  regard  to  other  ideas." — Sheridan  cor.  "  For  it  has  nothing  to  do 

"  For  it  has  nothing  to  do  with 
language  [the  Latin]  crrr  been 

.  ,      ,       .;//•'•  some  one-nine*  into  the  pleas- 
ures of  taste." — lifair  cor.     "  But  the  following  sentences  would  have  been  better  without  it." — 
Murray  cor.     "  But  I  think  the  following  sentence  would  be  better  icithout  it."     Or :  "  But  I  think 
70 


cool  manner  that  we  use  witn  regard  to  other  ideas." — Xfieriaan  cor.     ' 

with  parsing,  or  the  analysing  Of  Language." — KirkJiam  cor.     Or  :  "  Fc 

the  parsing,  or  analy/ing,  »f  language." — Id.       "  Neither  has  that  Ian 

'i;on  in   Britain."-  .     "All  that  I  purpose,  is,  /« 


970  GRAMMAR    OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

it  shouldbe  expunged  from  the  following  sentence." — Priestley  cor.  "  They  appear,  in  this  case,  like 
wjly  excrescences  jutting  out  from  the  body." — Blair  cor.  "And  therefore  the  fable  of  the  Harpies, 
in  the  third  book  of  the  JEneid,  and  the  allegory  of  Sin  and  Death,  in  the  second  book  of  Paradise 
Lost,  ought  not  to  have  been  inserted  in  these  celebrated  poems." — Id.  "  Ellipsis  is  an  elegant  sup- 
pression, or  omission,  of  some  word  or  "words,  belonging  to  a  sentence." — Brit.  Gram,  and  Buchanan 
cor.  "  The  article  A  or  AN  >is  not  very  proper  in  this  construction." — D.  Blair  cor.  "  Now  suppose 
the  articles  had  not  been  dropped  from  these  passages." — Bucke  cor.  "To  havegiven  a  separate  name 
to  every  one  of  those  trees,  would  have  been  an  endless  and  impracticable  undertaking." — Blair 
cor.  "Ei,  in  general,  has  the  same  sound  as  long  and  slender  a."  Or  better :  "Ei  generally  has  the 
sound  of  long  or  slender  a." — Murray  cor.  "When  a  conjunction  is  used  with  apparent  redun- 
dance, the  insertion  of  it  is  called  Polysyndeton." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "  EACH,  EVERY,  EITHER, 
and  NEITHER,  denote  the  persons  or  things  that  make  up  a  number,  as  taken  separately  or  dis- 
tributively." — M'Oulloch  cor.  "  The  principal  sentence  must  be  expressed  by  a  verb  in  the  indica- 
tive, imperative,  or  potential  mood." — -Clark  cor.  "  Hence  he  is  diffuse,  where  he  ought  to  be 
urgent." — Blair  cor.  "All  sorts  of  subjects  admit  of  explanatory  comparisons." — Id.  et  al.  cor. 
"The  present  or  imperfect  participle  denotes  being,  action,  or  passion,  continued,  and not  per- 
fected."— Kirkham  cor.  "  What  are  verbs  ?  Those  words  which  chiefly  express  what  is  'said  of 
things." — Fowle  cor. 

"  Of  all  those  arts  in  which  the  wise  excel, 
The  very  masterpiece  is  writing-weU"— Sheffield  cor. 

"  Such  was  that  muse  whose  rules  and  practice  tell, 
That  art's  chief  masterpiece  is  writing-well." — Pope  cor. 

.       LESSON  XIV.— OF  THREE  ERRORS. 

"  From  some  words,  the  metaphorical  sense  has  justled  out  the  original  sense  altogether  ;  so 
that,  in  respect  to  the  latter,  they  ha,ve  become  obsolete." — Campbell  cor.  "  Surely,  never  any 
other  mortal  was  so  overwhelmed  with  grief,  as  I  am  at  this  present  moment." — Sheridan  cor. 
"All  languages  differ  from  one  an  other  in  their  modes  df  inflection." — Bullions  cor.  "The  noun 
and  the  verb  are  the  only  indispensable  parts  of  speech  ;  the  one,  to  express  the  subject  spoken 
of;  and  the  other,  the  predicate,  or  what  is  affirmed  of  the  subject." — M'Culloch  cor.  "  The  words 
Italicized  in  the  last  three  examples,  perform  the  office  of  substantives." — Murray  cor.  "A  sen- 
tence so  constructed  is  always  a  mark  of  carelessness  in  the  writer." — Blair  cor.  "  Nothing  is 
more  hurtful  to  the  grace  or  the  vivacity  of  a  period,  than  superfluous  and  dragging  words  at  the 
conclusion." — Id.  "  When  its  substantive  is  not  expressed  with  it,  but  is  referred  to,  being  under- 
stood."— Lowth  cor.  "  Yet  they  always  have  substantives  belonging  to  them,  either  expressed  or 
understood." — Id.  "  Because  they  define  and  limit  the  import  of  the  common  names,  or  general 
terms,  to  which  they  refer." — Id.  "  Every  new  object  surprises  them,  terrifies  them,  and  makes  a 
strong  impression  on  their  minds." — Blair  cor.  ft  His  argument  required  a  more  full  development 
in  order  to  be  distinctly  apprehended,  and  to  have  its  due  force." — Id.  "Those  participles  which 
are  derived  from  active-transitive  verbs,  will  govern  the  objective  case,  as  do  the  verbs  from  which 
they  are  derived." — Emmons  cor.  "  Where,  in  violation  of  the  rule,  the  objective  case  whom  fol- 
lows the  verb,  while  the  nominative  /precedes  it." — Murray  cor.  "To  use,  after  the  same  con- 
junction, both  the  indicative  and  the  subjunctive  mood,  in  the  same  sentencej  and  under  the  same 
circumstances,  seems  to  be  a  great  impropriety." — Lowth,  Murray,  et  al.  cor.  "A  nice  discern- 
ment of  the  import  of  words,  and  an  accurate  attention  to  the  best  usage,  are  necessary  on  these 
occasions." — Murray  cor.  "  The  Greeks  and  Romans,  the  former  especially,  were,  in  truth,  much 
more  musical  than  we  are ;  their  genius  was  more  turned  to  take  delight  in  the  melody  of  speech." 
— Blair  cor.  "In  general,  if  the  sense  admits  it  early,  the  sooner  a  circumstance  is  introduced,  the 
better  ;  that  the  more  important  and  significant  words  may  possess  the  last  place,  and  be  quite 
disencumbered." — Murray  et  al.  cor. ;  also  Blair  and  Jamieson.  "  Thus  we  find  it  in  both  the 
Greek  and  the  Latin  tongue." — Blair  cor.  "Several  sentences,  constructed  in  the  same  manner., 
and  having  the  same  number  of  members,  should  never  be  allowed  to  come  in  succession." — Blair 
et  al.  cor.  "  I  proceed  to  lay  down  the  rules  to  be  observed  in  the  conduct  of  metaphors  ;  and 
these,  with  little  variation,  will  be  applicable  to  tropes  of  every  kind." — Blair  cor.  "  By  selecting 
words  with  a  proper  regard  to  their  sounds,  we  may  often  imitate  other  sounds  which  we  mean  to 
describe." — Blair  and  Mur.  cor.  "  The  disguise  can  scarcely  be  so  perfect  as  to  deceive." — Blair  cor. 
"  The  sense  does  not  admit  of  any  other  pause,  than  one  after  the  second  syllable  '  sit ; '  this  there- 
fore must  be  the  only  pause  made  in  the  reading." — Id.  "  Not  that  I  believe  North  America  to  have 
beenflrsj  peopled  so  lately  asm  the  twelfth  century,  the  period  of  Madoc's  migration." — Webster 
cor.  "  Money  and  commodities  will  always  flow  to  that  country  in  which  they  are  most  wanted, 
and  in  which  they  will  command  the  most  profit." — Id.  "  That  it  contains  no  visible  marks  of 
certain  articles  which  are  of  the  utmost  importance  to  a  just  delivery." — Sheridan  cor.  "And 
Virtue,  from  her  beauty,  we  call  a  fair  and  favourite  maid." — Mack.  cor.  "The  definite  article 
may  relate  to  nouns  of  either  number." — Inf.  S.  Gram.  cor. 

LESSON  XV.— OF  MANY  ERRORS. 

(1.)  "  Compound  words  are  \,  by  Murray  and  others,  improperly]  included  among  the  derivatives." 
— Murray  corrected.  (2.)  "The  Apostrophe,  placed  above  the  line,  thus  ',  is  used  to  abbreviate  or 
shorten  words.  But  its  chief  use  is,  to  denote  the  possessive  case  of  nouns." — Id.  (3.)  "The 
Hyphen,  made  thus  -,  connects  the  parts  of  compound  words.  It  is  also  used  when  a  word  is  di- 
vided."— Id.  (4.)  "The  Acute  Accent,  made  thus  ',  denotes  the  syllable  on  which  stress  is  laid, 
and  sometimes  also,  that  the  vowel  is  short :  as,  'Fancy.'  The  Grave  Accent,  made  thus  ',  usually 
denotes,  (when  applied  to  English  words,}  that  the  stress  is  laid  ivhere  a  voicel  ends  the  syllable :  as, 
' Favour.'  " — Id.  (5.)  "The  stress  is  laid  on  long  vowels  or  syllables,  and  on  short  ones,  indis- 
criminately. In  order  to  distinguish  the  long  or  open  vowels  from  the  close  or  short  ones,  some 
writers  of  dictionaries  have  placed  the  grave  accent  on  the  former,  and  the  acute  on  the  latter." — 
Id.  (6.)  "The  Diaeresis,  thus  made  ",  is  placed  over  one  of  two  contiguous  vowels,  to  show  that 
they  are  not  a.  diphthong."— Id.  (7.)  "The  Section,  made  thus  §,  is  sometimes  used  to  mark  the 


CHAP.    XIII.]  KEY   I'O    FALSE   SYNTAX. GENERAL    RULE.  971 

subdivisions  of  a  discourse  or  chapter." — Id.  (8.)  "The  Paragraph,  made  thus^,  sometimes  do- 
notes  the  beginning  of  a  new  subject,  or  of  &  passage  not  connected  with  the  text  preceding .  This 
character  is  now  seldom  used  [for  such  <i  jMrM**),  'except  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments."  Or 
better: — "  except  in  the  llihl<-'." — Id.  (9.)  "  The  Quotation  Points,  >rritt<-n  thus  "  ",  murk  the  be- 
ginning anrl  the  end  of  what  is  quoted  or  transcribed  from  some  speaker  or  author,  in  his  own  words. 
In  type,  they  are  inverted  commas  at  the  beginning,  apostrophes  at  the  conclusion." — Id.  (10.) 
"The  Brace  teas  former/;/  used  in  poetry  at  the  end  of  a  triplet,  or  where  three  linos  rhi/med  to- 
gether in  heroic  terse ;  it  also  x-rrrs  to  connect  scrcral  terms  with  one,  wh>  <  eom/non  to 
all,  and  thus  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  common  term  " — Id.  (11.)  "Sr/wv//  asterisks  put  to- 
gether, generally  denote  the  omission  of  some  letters  beton'iin<i  to  a  word,  or  of  some  bold  or  in- 
delicat  MI;  but  sometimes •(//(•>/  imply  a  defect  in  the  manuscript  from  ichirh  the  ' 

•  " — Id.     (12.)  " The  Ellipsis,  m'/de  thus ,  or  thus  ****,  is  used  where  some  letters 

of  a.  word,  or  some  words  of  a.  verse,  are  omitted." — Id.  (13.)  "The  Obelisk,  which  is  made  thus 
f ;  and  the  Parallels,  irhi-h  arc  in'ide  thus  ||  ;  and  sometimes  th<>  letters  of  the  alphabet  ;  and  also 
tJie  Arabic  figures;  are  used  as  references  to  notes  in  the  margin,  or  at  the  bottom,  of  the  page." 
— Id.  ( 14. )  "  The  note  of  interrogation  should  not  be  employed,  where  it  is  only  said  that  a  ques- 
tion has  been  asked,  and  where  the  words  are  not  used  as  a  q'uestion ;  as,  '  The  Cyprians  asked 
me  why  I  wept.'  " — Id.  ct  a '.  cor.  ( 15. )  "  The  note  of  interrogation  is  improper  after  mere  expres- 
sions of  admiration,  or  of  any  other  emotion,  though  they  may  bear  the  form  of  questions." — lid. 
(16.)  "  The  parenthesis  incloses  something  irhich  is  thrown  into  the  body  of  a  sentence,  in  an 
under  tone  ;  und  which  affects  neither  the  sense,  nor  the  construction,  of  the  main  text." — Loirth 
cor.  (17.)  "  Simple  members  connected  by  a  relative  not  wed  restrictively ,  or  by  a  conjunction  that 
implies  comparison,  are  for  the  most  part  divided  by  the  comma." — Id.  (18.)  "  Simple  members, 
or  sentences,  connected  as  terms  of  comparison,  are  for  the  most  part  separated  by  the  comma." — 
Murray  et  al.  cor.  (19.)  "  Simple  sentences  connected  by  a  comparative  particle,  are  for  the  most 
part  dicided  by  the  comma." — Ritsscllcor.  (20.)  "Simple  sentences  or  clauses  connected  to  form  a 
comparison,  should  generally  be  parted  by  the  comma." — Merchant  cor.  (21.)  "The  simple  mem- 
bers of  sentences  that  express  contrast  or  comparison,  should  generally  be  divided  by  the  comma." 
— Jaudon  cor.  (22.)  "The  simple  members  of  a  compar'  -•<•.,  when  they  are  long,  are 

separated  by  a  comma." — Cooper  cor.  (23.)  "  Simple  sentences  connected  to  form  a  comparison, 
or  phrases  placed  in  opposition,  or  contrast,  are  usually  separated  by  the  comma." — Hiley  and 
Bullions  cor.  (24.)  "  On  whichever  word  we  lay  the  emphasis, — whether  on  the  first,  the  second, 
the  third,  or  the  fourth, — every  change  of  it  strikes  out  a  different  sense." — Murray  cor.  (25.)  "  To 
say  to  those  who  do  not  understand  sea  phrases,  '  We  tacked  to  the  larboard,  and  stood  off  to 
sea,'  would  yi>;-  them  little  or  no  information." — Murray  and  Hiley  cor.  (26.)  "  Of  those  dissyl- 
lables which  are  sometimes  nouns  and  sometimes  verbs,  'it  may  be  observed,  that  the  verb  is  com- 
monly  accented  on  the  latter  syllable,  and  the  noun,  on  the  former." — Murray  cor.  (27.)  "And 
this  gives  to  our  language  an  advantage  over  most  others,  in  the  poetical  or  rhetorical  style." — 
/'/.  et  al.  cor.  (28.)  "And  this  gives  to  the  English  language  an  advantage  over  most  others,  in 
the  poetical  and  the  rhetorical  style." — Lowth  cor.  (29.)  "  The  second  and  the  third  scholar  may 
read  the  same  sentence ;  or  as  many  may  repeat  the  text,  as  are  necessary  to  teach  it  perfectly  to 
the  whole  class." — Osborn  cor. 

30.  "  Bliss  is  the  same,  in  subject,  or  in  king, 

In  who  obtain  defence,  or  who  defend." — Pope's  Essay  on  Man,  IV,  58. 


LESSON  XVI.— OF  MANY  ERRORS. 


The  Japanese,  the  Tonquincse,  and  the  Coreans,  speak  languages  differing  from  one  an  other, 
and  from  that  of  the  inhabitants  of  China;  while  all  use  the  same  written  characters,  and,  by 
means  of  them,  correspond  intelligibly  with  one  an  other  in  writing,  though  ignorant  of  the  lan- 
guage  spoken  by  th/'ir  correspondents :  a  plain  proof,  that  the  Chinese  characters  are  like  hiero- 
glyphics, and  essentially  independent  of  language." — Jamieson  cor.;  also  Blair.  "The  curved 
line,  in  ste-'id  of  remaining  round,  is  changed  to  a  square  one,  for  the  reason  before  mentioned." — 
Knight  <-or.  "  Every  render  should  content  himself  with  the  use  of  those  tones  only,  that  he  is 
habituated  to  in  speech  ;  and  should  give  to  the  irords  no  other  emphasis,  than  what  he  would 
•  the  same  words,  in  discourse.  [Or,  perhaps  the  author  meant : — and  should  give  to  the 
'emphnf/i-  trordx  no  other  intonation,  tlmn  what  In-  would  girt;  &c.]  Thus,  whatever  he  utters, 
will  be  delircred  with  ease,  and  will  appear  natural." — Sheridan  cor.  "A  stop,  or  pause,  is  a  total 
cessation  of  sound,  during  a  perceptible,  and,  in  musical  or  poetical  compositions,  a  measurable 
space  of  time." — Id.  "  Pauses,  or  rests,  in  speaking  or  reading,  are  total  cessations  of  the  voice, 
during  perceptible,  and,  in  many  cases,  measurable  spaces  of  time." — Murray  et  al.  cor.  "Those 
itire  nouns  which  denote  small  things  of  the  kind  named  !»/  their  primitives,  are  called 
Diminutive  Nouns:  as,  lambkin,  hillock,  satchel,  gosling  ;  from  l;i:nb,  hill,  sack,  goose." — liir- 
>/•.  '*  FPfaf  4r  ft,  that  nonsense  to  often  not  beiivj  perceived 

t>y  the  writer  or  by  the  reader  ?  " — (\i>n]>h,U  cor.  "An  Interjection  is  a  word  used  to  ex- 
press sudden  emotion.  >ns  are  so  called,  because  they  are  generally  thrown  in  between 
the  parts  of  discourse,  and  hnre  no  reference  to  the  structure  of  those  parts." — M'( 'tdloch  cor. 
"The  '  "'nd  this  is  nearly  obsolete." — Macintosh 
cor.  "  But  the  arrangement,  government,  <tn<l  agreement  of  irords,  and  also  their  dependence 
one  upon  an  oth  "  Mi:  i<  a  personal  pronoun,  of 
the  first  person,  singular  nu/n'ier.  ;tml  •  ie." — iimi  cor.  "  The  noun  SELF  is  usually 
added  to  a  pronoun;  as.  herself,  himself,  iVro.  The  eomptjunds ;  thus  formed  are  called  reciprocal 
pronouns" — Id.  "One  cannot  but  thin1;,  that  our  author  iroufd  ha  a-  dune  better,  had  he  begun 
the  first  of  these  three  sent*"  tying,  '•It  is  novelty,  that  bestows  charms  on  a  mon 
—  Illair  cor.  "  The  idea  which  they  present  to  us,  of  nature  resembling  art,  of  art  considered  as 
an  original,  and  nature  as  a  ropy,  seems  not  very  distinct,  or  well  rout-fired,  nor  indeed  very  ma- 
terial to  our  author's  purpose." — Id.  "This  faulty  construction  of  the  sentence,  cridcntly  arose 
from  haste  and  carelessness." — Id.  "Adverbs 'serve  to  modify  terms  of  action  or  quality,  or  to 


972  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART  III. 

denote  time,  place,  order,  degree,  or  some  other  circumstance  which  we  have  occasion  to 
specify." — Id.  "  We  may  naturally  expect,  that  the  more  any  nation  is  improved  by  science, 
and  the  more  perfect  its  language  becomes,  the  more  will  that  language  abound  with  connective 
particles." — Id.  "  Mr.  Greenleaf's  book  is  far  better  adapted  to  the  capacity  of  learners,  than 
any  other  that  has  yet  appeared,  on  the  subject." — Feltus  and  Onderdonk's  false  praise  Eng- 
lished. "Punctuation  is  the  art  of  marking,  in  writing  or  in  print,  the  several  pauses,  or  rests, 
which  separate  sentences,  or  the  parts  of  sentences ;  so  as  to  denote  their  proper  quantity  or  pro- 
portion, as  it  is  exhibited  in  a  just  and  accurate  delivery." — Lowth  cor.  "A  compound  sentence 
must  generally  be  resolved  into  simple  ones,  and  these  be  separated  by  the  comma."  Or  better  : 
"A  compound  sentence  is  generally  divided,  by  the  comma,  into  its  simple  members." — Greenleaf 
and  Fisk  cor.  "  Simple  sentences  should  in  general  be  separated  from  one  an  other  by  the  com- 
ma, unless  a  greater  point  is  required ;  as,  '  Youth  is  passing  away,  age  is  approaching,  and  death 
r.'  " — Hall  cor.  "P^has  always  one  uniform  sound,  which  is  that  of '_/ 'flattened,  as  in  thieve 


is  near. 


from  thief :  thus  v  bears  to^'the  same  relation  that  b  does  to  p,  d  to  t,t  hard  n  to  k,  or  z  to  s." — 
Murray  and  Fisk  cor.  ;  also  Walker;  also  Greenleaf.  "The  author  is  explaining  the  difference 
between  sense  and  imagination,  as  powers  of  the  human  mind." — Murray  cor.  Or,  if  this  was 
the  critic's  meaning  :  "  The  author  is  endeavouring  to  explain  a  very  abstract  point,  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  powers  of  sense  and  those  o/'imagination,  as  two  different  faculties  q/the  hu- 
man mind." — Id. ;  also  Blair  cor.  "  HE — (from  the  Anglo-Saxon  HE — )  is  a'  personal  pronoun, 
of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  masculine  gender,  and  nominative  case.  Decline  HE." — 
Fowler  cor. 

CORRECTIONS    UNDER  THE    CRITICAL    NOTES. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  I. — OF  THE  PARTS  OF  SPEECH. 

"  The  passive  voice  denotes  an  action  received."  Or:  "  The  passive  voice  denotes  the  receiving 
of  an  action." — Maunder  corrected.  "  Milton,  in  some  of  his  prose  works,  has  many  veryfinely- 
turned  periods." — Blair  and  Jam.  cor.  "  These  will  be  found  to  be  wholly,  or  chiefly,  of  that 
class." — Blair  cor.  "All  appearances  of  an  author's  affecting  q/harmony,  are  disagreeable." — Id. 
and  Jam.  cor.  "  Some  nouns  have  a  double  increase  ;  that  is',  they  increase  by  more  syllables 
than  one  :  as  iter,  itineris." — Adam  et  al.  cor.  "  The  powers  of  man  are  enlarged  by  progressive 
cultivation." — Gurney  cor.  "  It  is  always  important  to  begin  well ;  to  make  a  favourable  impres- 
sion at  the  first  setting-out." — Blair  cor.  "  For  if  one  take  a  wrong  method  at  his  first  setting- 
out,  it  will  lead  him  astray  in  all  that  follows." — Id.  "  His  mind  is  full  of  his  subject,  and  all 
his  words  are  expressive." — Id.  "  How  exquisitely  is  all  this  performed  in  Greek  !  " — Harris  cor. 
"How  umcorthy  is  all  this  to  satisfy  the  ambition  of  an  immortal  soul!  " — Murray  cor.  "  So 
as  to  exhibit  the  object  in  its  full  grandeur,  and  its  most  striking  point  of  view." — Blair  cor. 
"And  that  the  author  know  how  to  descend  with  propriety  to  the  plain  style,  as  well  as  how  to 
rise  to  the  bold  and  figured." — Id.  "  The  heart  alone  can  answer  to  the  heart." — Id.  "  Upon  the 
first  perception  of  it."  Or  :  "As  it  is  first  perceived."— Harris  cor.  "  Call  for  Samson,  that  he 
may  make  sport  for  us." — Bible  cor.  "And  he  made  sport  before  them." — Id.  "The  term  '  to 
suffer,'  in  this  definition,  is  used  in  a  technical  sense ;  and  means  simply,  to  receive  an  action, 
or  to  be  acted  upon." — Bullions  cor.  "  The  text  only  is  what  is  meant  to  be  taught  in  schools." 
— Brightland  cor.  "  The  perfect  participle  denotes  action  or  existence  perfected  or  finished." — 
Kirkham  cor.  "  From  the  intricacy  and  confusion  which  are  produced  when  they  are  blended  to- 
gether."— Murray  cor.  "  This  very  circumstance,  that  the  word  is  employed  antithetically,  ren- 
ders it  important  in  the  sentence." — Kirkham  cor.  "  It  [the  pronoun  that,~\  is  applied  both  to 
persons  and  to  things." — Murray  cor.  "  Concerning  us,  as  being  everywhere  traduced." — Barclay 
cor.  "  Every  thing  else  was  buried  in  a  profound  silence." — Steele  cor.  "  They  raise  fuller  con- 
viction, than  any  reasonings  produce." — Blair  cor.  "It  appears  to  me  nothing  but  a  fanciful 
refinement."  Or:  "It  appears  to  me  nothing  more  than  a  fanciful  refinement." — Id.  "The  reg- 
ular and  thorough  resolution  of  a  complete  passage." — Churchill  cor.  "  The  infinitive  is  distin- 
guished by  the- word  TO,  which  immediately  precedes  it." — Maunder  cor.  "It  will  not  be  a 
gain  of  much  ground,  to  urge  that  the  basket,  or  vase,  is  understood  to  be  the  capital." — Kames 
cor.  "  The  disgust  one  has  to  drink  ink  in  reality,  is  not  to  the  purpose,  where  the  drinking  of 
it  is  merely  figurative." — Id.  "  That  we  run  not  into  the  extreme  of  pruning  so  very  closely." — 
See  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  318.  "  Being  obliged  to  rest  for  a  little  while  on  the  preposition 
itself."  Or  :  "  Being  obliged  to  rest  a  while  on  the  preposition  itself."  Or  :  "  Being  obliged  to 
rest  [for]  a  moment  on  the  preposition  alone." — Blair  and  Jam.  cor.  "Our  days  on  the  earth 
are  as  a  shadow,  and  there  is  no  abiding." — Bible  cor.  "  There  may  be  attempted  a  more  partic- 
ular expression  of  certain  objects,  by  means  of  imitative  sounds." — Blair,  Jam.  and  Mur. 
cor.  "  The  right  disposition  of  the  shade,  makes  the  light  and  colouring  the  more  apparent." — 
Blair  cor.  "  I  observe  that  a  diffuse  style  is  apt  to  run  into  long  periods." — Id.  "Their  poor 
arguments,  which  they  only  picJced  up"  in  the  highways" — Leslie  cor.  "Which  must  be  little 
else  than  a  transcribing  of  their  writings." — Barclay  cor.  "  That  single  impulse  is  &  forcing-out  ot 
almost  all  the  breath."  Or :  "  That  single  impulse  forces  out  almost  all  the  breath'." — Rush  cor. 
"  Picini  compares  modulation  to  the  turning-off  from  a  road." — Gardiner  cor.  "  So  much  has 
been  written  on  and  off  almost  every  subject." — Sophist  cor.  "  By  the  reading  of  books  written 
by  the  best  authors,  his  mind  became  highly  improved."  Or  :  "  By  the  study  of  the  most  instruct- 
ive books,  his  mind  became  highly  improved." — Mur.  cor.  "  For  I  never  made  a  rich  provision  a 
token  of  a  spiritual  ministry." — Barclay  cor. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  II. — OF  DOUBTFUL  REFERENCE. 

"  However  disagreeable  the  task,  we  must  resolutely  perform  our  duty." — Murray  cor.  "  The 
formation  of  all  English  verbs,  whether  they  be  regular  or  irregular,  is  derived  from  the  Saxon 
tongue." — Lowth  cor.  "  Time  and  chance  have  an  influence  on  all  things  human,  and  nothing 
do  they  affect  more  remarkably  than  language." — Campbell  cor.  "  Time  and  chance  have  an  in- 
fluence on  all  things  human,  and  on  nothing  a  more  remarkable  influence  than  on  language." — 


CHAP.  XIII.]  KEY   TO    FALSE   SYNTAX. CRITICAL   NOTE   III.  973 

Jamieson  cor.  "That  Archytases,  who  teas  a  virtuous  man,  happened  to  perish  once  upon  a  time, 
is  with  him  a  sufficient  ground,"  &.c. — I'/iil.  Mu.  cor.  "  He  will  be  the  better  qualified  to  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  the  numerous  words  into  which  they  enter  as  material  parfs." — Mur/ 
"  We  should  continually  have  the  goal  in  view,  that  it  may  direct  us  in  the  race." — Id.  "  But 
Addison's  figures  seem  to  rise  of  their  own  accord  from  the  subject,  and  constantly  to  embellish 
it."  Or  : — "  and  they  constantly  embellish  it." — Blair  and  Jam.  cor.  "So  far  as  they  s  if/ Jiffy  per- 
sons, animals,  and  things  that  we  can  see,  it  is  very  easy  to  distinguish  nouns." — Cobbed  cor. 
"  Dissyllabjes  ending  in  y  or  mute  <?,  or  accented  on  the  ./final  syllable,  may  sometimes  be  com- 
pared like  monosyllables." — Frost  cor.  "//'the  foregoing  objection  be  admitted,  it  will  not  over- 
rule the  design. "—Rush  cor.  "  These  philosophical  innovators  forget,  that  objects,  like  men, 
are  known  only  by  their  actions." — Dr.  Murray  cor.  "The  connexion  between  words  ar.<i 
is  arbitrary  and  conventional ;  it  /if is  arisen  mainhj  from  the  agreement  of  men  among  them- 
selves."— Jn  "The  connexion  between  words  and  ideas  may  in  general  be  consid- 
ered as  arbitrary  and  conventional,  or  as  arisitii/  from  the  agreement  of  men  among  thfmsi/lves." 
—  ll/tiir  cor.  "A  man  whose  inclinations  led  him  to  be  corrupt,  and  who  had  great  abilities  to 
_-e  and  multiply  ann  defend  his  corruptions." — Sir  iff  cor.  "  They  have  no  more  control 
over  him,  than  hare  any  other  men." — Waylandeor.  "All  his  old  words  are  true  English,  and 
/i  is  numbers  are  exquisite." — Sjsect.  cor.  "  It  has  been  said,  that  not .  •/  can  equivocate." 
— Mm-,  in.  E.c.  and  Key,  cor.  "In  La  fin,  the  nominative  of  the  first  or  second  person,  is  seldom 
expre>  -n  and  (jould  cor.  "  Some  words  hare  the  same  form  in  both  numbers." — Mur- 
ray ct  (if.  cor.  "  Some  nouns  have  the  same/o/vn  in  both  numbers." — Merchant  eta/,  cor.  "  Others 
have  the  same  form  in  both  numbers;  as,  deer,  sheep,  swine." — Frost  cor.  "The  following 
list  denotes  the  consonant  sounds,  of  which  there  are  twenty-two."  Or:  "The  following  list 
denotes  the  twenty-two  simple  sounds  of  the  consonants." — Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "And  is  the  ignor- 
ance of  these  peasants  a  reason  for  other  persons  to  remain  ignorant ;  or  does  it  render  the  sub- 
ject the  less  irorthy  of  our  inquiry  ?  " — Harris  and  Mur.  cor.  "  He  is  one  of  the  most  correct, 
and  perhaps  he  is  the  best,  of  our  prose  writers." — Lowth  cor.  "  The  motions  of  a  vortex  and 
of  a  whirlwind  are  perfectly  similar."  Or:  "  The  motion  of  a  vortex  and  that  of  a,  whirlwind  are 
perfectly  similar." — Jamieson  cor.  "  What  I  have  been  saying,  throws  light  upon  one  important 
verse  in  the  Bible ;  which  verse  I  should  like  to  hear  some  one  read." — Abbott  cor.  "When 
there  are  any  circumstances  of  time,  place,  and  the  like,  by  which  the  principal  terms  of  our  sen- 
tence must  be  limited  or  qualified." — Blair,  Jam.  and  Aliir.  cor.  "  Interjections  are  words  that 
express  emotion,  affection,  or  passion,  and  that  imply  suddenness."  Or  :  "  Interjections  express 
emotion,  affection,  or  passion,  and  imply  suddenness." — Bucke  cor.  "  But  the  genitive  expi 
the  measure  of  things,  is  used  in  the  plural  number  only." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "The  build- 
ings of  the  institution  have  been  enlarged;  and  an  expense  has  been  incurred,  which,  with  the 
increased  price  of  provisions,  renders  it  necessary  to  advance  the  terms  of  admission." — Murray 
cor.  "  These  sentences  are  far  less  difficult  than  complex  ones." — S.  S.  Greene  cor. 
"  Far  from  the  madding  crowd's  ignoble  strife 
They  sober  lived,  nor  ever  wished  to  stray." — Gray  cor. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  III. — OF  DEFINITIONS. 

(1.)  "A  definition  is  a  short  and  lucid  description  of  a  thing,  or  species,  according  to  its  nature  and 
properties." — G.  BROWN:  Ree.  Darid  Blair  cor.  (2.)  "Language,  in  general,  signifies  the  ex- 
pression of  our  ideas  by  certain  articulate  sounds,  or  written  words,  which  are  used  as  the  signs 
of  those  ideas." — Dr.  llwjh  Blair  cor.  (3.)  "A  word  is  one  or  more  syllables  used  by  common  con- 
sent as  the  sign  of  an  idea." — Bullions  cor.  (4.)  "A  word  is  one  or  more  syllables  used  as  the  si  an  of 
an  idea,  or  of  some  manner  of  thought." — Ifazen  cor.  (5.)  "  Words  are  articulate  sounds,  or 
their  irriffi-'i  I  to  convey  ideas." — Hiley  cor.  (6.)  "A  word  is  one  or  more  syllables  used 

(intf/i/  or  in  writing,  to  represent  some  idea." — Aart  cor.  (7.)  "A  word  is  one  or  more  syllable* 
used  as  the  sign  of  an  idea." — N.  l\r.  Clark  cor.  (8.)  "A  word  is  a  letter  or  a  combination  of 
letters,  a  sound  or  a  combination  of  sounds,  used  as  the  sign  of  an  idea." — Wells  cor.  (9.) 
"  Words  are  articulate  sounds,  or  their  written  signs,  by  which  ideas  are  communicated." — \\~ri-iht 
cor.  (10.)  "  Words  are  certain  articulate  sounds,  or  their  irritf  -.  used  by  common 

consent  as  signs  of  our  ideas." — Bui  Horn,  Loirt/i.  Murray,  et  al.  cor.  (11.)  "  Words  are  sounds 
or  written  symbols  used  as  signs  of  our  ideas." — H'.  Allen  cor.  (12.)  "  Orthography  literally  means 
vritutff." — Kirkham  and  Smith  cor.  [The  word  orthography  stands  for  different  things: 
as,  1.  The  art  or  practice  of  writing  words  with  their  proper  letters;  2.  That  part  of  grammar 
which  treats  of  letters,  syllables,  separate  words,  and  spelling.]  (13.)  "A  vowel  is  a  letter  which 
forms  a  jierfe,-t  SOUTH!  ir/im  uttered  alone." — lust,  p.  1G.  (14—18.)  "Spelling  is  the  art  of  ex- 
pressing words  by  their  proper  letters."  (19.)  "A  syll  ible  is  one  or  more  letters,  pronounced 

•np'il'se  of  the  voice,  and  constituting  a  word,  or  part  of  a  word." — Loirfh,  Mt> 
cor.     f'2').)  "  A  svll.iM*  '  v.  uttered  in  one  complete  sound." — 

,  'rum.  nnd  'Hitch,  cor.   (LM. )  "A  syllable  is  one'or  more  let  fern  n-nr,  <,  nting  a  distinct  sound,  or 
v  uttered  by  a  single  impulse  of  the  voice." — 1\  ('22.)  "A  syllable  is  so  much  of  a 

word  as  is  sounded  at  once,  irh.-th<-r  if  be  the  whole  or  a  part." — Bullions  ei>r.      (23.)  -'A .syllable- 
is  so  many  letter*   •.  led  at  once  ;  anil  is  either  a  word,  or  a  part  of  a  word." — 
(24.)  "A  diphthong  is  a  union  of  two  vowels  in  one  syllable,   as   in  bear  and  l» 
Or:  "A  diphthong  i*  (/•  "f  two  vowels  in  onesyllable." — Brit.  Cram.  p.  1-5;  Buchanan's, 
3.     (2-5.)  "A  diphthong  consists  of  two  vowels  pttftopetAtr  in  one  syllable;  as,  ea  in  f>cat,  oi  in 

p. 

boy." — Brit.  (Irani,  and  Bucban",  ,   "An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pro- 

noun,  to  describe  the  object  named  An   adjective  is  a  word 

to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  to  describe  or  define  the  o\-e  •(  mentioned" — R.   C.  Smith  cor.     (31.) 

"An  adjective  is  a  word  tchich,  without  assertion  or  time,  serves  to  describe  or  define  something  ; 


974  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. KEY  TO  SYNTAX.      [PART  ill. 

as,  a  good  man,  every  boy." — Wilcox  cor.  (32.)  "An  adjective  is  a  word  added  to  a  noun  or  pro- 
noun, and  generally  expresses  a  quality." — Mur.  and  Lowth cor.  (33.)  "An  adjective  expresses 
the  quality,  not  of  the  noun  or  pronoun  to  which  it  is  applied,  but  of  the  person  or  thing  spoken  of; 
and  it  may  generally  be  known  by  the  sense  which  it  thus  makes  in  connexion  with  its  noun  ;  as, 
'A  good  man,'  'A  genteel  woman.'  " — Wright  cor.  (34.)  "An  adverb  is  a  word  used  to  modify  the 
sense  of  a  verb,  a' participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb.1" — Wilcox  cor.  (35.)  "An  adverb  is 
a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb,  to  modify  the  sense,  or  de- 
note some  circumstance." — Bullions  cor.  (36.)  "A  substantive,  or  noun,  is  a  name  given  to  some 
object  which  the  senses  can  perceive,  the  understanding  comprehend,  or  the  imagination  enter- 
tain."—  Wright  cor.  (37 — 54.)  "Genders  are  modifications  that  distinguish  objects  in  regard  to 
sex." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  35.  (55  and  56.)  "A  case,  in  grammar,  is  the  state  or  condition  of  a 
noun  or  pronoun,  with  respect  to  some  other  word  in  the  sentence." — Bullions  and  Kirkham  cor. 
(57.)  "Cases  are  modifications  that  distinguish  the  relations  of  nouns  and  pronouns  to  other 
words." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  36.  (58.)  "  Government  is  the  power  which  one  word  has  over  an 
other,  to  cause  it  to  assume  some  particular  modification." — Saiworn  et  al.  cor.  Sec  List.  p.  104. 
(59.)  "A  simple  sentence  is  a  sentence  which  co'ntains  only  one  assertion,  command,  or  question." 
— Sanborn  et  al.  cor.  (60.)  "  Declension  means  the  putting  of  a  noun  or  pronoun  through  the  dif- 
ferent cases  and  numbers." — Kirkham  cor.  Or  better:  "The  declension  of  a  word  is  a  regular 
arrangement  of  its  numbers  and  cases." — See  Inst.  p.  37.  (61.)  "  Zeugma  is  a  figure  in  which 
two  or  more  words  refer  in  common  to  an  other  which  literally  agrees  with  only  one  of  them." — 
Fisk  cor.  (62.)  "An  irregular  verb  is  a  verb  that  does  not  form  the  preterit  and  the  perfect  par- 
ticiple by  assuming  d  or  ed  ;  as,  smite,  smote,  smitten."— Inst.  p.  75.  (63.)  "A  personal  pronoun 
is  a  pronoun  that  shows,  by  its  form,  of  what  person  it  is.'" — Inst.  p.  46. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  IV. — OF  COMPARISONS. 

"Our  language  abounds  more  in  vowel  and  diphthong  sounds,  than  most  other  tongues."  Or: 
"We  abound  more  in  vowel  and  diphthongal  sounds,  than  most  nations." — Blair  cor.  "A  line 
thus  accented  has  a  more  spirited  air,  than  one  which  takes  the  accent  on  any  other  syllable." — 
Kames  cor.  "  Homer  introduces  his  deities  with  no  greater  ceremony,  than  [what]  he  uses 
towards  mortals  ;  and  Virgil  has  still  less  moderation  than  he." — Id.  "  Which  the  more  refined  taste 
of  later  writers,  whose  genius  was  far  inferior  to  theirs,  would  have  taught  them  to  avoid." — Blair 
cor.  "As  a  poetical  composition,  however,  the  Book  of  Job  is  not  only  equal  to  any  other  of  the 
sacred  writings,  but  is  superior  to  them  all,  except  those  of  Isaiah  alone." — Id.  "  On  the  whole, 
Paradise  Lost  is  a  poem  which  abounds  with  beauties  of  every  kind,  and  which  justly  entitles  its 
author  to  be  equalled  in  fame  with  any  poet." — Id.  "  Most  of  the  French  writers  compose  in  short 
sentences;  though  their  style,  in  general,  is  not  concise;  commonly  less  so  than  that  of  most 
English  writers,  whose  sentences  are  much  longer." — Id.  "  The  principles  of  the  Reformation 
were  too  deeply  fixed  in  the  prince's  mind,  to  be  easily  eradicated." — Hume  cor.  "  Whether  they 
do  not  create  jealousy  and  animosity,  more  than  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  benefit  derived 
from  them." — Leo  Wolf  cor.  "  The  Scotch  have  preserved  the  ancient  character  of  their  music 
more  entire,  than  have  the  inhabitants  of  any  other  country." — Gardiner  cor.  "When  the  time 
or  quantity  of  one  syllable  exceeds  that  of  the  rest,  that  syllable  readily  receives  the  accent." — 
Rush  cor.  "  What  then  can  be  more  obviously  true,  than  that  it  should  be  made  as  just  as  we 
can  make  it." — Dymond  cor.  "  It  was  not  likely  th^at  they  would  criminate  themselves  more 
than  they  could  not  avoid." — Clarkson  cor.  "In  their  understandings  they  were  the  most  acute 
people  that  have  ever  lived." — Knapp  cor.  "  The  patentees  have  printed  it  with  neat  types,  and 
upon  better  paper  than  was  used  formerly." — John  Ward  cor.  "  In  reality,  its  relative  use  is  not; 
exactly  like  that  of  any  other  word." — Felch  cor.  "Thus,  in  stead  of  having  to  purchase  two 
books, — the  Grammar  and  the  Exercises, — the  learner  finds  both  in  one,  for  a  price  at  most  not 
greater  than  that  of  the  others." — Alb.  Argus  cor.  "  They  are  not  improperly  regarded  as  pro- 
nouns, though  they  are  less  strictly  such  than  the  others." — Bullions  cor.  "  We  have  had,  as  will 
readily  be  believed,  a  much  better  opportunity  of  becoming  conversant  with  the  case,  than  the 
generality  of  our  readers  can  be  supposed  to  have  had." — Brit.  Friend  cor. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  V. — OF  FALSITIES. 

"  The  long  sound  of  i  is  like  a  very  quick  union  of  the  sound  of  a,  as  heard  in  bar,  and  that  of 
e,  as  heard  in  be." — Churchill  cor.  "  The  omission  of  a  word  necessary  to  grammatical  propriety, 
is  of  course  an  impropriety,  and  not  a  true  ellipsis." — Priestley  cor.  "Not  every  substantive,  or 
noun,  is  necessarily  of  the  third  person." — A.  Murray  cor.  *'A  noun  is  in  the  third  person,  when 
the  subject  is  merely  spoken  of;  and  in  the  second  person,  when  the  subject  is  spoken  to ;  and 
in  the  first  person,  when  it  names  the  speaker  as  such." — Nutting  cor.  "  With  us,  no  nouns  are 
literally  of  the  masculine  or  the  feminine  gender,  except  the  names  of  male  and  female  creatures." 
— Dr.  Blair  cor.  "The  apostrophe  is  a  little  mark,  either  denoting  the  possessive  case  of  nouns,  or 
signifying  that  something  is  shortened:  as,  'William's  hat;' — '  the  learn'd,'  for  '  the  learned."' — 
Inf.  S.  Gram.  cor.  "  When  a  word  beginning  with  a  vowel  is  coupled  with  one  beginning  with  a 
consonant,  the  indefinite  article  must  not  be  repeated,  if  the  two  words  be  adjectives  belonging  to 
one  and  the  same  noun  ;  thus,  '  Sir  Matthew  Hale  was  a  noble  and  impartial  judge  ; ' — '  Pope  was 
an  elegant  and  nervous  writer." — Maunder  cor.*  "  IF  and  y  are  consonants,  when  they  precede 
a  vowel  heard  in  the  same  syllable  :  in  every  other  situation,  they  are  vowels." — Mur.  et  al.  cor.  See 
Inst.  p.  16.  "The  is  not  varied  before  adjectives  and  substantives,  let  them  begin  as  they  will." — 
Bucke  cor.  "A  few  English  prepositions,  and  many  which  we  have  borrowed  from  other  languages, 
are  often  prefixed  to  words,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  coalesce  with  them,  and  to  become  parts 
of  the  compounds  or  derivatives  thus  formed." — Lowth  cor.  "  H,  at  the  beginning  of  syllables  not 
accented,  is  iveaker,  but  not  entirely  silent ;  as  in  historian,  widowhood." — D.  Blair  cor.  "Not 
every  word  that  will  make  sense  with  to  before  it,  is  a  verb ;  for  to  may  govern  nouns,  pronouns, 

*  The  article  may  be  repeated  in  examples  like  these,  without  producing  impropriety  ;  but  then  it  will  alter  the 
construction  of  the  adjectiveti,  and  render  the  expression  more  formal  and  emphatic,  by  suggesting  a  repetition  of 
the  noun."— G.  BROWX.  ' 


CHAP.    XIII.]  KEY   TO    FALSE   SYNTAX. — CRITICAL   NOTE   VI.  975 


or  participles." — Kirkham  cor.  "Most  verbs  do,  in  reality,  express  actions  ;  but  they  are  not  in- 
trinsically the  mere  names  of  actions  :  these  must  of  course  be  nouns" — Id.  "The  nominative 
denotes  trie  actor  or  subject;  and  the  verb,  the  action  which  is  performed  or  received  by  this  actor 
or  subject.'' — Id.  "But,  if  only  one  creature  or  thing  acts,  more  than  one  action  may,  "at  the  same 
instant,  be  done  ;  as,  '  The  girl  not  only  holds  her  pen  badly,  but  scowls,  and  distorts  "her  features, 
while  she  writes.'  " — Id.  "Nor  is  each,  of  these  verbs  of  the  singular  number  because  it  denotes  but 
one  action  which  the  girl  performs,  but  because,  the  subject  or  nominative  is  of  the  singular  num- 
ber, and  the  words  muxt  agree." — Id.  "And  when  I  say,  'Two  men  walJc,'  is  it  not  equally  ap- 
parent, that  walk  is  plural  because  it  agrees  with  men?  " — Id.  "  The  subjunctive  mood  is  formed 
by  tvtintf  the  simple  verb  in  a  supjtositive  sense,  and  without  personal  infection." — Beck  cor.  "  The 


— A.  Murray  cor.  "  Here  let  it  be  observed  again,  that,  strictly  speaking,  all  finite  verbs  have 
numbers  and  persons  ;  and  so  have  nearly  all  nouns  and  pronouns,  even  when  they  refer  to  irra- 
tional creatures  and  inanimate  things." — Barrett  cor.  "  The  noun  denoting  the  person  or  per- 
sons addressed  or  spoken  to,  is  in  the  nominative  case  independent :  except  it  be  put  in  apposition 
with  <t  pronoun  of  the  second  person ;  as,  'Woe  to  you  lairyers;' — '  You  political  men  are  con- 
stantly manoeuvring.'  " — Frost  cor.  "  Every  noun,  when  used  in  a  direct  address  and  set  off"  by  a 
comma,  becomes  of  the  second  person,  and  is  in  the  nominative  case  absolute;  as,  'Paul,  thou 
art  beside  thyself.'  " — Jaudon  cor.  "  Does  the  conjunction  ever  join  words  together  ?  Yes  ;  the 
conjunction  sometimes  joins  words  together,  and  sometimes  sentences,  or  certain  parts  ofsentei 
Jirit.  Gram,  cor.;  also  Buchanan.  "Every  noun  of  the  possessive  form  has  a  i/nr<  rning  noun,  ex- 
pressed or  understood  ;  as,  St.  James's.  Here  Palace  is  understood.  But  one  possessive  may  govern 
another;  as,  '  William's  father's  house.'  " — Buchanan  cor.  "  Every  adjective  (with  the  exceptions 
noticed  under  RuleQth)  belongs  to  a  noun  or  pronoun,  expressed  or  understood." — Murray  et  al.  cor. 
"  Not  every  adjective  qualifies  a  substantive,  expressed  or  understood." — Bullions  cor.  "Not  every 
adjective  belongs  to  a  noun,  expressed  or  understood." — Ingersoll  c or.  "Adjectives  belong  to  nouns 
or  pronouns,  and  serve  to  describe  things." — R.  C.  Smith  cor.  "English  adjectives,  in  general, 
have  no  modifications  in  which  they  can  agree  with  the  nouns  to  which  they  re/ate." — P*isk  cor. 
"The  adjective,  if  it  denote  unity  or  plurality,  must  agree  with  its  substantive  in  number." — 
Buchanan  cor.  "Not  every  adjective  and  participle,  by  a  vast  many,  belongs  to  some  noun  or 
pronoun,  expressed  or  understood." — Frost  cor.  "Not  every  verb  of  the  infinitive  mood,  sup- 
poses a  verb  before  it,  expressed  or  understood." — Buchanan  cor.  "Nor  has  every  adverb  its  verb, 
expressed  or  understood  ;  for  some  adverbs  relate  to  participles,  to  adjectives,  or  to  other  adverbs." 
— W.  "A  conjunction  that  connects  one  sentence  to  an  other,  is  not  always  placed  betwixt  the  two 
propositions  or  sentences  which  it  unites." — Id.  "The  words  for  all  that,  are  by  no  means 
'  low  ; '  but  the  putting  of  this  phrase  for  yet  or  still,  is  neither  necessary  nor  elegant." — Mur.  and 
.  "  The  reader  or  hearer  then  understands  from  AND,  that  the  author  adds  one  proposition, 
r,  or  thing,  to  an  other.  Thus  AND  often,  very  often,  connects  one  thing  with  an  other  thing, 
or  one  word  wim  an  other  word." — James' Brown  cor.  "  '  Six  AND  six  are  twelve.'  Here  it  is  af- 
firmed, that  the  tiro  sixes  added  together  are  twelve." — Id.  "  «  John  AND  his  wife  hare  six  children.' 
This  is  an  instance  in  which  AND  connects  two  nominatives  in  a  simple  sentence.  It  is  not  here  af- 
firmed that  John  has  six  children,  and  that  his  wife  has  six  other  children." — Id.  "  That 
'  Nothing  can  be  great  which  is  not  right,'  is  itself  a  great  falsity :  there  are  great  blunders,  great 
evils,  great  sins." — L.  Murray  cor.  "The  highest  degree  of  reverence  should  be  paid  to  the 
most  exalted  virtu?  or  goodness." — Id.  "  There  is  in  all  minds  some  knowledge,  or  understand- 
ing."— Murray  et  al.  cor.  "  Formerly,  the  nominative  and  objective  cases  of  our  pronouns,  were 
more  qt-m-ruHy  distinguixlird  in  pntctice,  than  they  now  are." — Kirkham  cor.  "As  it  respects  a 
choice  of  words  and  expressions,  the  just  rules  of  grammar  may  materially  aid  the  learner." — S. 

<••.  "The  name  of  whatever  exists,  or  is  conceived  to  exist,  is  a  noun." — Fmoler  cor. 
"As  not  all  men  are  brave,  brave  is  itself  distinct ive." — Id. 

UNDKR  CRITICAL  NOTE  VI. — OF  ABSURDITIES. 

(1.)  "And  sometimes  two  unaccented  syllables  come  together." — Blair  cor.      (2.)  "  What  nouns 
frequently  stand  titr/<-th>-r  /  "       Or  :   "  What  nouns  on-  frequently  uxtd  one  after  an  other?  " — .^in- 
born cor.     (3.)  "Words  are  derived  from  other  u-nrdx  in  various  ways."— Idem  ct  al.  cor.      (4.) 
MM  I'Ui-.rosmox  is  derived  from  the  two  Latin  words  prtc  and  pono,  which  signify  before  and 
plan-." — M  ">.)  "lie  was  much   laughed  at  for  such  conduct." — Bullions   cor.      (6.) 

nominal  ad.'n-fice  belongs  to  some  noun,  expressed  or  understood." — Ingcraull  cor. 
(7.)  "  If  he  [Addison]  fails  in  any  thing,  it  is  in  strength  anil  precision  ;  tin  >r,i,,t  of' which  renders 
his  manner  not  altogether  a  proper  model." — Blair  cor.  (8.)  "  Indeed,  it"  Horace  /.v  deficient  in 
any  thing,  his  fault  is  this,  of  not  being  sufficiently  attentive  ti  juncture,  <>/•////•  connexion  of 
parts." — Id.  ((J.)  "The  pupil  is  now  >u|>;>o>ed  to  be  acquainted  with  the  ten  parts  of  speech,  and 
their  most  usual  modifications." — Taylor  cor.  (10.)  "I  could  see,  feel,  taste,  and  smell  the 
rose."—  <>r.  (11.)  "The<n;/v/.v  iou  «/•/•  sometimes  pronounced  distinctly  in  two  syllables  ; 

as  in  various,  abstemious  •  but  not  in  hilioux." — Murray  am/  \\'aU;cr  cor.  (12.)  "  The  diphthong  aa 
generally  sounds  like  a  short ;  as  in  Bula-nn.  <'<ntn,in,  l.\aac  :  in  Baal  ni\i\  (iaaft  we  make  no  diph- 
thong."— Mur.  cor.  (13.)  "Participle-  .1  id  to  be  •  governed  by  the  article;'  for  am/ 
participle,  with  an  article  before  it,  becomes  a  substantive,  or  an  adjective  used  Mibstantively :  as, 
the  lea mim/,  the  learned." — Id.  (14.)  "From  words  ending  with  //  preceded  by  a  consonant,  we 
form  the  plurals  of  nouns,  the  persons  of  verbs,  agent  HOT  .  irticiple*,  comparatives,  and 
superlatives,  by  changing  the  y  into  /,  and  adding  »  ..'<//v/v,  ft  al. 
cor.  (lo.)  "  But  y  preceded  by  a  vowel.  rrmain.\  int<-/i<uuit d,  in  the  derivatives  above  named;  as, 
boy,  boys." — Murray  it  al.  cor.  ( 16.)  "  But  when  the  ffinal  >/  is  preceded  by  a  vowel,  it  remains  un- 

••<•  an  additional  syllable;  us,  coy,  coyly."' — lid.       (17.)   "  Hut  y  preceded  by  a  vowel, 

hanged,  in  almost  all  in9\  ,." — K/r/.hamcor.     (18.)  "  Sentences  are 

of  two  kinds,  simple  and  compound." — \\'rightcor. '  (19.)  "The  neuter  pronoun  it  maybe  employed 


. 

976  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART  ITT. 

to  introduce  a  nominative  of  any  person,  number,  or  gender  ;  as,  'It  is  he  ; ' — 'It  is  she ; ' — ' It  is 
they  ;  ' — 'It  is  the  land.' ' — Buckecor.  (20  and  21.)  "It  is,  and  it  icas,  are  always  singular  ;  butthey 
may  introduce  words  of  &  plural  construction:  as,  'It  was  the  heretics  that  first  began  to  rail.' 
SMOLLETT." — Merchant  cor.;  also  Priestley  et  al.  (22.)  "Wand  y,  as  consonants,  have  each  of 
them  one  sound." — Town  cor.  (23.)  "  The  word  as  is  frequently  a  relative  pronoun." — Bucke  cor. 
(24.)  "From  a  series  of  clauses,  the  conjunction  may  sometimes  be  omitted  with  propriety." — Mer- 
chant cor.  (25.)  "  If,  however,  the  two  members  are  very  closely  connected,  the  comma  is  un- 
necessary ;  as,  '  Revelation  tells  us  how  we  may  attain  happiness.'  " — Murray  etal.  cor.  (26—27.) 
"The  mind  has  difficulty  in  taking  effectually,  in  quick  succession,  so  many  different  views  of  the 
same  object." — Blair  cor.;  also  Mur.  (28.)  "Pronominal  adjectives  are  a  kind  of  definitives, 
which  may  either  accompany  their  nouns,  or  represent  them  understood." — Kirkham  cor.  (29.) 
"When  the  nominative  or  antecedent  is  a  collective  noun  conveying  the  idea  of  plurality,  the  verb  or 
pronoun  must  agree  with  it  in  the  plural  number." — Id.  et  al.  cor.  (30 — 34.)  "A  noun  or  a  pro- 
noun in  the  possessive  case,  is  governed  by  the  name  of  the  thing  possessed." — Brown's  Inst.  p.  176. 
(35.)  "  Here  the  boy  is  represented  as  acting  :  the  word  boy  is  therefore  in  the  nominative  case." 
— Kirkham  cor.  (36.)  "Do,  be,  have,  and  will,  are  sometimes  auxiliaries,  and  sometimes  principal 
verbs." — Cooper  cor.  (37.)  "Names  of  males  are  masculine.  Names  of  females  are  feminine." — 
Adam's  Gram. -p.  10.  (38.)  "'  To-day's  lesson  is  longer  than  yesterday's.'  Here  to-day's  and 
yesterday's  are  substantives." — Murray  et  al.  cor.  (39.)  "  In  this  example,  to-day's  and  yesterday's 
are  nouns  in  the  possessive  case." — Kirkham  cor.  (40.)  "An  Indian  in  Britain  would  be  much 
surprised  to  find  by  chance  an  elephant  feeding  at  large  in  the  open  fields," — Kames  cor.  (41.) 
"  If  we  were  to  contrive  a  new  language,  %ve  might  make  any  articulate  sound  the  sign  of  any  ideaj 
apart  from  previous  usage,  there  would  be  no  impropriety  in  calling  oxen  mew,  or  rational  beings 
oxen." — Murray  cor.  (42.)  "All  the  parts  of  a  sentence  should  form  a  consistent  whole." — Id. 
et  al.  cor. 

(43.)  "  Full  through  his  neck  the  weighty  falchion  sped, 

Along  the  pavement  roll'd  the  culprit's  head." — Pope  cor. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  VII. — OF  SELF-CONTRADICTION. 

(1.)  "  Though  '  The  king,  with  the  lords  and  commons,'  must  have  a  singular  rather  than  a  plural 
verb,  the  sentence  would  certainly  stand  better  thus  :  '  The  king,  the  lords,  and  the  commons, 
form  an  excellent  constitution.'  " — Mur.  and  Ing.  cor.  (2 — 3.)  "L  has  a  soft  liquid  sound  ;  as  in 
love,  billow,  quarrel.  This  letter  is  sometimes  silent ;  as  in  half,  talk,  psalm." — Mur.  and  Fisk 
cor.;  also  Kirkham.  (4.)  "The  words  means  and  amends,  though  regularly  derived  from  the 
singulars  mean  and  amend,  are  not  now,  even  by  polite  writers,  restricted  to  the  plural  number. 
Our  most  distinguished  modern  authors  often  say,  '  by  this  means,'  as  well  as,  '  by  these  means.'  " — 
Wrightcor.  (5.)  "A  friend  exaggerates  a  m'an's  virtues;  an  enemy,  his  crimes." — Mur. cor.  (6.)  "The 
auxiliary  have,  or  any  form  o/'the  perfect  tense,  belongs  not  properly  to  the  subjunctive  mood.  We 
suppose  past  facts  by  the  indicative ;  as,  If  I  have  loved,  If  thou  hast  loved,  &c." — Merchant  cor. 
(7.)  "  There  is  also  an  impropriety  \nusing  both  the  indicative  and  the  subjunctive  mood,  with  the 
same  conjunction ;  as,  'If  a  man  have  a  hundred  sheep,  and  one  of  them  is  gone  astray,'  &c. 
[This  is  Merchant's  perversion  of  the  text.  It  should  be,  •  and  one  of  them  go  astray  ; '  or,  '  be 
gone  astray,'  as  in  Matt,  xviii,  12.]  " — Id.  (8.)  "  The  rising  series  of  contrasts  conveys  transcend- 
ent dignity  and  energy  to  the  conclusion." — Jamieson  cor.  (9.)  "A  groan  or  a  shriek  is  instantly 
understood,  as  a  language  extorted  by  distress,  a  natural  language  which  conveys  a  meaning  that 
words  are  not  adequate  to  express.  A  groan  or  a  shriek  speaks  to  the  ear  with  a  far  more  thrilling 
effect  than  words  ;  yet  even  this  natural  language  of  distress  may  be  counterfeited  by  art." — Dr. 
Porter  cor.  (10.)  "If  these  words  [book  and  pen]  cannot  be  put  together  in  such  a  way  as  will 
constitute  plurality,  then  they  cannot  be  '  these  icords  ;  "  and  then,  also,  one  and  one  cannot  be 
two." — James  Brown  cor.  (11.)  "  Nor  can  the  real  pen  and  the  real  book  be  added  or  counted  to- 
gether in  words,  in  such  a  manner  as  will  not  constitute  plurality  in  grammar." — Id.  (12.)  "Our 
is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  possessive  case.  Murray  does  not  decline  it." — Mur.  cor.  (13.)  "This 
and  that,  and  their  plurals  these  and  those,  are  often  opposed  to  each  other  in  a  sentence.  When 
this  or  that  is  used  alone,  i.  e.,  without  contrast,  this  is  applied  to  what  is  present  or  near;  that,  to 
what  is  absent  or  distant." — Buchanan  cor.  (14.)  "Active  and  neuter  verbs  may  be  conjugated 
by  adding  their  imperfect  participle  to  the  auxiliary  verb  be,  through  all  its  variations." — "Be  is 
an  auxiliary  whenever  it  is  placed  before  either  the  perfect  or  the  imperfect  participle  of  an  other 
verb  ;  but,  in  every  other  situation,  it  is  a  principal  verb." — Kirkham  cor.  (15.)  "A  verb  in  the 
imperative  mood  is  almost  always  of  the  second  person." — "  The  verbs,  according  to  a  foreign  idiom, 
or  the  poet's  license,  are  used  in  the  imperative,  agreeing  with  a  nominative  of  the  first  or  third 
person." — Id.  (16.)  "A  personal  pronoun,  is  a  pronoun  that  shows,  by  its  form,  of  what  person  it 
is." — "Pronouns  of  the  fh'st  person  do  not  disagree  in  person  with  the  nouns  they  represent." — 
Id.  (17-)  "  Nouns  have  three  cases  ;  the  nominative,  the  possessive,  and  the  objective." — "Per- 
sonal pronouns  have,  like  nouns,  three  cases  ;  the  nominative,  the  possessive,  and  the  objective." — 
Beck  cor.  (18.)  "  In  many  instances  the  preposition  suffers  a  change  and  becomes  an  adverb  by 
its  mere  application." — Murray  cor.  (19.)  "  Some  nouns  are  used  only  in  the  plural;  as,  ashes, 

Among 
cernim 


cor. 

that  are  commonly  transitive,  are  used  intransitively,  when  they  have  no  object." — Bullions  cor. 
(23.)  "  When  first  young  Maro,  in  his  boundless  mind, 

A  work  t'  outlast  imperial  Rome  design'd." — Pope  cor. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  VIII. — OF  SENSELESS  JUMBUNG. 

"There  are  two  numbers,  called  the  singular  and  the  plural,  which  distinguish  nouns  as  signify- 
ing either  one  thing,  or  many  of  the  same  kind." — Blair  cor.    "  Here  James  Monroe  is  addressed  , 


CHAP.  XIII.]  KEY   TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. — CRITICAL   NOTE    IX.  977 

he  is  spoken  to  ;  tic  name  is  therefore  a  noun  of  the  second  person." — Mack  cor.  "  The  number 
and  pvrson  of  an  Enc/liyh  verb  can  seldom  be  ascertained  until  its  nominative  is  known." — Em- 
motts  cor.  "A  noun  of  multitude,  or  a  siHr/iilar  noun  signifying  many,  may  have  a  verb  or  a  pro- 
noun agreeing  with  it  in  either  number  ;  yet  not  without  regard  to  the  import  of  the»ow»,  as  con- 
veying  the  idea  of  unity  or  plurality." — Ltnrth  ft  nl.  «>r.  "  To  form  the  present  tense  and  the 
past  imperfect  of  our  active  or  neuter  rerbs,  the  auxiliary  do,  and  its  preterit  did,  are  sometimes 
used:  as,  I  do  now  love  ;  I  did  then  love." — Luicth  cor.  "If  these  be  perfectly  committed  to 
memory,  tin-  /earner  \\  ill  be  able  to  take  twenty  lines  for  his  second  lesson,  and  the  task  may  be 
increased  each  day." — Osborn  cor.  "Ch  /*  generally  sounded  in  the  same  manner  as  if  it  "were. 
teJt :  as  in  Chearlf9^chwrcht  <heer  fulness,  and  cheese.  But,  in  Latin  or  Greek  words,  eh  is  pronounced 
like  k:  as  in  C/taos,  character,  'ehorus,  and  chimera.  And,  in  ironk  derived  from  the  French,  ch 
is  sounded  like  sh  :  as  in  ('haurin,  ehieanery,  and  chaise." — Bucke  cor.  "Some  nouns  literally 
neuter,  are  made  masculine  or  feminine  bv  a  figure  of  speech." — Murray  et  al.  cor.  "  In, 
the  English  language,  w  >rds  may  be  classified  under  ten  general  heads  :  thesorts,  or  chief  classes, 
of  trords,  are  usually  termed  the  ten  parts  of  speech." — Nutting  cor.  "  '  Mercy  is  the  true  badge 
of  nobility.'  Nobility  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender, 
and  objective  case  ;  and  is  governed  by  of." — Kirk  ham  cor.  "Gh  is  either  silent,  as  in  plough, 
or  hax  the  sound  of  /',  as  in  laugh." — Town  cor.  "  Many  nations  were  destroyed,  and  as  many 
languages  or  dialects  were  lost  and  blotted  out  from  the  general  catalogue.'' — Chazotte  cor. 
"  Some  languages  contain  a  greater  number  of  moods  than  others,  and  each  exhibits  its  own  as 
forms  peculiar  to  itself." — Murray  cor.  "A  SIMILE  is  a  simple  and  express  comparison  ;  and  is 
generally  introduced  by  like,  as,  or  so." — Id.  See  Inst.  p.  233.  "  The  word  tchat  is  sometimes 
improperly  used  for  the  conjunction  that." — Priestley,  Murray,  et  al.  cor.  "Brown  makes  no 
ado  in  condemning  the  absurd  principles  of  preceding  works,  in  relation  to  the  gender  of  pro- 
nouns."— I'circf  ear.  "  The  nominative  usually  precedes  the  verb,  and  denotes  the  agent  of  the 
action." — Beck  cor.  "Primitive  trords  are  those  which  are  not  formed  from  other  \cords  more 
simple." — IVriyht  cor.  "In  monosyllables,  the  single  vowel  t  always  preserves  its  long  sound 
before  a  single  consonant  with  e  final ;  as  in  thine,  strive:  except  in  yicc  and  lice,  which  are  short ; 
and  in  shire,  which  has  the  sound  of  long  e." — Murray  et  al.  cor.  "  But  the  person  or  tiling 
thrrf  />•  merely  spoken  of,  being  frequently  absent,  and  perhaps  in  many  respects  unknown  to  the 
-.  it  is  thought  mfirr  necessary,  that  the  third  person  should  be  marked  by  a  distinction  of 
gender." — Loirth,  Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "Both  rowels  of  every  diphthonc/  tcrre,  doubtless,  originally 
Though  in  many  instances  they  are  not  so  at  present,  (he  combinations  in  trhich  one  only 
is  heard,  still  retain  the  name  of  diphthongs,  beinr/  distinr/uixhed  from  others  by  the  term  itn- 
trroper." — Mur.  et  al.  cor.  tl Moods  are  dijfercnt  forms  of  the  verb,  each  of  which  expresses  the 
"being,  action,  or  passion,  in  SO/HP  p'irfiritfar  manner." — last.  p.  33;  A.  Mur.  cor.  "  The  word  THAT 
is  a  demonstrative  adjcrtirc,  irhaierer  it  is  followed  by  a  noun  to  which  it  refers." — L.  Mur.  cor. 
"The  guilty  soul  by  Jesus  trash' d, 
Is  future  glory's  deathless  heir." — Fairjield  cor. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  IX. — OF  WORDS  NEEDLESS. 

"A  knowledge  of  grammar  enables  us  to  express  ourselves  better  in  conversation  and  in  writ- 
ing."— Sunburn  eor.  "And  hence  we  infer,  that  there  is  no  dictator  here  but  use." — Jamieson 
"  Whence  little  is  gained,  except  correct  spelling  and  pronunciation." — Town  cor.  "  The 
man  who  is  faithfully  attached  to  religion,  may  be  relied  on  with  confidence." — Merchant  cor. 
"  Shalt  thou  build  me  a  house  to  dwell  in  ?  "  Or  :  "  Shalt  thou  build  a  house  for  me  to  dwell 
in?" — Bihlc  cr.r.  "The  hmi<t  was  deemed  polluted  which  was  entered  by  so  abandoned  a 
woman." — Blair  eor.  "  The  farther  he  searches,  the  firmer  will  be  his  belief." — Keith  cor.  "  I  deny 
not  that  religion  consists  in  these  things." — Barclay  cor.  "  Except  the  king  delighted  in  her, 
and  she  were  called  by  name." — Bible  cor.  "  The  proper  method  of  reading  these  lines,  is,  to 
read  them  as  the  sense  dictates." — B'air  cor.  "  When  any  words  become  obsolete,  or  are  used 
' ii  particular  phrases,  it  is  better  to  dispense  with  their  service  entirely,  and  give  up  the 
phrases." — Campbell  and  Mur.  (or.  "Those  savage  people  seemed  to  have  no  clement  but  war." 
— Mur.  car.  "Man  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  masculine  gender, 
and  nominative  case." — Flint  em-.  '•  The  orator,  as  circumstances  require,  will  employ  them 
all." — Blair  cor.  "  By  deferring  repentance,  we  accumulate  our  sorrows." — Murray  cor.  "  There 
is  no  doubt  that  public  speaking  became  early  an  engine  of  government." — Blair  cor.  "The 
different  meanings  of  t'.  M!<,  m.iy  not  at  first  occur." — Id.  "  The  sentiment  is  well  ex- 


y 

imperfect  tense  of  a  rcgulir  verb  is  formed  from  the  present  bv  atMing  d  or  ed ;  as,  lore.,    ' 
—  /•'/•'•  :e  pronou'-  .11  number  with  the  noun  '  man,'    for  which   it 

stands." — l\  I  his  mark  [!]  denotes  wonder,  surprise,  joy,   giiei",  D    emo- 

tion."—  BH  .rcountuble,  each  for  himself." — Jlttr.  ct  al.  ear.      "  If  he   has 

commanded  it.  I  mu-t  obey." — Smit/i  ear.     "  I  n--w  present  him  a  form  of  the  diatonic  scale." — 
cor.     "  One  after  an  other,  their  favourite  rivers  have  beer;  reluctantly  abandoned."     Or: 
ifter  an  other  of  their  favourite  livers   have  they  reluctantly   abandoned." — Ifodyxon   cor. 
ttj\ird\inl:ir  ami  !>  of  different  impi>rt." — B!<iir  «»'.     "  Some  adverbs   admit  of 

comparison  .  ••  Having  exposed  himself  too  freely  in  dif- 

ferent climates,  he  entirely  lost   his  health."—  "The  verb  must  agree  with  its  nomi- 

native in  number  and  pe!-«n." — litr.- /!•,•>, >n<  .*ir.  "Wiite  twenty  short  sentences  containing  ad- 
jectives."— A'ibutt  cor.  "This  general  tendency  of  the  language  srems  to  have  given  oc.-a.^iun 
to  a  very  great  corruption." — Churchill's  (irain'.  p.  113.  "The  second  requisite  of  a  perfect  sen- 
tence l»  unity." — Murray  eor.  "  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  apologize  for  omitting  their  names." 
— Id.  "  The  letters  of  the  English  alphabet  are  twenty-six." — Id.  et  al.  cor.  "  He  who  employs 

71 


978  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART   III. 

antiquated  or  novel  phraseology,  must  do  it  with  design  ;  he  cannot  err  from  inadvertence,  as 
he  may  with  respect  to  provincial  or  vulgar  expressions." — Jamieson  cor.  "  The  vocative  case, 
in  some  grammars,  is  wholly  omitted  ;  why,  if  we  must  have  cases,  I  could  never  understand." — 
Bucke '  cor.  "Active  verbs  are  conjugated  with  the  auxiliary  verb  have  ;  passive  verbs,  with  the 
auxiliary  am  or  be." — Id.  "  What  then  may  AXD  be  called  ?  A  conjunction." — Smith  cor.  "  Have 
they  ascertained  who  gave  the  information  ?  " — Bullions  cor. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  X. — OF  IMPROPER  OMISSIONS. 

"All  words  signifying  concrete  qualities  of  things,  are  called  adnouns,  or  adjectives." — D.  Blair 
cor.  "  The  macron  [~]  signifies  a  long  or  accented  syllable,  and  the  breve  [  j  indicates  a  short  or 
unaccented  syllable." — Id.  "Whose  duty  it  is,  to  help  young  ministers." — Friends  cor.  "The 
passage  is  closely  connected  with  what  precedes  and  what  follows." — Phil.  Mu.  cor.  "  The  work  is 
not  completed,  but  it  soon  will  be." — R.  C.  Smith  cor.  "  Of  whom  hast  thou  been  afraid,  or  whom 


God  that  made  them." — Bucke  cor.  "  The  errors  frequent  in  the  use  of  hyperboles,  arise  either 
from  overstraining  them,  or  from  introducing  them  on  unsuitable  occasions." — Mur.  cor.  "  The 
preposition  in  is  set  before  the  names  of  countries,  cities,  and  large  towns  ;  as,  '  He  lives  in 
France,  in  London,  or  in  Birmingham.'  'But,  before  the  names  of  villages,  single  houses,  or  for- 
eign cities,  at  is  used  ;  as,  '  He  lives  at  Hackney.'  " — Id.  et  al.  cor.  "  And,  in  such  recollection, 
the  thing  is  not  figured  as  in  our  view,  nor  is  any  image  formed." — Kamcs  cor.  "  Intrinsic  beauty 
and  relative  beauty  must  be  handled  separately." — Id.  "  He  should  be  on  his  guard  not  to  do 
them  injustice  by  disguising  them  or  placing  them  in  a  false  light." — Blair  cor.  "  In  perusing 
that  work,  we  are  frequently  interrupted  by  the  author's  unnatural  thoughts." — Murray  cor. 
"  To  this  point  have  tended  all  the  rules  which  I  have/«s£  given." — Blair  cor.  "  To  this  point 
have  tended  all  the  rules  which  havejws^  been  given." — Murray  cor.  "  Language,  as  written,  or 
as  oral,  is  addressed  to  the  eye,  or  to  the  ear." — Journal  cor.  "  He  will  learn,  Sir,  that  to  accuse 
and  to  prove  are  very  different." — Walpole  cor.  "  They  crowded  around  the  door  so  as  to  prevent 
others  from  going  out." — Abbott  cor.  "A  ic/ord  denoting  one  person  or  thing,  is  of  the  singular 
number;  a  word  denoting  more  than  one  person  or  thing,  is  of  the  plural  number." — J.  Flint  cor. 
"  Nouns,  according  to  the  sense  or  relation  in  which  they  are  used,  are  in  the  nominative,  the 
possessive,  or  the  objective  case:  thus,  Nom.  man,  Poss.  man's,  Obj.  man." — D.  Blair  cor. 
"Nouns  or  pronouns  in  the  possessive  case  are  placed  before  the  nouns  which  govern  them,  and 
to  which  they  belong." — Sanborn  cor.  "A  teacher  is  explaining  the  difference  between  a  noun 
and  a  verb." — Abbott  cor. 
the  north 

STANDS  or  STANDETH,  are  of  the  third  person  singular." — Kirkham  cor.  "  I  grew  immediately 
roguish  and  pleasant,  to  a  high  degree,  in  the  same  strain." — Sivift  cor.  "An  Anapest  has  the 
first  two  syllables  unaccented,  and  the  last  one  accented." — Blair  cor. ;  also  Kirkham  et  al.  ;  also 
Mur.  et  al.  "  But  hearing  and  vision  differ  not  more  than  words  spoken  and  words  written." 
Or:  "But  hearing  and  vision  do  not  differ  more  than  spoken  words  and  written." — Wilson  cor. 
"  They  are  considered  by  some  authors  to  be  prepositions." — Cooper  cor.  "  When  those  powers  have 
been  deluded  and  have  gone  astray." — Phil.  Mu.  cor.  "  They  will  understand  this,  and  icill  like 
it." — Abbott  cor.  "They  had  been  expelled  from  their  native  country  liomagna." — Hunt  cor. 
"Future  time  is  expressed  in  two  different  ways." — Adam  and  Gould  cor.  "  Such  as  the  borrow- 
ing of  some  noted  event  from  history." — Kamcs  cor.  "  Every  finite  verb  must  agree  with  its  nom- 
inative in  number  and  person." — Bucke  cor.  "  We  are  struck,  we  know  not  how,  with  the  symmetry 
of  any  handsome  thing  we  see." — Murray  cor.  "  Under  this  head,  I  shall  consider  every  thing 
that  is  necessary  to  a  good  delivery." — Sheridan  cor.  "A  good  ear  is  the  gift  of  nature ;  it  may  be 
much  improved,  but  it  cannot  be  acquired,  by  art." — Murray  cor.  "  '  Truth  '  is  a  common  noun,  of 
the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  nominative  case." — Bullions  cor.  by  Brown's 
Form.  (t Possess  is  a  regular  active-transitive  verb,  found  in  the  indicative  mood,  present  tense, 
third  person,  and  plural  number." — Id.  "  'Fear'  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  person,  singular 


." — Abbott  cor.     "  And  therefore  the  two  ends,  or  extremities,  must  directly  answer  to 
and  the  south   pole." — Harris  cor.    "  WALKS  or  WALKETH,  RIDES  or  RIDETH,  and 


being,  been  ;  found  in  the  indicative  mood,  present  tense,  third  person,  and  singular  number  :  and 
agrees  with  its  nominative  fear  ;  according  to  the  Rule  which  says,  'Every  finite  verb  must  agree 
with  its  subject,  or  nominative,  in  person  and  number.'  Because  the  meaning  is~~'fear  is.'  " — Id. 
"Ae  in  the  word  Gaelic,  has  the  sound  of  long  a." — Wells  cor. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  XI.— OP  LITERARY  BLUNDERS. 

"Repeat  some  adverbs  that  are  composed  of  the  prefix  or  preposition  a  and  nouns." — Kirkham 
cor.  "  Participles  are  so  called,  because  they  participate  or  partake  the  properties  of  verbs  and  of 
adjectives  or  nouns.  The  Latin  vror&participium,  which  signifies  a  participle,  is  derived  from  par- 
'tisl.pn,  to  partake." — Merchant  cor.  "  The  possessive  precedes  an  other  noun,  and  is  known  by  the 
sign  's,  or  by  this  ',  the  apostrophe  only." — Beck  cor.  "  Reciprocal  pronouns,  or  compound  person- 
al pronouns,  are  formed  by  adding  self  or  selves  to  the  simple  possessives  of  the  first  and  second  per- 
scns,  and  to  the  objectives  of  the  third  person;  as,  myself,  yourselves,  Tiimself,  themselves." — Id. 
M  The  word  SELF,  and  its  plural  SELVES,  when  used  separately  as  names,  must  be  considered  nouns ; 


but  when  joined  to  the  simple  pronouns,  they  arc  not  nouns,  but  parts  of  the  compound  personal  pro- 
nouns."—Wright  cor.  "  The  Spondee,  '  rolls  round,'  expresses  beautifully  the  majesty  of  the  sun 
in  his  course." — Webster  and  Frazee  cor.  "Active -transitive  verbs  govern  the  objective  case  ;  as, 
4  John  learned  his  lesson.'  " — Frazee  cor.  "  Prosody  primarily  signified  accent,  or  the  modulation 
of  the  voice;  and,  as  the  name  implies,  related  to  poetry,  or  song." — Hendrickcor.  "  On  such  a 
principle  of  forming  them,  there  would  be  as  many  modds  as  verbs  ;  and,  in  stead  of  four  moods, 


CHAP.    XIII.]  KEY   TO    FALSE   SYNTAX. — CRITICAL   NOTE   XII.  9T9 

we  should  have  four  thousand  three  hundred,  which  is  the  number  of  verbs  in  the  English  lan- 
guage, according  to  Lowth."* — IluUock  cur.  "The  phrases,  'To  let  out  blood,' — '  To  go  a  hunt- 
ing,' are  not  elliptical;  for  out  is  needless,  and  a  is  a  preposition,  governing  hunting." — Bullions 
cor.  "  In  Rhyme,  the  last  syllable  of  every  line  corresponds  in  sound  in'th  that  of  some  Other  line 


pen  which  John  made,'  what  word  expresses  the  obju-t  of  M.VDK  ?  " — Id.  "  '  That  we  fall  into  no 
sin : '  no  is  a  definitive  or  pronominal  adjective,  not  compared,  and  relates  to  sin." — D.  Blair  cor. 
"  '  That  all  our  doings  may  be  ordered  by  thy  governance  :'  all  is  a  pronominal  adjective,  not 
compared,  and  relates  to  doings." — Id.  "  '  Let  him  be  made  to  study.'  H'/iy  »'.s  the  sign  to  ex- 
pressed before  study  f  Because  be  made  is  passive;  and  passive  verbs  do  not  take  the  infinitive 
after  them  without  the  preposition  to." — Sanbom  cur.  "The  following  verbs  have  both  the  pre- 
terit tense  and  the  perfect  partii-iple  like  tin-  present :  viz. ,  Cast,  cut,  cost,  shut,  let,  bid,  shed,  hurt, 
hit,  put,  &c." — Buchanan  cor.  "The  agreement  which  any  word  has  with  an  other  in  person, 

r,  gender,  or  case,  is  called  COXCOKD  ;  and  the  power  which  one  word  has  over  an  t>r. 
respect  to  ruling  its  case,  mood,  or  form,  is  called  GOVKHNMI.NT." — Bucke  car.      "  The  word  ticks 
tells  what  the  watch  is  doing." — Sanborn  cor.      "T/ie   Breve  (")  marks  a  short  vowel  or  syllable, 
and  the  Macron  ("),  a  long  one." — Bullions  and  Lcnnie  cor.     "  '  Charles,  you,  by  your  diligence, 


are  past.'  " — Kirkham  cor.  "A  simple  sentence  usually  has  in  it  but  one  nominative,  and  b'ut  one 
finite  verb." — Folkcr  cor.  "An  irregular  verb  is  a  verb  that  does  not  form  the  preterit  and  the  per- 
fect participle  by  assuming  d  or  ed." — Browns  Inst.  p.  75.  "  But,  when  the  antecedent  is  used 
in  a  restricted  sense,  a  comma  is  sometimes  inserted  before  the  relative ;  as,  '  There  is  no  c/i 
the  female  sex,  which  can  supply  the  place  of  virtue." — Murray's  Grim.  p.  273.  Or  :  "  But,  when 
the  antecedent  is  used  in  a  restricted  sense,  no  comma  is  usually  inserted  before  the  relative  ;  as, 

chich  can  supply  the  place  of  virtue.'  " — Kirkham  cor.  "  Two 


There  is  in  the  female  sex  no  charm  irhich  can  supply 

capitals  vscd  in  this  way,  denote  different  words;  but  one  repented,  marks  the  plural  number:  as, 
L.  D.  Ley  is  Doctor ;  LL.  D.  Legum  Doctor." — Gould  cor.  "  Was  any  person  present  besides  the 
mercer?  Yes;  his  clerk." — Murray  cor.  "The  word  adjective  comes  from  the  Latin  adjec- 
tlvum  :  and  this,  fromarf,  to,  andjacio,  I  cast." — Kirkham  cor.  "  Vision,  or  Imagery,  is  a  figure 
by  icldch]the  speaker  represents  the  objects  of  his  imagination,  as  actually  before  his  eyes,  and 
present  to  his  senses.  Thus  Cicero,  in  his  fourth  oration  against  Cataline:  'I  seem  to  myself 
to  behold  this  city,  the  ornament  of  the  earth,  and  the  capital  of  all  nations,  suddenly  involved  in 

n  ,  •  T 1 f _*.! _1       \-A 31 _../••.*.• 1       -  1  •        1     •  .  1  -1       .  f 


low  the  same  nominative,  an  auxiliary  that  is  common  to  them  both  or  all,  is  usually  expressed  to  the 
first,  and  understood  to  the  rest :  as,  '  He  has  gone  and  left  me  ; '  that  is,  '  He  has  gone  and  ///•/*  left 
rue.'  " — Comly  cor.     "When  I  use  the  word  pillar  to  aenote  a  column  that  supports  an  edifice,  I 
employ  it  literally." — Hiley  cor.     "In poetry,  the  conjunction  nor  is  often  used  for  neither;  as, 
'A  stately  superstructure,  that  nor  wind, 
Nor  wave,  nor  shock  of  falling  years,  couldmove.' — PoLLOK." — Id. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTB  XII. — OF  PERVERSIONS. 
_._  the  beginning  0 
search 

just  and  true 
me,  Lord,  Lo: 

yet  for  your  sakes  he  became  poor, 
flood." — SCOTT'S  BIBLE:  Job,  xxii,  16.     "  Take  my  yoke  upon  -Mutt. 

xi,  29.     "  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you." — John,  xiv,  2  >.>u  hath  ne  quickened,  who 

.->  and  sim>.  .  1.     "Go,  flee  thee  away  into  the  land  of  Ju* 

dah"-  •  1-;    LowW*  Gram.  p.H.     Or:  "  Go,  flee  away  into  the  land  of  Jufi\i>',.'  '—Hart 

•  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come, '  .fob,  xxxviii,  11.     "  The  day  is  thine,  the  night 

also  is  thine." — Psal.  Ixxiv,  16.     tlT  .  worketh  patience^;  and  patience,  experience;  and 

experience,  hope." — /I'-w/i.v,  v,  4.     "  J'  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  teas;  and  the 

unto  Uod  who  gave^it."— /.  .          It  the  last  it  bite; 

ud  stingeth  like  an  adder.     Thine  i yes  sh.<  n,  and  thine  /n.trt  shall 

utter  perverse  things  :   Yea,  thou  shall  be  as  he  that  lieth  down  in  the  midst  of  the  sea."— 
xxiii,  32,  33,  34.      "  The  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed:   but  the  name  of  the  wicked  shall  rot."— 
Proc.  x,  7.     "  He  that  is  slow  to  anger,  is  bctU-r  than  tu  :nd  he  that  ruleth  his  spirit, 

than  he  that  takcth  a  city."-  .  '.',1.     "For  whom  the  Lord  Ion  th  he  correcteth  ;  even  as  a 

father  the  son  in  whom  he  delighteth." — J'rov.  iii,  12.     "  :  'uturclcuse  is  that  ichich  ex- 

presses what  tfiY/take  place  hereafter." — Broicn's  List,  nf  E.   Gram.  p.  54.     "Teach  me  to  feel 
•mother's  woe,  To  hide  thefault  I  sec."-  ;  'raycr.     "  Surely  thou  art  OIK-  of  them  ; 

for  thou  art  a  Galilean."— Mark,  >  ircly  thou  also  art  one  of  them  ;  for  thy  speech  be- 

wrayetb,  thee." — Mutt,  xxvi,  "3.     "  btrait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow  is  the  way,  which  leadeth  unto 

•  "  The  •ffhn^c  number  of  verbs  in  the  English  language ,  regular  and  irregular,  rimple  and  compounded,  Uken 
,  ii  about  4&U.''— Lowth'i  G>«m.  j>.  Wj  Murray's,  12ao,  p.  fcS  ;  8vo,p.'100;  ti  aL 


IT  III. 

lah,  vi, 


980  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    SYNTAX.  [PART  III. 

life."— Matt,  vii,  14.  "  Thou  buildest  the  wall,  that  thou  mayest  be  their  king."— Nehemiah,  vi, 
6.  "  There  is  forgiveness  with  thee,  that  thou  mayest  be  feared." — Psal.  cxxx,  4.  "But  yester- 
day, the  word  of  Ccesar  might  Have  stood  against  the  world." — Beauties  of  Shakspeare,  p.  250. 

drudging  goblin 
vitness  glori- 
blessedmar- 

— ,  _  thou  fallst  a  bless- 
ed martyr." — K.  cor.  '*  I  see  the  dagger-crest  of  Mar,  I  see  the  Moray's  silver  star,  Wave  o'er  the 
cloud  of  Saxon  war,  That  up  the  lake  comes  winding  far  !  " — Scott's  Lady  of  the  Lake,  p.  162. 
"  Each  beast,  each  insect,  happy  in  its  own."— Pope,  on  Man,  Ep.  i,  1. 185.  "And  he  that  is  learning 
to  arrange  his  sentences  with  accuracy  and  order,  is  learning,  at  the  same  time,  to  think  with  accu- 
racy and  order." — Blair's  Lect.  p.  120.  "  We  then,  as  workers  together  with  him,  beseech  you  also 
that  ye  receive  not  the  grace  of  God  in  vain." — 2  Cor.  vi,  1.  "And  on  the  boundless  of  thy  good- 
ness calls." — Young's  Last  Day,  B.  ii,  1.  320.  "Knowledge  dwells  In  heads  replete  with 
thoughts  of  other  men  ;  Wisdom,  in  minds  attentive  to  their  own." — Cowper's  Task,  B.  vi,  1.  90. 
"  O  !  let  me  listen  to  the  words  of  life  !  " — Thomson's  Paraphrase  on  Matt.  vi.  "  Save  that,  from 

rnder  ivy-mantled  tower,"  &c. — Gray's  Elegy,  1.  9.     "Weighs  the  men's  wits  against  the  Lady's 
ir." — Pope's  Rape  of  the  Lock,  Canto  v,  1.  72.      "Till  the  publication  of  Dr.  Lowth's  small  In- 
troduction, the  grammatical  study  of  our  language  formed  no  part  of  the  ordinary  method  of  in- 
struction."— Hiley's  Preface,  p.  vi.    "  Let  there  be  no  strife,  I  pray  thee,  between  me  and  thee." 
— Gen.  xiii,  8. 

"  What !  canst  thou  not  forbear  me  half  an  hour  ? " — Shakspeare. 
"  Till  then  who  knew  the  force  of  those  dire  arms  ?  " — Milton. 
"  In  words,  as  fashions,  the  same  rule  will  hold; 
Alike  fantastic,  if  too  new  or  old  : 
Be  not  the  first  by  whom  the  new  are  tried 
Nor  yet  the  last  to  lay  the  old  aside." — Pope,  on  Criticism,  1.  333. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  XIII. — OF  AWKWARDNESS. 

"  They  slew  Varus,  whom  I  mentioned  before." — Murray  cor.  "  Maria  rejected  Valerius, 
whom  she  had  rejected  before."  Or:  "Maria  rejected  Valerius  a  second  time." — Id.  "In  the 
English  language,  nouns  have  but  two  different  terminations  for  cases." — Churchill's  Gram. 
p.  '64.  "  Socrates  and  Plato  were  the  wisest  men,  and  the  most  eminent  philosophers  in 
Greece." — Buchanan's  Gram.,  Pref.,  p.  viii.  "Whether  more  than  one  were  concerned  in 
the  business,  does  not  yet  appear."  Or:  "How  many  were  concerned  in  the  business,  does 
not  yet  appear." — Murray  cor.  "And  that,  consequently,  the  verb  or  pronoun  agreeing  with 
it,  can  never  with  propriety  be  used  in  the  plural  number." — Id.  et  al.  cor.  "A  second  help 
may  be,  frequent  and  free  converse  with  others  of  your  own  sex  who  are  like  minded." — Wes- 
ley cor.  "  Four  of  the  semivowels,  namely,  I,  m,  n,  and  r,  are  termed  LIQUIDS,  on  account 
of  the  fluency  of  their  sounds." — See  Brown's  Inst.  p.  16.  "  Some  conjunctions  are  used  in 
pairs,  so  that  one  answers  to  an  other,  as  its  regular  correspondent." — Lowth  et  al.  cor.  "  The 


'ThesAesof  Italy/ — SHAK." — Churchill  cor.  "The  separation  of  a  preposition  from  the  word 
which  it  governs,  is  [censured  by  some  writers,  as  being]  improper." — C.  Adams  cor.  "  The  word 
WHOSE,  according  to  some  critics,  should  be  restricted  to  persons  ;  but  good  writers  still  occasion- 
ally use  it  with  reference  to  things." — Priestley  et  al.  cor.  "  New  and  surpassing  wonders  present 
themselves  to  our  view." — Sherlock  cor.  "The  degrees  of  comparison  are  often  inaccurately  ap- 
plied and  construed." — Alger's  Murray.  Or :  "  Passages  are  often  found  in  which  the  degrees  of 
comparison  have  not  an  accurate  construction." — Campbell  cor. ;  also  Murray.  "  The  sign  of  posses- 


give 

rogative  form,  ice  must  express  it  thus."  Or:  "This  sentence,  to  have  the  interrogative  form, 
should  be  expressed  thus." — Murray  cor.  "  Never  employ  words  that  are  susceptible  of  a  sense 
different  from  that  which  you  intend  to  convey." — Hilcy  cor.  "  Sixty  pages  are  occupied  in  ex- 


tion;  as,  '  James  is  building  the  house.'     Often,  however,  it  takes  a  passive  meaning;  as,   'The 

analyze  it,  by  such  qi 
has  been  paid  to  this 
explanation  q/"what  it  means." — G.  "BROWN  :  Hiley  cor. 

UNDER  CRITICAL  NOTE  XIV.— OF  IGNORANCE. 

"  What  is  a  verb  f  It  is  a  word  which  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted  upon."  Or  thus  : 
"  What  is  an  assertorf  Ans.  '  One  who  affirms  positively  ;  an  affirmer,  supporter,  or  vindicator  ' 
— WEBSTER'S  DICT." — Peirce  cor.  "  Virgil  wrote  the  Mneid." — Kirkham  cor.  "  Which,  to  a  super- 
cilious or  inconsiderate  native  of  Japan,  would  seem  very  idle  and  impertinent." — Locke  cor. 
"  Will  not  a  look  of  disdain  cast  upon  you  throw  you  into  a  ferment  f" — Say  cor.  "  Though  only 
the  conjunction  if  'is  here  set  before  the  verb,  there  are  several  others,  (as  that,  though,  lest,  un- 
less, except,)  which  may  be  used  with  the  subjunctive  mood." — Murray  cor.  "When  proper 
names  have  an  article  before  them,  they  are  used  as  common  names." — Id.  et  al.  cor.  "  When  a 


CHAP.  XIII.]  KEY    TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. VARIOUS   RULES.  981 

proper  noun  has  an  article  before  it,  it  is  used  as  a  common  noun." — Merchant  cor.  "  Seeming 
to  rob  the  death-field  of  its  terrors." — Id.  "  For  the  same  reason,  we  might,  without  any  detri- 
ment to  the  language,  dispense  with  the  terminations  of  our  verbs  in  the  singular." — Kirkham 
cor.  "  It  n-mot-rs  all  possibility  of  being  misunderstood." — Abbott  cor.  "Approximation  to  per- 
fection is  all  that  we  can  expect." — Id.  "I  have  often  joined  in  singing  with  musicians  at  Nor- 
wich."—  Gardiner  <-,,,-.  "\Vhennotstandingin  regular  prosaic  order."  Or: — "in  the  regular 
order  of  prose." — Pelrce  cor.  "Regardless  of  the  dogmas  and  edicts  of  the  philosophical  umpire." 
— Kirkham  cor.  "  Others  begin  to  talk  before  their  mouths  are  open,  prejixiny  the  mouth-clos- 
ing M  to  most  of  their  words ;  as,  '  M-yes,'  for  '  Yes.'  " — Gardiner  cor.  "  That  noted  close  of 
his  f  esse  videatttr,'  exposed  him  to  censure  among  his  etmttmfOfontf»n — Blair  cor.  "A  man's 
oicn  is  what  he  has,  or  possesses  by  right ;  the  word  own  being  a  past  participle  of  the  verb  to  owe, 
which  formerly  signified  to  have  or  possess." — Kirkham  cor.  "As  requires  so  ;  expressing  a  com- 
parison of  manner  :  as,  'As  one  dieth,  so  dieth  the  other.'  " — Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "  To  obey  our  pa- 
rents, is  an  obvious  duty." — Parker  and  Fox  cor.  "Almost  all  the  political  papers  of  the  kingdom 
Lave  touched  upon  these  things." — \Vri<iht  cor.  "I  shall  take  the  liberty  to  make  a  few  obser- 
vations on  the  subject." — Hiley  cor.  "  His  loss  I  have  endeavoured  to  supply,  so  far  as  by  ad- 
ditional vigilance  and  industry  I  could." — Id.  "  That  they  should  make  vegetation  so  exuberant 
as  to  anticipate  every  want." — Frazec  cor.  "  The  yuillc/nets,  or  quotation  points,  ["  "]  denote 
that  one  or  more  words  are  extracted  from  an  other  author," — P.  E.  Day  cor.  "Xinei-eh,  the 
capital  of  Assyria,  teas  one  of  the  most  noted  cities  of  ancient  times." — Id.  "  It  may,  however,  be 
rendered  definite  by  the  mention  of  some  particular  time  ;  as,  yesterday,  last  week,  &c." — Bul- 
lions cor.  "The  last  is  called  heroic  measure,  and  is  the  same  that  is  used  by  Milton,  Young, 
Thomson,  Pollok,  &c." — Id.  "Perennial  ones  must  be  sought  in  the  delightful  regions  above." 
— Ha  I  lock  cor.  "  Intransitive  verbs  are  those  which  are  inseparable  from  ihe  effect  produced." 
Or  better:  "  Intransitive  verbs  are  those  which  express  action  without  governing  an  object." — Cut- 
ler cor.  "The  Feminine  gender  belongs  to  women,  and  animals  of  the  female  kind." — Id.  "  Wo 
unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!" — ALUEH'S  BIBLE:  Luke,  xi,  44.  "A  pyrrhic, 
which  has  both  its  syllables  short." — Day  cor.  ","\Vhat  kind  of  jessamine?  A  jessamine  in  flower, 
or  a  flowery  jessamine." — Barrett  cor.  "  LAXGI*  AGE,  a  word  derived  from  LINGUA,  the  tongue, 
now  sii/it(fies,  any  scries  of  sounds  or  h -tiers  formed  into  words,  and  used  for  the  expression  of 
thought." — Id.  See  the  Gram,  of  E.  Gram.  p.  132.  "  Say  '  none,'  not  '  nefer  a  one.'  " — Staniford 
cor.  "  '  E'er  a  one,'  [is  sometimes  used  for  '  any  ']  or  '  either.'  " — Pond  cor. 

"  Earth  loses  thy  pattern  for  ever  and  aye  ; 
O  sailor-boy  !  sailor-boy!  peace  to  thy  soul." — Dymond. 

"  His  brow  was  sad ;  his  eye  beneath 
Flashed  like  a. falchion  from  its  sheath." — Longfellow's  Ballads,  p.  129. 

(£7"'[The  examples  exhibited  for  exercises  under  Critical  Notes  15th  and  16th,  being  judged  either  incapable  of 
correction,  or  unworthy  of  the  endeavour,  are  submitted  to  the  criticism  of  the  reader,  without  any  attempt  to 
amend  them,  or  to  offer  substitutes  iu  this  place.] 

PROMISCUOUS  CORRECTIONS  OF  FALSE  SYNTAX. 
LESSON  I.— UNDER  VARIOUS  RULES. 

"Why  is  our  language  less  refined  than  that  of  Italy,  Spain,  or  France  ?  " — Murray  cor.  "]Y7iy 
is  our  language  less  refined  than  the  French?" — Inr/ersoll  cor.  "1  believe  your  Lordship  will 
agree  with  me,  in  tfie  reason  why  our  language  is  less  refined  than  thatofltsdy,  Spain,  or  France." 
ft  cor.  "  Even  in  this  short  sentence,  '.why  our  language  is  less  refined  than  those  of 
Italy,  Spain,  or  France,'  we  may  discern  an  inaccuracy;  the  jironominal  adjietirc  '  those'  is 
mack-  plural,  when  the  substantive  to  which  it  refers,  or  the  thing  for  which  it  stands,  '  the  lan- 
guage of  Italy,  Spain,  or  France,'  is  singular." — Jilair  cor.  "The  sentence  would  have  run 
much  better  in  this  way : — '  why  our  language  is  less  refined,  than  the  Italian,  the  Spanish, 
or  the  French.'  " — Id.  "  But  when  arranged  in  an  entire  sentence,  as  they  must  be  to  make  a 
complete  sense,  they  show  it  still  more  evidently." — Murray  cor.  "This  is  a  more  artificial  and 
refined  construe  ti"ii,  than  that  in  which  the  common  connective  is  simply  •used." — Id.  "I  shall 
present  to  the  reader  a  list  of  certain  prepositions,  or  prefixes,  which  are  derived  from  the  Latin 
and  (ireek  languages." — Id.  "I  /•  '  '  '•<•<>  sumetinn  uls  the  meaning  of  a  personal  pro- 

noun and  a  copulative  conjunction." — Id.     "  Personal  pronouns,  being  used  to  supply  th< 
of  nouns,  :i:  ctup'.'iyrd  in  the  same  clauses  with  the  nouns  which  they   represent." — Id. 

and  Smith  Idom  any  occasion  for  a  substitute  where  the  principal  word  is 

it." — Mur.  cor.     "  We  hardly  consider  little  children  as    persons,  because  the  trrm  person 
gives  us  the  idea  of  reason,  or  inttllir/en  •  ."--  •  af.  cor.     "The  occasions  for  exerting 

these  two  qualities  are  different."-  •'.  cor.     "  I'll  tell  you  with  whom  time  ambles  withal, 

icith  whom  time  trots  withal,  with  whom  time  gallops  withal,  and  with  whom  he  stands  still 
withal.  I  pray  thee,  with  whom  doth  he  trot  withal  ?  "—Buchanan's  Gram.  p.  122.  ||  By  great- 
ness, I  mean,  not  the  bulk  of  any  single  object  onh/,  but  the  largeness  of  a  whole  view.  —  : 
cor.  "The  question  may  then  be  put,  What  more  does  he  than  mean  ?  "— Blair  cor.  "The 
question  might  be  put,  What  more  does  he  than  mean  ?  "—Id.  "  He  is  surprised  to  find  himself  at 
•o  great  a  distance  from  the  object  with  which  heart  out."— Id.  ;  also  Murray  cor.  "Few  rules 
can  be  given  which  will  hold  f/ood  in  all  cases." — Lowth  and  Mur  .tion  js  the 

arrangement  of  icordu  into  metrical  lines  according  to  (he  laws  of  verse." — Johnsoncor.     "  Versifi- 
cation is  the  arrangement  of  icords  into  rhyth  of  some  />"  '  '  ',  so  as  to  produce 
harmony  by  the  regular  alternation  ofsyUu'tU's  il/Jfcrin;/  inquanttty" — Mn> 
friend  Charlotte,  to  whom  no  one  imputed  blaine,  w'as   too  prompt  in  her  own  vindicat. 
Mu,;-ty  cur.     ••  Mr.  1'tit's  joining  q/"the  war  party  in  1793,  the  most  striking  and  the  most  fatal 
instance  of  this  offence,  is  the  one'  which   at  once  presents   itself." — I"  .     "To   the 
framing  q/such  a  sound  constitution  of  mind." — Lady  cor.  "  '  I  beseech  you,'  said  St.  Paul  to  his 
Ephesian  converts,  '  that  ye  walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  ye  are  called,' " — See   Eph. 


982          GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. — KEY  TO  SYNTAX.      [PART 

iv,  1.     "  So  as  to  prevent  it  from  being  equal  to  that." — Booth  cor.     "When  speaking  of  an  ac- 
tion as  being  performed."     Or  :  "  When  speaking  of  the  performance  of  an  action" — Id.     "And, 
in  all  questions  of  actions  being  so  performed,  cst  is  added  for  the  second  person.'  — Id.     "  No 
account  can  be  given  of  this,  but  that  custom  has  blinded  their  eyes."     Or:  "  No  other  account 
can  be  given  of  this,  than  that  custom  has  blinded  their  eyes." — Dymond  cor. 
"Design,  or  chance,  makes  others  wive  ; 
But  nature  did  this  match  contrive." — Waller  cor. 

LESSON  II.— UNDER  VARIOUS  RULES. 

"  I  suppose  each  of  you  thinks  it  is  his  own  nail."— Abbott  cor.  "  They  are  useless,  because  they 
are  apparently  based  upon  this  supposition." — Id.  "  The  form,  or  manner,  in  which  this  plan  may 
be  adopted,  is  various." — Id.  "The  making  of  intellectual  effort,  and  the  acquiring  of  knowledge, 
are  always  pleasant  to  the  human  mind." — Id.  "This  will  do  more  than  the  best  lecture  that 
ever  was  delivered." — Id.  "The  doing  of  easy  things  is  generally  dull  work." — Id.  "  Such  are 
the  tone  and  manner  of  some  teachers."' — Id.  "  Well,  the  fault  is,  that  someone  was  disorderly 
at  prayer  time." — Id.  "  Do  you  remember  to  have  spoken  on  this  subject  in  school  ?  " — Id.  "  The 
course  above  recommended,  is  not  the  trying  of  lax  and  inefficient  measures." — Id.  "  Our  com- 
munity agree  that  there  is  a  God." — Id.  "  It  prevents  them  from  being  interested  in  what  is  said." 
— Id.  "  We  will  also  suppose  that  I  call  an  other  boy  to  me,  whom  I  have  reason  to  believe  to  be 
a  sincere  Christian." — /(/.  "  Five  minutes'  notice  is  given  by  the  bell." — Id.  "  The  Annals  of  Edu- 
cation give  notice  of  it."  Or :  "  The  work  entitled  'Annals  of  Education  '  gives  notice  of  it." — Id. 
"Teachers'  meetings  will  be  interesting  and  useful." — Id.  "She  thought  a  half  hour's  study 
•would  conquer  all  the  difficulties." — Id.  "  The  difference  between  an  honest  and  a  hypocritical 
confession." — Id.  "  There  is  no  point  of  attainment  at  which  we  must  stop." — Id.  "  Now  six 
hours'  service  is  as  much  as  is  expected  of  teachers." — Id.  "  How  many  are  seven  times  nine  ?  " 
— Id.  "  Then  the  reckoning  proceeds  till  it  comes  to  ten  hundred." — Frost  cor.  "  Your  success 
•will  depend  on  your  own  exertions;  see,  then,  that  you  be  diligent." — Id.  "Subjunctive  Mood, 
Present  Tense  :  If  I  be  known,  If  thou  be  known,  If  he  be  known  ;  "  &c. — Id.  "  If  I  be  loved,  If 
thou  be  loved,  If  he  be  loved ;  "  &c. — Fr.  right.  "An  Interjection  is  a  word  used  to  express  sudden 
emotion.  Interjections  are  so  called  because  they  are  generally  thrown  in  between  the  parts  of  dis- 
course, without  any  reference  to  the  structure  of  those  parts." — Frost  cor.  "  The  Cardinal  numbers 
are  those  which  simply  tell  how  many ;  as,  one,  two,  three." — Id.  "  More  than  one  organ 'are  con- 
cerned in  the  utterance  of  almost  every  consonant."  Or  thus  :  "More  organs  than  one  are  con- 
cerned in  the  utterance  of  almost  any  consonant." — Id.  "  To  extract  from  them  all  the  terms 
which  we  use  in  our  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  the  art." — Holmes  cor.  "And  there  were  written 
therein  lamentations,  and  mourning,  and  woe." — Bible  cor.  "  If  I  were  to  be  judged  as  to  my 
behaviour,  compared  with  that  of  John." — Whiston's  Jos.  cor.  "  The  preposition  to,  signifying  in 
order  to,  was  anciently  preceded  by  for ;  as,  '  What  went  ye  out  for  to  see?'" — Murray's' Gram. 
p.  184.  "This  makes  the  proper  perfect  tense,  which,  in  English,  is  always  expressed  by  the 
auxiliary  verb  have  ;  as,  '  I  have  written.'  " — Dr.  Blair  cor.  "  Indeed,  in  the  formation  of  charac- 
ter, personal  exertion  is  the  first,  the  second,  and  the  third  virtue." — Sanders  cor.  "  The  reduc- 
ing of  them  to  the  condition  of  the  beasts  that  perish." — Dymond  cor.  "  Yet  this  affords  no  reason 
to  deny  that  the  nature  of  the  gift  is  the  same,  or  that  both  are  divine."  Or :  "  Yet  this  affords  no 
reason  to  aver  that  the  nature  of  the  gift  is  not  the  same,  or  that  both  are  not  divine." — Id.  "  If 
God  has  made  known  his  will." — Id.  "  If  Christ  has  prohibited  them,  nothing  else  can  prove 
them  right." — Id.  "That  the  taking  of  them  is  wrong,  every  man  who  simply  consults  his  own 
heart,  will  know." — Id.  "From  these  evils  the  world  would  be  spared,  if  one  did  not  write." — Id. 
"  It  is  in  a  great  degree  our  o\vnfault." — Id.  "  It  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  lesson-learning 
is  nearlv  excluded." — Id.  "  Who  spares  the  aggressor's  life  even  to  the  endangering  of  his  own." 
— Id.  "  Who  advocates  the  taking  o/'the  life  of  an  aggressor." — Id.  "And  thence  up  to  the  inten- 
tionally and  voluntarily  fradulent." — Id.  "And  the  contention  was  so  sharp  between  them,  that 
they  departed  asunder  one  from  the  other." — SCOTT'S,  FRIENDS',  ALGER'S,  BRUCE'S  BIBLE,  AND 
OTHERS  :  Acts,  xv,  39.  "  Here  the  man  is  John,  and  John  is  the  man ;  so  the  words  are  imagin- 
ation and .fancy ;  but  THE  imagination  and  THE  fancy  are  not  words :  they  are  intellectual  powers." 
— Rev.  M.  Harrison  cor.  "  The  article,  which  is  here  so  emphatic  in  the  Greek,  is  quite  forgotten  in 
our  translation." — Id.  "We  have  no  fewer  than  twenty-four  pronouns." — Id.  "It  will  admit  of 
a  pronoun  joined  to  it." — Id.  "  From  intercourse  and  from  conquest,  all  the  languages  of  Europe 
participate  one  with  an _6ther." — Id.  "  It  is  not  always  necessity,  therefore,  that  has  been  the 
cause  of  our  introducting  of  terms  derived  from  the  classical  languages." — Id.  "  The  man  of 
genius  stamps  upon  it  any  impression  that  pleases  him."  Or : — "  any  impression  that  he  chooses." 
— Id.  "The  proportion  of  names  ending  in  SON  preponderates  greatly  among  the  Dano-Saxon 
population  of  the  North." — Id.  "As  a  proof  of  the  strong  similarity  between  the  English  language 
and  the  Danish." — Id.  "A  century  from  the  time  when  (or  at  which]  Hengist  and  Horsa  landed 
on  the  Isle  of  Thanet."— Id. 

"  I  saw  the  colours  waving  in  the  wind, 
And  them  within,  to  mischief  how  combin'd." — Bunyancor. 

LESSON  III.— UNDER  VARIOUS  RULES. 

"A  ship  excepted :  of  which  we  say,  (S7te  sails  well.'  " — Jonson  cor.  "  Honesty  is  reckoned  of 
ittle  worth." — Lily  cor.  "  Learn  to  esteem  life  as  you  ought." — Dodsley  cor.  "As  the  soundest 
health  is  less  perceived  than  the  lightest  malady,  so  the  highest  joy  tou'c-heth  us  less  sensibly  than 
the  smallest  sorrow  " — Id.  "Youth  is  no  apology  forfricolousncss." — Whiting  cor.  "  The  porch 
was  of  the  same  width  as  the  temple  " — Mi/man  cor.  "  The  other  tribes  contributed  neither  to 
his  rise  nor  to  his  downfall." — Id.  "  His  whole  religion,  with  all  its  laws,  would  have  been  shaken 
to  its  foundation." — Id.  "  The  English  has  most  commonly  been  neglected,  and  children  have 


CHAP.    XIII.]  KEY   TO    FALSE    SYNTAX. — VARIOUS    RULES.  983 

been  taught  only  in  the  Latin  syntax." — J.  Mrurd  ror.  "  Thev  are  not  noticed  in  the  notes." — Id, 
"  He  walks  in  righteousness,  doing  what  he  would  hare  others  do  to  him." — Fisher  cor.  "  They 
stand  indi'jtfndent  of  the  rest  of  the  sentence." — Iw/i  rin'l  r«>-.  "  My  uncle  and  his  son  were  in, 
town  yesterday."—  /•.  "She  and  her  sisters  are  well." — Id.  "  His  purse,  with  its  con- 

tents, ira.t  abstracted  from  his  pocket." — Id.     "  The  great  constitutional  feature  of  this  institution 


anything  or  things  before  named;  and  THAT  may  represent  any  person  or  persons,  thing  or 
things,  that  have  been  speaking,  spoken  to,  or  spoken  of." — 7V/7-  y  ear.  "A  certain  number  of 
syllables  occurring  in  a  jwrtirulcr  order,  form  a  foot.  '  '  are  so  called,  because  it  is  by  their 

aid  that  the  voice,  as  it  were,  steps  along." —  Mur.  <t  al.  cor'.  "Questions  nskni  by  a  principal  verb 
only—  her'  X'c., — are  ar,-htti*mi,  and  nmv  peculiar  to  the  poets." — A.  Mur. 


much  noticed  by  the 

people  thereabouts." — Webb's  Gram.  cor.  "The  sand  prevents  them  from  sticking  to  one  an 
other." — Id.  "  Defective  verbs  are  those  which  are  used  only  in  some  of  the  moods  and  tenses." 
—Greenleafs  Gram.  p.  29  ;  InrjersoWs,  121  ;  Smith's,  90  ;  Merchant's,  64  ;  Xutting's,  68.  "  Defec- 
tive verbs  are  those  which  want  some  of  the  moods  or  tenses." — Lcnnie  et  al,  cor.  "  Defective 
verbs  want  some  of  the  part*  common  to  other  verbs." — Bullions  cor.  "A  Defective  verb  is  one  that 
wants  some  of  the  parts  common  to  verbs" — Id,  "  To  the  irregular  verbs  may  be  added  the 
defective  ;  which  are  not  only  irregular,  but  also  wanting  in  some  parts." — Lowth  cor,  "  To  the 
irregular  verbs  may  be  added  the  defective  ;  which  are  not  only  wanting  in  some  parts,  but  are, 
when  inflected,  irregular." — Churchill  cor.  "  When  two  or  more  nouns  occur  together  in  the  pos- 
sessive case." — Farnum  cor.  "  \Vhenseveralshortsentences  a  /." — Id.  "  Words  are 
divided  into  ten  classes,  called  Parts  of  Speech." — L.  Ainsicorth  cor.  "A  passive  verb  has  its 
agent  or  doer  always  in  the  objective  case,  governed  by  a  preposition." — Id.  "  I  am  surprised  at 
your  inattention." — Id.  "  SIN<;T/LAR:  Thou  lovest,wo^  You  love.  You  has  always  a  plural  verb." 
— Bullions  cor.  "  How  do  you  know  that  love  is  of  the  first  person  ?  Ans.  Because  we,  the  pro- 
noun, isofthe  first  person."—  >r.  ""  The  lowing  herd  windy  slowly  o'er  the  lea." — 
Elegy i  !•  2.  "  Iambic  verses  have  their  second,  fourth,  and  other  even  syllables  accented." 
— Ruinous  cor.  "  Contractions  that  are  not  allowable  in  prose,  are  often  made  in  poetry." — Id. 
"  Yet  to  their  general's  voice  they  soon  obey'd." — Milton.  "  It  never  presents  to  his  mind  more 
than  one  new  subject  at  the  same  time." — Felton  cor.  "An  abstract  nmm  is  the  name  of  some 
particular  quality  considered  apart  from  its  substance." — Brown's  Inxt .  of  E.  Gram.  p.  32.  "A 
noun  is  of  the  first  person  when  //  denotes  the  sneaker" — Ftlton  cor.  "  Which  of  the  two  brothers 
is  a  graduate*  " — JJallock  cor.  "  I  am  a  linen-draper  bold,  As  all  the  world  doth  know."— -(' 
t'Oh  the  pain,  the  bliss  of  dying!" — Pope.  "This  do;  take  to  you  censers,  thou,  Korah, 
and  all  thy  company." — Bible  cor.  "  There  are  three  participles  ;  the  imperfect,  the  perfect,  and 
tlir  /./  .  reading,  read,  having  read.  Transitive  verbs  have  an  active  ttnd  passice  parti- 
ciple :  that  is,  their  form  for  the  perfect  is  sometimes  active,  and  sometimes  passive;  as,  read,  or 
loved. ' ' — Greene  cor. 

"  0  Ifrjv'n,  in  my  connubial  hour  decree 
My  spouse  this  man,  or  such  a  man  as  he." — Pope  cor. 

LESSON  IV.— UNDER  VARIOUS  RULES. 

"  The  past  tenses  (of  Hiley's  subjunctive  mood)  represent  conditional  past  facts  or  events,  of 
which  the  speaker  is  uncertain." — Jlilcy  cor.  "  Care  also  should  be  taken  that'they  be  not  intro- 
duced too  abundantly." — Id.  "  Till  they  have  become  familiar  to  the  mind."  Or:  "Till  they 
become  familiar  to  the  mind." — Id.  "  When  once  a  particular  arrtngementa&d  phraseology  have 
become  familiar  to  the  mind." — Id.  "  I  have  furnished  the  student  with  the  plainest  and  most 
practical  directions  that  I  could  devise." — Id.  "  When  you  are  conversant  with  the  Rules  of 
Grammar,  you  will  be  qualified  to  commence  the  study  of  Stylo." — LI.  *'('!>, 'fur,  •/•,  /,  .//•  >/, 


has  a  soft  sound,  like  .v." — L.  Murray  ci>r.       "(/  before  e,  i,  or  i/,  is  otnentOy  soft;    M 
-'if.    "  C  before  «,  t,  or  y.  aTtpoy*  sounds  soft,  like  *. — Hileycor.    "«• 

*soft  before  r,  i,  or  // ;  as  in  (jenius,  <  -/</.     "A  perfect  alphabet  must  always  contain 

/t/.x^  as  many  letters  as  ther.  in  the  language:  the  English  alphabet 

in</  f'rtrcr  letters  ('  ,  and  sometime*  more  (linn  o><  ,td,  is  both  defec- 

((1  redundant." — /</.  ".i  common  noun  is  a  name  given  to  a  whole  class  or  species,  and  t* 
applicable  to  every  individual  of  that  ela<s." — 1,1.  ••  Thus  an  adjective  has  usually  a  noun  cither 
expressed  or  understood." — />/.  "  Kn:-  force  used  in  the  e 

•  '  . 

•  /,.  Murray.      "So  s'imple  a 

question  as,    •  Do  you  ride  to  t •>«•::  .Me  of  as  many  a*  four  different  acceptations, 

the  sense  varying  as  the  emphasis  is  differently  placed." — lid.      "  Thus,  bravely,  for  '  in  a  brave 
manner,' is  derived  from  //,-..•  "  In  thin  main;'  different  parts  of 

speech  are  often  formed  from  one  root  by  IU-MIIS  of  different  "//•".  s." — /</.  "  NVords  derived  from 
the  same  ror'j.  are  always  more  or  less  allied  in  signification. "—Id.  "  When  a  noun  of  multitude 
conveys  the  idea  of  unity,  the  verb  and  pronoun  should  be  singular;  but  when  it  conveys  the  idea 
of  plurality,  the  verb  and  pronoun  roust  be  plural." — //  "They  have  spent  their  whole 
time  to  make  the  sacred  chronology  ap;rce  with  the  profane." — Id.  "  I  have  studied  my  lesson, 
"  you  have  not  looked  at  >/ours." — /•/.  "  When  words  are  connected  in  pairs,  there  is  i/\ual!t/  a 
ma  after  each  pair." — Hi'- y,  Bullions,  and  Lennie  cor.  "  Whcii  words  arc  connected  in  pairs. 


but 
comma  a 


984  GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY    TO    SYNTAX.  [PART    III. 

the  pairs  should  be  marked  by  the  comma." — Farnum  cor.      "  His  book  entitled,  'Studies  of  Na- 
ture,' is  deservedly  a  popular  work." — Biog.  Diet. 

"  Here  rests  his  head  upon  the  lap  of  earth, 

A  youth  to  Fortune  and  to  Fame  unknown." — GRAY. 

"  'Youth,'  here,  is  in  the  nominative  case,  (the  verb  '  rests'  being,  in  this  instance,  transitive,)  and 
is  the  subject  of  the  sentence.    The  meaning  is,  'A  youth  here  rests  his  head,'  &c." — Hart  cor.    "  The 

?ronoun  7,  as  well  as  the  interjection  O,  should  be  written  with  a  capital."  Or :  "  The  pronoun 
,  and  the  interjection  O,  should  be  written  with  capitals." — Weld  cor.  "  The  pronoun  /  should 
always  be  written  with  a  capital." — Id.  "  He  went  from  London  to  York." — Id.  "An  adverb  is 
a  word  added  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  an  other  adverb,  to  modify  its  meaning." — Id. 
(See  Lesson  1st  under  the  General  Rule.)  "  SINGULAR  signifies,  '  expressing  only  one  • '  denoting 
but  one  person  or  thing.  PLURAL,  (Latin,  pluralis,  fromplus,  more,)  signifies, '  expressing  more  than 
one.'  " — Weldcor.  "  When  the  present  ends  in  e,  d  only  is  added  to  form  the  imperfect  tense  and  the 
perfect  participle  of  regular  verbs." — Id.  "  Synceresisis  the  contraction  of  two  syllables  into  one  ; 
as,  seest  for  see'st,  drowned  for  droivn-ed." — Id.  (See  Brown's  Inst.  p.  230.)  "Words  ending  in  ee 
are  often  inflected  by  mere  consonants,  and  without  receiving  an  additional  syllable  beginning  with 
e  :  as,  see,  seest.  sees  ;  agree,  agreed,  agrees." — Weld  cor.  "In  monosyllables,  final/,  I,  or  s,  preceded 
by  a  single  vowel,  is  doubled  ;  as  in  staff",  mill, grass." — Id.  " Before  ing,  words  ending  in  ie  drop 
the  e,  and.  change  the  i  intoy ;  as,  die,  dying." — Id.  "  One  number  may  be  used  for  the  other — or, 
rather,  the  plural  may  be  used  for  the  singular  ;  as,  we  for  /,  you  for  thou." — Greene  cor.  "  STROB'- 
ILE,  n.  A  pericarp  made  up  of  scales  that  lie  one  over  an  other." — Worcester  cor. 
"  Yet  ever,  from  the  clearest  source,  hath  run 
Some  gross  allay,  some  tincture  of  the  man." — Lowth  cor. 

LESSON  V.— UNDER  VARIOUS  RULES. 

"  The  possessive  case  is  usually  followed  by  a  noun,  expressed  or  understood,  which  is  the  name 
of  the  thing  possessed." — Felton  cor.  "  Hadmer  of  Aggstein  was  as  pious,  devout,  and  praying 
a  Christian,  as  was  Nelson,  Washington,  or  Jefferson ;  or  as  is  Wellington,  Tyler,  Clay,  or  Polk." 
— H.  C.  Wright  cor.  "A  word  in  the  possessive  case  is  not  an  independent  noun,  and  cannot 
stand  by  itself." — J.  W.  Wright  cor.  "  Mary  is  not  handsome,  but  she  is  good-natured,  and  good- 
nature is  better  than  beauty." — St.  Quentin  cor.  "After  the  practice  of  joining  all  words  together 
had  ceased,  a  note  of  distinction  was  placed  at  the  end  of  every  word." — Mur.  et  al.  cor.  "  Neither 
Henry  nor  Charles  dissipates  his  time." — Hallock  cor.  "  '  He  had  taken  from  the  Christians  above 
thirty  small  castles.' KNOLLES  :" — Brown's  Institutes,  p.  200;  Johnson's  Quarto  Diet.  ^c.  What. 
"  In  what  character  Butler  was  admitted,  is  unknown."  Or :  "  In  whatever  character  Butler  was 
admitted,  that  character  is  unknown." — Hallock  cor.  "  How  are  the  agent  of  a  passive  and  the 
object  of  an  active  verb  often  left  ?  " — Id.  "  By  SUBJECT,  is  meant  the  word  of  whose  object  some- 
thing is  declared."  Or:  "  By  SUBJECT,  is  meant  the  word  which  has  something  declared  of  the 
thing  signified." — Chandler  cor.  "  Care  should  also  be  taken  that  a  transitive  verb  be  not  used 
in  stead  of  a  neuter  or  intransitive  ;  as,  lay  for  lie,  raise  for  rise,  set  for  sit,  &c." — Id.  "  On  them 
depends  the  duration  of  our  Constitution  and  our  country." — Calhoun  cor.  "  In  the  present  sen- 
tence, neither  the  sense  nor  the  measure  requires  WHAT." — Chandler  cor.  "The  Irish  thought 
themselves  oppressed  by  the  law  that  forbid  them  to, draw  with  their  horses'  tails." — Brightland 
cor.  "So  and  willingly  are  adverbs.  So  is  an  adverb  of  degree,  and  qualifies  willingly.  Willingly 
is  an  adverb  of  manner,  and  qualifies  deceives." — Cutler  cor.  "  Epicurus,  for  experiment's  sake, 
confined  himself  to  a  narrower  diet  than  that  of  the  severest  prisons." — Id.  "  Derivative  words 
are  such  as  are  formed  from  other  words  by  prefixes  or  suffixes ;  as,  injustice,  goodness,  falsehood." 
— Id.  "  The  distinction  here  insisted  on  is  as  old  as  Aristotle,  and  should  not  be  lost  from  sight." 
Or: — "  and  it  should  still  be  kept  in  view." — Hart  cor.  "  The  Tenses  of  the  Subjunctive  and 
Potential  Moods."  Or:  "The  Tenses  of  the  Subjunctive  and  the  Potential  Mood."— Id.  "A 
triphthong  is  a  union  of  three  vowels,  uttered  by  a  single  impulse  of  the  voice ;  as,  uoy  in  buoy." 
— Davis  cor.  "A  common  noun  is  the  name  of  a  species  or  kind." — Id.  "  The  superlative  degree 
implies  a  comparison  either  between  two  or  among  more." — Id.  "An  adverb  is  a  word  serving  to 
give  an  additional  idea  to  a  verb,  a  participle,  an  adjective,  or  on  other  adverb." — Id.  When  sev- 
eral nouns  in  the  possessive  case  occur  in  succession,  each  showing  possession  of  things  of  the 
same  sort,  it  is  generally  necessary  to  add  the  sign  of  the  possessive  to  each  of  them  :  as,  '  He 
sells  men's,  women's,  and  children's  shoes.' — 'Doffs',  cats',  and  tigers'  feet  are  digitated.' " — Id. 
11  'A  rail-road  is  being  made,'  should  be,  'A  railroad  is  making;'  'A  school-house  is  being  built,' 
should  be, 'A  school-house  is  building.'" — Id.  "Auxiliaries  are  of  themselves  verbs;  yet  they 
resemble,  in  their  character  and  use,  those  terminational  or  other  inflections  which,  in  other  lan- 
guages, serve  to  express  the  action  in  the  mood,  tense,  person,  and  number  desired." — Id. 
"Please  to  hold  my  horse  while  I  speak  to  my  friend." — Id  "If  I  say,  'Give  me  the  book,' 
I  demand  some  particular  book." — Butler  cor.  "Here  are  five  men." — Id.  "After  the  active 
verb,  the  object  may  be  omitted ;  after  the  passive,  the  name  of  the  agent  may  be  omitted." 
— Id.  "  The  Progressive  and  Emphatic  forms  give,  in  each  case,  a  different  snade  of  mean- 
ing to  the  verb." — Hart  cor.  "  THAT  may  be  called  a  Redditive  Conjunction,  when  it  an- 
swers to  so  or  SUCH." — Ward  cor.  "  He  attributes  to  negligence  your  want  of  success'vn.  that 
business." — Smart  cor.  "Do  WILL  and  GO  express  but  one  action  ? "  Or :  "Does'  will  go  '  express 
but  one  action  ?  " — B&rrett  cor.  "  Language  is  the  principal  vehicle  of  thought." — G.  Brown's 
Inst.,  Pref.,  p.  iii.  "Much  is  applied  to  things  weighed  or  measured  ;  many,  to  those  that  are 
numbered.  Elder  and  eldest  are  applied  to  persons  only  ;  older  and  oldest,  to  either  persons  or 
things." — Bidlions  cor.  "  If  there  are  any  old  maids  still  extant,  while  mysogynists  are  so  rare, 
the  fault  must  be  attributable  to  themselves." — Kirkham  cor.  "  The  second  method,  used  by  the 
Greeks,  has  never  been  the  practice  of  any  other  people  of  Europe." — Sheridan  cor.  "  Neither  con- 
sonant nor  vowel  is  to  be  dwelt  upon  beyond  its  common  quantity,  when  it  closes  a  sentence."  Or  : 
"  Neither  consonants  nor  vowels  are  to  be  dwelt  upon  beyond  their  common  quantity,  when  they 
close  a  sentence."  Or,  better  thus  :  "  Neither  a  consonant  nor  a  vowel,  when  it  closes  a  sentence, 


CHAP  I.]        KEY  TO  PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. THE  COMMA.  985 

is  to  be  protracted  beyond  its  usual  lenylh." — Iff.  "  Irony  is  a  mode  of  speech,  in  which  what  is  said, 
is  the  opposite  of  what  is  meant." — McElKgott'*  Manual,  p.  103.  "  The  person  speaking,  and  the 
person  or  persons  spoken  to,  are  supposed  to  be  present." — Wells  cor. ;  also  Murray.  "A  Noun 
is  a  name,  a  word  used  to  express  the  idea  of  an  object." — Wells  cor.  "A  syllable  is  such  a  word, 
or  part  of  a  word,  as  is  uttered  by  one  articulation." — Weld  cor. 

"  Thus  wond'rous  fair  ;  thyself  how  wond'rous  then  ! 

Unspeakable,  who  sitst  above  these  heavens." — Milton,  B.  v,  1.  156. 
"And  feel  thy  sovran  vital  lamp  ;  but  thou 

Rei'isitst  not  these  eyes,  that  roll  in  vain." — Id.  iii,  22. 
"  Before  all  temples  th'  upright  heart  and  pure." — Id.  i,  18. 
"  In  forest  wild,  in  thicket,  brake,  or  den." — Id.  vii,  458. 
"  The  rogue  and  fool  by  fits  are  fair  and  wise  ; 
And  e'en  the  best,  by  fits,  what  they  despise." — Pope  cor. 


THE  KEY. -PART  IV. -PROSODY. 

CHAPTER  I.  —  PUNCTUATION. 
SECTION  L  — THE  COMMA. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  I. — OF  SIMPLE  SENTENCES. 

"A  short  simple  sentence  should  rarely  be  divided  by  the  comma." — Felton  cor,  "A  regular 
and  virtuous  education  is  an  inestimable  blessing." — Mur.  cor.  "  Such  equivocal  expressions 
mark  an  intention  to  deceive." — Id.  "  They  are  t/tis  and  that,  with  their  plurals  these  and  those." 
— Bullions  cor.  "A  nominative  and  a  verb  sometimes  make  a  complete  sentence  ;  as,  He  sleeps." 
—Felton  cor.  "  TENSE  expresses  the  action  as  connected  with  certain  relations  of  time  ;  MOOD 
represents  it  as  further  modified  by  circumstances  of  contingency,  conditionality,  &c." — Bui/ions 
cor.  "  The  wora  noun  means  name." — In;/ersoll cor.  lf  The  present  or  active  participle  I  explained 
then." — Id.  "Are  some  verbs  used  both  transitively  and  intransitively  ?  " — Cooper  cor.  "  Blank 
verse  is  verse  without  rhyme." — Brown's  Institutes,  p.  235.  "A  distributive  adjective  denotes  each 
one  of  a  number  considered  separately." — Hallock  cor. 
"And  may  at  la'st  my  weary  age 
Find  out  the  peaceful  hermitage." — MILTON  :  Ward's  Gr.  158;  Hiley's,  124. 

UNDER  THE  EXCEPTION  CONCERNING  SIMPLE  SENTENCES. 

"A  noun  without  an  article  to  limit  it,  is  taken  in  its  widest  sense." — Lennie,  p.  6.  "  To  main- 
tain a  steady  course  amid  all  the  adversities  of  life,  marks  a  great  mind." — Day  cor.  "  To  love 
our  Maker  supremely  and  our  neighbour  as  ourselves,  comprehends  the  whole  moral  law." — Id. 
"  To  be  afraid  to  do  wrong,  is  true  courage." — Id.  "A  great  fortune  in  the  hands  of  a  fool,  is  a 
great  misfortune." — Bullions  cor.  "  That  he  should  make  such  a  remark,  is  indeed  strange."— 
f/arnum  cor.  "  To  walk  in  the  fields  and  groves,  is  delightful." — Id.  "  That  he  committed  the 
fault,  is  most  certain." — Id.  "  Names  common  to  all  things  of  the  same  sort  or  class,  are  called 
Common  nouns ;  as,  man,  woman,  day.'" — Bullions  cor.  "  That  it  is  our  duty  to  be  pious,  admits 
not  of  any  doubt." — Id.  "  To  endure  misfortune  with  resignation,  is  the  characteristic  of  a  great 
mind." — Id.  "  The  assisting  of  a  friend  in  such  circumstances,  was  certainly  a  duty." — Id. 
"That  a  life  of  virtue  is  the  safest,  is  certain." — Hallock  cor.  "A  collective  noun  denoting  the 
idea  of  unity,  should  be  represented  by  a  pronoun  of  the  singular  number." — Id. 

UNDER  RULE  II. — Or  SIMPLE  MEMBERS. 

««  When  the  sun  had  arisen,  the  enemy  retreated." — Day  cor.  "  If  he  become  rich,  he  may  be 
less  industrious." — Bullions  cnr.  "  The  more  I  study  grammar,  the  better  I  like  it." — Id.  "  There 
is  much  truth  in  the  old  adage,  that  fire  is  a  better  servant  than  master." — Id.  "  The  verb  do, 
when  used  as  an  auxiliary,  gives  force  or  emphasis  to  the  expression." — /'.  K.  Day  cor.  "  What- 
soever it  is  incumbent  upon  a  man  to  do,  it  is  surely  expedient  to  do  well." — Adams  cor.  "The 
soul,  which  our  philosophy  divide-;  into  various  capacities,  is  still  one  essence." — Channiny  cor. 
"  Put  the  following  words  in  the  plural,  and  give  the  rule  for  forming  it." — Hut/inns  cor.  "  We 
will  do  it,  if  you  wish." — Id.  "He  who  doc-;  well,  will  be  rewarded." — Id.  "That  which  is 
always  tin-  .  •"(!  in  the  present  tense." — Id.  "An  observation  which  is  always  true, 

must  be  expressed  in  the  present  tense." — Id.  "That  part  of  orthography  which  treats  of  com- 
bining letters  to  form  syllables  and  words,  is  called  SIM  11. INC." — Day  "»'.  "A  noun  can  never 
be  of  the  first  person,  except  it  is  in  apposition  with  a  pronoun  of  that  person." — Id.  "  When 
two  or  more  singular  nouns  or  pronouns  refer  to  the  s  une  object,  they  require  a  singular  verb 
and  pronoun." — Id.  "James  has  pone,  but  he  will  return  in  a  few  days." — Id.  "A  pronoun 
should  have  the  same  person,  number,  and  gender,  as  the  noun  for  which  it  stands." — Id. 
"  Though  he  is  out  of  danger,  he  is  still  afraid." — Bullions  cor.  "  She  is  his  inferior  in  sense,  but 
his  equal  in  prudence." — M  .  p.  6.  "The  man  who  has  no  sense  of  religion,  is 

little  to  be  trusted." — Bull  inns  cur.  "  He  who  does  the  most  good,  has  the  most  pleasure." — hi. 
"They  were  not  in  the  most  prosperous  circumstances,  when  we  last  saw  them." — Id.  "  If  the 
day  continue  pleasant,  I  shall  return." — l\-lton  cor.  "  The  days  that  are  past,  are  gone  forever." 
— 'Id.  "  As  many  as  are  friendly  to  the  cause,  will  sustain  it.'' — Id.  "  Such  as  desire  aid,  will 
receive  it." — /'/. '  "  Who  gave,  you  that  book,  which  you  prize  so  much  ?  " — Bullions  cor.  "  He 
who  made  it,  now  preserves  and  governs  it." — Id. 

"  Shall  he  alone,  whom  rational  we  call, 
Be  pleas'd  with  nothing,  if  not  blest  with  all  ? " — Pope. 


RT   IT. 


GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. KEY   TO    PROSODY.  [PART 

UNDER  THE  EXCEPTIONS  CONCERNING  SIMPLE  MEMBERS. 

"  Newcastle  is  the  town  in  which  Akenside  was  born." — Bucke  cor.  "  The  remorse  which, 
issues  in  reformation,  is  true  repentance." — Campbell  cor.  "Men  who  are  intemperate,  are 
destructive  members  of  community." — Alexander  cor.  "An  active-transitive  verb  expresses  an 
action  which  extends  to  an  object." — Felton  cor.  "  They  to  whom  much  is  given,  will  have  much 
to  answer  for." — Murray  cor.  "  The  prospect  which  we  have,  is  charming." — Cooper  cor.  "  He 
is  the  person  who  informed  me  of  the  matter." — Id.  "  These  are  the  trees  that  produce  no  fruit." 
— Id.  "  This  is  the  book  which  treats  of  the  subject." — Id.  "  The  proposal  was  such  as  pleased 
me." — Id.  "Those  that  sow  in  tears,  shall  reap  in  joy." — Id.  "The  pen  with  which  I  write, 
makes  too  large  a  mark." — Incjer soil  cor.  "  Modesty  makes  large  amends  for  the  pain  it  gives 
the  persons  who  labour  under  it,  by  the  prejudice  it  affords  every  worthy  person,  in  their  favour." — 
Id.  "  Irony  is  a  figure  whereby  we  plainly  intend  something  very  different  from  what  our  words 
express." — Bucke  cor.  "  Catachresis  is  a  figure  whereby  an  improper  word  is  used  in  stead  of  a 
proper  one." — Id.  "  The  man  whom  you  met  at  the  party,  is  a  Frenchman." — Frost  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  III.— OF  MORE  THAN  Two  WORDS. 

"John,  James,  and  Thomas,  are  here  :  that  is,  John,  and  James,  and  Thomas,  are  here." — 
Cooper  cor.  "  Adverbs  modify  verbs,  adjectives,  and  other  adverbs." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  116. 
"  To  Nouns  belong  Person,  Gender,  Number,  and  Case." — Id.  ib.  p.  9.  "  Wheat,  corn,  rye,  and 
oats,  are  extensively  cultivated." — Id.  "In  many,  the  definitions,  rules,  and  leading  facts,  are 
prolix,  inaccurate,  and  confused." — Finch  cor.  "  Most  people  consider  it  mysterious,  difficult,  and 
useless." — Id.  "  His  father,  and  mother,  and  uncle,  reside  at  Rome." — Farnum  cor.  "  The  rela- 
tive pronouns  are  who,  which,  and  that." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  23.  "J7/,«£is  sometimes  a  de- 
monstrative, sometimes  a  relative,  and  sometimes  a  conjunction." — Bullions  cor.  "  Our  reputa- 
tion, virtue,  and  happiness,  greatly  depend  on  the  choice  of  our  companions." — Day  cor.  "  The 
spirit  of  true  religion  is  social,  kind,  and  cheerful." — Felton  cor.  "Do,  be,  have,  and  will,  are 
sometimes  principal  verbs." — Id.  "John,  and  Thomas,  and  Peter,  reside  at  Oxford." — Webster 
cor.  "  The  most  innocent  pleasures  are  the  most  rational,  the  most  delightful,  and  the  most 
durable." — Id.  "  Love,  joy,  peace,  and  blessedness,  are  reserved  for  the  good." — Id.  "  The  hus- 
band, wife,  and  children,  suffered  extremely." — Murray  cor.  "  The  husband,  wife,  and  children, 
suffer  extremely." — Sanborncor.  "  He,  you,  and  I,  have  our  parts  assigned  us." — Id. 
"  He  moaned,  lamented,  tugged,  and  tried. 
Repented,  promised,  wept,  and  sighed." — Coioper. 

UNDER  RULE  IV. — OF  ONLY  Two  WORDS. 

"  Disappointments  derange  and  overcome  vulgar  minds." — Murray  cor.  "  The  hive  of  a  city  or 
kingdom,  is  in  the  best  condition,  when  there  is  the  least  noise  or  buzz  in  it." — Id.  "  When  a 
direct  address  is  made,  the  noun  or  pronoun  is  in  the  nominative  case,  independent." — Infjersoll 
cor.  "  The  verbs  love  and  teach,  make  loved  and  taught,  in  the  imperfect  and  participle." — Id. 
"  Neither  poverty  nor  riches  were  injurious  to  him." — Murray's  Gram,.  Svo,  p.  152.  "  Thou  or  I 
am  in  fault." — Ib.  p.  152.  "  A  verb  is  a  word  that  expresses  action  or  being." — P.  E.  Day  cor. 
"  The  Objective  Case  denotes  the  object  of  a  verb  or  a  preposition." — Id.  "  Verbs  of  the  second 
conjugation  may  be  either  transitive  or  intransitive." — Id.  "  Verbs  of  the  fourth  conjugation 
may  be  either  transitive  or  intransitive." — Id.  "  If  a  verb  does  not  form  its  past  indicative  by  add- 
ing d  or  ed  to  the  indicative  present,  it  is  said  to  be  irregular." — Id.  "  The  young  lady  is  study- 
ing rhetoric  and  logic." — Cooper  cor.  "  He  writes  and  speaks  the  language  very  correctly." — Id. 
"  Man's  happiness  or  misery  is,  in  a  great  measure,  put  into  his  own  hands." — Mur.  cor.  "  This 
accident  or  characteristic  of  nouns,  is  called  their  Gender." — Bullions  cor. 
"  Grant  that  the  powerful  still  the  weak  control; 
Be  man  the  wit  and  tyrant  of  the  whole." — Pope  cor. 

UNDER  EXCEPTION  I.— Two  WORDS  WITH  ADJUNCTS. 

"  Franklin  is  justly  considered  the  ornament  of  the  New  World,  and  the  pride  of  modern  phi- 
losophy."— Day  cor.  "  Levity,  and  attachment  to  worldly  pleasures,  destroy  the  sense  of  grati- 
tude to  Him." — Mur.  cor.  "  In  the  following  Exercise,  po'int  out  the  adjectives,  and  the  substan- 
tives which  they  qualify." — Bullions  cor.  "  When  a  noun  or  pronoun  is  used  to  explain,  or  give 
emphasis  to,  a  preceding  noun  or  pronoun." — Day  cor.  "  Superior  talents,  and  brilliancy  of  intel- 
lect, do  not  always  constitute  a  great  man." — Id'.  "A  word  that  makes  sense  after  an  article,  or 
the  phrase  speak  of,  is  a  noun." — Bullions  cor.  "All  feet  used  in  poetry,  are  reducible  to  eight 
kinds  ;  four  of  two  syllables,  and  four  of  three." — Hiley  cor.  "  He  would  not  do  it  himself,  nor 
let  me  do  it." — Lennie's  Gram.  p.  64.  "The  old  writers  give  examples  of  the  subjunctive  mood, 
and  give  other  moods  to  explain  what  is  meant  by  the  words  in  the  subjunctive." — Peirce  cor. 

UNDER  EXCEPTION  II. — Two  TERMS  CONTRASTED. 

"  We  often  commend,  as  well  as  censure,  imprudently." — Mur.  cor.  "  It  is  as  truly  a  violation 
of  the  right  of  property,  to  take  little,  as  to  take  much ;  to  purloin  a  book  or  a  penknife,  as  to 
steal  money  ;  to  steal  fruit,  as  to  steal  a  horse  ;  to  defraud  the  revenue,  as  to  rob  my  neighbour  ; 
to  overcharge  the  public,  as  to  overcharge  my  brother;  to  cheat  the  post-office,  as  to  cheat  my 
friend." — Wayland  cor.  "  The  classification  of  verbs  has  been,  and  still  is,  a  vexed  question." — 
Bullions  cor.  "  Names  applied  only  to  individuals  of  a  sort  or  class,  and  not  common  to  all,  are 
called  Proper  nouns." — Id.  "A  hero  would  desire  to  be  loved,  as  well  as  to  be  reverenced." — Day 
cor.  "  Death,  or  some  worse  misfortune,  now  divides  them."  Better:  "Death,  or  some  other 
misfortune,  soon  divides  them." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  151.  "Alexander  replied,  'The  world  will 
not  permit  two  suns,  nor  two  sovereigns.'  " — Goldsmith  cor. 

"From  nature's  chain,  whatever  link  you  strike, 
Tenth,  or  ten-thousandth,  breaks  the  chain  alike." — Pope. 


CHAP.  I.]  KEY    TO    TROSODY.  —  PUNCTUATION.  —  THE    COMMA.  9S7 

UNDER  EXCEPTION  III.  —  OF  AN  ALTERNATIVE  OF  "WORDS. 

"Me/re,  or  Measure,  is  the  number  of  poetical  feet  which  a  verse  contains."  —  Illlcy  cor.  "  The 
Ca>snra,  or  the  pause  which  takes  place  in  a  verse,  and  which  divides  it  into  two 

parts."  —  Id.  "  It  is  six  feet,  or  one  fathom,  deep."  —  Bullions  cor.  "A  Brace  is  used  in  poetry,  at 
the  end  of  a  triplet,  or  three  lines  which  rhyme  together."  —  Felton  cor.  "  There  are  four  princi- 
pal kinds  of  English  verse,  or  poetical  feet."  —  Id.  "  The  period,  or  full  stop,  denotes  the  end  of  a 
complete  sentence."  —  Scmoor*  cur.  "  The  scholar  is  to  receive  as  munyjetons,  or  counters,  as  there 
are  words  in  the  sentence."  —  St.  Qttentin  cor.  "  That  [thing],  or  the  thinq,  which  purifies,  fortifies 
also  the  heart."  —  P<  ir<;  ,-,,,-.  "  That  thing,  or  Uie  thin</,  which  would  induce  a  laxity  in  public  or 
private  morals,  or  indifference'to  guilt  and  wretchedness,  should  be  regarded  as  the  deadly  Siroc- 
co." —  Id.  "What  is,  elliptically,  ichat  thing,  or  that  thinq  ich/'rh."  —  Koiboni  cor.  "Dam.,- 
means  shoic,  or  point  out  precisely."  —  Id.  "The  man,  or  that  man,  who  endures  to  the  end, 
shall  be  saved."—  Hiley  cor. 

UNDER  EXCEPTION  IV.—  OP  A  SECOND  COMMA. 

"  That  reason,  passion,  answer  one  great  aim."  —  POPE  :  Bullions  and  Hilci/  cnr.     "  Reason,  vir- 
tue, answer  one  great  aim."  —  L.  Murray's  Gram,  p  269;   Cooper's  Murray,  182;   Comly,  1! 
qersoll,  282  ;  Sanborn,  268  ;  Kirkham,  212  ;  et  al.     "  Every  good  gift,  and  every  perfect  gift,  is  from 
above."  —  James,  i,  17.     "  Every  plant,  and  every  tree,  produces  others  after  its  kind."  —  1) 
"  James,  and  not  John,  was  paid  for  his  services."—  /d.     "  The  single  dagger,  or  obelisk  j,  is  the 
second."—  Id.     "  It  was  I,  not  he,  that  did  it."—  St.  Quentin  cor.     "  Each  aunt,  each  cousin,  hath 
her  speculation."  —  Byron.     "  '  I  shall  see  you  tchen  you  come,'  is  equivalent  to,  '  I  shall  see  you 
then,  or  at  that  time,  when  you  come.'  "  —  Butler  cor. 

"  Let  wealth,  let  honour,  wait  the  wedded  dame  ; 
August  her  deed,  and  sacred  be  her  fame."  —  Pope  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  V.—  OF  WORDS  IN  PAIRS. 

"My  hopes  and  fears,  joys  and  sorrows,  centre  in  you."  —  Greenleaf  or  Sanborn  cor.  "This 
mood  implies  possibility  or  liberty,  will  or  obligation."  —  Inqersoll  cor.  ""  Substance  is  divided  in  to 
findij  and  spirit,  into  extended  and  thinki/i;/."—  Rr!<iht1<init  cor.  "These  consonants,  JW  and  t.'\ 
like  p  and  i,/and  v,  k  and  hard  g,  and  s  and  z,  are  letters  of  the  same  organ."  —  Walker  cor. 
"  Neither  fig'nor  twist,  pigtail  nor  Cavendish,  has  passed  my  lips  since  ;  nor  ever  shall  again."  — 
Cultivator  cor.  "  The  words  whocrrr  or  whosoever,  whichever  or  whichsoever,  and  what 
whatsoever,  are  called  Compound,  Relative  Pronouns."—  Day  cor.  "Adjectives  signifying  profit  or 
disprofit,  likeness  or  unlikeness,  govern  the  dative."  —  Bullions  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  VI.  —  OF  WORDS  ABSOLUTE. 

"  Thy  rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort  me."  —  Psalm  xxiii,  4.  "  Depart,  ye  wicked."  —  Wright  cor. 
"  He  saith  unto  his  mother,  Woman,  behold  thy  son  !  "  —  John,  xix,  26.  "  Thou,  God,  seest  me." 
—  Bullions  cor.  "John,  write  me  a  letter.  Henry,  go  home."  —  Peircecor.ticice.  "Now,G.  Brown, 
let  us  reason  together."  —  Id.  "3/r.  Smith,  you  say,  on  page  llth,  ''The  objective  case  denotes 
the  object.'  "  —  Id.  "  Gentlemen,  will  you  always  speak  as  you  mean  ?  "  —  Id.  "  John,  I  sold  my 
books  to  William,  for  his  brothers."—  Id.  "  Walter,  and  Seth,  I  will  take  my  things,  and  leave 
yours."  —  Id.  "  Henry,  Julia  and  Jane  left  their  umbrella,  and  took  yours."  —  Id.  "  John,  harness 
the  horses,  and  go  to  the  mine  for  some  coal."  —  Id.  "  William,  run  to  the  store,  for  a  few  pounds 
of  tea."  —  Id.  "  The  king  being  dead,  the  parliament  was  dissolved."  —  Chandler  cor. 
"  Cease,  fond  Nature,  cease  thy  strife, 

And  let  me  languish  into  life."  —  Pope,  Brit.  Poets,  vi,  317. 
"  Forbear,  great  man,  in  arms  renown'd,  forbear."  —  Ililey's  Grammar,  p.  127. 
"  Eternal  sunshine  of  the  spotless  mind  ! 
Each  prayer  accepted,  and  each  wish  resign'd."—  Pope,  Brit.  Poets,  vi,  336. 

UNDER  RULE  VII.—  OF  WORDS  IN  APPOSITION. 

"  Wo,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice," 
£c.  —  Constit.  of  U.  N.  "The  Lord,  the  coven  mt  (iod  of  his  people,  requires  it."  —  A.  N.  May.  cor. 
"  He,  as  a  patriot,  deserves  praise."  —  Ilil'mck  cor.  "Thomson,  the  watchmaker  and  jewdler 
from  London,  was  of  the  party."  —  r.  "  Every  body  knows  that  the  person  here  spoken 

of  by  the  name  of  '  thr  Conqutfor,'  is  William,  duke  of  Normandy."—  Mnr.  cor.     "The  words 
-".  /tcrsfff,  ittn-lf,  and  their  plurals,  ourselves,  yourselves,  and  themselves,  are 


called  Compound  Personal  Pronoun*."  —  Day  cor. 

"  l-'or  who.  to  dumb  fnryi'tfulness  a  prey, 

This  pleasing,  anxious  being  e'er  resign'd, 
Left  the  warm  precincts  of  the  cheerful  day, 

cast  one  longing,  ling'ring  look  behind  ?  "  —  f!i:.vY  :  M.  Scq. 

UNDKR  THE  Excr.:-:  M>  APPOSITION. 

«'  Smith  &  Williatns's  store  ;  Nicholas  the  emperor's  army."  —  D,n/  cor.     "  He  was  namr 
Hum  tli'-  f'on'/ucrar."  —  /«/.     "  John  the   Baptist  was  beheaded."  —  Id.     "Alexander  the  copper- 
•mith  did  me  /;/'//•/(  rr/7."  —  2    Tim.   iv.   14.     "A  nominative  in  immediate   apposition;  as,   'The 
boy  //  ''      "A  noun  objective  can  be  in  apposition  with  some  other:  as, 

'  I  teach  the  boy  Henry.'  "  —  Id. 

•  Kfi.E  VIII.  —  OF  ADJECTIVES. 


"  But  he  found  me,  not  singing  at  my  work,  ruddy  with  health,  vivid  with   cheerfulness  ;  but 
pale,"  &c.—  DK.  JOHNSON:   Mur.  .  p.  4.     "  I  looked  up,  and  beheld  an  inclosnro,  beau- 

tiful as  the  gardens  of  paradise,  but  of  a  small  extent."  —  HAWKI.SWOUTH  :  ih.  p.  20.     ".1   is  an 
article,  indefinite,  and  belongs  to  '  book:  "—Bullions  cor.    "  The  first  expresses  the  rapid  move- 


RUT. 

chief- 


GKAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO    PROSODY.  [PART 

ment  of  a  troop  of  horse  over  the  plain,  eager  for  the  combat." — Id.  "  He  [,  the  Indian 
tain,  King  Philip,]  was  a  patriot,  attached  to  his  native  soil ;  a  prince,  true  to  his  subjects,  and 
indignant  of  their  wrongs ;  a  soldier,  daring  in  battle,  firm  in  adversity,  patient  of  fatigue,  of 
hunger,  of  every  variety  of  bodily  suffering,  and  ready  to  perish  in  the  cause  he  had  espoused." 
— W.  Irving. 

"For  thee,  who,  mindful  of  th'  unhonour'd  dead, 

Dost  in  these  lines  their  artless  tale  relate." — GRAY:  Mur.  Seq.  p.  258. 
"Some  mute  inglorious  Milton  here  may  rest ; 

Some  Cromwell,  guiltless  of  his  country's  blood." — GRAY:  Enf.  Sp.  p.  245. 
"  Idle  after  dinner  f ,]  in  his  chair, 
Sat  a  farmer,  ruddy,  fat,  and  fair." — Murray's  Gram.  p.  257. 

UNDER  THE  EXCEPTION  CONCERNING  ADJECTIVES. 

"  When  an  attribute  becomes  a  title,  or  is  emphatically  applied  to  a  name,  it  follows  it:  as, 
Charles  the  Great ;  Henry  the  First ;  Lewis  the  Gross." —  Webster  cor.  "  Feed  me  with  food  con- 
venient for  me." — Prow,  xxx,  8.  "  The  words  and  phrases  necessary  to  exemplify  every  prin- 
ciple progressively  laid  down,  will  be  found  strictly  and  exclusively  adapted  to  the  illustration  of 
the  principles  to  which  they  are  referred." — Ingersoll  cor.  "  The  Infinitive  Mood  is  that  form  of 
the  verb  which  expresses  being  or  action  unlimited  by  person  or  number." — Day  cor.  "A  man 
diligent  in  his  business,  prospers." — Fro&t  cor. 

"Oh  wretched  state  !  oh  bosom  black  as  death  !  "— SHAK.  :  Enjield,  p.  368. 

UNDER  RULE  IX. — OF  FINITE  VERBS. 

"  The  Singular  denotes  one;  the  Plural,  more  than  one." — Bullions  and  Lennie  cor.  "The 
Comma  represents  the  shortest  pause ;  the  Semicolon,  a  pause  longer  than  the  comma  ;  the 
Colon,  longer  than  the  semicolon  ;  and  the  Period,  longer  than  the  colon." — Ililey  cor.  "  The 
Comma  represents  the  shortest  pause  ;  the  Semicolon,  a  pause  double  that  of  the  Comma;  the 
Colon,  double  that  of  the  semicolon  ;  and  the  Period,  double  that  of  the  colon." — L.  Murray's 
Gram.  p.  266.  "  WHO  is  applied  only  to  persons ;  WHICH,  to  animals  and  things ;  WHAT,  to 
things  only  ;  and  THAT,  to  persons,  animals,  and  things." — Day  cor.  "A  or  an  is  used  before 
the  singular  number  only  ;  the,  before  either  singular  or  plura'l." — Bullions  cor.  "  Homer  was 
the  greater  genius  ;  Virgil,  the  better  artist."— -Day  cor.  ;  also  Pope.  "Words  are  formed  of  syl- 
lables ;  syllables,  of  letters." — St.  Quentin  cor.  "  The  conjugation  of  an  active  verb  is  styled  the 
ACTIVE  VOICE;  and  that  of  a  passive  verb,  the  PASSIVE  VOICE." — Frost  cor.;  also  Smith:  L. 
Murray's  Gram.  p.  77.  "  The  possessive  is  sometimes  called  the  genitive  case ;  and  the  ob- 
jective, the  accusative." — Murray  cor.  "  Benevolence  is  allied  to  few  vices  ;  selfishness,  to  fewer 
virtues." — Kames  cor.  "  Orthography  treats  of  Letters  ;  Etymology,  of  Words  ;  Syntax,  of  Sen- 
tences ;  and  Prosody,  o/  Versification." — Hart  cor. 

"  Earth  praises  conquerors  for  shedding  blood  ; 
Heaven,  those  that  love  their  foes,  and  do  them  good." — Waller. 

UNDER  RULE  X. — OF  INFINITIVES. 

"  His  business  is,  to  observe  the  agreement  or  disagreement  of  words." — Bullions  cor.  "  It  is 
a  mark  of  distinction,  to  be  made  a  member  of  this  society." — Farnum  cor.  "  To  distinguish  the 
conjugations,  let  the  pupil  observe  the  following  rules." — Day  cor.  "  He  was  now  sent  for,  to 
preach  before  the  Parliament." — E.  Williams  cor.  "  It  is  incumbent  on  the  young,  to  love  and 
honour  their  parents." — Bullions  cor.  "  It  is  the  business  of  every  man,  to  prepare  for  death." — 
Id.  "  It  argued  the  sincerest  candor,  to  make  such  an  acknowledgement." — Id.  "  The  proper 
way  is,  to  complete  the  construction  of  the  first  member,  and  leave  that  of  the  second  elliptical." 
—Id. 
character 
sounds  of  c  and  g. 

and  speaking  of  a  language." — Barrett  cor.     "  Four  kinds  of  type  are  used  in  the  following  pages, 
to  indicate  the  portions  that  are  considered  more  or  less  elementary." — Hart  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  XL— OF  PARTICIPLES. 

"  The  chancellor,  being  attached  to  the  king,  secured  his  crown." — Murray's  Grammar,  p.  66. 
"  The  officer,  having  received  his  orders,  proceeded  to  execute  them." — Day  cor.  "  Thus  used, 
it  is  in  the  present  tense." — Bullions,  E.  Gr.,  2d  Ed.,  p.  35.  "The  imperfect  tense  has  three 
distinct  forms,  corresponding  to  those  of  the  present  tense." — Bullions  cor.  "Every  possessive 
case  is  governed  by  some  noun,  denoting  the  thing  possessed." — Id.  "  The  word  that,  used  as 
a  conjunction,  is  [generally]  preceded  by  a  comma." — Hiley's  Gram.  p.  114.  "  His  narrative, 
being  composed  upon  so  good  authority,  deserves  credit." — Cooper  cor.  "  The  hen,  being  in  her 
nest,  was  killed  and  eaten  there  by  the  eagle." — Murray  cor.  "  Pronouns,  being  used  in  stead 


ly  is,  to  complete  tne  construction  01  tne  nrst  memoer,  ana  leave  tnat  01  tne  second  euymctu. 
Id.     "  ENEMY  is  a  name.     It  is  a  term  of  distinction,  given  to  a  certain  person,  to  show  the 
laracter  in  which  he  is  represented." — Peirce  cor.     "  The  object  of  this  is,  to  preserve   the  soft 
unds  of  c  and  g." — Hart  cor.    "The  design  of  grammar  is,  to   facilitate  the  reading,  writing, 


noun,  they  are  personal  pronouns." — Bullions  cor. 

"  He,  with  vinv  crown  advancing, 
First  to  the  lively  pipe  his  hand  address'd." — Collins. 

UNDER  THE  EXCEPTION  CONCERNING  PARTICIPLES. 

"But  when  they  convey  the  idea  of  many  acting  individually,  or  separately,  they  are  of  the 
plural  number." — Day  cor.  "  Two  or  more  singular  antecedents  connected  by  and,  [when  they 
happen  to  introduce  more  than  one  verb  and  more  than  one  pronoun,]  require  verbs  and  pro- 
nouns of  the  plural  number." — Id.  "  Words  ending  iny  preceded  by  a  consonant,  change  y  into 
t,  when  a  termination  is  added." — Butler  cor.  "A  noun  used  without  an  article  to  limit  it,  is 


CHAP.  I.]        KEY  TO  PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. — THE  COMMA.  989 

generally  taken  in  its  widest  sense."— Ingersoll  cor.  "  Two  nouns  meaning  the  same  person 
or  thing,  frequently  come  together." — Bitcke  cor.  "  Each  one  must  give  an  account  to  God 
for  the  use,  or  abuse,  of  the  talents  committed  to  him." — Cooper  cor.  "  Two  vowels  united 
in  one  sound,  form  a  diphthong." — Front  cor.  "  Three  vowels  united  in  one  sound,  form  a  triph- 
thong."— Id.  "Any  word  joined  loan  adverb,  is  a  secondary  adverb.'' — Barrett  cor.  "The 
person  spoken  to,  is  put  in  the  Second  person  ;  the  person  spoken  of,  in  the  Third  person." — Cutler 
cor.  "A  man  devoted  to  his  business,  prospers." — Frost  cor. 

UNDER.  RULE  XII. — OF  ADVERBS. 

"  So,  in  indirect  questions  ;  as,  '  Tell  me  ichea  he  will  come.'  " — Butler  cor.     "  Now,  when  the 
verb  tells  what  one  person  or  thing  does  to  an  other,  it  is  transitive." — Bullions  cor.     "  Agreeably 
to  your   request,  I  send  this  letter." — Id.     "  There   seems,   therefore,  to  be  no  good  reason  for 
giving  them  a  different  classification." — Id.     "Again,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  Tike  unto  a  mer- 
chant-man seeking  goodly  pearls." — Scott's  Bible,  Smith's,  and  Bruce's.     "Again,  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  net  that  was  cast  into  the  sea." — Same.     "Cease,  however,  is  used  as  a 
transitive  verb  by  our  best  writers." — Webster  cor.     "Time  admits  of  three  natural   divisions; 
namely,  Present,  Past,  and  Future." — Day  cor.     "There  are  three  kinds  of  comparison  ;  namely, 
Regular,  Irregular,  and  Adverbial." — Id.     "  There  are  five  personal  pronouns;  namely,  /,  thou, 
.  and  it." — Id.     "Nouns  have  three  cases;   viz.,  the  Nominative,  the  Possessive,  and  the 
Objective." — Bullions  cor.     "  Hence,  in  studying  Grammar,  we  have  to  studv  words." — Frazee  cor. 
"  Participles,  like  verbs,  relate  to  nouns  and  pronouns." — Miller  cor.     "  The  time  of  the  parti- 
ciple, like  that  of  the  infinitive,  is  estimated  from  the  time  of  the  leading  verb." — Bullions  cor. 
"  The  dumb  shall  sing,  the  lame  his  crutch  forego, 
And  leap  exulting,  like  the  bounding  roe." — Pope. 

UNDER  RULE  XIII.— OF  CONJUNCTIONS. 

"But  he  said,  Nay;  lest,  while  ye  gather  up  the  tares,  ye  root  up  also  the  wheat  with  them." 
•'s  Bible,  et  al.  "Their  intentions  were  good;  but,  wanting  prudence,  they  missed  the 
mark  at  which  they  aimed." — Mnr.  cor.  "  The  verb  be  often  separates  the  name  from  its  attri- 
bute ;  as,  '  War  is  expensive.'  " — Webster  cor  "Either  and  or  denote  an  alternative  ;  as,  '  I  will 
take  either  road  at  your  pleasure.'  " — Id.  "Either  is  also  a  substitute  for  a  name  ;  as,  'Either  of 
the  roads  is  good.'  " — Id.  "  But,  alas  !  I  fear  the  consequence." — Day  cor.  "  Or,  if  he  ask  a  fish, 
will  he  for  a  fish  give  him  a  serpent  ?  " — Luke,  xi,  11.  "  Or,  if  he  shall  ask  an  egg,  will  he  offer 
him  a  scorpion  ?  " — ALGEU'S  BIBLE  :  Luke,  xi,  12.  "  The  infinitive  sometimes  performs  the  office 
of  a  nominative  case ;  as,  «  To  enjoy  is  to  obey.' — POPE." — ('idler  cor.  "  The  plural  is  commonly 
formed  by  adding  *  to  the  singular;  as,  book,  books." — Bullions,  P.  Lessons,  p.  16.  "As,  'I  were 
to  blame,  if  I  did  it.'  " — Smart  cor. 

"  Or,  if  it  be  thy  will  and  pleasure,         > 
Direct  my  plough  to  find  a  treasure." 
UNDER  RVLE  XIV. — OF  PREPOSITIONS. 

"  Pronouns  agree  with  the  nouns  for  which  they  stand,  in  gender,  number,  and  person." — But- 
ler and  Bullions  cor.  "  In  the  first  two  examples,  the  antecedent  is  person,  or  something  equiva- 
lent; in  the  last  \one],  it  is  thin;/." — Butler  cor.  "  In  what  character  he  was  admitted,  is  un- 
known."— Id.  "To  what  place  he  was  going,  is  not  known." — Id.  "  In  the  preceding  examples, 
John,  Cfrsar,  and  James,  are  the  subjects." — Id.  "  Ves  is  generally  used  to  denote  assent,  in 
to  a  question." — Id.  "That,  in  its  origin,  is  the  passive  participle  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
verb  thean,  [ther/an,  thirt/an,  thici/eun,  or  thit/an,]  to  take." — Id.  "  But,  in  all  these  sentences,  as 
and  so  are  adverbs." — Id.  "Aft<>r  an  interjection  or  an  exclamatory  sentence,  is  usually  placed 
the  mark  of  exclamation." — D.  Blair  cor.  "Intransitive  verbs,  from  their  nature,  can  have  no 
distinction  of  voice." — Bui/ions  cor.  "  To  the  inflection  of  verbs,  belong  Voices,  Moods,  Tenses, 
Numbers,  and  Persons." — Id.  "As  and  so,  in  the  antecedent  member  of  a  comparison,  are  prop- 
erly Adverbs."  Better  :  "As  OR  so,  in  the  antecedent  member  of  a  comparison,  is  properly  an 
adverb." — Id.  "  In  the  following  Exercise,  point  out  the  words  in  apposition." — Id.  "  In  the 
following  Exercise,  point  out  the  noun  or  pronoun  denoting  the  possessor." — Id.  "Its  is  not 
found  in  the  Bible,  except  by  misprint." — Brown's  Institutes,  p.  49.  "No  one's  interest  is  con- 
cerned, except  mine." — llallock  car.  "In  most  of  the  modern  languages,  there  are  four  con- 
cords."— St.  (jucntin  cor.  "In  illustration  of  these  remarks,  let  us  suppose  a  case." — Hart  for. 
"  On  the  right  management  of  the  emphasis,  depends  the  life  of  pronunciation." — See  Blair'* 
Rh€t.  p.  330. 

UNDER  Rn.r.   XV. — Or  IXTOUBCTIOXS. 

"  Behold,  he  is  in  the  desert." — I  'de.     "And  Lot  said  unto  them,   Oh,  not  so,  my 

Lord." — Atyer's  Bible.     "Oh,  let  me  escape  thither,   (is  it  not  a  little  one  ?)  and  my  sou! 
live." — Friends'  Bible,  and  Ali/cr's.     "  Behold,  I  come  quickly." — Rev.  xxii,  7.     "  Lo,  I  am  with 
vou  always." — Dni/  <-nr.     "And,  lo,  I  am  with  you   alway."—  1 './/  r's   Bible.     "Ha,  ha,  ha;   how 
laughable  that  is  !  " — Bullions  cor.     "  Interjections  of  laughter  ;  ha,  ha,  ha." — Wright  cor. 

XVI.— Or  WORDS  UKPKATED. 

"  Lend,  lend  your  wings  !  "  &c. — Pope.  "  To  bed,  to  bed,  to  bed.  There  is  a  knocking  at  the 
gate.  Come,  come,  come.  What  is  done,  cannot  be  undone.  To  bed,  to  bed,  to  bed." — SUVK- 
BPEAiiK  :  /'  .'r,  p.  130.  "  I  will  roar,  that  the  duke  shall  cry,  Encore,  encore,  let  him 

roar,  let  him  roar,  once  more,  once  more." — Id.  ib.  p.  136. 
"Vital  spark  of  heavenly  flame! 

Quit,  oh  quit  this  morta'l  frame  !  " — Pope. 
"  O  the  pleasing,  pleasing  anguish, 

When  we  love,  and  when  we  languish." — Addison. 
"  Praise  to  God,  immortal  praise, 
For  the  love  that  crowns  our  days !  "—Barbauld. 


990  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO    PROSODY.  [PART  IT. 

UNDER  RULE  XVII. — OF  DEPENDENT  QUOTATIONS. 

"Thus,  of  an  infant,  we  say,  'It  is  a  lovely  creature.'  " — Bullions  cor.  "  No  being  can  state  a 
falsehood  in  saying,  '  I  am  ; '  for  no  one  can  utter  this,  if  it  is  not  true." — Cardell  cor.  "  I  know 
they  will  cry  out  against  this,  and  say,  '  Should  he  pay,'  means,  '  If  he  should  pay.' " — Pcirce 


sense  that  is  not  active  ;  why  may  it  not  also  allow  us  to  say,  '  Wheat  -is  selling  at  a  dollar,'  in  a 
sense  that  is  not  active  ?" — Hart  cor.  "  'Man  is  accountable,'  equals,  'Mankind  are  accounta- 
ble.' " — Barrett  cor.  "  Thus,  when  we  say,  '  He  may  be  reading,'  may  is  the  real  verb  ;  the  other 
parts  are  verbs  by  name  only." — Smart  cor.  "  Thus  we  say,  an  apple,  an  hour,  that  two  vowel 
sounds  may  not  come  together." — Id.  "  It  wouldbe  as  improper  to  say,  an  unit,  as  to  say,  an  youth  ; 
to  say,  an  one,  as  to  say,  an  wonder." — Id.  "  When  we  say,  '  He  died  for  the  truth,  'for  is  a  prepo- 
sition."— Id.  "  We  do  not  say,  '  I  might  go  yesterday  ; '  but,  c  I  might  have  gone  yesterday.'  " — 
Id.  "  By  student,  we  understand,  one  who  has  by  matriculation  acquired  the  rights  of  academi- 
cal citizenship  ;  but,  by  bursche',  we  understand,  one  who  has  already  spent  a  certain  time  at  the 
university." — Howitt  cor. 

SECTION  II. —  THE  SEMICOLON. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  I.— OF  COMPLEX  MEMBERS. 

'•The  buds  spread  into  leaves,  and  the  blossoms  swell  to  fruit;  but  they  know  not  how  they 
grow,  nor  who  causes  them  to  spring  up  from  the  bosom  of  the  earth." — Day  cor.  "  But  he  used 
his  eloquence  chiefly  against  Philip,  king  of  Macedon;  and,  in  several  orations,  he  stirred  up  the 
Athenians  to  make  war  against  him." — Bullions  cor.  "  For  the  sake  of  euphony,  the  n  is  dropped 
before  a  consonant ;  and,  because  most  words  begin  with  a  consonant,  this  of  course  is  its  more 
common  form." — Id.  "  But  if  I  say,  '  Will  a  man  be  able  to  carry  this  burden  ? '  it  is  manifest 
the  idea  is  entirely  changed ;  the  reference  is  not  to  number,  but  to  the  species  ;  and  the  answer 
might  be,  'No  ;  but  a  horse  will.'  " — Id.  "  In  direct  discourse,  a  noun  used  by  the  speaker  or 
•writer  to  designate  himself  [in  the  special  relation  of  speaker  or  writer],  is  said  to  be  of  the^ntf 
person  ;  used  to  designate  the  person  addressed,  it  is  said  to  be  of  the  second  person  ;  and,  when 
used  to  designate  a  person  or  thing  [merely]  spoken  of,  it  is  said  to  be  of  the  third  person." — Id. 
"Vice  stings  us,  even  in  our  pleasures;  but  virtue  consoles  us,  even  in  our  pains." — Day  cor. 
"  Vice  is  infamous,  though  in  a  prince ;  and  virtue,  honourable,  though  in  a  peasant." — Id. 
"Every  word  that  is  the  name  of  a  person  or  thing,  is  a  noun;  because,  'A  noun  is  the  name  cf 
any  person,  place,  or  thing.'  " — Bullions  cor. 

"  This  is  the  sword  with  which  he  did  the  deed; 
And  that,  the  shield  by  which  he  was  defended." — Bucke  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  II. — OF  SIMPLE  MEMBERS. 

"  A  deathlike  paleness  was  diffused  over  his  countenance ;  a  chilling  terror  convulsed  his  frame ; 
his  voice  burst  out  at  intervals  into  broken  accents." — Jerningham  cor.  "  The  Lacedemonians 
never  traded  ;  they  knew  no  luxury  ;  they  lived  in  houses  built  of  rough  materials  ;  they  ate  at 
public  tables  ;  fed  on  black  broth;  and  despised  every  thing  effeminate" or  luxurious." — Whelp- 
ley  cor.  "  Government  is  the  agent ;  society  is  the  principal." — Wayland  cor.  "  The  essentials 
of  speech  were  anciently  supposed  to  be  sufficiently  designated  by  the  Noun  and  the  Verb;  to 
which  was  subsequently  added  the  Conjunction." — 'Bullions  cor.  "  The  first  faint  gleamings  of 
thought  in  its  mind,  are  but  reflections  from  the  parents'  own  intellect ;  the  first  manifestations 
of  temperament,  are  from  the  contagious  parental  fountain ;  the  first  aspirations  of  soul,  are  but 
the  warmings  and  promptings  of  the  parental  spirit." — Jocelyncor.  "Older  and  oldest  refer  t:> 


and  such  as  may  be  easily  remembered." — Goldsbury  cor. 

"Gently  make  haste,  of  labour  not  afraid; 
A  hundred  times  consider  what  you've  said." — Dryden  cor. 
UNDER  RULE  III. — OF  APPOSITION,  &c. 


(1.)  "Adjectives  are  divided  [,  in  Frost's  Practical   Grammar,]  into  two  classes;  adjectives 
denoting  quality,  and  adjectives  denoting  number." — Frost  cor.    (2.)  "  There  are  [,  according  to 


four  parts  j  namely,  Orthography,  Etymology,  Syntax,  and  Prosody."— Lennie,  Bullions,  et  al. 
(14.)  "It  is  divided  into  four  parts;  viz.,  Orthography,  Etymology,  Syntax,  and  Prosody."-— 
Hendrickcor.  (15.)  "  Grammar  is  divided  into  four  parts  ;  viz.,  Orthography,  Etymology,  Syntax, 
and  Prosody."—  Chandler  cor.  (16.)  "  It  is  divided  into  four  parts;  Orthography,  Etymology, 
Syntax,  and  Prosody." — Cooper  and  Frost  cor.  (17.)  "English  Grammar  has  been  usually  di- 
vided into  four  parts  ;  viz.,  Orthography,  Etymology,  Syntax,  and  Prosody. "—Nutting  cor.  (18.) 
"  Temperance  leads  to  happiness ;  intemperance,  to  misery. "—lliley  and  Hart  cor.  (19, 20.)  "A 


CHAP.    I.]  KEY   TO    PROSODY. — PUNCTUATION. — THE    COLON.  991 

friend  exasperates  a  man's  virtues  ;  an  enemy,  his  crimes." — Ililey  cor. ;  also  Murray.  (21.) 
"  Many  writers  use  a  plural  noun  after  the  second  of  two  numeral  adjectives  ;  thus,  '  The  first 
and  second  pages  are  torn.'  " — BM&KMMO0r.  (22.)  "  Of  these,  [i.e.,  ;':ie  Latin  has  six  ; 

the  Greek,  five  ;  the  German,  four;  the  Saxon,  six  ;  the  French,  three;  &c." — Id, 
"  In  imj  it  ends,  when  doing  is  expressed ; 
In  d, '  t,  n,  when  suffering's  confessed." — Briyhtland  cor. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  CORRECTED. 

"  In  old  books,  i  is  often  used  for./;  v,  for  u  ;  vv,  for  ir  ;  and  //'  or  ij,  for  y." — JTart  cor.  "  The 
forming  of  letters  into  words  and  syllables,  is  also  called  Spelling." — Id.  "  Labials  are  formed 
chiefly  by  the  lips;  dentals,  by  the  teeth  ;  palatals,  by  the  palate;  gutturals,  by  the  throat; 
nasals,  by  the  nose ;  and  linguals,  by  the  tongue." — Id.  "  The  labials  are/?,  b,  f,  v  ;  the  dentals, 
t,  d,  s,  z  ;  the  palatals,  g  soft  and,/";  the  gutturals,  k,  q,  and  c  and  g  hard;  the  nasals,  m  and  n; 
and  the  linguals,  /  and  r." — Id.  "  Thus,  'The  man,  having  finished  his  letter,  will  carry  it  to  the 
post-off;< •>-•.'  " — Id.  "  Thus,  in  the  sentence,  '  He  had  a  dagger  concealed  under  his  cloak,'  con- 
•-sivc,  signifying  being  mncraled  ;  but,  in  the  former  combination,  it  goes  to  make  up 
a  form  the  force  of  which  is  active."— Id.  "Thus,  in  Latin,  '  He  had  concealed  the  dagger,' 
would  bo,  tPvgionem  abdidvrat  • '  but,  '//c  had  the  dagger  concealed,'  would  be,  'Pugionem 
addition  habcbai.'  " — Id.  "Here,  for  instance,  means,  'in  this  place;'  note,  'at  this  time;' 
&c." — /'/.  "  Here  when  both  declares  the  time  of  the  action,  and  so  is  an  adverb  ;  and  also  con- 
• :!ie  two  verbs,  and  so  resembles  a  conjunction." — Id.  "These  words  wire  all,  no  doubt, 
originally  other  parts  of  speech  ;  viz.,  verbs,  nouns,  and  adjectives." — /(/.  "  The  principal  parts 
of  a  sentence,  are  the  subject,  the  attribute,  and  the  object;  in  other  words,  the  nominative,  the 
verb,  and  the  objective." — Id.  "Thus,  the  adjective  is  connected  with  the  noun;  the  adverb, 
with  the  verb  or  adjective;  the  pronoun,  with  its  antecedent ;  Ac." — Id.  "Bcticecn  refers  to  two  ; 
among,  to  more  than  two." — Id.  "At  is  used  after  a  verb  of  rest ;  to,  after  a  verb  of  motion." — 
Id.  ''  Verbs  are  of  three  kinds;  Active,  Passive,  and  Neuter." — L.  Murray.  [Active]  "  Verbs 
are  divided  into  two  classes  ;  Transitive  and  Intransitive." — Hendrick  cor.  "  The  Parts  of  Speech, 
in  the  English  language,  are  nine  ;  viz.,  the  Article,  Noun,  Adjective,  Pronoun,  Verb,  Adverb, 
Preposition,  Interjection,  and  Conjunction." — Bullions  cor.  See  Ltnnic.  "Of  these,  the  Noun, 
Pronoun,  and  Verb,  are  declined  ;  the  rest  are  indeclinable." — Bullions,  Analyt.  and  Pract.  (Irani. 
p.  18.  "  The  first  expression  is  called  '  the  Active  form  ; '  the  second,  '  the  Passive  form.' " — 
Weld  cor. 

"  0,  'tis  a  godlike  privilege  to  save  ; 
And  he  that  scorns  it,  is  himself  a  slave." — Cowper  cor. 

SECTION  III.  — THE  COLON. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  I. — OP  ADDITIONAL  REMARKS. 

"O/*  is  a  preposition  :   it  expresses   the  relation  between  fear  and  Lord." — Bullions  cor. 
Wealth  and  poverty  are  both  temptations  to  man  :  that  tends  to  excite  pride ;  this,  discontent- 
jnt." — Id.  et  al.  cor.     "  Religion  raises  men  above  themselves;  irreligion  sinks  them  beneath 
e  brutes  :  this  binds  them  down  to  a  poor  pitiable  speck  of  perishable  earth  ;  that  opens  for  them 
prospect  to  the  skies." — Murray's  Key,  8vo,  p.  189.     "Love  not  idleness:  it  destroys  many." 
toll  «»•.     l%  Children,  obey  your  parents  :  'Honour  thy  father  and  mother,'  is  the  first  com- 
lanoment  with  promise." — Bullions  cor.     "  Thou  art  my  hiding-place  and  my  shield  :  I  hope  iu 
•>  cxix,  114.     "  The  sun  shall  not  smite  thcc  by  day,  nor  the  moon  by  ni^ht. 
he  Lord  shall  preserve  thee  from  all  evil :  he  shall  preserve  thy  soul.'" — Psalm   cxxi,  6.     "  Here 
nod  the  highest  place  in  the  class  of  objects  among  which  she  ia  numbered — the 
^•'.Uous  of  antiquity  :  she  is  one  of  them." — Bullions,  E.  Gram.  p.  114. 
"  From  short  (as  usual)  and  disturb'd  repose, 
I  wake  :  how  happy  they  who  wake  no  more  !" — Young,  N.  T.,  p.  3. 

UNDER  RULE  II.— OF  GREATER  PAUSES. 

"  A  taste  of&  thing,  implies  actual  enjoyment  of  it;  but  a  taste  for  it,  implies  only  capacity  for 
ijoymrnt .  'as  '  When  we  have  had  a  true  taste  of  the  pleasures  of  virtue,  we  can  have  no  relish 
ic  of  vice.'  " — Bullions  cor.     "The  Indicative  mood  simply  declares  a  thing:  as,  'He 
I;'   '  lie  /.»  loved  : '  or  it  asks  a  question  ;  as,  '  Latest  thou  me  ? '  " — Id.  and  Lcnn'ic  cor. ;  also 
.     "  The  Imperfect  (or  Past)  tense  represents  an  action  or  event  indefinitely  as  past ;  as, 
/.•„<..-,  and  nqii'Tt-d:'  or  it  represents  the  action  dcfiniU-ly  as  unfinished  and 

•.'me  now  entirely  put ;  ///</  home  when  I  met  him.'  " 

S>me  nouns  have  no  plural ;  as,  //.,  m  :  others  have  no  singular  ; 

,  ashes,  shears,  tongs:  others  arc  alike  in  both  numbers  ;  as,  sheep,  deer,  means,  7  /  cor. 

The  same  verb  may  be  transitive  in  one  sense,  and  intransitive  in  an  other:  thus,  in  the  scn- 
rnce,  '  He  believes  my  story,'  believes  is  transitive;  but,  in  this  phrase,  '  Hi-  believes  in  C/od,'  it 
intransitive." — liutli-r  cor.     "  Let  the  divisions  be  distinct :  one  part  should  not  include  an 
•ii  should  have  its  proper  place,  and  be  of  importance  in  that  place  ;  and  all  the  parts, 
well  fitti-d  together  and  united,  should  present  a  perfect  whole.'' — Goldsbttry  cor.     "In  the  use 
of  the  transitive  verb,  there  arc  al  -  uings   implied  ;    the  actor,  the  aft,  and  the  object 

acted  upon  :  in  the  use  of  the  intransitive,  there  are  only  ttco ;  the  subject,  or  the  thing  spoken  of, 
and  the  state  or  action  attributed  to  it." — Bullions 

"  "Why  labours  reason  ?•  instinct  were  as  well; 
Instinct,  far  better:  what  can  choose,  can  err." — Young,  vii,622. 

UNDKR  RULE  III. — OF  INDEPENDENT  QUOTATIONS. 

"  The  sentence  may  run  thus  :  '  lie  is  related  to  the  same  person,  and  is  governed  by  him.'  "— 
.ya'reineiuber  this  ancient  proverb:    'Know  thy»clf."  "— llullo^k  ec/r.    "Con- 


992  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO   PROSODY.  [PART    IT. 

sider  this  sentence:  'The  boy  runs  swiftly.'  " — Frazee  cor.  "The  comparative  is  used  thus: 
*  Greece  was  more  polished  than  any  other  nation  of  antiquity.'  The  same  idea  is  expressed  by 
the  superlative,  when  the  word  other  is  left  out :  thus,  '  Greece  was  the  most  polished  nation  of 
antiquity.'  " — Bullions  and  Lennie  cor.  "  Burke,  in  his  speech  on  the  Carnatic  war,  makes  the 
following  allusion  to  the  well  known  fable  of  Cadmus  sowing  dragon's  teeth  : — '  Every  day  you 
are  fatigued  and  disgusted  with  this  cant :  'The  Carnatic  is  a  country  that  will  soon  recover,  and 
become  instantly  as  prosperous  as  ever.'  They  think  they  are  talking  to  innocents,  who  believe 
that  by  the  sowing  of  dragon's  teeth,  men  may  come  up  ready  grown  and  ready  made.'  " — Hiley 
and  Hart  cor. 

"For  sects  he  car'd  not:   '  They  are  not  of  us, 

Nor  need  we,  brethren,  their  concerns  discuss.'  " — Crabbe  cor. 
"  Habit,  with  him,  was  all  the  test  of  truth  : 
'  It  must  be  right ;  I've  done  it  from  my  youth.' 
Questions  he  answer'd  in  as  brief  a  way  : 
'It  must  be  wrong  ;  it  was  of  yesterday.'  " — Id. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  CORRECTED. 

"  This  would  seem  to  say,  '  I  doubt  nothing,  save  one  thing  ;  namely,  that  he  will  fulfill  his 
promise:'  whereas  that  is  the  very  thing  not  doubted." — Bullions  cor.  "The  common  use  of 
language  requires,  that  a  distinction  be  made  between  morals  and  manners  :  the  former  depend 
upon  internal  dispositions  ;  the  latter,  upon  outward  and  visible  accomplishments." — Beattie  cor. 

Though  I  detest  war  in  each  particular  fibre  of  my  heart,  yet   I  honour  the  heroes  among  our 


like  one,  may  have  it  understood  :  thus,  speaking  of  books,  I  may  select  one,  and  say,  '  Give  me 
that  ; '  but  not,  '  Give  me  the ; ' — [so  I  may  say,]  '  Give  me  one  ;  '  but  not,  '  Give  me  a.'  " — Bullions 
cor.  "The  Present  tense  has  three  distinct  forms  :  the  simple;  as,  I  read:  the  emphatic ;  as,  I 
do  read:  and  the  progressive ;  as,  I  am  reading."  Or  thus:  "The  Present  tense  has  three  dis- 
tinct forms ; — the  simple;  as,  'I  read;' — the  emphatic  ;  as,  '  I  do  read;' — and  the  progressive; 
as,  '  I  am  reading.'  " — Id.  "  The  tenses  in  English  are  usually  reckoned  six;  the  Present,  the 
Imperfect,  the  Perfect,  the  Pluperfect,  the  First-future,  and  the  Second-future" — Id.  "There 
are  three  participles;  the  Present 'or  Active,  the  Perfect  or  Passive,  and  the  Compound  perfect  : 
as,  loving,  loved,  having  loved."  Or,  better  :  "  There  are  three  participles  from  each  verb  ;  namely, 
the  Imperfect,  the  Perfect,  and  the  Preperfect :  as,  turning,  turned,  having  turned." — Murray  et 
al.  cor.  "  The  participles  are  three ;  the  Present,  the  Perfect,  and  the  Compound  Perfect :  as, 
loving,  loved,  having  loved."  Better  :  "  The  participles  of  each  verb  are  three;  the  Imperfect,  the 
Perfect,  and  the  Preperfect:  as,  turning,  turned,  having  turned." — Hart  cor.  "  Will  is  conjugated 
regularly,  when  it  is  a  principal  verb:  as,  present,  I  will ;  past,  I  willed;  &c." — Frazee  cor.  "  And 
both  sounds  of  x  are  compound  :  one  is  that  of  gz,  and  the  other,  that  of  ks." — Id.  "  The  man  is 
happy  ;  he  is  benevolent ;  he  is  useful." — Mur.  28  :  Cooper  cor.  "  The  Pronoun  stands  in 
stead  of  the  noun  :  as,  '  The  man  is  happy  ;  he  is  benevolent ;  he  is  useful.'  "—Murray  cor.  "A 
Pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  stead  of  a  noun,  to  prevent  too  frequent  a  repetition  of  it:  as,  '  The 
man  is  happy  ;  he  is  benevolent ;  he  is  useful.'  " — Id.  "A  Pronoun  is  a  word  used  in  the  room  of 
a  noun,  or  as  a  substitute  for  one  or  more  words  :  as,  '  The  man  is  happy  ;  he  is  benevolent ;  he  is 
useful.'  " — Cooper  cor.  "  A  common  noun  is  the  name  of  a  sort,  kind,  or  class,  of  beings  or 
things;  as,  Animal,  tree,  insect,  fish,  fowl" — Id.  "Nouns  have  three  persons;  the  first,  the 
second,  and  the  third." — Id. 

"So  saying,  her  rash  hand  in  evil  hour 

Forth  reaching  to  the  fruit,  she  pluck'd,  she  eat  : 

Earth  felt  the  wound  ;   and  Nature  from  her  seat, 

Sighing  through  all  her  works,  gave  signs  of  woe, 

That  all  was  lost."— MILTON,  P.  L.,  Book  ix,  1.  780. 

SECTION  IV.  —  THE  PERIOD. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  I. — OF  DISTINCT  SENTENCES. 

"  The  third  person  is  the  position  of  a  word  by  which  an  object  is  merely  spoken  of;  as,  '  Paul 
and  Silas  were  imprisoned.' — '  The  earth  thirsts.' — '  The  sun  shines.'  " — Frazee  cor. 

"Two,  and  three,  and  four,  make  nine.  If  he  were  here,  he  would  assist  his  father  and  mother  ; 
for  he  is  a  dutiful  son.  They  live  together,  and  are  happy,  because  they  enjoy  each  other's 
society.  They  went  to  Roxbury,  and  tarried  all  night,  and  came  back  the  next  day." — Golds- 
bury  cor. 

"  We  often  resolve,  but  seldom  perform.    She  is  wiser  than  her  sister.   Though  he  is  often  advised, 
yet  he  does  not  reform.     Reproof  either  softens  or  hardens  its  object.      He  is  as  old  as  his  class- 
mates, but  not  so  learned.     Neither  prosperity,  nor  adversity,  has  improved  him.     Let  him  that 
standeth,  take  heed  lest  he  fall.     He  can  acquire  no  virtue,  unless  he  make  some  sacrifices." — Id. 
"Down  from  his  neck,  with  blazing  gems  array'd, 
Thy  image,  lovely  Anna  !  hung  portray'd  ; 
Th'  unconscious  figure  smiling  all  serene, 
Suspended  in  a  golden  chain  was  seen." — Falconer. 

UNDER  RULE  II.— OP  ALLIED  SENTENCES. 

"  This  life  is  a  mere  prelude  to  an  other  which  has  no  limits.  It  is  a  little  portion  of  duration. 
As  death  leaves  us,  so  the  day  of  judgement  will  find  us." — Merchant  cor. 

"  He  went  from  Boston  to  New  York. — He  went  (I  say)  from  Boston  ;  he  went  to  New  York. 
In  walking  across  the  floor,  he  stumbled  over  a  chair." — Goldsbury  corrected. 


CHAP.    I.]  KEY   TO   PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. THE   DASH.  993 

"  I  saw  him  on  the  spot,  going  along  the  road,  looking  towards  the  house.  During  the  heat  of 
the  day,  he  sat  on  the  ground,  under  the  shade  of  a  tree." — Goldsbury  corrected. 

"  '  George  came  home  ;  I  saw  him  yesterday."  Here  the  word  him  can  extend  only  to  the  indi- 
vidual George." — Barrett  corn'/txl. 

"  Commas  are  often  used  now,  where  parentheses  were  [adopted]  formerly.    I  cannot,  however, 
esteem  this  an  improvement." — Buckets  Classical  Grammar,  p.  20. 
"  Thou,  like  a  sleeping,  faithless  sentinel, 
Didst  let  them  pass  unnotic'd,  unimprov'd. 
And  know,  for  that  thou  slumberst  on  the  guard, 
Thou  shalt  be  made  to  answer  at  the  bar 
For  every  fugitive." — COTTON  :  Hallock  and  Enfield  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  III.— OF  ABBREVIATIONS. 

"  The  term  pronoun  (Lat.  pronomen)  strictly  means  a  word  used  for,  or  in  stead  of,  a  noun." — 
Bullions  corrected. 

"  The  period  is  also  used  after  abbreviations  ;  as,  A.  D.,  P.  S.,  G.  "W.  Johnson." — Butler  cor. 

"On  this  principle  of  classification,  the  later  Greek  grammarians  divided  words  into  eight 
classes,  or  parts  of  speech  :  viz.,  the  Article,  Noun,  Pronoun,  Verb,  Participle,  Adverb,  Preposi- 
tion, and  Conjunction." — Bullions  cor. 

'Metre  [Melody]  is  not  confined  to  verse  :  there  is  a  tune  in  all  good  prose;  and  Shakspeare's 


was  a  sweet  one.' — Epea  Pter.,  ii,  61.  [First  American  Ed.,  ii,  53.]  Mr.  H.  Tooke's  idea  was  prob- 
ably just,  agreeing  with  Aristotle's;  but  [,if  so,  it  is]  not  accurately  expressed." — Churchill  cor. 
''  Mr.  J.  H.  Tooke  was  educated  at  Eton  and  at  Cambridge,  in  which  latter  college  he  took  the 
degree  of  A.  M.  Being  intended  for  the  established  church  of  England,  he  entered  into  holy 
orders  when  j'ounc? ;  and  obtained  the  living  of  Brentford,  near  London,  which  he.  held  ten  or 
twelve  years." — Tooke's  Annotator  cor. 

"  I,  nor  your  plan,  nor  book  condemn  ; 
But  why  your  name  ?  and  why  A.  M.  ? " — Lloyd  cor. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  CORRECTED. 

"  If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot  from  the  sabbath,"  &c.— Isaiah,  Iviii,  13.  "  He  that  hath  eeris  of 
herynge,  here  he." — WICKLIFI  i: :  M  iff.  xi,  15.  "  See  General  Rules  for  Spelling,  iii,  v,  and  vii." 
— Butler  cor.  "  False  witnesses  did  rise  up." — Ps.  xxxv,  11. 

"An  explicative  sentence  is  used  for  explaining ;  an  interrogative  sentence,  for  inquiring  ;  an 
imperative  sentence,  for  commanding." — Barrett  cor.  "  In  October,  corn  is  gathered  in  the  field 
by  men,  who  go  from  hill  to  hill  with  baskets,  into  which  they  put  the  ears. — Susan  labours  with 
her  needle  for  a  livelihood. — Notwithstanding  his  poverty,  he'is  a  man  of  integrity." — Golds,  cor. 

"A  word  of  one  syllable  is  called  a  monosyllable;  a  word  of  two  syllables,  a  dissyllable;  a  word 
of  three  syllables,  a  trissyllable  ;  a  worl  of  four  or  more  syllables,  a'polysyllable." — Frazee  cor. 

"  If  I  say,  '//'  it  did  not  rain,  I  would  take  a  walk ; '  I  convey  the  idea  that  it  does  rain  at  the 
time  of  speaking.  'If  it  rained,'  or,  'Did  it  rain,'  in  [reference  to]  the  present  time,  implies  thai 
it  does  not  rain.  'If  it  did  not  rain,' or,  '  Did  it  not  rain,'  in  [reference  to  the]  present  time,  implies 
that  it  does  rain.  Thus,  in  this  peculiar  application,  an  affirmative  sentence  always  implies  a 
negation  ;  and  a  negative  sentence,  an  affirmation." — Id.  "  'If  I  were  loved,'  and,  '  Were  I  loved;  ' 
imply  I  am  not  loved  ;  'If  I  tcere  not  loved,'  and,  '  Were  I  not  Cloved,'  imply  I  am  loved.  A  negative 
sentence  implies  an  affirmation,  and  an  affirmative  sentence  implies  a  negation,  in  these  forms  of 
the  subjunctive." — Id. 

"  What  is  Rule  III  ?  "—Hart  cor.     "  How  is  Rule  III  violated  ?  "— Id.      "  How  do  you  parse 
letter  in  the  sentence,  '  James  writes  a  letter  ? '     Ans.  Letter  is  a  common  noun,  of  the  third  per- 
son, singular  number,  neuter  gender,  and  objective  case;  and  is  governed  by  the  verb  writes,  ac- 
cording to  Rule  III,  which  says,  'A  transitive  verb  governs  the  objective  case.'  " — Id. 
"  Creation  sleeps.     'Tis  as  the  gen'ral  pulse 
Of  life  stood  still,  and  nature  made  a  pause ; 
An  awful  pause  !  prophetic  of  her  end. 
And  let  her  prophecy  be  soon  fulfill'd  : 
Fate,  drop  the  curtain ;  I  can  lose  no  more." — Young. 

SECTION  V.  — THE  DASH. 

CORRECTIONS  UM>I:H  Rn.i:  I. — OF  ABRUPT  PAUSES. 

"  And  there  is  something  in  vour  very  strange  story,  that  resembles — Does  Mr.  Bevil  know 
your  history  particularly  ?  " — llnn/h'a  NMO&r,  p.  149.  "  Sir, — Mr.  Myrtle — Gentlemen — You  are 
friends — I  am  but  :i  servant — But — "—lh.  p.  118. 

"An  other  man  now  would  have  given  plump  into  this  foolish  story  ;  but  I — No,  no,  your 
humble  servant  for  that." — GAUK:  \<>(hin</. 

"  Do  not  plunge  thyself  too  t'.ir  in  an^er,  lest  thou  hasten  thy  trial;  which  if — Lord  have  mercy 
on  thee  for  a  hen  !  "-SH  \KM-K\Kr..  .l/'.v  II 

"  But  ere  they  came, — O,  let  me  say  no  more ! 

acr  the  sequel  by  that  went  before." — IDEM,  Com.  of  Errors. 

:;    Ki  l.i.    II— Or    K.Ml'HATIC  PAUSES. 

".V, — Malvolio;   — M, — why,   that  begins  my  name." — SINOER'S  SHAK.,  Twelfth  Night. 
"Thus,  by  the  creative  influe'nce  of  the  Eternal  Spirit,  were  the  heavens  and  the  earth  finished 
in   the  space  of  six  days — so  admirably  finished — an  unformed  chaos  changed  into  a  system  of 


994  GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. KEY   TO   PROSODY.  [PART    IV. 

perfect  order  and  beauty — that  the  adorable  Architect  himself  pronounced  it  very  good,  and  all 
the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy." — Historical  Reader,  p.  10. 

"  If  I  were  an  American,  as  I  am  an  Englishman,  while  a  foreign  troop  remained  in  my  coun- 
try, I  never  would  lay  down  my  arms — never,  never,  never." — Pitt's  Speech. 
"Madam,  yourself  are  not  exempt  in  this, — 
Nor  your  son  Dorset ; — Buckingham,  nor  you." — SHAK. 

UNDER  RULE  III.— OF  FAULTY  DASHES. 

"  '  You  shall  go  home  directly,  Le  Fevre,'  said  my  uncle  Toby,  '  to  my  house ;  and  we'll  send 
for  a  doctor  to  see  what's  the  matter ;  and  we'll  have  an  apothecary  ;  and  the  corporal  shall  be 
your  nurse :  and  I'll  be  your  servant,  Le  Fevre.'  " — Sterne  cor. 

"  He  continued :  '  Inferior  artists  may  be  at  a  stand,  because  they  want  materials.'" — Harris 
cor.  "  Thus,  then,  continued  he :  '  The  end,  in  other  arts,  is  ever  distant  and  removed.'  " — Id. 

"The  nouns  must  be  coupled  with  and;  and  when  a  pronoun  is  used,  it  must  be  plural, 
as  in  the  example.     When  the  nouns  are  disjoined,  the  pronoun  must  be  singular." — Lenniecor. 
"Opinion  is  a  common  noun,  or  substantive,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  neuter  gen- 
der, and  nominative  case." — Wright  cor. 

"  The  mountain,  thy  pall  and  thy  prison,  may  keep  thee  ; 
I  shall  see  thee  no  more,  but  till  death  I  will  weep  thee." — 

See  Felton's  Gram.  p.  93. 
MIXED  EXAMPLES  CORRECTED. 

"  If  to  accommodate  man  and  beast,  heaven  and  earth — if  this  be  beyond  me,  'tis  not  possi- 
ble.— What  consequence  then  follows  ?  Or  can  there  be  any  other  than  this  ? — if  I  seek  an  inter- 
est of  my  own,  detached  from  that  of  others,  I  seek  an  interest  which  is  chimerical,  and  can 
never  have  existence." — Harris. 

"  Again :  I  must  have  food  and  clothing.  Without  a  proper  genial  warmth,  I  instantly  perish. 
Am  I  not  related,  in  this  view,  to  the  very  earth  itself? — to  the  distant  sun,  from  whose  beams 
I  derive  vigour  ?" — Id. 

"Nature  instantly  ebbed  again;  the  film  returned  to  its  place;  the  pulse  fluttered — stopped 
— went  on — throbbed — stopped  again — moved — stopped. — Shall  I  go  on  ?  — No." — Sterne  cor. 

"Write  ten  nouns  of  the  masculine  gender; — ten  of  the  feminine; — ten  of  the  neuter; — 
ten  indefinite  in  gender." — Davis  cor. 

"  The  infinitive  mood  has  two  tenses  ;  the  indicative,  six ;  the  potential,  four;  the  subjunctive, 
two ;  and  the  imperative,  one." — Frazee  cor.  "  Now  notice  the  following  sentences  :  '  John  runs.' 
— '  Boys  run.' — '  Thou  runnest.'  " — Id. 

"The  Pronoun  sometimes  stands  for  a  name ;  sometimes,  for  an  adjective,  a  sentence,  or  a 
part  of  a  sentence  ;  and,  sometimes,  for  a  whole  series  of  propositions." — Peirce  cor. 
"  The  self-applauding  bird,  the  peacock,  see  ; 
Mark  what  a  sumptuous  pharisee  is  he  !" — Cowper  cor. 

SECTION  VI.  —  THE  EROTEME. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  RULE  I. — Or  QUESTIONS  DIRECT. 

"  When  will  his  ear  delight  in  the  sound  of  arms  ?  When  shall  I,  like  Oscar,  travel  in  the  light 
of  my  steel?" — Ossian,  Vol.  i,  p.  357.  "  Will  Henry  call  on  me,  while  he  shall  be  journeying 
south  ? " — Peirce  cor. 

"An  Interrogative  Pronoun  is  one  that  is  used  in  asking  a  question  ;  as,  '  Who  is  he  ?  and 
what  does  he  want  ? '  " — Day  cor.  "Who  is  generally  used  when  we  would  inquire  about  some 
unknown  person  or  persons  ;  as,  « Who  is  that  man  ? '  " — Id.  "Your  fathers,  where  are  they? 
and  the  prophets,  do  they  live  forever  ?  " — Zech.  i,  5. 

"  It  is  true,  that  some  of  pur  best  writers  have  used  than  whom ;  but  it  is  also  true,  that  they 
have  used  other  phrases  which  we  have  rejected  as  ungrammatical :  then  why  not  reject  this  too  ? 
— The  sentences  in  the  exercises,  with  than  who,  are  correct  as  they  stand." — Lennie  cor. 

"  When  the  perfect  participle  of  an  active  intransitive  verb  is  annexed  to  the  neuter  verb  to 
be,  what  does  the  combination  form  ?  " — Hallock  cor.  "  Those  adverbs  which  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion where?  whither?  or  whence?  are  called  adverbs  of  place." — Id.  "Canst  thou  by  searching 
find  out  God  ?  canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  unto  perfection  ?  It  is  as  high  as  heaven  ;  what 
canst  thou  do?  deeper  thaa  hell;  what  canst  thou  know  ?"— SCOTT,  ALGER,  BRUCE,  AND 
OTHERS  :  Job,  xi,  7  and  8. 

"  Where,  where,  for  shelter  shall  the  guilty  fly, 
When  consternation  turns  the  good  man  pale  ? " — Young. 

UNDER  RULE  II. — OF  QUESTIONS  UNITED. 

"  Who  knows  what  resources  are  in  store,  and  what  the  power  of  God  may  do  for  thee  ?  " — 
STERNE  :  Enfield's  Speaker,  p.  307. 

'  'God  is  not  a  man,  that  he  should  lie  ;  neither  the  son  of  man,  that  he  should  repent :  hath 
he  said,  and  shall  he  not  do  it  ?  or  hath  he  spoken,  and  shall  he  not  make  it  good  ?  " — SCOTT'S 
BIBLE,  ALGER'S,  FRIENDS',  BRUCE'S,  AND  OTHERS  :  Numb,  xxiii,  19.  "  Hath  the  Lord  said  it, 
and  shall  he  not  do  it  ?  hath  he  spoken  it,  and  shall  he  not  make  it  good  ?  "—Lennie  and  Bul- 
lions cor. 

"Who  calls  the  council,  states  the  certain  day, 
Who  forms  the  phalanx,  and  who  points  the  way  ? " — Pope's  Essay. 

UNDER  RULE  III. — Or  QUESTIONS  INDIRECT. 

"  To  be,  or  not  to  be  ;— that  is  the  question."— Shak.  et  al.  cor.  "  If  it  be  asked,  why  a  pause 
should  any  more  be  necessary  to  emphasis  than  to  an  accent, — or  why  an  emphasis  alone  will  not 


CHAP.  I.]  KEY   TO    PROSODY. PUNCTUATION. — THE   ECPIIONEME.  995 

sufficiently  distinguish  the  members  of  sentences  from  each  other,  without  pauses,  as  accent  does 
words, — the  answer  is  obvious  :  that  we  are  preacquainted  with  the  sound  of  words,  and  cannot 
mistake  them  when  distinctly  pronounced,  however  rapidly  ;  but  we  are  not  preacquainted  with 
the  meaning  of  sentences,  which  must  be  pointed  out  to  us  by  the  reader  or  speaker." — Sheridan  cor. 
"  Cry,  '  By  your  priesthood,  tell  me  what  you  are.'  " — Pope  cor. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  CORRECTED. 

"  Who  else  can  he  be  ?" — Barrett  cor.  "  Where  else  can  he  go  ?  " — Id.  "In  familiar  lan- 
guage, here,  there,  and  where,  are  used  for  hither,  thither,  and  if  hither." — Butler  cor.  "  Take,  for 
instance,  this  sentence  :  '  Indolence  undermines  the  foundation  of  virtue.'  " — Hart  cor.  "  Take, 
for  instance,  the  sentence  before  quoted:  '  Indolence  undermines  the  foundation  of  virtue.'" — 
Id.  "  Under  the  same  head,  are  considered  such  sentences  as  these  :  'He  that  hath  ears  to  heart 
let  him  hear.' — 'Gad,  a  troop  shall  overcome  him.'  " — Id. 

"  Tenses  are  certain  modifications  of  the  verb,  which  point  out  the  distinctions  of  time." — Bul- 
lions cor.  "  Calm  was  the  day,  and  the  scene,  delightful." — Id.  See  Murray's  Exercises,  p.  5. 
"The  capital  letters  used  by  the  Romans  to  denote  numbers,  were  C,  I,  L,  V,  X  ;  which  are 
therefore  called  Numeral  Letters.  I  denotes  one ;  \,fce ;  X,  ten;  ~L,  fifty  •  and  C,  a  hundred." 
— Bullions  cor.  "  '  I  shall  have  written  ; '  viz.,  at  or  before  some  future*  time  or  event." — Id.  "  In 
Latin  words,  the  liquids  are  /  and  r  only  ;  in  Greek  words,  /,  r,  m,  and  n." — Id.  "  Each  legion, 
was  divided  into  ton  cohorts  ;  each  cohort,  into  three  maniples ;  and  each  maniple,  hito  two  cen- 
turies."— Id.  "  Of  the  Roman  literature  previous  to  A.  U.  514,  scarcely  a  vestige  remains." — Id. 
"And  that  which  He  delights  in,  must  be  happy. 

But  when  ?  or  where  ?    This  world  was  made  for  Caesar." — CATO. 
"  Look  next  on  greatness.     Say  where  greatness  lies. 
Where,  but  among  the  heroes  and  the  wise  ? " — Pope. 

SECTION  VII.  — THE  ECPHONEME. 

CORRECTIONS   UNDER   RULE   I. — OF   INTERJECTIONS,    &c. 

(1.)  "  0  !  that  he  were  wise !  "—Bullions cor.  (2.)  "  0  !  that  his  heart  were  tender  !  "— See  Mur- 
ray's Ex.  or  Key,  under  Rule  xix.  (3  and  4.)  "  Oh  !  what  a  sight  is  here  !  " — Bullions,  E.  Gram. 
p.  71;  ($  37;)  Prod.  Lei.  p.  82;  Analyt.  and  Pract.  Gram.  p.  111.  (5—9.)  "  O  Virtue !  howami- 
able  thou  art !  " — Farnnm's  Gram,  p.12 ;  Budl  ions' s  Analyt.  and  Pract.  Gram,  p  .111.  (10.)  "  Oh  ! 
that  I  had  been  more  diligent!  " — Hart  cor.;  and//ttey.  (11.)  "O  !  the  humiliation  to  which  vice 
reduces  us  !  " — Farnum  and  Mvr.  cor.  (12.)  "  O  !  that  he  were  more  prudent ! " — Farnum  cor. 
(13  and  14.)  "  Ah  me  !  "—Davis  cor. 

(15.)  "  Lately,  alas  !  I  knew  a  gentle  boy,"  &c.— Dial  cor. 
(16  and  17.)  "  Wo  is  me,  Alhama !  "—Byron's  Poems :  Wells  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  II.— OF  INVOCATIONS. 

"  Weep  on  the  rocks  of  roaring  winds,  O  maid  of  Inistore  !  " — Ossian.  "  Cease  a  little  while,  O 
wind  !  stream,  be  thou  silent  a  while  !  let  my  voice  be  heard  around.  Let  my  wanderer  hear 
me  !  Salc;ar  !  it  is  Colma  who  calls.  Here  is  the  tree,  and  the  rock.  Salgar,  my  love  !  I  am 
here.  Why  delayest  thou  thy  coming  ?  Lo  !  the  calm  moon  comes  forth.  The  flood  is  bright  in 
the  vale."— Id.  Vol.  i,  p.  369. 


"Ah,  stay  not,  stay  not !  guardless  and  alone : 
Hector  !  my  loy'd, 


my  loy'd,  my  dearest,  bravest  son  !" — Pope,  II.  xxii,  51. 
UNDER  RULE  III. — OF  EXCLAMATORY  QUESTIONS. 

"How  much  better  is  wisdom  than  gold  !  " — See  Murray's  Gram.  8vo,  p.  272.  "  0  Virtue! 
how  amiable  art  thou  !  " — See  Murray's  Grammar,  2d  Edition,  p.  95.  "  At  that  hour,  O  how 
vain  was  all  sublunary  happiness  !  " — Brown's  Institutes,  p.  117  ;  see  English  Reader,p.  135.  "Alas  ! 
how  few  and  transitory  are  the  joys  which  this  world  affords  to  man  !  " — Day  cor.  "  Oh !  how  vain 
and  transitory  are  all'things  here  below  !  " — Id. 

"And  O  !  what  change  of  state,  what  change  of  rank, 
In  that  assembly  everywhere  was  seen !  " — Pollok  cor. ;  also  Day. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  CORRECTED. 

"  O  Shame!  where  is  thy  blush  ? " — SJiak.*  "John,  give  me  my  hat." — Barrett  cor.  "  What! 
is  Moscow  in  flames  ?  " — Id.  "O  /  what  happiness  awaits  the  virtuous  !  " — Id. 

"A/i,  rrrlladay  .'  do  what  we  can  for  him,  said  Trim,  maintaining  his  point, — the  poor  soul  will 
die.u — Stente  or  Enjieldcor.;  also  Kir  A /mm. 

••  Will  John  return  to-morrow  ?" — Barrett  cor.  "Will  not  John  return  to-morrow?" — Id. 
"  John,  return  to-morrow." — Id.  "  Soldiers,  stand  firm." — Id.  "  If  mea,  which  means  my,  is  an 
adjective  in  Latin,  why  may  not  my  be  so  called  in  English  ?  and  if  my  is  an  adjective,  why  not 
Barrett's  f  "—Id. 

"  O  Absalom,  my  son  !  " — See  2  Sam.  xix,  4.  "  0  star-eyed  Science  !  whither  hast  thou  fled  ? " 
— J\  ii\'  «>r.  "  Why  do  you  tolerate  your  own  inconsistency,  by  calling  it  the  present  tense  ?" 
— Id.  "  Thus  the  declarative  mode  [i.  e.,  the  indicative  mood]  may  be  used  in  asking  a  question; 
as,  'ir/mt  man  is  frail  ?  '" — Id.  "  What  connexion  has  motive,  wish,  or  supposition,  with  the 
term  suh-unctii-e  /" — Id.  "A  grand  reason,  truly,  for  calling  it  a  golden  key!" — Id.  "What 
'  sit//',  ring  '  the  man  who  can  say  this,  must  be  enduring!  "—Id.  "  What  is  Brown's  Rule  in  re- 
lation to' this  matter  ?  " — Id. 

*  In  Singer's  Shakspeare,  Vol.  H,  p.  49">.  this  sentence  is  expressed  and  pointed  thus:  "0,  shame!  where  i* 
thy  blush  '  "  —  Hu»i-f.t.  Act  iii.  Sc.  4.  This  is  as  if  the  speaker  meant,  "  0  !  it  is  a  shame  !  where  is  thy  blush?' 
Such  is  not  the  sense  above  j  for  there  u6'Aame  "  la  the  person  addressed. 


996  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO   PROSODY.  [PART   IV. 

"  Alas  !  how  short  is  life !  " — Day  cor.     "  Thomas,  study  your  book." — Id.     "  Who  can  tell  us 
who  they  are?" — Sanborn  cor.      "Lord,  have  mercy  on  my  son;  for  he  is  lunatic,  and  sorely 
vexed." — See  Matt,  xvii,  15.     "  O  ye  wild  groves  !     O,  where  is  now  your  bloom  ?  " — Felton  cor. 
"  0  who  of  man  the  story  will  unfold  ?  " — Farnum  cor. 
"  Methought  I  heard  Horatio  say,  To-morrow. 

Go  to — I  will  not  hear  of  it — to-morrow  !  " — COLTON. 
"  How  his  eyes  languish  !  how  his  thoughts  adore 
That  painted  coat  which  Joseph  never  wore  !  " 

SECTION  VIII.  —  THE  CURVES. 

CORRECTIONS  UNDER  BULB  I. — OF  PARENTHESES. 

"Another  [,  better  written  as  a  phrase,  Another,"]  is  composed  of  the  indefinite  article  an,  (which 
etymologically  means  one,)  and  other ;  and  denotes  one  other." — Hallock  cor. 
"  Each  mood  has  its  peculiar  Tense,  Tenses,  or  Times." — Bucke  cor. 

*'  In  some  very  ancient  languages,  (as  the  Hebrew,)  which  have  been  employed  chiefly  for  ex- 
pressing plain  sentiments  in  the  plainest  manner,  without  aiming  at  any  elaborate  length  or  har- 
mony of  periods,  this  pronoun  [the  relative]  occurs  not  so  often." — Murray  cor. 

ft  Before  I  shall  say  those  things,  O  Conscript  Fathers  !  about  the  public  affairs,  which  are  to 
be  spoken  at  this  time ;  I  shall  lay  before  you,  in  few  words,  the  motives  of  the  journey  and  the 
return." — Brightland  cor. 

"  Of  well-chose  words  some  take  not  care  enough, 

And  think  they  should  be,  like  the  subject,  rough." — Id. 
"  Then,  having  showed  his  wounds,  he'd  sit  him  down." — Bullions  cor. 

UNDER  RULE  II.— OF  INCLUDED  POINTS. 

"  Then  Jael  smote  the  nail  into  his  temples,  and  fastened  it  into  the  ground:  (for  he  was  fast 
asleep,  and  weary  :)  so  he  died."— SCOTT'S  BIBLE  -.Judges,  iv,  21. 

«'  Every  thing  in  the  Iliad  has  manners,  (as  Aristotle  expresses  it,)  that  is,  every  thing  is  acted 
or  spoken." — Pope  cor. 

"Those  nouns  that  end  in/or_/e,  (except  some  few  ivhich  I  shall  mention  presently,)  form 
plurals  by  changing  those  letters 'in to  ves  :  as,  thief,  thieves;  wife,  wives." — Bucke  cor. 

"As  requires  as;  (expressing  equality  of  degree;)  thus,  '  Mine  is  as  good  as  yours.'  As  [re- 
quires] so;  (expressing  equality  or  proportion;)  thiis,  (As  the  stars,  so  shall  thy  seed  be.'  So 
[requires]  as ;  (with  a  negative  expressing  inequality ;)  as,  'He  is  not  so  wise  as  his  brother.' 
So  [requires]  that ;  (expressing  a  consequence  ;)  as,  '  I  am  so  weak  that  I  cannot  walk.'  "* — Bul- 
lions cor.  "A  captious  question,  sir,  (and  yours  is  one,) 

Deserves  an  answer  similar,  or  none." — Cowper  cor. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  CORRECTED. 

"  "Whatever  words  the  verb  TO  BE  serves  to  unite,  referring  to  the  same  thing,  must  be  of  the 
same  case  ;  (§  61 ;)  as,  'Alexander  is  a  student.'  " — Bullions  cor.  "  When  the  objective  is  a  rela- 
tive or  [an]  interrogative,  it  comes  before  the  verb  that  governs  it:  (§  40,  R.  9:)  Murray's  6th 
rule  is  unnecessary." — Id.  "  It  is  generally  improper,  except  in  poetry,  to  omit  the  antecedent 
to  a  relative  ;  and  always,  to  omit  a  relative,  when  of  the  nominative  case." — Id.  "  In  every  sen- 
tence, there  must  be  a  verb  and  a  nominative  or  subject,  expressed  or  understood." — Id.  "  Nouns 
and  pronouns,  and  especially  words  denoting  time,  are  often  governed  by  prepositions  under- 
stood ;  or  are  used  to  restrict  verbs  or  adjectives,  without  a  governing  word  :  (§  50,  Rem.  6  and 
Rule:)  as,  « He  gave  [to]  me  a  full  account  of  the  affair.' " — Id.  "When  should  is  used  in 
stead  of  ought,  to  express  present  duty,  ($  20,  4,)  it  may  be  followed  by  the  present;  as,  '  You 
should  study  that  you  may  become  learned.'  " — Id.  "  The  indicative  present  is  frequently  used 
after  the  words  when,  till,  before,  as  soon  as,  after,  to  express  the  relative  time  of  a  future  action  ; 
($  24,  I,  4  ;)  as,  '  When  he  comes,  he  will  be  welcome.'  " — Id.  "  The  relative  is  parsed  [,  accord- 
ing  to  Bullions,'}  by  stating  its  gender,  number,  case,  and  antecedent ;  (the  gender  and  number 
being  always  the  same  as  those  of  the  antecedent ;)  thus,  '  The  boy  who  ' — '  Who  '  is  a  relative 
pronoun,  masculine,  singular,  the  nominative;  and  refers  to  'boy'  as  its  antecedent." — Id. 
"  'Now,  now,  I  seize,  I  clasp  thy  charms  ; 

And  now  you  burst,  ah  cruel !  from  my  arms.' — Pope. 

Here  is  an  unnecessary  change  from  the  second  person  singular  to  the  second  person  plural. 
The  text  would  have  been  better,  thus  : — 

'  Now,  now,  I  seize,  I  clasp  your  charms ; 
And  now  you  burst,  ah  cruel !  from  my  arms.'  " — John  Burn  cor. 

See  Lowth's  Gram.  p.  35 ;  ChiirchiWs,  293. 

SECTION  IX.  — ALL  POINTS. 

MIXED  EXAMPLES  CORRECTED. 

"The  principal  stops  are  the  following  :  the  Comma  [,],  the  Semicolon  [;],  the  Colon  [:],  the 
Period,  or  Full  Stop  [.],  the  Note  of  Interrogation  [?],  the  Note  of  Exclamation  [!],  the  Paren- 

*  If,  in  each  of  these  sentences,  the  colon  were  substituted  for  the  latter  semicolon,  the  curves  might  well  le 

spared.   Lowth  has  a  similar  passage,  which  (bating  a  needful  variation  of  guillemots)  he  pointed  thus  :  '•'as ,  «.<;> 

expressing  a  comparison  of  equality  ;  '  as  white  a*  snow  : '  as ,  so  ;  expressing  a  comparison  sometimes  of  equal- 
ity ;  '  as  the  stars,  so  shall  thy  seed  be  ; '  that  is,  equal  in  number :  but.  "  &.c.—  L'>wth'ls  Gram.  p.  109.  Murray, 
who  broke  this  passage  into  paragraphs,  retained  ac  first  these  semicolons,  but  afterwards  changed  them  all  to 
colons.  Of  later  grammarians,  some  retain  the  former  colon  in  each  sentence;  some,  the  litter;  and  some, 
neither.  Hiley  points  thus :  "As  requires  as,  expressing  equality  ;  as,  '  He  is  as  good  as  she.'  " — Hilty's  E. 
Gram.  p.  107. 


CHAP.  I.]  KEY    TO    PROSODY.  —  BAD   ENGLISH   CORRECTED.  997 

thesis  [(  )],  and  the  Dash  [  —  ]."  —  Bullions  cor.  "  The  modern  punctuation  in  Latin  is  the  same 
as  in  English.  The  chief  marks  employed,  are  the  Comma  [,],  the  Semicolon  [;],  the  Colon  [:], 
the  Period  [.],  the  Note  of  Interrogation  [?],  the  Note  of  Exclamation  [!],  the  Parenthesis  [(  )],  and 
the  Dash  [—•]."—  I(l- 

"  Plato  reproving  a  young  man  for  playing  at  some  childish  game,  '  You  chide  me,'  says  the 
youth,  '  for  a  trifling  fault.'  '  Custom,'  replied  the  philosopher,  'is  no  trifle.'  'And,'  adds  Mon- 
taigne, '  he  was  in  the  right  ;  for  our  vices  begin  in  infancy.'  "  —  Home  cor. 

"A  merchant  at  sea  asked  the  skipper  what  death  his  father  died.  '  My  father,'  says  the  skip- 
per, 'my  grandfather,  and  my  great-grandfather,  were  all  drowned.'  'Well,'  replies  the  mer- 
chant, •  and  are  not  you  afraid  of  being  drowned  too  ?  '  "  —  Id. 

"  The  use  of  inverted  commas  derives  from  France,  where  one  Guillemet  was  the  author  of 
them  ;  [and,]  as  an  acknowledgement  for  the  improvement,  his  countrymen  call  them  after  his 
name,  GUILLEMETS."  —  Hist.  cor. 

"  This,  however,  is  seldom  if  ever  done,  unless  the  word  following  the  possessive  begins  with  *  : 
thus,  we  do  not  say,  '  the  prince'  feather;'  but,  '  the  prince's  feather.'  "  —  Bullions  cor.  "And  this 
phrase  must  mean,  '  the  feather  of  the  prince  ;  '  but  '  prince'  's-feather,'  written  as  one  word,  [and 
with  both  apostrophe  and  hyphen,]  is  the  name  of  a  plant,  a  species  of  amaranth."  —  G.  Broicn. 

"  Boethius  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of  obtaining  the  highest  honour  his  country  could  bestow." 
—  Inyersoll  cor.  ;  also  Murray. 

"When  an  example,  a  quotation,  or  a  speech,  is  introduced,  it  is  separated  from  the  rest  of 
the  sentence  either  by  a  comma  or  by  a.  colon  ;  as,  '  The  Scriptures  give  us  an  amiable  represen- 
tation of  the  Deity,  in  these  words  :  God  is  love.'  "  —  Hiley  cor.  "  Either  the  colon  or  the  <omma 
may  be  used,  [according  to  the  nature  of  the  case,]  when  an  example,  a  quotation,  or  a  speech, 
is  introduced  ;  as,  'Always  remember  this  ancient  maxim:  Know  thyself.'  —  'The  Scriptures 
give  us  an  amiable  representation  of  the  Deity,  in  these  words:  God  is  love.'  "  —  Bullions  cor. 

"  The  first  word  of  a  quotation  introduced  after  a  colon,  or  of  any  sentence  quoted  in  a  direct 
form,  must  begin  with  a  capital  :  as,  'Always  remember  this  ancient  maxim:  Knoio  thyself.'  — 
'  Our  great  lawgiver  says,  Take  up  thy  cross  daily,  and  follow  me.'  "  —  Bullions  and  Lennie  cor.  ; 
also  Murray  ;  also  Weld.  See  Luke,  ix,  23. 

"  Tell  me,  in  whose  house  do  you  live  ?  "—  N.  Butler  cor.  "  He  that  acts  wisely,  deserves 
praise."  —  Id.  "He  who  steals  my  purse,  steals  trash."  —  Id.  "The  antecedent  is  sometimes 
omitted;  as,  'Who  steals  my  purse,  steals  trash.'  —  [SAaA.]  That  is,  'lie  who,'  or,  '  The  person 


who.'  "  —  Id.  "  Thus,  '  Whoever  steals  my  purse,  steals  trash  ;  '  —  '  Whoever  does  no  good,  does 
harm.'  "  —  Id.  "  Thus,  '  Whoever  sins,  will  suffer.'  This  means,  that  any  one,  without  exception, 
who  sins,  will  suffer."  —  Id. 

"Letters  form  syllables;  syllables,  words  ;  words,  sentences;  and  sentences,  combined  and 
connected,  form  discourse."  —  Cooper  cor.  "A  letter  which  forms  a  perfect  sound  when  uttered 
by  itself,  is  called  a  vowel  ;  as,  a,  e,  «'."  —  Id.  "A  proper  noun  is  the  name  of  an  individual,  [or 
of  a  particular  people  or  place]  ;  as,  John,  Boston,  Hudson,  America."  —  Id. 

"  Many  men  have  been  capable  of  doing  a  wise  thing  ;  more,  a  cunning  thing  ;  but  very  few,  a 
generous  thing."  —  Davis  cor.  "In  the  place  of  an  ellipsis  of  the  verb,  a  comma  must  be  inserted." 
—  Id.  "A  common  noun  unlimited  by  an  article,  is  sometimes  understood  in  its  broadest  accep- 
tation :  thus,  '  Fishes  swim,'  is  understood  to  mean  all  fishes;  'Man  is  mortal,'  all  men."  —  Id. 

"  Thus,  those  sounds  formed  principally  by  the  throat,  are  called  gutturals  ;  those  formed  prin- 
cipally by  the  palate,  palatals  ;  those  formed  by  the  teeth,  dentals  ;  those  by  the  lips,  labials;  and 
those  by  the  nose,  nasals."  —  Dan's  cor. 

"Some  adjectives  are  compared  irregularly:  as,  Good,  better,  best  ;  Bad,  worse,  worst;  Little 
less,  least."  —  Felton  cor. 

"Under  the  fourth  head  of  grammar,  therefore,  four  topics  will  be  considered;  viz.,  PUNCTUA- 
TION, ORTHOEPY,  FIGURES,  and  VERSIFICATION."—  Hart  cor. 
"  Direct  her  onward  to  that  peaceful  shore, 
Where  peril,  pain,  and  death,  are  felt  no  more  !  "  —  Falconer  cor. 

GOOD    ENGLISH   RIGHTLY    POINTED. 
LESSON  I.—  UNDER  VARIOUS  RULES. 

"  Discoveries  of  such  a  character  are  sometimes  made  in  grammar  also  ;  and  such,  too,  ar« 
often  their  origin  and  their  end."  —  Bullions  cor. 

"  TRAVERSE,  [literally,  to  cross.}  To  deny  what  the  opposite  party  has  alleged.  To  traverse  an 
indictment,  or  the  like,  is  to  deny  it."  —  Id. 

"  The  Ordinal  numerals  denote  the  order,  or  succession,  in  which  any  number  of  persons  or 
things  are  mentioned  ;  as.Jirst,  second,  third,  fourth,  £c."  —  Ilifey  cor. 

"  Nouns  have  three  persons;  the  First,  the  Second,  and  the  Ihird.  The  First  person  is  that 
trhirh  dt'iiotcs  the  speaker;  the  Second  is  that  ichirh  denotes  the  person  or  thing  spoken  to;  the 
Third  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  (hint/  merely  spoken  of."  —  Hart  cor. 

"  Nouns  have  three  cases;  the  Nominative,  the  Possessive,  and  the  Objective.  The  relations 
indicated  by  the  cases  of  a  noun,  include  three  distinct  ideas;  viz.,  those  of  subject,  object,  and 
ownership.  —  Id. 

"  In  speaking  of  animals  that  are  of  inferior  size,  or  whose  sex  is  not  known  or  not  regarded, 
ire  often  treat  them  as  without  sex  :  thus,  we  say  of  a  cat,  'It  is  treacherous;  '  of  an  infant,  'It  is 
beautiful  ;  '  of  a  deer,  'It  was  killed.'  "—Id. 

"  When  THIS  aiul  THAT,  or  THKSK  <md  THOSE,  refer  to  a  preceding  sentence  ;  THIS  or  THESE  rep- 
resents the  latter  member  or  term,o«rf  THAT  or  THOSE,  the  former."  —  Churchill  cor.  ;  and  Lmcth. 

"  The  rearing  of  them  became  his  first  care  ;  their  fruit,  his  first  food;  and  the  marking  of  their 
kinds,  his  first  knowledge."  —  Butler  rar. 

"After  the  period  used  with  abbreviations,  we  should  employ  other  points,  if  the  construction 
demmds  them  :  thus,  after  '  Esq.,'  in  the  last  example,  there  should  be,  besides  the  period,  a 
comma."  —  Id. 


998  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO    PROSODY.  [PART   IV. 

"  In  the  plural,  the  verb  has  the  same  form  in  all  the  persons  ;  but  still  the  principle  in  Rem.  5. 
under  Rule  iii,  that  the  first  or  second  person  takes  precedence,  is  applicable  to  verbs,  in  pars- 
ing."—Id. 

"  Rex  and  Tyrannus  are  of  very  different  characters.  The  one  rules  his  people  by  laws  to  which 
they  consent ;  the  other,  by  his  absolute  will  and  power  :  that  government  is  called  freedom  ;  this, 
tyranny." — Murray  cor. 

"A  Noun  is  the  name  of  any  person,  place,  or  thing,  that  can  be  known  or  mentioned :  as, 
George,  London,  America,  goodness,  charity." — See  Brown's  Institutes,  p.  31. 

"Etymology  treats  of  the  classification  of  words,  their  various  modifications,  and  their  deriva- 
tion."— P.  E.  Day  cor. 

"  To  punctuate  correctly,  implies  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  meaning  of  words  and 
phrases,  as  well  as  with  all  their  corresponding  connexions." — W.  Day  cor. 

"All  objects  that  belong  to  neither  the  male  nor  the  female  kind,  are  said  to  be  of  the  neuter 
gender,  except  certain  things  personified." — Weld  cor.  twice. 

"  The  Analysis  of  the  Sounds  in  the  English  language,  presented  in  the  preceding  statements, 
is  sufficiently  exact  for  the  purpose  in  hand.      Those  who  wish  to  pursue  the  subject  further,  can 
consult  Dr.  Rush's  admirable  work,  'The  Philosophy  of  the  Human  Voice.'" — Fowler  cor.    "No- 
body confounds  the  name  of  w  or  y  with  the  sound  of  the  letter,  or  with  its  phonetic  import." — Id. 
OSiir  This  assertion  is  hardly  true.    Strange  as  such  a  blunder  is,  it  has  actually  occurred.    See,  in 
Orthography,  Obs.  5,  on  the  Classes  of  the  Letters,  at  p.  143. — G.  B.] 
"  Order  is  Heav'n's  first  law  ;  and,  this  confessed, 
Some  are,  and  must  be,  greater  than  the  rest." — Pope. 

LESSON  II.— UNDER  VARIOUS  RULES. 

"From  adjectives  of  one  syllable,  and  some  of  two,  the  comparative  is  formed  by  adding  r  or  et 
to  the  positive;  and  the  superlative,  by  adding  st  or  est :  as,  sweet,  sweeter,  sweetest;  able,  abler, 
ablest." — Bullions  cor.  « 

"From  monosyllables,  or  from  dissyllables  ending  with  a  vowel  or  the  accent,  the  comparative  is 
formed  by  adding  er  or  r  to  the  positive  ;  and  the  superlative,  by  adding  est  or  st :  as,  tall,  taller, 
tallest;  wise,  wiser,  wisest;  holy,  holier,  holiest;  complete,  completer,  completest." — Id. 

"  By  this  method,  the  confusion  and  unnecessary  labour  occasioned  by  studying  grammars,  in 
these  languages,  constructed  on  different  principles,  are  avoided  ;  the  study  of  one  is  rendered  a 
profitable  introduction  to  the  study  of  an  other ;  and  an  opportunity  is  furnished  to  the  inquiring 
student,  of  comparing  the  languages  in  their  grammatical  structure,  and  of  seeing  at  once  wherein 
they  agree,  and  wherein  they  differ." — Id. 

"No  larger  portion  should  be  assigned  for  each  recitation,  than  the  class  can  easily  master; 
and,  till  the  previous  lessons  are  well  learned,  a  new  portion  should  not  be  given  out." — Id.  "  The 
acquisitions  made  in  every  new  lesson,  should  be  riveted  and  secured  by  repeated  revisals." — Id. 

"  The  personal  pronouns  may  be  parsed  briefly  thus  :  'I  is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  firstperson, 
singular  number,  masculine  gender,  (feminine,  if  the  speaker  is  a  female,;  and  nominative  case.' 
'His  is  a  personal  pronoun,  of  the  third  person,  singular  number,  masculine  gender,  and  possessive 
case.' " — Id. 

"  When  the  male  and  the  female  are  expressed  by  distinct  terms,  as,  shepherd,  shepherdess,  the 
masculine  term  has  also  a  general  meaning,  expressing  both  male  and  female  ;  and  is  always  to 
be  used  when  the  office,  occupation,  or  profession,  and  not  the  sex,  of  the  individual,  is  chiefly 
to  be  expressed ;  the  feminine  term  being  used  only  when  the  discrimination  of  sex  is  indis- 
pensably necessary.  Thus,  when  it  is  said,  '  The  poets  of  this  country  are  distinguished  for 
correctness  of  taste,'  the  term  '  poets '  clearly  includes  both  male  and  female  writers  of  poetry." 
— Id. 

"  Nouns  and  pronouns  connected  by  conjunctions,  must  be  in  the  same  case." — Ingersoll  cor. 
"  Verbs  connected  by  and,  or,  or  nor,  must  generally  bein  the  same  mood  and  tense;  and,  when  the 
tense  has  different  forms,  they  must  be  in  the  same  torm." — Id. 

"  This  will  habituate  him  to  reflection  ;  exercise  his  judgement  on  the  meaning  of  the  author ; 
and,  without  any  great  effort  on  his  part,  impress  indelibly  on  his  memory  the  rules  which  he  is 
required  to  give.  After  the  exercises  under  any  rule  have  been  gone  through,  agreeably  to  the  di- 
rection in  the  note  at  the  bottom  of  page  88th,  they  may  be  read  over  again  in  a  corrected  state, 
the  pupil  making  an  emphasis  on  the  correction  made  ;  or  they  may  be  presented  in  writing,  at 
the  next  recitation." — Bullions  cor. 

"Man,  but  for  that,  no  action  could  attend ; 
And,  but  for  this,  were  active  to  no  end." — Pope. 

LESSON  III.— UNDER  VARIOUS  RULES. 

"  'Johnson,  the  bookseller  and  stationer,'  indicates  that  bookseller  and  stationer  are  terms  be- 
longing to  the  same  person  ;  'the  bookseller  and  the  stationer,'  would  indicate  that  they  belong 
to  different  persons." — Bullions  cor. 

f(Past  is  [commonly]  an  adjective;  passed,  the  past  tense  or  perfect  participle  of  the  verb: 
and  they  otight  not  (as  they  frequently  are)  to  be  confounded  with  each  other." — Id. 

"Not  only  the  nature  of  the  thoughts  and  sentiments,  but  the  very  selection  or  arrangement 
of  the  words,  gives  English  poetry  a  character  which  separates  it  widely  from  common  prose." 
— Id. 

"Men  of  sound,  discriminating,  and  philosophical  minds — men  prepared  for  the  work  by  long 
study,  patient  investigation,  and  extensive  acquirements — have  laboured  for  ages  to  improve  and 
perfect  it ;  and  nothing  is  hazarded  in  asserting,  that,  should  it  be  unwisely  abandoned,  it  will 
be  long  before  an  other,  equal  in  beauty,  st-ibility,  and  usefulness,  will  be  produced  in  its 
•tead." — Id.,  on  the  common  "  system  of  English  Grammar." 

"  The  article  the,  on  the  other  hand,  is  used  to  restrict ;  and  is  therefore  termed  Definite.      Its 


CHAP.    IV.]         KEY   TO    PROSODY. VERSIFICATION. ERRORS    CORRECTED.  999 

proper  office  is,  to  call  the  attention  to  a  particular  individual  or  class,  or  to  any  number  of  such  ; 
and  accordingly  it  is  used  with  nouns  of  either  number,  singular  or  plural." — Id. 

"  Hence,  also,  the  infinitive  mood,  a  participle  with  if*  adjuncts,  a  member  of  a  sentence,  or  a 
whole  proposition,  forming  the  subject  of  discourse,  or  the  object  of  a  verb  or  preposition,  and 
being  the  name  of  an  act  or  circumstance,  is,  in  construction,  regarded  as  a  noun  ;  and  is  usually 
called, 'a  substantive  phrase  :'  as,  'To  play,  is  pleasant.' — 'That  he  is  an  expert  dancer,  is  no  rec- 
ommendation.'— '  Let  your  motto  be,  Honesty  is  tin-  bc*t  policy.'  " — Id. 

"  In  accordance  with  his  definition,  Murray  has  divided  verbs  into  three  classes  ;  Active,  Pas- 
sice,  and  Neuter , — and  included  in  the  first  class  transitive  verbs  only;  and,  in  the  last,  all  verbs 
used  intransitively." — Id. 

"  Moreover,  as  the  name  of  the  speaker  or  that  of  the  person  spoken  to  is  seldom  expressed, 
(thewtWOMM  I  being  used  for  the  former,  and  THOU  or  You/or  the  latter,)  a  noun  is  very  rarely  in 
the  first  person ;  not  often  in  the  second ;  and  hardly  ever  in  either,  unless  it  is  a  proper  noun,  or 
a  common  noun  denoting  an  object  personified." — Id. 

"  In  using  the  parsing  exercises,  it  will  save  much  time,  (and  this  satiny  is  all-important,)  if  the 
pupil  be  taught  to  say  all  things  belonging  to  the  noun,  in  the  fewest  words  possible ;  and  to 
say  them  always  in  the  same  order,  after  the  example  above." — Id. 

"In  any  phrase  or  sentence,  the  adjectives  qualifying  a  noun  may  generally  be  found  by  pre- 
fixing the  phrase,  '  What  kind  of,'  to  the  noun,  in  the  form  of  a  question  ;  as,  '  What  kind  of 
horse  ? '  '  What  kind  of  stone  ?'  '  What  kind  of  way  ?'  The  word  containing  the  answer  to  the 
question,  is  an  adjective." — Id. 

"  In  the  following  exercise,  let  the  pupil  first  point  out  the  nouns,  and  then  the  adjectives; 
and  tell  how  he  knows  them  to  be  such." — Id. 

" In  the  following  sentences,  point  out  the  improper  ellipses;  show  why  they  are  improper; 
and  correct  them." — Id. 

"SINGULAR.  PLURAL. 

1.  1  am  smitten,  1.    We  are  smitten, 

2.  Thou  art  smitten,  2.    You  are  smitten, 

3.  He  is  smitten  ;  3.    They  are  smitten." — Wright  cor. 

CHAPTER  II.  — UTTERANCE. 

The  second  chapter  of  Prosody,  treating  of  articulation,  pronunciation,  elocution  and  the  minor 
topics  that  come  under  Utterance,  contains  no  exercises  demanding  correction  in  this  Key. 

CHAPTER  III.  — FIGURES. 

In  the  third  chapter  of  Prosody,  the  several  Figures  of  speech  are  explained ;  and,  as  the  illus- 
trations embrace  no  errors  for  correction,  nothing  here  corresponds  to  the  chapter,  but  the  title. 

CHAPTER  IV.  — VERSIFICATION. 

FALSE  PROSODY,  OR  ERRORS  OF  METRE,  CORRECTED. 

LESSON  I.— RHYTHM  RESTORED. 

"  "Where  thy  true  treasure  ?    Gold  says,  '  Not  in  me.'  " — Young. 
"  Canst  thou  grow  sad,  thou  say'st,  as  earth  grows  bright." — Dana. 
"  It  must  be  so ; — Plato,  thou  reason'st  well." — CATO  :  Enfold,  p.  321. 
"  Slow  rises  worth  by  poverty  depressed."—  Wells's  Gram.,  Late  Ed.,  p.  211. 
"  Rapt  into  future  times,  the  bard  begun." — POPE. — 76.  p.  165. 
"  Is  there  not  rain  enough  in  the  sweet  heavens 
To  wash  it  white  as  snow  ?     Whereto  serves  mercy 
But  to  confront  the  visage  of  offence  ?  "—Shak.,  Hamlet. 
"  Look !  in  this  place  ran  Cassius'  dagger  through."— Id.,  J.  Caesar. 
"  And  when  they  list,  their  lean  and  flashy  songs 

Grate  on  their  scrannel  pipes  of  wretched  straw." — Milton,  Lycidat. 
"  Did  not  great  Julius  bleed  far  justice'  sake  ?  " — Dodd  and  Shak.  cor. 

v  I  express  thee'  unblam'd  f  since  God  is  light."— Milton,  B.  iii,  1.  3. 
"  Or  hear'tt  thou  rather  pure  ethereal  stream  ? "— Id.  B.  iii,  1.  7. 
"  Republics,  kingdoms,  empires,  may  decay  ; 

dnnt  princes,  heroes,  sages,  sink  to  nought." — Peircc  or  La-Rue  cor. 
"  Thou  bringst,  gay  creature  as  thou  art, 

A  solemn*  image  to  my  heart." — Hnllock  cor. 
"  Know  then  thyself,  presume  not  God  to  scan  ; 

The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  Man." — Pope,  on  Man,  Ep.  ii,  1.  1. 
••  liaised  on  pilasters  hiyh  of  burnished  gold."— Dr.  S.  Butler  cor. 
"  Love  in  Adalyise'  breast  has  fixed  his  sting."— Id. 

"Thirty  days  each  harp  September,  I  Bating  February  alone, 

April,  June,  and  old  November;  Which  has  twenty-eight  in  fine, 

Each  of  the  rest  has  thirty-one,  Till  leap-year  gives  it  twenty-nine." 

—Dean  Colet  cor. 


1000  GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. — KEY   TO    PROSODY.  [PART  IV. 

LESSON  II.— RHYTHM  RESTORED. 

"  'Twas  not  the  fame  of  what  he  once  had  been, 
Or  tales  in  records  old  and  annals  seen." — Rowe  cor. 

"  And  Asia  now  and  Afric  are  explored 
For  high-priced  dainties  and  the  citron  board." — Rowe  cor. 

"Who  knows  not  how  the  trembling  judge  beheld 
The  peaceful  court  with  armed  legions  fill'd  ?  " — Rowe  cor. 

"  With  thee  the  Scythian  wilds  we'll  wander  o'er, 
With  thee  the  burning  Libyan  sands  explore." — Rowe  cor. 

"  Hasty  and  headlong,  different  paths  they  tread, 

As  impulse  blind  and  wild  distraction  lead." — Rowe  cor. 
"  But  Fate  reserv'd  him  to  perform  its  doom, 

And  be  the  minister  of  wrath  to  Rome." — Rowe  cor. 
"  Thus  spoke  the  youth.     When  Cato  thus  expressed 

The  sacred  counsels  of  his  inmost  breast." — Rowe  cor. 
"  These  were  the  rigid  manners  of  the  man, 

This  was  the  stvibborn  course  in  which  they  ran ; 

The  golden  mean  unchanging  to  pursue, 

Constant  to  keep  the  purposed  end  in  view." — Rowe  cor. 
11  What  greater  grief  can  on  a  Roman  seize, 

Than  to  be  forced  to  live  on  terms  like  these ! " — Rowe  cor. 
"  He  views  the  naked  town  with  joyful  eyes, 

While  from  his  rage  an  armed  people  flies." — Rowe  cor. 
"  For  planks  and  beams,  he  ravages  the  wood, 

And  the  tough  oak  extends  across  the  flood." — Rowe  cor. 
"A  narrow  pass  the  horned  mole  divides, 

Narrow  as  that  where  strong  Euripus*  tides 

Beat  on  Euboean  Chalcis'  rocky  sides." — Rowe  cor. 
"No  force,  no  fears  their  hands  unarmed  bear," — or, 
"  No  force,  no  fears  their  hands  unarm'd  now  bear, 

But  looks  of  peace  and  gentleness  they  wear." — Rowe  cor. 
"  The  ready  warriors  all  aboard  them  ride, 

And  wait  return  of  the  retiring  tide." — Rowe  cor. 
"  He  saw  those  troops  that  long  had  faithful  stood, 

Friends  to  his  cause,  and  enemies  to  good, 

Grown  weary  of  their  chief,  and  satiate  with  blood." — Rowe  cor. 

END  OF  THE  KEY, 


APPENDIX  I. 
TO  PART  FIRST,  OR  ORTHOGRAPHY. 

OF  THE  SOUNDS  OF  THE  LETTERS. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  Part  I,  the  powers  of  the  letters,  or  the  elementary  sounds  of  the 
English  language,  were  duly  enumerated  and  explained  ;  for  these,  as  well  as  the  letters 
themselves,  are  few,  and  may  be  fully  stated  in  few  words  :  but,  since  we  often  express  the 
same  sound  in  many  different  ways,  and  also,  in  some  instances,  give  to  the  same  letter 
several  different  sounds, — or,  it  may  be,  no  sound  at  all,— any  adequate  account  of  the 
powers  of  the  letters  considered  severally  according  to  usage, — that  is,  of  the  sound  or 
sounds  of  each  letter,  with  its  mute  positions,  as  these  occur  in  practice, — must,  it  was 
thought,  descend  to  a  minuteness  of  detail  not  desirable  in  the  first  chapter  of  Orthography. 
For  this  reason,  the  following  particulars  have  been  reserved  to  be  given  here  as  an  Ap- 
pendix, pertaining  to  the  First  Part  of  this  English  Grammar. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1.— A  proper  discrimination  of  the  different  vowel  sounds  by  the  epithets  most  commonly  used  for  this 
purpose,— such  as  long  and  short,  broad  and  slender,  open  and  close,  or  open  and  shut,— Is  made  difficult,   if  not 
impossible,  bv  reason  of  the  different,  and  sometimes  directly  contradictory  senses  in  which  certain  orthoeplsts 
have  employed  such  terms.    Wells  says,  "  Vowel  sounds  are  called  open  or  close,  according  to  the  relative  size 
Of  the  opening  through  which  the  voice  passes  In  forming  them.    Thus,  a  in  father,  and  o  In  nor,  are  culled  open 
Bounds,  because  they  are  formed  by  a  wide  opening  of  the  organs  of  speech  ;  while  e  In  me,  and  u  In  rule,  are 
called  doss  sounds,  because  the  organs  are  nearly  closed  In  uttering  them."— School  Grammar,  1850,  p,   32. 
Good  use  should  fix  the  import  of  words.    How  does  the  passage  here  cited  comport  with  this  hint  of  Pope  ? 
"  These,  equal  syllables  alone  require, 
Though  oft  the  ear  the  open  vowels  tire."— Essay  on  Criticism,  1.  344. 

OBS.  2.— Walker,  too.  In  his  Principles,  64  and  65,  on  page  19th  of  his  Critical  Pronouncing  Dictionary,  men- 
tions a  similar  distinction  of  vowels,  "  which  arises  from  the  different  apertures  of  the  mouth  in  forming  them  ;  " 
and  says,  "  We  accordingly  find  vowels  denominated  by  the  French,  ouoert  and  fermi  ;  by  the  Italians,  aperto 
and  c/iiitfo  ;  ami  l>y  the  English  [,]  open  and  shut.  But  whatever  propriety  there  may  be  in  the  use  of  these 
terms  in  other  languages,  it  is  certain  thev  must  tie  used  with  caution  in  English  for  fear  of  confounding  them 
•with  loin/  and  short.  Dr.  Johnson  and  other  grammarians  call  the  a  in  father  the  open  a:  which  may,  indeed, 
distinguish  it  from  the  slender  a  in  paper ;  but  not  from  the  broad  a  In  water,  which  is  still  more  open.  Each  of 
thc.-c  lett'-rs  ."tin-  seven  vowels]  has  a  short  sound,  which  may  be  called  a  shut  sound;  but  the  long  sounds  cannot 
be  so  properly  denominated  open  as  more  or  less&road ;  that  is,  the  a  in  paper,  the  slender  sound  ;  the  a  \njather, 
the,  broadish  or  middle  sound  ;  and  the  a  in  tcater,  the  broad  sound.  The  same  may  be  observed  of  the  o.  This 
letter  has  three  long  sounds,  heard  in  move,  note,  nor ;  which  graduate  from  slender  to  broadish,  ami  broad  [,] 
like  [tho>e  three  sound-;  of]  the  a.  The  i  also  in  mine  may  be  called  the  broad  i,  and  that  In  machine  the  slender 
t;  though  each  of  then  is  equally  long;  and  though  tin-so  vowels  that  are  long  [,]  may  be  said  to  be  more  or 
less  ojieit  according  to  the  different  apertures  of  the  mouth  in  torniinv  them,  vet  the  short  vowels  cannot  be  said 
to  be  more  or  lc>s  .<A///  ;  tor  as  short  alwavs  implies  shut  (except  in  verse,)  though  long  does  not  always  imply 
<•/.;..  \\  e  inu-t  l>e  caivi.il  not  to  confound  hunt  anil  open,  and  close  and  shut,  when  we  speak  of  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  the  vowels.  1  he  truth  ot  'it  is,  '  continues  he,  "  all  vowels  cither  terminate  a  syllabic,  or  are 
united  with  a  consonant.  In  the  tlrst  case,  it'  the  accent  be  on  the  syllable,  the  vowel  is  long,  though  it  may  not  bo 
•••.  here  a  syllable  is  terminated  by  a  consonant,  except  that  consonant  he  r,  whether 

the  accent  be  on  the  syllable  or  not,  the  vowel  has  its  slun-t  sound,  which,  compared  with  its  long  one.  m.iy  bo 
called  </<'//.  but  [,]  as  no  vowel  can  be  said  to  be  shut  that  is  not  joined  to  a  consonant,  alt  towels  that  end  sylla- 
bles may  be  said  to  be  open,  whether  the  accent  be  on  them  or  not."—  Crit.  /Von.  Diet.,  New  York,  18'.'7,  p.  19. 

OBS.  3.— Tl  us  of  Walker's,  though  each  in  itself  may  seem  clear  and  plausible,  arc,  undoubtedly, 

•  d  and  self-contradictory.     Open  and  shut  are  hero  inconsistently  referred  iir«t  to  one 

principle  of  distinction,  and  then  to  as  other;— Ant,  (MAM  "  open  and  close"  by  Wells.)  to  "the  relative  tize 
of  the  onenintr,"  or  to  ••  the  different  apertures  of  the  mouth;  v  and  then,  in  the  conclusion,  to  the  relative  po- 
•iM0«  of  the  rowels  with  n-s.ie.t  to  other  letters.  These  principles  Improperly  five  to  each  of  the  contrasted 
epithets  two  rery  different  senses  :  as,  with  respect  to  aperture,  inland  narrow;  with  reject  to  position, 
closii/  and  unclosed.  Now,  that  opeit  mav  moan  uncl».<t'<f.  or  dote  be  put  for  closed,  is  not  to  l.e  qoesttoMd; 
but  th.  .".I  word  for  in,!,-,  or  that  shut  (not  to  suv  close)  can  well  mean  inirrmr.  js  an  assumption 

hardlv  scholarlike.  According  to  Walker.  "  ire  innut  (>*  cun-ful  not  to  confound  "  »]"  u  with  l"ii>i.  or  shut  with 
fhi'i-t',  or  clatr  with  flint ;  and  vet.  if  he  himself  doe,  not,  in  the  verv  paragraph  above  quoted,  confound  them 
all,— does  not  identif-  in  -en»e.  or  tail  to  distinguish,  the  two  words  i;i  c.i.  h  oi  the-.'  pairs,— I  know  not  who  can 
need  his  "caution."  It' there  are  vowel  sounds  which  graduate  through  several  degrees  of  openness  or  broad- 
•  wo-ild  seem  ino.t  natural  to  cxpr.  •«>  these-  l.\  iv.-iilarlv  i  oinparini;  the  epithet  pn  fernd  ;  as.  open, opener, 
optneft ;  ot  broad,  broader,  broadett.  And  again,  If  "all  rowels  that  end  s\  iiaMi-s  mav  in- -aid  to  lie  open." 
then  it  i*  not  true,  that  "  the  lOBff  Sounds  "  Ol  .•r,it,i\  cannot  be  so  "denominated;"  orthat 

•  /.  may,  indeed,  distinguish  it  from  the  slender  a  in  paper."     Nor.  on  this   prin- 
ciple, can  it  tie  said  that   "  the  broad  a  in  v,//.r  is  still  in»r,  »/i,-n  ;  "   t,.r  this  n  no  more   "  ends  a  svilaMe  "    than 
the  others.     If  any  vowel  sound  is  to  lie  called  the  <>j-  ti  sound  tic-cause  the  letter  ends  a  syllable,  or  i-   n..t    -hat 
:!sonnnt,  it  is.  undoubtedly,  the  primal  and  molt  usual  sound,  as  found  in  the  letter  wh.  n  accented,   and 
not  some  other  of  ran-  n.  .  urn  in  ••. 

i      }>r.  ivrl-v  s.ivs.  ••  It  is  _-reat!v  to  ,  at  the  different  sounds  of  a  vowel  should  be  called 

by  the  names  long,  short,  slender,  and  broad,  which  co-ivcv  no  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  sound,  for  mat  ami  not 
arc  as  l<"i-  in  poi-trv  as  mule  and  notr.  The  tirst  sound  of  a  vowel  [,]  as  [that  of  a  in]  fate  [,]  may  bo  called 
of  ,  n.  lie.  a'ise  it  is  the  sound  w  hicb  the  vi.w.-l  -fu-r.iil  v  has  \\  hen  it  ends  a  s\  ll.ild«-  :  tin-  - 

of  ./  in;  t\it.  mav  be  called  cl»*.  ,  li<-cau«e  It  Is  the  sound  which  the  vowel  generally  has  when  n  is  joined  with  a 
consonant  following  hi  the  same  Syllable,  a*  TiM-teiij  when  there  are  more  than  two  sounds  of  any  vowel  [,] 
thry  ma-,  benomb  red  onward  |  a-  .///;.  4  fall."— PerUy's  Gram.  p.  73. 

OBS.  5.— Walker  thought  a  long  or  short  vowel  sound  ossontlal  to  a  long  or  short  quantity  in  any  syllable.  By 
thK  if  he  was  wr'Mit;  in  it.  (as,  in  the  chapter  on    Vcr-iricatii-n,  I    have  argued  that  he  wa«,»   he  probably  dis- 
turbed more  the  pr.i-.er  di-tinctn-n  of  ijuaMiti.  s.  tlian  that  of  vov.  ;  \!s  l<>n>i  and   tliort,  there- 
rley 's  regret  seems  to  bare  cause ;  but,  In  making  t                        tion  lu"  slender,  and  broad,"  he  rea- 
sons ill                         :  ir  as  his  view  is  rijjht,  however,  it  coincides  with  the  following  earlier  Mggestkm:  "  Th« 


1002  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


terms  long  and  short,  which  are  often  used  to  denote  certain  vowel  sounds,  being  also  used,  with  a  different 
import,  to'distinguish  the  quantity  of  syllables,  are  frequently  misunderstood  ;  for  which  reason,  we  have  sub- 
stituted for  them  the  terms  open  and  close  ;— the  former,  to  denote  the  sound  usuallv  given  to  a  vowel  when  it 
forms  or  ends  an  accented  syllable  ;  as,  ba,  be,  bi,  bo,  bu,  by ;— the  latter,  to  denote  the  sound  which  the  vowel 
commonly  takes  when  closed  by  a  consonant ;  as,  ao,  eb,  ib,  ob,  ub."— Brown's  Institutes,  p.  285. 

I.     OF  THE  LETTER  A. 

The  vowel  A  has  four  sounds  properly  its  own  ;  they  are  named  by  various  epithets :  as, 

1.  The  English,  open,  full,  long,  or  slender  a ;  as  in  aid,  fame,  favour,  efficacious. 

2.  The  French,  close,  curt,  short,  or  stopped  a ;  as  in  bat,  banner,  balance,  carrying. 

3.  The  Italian,  broadish,  grave,  or  middle  a ;  as  in  far,  father,  aha,  comma,  scoria,  sofa. 

4.  The  Dutch,  German,  Old- Saxon,  or  broad  a ;  as  in  watt,  haul,  ^calk>  warm,  water. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1.— Concerning  the  number  of  sounds  pertaining  to  the  vowel  a,  or  to  certain  other  particular  letters,  and 
consequently  in  regard  to  the  whole  number  of  the  sounds  which  constitute  the  oral  elements  of  the  English 
language,  our  educational  literati,— the  grammarians,  orthocpists,  orthographers,  elocutionists,  phonographers, 
and  lexicographers, — are  found  to  have  entertained  and  inculcated  a  great  variety  of  opinions.  In  their  different 
countings,  the  number  of  our  phonical  elements  varies  from  twentv  six  to  more  than  forty.  Wells  says  ihere 
are  "  about  forty  elementary  sounds."— School  Gram.  §  64.  His  first  edition  was  more  positive,  and  stated  them 
at  "forty-one."  See  the  last  and  very  erroneous  passage  which  I  have  cited  at  the  foot  of  page  149.  In  Worces- 
ter's Universal  and  Critical  Dictionary,  there  appear  to  be  noted  several  more  than  forty -one;  but  I  know  not 
whether  this  author,  or  Walker  either,  has  anywhere  told  us  how  many  of  his  marked  sounds  he  considered  to 
be  severally  different  from  all  others.  Sheridan  and  Jones  admitted  twenty- eight.  Churchill  acknowledges,  as 
undisputed .and  indisputable,  only  twenty-six;  though  he  enumerates,  "  Of  simple  vowel  sounds,  twelve,  or 
perhaps  thirteen,"  (New  Grammar,  p.  5,)  and  says,  "  The  consonant  sounds  in  the  English  language  are  nine' 
teen,  or  rather  twenty." — P.  13. 

OBS.  2.— Thus,  while  Pitman,  Comstock,  and  others,  are  amusing  themselves  with  the  folly  of  inventing  new 
"  Phonetic  Alphabets,"  or  of  overturning  all  orthography  to  furnish  "  a  character  for  each  of  the  38  element- 
ary sounds,"  more  or  fewer,  one  of  the  acutest  observers  among  our  grammarians  can  fix  on  no  number  more 
definite  or  more  considerable  than  thirty-one,  thirty-two,  or  thirty-three ;  and  the  finding  of  these  he  announces 
with  a  "  perhaps,"  and  the  admission  that  other  writers  object  to  as  many  as  five  of  the  questionable  number. 
Churchill's  vowel  sounds,  he  says,  "  mav  be  found  in  the  following  words  :  1.  Bate,  2.  Bat,  3.  Ball;  4.  Bet,  5. 
Be;  6  Bit;  7.  P.ot,  8.  Bone,  9.  Boon;  10.  Hut,  11.  Bull;  12.  Lovely;  13.  Wool."— New  Grammar,  p.  5.  To 
this  he  adds:  "  Many  of  the  writers  on  orthoepy,  however,  consider  the  first  and  fourth  of  the  sounds  above 
distinguished  as  actually  the  same,  the  former  differing  from  the  latter  only  by  being  lengthened  in  tbc  pronun- 
ciation. They  also  reckon  the  seventh  sound,  to  be  the  third  shortened  ;  the  twelfth,  the  fifth  shortened  :  and 
the  eleventh,  the  ninth  shortened.  Some  consider  the  fifth  and  sixth  as  differing  only  in  length  ;  and  most  es- 
teem the  eleventh  and  thirteenth  as  identical."— 76. 

OBS.  3.— Now,  it  is  plain,  that  these  six  identifications,  or  so  many  of  them  as  are  admitted,  must  diminish  by 
six,  or  by  the  less  number  allowed,  the  thirteen  vowel  sounds  enumerated  by  this  author.  By  the  best  authori- 
ties, W  initial,  as  in  "  Wool,"  is  reckoned  a  consonant ;  and,  of  course,  its  sound  is  supposed  to  differ  in  some 
degree  from  that  of  oo  in  "  Boon,"  or  that  of  u  in  "  Ball,"— the  ninth  sound  or  the  eleventh  in  the  foregoing 
eeries.  By  Walker,  Murray,  and  other  popular  writers,  the  sound  of  y  in  "  Lovely  "  is  accounted  to  he  essen- 
tially the  same  as  that  of  e  in  "Be."  The  twelfth  and  the  thirteenth,  then,  of  this  list,  being  removed, 
and  three  others  added, — namely,  the  a  heard  in  far,  the  i  in  fine,  and  the  u  in  fuse, — we  shall  have  the  four- 
teen vowel  sounds  which  are  enumerated  by  L.  Murray  and  others,  and  adopted  by  the  author  of  the  present 
work. 

OBS.  4.—  Wells  says,  "A  has  six  sounds:—!.  Long;  as  in  late.  2.  Grave;  as  in  father.  3.  Broad;  as  in 
fall.  4.  Short ;  as  in  man.  5.  The  sound  heard  in  care,  hare.  6.  Intermediate  between  a  in  man  and  a  in  father  ; 
as  in  orass,  pass,  branch."— School  Grammar,  1850,  p.  33.  Besides  these  six,  Worcester  recognizes  a  seventh 
sound,— the  "Aobscure;  us  in  liar,  rival."— Univ.  and  Crit.  Diet.  p.  ix.  Such  a  multiplication  of  the  oral 
elements  of  our  first  vowel,— or,  indeed,  any  extension  of  them  beyond  four,— appears  to  me  to  be  unadvisable  ; 
because  it  not  only  makes  our  alphabet  the  more  defective,  but  is  unnecessary,  and  not  sustained  by  our  best 
and  most  popular  orthoepical  authorities.  The  sound  of  a  in  liar,  (and  in  rival  too,  if  made  "  obscure,")  is  a 
borrowed  one,  pertaining  more  properly  to  the  letter  u.  In  grass,  pass,  and  branch,  properly  uttered,  the  a  is 
essentially  the  same  as  in  man.  In  care  and  hare,  we  have  the  first  sound  of  a,  made  as  slender  as  the  r  will 
admit. 

OBS.  5.— Concerning  his  fifth  sound  of  a.  Wells  cites  authorities  thus  :  "  Walker,  Webster,  Sheridan,  Fulton 
and  Knight,  Kenrick,  Jones,  and  Nares,  give  a  in  care  the  long  sound  of  a,  as  in  fate.  Page  and  Day  give  it  the 
short  sound  of  a,  as  in  mat.  See  Page's  Normal  Chart,  mid  Day's  Art  of  Elocution.  Worcester  and  Perry 
make  the  sound  of  a  in  care  a  separate  element ;  and  this  distinction  is  also  recognized  by  Russell,  Mandeville, 
and  Wright.  See  Russell's  Lessons  in  Enunciation,  Mandevillc's  Elements  of  Reading  and  Oratory,  and 
Wright's  Orthography."—  Wells'*  School  Grammar,  p.  34.  Now  the  opinion  that  a  in  care  has  its  long,  primal 
sound,  and  is  not  properly  "a  separate  element,"  is  maintained  also  by  Murray,  Hilev,  Bullions,  Scott,  and 
Cobb  ;  and  is,  undoubtedly,  much  more  prevalent  than  any  other.  It  accords,  too,  with  the  scheme  of  Johnson. 
To  count  this  a  by  itself,  s'eems  too  much  like  a  distinction  without  a  difference. 

OBS.  6.— On  his  sixth  sound  of  a,  Wells  remarks  as  follows:  "Many  persons  pronounce  this  a  incorrectly, 
giving  it  either  the  grave  or  the  short  sound.  Perry,  Jones,  Nares,  Webster,  and  Day,  give  to  a  in  grass  the 
grave  sound,  as  in  father ;  while  Walker,  Jamicson,  and  Russell,  give  it  the  short  sound,  as  in  man.  But 
good  speakers  generally  pronounce  a  in  grass,  plant,  etc.,  as  a  distinct  element,  intermediate  between  the 
grave  and  the  short  sound.  "—School  Gram.  p.  34.  He  also  cites  Worcester  and  Smart  to  the  same  effect ;  and 
thinks,  with  the  latter,  "There  can  be  no  harm  in  avoiding  the  censure  of  both  parties  by  shunning  the  extreme 
that  offends  the  taste  of  each."— Ib.  p  35.  But  I  say,  that  a  needless  multiplication  of  questionable  vowel 
powers,  difficult  to  be  discriminated,  i*  "  harm,"  or  a  fault  in  teaching  ;  and,  where  intelligent  orthoepists  dis- 
pute whether  words  have  "  the  grave  or  the  short  sound"  of  a,  how  can  others,  who  condemn  both  parties, 
acceptably  split  the  difference,  and  form  "  a  distinct  element"  in  the  interval  ?  Words  are  often  mispronounced, 
and  the  French  or  close  a  may  be  mistaken  for  the  Italian  or  broadish  a,  and  vice  versa  ;  but,  between  the  two, 
there  does  not  appear  to  be  room  for  an  other  distinguishable  from  both.  Dr.  Johnson  says,  (inaccurately  in- 
deed,) "A  has  th  ree  sounds,  the  slender,  [the]  open,  and  [the]  broad.  A  slender  is  found  in  most  icoids,  us  face, 
mane.  A  open  Is  the  a  of  the  Italian,  or  nearly  resembles  it ;  us  father,  rather,  congratulate,  fancy,  glass.  A 
broad  resembles  the  a  of  the  German  ;  as  all,  wall,  call,  esr  The  short  a  approaches  to  the  a  open,  as  yrass." — 
Johnson's  Grammar,  in  his  Quarto  Dictionary,  p.  1.  Thus  the  same  word,  grass,  that  serves  Johnson  for  an  ex- 
ample of  "the  short  a,"  is  used  by  Wells  and  Worcester  to  exemplify  the  "a  intermediate;"  while  of  the 
Doctor's  five  instances  of  what  he  calls  the  "  a  open,"  three,  if  not  four,  are  evidently  such  as  nearly  allreaderg 
nowadays  Avould  call  close  or  short ! 

Obs.  7.— There  are  several  grammarians  who  agree  in  ascribing  to  our  first  vowel  five  sounds,  but  who  never- 
theless oppose  one  an  other  in  making  up  the  five.  Thus,  according  to  Hart,  "A  has  five  sounds  of  its  own,  as 
in  fate,  fare,  far,  fall,  fat."— Hart's  E.  Grain,  p.  26.  According  to  W.  Allen,  "A  has  five  sounds  ;— the  long  or 
slender,  as  in  cane ;  the  short  or  open,  as  in  can  ;  the  middle,  as  in  arm  ;  the  broad,  as  in  all;  and  the  broad 
contracted,  as  in  want."— Allen's  E.  Gram.  p.  6.  P.  Davis  has  the  same  sounds  in  a  different  order,  thus  :  '•  a 
[as  in]  mane,  mar,  fall,  mat,  what. "— Davis' s  E.  Gram.  p.  xvi.  Mennve  savs,  "A  has  five  sounds  ;  as,  1  fame, 
2  fat,  3  false,  4  farm,  5  beggar."— Mennye's  E.  Gram.  p.  55.  Here  the  fifth  sound  is  the  seventh  of  Worcester, 

DIPHTHONGS  BEGINNING  WITH  A. 

The  only  proper  diphthong  in  which  a  is  put  first,  is  the  word  ay,  meaning  yes  :  in 
which  a  has  its  middle  sound,  as  in  ah,  and  y  is  like  open  e,  or  ee,  uttered  feebly — ah-ee. 


APPENDIX  i. — (ORTHOGRAPHY.) — SOUNDS  OF  LETTERS.  1003 

Aa,  when  pronounced  as  an  improper  diphthong,  and  not  as  pertaining  to  two  syllables, 
usually  takes  the  sound  of  close  a ;  as  in  Balaam,  Canaan,  Isaac.  In  many  words,  as  in 
Badly  Gadl,  Ga'dsh,  the  diaeresis  occurs.  In  baa,  the  cry  of  a  sheep,  we  hear  the  Italian 
sound  of  a ;  and,  since  we  hear  it  but  once,  one  a  or  the  other  must  be  silent. 

JE,  a  Latin  improper  diphthong,  common  also  in  the  Anglo-Saxon,  generally  has,  ac- 
cording to  modern  ortho  ;pists,  the  sound  of  open  e  or  ee ;  as  in  Ctpsar,  eenigma,  pcean ; — 
sometimes  that  of  close  or  .thort  e ;  as  in  aphrrrcsis,  diuresis,  et  cetera.  Some  authors,  judg- 
ing the  a  of  this  diphthong  to  be  needless,  reject  it,  and  write  Cesar,  enigma,  &c. 

Ai,  an  improper  diphthong,  generally  has  the  sound  of  open  or  long  a ;  as  in  sail,  avail, 
vainly.  In  a  final  unaccented  syllable,  it  sometimes  preserves  the  first  sound  of  a  „•  as  in 
chilblain,  mortmain:  but  oftener  takes  the  sound  of  close  or  short  i ;  as  in  certain,  curtain, 
mountain,  villain.  In  said,  saith,  again,  and  against,  it  takes  the  sound  of  close  or  short  e ; 
and  in  the  name  Britain,  that  of  close  or  short  u. 

Ao,  an  improper  diphthong,  occurs  in  the  word  gaol,  now  frequently  written  as  it  is  pro- 
nounced, jail;  also  in  gaokr,  which  may  be  written  jailer ;  and  in  the  compounds  of  gaol : 
and,  again,  it  is  found  in  the  adjective  extraordinary,  and  its  derivatives,  in  which,  according 
to  nearly  all  our  orthoepists,  the  a  is  silent.  The  name  Pharaoh,  is  pronounced  Fd'ro. 

Au,  an  improper  diphthong,  is  generally  sounded  like  broad  a ;  as  in  cause,  caught,  ap- 
plause. Before  n  and  an  other  consonant,  it  usually  has  the  sound  of  grave  or  middle  a ; 
as  in  aunt,  flaunt,  gaunt,  launch,  laundry.  So  in  laugh,  laughter,  and  their  derivatives. 
Gauge  and  ganger  are  pronounced  gage  and  gager,  and  sometimes  written  so. 

Aw,  an  improper  diphthong,  is  always  sounded  like  broad  a;  as  in  ilratr,  drawn,  draicl. 

Ay,  an  improper  diphthong,  like  ai,  has  usually  the  sound  of  open  or  long  a ;  as  in  day, 
pay,  delay  ;  in  sayst  and  says,  it  has  the  sound  of  close  or  s/tort  e. 

TRIPHTHONGS  BEGINNING  WITH  A. 

Awe  is  sounded  au,  like  broad  a.  Aye,  an  adverb  signifying  always,  has  the  sound  of  open 
or  long  a  only ;  being  diiferent,  both  in  sound  and  in  spelling,  from  the  adverb  ay,  yes, 
with  which  it  is  often  carelessly  confounded.  The  distinction  is  maintained  by  Johnson, 
Walker,  Todd,  Chalmers,  Jones,  Cobb,  Maunder,  Bollcs,  and  others;  but  Webster  and 
"Worcester  give  it  up,  and  write  "  ay,  or  aye,"  each  sounded  ah-ee,  for  the  affirmation,  and 
"  aye,"  sounded  a,  for  the  adverb  of  time :  Ainsworth,  on  the  contrary,  has  ay  only,  for 
either  sense,  and  does  not  note  the  pronunciation. 

II.  OF  THE  LETTER  B. 

The  consonant  B  has  but  one  sound  ;  as  in  boy,  robber,  cub.  B  is  silent  before  t  or  after 
m  in  the  same  syllable ;  as  in  debt,  debtor,  doubt,  dumb,  lamb,  climb,  tomb.  It  is  heard  in 
subtile,  fine ;  but  not  in  subtle,  cunning. 

III.  OF  THE  LETTER  C. 

The  consonant  C  has  two  sounds,  neither  of  them  peculiar  to  this  letter ;  the  one  hard, 
like  that  of  k,  the  other  soft,  or  rather  hissing,  like  that  of  *.  C  before  a,  o,  u,  I,  r,  t,  or 
when  it  ends  a  syllabic,  is  generally  hard,  like  k ;  as  in  can,  come,  curb,  clay,  crab,  act,  ac- 
tion, accent,  flaccid.  C  before  e,  i,  or  y,  is  always  soft,  like  s ;  as  in  cent,  civil,  decency,  acid, 

In  a  few  words,  c  takes  the  fiat  sound  of  s,  like  that  of  z ;  as  in  discern,  tujficc,  sacrifice, 
tice.  C  before  ea,  ia,  ie,  io,  or  eou,  when  the  accent  precedes,  sounds  like  sh ;  as  in  ocean, 
special,  species,  gracious,  cetaceous.  C  is  silent  in  czar,  czarina,  victuals,  indict,  muscle,  cor- 
puscle, and  the  second  syllable  of  Connecticut. 

Ch  is  generally  sounded  like  tch,  or  tsh,  which  is  the  same  to  the  ear ;  as  in  church,  chance, 
chil  1.  But,  in  words  derived  from  the  learned  languages,  it  has  the  sound  of  A ;  as  in  char- 
acter, scheme,  catechise,  chorus,  choir,  chyle,  patriarch,  drachma,  mayna  charta  :  except  in 
chart,  charter,  charity.  Ch,  in  words  derived  from  the  French,  takes  the  sound  of  sh ;  as  in 
•'tine.  In  Hebrew  words  or  names,  in  general,  ch  sounds  like  k ;  as  in  Chebar, 
Sirach,  Enoch :  but  in  and  cherubim,  we  have  Anglicized  the  sound  by  ut- 

tering it  as  tch.     Loch,  a  Scottish  word,  sometimes  also  a  medical  term,  is  heard  as  lok. 

h,  before  a  vowel,  is  pronounced  ark  ;  as  in  archives,  archangel,  archipelago  :  except 
in  arched,  archer,  archery,  archenemy.  Before  a  consonant,  it  is  pronounced  artch  ;  as  in  arch- 
bishop, archdukr,  archfiend." — See  H'.  Alien' s  dram.  p.  10.  Ch  is  silent  in  schism,  yacht,  and 
drachm.  In  schedule,  some  utter  it  as  k  ;  others,  as  sh ;  and  many  make  it  mute  :  I  like  the 
first  practice. 

IV.  OF  THE  LETTER  D. 

The  general  Bound  of  the  consonant  D,  is  that  which  is  heard  in  dog,  eddy,  did.  D,  in 
the  termination  ed,  preceded  by  a  sharp  consonant,  takes  the  sound  of  t,  ^hen  the  e  is 
suppressed  or  unheard  :  as  in  faced,  stuffed,  cracked,  tripped,  passed ;  pronounced  faste,  shift, 
cruet,  tript,  past.  D  before  ia,  ie,  io,  or  eou,  when  the  accent  precedes,  generally  sounds  like 
.;";  as  in  Indian,  soldier,  tedious,  hideous.  So  in  verdure,  arduous,  education. 


1C04  THE   GRAMMAR   OF   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. 

V.  OF  THE  LETTER  E. 

The  vowel  E  has  two  sounds  properly  its  own, — and  I  incline  to  think,  three : — 

1.  The  open,  long,  full,  or  primal  e ;  as  in  me,  mere,  menial,  melodious. 

2.  The  close,  curt,  short,  or  stopped  e ;  as  in  men,  merry,  ebony,  strength. 

3.  The  obscure  or  faint  e ;  as  in  open,  garden,  shovel,  able.     This  third  sound  is  scarcely 
perceptible,  and  barely  sufficient  to  articulate  the  consonant  and  form  a  syllable. 

E  final  is  mute,  and  belongs  to  the  syllable  formed  by  the  preceding  vowel  or  diphthong  ; 
as  in  age,  eve,  ice,  ore.  Except — 1.  In  the  words,  be,  he,  me,  we,  she,  in  which  it  has  the 
open  sound ;  and  the  article  the,  wherein  it  is  open  before  a  vowel,  and  obscure  before  a 
consonant.  2.  In  Greek  and  Latin  words,  in  which  it  has  its  open  sound,  and  forms  a 
distinct  syllable,  or  the  basis  of  one ;  as  in  Penelope,  Pasiphae,  Cyanee,  Gargaphie,  Aminoe, 
apostrophe,  catastrophe,  simile,  extempore,  epitome.  3.  In  the  terminations  ere,  gre,  tre,  in 
which  it  has  the  sound  of  close  or  curt  u,  heard  before  the  r ;  as  in  acre,  meagre,  centre. 

Mute  e,  after  a  single  consonant,  or  after  st  or  th,  generally  preserves  the  open  or  long 
sound  of  the  preceding  vowel ;  as  in  cane,  here,  pine,  cone,  tune,  thyme,  baste,  waste,  lathe, 
clothe :  except  in  syllables  unaccented  ;  as  in  the  last  of  genuine; — and  in  a  few  monosylla- 
bles ;  as  bade,  are,  were,  gone,  shone,  one,  done,  give,  live,  shove,  love. 

DIPHTHONGS  BEGINNING  WITH  E. 

E  before  an  other  vowel,  in  general,  either  forms  with  it  an  improper  diphthong,  or  else 
belongs  to  a  separate  syllable.  We  do  not  hear  both  vowels  in  one  syllable,  except  per- 
haps in  eu  or  ew. 

Ea,  an  improper  diphthong,  mostly  sounds  like  open  or  long  e ;  as  in  ear,  fear,  tea  :  fre- 
quently, like  close  or  curt  e;  as  in  head,  health,  leather  :  sometimes,  like  open  or  long  a ;  as  in 
steak,  bear,  forswear :  rarely,  like  middle  a;  as  in  heart,  hearth,  hearken.  Ea  in  an  unaccent- 
ed syllable,  sounds  like  close  or  curt  u ;  as  in  vengeance,  pageant. 

Ee,  an  improper  diphthong,  mostly  sounds  like  one  open  or  long  e ;  as  in  eel,  sheep,  tree, 
trustee,  referee.  The  contractions  e'er  and  ne'er,  are  pronounced  air  and  nair,  and  not  like 
ear  and  near.  E'en,  however,  preserves  the  sound  of  open  e.  Been  is  most  commonly  heard 
with  the  curt  sound  of  i,  bin. 

Ei,  an  improper  diphthong,  mostly  sounds  like  the  primal  or  long  a ;  as  in  reign,  veil :  fre- 
quently, like  open  or  long  e  ;  as  in  deceit,  either,  neither,  seize  :  sometimes,  like  open  or  long  i  ; 
as  in  height,  sleight,  heigh-ho  ;  often,  in  unaccented  syllables,  like  close  or  curt  i  ;  as  in  for- 
eign, forfeit,  surfeit,  sovereign  ;  rarely,  like  close  e  ;  as  in  heifer,  nonpareil. 

Eo,  an  improper  diphthong,  in  people,  sounds  like  open  or  long  e ;  in  leopard  and  jeopardy, 
like  close  or  curt  e  ;  in  yeoman,  according  to  the  best  usage,  like  open  or  long  o  ;  in  George, 
Georgia,  georgic,  like  close  o ;  in  dungeon,  puncheon,  sturgeon,  &;c.,  like  close  u.  In /eo/f,  and 
its  derivatives,  the  close  or  short  sound  of  e  is  most  fashionable ;  but  some  prefer  the  long 
sound  of  e ;  and  some  write  the  word  "fief."  Feod,  feodal,  feodary,  an&feodatory,  are  now 
commonly  written  as  they  are  -pronounced.,feud,  feudal,  feudary,  feudatory. 

Eu  and  eic  are  sounded"  alike,  and  almost  always  with  the  diphthongal  sound  of  open  or 
long  u;  as  in  feud,  deuce,  jewel,  dew,  few,  new.  These  diphthongs,  when  initial,  sound  like 
yu.  Nouns  beginning  with  this  sound,  require  the  article  a,  and  not  an,  before  them ;  as, 
A  European,  a  ewer.  After  r  or  rh,  eu  and  ew  are  commonly  sounded  like  oo  ;  as  in  drew, 
grew,  screw,  rheumatism.  In  seic  and  Shrewsbury,  ew  sounds  like  open  o :  Worcester,  how- 
ever, prefers  the  sound  of  oo  in  the  latter  word.  Sheiv  and  strew,  having  the  same  meaning 
as  show  and  strow,  are  sometimes,  by  sameness  of  pronunciation,  made  to  be  the  same 
words  ;  and  sometimes  distinguished  as  different  words,  by  taking  the  sounds  shu  and  stroo. 

Ey,  accented,  has  the  sound  of  open  or  long  a;  as  in  bey,  prey,  survey  ;  unaccented,  it  has 
the  sound  of  open  e ;  as  in  alley,  valley,  money.  Key  and  Icy  are  pronounced,  kee,  lee. 

TRIPHTHONGS  BEGINNING  WITH  E. 

Eau,  a  French  triphthong,  sounds  like  open  o  ;  as  in  beau,  flambeau,  portmanteau,  bureau : 
except  in  beauty,  and  its  compounds,  in  which  it  is  pronounced  like  open  u,  as  if  the  word 
were  written  buty. 

Eou  is  a  combination  of  vowels  sometimes  heard  in  one  syllable,  especially  after  c  or  g ; 
as  in  crus-ta-ceous,  gor-geous.  Walker,  in  his  Rhyming  Dictionary,  gives  one  hundred  and 
twenty  words  ending  in  eous,  in  all  of  which  he  separates  these  vowels  ;  as  in  ex-tra-ne-ous. 
And  why,  in  his  Pronouncing  Dictionary,  he  gave  us  several  such  anomalies  asfa-ba-ce- 
ous  in  four  syllables  and  her-ba-ceous  in  three,  it  is  not  easy  to  tell.  The  best  rule  is  this : 
after  c  or  g,  unite  these  vowels ;  after  the  other  consonants,  separate  them. 

Ewe  is  a  triphthong  having  the  sound  of  yu,  and  forming  a  word.  The  vulgar  pronunci- 
ation yoe  should  be  carefully  avoided. 

Eye  is  an  improper  triphthong  which  also  forms  a  word,  and  is  pronounced  like  open  i,  or 
the  pronoun  /. 

VI.  OF  THE  LETTER  F. 

The  consonant  F  has  one  unvaried  sound,  which  is  heard  in  fan,  effort,  staff;  except  of, 
which,  when  simple,  is  pronounced  ov. 


APPENDIX  i. — (ORTHOGRAPHY.) — SOUNDS  OF  LETTERS.  1005 

VII.     OF  THE  LETTER  G. 

The  consonant  G  has  two  sounds ; — the  one  hard,  guttural,  and  peculiar  to  this  letter  ; 
the  other  soft,  like  that  of./.  G  before  a,  o,  u,  /,  r,  or  at  the  end  of  a  word,  is  hard ;  as  in 
game,  ;/»/ie,  gull,  glory,  grace,  log,  bog ;  except  in  goal.  G  before  e,  i,  or  yt  is  soft ;  as  in 
gem,  ginger,  elegy.  Except — 1.  In  get,  give,  gewgaw,  finger,  and  a  few  other  words.  2. 
When  a  syllable  is  added  to  a  word  ending  in  g :  as,  long,  longer;  fog,  foggy. 

G  is  silent  before  m  or  n  in  the  same  syllable  ;  as  in  phlegm,  apothegm,  gnaw,  design.  Gt 
when  silent,  usually  lengthens  the  preceding  vowel;  as  in  resign,  impregn,  impugn. 

Gh  at  the  beginning  of  a  word  has  the  sound  of  g  hard ;  as  in  ghastly,  gherkin,  Ghibelline, 
ghost,  ghoul,  ghyll :  in  other  situations,  it  is  generally  silent ;  as  in  high,  mighty,  plough, 
bough,  though,  through,  fight*  night,  bought.  Gh  final  sometimes  sounds  like  f;  as  in  laugh, 
rough,  tough;  and  sometimes,  like  g  hard;  as  in  burgh.  In  hough,  lough,  shough,  it  sounds 
like  k,  or  ck;  thus,  hock,  lock,  shock. 

VIII.     OF  THE  LETTER  H. 

The  sound  of  the  consonant  H,  (though  articulate  and  audible  when  properly  uttered,) 
is  little  more  then  an  aspirate  breathing.  It  is  heard  in  hat,  hit,  hot,  hut,  adhere. 

H  at  the  beginning  of  a  word,  is  always  sounded;  except  in  heir,  herb,  honest,  honour, 
hospital,  hostler,  hour,  humble,  humour,  with  their  compounds  and  derivatives.  77  after  r,  is 
always  silent ;  as  in  rhapsody,  rhetoric,  rheum,  rhubarb.  H  final,  immediately  following  a 
vowel,  is  always  silent ;  as  in  ah,  Sarah,  Xinerch,  Shiloh. 

IX.     OF  THE  LETTER  I. 

The  vowel  7  has  three  sounds,  each  very  common  to  it,  and  perhaps  properly  its  own  : — 

1.  The  open,  long,  full,  or  primal  i ;  as  in  life,  fine,  final,  time,  bind,  child,  sigh, pint,  resign. 
This  is  a  diphthongal  sound,  equivalent  to  the  sounds  of  middle  a  and  open  e  quickly  united. 

2.  The  close,  curt,  short,  or  stopped  i ;  as  in  ink,  limit,  disfigure,  mimicking. 

3.  The  feeble,  faint,  or  slender  i,  accentless ;  as  in  divest,  doctrinal,  diversity. 

This  third  sound  is  equivalent  to  that  of  open  e,  or  ee,  uttered  feebly.  7  generally  has 
this  sound  when  it  occurs  at  the  end  of  an  unaccented  syllable  :  except  at  the  end  of  Latin 
words,  or  of  ancient  names,  where  it  is  open  or  long  ;  as  in  literati,  Nervii,  Eli,  Levi. 

In  some  words,  (principally  from  other  modern  languages,)  t  has  the  full  sound  of  open 
e,  under  the  accent  ;  as  in  Porto  Rico,  machine,  magazine,  antique,  shire. 

Accented  t  followed  by  a  vowel,  has  its  open  or  primal  sound  ;  and  the  vowels  belong  to 
separate  syllables  ;  as  in  pliant,  diet,  satiety,  violet,  pious.  Unaccented  i  followed  by  a  vowel, 
has  its  feeble  sound ;  as  in  expatiate,  obedient,  various,  abstemious. 

DIPHTHONGS  BEGINNING  WITH  I. 

7,  in  the  situation  last  described,  readily  coalesces  with  the  vowel  which  follows,  and  is 
often  sunk  into  the  same  syllable,  forming  a  proper  diphthong  ;  as  in  fustian,  quotient,  ques- 
tion. The  terminations  cion,  sion,  and  tion,  are  generally  pronounced  shun;  and  cious  and 
tious  are  pronounced  shus. 

le  is  commonly  an  improper  diphthong.  le  in  die,  hie,  lie,  pie,  tie,  vie,  and  their  derivatives, 

has  the  sound  of  open  i.     le  in  words  from  the  French,  (as  cap-a-pie,  ecurie,  grenadier,  siege, 

bier,')  has  the  sound  of  open  e.     So,  generally,  in  the  middle  of  English  roots;  as  in  chief, 

•fiicf;  but,  in  sieve,  it  has  the  sound  of  close  or  short  i.     In  friend,  and  its  derivatives 

or  compounds,  it  takes  the  sound  of  close  e. 

TRIPHTHONGS  BEGINNING  WITH  I. 

The  triphthongs  icu  and  iew  both  sound  like  open  or  long  u ;  as  in  lieu,  adieu,  vietc. 

The  three  vowels  iou,  in  the  termination  ious,  often  fall  into  one  syllable,  and  form  a 
triphthong.  There  are  two  hundred  and  forty-five  words  of  this  ending;  and  more  than 
two  hundred  derivatives  from  them.  Walker  has  several  puzzling  inconsistencies  in  their 
pronunciation  ;  such  Q,sfas-ti(l-i-ous&ndper-fid-ioit3,con-ta-gi-ous&nd.sac-ri-le-gious.  After 
r,  ;/,  f,  or  c,  \  els  should  coalesce ;  as  in  gra-cious,  re-li-gious,  vex-a-tima,  ob-nox-ious, 

and  about  two  hundred  other  words.  After  the  other  consonants,  let  them  form  two  sylla- 
bles ;  (except  when  there  is  a  synseresis  in  poetry  ;)  as  in  du-bi-ous,  o-di-ous,  va-ri-ous,  en- 
vi-ous. 

\.     OF  THE  LETTER  J. 

The  consonant  J,  the  tenth  letter  of  the  English  alphabet,  has  invariably  the  sound  of 
soft  g,  like  the  g  in  giant,  which  some  say  is  equivalent  to  the  complex  sound  dzh;  as,  jade, 
jet,  jilt,  joy,  j  '.prejudice. 

XI.     OF  THE  LETTER  K. 

The  consonant  A',  not  silent,  has  uniformly  the  sound  of  c  hard ;  and  occurs  where  c 
would  have  its  soft  sound :  as  in  keep,  looking,  kind,  smoky. 

K  before  n  is  silent ;  as  in  knarc,  know,  knuckle.  In  stead  of  doubling  c  final,  we  write 
ck;  as  in  lack,  lock,  luck,  at  toe':.  In  English  words,  k  is  never  doubled,  though  two  Kays 
n. ay  come  together  in  certain  compounds;  as  in  brickkiln,  jackknife.  Two  Kays,  belonging 


1006  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


to  different  syllables,  also  stand  together  in  a  few  Scripture  names  ;  as  in  Akkub^Va  kbakkar, 
Bukki,  Bukkiah.  Habakkuk,  Hakkoz,  Ikkesh,  Sukkiims.  C  before  k,  though,  it  does  not  always 
double  the  sound  which  c  or  k  in  such  a  situation  must  represent,  always  shuts  or  shortens 
the  preceding  vowel ;  as  in  rack,  speck,  freckle,  cockle,  wicked. 

XII.  OF  THE  LETTER  L. 

The  consonant  L,  the  plainest  of  the  semivowels,  has  a  soft,  liquid  sound  ;  as  in  line, 
lily,  roll,folloio.  L  is  sometimes  silent ;  as  in  Holmes,  alms,  almond,  calm,  chalk,  walk,  calf, 
half,  could,  would,  should.  L,  too,  is  frequently  doubled  where  it  is  heard  but  once  ;  as  in 
hill,  full,  travelled :  and  any  letter  that  is  written  twice,  and  not  twice  sounded,  must  there 
be  once  mute  ;  as  the  last  in  baa,  ebb,  add,  see,  staff",  egg,  all,  inn,  coo,  err,  less,  buzz. 

XIII.  OF  THE  LETTER  M. 

The  consonant  Mis  a  semivowel  and  a  liquid,  capable  of  an  audible,  humming  sound 
through  the  nose,  when  the  mouth  is  closed.  It  is  heard  in  map,  murmur,  mammon.  In 
the  old  words,  comptj  accompt,  comptroller,  (for  count,  account,  controller,}  the  m  is  sounded  as 
n.  M  before  n,  at  the  beginning  of  a  word,  is  silent ;  as  in  Mnason,  Mnemosyne,  mnemonics-, 

XIV.  OF  THE  LETTER  N. 

The  consonant  N,  which  is  also  a  semivowel  and  a  liquid,  has  two  sounds  ; — the  first,  the 
pure  and  natural  sound  of  n ;  as  in  nun,  banner,  cannon  ; — the  second,  the  ringing  sound  of 
ng,  heard  before  certain  gutturals  ;  as  in  think,  mangle,  conquer,  congress,  singing,  twinkling, 
Cen'chrea.  The  latter  sound  should  be  carefully  preserved  in  all  words  ending  in  ing,  and 
in  such  others  as  require  it.  The  sounding  of  the  syllable  ing  as  if  it  were  in,  is  a  vul- 
garism in  utterance ;  and  the  writing  of  it  so,  is,  as  it  would  seem  by  the  usage  of  Burns,  a 
Scotticism. 

N  final  preceded  by  m,  is  silent ;  as  in  hymn,  solemn,  column,  damn,  condemn,  autumn. 
But  this  n  becomes  audible  in  an  additional  syllable  ;  as  in  autumnal,  condemnable,  damning. 

XV.  OF  THE  LETTER  O. 

The  vowel  O  has  three  different  sounds,  which  are  properly  its  own  : — 

1.  The  open,  full,  primal,  or  long  o ;  as  in  no,  note,  opiate,  opacity,  Roman. 

2.  The  close,  curt,  short,  or  stopped  o ;  as  in  not,  nor,  torrid,  dollar,  fond'e. 

3.  The  slender  or  narrow  o,  like  oo ;  as  in  prove,  move,  ^cho,  to,  do,  tomb. 

O,  in  many  words,  sounds  like  close  or  curt  u ;  as  in  love,  shove,  son,  come,  nothing,  dost, 
attorney,  gallon,  dragon,  comfit,  comfort,  coloration.  One  is  pronounced  wun ;  and  once,  wunce. 
In  the  termination  on  immediately  after  the  accent,  o  is  often  sunk  into  a  sound  scarcely 
perceptible,  like  that  of  obscure  e ;  as  in  mason,  person,  lesson. 

DIPHTHONGS  BEGINNING  WITH  O. 

Oa,  an  improper  diphthong,  has  the  sound  of  open  or  long  o;  as  in  boat,  coal,  roach,  coast, 
coasticise :  except  in  broad  and  groat,  which  have  the  sound  of  broad  a. 

Oe,  an  improper  diphthong,  when./waZ,  has  the  sound  of  open  or  long  o ;  as  in  doe,  foe, 
throe :  except  in  canoe,  shoe,  pronounced  canoo,  shoo.  (E,  a  Latin  diphthong,  generally 
sounds  like  open  e  ;  as  in  Antceci,  foetus  :  sometimes,  like  close  or  curt  e  ;  as  \nfoctid,fccticide. 
But  the  English  -word. fetid  is  often,  and  perhaps  generally,  written  without  the  o. 

Oi  is  generally  a  proper  diphthong,  uniting  the  sound  of  close  o  or  broad  a,  and  that  of  open  e  ; 
as  in  boil,  coil,  soil,  rejoice.  But  the  vowels,  when  they  appear  together,  sometimesbelong 
to  separate  syllables  ;  as  in  Stoic,  Stoicism.  Oi  unaccented,  sometimes  has  the  sound  of 
close  or  curt  i ;  as  in  avoirdupois,  connoisseur,  tortoise. 

Oo,  an  improper  diphthong,  generally  has  the  slender  sound  of  o ;  as  in  coo,  too,  woo,  fool, 
room.  It  has,  in  some  words,  a  shorter  or  closer  sound,  (like  that  of  u  in  bull,}  as  in  foot, 
good,  wood,  stood,  wool; — that  of  close  u,  in  blood  &&&  flood ; — and  that  of  open  o,  in  door  and 
floor.  Derivatives  from  any  of  these,  sound  as  their  primitives. 

Ou  is  generally  a  proper  diphthong,  uniting  the  sound  of  close  or  curt  o,  and  that  of  u  as 
heard  in  bull, — or  u  sounded  as  oo ;  as  in  bound,  found,  sound,  ounce,  thou.  Ou  is  also,  in  cer- 
tain instances,  an  improper  diphthong;  and,  as  such,  it  has  six  different  sounds  :—(!•) 
That  of  close  or  curt  u;  as  in  rough,  tough,  young,  flourish.  (2.)  That  of  broad  a;  as  in 
ought,  bought,  thought.  (3.)  That  of  open  or  long  o ;  as  in  court,  dough,  four,  though.  (4.) 
That  of  close  or  curt  o ;  as  in  cough,  trough,  lough,  shough ;  which  are,  I  believe,  the  only  ex- 
amples. (5.)  That  of  slender  o,  or  oo  ;  as  in  soup,  you,  through.  (6.)  That  of  u  in  bull,  or  of 
oo  shortened ;  only  in  would,  could,  should. 

Ow  generally  sounds  like  the  proper  diphthong  ou, — or  like  a  union  of  short  o  with  oo  ; 
as  in  brown,  dowry,  now,  shower :  but  it  is  often  an  improper  diphthong,  having  only  the 
sound  of  open  or  long  o ;  as  in  know,  show,  stow. 

Oy  is  a  proper  diphthong,  equivalent  in  sound  to  oi ;  as  in  joy,  toy,  oyster. 


APPENDIX  i. — (ORTHOGRAPHY.) — SOUNDS  OF  LETTERS.  1007 

TRIPHTHONGS  BEGINNING  WITH  O. 

(Eu  is  a  French  triphthong,  pronounced  in  English  as  oo,  and  occurring  in  the  word  ma- 
nwm-re,  with  its  several  derivatives.  Owe  is  an  improper  triphthong,  and  an  English  word, 
in  which  the  o  only  is  heard,  and  heard  always  with  its  long  or  open  sound. 

XVI.  OF  THE  LETTER  P. 

The  consonant  P,  when  not  written  before  h,  ha«  commonly  one  peculiar  sound ;  which  is 
heard  in  pen,  pine,  sup,  supper.  The  word  cupboard  is  usually  pronounced  kubburd.  P,  writ- 
ten with  an  audible  consonant,  is  sometimes  itself  silent ;  as  in  psalm,  psalter,  pseudography, 
psychil-j;/1/,  />t  ifni ijan,  ptyalism,  receipt,  corps. 

Ph  generally  sounds  like/,-  as  in  philosophy.  In  Stephen  and  nephew,  ph  has  the  sound 
of  t'.  The  h  after  p,  is  silent  in  diphthong,  triphthong,  naphtha,  ophthalmic ;  and  both  the  p 
and  the  h  are  silent  in  apophtJiegm,  phthisis,  phthisical.  From  the  last  three  words,  ph  is 
sometimes  dropped. 

XVII.  OF  THE  LE1TER  Q. 

The  consonant  Q,  being  never  silent,  never  final,  never  doubled,  and  not  having  a  sound 
peculiar  to  itself,  is  invariably  heard,  in  English,  with  the  power  of  k;  and  is  always  fol- 
lowed by  the  vowel  u,  which,  in  words  purely  English,  is  sounded  like  the  narrow  o,  or  oo, — 
or,  perhaps,  is  squeezed  into  the  consonantal  sound  of  w ; — as  in  queen,  quaver,  quiver,  quar- 
ter, request.  In  some  words  of  French  origin,  the  u  after  q  is  silent;  as  in  coquet,  liquor, 
burlesque,  etiquette. 

XVIII.     OF  THE  LETTER  R. 

The  consonant  R,  called  also  a  semivowel  and  a  liquid,  has  usually,  at  the  beginning  of  a 

,  pro- 
hard) 


greater  reputation  as  an  orinocpisi,  teacnes  mat,  -  mere  is  a  distinction  in  tnc  sound  oi  tins  letter,  w 
says  he,  "In  my  opinion,  of  no  small  importance ;  and  that  is,  the  [distinction  of]  the  rough  and  [the 
r.  Hen  .Ioii-on,"  continues  he,  "  in  his  Grammar,  says,  '  Jt  is  sounded  firm  in  the  beginning  of  words,  , 
liquid  in  tin-  middle  and  ends,  as  in  rur-  /•,  riper ;  and  so  in  the  Latin.'  The  rough  r  is  formed  by  jarrii 


word,  or  before  a  vowel,  a  rough  or  pretty  strong  sound  ;  as  in  roll,  rose,  roam,  proudly,  pro- 
rogue.    "  In  other  positions,"  it  is  said  by  many  to  be  "  smooth  "  or  "  soft ;  "  "  as  in  } 
foreword."— W.Allen. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1.— The  letter  tf  turns  the  tip  of  the  tongue  up  against  or  towards  the  roof  of  the  mouth,  where  the  sound 
may  be  lengthened,  roughened,  trilled,  or  quavered.  Consequently,  this  element  may,  at  the  will  of  the  speaker, 
have  more  or  less— little  or  nothing,  or  even  very  much — of  that  peculiar  roughness,  jar,  or  whur,  which  is  com- 
monly said  to  constitute  the  sound.  The  extremes  should  here  be  avoided.  Some  readers  very  Improperly  omit 
the  sound  of;-  from  many  words  to  which  it  pertains  ;  pronouncing  or  as  awe,  nor  as  know,  for  as  faugh,  and 
war  as  the  first  syllable  of  water.  On  the  other  hand,  "  The  excessive  trilling  of  the  r,  as  practised  by  some 
speakers,  is  a  great  fault. "— D.  P.  Page. 

OBS.  2.— Dr.  Johnson,  in  his  "  Grammar  of  the  English  Tongue,"  savs,  "R  has  the  same  rough  snarling  sound 
as  in  other  tongues."— P.  3.  Again,  In  his  Quarto  Dictionary,  under  this  letter,  he  says,  "7i  is  called  the  canine 
letter,  because  it  is  uttered  with  some  resemblance  to  the  growl  or  snarl  of  a  cur :  it  has  one  constant  sound  in 
Knglish,  such  as  it  has  In  other  languages;  as,  red,  rose,  more,  murinticJi:"1  Walker,  however,  who  has  a 
greater  reputation  as  an  orthoepist,  teaches  that,  "  There  is  a  distinction  in  the  sound  of  this  letter,  which  Is," 

--  the  rough  and  [the]  smooth 
'•Is,  and  more 
.  irring  the  tip 

of  the  tongue  against  the  roof  of  the  mouth  near  the  fore  teeth  :  the  smooth  r  is  a  vibration  of  the  lower  part  of 
the  tongue,  near  the  root,  against  the  inward  region  of  the  palate,  near  the  entrance  of  the  throat."—  Walker't 

•c.  No.   II:':    u,-t,ir<,  lti,-t.   p.   48. 

OBS.  3.— Wells,  with  his  characteristic  indecision,  forbears  all  recognition  of  this  difference,  and  all  intimation 
of  the  qualitv  of  the  sound,  whether  smoother  rough;  saying,  in  his  own  text,  only  this:  "/£  has  the  sound 
heard  in  rare."— School  Orttmmtar,  p.  In.  I  Inn,  referring  the  student  to  sundry  authorities,  he  adds  in  a  foot- 

rtain  "  limitations, "  that  are  said  to  "present  a  general  view  of  UM  different  opinions   whi> 
among  orthoepists  respecting  this  letter."    And  so  admirably  are  these  authorities  or  opinions  balanced  and 
•i st  an  other,  that  it  i-  hard  to  tell  which  has  the  odds.     First,  though  it  is  not  at  all  proba- 
ble that  \Vell>'s  utterance  of  "  rare  "  exhibit*  twice  over  the  rough  snarl  of  Johnson's  r,  tin-  "general  view" 
M  tended  to  confirm  the  indefinite  teaching  above,  thus:    "  'A'  has  one  constant  sound  in  Knglish. '—  John- 
ton.     The  same  riew  is  adopted  by  \\vt.ster.  ferry,  Kenrick,  Sheridan,  Jones,  Jamewn,  Knowles,  and  other*." 
—School  Grain  ni'ir,  \>.  4u.     In  counterpoise  of  th-->e,  \Vells  next  cites  about  as  manv  more— namely,  Frazee, 
Page,  Kiissi-ll,  Walker,  Itush,  Barber,  Oomstock,  and  Smart,— as  maintaining  or  admitting  that  r  has  sometimes 
a  rough  sound,  and  sometimes  a  smoother  one. 

XIX.    OF  THE  LETTER  S. 

The  consonant  S  has  a  sharp,  hissing,  or  hard  sound  ;  as  in  sad,  sister,  thus  :  and  aflat,  buzz- 
ing, or  soft  sound,  like  that  of  z ;  as  in  rose,  dismal,  bosom,  husband.  N,  at  the  beginning  of 
words,  or  after  any  of  the  sharp  consonants,  is  always  sharp  ;  as  in  see,  steps,  cliff's,  sits, 
stocks,  smiths.  S,  after  any  of  the  flat  mutes,  or  at  the  end  of  words  when  not  preceded  by 
a  sharp  consonant,  is  generally  flat ;  as  in  eyes,  trees,  beds,  bags,  wives.  But  in  the  English 
termination  ous,  or  in  the  Latin  us,  it  i^  sharp  ;  &3  joyous,  vigorous,  hiatus. 

>\  i*  generally  sharp  ;  as  in  pass,  kiss,  harass,  assuage,  basset,  cassock,  remissness.  But  the 
first  t  :x  possess,  or  any  of  its  tegular  derivatives,  as  well  as  the  two  in  dissolve,  or 

its  proximate  kin,  sound  like  two  Zees  ;  and  the  soft  or  flat  sound  is  commonly  given  to 
each  s  in  hyssop,  hussy,  and  hussar.  In  scisscl,  scissible,  and  scissile,  all  the  Esses  hiss  ; — in 
tcissors,  the  last  three  of  the  four  are  flat,  like  z ; — but  in  the  middle  of  sctssure  and  scission 
we  hear  the  sound  of  zh. 

S,  in  the  termination  sion,  takes  the  sound  of  sh,  after  a  consonant ;  as  in  aspersion,  ses- 
sion, passion,  mission,  compulsion:  and  that  of  zh,  after  a  vowel ;  as  in  invasion,  elision,  con- 
fusion. 

In  the  verb  assure,  and  each  of  its  derivatives,  also  in  the  nouns  pressure  &ndjt.isure,  with 
their  derivatives,  we  hear,  according  to  Walker,  the  sound  of  sh  for  each  *,  or  twice  in  each 


1008  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


word  ;  but,  according  to  the  orthoepy  of  Worcester,  that  sound  is  heard  only  in  the  ac- 
cented syllable  of  each  word,  and  the  vowel  in  each  unaccented  syllable  is  obscure. 
S  is  silent  or  mute  in  the  words,  isle,  island,  aisle,  demesne,  corps,  and  viscount. 

XX.     OF  THE  LETTER  T. 

The  general  sound  of  the  consonant  T,  is  heard  in  time,  letter,  set.  T,  immediately  after 
the  accent,  takes  the  sound  of  tch,  before  u,  and  generally  also  before  eon ;  as  in  nature,  fea- 
ture, virtue,  righteous,  courteous :  when  s  or  x  precedes,  it  takes  this  sound  before  ia  or  io ;  as 
in  fustian,  bastion,  mixtion.  But  the  general  or  most  usual  sound  of  t  after  the  accent,  when 
followed  by  i  and  an  other  vowel,  is  that  of  sh;  as  in  creation,  patient,  cautious. 

In  English,  t  is  seldom,  if  ever,  silent  or  powerless.  In  depot,  however,  a  word  borrowed 
from  the  French,  we  do  not  sound  it ;  and  in  chestnut,  which  is  a  compound  of  our  own,  it 
is  much  oftener  written  than  heard.  In  often  and  soften,  some  think  it  silent ;  but  it  seems 
rather  to  take  here  the  sound  of/.  In  chasten,  hasten,  fasten,  castle,  nestle,  whistle,  apostle, 
epistle,  bustle,  and  similar  words,  with  their  sundry  derivatives,  the  t  is  said  by  some  to  be 
mute ;  but  here  it  seems  to  take  the  sound  of*;  for,  according  to  the  best  authorities,  this 
sound  is  heard  twice  in  such  words. 

Th,  written  in  Greek  by  the  character  called  Theta,  (0  or  0  capital,  $  or  6  small,) 
represents  an  elementary  sound  ;  or,  rather,  two  distinct  elementary  sounds,  for  which  the 
Anglo-Saxons  had  different  characters,  supposed  by  Dr.  Bosworth  to  have  been  applied 
with  accurate  discrimination  of  "the  hard  or  sharp  sound  of  th,"  from  "  the  soft  or  flat 
sound." — (See  Bosivorth's  Compendious  Anglo-Saxon  Dictionary,  p.  268.)  The  English  th  is 
either  sharp,  as  in  thing,  ethical,  thinketh ;  or  flat,  as  in  this,  whither,  thither. 

"Th  initial  is  sharp  ;  as  in  thought :  except  in  than,  that,  the,  thee,  their,  them,  then,  thence, 
there,  these,  they,  thine,  this,  thither,  those,  thou,  thus,  thy,  and  their  compounds." — W.  Allen's 
Grammar,  p.  22. 

Th  final  is  also  sharp  ;  as  in  south  :  except  in  beneath,  booth,  with,  and  several  verbs  for- 
merly with  th  last,  but  now  frequently  (and  more  properly)  written  with  final  e ;  as  loathey 
mouthe,  seethe,  soothe,  smoothe,  clothe,  wreathe,  begueathe,  unclothe. 

Th  medial  is  sharp,  too,  when  preceded  or  followed  by  a  consonant ;  as  in  Arthur,  ethnic, 
sicarthy,  athwart :  except  in  brethren,  burthen,  farther,  farthing,  murther,  northern,  worthy. 
But  "th  between  two  vowels,  is  generally  flat  in  words  purely  English  ;  as  in  gather,  neither, 
whither :  and  sharp  in  words  from  the  learned  languages  ;  as  in  atheist,  ether,  method." — See 
W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  22. 

"Th,  in  Thames,  Thomas,  thyme,  asthma, phthisis,  and  their  compounds,  is  pronounced  like 
t."— Ib. 

XXI.     OF  THE  LETTER  U. 

The  vowel  ?7has  three  sounds  which  may  be  considered  to  be  properly  its  own  : — 

1.  The  open,  long,  full,  primal,  or  diphthongal  u;  as  in  tube,  cubic,  juvenile. 

2.  The  close,  curt,  short,  or  stopped  u ;  as  in  tub,  butter,  justice,  unhung. 

3.  The  middle  u,  resembling  a  short  or  quick  oo  ;  as  in  pull,  pulpit,  artful. 

U  forming  a  syllable  by  itself,  or  U  as  naming  itself,  is  nearly  equivalent  in  sound  to 
you,  and  requires  the  article  a,  and  not  an,  before  it ;  as,  a  U,  a  union. 

U  sometimes  borrows  the  sound  of  some  other  vowel ;  for  bury  is  pronounced  berry,  and 
busy  is  pronounced  bizzy.  So  in  the  derivatives,  buried,  burial,  busied,  busily,  and  the  like. 

The  long  or  diphthongal  u,  commonly  sounded  as  yu,  or  as  ew  in  eiver, — or  any  equivalent 
diphthong  or  digraph,  as  ue,  ui,  eu,  or  ew, — when  it  follows  r  or  rh,  assumes  the  sound  of 
slender  o  or  oo ;  as  in  rude,  rhubarb,  rue,  rueful,  rheum,  fruit,  truth,  brewer. 

DIPHTHONGS  BEGINNING  WITH  U. 

17,  in  the  proper  diphthongs,  ua,  ite,  ?«',  uo,  uy,  has  the  sound  of  w  or  of  oo  feeble ;  as  in 
persuade,  query,  quell,  quiet,  languid,  quote,  obloquy. 

Ua,  an  improper  diphthong,  has  the  sound — 1.  Of  middle  a;  as  in  guard,  guardian.  2. 
Of  close  a;  as  in  guarantee,  piquant.  3.  Of  obscure  e ;  as  in  victuals  and  its  compounds  or 
kindred.  4.  Of  open  u;  as  in  mantuamaker. 

Ue,  an  improper  diphthong,  has  the  sound — 1.  Of  open  u;  as  in  blue,  ensue,  ague.  2.  Of 
close  e ;  as  in  guest,  guesser.  3.  Of  close  u ;  as  in  leaguer.  Ue  final  is  sometimes  silent;  as 
in  league,  antique. 

Ui,  an  improper  diphthong,  has  the  sound — 1.  Of-open  i ;  as  in  guide,  guile.  2.  Of  close 
i  ;  as  in  conduit,  circuit.  3.  Of  open  u  ;  as  in  juice,  sluice,  suit. 

Uo  can  scarcely  be  called  an  improper  diphthong,  except,  perhaps,  after  q  in  liquor, 
liquorice,  liquorish,  where  uor  is  heard  as  ur. 

Uy,  an  improper  diphthong,  has  the  sound — 1.  Of.  open  y ;  as  in  buy,  buyer.  2.  Of  feeble 
y,  or  of  ee  feeble ;  as  in  plaguy,  roguy. 

TRIPHTHONGS  BEGINNING  WITH  U. 

Uai  is  pronounced  nearly,  if  not  exactly,  like  way  ;  as  in  guai-a-cum,  quail,  quaint.  Uaw 
is  sounded  like  wa  in  water;  as  in  squaw,  a  female  Indian.  Uay  has  the  sound  of  ivay ;  as 


APPENDIX  I. — (ORTHOGRAPHY.) — SOUNDS  OP  LETTERS.  1009 

in  Par-a-guay  :  except  in  quay,  which  nearly  all  our  orthoepists  pronounce  kee.  Uea  and 
uee  are  each  sounded  wee ;  as  in  queasy,  queer,  squeal,  squeeze.  Uoi  and  uoy  are  each  sound- 
ed woi ;  as  in  quoit,  buoy.  Some  say,  that,  as  u,  in  these  combinations,  sounds  like  w,  it  is 
a  consonant ;  others  allege,  that  w  itself  has  only  the  sound  of  oo,  and  is  therefore  in  all  cases 
a  vowel.  U  has,  certainly,  in  these  connexions,  as  much  of  the  sound  of  oo,  as  has  to;  and 
perhaps  a  little  more. 

XXII.     OF  THE  LETTER  V. 

The  consonant  V  always  has  a  sound  like  that  of f  flattened ;  as  in  love,  vulture,  vivtdous. 
It  is  never  silent,  never  final,  never  doubled. 

XXIII.  OF  THE  LETTER  W. 

W,  when  reckoned  a  consonant,  (as  it  usually  is  when  uttered  with  a  vowel  that  follows 
it,)  has  the  sound  heard  at  the  beginning  of  wine,  win,  woman,  woody  ;  being  a  sound  less 
vocal  than  that  of  oo,  and  depending  more  upon  the  lips. 

W  before  h,  is  usually  pronounced  as  if  it  followed  the  h  ;  as  in  what,  when,  where,  while  : 
but,  in  who,  whose,  whom,  whole,  whoop,  and  words  formed  from  these,  it  is  silent.  Before  r, 
in  the  same  syllable,  it  is  also  silent ;  as  in  wrath,  wrench,  wrong.  So  in  a  few  other  cases  ; 
as  in  sword,  answer,  two. 

W  is  never  used  alone  as  a  vmcel;  except  in  some  Welsh  or  foreign  names,  in  which  it  is 
equivalent  to  oo  ;  as  in  "  Cwm  Cothy,"  the  name  of  a  mountain  in  Wales  ;  "  Wkra"  the 
name  of  a  small  river  in  Poland. — See  Lockhart's  Napoleon,  Vol.  ii,  p.  15.  In  a  diphthong, 
when  heard,  it  has  the  power  of  u  in  bull,  or  nearly  that  of  oo ;  as  in  new,  note,  brow,fr  n. 
Aw  and  ow  are  frequently  improper  diphthongs,  the  w  being  silent,  the  a  broad,  and  the  o 
long  ;  as  in  law,  flaw, — tow,  snow.  W,  when  sounded  before  vowels,  being  reckoned  a  con- 
sonant, we  have  no  diphthongs  or  triphthongs  beginning  with  this  letter. 

XXIV.  OF  THE  LETTER  X. 

The  consonant  "  X  has  a  sharp  sound,  like  ks ;  as  in  ox  :  and  a  flat  one,  like  gz  ;  as  in 
example.  X  is  sharp,  when  its  ends  an  accented  syllable  ;  as  in  exercise,  exit,  excellence  :  or" 
when  it  precedes  an  accented  syllable  beginning  with  a  consonant ;  as  in  expand,  extreme, 
expunge.  X  unaccented  is  generally  flat,  when  the  next  syllable  begins  with  a  vowel ;  as 
in  exist,  exemption,  exotic.  X  initial,  in  Greek  proper  names,  has  the  sound  of  z;  as  in 
Xanthus,  Xantippe,  Xenophon,  Xerxes." — See  W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  25. 

XXV.     OF  THE  LETTER  Y. 

Y,  as  a  consonant,  has  the  sound  heard  at  the  beginning  of  yarn,  young,  youth ;  being 
rather  less  vocal  than  the  feeble  sound  of  i,  or  of  the  vowel  y,  and  serving  merely  to  modify 
that  of  a  succeeding  vowel,  with  which  it  is  quickly  united.  F,  as  a  vowel,  has  the  same 
sounds  as  i : — 

1.  The  open,  long,  full,  or  primal  y ;  as  in  cry,  crying,  thyme,  cycle. 

2.  The  close,  curt,  short,  or  stopped  y ;  as  in  system,  symptom,  cynic. 

3.  The  feeble  or  faint  y,  accentless  ;  (like  open  e  feeble  ;)  as  in  cymar,  cycloidal,  mercy. 
The  vowels  i  and  y  have,  in  general,  exactly  the  same  sound  under  similar  circumstances 

and,  in  forming  derivatives,  we  often  change  one  for  the  other  :  as  in  city,  cities;  tie,  tying 
easy,  easi/y. 

Y,  before  a  vowel  heard  in  the  same  syllable,  is  reckoned  a  consonant ;  we  have,  there- 
fore, no  diphthongs  or  triphthongs  commencing  with  this  letter. 

XXVI.    OF  THE  LETTER  Z. 

The  consonant  Z,  the  last  letter  of  our  alphabet,  has  usually  a  soft  or  buzzing  sound,  the 
same  as  that  of  sflat;  as  in  '/.<  /«>,  zenith,  breeze,  dizzy.  Before  u  primal  or  i  feeble,  z,  as  well 
as  sflat,  sometimes  takes  the  sound  of  zA,  which,  in  the  enumeration  of  consonantal  sounds, 
is  reckoned  a  distinct  element ;  as  in  azure,  seizure,  glazier ;  osier,  measure,  pleasure. 

END   OP   THE   FIRST   APPENDIX. 


73 


APPENDIX  II. 
TO  PART  SECOND,  OR  ETYMOLOGY. 

OF  THE  DERIVATION  OF  WORDS. 

Derivation,  as  a  topic  to  be  treated  by  the  grammarian,  is  a  species  of  Etymology,  wine 
explains  the  various  methods  by  which  those  derivative  words  which  are  not  formed  by 
mere  grammatical  inflections,  are  deduced  fiom  their  primitives.  Most  of  those  words 
which  are  regarded  as  primitives  in  English,  may  be  traced  to  ulterior  sources,  and  many 
,of  them  are  found  to  be  compounds  or  derivatives  in  the  other  languages  from  which  they 
Lave  come  to  us.  To  show  the  composition,  origin,  and  literal  sense  of  these,  is  also  apart, 
and  a  highly  useful  part,  of  this  general  inquiry,  or  theme  of  instruction. 

This  species  of  information,  though  insignificant  in  those  whose  studies  reach  to  nothing 
better, — to  nothing  valuable  and  available  in  life, — is  nevertheless  essential  to  education 
and  to  science  ;  because  it  is  essential  to  a  right  understanding  of  the  import  and  just  ap- 
plication of  such  words.  All  reliable  etymology,  all  authentic  derivation  of  words,  has 
ever  been  .highly  valued  by  the  wise.  The  learned  James  Harris  has  a  remark  as  follows  : 
"  How  useful  to  ETHIC  SCIENCE,  and  indeed  to  KNOWLEDGE  in  general,  a  GRAMMATICAL  DIS- 
QUISITION into  the  Etymology  and  Meaning  of  WORDS  was  esteemed  by  the  chief  and  ablest 
Philosophers,  may  be  seen  by  consulting  Plato  in  his  Cratylus ;  Xenophon's  Memorabilia,  IV, 
5,  6  ;  Arrian.  Epict.  I,  17  ;  II,  10  ;  Marc.  Anton.  Ill,  11  ;  "  &c. — See  Harris's  Hermes,  p.  407. 

A  knowledge  of  the  Saxon,  Latin,  Greek,  and  French  languages,  will  throw  much  light 
on  this  subject,  the  derivation  of  our  modern  English;  nor  is  it  a  weak  argument  in  favour 
of  studying  these,  that  our  acquaintance  with  them,  whether  deep  or  slight,  tends  to  a  bet- 
ter understanding  of  what  is  borrowed,  and  what  is  vernacular,  in  our  own  tongue.  But 
etymological  analysis  may  extensively  teach  the  origin  of  English  words,  their  composition, 
and  the  import  of  their  parts,  without  demanding  of  the  student  the  power  of  reading 
foreign  or  ancient  languages,  or  of  discoursing  at  all  on  General  Grammar.  And,  since 
many  of  the  users  of  this  work  may  be  but  readers  of  our  current  English,  to  whom  an  un- 
known letter  or  a  ff  eeign  word  is  a  particularly  uncouth  and  repulsive  thing,  we  shall  here 
forbear  the  use  of  Saxon  characters,  and,  in  our  explanations,  not  go  beyond  the  precincts 
of  our  own  languagr,  except  to  show  the  origin  and  primitive  import  of  some  of  our  defin- 
itive and  connecting  particles,  and  to  explain  the  prefixes  and  terminations  which  are  fre- 
quently employed  to  form  English  derivatives. 

The  rude  and  cursory  languages  of  barbarous  nations,  to  whom  literature  is  unknown,  are 
among  those  transitory  things  which,  by  the  hand  of  time,  are  irrecoverably  buried  in  ob- 
livion. The  fabric  of  the  English  language  is  undoubtedly  of  Saxon  origin  ;  but  what  was 
the  particular  form  of  the  language  spoken  by  the  Saxons,  when  about  the  year  450  they 
entered  Britain,  cannot  now  he  accurately  known.  It  was  probably  a  dialect  of  the  Gothic 
or  Teutonic.  This  Anglo-Saxon  dialect,  being  the  nucleus,  received  large  accessions  from 
other  tongues  of  the  north,  from  the  Norman  French,  and  from  the  more  polished  languages 
of  Rome  and  Greece,  to  form  the  modern  English.  The  speech  of  our  rude  and  warlike  an- 
cestors thus  gradually  improved,  as  Christianity,  civilization,  and  knowledge,  advanced  the 
arts  of  life  in  Britain;  and,  as  early  as  the  tenth  cemury,  it  became  a  language  capable  of 
expressing  all  the  sentiments  of  a  civilized  people.  From  the  time  of  Al  red,  its  progress 
may  be  traced  by  means  of  writings  which  remain  ;  but  it  can  scarcely  be  called  English, 
as  I  have  shown  in  the  Introduction  to  this  work,  till  about  the  thirteenth  century.  And 
for  two  or  three  centuries  later,  it  was  so  different  from  the  modem  English,  as  to  be 
scarcely  intelligible  at  all  to  the  mere  English  reader ;  but,  gradually  improving  bv  means 
upon  which  we  need  not  here  dilate,  it  at  length  became  what  we  now  find  it,  a  language 
copious,  strong,  refined,  impressive,  and  capable,  if  properly  Tiscd,  of  a  great  degree  of 
beauty  and  harmony. 

SECTION  I.— DERIVATION  OF  THE  ARTICLES. 

1.  For  the  derivation  of  our  article  THE,  which  he  calls  "  an  adjective"  Dr.  Webster  was 
satisfied  with  giving  this  hint:  "  SHX.  the  ;  Dutch,  de." — Am>-r.  Diet.  According  to  Home 
Tooke,  this  definite  article  of  ours,  is  the  S^xon  verb  %'THK,"  imperative,  from  THEAN,  to 
take;  and  is  nearly  equivalent  in  meaning  to  that  or  those,  because  our  that  is  "the  past 


APPENDIX  ii. — (ETYMOLOGY.) — DERIVATION  OF  WORDS.  1011 

participle  of  THKAX,"  and  "means  taken."— Diversions  of  Purify,  Vol.  ii,  p.  40.  But  this  is 
not  very  satisf  ictory.  Examining  ancient  works,  we  find  the  word,  or  something  resem- 
bling it,,  or  akin  to  it,  written  in  various  forms,  as  .?<•,  see,  ye,  te,  rh-,  th<>,  thd,  and  others  that 
cannoc  be  shown  by  our  modern  letters  ;  and,  tracing  it  as  one  article,  or  one  and  the  same 
•word,  through  what  we  suppose  to  be  the  oldest  of  the«e  forms,  in  stead  of  accounting  the 
forms  a-<  siurns  of  different  roots,  we  should  sooner  regard  it  as  originating  in  the  imperative 
of  SKO.V,  to  see. 

L'.  A.v,  our  indefinite  article,  is  the  Saxon  &n,  ane,  an,  ONE  ;  and,  by  dropping  n  before  a 
conso.iant,  becomes  a.  G-iwin  Douglas,  an  ancient  English  writer,  wrote  ane,  even  before 
a  consonant ;  as,  "Ane  book," — "Ane  lang  spere," — ".4/te  volume." 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS    1.—  The  words  of  Torke,  concerning  the  derivation  of  That  and  T)ie,  as  nearlv  as  they  can  be  prlven  In 
ourl.t  :   "TKATUM-  -  i\.,ii  Tha?t,  1.  c.  Theail,  Theat>  means  taten,  atsumect;  being  in.  -n-l/ 

f  the  Aiulo-Saxoi,  verbThean,  Thcgan,  Thion,  Thlhan,  Thicgan,  Thigian  ;  sumere,  assumere, 
nil-:,  to  get,  to  (ate,  to  asxutne. 

'  111  imne  he  TIIK  That  caused  mo 

To  make  myselfe  a  frere.'— 8tr  T.  Afore" s  Wortes,  pay  4. 

.<  it  is  called;  N  the  imperative  .  •  rt  Tln-aii  :   wlij..-li   may  verv  well  Huppl.v  the 

ndent  Anglo-Saxon  article  8e,  which  lathe  Imperative  of  Seon,  vi.iere  :  for  it  ans\\ 
same  ;i  .  to  say  ...  see  man,  or  late  man."— Diversion*  \  •>[    ii,  p.  49. 

OBS    -2.   -Now,  h.'tween  T/i'ft  :in>\  rtea/.  there  1*  a  considerable  difference  of  form,  for  as  and  ea  are  not  the 
!.  in  tin-  iil''iitilVum  ofso  m;inv  infinitive-;,  a-*  f  >nnin::  1>  it  one  ver!>,  then-  i-t  room  lor  rirxr. 
•.  .1.-  tint  these  are  tr  iU-  on*  r.>,,t.  a-  tlutt  ourarti  -I,-  Th,-  is  the  same,  in  its  origin,  a-«  the  old 
Anglo-Saxon  5*.     Dr.  Bosworth,  in  hii  narr,  gives  no  such  word 

siu-li  i  ,  :t<l  or  T/teut,  which  derivative-  H  pcrh.ii>-;  ima^inarv  ;    but  he  baa  inserted    tnui-tlicr  '*  Thlc- 

gan,  thicgear.,  thigan,  to  receive,  or  take;''1  ant,  separately.     "Tlu'im,   to  thrive,  or  flourish,"— "  Thihan,  to 

'i'jurifih;"  as  well  as  the  preterit   "Tlieat,   h<i>c Inl,"  fr.nu  "  Theotan,  to  huicl."   And 

•  jilain.  th  it  the  old  verl)  '•  TIIK."  a-*  use. I  i>\    \lure.  is  from  Theon,  to  thrive,  rather  than  from  Thicgan, 

"  Hi  in  it>'  I):-  TIIK  " --'•  III  mi-tit  he  thrire,"   not.  "  III  ifli.'ht  lie  tui-e." 

••'I'lie  wont  tli?  was  originally  tliun-t,  or  t/iut.     In  course  of  time  f,]  it  be- 
:i  I  the  short  form  a  ••{  lin-il,  in  usa^i-.  a  >h.i'!e  of  meaning  'litl'ercnt  from  the  original  ]• 
Tlwt  is  ilemnnstrativi-  wit'  without   empli-i1*!'*."  — //' 

lite  improbable  ;  because  th«  rthortetting  of  a  mono*yllAble  of  five  letters  by  striking 

oat  the  third  and  the  fifth.  Is  no  lu  abbreviation.    Bwworth's  Dictionary  explains  TIIK  as  "An  in- 

t  for  all  Hi.'  ,-a-e-  t,  especially  in  adverbial  expressions  and  in  corrupt 

-  ixon,  o-s  in  the  Chronicle  after  the  year  LU8." 

SECTION  II.  —  DERIVATION  OF  NOUNS. 

In  En'jU-ihi  Nouns  are  derived  from  nouns,  from  adjectives,  from  verbs,  or  from  par- 
ticiples. 

I.     Xouns  are  derived  from  Xouns  in  several  different  ways  : — 

1.  liy  the  adding  of  ship,  d')in,  ric,  icick,  or,  ate,  hood,  or  head :  as,  fellow,  fellowship  ;  king, 

,  ''ii*]i:>))rii- ;    btiilijf,  or  baity,  bailiicick ;    senate,  senator;  tetrarch,  tetrarchate; 
chtl-!.  These  generally  denote  dominion,  office,  or  character. 

2.  Hy  the  adding  of  iun:    as,  music,  musician;    physic,  physician ;    theology,  theologian; 
gram  M;  college,  c<tlU •///«//.     Thi-se  generally  denote  profession. 

3.  By  the  adding  of  y,  ry,  or  cry  :  as,  grocer,  grocery ;  cutler,  cutlery ;  slave,  slavery ;  scene, 

•lery.     These  sometimes  denote  btate  or  habit  ;  sometimes,  an  artificer's 

4.  By  the  adding  of  age  or  a<U  :    as,  patron,  patronage;  porter,  porterage;  band,  bandage; 
lemon.  rt\  icharfage ;  vassal,  vassalage. 

5.  By  the  adding  of  kin,  It,  L  ;iS  In t/i'i,  Itun !>!;iu  ;  ring,  ringlet ;  cro$$, 
crossli                                ';  hill,  hil!»-l; ;  run,  run  in-/;  OOQ  .  ,'nl->l,  jiistolet ;  eagle,  eaglet ; 

Ml  these  denote  little  things,  and  are  calk-d  diminutives. 

6.  By  the  adding  of  M* :  as,  psalm,  psalmist ;    botany,  botanist ;  dial,  <li<tnst ;  journal,  jour- 
n/i//V.  lenotc  persons  devoied  to,  or  skilled  in,  the   subject  expressed  by  the 
prinu 

7.  H\  the  ,  r.'lixing  of  an  adjective,  or  an  other  noun,  so  as  to  form  a  compound  word: 
as,/o  ,   hillside,  seaside;  bear-berry,  bear-Jlyt 

;r,  bear's- foot,  goafs-beard. 

8.  By   the  adoption    of  prefix   to  reverse  the  meaning:  as,  order,  disorder; 

c,nonobservance; 
•fh,  untru!1  .  tint. 

9.  By  the  use  of  the  prefix  00  ., nst  or  opposite  :  as,  attraction,  counter- 
attraction;  bum'.                                          .  .',  coun(<r-> 

10.  l*y  the  addition  of  r.-s.s,  ix,  or  inc.  or  the  e:  I   masculines  to  femiuiues  so  ter- 
minating :  :i<,   '•      •                  .                                  .   abbot,  abbess  ;  governor,  governess;  testator, 
testatrt 

11.  N  >uaa  are  derived  fr-  .  several  different  ways  :  — 

1.  By  the  adding  of  //>•<.«,  ity,  sliiji,  ilom,  or  lio.xl :  as,  good,  goodness;  real,  reality  ;  hard, 
hards! i 

2.  By  the  changing  Of  t  into  ce  or  cy  :  as,  rmliunt,  radiance ;  consequent,  consequence;  fia- 
grant,  ji'ijran    i  ;   CUfTt  "<'y. 

3.  By  the  changing  of*  some  of  the  letters,  and  the  adding  v^  t  or          as,      ng,   length; 


1012  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 

broad,  breadth;  wide,  width;  high,  height.    The  nouns  included  under  these  three  hei 
generally  denote  abstract  qualities,  and  are  called  abstract  nouns. 

4.  By  the  adding  of  ard :  as,  drunk,  drunkard ;  dull,  dullard.     These  denote  ill  character. 

5.  By  the  adding  of  ist :  as,,  sensual,  sensualist;  separate,  separatist;  royal,  royalist ;  fatal, 
fatalist.    These  denote  persons  devoted,  addicted,  or  attached,  to  something. 

6.  By  the  adding  of  a,  the  Latin  ending  of  neuter  plurals,  to  certain  proper  adjectives  in 
an :  as,  Miltonian,  Miltoniana ;  Johnsonian,  Johnsoniana.     These  literally  mean,  Miltonian 
things,  sayings,  or  anecdotes,  &c. ;  and  are  words  somewhat  fashionable  with  the  journalists, 
and  are  sometimes  used  for  titles  of  books  that  refer  to  table-talk. 

III.  Nouns  are  derived  from  Verbs  in  several  different  ways  : — 

1.  By  the  adding  of  ment,  ance,  ence,  ure,  or  age  :  as, punish,  punishment;  abate,  abatement; 
ripent,  repentance;    condole,  condolence;  forfeit,  forfeiture ;   stow,  stowage;    equip,  equipage; 
truck,  truckage. 

2.  By  a  change  of  the  termination  of  the  verb,  into  se,  ce,  sion,  tion,  ation,  or  ition ;  as,  ex- 
pand, expanse,  expansion ;  pretend,  pretence,  pretension  ;    invent,   invention ;    create,  creation  ; 
omit,  omission;  provide,  provision;    reform,  reformation;   oppose,  opposition.     These  denote 
either  the  act  of  doing  or  the  thing  done. 

3.  By  the  adding*  of  er  or  or :  as,  hunt,  hunter ;  write,  writer ;  collect,  collector ;  assert,  as- 
sertor ;  instruct,  instructer,  or  instructor.     These  generally  denote  the  doer.     To  denote  the 
person  to  whom  something  is  done,  we  sometimes  form  a  derivative  ending  in  ee :  as,  prom- 
isee, mortgagee,  appellee,  consignee. 

4.  Nouns  and  Verbs  are  sometimes  alike  in  orthography,  but  different  in  pronunciation : 
as,  a  house,  to  house ;  a  use,  to  use ;  a  reb'el,  to  rebel1 ;  a  rec'ord,  to  record' ;  a  cem'ent,  to  ce- 
ment'.    Of  such  pairs,  it  may 'often  be  difficult  to  say  which  word  is  the  primitive. 

5.  In  many  instances,  nouns  and  verbs  are  wholly  alike  as  to  form  and  sound,  and  are 
distinguished  by  their  sense  and  construction  only :  as,  love,  to  love;  fear,  to  fear ;  sleep,  to 
sleep ; — to  revise,  a  revise ;   to  rebuke,  a  rebuke.     In  these,  we  have  but  the  same  word  used 
differently. 

IV.  Nouns  are  often  derived  from  Participles  in  ing ;    as,  a  meeting,  the  understanding, 
murmurings,  disputings,  sayings,  and  doings :  and,  occasionally,  one  is  formed  from  such  a 
word  and  an  adverb  or  a  perfect  participle  joined  with  it ;  as,  "The  turning -away," — "  His 
goings-forth," — "  Your  having -boasted  of  it." 

SECTION  III.  — DERIVATION  OF  ADJECTIVES. 

In  English,  Adjectives  are  derived  from  nouns,  from  adjectives,  from  verbs,  or  from 
participles. 

I.     Adjectives  are  derived  from  Nouns  in  several  different  ways  : — 

1.  By  the  adding  of  ous,  ious,  eous,  y,  ey,  ic,  al,  ical,  or  ine :  (sometimes  with  an  omission 
or  change  of  some  of  the  final  letters  :)  as,  danger,  dangerous ;  glory,  glorious ;  right,  righteous ; 
rock,  rocky ;  clay,  clayey ;  poet,  poetic,  or  poetical ;   nation,  national ;  method,  methodical ;  ver- 
tex, vertical ;  clergy,  clerical;  adamant,  adamantine.     Adjectives  thus  formed,  generally  ap- 
ply the  properties  of  their  primitives,  to  the  nouns  to  which  they  relate. 

2.  By  the  adding  of  ful:  as,  fear,  fearful;  cheer,  cheerful ;  grace,  graceful;  shame,  shame- 
ful ;  power,  powerful.    These  come  almost  entirely  from  personal  qualities  or  feelings,  and 
denote  abundance. 

3.  By  the  adding  of  some  :  as,  burden,  burdensome ;  game,  gamesome ;  toil,  toilsome.     These 
denote  plenty,  but  do  not  exaggerate. 

4.  By  the  adding  of  en:  as,  oak,  oaken;  silk,  silken;  wheat,  wheaten ;  oat,  oaten;  hemp, 
hempen.     Here  the  derivative  denotes  the  matter  of  which  something  is  made. 

5.  By  the  adding  of  ly  or  ish  :  as,  friend,  friendly  ;  gentleman,  gentlemanly ;  child,  childish  ; 
prude,  prudish.     These  denote  resemblance.     The  termination  ly  signifies  like. 

6.  By  the  adding  of  able  or  ible :  as,  fashion,  fashionable ;   access,  accessible.     But  these 
terminations  are  generally,  and  more  properly,  added  to  verbs.     See  Obs.  17th,  18th,  &c., 
on  the  Rules  for  Spelling. 

7.  By  the  adding  of  less  :  as,  house,  houseless ;  death,  deathless;  sleep,  sleepless ;  bottom,  bot- 
tomless.    These  denote  privation  or  exemption — the  absence  of  what  is  named  by  the 
primitive. 

8.  By  the  adding  of  ed:  as,  saint,  sainted ;  bigot,  bigoted ;  mast,  masted ;  wit,  witted.   These 
have  a  resemblance  to  participles,  and  some  of  them  are  rarely  used,  except  when  joined 
with  some  other  word  to  form  a  compound  adjective :  as,  three-sided,  bare-footed,  long-eared, 
hundred-handed,  fiat-nosed,  hard-hearted,  marble-hearted,  chicken-hearted. 

9.  Adjectives  coming  from  proper  names,  take  various  terminations  :  as,  America,  Ameri- 
can ;  England,  English ;  Dane,  Danish ;  Portugal,  Portuguese ;   Plato,  Platonic. 

10.  Nouns  are  often  converted  into  adjectives,  without  change  of  termination:  as,  paper 
currency  ;  a  gold  chain ;  silver  knee-buckles. 

11.  Adjectives  are  derived  from  Adjectives  in  several  different  wa^s  : — 

1.  By  the  adding  of  ish  or  some  :  as,  white,  whitish  ;  green,  greenish ;  lone,  lonesome ;  glad, 
gladsome.    These  denote  quality  with  some  dimunition. 


APPENDIX  ii. — (ETYMOLOGY.) — DERIVATION  OF  WORDS.  1013 

2.  By  the  prefixing  of  dis,  in,  or  un  :  as,  honest,  dishonest ;  consistent,  inconsistent ;  wise,  un- 
wise.    These  express  a  negation  of  the  quality  denoted  by  their  primitives. 

3.  By  the  adding  of  y  or  ly  :  as,  stcarth,  swarthy  ;  good,  goodly.    Of  these  there  are  but  few ; 
for  almost  all  derivatives  of  the  latter  form  are  adverbs. 

III.  Adjectives  are  derived  from  Verbs  in  several  different  ways  : — 

1.  By  the  adding  of  able  or  ible :  (sometimes  with  a  change  of  some  of  the  final  letters  :) 
as,  perish,  perishable  ;  vary,  variable  ;  convert,  conrcrtib!*  .•'••/.«/>/<>,  or  diridnble.    These, 
according  to  their   analogy,  have  usually  a  passive  import,  and  denote  susceptibility  of 
receiving  action. 

2.  By  the  adding  of  ive  or  ory  :  (sometimes  with  a  change  of  some  of  the  final  letters  :) 
as,    elect,   elective ;    interrogate,    interrogative,    interrogatory ;    defend,    defensive ;    defame,   de- 
famatory;  explain,  explanatory. 

3.  \Vords  ending  in  ate,  are  mostly  verbs ;  but  some  of  them  may  be  employed  as  adjec- 
tives, in  the  same  form,  especially  in  poetry;  as,  reprobate,  complirntr. 

IV.  Adjectives  are  derived  from  Participles,  not  by  suffixes,  but  in  these  ways  : — 

1.  By  the  prefixing  of  un,  meaning  not ;  as,  unyielding,  unregarded,  undeserved,  unendowed, 
unendeared,  unendorsed,  unencountered,  unencumbered,  undisheartened,  undishonoured.     Of  this 
sort  there  are  very  many. 

2.  By  a  combining  of  the  participle  with  some  word  which  does  not  belong  to  the  verb ; 
as,  way -faring,  hoUow-sounding,  long-drawn,  deep-laid,  dear -purchased,  down-trodden.     These, 
too,  are  numerous. 

3.  Participles  often  become  adjectives  without  change  of  form.     Such  adjectives  are  dis- 
tinguished from  participles  by  their  construction  alone :  as,  "A  lasting  ornament ;  " — "  The 
starving  chymist ;  " — "  Words  of  learned  length ;  " — "  With  counterfeited  glee." 

SECTION  IV.  — DERIVATION   OF  THE  PRONOUNS. 

I.  The  English  Pronouns  are  all  of  Saxon  origin ;  but,  in  them,  our  language  differs  very 
strikingly  from  that  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  The  following  table  compares  the  simple  per- 
sonal forms : — 

Eng.  I,         My    or  Mine,  Me ;         We,  Our  or  Ours,  Us. 

Sax.   Ic,  Min,    Me  or  Mec ;        We,  Ure  or  User,  Us. 

Eng.  Thou,  Thy  or  Thine,  Thee;      Ye,  Your  or  Yours,  You. 

Sax.   Thu,  Thin,  The  or  Thee;       Ge,  Eower,  EoworEowic. 

Eng.  He,  His,  Him;       They,  Their  or  Theirs,  Them. 

Sax.   He,       His    or  Hys,  Him  or  Hine ;       Hi   or  Hig,  Hira  or  Heora,  Heom  or    Hi. 

Eng.  She,     Her    or  Hers,  Her ;        They,  Their  or  Theirs,  Them. 

Sax.   Heo,     Hire  or  Hyre,  Hi ;  Hi  or  Hig,  Hira  or  Heora,  Heom  or    Hi. 

Eng.  It,  Its,  It ;  They,  Their  or  Theirs,  Them. 

Sax.   Hit,     His    or  Hys,  Hit ;          Hi  or  Hig,   Hira  or  Heora,  Heom  or    Hi. 

Here,  as  in  the  personal  pronouns  of  other  languages,  the  plurals  and  oblique  cases  do 
not  all  appear  to  be  regular  derivatives  from  the  nominative  singular.  Many  of  these  pro- 
nouns, perhaps  all,  as  well  as  a  vast  number  of  other  words  of  frequent  use  in  our  language, 
and  in  that  from  which  it  chiefly  comes,  were  very  variously  written  by  the  Middle  English, 
Old  English,  Semi-Saxon,  and  Anglo-Saxon  authors.  He  who  traces  the  history  of  our 
language,  will  meet  with  them  under  all  the  following  forms,  (or  such  as  these  would  be 
•with  Saxon  characters  for  the  Saxon  forms,)  and  perhaps  in  more  : — 

1.  I,  J,  Y,  y,  i,  ic,  che,  ich,  Ic; — MY,  mi,  min,  MINE,  myne,  myn; — ME,  mee,  me,  meh, 
mec,  mech  : — WE,  wee,  ve ; — OUR  or  OURS,  oure,  ure,  user,  usse,  usser,  usses,  ussum  ; — Us, 
ous,  vs,  uss,  usic,  usich,  usig,  usih. 

2.  THOU,  thoue,  thow,  thowe,  thu  ; — THY  or  THINE,  thi,  thyne,  thyn,  thin  ; — THEE,  the, 
theh,  thec  : — YE,  yee,  ze,  zee,  ge  ; — Yoru  or  Youiis,  youre,  zour,  gour,  goure,  cower ; — You, 
youe,  yow,  gou,  zou,  ou,  iu,  iuh,  eow,  iow,  geo\v,  eowih,  cowic,  iowih. 

3.  HE,  hee,  se  ;— His,  hise,  is,  hys,  vs.  hyse  ;— HIM,  hine,  hen,  hyne,  hym,  im  : — THKY, 
thay,  thei,  the,  tha,  thai,  thii,  yai,  hi,  hie,  heo,  hig,  hyg,  hy  ; — THEIH  or  THEIRS,  ther,  theyr, 
theyrs,  thair,  thare,  theora,  hare,  here,  her,  hire,  hira,  hiora,  hiera,  heora,  hyra ; — THEM, 
theym,  thaym,  thaim,  thame,  tham,  em,  hem,  heom,  hom,  him,  hi,  hig. 

4.  SHE,  shoe,  sche,  scho,  sho,  scae,  seo,  heo,  hio,  hiu  ; — HER,  (possessive,)  hur,  hir,  hire, 
hyr,  hyre,  hyra,  hera; — HER,  (objective,)  hire,  hyre,  hir,  hi.     The  plural  forms  of  this 
feminine  pronoun  are  like  those  of  the  mainline  He  ;  but  the  "  If  "/•//-  II  V.v/u  r.s  to  Knowledge," 
in  their  small  Grammar,  (erroneously,  as  I  suppose,)  make  hira  masculine  only,  and  heora 
feminine  only.  See  their  Princip^s  <>f  Cnunmar,  p.  38. 

5.  IT,  yt,  itt,  hit,  hyt,  hyt.      The  possessive  It*  is  a  modern  derivative  ;  His  or  Hys  was 
formerly  used  in  lieu  of  it."    The  plural  forms  of  this  neuter  pronoun,  It,  are  like  those  of  He 
and  She.     According  to  Home  Tooke,  who  declares  hcrt  to  have  been  one  of  its  ancient  forms, 
•'  this  pronoun  was  merely  the  past  participle  ot  the  verb  H.VITAN,  hfrtan,  nominate,"  to  name, 
and  literally  signifies  "  the  said;  "  (l)iceniona  of  Purify,  Vol.  ii,  p.  4(>  ;    \\\  Allen's  Gram.  p. 
57  ;)  but  Dr.  Alexander  Murray,  exhibiting  it  in  an  other  form,  not  adapted  to  this  opinion, 


1014  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 

makes  it  the  neuter  of  a  declinable  adjective,  or  pronoun,  inflected  from  the  masculine, 
thus  :  "  He,  heo  hita,  this." — Hist,  of  Lang.  Vol.  i,  p.  315. 

II.  The  relatives  are  derived  from  the  same  source,  the  Anglo-Saxon  tongue,  and  have 
passed  through  similar  changes,  or  varieties  in  orthography.  They  have  been  found  in  all 
the  following  forms  : — 

1.  WHO,  ho,  wha,  hwa,  hua,  wua,  qua,   quha ; — WHOSE,  who's,   whos,   quhois,  quhais, 
quhase,  hwaes; — WHOM,  whome,  quhum,  quhome,  hwom,  hwam,  hwscm,  hwaene,  hwone. 

2.  WHICH,  whiche,  whyche,  whilch,  wych,  quilch,  quilk,  quhilk,  hwilc,   hwylc,   hwelc, 
whilk,  huilic,  hvilc.     For  the  Anglo-Saxon  forms,  Dr.  Bosworth's  Dictionary  gives  "  hwilc, 
hwylc,  and  hwelc  ;  "  but  Professor  Fowler's  E.  Grammar  makes  them  "  huilic  and  hvilc" — 
See  p.  240.     Whilk  is  a  Scotch  form. 

3.  WHAT,  hwat,  hwet,  quhat,  hwret.     This  pronoun,  whether  relative  or  interrogative, 
is  regarded  by  Bosworth  and  others  as  a  neuter  derivative  from  the  masculine  or  feminine 
hwa,  who.     It  may  have  been  thence  derived,  but,  in  modern  English,  it  is  not  always  of 
the  neuter  gender.     See  the  last  note  on  page  297. 

4.  THAT,  Anglo-Saxon  Thset.     Tooke's  notion  of  the  derivation  of  this  word  is  noticed 
above  in  the  section  on  Articles.     There  is  no  certainty  of  its  truth ;  and  our  lexicographers 
make  no  allusion  to  it.     W.  Allen  reaffirms  it.     See  his  Gram.  p.  54. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1.— In  the  Well-Wishers'  Grammar,  (p.  30,)  as  also  in  L.  Murray's  and  some  others,  the  pronoun  Which 
is  very  strangely  and  erroneously  represented  as  being  always  "  of  the  muter  gender."  (See  what  is  said  of  this 
•word  in  the  Introduction,  Chap,  ix,  If  32.)  Whereas  it  is  the  relative  most  generally  applied  to  brute  animals, 
and,  in  our  common  version  of  the  Bible,  its  application  to  persons  is  peculiarly  frequent.  Fowler  says,  "In 
its  origin  it  is  a  Compound."— A1.  Gram.  p.  240.  Taking  its  first  Anglo-Saxon  form  to  be  "Huilic,"  he  thinks 
it  traceable  to  "  tiwa,  who,"  or  its  "  ablative  tor,"  and  "We,  like." — Ib.  If  this  is  right,  the  neuter  sense  is 
not  its  primitive  import,  or  any  part  of  it. 

OBS.  2.— From  its  various  uses,  the  word  That  is  called  sometimes  a  pronoun,  sometimes  an  adjective,  and 
sometimes  a  conjunction  ;  but,  in  respect  to  derivation,  it  is,  doubtless,  one  and  the  same.  As  a  relative  pro- 
noun, it  is  of  either  number,  and  has  no  plural  form  different  from  the  singular  ;  as,  "Blessed  is  the  man  that 
heareth  me."— frov.  viii,  34.  "  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn."— Matt,  v,  4.  Asan  adjective,  it  is  said  by  Tooke 
to  have  been  formerly  "  applied  indifferently  to  plural  nouns  and  to  singular  ;  as,  '  Into  tliut  holv  ordres.'— Dr. 
Martin.  'At  that  dayes. '— Id.  ^That  euyll  aungels  the  deuilles.'— Sir  Tho.  More.  'This  pleasure  undoubtedly 
farre  excelleth  all  that  pleasures  that  in  this  life  maie  be  obteined.'— Id."— inversions  ojPurtry,  Vol.  ii,  pp.  47 
and  48.  The  introduction  of  the  plural  form  those,  must  have  rendered  this  usage  bad  English. 

SECTION  V.  —  DERIVATION  OF  VERBS. 

In  English,  Verbs  are  derived  from  nouns,  from  adjectives,  or  from  verbs. 
I.     Verbs  are  derived  from  Nouns  in  the  following  different  ways  : — 

1.  By  the  adding  of  ize,  ise,  en,  or  ate  :  as,  author,  authorize ;  critic,  criticise  ;  length,  lengthen ; 
origin,  originate.     The  termination  ize  is  of  Greek  origin,  and  ise  is  most  probably  of  French  : 
the  former  is  generally  preferable  in  forming  English  derivatives ;  but  both  are  sometimes 
to  be  used,  and  they  should  be  applied  according  to  Rule  13th  for  Spelling. 

2.  Some  few  verbs  are  derived  from  nouns  by  the  changing  of  a  sharp  or  hard  consonant 
to  a  flat  or  soft  one,  or  by  the  adding  of  a  mute  e,  to  soften  a  hard  sound  :  as,  advice,  advise  ; 
price,  prize;  bath,   bathe;  cloth,   clothe;  breath,    breathe;  wreath,   wreathe;  sheath,    sheathe; 
grass,  graze. 

II.  Verbs  are  derived  from  Adjectives  in  the  following  different  ways : — 

1.  By  the  adding  of  ize  or  en:  as,  legal,   legalize;  immortal,  immortalize;  civil,  civilize; 
human,  humanize ;  familiar,  familiarize ;  particular,  particularize ;  deaf,  deafen;  stiff,  stiffen ; 
rough,  roughen ;  deep,  deepen  ;  weak,  weaken. 

2.  Many  adjectives  become  verbs  by  being  merely  used  and  inflected  as  verbs  :  as,  warm, 
to  warm,  he  warms ;  dry,  to  dry,  he  dries  ;  dull,  to  dull,  he  dulls ;  slack,  to  slack,  he   slacks  ; 

forward,  to  forward,  he  forwards. 

III.  Verbs  are  derived  from  Verbs  in  the  following  modes,  or  ways : — 

1.  Bv  the  prefixing  of  dis  or  un  to  reverse  the  meaning  :  as,  please,  displease ;  qualify,  dis- 
qualify ;  organize,  disorganize ;  fasten,  unfasten  ;  muzzle,  unmuzzle  ;  nerve,  unnerve. 

2.  By  the  prefixing  of  a,  be,  for,  fore,  mis,  over,  out,  under,  up,  or  with :  as,   rise,   arise; 
sprinkle,  besprinkle ;  bid,  forbid ;  see,  foresee ;  take,   mistake  ;  look,  overlook ;  run,  outrun  ;  go, 
undergo  ;  hold,  uphold ;  draw,  withdraw. 

SECTION  VI.  —  DERIVATION  OF  PARTICIPLES. 

All  English  Participles  are  derived  from  English  verbs,  in  the  manner  explained  in  Chap- 
ter 7th,  under  the  general  head  of  Etymology  ;  and  when  foreign  participles  are  intro- 
duced into  our  language,  they  are  not  participles  with  us,  but  belong  to  some  other  class  of 
words,  or  part  of  speech. 

SECTION  VII.  —  DERIVATION  OF  ADVERBS. 

1.  In  English,  many  Adverbs  are  derived  from  adjectives  by  the  addition  of  ly ;  which 
is  an  abbreviation  for  like,  and  which,  though  the  addition  of  it  to  a  noun  forms  an  adjec- 
tive, is  the  most  distinctive  as  well  as  the  most  common  termination  of  our  adverbs :  as, 


APPENDIX  ii. — (ETYMOLOGY.) — DERIVATION  OF  WORDS.  1015 

candid,  candidly  ;  sordid,  sordidly ;  presumptuous,  presumptuously.     Most   adverbs  of  manner 
are  thus  formed. 

'2.  Many  adverbs  are  compounds  formed  from  two  or  more  English  words;  as,  /< 

,  t<>- fin;/,  alirai/.s,  already,  i-lm-ir/,.  .  -ithal.     The  formation  and  the 

meaning  of  these  art',  in  general,  sufficiently  obvious. 

3.  About  seventy  adverbs  are  formed  by  means  of  the  prefix,  or  inseparable  preposition, 
a;  as,  Abreast,  abroach,  a'/road,  across,  afar,  afield,  a;/o,  ayotj,  aland,  atom;,  ami**,  atilt, 

4.  Xri-tlx,  as  an  adverb,  is  a  contraction  of  need  is;  prithee,  or  j>r  ;jthee,  of  /  pray  thic ; 
alone,  of  all  one  ;  only,  ot '.  on^-likc  ;  anon,  of  the  Saxon  an  on;  i.  e,  in  one  [instant];  never, 
of  ne  ever , ;  i.  e.,  /tot  CVUT.    Gibbs,  in  Fowler's  Grammar,  makes  needs  "the  Genitive  case." — 
P.  311. 

5.  Very  is  from  the  French  veray,  or  vrai,  true ;  and  this,  probably,  from  the  Latin  vena. 
Rather  appears  to  be  '.he  regular  comparative  of  the  ancient  rath,  soon,  quickly,  willingly  ; 
which  comes  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  "Rathe,  or  II  rat  he,  of  one's  own  accord." — Bo* 

But  the  parent  language  had  also  "Hrathre,  to  a  mind." — Id.     That  is,  to  ones  mind,  or, 
perhaps,  more  willingly. 

OBSERVATIONS. 

OBS.  1.— Many  of  our  most  common  adverbs  are  of  Anglo-Saxon  derivation,  being  plainly  traceable  to  certain 

1  forms,  ni  the  saino  import,  which  tho  etymologist  regards  but  as  the  same  words  differentlv  spelled  : 

.  .  all,  cal,  or  ;vll  ;   Aln«>*t.  eiilma-st.  ora'lin:i'-t  ;   Al.«>.  i  al.swa,  or  ttlswa  ;    A'/s. ,   .  IK-s  ;   El*twheie,  elles- 

hwa-r  ;   /.';«•/''///,  ^fin>:_,  cr  j:eiioh  :    t-'.rm.    fiirn,   t-tin,   or  a-tVn  ;   Enr,  em-r,  a-lcr,   IT  ;i  Ire  ;   D"(rincard,  tlune- 

•wranl  ;    /-'"nront,  ti>r\vc:inl.  nrtore\\  eard :  //«;„,  trufl,  hannvoiird  :  JJomtirard*,  lunnw  rardes :    ll<»r,  hii  :   Lit  lit. 

Ktrl  :   l.i  -ss.  la  -  :    /.• ,/.-'.  l.i'-t  :   .\<>,  na  ;  ,Vo/,  nolit,  or  nocht  ;   (nit,  ut.  or  nte  ;   .$<»,  swa;  Still,  stille,  or  stvlle; 

Tl,»i,  thc-iine  :    Tltn-r   tlicr,  thar,  tha-r :    Tlti'/it-r,  tliidcr,  <>r  thydt-r ;   Thnx,  thuss,  <.r  thus  ;    Together,   to. 

or  ti>'_M -i!r. •:    /  -  .  li%\  cum-.  <>r  li\\ai»no  ;    Wherr,  Invar  ;    Whither,  hwider,  hwyder,  or  hwyther  ;    l'eat 

OBS.  8.— According  to  Home  Tooke.  "5^i7/and  Els?  are  the  imperatives  Stell  and  Alft  of  their  respective 
^'•'-•t/aji,  to  put,  and  .!/<-.«/«.  to  di-miss."— Diversions,  Vol.  i,  p.  111.  He  afterwards  repeats  ih<>  doctrine 
••  S'lil  \-  <>nlv  tin-  imperative  ,s7e// or  Steall,  of  Siellan  or  Strut/tan,  pom-re. "—lb.  p.  14t;.  "  Tl.i-  i 

£/M,  formerly  wrl tii  .  <tln*i,  ill,  s,  elltis,  ellis,  ell$,  el*,  andnovr  else;  Is,  as   1   hav.-  said,  no  other 

than  .-j/^  ..r  .l/'/x.  tin-  ini]>'T.itivo  ofM/esaw  or  Alysan,  dimittere."— 76.  p.  148.    These  ulterior  and  rein- 
mologies  are  perhaps  too  conjectural. 

SECTION  VIII.  — DERIVATION  OF  CONJUNCTIONS. 

The  Ent/lish  Conjunctions  are  mostly  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin.  The  best  etymological 
vocabularies  of  our  language  give  us,  for  the  most  part,  the  same  words  in  Anglo- ^ 
characters;  but  Home  Tooke,  in  }\i*  I>1> ••/•->/*.»  of  Parley,  (a  learned  and  curious  work 
which  the  advanced  student  may  peruse  with  advantage,)  traces,  or  professes  to  trace, 
these  and  many  other  English  particles,  to  Saxon  verbs  or  participles.  The  following  deriva- 
tions, so  far  as  they  partake  of  such  speculations,  are  offered  principally  on  his  authority  : — 

I.  ALTH<H<;H,  signifying  admit,  allow,  is  from  all  and  thouyh  ;  the  latter  being  supposed 
the  imperative  of  Tharinn,  or  Thafigan,  to  a/loir,  to  concede,  to  yield. 

'2.  Ax,  an  obsolete  or  antiquated  conjunction,  signifying  if,  or  grant,  is  the  imperative  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  verb  Amm  or  Unan,  to  f/ra><t,to  i/irc. 

3.  AND,  [Saxon,  And,]   add,  is  said  by  Tooke  to  come   from  "An-ad,  the  imperative  of 
Anan-ad,  I>  — />.  <>f  1'.,  Vol.  i,  p.  111.  That  is,  "To  give  the  heap."  The  truth 
of  this,  if  unappart-nt,  I  must  leave  so. 

4.  As,  according  to  Dr.  Johnson,  is  from  the  Teutonic  als  ;  but  Tooke  says  that  aU  itself 
is  a  contraction  for  all  and  the  original  particle  es  or  as,  meaning  if,  that,  or  ichic/i. 

5.  lii-;c vt'^K,  from  be  and  r«///v,  HUMUS  />//  can.sc  •  the  he  being  written  for  by. 

6.  Bora,  the  tiro,  is  from  the  pronominal  adjective  bnth  ;  whieh,  according  to  Dr.  Alexander 
Murray,  is  a  contraction   of  the  Visigothic  tlagoth,  signifying  ilmhld.     The  Anglo-Saxons 
wrote  for  it  r'mtn,  fnifirii,  hnta,   and  but  tea  ;  \.  e.,  ba,  both,  tira,  two. 

7.  BIT. — ( in  Saxon,  lutte,  hutun,  }nit<>n,  or  hutiin, — )  m»-a;iing  esci-pt,  >/<(,  mnr,  only,  else  //«//», 
that  not,  <>r  on  the  e mtranj. — is  referred  by  Tooke  and  s.»me  others,  t-»  two  roots, — cachof  tin-in 
but  a  conjectural  etymon  for  it.      "  Ut  r,  implying  addition,"  say  they,  is  from  Hot,  the  im- 

r,  drnotin:;  r.ce,-j>ti.ni,  is  iroin  Be-utan,  the  imj>erativc 
of  Hi'ou-\it.in,  t't  '»•  mi'." — See  1).  "jr.,  \"ol.  i,  pp.  Ill  and  1  .)•">. 

8.  EiTunt.  MM  <>f  th"  tu:>,  like  the  pronominal  adjective  JTIHKK,  is  from  the  Anglo-Saxon 

her,  a  word  of  the  MU  id  the  same  imi>oit. 

>\\-  nearly  is  fioin  "  Kac,  the  imperative  of  Eacan,  to  add." 

10.   Kvi  N,  \\  lirtlier  a  noun,   an  adjective ,  an  adverb,  or    a   conjunction,  appears   to   come 
from  the  same  source,  the  Annl"-S.i\un  word  Mien  or  ,1-ifen. 

II.  K\ci  i- 1.  whieh,  whr;.  .iiction.  mean-  unless,  is  the  imperative,  or  (ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Johnson)  an  ancient  j  effect  jiaiticiple,  of  tii< 

TJ.    1       .  from  the  Sax<>n  preposition  /•>>/-,•  whieh.  to  express  this  meaning,  our 

ancestors  combined  with  something  el>e,  rrducing  to  one  \\ord  eome  such  }>hrase  a- 
that,  F»>- this,  J-'or  this  that ;  as,  '•  Forthn,   Fortham,  Forthan,  Forthamthe,  Forthan  the.'' 
— See  Jios worth's  Diet. 

\'.\.  IF.  aice.  y rant,  allow,  is  from   "  Gif,  the  imperative  of  tho  Anglo-Saxon   Gifan,   to 

gift-."—  Tooke's    I  .    Vol.  i,  p.    111. 

14.  LK-T,  that  not,  dioni^e,/,  is  from  "  I-esed,  the  perfect  participle  of  Losan,  to  dismiss." 

15.  NEITHEII,  not  either,  is  a  union  and  contraction  of  ne  either :  our  old  writers  Jrequently 


1C  16  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


used  ne  for  not ;  the  Anglo-Saxons  likewise  repeated  it,  using  ne — ne,  in  lieu  of  our  corre- 
sponsives  neither — nor  ;  and  our  modern  lexicographers  still  note  the  word,  in  some  of  these 
senses. 

16.  NOR,  not  other,  not  else,  is  supposed  to  be  a  union  and  contraction  of  ne  or. 

17.  NOTWITHSTANDING,  not  hindering,  is  an  English  compound  of  obvious  formation. 

18.  OR,  an  alternative  conjunction,  seems  to  be  a  word  of  no  great  antiquity.     It  is  sup- 
posed to  be  a  contraction  of  other,  which  Johnson  and  his  followers  give,  in  Saxon  characters, 
either  as  its  source,  or  as  its  equivalent. 

19.  PROVIDED,  the  perfect  participle  of  the  verb  provide,  becomes  occasionally  a  disjunc- 
tive conjunction,  by  being  used  alone  or  with  the  particle  that,  to  introduce  a  condition,  a 
saving  clause,  a  proviso. 

20.  SAVE,  anciently  used  with  some  frequency  as  a  conjunction,  in  the  sense  of  but,  or 
except,  is  from  the  imperative  of  the  English  verb  save,  and  is  still  occasionally  turned  to 
such  a  use  by  the  poets. 

21.  SEEING,  sometimes  made  a  copulative  conjunction,  is  the  imperfect  participle  of  the 
verb  see.     Used  at  the  head  of  a  clause,  and  without  reference  to  an  agent,  it  assumes  a 
conjunctive  nature. 

22.  SINCE  is  conjectured  by  Tooke  to  be  "  the  participle  of  Seon,  to  see,"  and  to  mean 
"seeing,  seeing  that,  seen  that,  or  seen  as." — D.  of  P.,  Vol.  i,  pp.  Ill  and  220.     But  Johnson 
and  others  say,  it  has  been  formed  "  by  contraction  from  sithence,  or  sith  thence,  from  sithe, 
Sax."— Joh.  Diet. 

23.  THAN,  which  introduces  the  latter  term  of  a  comparison,  is  from  the  Gothic  than,  or 
the  Anglo-Saxon  thanne,  which  was  used  for  the  same  purpose. 

24.  THAT,  when  called  a  conjunction,  is  said  by  Tooke  to  be  etymologically  the  same   as 
the  adjective  or  pronoun  THAT,  the  derivation  of  which  is  twice  spoken  of  above ;  but,  in 
Todd's  Johnson's  Dictionary,  as  abridged  by  Chalmers,  THAT,  the  conjunction,  is  referred  to 
"  thatei,  Gothic  ;  THAT,  the  pronoun,  to  "  that,  thata,  Gothic ;  that,  Saxon  ;  dot,  Dutch." 

25.  THEN,  used  as  a  conjunction,  is  doubtless  the  same  word  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  Thenne, 
taken  as  an  illative,  or  word  of  inference. 

26.  "  TH.OUGH,  allow,  is  [from]  the  imperative  Thaf,  or  Thafig,  of  the  verb  Thafian  or 
Thafigan,  to  allow" — Tooke s  Diversions,  Vol.  i,  pp.  Ill  and  150. 

27.  "  UNLESS,  except,  dismiss,  is  [from]  Onles,  the  imperative  of  Onlesan,  to  dismiss." — Ib. 

28.  WHETHER,  a  corresponsive  conjunction,  which  introduces  the  first  term  of  an  alter- 
native, is  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  hwather,  which  was  used  for  the  same  purpose. 

29.  YET,  nevertheless,  is  from  "  Get,  the  imperative  of  Getan,  to  get" — Tooke. 

SECTION  IX.— DERIVATION  OF  PREPOSITIONS. 

The  following  are  the  principal  English  Prepositions,  explained  in  the  order  of  the  list : — 

1.  ABOARD,  meaning  on  board  of,  is  from  the  prefix  or  preposition  a  and  the  noun  board, 
which  here  means  "  the  deck  of  a  ship  "  or  vessel.     Abord,  in  French,  is  approach,  arrival, 
or  a  landing. 

2.  ABOUT,  [Sax.  Abiitan,  or  Abuton,]  meaning  around,  at  circuit,  or  doing,  is  from  the 
prefix  a,  meaning  at,  and  the  noun  bout,  meaning  a  turn,  a  circuit,  or  a  trial.    In  French, 
bout  means  end ;  and  about,  end,  or  but-end. 

3.  ABOVE,  [Sax.  Abufan,  Abufon,  A-be-ufan,]  meaning  over,  or,  literally,  at-by-over,  or 
at-by-top,  is  from  the  Saxon  or  Old  English  a,  be,  and  ufa,  or  ufan,  said  to  mean  "  high,  up- 
wards, or  the  top." 

4.  ACROSS,  at  cross,  athwart,  traverse,  is  from  the  prefix  a  and  the  word  cross. 

5.  AFTER,  [Sax.  ^Efter,  or  ^Eftan,]  meaning  behind,  subsequent  to,  is,  in  form,  the  com- 
parative of  aft,  a  word  common  to  seamen,  and  it  may  have  been  thence  derived. 

6.  AGAINST,  opposite  to,  is  probably  from  the  Anglo-Saxon,  Ongean,  or  Ongegen,  each 
of  which  forms  means  again  or  against.     As  prefixes,  on  and  a  are  often  equivalent. 

7.  ALONG,  [i.  e.,  at-long,]  meaning  lengthwise  of,  near  to,  is  formed  from  a  and  long. 

8.  AMID  [,  i.  e.,  at  mid  or  middle,]  is  from  a  and  mid;  and  AMIDST  [,  i.  e.,  at  midst,]  is 
from  a  and  midst,  contracted  from  middest,  the  superlative  of  mid. 

9.  AMONG,  mixed  with,  is  probably  an  abbreviation  of  amongst ;  and  AMONGST,  according 
to  Tooke,  is  from  a  and  mongst,  or  the  older  "  Ge-mencged,"  Saxon  for  "  mixed,  mingled." 

10.  AROUND,  about,  encircling,  is  from  a  and  round,  a  circle,  or  circuit. 

11.  AT,  gone  to,  is  supposed  by  some  to  come  from  the  Latin  ad;  but  Dr.  Murray  says, 
"  We  have  in  Teutonic  AT  for  AGT,  touching  or  touched,  joined,  at" — Hist,  of  Lang,  i,  349. 

12.  ATHWART,  across,  is  from  a  and  thwart,  cross ;  and  this  from  the  Saxon  Thweor. 

13.  BATING,  a  preposition  for  except,  is  the  imperfect  participle  of  bate,  to  abate. 


14.  BEFORE, 

15.  BEHIND, 

16.  BELOW, 

17.  BENEATH 

18.  BESIDE  [,  I.  e.,  by-side,]  is  from  be  and  the  noun  or  adjective  side. 

19.  BESIDES  [,  i.  e.,  by-sides,]  is  probably  from  be  and  the  plural  noun  sides. 


i.  e.,  by-fore,]  in  front  of,  is  from  the  prefix  be  and  the  adjective/ore, 
i.  e.,  by-hind,]  in  rear  of,  is  from  the  prefix  be  and  the  adjective  hind. 
i.  e.,  by-low,]  meaning  under,  or  beneath,  is  from  be  and  the  adjective  low. 
[,  Sax.  or  Old  Eng.  Beneoth,]  is  from  be  and  neath,  or  Sax.  Neothe,  low. 


APPENDIX  ii. — (ETYMOLOGY.) — DERIVATION  OP  WORDS.  1017 

20.  BETWEEN,  [Sax.  Betweonan,  or  Betwynan,]  literally,  by-ttcain,  seems  to  have  been 
formed  from  be,  by,  and  twain,  two, — or  the  Saxon  Twegen,  which  also  means  tiro,  tirain. 

21.  BETWIXT,  meaning  betin-fn,  [Sax.  Betweox,  Bctwux,  Betwyx,  Betwyxt,  &c.,]  is  from 
be,  by,   and  ticyx,  originally  a  "Gothic"  word  signifying  "two,  or  twain." — See    Tooke, 
Vol.  i,  p.  329. 

22.  BEYOND,  past,   [Sax.  Begeond,]  is  from  the  prefix  be,  by,  and  yond,   [Sax.  Geond,] 
past,  far. 

23.  BY  [,  Sax.  Be,  Bi,  or  Big,]  is  affirmed  by  Tooke  to  be  "the  imperative  Byth,  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  verb  Beon,  to  be." — D.  of  P.,  Vol.  i,  p.  326.     This  seems  to  be  rather  ques- 
tionable. 

24.  CONCERN-ING,  the  preposition,  is  from  the  first  participle  of  the  verb  concern. 

25.  DOWN,  the  preposition,  is  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  Dune,  down. 

26.  DURING,  prep,  of  time,  is  from  the  first  participle  of  an  old  verb  dure,  to  last,  formerly 
in  use  ;  as,  "  While  the  world  may  dure" — Chaucer's  Knight's  Tale. 

27.  ERE,  before,  prep,  of  time,  is  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  Jl-]r,  a  word  of  like  sort. 

28.  EXCEPT,  bating,  is  from  the  imperative,  or  (according  to  Dr.  Johnson)  the  ancient  per- 
fect participle  of  the  verb  to  except ;  and  EXCEPTING,  when  a  preposition,  is  from  the  first 
participle  of  the  same  verb. 

29.  FOR,  because  of,  is  the  Anglo-Saxon  preposition  For,  a  word  of  like  import,  and  sup- 
posed by  Tooke  to  have  come  from  a  Gothic  noun  signifying  cause,  or  sake. 

30.  FROM,  in  Saxon,  Fram,  is  probably  derived  from  the  old  adjective  Frum,  original. 

31.  IN,  or  the  Saxon  In,  is  the  same  as  the  Latin  in  :  the  Greek  is  n> ;  and  the  French,  en. 

32.  INTO,  like  the  Saxon  Into,  noting  entrance,  is  a  compound  of  in  and  to. 

33.  MID  and  MIDST,  as  English  prepositions,  are  poetical  forms  used  for  Amid  and  Amidst. 

34.  NOTWITHSTANDING,  not  hindering,  is  from  the  adverb  not,  and  the  participle  with- 
standing. 

35.  OF  is  from  the  Saxon  Of,  or  Af ;  which  is  supposed  by  Tooke  to  come  from  a  noun 
signifying  offspring. 

36.  OFF,  opposed  to  on,  Dr.  Johnson  derives  from  the  "  Dutch  af" 

37.  ON,  a  word  very  otten  used  in  Anglo-Saxon,  is  traced  by  some  etymologists  to  the 
Gothic  ana,  the  German  an,  the  Dutch  aan ;  but  no  such  derivation  fixes  its  meaning. 

38.  OUT,  [Sax.  Ut,  Ute,  or  Utan,]  when  made  a  preposition,  is  probably  from  the  adverb 
or  adjective   Out,  or  the  earlier  I't ;  and  OUT-OF,  [Sax.  Ut-of,]  opposed  to  Into,  is  but  the 
adverb  Out  and  the  preposition  Of — usually  written  separately,  but  better  joined,  in  some 
instances. 

39.  OVER,  above,  is  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  Ofer,  aver;  and  this,  probably,  from  Ufa,  above, 
high,  or  from  the  comparative,  Ufera,  higher. 

40.  OVERTHWART,  meaning  across,  is  a  compound  of  over  and  thwart,  cross. 

41.  PAST,  beyond,  gone  by,  is  a  contraction  from  the  perfect  participle  passed. 

42.  PENDING,  duri.-ig  or  hanging,  has  a  participial  form,  but  is  either  an  adjective  or  a 
preposition  :  we  do  not  use  pend  alone  as  a  verb,  though  we  have  it  in  depend. 

43.  RESPECTING,  concerning,  is  from  the  first  participle  of  the  verb  respect. 

44.  ROUND,  a  preposition  for  about  or  around,  is  from  the  noun  or  adjective  round. 

45.  SINCE  is  most  probably  a  contraction  of  the  old  word  Sit  hence ;  but  is  conjectured  by 
Tooke  to  have  been  formed  from  the  phrase,  "Seen  as." 

46.  THROUGH  [,  Sax.  Thurh,  or  Thurch,]  seems  related  to  Thorough,  Sax.  Thuruh ;  and 
this  again  to  Thuru,  or  Duru,  a  Door. 

47.  THROUGHOUT,  f/nid-  through,  is  an  obvious  compound  of  through  and  out. 

48.  TILL,  [Sax.  Til  or  Tille,]  to,  until,  is  from  the  Saxon  Til  or  Till,  an  end,  a  station. 

49.  To,  whether  a  preposition  or  an  adverb,  is  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  particle  To. 
60.  TOUCHING,  with  ret/ant  to,  is  from  the  first  participle  of  the  verb  touch. 

51.  TOWARD  or  TOWARDS,  written  by  the  Anglo-Saxons  Toweard  or  Toweardes,  i*  a  com- 
pound of  To  and  Ward  or  Wcard,  a  guard,  a  look-out;  "Used  in  composition  to  express 
situation  or  direction." — Bosworth. 

•')'!.  UNDER,  [(rothic,  1'iidar;  Dutch,  Onder,]  beneath,  beloir,  is  a  common  Anglo-Saxon 
word,  and  very  frequent  prefix,  affirmed  by  Tooke  to  be  "nothing  but  on-neder,"  a  Dutch 
compound=on  lower. — See  Dicrrxions  of  Parley,  Vol.  i,  p.  331. 

53.  UNDERNEATH  is  a  compound  of  under  and  neath,  low  ;  whence  nether,  lower. 

54.  UNTIL  is  a  compound  Irom  on  or  un,  and  till,  or///,  the  end. 

55.  UNTO,  now  somewhat  antiquated,  is  formed,  not  very  analogically,  from  un  and  to. 

56.  UP  is  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  adji-dive,  "  I'p  or  Upp,  high,  lofty." 

57.  UPON,  which  appears  literally  to  mean  high  on,  is  from  the  two  words  up  and  on. 

58.  WITH  comes  to  us  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  With,  a  word  of  like  sort  and  import ; 
which  Tooke  says   is  an  imperative  verb,  sometimes  from  "  Withan,  to  Join,"  and  some- 
times from  "  Wyrthan,  to  be."— See  his  Diversions,  Vol.  i,  p.  262. 

59.  WITHIN  [.  i.  e.,  by-in,]  is  from  with  and  in  :  Sax.  Withinnan,  Binnan,  or  Binnon. 

60.  WITHOUT  [,  i.  e.,  by-out,]  is  from  with  and  out :  Sax.   Withiitan,-uten,-iiton  ;  Butan, 
Baton,  Biitun. 


1018  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 

OBSERVATION. 

In  regard  to  some  of  our  minor  or  simpler  prepositions,  as  of  sundry  other  particles,  to  go  beyond  the  forms 
and  constructions  which  present  or  former  usage  has  at  some  period  given  them  as  particles,  and  to  ascertain 
their  actual  origin  in  something  ulterior,  if  such  they  had,  is  no  very  easy  matter;  nor  can  there  be  either  satis- 
faction or  profit  in  studying  what  one  suspects  to  be  mere  guesswork.  "  How  do  you  account  for  IN,  OUT,  ON,X 
OFF,  and  AT  'i  "  says  the  friend  of  Tooke,  in  an  etymological  dialogue  at  Purley.  The  substance  of  his  answer 
is,  "  The  explanation  and  etymology  of  these  words  require  a  degree  of  knowledge  in  all  the  antient  northern 
languages,  and  a  skill  in  the  application  of  that  knowledge,  which  I  am  very  far  from  assuming :  and  though  I 
am  almost  persuaded  by  some  of  my  own  conjectures  concerning  them,  I  am  not  willing,  by  an  apparently  forced 
aud  far-fetched  derivation,  to  justify  your  imputation  of  etymological  legerdemain.  "—Diversions,  Vol.  i,  p.  370. 

SECTION  X.  —  DERIVATION  OF  INTERJECTIONS. 

Those  significant  and  constructive  words  which  are  occasionally  used  as  Interjections, 
(such  as  Good!  Strange!  Indeed!,}  do  not  require  an  explanation  here;  and  those  mere 
sounds  which  are  in  no  wise  expressive  of  thought,  scarcely  admit  of  definition  or  deriva- 
tion. The  interjection  HEY  is  probably  a  corruption  of  the  adjective  High ; — ALAS  is  from, 
the  French  Ilelas ; — ALACK  is  probably  a  corruption  of  Alas ; — WELAWAY,  or  WELLAWAY, 
(which  is  now  corrupted  into  WELLADAY,)  is  said  by  some  to  be  from  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Wd-ld-wa,  i.  e.,  Wo-lo-wo ; — "  FIE,"  says  Tooke,  "is  the  imperative  of  the  Gothic  and 
Anglo-Saxon  verb  Fian,  to  hate ;  " — Heyday  is  probably  from  high  day ; — AVAUNT,  perhaps 
from  the  French  avant,  before  ; — Lo,  from  look ; — BEGONE,  from  be  and  gone ; — WELCOME, 
from  well  and  come ; — FAREWELL,  from  fare  and  well. 

SECTION  XI.  — EXPLANATION  OF  THE  PRE  IXES. 

In  the  formation  of  English  words,  certain  particles  are  often  employed  as  prefixes  ;  which, 
as  they  generally  have  some  peculiar  import,  may  be  separately  explained.  A  few  of  them 
are  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin,  or  character ;  and  the  greater  part  of  these  are  still  employed  as 
separate  words  in  our  language.  The  rest  are  Latin,  Greek,  or  French  prepositions.  The 
roots  to  which  they  are  prefixed,  are  not  always  proper  English  words.  Those  which  are 
such,  are  called  SEPARABLE  RADICALS  ;  those  which  are  not  such,  INSEPARABLE  RADICALS. 

CLASS  I.— THE  ENGLISH  OR  ANGLO-SAXON  PREFIXES. 

1.  A,  as  an  English  prefix,  signifies  on,  in,  at,  or  to  :  as  in  a-board,  a-shore,  a-foot,  a-bed, 
a-soak,  a-tilt,  a-slant,  a-far,  a-field ;  which  are  equal  to  the  phrases,  on  board,  on  shore,  on  foot, 
in  bed,  in  soak,  at  tilt,  at  slant,  to  a  distance,  to  the  fields.      The  French  a,  to,  is  probably  the 
same  particle.     This  prefix  is  sometimes  redundant,  adding  little  or  nothing  to  the  meaning  ; 
as  in  awake,  arise,  amend. 

2.  .-BE,  as  a  prefix,  signifies  upon,  over,  by,  to,  at,  or  for :  as  in  be-spattcr,  be-cloud,  be-timest 
be-tide,  be-howl,  be-speak.     It  is  sometimes  redundant,  or  merely  intensive;  as  in  be-gird,  be- 
deck, be-loved,  be-dazzle,  be-moisten,  be-praise,  be-guote. 

3.  COUNTER,  an  English  prefix,  allied  to  the  French  Contre,  and  the  Latin  Contra,  means 
against,  or  opposite ;  as  in  counter -poise,  counter-evidence,  counter -natural. 

4.  FOR,  as  a  prefix,  unlike  the  common  preposition  For,  seems  generally  to  signify  from  : 
it  is  found  in  the  irregular  verbs  far-bear,  far-bid,  far-get,  far-give,  far-sake,  far-swear ;  and  in 

for -bat  he,  for -do,  far-pass,  far-pine,  far-say,  far-think,  far-waste,  which  last  are  now  disused, 
the  for  in  several  being  merely  intensive. 

5.  FORE,  prefixed  to  a  verb,  signifies  before ;  as  in  fare-know,  fore-tell :  prefixed  to  a  noun, 
it  is  usually  an  adjective,  and  signifies  anterior  ;  as  in  fore- side,  fore-part. 

6.  HALF,  signifying  one  of  two  equal  parts,  is  much  used  in  composition  ;  and,  often,  merely 
to  denote  imperfection  :  as,  half-sighted,  seeing  imperfectly. 

7.  Mis  signifies  ivrong  or  ill ;  as  in  mis-cite,  mis-print,  mis-spell,  mis-chance,  mis-haj). 

8.  OVER  denotes  superiority  or  excess  ;  as  in  over-power,  over-strain,  over-large. 

9.  OUT,  prefixed   to  a  verb,  generally  denotes  excess;  as  in  out-do,  out-leap,  out-poise: 
prefixed  to  a  noun,  it  is  an  adjective,  and  signifies  exterior ;  as  in  out-side,  out-parish. 

10.  SELF  generally  signifies  one's  own  person,  or  belonging  to  one's  own  person  ;  but,  in 
self-same,  it  means  very.     We  have  many  words  beginning  with  Self,  but  most  of  them  -seem 
to  be  compounds  rather  than  derivatives  ;  as,  self-love,  self-abasement,  self-abuse,  self-affairs, 
self-willed,  self -accusing. 

11.  Ux  denotes  negation  or  contrariety  ;  as  in  un-kind,  un-load,  un-truth,  un-coif. 

12.  UtfDER  denotes  inferiority  ;  as  in  under-value,  under -clerk,  wider-growth. 

13.  UP  denotes  motion  upwards  ;  as  in  up -lift :  sometimes  subversion  ;  as  in  up-set. 

14.  WITH,  as  a  prefix,  unlike  the  common  preposition  With,  signifies  against,  from,  or 
back ;  as  in  with-stand,  with-hold,  with-draw,  tvith-stander,  with-holdment,  with-drawal. 

CLASS  II.— THE  LATIN  PREFIXES. 

The  primitives  or  radicals  to  which  these  are  prefixed,  are  not  many  of  them  employed 
separately  in  English.  The  final  letter  of  the  prefix  Ad,  Con,  Ex,  In,  Ob,  or  Sub,  is  often 
changed  before  certain  consonants ;  not  capriciously,  but  with  uniformity,  to  adapt  or  as- 
similate it  to  the  sound  which  follows. 


APPENDIX  ii. — (ETYMOLOGY.) — DERIVATION  OP  WORDS.  1019 

1.  A,  An,  or  ABS,  means  From,  or  Away  :  as  n-rrrt,  to  turn  from,  or  away  ;  ab-duce,  to 
lead  from  ;  ab-duction,  a  carrying-away  ;  >••'  .  •     draw  from,  or  away. 

2.  AD, — forming  ac,  of,  al,  an,  ap,  as,  at, — means  To,  or  At :  h~  to   turn  to;  ac- 
cede, to  yield  to  ;   af-Jlux,  a  llowing-to  ;  al-ly,  to  bind  to  ;  an-nejr,  to  link  to;  ap-ply,  to  put 
to;  as-sunie,  to  take  to;  at-tc.st,  to  witness  to;  ad-mirc,  to  wonder  at. 

3.  A.VTK  means  Fore,   or  Before:  a**,   anfi'-pnvt,  a  fore-t  ,t,  foregoing,  or 
going  before;  a)id--ntit,idanc,  before  the  world;  ante-date,  to  date  before. 

4.  CIKCIM  means  Kound,   Around,  or  About:  as  circum-rolce,  to  roll  round;  ei 
scribe,  to  write  around  ;  /•/>/<///-<-,.„/.  to  come  around  ;  <-in-nin-sjn-i-t,  looking  about  OIK 

5.  Cox, — which  forms  com,  co,  col,  cor, — means  Together :  as,  con-tract,  to  draw  together  ; 
com-pd,  to  drive  together  ;  co-erce,  to  force  together ;  col-lcct,  to  gather  together;  cor-rade, 
to  rub  or  scrape  together;  con -ju  net  ion,  a  joining-together. 

6.  CONTRA,  or  CO>TKO,  means  Against,   or  Counter :   as,  contra-diet,  to  speak  against ; 
contra-rcne,  to  come  against;  contra- nut  n-t  countermure  ;  contro-rcrt,  to  turn  against. 

7.  DE  means  Of,  From,  or  Down :  as  de-note,  to  be  a  sign  of;  de-tract,  to  draw  from; 
de-pend,  to  hang  down  ;  de-press,  to  press  down  ;  de-crease,  to  grow  down,  to  grow  less. 

8.  Dis,  or  l)i,  means  Away  or  Apart :  as,  dis-pcl,  to  drive  away  ;  dis-sect,  to  cut  apart ; 

.  to  turn  away. 

9.  E  or  Ex, — making  also  ec,  ef, — means  Out :  as,  e-ject,  to  cast  out ;  e-lect.  to  choose  out; 
ex-chide,  to  shut  out ;  ex-cite,  to  summon  out ;  ec-stacy,  a  raising-out ;  ef-face,  to  blot  out. 

10.  EXTUA  means  Beyond,  or  Out  of:  as,  extra-vacant,  syllabled  ex-trai-'a-t/ant,  roving 
beyond  ;  extra- vasate,  ex-trai'a-sate,  to  flow  out  of  the  vessels  ;  extra-territorial,  being  out  of 
the  territory. 

11.  IN, — which  makes  also  il,  im,  ir, — means  In,  Into,  or  Upon  :  as,  in-spire,  to  breathe 
in  ;  il-l>ttl<',  to  draw  in  by  deceit;  im-mnrc,  to  wall  in  ;  ir-ruptiitn,  a  rusliing-in  ;  //<-\ 

look  into;  in-scribc,  to  write  upon;  in-sult,  to  jump  upon.  These  syllables,  prefixed  to 
English  nouns  or  adjectives,  generally  reverse  their  meaning;  as  in  in-Justice,  il-lcyality, 
im-)Htrfialifi/t  ir-n-lii/ion,  ir-ratimial,  i/i-nrrun-,  iti-sa/te. 

1'2.  Ivi  KK  means  Between,  or  In  between  :  as  inter -sperse,  to  scatter  in  between  ;  inter- 
jection, something  thrown  in  between;  intcr-jacent,  lying  between;  inter-communication, 
communication  between. 

13.  INTHO  means  In,  Inwards,  or  Within  :  as,  intro-duce,  to  lead  in;  intro-vert,  to  turn  in- 
wards ;  iittro-.ipect,  to  look  within  ;  in tro- mission,  a  scnding-in. 

14.  On, — which  makes  also  oc,  of,  op, — means  Against :  as,  ob-trude,  to  thrust  against ; 
oc-ctir,  to  run  against ;  of-fer,  to  bring  against ;  op-pose,  to  place  against ;  ob-ject,  to  cast 
against. 

15.  PER  means  Through  or  By  :  as,  per-vade,  to  go  through  ;  per-chance,  by  chance  ;  per- 
cent, by  the  hundred  ;  per-pkx,  to  tangle  through,  or  to  entangle  thoroughly. 

16.  POST  means  After  :  as,  post-pone,  to  place  after  ;  post-date,  to  date  after. 

17.  PK.T-:,  or  PRK,  means  Before  :  as,  pre-snme,  to  take  before  :  pre-position,  a  placing- 
before,  or  thing  placed  before;  pr<e-cor/nita,  things  known  before. 

18.  PRO  means  For,  Forth,  or  Forwards  :  as,  pro-vide,  to  take  care  for;  pro-dvce,  to  bring 
forth ;  pro-trude,  to  thrust  forwards  ;  pro-ceed,  to  go  forward;  pro-noun,  for  a  noun. 

19.  PRETKR  means  By,  Past,  or  Beyond  :  as,  prcter-  it,  bygone,  or  gone  by;  pn-trr-imper- 
fect,  past  imperfect ;  jtrttn --natural,  beyond  what  is  natural ;  prcter-mit,  to  put  by,  to  omit. 

20.  HE  means  Again  or  Back  :  as,  re-lit  //•,  to  view  again ;  re-pel,  to  drive  back. 

21.  KETUO  means  Backwards,  Backward,  or  Back:  as,   retro-active,  acting  backwards; 
retro-f/ni'f,-,  ^oing  backward  ;  re  fro- cede,  to  cede  back  niz  <in. 

'_'•_'.  Si   UK  ins  Aside  or  Apart :  as,  se-ducc,  to  lead  aside  ;  \,-cede,  to  go  apart. 

••i-illalt':  M,  ",  half  a  colon  ;  si-mi-dreh',  half  a  circle. 

24.  Sen, — which  makes  snf,  si/>/,  SHJ>,  .w//-,  and  stis, — means  Under,  and  sometimes  Up: 
as,  srtb-  wrihi',  to  write  under;  .v  ;i  Undermining;  .s -tii)-  fjsst,  to  convey  under  ;  sup- 

ply, to  put  unil-  r  ;  '-.nn-under;  sus-tain,  to  hold  up;  sub-jt-ct,  cast  under. 

]',«  neath  :   ns,  sulit,  r-fmnis,  flo\\in<:  1  t-neath. 

:  means  Over  or  Abnv  ,,ns,  flowing  over  ;  snjxr-/  .ir.ing 

above  ;  Mii>rr-latire,  carried  over,  or  carryin  '  overlook,  to  ov< 

'11.   TI:\NS,— whence  THAN  ai;  1  Ti:.\,  —  n .-  d,  Over,  To    aimtlier  state   or  ])lace: 

as,  tranx-<ii-r*x,  to  pass  beyond  or  over  .  <!,  to  climb  over  ;  trans- , nit,  to   send  to  an 

other  place  ;  //•"  change  to  an  other  shape  ;  tra-moiitane,  from  beyond  the  moun- 

tains;  i.  e.,  7V<  ^  to  Cis-Ai, 

CLASS  III.— TIIK  (iUKKK   1'KKFIXES. 

1.  A  and  AN,  in  Greek  derivatives,  denote  privation  :  as,  a-nomalous,  wanting  rule  ;  «;i- 
onumiins,  wanting  name;  an-arcfnj,  want  of  government ;  a-ccphal<>us,  head 

2.  AMPHI  means  Two,  Both,  or  Double:  as,  am/>hi-binnjit  living  in  two  elements;  amphi- 
'  brac/i,  both  [sides]  short;  amtihi-tln-iitrc,  a  double  theatre. 

3.  ANTI  means  Against :  a-*,  nnti-slarrry,  against  slavery  ;  anti-acid,  against  acidity  ;  anti- 
febrile, against  fever;  anti-thesis,  a  placing- against. 


1020 


THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 


4.  APO,  APH, — From  :  as,  apo- strophe,  a  turning -from ;  aph-ceresis,  a  taking-from. 

5.  DIA, — Through :  as,  dia-gonal,  through  the  corners  ;  din-meter,  measure  through. 

6.  EPI,  EPH, — Upon  :  as,  epi-demic,  upon  the  people  ;  eph-emera,  upon  a  day. 

7.  HEMI  means  Half:  as,  hemi-sphere,  half  a  sphere  ;  hemi-stich,  half  a  verse. 

8.  HYPER  means  Over :  as,  hyper -critical,  over-critical ;  hyper-meter,  over-measure. 

9.  HYPO  means  Under :  as,  hypo-stasis,  substance,   or  that  which  stands  under ;  hypo- 
thesis,  supposition,  or  a  placing-under ;  hypo-phyllous,  under  the  leaf. 

10.  META  means  Beyond,  Over,  To  an  other  state  or  place :  as,  meta-morphose,  to  change 
to  an  other  shape  ;  meta-physics,  mental  science,  as  beyond  or  over  physics. 

11.  PARA  means  Against:  as,  para-dox,  something  contrary  to  common  opinion. 

12.  PERI  means  Around  :  as,  peri-phery,  the  circumference,  or  measure  round. 

13.  SYN, — whence  Sym,  Syl, — means  Together:  as,  syn-tax, '  a   putting-together;  sym- 
pathy, a  suffering-together  ;  syl-lable,  what  we  take  together ;  syn-thesis,  aplacing-together. 

CLASS  IV.— THE  FRENCH  PREFIXES. 

1.  A  is  a  preposition  of  very  frequent  use  in  French,  and  generally  means  To.     I  have 
suggested  above  that  it  is  probably  the  same  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  prefix  a.     It  is  found  in  a 
few  English  compounds  or  derivatives   that  are   of  French,  and  not   of  Saxon  origin  :  as, 
a-dieii,  to  God;  i.  e.,  I  commend  you  to  God  ;  a-larm,  from  alarme,  i.  e.,  a  forme,  to  arms. 

2.  BE  means  Of  or  From  :  as  in  de-mure,  of  manners  ;  de-liver,  to  ease  from  or  of. 

3.  DEMI  means  Half :  as,  demi-man,  half  a  man  ;  demi-god,  half  a  god ;  demi-devil,  half  a 
devil. 

4.  EN, — which  sometimes  becomes  em, — means  In,  Into,  or  Upon :  as,  en-chain,  to  hold  in 
chains  ;  em-brace,  to  clasp  in  the  arms ;  en-tomb,  to  put  into  a  tomb  ;  em-boss,  to  stud  upon. 
Many  words  are  yet  wavering  between  the  French  and  the  Latin  orthography  of  this  prefix  : 
as  embody,  or  imbody  ;  ensurance,  or  insurance  ;  ensnare,  or  insnare  ;  enquire,  or  inquire. 

5.  SUR,  as  a  French  prefix,  means  Upon,  Over,  or  After  :  as,  sur-name,  a  name   upon   a 
name ;   sur-vey,  to  look  over ;  sur-mount,  to  mount  over  or  upon  ;  sur -render,  to  deliver  over 
to  others ;  sur-feit,  to  overdo  in  eating  ;  sur-vive,  to  live  after,  to  over-live,  to  outlive. 

END  OF  THE  SECOND  APPENDIX, 


APPENDIX  III. 
TO   PART   THIRD,  OR   SYNTAX. 

OF  THE  QUALITIES  OF  STYLE. 

Style,  as  a  topic  connected  with  syntax,  is  the  particular  manner  in  which  a  person  cx- 
s  his  conceptions  by  means  of  language.  It  is  different  from  mere  words,  different 
from  mere  grammar,  in  any  limited  sense,  and  is  not  to  be  regulated  altogether  by  rules  of 
construction.  It  always  has  some  relation  to  the  author's  peculiar  manner  of  thinking  ;  in- 
volves, to  some  extent,  and  shows  his  literary,  if  not  his  moral,  character  ;  is,  in  general, 
that  sort  of  expression  which  his  thoughts  most  readily  assume  ;  and,  sometimes,  partakes 
not  only  of  what  is  characteristic  of  the  man,  of  his  profession,  sect,  clan,  or  province,  but 
even  of  national  peculiarity,  or  some  marked  feature  of  the  age.  The  words  which  an 
author  employs,  may  be  proper  in  themselves,  and  so  constructed  as  to  violate  no  rule  of 
syntax,  and  yet  his  style  may  have  great  faults. 

In  reviews  and  critical  essays,  the  general  characters  of  style  are  usually  designated  by 
such  epithets  as  these  ; — concise,  diffuse, — neat,  negligent, — terse,  bungling, — nervous, 
weak,— forcible,  feeble, — vehement,  languid, — simple,  affected, — easy,  stiff, — pure,  barbar- 
ous,— perspicuous,  obscure, — elegant,  uncouth, — florid,  plain, — flowery,  artless, — fluent, 
dry, — piquant,  dull, — stately,  flippant, — majestic,  mean, — pompuous,  modest, — ancient, 
modern.  A  considerable  diversity  of  style,  may  be  found  in  compositions  all  equally  excellent 
in  their  kind.  And,  indeed,  different  subjects,  as  well  as  the  different  endowments  by  which 
genius  is  distinguished,  require  this  diversity.  But,  in  forming  his  style,  the  learner  should 
remember,  that  a  negligent,  feeble,  affected,  stiff,  uncouth,  barbarous,  or  obscure  style  is 
always  faulty  ;  and  that  perspicuity,  ease,  simplicity,  strength,  neatness,  and  purity,  are 
qualities  always  to  be  aimed  at. 

In  order  to  acquire  a  good  style,  the  frequent  practice  of  composing  and  writing  some- 
thing, is  indispensably  necessary.  Without  exercise  and  diligent  attention,  rules  or  precepts 
for  the  attainment  of  this  object,  will  be  of  no  avail.  When  the  learner  has  acquired  such 
a  knowledge  of  grammar,  as  to  be  in  some  degree  qualified  for  the  undertaking,  he 
should  devote  a  stated  portion  of  his  time  to  composition.  This  exercise  will  bring  the 
powers  of  his  mind  into  requisition,  in  a  way  that  is  well  calculated  to  strengthen  them. 
And  If  he  has  opportunity  for  reading,  he  may,  by  a  diligent  perusal  of  the  best  authors, 
acquire  both  language  and  taste  as  well  as  sentiment; — and  these  three  are  the  essential 
qualifications  of  a  good  writer. 

In  regard  to  the  qualities  which  constitute  a  good  style,  we  can  here  offer  nothing  more 
thsi.i  a  few  brief  hints.  With  respect  to  words  and  phrases,  particular  attention  should 
be  paid  to  three  things, — purity,  propriety,  and  precision ;  and,  with  respect  to  sentences,  to 
throe  othc:  •/////,  unity,  and  strength.  Under  each  of  these  six  heads,  we  shall 

arrange,  in  the  form  of  short  precepts,  a  few  of  the  most  important  directions  for  the  forming 
of  a  good  style. 

SECTION  I.  — OF  PURITY. 

Purity  of  style  consists  in  the  use  of  such  words  and  phrases  only,  as  belong  to  the  lan- 
guage which  we  write  or  speak.     Its  oppositcs  are  the  faults  aimed  at  in  the  following 
pts. 

PuKCKi-T  I. — Avoid  the  unnecessary  use  of  foreign  words  or  idioms  :  such  as  the  French 
words  fruii-he.ur,  hautettr,  <l<'/t«itessc,  politesse,  noblesse ; — the  expression,  "He  repented  him- 
self; " — or,  "It  serves  to  an  excellent  purpose." 

i.ijBpr  II. — Avoid  obsolete  or  antiquated  words,  except  there  be  some  special  reason  for 
their  use  :  that  is,  such  words  as  acception,  addressful,  administrate,  ajfamish,  ajfronttvcnesf, 
y,  blusterous,  clcrgical,  cruciate,  rut  Hate,  (iniidous. 

I'm  CK.I-T  III. — Avoid  strange  or  unauthorized  words  :  such  as,  flutteration,  intpectator, 
judji  nmberment,  connesitg,  ele<-t,ri:>-d,  martyrized,  rewnition,  marvrlizc,  Ihnpitude, 

ajfectattd,  adore  mrnt,  absquatulate.  Of  this  sort  is  O.  B.  Peirce's  "  assimilarity,"  used  on  page 
19th  of  hw  English  Grammar;  and  still  worse  is  Jocelyn's  "  irradicable,"  for  uneradicable, 
used  on  page  oth  of  his  Prize  Essay  on  Education. 

PRKCEPT  IV. — Avoid  bombast,  or  affectation  of  fine  writing.  It  is  ridiculous,  however 
serious  the  subject.  The  following  is  an  example :  "  Personifications,  however  rich  the 


1022  THE  GRAMMAR  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 

depictions,  and  unconstrained  their  latitude ;  analogies,  however  imposing  the  objects  of 
parallel,  and  the"  media  of  comparison  ;  can  never  expose  the  consequences  of  sin  to  the  ex- 
tent of  fact,  or  the  range  of  demonstration." — Anonymous. 

SECTION  II.  —  OF  PROPRIETY. 

Propriety  of  language  consists  in  the  selection  and  right  construction  of  such  words  as 
the  best  usage  has  appropriated  to  those  ideas  which  we  intend  to  express  by  them.  Im- 
propriety embraces  all  those  forms  of  error,  which,  for  the  purposes  of  illustration,  exercise, 
and  special  criticism,  have  been  so  methodically  and  so  copiously  posted  up  under  the 
various  heads,  rules,  and  notes,  of  this  extensive  Grammar.  A  few  suggestions,  however, 
are  here  to  be  set  down  in  the  form  of  precepts. 

PRECEPT  I.— Avoid  low  and   provincial  expressions  :  such  as,   "  Now,  says  I,  boys  ;  "- 
"Thinks  I  to  myself;  " — "To  get  into  a  scrape ;  " — "  Stay  here  while  I  come  back  ;  " — "By 
jinkers ;  " — "By  the  living  jingoes." 

PRECEPT  II. — In  writing  prose,  avoid  words  and  phrases  that  are  merely  poetical :  such 
as,  morn,  eve,  plaint,  corse,  ^ceal,  drear,  amid,  oft,  stecpy  ; — "  what  time  the  winds  arise." 

PRECEPT  III. — Avoid  technical  terms  :  except  where  they  are  necessary  in  treating  of  a 
particular  art  or  science.  In  technology,  they  are  proper. 

PRECEPT  IV. — Avoid  the  recurrence  of  a  word  in  different  senses,  or  such  a  repetition  of 
words  as  denotes  paucity  of  language  :  as,  "  His  own  reason  might  have  suggested  better 
reasons." — "  Gregory  favoured  the  undertaking,  for  no  other  reason  than  this;  that  the 
manager,  in  countenance,/atfottra/  his  friend." — "  I  want  to  go  and  see  what  he  ivants."  ^ 

PHECEPT  V. — Supply  words  that  are  wanting  :  thus,  instead  of  saying,  "  This  action  in- 
creased his  former  services,"  say,  "  This  action  increased  the  merit  of  his  former  services." 
— "How  many  [kinds  of]  substantives  are  there?  Two;  proper  and  common." — See  E. 
Devis's  Gram.  p.  14.  "  These  changes  should  not  be  left  to  be  settled  by  chance  or  by  ca- 
price, but  [should  be  determined]  by  the  judicious  application  of  the  principles  of  Orthog- 
raphy."—See  Foivlcr's  E.  Gram.,  1850,  p.  170. 

PRECEPT  VI. — Avoid  equivocal  or  ambiguous  expressions  :  as,  "  His  memory  shall  be  lost 
on  the  earth." — "I  long  since  learned  to  like  nothing  bvt  what  you  do." 

PRECEPT  VII. — Avoid  unintelligible,  inconsistent,  or  inappropriate  expressions  :  such  as, 
«'  I  have  observed  that  the  superiority  among  these  coffee-house  politicians  proceeds  from 
an  opinion  of  gallantry  and  fashion." — "  These  words  do  not  convey  even  an  opaque  idea  of 
the  author's  meaning." 

PRECEPT  VIII. — Observe  the  natural  order  of  things  or  events,  and  do  not  put  the  cart 
before  the  horse  :  as,  "  The  scribes  taught  and  studied  the  Law  of  Moses." — "  They  can  neither 
return  to  nor  leave  their  houses." — "  He  tumbled,  head  over  heels,  into  the  water." — "  '  Pat, 
how  did  you  carry  that  quarter  of  beef  ? '  '  Why,  I  thrust  it  through  a  stick,  and  threw  my 
shoulder  over  it.'  " 

SECTION  III.  —  OF  PRECISION. 

Precision  consists  in  avoiding  all  superfluous  words,  and  adapting  the  expression  exactly 
to  the  thought,  so  as  to  say,  with  no  deficiency  or  surplus  of  terms,  whatever  is  intended  by 
the  author.  Its  opposites  are  noticed  in  the  following  precepts. 

PRECEPT  I. — Avoid  a  useless  tautology,  either  of  expression  or  of  sentiment :  as,  "  "When 
will  you  return  again  f  " — "  We  returned  back  home  again." — "  On  entering  into  the  room,  I 
saw  and  discovered  he  had  fallen  doicn  on  the  floor  and  could  not  rise  up." — "They  have  a 
mutual  dislike  to  each  other." — "  Whenever  I  go,  he  always  meets  me  there." — "  Where  is 
he  at?  In  there." — "  His  faithfulness  and  fidelity  should  be  rewarded." 

PRECEPT  II. — Repeat  words  as  often  as  an  exact  exhibition  of  your  meaning  requires 
them  ;  for  repetition  may  be  elegant,  if  it  be  not  useless.  The  following  example  does  not 
appear  faulty  :  "  Moral  precepts  are  precepts  the  reasons  of  which  we  see  ;  positive  precepts 
are  precepts  the  reasons  of  which  we  do  not  see." — Butler's  Analogy,  p.  165. 

PRECEPT  III. — Observe  the  exact  meaning  of  words  accounted  synonymous,  and  employ 
those  which  are  the  most  suitable  ;  as,  "A  diligent  scholar  may  acquire  knowledge,  gain  celeb- 
rity, obtain  rewards,  win  prizes,  and  get  high  honour,  though  he  earn  no  money."  These 
six  verbs  have  nearly  the  same  meaning,  and  yet  no  two  of  them  can  here  be  correctly  in- 
terchanged. 

PRECEPT  IV. — Observe  the  proper  form  of  each  -word,  and  do  not  confound  such  as  re- 
semble each  other.  "  Professor  J.  W.  Gibbs,  of  Yale  College,"  in  treating  of  the  "Pecu- 
liarities of  the  ('ockne>  Dialect,"  says,  "The  Londoner  sometimes  confounds  two  different 
forms;  as,  contagious  for  contiguous;  eminent  for  imminent;  humorous  for  humorsome ; 
ingeniously  for  ingenuously  ;  luxurious  for  luxuriant ;  scrupulosity  for  scruple ;  successfully  for 
su  c  s.tu-t',iij." — bee  Fowler's  E.  Gram.  p.  87;  and  Pref.,  p.  vi. 

PRECEPT  V. —  Lhmk  clearly,  and  avoid  absurd  or  incompatible  expressions.  Example  of 
error  :  "  To  pursue  those  remarks,  would,  probably,  be  of  no  further  service  to  the  learner  than 
tl.at  of  burdening  his  memory  with  a  catalogue  of  dry  and  uninteresting  peculiarities  ;  which 


APPENDIX  in.  —  (SYNTAX.)  —  QUALITIES  OF  STYLE.  1023 

way  nratify  curiosity,  without  affording  information  adequate  to  the  trouble  of  the  perusal." 
—Wright'*  a  ram.  p.  \-2-2. 

Piuxi-i'T  VI.  —  Avoid  words  that  are  useless  ;  and,  especially,  a  multiplication  of  them 
into  sentences,  members,  or  clauses,  that  may  well  be  spared.  Example  :  "  If  one  could 
really  be  a  spectator  of  what  is  passing  in  the  world  around  us  without  taking  part  in  the 
events,  or  sharing  in  the  passions  and  actual  performance  OH  tlte  ruti/d  s<t  o» 

hox  of  the  world's  ;/r<->tf  theatre,  (iii-l  </,;•  /  at  the  piece  that 

iinj,  no  mOT9  moved  than  is  absolutely  implied  h  y  *>/>itj)(;f/i>/  irlthnnr    <  .  n-hut  a 

<•uri.li:  ..  uninsiii'i.  what   an   interesting  spectacle   would  lii'e'  present."  —  (i.   \'.   \{. 

JAMI:S:  "The  l-'itrt/cr,"  commencement  of  Chap.  xxxi.     This  sentence  contains  r/;////..  - 
words,  "  of  which  .v/.r///  -«///•  are  entirely  unnecessary  to  the  expression  of  the  author's  idea, 
if  idea  it  can  be  called."  —  Holden's  Review. 

OBSERVATION. 

Verbosity,  as  well  as  tautology,  is  not  so  directly  opposite  to  precision,  a*  to  conciseness,  or  brovitv.  From 
the  manner  in  which  lawvers  usuallv  imiltiplv  terms  in  order  to  express  their  incts  precist  ///,  it  would  -.-.-m  th;it, 
with  thorn,  precision  e,.ii~Nts  ratlu-rin  the  u-e  of  many  words  tlian  ot'/ew.  Bat  the  ordinary  sivle  oflc-al  instru- 
ments no  popular  writer  can  imitate  without  becoming  ridiculous.  A.  terse  or  concise  «tyle  to  very  n:>t  to  i>e 
elliptical;  and.  in  som"  particular  instances,  mist  he  so;  hut,  at  the  sain,-  time,  th.-  t'.ai  ex;,--,.^,,,,,,  perhaps, 
mav  have  morepreeutoa,  though  It  be  li  -  Forc\am;il"  :  "A  word  of  one  syllable,  Is  called  a  mono- 

syllable ;  a  word  of  two  syllabi*  •   dis,vllahlf  :  a  word  of  three  syllable*,  u  co/forf  a  tri.*y  liable:  a 

word  <.f  four  or  more  s\  lialiles,  ,.<,•,///.</  a  polvs\ll.iole."—0.  /?.  /'  .  thus: 

"A  word  ui  one  syllable  is  called  a  BUmotyflable  ;  a  word  «t'  tuo  s\  liable-,  a  .//.<.<////</&/?  ;    u  word  of  thn 
bles,  a  trisyllable  ;  and  a  word  of  four  or  more  .syllables,  &  polysyllable."—  Brown  's  Institutes,  p.  17. 

SECTION  IV.  —  OF  PERSPICUITY. 

Perspicuity  consists  in  freedom  from  obscurity  or  ambiguity.  It  is  a  quality  so  essential 
to  every  kind  of  writing,  that  for  the  want  of  it  no  merit  of  other  name  can  compensate. 
"  Without  this,  the  richest  ornaments  of  style,  only  glimmer  through  the  dark,  and  pu/zle 
in  stead  of  pleasing  the  reader."  —  Dr.  Blair.  Perspicuity,  being  the  most  important  prop- 
erty of  language,  and  an  exemption  from  the  most  embarrassing  defects,  seems  even  to  rise 
to  a  degree  of  positive  beauty.  We  are  naturally  pleased  with  a  style  that  frees  us  from 
all  suspense  in  regard  to  the  meaning  ;  that  carries  us  through  the  subject  without  embar- 
rassment or  confusion  ;  and  that  always  flows  like  a  limpid  stream,  through  which  we  can 
"  sec  to  the  very  bottom."  Many  of  the  errors  which  have  heretofore  been  pointed  out  to 
the  reader,  are  offences  against  perspicuity.  Only  three  or  four  hints  will  here  be  added. 

PKKCKPT  I.  —  Place  adjectives,  relative  pronouns,  participles,  adverbs,  and  explanatory 
phrases  near  enough  to  the  words  to  which  they  relate,  and  in  a  position  which  will  make 
their  reference  clear.  The  following  sentences  are  deficient  in  perspicuity  :  "  Reverence  is 
the  veneration  paid  to  superior  sanctity,  intermixed  \vith  a  certain  degree  of  awe."  —  I'nkntnni^ 
"  The  Romans  understood  liberty,  at  least,  as  well  as  we."  —  See  Murray's  Gram.  p.  307. 
"  T.i>tc  \vas  never  made  to  cater  for  vanity."  —  J.  Q.  Adams's  Rhet.,  Vol.  i,  p.  119. 

PHECKPT  II.  —  In  prose,  avoid  a  poetic  collocation  of  words.    For  example  :  «•  Guard  your 

side  from  being  known.     If  it  be  attacked,  the  best  way  is,  to  join  in  the  attack."  — 

K  \Mi.s  :  Art.  of  Tliinl;in<i,  p.  75.     This  maxim  of  prudence  might  be  expressed  more  poeti- 

cally, but  with  some  loss  of  perspicuity,  thus  :  "  Your  weak  side  guard  from  being  known. 

\edin  thi«,  the  assailants  join." 

I  II.—  Avoid  faulty  ellipses,  and  repeat  all  words  necessary  to  preserve  thn  sense. 
iu'ire  the  words  which  are  inserted  in  crotchets  :  «•  Restlessness 

of  mind  disqualifies  us,  both  for  the  enjoyment  of  peace,  and  [for]  the  performance  of  our 
duty."  —  .l///r/v///'v  KI-./,  Svo,  p.  166.  "Double  Comparative:*  and  [Double]  Superlatives 
should  be  avoided."  —  /'//v/.v  /•;.  Qrta*.,  l.s.'iii,  ]  . 

1  V.  —  Avoid  the  pedantic  and  scnv-dimming  stylo  of  charlatans  and  new  theo- 

•.vhich  often  demaiuU  either  a  translation  or  a  tedious  study,  to  make  it  at  all  intelligible 

to  the  ordinary  leader.     For  example:  "  KI  i.r  XI.   Part  H.     An  intransitive  or   receptive 

in  the  unlimited  mode,  depending  on  a  word  in  the  J.O-SCSMV,  -case,  may  have,  after 

it,  a  word  in  the  And,  when  it  acts  the  part  of  an 

,:ne.  depending  on  a  r  :.iay  have  alter  it  a  word  in  the   subject  i\v 

:  •  'iiiL,r  my  /'/••         .  :  fan    incoaveni'  I    Ilaimltu: 

unh.ip  >v  in  bein^  a  xfur,>  to  party  prejudice."  —  ().  II.  /',  •,,  \  drum.,  ls:i!>,  p.  L'o  1  .  The 
meaning  of  this  third  j);irf  <>f  it  Itn/.-ni  syntax,  is,  in  proper  Kniilish,  as  follows  :  "A  partici- 
ple not  transitive,  with  the  it,  may  have  alter  it  a  nominative  den 

the  -am-  tiling;  and  also,  when  a  preposition  -roverns  the  participle,  a  nominative  may  lol- 
lo\v,  in  agreement  with  one  whi<  •;.  .  '  In  doctrine,  the  former  clause  of  the  sentence 

is  erroneous  :  it  serves  only  to  propagate  f.dse  syntax  bv  rule.  See  the  former  example, 
and  a  note  of  mine,  referring  to  it,  on  pa^e  ."ion  of  this  work. 


SECTION  V.  —  OF  IMTY. 

Unity  consi-ts  in  avoiding  needless  pauses,  and  keeping  one  object  predominant  through- 
out a  sentence  or  paragraph.      Every   sentence,  whether  its  parts  be  lew  or  many,   re- 


1024  THE  GRAMMAR  OP  ENGLISH  GRAMMARS. 

quires  strict  unity.  The  chief  faults,  opposite  to  this  quality  of  style,  are  suggested  in  the 
following  precepts. 

PRECEPT  I. — Avoid  brokenness,  hitching,  or  the  unnecessary  separation  of  parts  that 
naturally  come  together.  Examples:  "I  was,  soon  after  my  arrival,  taken  out  of  my  In- 
dian habit." — Addison,  Tattler,  No.  249.  Better :  "  Soon  after  my  arrival,  I  was  taken  out 
of  my  Indian  habit." — Churchill's  Gram.  p.  326.  "  Who  can,  either  in  opposition,  or  in 
the  ministry,  act  alone  ?  " — Ib.  Better :  "  Who  can  act  alone,  either  in  opposition,  or  in  the 
ministry  ? " — Ib.  "  I,  like  others,  have,  in  my  youth,  trifled  with  my  health,  and  old  age 
now  prematurely  assails  me." — Ib.  p.  327.  Better :  "  Like  others,  I  have  trifled  with  my 
health,  and  old  age  now  prematurely  assails  me." 

PRECEPT  II. — Treat  different  topics  in  separate  paragraphs,  and  distinct  sentiments  in 
separate  sentences.  Error :  "  The  two  volumes  are,  indeed,  intimately  connected,  and  con- 
stitute one  uniform  system  of  English  Grammar." — Murray's  Preface,  p.  iv.  Better  thus  : 
"  The  two  volumes  are,  indeed,  intimately  connected.  They  constitute  one  uniform  system 
of  English  grammar." 

PRECEPT  III. — In  the  progress  of  a  sentence,  do  not  desert  the  principal  subject  in  favour 
of  adjuncts,  or  change  the  scene  unnecessarily.  Example  :  "  After  we  came  to  anchor,  they 
put  me  on  shore,  where  I  was  welcomed  by  all  my  friends,  who  received  me  with  the 
greatest  kindness,  which  was  not  then  expected."  Better  :  "  The  vessel  having  come  to 
anchor,  I  was  put  on  shore  ;  where  I  was  unexpectedly  welcomed  by  all  my  friends,  and 
received  with  the  greatest  kindness." — See  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  107. 

PRECEPT  IV. — Do  not  introduce  parentheses,  except  when  a  lively  remark  may  be  thrown 
in  without  diverting  the  mind  too  long  from  the  principal  subject.  Example  :  "  But  (saith 
he)  since  I  take  upon  me  to  teach  the  whole  world,  (it  is  strange,  it  should  be  so  natural  for 
this  man  to  write  untruths,  since  I  direct  my  Theses  only  to  the  Christian  world  :  but  if  it 
may  render  me  odious,  such  Peccadillo's  pass  with  him,  it  seems,  but  for  Pice  Fraudcs :)  I 
intended  never  to  write  of  those  things,  concerning  which  we  do  not  differ  from  others." — 
R.  Barclay's  Works,  Vol.  iii,  p.  279.  The  parts  of  this  sentence  are  so  put  together,  that, 
as  a  whole,  it  is  scarcely  intelligible. 

SECTION  VI.  — OF  STRENGTH. 

Strength  consists  in  giving  to  the  several  words  and  members  of  a  sentence,  such  an  ar- 
rangement as  shall  bring  out  the  sense  to  the  best  advantage,  and  present  every  idea  in  its 
due  importance.  Perhaps  it  is  essential  to  this  quality  of  style,  that  there  be  animation, 
spirit,  and  vigour  of  thought,  in  all  that  is  uttered.  A  few  hints  concerning  the  Strength  of 
sentences,  will  here  be  given  in  the  form  of  precepts. 

PRECEPT  I. — Avoid  verbosity  :  a  concise  style  is  the  most  favourable  to  strength.  Ex- 
amples :  "  No  human  happiness  is  so  pure  as  not  to  contain  any  alloy." — Murray's  Key,  8vo, 
p.  270.  Better  :  "  No  human  happiness  is  unalloyed."  "  He  was  so  much  skilled  in  the  exer- 
cise of  the  oar,  that  few  could  equal  him." — Ib.  p.  271.  Better  :  "  He  was  so  skillful  at  the 
oar,  that  few  could  match  him."  Or  thus :  "At  the  oar,  he  was  rarely  equalled."  "  The/ 
reason  why  they  [the  pronouns]  are  considered  separately  is,  because  there  is  something 
particular  in  their  inflections." — Priestley's  Gram.  p.  81.  Better  :  "The  pronouns  are  con- 
sidered separately,  because  there  is  something  peculiar  in  their  inflections." 

PRECEPT  II. — Place  the  most  important  words  in  the  situation  in  which  they  will  make 
the  strongest  impression.  Inversion  of  terms  sometimes  increases  the  strength  and  vivacity 
of  an  expression  :  as,  "All  these  things  will  I  give  thee,  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship 
me." — Matt,  iv,  9.  "Righteous  art  thou,  O  Lord,  and  upright  are  thy  judgements."- 
Psalms,  cxix,  137.  "Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the  death  of  his  saints." — Ps. 
cxvi,  15. 

PRECEPT  III. — Have  regard  also  to  the  relative  position  of  clauses,  or  members ;  for  a 
weaker  assertion  should  not  follow  a  stronger  ;  and,  when  the  sentence  consists  of  two  mem- 
bers, the  longer  should  be  the  concluding  one.  Example  :  "  We  flatter  ourselves  with  the 
belief  that  we  have  forsaken  our  passions,  when  they  have  forsaken  us."  Better  :  "  When 
our  passions  have  forsaken  us,  we  flatter  ourselves  with  the  belief  that  we  have  forsaken 
them." — See  Blair's  Rhet.  p.  117  ;  Murray's  Gram.  p.  323. 

PRECEPT  IV. — When  things  are  to  be  compared  or  contrasted,  their  resemblance  or  op- 
position will  be  rendered  more  striking,  if  a  pretty  near  resemblance  in  the  language  and 
construction  of  the  two  members,  be  preserved.  Example  :  "  The  wise  man  is  happy,  when 
he  gains  his  own  approbation ;  the  fool,  when  he  recommends  himself  to  the  applause  of 
those  about  him."  Better :  "  The  wise  man  is  happy,  when  he  gains  his  own  approbation  ; 
the  fool,  when  he  gains  the  applause  of  others." — See  Murray's  Gram.  p.  324. 
It.  PRECEPT  V. — Remember  that  it  is,  in  general,  ungraceful  to  end  a  sentence  with  an  adverb, 
a  preposition,  or  any  inconsiderable  word  or  phrase,  which  may  either  be  omitted  or  be  in- 
troduced earlier.  "  For  instance,  it  is  a  great  deal  better  to  say,  'Avarice  is  a  crime  of  which 
wise  men  are  often  guilty,'  than  to  say,  'Avarice  is  a  crime  which  wise  men  are  often  guilty 
of.'  "—Blair's  Rhet.  p.  117  ;  Murray's  Gram.  p.  323. 

END   OP   THE   THIRD   APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX  IV. 
TO  PART  FOURTH,  OR  PROSODY. 

OF  POETIC  DICTION. 

Poetry,  as  defined  by  Dr.  Blair,  "  is  the  language  of  passion,  or  of  enlivened  imagination, 
formed,  most  commonly,  into  regular  numbers." — Rhet.  p.  377.  The  style  of  poetry  dif- 
fers, in  many  respects,  from  that  which  is  commonly  adopted  in  prose.  Poetic  diction 
abounds  in  bold  figures  of  speech,  and  unusual  collocations  of  words.  A  great  part  of  the 
figures,  which  have  been  treated  of  in  one  of  the  chapters  of  Prosody,  are  purely  poetical. 
The  primary  aim  of  a  poet,  is,  to  please  and  to  move  ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  to  the  imagination, 
and  the  passions,  that  he  speaks.  He  may  also,  and  he  should,  have  it  in  his  view,  to  in- 
struct and  to  reform;  but  it  is  indirectly,  and  by  pleasing  and  moving,  that  such  a  wiiter 
accomplishes  this  end.  The  exterior  and  most  obvious  distinction  of  poetry,  is  versifica- 
tion :  yet  there  are  some  forms  of  verse  so  loose  and  familiar,  as  to  be  hardly  distinguish- 
able from  prose ;  and  there  is  also  a  species  of  prose,  so  measured  in  its  cadences,  and  so 
much  raised  in  its  tone,  as  to  approach  very  nearly  to  poetic  numbers. 

This  double  approximation  of  some  poetry  to  prose,  and  of  some  prose  to  poetry,  not  only 
makes  it  a  matter  of  acknowledged  difficulty  to  distinguish,  by  satisfactory  definitions,  the 
two  species  of  composition,  but,  in  many  instances,  embarrasses  with  like  difficulty  the  at- 
tempt to  show,  by  statements  and  examples,  what  usages  or  licenses,  found  in  English 
works,  are  proper  to  be  regarded  as  peculiarities  of  poetic  diction.  It  is  purposed  here,  to 
enumerate  sundry  deviations  from  the  common  style  of  prose ;  and  perhaps  all  of  them,  or 
nearly  all,' may  be  justly  considered  as  pertaining  only  to  poetry. 

POETICAL    PECULIARITIES. 

The  following  are  among  the  chief  peculiarities  in  which  the  poets  indulge,  and  are 
indulged  : — 

I.  They  not  unfreq\icntly  omit  the  ARTICLES,  for  the  sake  of  brevity  or  metre  ;  as, 

'•  What  dreadful  pleasure  !  there  to  stand  sublime, 

Li.ce  shipwreck' <l  mariner  on  desert  coast !  " — Beat-ties  Minstrel,  p.  12. 
">'•'•//  lj'(r'd,  and,  muttering  thunder,  some  sad  drops 

••ng  of  the  mortal  sin." — Milton,  J\  L.,  B.  ix,  1.  1002. 

II.  They  sometimes  abbreviate  common  NOI'NS,  after  a  manner  of  thcirowu  :  as,  amaze, 
for  amazement ;  acclaim,  for  a  .  '/on;  corse,  for  corpse;  eve,  Oi 

for  evening;  fount,  for  fountain  ;  lidm,  for  /'  >-nt,  for  lamentation;  morn,  for  tnorn- 

tint,  for  con  treat,  for  wealth. 

III.  .-•  verbal  forms  substantively,  or  put  verbs  for  nouns;  perhaps 
for  brevity,  as  above  :  thus, 

1.  "  Instant,  without  disturb,  they  took  alarm."— P.  Lost:  Joh.  Diet.  v>.  Airare. 

2.  "  i  >us  Judge,  with  ply'd." — P.  Loat,  B.  x,  1.  118. 

3.  "  If  they  were  known,  as  the  su.t:  "'are. 

4.  "Mark,  and  perform  it;  secst  thou  •  lor  the/at/ 

Of  any  point  in't  shall  be  death." — Sh<ikspean» 

IV.  They  em;  nouns  that  are  not  used  in  prose,  or  arc  used  but  rarely;    as, 

•prise,  fane,  ore* 

V.  They  Introduce  the  no •;  r  an  other  noun  of  the  possessive  case;  as, 

1.  "Affliction's  semblance  bends  not  o'er  thy  tomb, 

thy  youthful  doom." — Myron. 

2.  "Thoughtless  of  beauty,  she  was  beauty's  self." — Thomson. 

VI.  They  place  before  the  v  <>r  other  words,  that  usually  come  after  it ;  and, 
after  it,  tho-e  that  iiMiully  come  before  it  : 

1.  • 

2.  "No/  /of  hoard  —  If.  Allen*  Vram. 

3.  "Thy  chain  I  prove."— 

4.  "  Follows  the  1<>  ;  nvated  roar." — Thomson. 

5.  "That  pnr- 

VII.  They    more    frequently    place    ADJEi  :er  their  nouns,  than  do   prose 
writers;  as, 


1C  26  THE    GRAMMAR    OF    ENGLISH    GRAMMARS. 

1.  "  Or  where  the  gorgeous  East,  with  richest  hand, 

Show'rs  on  her  kings  barbaric,  pearl  and  gold." — Milton,  P.  L.,  B.  ii,  1.  2. 

2.  "Come,  nymph  demure,  with  mantle  blue." — W.  Allen's  Gram.  p.  189. 

3.  "  This  truth  sublime  his  simple  sire  had  taught." — Seattle's  Minstrel,  p.  14. 

VIII.  They  ascribe  qualities  to  things  to  which  they  do  not  literally  belong ;  as, 

1.  "  The  ploughman  homeward  plods  his  weary  way." — Gray's  Elegy,  1.  3. 

2.  "  Or  drowsy  tinklings  lull  the  distant  folds." — Ibidem,  1.  8. 

3.  "  Imbitter'd  more  and  more  from  peevish  day  to  day." — Thomson. 

4.  "All  thin  and  naked,  to  the  numb  cold  night." — Shakspeare. 

IX.  They  use  concrete  terms  to  express  abstract  qualities  ;  (i.  e.,  adjectives  for  nouns ;)  as, 

1.  "  Earth's  meanest  son,  all  trembling,  prostrate  falls, 

And  on  the  boundless  of  thy  goodness  calls." — Young. 

2.  "  Meanwhile,  whate'er  of  beautiful  or  new, 

Sublime  or  dreadful,  in  earth,  sea,  or  sky, 

By  chance  or  search,  was  offer' d  to  his  view, 

He  scann'd  with  curious  and  romantic  eye." — Beattie. 

3.  "  Won  from  the  void  and  formless  infinite." — Milton. 

4.  "To  thy  large  heart  give  utterance  due;  thy  heart 

Contains  of  good,  ivise,just,  the  perfect  shape." — Id.  P.  R.,  B.  iii,  1.  10. 

X.  They  substitute  quality  for  manner  ;  (i.  e.,  adjectives  for  adverbs ;)  as, 

1. "  The  stately- sailing  swan 

Gives  out  his  snowy  plumage  to  the  gale, 

And,  arching  proud  his  neck,  with  oary  feet, 

Bears  forwards/force,  and  guards  his  osier  isle." — Thomson. 

2.  "Thither  continual  pilgrims  crowded  still." — Id.  Cos.  of  Ind.  i,  8. 

3.  "  Level  at  beauty,  and  at  wit ; 

The  fairest  mark  is  easiest  hit." — Butler's  Hudibras. 

XI.  They  form  new  compound  epithets,  oftener  than  do  prose  writers  ;  as, 

1.  "  In  world-rejoicing  state,  it  moves  sublime." — Thomson. 

2.  "  The  deioy-skirted  clouds  imbibe  the  sun." — Idem. 

3.  "  By  brooks  and  groves  in  hollow-whispering  gales." — Idem. 

4.  "The  violet  of  sky -woven  vest." — Langhorne. 

5.  "A  league  from  Epidamnum  had  we  sail'd, 

Before  the  always  wind-obeying  deep 

Gave  any  tragic  instance  of  our  harm." — Shakspeare. 

6.  "  'Blue -eyed,  strange-voiced,  sharp-beaked,  ill-omened  fowl, 

What  art  thou  ? '   '  What  I  ought  to  be,  an  owl.'  " — Day's  Punctuation,  p.  139. 

XII.  They  connect  the  comparative  degree  to  the  positive,  before  a  verb  ;  as, 

1.  "Near  and  more  near  the  billows  rise." — Merrick. 

2.  "Wide  and  icider  spreads  the  vale." — Dyer's  Grongar  Hill. 

3.  "  Wide  and  more  wide,  the  o'erflowings  of  the  mind 

Take  every  creature  in,  of  every  kind." — Pope. 

4.  "Thick  and  more  thick  the  black  blockade  extends, 

A  hundred  head  of  Aristotle's  friends." — Id.,  Dunciad. 

XIII.  They  form  many  adjectives  in  y,  which  are  not  common  in  prose  ;  as,  The  dimply 
flood, — dusky  veil, — aglcamy  ray, — heapy  harvests, — moony  shield, — paly  circlet, — sheety  lake, 
— stilly    lake, — spiry  temples, — steely  casque, — steepy  hill, — towery  height, — vasty  deep, — 
writhy  snake. 

XIV.  They  employ  adjectives  of  an  abbreviated  form  :  as,  dread,  for  dreadful;  drear,  for 
dreary ;  ebon,  for  ebony  ;  hoar,  for  hoary ;  lone,  for  lonely ;  scant,  for  scanty  ;  slope,  for  sloping  ; 
submiss,  for  submissive  ;  vermil,  for  vermilion  ;  yon,  for  yonder. 

XV.  They  employ  several  adjectives  that  are  not  used  in  prose,  or  are  used  but  seldom  ; 
as,  azure,  blithe,  boon,  dank,  darkling,  darksome,  doughty,  dun,  fell,  rife,  rapt,  rueful,  sear,  sylvan, 
twain,  wan. 

XVI.  They  employ  the  personal  PRONOUNS,  and  introduce  their  nouns  afterwards ;  as, 

1.  "It  curl'd  not  Tweed  alone,  that  breeze." — Sir  W.  Scott. 

2.  "  What  may  it  be,  the  heavy  sound 

That  moans  old  Branksome's  turrets  round?" — Idem,  Lay,*-p.  21. 

3.  "Is  it  the  lightning's  quivering  glance, 

That  on  the  thicket  streams ; 
Or  do  they  flash  on  spear  and  lance, 

The  sun's  retiring  beams  ?  " — Idem,  L.  of  L.,  vi,  15. 

XVII.  They  use  the  forms  of  the  second  person  singular  oftener  than  do  others ;  as, 

1.  "Yet  I  had  rather,  if  I  were  to  chuse, 

Thy  service  in  some  graver  subject  use, 

Such  as  may  make  thee  search  thy  coffers  round, 

Before  thou  clothe  my  fancy  in  fit  sound." — Milton's  Works,  p.  133. 

2.  "  But  thou,  of  temples  old,  or  altars  new, 

Standest  alone — with  nothing  like  to  thee." — Byron,  Pilg.,  iv,  154. 


APPENDIX  iv. — (PROSODY.) — POETIC  DICTION.  1027 

3.  "Thou  seest  not  all ;  but  piecemeal  thou  must  break, 

To  separate  contemplation,  the  great  whole." — Id.  ib.,  iv,  167. 

4.  "Thou  rightly  deemst,  fair  youth,  began  the  bard  ; 

The  form  thou  sairxt  was  Virtue  ever  fair." — Pollok,  C.  of  T.,  p.  16. 

XVIII.  They  sometimes  omit  relatives  that  are  nominatives ;  (see  Obs.  22,  at  p.  532  ;)  as, 

'«  For  is  there  aught  in  sleep  can  charm  the  wise  :  " — Thomson. 

XIX.  They  omit  the  antecedent,  or  introduce  it  after  the  relative  ;  as, 

1.  "Who  never  fasts,  no  banquet  e'er  enjoys, 

Who  never  toils  or  watches,  never  sleeps." — Armstrong. 

2.  "Who  dares  think  one  thing  and  an  other  tell, 

My  soul  detests  him  as  the  gates  of  hell." — Popes  Homer. 

XX.  They  remove  relatives,  or  other  connectives,  into  the  body  of  their  clauses ;  as, 

1.  "Parts  the  fine  locks,  her  graceful  head  that  deck." — Darwin. 

2.  "  Not  half  so  dreadful  rises  to  the  sight 

Orion's  dog,  the  year  when  autumn  weighs." — Pope,  Iliad,  B.  xxii,  1.  37. 

XXI.  They  make  intransitive  "VERBS  transitive,  changing  their  class  ;  as, 

1. "A  while  he  stands, 

Gazing  the  inverted  landscape,  half  afraid 

To  meditate  the  blue  profound  below." — Thomson. 

2.  "  Still  in  harmonious  intercourse,  they  lir'd 

The  rural  day,  and  talk'd  the  flowing  heart." — Idem 

3.      "  I  saw  and  heard,  for  wo  sometimes  [1.  330. 

Who  dwell  this  wild,  constraint  by  want,  come  forth." — Milton,  P.  R.,  B.  i, 

XXII.  They  make  transitive  verbs  intransitive,  giving  them  no  regimen  ;  as, 

1.  "  The  soldiers  should  have  toss'd  me  on  their  pikes, 

Before  I  would  have  granted  to  that  act." — Xhakspeare. 

2.  "  This  ministrel-god,  well-pleased,  amid  the  quire 

Stood  proud  to  hymn,  and  tune  his  youthful  lyre." — Pope. 

XXIII.  They  give  to  the  imperative  mood  the  first  and  the  third  person  ;  as, 

1.  "Turn  we  a  moment  fancy's  rapid  flight." — Thomson. 

2.  "Be  man's  peculiar  work  his  sole  delight." — Beattic. 

3.  "And  what  is  reason  ?     Be  she  thus  drfii'd  : 

Reason  is  upright  stature  in  the  soul." — Young. 

XXIV.  They  employ  can,  could,  and  would,  as  principal  verbs  transitive  ;  as, 

1.  "What  for  ourselves  we  can,  is  always  ours." — Anon. 

2.  "  Who  does  the  best  his  circumstance  allows, 

Does  well,  acts  nobly  : — angels  could  no  more." — Young. 

3.  "What  would  this  man  ?    Now  upward  will  he  soar, 

And,  little  less  than  angel,  would  be  more." — Pope. 

XXV.  They  place  the  infinitive  before  the  word  on  which  it  depends ;  as, 

1.  "  When  first  thy  sire  t»  send  on  earth 

Virtue,  his  darling  child,  dt'si;//t'd." — Gray. 

2.  "As  oft  as  I,  to  kiss  the  flood,  cfaefoM  ; 

So  oft  his  lips  ascend,  to  close  with  mine." — Sandys. 

3.  "  Besides,  Minerva,  to  secure  her  care, 

Diffused  around  a  veil  of  thicken'd  air." — Pope. 

XXVI.  They  place  the  auxiliary  verb  after  its  principal,  by  hyperbaton ;  as, 

1.  "  No  longer  heed  the  sunbeam  bright 

That  plays  on  Carron's  breast  he  can." — Lant;,1 

2.  "  Follow  I  must,  I  cannot  go  before."—  ••/•,  p.  147. 

3.  "The  man  who  suffers,  loudly  may  complain; 

And  rage  he  may,  but  he  shall  rage  in  vain." — Pope. 

XXVII.  Before  verbs  they  sometimes  arbitrarily  employ  or  omit  prefixes:  as,  bide,  or 

'ini;  gird,  or  hnjlrd ;  Inn-,  or  allure  ;   ;/.•  rail-i, 

or  a  rails ;  vanish,  or  -  .  /Mr,  or  bewilder : — 

1.  "All  knees  to  thee  shall  bow.  of  them  that 

In  hcav'n,  or  earth,  or  under  earth  in  hell." — Milton,  I'.  /..,  11.  iii,  1.  321. 

2.  "Of  ai.  the  heels;  of  a  bull-dog,  the  jaws  ; 

Of  a  bear,  the  embraee  ;  of  a  lion,  the  paws." — ('IninJiill's  Cram.  p.  215. 

XXVIII.  verbs   they    abbrev;  :  <,}><•}) ;   hark,  for 
hearken  ;   dark,  for  darken  ;   t//r>nf,  for  f/irmf, ,/  ;  x/mrp,  for  .\tuir, 

XXIX.  They  employ  several  verbs  that  an   not  UM d  in  prose,  or  aroused  but  rarely  ;  as, 
fiji}/iif,  astound,  br  -em,  troir. 

XXX.  They  sometime-  TU  tion  of  the  infinitive  ;  as, 

1.  "  Who  would  not  sin 

Himself  to  simj,  and  bid'  I  tin-  lofty  rhym'-."  —  Milton. 

2.  "  For  not,  to  have,  been  dipp'd  in  LttM  lake, 

Could  save  the  son  of  Thetis  from  to  die." — Spenser. 


1028  TIIE    GRAMMAR   OP   ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. 

XXXI.  They  employ  the  PARTICIPLES  more  frequently  than  prose  writers,  and  in 
construction  somewhat  peculiar ;   often,  intensive  by  accumulation  :  as, 

1.  "He  came,  and,  standing  in  the  midst,  explain'd 

The  peace  rejected,  but  the  truce  obtain  d." — Pope. 

2.  "  As  a  poor  miserable  captive  thrall 

Comes  to  the  place  where  he  before  had  sat 

Among  the  prime  in  splendor,  now  dtpos'd, 

Ejected,  emptied,  gaz'd,  unpitied,  shunn'd, 

A  spectacle  of  ruin  or  of  scorn."— Milton,  P.  E.,  B.  i,  1.  411. 

3.  "  Though  from  our  birth  the  faculty  divine 

Is  chain' d  and  tortured — cabin1  d,  cribb'd,confined." — Byron,  Pilg.  C.  iv,  St.  1! 

XXXII.  In  turning  participles  to  adjectives,  they  sometimes  ascribe  actions,  or  active 
properties,  to  things  to  which  they  do  not  literally  belong ;  as, 

"  The  green  leaf  quivering  in  the  gale, 
The  ivarbling  hill,  the  lowing  vale." — MALLET  :   Union  Poems,  p.  26. 

XXXIII.  They  employ  several  ADVERBS  that  are  not  used  in  prose,  or  are  used  but 
seldom  ;  as,  oft,  haply,  inly. 

XXXIV.  They  give  to  adverbs  a  peculiar  location  in  respect  to  other  words  ;  as, 

1.  "  Peeping  from,  forth  their  alleys  green." — Collins. 

2.  "  Erect  the  standard  there  of  ancient  Night." — Milton. 

3.  "The  silence  often  of  pure  innocence 

Persuades,  when  speaking  fails." — Shakspeare. 

4.  "  Where  Universal  Love  not  smiles  around. —  Thomson. 

5.  "  Robs  me  of  that  which  not  enriches  him." — Shakspeare. 

XXXV.  They  sometimes  omit  the  introductory  adverb  there ;  as, 

"Was  nought  around  but  images  of  rest." — Thomson. 

XXXVI.  They  briefly  compare  actions  by  a  kind  of  compound  adverbs,  ending  in  like; 

"  Who  bid  the  stork,  Columbus-like,  explore 
Heavens  not  his  own,  and  worlds  unknown  before?" — Pope. 

XXXVII.  They  employ  the  CONJUNCTIONS,  or— or,  and  nor— nor,  as  correspondents ;  as, 

1.  "Or  by  the  lazy  Scheldt  or  wandering  Po." — Goldsmith. 

2.  "  Wealth  heap'd  on  wealth,  nor  truth  nor  safety  buys." — Johnson. 

3.  "  Who  by  repentance  is  not  satisfied, 

Is  nor  of  earth,  nor  heaven." — Shakspeare. 

4.  "Toss  it,  or  to  the  fowls,  or  to  the  flames." — Young,  N.  T.,  p.  157. 

5.  "Nor  shall  the  pow'rs  of  hell,  nor  wastes  of  time, 

Or  vanquish,  or  destroy." — Gibbon's  Elegy  on  Da-vies. 

XXXVIII.  They  oftener  place  PREPOSITIONS  and  their  adjuncts,  before  the  words  on 
which  they  depend,  than  do  prose  writers ;  as, 

"Against  your  fame  with  fondness  hate  combines ; 
The  rival  batters,  and  the  lover  mines." — Dr.  Johnson. 

XXXIX.  They  sometimes  place  a  dissyllabic  preposition  after  its  object ;  as, 

1.  "  When  beauty,  Eden's  bowers  within, 

First  stretched  the  arm  to  deeds  of  sin, 

When  passion  burn'd  and  prudence  slept, 

The  pitying  angels  bent  and  wept." — James  Hogg. 

2.  "  The  Muses  fair,  these  peaceful  shades  among, 

With  skillful  fingers  sweep  the  trembling  strings." — Lloyd. 

3.  "  Where  Echo  walks  steep  hills  among, 

Liat'ning  to  the  shepherd's  song." — J.  Warton,  U.  Poems,  p.  33. 

XL.  They  have  occasionally  employed  certain  prepositions  for  which,  perhaps,  it  would 
not  be  easy  to  cite  prosaic  authority  ;  as,  adown,  aloft,  aloof,   anear,   aneath,  askant,   aslant, 
aslope,  atween,  atwixt,  besouth,  traverse,  thorough,  sans.  (See  Obs.  10th,  and  others,  at  p.  423.) 
XLI.  They  oftener  employ  INTERJECTIONS  than  do  prose  writers ;  as, 
"O  let  me  .gaze  ! — Of  gazing  there's  no  end. 

O  let  me  think  ! — Thought  too  is  wilder'd  here." — Young. 
XLII.  They  oftener  employ  ANTIQUATED  WORDS  and  modes  of  expression  ;  as, 

1.  "Withouten  that,  would  come  an  heavier  bale." — Thomson. 

2.  "He  was  too  weet,  a  little  roguish  page, 

Save  sleep  and  play,  who  minded'  nought  at  all." — Id. 

3.  "  Not  one  eftsoons  in  view  was  to  be  found." — Id. 

4.  "To  number  up  the  thousands  dwelling  here, 

An  useless  were,  and  eke  an  endless  task." — Id. 

5.  "  Of  clerks  good  plenty  here  you  mote  espy." — Id. 

6.  "  But  these  Ipassen,  by  with  nameless  numbers  moe." — Id. 

THE  END  OF  APPENDIX  FOURTH, 
AND 

THE  END  OF  THE  GRAMMAR. 


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\ 


YC  01236 


